Minority Report Reveals Federal Indian Policies Soaked in Critical Race Theory NEWS PROVIDED BY Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare March 25, 2024 WASHINGTON, March 25, 2024 /Christian Newswire/ -- A minority report to the congressional 'Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children' has been released, shedding light on the detrimental effects of current federal Indian policies on families of tribal heritage. The report, titled "Minority Report: Commission on Native Children," is a result of extensive research and testimonies from grassroots, individual Native Americans and their families across the country - not powerful entities that subsist on government funding. The report highlights the existence of an "iron triangle" within federal Indian policy, which has allowed for the implementation of laws and policies that some report as controlling, oppressive, and unconstitutional to Native American families. These policies have had a devastating impact on the well-being of Native American children, leading to high rates of poverty, extreme neglect, physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse, and suicide within these communities. Commissioner and author of the minority report, Elizabeth Morris, stated, "If tribal members are 'wards' of the federal government, as patronizingly claimed, then the federal government has a 'trust responsibility' to protect the children at all cost -- even if at the cost of ruffling political feathers. Unless, of course, the 'trust responsibility' only refers to protecting tribal leadership at all cost - even if at the cost of the children." The minority report calls for urgent action to address the systemic issues within federal Indian policy and to protect the rights and well-being of Native American children. It also includes recommendations for policy changes and reforms that would empower Native Americans as individuals, families, and communities and promote local control. Morris further stated, "The federal government needs to acknowledge and rectify the harm caused by these current policies on Native American families. The minority report serves as a wake-up call to Congress and the public, urging them to take action and support the well-being of Native American children." The release of the minority report has sparked a national conversation about the need for reform in federal Indian policy and the protection of Native American children. The full report can be accessed at https://dyinginindiancountry.com/2024/03/01/minority-report-congressional-commission-on-native-children/. Morris hopes that this report will serve as a catalyst for change and bring much-needed attention to the issues faced by Native American families and communities. Elizabeth Morris Commissioner Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children administrator@caicw.org SOURCE Christian Alliance for Indian Child Welfare CONTACT: Elizabeth Morris, administrator@caicw.org Chinese PLA Guard of Honor attends Pakistan Day parade Xinhua) 09:51, March 25, 2024 The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participates in the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, March 23, 2024. At the invitation of the Pakistani military, the Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participated in a military parade here on Saturday, celebrating the 84th Pakistan Day. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) ISLAMABAD, March 24 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of the Pakistani military, the Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participated in a military parade here on Saturday, celebrating the 84th Pakistan Day. During the event at Shakarparian Parade Avenue, the 36-member PLA Guard of Honor escorted the Chinese national flag while marching across the avenue and shouted "Long live Pakistan-China friendship" in Urdu in response to the audience's warm applause. "Seeing the PLA's participation in the Pakistan Day parade really made me proud as a friend of China," Umair Khan, a Pakistani student of defense and strategic studies, told Xinhua. Pakistan Day commemorates the historic Lahore Resolution passed on March 23, 1940, following which a united struggle for an independent homeland for the Muslims of the region was launched, culminating in the independence of Pakistan in 1947. The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participates in the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, March 23, 2024. At the invitation of the Pakistani military, the Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participated in a military parade here on Saturday, celebrating the 84th Pakistan Day. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participates in the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, March 23, 2024. At the invitation of the Pakistani military, the Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participated in a military parade here on Saturday, celebrating the 84th Pakistan Day. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participates in the Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, March 23, 2024. At the invitation of the Pakistani military, the Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participated in a military parade here on Saturday, celebrating the 84th Pakistan Day. (Xinhua/Ahmad Kamal) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Several people were injured as missile debris fell in Kyiv A three-storey building in Kyiv has been badly damaged, Ukrainian officials say, as the city comes under renewed Russian attack. They said two ballistic missiles were intercepted, but seven people were injured as debris fell. Explosions were heard across the Ukrainian capital and a column of smoke was seen rising in the east. The city's mayor urged residents to immediately take cover as the attack came virtually without warning. Moments before the explosions the Ukrainian air force warned in a message on Telegram that a missile was flying towards the city. It is unusual to have such attacks without an air raid alert. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on his Telegram channel: "Explosions in the capital. Urgently to the shelter!" Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, posted videos online purporting to show school children running to a shelter. The country's air force commander said Russia fired two ballistic missiles from Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow, but both were intercepted by air defences. Following a string of explosions, missile debris came down in the Pechersky district, not far from the centre of Kyiv, and several other areas. The attack is the third on Kyiv by Russia in five days. Latest reports say ten people including a teenage girl were injured. Two people were taken to hospital. A Kyiv resident, Oksana, said she was at work when she first heard the air raid sirens followed by the sound of explosions. She told the AFP news agency: "Before I could do anything, the first explosion hit, There was a cloud of dust, smashed cars, windows, everything." Another resident, Roman, told the BBC: "The blasts - which were very loud, happened right after the capital's air raid sirens had started sounding." The US ambassador in Kyiv, Bridget Brink, said on social media that Russia had used hypersonic missiles to attack the Ukrainian capital. She added that there was "not a moment to lose" as Ukraine needed American assistance now, alluding to a $60bn military aid package which has been held up in the US Congress. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack showed again that Ukraine needed better air defence systems from its allies. In a social media post, Mr Zelensky said: "It means safety for our cities and saved human lives. All of us in the world who respect and protect life need to stop this terror." Overnight there were also drone attacks on Odesa and Mikolayiv in the south of Ukraine, hitting energy infrastructure and leaving some areas without electricity. The latest assault on Kyiv comes after Ukraine said it had hit two landing ships, a communications centre and other infrastructure used by Russia's Black Sea fleet off Crimea on Sunday. The Ukrainian general staff said the Yamal and Azov ships had been destroyed. The BBC, however, has not been able to verify the Ukrainian claim to have damaged the ships, which are designed to land troops and equipment straight to shore without the need for a pier or dock. On the same day, one of Russia's cruise missiles entered the airspace of neighbouring Poland, a Nato member. Polish armed forces said in a statement that the object had stayed in Polish air space for 39 seconds. Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that if the missile had been seen to go in the direction of any targets located in Poland, then "of course, it would have been shot down and more adequate measures would have been taken". On Monday, Poland's foreign ministry said that the Russian ambassador in Warsaw failed to show up for a diplomatic summons. The ambassador, Sergey Andreyev, told Russia's Ria Novosti news agency that he felt "it made no sense to discuss this topic without any provision of proof, and I refused to visit the Polish foreign ministry". Location of Russia's Black Sea fleet HQ in Sevastopol There has been an increase in aerial attacks by both sides in the past few days, while Russia makes slow progress in taking some territory in the east of the country. On Friday, Russia fired dozens of missiles at Ukraine, hitting a dam and leaving a million Ukrainians without power, in the wake of fierce Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions. The Russian authorities said a Ukrainian drone attack had caused a fire at a large power plant in Rostov. Meanwhile Kharkiv - close to the Russian border - is still in partial blackout after all its power substations were destroyed by Russian attacks on Friday. Tensions between the United States and Israel escalated further on Monday as Washington allowed the UN to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, prompting a furious response from Benjamin Netanyahu. The United States abstained from the United Nations Security Council vote, enabling the first ceasefire resolution since the 7 October Hamas attacks. Applause broke out in the chamber as the vote was passed. Israels prime minister cancelled the planned visit of a high-level delegation to Washington DC in protest, and accused the US of retreating from what he said had been a principled position. A statement from Mr Netanyahus office said the new resolution regrettably calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages. It added that the decision constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. Not vetoing the ceasefire vote follows months of pressure on president Joe Bidens administration from within his own party, as well as from international allies, to do more to constrain its close ally Israels offensive in Gaza as the death toll passes 32,000 and much of the besieged territorys population is on the brink of famine. The move is likely to further raise tensions between the US and Israel, who have been engaged in a public rift over Israeli plans to invade the Gazan city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are now sheltering after being displaced from elsewhere in Gaza. Responding to US opposition to the plan to attack the city last week, Mr Netanyahu said the operation would happen with or without US support. I hope to do that with the support of the United States, but if we need to, we will do it alone, he said following a meeting with US secretary of state Antony Blinken. The US has blocked three previous UN Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire, including one last month backed by Arab states for which it was the only country on the 15-member council to issue its veto. Since 1945, the US has vetoed 89 Security Council resolutions in total more than half of those have been resolutions critical of Israel. Mr Blinken, the top US diplomat, said in a statement that the US did not agree with all provisions reflected in the resolutions final text, but stressed that it contained adjustments which he described as consistent with our principled position that any ceasefire text must be paired with text on the release of the hostages. This resolution further explicitly recognises the painstaking, non-stop negotiations being conducted by the governments of Egypt, Israel, Qatar, and the United States to achieve such a release in the context of a ceasefire, which would also create space to surge more lifesaving humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians, and to build something more enduring, he said. John Kirby, the White House National Security Communications Adviser, told reporters following the vote that the US abstention does not and I repeat, does not represent a shift in our policy. Weve been clear ... weve been consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal ... we wanted to get to a place where we could support that resolution, he said, before adding that the US could not support it because it did not include key language that we think is essential such as a condemnation of Hamas. Mr Kirby also expressed dismay at Mr Netanyahus decision to cancel the high-level Israeli visit. Were very disappointed that they wont be coming to Washington DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah, he said. At the daily White House press briefing a short time later, Mr Kirby said the president and Biden administration officials were a bit perplexed by Mr Netanyahus decision, citing the resolutions non-binding status and lack of restrictions on Israels ability to engage in self-defence. The prime ministers office seems to be indicating through public statements that we somehow changed here. We havent and we get to decide what the policy is. It seems like the prime ministers office is choosing to create a perception of daylight when they dont need to do that, he said, adding later that the US still has Israels back and is providing tools and capabilities so Israel can defend itself on what we agree is a viable threat. Algerias ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, told the council after the vote: The Palestinian people has suffered greatly. This bloodbath has continued for far too long. It is our obligation to put an end to this bloodbath before it is too late. It comes just days after the Security Council failed to pass a US-submitted resolution that declared the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire, but did not make it a legally binding demand. In that resolution, and others prior to Mondays, the US had linked demands for a ceasefire with a similar demand for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The resolution passed by the Security Council on Monday demands the release of hostages but does not make it a condition of the ceasefire. It has been nearly six months since Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage in a surprise attack on 7 October in southern Israel. Israels offensive in response has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, who told The Independent there have been at least 27 reported deaths due to starvation and dehydration, including 23 children. While it was not immediately clear whether Mr Netanyahu or his right-wing coalition government would heed the UN Security Council resolution, a White House official told The Independent that the Biden administrations understanding of the resolution is that Israel does not have to follow it because it does not create any binding legal obligations on any party, though United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed the opposite point of view in a post on X, writing that the resolution must be implemented and calling a failure to do so unforgivable. But Israels foreign minister, Israel Katz, said on X that there would be no halt in fighting. The state of Israel will not cease fire, he said. We will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the hostages returns home. This week's archive photo features a deed signing in March 1970 that would lay the foundation for the Ross County Medical Center. Mrs. Grace McConnell Dimity signs over the deed of the McConnel Farm to Chillicothe Hospital officials in 1970 with Wayne Foster, hospital administrator, present. The photo is the signing of the deed of the McConnell Farm over to the Chillicothe Hospital officials for the then-proposed new medical center. Mrs. Grace McConnell Dimity signed the deed over with Wayne Foster, hospital administrator, and Mrs. Jane Hertenstein, hospital director, on hand. The deed was for approximately 274 acres of land near US 23 north near Ohio 159. The purchase price of the plan, according to the Gazette archives, was $1,000 an acre. At the time, the Gazette reported that the hospital board was conducting test borings and soil tests to determine the specific site for the hospital. If you have suggestions of what you would like to see from our archive, let us know at tshipley@gannett.com This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Unlocking the archive: Deed signed over for the future hospital A Georgia man is charged with murder in the death of a 6-year-old boy taken to an Atlanta fire station, according to the citys police department. Dashon Jones, 24, also faces a child cruelty charge after authorities said he beat Tobias Perkins Jr. to death while babysitting his girlfriends children, WXIA reported, citing arrest warrants. Officers were called around 11:15 p.m. March 19 about an unresponsive child that was brought to Fire Station 14, Atlanta police said in a March 24 news release. Emergency medics rushed the child to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Further investigation led police to suspect Jones in the boys death, the department said. Warrants were issued for his arrest, but police said Jones was already in jail on unrelated charges. McClatchy News contacted Fulton County Magistrate Court for the arrest warrants and was awaiting a response. Authorities didnt disclose Joness relationship to the child, but family members told WSB-TV that he used to date the boys mother. In the warrants, officers accused him of striking Tobias numerous times, causing massive internal bleeding and death, WXIA reported. An autopsy revealed multiple blunt-force injuries to the boys head and torso, according to warrants obtained by the station. Tobiass father, Tobias Perkins Sr., described the loss of his son as the worst feeling ever, according to a GoFundMe page. Police didnt release additional details but said the incident remains under investigation. Missing child found at school said he hadnt been home in days, Florida deputies say 5-year-old faced extreme torture before death, TX cops say. Moms boyfriend sentenced Dad charged with murder months after he said 5-month-old fell off bed, police say Measles cases in the U.S. continue to increase, so much so that this year's amount has already surpassed 2023's total, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of March 21, the CDC confirmed that 64 measles cases have been reported by 17 jurisdictions including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington. A total of 58 cases were reported in the U.S. in 2023, according to the CDC. The CDC issued a health advisory on March 18 to warn people, especially children and international travelers, about the increase in global and U.S. cases and to suggest they get vaccinated. "Measles (rubeola) is highly contagious; one person infected with measles can infect 9 out of 10 unvaccinated individuals with whom they come in close contact," the CDC's health advisory said. A children's doctor injects a vaccine against measles, rubella, mumps and chicken pox to an infant on February 26, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Who is contracting measles? Most reported cases were linked to international travel and children ages 12 months and older who have not received the measles vaccine, the CDC said. Many countries, including Austria, the Phillippines, Romania and the United Kingdom are dealing with measles outbreaks, according to the government agency. Although the number of cases is concerning, the CDC said due to "high population immunity against measles in most U.S. communities, the risk of widescale spread is low." Some communities may be at higher risk for outbreaks if they have a "low coverage" of vaccinated people, according to the agency. Florida measles outbreak: Cases spread as state defies CDC guidance Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, told the New York Times that the increase in cases should alert us, rather than alarm us."' Parents should talk to their pediatrician about vaccination, according to Daskalakis. Parents discussing vaccinations with doctors they trust can help in what Daskalakis told the New York Times is an "uphill battle." Given the impact on vaccine confidence that weve seen after Covid, and during Covid, the doctor said, I think we have to just keep that drumbeat going. How is measles transmitted? Measles is "an acute viral respiratory illness," according to the CDC. If contracted, measles can be "highly contagious" and lead to "severe health complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and death," the government agency said. Measles is an airborne virus that typically affects children ages 5 and younger, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Vials of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are displayed on a counter at a Walgreens Pharmacy on Jan. 26, 2015 in Mill Valley, California. What are the symptoms of measles? Measles usually begins when the infected develops a fever, cough, runny nose and pink eye for about two to four days before rash onset, according to the CDC. The incubation period for measles from exposure to fever is typically about 10 days, while rash onset will begin to be visible around 14 days after initial exposure, the agency said. Two doses of vaccine can prevent measles, the WHO said. "Measles vaccination averted 56 million deaths being between 2000 and 2021," according to the United Nations agency. Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at JLimehouse@gannett.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Measles cases in the US have surpassed 2023's total, CDC says OSHKOSH At least one administrator doesnt think the Universities of Wisconsin system has sold out its students of color. Even after the Board of Regents accepted a deal that restructured 43 diversity positions, UW Oshkosh Chancellor Andrew Leavitt believes the campuses are still catering to all of their diverse student groups. Leavitt made the comments three months after the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature freed up $800 million for employee pay raises and building projects in exchange for the UW system restructuring dozens of staff into positions serving all students. Its about outcomes, and so what we need to do is continue to strive to increase the number of people of color and other diverse groups in terms of graduation rate, and thats something were focused on, Leavitt told the Northwestern. I do not think students have been disadvantaged because I think this is about changing the job descriptions and the emphases of how we provide student support, and theres any number of ways we could do that. We need to make sure our students are taken care of, and we want to make sure all students are successful and at the same time we have to comply with the terms of the agreement that was made with the UW system and [Assembly] Speaker [Robin] Vos, he added. The concession has been slammed by Democrats as a deal selling out students of color in exchange for state money that was previously withheld by the GOP-controlled Legislature for months last year. Demanding cuts to campus diversity, equity and inclusion programming, Vos eventually released that $800 million after getting the UW system to agree to restructuring 43 diversity positions and freezing the total number of jobs through 2026. Republicans know this is just the first step in what will be our continuing efforts to eliminate these cancerous DEI practices on UW campuses, Vos said in a statement at the time. Yet, the Oshkosh campus claims it hasn't been significantly impacted, at least not according to the university's interim diversity officer, Byron Adams. UW Oshkosh's DEI department is now the Center for Student Success and Belonging. None of the diversity job titles has been adjusted, with the lone change seen in the renaming of the DEI department to the Center for Student Success and Belonging. And according to Adams, who also serves as the director for the center, that name change was already in the works prior to the state Legislature's deal. "We didn't formally rebrand and change DEI positions because we are still serving historically marginalized and underserved groups, but we felt the formal name change for our department was in our best interest of widening the scope of student services," Adams said. "We did have students with concerns and questions around what was happening at the state level, but hopefully they trust us as an institution to provide services for them." The department does have fewer staff now, though, as the Center of Student Success and Belonging totals 14 employees, including Davis. UW Oshkosh reached a $200,000 settlement with former director of Affirmative Action Dr. Brian Xiong, who sued them for discrimination and retaliation. UW Oshkosh isn't a stranger to recent issues over DEI offices, having reached a $200,000 settlement last year with its former director of affirmative action, Dr. Brian Xiong, who sued them for discrimination and retaliation. The campus also faced significant layoffs in 2023 in an effort to save about $14.7 million. The UW system did get $32 million from the state Legislature last month to fund staff raises, but this was only after UW Oshkosh already laid off 140 employees and accepted voluntary retirements from another 76 last October. Janitorial workers, grounds workers and faculty members unite during a protest of Chancellor Andrew Leavitt of UW-Oshkosh considering outsourcing the grounds and janitorial work of the university to a private company out of Tennessee on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, in Oshkosh, Wis. They are pictured here along Wisconsin Street headed toward campus. Were coping, Leavitt said of the staff shortage. So right now I would say that were trying to adjust to a new reality that we have fewer people, so were working through a process by which we may not do as many things as we used to and we may have to do things differently. And thats the process were working through for the balance of this semester, and I think by next fall all of those issues will be settled, he added. Leavitt recently made a presentation at the Oshkosh Chambers State of the Community Address outlining several challenges facing his campus and higher learning institutions nationwide, including lower enrollment numbers. UWO layoffs: UW Oshkosh layoffs draw response from faculty and staff union: A devastating week UW Oshkosh is facing a drastic decline in enrollment numbers. As a result of the pandemic and the supposed declining value of undergraduate degrees, one out of five Wisconsin high school graduates are now going to a UW campus as opposed to 10 years ago when that ratio was one out of every three. The chancellor was still able to show that the Oshkosh campus is graduating an average of 2,000 students per year while 89% of those graduates remain in Wisconsin. Were going to be a slightly smaller institution moving forward, so well probably be around 9,000 to 10,000 as opposed to 10,000 to 12,000, and as a result we need to make sure the resources we are bringing in are appropriate for serving that number of students, Leavitt said. I think its about making sure we have an appropriate size workforce for the students that were going to be serving in the future, he added. UWO childcare: UW-Oshkosh child care center closure nearly left parents in the lurch. Then, the YMCA stepped in. Data from the National Center of Education Statistics show that total college enrollment has dropped by nearly 1.5 million students over the past decade. There was a loss of almost 6% of total enrollment, or more than 900,000 students, between fall 2019 and that same time in 2023. Have a story tip or public interest concern? Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: UWO Chancellor Leavitt: UW didn't sell out students of color for money As a young freshman at the United States Naval Academy (called a plebe) in 2002, I learned a phrase that has stuck with me my entire life. Most people only know half of it. Rank has its privileges. Rank has its responsibilities. It was an early window for me into the dynamics of leadership. The quote generally applies to the military, but it doesnt spare any man or woman in a position of power. When I graduated from the worlds leadership laboratory, I was given a commission as an officer in the Marine Corps. I followed in my fathers footsteps as a Marine. It was an honor, but it may come as a surprise to some that my Marine Corps career has led me to support the call for more reasonable firearm safety laws in Tennessee. In some ways, its a surprise to me, too. But my personal interaction with fellow veterans tells me there are plenty of those who have served our country, currently living in Tennessee who are, like me, baffled by the Tennessee General Assemblys reluctance to take action. One-year anniversary: Cries for Covenant: Deadly mass shooting hits Nashville Most Tennesseans of all political parties want better gun laws The Marine Corps commitment to tactical leadership pushes this concept to the lowest level of the organization. From the commanding general to the captain to the sergeant to the lance corporal, everyone is trained to lead in the most demanding of environments. To me and my fellow Marines, its very simple: Leaders lead. Gun reform supporters attend an early morning prayer vigil at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. The state legislature is holding a special session on public safety starting today. Sadly, the supermajority of the Tennessee General Assembly has abdicated its responsibility to all of us by refusing to lead. Politicians often refer to mandates from the voters. Poll after poll shows more than two-thirds of Tennesseans want pragmatic changes to our gun laws, changes that have demonstrably saved lives in many other states. And most Republican voters in our state support the idea of broadening background checks, promoting secure firearm storage and other measures. For elected officials, supporting change carries less risk than that faced by most lance corporals in the field. Do lawmakers have the courage to make tough decisions and lead? Being a leader on this issue does not mean banning weapons to save lives. Memphis and Chattanooga are No. 1 and No. 2 respectively among U.S. cities for guns stolen from vehicles. Nashville and Knoxville are in the top twenty. Those arent rankings you hear policymakers talking about. Removing access to firearms from those experiencing mental health crises would be a well regulated measure that would protect the public until that person receives needed help, but even discussing the issue makes knees shake in the legislature. That is a failure of leadership. Firearms are the No. 1 killer of children in the state of Tennessee. Leaders lead. As a native Nashvillian, my connective tissues to the shooting last March at The Covenant School are deep. We see the grief and trauma faced by children and parents in the wake of lives lost to firearms. Leaders lead. Tommy Ragsdale Recently, a Tennessee lawmaker trying to convince his colleagues to support his bill suggested legislators should have the courage to put their name next to a yes or no vote. His caucus leader responded by saying he didnt believe anyone in leadership lacks courage. I hope hes right. Leaders lead. Tommy Ragsdale is a Davidson County resident, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps aviator. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Covenant School shooting: Lawmakers lead by enacting gun law reforms Ed Campbell of Tiverton is a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran who had an experience with the Department of Motor Vehicles recently that drove him to tears. Whats so unusual about that? you may ask. Many of us have been ready to cry after dealing with that agency. But Eds story is somewhat different. His tears were tears of joy, a reaction to how well he was treated by the staff at the Middletown DMV office. Ed graduated from Northeastern University in 1967 and was commissioned through the Army ROTC. By 1969 he was in Vietnam serving as the executive officer of an ordnance company, ensuring that other units had the weapons, ammunition and equipment they needed to fight the war. He also earned a master's degree in an education-related field from Indiana University, but he decided that path was not for him. He joined the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, launching a lifetime career as a federal crime investigator. By the time he retired, he was performing inspector general duties for agencies such as the Small Business Administration. Standing in the driveway of his Tiverton home, Vietnam combat veteran Ed Campbell holds his Bronze Star plate starting with 4F. In Selective Service jargon, 4F means unfit for military service. It's not a variety plate ... it's simply 'unfit' for a veteran When Rhode Island authorized special veterans plates for those service members who had earned a Bronze Star medal, Ed decided to order one. When he went to the Middleton DMV office to pick up his plates, the first thing he noticed was that the first two letters on the plate were 4F. As any old soldier knows, 4F is the Selective Service abbreviation for unfit for military service. Taken somewhat aback, Ed tried to explain to the young woman who had just given him the plates that giving a 4F plate to a combat veteran was just not the right thing to do. Perhaps she was too young to understand the significance of what I was telling her, Ed told me, But she was very kind and very polite, and promised to bring it to the attention of her supervisor. So Ed went home with his plates and thought little more of it. The following day he received a call from a DMV supervisor named Jessica, who fully understood Eds point and apologized. She asked Ed to return to the DMV office so he could be given new plates. He did so, and was stunned by the reception he received. Once he signed in, he was whisked to the front of the line. Everyone knew who I was, Ed said. Recognizing extraordinary service at the DMV In addition to the new plates, Ed received an apology card signed by the office staff and a $25 Dunkin' gift card. All anyone ever hears about the DMV is horror stories, he added. I cannot tell you how moved I was by this experience. Everyone was great to me, and I started to cry. Since it was close to Valentines Day, Ed went out and bought a box of chocolates for the people who had treated him so well. Ed especially singled out Supervisory Customer Service Agents Jessica and Erin, whom I was able to identify as Erin Neville and Jessica Ramsay. Spokesman Chuck Hollis said the DMV has created a dedicated tab on their website to make it easier for veterans to navigate through their transactions. We appreciate the service they have provided to protect our freedoms, and if we can make their transaction or time at the DMV better, we will do what we can to assist them, he concluded. Journal staff writer Antonia Noori Fazan first learned about this story and introduced me to Ed via email. USS Yosemite AD-19 to hold reunion in RI from April 24-27 This World War II-built destroyer tender spent much of its naval career based in Melville and Newport, so for the many veterans who served on it a return to Rhode Island is appropriate. The USS Yosemite Association invites all local vets or families to attend. Reunion HQ is the Crowne Plaza hotel in Warwick. The job of a destroyer tender was to service destroyers in, or near, battle areas and keep them fit for duty. Launched in 1942, Yosemite saw action in the Pacific during World War II. USS Yosemite (AD-19) moored in her homeport berth at Pier One, Naval Station Newport, in the mid-1960s. The ship was based in Melville or Newport from 1946 to 1969. In 1946 the ship was assigned to Newport, where it served as the flagship for the Commander, Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet until 1962. During the Cuban missile crisis, Yosemite deployed to Kingston, Jamaica, where it tended the ships engaged in that operation. For six more years Yosemite was assigned to Newport, until its homeport was changed to Mayport, Florida. Yosemite was decommissioned in 1994, and nine years later was sunk as a target in a naval exercise. For further information, call Tina Briones Smith, USS Yosemite Association secretary, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at (734) 308-0402 or by email, tinabriones@hotmail.com. Alana Cerrone OHare of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau is the local contact for the reunion. She can be reached at (401) 486-3582. Calendar Wednesday, March 27; Noon and 1 p.m. serving times. Free Welcome Home Lunch for Vietnam veterans at Texas Roadhouse, 1200 Quaker Lane, East Greenwich. Join us to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day. The Mobile Vet Center will be onsite that day to explain services. Staff from the Veterans Benefit Administration will be on hand to assist with claims and to answer questions about VA benefits. Personnel from the Providence VA Medical Center will be available to enroll eligible veterans in medical assistance programs. The R.I. Chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America will have its memorial wall on display; Operation Stand Down will be present as well. Resources will be located in the Texas Roadhouse parking lot along Route 2. While everyone is welcome to visit the resources outside, there are limited spots available for lunch, and reservations are required. Email Missy Beaudoin at 278marketing@texasroadhouse.com or call/text (860) 465-6364. Questions? Reach out to Veteran Outreach Program Specialist Ed Smith at (401) 739-0167, or email edward.smith6@va.gov Thursday, March 28; 10:30 a.m. National Vietnam Veterans Day Observance at the State House (House Chamber). Hosted by Rhode Island State Council, Vietnam Veterans of America. Join veterans, lawmakers and guests for light refreshments in the House of Representatives lounge immediately following the ceremony. Parking is tight, so please consider carpooling. Tuesday, April 23; 6-7 p.m. Veterans Coffee Social at Warwick Public Library, 600 Sandy Lane, Warwick (large meeting room). Helen Smith from the Rhode Island Genealogical Society will present a genealogy workshop centered on family and relationships. Discussion will encourage the sharing of personal stories. All veterans and their families and friends are invited to join. To report the outcome of a previous activity, or to add a future event to our calendar, please be aware that the deadline for this Monday column is 5 p.m. the previous Wednesday. Email your details (including a contact name and phone number/email address) toveteranscolumn@providencejournal.com. This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: DMV delivers: Vietnam veteran's tale of exceptional customer service WORCESTER A city councilor is asking the city's chief financial officer to provide a report on the debt associated with all major projects in the city, including the planned replacement of Burncoat High School. District 3 Councilor George Russell also requested the report include a projection of how adding Burncoat Middle School to the Burncoat High School proposal would affect the debt. "On any of these buildings part of the taxes that are collected go toward paying the debt," Russell said. "I'm asking for the administration to assure us on a chart what the debt services would be for everything we have now. What the debt service would be for Burncoat which they already have in projections where they've talked about it informally and then to factor in Burncoat Junior High." The Massachusetts School Building Authority voted last year to approve making replacing Burncoat High School eligible for state funding. The school district has indicated that replacing the high school is its highest-priority construction project. Since 2006, when construction of a new Worcester Technical High School building was completed, the district has also seen the construction and opening of a new North High School in 2011 and South High Community School in 2021. A new Doherty Memorial High School is under construction and is slated to open fall of 2024. Russell said Worcester East Middle School is also in need of renovations; school department chief communications officer Dan O'Brien says East is a high priority for facility upgrades. "My feeling was always that Worcester East Middle School should be next in line behind Burncoat," Russell said. The school district has received funding to replace all the school's windows in 2025. The school's boiler system was replaced in 2013, and in 2021 the school got a new roof from city, with the state contributing funding. "There's been talk about [East Middle School] with some members and myself about some improvements that I believe are in the works from the state," Russell said. "One time, a few years ago, I remember sitting in the auditorium and walking around and seeing chipped paint. I walked through the hallways and there's plastic sheets duct-taped over windows. They at least deserve some improvements." This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester city councilor seeks report on debt costs of construction TOKYO, Mar 25 (News On Japan) - Construction on Shinjuku's tallest building commenced Monday, set to surpass the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building by 2029. The groundbreaking ceremony for Tokyo's new skyscraper was part of the redevelopment project at Shinjuku Station's West Exit, attended by officials from Odakyu Electric Railway, Tokyo Metro, and Tokyu Real Estate, who are participating in the project. The redevelopment initiative, which led to the demolition of the Odakyu Department Store's main building -- a symbol of Shinjuku's West Exit for 55 years, starting two years ago -- will now see the construction of a 48-story tower, approximately 260 meters tall, on the same site. Upon completion, this building will eclipse the 243-meter tall Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1, becoming the tallest structure in Shinjuku. The lower floors of the new tower will feature commercial spaces, while the upper floors will be dedicated to office use, with an opening targeted for the fiscal year 2029. Shinjuku Station's surroundings are undergoing a transformative redevelopment scheduled to continue until the fiscal year 2046, significantly altering the area's familiar landscape. Source: TBS TOKYO, Mar 26 (News On Japan) - In an upcoming shift titled "Work Style Reform for Physicians," set to commence next month, a cap on overtime hours will be introduced for doctors. However, there's a catch: hours spent on overnight duty won't be counted as work time, raising questions about the effectiveness of these changes. Koichiro Ichihara, a 45-year-old gastroenterologist at a general hospital in Saitama City, starts his day before 9 a.m., diving straight into patient consultations. "I'd like to schedule an endoscopy," says Dr. Ichihara, while also mentoring trainee doctors and handling emergency calls. From the moment he arrives, Dr. Ichihara is continuously busy with outpatient consultations, emergency patients, and endoscopic examinations until his shift ends at 5:30 p.m. Yet, his day doesn't end there; he begins his overnight duty, which continues into the next morning. During these overnight shifts, he juggles emergency patient care and sudden changes in hospitalized patients' conditions, squeezing in meals and naps when possible. "After an overnight duty, I work a full day before going home. Lack of sleep can lead to mistakes, so I try to avoid any treatments or procedures that might be too demanding," Dr. Ichihara explains. Interestingly, these overnight hours are not officially considered work hours due to hospitals obtaining "overnight on-call permits." With the introduction of regulations limiting the overtime and holiday work hours of medical practitioners to a maximum of 960 hours annually next month, more hospitals are seeking these permits. "We understand that even during overnight duties, any time spent attending to patients counts towards working hours. However, there are strategies to keep within the 960-hour limit," states Jo Fujioaka, director of Sainokuni Higashiomiya Medical Center. In an effort to significantly reduce doctors' workloads, the hospital is also advancing "task shifting" to other trained professionals, like having clerical staff handle medical record entries or nurses adjust ventilators during surgeries. "It's crucial to limit working hours to protect our health as doctors," asserts Dr. Ichihara. Experts, such as lawyer Yuko Araki, who specializes in physician labor issues, argue for stricter enforcement of overnight on-call permits. "Labor standards offices should thoroughly check if the actual work situation meets the criteria for overnight on-call permits. Without reducing working hours, achieving the real goals of work style reform will be challenging." Effective reforms are demanded to safeguard both the health of physicians and the safety of patients. Source: TBS KYOTO, Mar 26 (News On Japan) - The Kyoto International Manga Museum, celebrating its 17th year since opening, is set to release its first official guidebook titled "What is Manga? Understanding Manga through Manga" in mid-April, published by Seigensha. The museum's permanent exhibition "What is Manga?"often the subject of inquiries by foreign visitorsserved as the foundation for this publication, which aims to answer common questions about manga. The book expands upon the exhibition's content to serve as a comprehensive guide to manga culture. Within its pages, the guidebook presents a variety of topics surrounding manga, including "The History of Manga," "The Manga Industry in Numbers," and "The Expansion of Digital Publishing." It also functions as a visual book that showcases the museum's impressive collection of over 300,000 manga-related materials through extensive illustrations. Additionally, it serves as an educational manga featuring original characters like Neko Curator and Dr. Neko, making it an enjoyable read for both children and adults. The appendix "True Stories! The Person Inside Neko Curator" reveals some of the lesser-known activities of the Kyoto International Manga Museum. From April 1, the museum's shop will offer an advance sale of the book, with plans for digital distribution on Kindle within April. To celebrate the publication, the museum is selling a limited-time online ticket package that includes admission and the guidebook at a discounted rate from the release date until June 25. The guidebook will be presented to visitors at the reception desk upon their visit. For more details, check the official website of the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Comment by Hiroshi Aramata, Director of the Kyoto International Manga Museum: "Manga is an incredible invention that has silently connected the entire world and become 'the next language' after words. It's like a 'monitor that doesn't need electricity.' Once reflected on the manga screen, anything can be transformed into manga. Now, where will manga take us next?" Source: Natalie TOKYO, Mar 26 (News On Japan) - The TV anime "Kingdom" Series 5, which is currently being broadcast on NHK every Saturday at midnight, has announced that Episode 12 "The Late Night of Victory and Defeat" and the final episode (Episode 13) "The Pride of Sai Taku" will be aired back-to-back on March 30th. Since its premiere in January, the fifth series has been depicting the Battle of Kokuyou Hills, the first step towards the unification of China by the state of Qin, against the state of Zhao. Now, only episodes 12 and the final episode (13) remain. Don't miss the last two episodes as the battle reaches its climax! On March 30th (Saturday) at 24:00, NHK General TV will broadcast episodes 12 and 13 (the final episode) of the fifth series of the TV anime "Kingdom" in succession! The series, which has been broadcasting one episode (approximately 30 minutes) each night, will now expand to approximately one hour of broadcast time with the consecutive airing of episodes 12 "The Late Night of Victory and Defeat" and 13 "The Pride of Sai Taku." This promises to be an ultimate night of enjoyment for the world of the TV anime "Kingdom"! The fifth series has depicted the Battle of Kokuyou Hills as the first step towards the unification of China. The story has followed the fierce battle between the Qin army, led by the bandit-born general Kan Ki, and the Zhao army, led by Kei Sha. With only episodes 12 and 13 remaining, the story is reaching its conclusion. The members of the Fei Xin Unit, led by Xin, who has grown significantly through the battle, the military strategist He Liao Diao, Qiang Lei who has powered up as the deputy leader through various encounters and separations, and the members of the Fei Xin Unit, including En who demonstrated her deputy leader's strength in the difficult crossing battle, and the unpredictable "Charisma of Brutality" Kan Ki, will reach a thrilling conclusion to their intense battle. The decisive battle not to be missed will be broadcast on NHK General TV on March 30th (Saturday) from 24:00. Do not miss the climax of the TV anime "Kingdom" Series 5! TV Anime "Kingdom" Series 5 Information: [Broadcast Period] Every Saturday at midnight on NHK General TV (Note: Broadcast times are subject to change.) [Synopsis of Series 5] In the state of Qin (Shin Koku) in western China before the common era, Xin (Shin), a former servant who dreams of becoming "the greatest general under the heavens" with his now-deceased friend Piao (Hyou), becomes involved in a coup d'etat over the throne of Qin as a boy and fatefully encounters the 31st King of Qin, Ei Sei (Ying Zheng). As the captain of the Qin army's "Fei Xin Unit," Xin joins the battlefield and, together with Ei Sei, aims for the unprecedented unification of China, steadily rising through the ranks while competing with his contemporaries, generals like Meng Tian (Mou Ten) and Wang Ben (Ou Hon). On the other hand, Ei Sei, who ascended to the throne of Qin at a young age, also carefully accumulates power within the court and finally wrests control of the country from the chancellor Lu Buwei. This sets the stage for the earnest pursuit of the long-cherished goal of unifying China. The Qin army aims to capture Kokuyou Hills in the state of Zhao as a new foothold for unification. The Fei Xin Unit, led by Xin, joins the battle for Kokuyou Hills, but the Qin army's general is Kan Ki, known as the "Charisma of Brutality," who does not hesitate to use ruthless methods to win. The Zhao army's general is Kei Sha, a genius military strategist trusted by Li Mu (Ri Boku) and nicknamed "The Silent Hunter." Under the leadership of these generals, each harboring unfathomable terror, the battle for the strategic point of Kokuyou Hills begins! Source: Dengeki A local man who left his cellphone at Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake was sentenced last week to two years in prison for possession of child pornography. Ernest Ray Roberts Jr., a 53-year-old resident of Bellevue, Nebraska, pleaded guilty to one coun tof possession child porn, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa. In August 2021, an employee with Prairie Flower Casino discovered a Samsung cellphone on the floor of the casino, the release states. While attempting to identify the owner of the phone, child sexual abuse material was discovered to have been saved from the internet to the device. An investigation by the Carter Lake Police Department and Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office identified Roberts was the owner of the cellphone. The federal system has no parole. After his prison term, Roberts will serve seven years of supervised release. Editor's Note There was no column submitted from Support Our Local Animal Shelter this week. The weekly adoptable pets column will resume next week. There is hardly anything more exciting than waking up in the morning knowing that today is the day you will be rescuing a new companion from your local shelter or rescue. Walking through the kennels with all eyes on you can be a joyous but bittersweet moment as you realize you cant rescue them all, but meeting with a new pet and creating an instant bond is an incredible feeling that cant be replicated. When you finally arrive home and introduce your new furry friend to this new environment, you may find that the experience isnt exactly perfect. They may hide under some furniture, pace the room in an anxious manner or even take the inopportune moment to relieve themselves. It isnt uncommon for thoughts to run through a new adopters head of Am I ready for this commitment? While welcoming a new pet into your home can come with some unexpected challenges, there are some things that should be expected before adopting. At MHS, we call this the 3-3-3 rule. The first three days after adoption your new pet may be scared or unsure of their new surroundings, overwhelmed, may have little to no appetite and likely will find a secluded space to decompress. At three weeks, you will notice your pet becoming more comfortable in the home, they will be building up trust with you, and you will start to see their true personality shine through. Within three months your companion should be fully set in their new routine and has formed a strong bond with you and other members of the family. Of course, every experience is unique, but it is a handy concept to keep in mind if you are concerned about your pet acclimating. It is also important to remember when adopting an animal that MHS does not always have any background information on the pets previous living situation. We do the best we can to communicate the needs of an adoptable animal with a potential owner, whether that may be their ability to coexist with other pets or kids, if they have anxiety when left alone or if they are potty trained. When an animal is surrendered by an owner, typically there will be information that can be passed along to new owner. However, when an animal comes to MHS as a stray, identifying their true personalities and behaviors can be difficult. Evaluations are completed to the best of the staffs abilities for the duration of their stay at the shelter, but we ask adopters to keep in mind that behaviors will likely be different in a home environment than when living in a kennel at the humane society. The desired outcome is always setting up you and your new pet up for success. The goal of MHS is to provide new owners with as much information, education and tools as possible to ensure that the adopted pet has finally found their forever home. However, we understand there will still be circumstances where an animal just isnt the right fit and will need to be returned to the shelter for their next chance at finding a family. Having an open, honest conversation about what you are looking for in a new companion helps MHS to identify the best possible fit for your home and lifestyle. Adopting a new pet is not always a walk in the park, but it sure is nice to have someone to take for a walk in the park. MHS Pets of the Week: Tanner is a 7-month-old neutered male Rat Terrier who will definitely be the life of the party in his new home with his goofy antics. He has previously lived with other dogs and we think his outgoing personality will make him a great fit for most any home ready for an active puppy. Max is a 1.5-year-old neutered male Husky mix who is ready to keep you on your toes. He has playful energy and will need an active family who can keep him busy. Max is a smart boy who we believe will do great with his continued obedience training as he is easily steerable. He can be selective with some of his dogs friends, but generally plays well with them. Adeline is a 4-year-old spayed female Lab mix who is ready to be your new adventure buddy. She is very outgoing, friendly, and playful and she will love to join you on your daily walks. Kuma is a 5-year-old neutered male Shiba Inu. He is the strong silent type who prefers to sit by your side and observe rather than being the center of attention. He has successfully lived with other dogs in his previous home. MHS is open weekdays from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can view our adoptable pets by visiting our website at midlandshumanesociety.org/adopt. Over the past decade, the number of children and adolescents suffering from mental health crises feelings of sadness and hopelessness or suicidal ideation has increased by 40%. That reality, quantified by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has led mental health professionals to look for new ways to intervene sooner when a crisis arises. About one in 10 children are dealing with some kind of mental health issue, a diagnosable mental health issue, and that number is only expected to rise as we come out of the aftermath of COVID and just dealing with a higher kind of stress environment, Childrens Square Chief Program Officer Jonathan Holland told The Nonpareil in a recent interview. With those rising numbers in mind, Childrens Square unveiled a new program, called Crisis Care Anywhere, at the beginning of the month to help families with children who may be experiencing a significant mental health crisis that would not require them to be hospitalized. This program specifically works to intervene with kids that are having severe anxiety or panic attacks, some kind of acute depression, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, severe mood swings or under intense emotional distress, Holland said. Crisis Care Anywhere fills a need in the mental health care system for adolescents whose crises might require immediate attention while also not being severe enough to warrant hospitalization. This program is specifically for those kids that are in a crisis situation that it can't necessarily be addressed in a timely fashion through an outpatient therapy program or something like that, but may not be acute enough may not be as extreme as needing hospitalization, Holland said. Before the service, children and teens could receive therapy or, if the situation was severe enough, they could go to the hospital. "But there was really kind of this gap where you could still be in crisis, but not be eligible for admin into the hospital, so that's where we come in, Holland said. After a family contacts Childrens Square about a childs mental health crisis, staff will meet with the child and family for an average of five to seven days on campus, at their home or elsewhere in the community where they feel comfortable, such as a Starbucks or a library. The meetings focus on helping to build skills to manage behavior, provide coordination for mental health treatment and learn how to access the services in the community that provide mental health services. The therapy is really individualized based on the need of that specific person, but it's all crisis response, so whatever they're dealing with we would tailor a plan and then they would meet with that therapy provider each day that they're enrolled in that program, Holland said. Another key component to the program is that they work with other mental health professionals, not necessarily a therapist, but trained professionals that will work with them on skill building, managing emotions, dealing with difficult concepts and how to overcome certain issues, Holland continued. Holland also clarified that Crisis Care Anywhere is not a mobile response unit that will come straight to your home after you call. We're going to work with you and the family to make sure that we find a time that works for everybody, but it could be up to 18 hours after initial contact is made before we actually are able to get in and see and work with the kids, Holland said. That program is the first phase of the Crisis Care Anywhere program. For the next phase, Childrens Square is working on creating a residential stay program, for kids that may not be comfortable in the home or the family may feel like a change in scenery might help, Holland said. We're working towards having that open up and having up to six beds or so for kids that are in that crisis mode to come to decompress, to work with that therapist for the five to seven days, and then work on their discharge plan and what they're going to do after they go home, Holland said. Holland expects the residential part of the program will be ready by early summer. If your child or teenager is having a mental health crisis, or if you just want to learn more about Crisis Care Anywhere, call 712-828-7458, which is available 24/7. MidAmerican Energy is awarding $112,635 in grants to 55 Iowa cities through its "Trees Please!" program, which has invested more than $4.5 million toward 93,000 trees across Iowa since 1998. The program promotes tree planting projects in publicly owned community and school spaces in ways that encourage using less energy, according to a news release. Council Bluffs will receive $5,000. Other area cities receiving grants include Missouri Valley ($2,500), Glenwood ($1,500), Clarinda ($1,000), Essex ($1,000), Red Oak ($1,000) and Shelby ($1,000). Certain varieties of well-placed trees can reduce energy costs, such as maple trees that provide shade to homes in the summer or pine trees that break up prevailing winds in the winter months. MidAmericans Trees Please! program partners with the communities we serve and goes beyond simply adding beauty and sustainability to public areas, Erin Rasmussen, MidAmerican director of energy efficiency, said in a release. An Nebraskan sentenced to over five years is federal prison after fleeing from an Iowa State Patrol traffic stop. Nathaniel Lewis Kreikemeier was sentenced to 63 months for being a prohibited person in possession of ammunition, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa. The 32-year-old from Pilger, Nebraska, pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2023, to one count of a two count indictment, the release states. Kreikemeier fled from state troopers, ramming through a fence gate and driving into oncoming interstate traffic before fleeing on foot, the release states. A search of the vehicle disclosed a double-barreled sawed-off shotgun, ammunition and illegal drugs. "Kreikemeier had been previously convicted of a felony and knew he was prohibited from possession of firearms and ammunition," the release states. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release after his prison term. The case was invested by the Council Bluffs Police Department, Iowa State Patrol and the Iowa Department of Public Safety Division of Narcotics Enforcement America is home to 336 million people across 50 states and the District of Columbia. Yet the 2024 presidential race will be decided by seven states with less than a fifth of the U.S. population. These states will get most of the attention. Marion Miner of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, one of the groups against a move to allow abortion up to the time when a fetus could be viable outside the womb, described the initiative as dangerous, deceptive and demeaning on Saturday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a work plan submitted to the agency by Richard Minor of Gordon and Cherry County to mitigate damage to the Snake River resulting from an unauthorized drainage ditch excavated from Minors property to the river in 2020. The Daily News publishes death notices and obituaries on a daily basis for Norfolkans, area residents and former residents. Death notices, which include information about when and where a person died, funeral services, burial and visitation for the deceased and memorial information, are published free of charge. If families of the deceased desire to have an obituary printed, there is a fee charged for doing so. Because of that, families of the deceased can decide what information they want included in the obituary, as well as if they desire to have a photograph of the deceased published along with it. The Daily News reserves the right to edit. Norfolk and area funeral homes have detailed information about placing an obituary in the Daily News. If individuals want to submit obituary information themselves, it can be emailed to funerals@norfolkdailynews.com or faxed to (402) 644-2080. People needing additional information about death notices and obituaries can call the Daily News at 371-1020 or (877) 371-1020 and ask for the newsroom. 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. South African parliament Speaker asked for a special leave to avoid arrest after her home was raided as part of a corruption probe. Her case highlights rampant corruption within the ruling ANC elites as the country braces for presidential elections in two months, amid failing public services such as electricity and water supply. Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, a veteran of the ruling African National Congress, asked for the leave to avoid arrest as investigations are ongoing into her tenure as defense minister from 2012 to 2021. Given the seriousness of the allegations and the attendant extensive media speculation, I have decided to take special leave from my position as speaker of the National Assembly, effective immediately, Mapisa-Nqakula said in a statement. Mapisa-Nqakula has also filed court papers to avoid arrest, South African paper the Daily Maverick reported. Her corruption case emerged in 2019 when a whistleblower accused her of asking for bribes. Senegals leading opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Monday (25 March) appeared to be reaching victory in the countrys delayed presidential election, as people have already taken to the streets in celebration of the end of incumbent President Macky Salls administration. The 44-year-old opposition candidate and tax inspector Bassirou Diomaye Faye appears to be reaching victory in Senegals presidential election that was held in the West African nation of 17 million people on Sunday (24 March). At least seven opposition candidates have already congratulated Faye after he appeared to be ahead in preliminary tallies, though the ruling coalition responded cautiously, anticipating a potential run-off. Many youths have taken to the streets of the capital, Dakar, in celebration of the prospect of having Faye as president. According to the countrys constitution, a presidential candidate must secure at least 50% of the votes to avoid a run-off. The palpable excitement is in anticipation of the exit of President Macky Salls administration that, in many opinions, failed to ease the hardship of the West African country. Sall is leaving the countrys highest office following a second term marred by controversy with the trial of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and suspicions that the president intended to exceed the constitutional limit on his powers. In his campaign, Faye had promised voters profound change, to fight corruption, prioritize Senegals economic sovereignty and presidential program of left-wing pan-Africanism. Few days after the Algerien presidency announced elections on September 7 instead of December, neither President Tebboune nor any Algerian official gave an explanation why the vote would take place before the end of the current mandate. Tebboune has not taken the effort of giving a public address to tell his people why he decided to shorten his term, a move that is considered in democracies that respect voters as a failure to uphold the mandate. Analyst and opposition activist, Abdou Semmar, said that the early elections are rather meant to hasten the second term of Tebboune, who has yet to make his re-election bid formal. Faithful to their propaganda and disinformation tactics, the Algerian regime responded to critics through its mouthpiece APS press agency, which argued that the surprise announcement was meant by the president to destabilize opponents. The APS article added that early elections would ironically restore stability in the country and pave the way out of the crisis. Between the lines, the article that reflects the regimes mindset acknowledged that Algeria is suffering instability and undergoing a crisis! The same article evokes external threats and an anticipation of planned upheavals as reasons for violating the presidential elections calendar, while calling for unity of the Algerian people against the perceived threats. The article has in fact offered insight into a fragile Algerian regime that is more concerned with perpetuating its interests than respecting the free will of the Algerian people. Analysts see in early elections a move to bar the road for any credible opposition figure from partaking in the polls. It also offers little time for any competitor to prepare. Holding elections in September, means that the electoral campaign has to take place in August, a very hot month where people rather stay home or go to the beach to enjoy their vacations. An electoral campaign in August would prevent the evolution of mass protests in Algiers immolating the 2019 Hirak, when disenchanted Algerians took to the streets demanding a clean break with the military regime. It is a tragedy that five years after brave Algerians took to the streets in their masses to demand political change and reforms, the authorities have continued to wage a chilling campaign of repression, Heba Morayef, Amnesty Internationals Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa said in a February report. Chads authorities have announced they had cleared 10 candidates, including the countrys interim president and the recently-appointed prime minister, for the long-awaited elections scheduled for 6 May, while barring two fierce opponents of the military regime from standing. Chads Constitutional Court said Sunday (24 March) the applications of outspoken opponents Nassour Ibrahim Neguy Koursami and Rakhis Ahmat Saleh had been rejected because they included irregularities, including alleged forgery and use of forged documents. Ten other candidates remain in the race, most prominently the current junta leader and interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and his Prime Minister Succes Masra. General Deby Itno rose to power in 2021 following the death of his father Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled the Sahel country with an iron fist for more than three decades. The new president originally promised to hand power back to a civilian government within 18 months, pledging he would not stand for election as president, but he later extended the transition period by two more years and recently announced he would in fact run for the top office. Wakit Tamma, another of the main opposition platforms in the west African nation, has called for a boycott of the presidential election, denouncing it as a masquerade aimed at upholding a dynastic dictatorship. It comes only weeks after General Debys main rival Yaya Dillo Djerou was shot dead under suspicious circumstances in an army assault on his PSF party headquarters. I want to begin my article this week by thanking the Lincoln County Farm Bureau for sponsoring a town hall meeting a week ago Saturday to allow me to meet directly with interested constituents in an informal setting. I cannot begin to tell you how important it is for me to understand the issues that are important to you and to have the opportunity to share on a firsthand basis what is happening behind the scenes for many of the issues in the Nebraska Legislature. I hope to have the opportunity to hold more of these meetings throughout District 42 once the session ends. Last week, the Appropriations Committee continued to move the budget bills forward. One of the items in LB 1413 was a proposed cash transfer of $25 million to the Rural Workforce Housing fund. However, Sen. Tony Vargas from Omaha (who serves on the Appropriations Committee) worked with the committee to move $5 million of those funds to the Middle Income Housing Fund. The two funds are essentially the same, but the Middle Income program is limited to the metro areas around Lincoln and Omaha, while the Rural Workforce program is available to all other areas of the state. However, Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha brought an amendment to equally split the funds between the two programs, which in effect reduced the Rural Workforce Fund by an additional $7.5 million. I pushed back hard on the amendment, but in the end, the vote was 24 in favor of the split and 23 opposed. The vote was a classic rural-urban divide. As I have warned in the past, when it comes to distributing funding, the urban areas have a voting advantage. That will only get stronger in the future if we cannot stop the outmigration of rural residents to urban areas. I have continued to review LB 126, which was introduced by Sen. Jen Day. As introduced, the bill would provide a homestead exemption to veterans and surviving spouses who are honorably discharged and disabled to receive a property tax credit based on their percentage of disability. Although I brought my own bill that provides for a more aggressive exemption (LB 853), I did add my name to LB 126 to help ensure that we get something done on this issue during this legislative session. Since Day prioritized LB126, the Revenue Committee used her bill to carry the changes they are proposing to the homestead exemption. Unfortunately, the committee took portions of four bills that ended up making major changes to the entire Homestead Exemption Act, and I believe that the changes proposed (outside of those proposed for veterans) are taking us backwards. I am pushing to pass LB 126 in its original form and do an interim study to fix the rest of the program. We will see where this goes. The Revenue Committee moved their committee priority bill LB 388 to General File last Thursday, just prior to adjournment for the long weekend. It will be formally introduced on Monday and debate will begin on Tuesday. I will be in North Platte on Monday for bank annual meetings but will return to the Legislature on Tuesday to be involved in the debate. Although the details of the bill will not be fully available until the bill read across on Monday, I did get a private briefing from Sen. Lou Ann Linehan. The proposal to remove the tax exemption for ag repair parts is not part of the bill, but the committee did include sales tax on advertising for companies with annual gross advertising revenue greater than $1 billion (originally LB 1354). Sen. Joni Albrecht has stated that the bill will target companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon. I have many concerns with this provision from a constitutional standpoint based on the ongoing litigation to Marylands law, and I also believe that it would impact smaller businesses and advertising companies who advertise with or resell advertising through larger companies. LB 388 also would increase the cigarette tax to $1 per pack and increase the state sales tax rate by 1%. These changes are estimated to raise $650 million to be used to offset property taxes. This plan, as I understand it, would increase foundation aid to schools to $3,000 per student and increase the TEEOSA formula aid to larger school districts. It would also put hard caps on any property tax increases for schools, cities and counties. It goes without saying that this bill will see a lot of debate, and could have some major changes prior to passage, so dont read too much into the initial bill as introduced. I look forward to continuing to hear from you regarding issues that are important to you. It is a privilege to serve as your senator and I will continue to give my full effort to make a positive difference for the district and the state. You can reach me at mjacobson@leg.ne.gov or by calling my legislative office at 402-471-2729. Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig On Sunday, New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy made the surprising decision to suspend her U.S. Senate campaign, clearing the way for Representative Andy Kim to become the Democratic Party nominee and, likely, the states next senator. Kim first announced his bid after Senator Robert Menendez refused to resign following the announcement of federal charges against him. He initially appeared at a disadvantage to Murphy, who was the Establishment favorite, but his strong grassroots support proved formidable in the end. As he moves one step closer to joining the Senate, heres what we know about Kim. Whats his background? Kim was born in Boston to Korean immigrant parents and was raised in New Jersey, where he attended public schools. He briefly attended Deep Springs College in California, later transferring to the University of Chicago, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 2004. After receiving a Rhodes Scholarship and a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, Kim went on to study international relations at the University of Oxford, obtaining both masters and doctorate degrees. During his time at Oxford, he met and become friends with Pete Buttigieg, the present U.S. transportation secretary and a fellow Rhodes Scholar, and when Buttigieg was confirmed by the Senate in February 2021, Kim shared a photo of the two of them from their college days: Before he was the Mayor or the Secretary, he was just a college kid with high hopes. Couldnt be more proud of my friend @PeteButtigieg. Excited to see the bridges youll build and the road ahead. pic.twitter.com/McTrNYwRNk Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) February 2, 2021 Before he began his political career, Kim built a significant national security resume. He worked at the State Department and served on the National Security Council as its director for Iraq during Barack Obamas presidency, per Roll Call. He was also a civilian adviser to General David Patraeus and General John Allen for five months in Kabul, Afghanistan. In an early ad, Kim said that he had served as a national security officer for Republican and Democratic presidents. But a review from the Washington Post found that he slightly embellished the role he held during the George W. Bush administration. Per the outlet, Kim held what was, essentially, an entry-level position at the U.S. Agency for International Development in its Africa bureau for a few months in 2005 after college. Kim is married to attorney Kammy Kai, and they have two sons. What do we know about his time in Congress? In 2018, Kim secured the Democratic nomination for New Jerseys third congressional district and challenged its Republican incumbent, Tom MacArthur, a former insurance executive and strong supporter of then-President Donald Trump. During his campaign, Kim ran extensively on health care, highlighting his opponents support for repealing the Affordable Care Act. He made a point of refusing corporate PAC money early on in his campaign despite running against MacArthur who, at the time, was the New Jersey delegations wealthiest member. During the race, supporters of MacArthur faced accusations of racism for a controversial mailer sent to voters in the district. The mailer, paid for by the New Jersey Republican State Committee, declared, Something is real fishy about Andy Kim in a stereotypically Asian font, and featured a photo of several whole fish on ice, as if being sold at a market. And an ad from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a PAC associated with thenHouse Speaker Paul Ryan, stated about Kim, Hes not one of us. Kim went on to win the seat by less than 4,000 votes, becoming New Jerseys first Asian American representative. Hes been reelected twice since then. During his 2018 campaign, Kim said both parties in Congress needed new leadership, suggesting that he wouldnt support Nancy Pelosis bid for another term as House Speaker. Though Kim voted against Pelosi during a closed caucus meeting that November, he would go on to support her in the Speaker election held in January. Currently, Kim sits on the House Armed Services and House Foreign Affairs committees. From 2021 to 2022, FiveThirtyEight found that Kim voted in line with President Joe Biden 100 percent of the time, including supporting protections for same-sex and interracial marriages and a 2022 assault-weapons ban that later died in the Senate. Kim gained more national attention following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol when he was photographed cleaning up garbage left by protesters in the iconic Capitol rotunda. The image quickly went viral. At 1am last night, @RepMalinowski and I walked the Capitol to thank staff, police, and guardsmen and women for their service on a horrifying day. In a quiet Rotunda, we found our friend @RepAndyKimNJ alone, on his knees, picking up garbage left by the insurgents. :@andyharnik pic.twitter.com/AnYj3rSogb Rep. Dean Phillips (@RepDeanPhillips) January 7, 2021 In an interview with NBC News, Kim said he felt compelled to undo some of the damage left by the horrific events of that day. I was just overwhelmed with emotion, he said. Its a room that I love so much its the heart of the Capitol, literally the heart of this country. It pained me so much to see it in this kind of condition. He helped clean the Capitol crypt and Statuary Hall before joining his fellow lawmakers on the House floor to vote to certify the 2020 election results after hours of delay. Kim later donated the blue J.Crew suit he wore that day to the Smithsonian for a potential future exhibition after the institution reached out to him. How did Kim become the Senate favorite? Kim announced his intent to run a day after the federal government unveiled its indictment against Menendez. The charges prompted many calls for the political veterans resignation, including New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, but Menendez remained defiant, which rankled Kim. After calls to resign, Senator Menendez said, I am not going anywhere. As a result, I feel compelled to run against him. Not something I expected to do, but N.J. deserves better, he posted on social media. Tammy Murphy joined the race in November and quickly racked up endorsements from county leaders and the majority of the states congressional delegation, despite having no political experience. But in January, Kim was endorsed by Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman, one of Menendezs biggest critics in the chamber, alongside five of Kims Pennsylvania colleagues in the House. Fetterman called Murphy a nepo candidate, suggesting that her campaigns support was largely due to her political influence as the wife of the governor. That narrative appeared to take hold in the state, as polling began to show Kim with a substantial lead over Murphy. A significant plank of Kims campaign was his legal push to change the states ballot-line system, in which candidates receive preferred placement on county ballots if theyve been endorsed by the party leaders of that county. Given her local party support, Murphy stood to benefit greatly from this arrangement, to Kims detriment. But with her departure, Kim is expected to gain the county lines that she already won in addition to his own. Though he now will benefit from the system, Kim still reportedly wants his lawsuit to continue. Congressman Kim strongly believes that New Jersey should move to a fair, office-block ballot system, Kim senior advisor Anthony DeAngelo told the New Jersey Globe. Its the right thing for our democracy and the right thing for our state. Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images As the Monday deadline loomed for Donald Trumps staggering $454 million bond, an appeals court in New York gave him some very good news: A panel of five judges on the Supreme Court of New Yorks Appellate Division ruled that Trump would need to post only a $175 million bond to stay the enforcement of his civil business-fraud judgment as he appeals the verdict. The court also gave Trump ten additional days to find the bond meaning New York attorney general Letitia James cannot seize his assets on Monday, when the deadline was set to expire. It was another close call for the former president in a season that has been defined by both his legal jeopardy and a series of timely breaks in his favor. As of Monday morning, his attorneys had maintained that he has been unable to find a company to put up the bond for him to appeal the full $454 million judgment even though Trump claimed on Friday that he has half a billion lying around in cash. If Trump is able to post that $175 million bond next week, it will block Letitia James from seizing his assets during the appeals process, which could take several months. I greatly respect the decision, Trump said on Monday. We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash. With banks and bond companies refusing to take Trumps assets as collateral, a bond of $175 million is much more feasible than $454 million. Earlier this month, Trump secured a $91 million bond to appeal the judgment in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. If he doesnt have the cash to get a $454 million bond, perhaps he can manage less than half of that sum though it would still eat into his cash supply in a year of unfathomable legal fees. Photo: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images Nearly three months after the fuselage on a Boeing plane ripped open mid-flight, the CEO of the nations largest commercial-airline manufacturer is going down. On Monday, Boeing head Dave Calhoun announced in a letter to employees that he would resign at the end of the year. Calhoun has served as Boeing CEO since 2019, when he was appointed to lead the company after two of its 737 MAX 8 aircraft crashed in a five-month period, killing close to 350 people. He will not be the only C-suite executive departing Boeing. In his letter, Calhoun also announced that chairman Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election at the companys next shareholder meeting. Stan Deal, the head of Boeings division that manufactures commercial planes, will also step down, according to a company statement. Board member and former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf will serve as the new chairman and will lead the search for the companys next CEO. In his letter, Calhoun wrote that the averted disaster of the Alaska Airlines flight on January 5 was a watershed moment for the company. Since then, problems with Boeing planes have remained in the headlines: Wheels and external panels have come off their planes mid-flight. Following an audit, the Federal Aviation Administration stated that there were several examples in which Boeing allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. Boeing claims that it cannot find documents related to the faulty door plug that caused the fuselage to tear open on the Alaska Airlines flight. On March 9, a whistleblower who called attention to Boeings production quality in 2019 died by suicide one day after testifying against the company. The Justice Department last week informed passengers of the Alaska Airlines flight that they could be victims of a federal crime and that the flight is under investigation by the FBI. Boeing has taken a significant financial hit during this crisis of its own making. Last week, its CFO announced the company would spend up to $4.5 billion this quarter to address its safety and supply-chain problems. Stock value has tanked since the door fell off and FAAs limit on Boeing 737 MAX production will hurt its margins for some time to come. But with such a long timeline for Calhouns emergency exit, the financial package he lands with will surely help damper his personal bad news. Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. 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. The very independent Lisa Murkowski. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images Alaskas Lisa Murkowski is pretty clearly the Republican senator who is least aligned with the GOP. Her voting record is generally regarded as less conservative than any other Republican senators with the possible exception of her friend Susan Collins of Maine (Collins and Murkowski are also the rare Republicans in Congress who favor any sort of abortion rights). She has refused to support Donald Trumps general-election presidential candidacy three times now. She voted to convict him on impeachment charges after the January 6 insurrection. And uniquely among her colleagues, shes twice been reelected over the wishes of her own state party. If it were up to Alaska Republicans or to the current national leader of the GOP, Murkowski would have been kicked to the curb long ago. So when the senior senator from Alaska went on CNNs Inside Politics With Manu Raju and was asked about the significance of her estrangement from Trump, her answer should have surprised no one: Asked if she would become an independent, Murkowski said: Oh, I think Im very independent minded. And she added: I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump. Pressed on if that meant she might become an independent, Murkowski said: I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Lets just leave it at that. This is pretty much the same thing Murkowski said in 2021 immediately after the attack on the Capitol, according to the Anchorage Daily News: Asked whether she intends to remain a Republican, Murkowski said that depends on the party itself. I will tell you, if the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me, she said. She was subsequently censured by the Alaska GOP for her vote to convict Trump of impeachment charges, and when she ran for a fourth full term in 2022, the state party instantly endorsed Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka. This was not Murkowskis first rupture with her party: In 2010, she lost the Republican primary to hard-core conservative Joe Miller (who was influentially supported by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin) and then beat him in a rare write-in campaign that November. But Murkowski didnt have to win a GOP primary or wage a write-in campaign in 2022. The state had recently adopted a Top Four primary system, with the winner resolved by ranked-choice voting. That meant the leading four candidates in the nonpartisan primary, regardless of party affiliation, would proceed to the general election, with voters indicating second, third, and fourth (if they wished) candidate preferences, and the first candidate to win a majority prevailing as the least popular was eliminated in rounds of calculations (ranked-choice voting is also used in Maine, New York City, and San Francisco, with several other states and municipalities considering it). With her universal name ID (her father, Frank, had been governor of Alaska prior to Palin and appointed his daughter to the Senate seat he had occupied before returning to Juneau) and support from independents and many Democrats (she was especially popular among Native Alaskans for years of advocacy on their behalf), Murkowski was able to keep the most prominent Democrats from running against her. That November, she edged Tshibaka by 2,000 votes and handily won the ranked-choice instant runoff. Meanwhile, in the contest for Alaskas one U.S. House seat, Democrat and Native Alaskan Mary Peltola defeated none other than Sarah Palin via the ranked-choice system, with Murkowski and Peltola endorsing each other in the general election. To sum it up, Murkowksi owes very little to the Republican Party, other than to Mitch McConnell, who has backed her (as he has all Senate incumbents) through her many struggles with her state party and with Trump. McConnell, of course, is retiring from the Senate, leaving a Republican conference that is sure to be more MAGA-friendly than ever. So Murkowski could well be in the catbird seat if the chamber is equally divided after November, occupying the dealmaking (or depending on how you look at it, extortionist) role previously occupied by Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, who have both decided not to run for reelection in 2024. If as the oddsmakers currently expect, Republicans flip control of the Senate by a couple of seats, Murkowski could stay exactly where she is as a senior appropriator and member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, important to energy-exporting Alaska (shes also the ranking Republican on the anachronistically named Senate Indian Affairs Committee, another panel especially significant to Alaskans). But if its a 50-50 Senate or if Republicans need her vote to take control, she could easily declare herself an independent and offer up her support to the party that offers her or her state the most goodies. Shes not up for reelection until 2028, when she will be 70, not that old by current standards. And while Alaska Republicans are trying to get voters to overturn the Top Four ranked-choice vote system that they approved in 2020, so long as it exists, Murkowski is a very solid bet for perpetual reelection. She is well positioned to become queen of the Senate any November now. Photo: Ira L. Black/Corbis/Getty Images In a surprise announcement on Sunday, Tammy Murphy, the wife of New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, said that she was dropping out of the Democratic primary race to replace disgraced (and once again federally indicted) Senator Robert Menendez. The New Jersey Globe reports that Murphy decided to bow out of the race on Saturday after discussing the matter with her family, including the governor, ultimately concluding she had a limited path to winning the June 4 primary, even if she wrote a large personal check to partly self-fund her race. The First Lady, who had never held elected office, announced her departure from the race in a video message on Sunday afternoon: A Message from Tammy pic.twitter.com/dfl7kPUUej Tammy Murphy (@TammyMurphyNJ) March 24, 2024 Murphys candidacy appeared unstoppable just months ago in large part because she was leveraging her husbands political network and influence in the state to lock up public support. Most of the states top Democratic leaders had endorsed her and shunned her primary opponent, Congressman Andy Kim, who quickly declared his candidacy after Menendez and his wife were indicted by federal prosecutors. It had seemed as if Kim, best known nationally for being photographed solemnly cleaning up the U.S. Capitol rotunda in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, faced very long odds against New Jerseys infamous Democratic machine. But as it turns out, even in New Jersey, rank-and-file Democrats werent all that interested in seeing the relative of the sitting governor be de facto installed in a U.S. Senate seat. Tammy Murphy was consistently behind Kim in polling, and Democratic county committee members in the state largely rejected her in secret ballots as well. As the Globe explains, lots of Democrats around the state publicly backed her, but privately voted for Kim instead. So it was Kim who seems to have had the nomination on lock all along, bolstered by impressive fundraising and backed by a grassroots coalition of progressive Democrats and a whole lot of incognito party insiders who seem to have rejected nepotism on general principle. Bob Menendez, meanwhile, still isnt gone. He has stubbornly refused to resign and seems to believe he can beat what appears to be a pretty strong corruption case against him, and he made noises about running for reelection as an independent after announcing he wouldnt run in the Democratic primary (where he probably would have been trounced by Kim, too). This post has been updated. Sign Up for the Intelligencer Newsletter Daily news about the politics, business, and technology shaping our world. 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. US, go sit in a corner as long as you're not participating. Reply Thread Link Only 2 weeks though It'll only last till Eid, it's not nearly enough Reply Thread Link Make it permanent. Nothing will undo the months of trauma and death, and the brutality Gazans have gone through. They deserve more than just a temporary ceasefire. Reply Thread Link The US did not vote in favour as they claim the resolution failed to condemn Hamas i truly fucking hate it here Reply Thread Link The US and the UK can get in the bin over this. Reply Parent Thread Link I saw somewhere that the UK voted for this because they're conscious never to vote against the US but this time it wasn't technically 'against'. Our country is fucking ridiculous. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Theyre in a constant battle to be the worst country to exist Reply Parent Thread Link Is the resolution public somewhere to read? I'd like to see with my own eyes if their claims have any grounds or not. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link At this point, I'm sure it's all a legal stance. Look at that bill funding more Israeli bullshit that warned the Palestinian Authority that their funding was dependent on them not gaining statehood from the UN and not taking Israel to the ICC. The US is doing this because they're complicit in all of these war crimes, past, present and future, so they can't just start calling them what they are because they're implicating themselves. They're trying to maintain plausible deniability, even though they're looking like toxic clowns while doing it. Reply Parent Thread Link I believe they also insisted from removing the "permanent" condition before voting on it as a condition to not veto it, although ngl I might be mixing it up with an earlier draft resolution. There's so much bullshit happening every day that I'm struggling to keep it straight Reply Parent Thread Link it's not enough but it's at least a tiny, teeny start. Reply Thread Link they're still clinging to whatever "but hamas!!!!" they can after 6 months and over 30k killed, huh good luck come election time Reply Thread Link I fucking hate this country and living here. Feel it didnt condemn Hamas? I want to bash my head against a wall every time I hear that fucking statement. Hundreds of thousands of people starving and dying, but sure lets keep pivoting back to one SINGLE day and CONDEMN every Palestinian person for it. Reply Thread Link Honestly I was wondering where would be a safe and non problematic country to live because the U.K. SUCKS and ended up realising I need to just leave the planet. And I share your frustration That the bigger picture is being completely ignored here. Reply Parent Thread Link Will this actually force a ceasefire or is it just a strong request? Reply Thread Link UN doesn't really have the power to do anything besides issue a stern warning with no consequences if the warning isn't obeyed. If Israel doesn't want to listen, they won't, and they've made it clear they won't. It's basically just telling Israel off, like if the rest of the school voted to tell one student they've been bad but that student can just keep beating up another student while yelling neener neener. Reply Parent Thread Link force with what? Reply Parent Thread Link A strongly worded letter. Reply Parent Thread Link According to the representative of the palestine territories, art 7 says if Israel does nothing the they can take punitive measures. Now idk what measures are that (sorry the source is in spanish). But the reality is the UN doesn't have military power. https://instagram.com/p/C48wdBNNeI5 Reply Parent Thread Link 41: The Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations. 42: Should the Security Council consider that measures provided for in Article 41would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations. Here's all the articles: As far as I know the resolution is to apply art 41 and 42:41:The Security Council may decide what measures not involving the use of armed force are to be employed to give effect to its decisions, and it may call upon the Members of the United Nations to apply such measures. These may include complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.42:Should the Security Council consider that measures provided for in Article 41would be inadequate or have proved to be inadequate, it may take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security. Such action may include demonstrations, blockade, and other operations by air, sea, or land forces of Members of the United Nations.Here's all the articles: https://legal.un.org/repertory/art42.shtml Reply Parent Thread Link .@USAmbUN Linda Thomas-Greenfield: "We did not agree with everything in the resolution. For that reason we were unfortunately not able to vote yes...we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution." pic.twitter.com/cfCUIWTzLQ CSPAN (@cspan) March 25, 2024 despite the fact that UN members agree to the UN charter: Article 25 The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter. the US already called the UNSC resolution "non-binding." so as long as the US has the military might to dismiss any UN rules/international law...despite the fact that UN members agree to the UN charter:Article 25The Members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council in accordance with the present Charter. Reply Parent Thread Link They can't directly do anything, but now that Israel officially have a UN resolution telling them to 'stop that or so help me god', member countries can now more strongly sanction them. For example, the US has National Security Memorandum-20, which says that if they sell arms to a country, they cannot be used to impede aid or break international law. It gets a bit harder for them to casually ignore that for Israel now. Reply Parent Thread Link Speaking of Russia, Putin is inviting more attacks by trying to blame Ukraine for ISIS and the US for not sufficiently warning them or something like that. Reply Thread Link Why tf do we kiss Israels so much? I forget. Reply Thread Link Evangelical Christians need Israel to exist for easier access to the Rapture (and something something the Jews need to build the third temple in order to bring the resurrection of Jesus, so they need to be in Israel to do as much idk I only read the illustrated Bible my grandparents had and I was mostly treating it like a fantasy book with cool illustrations from the 50s). Reply Parent Thread Link THATS IT?????! I knew about the about the rapture thing cause i had a super religious upbringing but fuck - I didnt realize we were that stupid as a country Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The best part is the rapture isn't even in the Bible. It was based on some BS interpretation by Christians much later like the 1800s later. It's just like those evangelicals who believe God wants them to be rich based on some Bible verse they decided would allow them to be greedy and evil. Reply Parent Thread Link In addition to the weird Evangelical support, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spends a ton of money lobbying and donating to various politicians to advance pro-Israel policies. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm sure capitalism and imperialism are tied up in there Reply Parent Thread Link In addition to the points already offered, the U.S. benefits from having an ally in the region. It's strategically very advantageous. Also, I imagine anti-Semites love the idea of having a dedicated Jewish state because they would like to ultimately push Jews out of the U.S. Reply Parent Thread Link https://unctad.org/news/unrealized-potential-palestinian-oil-and-gas-reserves Edited at 2024-03-25 09:32 pm (UTC) But also this back in 2019 "The unrealized potential of Palestinian oil and gas reserves" and the port they want to conveniently build right there Reply Parent Thread Expand Link https://theintercept.com/2023/10/27/secret-military-base-israel-gaza-site-512/ Edited at 2024-03-25 10:15 pm (UTC) They let us have a US military base in Israel which helps us destabilize/do whatever we want to the surrounding countries. Reply Parent Thread Link In addition to the other reasons people gave, Israel was basically created as another arm of western imperialism. That's why basically Canada, the US, and England are all considered allies. Colonizers stick together. Reply Parent Thread Link Oil Reply Parent Thread Link ABOUT TIME but this will lead to nothing because Israel will just play the we are the poor Jews card. At least I have not heard the Israel has the right to defend themselves BS in Germany for a while Reply Thread Link Not enough. The US did not vote in favour as they claim the resolution failed to condemn Hamas Oh fuck off. Reply Thread Link I know who I'm not voting for this election season! I won't be guilted into voting for a genocide enabler. Stop sending my tax dollars to people outright murdering Brown people for their land! Reply Thread Link BUT KHAMAS TRUMP Reply Parent Thread Link Nope. After a certain point you have to vote with your conscience, and at this point I would feel like shit voting for that man because to do so would mean that 30k Brown lives don't matter. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link at this point i feel if youre producing weapons, sending money, spreading propaganda, penalizing Palestinians yourself, and using political power to the same end, you're also just doing the genocide. like its beyond "enabling". we still call nazis outside of germany nazis. Reply Parent Thread Link unfortunately the republican party has long been in bed with israel and supported netanyahu as well :( Reply Parent Thread Link Curious, will you only be able to vote for Biden or Trump? There's no 3rd option? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link and here is Spielberg's thoughts not about the Ceasefire but the genocide in general. (Side note; It's always "Innocent women and children." Hey, most of the men in Gaza aren't "guilty" either) Reply Thread Link But if they don't say the men, IOF mass slaughtering them is justified Reply Parent Thread Link Spielberg is a piece of shit, but this is such a poorly written article, its pissing me off. I like how he forgets that Israel has (like with the dead and injured) way more Palestinian hostages than Gaza has Israelis. Reply Parent Thread Link I've had this argument with a lot of people and none of them knew anything about Israel's internment of Palestinians. Then they tried to argue they were likely all 'political prisoners'. Yep, those children are deffo political prisoners! They're fucking brainwashed. Reply Parent Thread Link Thank you for saying that about the men. It really infuriates me that people are only moved by something if they hear it happened to women and children too. Like, you should be equally upset by anyone being killed. Reply Parent Thread Link I was presenting on the way people here in South Africa so easily accept the idea that black men are inherently dangerous and are SUPPOSED to be violent, which makes the idea of them being victims of violence ludicrous; and the refusal to think critically why they think that way. I think this can be applied to Palestinian men and how so many people only see vulnerability in women and children. Waving "what about the women and children!" is a way for people to hide that they don't think critically about violence or the fact that they think some lives are more valuable than others. Reply Parent Thread Link OSHA Cites Houston Contractor Following Teen Worker's Trench Collapse Death Hurtado Construction Co. now faces $257,811 in proposed penalties. An OSHA investigation into the death of an 18-year-old worker in a trench collapse near Fulshear, Texas, has unveiled serious safety violations by a Houston-area contractor. According to a release dated March 18, the agency found that Hurtado Construction Co. allowed the teenager to work in the excavation without implementing proper protective systems, resulting in the collapse of the trench wall in September 2023. The worker suffered fatal injuries when tons of dirt pinned him against a reinforced concrete box. The company faces $257,811 in penalties for its willful disregard of safety measures. Hurtado Construction has routinely ignored its legal responsibility to protect employees safety and health, OSHA Area Director Larissa Ipsen in Houston said in a statement. The companys callous disregard has cost a young man his life and left his family, friends and co-workers to grieve a terrible tragedy under circumstances that were completely preventable. With a history of multiple OSHA citations dating back to 2007, Hurtado Construction has a demonstrated pattern of safety failures, including a citation in November 2021 for similar violations at another worksite in Katy, Texas. In this most recent case, OSHA issued one willful citation and five serious citations for, among other safety failures, the lack of adequate protections in the trench and insufficient employee safety measures. Vadym Kolisnyk stands on a rooftop on the eastern edge of Zhashkiv. Its the end of February, and the dark and fog that shroud central Ukraine for much of the winter have broken. The sun has returned to Cherkasy Oblast. This is good news for Kolisnyk, for whom the sun is money. Solar panels stretch along aluminum frames that go all the way to the eastern face of the barn roof on which he stands. Beyond, fields of grain wait for sowing. The lowing of some 3,000 cows, mostly Holsteins, rises to the rooftop along with the smell, inescapable now that the thaw has come. Zhashkiv straddles the main highway between Uman and Bila Tserkva in Cherkasy Oblast, about 150 kilometers south of Kyiv. Kolisnyk lives in the city of Cherkasy, installing independent solar systems like this one from there to the Kyiv Oblast with his company, SolarGlass. A year ago, Zhashkiv had virtually no solar power systems. But as Kolisnyk tells it, by virtue of knowing the right people, over the past year hes become the go-to guy for solar within this town of 12,000. Russias war against Ukraine has shifted his focus from big commercial plants to private homes and small businesses, but he has more orders than he can manage in large part because six of his employees have gone to the front since the full-scale invasion of February 2022. Two remain there, while four are no longer with us, he says. The team of installers working on the project in Zhashkiv, expected to take a few weeks to complete, stay in temporary farmhand quarters -- seven unmade beds in a small room on the second floor of a brick building between the orchard and the grain fields. DVDs in the thin black cases that suggest unofficial provenance are stacked half a meter high on the floor next to a dresser on which sits a TV. A cabbage, dishwashing detergent, a bottle of cheap Georgian brandy, and stray packs of cigarettes line the windowsills. One of the residents, Volodymyr, says hes saving up because his daughter was in competitive motocross but has outgrown her current bike. He has his eye on a new one for when the competitions -- on hold since the invasion -- resume. Despite a lot of money changing hands, solar panel installations are a lean business with modest profit margins, says Kolisnyk. But he describes the long-term impact optimistically: Locally, new electricity producers will pop up and all the consumers will have a secured supply of electricity from renewable sources. Builders like Kolisnyk are a small part of a big fight for Ukraine to keep the lights on. The more ambitious hope: to build green electricity into energy independence. Power Lifting Russia has attacked Ukraines electrical system continuously since the full-scale invasion began. After seizing several of the countrys biggest power plants in the initial push, Moscows forces have repeatedly targeted the Ukrainian grid with missiles and drones. This has forced Ukrainians to cut consumption, fortify production, and seek alternatives. I believe that there is no alternative to a green transformation of the economy, and Russian aggression has proved that a green transformation is one of the key foundations of security, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a conference in London last June. More recently, Russia has concentrated fire on the great tangle of transmission infrastructure in east-central Ukraines Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya regions. On the morning of March 22, Russia launched a wave of air strikes across the country, hitting key facilities including the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station in Zaporizhzhya and causing blackouts at several locations in what Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko called "the largest attack on the Ukrainian energy industry in recent times." Shahed drone strikes left some 53,000 people in several towns without electricity on February 12, according to Ukrenergo, the government-owned company that runs the national electric grid. The March 22 onslaught and a cruise-missile attack a month earlier took out power lines feeding the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, endangering the life support that keeps that plant from disaster. The damage was repaired in both cases. Despite Ukraines remarkable endurance of winter blackouts, these attacks seem to be increasing as Ukraines armed forces ration air-defense missiles amid uncertainty about future Western weapons supplies, particularly from the United States. But even before the full-scale invasion turned Ukraines power lines into front lines, Russias use of its hydrocarbon supplies as a geopolitical cudgel had pushed Ukraine to seek alternative sources in earnest. A Transition Deferred Ukraine formally renounced Russian gas imports in 2015 and sanctioned Russias big oil companies in 2018. Though a conspicuous indirect trade in fuels of unknown origin remained open until last May, between 2018 and 2021, Ukraines total installed solar and wind generation capacity quadrupled and tripled, respectively. The two combined accounted for only 10 percent of Ukraines total generation in 2021, the last year for which official data is available, but they were the fastest-growing new generation source by miles -- or megawatts. Ukraine still had to rely on Russia for the lions share of the uranium for its nuclear plants -- still the largest source of electricity in the country. Due to continued connection to the Soviet-era grid, Ukraine also had no choice but to buy electricity from Russia and Belarus in times of shortage -- and sell it in times of surplus -- right up until February 24, 2022. Missed Connections As with so many sectors of Ukraines innovation economy, the Russian invasion completely derailed the rapid growth in renewable energy. The biggest wind and solar plants were in the east or along the southern corridor from Mariupol up to Kherson -- the sunniest part of the country, which also happens to get gusts off the Black Sea, and most of which Russia has held since early in the invasion. Even on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the line, there are visible signs of a transition stalled. In fields alongside Oshakiv, a town in the Mykolayiv Oblast west of Kherson, concrete slabs roughly the size and shape of ridged mattresses have stood in stacks like something from an industrial version of The Princess and the Pea, derelict for over two years. The location, just a few hundred crop rows from the Black Sea, was one its builders fought for, gathering locals to persuade them that the wind farm would bring them more money without ruining their town. Then came the war. As it turned out, this land was under fire every day, says Oleksandr Burdun, who was overseeing the construction of that wind plant. Russian forces have retreated from most of the territory they occupied in the Mykolayiv Oblast early in the invasion but still hold the Kinburn Spit, which lies right across the water from Oshakiv. Many of the farmers are back to work, but the South Ukrainian Wind Power Plant wont send anyone up hundreds of feet into the air to fuss with rotors and turbine blades. It was like, imagine you are waiting for the birth of your child and then something goes wrong, Burdun says. Burdun returned to his parents home in the city of Mykolayiv. Government trucks distributed guns to civilians, who waited for the Russian siege either to break or break through. Burdun now finds himself in Kyiv, waiting to return. The prospective South Ukrainian Wind Power Plant sits idle and unfinished. Installed but left uncovered, the massive concrete bases of some of the never-completed towers resemble abandoned archeological digs. Friendly Wind Technologies, the only turbine manufacturer in Ukraine, similarly found itself imperiled. Founded in 2011 in Kramatorsk, in the eastern region known as the Donbas, the company survived eight years of war there and about six months of the full-scale invasion before finally deciding to pull up stakes. Power Stats The damage is extensive. DTEK, the largest private energy company and biggest renewables producer in the country, has lost 70 percent of the value of its renewables subsidiary, according to Forbes Ukraine. Seventy-one percent of wind capacities are located in the occupied territory, says Halyna Shmidt, head of analysis at the Ukrainian Wind Power Association. That is about 1.7 gigawatts (GW) worth of wind turbines behind Russian lines, including the largest wind farm in the country, near Zaporizhzhya. For solar power, the picture is similarly dark. The two largest solar plants in the country are in occupied parts of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, nearly 600 megawatts of capacity sitting derelict. The distinction between capacity and generation is crucial. Capacity is the maximum power that a station can generate at one time and is measured in watts, the same as a consumer uses for a 100-watt light bulb, for example. By installed solar capacity, Ukraine at the end of 2021 was nearly at the level of Brazil or Britain -- significantly larger economies. Generation, meanwhile, is power multiplied by time, or watt-hours -- the unit in which a home electric bill is measured, for example. In 2021, Ukraine consumed a total of 124.53 billion kWh, or about 3,000 per capita, about a third of the equivalent for someone living in the United States. Critics of solar and wind power often point to the reliability of their generation based on natural phenomena, a legitimate drawback but a criticism that experts say also overestimates the consistency of other forms of generation. Renewables are not alone: Russia has targeted Ukraines energy infrastructure more broadly. A UN report estimated that Ukraines total national generating capacity dropped from 36 GW to 13.9 GW from the beginning of the full-scale invasion to the end of 2022. Ukrenergo wrote in May 2023 that Ukraine lost four GW of total capacity to Russian occupation in the Donbas prior to the full-scale invasion. That number rose to 21 GW after the first year, and to 27 GW by the middle of 2023. The most prominent examples include the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and the Kakhovka dam. At just under 6 GW, the former is the largest power plant of any kind in Europe and remains under Russian control. The Kakhovka dam, not a particularly big hydroelectric generator, was destroyed in June 2023 with disastrous consequences. Many power plants on the Ukrainian-controlled side of the line are closed off and heavily guarded. Military checkpoints flank the series of dams along the Dnieper. Winds Of Change? Despite taking a massive hit, renewable energy providers have started to adapt. While nuclear power remains king, all of Ukraines nuclear power plants were built or started in the Soviet era. In January, the Energy Ministry announced plans to begin building four new reactors at the Khmelnytskiy nuclear power plant this year -- two using Russian equipment that would be imported from Bulgaria and two using technology from the U.S. company Westinghouse, which would be the first Western-based nuclear reactors in Ukrainian history. Pushed out of the Donbas, Friendly Wind Technologies has been welcomed hospitably in its new home in Perechyn, in an industrial zone next to the western border city of Uzhhorod, says CEO Vladyslav Yeremenko. But the transition was tough, he said. The company only returned to production at the end of 2023 and is now making two or three turbines per month. The firm is building a 500 MW wind farm in the Carpathian Mountains -- underutilized land, says Yeremenko. The project is one he estimates will take five years but, if built today, would be the largest in the country by far. About 40 kilometers northwest of Oshakiv, where Burduns project lies fallow, the Tylihulska Power Plant is the biggest project of its kind to begin operations during wartime. Insulated from the Russian line, DTEK set up 19 massive 6 MW turbines that have put over 375 million kilowatts (KWh) into the southern Ukrainian grid between April 2023 and the present day, a DTEK representative told RFE/RL. De-Russification Russia's war has prompted some of the billionaire tycoons who made fortunes in extractive energy behemoths often linked to Russia to pursue more alternative energy plans and pushed them closer to the government in Kyiv. Many of Ukraines energy titans maintained ties with Russia and the Kremlin up to the start of the full-scale invasion. Then Putin comes, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, a former head of Transparency International Ukraine and now a member of parliament, told RFE/RL. Russia occupies their factories and their land, and theyre like, We were partners. Why did you do that? ADVERTISEMENT The key patron in the multi-pyramid network was not the oligarchs or the leaders of the state loyal to them, but Russia itself, Dmytro Tuzhanskiy, director of the Institute for Central European Strategy, a think tank based in Uzhhorod, wrote last year. Rinat Akhmetov, the richest man in the country, owns DTEK, which is building the largest renewable projects in the country. Akhmetov decided to be a partner to the Ukrainian government. And now all his media activity works very closely with the office of the president, Yurchyshyn said. A representative for Akhmetov did not respond to a request for comment. According to corporate documents, Friendly Wind Technologies is ultimately owned by Eduard Mkrtchyan, the son of Armenian-Ukrainian tycoon Oleh Mkrtchyan, a Donbas industrialist who was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russian in 2019. In a largely unheralded but crucial achievement in the early days of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine transitioned from the former Soviet IPS/UPS grid over to the European Unions ENTSO-E grid in under two weeks starting from February 24, 2022. This has allowed Ukraine to buy up energy from Moldova, Slovakia, and Poland in times of need -- the prior alternatives being Russia and Belarus. Its a situation the Baltic states are likewise hurrying to fix. Integration with ENTSO-E means for Ukraine de-weaponization of the electricity and grid dependencies from Russia, wrote Tuzhanskiy. Decentralization While the specific numbers are unavailable, Ukraine has managed to make it through two winters, the most recent with a remarkable absence of lengthy blackouts. The priority for the government is avoiding focal points for targeting. Decentralization, in other words -- something that the energy minister, Halushchenko, has repeatedly described in recent comments as a core virtue in rebuilding Ukrainian energy as he woos foreign investment. While secretive about many electricity statistics, Ukrenergo publishes numbers on the import and export of electricity daily. Despite the Russian onslaught and occupation of about one-fifth of the country, Ukraine has resumed exporting electricity to the EU market. Less widely publicized than the destruction of the Kakhovka dam or the capture of the Zapororizhzhya nuclear power plant, Russian forces also came within about 30 kilometers of Yuzhnoukryainsk, site of the countrys second-largest nuclear plant as well as the Tashlyk Hydroelectric Station, one of only two completed this century. Russian forces pushing north and west were stopped near Voznesensk, south of Yuzhnoukrayinsk, and then pushed back farther south in a major Ukrainian counteroffensive in the fall of 2022. The local government set up a solar station at the site of its municipal pumping station to keep the water running in the event of more attacks. On The Ground Back in Zhashkiv, Kolisnyk says that today, most of the people ordering independent solar power systems are ultimately in it for the bottom line. For one thing, the government has rejiggered its green tariff, a pre-invasion subsidy that motivated a lot of private solar panel installations. While existing stations are grandfathered in, the newer rates are fairly low. On the flip side, the prices for home electricity have risen dramatically to the point that theyve become a punchline for bitter jokes nationwide. People dont buy these independent solar electricity systems to contribute to the grand plan of rebuilding the Ukrainian grid, he says. They buy them in part as a safeguard against blackouts, but most importantly to reduce electric bills. There were blackouts here, but they had a diesel generator -- a good gizmo but not totally reliable. But the main goal here isnt to stop blackouts, its to minimize spending on energy resources. Because we all know, you know, prices now are pretty steep, says Kolisnyk. A penny saved is a penny earned. The farm that is getting 1 megawatts worth of solar panels on its roofs, for example, spends the equivalent of about 500 euros per hour on electricity, Kolisnyk estimates. If the math works out right, the panels will cover the farms needs over the spring, summer, and fall with enough profit to pay for the winter months. Closer to the center of Zhashkiv, the Zayets family lives in a small house with a yard filled with two rigs of solar panels angled towards the south. Vasyl Zayets happily gestures to them, saying: Thats my pension standing out there. His teenage son, Dima, shows off a phone app tallying the money coming in. At 1 p.m. on a day in late February, he counted more than 400 hryvnyas ($11) in profit from sales back to the grid. It doesnt sound like much but, considering that Ukrainian retirees get less than $200 a month, its not a bad deal. And when the weather gets rougher, the Zayets solar panels have the benefit of shielding a stack of firewood tucked under them from the elements. By RFE/RL More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: OPEC and the broader OPEC+ group do not see any need to propose a change to the current oil production policy when the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meets next week, according to delegates, commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo reported on Monday. OPEC+ members have collectively decided to voluntarily cut 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from the groups production this quarter, although much of that was production cuts that were already in effect, including Saudi Arabias 1 million bpd voluntary cut. In early March, the members of the OPEC+ alliance that had pledged the Q1 cuts announced they would roll over the supply reductions until the end of the second quarter. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Oman, and Russia are now cutting their respective crude oil production and exports in the first half of 2024 with extra voluntary reductions, on top of the voluntary cuts OPEC+ previously announced in April 2023 and later extended until the end of 2024. When the OPEC+ members announced on March 3 their intentions to extend the cuts into the second quarter, Russia changed its production/export cut plan and said that in the second quarter it would reduce supply by 471,000 bpd in the form of cuts to oil production and exports. In April, Russia will reduce production by 350,000 bpd and exports by 121,000 bpd. In May, the 471,000 bpd reduction would be in the form of a 400,000-bpd cut to production and 71,000 bpd cut to exports, and in June the Russian supply cut would be 471,000 bpd entirely from production reductions. The production estimates for February have shown that some of OPEC+ members especially Iraq and Kazakhstan continued to overproduce above their respective quotas. In the middle of February, both Iraq and Kazakhstan pledged to comply with the cuts they had announced. OPECs second-largest producer, Iraq, is committed to its voluntary cut in the OPEC+ agreement and will produce no more than 4 million bpd of crude oil, Iraqs Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said in February. Non-OPEC oil producer Kazakhstan, for its part, vowed to compensate over the coming months for a lack of compliance with the cuts in January. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Fresh on the heels of a new U.S. oil production record and establishment of the U.S. as the worlds top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, this week the Energy Information Administration reported that the U.S. exported a record amount of crude oil in 2023. The U.S. has exported small amounts of crude oil for over 100 years, despite being a net importer of crude oil. Although there was a crude oil export ban in place, some exports were allowed, primarily to Canada. That situation changed in the past decade. As the shale oil boom rapidly expanded U.S. oil production, domestic producers needed an outlet for the light, sweet crude oil that the boom was producing. U.S. refiners had a significant demand for crude oil, but they had spent decades investing billions of dollars into processing heavy, sour crude oil. They could process the new surge of crude oil being produced, but economically it made far more sense for them to buy the discounted heavy, sour crudes. This situation caused a glut for domestic oil producers, who wanted an end to the decades-long oil export ban. In December 2015 they got their wish when President Obama signed into law a $1.15 trillion spending bill that contained several energy provisions. The bill contained a provision to promote the efficient exploration, production, storage, supply, marketing, pricing, and regulation of energy resources, including fossil fuels, no official of the Federal Government shall impose or enforce any restriction on the export of crude oil. Exceptions to this rule are allowed in certain circumstances. The president can impose export licensing requirements for up to a year after declaring a national emergency, or if the secretary of commerce reports that crude oil exports are causing supply shortages or sustained premiums on domestic crude above global prices. Following the passage of the bill, oil exports immediately began to climb. From less than half a million barrels per day (BPD) in 2015, exports reached 1 million BPD in 2017, 2 million BPD in 2018, 3 million BPD in 2020, and 4 million BPD in 2023. Annual U.S. Crude Oil Exports 1920-2023. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION The Netherlands was the top destination for U.S. oil exports in 2023, followed by China and South Korea. Since 2018, the primary regional destinations for U.S. crude oil exports have been Europe, Asia, and Oceania. In 2022, U.S. crude oil exports to Europe surged following Russias invasion of Ukraine and subsequent EU sanctions prohibiting seaborne crude oil imports from Russia. These sanctions propelled continued growth in U.S. exports to Europe in 2023. Notably, in 2023, U.S. crude oil exports to Europe averaged 1.8 BPD, slightly surpassing exports to Asia and Oceania, which stood at 1.7 million BPD. The net impact of continued U.S. export growth has been a steady decline in net crude oil imports. From 2004 through 2007, U.S. net crude oil imports averaged more than 10 million BPD. In 2023, that number was 2.4 million BPD, which was the lowest level since 1972. The journey from a history of minimal exports to becoming a prominent player in the global market underscores the nations evolving energy landscape. With robust legislation and changing market conditions, the U.S. has emerged as a significant contributor to international oil supply chains. As the country continues to navigate geopolitical and economic challenges, its role as a key exporter is poised to shape the future of global energy markets. ADVERTISEMENT By Robert Rapier More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Houthi forces have struck a tanker owned and operated by a company based in Hong Kong, the U.S. Central Command has reported, calling the vessel Chinese. The Huang Pu, which was sailing under a Panamanian flag, was targeted with five anti-ship missiles on Saturday, CENTCOM said. The ship sent a distress signal but did not ask for assistance, the U.S. Naval Institute cited Central Command as saying. It appears that only the fifth missile found its target, causing a small fire on board, which was put out by the crew. According to a Maritime Executive report, the Huang Pu was formerly owned by a British business entity, before it became property of Hong Kong-registered Hera Gam. The company only owns the one tanker, the publication said. It also added that while CENTCOM had described the tanker as Chinese, a lot of Hong Kong companies were anonymously created, with owners from various nationalities. The Yemeni Houthis have declared they would strike UK, U.S., and other Western ships but not touch Chinese and Russian vessels. Saudi tankers have also been excluded from their target list. The group earlier this month warned of more attacks after a British-owned ship sank following missile strikes. Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britains bill, Yemens foreign minister, Hussein al-Ezzi, said in an X post in early March, as cited by The Telegraph. It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza, al-Ezzy added. ADVERTISEMENT The maritime transport disruption that the attacks have led to is diverting ship traffic along a longer route between Asia and Europe, pushing global demand for oil higher, and tightening inventories. The situation may well contribute to a deficit later in the year, according to some analysts. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Foreign oil firms in Iraqi Kurdistan are partially to blame for the delays to the resumption of exports from the semi-autonomous region of OPECs second-largest producer, Iraqs Oil Ministry said in a Monday statement carried by Reuters. Neither foreign oil firms operating in Kurdistan nor the Kurdish authorities have submitted draft contracts for the federal government to review them in accordance with the Iraqi constitution and laws, the ministry said. Crude oil exports from Kurdistan have now been halted for a year, after they were shut in since March 2023 due to a dispute over who should authorize the Kurdish exports. The impasse followed an International Chamber of Commerce ruling in March 2023 in a dispute between Turkey and Iraq regarding Kurdistan oil. The ICC ruled in favor of Iraq, which had argued that Turkey should not allow Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Turkey pipeline and the Turkish port of Ceyhan without approval from the federal government of Iraq. In November, Norwegian firm DNO, one of the six members of the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR), said that the international oil companies operating in Kurdistan would not be producing oil for exports until they have clarity about overdue and future payments and sales terms. Earlier this year, the foreign companies called on U.S. Congress for immediate action to help resolve halted crude oil exports from Kurdistan. The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) has written a letter to Congress in which it said that The export of oil is the foundation of Iraqs economy, and all Iraqis will benefit when full production and global sales resume from the Kurdistan Region. Ten months after the Kurdish oil export route was shut over disputes, Kurdistans oil continued to be held back from the market due to disagreements over payments to the oil companies, Iraqs Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told Bloomberg in an interview in January. ADVERTISEMENT By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Russia attacked an underground natural gas storage site in the Ukraine, but the Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz said that supply had not been disrupted. We have sufficient backup capacities in place to mitigate any immediate impacts. The supply of natural gas to Ukrainian consumers remains unaffected by the attack, the chief executive of Naftogaz, Oleksiy Chernyshov said on Facebook, as quoted by the Kiyv Independent. The attack is the latest in a string of hits targeting energy infrastructure that plunged several cities into rolling blackouts as power utilities rushed to restore supply. According to Reuters, the largest energy producer in the Ukraine, DTEK, has lost 50% of its generation capacity. Electricity exports were suspended, the countrys energy ministry said. The news that a gas storage site has become the target of an attack might cause concern in Europe after the EU started sending extra gas to Ukrainian storage sites after its own filled up. This began last year, with the Ukrainian state energy company making available 10 billion cu m of capacity. This represents a third of the countrys total storage capacity. Last year, according to the Kiyv Independent, foreign energy traders made us of some 2.5 billion cu m of that capacity and this year they started filling up the storage capacity earlier than usual, Naftogaz said this month. The company is hoping to see 4 billion cu of capacity utilized by European energy traders this year. Most of the Ukrainian gas storage capacity is located in the western part of the country, which is far from the frontline and has not been targeted by Russian forces yet. The storage sites are also deep underground, as Naftogaz Chernyshov explained, which makes them relatively safe from attacks. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com ADVERTISEMENT More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A refinery in southwestern Russia owned and operated by state oil giant Rosneft has halted roughly half of its crude processing capacity following a drone attack from Ukraine over the weekend, industry sources told Reuters on Monday. On Saturday, Dmitry Azarov, governor of the Samara region where Rosnefts Kuibyshev oil refinery is located, said that the facility was attacked by drones. One of the two primary crude refining units at the refinery caught fire, the governor said, as quoted by Russian news agency Interfax. There were no casualties, Azarov added. Ukraine has stepped up attacks on oil refineries in Russia in recent weeks, which have reduced Russian refining capacity, and which, reportedly, have the White House concerned about rising international prices. The United States has repeatedly urged Ukraine to halt its drone attacks on Russian oil refineries due to Washingtons assessment that the strikes could lead to Russian retaliation and push up global oil prices, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the exchange. Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries in recent weeks have taken out as much as 600,000 barrels in daily processing capacity in Russia, according to commodity trading major Gunvor. It is significant because obviously this is gonna hit the distillate exports straight away, Gunvor chief executive Torbjorn Tornqvist told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston last week. So that will probably take down exports by a couple of hundred thousand barrels, so to me, its a distillate problem, the executive added. Lower refining capacity in the second quarter, due to refinery maintenance and emergency repairs following the attacks, could be one of the reasons why Russia said it would focus on cuts to oil production instead of exports in its voluntary supply reduction as part of OPEC+ in the second quarter, analysts say. ADVERTISEMENT By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Tesla and battery manufacturer CATL are working together on the development of new battery technologies that could lead to faster-charging electric vehicle batteries, the founder of the Chinese battery manufacturer, the worlds biggest, told Bloomberg in an interview published on Monday. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., as CATL is officially known, has a large supply deal with the U.S. EV manufacturer, and is also a battery supplier to big automakers including BMW and the Mercedes-Benz Group AG. Amid the U.S.-China trade and technology spats and U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology used in America-made products, CATL is effectively banned from selling its batteries directly in the United States. But the company is working under so-called licensing, royalty, and services (LRS) agreements with partners, allowing them to license the battery technology, for a fee. Last year, one of Detroits Big Three, Ford, said it had reached an agreement with CATL, under which a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford would manufacture the battery cells using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cell knowledge and services provided by CATL. Currently, CATL is in discussions with up to 20 U.S. and European carmakers to potentially reach licensing deals similar to the one with Ford, CATLs founder, Chinese billionaire Robin Zeng, told Bloomberg. Separately, CATL and Tesla are working together on new electrochemical technology aiming to make faster-charging batteries, he added. Tesla is looking to preserve its market share in the growing global EV battery market and to manufacture a vehicle that would cost less than $25,000. Theres always room for cost reduction depending on what the $25,000 cars aim is, CATLs Zeng told Bloomberg in the interview. ADVERTISEMENT The Chinese businessman also confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report from January this year that Tesla plans to open a small battery-manufacturing plant in Nevada using idle CATL equipment, with minimal involvement of the Chinese company, whose staff would only work on setting up the equipment. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: SLB, the biggest oilfield services firm in the world, is not planning to abandon its business in Russia, chief executive Olivier Le Peuch told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday. Pressure has mounted on companies, especially in the oil and gas industry, to withdraw from Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Many energy majors and oilfield services companies including Exxon, Shell, BP, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton have either announced plans to quit Russia or plans to do so as soon as applicable Russian laws allow. But not SLB, which last year was included on the list of international war sponsors by Ukraines National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). When we decide, we will make it public if we need to. But now, there is no decision yet, SLBs Le Peuch told FT. The team over there is operating autonomously and I think is behind the curtain to some extent. We are protecting our assets, thats our priority, the executive added. SLB said last summer that it was halting all shipments of products and technology into Russia from all SLB facilities worldwide, in response to the continued expansion of international sanctionsmore than a year after other major Western oilfield services providers and oil and gas producers abandoned their Russian operations. Baker Hughes and Halliburton, sold their Russian businesses in 2022, while Big Oil ended new investments in Russia and said they would be looking to exit the Russian market as soon as applicable regulations allow. SLB, however, only voluntary measures to curtail its Russian activity and announced that it would make no new investments in Russia and would not deploy new technology used in its services business. To compare, Baker Hughes signed in August 2022 an agreement to sell its Oilfield Services business in Russia to its local management team. A month later, Halliburton announced it completed the sale of its Russia operations to a Russia-based management team made up of former Halliburton employees. As a result, Halliburton no longer conducts operations in Russia. The new Baker Hughes and Halliburton businesses in Russia operate independently of their former parent companies. ADVERTISEMENT By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Aspen Creek Middle School recently announced that its recent People of the Past presentation has garnered over $2,198 in donations for the Gretna Fire Department. This annual event, known as People of the Past (POPS), features eighth-grade students embodying historical figures. Three representatives from the Gretna Fire Department graciously accepted the donation, expressing their appreciation for the support. A Kansas City, Missouri, police officer with 33 years of experience has been picked to lead the La Vista Police Department. Mike Schofield will start work as the citys police chief and director of public safety in June, according to a statement released Monday by the City of La Vista. He is currently a division commander in Kansas City. Schofield, the statement said, has held a variety of positions in Kansas City. He has valuable experience and extensive knowledge in the areas of detention operations, patrol/criminal interdiction operations, community-oriented policing, counter-drug intelligence analysis and information technology management. After an extensive search, it is a privilege to appoint Mike Schofield to serve as La Vistas next Chief of Police, Mayor Douglas Kindig said. His impressive background and leadership experience give me complete confidence that he is the right person to guide and shape the future of our Police Department. I am impressed not only by his genuine nature, but his thorough understanding of the critical issues and priorities impacting law enforcement and our community. Schofield was one of three finalists who recently visited La Vista and interacted with residents during a community forum. The opportunity to join the La Vista Police Department is an absolute honor and privilege, Schofield said. The dedicated men and women of this police department have been performing exceptionally well, and I am committed to building on the outstanding leadership provided by Captain D.J. Barcal this past year or so. I look forward to the opportunity to become more acquainted with the community, and to work collaboratively with the officers and professional staff of the department. The City Council will vote to approve his appointment at its meeting on June 4. He will become La Vistas fifth police chief, following Bob Lausten, who retired at the end of 2023. Last August, Levi Blake left his senior-living apartment in North Omaha. He never returned home. Since Blake, an 80-year-old man with dementia, went missing Aug. 17, 2023, family, friends and Omaha Police Department officers have extensively searched for him. Blake was described as 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds. In November, three months after Blake disappeared, Police Sgt. Brett Schrage, Blakes son Terrance Collier, and family friend and North Omaha community activist Sherman Wells held a press conference to urge the public to help in the search. Blakes daughter, LaShonda Richardson, has been involved in helping find her father. In March, police offered $5,000 to anyone who gives information leading to finding Blake. At least $15,000 has been raised so far to find Blake, Wells said. All those efforts have not produced substantial leads. The number of tips weve gotten from anything could probably be counted on one hand, said Schrage, the lead investigator into Blakes disappearance. Police initially believed Blake boarded a city bus near North 33rd and Lake Streets and got off somewhere else in the city. While the possibility of him getting on a bus hasnt been ruled out, police now believe its more likely Blake may have wandered on foot about a half-mile northeast from his senior apartment and then disappeared. Police said they came to that conclusion after seeing video footage, including footage from a Ring video doorbell, of a man matching Blakes description. Police: Its not an easy case August was not the first time Blake has wandered off, Wells said. In one instance, Wells said, Blake was found outside a hotel in Carter Lake giving away his money. In another instance, Blake was spotted by a woman around 36th Street and Grand Avenue. Wells said the woman observed Blake had no shoes on. Blake told the woman, according to Wells, that he was from Chicago and looking for his son and daughter. After the woman requested to see Blakes identification card and saw his name, she called the police. Police arrived and took Blake home. Blake most recently lived in an apartment at the JC Wade Senior Villa complex at North 34th Avenue and Ohio Street. No footage exists of him leaving his apartment the day he went missing. Police have said the Ring video doorbell camera from another residence shows Blake walking northeast along the street away from his apartment. The Ring video was taken at 4:40 p.m. Aug. 17. Nearly an hour later, at 5:33 p.m., a grainy video shows a man who appeared to match Blakes description walk along John A. Creighton Boulevard near the Adams Park Community Center, police said. The man follows the boulevards curve toward Bedford Avenue before he disappears from the cameras view. At some point, Blake also was seen wandering near a stop sign close to his apartment building at 34th Avenue and Miami Street, Schrage said. Police said the videos grainy quality makes it virtually impossible to definitively say the man in the video was Blake. Police believe Blake was not carrying a cellphone, or any electronics, at the time of his disappearance. Those factors have made for a difficult investigation, Schrage said. Its not an easy case, he said. In other missing persons cases, there could be a train of thought. Theres some type of communication. There could be cellular devices. We dont have any of that. Its tough to know what his mindset would have been at that point in time. Blake, who suffered from other health problems in addition to dementia, spent most of his adult life in Omaha, Terrance Collier said. Blake was born in Mississippi and grew up in Chicago. In Omaha, Blake worked as a jitney essentially a taxicab driver. He also worked in auto detailing, Collier said. While Collier said Blake had many friends, he spent a lot of time alone at home. Hes a people person. But at the same time, he does like his privacy, Collier said. Youd have to know him in order to know what hes like. For me, I can say hes a multifaceted person. Blakes dementia could make Blake ornery, Wells said. Citing experiences from Blakes family members, Wells said, There were times when he would get up and be like, Who are you? What are you doing in my house? Hed get angry with them because he forgot who they were. Even though Wells said Blake visited Chicago a lot, he and Collier dont believe Blake has left Omaha. Collier said he saw his fathers house keys, wallet and bank cards at the apartment days after Blake disappeared. Friends and family doubt intensity of police search. Wells and Collier also question the Police Departments initial intensity in searching for Blake, although they both praised Schrage once the sergeant came on the case. Collier said he found out about his fathers disappearance from his mother and sister. Collier added that police didnt inform him until four days after his father disappeared. Wells said police didnt tell the community Blake was missing until 10 days after the fact. He said he and a group of about 40 people made a video and sent it to police to start looking into Blakes disappearance more seriously. He also questioned why the police didnt send out an alert sooner on Blakes disappearance. According to Bonacci, however, police filed a 72-hour endangering missing advisory in conjunction with the Nebraska State Patrol on Aug. 18. Because missing persons detectives dont typically work weekends unless theyre paid for overtime, Bonacci said, they didnt see the report on Blake until Monday. After the advisory expired, Bonacci said he pushed information on Blakes disappearance to traditional and social media to ask the publics help in finding Blake. Even before the information was pushed out through the media channels, Bonacci said officers made extensive efforts to find Blake. I can guarantee you those officers looked for him. There was an effort to find him, Bonacci said. Bonacci and Schrage said OPD has deployed extensive resources in the search for Blake. Those include bringing in bloodhounds from Cook County, Illinois, to sniff for traces of Blake and using drones as officers continue to thoroughly comb through areas where Blake frequently was most recently seen. Bonacci said police have even looked at missing persons reported in other states that had similar descriptions to Blake. Wells said he believes Blakes race he is Black played a role in the search. I just think that if he were a White man, the search efforts would have been more intense, he said. Bonacci denied that race played any factor. He added that Blakes disappearance was the first time the Omaha police had offered a reward for help in locating a missing person in his three years as a police spokesperson. We do not feel race played any role in our response to the investigation, Bonacci said. Weve put a lot of hours and lots of resources into this. This is important to us. The longer Blake remains missing, the more pessimistic Collier is about his fathers fate. Blake, who was described as generally wearing slacks and T-shirts, disappeared days before high temperatures reached the 100s and months before extremely cold weather afflicted the area. Theres a huge possibility that hes no longer amongst (us) as a living, breathing human being, Collier said. In the wake of his fathers disappearance, Collier said he is forming the Levi Blake Foundation to help raise funds to find other missing Omahans and return them home to their loved ones. While Schrage and police have taken investigatory steps including collecting DNA samples in case Blakes body is found, officers are continuing to search for him under the premise that hes still alive. A stubborn band of mixed precipitation is expected to continue falling in eastern Nebraska on Monday ahead of a warm front that should push temperatures back into the 60s later in the week. The cold front that brought some much-needed rain to the area Sunday is predicted to turn some of the precipitation into snow, particularly in northeast Nebraska. Dirk Petersen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, said Omaha is likely to see some snow after 7 p.m. Monday. (The precipitation) should be completely done by 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Petersen said. We are expecting to see just a trace of snow in Omaha. The forecast calls for the heaviest snow, up to 4 inches, to occur west of Omaha. The eastern edge of that snow band could clip Knox and Antelope Counties where a winter storm watch is in effect. It appears there will be sharp cutoff in snow on that eastern edge. The Nebraska Department of Transportation and the Nebraska State Patrol are urging travelers to be prepared for dangerous winter driving conditions in the western part of the state. Several inches of snow could fall across western and central Nebraska, with strong winds and bitterly cold temperatures. A blizzard warning has been issued for an area ranging from southwest to north-central Nebraska through 1 a.m. CDT Tuesday. This winter storm will create dangerous driving conditions across a large portion of our state, said Col. John Bolduc, superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. Our troopers and dispatchers are prepared to help, but before you attempt to travel during this storm, please consider whether travel is absolutely necessary. The high temperature in Omaha on Monday is forecast to be 59, Petersen said. Temperatures in the 50s are predicted for eastern Nebraska, courtesy of warm air moving up from the south, he said. Watch out for a fast temperature drop Monday night with thermometers going from about 45 degrees at 7 p.m. down into the low 20s in a four-hour stretch. A high of just 34 degrees is in the forecast for Tuesday in Omaha, Petersen said. By about Tuesday at 7 a.m. the (precipitation) will have left the area and sunshine will begin to warm up the roads, he said. Temperatures are expected to rebound Wednesday with a high of 47 degrees predicted for Omaha. The average high at this time of year is 56 with a low of 33. The warming trend is forecast to continue Thursday with a high of 62 under mostly sunny skies in Omaha. Temperatures are predicted to reach 68 Friday and 63 Saturday. Chances for more rain will be practically nil until at least Easter, Petersen said. Any precipitation Sunday is currently expected to be in the form of a warm, spring rain with a temperature of 63 again in the forecast. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2024 SEATTLE Every part of Barbara Peraza-Garcia and her familys single-room apartment in Seattle has a double or even triple purpose. The 180-square-foot room is filled with an air mattress where she, her partner and their children, ages 2 and 4, sleep. Its also where they play or watch TV. At mealtimes, it becomes their dining room. Its a tight squeeze for the family of asylum seekers from Venezuela. But at $900 a month more than $550 less than the average studio in Seattle the micro-apartment with a bare-bones bathroom and shared kitchen was just within their budget and gave them a quick exit from their previous arrangement sleeping on the floor of a church. Its warm. We can cook ourselves. We have a private bathroom. Its quiet, said Peraza-Garcia, whose family came to the U.S. to escape crime in Venezuela and so she could access vital medication to combat cysts on her kidney. We can be here as a family now. Boarding houses that rented single rooms to low-income, blue-collar or temporary workers were prevalent across the U.S. in the early 1900s. Known as single room occupancy units, or SROs, they started to disappear in the postwar years amid urban renewal efforts and a focus on suburban single-family housing. Now the concept is reappearing with the trendy name of micro-apartment and aimed at a much broader array of residents as cities buffeted by surging homelessness struggle to make housing more affordable. If youre a single person and you want a low-cost place to live, thats as cheap as youre going to get without trying to find a subsidized apartment, said Dan Bertolet, senior director of housing and urbanism for the nonprofit research center Sightline Institute. The Pacific Northwest is a leader in the resurgence of this form of affordable housing. Oregon last year passed a bill opening the door for micro-apartments and Washington state lawmakers this year did the same, starting to clear red tape that for years has limited construction of the tiny units, which are about a third the size of an average studio apartment. The Washington bill, which was signed last week by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee after receiving nearly unanimous support in the Legislature, would require most cities to allow micro-apartments in residential buildings with at least six units. Extremely low-income renters those below federal poverty guidelines or earning 30% of the area median income face a shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental homes, according to a recent National Low Income Housing Coalition report. Such households account for 11 million or nearly one-quarter of renters nationwide, the report said. The U.S. lost hundreds of thousands of SROs in the last half of the 20th century as associations with poverty and substandard accommodation sparked restrictive zoning laws. Some cities outlawed their construction altogether a loss some housing experts say helped contribute to the homelessness crisis. Facing that crisis and a critical housing shortage, cities and states across the nation are now shifting their stance. In December, as her state grappled with a massive influx of migrants, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $50 million program aimed at repairing and renovating 500 SROs across the state. New York City lost at least 70,000 such units between the early 20th century and 2014, according to a report from New York University's Furman Center. But there is concern that this type of affordable housing is not an ideal fit for an especially vulnerable group families. There are more than 3,800 unhoused families with children in the Seattle area, among the highest in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2023 one-night count. Cities need to focus on building affordable housing that also includes larger units, such as studios and one-bedroom apartments, said Marisa Zapata, a land-use planning professor at Portland State University. The bill passed by Oregon lawmakers last year requires local governments to allow single room occupancy units in areas zoned for residential use. The provision took effect Jan. 1. Central City Concern, a Portland-based homeless services nonprofit, leases more than 1,000 SRO units both subsidized and not to people who are considered extremely low income. It helps people struggling to access housing due to things like eviction histories and poor credit scores. The units have a median rent of $550 a month, making them a vital option for people exiting homelessness or living on fixed incomes, such as those with disabilities, said Sarah Holland, senior director of supportive housing and employment. Over 80% of tenants were formerly homeless, she said, and some have been living in their units for 30 years. Cheyenne Welbourne moved into one of the nonprofits micro-apartments in downtown Portland last March after years of living on the streets. The room, which has a curtained-off toilet and sink, is just big enough to fit a single bed, a chair and a TV. But to him, its a treasured home that hes decorated with colorful lights, potted plants and action figures. All I had was just me and my backpack, and thats it, he said. I was just happy to be in here and that I didnt have to spend another winter out there. I just want a home, you know? A nice home, a decent home. Why tiny micro-apartments are making a big comeback The Nebraska State Patrol seized 20 pounds of cocaine during an Interstate 80 traffic stop about 10 miles east of York Saturday. Around 12:15 p.m., a trooper stopped an eastbound BMW X5 for allegedly speeding on the interstate, according to a press release from the State Patrol. The trooper became suspicious of alleged criminal activity from the 40-year-old New Jersey man who was driving the BMW. Troopers searched the luxury SUV and found the 20 pounds of cocaine concealed inside several hidden compartments, according to the release. York County sheriffs deputies assisted with the search. Law enforcement arrested the man on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver. The man was taken to York County Jail. LINCOLN After less than two hours of debate, Nebraska lawmakers on Monday approved a controversial pick to lead the states Department of Health and Human Services. The Legislature voted 28-8 to confirm the appointment of Steve Corsi as the departments chief executive officer. Gov. Jim Pillen appointed Corsi in August to replace former DHHS CEO Dannette Smith. The vote was mostly along party lines, with State Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha as the only Democrat to vote yes. A number of Democrats were present but not voting, as was Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who is nonpartisan. Hunt filed a motion to reconsider the vote, but that motion was not immediately debated. According to Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler, there is a window of five days during which a reconsideration motion can be heard on the floor, and its up to the speaker to determine the schedule. As of Monday afternoon, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch said he wasnt sure when he would schedule the motion. Corsi has drawn criticism for his past social media activity. He didnt write any of the posts that concerned critics, but Corsi liked messages that questioned proven COVID-19 treatments, referred to homosexuality as a sin and claimed that transgender individuals were mentally ill. Corsi made his Twitter account private after critics began to highlight his activity on the social media platform now known as X. Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, who sits on the Legislatures Health and Human Services Committee, led the opposition to his confirmation Monday and provided lawmakers with binders full of information on Corsis history, including his social media and previous work history. During his confirmation hearing in February, Corsi said that he didnt want people to jump to conclusions about him based on the posts he liked and said he doesnt judge anyone. When Cavanaugh referenced specific posts, however, Corsi indicated his agreement with most of the opinions the posts he approved mentioned, including that abortion isnt health care and that there is only one race. On Monday, Cavanaugh said a number of state health and human services agency employees reached out to her after the hearing with concerns about Corsis appointment. The workers who spoke to Cavanaugh told of exchanges with Corsi that left them discouraged, she said. He makes his employees feel like they are wrong in existence, Cavanaugh said. Cavanaugh also had questioned Corsi about the job he held immediately before his appointment: executive leader for Utah consulting company Epiphany Associates. She said he should have disclosed the job publicly, given that he was employed at Epiphany just four days before he began his role at DHHS. Pillen entered Nebraska into a $10 million contract with Epiphany to work on ways to reduce government waste. Although news of the contract broke after Corsi stopped working at the company, the contract had been signed in June when he was still employed. Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, chair of the HHS committee, said Corsis confirmation hearing gave him more confidence about the appointees ability to lead the department. He said Corsi had been open, available, transparent and honest with him, and said his previous work history bodes well for how he will serve. I think he will do a very good job, like he has in the past, Hansen said. Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, another committee member, said he voted to advance Corsis confirmation because he believes Pillen should be able to choose the members of his team, and will be held accountable for the good or the bad that comes from his choices. In response, Cavanaugh said the Legislatures role is to ensure gubernatorial appointments wont lead to harm, which she said Corsis appointment would. Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha said lawmakers shouldnt just go along with a problematic appointment, and said Corsi supporters havent given good justification for why lawmakers should support him. I feel a bit like were asleep at the wheel, said Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha. Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2024 The yahoo boy A self-acclaimed internet fraudster aka yahoo boy was almost lynched to death a few days ago after he was allegedly caught while trying to use a little 6-year-old boy for rituals in Delta state. It was gathered that the young man pretended to be mentally unstable in order to carry out the nefarious act in Sapele area of the state. It was gathered that he was apprehended while trying to blow powder (which had cowries round it) on the boy in a bid to hypnotize him. The suspect was immediately captured and beaten mercilessly by the mob. It was revealed that during the beating, the young man was making some incantations for reasons best known to him, before he was stabbed in the chest with a sharp object. The police later came to his rescue as the suspect was dragged to a station in the area for further interrogation. Senators yesterday took partisan positions on the involvement of the military in the yet-to-be concluded general elections. They were close to exchanging blows in the chamber over alleged militarisation of the process. Another issue that pitted the lawmakers against one another was an alleged inconsistent application of electoral laws by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Tempers rose. Discordant and acrimonious voices became the order in the hallowed chamber, which was sharply divided along party lines, with All Progressives Congress (APC) senators squaring up to their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts, for a possible offensive. Senate President Bukola Saraki came to the rescue to no avail. The lawmakers shouted and threw punches into the air. The row was sparked by a motion on The militarisation of the Nigerian electoral process and the inconsistent application of electoral laws by the INEC. It was sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) with senators Mao Ohuabunwa (Abia North), Matthew Urhoghide (Edo South), Samuel Anyanwu (Imo East), Clifford Ordia (Edo Central), Ahmed Ogembe (Kogi Central), Biodum Olujimi (Ekiti South) and Obinna Ogba (Ebonyi Central) as co-sponsors. Melaye claimed that the ADC to the Governor of Kogi State mounted a roadblock with over 200 security agents, some of who were fake on the eve of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections. Many PDP members, he said, were denied access into Kogi State. According to him, a former governor of the state, Idris Wada, was forced to return to Abuja when his security aides were arrested. He went on: Some senators here and members of the House of Representatives were stopped from coming into Lokoja. I had to consult some celestial powers and that was how I got into Kogi State and my village through celestial powers. This is not about PDP or APC. This is about Nigeria. Where is NPN? where is UPN? All these things will come and go. The Senate cannot look the other way while these things are ongoing. Lecturers and Youth Corps members were killed during the elections. It is pathetic that there is no national broadcast from the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. We must not have this kind of elections again in this country, Melaye concluded. The Kogi West senator prayed the Senate to: condemn the massive use of military forces in the national electoral process; urge the INEC to ensure the unrestricted and consistent application of all electoral laws without bias to a candidate or a party in all elections; direct the Senate Committee on INEC to investigate all perceived inconsistent application of electoral laws by INEC in the 2019 elections; and urge the President to give assent to the recent amendment to the Electoral Act to ensure a level playing field and adoption of equal standards in our national elections for a strong and peaceful democracy in Nigeria. Seconding the motion, Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan said the Senate has a role to ensure the provision of necessary legislative intervention. Lawan said: We are here to smoothen processes in all affairs of governance. The challenges of elections in Nigeria have been here with us. We should consider those things we feel need the intervention of the Senate. I believe that our process remains a journey. Our electoral process needs a lot of refining and fine-tuning. The executive is also concerned. Here, we have an opportunity to discuss with INEC what the challenges have been so that we can have an evaluation of the entire situation. The ball is in our court. We should review what happened and see where legislative intervention is required. Then we will put it up before the executive. When INEC postponed the election, we were concerned because it was becoming a trend that must be stopped. Trouble started when Minority Leader Biodun Olujimi spoke about election rigging. Mrs Olujimi said: What happened on the 23rd of February has been captured by Melaye. We are Nigerians and we are in Nigeria. For this country to favour us, we must speak truth to power. Whoever is siding what happened during the elections because of partisanship, he or she is unfair to Nigeria. That election was a sham. There was no way that election would have been an advancement of what we had in 2015. INEC was inconsistent. They used different methods in many places. They used EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) and Civil Defence (Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps) to rout people. Someone, somewhere, has refused to give assent to the electoral amendment. During the elections, rigging was legalised. We need to look at that as a legislature. Nigeria belongs to all of us. Being a member of a political party doesnt make you more Nigerian. Nigeria has to move forward. APC must surrender itself to the processes in Nigeria. Mrs. Olujimis attempt to reel out the shortcomings of the elections did not go down well with her colleagues, especially from the APC camp. Lawan took the floor and called for caution. The Yobe North senator said: There is an established process already in place. Whoever has any grievances can explore the options that have been made available. I dont think this issue should be permitted here. He reminded the Senate that the motion was specific, stressing that extraneous issues should not be brought in. Fearing degeneration of the debate, Saraki said: We have an opportunity to take this motion and find a solution. Those contributing should not deviate from the issue so that we dont have a turbulent session. Let me restrict us. Sarakis plea for decorum failed as it appeared that the senators had made up their minds about the motion. Senator Mao Ohuabunwa said that the Senate should treat prayers of the motion dispassionately to ensure credible elections and a level-playing field. The Abia North senator said that it was commendable that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, had set up a panel of enquiry on the role of the military The four prayers raised by Melaye created another round of rancour. APC senators appeared to have voted heavily against the prayers but Saraki overruled them to pave the way for the adoption of the prayers. Fresh details have shown a British executive as a recipient of millions of pounds from the multi-billion dollar Malabu oil deal. Peter Bosworth and trading firm, Arcadia Petroleum, have been named in multiple court documents as among the recipients of funds from the deal, documents obtained by Finance Uncovered, and The Times, have reported. The Malabu deal is the subject of criminal proceedings in Milan, Italy. Two middlemen have been convicted in one case, while Shell and Eni, two multinationals at the centre of the controversial deal, as well as some of their officials are also being prosecuted. The deal is also the subject of civil action in the United Kingdom (UK), where Nigeria has filed a High Court claim against the oil multinationals and JP Morgan, the bank through which the funds were diverted. Shell, Eni, some of their ex-officials and two former Nigerian ministers, Chief Dan Etete and Mohammed Adoke, are also being prosecuted in Nigeria for their roles in the scandal. Etete was former Petroleum Affairs Minister and Adoke, former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. Adoke, through his lawyers, spoke of plans to seek judicial protection, as according to him, whatever transpired while he forte the fault, was official. Finance Uncovered found that 55-year-old Bosworth and Arcadia Petroleum have been named as having together received $16 million originating from the deal. The Malabu scandal involved the transfer of about $1.1 billion by oil multinationals, Shell and ENI, through the Nigerian government to accounts controlled by Etete. From accounts controlled by Etete, about half the money ($520 million) went to the accounts of companies jointly controlled by Abubakar Aliyu, popularly known in Nigeria as the owner of AA oil, and Mr Etete. Anti-corruption investigators and activists suspect Mr Aliyu fronted for top officials in the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, as well of officials of Shell and ENI. The transaction was allegedly authorised in 2011 by Dr. Jonathan through some of his cabinet ministers, and the money was payment for OPL 245, one of Nigerias richest oil blocks. Although Shell and ENI initially claimed they did not know the money would end up with Etete and his cronies, evidence has shown that claim to be false. Shell later admitted it did know the money would go to government officials. Shell, Eni, Etete, Aliyu and several officials of the oil firms are being prosecuted in Italy for their roles in the scandal. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has raised alarm over the safety of its governorship candidate in Osun state, Senator Ademola Adeleke. In a statement signed by the partys spokesman on Sunday, Kola Ologbondiyan, it accuses the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of using some elements in the police to bully its candidate in a bid to make him abandon the fight for his stolen mandate. Ologbondiyan in the statement said the party has new information revealing how the APC is seeking to forcefully hound Adeleke into a police station where he will be incarcerated and put out of circulation before the determination of the matters in court. He said that apart from executing the alleged APC script, some elements in the police have no other reason for continuously hounding Senator Adeleke, as he is already in court for all the frivolous allegations preferred against him. The statement said, If they truly want Senator Adeleke for any new issue connected with the charges for which he is already in court, it should present such before the court instead of resorting to bullying. ALSO READ: Adelekes WAEC certificate: What happened in court on Thursday Nigerians will recall that the PDP had earlier alerted of threats to Senator Adelekes life. These threats have not only continued unabated but have heightened with this renewed hounding by these elements in the police, who are being used by the APC. Our party cautions that Nigerians are not ready to accept any excuse from anybody should Senator Adeleke suddenly becomes a victim of accidental discharge, sudden disappearance or failed health. They know whom to hold responsible. The APC should end this siege on Senator Adeleke and accept the fact that he has the mandate of the people of Osun state as their governor and no form of machination will subvert this reality. The PDP, therefore, charges the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed to rein-in his men on issues related to Senator Adelekes determination to retrieve his governorship mandate, which was stolen by the APC. Mrs. Eunice Kole Johnson According to a report by NewTelegraph, Mrs. Eunice Kole Johnson (60) has narrated how she suddenly jerked up from sleep to find a total stranger attempting to stab her to death. Johnson is presently asking the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, to launch investigation to find out those who hired the stranger to kill her. The stranger would later be identified as Jonathan Utueze by policemen. Johnson explained that the stranger attacked her with a broken bottle. He had already stabbed her hand and was going for her neck, when she suddenly opened her eyes, saw the descending bottle and used her hand to block it. The old woman was attacked in her shop at Aswani Market, Isolo, Lagos. Johnson, who still appears shaken, said: I would have been a dead person, but for the divine intervention. The man was aiming for my neck with a broken bottle when I woke up. He had already stabbed me once. Recalling the event of that fateful May 7th, Johnson said that she had been selling in the market for over 20 years and had never had such a scaring experience. She said: I came to the market in the early hours of the day and opened my shop. I have health challenges and on that day I was feeling out of sort and decided to take my medicine. Even after taking the medicine, I still was not feeling well. I went into my shop and lay on a table. My friend, Mrs. Cedi Osaigbovo, who has a shop beside my own, asked what was wrong with me. I told her that I was not feeling well. A few minutes later, I fell asleep. Suddenly, I heard a sound and thought that something fell from the shelf and landed on my hand. As I opened my eyes, I saw a man standing before me, holding a broken bottle. I didnt even know that he had already stabbed me on my hand. I didnt feel the first stab. He was just about to stab me on the neck, when I opened my eyes. I used my left hand to block the descending bottle. I screamed and asked him the crime I had committed against him. I also asked him who sent him to kill me. I was soaked in blood. He had stabbed my two hands with the bottle. Other traders heard me shout and rushed to my shop. The young man ran out. Johnson said that she was in shock and pains and couldnt explain what transpired when concerned friends started asking questions. According to her, when the stranger attempted to escape, young men in the market chased after him. Traders fashioned bandages for Johnsons injuries and took her to the Iyaloja. The assailant was also caught and taken to the Iyaloja. Johnson said: The young man was tied with a rope. I begged Iyaloja to ask him my offence against him. When Iyaloja noticed I was bleeding too much, she instructed that I should be taken to hospital. I was taken to St. Emmanuel Hospital, close to Aswani Market. The hospital refused to treat me, insisting that I must collect card for N10,000 or deposit N8,000. People that went with me begged them, but they refused. Johnson further narrated: When Iyaloja heard about the hospitals attitude, she told people to take me to Isolo General Hospital. I was beginning to get weak; I had lost too much blood. I could hardly speak. I tried to remember if I had offended anyone, but couldnt think of anyone. Johnson said that at the General Hospital, she was attended to after a little delay. The delay was because the hospital was asking for police report. One of my educated friends challenged them by making reference to the Lagos State government law. The law states that hospitals should treat injured persons without police report. The woman said she was put in a wheelchair and taken to Emergency Unit. Johnson was treated and given three drips. The doctor said that if I had not been treated when I was, that I would have been dead. He said that I had lost a lot of blood, said Johnson. The woman was placed on admission. She was still at the hospital when she heard that her assailant was at Aswani Police Station. Johnson was at the hospital when police asked her brother to tell her to come to the station to write a statement. Johnson said: I told him that I was in pains. What I needed was to go home and rest. The Investigating Police Officer (IPO), a woman, came to me in the car, just as I was leaving, to insist that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) wanted me to come to the station at 9a.m. the following day. I pleaded that they should give me time to recover. She was told that if she didnt come to the police, it would be taken that she didnt want to press for charges. As I was explaining my condition to her, the DPO with other senior officers came to where we parked. They took pictures of me with their phones. Later, the DPO said, woman you must come tomorrow morning. The following day, I was not myself. I was in pains. Later in the day, the policewoman called me. Two days later, I was able to go to the police station. And as I was discussing with the IPO, the DPO came in. The IPO said that she was sure that I had money to make case. I told her that I didnt have money. She said that I needed to bring money to hire Black Maria, which would take the suspect to court. She said that I should bring N10,000 to register the case in court. Johnson further stated: I learnt that our market leaders, who came to the police station, gave them N15,000. I told the IPO that it was the responsibility of government to provide the necessary things in court for the citizens. The police laughed at me, saying that people even pay for writing statements at the police station. The IPO told one of the elders to go and tell the DPO that I was not interested in making a case anyone. The man left for the DPOs office, came back to say that the DPO insisted I should go and look for money. The IPO threatened to release the suspect if I didnt bring money. Johnson said that she was at the police station until 1p.m., when she started feeling pains. But then the IPO insisted Johnson should bring money for a vehicle to court, one of the market leaders went and hired a tricycle. When they got to the Magistrates Court, Isolo, the IPO went in and returned to claim that she had registered the case. At the court, I saw the market leader giving the IPO money. I started feeling dizzy. I complained and the market leader asked me to go home. The IPO saw me leave and called me back. She asked where I was going, I said home. She started complaining that I didnt want to bring out money to prosecute the case. She said that I was not ready for a case. She said that I didnt want to spend money, she added. Osaigbovo, who was among the people that took Johnson to the hospital, said: My friend is not a trouble person. Im still in shock. I dont understand why that man wanted to kill my friend. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bala Elkana, explained that after the attack, the suspect was arrested and charged to court. When told about the allegation of police extortion of Johnson and her friends at Aswani Police Station, Elkana said that it was a lie. He added: Nothing like that happened. The DPO provided the vehicle that took the suspect, Jonathan Utueze, to court. It is the responsibility of police station to provide vehicle that will convey the suspect to court. The suspect was arrested and charged with assault. By Izunna Okafor, Awka Ear-piercing echoes of Hosanna rent the air in Awka, the capital city of Anambra State on Sunday, as members of the Anglican Church of Redemption, Awka (ACORA), evangelically stormed the streets with their palm fronds to marks the 2024 Palm Sunday. The celebration saw the throng of happy congregation dance-march with the ACORA Brigade Band from the church premises through the UNIZIK Temporary Site Junction, up to Abakaliki Street Junction, and back to the church, where they were welcomed back with melodious tunes from the corners of the Redemption Gospel Band. The well-attended service which held with the theme Christs Simplicity and Humility had earlier featured a series of choruses and sonorous renditions that made the day a symbolic one, marking the commemoration of Christs entry into Jerusalem as King. Earlier in his homily, Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Ogbuefi, described Christ as a true model and embodiment of simplicity and humility, who, despite His Godly status, Himself throughout His stay in earth, even unto death on the cross. Dwelling on Luke 11:14 and Phillipians 2:5-11, he urged the congregation to emulate Christ and his humility, reminding them that anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, while anyone who humbles himself will be lifted high. The Anglican cleric decried the rate of arrogance and pomposity people display in the society today due to one reason or the other, which, he said, are all vanities and transient. Many times, we dont understand the vanity of life, because it is what makes us to be sophisticated. Whatever that arrogates you now will eventually collapse. And , mind you that whatever you are or have achieved in life, someone else has been or achieved more than that in the past. So, theres nothing to be proud about in life, he said. Continuing, he said, You cannot follow Christ with arrogance; you must drop it. That was why Christ said that anyone who must follow Him must first deny himself, then, pick up his cross and follow Him. If you dont humble yourself, God will not only humble you, but also humiliate you, because He hates pride. So, my brothers and sisters, whatever that is making you to be proud in life, keep it aside, it is not worth it. Simply emulate the simplicity and humility of Christ, and you will never regret it. In their separate remarks, the Vicar of the Church, Ven. Dr. Obiora Alokwu, and Rev. Can. Clement Izuegbu, extolled the beauty and richness of the Anglican church and the Anglican tradition, while also urging members to participate actively in the Holy Week activities that have already kicked off to herald the Easter Sunday. Highpoints of the event include the outdoor procession, enthralling ministration by the Redemption Band, as well as the melodious anthemic rendition of the Frederic E. Weatherlys The Holy City, among other side attractions that made the service joyous and glorious. See photos below and visit the ACORA FACEBOOK PAGE for more photos: Related The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Sunday called on the Defence Headquarters to direct its energy to Finland-based legal practitioner, Simon Ekpa who has been terrorising the South East with violence. IPOB was reacting to the declaration of its Head, Directorate of State, Mazi Chika Edoziem as a wanted person by the Nigerian Defence Headquarters. But in his response to the declaration, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Lead Counsel for IPOB and its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, in a statement, said he would proceed to coury to challenge the declaration. He said, I have been inundated with calls and messages from well meaning Biafrans and individuals, expressing their concerns following the purported declaration of Mazi Chika Edoziem, the Head of the Directorate of State of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), as a wanted person by the Nigerian Defence Headquarters. The Indigenous People of Biafra which I am its Lead Counsel, has remained a peaceful global movement, recognised and registered in several countries across the globe; exercising their legitimate rights to self determination which is a right guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution and other international laws and statutes. Nigerian security agencies are not under any form of illusion about the identity of the chief mastermind of the heinous criminal activities in our land and their foot soldiers. IPOB and my humble self spent months and years shouting on top of our voices vide various publications on the devastating activities of these criminals on our land, and the deliberate attribution of their heinous criminal activities to IPOB. READ ALSO: Troops of Joint Task Force Operation UDO KA raid IPOB/ESN camp in Ebonyi, recover arms The reason for this deliberate attribution of the criminal, murderous and evil activities of Simon Ekpas led criminal gangs to the IPOB peaceful global movement, is the consequences of todays declaration. Those who are in a position to continue making this clarification and denouncing the monstrous activities of Ekpa and his gangs, by also distancing them from peaceful activities of IPOB, but deliberately chose to shirk this compelling responsibility for reasons best known to them, are now faced with the terrible consequences of their secret romance with Ekpa. I wish to assure all Ezigbo Umuchineke and Biafrans that there is absolutely no cause for alarm. I believe in the rule of law, and be assured that the legality or otherwise of this misguided pronouncement shall be tested in a law court, because I see no justification whatsoever for such pronouncement as it concerns Mazi Chika Edoziem. I urge all Ezigbo Umuchineke to remain peaceful and law abiding as they have always been. Justice must certainly prevail in the end. The Group Managing Director of COSSE Group, one of the leading integrated marketing communications (imc) in Nigeria, Mr. Funmi Onabolu has followed in the footsteps of Dr. Biodun Shobanjo of Executive Chairman, Troyka Holdings and Sir Steve Omojafor, Chairman, STB McCann Group to be named the prestigious chairman of the 2024 Industry Summit. The event themed: Sustainable Marketing for Growth would also feature Dr. Felix King Eiremiokhae, Group Managing Director of Oracle Experience, the largest experiential marketing agency in West Africa as the Co-Chair. The summit, which is scheduled to hold on Friday, May 3rd, 2024 at the Marcelinas Place Ikeja GRA, Lagos would also feature the marketing director of Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Emmanuel Oriakhi as keynote speaker, the head of unit, sustainability at Access Bank, Mrs. Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan and manager brand, strategy & communications at Stanbic IBTC, Ms. Rita Akao will feature as guest speakers. Onabolu with over 41 years of work experience in the Nigerian advertising industry is a seasoned marketing communications professional with a passion for creating and deploying simple but effective solutions to marketing challenges. According to him, I have a strong expertise in integrated marketing, advertising, content, experiential marketing, media planning and buying, digital marketing, and channel solutions adding that I currently lead COSSE Ltd, a group of specialist companies that offer a full range of marketing communications services to clients across various sectors and industries. His top skills include strategic brand consulting, brand communication, advertising, integrated marketing communications planning, and brand activation. In the press statement signed by the Publisher of The Industry Newspaper/Convener of The Industry Summit/Awards (TIES), Mr. Goddie Ofose, he said that The 5th edition of the Industry Summit is focusing on sustainable marketing, which is a purpose-driven practice that works to orientate businesses, brands and society towards a sustainable future, influencing appropriate awareness, aspiration, adoption and action across economic and sociocultural systems by taking necessary accountability for its impacts and opportunities. In todays ever-evolving world, debating whether to incorporate sustainability into business strategy is no longer an option. Considering a values-driven approach when developing business strategies can be vital to long-term success he said. Therefore, we have carefully selected these professionals and experts to deliberate on the subject matter, highlight challenges and proffer solutions where private and public sectors could take lessons from and improve upon whatever they have been doing, Ofose added. The Industry Summit/Awards is a brainchild of The Industry Newspaper Limited, publishers of The Industry Newspaper (theindustry.ng) and 789marketing.ng. The summit is designed to bring together industry leaders across the continent in all sectors in the quest to rev up conversations that will move the Nigeria business, economy and communication industry forward. The actor, famous for his comical roles on screen, passed away after a protracted battle with a kidney disease, stroke, and stroke. The tragic news of Mounagors death was confirmed by a family source on the evening of Sunday, March 24, 2024. This is coming barely one week after a video circulated online showing the 61-year-old actor lying still in bed, requesting financial aid to support his kidney transplant. Sitting next to the Nollywood legend was a fellow actor, Kingsley Orji, who pleaded on his behalf. According to Orji, the kidney disease had caused speech impairment for the ailing actor, and they decided to bring him home from the hospital due to a lack of funds. Orji had earlier revealed that Muonagor had been battling diabetes and stroke, with the latter causing paralysis in his leg. Traditional rulers in Delta State have vowed to aid security agencies in apprehending the perpetrators responsible for the killing of military officers in Okuama community. The monarchs described the killings as unprovoked and barbaric, which led to the deaths of the officers on rescue missions. Rising from a meeting of the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers in Asaba, the monarchs, in a five-point communique issued at the end of the meeting, condemned the killings. Council Chairman and Orodje of Okpe, Major-General Felix Mujakpuero (retd), Orhue I, while commiserating with the immediate families of the slain officers, the Nigerian Army and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, prayed that God grant their souls eternal rest. The Delta monarchs called on the Delta State government to set up an independent investigative panel of inquiry to ascertain the immediate and remote cause of the communal crisis between Okuama and Okoloba communities. The royal fathers also appealed to the Nigerian Army to carry out their search for the perpetrators of the killing of the gallant officers in line with global best practices. They called on members of the public to stop peddling falsehoods and unsubstantiated claims, as such action could further exacerbate the already fragile peace in the state. The meeting was attended by the immediate past chairman of the council and Obi of Owa, Dr Emmanuel Efeizomor II; the first vice chairman and Pere of Akugbene Mien, SP Luke Kalanama VIII; and the second vice chairman and Obi of Ubulu-Unor, Agbogodi Henry Kikachukwu I, among others. Young Nigerians have been warned by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to be cautious of fraudulent oil and gas job offers in West African countries. The agency disclosed that it uncovered a new ploy by some human traffickers exploiting coordinated global brand trademarks and offering unrealistic oil and gas job offers to traffic unsuspecting youths and other classes of people to neighbouring West African countries for various forms of exploitation. A statement on Sunday by NAPTIP Communication Officer, Adekoye Vincent, said that the Director-General of NAPTIP, Prof Fatima WaziriAzi, revealed the alarming trend at the agencys headquarters in Abuja while discussing emerging trends in human trafficking for 2024. Titled Beware of Fake Oil and Gas Jobs in West African Countries NAPTIPS Alerts Nigerians On New Tricks By Human Traffickers, the anti-human trafficking agency said it had redoubled its efforts recently through enhanced partnership, collaboration, diligent prosecution, and extensive awareness campaigns aimed at bolstering its operations, resulting in a significant increase in convictions of human traffickers. The statement quoted the NAPTIP DG as emphasising the need for comprehensive enlightenment strategies to equip Nigerians with timely and accurate information to reduce their vulnerability. Waziri-Azi said, As part of our comprehensive enlightenment strategies to equip Nigerians with timely and accurate information to reduce their vulnerability, we have received reports indicating that traffickers have adopted new tactics to lure unsuspecting victims, predominantly to Ghana, Cote dIvoire, Liberia, and other West African nations. Under the guise of lucrative employment opportunities in gold mining and oil companies, victims are enticed with promises of monthly incomes as high as Nine Hundred Dollars ($900.00), which, as always, are blatant lies. Victims are often instructed to bring up to Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N850,000) for documentation and other logistical expenses. Upon arrival at their destination, traffickers confiscate this money, along with the victims phones and other personal belongings, the statement quoted her to have said. The targeted demographic includes male and female victims aged between 15 and 35 years old. They are typically trafficked through the waterways of Ode Jetty in Lagos en route to Benin Republic and other parts of the West African region. Some victims are also trafficked via land routes. WaziriAzi, however, reiterated her earlier appeal to Nigerians to exercise caution, ask questions, and seek a second opinion before accepting any tempting offers. Do not allow desperation to cloud your judgment, the statement said. NAPTIP remains committed to combating human trafficking and protecting the rights and dignity of all Nigerians. For further information or to report suspected cases of human trafficking, please contact: 07030000203 or 627 (Only on the MTN Network). The crisis within the Labour Party, LP, escalated significantly last week, as members of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, staged protests at the partys national headquarters and several state offices. Amidst this turmoil, indications suggest that the partys 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and his supporters, known as Obidients, have distanced themselves from the National Chairman, Julius Abure, leaving him isolated amidst the internal strife that has plagued the party since the conclusion of the 2023 general elections. Following numerous legal battles with the factional chairman, Lamidi Apapa, Abure has faced allegations of financial misconduct and other contentious issues. There are emerging speculations that Comrade Isaac Balami, a former Deputy National Campaign Manager for the Peter Obi/Dati Presidential Campaign from the Northern region, may step in to replace Abure as the partys National Chairman. When reached for comment, Balami revealed, I am under pressure to run for the chairmanship of the party, acknowledging the support from the partys youth population. However, he expressed hesitancy due to existing obstacles hindering his declaration, including uncertainties surrounding the scheduled convention. We cant joke with their position, Balami affirmed, highlighting the crucial role played by the youths in the partys recent political advancements. Dr. Yunusa Salisu Tanko, Chief Spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council for the 2023 election, addressed the controversy surrounding the convention, emphasizing Abures failure to involve the partys stakeholders in the planning process. Tanko stressed the importance of an open convention, asserting, We dont want a closed convention like the Chairman is trying to have. He echoed sentiments shared by the Nigeria Labour Congress, advocating for a convention that embraces inclusivity and transparency. Regarding rumors circulating about Peter Obis purported departure from the Labour Party ahead of the 2027 presidential elections, Tanko dismissed them as false, asserting, It is not true. Rabiu Omaku The Nasarawa State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has sympathizes with the families of seven students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi over the death of their family members during a stampede at the venue of the sharing of 7.5kg ohf rice and N5000. The party in a one-page statement signed by the State Chairman, Honorable Francis Orogu wondered why the authority concerned would embark on a distribution of palliative to a University community in the manner it did when there are well structured platforms such as Departments, Unions and religious groups that would have handled this in an orderly manner. PDP in Nasarawa state today received with shock and grief the death of some students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi steming from the stampede that occurred in the institution. The opposition party faulted those responsible for the distribution of the palliative for the unfortunate incidence, did not only see the incident as unfortunate but unnecessary considering the fact that this unfortunate and avoidable incident would have been averted if proactive measures were taken by the authorities concerned to check abuse that could lead to unfortunate outcomes like the untimely demise of these students. While grieving over the needless death of our dear students,the opposition political party extend its sincere and heartfelt condolences to the families of the 7 deceased students while praying for the quick recovery of the over 40 reportedly injured. this friday is a black and bleak one for us all as we woke up to the dreadful news of the unwarranted death of our leaders and custodians of our tomorrow on account of distribution of palliative which we see as welcome development in the face of the scarring in the State. We are concerned and worried why the students should be subjected and made to meet their unfortunate and untimely death when there are well structured channels of reaching out to the students through enhanced scholarship or remittances to their banks in a University environment such as ours. As a party , we join all well-meaning Nigerians, families, Nasarawa state University, Keffi Community, and the entire people of Nasarawa state to mourn and express our profound grief over the needless death of our dear students We extend our profound condolences to the families of these students who by no fault of theirs were made to end their existence on earth as a result of hardship. This incident, once again, demonstrates the dangers faced by our people. As a State, we must constantly remain proactive, committed to the yearnings and aspirations of our people, keep our State and the institutions of learning safe and secured for the benefit of all, the statement added. Related The Senate Committee on Nigerian Army has applauded the military and other security agencies over the successful rescue of the abducted pupils of LEA School, Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Chairman of the committee, Senator Abdulaziz Yaradua, said in a statement on Monday, that the rescue mission was swift and appropriately responsive in line with military rule of engagement, noting that it was a rare operation that stands the military and other security agents in the operation as best among equals. Yaradua, who represents Katsina Central in the 10th Senate, said the military, having worked with other security agents and local vigilantes, have nonetheless shown their unwavering commitment to ensuring the safety and security of the country. It is with profound gratitude and admiration that we commend the Nigerian Army and other Security Agencies for their swift and successful rescue operation that led to the safe return of kidnapped students of LEA School Kuriga in Chikun LGA of Kaduna State. The heroic efforts of our gallant troops, working in conjunction with local authorities and government agencies, have once again demonstrated their unwavering commitment to ensuring the safety and security of our nation. It is heartening to note that these rescued individuals have since been conveyed and handed over to the Kaduna State Government for further care and necessary action, bringing hope and relief to their families and loved ones, he said. The lawmaker added that the abducted Almajiri in Gada Local Government Council of Sokoto State in the Northwest Nigeria have also been rescued, stressing that the lofty achievement of the military showed their unalloyed commitment to protecting the sanctity of the nation Furthermore, we must also acknowledge the recent rescue operation in Gada LGA of Sokoto State, where 16 pupils (Almajiris) and a woman were freed from captivity and handed over to the Sokoto State Government. These combined efforts underscore the unwavering resolve of our armed forces to locate and rescue all hostages, as well as bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice. While we celebrate these victories, it is crucial to recognize the challenges faced by our military personnel, who are often overstretched in their duty to safeguard our nation. As a gesture of our utmost appreciation and support, we pledge to enhance legislative measures aimed at improving the welfare and well-being of our brave soldiers, as well as streamlining their operations for greater efficiency. The relentless dedication and sacrifices of our armed forces in the face of adversity are a testament to their unwavering commitment to our collective security and national well-being, he said. The federal government has frowned on the negligence of those who were in charge of the custody of Binance Executive, Nadeem Njarwalla who recently escaped from detention. The National Security Adviser, Mal. Nuhu Ribadu who confirmed the escape of Njarwalla, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria, went ahead to give more detail regarding how he escaped from custody. Speaking via a statement signed by the Head of Strategic Communications, Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, the NSA announced the arrest of those responsible for the custody of Njarwalla before his abscondment from detention. He also revealed that the detained Binance Executive was able to flee from custody using a smuggled passport while also disclosing that efforts are in top gear to apprehend him again in collaboration with INTERPOL. Although the identities of those that were in charge of Njarwalla in custody were not disclosed, there are insinuations that they reportedly helped him to escape. To get to the root of the matter, the federal government has ordered a discreet investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding Njarwallas escape. Many Nigerians have called for a serious action against all those who might have played some roles in helping Njarwalla to escape while accusing fingers pointed in the direction those personnel responsible for his custody for either aiding him or colluding with him to facilitate his escape. The National Security Adviser, Mal. Nuhu Ribadu, has confirmed the escape of Nadeem Anjarwalla, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria. Ribadu explicitly stated that Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport, and efforts are underway, in collaboration with Interpol, to issue an international arrest warrant for the suspect. Anjarwalla, one of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences, reportedly escaped from lawful custody on Friday, 22 March, from an Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained. In a statement signed by the Head of Strategic Communications, Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, the NSA confirmed the suspects escape and announced the arrest of the personnel responsible for his custody. The statement emphasized ongoing investigations to determine the circumstances surrounding the escape. The Federal Government has been investigating money laundering and terrorism financing transactions on the Binance currency exchange platform. Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serves as Binances Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts until his escape. Ribadu revealed that the suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a Nigerian court and was scheduled to appear before the court again on 4 April 2024. He urged the Nigerian public and the international community to provide any information that could assist law enforcement agencies in apprehending the suspect. By Izunna Okafor, Awka The wife of Anambra State Governor, Mrs. Nonye Soludo has mourned the passing of the legendary Nollywood actor, Chief Amaechi Muonagor, who died in the late hours of Sunday, 2024, after battling kidney failure and other protracted illnesses. Reacting to Muonagors death on her social media handle on Monday, Mrs. Soludo said she visited the legendary actor last Christmas at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, NAUTH, Nnewi. According to her, from her chats with Chief Muonagor and the assurances by the medical team at the hospital, she had hoped for a more positive outcome. She, however, regretted that every effort to save him did not bring the results that she desired. The news of Chief Amaechi Muonagors passing is a sore hit in the heart. Last Christmas, I visited this great Anambra son at the medical facility where he was recuperating. We shared jokes, and he assured me that hed bounce back soon. I believed him. This is a heartbreaking loss for our dear state and for all of us who admired Chief Muonagors screen personality. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Muonagor family through this period of grief. Rest well in Gods peaceful bosom, Aguiyi Obosi, Mrs. Soludo wrote on her social media handle. Related Instead, the team had to resort to using a diamond disc cutter to cut open the metal and relieve him of his penile strangulation. Doctors tried to slide it off using jelly and giving the man painkillers but it proved unsuccessful. They did not reveal how big the nut was. The unidentified 34-year-old, from Hong Kong, went to his nearest A&E department two days after the hex nut became lodged. A man needed to have a metal nut removed from his penis after it got stuck when he put it on his member for s*xual pleasure. Patients tend to try their own methods for removal, and present late due to embarrassment. Writing in the journal, the team led by Chloe Hui Tung Yu said: Penile strangulation by constriction devices is a urological emergency. Gruesome pictures showed the doctors using the disc cutter on his penis. They revealed he suffered two superficial cuts during the procedure. Medics at the United Christian Hospitals surgery department told the unusual tale in the journal Urology Case Reports. Dr Hui Tung Yu and colleagues admitted electric cutting tools have an associated risk of injury to the penis and surrounding structures.However, they said the tools are more efficient and successful in removing items that constrict the penis where time is of the essence.Discussing the case, the team of three medics revealed the man attended hospital in April 2018 complaining of penile swelling. They wrote: He had applied a metal hex nut over the root of his penis two days [before] for sexual pleasure but was unable to remove it afterwards. There was increase in penile swelling and pain. He was able to void (urinate) without difficulty. The head of his penis and foreskin were severely oedematous the medical term for an excessive build-up of fluid. He also had a 4cm-long skin abrasion where his penis had been strangled by the nut, with some adjacent dead tissue. Two attempts to slide the nut off the penis failed both used a jelly substance and heavy painkillers. One of the procedures was performed under general anaesthetic because the man said he could not tolerate the pain. Medics even punctured 20 holes in his swollen foreskin to try and drain some of the swelling to make it easier to come off. But Dr Hui Tung Yu and colleagues wrote: The penile skin was still oedematous, and the metal nut could not be removed. Surgeons packed gauze between the nut and penile skin before they cut it off using a Stryker disc cutter for protection. He suffered two light cuts to the skin during the 94-minute procedure they were 1cm and 2cm-long, respectively. Despite the lacerations, the metal nut was successfully removed, the team of doctors wrote in the medical report. The patient stayed in hospital for five days to keep an eye on his fever, before being given a two-week course of antibiotics. Doctors noted how the tip of his penis was well perfused but said he still had a patch of skin damaged by the strangulation. The man told doctors a month after his horrific ordeal that he was able to achieve an erection but had not yet had any sexual activity. Writing in the journal, the medics added: Penile rings are used to improve or maintain erection. A penile ring is usually worn at the base of the penis, aiming to restrict blood flow away from the penis for a stronger erection or one that lasts longer. However with prolonged application, reduced venous and lymphatic drainage may result in oedema, swelling and pain of the penis. Subsequent removal may be difficult, and the vicious cycle will continue with further compromise of arterial flow, resulting in ischemia with tissue necrosis. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday felicitated with former President Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) on his 78 birthday. The PDP in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Saturday eulogized the retired Army General for his resolute commitment to ensuing national unity of Nigeria. The statement reads: The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on behalf of the teeming members of our great party, heartily congratulates former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida GCFR, on the occasion of his 78th birthday. The PDP holds Gen. Babangida in great esteem as a patriotic, fearless and detribalized leader, who has dedicated his life for the unity, stability and development of our dear nation. Gen. Babangida is celebrated for his many legacies while in office as well as his steadfastness and exceptional commitment towards national cohesion, tolerance and peaceful coexistence in our country. Indeed, from this great Nigerian flows an enduring lesson in selfless service. His life epitomizes the true virtue of statesmanship and the fact that one can indeed climb to the very top and yet remain humble and accessible. The PDP, therefore, joins family members, friends, associates and well-wishers in rolling out the drums in celebration of this outstanding leader, while praying God to continue to bless him with many more years of good health and sound mind so that our nation will continue to benefit from his wealth of experience for the good of all. Post Views: 92 The widow meets her husbands killer The Nigeria Police Force on Wednesday arraigned in court a former Army officer that reportedly killed a motorcyclist in Obingwa, Abia State, a report by Punch has revealed. The now dismissed former Corporal Johnson Ajayi is being arraigned for murder Ajayi had, on August 7, shot and killed one Chimaobi Nwaorgu, an Okada rider in Umuokereke Ngwa in Obingwa local government area over N100 bribe. He was later dismissed by the Army after an orderly room trial and was subsequently handed over to the Police in Abia for prosecution. During the arraignment, the Police prosecutor, Adeyemi Olukoya, said the soldier was charged for a sole offence of murder. The Charge Sheet Number U/587c, Commissioner of Police Vs Ajayi Johnson (29 years) reads: That you, Johnson Ajayi, M on the 7th day of August, 2019 at Umuokereke Ngwa village Obingwa in the Obingwa Magisterial District, unlawfully killed one Chimaobi Jeremiah Nwaorgu m by shooting him with AK47 Rifle/Firearm and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 319(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap 80, Vol. 3, Laws of Abia State of Nigeria 2005. Asked for his defence counsel, the suspect, who is from Kogi State, said he was not allowed access to a defence counsel. In his ruling, the Presiding Magistrate, Linda Ugboaja, refereed the case to the office of the state Director of Public Prosecution for onward transmission to the High Court and remanded the accused in the state prison, while adjourning the matter to the 16th of September, 2019. Addressing the Press after the adjournment, wife of the victim, Chiamaka Chimaobi, cried out that that since then, life has not been easy for her and her two children. Chiamaka, who is unemployed, pleaded with government at all levels to come to her assistance by giving her a job. She also appealed to the government to ensure that she gets justice in the case. Chiamakas Counsel, Adiele Chibuzor, leading Bar. Ugo Amaraizu, said the adjournment was to enable the Ministry of Justice do the necessary things. Also speaking, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Geoffrey Ogbonna, noted that the adjournment was necessary to enable the transfer of the case to the high court. Some viral photos circulating the social media shows a mentally challenged couple celebrating Valentines Day in the streets of Edo State. In the viral photos, the couples were seen hugging and kissing each other on the street as they express their love for each other. After their public show of affection in full view of spectators, the couple walked away with the man holding the woman passionately by the waist. ALSO READ: Woman Gives Valentines Gift To Ex-Boyfriend By Destroying His New Car In Lagos [Video] Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) founder Chief Afe Babalola yesterday received the 2018 Obafemi Awolowo Prize in Leadership. Aare Babalola became the third recipient of the coveted prize since its inception. He joined the club of Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka and former South African President Thambo Mbeki. The duo won the award in the past. Chairman of the Selection Committee Chief Emeka Anyaoku explained that the Prize has not been awarded since Mbeki won it in 2014 because no individual among the nominees met the criteria for the honour. According to him, the leadership award, is for the individual who have demonstrated the attributes of political strategy, education, integrity, caring for the welfare of the masses, consistent in policies and courage for which the late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo was known. According to the former Commonwealth Secretary-General, only Aare Babalola was found worthy among the nominees considered for the 2018 award. His words: Babalola distinguished himself in the provision of quality education just like Chief Awolowo and advocacy for the masses through legal intervention and other means to deserve the award. The Chairman of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Board of Trustees, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, said history has been very kind to the late Chief Awolowo. The former Head of State noted that when the late sage was as great in death as he was when alive, adding that years after his death, his name continues to command respect and waxing stronger. Gowon said that Awolowos character and performance in public office stood him out as an uncommon leader. He said: His death at 78 was a great loss to Nigeria and humanity. It was in order to immortalise him that Awolowo Foundation was established. Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi described Chief Babalola as an icon not only in Ekiti but in Nigeria as a whole. Dr. Fayemi lauded ABUAD promoter for making a remarkable impression on education, describing the institution as a tourist attraction and urged the audience to visit to see what the legal luminary has done in his university. He described the ABUAD Teaching Hospital as the best. The Secretary of the Awo Foundation, Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu said that her late father and Chief Babalola shared similar traits. According to her, both men braved the odds to acquire education. In his response, Aare Babalola thanked the Awolowo Foundation for the honour, even as paid glowing tribute to the Awolowo dynasty. The Lagos State Government has said it will begin clinical trial for Coronavirus next week in partnership with the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC. Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, at a news conference on Monday in Lagos, said the clinical trial would be started with Coronavirus patients and staff in Lagos State. According to him, There are a lot of research going on around the world, so it is possible that at some time in the near future, we will have what we may describe as a definitive cure for COVID-19. Indeed we are setting up our own clinical trials in Lagos in collaboration with other institutions and the NCDC and hopefully by this time next week, we should have started some clinical trials on our patients and on our staff in Lagos State. However, Abayomi attributed the low number of COVID-19 cases it has recorded when compared to other countries where there is an outbreak of the infection, to residents level of compliance to the sit-at-home order by the Federal Government. He noted that the low figures recorded in the State indicated that the strategies adopted and being implemented by the State government was yielding the resources results. Abayomi explained that the State was succeeding in flattening the steep rise in the curve of transmission. We are achieving success in delaying the spread of infection and expanding the time needed to impose social distancing and other measures. This is an indication that we are gradually winning the battle against the spread of the disease, he observed. While applauding residents for complying with the restriction order, he lamented that some Lagosians still flouted the stay-at-home instruction as they are seen engaging in activities which contravene the principle of social distancing and other relevant measures put in place by government to check the spread of the virus. He advised them to adhere strictly to the order which he said has greatly helped in contact tracing of suspected cases and enabled health workers to respond swiftly in locating infected people within the state. He stated further that the isolation centres in Onikan Stadium which has been completed and delivered will be officially opened Tuesday, noting that an additional 180 bed-space facility at the Gbagada General hospital will also be commissioned by the end of the week. We have enough facilities to manage the situation. We also have enough Personal Protection Equipment in stock for our health workers. Presently, we are still operating from the Mainland Hospital where we still have 60% of our bed-space available. Our Isolation Centers in Onikan Stadium and Gbagada General Hospital will be opened tomorrow and end of the week respectively. We believe this will provide almost 300-bed space, he said NTA Staff Allegedly Brutalized By Soldiers In Ondo A staff of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) has cried out after allegedly being brutalized by soldiers of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Owena Cantonment in Akure, Ondo State who were effecting a lockdown order issued by the state government. The Engineer who disclosed that the incident occurred at Ondo Road where the NTA and the Barracks are located, said all his plea stating he was on his way home from the office fell on deaf ears even after he presented his ID card. Mr Jide Bello hinted on suing the Nigerian Army and the Ondo State government for the alleged harassment, after subjecting himself to 14 days isolation. He wrote; My unfortunate experience tonight in the hands of Nigerian army along ondo road after the evening news at exactly 1950hrs in the name of curfew declared by Ondo state government led by Mr.Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. They asked for my identification in which I obliged but education is key in any field we belong, very unfortunate the military man could not understand what I mean by NTA and could not read anything from the I.D card but thank God for a superior officer that later intervened and begged me but am looking out to sue Nigerian army and Ondo. State government for harassment. Am hereby subjecting myself to 14days isolation because I dont know what they might done to my health. He also disclosed that he has been admitted in a hospital after the alleged assault incident. Jide also wrote; BLOOMINGTON Creative minds came together for charity this weekend at a downtown Bloomington gallery that hosted its first live painting festival. The debut of DerpFest on Friday morning kicked off a 48-hour painting period at The Hanger Art Co. in which 22 artists creates new pieces of art. The festival culminated with a 1 p.m. Sunday sale at which paintings were sold with 50% of proceeds benefiting the Illinois Art Station. In total, organizers said $3,165 was collected by the sale. Hannah Johnson, executive director of the Illinois Art Station, said they were excited to be a part of the inaugural festival and hope to see it happen again. IAS' mission is to provide young artists and families from all backgrounds chances to have transformative experiences in the visual arts, she said. "What's so special about DerpFest is that it really was an introduction to the process," Johnson said, adding that IAS does the same thing when teaching kids art. "It's all about the process and not necessarily the end result ... and so we were able to spend a weekend together in community with fellow artists, with friends and family and community members, supporters of the arts and be part of that process," said Johnson. "That's an opportunity that isn't always available and is often fleeting." The highest-selling piece at $650 was the "Two Day Koi" fish painting by Sheila Lamberson, who has previously shown work at the Sugar Creek Arts Festival in Normal. The event was created by Bloomington artist Daniel DeJarld. He said he was happy with the festival turnout, and he plans to make it an annual happening. DeJarld said what made him glad was seeing people getting excited about art. Guinevere Chapin of Normal said the festival helped her get outside her comfort zone. She said it's exciting to see the art community get together. She said she mostly makes ceramics and textile arts, but she has been painting on and off since 2015. Chapin said artists usually create in private so getting to make art alongside others was inspiring. "I think this is the best kind of space to do that because everybody else is also showing off their work," she said. "So, you're all in that same vulnerable position. You're all showing off your work and bearing your soul in a sense." At DerpFest, she said she painted an art piece she titled The Devils Sooty Brother. Chapin said it was inspired by a Brothers Grimm fairly tale about a soldier who comes back from the Crusades and makes a deal with the devil. Bloomington's Sean-Thomas Gunnell painted landscape art at the festival. He said it was a combination of a sunset photo he took after a storm in Bloomington and another image he found online. He said it was also his first time trying live painting. As of Saturday night, he said he wasn't sure he'd do it again but he had a fantastic time at DerpFest. "All these wonderful, amazing artists with all their different techniques and styles and approaches ... I was talking to folks and I was amazed by the things people came up with," Gunnell said. He said one person came up to him and made a positive comment on his "cloudwork," a word he had not heard of before. Bloomington's Cassaundra Marie said the festival was a safe space for people to talk about extraterrestrial experiences and weird things they saw in the sky. Her painting, titled "heARTwortk heals," depicts an alien being. She said congressional hearings in recent years about unidentified flying objects has helped her art grow. Marie said her art's brand is "Dreamstate Visions." She said the name derives from how she paints what she's seen in her dreams. Marie said she keeps a dream journal, too. When she first got to the festival, she said she set up by the back wall because she was intimidated. It was her first time live painting, she said. "Everybody's been so nice and welcoming and inclusive. ... I want to do it again," she said. Photos: Art fans flock to Sugar Creek Arts Fest SUGAR CREEK ARTS FESTIVAL 100223-blm-loc-2sugarcreek .JPG 100223-blm-loc-3sugarcreek .JPG 100223-blm-loc-4sugarcreek.JPG BLOOMINGTON A 27-year-old Normal man faces drug charges in McLean County. Jon A. Strange is charged with unlawful delivery of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and unlawful possession of methamphetamine. Charging documents stated on Aug. 10, Strange provided under 5 grams of meth to an informant for Illinois State Police Task Force 6, a narcotics enforcement group. A judge ordered Strange to not consume or possess any alcohol or controlled substances without a prescription in his name. The McLean County State's Attorney's Office said Strange was not eligible for detention on this case, but he continues to be held on another case. An arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 29. The Pantagraph previously reported in December that Strange was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of another person's debit card. That case remains pending. Is social media fueling youth mental health crisis? Here's what the data shows Is social media fueling youth mental health crisis? Here's what the data shows Using social media for more than 30 minutes per day increases teen mental health risks Depressive symptoms and suicide-related issues linked to social media use NORMAL After years waiting for lawmakers to confirm his appointment, Normal Mayor Chris Koos has joined the Amtrak Board of Directors just as the nationwide passenger rail service is poised for transformation. The town's longest-serving mayor earned praise Monday from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Springfield, for his resilience and commitment during the extended process that led to his Jan. 23 Senate confirmation. Durbin joined Koos for a celebratory news conference at Uptown Station, the multimodal transportation center that houses bus and rail passenger service as well as Normal's city hall. Today, it is the second-busiest of the state's 29 Amtrak stations, falling second only to Chicago. "That says a lot," Durbin said, characterizing it as "a perfect example of the federal investment and success of passenger rail." The growth in ridership is attributed to last year's implementation of higher-speed rail on the Lincoln Service line between St. Louis and Chicago. Durbin on Monday noted a 10% increase in ridership from 2022-2023 on the Lincoln Service train and a 14% jump in passenger boarding and arrivals at Uptown Station. Durbin fellow U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Chicago, said in a joint statement after Koos appointment they were confident the mayor would grow and protect Amtraks network. At Mondays conference, Durbin said the Midwest will be well-represented by Koos, who joined his first Amtrak board meeting last week. The mayor said funding made available through President Joe Bidens Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would open opportunities for Amtrak to engage in more long-term planning. "What will happen over the next 10 to 15 years, maybe 20 years, is going to be game-changing for Amtrak and passenger rail in the United States," Koos said. One of the reasons he was selected is because Normal isnt part of the Northeast Corridor, a 457-mile route that serves regional and commuter trains in Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston, among other destinations. "Im from the broader population of the United States and can make representation of the passenger riders in the Midwest," Koos said, adding thats an important part of his job on the board. Former President Donald Trump first nominated Koos in 2020 but the mayor wasnt confirmed. Biden renewed Koos nomination in 2022. Durbin said the board seat is one of only eight such roles that are appointed by the president, and Koos predecessor, former Macomb Mayor Tom Carper, is also noteworthy. He said Carver had a stint as board chair under President Obama. 'Long overdue' cooperation Durbin said the ridership growth is a result of federal investment in Illinois passenger rail service. He said the enactment of the 2021 infrastructure law comes with $66 billion in rail funding, and as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he worked to get a $93 million increase for Amtraks national train network. When he came to the Senate in 1996, Durbin said, Amtraks survival was a topic of active debate. "There were people who said weve got to put an end to this government-subsidized boondoggle," Durbin said. But look at Amtrak today, the senator said, and youll learn you need to book a ticket early for trains heading in and out of Bloomington-Normal, "because its a busy road." Durbin said his wife has learned that on her many trips to Springfield to be with him. He said he was honored to help secure $1.7 billion in funding for the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed rail project that increased Amtrak train speeds up to 110 mph and helped furnish 88 new Siemens Venture passenger cars for the route. "My wife tells me theyre good," Durbin said of the new passenger train cars. That project took 13 years of effort, the senator said. Koos thanked Durbin for his faith and standing with him, and said future Amtrak project announcements, which include significant infrastructure improvements, will require patience. He pointed to two 19th century tunnels that Amtrak is planning to replace on the East Coast. "What youre going to see is Amtrak becoming a completely different organization," Koos said, adding that projects on state routes in Texas and Ohio are very important too. He said Amtrak is trying to get more state services while bolstering long-distance routes. Asked how his role on the Amtrak board might help advance the long-discussed construction of an Uptown Station underpass, Koos responded that its a matter of keeping attention on the project, which he said is very close to going out to bid. "Thats an important project to us locally, and its important to Amtrak too, to improve the viability of the Chicago-St. Louis corridor," Koos said. A reporter then asked if Amtrak will be adding a line to Peoria. Durbin said he wants that to happen, and "certainly Rock Island feels the same way too." "This has had checkered history, but I think were at the point where theres solid local support," said Durbin. While negotiations are ongoing, the senator said he was told last week a conclusion is close to be reached on how to connect Peoria and the Quad Cities to Chicago. "I think its such a solid signal that these downstate communities want Amtrak service," Durbin said. He said theyve seen whats happened in the Twin Cities and what it means to local economies. "It will take state cooperation, state development to subsidize the service, but I think its long overdue," he said. This article has been corrected to reflect the proper spelling of former Macomb Mayor Tom Carper's name. Extreme weather is disrupting Amtrak's trains and its climate benefits Extreme weather is disrupting Amtrak's trains and its climate benefits How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region. 100 years ago March 25, 1924: Tonight at Wesleyan gymnasium opens the three-day run of the "Y" circus for the benefit of the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., featuring area performers who have been featured professionally with Sells-Foto, Ringling and Barnum. Bloomington is the home of a greater number of professional circus acts than any other single city of its size. 75 years ago March 25, 1949: Bloomington's board of education agreed that a teacher with 20 years experience but no college degree is worth as much as a teacher with a degree but no experience. The board decided that teachers with two, but less than three, years, college training and 20 years in the system will now get $2,400 a year. The $2,400 figure is the beginning salary for teachers with bachelor degrees. 50 years ago March 25, 1974: Samuel Van Scoyoc, 1417 Fell, has been elected national Jaycee director of the East Illinois Region. Van Scoyoc is president of the Bloomington-Normal Jaycees. 25 years ago March 25, 1999: The latest Walgreens store prototype, complete with a more airy appearance and several customer service-related additions will open Friday (March 26) at the corner of GE Road and Veterans Parkway in Bloomington. Both the store and the pharmacy, which employ about 40 people combined, will be open 24 hours. Vintage Pantagraph newspaper ads for medicine, 'magic' remedies Clover Blossom Extract - Nov. 15, 1883 St. Jacobs Oil - July 14, 1887 Castoria - July 26, 1892 Rheumatic Ring - May 29, 1894 Beefmalt - May 29, 1894 Wakefield's Cough Syrup - Feb. 13, 1908 S.S.S. - April 23, 1908 Olive Tablets - Nov. 20, 1911 Cold-go - Dec. 11, 1911 Dr. Danby - Dec. 11, 1911 Allcock Plasters - March 2, 1917 Olive Tablets - Feb. 23, 1918 Laxative Bromo Quinine - Oct. 16, 1918 Bayer Tablets of Aspirin - April 24, 1919 Bayer Tablets of Aspirin - April 29, 1919 Snake Oil - Nov. 22, 1919 Beecham's Pills - Nov. 22, 1919 Snake Oil - Nov. 29, 1919 Doan's Kidney Pills - March 8, 1920 Bayer Tablets of Aspirin - Sept. 21, 1920 J.C. Hutzell's Eczema Treatment - Nov. 11, 1922 Gude's Pepto-Mangan - April 2, 1923 O-Joy Corn Wafers - March 4, 1930 Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription - March 19, 1930 666 Tablets - March 25, 1930 Cuticura - March 25, 1930 Geo-Mineral - Dec. 8, 1948 Anacin - Jan. 16, 1963 Liquiprin - Aug. 27, 1970 Icy Hot - Nov. 20, 1977 Chicago will play host to President Joe Bidens renomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in August, but the voting in Tuesdays presidential primary indicates the citys welcome may be less than wholehearted. With mail-in ballots still being counted, results from the Chicago Board of Elections show that of the more than 300,000 Democratic ballots cast in the city, nearly 1 in 4 party voters more than 73,000 opted not to vote for president or cast a ballot for one of Bidens three nominal challengers. At the same time, the Republican primary election indicated a softness in support for former President Donald Trump in the suburbs, a key swing area that has gradually turned more Democratic. Reflective of a low-enthusiasm election, nearly 15% of Democratic voters in Chicago chose to not cast a vote for president, according to unofficial results from Chicago election officials. In addition, more than 10% of city Democratic voters who filled out a ballot for president opted for someone other than Biden, the results showed. Combined, that meant more than 24% of Chicago Democrats either didnt vote for president or didnt vote for the current president. The number of voters who didnt cast a presidential vote likely included an unknown number who wrote in Gaza as part of an organized protest against Bidens actions toward the Israel-Hamas war. Write-in votes are not legally counted in the city. The unofficial outcome of the Democratic presidential vote in Chicago shows Biden received 89.6%, compared with 4% apiece for Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and activist Marianne Williamson and 2.5% for entrepreneur Frank Frankie Lozada. Biden is not in danger of losing Illinois and its 19 electoral votes in November. But David Yepsen, former director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, said that if the support for Biden in about a half-dozen swing states is similarly soft, those states could end up going for Trump. Its just an uninspiring, unexciting candidate at the top of the ticket, Yepsen, a former national political journalist, said of Biden. Voters could easily say meh and not waste their time voting. I think in Illinois, that Democrats have that problem especially because its sort of taken for granted its going to be a Democratic vote, its a Democratic state, Yepsen said. And so, if youre a Democrat, and youre not excited about Joe Biden, why bother to vote? Yepsen said a lack of Biden coattails could come into play in closely fought U.S. Senate and congressional races around the country, including one congressional race in Illinois. On Tuesday, the stage was set for the November showdown in the northwest and west central Illinois 17th Congressional District, where freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen is being targeted by national Republicans and their nominee, Joe McGraw of Rockford. This past Tuesdays results contrast with recent presidential primary returns. In 2020, with a contested primary for the Democratic nomination, only 2% of Democratic voters did not cast a ballot for president. Biden defeated U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont 53% to 42%. The two top candidates accounted for 95% of the presidential votes cast. Four years earlier, with a contested primary between Sanders and former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, the same percentage of Democratic voters in Chicago only 2% did not cast a ballot for a presidential nominee. Clinton defeated Sanders 54% to 45%, and the two accounted for 99% of the presidential ballots cast. This time, before Illinois primary Election Day had even dawned, Biden had already amassed the needed number of nominating delegates to secure his renomination at the Democratic National Convention, which is being held at the United Center Aug. 19-22. The results from this years presidential primary election results most closely compare in recent times to the citys 2000 Democratic primary, when then-Vice President Al Gore had effectively locked up the nomination and rival former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey had dropped out weeks earlier. This years primary resulted in a Chicago voter turnout just below 23%. In 2000, voter turnout was higher, at 33%. As in this years primary, there were no statewide contested offices in 2000. In 2000, Gore won with 86%. But 15% of city Democrats casting ballots did not vote for president then, and 27% of them either did not vote for Gore or cast a vote for president. At the time, many liberals were soured by the prospect of Gore serving as a continuation of a moderate Bill Clinton administration and some became attracted to Ralph Naders Green Party candidacy. Gore ultimately won the nomination and Illinois in the general election but was defeated by Republican George W. Bush in the controversial Supreme Court-decided outcome that gave Florida and its electoral votes to the Republican. Whatever problems Biden may have in the city, the primary results also point to difficulties in the suburbs for Trump and Republicans seeking to make inroads after years of Democratic gains in the region. Unofficial GOP primary results show Trump winning presidential preference contests with 72% in DuPage County, 72.5% in Lake County, 76% in Kane County, 78.5% in McHenry County and 81% in suburban Cook County despite all of Trumps formal opposition having dropped out of contention months and weeks earlier. Trumps best suburban showing was in Will County, where he garnered 84% of the vote. Eric Adelstein, a longtime Chicago-based Democratic political consultant, said the overall numbers for Biden and Trump show that obviously, whats well documented, lots of people in this country dont want either of them. But he said any loss of support for Biden by general election time will be minimal and will be more than offset by independent and Republican-leaning suburban women backing the president over issues such as abortion rights. The question for Democrats, he said, is whether the tradition continues of a diverse political base coalescing for the general election fight. I think theres no greater motivator for Democrats to vote than Donald Trump. And its proven itself in the past, Adelstein said. Now, whether the past is prologue, were gonna find out in a major way. Will 2024 voter turnout be the same as in the 2020 presidential election? Will 2024 voter turnout be the same as in the 2020 presidential election? Key findings 10 counties with the highest voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election Marjory Baker, an avid Orland Grassland volunteer by all accounts, was known for her passion for the outdoors, outgoing personality and talent for writing poems. Baker, known as Marnie, died March 14 from pneumonia. She was 72. Gerry Murphy, her husband, said hell miss Bakers outgoing and spontaneous personality. She was always looking for the next challenge, and I really admired that about her, Murphy said. She could just connect with people in a way that I never could. Baker was born in Tenafly, New Jersey, but grew up in Chatsworth California, Murphy said. After graduating from high school, Baker started a career in marketing and sales promotion, he said. She moved to Chicago for work, Murphy said, and worked for Leo Burnett Worldwide in advertising. Her biggest claim to fame was that she helped create the McDonalds Monopoly game. In Chicago, Baker decided to take an acting class, where the pair met. They started a theater company together, where Murphy acted and Baker was producer and manager. The pair moved to Orland Park 18 years ago, Murphy said. They married last October, Murphy said, and March 21, the day of her funeral service, was their five-month wedding anniversary. Their home was about 1 mile from the Orland Grassland, Murphy said. Baker was a volunteer there and ultimately an Illinois master naturalist and an Orland Grassland site steward, he said. Pat Hayes, another volunteer site steward, said shell always remember how eager Baker was. Baker was with the Orland Grassland volunteer group for about 15 years, Hayes said. She is a student of nature and she was trying to learn every aspect of it. She just dove right in, Hayes said. Over the years, Baker led interpretive nature walks, bird walks, frog monitoring and various community outreach programs, Hayes said. She enjoyed talking to people. She enjoyed teaching people, showing us off, Hayes said. Marnie loved us, and we loved her. This is like losing a family member, a sister. Theres going to be a void with her gone. Kristin DaPra, manager of volunteer resources for Cook County Forest Preserves, said Baker developed rapid field guides for flowers, plants and birds of Orland Grassland. Baker was also a poet and wrote haikus for the monthly Orland Grassland Volunteers newsletter, DaPra said. She was really great at building community, so helping to organize people to get them to care for the land, DaPra said. Baker was known for stopping to talk to people walking the grassland and encouraging them to volunteer. She just had a very generous nature, DaPra said. Ive met people that said, Yeah, I got involved because Marnie stopped me on the trail and told me about this. She just hooked me with the way she could sell and advocate for nature. DaPra said shell miss working with Baker, as well as her enthusiasm and personality. She was five gold stars, DaPra said. She was Marnie. She was so many things. Were going to miss every part of her. 25 cities with the highest percentage of parkland #23. St. Paul, Minnesota #22. Phoenix #21. Cincinnati, Ohio #19. Honolulu #18. Las Vegas #17. Boston #15. Jacksonville, Florida #14. El Paso, Texas #12. Albuquerque, New Mexico #11. San Francisco #10. New York City #9. Santa Clarita, California #8. New Orleans #7. Washington DC #6. North Las Vegas, Nevada #5. Irvine, California #4. Scottsdale, Arizona #3. Chesapeake, Virginia #2. Fremont, California #1. Anchorage, Alaska The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has announced the successful entrepreneurs in its tenthselection for the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. This new cohort brings to 20,000, the number of young African entrepreneurs who have received funding, mentoring, and capacity-building support from the Foundation, double the initial commitment. The Tony Elumelu Foundation has disbursed US$100,000,000 directly to young African entrepreneurs, who havecreated over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing significantly to Africa's economic growth and development. 45% of these beneficiaries are women, reiterating the Foundations commitment to gender inclusion and equity. Past entrepreneurs selected across Africa include: Stella Sigana, founder of Alternative Waste Technologies from Kenya, produces fuel briquettes by converting organic and charcoal waste from slum settlements, and dedicates a portion of the revenues to providing education, skills training, and job placement for adolescent girls and young women aged 18-24. Since her selection, Stella has created 12 jobs, generated over $79,000 in revenue, and recycled over 500 tons of waste into fuel briquettes for cooking. Her business model has also empowered hundreds of women entrepreneurs in slum settlements in Kenya, enabling them to build businesses by selling her products directly to their communities, thus significantly increasing household income and wellbeing. Vital Sounouvou from Benin is the founder of Exportunity, an e-commerce platform that promotes export opportunities for Africans by connecting producers with traders. Through Exportunity, Sounouvou has engaged over 750 clients, and built a database of 85,000 companies trading with Africa. He has employed 32 people. Nora Chaynane, a Moroccan entrepreneur, and founder of Shine Space, a socio-educational initiative aimed at bridging the knowledge gap and guiding students toward the right career path, helps young Moroccans develop technical and interpersonal skills beyond school curriculum requirements. Through Shine Space, Nora has upskilled and capacitised over 2,500 young Moroccans. Since inception in 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has pioneered an innovative approach to seeding, capacitising and networking young entrepreneurs across Africa. Drawing directly from Founder Tony Elumelus entrepreneurial journey, the Foundation democratises luck, spreads opportunity, in a sector agnostic approach, and has developed a bespoke infrastructure that reaches every country in Africa. The Foundation is driven by our Founders philosophy of Africapitalism, which advocates that the private sector, particularly entrepreneurs, must play the pivotal role in Africas development. The robust ability of the Foundation to reach entrepreneurs across geographies and sectors has enabled it to conduct innovative partnerships with the European Union (EU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the US Government via the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacic States (OACPS), the French Development Agency (AFD), the German Development Finance Institution (DEG), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the African Development Bank (AfDB), Seme City Development Agency, and Google, with bespoke programmes including targeting female empowerment and growth in fragile states. Building on its existing partnership with Seme City Development Agency, the Tony Elumelu Foundation will fund an additional 100 young entrepreneurs from Benin Republic in 2024. Tony O. Elumelu shared: "As we mark a decade of impact, I am immensely proud of the incredible journey we have embarked on. Our entrepreneurs represent the driving force behind Africa's economic transformation, and their resilience, determination, and innovation continue to inspire us all. The future of our continent is brighter because of their efforts. As part of the Tony Elumelu Foundations commitment to support young Africans, the following ongoing opportunities are currently open for applications fromyoung entrepreneurs across Africa on TEFConnect: Women Entrepreneurship For Africa (WE4A), a partnership between the European Union, GIZ and TEF Aguka Entrepreneurship Programme, a partnership between UNDP and TEF in Rwanda African entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply to these initiatives to receivetraining, mentorship, access to networks, and funding. To learn more about the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme"Decade of Impact" please see here. The success stories of these beneficiaries can be found here, and a full breakdown of the Foundations beneficiaries across Africa can be found here. For more insights into our impactful initiatives, milestones, and the transformative stories of entrepreneurs across Africa, delve into our annual reports here. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The 11-year-old British-Ghanaian kid author, Sarah Afua Kittoe, who promised to build a library for a school in Tema two years ago, has completed a full e-library and computer lab for the school and she is in the process of completing a physical book library as well. Sarah was nine years old when she made the promise in 2022, on her first visit to Ghana, which took her on a tour to several media houses in the country, and later to her father's alma mater, Saint Paul's Methodist Preparatory School in Tema, where she made the promise to support the school. At age nine, little Sarah had already written and published three books - The Friendship Club, Lindsey and the Blue Fox, and Sarah Kittoes Colouring Book for toddlers. But currently she has completed and published a fourth book with a Ghanaian theme, titled Ama and the Lost Key which launches at Croydon Library in London, on Saturday, April 6, 2024. Sarah had always donated all the proceeds from the sale of her books to charity. In London she donates regularly to Centrepoint, a charity chaired by King Charles, and the Wednesday Club at West Croydon Methodist Church, which helps homeless people in Croydon. So it did not come as a surprise to her parents, Albert and Nozipho Kittoe when she elected to extend some of her kindness to the Ghanaian children at Saint Paul's Methodist Preparatory School in Tema by refurbishing their school library, which got her devastated during her visit. She has already donated copies of her own books to the school, and now she is delivering on her promise to provide the school with a modern library. Sarah has so far made good her promise to the school by installing 20 new HP Desktop Computers preinstalled with Jemdroid Learning Apps, which has relevant learning materials from kindergarten all the way to the tertiary level. Sarah also provided new desks and chairs for the library, and has also shipped 13 big boxes of books to Ghana in readiness to start the physical library project as well. On her return to London after making the promise, she embarked on a fundraiser that saw kind individuals and institutions donating loads of books and some cash to assist her realize her dream. She has also not stopped putting all the proceeds from the sale of her books into her charity projects. The New Book Now the new book, "Ama and the Lost Key" is here, and Sarah says the proceeds from that will also go to charity. In 'Ama and the Lost Key', Sarah takes readers on a thrilling journey beneath the dry, orange, dusty sands of Ghana, where a glowing key is discovered lost in the shadows. The story follows Ama, a young and adventurous girl with love and fire in her heart, as she embarks on a quest to unlock the secrets held by this mysterious key. Promising unimaginable wealth, the key holds the potential to change Ama's life forever. But as she delves deeper into the mystery, Ama learns valuable lessons about the power of unity in the land of gold. As Sarah continues to make her mark on the literary world, she stands as an inspiring figure for aspiring authors and young individuals everywhere. Through her actions, Sarah exemplifies the power of youth and the importance of giving back to one's community. Even though Sarah is popular from being a young author, she said of herself, "I am interested in Art & Craft, design, music, gymnastics, sports, and food." There is no telling what the future holds for a young dreamer, kind-hearted and enterprising person like Sarah Kittoe. 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 Reputable award institution World Diplomatic Federation [WODIF] has officially invited ENG. Ahmed Awadallah to fellowship with the world's most respectful and great human family. The invitation is strictly based on one or more of the following accomplishments; relating to any of the subsequent achievements like supporting community development programs/events through Philanthropy or Humanitarianism, special voluntary service, specialty in industry and Investments, legal aid, civil society, tradition know-how, dispute settlement, youth and student sustenance which has won you this accolade to be Honorary Commissioner for Infrastructural Development and Community Modernization [Ghanaian Fellowship], classified as first-rated business magnate with a reverential title His Honor Meritor/Meriter Eng. Ahmed Awadallah responsible for any project for local community development. The World Diplomatic Federation WODIF is a nonpartisan, independent civil organization dedicated to international cooperation hitherto founded to create the most respected diplomatic platform for economic growth and development through forums, conferences, dialogues, festivals, honorary award ceremonies, trade, finance and investment amalgamation network, national cooperation and liberalization, relative world health issues, food security and sustainable environment, managing international relations hence sustaining peace and security and as well managing, negotiating and resolving conflict. WODIF is subject to projecting, promoting, and strengthening global companionship in all disciplines, albeit to support the role, functions and responsibilities of United Nations and other international related organizations' core values. This platform supervenes the individual affluent and the influential in the global society to uniquely come together as one family of greatness. The organization is registered in Newberg Oregon, USA, having its proposed continental head offices in Germany Europe, Brazil South America, Japan Georgia [North America] USA, aiming at inviting all affluent, influential magnates and moguls from all walks of life into this social and economic fellowship (Membership). Membership is strictly by invitation after a thorough investigation is done on you, justifying your holistic personality without criminal records before induction into fellowship. The organization has the privilege through its SUPREME SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY to invite also Politicians, Diplomats, Entrepreneurs, Business moguls, Bankers, Barristers, Physicians, Engineers, Security Experts, Great Scientists, Philanthropists, Celebrities and top-level Journalist to fellowship. The world today, needs the support of the individual and corporate affluent society to champion the cause of salvaging to salving the challenges facing global communities, and for this reason, you are required respectfully to tender your acceptance by writing officially to us. The Supreme Sovereign Authority upon your acceptance letter is received; would call for an official induction in a closed door, private gathering or in an open inaugural ceremony will be held to commemorate you. In your consummation and participation as a CLASSIFIED FELLOW of WODIF, you will be entitled to be among the first recipients in history to be awarded the PHERENIKE [The Victorious One]. This honorary title will be conferred on successful individuals who, by virtue of their affluence, and influence over the world, distinguish themselves holistically. The organization upon your acceptance would want you to have press releases and briefings to inform the general public towards the inaugural induction. The MISSIONARY BUREAU of the World Diplomatic Federation in Africa presiding in Ghana; has officially scheduled your inauguration on Friday, 19th January, 2024 at the Accra International Conference Center at 12 noon prompts. The prime purpose of this Federation is to establish a common platform that will bring together great and excellent achievers around the world to address international issues with one voice. The invitation to join WODIF is with the expectation that honouree will bring aboard your expertise and experience to bear on relative issues. However, he will always be notified of the necessary arrangements in advance where and whenever his presence will be needed at any given location different from your permanent place of abode. In an invitation letter from the Communication's department of WODIF signed by HIS IMPERIAL EMINENCE PROF. TYLER JOSEPH CUDDEFORD, Co Founder and Secretary General, it stated "Tthe organization after the inaugural induction, will fully gazette your membership at the Supreme Court of competent jurisdiction to serve permanently for 4 years as ceremonial fellow and leader. "On joining WODIF, you are to note that your role, functions and responsibilities will officially be handled by a team of Emissaries under the directives of the Secretariat Commissioner since your affluence may not permit you to be fully engage at all times. "By notice, the US Ambassador Virginia Evelyn Palmer, our Special Guest of the occasion, and other diplomatic representation [Ambassadors/High Commissioners] from UK, Germany, China, France, Japan, Canada, Israel, Turkey, India, Belgium, Brazil, Morrocco, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Algeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola, Congo, South Africa, and Malawi will grace the occasion to decorate the Honorees." It added "This event is under the auspices of Diaspora Affairs of the Office of the President and involving other ministries participating in our upcoming US Africa Companionsh "Official invitation has been extended to international media agencies like CNN, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, Sky News, Euro News, New Times, and others from Africa to cover the inaugural convocation of the US AFRICA COMPANIONSHIP INDUCTION. "We respectfully require you to support the inaugural ceremony since it comes with some cost including video transportation [Air Ticketing], documentaries and coverages, media publicity, ceremonial gown, certificate, international ID Card, medal, citation of honor, and expect you to support our delegates on a round trip to Ghana, if possible, include hotel lodging. Fund commitment must be paid to RECTITUDE INTERNATIONAL MISSION account for grounds preparation towards the induction. We also urge you to attend the upcoming event." 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 Isaac Wilberforce Mensah, the spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney-General, has asked Franklin Cudjoe of IMANI Africa, to stop peddling falsehoods about Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame and be bold to apologise for making false claims against the AG. This comes after Franklin Cudjoe made a social media post, accusing the AG of giving divisive advice to President Nana Akufo-Addo when it comes to the liberties of persons the government does not like such as Domelevo, Charlotte Osei, James Quayson, Martin Amidu among others. The AGs office took strong exception to the accusation and demanded a retraction and an apology for the false claims. Wilberforce Mensah accused the IMANI CEO of trying to denigrate the AG, especially because records show that Godfred Dame was not Attorney-General in all the instances and cases Franklin Cudjoe cited in his accusation of Dame. What did Franklin Cudjoe say Mr. Franklin Cudjoe, the IMANI CEO tweeted on March 23, 2024, that Godfred Yeboah Dame has been ...giving the most illiberal and politically divisive advice to a willing autocratic executive as far as the liberties of persons they disrespect and dislike are concerned. In addition to his said post, Mr Cudjoe also cited as evidence of his claims, cases like; SALL, Domelevo, Charlotte Osei, James Quayson, Martin Amidu, Ato Forson and others hes yet to discover. Initial reaction from AGs spokesperson Let it be clear that the Honourable attorney general, Godfred Dame, has not produced any such advice on ANY of the persons mentioned, Mr Wilberforce Mensah said in a statement. I challenge the author to produce any such advice authored by Honourable Godfred Yeboah Dame. Some of the names mentioned are being prosecuted for some offenses that the Office believes are fit on proper charges to be preferred based on the facts, he added. On the issue of former Auditor General Daniel Yao Domelovo for instance, the spokesperson said, Mr. Dame was not even the AG at the time. The bottom line is that no such advice on any of the persons named can be provided because nothing of the sort exists and Mr. Cudjoe evidently got it wrong. For his own credibility sake and the credibility of the think tank which he represents he ought to unreservedly retract the comment and accordingly issue an apology, the statement concluded. Franklin Cudjoes apology "Reference my last post. I hear AG isn't happy. I hear. Tell him sorry. He should just be a fair Justice Minister. That is all," he tweeted upon receipt of the AG's protest. AGs office unhappy with Franklin Cudjoes half-hearted apology Franklin Cudjoes apology, or lack of it has not gone down well with the Office of the Attorney-General. Wilberforce Mensah accused the IMANI CEO of not being man enough to accept that he peddled falsehood when confronted with evidence. In another write-up sent to GhanaWeb, he said if Cudjoe has no malicious agenda against the AG and Office of Attorney-General, then an apology wont be so difficult for him to do. Read his post below I think Franklin Cudjoe is just embarrassing himself all over. He has dirtied himself with lies and when he is called out on his lies against the Attorney-General, he renders an apology and like a recalcitrant child, he tries to attack again from another angle which also proves to be further falsehood. In the case of Domelovo (2019/2020) Charlotte Osei (2017/2018) Martin Amidu (2020) SALL (2020 Elections), Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame was NOT the Attorney-General at the time. In any event, no advice was given by the Attorney-General at that time, Gloria Afua Akuffo, on any of the issues. After being called out on the lies, he issues an apology in the afternoon of the same day and in the evening throws out another vacuous claim that the A-G should apologize for his dereliction of duty in seeking justice for the 30,000 citizens of SALL that were callously prevented from the last Parliamentary elections. To use words like dereliction of duty means first there must be a duty. Of course, with a penchant for attacking without any sound basis and an eagerness to do so, it is understandable that Franklin Cudjoe would forget or ignore to do some basic research. The duties of the Attorney-General are primarily provided for in Article 88 of the 1992 Constitution and they include initiation and conduct of criminal and civil cases on behalf of the State, etc. Matters related to election and creation of constituencies are not a duty of the A-G. The Constitution places the mandate squarely and absolutely on the doorstep of the Electoral Commission. In fact, Article 46 states clearly that Except as provided in this Constitution or in any other law not inconsistent with this Constitution, in the performance of its functions, the Electoral Commission, shall not be subject to the direction or control of any person or authority. It can only be for mischief that the CEO of a Think tank Imani was unable to either read or grasp this basic legal framework. The A-G has on two occasions expressed his opinion in Parliament, one in July 2021 and in November 2023 where he disagreed with the position of the EC and proposed two solutions that would allow the people within the SALL area to vote, especially as part of Buem. Franklin Cudjoe, IMANI, lied, lies, and continues to lie and spread falsehoods about the learned Attorney-General and any further derogatory claim by him in respect of the Attorney-General should be treated with the contempt it deserves. Its for his own sake and the sake of the institution that he represents that I at this point advising him to stop peddling falsehoods, retract, apologize, and desist from these actions that show a sheer lack of basic research. The Attorney-General is indeed legendary in that not many Attorneys-General can say with concrete proof that they have saved the state the amount of money this A-G has, and instituted far-reaching reforms of the law in Ghana. Monies of Brobdingnagian proportions. 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 Family seeks justice for woman murdered and her corpse sexually assaulted in Ashanti Region. Family of a woman who was murdered and her corpse allegedly raped by assailants at Sene Bokankye in the Ashanti Region is seeking justice for their relative. Two suspects, Kelvin Gyamfi, 24 and Samuel Addai, 31 allegedly carried out the dastardly act after invading the home of the deceased on a stealing expedition. The 36-year-old mother of one was asleep when the duo sneaked into her room in an uncompleted building and smashed her head twice with a cement block. After realizing she was dead, they took turns raping her and bolted with her mobile phone and cash of GHs42.00. The two appeared before the Akropong District Magistrate court where they were charged provisionally with conspiracy to commit murder and murder. The family of the deceased is prevailing on the government for justice to be served. Brother of the deceased, Stephen Chilbu, spoke to JoyNews after the first court appearance. We have really spent a lot on her. It hasnt been easy since her demise. Who is going to cater for her son? We are pleading with the government and the court to serve due justice, he said. This incident is said to have occurred on February 8, 2024, when neighbours of the deceased found her naked in a pool of blood in her room, when her son who had returned from school raised the alarm. A careful examination on her body by the Police revealed deep cuts on her left ear with the skull around the forehead crashed and blood oozing from the ear and nostrils. Semen was also found around her sex organ. The body of the deceased was deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for autopsy and preservation. The autopsy report indicated severe head injury, blunt force trauma and unnatural sex. The suspects, 31-year-old unemployed Samuel Addai, and his accomplice Kelvin Gyamfi, 24, who is a shoemaker, confirmed to the police, they had gone to the abode of the deceased to smoke Indian hemp after which they went to her room to steal from her. Police investigations traced the stolen phone and SIM card to the two leading to their arrest. On March 17, 2024, Samuel Addai was arrested at Atwima Bokankye but his accomplice managed to escape, and was later arrested from his hide-out at Medie-Accra two days later. The suspects are to reappear before the court on April 4, 2024. Source: myjoyonline.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 and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says if elected as President, he will be more accountable to Ghanaians than his main contender, former President John Mahama. Speaking at the NPP International Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday March 23, 2024, Dr. Bawumia explained that "apart from my proven track record as Vice President, hard work, credibility and vision for the future of Ghana, another reason I should be voted for is that I will be more accountable to the people of Ghana than John Mahama". He expounded; "As President, I will be more accountable because I will have another opportunity to seek the mandate of the people. Mahama has just one term and he won't come back to Ghanaians to seek re election so he won't be accountable." Dr. Bawumia added that Ghana needs a leader with credibility to solve the nation's problems and kick out corruption, stressing he has proven through the policies he's spearheaded and without a shred of doubt that he is the problem solver and anti-corruption crusader. "Ghana needs problem solvers, generational thinkers and people with innovative ideas...I am a problem solver, and a generational thinker with innovative ideas. I have a solid track record as Vice President to prove it", the Veep said. Buttressing his impactful contributions as Vice President, Dr. Bawumia referred to a number of policies initiated by him which have and are addressing the country's perennial problems. Among the tall list of initiatives are the digital national identity system, which he noted, has addressed the age-long lack of national identity and the national property address system to solve the lack of property address and identity. He also mentioned the mobile money interoperability which has resolved the issue of financial exclusion and promoted a cashless society as well as the digitalisation of public services to promote efficiency and reduce corruption. Dr. Bawumia further highlighted the delivery of essential drugs to remote areas through drones among other policies including "One Ambulance, One Constituency" and the Agenda 111 hospitals. The NPP presidential candidate added he has demonstrated a stronger commitment to the fight against corruption as Vice President far more than former President Mahama did during his regime. He referenced how the digitalisation of public services are effectively eroding corruption. "What policies did former President Mahama initiate to fight corruption as President or Vice President?", he questioned and answered; "if you ask him, he cannot state one because he was not committed to fighting corruption as Vice President and President". 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 A staunch member of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kwesi Ahwoi, has apologised to the partys flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, and his running mate, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, regarding his remarks in a viral video. During an event in Accra for Prof. Opoku-Agyemang, Mr. Ahwoi suggested that she should be ready for any scenario that could lead to her presidency. His comments were met with criticism from some NDC members who interpreted the comment to mean former President Mahama, when voted into office, might not complete his four-year term, which will eventually make Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang the substantive President. On Sunday, March 24, Kwesi Ahwoi clarified in a statement that he had no intention of wishing harm upon the former President. Acknowledging his error, he expressed regret over the misunderstanding caused by his comments. He said, I sincerely regret the wrong impression that my comment has created. Indeed, it was not my intention, and never will it be my intention, to pray that H.E. John Mahama does not serve his full four-year term when he wins the 2024 general elections. I concede that I misspoke on the occasion. I accept the criticisms in good faith, even though some of the criticisms arise out of a deliberate misrepresentation of my statement. I hereby render an unreserved and unqualified apology to H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the leadership and rank, and file of the great NDC. He urged the partys supporters to move past the incident and support Mr. Mahama in the upcoming 2024 elections. Comrades and friends, let us put this unfortunate incident behind us and unite behind our flagbearer, the visionary Nation Builder, to rescue our beloved country in the December 2024 elections. Read below his full statement. Kwesi Ahwoi writes: I have taken notice of the unfortunate controversy that has arisen as a result of a comment I made at a reception organized last Thursday by the Churchstreet group of NDC faithful for Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, running mate to our esteemed flagbearer, H.E. John Dramani Mahama. I sincerely regret the wrong impression that my comment has created. Indeed, it was not my intention, and never will it be my intention, to pray that H.E. John Mahama does not serve his full four-year term when he wins the 2024 general elections. I concede that I misspoke on the occasion. I accept the criticisms in good faith, even though some of the criticisms arise out of a deliberate misrepresentation of my statement. Indeed, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, in response to my toast, pointed out the erroneous impression created by my statement and was categorical in asserting that she was certain that H.E. John Mahama will win the 2024 general elections and serve his full four-year term. It is unfortunate that my statement appears to have taken the shine off what was otherwise a cheerful and lighthearted occasion. I hereby render an unreserved and unqualified apology to H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the leadership and rank, and file of the great NDC. Comrades and friends, let us put this unfortunate incident behind us and unite behind our flag-bearer, the visionary Nation Builder, to rescue our beloved country in the December 2024 elections. SIGNED. Kwesi Ahwoi Source: Kobina Darlington/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 Ghanaian comedian, Funny Face was involved in a vehicular accident on Sunday night at Kasoa in the Central Region and allegedly knocked down some pedestrians. One of the victims, a child is feared dead. In a video shared on social media, some eyewitnesses explained that the accident happened at Kakraba junction in Kasoa. A mother, two children who were walking by the roadside and two other adults on motorcycles were the victims. A police officer later arrived at the scene of the accident and carried Funny Face, known officially as Benson Nana Yaw Oduro Boateng away. The victims were also carried to the hospital. One of the eyewitnesses in the video attached below said he saw the incident while parking his vehicle by the road side. When he got closer, he saw Funny Face behind the wheel of the accident vehicle. He claimed the car first knocked the woman and the children before going ahead to knock the other two on the motorcycles. The woman had one child at her back and the other was walking with her. The eyewitness claimed one of the children was feared dead as he was unresponsive when he picked him up. Watch the video below, which captures the eyewitness account Funny Face, shot to prominence for his role in the popular Chorkor Trotro television series. He has been battling an alleged depression in recent times. Just recently he shared a video on social media complaining about frustrations and his inability to get access to his children. The police are yet to comment on the incident Source: graphiconline.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 Chinese-invest first wind power plant in Bangladesh fully into operation Xinhua) 09:54, March 25, 2024 This photo taken on March 22, 2024 shows the site of Cox's Bazar wind plant in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh. With the last wind-driven generator installed, Cox's Bazar wind plant, the first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh invested and constructed by Chinese enterprises, was fully put into operation on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sun Nan) DHAKA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- With the last wind-driven generator installed, Cox's Bazar wind plant, the first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh invested and constructed by Chinese enterprises, was fully put into operation on Sunday. The wind power project, located in Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar district, some 400 km away from capital Dhaka, is invested by Wuling Power Corp., a subsidiary of China's State Power Investment Corp. (SPIC), and built by PowerChina Chengdu Engineering Corp.. Upon full operation, the project will provide Bangladesh with about 145 million kWh of clean electricity per year, reduce coal consumption by 44,600 tons and carbon dioxide emissions by 109,200 tons, as well as meet the electricity demand of 100,000 households. Md. Abdul Kader Goni, the executive engineer of Bangladesh Power Development Board, told Xinhua that Bangladesh entered the era of first commercial wind power with the establishment of the wind power plant at Cox's Bazar. Hei Zhao, general manager of Bangladesh division of Wuling Power Corp., said this is the first time that Chinese enterprises have introduced wind power into Bangladesh as investors, filling the gap in the wind power field in Bangladesh. "During the construction of the project, we used Chinese solutions, Chinese standards and Chinese equipment to promote the sustainable development of Bangladesh's renewable energy industry, while training the first batch of practical talents in the field of wind power for Bangladesh and providing more than 1,500 local jobs," he added. Manik Ahamed, the Bangladeshi engineer of the project, said that Bangladesh needs this kind of energy. "I have learned a lot from this project, such as how to produce more energy with wind and how to safely produce electricity in the grid of Bangladesh. It's hoped that I can do more for our power and energy development." "Now, the cooperation of the two countries in the energy field under the Belt and Road Initiative has achieved fruitful outcomes such as this first-ever wind power project in Cox's Bazar. In the future, we hope that we can have more and more highly qualified cooperation like this to contribute to our energy field development," Goni stressed. This photo taken on March 22, 2024 shows the site of Cox's Bazar wind plant in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh. With the last wind-driven generator installed, Cox's Bazar wind plant, the first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh invested and constructed by Chinese enterprises, was fully put into operation on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sun Nan) This photo taken on March 23, 2024 shows the site of Cox's Bazar wind plant in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh. With the last wind-driven generator installed, Cox's Bazar wind plant, the first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh invested and constructed by Chinese enterprises, was fully put into operation on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sun Nan) This photo taken on March 23, 2024 shows the site of Cox's Bazar wind plant in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh. With the last wind-driven generator installed, Cox's Bazar wind plant, the first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh invested and constructed by Chinese enterprises, was fully put into operation on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sun Nan) This photo taken on March 23, 2024 shows the site of Cox's Bazar wind plant in Cox's Bazar district, Bangladesh. With the last wind-driven generator installed, Cox's Bazar wind plant, the first centralized wind power project in Bangladesh invested and constructed by Chinese enterprises, was fully put into operation on Sunday. (Xinhua/Sun Nan) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) By Politico Staff Writer The Operations Team of the Sierra Leone Police, Kabala Divisional Headquarters, acting within the mandate of the National Task Force on Human Trafficking, has intercepted 57 persons about to be trafficked to Mali. The 57 individuals include 26 female adults, 14 male children, and 17 female children on the 16th of March, 2024. A public notice issued by the National Task Force on Human Trafficking on the 18th of March 2024 indicated that the children are between the ages of 2 months to 15 years. It noted that the police arrested Mohamed Amadu Jalloh of 19 City Road, Portee, and Mohamed Sankoh of 5 Coker Lane, Portee all in Freetown for conducting a criminal enterprise to traffic the aforementioned 57 persons out of the country. According to the notice, it has so far been alleged that the victims were taken from Freetown, through Makeni and Kabala in preparation to go through the porous borders of Koinadugu district to neighboring Guinea. In line with the National Referral Mechanism, the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU), Family Support Unit (FSU), and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) within the Sierra Leone Police are said to be investigating the matter whilst the presumed victims are being referred to the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Anti-Trafficking in persons Task Force Secretariat for Psychosocial support. Copyright 2024 Politico (22/03/24) $20.75M at stake in Saratoga The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has announced the stakes schedule for the 2024 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, which will take place from July 11 to September 2. The 40-day meet will feature 19 Grade 1 races and 71 stakes worth $20.75 million in total purses. The highlight of the meet will be the 155th renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 24 and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on August 3. Other Grade 1 races include the $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer and the $500,000 Ballerina Handicap. The meet will conclude on Labor Day. Saratoga Live, the television show produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, will provide on-site coverage of the summer meet. Queensbury Comprehensive Plan The Town of Queensbury is holding an open house for disucussion of its Comprehensive Plan. The town is undertaking an update of the 2007 document, and the new plan will guide town planning decisions for about a decade. The event will be held on Thursday, March 28 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Activities Center on the Town Campus at 742 Bay Rd, Queensbury. According to the announcement: Town residents of all ages are strongly encouraged to attend and provide feedback on proposed initiatives. With the Open House format, the public can stop by for 15 to 20 minutes at whatever time works for them between 4:30 and 7 p.m. to provide their input. Everyone is encouraged to visit the project website to view a story map illustrating the planning process thus far and the objectives of the process. Greenwich elects board According to the clerk of the Greenwich Village board, winners of the March 19, 2024 election include: MayorAmanda Beekmann Hurley 150 votes TrusteeWilly Grimmke 154 votes Trustee Donna Frank Moore 155 votes Over 1,300 bears harvested last season The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced last week that bear hunters harvested an estimated 1,356 black bears (Ursus americanus) during the 2023 hunting season. Though rarely seen by most New Yorkers, black bears are valued by hunters, photographers, and wildlife watchers alike, and are well established in many areas across the state. Hunters harvested an estimated 485 bears in the Northern Zone and an estimated 871 bears in the Southern Zone. This represents roughly six percent more bears harvested in the north and one percent more in the south than in 2022. The total bear harvest in 2023 was approximately seven percent lower than the five-year average. The Catskill region continued to produce the greatest bear harvest densities. The heaviest dressed-weight bear reported to DEC in 2023, was 550 pounds, taken in the town of Windsor, Broome County. The oldest bear taken in 2022 was 25 years old, an age determined by its teeth. The DEC collects teeth from hundreds of the taken bears each year in order to determine their ages. Bear teeth from the 2023 season are still being analyzed. ATLANTIC CITY MGM Resorts International has named longtime executive Niklas Rytterstrom president and chief operating officer of Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, the company said Monday. Rytterstrom will oversee the casino's daily operations and strategic direction, focused on continued employee engagement, guest service and community relations, the company said in a statement. Rytterstrom succeeds Travis Lunn, who recently announced his return to Las Vegas to become president and COO of Mandalay Bay and Luxor, both owned by MGM Resorts. Nik has a long history with MGM Resorts and brings a wealth of operational experience and industry knowledge to the property and Atlantic City, said Steve Zanella, president of MGM Resorts operations. Niks strong leadership skills and strategic vision will continue to differentiate Borgata in a competitive landscape and enhance its position as a market leader. Rytterstrom began his career with MGM Resorts in 1999 as assistant hotel manager at Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Most recently, Rytterstrom served as general manager of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where he played a pivotal role in ensuring a seamless transition during the MGM Resorts acquisition in 2022. He also served as president and COO of The Mirage, Excalibur and Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Prior to his tenure at those properties, he was general manager of Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, where he drove initiatives that led the property to reach its highest market share for three consecutive years, MGM said. Im honored to be embarking on this new journey at Borgata, Rytterstrom said. This property is an integral part of the Atlantic City community, and I cant wait to jump in and continue to help drive growth and success throughout not just this amazing city but New Jersey and surrounding regions. Rytterstrom has a bachelor's degree in hotel administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and was recently named one of the Top 25 People to Watch in 2024 by Global Gaming Business Magazine. ATLANTIC CITY Three people were arrested Saturday after police found drugs and two guns in an illegally parked car near California and Fairmount avenues, the department said. Vincente Scalzo, 36, of New Port Richey, Florida, was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance, unlawful possession of a weapon, certain person not to possess a weapon and three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. Aubrey Costello, 25, of Lacey Township, was charged with two counts of possession of CDS, unlawful possession of a weapon and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. Lamar Dew, 36, of Atlantic City, was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, certain person not to possess a weapon and three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. An officer saw a vehicle blocking traffic at 9:35 a.m., police said Monday in a news release. The driver, Scalzo, opened the door for the officer, who found drug paraphernalia on the floor and removed him from the vehicle, police said. A search of the vehicle yielded two loaded handguns, small amounts of heroin and methamphetamine, and additional drug paraphernalia. All three men were sent to the Atlantic County jail. ATLANTIC CITY Police Chief James Sarkos is asking the new Atlantic County sheriff for help transporting prisoners and serving restraining orders. Prisoner transportation pulls officers off the street. It used to be done by the sheriffs department, but that stopped years ago, Sarkos said during Fridays Clean and Safe Atlantic City meeting at City Hall. Final and temporary restraining orders used to be done by the sheriff, and that stopped during COVID. He also would like sheriffs officers to handle prisoner watches at the hospital, which he said can keep officers off the street for days. Sarkos made his suggestions after Sheriff Joe ODonoghue, who wasnt at Fridays meeting, had said at the the previous one his department is prepared, ready, willing and able to support and augment Atlantic City and policing. But on Monday afternoon, ODonoghue said he plans to help out by creating a second shift of warrant officers, who will also be able to help with any towns emergent needs. They are saying, Come in and do the most time-consuming, boring, tedious tasks we have, ODonoghue said. We are trained like your people. Sarkos said Monday night he appreciated the sheriffs planned expansion of the warrant squad, and had also suggested the other tasks because the sheriff had asked how he could help. Sarkos said he values all law enforcement agencies work and was looking for ways the Sheriffs Office could help keep police officers on the street more. Atlantic County Sheriff's Department willing to help with policing in Atlantic City Atlantic County Sheriff Joe ODonoghue said his department is "prepared, ready, willing and able to support and augment Atlantic City and policing." Any assistance has to be given in a way that allows the Sheriffs Office to do its primary duties, ODonoghue said. When he came into office in January, ODonoghue said, he discovered a backlog of more than 5,000 arrest warrants his officers have to deal with. He has six warrant officers. At full force, the Sheriffs Office has about 100 officers, ODonoghue said, compared with the citys 318. Sheriffs officers already provide support to the Stockton University police at the Galloway Township campus, he said, and will be helping at the Atlantic City campus soon. They also support some rural towns with their policing. I have discussed it with the chief in the past, ODonoghue said. Were not here to do your distasteful duties. We are here to help with emergent matters. Sheriffs officers handle security at the civil and criminal courthouses, do court transports, and serve eviction and divorce papers, he said. We are a very busy agency, ODonoghue said. Erosion could prevent Hard Rock Atlantic City from opening its beach bar this summer Beach erosion in front of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City will prevent the property from opening its beach bar this summer unless an emergency beach replenishment is done, General Manager Mike Sampson said during Friday morning's Clean and Safe Atlantic City meeting at City Hall. Other police business Sarkos said Friday there have been 22,889 calls for service so far this year, and police have made 946 arrests. Arrests are up more than 19% over last year at the same time, when there had been 792, he said. Police also have recovered 23 firearms so far in 2024. Earlier this month, the department swore in 30 new police officers, 10 of whom filled positions left open by retirements or officers leaving. Of the 30, 11 were fully certified and ready to go, Sarkos said. Another 13 will graduate from the police academy May 10, and the last six will graduate in October. The department stands at 318 officers, still under the 330 that is Sarkos goal. We onboarded 30, but with the phasing in it will be a while before we see the benefits of officers hitting the streets, Sarkos said. Jules Schwenger, the local police union president, said she is ecstatic we have 30 new cops, with 10 more on the way. Atlantic City police get influx of new officers The Atlantic City Police Department got some extra manpower Monday as 30 new full-time officers were sworn in during a ceremony at the Atlantic City Convention Center. She also said she welcomes several new captains. Its a slow crawl to 330, but were doing it, she said, looking forward to the busy season. Community Iftar City Council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz invited everyone to a community Iftar at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Masjid Muhammad, 300 Albany Ave. Iftar is observed by Muslims at sunset during the holy month of Ramadan, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, upon completion of all religious and ceremonial rites. It marks the daily end of the hardships of fasting from dawn to sunset. The evening prayer is followed by activities such as praying ceremonies, music, storytelling, games, preparing and serving traditional and local meals and marriage arrangements, according to UNESCO. ATLANTIC CITY Actor Kelsey Grammer will be the keynote speaker April 7 during the 38th annual Memorial Service and Brunch hosted by The 200 Club of Atlantic and Cape May Counties at Tropicana Atlantic City. The event memorializes police officers, firefighters and other first responders who have died serving their communities. The 200 Club is a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to the families of police, fire and rescue personnel who have died in the line of duty. Grammer is known for his roles in the television sitcoms "Cheers" and "Frasier," for his Faith American Brewing Company, and locally for appearing in a number of recent city parades and other events. The brunch will follow a 10 a.m. Mass for first responders at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church at 1409 Pacific Ave. Thousands enjoy 36th annual Atlantic City St. Patrick's Day Parade Atlantic City held its 36th annual St. Patrick's parade on the Boardwalk Saturday, despite the gusty winds, chilly weather, and the chance for rain. During the brunch, The 200 Club requests speakers to share survival stories, emphasizing the experiences of police, firefighters and EMTs. The club intends to add two names to its honor roll: Atlantic City police Officer Laverne Harrison Carr, who died in 1929, and State Police Capt. Richard Tesauro, who died in 2019 from cancer he developed as a result of search-and-recovery efforts at the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks. Tickets for the brunch are $60 each and can be acquired from Melissa Wilson, co-chair of the brunch committee, at swapforrent@yahoo.com or 609-377-4035. Checks can be mailed to The 200 Club c/o Melissa Wilson, PO Box 1492, Absecon, NJ 08201. The deadline for purchasing tickets is Friday. No tickets will be available for purchase at the door. For more information, visit 200clubofatlanticandcapemaycounties.org. PHOTOS 2024 Atlantic City St. Patrick's Day Parade ATLANTIC CITY A staple of summer in the resort might not be happening this year. Mayor Marty Small Sr. said no beach concerts are planned last week during a separate announcement about continuing funding for the Atlantic City Airshow. A three-year contract between Live Nation and the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to put on the shows expired last year and was not renewed, CRDA officials said. The CRDA does not currently have a contract with Live Nation to produce beach concerts in Atlantic City for 2024, CRDA spokesperson Karen Martin said in a statement. Should an opportunity arise to present a beach concert this summer, the CRDA and its board will review the prospect at that time. Small has met with Live Nation representatives to discuss the issue, according to city spokesperson Andrew Kramer. However, nothing has come from those meetings. There are no summer beach concerts scheduled at this time for different reasons, including funding, Kramer said. Understanding the tourism boost these shows generate, and the enjoyment so many people get out of them, Mayor Small has met with, and plans to continue to meet with Live Nation representatives to discuss various beach concert possibilities and alternatives in Atlantic City this year. Live Nation has produced a number of beach concerts and festivals in the resort during the past decade, including Phish and the TidalWave and Adjacent music festivals. Each show brought tens of thousands of people to the resort to fill up its hotel rooms and purchase food, drink and other items. The promoter is producing a Peach at the Beach festival July 13 at Showboat Resort Atlantic Citys Island Waterpark in partnership with the Allman Brothers Band. A spokesperson for Live Nation declined to comment. Small told NBC10 Philadelphia last week that the CRDA doesnt have the funding it had in years past to produce the beach concerts. The CRDA allocated about $10 million to Live Nation for beach concerts from 2015 to 2019. Included in that total was a three-year deal worth $6 million between 2016 and 2018. In 2019, CRDA appropriated $1.4 million to Live Nation for the two-day 25th-anniversary Vans Warped Tour concert. Beach concerts in the resort started in 2014 with a show by country group Lady A. Other beach concert performers have included Pink, Maroon 5 and the late Jimmy Buffett. The beach concert series has seen its share of hiccups. In 2019, Demi Lovatos only East Coast appearance was canceled two days before the scheduled July 26 concert due to the pop singer being hospitalized for a reported drug overdose, forcing organizers to plug in Cheat Codes to headline the show. In 2016, former Mayor Don Guardian canceled scheduled shows by Florida Georgia Line and Blink-182 in early September due to the threat of a tropical storm that never materialized. At one point last week, summer 2024 in Atlantic City would have passed without two of its major annual rituals. The Visit Atlantic City Airshow was set to be canceled before the event organizer, the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, received a $300,000 subsidy from the South Jersey Transportation Authority. GALLERY: Look back at Jimmy Buffett's 2016 beach concert in Atlantic City The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has awarded 26 Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants to Iowa farmers, small businesses and non-profits, including one in LeClaire. A news release from Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig's office announced the grants were awarded to facilities in 22 counties, totaling $463,000. The projects the grants are going towards have a total estimated cost of almost $2 million. The Choose Iowa announcement was made as part of Iowa Ag Week during an event at Cortum Farm and Co. outside of Indianola, one of the 2024 grant awardees, according to the release. Choose Iowa is the states signature brand for Iowa grown, Iowa raised and Iowa made products. These cost-share grants, which match up to $25,000 per project, were created to assist Iowa farmers, businesses and non-profits increase or diversify their agricultural product offerings, expand markets and shorten supply chains. Olathea Creek Vineyard and Winery, 23456 Great River Road in LeClaire, was awarded $25,000 to help increase production capacity and product availability by adding specialized bottling and processing equipment. The entire project is expected to cost nearly $55,000, according to the release. This years grants will support a wide variety of projects including delivery and cold storage for direct-to-consumer meat sales; fruit production and processing; vegetable processing; packaging equipment; cider and wine canning and bottling; farm store and food hub construction; honey production; culinary herb, lavender and cut flower production; warehouse capacity; cover crop seed distribution; and agritourism opportunities. Consumers are continually looking for more Iowa food, beverages and ag products to enjoy and these Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants will help Iowa farmers, small businesses, and non-profits build that supply, said Naig. We are so pleased to provide these Choose Iowa cost-share investments because they will enhance the availability of Iowa products while creating positive economic activity in communities, big and small, across our state. Individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations that live or operate in Iowa were eligible to apply and preference was given to small to medium-sized entities. This year, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship received 63 eligible grant requests totaling $1.13 million. Since the launch of the grants in 2022, $1,173,690.00 in Choose Iowa Value-Added Grants have been awarded to 67 projects which has leveraged a total investment of $4,268,099.19. A full list of awardees can be found on the secretary's website. Photos: Olathea Creek Vineyard and Winery in LeClaire offers Iowa charm, wines Project NOW is set to hold its second-annual Poverty Conference next month at Rhythm City Casino in Davenport. This year's conference "Rooting Out Poverty: Charting a New Course to End Poverty" is set for 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 18. It aims to bring local leaders, change-makers and advocates together for a day focused on creating a future without poverty. With the theme "Big Ideas, Bold Innovation, Broad Impact," those attending the event can expect insightful discussions, inspiring speakers and collaborative opportunities. Project NOW Director Dwight L. Ford will give opening remarks at 9 a.m., followed by Stormy Udell of the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies (IACAA) at 9:15 am. Next, attendees will get a chance to learn about the Augustana Prison Education Program. The conference panels scheduled are: "Justice" from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m.: Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain of Live Free Illinois and representatives from the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments will discuss efforts to create a more just society and safer communities. Rev. Ciera Bates-Chamberlain of Live Free Illinois and representatives from the Illinois Coalition to End Permanent Punishments will discuss efforts to create a more just society and safer communities. "Education & Training" from 11 a.m. to noon: Leaders from organizations such as CEDA Weatherization Training Center, YouthBuild Quad Cities and the California Indian Manpower Consortium, Inc. will explore how education and training can inspire change and open doors to opportunity. Leaders from organizations such as CEDA Weatherization Training Center, YouthBuild Quad Cities and the California Indian Manpower Consortium, Inc. will explore how education and training can inspire change and open doors to opportunity. "Health & Economics" from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m.: Experts from Uplift Iowa, Level Up, and the West End Revitalization initiative will discuss innovative approaches to investing in people and communities to promote health and economic prosperity. George Guy president of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials will be the event's keynote speaker, delivering an address focused on creating pathways out of the housing crisis. Registration is now open and costs $45 per person. To register, visit: www.projectnow.org. Those interested are encouraged to register early, and the fee covers both breakfast and lunch for attendees. Project NOW is a local Community Action Agency providing a broad range of services to empower those in-need and tackle poverty. Photos: MLK Center in Rock Island honors Martin Luther King Jr. A 53-year-old Port Byron man died Friday after the utility task vehicle, or UTV, he was riding crashed, Rock Island County Sheriff Darren Hart said. Deputies were sent to the 1200 block of 9th Avenue at 10:27 p.m. and located a man trapped under an overturned UTV. Lifesaving measures were attempted but were unsuccessful, Hart said. Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson identified the man as Scott E. Weaver Sr. Hart said that two other men who were on the UTV suffered minor injuries in the crash. The Illinois State Police, Illinois Conservation Police, Port Byron-Rapid City Fire Protection District and Genesis EMS assisted at the scene. The crash remains under investigation by the Rock Island County Sheriffs Department. Bettendorf school leaders approved district financials, 2024-25 board meeting dates, policy updates and talked Area Education Agency (AEA) support his week. With all board members present, the March 20 meeting kicked off with regular reports. Superintendent Michelle Morse welcomed attendees back from spring break, and gave a shoutout to the district's music programs for "Music in our Schools" month. Next, Bettendorf Educational Support Association (BESA) President Melissa Laufenberg shared that BESA was invited to present on the district's paraeducator mentoring program at the Iowa Education Support Professionals Conference in Des Moines next month. After all regular reports, the board recognized the following district achievements: Several middle schoolers qualified to the Iowa State National History Day Contest in Des Moines next month. Students Nora Gallagher and Adelynn Brown's group exhibit, "Margaret Cleaves: A Turning Point In Cancer Treatment" won the "Junior Division Iowa History Award" at NHD districts earlier this month. High schoolers' success at the recent SIESTA Honor Orchestra. Hosted at Bettendorf High School this year, SIESTA is an annual, day-long event for string orchestra students in Southeastern Iowa. Additionally, eight students qualified for the Iowa String Teachers Association Honor Orchestra taking place at Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa) in May. After unanimously approving Wednesday's consent agenda, the board did the same for all remaining action items. Highlights: A resolution for the district to levy property taxes for fiscal year 2024-25 for its regular program budget adjustment as allowed under Iowa Code section 257.14. This item comes per legislative changes to Iowa school districts' certified budget process during the 2023 session. School board meeting dates for the 2024-25 school year. Per this schedule, the board will generally meet twice a month, but only meet once in July, August, November and December. All other months follow the general schedule of meeting on the second and fourth Wednesdays. Board policy updates, to align with Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) guidelines. Policies 200 (Statement of Guiding Principals) and 200.5 (Legal Status of the Board) were deleted, while policies 200.2 (Powers of the Board of Directors) and 201 saw language updates. Next, the board revisited previous discussions on Area Education Agency (AEA) support as Iowa House Republicans recently passed a bill to overhaul Iowa's existing AEA system. Iowa's nine AEAs oversee special education and provide media and consulting services to schools and students in their regions. As previously reported, the Bettendorf school board discussed passing a formal resolution in support of Iowa's AEAs last meeting. While some board members namely, Andrew Champion and Linda Smithson expressed strong support for the AEAs and their various services, others had some concerns and questions about Iowa's current system. Board President Patrick Larkin suggested that the district and board write a letter detailing their concerns and rate of policy change with the AEA bill to the Iowa State Capitol and Gov. Kim Reynolds, earning unanimous school board approval. On Wednesday, the board discussed this letter, which included the following statement: "The current (AEA) relationship with school districts has well established relationships and expectations. The proposed policy changes to this relationship have injected uncertainty to both our budgeting and to the services we could be able to provide our students. These uncertainties pose significant planning challenges for our school district, and risk doing avoidable harm to many students. Slowing down an AEA reorganization and improvements to the AEA structure and services would be very helpful. In addition, extra time to analyze and budget for required services and cost/funding changes will ease uncertainty. "The challenges are compounded by the fact that we do not yet know what our financial resources will be as State Supplemental Assistance (SSA) has not yet been set for the next fiscal year. The uncertainty of SSA, and proposed changes, recommend solutions, prepare for new models, and ensure that we avert unintentional harm to students and communities. "We would, of course, welcome opportunities to continue this dialogue." Since sending the letter, Larkin said he's heard back from local representatives and Senator Scott Webster. To hear the board's full legislative discussion, watch Wednesday's meeting recording on the "Bett School Board" YouTube channel. This discussion begins around the 36:45 timestamp and ends around 41:00. The House's AEA bill, which passed Thursday, would require schools to spend 90% of their special education funding with the AEA and 10% could be used for special education through a third party. For media and other education services, districts would have flexibility over 60% of this funding with 40% going back to the AEAs in year one, though the districts' amount would increase to 100% by year two of implementation. The bill is now with the Iowa Senate. Before moving into closed session to discuss technology infrastructure, the board also looked at 2025 graduation dates. The board also held an exempt session to discuss negotiations. Next meeting: Wednesday, April 3 at 6 p.m. Bettendorf Lego Club builds WWII memorial North Scott school board leaders approved numerous project bids and put 2024-25 budget proposals in motion last week. With a full quorum, the March 18 meeting kicked off with unanimous consent agenda approval. Board members then recognized Mallory Deutmeyer, Morgan Vanorsdal and Katelyn Peck, all freshmen, for advancing to the Iowa State National History Day Competition next month in Des Moines. Next, Kyle Harris, principal of Virgil Grissom Elementary School, and Robyn Leiby, a fifth-grade teacher, gave a presentation on the "House System" at Grissom. Similar to the famous Hogwarts Houses from Harry Potter, students and staff are sorted into four smaller "Grissom Houses" each year. Grissom Houses meet regularly during the school year and participate in various activities together, aimed at building both skills and relationships for students in all grades. Each trimester, the Grissom Houses focus on a different theme. This school year, these have been empathy, gratitude and perseverance. For the full meeting and presentation, you can watch a video recording of Monday's meeting on the "North Scott Community School District" YouTube channel. With no old business, the board unanimously approved all action items. Highlights: A slew of 2023-24 Student Built Homes bids, with total project expenses landing at $217,149 as of March 18. Three district E-Rate bids for fiscal year 2024, the heftiest being $239,304 for network equipment from RTI. Setting a public hearing date of Monday, April 8, for the district's preliminary 2024-25 budget and property tax levy. The district proposes levying 11.86359 per $1,000 of taxable valuation in fiscal year 2025 a slight increase from FY24 rates. A list of change orders for the Lancer Stadium renovation project, the highest being a $136,000 increase from Sheets Design Build, LLC., bumping project costs to $730,000. In his repot, Superintendent Joe Stutting gave his regular update on North Scott Vision 2025 projects. Highlights: Flooring installation for Alan Shepard Elementary School's addition has started, and Stutting estimates this project will be near completion within the next few weeks. The Regional Innovation Center has half of its roof installed, and crews are preparing to pour flooring. Masonry is coming along smoothly for the high school's new welding lab, and the project is looking to be ahead of schedule. Work to Lancer Stadium is going well, Stutting said, and crews are setting up for the addition/renovation projects at the junior high and Neil Armstrong Elementary School. He also noted upcoming district public hearings, including: Virtual Session: 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3. Wednesday, April 10 at 6 p.m. at the Park View Owners Association (17 Lincoln Ave. in Eldridge.) Before adjourning, the board recognized a $150 donation in memory of Randy Denner, Hope Schroeder and Cindy Davis to the North Scott Education Foundation for high school senior scholarships. Next meeting: Monday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. Photos: North Scott FFA introduces elementary students to agriculture SIOUX FALLS As a former national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence and a woman who grew up in small-town South Dakota, Army Col. Andrea Thompson of Sioux Falls is uniquely positioned to serve on a new coalition that will put a Rushmore State focus on political and economic issues of global importance. Thompson will be one of about 75 thought leaders statewide who will serve on the new South Dakota advisory committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), a bipartisan national group that seeks to define and strengthen America's role in worldwide governmental, economic and diplomatic affairs. The South Dakota state advisory committee of USGLC is the 33rd state chapter to advise the national group. It hopes to usher in new opportunities for the state and its leaders to expand knowledge and understanding of global affairs and the worldwide marketplace. The panel will also seek to provide South Dakota businesses and individuals with opportunities to expand into new international markets. The new state chapter will launch during a global affairs conference in Sioux Falls on Wednesday, March 27. Speakers include U.S. Sen. John Thune, former South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard and Col. Thompson. "This is really just another resource for our community leaders, our business leaders, our political leaders to gain insight on areas of the world that we might not now be familiar with," Thompson said. Access to new opportunities Thompson grew up in Pierre, attended the University of South Dakota and spent 28 years in the Army, serving tours as an intelligence officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. She then joined the U.S. State Department as national security adviser to the vice president and undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Thompson retired from the Army in 2016 and returned to South Dakota in November 2023 to become CEO of the Dakota State University Applied Research Corp., now under construction in northwest Sioux Falls. Thompson, who serves on the national board of USGLC, said the new state committee will bring together leaders in industry, the nonprofit sector, education, agriculture, politics and the faith-based community to focus on two major objectives. "It allows us to educate and inform the U.S. and international communities about what South Dakota brings to the economy and it gives us access to senior leaders and decision-makers that we may not normally have access to," Thompson told News Watch in an interview. The committee will be co-chaired by Daugaard and Jim Abbott, former president of the University of South Dakota. The South Dakota committee will create new lines of communication with leaders in a wide range of fields from other states, in Washington and across the world, Thompson said. "I find that almost all of our problems can be solved with communication," she said. "I've told our soldiers, my government peers and business leaders that we're better together when we share ideas and when we share the lessons learned by others." 'We bring America together' USGLC CEO Liz Schrayer told News Watch that the breadth of leadership within the national organization and on state committees provides a forum for greater understanding of the United States' role on the global stage and in expanding economic opportunities for all Americans. The Washington Post once referred to the USGLC as the "Strange Bedfellows Coalition," a moniker that Schrayer shares with pride. "We bring together America," she said. "Leaders who believe that America needs to be engaged in the world and who support that idea through our diplomacy and our development understand that it matters to America's economic security and our values." Schrayer said the time is right to launch an advisory committee in South Dakota, where 1 in 5 jobs is related to trade, $12 billion in agricultural products are exported each year, and nearly 1,000 in-state businesses export more than $2.5 billion in goods and services a year. "What matters globally, matters locally," she said. "South Dakotans believe and see and live the ideal that South Dakota matters to the world and that the world matters to South Dakota." Creating new economic pathways The new advisory committee will enable South Dakota leaders from all walks of life and commerce to develop a stronger understanding of world events and how crises around the world affect life and business in the state, Schrayer said. The state committee will create new pathways for South Dakota leaders to share the state's story of success with governmental and industry leaders in the U.S. and around the world, she said. "There's so much that South Dakota has to be proud of," Schrayer said, noting the state's role in helping to feed the world and having strong leaders in Congress. Luke Lindberg, CEO of South Dakota Trade, a statewide business development group launched in 2023, said the new committee will help the state play a greater role in the international marketplace and in advising national leaders on global affairs. "What happens overseas does impact our state's producers and manufacturers, our national security and our way of life," said Lindberg, who will also serve on the March 27 panel. "It's an exciting time to see more momentum of South Dakotans being willing to step forward and say that this stuff matters." Bipartisanship an important element Lindberg said the bipartisan nature of the USGLC in Washington and within the South Dakota committee is important to the continued success of the organization. The apolitical nature of the committee will allow members to focus on the big picture of maintaining strong American presence in global affairs and advocating for a strong international affairs budget within federal government. Conflicts and upheaval on the global political stage do have an effect on South Dakotans and the state economy, Lindberg said. As examples, he noted that the state agricultural industry is affected by the war in Ukraine or from Chinese aggression toward Taiwan, and that airmen and women stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base might be called on at any time to engage in U.S. military interests abroad. "Our farmers have the propensity to ramp up production and deliver necessary foods around the world," he said. "And that's a good opportunity for us to demonstrate American leadership and make an impact back here in the heartland." This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org. Contact Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org. The Weinstein JCCs annual Purim Carnival celebrated the heroes of Judaism on Sunday. With the theme of this years parade being heroes, kids, and their families, were invited to dress up as their favorite superheroes and show them off in the costume parade. The carnival also had many activities for kids like laser tag, face painting, crown and mask making and a show performed by Jonathan the Juggler. There was also a traditional reading of the Megillah, which is the book that tells the story of the holiday of Purim. Purim is a celebration of the saving of the Jewish people from a threat of annihilation. It is a happy holiday in the Jewish tradition. Purim is celebrated every year on the 14th day of the Hebrew month Adar, which typically falls around the start of spring. The most important thing (about Purim) is that it is a festival, said Andrea Costanzo, director of inclusion and support services for the Weinstein JCC. This (years celebration) is a really big deal, looking at it from a modern context. The carnival was open to anyone in the community, Costanzo said. Weve always had the community to support and have this take place, she said. A popular spot at the Purim Carnival each year is the Hamantaschen Cafe, which serves as a fundraiser for the preschool at the Weinstein JCC. Hamantaschen are traditional Purim treats in the shape of the hat of the villain in the Purim story. The Hamantaschen Cafe brings in about 400 dozen cookies to sell each year from a Kosher bakery in Baltimore, said Donna Peters, early childhood director at the Weinstein JCC. Its a big fundraiser for the preschool and its a big community service as well, because everyone loves them and looks forward to getting them, Peters said about the hamantaschen sales. Sara Rosenbaum, chief impact officer at the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, said hundreds, if not thousands, of guests were expected at the carnival. The event has been held for over 30 years, Rosenbaum said, and it is sponsored by the JCC, community synagogues and the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond. (The carnival) gives you the sense of community, Rosenbaum said. Purim ended at sundown on Sunday. From the Archives: Beginnings of Busch Gardens Last year in the Richmond area, an auto theft occurred roughly every three hours. In other words, theres a high probability that a local car was stolen while you were watching Oppenheimer. As local police departments rolled out their 2023 crime statistics, the sudden jump in stolen vehicles stood out as something afflicting the suburbs as well as the city. According to police data, 3,120 car thefts were reported in Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico counties and the city of Richmond combined a 49% increase from 2022. Thats more than eight vehicles per day, so approximately one every three hours. That included 1,847 thefts in the city of Richmond, up from 1,208 the previous year. In Chesterfield, car thefts shot up from 294 in 2022 to 519 last year. By comparison, from 2014 to 2022 the county averaged 272 stolen vehicle reports per year. According to Maj. Mike Louth, commander of Chesterfield polices investigation bureau, vehicle thefts have occurred due to a variety of factors. Louth said his department sees more thefts during the winter, when people leave their cars running to warm them up. He pointed out that some people also leave their vehicles running while making quick stops at convenience stores and other places. Sometimes its a crime of opportunity, Louth said. If youre starting your car, stay with your car. Louth said Chesterfield police have fared well in recovering stolen vehicles with the help of regional partners. The spread of (social media) information as well as our ongoing population growth could be contributing factors to the increase in car thefts, added Chesterfield Commonwealths Attorney Erin Barr. Our office takes these offenses seriously and prosecutes each case with attention to the facts and circumstances of that individual case. 4 ways you can help the Richmond Times-Dispatch cover the community You can help us improve our coverage and deliver the news important to you. Here's how you can help. The number of car thefts has also been on the rise in Henrico, where it increased 46% from 2019 to 2023, going from 486 to 710 in that time. Kia and Hyundai cars became particularly vulnerable to thefts after videos on TikTok and other sites illustrated how to start and steal those models using only a screwdriver and a USB cable. Many car thefts have shown to be connected to recent social media trends/challenges, some specifically involving Kia and Hyundai vehicle brands, said William McCue, a Henrico police spokesperson. Of the total number of auto thefts in Henrico in 2023, 67% were Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Both brands lacked anti-theft immobilizers, making those vehicles easier to steal. According to JDPower.com, most modern cars have immobilizers, which communicate with your cars smart keys or key fobs. If the key doesnt transmit the correct pin code, the car wont start. Police Chief Eric English told the Board of Supervisors at a public meeting earlier this month that juveniles were often involved and that a lot of those stolen vehicles are recovered. Meanwhile, Hanover hasnt seen the same increase in car thefts steadily averaging 42 over the past four years. Chesterfield While the spike in car thefts stood out, overall 2023 crime stats for Richmonds suburbs were mixed. Chesterfield, the regions most populous locality, saw a drop in homicides from 19 in 2022 the highest number in at least a decade to seven last year. (2022) was really kind of the anomaly for us; that was a really hard year, Louth said. Im certainly pleased that (2023) was a much lower year for us, but still at the end of the day, there were seven people that lost their life in Chesterfield. None of its acceptable. However, in the same year, rape and sexual assault cases increased from 358 to 394. Its certainly a tough one for people to report, but we try to encourage people that if youve been a victim of that, to reach out to us because we want to be able to provide resources as well as justice for you, Louth said. While burglary and breaking and entering incidents saw a slight increase last year, they had been steadily declining over the last decade. There were 535 incidents in 2023, up from 447 the previous year, but thats significantly lower than the 1,246 incidents reported in 2014. Louth attributed some of that decline to the rise in affordable Ring cameras and other surveillance systems installed in homes. Louth said break-ins are happening more often at places like vape shops where products are being sold. However, criminals may have traded in one type of crime for another, according to Louth. While burglary cases have gone down, fraud cases rose by nearly one-third last year. Many of those incidents involved online and telephone scams. Henrico In Henrico, the overall number of violent crimes increased by 2.5% in 2023, which continued a trend that has seen violent crimes increase 22% in the county since 2019. Henrico includes homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults in their reporting of violent crimes. Drops last year for the number of homicides (from 30 to 24), rapes (25 to 19) and robberies (117 to 108) were offset by an increase in the number of assaults, which increased from 223 to 254. While homicides did drop last year, 24 is a fairly high number for Henrico. For example, the county had half as many in 2018; and, in 2019, there were only seven. By comparison, Richmond had 67 homicides in 2023. There are natural crime fluctuations year-to-year; while identifying significant spikes in crime over a short period is important, it is equally important to identify crime trends over long periods of time, wrote Henrico police spokesperson William McCue. Notable anomalies that impacted crime trends could be attributed to the COVID-19 impact during the recent years. The highest number of 2023 homicides occurred in the Fairfield District, which had 13. Varina saw seven, and Brookland had two, while Tuckahoe and Three Chopt had one each. Despite the spike in auto thefts, Henrico saw an overall 7% decrease in nonviolent offenses, which include burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson. Burglaries and larceny in Henrico dropped from 7,732 in 2022 to 6,945 in 2023. That included a 17% decrease in residential burglaries, a 38% decrease in toolshed burglaries and an 8% dip in commercial burglaries. Henrico also saw a significant decrease in the theft of catalytic converters, which hit an all-time high in 2022. The county said those crimes were down 75%. Nonviolent crime was highest in the Fairfield District where 2,265 of the total 7,696 crimes occurred. The lowest was 856 in the Tuckahoe District. Hanover Hanover did not have any homicides in 2023, which is not unusual for the county. Thats been the case for three of the past five years. The largest increase among major crime categories was assaults, which increased from 98 in 2022 to 120 last year. This continued an upward trend, as there were 85 in 2019. Larceny and theft have also increased over the past five years, going from 737 in 2019 to 882 last year. Hanover Sheriffs spokesperson Steve Wills said that trend is attributable to changes in Virginia law. In 2018, the General Assembly set a higher threshold for grand larceny for the first time since 1980. In 2020, it raised the threshold again. Grand Larceny was established at $200, then moved to $500, and now stands at $1,000, Wills wrote via email. We also saw the law change related to subsequent convictions of larceny, Wills continued. It used to be a deterrent that upon your third offense you were charged with a felony. That is no longer the case. Gov. Glenn Youngkin will speak at Virginia Commonwealth Universitys commencement ceremony on May 11. A number of sitting governors have spoken at VCU graduations, including Terry McAuliffe in 2015, Bob McDonnell in 2011, Tim Kaine in 2008, Mark Warner in 2004, Jim Gilmore in 1999 and George Allen in 1997. Youngkin has an undergraduate degree from Rice University in Texas in mechanical engineering and managerial studies and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. The event will be at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Youngkin and VCU have intersected in numerous ways since he took office in 2022. The governor has proposed more funding for VCUs medicine-building efforts. Last year, VCU opened the states first lab school in connection with CodeRVA, bringing to life one of Youngkins first education initiatives. In 2022, he asked state colleges to reverse their decisions to raise tuition. VCU, and the rest of the states schools, acquiesced. 20 new Richmond-area restaurants opened in 2024 so far ML Steak Chesterfield Lalo's Margaritas Lucky Chopsticks The Bowl Vietnamese Cuisine Blue Bee Cider Tito's Taqueria Beaucoup Scott's Shawarma Fogo de Chao Lillian West End Importante Bodega Bar River City Wood Fire Pizza Chipotle Raising Cane's Bad As Philly Brecotea Bakery & Cafe Pho 60 Cafe Perry's Steakhouse & Grille The Hive Bar and Grill KavaClub A Virginia Commonwealth University police officer who was fired for misconduct in 2022 was hired last year by the Petersburg Bureau of Police. VCU dismissed Polly Griffin, a 15-year veteran of the department, in 2022 for misconduct while in uniform. VCU Police Chief John Venuti said Griffin violated five agency policies during an incident at VCU Medical Center in October 2021, according to documents obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. That incident included Griffin threatening an emergency room patient by saying Youre lucky I dont kill you, which was overheard by fellow officers. The patient was handcuffed to a wheelchair at the time. Venuti said body-worn camera footage showed Griffin digging her fist into a female patients arm, causing the patient to scream in pain. Initially, Griffin disobeyed her supervisors order for her to stop. Let up, let up, let up LET UP, Polly, POLLY! said Griffins supervising sergeant, according to a transcription of body-worn camera footage of the incident written by Venuti. The maneuver was unnecessary and unjustified, Venuti wrote. The policy violations described below have had severe impacts on university operations and cannot be tolerated, Venuti wrote. VCU recommended charges of misdemeanor assault and battery to the Richmond Commonwealths Attorneys office. On Jan. 4, Griffin was indicted by a grand jury. She was fired by Venuti on Feb. 11. Her firing and pending criminal charges automatically decertified her from being a police officer within the state of Virginia. In May, Griffin was told by Virginias Department of Criminal Justice Services that her firing was backed by a preponderance of evidence. The agency upheld the decision to decertify her. After completing community service for the Richmond City Circuit Court, Griffins misdemeanor assault charge was dropped. It has since been expunged. Two weeks later, Griffin successfully appealed her decertification, according to her case file, which was shared with OpenOversight VA by Sam Stecklow of the Invisible Institute, a reporter working on police decertifications in Virginia. The decision was made by a majority vote of members of the executive committee of the Criminal Justice Services Board. Five of the groups members voted for her reinstatement, while one opposed and two board members were absent. Then, in February 2023, Griffin was hired by Petersburg police. Her hiring did not break any Virginia laws. Griffins defense attorney, Doug Ramseur, said she was doing her best in a highly emotional situation that followed one of her colleagues being assaulted at the scene of an accident. Ramseur said the individuals responsible were arrested and convicted on felony charges of assaulting law enforcement officers. Polly Griffin was a good officer who cares, and shes still a good officer who cares, Ramseur said. She was doing her job at the time to control people who were out of control. Ramseur said Venutis allegations did not substantiate her decertification as a police officer or the misdemeanor charge. We cant expect police officers to be robots, Ramseur said. But that doesnt mean she cant be a good law enforcement officer. Petersburg Police Chief Travis Christian stands by the decision to hire Griffin. Shes been nothing but professional since shes been here, said Christian, who described Griffin as an officer held to a rightfully high standard, but also as a human who had made a mistake in the heat of the moment. Should a career be ended on the basis of that, every time? Im not so sure, Christian said. The reality of it is we hurt, we bleed, we want to go home at the end of the day just like everybody else. Virginias decertification laws were significantly strengthened in May 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. The changes broadened the categories of offenses for which officers can lose their badge and gun. Since the new laws took effect in 2021, the state has decertified more than 130 police officers. Their offenses include failing drug tests, lying during internal affairs investigations, or breaking state laws. The number that return to law enforcement work is far smaller. Griffin is one of eight officers to successfully appeal a decertification and be hired by another law enforcement agency, according to the police accountability website OpenOversight VA. The organization makes routine payroll records requests of police agencies and publishes instances of police misconduct. Occasionally, officers who jump between departments make headlines. Among them is Timothy Loehmann, the Cleveland police officer who killed Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Black boy, in November 2014. Loehmann had been found emotionally unfit to be a police officer at a previous posting, which he had concealed from the Cleveland Police Department. In 2020, a first-of-its-kind study in Florida found that so-called wandering officers made up about 3% of that states police force. The study found that they face difficulty being hired again as law enforcement officers and that, if hired, are more likely to get into hot water at their next job. Laws around police decertification may soon be modified to be more private. During this years General Assembly session, a legislator proposed a bill that would allow the board charged with decertifications to make its deliberations behind closed doors. The bill, proposed by Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, would also exempt records related to an officers decertification from public records requests. Locke and police agencies have argued that privacy will improve the decertification process and calm police chiefs and sheriffs who dont want to bring their files into an open hearing. The bill passed both legislative chambers and is awaiting a signature or veto from Gov. Glenn Youngkin. From the Archives: 27 photos of Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn Willow Lawn The rich scent of Afghan samosas and Kabuli palaw wafts through the Islamic Center of Henrico County as the final notes of the Maghrib prayer echo off the walls and fade. It is precisely 7:23 p.m. Friday: sunset. For members of central Virginias Islamic community, it is time to break the Ramadan fast over 12 hours of abstaining from lifes necessities and luxuries alike, including food and water. The fast is a daily exercise, and lasts a month. From dawn until dusk, Muslims forgo eating and drinking; tobacco, caffeine and other substances; and sexual intimacy. Through prayer, meditation, reflection and sacrifice, they draw closer to God and to one another. What might sound like a grueling endeavor is, in fact, a profoundly restorative and fundamentally human experience for many Muslims, said Zulfi Khan, 65, who is originally from Pakistan and now lives in Henrico. Fasting is a beautiful, beautiful thing, Khan said. You ... are holding something back. And it is making you strong. Ramadan is an exercise in developing discipline, Khan said. And, perhaps more importantly, the ritual of fasting reinforces a foundational tenet of Islam: the absolute dependence of human beings on the grace and mercy of God. When you are empty and you havent consumed, you feel ... pain, Khan explained. You feel that something is missing. That missing something the void Khan said is within us all is meant to be filled by the Almighty. A spiritual journey Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic Hijri lunar calendar, coincides with the first sighting of the crescent moon. According to Islamic tradition, it is the month during which the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad as a guide for humanity. Its dates on the Gregorian calendar vary from year to year. This year, Ramadan began March 10 and will end April 9. Zaid Mahdawi, 25, of Richmond said he observes Ramadan as a spiritual journey to get closer to God. During this month, we are disciplining ourselves to live throughout the day without anything, he said. We get through it by remembering God. It is no easy task. Fatigue, dehydration and various forms of withdrawal can present strenuous challenges. Mahdawi described the first three days of going without coffee as hell. And even more difficult, Mahdawi said, is exercising patience amid the chaos of daily life. Mahdawi said it is important to show compassion and understanding toward those who are participating in the fast. For example, those who are not fasting can try to avoid eating and drinking in front of those who are, he said. Teachers should accommodate students who may be hungry and thirsty, and employers should consider the exhaustion of their colleagues at work. Empathize with the fact that theres no coffee, no nicotine, he said. If were irritable, try to forgive us. You can ... help (us) develop the patience (we) are trying to develop this month. Observing Itikaf Bashir Chughtai, who originally is from Pakistan and now lives in Chesterfield County, was among the hundreds who gathered Friday night at the Islamic Center of Henrico, at 7705 Impala Drive, to pray, eat and recite passages of the Quran. Over his plate of samosas and pilaf, Chughtai said he was preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to participate in Itikaf 10 days of seclusion inside a mosque to read the Quran and worship during the final two weeks of Ramadan. Chughtai will stay inside Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque located in Mecca Islams holiest city and the hometown of the Prophet Muhammad. He will remain in total isolation, he said, and will cease praying and meditating only to use the bathroom and occasionally rest. It is his third time observing Itikaf in this manner, which he called very difficult. But the difficult nature of Ramadan is the very purpose of it, Chughtai said, and he eagerly anticipates his stay in Mecca. A beautiful thing That Ramadan is annually observed by nearly 2 billion people worldwide renders it one of the most unifying of all phenomena, Khan said. Muslims around the globe share in self-abnegation, he said in hunger, thirst, weariness and denied desire. The effect of the fast twofold: It reveals unrecognized blessings and heightens empathy for others. One aspect of fasting is to feel (for) the people who have less than you, Khan said. When youre deprived of something, it makes you feel it. For Khan, that feeling emphasizes the abundant blessings in his own life, which he said include living in a country where he can practice his faith freely and without obligation. Khan drew connections between religious freedom embedded in American law and Quranic passages such as Surah Al-Baqarah 2:256, which forbids compulsion in religion. It is a beautiful thing, Khan said. Mahdawi echoed that sentiment. Ramadan, he said, highlights his own prosperity and, in turn, compels him to serve and care for other people. It is incumbent upon us, with the blessings we have here to supplicate on behalf of others, he said. This year, the fast is a potent reminder of the suffering of Gazans, Mahdawi said. Ramadan comes as Gazans face extreme food insecurity and imminent famine during Israels ongoing campaign a parallel that is not lost on many Muslims, he said. Their dependence on God has ... made them stronger, Mahdawi said. They ... get up from under the rubble and say thank you, God! That is the spirit of Ramadan. You emerge stronger Ramadan is nearly halfway over. It will conclude on the night of April 9 with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr: a period of feasting and community that begins as the holy month ends. Until then, many of the estimated 200,000 Muslims living in Virginia will continue to collectively reflect on Gods mercy and forgiveness through abstinence and self-control. Ramadan is a season of intense vulnerability, Mahdawi said. It exposes humanitys utter reliance on physical things and inability to escape the confines of biologys demands. But that frailty is met and far exceeded by Gods power, Mahdawi said. Yes, fasting makes you recognize how weak you are, he said. But at the end of it, you emerge stronger. Muslims around world observe holy month of Ramadan COMPILED BY ANDREW CAIN March 25, 2024 Dems begin budget road show Democratic budget leaders in the General Assembly are embarking on their own road show to counter Gov. Glenn Youngkin's public criticism of what he calls lawmakers' "backward budget." Starting Monday in Hampton Roads, Democratic leaders, including Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, head of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, and Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, head of the House Appropriations Committee, will set out on a "Virginia Families First Tour" to tout the General Assembly's spending plan. Youngkin has criticized Democratic leaders over what he terms $2.6 billion in tax increases in the legislature's budget and that the budget does not include his proposed arena project in Alexandria. The Democrats say that on their tour they will be "showcasing the impactful budget designed with Virginia families in mind." The Democrats' tour will include stops Monday in Portsmouth, Tuesday at the state Capitol and in Prince William County and Wednesday in Southwest Virginia. WHAT'S NEXT? Bill action: Gov. Glenn Youngkin must act on hundreds of bills by April 8. Legislators return April 17 to take up his vetoes and proposed amendments. WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT New charges for Fariss - Markus Schmidt of Cardinal News reports that former Del. Matt Fariss, R-Campbell, was arrested Saturday in Campbell County and charged with a firearms count, possession of narcotics and violation of a protective order. Rodney Robinson of The Lynchburg News recently reported that Fariss had been acquitted on felony counts stemming from a 2023 hit-and-run allegation. Fariss lost an independent bid to retain his House seat in 2023. Rights restoration: Dave Ress reports that the number of Virginians who are getting their right to vote back after convictions for felonies fell for the second year running. Youngkin halted his predecessors practice of automatically restoring rights. READ MORE Budget fight: Michael Martz reports that, amid a war of words, the gulf between Youngkin and Democratic legislative leaders on the two-year budget continues to widen. READ MORE Schapiro: Politics columnist Jeff Schapiro writes that the Youngkin administration's push for the $2 billion Alexandria arena project was not "fully recalibrated to the post-November reality" of a Democratic takeover of the legislature. READ MORE VCU: Eric Kolenich reports that two dozen Virginia Commonwealth University students and faculty wore red bandanas and held up handwritten signs at Fridays board meeting to protest the universitys plan to terminate 14 professors. READ MORE 'Second look' draws passion on both sides Charlotte Rene Woods reports that so-called "second look" legislation has inspired passionate responses on both sides of the issue. The legislation, which lawmakers carried over for consideration in 2025, would let some prisoners petition a judge for early release after they have served 15, 20 or 25 years depending on their crimes. Mark Whitfield, whose 9-year-old daughter, Markiya Dickson, was killed by a stray bullet during a 2019 Memorial Day community cookout at a South Richmond park, opposes the legislation. "I can't get my daughter back. I can't take her to school. I can't watch her grow up - but (criminals) deserve a second look?" Whitfield said. "My daughter can't get a second look." Sheba Williams, the director of NoLef Turns, a nonprofit that provides resources for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, supports the bill. Williams also knows the pain of gun violence. Her nephew, Te'Von Cook, was killed in 2018. Another passenger in a car with Cook on the night of his death had gotten into an argument with the shooter. Williams says she believes in accountability and in forgiveness and says she has seen inmates reform. "There are people who change and grow and I have been able to witness it," she said. READ MORE IN OTHER NEWS Thad Green and Sean Jones report that there were 3,120 auto thefts last year in Richmond and Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover counties combined, a 49% increase from 2022. READ MORE Samuel Parker reports that University of Richmond officials identified the student found dead Thursday night in Westhampton Lake on the universitys campus as Christopher Elvin, a sophomore from New Jersey. Richmond police spokesperson James Mercante said no foul play is suspected at this time, and that the incident looks to be a tragic circumstance. READ MORE PHOTO OF THE WEEK MONDAY TRIVIA "The Wager," author David Grann's gripping tale of a 1740s British "shipwreck, mutiny and murder," includes a host of interesting nautical derivations. For instance, when typhus breaks out on the ship, many sailors are treated below decks, which gives us what phrase? QUOTE OF THE WEEK Im sure it didnt, but at the end of the day, politics is a contact sport. Everybody needs to step back and dont take this personally. - Del. Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, noting that Gov. Glenn Youngkin's push for Republicans to vote against the legislature's budget compromise did not sit well with Democrats TRIVIA ANSWER Burst pipe brings down section of Cancun hospital ceiling Cancun, Q.R. A burst pipe is the said cause of the collapse of a section of ceiling inside a Cancun hospital. The collapse happened around 8:00 p.m. Saturday while on-duty staff worked around the effected area. Large garbage cans had been placed under the burst pipe to collect the dripping water. After hours of leaking, a section gave way leaving the ceiling exposed to pipes and wiring. The incident was reported in the Regional General Hospital 17 of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) of Cancun. There were no in injuries reported. On Sunday, IMSS Quintana Roo issued a statement reporting that at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, a water leak was reported in the tocosurgery waiting room due to a burst pipe. A burst water pipe caused part of the ceiling to collapse Saturday night. Photo: IMSS March 23, 2024. Personnel preceded to move patients who were in the area. The area of the collapse was empty and not being used at the time of the collapse. Lopez Obrador makes discreet work tour around Quintana Roo Riviera Maya, Q.R. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador paid another visit to southern Quintana Roo as part of a weekend work tour. The state of Quintana Roo was on the agenda as part of a weekend circuit that also included Oaxaca, Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche. On Sunday night, President Lopez Obrador reported briefly on his work visit to sections 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 of the Maya Train. He did not make make any mention of section 5 south where a judge issued a stop work order in mid-February. Due to the ban on government propaganda for the upcoming the electoral campaigns, Lopez Obrador did not hold any public meetings or make any public comments. Instead, he shared a brief publication on his social media where he announced his arrival in Quintana Roo to evaluate developing programs and projects. We have been evaluating development programs in Oaxaca, Veracruz, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche and Quintana Roo for three days. Time is short, he posted on social media regarding the work tour. Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama also made a brief mention of his visit posting, a very productive day of work in Quintana Roo with our dear President, Lopez Obrador. Lezama met with Lopez Obrador at the naval air base in Chetumal. Photo: Lezama March 24, 2024. Lopez Obrador arrived at the naval air base in Chetumal around 9:00 p.m. Saturday from Xpujil, Campeche. As part of his discreet Quintana Roo work tour, he met with Governor Mara Lezama Sunday. On Sunday morning, he reviewed the southern Maya Train sections before returning to Mexico City that evening. Mexican airline Aerus interconnecting Cancun, Cozumel, Chetumal with Yucatan Riviera Maya, Q.R. Mexican airline Aerus has announced six new routes around the Yucatan Peninsula. Starting May 13, 2024, the airline will begin offering direct flights between Cancun and Cozumel as well as between Cancun and Merida. Expanding even further, as of July 1, Aerus will strart flying between Cancun and Chetumal as well as Cozumel and Chichen Itza. Aerus, the Mexican airline, reported that new routes that include the cities of Cancun, Cozumel, Merida, Chetumal and Chichen Itza, which will boost tourism and connectivity between the different cities. The boost will contribute to the generation of jobs and in general, promote the economic and tourism development of the entire region, Governor Mara Lezama reported in a statement. Starting May 13, regular commercial flights will be established between Cozumel-Cancun-Cozumel every day. Likewise, daily flights will also be offered for Cancun-Merida-Cancun route. As of July 1, the Cancun-Chetumal-Cancun route will be offered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while Cozumel-Chichen Itza-Cozumel will begin daily operations. Governor Lezama said both announcements strengthen the tourist offer and generate greater development in one of the favorite destinations of the millions of tourists who visit the Mexican Caribbean year after year. Aerus is a Mexican airline based out of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. The airline was founded in May 2022 by Grupo Herrera and planned to launch in the first quarter of 2023, seeking to operate flights to destinations without current air service. In a February 2023 report, Aerus planned to expand its operations, aiming to have 14 aircraft and 500 employees by 2025. The airline plans an investment of $98 million as part of the expansion effort. The airline also plans to hire former employees of Aeromar, an airline that closed operations. Photo: Aerus The airline operates domestic and international flights in the northeast region using Cessna aircraft built by Textron Aviation. New state laws could put an end to irregular settlements and illegal real estate land sales Riviera Maya, Q.R. The Secretariat of Sustainable Urban Territorial Development (Sedetus) says new state laws could put an end to the development of irregular settlements as well as the illegal sale of land. Armando Lara De Nigris, Secretaria de Desarrollo Territorial Urbano Sustentable (Sedetus), says they are working on a new law to stop irregular settlements. A Human Settlements Regulation could be ready in the first half of this year. In Quintana Roo there are, at least 389 irregular settlements which he says, is the consequence of the high demographic growth of the state combined with difficulties in acquiring a home. He says Cancun has the highest number of irregular settlements with around 213. Other places such as Isla Mujeres also have high figures with 85 irregular settlements, while in the municipality of Othon P. Blanco, there are 40. A 2014 map shows a handful of known irregular settlements around Chetumal compared to the 40 officials have counted now. Image: Sedetus 2014. Solidaridad has 29 that they know of, Puerto Morelos has seven, Tulum six, in Felipe Carrillo Puerto there are three, in Jose Maria Morelos there is only one and one on the island of Cozumel. Bacalar has counted four irregular settlements, while in the district of Lazaro Cardenas, none have been detected to date. Lara De Nigris acknowledged that for several years, the problem of formal housing has been great and has become increasingly accentuated in the main cities. It is something very critical. We started working on the territorial state strategy with a team of congressional deputies. We are working on the Condominium and Regulations Law and the Human Settlements Law which we hope to have ready in coming months, he said. Lara De Nigris said that the beginning of the year, the state government launched a Property Security Roundtable in the southern zone where they proceeded to review 10 real estate developments. Nine of them have had complaints filed for the illegal sale of land. He says the new laws would directly address the serious problem of land invasion and the illegal sale of property in Quintana Roo. DANVILLE After leading his flock at North New Hope Baptist Church since the mid-1950s, 100-year-old Rev. Willard Smith delivered his last sermon Sunday. Though he may have difficulty hearing, the World War II veteran and former barber who grew up in Chatham can still belt out a rousing exhortation. I feel great, Smith told the Danville Register & Bee during an interview in his church office Wednesday afternoon on Old Piney Forest Road. I give God all the credit because without him, I wouldnt be here. He has been pastor at the church for 68 years. He and its members marked his milestone 100th birthday Friday during a celebration in the fellowship hall named after him. Though he will no longer preach at the church after Sunday, he says he will not quit being a faithful servant of the God to whom he has dedicated his life. Im only stepping down from pastoring, he said. I will continue serving God until he closes my eyes in death. But Smith, who was born on March 22, 1924, has been more than a minister. He grew up on a farm in Chatham, where his father was a sharecropper. The family raised wheat, corn, tobacco, cows, chickens and hogs, he said. Sharecropping was a system in which landowners rented out land and equipment to tenants in return for part of the crop raised on the property. Sharecropping was an extension of slavery in which Black tenants were denied autonomy and remained in debt. Under one arrangement, Smiths father gave half of what he made to the owner. When Smith was 8, his dad rented another farm instead, where he gave back one-quarter. The white owner, Mr. Harris, was a good Christian man, Smith said. After being drafted into the U.S. Army at 18, Smith served in World War II in Europe, where he carried supplies to the front and brought prisoners back. I left New York and landed in Liverpool, England, in 1943, he recalled of his trek overseas after entering the Army. I left Liverpool, crossed the English Channel into France and then into Belgium, and into Holland and into Germany. Smith is proud of his military service and is passionate about the United States. I love my country, he said. I fought for it. Id do it again if I was able. This is the greatest country in the world. When he returned to the U.S. from the war, he enrolled in high school because he only had a seventh-grade education. He earned his diploma at all-Black Southside High School. He would go on to Virginia State University, where he earned his credentials to become a barber. He cut hair with three other Black barbers in a white-owned business in Chatham during segregation. His co-workers included Howard Banks, Dennis Watson and Haywood Berger, Smith said. All of their customers were white. We couldnt cut our own hair in that white barber shop, Smith said. But the customers were very nice, he added. Smith cut hair in Chatham for 24 years. He preached his first sermon at Hopel Baptist Church in Dry Fork in 1948 and began as pastor at North New Hope in 1955, he said. When asked why he decided to become a minister, Smith said, I didnt decide. I was called and sent. He drew a stark contrast between those who decide to become ministers and the ones who are called by God. Weve got too many preachers who decided to preach, Smith said. The ones who are called, they are successful. Those who decide, they are not. Theyre failing to preach the gospel. Smith, who started out preaching for $50 a month at North New Hope, said he didnt enter the ministry for the money. I dont preach for money, he said. He [God] told me, Im blessing you, Willard, to be a blessing. Most preachers go to get a blessing, or a paycheck. Im sent to be a blessing. Some preachers pastor for a while and then quit, he said. But when you are called and sent to preach, you cant help yourself, Smith said. You have to do it. As for his church members, they are good to me. They are the best, he said. North New Hope has about 35 active members. We are an old church family, said Mable Scott, 84, who has been a member for 56 years. Weve had a lot of saints that have gone on. After 24 years as a barber, Smith moved on and worked for Pittsylvania County Community Action, where he drove senior-citizen clients to hospitals in different cities. I enjoyed every moment of it, said Smith, who was employed with the group for another 24 years. Scott called Smith amazing and said he is known for traveling to the mountains every October for a fall trip to pick up cabbage and apples for women at the church. He is also a good teacher, Scott said. He loves his church family. He goes out of his way to make sure everyone has what they want. Also, hes going to preach the word whether you like it or not, Scott added. You can accept it or reject it, but hes going to give it to you. One of his frequent sayings is I aint thinking about you, but I love ya, she said. Andrew Lewis, a 75-year-old who has attended North New Hope his entire life, said of Smith, Hes a truth-teller. Faith without works is dead, and Smith covers both, Lewis said. Frank Scott, the 76-year-old chairman of the deacon board, has been a member at North New Hope since he was 12. I love his teaching, Frank Scott, Mables husband, said. He preaches Gods word. He doesnt preach for show, he preaches so youll know. Smith attributes his longevity to following the word of the Bible. I have been obedient to what the Bible teaches, he said. That I have done. I have honored and loved and respected everybody since I was a child. He told a story from his time in England during the war. Ive been in many parts of the world, he said There are some things I cannot do. A woman, whose husband was overseas, invited him to her home, Smith said. He turned down the invitation because she was married. I didnt go, he said. I couldnt do it. Smith has been married twice. His first wife, Ruby, with whom Smith fathered three sons, died of cancer. She was my earth angel, he said, adding that he has a second wife. The wife I have now [Lula G] is my sweetheart. I love her dearly. Smith has six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. His oldest son with Ruby is deceased. He has a step-son, Andrew White, with his second wife. Members presented Smith with a $10,000 check in November to mark his 68 years preaching at North New Hope. He will be pastor emeritus after he steps down, Mable Scott said. Three Virginia men on Friday were charged in connection with a scheme to rob U.S. Postal Service mail carriers at gunpoint and steal arrow keys used to access USPS collection mailboxes in order to obtain checks, credit cards and sensitive financial information. According to an indictment filed in Virginia Eastern District Court on March 12, Ricky Damion Christopher Jones Jr., 20, of Virginia Beach; Samir As-sad Hurd, 23, of Chesapeake; and Manray Perry, 22, of Virginia Beach, allegedly conspired to steal the arrow keys for the purpose of check washing, card cracking and bank fraud. The charges come as the USPS grapples with a surge in theft and crimes committed against mail carriers. Over 38,000 incidents of mail theft were reported nationwide during Fiscal Year 2022, according to the indictment, and 25,000 such incidents already have been reported for the first half of Fiscal Year 2023. Robbery of mail carriers also has increased, from 412 during FY22 to 305 for the first half of FY23. Suspects in the robberies often are looking for arrow keys, which are master keys authorized USPS personnel use to access the mail repositories across a certain region, the indictment says. The arrow keys are worth thousands of dollars on the black market. According to court records, Jones, Hurd and Perry allegedly were part of a wider conspiracy that included at least three other people, identified in prior court documents as DaTwan Watson, Jayden Stukes and O'Sirus Ford. Text messages exchanged between the group show that the conspirators carefully planned out a string of robberies in Norfolk and Hampton. On May 8, the groups spree began when they accosted a (mail carrier) in the 2600 block of Ballentine Boulevard in Norfolk, the indictment says. One of the conspirators brandished a firearm and stole the carriers arrow key and USPS identification card. The following day, a mail carrier in Hampton was similarly robbed in the 100 block of Galax Street. The indictment says the conspirators brandished a gun before taking the carriers arrow key. The group struck again two months later, the indictment alleges. On July 20, a mail carrier escaped a robbery attempt in the 900 block of Coleman Drive in James City County. Two additional carriers were robbed the same day: one in the 3700 block of West Steeplechase Way in James City, and one in the 300 block of Harbor Drive in Hampton. Jones, who the indictment identifies as the architect of the scheme, organized the robberies and compensated the conspirators for the arrow keys. He and several of his co-conspirators had years of experience in fraud schemes, according to the indictment, and advertised the scheme on social media in the hopes of recruiting participants. With the stolen checks, credit and debit cards and financial information acquired from USPS collection boxes, Jones and other members of the group would engag(e) in lucrative bank and wire fraud, which included depositing counterfeit, whether altered or entirely fabricated, check(s) into a third-party account, then trying to withdraw or spend as much of that money as possible before the fraudulent check is detected, the indictment says. It was not immediately clear how much money Jones and the group were able to obtain in the course of the scheme. Federal investigators began probing the robberies in May 2023, according to the indictment. A search of an apartment leased by Jones produced evidence of check washing and card cracking. Court records show Jones and Hurd were arrested Tuesday, and charged with interference with commerce by robbery, assault of a federal employee, stealing keys adopted by the USPS and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, among other charges. Perry was arrested Wednesday, and charged with interference with commerce by robbery, assault of a federal employee and stealing keys adopted by the USPS. Their next court dates could not immediately be determined. Watson, Stukes and Ford in December pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the scheme. Watson is scheduled for sentencing on April 18, Stukes on April 17 and Ford on May 2. The indictment comes less than a month after Olden Douglas Ellerbe III, 24, of Richmond, pleaded guilty to using stolen arrow keys to steal personal and financial information to use in perpetrating bank fraud. At the time of his Nov. 15 arrest, Ellerbe was in possession of $60,000 in cash, 83 checks, nine debit or credit cards, six savings bonds and a handgun, according to court records. Ellerbe targeted mail collection boxes at the Richmond Main Post Office on Brook Road. RICHMOND Mark Whitfield feels like he is doing a life sentence. Hes just not incarcerated. His 9-year-old daughter, Markiya Dickson, enjoying a Memorial Day community cookout with her family, was petting a pony when she was killed by a stray bullet during a shootout at South Richmond park in May 2019. An 11-year-old boy who was playing tag nearby was wounded. A playground is now named for Markiya at Carter Jones Park, where she was killed. Two of the shooters were sentenced to 33 years, and a third was sentenced to 22 years. Her killers will eventually be released. Thats why Whitfield has testified against legislation that would allow some prisoners to petition for early release, a bill commonly known as second look. I cant get my daughter back. I cant take her to school. I cant watch her grow up but (criminals) deserve a second look? Whitfield said. My daughter cant get a second look. Senate Bill 427, which lawmakers carried over this year for consideration in 2025, would have let inmates petition a judge for reconsideration of their sentences after they have served 15, 20 or 25 years, depending on their crimes. A judge who decided a petition lacks merit could dismiss the inmates bid in chambers rather than continuing the process and reaching out to victims. The victims would have the ability to stop the process should they oppose the perpetrators case. If a petition advances to the point of victims being contacted and they dont respond, it would also stop the process. Inmates would also be limited to filing only twice, with three years between their attempts. The bills sponsor, Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, has pitched it as a beacon of hope for inmates something to strive for and a measure that would encourage good behavior. At the same time, he has had to fight to win over colleagues wary of being viewed as soft on crime. He has had some success among Republicans. Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick, who supported the bill this year after voting against last years version, called the tiers of sentences in the measure, and levels of input that include victims, a balance between the individuals who are getting a second look and protecting the sort of mental and emotional state of the victims. Hanging onto hope Its hope that fuels Richmond resident Sheba Williams (no relation to Del. Williams) support of the bill. While Whitfield has spoken against second look bills when they have come before the legislature, Williams has spoken in support. There are people who change and grow and I have been able to witness it, she said. Williams is the director of Nolef Turns, a nonprofit that provides resources for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. Through her advocacy, she says she has met people who are getting their lives back on track. Growing up, both of her parents were incarcerated. While her mothers sentence was brief, she witnessed the challenges having a felony on a record can create for someone. Williams also knows the pain of gun violence. She lost her nephew TeVon Cook, who was killed in 2018. Another passenger in the car with Cook on the night of his death had gotten into an argument with the shooter, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to five years in prison. Its hard, Williams said of her multiple windows into the criminal justice system. But I believe in accountability and forgiveness. This is the third year second look legislation has gone before the legislature. Del. Wren Williams is among a handful of Republicans to have voted in favor of second look bills over the years to include Sens. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, and Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, as well as Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield, and then-Sens. Siobahn Dunnavant, R-Henrico, and Emmett Hanger, R-Augusta. Im a believer that people can be redeemed and rehabilitated, said Coyner, who sponsored the House version of second look in 2022. While the measures have been able to clear the Senate, there has not been enough support to get the bill to the governors desk. Parole is radioactive Virginia eliminated most types of discretionary parole in 1995 amid a national truth-in-sentencing movement in response to an increase in violent crime. That move, during George Allens governorship, had bipartisan support. Parolees had to regularly meet with a parole officer and stay on the right side of the law. That option was mostly removed in 1995. Virginia now has one of the lowest parole rates in the country. Only juveniles and the elderly are eligible. Just a handful are granted the right every year, with thousands of parole-eligible inmates remaining incarcerated. Allen believes the bipartisan vote at the time is part of why parole has remained as it has. Meanwhile, criminal justice advocates say its an unnecessary cost to taxpayers to keep prisons so full. Lawmakers in support of the second look bill see it as a way to lower costs without fully reinstating parole. It costs an average $42,000 per inmate each year to incarcerate, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections. And, as inmates age, they can cost as much as $100,000 annually due to their medical needs, according to the most recent department report from 2022. The word parole is radioactive right now, said Shawn Weneta, a policy strategist with Virginias chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Weneta has worked with various organizations to provide insights to lawmakers on the second look proposal over the years. Deeds, a 32-year legislative veteran who first voted in support of abolishing discretionary parole in the 1990s, is now carrying a second look bill nearly 30 years later. The whole idea of second chances and redemption was lost in the parole argument, he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch last summer. But were, I think, were getting back there. One of the bills staunch opponents has been Attorney General Jason Miyares, who said he considers the bill to be backdoor parole. A pillar of Miyares 2021 election campaign focused on the early releases of primarily geriatric inmates during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. A report from his office in early 2023 said the previous parole board under then-Chair Adrianne Bennett had violated board policies and state law and had failed to contact local prosecutors and victims when inmates were paroled. This year, he also requested a bill that could have further reduced eligibility of geriatric parole, though it did not pass. One of the only other methods for earlier release is earned sentence credits where inmates who participate in training programs that advocates say will help them successfully reenter society can earn credits toward sentence reductions. While an effort to expand the program passed in 2020, Gov. Glenn Youngkin put language in a previous state budget to block the change in 2022. Last month, Miyares penned a letter to lawmakers asking them to keep limits on earned sentence credits. Through this recent legislative session, Deeds bill was workshopped to give more layers to stop a petition if a judge finds it lacks merit or if a prosecutor or a victim say no. But Miyares pointed to potential problems he can see despite the good intent he believes those adjustments had. He explained that if a petition gets to the point of victim contact, that alone could be retraumatizing something some crime victims noted in their testimony before the legislature. And should they decline therefore ending a petition they might be contacted by family of the offender or special interest groups with pleas to change their mind. Or they might face harassment, he speculated. I actually think that that puts the victims in an even worse position as well by giving them the final say so it actually puts enormous pressure on them, Miyares said. A member of his office spoke against the bill when lawmakers considered the measure, and Miyares also took to social media to critique it during this years legislative session. The number of Virginians who are getting their right to vote back after convictions for felonies fell for the second year running, after Gov. Glenn Youngkin halted his predecessors practice of automatically restoring rights, the latest annual report from the Secretary of the Commonwealth shows. The report, required by the state constitution, shows that Youngkin restored rights to just under 2,580 individuals last year, down from just under 4,000 the year before, a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis found. Virginia is the only state that says restoration of voting rights to anyone with felony convictions is subject to the discretion of the governor. Thirty-nine states restore voting rights when people leave prison or complete sentences, two allow inmates to vote, while seven others require a governor or judge to restore rights for people convicted of murder, rape or, in some cases, voting fraud or bribery. A federal appeals court has overturned Mississippis permanent ban on voting rights for people convicted of murder, rape, arson and various fraud and theft offenses. Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican who held the office from 2010-14, began an effort to automatically restore rights in 2013 rather than follow the case-by-case approach to which Youngkin has returned. McDonnells move restored rights to 8,000 nonviolent felons. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who held the office from 2014 to 2018 and lost to Youngkin in 2021 expanded automatic restoration to cover people who had completed their sentences, restoring rights to more than 173,000 individuals. Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat who held the office from 2018 to 2022, expanded this further to include people on probation or parole. Youngkins case-by-case approach that he formally adopted toward the end of his first year in office, in December 2022, is why last years rights restorations are down, said Shawn Weneta, policy and advocacy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. It raises questions about fairness and arbitrariness, he said. Weneta said the administration has not detailed the criteria the governor uses in deciding to restore rights. They talk about redemption and they talk about cutting red tape and more efficiency in government, he said. But this is more red tape, clogging up the system. Youngkin looks at each case Under the process Youngkin adopted in December 2022, people disenfranchised because of a felony conviction must apply for restoration of their rights. They are given a form for this when leaving prison and there is an online application at the Secretary of the Commonwealths website. The form asks for details about an individuals identity, felony convictions and current status with respect to probation supervision, court fines and fees owed and any orders about restitution to victims. The secretarys staff checks the individuals criminal record with the Central Criminal Records Exchange and asks several state agencies to report on whether the person is in a state hospital, federal prison, under the supervision of a probation officer or awaiting trial on other offenses, said Macaulay Porter, Youngkins deputy communications director. With that information, Youngkin and Secretary of the Commonwealth Kelly Gee look at each case, including asking if the individual committed a violent crime, how recent the conviction was and the persons conduct since the conviction, she said. In the end, the governor restores rights or denies the application at his discretion, based on his judgment about whether the person will be a responsible citizen, she said. Advocates challenge administration Last year, the ACLU of Virginia, along with voting rights group Protect Democracy and law firm WilmerHale, sued the administration, election officials and some local registrars seeking a U.S. District Court ruling that denying people who have been convicted of felonies violates the 1870 federal law that readmitted Virginia to the union after the Civil War. The Virginia NAACP has gone to state court, seeking an order under the state Freedom of Information Act for records about the rights restoration process. This year, state Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, once again introduced a resolution to amend the state constitution to say that people convicted of felonies would have the right to vote once they leave prison. Democrats who lead the House and Senate chose not to take up the amendment until next year. Passing a state constitutional amendment requires a multiyear process. Lockes resolution would have to pass the House and Senate in 2025 and again in 2026 after the November 2025 legislative elections and then win voters approval in a statewide referendum. A governor cannot veto a resolution that seeks a constitutional amendment. Update on Youngkin pardons The annual report on pardons also shows the governor last year granted one medical pardon, releasing a prison inmate with a terminal disease, compared with two releases in 2022. He granted one absolute pardon, on the grounds that George Edward Parker Jr. was in fact innocent of the misdemeanor assault for which he served five days in jail in 2001. Youngkin also reduced the sentences of two inmates, but not by enough to release them from prison. He reduced to a 50-year prison term Randell Hakeem Love Barkleys sentence of three life terms plus 10 years. A Norfolk judge imposed the sentence in 2007 on charges of aggravated malicious wounding shooting, stabbing or cutting someone with the intent to kill or maim them as well as robbery, abduction, gang activity and use of a firearm. He also reduced to 29 years and seven months the 60-year sentence a Suffolk judge imposed on Samuel Elbert Harris in 2000 for two robbery counts, carjacking, abduction, burglary and 20 larceny counts. Neither pardon allows for a near-term release from prison, unlike the one conditional pardon Youngkin granted last year. It allowed John Earl McFadden Jr. to get out of prison after serving 16 years of an 88-year sentence for robbery, abduction and burglary. McFadden asked for the pardon so he could get a lung transplant. You have permission to edit this collection. Edit Close Apple, Google, Meta targeted under new European law meant to prevent cornering of digital markets European Union regulators have opened investigations into Apple, Google and Meta, in the first cases under a sweeping new law designed to stop Big Tech companies from cornering digital markets that took effect earlier this month North Korea says Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un soon but stressed that prospects for any summit would depend on Tokyo tolerating its weapons program and ignoring past abductions of Japanese nationals Female helper vacuuming with cat on floor (left) and helper in background hanging clothes while dog rests on grass (Photos: Getty Images) SINGAPORE As the COVID-19 pandemic's work-from-home norm shifts back to the office in Singapore, more pet owners are on the hunt for domestic helpers who can care for their pets, aside from the usual traditional household duties. According to maid agencies Yahoo Southeast Asia spoke to, the demand for domestic helpers who can provide pet care has seen a slow and steady increase over the past year. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), employers are allowed to hire migrant domestic workers to perform household and domestic duties, such as taking care of their employers pets. "Employers who hire migrant domestic worker (MDWs) to take care of their pets should make such requirements known during the hiring process to avoid future disputes. If training is required, employers should also ensure that their MDWs are adequately trained to handle such tasks," said an MOM spokesperson who told Yahoo. So, why has demand for this previously niche segment been "distinct and growing"? Increased cost of part-time help According to one agency, We Are Caring, the rise in demand is due to increased cost of hiring part-time help in the last few years. This makes the option to hire a full-time live-in helper more "relevant and affordable". Each week, the agency typically receives three to five requests for a live-in helper to take care of a pet, up from one or two before COVID. "I think employers value the convenience of having one dog-taker only, to create a special relationship instead of having multiple part-time helpers. It is also a cost-effective solution," said the agency's managing director, David Bensadon. He also noted that employers want helpers who genuinely love pets. One recent case is Mai Cherry Win, 45, whose current job is to care for two dogs. She spends most of her work hours making homemade dog food supplies, taking both English bulldogs for walks, and cleaning them. She only does minimal house chores like mopping and vacuuming. Story continues Win, who is from Myanmar, got the job in February after posting photos of her with pets on the agency's mobile app. The animal lover then started attracted inquiries from employers who are pet lovers. This is the first time she has landed a job primarily focused on pet care after 16 years in Singapore. Helper Mai Cherry Win and one of two English bulldogs she helps care for (Photos: Mai Cherry Win Pet care as supplementary duty For Universal Employment Agency, enquiries for pet-friendly helpers have increased from three to four in previous years, to five to six currently each week. Half of their requests come from potential clients on the lookout for helpers who are able to care for fish, cats or dogs as additional duty. "We have definitely seen an uptick in such demand perhaps due to COVID, because new pet owners are having to return to work since fewer do work from home. As a result, they have to hire a helper to care for their pets at home, on top of other household duties." Regent Maid Agency has also seen a five to 10 per cent increase year on year, for helpers who can take care of both pets and children or parents, said its co-founder, Stephanie Chew. The need for pet care has also affected part-time helpers. One such agency @bsolute Cleaning, which provides part-time helpers for chores, said it saw a 15 per cent increase in requests for pet care-focused helpers this year. The rise could be attributed to the evolving dynamic where pets are considered integral family members. The shift towards pet-centric lifestyles, and a deeper appreciation of pets as essential family members, are key drivers of this demand, said founder, Elvin Yeo. Dog behaviour specialist and trainer, Fraser Noble, believes rising numbers are due to Singapore's busy lifestyle and more pet owners. As such, domestic helpers are hired to care for pets, who are seen as "family members". A family of four, a couple and two kids, with a pet dog (Photo: Getty Images) More domestic helpers attending training courses Over the past two years, Noble has seen a 50 per cent increase in employers and domestic helpers attending training courses together at dog training school, Noble Canine. He has also seen more requests for training sessions with domestic helpers at home, when employers are away on vacation or overseas. A client had returned to Ireland during COVID-19 and left their dog solely to their domestic helper's care. With no other responsibilities, the domestic helper could fully rehabilitate the dog, which had initially been nervous and reactive on walks, through proper and focused care. Some other positive effects of this trend is also seeing more domestic helpers being comfortable asking questions in training sessions. However, leaving primary pet care to the helper "may not be ideal" in most cases. Noble has noticed that some domestic helpers "begrudgingly" care for pets, as they did not sign up for pet care as part of their job. There is also added stress and responsibility. In some cases, pets may form a deep emotional bond with the domestic helper, leading to jealousy from its owner. When the domestic helper leaves, dogs may also develop separation anxiety and reactivity, something Noble has witnessed a couple of times. "The dog is basically attaching itself to the person of the highest value. It does not understand the dynamics of employer and employee. In its mind, it has been abandoned by its primary caregiver." Still a niche segment Despite the uptick in those looking towards domestic helpers with the purpose of taking care of the pets, it's unlikely to takeover the main duties people have in mind when they hire a full-time maid. Win's employer shared that she only knew one other friend who hired a helper to care for her two dogs. Meanwhile, Eelit Agency's requests for pet-focused helpers usually come from singles or couples without children in pet-centric households, said co-founder, Patrick Ee. According to its placement consultants, such requests are" relatively rare". In the past year, the agency received approximately one request for helpers with pet care experience for every thousand customers. While it has seen a slight increase in demand in recent years, such requests remain a niche requirement within the industry, where overall growth numbers are still "relatively insignificant", said Ee. 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. Screen grabs of video posted of fire that broke out at Newton Food Centre on Sunday, 24 March 2024 (Photos: Facebook/Lyn Aying) SINGAPORE Two people were assessed for smoke inhalation and conveyed to Singapore General Hospital after a hawker stall in Newton Food Centre caught fire on Sunday (24 March). The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told Yahoo Southeast Asia it was alerted to a fire at 500 Clemenceau Avenue North, the address of Newton Food Centre, at about 9.30pm. Preliminary investigations suggest that the fire was caused by cooking left unattended inside the affected stall. The fire involved the kitchen exhaust ducting in the stall, and was extinguished with a hose reel, the SCDF said. Two videos and three photos posted by a Facebook user show thick smoke clouding the food centre. A ringing fire alarm can be heard in the background, as well as, coughing sounds made by visitors. The second video shows the arrival of a SCDF truck and firefighters. Smoke can be seen outside the food centre, while passers-by gathered outside the food centre. 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. Shanmugam criticised the Israeli embassy in Singapore's Facebook post on Palestine. (Photos: AFP, Reuters) SINGAPORE The Israeli embassy in Singapore has been told by the Singapore government to take down a completely unacceptable Facebook post on Palestine, Minister of Law and Home Affairs, K Shanmugam said on Monday (25 March). The Israeli embassy had published a post on Sunday (24 March) on its official Facebook account with claims that compared the number of mentions of Israel and Palestine in the Quran, as well as "archaeological evidence" that Jewish people were the "indigenous people of the land". According to CNA, Shanmugam told reporters that he was very upset when he was made aware of the post, which claimed that Israel had been mentioned 43 times, and Palestine not even once. When the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) saw the post, they also informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the latter told the embassy to take down the post immediately. The post was later deleted. Israeli embassy's post put Singapores security at risk, says Shanmugam Remarking that the post was wrong on many levels, Shanmugam said, First, it is insensitive and inappropriate. It carries the risk of undermining our safety, security and harmony in Singapore. He added that Singapore looks after the safety of all, including minorities such as Muslims and Jews, according to CNA. The anger from the [Israel embassys] post can potentially spill over into the physical realm, said Shanmugam. He explained that such posts can inflame tensions, and can put the Jewish community here [in Singapore] at risk. He said, MHA had asked for the posts to be taken down and made our views very clear to the Israeli embassy because it is unacceptable from the perspective of safety and security in Singapore. The Home Affairs Minister also said that it is wrong to selectively point to religious texts to make a political point and that the post was an astonishing attempt to rewrite history. The writer of the post should look at [United Nations] regulations, see if Israels actions in the past few decades have been consistent with international law, before trying to rewrite history. Story continues Government will interfere if Singapores peace and harmony are under threat CNA reported that Shanmugam stressed that the main reason for the request to take the post down is because of the potential consequences for the different communities within Singapore. He said that embassies represent the sovereign countries and they may put out statements that the Singapore government disagrees with. But where it affects the safety and security of people in Singapore, the peace and harmony that we enjoy, we do and we will intervene, said Shanmugam. Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said in a separate statement to the media that it is highly inappropriate to refer to sacred texts to make political points. We have made this clear to the embassy, which has taken the post down, he said. Masagos Zulkifli, Singapore's Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, said the Israeli embassy's post was "insensitive and disrespectful" and "goes against the spirit of mutual respect and understanding in Singapore". In a Facebook post on Monday, Masagos said "nobody should make interpretations that are offensive to another peoples faith, especially selectively using their sacred texts, to make political points". Whether one is a Singaporean or foreigner in Singapore, we must not do or say anything that disrupts the social harmony that is so precious to us in Singapore," Masagos wrote. "Such insensitive and inappropriate messages can cause hurt, and sow distrust amongst different communities in Singapore. Masagos said he was "very upset" when he saw the post, and understood that others in the "community also felt aggrieved". "But I urge everyone to remain calm and civil and continue to preserve the trust, peace and harmony between our communities. Let us also continue to support the humanitarian aid efforts for the civilians in Gaza, as the Government presses on for a two-state solution supported by the United Nations," Masagos wrote, referring to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Singapore's stance on the situation between Israel and Palestine. 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. Woodlands Checkpoint (left) and Tuas Checkpoint (right) are expected to see heavy traffic in the lead-up to and during the upcoming Good Friday, Qing Ming Festival and Hari Raya Puasa period from 28 March to 14 April. (PHOTOS: Yahoo Southeast Asia) SINGAPORE With the upcoming Good Friday, Qing Ming Festival and Hari Raya Puasa period, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has reminded travellers to Malaysia to expect very heavy traffic at the border. Those planning to visit Malaysia both in the lead-up and during the period of 28 March to 14 April should factor in additional waiting time at Singapore's two land checkpoints at Woodlands and Tuas, the ICA said on Monday (25 March). "Traveller volume at the land checkpoints has been increasing since border reopening and has far surpassed pre-COVID levels," the ICA said. Peak period waiting time for cars up to three hours The agency added that during the previous peak period over the March holidays, travellers departing by car had to wait up to three hours before they were cleared through immigration, due to traffic tailback from Malaysia. The ICA recently implemented a QR code system for immigration clearance aimed at speeding up the process for travellers in cars. With the upcoming public holiday and festival period, the ICA is encouraging car travellers to utilise the QR codes for clearance. Travellers who do so are also reminded to still carry their passports, as it may be required for verification in some cases. 5.1 million travellers during March holidays According to the ICA, during the recent March school holidays from 8 to 18 March, more than 5.1 million travellers crossed Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints. The agency also saw the highest recorded number of travellers (close to half a million travellers) crossing the land checkpoints on 15 March. "Travellers are thus advised to factor in additional waiting time. We seek their understanding and cooperation to be patient, observe traffic rules, maintain lane discipline, and cooperate with ICA officers," the agency said. Reminders for foreign vehicle drivers Motorists driving foreign vehicles are reminded to ensure the validity of their Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP). ICA added that applications for the permit would no longer be accepted at the checkpoints, as doing so "impedes traffic flow". Those who do not have a valid Autopass card, VEP approval email from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), or valid insurance will be denied entry. Story continues Furthermore, ICA advises drivers of foreign vehicles to settle any outstanding fines, warning that those with unresolved fines might be denied entry into Singapore. Payment options for such fines include online methods such as AXS kiosks, the AXS website, the AXS mobile app, PayNow, and various relevant agencies e-services websites. Offline payment options include visiting the customer service counters of relevant agencies and SingPost outlets. Travellers are encouraged to seek clarification on any offences from relevant government bodies such as the Singapore Police Force (Traffic Police), Housing Board, LTA, National Environment Agency, and Urban Redevelopment Authority. Foreign drivers without Autopass, VEP approval, or valid insurance will be denied entry to Singapore. (PHOTO: Screengrab/OnemotoringLTA website) Check traffic conditions Motorists can check the traffic situation at the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints via the One Motoring website or the Expressway Monitoring & Advisory System installed along the BKE and AYE. They can also get updates through ICA's Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) accounts, as well as local radio broadcasts on Kiss92, One 91.3, Hao 96.3 and UFM 100.3 stations. 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. HARTINGTON, Neb. Potential jurors referred to Jason Jones as a "fruitcake," "nutjob," "psychopath" and "scumbag." In a questionnaire sent to a 200-person jury pool, nearly 70% of respondents said they believe Jones is guilty, and many said he deserves the death penalty if found guilty of the August 2022 fatal shootings of four people in Laurel, Nebraska. Because of those results and the extensive media attention the quadruple homicide has received, Jones' attorney said his murder trial should be moved from Cedar County because it would be nearly impossible to seat an impartial jury to guarantee Jones a fair trial there. "The pretrial publicity and the responses to the supplemental jury questionnaires shows a pattern of deep and bitter prejudice in Cedar County against Mr. Jones," his attorney, Todd Lancaster, said in his motion for change of venue, filed Friday. Jones, 44, has pleaded not guilty to four counts each of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony and two counts of first-degree arson. He is charged with the Aug. 4, 2022, shooting deaths of Michele Ebeling, 53, in her home and Gene Twiford, 86, his wife, Janet Twiford, 85, and their daughter Dana Twiford, 55, in their home and setting both houses on fire. Jones' wife, Carrie, 44, has pleaded not guilty of first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory to a felony. She is accused of aiding and abetting the death of Gene Twiford. Trial dates have not yet been set for the two, who will be tried separately. Prosecutors have filed notice they would seek the death penalty for Jason Jones if he is found guilty of first-degree murder. District Judge Bryan Meismer will consider the change of venue request and other issues at a Thursday hearing in Cedar County District Court. He also will hear pretrial motions in Carrie Jones' case. Lancaster's filing for change of venue was expected. In February, Meismer granted Lancaster's request to send questionnaires to the jury pool, and results were provided to the defense and prosecution on March 13. In his motion, Lancaster said 33 of the 200 jurors had Laurel addresses, including one across the street from one of the crime scenes, and 52 of them knew either the Twifords or Twiford family members. When asked if they had an opinion on Jones' guilt or innocence, 139 (69.5%) said they believed he is guilty, and 87 said they could not set that opinion aside if chosen for the jury. Another 15 said they could set their opinion aside, but Jones would have to prove his innocence, rather than the state prove his guilt. When asked about the death penalty, 99 of 200 said they favor it and 27 said they were against it. Jones should receive the death penalty, 48 (24%) of the respondents said. "He has wasted a lot of taxpayers' money and now might be wasting my time; he should be put to death the same way he killed innocent people by being set on fire," one of the potential jurors said. Others made biblical references to "an eye for an eye." In addition to the jurors' comments, Lancaster, of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy in Lincoln, said "pervasive pretrial publicity," including dozens of stories by Cedar County newspapers, plus coverage by other regional newspapers and television and radio stations and the availability of all coverage to wide audiences through social media, have included details and statements from law enforcement and potential witnesses that would not be allowed at Jones' trial. Comments in the questionnaires showed many of the jurors have read or heard that information, Lancaster said. "... the pervasive publicity which details testimony likely not to be presented at Mr. Jones' trial show the only way he can receive a fair and impartial jury is for the venue to be changed to another county," Lancaster said. Lancaster made no recommendations for a specific alternate trial location, but said moving the trial to a county with a larger population than Cedar County's 8,262 people would provide a larger juror pool and make choosing a jury easier. Jones was arrested approximately 24 hours after authorities responded to a fire in the early morning hours of Aug. 4, 2022, at 209 Elm St., where they found Ebelings body with two gunshot wounds. A second fire at the Twiford home at 503 Elm St. was reported soon after, and responders found the family members' bodies, all with gunshot wounds. Jones, who lived across the street from Ebeling, was found at his home and airlifted to a Lincoln hospital for treatment of serious burns. Hes being held without bond at the Nebraska Department of Corrections Reception and Treatment Center in Lincoln. Investigators found empty .44-caliber shell casings near Ebelings body and a Ruger handgun registered to Jones, plus credit card receipts for gas and gas cans, in the Twiford home. Carrie Jones, who was arrested in December 2022 and remains in custody in the Antelope (Nebraska) County Jail, told investigators she had arrived home from work minutes before seeing her badly burned husband emerge from Ebelings home after the fire was spotted. She helped him into their home and put away his .44-caliber handgun, which he had been carrying. PRIMGHAR, Iowa A former administrative assistant at a home for adults with mental illness and disabilities has pleaded guilty of stealing thousands of dollars from residents. Jennifer Storm, 48, of Primghar, entered her plea Monday to two counts of caretaker dependent adult abuse by exploitation and one count of first-degree theft. Sentencing was scheduled for May 6 in O'Brien County District Court. A plea agreement filed in the case said the sentence will be left to a judge to determine, but prosecutors will recommend a 10-year prison sentence. Storm was arrested in September after an investigation by the State of Iowa's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit uncovered theft from 21 residents at Pride Group in Primghar from Nov. 20, 2020, through March 29, 2023. During that time, Storm was an administrative assistant and was responsible for residents' money. According to court documents, Storm made unauthorized withdrawals on some residents' accounts, used residents' debit cards to make online and in-person purchases for herself and moved Social Security funds from one resident's account to others to cover up thefts. O'Brien County Attorney Rachael Becker filed a request for restitution of $45,614 to Pride Group. In exchange for Storm's guilty pleas, Becker will dismiss eight additional counts of dependent adult abuse and one count of ongoing criminal conduct. SIOUX CITY The Sioux City Council, by voting in favor of its consent agenda Monday, authorized the police department to submit an application for grant funding for a Flock Safety license plate recognition camera system. The Woodbury County Sheriffs Department and the Sioux City DEA Drug Task Force are partnering with the police department on the grant application to the State of Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy Byrne-Justice Assistance Grant Program for the license plate recognition, or reader, system. The amount being requested in $126,650. The cameras don't detect motorists who are speeding or running red lights, but act as a crimefighting tool for law enforcement officers. They capture high resolution images of the backs of vehicles and license plate data. "They're using them for more than what is being said here, and that concerns me," Mayor Bob Scott said of the cameras. "I think we have enough people watching over us. I'm not some conspiracy guy that worries about everything, but I don't want to overreach on the part of government, either. I don't think that's fair to the citizens." South Sioux City license plate cameras (copy) (copy) A license plate recognition (LPR) camera is shown near the intersection of West 29th Street and Highway 77 in South Sioux City. The Sioux City If the grant is awarded, it would fund the initial setup of the 32-camera system and be used from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. The system's hardware would be owned and maintained by Flock Safety. Sioux City Police Capt. Ryan Bertrand told the council about how effective Flock Safety's system has been in South Sioux City in tracking suspects involved in major crimes, including homicides. "When we can't be in a place, the camera's there 24/7. It doesn't get tired. It doesn't need a break. It just keeps generating information for us," Bertrand said. Bertrand said leveraging such technology in Sioux City would be a "great thing" for the citizens. "Beth Shalom, the Jewish synagogue, recently had a suspicious activity call at their place. They have a license plate reader system. They called to make a complaint of the suspicious activity. They had the suspect vehicle identified in a matter of minutes," he said. In 2021, Jim Hickey started a walk across Nebraska for a Cozad girl with cancer, but stopped short of his goal when the 62-year-old discovered he himself had cancer. After undergoing treatment for bladder and kidney cancer, Hickey finally walked the last mile of his journey Saturday. He finished the walk at Childrens Nebraska in Omaha, where 7-year-old Paishence Hansen has received treatment for her pediatric brain cancer. I said to that little girl and her family that one day I was gonna come back and finish her walk. And two years, three months and five cancer surgeries later, I did, Hickey said. Hickey first heard about Paishence after he finished a walk from Cheyenne to Denver for a 21-year-old with cancer. He was at a bar in Fort Collins sharing his story when someone told him about her. I looked her up and those blue eyes just stole my heart, and I thought, you know, I could walk across Nebraska for her, he said. Paishence was diagnosed with cancer at age 3 after tumors were found in her brain and spine. She underwent surgeries and chemotherapy and has been in remission for two years, her mother, Tara Meyer, said. Hickey reached out to Meyer for permission to do the walk, and in September of 2021, he traveled to Scottsbluff to start his journey across the state. Before starting his walk, Hickey was able to meet Paishences family. I never knew who they were until I got out here, he said. She was a total stranger, and I just decided that I was gonna walk for her. Meyer said she was touched when Hickey first reached out to her about walking for Paishence. It was very heartwarming and Im very thankful, she said. Undergoing his own cancer treatment During the walk, Hickey started to see blood in his urine. A Marine veteran, Hickey stopped at a few veteran clinics along the way but was determined to finish the walk even as he felt himself becoming weaker. But when Hickey made it to Aurora, over 300 miles into his journey, he knew he had to stop. You dont want to give up, he said. But it just got to the point where I knew I couldnt. Hickey, originally from New Jersey, moved to Denver so he could be treated at Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center. He underwent multiple surgeries to remove tumors from his kidney and bladder and later had his left kidney removed. When Meyer heard that Hickey had cancer, she was worried about him and his health. Im like Jim, you need to stop, you need to take care of yourself, she said. Even as he underwent his own struggle with cancer, Hickey said the need to finish the walk for Paishence was weighing on him. While hes still fighting cancer, he was given clearance by his doctors to finish the walk and felt ready to do it. Im not out of the woods by a long shot with the bladder, but Im fine. I feel fine, he said. Finishing his journey for Paishence Hickey resumed his trek in Aurora nearly a month ago, and Paishences family was there to help him kick off the journey. Hickey said it took a bit of time to get used to walking again and he takes more breaks than he used to. The first day was rough, he said. And Im thinking maybe I cant do this anymore. However, Hickey persisted and arrived in Omaha on March 19. Meyer said she knew Hickey was adamant about someday finishing the walk, and thats what he accomplished on Saturday. Thats what he wanted, that was his goal and he got it done and so Im happy for him, Meyer said. Hickey and Paishences family started the last mile of the walk near 90th Street and West Dodge Road, walking east on Dodge to Childrens. They were joined by members of the Omaha Fire Department, and a fire engine drove alongside them. After finishing the walk, Hickey said it hadnt quite sunk in yet. Hickey will return to Denver next week and undergo surgery to remove more tumors from his bladder. He said hes waiting to see how the surgery goes to decide whats next for him. That just did something to me Hickey said he has walked a total of over 9,200 miles since he began walking for cancer awareness in 1998. He lost his dad to prostate cancer in 1995 and his brother received a similar diagnosis shortly after and had to undergo surgery. That just did something to me, he said. Hickey decided to quit his job, sell his car and set out with a backpack and less than $100, he said. He has tried to walk across the country five times, but decided to walk shorter routes to raise awareness for specific children fighting cancer. In the past, Hickey worked to get sponsors so he could continue the walks, but now hes able to fund it himself with veteran benefits. Hickey isnt done walking yet. He said he wants to make it 10,000 miles and then hell evaluate what to do from there. He has around 800 miles to go. Its just something I have to do, he said. I cant explain it. Rancher Lemoyne Dailey says hes careful about how he makes his footprints when he works on his land near Thedford. The rolling Sandhills are fragile, Dailey said, the grasses and sands easily torn up and tough to restore. Over the past decade, Daileys been fielding visits from utility workers surveying his land, planning a power transmission route and asking for a signature on the dotted line. Hes one of a group of Sandhills landowners steadfastly refusing to sign. You don't know the amount of damage you're going to do to this country, putting in a project like the R line, Dailey said. The rancher is speaking of the Nebraska Public Power Districts R-Project, a controversial 345,000-volt transmission line that would stretch 226 miles from Sutherland past Thedford. The line, first proposed in 2012, is meant to deliver power across the country and make the U.S. electrical grid more reliable. But 12 years later, not one mile of the R-Project has been built. Instead, the project has faced a wall of opposition from an array of foes: environmental groups, conservative state senators, Native tribes and ranchers like Dailey. Building demand The Southwest Power Pool, a regional power regulator, directed NPPD in 2012 to build a new high-voltage transmission line through central Nebraska. A planning study listed the date for when the line would need to be built to meet growing American energy demand: Jan. 1, 2018. Early construction on the line instead started in June 2019 after the project, which will impact several endangered Sandhills species, received a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Less than a month later, the project ground to a halt when a group of opponents filed a lawsuit. The delays have forced NPPD to use diesel generators to meet demand in north-central Nebraska during the past three summers, the utility company has said. The Southwest Power Pool, which regulates power in 14 states, also had to use higher-cost methods to generate power in the region. The grid operates like an interstate highway system, moving large amounts of power long distances, said Mike Herzog, founder of Resilient Electric Analytics. Weaknesses in one state can impact others, leading to situations like SPP using rolling blackouts to manage power demand during the 2021 Polar Vortex that led to a days-long spell of freezing temperatures throughout Texas. The R line is also important, planners and advocates say, because its planned route stretches through eight Nebraska counties where future wind energy projects could generate more power to transmit along the line and through the state and region. In Western Nebraska it's windy, theres wide open spaces, Herzog said. Heres this huge potential for renewable energy in a space where the population centers arent. Wind projects are queued up and ready to build and connect to the high-voltage transmission line, Herzog said. The Service has identified nine renewable energy projects that are reasonably foreseeable and are related to the R-Project (either through interconnection or contingency on R-Project for overall network upgrade), FWS spokeswoman Adriana Zorrilla said in an email. But new wind turbines are seen as a negative outcome for many R-Project opponents, who fear the line will bring more disruption in the Sandhills. The concern is that future wind energy development will compound the damage done by the line itself, said Brent Steffen, a Sandhills landowner. Fickle cranes, rugged terrain Opponents of the R-Project are concerned about the impact that constructing and maintaining the large line will have on the Sandhills unique terrain and wildlife. After the proposed line leaves the substation east of Thedford, it will go straight east through rugged, isolated ground, Steffen said. NPPDs permit focuses primarily on the threatened American burying beetle, which will be harmed during construction. Several other endangered plant and animal species call the Sandhills home. Plants in the Sandhills are fragile and have adapted specifically to thrive there, said Tony Baker, legislative aide for Sen. Tom Brewer, who represents the region. The ranchers understand how to take care of that ground, Baker said. And they know what will happen if you come in there with all this heavy equipment to build 120 miles of power line, right through the most virgin, beautiful part of the Sandhills we've got in Nebraska. The R-Project will cross the migration corridor of endangered whooping cranes around the Platte River and Sandhills wetlands, said Kristal Stoner, executive director of Audubon Great Plains, which supported the lawsuit. Fewer than 550 whooping cranes now exist in the wild, and they could strike the steel structures and die. We have to be very cautious about the decisions we make on the landscape so that we don't put things out there that are going to cause harm to these birds, Stoner said. In a revised plan, NPPD committed to marking the entire R-Project with bird flight diverters to reduce the strike risk, and also adding diverters to 124 miles of existing transmission lines. NPPD also reassessed the amount of land that will be temporarily disturbed by construction, doubling the number of impacted acres. It promised to buy and protect 557 acres of suitable American burying beetle habitat to offset any damage. Markers of history Nebraskas Sandhills still hold several markers of the regions history. There are archaeological sites, tribal burial grounds and wagon ruts from the Oregon and Mormon trails near the proposed line. In its newly released plans, NPPD added a mile to the line in order to send the proposed route around OFallons Bluff, a National Register of Historic Places site significant to the westbound trails and the Pony Express. By law, FWS is required to review historic and culturally significant sites that the project might impact, which includes consulting with tribes. FWS sent letters to 19 tribes about the project between 2014 and 2018. Only two responded, according to the projects original 2018 Final Environmental Impact Statement. No letter reached Ione Quigley at the Rosebud Siouxs tribal historic preservation office. Quigley said she found out about the project when a group of Sandhills landowners reached out in 2021. I've been quite busy here trying to get a hold of some of the other tribes and letting them know that they need to wake up to this, Quigley said. The Rosebud Sioux tribe is worried the project hasnt focused on potential impacts to the Ogallala Aquifer, with plans in place to drill 40 feet down during construction. When it's done, then people will see what an impact it will have for future generations, and not only for the two legged people but for the four legged, the winged ones, the crawlers, Quigley said. It will have an impact on all of life. Mark Porath, FWS Nebraska ecological field office supervisor, joined the project in recent years and expanded its outreach to 31 tribes. FWS has sent more follow-ups, Porath said, reaching out to cultural resource officers and tribal historic preservationists like Quigley. Quite honestly, we're leaning on a lot of their knowledge that they have that we don't have, Porath said. So that's an expertise that we don't have, but we think it's important that needs to be incorporated. FWS is working now on a cultural resources inventory report, Porath said, detailing the potentially impacted historical sites and including input from tribes and other organizations like History Nebraska. Continuing resistance A power line already crosses Daileys Sandhills ranch. NPPD came to do maintenance on a tower on one of his steep sand hills a few years ago. Dailey told the workers to drive around the hill to avoid causing damage. When they came to do the work, Dailey said, the technicians didnt listen. They climbed the hill and just tore up the side of that hill really bad, Dailey said. NPPD offered to pay him for any damage, but Dailey didnt want their money. He asked them to come out and restore it themselves, so they would understand how the R-Project might hurt the Sandhills. Dailey and Steffen continue to refuse to sign the paperwork that would allow NPPD to build the line on their land. I'm just hoping and praying that something else comes up and stops them and they just abandon it, Dailey said. Steffen thinks that if the updated permit gets approved, the R-Project is likely to be challenged again in federal court. The R-Project is 12 years old now, six years past its original completion date. The fight appears far from over. Even if they don't get challenged in federal court again they're now looking at eight or nine years down the road from their initial planning and millions of dollars in increased expenditure to do it, Steffen said. The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. Want clean electricity? These are the overlooked elected officials who get to decide. Posted on 25 March 2024 by Guest Author This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising electricity bills to developing renewable energy. On a Tuesday morning in January, college student Aurora Gray stepped up to the podium in a windowless room in Atlanta, around the corner from the state capitol building. In front of her sat a five-member panel of elected officials that oversees how and where nearly every Georgia resident gets their power. The generation of energy using fossil fuels has become an existential threat to our safety due to the undisputed impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on our planet, Gray told the commission. We must act now, as later is way too late. More than a dozen other students sat behind her, awaiting their allotted three minutes in front of the Georgia Public Service Commission, or PSC. One after another, they called on the commission to reject a request from Georgia Power, the states largest utility, to add new natural gas capacity to the grid. Instead, they repeated at the podium, the company needs to expand renewable energy and take other steps to combat climate change. You can help get Georgia Power to take the right actions in the essential time frame, said high school senior Evelyn Ford, the last of the students to speak across two days. Actually, youre the only five people in Georgia who can. Ford is substantially correct. Though Georgias state legislature can pass laws on clean energy and the governor can issue executive orders on climate action, the Public Service Commission is the only government body with direct authority to regulate whatever Georgia Power does. The panel sets the rates people pay for electricity and approves the utilitys plans to make or buy that power and deliver it to customers. According to the commissions own website, Very few governmental agencies have as much impact on peoples lives as the PSC. There is a small panel of regulators in every state that holds a similar power over electricity generation and, by extension, an enormous segment of the United States greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet. By setting electricity prices, they also have a substantial impact on most peoples lives and pocketbooks. Yet, in Georgia and elsewhere, these groups known as public service or public utility commissions get little attention or scrutiny outside of energy wonk circles. Their hearings and documents tend to be long and jargon-heavy, covered in the media by a small group of specialized reporters, making it hard to engage with the process. This year, Grist and WABE will try to demystify energy regulation in Georgia and beyond. Well bring you stories on not only how your power gets made, but how those decisions happen and how residents who vote and pay electricity bills can get involved. How the Georgia PSC makes decisions The Georgia Public Service Commission was established in 1879, first as a government body to regulate railroads and later expanded to address the services popping up in an increasingly electrified and connected state. Today, the PSC oversees investor-owned utilities, as well as natural gas pipelines and telecommunications. Georgia has 42 member-owned cooperatives and 52 municipalities that provide electric service to residents. But Georgia Power is by far the states largest electricity provider, serving 2.7 million customers, from the Tennessee border to the coastal islands. It is also Georgias only investor-owned electric utility meaning it is the only power company whose rates and operations the PSC directly oversees. For most Georgia Power power customers, its their only option to buy electricity. At the core of the commissions oversight of Georgia Power are two main decision-making processes: the integrated resource plan and the rate case. Every three years, the utility updates its 20-year plan for making and delivering electricity, the IRP. This involves forecasting how much power Georgians will need and laying out what combination of resources coal and gas plants, nuclear energy, solar fields, hydroelectric dams, and purchase agreements with other utilities Georgia Power will use to meet that demand. It also evaluates anticipated updates and maintenance to the companys system of transmission lines, transformers, and other infrastructure that delivers power. As of 2022, the last time the PSC approved an IRP, Georgia Power still got its energy mostly from fossil fuels: 48 percent natural gas and oil, 15 percent coal. Nuclear energy accounted for another 23 percent, with 7 percent coming from renewables mostly solar and 2 percent from hydropower. The rate case determines how much Georgia Powers customers pay for this electricity. In addition to the base cost of power, the company is allowed to pass on to customers the cost of building and maintaining the infrastructure approved in the IRP, as long as the PSC signs off on it. Throughout the construction of new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, for example, customers have paid an added fee of up to 10 percent, $3.88 to $7.97 for the typical customer, every month to cover the costs of financing the project. As an investor-owned company, Georgia Power also aims to make a profit; the commission decides how much it can make by setting a figure in the rate case called return on equity. That last point is often a particularly contentious one. The commission, by its own description, must balance Georgia citizens need for reliable services and reasonable rates with the need for utilities to earn a reasonable return on investment. But the companys profits rankle many Georgians who face a high energy burden, meaning they spend a high proportion of their income on energy. Atlanta ranks fourth in the country for its median energy burden, and third for energy burden among low-income households. Tell them they make enough profit, former Democratic state Senator Vincent Fort urged the commission during Georgia Powers last rate case. Tell them that you are standing up for regular folk. There are a lot of opportunities for input before the Public Service Commission decides on IRPs and rate cases. Along with public commenters like Fort and the group of students last month, a subset of PSC employees, known as the public interest advocacy staff, advocate for ratepayers interests in the hearings. Other organizations, including environmental and consumer advocacy groups, major electricity buyers, and cities, can engage in the hearings as well. These stakeholders and the public interest advocacy staff present expert testimony and cross-examine each others witnesses as well as Georgia Powers representatives. Often, the commissions public interest advocacy staff strikes a deal with Georgia Power that resolves most of the issues in an IRP proceeding or rate case. But the final decision ultimately rests with the five commissioners, who can approve or deny an agreement and can amend it before voting. How the Georgia PSCs decisions relate to climate change The PSC has the authority to alter Georgia Powers business proposals and dictate its energy mix thereby significantly controlling the states greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, they already have. In 2011, commissioner Bubba McDonald added 50 megawatts of solar power to Georgia Powers generation mix. When the utility updated its long-range plan for power generation, known as an integrated resource plan, or IRP, in 2013, the commission more than doubled the solar capacity that Georgia Power asked for. In subsequent IRPs, which happen every three years, the commission continued to order more solar than the utility proposed. By 2023, the state ranked seventh in the country for solar power. Georgias emissions dropped by 5 percent from 2017 to 2021, and power generation dropped below transportation as the leading emissions source. Researchers credit the change largely to the solar growth that the commission mandated. But the PSC has also upheld and prolonged fossil fuel energy generation in Georgia. In the utilitys most recent IRP, in 2022, the commission approved six agreements to purchase natural gas power for more than a decade into the future over the objections of consumer and clean energy advocates. The utility also sought to shutter several coal plants in its latest long-term plan, the 2022 IRP, saying they would soon no longer be economical to run but the PSC put off a decision on one of them, meaning the facility will keep burning coal for the foreseeable future. How the PSC is elected Five elected members sit on Georgias Public Service Commission. Each member represents a district, where theyre required to live, but elections for the positions are statewide. While some city offices have similar arrangements, this is an unusual system at the state level. Georgia lawmakers devised it in the late 1990s, with the idea, according to its architects, that it would reflect the commissions unique job regulating a statewide industry that has local impacts. Former Georgia House Speaker Terry Coleman told WABE that lawmakers wanted to figure out how we could make sure that places outside of the metro areas had representation. But civil rights and environmental activists contend that because the commissioners are chosen in a statewide vote, they dont really represent the people in their districts. The commissioner for District 3, covering Metro Atlanta, for instance, is elected not just by Atlanta residents but by voters in rural South Georgia and the mountains of North Georgia areas with starkly different demographics, politics, and needs. A recent lawsuit by a group of Black voters in Atlanta found that this system violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting their votes, preventing them from seating the candidate of their choice on the commission. Representation matters, plaintiff Brionte McCorkle, executive director of the group Georgia Conservation Voters, told WABE. Its the most important thing to have at least one person on the commission that represents the unique and particularized needs of your district. The Georgia Secretary of States office argued during the lawsuit that the advantage the PSC voting system creates is political, not racial. This is a key distinction, because while the Voting Rights Act bans racial gerrymandering, the Supreme Court has held that election systems that favor a political party are allowed. All of the current commissioners are Republicans. Most remain supportive of natural gas serving on gas industry boards or promoting it in the press. In a state where a third of residents are Black, only two Black commissioners have ever served on the commission during its 145-year history, both of them appointed to fill vacancies. Four of the 5 the current commissioners were initially appointed to fill vacancies before running for reelection as incumbents. Siding with the plaintiffs in 2022, a federal judge blocked that years elections for two seats on the commission and ordered that the system be redesigned. But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision last year. A further appeal hasnt been filed yet, but the plaintiffs have said theyre exploring options. In the meantime, the commissioners who were up for reelection in 2022, Tim Echols and Fitz Johnson, continue to sit and vote on the commission. Another commissioner, Tricia Pridemore, is due to face reelection this year. But none of those races are scheduled for 2024 as the election case hangs in limbo. How other state energy regulators work While these policies and procedures are specific to Georgia, some version of them plays out all over the country. Every state has a public service or public utility commission that controls electricity. In 10 states, utility regulators are elected directly by ballot. In the remaining 40, theyre appointed by other elected officials, like the governor or state legislature. Many, though not all, states require their utilities to file IRPs that predict future demand for power and map out how the utility will meet that need. Whats common nationwide is that the future of clean energy hinges on the decisions of these public utility commissions. Cities, states, and companies can resolve to cut emissions, but if they buy power from a regulated utility they dont ultimately control how their power is made; the regulators do. Even the Department of Defense, with its $800 billion budget, is subject to the decisions of these commissions. Utilities own climate change goals, too, depend on these commissions. Southern Company, Georgia Powers parent company, has announced plans to shutter most of its coal plants, but that plan can only move forward if approved by utility commissioners. Similarly, regulators approve or deny plans to build solar and wind farms, nuclear plants, and battery storage facilities. Elect or appoint commissioners who dont prioritize clean energy and climate goals set by companies or governments have little chance of succeeding. As Americans concerned about climate change, environmental justice, and energy affordability look for ways to make an impact, public utility regulators often go unnoticed as powerful decision makers who could change the course of U.S. emissions if they choose to act. Grist and WABEs reporting over the next year aims to examine these commissions and their outsize role in American households and climate policy. To ensure our stories reach and involve residents who face the biggest barriers to accessing accurate, consistent information, we are hosting workshops with community partners, creating printable resources, and launching a paid journalism training program. Few people are as knee-deep in our work-related anxieties and sticky office politics as Alison Green, who has been fielding workplace questions for a decade now on her website Ask a Manager. In Direct Report, she spotlights themes from her inbox that help explain the modern workplace and how we could be navigating it better. If youve spent any amount of time in an office, you know that some peopleand some officesare very particular about their coffee. Still, when I started my work advice column, Ask a Manager, I was unprepared for how frequently drama over office coffee would feature in the letters I receive. You would think supplying employees with coffee would be a relatively straightforward task, and yet sometimes its anything but. Witness this account one person sent me: My company provides coffee machines on every floor but charges 20 cents per cup (except for meeting coffee, which is free). There are lists. People on every floor whose responsibility it is to refill coffee, sugar, and milk. Deputy people for this job. Monthly bills. Cash boxes on every floor where you are supposed to pay your bill. People who manage the cash boxes. Somebody in bookkeeping whose responsibility is to manage cash logistics. Some other person in sales who hands out coffee, sugar, and milk (but needs a receipt for everything). Probably substitutes for these people too. I dont knowyou get the idea. At some time someone made an official proposal for improvement to eliminate the charge for coffee, the lists, the cash boxes, and the whole system: Have a single person whose job it is to refill the coffee machines daily and be done with it. There was a short calculation of how much time and effort could be saved. (A lot.) That proposal has gone through the improvements committee (yes, thats a thing), the sales people, the union, the CEO, and back to the improvements committee. It is still under consideration after 18 months. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In fact, coffee clubs that employees pay to participate in are notoriously tricky: My last job had a coffee club. I was not a member. There was one coffee maker. There were coffee wars over caffeinated vs. decaf coffee. Regular coffee vs. flavored coffee. Regular caffeinated vs. flavored decaf. This was slightly mitigated when the company expanded to another floor of the building and we gained a second break room and a second coffee maker. One floors coffee maker was designated for decaf only, and the other for caffeinated. The flavored vs. regular battle waged on. Two employees ended up getting disciplined (separately) for spending too much time each day making coffee. They were in the kitchen for hours, cleaning the carafe, waiting for coffee to brew, organizing the containers of coffee, walking around polling people about what flavor of coffee to try next. Advertisement While simply trying to obtain a cup of coffee for themselves, some workers quickly find themselves burdened by demands to fill other peoples orders to exacting specificationsand they hear about it if they dont: There is a coffee shop directly across the street from our office. As a caffeine addict, I usually make a coffee run at least once a day during business hours. I usually ask if anyone else in our office wants anything, and usually people do However, Ive become increasingly wary of volunteering to get coffee for others. Some people, including the owner of the firm, rarely pay me back. Others order complex drinks and complain if its made incorrectly. For example, one woman routinely orders a medium green tea with one-and-a-half pumps of vanilla and exactly 4 teaspoons of honey. If there is too much or too little honey, I hear about it. Moreover, going to get coffee for just me takes about five minutes, while getting it for eight to 10 people can take upwards of 20 minutestime I dont really have to spare. The other day I went on a coffee run just for me. When I returned to the office, I was met with a chorus of Why didnt you get me anything? Later, I overheard two of our admins complaining about how I hadnt gotten them coffee. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Then there are the time-consuming battles that managers, who surely have better things to do, get drawn into: I have an employee who is very particular about his coffee. He has confronted a few people in the lunchroom about mixing pots. When the pots are around half-full, many people will mix the two so that they can brew another pot. The coffee is exactly the same except for being brewed at different times. My employee would rather dump out the older pot and then brew a new pot, leaving one half-full pot. Some of my co-workers have asked that I speak with him about his wasteful practices with coffee. The guy in question actually complained to me last week about the coffee mixing practices of other people, so I am now hearing it from both sides. Advertisement Coffee-related bureaucracy takes up a surprising amount of time in some companies: At my wifes work, the company provided a coffee maker and truly terrible coffee. Some enterprising co-workers decided to pool together and bring in a different, much better variety of coffee except it turned out the terrible coffee and coffeemaker were contracted out to a supplier, who did not authorize third-party coffee in their machine. Could the employees just bring in a second machine? No, they could not, because the contract granted exclusive coffee-making rights to this supplier and they were locked in for at least the next two years. There were meetings hijacked to discuss the coffee issue. There were meetings scheduled to talk about nothing BUT the coffee issue. Truly ludicrous amounts of time were wasted on the coffee conundrum. Im talking hundreds of man-hours from people who are paid very nicely per hour, who are willing to go to the mattresses for their coffee. My wife avoided the issue by bringing her own in the mornings and then, during the day, going downstairs to the cafeteria, where there was a TOTALLY FREE K-CUP MACHINE with a variety of flavors available for use for everyone in the building, including employees of her company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One person who tried to opt out of the coffee wars by bringing in their own coffee found themselves at the center of the very battle they had been trying to avoid: I bought my own coffee maker/pot to keep in my office after the brutal territorial battles of the teachers workroom became too much for me. Word got around, and now many of my colleagues (in my department, who have access to my office) share my coffee, most of them contributing creamer and coffee. People around campus are outraged! Outraged that I keep my office locked at all times due to laws that require student documents to be secured. Ive found sticky notes on the door, asking me to bring coffee to people in their classrooms, had people say rude things to my face, and had multiple administrators come by my office to say, Were investigating your office coffeepot on the basis of a complaint. Keep your coffeepot. The people who want my coffee are not my friends or close colleaguesthey are people I barely know! And nothing is stopping them from using the break room or bringing their own coffeepot. Advertisement Things get even worse when you mix in turf wars with other departments or organizations: Advertisement We share our space with other organizations, and there used to be one of those touch-screen made-to-order coffee/espresso things on each floor. Then, one of the leaseholders signed a noncompete contract with another company (who served coffee and espresso drinks) that was moving in and we were going to have to get rid of them. Except we werent a party to the noncompete, so we bought all the fancy machines and moved them out of public areas and into ours. At which point people from all the other companies started casually walking into our kitchenettes and using the machines. There were polite reminders. There were pointed barbs: OH, ARE YOU NEW TO [OUR COMPANY]? WHICH SECTION DO YOU WORK FOR? There were Post-its. There were signs. Signs got torn down. There were new signs. Someone in the other company took a picture of one of them and sent it to their entire distribution list, inviting them to come drink our coffee. There were executives talking to executives about how to stem the invasion. There was talk of PUTTING BADGE READERS ON THE MACHINES. It was bananas. Advertisement Advertisement When offices expand or improve their coffee offerings, it can set off a hoarding situation similar to what weve historically seen with war rations: Advertisement Advertisement Recently, we were the test floor for a new single-serving coffee machine. Imagine a Keurig crossed with the hotel coffee makers that use those flat tea baglooking things. There was a shelf set up nearby where we had our choice of decaf, French roast, Kona, breakfast blend, salted caramel, and Highlander Grogg. There was a perfect storm of the rest of the building realizing we had the good coffee and the realization that the two most popular flavors would run out quickly. Half of the floor was hoarding coffee in their desks because the interlopers (literally, we called them that) were pilfering (also used) our fancy coffee. Those who sat nearest to the elevator would send chats to their team whenever someone they didnt recognize from our floor got off the elevator and headed toward the kitchenette (also the way to pretty much every conference room), in an attempt to track thefts. The other half were hoarding specific flavors. At one point my boss called me over to her desk to show me where shed stashed an entire box (30 servings) of Highlander Grogg in case I wanted some. It felt like someone on the street with a trenchcoat showing me knockoff watches, literally looking back over her shoulder as if the cops were running a sting and might catch her with the coffee. Advertisement Advertisement If youre thinking this is a uniquely American tragedy, think again! Even countries less focused on coffee than ours have their own version of these wars. For the Brits, the same dynamics play out with tea: There was a massive uproar when we younger employees lobbied to be allowed to use our own tea mugs rather than the company-supplied cups and saucers. It was a genuine concern that the tea urn would empty too quickly if larger mugs were permitted, leading to a lengthy consultation period on the optimal mug size. Clearly, theres no escaping office beverage wars. We can only aspire to survive them somewhat unscathedwhile fully caffeinated, I hope. 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 On Tuesday, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a case that could determine national access to mifepristone, one of two pills used as part of medication abortion. In this weeks episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick spoke with Carrie N. Baker, whose book, History and Politics of Abortion Pills in the United States, is being published by Amherst College Press this year. Lithwick and Baker discussed the anti-abortion movements decadeslong efforts to target the abortion pill, how those efforts hampered FDA approval of the medication in the first place, and how having easier access to reproductive care through a pill that can be sent in the mail and taken at home fundamentally threatens the strategy of those seeking to dismantle abortion rights in this country. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity. To listen to the full episode of Amicus, join Slate Plus. Dahlia Lithwick: This case has been styled, unfortunately, as just a straight-up abortion case; a kind of natural outgrowth of the reversal of Roe in Dobbs from two terms ago. But its actually, in very specific ways, an abortion pills case. I would love for you to just set the table for us by helping me understand how this is different from the kind of surgical abortion fight we were having leading into Dobbs. And how this is kind of a consequence of Dobbs, but also a very different conversation. Advertisement Carrie N. Baker: Abortion pills are today 63 percent of the way that people access abortion health care in the country, and its probably much higher. Just a few days ago, the Guttmacher Institute released a study showing that the number of abortions in 2023 topped 1 million, which is more than the last 10 years. The last time it was over a million was 2012, and a major reason why abortion access has increased, despite Dobbs, is because of two things: Abortion pills being more accessible and people being able to access abortion pills through telemedicine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That happened recently. It happened in 2020 and 2021 as a result of COVID, as everybody began to access health care through telemedicine. Advocates filed a lawsuit to force the FDA to allow people to get abortion pills through telemedicine. Historically, they had not been able to do that, and so people living in rural areas, people even living in states where there are abortion bans, now are able to access abortion pills through telemedicine from doctors in states that still allow abortion health care. Advertisement Abortion pills are really the present and the future of abortion, and thats why theyre being targeted in this case. The anti-abortion movement is very aware that abortion pills are the crux to controlling womens access to abortion, and so theyre going after it. The thrust of what youve written in your book and in some of your recent pieces in Ms. is that anybody who thinks that the mifepristone case emerges fully formed in the wake of Dobbs actually wasnt paying attention, because there has been a decadeslong effort by pro-life advocates to churn up doubt and uncertainty about abortion pills, their efficacy, their safety, and that actually this has set the United States way behind the rest of the world, long before Dobbsall of this medical uncertainty, and the dangers, and the sort of chumming up of the debate with fake facts and fake claims. Advertisement Advertisement Just for comparison, in France, mifepristone was developed there in the 1980s. It was approved in 1988. This is not the path taken in the United States. And I think your point is, anyone whos now looking at this debate and saying, Huh, these are alarming studies, maybe this was an irregular process that the FDA [took], doesnt understand that the point was to have an irregular process at the FDA. Advertisement Mifepristone was developed in 1980 in France, and the French government approved it in 1988. American anti-abortion activists were over in France trying to interfere with that process and trying to prevent the company, Roussel-Uclaf, from bringing the medication to market. And they used many of the techniques that were familiar with today and for the last several decades in the United States, which is terrorizing the executives at the corporation and the medical researchers who were developing the drug. Calling them, standing outside their offices, screaming at them, calling their family members, terrorizing them at their homesand it didnt work. The drug was approved. Advertisement But then the U.S. anti-abortion movement turned to the U.S. and tried to block it from being approved by the FDA, and they used all these same techniques. And they also targeted the activists who were trying to get it approved and the pharmaceutical companies that might try to get it approved. Advertisement Advertisement Through the anti-abortion work, they prevented Roussel-Uclaf from trying to gain approval for the pill in the United States. They also dissuaded any mainstream pharmaceutical company from taking on mifepristone and trying to get it approved. So eventually what happened is an organization called the Population Council, which was a nonprofit organization that worked on access to contraception around the world, took on the medication and took on the process of doing the clinical trials and applying to the FDA for approval. The Population Council also had to find a distributor for the medication. And so basically a group of private investors created a company called Danco and applied to the FDA to get it approved, got it approved, and then found a manufacturer. All of that process was fraught because of anti-abortion interference. So it took over 12 years after France approved it to get mifepristone approved in the U.S. And the FDA was terrified. The FDA officials were very nervous because they, too, were being targeted. Advertisement Advertisement Ive interviewed for my book a lot of the activists who were involved in the process, and it was a very irregular process, not because it was done quickly or in any sort of slipshod way. They had belts and suspenders. They were very nervous. They knew they had a target on their back, and they were being not only targeted by anti-abortion activists, but by anti-abortion members of Congress who were threatening their funding. They were under a microscope. Advertisement So they were very careful throughout the process of approving the drug. And the lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court case says, Oh, this was done too quickly. It was fast-tracked. They didnt have adequate evidence. They had voluminous evidence at the time, and in fact, when the FDA approved the drug, they put in place very unusual and medically unnecessary restrictions on medication abortion. For instance, they required that doctors register with a drug manufacturer. They prohibited pharmacies from dispensing the drug. Normally when a drug is approved, the doctor prescribes it, and a pharmacy dispenses it. But what the FDA required in the case of mifepristone is that the doctors themselves order the drug, store the drug, label the drug, and dispense the drug in person to the patients. Its highly irregular that kind of thing happens. It happens only with really super dangerous drugs. Mifepristone is not a super dangerous drug. Its actually safer than Tylenol. It actually should be over the counter. We know that now. Advertisement They didnt know that back then, but the people at the FDA wanted it to go smoothly. They didnt want any complications. So the people at the FDA were not actually hostile to the abortion pill, but they wanted to make sure that there were no problems. And then they were like, in a few years well remove some of these restrictions. Well, then Bush got elected in 2000, the same year mifepristone was approved, and of course, once Bush was in power, he was not going to allow the FDA to loosen the restrictions. It wasnt until 16 years later that eventually the FDA began to loosen some of these restrictions under the Obama administration. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I just think this is such a scales-falling-from-the-eyes moment because if you come into this conversation in Judge Matthew Kacsmaryks courtroom, the FDAs behavior is hard to explain. It looks wildly overregulated, with these mincing steps away from overregulation. Its still overregulation. And what youre saying is: Youre the FDA and you are under attack from Day 1 by a concertedand quite menacing and financially costlyeffort to make you practice defensive regulation. This is the necessary result. This week, Marjorie Taylor Greene said at a pro-life symposium, We will repeal the FACE Act if we get the opportunity. And thats a reference to the 1994 law that was intended to protect abortion providers, health care providers, and patients from the kinds of intimidation and violence they were experiencing just walking into a clinic. And I should note that Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has authored legislation that would repeal the FACE Act. He has 39 co-sponsors. The Senates companion bill, which is authored by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, signed on by Josh Hawley, has five co-sponsors. Advertisement I just want to be really clear that the Justice Departments list of pro-life activists who they worry about include people who throw Molotov cocktails and concrete bricks into clinics, who block access to clinics and harass clinics, and commit mass shootings. So this is serious protection. Lets go back to what you said at the very beginning, which is that so much of the playbook in the anti-abortion movement was about surgical abortions and clinics and terrorizing and intimidating people seeking access to a clinic for an abortion. Is the workaround here that you cant protest someones mailbox yet? I think its so important because this was your initial point, which is that this movement that is born in terrorizing people, in shouting them down, in flooding them with monetary and physical threats, has no footing in the medication abortion context unless they are able to do the thing theyre trying to do in this case: Stop all abortion pills. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement If doctors can prescribe abortion pills by telemedicine and send them by mail, then the central tactic of the anti-abortion movementwhich is to basically restrict abortion to an identifiable limited number of clinics, and then terrorize those clinicsthat strategy is undermined. They really are very frustrated by the fact that people dont have to physically go to clinics anymore and cross protest lines, often multiple times, in order to get abortion pills or procedural abortion. Their strategy all along has been to restrict the number of locations where people can get an abortion and then target those locations by blocking accessand that was what led to the FACE Actor by terrorizing doctors, following doctors home, protesting in front of doctors houses. Advertisement If the doctors cant be identified because they dont have a brick-and-mortar clinic, if theyre located in a location where they dont know where they are, well then what? I mean, these telemedicine providers are entirely virtual. They dont have brick-and-mortar clinics. All they have is a website. And you know, they might go after the website, but they cant locate the doctors. They cant locate the patients, they cant scream to the patients, Youre murdering your baby. And that fundamentally undermines their strategy. Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate Alabama Thinks It Has Solved Its IVF Crisis. Not Quite. Read More Their strategy has been to close down clinicsyou bomb a clinic, you bankrupt a clinic. The number of clinics has shrunk significantly. Another major strategy of the anti-abortion movement is to create fake clinics, crisis pregnancy centers that look like clinics. Theyre often next door to real clinics and they try to divert patients going to get care by pretending to be the clinic the patient is going to. And then once the patient gets in there, they bombard them with misinformation about abortionthat it causes cancer, that it causes infertility, that it causes depression, none of which is true, all of which has been disproven by leading medical authorities and the vast majority of research. Advertisement Advertisement By having the ability to mail abortion pills to people, their central strategy is undermined. So I think thats why theyve invested so much in this lawsuit and in the effort to go after abortion pillseven though its a real stretch. What theyre arguing, that the FDA didnt have enough evidence or that abortion pills are dangerous, its completely fictional. But I think really that is their only strategy. And in a way its the indignity. Its all about stigmatizing abortion and making people feel like its unsafe. Advertisement Thats what the abortion movement has done so well. Theyre fighting for the law, yes, but theyre also fighting for our hearts and minds. They want to try to make us feel that abortion is wrong, that its dangerous, that its immoral. By filing this lawsuit and getting headlines, that abortion pills are dangerous, however, I think its having an unintended consequence. Before Dobbs, only about 15 percent of the population even knew what abortion pills are. Now many people know what abortion pills are because its in the headlines all the time. Theyre seeing that, Oh, theres a medication you can take. And the fact of the matter is all the research shows that people really like them. They dont want to lay on a table with their feet in stirrups, particularly if theyre survivors of violence. We know that 25 to 30 percent of women are survivors of sexual violence. They dont want to have to go in, theyd rather be at home, take a pill, do it in the privacy of their home, with their friends nearby. Advertisement So, many people prefer abortion pills, but again, people need options. It needs to all be legal and it needs to all be accessible. Once the FDA allowed pharmacies to distribute the medication, it means that your average doctor can now prescribe abortion, like your general practitioner, the person youve been going to your whole life, your pediatrician say youre 16 and you get pregnantyour pediatrician can prescribe you abortion pills without having to stock them. Then you can get it through the mail or you can get it at a local pharmacy. It means that more doctors can provide abortion. They dont have to be abortion doctors and clinics. It can be family care providers. And theres a whole movement trying to get family care providers to provide abortionnot just pills, but also manual vacuum aspirationbut pills in particular because its so easy. Not only doctors, but nurses and physicians assistants can also prescribe abortion pills. So its creating more access, and thats what the anti-abortion movement wants to stop. Late last year, Elon Musk sued nonprofit media watchdog Media Matters for America for defamation. That complaint, filed Nov. 20, alleges that an article by Media Matters showing that X had paired high-profile company ads with pro-Nazi content was somehow contrived, false. By suing, Musk aims to deter Media Matters and other organizations not just from publicizing Xs advertising practices but from fighting disinformation generally. Musks suit against Media Matters presents a genuine threatto the watchdog, of course, but also to the First Amendment itself. In legal parlance, Musks suit against MMFA is a textbook SLAPP suitan intimidation lawsuit, brought not on merits but as a way to coerce critics into backing down by crushing them with frivolous and expensive civil litigation. Such suits are prohibited in many states for their chilling effects on speech. But there is no overarching federal anti-SLAPP law and no consensus among courts when it comes to applying individual states anti-SLAPP laws. X filed its suit against Media Matters in a federal court friendly to right-wing ideologues and their political plays. The choice of venue is telling: X is based in Nevada, but MMFA is based in Washingtonand the reporter who wrote the MMFA report, also named in the complaint, is based in Maryland. And Musk filed suit in the Northern District of Texas. Although changes announced this month by the federal judiciary may prevent such venue shopping in the future, X successfully bid for, and received, assignment of its case to a politically sympathetic judge. Advertisement Judge Reed OConnor is notorious for his 2018 ruling attempting to overturn the Affordable Care Act, a decision tossed by the Supreme Court because OConnor didnt have jurisdiction to begin with. He was likewise overruled by that court after ruling that members of the military could defy orders surrounding COVID vaccination, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh writing that OConnor had wrongly inserted himself into the Navys chain of command. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The home-court advantages dont end there. Texas, along with Louisiana and Mississippi, falls under the jurisdiction of the far-right U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which has barred the application of Texas anti-SLAPP law in federal court. Of its 17 active judges, 12 are Republican appointeesand six of those 12 are Trump appointees. Advertisement Texas, to which Musk has relocated and is attempting to move as many of his business ventures as possible, has rolled out the red carpet for X Corporation. The day X filed its complaint, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a complementary fraud investigation into Media Matters. No wonder: X has hired three former Paxton lieutenants to handle the Media Matters case. Judd Stone II is the former state solicitor general, a former law clerk of Justice Antonin Scalia, and a former chief counsel for Sen. Ted Cruz. In going after Media Matters, X means to weaponize the First Amendment against its critics. Musk has long reveled in alleging liberal-led censorship, even as he censors liberal accounts. Shortly after taking over Twitter, Musk gutted its content moderation infrastructure. He staged a circus by releasing pre-acquisition internal files and claiming that the U.S. government conspired to censor conservatives and, inter alia, cover up the crimes of Hunter Biden. It was all a conspiracy, he said, against free speech. Advertisement Advertisement Even in Texas, Musks suit would founder before an impartial judge. Xs complaint blames Media Matters for advertisersamong them Apple, Comcast, NBC Universal, and IBMending relationships with X Corporation. Musks legal manipulations and bombastic attacks on the organization make clear that his intent is to punish Media Matters, driving up legal fees, and deter other journalists from reporting on X. Even if the Northern District of Texas did have jurisdiction, that court should not find any merit in Xs suit. Whether unable to rebut the Media Matters report or unwilling to settle for citing facts in Xs favor, if any exist, the X complaint instead advances claims almost certain to be proved false. Advertisement Advertisement Related From Slate The Don Lemon Interview Accomplished One Thing Read More X asserts that Media Matters manufactured white-nationalist content juxtaposed with advertisements and fraudulently portrayed it as Xs doing. Yet, critically, Xs complaint does not deny the heart of Media Matters assertion: Users on X could see top advertisers content next to hate speech. Thats a major problem for X: In defamation cases, the truth is an absolute defense in every federal court of appeals in the country save one. (The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit alone has held that deploying truth maliciously may still be defamatory.) Advertisement Advertisement X also fails to effectively allege malice. According to Xs legal team, it was just Media Matters, as a result of its manipulation of Xs algorithmsand, at most, one other X user, the complaint notes in a throwaway asidethat arrived at pairings of ads with racist, antisemitic, and other white nationalist content. The organization should instead have reported, X claims, on real users and the actual, organic production of content and advertisement pairings. The claim amounts to arguing that by using X the way a real user might, just more efficiently and at scale, and by failing to conform to Xs preferences and parrot its representationsthat is, by reportingMedia Matters acted maliciously. Advertisement In X and Musks version of reality, they are the arbiters and defenders of free speech. Their media strategythreatening reporters and critics, following with legal actionbuttresses that narrative. Its all part of a more ambitious agenda. The suit should fail, but if ever there were a federal court where it might succeed, its the Northern District of Texas. Likewise, the 5th Circuit has proved to be a hyperpartisan venue, the most likely of all appellate courts to allow Musks SLAPP suit to proceed. If thats what happens, corporate titans and right-wing blowhards will be emboldened to weaponize free speech against critics, eroding actual freedom of speech. Xs gambit against Media Matters must be recognized as the cynical trick it is. Musks endgame is getting to the Supreme Court. There, X could fight to push First Amendment jurisprudence further rightward, aiding both corporations averse to critique and purveyors of disinformation, giving them new paths to avoiding accountability and retaliating against journalists and watchdogs. For these reasons, among many others, Xs Texas suit against D.C.s Media Matters poses a profound threat to journalism, the Constitution, and democracy nationwide. It should have been no surprise that the terrorist group known as ISIS was behind Friday nights massive attack on a concert hall in Moscow, killing 137 people and injuring at least 100. The surprise is that this sort of thing doesnt happen more often. ISIS, also called the Islamic State, was believed dead and gone in 2017, after U.S., Iraqi, and Kurdish forces defeated its final holdout of armed men in a ferocious battle around the Iraqi town of Mosul. The terrorist groupwhich, for the previous few years, had ruled as many as 12 million people in a self-declared caliphate spanning much of northwestern Iraq and eastern Syriawas obliterated as a political and military power, but a few thousand of its fanatics survived. Many Western articles and analyses painted ISIS as an especially violent offshoot of al-Qaida bent on wiping out or overthrowing territories held by apostates of all sortsChristians, Jews, and rival Shiite Muslims. But the group also singled out Russia as a particularly virulent enemy. Since the fall of 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fight off all opposition factions in a gruesome civil war, sending him not just bombs and ammo but fighter planes flown by Russian air force pilots. ISIS fighters have been among the targets of these bombing raidsand they have sought revenge. Advertisement Bruce Hoffman, a counterterrorism expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told me Monday that since the caliphates collapse in Mosul, many ISIS survivors have been animated most of all by the crusade against Russia. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Not long after Putin began his deployment, ISIS militants in Egypt claimed responsibility for planting a bomb on a charter flight to St. Petersburg, killing 224 passengers, all of them Russian tourists returning home. In 2017 an ISIS suicide bomber blew up a subway car in the St. Petersburg metro system, killing 16. The metro bomber was from Kyrgyzstan, one of the former Soviet Unions Central Asian republics. The four men arrested after this past Fridays concert-hall killings were from Tajikistan, another former republic in the same region. The fact is no coincidence. The majority of this regions citizens are Muslim. Many of them resent Russia for its tyrannical grip from Soviet times (animated, in the case of its hold over Muslim areas, by white-nationalist racism). Some residents of these countries have been further radicalized by Islamist terrorist groups, which flourished with the rise of al-Qaida and ISIS. And according to Hoffman, many of those who were radicalized and who had been recruited to fight for the caliphate fled back home just before or after the fall of Mosul. Advertisement The concert-hall killing in Moscow was planned and carried out by a branch of the terrorist movement called ISIS-K. (The K stands for the Khorasan region, which overlaps parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan.) ISIS-K has been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan; it regards the Taliban leaders, who took over Afghanistan in 2017 after U.S. forces withdrew and the Kabul government collapsed, as insufficiently militant. Advertisement Still, the group has stepped up terrorist activities outside its home area. In January, two ISIS-K suicide bombers killed 84 Iranian Shiites who were attending a memorial service for Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Irans terrorist operations throughout the Middle East, on the fourth anniversary of his assassination. The success of that attack might have encouraged the Moscow attack a little over two months later. Advertisement Advertisement In the first decade of this century, after the Soviet collapse and its own withdrawal from an earlier war in Afghanistan, the Kremlin was very concerned about the rise of radical Islam in the Central Asian republics. For that reason, even Putin, for a while anyway, was keen to help the United States after the Sept. 11 terrorist attackssharing intelligence about al-Qaida and urging Central Asian leaders to let the U.S. military use their airfields to service and resupply our own invasion of Afghanistan. However, after Putins annexation of Crimea in 2014 and especially since Russias outright invasion of Ukraine in 2022, contacts between Washington and Moscow have broken off. Twice this month, in accordance with a long-standing policy known as duty to warn, U.S. intelligence officials notified their Russian counterparts of a report that ISIS-K was planning a terrorist attack in Russia. Putin waved away the warning as an attempt to frighten and destabilize our society. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement By coincidence, shortly after the Americans first warning, Russias Federal Security Service stopped an impending attack on a Moscow synagogue. It is possible that Putin or his aides thought that this was the attack in the U.S. duty-to-warn notice (which, in any case, did not contain any details about when or where a terrorist strike might take place). Russian intelligence and security forces were probably also shorthanded, as the vast majority of them have been diverted toor distracted bythe war in Ukraine. Large concert halls are particularly ripe targetsand the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, the northwestern district of Moscow where this attack took place, is a vast mall that includes a hotel, restaurants, and a few music venues. It would be very difficult for even the most fully staffed and scrupulous security team to check every person and every bag entering its main doors. Advertisement Advertisement Nonetheless, it was clear Putin was caught off guard. He remained silent for several hours after the attack. When he finally emerged, he spoke on a televised broadcast for a mere five minutes, made no mention of ISIS, and came close to blaming the incident on Ukraine. First, he likened the perpetrators to Nazis, a term he often uses to describe the officials in Kyiv. Second, he said that, whoever they were, they were fleeing toward Ukraine, where they would be received with open arms. (Ukraine denies any involvement in the attack. ISIS-K has openly claimed responsibility.) It is not known whether the four men arrested were the only ones who took part in the attackor even whether all four of these men actually did. After confessing to the crime, they appeared in Russian court in a clearly beaten state, some with bruises and swollen faces, one sitting unconscious in a wheelchair. Advertisement Will the attack damage Putin politically? Some think so. It is the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in 20 years. Many Russians have ceded to Putins domestic oppression, even to his war, reasoning that at least he has kept the country safe and strong. The concert-hall attack delivers a sucker punch to that notionespecially when viewed alongside a spate of attacks on Russian oil refineries, railway depots, and other high-profile targets, launched either by Ukrainians who surreptitiously crossed the border or by Russian saboteurs. Then again, Putin has survived a plethora of plots, threats, and horrid situations that would have knocked many other dictators out of power or worse. He may survive this one as well, and may even exploit itas he has done in the wake of terrorist attacks in the pastto intensify his campaigns against enemies domestic and foreign, imagined and real. Putins grip on power is at once tenacious and vulnerable, just as Russia itself acts at times like a rapacious empire and, at others, like a ramshackle cogwheel spinning out of control and about to implode. The combinationwhen it comes to both the man and his fiefdomcan be dangerous. In the three years since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, more than 1,300 participants have been charged with crimes. But outside a few of the flashiest and most memorable characters from the day, most individual prosecutions have passed with little public note. Last Monday, however, the news of one arrest was met with more outrage: that of Isabella Maria DeLuca, a 24-year-old conservative influencer. According to prosecutors, on Jan. 6, 2021, DeLucawho was arrested on Fridayentered a set of conference rooms inside the Capitol building by climbing through a broken window. She then climbed back out and was one of several people who passed a table from a Senate terrace room to rioters outside the building. The FBI testified that rioters later used the table to attack Capitol Police. Around 3 p.m. that day, she tweeted, Fight back or let politicians steal an election? Fight back! Later, according to the arrest warrant, she would express her hopes that Trump would enact martial law. After the news of her charges broke, DeLuca posted that she was facing the unwarranted targeting and persecution by the DOJ and FBI at the direction of the Biden Administration, like most J6ers. She added, This experience for me, has only served to shed light on the challenges conservative Americans, Christians, and Trump supporters face daily. Advertisement Not long afterward, her defenders settled on a particular argument. Just so everyone knows the rules, one person posted, touching a table near a Capitol window is a criminal offense because someone may later use the table in a crime. Another: So now you can be arrested and charged for TOUCHING A TABLE. And another: I guess touching a table is a threat to democracy. This is asinine. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Her crime was not, of course, touching a table. DeLuca was charged with theft of government property, disorderly conduct, and entering a restricted area. Video from that day shows her helping to remove the table from inside the Capitol. But that didnt stop people from arguing that she was a victim of political persecution. Some on social media claimed that the Biden administration had gone after DeLuca specifically to send a message because of her social media presence; she has more than 343,000 followers on X. (DeLuca also, in her social media, highlighted that she was being attacked while illegals were coming into the country and claimed that more-serious criminals were escaping justice. I wish the seven agents that came to arrest me were instead searching for missing children and arresting child sex traffickers, she posted. Apparently, thats asking for too much.) Advertisement The narrative took hold. Elon Musk, responding to a post from the right-wing influencer Ian Miles Cheong, replied on X that the Jan 6 prosecutions have gone too far. DeLucas GiveSendGo (a crowdfunding platform favored by conservatives) has now raised $19,000 for her legal defense, boosted by calls for conservatives to defend their own. Advertisement This popular response was likely to some degree because DeLuca is young, blond, and conventionally attractive. DeLuca is a traditional influencer in this regard: She knows to boost her conservative political opinions with selfies and expertly posed photos directed at what appears to be her target audience of young male conservatives. Photos of her, sometimes in swimsuits, pop up in subreddits dedicated to hot conservative women. Her most popular post on X, by far, is a video of her baking: Captioned brown butter caramel cake is the messiest thing Ive made thus far, it has 13 million views, in large part because of the misogynistic backlash to the tight T-shirt shes wearing in the video. The video spurred a micro news cycle on the right after some influential viewers accused it of amounting to pornographic content. She quickly hit more mainstream media when she shared screen grabs of former San Francisco Giants player Aubrey Huff flirting with herfollowing his remarks that, for women like her, sexuality is all they bring to the table. Advertisement Advertisement But DeLuca is a savvy social media user, one who operates as a specific kind of conservative influencer: a brash, outspoken, attractive woman professing traditional ideas about gender norms, with her sexuality often framed as being reserved for a theoretical future husband. (Some misogynists who believe that these influencers are being cynically opportunistic have termed this archetype the tradthot.) Advertisement Advertisement Dear future husband, she posted in July, to 2.5 million views, instead of spending my weekends out at bars and parties, I stay home and learn new recipes I can cook for you one day. You can thank me in kisses later. Love, Your future wife. She mixed that in with more explicitly political posts (I cant wait until Trump begins the biggest mass deportation in United States history); sponsored posts about the film Cabrini from the Sound of Freedoms Angel Studios; and exhortations for women to have lots of children, grow their own food, shoot guns, eat meat, and homeschool their children. Advertisement After her arrest, DeLuca reshared a post on X confirming that she enjoys her particular place in the conservative influencer ecosystem: Shes hot, has heavy Ds, can bake and shes now being politically persecuted by Bidens regime. Wifey material right there. But to reduce DeLuca to her looks is to ignore the amount of strategizing she has put into becoming a big name. DeLuca has been posting political and conservative Christian content since her teenage years. But her breakout moment came on Oct. 17, 2020, during a counterprotest against the Womens March in Washington. Advertisement At the end of that day, she posted photos of herself wearing a neck brace, with bruising on her face and an apparently bloodied mouth. DeLuca wrote on Twitter that she just got punched in the face and choked by two women because I was holding a Trump flag here at the Supreme Court. Advertisement Advertisement But video from the time shows DeLuca shoving a woman with both hands, retrieving a flag from the ground, and walking aggressively toward the woman she had shoved. Theres no video of what happened before DeLuca shoved the woman, so we dont know what instigated the fight; its possible the woman had forcefully taken the flag out of DeLucas hands. What we do know is that DeLuca appeared to escalate the fight, at the least, and that she lied when she claimed on Twitter that she put my hand up to retrieve [the flag] from the ground so I didnt get kicked while I was down on the ground. Regardless, the experience launched DeLuca into minor right-wing stardom. She was written up as the victim of rabid left-wing violence by publications like the Blaze. Fox News reported DeLucas claims that Facebook had removed her account of the alleged assault. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement And this appears not to have been the first time she had gotten attention for being the alleged subject of an attack. In September 2019, right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk posted a photo of himself with DeLuca. This is Isabella, he wrote on Twitter. She was beaten up and dragged through a parking lot for wearing a Trump shirt. The media didnt report or cover this hate crime. Shes been slowly growing a presence in right-wing media in the years since her Womens March experience, appearing on Newsmax and podcasts. And as the blog Angry White Men noted, she has appeared twice on a Rumble show hosted by white nationalist Stew Peters. In those appearances, she blamed feminism and other elements of the left for the declining white majoritya view that fits with a number of her posts on social media, including one about white pride. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, DeLuca has taken more conventional pathways into Republican Party politics. In his 2019 post, Kirk noted that DeLuca was president of a Talking Point USA chapter. At the time of the Womens March, she was outreach director for Republicans for National Renewal, a populist, pro-Trump advocacy group. (The group called Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization at the time of DeLucas alleged assault, despite there being no evidence anyone involved in the incident represented BLM; one woman present wore a shirt that featured Black icons.) DeLuca would go on to volunteer as a Turning Point ambassador for the Tempe, Arizonabased TPUSA branch and in 2023, to speak at a Second Amendment conference in Arlington, Virginia. (She also worked as an unpaid social media associate for a foreign policy group called the Gold Institute for International Strategy. Last Monday, the organization cut ties with her.) Advertisement Advertisement DeLuca gained more legitimate political credentials through her work with actual lawmakers. Just three months after the Capitol riot, she began a stint as an intern at the office of thenRep. Lee Zeldin, a major Trump ally who in 2022 became the GOPs nominee for New York governor. This would make her the first known Jan. 6 insurrectionist to take a job in Congress. Then, in 2022, she interned for Rep. Paul Gosar, another election denier. According to Politico, both Gosars and Zeldins offices said they had no knowledge of DeLucas Jan. 6 activities; Zeldins office said she had only volunteered unpaid to help a staff member in the district. Related From Slate The Trump Trial With the Wrong Prosecutor but the Right Judge Read More So, DeLuca is no mere social media poster: Shes a woman who learned the specific pathwaysthrough right-wing connections, unpaid labor, weaponizing victimhood, and gaming the attention economyto reach a level of political power without having to put in years of drudge work. Advertisement Advertisement The support DeLuca has seen on social media reflects those effortsKirk, for example, passionately defended her on his podcast, railing against typical Soviet-style indictment B.S. aiming to chill the growing young conservative movement in this country and labeling her one of the modern-day hostages being held by the regime. Advertisement Advertisement But it also shows just how much the American public has changed its opinion on Jan. 6 since the initial aftermath, when GOP members of Congress and mainstream Republican pundits were distancing themselves from the violence. Today, when one-quarter of Americans believe that the FBI was involved in instigating or escalating that days events, many politicians and media figures have changed their tune, arguing that the genuine Trump supporters there were merely expressing their political beliefs and that they are victims of a two-tiered justice system meant to crack down on their free speech. Trump himself has promised, on social media, that among his first acts as president will be to free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned! Its too soon to know if DeLuca will be able to capitalize on that narrative. But based on the energy of her defenders, it seems very possible that DeLuca is savvy enough to use her momentary fame as a criminal defendant to secure a prominent future place in the conservative media sphere. When President Joe Biden said journalism is not a crime last April, federal prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, apparently took that as a challenge. Not a crime yet. The next month, FBI agents raided the home of journalist Tim Burke. He is scheduled to be arraigned in the coming weeks under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and wiretap laws for finding and disseminating unaired Fox News footage of Kanye Wests antisemitic rant to Tucker Carlson. The indictment doesnt accuse Burke of hacking or deceit. Instead, its theory is that he didnt have permission to access the video, even though it was at a public, unencrypted URL that he found using publicly posted demo credentials. But finding things that the powerful dont want found is essentially the definition of investigative journalismwhich, as Biden said, is not criminal in this country. A recent court filing heightens concerns about whether prosecutors hid from the judge who authorized the raid that Burke was a journalist. By doing so, they may have avoided scrutiny of whether their investigationand eventual indictmentof Burke complied with the First Amendment, federal law, and the Department of Justices own policies. The case is reminiscent of last years alarming raid of the Marion County Record. Authorities there ignored laws like the federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980, or PPA, which largely prohibits rummaging through journalists files. But that was a local police department in rural Kansas. Burkes case involves the FBI and DOJ, who should clearly know better. Advertisement Burkes filing says prosecutors referred to Burke as a former journalist in their affidavit to get their warrant. (That document remains sealed from the public; it should be released.) Thats a head-scratcher: After all, the whole case arises from him breaking national news. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The indictment also doesnt say a word about Burkes journalism. Instead, it accuses him of scouring the internet for items he found desirable. You might think he sought the footage for a private collection, not to inform the public that a major news network covered up a music superstars antisemitism. If theres any doubt Burkes reporting served the public, remember that West ran for president in 2020. Sure, his campaign was unserious, but, as it turns out, celebrities who first flirt with the presidency for attention can eventually win it. Advertisement Burkepreviously most known for breaking the story of the Manti Teo catfishing hoaxdoesnt work full time for a news outlet anymore, but that doesnt mean hes not a journalist. And thats according to the DOJ itself. The day before indicting Burke, the DOJ released guidelines which say employment by a news outlet is just one of many factors relevant to whether someone is a journalist. Burke easily satisfies almost all the others. Plus, the PPA prohibits law enforcement searches of anyone reasonably believed to have a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication, regardless of whether theyre a journalist. The First Amendments press clause is obviously not limited to the establishment media, which didnt exist at the time. Advertisement Advertisement Nonetheless, by calling Burke a former journalist, prosecutors avoided raising red flags that mightve held up approval of their constitutionally dubious investigation under a law that is notoriously prone to abuse. Subjects of warrants arent notified of hearings, so Burke had no opportunity to correct the affidavit. The burden was on prosecutors to be candid. They werentnot at the warrant application stage or since. Prosecutors have claimed they complied with the law and their own policies, but theyve never explained howby following the requisite procedures or by determining that they didnt apply to a former journalist? Did local U.S. attorneys escalate the issue to national higher-ups, as the policy requires? Advertisement The caginess cant be pinned solely on rogue prosecutors in Florida. Over 50 organizations alerted Attorney General Merrick Garland to their concerns last October. They asked for answers both about prosecutors casting doubt on if Burke is a journalist and about the theory that journalists scouring obscure but publicly available websites for news can violate laws like the CFAA, which the DOJ itself admits is vague and prone to abuse. They never got a response. Advertisement Thats a problem. Reporters are sure to self-censor if they cant be sure what kinds of journalists and what kinds of journalism the DOJ believes the First Amendment protects. The same way the Espionage Act charges against Julian Assange chill national security reporting, the CFAA charges against Burke chill digital journalism. Advertisement Advertisement Under both overbroad laws, the DOJ believes it can, at its whim, criminalize routine newsgatheringwhether obtaining government documents from sources or scouring obscure corners of the internetwhenever prosecutors believe journalists crossed some arbitrary line. Related From Slate The Don Lemon Interview Accomplished One Thing Read More The DOJs position that Burke isnt a journalist may also enable it to take another troubling step. The government seized Burkes computer equipment and files, and its demanding Burke forfeit them permanently if convicted. Forfeiture may be an accepted remedy in some criminal cases, but its quite unusual for journalistic notes and communications to be treated as contraband, especially when they include materials having nothing to do with any alleged crimes. Advertisement If the government is successful, it could not only put confidential sources in jeopardy but could effectively kill any other stories Burke had in the works. Forfeiture is a dangerous weapon for the DOJ to attempt to add to its expanding arsenal against journalists. Burkes case should not be viewed in isolation. Since Marion, weve seen an Alabama district attorney charge journalists with felonies for reporting on alleged misappropriation of COVID funds. Weve seen a disturbing increase in prior restraints against publication. The City of Los Angeles even sued a journalist for printing information the city gave him. This month we learned that San Francisco authorities sought a warrant against a local news outlet and got a gag order barring the journalists from talking about it. In Burkes hometown of Tampa, the fire chief recently called police on a journalist for seeking public records. The list goes on. And in many instances, journalists face these threats while newsrooms that in the past would have supported them are collapsing. With all the other challenges journalists face these days, its an awful time for the DOJ to be testing the outer limits of badly written laws to dream up new ways to prosecute them. If the Biden administration really believes that journalism is not a crime, it should be helping to solve the presss problems, not compounding them. Theres a strong moral case for President Joe Biden to pardon Charles Littlejohn, the former IRS contractor who was recently sentenced to five years in prison for leaking the tax records of Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and other billionaire tax cheats. Over the past several years, Littlejohns whistleblowing enabled revelatory reporting by the New York Times and ProPublica on tax avoidance by the super-rich. Ideally, tax returns in the United States would be readily available to the public, as they are in multiple Nordic countriesa policy choice that has contributed to far less tax evasion and inequality. But in the U.S., the hoarding of billions of dollars (trillions, if you count unrealized capital gains) by plutocratswho have collectively lobbied for lower tax rates and deployed sophisticated techniques to ensure that they end up paying less than teachers and nurseshas been willfully concealed. It is only thanks to Littlejohn that we now know exactly how little the wealthiest people in the U.S. pay in taxesand how much their squirreling away much-needed revenue through habitual tax avoidance is harming their fellow Americans. Thats a far more serious crime than the one committed by Littlejohn, who risked his freedom to expose a key facet of the rampant inequality subverting our democracy. Biden should pardon Littlejohn because it would be wrong to let the 38-year-old languish behind bars for revealing fraudulent, and in some cases illegal, behavior that was never prosecuted. But also because its good politics. Advertisement If Biden were to pardon the IRS whistleblower, Trump would almost certainly cry foul. That would be a good thing, or at least nothing to shy away from, as it would allow Biden to make tax fairness a defining issue in this years presidential race. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Making the wealthy pay their fair share through targeted tax hikes and stronger enforcement is overwhelmingly popular among voters of both major parties. Theres no doubt that Biden stands to gain from harping on tax avoidance by the ultra-rich and corporations. He stands to gain further from drawing attention to his administrations efforts to curb the problem that Trump made worse in 2017 and plans to make even worse if he wins in November. Advertisement Indeed, Biden hit the right notes on this during his recent State of the Union address (including connecting a fairer tax system to the protection of Medicare and Social Security, both of which Trump and House Republicans have threatened to cut), and voters perception of him has improved significantly. The question is how to effectively elevate and center this issue for the long haul. To state what is perhaps obvious: Tax avoidance by the very wealthy is very bad for the country. A growing concentration of economic power is inseparable from a growing concentration of political power. Moreover, the huge loss in revenue limits the federal governments capacity to carry out key work and curtails investments in lifesaving programs. As usual, Republicans are pushing to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy by imposing austerity on working households. Democrats should respond by pointing out all that could be done with more tax revenue, from restoring the expanded child tax credit and providing free preschool, to increasing public investments in affordable housing and clean energy, among many other things. Advertisement Advertisement And its a live issue: Last month, a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed how little the nations most profitable companies paid in taxes in the first five years after congressional Republicans passed Trumps tax cuts. A more recent report, by the Institute for Policy Studies, revealed that 35 corporations paid their executives more than they paid the federal government in taxes from 2018 to 2022. Advertisement In office, Biden has pushed for a modest increase in the federal corporate tax rate, though hes been stymied by a recalcitrant Congress. Nevertheless, he was able to secure a corporate minimum tax and increased resources to ensure that the wealthy pay more of what they already owe. The Treasury Department recently estimated that as long as the GOPs ostensible fiscal hawks dont cut its $80 billion funding boost, the IRS could collect at least $561 billion in additional revenue over the next decade. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said last month that millionaires and billionaires underreporting of income costs the country $150 billion a year. The agency has since announced that it is sending compliance letters to high-income individuals who have failed to even file taxes in 125,000 instances since 2017. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Despite the electorates righteous anger at blatant tax injustices, how many average voters are familiar with the Biden administrations interventions on their behalf? How many know that Trump exacerbated unfairness during his presidency by further decimating IRS capacity, skewing audits toward the poor, and slashing corporate taxes? Or that he intends to make soon-to-expire provisions of his tax cuts permanent? Now imagine the spectacle of Trump claiming to be a victim and attacking Biden for showing leniency toward the whistleblower who laid bare the depravity of tax-dodging elites like himself. Theres no better way for Biden to place this crucial topic at the forefront of the news cycle than to provoke Trump with a virtuous pardon. Advertisement Some may bristle at the suggestion that Biden should pursue a politically beneficial pardon. Related From Slate The Real Reason No One Is Giving Biden Credit for How Good the Economy Is Right Now Read More To clarify, Im not advocating that Littlejohn be pardoned strictly for political reasons. There are straightforward moral grounds for Littlejohns absolution: U.S. laws shielding tax information from public scrutiny are unjust; his actions benefited the public by revealing outrageous facts the ruling class would have rather kept hidden; and in any case, a five-year sentence for leaking this information is indefensible. Advertisement Advertisement But if pardoning Littlejohn aids Biden politically because it enables him to better contrast his progressive tax policies and proposals with Trumps regressive giveaways, thats a great bonus. Trump, its worth noting, shamelessly pardoned Steve Bannon and others for purely political reasons and has promised to do so again. Pardoning hundreds of Jan. 6 insurrectionists, as the would-be dictator has pledged to do if hes elected this fall, is not comparable to forgiving Littlejohn because the primary moral justification for reprieve is absent. Seditious rioters are in jail for good reasontheir attempt to overturn Trumps 2020 loss was a deadly assault on U.S. democracy. Littlejohns unmasking of grotesque tax inequality, by contrast, was an attempt to make the U.S. more democratic, at considerable risk to himself. And that makes him one of the great political heroes of our time. Foreign reporters recall events of the Candle Manifestation of March 25, 1988, eighteen months before the Velvet Revolution. The communist police cars among protesters at the Candle Protest in Bratislava, March 25, 1988. (Source: The Cas Svitania / Time of Dawn booklet, Jan Simulcik) Font size: A - | A + Share Cars of the communist-era police, called Public Security (Verejna Bezpecnost), raided the crowded Hviezdoslavovo Square in Bratislava and started hitting people. The protesters with candles were sprinkled by raindrops, and later by the torrents of water from cars of the city technical services. People said prayers while police dogs barked in the background. A dozen foreign reporters from western media watched this mad show, too, with astonishment and fear. The date was March 25, 1988. Bratislava seemed very far from Vienna, and all of Czechoslovakia looked like a hermetically closed dead-house, Karl Stipsicz, who at that time worked as reporter of the Austrian state TV ORF for eastern and southern Europe, recalled the events from 30 years ago. Read also: Read also: Candle Manifestation 1988: We went into it like innocent children Read more It was thrilling, he says. I worked a lot with Barbara Coudenhove-Kalergi, who was already a very famous reporter. This bigger demonstration in Bratislava was a kind of life sign that something eventually starts moving here, that there are citizens under the surface who want to express their dissatisfaction, probably partially encouraged by what was happening in Hungary and Poland, or by what they were able to watch on Austrian and Hungarian TV, explains Stipsicz, who later settled in Hungary and is currently the chief editor of the Haszon magazine. Bratislava seemed very far from Vienna, and all of Czechoslovakia looked like a hermetically closed dead-house. Karl Stipsicz, ORF reporter He claims that the brutal intervention of security forces against protesters did not surprise him too much. At that time, Czechoslovakia was a strong police country, the journalist recalls. We often had to wait for hours at the border, foreigners were watched here all the time at least that was how we felt. We guessed what scenario we could expect. What surprised me rather was the resolution of protesters. I talked with Barbara that this is typical with Catholic believers. Barbara Coudenhove, my colleague, was born in Czechoslovakia, and spoke Czech well. However, Czechs did not show much resistance. Thats why I was so surprised by how many Slovaks had such courage. But this is just my subjective feeling. Thousands of people stood on the square, holding candles and praying. But the police brutally beat them and used water cannons against them. Font size: A - | A + Share Hviezdoslavovo is almost full now, up until those trees. On this side, near the church, an awfully large amount of people stand and yet more are coming out of the church with lit candles Use service cars to push away the masses These were some instructions police were given during the Candle Manifestation, which took place on March 25, 1988. The non-violent gathering saw thousands of people from all around Slovakia hit the streets of Bratislava. However, it was brutally suppressed. The Candle Manifestation was one of the most important acts against the communist regime, a precursor of the Velvet Revolution. Even though the secret Church was its driving force, its organisers demanded not just freedom of confession, but also complete recognition of civil rights in Czechoslovakia for all - both believers and atheists. We demanded freedom for the Church, but we also understood that we couldn't just fight for ourselves, explained one of the main activists of the secret Church, Vladimir Jukl, in the book Cas Svitania (Time of Dawn) by Jan Simulcik. There were other people in the society who, even though they were not Christians, suffered just as much or perhaps even more than we did. We wanted to show solidarity with them, and demand rights for them as well with respect to democratic human rights. video //www.youtube.com/embed/22U4zjrcZHU Slovakia was on its own At first, there was the initiative of Marian Stastny from the World Congress of Slovaks to organise protests in front of Czechoslovak embassies around the world for religious rights and freedoms in the socialist Czechoslovakia. He also sent a secret message about it to dissident Jan Carnogursky. He got the message in the Milka chocolate that he originally planned to give as a present to someone, but in the end he kept it for himself, opened it, and there was our letter, Frantisek Miklosko, one of the organisers of the manifestation, recalls. Read also: Read also: Foreign reporters recall events of the Candle Protest Read more At the beginning, however, he was not convinced that he wanted to get involved in such an action, unlike Carnogursky who, according to Miklosko was immediately ready to do it, because he was a politician since he was a child. For Miklosko, though, it was a major breaking point. Until then, we organised a lot of events, pilgrimages, but mostly in religious places where the police could not have any objections, Miklosko recalls. So it took me a while. In socialist Czechoslovakia, the Catholic priests who collaborated with the regime were part of the Pacem in Terris association. At the same time, there was an active secret Church, whose members faced persecution and prison. It was key for the organisers of the manifestation to win the influential core of the secret Church for the idea: Silvester Krcmery, Vladimir Jukl, and the secretly ordained bishop, Jan Chryzostom Korec. The latter was not easily persuaded, reluctant to get involved in politics. If Korec said no, we wouldnt get anyone to join the manifestation, Miklosko recalls. When I said that to him, he remained silent and then asked: What do you want me to tell you? That you are not against it. He said spontaneously, I am not. So I quickly left, so it wouldnt be up for discussion anymore. Rich people, oligarchs and ex-politicians invested in wineries. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Looking at the pictures of Slovak wineries, it would be easy to identify the most spectacular ones. Boutique wineries, guest-houses and hotels have sprung up in the midst of vineyards. At first glance, it is evident that no expense was spared on these projects. You'll find out why soon enough. Backing them are financially well-off owners who have decided to invest in wine as a side business and sometimes a personal experience business. In this overview, you will find 11 businesses from entrepreneurs who, though originally from a different kind of business, entered wine-making. More than once, not only did they have enough money of their own, but the state helped them as well. 1 Elesko Location: Modra, Bratislava Region Operator: Elesko Revenue in 2022: 1.9 million Economic result in 2022: profit of 650,000 When the Elesko winery backed by businessman Igor Ledecky was being constructed below the Little Carpathians mountain range, it was called the most modern and luxurious in Slovakia. Ledecky is relatively unknown in Slovakia. He became rich from energy and engineering projects in Russia, where he worked with Czech billionaire entrepreneur Petr Kellner (he died in a helicopter crash on a trip to Alaska in 2021). Due to a dispute over joint Russian real estate projects, Ledecky and Kellner were fighting over the winery, with the former eventually prevailing. However, the winery is far from being in ideal financial circumstances. In 2022, its revenue was 1.9 million and profit 650,000, but over the previous four years it generated a total loss of almost 3.2 million. By the end of the same year, the company had long-term liabilities at the level of 6.6 million. Newer data is not yet available. https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1RbjuyPq36PbLdwEsyCw-n-Bl_kznC9w&ehbc=2E312F&noprof=1 2 Chateau Grand Bari Location: Bara, Kosice Region Operator: Chateau Grand Bari Revenue in 2022: 1.1 million Economic result in 2022: profit of 35,000 The Chateau Grand Bari company belongs to businessman Jozef Janulak's group, who for the first time entered the Forbes list of the richest Slovaks. The magazine ranked him 26th and estimated his assets at 140 million. He mainly belongs among business elite because he sold the Presov-based company Spinea to the American company Timken. With the help of 2.55 million in state subsidy, Jankulak built a luxury hotel near the winery in the village of Bara in Trebisov district, eastern Slovakia. The subsidy is related to the Dobytkar (Cattle Breeder) case, which involves allegations that an organised criminal group embezzled and laundered more than 3.7 million in EU funds. According to the repentant Marek Kodada, Jankulak was supposed to have given financier Martin Kvietik a bribe in the amount of ten percent of the subsidy. Jankulak denied this claim in court. Slovaks living abroad with bad experience during election, overview of who's who in Slovak wine, temporary restrictions in train transport to Hungary. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Good evening. Here is the Monday, March 25 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes. Korcok and Pellegrini starting talks with failed candidates Peter Pellegrini (left) and Ivan Korcok (right) will meet in a run-off round of the presidential election on April 6. (Source: SME - Jozef Jakubco) Former diplomat and ex-foreign minister Ivan Korcok won the first round of the presidential election with 42.51 percent of votes, followed by Speaker of Parliament and Hlas party leader Peter Pellegrini with 37.05 percent. Pro-Russian candidate and former judge Stefan Harabin came in third. With 2,254,206 valid votes, the turnout was 51.91 percent, the highest since the 1999 election when 73.8 and 75.4 percent of voters voted in the first and second rounds, respectively. The highest turnout of 61.37 percent was in the Bratislava Region, the lowest of 44.14 percent in the Kosice Region. Pellegrini succeeded in the electoral strongholds of his party in eastern and central Slovakia, as well as in the traditional bastions of Smer in the regions of Kysuce, Upper Povazie and Upper Nitra. Korcok won in all of the regional towns, western as well as parts of northern and eastern Slovakia. Christian voters in the Orava region and in the districts of Kezmarok and Levoca also voted for him. The second round is slated for April 6 and expected to be a very close one. Both presidential hopefuls have already said that they want to meet with the failed candidates, with Pellegrini already meeting some on Monday. The person Hungarian voters pick might be a very important and deciding factor. According to a new survey for private TV JOJ, 44 percent of people who did not vote on March 23 have decided to do the same in the second round. The survey also shows that Ivan Korcok has the highest chance of gaining the support of non-voters. Candidates can campaign ahead of the second round until midnight on Wednesday, April 3. MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR WEBSITE If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia. Thank you. FEATURE STORY FOR MONDAY Who poured millions of euros into Slovak wine? Rich people, oligarchs and ex-politicians invested in wineries. (Source: SME - Jozef Jakubco) In this overview, you will find 11 businesses from entrepreneurs who, though originally from a different kind of business, entered wine-making. More than once, not only did they have enough money of their own, but the state helped them as well. EVENT FOR THURSDAY Celebrate Piano Day in Petrzalka Illustratory image. (Source: TASR) This year's Piano Day will take place on March 28. On this occasion, a special "piano walk" will be held in Bratislava's Petrzalka borough, with five consecutive live concerts taking place in five venues. The event will start at 16:30 at the CC Centrum venue, then it will move to Velky Drazdiak - Sutrovka lake, followed by the Zrkadlovy Haj and Luky culture houses. The final concert will take place at the Evangelical Church. For the three concerts taking place in culture houses, the admission is 6 for each, or 14 for a season ticket. Click here for more details. IN OTHER NEWS The Defence Ministry should make a decision regarding the procurement of air-defence systems in the next few weeks. When it comes to mid-range anti-aircraft missile systems, the ministry is considering either the US-Norwegian NASAMS, or the Korean PVO, or the Israeli Barak systems. The Italian SAMP/T Mamba system currently protecting Slovak airspace is due to be withdrawn from Slovakia in early April. (TASR) When it comes to mid-range anti-aircraft missile systems, the ministry is considering either the US-Norwegian NASAMS, or the Korean PVO, or the Israeli Barak systems. The Italian SAMP/T Mamba system currently protecting Slovak airspace is due to be withdrawn from Slovakia in early April. (TASR) Due to modifications of the rail infrastructure in the Slovak-Hungarian border area of Kosice-Hidasnemeti, passengers of Eurocity trains between Kosice and Budapest are facing temporary restrictions on March 25 and 26. This concerns six EC Hornad trains in both directions. The restriction lasts for five hours on both days, roughly from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM. The replacement bus service from Kosice to Hidasnemeti leaves in front of the railway station. (TASR) This concerns six EC Hornad trains in both directions. The restriction lasts for five hours on both days, roughly from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM. The replacement bus service from Kosice to Hidasnemeti leaves in front of the railway station. (TASR) On Monday, the Belga news agency reported that a Belgian court of inquiry postponed its decision, on whether to transfer the case of the defendants involved in the death of Slovak national Jozef Chovanec in Belgium in 2018, to a criminal court to June 3. In reaction, the Slovak Justice Ministry said that it will 'consider further steps' and more details will be provided after consultations with parties involved. (TASR) In reaction, the Slovak Justice Ministry said that it will 'consider further steps' and more details will be provided after consultations with parties involved. (TASR) Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova dismissed the Bibiana International House of Art for Children director Zuzana Liptakova and the Slovak National Library general director Katarina Kristofova. In the case of the former, the minister did not give a reason, with the former the reason being 'insufficient security of the institution against cyber attacks, insufficient protection of intangible cultural heritage and misconduct in managerial activities'. (TASR) Part of the exhibition Tropy v Turci (Tropics in the Turiec region) - exotic orchids in Martin, northern Slovakia. The exhibition is open until April 7. (Source: TASR) WEATHER FOR TUESDAY: Partly cloudy, occasionally overcast. Fog may appear in the morning. Daily temperature between 9 C to 15 C, with 17 C in the southwestern part of the country. Windy, with level 1 wind warning issued for several districts, see map. (SHMU) MARCH 26 NAME'S DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Emanuel Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us. P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk. Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook and Instagram (@slovakspectator). The goal was to prevent election fraud. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share Since Slovak voters are not allowed to vote by post in the presidential election, those living abroad had to return and do so in person. Their passport and an affidavit confirming that they live permanently in another country should have been enough to allow them to vote. However, upon arriving to the polling stations, many faced unexpected problems, reports Dennik N daily. While in some cases Slovaks living abroad just showed their passport and the affidavit, the commission registering them in the electoral roll, others were not so lucky. The commission tried to verify their documents on the order of the Interior Ministry, leading to long delays of up to several hours. According to election law expert Marek Domin, there is no law requiring this approach and the commissions should have not done it. There is no electronic register that can confirm whether one has permanent residence in Slovakia. The only way to do so is to call the Population Register in Banska Bystrica. Since commissions all over the country called this one place on Saturday, the line was busy and thus had no idea when and if they could get the information. Private TV Markiza reporter Martina Torokova said on social media that it usually took between 20 to 45 minutes to call the register. The expert says the goal was to prevent electoral fraud so that a person would not vote twice; once using their ID card and then with their passport. According to Eduard Burda, chair of the State Commission for Elections, there were people who actually tried this even though they had permanent residence in Slovakia. The current guidelines stem from the situation in the 2014 presidential election when several voters managed to vote twice. Burda also said that the lines are going to be strengthened ahead of the second round on April 6, states TASR newswire. In August 2022, the Eduard Heger government wanted to allow vote by post. At the time, the government approved and proposed an amendment to parliament. But in the end the amendment and other required changes did not pass. Ventura is a small, coastal town in Southern California. For the most part, this is the sort of place people pass through, perhaps on the way to visit our more famous neighbors, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. But for those who make a stop in Ventura, there is a lot to love. The hikes are plentiful, beaches beautiful, and the surfing conditions world-renowned. It is the launchpad to the Channel Islands National Park, known as the North American Galapagos for its incredible biodiversity. Ventura is, at its heart, an agricultural community. With a rich and dynamic farming history dating back to the 1800s, Venturans value locally-grown produce, and the people who farm it. These conditions have created a unique market for specialty coffee where consumers both understand and appreciate seasonality, variety, and terroir. This has led to the growth of a strong, albeit young, specialty coffee scene. Gayla Moore led the way with the opening of her roasting facility, Moore Coffee and Tea, in 1990. However, it took another 20 years before a wave of independent roasters and cafes opened to the public. Ventura is a small community and these cafes play an important role as social spaces. The following coffee shops are all run by passionate locals who go out of their way to support their community. Venturas cafes are a microcosm of the city itself: friendly, relaxed, and everybody knows everybody. Heres a few favorites for your next stop in Ventura. Beacon Coffee Company Beacon Coffee Company is tucked in an obscure industrial estate. New visitors approach trepidatiously, questioning whether they have the right address. Once inside, however, guests are welcomed into a cozy cafe. The beauty of this sequestered spot is that nobody stumbles into Beacon by accident. Their customers travel out of their way in pursuit of deliciousness. Opened in 2010, Beacon is Venturas original roaster retailer. It has been incredibly influential within the citys coffee scene. Owners John and Jennifer Wheir source unique micro-lots directly from producers that have been growing for generations. A rotating selection of these are brewed in a Ground Control Cyclops. Customers sip their coffee whilst watching the roasting process through a large interior window at the rear of the cafe. The knowledgeable baristas are always happy to geek out with customers looking for recommendations or brewing tips. There is even a full schedule of coffee classes held out back. Over the last decade-and-a-half this place has developed a loyal following amongst Ventura locals. Come here for delicious coffee, served without pretension. Palm and Boy Palm and Boy is located in the heart of historic downtown Ventura, tucked down an alley in the El Jardin Courtyard. The courtyard was built in 1925 and is one of the earliest outdoor malls in Southern California. Its quiet, peaceful ambiance transports you to a different time. Palm and Boy is locally owned by a member of Venturas Latinx community. Jaimelene (Jamie) Salgado worked as an employee and manager there for over four years before purchasing the cafe from the previous owner. She wants people to feel a sense of love and community when they enter Palm and Boy, and her eye for detail is clearly evident in the coffee program. The drinks are reliably delicious. Palm and Boy prepares Handlebar Coffee Roasters from Santa Barbara on a La Marzocco Strada. In terms of the trifecta of setting, service, and coffee quality, Palm and Boy consistently ticks all the boxes. Since it opened in 2017, the cafe has developed a loyal following, and it is easy to see why. The quiet courtyard is an oasis, filled with delicious coffee and welcoming baristas. If you are feeling peckish, they are also known for their acai bowls. The bowls are absolutely delicious, made from fresh and local produce. Frontside Cafe It is unusual in Ventura to find a cafe that delivers equally high quality coffee, food, and ambiance. This is what makes Frontside Cafe so special: every element exceeds expectations. Frontside is owned and operated by local husband and wife team, Charne and Joel Huff, whose attention to detail can be felt throughout the entire store This extends from the menu, to service, and to the coffee program. The La Marzocco Linea espresso machine sits behind large warehouse style windows and removes the sound of the grinders but not the sight of the baristas. Frontside brews locally-roasted beans from Beacon Coffee Company. The coffee menu is simple and well executed. A particular stand out is the flat white. The brews at Frontside are best experienced dine in and paired with something from the fresh, chef-driven menu. It is always worth getting the weekly special as it will likely never be on the menu again (and it is always amazing). The cafe itself is open, airy, and inviting. This aesthetic is reflected in the service style which strikes a balance between attentive and relaxed. Both the decor and menu have subtle nods to the owners time spent living in Sydney. In the tradition of great Australian cafes, Frontside delivers excellence in both their coffee and food programs. Ragamuffin Coffee Roasters It is uncommon to find quality coffee inside of a food hall and even more shocking to see a functioning roastery there. But that is exactly what Ragamuffin Coffee Roasters has achieved within the Collection shopping center where they are roasting and brewing a phenomenal range of coffees. Ragamuffin began with Shawn and Sarah Pritchett roasting coffee in their garage. In 2015 they opened a cafe in Newbury Park, followed by their 2017 Oxnard location. Whilst not technically in Ventura proper, at under half a mile from its border, it would be remiss not to include them in this guide. The Pritchetts genuinely value relationships: with their guests, their staff, and the people who grow the coffee they roast. They see coffee as an opportunity for creating connections within their community. Ragamuffin is designed to be a space where people can meet over an ethically sourced, high quality cup of coffee. Alongside farmer Lisa Soury, the Pritchetts are co-owners of California Coffee Collective, which hosts farm tours and tasting sessions at Rancho Filoso in neighboring Santa Paula. This hands-on experience has given the Ragamuffin team and their customers a greater understanding of and appreciation for the hard work and diligence it takes to produce excellent coffee. Singing Sun Coffee What really sets Singing Sun apart from other coffee shops is its phenomenal fit out. Owners Corban and Raquel Campbell were instrumental in both the design and physical build of the cafe. Large windows and high ceilings make the space feel open and bright. Exposed brick, woodwork, and lush greenery bring a sense of warmth and comfort. Singing Sun has become Midtown Venturas community hub. There is a steady stream of relaxed regulars strolling through the door greeting the baristas and chatting amongst each other. The spacious circular seating area at the front window encourages all who enter to find a sense of community. Singing Sun epitomizes the concept of coffee shops as the third space. This has been achieved through both clever design choices and the welcoming culture of the team. Corban has a close relationship with Sightglass Coffee. They supply Singing Sun with a custom blend, and a rotating range of single origin coffees. Those feeling adventurous should ask the baristas about the secret menu. It is not just Singing Suns drinks that have a strong following, but also its merchandise. Of particular note is their time tumbled collection. The team carefully source worn garments and update them with embroidery and screen prints. It is a unique, sustainable approach to merchandising. Prospect Coffee Roasters Brothers Blake and Derek Ulrich had no coffee experience (roasting or brewing) before opening Prospect Coffee Roasters in 2014. By 2017 they were confident enough in their skills to open a brick and mortar location: their iconic cafe on the corner of Laurel and Santa Clara St. The space is light and bright with a clean aesthetic. The obvious exception to the tightly curated decor is the pop of color and chaos above the baristas hand wash basin. Customers sitting at the bar can glance across at staff doodles and notes taped haphazardly to the wall under a colorful mish mash of mugs. The Ulrichs attribute Prospects success to the dedicated team of baristas who decorated this wall. These baristas are the creative force behind Prospects popular range of rotating specialty drinks. Prospects approach to roasting and brewing is intended to showcase the inherent characteristics of the coffee. In this way, they aim to honor and respect the work that has gone into growing and producing the coffee they roast and brew. They rotate their single origin offerings daily, on both batch brew and espresso. Their team is always happy to make recommendations about what coffee is most exciting to them that day. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240324/idf-general-says-us-accused-israel-of-systematic-sexual-abuse-in-private-meeting-1117532553.html IDF General Says US Accused Israel of Systematic Sexual Abuse in Private Meeting IDF General Says US Accused Israel of Systematic Sexual Abuse in Private Meeting Sputnik International IDF General Amir Avivi told Israeli media that the US State Department "accused Israel of systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women," contrasting with official State Department statements. 2024-03-24T23:59+0000 2024-03-24T23:59+0000 2024-03-24T23:59+0000 matt miller israel palestine state department the united nations (un) israel defense forces (idf) west bank sexual abuse sexual assault rape https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/1e/1116500566_0:101:3072:1829_1920x0_80_0_0_c33d3b1253fe08612b49b891f200c6a7.jpg Israeli Defense Force Brigade General Amir Avivi said on an Israeli radio show that in private, a US State Department official accused Israel of systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women, which may have revealed an internal stance of the US State Department that contradicts its public comments.This is absolutely disconnected from reality. But without hesitation, she said The UN presented evidence to the Israeli government., he said, describing the conversation.Avivi was critical of the State Department, adding that he wanted to bring awareness about what is really happening in the US State Department.When we meet with a State Department official holding the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio, every word she utters, as far as I am concerned, is an official US position, Avivi argued.However, in public at least, the State Department says it was unable to confirm reports of sexual abuse by the IDF. In February, a group of UN experts issued a statement, warning of credible allegations of egregious human rights abuses against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank, including arbitrary executions and multiple forms of sexual assault, including rape.State Department spokesman Matt Miller said in a press conference following those accusations that he cannot independently confirm the reports and called on Israel to thoroughly and transparently investigate credible allegations.When pressed by a journalist on what it would take for the State Department to confirm the accusations, as it did of reports of rape during the October 7 Hamas attack based on the testimony of Israeli medical experts, Miller said the US could only after a full, independent, credible investigation.Israel said it forcefully rejects the accusation from the UN, calling them despicable and unfounded. It has not announced an investigation into the allegations.In December, Josh Paul a former State Department official who resigned over arms transfers to Israel, said the Defense of Children International Palestine told him of credible accusations that a 13-year-old boy was raped by IDF soldiers. Paul said he raised the issue to Israel who then raided the charitys offices, seized their computers and declared it a terrorist organization.Avivi is also a co-founder of the Israeli Defense and Security Forum (ISDF), at their conference in January, he predicted maybe [the war] will never end, and called for Israel to take full control of the Egyptian-Gaza border and for the IDF to have full freedom of operation in Gaza from now and pretty much forever. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240319/israel-may-use-starvation-as-method-of-war-in-gaza-strip---un-human-rights-chief-1117424516.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240109/idf-says-discovered-largest-hamass-weapons-production-site-found-since-october-7-in-gaza-1116068121.html israel palestine west bank gaza strip Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Ian DeMartino Ian DeMartino News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ian DeMartino sexual abuse by idf, rape by israel, sexual violence against palestinians https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/boeings-key-labor-union-wants-seat-in-companys-board-amid-surge-in-flight-incidents-1117538635.html Boeing's Key Labor Union Wants Seat in Company's Board Amid Surge in Flight Incidents Boeing's Key Labor Union Wants Seat in Company's Board Amid Surge in Flight Incidents Sputnik International Boeing's largest labor union, the International Association of Machinists District 751, has proposed taking up a seat on the board of directors of the company to enable it address concerns of passengers and regulators amid a surge in flight incidents, district president Jon Holden told the US media . 2024-03-25T11:08+0000 2024-03-25T11:08+0000 2024-03-25T11:08+0000 economy labor union labor unions https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/04/16/1094956524_0:0:2911:1637_1920x0_80_0_0_3725e0bb2e1096094fab6d63dacd8097.jpg "We'll be proposing that we have a seat on the board of directors. We believe that we have a unique ability to understand the production system ... With what's going on these days, we are oftentimes the last line of defence, and we have to save this company from itself," Holden was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The labor union, which represents about 32,000 employees at Boeing's production plants in the US state of Washington, entered into talks with the firm's board earlier in March, with one of its aims to have a "greater voice" at the company," Holden told the media. The union expects that its representative present in Boeing's board would bring "a grounding and a balancing" to the 13-person body, the district president reportedly said. On January 5, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 with 171 passengers and six crew members on board made an emergency landing shortly after takeoff in Portland, Oregon after a door plug detached midair. No injuries were reported at the time, but several days later, some passengers filed a lawsuit against the jet-producing company, demanding compensation for the physical, emotional and economic harm. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in the United States. Boeing's aircraft have seen a string of in-flight incidents in recent months. In January, the US Federal Aviation Administration ordered Boeing's 737 MAX jet grounded after a cabin panel blew out in midair on a flight from Oregon. In a separate incident, an oxygen leak was discovered on board of a Boeing 737 that was supposed to transport US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from the Davos World Economic Forum. The leak proved impossible to mend, making the plane unsafe to fly. In one of the last incidents that took place on March 11, around 50 people were injured as a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane of Chile-based LATAM Airlines experienced a "technical problem" en route from Australia's Sydney to New Zealand's Auckland. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230915/pro-labor-biden-must-walk-fine-line-between-union-bosses-in-posturing-on-uaw-strike-1113408502.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 boeing, labor union, labor dispute, labor, trade union https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/eu-supporting-ukraine-for-own-interest-not-out-of-love-for-ukrainians---borrell-1117548991.html EU Supporting Ukraine for Own Interest, Not Out of Love for Ukrainians - Borrell EU Supporting Ukraine for Own Interest, Not Out of Love for Ukrainians - Borrell Sputnik International MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union supports Ukraine not out of love for Ukrainian people but for the sake of its own interests, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday. 2024-03-25T20:36+0000 2024-03-25T20:36+0000 2024-03-25T20:36+0000 world european union (eu) josep borrell ukraine russia ukraine crisis ukrainian crisis ukrainian conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/19/1117548831_0:0:3008:1693_1920x0_80_0_0_4af0fa8454693704c4cb628ec4f67085.jpg "We cannot afford [for] Russia to win this war. Otherwise the US and European interests will be very damaged. It is not a matter of generosity alone of supporting Ukraine because we love Ukrainian people. It is in our own interest. And it is also in the interest of the US as a global player," Borrell said in an interview with CNN. Western countries have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict. In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes. https://sputnikglobe.com/20231201/europes-lack-of-strategic-vision-is-why-russia-is-winning-in-ukraine-conflict-1115328474.html ukraine russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 ukrainian troops, ukrainian losses, russian forces, russian troops, russia wins, ukraine loses, ukrainian crisis, josep borrell, us hegemoy, us hegemony, american interest, european interest, european aims, european goals https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/former-taiwanese-regional-leader-to-visit-mainland-china-from-april-1-11-1117537708.html Former Taiwanese Regional Leader to Visit Mainland China From April 1-11 Former Taiwanese Regional Leader to Visit Mainland China From April 1-11 Sputnik International Former Taiwanese regional leader Ma Ying-jeou will visit mainland China from April 1-11, with trips to Beijing, Chinese provinces and other places included in the agenda, Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua said on Monday. 2024-03-25T09:27+0000 2024-03-25T09:27+0000 2024-03-25T09:27+0000 asia china taiwan taiwan strait ma ying-jeou one china policy https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/107093/48/1070934866_0:0:3888:2188_1920x0_80_0_0_b578bc03aad07bf3dd6bb22d7e70553f.jpg "Ma Ying-jeou as the head of a delegation of Taiwanese youth will pay a visit to [the Chinese provinces of] Guangdong and Shaanxi, as well as Beijing and other places," Chen was quoted as saying by the state-run China Central Television broadcaster. The agenda includes participation in different events such as an ancestor worship ceremony, the broadcaster reported. At the same time, no information has been provided on whether the former Taiwanese leader will hold any meetings with Chinese officials. "We welcome the visit of Mr. Ma Ying-jeou at the head of the delegation," Chen added. Taiwan has been governed independently of mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan a territory with its own elected government maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240229/today-ukraine-tomorrow-taiwan-western-neocons-look-east-1117050517.html china taiwan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 china, taiwan, asia, taiwanese strait, ma ying-jeou china, one china policy, mainland china https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/france-arranges-flights-to-evacuate-its-citizens-from-haiti-1117535340.html France Arranges Flights to Evacuate Its Citizens From Haiti France Arranges Flights to Evacuate Its Citizens From Haiti Sputnik International France is opening special flights to evacuate its "most vulnerable citizens" from Haiti amid armed unrest in the country, the French Foreign Ministry said. 2024-03-25T06:15+0000 2024-03-25T06:15+0000 2024-03-25T06:15+0000 world france haiti port-au-prince ariel henry https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/0c/1117282261_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_96abcba32c11a42c9201ad417995ebf3.jpg On February 29, gang violence erupted in the downtown area of Port-au-Prince while Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was visiting Kenya to seek an agreement for the deployment of foreign forces in Haiti to fight organized crime. The gangs said their goal was to prevent the prime minister from returning to Haiti. They took control over many parts of the city and stormed Haiti's largest prison, freeing an unconfirmed number of inmates. The Haitian government declared a state of emergency in the capital region. On March 11, Henry announced that he would resign when a transitional presidential council was created.The ministry added that the French embassy in Port-au-Prince remains open and continues to operate despite "deteriorating conditions." https://sputnikglobe.com/20240317/haiti-health-care-system-collapses-amid-unrest-hospitals-looted---reports-1117388895.html france haiti port-au-prince Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 france, haiti, haiti evacuation, haiti unrest, france haiti https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/france-raises-terror-threat-level-to-highest-after-crocus-terror-attack---reports-1117534114.html France Raises Terror Threat Level to Highest After Crocus Terror Attack - Reports France Raises Terror Threat Level to Highest After Crocus Terror Attack - Reports Sputnik International France has raised the level of terrorist threat to "extreme threat of terrorist attack" due to the deadly attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Le Figaro newspaper reported. 2024-03-25T04:02+0000 2024-03-25T04:02+0000 2024-03-25T04:02+0000 world moscow france emmanuel macron moscow concert hall attack terrorist attack terrorism terrorists https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/06/1e/1111587772_0:257:2730:1793_1920x0_80_0_0_bd3f295d4c9f66d7587b3b9806bf5a14.jpg Earlier on Sunday, French media reported that President Emmanuel Macron convened a meeting of the defense council to discuss the terrorist attack near Moscow, as well as its consequences. The report added that France had also allegedly received threats of terrorist attacks in the country. A shooting occurred on Friday evening in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that at least three men in camouflage had broken into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs.The Russian authorities said that at least 137 people were killed in the attack. Eleven people were detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly involved, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. All four suspected shooters were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine, the FSB added. On Sunday, Moscow's Basmanny District Court said the four suspects were charged with terrorism and ordered to remain in pretrial custody until May 22. All of them are from Tajikistan and face a life sentence in prison. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/moscow-court-arrests-all-four-suspects-in-moscow-terror-attack-until-may-22-1117533917.html moscow france Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 crocus terror attack, france level of terrorist threat. terrorism in france, deadly attack on the crocus city hall https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/greece-signs-procurement-deal-with-canada-to-purchase-7-firefighting-aircraft-1117537964.html Greece Signs Procurement Deal With Canada to Purchase 7 Firefighting Aircraft Greece Signs Procurement Deal With Canada to Purchase 7 Firefighting Aircraft Sputnik International Athens and Ottawa have signed an agreement to purchase seven DHC-515 firefighting aircraft produced by the Canadair manufacturer in the Canadian city of Montreal to address the issue of forest fires in Southern Europe, the prime ministers of both countries said 2024-03-25T09:33+0000 2024-03-25T09:33+0000 2024-03-25T09:33+0000 military greece canada justin trudeau kyriakos mitsotakis firefights https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102524/47/1025244744_0:0:3071:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_f8d70b25756b240419427a99358fd9cd.jpg . The Greek fire service currently has 10 Canadair CL-215 aircraft produced over 40 years ago and seven Canadair CL-415 aircraft over 20 years old, as well as 19 Polish-made PZL-Mielec M-18 aircraft. However, out of 36 aircraft, only 19 can actually be used in firefighting, which is not enough to extinguish the severe wildfires that hit Greece every year. During the fire season, Greece usually leases about 50 additional aircraft."We were pleased to witness the signing by Greece and the Canadian Commercial Corporation for Greece to purchase and acquire seven state-of-the-art DHC-515 firefighting aircraft. These aircraft will help fight devastating forest fires that are increasingly ravaging areas of Southern Europe," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said in a joint statement released on Sunday. Greece will become the first country to procure new firefighting aircraft worth 360 million euros ($389.3 million) from Canada, the Greek prime minister said ahead of the signing ceremony. "We have agreed to work together to find ways to deepen our partnership, with a focus on emergency management and preparedness, and adapting to the impacts of climate change in the face of increasingly frequent natural disasters, including droughts, floods, and wildfires," the statement read. Athens will receive two airplanes in 2027, one aircraft in 2028 and 2029 each, and three in 2030. greece canada Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 greece, canada, firefighting deal, firefighting aircraft, trudeau https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/hamas-says-welcomes-adoption-of-unsc-resolution-on-ceasefire-in-gaza-during-ramadan-1117545083.html Hamas Says Welcomes Adoption of UNSC Resolution on Ceasefire in Gaza During Ramadan Hamas Says Welcomes Adoption of UNSC Resolution on Ceasefire in Gaza During Ramadan Sputnik International The Palestinian movement Hamas welcomed on Monday the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during Ramadan 2024-03-25T17:04+0000 2024-03-25T17:04+0000 2024-03-25T17:04+0000 world middle east gaza strip palestine israel un security council (unsc) hamas palestine-israel conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/17/1116340605_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_7c6e9d3c45e2e2b454f308a12eadb9bb.jpg Earlier in the day, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for an immediate Ramadan ceasefire in Gaza that leads to a lasting and sustainable ceasefire. The motion was sponsored by the 10 non-permanent members of the council. Fourteen countries voted in favor, while the United States abstained. "The Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement welcomes the UN Security Council's call for an immediate ceasefire, we stress the need to achieve a permanent ceasefire that will lead to the withdrawal of all Zionist [Israeli] forces from the Gaza Strip and the return of displaced persons to the homes from which they left," the statement said. Hamas also confirmed its readiness to participate in an immediate prisoner exchange with Israel. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240322/the-world-sees-gaza-as-us-genocide-not-just-israels-1117481136.html gaza strip palestine israel Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 gaza genocide, is israel committing genocide, whats happening with gaza, israeli genocide against palestinians, will israel be charged with genocide, whos backing israel, un hearing on gaza, current developments in gaza, whats happening to palestinians, us military aid to israel, us arms supplies to israel, us violating international law, what weapons is israel getting from us https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/how-did-notorious-isis-terrorist-manage-to-live-quietly-in-ukraine-for-months-1117540485.html How Did Notorious ISIS Terrorist Manage to Live Quietly in Ukraine for Months? How Did Notorious ISIS Terrorist Manage to Live Quietly in Ukraine for Months? Sputnik International Despite the fact that the Kiev regime rejects accusations of them being hospitable to international terrorism, even Ukrainian journalists admit that the countrys authorities strangely turn a blind eye to the issue. 2024-03-25T13:38+0000 2024-03-25T13:38+0000 2024-03-25T13:38+0000 world ukraine syria isis terrorists authorities https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/101416/06/1014160664_0:320:3072:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_d5fad13969c1c474197a75f197260e36.jpg High-ranking ISIS* member Caesar Tokhosashvili, also known as al-Bara al-Shishani, "quietly" lived with his wife and three children in the Ukrainian city of Belaya Tserkov for more than a year before being tracked and detained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2019, reports have revealed.The news undermines Ukraine's official position of opposing terrorism and indicates that it remains a safe haven for such operatives.The CIAs operation to nab Tokhosashvili - who is of Georgian origin - was conducted in collaboration with Georgias Interior Ministry and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Even Western media wondered at the time "why they chose not to arrest him earlier."What else is known about this notorious ISIS terrorist?His arrest five years ago grabbed global headlines at the time, with The Independent quoting Philip Ingram, a former British intelligence officer, as admitting that the lax Kiev regime had created "an obvious vulnerability to international terrorism," something that he said "Kiev does not seem entirely interested in addressing."He was echoed by Vera Mironova, a jihad expert and visiting fellow at Harvard University, who told the Independent that "hundreds" of former ISIS militants had "decamped to Ukraine.""Once these terrorists get to Ukraine, they rarely encounter problems with authorities," according to Mironova.A similar tone was struck by Kiev-based journalist Katerina Sergatskova, who underlined that Ukrainian authorities remain "strangely relaxed about the issue."With the SBU repeatedly rejecting claims that Kiev was in any way hospitable to international terrorism, Mironova warned that Ukrainian authorities would have "a big problem on their hands" if more Ukraine-based ISIS members "become terrified that they will be arrested."*ISIS (ISIL/IS/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries https://sputnikglobe.com/20220129/kansas-woman-accused-of-leading-isis-female-battalion-in-syria-faces-trial-in-us-1092610436.html ukraine syria Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Oleg Burunov https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e4/09/0b/1080424846_0:0:2048:2048_100x100_80_0_0_3d7b461f8a98586fa3fe739930816aea.jpg isis terrorists, ukrainian authorties' negligent position on international terrorism, the cia's operation to arrest notorious isis terrorist caesar tokhosashvili, also known as al-bara al-shishani https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/hungary-begins-transfer-of-paks-ii-nuclear-power-plant-equipment--1117539174.html Hungary Begins Transfer of Paks II Nuclear Power Plant Equipment Hungary Begins Transfer of Paks II Nuclear Power Plant Equipment Sputnik International The process of transferring the "core catcher" for the Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary has begun, said Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto. It can be delivered in the second quarter of 2024. 2024-03-25T10:04+0000 2024-03-25T10:04+0000 2024-03-25T13:05+0000 world hungary peter szijjarto atomexpo international forum russia rosatom nuclear energy https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/104588/62/1045886218_0:132:2464:1518_1920x0_80_0_0_19c8b81a912394f6a27b0007d9c6d35b.jpg "The production of one of the two main nuclear devices required for the unit, the so-called 'core catcher,' has already been completed, and we have started the process of technical transfer. If everything goes as planned, we will be able to deliver this massive device to the Paks nuclear power plant during the second quarter, becoming one of the 'hearts' of the plant," Szijjarto said in a video address from the Atomexpo forum in Sochi.Szijjarto noted that he held meetings with the Director General of Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) Alexey Likhachev, as well as representatives of the governments of Serbia, Turkiye, Iraq, and Belarus on the sidelines of the forum.According to him, the production of another important piece of equipment - the reactor vessel - will begin in Russia in a few weeks in the presence of Hungarian specialists and representatives of the Hungarian Atomic Energy Agency.The reactor vessel is a key irreplaceable component of the reactor system of any nuclear power plant unit. It must ensure reliable sealing of the active zone, where a controlled chain nuclear reaction occurs throughout the entire operating period. Therefore, the material of the reactor vessel must meet high requirements for corrosion resistance in the coolant, high radiation resistance, and resistance to brittle fracture. The material of the reactor vessel must have low heat capacity, high thermal conductivity, and possibly a low coefficient of thermal expansion. Therefore, the reactor vessel belongs to high-tech products.The core catcher, a localization device, is a special nuclear power plant protection system. The catcher developed by Russian scientists can hold the lava-like fuel-containing material for an unlimited amount of time, preventing radioactivity from escaping beyond the catcher casing and into the environment.At the end of 2014, Russia and Hungary signed an agreement to construct new power units No. 5 and No. 6 at the Paks nuclear power plant with reactor installations according to the advanced Russian project VVER-1200. It was reported that Russia would provide Hungary with a state loan of up to 10 billion for the Paks II project, with the total cost of the work amounting to 12.5 billion. A license has already been issued to construct the power units. The construction of the Paks II nuclear power plant is expected to begin in late 2024 or early 2025, as previously announced by Likhachev.The only nuclear power plant in Hungary, Paks is located 100 kilometers from Budapest and five kilometers from the city of Paks. Currently, almost half of all electricity in Hungary is generated at the Paks nuclear power plant, and with the planned commissioning of two new Paks units, this share is expected to double. Nuclear energy is seen as a way to ensure energy security for Hungary, according to the country's leadership. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240202/us-lags-behind-russia-in-next-gen-nuclear-power---report-1116556599.html hungary russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 hungary nuclear power plant, paks ii nuclear power plant, paks ii project, russia-hungary cooperation in nuclear energy, nuclear energy, atomexpo https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/hungary-interested-in-continuing-nuclear-energy-cooperation-with-russia-1117540103.html Hungary Interested in Continuing Nuclear Energy Cooperation With Russia Hungary Interested in Continuing Nuclear Energy Cooperation With Russia Sputnik International Hungary is interested in continuing cooperation with Russia in the nuclear energy field, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday. 2024-03-25T12:19+0000 2024-03-25T12:19+0000 2024-03-25T13:44+0000 world hungary peter szijjarto nuclear cooperation rosatom https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/102899/60/1028996090_0:264:1704:1223_1920x0_80_0_0_a6c8dd707896337b861c7dc2edf77d7b.jpg Hungary's national interest is to continue cooperation with the Russian nuclear industry, Szijjarto told reporters at the 2024 Atomexpo International Forum in Russia's Sirius Federal Territory on the Black Sea coast. Hungary is satisfied with the cooperation on the Paks-2 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and does not need new contractors, the minister added.Realism Trumps Ideology in Energy Policy In the face of rising electricity prices and concerns over energy security, Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto emphasized the country's commitment to ensuring a stable energy supply. Szijjarto reiterated Hungary's commitment to practical energy considerations. "We do believe that energy supply has nothing to do with ideology, but with physical reality," he told Sputnik. He highlighted Hungary's reliance on reliable partners, including Russia, who have consistently met contractual obligations. Szijjarto expressed confidence in the safety of Hungary's energy supply, citing the presence of established sources, transit routes, and customers. He also asserted Hungary's unwavering representation of its national interests, particularly in debates surrounding sanctions policies. While acknowledging the minority status of Hungary's stance on sanctions within Europe, Szijjarto expressed hope for evolving perspectives over time.Hungary Will Never Send Troops or Wepons to UkraineHungary will never send troops or weapons to Ukraine, and this is Budapests official position, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told reporters on the sidelines of the Atomexpo forum on Monday.Szijjarto also said that the European Union is currently not discussing new sanctions against Russia. hungary Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 nuclear industry, russia-hungary nuclear cooperation, nuclear energy, realism nuclear https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/in-bed-with-jihadists-and-neo-nazis-why-crocus-city-hall-terror-attack-cast-slur-upon-west-1117544799.html In Bed With Jihadists and Neo-Nazis: Why Crocus City Hall Terror Attack Cast Slur Upon West In Bed With Jihadists and Neo-Nazis: Why Crocus City Hall Terror Attack Cast Slur Upon West Sputnik International US officials and mainstream press insistently pointed the finger at ISIS* following the hideous terror attack. Why do international observers and experts remain unconvinced that the case is that simple? 2024-03-25T17:22+0000 2024-03-25T17:22+0000 2024-03-25T17:22+0000 russia analysis joe biden charles ortel barack obama ukraine syria biden administration cia neo-nazis https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/16/1117496075_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_b0a7973cee7734c6f066ebb59e35bc89.jpg The Crocus City Hall, a music venue located in the Moscow region, was still burning when White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby asserted to the press that "there is no indication" that Ukraine was involved in the shooting.The US State Department doubled down on Ukraine's supposed non-involvement on March 23, despite Russia's investigation being far from over.A social media account allegedly belonging to ISIS* released a statement of responsibility hours after the attack. As if that were not enough, an additional statement by the group popped up later, accompanied by what appeared to be bodycam footage of the attack.The repeated statements have only triggered skepticism among netizens and international observers, especially given that the Russian Security Service (FSB) announced that four suspects with contacts in Ukraine had been arrested while en route to the Eastern European state on Saturday. New evidence suggested the case is far more complicated than Team Biden imagined.Why It's Hard to Trust Team BidenAccording to Washington, the perpetrators belonged to ISIS-Khorasan, the terror group's affiliate that is active in Afghanistan and the surrounding region. However, there are at least two reasons why international commentators reacted to Team Biden's assertions with disbelief, according to Ortel.Team Biden's finger-pointing at Islamists does not make matters any easier for the West, the analyst continued. The attack spells reputational damage to the West given its intelligence operatives' decades-long hand-in-glove cooperation with jihadist elements, involving using them as proxies.Strange Bedfellows: NATO, Jihadists and Neo-NazisIn 2019, French investigative journalist Maxime Chaix published a book called "The Shadow War in Syria". The book sheds light on the CIA's Operation Timber Sycamore and describes how several Western European intelligence services provided aid to Islamists in Syria to overthrow the country's legitimate President Bashar al-Assad.The West's "war on terror" in Syria raised a lot of questions, starting from the Obama administration's inability to separate "good moderate" jihadists from Islamic terrorists to ensure the Russia-US-brokered cease-fire in 2016. There were also reports that US military choppers were detected evacuating ISIS commanders amid the Syrian Armed Forces' advance. On another occasion, Pentagon- and CIA-backed Syrian insurgents were seen clashing with each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border.But that is not all. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) issued a statement on February 13, 2023, saying that it obtained intelligence indicating that "the US military were actively recruiting militants from jihadist groups affiliated with ISIS and Al-Qaeda* to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia and the CIS countries. Particular attention is paid to attracting people from the Russian North Caucasus and Central Asia to cooperation."The 2014 February coup in Kiev and subsequent events indicated that US officials, military and intelligence services had likewise no scruples about instrumentalizing Ukrainian neo-Nazi elements to reach their goals in the Eastern European state.The analyst wondered whether those weaponizing jihadists and outright neo-Nazis truly believe that those thugs could be controlled and whether these "collabs" are overseen by the US government.Nord Stream Blast: Act of International TerrorismTo make matters worse, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh's Nord Stream bombshell suggests that decisions to conduct acts of international terrorism could be made at the top level of the US government. According to Hersh, US President Joe Biden and his administration were directly involved in plotting and then giving orders to destroy the pipelines carrying Russian gas through the Baltic Sea to Europe.The journalist noted that Western elites are trying to keep the matter on the hush-hush: Europeans have yet to complete their probes into the sabotage attack while Team Biden has not lifted a finger to find out what had happened."What is also surprising is the degree to which nations closer to Russia would fail to appreciate how dangerous it is to take direction, potentially ruinous direction, from an American administration that has a nasty habit of cutting and running on short notice as it did in Afghanistan, leaving widening mayhem behind," the analyst added.*ISIS, al-Qaeda are terrorist organizations banned in Russia and many other countries. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/moscow-court-arrests-fifth-defendant-in-crocus-city-hall-attack-case-1117544577.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/how-did-notorious-isis-terrorist-manage-to-live-quietly-in-ukraine-for-months-1117540485.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230213/us-plans-to-send-terrorists-to-russia-and-cis-countries-to-target-officials-intel-service-says-1107363476.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20230211/why-hershs-nord-stream-bombshell-may-become-legal-nightmare-for-team-biden--its-nordic-allies-1107344300.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240306/ukraines-defeat-to-unmask-dirty-secrets-of-conflict-loving-western-elites-1117162292.html russia ukraine syria Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 crocus city hall attack, crocus city hall terror attack, isis, isis-k, ukraine war, jihadists, neo-nazis, biden administration, obama administration, syrian war, operation timber sycamore, cia, western intelligence agencies https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/israel-agrees-to-us-proposal-on-prisoner-exchange-with-hamas-awaiting-response--reports-1117532873.html Israel Agrees to US Proposal on Prisoner Exchange With Hamas, Awaiting Response Reports Israel Agrees to US Proposal on Prisoner Exchange With Hamas, Awaiting Response Reports Sputnik International Israel agrees to the US terms for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and is awaiting a response from the movement on this matter, CNN reported. 2024-03-25T00:37+0000 2024-03-25T00:37+0000 2024-03-25T00:37+0000 world israel gaza strip palestine hamas hostage israel-gaza conflict israeli-palestinian conflict palestine-israel conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/0b/08/1114815396_0:23:3013:1718_1920x0_80_0_0_482b0400d62c3ad3e601bc35c213c46d.jpg The proposal was put forward by CIA Director Bill Burns, the report said, adding that it involves the release by Israel of about 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages by Hamas. However, agreements were still not reached on other issues, including the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the deployment of the Israeli military in the enclave, the report read.Earlier, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian movement Hamas, said that a 34-year-old Israeli hostage died from a lack of medicine and food. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240322/the-world-sees-gaza-as-us-genocide-not-just-israels-1117481136.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240225/israeli-ops-in-gaza-in-total-chaos-thanks-to-privatization-of-logistics-fmr-idf-general-says-1116973928.html israel gaza strip palestine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 hamas hostages, gaza strip hostages, israeli hostages, palestinian prisoners, israel hamas conflict, prisoners exchange gaza strip https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/judge-to-make-critical-pretrial-ruling-in-trump-falsified-business-records-case-on-monday-1117533125.html Judge to Make Critical Pretrial Ruling in Trump Falsified Business Records Case on Monday Judge to Make Critical Pretrial Ruling in Trump Falsified Business Records Case on Monday Sputnik International After prosecutors released more than 100,000 pages of new documents to former US President Donald Trump's defense team, the case's judge is set to decide if the case will be delayed again because of the late disclosure. 2024-03-25T02:27+0000 2024-03-25T02:27+0000 2024-03-25T05:34+0000 donald trump michael cohen alvin bragg new york americas stormy daniels hush money https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/10/1116832890_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_ad1a90a3489895b9a7e93e2a8eab6e2d.jpg Judge Juan Merchan will hold a pre-trial hearing in New York on Monday to determine if there should be further delays in former US President Donald Trumps falsified business documents case, one of four criminal cases he is facing.The case was initially scheduled to begin on Monday but was delayed to at least April 25 after prosecutors released more than 100,000 pages of documents to Trumps defense team. Prosecutor Alvin Bragg did not oppose the 30-day delay but argued that no further delays should be placed on the trial.Of the criminal cases Trump is facing, this case was the most likely to conclude before the Presidential election in November, but a significant delay could push it past election day. Trumps legal team is arguing that the prosecution intentionally held the documents back and included exculpatory evidence favorable to the defense. If Merchan agrees, he could throw the case out and possibly sanction Bragg for potential Brady violations, but he could also issue a delay in the case or keep the trial date, scheduled for March 25, as-is.Most legal experts quoted in US media predicted that a delay could happen but they doubt that the judge will throw out the case.The documents relate to federal investigations into Michael Cohen, Trumps former fixer who is expected to be the prosecutions star witness. The documents were not in Braggs office and were instead in different offices around the country. Bragg argues that the Trump team intentionally waited until January to ask for the documents to cause a delay in the trial.Prosecutors also claim that less than 300 of the documents are both new to the defense and related to Trump's trial.Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business documents related to repayments he made to Cohen for hush money payments Cohen paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels who claimed she had an affair with then-candidate Trump in 2016. Trump pleaded not guilty but admits to making the payments. He also denies that the affair took place.Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 after being convicted of campaign finance violations related to those payments and for lying to Congress about how long discussions about a potential Trump Tower in Moscow continued. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230524/trump-criminal-trial-linked-to-alleged-hush-payments-scheduled-for-march-2024-1110549404.html new york americas Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Ian DeMartino Ian DeMartino News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ian DeMartino criminal trial of donald trump, trump trial delayed, falsified business records case https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/moscow-court-arrests-all-four-suspects-in-moscow-terror-attack-until-may-22-1117533917.html Four Suspects in Moscow Concert Hall Attack Arrested Until May 22 Four Suspects in Moscow Concert Hall Attack Arrested Until May 22 Sputnik International Moscow's Basmanny District Court arrested all four people accused of committing a terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, until May 22, a Sputnik correspondent reported. 2024-03-25T03:47+0000 2024-03-25T03:47+0000 2024-03-25T04:53+0000 russia russia moscow russian interior ministry russian federal security service (fsb) krasnogorsk moscow concert hall attack https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/19/1117533756_0:0:3212:1807_1920x0_80_0_0_d8f371175e9399a6242ddf6df32ec1c9.jpg "The court decided: to satisfy the investigators request, to choose a preventive measure in the form of detention against Faizov Muhammadsobir," a judge said. Earlier in the day, the court decided to apply a similar measure in the form of arrest until May 22 against three other suspects in the terrorist attack: Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda and Shamsidin Fariduni.The court said that Mirzoyev and Saidakrami had admitted their guilt.Journalists who were waiting outside the courthouse since early morning were invited inside at 07:35 p.m. (16:35 GMT), and the process took longer than usual due to tighter security measures.The second suspect in the Crocus Concert Hall terrorist attack case, Saidakrami, was born in 1994. He said he is registered in Russia, but could not remember where he lives.Fariduni said that he was born in 1998 in Tajikistan and has an 8-month-old child. He worked at a parquet plant in the city of Podolsk and was registered in Krasnogorsk, where the terrorist attack took place.Muhammadsobir Faizov, was born in 2004 and is temporarily unemployed. Before that he worked in a barbershop in Ivanovo, and is registered in the same city.A shooting occurred on Friday evening in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that at least three men in camouflage had broken into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs. The Russian authorities said that at least 137 people were killed in the attack. Eleven people were detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly involved, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. All four suspected shooters were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Belarus and Ukraine, the FSB added. The Russian Interior Ministry said that the four alleged gunmen are foreign citizens. The Moscow-area concert hall shooting became the deadliest attack in Russia in nearly 20 years. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240324/russia-will-not-be-divided-by-moscow-terrorist-attack---mma-fighter-jeff-monson-1117531828.html https://sputnikglobe.com/20240324/world-honors-memory-of-moscow-terrorist-attack-victims-1117525744.html russia moscow krasnogorsk Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 moscow's basmanny district court, crocus suspects detained, moscow concert hall attack, moscow terrorist attack, dalerdzhon mirzoyev, saidakrami rachabalizoda, shamsidin fariduni, muhammadsobir fayzov https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/moscow-says-lodges-demarche-with-australian-charge-daffaires-over-fake-news-on-elections-1117544224.html Moscow Lodges Demarche With Australian Charge dAffaires Over Fake News on Elections Moscow Lodges Demarche With Australian Charge dAffaires Over Fake News on Elections Sputnik International Russia has lodged a demarche with the Australian Charge d'Affaires in Moscow over the distribution of false information by the embassy in connection with the presidential election in the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday 2024-03-25T15:14+0000 2024-03-25T15:14+0000 2024-03-25T15:55+0000 world 2024 russian presidential election russia moscow australia russian foreign ministry https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/12/1117405351_0:53:3451:1994_1920x0_80_0_0_344799d896832c46a713aaa202dccf5a.jpg "On March 22, the Charge d'Affaires of Australia to Russia, J.Guthrie was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Guthrie, who was strongly protested in connection with the posts by the Australian Embassy on Telegram of a message questioning the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and containing deliberately false information about voting in a number of Russian regions during the Russian presidential election on March 15-17, 2024," the statement said. Such actions by the Australian diplomats are considered as an interference in the internal affairs of Russia, the ministry said, adding that the embassy must delete its posts and take measures so that such incidents do not happen in the future. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240318/scott-ritter-election-results-show-people-voted-for-both-putin-and-more-vibrant-russia--1117401801.html russia moscow australia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 presidential election, russian elections, putin won the elections, russian elections results https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/north-korean-leader-inspects-tank-division-urges-boosting-combat-capability-1117537064.html North Korean Leader Inspects Tank Division, Urges Boosting Combat Capability North Korean Leader Inspects Tank Division, Urges Boosting Combat Capability Sputnik International North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected the headquarters of the 105th tank division of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and a tank armored infantry regiment for combat readiness, while assigning operational combat tasks for boosting defense capabilities, North Korean state-run news agency KCNA reported on Monday. 2024-03-25T07:37+0000 2024-03-25T07:37+0000 2024-03-25T07:37+0000 military north korea kim jong-un korean people's army asian version of nato korean peninsula https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/10/1117368513_0:0:900:506_1920x0_80_0_0_e45ab9e2900c16d30058cde99a7ab0c0.jpg The unit was formed as the first tank unit of the North Korean revolutionary armed forces in August 1948 on the initiative of then-President Kim Il Sung."Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, inspected the headquarters of the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division of the Korean People's Army (KPA) and the First Tank Armored Infantry Regiment under the direct control of the division on March 24," KCNA reported. The North Korean leader was accompanied by Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea's Central Committee Pak Jong Chon, North Korean Defense Minister Kang Sun Nam, and Ri Yong Gil, chief of the KPA General Staff, the report said. "After being briefed on the division's plan for offensive and defensive operations by its commander, Kim Jong Un examined combat documents and indicated the operational combat tasks and orientation of combat training of the combined units under the division," the state media reported. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240306/the-empire-is-collapsing-from-within-china-north-korea-resist-wests-desperate-drive-for-war-1117154088.html north korea korean peninsula Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International north korea, north korea tanks, korean people's army, kim jong un tanks, kim tanks, korea tanks, korean peninsula military https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/on-palm-sunday-celebrations-in-gaza-and-jerusalem-contrast--1117534576.html On Palm Sunday, Celebrations in Gaza and Jerusalem Contrast On Palm Sunday, Celebrations in Gaza and Jerusalem Contrast Sputnik International While thousands of Christians celebrated Palm Sunday in east Jerusalem, the scene was far more solemn for the last remaining Catholics in Gaza. 2024-03-25T04:36+0000 2024-03-25T04:36+0000 2024-03-25T04:38+0000 world jerusalem palestinians israel catholic church west bank palm sunday israel-gaza conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/19/1117534419_0:159:3077:1890_1920x0_80_0_0_9fad165d5db4b00485ad9eb5f549c5a2.jpg The crowd undoubtedly acted as a boon for the Israeli economy which shrunk at an annualized 19.4% over the last quarter, partially because of a massive drop in tourism. US media quoted an American visitor, Jennifer Weedon. Im here because I love Jesus Christ, she explained. I know there is a lot going on here in the Holy Land and Im here to pray for the Jews, Im here to pray for everyone.There was one group of Christians who were unable to make it to the celebration in Jerusalem: Those in the West Bank.Many of my friends from the West Bank, they werent able to come, Hanna Tams, a Palestinian who blamed tightened movement restrictions during Israels siege on Gaza. The Israeli authorities are not giving them permission, he saidAt least one pilgrim held a sign about the plight of Christians living in Gaza. Save us lord. The Church of Saint Porphyrius and Holy Family Church, Gaza, the placard read, but the reports made no mention of disruptions to the services or direct calls for a ceasefire.Meanwhile, at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, another Palm Sunday celebration was occurring, where the mood was decidedly more somber.Less than 3,000 feet from al-Shifa hospital, where Israel is in the midst of a deadly, week-long raid, practitioners at the last remaining Catholic Church in Gaza gathered to call for peace.In December, an Israeli sniper reportedly shot and killed two members of the church days before Christmas. The act was described by Pope Francis as terrorism.Unlike the celebrations at the Mount of Olives, the Palm Sunday celebration at the Holy Family Church was undoubtedly smaller than normal. A relative of one of the women killed by the sniper said in December that he had already lost 20 family members to Israeli attacks.According to the Health Ministry of Gaza, at least 32,226 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, a large majority being women and children. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240322/the-world-sees-gaza-as-us-genocide-not-just-israels-1117481136.html jerusalem israel west bank Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 Ian DeMartino Ian DeMartino News en_EN Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Ian DeMartino palm sunday, gaza, palm sunday in gaza, palm sunday in jerusalem, holy family church of gaza, mount of olives Commentary: U.S. not a sincere mediator in Israeli-Palestinian conflict 10:08, March 25, 2024 By Tian Ye ( Xinhua CAIRO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had concluded his visit to Israel, the last leg of his sixth Middle East tour since the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Predictably, his efforts fell short of securing a ceasefire. Despite Washington's rhetoric about seeking a ceasefire, its steadfast backing of Israel's relentless airstrikes on Gaza not only underscores its complicity but also reveals a stark absence of sincere commitment to resolving the conflict and safeguarding innocent lives. Blinken has repeatedly professed appeals to Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza over the past five months. However, Washington has vetoed UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire four times during the same period. Additionally, it has supplied Israel with billions of U.S. dollars in unconditional military aid and hindered diplomatic endeavors aimed at holding Israel accountable under international law. Such a paradoxical position was also revealed in Blinken's remarks on Thursday in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, where he met with top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "We're committed to Israel's right to defend itself and to making sure that it has what it needs to defend itself and to make sure that Oct. 7 never happens again," Blinken said. "We're also committed to doing everything we possibly can to help people who are in harm's way." This stance raises serious doubts about Washington's ability to effectively address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, particularly when its weapons, provided to the Israeli army, contribute to the ongoing conflict. Examining the measures implemented recently by the U.S. administration to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza reveal efforts focused more on addressing the symptoms rather than the root causes. For instance, Washington announced plans to construct a temporary port off Gaza's coast to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid, which was criticized by Al Jazeera, a news organization based in Qatar, as "an attempt to divert attention from hundreds of thousands of starving Palestinians and Israel's consistent blocking of assistance to the enclave." "Airdrops, temporary seaports and the like are not realistic or lasting solutions to stave off looming famine and sustain life in Gaza," Al Jazeera quoted Melanie Ward, the CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, as saying earlier this month, noting "only an immediate and lasting ceasefire will allow us to deliver the massive humanitarian response that is required." The Gaza Strip has already witnessed the loss of approximately 32,000 Palestinian lives, with over 74,000 others sustaining injuries, according to figures released by the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Protesters in the Middle East have marched and burned U.S. flags to express their outrage at civilian deaths in Gaza, which are frequently indirectly attributed to the U.S. due to its military support of Israel, a glaring illustration of America losing credibility in the Arab world. As civilian casualties in Gaza mount, Washington must cease the charade of portraying itself as a mediator of peace and instead cooperate with the international community to advocate for genuine peace and stability in the region. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/pentagon-does-not-have-plan-how-to-deliver-humanitarian-aid-to-gaza-by-water---reports-1117534257.html Pentagon Does Not Have Plan How to Deliver Humanitarian Aid to Gaza by Water - Reports Pentagon Does Not Have Plan How to Deliver Humanitarian Aid to Gaza by Water - Reports Sputnik International The Pentagon still has no a plan on how to implement US President Biden's initiative to build a floating pier without creating a security threat for US troops, NBC News reported. 2024-03-25T04:12+0000 2024-03-25T04:12+0000 2024-03-25T04:12+0000 world us joe biden palestinians gaza strip pentagon palestine israel israel-gaza conflict palestine-israel conflict https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/05/1117136068_0:1078:2048:2230_1920x0_80_0_0_4a286ce37fd2005dfd26020dbddf29ab.jpg Earlier in March, Biden ordered the Pentagon to build a temporary port for the delivery of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. Aid will be first supplied to a floating pier and then delivered to shore by small vessels, according to the Defense Department. The Biden administration is adamant that no US personnel will enter Gaza once the aid deliveries using the floating pier begin, the report said. At the same time, a proposal for workers from other countries to deliver the aid carries security risks, the report added. One of the main options being considered is to attract drivers and security guards from other countries, the broadcaster reported. However, it remains unclear whether they should be Israelis, Palestinians or another nationality. US military officials also discuss who will guard and inspect the trucks once they reach Gaza, and who will transport supplies to and from distribution points, the report read. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/israel-agrees-to-us-proposal-on-prisoner-exchange-with-hamas-awaiting-response--reports-1117532873.html gaza strip palestine israel Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 humanitarian aid, joe biden's initiative to build a floating pier, gaza aid, us aid, pentagon aid delivery https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/russian-ambassador-to-poland-says-skips-meeting-on-missile-incident-due-to-evidence-lack-1117543223.html Russian Envoy to Poland Skips Meeting on 'Missile Incident' Citing Insufficient Evidence Russian Envoy to Poland Skips Meeting on 'Missile Incident' Citing Insufficient Evidence Sputnik International Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev told Sputnik on Monday that he had skipped the meeting at the Polish Foreign Ministry over the "missile incident" as Warsaw presented no evidence on the issue 2024-03-25T14:15+0000 2024-03-25T14:15+0000 2024-03-25T14:27+0000 world poland russia warsaw polish foreign ministry https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/14/1117438349_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_6eaad7072a8b03ca54689fc265e21f99.jpg On Sunday, the Polish armed forces operational command said that a Russian cruise missile had breached the country's airspace overnight near the village of Oserdow close to the Ukraine border, and remain in flight there for 39 seconds. "This morning I was invited to the Polish Foreign Ministry to meet with one of the deputy ministers. When asked about the topic of the conversation, I was told that it was related to yesterday's incident, when an alleged Russian cruise missile was in Polish airspace for 39 seconds, and then flew away somewhere. In response, I asked if the Polish side intends to provide us with any evidence of these allegations," the ambassador said, adding that he did not receive an answer from the Polish side, so he decided not to attend the meeting. The Polish authorities can send a corresponding note on the issue by mail or by courier, the ambassador noted. https://sputnikglobe.com/20240311/poland-the-biggest-army-in-the-eu-and-the-biggest-risks-in-the-making-1117272305.html poland russia warsaw Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 missiles in poland, ukrainian missiles in poland, missile incidents in poland https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/simon-harris-set-to-become-irelands-prime-minister-after-winning-ruling-party-leadership-1117533610.html Simon Harris Set to Become Ireland's Prime Minister After Winning Ruling Party Leadership Simon Harris Set to Become Ireland's Prime Minister After Winning Ruling Party Leadership Sputnik International Irish Higher Education Minister Simon Harris was named leader of the governing Fine Gael party in an uncontested election, paving the way for him to succeed outgoing PM Leo Varadkar. 2024-03-25T03:20+0000 2024-03-25T03:20+0000 2024-03-25T03:20+0000 world ireland leo varadkar fine gael https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/19/1117533452_0:0:3514:1976_1920x0_80_0_0_22e70d0d1fd7f8d3174dd271511b7cca.jpg The 37-year-old politician is expected to become the youngest prime minister, or taoiseach, in Irish history, The Irish Times newspaper reported on Sunday. Other possible candidates for the party leadership, including Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney and the minister for public expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, stood aside.Harris was the only candidate to put his name forward to replace Varadkar, and the nomination period closed at lunchtime on Sunday. Harris is expected to be voted in as Ireland's prime minister on April 9 when parliament returns after the Easter break, the newspaper reported. Varadkar announced his resignation as leader of Ireland and Fine Gael last Wednesday, citing "personal and political" reasons. He pledged to remain in office until his successor was elected.Harris will take up the post of Prime Minister of the Republic at the age of 37, which will be a record in the political history of Ireland. The previous record was held by the outgoing head of government Leo Varadkar, who managed to take the post at the age of 38. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230803/ireland-will-not-follow-sweden-and-finlands-route-to-nato-1112364426.html ireland Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 irish higher education minister simon harris, fine gael leader, irish pm, who is new irish pm https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/turkiye-seeks-to-extend-cooperation-with-rosatom-in-new-npp-project---energy-minister-1117544024.html Turkiye Seeks to Extend Cooperation With Rosatom in New NPP Project - Energy Minister Turkiye Seeks to Extend Cooperation With Rosatom in New NPP Project - Energy Minister Sputnik International Turkiye is interested in expanding cooperation with Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom in the project of Turkiye's second nuclear power plant (NPP) in the city of Sinop, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on Monday 2024-03-25T15:05+0000 2024-03-25T15:05+0000 2024-03-25T15:05+0000 world turkiye ankara russia rosatom turkish energy ministry bayraktar nuclear power plant nuclear power nuclear power plants https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/04/1b/1109872703_0:0:3073:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_72b8c559640b5bf1c804ab1b74c17ba6.jpg "We are building the Akkuyu [NPP], but we would like to extend our cooperation with Rosatom, hopefully in the Sinop project," Bayraktar told the plenary session of the Atomexpo 2024 international forum. Turkiye plans to focus on small modular reactors in the future, which will enable the country to meet its CO2 emission reduction targets, he added. Ankara is negotiating with different partners their participation in the NPP projects in Sinop and the region of Trakya in the Balkan part of Turkiye, Bayraktar told journalists on the margins of the forum. In February, Rosatom head Alexey Likhachev said that Ankara had made a "political decision" to entrust Rosatom with the construction of the Sinop NPP, adding that the economic parameters of the project were being discussed with the Turkish Energy Ministry. https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/what-is-the-russia-turkiye-gas-hub-and-why-is-it-important-1113114324.html turkiye ankara russia Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 turkey and russia energy cooperation, rosatom in turkey, russian npp in turkey, russia builds npp in turkey https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/watch-russian-sharpshooter-take-out-ukrainian-troops-one-by-one-1117535683.html Watch Russian Sharpshooter Take Out Ukrainian Troops One by One Watch Russian Sharpshooter Take Out Ukrainian Troops One by One Sputnik International Russian snipers are elite troops who work in secrecy and strike enemy from shadows following the rule one round one adversary down. 2024-03-25T07:30+0000 2024-03-25T07:30+0000 2024-03-25T08:10+0000 russia's special operation in ukraine ukrainian crisis russian army russian armed forces sniper video https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/19/1117536756_0:0:1920:1080_1920x0_80_0_0_994cf926d9929fc054dbc0ba2cf54535.jpg The Russian Ministry of Defense released footage showcasing snipers in action within the special military operation zone. The video depicts sharpshooters thwarting Ukrainian maneuvers in Artemovsk (formerly known as Bakhmut) suburbs with precise and lethal strikes.The ministry emphasized the collaborative efforts of the snipers, working in pairs. While one sniper assists in locating targets and adjusts fire according to external conditions such as wind, the other executes the shot, swiftly neutralizing the enemy. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2024 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 Russian paratrooper snipers from Kostroma disrupt the rotation of Ukrainian troops with accurate shots in the vicinity of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut). Sputnik International Russian paratrooper snipers from Kostroma disrupt the rotation of Ukrainian troops with accurate shots in the vicinity of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut). 2024-03-25T07:30+0000 true PT0M30S 1920 1080 true 1920 1440 true 1920 1920 true Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 Sputnik International conflict ukraine, smo ukraine, russian snipers, snipers ukraine. sharpshooter ukraine, ukrainians shot down Familiar faces and new voices highlighted the kick off to the Rideau Carleton Raceway meet as The Light Speed and Guy Gagnon teamed up to take down the $10,000 Preferred Pace, one of the reigning leading driver's five winners on the Sunday, March 24 card. Starting from the outside post six, Gagnon nestled The Light Speed into the fourth position off the gate while P L Ozzy and Robert Shepherd forged to the lead to the outside of Shotgun Jerry and Stephane Pouliot through an opening quarter of :28. P L Ozzy continued to have things his way to the half in :57.4 before The Light Speed was flushed first-over from fourth and began his march to the front. The Light Speed brought himself to the leader's wheel up the backstretch under Gagnon urging with P L Ozzy the first to three-quarters in 1:25.4. Taking advantage of his inside advantage on the turn, P L Ozzy turned for home 1-1/2 lengths clear at the top of the stretch with The Light Speed and Shotgun Jerry in hot pursuit. The Light Speed's grit shined bright in the lane, offering a relentless charge in the stretch. Closing in :28.2, The Light Speed nailed a game P L Ozzy on the wire by a head in 1:54.2. Shotgun Jerry held for the show spot. One of Gagnon's two training victories on the card, The Light Speed earned his second victory through seven seasonal outings. Owned by Michel Nolette, the six-year-old gelded son of Moon Beam-Jayma has now earned $345,214 lifetime. Gagnon also teamed up with defending leading trainer at Rideau Carleton, Mandy Archer, for two of her three training victories on the card. Gagnon was in the bike behind Speaker Nancy and Meadowbranch Noble in a stretch which saw him win races seven through 10 on the card. Gagnon's additional victory came in the first race on the card aboard Beach Roller for trainer Gilbert Mercier. In for the call of the first race was longtime Rideau Carleton track announcer John MacMillan before he turned the mic over to Melissa Keith for the remainder of the card. It was previously announced that Keith will assume full time announcing duties for the five-eighths mile oval for MacMillan moving forward. The 2024 Rideau Carleton season will continue on Sundays moving forward with a first post of 6:30 p.m. before adding Thursday night cards to the rotation beginning on April 25. To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Rideau Carleton Raceway. (Standardbred Canada) Three people were arrested on drug charges following an investigation launched due to citizen complaints, said Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell. Darlene Sherrill Campbell, 61, of Gaither Park Drive, Harmony, Lenzel Boddie Jr., 65, of West McNeely Avenue, Mooresville, and John Fitzgerald Smyre, 56, of Eagle Mills Road, Hamptonville, face a variety of charges. Campbell was charged with felony possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, felony possession of cocaine, felony possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana, felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and felony maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for sale or use of a controlled substance. A magistrate set bond at $50,000. Boddie was charged with felony possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, felony possession of cocaine, felony possession with intent to sell or deliver marijuana and felony maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for sale or use of a controlled substance. A magistrate set bond at $35,000. Smyre was charged with felony possession of cocaine and felony maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for sale or use of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. A magistrate set bond at $5,000. Campbell said the investigation into reports of drug activity at a residence on Gaither Park Drive, Harmony, included surveillance from narcotics investigators and Aggressive Criminal Enforcement deputies. Evidence was gathered through surveillance and other investigative activities which led to a search warrant, he said. During the search, crack cocaine, marijuana, a 9 mm handgun, various prescription pain medication and various items of drug paraphernalia were found. Campbell, Boddie and Smyre are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. The March meeting of the General Federation of Womens Club of North Carolina (GFWC-NC) Statesville Womans Club was sponsored by the Arts and Culture Community Service Team. Guest speakers at the meeting were local entertainers Rick and Veda Bafford. While Rick performed using guitar, Veda played her fiddle and performed sets (three songs put together with just a change of tempo between songs). They also shared how Irish music got started, including that printed Irish music is thanks to Scottish printing presses. The Baffords also told of their trips with friends to perform in Ireland. The next club meeting will be on April 4 at the historic clubhouse located at 515 W. End Ave. There will be a time of social fellowship at 11:30 a.m. and a meeting at noon. The Education and Environment Community Service Team (CST) will be leading the meeting. The meeting guest speaker will be Peyton Barrows, literacy program coordinator for the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children. All members, guests and interested women are invited to attend. In preparation for the April meeting, the Education and Environment CST is joining with the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children to get as many books as possible in the hands of parents and young children in our community. You can donate books for children birth to 5 years old. The club is collecting new or like new very, very gently used board books, picture books and Imagination Library books now through April. Bring books to the club meeting or place books (sealed in plastic bags to protect from moisture) in the blue donation bin on the front porch of the clubhouse. The Education and Environment CST is also currently collecting used natural wine corks to help conserve forests and oceans. For every natural wine cork our club sends to the CorkClub initiative funded by WidgetCo, Inc., they will donate two cents to forest and ocean conservation. Give your corks to any club member or contact the club. The club is currently taking orders for Blooms for a Cause the General Federation of Womans Club of North Carolina (GFWC-NC) Statesville Womans Club Annual Geranium Sale. Geraniums may be picked up on April 13 from 8 a.m. to noon. These North Carolina Geraniums will be available in: hanging baskets (pink parfait or red) for $25 each. Early ordering is encouraged in order to get color preferences. Ordering is available by contacting Geranium Sale Chair Sandra Landry, by calling or texting 704-775-2109 or by email at stlmadison@yahoo.com for more information. A portion of proceeds will benefit the Iredell County Partnership for Young Childrens Pampered Pantry. For information about renting the GFWC of NC Statesville Womans Clubs Clubhouse for your meeting or event, email the club at Statesvillewomansclub@gmail.com or call 704-761-8208. The club website is www.statesvillewomansclub.org. Also be sure to like and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For details on joining the GFWC of NC Statesville Womans Club, contact Membership Team member Joanna Gaither at 704-873-2684. Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria. A U.N. humanitarian official appealed Friday for more than $4 billion in life-saving aid for more than 10 million Syrians, saying that the countrys largely forgotten crisis remains one of the most deadly to civilians in the world, AP reported. Adam Abdelmoula, resident coordinator in Syria for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, made the appeal days after Syria marked the 13th anniversary of the conflict that has killed nearly a half million people and left large parts of the country destroyed. Today, we are facing an unprecedented situation in Syria one that we cannot afford to ignore, Abdelmoula told reporters in Geneva. Inaction will be costly for all of us and will inevitably lead to additional suffering. About 16.7 million people require some form of humanitarian assistance in Syria, an increase from 15.3 million last year, he said. Over 7 million people are internally displaced and nearly as many are refugees in other countries, including neighboring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. The U.S. Should Work With Turkey to Leave Syria The United States should withdraw from Syria as it acknowledges its real priorities and makes hard tradeoffs. On the other hand, former U.S. Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey believes that the U.S. has multiple missions in Syria and should not withdraw. Both authors have valid points and advocate for different strategic objectives for the U.S. To achieve both goals, according to an article by The American Conservative, the U.S. should make a tactical compromise and work with Turkey in Syria. The U.S. partnership with the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was described as temporary, transitional, and tactical by officials. Now is the time to act on this official rhetoric. Although the viewpoints of Thanassis Cambanis and James Jeffrey may appear to contradict each other, the United States can still withdraw from Syria and accomplish its regional objectives. By collaborating with Turkey, a NATO ally, the U.S. can exit Syria while continuing its efforts to eliminate ISIS, limit Irans influence, and support the political process in Syria. The primary hurdle in reaching a Turkish-American agreement is the fate of the Syrian Kurds. The precise definition of Syrian Kurds is crucial in overcoming this obstacle. Generally, in the U.S., the Syrian Kurds are considered synonymous with the YPG-led SDF. In reality, the YPG does not speak for most Syrian Kurds and is mostly controlled by Turkish Kurds. Many Syria discussions often focus on the SDF without delving into its true nature. As highlighted by former CIA officer Nicholas Spyridon Kass, it is crucial to recognize that the SDF essentially represents the Syrian faction of a well-known, originally Marxist, U.S.-designated terrorist group hailing from Turkey: the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Over four decades, the PKK has perpetuated a violent and totalitarian revolutionary agenda centered around its incarcerated leader, Abdullah Ocalan. This organization has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks and clashes, targeting Turkish security forces, Kurdish civilians, and others, resulting in a reported death toll of approximately 40,000 since its inception in 1984. Notably, the YPG functions as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, further emphasizing the interconnectedness of these groups. It is highly unlikely that the U.S. will be able to convince Turkey to accept the YPG-dominated SDF. Any attempts to push for a peace process between the SDF or the PKK with Turkey are doomed to fail. It will not gain any support in Ankara. On the contrary, any such suggestion motivates Turkish decision-makers to search for alternative solutions, including unilateral military operations. The Turkish president recently stated the desire to launch another military incursion into Syria. The failed peace process with the PKK serves as a strong reminder never to attempt it again. Drones have ushered in a brutal new phase of Syrias civil war American Business Insider published a long report discussing how drones have introduced a deadly new phase in the Syrian civil war, now in its 14th year. The conflict has seen a surge in drone usage, particularly inexpensive, explosive-laden quadcopters, which are remotely controlled to hit targets with high accuracy. This escalation in drone warfare began notably in October with an attack that killed 89 and injured 277 at a Syrian military event in Homs, leading to increased drone strikes by both the Syrian government and opposition forces. Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have downed dozens of drones from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which controls Idlib, and have also used drones to target HTS territories and civilians. Experts attribute the rise in drone attacks to their cost-effectiveness and precision. Despite the relative stasis on the ground, experts warn that the situation is volatile and could rapidly change, highlighting the role of drones in the ongoing conflicts dynamics. Syria camps: Repatriations stall as instability brings new dangers for detainees According to a long report by the Middle east eye, five years after the defeat of the Islamic State group, over 55,000 individuals, nearly half of whom are children, remain detained in northeastern Syria with no resolution in sight. The security situation is deteriorating due to regional conflicts and uncertainties regarding US military presence, heightening concerns for the detainees, many of whom are foreign nationals. International bodies and NGOs are urging countries to repatriate their citizens, but efforts have stalled, with repatriations dropping significantly compared to previous years. Conditions in the camps are described as cruel and inhuman, with detainees facing malnutrition, illness, and lack of legal recourse. Despite the dire circumstances, many countries have not taken steps to repatriate their nationals, and some, like Sweden, have even ceased efforts to assist their citizens in returning. The situation is exacerbated by fears of an Islamic State resurgence, making the camps a ticking time bomb for future instability. Syria has voiced its support for the creation of a global ethics system to govern collaborative international research and development in artificial intelligence. Syria has formally joined the Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative, a movement spearheaded by Chinas President Xi Jinping during the Third Belt and Road Forum. This significant step was announced by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates. In embracing this initiative, Syria has voiced its support for the creation of a global ethics system to govern collaborative international research and development in artificial intelligence. According to an official statement from the ministry, Syria is committed to the development of an international framework that embodies ethical standards and regulatory guidelines for AI governance. This framework emphasizes the importance of broad-based participation, respect for existing national AI governance practices, and the establishment of ethical priorities and accountability mechanisms within the realm of AI. The Ministry highlighted Syrias endorsement of the initiatives objective to establish comprehensive guidelines for AI governance, underscoring the need for ethical considerations and specialized accountability frameworks. In conclusion, the Syrian government expressed gratitude towards President Xi and the Peoples Republic of China for their leadership and substantial contributions to the advancement of global welfare through this initiative. 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. Russian President Vladimir Putin held separate calls with his Turkish and Syrian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar Al-Assad, on Saturday, promising closer cooperation in the fight against terrorism in the wake of the deadly concert attack in Moscow, according to a Kremlin statement, MEMO reported. The statement noted that Erdogan offered his deep and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims and stressed the urgent need for closer bilateral cooperation in the fight against the terrorist threat. In a conversation with Putin, Al-Assad expressed his wishes for patience and peace for the families and friends of the victims, and they agreed to intensify communications to address the fight against terrorism, according to the Kremlin. Russia is the most powerful foreign power operating in Syria, and Putin has long been allied with Al-Assad, throwing the weight of the Russian military behind his Syrian counterpart. SDF says Iran-backed militias infiltrated into areas in Deir ez-Zor The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported a clash in the eastern sectors of the Euphrates River in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, resulting in the fatalities of Syrian government soldiers during a failed infiltration attempt. According to the SDF, the confrontation ensued when the Hajin Military Council, a component of the SDFs military apparatus, repelled an incursion by militants associated with Iran-backed militias and Syrian government forces early Sunday. This encounter led to the death of several militants from the National Defense Forces (NDF), a militia supporting the Syrian government, with the SDF securing two bodies along with various weapons and ammunition. The conflict spotlighted the continued tension in the region, with the SDF disclosing evidence suggesting a coordinated effort between Damascus and Tehran against SDF positions. Among the retrieved items was a security card from the Sons of Jazira Euphrates Movement, indicating the deceaseds affiliation with forces aiming to bolster Arab tribal dominance in eastern Syria. Further documentation linked the fallen militants to the al-Karbalaei Forces, an Iran-affiliated group established in 2019 with the declared aim of combating American presence in Syria. A notice found on one of the bodies confirmed the reception of ammunition and weaponry from this group, underscoring the direct involvement of Iran-backed forces in the skirmish. 11 killed in a new round of suspected IS attacks on Syria truffle hunters: monitor AFP reports that an attack by the Islamic State group (IS) killed at least 11 people hunting desert truffles in northern Syria on Sunday, a war monitor said, after the latest such incident. Between February and April each year, hundreds of impoverished Syrians risk their lives to forage for the delicacy in the vast Syrian desert a known hideout for jihadists that is also littered with mines. Desert truffles can fetch high prices in a country battered by 13 years of war and a crushing economic crisis. At least 11 people collecting truffles were killed when IS fighters detonated a bomb as their car passed in the desert of Raqa province in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. After the blast, the attackers opened fire, the Observatory added. Residents were still searching for missing persons, said the Britain-based monitoring group with a network of sources inside Syria, noting that the jihadists kidnapped three other hunters. Confronting Forced Demographic Change in Northern Syria In the article Confronting Forced Demographic Change in Northern Syria: Inclusive Justice for Sustainable Peace, Bassam Alahmad illuminates the grave human rights violations and forced demographic shifts in northern Syria, emphasizing the urgent need for inclusive justice to achieve lasting peace. It recounts the poignant story of Malak Khalil Ibo, a Kurdish woman displaced by the Turkish incursion into Afrin in 2018, alongside 100,000 others. The narrative delves into the historical context, comparing recent events to the Baath Partys Arab Belt project in the 1970s, showcasing a long-standing pattern of forced demographic changes targeting the Kurdish population. Malaks tragic death, following a confrontation over her right to harvest her own olive trees, symbolizes the broader issue of property rights violations and the lack of legal recourse for displaced Kurds in the region. The involvement of Turkish-backed militias and the systematic appropriation of Kurdish homes and lands underscore the complex web of actors contributing to these human rights abuses, from the Syrian regimes discriminatory laws to the actions of militant groups and foreign military interventions. The United Nations and human rights organizations have documented these violations, yet the international communitys response has been uneven, focusing predominantly on crimes committed by the Syrian regime while often overlooking abuses by other actors, including those backed by Turkey. Alahmad argues for a balanced approach to justice that holds all perpetrators accountable, regardless of their geopolitical affiliations, stressing that peace in Syria hinges on a justice system that recognizes and rectifies the grievances of all victims, including the Kurdish population displaced and disenfranchised by ongoing conflict and foreign interventions. According to the correspondent of Enab Baladi in Daraa, Musayfra experienced prolonged clashes on Saturday. Two factions associated with Air Force Intelligence and Military Intelligence clashed in al-Musayfra town, located in the eastern countryside of Daraa, on the evening of Saturday. The altercation erupted between a local faction led by Mohammed al-Rifai, known as al-Lahham, affiliated with Air Force Intelligence, and the Eighth Brigade group, linked with Military Intelligence, following an attempted assassination targeting one of its leaders. A recording shared by the local Daraa 24 account depicted the confrontation, indicating that two members of the Eighth Brigade sustained injuries, while casualties from the opposing side were not specified. According to the correspondent of Enab Baladi in Daraa, Musayfra experienced prolonged clashes on Saturday, leading to the retreat of Imad al-Kurdis faction, aligned with Lahham, to the village of Umm Walad, situated on the administrative border between Daraa and Suweida governorates. Three sources within the Eighth Brigade informed Enab Baladi that Musayfra is now devoid of any Lahham group presence, with brigade members initiating a search operation in the town this morning to ensure the absence of such elements. Although tensions between the two factions are not uncommon, Enab Baladis correspondent noted that this instance marks the first time clashes escalated to this extent. Assassination attempt According to a source within the Eighth Brigade, the clash ensued when a faction affiliated with commander Imad Kurdi of the Lahham attempted to assassinate a leader from the brigade near the Musayfra junction. The targeted leader was returning to his hometown, \al-Nuaima, the gateway to the eastern countryside from the governorate center. Following the unsuccessful assassination attempt, the brigade intervened, triggering clashes between the two groups. Consequently, the Eighth Brigade gained control of Musayfra and ousted Kurdish members from the area. Targeting leaders The recent assassination attempt targeting the Kurdish group was not the first incident involving a leader from the brigade. On January 30, Lahham-affiliated groups raided Musayfra town in an attempt to apprehend former Eighth Brigade commander, Ashraf al-Sayyah. According to Enab Baladis correspondent in Daraa at the time, a detachment from the Air Force Intelligence raided the residence of opposition figure Ashraf Sayyah, but failed to locate him. Subsequently, they extended their search to neighbouring houses. Sayyah informed Enab Baladi Haniha that the local faction associated with Air Force Intelligence accused him of anti-regime activities, prompting their pursuit of him on these grounds. Upon the Syrian regimes assumption of control over southern Syria, Sayyah aligned with the Eighth Brigade and assumed command of a group within the brigade stationed inMusayfra town. However, a targeted assassination attempt prompted him to withdraw entirely from military engagements. On January 8, Lahham groups raided Musayfra, leading to clashes with local fighters and culminating in the deaths of two members of Imad Kurdis faction. This prompted retaliatory actions, including the burning of several houses, including that of leader -Sayyah. 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. The Federation of Chambers of Commerce is slated to visit Saudi Arabia on the twenty-fourth of the upcoming month, al-Watan revealed. The President of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce, Mohammed Abu al-Huda al-Lahham, disclosed in an exclusive statement to Al-Watan that the delegation from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce is slated to visit Saudi Arabia on the twenty-fourth of the upcoming month. Lahham underscored the significance of the impending visit, elucidating that the Union is meticulously monitoring its progress and will meticulously prepare for it, aiming to achieve substantial outcomes aimed at enhancing trade relations. He emphasized the distinguished nature of the relationship with Saudi Arabia, noting that in the coming days, the composition of the delegation destined for Saudi Arabia will be carefully examined. The Federations President highlighted a decision made by Saudi authorities approximately eight months ago, which permitted the export of materials and goods from Saudi Arabia to Syria, irrespective of whether they are of Saudi origin or foreign origin and located within Saudi Arabia. He regarded this decision as a facilitation by Saudi Arabia, contributing to the enhancement of trade relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia. Lahham further explained that prior to the conflict in Syria, trade exchange with Saudi Arabia was extensive and unhindered, with all Syrian goods and products being exported to the kingdom. Presently, with advancements in both nations and the introduction of new products into production, theres a trend of importing new products developed in Saudi Arabia. He noted the increasing demand for Syrian agricultural products in Saudi Arabia due to their distinctiveness, high quality, and the Syrian governments emphasis on agricultural development to boost production. The surge in exports of vegetables and fruits to Saudi Arabia serves as evidence of their desirability in the market. Meanwhile, the Vice President of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce and Chairman of the Tartous Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mazen Hammad, remarked that this visit marks the first of its kind in thirteen years. He mentioned that the invitation followed a period of communication between the two unions from the two brotherly countries to arrange this meeting, aiming to bolster cooperation prospects. Hammad indicated that the Syrian delegation will engage in discussions during the visit with the Saudi Federation and relevant authorities involved in trade and economic affairs, with the objective of bolstering trade exchange and fostering economic relations to the mutual benefit of both nations. Currently, comprehensive preparations are underway for the delegations visit, with a detailed program being developed in coordination with the Saudi Federation. 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. The judiciary in northwestern Syria grapples with challenges including conflicting legal references, Syria TV writes. The Legal and Human Rights Working Group of the Syrian National Coalition has proposed the establishment of a higher judicial council in northwestern Syria to address the prevalent issues in the region. This recommendation emerged during a workshop titled Developing Legislation: A Social and Institutional Imperative for Advancing Justice and Rights, convened at the coalitions headquarters in Azaz City, north of Aleppo. The workshop saw the participation of various researchers, jurists, specialists, and a representative from the Syrian Interim Government. Abdul Basit Abdul Latif, the coordinator of the Legal and Human Rights Working Group, emphasized the pivotal role of legislation in upholding justice and rights. Keynote speakers delved into the social dimensions of legislative development, its ramifications on the local community, the responsibilities of legislative bodies and governmental institutions, methods for refining existing laws, and scrutinized the Charter of the Syrian Revolution for Human Rights and Public Freedoms. Attendees, as per the coalitions statement, underscored the urgency of adapting legislation to address pressing issues, culminating in several recommendations. These included the establishment of an administrative judiciary tasked with handling annulment and compensation cases, providing opinions on polled cases, and forming a Supreme Judicial Council along with a general body for the Court of Cassation to mitigate legislative gaps. Moreover, recommendations put forth by attendees urged the coalition to institute a legal mechanism comprising experts and specialists to review obsolete articles within the Syrian legal framework and propose requisite legislative amendments. They also called for the enactment of laws to combat drug trafficking, regulate firearm possession, bolster womens participation in public spheres, and integrate human rights education into school and university curricula. Additionally, the case of media activist Amer Assi has drawn scrutiny from the courts of the Salvation Government, prompting further inquiries. The reality of the judiciary in northern Syria The judiciary in northwestern Syria grapples with challenges including conflicting legal references, inadequate academic qualifications among judicial personnel, and subordination to military authority. Furthermore, the region contends with the presence of two distinct governing bodiesthe Salvation Government and the Temporary Governmenteach operating its own judicial system with variations in legislative sources and implementation mechanisms. 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. Forney, Texas, resident Wesley Benjamin will take over as superintendent of Kalama School District July 1, pending successful contract negotiations, the district announced Friday. Benjamin, who currently serves as executive principal of Forney High School, has 11 years of administrative experience in education and three years of teaching experience. He explained at a candidate forum Wednesday that he and his family discovered Kalama thanks to some car trouble during a family vacation and fell in love with the area. Ever since then, weve been watching opportunities and following Kalama, specifically, he said at the forum. Jennifer McCallum, who has been acting as interim superintendent, will return to her previous role as principal of Kalama Middle School next school year. Kalama has been looking for a replacement since former Superintendent Eric Nerison resigned in April 2023. State-mandated testing revealed a San Juan Island community was drinking toxic water. But who is responsible for paying for a new water source? The question is one public officials are grappling with as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are found in drinking water sources and watersheds across the state. In Washington, there are about 2,400 public water systems that are required to test for PFAS. Roughly half of them have done those tests, with about 250 having detected the chemicals in the water, but that doesnt count thousands of households who drink from private wells, which are not subject to state testing requirements. Some communities in the shadow of military bases may get help from the Pentagon if water contamination is linked to military activities. Meanwhile, public water systems must seek state or federal grant funding or shoulder the expensive burden themselves. In Lakewood, for example, the cost of a massive filtration system exceeded $5 million. For communities where a source of contamination has yet to be identified, or those that dont have deep pockets, the answer is a bit murkier. Hannah Heights, a small neighborhood of roughly four dozen households on west San Juan Island, received $2.2 million from the state Legislature as a line item in the capital budget to help drill a new well after testing revealed concentrations of PFAS up to 164 times the level considered safe by the state. Its among one of the first times the state has offered to pay to remediate a communitys drinking water source with state cleanup dollars since new testing rules went into effect and as public officials face a reckoning in cleaning up some of the most pervasive chemicals in the world. It raises the question of whether the states toxic cleanup fund can even come close to addressing the scope of the problem. The state Department of Ecology estimates the cost of cleaning up a single contaminated site could range from $5 million to $63 million. As public officials begin to grasp the breadth of the human and environmental health issue, the question remains: Who will pay? A template for other communities Hannah Heights, a community on an otherwise pristine archipelago, was rattled in April when a test of its drinking water found some of the highest-known concentrations of PFAS in the state. The highest levels have often been found around places where firefighting foams containing the substances were used in training exercises for decades. The Hannah Heights well is a stones throw from the neighborhoods fire station, although the source of the pollution has not yet been investigated. Theres been examples where theyve found contamination because its adjacent to a fire station, said Sen. Liz Lovelett, D-Anacortes. We cant be trying to get them to pay for things like that because ultimately we need them to continue providing fire services. Typically, the source of the pollution pays for the cleanup and remediation. In some cases, when communities find their drinking water source is contaminated, they dont yet know the source of the chemicals, or the source of the contamination may not have the means to pay for the cleanup. In Spokane County, for example, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state are overseeing cleanup led by the military at Fairchild Air Force Base, the state is overseeing cleanup at the local airport and some residents are receiving a combination of state and federal assistance. Hannah Heights is an interesting situation because we have a small fire station, who doesnt have a lot of funding, so theres no viable entity thats responsible, said Barry Rogowski, toxics cleanup program manager for Ecology. We believe that the small fire station did use firefighting foam and practice with it, which has contaminated the Hannah Heights neighborhood well, and so there, weve had to come up with some creative solutions. PFAS called forever chemicals because they take centuries to break down has been manufactured since the 1950s by 3M, DuPont and others. In addition to firefighting, PFAS also has been widely used to create everyday items like nonstick pans, fast food packaging and waterproof clothing. PFAS has been found in the blood of polar bears and 98% of Americans and is linked to several health disorders, including cancer. The state Attorney Generals Office joined a multidistrict lawsuit against nearly two dozen PFAS manufacturers, asserting the companies knew about the risks to the environment and humans for decades but lied and kept that knowledge hidden from the government and public to protect their businesses. PFAS was deemed as toxic in a 3M technical manual in the 1960s. Even if the AGs office is successful with every claim that they filed, 3M is going to be bankrupt before we know it, and then where does that money come from? Lovelett said. And theres going to have to be some responsibility for just making sure that people can stay in their homes. While receiving some help for months from the state to obtain bottled water, Hannah Heights residents appealed to lawmakers for a permanent solution. Their grant application included the estimated costs of preengineering, drilling the well, piping and distribution of the water. We perhaps provide a template for other communities, said Hannah Heights resident Sarah Severn. Lovelett secured the $2.2 million from the Model Toxics Control Act account, known as the states cleanup law, which residents believe will fund the entire project. In the current budget biennium, lawmakers appropriated about $585 million for toxic cleanup programs across the state. This fiscal year, MTCA is forecast to generate $86 million for capital expenditures, like Hannah Heights new well, but its not enough for the scope of the statewide problem. MTCA is funded through a tax on producers of over 8,000 hazardous substances like petroleum products, pesticides and other chemicals. The tax charges $1.40 per 42 gallons of liquid petroleum products, like gasoline. A piecemeal approach The state in 2022 published a PFAS Chemical Action Plan, to assess the environmental and health effects of the substances and recommend strategies to reduce or eliminate them. The plan was not designed to answer the growing budget questions faced by many local governments and agencies with PFAS cleanup needs, said Andrew Wineke, deputy communications director at Ecology. The state Legislature instructed the state departments of Ecology and Health to draw up a funding strategy based on the plan by Dec. 1. But the potential costs of the cleanups statewide are daunting. We recognized that relying solely on the Model Toxics Control Act our states primary tool guiding and funding cleanup work was not going to be sufficient, Wineke said. The goal of the funding strategy is to map out potential sources targeting a range of scenarios. There is going to be a wide variety of different situations from very, very small, community-based fire departments that have used foam, some dry cleaners have used PFAS, all the way up to small municipal airports, fire training centers, all the way up to large federal installations, he said. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency announced $10 billion for states to help identify and respond to PFAS contamination. Washington received $33 million, which has been available through grants and loans. While the state funding strategy is still not finalized, Laurie Valeriano, the executive director of the nonprofit Toxic-Free Future, said organizations like hers have not yet been consulted. She hopes there will be further community engagement to ensure sensitive or highly pollution-burdened communities have a say. The state anticipates public discussions as lawmakers deliberate on the budget, Wineke said. The Healthy Environment for All Act requires that Ecology and other agencies aim to provide 40% of its grants and expenditures to health and pollution-overburdened communities. Valeriano also feels the states action on PFAS cleanup thus far has been piecemeal. While grants are good, we would like to see Ecology carry out a strategic, comprehensive approach to investigating sources and mitigating drinking water [contamination], Valerino said. In Michigan and Colorado, state leaders have established coordinated PFAS response plans. Through a 2017 executive order, the Michigan governor created a centralized team of seven state agencies to coordinate research, identify PFAS contamination and implement solutions with local health departments. Valeriano said Michigan has implemented its PFAS strategy with input from affected communities. It creates transparency, she said. A few years ago, Colorado established a tax on hazardous substances similar to Washingtons MTCA, specific to PFAS products. The money addresses contamination from firefighting foam and other PFAS sources. MTCA became law decades before PFAS was considered a hazardous substance and today doesnt tax those products. MTCA makes a lot of sense because the fund is primarily generated by a tax on oil hazardous substances, Valeriano said, and firefighting foams, the primary source of PFAS contamination in drinking water, were designed to address fires generated by fuels. Its a real direct line. Nvidia CEO applauds Taiwan's key role in AI revolution; Tim Cook advocates AI for business carbon footprint reduction; UK launches AI project to track Hedgehog populations; Baidu stocks soar on Apple collaboration for AI services in China- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look. 1. Nvidia CEO applauds Taiwan's key role in AI revolution Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praises Taiwan's pivotal role in the AI revolution, emphasising its central position in technological advancements. He reminisces about Nvidia's beginnings and its collaboration with Taiwanese firms like TSMC. Huang reaffirms Nvidia's commitment to innovation and partnership, recognizing Taiwan's significant contribution. He concludes by expressing gratitude and affection for his Taiwanese collaborators, according to a TaiPai Times report. Also read: iOS 18 may bring more customization options, AI integration to iPhone's home screen 2. Tim Cook advocates AI for business carbon footprint reduction Apple CEO Tim Cook stresses AI's pivotal role in business carbon footprint reduction during a climate change forum. He highlights Apple's commitment to environmental leadership, citing the carbon-neutral Apple Watch. Cook underscores the importance of innovation and laments US-China trade sanctions hindering Chinese AI progress. His visit to China signals both environmental focus and business collaboration amidst strained US-China relations, Business Today reported. Also read: Lava Blaze Curve 5G review: A budget phone with a sleek design, vibrant display and more 3. UK launches AI project to track Hedgehog populations UK pioneers AI to monitor hedgehog populations, aiming to understand their decline. Cameras capture hedgehog images, filtered by AI to distinguish from humans. Analysts then record numbers and locations with human assistance. The project hopes to provide insights into the decline and aid conservation efforts. Led by NHMP, BHPS, and PTES, and supported by universities and Natural England, according to a report by The Guardian. 4. Baidu stocks soar on Apple collaboration for AI services in China Baidu shares surge as reports suggest collaboration with Apple for AI services in Chinese products. Baidu's stock rose 5.4 percent following news that it would supply AI for Apple's iPhone 16 and other devices in China. The partnership involves Baidu providing generative AI models, with regulatory approval required. Apple's endorsement could significantly boost Baidu's AI branding and market presence, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal Also read: GTA 6 trailer 2 leak sparks frenzy online! Fans excited despite valid scepticism 5. AI-driven antibiotics offer hope against drug-resistant bacteria AI-designed antibiotics show promise in combating drug-resistant bacteria like Acinetobacter baumannii, with six novel molecules validated for antibacterial activity. As antibiotic resistance spreads globally, the urgency for new treatments intensifies. AI offers a crucial tool for drug discovery, yet current methods have limitations in exploring extensive chemical spaces efficiently. This advancement marks a significant step in addressing antibiotic resistance, Geneng News reported. A Bryan man was arrested Friday for allegedly stealing a vehicle from the University of Texas at Austin, according to the Texas A&M University Police Department. Darian Dunt Taylor, 24, has been charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle along with six unrelated warrants, according to jail records. At around 9:30 a.m. Friday, police said their license plate reader went off and identified a vehicle as possibly being stolen in the Hensel Street and Texas Avenue area near Northpoint Crossing. According to the probable cause report, the Texas University Police Department was contacted and confirmed that the vehicle had been stolen from UT. Taylor was identified as the driver of the vehicle and told police that he had bought it in the city of Taylor near Round Rock, but did not have proof of the purchase and could not remember who he bought it from, according to police. Officers said the UT Police Department told the A&M Police Department that Taylor matched the description of the suspect who allegedly stole the vehicle. Unauthorized use of a vehicle is a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000. Despite challenges in putting on a drag show at another institution in the Texas A&M University System, Draggieland will return for the fifth year in a row in College Station. West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler previously canceled the West Texas A&M student drag show in 2023, arguing that drag performances are derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny. Students at West Texas A&M sued Wendler over the 2023 cancellation and filed an emergency application to the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent another cancellation of the 2024 drag show, according to the Texas Tribune. The high court refused to hear arguments on the case while it plays out at the appellate level. A week ago, Wendler again forbade a drag show from being performed on campus. Draggieland began in 2020 and has faced multiple challenges by students and officials in that time. Protesters are a common sight outside shows and a petition entitled Stop Draggieland was created in 2020 to cancel the event. It received more than 1,500 signatures, according to Campus Reform. The first time I heard about Draggieland, I was surprised it existed; and it was canceled in 2020, said Alex Gonce, showrunner for Draggieland. Then some officers said, We are still going to have Draggieland and it threw me off guard that a university like A&M, which had a few queer organizations, could throw a large-scale show like Draggieland. Presented by the Queer Empowerment Council (QEC), Draggieland is a student-run drag show where six drag queens/kings compete for the crown in a pageant-style show, according to the ticket website. This years Draggieland, themed around Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland, will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday at Rudder Theater. The show is rated 18-plus due to swearing and possible adult content. Draggieland 2021 and 2020 were held by the school under MSC Town Hall, essentially run by the school, Gonce said. Somewhere in the school system, they made a threat to MSC Town Hall that, if they were to put on Draggieland, they would not get funding. So Draggieland 2022 and 2023 were put on by oSTEM because they were the biggest [organization] that had the most experience with money management at that scale. oSTEM is the largest chapter-based organization focused on LGBTQ+ people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and has a national component. According to Gonce, drag shows have their fair share of misconceptions. Queens, when they go out in the wild, are not going to go in their scantily clad outfits. They know not to do that. I think theres a misconception that these queens will do what they do at bars, Gonce said. Draggieland is marked as 18-plus, which is an external warning more than anything, and the queens know to dial it back a little bit for Draggieland. Gonce said local organizers have paid close attention to what was going on in the Panhandle. We got really scared in 23 about the show canceling. West Texas A&M is essentially a sister school to us, Gonce said. Weve seen a new precedent with [new Texas A&M President Mark] Welsh. He seems a lot more open and willing to try new things and hear points of views of current people. Generally, theres at least a neutral sentiment for Draggieland, if not positive. So we do not get the sentiment from the current leadership that there will be issues. Senate Bill 17 also caused some concerns for Draggieland as DEI departments at Texas A&M underwent changes to be compliant. Gonce said the bill affected funding for LGBTQ+ events on-campus such as the Lavender Graduation and Coming Out Monologues. The Pride Center got higher funding than usual, then with SB 17, we couldnt use it, Gonce said. As much as we make a good profit off of Draggieland, we dont usually see that money until a few weeks later, which means we cant use it to fund stuff. Student organizations, including those involved with DEI initiatives, are exempt from the ban and Gonce said the QEC does have possible funding efforts that are not sourced via Texas taxpayers. As a student organization, we have a few sources of funding we can either apply to or ask for, Gonce said of donor money. Gonce said Draggieland is important to Aggies who identify as LGBTQ+ and is hopeful the event will continue on campus despite challenges. To me, its about the community that Draggieland brings together, Gonce said. We sell out the theater and its 750 seats. Thats a lot of people to be in one place supporting an event and it proves to me that, for queer people, were here and were able to do things like this. BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) --The Paraguayan government should choose to stand on the right side of history, instead of playing with words and exploiting loopholes, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday. Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks during a regular press briefing while commenting on a recent social media post by Paraguayan President Santiago Pena. In his post, Pena termed the 66-year-long "diplomatic relations" between Paraguay and Taiwan in-depth and friendly, noting that it has not hindered trade relations between Paraguay and China, for Paraguay still exports soybeans to China. Lin said there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory. The government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and the one-China principle is a widely recognized norm in international relations and common consensus of the international community, he added. Adherence to the one-China principle is an overriding trend that represents international justice and enjoys popular support, Lin said. While China is the world's largest soybean importer, official Chinese statistics show zero imports of soybeans from Paraguay in recent years, Lin added. "If the Paraguayan government truly wants to pursue development and the well-being of the people, it should recognize the global trend and choose to stand on the right side of history, instead of playing with words and exploiting loopholes," the spokesperson said. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM Free Report) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,907 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,597 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLCs holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $1,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. IMA Wealth Inc. grew its stake in Exxon Mobil by 720.0% during the 2nd quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 369 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.53% of the companys stock. Get Exxon Mobil alerts: Exxon Mobil Stock Performance Shares of Exxon Mobil stock remained flat at $113.49 during trading hours on Friday. The companys stock had a trading volume of 14,701,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,963,144. The company has a market capitalization of $450.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Exxon Mobil Co. has a one year low of $95.77 and a one year high of $120.70. The companys 50-day moving average is $104.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.01. Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement Exxon Mobil ( NYSE:XOM Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $84.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.03 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 10.45% and a return on equity of 18.51%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Exxon Mobils dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.74%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several brokerages have issued reports on XOM. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $133.00 to $132.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Exxon Mobil from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $134.00 to $127.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $128.18. Get Our Latest Analysis on XOM Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,845. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Exxon Mobil Profile (Free Report) Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Exxon Mobil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Exxon Mobil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WJ Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 31.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,244 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. WJ Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,326,000. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $357,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 6,986 shares of the companys stock worth $3,752,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 4.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 474,940 shares of the companys stock valued at $255,105,000 after purchasing an additional 18,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Eli Lilly and Company in the third quarter worth $14,098,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 14,388 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $630.28, for a total value of $9,068,468.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,754,422 shares in the company, valued at $62,873,217,098.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 195,055 shares of company stock worth $125,254,657 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Eli Lilly and Company Trading Up 0.0 % Shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock traded up $0.35 on Friday, hitting $770.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,981,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,066,750. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $722.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $632.25. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $323.26 and a one year high of $800.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market cap of $732.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.86, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.95 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 51.22%. Eli Lilly and Companys revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.42 EPS for the current year. Analyst Ratings Changes Several research firms have recently weighed in on LLY. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $815.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Eli Lilly and Company from $800.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. DZ Bank cut Eli Lilly and Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $820.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $775.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $710.00 to $865.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $689.52. Get Our Latest Report on LLY Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile (Free Report) Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes; and Zepbound for obesity. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LLY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its position in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras (NYSE:PBR Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,916,811 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock after selling 231,049 shares during the period. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras accounts for 1.1% of Artemis Investment Management LLPs holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Artemis Investment Management LLPs holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras were worth $78,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PBR. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 30,293,524 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $448,343,000 after purchasing an additional 826,668 shares during the period. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC lifted its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras by 117.2% during the 3rd quarter. RWC Asset Advisors US LLC now owns 5,666,762 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $84,945,000 after buying an additional 3,057,798 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 4,378,375 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $65,632,000 after buying an additional 175,038 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,049,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,816,500 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $39,806,000 after buying an additional 723,500 shares in the last quarter. Get Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras from $17.20 to $17.40 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday. HSBC upgraded shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $18.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Bank of America lowered shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $16.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $16.76. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras Price Performance Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras stock traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $15.03. 11,357,996 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,716,490. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras has a 12-month low of $9.75 and a 12-month high of $17.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $16.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.73. About Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras (Free Report) Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. It also engages in prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading, and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields, and shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas, and other liquid hydrocarbons. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PBR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras (NYSE:PBR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 861,241 shares of the construction companys stock after selling 32,747 shares during the quarter. Eagle Materials accounts for approximately 2.5% of Artemis Investment Management LLPs holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned approximately 2.47% of Eagle Materials worth $174,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 95,161 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $19,302,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 8,263 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,322 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 38,396 shares of the construction companys stock worth $7,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 28,503 shares of the construction companys stock worth $5,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the companys stock. Get Eagle Materials alerts: Eagle Materials Price Performance Eagle Materials stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $267.65. 107,173 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 299,672. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.77. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.17 and a 12 month high of $268.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $9.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88 and a beta of 1.34. Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement Eagle Materials ( NYSE:EXP Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The construction company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.16. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 40.05% and a net margin of 22.24%. The company had revenue of $558.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.23 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Eagle Materialss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.06%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades EXP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Eagle Materials from $234.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Eagle Materials from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $215.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued 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 $232.50. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Eagle Materials Insider Activity at Eagle Materials In other Eagle Materials news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.60, for a total transaction of $1,078,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,610 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $13,498,716. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.60, for a total value of $1,078,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 62,610 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $13,498,716. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tony Thompson sold 638 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.07, for a total value of $149,974.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,393 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,362.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,444 shares of company stock valued at $4,414,889 in the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Eagle Materials Company Profile (Free Report) Eagle Materials Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells heavy construction materials and light building materials in the United States. It operates in four segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The company engages in the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement; grinding and sale of slag; and mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboards used to finish the interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial, and industrial structures. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Eagle Materials Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eagle Materials and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAAC Free Report) had its price target lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $7.00 to $6.50 in a research report report published on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the stock. A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on LAAC. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and set a $8.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $18.50 price target on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a report on Tuesday, November 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price target for the company from $9.00 to $6.50 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $10.70. Get Lithium Americas (Argentina) alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on LAAC Lithium Americas (Argentina) Price Performance Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithium Americas (Argentina) Shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) stock opened at $5.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 12.43, a quick ratio of 12.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Lithium Americas has a 1 year low of $3.84 and a 1 year high of $8.79. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $4.64. The company has a market cap of $803.85 million, a PE ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.31. Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 4th quarter valued at about $306,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 27.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Lithium Americas (Argentina) (Get Free Report) Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. operates as a resource company. The company explores for lithium deposits. The company owns interests in the Cauchari-Olaroz project located in Jujuy province of Argentina. It also has a pipeline of development and exploration stage projects, including the Pastos Grandes project and the Sal de la Puna project located in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Lithium Americas (Argentina) Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lithium Americas (Argentina) and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ Get Free Report) (TSE:CNQ) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $74.97 and last traded at $74.97, with a volume of 160347 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.10. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $94.00. Get Canadian Natural Resources alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Canadian Natural Resources Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance The stocks fifty day moving average is $66.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ Get Free Report) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.13. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. The company had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.73 billion. On average, analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current year. Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.774 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resourcess payout ratio is 53.25%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Natural Resources A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 4,796 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 609 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 9,129 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,070 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Canadian Natural Resources (Get Free Report) Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO). Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Natural Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Natural Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) shares were down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $70.99 and last traded at $71.32. Approximately 1,903,776 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 7,802,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.60. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a neutral rating and set a $71.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $87.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Charles Schwab from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, December 1st. They set a sell rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $71.12. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on Charles Schwab Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.4 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $126.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.00. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 26.90%. Charles Schwabs quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current year. Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio is currently 39.37%. Insider Activity at Charles Schwab In related news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total value of $587,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 585,057 shares of the companys stock, valued at $38,198,371.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 202,607 shares of company stock valued at $13,214,499. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 20,822 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 4.3% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,263 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 25.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,064 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 2,648 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,807 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,239 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the companys stock. About Charles Schwab (Get Free Report) The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services. See Also 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. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Get Free Report) CFO William L. Jr. Bullock sold 45,200 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.32, for a total transaction of $5,574,064.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,153 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,444,947.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. ConocoPhillips Price Performance Shares of NYSE COP traded up $3.25 during trading on Monday, hitting $126.28. 7,053,979 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,838,060. The company has a market cap of $148.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.23. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $95.60 and a 1 year high of $127.35. The firms fifty day moving average price is $112.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Get ConocoPhillips alerts: ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.47 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 22.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend Analyst Ratings Changes The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillipss previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. ConocoPhillipss payout ratio is currently 25.61%. Several research analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $139.00 price target (up previously from $132.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $135.12. View Our Latest Stock Report on COP Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. West Branch Capital LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the energy producers stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About ConocoPhillips (Get Free Report) ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for ConocoPhillips Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ConocoPhillips and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK Free Report) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,248 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 764 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DUK. CKW Financial Group purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Duke Energy alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Duke Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $100.00. Insider Activity In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the companys stock. Duke Energy Price Performance Shares of DUK traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $94.54. 747,542 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,141,094. The stock has a market cap of $72.93 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $94.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.82. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39. Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year. Duke Energy Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.49%. Duke Energy Profile (Free Report) Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DUK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Duke Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Duke Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 1.27 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. EastGroup Properties has raised its dividend by an average of 17.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. EastGroup Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 102.2% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect EastGroup Properties to earn $9.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.4%. Get EastGroup Properties alerts: EastGroup Properties Price Performance Shares of EGP stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $180.49. 32,232 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 283,014. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $180.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.32. EastGroup Properties has a 1-year low of $154.75 and a 1-year high of $188.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. Insider Activity Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties In other news, CFO Brent Wood sold 2,500 shares of EastGroup Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $456,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 102,617 shares of the companys stock, valued at $18,752,230.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EGP. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the first quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Group One Trading L.P. purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,212 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties in the first quarter worth about $12,520,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,172,033 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,254,651,000 after acquiring an additional 133,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades EGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho cut shares of EastGroup Properties from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $188.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $188.83. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on EGP EastGroup Properties Company Profile (Get Free Report) EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP), a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina. Read More Receive News & Ratings for EastGroup Properties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for EastGroup Properties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. SUVA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Tourism Fiji launched its second Counting Coral Sculptural Coral Gene Bank on the Vomo island of the Pacific island country. It's another important step towards sustainable tourism and highlights the importance of preserving the marine ecosystems, said Viliame Gavoka, Fiji's deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, on Monday. He said the two coral gene banks will host more than 500 parent corals, serving as an educational focal point and attraction, spotlighting the beauty and fragility of coral reefs. Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Brent Hill said the project symbolizes the commitment of all Fijians to the restoration and preservation of Fiji's coral ecosystems, a crucial part of the marine environment that also sets a standard for environmental stewardship and sustainable tourism. This initiative is more than a conservation effort, it's a bridge that would connect people with the underwater wonders of the world and inspire every visitor to become an advocate for marine preservation, Hill added. Berenberg Bank reissued their buy rating on shares of Energean (LON:ENOG Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a GBX 1,425 ($18.14) price objective on the stock. Energean Trading Up 2.2 % Energean stock opened at GBX 1,077 ($13.71) on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of 1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -7,692.86 and a beta of 0.81. Energean has a 12 month low of GBX 807.50 ($10.28) and a 12 month high of GBX 1,394 ($17.75). The companys fifty day simple moving average is GBX 983.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 985.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 508.83. Get Energean alerts: Energean Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. Energeans dividend payout ratio is currently -66,428.57%. About Energean Energean plc engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas. It operates through four segments: Europe, Israel, Egypt, and New Ventures. The company holds interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its flagship project is the Karish project located in Israel. It also provides financing services; and holds a gas transportation license. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Energean Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Energean and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Equitrans Midstream Co. (NYSE:ETRN Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.78 and last traded at $11.75, with a volume of 643632 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.58. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts recently commented on ETRN shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Equitrans Midstream in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Equitrans Midstream from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $9.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, December 14th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Equitrans Midstream from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a report on Wednesday, December 27th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitrans Midstream from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Equitrans Midstream from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitrans Midstream has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.86. Get Equitrans Midstream alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on ETRN Equitrans Midstream Stock Performance The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $10.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.83. Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.16. Equitrans Midstream had a return on equity of 30.41% and a net margin of 30.89%. The business had revenue of $360.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $348.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Equitrans Midstream Co. will post 0.87 earnings per share for the current year. Equitrans Midstream Dividend Announcement The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. Equitrans Midstreams payout ratio is 67.42%. Institutional Trading of Equitrans Midstream Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitrans Midstream by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 29,538 shares of the companys stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 2,349 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Equitrans Midstream by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 206,910 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,746,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitrans Midstream by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 36,482 shares of the companys stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 21,372 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitrans Midstream in the 1st quarter worth $160,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Equitrans Midstream by 2.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,311,185 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,066,000 after purchasing an additional 29,595 shares during the period. 87.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Equitrans Midstream (Get Free Report) Equitrans Midstream Corporation owns, operates, acquires, and develops midstream assets in the Appalachian Basin. The company operates through Gathering, Transmission, and Water segments. It operates dry gas gathering systems of high-pressure gathering lines and FERC-regulated interstate pipelines and storage systems. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Equitrans Midstream Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Equitrans Midstream and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF Free Report) had its price target lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $54.00 to $56.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services providers stock. Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fidelity National Financial currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $53.40. Get Fidelity National Financial alerts: Read Our Latest Report on FNF Fidelity National Financial Price Performance Shares of NYSE FNF opened at $51.63 on Thursday. Fidelity National Financial has a 1-year low of $32.02 and a 1-year high of $52.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $50.54 and a 200-day moving average of $46.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03 and a beta of 1.33. Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.27). Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 13.91% and a net margin of 4.40%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.81 EPS for the current fiscal year. Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Fidelity National Financials payout ratio is 100.52%. Insider Transactions at Fidelity National Financial In related news, Director Cary H. Thompson sold 23,410 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total value of $1,196,485.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,317 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,060,601.87. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Daniel D. Lane sold 6,131 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.19, for a total value of $295,452.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 271,495 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $13,083,344.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cary H. Thompson sold 23,410 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total value of $1,196,485.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,317 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,060,601.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,806 shares of company stock worth $1,653,033. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new position in Fidelity National Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,778,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 513,836 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $21,221,000 after purchasing an additional 24,469 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 172.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 27,380 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 17,329 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 178.1% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 487,138 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $17,536,000 after purchasing an additional 311,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 182.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 926,963 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $38,284,000 after purchasing an additional 598,847 shares in the last quarter. 77.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Fidelity National Financial (Get Free Report) Fidelity National Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various insurance products in the United States. The company operates through Title, F&G, and Corporate and Other segments. It offers title insurance, escrow, and other title related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Fidelity National Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fidelity National Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First American Financial (NYSE:FAF Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has $69.00 price target on the insurance providers stock, up from their previous price target of $66.00. Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of First American Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of First American Financial from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $68.00. Get First American Financial alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on FAF First American Financial Price Performance FAF stock opened at $58.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94 and a beta of 1.27. First American Financial has a 12 month low of $49.55 and a 12 month high of $65.54. The firms 50-day moving average is $58.59 and its 200 day moving average is $58.25. First American Financial (NYSE:FAF Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.06). First American Financial had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 3.61%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year. First American Financial Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. First American Financials dividend payout ratio is currently 101.92%. Institutional Trading of First American Financial A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in First American Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 62,727 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $4,066,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in First American Financial by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,501 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in First American Financial by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,814 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,736 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in First American Financial by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in First American Financial by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,629,986 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $624,215,000 after purchasing an additional 303,214 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. First American Financial Company Profile (Get Free Report) First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally. Read More Receive News & Ratings for First American Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First American Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in shares of AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 274,478 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in AbbVie were worth $42,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABBV. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in AbbVie by 89,097.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 29,203,106 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,719,514,000 after acquiring an additional 29,170,366 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in AbbVie in the 4th quarter valued at $3,033,348,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in AbbVie by 29,922.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,032,374 shares of the companys stock valued at $899,186,000 after acquiring an additional 6,012,281 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in AbbVie by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 31,571,750 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,102,311,000 after acquiring an additional 4,785,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in AbbVie by 426.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,652,122 shares of the companys stock valued at $754,155,000 after acquiring an additional 3,768,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the companys stock. Get AbbVie alerts: Insider Activity In related news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $10,539,491.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at $10,895,641.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other AbbVie news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 2,912 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.72, for a total value of $450,544.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $8,649,312.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 58,949 shares of AbbVie stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $10,539,491.71. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 60,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,895,641.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 386,236 shares of company stock worth $68,230,547 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. AbbVie Stock Performance AbbVie stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $178.31. 1,710,005 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,687,038. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.87. AbbVie Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.96 and a fifty-two week high of $182.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $315.72 billion, a PE ratio of 65.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.58. AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.03. AbbVie had a return on equity of 162.28% and a net margin of 8.95%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.60 earnings per share. AbbVies quarterly revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current year. AbbVie Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. AbbVies payout ratio is currently 227.11%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades ABBV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised AbbVie from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $173.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Raymond James upped their price objective on AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, William Blair upgraded AbbVie from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $176.71. Read Our Latest Research Report on AbbVie About AbbVie (Free Report) AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune, intestinal Behcet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for AbbVie Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AbbVie and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on GIS. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $72.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.50. Get General Mills alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on GIS General Mills Trading Up 0.5 % Shares of NYSE:GIS opened at $69.10 on Friday. General Mills has a 52-week low of $60.33 and a 52-week high of $90.89. The company has a market capitalization of $39.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.66. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. General Millss revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year. General Mills Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. General Millss dividend payout ratio is 54.13%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,782 shares of company stock valued at $4,365,720 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,817 shares of the companys stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,575 shares of the companys stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company boosted its holdings in General Mills by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,034 shares of the companys stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Traverso Chambers Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,156 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, TrueWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Mills by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,837 shares of the companys stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.31% of the companys stock. About General Mills (Get Free Report) General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. Featured Stories 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. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Free Report) had its price target upped by Mizuho from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Several other research firms have also commented on GIS. Citigroup began coverage on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.50. Get General Mills alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on General Mills General Mills Stock Up 0.5 % NYSE:GIS opened at $69.10 on Thursday. General Mills has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $90.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.78 and a 200 day moving average of $64.74. The firm has a market cap of $39.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.36. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year. General Mills Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. General Millss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%. Insider Buying and Selling In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,782 shares of company stock worth $4,365,720. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Mills by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the companys stock valued at $722,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Adviser Investments LLC acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $323,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in General Mills by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 342,794 shares of the companys stock valued at $21,935,000 after acquiring an additional 19,209 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its stake in General Mills by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 12,261 shares of the companys stock valued at $785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.31% of the companys stock. About General Mills (Get Free Report) General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. 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. International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:IAG Free Report) had its target price lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from GBX 200 ($2.55) to GBX 220 ($2.80) in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Separately, Bank of America reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 230 ($2.93) price target on shares of International Consolidated Airlines Group in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Get International Consolidated Airlines Group alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on IAG International Consolidated Airlines Group Stock Down 1.3 % About International Consolidated Airlines Group IAG opened at GBX 164.45 ($2.09) on Thursday. International Consolidated Airlines Group has a fifty-two week low of GBX 132.63 ($1.69) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 182 ($2.32). The business has a 50-day moving average of GBX 149.98 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 151.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 490.60, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of 8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 382.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 2.31. (Get Free Report) International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of passenger and cargo transportation services in the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States, and rest of the world. It also provides aircraft leasing, aircraft maintenance, tour operation, air freight operations, call centre, ground handling, trustee, retail, IT, finance, procurement, storage and custody, aircraft technical assistance, human resources support, and airport infrastructure development services; and manages airline loyalty programmes. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for International Consolidated Airlines Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for International Consolidated Airlines Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $103.83 and last traded at $103.43, with a volume of 493821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.82. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Trading Down 0.4 % The company has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.89. The companys 50-day moving average price is $99.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.58. Get iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 11.9% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the companys stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,468 shares of the companys stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the companys stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,319 shares of the companys stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 2,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF in the first quarter worth $266,000. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Company Profile iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East. See Also 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. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (BATS:USMV Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.04 and last traded at $82.45, with a volume of 1198310 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $82.69. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Stock Performance The firm has a market cap of $31.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.75. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $80.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.06. Get iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF alerts: Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in USMV. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,253 shares of the companys stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 1.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 95,612 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,417,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 4.4% during the first quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,348,690 shares of the companys stock valued at $104,618,000 after acquiring an additional 57,434 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 27.0% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 88,779 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,887,000 after purchasing an additional 18,853 shares during the period. Finally, West Michigan Advisors LLC lifted its stake in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF by 6.1% in the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 12,575 shares of the companys stock worth $975,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. About iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF The iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) index. The fund tracks an index of US-listed firms selected and weighted to create a low-volatility portfolio subject to various constraints. USMV was launched on Oct 18, 2011 and is managed by BlackRock. Read More Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, will attend upon invitation the opening plenary of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2024 in Hainan and deliver a keynote speech on March 28, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian announced on Monday. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 138,236 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 647 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola comprises about 1.5% of Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc.s holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $8,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 213.3% in the 4th quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Coca-Cola in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the companys stock. Get Coca-Cola alerts: Coca-Cola Stock Performance Shares of KO traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.42. 13,143,550 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,247,497. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The Coca-Cola Company has a twelve month low of $51.55 and a twelve month high of $64.99. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $60.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.27. Coca-Cola Increases Dividend Coca-Cola ( NYSE:KO Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.68 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.50% and a net margin of 23.42%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Coca-Colas previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Coca-Colas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.23%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Coca-Cola from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Coca-Cola presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $67.00. Get Our Latest Analysis on KO Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 18,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,102,114.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 247,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.94, for a total value of $15,063,636.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 442,546 shares of the companys stock, valued at $26,968,753.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 375,407 shares of company stock worth $22,795,742. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Coca-Cola Profile (Free Report) The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Coca-Cola Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Coca-Cola and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Free Report) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Several other analysts also recently commented on GIS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.50. Get General Mills alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on GIS General Mills Stock Up 0.5 % GIS opened at $69.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. General Mills has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $90.89. The company has a market capitalization of $39.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $64.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.74. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The companys quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current year. General Mills Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. General Millss payout ratio is currently 54.13%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 67,782 shares of company stock valued at $4,365,720 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Mills A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $652,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $129,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,615 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares in the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC bought a new stake in General Mills during the 4th quarter valued at about $479,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Mills by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 111,233 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,246,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. 75.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About General Mills (Get Free Report) General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. See Also 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. KB Home (NYSE:KBH Free Report) had its price target raised by Royal Bank of Canada from $63.00 to $69.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the construction companys stock. A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on KBH. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of KB Home from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered KB Home from a hold rating to a sell rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on KB Home from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on KB Home from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on KB Home from $61.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, KB Home has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $63.46. Get KB Home alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on KBH KB Home Stock Down 0.3 % Shares of NYSE KBH opened at $68.40 on Thursday. KB Home has a twelve month low of $38.26 and a twelve month high of $72.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.61 and a 200 day moving average of $56.11. KB Home (NYSE:KBH Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The construction company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 15.78%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that KB Home will post 7.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. KB Home Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. KB Homes dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.88%. Insider Buying and Selling at KB Home In other KB Home news, EVP Brian J. Woram sold 83,272 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $5,040,454.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 156,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,449,883.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other KB Home news, EVP Brian J. Woram sold 83,272 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total transaction of $5,040,454.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 156,119 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,449,883.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger sold 165,307 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total transaction of $9,819,235.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,491,298 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $88,583,101.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 373,635 shares of company stock valued at $22,400,005 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.44% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of KB Home Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of KB Home by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 149,138 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $9,315,000 after buying an additional 4,235 shares in the last quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC raised its position in KB Home by 76.2% in the 4th quarter. Prelude Capital Management LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the construction companys stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 5,078 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in KB Home in the 4th quarter worth about $252,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in KB Home in the 4th quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in KB Home by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 226,282 shares of the construction companys stock worth $14,133,000 after purchasing an additional 8,472 shares during the period. 91.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. KB Home Company Profile (Get Free Report) KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers. See Also Receive News & Ratings for KB Home Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Home and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE Get Free Report)s stock had its overweight rating reiterated by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanleys price target indicates a potential upside of 117.82% from the stocks previous close. A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Bloom Energy from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and decreased their target price for the company from $16.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Bloom Energy from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and upped their target price for the company from $16.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Bloom Energy from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Bloom Energy from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Bloom Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. They set a buy rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $16.56. Get Bloom Energy alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on BE Bloom Energy Trading Up 2.3 % Shares of BE stock traded up $0.23 on Monday, hitting $10.10. 3,212,258 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,481,711. The firms 50-day moving average price is $10.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 2.53 and a current ratio of 3.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of -6.99 and a beta of 2.76. Bloom Energy has a twelve month low of $8.41 and a twelve month high of $20.62. Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $356.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $481.90 million. Bloom Energy had a negative net margin of 22.66% and a negative return on equity of 23.88%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bloom Energy will post -0.17 EPS for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling In other Bloom Energy news, CEO Kr Sridhar sold 50,746 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total value of $494,266.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,702,608 shares of the companys stock, valued at $26,323,401.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Kr Sridhar sold 50,746 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.74, for a total value of $494,266.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,702,608 shares in the company, valued at $26,323,401.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Shawn Marie Soderberg sold 13,120 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.34, for a total value of $122,540.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,946 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $690,655.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,782 shares of company stock valued at $658,463 over the last three months. 8.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of Bloom Energy Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in Bloom Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bloom Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Bloom Energy by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,687 shares of the companys stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Bloom Energy by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,673 shares of the companys stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Bloom Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.04% of the companys stock. Bloom Energy Company Profile (Get Free Report) Bloom Energy Corporation designs, manufactures, sells, and installs solid-oxide fuel cell systems for on-site power generation in the United States and internationally. The company offers Bloom Energy Server, a solid oxide technology that converts fuel, such as natural gas, biogas, hydrogen, or a blend of these fuels into electricity through an electrochemical process without combustion. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Bloom Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Bloom Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:PBT Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 154,883 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 10% from the previous sessions volume of 140,753 shares.The stock last traded at $12.97 and had previously closed at $13.35. Permian Basin Royalty Trust Stock Down 4.0 % The firm has a market cap of $597.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.53. Get Permian Basin Royalty Trust alerts: Permian Basin Royalty Trust Cuts Dividend The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.041 dividend. This represents a $0.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Permian Basin Royalty Trusts payout ratio is currently 91.67%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows About Permian Basin Royalty Trust Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PBT. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 87.3% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,461 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC purchased a new position in Permian Basin Royalty Trust in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 222.0% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,618 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,805 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 1,296.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Permian Basin Royalty Trust by 78.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,400 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. 28.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. (Get Free Report) Permian Basin Royalty Trust, an express trust, holds overriding royalty interests in various oil and gas properties in the United States. The company owns a 75% net overriding royalty interest in the Waddell Ranch properties comprising Dune, Sand Hills (Judkins), Sand Hills (McKnight), Sand Hills (Tubb), University-Waddell (Devonian), and Waddell fields located in Crane County, Texas. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Permian Basin Royalty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Permian Basin Royalty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $260.42 and last traded at $259.28, with a volume of 229517 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $255.53. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have recently weighed in on PXD. Mizuho boosted their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $276.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com began coverage on Pioneer Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Pioneer Natural Resources from $243.00 to $224.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $269.00 to $250.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $254.90. Get Pioneer Natural Resources alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on PXD Pioneer Natural Resources Price Performance The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $233.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.28. The company has a market cap of $60.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 1.30. Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas development company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.41 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.28 billion. Pioneer Natural Resources had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 22.42%. The firms revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.91 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Pioneer Natural Resources will post 20.35 earnings per share for the current year. Pioneer Natural Resources Cuts Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $2.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $10.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. Pioneer Natural Resourcess payout ratio is 24.70%. Insider Activity at Pioneer Natural Resources In other Pioneer Natural Resources news, Director J Kenneth Thompson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,017,500. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Pioneer Natural Resources news, Director J Kenneth Thompson sold 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,070 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,017,500. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jerome D. Hall, Jr. sold 7,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.74, for a total transaction of $1,755,180.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 76,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,278,144.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,070,380. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pioneer Natural Resources Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 21,079 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $4,839,000 after purchasing an additional 6,589 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 610.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 618,449 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock valued at $141,965,000 after acquiring an additional 531,418 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. increased its position in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 7.1% in the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 51,608 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $11,847,000 after acquiring an additional 3,438 shares in the last quarter. SCP Investment LP increased its position in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 80.0% in the third quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 1,800 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $413,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 34.2% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 440,522 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock valued at $101,122,000 after purchasing an additional 112,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.57% of the companys stock. Pioneer Natural Resources Company Profile (Get Free Report) Pioneer Natural Resources Company operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gas. It has operations in the Midland Basin in West Texas. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Pioneer Natural Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pioneer Natural Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Roper Technologies (NYSE:ROP Free Report) had its target price upped by Oppenheimer from $580.00 to $650.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products companys stock. Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Barclays raised their price target on Roper Technologies from $580.00 to $596.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered Roper Technologies from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $535.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Roper Technologies from $620.00 to $622.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Roper Technologies from $560.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Roper Technologies from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $574.25. Get Roper Technologies alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on ROP Roper Technologies Stock Performance NYSE:ROP opened at $556.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $59.54 billion, a PE ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.99. Roper Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $423.96 and a fifty-two week high of $562.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $547.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $525.37. Roper Technologies (NYSE:ROP Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The industrial products company reported $4.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.34 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. Roper Technologies had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 22.41%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Roper Technologies will post 18.07 earnings per share for the current year. Roper Technologies Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Roper Technologiess payout ratio is presently 23.27%. Insider Activity In related news, Director Christopher Wright sold 200 shares of Roper Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $549.71, for a total value of $109,942.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,540,541.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.94% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Roper Technologies Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROP. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Roper Technologies by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,496,315 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $4,565,828,000 after buying an additional 1,770,965 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Roper Technologies by 68,873.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,724,328 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $745,065,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,828 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Roper Technologies by 3,399.5% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,456,622 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $20,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,414,998 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Roper Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $756,176,000. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Roper Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $245,541,000. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Roper Technologies Company Profile (Get Free Report) Roper Technologies, Inc designs and develops software, and technology enabled products and solutions. It operates through three segments: Application Software, Network Software, and Technology Enabled Products. The Application Software segment offers management, campus solutions, diagnostic and laboratory information management, enterprise software and information solutions, transportation management, financial and compliance management, and cloud-based financial analytics and performance management software; cloud-based software to the property and casualty insurance industry; and software, services, and technologies for foodservice operations. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Roper Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Roper Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shore Capital reissued their house stock rating on shares of Secure Trust Bank (LON:STB Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Secure Trust Bank Stock Up 1.3 % Shares of STB stock opened at GBX 642 ($8.17) on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 699.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 663.77. The company has a market capitalization of 122.24 million, a PE ratio of 468.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 0.79. Secure Trust Bank has a 12-month low of GBX 550 ($7.00) and a 12-month high of GBX 750 ($9.55). Get Secure Trust Bank alerts: Secure Trust Bank Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be given a dividend of GBX 16.20 ($0.21) per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Secure Trust Banks previous dividend of $16.00. This represents a yield of 2.46%. Secure Trust Banks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,335.77%. About Secure Trust Bank Secure Trust Bank PLC provides banking and financial products and services in the United Kingdom. It operates through four segments: Real Estate Finance, Commercial Finance, Vehicle Finance, and Retail Finance. The Real Estate Finance segment provides secured loans against property assets. The Commercial Finance segment provides invoice discounting solutions, coronavirus business interruption loan scheme, and recovery loan schemes. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Secure Trust Bank Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Secure Trust Bank and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shearwater Capital LLC boosted its stake in Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF (NYSEARCA:DFSV Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,818 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF makes up 0.4% of Shearwater Capital LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Shearwater Capital LLCs holdings in Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF were worth $461,000 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 DFSV. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF by 157.9% in the 3rd quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 6,633,596 shares of the companys stock valued at $168,095,000 after acquiring an additional 4,061,125 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF by 64,154.8% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,421,763 shares of the companys stock valued at $61,367,000 after buying an additional 2,417,994 shares in the last quarter. CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,730,000. Cable Hill Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF by 253.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 980,377 shares of the companys stock valued at $24,843,000 after buying an additional 703,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,554,000. Get Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF alerts: Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF Price Performance Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.29. The company had a trading volume of 564,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,922. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 1.05. Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF has a 12-month low of $23.01 and a 12-month high of $29.68. Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF Company Profile The Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF (DFSV) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in small-cap stocks. The fund actively invests in broad and diverse portfolio of US small-cap companies. Stock selection is based on value characteristics and weighted by market capitalization. DFSV was launched on Feb 24, 2022 and is managed by Dimensional. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DFSV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF (NYSEARCA:DFSV Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK Get Free Report) have received an average rating of Moderate Buy from the seventeen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.72. Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on AZEK from $39.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on AZEK from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a hold rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of AZEK in a report on Friday, December 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AZEK in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. They issued an outperform rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on AZEK from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Get AZEK alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on AZEK AZEK Stock Down 1.2 % AZEK stock opened at $49.48 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.20 and a 200 day moving average of $36.19. AZEK has a one year low of $21.34 and a one year high of $50.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.99. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 62.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.92. AZEK (NYSE:AZEK Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $240.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.12 million. AZEK had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 8.57%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AZEK will post 1.02 EPS for the current year. Insider Transactions at AZEK In other news, insider Michelle A. Kasson sold 94,431 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total value of $4,671,501.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,544 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,164,721.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Michelle A. Kasson sold 94,431 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total value of $4,671,501.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 23,544 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,164,721.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 13,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $589,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,184,444 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $53,702,690.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 130,431 shares of company stock valued at $6,212,712 in the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZEK A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZEK. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in AZEK by 272.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,973,475 shares of the companys stock worth $80,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,906,460 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in AZEK in the 4th quarter worth $44,418,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in AZEK by 5,090.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,168,290 shares of the companys stock worth $34,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,780 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in AZEK by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,606,728 shares of the companys stock worth $381,858,000 after acquiring an additional 959,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in AZEK by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,899,713 shares of the companys stock worth $208,992,000 after acquiring an additional 929,341 shares during the last quarter. About AZEK (Get Free Report The AZEK Company Inc engages in the design, manufacturing, and selling of building products for residential, commercial, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: Residential and Commercial. The Residential segment designs and manufactures engineered outdoor living products, such as decking, railing, trim and molding, siding and cladding, pergolas and cabanas, and accessories under the TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, ULTRALOX, StruXure, and INTEX brands. Read More Receive News & Ratings for AZEK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AZEK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A wounded person receives treatment at a local hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 24, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) GAZA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 107 Palestinians and wounded 176 others, it added. This brings the total death toll to 32,333 and injuries to 74,694 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the ministry. Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage. A child receives treatment at a local hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 24, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) A wounded man is transferred to a local hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 24, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) A wounded man is transferred to a local hospital in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 24, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) A Palestinian fleeing from Gaza City arrives in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Palestinians fleeing from Gaza City arrive in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) Palestinians fleeing from Gaza City arrive in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People walk among the rubble in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People are seen near destroyed buildings in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People walk past destroyed buildings in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People are seen near destroyed buildings in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People are seen near destroyed buildings in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People walk past destroyed buildings in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) A Palestinian fleeing from Gaza City arrives in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) A Palestinian fleeing from Gaza City arrives in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) A Palestinian fleeing from Gaza City arrives in the central Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua) People are seen in front of destroyed buildings after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Xinhua) People are seen near a crater after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Xinhua) A man searches among the rubble after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Xinhua) A man stands inside a damaged building after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Xinhua) People are seen in a damaged building after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Xinhua) People inspect the damage after Israeli strikes in central Gaza Strip city of Deir el-Balah, on March 25, 2024. The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from ongoing Israeli attacks has risen to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. (Xinhua) Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR Free Report) by 106.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 422 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc.s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $57,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 18.5% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,269 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Digital Realty Trust by 2.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 720,618 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $87,209,000 after buying an additional 19,931 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,390,848 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $5,735,240,000 after purchasing an additional 971,032 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 753.5% during the third quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 17,897 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Suisse AG increased its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 65.0% during the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 755,372 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $86,014,000 after purchasing an additional 297,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the companys stock. Get Digital Realty Trust alerts: Insider Activity In other news, Director Jean F. H. P. Mandeville sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.50, for a total value of $494,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,224,091.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC assumed coverage on Digital Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, December 1st. They set a reduce rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on Digital Realty Trust from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays increased their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $110.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Digital Realty Trust from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $137.87. View Our Latest Analysis on DLR Digital Realty Trust Trading Down 0.4 % Shares of DLR stock opened at $138.00 on Monday. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $142.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.89. The company has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a PE ratio of 46.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.54. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.33 and a fifty-two week high of $154.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. Digital Realty Trust Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Digital Realty Trusts payout ratio is 164.31%. About Digital Realty Trust (Free Report) Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DLR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Digital Realty Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Digital Realty Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited (NYSE:TNP Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $26.50 and last traded at $26.39, with a volume of 66705 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.73. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts recently commented on TNP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Tsakos Energy Navigation from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Tsakos Energy Navigation from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Saturday, January 13th. Get Tsakos Energy Navigation alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on Tsakos Energy Navigation Tsakos Energy Navigation Stock Performance Institutional Inflows and Outflows The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.30. The firm has a market cap of $778.18 million, a PE ratio of 2.27 and a beta of -0.15. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TNP. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Tsakos Energy Navigation by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 189,278 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 13,698 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation by 157.2% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 18,109 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 11,067 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation by 110.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 74,887 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 39,309 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Tsakos Energy Navigation in the first quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Tsakos Energy Navigation by 167.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,460 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 12,804 shares during the period. 19.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Tsakos Energy Navigation (Get Free Report) Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited provides seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services worldwide. The company offers marine transportation services for national, major, and other independent oil companies and refiners under long, medium, and short-term charters. It also operates a fleet of double-hull vessels, comprising of conventional tankers, LNG carriers, and suezmax DP2 shuttle tankers. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Tsakos Energy Navigation Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tsakos Energy Navigation and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V Get Free Report)s share price dropped 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $280.04 and last traded at $280.65. Approximately 1,092,437 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 5,472,149 shares. The stock had previously closed at $283.26. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In V has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $287.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Visa from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Visa currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $293.30. Get Visa alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on V Visa Price Performance The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $517.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $278.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $258.03. Visa (NYSE:V Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.07. Visa had a return on equity of 50.02% and a net margin of 53.92%. The firm had revenue of $8.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Visa Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year. Visa Dividend Announcement The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Visas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.94%. Insider Transactions at Visa In other news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,150 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.39, for a total transaction of $2,228,128.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 36,546 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.20, for a total transaction of $9,874,729.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at $62,716,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,150 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.39, for a total value of $2,228,128.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,311 shares of company stock valued at $12,832,129 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Visa Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in V. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Visa in the first quarter valued at about $2,717,000. Markel Corp raised its position in shares of Visa by 0.3% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 961,105 shares of the credit-card processors stock worth $213,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065 shares during the period. AMI Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth about $2,323,000. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth about $538,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth about $1,496,000. Institutional investors own 82.15% of the companys stock. About Visa (Get Free Report) Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services. See Also 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. Shares of Weave Communications, Inc. (NYSE:WEAV Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.00. A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James upgraded Weave Communications from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Weave Communications from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Weave Communications in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Get Weave Communications alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Weave Communications Insiders Place Their Bets Institutional Trading of Weave Communications In other Weave Communications news, CFO Alan Taylor sold 15,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 480,813 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,769,756. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . Corporate insiders own 41.00% of the companys stock. A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Weave Communications during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Weave Communications by 153.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,006 shares of the companys stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Weave Communications by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,722 shares of the companys stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Weave Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Weave Communications during the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. 64.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Weave Communications Stock Performance Shares of WEAV stock opened at $11.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.87 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $12.19 and a 200 day moving average of $10.20. Weave Communications has a 1 year low of $4.04 and a 1 year high of $13.80. Weave Communications (NYSE:WEAV Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $45.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.24 million. Weave Communications had a negative return on equity of 31.93% and a negative net margin of 18.20%. As a group, research analysts expect that Weave Communications will post -0.37 earnings per share for the current year. About Weave Communications (Get Free Report Weave Communications, Inc provides a customer experience and payments software platform in the United States and Canada. Its platform enables small and medium-sized healthcare businesses to maximize the value of their patient interactions and minimize the time and effort spent on manual or mundane tasks. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Weave Communications Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Weave Communications and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Central City resident Brandon Hain has been a fan of the railroad since he was a child, and thanks in part to the Tri-City Model Railroad Association, located in Grand Island, he and others just like him are able to bring the hobby to life. What started as an informational gathering in the winter of 1992 was followed by an official organizing of the association in 1995. Then, later in 2000, the club began construction on a permanent HO-scale layout in Grand Island. Together they regularly operated the layout starting in 2005. Since that time, infrequent changes have been made to the layout, but the mission of the association remained the same. The purpose of the Tri-City Model Railroad Association includes, but is not limited to, the promotion of the hobby of model railroading, fostering fellowship amongst railfans and model railroaders, educating fellow modelers about methods of building and operating model railroads and equipment and educating the public about prototype practices through the model railroads, reads an informational brochure provided by the club. Most recently the TCMRA has been working to update a permanent setup at the historic Burlington Station at Sixth and N Plum streets, inside what used to be the old CB&Q (Chicago, Burlington and Quincy) baggage/express building. Several years ago I found an area that was a single track shelf above a preexisting stretch of track, Hain, who serves as the Associations president, said. That area has now become a 24- to 26-inch-deep layout section that has a 2% grade over 10 to 15 feet. Its future will be to serve as a model freight yard for the layout, Hain added, which will be loosely modeled from somewhere around the Norfolk C&NW yard. The rest of the preexisting layout is modeled after both the Union Pacific and Burlington rail lines. A single track is exactly what it sounds like a single track stretching across the expanse of the new section. The 2% grade means that it drops about 1/2 inch every 4 feet. When asked about the goal behind this most recent addition to the layout, Hain explained that it helps keep things fresh. The layout is over 20 years old, he said. This helps improve and expand it. The clubs layout was originally modeled around a specific time period of the 1950s and 60s, Hain further explained. This era was a time of transition for railroads from steam to diesel. If you look at the original and main part of the layout, it is more setup for the modeler that enjoys running steam locomotives and older first-generation diesel locomotives, Hain said. A few years after I joined, I had the thought that maybe we are deterring people who model todays modern railroads, which would be based from the 1970s to present. So when I proposed to the club to build the expansion, I proposed that it have a modern flair to appeal to the modern model railroader. In order to appeal to this group of modelers, he added, the area will have a diesel shop and diesel fueling facility. Another reason for this expansion is to appeal to the operators who like to do industrial switching, Hain described. Industrial switching is delivering the empty and/or full cars on railroads to their true beginning or end destination on the railroads. These would be the manufacturers, warehouses, distribution points, etcetera, that make products that we use every day. There are a few switching opportunities within the clubs current layout, Hain said, but it is truly set up to just run trains in circles, which some operators do enjoy. Overall, we are trying to reach a demographic of different modelers to help grow the membership of our club, so it can continue to be a part of our local communities for years to come, Hain concluded. Beside being a haven for those in the hobby, the TCMRA layout is open to the public on the third Tuesday of every month from 7-8:30 p.m. Despite this being later in the evening, there are a number of people children included who regularly show up. Other public viewing opportunities include the Nebraska State Fair, currently hosted in Grand Island, where the TCMRA has been making regular appearances since 2014, when club members built a Free-Mo style traveling layout to help bring the hobby to light. They can usually be found most recently in the Nebraska Building. Free-Mo, Hain described, are set modules that are built to widely accepted standards, such as -inch plywood or equivalent endplates, flex or hand-laid track and LocoNet compliant DCC and accessories. These modules are thus interconnectable throughout groups and locations, all fitting together like puzzle pieces for a unique and customizable (and transportable) layout. The club also has a portion of the State Fair layout at the Hastings Museum, on the second floor. It will likely be there through June, Hain said, with operation some Saturdays and Sundays. The Association itself is composed of members from Grand Island, Hastings, Kearney and beyond. I started when I was 6 years old, Hain said of his involvement in the hobby. I took down my first layout at the age of 16, boxed it up and restarted at the age of 34. The train modeling community throughout the state of Nebraska is much larger than most think. There are at least five active railroad modeling clubs in the state, and many more members who operate independently. Even more still is the number of individuals who appreciate the scale models of what they see towering on the tracks in everyday life. I just like modeling, Hain said as to why he enjoys the hobby. I like the aspect of creativity. Railroad history Grand Island is currently, and has always been, considered a railroad town. But unbeknown to most, there was once a Grand Island line. According to a description of the St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad line, written by History Nebraska, the Union Pacific tracks that bisect the community led to the direct development of this town, as well as many nearby. In 1879 construction of tracks connecting the Union Pacifics main line at Grand Island with the St. Joseph and Western Railroad at Hastings provided a key link in a railroad empire controlled by New York financier, Jay Gould, the History Nebraska article reads. The link freed the Union Pacific from the competition of connecting lines at its eastern terminus in Omaha by providing a route bypassing Iowa. Like many other rail lines throughout the state in the early 1880s, this line brought a number of new settlers to the area. In 1879 local pioneer William J. Burger platted the town of Doniphan midway between Grand Island and Hastings, the article explains. The village and township were named after Col. John Doniphan of St. Joseph, Missouri, an attorney for the railroad. After completion of the Grand Island line, the railroad was reorganized as the St. Joseph and Grand Island Railroad and for most of its history was part of the Union Pacific system. A new line between Hastings and Gibbon, completed in 1914, gave the Union Pacific an even shorter route to its mainline, thus the use of the line through Doniphan declined. It was officially abandoned by 1989. We try to teach the heritage and lineage of what railroads once were, past and present, Hain said. Further, according to Visit Grand Island, the town sees approximately 140 trains every day. Grand Islands hotspot is known as The Diamond, where the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe flyover crosses the Union Pacific tracks, Visit Grand Islands website notes. The Union Pacific Railroad can still be seen in town, as can what is now the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe (BNSF) line which is predominately a coal-hauler heading to the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. Double stacks, unit grain, and manifest trains make up about 25% of the traffic on this line. The Boeing Train runs from Wichita, Kansas, to Seattle, Washington, hauling fuselages. PHOTOS: Beautiful bald eagle stops for a snack in Grand Island In a chance encounter, this bald eagle flew overhead with with its lunch, before landing at a lake at Shady Bend Road and Highway 30 Friday morning. Some facts about bald eagles According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, adult bald eagles measure from 30 to 40 inches from head to tail, with a 7-8 foot wingspan, Bald eagle Did you know? The distinctive white head and tail feathers on a bald eagle appear when the eagles mature at 4 or 5 years old. This proud bird Bald eagle The largest bald eagle nest on record, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was 2.9 meters in diameter and 6.1 meters tall. This proud bird was seen at Bald eagle According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, adult bald eagles measure from 30 to 40 inches from head to tail, with a 7-8 foot wingspan, Bald eagle Bald eagle populations started to decline in the late 1940's coinciding with the introduction of the pesticide DDT. Breeding pairs dropped to Bald eagle Bald eagles are believed to live 30 years or longer in the wild. They mate for life, building huge nests in the tops of large trees near river Bald eagle Eagles feed primarily on fish, but will also feed on ducks, rodents, snakes and carrion. Bald eagle In a chance encounter, this bald eagle flew overhead with its lunch before landing at a lake at Shady Bend Road and Highway 30 Friday morning. Bald eagle The scientific name for the bald eagle is haliaeetus leucocephalus. This proud bird was seen at a lake at Shady Bend Rd and Highway 30 Friday Latest Headlines Bald Eagle Rescue Results in Happy Rehabbing Bird In New Jersey, a collaborative effort to rescue a bald eagle who had gotten its wing caught in a comms tower resulted in the successful freei What kind of Chamber president was Cindy Johnson? Looking down the road, she would anticipate any problems and do what she could to avoid them. Mark Miller of Eakes Office Solutions tells a story about Johnson, who recently ended her career with the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce. About 10 years ago, Johnson realized that Eakes was growing beyond Grand Island at a pretty fast clip, he says. Johnson called Miller to ask if he would like to have a cup of coffee somewhere just to chit-chat. I didnt know what the topic was, Miller recalls. When they sat down, Johnson said, I know your companys growing, and Grand Island would like to keep you guys headquartered in Grand Island. I just want to ask if theres anything Grand Island can do to make sure that happens. That kind of conversation was an example of the visionary leadership that she provides for this town, Miller said. Eakes didnt really have any urge or desire to go, but Miller was impressed that Johnson brought up the subject. Thats how she operates by thinking ahead and making certain that there wasnt going to be anything that would come up that would hurt Grand Island. And I guess the opposite of that would be to make sure to help Grand Island, Miller said. But I just think thats how she was. She was a friend of mine and a confidante of mine in many different ways. But for Grand Island, her visionary leadership was really, really helpful, Miller said. The Independent asked a number of community leaders for comments about Johnson. I think shes had a stellar career, said Roger Bullington of Chief Construction and Development. Johnson deserves a lot of credit for luring the Nebraska State Fair, Bullington said. He knows a team brought the State Fair to Grand Island, but she led that team, Bullington said. I think that was the crowning achievement there, he said. And she was always just solid as a big community backer. She loves Grand Island. DJ Eihusen, the head of Chief Industries, formerly served on the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce. One thing that became evident in Eihusen was that the positive perception of our community was in large part the result of the efforts and the work of Cindy Johnson, he said. Her professionalism was respected not only in our community but around the entire state. Eihusen has always believed that the perception of a community is a reflection of its individuals. Johnson did her part in that area in a most impressive way, he said. Shes been wonderful for the community. She will be missed for sure, Eihusen said. It was an absolute privilege that she was in the role and the position she was for as long as she was. Traci Skalberg remembers that Johnson started at the Chamber right before Skalberg began work at the Grand Island Public Schools Foundation. Skalberg was so excited that she was going to start at the Chamber because I had worked with her when she was at City Hall, and always found her to be so forward-thinking. She was always so thoughtful. And she really galvanized community. At the Chamber, Johnson continued to be a powerhouse for thoughtful progress in Grand Island and really lifting Grand Island up, said Skalberg, who is now executive director of the Central Community College Foundation. As a woman, I just admire other women who can do that work. Shes incredible, Skalberg said. Skalberg is going to miss Johnson at the Chamber. But I do believe that shell be continuing to give her talents to Grand Island for a long time. I dont think Cindy can sit still. Cindy Johnson and Grand Island kind of are synonymous with each other, said Melissa DeLaet, chief executive officer of the Greater Grand Island Community Foundation. Johnson has played a key role in the growth of Grand Island and was instrumental in bringing the State Fair to Grand Island, DeLaet said. Just so many parts of Grand Island are better because of the work that Cindys done over the last 20 years, DeLaet said. The Chamber and the Greater Grand Island Community Foundation have different missions when you look at them on paper. But the long and the short of that is that Cindy and I are both working towards improving the quality of life in the community that we love, DeLaet said. Comments from other Grand Islanders about Johnson Mary Berlie says Johnson has been a powerful mentor for young women in business and industry. In Berlies role at the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp., Johnson has been a wealth of knowledge and a great community partner, Berlie said. Berlie, who now heads the Economic Development Corp., used to work at the Chamber. Johnson was an amazing mentor during my time at the Chamber and then afterwards, she said. With Johnson as president, the Chamber and Economic Development Corp. have been great partners as we recruit new businesses and grow the community, Berlie said. Tim Wojcik of Five Points Bank says Johnson handled her role at the Chamber professionally and with grace and she will be missed. Wojcik is a former Chamber Board chair. I wish her the best, of course, he said of Johnson. She just did a really good job for the Chamber. Mark Allen of Allen Capital Group said, Cindys value and commitment to Grand Island for the past 20 plus years really is unmatched. One of her most significant accomplishments for Grand Island and central Nebraska was her involvement in bringing the State Fair to Grand Island, he said. That move will have an impact on the area for generations to come, he said. Shes made Grand Island a better place. Shes done so many good things and connected so many people, said Allen, a past Chamber board chair. Shes well-respected across the state and has been a great representative of this community. I am blessed to know Cindy both professionally and personally, Tonja Brown of Grow Grand Island wrote in an email. I have watched her give her all to both her community and to her family, and she does so with grace and passion. She will undoubtedly carry this into her next chapter, and those around her will be better for it, she said. I know I am. The City of Grand Island has been blessed to have Cindy Johnson lead the Chamber for the past two decades, Mayor Roger Steele wrote in an email. Her vision and willingness to move Grand Island forward has positioned our community and its business partners for continued success for years to come. The City cant thank her enough for her dedication to making Grand Island a welcoming home for business, and I wish her well on her future endeavors. PHOTOS: Grand Island Girl Scout troops sell cookies Members of Girl Scout troops 317, 8388 and 8429 sold their famous cookies on Sunday, March 17 in the parking lot at the Walmart on Diers Avenue in Grand Island. Grand Island Girl Scouts sell cookies Members of a trio of Grand Island Girl Scout troops sold cookies on Sunday, March 17 in the parking lot of the Walmart on Diers Avenue. Girl Scouts sell cookies Members of Girl Scout troops 317, 8388 and 8429 sold their famous cookies on Sunday, March 17 in the parking lot at the Sams Club on Diers Av Girl Scouts sell cookies Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska is the largest girl-serving organization in the state and is 19,000 members strong. Nationally, the organizatio Girl Scouts sell cookies All of the net revenue raised through the Girl Scout Cookie Program stays with the local council and troops, according to Girl Scouts of Ameri Girl Scouts sell cookies Members of Girl Scout troops 317, 8388 and 8429 sold their famous cookies on on a blustery Sunday, March 17. Girl Scouts sell cookies A sign lets passersby know where the Girl Scout cookies are. Girl Scouts sell cookies Members of Girl Scout troops 317, 8388 and 8429 sell their wares to customers who stopped by on the final day of sales, Sunday, March 17. Girl Scouts sell cookies The 2024 cookie lineup included Adventurefuls, Lemonades, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Caramel deLites, Thin Mints, Trefoils, Peanut Butter Patti Girl Scouts sell cookies in Grand Island Local Girl Scouts sold cookies in Grand Island on Sunday, March 17. KEARNEY Semis and passenger cars rolled slowly and cautiously as they pulled off Interstate 80 Monday morning at the Kearney exit. Interstate 80 was closed from Kearney to the Ogallala for most of Monday and into Tuesday morning. The stretch of roadway from Ogallala to the Wyoming state line was eventually added to that list as well. After many hours and much work done by state road crews, I-80 was reopened completely, as of approximately 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. According to the National Weather Service in Hastings, though there should not be any additional snowfall throughout the area today, strong winds will continue into the afternoon. Before Sundays rain turned to snow, Grand Island hit a new rainfall record for March 24. NWS said Central Nebraska Regional Airport reported 1.03 inches, beating the old record of 0.73. Further according to the Nebraska Department of Transportations 511 website, a portion of Highway 30 (from North Platte to Elm Creek) is still closed. PhotoFiles: Nebraskans tough it out during snowstorms through the years Stuck Guaranteed Snow Day Jammed Mountains of Snow Drive Safe Power Down Always Prepared Cooped Up I Thought I Could Loading Up Field Rations Delivery Driver Special Delivery Stuck Guaranteed Snow Day Jammed Mountains of Snow Drive Safe Power Down Always Prepared Cooped Up I Thought I Could Loading Up Field Rations Delivery Driver Special Delivery Apple supplier Luxshare-ICT to hire 1,500 people a month in central Vietnam By Tri Duc Mon, March 25, 2024 | 2:48 pm GMT+7 Luxshare-ICT (Nghe An) Limited, a subsidiary of major Chinese electronics producer Luxshare-ICT, is looking to recruit 1,500 people a month for the second phase of its project in Nghe An province. The company has sought support for its recruitment drive from authorities in the central province. The new workers will participate in the manufacturing of charging cables, cables, earphones and circuit boards, the company said, but it did not share the workforce qualifications required. Under a decision taken by the firm last year, the second phase will triple the projects capacity. Construction of facilities to carry out phase 2 has already been completed at the VSIP Nghe An Industrial Park. Some production lines are set to become operational in May, the company said. In a document issued last week, the Nghe An Peoples Committee asked the provincial labor department, universities and colleges to cooperate with the firm. An employee of Luxshare-ICT (Nghe An). Photo courtesy of the company. Luxshare-ICT began its Nghe An investments in 2019. It has so far invested $290 million in two projects, both in VSIP Nghe An. The latest investment of $150 million in Luxshare-ICT (Nghe An) 2 is set to become fully operational later this year. The firm is set to invest an additional $140 million in the central province. According to a draft environmental impact assessment report prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the new investment will cover 15.25 hectares at the VSIP Nghe An Industrial Park. The $140-million expansion will be carried out over six months and create 48,000 jobs. The projects annual capacity will include 150 million cable, connection and computer peripheral devices; 272 million electronics items; 30 million smartwatches; 15 million touch pens; 98 million home electronics appliances; 55 million communication equipment items; and 220 million blood glucose meters. Luxshare-ICT is also a major investor in the northern province of Bac Giang. In November 2023, its subsidiary Luxshare-ICT (Vietnam) Limited received approval to raise registered capital in its Bac Giang project by $330 million, increasing the total investment to $504 million. Indonesian President-elect pays attention to domestic market to attract investors By Vietnam News Agency Mon, March 25, 2024 | 4:53 pm GMT+7 The Indonesian incoming administration led by President-elect Prabowo Subianto will highlight the countrys large domestic market to attract foreign investors. Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto. Photo courtesy of AFP/Vietnam News Agency. Drajad Wibowo, an economic expert on Prabowos campaign team, said that in addition to the advantage of being the worlds fourth-most-populous country, Indonesia sees the abundance of raw materials as another selling point, much like incumbent President Joko Widodo. Regarding the sector that Prabowo will focus on for foreign investment, Drajad said the President-elect will push for developing downstream industries based on 21 locally sourced commodities, including coal, nickel, oil palm products, biofuel and timber. Drajad said Indonesia had been too focused on just making crude palm oil (CPO) from palm fruit when there were plenty of other derivative products that could be produced. A lot of palm derivatives can be used for food and beverages. The food and beverage market in Indonesia is huge, and the country is still not consuming enough domestically sourced ingredients, said Drajad. The appeal of Indonesias domestic market with a population of about 270 million is attractive enough to lure investors, he said. He said the ultimate goal is to export the downstream products under the assumption that, once it got a strong foothold in Indonesia, a product could expand to other Asian markets, effectively making the archipelago a stepping stone for investors. Drajad also mentioned the export potential of wood products, which commonly ended up as construction materials or pulp and paper but can instead be processed into rayon, a high-end fashion material. However, Drajad admitted that it is impossible to apply the downstream agenda to all of the 21 commodities, given resource limitations. Therefore, one of them will become Prabowos flagship, much like nickel to Jokowi, he added. Drajad also said Prabowo will focus on boosting investment in labour-intensive businesses, including in agriculture. He reiterated that Prabowo will push the much-discussed food estate project, which can complement Prabowos free school lunch and nutrition programme. The programme targets more than 82 million students from preschool to senior high school and is expected to cost at least 100 trillion IDR ($6.32 billion) in its initial year and 460 trillion IDR a year once it reaches full scale in 2029. That number is equal to 12% of Indonesias state budget this year and approximately 2% of the countrys GDP Australias Northern Territory government is working hard to make the economy stronger and more diverse through a range of initiatives, including the Population Growth Strategy, the Economic Development Framework, the Infrastructure Strategy, and target stimulus programs. The government's annual infrastructure program continues to focus on supporting employment and industrial economic activities through a series of projects to build roads, hospitals and healthcare facilities, schools and training establishments, regional and public housing, community safety facilities, and community and tourism infrastructure. The strategy also directs the Northern Territorys priority areas. The governments of Australia and the Northern Territory, local authorities and the private sector will work together to promote investment in future infrastructure. Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory. Photo courtesy of Getty Images. Economic environment The structure of the Northern Territory economy is very different to the national economy, reflecting the relative impact that major projects can have on small communities. It is undergoing a transition from the levels of private investment which have driven the Northern Territory in recent times, to broader, export-driven economic growth. This has led to the expansion of many economic sectors, especially through INPEX Corporation's recent $37 billion Ichthys LNG project, which is estimated to contribute an additional $5 billion to the Northern Territorys annual investment. The $37 billion Ichthys LNG project implemented by INPEX Corporation. Photo courtesy of INPEX This scale of investment is being balanced by smaller projects. This creates a major challenge for infrastructure, employment and population growth that cannot be addressed through government investment. The Northern Territory has a strong portfolio with many private projects which can help boost the economy. Its strengths in energy and minerals, tourism, agriculture, defence, and emerging industries such as tropical health research, international education, environmental services and innovative technology will provide many opportunities for long-term economic growth. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund (NAIF) is a $5 billion loan fund established by the Australian government to support economic infrastructure, industry expansion and long-term population growth for the northern region of the country. Projects will need to demonstrate public benefit and the need for NAIF funding, involving building or enhancing economic infrastructure with the strategic participation of Aboriginal people, and prove their ability to pay back loans. The NAIF will consider a variety of infrastructure projects in the fields of airports, communications, energy, ports, railway, and irrigation. Although it prioritizes loans larger than $50 million, smaller projects will still be considered. Territory-wide Logistics Master Plan Efficient movement of goods is a key component of the Northern Territory economy, better serving communities in remote areas and enhancing the attractiveness of investment destinations. To operate effectively, the Northern Territory's logistics network has been well planned, with adaptive infrastructure and appropriate regulations. The purpose of the Territory-wide Logistics Master Plan is to create favorable conditions to improve logistics and transport connectivity, meeting the domestic and international trade needs of the Northern Territory. To achieve the vision of a safe, efficient and reliable logistics and transport network that drives the socio-economic future of the Northern Territory, the government and the private sector must work together to carry out actions in priority areas. The Northern Territory's logistics network has been well planned, with adaptive infrastructure and appropriate regulation. Identifying policy drivers unlocking the full potential of the territory will boost Australia's prosperity - increasing trade and employment opportunities to maintain Australias position among the top world economies. The northern region is a development priority of Australia, and the Northern Territory is at the heart of this national agenda - with a key initiative to drive growth, including air, land and sea transport connectivity. This plan serves as a foundation to guide the government's future priorities (investment, policy and legality). The government and industries must work together to ensure that transport and logistics networks operate safely, efficiently and reliably. The plan is aligned with the Northern Territory Regional Development Framework and the 10-year infrastructure strategy built on consultations through the recently published planning discussion documents. In terms of imports and exports, the Northern Territory Regional Development Framework identifies key growth sectors within the Northern Territory. Industries whose growth relies heavily on transportation and logistics networks include agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture; energy and minerals; defense and supporting industries; tourism and community. Energy, agribusiness and defense are expected to see growth in the future, while the tourism sector is primarily based on passenger movement and time-sensitive shipment support. The Northern Territorys businesses and consumers depend heavily on efficiency in the transport of general goods, including construction materials, wholesale and retail distribution. The more efficiently the supply chain operates through well-planned services and infrastructure, the lower the cost of living for locals and the more opportunities there will be for successful growth. The Australian government has worked with state and territory governments to develop a National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy, setting an agenda for cooperation and integration in freight transport over the next 20 years. The coordinated national strategy and action plan were agreed by state governments at a meeting in August 2019. Based on that, a logistics plan has been made to realize the national strategy. Infrastructure focuses The Northern Territory government is committed to continuing to provide sustainable services at a high level over the long term. The territorys plan for generational transition includes investing in children; remote housing, education-health and police resources, and amendment of the justice system for young people. With the declining construction activity of the private sector, the Northern Territory government has proactively provided support through infrastructure programs, procurement policy reforms and target stimulus programs. Remote housing As part of a key plan to create jobs and enhance community safety, remote housing is a foundation for generational transition. The Northern Territory government has committed a budget of $1.1 billion over 10 years for remote housing, with $550 million from the federal government. This is an expansion of construction and investment activities across regional and remote areas of the territory, providing opportunities to improve output and economic growth for the bush region. Investment in remote housing will attract commitments through the Local Decision Making initiative. This investment will create opportunities to support local economic development, build capacity for Aboriginal businesses, and train and create jobs for Aboriginal people. Tourism Tourism is an important part of the Northern Territory's economy, supporting thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises. As part of the $103 million tourism stimulus program, the Northern Territory government is developing long-term sector strategies to enhance and consolidate the actions being taken. The Northern Territory's government continues to support tourism initiatives to increase private investment, attract visitors and create jobs for locals. In May 2019, a $62.8 million tourism initiative support program called Turbo2 was announced. Transport and logistics The Northern Territory government continues to focus on integrating community and land development needs with these sectors' best practice to ensure the logistics and passenger transport networks are connected across the territory from urban areas to regional centers, mining areas, and remote Aboriginal communities. Strategic transportation planning will ensure the safe, reliable and effective operation of the logistics network to address the current and future needs of people and resources for key industries, tourism, livestock farming, energy, and agriculture. The dry dock at East Arm will be the largest ship lifting facility in the Northern Territory. This will be a catalyst for the development of the territorys marine maintenance and services industry. Urban public housing The Northern Territory's government provides a wide range of urban public housing options in major centers across the territory. There are many sizes and types, depending on purposes, with adjustments to fit people with disabilities. The Northern Territory's government is also building a $45 million redevelopment area at John Stokes Square in Nightcliff, including 76 new units and two-bedroom public houses for older people and those living with disabled people, a 24-hour police station, and a campus with an open space directly connecting Nightcliff village and Nightcliff shopping center. Public safety and legality The Northern Territory's government continues to provide infrastructure, focusing on supporting police and emergency services, tackling anti-social behavior and alcohol supply violations, and supporting children and young people at risk through the youth justice system. Education Investing in education infrastructure is not just an investment in the economy and people but also an investment in the future of the Northern Territory. Quality infrastructure contributes to quality learning and the government will continue to invest in projects that support the needs and outcomes of education and training. International education ranks 8th among the Northern Territorys exports and Australia is considered the third leading educational destination in the world. The Charles Darwin University is partnering with the governments of Australia and the Northern Territory, as well as with Darwin city, to launch a new training facility at the Darwin Center for local, national and international students. This will be the centerpiece of a new civic and educational hub. Defense and supporting industries The Northern Territory's government recognizes that defense will have a significant role in the territory, which is expected to provide $18.5 billion for defense in the Northern Territory over the next 20 years. Potential investment areas Agriculture The Northern Territory boasts all fields of agricultural production: livestock, farming, forestries, fisheries, herbal medicine, and food. Agricultural supporting industries supply agricultural chemicals, agricultural machinery, fences, irrigation equipment and seeds. They also provide services such as research, breeding, processing, packaging, and distribution. Sheep are taken to a truck for sale at the market. Photo courtesy of Jo-Anne McArthur. The Northern Territory is taking concrete actions to improve agricultural supply chains, strengthen the resilience of the agricultural workforce, and support agricultural operators to embrace new technology. Tourism Tourism creates jobs and makes a major contribution to the Northern Territory economy, with the ability to provide many unique cultural and natural experience products for domestic and international visitors. Tourism is a highly competitive industry and increased visitor number and spending will require careful consideration of how the Northern Territory will compete with other destinations within Australia and globally. Tourists experience a boat tour to watch crocodiles jumping on the Adelaide River, the Northern Territory. Photo courtersy of Shaana McNaught. For tourism growth, the Northern Territory government and the tourism industry are in need of investment to improve existing products, while identifying, developing and encouraging opportunities for tourism infrastructure and products that meet visitors' expectations. The key factors of tourism impacting the Northern Territory economy are the number of visitors, their stay times and spending, and profits earned by the territory through tour operators. Energy and minerals The Northern Territory has significant onshore and offshore energy reserves, and is a long-standing historical supplier of oil, gas and uranium to the global market. The territory can contribute to improving energy security for the country and the world. The Northern Territorys ore-rich economic potential is fundamental. World-class mineral projects contribute significantly to its economic growth and its government continues to invest in exploration of reserves and dissemination of geographical information to attract investment in mining and support project kickstarts. International education and training The Northern Territorys international education and training industry, despite being relatively small, has huge growth potential. International students come to the Northern Territory to study in high schools, vocational schools, colleges and universities as well as learn English and pursue post-graduate education. Global competition is quite high, so the territory needs to develop and maintain its unique values. To increase the number of international students, the Northern Territory's government has been working with educational institutions, businesses and multicultural organizations to upgrade the quality of training and student experience. There are many opportunities to attract students seeking higher education and groups engaging in study tours as well as provide work experience opportunities for students. International education, research and training are also important in establishing and nurturing diplomatic, trade and investment relationships in the territory. International students will help strengthen cultural and socio-economic cooperation, bringing the world to the Northern Territory. They contribute to enriching economic, social and cultural identities. Those who stay in the Northern Territory to work after graduating will contribute to diversifying and adding skills to the local workforce. Defense industry The defense industry and its supporting industries include many different types of businesses, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, focusing on technology and engineering. The supporting industries in this field include marine supply, heavy engineering, electrical and control systems, maintenance, repairs, and logistics networks. They help save costs for defense and border forces as they allow local maintenance and repairs and the supply of local products. Darwin is the right place to support military, national security and humanitarian activities in the northern and northwestern regions of Australia. It is also in the Northern Territorys interests to maintain a strong and stable military presence. Darwin is rapidly emerging as a go-to place for port maintenance for defense and border guard forces, as well as offshore oil and gas and the maritime industries. ISTANBUL, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye is promoting niche tourism sites across the country and year-round activities by spearheading the Tourism Century campaign. The program launched on March 8 also aimed at attracting high-income groups, said Firuz Baglikaya, head of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB), its initiator. The association will explore ways to add cultural and artistic elements to tourism products and host workshops to engage local communities of some destinations and raise awareness about regional tourism values. TURSAB stands as one of the largest professional organizations in the country, boasting a membership of over 15,000 travel agencies. Currently, Istanbul, Antalya along the Mediterranean coast, and a few resort towns along the Aegean shores amount to nearly 75 percent of Turkey's tourism potential, Hamit Kuk, chief advisor to the TURSAB president, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Turkish tourism agencies need to explore and get familiar with the potential in other parts of the country, such as the provinces of Ardahan and Diyarbakir, as well as many other eastern and central provinces, he added. "For example, we have a 2,500 km long coastline stretching from the southeastern province of Hatay to Ayvalik, a resort town in the western Balikesir province, home to nearly 2,000 ancient cities," Kuk stated. Kuk noted that the average spending of foreign tourists visiting Turkiye remains below 1,000 U.S. dollars, partly due to the dominance of traditional beach tourism. "With the incorporation of bicycle tours, invigorating nature walks, captivating winter tourism, and an array of alternative tourism experiences into the framework of the new project, it's anticipated that per capita spending will continue to grow," he said. Revenue from tourism in Turkiye increased by 17 percent year-on-year to 54.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, and the number of visitors rose by 10 percent to 56.7 million. Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said Turkiye targets 60 million visitors and 60 billion dollars of tourism revenue in 2024. Clemson Cooperative Extensions Ag + Art Tour was already the nations largest free farm tour, with more than 100,000 visitors since it began, and this years tour will showcase the states cultural heritage and hard-working farmers to more South Carolinians than ever. Ag + Art Tour Clemson Cooperative Extensions Ag + Art Tour was already the nations largest free farm tour, with more than 100,000 visitors since it began. Recognized by the South Carolina House of Representatives last year as a national example of a program that champions agritourism, the 2024 South Carolina Ag + Art Tour has added nine new counties to 11 that have previously participated to feature over 150 tour sites statewide. Get TheTandD.com for $1 for 26 weeks Support local journalism by becoming a member at www.TheTandD.com. View our latest offer at https://thetandd.com/subscribe. Clemson Extension Agribusiness Agent Will Culler, the tours director, said the free self-guided farm and art tour is a way to educate people about where their food and fiber come from and introduce them to local artisans, while also supporting the states agribusiness industry. We are proud of the commitment of our farms, artisans and county teams. Because of that, we can sustain continued growth, Culler said. One of our goals has been to give people a better knowledge of what is produced in their backyard and help them to support local businesses while making healthier food choices. This event does that by putting food and product with a face. Warm winters may sound good, but they can cause problems later Allergy season is starting earlier, and its intensity is also getting worse as the concentration of pollen in the air has also risen. Since it began in York County in 2012, the tour has added at least one new county each year, and South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers has called it a tribute to the beauties of agritourism. Blending in the art component, I just think thats fascinating. The variety of opportunities that families have now to do that and the way its grown with the number of counties involved is a clear example of how a collaborative effort gets the results it receives, Weathers said. USDA seeks trust in 'Product of USA' Monday, at the National Farmers Union Annual Convention, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sec. Tom Vilsack announced the finalization of a rule to align the voluntary Product of USA label claim with consumer understanding of what the claim means. Tour stops include farms and farmers markets, and artisans on the tour range from weavers, painters, storytellers, metalworkers, and craftspeople to poets and live musical performances. Some farms offer value-added products, such as jarred and canned foods, honey, baked goods or even farm-fresh meals. There is no fee to attend; visitors can start and stop their tour at any location. The Ag + Art Tour is all about rural tourism, agricultural tourism and the ag experience. The tour has grown over the years and touched the lives of so many people not just in agricultural education, but also rural and community revitalization and economic development. This years tour includes farms and artisans in 20 counties, with different counties participating each weekend in May and June. More information about the participating farms, markets, artisans and ancillary sites can be found online can be found at www.agandarttour.com. Becky Hill, the beleaguered Colleton County clerk of court who became a celebrity in the aftermath of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial last year and then was enmeshed in numerous controversies, announced her resignation at a Monday news conference. Alex Murdaugh Appeal Michael Gunn, of Forge Consulting, gives the witness oath by Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill, right, during Alex Murdaugh's double Just over a year after she stood on the balcony of the courthouse and received the grateful thanks of the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office following Murdaughs conviction, a composed and resolute Hill tendered her resignation, with barely an acknowledgment that her actions had thrown the Murdaugh case into chaos. Get The Times and Democrat app today Local news has never been this personal. Free to download. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access. The resignation from her $101,256-a-year job is effective immediately. Hill, a Republican first elected in 2020, made her announcement in front of the Colleton County courthouse, standing beside one of her attorneys, state Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg. It has been my honor to serve as your Colleton County Clerk of Court, Hill said Monday. In her brief remarks, she thanked her staff and reflected on the day-to-day operations of the courthouse as well as the Murdaugh trial, which brought the international spotlight to Colleton County. The trial would ultimately see her mired in controversy, including allegations of jury tampering, investigations by state ethics and law enforcement agencies, as well as the admission that she had plagiarized sections of her memoir. Scrutiny from national and international media had caused me to reflect on my decisions involving my stay in the office of clerk of court, Hill said, reading from a prepared statement. And so after my reflection, I have decided that it is best not to run again for re-election. I will now be able to focus on being a wife, a mother and a grandmother to my two grand-boys, and will be spending time with the people who mean the most to me. Her resignation would be effective immediately, said Bamberg. A resignation letter would be delivered to South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster Monday and Hills position would initially be filled by her deputy clerk of court, Gary Hale, Bamberg said. Hill was also moved to resign because controversies had become a distraction to the public trying to make informed decisions about the upcoming election for clerk of court, Bamberg said. One week remains in the filing period for candidates across the state, and Hill and her attorney stated that the controversies attached to her had become central to the race. The presence of multiple news outlets, including journalists from three newspapers as well as TV stations from around the state, to cover the resignation of a local official showed just how much scrutiny Hill is still under. Bamberg strongly denied that Hills decision to resign was motivated by any developments in the investigations against Hill. Let me be extremely clear, today is not a response whatsoever to anything going on with any investigation... today is about the people of Colleton County, Bamberg said. It is what it is. Hill is under investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division because of allegations that she used her elected position for personal gain in trying to promote a insider book she wrote about her behind-the-scenes experiences at the Murdaugh murder trial last year. Hill also was accused by Murdaughs attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, of tampering with Murdaugh jury members in hopes of persuading them to reach a quick guilty verdict in order to promote her book, Behind the Doors of Justice, published last year a few months after the trial. However, Judge Jean Toal ruled in January that there was not enough evidence to show that Hills contacts with jurors influenced them. Hills resignation comes nearly three months after she admitted she plagiarized sections of her insider Murdaugh book in late December from an article for the BBC. The book was quickly withdrawn from publication. Hill apologized for the plagiarism, which blindsided her co-author, Neil Gordon, who had played no role in the plagiarism. Gordon released a statement on Monday. A SLED agent interviewed me Friday morning. They expressed a great deal of concern about Becky possibly using her office for personal gain, said Gordon in his statement. In their questioning of me, they were honing in on how many different times Becky did book signings, interviews, and speaking engagements during the workday. I sincerely hope her resignation lessens any potential action taken against her, and that it restores public trust in the office of clerk of court, Gordon said. A spokesperson for SLED Monday described the investigation into Hill as active and ongoing, but declined to provide any details. Two employees of Colleton County also filed complaints against Hill with the state ethics commission, alleging that Hill misused her position. Hills resignation also comes nearly four months after her son, Jeff Hill, was arrested by SLED agents on wiretapping charges and fired from his $90,537-a-year job as Colleton County technology director. The wiretapping charges involve allegations he eavesdropped on other people and used county equipment to do so. In the aftermath of the Murdaugh murder trial in March 2023, Hill flew to New York with several jurors from the trial and was interviewed on national television. She also was one of the first to publish a book about the trial, using her perch as a court official with access to the jury and behind-the-scenes goings-on to spin a narrative of one of Americas most-watched criminal trials in years. Hill also appeared as a witness in a nationally televised Court TV airing of a hearing in January in a bid by Murdaugh to win a new trial. The jury tampering allegations were the main focus of the hearing. Judge Toal indicated that she did not believe portions of Hills testimony. During Murdaughs six-week trial at the Colleton County courthouse, Hill quickly gained a reputation for being friendly, competent and helpful to the public, media and court officials. After the trials verdict was announced on the evening of March 2, 2023, State Attorney General Alan Wilson publicly praised Hill at a news conference in front of the Colleton County courthouse. Wilson called her by her nickname, Becky Boo, before using her formal title. I want to thank you, Madame Clerk, for you, the entire team, the bailiffs, the court security, the staff here, there was no role that was too small they werent willing to do for us, said a jubilant Wilson, whose team of prosecutors had just convinced the Murdaugh jury to return guilty verdicts in less than three hours. In her book, Hill wrote about how complicated the entire Murdaugh story is, with the double murders of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh, and numerous unexpected developments. I guess we will wait to see if any other twists reveal themselves and take the Murdaugh saga in another surprising direction, Hill wrote, not realizing that she herself would be one of those twists. In addition to Bamberg, Hill is also represented by attorney Will Lewis. Orangeburg Department of Public Safety An Orangeburg woman allegedly sent a text message threatening to harm everyone at the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services office in Orangeburg. Amy H. Chavis, 42, of 121 Tudon Road, is facing six counts of threatening the life of a public official. She was taken into custody on Thursday. According to an incident report, Chavis allegedly sent a text message to a probation officer on March 8. The probation officer showed the text message to police. The message said many things, including I will come blow that office TF up you b - - - - - - -. The message also used a racial epithet and, at the end, said Im so sorry Im high asf. Chavis is serving a probation term after she pleaded guilty on July 27, 2022 to forgery valued less than $10,000. Circuit Judge Roger M. Young Sr. sentenced her to five years in prison, suspended to probation for five years. If Chavis is convicted on six counts of threatening the life of a public official, she faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each one. In an unrelated report, someone stole two pickup trucks from a Riverbank Drive residence just after 1 a.m. Thursday. The stolen trucks include a 2004 red Ford F250 and a 1998 black Dodge Ram 1500. The stolen trucks are valued at $14,000. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Federal prosecutors have charged a South Carolina man with carjacking resulting in death and the gunning down of a New Mexico state police officer who had stopped to help him. Authorities made the announcement Friday on the steps of the federal courthouse in Albuquerque, just before Jaremy Smith made his first court appearance. The March 15 fatal shooting of State Police Officer Justin Hare along Interstate 40 set off a search for Smith. The suspect was wounded and captured two days later by sheriff's deputies after they got a tip from a gas station clerk. South Carolina authorities also have identified Smith as a person of interest in the killing of a paramedic there. To watch him work is to witness genius a master artisan wielding a pinpoint, 10-inch flame so hot it melts colored glass, which he then presses and molds into exotic shapes for finished art. World-renowned glass artist Paul J. Stankard, a Boston-area transplant who for more than 60 years has called southern New Jersey home, this year serves as artist-in-residence for students in Rowan Universitys Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts. His work, glass orbs and cubes that sell for thousands of dollars, is breathtakingly creative. Embedded with intricate, hand-blown sculptures of regional plants, flowers, even human figures, Stankards work is on display or has been shown in the worlds best-loved galleries, from the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Louvre in Paris. I make all of the floral components from glass, then encapsulate them in glass, Stankard, of Mantua Township, said from his home studio. His movements are swift, delicate, but sure as he works around a flame ranging from 1,800 to more than 4,000 degrees. For one recent piece, he melted a thin, red glass rod, then stretched it so he could press out rose petals. Using the same technique, Stankard makes fruit, bees and other intricate features that seem to float in spheres of solid glass. Ive been sitting behind the bench like this for 62 years and I still love it, he said with a sly wink. Dr. Sanford Tweedie, dean of Edelman CCCA, said between Stankards clear brilliance and passion for his work, hell be a great inspiration to student artists. As artist-in-residence, Stankard will interact with students in his home studio and on campus, give talks and demonstrate how he creates his celebrated art. This is an opportunity for students to work with artistic genius, Tweedie said. Hes got 60-plus years of success in this field and still has an innocent delight in what he does. A documentary about his life and work, Paul J. Stankard: Fire and Flame, by award-winning director Daniel R. Collins, will screen on campus at 6:30 p.m. April 11 in King Auditorium in Bozorth Hall. (See trailer below.) Stankard will participate in a Q&A afterwards. Tweedie said additional glass-related programming within Edelman CCCA could soon be in the works. From industry to art Stankards career was inspired by his father, an organic chemist whose array of fine scientific glassware intrigued him. After earning a technical certification in scientific glassblowing from Salem Community College in 1962, Stankard worked for about ten years making a wide array of vessels for scientists. Id make beakers, vacuum equipment, distillation heads, all kinds of stuff from heat-resistant borosilicate glass, and I loved it, Stankard said. He soon found himself drawn to creating small gift items, like tiny glass horses that his then-girlfriend (now wife) loved, as well as paperweights, which Stankard described as a South Jersey tradition. That tradition, he said, originated in France, where fine glass paperweights became popular following the Industrial Revolution when there was a wider availability of writing paper. Though they also became popular in the U.S., American glass paperweights were considered inferior to expensive, high-quality French ones, and Stankard committed himself to making similarly fine art pieces. Selling them on the Atlantic City boardwalk in 1972, he was discovered by famed art gallerist Reese Palley, who encouraged Stankard to pursue a full-time career in art, and he did. Deep connection to Rowan Stankard, who received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Rowan in 1997, donated one of his works, Pinelands Bouquet, to the institution in 2000. Rowan this year commissioned a piece by Stankard for Nobel Prize-winning chemist and Princeton University Professor David MacMillan, who spoke at the University as part of the Centennial Lecture Series Feb. 16. Stankard taught flamework glass at Rowan as an adjunct in the 1990s. During his residency, Stankard said hell urge them to pursue their passion, whatever it is. As an artist, you have to find out what you care about, and become obsessed with it, he said. See Stankards work and learn more about him at PaulStankard.com. View the Fire & Flame trailer: How Bulgarians make sense of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. You can be an example for us, says Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya. I interviewed the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition in Sofia for Bulgarian National TV on 4 March, the day after Bulgarias national holiday. Many believe she actually won the fraudulent presidential elections in 2020. You recently celebrated your Liberation Day, Tsikhanouskaya said, addressing her Bulgarian viewers. You know what oppression and struggle for freedom means. That if you want to get rid of dictatorship and become part of the democratic world, you have to fight I want the Bulgarians to understand what is happening in Belarus. We know each other so little! This is true indeed. Few Bulgarians know how Belarusians and even Ukrainians differ from Russians. A case of point is a certain General Iosif Gurko (1828-1901), a field marshal descended from Belarusian nobility. He played a crucial role in the fight for Bulgarias freedom, which Tsikhanouskaya mentioned, liberating Sofia in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. But he was part of the Russian imperial army. I pointed this out and asked Tsikhanouskaya, How can Bulgarians differentiate between Russia and Belarus? She answered, We defend our identity, nation, and language against [Alyaksandr] Lukashenkas regime, who is Russifying Belarus and wants to incorporate it in the russkiy mir. (The Russian world, a concept embracing not only Russians and their compatriots abroad but also foreign citizens who speak or learn Russian and who take an active interest in the future of the Russian Federation.) It was Lukashenka who stole Tsikhanouskayas victory back in 2020, many believe and it was Russian President Vladimir Putin who helped him do that. All these facts, paradoxes, and sentiments are part of Bulgarias debate about 3 March. It celebrates the San Stefano Treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, which ended the Russo-Turkish War. Should our National Day mark a date when Bulgaria was absent from the negotiations and a Russian imperial endeavor was crowned? ask many. This was the day when Bulgaria was born and we should be thankful to Russia, retort others. The former opinion is typical for the pro-Western and urban liberal part of Bulgarias society. Their political representation, We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria even proposed to include another national day in the constitution. Yet when the backlash brought home that the majority did not subscribe to the idea, they retracted it. Russian troops crossing the Danube in June 1877 during the Russo-Turkish War. Painting by Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, 1883, via Wikipedia. Part of this debate is over whom Bulgaria should officially pay thanks to on 3 March: to Russia only, or to the nations whose soldiers comprised the imperial army: Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Finns, Romanians. There is a problem here: we cannot return in time and ask those people about their self-identification back then. Take the general and military theorist Mikhail Dragomirov, a participant in the Russo-Turkish War. He was in the Russian service and came from western Ukraine, but sources are not uniform on whether his father was Polish or Ukrainian. Thousands of Ukrainians died in the War of Liberation. How did they define themselves? Its hard to say. Later, it was easier. Liberated Bulgaria became a harbor for Ukrainians driven away by the persecutions of the Russian imperial power. The most famous among them, Professor Mykhailo Drahomanov (1841-1895), lived, taught, and died in Sofia. An economist, philologist, philosopher, historian, ethnographer, politician, and socialist, Drahomanov was one of the greatest advocates of Ukrainian independence. His circle included many intellectuals, as well as those from Hromada, the illegal society for the dissemination of the Ukrainian language. The entire family devoted their lives to the awakening of Ukraine: his sister Olga Kosach, known by the pseudonym Olena Pchilka, as well as her daughter Larisa Kosach, the legendary Lesya Ukrainka (1871-1913), who also lived in Bulgaria for a while. In fact, Drahomanov settled in Bulgaria at the invitation of his son-in-law, who occupies an honorable place in Bulgarian history and culture. A writer, philologist, teacher, minister, and founder of the Pan-European Movement, Professor Ivan Shishmanov married Drahomanovs daughter Lidia and in 1918 became the first and only Bulgarian ambassador to the short-lived independent Ukrainian state. If we are looking for the best metaphor for the relations between Bulgarians and Ukrainians, let us say something about the sculptor Mykhailo Parashchuk, who moved to Bulgaria in 1921 and gave his enormous talent to his second homeland. One of his works was Drahomanovs memorial at the Central Sofia Cemetery. In other words, Bulgarians were not blind to the separate Ukrainian identity in the times when it was affirming itself in full strength. Nowadays, however, quite a few understand that the Ukrainians and the Belarusian opposition are fighting two battles at once. One is the struggle for freedom and liberal democracy against an oppressive Russian dictatorship and its cronies, such as Lukashenka. The other is the quest for identity and nation-building, out of the shadow of an imperial project. Pro-Western, liberal Bulgarians often discard the latter. Globalists and natural cosmopolitans, they sometimes forget that a crucial prerequisite for a free nation is to have a nation. And that the struggle against Russian aggression is fought also by ardent patriots who cherish national identity myths, an incomprehensible and partly unacceptable feature for post-modern societies. Here we are in uncharted territory. Often someones hero is anothers villain. General Gurko, the Belarusian liberator of Sofia, is known also for his brutality as the imperial governor of Warsaw from 1883 to 1894; Polish tourists are outraged to see his memorabilia in the Bulgarian capital. Identities are strange, complicated, and even confusing. But that is a good dissertation topic in a free country. When freedom is absent, identities fight, defend, and assert their right to exist. War is not a time for dissertations there will be plenty of time to write afterward. After the victory that, as Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya said, you have to fight for. . . . Boyko Vassilev is the moderator and producer of the weekly Panorama news talk show on Bulgarian National Television. BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, will lead a delegation of young people from Taiwan to visit the mainland from April 1 to 11, a mainland spokesperson said on Monday. Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the delegation will visit Guangdong and Shaanxi provinces as well as Beijing to attend a ceremony honoring China's legendary ancestor Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, as well as other events. Chen extended a warm welcome, voicing hopes that compatriots across the Taiwan Strait can jointly carry on the fine Chinese traditional culture, promote exchanges and cooperation in various sectors between the two sides including young people, advance the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and jointly promote national rejuvenation. JACKSON After years of deliberation, Wyoming has a plan for one of the longest-standing and most controversial wildlife management practices in the Cowboy State: Feeding elk and maintaining elk feedgrounds. Though Idaho and Montana have eliminated elk feeding programs, except in emergency situations, Wyoming has continued to lay out feedlines for wintering wapiti. The state feeds elk to maintain population numbers and entice elk to winter away from private land, where they can cause property damage, eat ranchers hay, and spread diseases like brucellosis to wildlife. But when elk are fed, they congregate in close quarters, increasing the risk of transmitting diseases like chronic wasting disease, an always-fatal neurological condition spreading through western Wyomings elk herds. Research indicates that if feeding stops, elk populations will fall in the short term. But if feeding continues, researchers predict populations will crater even further as chronic wasting disease sets in, causing widespread population declines. Under the new plan, Wyoming will continue feeding elk. But local staff at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department will start to develop plans for feedgrounds to accomplish two goals onlookers have described as contradictory needle-threading: continuing to feed in a way that limits disease transmission, but reducing reliance on supplemental feed while adhering to specific sideboards. We are faced with a new challenge with CWD, Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik said March 12, shortly before the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission voted unanimously to approve the Wyoming Elk Feedgrounds Management Plan. I think this is our best step forward to try to address that. The governor-appointed board voted for the plan, after making modifications requested by outfitters. One change removed a sentence in the plan that declared feeding unsustainable. The department will now have to determine where to begin. The state operates 22 feedgrounds spread across six herd units in western Wyoming. Game and Fishs Jackson and Pinedale regions both oversee their herd units, and officials want each office to tackle one herd unit a year, meaning it should take three years to complete all six plans. Working groups, tasked with developing feedground management action plans, will hold public workshops. Regional wildlife disease biologists from Jackson and Pinedale will coordinate the effort. Wildlife managers plan to meet in the next month to decide which herd unit will be first. Theyre all equally important in my opinion, but some of them may get elevated to the top based on decisions made in other federal processes, said Brad Hovinga, Game and Fishs regional wildlife supervisor for the Jackson region and one of the key architects of the state feedgrounds plan. Wyomings overarching plan is now complete. But planning for the future of individual state feedgrounds will begin as the U.S. Forest Service and National Elk Refuge make decisions about feeding on federal land. The Bridger-Teton National Forest, for example, is deciding whether or not to reauthorize expired permits for the Dell Creek and Forest Park feedgrounds. That process has resulted in backlash from ranchers and outfitters who say theyll fight the closure of any state feedgrounds via the executive branch. The refuge, meanwhile, is revising its 2007 Bison and Elk Management Plan, which established how officials manage and feed elk on the 24,700-acre refuge north of Jackson. The refuge has been trying to wean elk off feed since 2019, using a strategy that environmental groups say is too slow. That plan has not worked, in part because of wicked winters and in part because of Game and Fishs concerns about elk causing problems on private land that made it nearly impossible to limit feeding. Progress on those two plans may determine which herd units Game and Fish focuses on first, Hovinga said. Environmental groups and outfitters contested the feedgrounds plan at the March meeting when it was approved. Conservationists said it didnt go far enough, arguing that phasing out feeding was necessary to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease and to avoid harming western Wyomings elk. In contrast, outfitters called on the department to move slowly, crediting feeding with maintaining elk populations and quality hunting. But one Pinedale hunter said he was worried about where elk are headed, and urged support of the plan. Feedgrounds have worked great for the past 90 to 100 years. And they still work great. But we have a new kid on the block called CWD, Bill Ames said. We have to look at the long-term success of elk, when there isnt a model out there that shows continuing feedground operations like we are is better for elk. Gov. Mark Gordon made the final mark on Wyomings next two-year budget Saturday morning with his signature and dozens of line-item vetoes. This budget addresses our challenges and positions Wyoming for a prosperous future, Gordon said in a statement. We are fighting federal overreach, advancing our industries, providing practical property tax relief, ensuring adequate funding for our schools, counties, and communities and providing the services Wyoming residents expect. Gordon thanked the Legislature for including many of the provisions his administration had requested, including funding for the 988 suicide lifeline, new school construction, a property tax refund program as well as increased savings. On the other hand, Gordon said many of his line-item vetoes were meant to uphold the separation of powers and limit the scope of the budget bill to regular government expenses. Gordon struck language but not appropriations related to employee compensation, border assistance and diversity, equity and inclusion programming at the University of Wyoming. He also axed funding for a Wheatland water tower and a Riverton recreation center but kept 24 state positions the Legislature voted to cut. While Gordon approved the final product, he also let lawmakers know he was less than impressed with the contentious and chaotic way the budget came to be. The session began with a leadership fight in the Senate then the House temporarily walked away from budget negotiations and members of the Senate Appropriations Committee voted against their own work product. Ultimately, it ended with the upper chamber only narrowly passing the budget. Last year in my budget line-item veto letter of the supplemental budget, I congratulated both chambers on passing a budget in record time all while increasing transparency. It is unfortunate this session did not follow suit, Gordon wrote in his veto letter. Over 300 amendments to this one bill, some of which were introduced to save legislation that failed earlier in the session, almost caused the budget bill to share the same fate. Lawmakers cannot override any of Gordons line-item vetoes since they are no longer in session. However, in the wake of Gordons budget announcement, Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. John Bear (R-Gillette) called for a special session in a press release. The Legislature met for the full 20 days of the budget session, but Bear accused leadership of adjourning early since three extra days were technically available to lawmakers. The decision of legislative leadership to adjourn early served as an open invitation to Governor Gordon to veto measures important to the people of Wyoming with no recourse, Bear wrote, pointing to Gordons action on the budget and several rejected bills including a ban on gun-free zones and new abortion restrictions. Returning to Cheyenne wont come cheap a special session costs approximately $100,000 a day. Details Gordon did not shy away from the budgets more controversial appropriations. Lawmakers included $750,000 to reimburse Wyoming law enforcement that assists with securing the United States border in Texas. Gordon kept the funding but struck the language limiting use of the funds to law enforcement. Any state agency may now be eligible. I greatly appreciate the intent of this footnote and I will note the requests received by my office to assist with the border crisis are ever changing, Gordon wrote in his letter. To best meet these needs as they are expressed I have sought some flexibility in the way these funds are spent. Gordon vetoed a portion of a budget footnote to defund UWs Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and related programming a major target of Wyomings far right. More specifically, Gordon removed a line that would prohibit state funds from going toward any diversity, equity and inclusion program, activity or function. That portion was estimated to jeopardize roughly $120 million of UWs federal research funds per year. These grants are vital to research and other core purposes of the university, but with the condition that the recipients extend opportunities to participate to underrepresented and underserved populations, including veterans, people with disabilities, Native Americans, and others, Gordon wrote. Regardless of Gordons decision, UW President Ed Seidel indicated his focus was on the will of the Legislature. We certainly will continue to value and serve students, employees and community members of all genders, ethnicities and backgrounds, and work to make everyone feel welcome, Seidel said in a statement Saturday morning. But the message from lawmakers, regardless of the welcomed line-item veto from the Governor, is that our DEI efforts must change, and discussions are underway to determine the best path forward. The universitys trustees, who oversee Seidel, indicated support Thursday for the schools DEI programs. Much of the budget bill heartburn in the Legislature related to school construction, and lawmakers sparred over the process that was used to select new school sites. Weighing in, Gordon removed language that would define priority in the school capital construction section as a project that was recommended by his office and not included in the budget recommendations of the school facilities commission. I am not vetoing the project, I am only vetoing any implication that I support the Legislature deviating from the standard prioritization process for the constriction of school facilities, Gordon wrote. As governor, Gordon has made employee compensation a priority of his administration. As such, he removed language that placed a limit on executive branch salary increases, adding that its in the purview of the executive to make such decisions. This provision infringes on the separation of powers and encroaches upon the inherent prerogative of the executive branch, Gordon wrote. This is contrary to my budget recommendation authority as it removes my discretionary power relating to the next biennial budget. For similar reasons, Gordon struck language that prescribed where funding for executive-branch employee compensation could be allocated and cut a provision that would require him to identify 24 executive-branch positions for elimination by October. As I noted in the beginning of this letter, I believe the Legislature has a practice of encroaching upon the inherent prerogatives of the executive branch, Gordon wrote. Requiring the executive branch to eliminate positions is just another example of this encroachment. When budget talks moved to a second committee of lawmakers, negotiators added $2.5 million for a community recreation center in Riverton. However, the appropriation was not an ordinary expense of state government, Gordon wrote. He also noted the fact that Sen. Tim Salazar (R-Riverton) ultimately voted against the budget. The principal sponsor of this provision did not support the final budget and, therefore, I must assume his enthusiasm for it had waned, Gordon wrote. Gordon applied a similar approach to a water tower in the district of Rep. Jeremy Haroldson (R-Wheatland), who also voted against the budget. Following the lead of local legislators who voted against the budget thereby indicating their regard for the inclusion of this project in the budget, Gordon wrote. Gordon added that the State Loan and Investment Board is aware of Wheatlands circumstances and is anxious to help the town using [Mineral Royalty Grant] funds as is customary for situations such as this. The budget goes into effect July 1. CHEYENNE A dispute between two men early Saturday morning led to the shooting death of a 25-year-old Cheyenne man. According to a news release from the Cheyenne Police Department, Cortaevius Williams died from a gunshot wound sometime after officers were dispatched to a report of a shooting at a residence in the 100 block of King Court. The address is in the south Cheyenne neighborhood west of Johnson Junior High School. Upon arrival, officers found Williams, who was the apparent victim of a gunshot wound. Officers began to administer first aid until medical personnel arrived. Williams was transported to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center by ambulance, where he was pronounced deceased. Later Saturday morning, Cheyenne Police detectives arrested Antonio Navarrete, 23, of Cheyenne for one count of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault. He was booked into the Laramie County jail without incident. The preliminary investigation shows that an argument occurred between Navarrete and Williams in the parking lot of a local bar at approximately 12:30 a.m. During the argument, Williams allegedly smashed the windshield of Navarretes vehicle. Navarrete left the bar with a group of friends and returned home. Williams left separately. Following the disturbance, Williams went to Navarretes residence to collect personal belongings. While there, another disturbance ensued, resulting in Williams being fatally shot. Other people were in proximity of the gunfire; however, no other injuries were reported. This case remains under investigation by the Cheyenne Police Department. Tell a liberal you favor lower taxes, and theyll respond by asking you if you want to go without paved roads, running sewers, and other critical infrastructure. This is a baseless argument. Everyone wants basic public goods and services to be well-funded and functional. Thats why Ill always support funding the constitutional and necessary functions of government. Our nations founding fathers knew that these things, like post offices, roads, clean water, and functioning sewers, just to name a few, are all necessary for a functioning society. What our founders didnt envision was a government that ballooned over 30% in five years. Our state government has become so detached from reality that it believed it could save and spend better than the people can. For these, and many other reasons, I joined 20 of my colleagues in the Wyoming House in voting against what constitutes the largest budget in Wyoming history. A budget that is laced with countless Legislative actions. Which I believe constitutes legislating in the budget. For this, the Governor has chosen to dangerously put lives and livelihoods in my district in jeopardy with one signature of his pen. The Governor issued a line-item veto to remove funding for an aging water tower in my home of Wheatland- a water tower that is in such poor shape, it could breach at any moment, destroying ten or more city blocks in its wake. Within the area of this aging tower are countless homes, churches, a nursing home, a school, and more. I believe that we should always attribute to misunderstanding what could otherwise be attributed to malice- and Ill never impugn someones motives for cheap points. Governor Gordon is playing politics with peoples lives and he even said so himself. In his veto letter, the Governor stated clearly that the reason for removing funding for the water tower was due to my vote against the budget: Following the lead of local legislators who voted against the budget thereby indicating their regard for the inclusion of this project in the budget, I have removed this provision. Not only is this move reckless and vindictive it is also likely unconstitutional. Known as punishment by appropriation, Gordons line-item veto violates Equal Protection principles as set out in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The state of Wyoming cannot deny funding to a city because its representative voted against the budget. I am personally disappointed that our governor would stoop to this kind of action. At the end of the day, this personally targeted veto is far from funny; it is a life-threatening, unconstitutional move. FOLLOWING a spate of robberies at its outlets across the country in just over a year and a half, Massy Stores yesterday replaced the firm responsible for its security. G4S Secure Solutions Trinidad Ltd yesterday assumed the role of security provider for Massy Stores, replacing Amalgamated Security Services Ltd. Kadeem Charles should be a dead man. On February 3, 2019, Charles, then just 20 years old, found himself looking down the wrong end of the barrel of an assault rifle, held by a masked assailant. Already shot in the back and unable to move his legs, the frightened Sea Lots-born youngster closed his eyes and silently called out for Jesus Christ. An elderly man visiting Trinidad from Canada has been murdered in his familys home by intruders. The body of Hilton Smith, 75, was found on Friday on a bed. His mouth was gagged, and his feet and hands tied. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), meets with Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Nepal's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Wang Huning, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), met on Monday with Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Nepal's deputy prime minister and foreign minister. Noting that the leaders of China and Nepal reached important consensus on developing bilateral ties in their meeting last year, Wang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called on the two sides to intensify political support, promote the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and enhance people-to-people connectivity. China is ready to work with Nepal to faithfully implement the important consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, advance the China-Nepal strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity, and push for an even closer community of shared future between China and Nepal, Wang said. "The CPPCC is willing to make positive contributions to the above-mentioned endeavors," said Wang. Shrestha said Nepal firmly adheres to the one-China principle, adding that Nepal expects enhanced communication and cooperation with China in various fields to better benefit the two peoples. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), meets with Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Nepal's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) Last Tuesday, 17 prison officers and six inmates were injured at the Port of Spain prison. Social media had described the incident as a riot, but when contacted by the Express, Commissioner of Prisons Deopersad Ramoutar downplayed the event, stating in a media release later that it was all in a days work for the prison officers who are at times, undervalued, and unappreciated. Everyones injuries were said to be minor, although all the officers involved were still sent on sick leave. Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, the first of three final candidates for University of Arizona provost, is on campus this week for his final interview. Abd-El-Khalick, who has served as the dean of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill since 2016, arrived in Tucson on Sunday. According to internal scheduling documents obtained by the Arizona Daily Star, his day began on Monday with meetings with UA President Robert C. Robbins and Chief Information Officer Barry Brummund. Abd-El-Khalick is set to participate in an open forum with the campus community, as well as private meetings with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, on Tuesday. His public open forum is set for 2:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in the Social Sciences Building on campus. On Monday Abd-El-Khalick was also to meet with Clarisa Robles Parra, the provost chief of staff; Christie Harper, the vice president of brand engagement and marketing; Jon Dudas, the senior vice president and secretary of the university; and Interim Provost Ron Marx. Robbins announced in May 2023 that Liesl Folks was stepping down as provost but would stay in the role, for which she was paid $497,490 a year through the end of the year. There has been a nationwide search over the last year. The other two finalists are also expected to be on campus in the coming weeks for final interviews; a UA spokeswoman declined to disclose their names yet. If you go Provost candidate Abd-El-Khalick is set to participate in an open forum with the campus community, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 26, in the University of Arizona's Social Sciences Building. Abd-El-Khalick received his bachelors degree from American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and his Ph.D. at Oregon State University. Abd-El-Khalick began his career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000 and worked there until he was hired to helm the School of Education at UNC in 2016. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and, according to his bio on the UNC webpage, he is a leading researcher on the teaching and learning about nature of science in precollege grades and teacher-education settings. Additionally, Abd-El-Khalick has served as editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST) and associate editor of the Journal of Science Teacher Education, JRST and School Science and Mathematics. He is on the executive board of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, and in 2022 the group gave him the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award, its highest honor. At the School of Education at UNC, Abd-El-Khalick spearheaded a number of initiatives to increase the number of teachers in the state and helped the school receive important grants. He oversaw the implementation of a $4.8 million grant to the school from the U.S. Department of Education to develop a sustainable and efficient program for recruitment of underrepresented teachers in Durham Public Schools. Additionally, Abd-El-Khalick worked to create a new major, human organizational leadership and development, which he said in an interview with the Daily Tar Heel would extend the reach of the College of Education in terms of preparing future leaders of nongovernmental agencies, corporations and businesses. PHOENIX Calling the rules unnecessary and costly, business leaders and top Republican lawmakers in Arizona are asking a federal appeals court to block a new air quality rule being enacted by the Environmental Protection Agency. In new legal filings, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry contends that the regulation to tighten up standards for fine particulates exceeds the agencys authority. The lawsuit, also filed by Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma, claims the rule is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law. Challengers ask the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia the court that has prime jurisdiction in cases against agency to declare the EPA action unlawful. The lawsuit is not unique, with half of the states having filed similar claims. But Danny Seiden, president of the state chamber, told Capitol Media Services there are some Arizona-specific issues with the regulations. He said some of the pollutants that EPA seeks to curb are due to things beyond the controls of the Arizona businesses that would be affected by what he says would be rules that would be expensive to implement. That includes emissions from other countries that are blown here, Seiden said. All that, he said, is why nationwide rules make no sense. In their own statement, Petersen and Toma say that the the rule specifically creates unattainable environmental goals for Maricopa, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties as it imposes incredibly stringent regulations of fine particles within the air. Thats backed by the EPA which concluded that the three counties do not currently meet the new standard, a finding that could block permits for new manufacturing facilities. Toma and Petersen also say another eight counties also may not be able to comply, threatening the states economic growth and prosperity. At issue are standards for PM 2.5, fine, inhalable particles that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller. Health officials say they are so small they can reach deep into the lungs, causing both short-term and long-term effects. Current rules allow up to 12 micrograms of PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter of air to 9 micrograms. In approving the final rules last month, EPA says it would prevent 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays, yielding up to $46 billion in net health benefits in 2032. Seiden said the plan ignores the work that already has been done. We have spent 40 years in the commercial side and the industrial side reducing our emissions, he said. And weve been extremely successful. The GOP leaders said that record has been ignored. The Biden administration should be rewarding American businesses for being the most environmentally friendly in the world, they said in their statement. Instead, they are doubling down on their left-wing agenda. Seiden, for his part, isnt talking politics but money. If the EPA rule is implemented, he said, it will result in higher costs for everything from preparing permits to installing new emission control technology. Seiden said there are national figures putting the cost of compliance at $100 billion with the lost of more than a million jobs. He said, though, hes not trying to put a price on lives and health. But whats lost in all this, Seiden said, is that more than 70% of these small particles come from outside the commercial and industrial sources that would be regulated. And then there are the international sources. Why should us and our economy and peoples right to make a living pay the price for the irresponsibility of policy that recognizes the natural events in the correct way or recognizes international transport in the correct way, Seiden said. You cant disregard the science of where this stuff is coming from and whos responsible. Whats also ignored, say Toma and Petersen, is that wildfires account for 43% of all particulate matter of all sizes in the air. The EPA does not dispute there are other sources, saying that PM 2.5 particles can be emitted directly from a source like construction sites, unpaved road, fields, smokestack or fires. The agency also says that the particles can come from complex reactions of chemicals such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides which are pollutants that come from power plants, industrial facilities and vehicles. Were doing the right thing, Seiden said, citing reduction of pollution over the years. But to do so at such a high cost to us when theyre not addressing the real problem and whats going to actually bring these things down, thats a tough pill to swallow. The bottom line, he said, is there has to be some reasonableness to all of this given the regulations that already apply to domestic businesses. Youre kind of almost incentivizing it, its going to be real expensive, you might not get a permit, so go do it overseas, go do it in Southeast Asia, where that will come over and pollute our air, Seiden said. That is so illogical and makes no sense. What would make sense, he said, is working with companies to get the right goal. In announcing the final rule, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said it will save lives and make people healthier, especially within Americas most vulnerable and overburdened communities. Cleaner air means that our children have brighter futures, and people can live more productive and active lives, improving our ability to grow and develop as a nation, he said. An Ohio man who acknowledged making death threats in voicemails left for then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs during the 2022 election season has been sentenced Monday to 2 years in prison. Joshua Russell of Bucyrus, Ohio, had pleaded guilty on Aug. 31, 2023, in Phoenix to a federal charge of making an interstate threat against Hobbs, a Democrat who, as secretary of state, was Arizonas chief elections officer in 2022 and now serves as the states governor. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan commended Russell for undergoing substance abuse treatment and other counseling since his arrest and getting his life in order but concluded Russell must spend time in prison, saying he has traumatized people who work in the secretary of states office. The judge, who read Russells profanity-laden threats aloud in court, said Russell had accused the victim of being a terrorist while he was threatening her life. He rejected Russells characterization of his actions as immature. None of these people deserved it, the judge said. I was looking for an outlet to cast my inner turmoil onto, Russell told the judge before he was sentenced. He hugged his parents and sister in the courtroom before he was taken away to start serving his punishment. Hobbs was not present in court during the sentencing hearing. The three voicemails left by Russell were among the countless threats made against Hobbs for her role in certifying Joe Bidens 2020 presidential victory over Donald Trump in Arizona and her responsibility in running the 2022 midterm elections. As secretary of state, Hobbs at times had round-the-clock security due to threats from Trump supporters who falsely claimed that his loss in Arizona was marred by fraud. She has described threatening phone calls to her office and said critics tried to get her husband fired from his job. Russells case is among the cases brought by the U.S. Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force, which focuses on threats of violence against elected officials, workers and volunteers to ensure they can oversee elections free of harassment. Earlier this month, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to 3 years in prison for making an online threat to bomb Hobbs office in February 2021 when she was still the secretary of state. In February, an Alabama man accused of sending death threats to a social media account for the Maricopa County Elections Department was charged with making interstate threats. And an Iowa man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for his conviction for threatening Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, both Republicans. In voicemails that began on primary election day and ended a week after the general election, Russell called Hobbs a traitor and made explicit threats, telling the secretary of state that her days are extremely numbered, she had just signed your own death warrant and she will either be sent to jail or we will see you to the grave. Prosecutors had asked the judge to send Russell to prison for 2 years, saying Russells threats caused deep fear and apprehension for Hobbs and employees of the secretary of states office and that election workers should be able to do their jobs without fear and intimidation. Prosecutors also said the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the crime and should serve as a deterrent against anyone making similar threats in the future. Russells lawyer, Jazmin Alagha, had sought a sentence of only probation, saying her client deeply regrets his actions, was recklessly expressing disagreement with the political culture at that time, was struggling financially and spiraling into a deep depression, and that his actions were driven mostly by his substance abuse problems. In a document written by Russell and submitted to the court, Russell described his situation at the time he made the threats, saying he was depressed and angry and that his drug use fueled his isolation. All I did was hide in bed all day scrolling thru social media and political forums looking at blogs or anything that could serve as an outlet for my pent up anger combined with all the pain I was suppressing, Russell wrote. Russell also wrote an apology letter to Hobbs, saying social media and news stories had become another addiction for him, but has since taken courses on anger management and substance abuse. I am truly sorry for my actions, Russell told Hobbs in the letter. Im not a violent man, I am a broken man. No one should be the target of such disrespectful behavior. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer: The consequences of the Biden administrations soft-on-crime agenda extend well beyond media headlines and political stump speeches. As an Arizona entrepreneur and witness to the unfolding situation, Ive seen first-hand how this crisis is inflicting undue strain on Main Street. Entrepreneurs and shop owners are confronting a surge in crimes that directly impact their operations, notably fueled by the spread of fentanyl and the operations of sophisticated retail theft gangs. This crisis has become an overwhelming burden, notably for those operating on the front lines in our local communities. According to a scientific poll conducted by the Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF), nearly one-third of small businesses with brick-and-mortar locations report that rising crime has directly increased their operating costs. The crisis is no longer an abstract problem discussed in political circles but a tangible threat to the livelihoods of many. The impact of this surge in criminal activities is profound, with small businesses bearing the brunt. We call it the Main Street Crime Tax. The surge in crime is multifaceted. It not only endangers the safety of business owners and employees but also deters customers, further strangling local economies. The elevated crime is a tax on businesses, forcing them to invest in enhanced security, higher insurance premiums, and deal with the fallout of decreased consumer traffic. Small businesses in border states like Arizona have been disproportionately affected by rising crime associated with fentanyl and retail theft. In 2022 alone, Arizona businesses were robbed of an estimated $1.5 billion in merchandise, costing the state $84 million in tax revenue. That same year, over half of all the fentanyl entering the U.S. came through Arizona. Amid these challenges, the Arizona Legislature is taking proactive steps to combat the scourge of organized retail theft. Last week, the Arizona Senate passed SB 1411. This legislation aims to establish the Organized Retail Theft Task Force under the Attorney Generals office. The task forces mission is to target crimes related to the theft, embezzlement, or acquisition of retail merchandise through fraud, false pretenses, or other illegal means. Despite these state-level efforts, the Biden administration could play a more significant role in addressing this crisis. The Executive Branch possesses ample tools to combat the fentanyl wave and protect American businesses and communities. Biden has proved that he doesnt need Congressional authority to solve the issue. On Day 1 of his presidency, Biden issued dozens of executive orders to reverse President Trumps effective border security measures. I urge President Biden to reconsider the permissive policies that have marked his tenure. The stakes are high, and the impact is wide-reaching. The crime spike is not just a headline or a political talking point; its a real issue with tangible effects on small business owners across the country. Its time for the Biden administration to take decisive action and reduce the crime tax facing American small businesses. Those seeking asylum are vetted and assigned legal assistance. Citizenship is not immediate, and many asylum seekers have waited for years just for a hearing. A fee is paid for entry. If granted permission, they are given a visa or green card allowing them to work in the U.S. If, after some time, they have been productive members of society, avoided legal issues, and paid taxes, they can apply for another work visa or citizenship. Devils Highway-type tragedies are reduced. Something like the Bracero program instituted from 1942 to 1964 could be attempted. It guaranteed decent living conditions and wages for farm workers from across the border. Instead of hiring more border agents and building more walls, we use the technology (cameras, drones, etc.) already in place. Contact your elected officials and make your concerns and practical ideas known. Fixing the massive border problem is more important than political games being played. Jimmie Tramel Tulsa World Scene Writer Follow Jimmie Tramel 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 Hey, Shults, Oklahoma. Are you ready for your day in the sun? Or, more appropriately: Are you ready for a few minutes without sunshine? A solar eclipse is due to arrive April 8. A swath of Oklahoma is in the path of totality. According to information shared by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, the path of totality will completely cover McCurtain County in the southeastern corner of the state and partially cover Choctaw County, Bryan County, Atoka County, Pushmataha County, Latimer County and LeFlore County. According to eclipse2024.org, the spot in Oklahoma with the longest total eclipse viewing time (about four minutes and 19 seconds) will be Shults, located approximately 3 miles east of Idabel. Tens of thousands of eclipse-watchers are expected to gravitate to southeastern Oklahoma to soak up the full eclipse experience. What is that experience exactly? William P. Sterne Jr., a Tulsa-based eclipse chaser and photographer, witnessed many of them before his death in 2011. In a 1983 Tulsa World story, Sterne said an eclipse is Gods greatest gift. Ive seen comets and volcanos, a few things. But the eclipse of the sun, thats what gets me. In the same story, he said this: At the appointed time, everybody is yelling, Here comes the shadow. A chill will come over you. A wall of sullen gray is rushing toward you. You can see why people are afraid of an eclipse. Its frightening. Miss this one and youll have to wait a while for another opportunity. The next total solar eclipse visible to people in the U.S. isnt scheduled to occur for another 20 years. Where can you go to participate in eclipse viewing or eclipse festivities? According to the Oklahoma Department of Travel and Tourism, which reminded folks that its not too late to secure accommodations, Oklahoma state parks with 100% totality for the solar eclipse are Beavers Bend State Park (length of totality: 4 minutes, 15 seconds), Talimena State Park (1 minute, 38 seconds) and Lake Wister State Park (1 minute, 31 seconds). Several state parks will have near-total visibility and are within driving distance of areas that will experience 100% totality. They are McGee Creek State Park (darkness: 99.57%), Robbers Cave State Park (99%), Lake Texoma State Park (99%) and Lake Murray State Park (97.8%). To secure a spot at a state park lodge, cabin or campsite, visit travelok.com/state-parks/bookings. Among upcoming eclipse-related events: Solar Spectacle at Guthrie Green A free solar eclipse watch party (glasses will be provided while supplies last) will take place from noon to 3 p.m. at Guthrie Green. Guests can listen to beats by DJ Doc Free, check out Comida Sol Y Vida food truck and learn from various space-themed vendors. Vendors include the Tulsa Air & Space Museum, Exploration Station, the Astronomy Club of Tulsa, Black Space Girl, Magic City Books, Spiritually Boujee Astrology and 92.9 The River KRQV. Marshall Brewing Co. Eclipse Party Marshall Brewing Co. in Tulsa is opening the Tap Room at 1 p.m. in advance of the eclipse. A promo said Marshall Brewing will have about 15 glasses for viewing, but feel free to bring your own. Dark Side of the Moon Tee Pee Drive-In on Route 66 in Sapulpa is hosting an eclipse event from noon until 3 p.m. Dark Side of the Moon will be played as part of a viewing party. 1840s Eclipse Watch Party Go retro and experience an eclipse the way folks did in the 19th century at Fort Towsons 1840s Eclipse Watch Party. Visitors can explore the Fort Towson historic site and watch demonstrations by reenactors before witnessing the eclipse in the afternoon. Tenkiller State Park Solar Eclipse Party Watch the eclipse from the shores of Lake Tenkiller near Vian. Hosted by Tenkiller State Park, the event features crafting activities, refreshments and more. Guests should gather around before 1:40 p.m. to see the eclipse in the sky over the lake. OAIRE/Choctaw event Researchers from the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education are partnering with the Choctaw Nation and NASA for an open-to-the-public total solar eclipse event (eclipse glasses provided) at Choctaw Nation Community Center, 1346 E. Martin Luther King Drive in Broken Bow. Attendees can engage in STEM activities. NASA scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center will join OAIRE researchers to observe the eclipse. The eclipses totality is expected to last from 1:45-1:50 p.m. within the broader range of 12:25-3 p.m. Science Museum Oklahoma Oklahoma City is not in the direct path of the eclipse, but coverage is expected to be at about 93.9% percent at 1:45 p.m. on the day. Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City is hosting eclipse events from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. In front of the museum (no admission required), telescopes with special filters will be set up for safe viewing. Activity tables are open from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. inside the museum, where, at 11:30 a.m., Storytime Science will be held on the Science Floor Side Stage. It will be a special eclipse-themed story and corona art activity for the museums youngest astronomers. Live feeds from the path of totality also will be available. Solar Eclipse at Cherokee Landing Cherokee Landing in Park Hill is revving up for the eclipse with a week of activities prior to April 8. An eclipse viewing party will include refreshments, eclipse glasses and family-friendly activities. Eclipse Watch Party at Greenleaf State Park Watch the eclipse from the vantage point of Greenleaf State Park in Braggs. A 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. event will include eclipse crafting activities led by park staff before a gathering to watch the eclipse and refreshments. Total Eclipse of the Heart A three-day celestial celebration in Russellville, Arkansas, Total Eclipse of the Heart will include a Saturday, April 6, kickoff event with national blues performers, tethered rides in hot air balloons and other activities. Live music and a Q&A session with NASA scientists are on the docket for Sunday, April 7. The celebration wraps on eclipse day with a mass wedding and more music. For information, go to totaleclipserussellville.com. Eclipse Watch Party at Lake Texoma A watch party is scheduled at Lake Texoma State Park in Kingston. Bring your own lawn chairs, blankets and eclipse glasses or purchase a pair from the park office. Siloam Springs Eclipse Viewing Party Food trucks, music and games will be part of an eclipse viewing party at Memorial Park in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. RedBeard Sound will kick off the three-hour event with classic tunes at 11 a.m. Total Eclipse of the Hearts Music Festival Oklahoma music artists Kylie Morgan and Jordan Rainer (fresh off her appearance on NBCs The Voice) will perform Sunday, April 7, the day before the eclipse, in Greenville, Texas, at the Total Eclipse of the Hearts Music Festival. The bill includes Shayne Porter, All-4-One, the Brad Davis Trio, the Rocket Summer, the Gin Blossoms and Sara Evans. For information about the festival and other pre-eclipse events in Greenville, go to greenvilleeclipse.com. Grapevine, Texas Because of a prime location within the path of totality, Grapevine, Texas is going all in on the eclipse. Themed music will play throughout the historic Main Street District, and guests can take photos with costumed galactic characters, according to a news release. Many Grapevine businesses and eateries are taking part. Several are offering galactic-themed food and drink items. VIP watch party experiences can be purchased at grapevinetexasusa.com/eclipse, and Grapevine Vintage Railroad is offering two one-hour excursions on the day of the eclipse. Plan your visit at grapevinetexasusa.com. In addition to events listed above, travelok.com cited some of the top places for viewing in southeastern Oklahoma. Among them: Cavanal Hill With a peak reaching 1,999 feet, Cavanal Hill in Poteau is known as The Worlds Tallest Hill. Take the 4.5-mile road to the top to view the eclipse and the Poteau River Valley and surrounding areas that will be covered in the eclipses shadow. Hugo Lake Park Experience the eclipse from inside the 25,000-acre Hugo Lake Park in Hugo. For an unobstructed view, consider sitting along the lakes shoreline or renting a boat to watch from the water. Raymond Gary State Park The park, located in Fort Towson, offers prime viewing spots. The Oklahoma Department of Travel and Tourism suggests watching from the swim beach, watching from a lake watercraft or watching from one of the parks pavilions. Pine Creek Lake Valliants Pine Creek Lake has 74 miles of shoreline that will come in handy for those seeking an unobstructed view. The park is equipped with picnic areas and two distinct campsites. Beavers Bend State Park & Broken Bow Lake The private and public deck spaces at Beavers Bend Lodge inside Beavers Bend State Park should be choice sightseeing spots for the eclipse and the Lower Mountain Fork River below. Or consider watching from the parks hiking trails or lookouts. Clayton Lake State Park Visitor pavilions are available for eclipse viewing at Clayton Lake State Park in Antlers. Talimena State Park & Talimena National Scenic Byway Take your pick of locations to view the eclipse at Talimena State Park in Talihina, including hiking trails that provide unique environments and vantage points. Carl Albert Lake in Talihina also is an option for eclipse viewing. To watch from a higher elevation, travel the Talimena National Scenic Byway and plan to stop at any of the 22 designated lookout points. Winding Stair Recreation Area Located at the peak of the Winding Stair Mountains, the Winding Stair Recreation Area in Hodgen offers one of the highest eclipse viewing spots (at roughly 2,400 feet) and the most expansive views of the shadow below. Cedar Lake in Hodgen is another eclipse option. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. The victim's attention to detail and good memory were the keys to solving the 1933 kidnapping of a wealthy Oklahoma City oilman. Charles F. Urschel and his wife, Bernice, were playing bridge with Mr. and Mrs. W.R. Jarrett on July 22 on the sun porch of their home when two men pushed open the screen door and came inside. One carried a revolver; the other a machine gun. "Stick 'em up. We want Urschel," one gunman ordered. "Don't bat an eye, any of you, or we'll blow your heads off. We want Urschel. Which man is Urschel?" No one identified the oilman, so one of the gunmen said, "We'll take you both." They forced Urschel and Jarrett into a car and sped away after warning the women not to make an outcry. The kidnappers, later identified as George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Albert Bates, threw Jarrett out of the car a few miles away after they determined which man was Urschel by examining the wallets they found in the victims' pockets. They tied Urschel hand and foot, bandaged his eyes tightly and placed cotton in his ears so he couldn't hear. Meanwhile, Mrs. Urschel telephoned police, who called FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in Washington. The abductors took Urschel to a farm near Paradise, Texas, where he was kept blindfolded through his nine days of captivity except for once when he was told to write a note asking that a ransom be paid and another time when he was allowed to shave. Although blindfolded, he said later, he could distinguish night from day. The first night he was held in a house where he heard guinea hens. He was moved the next day to a house about a mile away where he heard pigs. He also heard airplanes fly over about the same times twice a day except for one afternoon during a severe thunderstorm. When he heard the airplanes, he asked casual questions to establish the time. After a ransom of $200,000 in used $20 bills was paid in Kansas City, Mo., by the Tulsa oilman E.E. Kirkpatrick, Urschel was released July 31 at the north edge of Norman, where he took a cab to Oklahoma City. He immediately began working with the FBI to solve the crime in spite of warnings from his kidnappers. The FBI found the farm by checking airline schedules and flying on the two flights, using binoculars to find a farm with two houses Urschel had described at the times he had remembered. Finding guinea hens at one of the houses and pigs at the other, the FBI raided the farm, which was owned by the R.G. Shannon family. Mrs. Shannon's daughter was Kelly's wife. Agents found Urschel's fingerprints, which he had left on as many surfaces as possible to prove that he had been there. Harvey Bailey, the leader of a notorious break of 11 convicts from a Kansas prison, was found asleep on a cot in the back yard with a machine gun by his side. His pockets contained some of the ransom money. The remaining members of the kidnap gang, including Kelly, were rounded up within a few weeks. The Kellys, the Shannons, Bates and Bailey were sentenced to life in prison. Other members of the gang got shorter terms. The kidnappers probably singled out Urschel because of his estimated $75 million wealth. He had been a protege of Tom B. Slick, who became wealthy as the "king of the wildcatters," and had married Slick's widow about a year before the kidnapping, giving him control of both his own fortune and Slick's. Slick had died in 1930, and Urschel's first wife, Slick's sister, had died a year later. Photograph research by Rachele Vaughan. Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive. Andrea Eger Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Andrea Eger 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 OKLAHOMA CITY The first day of the preliminary hearing in the massive racketeering and embezzlement case against Epic Charter Schools co-founders and longtime CFO saw testimony from the lead investigator and a Tulsa litigation attorney who served on the schools governing board for a decade. Charged in a case described as the largest abuse of taxpayer funds in the history of this state are Epic co-founders David Chaney, 44, and Ben Harris, 48, as well as Epics longtime former chief financial officer, Josh Brock, 42. Harris defense attorney suggested that the defendants reliance on attorneys from the most well-known law firms in the state in contract matters and financial arrangements proves that they had no criminal intent. And Chaneys defense attorney contended that much of the taxpayer monies Chaney, Harris and Brock are accused of misappropriating had actually become private funds once they were received into the bank account of Chaney and Harris education management company, Epic Youth Services. Chaney, Harris and Brock were arrested and charged in Oklahoma County District Court in June 2022 under the Oklahoma Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act. The criminal case, being prosecuted by the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office, alleges 15 counts, including embezzlement, money laundering, computer crimes and conspiracy to defraud the state. Joe White, who represents Harris, repeatedly probed on the stand the lead investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Mark Drummond, about whether he was aware of the legal eagles involved in drawing up and reviewing the contracts that formed the basis for Harris and Chaney to manage the charter school and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars meant for public school students education for a decade. How can these two guys have criminal intent if they used law firms to draw up contracts? asked White. Al Capone doesnt go to McAfee and Taft and Crowe and Dunlevy. He goes to them for forgiveness! To claims by Chaneys attorney Gary Wood that Epics Student Learning Fund monies had become private once in a business bank account belong to Chaney and Harris, Drummond said the location of the dollars couldnt change the fact that they were taxpayer dollars intended for a specific purpose under state law the education of public school students. Wood presented a contract amendment approved by Epics school board with Epic Youth Services that included a paragraph that described the funds as private once paid to EYS. Assistant Attorney General MacKenzie Hill then asked Special Agent Drummond: Im going to pay you to kill someone. Because we have a contract, does that make our agreement legal? Drummond responded, No. The second witness of the day was Doug Scott, a Tulsa litigation attorney and childhood friend of Chaney and Harris from their hometown of Newkirk. He served on Epics school governing board from the schools founding in 2011 through 2021, when Epics governing board severed all ties with Chaney and Harris Epic Youth Services. Much of the questioning of Scott concerned Chaney and Harris move to expand Epics operation to add an online charter school in Orange County, California. Scott told Assistant Attorney General Colleen Galaviz he donated his time to serving on the Epic school board because he was passionate about school choice in Oklahoma, so he had questions and concerns about the push into California before the board greenlighted a subsidiary to carry out the expansion. I wanted to make sure there was no Oklahoma tax dollars meant for our school that would be going to that other school, Scott said. After it was noted by Drummond that Oklahoma taxpayer dollars and other resources had, in fact, been used for the benefit of Epic-California, Harris defense attorney White noted that some money was repaid after the matter was raised in an investigative audit report by Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrds office. Scott denied that the Epic school board, which comprised only personal friends and associates of Chaney and Harris save for three names he gave as exceptions, had acted as a rubber stamp for the co-founders. When asked the number of times the board had elected not to approve proposals by Chaney and Harris in his decade on the board, Scott responded, Probably a handful of times we either tabled an item or took it off an agenda. There were also a number of times an item was discussed and not put on an agenda because there wasnt going to be support for it. When Galaviz began pursuing follow-up questions about those advance discussions about whether or not sufficient board member support existed for possible proposals that could come before the school board, Special Judge Jason Glidwell advised Scott that he might be straying into possible violations of the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, which could be incriminating. Attorney Jacqui Ford spoke out then, identifying herself as Scotts attorney and saying that if the line of questioning continued, she would advise him not to answer further questions. Scott then answered that those discussions were most frequently between himself and the boards attorney, or himself and Harris or Chaney and he noted: Im aware of the Open Meeting Act. Never did we talk more than two (board members) at a time. The preliminary hearing is set to run through Friday. At this juncture, a court must determine whether the prosecution has sufficient evidence to justify ordering a trial. The public proceeding is akin to a mini-trial, at which prosecutors call witnesses and introduce evidence and defense attorneys may cross-examine witnesses. At the conclusion, the judge determines whether there is probable cause to believe that the felony crimes alleged by prosecutors were committed. If not, the judge may dismiss charges. Brocks attorney previously told the Tulsa World a plea deal for him is in the works with prosecutors and that he is expected to testify later this week in the preliminary hearing for Harris and Chaney. Brock has already waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and his formal arraignment is set for April 3. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Epic Charter School: Tulsa World reporting and investigating since 2019 Epic Charter School: Tulsa World reporting and investigating since 2019 Day 4: Epic Charter Schools paid co-founder's personal credit card charges, forensic auditor testifies Day 3: Epic Charter Schools co-founders never reported millions on tax returns, auditor testifies Day 2: Epic Charter Schools finance official testifies about payment concerns Day 1: Use of 'legal eagles' shows no criminal intent, defense argues in Epic Charter Schools preliminary hearing Evidence, testimony by CFO expected at weeklong preliminary hearing for Epic founders Former Epic CFO waives preliminary hearing; attorney says plea deal in works Epic co-founders agree to preserve bank account assets prosecutors want forfeited For first time in many years, state board suspends teacher certificates for breaking contracts Oklahoma teacher bonus program maxed out at 578 recruits, including 117 from other states Oklahoma AG worries Epic Charter Schools founders still have taxpayer money Co-founders, CFO facing additional charges Epic founders get preliminary hearing date in criminal case Board chairman who oversaw overhaul of Epic leaving Epic governing board issues apology, payment of Anti-SLAPP judgment Former state auditor and GOP chairman says Epic scandal facilitated by Republicans 'gutting' Ethics Commission Epic Charter Schools co-founders, former CFO charged in elaborate scheme to defraud and embezzle from taxpayers State finds major issues with Epics recent student attendance, administrative bonuses Independent annual audit critical of Epic co-founders' final year of school management Epic could consider name change as consolidation advances Board rejects application for new online school Yet another lawsuit filed in Epic Charter Schools' messy divorce from co-founders Oklahoma House passes virtual charter school reforms Epic board moves to consolidate administration to save millions Epic Charter Schools to end appeal of $500k legal judgment for former state senator Inside the newsroom: Jason Collington talks about the latest in Epic Charter Schools investigative audit with Andrea Eger Audit makes some lawmakers question voucher push Epic Charter Schools leaders reveal intention to consolidate its two schools Epic Charter Schools investigative audit makes some lawmakers question voucher push Attorney general sends Epic Charter Schools case back to Oklahoma County DA State auditor to lawmakers: Epic Charter Schools mismanagement is largest abuse of taxpayer funds 'in the history of this state' Epic among 3 virtual charters losing $58.9 million after 'significant decline' in students Epic Charter Schools: 'Very serious crimes' being investigated by multiple agencies, with new school leaders assisting State to Epic Charter Schools: $9.1 million is correct amount owed back for excessive admin costs Epic responds to new allegations of wrongdoing Resigned Epic board member answers questions about new 'whistleblower' allegations against school Epics Charter Schools board vice chair resigns, asks for investigation into misconduct State Department of Ed, school sponsors investigating new Epic allegations Epic to cut staff after losing 60% of new students driven there during pandemic, Oklahoma's largest online school says State auditor says Epic criminal investigation 'far from over,' predicts charges Epic founders 'gaslit a lot of people, and it's time to stop,' new chairman says of charter school financials Epic Charter Schools audit prompts investigative audit at OK Department of Education Oklahoma virtual school board members resign unexpectedly Epic gets three more months to tackle issue of sharing of employees between two separate schools with only one governing board Epic settlement monitor says Learning Fund billing didn't match enrollment Epic's overhauled governing board inks licensing agreement Epic Charter Schools approves $335.5 million budget Epic now wants in on spending records State Auditor won in court State auditor wins access to Epic's spending records Epic governing board severs all ties with co-founders' for-profit firm and California school Charter school reforms related to Epic investigation sail through Oklahoma House Oklahoma virtual charter school board could reinstate member House leadership moving forward with multicounty grand jury recommendations House leadership taking up multicounty grand jury recommendations Multicounty grand jury blasts use of private accounts for taxpayer money School Board ends Epic termination proceedings as part of deal Epic Charter Schools board accepts final list of demands Board gives Epic's governing board final list of demands State virtual school board member sues Epic Charter Schools slapped with new $10.5 million penalty Epic Charter Schools board makes 11th-hour attempt to settle termination proceedings Epic board votes to change secret Learning Fund Legislation to negate board decision would send medical marijuana money to some charter schools Statewide virtual school board sets termination proceedings House to get legislation addressing issues raised by charter schools decision TPS demands state board rescind vote on state funding lawsuit Majority of state ed board votes to settle years-old charter schools lawsuit State board's deadline for $11.2 million repayment by Epic passes with no payment State Senate, House hear no bills related to Epic Charter Schools audit findings Epic co-founder's audit recommendations make it into legislation Termination proceedings against Epic Charter Schools delayed once more $11.2 million repayment from Epic Charter Schools to state is delayed; public records lawsuit stalls Epic Charter Schools adding human, financial resources to address deficiencies ID'd by state auditor School funding adjusted: Tulsa County districts down $31 million; Epic gains $156 million School finance chiefs call on state leaders to intervene before hike in funding to Epic Charter Schools Two board members barred from all Epic Charter Schools matters over conflict-of-interest concerns Epic Charter Schools' board amends contract with for-profit management company, directs accounting practice changes Governor removes board president leading inquiries into Epic Epic Charter Schools gets a pass on accreditation downgrade Lawmakers call for audit of State Department of Education Tulsa lawmaker vows systemic overhaul Epic Charter Schools governing boards respond to recent actions by two state education boards Epic Charter Schools board member resigns amid state audit fallout Education policy leaders from state Senate, House reflect on Epic Charter Schools audit findings Statewide Virtual Charter School Board member is relative of Epic co-founder Statewide Virtual Charter School Board votes to begin contract termination process against Epic Charter Schools State education board demands $11.2 million back from Epic Charter Schools over state audit findings Lawmakers announce joint hearing on Epic Charter Schools audit Oklahoma AG's Office takes reins in Epic Charter Schools investigation State education board calls special meeting on Epic Charter Schools audit Superintendent Hofmeister responds to accountability failures cited in state audit of Epic Charter Schools 'Epic owes Oklahoma $8.9 million': Improper transfers, chronic misreporting found by state auditor's investigation Officials call Epic audit findings 'concerning,' 'deeply disturbing,' 'troubling' Key findings and conclusions from the Oct. 1, 2020, report Key findings and conclusions from the Oct. 1, 2020, report Key findings and conclusions from the Oct. 1, 2020, report Key findings and conclusions from the Oct. 1, 2020, report Key findings and conclusions from the Oct. 1, 2020, report Epic Charter Schools targets state senator again in pre-election email to parents Epic Charter Schools founders and backers keep up campaign influence spending amid state investigations Then-State senator sued by Epic Charter Schools awarded legal fees plus $500,000 in sanctions Enrollment already up 77% across Oklahoma's six virtual charter schools amid COVID-19 pandemic Epic co-founder claims innocence in new video address amid back-to-school student recruiting drive Epic becomes Oklahoma's largest school district as pandemic pushes virtual enrollment Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board wants to weigh in on court case involving Epic State Chamber says no conflicts of interest in legal filing despite Epic Charter Schools' membership, school founder on Chamber board of directors Epic Charter Schools' for-profit management firm refuses to release documents to investigators, Oklahoma attorney general says 'Our kids have become a piggy bank': Epic Charter Schools shields $50M in taxpayer funds from public scrutiny Lawmakers accuse Epic of intimidation attempt with defamation lawsuit against state senator Epic Charter Schools sues state senator who questioned student attendance and funding, accusing him of slander Epic Charter Schools promoting itself with multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, plus $9,000 per month shopping mall playground sponsorships OSBI investigating new allegations of forgery by Epic Charter Schools' co-founder and CFO, willful neglect by board members How does Epic Charter Schools stack up academically? Check out student proficiency test scores Epic Charter Schools' expansion into Texas in limbo amid new revelations about criminal investigation Tulsa lawmaker uses rarely invoked legal provision to attend closed-door meeting on Epic Charter Schools investigation, educators New records reveal Epic Charter Schools' sponsor was in touch with state auditor for months before scandal Governor requests state audit of Epic Charter Schools; school's sponsor already in touch with state auditor Records show FBI has also been looking into Epic Charter Schools, along with federal education investigators State superintendent reacts to Epic Charter Schools investigation; online school official claims innocence State senator raises new questions about Epic Charter Schools and oversight by Oklahoma State Department of Education Leadership change at Oklahoma's largest virtual charter school likely necessitated by new transparency, conflict of interest law State Senate passes new transparency reporting requirements for virtual charter schools; bill headed to Gov. Stitt next State education officials deny clearing Epic Charter Schools in investigation, despite school's new claims Epic Charter Schools, school reform and funding needs on the minds of Tulsa Republicans at Friday event with State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister New transparency reporting requirements for virtual charter schools advance to state Senate Parents, students pack Capitol to tell lawmakers about 'the array of reasons to choose Epic' 15 people with ties to Epic Charter donated $180,000 to 78 candidates for state office Epic Charter Schools under investigation by state, federal law enforcement agencies A study in contrasts: Most Tulsa County districts lose students while virtual numbers soar 496 Tulsa Public Schools students left for EPIC virtual school since August. TPS to lawmakers: Regulation is needed Skyrocketing student enrollment nets Epic Charter Schools nearly $39 million more in midyear adjustments to state funding for public schools Epic Charter Schools co-founder audit recommendations make it into legislation Check out our latest digital-only offer and subscribe now Steve Metzer Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer Follow Steve Metzer 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 OKLAHOMA CITY A bill that would create a steady funding stream to address millions of dollars in critical maintenance needs at state parks took a step forward Monday at the Oklahoma Capitol. House Bill 3972, which would establish a revolving fund and an eight-year State Parks Emergency Maintenance Plan, had earlier passed through the House. It progressed Monday through the Senates Tourism and Wildlife Committee. Next, it must be considered by that chambers Appropriations Committee before advancing for a potential vote by the full Senate. According to a fiscal analysis, passage of HB 3972 on its own would have no impact on the states budget. However, it was noted that the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department requested $350 million in its fiscal year 2025 budget to put toward deferred maintenance at parks. Included in the 19-page bill are descriptions of dozens of needed maintenance projects and their anticipated costs. For example, the department listed replacement of a water treatment plant at Greenleaf State Park in Muskogee County as its top priority in the plans first year. The projects cost was estimated at $5.25 million. Other top priorities in the first year include upgrades of 55 cabins and other facility improvements at Lake Murray State Park near Ardmore at a projected cost of $12 million and water and sewer line replacement at Lake Texoma State Park at an anticipated cost of $5.5 million. Thirty-two state parks are scattered across Oklahoma. Tourism and Recreation Department Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt told lawmakers who studied urgent maintenance needs last year that the parks drew 11.5 million visitors in 2021. She said they spent about $355 million in nearby communities and contributed $25 million in state and local taxes to the Oklahoma economy. We need to look at it (state parks) as a source of economic activity, because it absolutely is, Zumwalt said. Deferred maintenance resulting from a lack of sustained funding has resulted in deteriorating roads, dilapidated buildings, water and sewer lines in disrepair, and other serious problems, she said. The growing list of unresolved issues has reached an emergency state, she added. The department estimated that it would take at least $350 million to address needs statewide and that in the absence of sustained funding numerous parks would be at risk of closure. If HB 3972 passes into law, the Tourism and Recreation Department would be required to submit an annual report on maintenance, infrastructure and construction needs as well as project priorities. Officials also would have to keep lawmakers updated on the status of ongoing projects. The Senate Tourism and Wildlife Committee voted to advance other bills, as well, on Monday, including: House Bill 4012, which would commit $4.3 million to the design and construction of a state Capitol arch to honor the service of Oklahoma National Guard members. Sen. Brenda Stanley, R-Midwest City, said the arch, which would be 60 feet wide and stand 30 feet tall, would be built on a grassy area south of the Capitol. House Bill 3787, which would provide for a 15% pay raise for park rangers in Oklahoma. Sen. Darrell Weaver, R-Moore, said rangers currently earn in the neighborhood of $48,000 a year and are the lowest paid state-employed peace officers. House Bill 3429, which proposes a sales tax holiday on ammunition for rifles during a weekend prior to the start of deer hunting season. Passage of the measure into law would have an estimated $305,000 impact on state finances. The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today. Letter from Lhasa: Spring farming ceremony offers glimpse of timeless Xizang tradition 10:25, March 25, 2024 By Huang Yaoman ( Xinhua LHASA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- It was not yet noon, but already I was feeling a bit tipsy. Standing on the freshly plowed land, I immersed myself in the joy of a spring farming ceremony and frequent toasts infused with barley wine. As the most important ritual in the farming areas of the Xizang Autonomous Region, this traditional ceremony marks the beginning of a new farming season and also serves as a prayer for favorable weather and bountiful harvests. In Xizang, a region with significant differences in elevation and a diverse climate, the start of the spring farming season varies from March to late May, depending on where you are in the region. I was fortunate enough to participate in a spring farming ceremony in rural Lhasa, the regional capital, where I could get a glimpse of this Xizang traditional ritual. Before even reaching my destination, dozens of brightly decorated tractors had caught my eye. The vehicles were adorned with red flags, silk banners of various colors, Tibetan opera masks and, surprisingly, bells. The bells swung and made a crisp sound when the tractors were moving. I was told later that locals considered tractors "iron cattle," and so they decorated them with bells, just like cattle. Donned in their grand Tibetan attire, farmers placed drinks, Tibetan snacks, and several jugs of barley wine on Tibetan-style tables near the tents, in preparation for the grand celebration. To welcome me as a guest, 16-year-old Basang Dekyi draped a Khata, a ceremonial white scarf symbolizing goodwill and blessings, around my neck and then poured me a bowl of sweet barley wine. After I had taken three sips, she filled my bowl again, and then again, explaining that sharing a drink is an integral part of the ceremony. Laughter echoed around the field when a young man was playfully punished with three bowls of barley wine for forgetting to apply yak butter to the front of his tractor -- another custom to secure blessings. Basang Dekyi explained to me that villagers inspect the decorations on one another's tractors before the ceremony, with any negligence resulting in "punishment," which added to the festive atmosphere. In the field, more than a dozen ladies lined up, each holding a small bucket filled with barley seeds, along with some sugar and chocolate, symbolizing hope for a sweet and prosperous year. After a round of singing and dancing, tractors with plows attached entered the field. The tractors rumbled forward as they turned the soil, while a Tibetan woman followed each tractor, scattering barley seeds on the soil. Maybe under the influence of alcohol, I found myself caught up in the excitement, cheering along with the crowd. Tibetan farmers had for over 2,400 years used the traditional method of tying a wooden pole around the necks of two heads of cattle to pull a plow. However, the use of modern machinery has since replaced this ancient farming practice. Tenzin, 50, told me that he was chosen as the leading driver as he had proved robust and healthy over the past year -- both an honor for him and a ritual aimed at ensuring good fortune for the community for the coming year. "I've participated in the ceremony every year since I was young, but now life has changed dramatically compared with the past. The ceremony has become even grander," he said. Tenzin revealed that thanks to large machinery, farm work that took several days to complete 20 years ago could now be done in one day. Driven by curiosity, I searched for some data and found that the integrated mechanization rate for major crop cultivation and harvest surpassed 71 percent in 2023 in this region, with the grain output hitting a record high of 1.09 million tonnes. What really surprised me was that Basang Dekyi's family doesn't have any farmland, but she and her mother working in Lhasa nonetheless participate in the spring farming ceremony every year. "The ceremony is more than just an agricultural event. It is a cherished tradition that connects us to our roots. My mother said it carries the hopes for a good new year," Basang Dekyi told me. As I stood tipsily among the smiling faces, I couldn't help but feel a deep connection to this land of hope and the timeless traditions that sustain it. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) HANOI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- As Vietnamese agricultural exporters reviewed the figures of 2023, a new trend caught their eyes -- the actual demand from Chinese consumers went beyond their initial projection. When the export of durian via official channels to China was approved in mid-2022, Vietnamese farmers expected to grab about a quarter of a 4.2-billion-U.S.-dollar market, with an anticipated export value of 1 billion dollars. But year-end figures of 2023 were astonishing -- Vietnamese durian export to China hit 2.1 billion dollars, capturing 31 percent of a growing durian market in its northern neighbor, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs. "China is the leading market in terms of revenues," Nguyen Khac Huy, CEO of one of Vietnam's biggest fresh dragon fruit exporter Hoang Phat Fruit, told local newspaper VnExpress, noting that Japan and South Korea used to be the company's main markets in past years, but in 2023 China surged to the top. Vina T&T, a major exporter of Vietnamese fruits, also considers China a key market thanks to its 1.4-billion population. "No other market consumes Vietnamese produce as much as China," said the company's CEO, Nguyen Dinh Tung. The company's exports to China grew by 70 percent year-on-year in 2023, and China is now its largest market, accounting for 35 percent of its revenues. It received an order for 1,500 containers from Chinese buyers but could only ship 30 percent of that number due to a supply shortage, according to local media reports. FRUITS, AND MORE China imported 44.62 billion yuan (6.19 billion dollars) of Vietnamese agricultural products over the 11 months of 2023, marking a year-on-year increase of 20.3 percent, a report from China's General Administration of Customs said. According to a report from Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, China surpassed the United States in 2023 to become the largest customer of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products, With a share of 23 percent of Vietnam's total agricultural export value. China has so far approved 14 kinds of fresh produce, including nine fruits, as official imports from Vietnam. Over 2,900 processed items have also got the green light. Vietnam's fruit export to China increased 65 percent in market share compared with 2022, Vietnam's official figures showed. The Chinese market is projected to constitute approximately 80 percent of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export market share this year. Vietnam's agricultural export value to China is expected to increase sharply in 2024, as China has agreed to review regulations permitting the export of poultry meat from Vietnam to the market, the Vietnam News reported, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said China's consumer demand for meat products is up to about 400 billion dollars per year, meaning Vietnamese meat exports to China have a potential many times higher than that of vegetables and fruits. In 2023, Vietnam's livestock products constituted only a tiny portion of the total agricultural, forestry and fishery export value to China, according to Vietnam's figures. NATURAL ADVANTAGES Sharing a border stretching about 1,300 km and crossing seven northern localities of Vietnam, China and Vietnam enjoy unique advantages to promote their trade and economic partnership. Sharing preferences for agricultural products with the Chinese, numerous Vietnamese farmers have earned a bigger share of the Chinese market than their competitors, thanks to reduced transportation costs made possible by geographic proximity. Nguyen said Chinese buyers have set up many wholesale markets near the Vietnam-China border to help preserve produce quality. A bigger picture of bilateral trade shows immense cooperation potential between the two countries. China has been Vietnam's largest trading partner for many years, with their import-export turnover accounting for 25 percent of Vietnam's total import-export value. The resilience of the bilateral trade ties against global economic headwinds is inspiring. Notably, China was the only market among Vietnam's major export markets to achieve positive growth in 2023, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade said. By contrast, Vietnam's agricultural exports to other key markets, such as the United States, experienced negative trends in 2023. "Vietnam's export of farm produces to China currently accounts for less than 5 percent of China's import, meaning that the room to increase exports remains huge," Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said. To tap the potential, Vietnam must focus on improving the quality of farm produce, meeting requirements and establishing trust, he urged. Three carmakers, namely Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and VinFast, will recall a large number of imported, locally-assembled cars and electric cars in Vietnam this month to fix faulty components. Some 900 vehicles across six Mercedes-Benz models are subject to the recall due to a faulty fuel pump. Among them, the locally-assembled Mercedes-Benz E-Class E180, E200, and E300 were manufactured between June 2021 and January 2023. The carmaker will also recall 474 imported units, including Mercedes- Benz GLC300 4MATIC, S450 4MATIC, Maybach S450 4MATIC, GLS 450 4MATIC, Maybach GLS480 4MATIC, and Maybach GLS 600 4MATIC models produced from March 2022 to December 2022. The company stated that the fuel pump in the affected cars might not meet specifications, potentially resulting in malfunctions, engine failures, or posing a risk of crashes. Toyota issued a recall of 1,325 Land Cruiser LC300 and Lexus LX600 units to update the transmission control ECU (electronic control unit) software. Toyota Vietnam affirmed that it had informed owners of the affected cars. Vietnamese electric carmaker VinFast received the Vietnam Registers green light for its plan to recall 6,000 VF5 Plus vehicles, which were made between March and December last year, to replace a combination switch. VinFast added that the recall program will end on February 19, 2025. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Dr. Duong Van Ni, 68, president and director of the Mekong Conservancy Foundation (MCF), has spent nearly three decades studying climate change adaptation in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region and using grass species as a source of sustainable livelihood for residents in areas hit by saline intrusion. Dr. Duong Van Ni is pictured introducing grass species at a craft village in Nga Nam Town, Soc Trang Province, located in Vietnam's Mekong Delta region. Photo: Tieu Bac / Tuoi Tre News Founded in 2019, MCF focuses on research and problem solving in the fields of livelihood, education, environment, and natural resources in order to contribute to the Mekong Deltas long-term development. With his dedication to climate-related solutions to the delta region and sustainable poverty reduction, Ni started pursuing a nature-based model in 1996. The nature-based model means that it must utilize the available natural resources such as plants, grass, water, and soil to enrich residents lives. When Vietnam opened its door for global economic integration in 1990, a kilogram of shrimp was as expensive as 10 kilograms of rice," Ni recounted. As such, locals in the delta rushed to shift from rice growing to shrimp farming. However, uncontrolled shrimp farming caused many areas to be intruded by saltwater and triggered a source of diseases. In 2000, crabs and shrimp farmed by local households died en masse due to a common disease, plunging the farmers into turmoil. My partners and I decided to study the land to help both the environment and farmers, he said. During the first on-site survey, he realized the abnormality of the ecosystem as no grass was growing in the region. Therefore, I was determined to restore green coverage for this region, he told reporters during a Mekong Delta media tour held by the Consulate General of Australia in Ho Chi Minh City on March 19. He found it tough to follow his plan as neither plants nor grass could develop in the saline areas. "In the end, I decided to transport bulrush seedlings from a border area between Ha Tien City in Kien Giang Province and Cambodia to the site, in order to initiate the process of regenerating green coverage," he said. A farmer is pictured harvesting bulrush in Vietnams Mekong Delta region. Photo: MCF The grass species develops well in salt water. Besides, he also studied and regrew cattails that can be suitable for wetlands. Locals said that we were crazy, while local authorities warned residents about our plan, he recollected. They thought that it took them much time to destroy grass to have empty land for shrimp farming, but these scientists were trying to regenerate such useless plants, he elaborated. Yet, when the model stood out, meaning that residents can use these plants to craft housewares and sell them, many households supported and joined it. We established a cooperative to connect with companies for consumption and export, Dr. Ni said. Notably, a craft village was set up in Nga Nam Town, Soc Trang Province in 2021, with some 1,000 craftspeople aged over 40. As part of his model, he and some relevant units are implementing a project titled 'Creating sustainable livelihoods through climate-adaptive crops' funded by the Australian government. The project, which will run through 2025, is aimed at expanding bulrush as a replacement crop for mono-shrimp aquaculture to improve soil and water quality and create sustainable livelihood by producing housewares such as baskets for export to the U.S., Europe, and Australia. Resorting to native grass species to foster livelihood After conducting thorough experiments and research, the doctor and his colleagues opted for bulrush and cattail as suitable crops to cultivate in various locations within the delta affected by saltwater intrusion. This move was meant to combat saline intrusion effectively and establish sustainable livelihoods. Ni explained that he based the decision on biodiversity analysis, the long existence of these natural grass species, and the stability of materials to develop the model. These species originated from the delta, so restoring their presence in their own land is essential, he said. In addition, the world is working to address biodiversity loss, while the pace of species extinction is 100 times, or even 1,000 times faster than that in the past. As such, people are expected to gradually lose native species. Meanwhile, native species play a key role in the future of economic development, Ni underscored. He also took ST25 rice, the worlds best rice, as an example, adding that the variety stemmed from the region. Native species are treasures, Ni asserted. A craftswoman is shown using bulrush to weave a basket. The bulrush was regenerated by Dr. Duong Van Ni to create sustainable livelihood in Vietnams Mekong Delta. Photo: Minh Khoi / Tuoi Tre The craft village in Nga Nam Town is using bulrush, cattail, and water hyacinth to make housewares to diversify handicraft products to serve the local and global markets. After being dried, bulrush plants are durable and soft, so they are also suitable for the low humidity and dry weather in the United States and Australia. Though water hyacinth is crunchy, the plant is short, making it easy for craftswomen to weave products such as chairs, baskets, and bags. These native grass species have helped boost the self-contained life of locals as they can proactively plant them, harvest and dry them, make housewares out of them, and sell these products, he said. Dried grass used for crafting in Nga Nam Town, Soc Trang Province, located in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Photo: Minh Khoi / Tuoi Tre Handicraft products made of bulrush. Photo: Minh Khoi / Tuoi Tre Craftspeople weave baskets in Nga Nam Town, Soc Trang Province, located in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Photo: Tieu Bac / Tuoi Tre News Ambitious plan to build a better delta I am striving for a goal in which these materials will replace artificial sponge used for filling furniture and cushions among others to protect the environment, Ni unveiled. He also said that he was working with multiple research institutes to study the basic characteristics of natural materials to accomplish the goal. Furthermore, he is planning to build a natural history museum for the Mekong Delta region to provide new generations and tourists with knowledge and information about the delta and its historical stories. The Consulate General of Australia in Ho Chi Minh City organized the Mekong Delta media tour from March 18 to 22 to introduce Australias commitment and activities in the delta. Since 2000, Australia has delivered more than AUD650 million (US$427 million) in official development assistance to the Mekong Delta region. The Mekong Delta is facing multiple challenges, receiving backing from several nations, including Australia, Nguyen Phuong Lam, director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Can Tho Branch, said at the media tour briefing held at Can Tho University on March 18. Among them are saline intrusion, a shortage of clean water, the high rate of unskilled workers, much reliance on agriculture, the modest number of businesses, low economic growth, weak foreign direct investment attraction, and a high unemployment rate, he pinpointed. Dr. Duong Van Ni (L) talks to Ciaran Chestnutt (R), Deputy Consul General of Australia in Ho Chi Minh City, about his nature-based sustainable livelihood project. Photo: Tieu Bac / Tuoi Tre News Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! WASHINGTON -- Whether dogs truly understand the words we say as opposed to things like tone and context clues is a question that has long perplexed owners, and so far science has not been able to deliver clear answers. But a new brainwave study published on March 22 in Current Biology suggests that hearing the names of their favourite toys actually activates dogs memories of those objects. It definitely shows us that its not human-unique to have this type of referential understanding, first author Lilla Magyari of the Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary told AFP, explaining that researchers have been sceptical up to this point. With a couple of famous exceptions, dogs have fared poorly on lab tests requiring them to fetch objects after hearing their names, and many experts have argued that it is not so much what we say but rather how and when we say things that pique our pooches interest. Yelling Go get the stick! and having a dog successfully bring the object back does not conclusively prove they know what the word stick means, for example. Even scientists who concede that dogs do pay attention to our speech have said that, rather than really understanding what words stand for, they are reacting to particular sounds with a learnt behaviour. In the new paper, Associate Professor Magyari and colleagues applied a non-invasive brain-imaging technique to 18 dogs brought to their lab in Budapest. The test involved taping electrodes to the dogs heads to monitor their brain activity. Their owners said words for toys they were most familiar with for example Kun-kun, look, the ball! and then showed them either the matching object or a mismatched object. After analysing the recordings, the team found different brain patterns when dogs were shown matching versus mismatched objects. This experimental set-up has been used for decades in humans, including babies, and is accepted as evidence of semantic processing, or understanding of meaning. The test also had the benefit of not requiring the dogs to fetch something in order to prove their knowledge. We found the effect in 14 dogs, co-first author Marianna Boros told AFP, proving that the ability is not confined to a few exceptional dogs. Even the four that failed may have simply been tested on the wrong words, she added. Ms Holly Root-Gutteridge, a dog behaviour scientist at the University of Lincoln in England, told AFP that the ability to fetch specific toys by name had previously been deemed a genius quality. Famous border collies Chaser and Rico could find and retrieve specific toys from large piles but were deemed outliers, she said. But the new study shows that a whole range of dogs are learning the names of the objects in terms of brain response even if they do not demonstrate it behaviourally, said Ms Root-Gutteridge, adding it was another knock for humanitys special and distinct qualities. The paper provides further evidence that dogs might understand human vocalisations much better than we usually give them credit for, said Associate Professor Federico Rossano, a cognitive scientist at UC San Diego. But not all experts were equally enthusiastic. Professor Clive Wynne, a canine behaviourist at Arizona State University, told AFP he was split on the findings. I think the paper falls down when it wants to make the big-picture claim that they have demonstrated what they call semantic understanding, he said, though he praised the ingenious experimental set-up as a new way to test the full extent of dogs functional vocabulary. For example, Prof Wynne said, he needs to spell out the word w-a-l-k when he is in front of his dog lest his pet get excited for an outing there and then but he does not need to take the same precautions in front of his wife, whose understanding of the word goes beyond simple association. Would Pavlov be surprised by these results? asked Prof Wynne, referencing the famous Russian scientist who showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate when they heard a bell signalling meal time. I do not think he would be. Police in Thong Nhat District under Dong Nai Province, located in southern Vietnam, are investigating the deaths of three people in a biogas cellar in Hung Loc Commune, an officer said on Monday. The deceased were identified as Do Thi Thu Th., 48, her son Nguyen Trong Th., 27, and her cousin Pham Van Th., 42. They resided in Vinh Cuu District. A family member of these victims said that Thu Th. was checking her pig farm in Hung Loc Commune at 6:20 am on the same day when she found that Van Th. disappeared. She asked for help from her husband and son to search for her cousin. Upon seeing a light from a flashlight in the biogas cellar, her son realized his uncle was in danger, thereby climbing down to save him. However, he suffocated and fainted. Thu Th. quickly descended the stairs to approach her son in vain, as she also choked in the gas. Nguyen Hoang Viet, Thu Th.s husband, immediately went down to the cellar to rescue his family members, yet the dense gas forced him to return. Viet reported the case to local authorities in the hope of timely saving his family members. However, all the three were pronounced dead after being taken out of the cellar. His family opened a live pig farm with 900 hogs in Hung Loc Commune in 2013, Viet said. The biogas cellar, where the tragedy happened, covers nine square meters and is three meters deep. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Hundreds of logs cut from trees felled in Ho Chi Minh City have been damaged by termite attacks and prolonged exposure to the sun and rain, while waiting to be put up for auction. A team of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters spotted the bad conditions of the logs during their recent visit to an area in the outlying district of Hoc Mon, where the tree trunks are gathered together. The reporters discovered that lots of logs suffered severe termite damage, making them most likely unusable, even though the municipal Department of Construction is arranging an auction to put them up for sale. Units responsible for taking care of city street trees normally report those with defects or diseases to the departments Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Management Center for cutting them down. The logs are then transported to gathering areas managed by Ho Chi Minh City Greenery Parks Company. A birds-eye view of an area where logs of city street trees are gathered together in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre Most of the logs have been damaged due to termite attacks and prolonged exposure to the sun and rain. Photo: Duc Phu / Tuoi Tre Lots of logs have incurred severe termite damage, making them highly unlikely usable. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre Lots of logs have suffered severe termite damage, making them highly unlikely usable. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre Logs are exposed to the sun amid scattering wild grass. Photo: Duc Phu / Tuoi Tre The logs have no protective coverings. Photo: Le Phan / Tuoi Tre The logs, which are waiting to be auctioned off. Photo: Duc Phu / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The administration of a ward in Vietnams capital city Hanoi has fined a local street vendor VND150,000 (US$6) for overcharging two foreign travelers VND50,000 ($2) for four Vietnamese donuts. The donut seller, D.T.H., hailing from northern Thai Binh Province, got the penalty on Sunday after committing the act at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hoan Kiem District earlier on the same day, a leader of the districts authorities said the same day. H.s wrongdoing was witnessed by a man, D.T., who was on a stroll with his friend in the lake area. After advising the woman against such fleecing and she denied it, T. notified the lakes security team, who then reported it to local authorities. Accordingly, the woman, through body language, offered a bag of four Vietnamese donuts for VND50,000 to the two foreign men, who then asked for a 50-percent discount, but the street vendor did not agree. When the men handed her a banknote of VND100,000 ($4), she slid VND50,000 into the hand of one of them and left at once. The street vendor, D.T.H., is seen at a police office of Ly Thai To Ward in Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi after she overcharged two foreign travelers on March 24, 2024. Photo: Hoan Kiem District Peoples Committee At a meeting with the districts Ly Thai To Ward police, she admitted to ripping off the tourists, expressed regret for her wrongdoing, and apologized for undermining the image of the capital city in the eyes of foreign visitors. Following the fine imposed on H. for breaching street vending regulations, the ward authorities requested her to provide a written commitment pledging not to repeat the violation. A week ago, authorities in Buoi Ward of Hanois Tay Ho District also handled a similar case in which another street vendor, B.T.L., attempted to fleece a pair of foreign tourists VND200,000 ($8) for a small bag of fruits. Upon returning the VND200,000 to the tourists, L. was not penalized by the ward for overcharging. However, she was cautioned against repeating the violation in the future. Authorities issued a fine of VND150,000 to L. for flouting urban order directives. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Police in south-central Vietnams Ninh Thuan Province have transferred a Russian murder suspect wanted by Interpol to Russian authorities after arresting him while he was hiding in the provinces Phan Rang-Thap Cham City. The wanted man, Borzykh Mikhail, 38, a Russian national, was detained on March 22 during a raid by police officers on his temporary residence in the citys Van Hai Ward, the provincial police department reported on Sunday. The raid was made in coordination with the immigration office under the department, based on a tip-off from local residents who noticed suspicious signs from the foreign man, according to Cong An Nhan Dan (Peoples Public Security) newspaper. The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security previously directed police forces nationwide to hunt for and arrest the suspect as per Interpols wanted notice. In conjunction with the ministry, the department carried out procedures to hand the suspect over to Russian authorities at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on March 23. The man will be escorted on a flight home by Russian police for investigation. After allegedly committing a murder in Russia, the suspect fled abroad in February this year before entering Vietnam early this month and temporarily residing in the country, local police said. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! This week, Back Roads adventures to the Tasman Peninsula, on the south eastern tip of Tasmania. Guest presenter Joe OBrien travels to the Tasman Peninsula, just an hours drive from Hobart but a place that stirs peoples passion for the wild. Featuring spectacular contrasts from rolling hills and tranquil bays, to towering cliffs and roaring seas, it draws people who love adventure, risk and getting away from it all. Joe meets a young surfer Noah Hassett and his mum Emma, who take Joe to one of Australias most perilous big wave surf breaks: Shipstern Bluff. These freezing waters were once teeming with giant kelp, which provided a nursery for marine life, and a buffer from shipping and storms. Local dive shop owner Mick Baron takes Joe underwater to see how he and a team of scientists are trying to revive this endangered species. Joe walks on country with Palawa man, Caleb Pedder, who shares a powerful story about his connection to his ancestor Fanny Cochrane Smith the only indigenous Tasmanian to have been recorded speaking in language. And just off the coast is the treacherous Tasman Island, where Australias highest operating lighthouse stands. Before the lighthouse was automated in 1976, lighthouse keepers and their families lived on the island. Joe travels to the island and meets a former lighthouse keeper, Karl Robottom, who worked there in the early 70s and Carol Jackson, who lived on the island with her family and lighthouse keeper father in the 1950s and the 1970s. Both have fabulous stories to tell and are still scintillated by the islands breathtaking beauty and isolation. The people who live, work and play here know how special this place is, and theyre determined to protect it for generations to come. 8pm tonight on ABC. Foreign Correspondent this week looks to a property sale scheme in Sicily previously covered by Dateline in 2022 -buying a home for as little as 1 Euro. For many people living in an historic town in Italy seems like an unaffordable dream. But thanks to an ambitious social experiment you can live la dolce vita in Sicily for just one euro! This week on Foreign Correspondent reporter Natalie Whiting travels to the Sicilian towns where people are arriving from all over the world to snap up abandoned houses for virtually nothing. And their arrival is helping to solve one of Italys biggest problems. The country has the oldest population in Europe with deaths now far outstripping births and huge numbers of young people are leaving for better work opportunities. The one-euro house scheme aims to fix the vanishing population problem by enticing new residents to reinvigorate the struggling towns. Natalie meets the newcomers with ambitious plans of turning their rundown purchases into Italian dream homes, she talks to the locals, some of whom are still not sure about their new neighbours. And she meets the optimists who are confident an affordable real estate boom can not only breathe new life into these old towns but create a new community and forge new friendships. 8pm Thursday on ABC. UK actor Ralf Little has departed hit mystery series Death in Paradise after 4 years as DI Neville Parker. Little is the longest serving Detective Inspector with thirty-six episodes and three feature-length festive specials (as well as a cameo in spin-off show Beyond Paradise). Neville joined the Saint Marie police team in 2020, taking over from DI Jack Mooney (Ardal OHanlon). His four-year tenure as Detective Inspector saw him face many ups and downs, overcome his allergies, aversions to the sun, and even an attempt to frame him for murder to become Saint Maries longest serving sleuth. Josephine Jobert, who plays DS Florence Cassell, has also departed. Tim Key, Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures, said: Joining a successful show like Death in Paradise as the lead is a daunting and risky prospect, but Ralfs confidence and talent shone through from day one and the audience response to Neville and his journey has been amazing. I cant thank Ralf enough for everything he has brought to the show, on and off screen, and wish him all the very best for the future. New lead casting will be announced in due course. Death in Paradise will return for a fourth feature-length Christmas special, followed by a new series in 2025. ABC is also expected to announce casting for Return to Paradise filming in NSW imminently. KABUL, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Police have detained one drug smuggler and seized illegal drugs in east Afghanistan's Laghman province, the Ministry of Interior Affairs said on Monday. The suspect was attempting to take 120 kg of hashish from Laghman to an unknown area. In the meantime, police have apprehended five drug smugglers and discovered 95 kg of illegal drugs in the southern Nimroz province, the state-run Bakhtar news agency reported Monday. The Afghan caretaker government has vowed to fight illicit drugs, drug production and trafficking across the country. A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters) Dave Calhoun, the CEO of embattled aerospace manufacturer Boeing, will step down by the end of the year, the company announced Monday morning. The moves come amid a series of recent problems with the companys airplanes, including a door plug being blown out during a flight, a plane that dropped midflight, injuring passengers, and a panel falling off a plane during a flight. The company has come under scrutiny from the Department of Justice and the Federal Aviation Administration as a result. While Boeing has been making headlines a lot recently, the company has faced more than five years of safety challenges with its planes. The issues have resulted in multiple aircraft groundings and more than $31 billion in losses. What just happened? Calhoun announced on Monday that he would resign at the end of 2024 as part of a leadership shake-up. The announcement also mentioned that the CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal, is retiring and that Boeings chairman, Larry Kellner, will not be seeking reelection as a board director. Lets rewind. How did we end up here? March 2024 The FBI is investigating the Alaska Airlines flight in January that saw a door plug blow off the plane midflight and has told passengers they may be a possible victim of a crime. The FAAs 737 Max production audit finds multiple instances where Boeing allegedly did not comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. In two separate incidents, a Boeing 777-200 loses a wheel during takeoff from San Francisco and a Boeing 737 skids off the runway after landing in Houston. The next week, a prominent Boeing whistleblower former employee John Barnett dies by suicide while in Charleston, S.C., for a deposition for a lawsuit against Boeing. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner nose-dives during a flight from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand, injuring at least 50 people, on the same day a Boeing 777 flight from Sydney is forced to turn around due to a maintenance issue. Another Boeing 777 is forced to make an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport after pilots report a flat tire. A Boeing 737 that took off from San Francisco later that week is found to be missing a panel during a postflight inspection. On Friday, Boeing sues Virgin Galactic, accusing it of stealing trade secrets. Story continues Whistleblowers, nosedives and a DOJ investigation: Read more about Boeings March mishaps on Yahoo News February 2024 The NTSB publishes a preliminary report that found the Alaska Airlines flight was missing four key bolts, which is why the door plug blew out. January 2024 Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 experiences a door plug blowout midflight. The FAA subsequently grounds all Max 9 aircraft to investigate. Read more from BBC News: Passenger describes being on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 December 2023 Boeing urges airlines to inspect all 737 Max jets for potential loose hardware in the planes rudder control systems. August 2023 Boeing reports a supplier quality issue with 737 Max planes involving improperly drilled holes. October 2022 The FAA tells Boeing that some documents submitted for the certification review of the 737 Max 7 are incomplete. March 2021 Chinas aviation regulator claims there are major safety concerns with the Boeing Max jets. November 2020 The FAA allows Boeing 737 Max planes to fly again. September 2020 An 18-month-long investigation by a House of Representatives panel concludes that Boeing failed in its design and development of the Max aircraft and was not fully transparent with the FAA. Read more from Reuters: U.S. lawmakers fault FAA, Boeing for deadly 737 Max crashes January 2020 Boeing suspends all 737 production. March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 Max 8, reports a flight control problem to the control tower one minute after taking off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The plane crashes six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board. China decides to ground all Boeing 737 Max planes. The FAA follows. November 2018 The FAA and Boeing announce they are investigating software and design changes on all 737 Max planes following the Lion Air crash. October 2018 Lion Air Flight 610, a Boeing 737 Max aircraft, crashes 13 minutes after takeoff from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia. All 189 on board are killed. Boeing had problems for years. Why is it being investigated only now? Weve known [about Boeing] for five years, Mark Pegram, father of one of the Ethiopian Airlines flight victims, told NPR in March. I think the rest of the world is finally waking up to it, that these werent just isolated incidents. Boeing has paid billions of dollars in settlements since 2018, and the company and its leaders entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in January 2021 with the Department of Justice that has helped them avoid criminal prosecution so far. Boeing paid $1.77 billion to compensate airline customers, $243.6 million as a criminal fine and $500 million for a compensation fund for family members of crash victims, CNN reported. A yearlong FAA-commissioned panel review was critical of the safety culture at Boeing, and found that executives and employees were not aligned with what the safety standards were, according to a report from February. The investigation also found that many employees were afraid of retaliation for speaking up. The couple, who appeared on season 7 of the ABC reality show, have been dating for more than two years Paul Archuleta/Getty Chris Conran and Alana Milne Bachelor in Paradise stars Chris Conran and Alana Milne are engaged! The couple, who appeared on season 7 of the ABC reality show, announced their happy news with a series of sweet snaps on Instagram Sunday. In the joint carousel post, Conran revealed that he popped the question during a trip to Bali, Indonesia. My dream girl said yes to forever , his caption read as he was captured down on one knee surrounded by lanterns with the ocean in the background. In the first snap, Milne covered her face with her hands as she stood in a white cropped top and matching long skirt. She then knelt to join Conran in the second photo before the pair engaged in a romantic kiss in the third slide. Paul Archuleta/Getty Chris Conran and Alana Milne Related: 'Bachelor in Paradise' Stars Abigail Heringer and Noah Erb Are Engaged: 'The Proposal Was Perfect' (Exclusive) The post then concluded with a photo of Conran planting a kiss on Milnes head as she displayed her diamond engagement ring while flashing a beaming smile. Sooooo Awesome!!! Congratulations you two! Love love , The Bachelorette alum Mike Johnson wrote in the comments section. CHRIS&ALANA!!!!!!! Oh my heavens, Im SO HAPPY for you both , another user wrote, while a third added, Congratulations!! Such a beautiful couple and Im so happy for you both! . Related: Every 'Bachelor' and 'Bachelorette' Couple: Where Are They Now? 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. Milne also shared the photos on her Instagram Story, writing, I love you @chrisconran, and Its not just a boulder, its a rock. While the pair, who have been dating for over two years, ended up leaving their season of the show separately, they quickly got back together and moved to Salt Lake City. Story continues Alana went Instagram official with their relationship in October 2021 with photos of the pair having brunch in San Antonio, Texas. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Writer-director-cinematographer Molly Manning Walker and writer-director Charlotte Regan revealed some of the big lessons they each learned from their respective debut features How to Have Sex and Scrapper and imparted advice to an audience of screenwriters at Dublins inaugural Storyhouse festival for writers. Manning Walker, whose How to Have Sex won the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes last year, had spent a number of years as a cinematographer before launching that film, about a group of British teenage girls who go on a rites-of-passage holiday in Malia, Greece, and spoke about how that had impacted her process of writing. More from Deadline The truth is when I started writing, I guess it came through like visuals and I started to write visuals and everyone was always telling me that I needed to find some story because I was just writing visuals and I still get that note, so maybe I still need to figure it out, quipped Manning Walker. The British talent admitted that when it came to the shoot, she hadnt realized during the process of writing what a daunting task she had set up for herself as a director. We had like 300 people a day for the first two weeks and I was throwing up because I hadnt realized the task of what I had put in front of me, which was trying to get everyone dancing to no music whilst trying to get a performance from an actor that I didnt really know that well in the middle of this hot and sweaty situation it was just very tricky. Story continues For Regan, whose debut feature Scrapper won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance last year, she pressed that her past experience of editing her previous shorts and music videos proved to be a big help for her debut feature. (Manning Walker served as DOP on Scrapper). Editing informs me when Im scheduling, said Regan adding that a lot of the references she used for the film were The Bourne Ultimatum and Harry Potter. I dont know where we got them from, but they were our main points of reference so there was lots of How can we do that Bourne Ultimatum sequence but on 50 pounds and a half hour of Lola [Campbell, who stars in Scrapper] because shes only 12-years-old? Manning Walker added that it was helpful to think of how the money would look on screen so you can make sure youre putting it in the right place you need to be able to figure out what you do and dont need and making sure you prioritize that. Regan said she was always keen for her debut feature to sit at a low budget, in the hopes she could retain more creative control across the project. I was always weirdly obsessed with not doing a first feature over 2 million or something like that. I didnt want to get a sales company on board before the shoot because there were already a lot of opinions, and I was worried about having another opinion in the room. Regan spoke to collaborating with Manning Walker on Scrapper and said that while there were sequences within them that were unachievable having Manning Walker aboard as a cinematographer was a huge benefit because she understood what was at the heart of what I was trying to say, and she knew how to scale it back and make it look great for less money. Best of Deadline Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Off the radar Maxim Tupikov/Shutterstock Humans have explored huge amounts of this Earth over the centuries. With technological advancement we have charted the oceans, scaled mountains and seen the world from the skies. There are vast areas of the globe you'll likely never visit expanses of wilderness so remote that only a few have been and only a few will ever endeavour to reach them. Here are some of the planet's most incredible under-explored places... The ocean floor damsea/Shutterstock More than 80% of the oceans on this planet are yet to be explored, and it's estimated that 99% of the sea floor has yet to be discovered. It took until 2012 for humans to reach the deepest point in the ocean an area called the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific. The ocean floor sv_bugaeva/Shutterstock Curious, alien-like animals like this luminous jellyfish thrive in the underwater wilderness, but it's likely we'll never get to see the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. Instead we can make do with glimpses of the seabed in documentaries by the likes of David Attenborough. Sakha, Russia Tatiana Gasich/Shutterstock Tucked away in far northeast Russia, Sakha's 1.2 million square miles (3.1m sq km) of land is home to around one million people, most of whom live along the Lena River. This republic has some of the most extreme seasons on the planet, with January temperatures plummeting to -43.5C (-46F) and summer averages reaching 19C (66F). Sakha, Russia Tatiana Gasich/Shutterstock Conditions are harsh economically too, with the region's little industry and farming only viable on the banks of the river. The Sakha people herd reindeer and hunt squirrel, fox and ermine to sustain their life here. They also rely on ice fishing (pictured). Sakha, Russia Spiridon Sleptsov/Shutterstock Due to its remoteness, Sakha has a bounty of untouched natural wonders, from glassy lakes to glaciers, and it's where many ancient woolly mammoth fossils have been discovered. It's caked in snow for much of the year, but winter is particularly biting. Story continues Greenland Nicolaj Larsen/Shutterstock Part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is still one of the least-visited nations in Europe. Just over 100,000 people explored this stunning land of glaciers and mountains in 2018, compared with well over two million visitors to neighboring Iceland the year before. Greenland Vadim Nefedoff/Shutterstock Greenland has a tiny population too just 57,000 people. That means there's very little light pollution so, come evening, the Northern Lights are regularly visible dancing above the island. Greenland Sergey Uryadnikov/Shutterstock Cruises to Greenland are exceedingly expensive, so most of us will never experience the stunning sunsets off the west coast, where icebergs are illuminated by the sinking sun and whales can be seen breaching the waters. But luckily the country is little stranger to stunning nature documentaries. The Northwest Passage, Arctic Canada Exclusive Aerials/Shutterstock One of the world's trickiest bodies of water to navigate, the Northwest Passage stretches across the top of Canada, between the North Pole and the far northern reaches of the American continent. The passage was first navigated by explorer Roald Amundsen in the early 20th century. The Northwest Passage, Arctic Canada AMFPhotography/Shutterstock It's considered a perilous crossing due to the large amount of ice floating in the waters, some chunks of which are big enough to cause significant damage to unprepared ships. Most ships that travel through the area are icebreakers: vessels that churn through the ice as they go, in order to make a safe crossing. The Northwest Passage, Arctic Canada Shchekoldin Mikhail/Shutterstock The Northwest Passage is home to all manner of wildlife, from whales to polar bears. In 2007, though, the area's ice cover was at an all-time low after an incredibly warm summer. Sadly, climate change is now threatening the existence of polar bears here, who use the ice as a refuge. South Georgia Island CherylRamalho/Shutterstock With no airport and a location hundreds of miles east of the tip of South America, this island, stranded out in the Atlantic Ocean, is only accessible by boat. Just over 17,000 people stopped on the shores of South Georgia Island between 2017 and 2018, and that included cruise ship staff and scientific researchers. South Georgia Island CherylRamalho/Shutterstock The small number of human visitors are wildly outnumbered by the millions of penguins who reside here. There are three different species gentoo, king and macaroni and plenty of other wildlife, like seals and seabirds. In fact, South Georgia Island is the breeding ground for more than 10 million birds. South Georgia Island jo Crebbin/Shutterstock It's safe to say, most of us will never experience the breeze on these blustery islands, and so all we can do is marvel at photographs like this, depicting the region's stunning blue glaciers and incredible wildlife. Wrangell-St Elias National Park, Alaska, USA Troutnut/Shutterstock Alaska, the biggest state by land area in the USA, is home to great swathes of wilderness that remain little explored. Sprawling Wrangell-St Elias National Park is one of them. Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska, USA Frank Fichtmueller/Shutterstock This incredible national preserve which could fit Yellowstone National Park within its boundaries six times over sits in the southeast corner of Alaska, right up against the Canadian border. It's a land of soaring mountains, ice fields and glaciers, and much of it remains gloriously pristine and little visited. Wrangell-St Elias National Park, Alaska, USA David_Pastyka/Shutterstock Some areas have been explored though, and more than that, they've been exploited too. This picture shows an abandoned mill where a copper mine once thrived. Around 300 people lived and worked here during its heyday, but today it's empty with the copper reserves gone. Now, with no population and close to zero light pollution, the Northern Lights shine bright overhead come nightfall. Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, Madagascar Dennis van de Water/Shutterstock It's hardly surprising that this labyrinth of needle-shaped rock formations remains largely unexplored. Except for a few trails, bridges and viewpoints, much of this national park in Madagascar is untouched by humans. Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, Madagascar Dennis van de Water/Shutterstock The formations here are around 200 million years old according to NASA, and the little-disturbed forests, lakes, mangrove swamps and canyons are an ideal habitat for all manner of wildlife. The park is home to 11 different kinds of lemur and 45 endemic species of reptile. The Sahara, Africa Anton Petrus/Shutterstock The world's largest hot desert, the Sahara stretches across much of northern Africa. Entire cities are located within the yellow sands of this barren landscape, but beyond them there are entire swathes of the region that are yet to be explored. The Sahara, Africa Gelia/Shutterstock It's not all just sand dunes, either. There are salt flats (pictured), mountains, gravel plains and even rivers running through this landscape. The Sahara is expanding too. With climate change making rains less frequent in the region, the area classified as desert is getting bigger each year and valuable arable land is drying up. The Sahara, Africa Anton Petrus/Shutterstock This lonely landscape has a derelict beauty about it though and, come nightfall, millions of stars glitter in the sky. Hardy species living in the desert include addax, fennec foxes and reptiles such as snakes and lizards. Torngat Mountains National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Parks Canada Located in the far reaches of Newfoundland and Labrador on the Labrador Peninsula, Torngat Mountains National Park is one of the least-visited parks in Canada. It's over 3,745 square miles (9,700sq km) of total wilderness, spreading out from the stunning Saglek Fjord, with the Torngat Mountains at its heart. Torngat Mountains National Park, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Parks Canada Unlike most other Canadian parks, this one has no permanent roads, no trails, no campgrounds and no signage. Few Canadians and even fewer foreigners will ever make the journey here. That leaves free rein for the park's incredible wildlife to frolic. Its far north location means that icebergs regularly float along its coastline, and polar bears roam the land alongside caribou, wolves and Arctic foxes. The Suriname Rainforest Rene Holtslag/Shutterstock This peaceful dawn scene has been captured in the Suriname Rainforest, a vast tract of land cloaked in jungle and teeming with rare wildlife. Most of Suriname's population live on its northern coastline, and while some of the highways stretch inland, there's very little infrastructure in the south part of the country. The Suriname Rainforest Brandon Alms/Shutterstock There are communities of Saramacca people and Indigenous Surinamese tribes living within the rainforest, but foreigners rarely make it into the thick of it. The locals are incredibly outnumbered by curious creatures instead, including the likes of this blue poison dart frog. The Suriname Rainforest Rene Holtslag/Shutterstock There are also some serious predators, with jaguars like this one roaming the forest floor in search of prey, such as deer or caimans. Scientists are continually discovering new species too, from the cocoa frog to unusual forms of bat and beetle. Ennedi Plateau, Chad Homo Cosmicos/Shutterstock This desert oasis is a rarely visited natural wonder. The Ennedi Plateau in northeastern Chad is essentially off limits to tourists, and few locals will go there too due to its proximity to Libya and Sudan. Ennedi Plateau, Chad evgenii mitroshin/Shutterstock The Ennedi Plateau is essentially a natural bulwark, with towering rock buttresses, bridges and arches. Sandstone bluffs here soar above 4,756 feet (1,450m) and the stark, otherworldly landscape looks like something straight from a Star Wars film. Ennedi Plateau, Chad Homo Cosmicos/Shutterstock The region has come under the management of African Parks in a bid to preserve its natural wonders, the rare wildlife including a desert-dwelling crocodile and the unique nomadic communities that traverse the land. St Helena Island Umomos/Shutterstock While there's a modest population of people living on this island off the west coast of Africa, there's very little tourist activity here today. And with just one weekly flight connecting St Helena to Johannesburg, South Africa, that's hardly a surprise. St Helena Island Francis83/Shutterstock At 1,200 miles (1,931km) from the shores of Africa and 2,500 miles (4,023km) from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it's one of the world's most remote islands. That means the vast majority of us will never set foot on this volcanic idyll, with its peaks, valleys and cloud forests. Lake Turkana, Kenya E X P L O R E R/Shutterstock Far in the northwestern corner of Kenya, surrounded by desert, Lake Turkana is seriously remote. The roads leading here have no asphalt, and conditions on the rocky tracks are so bad even truck tyres can burst on the drive up. Lake Turkana, Kenya Piotr Gatlik/Shutterstock Few people including foreigners and Kenyans venture up this far, aside from the occasional anthropologist, aid worker or Christian missionary. This means Lake Turkana's communities are among the least-explored settlements on the African continent. Lake Turkana, Kenya Dietmar Temps/Shutterstock The Turkana people, the predominant tribe in the region, have distinctive haircuts, shaved on the sides and braided on top, and they tend to wear lots of colourful beads. Once a year, tribes from across the region congregate here for a huge festival, celebrating the diversity of the country's varying cultures. North Korean countryside meteorite/Shutterstock The state of North Korea is unlikely to top many bucket lists and with political uncertainty a serious issue in this region, it's quite possible most of us will never set foot on its shores. North Korean countryside Maxim Tupikov/Shutterstock The country is probably home to some of the world's quietest coves and beaches, with coastlines on both the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea but without the major resorts we associate with such stretches of sand. North Korean countryside Torsten Pursche/Shutterstock There are also plenty of gorgeous forested areas and some stunning mountain vistas. But these pictures of North Korea's incredible natural landscapes are probably as close as you'll get to exploring the many untouched destinations within its borders. Kolsai Lakes, Kazakhstan Aizhan Baibulova/Shutterstock This stunning scene could be straight from the Canadian Rockies, but it's actually part of Kolsai Lakes in Kazakhstan. This area of Central Asia remains little visited, leaving its surprising landscapes gloriously unspoiled. Kolsai Lakes, Kazakhstan Pikoso.kz/Shutterstock Spreading out close to the Kyrgyzstan border, the wilderness here is characterised by glassy lakes, green peaks and pastures, with rivers running through thick, untouched forest. It's little wonder that the Kolsai Lakes are often dubbed the "Pearls of Tien Shan". The Amazon, Brazil Johnny Lye/Shutterstock The world's largest rainforest spans more than 2.3 million square miles (6m sq km) across Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, and is one of the greatest wonders on the planet. The sprawling jungle is thought to contain 10% of the world's known species, and there are still parts unexplored by modern society. The Amazon, Brazil SL-Photography/Shutterstock Entire communities of people live in the rainforest and remain isolated, despite the encroachment of modern man by way of deforestation and tourism in some parts. The Vale do Javari is one of the largest Indigenous territories in Brazil, and it hit headlines in 2018 when drone footage caught images of one tribe walking through a clearing in the forest. The Amazon, Brazil PARALAXIS/Shutterstock Some of the worst fires in years devastated parts of the forest in 2019, and had a devastating impact on wildlife and the lives of Indigenous communities. Reports indicate that the affected areas could take centuries to recover. But copious amounts of wildlife still thrives within these trees for now. Animals such as golden lion tamarin and capybaras live under the dark cover of the forest canopy and all sorts of fish, including electric eels, swim in the rivers. Now read about the last unspoiled places on Earth Welcome Guest! You are here: Home Implement it: Clamor as UNSC adopts resolution calling Ramadan ceasefire in Gaza After the UNSC passed the Ramadan ceasefire resolution in Gaza, pressure is now building up on the UN Apex Body to implement it using all the power in its hand. Read More Tuesday March 26, 2024 1:38 AM , ummid.com News Network United Nations: In a first since Oct 7, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Monday March 25, 2024 adopted a resolution calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the Holy Month of Ramadan leading to a clamor to implement it at any cost. US abstains from voting The resolution received support from 14 of the total 15 UNSC members with only the United States abstaining from voting. The Security Council this morning adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire and also the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the UNSC said in a statement released a little while ago. Resolution 2728 (2024) passed by a vote of 14 in favour to none against, with 1 abstention (United States), the UNSC added. The US vetoed three prior attempts to achieve similar resolutions since the war on Gaza began on October 7. Clamor for implementation After the UNSC passed the Ramadan ceasefire resolution in Gaza, pressure is now building up on the UN Apex Body to implement it using all the power in its hand. Demanding the implementation of the UNSC resolution, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said "failure would be unforgivable". "The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages", Antonio Guterres wrote on social media platform X, originally launched as Twitter. "This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable", the UN Secretary General said. Calling the UN Security Council resolution long overdue, the Chief of Amnesty International demanded its 'immediate implementation'. Israel must immediately halt their brutal bombing of Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Israel, Hamas and other armed groups must ensure the ceasefire is durable. Civilian hostages must be immediately released. As should all Palestinians arbitrarily detained, Agnes Callamard wrote on social media platform X. This resolution is long overdue. To truly relieve the toll on civilians and address the mass devastation and suffering in Gaza, it is vital that it is implemented immediately and leads to an enduring ceasefire. There is not a moment to waste. https://t.co/uURQTz6RIa Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) March 25, 2024 In recent weeks voting at the UN Security Council has descended into a farcical political game with tragic consequences for civilians, she said, calling on the international community to prioritise saving lives instead of politics. Demanding the UNSC resolution's implementation, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said Israel should be sanctioned 'if it does not comply'. States should use all forms of leverage including imposing arms embargo and targeted sanctions on Israel to press it to comply. The lives of millions of Palestinians hang in the balance", he said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) in a statement also called for immediate implementation of the Gaza ceasefire resolution. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez after the Gaza ceasefire resolution got the UNSC nod said it is imperative that the resolution be implemented and humanitarian aid access be allowed into the coastal enclave. The UN mandate is in line with what Spain has defended since the beginning of the conflict, he said in a post on X. The materialisation of the two States, Israel and Palestine, coexisting in peace and security, is the only realistic and viable solution for the region. 'Lasting, sustainable ceasefire' The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a "lasting, sustainable ceasefire" and demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized on October 7 . Russia at the last minute objected to the removal of the word "permanent" ceasefire and called a vote, which failed to gain passage. The successful resolution was drafted in part by Algeria, the Arab bloc's current member on the Security Council, with a diverse array of countries including Slovenia and Switzerland, according to news agency AFP. The UNSC ceasefire resolution comes after the brutal massacre of over 32,000 civilians over 70 per cent of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry of Palestine. The UNSC also comes at a time when close to 1.4 Palestinians stranded in Rafah are facing starvation and acute shortage of drinking water and other essentials. Watch Video Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. Tinubu urged to save 2024 Hajj preparations from imminent collapse With Sundays announcement by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) of an upward review of Hajj 2024 fare, it has become imperative for the governments at both the federal and state levels to provide intervention, else, Hajj 2024 will witness the lowest Nigerian contingent ever or Nigerian pilgrims may miss the opportunity of a lifetime to perform this years Hajj. Read More Monday March 25, 2024 11:51 PM , ummid.com News Network Abuja: With Sundays announcement by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) of an upward review of Hajj 2024 fare, it has become imperative for the governments at both the federal and state levels to provide intervention, else, Hajj 2024 will witness the lowest Nigerian contingent ever or Nigerian pilgrims may miss the opportunity of a lifetime to perform this years Hajj. NAHCON had earlier in December 2023 fixed a fare of N4.9 million per pilgrim based on an exchange rate of N897:00 to a Dollar. However, authorities at both the state and the federal governments could not meet with deadlines set by Saudi Arabian authorities to remit operational funds for Hajj services despite extensions given because NAHCON was waiting for the Federal Governments promised intervention to grant lower forex rates equivalent to the number of registered pilgrims from Nigeria. With the approved timeframe for visa processing ticking away, NAHCON on Sunday, therefore, announced that due to the failure to meet obligations as when due, it has no option but to ask the about 50,000 intending pilgrims that have paid the initial fare of N4.9 million to now pay additional N1.918 million on or before March 28. As a Civil Society Organization with ears to the ground when it comes to Hajj matters, we are sure that over 90% of those who paid the initial deposit of N4.9 million cannot afford to raise additional N1.9 million within four days. It has, therefore, become imperative for us to call on the state governors and the Federal Government to come in and provide immediate succour to the pilgrims by providing additional payments as a form of subsidy. Currently, NAHCON is on the verge of missing out on the deadline of 29th April set by Saudi Arabias Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to process visas for Nigerian registered pilgrims there will be no hajj without a visa. For example, it will take states Muslim pilgrims welfare boards a minimum of one week to make announcements in their various states for pilgrims to be aware of the new increase. Over 65 per cent of those who have registered for the 2024 Hajj are farmers and it will take an additional one week for those who have the means to be able to raise the N1.9 million increase announced by NAHCON. If the pilgrims were able to pay the additional increase, then States Muslims Pilgrims boards will need a few days to transmit the collection to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the apex bank to begin the process of transferring the said sum to NAHCONs International Bank Account Number (IBAN) in Saudi Arabia. It is only after this that payments can be made to Saudi based service providers. With visa processing scheduled to close 35 days from now and the airlift of pilgrims billed to commence in 45 days, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should come to the rescue and provide the needed support without asking pilgrims to pay an additional increase for 2024 Hajj. Anything short of this will see Nigeria travelling to Hajj 2024 with less than 10,000 pilgrims out of the allocated 95,000 slots with a potential risk of Nigerian pilgrims missing out on 2024 Hajj. Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR) had on several occasions called on all relevant authorities to take firm decisions and implement them because we foresaw what is happening now. We first raised the alarm on the 8th of July 2023 via a press statement titled CSO urges NAHCON, states to commence registration of 2024 Hajj pilgrims in earnest when the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced the commencement of Hajj 2024 operations even when Hajj 2023 was not concluded. This was followed by another Statement dated 6th December where we pleaded with the Federal Government to grant concessionary exchange rates for 2024 Hajj pilgrims. The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah had released new Hajj policies and intimated all Hajj participating countries about changes to Hajj operations especially as it relates to the choice and engagement of service providers, payment for such services and the issuance of visas which now comes much earlier than before. We are, therefore, appealing on behalf of all Nigerian Muslims that emergency interventions are provided so that pilgrims who have at least paid the initial deposit of N4.9 million are not denied the chance to fulfil this all-important religious obligation IHR said. Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic. "The community response to the event last year was positive. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to access bilingual health resources in a welcoming environment," Maria Jose Maguire, a faculty member of Spanish, said. "The participants found the event informative and beneficial for their health and well-being. Feedback from community members indicated a desire for the event to continue in the future, highlighting its importance and impact on the local community." This health fair will provide learning opportunities in community health for students in the counseling, modern languages, nursing, and physical therapy programs. It will also allow students to practice interdisciplinary communication and care for individuals, as the students will work in teams and be paired with a family during the health fair. "An element that makes this project unique is the collaboration between four interdisciplinary departments for students, community, faculty, staff, and local services," Nina Wright, nursing faculty member and population health course coordinator said. "The fair will bring members of the community together, will create a bridge between UNG and the Latinx community, and will provide health education and promotion." Nallely Lopera, a senior from Lula, Georgia, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, is glad UNG is helping increase community members' comfort level in receiving health care. "When there is a language barrier, patients hold back on what to express because they're afraid of not being understood," Lopera said. "This fair will seek to break that language barrier." Meredith Townsend, a third-year Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student from Douglasville, Georgia, assisted with the fair last year and is looking forward to being part of it again. "It's a great opportunity for us to get out in the community and make known what physical therapy can do to help people's health," Townsend said. "I'm glad we are able to bridge a gap and help people maintain their health. We're able to build more trust with these community members." For fellow third-year DPT student Melissa Martinez, a Dalton, Georgia, native who has family who work in carpet mills, she knows first-hand the need for events like the Bilingual Health Fair that make health care seem more accessible. "One of the reasons I am becoming a physical therapist is because I want to serve my community in this way," Martinez said. "I know how much physical therapy can make a difference, especially when working in factories." Dr. Brian Maloney, assistant professor of physical therapy, is grateful for the opportunity the students have as part of the fair. "It's a great experience for the students to be able to collaborate with other disciplines, learn about resources and give back to the community," Maloney said. A staff member works at a newly-opened iron-smelting plant in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, March 26, 2024. An iron-smelting plant has been opened in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, as part of efforts to get the war-torn country towards achieving self-sufficiency, local television TOLOnews reported on Monday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua) KABUL, March 25 (Xinhua) -- An iron-smelting plant has been opened in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, as part of efforts to get the war-torn country towards achieving self-sufficiency, local television TOLOnews reported on Monday. "Opening of the iron-smelting factory is important for the economic growth and development of the country," the private media outlet quoted Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, acting deputy prime minister on economic affairs, as saying. Baradar also noted that the administration would continue to support the investment in Afghanistan as part of efforts to stand on its feet. Earlier, Nooruddin Azizi, acting minister of industry and commerce, stated that the country had achieved self-sufficiency in 134 domestic products and semi-self-sufficiency in another 100 items. This photo taken on March 26, 2024 shows a newly-opened iron-smelting plant in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. An iron-smelting plant has been opened in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, as part of efforts to get the war-torn country towards achieving self-sufficiency, local television TOLOnews reported on Monday. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua) HA NOI This year is forecasted to be the second consecutive year that rice exports exceed 8 million tonnes, bringing in about US$5 billion. The global rice supply is decreasing, and countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, China and some other markets are all increasing rice imports to ensure food security, which creates opportunities for Vietnamese rice export this year. After many fluctuations in supply and price last year, global rice trade continues to be "hot" from the beginning of this year. Limited supply due to unfavourable weather, exports being banned or restricted in some countries, increased import demand in many markets, and Red Sea tensions are the main reasons why the rice market heats up this year. Global ending inventories for the 2023-2024 crop year are forecast at more than 167 million tonnes, down 8.6 million tonnes compared to the previous crop year and the lowest inventory in the past six crop years. India, the largest exporting country, with more than 20 million tonnes of rice per year, has applied policies restricting rice exports since the middle of last year. Many countries have turned to finding alternative sources of rice supply, especially from Southeast Asia, creating opportunities for Vietnamese rice to increase exports, as well as get good export prices. Viet Nam's rice exports earned more than $4 billion last year, with earnings expected to rise even more this year. Nguyen Anh Son, director of the Import-Export Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), analysed that Viet Nam's rice industry has had remarkable growth through strong transformation in both production and export. The growth in output, product quality and improved production processes have helped expand the market and enhance the position of Vietnamese rice in the international market. Selective markets such as Europe, the US, South Korea and some new markets in the Middle East tend to favour high-quality Vietnamese rice. The MoIT requests localities and rice industry business associations to share information and propose solutions in market development, with close co-ordination between units under the ministry and Vietnamese trade offices abroad in building and implementing practical, effective trade promotion activities to support rice industry enterprises in exploiting diverse export markets, building and enhancing the Vietnamese rice brand. The Philippines can import up to 4.1 million tonnes of rice this year, up from the previous forecast of 3.9 million tonnes. Its rice imports soared due to the drought affecting domestic rice output. China was Viet Nam's third largest rice import partner last year, with output of 917,255 tonnes, turnover of more than $530 million, with an average price of $578 per tonne. It is predicted that this year, this market will increase rice imports to balance import and production to ensure food security, possibly exceeding the figure of more than 900,000 tonnes last year, while export price also has room for further increases. The Voice of Viet Nam (VOV) online newspaper quoted Nguyen Ngoc Nam, Chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association, as saying that the association recommended that the MoIT strengthened information on import and export data this year, to balance rice supply and demand of the parties favourably. He also recommended conducting market research to conduct trade promotion programmes in markets, to promptly update information about rice exporters to best orient exports. Also vital are efforts to research and negotiate to sign preferential trade agreements with a number of potential markets to take advantage of the progress of the agreements that have been put into effect and request partners to open up more, increasing Viet Nam's rice quota. Finally, there is the work of raising awareness of traders implementing free trade regulations to ensure sustainable production and export in Viet Nam. With timely support policies from the Government, ministries and branches, and solutions to open the market, circulate goods and promote production, the export of rice has recorded a number of positive results, contributing to the consumption of rice and commodity rice at prices favourable to farmers. Rice prices in Indonesia soared early this year due to a serious supply shortage. Indonesia has experienced eight consecutive months of rice supply shortage compared to demand as of February this year, with rice scarcity in supermarkets, while in the Philippines the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has asked people to switch to buying rice with stabilisation prices to avoid rice prices rising too high in the free market. Despite being one of the primary supply sources for Senegal, a country with one of the highest per capita rice consumption rates in West Africa, Viet Nam's rice exports to this nation remain modest. According to the Viet Nam Trade Office in Algeria and Senegal, Viet Nam shipped 12,000 tonnes of rice to Senegal last year, resulting in a turnover of $5.35 million, up 215 per cent year-on-year. However, the amount is small compared to the African countrys purchase of 1.3 million tonnes of rice in that year. Senegal imports between 900,000 and 1 million tonnes of the grain annually, mostly low-priced 100 per cent broken rice. Its main suppliers include India, Thailand, China, Pakistan, Uruguay and Viet Nam. Apart from serving the domestic market of over 18 million people, the country also imports rice for re-export to neighbouring Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia. In the context of scarce supply and Senegal gearing up for presidential elections this year, it is likely that the nation will increase imports of broken rice from Asia. In the first two months this year, rice exports reached 920,000 tonnes, worth $640 million, up 2.1 per cent in volume and 35.2 per cent in value compared to the same period last year, which is a very positive sign in the context of global rice supply being tightened. Vietnamese rice is currently present in more than 180 countries and territories, including demanding markets such as Europe, the US, South Korea and Australia. VNS HA NOI The recent surge in steel influx into Viet Nam is a matter of concern that might weigh on domestic industry, local steel makers said, urging the creation of more technical barriers to be considered. Statistics from the General Department of Customs showed that steel imports into Viet Nam totaled nearly 2.65 million tonnes in the first two months of 2024, nearly double the volume of the same period last year. Notably, imports from China rose by three times in volume to 1.8 million tonnes in the two months, worth $1.1 million. In 2023, Viet Nam imported a total of 13.33 million tonnes worth more than US$10.4 billion, posting a rise of 14.07 per cent in volume but a fall of 12.55 per cent in value over 2022. According to Viet Nam Industry and Trade Information Centre, China is the largest steel exporter to Viet Nam with an increasing share from 43.64 per cent in 2022 to 62.18 per cent in 2023. A representative from Viet Nam Steel Association (VSA) said Viet Nam can produce 23 million tonnes of crude steel (square and flat billets) and 38.6 million tonnes of finished steel products including construction steel, hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized sheets and steel pipes. The domestic production capacity meets the domestic demand, the association said, adding that steel products of Viet Nam also meet international standards and are exported to many countries around the world. The influx of imported steel into Viet Nam is a matter of concern which might eat into the market shares of domestic steel makers especially while the existing technical barriers are not strong enough to protect the local industry, the association said. In early March, some domestic steelmakers lowered their prices in an attempt to maintain market share. VSA said that domestic steel plants are facing a lot of difficulty due to rising production costs, rising inventories and other financial costs as well as the competition from low-priced imported products. Average steel import price from China dropped for the sixth month straight to $623 per tonne the lowest price since January 2022. Nguyen Van Sua, an industry insider, said that Chinas economic slowdown and frozen property market have resulted in weak demand for iron and steel products, forcing China which has a strong steel industry with a capacity of several million tonnes per day to increase exports to release inventories. This is certainly weighing on Viet Nam, Sua said, adding that the existing technical barriers of Viet Nam on imported steel products are not adequate and strong enough. Previously, steel imports from China often accounted for below 50 per cent of Viet Nams total steel imports but now the proportion has increased to around 70 per cent. A recent report by Rong Viet Securities revealed that Chinas steel export set a new high in 2017-23 period at 80 million tonnes per year, equivalent to that of 2014-15 when China increased exports due to overproduction. Rong Viet also warned about the pressure of the surge in steel imports from China in the domestic steel industry. According to Nguyen Viet Thang, general director of Hoa Phat Group, the domestic steel industry is facing numerous risks in 2023, including the struggling Chinese economy. The pressure from Chinas export is huge, he said, adding that China exported more than 90 million tonnes of steel last year and the amount might reach 100 million tonnes this year. "Many countries are erecting more technical barriers on steel products originating from China, such as the US." Viet Nam must develop proper trade defence measures on steel products from China, Thang said. VSAs statistics showed that Viet Nam initiated 10 investigations on imported steel products in the 2016-23 period, most on products originating from China. VNS HA NOI Securities companies expressed optimism about the VN-Index's potential to reach the 1,300 point range in the upcoming sessions. However, they caution investors to remain vigilant and be mindful of the possibility of a bull trap emerging in the market. On the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the VN-Index rose for third day on Friday, adding 0.4 per cent to close at 1,281.8 points. An average of 1.2 billion shares were traded on the southern exchange during each session last week, worth VN30.4 trillion (US$1.2 billion). The VN-Index experienced a significant increase at the end of Friday's session, moving closer to the previous peak of around 1,277 points, supported by strong buyer demand. This positive momentum and improved liquidity indicated a dominant opportunity for continued recovery and progress towards the next target range of 1,290-1,300. While upward movements may face some selling pressure, the index is expected to find notable support around the 1,250 level. Investors are advised to prioritise purchasing leading blue-chip stocks in sectors such as banking, construction, oil and gas, and textiles, said cafef.vn. Looking ahead, it is anticipated that the VN-Index may encounter resistance in the range of 1,280-1,300 in the upcoming trading sessions, as indicated by BIDV Securities Co. However, the market is showing signs of entering a period of strong positive fluctuations, suggesting that the resistance area of 1,268-1,280 points may soon be surpassed. Caution is advised by KBSV Securities due to the risk of a trend reversal when the index approaches the next resistance zone at around 1,300. Investors should avoid chasing the market during upward trends and consider implementing a proactive selling strategy, taking partial profits when the VN-Index surpasses its previous peak, it said. From a medium-term perspective, the VN-Index exhibits strong upward momentum. However, it is possible that the market may require more time to accumulate before breaking the 1,300 point barrier and establishing a sustained uptrend. SHS Securities suggests that after the recent increase, the market will likely undergo an adjustment phase and consolidate within the range of 1,150-1,250 points or 1,300 points. VNS Driverless seeders don't just look ultra-futuristic, they are also moving farmers in NW China's Xinjiang into a more efficient future. Find out how satellite technology is helping speed up their work and help them make more money. Produced by Xinhua Global Service HA NOI Resolving obstacles for foreign institutional investors is a crucial step for upgrading the stock market, according to the State Securities Commission (SSC). The Ministry of Finance is gathering feedback on proposed legal amendments to remove key barriers, meet international rating standards, and improve pre-funding arrangements and access to information for foreign investors. In a media briefing, SSC highlighted that the proposal is a crucial step in line with the Government's directives and guidance, addressing challenges for foreign investors and aiming to upgrade the market and attract investment capital, particularly from abroad. The SSC leadership recently engaged in discussions with FTSE Russell, market participants, relevant ministries and the World Bank (WB) to deal with the no pre-funding requirement for foreign investors. The proposed solution allows securities companies with sufficient capacity to offer services without requiring foreign investors to have 100 per cent funds before placing purchase orders. They only need to have sufficient funds before the clearing member confirms transactions and payment obligations with the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSDC). If a foreign investor lacks sufficient funds by the specified deadline, the payment obligation will be transferred to securities companies. However, to ensure feasibility and safety, the regulatory authority suggests implementing this solution exclusively for foreign institutional investors. "The proposed solution has gained consensus and has been deemed feasible by market members, the WB and FTSE Russell," said SSC. The SSC leadership clarified that the decision to apply the new mechanism exclusively to foreign institutional investors ensures fairness. Currently, only domestic investors can use margin trading services, while foreign institutional investors are not allowed to borrow funds for securities trading. Out of the total of 7.39 million securities accounts, 45,384 accounts belong to foreign investors, including 4,551 accounts held by foreign institutional investors. Although they make up only 10 per cent of the account number, statistics from the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) during 2020 - 2023 showed that foreign institutional investors consistently contribute over 94 per cent of the total trading value of all foreign investors. Hence, addressing the challenges faced by foreign institutional investors is crucial for upgrading the stock market. In fact, international experience suggests that foreign institutional investors typically adhere to payment obligations, with rare occurrences of non-compliance in non-pre-funding transactions, resulting in minimal risks. Therefore, the proposal to exclusively apply the mechanism to foreign institutional investors is a suitable approach to achieve the market upgrading goal while substantially reducing risks for securities companies and the securities clearing and settlement system, said SSC. To minimise risks, the regulatory body proposes that securities companies refrain from providing non-pre-funding trading services using 100 per cent funds from foreign institutional investors if the investment limit is exceeded. Before continuing such services, all current legal obligations must be met. English disclosure mandate International rating agencies find information accessibility in the Vietnamese market insufficient, specifically regarding disclosures in English from listed companies. To address this, the Ministry of Finance proposes a balanced approach. It includes identifying a list that public companies have to disclose in English in the short and long term. A comprehensive classification of the information to be disclosed is proposed for both small-scale and large-scale public companies. Under the plan, listed companies and large-scale public companies are set to commence regular English disclosure on January 1, 2025, with extraordinary information to be disclosed in English upon request starting on January 1, 2026. Other public companies will follow suit, beginning regular English disclosure on January 1, 2027, and disclosing extraordinary information in English upon request on January 1, 2028. Stock exchanges and the VSDC will also be required to disclose information in both Vietnamese and English. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam has asked Brazil to consider removing barriers for seafood products exported from Viet Nam to this market, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Brazil does not allow the export of frozen whole shrimp and still applies additive and phosphate standards on tra fish (pangasius) that are different from the Office International des Epizooties (OIE)s standards, thereby causing difficulties for Vietnamese seafood exports. Besides that, Brazil stopped the import of tilapia from Viet Nam from February 14 this year awaiting a conclusion on reviewing the risk of disease caused by TiLV virus. The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said this is considered an initial barrier for Vietnamese tilapia products, and it could be to other seafood products of Viet Nam as well, like pangasius. This decision could pose various challenges to Vietnamese businesses in the future. Therefore, businesses need to be more careful about choosing breeds as well as controlling diseases for not only tilapia but also whitefish, including pangasius, according to the association. VASEP said Vietnamese pangasius exports to Brazil in the first two months this year surged by 42 per cent year on year to US$20 million. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung uc Tien said the ministry has assigned the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development to work with the Brazilian Embassy those issues as soon as possible. Regarding the market barriers for Vietnamese seafood in the Brazil market, Le Ba Anh, deputy director of the Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, said Brazil needs to consider its additive and phosphate standards and testing additive content for local pangasius, as well as heat treatment requirements for shrimp exported to Brazil. Those should be adjusted because those regulations and standards are different from international practices and the regulation set by the OIE of the World Organization for Animal Health. Viet Nam also proposed Brazil adjust administrative procedures relating to product label registration and soon approve the list of Vietnamese enterprises allowed to export agricultural products to this market to meet business needs. Regarding the Brazilian decision to stop importing Vietnamese tilapia, Viet Nam has requested that shipments entering this market before the decision date still be imported as normal. Roberto Serroni Perosa, deputy minister of the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), said that Brazil will send to Viet Nam via the Brazilian Embassy in Viet Nam the list of Vietnamese enterprises allowed to export agricultural products to Brazil. Perosa also affirmed that customs clearance for Vietnamese tilapia shipments to Brazil made before this decision would be as normal. According to the World Trade Centre (ITC), Viet Nam is still the largest supplier of white meat fish to Brazil. Of which, 90 per cent of the seafood exported from Viet Nam to Brazil are pangasius. Along with pangasius, Brazil imports a small volume of tilapia from Viet Nam. VNS HA NOI To promote steel exports to the European Union (EU) market, Viet Nam's steel manufacturers need to optimise technology, save energy, and carry out product quality standards of the EU, according to o Nam Binh, head of Minerals and Metallurgy Division, Department of Industry, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT). Viet Nam has exported steel products to more than 30 markets in the world, with about 25-30 per cent of its steel exports going to the EU market. In 2023, Viet Nam exported over 2.5 million tonnes of steel to the EU market, nearly doubling from 2022. Since the Free Trade Agreement between Viet Nam and the EU (EVFTA) that took effect in August 2020, Viet Nam has continuously expanded its market share in the EU, making it one of the main export markets of Vietnamese steel. However, from mid-2023, especially this year, Viet Nam's steel export to the EU market has faced many challenges. Pham Cong Thao, deputy general director of Viet Nam Steel Corporation (VNSteel), said that export volume of Vietnamese steel to the EU accounted for 23 per cent of total exports in 2023. However, from mid-2023, exports to this market have faced two major barriers, which are safeguard measures and the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). He said CBAM will aim to impose a carbon tax on all goods imported into EU countries, based on the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions in the production process in the host country. According to CBAM, in phase 1, the manufacturers of steel products for export, including Viet Nam, must declare their emission levels. In the next phases, they must have CBAM emission certificates from 2026. Buying this certificate will increase production costs, leading to difficulty in price competition. So, businesses must plan to reduce carbon emissions in production Thao said. To meet CBAM regulations, Binh also said the steel manufacturers must continue to comply with regulations at the Law on Environmental Protection, Decree 06/2022/N-CP and Decision 01/2022/Q-TTg, the National Strategy on Climate Change and Viet Nam's commitments at COP26. At the same time, Viet Nam needs to have a set of product quality standards according to regulations on goods quality management. inh Quoc Thai, vice chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Steel Association, said Viet Nam's steel manufacturing enterprises have been improving production technology to reduce raw material and energy consumption to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By 2035, they will gradually use green energy such as rooftop energy and renewable energy for production, as well as gradually applying a number of new technologies to reduce emissions. Another barrier is that the EU continues to maintain safeguard measures on steel imported into the EU until June 30, 2024. To avoid safeguard duties, Viet Nam will have to maintain the export volume at below 3 per cent of the total EU import turnover for each type of steel product. If the export volume exceeds the quota, the import tax for the excess is 25 per cent. Therefore, the Viet Nam Steel Association recommends the Government have policies encouraging steel manufacturers to upgrade production techniques and technology to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. It also proposes that the Government continue to support businesses by issuing trade remedy measures on the domestic market to limit cheap and poor-quality steel. According to the association, the steel industry is likely to recover slightly in 2024 with an increase of 7 per cent to 21.7 million tonnes in steel consumption and nearly 29 million tonnes in steel production. VNS HCM CITY The 2024 Smart City Asia International Expo and Forum will be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City from April 17 to 19. It is expected to have 800 booths set up by more than 500 businesses from various countries and territories to showcase advanced technologies and solutions for smart cities, smart homes, smart buildings, smart lighting, closed-circuit television, semiconductor technologies, smart payment methods, green technologies in smart manufacturing, and robots. There will be national pavilions from South Korea, India, Finland, China, and Russia. Major Vietnamese telecommunications and technology corporations such as Viettel, VNPT, Mobifone, and FPT will take part. An international forum and seminars will be held during the event on topics such as smart city development strategy with a green and sustainable development orientation, smart city solutions towards a safer society and smarter life and AIoT applications in smart cities for green development. There will also be a business matching programme, meetings with city leaders and tours to the citys new-style smart urban areas. Smart City Asia aims to create a premise to promote public-private partnerships for building smart cities, thereby taking advantage of and effectively exploiting social resources to solve challenges of modern urbanisation through digital technology platforms, according to the organisers. It will also serve as a forum for management agencies and Vietnamese and foreign experts to meet and share orientations, strategies, solutions, and practical management tools for smart city development, and offer businesses a good opportunity to introduce their technologies and seek potential business partners, they added. Organised by Exporum Co Ltd, Viet Nam Automation Association, the Viet Nam Digital Communications Association, HCM City Computer Association, and the Viet Nam Institute of Digital Transformation and Innovation, Smart City Asia is expected to attract over 16,000 local and foreign visitors, including officials from ministries, other government agencies and provinces and cities, and executives from local and foreign firms. Smart City Asia 2024 will be held concurrently with the 2024 Vietnam International LED/OLED & Digital Signage Show (Ledtec Asia) at the same venue. Ledtec Asia will have over 400 booths set up by leading businesses in LED/OLED lighting technology and equipment. They will introduce the latest lighting technologies, digital advertising signage, display solutions, smart devices, and electronic chips for smart lighting and energy saving. VNS Compiled by Vu Hoa HA NOI In the first months of this year, the price of domestic coffee has been steadily rising. Currently, domestic coffee prices are hovering around VN95,000 (US$3.8) per kilo - more than double the rates from the same period in 2023. While this trend is favourable for farmers, export businesses encounter significant challenges. When prices reach excessively high levels, the raw material supply chain faces the risk of disruption, as some units and customers are unable to obtain necessary goods. Moreover, escalating coffee prices impose additional financial burdens on businesses, exceeding their plans. In November 2023, coffee prices ranged from VN59,000 to VN60,000 per kilo. However, in December 2023, they had already climbed to VN62,000 to VN69,000 per kilo. In January 2024, prices skyrocketed further, reaching VN70,000 and VN82,000 per kilo. As of early March, the prices surged to VN86,000 per kilo, and they have now escalated to a staggering VN95,000 per kilo. The rapid and substantial increase leaves many businesses unable to cope. Such a dizzying price hike resulted in certain orders, whether on credit or placed in advance, being non-deliverable. Consequently, companies were compelled to allocate additional funds to compensate for their losses. The dramatically rising coffee prices in recent months have led companies to adopt stricter purchasing practices and buy in moderate quantities. Additionally, partners are requesting shorter delivery times to ensure a stable supply and avoid price risks. Many coffee export businesses are struggling to meet deadlines for contracts signed before the sharp increase in input prices. This has resulted in financial pressure, product shortages and higher transportation costs. Due to concerns about market price fluctuations, numerous coffee production and trading businesses are reluctant to accept additional unplanned or distant orders and contracts. According to Nguyen Ngoc Luan, founder of the agricultural coffee brand Meet More, when offering and negotiating with a distributor in South Korea, the price of purchased coffee ingredients was only VN40,000 - VN45,000 per kilo. The price now has doubled, raising processed product prices. He added that the time between contract signing and delivery spans approximately seven months. The company has entered into a one-year contract to fulfil the order with the new customer. Despite supplying at a price that is 5-10 per cent lower than their production cost, they are committed to completing the contract. The company would communicate new prices to customers in July, taking into account the prevailing cost of production input materials. In addition to serving customers in South Korea, the company has also undertaken contracts with several clients in Australia and the US. The initial price agreed upon at the time of contract signing was significantly lower compared to the current market rates, making them to bear losses. Likewise, Nguyen uc Hung, the General Director of Napoli Coffee, has observed a rapid increase in input material prices for coffee processing. This surge has significantly impacted the companys production costs. In addition to selling product in the domestic market, Napolis processed coffee products have been selling in dozens of international markets. However, the company faces a challenge as the raw materials stored in their warehouse fall short compared to the contracted quantity. According to Hung, in the next month's price quote, the company will adjust the price by 5-10 per cent, while coffee ingredients have increased by more than 50 per cent. With this price increase, the company may lose a few customers because importers may not accept the price increase. However, if the current selling price is kept, the more the company exports, the more losses it will incur. At the current raw coffee price of around VN95,000 per kilo, the company expects to incur losses in the tens of millions of Vietnamese ong per tonne of processed coffee. This deficit could escalate if export quantities continue to grow. In years when coffee prices do not exhibit these shocking fluctuations, purchasing raw materials is quite easy for businesses. Currently, the price of raw coffee is increasing despite the rules, making it impossible for businesses to react in time. He added that most domestic coffee processing enterprises operate with thin financial margins. Their ability to accumulate substantial reserves for long-term production remains challenging, resulting in immediate vulnerability to high raw material prices. Exporters in chaos as prices soar To take advantage of this price hike, farmers have reneged on deals signed with wholesale agents who would normally supply coffee to exporters for a fixed price, causing widespread market chaos, according to Phan Minh Thong, general director of Phuc Sinh Group, one of leading coffee exporters in Viet Nam. Farmers normally sell around half of their produce ahead of the harvest, but this year they are only allowing a trickle of supplies through to agents as they wait to renegotiate at higher prices. According to businesses and industry experts, the surge in domestic coffee prices can be attributed to the scarcity of global supply, with Viet Nam being largely alone in the market. The adverse effects of climate change, specifically the El Nino phenomenon, have led to drought conditions across coffee-growing regions worldwide. In Viet Nam, during the 2023-24 crop season (from October to the following September), there has been an estimated 10 per cent decline in output. At present, numerous financial speculators worldwide have turned to coffee (following oil and gold) as a speculative investment, resulting in rapid price increases. Thong added that many coffee exporters have been compelled to make claims for thousands or even tens of thousands of tonnes of purchases, with some even receiving deposits but failing to receive the goods as promised. In a situation where prices are favourable, if export or foreign companies sell in advance but do not receive the purchased goods, the losses incurred could be enormous, he added. As the coffee market is unpredictable, Nguyen Nam Hai, chairman of Viet Nam Coffee Cocoa Association (Vicofa), said coffee processing and exporting businesses closely monitor market dynamics and maintain a balanced approach to sourcing their goods. Given the current circumstances, Hai suggests that export enterprises with pre-existing forward export contracts should minimise the risk of losses by adopting a strategy of immediate purchase and sale, rather than entering into further forward sales agreements as previously practiced. Coffee prices are experiencing daily increases, making the risk associated with forward sales particularly high for businesses. Amid the rapid escalation of prices, industry experts emphasise the importance of proactive planning for businesses. They recommend establishing strong connections and developing raw material areas to ensure a stable supply of goods and create specific order plans. These measures will enable businesses to avoid passivity, prevent losses and even potential contract penalties. Coffee exporters and other agricultural product businesses must prioritise collaboration and linkages to establish their own raw material areas. By doing so, they can mitigate the risk of supply disruptions when market demand surges, ensuring a consistent supply of raw materials for their export operations. VNS PARIS The Vietnamese Cultural Centre in France represented Vietnam at the Week-end de la Francophonie (Francophonie Weekend) on March 23-24, which was held in celebration of the Fifth International Francophonie Day 2024 (March 20) in Yeble (Seine et Marne province), 60km from Paris. This year's event, the fifth of its kind, hosted nearly 40 booths of members of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, French localities and associations. Viet Nam was a guest of honour of this year edition. Adorned with the national flag, the pavilion of Viet Nam drew attention of many event-goers. Publications on the countrys tourist attractions along with souvenir and traditional musical instruments were on display. Besides, a special art programme and traditional ao dai (long dress) fashion show were also held during the two-day event. Deputy director of the centre Tang Thanh Son said through the event, the centre wanted to introduce beautiful images of the S-shaped country and its people. Marieme Tamata-Varin, the Mayor of Yebles, said that Viet Nam is selected as a guest of honour of this years event because the country has always actively participated in all past editions of the citys International Francophonie Day. Ambassador Nguyen Thi Van Anh, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), acknowledged that the event was an excellent opportunity to promote Vietnamese culture to foreign friends, through activities to introduce the country's beauty, heritages recognised by UNESCO, culture imbued with national identity, as well as the Vietnamese people who are friendly and ready to cooperate with international partners and friends for peace and development. First held in 2015, the biennial Francophonie Weekend in Yebles offers chances for participating countries to introduce their culture through music, cuisine, literature and folk games, as well as bolster mutual understanding via discussions on emerging issues in member countries. VNA/VNS Vu Hoang Lien, Chairman of the Vietnam Internet Association, spoke to Tin tuc (News) newspaper about the execution of the 2021-2030 plan for information and communications infrastructure with a vision to 2050, and the opportunities for internet development in Viet Nam. How do you evaluate the information and communications infrastructure planning for 2021-2030 with a vision to 2050? Planning is of great importance to all sectors. The recent development of the information and communications sector is highly regarded with multiple achievements being seen. In the future, the information and communications infrastructure will encounter great challenges due to the exponential growth of digital technology and applications. The rights of communities and consumers will increase and change from in the past, in addition to the on-demand customisation in accordance with the location, sector and population. Therefore, information and communications development planning in the near future will take on a different perspective than before and must stay ahead of the curve in technology and culture. Internet development also needs to be transformed to respond to the needs of communities, businesses and the people. In the face of the immediate changes, internet planning must be bold in terms of scale, technology and depth. If the criteria in this plan are met, a new dimension will open up for internet development in Viet Nam. How do you think the plan should be executed to achieve these criteria? To meet the criteria set out in the plan, I believe that purposeful solutions are of utmost importance. The plan can serve as a landscape, but without specific solutions, the paths will not be clear. An important factor in the plan is demand forecasting, yet the demands in this sector are multi-dimensional, changing rapidly and affected by numerous factors. The planning must forecast the consumption demands and future fluctuations in alignment with technology and lifestyle trends. In this way, solutions and options can be put forward for implementation. I believe that solutions can engage resources. From the general plan, we can divide it into different categories and sectors. The indicators in the plan are carefully crafted and achievable, in my opinion. The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) acts as the advisor for the plan development, but that doesnt mean that the plan execution is solely the responsibility of the MIC. That is the collective responsibility of the society, communities and national economy. These goals are achievable, if well-organised. This infrastructure plan set out to develop at least three multi-purpose database clusters at the national level in addition to four to six undersea fibre optic cables. Do you think this goal can sufficiently meet the infrastructure demands for internet development? It is necessary to increase the number of undersea cables to develop the internet infrastructure in Viet Nam and respond to the enormous demands of the people. Investing in undersea cables is one of the aspects and solutions very worth noting. This will concern the network capacity, routing, technology used and responsibilities of various stakeholders during operation. I think that for the undersea cable aspect alone, there is a significant need for capacity, much larger than the current level. As for databases, this will be an important digital infrastructure, especially with the development goals for e-government, digital economy and society. There is potential to build national-level data centres. However, supporting policies are required to determine the role and position of these data hubs. Data centres need significant investment capital but their potential will be immense. Databases, undersea cable and wireless bandwidth, among others factors, will contribute to an interconnected, comprehensive infrastructure for a digital framework that can meet huge demand in the near future. Internet development also requires connection with the core of the associated digital infrastructure, which should be developed in parallel with digital applications and content as well as online services. Therefore, this plan will act as a driving force and attract various stakeholders, while also promoting the countrys digital infrastructure to develop the digital economy and other socio-cultural aspects. VNS GENEVA A delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) led by NA Vice Chairman Tran Quang Phuong attended the opening ceremony of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-148) and a plenary session in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 24. During the IPU-148, themed Parliamentary diplomacy: Building bridges for peace and understanding, the delegates are scheduled to take part in plenary sessions of the assembly and the Governing Council, along with meetings of the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security, the Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade, the Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, and the Committee on United Nations Affairs. Other activities include meetings of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, the Asia-Pacific Geopolitical (APG) Group, the ASEAN Plus Three group, and the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP). The Vietnamese delegation is set to engage in about 30 official activities at the IPU-148. NA Vice Chairman Phuong will deliver a speech at a plenary session. He will also meet with the new IPU President, the IPU Secretary-General, the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), and some parliamentary leaders on the sidelines of the IPU-148. Representatives of the NA Secretariat led by the NA Secretary General and Chairman of the NA Office Bui Van Cuong are expected to participate in all activities of the ASGP meeting, held in parallel with the IPU-148. The NA delegations attendance in the IPU-148 and related meetings aims to affirm Viet Nams commitment to actively and responsibly engaging in multilateral parliamentary activities, and continue promoting Viet Nam and the NAs role and stature at regional and international parliamentary cooperation mechanisms, helping to promote the States diplomatic activities for the sake of the nation and people. VNS THUA THIEN-HUE A delegation from the Republic of Korea (RoK)s National Assembly (NA) on Monday paid a working visit to the Hue Central Hospital's second establishment in Phong ien District in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue to discuss investment cooperation opportunities and projects between the two sides. On this occasion, Speaker of the Korean National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo sent a greeting video clip to the hospitals staff, in which he showed his expectations for the prosperous development of the Hue Central Hospital's second establishment, and pledged to pay attention to and provide continuous support for intensifying medical and healthcare cooperation between Viet Nam and the RoK in the coming time. At the meeting, Korean NA deputies were impressed by the changes in facilities, human resources, and medical techniques of the hospital in recent years. They said that there are currently some non-governmental organisations, businesses and hospitals in the RoK that want to introduce cooperative activities to develop and upgrade the establishment in the future. Permanent Vice Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh said that the central province's authorities always pays special attention to Korean partners, and creates favourable conditions for Phong Dien district to seek investment resources and assist the expansion of the Hue Central Hospital's second establishment. VNS HA NOI Finland-Viet Nam ties have shifted from development aid to development cooperation, a positive sign for bilateral relation progress, said Finnish parliament speaker Jussi Halla-aho during his official visit to Viet Nam. In talks with National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong inh Hue on Monday, Halla-aho stated that Viet Nam is one of the key trade partners of Finland in ASEAN, noting the significant increase in bilateral trade turnover over the past 50 years. The Finnish parliament has ratified the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and a bilateral agreement in the same field, which is expected to open up new collaboration opportunities for businesses from both countries. NA Chairman Hue reiterates that Viet Nam treasures the traditional ties and multidimensional cooperation with Finland, which has resulted in achievements in politics-diplomacy, trade investment, development and education and training. Following the two countries celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2023, the Vietnamese top legislator hoped they would continue delegation exchanges at all levels, both in the public and private sectors, to take advantage of the existing cooperation mechanisms. The bilateral turnover of nearly US$380 million in 2023 was a modest number compared to the potential between the two countries, said NA Chairman Hue, adding that Viet Nam is willing to promote trade cooperation and hoping that Finland will facilitate imports from Viet Nam, especially for iron and steel products, machinery, vehicles, garments and footwear. Finland supports the removal of the European Commissions yellow card for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing on Viet Nams fishery exports and at the same time, Viet Nam has also promulgated regulations as control measures on the matter. A framework agreement between the two governments was signed regarding projects carried out under Finlands Public Sector Investment Facility (PIF), while an official evaluation of the transition process of Finnish-Vietnamese cooperation was also published. These are considered the foundation for the implementation of projects funded by the official development assistance (ODA) or preferential loans from the Finnish government for the socio-economic growth of Viet Nam. During the meeting, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Halla-aho proposed that agencies from both sides discuss to resolve the bottlenecks in promoting the Finnish public investment fund in Viet Nam, to which NA Chairman Hue agreed. Finland continues to assist in Viet Nam's development of the Forest Management Information System (FORMIS), as well as to implement the Voluntary Partnership Agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/FLEGT) through the EU. Highlighting Viet Nams Power Development Plan VIII, NA Chairman Hue requested that the two countries proactively communicate to business associations and trade promotion programmes about opportunities for investment and technology transfer in renewable energy in Viet Nam. He also proposed the two legislative bodies strengthen supervision of the implementation of approved international treaties and bilateral cooperation agreements while completing the legal frameworks for collaboration between businesses and state departments of Viet Nam and Finland. The two countries should also utilise coordination mechanisms for mutual support on multilateral forums such as the United Nations (UN), Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP). Discussing international and regional issues of mutual concern, NA Chairman Hue reiterates Viet Nams foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation, serving as a trusted, reliable partner for peace, cooperation and growth amid complicated and unpredictable global developments. The Vietnamese legislator also expressed gratitude to the Finnish government for accommodating and assisting the Vietnamese community of 10,000 people in Finland, of which over 2,000 are students. With Viet Nam among the priority countries for the Finnish talent boost programme, NA Chairman Hue hopes that Finland continues its support for Viet Nams human resources development, in addition to labour cooperation in information technology, healthcare, education and agriculture. VNS BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun met with Mao Sophan, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and commander of the Royal Cambodian Army, on Monday in Beijing, with the two sides pledging to further promote military cooperation. Dong said the China-Cambodia friendship has continued to flourish over time and the building of the China-Cambodia community with a shared future has entered a new era of high quality, high level and high standard under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries. Stressing the importance of implementing the consensus on military cooperation reached by the leaders of the two countries, Dong said the two sides should deepen strategic communication, utilize cooperation mechanisms, and enhance the quality and efficiency of their cooperation to contribute to regional peace. Mao Sophan said that Cambodia unswervingly upholds the One China principle and is willing to work with China to enhance practical cooperation and exchanges between the two militaries. VIENTIANE Vietnamese Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra and her Lao counterpart Thongchanh Manixay vowed to continue their agencies' cooperation for the 2024-2026 period during their talks in Vientiane on March 25. Both ministers exchanged updates on their respective ministries' achievements in home affairs during the past year, with an emphasis on progress in areas like institutional development, organisational restructuring, personnel reduction and civil service reform. Following the two ministries signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation for the 2023-2026 period, they expressed their delight at the increasingly practical and effective collaboration over the past time. During 2024-2026, the two ministries will continue holding the exchange of high-level delegations and leaders of their units and agencies to review annual cooperation results. Additionally, short-term training courses lasting 1-3 months on home affairs will be provided at Viet Nam's National Academy of Public Administration. They further agreed to enhance knowledge sharing and offer direct support in areas where each holds expertise, such as personnel training in public administration, archives management, religious affairs, emulation and commendation, and State organisation science. On a final note, both sides pledged to collaborate on submitting a digital transformation project of the Lao Ministry of Home Affairs for approval by their respective governments. The project aims to enhance operational efficiency, transparency, accountability and cost-effectiveness in the Lao ministry. VNS HA NOI Politburo member, permanent member of the Party Central Committees Secretariat and head of the Party Central Committees Organisation Commission Truong Thi Mai hosted a reception for visiting Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho in Ha Noi on March 25. The Party official welcomed her guest's selection of Viet Nam for his first official visit outside Europe since taking office and expressed her gratitude for the support and sharing that Finland has given to Viet Nam so far. She outlined several major directions and measures to expand and enhance the effectiveness of cooperation between the two countries in such areas as manufacturing industry, sustainable forestry, green transition, and waste management, as well as in leveraging the advantages of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to promote bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation. The senior Party official also stressed the necessity of enhancing the sides' high-level delegation exchanges, their cooperation across the party, parliamentary, and ministry channels, and their people-to-people exchange. The Finnish parliament speaker expressed his impression of and congratulations on the Southeast Asian countrys achievements under the leadership of the Communist Party of Viet Nam. He said he is pleased with positive progress in the Viet Nam-Finland traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation over the past time. The top legislator affirmed that there is still much potential for bilateral collaboration in areas where Finland has strengths and Viet Nam has demands, and that Viet Nam is an attractive destination for Finnish enterprises. He also agreed with his host on the need for the two to continue promoting and creating strong transformations in cooperation across all fields. Exchanging viewpoints on global and regional situations as well as some common concerns, the two leaders stated that Viet Nam and Finland are ready to cooperate bilaterally and at multilateral forums on the basis of respecting international law and the UN Charter, for peace, stability, and development in the world and the region, including the East Sea. VNS HA NOI Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha led a Government delegation to the Russian Embassy in Ha Noi on Monday to offer condolences following the deadly terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, Moscow on March 22 evening. Signing the condolence book, Deputy PM Ha extended the most profound sympathies of the Vietnamese Government, people, and himself to the Russian Government, people and families of the victims, adding that Viet Nam strongly condemns terrorism in any form and believes that perpetrators will be strictly punished. "Our hope is for the victims' families to overcome this pain and loss", Ha wrote. "We wish a speedy recovery to the injured and continued peace and prosperity for Russia and its people". On the same day, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu also visited the embassy and showed his sympathy in the condolence book. The Russian Embassy in Ha Noi, along with Consulates General in a Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, will have condolence books open for signing from March 25 to 27. Also on March 25 morning, many Vietnamese and foreign citizens, businesses, agencies and organisations came to the embassy to lay wreaths and sign the condolence book, standing in solidarity with Russia during this difficult time. A day earlier, many Vietnamese residents paid their respects by laying flowers, candles, and children's toys at the Russian Embassy and Consulates General in Viet Nam. According to the latest toll from Russian authorities, the bloody shooting rampage left at least 137 dead and 182 others injured. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho in Ha Noi on Monday, believing that his visit will generate an impetus to foster traditional friendship and all-around cooperation between the two countries. PM Chinh proposed that the Finnish Parliament support the European Commission's early removal of the "yellow card" warning against Vietnamese aquatic products, and hasten the parliaments of EU member states' ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). He suggested that both sides should explore new potential for educational cooperation in vocational training, share experience in building quality education systems, and expand student exchanges. He thanked and urged the Finnish Government and Parliament to continue creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese citizens living there, contributing to upholding their role as a bridge for bilateral friendship and collaboration. Halla-Aho, for his part, acknowledged Viet Nam as Finlands most important economic partner in ASEAN and wished to fortify bilateral cooperation to fully tap great potential between the two countries. Informing the host about Finlands talent development programme, he extended a warm welcome to skilled Vietnamese workers and students to the European country for working and studying. The two leaders concurred on the need to explore new directions, approaches and impetus to further deepen bilateral relationship, partly via facilitating the exchange of delegations at all levels and across the Party, State and NA channels, and offering mutual support at multilateral forums for the sake of stability, peace and sustainable development. They vowed to facilitate the connectivity among businesses and investors while fully tapping the benefits from the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), especially in areas of their demands and strengths such as hi-tech, green development, environment, agriculture, forestry and information technology. Both sides will continue effectively carry out the two Governments Framework Agreement on projects funded under the Finnish Government's Public Sector Investment Facility Scheme, with a focus on priorities to improve the competitiveness of the private economic sector, develop knowledge-based economy, address challenges related to sustainable development and climate change, and promote sustainable development in the Mekong Delta. On global and regional issues of shared concern, they promised to respect sovereignty and territorial integrity, and settle disputes through peaceful means, while upholding international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Speaker expressed support for ASEAN's and Viet Nam's stance on the East Sea issue, including ensuring safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, backing efforts of ASEAN and China to effectively and fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and formulate a Code of Conduct in the waters (COC). VNS CANBERRA New Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Pham Hung Tam paid a courtesy call to President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines in Canberra on Monday. Tam expressed his delight at witnessing the development of cooperative ties between the Vietnamese and Australian legislatures, especially in the exchange of high-level visits. He vowed to effectively realise the outcomes achieved during the Australia visit by National Assembly Chairman Vuong inh Hue from November 30-December 3, 2022 and actively contribute to the development of the recently-established comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, thus deepening cooperation in areas of shared concern such as politics, economy, national defence-security, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchange. Lines, for her part, believed that bilateral ties will develop comprehensively and deeply, including through parliamentary diplomacy and people-to-people exchange. She also expected breakthroughs in collaboration in economy, trade, sci-tech, climate change response and energy transition. Expressing delight at the official launch of a direct flight service between Ha Noi and Perth - the capital city of Western Australia, her hometown, she wished to pay an official visit to Viet Nam via this route soon, with an aim to further bolster the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, as well as between Perth and Vietnamese localities. She also pledged her support to the diplomat in expanding bilateral ties throughout his tenure. VNS HA NOI Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) Central Committee and Chairman of its Commission for External Relations Le Hoai Trung held talks with visiting Director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK) Kim Song Nam in Ha Noi on Monday. At the event, Trung stated that the Vietnamese Party, State, and people always treasure the traditional friendship and cooperation with the WPK, Government, and people of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). He proposed both sides enhance exchanges and contacts at all levels to strengthen mutual understanding and develop the ties between their parties and countries across various fields. Trung went on to recommend the two countries effectively implement existing cooperation mechanisms, expand their cultural, art, sports, people-to-people, locality-to-locality exchanges, and strengthen their coordination at multilateral forums. For his part, Kim, who is leading a delegation to visit Viet Nam from Monday to Thursday, stressed his trip is to step up the development of the Viet Nam-DPRK friendship and collaboration and to discuss measures to strengthen the sides party building work. He affirmed that the Party, Government, and people of the DPRK value the traditional friendship with Viet Nam and are pleased with the development of the relationship shared between the two parties and countries. The DPRK is ready to work with Viet Nam to promote ties, he affirmed. During the talks, the officials discussed and evaluated the results of cooperation between the commission and the department so far. They concurred on cooperation measures, including further promotion of the role of the two bodies, and effective implementation of cooperation directions that were agreed upon by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Chairman of the DPRKs State Affairs Commission Kim Jong-un during the latter's visit to Viet Nam in 2019. VNS YEN BAI A delay in rice support delivery for students in Yen Bai Province has left many schools scrambling to ensure meals for their students as their rice reserves run low. According to the Government's Decree 116/2016/N-CP dated July 18, 2016, each student attending day school in extremely difficult areas is provided with 15kg of rice per month. Starting January 1 this year, Ly Tu Trong Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Students in Mu Cang Chai counted 697 students eligible for the meal support policy. The schools principal Le Hai ang said that due to the late delivery, the school is running out of rice reserves and has to borrow from local businesses for students meals. Each day, our school cooks more than three quintals of rice for students and only has about four quintals left in our storage. We tried to borrow [from local businesses] but that only amounts to two tonnes, which could last for a little more than one week. If the delivery delay is prolonged, we will have to call for support from parents to ensure the childrens meals, said ang. In the same situation, La Pan Tan Primary-Secondary School for Ethnic Students only has roughly four tonnes of rice left in its storage, which will be used up in about 12 days. The school has 959 students eligible for meal support out of a total of nearly 1,200. According to vice principal Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, the school plans to temporarily collect 5kg of rice per student after discussing the matter with their parents. This amount will be reimbursed when the rice delivery reaches the school. Similar shortages were recorded in many other schools in Mu Cang Chai such as Nam Khat, Lao Chai and Khao Mang primary-secondary schools for ethnic students, according to the head of the districts Division of Education and Training Nguyen Anh Thuy. Meanwhile, Tram Tau District estimated that 11 schools in the area with nearly 7,000 students are facing critical rice shortage. Tram Tau Primary-Secondary School for Ethnic Students has bought rice on credit to cook for over 500 students, but purchasing price is twice as expensive compared to the meal support policy. Using older rice can also affect the childrens nutrition intake, said the schools principal Nguyen Van Thanh. Bui Thanh Tung, deputy head of Tram Tau Division of Education and Training said the unit has been in contact with Yen Bai Provincial Department of State Reserve to soon allocate rice support for schools in the area. In the immediate future, the divisions solution is to transfer rice from schools with abundant stock left from the first semester to schools experiencing shortages. Explaining the situation, head of Hoang Lien Son Department of State Reserve Le Tien Dung said that rice suppliers and transport units must undergo open online bidding according to regulations, leading to the delay. This information has been communicated to provinces, he said, adding that by April 10 at the latest, the rice support will reach schools in Yen Bai Province. VNS HA NOI Required to undertake extensive training with enormous costs and a highly intensive working environment, yet most doctors do not receive proportional compensation for their efforts. Things are expected to change as a salary reform goes into effect on July 1 this year. A fresh medical graduate, .T.N. is looking to continue their education at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy as a resident doctor. However, with the course lasting three years, N. struggled to make a decision due to their familys difficult financial situation. Its a huge burden for my family to provide for me throughout nine years of study to be a skilled doctor, so I hope to get a job at a hospital to have the means to pay for my tuition. I asked the local authorities to see if there is a loan policy for medical residents, but theres none, said N. N.M.T., a doctor in Ha Noi was the pride of their parents when they got accepted to a medical university, but are now struggling to make ends meet with a level-1 salary (around US$170 per month). T. said that they probably have not survived with this compensation if they were not passionate about the profession and did not have family support. Their hospital also required a further 18-month course for a practising certificate, which means more expenses to cover. Pham Thanh Binh, chairman of the Viet Nam National Union of Health Workers, said that the medical industry has the highest examination entrance score, longest education period, highest pressure and most occupational risks, yet has the lowest salary which stands at 17th out of the total 18 official industries. The health and education sectors are looking forward to Resolution 27 on salary reforms, but while education professionals are entitled to salary increases based on their years of professional experience, medical workers are not, said Binh. According to the proposal, health professionals will not enjoy a 30 per cent enhancement in base salary like their counterparts in the education sector. Meanwhile, the level of allowances in the health sector remains unchanged at VN18,000-125,000 ($0.7-5) per shift since 2013, while the base salary has increased from VN830,000 ($33.5) to VN1.8 million ($72.6). Dr Nguyen Sinh Hien, director of Ha Noi Heart Hospital said: When a person chooses to study to be a doctor, they already commit to two more years of studying compared to other industries. Then it will take them three more years as a resident physician or pursuing specialised training. That means they spend at least 10 years to become a skilled doctor to provide examination and treatment and have the patients trust. Throughout those 10 years, who will provide for them? Hope for change According to Hien, the State has paid special attention to medical workers in recent years, such as providing allowances and benefits for healthcare staff during the pandemic and celebrating excellent physicians in their fields. Hospital leaders also make efforts to enhance the well-being of their staff and improve employee retention rates. The two most important things for medical workers are decent compensation and a safe working environment. They have the need to study, work, contribute and innovate. In a favourable environment, they will surely do their best. Therefore, at our facility, we regularly open conversations to listen to their voice and make necessary adjustments when needed, said Hien. Viet Nam National Union of Health Workers chairman Binh said: Investing in a specialised sector such as healthcare requires a high-quality workforce. We hope that more attention will be paid to support policies. Most medical workers make tremendous efforts in their studies to go from a nursing degree to undergraduate and graduate level, but do not receive an on-par salary range afterwards. This has to change so that they can put all their minds into studying, improving their expertise and then receive appropriate compensation. The Ministry of Health is proposing that the starting salary for doctors and preventive medicine doctors will start at level 2 instead of 1, in addition to the highest level of compensation increase following salary reforms (30 per cent). Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra said that salary reforms will be the driving force for economic growth, as the changes will affect supply and demand. This adjustment is the most radical and comprehensive among the four salary reforms since 1960, according to the minister. The new structure consists of a base salary (70 per cent) and allowances (30 per cent), removing all specific salary policies and increasing the base salary range by 10 per cent. With this salary reform, the health and education sectors will achieve their goal of increasing compensation for workers. Public employees, especially teachers and doctors, will benefit from this, said Tra. Vu Van Tien, a doctor at a general hospital in Hai Phong City, told Lao ong (Labour) newspaper: Physicians salary is not high, in general. New doctors earn around VN4 million ($160) per month, and seasoned medical practitioners only VN10 million ($400) per month. From my observations, doctors with low income mostly work at the grassroots level such as ward or commune-level health stations, or at centres for disease control. If there is a salary increase, I hope that they will be given priority, added Tien. Tran Thi Anh, a doctor at Quang Ninh Provincial General Hospital, said that including health workers in the group with the highest salary increase, following salary reforms that take effect on July 1 this year, is a move in the right direction. The starting salary for young doctors is usually very low, while the amount of allowances is not significant. Therefore, to improve the livelihoods of medical workers and motivate them, I believe that there should be a customised salary scale for the health sector, with appropriate increases. It takes a lot of time and effort to become a skilled physician, she said, in addition to the significant costs of education and training. If the compensation does not match these efforts, young doctors will lack the motivation to pursue their careers. Therefore, millions of doctors, who are public employees, are really hopeful about this salary reform, said Anh. VNS HAI PHONG The body of ang Duy Kien, one of the three sailors killed in a missile attack on True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged cargo ship, by Houthi forces off the coast of Yemen on March 6, were brought back to Viet Nam on March 24. Representatives from the employing company, as well as local authorities in the northern city Hai Phong, came to express their condolences. There were 20 crew members, consisting of 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, and one Indian, on board the True Confidence when the Houthi forces fired a missile at the ship. The strike also resulted in the deaths of two Filipinos. The three Vietnamese sailors surviving the attack returned home on March 14. Since the incident occurred, the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt has kept a close watch on the situation, directly communicated with and given encouragement to the sailors. It also dispatched consular personnel to Djibouti to visit and support the sailors, while coordinating with relevant authorities there and the parties concerned to complete procedures for the repatriation of the deceaseds remains. In response to the attack, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang has stated that Viet Nam strongly condemns violent and inhumane attacks against innocent civilians and civilian vessels on international maritime routes. "We urge relevant parties to immediately cease the use of force and ensure security, safety, and freedom for international maritime routes in accordance with international law," Hang stressed. VNS ABYEI The Viet Nam Army Engineers have organised a discussion on the impact of water quality on people's health, environmental sanitation and pollution, and waste treatment measures in Abyei. The discussion was held in response to World Clean Water Day 2024 on March 22, and attracted the participation of ministries and administrative departments in the Abyei Region, and different units of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). The Abyei Region covers more than 10,000 sq.km of mainly desert and low-lying agricultural land, with distinct dry and rainy seasons. There is no fixed water supply system in the area. During the dry season, most natural ponds and lakes are gradually exhausted. Ensuring clean water and domestic water sources has been an urgent problem, but is not the only problem for people here. The complex political security situation and the nomadic living habits of a large part of the population have all invisibly led to food, medicine shortage and other problems. Clean water crisis is further exacerbating the misery of the community," said Deng Arop De. Mading, Minister of Health of the Abyei Region. At the discussion, representatives delved into the facts and causes of clean water crisis in Abyei. In addition to professional tasks, humanitarian issues are always given top priority by UNISFA, including a series of activities to strengthen, support and improve the peoples lives in the locality. Since the very first days taking on duty in Abyei, the Vietnamese Army Engineers have implemented many activities to serve the general community, such as supporting the people in building roads and schools, and repairing and constructing boats. As for clean water and environmental sanitation, the team dredged drainage ditches before the rainy season. The army engineers also dug wells, donated water pumps and provided clean water by tanker trucks twice a week. They recently opened a clean water supply point next to the Highway Barrack. These are very meaningful activities for local people, especially in the dry season, when people mainly rely on water from wells dug by the UNISFA or even from puddles. Talking to local leaders and UNISFA representatives, Colonel Nguyen Viet Hung, Commander of Vietnamese forces participating in UN peacekeeping work at the UNISFA Mission and also Captain of the Viet Nams Army Engineers, said, "We will continue to coordinate with agencies and units of UNISFA and local authorities to help Abyei people better handle environmental sanitation, protect and exploit water sources to provide for the people." The discussion is also an opportunity for the Mission to support the Abyei leaders on issues including environmental pollution, education and health, and solutions to deal with them. This is not only a forum to connect local people with agencies and units of the Mission, but also a chance to share the Mission's difficulties so that the community can support it in implementing its duty in Abyei with the goal of bringing peace and stability to the region. Expressing his thanks, Nyinkwany Aguer Bol, Minister of Education of the Abyei Region, said, I am very happy and honoured to attend the wonderful discussion. I greatly appreciate the presentations practicality and hope you will turn this programme into an annual activity so that together we can find the best solutions for the people as well as the Mission in maintaining peace and stability in Abyei. All delegates agreed to hold more similar forums and make them an annual activity. The Vietnamese Army Engineers will coordinate with local authorities and community representatives to convey positive messages to each citizen. At the same time, they will coordinate with the Mission's agencies to propose reasonable solutions, meeting the right aspirations of the people with specific actions to improve the environment and the lives of people. VNS An aerial drone photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows tourists visiting the Sandwich Harbor at Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. In Namibia's Namib-Naukluft National Park, located 400 kilometers from the capital city of Windhoek, there is a scenic spot known as Sandwich Harbor. With its unique half sea and half desert scenery, it attracts tourists from around the world. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng) An ostrich walks in the desert as vehicles pass by at the Sandwich Harbor in Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia, on March 24, 2024. In Namibia's Namib-Naukluft National Park, located 400 kilometers from the capital city of Windhoek, there is a scenic spot known as Sandwich Harbor. With its unique half sea and half desert scenery, it attracts tourists from around the world. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng) Tourists visit the Sandwich Harbor at Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia, on March 24, 2024. In Namibia's Namib-Naukluft National Park, located 400 kilometers from the capital city of Windhoek, there is a scenic spot known as Sandwich Harbor. With its unique half sea and half desert scenery, it attracts tourists from around the world. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng) Tourists visit the Sandwich Harbor at Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia, on March 24, 2024. In Namibia's Namib-Naukluft National Park, located 400 kilometers from the capital city of Windhoek, there is a scenic spot known as Sandwich Harbor. With its unique half sea and half desert scenery, it attracts tourists from around the world. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng) LONDON The UKs Home Office on March 25 launched a social media campaign in Viet Nam to deter migrants from coming to the UK illegally, following successful similar drives in Albania, France and Belgium. The campaign in Viet Nam is the latest phase of the UK governments global campaign to warn migrants of the consequences of entering the UK illegally. It will harness social media adverts on Facebook and YouTube to directly target people who may be considering making dangerous and illegal journeys to the UK. The campaign will use adverts on Facebook and YouTube to target people in the south-east Asian country who may be considering making illegal journeys to the UK. The social media posts emphasise the consequences of travelling to the UK illegally and the dangers people can expect to face, as well as set out the risks of being indebted to and exploited by the people smuggling gangs who profit from facilitating small boat crossings. The campaign warns prospective migrants of the reality of living in the UK illegally with no right to be in the UK and no access to public services or funding. It includes testimonies from Home Office Immigration Enforcement and Border Force officers, who all too often encounter illegal migrants who have been sold into modern slavery or illegal working by their smugglers. The campaigns social media adverts direct users to a new website with additional video content from Immigration Enforcement and Border Force officers who describe some of the shocking cases theyve encountered and their experiences of rescuing small boat migrants from life-threatening danger in the English Channel. Expanding our campaign to Viet Nam, another key partner in our work to tackle illegal migration, will help us to save more lives and dent the business model of the criminals who profit from this vile trade, UKs Home Secretary James Cleverly said. Senior officials from the UK and Viet Nam are due to meet in London on April 17 to discuss working in even closer partnership on migration issues. According to the UKs Home Office, every year, organised criminal gangs bring thousands of people from all over the world, including Viet Nam, to the UK by crossing the English Channel by small boats. In 2022-23 alone, up to 76,000 people came to England via this route. The number of people who die on this sea crossing in 2023 tripled that of the previous year. Illegal migrants can be forced to live in inhumane, cramped and hazardous conditions by criminal gangs, with no access to basic hygiene, healthcare or legal employment. In December 2022, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced to double funding for the National Crime Agency (NCA) to fight organised crime on migration. The UK government also issued a new law on illegal immigration, which imposes quick deportation to people who have not followed the proper channels and therefore have no rights in the UK. VNS SINGAPORE When a user types in prompts such as surgeon or doctor into artificial intelligence (AI) text-to-image generators such as Dall-E 2 and Stable Diffusion, most images will depict men. And from the text prompt office assistant, most images generated will be of women, reflecting gender stereotypes. Such ethical issues in generative AI are one problem the National University of Singapore (NUS) is working to tackle through its new AI research institute. Launched on March 25, the NUS AI Institute (NAII) will conduct research on how to address the ethical concerns and risks associated with AI and to apply AI across various domains such as education, healthcare, finance and sustainability. More than 20 principal investigators from a wide range of disciplines across NUS including business, computer science, data science, engineering, medicine, law and sustainability will be driving more than 10 research programmes at the institute, NUS said in a statement. NAII will provide a go-to platform for the cross-sharing of ideas and collaboration on AI initiatives within the university through seminars, workshops and outreach events that people from different domains can attend. Research is not tense or boring. Its actually very exciting and very passionate, said Professor Mohan Kankanhalli, director of NAII, adding that he enjoys discussions with his students, who often disagree with him. Thats how science advances. Not by somebody all-knowing saying this is how it should be done. Research should involve healthy, vigorous, open conversations, debates, contradictions, a little bit of irreverence. So we are going to nurture this very vibrant, intellectual atmosphere we already have in our schools and faculties, but also in this institute, so that we can do the best possible AI research. The institute, which is housed within the universitys School of Computing (SoC), will also benefit experts, researchers and students from different domains looking to develop a project involving AI. Some of SoCs existing research centres and labs, including the NUS Centre for Research in Privacy Technologies and NUS-Tsinghua-Southampton Centre for Extreme Search, will evolve to be integrated into or affiliated with NAII, according to NUS. Through NAII, they will be able to tap the expertise of its wide range of partners and experts within and beyond NUS, such as overseas universities and industry research partners. Currently, tech companies IBM and Google have agreed to collaborate with NAII as industry partners for research with the goal of spurring technological advancements and societal impact. Colin Tan, general manager and technology leader of IBM Singapore, said: Through our new collaboration with NUS, we believe our joint efforts will further Singapore as the technology hub in Asia and globally. He added that IBM hopes to work with NUS to advance AI and generative-AI technologies. Sharing NUS vision, the company intends to jointly develop AI computing infrastructure that will be safe and beneficial to society, and be cost- and energy-efficient. IBM and NUS will also work to empower local talent and enhance education through training for talent development and education as well as potential joint research activities, seminars and conferences. The NAIIs AI for Education research will also provide learning opportunities, such as internships, for undergraduate and graduate students. Recognising the importance of growing a pipeline of AI talent, the institute will also provide exciting hands-on opportunities for NUS students who are keen to pursue a career in AI or explore entrepreneurial pursuits in this fast-growing field, said Prof Kankanhalli. For example, the institute will offer students in the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme which guides researchers and postgraduate students to develop their own deep technology start-ups the opportunity to work alongside researchers on real projects in AI. This puts it in line with the National AI Strategy 2.0 launched in 2023, which aims to nurture and attract talent into Singapores AI industry. Furthermore, the institute will invite overseas Singaporean researchers to be involved in its projects and research. Professor Kankanhalli said that if these overseas experts choose to collaborate with the institute, NAII will provide seed funding to facilitate the collaboration, incentivising them to return to Singapore and to view the institute as a research home away from home. In addition to US$8 million external research grants already secured by NAII researchers, NUS is investing $20 million to kick-start the institutes endeavours in foundational AI research, which would include areas such as AI theory, AI hardware or software systems, as well as research on the societal implications of AI and its solutions to real-world problems. NUS deputy president of research and technology Liu Bin said that NAII will serve as the universitys focal point to synergise its wide range of capabilities. The institutes fundamental research will drive cutting-edge advances in AI and interdisciplinary collaborations will translate research outcomes into creative solutions with deep social impacts, she added. THE STRAITS TIMES/ANN Neilmed Sinus Rinse Starter Kit (Pack of 2) 7.99 5 (604) En stock Por un escritor de hombre misterioso Yakuza Kiwami 2 PC Trailer 12.00 4.9 (190) En stock Por un escritor de hombre misterioso The agritech startup will use the proceeds for technology development and expansion across 30 cities and provinces in Vietnam through eight strategic operation hubs in Ho Chi Minh An Giang, Ben Tre, Binh Thuan, Binh Phuoc, DakLak, Gia Lai, and Lam Dong. "This funding is a tremendous vote of confidence in our mission and vision," said Hao Diep, co-founder and CEO of Techcoop. "We are grateful for the support from institutional equity and debt investors in Vietnam and other parts of Asia, and we are excited to partner with them as we strive to make a lasting impact on the lives of farmers across the country." Founded in 2022, Techcoop provides integrated trade, digital financing, and advisory solutions to Vietnam's agricultural small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and farmer clubs across export-driven supply chains. Techcoop provides agri-inputs (fertilisers, crop protection, seedlings, and mechanical services) with 3-6 month payment terms, and outputs (nuts, fruits and vegetables) with 30- to 60-day payment terms. The company also provides digital services, including AgriFarm (traceability), AgriSME and AgriERP that help small farmers and farmer clubs be better prepared for exports. Techcoop has partnered with over 2,000 agri-SMEs and farmer clubs, reaching over 150,000 farmers. "Techcoop is on a mission to empower millions of smallholders in Vietnam and unlock the full potential of many value chains through trade, finance and digital inclusion," said Hau Ly, partner at AVV. "The sector is ripe for innovation and growth. We believe in the team's dedication and deep operational experience in agriculture, fintech, and banking, Techcoop will contribute to a more sustainable and prosperous future for Vietnamese agriculture." Techcoop delivered $10 million in sales and turned a profit last year. 80 firms register for Agritechnica Asia Live A total of 80 domestic and foreign firms have registered to take part in the upcoming 2022 Agritechnica Asia Live, scheduled to take place in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on August 24-26. Bayer Vietnam demonstrates sustainable agriculture at Agritechnica Live 2022 Bayer Vietnam reaffirmed its commitment to contribute to the sustainable development of Vietnam's agriculture by showcasing its innovative solutions for the nation's farmers at the Agritechnica Live Event from August 24 to 26. Apple, Google and Meta set to face probes under new law: source, illustration photo The European Commission, the EU's powerful antitrust regulator, has been in talks in the past months with the titans about complying with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which came into force in early March. The DMA demands online platforms open up digital markets to greater competition -- and the commission has vowed its impact would be far-reaching. "Apple has done more with the DMA in 10 days than in 10 years with antitrust," the EU's internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, told CNN Thursday. For example, Apple has been forced to allow developers to create their own rival marketplaces to the US giant's App Store. But the company still faces accusations that the changes are complicated and come with unfair fees -- and has not done enough to avoid European regulators' scrutiny. The investigation into Apple is expected to look into how the company prevents application developers from communicating for free with iPhone users, a source said. A similar violation led the EU to slap Apple with a 1.8-billion-euro ($1.95-billion) fine earlier this month, which the company is appealing. Apple is also in the crosshairs of regulators on the other side of the Atlantic. On Thursday, the US Department of Justice sued Apple, accusing it of illegally maintaining a monopoly for its iPhone ecosystem by stifling competition. The EU has named six companies as "gatekeepers" facing the tougher rules: Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok owner ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. The EU probe into Meta will likely focus on how the US company uses Facebook and Instagram users' data. Under the rules, platforms can only share data across the companies' services if they have user consent to do so, which they must now ask for. The investigation into Google will focus on claims of "self-preferencing", where digital platforms favour their own services above others, the source said, for example when users search for hotels. Brussels hit Google with a 2.4-billion-euro fine in 2017 over a similar breach. The commission can slap fines of up to 10 percent on a company's worldwide turnover for a violation. That can rise to 20 percent for repeat offenders. Apple, Google and Meta did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment. Google, Apple disappoint as tech earnings hit by gloom Google and Apple on Thursday reported downbeat results for the last quarter of 2022 as Amazon beat expectations, but warned that the coming months would be uncertain in a difficult moment for Big Tech. Google works with NIC and US Mission in Vietnam launch Google for Startups Accelerator Vietnam is becoming one of South East Asia's rising startup hubs as its online economy is forecasted to grow to US$50 billion by 2025. XGIMI Technology Co., Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nam Dinh Management Authority of Industrial Parks for the factory's development on March 20. The factory in My Thuan Industrial Park will produce multi-functional smart projectors and laser TVs. At the signing ceremony, Chung Ba, chairman of XGIMI Technology, asked local authorities to facilitate the completion of the project quickly. The company plans to put the factory into operation in 2024. In the same vein, Pham Dinh Nghi, Chairman of Nam Dinh People's Committee, stated that the MoU was the first step for both sides to proceed with the investment in the locality. Nam Dinh is committed to creating favourable conditions for XGIMI to complete administrative procedures. With XGIMI's capacity and experience, the multi-functional projector and laster TV manufacturing factory will soon be operational, contributing to budget revenue. Founded in 2013, XGIMI is based in Chengdu, southwestern China's Sichuan province. XGIMI has created a series of game-changing giant screen projection products with partners like Harman/Kardon, Google, and Texas Instruments. It is also a leading laser TV maker. Nam Dinh is emerging as a hot spot for local and foreign investors. On March 6, Nam Dinh People's Committee organised a conference to announce provincial planning for 2021-2030 and investment promotions for 2024. At the conference, leaders of Nam Dinh province awarded investment certificates to seven investors for projects worth nearly $420 million. On February 28, Nam Dinh Management Authority of Industrial Parks also issued an investment certificate to Crystal Denim Textiles (BVI) Limited to implement a $60 million textile and garment project at Rang Dong Textile Industrial Park. Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park's green development Haiphong is scaling up efforts towards green development, with Sao Do Group's Nam Dinh Vu Industrial Park as a shining example. Hong Kong's Crystal Group eyes $200 million project in Nam Dinh Hong Kong-based Crystal Group unveils its plan to build a $200 million project for yarn, fabric, and garment production in the northern province of Nam Dinh. Several companies from countries around the world, such as France, Italy, China, India, Japan, and Brazil, were also listed as winners of TPM Awards TPM stands for 'Total Productive Maintenance' - a mindset or a management approach that links the two concepts of maintenance and productivity. The goal of TPM is to maximise equipment performance to improve productivity, as well as increase employees' awareness and job satisfaction. The CPV Binh Duong factory first applied for TPM recognition in 2013. The factory won the Level 1 Award (Excellence) in 2018 and has now received the Level 2 Award (Consistency) for 2023. Chaiwut Mekhora, CPV senior vice chairman, and the rest of the leadership team, were honoured to go on stage and receive the prestigious award. CPV Binh Duong is CPV's first factory, and the first in Vietnam, to win this award. The Binh Duong factory will continue to develop its activities to acheive the Level 3 Award (Special) by maximising performance, minimising production costs, and achieving 'Three Zeroes', which means zero accidents, zero defects, and zero breakdowns. CPV is deploying the TPM system across its entire 'feed - farm - food' chain. CPV expands 'Journey for a Green Vietnam' project For the 133rd birthday of President Ho Chi Minh, a representative of the Board of Directors of C.P. Vietnam Corporation (CPV) participated in the launching ceremonies of two tree planting campaigns. CPV promotes 'Made in Vietnam' products at home and globally C.P. Vietnam (CPV) anticipates that consumers will support 'Made in Vietnam' products that meet international standards, affirming the company's commitment to safety and improving the lives of Vietnamese people. In addition, CPV plans to continue developing new products to meet consumer needs for domestic and foreign markets. CPV positions for global reach Foreign-invested livestock company C.P. Vietnam is eager to foster export activities, contributing to positioning the country on the global map of branded meat exports, especially poultry products. Two ministers, Youth4Food Ambassadors, volunteers and representatives founding partners and other VIPs. The goal of the campaign is to get young people in Vietnam to change how they think about farming and jobs in agriculture, and to become more involved in shaping sustainable food systems. The campaign is supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and coordinated by the regional Southeast Asia office of Nuffic the Dutch organisation for the internationalising of education. Inviting collaboration from the Vietnamese government, private sector, and academia, Minister van der Wal stressed the importance of collective investment in empowering future leaders for a more sustainable future. "As we gear up for the challenges we are facing, investing in tomorrow's leaders is crucial. That is why I proudly champion the Empower Youth4Food campaign. I firmly believe that sustainable agriculture is vital for food security and a healthy, robust environment. Achieving this requires the active involvement of young people, educational institutions, government, businesses, and community organisations. Their innovative ideas are essential in shaping our sustainable approach," said minister van der Wal. Chao Yen, a young Vietnamese entrepreneur, shared her personal journey of encountering criticism upon returning to her home village to launch a small business centred on sustainable agriculture, saying, "This campaign has the potential to motivate young Vietnamese people to pursue aspirations in the agricultural sector, providing opportunities for learning about resilience, adaptation to climate change, and strategies to enhance the value of agricultural products." Youth4Food ambassadors, Dutch minister of Nature and Nitrogen of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, together with the Dutch and Vietnamese bussiness delegation. Chengrui Kang, a graduate from the Dutch university system and current general manager of East-West Seed Vietnam, said, "East-West Seed is committed to sharing business initiatives and innovations in Vietnam through company visits, internships, and guest lectures." Thuy Nguyen, an alumna of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Sustainability Manager Asia at De Heus, expressed her hopes through the campaign. We aim to showcase how De Heus develops the food and agriculture value chain sustainably, inspiring others to participate in addressing challenges, Thuy said. Representative of Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Kalyan Guntuboyina, spoke of the urgency in addressing food system challenges as we approach 2050, with a projected global population of 10 billion. WUR aims to empower youth by emphasising sustainability and innovation, cultivating a new generation of agricultural leaders committed to a future prioritising food security and environmental sustainability, said Guntuboyina. With the ongoing risks of climate change and an ageing population of farmers, Vietnam's self-sufficiency is at risk. Unfortunately, many young people don't see farming as a viable occupation, believing it to be old-fashioned and unsuited for modern times. The Empower Youth4Food Campaign wants to change that by showing young people, aged 16-35, what the agricultural sector has to offer. Drawing inspiration from countries like the Netherlands, where farming is a sophisticated, high-tech industry utilising advanced technologies such as hydroponics and drones, the campaign aims to demonstrate that farming can be both modern and full of potential. Recognising that Vietnam is not the only country facing the challenges of stimulating its youth to join the agricultural sector, the first variety of the Empower Youth4Food campaign was launched on 22 April 2021 with chapters established across Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore. One of the highlights was the 'Changemaker Challenge', wherein over 200 students and 50 young professionals from across Southeast Asia presented innovative solutions to the real-world business challenges faced by agri-food companies. Events tailored to Vietnam will engage different age groups, offering activities like social media contests and online seminars to educate on sustainable food systems. Success stories will highlight Vietnamese professionals, especially those who studied in the Netherlands, demonstrating the rewarding careers available in agriculture. The 'Changemaker Challenge' will engage students in solving real-world issues faced by agri-food companies, providing seed money to the winning teams to bring their innovative ideas into implementation. Additionally, the campaign will connect Vietnamese students and young professionals with career opportunities through collaboration with members of the Dutch Business Association Vietnam, offering guest lectures and company visits for high school students aged 16-21 and promoting job openings and internships for young professionals aged 22-35. Standard Chartered partners with Microsoft to empower women in tech Standard Chartered signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft on March 6 to drive women's participation and leadership in technology across Vietnam and Asia through the Code; Without Barriers programme in Ho Chi Minh City. Top 3 Vietnamese youth-led social startups selected for Asia-Pacific Youth Co:Lab 2024 On December 1, Youth Co:Lab Vietnam selected three youth-led impact startups to participate in further programmes and activities at Asia-Pacific Youth Co:Lab 2024. Youth coming together for a positive future The interactive dialogue Passport to Future: Creating Positive Change and Fostering Opportunities for Youth was held on December 18 in Hanoi discussing the impact of globalisation and migration on youth. Rescuers work among the rubble after a missile attack in Pecherskyi district, Kiev, Ukraine, March 25, 2024. At least five people were injured as Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles on Monday, Ukrainian authorities said. (Photo by Roman Petushkov/Xinhua) KIEV, March 25 (Xinhua) -- At least five people were injured as Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles on Monday, Ukrainian authorities said. The Russian forces fired two ballistic missiles at Kiev from Crimea at about 10:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT), Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk said in a post on Telegram. He further said both missiles were shot down by the air defense. Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the debris from the destroyed missiles damaged a three-storey non-residential building in the central Pecherskyi district. Two out of five injured in the attack were hospitalized, Klitschko said in a statement. Damaged vehicles are seen after a missile attack in Pecherskyi district, Kiev, Ukraine, March 25, 2024. At least five people were injured as Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles on Monday, Ukrainian authorities said. (Photo by Roman Petushkov/Xinhua) Rescuers work among the rubble after a missile attack in Pecherskyi district, Kiev, Ukraine, March 25, 2024. At least five people were injured as Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles on Monday, Ukrainian authorities said. (Photo by Roman Petushkov/Xinhua) Representatives of Fusion Hotel Group and Dong A Hotel Group signed a hotel management agreement on March 8 Stretching nearly 1km along the banks of Nui Coc Lake in Thai Nguyen province and just a 90-minute drive from Hanoi, the resort represents an attractive Hanoi weekend getaway, a meeting and group destination, and a retreat for domestic and international travelers. The existing 24-hectare development consists of 15 bungalows and 58 hotel rooms with eight traditional Vietnamese houses up to 300 years old. The plan is to reposition the resort as an upmarket destination. The Fusion team will work with the owner to create a new concept and support the execution of the development plan. Once complete, the resort will include up to 185 keys, offering full-service amenities, and taking advantage of the sites natural surroundings. At the signing ceremony on March 8, Peter Meyer, vice chairman of Lodgis and owner of Fusion, stated, We are very excited to work with Dong A on this special project and believe our wellness operating expertise will allow us to make a valuable contribution to the resorts repositioning. David Roberts, chief operating officer of Fusion, added, "Fusion Hotel Group provides unprecedented experiences for travelers from the moment they enter our properties and through every touch point during their stay. In line with this spirit, we are excited to collaborate on the management of the Nui Coc Lake Resort, where the stunning natural surroundings will provide an ideal setting for wellness. It will be a seamless blend of nature, cultural art, locally inspired hospitality, and professional wellness and healthcare programmes. For guests, the journey will focus on elevating their physical and mental balance." Thai Nguyen has the advantage of being a gateway between the northern midland mountainous provinces and the Red River Delta region. The area is famous for approximately 1,000 historical cultural relics and scenic spots. With about 2.5 million visitors in 2023, the location has become a growing destination for domestic and international tourists. The local government has high expectations for the regions growth as a travel destination in 2024 and beyond. The Nui Coc Lake Resort will no doubt contribute to the regions attractiveness as a destination, driving new tourist demand and building Thai Nguyen's reputation as a wellness retreat. Fusions professional service standards and experience-driven concepts have attracted both domestic and international travelers. Fusions track record of incorporating local characteristics and styles into their designs distinguishes its properties. The companys dedication to its signature wellness concepts, diverse spa treatments, breakfast anytime, anywhere, and an experienced team of Fusionistas ensure bespoke service for guests. The Nui Coc Lake Wellness Resort by Fusion is expected to commence operations and welcome its first guests in early 2026. Visit paradise at Ixora Ho Tram Fusion Hotel Group has announced the opening of Ixora Ho Tram by fusion, a wellness-inspired resort featuring 164 luxury guest rooms and 46 private villas with breathtaking views overlooking southern Vietnams pristine coastline. Fusion Hotel Group launches business hotel brand Fusion Hotel Group, Vietnams fully integrated hospitality and management company, has announced the launch of HIIVE. Fusion appoints three new general managers Renowned as a trailblazer when it comes to wellness-inspired resorts thanks to its all-spa-inclusive holiday concept, Fusion Hotel Group has announced the appointment of three new general managers at its hotels in Vietnam as the group continues to expand its presence across the country. Unveiling ST25 by KOTO: A fusion of culinary excellence and community impact On November 14, Sofitel Saigon Plaza and KOTO announced the soft-opening of its new flagship Vietnamese restaurant, ST25 by KOTO, an extraordinary venue dedicated to showcasing modern Vietnamese cuisine. Korean investors expect transparency in investment conditions According to the report of the Korea Chamber of Business in Vietnam (KoCham) at the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF 2024) earlier this month, numerous Korean companies in Vietnam face a disparate application of legal criteria for foreign ownership limit (FOL) across different cities and provinces. For example, a Korean investor, with a capital investment exceeding VND500 billion, established a business in Vietnam and sought to acquire 100 per cent ownership of a Vietnamese company holding a Payment Intermediary Services licence from the State Bank of Vietnam. However, despite confirmation from the bank that there were no restrictions on foreign investment companies holding shares in companies with such licences, the local Department of Planning and Investment (DPI) in that region demanded that the acquiring company must maintain a minimum of 35 per cent local (Vietnam) ownership in the target company, without any legal basis, the forum heard. As a result, the transaction did not proceed, and the Korean company is currently considering withdrawing from Vietnam. Clear and fair criteria for the FOL of foreign companies are necessary, and in the case of issues arising, we would like to request that administrative procedures and guidelines for resolution based on consistent regulations and grounds be promptly established, said Hong Sun, chairman of KoCham. The DPI requires mergers and acquistions (M&A) approval when there is an increase in foreign ownership limit or for reasons related to national security under the legal framework. However, according to Korean firms, in cases of M&A among Korean investors, the approval is frequently demanded by the DPI even when there is no increase in the FOL. Additionally, in instances where two subsidiaries within the same Korean group in Vietnam are merging, the DPI's Enterprise Department responsible for amending the Enterprise Registration Certificate requests M&A approval from the Investment Department within the same DPI. Consequently, the Investment Department, upon receiving the M&A approval application, asserted that the approval was unnecessary as there were no good reasons, such as an increase in foreign ownership, Hong Sun said. Therefore, due to the lack of coordination between internal departments within the same regional DPI, foreign-invested enterprises are spending unnecessary time and effort to resolve this issue. Hence, we would like to request the abolition of unnecessary approval procedures, he said. Korean language learning now booming in Vietnam Over 50,000 students are studying Korean at more than 60 universities and colleges in Vietnam, making it the top Asian language in terms of the training scale. South Korean retailers extend reach South Korean companies are showing significant interest in Vietnams flourishing retail sector, seeking to seize opportunities presented by the nations robust economic growth and sizable working-age population. South Korea-backed AMPT Vietnam to invest $5 billion in Vietnam AMPT Vietnam plans to invest $5 billion in Vietnam, particularly in Danang, for essential infrastructure and healthcare projects, with the company set to establish an office in the city soon. Hyosung Group unveils $720 million investment in Vietnam Hyosung Group, a South Korean industrial conglomerate, has announced plans to invest $720 million in a biotech fiber manufacturing plant in Vietnam. This event was part of World Water Day fell on March 22, focusing on the important role of water resources worldwide. When water resources are scarce or polluted, and people do not have access to safe water, tensions can increase between communities and countries. By working together to balance human rights and everyone's need for water, water can be a stabilising force and a catalyst for sustainable development. By sharing a green, healthy lifestyle, and raising a sense of responsibility in using energy and water economically, each AB InBev employees understands that water is an essential resource and every person has the right to access and use clean, safe water. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, deputy director of Binh Duong Department of Natural Resources and Environment Speaking at the conference, Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, deputy director of Binh Duong Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that the department had developed a plan in 2018 to implement the national action plan for the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. We would like to call on everyone to be conscious of protecting water sources, using water resources economically, maintaining a green, clean, and beautiful environment, and contributing to protecting and improving the health of the whole community," Thuy said. Craig MacLean, managing director AB InBev SEA also discussed conserving and preserving water resources at AB InBev. For our company products, water is the key component. We know that without water, beer cannot be produced. Clean water solutions have also always been at the centre of our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) journey. With today's conference, we would like to thank Binh Duong Department of Natural Resources and Environment for accompanying AB InBev to spread the spirit of preserving clean water not only to AB InBev employees but to many individuals and organisations, he said. He believes that AB InBev's "Love Clean Water, Act Green" programme, accompanied by Budweiser, will bring positive experiences to the community, consumers, and partners in Vietnam to have a future with more cheer. The programme Love Clean Water, Act Green was organised by AB InBev and Binh Duong Department of Natural Resources and Environment on the World Water Day Clean water is currently one of the critical issues that needs to be resolved because clean water resources are increasingly lacking, especially in many localities where saltwater intrusion comes earlier and lasts longer, causing water shortages. As a beer production company, AB InBev cherishes clean water sources because water is the most important ingredient in a large proportion of beer products. With the effects of the El Nino in recent years, protecting clean water has become more significant than ever and has become a focus strategy of AB InBev's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) plan in Vietnam. According to the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, El Nino will reach high intensity in the first three months of 2024, after that, the intensity will gradually decrease. Heat is likely to appear soon in the southern region (concentrated in the East), the northwest, north, and central regions. The number of hot days in these areas is likely to be higher than the average for many years. It is expected that El Nino will increase water consumption, and affect people's daily activities and production. Founded in 1366, AB InBev is headquartered in Leuven (Belgium) and has branches in many countries, with a team of 150,000 employees globally. AB InBev currently owns more than 630 beer brands covering 150 countries. The company is in the Top 5 fast-moving consumer goods corporations worldwide. Among them, brands already present in Vietnam include Budweiser, Hoegaarden, Beck's, Leffe, Corona, and Stella Artois. AB InBev advances responsible beer culture for students Understanding their social responsibility for future generations, Anheuser-Busch InBev Co., the AB InBev Foundation, and the Budweiser brand have launched a series of Enjoy responsibly - Don't be drunk and drive events. AB InBev continues to promote Global Smart Drinking culture in Hoa Binh The programme Enjoy Beer Responsibly Because Someone Needs You. Dont drink and drive runs from September 12 to October 13, aiming to raise awareness about the risks of drinking responsibility Ambulances are seen near Crocus City Hall following a shooting incident in the northwest of Moscow, Russia, on March 22. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Moscow There has not been any information on casualties related to Vietnamese people in the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow on March 22 evening (local time), said Counselor Vu Son Viet, head of the Consular Department and deputy head of the Community Affairs Board of the Vietnam Embassy in Russia. Until March 23 afternoon (Vietnam time), the attack killed 93 people and injured at least 145 others. Viet said that as soon as receiving information about the attack, the embassy implemented citizen protection work, sending personnel to the scene. From March 22 night until 5 am on March 23, they rescued 12 Vietnamese people and brought them home safely. In addition, the embassy officials also went to the place where victims of the attack were taken for first aid to find out if there were any Vietnamese people, he said. According to Viet, whenever there is a case of insecurity or terrorism, the embassy sends warnings to the Vietnamese community through the Vietnamese association in Russia, groups, or networks of Vietnamese people in the country. It recommends people restrict travelling by public transport or going to crowded places such as train, bus and subway stations, theaters, or wholesale markets. They are urged to closely follow local media, and comply with local government instructions in emergencies. In addition, the embassy also calls on people, when an emergency occurs or they get information about such situations, to immediately contact the citizen protection division of the Consular Department of the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia. Under the MoU, SK Ecoplant and BCG Energy will co-develop solar and wind power projects with a total capacity of 700MW in Vietnam, including 300MW of onshore wind, 300MW of rooftop solar, and 100MW of ground-mounted solar. The project will leverage the strong wind resources in Gia Lai province, located in the Central Highlands. This region boasts ideal conditions for wind turbine installation, making it a prime location for large-scale wind power generation. At the same time, the two sides aim to capitalise on Vietnam's climate by installing solar panels on the rooftops of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. They will also construct utility-scale solar farms on designated land to provide a stable and reliable source of renewable energy. BCG Energy is one of the leading renewable energy companies in Vietnam, currently developing and operating about 600MW of solar power plants with more than 800MW of wind power under development. Meanwhile, SK Ecoplant plans to obtain carbon credits through these projects. In 2021, the South Korean firm completed the registration of its clean development mechanism (CDM) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Vietnam. Under the CDM scheme, SK Ecoplant will receive carbon rights from the United Nations body proportionate to the performance of its greenhouse gas reduction projects. The agreement will also explore other high-potential renewable energy projects to satisfy Vietnam's energy demands that are growing at over 10 per cent annually. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Vietnam's renewable energy capacity has more than quadrupled from 5.2GW in 2019 to about 21.6GW last year. SK ecoplant and Nami Solar launch joint venture to invest in Vietnams distributed solar sector SK Group has further expanded its investment in Vietnam through a new partnership between its green investment arm, SK ecoplant, and Nami Solar, an affiliate of Nami Energy. SK E&S sets solid footprint in renewable energy SK E&S, South Korea's largest private renewable energy operator, signed an agreement to buy a 99.99 per cent stake in New Renewable Energy JSC No.1, which is a subsidiary of Gia Lai Power Electricity JSC to set a foot in the renewable energy sector in Vietnam. Nearly 30 Swiss companies and business organisations in the fields of medicine and pharmacy, energy, mechanical engineering, textile dyeing, logistics and banking attended the investment conference themed "Thai Binh Economic Zone The Rising Powerhouse in Northern Vietnam" on March 22 in Zurich, the economic centre of Switzerland. The conference was jointly organised by Lausanne-based Swiss- Vietnamese Business Gateway and the Zurich-based Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce (SACC). The 30-member delegation from Thai Binh was headed by Chairman of Thai Binh People's Committee Nguyen Khac Than, and accompanied by senior executives of 10 major corporates operating in the province. Speaking at the conference, Standing Vice-Chairman of Thai Binh Peoples Committee Nguyen Quang Hung, said, "Switzerland is particularly strong in finance, banking, insurance, manufacturing industries, pharmaceuticals, agri-food processing, renewable energy and hospitality. These are the fields Thai Binh is looking for investments and cooperations to develop our economy and to nurture our socioeconomic development. In 2023, Thai Binhs exports to the Swiss market were $1.2 million, accounting for 0.05 per cent of the total export turnover of the province, with textiles and garments being the main products. This amount is modest and not commensurate with the potential of our two economies. We hope more Swiss businesses and investors will be interested in exploring Thai Binh and eventually find opportunities to cooperate with us. Meanwhile, trade counselor Nguyen Duc Thuong, representing the Vietnam Embassy in Switzerland, said, Vietnam is becoming an increasingly important partner of Switzerland in the Asia-Pacific region. Switzerland currently ranks 22nd out of 144 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Many businesses in this country have achieved great success when investing and doing business in Vietnam. Therefore, the conference is an opportunity to help Swiss partners better understand Thai Binh, opening opportunities for cooperation and investment from Switzerland to Thai Binh in the future. At the conference, representatives of Swiss companies responded warmly to the attractiveness of Thai Binh. Nicolas Panzer, relationship manager in medical technology from the Swiss government's export and investment promotion agency Switzerland Global Enterprise, showed interest in Newtechco Group's project and sought to know more about Vietnam's regulations governing the import and distribution of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Accordingly, Hanoi-headquartered Newtechco Group plans to build Vietnams first-ever biopharmaceutical industrial park (Biopharma Park) in Quynh Phu district, Thai Binh and called for investments and partnerships in healthcare technologies, capital allocation and production of medicines. In the same vein, Marco Ruocco of Swedish transport logistics group DSV AIR & SEA, which has two offices in Vietnam, acknowledged that Thai Binh's geographical location is very relevant to his company's activities. He thus hoped Thai Binh can develop its strategic infrastructure system as defined in the province's master plans and become a point in DSV's operating network. Other interests and questions from Swiss enterprises in regard to renewable energy and railway projects in Thai Binh were also addressed by Chairman Than and his deputies. Optimistic about the future of Vietnam and the ascending outlook of Thai Binh province, Roger Leitner, managing director and chairman of Vietnam Committee of the SACC, who has been doing business with Vietnam over the last eight years, said, I have found in Vietnam many opportunities for Swiss companies. Thai Binh, as a rising economic powerhouse, could offer even more windows for investors. The future is even brighter with Vietnams supporting foreign direct investment (FDI) policies today. In recent years, Thai Binh's economic growth has always ranked among the top in Vietnam. In 2023, Thai Binh registered a growth of 7.37 per cent, attracted a total investment of $4.1 billion, 4.6 times more than the same period in 2022. Of which, FDI contributed nearly $3 billion, placing Thai Binh fifth out of 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam. The total FDI into Thai Binhs economic zones and industrial parks during 2021-2023 was $4.4 billion, of which FDI contributed $3.74 billion, 4.5 times more than the province's total accumulated FDI until 2020, positioning Thai Binh at 15th and 16th for 2021 and 2022 respectively. During the first two months of 2024, Thai Binh received $78.3 million in FDI. Switzerland supports Vietnam in sustainable tourism development The successful model of Switzerland will be applied intelligently through the consultation and support of nine projects in Swiss tourism for the sustainable development in Vietnam. More than 300 businesses and manufacturers will attend the Vietnam Global Manufacturing Forum 2024 The event, which will take place on March 26, 2024 at the National Convention Centre, Hanoi, is being organised by A+ Industrial Real Estate Investment and Leasing JSC (A+ Industrial JSCO) in coordination with DH Vietnam Consulting Co., Ltd., International Investment Research Institute Co., Ltd. (ISC), and Sunrise Big Data Co., Ltd. The forum will be attended by nearly 600 delegates, including representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the management boards of economic zones and industrial parks in provinces such as Hanoi and Haiphong, Quang Ninh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Vinh Phuc, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh, investment promotion centres, and industrial real estate developers in Vietnam. About 300 delegates will be representing foreign-invested enterprises in the fields of electronics and manufacturing operating in Vietnam such as Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and Singapore, and Vietnamese vendors in manufacturing electronic components, semiconductors, and equipment. In 2024, with the continuous development and transformation of the global economy, smart manufacturing has become the key driving force to foster economic growth. In this context, Vietnam, as a new production link in Asia, is playing an increasingly important role in the global smart manufacturing supply chain. Hence, VGMF2024 aims to create a platform for exchanging and reporting recommendations for government agencies, and a playground for exchanges between associations, domestic producers, foreign-invested enterprises, and global supply chains. The forum will focus on discussing the latest technology, new industry trends, the policy environment, investment opportunities, and how to find ways to cooperate and develop in the new global economic context. VGMF2024 will introduce the latest technology and business models, and act as a catalyst to promote smart production cooperation between Vietnam and manufacturing countries such as the United States, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and China. Le Anh Dung, general director of A+ Industrial JSCO, said, "Experts and investors will discuss new trends and developments of the smart manufacturing industry, creating a new overall picture for the smart manufacturing industry in Vietnam and the world." Through this forum, participants will jointly explore how smart manufacturing can be used to promote economic growth, enhance industrial competitiveness and contribute to development goals. In addition, the forum will also discuss how to seek common development opportunities and achieve mutually beneficial results in the current international context, especially in the context of continued global production investment flows," Dung shared. The forum will consist of two main sessions. The topic of session one will be smart manufacturing, intellectual products, and technology and innovation, and experts, policymakers, and businesses will discuss Vietnam's favourable position in globalisation and its policy of supporting foreign investment to promote the comprehensive development of its manufacturing industry. The second session will be themed "manufacturing technology, global supply chain". This will allow businesses to introduce and update the most advanced technologies in smart manufacturing. After the forum, the organising committee will continue to connect investors with domestic manufacturers to strengthen cooperation and investment. Ericsson supporting Vietnams smart manufacturing dream With smart manufacturing being an inevitable trend, Ericsson is partnering with various stakeholders to enable Vietnamese manufacturers to realise their dream of smart factories. Talk show the path to smart factories in Vietnam Industry leaders will gather at VIRs talk show on June 24 to discuss digital transformation with 5G and the path to smart factories in Vietnam. A more connected manufacturing sector through smart applications Smart manufacturing is the key for the industry to stay ahead of the competition as well as bring opportunities for businesses to make a difference. In this, Ericsson is committed to working alongside both foreign and local companies in Vietnam that share the same vision. World Trade Center Binh Duong drives manufacturing innovation in Vietnam On March 9, the city of Seoul witnessed the signing of a strategic agreement between the World Trade Center Binh Duong New City from Vietnam and the Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Korea for the promotion of a smart factory exhibition and a smart manufacturing programme in Vietnam. The issuance took place within the framework of a conference on March 23 to announce Vinh Long's planning for the period towards 2030. Specifically, the province has two projects in the food processing industry. Acecook Vietnam JSC will invest $84.8 million in a food processing factory, while Danny Vietnam will develop a fast food and food processing factory worth $3.6 million. In the agriculture and seafood sector, Hai Dai Vinh Long Co., Ltd. is injecting another $10.9 million into an animal, poultry, and seafood feed factory. Meanwhile, Phuong Nam Dai Phat Technology Investment is building a rice processing mill with a total investment capital of $4.5 million. In the vehicle industry, Furukawa Automotive Systems Vinh Long Vietnam will build a factory to produce wire harnesses with an additional registered capital of $9.65 million. In addition, Duy Tan Plastics Co., Ltd. will pour $28.3 million into the Tan Binh Industrial Cluster while Ty Bach Co., Ltd. will make an additional $29.3 million investment into its footwear project. Other projects include the $7.4 million Saigon - Eco Petroleum Warehouse, the $4.8 million Vinh Long cold storage, and the $18 million Vinh Long shipbuilding and repair factory. Another company, HLK Vietnam JSC, will also implement the $18 million urban embellishment of the Commercial and Service Centre in Hamlet 1, Long Ho Town. T&T Corporation is the investor of the Vinh Long provincial administrative centre urban area with the total investment capital of $565.7 million, one of the largest projects in the locality. Taiwanese firms study investment chances in Vinh Long The Vinh Long Peoples Committee on March 4 hosted a business delegation from Taiwan (China), who came to learn about opportunities for investing in the Mekong Delta province. Japanese firms eyeing investment opportunities in Vinh Long Japanese enterprises are interested in and looking for investment opportunities in the Mekong Delta region, especially in Vinh Long province, according to deputy chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in HCM City Ida Koji. Trinity AME giveaway Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church, 819 Dunbar Ave., will host a giveaway event from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday. New items including toys, household items, clothes, shoes and food will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis. Live music will be provided by The Gospel 5 of Corsicana. The event is open to the public and is sponsored in partnership with the Shirley Charles Foundation. For more information, email ljessie6@gmail.com or call 214-418-3123. Community egg hunt There will be a Glow in the Dark Community Egg Hunt at 6 p.m. Saturday at the South Waco Recreation Center, 2815 Speight Ave. The event includes food, games, vendors and a DJ. Easter Keg Hunt Barnetts Whiskey House, 420 Franklin Ave., will host an Easter Keg Hunt on Saturday. Check-in will start at 2 p.m., and the hunt will start at 3. The event is a downtown Waco scavenger hunt and bar crawl in pursuit of the Golden Keg. Teams of three to eight members will navigate by foot, water or jumping aboard the downtown trolley to solve riddles, decipher clues, and unlock new destinations. Hidden puzzles will be at each location to reveal the next stop. Cost is $25 per player, teams are encouraged to sign up together. For more information, go to eventbrite.com and search for Easter Keg Hunt 2024. Karem Easter egg hunt Karem Shrine, 400 Karem Circle, will host an Easter egg hunt from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday. The event is free and open to the community. Free legal clinic Greater Waco Legal Services will hold its monthly free legal clinic from 6 to 8 p.m. April 1 at G.W. Carver Middle School, 1601 J.J. Flewellen Road. Appointments are strongly encouraged but not required. For more information, call 254-733-2828. Clifton High blood drive Clifton High School and Carter BloodCare will hold a blood drive from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. April 2 at Clifton High School, 1101 N. Avenue Q. To schedule an appointment, call Fatima Cathcart at 254-675-2827. STEAMclipse April 6 Education Service Center Region 12 is seeking booths and performers for its STEAMclipse event that will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 6 at the Waco Convention Center. Hosted in partnership with the city of Waco as a part of Eclipse Over Texas: Live from Waco, STEAMclipse is a free festival celebrating science, technology, engineering, arts and math. The event will feature interactive activities and demonstrations, informative presentations and performances from area fine art groups. STEAMclipse booths will allow visitors to experience STEAM in action through hands-on activities. Vendors may sell goods at their booth, but the primary focus should be engaging attendees in STEAM-related thinking. STEAMclipse will be an opportunity to connect organizations with the community, as approximately 10,000 visitors are expected to attend. Region 12 is offering multiple size options for booths, ranging from $50 to $300 for the day. For more information, go to www.esc12.net/steamclipse or email taryn.courville@esc12.net. Rotary scholarships Applications are due Friday for this years Waco Rotary Club educational scholarships. Students who are who are classified as juniors or seniors in college, permanent residents of McLennan County, and have resided in McLennan County for the past two consecutive years are eligible. Applications are available at wacorotary.org. TSTC lunch The Texas State Technical College culinary arts program has resumed serving weekly meals to the public this spring on Wednesdays and Fridays. The student-operated restaurant will feature French cuisine from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 27 and 29 at the Greta W. Watson Culinary Arts Center, Campus Drive and Eighth Street. The $16 three-course lunch includes starter, entree, dessert and a specialty drink. Advance reservations are required by emailing wacoculinary@tstc.edu. All are welcome. Upcoming cuisine themes include Jamaican on April 3 and 5, and Honduran on April 10 and 12. Kennys Funland Extraco Events Center, 4601 Bosque Blvd., will host Kennys Funland carnival Friday through April 14. The Midway will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. weekdays and 3 to 11 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Costs are $30 for armbands and $2 per ticket with 2-4 tickets per ride. For more information, go to www.extracoeventscenter.com/events. MANILA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen people were killed after a passenger van and a dump truck collided on a highway in Cotabato province in the southern Philippines on Monday, police and local media said. Police said the van, with about 15 passengers aboard, was negotiating a sloping curve when it was hit by the speeding dump truck in the opposite lane. The accident happened after 12 noon local time. Initial investigation showed that the van flipped and rolled over before plunging into a ditch and burst into flames. The truck landed on its side and was thrown some 200 meters away from the van before catching fire, police added. Authorities are looking into the cause of the collision. Netflix's "Barbecue Showdown" champ Thyron Mathews is based in Oelwein, IA. He'll be one of several chefs featured at the food festival celebrating all things Iowan when it comes to food, drink and food-related products. WATERLOO One person has been arrested in connection with an accidental shooting that claimed the life of a Waterloo man in January. Waterloo police on Friday arrested Danielle Arieana Otterson, 18, of Waterloo, on charges of involuntary manslaughter and possession of a short-barrel shotgun. Bond was set at $50,000. Otterson is charged in connection with the death of Joseph Andre Quail, 19. Authorities said Otterson was at Quails home at 208 Eighmey St. in the early morning hours of Jan. 15 while Quail was handling an illegally shortened shotgun. Quail worked the weapons slide and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened, according to court records. Otterson told police she then took the gun, worked the slide, which moved a shell into the chamber, and as she did this, her finger slipped to the trigger, records state. The shotgun discharged, striking Quail in the chest. Otterson then fled the area without notifying authorities, records state. When authorities arrived at the house, they found Quail dead inside. Police found the shotgun in the home and seized the weapon. Photos: Homicide, Eighmey St, Waterloo Jan. 15, 2024 011524jr-homicide-eighmey-1 011524jr-homicide-eighmey-2 011524jr-homicide-eighmey-3 WATERLOO Authorities have identified the man who was shot and killed by police following a report of gunfire Monday afternoon. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation identified the deceased as John Piazza, 41, who allegedly pointed a gun at officers at his home at 1204 Hartman Ave. The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on critical incident leave pending the investigation, according to Waterloo police. Waterloo police confirmed they were called to a report of gunfire at an auto shop at 2701 Falls Avenue around 2:47 p.m. Employees reported that a man who lived nearby later identified as Piazza put a gun to an employees face and fired a shot inside the business. No one at the shop was injured, and workers stated Piazza told them he would return with a rifle. Employees reported he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, had a long beard, and was bald. Waterloo officers noticed a man fitting the description near the windows of the home with a long gun. A Waterloo police officer observed Piazza point a long gun out of a window towards officers. The officer fired at Piazza, striking him. Officers entered the residence and found Piazza deceased. Neighbors said they were told to stay in their homes. I came outside, just to see what was going on, and a cop said Get in your house, this guy is shooting at us. So I ran in the house and ducked, said a woman who lives down the street. I look over and a I see a guy (officer) with an AR-15 run by, and theres another one over there, another neighbor said. Officers from Waterloo, the Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office and the Iowa State Patrol most carrying military-style rifles were on the scene with a section of Falls Avenue shut down so an ambulance could wait nearby. The Waterloo Police Departments Bearcat armored vehicle was parked on the lawn of the Hartman Avenue home and a ground-floor window next to the vehicle was broken out. Other neighbors said they heard someone at the Hartman Avenue house screaming earlier in the morning, around 3:30 a.m. Monday. They didnt think anything of it until Monday afternoon when they heard gunshots and saw police. I heard a loud boom. ... It was one big boom. Then about five minutes later, boom, boom, said one man who lives down the block. My sister said she heard two shots fired, said another person from the neighborhood. I watched them breach the door down, said one woman who lives nearby. She said she saw officers enter the house. Photos: Shooting, Thorndale and Hartman, Waterloo March 25, 2014 032524jr-shooting-2 032524jr-shooting-1 032524jr-shooting-3 032524jr-shooting-4 032524jr-shooting-5 032524jr-shooting-6 Cedar Falls is poised for some great years ahead. In the first two months of this year, I have already felt incredibly fortunate to be serving in this term. We have a new City Council whose members have shown they are willing to work together. Although disagreements may occur, we have remained committed to talking through them and continuing to move conversations forward including on reinvesting in the College Hill district. Cedar Falls is in a great position financially, with the fourth-lowest comprehensive tax rate of the largest 20 cities in Iowa. We understand there are budgetary challenges that Cedar Falls will need to address, due to expense items that were kicked down the road from the previous year and changes at the state Legislature. However, we are in a great position to be able to manage those challenges while ensuring our city remains in a competitive place. Already we have taken several steps to make improvements in the areas of transparency and accountability to better connect with residents. The city has invested in a new Owl conference room recording device to provide improved audio recording of council work sessions and future goal-setting sessions for public review. We have already held the years first Coffee with the City to make myself and City Administrator Ron Gaines more available to the public for discussions and questions. We will continue to hold these public conversations bi-monthly throughout the year. We are also in the process of launching our new Hello Cedar Falls! bi-weekly podcast on Spotify to communicate with residents so that our community can stay informed of city activity and important topics. Regarding housing, the new West Fork Crossing development recently broke ground which will add several hundred new homes to the housing market in the upcoming years. A new development north of Aldrich Elementary is in the works that will also provide the much-needed secondary access road to Aldrich Elementary. This road is expected to ease the traffic on Erik Road and the Arbors neighborhood area. Additionally, several other housing developments are in the works including some fresh variety like the Cottage Courts which are being built on Clay Street. We are also working to establish a Housing Trust Fund for Cedar Falls, which will give our community access to nearly $200,000 per year in state funding to help address our affordable housing needs. Also, Sturgis Falls is a go! After working together with the organizing volunteers, I am excited to announce that Sturgis Falls will continue this year. Residents, families, class reunions, and visitors can look forward to once again celebrating our citys biggest annual event. Plus, someone may have mentioned something about a firework show. More to come, so stay tuned. There is a lot more to look forward to this year in Cedar Falls. The new whitewater course on the Cedar River is scheduled to open this summer, and a new parks master plan is in the works to address the reinvesting and updating of our area parks and recreational amenities. We also are excited to see the significant renovations at the University of Northern Iowas Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. Not to mention the exciting launch of the Panthers on Parade sculptures which will be located around town starting in May. All of this supported by significant new business investments and a strong small business community that, if I do not repeat it often enough, we need to continue supporting by buying local every chance we can. And as we look ahead to these exciting events and developments, we also know there are opportunities for additional improvement. We must continue to address our housing availability and affordability, find a workable solution to improve the parking concerns and continued development of the Downtown District, and fund a significant wastewater treatment upgrade requirement coming up, among others. All while setting an appropriate city budget that balances the long-term health of the community with the immediate needs and tax burden on our residents. Cedar Falls truly is poised for some great years ahead, and I am honored to be able to work alongside our City Council, staff, and residents to make it happen. Now lets get to work. Photos: KOLO Celebration, March 2, 2024 030224jr-kolo-dance-1 030224jr-kolo-dance-2 030224jr-kolo-dance-3 030224jr-kolo-dance-4 030224jr-kolo-dance-5 030224jr-kolo-dance-6 030224jr-kolo-dance-7 030224jr-kolo-dance-9 030224jr-kolo-dance-8 The senior Bowlsby is also listed online as one of the firms two vice presidents. However, a spokesperson said he does not have a financial s By Liu He The photo shows the 24 Solar Terms floral patterns created by individual designer Li Jing. (Photo by Li Jing/Handout via Xinhuanet) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Floral cultural products have become increasingly popular as tourists go outside to appreciate blooming flowers across China. Travel enthusiasts are crowding into the Yuyuantan Park, a scenic spot in Beijing for cherry blossoms, to take photos of its new cherry blossom-shaped popsicles this year. The park also made announcements to upgrade its cultural creative products in February on its official WeChat accounts, including cherry blossom bracelets, scarfs, blankets, etc. Meanwhile, cultural creative specialty shops have set up spring display sections when the weather gets warmer. Our display section decorated with floral ornaments has attracted many customers to take photos and post on social media, driving the sales growth at the same time, a storekeeper of a specialty store on Beijings Wangfujing Shopping Street told Xinhuanet. With the Qingming Festival approaching, we are expecting another sales surge, he said. Qingming Festival, or Tomb-sweeping festival, falls on April 4th this year when Chinese people enjoy a 3-day public holiday. This photo taken on March 15, 2024 shows the spring-themed display section at a specialty store of cultural products in Beijing, capital of China. Floral cultural products have attracted people to purchase as spring comes. (Xinhuanet/Liu He) Beijing is not the only city that enjoys these blossoming trends. For Luoyang, an ancient city located in central China's Henan Province, the upcoming peony season will bring more tourists as well as profits. Regarded as a symbol of longevity and prosperity, peony has long been favored by Chinese people, whose cultural meaning appeals to all ages and social groups. The cultural product studio of the Luoyang Museum has launched a new product: Zhuyan Mirror, a cosmetic mirror that is decorated with peony and lotus flower patterns on its back. So far, this product has become a hit in the museums Taobao flagship store. In addition to attractive appearance and good meaning, customers are also looking for cultural values in products. The cultural meaning behind is what I cherish the most, a visitor told Xinhuanet outside a specialty shop of cultural products at the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, in Beijing. A number of brands and designers are combining floral elements with traditional Chinese culture to gain a competitive edge in the market. The cultural and creative product studio of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, for instance, launches a 24 Solar Terms fridge magnet collection, featuring the iconic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest amidst seasonal flowers for each Solar Term. Floral elements also inspire designers in their creative works. Individual designer Li Jing posted her collection of 24 Solar Terms floral patterns and received more than 1,500 likes in total on Xiaohongshu, a popular lifestyle-sharing social platform in China. Each pattern is themed on the symbolic flower that blooms around the specific Solar Terms. For instance, this years spring equinox, or Chunfen, falls on March 20. Lis selection for the spring equinox is magnolia, which generally flowers in early spring as well. Li is planning to commercialize her creativity by developing cultural products based on these patterns. Badges made of metal and acrylic are under production. Ill also utilize these patterns to make tri-colored glazed pottery ornaments, Li told Xinhuanet. Dozens of her followers expressed their intention to buy in the comment section. On the reason for combining traditional culture with floral elements, Li said, Cultural memories assist the creative products in sustainable development, which will attract customers in the long term. This photo taken on March 15, 2024 shows the solid perfume balms decorated with flower elements at a specialty store of cultural products in Beijing, capital of China. Floral cultural products have attracted people to purchase as spring comes. (Xinhuanet/Liu He) This photo taken on March 15, 2024 shows the floral cultural products at a specialty store in Beijing, capital of China. Floral cultural products have attracted people to purchase as spring comes. (Xinhuanet/Liu He) WATERLOO Some main thoroughfares that connect Waterloo residents, literally and figuratively, saw immense progress in 2023. The work on Park Avenue and 11th Street bridges in downtown Waterloo prove there is an end in sight for construction that began in 2022. Jamie Knutson, Waterloos city engineer, named the pouring of the deck bridges as his biggest accomplishment of the year. The $23.5 million projects main focus is to prevent future flooding and increase aesthetics downtown. The 11th Street bridge will be elevated to eliminate the floodgates a point of emphasis since the 2008 flood. If another flood were to cause bridges to close, 11th could remain open to maintain easy access to downtown and the former Rath area. The Park Avenue bridge will not be raised, allowing access to the Riverloop area. It will allow for new trails, increased overlook spots and enhanced lighting. Park Avenue is expected to be finished in July, while 11th Street should be finished in October. After work on the bridges is complete, Knutson said, the city shouldnt have to replace another major bridge for at least two decades. Park Avenue had the oldest pavement, first laid in the 1930s. Pavement is expected to last 50 to 70 years. Another heavily trafficked area with older pavement also saw a total reconstruction. The area of East San Marnan Drive from Hawkeye Road to Hammond Avenue was torn up, reconfigured and rebuilt. Along with new pavement, the median was widened and lanes were extended. That was the first phase of reconstruction. Construction will resume in 2025 when the stretch from Hawkeye Road to Kimball Avenue is rebuilt. While construction takes a break on San Marnan this year, Knutson said the city is ecstatic with what is on the schedule this year. This spring, the area on Broadway Street from Donald Street to U.S. Highway 218 will be fully reconstructed. That section of Broadway is the subject of the most complaints and is the worst part. Both sides of the street will be torn up in phases. The project is expected to cost $7.2 million and should be completed by Thanksgiving. And frustrations in another part of Waterloo also will be addressed this year, Knutson said. At the end 2023 the roundabout at the intersection of Shaulis and Hess was reopened. It had been under construction for more than two years. The project also included road closures around the Lost Island parks and Isle Casino. Knutson said the multi-year closures affected visitor numbers and earnings for both the parks and casino. Were trying to get out of there and return (them) back to some semblance of normal, he said. He said myriad issues pushed back the finish date including contractor problems, utility issues and a single-car accident that damaged infrastructure. The entire project will be completed after the city installs signage and landscaping this spring. A much smaller roundabout also was installed just off of U.S Highway 218 at West Ninth and South streets, near the Kwik Star. The mini-roundabout is the first of its kind in the city. It was installed due to it being a high crash location, according to Mohammad Elahi, the traffic operations director. Although not slated to start until later this year, the city unveiled its plans for an entire reconstruction of La Porte Road. The estimated $31 million project was awarded $20.5 million in federal money in 2022. The project spans 2.7 miles, from the off-ramp on U.S. Highway 218 until the street becomes Hess Road near the Lost Island parks. The first phase of the three-part project will stretch from Hess Road/La Porte Road to Bopp St., near Crossroads Mall. Work on La Porte Road from Plymouth Avenue to U.S. Highway 218 should begin in 2025. La Porte Road from Plymouth Avenue to Bopp Street will begin in 2026. The entire project should be complete by the summer of 2029. The project will reconfigure roadways by eliminating lanes, adding turn lanes, and creating a bike and pedestrian path along the sides of the road. Where companies have adopted AIand where they are planning to do so in the near future Where companies have adopted AIand where they are planning to do so in the near future Top adopters Getting on the bandwagon The Chief Executive and Managing Partner of a leading Silicon Valley investment firm will return to her West of Ireland roots tomorrow morning (Tuesday) to lead an exclusive event for scaling businesses at Platform94 in Galway. A native of Castlebar in Co Mayo and a graduate of the then National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), Maire P. Walsh now heads up climate investment and advisory firm Belayer, based in the renowned global technological innovation hub. She will lead the hour-long event from 10.30am tomorrow morning at Platform94, sharing valuable insights on navigating the fundraising landscape to help businesses scale on a global level. The Belayer CEO has been invited to address and meet with businesses from across the region at Platform94, the west of Irelands largest technology innovation centre. She will share her extensive knowledge and expertise in a session entitled Insights from Silicon Valley: Navigating the Fundraising Frontier. Leveraging her personal and professional experience, the event will focus on enabling companies to conquer their fundraising goals. This event is very much in keeping with the priorities of the host venue, where the team is committed to establishing Platform94 as an international centre of excellence for scaling technology businesses. In her address, Walsh will examine four key areas, beginning with Navigating Choppy Waters, exploring the challenges startups face with fundraising, and effective strategies to navigate through them. Next on the agenda will be Unravelling Investor Trends, where attendees will gain exclusive access to the latest investor trends shaping the Silicon Valley funding ecosystem. This will give firms an opportunity to discover what investors are looking for in a startup and how to position their companies for success. The third topic will be Strategic Advice for Startups, presenting actionable advice from industry experts on optimising fundraising strategies. From crafting a compelling pitch to building meaningful relationships with investors, startups will discover the secrets to securing the capital needed to thrive. Finally, there will be an Interactive Q&A Session, where businesses can engage directly with a panel of experts, pose burning questions, seek personalised advice, and connect with like-minded entrepreneurs facing similar challenges. A former SVP of Digital Technologies at Enterprise Ireland, Walsh drove significant impact for deep tech and travel technology startups, earning her the ITLG Silicon Valley 50 Award in both 2020 and 2023. Her contributions have also been recognised by The Irish Times, where she was named as one of the most influential Irish women, in technology, abroad. She holds an MBS from NUIG, and her career is a testament to her unwavering commitment to innovation and sustainability. Her work not only showcases professional excellence but also a profound dedication to making a positive impact on the startup world. She joined Belayer in January 2022 and is currently CEO and Managing Partner. The firms mission is to connect Silicon Valley knowledge, network, and capital with the most promising European startups. It invests directly in startups, provides guidance on scaling in global markets, and facilitates connections between European startups and US global capital. Speaking ahead of tomorrow mornings event, the newly appointed Platform94 CEO, Marie Donnellan, said she was delighted to be welcoming Walsh: We are thrilled to be hosting Maire P. Walsh at Platform94 tomorrow and very much look forward to her address. One of our core focuses here at Platform94 is in providing a platform to support established innovative businesses to scale internationally. Maire specialises in investing, and in bridging the gap between Silicon Valley's wealth of knowledge, expansive network, and capital, to European startups. She brings a huge amount of experience and expertise to tomorrows event and I think we can build a really strong and mutually beneficial alliance into the future. By the way: The outpouring of support for Russia from the East has been nothing short of incredible. To watch the support happening is amazing and not something that I have experienced in such detail. Never in the USA, never. Not like this March 24 this year All major newspapers of the DPRK published on the front page a telegram of condolences from the Chairman of State Affairs of the DPRK Kim Jong-un to the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin in connection with the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall. Moscow To the President of the Russian Federation Comrade Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Having received the sudden sad news of the death of a large number of people as a result of a large-scale terrorist attack in the Moscow region, on behalf of the Government and people of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, as well as on my own behalf, I express to you and in your person the Government and people of your country, the families of the victims and to the victims, deep condolences and words of consolation. The position of the Government of our Republic, directed against any form of terrorism, remains unchanged nothing can justify an inhumane terrorist act that threatens human lives. Our people perceive the grief and sorrow that the friendly Russian people have faced as their own pain and express strong support and solidarity for the just cause of your people, aimed at protecting the sovereignty and security of the country, ensuring stability and socio-political cohesion led by you. I sincerely wish that the Government and the resilient people of Russia recover as quickly as possible from the losses caused by the act of terrorism, and that the families of the victims and victims find peace. Chairman of State Affairs Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Kim Chen In March 23, 2024 Pyongyang WtR Roman Catholic clergymen carry palm fronds during the Palm Sunday procession at Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Sunday, March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. New measures have been confirmed today regarding how environmental land management schemes work alongside food production. They involve limiting the amount of land that farmers can take out of productive actions under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). Under the changes, SFI applicants will only be able to put 25% of their land into six actions that remove land out of direct food production. These actions are: IPM2: Flower-rich grass margins AHL1: Pollen and nectar flower mix AHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land AHL3: Grassy field corners and blocks IGL1: Improved grassland field corners or blocks out of management IGL2: Winter bird food on improved grassland. The rest of the actions will remain uncapped. See also: Partnership formed to drive regenerative practices in agriculture The new measures are in place to ensure the actions are used in the ways they were intended to be implemented on smaller areas of the farms. While there is only limited evidence of farmers entering large land amounts of their land into actions that lower food production, approximately 1% of farmers that applied to SFI in 2023 asked to put 80% or more of their farm into the six non-productive actions. Defra say the changes also come from a consensus in feedback from the farming community that revealed a need for some targeted restrictions. Their aim with the changes are to ensure the scheme continues to support farmers to produce food sustainably alongside improving the environment. Farming minister Mark Spencer said: Food production is the primary purpose of farming and today we are taking action to clarify this principle. The six actions we are capping were always intended to be implemented on smaller areas of land, and these changes will help to maintain this intention and continue our commitment to maintain domestic food production. Other measures the government is taking to protect food security include an annual UK-wide Food Security Index to present data that monitor levels of food security. Information on the timings of the cap will be released in the next few weeks. Nahida Ajam, a Palestinian refugee, cleans a tablecloth outside her room at the Mar Elias Camp in Beirut, Lebanon, March 22, 2024.(Photo by Dana Halawi/Xinhua) by Dana Halawi BEIRUT, March 25 (Xinhua) -- "It's not easy to rely on the support from others, but sometimes we barely have food to feed our hunger," said Nahida Ajam, a Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon's Mar Elias camp, after receiving a bag of bread from a man who provides food out of kindness during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The continued financial crisis in Lebanon has exacerbated the already strained life of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon's camps, who depend on the generosity of goodwill people to put food on their Ramadan tables. "Prices soared remarkably compared to previous years," said Ajam. Hoda Salem, a 53-year-old Palestinian refugee, works as a cleaner with a salary of 150 U.S. dollars per month. She said two-thirds of her income goes to the electricity bills, leaving only 50 dollars to cover food costs for her and two unemployed sisters. "Our neighborhoods help us with some food, but it's never enough," Salem told Xinhua, fearing that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will suspend her quarterly subsidy of 150 U.S. dollars. "If so, we won't have food to eat," she said. According to UNRWA, in Lebanon alone, it provides education for about 40,000 students and its clinics receive around 600,000 patient visits annually. Moreover, the agency offers services, including maintenance of water as well as sewer and stormwater systems in 12 refugee camps, in addition to basic cash assistance to 65 percent of Palestine refugees in Lebanon, focusing on vulnerable people, children, the elderly and the disabled. However, the UN agency is currently on the brink of collapse as several countries suspended their funding, following Israeli claims that some UNRWA employees participated in the Hamas-led attacks last October. On several occasions, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has urged donor countries to reconsider their decisions to stop funding the UNRWA, specifically in Lebanon, which is suffering from a severe economic crisis. Fadi al-Tayyar, the public information officer at the UNRWA in Lebanon, stressed that "given UNRWA's operational approach to offering government-like services, no other organization in Lebanon can fill the gap in providing basic services." He told Xinhua that the agency does not have a plan B if it runs out of funding, and its dismantling in light of the region's deep economic crises will have not only humanitarian but also security implications. Ola Boutros, senior advisor to the minister of social affairs, noted that the decrease in UNRWA funding burdens the Lebanese government, considering its financial inability in light of the compounded financial crises since 2019, which has plunged 82 percent of the population into multidimensional poverty. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Consumers have been wirelessly connected to radio and television signals through the airwaves since the technologies inception. Today, high-speed internet is available in much the same manner as 5G cellular service expands across the country. Mobile phone providers are paving the way for fast, wireless internet connections to your home. Before this service known as fixed wireless access (FWA) became a viable alternative, wires with internet service came into your house via the old copper-wire telephone lines, newer telephone-line technology dubbed digital subscriber lines (DSL), coaxial cable from your cable TV service or fiber-optic cable. Fixed wireless uses a small device, ideally placed near a window, to pick up internet signals from the same cellular towers that transmit your mobile phone service. As an alternative to traditional wired internet service, fixed wireless, which many providers market as 5G home internet, often costs less and is easy to install. Pro: 5G home internet is increasingly available Since the introduction of fifth-generation (5G) cellular technology, wireless high-speed internet has become a practical option for folks who cant get wired broadband in their areas. Burying fiber-optic cable under streets can be expensive. Companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Xfinity make sure the cost will be worth their expected return before they commit to fiber in a certain neighborhood or even on a particular street in the same area. They offer fixed wireless access only when they know theyll have sufficient wireless capacity to keep both their mobile phone and new internet customers happy with the promised speeds and reliability. To ensure that internet usage doesnt affect mobile phone reliability, availability of wireless home internet can vary from street to street in the same neighborhood. One way to check internet access in your area is through a local internet providers site, like Verizon or Xfinity, or from independent sources such as Allconnect, BroadbandNow and HighSpeedInternet.com. Type in your zip code to find residential and business providers in your area, view plan rates and identify services offered such as cable, satellite and wireless. And check download speeds. Some sites let you test your current speed and compare it to other speeds in your area. Con: Some companies consider 5G the second-best option For AT&T and Verizon, fixed wireless internet is a secondary technology a way to plug gaps in the availability of their fiber-optic internet offerings. For both companies, wireless home internet is available only if their fiber-optic service isnt. On the other hand, T-Mobile offers its fixed wireless product to any customer where the signal is available. If its spring break, its time to think about summer, which is expected to be busy. Were already coming into this year with two months in a row where airport traffic surpassed last year, says Katy Nastro, a travel expert with Going.com, a membership service that finds cheap airfares, citing the number of travelers who passed through airport screening checkpoints in January and February. This year could set records. While such demand could push prices up, so far hotel rates are about the same as 2023, according to the travel booking app Hopper, and airfares have moderated thanks to more planes in the air. Were expecting a very busy summer season, but were also expecting prices similar to last year, which was back to business as usual, says Hayley Berg, lead economist with Hopper. She added that prices for the average domestic flight peaked between $300 and $320 in summer 2023, or about $100 less than the 2022 summer ticket average. Set the stage for a successful and affordable summer trip by using the following planning strategies. Book flights in spring To get low airfares, Hopper advises monitoring flights three to four months in advance for domestic departures and booking one to two months out. For international flights, expect to book three to six months before departure to most destinations, except Asia, where the best prices usually occur five to seven months in advance. For best results, consider traveling during the fringe weeks of summer. Im a big proponent of targeting the first two weeks in June or the last two weeks in August, says Going.coms Nastro. We find fares upwards of 30 percent cheaper versus trying to travel at the end of June and into mid-July. Vintage raises capital to upscale Odin gas project and cash flow Capital Raise to Upscale Odin Gas Project Melbourne, Mar 25, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Vintage Energy Ltd ( ASX:VEN ) announces a $8.0 million capital raising to fund near term growth in its gas production and revenue generation from the Odin gas field. The capital raising comprises a $1.3 million institutional investor private placement and a $6.7 million accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer ("ANREO") launched today. - $8.0 million capital raising - $1.3 million private placement - $6.7 million entitlement issue - Funds raised to fund drilling and connection of Odin gas wells to increase production into existing contract - Targeting near term impact with drilling and connection possible within months - Institutional and Retail offers of 1 for 1.3 at $0.01 per share The private placement and ANREO will result in the issue of 799.6 million new ordinary shares ("New Shares"), all at the price of 1.0 cents per share ("Offer Price"). The Entitlement Offer is to be conducted through two phases: an accelerated institutional entitlement ("Institutional Entitlement") which opens today and a retail entitlement ("Retail Entitlement") for eligible retail shareholders as at the record date of Wednesday 27 March 2024 (further details under the heading "Offer Information" later in this announcement). The Offer Price represents; a 37.5% discount to the last closing price of 1.6 cents per share on 22 March 2024; a 40.3% discount to the 15-day volume weighted average price of 1.67 cents per share and a 23.8% discount to the theoretical ex-rights price (TERP) of 1.31 cents per share. Application of funds The funds raised through the capital raising will be used predominantly to fund the drilling of two appraisal wells; Odin-2 and Odin-3, and, if successful, the completion and connection of one of those wells to increase gas production and sales from the Odin gas field, as detailed in the table following. Odin-1 was brought online in September 2023, less than two years after flow testing, with all gas produced being supplied to Pelican Point Power (a joint venture of ENGIE (72%) and Mitsui (28%)) under a sales agreement extending to December 2026. The Odin gas supply contract was negotiated in 2023, and Vintage and its joint venturers in Odin are exempt from the $12/Gj price cap. The Vintage Energy operated Joint Venture has a 100% drilling success rate to date with its Vali and Odin wells. Managing Director comment; "This capital raising will enable Vintage to push on to increase gas production and cash generation from the Odin gas field. Odin-1 has performed well since coming online and we are keen to replicate this and increase sales under the supply contract we hold with Pelican Point Power by stepping up production from the field." said Managing Director, Neil Gibbins. "We foresee a near term impact. We are ready to drill, with a rig contracted and the expectation a successful outcome could see gas flowing from a new Odin well by July this year. We anticipate cash generated in this scenario will take Odin into a self-sufficient cash generating operation". Our existing contract and Odin's performance to date presents a compelling proposition for expansion of the field's productive capability and its cash generation. "The Board considered a number of different options as to how to best fund the drilling of new wells at Odin, including debt funding and concluded this equity capital raising is clearly the most appropriate way to proceed given the current stage of the Odin gas field. It is consistent with market practice and reduces risk" he said. To view the Capital Raise Investor Presentation, please visit: https://www.abnnewswire.net/lnk/9M3LJ364 About Vintage Energy Ltd Vintage Energy Ltd (ASX:VEN) has been established to acquire, explore and develop energy assets principally within, but not limited to, Australia, to take advantage of a generally favourable energy pricing outlook. Related Companies 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. 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The catalog, a finding of Guangdong's first-ever systematic investigation into the insect species in the province by the end of 2021, includes 12,093 insect species in 3,198 genera, according to the provincial forestry administration. This is the most comprehensive catalog of insect species in Guangdong, a biodiversity hotspot located in the south of the Nanling Mountains and east of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the administration said. Insects inhabit different trophic levels in the food web and play an important role in maintaining the diversity and stability of the ecosystem. The catalog of insect species is of great scientific and practical significance for developing and utilizing insect resources, maintaining ecological security, and promoting ecological development and restoration, according to the forestry administration. It added that Guangdong will further look into the insect resources of the province and work on compiling a series of monographs centering on the insects to promote the study of insect diversity and environmental protection in the Nanling Mountains and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) ROME, March 25 (Xinhua) -- European countries including Italy are stepping up security in the wake of the recent terrorist attack that killed over 130 people in Moscow. On Monday, after a meeting concerning public order and security, the country's interior ministry ordered police forces to intensify surveillance activities. While the security threat level in Italy had already been raised to maximum in the immediate aftermath of the Moscow terrorist attack on Friday night, the latest measures are focused on boosting safety over Easter. At least 10.5 million Italians are expected to travel over the Easter holidays, from March 29 to April 1, according to a survey by Italy's hotel and tourism association Federalberghi. Many foreign tourists also visit Italy in this period, with this number estimated at 3.3 million during Easter 2023. Particular attention will be paid to places "with the largest gatherings and transit of people, as well as to all sensitive targets," such as airports, train stations, and cultural and religious sites, the interior ministry said. Italian security and intelligence forces were also urged to continue "carefully monitoring activity on the web ... to identify any risky situations." Similar measures were also announced in France on Sunday, where Prime Minister Gabriel Attal decided to upgrade the "Vigipirate" plan to "urgent attack" level. The decision comes just a few months ahead of the Olympic Games, to be held in Paris in July. Vigipirate is the key tool in France's anti-terrorism system, and involves both public and private entities in security efforts. In Denmark, the security alert was raised last week due to an increased terrorism threat. The threat level will now remain at maximum. In the United Kingdom, the current national threat level stands at "substantial" or mid-level, the third highest in the country's five-tier system. Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Bern, 25.03.2024 - On 25 March, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on the situation in the Middle East. The Council calls for an immediate ceasefire for the remainder of Ramadan, which should lead to a lasting sustainable ceasefire. The resolution was submitted to the Security Council for a vote by Switzerland together with the nine other non-permanent Council members as co-penholders. After several vetoes, the UN Security Council today adopted, for the first time since 7 October, a resolution clearly calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East. Switzerland, which played a key role in finding a solution between the Council members during the negotiations, welcomes this adoption. In view of the dramatic consequences of the conflict for the civilian population, a clear appeal by the Security Council was essential. The Council reiterates its demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights. The resolution calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the protection of the civilian population and humanitarian access. The Council also deplores all acts of terrorism and recalls that the taking of hostages is prohibited under international law. In its statement after the vote, Switzerland underlined the central importance of this resolution. It responds to the most urgent needs on the ground and must be implemented immediately with a view to a lasting sustainable ceasefire. In New York, Switzerland reiterated its condemnation of Hamas's terrorist acts on 7 October and emphasised that the two-state solution is the only perspective for peace in which Israel and Palestine can live side by side in dignity and security. Switzerland worked tirelessly with all members of the Council to facilitate the adoption of this resolution. Today's decision by the Council underlines the weight of the non-permanent members of the Council who, despite the blockades, have enabled the Security Council to fulfil its mandate to maintain international peace and security. Address for enquiries FDFA Communication Federal Palace West Wing CH-3003 Bern, Switzerland 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 The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be starting on April 19. The nationwide elections will be held in seven phases and the results will be declared on June 4. This time elections are going to be long, and the opposition is finding it difficult. 2024 Lok Sabha polls being the second longest elections ever held in India. General elections will be held across 28 states and eight Union territories. Besides, India became the worlds most populated country across the world last year. So far, 17 general elections, over 400 state assembly elections, 16 presidential elections, and Vice-presidential elections have been conducted. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) held a crucial meeting to discuss the partys manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls that are scheduled to be held in seven phases beginning from April 19. Earlier on 18 March, the BJP held one more core committee meeting at the party headquarters to announce potential candidates for various states for the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, Odisha, Sikkim, Maharashtra, and Gujarat were discussed in the core committee meeting. BJPs IT cell and its local leaders are geared up for 400 plus seats this time. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India asked the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to halt sending out Prime Minister Narendra Modis letter on WhatsApp seeking support in building a Viksit Bharat. The poll body has also sought a compliance report immediately from the Ministry. This comes days after the Opposition had written to the Election Commission to act against what they said was a blatant violation of the model code of conduct. Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress has been repeatedly raising that how is it that the BJPs campaign message on Viksit Bharat is reaching millions of India, not only in India but in the UAE by getting access to a government database of telephone numbers. How did the BJP get access to a government database? Well, the powerful BJP tactfully clutched Congress and blocking its resources. The Congress appealed to constitutional bodies to allow them to access bank accounts if they want free and fair polls. Addressing a special briefing, senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge said, Holding fair polls is essential, and there should be level playing field. Those in power should not have monopoly over resources. While Indias both national parties locked horns with each other, the state level politics has their own challenges to deal with. A meeting of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders got underway at the residence of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and the allies are likely to finalise their seat-sharing deal for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Balasaheb Thorat, who were in Delhi for the partys Central Election Committee meeting, returned to Mumbai for the meeting. Tamil Nadus main opposition AIADMK released its final list of 16 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls and also named its candidate for the lone Puducherry Parliamentary constituency. The AIADMK has completed the exercise of naming nominees and allotting seats to allies, and party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami is all set to launch his election campaign from Tiruchirappalli on March 24. In total, the AIADMK contested in 32 segments and it has allotted seven constituencies to allies, the DMDK, Puthiya Tamizhagam and SDPI. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha constituencies. For the Tirunelveli LS seat, Palaniswami announced Simla Muthuchozhan who was formerly with the DMK. She had unsuccessfully contested in 2016 against late AIADMK matriarch J Jayalalithaa from the RK Nagar Assembly constituency. Daughter-in-law of former DMK leader SP Sarguna Pandian, Muthuchozhan joined the AIADMK recently. An advocate, she is also the only woman candidate announced by the AIADMK for the Lok Sabha polls. For the Vilavancode Assembly bypoll, the main opposition party has named a woman candidate. This day The Supreme Court dismissed applications seeking a stay on the appointment of two new election commissioners. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said it will examine the main petitions challenging the validity of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Terms of Office) Act, 2023. During the hearing, the bench questioned the Centre over the procedure adopted for appointment of two new election commissioners. It said the selection committee should have been given more time to apply its mind on the appointment of election commissioners. 2024 is also crucial for Aam Aadmi Party, there are so many allegations and court cases on their party leaders. The Delhi High Court refused to pass any orders for no coercive action by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while hearing his application for interim relief in the excise policy case. Kejriwals application for interim relief for no coercive action was filed in his main writ petition challenging the summons issued to him by the ED and the validity and interpretation of certain provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In Maharashtra, with the INDIA alliance having the backing of Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray, BJPs Devendra Fadnavis has played a crucial role in balancing the alliance. Fadnavis not only has to focus on achieving the target of winning 45 seats for the BJP-led alliance in the state, but he also has to play the role of a peacemaker and resolve frictions among party workers and allies new and old. But in back-to-back meetings that continued till the wee hours of Thursday, Fadnavis has reportedly not been able to resolve differences over Satara and Madha Lok Sabha seats in western Maharashtra. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday lashed out at the Centre and asserted that there is no democracy in India today, alleging that the idea that India is a democracy is a lie. The Congress MP asserted that by blocking the accounts of the largest opposition party the BJP had caused great damage to Indian democracy. This is a criminal action on the Congress party, a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. So, the idea that India is a democracy is a lie. There is no democracy in India today. The idea that India is the worlds largest democracy is a lie. A complete lie, he said. 20 per cent of India votes for us and we are not able to pay Rs 2 for anything. It has been orchestrated to cripple us in the elections. Even if our bank accounts are unfrozen today, huge amount of debt damage has been done to Indian democracy, he added. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi claimed that all Congress bank accounts have been frozen, the party can do no campaign work, cannot support party workers, and cannot support party candidates. All our bank accounts have been frozen. We can do no campaign work, we cannot support our workers, we cannot support our candidates. This has been done two months before the election campaign. One notice comes from the 90s, another from 6-7 years back. Quantum amount is Rs 14 lakhs and punishment our entire financial identity. All the institutions are quiet and the Election Commission has not even said anything, he added. He further said that the party has already lost a month fighting the IT case and its ability to fight elections has been damaged. This is not freezing of Congress partys bank accounts; this is the freezing of Indian democracy. As the biggest opposition party, we are unable to take any action we cant book advertisements or send our leaders anywhere. This is an assault on democracy, he added. Rahul Gandhi said that there is an Election Commission in the country but it has not even said anything. Whats interesting to me is that there are institutions in this country that are supposed to protect the democratic framework. There is an Election Commission in the country but it has not even said anything; that you have frozen the bank accounts of one of the biggest political parties and largest opposition in the country, he added. Earlier on March 8, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) dismissed the plea moved by the Congress Party which sought a stay against Income Tax Department proceedings of recovery and freezing of their Bank accounts and said the Stay Application is without merit. Soon after the press conference the former Congress leader reiterated on his Shakti remark saying We are fighting against hatred-filled Asura-shakti. The news conference held at the party headquarters on Friday saw the party fielding its big guns Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and former Presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who trained their guns on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over the freezing of the partys bank accounts. SANAA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday highlighted the worsening health crisis in Yemen, saying that 17.8 million people, half of whom are children, are in urgent need of medical aid amid a resurgence of diseases. Arturo Pesigan, WHO's representative in Yemen, revealed the dire situation on the eve of the ninth anniversary of the Saudi-led coalition's involvement in the Yemeni conflict. "Nine years of war have led to a decline in health outcomes and destroyed infrastructure, making emergency health and humanitarian needs a daily reality for millions," Pesigan said in a statement. He warned that diminishing international support has left communities exposed to deteriorating conditions, affecting the future of millions. Over the past five years, the WHO has seen a 45 percent reduction in funding for Yemen, with a current need of 77 million U.S. dollars to provide essential health services in 2024. Children are particularly at risk, with high rates of malnutrition and increased susceptibility to diseases like polio, measles, pertussis, and diphtheria. Nearly 2.4 million children under the age of five, comprising half of Yemen's children in that age group, are experiencing moderate to severe stunting, according to the WHO statement. The ongoing conflict in Yemen, which began in 2014 after the Houthis took over the capital, Sanaa, has led to one of the worst humanitarian crises globally. The Saudi-led military coalition intervened on March 26, 2015, with the objective of reinstating the government. Dear Amy: I have a dilemma which is common for my fellow baby boomers. My mother married young and had five children. Mom is now almost 90, the kids are senior citizens, and even the grandkids are mostly in their 30s. Nobody wants the stuff, like Grandmas china, that ended up in my garage with Moms move to assisted living. I want my garage back! I try talking to Mom about donating the unwanted stuff, but her response is that if I want to get rid of anything I should give it back to her, which is impossible. She is in the early stages of dementia, and cant really think practically anymore. Can I just go ahead and donate, without talking to her about it? If I had the space, I could just keep it in boxes until she passes, but I dont. Whats the right way to handle this? The five of us kids have a hard enough time navigating her decline as a team, without this added tension around Nanas china. Tired Boomer Dear Tired: Many people who might have used family things to furnish their own homes (if they had inherited in their 20s or 30s), are trying to cope with heirlooms when they are currently trying to downsize. You are faced with an ethical dilemma because youd like to start the process against your mothers stated wishes (an understandable choice on your part). I think youd ultimately feel best if you adhered to her wishes, despite her dementia. This is where a storage unit comes in. It would be a good idea for you to get the team together to go through and transfer things to a nearby storage unit. Devote a weekend to this task. The process of doing this as a group before your mothers death would be very different than after her passing when you will be stressed and grieving. Doing this now will revive a lot of memories (which you can share with your mother and each other). During the transfer you can as a group organize and label things, and perhaps start the dispersal process (with siblings taking some things home) and store the rest until after your mothers passing. You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. Alabama Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, is adding requirements to a newly-created $500,000 grant program designed to help schools place cameras in self-contained special education classrooms. The $500,000 Cameras in the Classroom Grant was made available in 2023 as a part of the implementation of Tylers Law in the state. The law is named for Kimberly McFaddens son, who she believes was physically abused in his school in South Carolina. The entire amount of state funding for cameras in special education classrooms has gone to Madison City this year; if the state includes more money in its budget, it would become available Oct. 1. No other school districts asked for the money, according to state superintendent Eric Mackey. Orr and special education advocates say they hope more districts will add cameras. These cameras act as a voice for a lot of children, said McFadden, who believes cameras are a necessary protection for children who are unable to speak for themselves. Videos of classroom activity could be used to verify or dismiss allegations of abuse or neglect in their classrooms or at school. Tylers Law sets out a process allowing schools to install cameras in self-contained special education classrooms and requires them to maintain that video for 90 days. Neither the law nor the budget document states how the grant money should be distributed. Obviously we knew it wouldnt go very far, but it would help some, and some is better than none, Orr said. Last year, the state department didnt send a written notice out to let schools know the funding was available. The idea that we didnt even send out a notice or any type of awareness, memorandum to the schools or LEAs to inform them of this money being there - Im surprised, Orr said. He told AL.com he plans to add language to the proposed state budget that directs the department to do so. Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey told AL.com he believes putting cameras in these classrooms is a good idea, but there was little interest in the funding. Some [districts] did [show interest], but in the end they didnt take it. Mackey told AL.com that because there was little interest among districts, he asked Madison City Superintendent Ed Nichols if the district could use the funding to help with their camera system and Nichols said yes. Mackey said no paperwork was involved. The district will get the full $500,000; any unspent funds will go back to the department. It installed cameras in 2022 after an internal investigation revealed mistreatment of nonverbal students in a self-contained classroom at Discovery Middle School. Next year, Mackey said, Were going to cast a wide net. I think its great that Madison City Schools is being reimbursed for some of what theyve spent, McFadden said, but added that she hoped the funding would help schools with financial challenges and those with high percentages of nonverbal children be able to install cameras. In February, Madison City board attorney William Sanderson told AL.com the cameras are working as expected. We believe the cameras have proven to be useful for ensuring the safety of students, promoting transparency with parents, and protecting staff against unfounded allegations of wrongdoing, Sanderson said. Orr said he wants to keep the $500,000 line item for the grant program in the budget for next year, but isnt sure how much more schools might need. The initial amount, he said, was based on Madison Superintendent Nichols estimating the cost at $3,000 for each camera. The biggest cost is typically storage of footage. AL.com talked with the technology director at Dothan City Schools, Jeremy Green, who oversees the districts camera operating systems. The system installed cameras in common areas and classrooms among their 17 schools a couple of years ago, he said, and continue to add cameras when possible. Green said a good cost estimate to start with is five cameras per school, costing around $200 each. Storing video for 90 days would take 64TB of storage. Green said a 16TB network video recorder or NVR costs about $5,000. Rounding up, AL.com calculated a maximum cost of $5,500 per camera and NVR, or $27,500 per school building. Covering all of the states 1,358 schools with five cameras and five NVRs would cost $37.3 million. Orr said Tylers Law was patterned after Floridas law, which also requires school districts to archive the video for 90 days. I dont want to give up on it, Orr said, but if this 90 days is problematic - we cant go to 10 days, but maybe theres a happy medium there where we can get them to archive the video. McFadden said keeping the video for 90 days is essential and should be considered the minimum. The problem with nonverbal children and children with disabilities is theyre not just going to come home and say something happened, she said. It can take months to figure out whats going on. Alabamas newest divisive concepts legislation, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey March 19, takes aim at state-funded DEI programs. State agencies, colleges and school systems will have to assess current diversity and inclusion projects. The law becomes effective Oct. 1. But while legislators stated aim is simple -- no indoctrination of certain beliefs about race, class, gender or sexuality -- the laws impacts are far from clear, experts and advocates say. And some worry it will lead to a chilling effect on college campuses or make underrepresented students and employees feel less welcome in Alabama. It is up to individual state agencies, local boards of education and college administration to decide how to discipline employees who violate the law. There is no civil or criminal penalty for noncompliance. But the legislature can withhold funds from institutions that continue to maintain diversity offices, according to the state Legislative Services Agency. The Legislature does not play a role in the implementation of laws, that is the function of the executive branch, LSA Director Othni Lathram told AL.com. That said, the Legislature does exercise oversight and the power of appropriation. All state funds provided to institutions of higher education must be appropriated by the Legislature and the extent to which those institutions follow the law is relevant to that process. What will schools, colleges do? The Alabama State Department of Education, which oversees public K-12 schools, said it will wait until the summer, if necessary, to share guidance on all education laws that were passed this session. State Superintendent Eric Mackey said he wasnt aware of any local K-12 schools that had DEI offices. The ALSDE also does not have a DEI office. Largely, it will be up to local school boards to make decisions about how to handle any issues with noncompliance. If an employee is disciplined, he said, the state department will follow up with any necessary certification inquiries. Local boards will also be responsible for approving student groups. In the states public colleges, its up to a board of trustees to make those decisions, said Jim Purcell of The Alabama Commission on Higher Education. ACHE will provide some guidance to college campuses as needed to help them understand the implications of the law, he said. I am confident that the colleges and universities can adhere to the law in a way that will not diminish the campuses as places where many perspectives on the world and our society can be discussed and considered, Purcell said. In messages to students this week, college presidents said they are still working to understand the full implications of the law. I recognize and understand that this legislation has caused both uncertainty and apprehension, University of South Alabama President Jo Bonner told the campus community Thursday. But I remain confident in our community, the merit of our differences and what unites us in our shared values. Auburn and University of Alabama System officials emphasized a number of exceptions to the ban, including that nothing in the law will prohibit research, scholarship or outreach programs, academic support services, medical care, or instruction associated with accreditation standards. As a land-grant university, Auburn is committed to delivering exceptional experiences and support to all of our students with particular emphasis on providing access and opportunity to the citizenry of Alabama so that they benefit fully from an Auburn education, a statement read. We work hard each day at Auburn to create an environment where our faculty, staff and students are welcomed, valued, respected and engaged. We remain committed to providing these exceptional experiences while continuing to support academic freedom and freedom of expression. As always, Auburn will act consistently with applicable state and federal law. At the University of North Alabama, leaders say the school is well-positioned to adapt to the law. Starting in 2022, the college took a decentralized approach to diversity and inclusion staffing and programming, with few employees adopting formalized DEI roles. This new approach has been successful in supporting our students as well as the mission of the University, a spokeswoman told AL.com. The new model also allows UNA to be well-positioned to adapt to changes that may be required under the new law. We will continue to work with campus stakeholders to ensure UNA maintains its welcoming environment for all students, faculty, and staff. Theres a new pizza business called Miracle Pizza Co. operating in the former Post Office Pies location in Avondale, already serving pizza by the slice for concerts at Avondale Brewing, but not yet open for walk-in business. If you got pizza by the slice at Saturday nights St. Paul and the Broken Bones concert, youve already tasted it. Were serving our pizza out there for the shows, said Ben McPherson, the chef at Miracle Pizza. We sold 700 slices Saturday night. The pizza will be available again at Tuesday nights concert, Ministry featuring Gary Numan and Frontline Assembly. Theres some really good shows, said McPherson. McPherson said hes seeking to hire workers at the restaurant and wont be able to open the walk-in restaurant until hes fully staffed. Hes hoping that will be mid-April. Thats pretty much the only thing thats holding us back right now, McPherson said. I could open tomorrow. We need pizza cooks, servers, bartenders. McPherson is an Alabama native, born in Decatur, who later moved to Fairhope. He worked for several restaurants in Atlanta and then Houston before he got a call from Avondale Brewery recently asking him to return to his home state to serve pizza in the former Post Office Pies storefront. Its a beautiful space, McPherson said. Hes also happy to return to Alabama. Its amazing to be back, he said. Miracle Pizza serves Roman-style pizza, known for its soft dough. I started out doing Neapolitan, McPherson said. I lived in Naples and thats where I got into Italian food back in the 1990s. McPherson learned his technique from Massimiliano Saieva, a member of the World Pizza Champions, who focuses on slow-fermentation, high-hydration Roman pizza dough. Im taking that slow method and this high-protein flour and Im combining it with a New York style pizza, McPherson said. The slow fermentation and high hydration gives you super crispy, but then its super tender, because its got plenty of time for the gluten to relax and for all the protein to break down. Theres little CO2 bubbles. Its airy, light crispy pizza. With the sauce Im using the Bianco DiNapoli, the famous artisan tomatoes grown in California. We use whole milk mozzarella. Were using American butcher charcuterie produced here in town and nduga, which I love. McPherson said hes learned a variety of ethnic cooking styles, but hes again returning to Italian. I spent most of my career cooking Italian in Atlanta, McPherson said. I worked at a place called Pricci. I left Italian to do Tapas Spanish cuisine for awhile. I was with Barcelona Wine Bar as a chef for them in Atlanta. McPherson said he moved to Houston in 2013. I opened up a place called Batanga in Houston, a Latin-Spanish Tapas, he said. I left that and became a corporate chef for a restaurant group. Most recently McPherson has run a wholesale pasta-making business from Houston called BOH Pasta. He kept his past-making equipment and brought it to Birmingham. Eventually I want to work some pasta into this concept, like a fun lasagna, cannelloni, baked pastas, McPherson said. Miracle Pizza is looking for employees. Those interested in applying can email Ben@BOHPasta.com Yellowstone star Forrie J. Smith took to social media on Saturday to say he was kicked off a flight in Houston. The reason, the actor claims, is because he said he refused to sit next to passenger wearing a mask. I just got kicked off a plane, Smith said. Because I told them I didnt feel comfortable sitting next to somebody with a mask on. Smith, who plays Lloyd Pierce on the hit television, also claims the airline said he was drunk and that was the reason for being removed. Ive been sitting in an airport for three hours. Ya, Im drinking, Smith continued. I aint drunk, but they throw me off the plane because Im drunk, because you people wont stand up and tell everybody what bulls--t this is. I just told them I didnt feel comfortable about sitting next to somebody that had to wear a mask, and Im off the plane. In 2022, Smith missed the Screen Actors Guild awards because guests were required to be vaccinated for COVID. Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on The Opening Kickoff on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily. One person was killed in an early-morning apartment fire in Birmingham. The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as Mitzi Robinson Pope. She was 67. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service was dispatched shortly after 1 a.m. Monday to Beacon Crest Lane off Valley Avenue. Firefighters arrived to find smoke and fire in one apartment unit, said Battalion Chief Clay Hendon. They were able to rescue one person, who was treated on the scene and released. However, Pope did not survive, Hendon said. She was pronounced dead on the scene at 1:33 a.m. Hendon said the blaze was contained to the apartment units bedroom. No other apartments were damaged, and no other injuries were reported. Authorities have not yet said how the fire started. Alabama State Troopers say two teenagers were killed in a single-vehicle crash Sunday afternoon in Jackson County. Troopers say a 17-year-old driver and 19-year-old passenger were killed when the 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 they were in left the roadway and struck a tree. Both were pronounced dead on the scene. Police say neither teen was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. The 19-year-old passenger was identified as Andrew S. Turner of Dutton. The 17-year-old driver was not identified but was also from Dutton. The crash occurred on Alabama 40 approximately one mile south of Scottsboro. Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division continue to investigate. An American Airlines flight diverted to Birmingham due to a cracked windshield, airport authorities have confirmed. Kim Hunt of the Birmingham Airport Authority said the incident happened on Friday. According to American Airlines, Flight 1285 originating from Austin and headed for Charlotte, was diverted to Birmingham, There were no injuries reported. The flight landed safely and the aircraft was taken out of service to be inspected by our maintenance team, American Airlines said in a statement. We never want to disrupt our customers travel plans and apologize for the inconvenience. BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- In the face of the intrusion by the Philippine vessels, China Coast Guard had to take necessary law enforcement measures and the actions taken on the scene were justified, lawful, professional, restrained, and beyond reproach, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday. Lin made the remarks at a regular press briefing. He said that Ren'ai Jiao is part of China's Nansha Qundao and has always been part of China's territory. On March 23, the Philippines once again broke its promise by sending a supply vessel and two Coast Guard vessels to illegally intrude into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao in the name of resupply of necessities. In fact, this Philippine resupply mission is not to send necessities, but to bring construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded at Ren'ai Jiao for its repair and reinforcement in an attempt to build a permanent outpost on China's uninhabited reef so as to permanently and illegally occupy Ren'ai Jiao, Lin said, noting that the Philippines has repeatedly gone back on its own words, refused to fulfill its commitment, seriously violated its promise to China and violated Article 5 of the DOC. Lin said China urges the Philippines to immediately stop infringing on China's sovereignty and rights and stop the provocations. If the Philippines does not change course, China will continue to take resolute steps to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. Commenting on the U.S. State Department Spokesperson's recent remarks on China Coast Guard's law enforcement measures, the spokesperson said that the relevant U.S. statement is a clear misrepresentation of facts. The U.S. is not a party to the South China Sea issue, yet it keeps meddling in the issue, sowing discord concerning maritime issues between China and the Philippines and falsely accusing China, causing instability in the region. Lin said the U.S. has arbitrarily threatened to resort to the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty and endorsed the Philippines' acts of infringing on China's sovereignty and such moves seriously violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and jeopardize regional peace and stability. The South China Sea Arbitration violated the basic principle of state consent in international law and the award is illegal, null and void, and has no binding effect whatsoever, Lin said, adding that any attempt of citing the illegal award of the South China Sea Arbitration to undermine China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests will not succeed. "There has never been any problem with the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Over 100,000 merchant vessels now travel in the region annually and not a single ship has ever encountered hurdles. However, the U.S. and certain countries made infringements and provocations in the South China Sea in the name of freedom of navigation, undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea. This is sheer gangster logic," he said. China is committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and at the same time working with regional countries to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable, he said. "We hope that relevant parties will see the facts and truth, uphold objectiveness, and fully respect China's rights and interests and the efforts made by regional countries for a peaceful and stable South China Sea," said Lin. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a warning about possible travel disruptions related to the April 8 total solar eclipse. The warning covers airports along the path of totality the area that will experience the greatest periods of darkness during the Great North American Eclipse. The path of totality will go from the southwest to northeast, hitting parts of 15 states - Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as small parts of Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. It will be visible to varying degrees across the contiguous U.S. from 1:30 p.m. CDT to 2:40 p.m. CDT. READ MORE: Total solar eclipse path 2024: Search your city, ZIP code for best viewing times The FAA warning said to expect possible impacts to air traffic and airports along the eclipse path, including delays and increased air traffic. Cities along the path include Dallas; San Antonio; Little Rock, Ark.; Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; Buffalo, New York; and Burlington, Vermont. Aircraft should be prepared for potential airborne holding, reroutes, and/or Expect Departure Clearance Times that may be issued for all domesticarrivals and departures, the notice said, adding airports along the path of totality should coordinate departure times as early as possible and delays are to be expected. Peak traffic is likely and parking at smaller airports could also be an issue, the warning continued. Special security, including temporary flight restrictions and two-way radio communications, could also be put in place. During the eclipse, practice flights and pilot training will likely be prohibited, according to the notice. The FAA warning is just the latest as areas along the path of totality brace for massive crowds during the eclipse, the last total solar eclipse in the lower 48 United States until 2045. Earlier, Oklahoma announced it was activating its National Guard to assist local governments during the eclipse and, in Texas, officials advised local residents to stock up on food and gas in anticipation of crowds. A Florida Panhandle woman is in jail, charged with kidnapping after police say she grabbed a neighbors 2-year-old daughter and then locked herself and the child inside her apartment, refusing to return the child to her mother. The Okaloosa County (Fla.) Sheriffs Office said the incident happened just before noon Friday when the childs mother called to report her child had been taken by the neighbor, identified as 52-year-old Kimberly Dawn Keeling. The mother said she had broken a window to try and retrieve her child. When a deputy arrived, Keeling ignored his demands to release the child. Fearing for the childs safety, the deputy climbed through the broken window and found Keeling holding the child and a rolling pin. The child was unharmed and returned to her mother. Keeling claimed she had grabbed the child because she was trying to protect her from falling down the outdoor stairs, according to the sheriffs office. She was taken into custody and charged with kidnapping of a child under 13, and interfering with custody of a minor. As of Monday afternoon, she remained held without bond in the Okaloosa County Jail. Two Mississippi men were in stolen high-dollar vehicles and street racing when they caused a crash on Interstate 459 in Hoover, causing the death of one of their friends, court records show. Tyrique M. Carter, 22, of Byram, Miss., and Elisha Jamal Lindsey, 22, of Jackson, Miss., were initially charged with reckless murder in the Feb. 9 death of Tamarion Burton of Jackson, Miss. They were also charged at that time with attempting elude, and Carter was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injuries or death. Both men are now charged with receiving stolen property and motor vehicle speed contest, a law enacted in Alabama in 2023 to crack down on street racing and exhibition driving. Court records show Carter was driving a stolen 2023 BMW 2 worth $79,899 and Lindsey was driving a stolen 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk worth $97,460.51. Charging documents state they were involved in an exhibition of speed and a speed contest at the time of the deadly crash. Authorities said those involved were traveling together in a group in three vehicles. They were on their way to Mississippi from Atlanta. The crash happened at 10:09 a.m. Friday, Feb. 9, on I-459 southbound near U.S. 31. Hoover police Lt. Daniel Lowe at the time said all three vehicles were occupied by indivdiuals who knew each other. They were each traveling at a very high rate of speed together on I-459 when the BMW and Nissan Sentra collided with one another, sending the Nissan Sentra off the roadway and into a tree. The BMW and Jeep Grand Cherokee both briefly stopped but fled the scene when police arrived, resulting in the pursuit. Burton was pronounced dead on the scene. Another person inside the car Kortlon Talton - was taken to the hospital with serious injuries that required surgery, according to court records. .Descriptions of all the involved vehicles were provided by 911 callers and was shared with patrol officers in Hoover and neighboring agencies, Lowe said. A short time later, a Hoover officer spotted the other two vehicles believed to be involved traveling on John Hawkins Parkway near Hunter Street. The officer attempted to stop the vehicles, but both fled. One of the vehicles, the Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Lindsey, was involved in a single vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway 31 and I-459. He was taken into custody at that location. Carter, in the BMW, continued fleeing and was pursued by officers with several area agencies, including Star 1 helicopter. That vehicle eventually stopped at a gas station on Morgan Road in Helena where Carter was taken into custody. Both suspects remain in the Jefferson County Jail. A Louisiana man is in custody on the Mississippi coast after police say he shot and killed a Georgia man traveling on a Greyhound bus on Interstate 10 Sunday night. Police in Gautier, Miss. -- about 40 miles west of Mobile -- received a 911 call just before midnight Sunday of a shooting on a bus. The shooting took place somewhere between exits 57 and 61 in Jackson County, Miss., according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is leading the investigation. The suspect -- identified as 26-year-old Rashaad Keimond Price of Slidell, La. -- got off the bus just west of exit 61. He was later captured after Mississippi Highway Patrol officers spotted him running across the interstate. Price is charged with the murder of 25-year-old Jay Jackson of Decatur, Ga. He was taken to the Jackson County Adult Detention Center, where he remained held without bond as of Monday afternoon, according to the jail docket. Gunfire rang out Sunday afternoon in a Birmingham neighborhood, leaving a man seriously wounded. The shooting happened about 3 p.m. in the 900 block of Eighth Avenue West. Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said the victim was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Details surrounding the shooting are still under investigation, but Wade said a potential suspect is in custody. A Mississippi truck driver was killed when his 18-wheeler was hit by a pickup truck on Interstate 59/20 in western Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the victim as Jamaiyia Geivoca Foote. He was 30 and lived in Macon, Miss. The wreck happened at 2 p.m. Friday on I-59/20 southbound at the Allison-Bonnett Memorial Drive exit. Authorities said Foote was the driver of an 18-wheeler that was struck by a pickup truck that crossed the median and veered into Footes lane of traffic. Senior Trooper Brandon Bailey said Foote was driving a Peterbilt tractor-trailer that collided head-on with a GMC Sierra driven by Rafael-Andablo, 49, of Harlingen, Texas. Prior to impact, the GMC left the roadway, struck a cable barrier and went airborne. Foote was pronounced deceased at the scene. Andablo was not using a seat belt at the time of crash, was ejected and transported to UAB Hospital. A 3- year-old passenger in the GMC, who was unrestrained, was also injured and transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.. The crash shut down that portion of the interstate until about 9:30 p.m. The investigation is ongoing by troopers. A Florida-based brunch chain is opening a restaurant in Madison, with another on the way for Huntsville later this year. First Watch is located at 8156 U.S. 72 West in a 3,950-square-foot space, seating more than 200 people, with outdoor dining available under the covered patio. By the end of 2024, First Watch anticipates opening the doors at 5000 Whitesburg Drive in Huntsville. This year, we couldnt be more energized to double down on brunch in Madison County with two new locations in and around Huntsville, Brandon Heinsohn, vice president of operations, said. With a beautiful interior, cozy patio and menu committed to freshness, our debut Madison restaurant aims to impress and inspire even more good mornings across the community, and were just getting started. First Watch offers traditional breakfast, brunch and lunch offerings, such as avocado toast, lemon ricotta pancakes, kale tonic juice and million dollar bacon. Customers who dine in through Friday will receive a free cup of the restaurants Project Sunrise coffee, sourced by women coffee farmers based in South America. The restaurant features a revolving seasonal menu five times a year, with specialties like the barbacoa quesadilla benedict, elote Mexican street corn hash and watermelon wake-up fresh juice. The Madison restaurant will offer its first seasonal menu this summer. First Watch is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. for pickup, delivery and dine-in service. The company operates more than 520 restaurants in 29 states. This post was modified on March 26 at 12:53 p.m. to reflect that First Watch has locations in Alabama. Alabama State Troopers say an 18-year-old was killed Saturday night after a single-vehicle crash in Mobile County. Police say the driver, who is from Irvington, was fatally injured when the 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup the teen was driving left the roadway and overturned. Troopers say the driver, who has not been publicly identified, was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. The crash occurred at approximately 11:01 p.m. Saturday on Irvington Bayou La Batre Highway near Easyway Street, about five miles southwest of Mobile in Mobile County. Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys Highway Patrol Division are investigating the crash. Alabama Mercedes workers are ready to win their union! Today they met with UAW President Shawn Fain and Region 8 Director Tim Smith at the UAW union hall in Coaling, Alabama, and talked about their path to victory.#StandUpUAW #StandUpMercedes #solidarity pic.twitter.com/CMmyqGtNUI UAW (@UAW) March 24, 2024 The president of the United Auto Workers visited Alabama this weekend in the midst of the unions biggest push at the states first auto plant. UAW President Shawn Fain, and Region 8 Director Tim Smith, met with workers at the UAW union hall in Coaling, according to the UAW social media page at X. Fain, who became the UAW president last year, led the union during 2023s 46-day strike against the Big Three American automakers. The six-week series of stand-up strikes, at some of the biggest auto plants in the country, featured workers at select locations walking off the job with very little notice. The strike resulted in pay increases and other concessions by the auto companies. In an interview with Car and Driver Sunday, Fain said he thinks the ongoing campaign will result in gains for union members with international automakers similar to those seen with the Big Three in the U.S. I truly believe were going to see a huge shift this year. I think were gonna win in the South, Faine said. The UAW executive board has committed $40 million over the next two years to fund its organizing push among non-union auto and electric battery workers, concentrating some of the money in the South. Last month, the United Auto Workers announced that more than half of the employees at Mercedes-Benzs Vance plant have signed union cards, the first step toward getting the union recognized at the factory. About 6,000 people work at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), which was the first auto plant to locate in Alabama. The plant produces the Mercedes GLE, GLE coupe and GLS model series. After investing more than $1 billion into its Alabama operations since 2017, Mercedes also produces the all-electric EQS SUV and EQE. The UAW announced last week that at least 70% of the workers at Volkswagens Chattanooga plant had signed union cards. In February, the union announced 30% percent of the employees at Hyundais Montgomery plant had also signed cards. The UAWs strategy involves signing up 70% of workers at the plants, then petitioning the company to recognize the union. If the company doesnt, the union will then turn to the National Labor Relations Board and take it to a vote. Once a union has been certified or recognized, the employer is required to bargain over terms and conditions of employment with union representatives. Its not the first time the union has attempted to organize at the Tuscaloosa County plant. An effort 10 years, alongside a union drive in Chattanooga, was unsuccessful. Bloomberg reported in February that MBUSI CEO Michael Gobel, who oversees production in North America for Mercedes, told workers at the plant that he doesnt believe the UAW can help us to be better. A 30-year-old Auburn woman has been sentenced to prison for setting fire to First Baptist Church in Montgomery in 2021. Xiaoqin Yan is a citizen of China who was in the U.S. on a student visa. Her visa was revoked after her arrest. A federal judge sentenced Yan to more than eight years in prison, according to a Monday announcement by Middle District of Alabama Acting U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross. Yan was convicted in 2023 of arson and illegal possession of a firearm. According to charging documents against Yan, she used an open flame to ignite an ignitable liquid, on Sept. 30, 2021, causing $25,000 in damage to the church on Perry Street. According to court records and evidence presented at Yans June 2023 trial, Yan entered the downtown Montgomery church and ignited multiple fires inside the building. Fire damaged pews are shown in the main sanctuary at First Baptist Church in downtown Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. Fires that appeared to have been set intentionally destroyed an office and caused damage in the more than century-old First Baptist Church of Montgomery, Rev. Mark L. Bethea, said Thursday. (Jake Crandall/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)AP Yan was captured on surveillance video. The Montgomery Fire Department was able to extinguish the blaze, but only after the church sustained significant damage. Evidence at the trial showed that Yan had multiple encounters with church staff prior to September 30 and had exhibited odd behavior. When Yan was arrested Oct. 4, 2021, agents found items identical to those seen on church surveillance videos, as well as clothing matching the type worn by Yan when setting the fires. Officers also found a handgun. At the time of the arson and her arrest, authorities said, Yan had overstayed her non-immigrant visa and, therefore, could not lawfully possess a firearm. Multiple agencies assisted in the investigation. JUBA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan is looking towards shoring up non-oil revenues by diversifying its economy to hitherto unexploited natural resources such as the coveted Gum Arabic, fruit and vegetable sectors, a government official said. William Anyuon Kuol, the minister for trade and industry, said Saturday at the Nimule border town with Uganda, that under the newly introduced South Sudan National Export and Investment Strategy, they have identified Gum Arabic as an essential commodity to earn foreign currency as the country widens its sources of revenue. "There are more people outside, interested in Gum Arabic, they were partners to the Sudan government but now they want that partnership with us," Anyuon said during the opening ceremony of the branch of the Bank of South Sudan at the main border entry point. South Sudan, which relies 95 percent on oil revenues to finance its annual fiscal budget, faces hurdles to exporting its crude oil through Port Sudan due to conflict in neighboring Sudan. Anyuon said that they have set up a plan, which will see the central bank purchase Gum Arabic from local producers to sell it to foreign markets to earn foreign currency and in turn stabilize the ailing economy. Gum Arabic is a dried exudate obtained from the stems and branches of acacia trees. It is soluble in water, edible, and used primarily in the food and soft-drink industry. It is also used in printing, paints, glues, cosmetics, and various industrial applications, including viscosity control in inks and textile industries. Anyuon said that he recently issued a ministerial order to regulate the harvest and export of Gum Arabic. He also noted that the nation is looking forward to tapping into other unexploited natural agricultural resources such as honey, fruit and vegetable sectors that have ready markets in China, Japan and other Asian countries. From November 2023 to January 2024, South Sudan exported about 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil to international markets, but currently, its oil exports have been disrupted due to a blockade imposed on the Red Sea by Houthi militants, who have been attacking cargo ships since January. What on Earth is going on? We have GOP congressmen quitting early. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) resigned last week , and Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) resigned the week before. Then there is MTG trying to blow up the House of Representatives with a motion to vacate the chair. Can you spell chaos? And over in Britain, UnHerds Aris Roussinos is one of the mourners at the graveside of the Conservative Party. Oldest political party in the world: blah, blah, blah. In the current YouGov poll, Labour is on 44%, the Conservatives are at 19% and the populist Reform is at 15%. I dont know what to think, but at American Mind Carson Holloway notes how our liberal friends are obsessing over a new generation of rightist authoritarians. But they have nothing to say about the curious transformations on the Left. Used to be the Left was anti-war. Now they are all in on color revolutions and ground wars in Eastern Europe. They used to hate the CIA with a passion. Now they expect the intelligence community to help social media track down and deplatform disinformation. Can you spell authoritarian? Its at confusing times like this that humans need a good confident narrative to point fearlessly into the future. Thats what Marx did for his generation in the chaos of mid-19th century potato famines and revolutions. Everything was going wrong and the workers were going to be immiserated, he told his dispirited readers. There was only one thing to be done: give us educated guys unlimited political power and we will create Heaven on Earth. Now, I have my own Narrative of the Story So Far, and I think my Narrative beats Marx on all points. To start with, it is much more fun! Here goes. Back in the day, the newly educated class, gorging on books printed in the Gutenberg revolution, decided that the world had to change. Dumb aristocrats in silk breeches should be replaced by educated, logical, rational educated men that had read their Locke, Hume, Descartes, and Rousseau. And they did it! In the U.S. and Britain the new order worked like a champ, but in France and Germany not so much. Experts agree that Nietzsche was to blame, because he was the Nazis favorite intellectual. Once in power, the new educated ruling class had to face the challenge all new ruling classes face as they take political power. What are they to do with their power? Of course! They would fight for the helpless Industrial Revolution workers against the exploitations of the capitalists and the conceit of the bourgeoisie! Good idea, Chuck! When the educated class got bored with that, they read all about Mary Wollstonecrafts foolish life and realized that educated women needed to be liberated! And in the aftermath of winning a couple of world wars, it was time to rescue Blacks from Jim Crow. Then it was time for gay rights, 700 homophobic years after gay King Edward II had been deposed by his homophobic Queen Isabella and her homophobic lover Roger Mortimer. And transgenders! At some point Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling decided she had had enough of The Boys in the Bathroom, and so a Commoner Rebellion of angry rural whites and Hispanic roofers came together in an insurrection to topple the tippy-top educated class and create a society fit for orphans that had spent their formative years sleeping in misery under the stairs. See what I mean? This Narrative game is not that hard. But the future will not be conservative. If youve read Roger Scrutons Conservatism you realize that conservatism has always been a tentative complaint about the latest lefty enthusiasm. Conservatism 1.0 was a complaint about the political revolutions of the 18th century when conservatism arose as an attempt to hold on to the values of kinship and religion in communities that were being reorganized by a purely political law. Conservatism 2.0 was a complaint about socialism when it was no longer against liberalism that conservatism was defining itself, but against socialism, and in particular against the socialist conception of the state. Conservatism 3.0 is the present where conservatism has become the champion of Western civilization against its enemies... political correctness... and [Islamic] religious extremism[.] Not so much in Britain, according to Aris Roussinos, where the Tories are helping revise and extend the wokist state. I honor Roger Scruton as a thoughtful and a wise conservative, but the Age of Conservatism is over. Enough already. Lets have a government of the Commoner, by the Commoner, for the Commoner. And, in demonstration of the astonishing tolerance of Commoners down the ages, the new regime will fund tippy-top educated non-binaries in their never-ending studies to determine how many genders fit on the head of a pin. Who are these Commoners? Just ask Salena Zito. Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class. Image: Jean-Victor Schnetz For swamp dwellers who don't have mansions in the Virginia suburbs the way Lois Lerner did, it's tough being a resident of Washington, D.C. Which is why this article, by Politico journalist Michael Schaffer on why the locals hate the U.S. National Parks Service is so interesting. He begins with this problem and then takes a deep dive into why it's a problem and the efforts to fix it: If you live in Washington, the National Park Service is a weirdly big part of your life. The federal agency controls up to 90 percent of the citys open space, a sprawling collection that ranges from the National Mall to hundreds of random traffic circles, grassy triangles and neighborhood gathering places, at least 356 in all. Invariably, this accident of history leads to conflicts: Locals want a playground or a dog run or a lure for nearby businesses or, in one especially enervating case, a place for an LGBTQ+ bocce ball league to convene on Thursday nights. Park Service officials, following a rulebook more suited to Yellowstone than to a modest city park, nix it in the name of preservation or heritage or nitpicky regulations about organized sports. It makes for an absolutely rotten way to run either a big city or a high-profile government agency Which sounds pretty wretched, having a big central authority to always tell you 'no' when all you want is a dog park, because its template of rules isn't designed for city living. Locals have indeed tried to fix that, to no avail. One such issue described is the case of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal in Georgetown, which is a total eyesore and scary at night. Nobody can make it commercially viable or liveable or pretty to look at because the Park Service says it needs it to stay in its bleak way for historic preservation. Schaffer has a good photo in his piece, showing how godawful that place looks. Yes, it does have a 19th century vibe but why would anyone want to preserve that instead of making it a lively commercial district that would improve the liveability of the city? Only a bureaucrat could cheer at leaving it the way it is because regulations. The city itself has many historic places but it's strange to treat it like an untouchable museum. The rules make no sense. It would even be possible to keep the character of the place largely the same yet still allow at least farmer's market tents or something. Now let's cut to the chase: Some political leaders understand this. And some do not. Several proponents of a reimagined canal noted to me that theyd gotten their warmest reception from the Park Service during the years when Donald Trump was in the White House, but things went south after about 2021, when Joe Biden took office. It was, by all accounts, a function of the career bureaucrats who happened to move in and out of key roles overseeing the canal, not a directive from the politicals in either administration. But if you are atop an administration, wouldnt it be more attractive to get rid of the system under which you could even plausibly get blamed by either side in what ought to be the ultimate local-yokel debate? Schaffer is a good reporter, but his conclusion doesn't match up with what he just described. The residents got the door opened to them and their concerns heard during the Trump administration. They got the door slammed in their faces during the Biden years and were effectively told too bad if they don't like it, hain't we got the power? It's just like things are done in lands with socialist commissars such as Venezuela and Cuba. The change in attitudes is very striking, and obviously a function of the leadership at the top. Biden doesn't care if residents have to live on an ugly eyesore canal and too bad if they pay rent, real estate costs, and taxes as if they were millionaires, which some are. Trump, though, listens, and not only listens, but has his minions at the Park Service take an interest in aesthetics and liveability for those who live under their particular rule. On the one hand, that's not surprising, given that Trump was and is a real estate magnate who understands well how location, location, location affect real estate and quality of life. What better way to make the value of real estate go up than to make it attractive and liveable, the kind of place people would like to live in? It's natural. But that is to scratch the surface. Deep down, Trump has a certain capacity for leadership -- not unlike that of Roman emperors Trajan or Hadrian actually, both of whom were known for all the beautiful monuments and landmarks that they left behind in Rome, many of which are still there. Trump understands in an elemental way why external appearances are important for conveying the majesty and beauty and grandness because of their capacity to inspire. He has always had this leaderly "Roman emperor" sense of place and space, and obviously, it extended into his presidency. It's well known that he commands visual landmarks specifically to inspire. During his presidency, he commanded all federal buildings to follow the beautiful federalist style of architecture, as if building a "brand" of greatness. Leftists scoffed, but he was right. Ugly buildings don't inspire. They provoke graffiti and contempt. Beautiful buildings remind people of who they are. Trump wanted beautiful buildings. Joe Biden got rid of that, and he has no interest in aesthetics or appearances. He's a vulgar man who not only restores the world of ugly things for people even in places like Georgetown, all in the name of government power. Worse still, he also fails to listen, with the Parks Service under his leadership a nasty closed door to the locals. Now the Georgetown people have to live with the bare, ugly canal at their doorsteps because of Joe Biden and his bureaucrats' "historic preservation." While it's doubtful that they'll make a connection between those slammed doors and butt-ugly canals in their front yard, it does provide a useful lesson to the rest of us about whether we as citizens are ever going to see beautiful things again as well as get listened to. As Georgetown demonstrates, Trump and his men listen to all citizens even if they vote Democrat and he works with them to get the liveability they desire. Joe Biden would rather keep all the power to himself, shut out even his loyal supporters, and force them to live in ugly quarters, not just because he's a vulgar man himself with no understanding of aesthetics, but just because he can. Image: Jaakko H., via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0 Another mail-ballot election, another trove of "found" ballots, which is what we see in a local race for Chicago's state's attorney (or prosecutor) between two Democrats. According to WLS, an ABC News affiliate: CHICAGO (WLS) -- The gap between the two Democratic contenders vying to be the next Cook County state's attorney got smaller as election judges continued to count votes Sunday, nearly a week after the Illinois primary. The Chicago Board of Elections has admitted to a mistake as the city awaits the outcome of the Democratic primary race for Cook County state's attorney. The board said it is working to add more than 10,000 votes to its total count after its director of public information said he mistakenly left out some vote-by-mail ballots. American elections are getting quite a reputation for this. Every third world country on the planet can count its ballots in one night, but somehow, the U.S. always takes at least a week, and always has "errors" like troves of "found" ballots. The other thing is that these "errors" happen only when the race is really close: Meanwhile, Eileen O'Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III by just over 2,000 votes. O'Neill Burke has 259,445 votes, and Harris has 257,430 votes. I don't know who these two Democrats are, but odds are, both are left-wing. However, one may be more Soros-y liberal than the other and more eager to carry on the Kim Foxx let-'em-all-out legacy, who is the official they're running to replace. Let me guess: The tougher-on-crime one is ahead in the polls, and when the final tally is taken from those 10,000 "found" ballots, the candidate who takes the winner's crown will be the other one. A Google search shows that that is exactly the set-up we are starting to see. According to a NewsNation report dated March 19, 2024: All candidates have been critical of how Foxxs office has handled crime in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs. ONeill Burke has worked as a judge, prosecutor and defense attorney in her career and has also been openly critical of Foxx. People are afraid to go out at night. Theyre afraid to come downtown. Theyre afraid to ride the CTA, ONeill Burke said. Everybody has a game plan in their head on what to do during a carjacking. People are afraid and its impacting Chicago. When people are afraid they leave. For example, ONeil Burke promises to end Foxxs policy on retail theft, returning to the states standard of felony charges for anything over $300. Harris, meanwhile, believes the current $1,000 threshold put in place by Foxx should remain. People, rightly so, are worried about their safety. So we talk about that. We talk about the smash-and-grabs, we talk about the crash-and-grabs and we are going to talk about how we approach organized crime, Harris said. Of Chicago's out-of-control crime, the Democrat who's behind, but soon to be ahead with all those 'found' mail-in ballots, says of crime "let's talk about it," instead of: 'let's kill it.' What a reassuring future for Chicago. And what a rigged election. The left introduced mail-in voting on claims that they would increase voter turnout, being all in for the participatory democracy thing as they call it. What's the turnout in this Chicago primary election? A whopping 7.7 percent. Even for a primary, that's insanely low, lower than even the 9% range turnout in California's "dead zones" where voter turnout is low because so much of the population is here illegally and technically cannot vote. Turnout starts out high in these matters, as we saw in 2020's COVID election, but falls sharply as voters recognize that their votes don't count because the entire election is rigged for one candidate. Who wants to participate in that? As one expert told WLS, these shenanigans are having an impact: "It throws questions into the integrity of our elections in general," Nisbet said. "Basically, since 2020, since the advent of what's been called the 'Big Lie,' a large percentage of Americans have been skeptical of elections." Well, yeah. Because while third world countries manage to get all of their votes counted on election night, having the planning, the procedure, and the simple system for counting all the ballots in one night, the deep-blue cities of the U.S., touting themselves in Panglossian style as the most democratic in the best of all possible worlds, still can't get it together in a mere city primary election with 7.7% turnout. There's always a mistake, and the correction of that mistake always leads to the Soros-y candidate getting the victory. And what a coincidence, the vote counters, such as the secretaries of state and other offices where votes are tallied, are typically Soros-financed. It's getting to be a nightmare, a land of election "mistakes" and "found" ballots characterizing every single election in the cities and states that bill themselves the most democratic in the world. By 'democratic,' they mean "Democrat," and that's clear enough. So now expect the worst as Chicago's Way rears its ugly head again in Chicago, another questionable election run by incompetents who never pay a price for their "mistakes" as fewer and fewer voters cast ballots in such a now-internationally recognized farce. It would be nice to see a law passed that any county clerk or secretary of state who makes these kinds of "mistakes" is canned on the spot. But this is Chicago, and let's face it, those in power there like their elections this way. Image: Casey and Sonja, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED An illegal alien in Florida escaped prosecution for resisting arrest because he speaks no Englishand now hes suing the estate of the officer who collapsed while arresting him. If youve ever wondered how lost America is, I think this story tells the tale. Ill limit my comments because the facts really do speak for themselves. Virgilio Aguilar Mendez is a Guatemalan citizen who came to America illegally, ending up in St. Augustine, Florida. Last year, Sgt. Michael Kunovich, an experienced police officer, believed that Mendez was behaving suspiciously and began to question him. Mendez announced that he didnt speak English and tried to walk away. Of course, walking away from a police officer isnt how it works in Guatemala or America, so Kunovich grabbed Mendez. Mendez responded with violence. Kunovich then collapsed from a deadly heart attack. You can see the interaction in this video: As I see it, the point isnt whether the cops had the right to stop Mendez. The point is thatin America, as in Guatemalayou dont walk away from cops and you dont resist arrest. Once you start resisting arrest, youre the one engaging in wrongful activity. And while I appreciate that Mendez might not have understood the instructions, if hed been passive, they would have just rolled him over onto his stomachproblem solved. Because a police officer died immediately after Mendezs violent struggle, the prosecutor treated Mendezs struggle as the triggering event and charged him with aggravated manslaughter. To recap, at this point, according to the facts available, we have an illegal alien, which is a criminal status, and a person who apparently resisted arrest, which is a criminal action. In a perfect world, the former status, absent genuine, not Biden-created, mitigating factors, should result in deportation, and the latter act should lead to a trial. However, we do not live in a perfect world. First, ICE released Mendez. Second, all charges against Mendez were dropped because an autopsy proved that Kunovich had serious heart disease. When it comes to the manslaughter dismissal, think about this one very carefully. Stripped to its essentials, here is what happened: There was a struggle between a criminal and a cop. One person died because of heart disease during that struggle. Does that scenario sound familiar? It should because its the George Floyd scenario. In that case, too, there was a struggle between a criminal and a cop, with the criminal, rather than the cop, dying from serious heart disease (exacerbated by the struggle involved in resisting arrest and the effects of massive quantities of fentanyl). However, unlike Mendez, who had all charges dropped, Derek Chauvin, who meticulously followed police procedures, rots in jail, where he was recently the subject of a murderous attack. Aside from that inequity, theres more. One would think that, given the evidence of the bodycam, Mendez could still be tried for resisting arrest, but thats not what happened either. The D.A.s officer concluded that Mendezs inability to speak the language of the country he voluntarily and illegally invaded is a defense: The 7th District State Attorneys Office said in a statement, Recent expert testimony regarding the defendants inability to comprehend the English language, his cultural background, and concerns about his intellectual capacity have raised significant issues to consider in the case. Do I need to reiterate that there is no country in which walking away from and then fighting with a police officer is acceptable conduct, no matter the language spoken? Moreover, this conclusion opens the door for people who dont speak English, whether here legally or illegally, to do anything they want. It used to be that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Now it is. But theres still more. It seems that, in February, Mendez has sued Kunovichs estate, as well as the other officer involved in Mendezs arrest. His claim is that his inability to speak English is a disability, meaning that the officers violated his civil rights: Attorneys representing Aguilar Mendez filed a new federal civil rights lawsuit Thursday, seeking compensatory damages from the incident as they claim the officers violated their clients civil rights. According to the legal filing, St. Johns County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Michael Kunovich, who died as a result of the incident, and Lt. Jose Jimenez, another responding deputy, acted inappropriately in mistreating the migrant with multiple violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Florida Times-Union reported. The lawyers specifically claim Aguilar Mendezs limited ability to speak or understand English and Spanish constituted a disability. They allege he was also denied an interpreter at the scene and at the Sheriffs Office, which would have allowed him to understand his Miranda rights. Im not a whiz at police procedurals, but it seems to me that the Miranda rights usually come after the cuffing, while Mendezs violent response to the police preceded the cuffing. (And let me say, yet again, that in Mendezs native Guatemala, you dont resist arrest, either.) As I said, you can bring your own comments to this. All I can say is that it doesnt seem right to me. Image: Virgilio Aguilar Mendez. YouTube screen grab. Barack Obama is not a happy man. In fact, he's fretting, getting all wound up about Joe Biden's re-election prospects. It ought to be something he shouldn't care about, having nothing but contempt for Biden. But something else is going on. According to Fox News: Former President Barack Obama privately met with President Biden on at least two occasions and expressed concern that he could lose the 2024 election, according to a report. A new report from TIME Magazine claimed that Obama met with Biden last June to deliver a warning about his re-election chances. Obama allegedly advised Biden to become more aggressive and make the upcoming presidential race a referendum on Trump. During a private lunch, Obama told Biden his campaign was unstable, persuading unhappy voters would be a challenge and defeating Trump would be more difficult than 2020, according to a Democrat briefed on the discussion. While he believed at the time that Biden had taken his advice to heart, Obama allegedly saw little improvement over the next six months. What? It sounds like Obama is Biden's minder, hall monitor, parent, and boss, which is what voters have been suspecting all along, given Biden's strange insistance at public events that he does what he is told. Fox, citing TIME, reported that when Obama was forced to come over there again, it went like this: "This time, Obama's message was more urgent. He expressed concern the re-election campaign was behind schedule in building out its field operations and bottlenecked by Biden's insistence on relying upon an insular group of advisers clustered in the West Wing, according to the same Democratic insider," TIME noted. Which doesn't say much for Biden now that a story like this got out. Obama gave Biden an 'F' and detention on his latest term paper, and called for improvement. Or, after ignoring the old toad for much of his presidency, Obama now is stepping in as Biden's backseat driver, telling him he's about to drive the car off a cliff. Given how out-of-it Biden is, firmly convinced that he's presidential material even in his dotage, it's got to be a good slap of the towel to an old fool who doesn't know where the locker is. Obama may not be the smartest-ever president, but he certainly is wily and in touch with more voters than Biden is even if he has nothing of value to tell Biden about what to give voters. And unlike Biden, he is canny enough to see a train wreck coming. What a wretched situation, given that Biden is supposed to be a president of sorts. What it tells us is that Obama knows Donald Trump is going to blow Biden out of the water on Election Day and is stepping forward to try to stop that from happening. While Obama has always had contempt for Biden, having reportedly told a senator: "Don't underestimate Joe's ability to 'f*** things up," he still sees that he has some dog in this fight to prop old weekend-at-Biden's up for a second term and it must eat at him. He knows that Trump will dismantle every element of Biden's legacy, undoing all his executive orders and other damage wrought during Biden's miserable presidential term. He also knows that Biden has no legacy of his own, having followed Obama's program to the max, which means that what comes down under Trump is the House that Obama Built. No wonder he's turned into such a fretting busybody. The pathetic puppet he's put in as a placeholder has gone and messed the whole thing up. "Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up" has got to be all he's thinking about as Biden's falling poll numbers keep him up at night. He's fretting. He's having nightmares. Good. Image: My Hobo Soul, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED Of all the things about Hollywood that are actually protest-worthy, this is what leftists settle on? Heres the backstory, from the Associated Press: Aaron Taylor-Johnson is the latest actor reportedly offered a license to kill and succeed Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. And in the wake of these rumors, David Lange, executive director for the group known as Israellycool (a prominent advocacy organization for Israel and her people), tweeted out what was supposed to be a satirical and punny commentTaylor-Johnson is Jewish, and Lange made a joke about the rabidly anti-Jew leftists of the West being shaken and stirred over the possibility: I assume the antisemites are shaken and stirred pic.twitter.com/gVga0ASaIU David Lange (@Israellycool) March 19, 2024 Now as it turned out, people were really upset at the prospect of a Jewish James Bond, and #BoycottBond quickly went viral across X (formerly Twitter). Below are a few samples of responses to the rumor: And here: #BoycottBond for me. I like my Bonds with a martini on the side not a side of genocide Power To The People (@beau_hair) March 21, 2024 (But Lange didnt get ahead of the curve with a crystal ball, he did so because he knows leftists that well.) Its certainly worth noting, per Lange, that although Taylor-Johnson is ethnically Jewish, its not clear what the actors political views are: There is absolutely no indication that Aaron loves or supports Israel, so to be clear, their calls to boycott him are based solely on him being Jewish. Theyre not protesting Taylor-Johnson because hes pro-Israelas far as we know he could be a Jew for Palestine like so many othersbut strictly because of his Jew-ness. And, naturally, this is where my mind goes: Of all the grotesque and repugnant realities in Hollywood, this is what leftists find most offensive? Nevermind the revelations highlighted in the new documentary Quiet on Set, which detailed the sexual abuse suffered by Drake Bell at the hands of Brian Peck, and how industry bigwigs penned letters of support for Peck still have a job because a Jewish man might be playing James Bond. Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell confesses to the acts of Brian Peck during his time as a child actor. pic.twitter.com/Y5i6z192se Pizza Pepe (@RealPizzaPepe) March 20, 2024 Nevermind the stars who stand on stage, accepting one gaudy golden idol after the next, and promoting the murder of babies in the womb because that tacky little $400 chunk of metal is so much more precious than an innocent human life because a Jewish man might be playing James Bond. Nevermind the anti-white bias, slowly rubbing raw the sores of discontent, labeling white people as the most dangerous animal[s] on the planet to promote a false narrative that were all just one second away from snapping and donning our white hoods to round up and lynch innocent black Americans because a Jewish man might be playing James Bond. Nevermind the fact that Hollywood producers are taking money from all of us, through film tax credits so that we can subsidize their foolish and ridiculous movie projects because a Jewish man might be playing James Bond. From Breitbart News yesterday: Hollywood Studios Reap $25 Billion from States Film Tax Credits; Taxpayers See Massive Losses Hollywood has reportedly received a whopping $25 billion in state tax incentives to date a win for studios like Disney and Netflix but a big L for ordinary taxpayers, who are footing the bill for the giveaways. Nevermind the fact that these Hollywood elites routinely trans their own children, and abuse countless more because a Jewish man might be playing James Bond. James Bond is a gun-toting alpha male, fiercely loyal to his nation, and a defender of the innocentcharacteristics that dont appeal to, or resonate with, leftists. Leftists are weak and cowardly betas who whine about microaggressions and unconscious bias, only living for themselves, thereby excluding them from being the target demographic anyway; I doubt their boycott would do anything to impact the success of the film, as long as it maintains Ian Flemings vision of Bond and doesnt go woke. Needless to say, leftists have once again proved that theyre completely depraved and utterly incapable of contributing anything intellectual or reasoned to geopolitical discourse. Image: GabboT, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered. MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Afghan counter-narcotics police have smashed poppy farms on 200 acres of land in north Afghanistan's Balkh province over the past two months, provincial police chief Abdul Razaq Rashed said on Monday. During the operations, 200 acres of poppy farms have been destroyed, the officer said, adding that police will not allow anyone to cultivate illegal crops. Police have also taken into custody 100 people on charge of involvement in drug business over the period, the officer said. The Afghan caretaker government has banned poppy cultivation, processing and drug trafficking to eliminate drug menace. Godwins Law says that As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1. But when it comes to Hamas, its similarities with Nazis are unavoidable. Like the Nazis, Hamas is quite literally violently antisemitic, anti-Christian, anti-American, anti-homosexual, sadistic, and genocidal. Yet these are the people with whom the Biden administration is siding because thats what his hardcore base supports, especially in Michigan and Wisconsin. Jews have continuously occupied the same land in the Middle East for 4,000 years. Between the time that the Roman conquest defeated the Kingdom of Judah in 70 A.D. and the founding of the renewed Nation of Israel in 1948, there was no nation on that land. Instead, over the centuries, it was a colony of Rome, the Umayyads, the Abassids, the Crusaders, the Ayyubids, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, and the British. But the Jews were always there. The land was marginally inhabitable. Where it wasnt arid, making crops impossible, it was swampy, complete with malaria, yellow fever, and other nasty health problems. For most of this time, aside from the Jewish rump, the land supported small bands of Christians, Druze, and Bedouins. Beginning in the 1830s, it began to see a trickle of refugees from the Arab and Muslim world: Algerians escaping the French conquest (most of whom went to Jordan), Circassians whom the Ottomans resettled in their hinterlands, and Senussi Muslims from Tripoli. Image: Biden and Netanyahu. YouTube screen grab. When European Jews embraced modern Zionism, the impoverished Arab Muslims living there rejoiced. The Jews brought medical care, education, and ideas about infrastructure, as well as blood, sweat, and modern agricultural techniques to turn that arid or swampy soil into a land of milk and honey. Both British bureaucrats and Islamic activists turned this positive relationship into one of fanatic hatred on the Arab sidea hatred that the Nazis happily exploited. (For more information about what happened between 1880 and 1940 in whats now modern Israel, I highly recommend Pierre Van Paassens The Forgotten Ally, a contemporaneous history written by a Presbyterian minister and journalist who knew most of the key players in the region.) After World War II, America was lukewarm about Israel. It was the Soviets who supported it, both as a Cold War tactic and because Israel was established as a socialist nation. By the 1960s, things switched. The Soviet Union turned on Israel and began to cultivate radical Islam as a tool against the West,* while America and Israel began an alliance that has held together until this year. What changed in 2024 is that Biden wants a second term in office. That means catering to his base and, as weve seen since October 7, his base is antisemitic. Well, anti- a lot of traditional American values. The core Democrat party has been taken over by people who hate Christians, Jews, America, law and order, women, and individual liberty. That makes them a perfect fit with Hamas and other Islamists. The only difference is in their attitude toward the homosexual spectrum but, for now, the Islamists are willing to overlook that. Nowhere is that fanaticism more apparent than among the massed Muslims in Michigan and Wisconsin, two swing states that Biden must win. Glenn Beaton perfectly analyzes Bidens election calculations when it comes to the Muslim populations in those two statesor, as Netanyahu calls it, Bidens two-state solution. To date, Israel has been hugely successful in its military drive to destroy a military enemy. Hamas has now taken refuge in its last stronghold at Rafah. Israel hopes to end Hamas there, just as the United States and the Russians ended WWII by utterly destroying the Nazi and Japanese militaries. However, to placate his base, Biden is doing everything he can to save Hamas so that it can fight again. Thats why, on Sunday, Biden sent out Kamala Harris, the great military strategist who has studied the maps, to threaten Israel should Israel win the war against the Nazis on her border: Vice President Kamala Harris said on Sunday that the administration had not ruled out consequences for Israel if it defied President Joe Biden and attacked Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Biden has warned Israel publicly not to attack Hamas in Rafah, due to the presence of large numbers of civilians there, which the terrorist group uses as human shields. Israel says that it cannot win the war without defeating the last four Hamas battalions in Rafah. Harriss spoke to ABC News on Sunday, telling a reporter that I have studied the maps of southern Gaza: In a wide-ranging new interview with ABC News, Vice President Kamala Harris suggested there could be consequences for Israel if it moves ahead with a planned invasion of Rafah in its pursuit of Hamas fighters. [Senior congressional correspondent Rachel] Scott followed up: Are you ruling out that there would be consequences from the United States? I am ruling out nothing, Harris replied. Harriss ruling out nothing means that the Biden administration (Obama?) is determined to bring Israel to heel in this existential battle. Ukraines border war can deplete the American ammunition supply, but Israel must not be allowed to live. Despite Bibis best efforts, the Biden administrations pressure is taking a toll. It appears that Israel has agreed to release 700 Palestinians in exchange for 40 hostages. I know Israel desperately wants those hostages back, but this is a terrible deal. As a reminder, Yahya Sinwar, the October 7 mastermind, was released in exchange for Gilad Shalit. The hostages should have come back as part of a Hamas surrender, not (at Americas behest) an Israeli climb down. So remember, if you vote for anyone but Trump (and this is true whether you like Trump or not), you are voting to keep in office a man who is literally siding with the Nazis of 2024. ________________ *Yes, there is tremendous irony in the Eastern European Islamist war against Russia. Russia should be allying with Israel in the war against Islamic imperialism instead of working to destroy Israel. So who really committed the terrorist attack on a Russian theatre full of people last week, killing some 133 people? ISIS has claimed "credit" for the attack with its operatives, supposedly Tajik-speaking Central Asians. Whoever they are, they are small fry, well-trained in ISIS attack techniques, but obviously with someone bigger backing them. There are plenty of others who may have been, not the least of whom is Vladimir Putin, who has been implicated in other terror attacks done for political purposes in his past. Putin's political frenemies, the Yevgeny Prigozhin types looking for some kind of revenge, could have done it, as well. The Ukrainians themselves, who are suspected of other attacks on Russian soil, and who are at war with Russia, also could have done it. It's telling that the men apprehended for the act were headed for the Ukraine border, not Central Asia, nor the restive Caucasian states. Now a new name emerges, none other than pro-Ukraine warmongering Democrat State Department operative Victoria Nuland, who left office for greener, swampier pastures a few weeks ago. According to Mark Wauck, writing on his Substack: In the previous post I referenced Victoria Nulands recent claim that Putin will face some nasty surprises on the battlefieldthats the actual direct quote. But she also refers in that exact context to asymmetric warfare. In the context of her remarks shes clearly not referring to bombs and missiles and artillery shells. Asymmetric is a very specific word, a word intended to distinguish that type of warfare from symmetric warfare: shell for shell, bomb for bomb, missile for missile. The next tweet contains the 24 second clip of Nuland making that statement, in which she touts Ukraines asymmetric warfare capabilities. Yeah, I thought we just gave the Ukro-Nazis money and munitions? How does Nuland know about the Ukrainian asymmetric warfare that has been most effective"? DD Geopolitics @DD_Geopolitics A month ago (to the day!) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Victoria "F the EU" Nuland promised the aid to Ukraine would allow them to "accelerate the asymmetric warfare that has been most effective" and that Putin is "sure to face some nasty surprises." Nuland left her post as the Deputy Secretary of State 10 days prior to this video. Moscow civilians were killed today in an act of terrorism (asymmetrical warfare). Nuland is often blamed for the no-name attack on the Nord Stream II pipeline, for which no one has claimed credit and no one for sure has been blamed, but many believe that she or her allies were behind. She bragged that it would happen before it happened, Wauck noted, and her bragging about asymmetric warfare now would seem to be part of the same she-can't-help-herself spilling of secrets. (A lot of Democrat operatives are like that, actually, as Molly Ball's piece in Time magazine in 2021 about the deep-state/social media/Democrat operative "conspiracy" to "save" the election would attest.) Maybe it's all a coincidence, of course, that she bragged about "nasty things" and "asymmetric warfare." Maybe she meant something else, some different "nasty things." And yes, we should consider that possible because it's natural for people like us to suspect her, given that she is so loathesome. As Eric Hoffer once noted, intense haters are the worst forecasters. Because, actually, there are a lot of potential perpetrators. Knowing which one really did it (or more important, who Putin thinks did it) tells us a lot about whether we can expect retaliation here in the states or not, as well as an escalation of the Ukraine war we are mired in. That's why it's important to know. So here are a few of the other potential perpetrators and their motives: First, ISIS, which has claimed "credit" for the atrocity. ISIS hates Putin because he's sidelined them in Syria, propping up Syria's established dictator, Bashar al-Assad. What's more, ISIS has struck at Russia at least three times in recent years. According to Joshua Keating, writing a good piece at Vox of all places, they've proved their loathing for both Putin and his ally, Iran: It seems far more likely that ISIS, the group that has claimed responsibility and has shown itself in the past to have both the means and motivation to pull off precisely this kind of attack, was the actual perpetrator. In addition to the attempted Moscow synagogue attack, a pair of ISIS-K suicide bombings killed nearly 100 people in the Iranian city of Kerman in January. And this: Why would an ISIS offshoot attack Russia? Islamist extremist groups like ISIS-K have long-standing grievances against Moscow dating back to the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, as well as the Russian Federations brutal counterinsurgency campaigns in Chechnya and the North Caucasus in the 1990s and 2000s and its support for Bashar al-Assads government in Syria. More recently, ISIS-K carried out a suicide attack targeting the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022. The simple explanation that ISIS was responsible would be an inconvenient one for Putin. It would mean that he had ignored the US warning of an imminent attack, which at the time he dismissed as blackmail intended to destabilize Russian society. (In fairness, he would definitely not be the only world leader to recently ignore such a warning.) Keating notes that the four terrorists might have been fleeing to Belarus, not Ukraine, given that they were picked up by Russian authorities near Bryansk, which is very close to both countries. As for the Muslim fundamentalist angle from it, which the New York Times notes, Putin is actually avoiding, it seems significant to me, and no one has brought it up, that the death count from the Ukraine war has been born largely by Central Asian and Caucasian Muslims. Regular Russians aren't dying in the meat grinder of the Ukraine war, the peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasian states are. Might that have radicalized some of them towards Islamist fundamentalism? It seems possible to me, even as the Russians insist that the terrorists were all foreigners. The ethnic ties between the Tajiks -- which is a former Soviet republic-- and Russia, very likely intertwine. As for Putin doing it, well, he's been implicated before in mass terrorist attacks, such as the apartment bombings of the early aughts. But a note of caution: The people most convinced that Putin Did It are the world's biggest Putin-haters, often for good reason, but Putin-haters nevertheless. Bad forecasters, to bring up Hoffer again. Putin has just "won" re-election and seemingly has disposed of his opposition, so it seems farfetched that he would need to rally the public at this point, when he has already shown that he can rig his way into getting what he wants. But of course, he might be in very bad shape domestically. All the same, it seems unlikely. There's also Ukraine, which has struck hard inside Russia on its oil installations and the like, in a bid to take its war to the invaders. While they have not engaged in mass death attacks on civilians, and would stand to lose Western support if they did, they do seek to destroy Putin. Is it that farfetched that they might do something like this, to take the war to Moscow itself? It's possible, and Putin, according to the New York Times, seems to be leaning this way, ignoring the Muslim angle. That may mean the Muslim angle is something he doesn't want to admit or look at, or have other people look at, because the problem is politically inconvenient, or just too big for him. Keating at Vox thinks it was most likely a bona fide ISIS attack. But the Nuland angle is interesting, too, as she's fanatically pro-Ukraine and anti-Putin, and has engaged in warmongering, coups, and other stunning manipulations in the past, and often bragged about it, too. We don't know what she is doing now that she is out of office but it seems she's unlikely to be suddenly uninterested in the topic now that she's off the government payroll because for the swamp with all its consultant contracts, that could be irrelevant. It's worth watching what happens now, because it could draw the U.S. into a deeper conflict with Putin, which seems like the kind of thing she would like. That's the main thing to watch for. Was it ISIS? Or did Nuland and her Ukrainian buddies have something nefarious to do with this awful act? Image: Twitter screen shot As the hype begins building up for the next lineup of iPhones, reports are coming in about the Apple A18 and A18 Pro chipsets. What most are looking forward to in the next generation of devices is AI. There are already talks about Apple potentially partnering with Google to let Gemini AI power its upcoming phones. This is big news because Google owns Android, the main mobile OS competing with Apples iOS. Now, a report from 9To5Mac alleges that the Apple A18 Pro chip will feature on-device AI. Apple A18 Pro chip larger to accommodate AI Jeff Pu at Haitong International Tech Research provided an analysis report on Apples current chip production demands. Pu has been a reliable source of Apple chip rumors in the past, so this report holds some weight. Heres what they had to say about the current trends theyve witnessed. Advertisement Advertisement According to our supply chain checks, we are seeing growing demand for Apples A18, while its A17 Pro volume has stabilized since Feb. We note Apples A18 Pro, the 6-GPU version, will feature a larger die area (compared to A17 Pro), which could be a trend for edge AI computing. Edge AI computing is gaining traction recently across many devices. It means AI that is processed entirely on the device, without the need for an internet connection. This not only means more reliable service, but also quicker results. Apple transitioned its virtual assistant Siri to function on-device a couple of years ago to resounding success. The A18 Pro having a larger die means more capability, but at the possible loss of battery and cooling efficiency. Base iPhone 16 might lack these AI capabilities According to the report, the Apple A18 chip will not feature these edge AI computing abilities. The Apple A18 Pro is most likely going to be present in the iPhones 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max. This means the base iPhone 16 will miss out on all the cool AI features Apple might be cooking up. There are a couple of upsides to this. Firstly, this would mean the base iPhone 16 will be much more affordable. Secondly, the base iPhone 16 will appeal more to users who just desire a plain phone. These upcoming AI-powered goodies are probably going to be revolutionary. Apple fans cannot wait for Siri to be upgraded past its current form. AI image editing will also completely change the smartphone wars going forward. Itll no longer be about the best camera, but also about the best AI post-processing. The growing demand the report references possibly hints that Apple is aware of how popular an AI iPhone might be, and is taking steps to address potential supply issues. The European Commission has decided to open up investigations targeting Google, Apple, and Meta. Well, even Amazon is targetted, to a degree. The EU regulator announced that today, as it opened up five non-compliance investigations. The European Commission opened up investigations targetting Google, Apple & Meta The whole purpose of these investigations is to find out how Google, Apple, and Meta are complying with its new Digital Markets Act antitrust rules. The EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager said: We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA. Advertisement Advertisement To be more accurate, the European Commission is planning to investigate Google and Apples anti-steering rules in their respective app stores. Also, it plans to find out whether Google is guilty of self-preferencing it own services in its search engine. On top of all that, Apples browser choice screen for iOS is also being investigated, notes The Verge. What about Meta? Well, its pay or consent model for ad targeting is another point of interest for the European Commission. The regulator said that it plans to conclude these investigations within the next 12 months. Those are the main points of the investigations, but there are more secondary targets. The Commission plans to look into the fee structure Apple announced for distributing apps outside of the App Store. Amazons practices will also be looked over by the EU Amazon is not exempt either. It will find out whether Amazon is preferencing its own products in its store. When it comes to Meta, the Commission gave it an additional six months to make Messenger interoperable with other messaging services. Advertisement The EU Commissioner, Thierry Breton, said We are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses. He also added: Should our investigation conclude that there is lack of full compliance with the DMA, gatekeepers could face heavy fines. If found guilty, heavy fines are coming, along with steps on how to improve current practices. The European Commission can fine each of the companies up to 10% of their annual global revenue under the DMA. If repeated offenses are in question, those fines go up to 20% of annual global revenue. As the debate around potentially banning TikTok comes to a head, two members of the Senate have asked for the Congress TikTok briefing to be declassified. TikTok, the popular Chinese video-sharing platform, has been in hot water for a long time now. Rumors have been flying around for years that the app is Chinese spyware. For instance, some argue it is impossible for a Chinese platform to not hand over user data to the Chinese government. Senators Blumenthal and Blackburn now believe they have something concrete that the American public needs to be made aware of. Senate bill and the Congress TikTok briefing The House of Representatives has recently passed a bill that could see TikTok banned in the States. TikTok has been brought up as a national security concern before, but this bill is the closest anyone has come to banning it. The main concerns always raised center around TikTok being a tool to spy on users. Hence, ever since American users first picked up the popular app, it has faced scrutiny, like many other Chinese products and services. Advertisement Advertisement Congress has just received a briefing by intelligence agencies on what theyve learned about TikTok. This briefing apparently left some senators shocked, and others not convinced of any danger posed by the app. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn had this to say. We are deeply troubled by the information and concerns raised by the intelligence community in recent classified briefings to Congress. TikTok is a weapon in the hands of the Chinese government, and poses an active risk to our democratic institutions and national security. The bill, if passed into law, will force TikToks parent company ByteDance to sell the platform within six months or face a ban in the States. Is TikTok actually Chinese spyware? The main question that comes to mind after all this drama is whether TikTok is actually spyware. The claim lacks concrete proof as of yet. Nonetheless, the public does not know what the classified briefing to Congress contained. Representative Sara Jacobs, speaking to the Associated Press, thinks the entire thing is blown out of proportion. Advertisement Not a single thing that we heard in todays classified briefing was unique to TikTok. It was things that happen on every single social media platform, she said. What Representative Jacobs was talking about here was likely the app permissions each app requires. Less tech-savvy folk often mistake these requirements for something more sinister. Take, for example, an app that has a photo-taking feature. It would require access to the camera. The wording of this permission leads people to believe that the app is always using their camera to spy on them. If the briefing is declassified, the public will get a look at what intelligence officials have found. Applying different perspectives to the data may lead to a more rational decision. by Nurul Fitri Ramadhani JAKARTA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Edna Simolulu Mardasah, who now lives in Indonesia's capital Jakarta, looked a bit relieved after checking out a flight ticket via a travel application. She will fly to Padang in West Sumatra province on April 2, about a week ahead of celebrating Eid al-Fitr, a holy day for Muslims. What has made her a bit concerned is that she paid almost 5 million rupiah (317 U.S. dollars) for a one-way flight, a price that she said "does not make any sense at all." "Usually, the ticket to Padang costs only 700,000 to 900,000 rupiah (44 to 57 dollars) for a direct flight. Now I have to transit in Kuala Lumpur because all direct flights are fully booked. But non-direct flights have never been this expensive. This is crazy, but I need to go home anyway. I do not want to celebrate it alone in Jakarta," said Mardasah. The high ticket prices, however, do not reduce her excitement to meet her family. This is the only family gathering for her in a year. "I do not really mind the prices. There is nothing that can buy a family reunion," she said. Indonesia has seen a surge in transport costs due to a very high demand for travel tickets ahead of Eid day. In the Muslim-majority country, authorities have predicted that at least 193 million people will travel to their hometowns during the exodus period of the Eid holiday, which will fall from April 8 to 12. Some 28.43 million people are forecast to leave the Greater Jakarta area alone, facing hours of traffic or congested airports and seaports. The transport ministry estimated that there could be a 20-30 percent hike in ticket prices for public transport, such as buses and trains. Local media reports said that flight tickets have surged up to 300 percent. Similar to Mardasah, Ahmad Al Fikri has also bought tickets for the return to his hometown in Jogja despite the price hike. He, along with his wife and two kids, has paid around 500,000 rupiah (32 dollars) per person for a bus ticket. The normal price was some 200,000 rupiah (13 dollars). "All prices are soaring up during the Eid season. That's unavoidable. But that does not matter as long as we can be together with our family," Fikri said, adding that he had been saving money for buying the tickets since the middle of last year. Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said that the government has been working on some plans to reduce ticket prices. For air transport, for example, he encouraged Indonesian airlines to increase the number of flights operating during the holiday season, as currently there is a lack of airplanes in the country, contributing to the surging ticket prices. "We still have a shortage of between 300 and 350 aircraft, so we must immediately bring them in. The additional number of flights will increase the availability of seats and that is expected to make the ticket prices more affordable," Uno said recently. According to the transport ministry, ticket price hikes are now reaching the upper limit, especially for high-passenger routes, such as Padang, Medan in North Sumatra, Surabaya in East Java, and Makassar in South Sulawesi. "The prices look drastically increasing because we are not in the low season like January. We are now entering the high season which makes the demand rise," ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said. In January the Forth Worth Zoo in Texas welcomed a baby gorilla born prematurely via emergency c-section, after her mother exhibited symptoms of preeclampsia. Due to this the zoo thought the mom never experienced the necessary hormonal cues that come during natural and full-term birth, so the mom gorilla showed little internet in her newborn. The zoo introduced the little gorilla named Jameela to a surrogate named Gracie, and after that attempted failed they tried with another surrogate named Winifred. The zoo announced on Facebook on Friday that due to the failure of Winifred to bond with Jameela, the zoo has made the heartbreaking decision to send Jameela to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo to have Jameela meet a proven surrogate. The zoo posted on Facebook in part, "While we hoped for a different outcome one that includes Jameela fully integrated into our troop our main goal has always been that Jameela is raised by gorillas. In conjunction with our reintroduction efforts, we have been in communication with our national partners for several weeks, searching for an institution that can not only meet her needs, but has a female gorilla with proven surrogate experience. We have determined that her next best step is a move to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo where they will make every effort to successfully integrate Jameela into their troop." Related: Texas Zoo Welcomes Baby Gorilla Delivered by Emergency C-Section What's Next for Jameela Jameela's departure is said to be set for early next week, and the Cleveland Metropark Zoo posted a press release about her upcoming arrival. The press release reads in part, "We have been in close contact with Fort Worth Zoo and following Jameelas journey, said Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Executive Director Dr. Chris Kuhar. Were thankful for the partnership with Fort Worth Zoo and the tremendous work by their team. As AZA accredited organizations, we have the ability to leverage strong collaborations like this to ensure the best positive wellbeing for the animals in our care. Together our zoos, along with the entire Gorilla SSP, are hopeful that Jameela will quickly bond and thrive with our troop. Cleveland Metroparks Zoos troop has had recent success in gorilla fostering the troops eldest female gorilla, Fredrika or Freddy, quickly adopted Kayembe in 2021 after Kayembes birth mother similarly didnt display proper maternal care following his birth. Here's hoping that this new surrogate welcomes baby Jameela at her new foster home in Cleveland. It's so wonderful that both these fantastic zoos have worked in partnership to give this little girl the best start in life possible. We can't wait to see where her journey takes her. Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips. Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has pleaded not guilty to two terror offences relating to banned organisation Al-Muhajiroun (ALM). The 57-year-old, of Ilford, east London, is accused of being a member of a proscribed organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation. He appeared via video link from HMP Full Sutton at the Old Bailey on Monday to deny the two charges. Court artist sketch of Anjem Choudary at a previous hearing (Elizabeth Cook/PA) Choudary was arrested in east London on July 17 last year, while a second suspect, Khaled Hussein, was detained at Heathrow having arrived on a flight the same day. Hussein, 29, of Canada, also appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs and pleaded not guilty to membership of ALM. They will appear at Kingston Crown Court for trial, estimated to last six to eight weeks, on June 4. An earlier hearing was told Choudary had addressed meetings of the Islamic Thinkers Society, which prosecutors said is ALM for all intents and purposes. Choudary will reappear at the Old Bailey for a further hearing on April 23. Proscription is the banning of an organisation based on an assessment that it commits or participates in, prepares for, promotes or encourages, or is otherwise concerned in terrorism, according to the Home Office. Former BBC Radio 5 Live presenters Jane Garvey and Peter Allen will return to the station for its 30th anniversary. The radio channel, which covers breaking news and live sport, will celebrate on Thursday with a day of special programming. It was launched at 5am on March 28 1994. Jane Garvey and Adrian Chiles making the first broadcast in 1994 (5 Live/BBC/PA) Garvey and Allen, who fronted 5 Live Breakfast and 5 Live Drive for 13 years, for which they won Radio Academy Awards, previously returned to the station in 2016 for a Sunday slot. Their last show was in 2017 and Allen also presented a regular Sunday stint up until 2019. He also hosted a one-off 5 Live special in 2020. As the first voice to be broadcast on the station, Garvey will speak to 5 Live Breakfast presenters Rick Edwards and Rachel Burden about the initial broadcast. 5 Live Breakfast presenters Rick Edwards and Rachel Burden (5 Live/BBC/PA) Burden said: 5 Live has been my work home and my work family for over 20 years. Its taken me to places and events I never thought I would witness, from the magic of the London 2012 Olympics to interviewing our prime ministers. It makes me smile and it challenges me every day, and what I have learnt from working at the station is that our audience is what makes 5 Live so special. They have a wonderful hive mind of knowledge and experience and we should never underestimate it or take it for granted. Garvey, who used to host Radio 4 show Womans Hour, left the BBC in 2022 to join Times Radio with Fi Glover, with whom she had hosted a podcast at the corporation. Allen will return for the Radio 5 Lives drive programme to talk to Tony Livesey and Clare McDonnell and reminisce about his time on the show. 5 Live presenters Jane Garvey and Peter Allen launched the station 30 years ago (5 Live/BBC/PA) Mid-morning presenter Naga Munchetty said: 5 Live is a listening experience which is never predictable, which is why its so successful. The station is thought-provoking, lively and has a deep connection with its audience. Its a privilege to work with a bunch of presenters and journalists who I like and trust. What I love about my job most is you never know what to expect, we can latch on to a talking point of the day and run with it and its always a joy to see our audience engage with us with such enthusiasm. Happy birthday, 5 Live. On Thursday, long-term Radio 5 Live presenters such as Adrian Chiles will kick off reflections on the last 30 years from 5am to 6am, before returning from 11am to 1pm. Eleanor Oldroyd, will be joined by special guests from 7.30pm to 10pm to relive some of the big sporting moments of the past three decades. She will also announce the top 10 moments voted for by listeners. BBC commentator Eleanor Oldroyd (Mike Egerton/PA) Oldroyd, who has worked for the station since the start, said: 5 Live has been my radio home for nearly all of my career, so I am delighted to be a part of the 30th birthday celebrations. The station has grown and evolved so much over the years but has kept the same principle at its core, to be somewhere people turn to for company, as well as in times of celebration, such as great sporting and national events, and in uncertain times like during the Covid pandemic. I have had so many amazing experiences whilst working at 5 Live but working on the London and Sydney Olympics were some of the greatest privileges of my career because of the way fans and listeners embraced every single sport. Paris 2024 will be my 13th Olympics and I think itll have the same sense of joy. On Nicky Campbells phone-in programme, from 10am to 11am, he will also ask listeners to share the big moments from the station and the history of the channel will be available through the digital audio archive, called 5 Lives Yearbook. John OSheas Republic of Ireland will attempt to build upon a creditable draw with Belgium when they welcome Switzerland to the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday evening. OShea, placed in interim charge for two games as the Football Association of Ireland prepares to unveil Stephen Kennys successor, presided over a 0-0 draw with the Belgians on Saturday as striker Evan Ferguson saw a first-half penalty saved. Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the talking points surrounding the game. Making a case? Think we all felt like this at some point today So close to that winning goal pic.twitter.com/Nwd1oRBlYA Ireland Football (@IrelandFootball) March 23, 2024 The process of identifying Kennys successor, which has so far extended beyond the four-month mark, is due to draw to a conclusion in April with FAI director of football Marc Canham having indicated an announcement has been delayed by existing contractual obligations. Leading candidate Lee Carsley has ruled himself out, sparking fresh speculation over the successful candidate. In the meantime, OShea did his blossoming reputation little harm against Belgium by assembling a team which combined defensive solidity with sporadic, but genuine threat to underline his prospects as an international coach. Swiss role for Jake? Enjoyable first few days with the boys @IrelandFootball pic.twitter.com/SWP2hdCCds Jake OBrien (@obrienjake_) March 19, 2024 OSheas approach to limiting Belgiums chances was to employ three central defenders with Dara OShea, 25, 22-year-old Nathan Collins and Andrew Omobamidele, 21, asked to form a central trio which performed well. However, Lyons Jake OBrien caught the eye in training in the build-up to the game and it would be no surprise if the 22-year-old was handed a first senior cap following an impressive run of form in Ligue 1. The kids are all right ! Hodge Moran [Gerry Scully] pic.twitter.com/4wF2DdlEQS Ireland Football (@IrelandFootball) March 22, 2024 If OShea in part turned to experience in his first game at the helm, restoring 35-year-old Seamus Coleman and Robbie Brady, 32, to the starting line-up, he also had one eye on the Under-21s when he named his squad. Wolves Joe Hodge, currently on loan at QPR, and fellow midfielder Andy Moran, on loan at Blackburn from Brighton, played in Friday nights 7-0 European Under-21 Championship qualifier victory in San Marino, but joined the senior squad on their return and will hope for senior debuts. Evan and hell Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson (right) in action against Belgium (Lorraine OSullivan/PA) Evan Ferguson reported for international duty without a goal in 20 games for club Brighton, and the perfect chance to end his barren spell went begging when he slipped as he attempted to convert a penalty and saw Belgium keeper Matz Sels save with his legs. The 19-year-old has enjoyed a swift rise to prominence and his current difficulties are likely to prove temporary. Night to forget Republic of Ireland keeper Darren Randolph saves Ricardo Rodriguezs penalty during a 2-0 Euro 2020 qualifier defeat in Geneva (Simon Cooper/PA) Irelands last meeting with Switzerland proved to be one of those nights. Mick McCarthys men arrived in Geneva in October 2019 knowing victory would secure a place at the Euro 2020 finals, but left on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline after a red card for Coleman and Shane Duffys late own goal on an evening when keeper Darren Randolph saved a penalty and teenager Aaron Connolly made his first senior start, condemning them to a comprehensive defeat. Policemen scuffle with ultra-orthodox Jewish men and children in Jerusalem on Monday - LEO CORREA/AP Benjamin Netanyahu is facing the gravest threat to his government since Oct 7 amid a cabinet rebellion over the exemption of ultra-orthodox Jews from military service. Ministers are due to meet on Monday evening to discuss the final draft of a Bill that continues to allow the so-called Haredim to avoid being called up to the IDF. Israel has permitted the Haredim to focus on their religious studies rather than do national service since the foundation of the state in 1948, but there is growing criticism of their protected status as tens of thousands of citizens are called up to fight the war in Gaza. On Sunday, Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, said he would not back a Bill that enshrines the Haredims right to avoid service. He urged hardline religious coalition members to be more flexible on the issue. I will not be party to any proposal that is not agreed upon by all coalition factions under my leadership, the security system will not submit it for legislation, he said before leaving for the US on his first foreign trip since the start of the conflict last year. Benny Gantz, Israels most popular politician and a member of the war cabinet, also threatened to leave the government if the Bill is passed. He has long called for a new conscription law that would see all members of Israeli society, including Haredim and Arab citizens, compelled to serve in either military or civic fields. Mr Netanyahus coalition government has a slim majority and could collapse if enough members quit over the Bill. Ultra-orthodox civilian members of a first-response tactical team take part in an exercise - MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP The increasingly influential Haredi community staunchly opposes conscription, insisting that military service endangers their way of life built on studying the Torah. In a last-minute attempt to save the Bill on Monday, Mr Netanyahu, who relies on Haredi parties to shore up his government, agreed to remove a clause raising the exemption age from 26 to 35, Israeli media reported. This would have made it more bureaucratically complicated for Haredim to avoid service as they are required to get one-year deferrals it every year until they age out at 26. The move came after Israels attorney general warned at the weekend that the current exemptions framework has been repeatedly ruled illegal by Israeli courts. A new proposal that would also be likely to set enlistment goals for Haredim is to be offered to the cabinet later on Tuesday, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper. Despite pressure from liberal members of his cabinet, Mr Netanyahus Bill does not include draft quotas for ultra-orthodox men or criminal liability for draft dodgers. If approved by the cabinet, it is likely to take a couple of more months before the Knesset considers it and possibly votes it into law. On Monday, Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum, barring the ultra-orthodox, blasted Mr Netanyahus exemption U-turn as a moral disgrace and draft-dodging amidst the countrys most devastating war in a generation. A group bringing together special ops veterans issued a statement on Sunday, warning that if the scandalous draft-dodgers Bill is passed, it will be a final breach of contract between the state and us. Brothers in Arms, a protest group composed of IDF reservists, condemned the Bill as undermining Israel as a secular state. If the government passes the law, every Zionist Israeli who worries for the future of the homeland, must take to the streets, the group said in a statement, accusing the prime minister of trading secular values for his political survival. A member of parliament from what is now Israels most popular political party condemned Mr Netanyahus Bill as a slap in the face for Israeli soldiers risking their lives in Gaza. Matan Kahana, of the National Unity Party, told the Kan radio station on Monday: How is it even possible to put forward a bill that is so divorced from reality and to keep sending soldiers into battle? He called the proposal a moral disgrace. Prominent Haredim leaders have rebelled against the idea of enlisting members of their community, with one prominent rabbi suggesting ultra-orthodox men would rather flee Israel than join the army. Speed camera on highway Prosecutions of speeding, TV licence fee offences and truancy must no longer be held behind closed doors, magistrates have demanded. In a major intervention, the Magistrates Association representing Justices of the Peace across England and Wales has called for an overhaul of the secretive Single Justice Procedure (SJP) which has resulted in vulnerable people being prosecuted behind closed doors without being present or having any legal representation. The Magistrates Association has urged the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to adopt a 12-point plan that would include opening up the SJP to accredited journalists for the first time and greater transparency by publishing data on how many individuals are prosecuted without being present and how many plead guilty or make no pleas. The move will intensify pressure on the MoJ to rethink the SJP, under which up to 40,000 cases a month from non-payment of television licence fees to speeding, common assault and truancy are decided in private, often by a single magistrate without the defendant appearing in court. In the past year, there have been claims of magistrates convicting and fining defendants in less than a minute, key evidence going missing or being overlooked and thousands of prosecutions conducted in secret. Cases prosecuted using the SJP have included a 78-year-old with dementia fined for not having car insurance when she was in a care home, a 33-year-old handed a 781 legal bill after accidentally failing to pay 4 to the DVLA and an 85-year-old woman prosecuted for not paying car insurance after suffering a broken neck and admission to a care home. Magistrates do not get enough time The call by Magistrates Association follows a survey of its members which found they were uncomfortable with the way the SJP operated, felt under-trained and a significant proportion felt they did not always get as much time as they need to properly consider each case. Mark Beattie JP, the associations chairman, said the principle of SJP was right because it spared people the ordeal of court for minor offences but there were flaws in the way it operated that were harming some of societys most vulnerable people. It is clear to us that reform, as well as additional investment in training and transparency, is needed to restore public confidence in the SJP, he said. Mark Beattie, chairman of the Magistrates Association, warned that the SJP risked harming vulnerable people The 12-point plan includes a new public interest check by prosecutors before cases come to court and for the Government to make provision for SJP sittings to be observable by accredited journalists. It also recommended upgraded training for magistrates, plain English paperwork for defendants and a right for magistrates to put a brake on proceedings if they felt they were being rushed. Ninety second target A report into a pilot of the new SJP system obtained using freedom of information requests revealed magistrates in some parts of London were tested against a target time of 90 seconds to deal with each prosecution. The associations call was backed by campaign groups. Penelope Gibbs, director of Transform Justice, said: The secretive SJP is in urgent need of being opened up. Public observers as well as journalists should be able to sit in court with the magistrate, and all the case papers should be available to anyone who requests them. But the most unjust element of the SJP still remains that most defendants are convicted without having said whether they are guilty or not guilty. We have the data on this non-plea rate, but we need to solve the mystery of why so many dont participate. The Commons justice committee made similar demands. Sir Bob Neill, its chairman, urged ministers to consider how the process could be made more open and accessible to the media and the public to ensure justice is seen to be delivered. Prosecution of woman, 85, with broken neck This month the DVLA prosecuted an 85-year-old woman from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, for not paying car insurance, in an SJP case brought after she suffered a broken neck and was admitted to a care home. Her circumstances were fully outlined in a mitigation letter to the court from her son, but an investigation by the Evening Standard revealed that prosecuting bodies routinely do not see letters like this because of the speed of the system. The DVLA did not withdraw the case, and the pensioner was subsequently issued with a criminal conviction by the magistrate. The associations proposed new public interest check would require prosecutors to read all mitigation letters to give the prosecutor the opportunity to see and read the mitigation and to withdraw the case if they then believe it is no longer in the public interest to pursue it. The intervention by magistrates comes after the family courts were recently opened up amid calls for greater transparency. Previously, journalists could attend hearings to determine the future care of children, but the details had to be kept secret unless a judge stepped in to allow reporting. However, as part of an open justice pilot at a number of courts across England, journalists are now allowed to report cases as they happen and access documents to understand how cases are being brought. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: Only uncontested and non-imprisonable offences are dealt with under the Single Justice Procedure magistrates are always assisted by a legally qualified adviser, defendants can choose to go to court if they want to, and the details of their case are published to provide transparency. We have noted the Magistrates Associations report and will carefully consider its recommendations. The farmers had hoped to bring the capital to a standstill, in the way that French farmers have done in Paris in recent weeks - GARETH FULLER/PA As Andrew Gibson drove his John Deere tractor around the incongruous surroundings of Parliament Square, he summed up the state of British farming in one word: unreal. The same could have been said for the scene that greeted MPs as they peered out from their offices, as more than 150 farm vehicles, with blindingly bright lights and deafening horns, staged one of the noisiest protests Westminster has witnessed. Angry about the ruinous effect cheap imports are having on their businesses, the farmers had hoped to bring the capital to a standstill, in the way that French farmers have done in Paris in recent weeks. What they may not have realised is that in London, traffic crawls along at the speed of a tractor in a country lane, meaning they made little difference to the normal rush hour gridlock. Farmers on the protest brought up the fact that the Government is paying farmers to grow wildflowers in highly fertile fields - GAREETH FULLER/PA We are also a more law-abiding country than France, so the tractors arrived at 6pm, as dictated by the police, and there was no blockading the roads with hay bales. Mr Gibson, 43, sportingly allowed me to clamber into the jump seat of his muddy cabin, where he explained why farmers like him have reached the end of their tether. Farmers in this country love producing high-quality food for people, we have the highest standards in the world, were the best in the world at doing it, he said. But doing that is expensive, and instead of supporting British farmers, the Government allows cheap imports, produced using chemicals and methods that are banned here. They want us to become low-carbon producers to meet their green targets but they are doing it by offshoring carbon production to other countries. Its just unreal. The groups which organised the protest say cheap food imports and unsupportive policies put UK food security at risk - GEORGE CRACKNELL WRIGHT Mr Gibson and his brother Jeff are the fifth generation of their family to farm their 250-acre plot near Canterbury (a four-hour drive away by tractor) but he fears they will be the last. We are a mixed farm, with beef cattle, pigs, potatoes, cereals and a farm shop, he says, but at the moment were selling cereal below the cost of production. We are not asking for subsidies, we just want a level playing field. I work 70 hours a week, six days a week, but if the Government doesnt clamp down on these cheap imports we are going to go out of business. Like many other farmers on the protest, he brings up the fact that the Government is paying farmers to grow wildflowers in highly fertile fields which isnt exactly helping food security. As we drive down Whitehall we pass people holding placards saying No Farmers, No Food and struggle to hold a conversation above the ear-splitting noise of musical air horns that some farmers have bought for the occasion, playing such random tunes as Im A Barbie Girl, La Cucaracha and Axel F from the film Beverly Hills Cop. Richard Yeoman, 39, a farm manager from Eastbourne who sensibly took the train to London, tells me the owner of his farm is having to pay him out of his savings because the 100 cattle and 1,500 sheep on the farm are not turning a profit. Tractors were playing ear-splitting musical air horns of such random tunes as I'm A Barbie Girl, La Cucaracha and Axel F - PAUL GROVER/THE TELEGRAPH We are working for nothing, he says. My governor is paying me out of his own pocket because he isnt making any money. The Government said they would help farmers out when we left the EU but they have done nothing. If it carries on, the land will just get sold for housing and that will be it. Food security at risk Steve Bell, 39, who has an organic farm in Hellingly, East Sussex, with 50 beef cattle, just wants the public to appreciate what farmers do and buy British. We are organic, we are a regenerative farm, and we try to sell our meat locally, he says. We have the means of producing good food here, but we are being undercut by imports because it is more expensive to produce good quality food to the standards that are expected of us. I just want people to understand that, and keep it British. Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent, which organised the protest, say cheap food imports and unsupportive policies put UK food security at risk. Farmers stayed in the capital until late into the evening - HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP Apart from France, there have been similar protests in Greece, Germany, Portugal, and Poland against European Union regulations and cheap imports. At last months NFU conference, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told farmers Ive got your back, as he outlined Government plans to boost the UKs food security. But the founder of campaign group Save British Farming, Liz Webster, said: Polling shows that the public back British farming and food and want to maintain our high food standards and support local producers. We need a radical change of policy and an urgent exit from these appalling trade deals which will decimate British food. JAKARTA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian police foiled the smuggling of 31 kg of methamphetamine and 2,387 ecstasy pills from seven suspects in Riau Province. "Using a boat, they brought the drugs across the Malacca Strait to enter Indonesia," said Director of the Riau Police's Narcotics Directorate Manang Soebeti on Monday. The drugs first entered Rupat Island and were planned to be distributed to Riau and its surroundings. The police arrested the suspects when they brought the drugs to Dumai city in Riau province. One of the suspects has a warehouse in Malaysia specifically for storing drugs, added Soebeti. The Oyoun cultural centre in Berlin-Neukolln is losing its 1m a year funding after it made statements on Gaza. Photograph: Steffen Roth/The Guardian Two weeks after Hamass brutal attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, Berlins senate for culture commissioned a legal report to establish whether a cultural centre in the German capitals Neukolln district had violated the citys antisemitism prevention guidelines and should lose its funding as a result. In question were several statements that the cultural centre had posted or shared on its social media channels in response to Israels retaliation against Gaza including phrases such as apartheid state and settler colonialism. The investigation was also, however, looking at the centres plans to host an event one wouldnt ordinarily suspect of meeting anyones definition of antisemitism: a wake hosted by a Jewish organisation to commemorate the victims of 7 October. Housed in a yellow-bricked former brewery, the Oyoun cultural centre occupies the space where art and activism overlap: it is dedicated to championing works from a de-colonial, queer-feminist, neurodiverse and class-critical perspective. This has got it into difficult terrain: a strident stance on the war in Gaza has been criticised by some members of its own community, with one black former member of its advisory board dissociating themselves from the centre, saying it had failed to show empathy with the victims of the Hamas massacre. Yet when it came, the report commissioned by the Berlin senate the authority responsible for cultural policy in the German capital was clear: No antisemitic activity on behalf of Oyoun [] is identifiable, it concluded. It was a finding that made the senates next move particularly surprising: despite the reports conclusion, it announced it would be withdrawing the centres funding of roughly 1m a year. As the child of immigrants in Germany, I grew up on the belief that this is a country that dots the is and crosses the ts when it comes to the law, which protects democracy and freedom of speech, said Oyouns co-founder Louna Sbou, who is of Amazigh origin. And now it looks to me like that was always just a facade. Less than 10 years ago, Germany, and especially Berlin, was held up as a beacon of openness and inclusivity in a western world rocked by Brexit and Donald Trump. Angela Merkels decision to take in thousands of refugees displaced by the war in Syria boosted her countrys reputation in progressive circles, with many international artists and academics choosing to make the German capital their new home. Yet the conflict in the Middle East is showing Germany in a new light, highlighting fissures in society and the arts world that until now had been easier to ignore. The war in Gaza has put civil society in many western countries under intense strain, affecting the outcome of byelections in the UK and leading to the resignation of university presidents in the US. But nowhere in Europe has the fallout been as focused on the cultural sector as in Germany, where an international and ethnically diverse arts scene has rubbed up against a particularly strong pro-Israel consensus among the politicians and officials who oversee its finances. In the last five months, awards ceremonies have been postponed or cancelled over allegedly imbalanced or offensive depictions of Israel-Palestine relations, art exhibitions called off over postings or likes on social media, and guest professorships ended over open letters signed years in the past. Most recently, some German media commentators called on the state to withdraw funding from the Berlin film festival, after several prize winners called for a ceasefire during the awards ceremony. Many German politicians say there is a simple explanation why the war in Gaza is proving especially divisive in Europes largest economy: its that Germanys murderous history in the first half of the 20th century means the country is especially sensitive to rising antisemitism and has a moral duty to take a clear stance. We are in Germany, the country that practically annihilated Judaism in Europe, said Karin Prien, a politician for the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Eighty years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, we still bear a special responsibility to stand up against antisemitism. That historic duty also obliged her country to confront antisemitic attitudes in supposedly progressive circles, said Prien. There is a post-colonial, anti-racist school of thought that discredits Israel as the prototype of a white, America-adjacent nation pursuing supposedly racist policies, and which absurdly holds Jews all over the world accountable for this. In her role as the culture minister of the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, Prien last June introduced a clause saying arts funding should go only to cultural projects that reject any form of antisemitism, which Berlins CDU-led culture senate says it intends to replicate in the capital. Critics say such measures will amount to the de-facto exclusion of pro-Palestinian perspectives from higher education and cultural institutions, further silencing a German-Palestinian diaspora community that is the largest of its kind in Europe but in effect nonexistent in the public discourse. It has been a structural and systemic endeavour by German state institutions for the past 20 years to mainstream an understanding of antisemitism that is in line with imperial German domestic as well as foreign policy interests, said Anna Younes, a Berlin-born academic of Palestinian-German parentage who has taken part in events at Oyoun. We have a conversation about racism that is led by the global south and people of colour from Germany, which the German state is trying to brand as antisemitic, Younes added. And if we present our relationship to race, racism and European genocides from a non-European or non-white perspective, we get cancelled. The 41-year-old said she was planning to leave Germany this summer after she was blacklisted from public engagements over misrepresentations of her work. Not only Palestinian but also Jewish voices are at risk of being marginalised by German officials attempts to police debates on Israel-Palestine, critics say. Asked about the row at the Berlinale, Prien said that some of the comments made during the festivals awards ceremony were definitely antisemitic, singling out the use of the term apartheid: Anyone who defames the entire state of Israel, which is a democratic state, as an apartheid state is making an antisemitic statement, she said. She did not qualify her criticism when her attention was drawn to the fact that the only person who had used the phrase a situation of apartheid on the night was a Jewish Israeli film-maker. If that kind of vocabulary is used by an Israeli Jew, it doesnt make it any better, Prien said. *** As entrenched as the standoff between German officials and the countrys culture scene may appear, there are more recent dynamics at work that have increased the friction. In the political sphere, what may appear as an age-old consensus among the parties with seats in the Bundestag is actually a relatively new phenomenon, argues Meron Mendel, the director of Frankfurts Anne Frank educational institution. Researching his book Uber Israel reden (Talking about Israel), the Israel-born historian scoured through parliamentary speeches going back to the foundation of postwar democratic Germany. I presumed that the German political consensus has always been to stand by Israels side, he said. But when I looked into archives from the 50s, 60s and 70s, I was amazed to find that absolutely wasnt the case. Bonn rebuffed Israel when it first sought to take up diplomatic relations with West Germany in 1954, fearful of nudging Arab states into giving diplomatic recognition to socialist German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and opposed US military support for Israel via German soil during the Yom Kippur war. Power politics, not a sense of historic duty, was West Germanys guiding principle. The importance of strong diplomatic ties with Jerusalem increased after the 2006 election of Angela Merkel, who had grown up in an East German state that condemned Zionism. German chancellors between 1949 and 2006 made a total of four state trips to Israel, but Merkel visited eight times in her 16-year tenure. On one of these trips, in 2008, she announced that Israels security was Germanys raison detat meaning a principle for foreign policy that should override other legal, moral and religious considerations. Even though Merkels credo of Israels security as Germanys Staatsrason went beyond the foreign policy priorities of her predecessors, the phrase was lifted wholesale into the coalition treaty of the three-party government that has governed the country since December 2021. The contemporary interpretation of Israel as Germanys raison detat is problematic in several ways, said Mendel. In terms of foreign policy, its unclear what it means: is it a declaration of solidarity with a government that includes many rightwing extremist politicians, or is it a declaration of shared values, which would more likely be those in opposition? *** The makeup and motivations of Germanys arts scene has changed, too. Since the turn of the millennium, cultural institutions in the country have attracted a growing amount of international talent not only because of the erstwhile abundance of cheap studio space in post-Berlin Wall Berlin, but also by political design. If public investment in the arts in the UK has decreased by roughly 21% over the course of the 2010s, cultural expenditure in Germany since 2010 has seen an increase of 22.3%. Germany realised that there was such a thing as globalisation, and it needed cultural figures to represent that process, said Hito Steyerl, a Berlin-based artist whose experimental films and video installations have seen her championed as one of the worlds most influential contemporary creatives. Steyerl criticised German institutions for inviting artists and curators from the English-speaking sphere so as to appear worldly, rather than nurturing talent among its own minority communities. Since the start of the war in the Middle East, it has been those in Berlins anglophone communities who have been able to voice their anger and disappointment most vocally on their social media channels, and Steyerl questioned the sincerity of its most vocal actors desire to change minds and shape the debate in the country, suggesting some were practising art as social media performance. A lot of the expats who moved to Berlin post-2015/16 did not understand where the debate here was at, because they didnt speak the language or just didnt care they believed they were in an extension of an English-language academic bubble, said Steyerl, who in 2022 withdrew her work from the Documenta contemporary art exhibition in Kassel, in protest against its organisers failure to confront the antisemitic content of some of the works on display. They also notoriously underestimated that Germany is still a rather racist and antisemitic state, that there are many unaddressed legacies of the National Socialist period, also with respect to cultural flagship events like Documenta or Berlinale. They were mistaking the country for some kind of vanilla liberal welfare state utopia. What surprised Steyerl about the current state of the debate was that the vast majority of people working in the culture sector more or less shared the same position on the conflict in the Middle East. They condemn both the crimes of Hamas and the terrible violence against civilians in Gaza. Yet somehow it is the other 5% who only condemn violence on one side that dominate the debate. For now, however, there are few signs that cycles of performative outrage on both sides could lead to a genuine exchange of views. In previous big national debates in Germany, such as the so-called Historikerstreit of 86-87 [a dispute between conservative and left-of-centre intellectuals over how central a role the Holocaust should play in Germanys national story], there was a sense of a start and an end to an argument, said historian Mendel. This debate has been raging for five years and I see no progress, I just see people getting more embittered. Edinburgh University is home to many students from outside the UK - Flavio Vallenari/iStockphoto Free university tuition would be enshrined in an independent Scotlands constitution, SNP ministers have said amid warnings the policy is squeezing out homegrown students. Humza Yousafs government published the latest in a series of independence papers, this time on education, despite it being a policy area that is already devolved to Holyrood. SNP ministers have overseen Scotland tumbling down international school league tables for maths, reading and science over the past 17 years, with the latest assessments showing English pupils performing better. But the report argued that independence would allow ministers to further improve the education system and proposed free university tuition be included in a written constitution. It said that an independent Scotland in the EU would mean students from the Continent would once again enjoy the same access to higher education as Scottish students. EU students also received free tuition before Brexit. The SNPs free tuition policy is only affordable by capping the number of free places for Scottish youngsters. There is no such cap for children from the rest of the UK as they pay fees. Official figures have disclosed there was a 56 per cent increase in Scottish applications between 2006 and 2021 but an 84 per cent rise in the number refused entry. Extending this right to EU students would mean there would be even greater competition for the fixed quota of free places, risking more Scots missing out. Jenny Gilruth, the SNP Education Secretary, said her party would enshrine the right to education from day one of independence - SST/Alamy Live News Unveiling the paper, Jenny Gilruth, the SNP Education Secretary, said: As we have already set out, we would enshrine economic, social and cultural rights including the right to education in the interim constitution, effective from day one of independence. The Scottish Government would propose that our policy on free university tuition is enshrined in the permanent constitution of an independent Scotland, subject to the deliberations of the constitutional convention. Among the other uncosted policies in the paper were improving maternity and paternity leave durations and pay and giving 16- and 17-year-olds the vote in all Scottish elections. But the 34-page document, written by civil servants, contained barely a page on school years and no proposals for major reform of the education system. The latest global Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) gave Scottish secondary pupils record low results and showed they had fallen further behind their English counterparts in reading, maths and science. Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said: It is appalling that hard-pressed Scots are still footing the bill for SNP propaganda papers that lack any credibility and which nobody reads. He added: The SNP should be fixing the mess theyve made of Scotlands education system now, rather than worrying about what it would be like in an independent Scotland. Classic SNP jam tomorrow Pam Duncan-Glancy, a Labour MSP, said: This is classic SNP jam tomorrow. Right now education in Scotland is in crisis and further and higher education faces serious funding issues while free places are cut. While the SNP dream about what Scottish education could be, the fact is that on their watch teachers, staff, pupils and students are facing a nightmare of the SNPs making. The paper was published after an economist who previously advised the Scottish Government delivered outspoken warnings about a separate Scotlands economy. Mini Argentina Prof Mark Blyth, the William R Rhodes 57 Professor of International Economics at Brown University in the United States, told a nationalist economics festival in Dundee at the weekend: You cant really say that Brexit is the worst thing ever, and then commit the biggest Brexit of all time. Which is literally what this is. He said as a small, open economy, an independent Scotland would need to balance your imports and exports over the long term or everyone thinks your currencys s---. Prof Blyth also warned Scotland could become a mini Argentina adding: Just because you can print bits of money doesnt mean anything if you dont have things to back it up. Jair Bolsonaro hugs Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, right, in Budapest in 2022. I wont deny that I was in the embassy, he said on Monday. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images Brazils foreign ministry has summoned the Hungarian ambassador to explain why the South American countrys embattled former president Jair Bolsonaro spent two nights hiding at Hungarys embassy in Brasilia last month as federal police investigators closed in on some of his closest allies. Security footage obtained by the New York Times showed that in early February four days after two Bolsonaro aides were arrested on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the Brazilian government the rightwing populist took shelter in the embassy, a short drive from the presidential palace Bolsonaro once occupied. The New York Times said Bolsonaros embassy stay suggested he was seeking to leverage his friendship with a fellow far-right leader, Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, into an attempt to evade the Brazilian justice system as he faces criminal investigations at home. On Monday Bolsonaro confirmed the report, telling the Brazilian website Metropoles: I wont deny that I was in the embassy I wont say where else Ive been. I have a circle of friends with some heads of state around the world. They are worried. I talk to them about matters in our countrys interest. Full stop. The rest is speculation, he was quoted as saying. In a statement, the former presidents lawyers said he had been in the embassy to keep in touch with the authorities of a friendly country. Alternative interpretations amounted to a work of fiction, with no connection to the reality of the facts and were fake news, it added. Related: Bolsonaro laid out plan for Brazil coup after defeat by Lula, ex-commanders say Bolsonaro, who lost power in late 2022 after being beaten in the presidential election by his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is facing a series of criminal investigations relating to claims that he faked Covid vaccination records, sought to siphon off expensive foreign gifts and, most seriously, that he plotted to topple the government of his successor. On 8 February Bolsonaro was forced to surrender his passport as part of the federal police investigation into the alleged attempted coup on 8 January 2023 when Bolsonaro supporters ran riot in the capital. Two close aides, Marcelo Costa Camara and Filipe Martins, were arrested and addresses linked to powerful former members of Bolsonaros administration searched. That evening, Orban tweeted a photograph in which he appeared shaking Bolsonaros hands and offered some words of support. An honest patriot. Keep on fighting, Mr. President! Four days later, at 9.34pm on Monday 12 February, a black saloon car appeared at the gate of Hungarys embassy in Brazil, according to the images obtained by the New York Times. Three minutes later the ambassador, Miklos Halmai, appeared to let his visitor in. Bolsonaro was taken inside. The former president reportedly remained at the embassy until the afternoon of 14 February when the ambassador waved him off. Bolsonaro did not make clear why he had decided to visit the embassy. However, he has publicly voiced fears of meeting the same fate as Bolivias former president, Jeanine Anez. In 2022, Anez was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of helping orchestrate an alleged 2019 coup that brought her to power after the fall of President Evo Morales. Before his election defeat, Bolsonaro said he saw only three possible futures for himself: prison, death or victory. The New York Timess video suggests a fourth alternative may now be under consideration: a new life as a lodger in the Hungarian embassy, where under international law he cannot be arrested. Reports of Bolsonaros two-day break at the embassy prompted calls for him to be detained to prevent him from escaping justice. Bolsonaros attempt to hide himself in the embassy is a classic motive for preventive detention, Augusto de Arruda Botelho, the former national secretary of justice, tweeted Many social media users mocked the former president using the hashtag Bolsonaro fujao, which translates roughly as Bolsorunaway. The Hungarian ambassador reportedly remained silent during his 20-minute meeting with Brazilian diplomats on Monday afternoon. Elon Musk in Krakow, Poland, on 22 January 2024. Photograph: NurPhoto via Getty Images A judge in California on Monday dismissed the tech billionaire Elon Musks lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit that has published reports chronicling the rise of racist, antisemitic and extremist content on X, formerly Twitter, since Musks acquisition. The case was dismissed in accordance with the states anti-Slapp law, which forbids nuisance lawsuits intended to punish the exercise of free speech. Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiffs true purpose, wrote Charles Breyer, the US district judge, in the ruling. Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech. Related: Elon Musk sues OpenAI accusing it of putting profit before humanity The dismissal was not unexpected. During a hearing last month, Breyer described parts of Musks case as one of the most vapid extensions of law that Ive ever heard. Breyer also grilled Musks lawyers on why the company did not file a defamation lawsuit if it felt that CCDH was making false and damaging claims in its reports. You didnt bring a defamation claim, Breyer said. Now you tell me that, actually, this is even better than a defamation claim. But of course, its not. Musk, who has claimed himself a free speech absolutist, did not immediately comment publicly on the ruling. Musk tweeted last week that the CCDH is a truly evil organization that just wants to destroy the first amendment under the guise of doing good! The CCDH celebrated the ruling, with its CEO, Imran Ahmed, stating that he hoped it would embolden other researchers to hold social media companies accountable. CCDHs lawyer in the case, Roberta Kaplan, praised the decision as a vindication of the organizations mission. Todays decision proves that even the worlds wealthiest man cannot bend the rule of law to his will, said Kaplan. We are grateful for the district courts careful and comprehensive opinion, which refuses to allow Elon Musk and X Corp to weaponize the courts to censor good-faith research and reporting. Musks X filed suit against CCDH last year, alleging that the organization intentionally and unlawfully accessed data through scraping the platforms posts to make its reports. CCDH defended its practices as public data gathering and called the allegations riddled with legal deficiencies, arguing that the true purpose of the lawsuit was to censor speech that criticized Musk. Musks & X Corps strategy is to keep this case in court for as long as possible to burden us with spiraling legal costs, CCDH posted on X before the hearing. This is a clear case of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (Slapp) aimed to scare us away from doing research on X. Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022, later renaming it X, a slew of major advertisers have left the platform amid a documented rise in hate speech on the platform and a shift away from established news outlets to low-quality viral content. Musk has lashed out over the loss of advertisers with a series of lawsuits against groups that monitor hate speech, including suing CCDH in California and a separate suit in Texas against the progressive non-profit Media Matters. During an onstage event with the New York Times in November, Musk additionally told advertisers who had left the platform to go fuck yourself. The lawsuits have concerned rights groups and researchers who see Musk as one of the worlds richest people attempting to leverage his immense wealth to silence critics. Musks efforts also coincide with a Republican campaign targeting anti-disinformation researchers, including lawsuits against organizations such as the Stanford Internet Observatory and University of Washingtons Center for an Informed Public. Musk is meanwhile facing a class-action lawsuit from former X employees, which alleges that the company failed to pay $500m in severance following his takeover of the platform and subsequent mass layoffs. Kate Garraway cared for her husband Derek Draper at home during his final years - ITV Derek Draper wrote a message in a notebook summing up what had happened to his life. It read: Covid changed everything. The tragic note is revealed in the opening moments of a new ITV documentary, Kate Garraway: Dereks Story, which is the final instalment in a trilogy of programmes showing the devastating consequences of the virus. Draper, the former New Labour adviser, writes: My name is Derek Draper. I want you to hear my story. The programme also chronicles what Garraway, his wife of 19 years, describes as a broken care system and the enormous financial cost of caring for a loved one. Draper was left unable to perform basic tasks and required round-the-clock care, as Garraway faced bureaucratic obstacles to secure an adequate care plan. The documentary highlights the enormous cost of care and the postcode lottery on which it depends. The television presenter was paying almost 4,000 per week and estimates that, with the cost of rehabilitative therapies, the total bill was up to 800,000. She says in the documentary, to be shown on Tuesday evening: Dereks care costs more than my salary from TV. And thats before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay for any household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids. Im not going to pretend, by the way, that Im poorly paid. I have an incredible job that I love, which is well-paid. But its not enough. Garraway adds: Time and time again, the system keeps telling us that Derek isnt sick enough, doesnt have enough of a health need to qualify for funded care. Dereks care, the basic need - this is not including any therapy, which Im happy to pay on top - is nearly 4,000 a week. And how can I afford that? How can anybody afford nearly 16,000 a month? If thats what its like for me, what on earth is it like for everybody else? Something has to be done or the whole service, the people working in it, everything is going to break. The Good Morning Britain presenter said the idea for the third documentary came from her husband - ITV Returning from the hospital to begin caring for Draper at home felt like falling off a cliff, Garraway says. The system we have at the moment in terms of supporting people - and there are millions of people in the situation like Dereks for many other reasons than Covid - it doesnt allow you to feel content because youre not sure if things are going to be stripped away. Drapers carers and therapists appear in the documentary, alongside his teenage children, Darcey and Billy. Darcey, 17, carried the coffin at her fathers funeral. Carers given a voice Draper contracted Covid at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. It affected all of his major organs, including his brain. At points in the programme, Garraway expresses cautious optimism about his condition. Theres still that jeopardy that the damage might take him. But what Im trying to do is just be in the moments as we have them, she says. I dont look forward into the future because every time I feel this is really fantastic and weve had some amazing moments, something terrifying has happened. Draper was being treated at a brain cell clinic in Mexico when he suffered a cardiac arrest shortly before Christmas. Garraway flew him back to the UK but he died on Jan 3. Speaking earlier this month, Garraway said: Obviously when we started making this documentary early last year, we had no idea the events that would unfold that ultimately took Derek from us. And in January 2024, I wondered if it was right that it should ever come to air. But I didnt want to let those who have given us so much support over the last four years down and the carers paid and unpaid who, in their thousands of letters to me, feel Dereks story has given them a voice. Also, I remembered so vividly that the idea of making this third documentary at all came from Derek himself. Kate Garraway: Dereks Story airs on Tuesday March 26 at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX and STV. A delegation of doctors from aid agencies spent two weeks at the European hospital near Khan Younis, where they carried out emergency surgeries. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images The medical situation in Gazas hospitals has reached an unimaginable state of crisis in which large open wounds are being left untreated and medical staff are facing chronic shortages of the most basic medical items, including surgical gauze and material to pin fractures. The description of conditions was delivered by an emergency medical team organised by three aid groups that spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European hospital near Khan Younis. There has been heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the southern city since the start of the year. The warning on the dire medical conditions came as Israel announced it would stop working with the UN Relief Works Agency (Unrwa) in the Gaza Strip, which has supported Palestinians in the occupied territories. Accusing the aid agency of perpetuating conflict, David Mencer, an Israeli spokesperson, said: Unrwa are part of the problem, and we will now stop working with them. We are actively phasing out the use of Unrwa because they perpetuate the conflict rather than try and alleviate the conflict.. Replacing or sidelining Unrwa has long been an objective of Israels political right. Describing their visit to the Khan Younis hospital, the emergency medical team statement said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital. It said Israeli restrictions had led to shortages of medical supplies, including basics such as gauze and plates and screws used to stabilise broken bones. Vital medical supplies had been caught up in Israels restriction of aid to Gaza, which had brought large parts of the territory to the brink of a man-made famine, senior UN officials said last week. The statement was released as Israeli forces continued to assault two major Gaza hospitals, including al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, which has been the focus of recent heavy clashes after Israeli forces said Hamas had tried to entrench itself in the hospital buildings. The visiting surgeons reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardising patient treatment. Dr Konstantina Ilia Karydi, an anaesthetist who is a member of the visiting emergency medical team, which includes Medical Aid for Palestinians, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Palestine Childrens Relief Fund, described harrowing scenes at the European hospital. The situation is unimaginable, said Karydi. This hospital had an original capacity of just 200 beds, and at the moment it has expanded to 1,000 beds. There are around 22,000 people that have been displaced from other parts of Gaza sheltering in the corridors and in tents inside the hospital, because people feel that its safer to be here than anywhere else. While the teams surgeons said they had completed successful complex vascular and orthopaedic surgeries on patients, some of the patients later died due to infections in the hospitals and the inability to provide post-operative care, a problem that has plagued trauma care in Gaza for months. Karydis account was echoed by Arvind Das, the IRCs Gaza team leader. The situation were facing is beyond comprehension. Continuous Israeli military operations near hospitals are making an already tense situation even worse for those seeking shelter or medical help, pushing the healthcare system to the brink of collapse. Despite the relentless efforts of our medical teams, the infrastructure necessary to deliver optimal medical care has been severely compromised by bombing, stringent restrictions on the entry of aid including medical supplies, and the overwhelming surge in needs, Das said. Related: Man-made starvation: the obstacles to Gaza aid deliveries visual guide Were doing everything we can, navigating through critical shortages and working with very limited resources, to save lives amidst this dire situation. International aid officials say the entire population of the Gaza Strip 2.3 million people is suffering from food insecurity and that famine is imminent in the north. Only 12 hospitals are partly functioning, with no fully functioning hospitals within the Palestinian territory. More than 32,000 people have been killed in the territory, and more than 74,000 wounded, according to Gazas health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its counts. It says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. The statement from the three NGOs follows a warning this month by a World Health Organization team of the dire conditions in two hospitals it visited. A WHO team found severe levels of malnutrition, children dying of starvation, serious shortages of fuel, food and medical supplies, hospital buildings destroyed during a visit to al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza, according to the WHOs director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live The Home Office and police chiefs are to consider toughening their response to indecent exposure. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian The Home Office and police chiefs are to consider toughening their response to indecent exposure after a public inquiry into how Wayne Couzens was able to rape and murder Sarah Everard in 2021. The home secretary, James Cleverly, said on Monday that he accepted the recommendations of a public inquiry into the case of Couzens, which last month called for a fundamental review of the way masturbatory indecent exposure is treated within the criminal justice system amid fears it is a precursor to physical assaults. Cleverly said: Huge strides have already been taken to root out officers not fit to wear the badge and bolster safeguards to prevent the wrong people joining the force. Now we will work with policing partners to understand the link between indecent exposure and an escalation in behaviour to ensure the right measures are in place to catch more criminals, earlier. Related: Dismissing indecent exposure as flashing led to the murder of Sarah Everard | Lady Elish Angiolini The government also accepted the recommendation by the inquirys chair, Lady Elish Angiolini, to commission research on the link between masturbatory indecent exposure and subsequent contact offending. There will be a public campaign to boost reporting of indecent exposure and the sending of unsolicited photographs of genitals, both of which are criminal offences. Couzens, who pleaded guilty last year to three offences of indecent exposure, with other charges left on file, was allowed to work for several police forces before he raped and murdered Sarah Everard, after picking her up on a London street in March 2021. Last month Angiolini published a 361-page report damning police culture and finding Couzens had been allowed to continue working despite being the subject of reports to police for indecent exposure and that officers showed apathy and disinterest and found reasons not to pursue the cases. She found that he was allowed to serve despite a womans claim he raped her in 2006 while he was a special constable with Kent police, and another allegation he raped a woman in October 2019 while he was an officer with the Met. He is also alleged to have tried to sexually assault a man dressed in drag in a Kent bar in summer 2019, during which he used his status as a police officer to silence the mans complaints. She found Couzens was also alleged to have had indecent images of children and was also alleged to have attacked a child. Some of the allegations were not reported to police before Couzens killed Everard, but eight allegations were passed to officers, with next to nothing done. Last month, the government set out changes to the police disciplinary system to automatically suspend any officer charged with an indictable offence. It also set out legislation that it said will make it easier to sack officers who fail to hold basic vetting approvals when rechecked, as well as anyone found guilty of gross misconduct. Couzens was not a bad apple, Angiolini found, citing the imprisonment of a second police officer from the same unit as Couzens the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command for multiple rapes and serious sexual offences against 11 women. Her report found he should never have been hired as a police officer in the first instance. He was employed by the civil nuclear constabulary despite being in debt, which the vetting rules in 2011 said should be a bar to being hired. When he was hired by the Met in 2018, Scotland Yard missed material on the police national database linking his car to an allegation of indecent exposure in Kent in 2015. The same forced bungled a vetting check in 2019 by missing his potential sexual offending, and gave him a gun. The case damaged the social contract on which British policing is based, namely policing by consent, she said. Laura Farris, minister for victims and safeguarding, said: Sarah Everards murder shocked the nation, devastated her loved ones and has profound implications for the future of policing. The Angiolini inquiry comprehensively reviewed the facts and circumstances that contributed to Wayne Couzens offending and we are grateful to her for her work. We have already made a series of significant changes to police vetting, disciplinary and dismissal procedures. But we accept her further recommendations on non-contact offences and the escalatory risk that they may pose. We are determined to leave no stone unturned in preventing an offence of this kind from ever happening again. Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Josef Fritzl is reported to have said: "When I get released, I want to emigrate to the UK." - Ho New/REUTERS Incestuous rapist Josef Fritzl is a monster and will be barred from ever coming to Britain, the Home Secretary has said. Responding to reports that Fritzl wanted to come to the UK if freed from detention, James Cleverly said: This monster is never coming to our country. Any attempt to travel to the UK will be refused as it would be for anyone convicted of serious sex offences like this. Fritzl, 88, was convicted 15 years ago of raping his daughter and holding her captive for 24 years, fathering her seven children in his native Austria. The case sparked international revulsion when it emerged in 2008 that he had been holding his daughter captive in a dungeon that he had built under his house. He has been in a prison for mentally abnormal inmates since his conviction in 2009 for incest, rape, enslavement, coercion and the murder, by neglect, of his newborn son. However, it emerged on Monday that he had talked about his wish to come to Britain if he is freed. In a recent interview, he allegedly told of his interest in the spectacular scenery and fantastic culture of the UK after watching a documentary on Shakespeare. He reportedly said: I was filled with this wonderful, uplifting feeling, this sense of inspiration for this fantastic culture. And it was then I knew that when I get released, it is not Austria I want to stay, rather I want to emigrate to the UK. Above all, I want to explore the Scottish Highlands. For me, the lush green fields of Wales are also very, very appealing. But the main thing is its to the United Kingdom that I am headed. James Cleverly insisted that any attempt by Fritzl to travel to the UK will be refused - Gareth Fuller/PA A proposal to transfer Fritzl to a regular prison from his psychiatric unit was rejected earlier this month and sent back to a lower court to reconsider its recommendation. Fritzl had applied for a transfer to regular prison, arguing that as an elderly, frail man he no longer posed any threat. From regular prison, Fritzl would have been able to submit a parole request for release. A court in the town of Krems an der Donau ordered the transfer in January, but prosecutors filed a complaint aimed at overturning that decision to the Vienna Higher Provincial Court. Unlike the court of first instance, the Vienna Higher Provincial Court came to the conclusion that the facts necessary for such a conditional release had not yet fully been established, the Vienna court said in a statement. It said it had overturned the decision of the lower court in Krems and ordered the lower court to establish more facts before reaching a fresh decision. Fritzl is suffering from dementia but he was able to follow the brief proceedings in January when his conditional release was ordered, his lawyer Astrid Wagner told reporters after that hearing. A supplement to the medical report and a new hearing of the detainee at the end of April were ordered, a spokesman for the lower court in Krems said of the Vienna courts ruling. James Ho and his wife Allyson during his Senate judiciary committee confirmation hearing in Washington DC on 15 November 2017. Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images When the former president Donald Trump appointed the Texas attorney James Ho to the fifth circuit court of appeals in 2017, lawyers at the prominent law firm Gibson Dunn where Ho worked before his appointment had a problem: how to replace the politically connected Ho. Turns out, they didnt even need to change the home address for his replacement. Hos wife, Allyson, moved into her husbands position and his old office. Meet the Hos. Related: What is the abortion case in front of the US supreme court right now? Few people outside of legal circles have heard of the Hos, yet the couple is tied to the case before the US supreme court that will determine womens access to mifepristone, a drug commonly used in medication abortions. The court hears arguments in the case on Tuesday. Ho served on the three-judge panel last summer that ruled to restrict access to mifepristone. The legal group behind the mifepristone case, Alliance Defending Freedom, made at least six payments from 2018 through 2022 to his wife, Allyson, a powerhouse federal appellate lawyer who has argued in front of the supreme court and has deep connections to the conservative legal movement that has led the attack on the right to abortion in the US. The payments dont violate the courts code of conduct, according to Stephen Gillers, a New York University emeritus professor of law and author of Regulation of Lawyers: Problems of Law and Ethics. But some court watchers argue that Hos failure to recuse himself from the case illustrates why public trust in the judiciary is eroding. One recent survey found that 63% of judges noted a dip in the publics positive perception of them. When Americans see a case like this so clearly concocted and motivated by special interests, and with evident connections between those interests and the judges on the case, it does tremendous damage to the reputation of the courts, and to the public trust in their ability to give all litigants an even shake, said Alex Aronson, the executive director of the nonpartisan group Court Accountability and a former chief counsel to the Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse. In an email to the Guardian, James Ho wrote that he consulted our courts ethics advisor prior to sitting in that case, and was advised that there was no basis for recusal. In any event, my wifes practice is to donate honoraria to charity. The Hos are just one of the increasing number of power couples in the conservative movement in which the wife of a prominent official works in the background, laying the groundwork for Republican policies that their spouses will rule upon or legislate. In the mifepristone case, the wife of the Missouri senator Josh Hawley, Erin, is the attorney of record for Alliance Defending Freedom and argued the case before Ho. The supreme court justice Clarence Thomas rankled the legal world when he refused to recuse himself from a case involving questions about the January 6 insurrection and the Stop The Steal campaign to which his wife, Ginni Thomas, was closely tied. For Aronson, these are examples of serious concerns about what is becoming an apparent pattern of coordinated activity by some of these couples in this extremist movement, including the Thomases, Hawleys and Hos. Hos rulings have included zealous language, referencing what he called in one decision the moral tragedy of abortion. He has suggested that protection orders in domestic violence cases are too often misused as a tactical device in divorce proceedings and issued without any actual threat of danger. Orin Kerr, a University of California, Berkeley, law professor, tweeted that one of Hos opinions reads like a politicians op-ed, not a legal opinion; judges should stick to law. Related: What Alabamas IVF ruling reveals about the ascendant Christian nationalist movement In the mifepristone case, in which Ho supported rolling back decisions made by the Food and Drug Administration to loosen restrictions on the drug, he wrote: Unborn babies are a source of profound joy for those who view them. Expectant parents eagerly share ultrasound photos with loved ones. Friends and family cheer at the sight of an unborn child. Doctors delight in working with their unborn patients and experience an aesthetic injury when they are aborted. He has chafed legal traditionalists from the moment of his swearing-in, when he opted for the ceremony to be held in the private library of Harlan Crow the conservative mega-donor who, ProPublica revealed, has lavished Clarence Thomas with trips on his yacht and paid the $6,000-per-month private school tuition for the justices great-nephew. Ho worked as a clerk for Thomas in 2005. Ho vowed to boycott hiring Yale Law School graduates as clerks after students interrupted conservative speakers on campus, noting cancellations and disruptions seem to occur with special frequency at the Ivy League school. His caustic writings have drawn the spotlight while his wife, Allyson, has been working more inconspicuously, helping lay the legal foundation for conservative policies in her own work. She appears frequently as a speaker for the Federalist Society, the group that has led the conservative effort to reshape the judiciary. She has also worked pro bono for the Christian right organization First Liberty Institute, a group that describes its mission to defend and restore religious liberty in our schools, for our churches and houses of worship, inside the military, and throughout the public arena. Its unclear what Alliance Defending Freedom paid Allyson Ho to do, yet ending abortion is central among the organizations goals. The group helped write the Mississippi law that led to the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v Wade and ended the 50-year-old constitutional right to an abortion. Her husbands financial disclosures list descriptions of Academy or Freedom Summit, next to some of the payments. The ADF hosts various legal trainings as part of its ADF Legal Academy that seamlessly combines outstanding legal training with an unwavering commitment to Christian principles and a Young Lawyers Academy. The Alliance Defending Freedom said: ADF often invites lawyers of various backgrounds and experiences to speak at events. ADF offers honorariums for speaker participation. Allyson Ho is an exceptional lawyer with vast and diverse legal experience. A request to speak with Allyson Ho sent to Gibson Dunn has not been answered. The Texas senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both Republicans, appointed Allyson to the states committee responsible for recommending and vetting its recommendations to fill judicial vacancies. Neither Cruz nor Cornyns offices responded to the Guardians request for the names or dates of service for the judicial vetting committee nor did they respond to questions about what role, if any, Allyson had in her husbands nomination to the bench. Related: They hate God: US anti-abortion activists aim to fight back on 51st Roe anniversary In 2023, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, hired Allyson and Gibson Dunn, at a rate of $1,313 per hour with a $7m cap to represent the state in a decade-long legal battle in which a federal judge determined Texas had failed to protect foster children. The state had previously been represented by attorneys on its own payroll. The move to hire Allyson and her firm signaled that Texas could be looking to fight back against court orders mandating Texas comply with federal monitors appointed to ensure the safety of vulnerable children in its care by appealing district court rulings to the fifth circuit court of appeals the court on which James Ho serves. The mifepristone case might just be the beginning of the Hos influence, Gillers, the NYU professor, said. If Trump wins the election, youll see Ho on the short list of nominees to the supreme court, he said. He is obviously behaving in a way that makes him a very prominent candidate in a Republican administration. That appointment could once again leave an empty office one that some might want Allyson to fill. The Misfortuneteller says his plaque, pictured, was ripped off by a new plaque-maker in Bristol, who went viral. Photograph: @themisfortuneteller/Instagram It began as a story about a mysterious plaque on a Bristol bench but the strange tale of an engraved tribute to a deceased adulterer is now raising wider questions about copyright and who gets credit for creativity in the art world. Photos of the brass plate paying tribute to a supposedly deceased adulterer called Roger went viral last week, after it was affixed to a wooden bench on Royal York Crescent in the upmarket district of Clifton. Who put up the plaque commemorating the husband, father, adulterer which included the payoff line Roger, I knew remains unknown. But while locals speculated that Banksy may have been involved, another artist has now suggested they are the victim of a rip-off. The London-based creator, who operates under the name The Misfortuneteller, said they created a near-identical plaque in March 2020 after wandering around New Yorks Central Park and looking at the inscriptions on benches. Plaques are fine but theyre not really that truthful, they say. I wanted to do honest memorial plaques. Bittersweet ones. He mocked-up a series of images featuring offbeat tributes to the deceased. Some of the designs were sold as real engraved plaques. An ex-girlfriend is commemorated with a real-life plaque reading: For Barbara Who was awful when hungry but otherwise pretty solid. Others took on a life of their own after going viral, often being shared without credit or posted by meme aggregation accounts on Instagram. No one bought his design paying tribute to a cherished husband, dad and adulterer, even though the image proved popular online. As a result, The Misfortuneteller said he was surprised to see his original design and phrasing reappear on the Bristol bench this week, prompting him to say: Its not Banksys; its fucking mine. Whoever put up the Bristol plaque had used almost exactly the same phrasing as the original 2020 design, albeit changing the name of the supposedly deceased adulterer. And while there is no suggestion they are seeking to profit from their actions, the original artist said they felt infuriated by the potential copyright infringement: Im mad at the person who took this, copied it, and put it on a bench. Its a reflection of how intellectual property these days is so hard to enforce. He said there is a tension between delight at creating work that resonates with the public and not receiving any credit for it. Its just interesting how things go viral on the one hard you should be pleased that youre amusing people, he said. But if a million people like your post you get nothing from it. Drawing a parallel to the early days of illegal music downloads on the internet, the artist said: Even my followers say I should be happy. Its a bit like Napster the internet is used to getting things for free and they expect to get everything for free and not to credit everybody. Theres an assumption that if you find something amusing and share that the person doing it is doing really well. There is a long history of fake plaques in the UK. In 2013 a man emigrating to Australia left behind a bench inscription reading In memory of Roger Bucklesby, who hated this park and everyone in it. A fake English Heritage blue plaque commemorating the residence of Victorian timetraveller Jacob von Hogflume appeared on a London townhouse in 2012. And the artist Gavin Turk created a plaque as a mocking tribute to his own importance while still a young artist. The Misfortuneteller insisted he does not want to stop others creating subversive plaques. He said appreciates it is a powerful and effective medium: There are other artists in my orbit who have attempted to do plaques. I have never said I own all plaques, just like I dont own ink and paper. I feel this is different because its word-for-word. SOFIA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Mariya Gabriel, the prime minister (PM) nominee from Bulgaria's largest political force in Parliament, the GERB-UDF coalition, withdrew her candidacy on Monday, increasing the likelihood of early parliamentary elections. In a document submitted to the National Assembly, Gabriel announced her decision not to participate in the parliamentary procedure for the PM election or propose the composition of the Council of Ministers, according to her party's press service. Gabriel warned of this move on Sunday, citing failed negotiations with the We Continue the Change -- Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition, the second-largest parliamentary group. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev assigned Gabriel to form a new government last week, giving her seven days to outline the Council of Ministers. Despite Gabriel's prompt completion of the task, disagreements between PP-DB, with 63 seats in the 240-member Parliament, and GERB-UDF, with 69, emerged over ministerial appointments. The two sides failed to reach any agreement. Following constitutional requirements, Radev transferred the matter to Parliament, where Gabriel's proposal required a simple majority. The need for a new government arose after Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov from the We Continue the Change party resigned on March 5. His resignation adhered to a power-sharing agreement between PP-DB and GERB-UDF when his government was elected in June 2023. According to the deal, Denkov was to serve as prime minister for nine months, and then the GERB-UDF's representative Gabriel, who was deputy prime minister and foreign minister in Denkov's cabinet, would take over for another nine months. Additionally, ministerial changes could only be made with mutual consent of the two coalitions. In the elections in April 2023, GERB-UDF received 26.49 percent of the vote, followed by PP-DB with 24.56 percent, along with four other groups crossing the 4 percent threshold to enter Parliament. As per the Constitution, Radev must now appoint a prime minister-designate nominated by PP-DB. Failure to form a government by PP-DB would lead the president to entrust the task to a prime minister-designate nominated by a minor parliamentary group. If no final agreement is reached, early parliamentary elections will be scheduled. Gabriel announced Sunday that her party would not participate in further talks to form a government in this parliament. Vladimir Putin has said that the terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert hall in Moscow was conducted by radical Islamists but reasserted his earlier claims that Ukraine could have been involved in the shooting that left 139 people dead. We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, Putin said during a meeting with government officials late on Monday. We are interested in who ordered it, he said, adding that the shooting fit in to a wider campaign of intimidation by Ukraine. This atrocity may be just one part in a whole series of attempts by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime. Putin didnt mention the affiliate of the Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for the attack, despite growing evidence that the Afghan branch of IS, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), masterminded the attack. Kyiv has denied any role in the attack and has accused Russia of falsely suggesting it was to blame to escalate the fighting in Ukraine. IS has said several times since Friday that it was responsible, and IS-affiliated media channels have published graphic videos of the gunmen inside the venue. Referring to US statements that Washington had no indication that Ukraine had been involved in the attack, Putin said: The US is trying to convince everyone that there is no Kyiv trace. Putin then repeated his earlier assertion the attackers had planned to escape to Ukraine before they were arrested. Who was waiting for them there? Putin asked. Putins statements on Monday appear to further lay the groundwork for blaming Ukraine for the deadliest terrorist attack in Russia in more than two decades. His comments came after the countrys state media intensified its efforts to link Ukraine to the shooting. Related: Monday briefing: Why Vladimir Putin wont link Islamic State to Moscow terror attack Putin on Saturday first claimed without evidence that Ukraine had aided the attackers and had planned to open a window for the gunmen to escape. Although US intelligence services had warned that IS cells in Russia were plotting to target concert venues, Putins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Russias security services had not accepted any help from the west. No, our security services are working on their own, no assistance is currently on the table, he said during a telephone call with journalists. Russias foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, called into question assertions by the US that IS was behind the attack. Attention a question to the White House: Are you sure its Isis? Might you think again about that? Zakharova said in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. Zakharova added that the US, which has said it received intelligence that the terror group acted alone, was spreading a version of the bogeyman of IS to cover its wards in Kyiv. On Monday, France joined the US in saying intelligence indicated IS was responsible for the attack. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, told reporters: The information available to us as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State that instigated this attack. He said it would be cynical and counterproductive of Moscow to suggest Ukraine was to blame. On Sunday, four suspects appeared in court in Moscow charged over the attack. The men were identified as citizens of Tajikistan and were remanded in custody for two months. The court released a video showing police officers bringing one of the suspects into the courtroom in handcuffs, as well as photographs of the same man sitting in a glass cage for defendants. One of the suspects was led blindfolded into the courtroom. When his blindfold was removed, a black eye was visible. Another suspect was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. The men, identified as Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Dalerdzhon Barotovich Mirzoyev, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov, face charges of a terror attack committed by a group of individuals resulting in a persons death, according to Tass. All four pleaded guilty. Limited details have emerged regarding the background of the alleged shooters. Fariduni, 25, worked in a factory in the Russian city of Podolsk, on the outskirts of Moscow. The youngest of the group, Fayzov, 19, previously worked as a barber in a city north-east of Moscow. A Turkish security official told Reuters on Monday that two of the attackers had left Turkey to travel to Moscow on the same flight on 2 March. The official said they entered Turkey to renew their Russian residence permits but that they were not radicalised there. He said the attackers had been living in Moscow for a long time. The men were apprehended in the southern Bryansk region, where authorities said they disabled their vehicle, and caught several of the suspects as they fled into a nearby forest. Videos have been published showing Russian security forces interrogating the men, at least one of whom spoke Tajik during an interrogation. Tajikistans foreign ministry initially denied that the suspects were citizens of the country. In a phone call on Sunday, Putin and Tajikistans president, Emomali Rahmon, noted that security services and relevant agencies of Russia and Tajikistan are working closely in countering terrorism, and this work will be intensified. ISKP has previously been reported to have recruited radicalised nationals from central Asia, including Tajikistan. Some of the videos of the interrogations suggest that the men were tortured by Russian security services. One of the clips, circulated by Russian bloggers, appears to show members of the security forces cutting off the ear of a man who is later interrogated over the attack, and stuffing it into his mouth. Another appears to show security forces beating a suspect with their rifle butts and kicking him as he lies in the snow. Tanya Lokshina, the Europe and Central Asia associate director of Human Rights Watch, said the videos that suggested torture were shocking but not surprising. Lokshina said that although Russian security services had a long track record of torturing suspects, it was rare for them to circulate the evidence to the public. What is different now is the clear demonstrative nature of the torture. On Monday, a Moscow court ordered three more men to be put in pre-trial detention in connection with the shooting. The men are accused of aiding and abetting terrorism and reportedly previously owned the car that the assailants used to escape the scene. The incident near Moscow is the deadliest IS-claimed assault on European soil and the deadliest terror attack by any group in Russia since the 2004 Beslan siege. Inside the destroyed Crocus City Hall in Moscow - Zuma Press / eyevine Vladimir Putin has acknowledged for the first time that radical Islamists carried out the worst terrorist attack in Russia in two decades but repeated his unproven claim that Ukraine was also involved. It comes as the Kremlin faces calls to bring back the death penalty with videos emerging of Russian security officers torturing suspected attackers who were detained over the weekend, including cutting off one mans ear and force feeding it to him. Speaking at a televised video conference with senior officials on Monday evening, Putin suggested the murderous attack just a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime, he said. Of course, it is necessary to answer the question, why after committing the crime the terrorists tried to go to Ukraine? Who was waiting for them there? he added. The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the Friday night attack that killed at least 139 people. The United States has said it has intelligence that confirms that claim and that the group appears to have acted alone. Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack. Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda was reportedly fed his right ear having been captured following the terror attack on Friday - ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AP Putin did not refer specifically to Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility, but said the killings were carried out by extremists whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries. Putin has been urged to restore the death penalty following the Islamic State attack on Crocus City Hall. The calls from senior allies of the Kremlin came after authorities released footage of officers torturing the suspected attackers, including one man having his ear cut off and force-fed to him. At least 137 people were killed when gunmen burst into the concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow on Friday evening. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the worst terrorist incident in Russia in more than a decade. A video released by the terror group showed the attackers gunning people down at point-blank range and slitting at least one victims throat. Four suspects, all of them citizens of Tajikistan, were detained and charged with terrorism over the weekend. At least two of them showed signs of torture when they appeared in court. The men were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30, Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Three more men were arrested on Monday afternoon. Video released on Russian social media showed Russian security officers torturing the suspects, including one being subjected to electric shocks to his genitals. In one video, the suspect named as Rachabalizod spits as he is fed his own ear. Appearing in court on Sunday, he had a large bandage attached to the right side of his head. The attack sparked multiple calls for the death penalty to be restored following a three-decade moratorium. Dmitry Medvedev, Russias former president, wrote on his Telegram channel: Do they have to be killed? he asked. They have to be. And will be. Clockwise from top left: Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda; Dalerdzhon Barotovich Mirzoyev; Muhammadsobir Fayzov; and Shamsidin Fariduni - TATYANA MAKEYEVAOLGA MALTSEVA/AFP Vladimir Vasilyev, the head of the United Russia faction in the state Duma, Russias lower house, told Russian television on Saturday that capital punishment was being considered seriously. There are a lot of questions being asked about the death penalty now. This topic will certainly be deeply professionally, and meaningfully studied and a decision will be made that will meet the moods and expectations of society. Yuri Afonin, the deputy head of the Dumas security committee, called on Saturday for capital punishment to be restored in cases of terrorism and murder. The Kremlin on Monday said it was not currently considering reintroducing capital punishment. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlins spokesman, said: We are not taking part in this discussion at the moment. Mikhail Mishustin, the prime minister, said the perpetrators will be punished, they do not deserve mercy, but did not explicitly endorse capital punishment. Russia has observed a moratorium on the death penalty since it joined the Council of Europe in 1996. Mr Medvedev and some other officials called for it to be reinstated after Russia was kicked out of the body following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but critics have said it would require a major reworking of the Constitution. Mr Peskov declined to answer a question about the alleged torture of suspects and said he could not comment on the IS claim of responsibility while the investigation is ongoing. Vladimir Putin in an address to the nation made no mention of jihadist involvement in the attack and instead linked it to Ukraine, saying the attackers tried to escape and were travelling towards Ukraine and that a window had been prepared for them to cross the border. He presented no evidence to back up the claim. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, strongly denied the allegation. The United States said its intelligence showed IS acted alone. Several Kremlin-friendly media outlets and commentators sought to promote Putins theory on Monday, however, raising fears that the Russian government planned to use the attack as an excuse to further escalate the war with Ukraine. We are not talking about Isis here. It was the khokhly, said Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the RT channel, using a term used pejoratively in Russia to denote Ukrainians. In an apparent reference to the suspects torture, she added that she felt extremely satisfied when she saw their condition as they were led into court. Komsomolskaya Pravda, a widely read tabloid, quoted a commentator blaming the British special services and the Americans and Ukrainians for the attack. On Monday, Emmanuel Macron, Frances president, warned Moscow against any exploitation of the attack, saying it would be cynical and counterproductive for Russia to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine. He said it was a branch of IS that planned the attack and carried it out, adding this group had also plotted attacks in France. Russia has suffered repeatedly from Islamist terrorism over the past 30 years, including in the 2004 Beslan school siege that killed 334 people, including 186 children. On March 7, the FSB, the successor to the KGB, said it had killed members of an IS cell in Kaluga, southwest of Moscow. It said the group had been plotting an attack on a synagogue. Heightened terror threat On the same day, the US embassy in Moscow issued a public warning to American citizens warning them to stay away from concerts because of a heightened terror threat. The four suspects do not appear to have had previous convictions or security alerts attached to their names, which may partly explain why Russian authorities failed to detect the plot. Human rights group gulagu.net, which documents the horrors of Russias prison system, said the open torture of suspects reflected changes in Russian society. For more than 10 years, we have been consistently exposing torture and its systemic nature in Russia, it said. It is obvious that sanctions for these tortures, as well as for the torture of Ukrainian prisoners, are given from the very top. Dmitry Kolezev, exiled editor of Republic media, said: Torture is, unfortunately, commonplace. What is unusual here is that the security forces used to bashfully hide this. But now they are proud of it and, apparently, they themselves release photographs of torture to friendly Telegram channels. Pavel Krasheninnikov, the chairman of the Duma committee on state building and legislation, told Russian agencies that the debate over the death penalty could be a distraction from the real task of preventing such atrocities from happening again. A bowl of apple-blueberry crumble Sainsburys shoppers have been left outraged over yogurt with granola being classed as a main course in its meal deal offerings. The supermarket confirmed on Monday that yogurts topped with granola were considered a main rather than a snack in its lunch and breakfast offers, which provide shoppers with a discount when they buy a main, snack and drink. Sainsburys was responding to criticism after some customers complained on social media that some yogurts cost more than others in its meal deals. One shopper posted a photograph to X, formerly Twitter, of a sign in the sandwich aisle warning customers that yogurts were now classed as mains. The post added: The UK is finished. Another said: So Sainsburys makes you play Spot The Yogurt Snack during their popular lunchtime Meal Deal. Which yogurt is a snack and which one is a main? Lots of people will be paying extra today at the till if theyre not careful! Another said: Sort it out lads, this is outrageous. Shoppers unwittingly charged more The controversial rule is not new, however, and some have been charged more than they expected for their meal deals when buying topped yogurts. One said the ridiculous policy had caught me out so many times, adding: Please pass on the feedback that a yogurt is not a main. Although the signs are helpful because so many people must get caught out with this. Still though, a yogurt just isnt a main. Traditional supermarket meal deal mains include sandwiches, wraps and salads, with a choice of fruit, bars and crisps as snacks. Sainsburys confirmed its larger, topped yogurts were a popular breakfast main for customers, while smaller yogurts were classed as a snack. It said: Our meal deal includes over 500 options, from sarnies and salads, to croissants, fruit and yogurts. Smoothies and hot drinks, including Costa Coffee, are also included, so many of our customers choose Sainsburys for their breakfast as well as lunches on the go. Our larger, topped yogurts are a popular breakfast main, while our smaller yogurts are available as a snack, a spokesman added. Fruit pots as main course In 2023 Tesco began including 230g and 300g pots of fruit as a main course in its lunch meal deal after the cost of bread soared. Supermarkets recently came under scrutiny after a study revealed the high calorific content of meal deals. Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that many meal deals contained well above the 600 calories recommended for lunch. One out of five meal deal combinations at the major supermarkets exceeded the limit. The most calorific combination was found to contain 1,329 calories, which was more than in a McDonalds Big Mac and Fries. Triple sandwiches such as Tescos chicken triple or its sausage, bacon and egg were the most calorific mains, while crisps and chocolate bars were deemed the worst snacks. Researchers urged the Government to make retailers introduce healthier combinations into meal deals. Shamima Begum speaking from Syria during her BBC documentary, which aired in February 2023 - Joshua Baker Shamima Begum has suffered a fresh blow to her attempts to return to the UK as the Court of Appeal refused to refer her case to the Supreme Court. Ms Begums lawyers had sought leave to appeal the Courts decision but a judicial spokesman confirmed it had been rejected on Monday. It follows the decision by three Court of Appeal judges led by Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr that it was lawful for the Government to strip her of her British citizenship on grounds of national security after she travelled to Syria as a 15-year-old in 2015 to join Isil. Ms Begums lawyers had claimed the Government failed to take account of the fact that she was a victim of trafficking to Syria, that the removal of her citizenship was a breach of her human rights and that it would have made her de facto stateless. Mondays decision by the Court of Appeal to refuse to refer her case means she must now appeal directly to the Supreme Court to have the removal of her citizenship reversed. However, her lawyers will have to show there is an arguable point of law that justifies her appeal to the curt rather than the substance of her claims. This could include an error or misinterpretation of the law by the judges who have heard her case so far. If she is rejected by the Supreme Court, she would have one last opportunity to challenge the Governments decision to strip her of citizenship by appealing to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Dismissing her Court of Appeal challenge in February, Baroness Carr said: It could be argued the decision in Ms Begums case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune, but it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view. The only task of the court was to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. Since it was not, Ms Begums appeal is dismissed. The rejection of the appeal means Ms Begum, now 24, will remain in the al-Roj detention camp in north-eastern Syria for the foreseeable future as she is effectively stateless. Ms Begum effectively stateless Although British born, she had Bangladeshi citizenship until she was at least 21 but the country has made clear it will not accept her. Ms Begum has received almost 250,000 in legal aid as of August 2021 to bring the action as she has no financial means to support her case, according to a Freedom of Information request. Ms Begum, who was born and raised in Tower Hamlets, east London, travelled to Syria via Turkey and aligned herself with Isil. She married an Islamic State fighter soon after arriving and had three children, none of whom survived. As the Isil caliphate collapsed, Sajid Javid, the then home secretary, used his powers under the British Nationality Act 1981 to deprive Ms Begum of her citizenship on the basis that it was conducive to the public good as she posed a threat to national security. She sought to return to the UK in 2019 to challenge the removal of her citizenship but this was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2021. She was therefore forced to lodge her appeal against the revocation of her citizenship from northern Syria without giving evidence in person. Her appeal was rejected by the special immigration appeal commission (SIAC) in February 2023, a decision she appealed to the Court of Appeal, which gave its judgment in February 2024. Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman clashed over migration policies during her time as Home Secretary - Phil Noble/AP Rishi Sunak refused to meet Suella Braverman for a year to discuss cutting legal migration, the former home secretary has claimed. Mrs Braverman said the Prime Minister had not regarded soaring levels of net migration as an important issue for the British people. She was sacked by Mr Sunak in November after writing an article attacking the Metropolitan Police for favouring pro-Palestinian marchers and failing to take a tougher line on the protests. The pair had also clashed over policies on legal and illegal migration, where Mrs Braverman was pushing for more radical measures including an annual cap on immigration. Revised figures published shortly after her departure revealed net migration had risen to a record 745,000 in the year to December 2022 more than twice pre-Brexit levels and in breach of the Tories 2019 manifesto pledge to reduce numbers. Speaking on Panorama, to be broadcast on BBC One on Monday, Mrs Braverman said: I think the Prime Minister has not necessarily assumed that its an important issue for the British people. I struggled myself, as home secretary, even to have a meaningful conversation with him about it. I was left to written correspondence on several occasions throughout a period of 12 months, putting forward policy proposals. But he refused to talk to me. We talked about the boats every week, twice a week. We talked to each other a lot about policing and security. On legal migration, I was unable to get a hearing with the Prime Minister for 12 months. No 10 has been contacted for comment. The BBC said it had approached Downing Street over the remarks on the programme, called Immigration: The UKs Record Rise, but had not received a response. As well as a cap, Mrs Braverman and Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, called for a hike in the salary threshold required before a skilled worker could come to the UK from 26,200 to more than 40,000 and the scrapping of the two-year graduate visa because of its use as a back door to stay in the UK on low-paid jobs. James Cleverly, who replaced Mrs Braverman as Home Secretary, announced a five-point plan to cut migration by 300,000, about a quarter of the 1.2 million people who arrived in Britain last year. Measures included an increase in the threshold for skilled foreign workers to 38,700, a ban on foreign care workers bringing in their relatives in line with a similar restriction on postgraduate students, and ditching the scheme allowing companies to pay overseas staff 20 per cent below the going rate in shortage areas. Most Conservative MPs welcomed the tougher measures on net migration, as did Mrs Braverman, but she also said the package was too late, and the Government can go further. On Monday, the Home Office launched a social media campaign in Vietnam, with adverts on Facebook and YouTube intended to deter migrants from coming to the UK illegally. The Home Office has launched social media campaigns in countries including Vietnam to deter migrants from coming to the UK on small boats - Dan Kitwood/Getty Images The adverts will set out the risks of being indebted to and exploited by the people-smuggling gangs who profit from facilitating small boat crossings. An increasing proportion of small boat migrants come from the south-east Asian country. Vietnam is one of the top 10 nationalities for migrants crossing the Channel illegally, the Home Office said. The campaign will also warn prospective Vietnamese migrants of the reality of living in the UK illegally with no right to be in the UK and no access to public services or funding, and use real testimonies from those who regret coming to the UK illegally. In one advert, a migrant shares his experience of sleeping in a camp in Calais for five nights under the supervision of armed guards before taking the journey across the Channel from France to the UK. The migrant, referred to as K, says: Never again would I risk my life in a small boat, even if you bribed me. The campaign will also direct Vietnamese social media users to a website featuring videos from Border Force officers describing shocking cases and their experiences of rescuing small boat migrants from life-threatening danger in the Channel. The Home Office said the launch followed successful social media activity in Albania, France and Belgium, adding that similar campaigns were also being considered for other priority countries. Mr Cleverly said: This is a powerful campaign, which demonstrates first-hand that life for people arriving here illegally is a far cry from the lies they have been sold by the gangs on the other side of the Channel. Last year, similar work contributed to a 90 per cent reduction in small boat arrivals from Albania, and overall numbers are down by a third, but there is more to do. Expanding our campaign to Vietnam another key partner in our work to tackle illegal migration will help us to save more lives and dent the business model of the criminals who profit from this vile trade. Chinese students hold a placard reading freedom () at a march in London after 10 people died in a building fire during a strict Covid lockdown in Urumqi, China, December 2022. Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images The first time Liying* realised she was being watched, she was on her way home from an anti-Beijing protest outside the Chinese embassy in London in 2022. The sky was dark, and Liying a student in her 20s from China was walking with a fellow protester, megaphone in hand, when she noticed a stranger lurking behind them. The pair quickened their pace but the man, who looked Chinese, kept following. Ten minutes passed; then 20. Eventually, they ran into a nearby hospital and hid for more than half an hour. When they came out, he was gone. Often at protests, there are middle-aged Chinese men standing a bit further apart, looking at us. Theyre not joining, just examining, says Liying, who has been followed a second time and received anonymous calls from China to her British number. Im still worried about my familys safety. Thats the biggest issue Zhou I get calls every day, from different numbers, saying theyre from an anti-scam team and asking me questions like whether Im sending messages to people in China. I also got a call from the Chinese embassy asking about my health. Liying is one of several students and recent graduates from China that the Guardian has spoken to who say they have been subjected to surveillance, harassment and other forms of intimidation by Chinese authorities for criticising the Chinese Communist party while on British soil. China is increasingly targeting people outside its borders in a tactic known as transnational repression, which aims to stifle debate or criticism. Transnational repression is the use of tactics including electronic surveillance, physical assault, intimidation and threats to family in the home country to silence people living in exile. The Guardians Rights and freedom series is publishing a series of articles to highlight the dangers faced by citizens in countries including the UK. Steve Tsang, the director of the Soas China Institute, says Chinese student protesters in the UK have long been photographed and monitored, but the practice may well have increased with newer surveillance technology. Students say their families in China have also been threatened by local authorities, warning them to stop engaging in political activities overseas. *** Zhou*, a recent graduate in his 30s now working in the UK, joined protests and shared content on social media marking the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre last June. Soon after, his parents received a call from local police requesting they provide his British address and phone number, allegedly for Chinese residency registration purposes. Out of fear, Zhou stopped protesting for several months, and became depressed. In October, he logged on to WeChat, a Chinese social media platform, and posted for the first time in two years. A week later, his mother, who works in a government organisation, was summoned for a meeting by her boss, who informed her that Zhou was engaging in sensitive activities abroad. If she didnt tell him to stop, their familys jobs would be affected, her boss warned. My mum was very upset, but I told her many students encountered a similar situation, and it was a normal thing, Zhou says. Im constantly learning about the situation in China. In the past, I didnt know anything about these red lines and what activities could be safe. I am still worried about my familys safety. Thats the biggest issue. Most of those interviewed by the Guardian who had participated in protests in the UK had never engaged in political activities before moving abroad and had been unaware of the risks. Fan* says his family in China were visited by the police and told their son had violated Chinese law when he spoke to journalists after attending a rally last year. He had criticised the government using his real name, and is too frightened to return home. *** In recent years, there have also been concerns about the impact of Chinese surveillance and influence on UK universities. Between 2021 and 2022, there were 151,690 students from China in the UK, making them the largest cohort of non-UK students. In March, Michelle Shipworth, an associate professor at University College London, told the Telegraph newspaper she had been banned from teaching a provocative China-related course to protect the universitys commercial interests. UCL said it was committed to safeguarding academic freedom of inquiry. Related: China, Russia and Cambodia top list of regimes targeting critics in exile Students say the fear of being surveilled by Chinese agents keeps many from engaging in politically sensitive discussions or activities and sows distrust within the community. One undergraduate student, Sun*, says he knows of peers who have been questioned by other Chinese students about whether they have attended anti-Beijing protests. He also showed the Guardian messages from a WeChat group consisting of Chinese students from his university reminding others to express pro-China and pro-party views. The president of City, University of London, Anthony Finkelstein, issued a statement last May acknowledging incidents of political pressure from across the higher education sector, including actions undertaken by the governments of China, Russia, Iran and others. Students such as Fan are undaunted. He says the opportunity for protest and dissent in the UK has given him a political awakening. I feel like Ive entered a new world, he says. Before, I didnt realise there were so many amazing people who have the same political opinions as me, who are willing to do something for our country. * Names have been changed Murdo Fraser MSP compared non-binary people to those who identify as cats - SST / Alamy Live News A Tory MSP is preparing to take legal action against Police Scotland after his tweet comparing non-binary people to those who identify as cats was recorded as a non-crime hate incident (NCHI). Murdo Fraser discovered that the social media post in which he criticised Scottish government gender policies in November had been formally recorded by police as an NCHI without his knowledge. The long-serving mid-Scotland and Fife MSP said he had received legal advice which suggests the actions of Police Scotland were unlawful, as it had breached his rights around free speech and data protection. He accused the force of acting outrageously and unlawfully over the recording of the hate incident against him, just days before new hate crime laws in Scotland, which critics warn pose a grave risk to freedom of speech, comes into force. Mr Fraser, who is being supported by the Free Speech Union, has written to Police Scotland demanding that it changes its guidance on NCHIs and permanently deletes the record of the incident. If it refuses, he has said he will take legal action either by launching a civil claim against the force or through a judicial review. Hate crime complaint A trans rights activist had made a hate crime complaint to police after Mr Fraser shared a newspaper column in The Scotsman on X, formerly Twitter, on Nov 18 about the SNP Governments publication of a non-binary equality action plan. Non-binary people are considered transgender and claim to identify as being neither fully male nor fully female. Mr Fraser had added: Choosing to identify as 'non-binary' is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat. I'm not sure Governments should be spending time on action plans for either. https://t.co/inYHH2iPkq Murdo Fraser (@murdo_fraser) November 18, 2023 While Police Scotland decided that Mr Fraser had not committed a crime, the complaint against him was followed up and it was formally recorded as a hate incident with a reference number provided to the complainant. Mr Fraser only found out about this because the same activist made a separate complaint against him to the Ethical Standards Commissioner, providing the reference number, which was later dismissed. Scotlands new hate crime legislation comes into force on April 1, which it has been warned will be weaponised against those who express so-called gender critical views. These are serious and timely matters, Mr Fraser said. Scotlands new hate crime law comes into force in a few days time on April Fools Day, appropriately enough. What we are likely to see is the police being deluged with hundreds, if not thousands, of spurious and vexatious complaints. If they record all these as hate incidents, based entirely on the perception of the complainer, they are likely to be recording many more hate incidents unlawfully and acting against the law. He added: I believe that Scotland needs to be a country where free speech and freedom of political expression is protected. Joanna Cherry supported Murdo Fraser's step towards legal action - ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA Joanna Cherry KC, a lawyer and SNP MP, offered her backing to Mr Fraser in taking legal action. Theres not much Murdo and I agree about, but we do agree about freedom of speech, Ms Cherry said. Police Scotland are well aware that their policy of recording non-crime hate incidents needs reviewed. This McCarthyism needs to stop. More than 5,500 NCHIs recorded South of the border, the UK Government has issued new guidance telling police forces that freedom of speech and proportionality must be taken into account when recording hate incidents. However, in Scotland, NCHIs are still recorded based only on the perception of the person making the complaint. This means that someone could be recorded as committing a hate incident even if police agree they had done nothing wrong. After Mr Fraser discovered the hate incident had been formally recorded, police later confirmed to him that the case had been dealt with in line with national guidance. Latest data shows that Police Scotland recorded 5,587 NCHIs between April and December last year. Guidance published last year, which applies south of the border, was designed to protect freedom of expression and ensure hate incidents were not logged just because someone was offended. The new code of practice was issued in response to Harry Miller, a retired police officer, winning a freedom of speech legal battle in 2021 after a NCHI was logged and he was visited by police for expressing the view online that trans women were not women. The updated guidance states that members of the public had the right to express personally-held views in a lawful manner and that police must consider freedom of expression protections when deciding whether to log NCHIs. However, Police Scotland has so far refused to change its policy to fall into line with the position in England and Wales. Hate incidents useful to police force Mr Fraser claims that police had adopted a cavalier and disrespectful attitude towards me and my rights to freedom of expression and privacy, and the right to be informed of false and damaging information held on police records. He accused the force of breaching the Human Rights Act and Data Protection Act through its handling of the complaint against him. Jo Farrell, the Police Scotland chief constable, claimed last week that hate incidents were useful to the force as they provided intelligence on community tensions. Police Scotland said hate incidents are not recorded against alleged perpetrators but their names appear in the files for the complainant. A spokesman for the force said: On Monday, 20 November, 2023, officers received a report of an offensive tweet. Enquiries were carried out and no criminality was established. The incident was recorded as a non-crime hate incident. Police Scotland have received a complaint relating to this matter which has been passed to the Professional Standards Department for assessment. Hate incidents are not recorded against alleged perpetrators. Recording is victim-focused and the process has been part of policing for many years. It helps us monitor tensions within communities enabling appropriate police responses and helps to build community confidence. Seemingly low level or minor events can have a significant impact on someone who may already be very vulnerable. default The US supreme courts decision to overturn Roe v Wade may have abolished the national right to abortion, but the state-by-state battle for abortion rights is far from over. Since Roe was overturned in 2022, 14 states have enacted near-total abortion bans, while two states Georgia and South Carolina have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Other states have enacted laws or held ballot referendums to protect abortion rights. In flux default In a handful of other states, the future of abortion is in flux. The Florida state supreme court, for example, may soon give the green light to yet another six-week abortion ban. All of this tumult has led to a deeply uneven abortion landscape, with access to abortion clinics cut off across much of the south and midwest but standing strong on both coasts. The map below shows where state abortion laws stand as of 12 January 2024. default default Sources: Abortion laws come from Center for Reproductive Rights, AbortionFinder and state statutes. Note: Women of reproductive age data is women aged 15-49 from the 2020 US census. Although people who are not women and outside of these age ranges can get pregnant, this demographic is an approximation of the number of people effected. Additional research and fact checking by Ava Sasani. This tracker, first published on 28 June 2022 and created by Jessica Glenza with reporting by Poppy Noor, is being regularly updated to ensure that it reflects the current situation as best as possible. The most recent update will have been made at the date shown at the top of the article. Any significant corrections made to this or previous versions will continue to be footnoted below in line with Guardian editorial policy. Bitcoin was on the rise again after losses last week. (Reuters / Reuters) The price of Bitcoin gained 4% on Monday, almost touching $67,000 (53,153), amid continued demand for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). BlackRock (BLK) and Fidelity Investments spot Bitcoin ETFs IBIT and FBTC have become the most popular funds the two asset managers currently offer in less than 50 days of trading, based on data shared by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: Shares across Europe tepid after strong week Investors are also keen for an event in April that is known as Bitcoin's "halving", when the issuance of new tokens will be cut in half, further supporting prices at a time when demand has been rising. Stocks in the e-commerce giant surged after reports that Apple (AAPL) held early talks with the Chinese company to use its AI technology. According to a report from Chinese media Cailian Press, Baidu will become Apples local generative AI model provider for the iPhone 16, the Mac computer operating system and the upcoming mobile operating system iOS 18. Read more: Stocks that are trending today Apple has been seeking a generative AI partner in China because the Asian nation "requires such models to be vetted by its cyberspace regulator before being launched to the public," the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Direct Line (DLG.L) Direct Line shares tumbled as it insisted it was confident in its standalone prospects after Belgiums Ageas (AGS.BR) said it would not be making an offer for the insurer following two failed attempts at engaging with the board. "As communicated at Direct Line Group's 2023 preliminary results on 21 March 2024, the board believes under Adam Winslow's leadership the company is well-positioned to drive material improvement in performance that is expected to unlock significant value for Direct Line Group shareholders," the London-listed insurer said. In February, Ageas confirmed it was exploring the possibility of making a 3.1bn offer for Direct Line Insurance Group. We had hoped to reach agreement on a jointly recommended firm offer together with the Direct Line board, Ageas chief executive Hans De Cuyper said. However, I am convinced that, given the circumstances, we took the right decision not to make an offer, staying true to who we are and what we stand for in terms of maintaining a friendly approach and respecting our financial discipline. B&Q owner Kingfisher has revealed annual profits slumped by more than a quarter and warned over another steep fall in earnings this year as it overhauls its French arm to help revive its fortunes. The group reported a 25.1% drop in underlying pre-tax profits to 568m for the year to 31 January. Kingfisher, which owns the Screwfix chain and brands including Castorama and Brico Depot in France, said like-for-like sales tumbled by 5.9% in France and 7.7% elsewhere across Europe. Read more: UK house prices offer worst value for money of any advanced economy It said the UK and Ireland saw a more resilient performance, with sales up 0.8%, leaving overall group-wide sales down 3.1%. The group has pared back sales declines so far in its new financial year, to a fall of 2.3%. But it warned that profits are expected to drop again, to between 490m and 550m in 2024-25, below the 560m pencilled in by analysts. Watch: Investors should stay 'valuation conscious': Strategist Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Donald Trump has called for a delay over violations in the discovery process. Prosecutors say the former presidents lawyers are responsible for the delay. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters Donald Trump suffered another legal defeat on Monday as the judge overseeing his case involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels refused to delay the trial over evidence concerns and appeared displeased with the former US presidents lawyers allegation of prosecutorial misconduct. Jury selection in this matter will commence in 21 days, on April 15, Judge Juan Merchan said in a ruling from the bench. He said shortly thereafter: defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time to prepare. Related: Trump civil fraud case: New York court lowers bond to $175m and gives 10-day deadline Its odd that were even here, Merchan told Todd Blanche earlier in the day, after grilling the Trump attorney on his legal teams claims, perhaps presaging his decision. Merchan had scheduled the hearing which is taking place on the day when Trumps trial was originally scheduled to start to determine whether the presumptive Republican presidential candidates recent receipt of more than 100,000 pages of discovery documents merited yet another delay. Trumps team have said they will appeal the new date. Trump sported a navy suit, red tie, and white shirt when he arrived at Merchans courtroom just before 10am, and didnt have much of an expression on his face. Right before entering the courtroom, he railed about the case, saying in the hall: This is a witch-hunt and a hoax. Trumps lawyers had asked Merchan to delay the trial at least 90 days, or dismiss it, over what they called violations in the discovery process that is, they claim Manhattan state prosecutors did not follow legal requirements to disclose evidence to them in a timely manner. The office of the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, which had previously agreed to a month-long postponement so that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee could review the documents, insisted that still more postponement is not necessary. The prosecutors contended that they had followed with discovery law, determined that the minimal amount of relevant documents were inculpatory and that Trumps lawyers were responsible for the delay. The documents related to federal prosecutors investigation of Michael Cohen, Trumps one-time consigliere turned prosecution witness. Several US attorneys offices had the documents in question, not the Manhattan DA. Manhattan state prosecutors had turned over many documents from Cohens federal proceedings to Trumps team; the disclosures relate to some documents that had not been given to Braggs office. Trump, prosecutors said, shuffled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Cohen as part of his effort to cover up allegations of extramarital affairs, and then listed the payouts as legal costs in his business records. In April 2023, prosecutors charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records, a class E felony. Braggs office said that Cohen paid $130,000 to Daniels and coordinated with the National Enquirers publisher to give the former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000, to thwart their accounts of sexual encounters with Trump, which he denies. Trumps namesake company then repaid Cohen $420,000 in a handful of installments, prosecutors said. Trumps camp cried foul over having received these documents only recently. The People have engaged in widespread misconduct as part of a desperate effort to improve their position at the potential trial on the false and unsupported charges in the Indictment, Trumps lawyers argued in court filings. They insisted that these documents, which were generated during Manhattan federal prosecutors investigation into hush-money payments, included reports relating to statements by Cohen that are exculpatory and favorable to the defense. Prosecutors wrote in court papers that Trumps lawyers waited until January to make requests for additional Michael Cohen-related documents from federal prosecutors, writing: The belated nature of the recent USAO productions is entirely a result of defendants own inexplicable and strategic delay in identifying perceived deficiencies. During the proceeding, Merchan hammered Blanche on discovery law, asking why he thought Braggs office could be at fault for the feds recent disclosure. While local prosecutors must share evidence that is considered in their possession for example, items gathered by their respective localitys police evidence in federal authorities control is not considered under local prosecutors possession. Merchan asked Blanche whether he agreed that established law applied in this circumstance. Blanche did not give a direct answer initially. Your honor, with the caveat that we put in our papers Blanche said. Im asking about the statute, Merchan interjected. Im asking about the statute and case law. Blanche tried again with a your honor, but Merchan pressed on. Can you give me a single case? Merchan said, asking whether there was any prior ruling showing that a district attorney had power over the feds evidence. Blanche said he did not have any case like that. That you dont have a case right now is really disconcerting because the allegations that the defense makes in all of your papers about prosecutors misconduct is incredibly serious unbelievably serious. Youre literally accusing the Manhattan DAs office, and the people assigned to this case, of prosecutorial misconduct and [of] trying to make me complicit in it and you dont have a single cite to support [your] position. Merchan told the court shortly thereafter that there would be a 45-minute break. After the court resumed, Merchan issued his ruling from the bench. The district attorney of New York county is not at fault for the late production of documents from the US attorneys office, Merchan said. The court finds that the people have complied and continue to comply with their discovery obligations. This court finds that the US attorneys office is not under the courts discretion or control. As the proceeding wrapped, Merchan said: See you all on the 15th. As Trump left court, he had a hard-to-read facial expression, but did give a thumbs-up to someone in the gallery. He also mouthed thank you to someone in the audience. At a press conference in downtown Manhattan not long after the proceeding, Trump remained defiant and dangled the possibility that he might take the stand in his defense with the upcoming criminal trial. I would have no problem testifying, Trump said. I didnt do anything wrong. Ola Kaellenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz, receives an interview with Xinhua at the headquarters of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany, March 20, 2024. (Xinhua/Shan Weiyi) STUTTGART, Germany, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The reason why Germany's leading luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz continues to invest in China is that the company believes in China and sees long-term opportunities, the company's top executive has said. Ola Kaellenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz, told Xinhua in a recent interview that he saw great potential in the Chinese auto market, the biggest in the world. Kaellenius believes that "there's definite growth potential" in China in the long term as car ownership rate in China still lags other mature markets in the world. China, which is also the biggest and "hugely important" market for the German automaker, enjoys Kaellenius's close attention. "So I'm never out of China, even if I'm not physically in China." The company is poised to bring into China's auto market a total of 15 new models, signaling intensifying efforts by the luxury automaker to consolidate its presence in the increasingly competitive auto market. On March 1, Mercedes-Benz introduced four new versions of its new E-class model with lengthened wheelbases in China. Kaellenius pins high hopes on the new E class, which is one of the bestselling models of the company. As part of what appears to be a two-pronged strategy in China, the German automaker plans to offer more new models, including both battery electric vehicles and "electrified high-tech combustion" vehicles, by the end of this decade. Kaellenius disclosed that the company has increased the size of its R&D team in China over the past few years. Describing the innovations in China's auto industry as "vibrant," Kaellenius said: "We want to participate in that vibrant, innovative landscape." The two R&D centers in Beijing and Shanghai enable the company to develop a wide array of new technologies for both the Chinese market and other markets in the world. "They are fully integrated in our global R&D effort." Regarding the EU's probe into the so-called subsidy on Chinese vehicles, Kaellenius said "we should not get into the situation where trade barriers being raised in any directions." It is "natural and normal" for auto companies to enter foreign markets given that the Chinese auto industry is "fully developed" and at "eye level" with any other auto industry, said Kaellenius. Kaellenius attributes the economic and wealth growth over the last few decades in China to market opening-up, which has created "an investment friendly sentiment" and facilitated the Chinese to go out into the world. "If we go back in the other direction and start (to) increase protectionism, I fear that the result will be slower growth," among other consequences. Kaellenius called for clear rules of engagement and a level playing field for all market participants. He suggested that policymakers look at the opportunities "win-win and growing economic ties would actually lead to." This photo taken on March 20, 2024 shows the logo of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany. (Xinhua/Shan Weiyi) This photo taken on March 20, 2024 shows the logo of Mercedes-Benz at its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. (Xinhua/Shan Weiyi) There seems to be a reluctance in general to hold China to account for its abuses, says the head of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Photograph: Reuters The UK government has been too slow to respond to cyber-attacks by China, the head of an international group of parliamentarians focusing on the issue has said, ahead of expected new British sanctions against Beijing. Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, is expected to announce the sanctions in the Commons on Monday, after what the UK says have been cyber-attacks against MPs and peers, as well as one targeting the Electoral Commission in which Beijing allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters. Three MPs and a peer who have faced apparent hacking attempts will separately hold a press conference after being briefed by the director of security for the UK parliament. Related: GCHQ warns of fresh threat from Chinese state-sponsored hackers All four the Conservative MPs Iain Duncan Smith and Tim Loughton, the SNPs Stewart McDonald, and the crossbench peer David Alton are members of the the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), which groups together legislators from a number of countries, among them two dozen from the UK. Luke de Pulford, the executive director of Ipac, said on Monday that he was surprised British ministers had taken so long to respond, especially given that the Electoral Commission hack was first detected in 2022. With the cyber-attack taking place in 2021, and China only being linked to it now, indicates that the government was a little bit reluctant to say that China had actually done this, he told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. There seems to be a reluctance in general to hold China to account for its abuses, he said, adding that the UK had thus far imposed sanctions against some middle-level level officials in China over rights abuses in Xinjiang, but had failed to take similar action over Hong Kong, despite the UKs historical role with the territory. The United States sanctioned over 40 members of the government in Hong Kong, and the UK, even though we are the ones with a legal responsibility, have sanctioned zero, not one, he said. There was a need for more help for MPs targeted by Beijing. We need targeted sanctions on those responsible, but we also need support for members of parliament and those who are targeted by Beijing. This is pretty serious stuff. The junior energy minister Andrew Bowie refused to give any details about what actions Dowden might set out. You wouldnt expect me to be able to go into more detail on issues of national security, he told Sky News. Im sure well be hearing more in the course of the day from the relevant ministers and the relevant departments. However, he insisted the government would stop at nothing to protect Britons from cyber-attacks. He told LBC Radio: The fact is that this government has invested a lot of time, money and effort in ensuring that our cybersecurity capabilities are at the place they need to be. Weve increased the powers of our intelligence and security community to be able to deal with these threats. And we will stop at nothing to ensure that the British people, our democracy, our freedom of speech and our way of life is defended. He insisted that the government took a pragmatic approach to dealing with Beijing, amid reports that Chinas EVE Energy was set to invest in a battery plant in the West Midlands. We have to have a grown-up, pragmatic relationship with China. And that means looking at each of these investments in the round, on a case-by-case basis, ensuring that our security and our individual liberties and freedoms are not undermined by any of the investments that are under way. MPs and peers are thought to be among 43 people who the government looks set to confirm have been targeted by cyber-attacks backed by the Chinese state. The UK could impose sanctions on individuals believed to be involved in these acts of state-backed interference, including the attack on the Electoral Commission. US abstained from the vote - FAITH AKTAS/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES The Government faced a backlash from Tory MPs last night after the Britain helped pass the first UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, was challenged by four Conservative MPs behind closed doors at a 1922 committee meeting, The Telegraph understands. Some of those who spoke up questioned why the UK had been among the 14 out of 15 members on the UN Security Council to vote for the motion. The US had abstained. Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland secretary, said she was alarmed at Britains new position and asked if ceasefire calls were still conditional on the release of hostages. Theresa Villiers was one of the members who said she was 'alarmed' at Britain's position - GEOFF PUGH FOR THE TELEGRAPH Sir Michael Ellis, the former Tory attorney general, is understood to have pressed Lord Cameron on the UKs stance on the conflict, noting the Foreign Secretary was being praised by the Guardian. Lord Cameron is understood to have responded to criticism by arguing the UK had not changed its position and still wanted hostages released to bring about a long-term ceasefire. It came as Israel responded angrily to the US allowing the vote to pass by abstaining. Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the US for a clear departure from its policy on the war in Gaza, after it allowed the UN to pass the resolution . All previous motions for a ceasefire have been blocked by permanent members of the council, including a US-led motion last week that was blocked by Russia and China. In response to the vote Mr Netanyahu cancelled a trip by Israeli officials to Washington to discuss alternatives to his planned Rafah offensive, which the US opposes. Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages, Mr Netanyahu said. This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. John Kirby, the White Houses national security coordinator, said the Biden administration was disappointed the meetings would not go ahead. Were very disappointed that they will not be coming to Washington DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah, he said. He said the US had chosen to abstain because it hoped for a ceasefire in Gaza but would have preferred for the resolution to also condemn Hamas. Israel will not cease fire Mr Netanyahu also said that China and Russia had opposed the earlier ceasefire proposal because it was linked to the release of hostages. Yet today, Russia and China joined Algeria and others in supporting the new resolution precisely because it had no such linkage, he said. Russia had attempted to toughen the ceasefire call until the last minute of negotiations, attempting to change the language to demand a permanent halt to hostilities. Hamas welcomed the ceasefire vote and said it was ready to talk over a prisoner swap. In a statement posted on social media, the terror group said a pause in fighting was needed to bury our martyrs who have remained under the rubble for months. The resolution calls for a ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and release of hostages held by Hamas and the urgent need to expand the flow of aid into Gaza. Relations between Washington and the government of Mr Netanyahu have soured as the death toll has risen in Gaza. Joe Biden, the US president, has publicly called for Israel to cancel plans to launch a ground invasion of Rafah, in the south of Gaza. Israeli officials have refused, arguing that the offensive is necessary to eliminate Hamas. The UN resolution is not binding but increases pressure on Israel to end the war. In an angry tweet, Israels foreign minister said his country would not abide by the resolution. Israel will not cease the fire, Israel Katz said. We will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last hostage returns home. Lord Cameron faced questions from members of the 1922 committee in a meeting on Monday night - JAMES MANNING/PA Barbara Woodward, the UKs ambassador to the UN, said Britain would have preferred for the resolution to explicitly condemn Hamas. We regret that this resolution has not condemned the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October, she said. A Downing Street spokesman added: We have long called for an immediate humanitarian pause or temporary ceasefire leading to a sustainable ceasefire, which is what this resolution calls for, and that is why the UK voted in favour of it. We of course recognise that Israel continues to deal with the aftermath of the brutal attacks on 7 October and innocent hostages continue to be held by Hamas. Israel has a right to defend itself and ensure that such an attack can never happen again. But far too many Palestinian civilians are also being killed and a humanitarian catastrophe is a clear and present risk. This resolution sends a clear message on the need for all hostages to be released and for aid to be scaled up. It came as Mr Netanyahus government was facing a crisis over exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from conscription. Ministers were last night debating a law that would continue to allow the so-called Haredim to avoid national service. Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, said he could not support the law in its current form, amid growing demands for the Haredim to be brought into the army. Mr Netanyahus fragile coalition relies on support of hardline religious parties and the proposed law puts the prime minister in a bind - he must either disappoint his military leaders or the ultra-Zionist factions. Top left to right: Ni Gaobin; Weng Ming; and Cheng Feng. Bottom left to right: Peng Yaowen; Sun Xiaohui; Xiong Wang; and Zhao Guangzong The US government has released images of seven alleged Chinese hackers wanted on charges of infiltrating the communications of targets in Britain and America over a 14-year period. In a newly unsealed indictment, the Department of Justice (DoJ) accused the men of taking part in a state-sponsored hacking ring, known to US authorities as APT 31 or by the codename Violet Typhoon. The documents lay bare the scale of Chinas illicit incursion into Western public life, through the use of malicious emails designed to harvest data on their targets. The defendants, two of whom have also been sanctioned by the US Treasury, are: Ni Gaobin; Weng Ming; Cheng Feng; Peng Yaowen; Sun Xiaohui; Xiong Wang; and Zhao Guangzong. The Chinese embassy in London described the accusations of hacking by the UK as groundless and completely unfounded and said a serious demarche had been issued to British diplomats in response. The UKs hype-up of the so-called Chinese cyber attacks without basis and the announcement of sanctions is outright political manipulation and malicious slander, the embassy said. The UK falsely accused China of attempting to interfere with UK democracy. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. This is also a typical example of a thief crying catch thief. The men, aged between 34 and 38, are connected to Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science & Technology, a front company operated by an arm of the ministry of state security, the Chinese foreign intelligence agency. Since 2010, the unit has been tasked with what US government officials called a sinister scheme of computer intrusion activities on behalf of the Chinese government, mainly through email attacks on foreign targets. The hit list included US government departments, White House staff, China-sceptic British MPs and the UKs Electoral Commission. MPs Tim Loughton, Iain Duncan Smith and Stewart McDonald of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China hold a press conference on Monday. China is accused of targeting the three MPs - NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK The list also included members of Congress, including both Democrat and Republican senators, the United States Naval Academy and the United States Naval War Colleges China Maritime Studies Institute. The targets were selected in furtherance of the PRCs economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives of gathering information about potential threats abroad, and in violation of data privacy and computer misuse laws. Over a 14-year period, the hackers and Chinese intelligence operatives compromised the security of thousands of work and personal email addresses, cloud storage accounts and telephone call records, the DoJ said. The group operated by sending more than 10,000 emails to their targets, disguised as legitimate messages from journalists or news organisations and containing real news articles that were relevant to the recipient. Once opened, however, a hidden tracking link in the email would harvest the users location, IP address and device information and transmit it back to Wuhan for processing by the Chinese intelligence services. Using that information, APT 31 was able to access the email accounts and networks of the targets using so-called zero day exploits the manipulation of security bugs that manufacturers have not yet patched with software updates. The indictment released on Monday identifies the tactics used with each of the target groups, from US government officials to election campaign employees and the family members of possible targets. In 2021, the group began to hack the email accounts of British MPs connected to Ipac, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, after the group began publicly criticising China and the Chinese Communist Party. The hackers created 10 email accounts to send more than 1,000 emails to 400 people connected to Ipac, and received data back from the accounts of their targets. The targets included 43 parliamentary accounts and every member of Ipac in the EU. Joint sanctions The US and UK have announced joint sanctions on two members of the group, Zao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, and on the Chinese front company. These defendants were part of a Chinese government-sponsored hacking group, targeting US businesses and US political officials for intrusion for over a decade as part of a larger, malicious global campaign, said James Smith, the assistant director in charge of the FBIs New York field office. These charges are yet another example of hostile actions taken by the PRC to attack not only American businesses and infrastructure, but the security of our nation. In the UK, Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, said any hostile cyber activity directed towards UK parliamentarians was completely unacceptable. He said the two attacks demonstrated a clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signals hostile intent from China. APT 31, short for Advanced Persistent Threat 31, was first publicly identified in 2016 and is believed to have operated since 2010. Its most devastating attack came in 2021 when APT 31 and another state-backed group took advantage of a flaw in Microsofts email server system, Exchange, to steal personal data. Around 250,000 email servers were affected by the hack, including an estimated 7,000 in the UK. Victims of the attacks included the European Banking Authority and the Norwegian parliament, with the NCSC claiming that the hack enabled large-scale espionage. Cyber experts have described the group as highly skilled and sophisticated. On Monday, the Foreign Office said the sanctions against APT 31, as well as two individuals involved in the group, would freeze any UK-based assets and deny the individuals entry to Britain. Some parents see online harassment of girls as normal and even trivialise it, according to research. A study by online safety charity Internet Matters found 77% of girls aged 13 to 16 in the UK report digital experiences that are or may be harmful. One mother of a 15-year-old girl said in the report that dick pics are so standard its not noteworthy. The report concluded: What is truly surprising from this research is the fact that some parents, too, are coming to regard online harassment of girls as normal verging upon trivialising it. Such attitudes, the report says, mean some girls are being advised by their parents to ignore inappropriate or abusive approaches by boys and men rather than seek support. Internet Matters co-chief executive Carolyn Bunting said: The vast majority of parents are aware of their responsibility to support their children and are doing their best. But I am concerned that weve collectively lost sight of the fact that what is unacceptable offline should also be unacceptable online. The charity is calling for a public campaign to reset expectations about appropriate behaviour online, including targeted messaging aimed at males. It also wants to see Ofcom guidance instructing technology companies to combat online harassment. Elsewhere, the report did find 57% of girls aged 13 to 16 say they feel mostly happy when spending time online, believing social media encourages creativity and enables them to contact friends. Twelve in-depth interviews with teenage girls and parents were carried out from November 2023 to January 2024 by BMG Research for the So standard its not noteworthy: Teenage girls experiences of harm online report, which was published on Monday. A fresh arrest has been made over the murder of a Bristol woman 31 years ago, police have said. A 64-year-old man from Newcastle was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of Carol Clarks murder and bailed to return to police in June, pending further inquiries, Gloucestershire Police said. Ms Clark was 32 when she was strangled, her neck broken and her body dumped in reeds and undergrowth at the side of the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. She was last seen getting into a car in the Montpelier area of Bristol where she lived at about 11.30pm on Friday March 26 in 1993. She was wearing a black baseball cap, brown leather jacket, blue denim mini skirt, black polo-necked jumper and plain blue t-shirt at the time. Two days later, on Sunday March 28 1993, a dog walker found Carols body close to the water at Sharpness Docks. Gloucestershire Police launched a large-scale murder investigation after Ms Clarks body was found but despite extensive inquiries and reviews of the case, the murderer has remained at large. The case was reopened last year after Gloucestershire Constabulary officers working as part of the South West Major Crime Investigation team received new and significant information. A 66-year-old Gloucestershire man arrested on suspicion of murder last year in connection with the case also remains under investigation. Police issued a photo of an area close to the scene where the body of Carol Clark was discovered at Sharpness Docks (Gloucestershire Police/PA) Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Usher said: We remain committed to getting answers for Carols family. Im still asking people to come forward if they feel they may have information which could assist us. The location where Carol was found was overlooked by the Severn Way, and on the weekend she was discovered it was the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the British Waterways, so it would have been very busy, with foreign-registered vessels in the dock. Maybe you were there at the time but travelled back home without hearing about the case until now. Whatever the reason, if you were there and now recall something please report it. Carols family have been updated by police family liaison officers on this arrest and we ask that their privacy is respected at this time. The Princess Royal has paid her respects to those who lost their lives in the Lockerbie bombing which happened 35 years ago. On December 21 1988, a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 103 from Frankfurt to Detroit as it flew above the Dumfries and Galloway town, killing all 259 passengers and crew onboard. A further 11 people died on the ground as parts of the wreckage landed on homes in the town. Anne visited Dryfesdale cemetery and the visitor centre on the towns outskirts to remember those who lost their lives to the bombing. The wrecked nose section of the Pan-Am Boeing 747 lies in a field at Lockerbie (PA) She met officials from Dumfries and Galloway Council, as well as others involved in keeping the memory of those who lost their lives alive. She was joined by Fiona Armstrong, Lord Lieutenant of Dumfries. Ms Armstrong, also a newsreader and reporter, covered the bombing while working as a journalist. The princess was shown around the visitor centre and spoke those in attendance. The Princess Royal after laying a wreath at the Lockerbie Air Disaster Memorial (Andrew Milligan/PA) She signed the visitor guestbook and unveiled a small plaque created in honour of her visit to the site. Shortly afterwards, she walked through the graveyard to the official memorial for those who were killed as a result of the bombing, where she laid a special wreath signed by her in commemoration of the dead. Ahead of laying the wreath, Ms Armstrong said: I was there on that night and I saw first-hand how this town rallied, how it copes and has continued to cope over the decades. The Princess Royal at the Lockerbie Air Disaster Memorial (Andrew Milligan/PA) You could never be more proud of a community. A disaster like this can never be forgotten. So much grief, such senseless losses, 270 innocent lives, remembered here on this memorial, each and every name will never be forgotten. Lockerbies moto is forward, and we move together in hope. Your Royal Highness, your brother, now the King, came here following the disaster. Your mother, the late Queen; your father, the Duke of Edinburgh; also came here some years after to pay their respects. And how we are honoured to have you here today, as the Princess Royal, but we also ask you to lay a wreath, please, of remembrance. The late queen also laid a wreath at the memorial (Chris Bacon/PA) Former Libyan intelligence officer, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi remains the only person to have been convicted following the atrocity. He was found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001 and was imprisoned in Scotland. He was granted compassionate release in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer and returned to Libya where he died in 2012. Libyan Abu Agila Masud is alleged to have helped make the bomb. He is to go on trial in the US in May 2025 facing three charges which he denies. Production at a weapons plant in Northern Ireland has doubled, and is set to double again following Russias war in Ukraine. Thales UK operate two sites in the region with high precision missiles designed and produced at a plant in east Belfast, and final missile assembly at another plant in Crossgar, Co Down. It designs and produces missiles including Starstreak, Lightweight Multi-role Missile (LMM) systems as well as final assembly of the Saab designed NLAW. They have also trained UK and Ukraine soldiers in the south of England. A missile launcher at the Thales plant in east Belfast (Thales/PA) This is part of the French firm Thales Groups much wider operation in 68 countries across the globe which includes the manufacture of mobile phone SIM cards, cyber security, aerospace and security as well as defence systems. While various missile systems have been produced at the Belfast plant for decades ,they were last fired in anger during the Falklands War in 1982. They were deployed as deterrents in conflicts since, including the Gulf war and Afghanistan. Starstreak was also used to protect the 2012 London Olympic Games and will be used again at the Paris 2024 Olympic this summer as a deterrent. However since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in February 2022, production of missiles has ramped up and the conflict has seen the missiles fired by Ukrainians fighters. Starstreak, LMM and Saab NLAWs already procured from Thales by the UK Ministry of Defence were sent to Ukraine as aid. Missiles manufactured at the Thales plant in east Belfast (Thales/PA) Thales is currently replacing that UK military stock. Thales UK chief executive officer Alex Cresswell described the 40-year gap in the missiles being fired in anger as an illustration of how effective a deterrent the weapons are. Thats almost the very definition of conventional deterrents, a good illustration of why people wont fight you because youre prepared to have a fight, its a pretty good one, he told the PA news agency. Just the deployment of these weapons in Afghanistan made a difference to whether people decided to fly or not. He said previously the last order for the systems from the Ministry of Defence was in 2010-12, but the firm carried on making them for the export market. Thales globally also makes a range of items including 90% of the SIM cards in peoples phones and its customers range from governments to institutions, cities and private enterprises. Chief executive officer and chairman of Thales UK Alex Cresswell (Thales/PA) However missiles are only sold to governments and under a licence secured from the UK for any goods for military use being exported from the UK. The whole economics of it only really makes sense if youre also exporting. If you rely only on the demand of one client you cant possibly run a business on that basis, he said. The fact that they have now been used in anger means that the demand for them is going through the roof because all of a sudden everybody wants them, ironically, so that they dont have to use them. Since just before the invasion of Ukraine up to this year, just a little over two years, factory outputs have doubled. Its doubled to the most this factory has produced in living memory. And then in the next couple of years it will double again. After that I dont think (demand) will depend on world events because everyone has empty cupboards so people will fill their cupboards up I suspect, irrespective of what is going on, and appear to be making efforts to do so. If (demand) relied on conflict, it would always be too late. Conflict is much more likely if youre not prepared for it because if youre prepared for it, people wont take you on. I see what we do, on balance by preparing for conflict, making it less likely. Mr Cresswell said the plant in east Belfast was its best kept secret during Northern Irelands conflict. Ive been coming here since the mid 1990s and have always believed in this place, and it was all through the Troubles our best kept secret, nobody really knew what we did here, then there was a war in Ukraine and everybody knows, and it becomes an industrial tourist location but its the same place, he said. Up to 40,000 children in Scotland could be lifted out of poverty over the next year if the UK made changes to Universal Credit, Scotlands Social Justice Secretary has said. Shirley-Anne Somerville claimed that would be the impact if Westminster took key steps to reform the payment, including abolishing the two-child cap on payments and introducing a so-called essentials guarantee which would aim to ensure everyone on the benefit has sufficient cash to cover basic living costs. Ms Somerville urged reform as she called on Westminster to adopt the rights-based approach to social security that she said is taken by the Scottish Government. Holyroods Social Justice Secretary also said the UK Government should replicate the Scottish Child Payment, which goes weekly to eligible low income families for each child they have. With initiatives like this in place, Ms Somerville who is in London on Monday to hear about the experiences of tackling poverty there said the Scottish Government had been ambitious and shown leadership. She stated: Modelling estimates that 100,000 fewer children will live in poverty in 2024-25 as a result of the Scottish Governments policies. The UK Government must follow the example of our rights-based approach to social security, which is making a real difference across Scotland, and UK ministers should also look to replicate our game-changing Scottish Child Payment across the UK. Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville called on Westminster to adopt some of the policies brought in in Scotland to tackle poverty (Jane Barlow/PA) She added: It is estimated that the UK Government could lift 40,000 children out of poverty in Scotland in 2024-25 if they took key steps to reform Universal Credit, including by introducing an essentials guarantee and abolishing the two-child limit. During her visit to London, Ms Somerville will meet representatives of the Feathers Association charity, which works with children and young people, to hear about its experiences of tackling poverty. She will go on to tell economists and policy experts about efforts in Scotland to create a social security system based on the principles of dignity, fairness and respect, A spokesperson for the UK Department for Work and Pensions said: We recognise the last few years have been tough which is why we have provided one of the biggest cost-of-living support packages in Europe, preventing 1.3 million people in the UK from falling into poverty in 2022-23, and were also going further in April by uprating benefits and pensions to support millions of people on the lowest incomes. Work is the best route out of poverty, and since 2010 we have reduced the number of workless households by one million while our 2.5 billion Back to Work Plan will help thousands, including in Scotland, to find and stay in work while becoming more financially secure. Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants the UK to lead the world on floating offshore wind, which he confirmed will be the priority of a Labour governments publicly-owned clean energy company. On a visit to North Wales with new First Minister Vaughan Gething on Monday, the Labour leader said GB Energy will put in the money in floating wind farms to ensure private investors come in behind us. The Tories have attacked Labours plan as unfunded, though Sir Keir branded the claims as unpatriotic. Labour has already announced that GB Energy, a new state-owned company with an initial 8.3 billion budget to invest in clean homegrown power and make Britain energy secure, will be headquartered in Scotland. Speaking to the BBC in Holyhead, Sir Keir said: I think its (floating offshore wind) going to be one of the main drivers for the future. I think theres a reason we should make it a priority in the UK because weve got the skills, the infrastructure, weve got a track record when it comes to static offshore wind. And look, frankly, some country in the world is going to get ahead on this, and lead and I want that to be the UK which is why weve made it a priority, and said today that GB Energy will be investing in it. Thats a huge decision because that will ensure that private investors come in behind us and it gives us scope then to also link it with our plan for ports infrastructure. Making sure we get the ports of the future, and the British jobs bonus, so that the jobs go with the technology. So I think its great future here weve got ambition here for this to be a big significant part of our renewables by 2030. Fantastic to be here in Wales today with Vaughan, Ed and Jo as we set out our plan for GB Energy clean homegrown power that will turbocharge jobs and growth across Britain. Labour will take back control of our national energy security. pic.twitter.com/8Cc3OgLHzD Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 25, 2024 This is a bit of evidence as to how serious we are. These are conversations that I want to have now, rather than after the election so that we can hit the ground running. Sir Keir was visiting the port alongside shadow environment minister Ed Miliband and shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens. Ms Stevens said the money needed to launch GB Energy will be sourced from a 78% windfall tax on oil and gas producers. She told Times Radio Breakfast that Labour would also be borrowing to invest, not borrowing to binge in raising the funds needed for the exciting, bold and ambitious plan. She said the Conservatives had crashed the economy with short-sighted decisions. Ms Stevens added: Weve had no industrial strategy in this country for 14 years under the Tories. The Great British Energy company was described by Ms Stevens as a network of jobs and infrastructure that will be built to last. Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said: Sir Keir Starmers energy promise is a race to the bottom that will put Britains energy security at risk. Despite industry sounding the alarm, Labour are happy to send jobs abroad and sacrifice investment for the sake of ideology. Labour have doubled down on their unfunded 2030 spending promise which now experts calculate would cost far more than 28 billion. Labour cannot say how they would pay for it because they do not have a plan, taking people back to square one with higher taxes. Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives will stick to the plan, growing the economy whilst reaching net zero in a pragmatic and responsible way that doesnt saddle families with extra costs. Chinese spies are likely to use details stolen by hacking the elections watchdog to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinpings government in the UK, British intelligence services believe. Beijing has been publicly blamed by the UK Government for targeting the Electoral Commission and also being behind a campaign of online reconnaissance aimed at the email accounts of MPs and peers. A front company, Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, and two individuals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, linked to the APT31 hacking group have been sanctioned in response to the malicious cyber activity against the parliamentarians. Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said the actions were completely unacceptable and he had raised the issue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. The Chinese ambassador has also been summoned to the Foreign Office to account for his countrys actions. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, who announced the measures in a Commons statement, said: The UK will not tolerate malicious cyber activity targeting our democratic institutions. The Electoral Commission attack was identified in October 2022 but the hackers had been able to access the commissions systems containing the details of tens of millions of voters for more than a year by that point. Hostile actors were active in our systems and had access to servers which held our email, control systems, and copies of the electoral registers. We have since worked with external security experts and the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate and secure our systems. Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) August 8, 2023 The registers held at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, said it was likely that Chinese state-affiliated hackers stole emails and data from the electoral register. This, in combination with other data sources, was highly likely to have been used by Beijings intelligence services for large-scale espionage and transnational repression of perceived dissidents and critics based in the UK. There is no suggestion the hack had any impact on the largely paper-based UK electoral system. Oliver Dowden making a statement in the Commons that Beijing is behind a wave of state-backed interference (UK Parliament/Andy Bailey) John Pullinger, chair of the Electoral Commission, said the announcement demonstrates the international threats facing the UKs democratic process and its institutions but insisted the attack had not had an impact on the security of UK elections. The separate campaign against MPs and peers in 2021 was almost certainly carried out by APT31, officials said, with the majority of those targeted being prominent critics of the Chinese government. Parliaments security department identified and mitigated the cyber campaign before any accounts could be compromised, the NCSC said. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), said critics of the Beijing government have been subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time, but MPs would not be bullied into silence by Beijing. He added: We must now enter a new era of relations with China, dealing with the contemporary Chinese Communist Party as it really is, not as we would wish it to be. Todays announcement should mark a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for values of human rights and the international rules-based system on which we all depend. Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: It is completely unacceptable that China state-affiliated organisations and individuals have targeted our democratic institutions and political processes. While these attempts to interfere with UK democracy have not been successful, we will remain vigilant and resilient to the threats we face. Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron (PA) The UK acted with support from allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership, which also includes the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in identifying the Chinese-linked cyber campaigns. Mr Dowden said: I hope this statement helps to build wider awareness of how politicians and those involved in our democratic processes around the world are being targeted by state-sponsored cyber operations. The Chinese government strongly denied that it had carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing the claims as completely fabricated and malicious slanders. A spokesperson for Chinas embassy in London said: China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to law. China does not encourage, support or condone cyber attacks. At the same time, we oppose the politicisation of cyber security issues and the baseless denigration of other countries without factual evidence. We urge the relevant parties to stop spreading false information and stop their self-staged, anti-China political farce. With local elections in May and a general election later this year, the NCSC has updated advice for political organisations including parties and thinktanks to reduce the risk of cyber attacks. Home Secretary James Cleverly insisted the upcoming elections were robust and secure. NCSC director of operations Paul Chichester said: The malicious activities we have exposed today are indicative of a wider pattern of unacceptable behaviour we are seeing from China state-affiliated actors against the UK and around the world. The targeting of our democratic system is unacceptable and the NCSC will continue to call out cyber actors who pose a threat to the institutions and values that underpin our society. The APT31-linked front organisation and individuals will be hit with an asset freeze and travel ban under the sanctions regime. The announcement increased Tory pressure on Rishi Sunak to take a tougher line on China, including labelling it as a threat to the UK. On a visit to Barrow on Monday morning, the Prime Minister repeated the language used in the Governments integrated review of defence and foreign policy: Weve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. The city of Rosario, Argentina, is reeling in an atmosphere of vulnerability and insecurity amid the threat of drug gangs killing civilians indiscriminately. Although the leaders of most drug gangs are imprisoned, they continue to give orders to those outside the cells and control their actions as if they were still at large. In the last month alone, three taxi drivers in this city have been killed by hit men. Then a trolley bus driver, and days later a 25-year-old gas station worker. The ordinary citizen knows that the bullet can hit anyone. There is no security in the streets. There are no guarantees for the protection of civil society. This story has been going on for a long time according Pastor Jose Luis Urso, coordinator of the Rosario Pastors' Council. He serves as a local spokesman for the media and explains how the evangelical church is providing aid in the absence of the state. But that is not enough, he says. Rosario has been paralyzed by fear in the face of this new wave of violence. Demands and protests of the citizens have not been able to break the terror that organized crime has implanted in recent weeks. Instead, the drug groups have united to issue threats to the people of the city and will try to carry them out. Amid the situation, the Association of Psychoanalysis of Rosario (APR) issued a statement entitled "Manifesto in the Face of Terror" to express its position against "cowardly terrorism." "In the last few days, the city of Rosario and its inhabitants have been victims of terrorist acts that show a total disregard for life and a clear intention to create a state of horror and stupor in the people, transforming the ordinary citizen into a mere object to carve messages for third parties in blood and fire," reads the text published by the APR. Lisandro Leoni, a local journalist, told the national media that "the drug gangs act with the collusion of the police. And he said that "we have been analyzing this phenomenon for 20 years, we have been looking for different voices to try to find a solution, but it does not come. The political leadership never rises to the occasion. All the criminal gangs in the city of Rosario are a mixture of civilians and police. If there are no police in the gangs, there is police complicity or economic retaliation, everything has a price, they are bought. Today we can say that most of the leaders of the major drug gangs in Rosario are behind bars, but they continue to operate." Pastor Urso told Christian Daily International that the city "nowadays is suffering the attacks of narco-terrorism where the enemy seems 'invisible' and attacks anyone without warning." And he added that "this is the product, among other things, of the disintegration of the family, bad social policies and above all the corruption in the government that preceded the one that is currently in power and that has promised to restore the social order. Such new policies provoke a reaction of the gangs, which, not being able to sustain the power they had, started to act against the people, even those who have no connection with these mafias at all." The evangelical Church joining every effort in prayer and action Speaking about the influence of the evangelical church, he explained that "the most novel part is that we began to participate as a Council of Pastors in all efforts of those groups that seek to bring peace to the city, such as the Economic and Social Council, Interreligious Dialogue Table, Multisectoral for Peace, among others. There, we have the opportunity to contribute with our experience and be part of the creation of plans for preventing violence in all its forms, addictions, and other issues. We are always invited to participate in these spaces, an opportunity that we never disregard and that allows us to reach places with the Gospel that were unthinkable at other times." Some 38 years ago, the Church of Rosario established a fellowship among all evangelical denominations, strengthened by the formation of the Council of Pastors, which was created to unite efforts in evangelism, cooperation, and outreach of the Church in the city. The coordinator of the Council of Pastors pointed out that "in every city, the Church is like a significant social thermometer, as it is present throughout the territory and its contact with the people allows it to see the realities that are emerging at different times, often before the state itself." Urso attended a meeting with the Mayor of Rosario Pablo Javkin and the Governor of the Province of Santa Fe Maximiliano Pullaro. It was a meeting to provide detailed information about the latest security measures agreed between the three levels of the State to face the recent acts of violence suffered by the city that today is completely paralyzed, just as it was in the first weeks of the Covid pandemic in 2019. "There is not a soul in the street!" a magazine stall vendor told Christian Daily International. On March 15, there was a call for a joint prayer initiated by the Pastors' Council of Rosario. It was originally planned to be held at the National Flag Monument, but finally had to be moved to the Convention Center of the Evangelical Missionary Church of Argentina due to weather conditions. Pastors gathered to pray for specific topics such as the city overall, the people suffering due to addictions, the families, the government authorities, and the delicate situation in which the city is immersed. Government authorities such as the vice governor of the province Gisela Scaglia and the province representatives Carlos Bermudez and Walter Ghione were there. Also attending were the president of the Evangelical Christian Alliance of the Argentine Republic (ACIERA) Pastor Christian Hooft and its executive director Pastor Jorge Gomez. Originally published by Diario Cristiano Virgin Atlantic has named a plane in honour of founder Sir Richard Branson to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its first flight. The airline announced its new Airbus A330neo aircraft has been named Ruby Rebel and has the registration G-VSRB. The carrier said artwork depicting a woman on the jets nose is inspired by Sir Richard and the rebellious spirit thats always driven Virgin Atlantic to do things differently. Sir Richard Branson promoting Virgin Atlantic in 1984 (PA) Her features are influenced by the billionaire entrepreneurs daughter, Holly Branson, and the image has nods to Sir Richards career, such as Virgin Records pin badges on the jacket, a Virgin Galactic rocket on the belt buckle and a Virgin Voyages anchor on a boot. Virgin Atlantics first flight operated from London Gatwick to New York on June 22 1984. Sir Richard said: When starting Virgin Atlantic, I went against everyones advice and on paper they were right. They knew wed be a tiny airline against much bigger players. But my attitude is that if you can create something thats better than what everybody else is offering, then you have a chance of succeeding. Virgin Atlantic was created to provide a bright red, fun, friendly, fabulous choice that made flying better for everyone. We worked out in 1984 all the things we could do differently, from our planes, our clubhouses, our in-flight experience and most importantly our people. Now, 40 years later that rebellious spirit lives on and will continue to drive us forward as we shake up the aviation industry for the next 40 years and beyond. The tail of the new plane (Virgin Atlantic/PA) Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss said: Forty years ago, Virgin Atlantic flew our first customers between London and New York offering something different and realising our purpose to ensure everyone can take on the world. As we gear up to mark our ruby anniversary in June, its an opportunity to look ahead to the next 40 years. So much has changed, but the one thing thats remained constant is our incredible people and their unique red spirit, the red thread that keeps us flying miles above the rest. It all started with Richard on 22 June 1984, a pioneer with a vision to shake up the travel industry, putting people first and giving customers a choice. Ruby Rebel embodies the rebellious spirit thats always driven us to do things differently. And, the best is yet to come. Sir Richards Virgin Group owns 51% of Virgin Atlantic, with the remaining 49% owned by Delat Air Lines. Giant salamanders, one of the worlds largest frogs and turtles with heads too big for their shells are among the creatures with a new home at London Zoo. The new secret life of reptiles and amphibians exhibit opens to the public on March 29, housing more than 30 species, including critically endangered wildlife and some which are highly unusual and distinct from any other animals. It replaces the old reptile house at London Zoo, and hosts some of the worlds stranger and lesser known creatures, supporting their conservation, captive breeding programmes and research that could help wildlife in the wild, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said. A crocodile lizard at London Zoos new reptiles and amphibians exhibit (Jonathan Brady/PA) For the first time, visitors will be able to see the zoos group of mountain chicken frogs, which were airlifted to safety from their Caribbean home in 2009 in a last-ditch bid to save the species from extinction due to a killer fungus. They are kept in a biosecure unit to protect them from disease, with sterilised soil and plants dipped in dilute bleach solution, before being placed in the enclosure and staff changing their clothes before working with them. Also among the residents of the exhibit are two Chinese giant salamanders, the worlds largest amphibians, which were rescued from being smuggled in a cereal box in 2016, before coming to live in the zoo. It is hoped the critically endangered animals will breed if, as the keepers think likely, they are a male and female. Some 16 of the creatures in the exhibit are Edge species which means they have few evolutionary relatives and are often extremely unusual in their genetic make-up and the way they look, live and behave. They include the crocodile lizard, which has no more that 1,000 individuals in the wild in southern China and northern Vietnam, and the big-headed turtle, which has a large head it cannot retract into its shell. A turquoise dwarf gecko, one of the species threatened by the pet trade (Jonathan Brady/PA) Four adult big-headed turtles came to the zoo in 2018, having been confiscated after being smuggled in Canada, and seven youngsters were born in 2021, making London Zoo the first European zoo to breed them. Amphibian and reptile species are threatened by habitat loss and being caught for meat and the pet trade, while amphibians in particular are at risk from disease such as chytrid fungus which all but wiped out mountain chicken frogs. The team at ZSL say having animals in their care means they are able to research and learn about their lives and behaviour in ways that can help their survival in the wild. For example, they are carrying out analysis of their Ethiopian mountain adders to see if the patterns on the snakes are stable, and if so could be used as identifiers of individual snakes which would support monitoring and conservation in the wild. The secret life of reptiles and amphibians building has been designed to meet the needs of each of its 33 species, with different climate controlled zones, and staff checking temperatures, water quality and humidity on a daily basis. It also gives visitors a glimpse into some of the behind-the-scenes breeding and animal care areas. Two year old Kaiyan Tapley reaches out towards a Vietnamese pond turtle, one of the most threatened species of reptile on Earth (Jonathan Brady/PA) Dr Ben Tapley, curator of the exhibit, said they had developed a facility that could provide for threatened species and improve breeding success. He added: It is showcasing things that are completely different from ourselves and making people see species in a new light. All of these animals are quirky, theyre weird-looking, theyre completely different from anything else, and each one of them has a unique story. He said the survival of some species such as the mountain chicken frog is dependent on the captive populations. Very little is known about other species, and by having them in the zoos care, staff could address knowledge gaps that would help with their conservation. Dr Tapley said it was easy to get funding for large charismatic animals, but they were not always the most threatened. In the creatures in the new exhibit, the zoo had excellent ambassadors for raising awareness and support for highly threatened reptiles and amphibians, he said. I hope by telling the stories of some of these lesser known animals, we can get greater support for their conservation, he said. Jess Tierney, who had a stroke at 29 and is pictured with her family, now hopes to raise awareness that strokes can affect anyone. (PA) (PA) A woman, who had stroke aged 29, says she feels lucky to be alive after worrying she was being "dramatic" about her symptoms. Jess Tierney, from Runcorn in Cheshire, started experiencing shoulder pain while driving to work one morning in February earlier this year, but put it down to a strain from her pole fitness class. Later that day, while she was on her lunch break, Tierney developed a headache and her mouth and tongue went numb on one side. "I was eating my dinner and started developing a headache in my temples, Tierney, who works in teaching for recruitment explains. "I took some paracetamol but it wouldnt go away. At about 2.30pm, I collapsed. It was a good job I wasnt at home alone." Paramedics initially put her symptoms down to a panic attack or Bells palsy a temporary paralysis of muscles in the face, but a CT scan at hospital revealed a blood clot with a further scan, at 8pm, revealing a blockage in the brain. By then, Tierney says she was "outside the window" for a treatment called thrombolysis, which disperses a clot, as this needs to be given within four-and-a-half hours of stroke symptoms first appearing. Another treatment, known as a thrombectomy, surgically removes blood clots from the artery. They are usually performed within six hours of stroke symptoms appearing, but the window can be extended to 24 hours in selected patients. "At this point, Id been told I had a clot on my brain so I was quite scared," Tierney explains. Jess Tierney in hospital with her sons after her stroke. (PA) (PA) Speaking of the moment she was told she had had a stroke she adds: "I went into shock and got a bit upset. I still havent really processed it now, to be honest." Tierney was transferred to The Walton Centre, a specialist neurology facility at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, where the mum-of-two eventually underwent vital surgery to remove the blood clot at the nearby facility. In October 2021, The Walton Centre became the first facility in the North West to offer thrombectomies to stroke patients 24/7 and it has since carried out almost 400 procedures. Tierney says Dr Souhyb Masri, a consultant interventional neuroradiologist at the centre said the thrombectomy would be the best outcome for her as she was just 29. "I could have died or it could have been life-changing," she says of her stroke experience. "Its actually quite scary to think if it [The Walton Centre] wasnt on my doorstep what would have happened." Following surgery, Tierney spent six days in hospital before being sent home to recover. "When I woke up I couldnt really feel my right side," she says. "Im managing it better now and adapting your my life around that. "I have physio about three to four times a week. I have to use a walking stick and can do a few steps, but then I have to use a wheelchair." Jess Tierney, 29, was treated by Dr Souhyb Masri, a consultant interventional neuroradiologist at The Walton Centre. (The Walton Centre/PA) (PA) According to the NHS, you are more likely to have a stroke if you are over 55, although one in five occurs in younger people. Tierney says she had none of the traditional risk factors for stroke as she was a healthy weight, stayed fit and did not smoke. She is now hoping to raise awareness that strokes can affect people of any age. "Youre never too young to have a stroke," she says. "If you get constant headaches like I used to just get checked. Better to be safe than sorry." Following the stroke, Tierney has also been told she has a hole in her heart. "Because Im young to have had a stroke, Im not overweight, Im fit and healthy, they checked everything," she explains. "They did a test where they put a camera down my throat and found it. "They think the clot was in my blood, has gone to my heart, through the hole and to my brain." Tierney's husband David, 39, is now hoping to raise funds for The Walton Centre by climbing Mount Snowdon in Wales, alongside the families of other stroke victims. She hopes she can get involved in fundraising for the centre in the future. "Thats my goal," she says. Dr Masri adds: "Whenever someone experiences a stroke, getting it treated in the right way quickly is of paramount importance. Jess having the procedure means she can rehabilitate as best she can, and Im confident she will continue to recover well." What are the symptoms of a stroke? To help detect the medical emergency, follow the FAST test: Facial weakness: Can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye dropped? Arm weakness: Can the person raise both arms? Speech problems: Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say? Time to call 999: If you see any of these signs This can help to spot the three most common symptoms of stroke, but there are other serious signs to have on your radar too: Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body, including legs, hands or feet Difficulty finding words or speaking in clear sentences Sudden blurred vision or loss of sight in one or both eyes Sudden memory loss or confusion, and dizziness or a sudden fall A sudden, severe headache Additional reporting PA. Stroke: Read more Watch: Microplastics in blood linked with stroke, heart attack and early death, study finds Sheriff's deputies seized 18 dead frozen puppies Friday from a home in rural Oregon that investigators believe were used to feed the homeowner's pet snakes, authorities said. The Columbia County Sheriffs Office obtained a search warrant last week for the property north of Portland after the agency was tipped off about a resident freezing litters of puppies for snake food, according to a news release. The frozen bodies of the 18 puppies investigators found during the search were transported to the Oregon Humane Society to determine how the animals died, the sheriff's office said. Riley Strain: Preliminary autopsy results reveal death to be 'accidental,' police say Deputies with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office reported seizing 18 dead frozen puppies Friday from a rural home in Portland, Oregon that investigators believe were used to feed the homeowner's pet snakes. Kingsnake turned over to wildlife department The search took place Friday at a rural property in Goble, an unincorporated community 40 miles north of Portland. In addition to the frozen puppies, investigators also reported finding several snakes at the home, one of which was turned over to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The snake that the wildlife department seized was identified as a common kingsnake, which is native to southwest Oregon and illegal to possess because it is classified as protected wildlife, ODFW spokesperson Beth Quillian told USA TODAY. The snake is likely to either be given to an accredited zoo or to stay with the ODFW for educational purposes, Quillian added. "The illegal capture, breeding, and trafficking of wildlife is an ongoing issue and people should always do their homework as to what species are legal to own in the state in which they reside, regardless of the reputability of a seller," Quillian said in a statement. The humane society did not return a message Monday to USA TODAY seeking information on whether a cause of death for the puppies has since been determined. District attorney to consider charges The sheriff's office did not announce any arrests in its news release and did not immediately return USA TODAY's message Monday seeking any updates on the investigation. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told KOIN that the Columbia County District Attorney Joshua Pond's office is considering charges. When reached Monday by USA TODAY, Pond said the incident is still being investigated and no charges have yet been filed. "We are taking this matter very seriously and such behavior simply cannot be allowed or tolerated," Pond said in a statement. "I trust both my office and our local law enforcement to build a case that will effectively prosecute the offender for their actions." Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 18 frozen puppies used to feed pet snakes found in Oregon: sheriff Two suspects in connection to the deadly Moscow concert hall terrorist attack appeared in the citys district court Sunday night. The Associated Press (AP) reported that two of the suspects in the concert hall shooting that left more than 130 people dead on Friday appeared in the Basmanny District Court on Sunday night. The AP reported a heavy police presence around the court, which is expected to determine pretrial restrictions for the two men suspected of opening fire on the attendees at Crocus City Hall. The news service noted that one of the suspects was blindfolded while walking into the courthouse. It was revealed he had a black eye after the blindfold was removed. Russian authorities arrested four suspects Saturday and detained an additional seven people on suspicions with involvement in the attack. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for Fridays attack with U.S. agencies confirming it. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson confirmed the Islamic State was responsible in a statement reported by AP. ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever, Watson said. She also said on social media that the U.S. had warned Russian about a potential terrorist attack earlier this month. The U.S. Embassy in Russia warned extremists were planning an attack in Moscow and urged U.S. citizens to avoid large gatherings, including concerts. Earlier this month, the U.S. Government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts which prompted the State Department to issue a public advisory to Americans in Russia, she said. Russia observed a national day of mourning on Sunday for the victims of the attack which left at least 137 people dead and another 154 people reported injured. The Associated Press contributed reporting For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Police in south Texas are investigating after a missing 8-year-old girl was found dead over the weekend in a pool pipe at a Houston-area hotel. A Houston Police Department spokesperson confirmed the girl died Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel on the citys northwest side. The hotel is on U.S. Highway 290 about 14 miles from downtown Houston. Officers responded to the location about 5:45 p.m. Saturday after the family reported the child missing. According to a news release from police, homicide division detectives reported that before she died, the girl had been swimming with her family in "a lazy river style swimming pool" at the hotel. 17-year-old dies in sheriff's office: Teen grabs deputy's firearm then allegedly shoots herself inside LA sheriff's office lobby Girl's body found inside large pipe in the pool area Later that day, about 11:30 p.m., police said, the girl's body was found "inside a large pipe in the pool area." Local KTRK -TV reported her body was found after a search crew reviewed security footage and watched her go under and not resurface. The outlet reported the search crew drained the pool, sent a camera about 20 feet into one of the pools pipes and found the girl's body. Arriving paramedics, police said, pronounced the girl dead at the scene. Slaying at Illinois Walmart: Walmart employee fatally stabbed in store, suspect charged with murder Girl who drowned identified as Aliyah Jaico The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science identified the girl as Aliyah Jaico. According to the office, Aliyah's preliminary cause of death was "drowning and mechanical asphyxia," and her death appeared to be the result of an accident. Police said officers were awaiting official autopsy results. Anyone with information about the drowning was asked to contact Houston police. The case remained under investigation on Monday. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 8-year-old girl's body found in Houston DoubleTree hotel pool pipe Demand for data centers is expected to grow as companies use AI, fueling a need for nonrenewable energy sources. Jason Marz/Getty Images AI is driving a massive demand for electricity. Despite earlier commitments, some executives now say clean energy may not meet AI's growing needs. That could force AI companies to rely more on fossil fuels than they hoped. AI is driving a dramatic new need for electricity, and while tech execs have long trumpeted their commitment to a green energy future, the urgency of that need presents them with a difficult path forward. Questions about fueling the AI boom took center stage earlier this month at the CERAWeek by S&P Global, The Wall Street Journal reported. The annual energy conference draws thousands of executives to Houston to discuss topics ranging from geopolitics to the energy transition. No one knows how much electricity will be needed to power the AI boom. AI requires massive computing power and energy loads and has triggered an explosion of data centers. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates said at the conference that the amount of power AI is bound to consume is mind-blowing. "You go, 'Oh, my God, this is going to be incredible,'" Gates reportedly said. ChatGPT alone uses more than 17,000 times more electricity than the average US household daily. The concern among tech execs is that the energy demands of AI will surpass the capacities of clean sources. Wind and solar power aren't reliable because they're subject to changes in weather. While nuclear facilities take years to build, so they aren't a viable option when companies need power immediately. "Tech is not going to wait 7 to 10 years to get this infrastructure built," Toby Rice, the CEO of natural gas producer EQT, said in an interview with the Journal. "That leaves you with natural gas." At the conference, Rice said he was repeatedly asked two questions: "How fast can you guys move? How much gas can we get?" The problem is all the more pressing given the Biden administration's goals for lowering carbon emissions a byproduct of burning coal and natural gas that exacerbate the climate crisis. Last April, Biden set an ambitious target for the power sector to be carbon-neutral by 2035 and for the US economy to be net-zero by 2050. Some executives were adamant that the dramatic growth in AI wouldn't impede the clean energy transition. "We're going to be net-zero by 2050. We still absolutely believe that," said Robert Blue, the CEO of Dominion Energy, the Journal reported. "But the demand growth now makes that more complicated." Blue said his company was building at least one new natural gas plant to meet demand for data centers. Read the original article on Business Insider Israeli military sources are now beginning to call the Israel Defense Forces' weeklong raid on Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, one of the "single largest and most successful" operations in the nearly six-month war with Hamas. The IDF launched an operation at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza on Monday, claiming "senior Hamas terrorists" were using the hospital, located in Gaza City, to "conduct and promote terrorist activity." PHOTO: A picture shows smoke billowing after Israeli bombardment in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on March 23, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (AFP via Getty Images) The Israeli military said it has detained more than 800 men and that about 480 of them are Hamas or Islamic Jihad members. Special intelligence units have begun to interrogate some of them, and those who were found not to be affiliated with militant groups were released, according to the IDF. Israeli officials have said more than 140 Hamas terrorists have been killed throughout the course of the operation. IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Thursday the operation at Al-Shifa would go on "for some days." MORE: Israeli military warns Gazans to evacuate Al-Shifa Hospital as raid continues The IDF did not release video Sunday from the hospital, but in recent days released footage of food and water being delivered by special units to the roughly 3,000 civilians estimated to be sheltering in the hospital, according to the IDF and Palestinian health officials. People near the area were purportedly being told to leave as reports emerged of some buildings in the vicinity of the complex being detonated. At least 3,000 Gazans remain trapped at Al-Shifa with limited food and water due to the siege, according to hospital officials. However, an Israeli official said militants are holed up inside the hospital and that rather than send in troops, the military is calling for them to surrender. PHOTO: Palestinian woman Nozha Awad flees Al Shifa hospital following an Israeli raid with her triplet children, moving southward in the central Gaza Strip, March 21, 2024. (Ramadan Abed/Reuters) Telecommunications are down near the hospital, but families who managed to flee the hospital arrived Sunday in central Gaza -- some of them in tattered sandals and some others too overcome to talk. One family was filmed telling a local reporter there were explosions everywhere, and that "the walls fell on us, we are from the Shifa complex ... and this child," said the woman gesturing to an infant wrapped in a blanket in her arms, "was under the doors." She said there are dead "beneath the rubble, there are burning houses -- they are demolishing them over people's heads." MORE: Famine is 'imminent' in northern Gaza, with many facing 'catastrophic' levels of hunger: Report Israel has said it has not conducted targeted attacks against hospitals and claims Hamas misuses hospitals -- operating inside and underneath them in tunnels and using them as command centers, as well as to store weapons. The IDF has released videos it claims are evidence of Hamas operations. Hamas denies the accusations. The IDF has said it is only targeting Hamas and other militants in Gaza and alleges that Hamas deliberately shelters behind civilians, which the group denies. PHOTO: Smoke rises above buildings during Israeli bombardment as people fleeing the Al-Shifa hospital compound and its vicinity in Gaza City, reach the central part of the Gaza Strip on March 21, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images) Hamas carried out an unprecedented incursion from Gaza into southern Israel by air, land and sea on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage, according to Israeli authorities. More than 31,400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 72,000 others have been injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, amid Israel's ongoing ground operations and aerial bombardment of the strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. This is not the first time Israeli forces have raided the Al-Shifa medical complex during the war with Hamas. An operation also occurred in November, with IDF soldiers claiming they found weapons and a tunnel complex at the hospital. Prior to the current raid, international organizations had said Al-Shifa was in a "dire" situation. Al-Shifa Hospital raid one of the 'single largest' operations in the war: Israeli military sources originally appeared on abcnews.go.com A Ballad Health sign is seen outside Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn. Tuesday, May 7, 2019. In the small Appalachian city of Bristol, Virginia, City Council member Neal Osborne left a meeting on the morning of Jan. 3 and rushed himself to the hospital. Osborne, 36, has Type 1 diabetes. His insulin pump had malfunctioned, and without a steady supply of this essential hormone, Osbornes blood sugar skyrocketed and his body was shutting down. Osborne went to the nearest hospital, Bristol Regional Medical Center. He said he settled into a wheelchair in the emergency room waiting area, where over the next few hours he drifted in and out of consciousness and retched up vomit, then bile, then blood. After 12 hours in the waiting room, Osborne said, he was moved to an ER bed, where he stayed until he was sent to the intensive care unit the next day. In total, the council member was in the ER for about 30 hours, he said. Osborne said his ordeal echoes stories hes heard from constituents for years. In his next crisis, Osborne said, he plans to leave Bristol for an ER about two hours away. I want to go to Knoxville or I want to go to Roanoke, because I do not want to further risk my life and die at a Ballad hospital, he said. The wait times just to get in and see a doctor in the ER have grown exponentially. Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system in the Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, benefits from the largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in the United States. In the six years since lawmakers in both states waived anti-monopoly laws and Ballad was formed, ER visits for patients sick enough to be hospitalized grew more than three times as long and now far exceed the criteria set by state officials, according to Ballad reports released by the Tennessee Department of Health. Tennessee and Virginia have so far announced no steps to reduce time spent in Ballad ERs. The Tennessee health department, which has a more direct role in regulating Ballad, has each year issued a report saying the agreement that gave Ballad a monopoly continues to provide a Public Advantage. Department officials have twice declined to comment to KFF Health News on Ballads performance. According to Ballads latest annual report, which was released this month and spans from July 2022 to June 2023, the median time that patients spend in Ballad ERs before being admitted to the hospital is nearly 11 hours. This statistic includes both time spent waiting and time being treated in the ER and excludes patients who werent admitted or left the ER without receiving care. The federal government once tracked ER speed the same way. When compared against the latest corresponding federal data from 2019, which includes more than 4,000 hospitals but predates the covid-19 pandemic, Ballad ranks among the 100 hospitals with the slowest ERs. More current federal data is not available because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services retired this statistic in 2020 in favor of other measurements. Newer data tells a similar story. The Joint Commission, a nonprofit that accredits health care organizations, collected this same measurement for 2022 from about 250 hospitals that volunteered the data, finding a median ER speed of five hours and 41 minutes or about five hours faster than Ballads latest annual report. Ballad Health spokesperson Molly Luton said in an email statement that, by holding patients in the ER, where they are observed while waiting for a bed, Ballad avoids overwhelming its staff. Luton said ER delays are also caused by two nationwide crises: a nursing shortage and fewer admissions at nursing homes and similar facilities, which can create a backlog of patients awaiting discharge from the hospital. Luton added that Ballads ER time for admitted patients has dropped to about 7 hours in the months since the companys latest annual report. On those issues Ballad Health can directly control, our performance has rebounded from 2022, and is now among the best in the nation, Luton said. Luton also noted that Ballad performs better than or close to the national average on several other measurements of ER performance, including having fewer patients who leave without being treated. CMS data shows the national average is about 3%. Ballad reported 1.4% in its latest annual report. Osborne, the Bristol council member, attributed this statistic to Ballads monopoly. Just because they arent leaving the ER doesnt mean they are happy where they are, he said. It just means they dont have anywhere else they could be. Ballads big monopoly Ballad Health was formed in 2018 after state officials approved the nations biggest hospital merger based on a so-called Certificate of Public Advantage, or COPA, agreement. COPAs have been used in about 10 hospital mergers over the past three decades, but none has involved as many hospitals as Ballads. State lawmakers in Tennessee and Virginia waived federal anti-monopoly laws so rival hospital systems Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System could merge into a single company with no competition. Ballad is now the only option for hospital care for most of about 1.1 million residents in a 29-county region at the nexus of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. The Federal Trade Commission warns that hospital monopolies lead to increased prices and decreased quality of care. To offset the perils of Ballads monopoly, officials required the new company to commit to a long list of special conditions, including dozens of quality-care metrics spelled out with specific benchmarks. In its latest annual report, Ballad improved on many quality-of-care metrics over the prior year, including several that the company prioritized, but still fell short on 56 of 75 benchmarks. ER time for admitted patients is one of those. The benchmark was set at three hours and 47 minutes in the original COPA agreement. Ballad met or nearly met this goal for three years, according to its annual reports. Then the ERs slowed. In 2022, Ballad reported a median ER time for admitted patients of about six hours. In 2023, it reported the same statistic at seven hours and 40 minutes. In the latest report, ER time for admitted patients had reached 10 hours and 45 minutes. CMS, which grades thousands of hospitals nationwide, warns on its website that timely ER care is essential for good patient outcomes, and that more time spent in the ER has been linked to higher complication rates and delays in patients getting pain medication and antibiotics. Ben Harder, chief of health analysis for U.S. News & World Report, said extensive ER times can be a symptom of slowdowns throughout a hospital, including in the operating room. A long delay in getting patients admitted is both a risk in itself, in that a test may not get conducted as promptly, Harder said. But it's also an indication that the hospital is backed up, and that there are problems getting patients moved from one unit to another. Bill Christian, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Health, said Ballads rising ER times had been noted but did not say if the agency had taken or was considering any action. Christian directed questions about Ballads latest stats to the company itself. A nightmare for community members Ballad has also fallen short by about $191 million over the past five years of its obligation to Tennessee to provide charity care, which is free or discounted care for low-income patients, according to health department documents and Ballads latest report. The health department waived this obligation in each of the past four fiscal years. Ballad has said it would ask for another this year. In a two-hour interview last year, Ballad CEO Alan Levine defended his company and said that because the Tri-Cities region could not support two competing hospital companies, the COPA merger had likely prevented at least three hospital closures. Levine attributed Ballads failure to meet quality benchmarks to the pressure of the covid pandemic and said charity care shortfalls were partly caused by Medicaid changes beyond Ballads control. Our critics say, No Ballad. We dont want Ballad. Well, then what? Levine said. Because the hospitals were on their way to being closed. Some residents see Ballad as a savior. John King, who runs a physical therapy clinic in the core of Ballads region, said at a public hearing last June that in multiple visits to Ballad ERs, including one for a stroke, he found their care to be quick and compassionate. If it werent for Ballad Health, I literally would not be here today, King said, according to a hearing transcript.Ballads failures to live up to the terms of the COPA agreement were detailed in a KFF Health News investigation last September, and the company faced a new wave of criticism in the months that followed. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in 2023. Local leaders in Carter County, Tennessee, in October debated but did not pass a resolution calling for Ballad to be better regulated or broken up. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican, said in an interview with the Tennessee Lookout published in November that Ballad must be constantly monitored in light of community complaints. Earlier this month, Tennessee state Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, who represents a region within Ballads monopoly, called for Levines resignation, according to wjhl.com. In response, Ballad Health said in a statement it has "strong relationships with the majority of elected officials" in Carter County and welcomed scrutiny from the Tennessee attorney general. Ballad said Hawk's "opinion certainly does not reflect our broader relationships" within the area. Tennessee lawmakers are also considering legislation to forbid future COPA mergers in the state, which Ballad said risks putting more hospitals at risk for closure. The bill was introduced by state Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, and state Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Johnson said the bill would end Ballads protection from antitrust laws. Its just been a nightmare for community members out there, Johnson said. And they have no other option. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ballad Health got a hospital monopoly in TN and ER wait times tripled The clerk of court accused of jury tampering in Alex Murdaughs murder trial resigned Monday, almost two months after a judge questioned the Colleton County, South Carolina, officials credibility but ruled the allegations were not enough to grant Murdaugh a new trial. Rebecca Becky Hill will not run for reelection, she said at a news conference, adding she was proud of her work in office the last four years, including managing one of the biggest trials in South Carolina history. The trial, which saw Murdaugh convicted last year for the murders of his wife and 22-year-old son and sentenced to life in prison, caused me to reflect upon decisions involving my stay in the office of the clerk of court, Hill said. As we fix our eyes forward, I would like to announce also that my resignation as clerk of court will be effective immediately, she said. Hills resignation comes after South Carolina Judge Jean Toal in late January rejected a request for a new trial by Murdaugh and his attorneys, who accused Hill of inappropriately discussing the case with jurors. The clerk strongly denied those allegations. The judge ultimately found jurors had not been influenced by comments Hill made in their presence. But she was sharply critical of Hill who co-authored a book published several months after the trial calling her a publicity-influenced clerk who was attracted by the siren call of celebrity. Neither Hill nor her attorney, Justin Bamberg, addressed Toals ruling in Mondays news conference though Bamberg told reporters Hills announcement was not in response whatsoever to anything going on with any investigation or anything of that nature. Hill as recently as January was the subject of two open investigations, a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesperson confirmed then to CNN: one regarding her alleged interactions with the jury in Murdaughs murder trial and the other regarding allegations she used her elected position for personal gain. The Murdaugh case brought international attention books, documentaries and podcasts have been made about it to the former personal injury attorney whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather served as prosecutors for part of southern South Carolina from 1920 to 2006. By extension, it also brought notoriety to the South Carolina Lowcountry, its residents and those who played a role in the high-profile trial, Hill among them: In addition to her book, she participated in a Netflix docuseries about the case. In seeking a new trial, Murdaugh and his attorneys claimed Hills alleged tampering also included pressuring jurors to conclude deliberations quickly and misrepresenting information to the trial judge about a juror who was eventually dismissed. These alleged actions, Murdaughs team claimed, were aimed toward securing a book deal and media appearances that would not happen in the event of a mistrial. The allegations were explored in a hearing at which Toal questioned each of the 12 jurors, several of whom indicated theyd heard Hill make comments. Only one said it influenced her verdict, though she also stood by an affidavit in which she said she felt pressured by the other jurors. During her own testimony, Hill acknowledged a fleeting thought prior to the trial about writing a book but said she hadnt taken any steps toward doing so before or during the trial. In her ruling, Toal found Hill had told another clerk of court and others she desired a guilty verdict because it would sell books. This story has been updated with additional information. CNNs Dianne Gallagher and Maxime Tamsett contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Middle East countries condemn Moscow terror attack, voice solidarity with Russia Xinhua) 10:53, March 25, 2024 CAIRO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Middle East countries have strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Friday night at the Crocus City Hall in northwest Moscow, which claimed more than 140 lives, and have expressed their solidarity with Russia. The Turkish presidency said Saturday in a statement on social media platform X that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "unequivocally condemned the heinous terrorist attack that maliciously targeted innocent people and expressed his deepest condolences and solidarity with the people of Russia." In a message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Erdogan said Turkiye is ready to enhance cooperation with Russia in the field of counter-terrorism with the understanding of an indiscriminate fight against all forms of terrorism. Also on Saturday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry "strongly condemned this cowardly and despicable terrorist act," noting in a statement that the North African country "conveyed heartfelt solidarity and condolences to the families of the victims affected by the tragic incident." In the statement, Algeria stressed its unwavering commitment to supporting the international community in its collective efforts to combat terrorism. In a message of condolence to Putin, Moroccan King Mohammed VI expressed Morocco's strong condemnation of the "cowardly and criminal act," voicing the country's full solidarity with Russia. Four gunmen opened fire on civilians during a concert in Moscow on Friday. According to local media reports, the attack has resulted in the deaths of 143 people and left over 100 injured. Following a preliminary inspection, the Investigative Committee of Russia said the terrorists used automatic weapons, along with ammunition that they had left behind in the concert hall. The committee added that ballistic, genetic and fingerprint examinations are being carried out. In a televised address to the nation on Saturday, Putin said all four gunmen in the attack were detained, adding that all perpetrators, organizers and financiers of this crime will be punished. "Whoever they are, whoever guides them. I repeat, we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity. This is a strike against Russia, against our people," the Russian president added. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Innovo Publishing LLC Releases 'Heart Call' by Victoria Hutchinson NEWS PROVIDED BY Innovo Publishing, LLC March 25, 2024 MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 25, 2024 /Christian Newswire/ -- Innovo Publishing LLC is excited to release a new inspirational title, Heart Call, written by Victoria Hutchinson. Inside this book the reader will experience a collection of vivid, heart-wrenching, and thought-provoking poems, each begging the reader to reconsider answering that long-distance call from the Father, God. Summary / Description: Innovo Publishing LLC is excited to release Heart Call, an abstract artform of poetic conversations with God. For those who have a desire to understand what the next chapter of their life looks like--a desire that wakes them in the middle of the night with questions, a desire that pulls at not just their mind but their heart, a desire that says theres more for their life--this is a Heart Call. Heart Call: Poetic Conversations with God is available now in hardback, paperback, and eBook editions in the US and internationally. This book is a window into the soul of Victoria Hutchinson, as she walks with God and seeks to discover what it really means to be alive. What she found, and what she shares so fervently with us, is that life has purpose only through the pursuit of and relationship with our Creator--the One who loves us, called us, and holds us in His grace. Readers of all ages will be challenged and strengthened by the vulnerability, truth, and love woven into the poetry of this book. "What Victoria shares with us in Heart Call is a raw openness into her relentless pursuit of God. The emotions and challenges are real, and she doesnt shy away from the gritty, complicated, and confusing moments in life that Christians often wrestle with as they seek to trust in His divine plan. I believe every person on their faith journey will be able to relate to the internal thoughts represented in this poetic diary of one womans search for meaning in life." -- Dr. Bart Dahmer, Founder and CEO, Innovo Publishing LLC Heart Call is available now in the US and internationally in hardback (ISBN: 978-1-61314-979-9), paperback (ISBN: 978-1-61314-981-2), and eBook (ISBN: 978-1-61314-983-6) editions. About the Author: Victoria Hutchinson was born and raised in Florida. Born to Pastor Julian and Co-Pastor Sharon, she is the fourth child in a family of seven. Her parents inspired her to build a life with God, and in doing so, she became exposed to her unique gifting for writing at the age of ten which sprouted a passion for poetry that she continues to use over the course of her life. As a firm believer that Gods plan brings about provisions and purpose, Victoria has a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from Florida Atlantic University where she intended on continuing to receive a masters in the same field; but God already wrote the next chapter four years prior when He gave her the poem Heart Call. About Innovo Publishing LLC: Innovo Publishing is a Christian publisher located in Collierville, TN. Since 2008, Innovo has published quality books, eBooks, audiobooks, music, film, and courses that support the Great Commission, equip believers, and help create a positive Christian worldview. Innovos full-service capabilities and global reach provide Christian authors, artists, and ministries access to the world for Christ. Contact Information: Contact: Dr. Bart Dahmer Innovo Publishing LLC Phone: 1-888-546-2111 Web Sites: www.innovopublishing.com www.christianpublishingportal.com Email: info@innovopublishing.com SOURCE Innovo Publishing, LLC CONTACT: Bart Dahmer, bartdahmer@innovopublishing.com President Bidens trip to Milwaukee March 13 had an obvious political purpose: to mobilize Democrats in a city where turnout could help decide the 2024 election. But the turnout questions for Wisconsin Democrats go beyond Milwaukee this year. A striking enthusiasm gap confronts Biden and his party. Weve seen it in national polling. Marquette University Law School, Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education logo And were seeing it in Wisconsin, where the enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans reached an all-time high in the Marquette Law School poll earlier this year. In Marquettes most recent Wisconsin survey, taken at the end of January, 63% of Republican voters said they were very enthusiastic about voting for president and other offices this fall. Only 39% of Democrats said so. That is by far the biggest partisan disparity (24 points) ever measured by Marquette, which has asked this question 34 times from 2014 to 2024. Its not that Republican enthusiasm is high. In fact, its a little bit below average, historically, and below where it was four years ago. (The same is true for independent voters). Whats driving this partisan gap is that Democratic enthusiasm has been so historically low, whether due to concerns about Bidens age, fears of a Donald Trump victory, dismay over the war in Gaza, or other factors. Enthusiasm among Democratic voters in Wisconsin hit its lowest point ever in Marquettes polling in a survey last fall. Then it declined even more in late January. In that last poll, enthusiasm was lower among Democratic voters (39% were very enthusiastic) than it was among independent voters (46%), which had never happened before in this survey. Right now, I think its clear Trump supporters are pretty enthused about him, and it's Bidens (supporters) that arent as enthused, Marquette pollster Charles Franklin said. The big political question, of course, is whether this portends a Democratic turnout problem in November. Thats not an easy question to answer. Better, of course, to have an enthusiastic base than not. But as Franklin notes, enthusiasm is a fluid measure. It can change over an election year, and we could see it change in polls to come. Nor is enthusiasm a perfect measure of how likely someone is to vote. The link between enthusiasm and turnout is not negligible, but it is not exceedingly strong either, says Franklin. Imagine a Democratic voter who is tepid on Biden but highly motivated to vote against former President Trump. That voter may tell a pollster that he or she is not excited about the election, but still be dead set on casting a ballot. If this kind of voter is driving the enthusiasm gap, then it might not signify a serious turnout gap. On the other hand, imagine a more casual Democratic voter whose lack of passion for Biden or pessimism about the election is the difference between turning out and not turning out. The 2024 polling is full of signs that Bidens support is soft among young voters and voters of color, two groups that Democrats count on to turn out and support the partys candidates by large margins. If this kind of voter is driving the enthusiasm gap, and the gap persists, then Democrats could have a turnout problem in the fall. The enthusiasm gap between the parties has surfaced in national polling as well. In a national survey Marquette did last month, 56% of Republican voters were very enthusiastic about voting compared to 38% of Democratic voters. I think enthusiasm right now is reflecting a certain malaise among Democrats about Joe Biden and fear of Trumps apparent strength in recent polls, Franklin said. It doesnt necessarily mean these Democrats will stay home, but it does raise the question of whether Democrats are as positively engaged in the campaign this year as they were in 2020. The numbers looked much different in the early months of 2020, when Trump was the incumbent president and Democrats were choosing their nominee. In Marquettes early Wisconsin polling that year, Democrats were a little bit more excited about the election than Republicans, and far more excited than now: 75% of Democratic voters were very enthusiastic about voting in 2020 in January. That rose to 80% in February and averaged 73% over the course of the election year. Has this enthusiasm measure correlated at all with winning and losing elections? Marquette began asking this question in the 2014 election cycle and continued in every election year since then, except 2016. In 2014, Republicans had a consistent edge in enthusiasm and ended up winning that years top race in Wisconsin, for governor. In 2018, Democrats had a consistent edge in enthusiasm and ended up winning both major statewide races, for governor and U.S. Senate. In 2020 and 2022, the Marquette poll found smaller differences between the parties on this question, and the election results were close and mixed. But in recent polls about the 2024 race, were in uncharted territory, with enthusiasm among Democratic voters in Marquettes last two polls running about 20 to 30 points below historic averages. These polls dont tell us precisely what is driving the partisan enthusiasm gap. By some measures, Democrats dont like Biden any less than Republicans like Trump. In fact, Bidens popularity ratings with Democratic voters in Wisconsin (whether they have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the candidate) have been a little better than Trumps ratings with Republican voters. But those numbers dont really measure excitement or passion. Marquettes last poll contained two possible hints about the enthusiasm gap. One is that Democratic voters were much more likely than Republican voters to view their own partys presidential candidate as too old. The other is that Republican voters were more bullish about winning: 46% of GOP voters said they saw Trump as the definite winner against Biden, while 28% of Democratic voters said they saw Biden as the definite winner against Trump. And there is the broader body of polling in this cycle that suggests Democratic voters are more motivated by their opposition to Trump than their support for Biden, which could help explain a partisan gap in enthusiasm. In these last two Marquette polls, Republican voters were also more likely than Democrats to say they were certain to vote in 2024 another indicator of intensity, but not a perfect predictor of turnout either. Enthusiasm is one of many barometers that bear watching between now and Election Day. The electorate as a whole is unenthused compared to previous elections. But thats especially true of Democratic voters. Its possible that events, or Bidens performance, or increased optimism about the race among Democrats could change that pattern between now and November. It would certainly be unusual this fall to see one partys voters expressing so little excitement about a big election. And if that happened, it would be unusual to see that party come out on top. Craig Gilbert provides Wisconsin political analysis as a fellow with Marquette University Law School's Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education. Prior to the fellowship, Gilbert reported on politics for 35 years at the Journal Sentinel, the last 25 in its Washington Bureau. His column continues that independent reporting tradition and goes through the established Journal Sentinel editing process. Follow him on Twitter: @Wisvoter. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Biden, Democrats confront enthusiasm gap in Wisconsin After a decade working as a creative producer and DP (White on White), Jose Angel Ayalon, co-founder of Tenerife-based El Viaje Films, has moved into production on La Lucha, a feature film set against the background of lucha canaria wrestling, a contact sport dating back to ancient times. La Lucha marks the latest title from Tenerife-based El Viaje Films, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. Behind 2015 international breakout Dead Slow Ahead, The Undergrowth which took two prizes at this months Malaga Festival and the standout 2021 They Carry Death, selected for Venices Critics Week, it also served as the Spanish producer on Chiles Oscar entry White on White, a 2019 Venice Horizons best film and director entry. More from Variety Just a decade back, La Luchas shoot would have been notable for its very existence. Now it forms part of a domestic Canary Islands film scene which, though years in its build, is suddenly seeming to be coming into focus, a flurry of films breaking out from its archipelago base to earn praise and prizes at festivals, as Canarian cinema consolidates as an exciting growth axis in Spanish filmmaking. That in turn is energizing. It is extremely exciting to be part of this idea of construction of a cinematographic imagination in the Canary Islands, it hasnt really existed before, said Ayalon. I think its the most beautiful thing we are doing right now. It is what moves all of us at El Viaje Films; we enjoy this task, this constant reflection on what we are creating, he added. Canary Island Cinema: Ambition and Sophistication La Lucha captures the ambition and sophistication of current Canary Islands film production, as well as its talent and financing structure. It turns on Mariana, 17, whose only passion is lucha canaria wrestling. Lacking the physique to make it in the sport, one day, in a rage, she breaks the rules. Her father, a veteran puntal, a top-level wrestler, has his own issues: Physical injuries and coming to terms emotionally with the recent death of his wife. Between daily work, family, training and competitions, father and daughter try to get ahead in the struggle of life, the synopsis reads. In lucha canaria, a wrestler wins if any part of an opponents body, apart from their feet, touches the ground. You must keep your feet on the ground to keep from falling. This metaphor, to resist, to remain on your feet, to hold on, to keep your balance, to fight seemed very powerful to me, one that I find fascinating: Of bodies that struggle to maintain themselves, Ayalon commented. It is an idea that can be transposed onto many narratives, because this form of struggle is not contained to the sport, but in what continues to exist in the lives of these people after they leave the terrero (wrestling ring). La Lucha draws on top-notch talent from the Islands and mainland Spain, being co-written with Canarian Marina Alberti. Catalan Mauro Herce (Fire Will Come, Matadero, Slimane), part of El Viajes team, serves as DP. Canarian Silvia Navarro (Circe) is art director and Canary Island-based Emma Tusell (Magical Girl, The Undergrowth) the films editor. The Undergrowth Canary Island born Machin has said that The Undergrowth came from reflections on questions of identity, belonging, and the dynamics of the place where me and my family came from. Likewise, Ayalon says that lucha canaria is more than a sport, it is almost a rite, something that has been practiced in the Islands since the first Berber settlers. We believe that there is something that remains there, something root, a core, of our idiosyncrasy. While tapping into, noting and exploring Canarian culture, like other Canary Island movies, La Lucha has been financed by a combination of Spanish and Canary Islands institutions, supported by Spains ICAA film agency, the Canary Islands Government and the Cabildo of Tenerife island authorities. Again like many other larger Canarian movies, it is also made in international co-production, partnering with Colombias Blond Indian Films. Weve always believed in and learned a lot from co-productions, from going out, from contrasting our projects to others abroad, from showcasing them and making them grow in the process, taking them to forums, looking for co-producers, showing the projects when they are in a more embryonic state, said Ayalon. Current, Recent Canary Island Titles La Lucha figures, however, among at least 10 features which have recently caught attention on the festival scene, in international and in Spain: *The Undergrowth (La Hojarasca), from Machin, about three aging sisters settling their inheritance of family lands, played Februarys Berlinale Forum, marking a milestone: the first 100% Canarian film to world premiere in Berlin. Playing at Marchs Malaga Festival, it won best Spanish picture and director in parallel section Zonazine, *Among its market premieres, Malagas Spanish Screenings featured Canary Island production Im Gonna Disappear, (Voy a desaparecer), the tale of two estranged brothers reencounter, 10 years later, as one takes advantage of a prison furlough. Directed by Canarian Core Ruiz, it is written with female lead Raquel Herrera. *A third Spanish Screenings title, animated feature Black Butterflies, from David Baute at Santa Cruz de Tenerife-based Tinglado Film (Climate Exodus), depicts three women from very different parts of the world who all lose everything from global warming, emigrating to survive. *Playing the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF), Lucia Perezs Ever & the Sharks, (El nino y el tiburon) produced by Chemi Perez at Cabo Sur Films in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, proved a standout at Augusts Locarno Festival Match Me!, a part coming-of-age tale, part high-seas adventure and part eco-drama. *Also at Malagas MAFF, The Outside (El Exterior), the fiction feature debut of notable documentarian Victor Moreno (La ciudad oculta, Edificio Espana) will shoot next year in the Canary Islands, set up at his archipelago-based KVFilms. Turning on an woman astronauts reconsideration of her perspective on the planet, it has been put through the Torino Script Lab 2022 y and Cinemart Rotterdam 2022 and won the top prizes at Abycine Lanza and Mecas. The Outside *Pablo Larrain go-to actor Alfredo Castro will head the choral cast of Three Dark Nights (Tres noches negras), the third feature from Spanish-Chilean Theo Court, set up at El Viaje Films, and a standout at Septembers San Sebastian Co-Production Forum and Ventana Surs Proyecta project competition. *Co-produced by the Canary Islands 3 Doubles Producciones, animated family comedy SuperKlaus has been pre-sold over 40 countries by Pink Parrot, including key markets such as the U.K. (Kaleidoscope) and Germany (Splendid). *In 2023, Tourmalet Films Killing Crabs, the fiction feature debut of Omar Al Abdul Razzak, won best Spanish film and actress (Paula Campos) at the Malaga Festivals Zonacine showcase. A snapshot of a time and a place, Tenerife in the 1990s, it also took the Richard Leacock Award for best film at Las Palmas Film Festival. The film is a family portrait seen through the eyes of a brother and sister whose childhoods are nearing their end, Razzak explained to Variety last year. *Directed by David Panteleon and Jose Victor Fuentes, An Inhabited Volcano a record of the eruption of the Tajogaite volcano on La Palma in September 2021 laced with audio messages from a group of childhood friends Whatsapp group world premiered at last years Visions du Reel in Switzerland, screened at the Valladolid Intl. Film Festival and was awarded at Madrids Margenes festival. *Co-produced by Tinglado Film, and currently in development, Dominican Genesis Valenzuelas Three Bullets (Tres Balas) was one of the talking points of the Locarno Festival, sweeping multiple awards in Open Doors, mixing colonial history, displacement and criminal investigation in a hybrid fiction-doc-come-essay reconsideration of the 1992 murder of Dominican immigrant Lucrecia Perez. Killing Crabs Canary Island Industry Drivers Why a Canary Cinema has come into existence is another matter. In many ways, the Canary Islands industry responds to a bigger picture. Since 2015, Spain has began to introduce tax incentives rebates for foreign productions, credits for national titles which have ended up becoming some of the most attractive in Europe. Prospects for 2024 look good in terms of international shoots, Natacha Mora, co-ordinator, Canary Islands Film, said at the Berlin Festival. New incentives such as from 2023 maximum tax relief available on a film lensed in the Canaries of up to 36 million ($38.9 million) have had an impact, Mora said. It looks like this year well increase the number of shoots, compared to 2023 and maybe 2022, given their postponement to 2024 the Hollywood strikes. You can see the effect of the incentives increase. As big foreign shoots began to pour into the Islands, local filmmakers pushed to build their own Canary Islands industry. The Canary Islands are more than a backdrop, Machin told Variety. There is a whole world in the Islands. One thing that I believe also influences many of our generation of filmmakers including Macu Machin, Victor Moreno, David Pantaleon, Nayra Sanz, Octavio Guerra, Marina Alberti, and so on is the idea that a tax incentive exists here. It has made us feel the need to react and for us to tell our stories, added Ayalon. Black Butterflies In reality, a domestic industry has been long in the making. The Canary Islands Government began offering production and development grants as of 2017. It had already created development labs, such as CreaDoc. Macu Machin is a case in point, Cristobal de la Rosa, the Canary Islands Government general manager of Cultural Innovation and Creative Industries, told Variety at the Berlin Film Festival. The Undergrowth received a development grant and was put through Canary Islands labs at MiradasDoc, CreaDoc, Acceleradora and Mecas, he noted, saying a support system was really put in place in 2018. Many of the titles suddenly bursting onto the scene have taken four or five years, plus one pandemic, to get made. You wont achieve anything in just one year. But if you keep on for four-to-five years, backing projects from early upstream, and continue to back them if they show promise, theres a possibility of getting results, De la Rosa said. The key is the talent, he added. Talent was there even before their government put its back behind a local filmmaking scene. The Canary Islands had a fertile short film sector featuring titles from Al Abdul Razzak, Moreno and Fuentes, encouraged by La Palmas Festivalito short film festival, which launched in 2002, Mora noted. Volcano International Productions was founded in 1994. One of the Canary Islands biggest breakouts, Mauro Herce Dead Slow Ahead, won a Locarno Special Jury Prize in 2015. The most important thing that has happened in filmmaking in the Canary Islands maybe is that people who had the need to make films, to seek a somewhat genuine vision and reflect on ourselves, have come together: David Pantaleon, Macu Machin, Victor Moreno, Nayra Sanz, Samuel M. Delgado and Helena Giron, Silvia Navarro, Octavio Guerra, and many others, said Ayalon. New producers are now breaking through. This year the Canary Islands launched a minority co-production fund, De la Rosa noted. It allows Canary Islands companies to have a small part in larger productions, and learn from that, he said. Theres still a lot to be done, everybody agrees. Canary Island producers would make easier use of tax rebates than credits, Ayalon suggested. Our bureaucracy needs to be more agile, said De la Rosa. We also have to focus more on high-level training. But a Canary Islands cinema, auteurist and of international ambition, now exists. We see that there is a commitment and it is already bearing fruit. More filmmakers are making more films. Films from the Canary Islands are being talked about around the world and we are seeing that our local stories are also universal ones, Ayalon enthused. Natacha Mora and Cristobal de la Rosa Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. An El Dorado County family has identified the two men attacked by a mountain lion in Northern California over the weekend, one of whom died from his injuries in the states first fatal mountain lion attack in two decades. In a statement forwarded through the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office, the Brooks family of Mount Aukum identified the men as Taylen Brooks, 21, and Wyatt Brooks, 18. Taylen Brooks died after the mountain lion mounted his attack Saturday afternoon along a rural road southeast of Georgetown. His brother, Wyatt, is still recovering from traumatic injuries he suffered in the attack, the Sheriffs Office and family said in the release. The Brooks family in a written statement said Taylen Robert Claude Brooks worked with his father, painting houses and cutting firewood. The family said the older brother loved being outdoors. He truly enjoyed fishing and was an extremely talented guitar player, family said in the statement. He was a very kind and gentle soul and will be deeply missed by all who knew him. The younger brother Wyatt an avid baseball player and an ardent bow-hunting enthusiast has been training to become a firefighter since September at the Mt. Adams Fire Academy. His family said the young man aspires to work with Cal Fire, Californias wildland firefighting agency. The family said the brothers had gone out Saturday in search of deer antler sheds a pastime they did together frequently in the spring before the grass grew too tall to see the shed antlers. That day was also the start of junior turkey hunting season, so the brothers chose not take any firearms with them to avoid attention from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Taylen Brooks, the 21-year-old who died in a mountain lion attack in El Dorado County on Saturday, March 23, 2024, is seen in an undated photo provided by the family. The Mount Aukum family described Taylen Robert Claude Brooks as a loving son and brother who worked with his father painting houses and cutting firewood. He was an avid outdoorsman with his brother, Wyatt, and was an extremely talented guitar player. The attack was roughly 5 miles southeast of Georgetown off of Darling Ridge Road above the Kelsey area, 70 miles northeast of downtown Sacramento. The rolling but heavily forested landscape is ringed by large private properties on the western fringes of Eldorado National Forest. The brothers were walking along Skid Road where they encountered the mountain lion. The brothers tried to scare off the mountain lion, but the lion immediately charged at Wyatt, biting down on his face and taking Wyatt to the ground. Taylen yelled and beat on the 90-pound cougar as his younger brother was able to wrestle the lion to the ground with him on top of the lion. At one point, the mountain lion released Wyatt and charged at Taylen and took him to the ground. Wyatt with severe lacerations to his face beat on and grabbed the big cat. After some time trying to get the mountain lion to release his older brother, Wyatt went to get help. Deputies located the two brothers after the attack, and authorities pronounced Taylen Brooks dead at the scene. Law enforcement fired their weapons to scare off the cougar, which was found by game wardens and trappers and euthanized later that evening near the scene of the attack. These two young men being as close as any two brothers could be, lived a full energetic life enjoying the outdoors, the family said in the statement. A brother is a friend given by nature. These two brothers were driven by nature. The family statement also described the brothers, residents of the unincorporated Mount Aukum community in south El Dorado County, as avid hunters and anglers. Mountain lion attacks in California very uncommon Deadly mountain lion attacks are exceptionally rare. The mountain lion responsible for this attack which was euthanized this weekend after state trappers found it treed weighed roughly 90 pounds. It was male, officials said. Adult male mountain lions usually weigh between 130 and 150 pounds. Adult females weigh between 65 and 90, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Mountain lions tend to hunt alone at night and are typically scared of humans. State wildlife officials list of verified mountain lion attacks on humans shows the last fatal attack in California happened January 2004 in Orange County. Mountain lions have large ranges of up to 10 miles by 10 miles, and Saturdays attack may have been from an animal that was still young and looking for its own territory, said Josh Rosenau, director of Policy and Advocacy for the non-profit Mountain Lion Foundation. Some 46% of Californias topography is considered a suitable habitat for mountain lions, according to the Mountain Lion Foundation. The only non-habitable locations for the cat in the state are in the Central Valley and in most of Californias southeastern deserts. The rural area of El Dorado County where the men were attacked is accessible by narrow roads, some of which are unpaved, cutting through the forest. No hunting and No trespassing signs were posted throughout the area off Skid Road, which is dotted with homes and ranches situated off the roadways behind metal gates. The large cats are typically more interested in avoiding human contact and typically seek deer as prey. Throughout the area, herds of deer and flocks of turkeys can be seen, as well as cattle and horses grazing at various ranch properties. On Saturday afternoon, more than a dozen deer could be seen grazing along Highway 193, a few miles from the site of the attack. Including Saturdays attack, there have been 22 documented mountain lion attacks involving 24 people in California since 1986, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Still in mourning, family says outcome could have been even worse The last fatal attack in Northern California was nearly 30 years ago, in April 1994, when a 40-year-old woman was killed in the Auburn State Recreation Area in El Dorado County. When something like this happens, its obviously scary, but its still worth bearing in mind how rare this is and how much mountain lions try to avoid people when they can, Rosenau said. He said there are roughly 4,500 mountain lions in the state. We would like to express our sincere thanks for the outpouring of support and prayers from family, friends and the community, the family said in the statement. We are all devastated by the tragic loss of Taylen yet thankful Wyatt is still with us, and are well aware the outcome could have been even worse. The family also created a fundraiser through the El Dorado Community Foundation to raise money for Taylens funeral expenses and Wyatts recovery. Donations are tax deductible. Information can be found at bit.ly/BrooksBrothersSupportFund. The Bees Jacqueline Pinedo and Sam Stanton contributed to this story. Its hard to get a splashy sound bite out of Michael Dell, even if you tee him up for one. When asked how big a growth opportunity the AI wave could be for his namesake company, Dell Technologies, the founder and longtime chief executive doesnt offer up any pithy one-liners but instead ruminates in real time. It feels every bit as big as previous waves, but probably bigger, he says, pondering the question, and then adds, You know, maybe quite a bit bigger. He takes another brief pause, reconsiders his own words, and delivers a most inconclusive conclusion: I dont know for sure. Nobody knows. Were seated in a conference room at Dell Technologies headquarters just outside Austin, where the temperature has hit 88 F in early March. Dressed in dark slacks and a navy blue denim button-down (Texan for business casual, no matter the season), Dell has just emerged from a photo shoot that he tolerated but clearly didnt relish. Its not that he isnt on board with being the name and face of his company. Thats been true for a while40 years, to be exact. He remains Dell Technologies biggest believerand biggest shareholder, with 53% of the $79 billion companys stock under his or his wife Susans name. But hes not a natural-born showman. Never was. In fact, he seems to go out of his way to not put on a performanceeven as hes embarking on what could be his greatest act yet. Unlike some other tech CEOs, Dell doesnt do bombastic declarations or colorful antics; he doesnt have a side hustle that involves blasting himself into outer space. Despite having spent his entire adult life in the public eye, he is measured, analytical, and almost intentionally unexciting. So his reluctance to put a ceiling, or even a floor, on what generative AI could mean for his company is not surprising. But while Dell may prefer to hedge, the market isnt hiding its exuberance. Just a few days before our interview, on March 1, Dell Technologies share price leaped 38%, hitting an all-time high above $131 after the company reported earnings that beat analyst expectations. The announcement generated plenty of excitement about demand for Dells growing portfolio of back-end tech products, the kind required for storing and managing the massive datasets needed to runyou guessed itgenerative AI applications. Orders for AI-optimized servers were up 40% in the most recent quarter. As chief operating officer Jeff Clarke said in the companys earnings release, Weve just started to touch the AI opportunities ahead of us. Its not just Dells company thats been buoyed by the buzz. As a result of the massive rise in the stock, Michael Dells personal net worth reportedly hit the $100 billion mark in early Marcha notable milestone even for a man who became a billionaire at the tender age of 30. But none of this seems to rock Dells world. Over the decades, hes maintained the same steady demeanor through exhilarating highs and harrowing lows. Along the way, hes steered his company through multiple major pivots. And hes showed an uncanny ability to read his customers needs and make the right strategic change at the right time, whether de-emphasizing PCs in favor of servers, sensors, and storage, or taking the company privateover the heated opposition of Carl Icahnin a mammoth buyout. 396415 03: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates (L) speaks as Dell CEO Michael Dell listens during the product launch of the new Windows XP operating system October 25, 2001 in New York City. Windows XP went on sale worldwide today. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) That privatization maneuver is precisely what positioned the company to capitalize on the current AI boom. Over the five years that it was privately held, Dell was able to truly diversify from selling laptops and desktops. Away from the markets obsession with quarterly earnings, Dell consolidated and expanded his company, creating a behemoth provider of infrastructure tools for corporate customers. Along the way, he engineered what was then the biggest tech deal in history, the $67 billion acquisition of data storage provider EMC. If Dell isnt a dynamic, headline-making speaker, it may be because hes built this four-decade run on listeningdeploying his analytical skills and deep curiosity to recognize what his customers need and to navigate his industrys twists and turns. I love spending time on the technology, and I love spending time with our customers, he tells me. And at least where business is concerned, he adds, I dont really love anything else. Dell Technologies still sells Dell PCs; in fact, computers make up the majority of its revenue. But today its a company vastly different from what it was five or 10 years agolet alone 40. The one constant? Dell himself. This is probably the longest-sitting CEO in the tech industry, says Marc Benioff, cofounder and CEO of enterprise-software maker Salesforce and a longtime friend. Hes six months younger than I am, but I view him as an older brother, Benioff says of Dell. Hes a phenomenon in every possible way. Sitting across from Dell at his HQ in Round Rock, a corporate campus thats forgettable except for its sheer size, phenomenon isnt the first word that comes to mind. But Dell has builtand hung on toan empire that now provides the technological building blocks for 99% of Fortune 500 companies, most of which will have new needs in this new era of AI. If he plays his cards right, the next chapter of the story could make both the CEO and his once-flailing PC maker more relevant than ever, all but ensuring hell stay at the helm for years to come. The morning after our interview, Dell is speaking on a panel at a health care innovation summit at the University of Texas at Austin, his alma mater. (Dell finished two semesters before dropping out to devote himself to selling PCs full-time.) Investor Jim Breyer, who relocated to Austin from Silicon Valley in 2019 at the Dells suggestion, introduces the CEO with glowing superlatives. Michael Dell is the most courageous entrepreneur Ive ever worked with, he gushes. Dells performance is just fine. (Its clear that public speaking is not his happy place.) Still, he comes across as confident and purposeful. At 59, Dell retains a youthful bearing, his curly hair only tinged by gray. And from the audience reaction, its clear Dells the big man on campus, even if he never graduated. In his well-documented early days, the nerdy but gutsy founder could seemingly do no wrong. In 1984, as a premed freshman, he started tinkering with computers in his UT dorm room. By age 19, he had left school and turned all of his attention to his business. He faced other, much bigger competitors, including IBM and Apple. But Dell pioneered a new way of doing business: His computers were built to order, and he sold them directly to consumers, cutting out the middleman. In 1988 he took Dell Computer public, raising $30 million and using the capital to expand globally. At age 27, he became the youngest CEO on the Fortune 500. And the company just kept growingas long as demand for PCs was on the rise. Chart shows Dell ranking on the Fortune 500 list But PCs would prove to be the companys Achilles heel. In 2001, Dell became the worlds leading computer maker, surpassing the once-mighty Compaq. But sales soon began to decline. Asian manufacturers had entered the fray, offering cheaper products to American consumers. And by the late 2000s, smartphones and tablets had swarmed the market, slowing demand for desktops and laptops even more. The company tried to jump on the mobile bandwagon, but its efforts were ill-received: Dells phablet, a product that sat in the unnecessary purgatory between a phone and a tablet, was discontinued after just one year. By then, Dell had been trying for years to diversify. In 1995 he entered the server market with the PowerEdge, a product line that still existsdesigned for enterprises that were amassing far more data than they could manage with their existing equipment. In 2006, the company launched a business unit to support cloud computing, including tools to power hybrid cloudsprivate clouds (which keep data on a customers premises) that can integrate with public ones (where data is hosted by a third party). But this expansion wasnt happening fast enough to offset declines in PC sales, and investors hammered Dells shares. In 2013, after more than two years of falling PC revenue (and after the stock price bottomed at under $11), Dell decided to take his baby privatehypothesizing that shielding the company from Wall Streets short-term focus on profitability was the best way to reset for the long term. Benioff refers to the deal as Dells magic trick. But the maneuver was anything but slick and graceful. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be, Dell recalls. When it started, [I thought], Is this like a one-week thing or two-week thing? I didnt know it was going to be an eight-month thing. Michael Dell with Salesforce cofounder and CEO Marc Benioff. Dell wasnt in it alone. Egon Durban, co-CEO of private equity firm Silver Lake, was his partner from the get-go. The two presented Dell shareholders with what they thought was a good offer, a $24.4 billion deal financed by a mix of equity and debtthe largest leveraged buyout in tech-industry history. But then corporate raider Carl Icahn entered the picture, snapping up a sizable chunk of the companys shares and agitating for a more generous offer. Before they knew it, Dell and Durban were going to war, fighting Icahn as he made a counteroffer that involved buying the company himselfand ousting Dell as CEO. Eventually, Icahn got concessions, and Dell got his deal. Dell and Durban increased their offer by 10 cents a share and threw in a special dividend for some shareholders. And on Oct. 29, 2013, Dell Computer became a privately held company, owned by Michael Dell and Silver Lake. During the lengthy feud, the antagonists stayed true to their personalities: Icahn took to CNBC and other outlets to spread his narrative, while Dell lay low. But in recent years, Dell has spoken openly about the clash. His 2021 memoir, Play Nice But Win, opens with a scene in which Dell goes to Icahns house for a dinner of mediocre meatloaf, in a (failed) attempt to find common ground. Though Dell says he doesnt hold grudges, he also says he felt a need to expose Icahns tactics. More than 10 years later, its clear theres no love lost between them. Icahn showing up was the hardest part, Dell says. It was a long, painful period where everyone was subjected to this horrible situation. Dell maintains that Icahn never really planned to buy his company but simply wanted to squeeze more out of the deal. For his part, Icahn, in a phone interview, says that his actions forced a meaningful improvement of the buyout. The shareholders got a lot more money because of me, says Icahn. Chart shows Dell's stock price Tellingly, both men quote World War IIera leaders to describe their conflict. Whats that Winston Churchill quote? Dell asks me rhetorically, invoking the former British prime minister: If youre going through hell, keep going. Icahn, meanwhile, puts his own paraphrasing spin on a 1936 campaign speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt: Dell hates meand I welcome his hatred. Still, the trials arguably made Dell a better leader. Those close to the CEO say that his determination and belief in the deal carried the enterprise through a rough patch. Relationships are forged on the battlefield, says Durban, who remains close to Dell and whose firm is one of the companys largest shareholders. Employees from that era say Dell became more connected than ever to his workforce, and even better about communication with the rank and file. Just as important, Dell proved himself to a wider swath of the business world as an analytical, decisive chief executive. He took a large risk, which is easier not to do, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, says of Dells deal. But he stuck to his guns. Describing Dell, Dimon invokes the OODA loop, a military acronym for efficient decision-making that he says is a secret sauce for the tech CEO. (OODA stands for observe, orient, decide, act.) That kind of coolheadedness also characterizes Dells very, very few hobbies. Benioff tells me that his friend recently took up hunting with a bow and arrow. (Dells company wont confirm this.) Dell hunts for birds, Benioff saysthe kind of elusive target you can hit only when youre calm, unemotional, and utterly focused. Jeff Clarke, Dell Technologies COO, is the closest person Michael Dell has to a cofounder, having joined his team in 1987. Speaking to Fortune via videoconference, Clarkedressed in a red, white, and blue T-shirt that simply says TEXASrefers to the companys private-company era as one of the most fun periods of his career. It was liberating, says Clarke. Being out of the public market meant that Dell could make big bets and invest in R&D, even if the payoff wasnt immediate. The company could rebuild itself around providing all things infrastructure for corporate customers like Home Depot and CVS Health, whose greatest needs increasingly revolved around the growing mountains of data they were accumulating. In 2016, Dell and Durbanwith Dimons helporchestrated another financial feat, the $67 billion purchase of EMC and its software subsidiary VMware. The acquisition was something we had dreamed about doing, Dell says. Still, the deal was an expensive bet that saddled the business with a heavy debt loadand it created hassles down the road. The merged company started trading publicly again under a share class that tracked its ownership interest in VMware; two years later, it bought those shares back and replaced them with a new share class. Along the way, some VMware investors (including, briefly, Dells old buddy Icahn) sued, arguing that the complex deal undervalued their shares, and Dell Technologies eventually paid a $1 billion settlement. Still, the acquisition added an even broader data-storage and management portfolio to Dells arsenal, making the company indisputably stronger. Dells company has never been a market maker, a company that creates demand for something that didnt previously exist. But it hasnt had to be. What Dells been good at is knowing the right time to get into a market, says Patrick Moorhead, an analyst who has covered Dell and its competitors for years and now runs Moor Insights & Strategy. Theyre so close to their customers that they just know. That closeness was embedded at Dell from the earliest days, when Michael Dell himself was building PCs for one customer at a time. In 1988 Dell wrote the companys first Culture Code, with Provide high-quality products and excellent customer service at the top of the list. His focus hasnt changed much, his allies say, and its been central to his ability to keep transforming the company. On Dec. 28, 2018, the reorganized, renamed Dell Technologies emerged fully from its cocoon, trading on the NYSE under a new share class. In its metamorphosis, the company had all but shed its image as a lagging PC maker, refashioning itself as an enterprise infrastructure giant. And enterprises, it turned out, were about to need a whole lot more infrastructureand maybe, just maybe, more PCs. Back in Round Rock, Dell is trying to explain what an AI PC is, and why anyone would want one. I have a list, he says as he gets up to grab his phone from his office. The CEO comes back and proceeds to rattle off a catalog of capabilities. Theres real-time, AI-powered translation, he explains, and a feature called circle to search, which enables PC users to highlight a word or line, which the computer will then provide more context and information for. Theres also generative AI editing, which can assist with any kind of writing or content creation. What customers actually end up using these machines for, Dell admits, is beyond his expertise to foresee. But I believe that people will figure out creative uses and that companies will want to have the capability to make their people more productive. In fact, Dells lessons from its earliest days of customizing laptops still apply in the AI era: The key is to be flexible enough to meet customers demands. The competitive advantage for Dell today is that it offers services you can tailor to almost every need in AI, says Orit Gadiesh, the chairman of Bain & Co. and a decades-long consultant and confidante of Dells. Its not a fixed thing. Corporate customers in and outside tech are already clamoring for back-end machines that can both house and make sense of the data that feeds into generative AI applications. At a time when huge platform creators like OpenAI and Google are competing for corporate clients, Dell Technologies doesnt have to worry about who wins: Its tech stack is agnostic to different flavors of generative AI, just as its cloud offerings have always accommodated hybrid, private, and public cloud strategies. And just as with the move to the cloud, Dell is counting on one common denominator with AI: that all companies, regardless of which AI applications they build or deploy, will want control over the hardware where the relevant data is stored. Michael Dell with Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang. To be sure, Dell didnt know that the generative AI explosion would happen when it did; he credits Jeff Clarke with devising much of the companys AI road map. But he calculated long ago that going all in on data infrastructure was the best way to position his company for the future. As a result, hes not just providing the picks and shovels, but also housing and food and beverages for the AI gold mine, says Silver Lakes Durban. Its still early days for Dell Technologies AI story. Fast as its growing, Dells AI server products account for just a tiny fraction of its business. But most financial analysts seem bullish about whats to come. Theres even hope that the AI craze will jump-start demand for PCsAI PCs, to be precise. The thinking is that the need for increased processing power wont just be on the data-center side (where servers and storage systems handle companies information), but also on the desktops and laptops that consumers and workers interact with. In February, Dell Technologies announced its first line of Latitude AI PCs, which look like normal computers but include a tiny component called a neural processor, the key to enabling generative AI workloads. Its not the only vendor with high hopes in the categoryHP and Lenovo have announced similar products. And its not clear when demand will take off. Bloomberg Intelligence analysts wrote that sales and units shipped may disappoint investors in calendar 2024, having a greater potential impact in 2025. Even Dell acknowledges that spurring demand could take a while. That said, if youre responsible for the PCs in a company, the last thing you want to do is have a bunch of PCs that dont do the thing that the users want them to do, says Dell. I do think theres going to be a refresh wave. The top floor of the University of Texass Innovation Tower, a new high-rise thats meant to be a startup hub, is still empty. But one only has to look out the windows for inspiration. The 360-degree views of the Austin skyline show a city dotted by cranes and construction in almost all directions. Jay Hartzell, the universitys president, is showing me around, pointing out all of the landmarksincluding the buildings adorned with the name of the institutions most famous dropout. Michael Dell never did become a doctor, but his name is on his alma maters medical school, the universitys teaching hospital, and its pediatric research center. (Not to mention Austins Jewish Community Center.) When we talk about what we want to produce as a university, and why people should come here, hes sort of Leading Exhibit A, says Hartzell. He credits Dell not only with being a major employer of UT graduates but also with helping to spur the citys broader tech ecosystem. Over the years, tech companies from Meta to Apple have set up shop in the Texas capital. Investors, too, from Vista Equity Partners to Pimco to Jim Breyer, have put down roots. UT recently welcomed its first cohort of students in a brand-new AI graduate degree program. If youre responsible for the PCs in a company, the last thing you want to do is have a bunch of PCs that dont do the thing that the users want them to do. Michael Dell Dell, who is originally from Houston, never wanted to move his headquarters away from Texas, even when others told him he should relocate to Silicon Valley. He helped put the place on the map, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson tells me in a phone interview. If you took Michael Dell out of the equation, it would be a strikingly different city. Dell has made his mark outside of Austin, too. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, which the couple founded in 1999, has 800 active projects around the world at any given timefocusing on education, training, and health innovation to help children living in poverty. (Dell and his wife recently contributed another $3.6 billion to the foundation, bringing its total endowment to $5.2 billion.) Dell says he spends a little more time each year on the foundation. Hes also gotten more hands-on with his family office, which invests in real estate development and hotel companies, among other sectors. Could those jobs someday be his lifes work? Dells next chapter could be a long one: Even after 40 years leading Dell, hes still so young, at 59. But the thought of playing any role other than his current oneat the center of the business that hes synonymous withseems to stump him. When asked if he could see himself running Dell Technologies in 20 years, Dell says he hasnt thought that far ahead, but that theres no other role he craves. Then, at long last, he provides something like a money quote: Ive said this before: Ill still care about Dell when Im gone. The long and winding road Michael Dells company began life in 1984 as PCs Limitedselling computers, and thats it. A few crucial pivots helped the company evolve and stay not just relevant but dominant. 1995 Dell Computer, by then a Fortune 500 company, releases the first-generation PowerEdge enterprise serverits first attempt to sell data storage to enterprises. 2006 Dell joins the cloud era, announcing a new business unit that provides cloud products and services to customers. Demand is relatively slow to catch on. Michael Dell and Egon Durban of PE firm Silver Lake (with Dell, at left) take the company private in an effort to refocus the company on corporations data infrastructure needs. 2013 Michael Dell and Egon Durban of PE firm Silver Lake (above, with Dell at left) take the company private in an effort to refocus the company on corporations data infrastructure needs. 2016 Dell acquires EMC and its stake in VMware for $67 billion, at the time the largest tech deal evermaking Dells data-storage and management portfolio far larger. February, the company announces its AI PC, which includes a neural processor to handle AI workloads. In early March, Dell Technologies stock hits an all-time high 2023 Dell Technologies releases a series of infrastructure products, including servers and storage, that are optimized for generative-AI applications. 2024 In February, the company announces its AI PC, which includes a neural processor to handle AI workloads. In early March, Dell Technologies stock hits an all-time high. This article appears in the April/May 2024 issue of Fortune with the headline, "The [forever] founder." This story was originally featured on Fortune.com Boeing's (BA) terrible year started with four bolts that apparently werent where they were supposed to be when the fuselage of a 737 Max 9 ripped open at 16,000 feet. Three months after that harrowing incident aboard Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight 1282, the aviation giant faces lawsuits, government investigations, a tumbling stock price, declining margins, a tarnished reputation, and a leadership vacuum following the coming exit of CEO Dave Calhoun. How this crisis unfolds during the rest of 2024 will have giant implications for an iconic American company, the wider airline industry, and the US economy. Not only is Boeing a major employer of 140,000 people and supplier of jets to nearly all large US airlines, but it is also Americas single largest exporter. A lot is at stake, and it is up to Boeing to convince customers, investors, and the American public that it has its many problems under control. Here is a closer look at the five big threats it faces now: Legal peril Dozens of passengers filed civil lawsuits against Boeing after the Jan. 5 door plug blowout, creating legal headaches for years to come. But the bigger danger to Boeing is the prospect of criminal liability. The US agency with the authority to bring that action is the Justice Department, which has convened a grand jury in Seattle as it investigates what happened aboard the Alaska Airlines flight. Passengers who were there that day have also received a letter from the FBI saying they may be victims of a crime. All 171 passengers survived, as did six crew members. A door plug area of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, with paneling removed, is shown prior to inspection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS) The DOJ is reportedly looking into whether events leading to that failure violated the terms of a deferred criminal prosecution agreement it reached with Boeing in 2021 to settle criminal charges connected to two 737 Max 8 aircraft crashes that killed 346 people at the end of the last decade. Investigators concluded the crashes were caused by Boeings lack of transparency about a new aircraft maneuvering system on the Max called MCAS. Boeing admitted that two employees misled the FAA about that system. The department agreed to set aside criminal responsibility so long as Boeing fulfilled the terms of the three-year accord. But if it concludes Boeing violated that pact, the jet maker could face prosecution on the original count of defrauding the US. Boeings accumulated lapses which include recent violations of US export laws are giving prosecutors less and less wiggle room to handle Boeing with kid gloves, said Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor and white-collar criminal defense attorney. He argues the door plug mishap is enough to charge Boeing. "The simple question is: Why would you not criminally prosecute Boeing?" Frenkel said. The challenge for the Justice Department in considering a guilty plea or prosecution is that a criminal conviction could potentially disqualify Boeing from certain government business a devastating economic blow for a giant American manufacturer. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is attending meetings with Senators on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on January 25, 2024, as Boeing deals with the fallout of multiple recent safety mishaps, including a door blowing out mid-flight. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images) Heat from regulators Boeing also faces new pressure from regulators to improve standards within its manufacturing plants and those of its suppliers. While that work happens, its overseers are limiting Boeings production of new 737s. The job of investigating exactly what transpired on Jan. 5 falls to the National Transportation Safety Board, the agency that discovered preliminary evidence that the four bolts were missing from the door plug that blew open during that flight. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told a Senate panel that Boeing had failed to cooperate in its probe and hadnt provided the names of employees who worked on the Alaska Airlines jet, nor had it provided documentation on how the work was performed. Boeing did later provide the names but also admitted it had no record of the work on the Max 9 panel that blew off in midair. Boeing 787 Dreamliners are built at the aviation company's North Charleston, South Carolina, assembly plant on May 30, 2023. (Photo by JULIETTE MICHEL/AFP via Getty Images) (JULIETTE MICHEL via Getty Images) The Federal Aviation Administration, meanwhile, is taking a deep look at Boeings quality controls. And the news has not been good for Boeing. The FAA said that a six-week audit prompted by the Alaska Airlines incident revealed multiple instances where Boeing and fuselage manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems (S9Q.F) allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements. At Spirit, the agency even observed the use of hotel keycards and Dawn dish soap on the production line. FAA administrator Michael Whitaker has been direct about his concerns. He told NBC after a visit to the companys operations in the Seattle area that Boeings "priorities have been on production, and not on safety and quality." When asked whether he thinks Boeing is too big to fail, Whitaker said, "I don't." They're too big "to not make a good airplane," he added. Last month, Boeing was given 90 days to develop a plan to improve its culture and practices to meet FAA standards. "The FAA was on site this entire time, so they're not particularly clean on this either," said Mike Boyd, an aviation analyst. "And they have to move their game up as well." Cash burn All of this regulatory scrutiny and a slowdown in production of its 737 Max are taking a huge toll on Boeings business. It is burning through lots of cash. Last week, its CFO Brian West predicted a giant drain of up to $4.5 billion in the first quarter, meaning a massive loss. The margins in its commercial aircraft business will be a negative 20%, he said. "Were not at the moment where we can manage the near term for these financial outcomes because of the work at hand around stability," West said last week. The Boeing Co. logo is displayed outside of company offices near Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in El Segundo, California on January 18, 2024. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) (PATRICK T. FALLON via Getty Images) Boeings production problems are rippling out to the rest of the airline industry and frustrating executives with carriers who depend on orders from Boeing to maintain their schedules and routes. Southwest Airlines (LUV) recently cut its capacity forecast, citing fewer Boeing deliveries than expected, and United Airlines (UAL) said it asked Boeing to stop building planes not yet certified by the FAA. Alaska Airlines has also said its capacity estimates are "in flux" due to federal scrutiny of Boeing. Major airline bosses have so many concerns they asked for an audience with Boeings board to go over quality control and production questions. "We've got to recognize that Boeing's problems are more than just one company," said Boyd, the airline analyst. "This is our biggest exporter. And right now today, it is relegating itself to a distant second behind the only other game in town, which is Airbus." A tarnished reputation Boeings reputation is undoubtedly tarnished by what happened on Jan. 5. What makes its task more challenging is that its reputation was already bruised before 2024 began. It had spent the previous five years taking steps to recapture the trust of regulators and the flying public following crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed all 347 people on board two separate 737 Max 8 planes. The chaos aboard the Alaska Air flight on Jan. 5 resurfaced the concerns that Boeing had spent half a decade trying to quiet, and now every new revelation or report of other incidents provides Boeing with more damaging headlines. They include Boeing planes that suddenly plunged mid-flight after a pilot said he lost control of the aircraft, "stuck" rudder pedals, an engine that belched flames midair, and a wheel that fell off after takeoff. There was also news that a Boeing whistleblower died on the day he was scheduled to give testimony about safety concerns. Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-300 (WL) at Brussels Airport. Brussels, Belgium on September 2023 (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images) To make matters worse, in February, Boeing entered into a $51 million civil settlement over State Department claims that the company committed 199 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The government said Boeing employees in China illegally downloaded data from Boeing defense aircraft and missiles, resulting in unauthorized exports of technical data to the Peoples Republic of China. Boeing agreed to a corporate monitor to oversee its ongoing security practices. Declining investor confidence Another problem for Boeing is that investors are uncertain that Boeing and its management team can work their way out of the current mess. The stock of Boeing is suffering. It has lost roughly a quarter of its value this year, shaving tens of billions off the companys market valuation. It is the worst performer in the Dow (^DJI) and the second-worst performer in the S&P 500 (^GSPC); only Tesla (TSLA) stock has fared worse. The company made a dramatic move Monday to restore some confidence in its governance by announcing the exit of its CEO, Calhoun, who had served on the board since 2009 and was installed as CEO after the earlier crashes in 2018 and 2019. The company also announced that Larry Kellner, chairman of its board, will not stand for reelection at the company's upcoming annual shareholders meeting. Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of Qualcomm, will replace Kellner and lead the company's search for its next CEO. Boeing also said Stan Deal, currently CEO of its Commercial Airplanes segment, will retire. Boeing workers are pictured outside a pedestrian gate as Boeing's 737 factory teams hold the first day of a "Quality Stand Down" for the 737 program at Boeing's factory in Renton, Washington on January 25, 2024. (Photo by Jason Redmond / AFP) (Photo by JASON REDMOND/AFP via Getty Images) (JASON REDMOND via Getty Images) In a letter to employees, Calhoun said the Alaska Air incident "was a watershed moment for Boeing." "The eyes of the world are on us," Calhoun added, "and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years." Its stock rose 1% Monday following the announcement. Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance If you are involved in a hit-and-run in Michigan, you know it can be a frightening situation. An accident is considered a hit-and-run if one of the drivers involved leaves the scene without exchanging information or providing assistance to the other driver. It may also be considered a hit-and-run if the driver does not report the accident to the police or other authorities. Michigan hit-and-run laws include severe penalties for those involved in these accidents. Bankrate took a careful look at hit-and-run laws in the Great Lakes State to help you know what to do if you are involved in one. Hit-and-runs in Michigan Under Michigan law, drivers are required to stop at the scene of an accident. However, as of 2022, 19.6 percent of Michigan drivers were uninsured the fifth-highest rate in the U.S., according to the Insurance Information Institute. And drivers without insurance could be more likely to leave the scene of an accident. That said, it is probably in your best interest as an insured driver to protect yourself. Purchasing uninsured motorist coverage, which is an optional coverage type in Michigan, may add an extra layer of financial protection in the event you are the victim of a hit-and-run. Michigan hit-and-run laws If you are involved in a hit-and-run, whether you are at fault or not, leaving the scene can result in being charged with a misdemeanor or worse. Potential penalties vary depending on the severity of the accident. If you leave the scene of an accident where there is property damage: You could face up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $100 or both. If you leave the scene of an accident resulting in serious injury or death: You may face felony criminal charges with prison time of up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000 or both. If you leave the scene of an accident where you caused the death of another party: You may face felony criminal charges punishable by up to 15 years in prison, a fine up to $10,000 or both. How hit-and-runs impact car insurance rates in Michigan Any accident where you are at fault is likely to result in an increase to your car insurance premium, as insurers will view you as a higher risk to insure. But if you are responsible for a hit-and-run and youre caught, you can expect your insurance rates to increase even more since you may face charges and have points put on your record. On average, Michigan drivers pay $3,375 per year for full coverage car insurance 33 percent more than the national average of $2,545 per year. After causing a standard at-fault accident, such as rear-ending another car, drivers can expect to pay an average of $4,051. A hit-and-run accident would probably mean paying even more. 5 things to do after a hit-and-run in Michigan In addition to stopping, drivers must take certain steps following any accident to stay in compliance with Michigan hit-and-run laws. These include giving personal and vehicle information to the person or occupants involved in the accident, rendering aid to anyone injured and arranging or providing transportation for injured parties. If youre the victim of a hit-and-run, experts also recommend that you: Get medical help if needed. If anyone is injured, even if the injury seems minor, your first responsibility is to contact 911 quickly so they can be stabilized and moved to a hospital or care center. Get to safety. If you can do so without difficulty, move your vehicle off the road to a safe location out of the flow of traffic. Be very careful opening your door or getting out of your car if there is traffic moving around you. Call the police. This is a good idea even if there is minimal damage. An official police record can help your insurance company to determine what happened in the accident. The police are likely to question youanything that you can remember about the other car will be helpful. Record the damage. If your vehicle is damaged, and you are in a safe location to do so, take photos with your cell phone of the cars damage, along with the site of the accident. Its also a good idea to have a file of all paperwork involved with any medical care you received. This can help your insurance company resolve your claim quickly and efficiently. Contact your insurer. If the damage is very minor, you may decide not to file a claim. But in most cases, you will want to contact your insurance company and give them the details youve collected. You can often do this with a phone call or via the companys website. If you talk to an agent, they can answer questions and help you understand what your policy will cover. Will insurance cover a hit-and-run? In Michigan, there are several coverages that you may have on your auto insurance policy to help pay for your injuries and property damage after a hit-and-run: Personal injury protection (PIP): As a no-fault state, Michigan drivers are required to carry PIP coverage, which is designed to help pay for medical care and more, up to your policy limit, regardless of who caused an accident. Uninsured motorist bodily injury: This coverage could help to pay for your medical expenses after being hit by someone without insurance. However, your insurance company may require proof that the other driver did not have insurance, so in the case of a hit-and-run where the responsible driver is not found, this coverage may not cover damages. Uninsured motorist property damage: This coverage might pay for the damage the uninsured driver caused to your car or other property. Just like with uninsured motorist bodily injury coverage, the insurance company may first require proof the other driver was not insured at the time of the accident, so if the responsible driver is not located, this coverage may not apply. Collision: If you have full coverage on your vehicle, you may be able to use your collision coverage to help pay for the damages to your car. You will likely have to pay your deductible, although some companies will waive it in the event of a hit-and-run. Talking to your agent about your current insurance policy before you are the victim of a hit-and-run may be a good idea. Understanding how your policy could assist you in the aftermath of a hit-and-run could help you to identify coverage gaps. Frequently asked questions Heath Barnes opened his book on the upper decks of the Bahamas-bound Carnival Freedom cruise ship in between bouts of rain. But his relaxation Saturday afternoon was suddenly stolen with the loudest thunder and lightning I have ever heard, he told CNN. Barnes, of Woodsboro, Maryland, went back inside and minutes later learned from his nephew and his nephews two friends, all 16, the ship was on fire. I thought they were giving me a hard time, but I got up and went out on the balcony and sure enough, the flames and smoke was pouring out of the tail, said Barnes, who shared footage of the incident with CNN. Cruise ship officials reported the fire broke out on the port side of the ships exhaust funnel around 3:15 p.m. local time, according to a news release from Carnival Cruise Line. Witnesses reported the ship may have been struck by lightning, but that has not been confirmed and the cause is still being investigated, according to the cruise line. As the ships fire response team worked to extinguish the blaze, the cruises captain turned the ship toward an area of heavy rain to help put out the flames, the release states. The fire appeared to be extinguished about two hours after it ignited. There were no reported injuries to guests, but two firefighting crew members were treated for minor smoke inhalation, according to the cruise line. The port side portion of the exhaust funnel fell onto deck 10 of the ship as a result of the fire, according to Carnival. The ship was about 20 miles off Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, when the fire broke out. The blaze started as the ship headed to Freeport, the release said. The cruise line said passengers were able to attend dinner as planned Saturday night. The US Coast Guard has been notified about the incident. Barnes said after the fire broke out, passengers were told to remain in their cabins until about 5:40 p.m. This was his 18th Carnival Cruise trip. This was the most interesting one, he said. Its not their fault, its Mother Nature. Carnival said later on Sunday it had completed a thorough assessment during the ships visit to Freeport and discovered the damage was worse than the cruise line initially reported. The Carnival Freedom cruise trips originally scheduled to depart from Port Canaveral, Florida, on March 25 and March 29 have been canceled to allow immediate repair to stabilize the funnel, the cruise line said in a news release. The funnel has been stabilized for the ships return to Port Canaveral overnight to disembark guests, and then it will go to the Freeport shipyard on Monday afternoon to begin the required repairs, according to the updated release. Carnival announced full refunds and future cruise credits for passengers scheduled to depart on the canceled cruises. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Executive director Brandy Scheetz and board members of the new Foundations Community Childcare center in Ashland showed understandable pride and enthusiasm when they gave an informal tour of the building March 7. Pristine and spacious with wide hallways and expansive classrooms, it is the fulfillment of a dream the goal of accessible and affordable child care for Ashland employees. It was long talked about and carefully planned before being funded and constructed; it is now bearing fruit. Started by the Women's Fund Childcare Initiative to meet a need for working parents in Ashland, Foundations Community Childcare has been working through the final stages of opening to serve up to 150 children, ages 6 weeks to 5 years. The Foundations Community Childcare center is located on Ford Drive in Ashland. Leading the effort to provide childcare for working parents are Jody Watson, left, board president; Brandy Scheetz, executive director; Brenda Uselton, secretary; and Barbie Lange, vice president. They are shown in the room for ages 6 weeks to 12 month. MIKE SCHENK/ASHLAND TIMES-GAZETT Summer camp childcare and before and after school care will serve children and youth up to the age of 12. The center will be open 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Although an open date hasn't been set yet, it is anticipated to be something this spring. Located on three acres of donated land on Ford Drive in the Ashland Business Park, it is a full-service facility, said Barbie Lange, who serves as the board's vice president. Foundations Community Childcare is putting Ashland on the map as a model of caring for and educating children. Its development has been a joint venture with the community, said board President Jody Watson, generating support from the public and corporate sector alike. More than 331 donors contributed to it, said Brenda Uselton, board secretary. The corporate partnership program will encompass assistance with recruitment and tuition costs, Lange said. Executive Director Brandy Scheetz stands in the fully equipped kitchen where hot breakfasts and lunches for the children will be made. It also will help with operating costs, Uselton said, elaborating on funding. More than $4.5 million was raised by June 30, 2023, she said. It took $3.5 million to construct the building and begin operations of the center. There will be $1 million used for endowment and sustaining the center, she said. The website explains the funding model as encompassing income-based and employer supported tuition, grant-funding and an endowment. The center's nonprofit status is not typical, Scheetz said. "People just gave out of their hearts," Watson said. "There is no debt," Uselton said. Going forward, the center will work with businesses and the community for additional partnerships and fundraising, she said. The corporate partnership program supports the center and offers employee discounts. Donations of toys, books, baby quilts and other items continue to flow into the building. Child care is different from day care, Scheetz said. One of the center's hallmarks, along with nurturing children, is educating them on a continuum aligned with Ohio state standards. Each classroom is being equipped to supply what a child needs for a particular stage of development during the early learning phase through age 5. "The infant piece is very special to us," Watson said, highlighting how babies will be "very well-cared for and nurtured" in a "a safe and loving environment." Uselton pointed out an area specially created for breast-feeding mothers, who, like other parents, are welcome to visit their children during the day, for example to have lunch with them. "Parents can come any time," Scheetz said. Parent engagement is encouraged, Scheetz said. The center is designed to come alongside parents in caring for their children as they grow. Each classroom is being equipped to supply what a child needs for a particular stage of development during the early learning phase through age 5. This room will be for ages 12-18 months. As they transition into toddlers, space and materials are designed to foster dramatic and sensory play, Watson said. Scheetz said fenced playgrounds are being put together for different age groups. A great room, or multi-purpose room, will serve many functions, including dining, meetings and special events. Over all, "our goal is to be five-star (the highest) rated," said Scheetz, referring to Step Up To Quality, an Ohio Department of Education-administered rating and improvement system. Also carefully implemented is security for the building. "Every child will be checked in," Watson said. "All doors will be locked," said Scheetz, explaining the security camera system implemented in the building. Watson praised Scheetz's leadership and expertise in childcare and "her heart of love for the children." Lange called Scheetz "a gift from God." When Scheetz checked out the job description for executive director, she took note "of the community support behind (the center) and thought it would be neat to be part of it." Her undergraduate and graduate degrees were focused on the education of children. Her master's degree focused on teaching children to read. Among Scheetz's qualifications, she has taught a 3-year old class and has served as the director of a well-established preschool in Medina. A multi-purpose room will be used as a cafeteria, staff and parents meeting room, indoor activity room during inclement weather and more. Foundations Community Childcare's business partnerships are strengthened by its location in Ashland Business Park. "It's in process," Scheetz said near the beginning of March as personnel surrounded by boxes of material and supplies, the arrival of furniture, and the set-up of offices and classrooms geared up for the opening. On the agenda was the completion of the full-service kitchen, another distinct advantage of Foundations Community Childcare. It will provide a hot breakfast and lunch, in addition to snacks distinguishing it from many child care facilities requiring parents to pack a lunch. The center is an economic boost for Ashland, Lange said. "This makes our community more viable for companies. It is a big, big deal." The 12,400-square-foot center even has room for expansion, if necessary, on the wings of the building, Watson said. Foundations Community Childcare is "truly a community effort," Uselton said. This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Foundations Community Childcare center nearly ready to open in Ashland Israel has agreed to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage exchange that would release around 700 Palestinian prisoners, among them 100 serving life sentences for killing Israelis, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravids reporting on the recent round of talks in Doha, Qatar. CNN affiliate Channel 11 (Kan News) on Sunday also reported on Israels agreement to the US prisoner-hostage exchange proposal. Kan News cited a senior Israeli official, saying that Israel is ready to make significant compromises in order to return the abductees home. Earlier in the weekend, Ravid, citing an unnamed Israeli official, tweeted that Israel agreed to a US bridging proposal on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released for every hostage held by Hamas. A diplomatic source briefed on the matter confirmed to CNN the accuracy of Ravids information Saturday but said outstanding issues remain, including the entry of aid and Israeli military repositioning in Gaza. CNN has reached out to Israeli officials on the status of the talks. Israel agreed to the proposal put forth by CIA Director Bill Burns, according to Ravid. Burns was in Doha, where Hamas and Israel are engaged in talks through mediators. Hamas response could take one to three days, according to Ravid, who said he has spoken to Israeli officials. Those details need to go from Hamas representatives in Doha, who are negotiating, to the person who really calls the shots, and this is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, who is in a bunker some 100 feet under the ground, so this takes a long time, Ravid told Omar Jimenez on CNN Newsroom on Sunday. Ravid said the proposed exchange will definitely include some American hostages, because it will include the release of men over age 50. Pressure on talks Hamas pushed back against the reports, with senior officials Basem Naeim and Hussam Badran separately playing down the potential for a breakthrough. Naeim told CNN that Israeli-American media was increasing the pressure on the talks. For us, the negotiations are not only centered around the prisoner exchange deal, he said. Israel has not agreed to any of (Hamas) requests related to a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of all forces from the Gaza Strip, even in stages, and the return of all displaced people to their homes. Badran said on Hamas Telegram page that Israel is refusing to give any guarantees to mediators on basic issues related to the lives of people in Gaza. We are negotiating to reach a clear and specific goal related to the needs and requirements of our people in general and Gaza in particular, he said. Hamas latest proposal this month demanded that some 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners be released. Israel at the time described the demands as ridiculous and absurd. An agreement, if it happens, is expected to have multiple phases. In the first stage, Hamas has proposed releasing the hostages who are women including Israeli soldiers elderly, sick and wounded. That number is believed to be roughly 40 out of the around 100 hostages who remain alive. This story and headline have been updated with additional developments. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com London's High Court will hand down its ruling on Tuesday on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be able to appeal against extradition from Britain to the U.S. More: Julian Assange: He infuriated Washington. Now he's facing life in prison U.S. prosecutors are seeking Assange, 52, on criminal charges relating to WikiLeaks' high-profile release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables. They argue the leaks imperiled the lives of their agents and there was no excuse for his criminality. Assange's supporters hail him as a journalist and a hero whose prosecution is politically-motivated and is being persecuted for exposing U.S. wrongdoing. At a two-day hearing last month, his lawyers sought permission for Assange to launch an appeal against Britain's decision to extradite him. "This is it. DECISION TOMORROW," his wife Stella posted on X. From embassy refuge to a maximum security prison WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, left, appears with Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Julian Assange's legal battles began in 2010, and he subsequently spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London before he was dragged out and jailed in 2019 for breaching bail conditions. He has been held in a maximum-security jail in southeast London ever since, even getting married there. During the hearings in February, Assange's team argued the prosecution was politically motivated and said he was being targeted for his exposure of "state-level crimes". They said former U.S. President Donald Trump had requested "detailed options" on how to kill him. Grisly video from Iraq Lawyers for the U.S. said he was not being prosecuted for publication of the leaked materials, but for aiding and conspiring with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to unlawfully obtain them, then disclosing names of sources and "putting those individuals at grave risk of harm". WikiLeaks first came to prominence in 2010 when it published a U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. Last week, Assange's U.S. lawyer said his legal team saw no indication of resolution to the case against him following a newspaper report the U.S. Justice Department was considering allowing him to plead guilty to a reduced charge. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Julian Assange extradition ruling expected Tuesday in US spy case Picture a photographer's studio in Northern Paris decorated with an opulent crimson and gold-hued carpet, housing then-unknowing visionaries of the late 19th-century art movement: Impressionism. On one corner there's Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas finalizing details on the hanging of their paintings, while on another, fellow painters Berthe Morisot and Camille Pissarro grapple with the lack of recognition their work suffers from, and Claude Monet laments being mistaken for Edouard Manet. Outside the space, Parisian nobilities bunch up in front of the recently built Opera House to admire it closely alongside others who are sitting in nearby cafe terraces enjoying a drink, all the while, below them horse-drawn carriages pitter-patter down Baron Haussmann's new boulevards. This is exactly the image that the Musee d'Orsay's new exhibition, "Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism," is trying to conjure. Opening this Tuesday, March 26, the show will offer visitors a VR-powered glimpse into what that momentous moment of history's art 150 years ago looked and felt like. 'Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism' Exhibition in Musee d'Orsay When the group of some 30 artists, all of whom will eventually be referred to as the famed Impressionists we know today, met at Felix Nadar's photography studio in Paris on April 15, 1874, their art and artistry were mostly shrouded in obscurity and disdain. A good chunk of the artist collective was even completely ignored by the jury of annual the Academie des Beaux-Arts Salon, prompting them as a desperate last resort to open their own independent show, During this time, they were not known as Impressionists and only got the appellation from journalist Louis Leroy, who bestowed the title as a sort of snide remark describing their work, particularly Monet's, as "unfinished." In the Musee d'Orsay's exhibition opening this Tuesday, visitors will be able to be a part of a 40-minute VR tour of the young Impressionists' breakout show. In addition, viewers will also be able to "travel" by steam train to Bougival, where many of the artists worked on their art using the developing medium of oil-based painting. Afterward, the tour leads back to the main exhibition gallery that features Renoir's "La Parisienne" and "La Danseuse," two of the masterpieces that were showcased at the 1874 exhibition in Paris, among other monumental Impressionist artworks. Musee d'Orsay's Director of Digital Development Agnes Abastado told The Guardian that the "unique and innovative" VR experience was the result of extensive and laborious scientific research, which saw the examination of hundreds of letters that the young Impressionists sent to each other at the time. As for the recreation of the historic Paris venue during the Impressionists' show, Gedeon Media Group Head Stephane Milliere said they had to find the original architects' plan of the space to recreate it accurately, as there were no photographs of the event ever found. That said, the VR experience is merely an immersive tool, said Musee d'Orsay General Administrator Perre-Emmanuel Lecerf, aiding the magnificence of the real paintings that await the would-be visitors in the main exhibitions. "Paris 1874, Inventing Impressionism" will remain open until July 14. For more information, click here. Read Also: Black Americana Duo The War And Treaty Shares Steamy New Song 'Stealing a Kiss' 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The ever-evolving feud between former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz continued on Sunday as dueling stories emerged about an alleged offer centering on an House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz. Speaking to CBS Face the Nation on Sunday morning, McCarthy referenced a motion filed last week by Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene aimed removing House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. McCarthy, who was voted out of the speakership in October after Gaetz filed a similar motion, gave advice to the Republican conference and dinged Gaetz. The one advice I would give to the conference and to the speaker is: Do not be fearful of a motion to vacate, McCarthy said Sunday. I do not think they could do it again. That was surely based on Matt Gaetz trying to stop an ethics complaint. Pressed about his reference to Gaetz, McCarthy elaborated, saying, It was purely Matt coming to me trying, trying [to get] me to do something illegal to stop the Ethics Committee from moving forward in an investigation that was started long before I became a speaker. A fateful conversation on the floor Reached by phone on Sunday afternoon, South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman disputed McCarthys version of events. His assessment was based on a conversation he witnessed but didn't hear on the House floor between McCarthy and Gaetz that he found unusual because they werent friendly. Norman told NBC News that when Gaetz returned to sit near him after that conversation with McCarthy, he asked about their conversation and Gaetz told him that McCarthy had asked, Do you want this to go away? or something like that. Norman added that Gaetz said he didnt entertain the notion of an alleged offer in that conversation, and he said that McCarthy didnt have the chance to ask for something in return for making the ethics investigation go away. I dont think it even got that far, Norman said. The only thing Matt said was, Kevin said, Do you need the ethics violation to go away? Norman added, And I think Matt Im trying to think said, No youre the reason its there. Gaetzs office affirmed Normans account of the events to NBC News. Reached by phone on Sunday afternoon and asked to respond to Normans comments, McCarthy laughed and told NBC News, Thats bulls---. What hes referring to [is] on the floor, Im talking to Gaetz, but then Gaetz brings up ethics to me, he said, saying the conversation took place in May. McCarthy added, Apparently he got a letter from Ethics asking for documents. ... I told him, I dont know anything about this. I told him, You gotta talk to [Ethics Committee Chair Michael] Guest. The House Ethics Committee opened a probe into Gaetz in 2021 to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against him and former New York Rep. Tom Reed, who resigned from Congress in 2022. Federal investigators at the Justice Department were also looking into whether Gaetz and an associate, Joel Greenberg, used the internet to search for women they could pay for sex. McCarthy and his then-legal counsel Machalagh Carr told NBC News that they believe the House ethics investigation was first opened during the speakership of Rep. Nancy Pelosi but was suspended pending the federal criminal investigation. McCarthy said he was not aware exactly when it was reopened during his tenure as speaker. He added that he was not aware that the Ethics Committee investigation was reopened until another member of Congress told him about it in 2023 during a conversation in the speakers office. Gaetz has not been charged with any crime, and he has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. McCarthy links the ethics probe to Gaetzs motion to vacate The feud between Gaetz and McCarthy came to the forefront when Gaetz triggered the vote last October that ultimately led to McCarthys ouster and led to Johnson getting elected speaker. McCarthy on Sunday afternoon maintained that Gaetz filed a motion to vacate because of his refusal to intervene in the ethics probe. What Gaetz was always trying to do was leverage me to try to do something in the Ethics Committee that I would not about his investigation, McCarthy said. I never knew [the investigation] was going on. Im not going to get in the middle of it. And they can do whatever theyre doing, he added. A spokesperson for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment. Carr reiterated that McCarthy had no power to do anything Gaetz would have wanted him to do anyway, saying, House leadership has a whole lot of power in a lot of different ways, but Ethics is specifically designed to be completely separate from that. We dont discuss what investigations are ongoing, how votes should happen, she added. Those conversations happen all sorts of ways on every other committee but Ethics? Theres no communication about what theyre dealing with. NBC News on Sunday reviewed a copy of communications between Gaetz and a friend that McCarthy said proves Gaetz filed the motion to vacate the speakership due to the ethics investigation. In a message, which NBC News agreed not to quote directly to avoid identifying the friend, Gaetz neither confirms nor denies that hes considering filing a motion to vacate because hes upset at McCarthy about the ethics investigation although he made clear that he blamed McCarthy for his troubles. Gaetzs congressional office did not immediately respond to NBC News request for comment on the communications. McCarthy chided Gaetz, alleging the Florida Republican would jeopardize the entire majority and try to remove me from the speaker to protect himself from anything that could emerge publicly from the Ethics Committee investigation. All the reasons Gaetz gave publicly for filing a motion to vacate McCarthy are moot now, another GOP member of Congress told NBC News. If Matt Gaetz believed in the rules so much and believed in regular order, and believed in single appropriation bills, he would have been screaming from the rooftops and demanding [another] motion to vacate and demanding that everyone get rid of [now-Speaker] Mike Johnson, the member said. McCarthy departed from Congress in December. Gaetz is running for re-election to his seat in November. (Photo Credit: rachasuk | Getty Images) A 52-year-old man and a dog in Foley, Alabama, died after the RV they were in caught fire. Reports say another occupant of the 32-foot camper which had been parked behind a residence at the time of the fire managed to escape unhurt. Man and dog dead in RV fire in Foley, Alabama On Mar. 17 at around 12:16 a.m. as per WKRG News 5 reporting, the Foley Fire Department and Foley police responded to the scene after receiving reports of the fire. Upon arrival, they found the RV engulfed in flames, with the man, identified as Dallas Omega Martin, and the dog trapped inside. After containing the blaze, firefighters searched the camper and found Martin deceased with severe burns. Preliminary autopsy established that Martin died from the fire. Moreover, the fire crew discovered the dead body of a small dog inside the RV. Since the tragic incident, authorities and fire officials in Alabama have been trying to piece together the exact cause of the blaze. As of now, the cause remains unknown due to the extensive damage to the camper and no first-hand knowledge of the fire origin. Unfortunately, RV fires are quite common. Findings by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimate that nearly 2,000 fire incidents occur in RVs annually. While the thought of your RV going up in flames with you and your dog inside is pretty scary, you can avoid this by taking a few fire safety precautions. According to NFPA, factors such as mechanical and electrical failures, lack of functional smoke alarms, and the presence of flammable items near RV heaters can result in an RV catching fire. If youre an RV owner who loves to hit the road with your canine companion, its important for you to keep up with your campers routine maintenance. Furthermore, its essential to install enough smoke alarms, keep fire extinguishers preferably in every compartment, have an escape exit, and test your detectors regularly. The post Man & Dog Killed in RV Fire in Alabama appeared first on DogTime. NCIS: Hawaii is tasked with the job of protecting Tatyana (Masha Mashkova), the daughter of a Russian oligarch carrying a deadly secret and for some reason, Tatyana has requested that Lucy Tara (Yasmine Al-Bustami) be assigned to head her protective detail. Lucy is not excited about the prospect. Tatyana stands for everything that Lucy is opposed toat least at first glancebut it turns out that theres a reason why Tatyana selected Lucy: They come from similar backgrounds. Still, its a shock for Lucy when she realizes that Tatyana did a background check on her. Her familys a secret shes been keeping with the exception of Jesse (Noah Mills), who did a background check on Lucy early on and discovered that she comes from a wealthy, powerful family. Yasmine Al-Bustami Photo: Karen Neal/CBS Lucys definitely very secretive and tries to keep everyone out of her past life, Al-Bustami tells Parade. She has tried so hard to recreate herself and be her own person and not have people attach where she came from, who her family is, to who she is now. With this episode, we learn more about that. Once Lucy gets to know more about Tatyana, who also doesnt want to be judged by who her family is any more than Lucy does, they finally make a connection when they both realize that they are trying to be true to themselves. Related: The Who, What, Why and When for the NCIS Franchises 1,000th Episode Its up and down, Al-Bustami says. I see it as a love-hate, push-pull kind of relationship. Lucy doesnt want to have anything to do with Tatyana, but the more that they are in the trenches together trying to stay alive, the more that they find out about each other. Through that and the situation that theyre in, I feel like Lucy cant help but develop a likingeven though she hates itbut she develops a liking for this person. And, also, I think it's been a while since shes talked to someone who might understand her in a way that other people dont. Masha Mashkova, Yasmine Al-Bustami Photo: Karen Neal/CBS It's a good thing that the bond develops becausewithout giving away too muchthe two women find themselves in major jeopardy and Lucy must put her life on the line for Tatyana. But thats the fun of it for Al-Bustami, who really enjoys the physical aspects of playing an NCIS agent. Every fights different, all of the action can be different depending on the location and what the storyline is, Al-Bustami explains. But with this one specifically, its one of my favorite fights. Its definitely Top 2 for me. And its just because of all of the elements. All of the action in this was awesome. I love working with our stunt team. They just make us look cool. In case youre wondering what Top 1 is, its the fight scene that Lucy had on the beachand youve got to remember, Lucy hates the beach. Anyway, it was a fight scene where Lucy took on this particular bad girl because she beat up Kate (Tori Anderson), so it was a revenge fight. Anytime theres meaning behind the fight instead of just a fight just to have a fight, like theres a personal reason, it just makes it that much more fun, Al-Bustami volunteers. And then on top of that, if its in gritty, dirty elements, that also makes it a little more fun. Yeah, those are my Top 2. Related: Vanessa Lachey and LL COOL J Reveal the Unpredictable Stories and Fun Ride for NCIS: Hawaii During our NCIS: Hawaii chat, Al-Bustami also talks about the Kate-Lucy (aka Kacy) relationship, what its like working with LL Cool J, and the other secret thats revealed in this episode: Kais (Alex Tarrant) Canadian girlfriend is real. Yasmine Al-Bustami, Tori Anderson Photo: Karen Neal/CBS Jane (Vanessa Lachey) is divorced. But Jesse has a stable relationship, hes happily married. So, its nice to watch young love in the form of Lucy and Kate as they try to figure out theirs. Are you getting a lot of support from the LGBTQ+ community? How does that feel? We have tons of support. Its been there since day one, which is really lovely to see. Its also lovely to see that everyone loves where were at now in our relationship, that were not so up and down. Theyre supporting the stable aspect of our relationship. So, thats been really cool. Obviously, just working with Tori is such a blast. So, anytime I get to do that then its a fun time. Related: Vanessa Lachey on Why Jane Tennant Is Her Dream Role What are you enjoying about the relationship now? For example, there was a really fun line in there where Lucys headed home to watch reality TV with Kate. Because of the ups and downs weve already experienced with them, its nice that they are just in a good place and a healthy place it seems like. So, thats just been really good for Lucys anxiety, I feel, to have a relaxing, stable relationship. Lucys past isnt the only reveal in this episode. We also get to meet Kais mystery girlfriend (Peyton List). And it seems like nobody believed him. Its like everybody thought he was being catfished, right? I know. I feel like Lucy is such a cheerleader for him and is such a great wing woman for him. She just wants to see him happy with someone, so thats why its so cool. I wish the whole team got to meet her. But Im happy also, selfishly, that Lucy got to meet her. Because I think she was the one that was just like, Oh, my gosh. I cant believe you have a Canadian girlfriend.' That was really fun to play. LL Cool J, Yasmine Al-Bustami Photo: Karen Neal/CBS So, you have a new addition to the cast this season with LL Cool J, whos billed as a guest star, but hes been in every episode so far. What do you think he brings to it? And do you have any favorite scenes youve worked with him on? In the episode that aired just prior to this one, it was in the very beginning of the episode when hes making Lucy and Kai yogurt bowls while hes telling this really in-depth story of him maybe possibly about to die. And then Jesse comes in. That was just so fun to play. That would probably be my favorite thing. And then, actually, in this episode, were in the jungle. Sam and Jane are paired up together trying to find Lucy in the jungle. Whenever we all get together and just team up thats fun, just all being out there. Hes just such a bad a$$ person, both on screen and off screen. Hes just so lovely. He gives the best hugs; I love his hugs. Thats been fun for me. NCIS: Hawaii airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS and streams next day on Paramount+. Next, Say Aloha to Season 3 of NCIS: Hawaii and Its Newest Cast Member PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday the gunmen who killed 137 people in a concert hall outside Moscow were part of an Islamist group that was behind foiled attempts to attack France over the past few months. This, in turn, explains why the French government on Sunday increased the security alert to its highest level, Macron said. Russia, which has challenged assertions by the United States that the Islamic State militant group orchestrated Friday's attack, continued on Monday to suggest Ukraine was to blame. Macron said this was "cynical and counterproductive". "This attack was claimed by Islamic State," Macron said, "and the information available to us, to our (intelligence) services as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State which instigated this attack. "This group has attempted several times to hit France," he added, referring to Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan, which is known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday's Moscow attack. France has been hit by a series of Islamist attacks over the past decade, the worst of which, in 2015, targeted the Bataclan concert hall and cafes and bars in Paris - which some Parisians said helped them understand why security would now be beefed up. French officials were holding a meeting on Monday to look at specific measures to step up security, such as checking bags on entrance to concert halls or places of worship. "It (the Moscow concert hall attack) brings to mind the Bataclan years, so yes, it's something that has left a mark in us forever," said IT worker Raffele Alegretti. "So yes, I completely agree with the strengthening of the Vigipirate (public security) plan, because, in my opinion, people are a little worried," he said, pointing to the Olympic Games that Paris will host this summer. "There has already been an attack during the Olympics (in Munich in 1972) ... Obviously, these are worrying events, in terms of security," said 25-year-old movie producer Lou Bardou-Jacquet. Macron, who was speaking as he arrived for a visit in French Guiana, also said France had offered to increase cooperation with Russian intelligence services over the concert hall attack "so that we continue to fight effectively against these groups which are targeting several countries". Russian President Vladimir Putin has not publicly mentioned Islamic State in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. Russia has been at war with Ukraine since it invaded its neighbour in February 2022. Putin said some people on "the Ukrainian side" had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame for not securing Russia against such an attack by mentioning Ukraine. (This story has been corrected to clarify that Islamic State, not ISIS-K entity, claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack, in paragraph 5) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Ingrid Melander, Tassilo Hummel, Elizabeth Pineau, Manuel Ausloos, Louise Dalmasso; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Alex Richardson, Angus MacSwan and Mark Heinrich) TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) About 2,000 migrants began walking Monday in southern Mexico in what has become a traditional demonstration during Holy Week before Easter to draw attention to their plight. Leaving Tapachula near the Guatemalan border at dawn, the migrants and their advocates said their goal was to reach Mexicos capital and highlight the dangers they face including robberies, sexual assaults, extortion and kidnapping. Mexico has practiced a containment strategy in recent years that aims to keep migrants in southern Mexico far from the U.S. border. Migrants can languish there for months trying to regularize their status through asylum or other means. Migrants say there is little work available, and most carry large debts to smugglers. The procession included a large white cross painted with the words Christ resurrected in Spanish. The day before the march, there was a stations of the cross procession a time for pilgrimage and reflection across the river that divides Guatemala and Mexico. Guatemalan Daniel Godoy joined the walk on Monday with his wife and two children after waiting in Tapachula for four months to regularize their status. Theres still no date for the card, for the permit, he said as they walked down a rural highway. We decided its better to come on our own. He carried his 2-year-old daughter on his shoulders and his wife carried their 6-month-old baby. Rev. Heyman Vazquez Medina, a member of the Catholic Churchs human mobility effort, said Mexicos immigration policy lacked clarity. He noted that the government dragged its feet in granting legal status to cross the country and kept migrants off public transportation, but let them make the exhausting trek up highways. They have to walk under the sun and the rain, kilometers and kilometers, suffering from hunger? Who can take that? Vazquez said. Mexicos government has been under pressure from the Biden administration to control the flow of migrants to the U.S. border. The U.S. Border Patrol encountered migrants 140,644 times in February, according to data released Friday. That was up from 124,220 in January but well below the nearly 250,000 encounters in December. ___ Follow APs coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed a law last week that includes a mandate for the states public schools to teach LGBTQ history, as red and blue states continue to diverge on whether schools should expose kids to gay and transgender identities. The new law, Senate Bill 5462, mandates that the states school districts adopt curricula that is as culturally and experientially diverse as possible, including the histories of LGBTQ people, people of color and people with disabilities. Schools will be required to institute the inclusive curricula by the 2025-26 school year. The governor was happy to sign legislation that aims to ensure students of all races and identities feel safe and welcome at school, Mike Faulk, a spokesperson for Inslee, said in an email Monday. Faulk also referred NBC News to research published in the journal Sex Education that suggests LGBTQ-inclusive curricula can reduce rates of bullying and make children feel safer in school. Kristie Bennett is a high school teacher in Sammamish, Washington, who is bisexual and leads her schools gender-sexuality alliance organization. In an interview last week with NBC affiliate KGW of Portland, Oregon, Bennett echoed Faulks sentiment. Ive seen firsthand how important an inclusive curriculum can be and how life-changing it can be to help a student see themselves in the curriculum instead of some old dead white guys from the 1700s, Bennett said. Washington is the seventh state to enact legislation mandating that public schools incorporate LGBTQ-inclusive curricula in some capacity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank. The other six are: California, New Jersey, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Illinois, states that have been won by Democrats in the last four presidential elections. The law also comes as conservative lawmakers introduce record numbers of anti-LGBTQ measures, including legislation to regulate how LGBTQ issues are taught in public schools. Over the last several years, Republican officials have sought to limit how sexual orientation and gender identity are taught in school through measures critics have dubbed Dont Say Gay laws; bans on books with queer storylines or characters; and disbandments of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public universities. Seven states all but one of them led by Republicans have laws in place that restrict the instruction of sexual orientation or gender identity in some public schools, according to MAP. Gabriele Magni, an assistant professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and director of the schools LGBTQ+ Politics Research Initiative, called the enactment of the measures to mandate LGBTQ history be taught at public schools a reaction to anti-LGBTQ measures introduced in red states. Its similar to the analogy weve seen with abortion. On the one hand, youve seen states banning abortion or making it much more unrealistic, Magni said. And then, on the other hand, youve seen states like California or New York ramping up their protections and also offering a more welcoming environment for people who may come from out of state. LGBTQ advocates in Washington similarly suggested that their states new law was necessary to counter the idea from conservatives that queer identities are inappropriate for children. Its considered too controversial to mention to kids that Thoreau was gay or Walt Whitman was gay, Ken Shulman, the executive director of Seattle-based LGBTQ advocacy group Lambert House, told KGW. Alan Turing who invented the first computer, helped serve the Enigma code and win World War II was gay. BERLIN (Reuters) - For seven years, an Israeli drag queen and Syrian belly dancer had hosted a joint monthly show at Berlin LGBT clubs, celebrating their coexistence in an extravagant party resembling a Middle Eastern wedding. But when Hamas gunmen carried out a deadly attack on southern Israel in October, triggering an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, their relationship was tested. "We spent long days talking. I was really insecure about where our relationship was going," said the Syrian belly dancer, who uses the stage name The Darvish. The artists also had to agree on the future of their show, "Yalla Hafla," which means "Let's Party" in Arabic - an approach that no longer seemed appropriate at a time of grief in Berlin's Arab and Israeli communities. Out of that grief, a new show, "Together", was born. In Tipsy Bear, a cramped, purple-lit bar in the German capital, the event starts with a medley of Arabic, English and Hebrew songs in which the black-cloaked Israeli drag queen, who uses the name Judy LaDivina, gives melodramatic lip-synching performances while The Darvish belly-dances in a jangling sequined skirt. Less of a wedding party, the music now reflects a more subdued mood. "It was not an option for us to go on stage in a celebration, but it was very important for us to give space for a dialogue to share our grief," said LaDivina. For the second half of the show, the audience is offered scraps of paper to contribute questions, remarks or confessions. "We had a lot of people come to hug us every show," The Darvish said, adding that the show has also sparked hateful comments and even death threats. Caught between protecting artistic freedoms while recognising what many Germans see as a historic responsibility to Israel after the Nazi Holocaust, the show is one of a few events in Germany offering such space to discuss the Middle East conflict, The Darvish said. "I'm rarely seeing organizations or artists that are not afraid of saying Palestine and Israel in the same sentence," LaDivina said. (Reporting Rachel More and Riham Alkousaa, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) Three senior Boeing executives including its CEO are stepping down, the company said Monday, as the company continues to deal with an ongoing scandal and federal investigation into the safety of its passenger jets. CEO Dave Calhoun confirmed he was leaving the company by the end of the year in a statement. Stan Deal, the CEO and president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, has retired effective immediately. Larry Kellner, chair of the company's board of directors, will not stand for re-election at the next shareholders' annual meeting. Boeing board member and former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf will succeed Kellner. The company has been mired in a slew of negative stories since a door panel blew out on a Boeing 737 Max plane flown by Alaska Airlines in January. The fallout from that fateful flight shows no sign of stopping: The FBI informed passengers last week that they may have been the victims of a crime that the bureau is still investigating. Despite Boeing announcing a range of measures to improve safety and committing to working with federal investigators, some passengers have spoken of feeling nervous climbing on board its aircraft. Boeing CEO David Calhoun (Aaron Schwartz / NurPhoto via Getty Images file) In a letter to staff, posted on the Boeing website, Calhoun acknowledged that the Alaska Airlines incident had changed the company. "As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing," he wrote. "We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company." "The eyes of the world are on us," he said, referring to ongoing efforts to reassure both the company's airline customers and the flying public that its aircraft are safe. In an interview with CNBC following Monday's announcement, Calhoun acknowledged the ongoing challenges at Boeing. "We have this bad habit in our company," he said, adding production pressures continued to weigh on performance. "When you move it down the line, it sends a message to your own people that 'Wow, I guess the movement of the airplane is more important than the first time quality of the product.' And we have got to get that in way more balanced. Without a doubt." Calhoun said in the letter to employees that the company had over the last five years faced some of the most significant challenges our company and industry have ever faced in our 108-year history. Calhoun was appointed CEO in 2020 in the wake of two other air disasters that some experts blamed on failures at Boeing. The crashes of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines in 2018 and 2019, which killed a total of 346 people, both involved the failure of a Boeing software system known as MCAS. In an interview with the New York Times upon his appointment, Calhoun, who had served on the board of Boeing since 2009 and was appointed non-executive chairman in 2019, promised to change the internal culture at Boeing. Its more than I imagined it would be, honestly, Calhoun said at the time, describing the problems he was confronting at the plane manufacturer. And it speaks to the weaknesses of our leadership. Yet in the same interview, he seemed to imply that American pilots would not have reacted to the MCAS system failures as the foreign-born ones did. In the wake of the second crash in March 2019, the 737 Max was grounded worldwide and not re-approved for flight for nearly two years. In 2021, Boeing agreed to pay a $2.5 billion penalty to settle criminal charges over accusations it concealed information about its 737 Max airplane, with Boeing admitting it had "deceived" the FAA about the MCAS system's reliability. Calhoun said at the time that the settlement "appropriately acknowledges how we fell short of our values and expectations." In an interview last week, Michael Whitaker, administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, told NBC News that Boeing had no choice but to develop a plan to improve its culture and practices to meet the agency's safety standards. Whitaker said Boeings priorities have been on production and not on safety and quality. In the wake of the January Alaska Airlines incident, some Wall Street analysts said more drastic change was needed. How many times can wont happen again happen again? Bank of America Corp. analyst Ronald Epstein wrote in a report in January. Both Boeing and [Boeing parts supplier] Spirit [AeroSystems] need a drastic cultural overhaul. This cultural change wont come from FAA mandates, congressional hearings, internal memos, or one-hour all hands meetings. For culture to move from corporate jargon to being embodied in the habits and minds of both workforces, we see it as necessary for Boeing and Spirit to drastically rethink the ways they have operated. Law enforcement officials said Sunday afternoon that rescue efforts for a 6-year-old girl who was swept away in Pennsylvania's Chester Creek on Saturday night have been abandoned. The effort that is ongoing, officials said, is now considered a recovery. This is an extremely sad day for the city of Chester, said Chester Mayor Stefan Roots on Sunday. This is a community that will wrap its arms around those are hurting or who are in need. At 8 a.m. on Sunday, crews resumed a search for a girl who fell into the creek at about 7 p.m. on Saturday night. Officials suspended the search after 10 p.m. on Saturday after searching for the girl for several hours. On Sunday, officials said that while Fire Department crews had suspended the search, the Coast Guard had crews looking for the girl throughout the night. But, they noted, the survivability estimates for someone in the water was only about three hours. As of 2 p.m., officials said, the effort would continue as a recovery, instead of a rescue. Rescue crews at Chester Creek (WCAU) This is a tough time for our city, said Roots. Police officials have not yet provided the girls identity, but on Sunday morning, Kimberly Richardson, who said she was the girls grandmother, told NBC Philadelphia that the family was already bracing for the worst. Im sad. My emotions are off the hinge, she said. I havent had sleep. I cant eat. The only thing Im thinking about is finding her. Officials have told NBC Philadelphia that the incident began after three girls were playing in a park by Chester Creek when two of them slipped on mud and fell into the water. Rescue crews at Chester Creek (WCAU) The area of the creek where the girl went missing is near 7th Street and the Avenue of the States in Chester, Delaware County, according to Tim Boyce, director of Delaware Countys Department of Emergency Services. One of those girls was able to get herself out, but the 6-year-old was not able to get back to shore, officials said. The girls aunt, Tyeesha Reynolds, told NBC Philadelphia that her daughter tried holding on to the young girls jacket but wasnt able to keep the girl from slipping away into the rushing water. NBC Philadelphia has also been told that several of the girls family members also jumped in the water and started searching on their own before crews arrived. About two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the court on Tuesday will revisit the issue of reproductive rights, this time contemplating whether to limit access to mifepristone, the first of two pills used in medication abortion. Ahead of oral arguments and eventual ruling, doctors and patient advocates are expressing alarm about what might happen if the high court decides to tighten access to the drug. Following the Dobbs ruling in 2022, 14 states now completely ban abortion, including medication abortion. A handful of other states ban delivering the drugs by mail and require patients to see a doctor in person before they can get a prescription for mifepristone. Medication abortions accounted for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports access to abortion. At issue Tuesday is whether the Food and Drug Administration disregarded important safety concerns when it expanded access to mifepristone beginning in 2016. Those eventual expansion include making it available from mail-order pharmacies. Two studies cited in a Texas court ruling last year claimed mifepristone could be harmful. Those studies, however, were later retracted after the publication found fundamental problems with the study design and methodology as well as conflicts of interest. Im very concerned, said Dr. Kristyn Brandi, an OB-GYN in New Jersey and the former board chair for Physicians of Reproductive Health, an advocacy group for reproductive rights. While there are alternatives that people could get if mifepristone is no longer available, it still means that most people seeking abortion are going to be impacted. It could set an incredibly dangerous precedent, said Kristen Moore, the director of the Expanding Medication Abortion Access Project. Putting the medication back under lock and key means breaking the system, she added. The FDA first approved mifepristone in 2000 to end pregnancies of up to seven weeks. Over the last decade, the FDA made revisions to the approval that made the drug easier to get, including allowing it to be prescribed without an in-person doctor visit and expanding the number of eligible pharmacies such as drug store chains, including CVS and Walgreens that can dispense the drug. It also extended the time mifepristone can be used up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court could roll back those changes, including in states where abortion is still legal. Its unclear when the court could make a final ruling, but experts expect a decision by the end of June. It is a uniquely important case, said Arthur Caplan, the head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. If the court were to buy into it, it would clearly bring abortion by pill to end around this country. Three members of the Women's March group protest in support of access to abortion medication (David Erickson / AP file) Limiting access to the only choice The FDA has maintained that medication abortion is safe and effective. Mifepristone is one of two drugs used in the regimen for use in early abortions. A second drug, misoprostol, is taken one to two days later. Mifepristone blocks a hormone called progesterone, which the body needs to support a pregnancy. Misoprostol causes the uterus to contract and empty. As a two-drug regimen, the medications successfully end a pregnancy nearly 100% of the time, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. Dr. Michael Belmonte, a fellow at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said medication abortion is safe and the option that many of his patients prefer. I always include medication abortion as an option when counseling my patients, he said. Limiting access, he added, could make it harder for patients for whom medication is the right, or in some cases, the only choice for them. Clinics stocking up Brandi said she is particularly concerned about people with disabilities or others who lack the resources to be able to travel to get a surgical abortion. Women who are in the country illegally, she added, may also face difficulties crossing state lines to access abortions. The medication is also used to help women recover after a miscarriage. Its going to vastly impact people that are marginalized, she said. Medication abortion has been a huge access point for people who need it. Providers are preparing for the worst-case scenario. Moore, of the Expanding Medication Abortion Access Project, said doctors are already stocking up on the medication in their clinics in case they need to act as both the doctor and the dispenser. Still, it could put an intense amount of pressure on an already pressurized abortion care ecosystem, she said. Even ahead of Tuesdays ruling, some patients are already under the impression that medication abortion is banned nationwide, said Amy Hagstrom Miller, the CEO of Whole Womans Health, an abortion provider with clinics in four states. That is concerning, she added, because it leaves people confused about whether they can access care. My experience with patients oftentimes is that they will hear something like a bill being introduced and they think that its already law, Miller said. That strategy of having people confused about their rights, afraid of whats legal, whats not legal, where can I access something I think is part of whats at play here. Audrey Wrobel, 27, of Philadelphia and a patient advocate for Planned Parenthood, said medication abortion was the best option for her when she decided to end her pregnancy in 2015. In college at the time, Wrobel found out that she was pregnant after taking a pregnancy test in the bathroom of a grocery store. After telling her boyfriend, they drove to a Planned Parenthood about 20 minutes away to take a second pregnancy test. About two weeks later, she was prescribed mifepristone. The medication abortion, Wrobel said, meant she could have privacy and the care I needed on my own terms. She said the Supreme Court shouldnt be able to decide what women should do with their bodies. We are the ones living with the decisions, she said. TAIPEI (Reuters) - Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou will make his second trip to China next month, leading a group of students on an 11-day journey to visit locations including Beijing, his office said on Monday, at a time of continued tension across the Taiwan Strait. Ma, president from 2008 to 2016, last year became the first former Taiwanese leader to visit China. Since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, no serving Taiwanese leader has visited China. China considers democratically-governed Taiwan its own territory, and has ramped up military and political pressure to assert those claims. Apart from Beijing, Ma will also visit the southern province of Guangdong and the northwestern province of Shaanxi, going to historic sites, visiting companies and leading student exchanges at Beijing's elite Peking University and Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, his office said in a statement. Asked by reporters about arrangements for who Ma would meet while there, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen said they would be "at our hosts' disposal". Ma met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in late 2015 shortly before the current Taiwan president, Tsai Ing-wen, won an election. China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which referred to him as "Mr. Ma Ying-jeou" rather than former president given neither the Chinese nor Taiwanese government recognise each other, said it welcomed his visit. Ma remains a senior member of Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), which in January lost for the third time in a row the presidential election. The KMT advocates close ties with China and dialogue, but strongly denies being pro-Beijing. Tsai and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party have repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed, as Beijing views them as dangerous separatists. Tsai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future. Her government strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard;Editing by Michael Perry) In the weeks leading up to the tragedy at a Moscow music venue on Friday night, warnings had been relayed to Russia that a terror attack perpetrated by extremists was imminent. Despite this, it appears their intelligence services were caught unaware when a group of four gunmen opened fire at Crocus City Hall, where 7,000 concertgoers had gathered to watch the progressive rock band Picnic. At least 137 people have been killed, while over a hundred more have been wounded with the jihadist group ISIS-K claiming responsibility in a series of videos and messages. The four suspects have since been arrested and hauled before a court, just hours after footage emerged of them being dragged into an intelligence headquarters whilst blindfolded. The car which, according to Russian authorities, the suspects in the shooting at Moscow's Crocus City Hall used to escape (Ostorozhno Novosti via REUTERS) Who are ISIS-K? Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), named after an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and quickly established a reputation for extreme brutality. While the group has seen a decline in membership since 2018, it remains one of the most active regional affiliates of Islamic State. Over the years, it has been increasingly targeted by US forces and the Taliban, both of whom have inflicted heavy losses upon the group. Despite this, the US continues to view the group as a threat, with Congress told last March that ISIS-K was developing the ability to carry out external operations in Europe and Asia. General Michael Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command predicted it would be able to attack U.S. and Western interests outside Afghanistan "in as little as six months and with little to no warning." Why attack Russia? Jihadist terror groups have often posed a challenge to Russias security, with ISIS-K previously carrying out the 2017 St Petersburg metro bombing in 2017, which left 15 dead. The gunment opening fire in the concert hall foyer (UGC/AFP via Getty Images) Largely based in central Asia, ISIS-K has come to view Russia on a similar level to the US, which they believe espouses hatred towards the Muslim faith. They have also cited Russias support of the Assad regime which saw them intervene in Syria in 2015, with airstrikes occurring as recently as last year. Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center said ISIS-K "sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims." He added that the group also counts as members a number of Central Asian militants with their own grievances against Moscow. What other attacks have the group carried out? Earlier this year, the US intercepted communications confirming the group carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people who had gathered to mourn the anniversary of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimanis assassination by US forces. In September 2022, ISIS-K militants claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul. The group was also responsible for an attack on Kabuls international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US troops and at least 169 civilians during the chaotic US evacuation from the country. By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel's military carried out new airstrikes in Gaza and laid siege to two hospitals on Monday, despite what the U.N. chief called a growing international consensus to tell Israel a ceasefire is needed. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also issued a new call to Israel to allow aid in to northern Gaza to combat starvation after more than five months of war and not to carry out a threatened assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah. "It is absolutely essential to have a massive supply of humanitarian aid now," Guterres said during a visit to Jordan. Rafah, the last refuge for about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population after many people arrived in search of shelter after being displaced by fighting elsewhere, came under heavy fire in the latest Israeli attacks, witnesses said. Palestinian medics said 30 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours in Rafah, where Israel is planning a ground assault to eliminate what it says are Palestinian militant cells there. "The past 24 hours were one of the worst days since we moved in to Rafah," said Abu Khaled, a father of seven, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals. "In Rafah, we live in fear, we are hungry, we are homeless and our future is unknown. With no ceasefire in sight, we might end up dead or displaced somewhere else, maybe north and maybe south (to Egypt)," he told Reuters via a chat app. Dozens of Palestinians took part in rallies and attended funerals early on Monday after an Israeli airstrike killed 18 Palestinians in one house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, medics and witnesses said. Israeli forces were also besieging Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, Palestinian witnesses said, a week after entering Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the main hospital in the Strip. Israel says hospitals in Gaza are used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as bases. Hamas and medical staff deny this. Israel also says its military operations are "precise" and that it does not target civilians. The Israeli military said it had detained 500 people affiliated with Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad and located weapons in the Al Shifa area. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said hundreds of patients and medical staff had been detained there. Israel's military also said 20 militants had been "eliminated" in fighting and airstrikes around Al Amal Hospital over the previous 24 hours. Reuters has been unable to access Gaza's contested hospital areas and verify accounts by either side. PALESTINIAN ROCKET FIRE Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks have tapered off in recent weeks as Israeli forces advanced through areas in the Gaza Strip from where missiles have previously been fired. But, in a sign the Hamas arsenal has not been completely depleted, Israel's military on Monday sounded sirens in Ashdod, 40 km (25 miles) from Gaza, warning of incoming rockets. Medics said there was no immediate word of any damage or casualties. At least 32,333 Palestinians have been killed and 74,694 injured since Israel's offensive in Gaza began, including 107 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said. Israel began its military campaign in response to the Hamas-led attack on its south on Oct. 7 in which, according to Israeli tallies, 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted. U.S.-backed mediation by Qatar and Egypt has so far failed to secure agreement on a ceasefire and prisoner-hostage swap between Israel and Hamas, and international concerns about famine are increasing. "We see a growing consensus emerging in the international community to tell the Israelis that the ceasefire is needed," Guterres said in Jordan. He said Israel's main ally, the United states, supported an international consensus "to tell clearly to Israelis that any ground invasion of Rafah could mean a humanitarian disaster". Israel should lift all obstacles to aid into Gaza and allow convoys of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA into northern Gaza where starvation is looming, Guterres added. He made his comments after UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had informed the U.N. that it will no longer approve UNRWA food convoys to the north of Gaza. Israel denies blocking aid to Gaza, and says delivery of aid once inside the territory is the responsibility of the U.N. and humanitarian agencies. Israel has also accused Hamas of stealing aid, a charge the group denies. Aid organisations say security checks and the difficulty of moving through a war zone have hindered their operations in Gaza. (Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, Writing by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Timothy Heritage, Editing by Sharon Singleton) LONDON King Charles III is frustrated by the length of time his recovery from cancer treatment is taking, his nephew has said, as Kate, the Princess of Wales, and Prince William thanked the public for their support after the revelation of her own diagnosis. Peter Phillips, 46, the only son of Princess Anne and eldest grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, said Sunday that his uncle, the king, was in good spirits following his shock diagnosis in February but was finding the recuperation period and his step back from public life a struggle. I think, ultimately, hes hugely frustrated. Hes frustrated that he cant get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do, Phillips told Sky News Australia in an interview. He continued: But he is very pragmatic [and] he understands that theres a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself. The news came as Kate and her husband William, the heir to the throne, said they were "enormously touched" by the outpouring of goodwill from around the world following her announcement on Friday that she was undergoing treatment for cancer. The prince and princess are both enormously touched by the kind messages from people here in the U.K., across the Commonwealth and around the world in response to Her Royal Highness message, said a spokesperson for Kensington Palace, which houses the couples official residence and private office. "They are extremely moved by the publics warmth and support and are grateful for the understanding of their request for privacy at this time," the spokesperson added in a statement late Saturday. The developments followed a tumultuous week for the British royal family, in which Kate ended weeks of speculation and conspiracy theories over her health with a rare video message. Many of those who posted jokes or wild speculation have since expressed their regret. Kate, 42, was admitted to a private London hospital for major abdominal surgery in January. She said Friday that the unspecified surgery was successful but that subsequent tests showed that cancer was present. Kensington Palace said she was receiving preventative chemotherapy, and Kate asked for privacy as the family particularly the couple's three young children adjust to the news. King Charles expressed his own support for his daughter-in-law on Friday and Buckingham Palace said the pair had become close through their shared hospital stays. The king was "so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did," a statement from the palace said, adding that he had "remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks." The ill health of Kate and Charles has left the family short of frontline members to fulfil royal duties. Peter Phillips, who is 18th in line to the throne, said in his interview that the king was trying to return to public life as much as he could during treatment. "He is always pushing, his staff and everybody and his doctors and nurses to be able to say actually come on, you know, can I do this? Can I do that?'" he said. LONDON (AP) A London court is due to rule whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gets one final appeal in England to challenge extradition to the United States on espionage charges. Two judges are scheduled to issue a judgment Tuesday morning in the High Court that could put an end to Assange's long legal saga or extend it further. If he fails in winning the right to appeal, his legal team fears he could be swiftly sent to the U.S. to face charges, though theyre likely to ask the European Court of Human Rights to block any transfer. Assange, 52, has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his websites publication of a trove of classified U.S. documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege that Assange encouraged and helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published. During a two-day hearing last month, Assanges lawyers argued that he was a secrecy-busting journalist who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sending him to the United States, they said, would expose him to a politically motivated prosecution and risk a flagrant denial of justice. The U.S. government said that Assange's actions went way beyond those of a journalist gathering information and put lives at risk in his bid to solicit, steal and indiscriminately publish classified government documents. The Australian computer expert has been held in a British high-security prison for the past five years. Assanges family and supporters say his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles, including taking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London from 2012 until 2019. Julian is a political prisoner and he has to be released, said Stella Assange, who married the WikiLeaks founder in prison in 2022. Assanges lawyers say that he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, though American authorities have said the sentence is likely to be much shorter. A 30-year-old hiker was found dead at the base of a waterfall in Carmel Valley, California, four days after she set off for a day hike, officials said. Caroline Meister's body was discovered Friday morning after crews rappelled down a waterfall near "Cut Off Trail" in the Ventana Wilderness. "Based on the physical evidence, we don't think any foul play was involved. We think that it was accidental," Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said. A forensic examination will be performed to determine the exact cause of Meisters death. Caroline Meister (Monterey County Sheriff's Office) Meister left the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center for a solo hike about 10 a.m. March 18. When she didn't return that same day, staff members at the center contacted the Monterey County Sheriffs Office and noted that she was not prepared for an overnight hike. Meister's parents have said she was a "very experienced and avid hiker" and "very familiar with the area." She was living and working at the Zen Center at the time of her death. We are all deeply saddened and in shock. The sanghas at Tassajara, Green Gulch Farm, and City Center are gathering to support each other in the wake of this distressing news, the San Francisco Zen Center said. "108 bells are ringing. Our hearts are broken. By Camillus Eboh and Felix Onuah ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigeria has filed tax evasion charges against cryptocurrency platform Binance and is seeking an international arrest warrant for the company's regional manager for Africa who fled custody last week, officials said on Monday. The manager Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan, was detained in connection with an ongoing criminal investigation into Binance's activities in Nigeria. Nigeria's security adviser's office said it is working with Interpol after Anjarwalla escaped on Friday. Binance said on Monday it was aware that Anjarwalla was no longer in Nigerian custody and was working with authorities to resolve the issue. Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen and Binance's head of financial crime compliance, flew to Nigeria following the country's decision to ban several cryptocurrency trading websites and were detained on arrival on Feb. 26. Anjarwalla and Gambaryan could not be contacted. A person representing them, who asked not to be named, said the two officials were being held unlawfully since their detention order expired on March 12, adding that Anjarwalla left Nigeria by lawful means. "Nadeem left unlawful custody on Saturday 23, he was not being tried by Nigerian courts and has not been informed of any charges against him," the person said. Nigerian authorities had asked a court in Abuja to extend the detention of the two Binance executives after the warrant under which they were initially detained lapsed, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly. On Monday, Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) filed a case in Abuja accusing Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, of four counts of tax evasion. The FIRS charges include non-payment of value-added tax (VAT), company income tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in helping customers to evade taxes through its platform. Binance had no immediate comment on the tax charges. Binance this month said it would stop all transactions and trading in Nigeria's local currency after March 8 following a country-wide crackdown on crypto exchanges that authorities have blamed for fuelling demand for U.S. dollars on the black market. The company said it would stop supporting withdrawals and any remaining balances in Nigerian naira would be automatically converted into Tether - a stablecoin whose value is pegged to the U.S. dollar. (Additional reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe in Lagos; writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; editing by Jason Neely, Louise Heavens, Ed Osmond and Barbara Lewis) Heavens above: Viewing the last great American eclipse in Wyoming in 2017 (Simon Calder) The US is preparing to witness a total solar eclipse of intense drama. On Monday 8 April the moon will blot out the sun for over four minutes as a 115-mile-wide zone of totality sweeps across North America from Mexicos Pacific Coast to Atlantic Canada. Millions of people live in cities just outside the zone, such as Cincinnati and much of San Antonio, while Boston, New York and Chicago will see a sizeable chunk of the sun blotted out. But the UKs eclipse guru, Dr John Mason has warned prospective viewers to choose their location with care. Speaking on The Independents daily travel podcast, the astronomer said: Even when the sun is 99 per cent eclipsed, that 1 per cent is incredibly bright and gives out a lot of light. You cant observe all the wonders of totality unless youve got 100 per cent. The worst thing you can do is go somewhere thats outside the zone of totality and then have to travel in and find theres a staggering traffic jam and you cant get into the zone. Star guest: Dr John Mason, astronomer and eclipse guru, in Wyoming in 2017 awaiting that years total solar eclipse (Simon Calder) The last great eclipse in the US was in 2017. Dr Mason, 69, said: There were a lot of people who thought it was going to be total in Yellowstone Park. It wasnt. They got to Yellowstone Park that morning and said, Oh, its not going to be total. So there was an enormous tailback of camper vans heading south of Yellowstone Park to get into the zone of totality. I suspect we shall see similar things this time. Youve got places such as Cincinnati and Columbus in Ohio just outside the south limit. If all of those people try and head northwest to get into the zone of totality, then theres going to be a lot of traffic jams. Millions of people are expected to gather in US cities within the zone of totality, such as Indianapolis, Cleveland and Buffalo, while hordes of Texans from San Antonio, Austin and Dallas are likely to drive from their homes on the edge of the total eclipse zone to the centre line. Theres a lot of unknowns, and one has no idea how many people will travel or what the roads will be like. Rocking all over the Cosmos: Excitement is growing in the US ahead of the eclipse on 8 April 2024 (Simon Calder) Dr Mason is leading a tour of more than 100 eclipse chasers. Their base will be in San Antonio, Texas, but on 8 April they will be rising early to travel towards the Mexican border and a ranch that they have booked for exclusive use. Im going to be right up against the border down in Eagle Pass. And Im hoping that Im going to get good weather. When deciding where to lead his eclipse disciples, Dr Mason studies decades of weather records to maximise the chances of clear skies. But, he warns: The statistics for the weather are only a guide. On the day, it could be totally different. You could find that there could be a cloudy day in Texas, and it could be clear up in the Northeast, in Maine. Its only a guide. Theres generally going to be better weather down in the southwest, deteriorating slowly as you go towards the Northeast. But local weather conditions can make a huge difference. For example, Cleveland, Ohio, which is a really good place to view the eclipse from, has far better weather prospects than Indianapolis by quite a margin. Even Rochester, New York state, has got very good weather prospects. The location Dr Mason believes could attract the most viewers: Niagara Fall, on the US-Canada border. I could imagine huge numbers of people making their way to Niagara Falls because its got its cachet of an amazing view and and the total eclipse as well. Sun seekers: French eclipse viewers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 2017 (Simon Calder) Normally cheap motel rooms on the Canadian side of the falls are selling for a minimum of C$600 (350) for the night before the eclipse, and the morning train from Toronto to Niagara on the day is completely sold out. For anyone who misses the 8 April 2024 total solar eclipse, the next will be on 12 August 2026, with northern Spain and the Balearic islands in the zone of totality. By Ludwig Burger FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk said it plans to seek coverage by Germany's public health insurance scheme for the use of its Wegovy drug to cut the risk of strokes and heart attacks, if the drug's extended indication wins European approval. German health agency G-BA said in guidance documents last week that regulation banning Germany's health system from paying for weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy would not apply in the case of other approved uses of the weekly injection, a boost for Novo Nordisk's efforts to convince governments of its wider medical benefits. G-BA evaluates the benefits of drugs after they win approval from the European regulator, part of an effort by EU member states known as health technology assessment, or HTA, which typically plays a big role in drug price negotiations. "We are looking forward to demonstrating the value of Wegovy in an official HTA process," Novo said on Monday in response to a question from Reuters about whether it would seek German coverage. Novo added that Wegovy would first need EU approval for use in cardiovascular risk reduction and the drug would have to "officially fall into the area of reimbursable conditions", in Germany. The country is Europe's largest drug market, and its public health insurance scheme, which has been trying to contain rising medical costs, covers 90% of Germans. The European Union's drug regulator has been reviewing wider use of the highly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy to include reducing the risk of strokes and heart attacks, adding to its approved use to tackle obesity. While U.S. regulatory approval to reduce heart risk was granted earlier in March, Novo has said it expects Chinese and European Union regulators to decide on an expanded heart risk label during the second half of the year. The EU's review is based on a trial known as Select, which showed that the drug can reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes or death from heart disease by 20% in certain overweight people who have already had serious cardiovascular problems. The favourable guidance by G-BA is likely to have repercussions beyond the use of Wegovy because Novo's rival Eli Lilly has also been running trials to show additional health benefits of its weight-loss drug Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jason Neely) WHITEHALL, Ohio After a morning lesson on multiplying fractions, about half of the students in a fifth-grade class at Etna Road Elementary School packed up their work and headed to the campus library. The other half, all wearing matching red T-shirts, put on their coats, lined up single-file and boarded a red bus with the words LifeWise Academy painted on the side. While their classmates back at school browsed shelves of books, the children on the bus sang praise to Jesus. For there is no other name ... by which we must be saved. The students soon arrived at a church a half-mile away where, for the next 30 minutes, they would pray, read the Bible and sing worship songs activities that have become a routine part of their week thanks to an Ohio-based nonprofit on a mission to put God back in the public school day. LifeWise Academy is permitted under a pair of little-known, decades-old U.S. Supreme Court rulings that allow for off-campus religious instruction during school hours. Students leave school; students in a school bus (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) When LifeWise launched in 2018, the initial goal was to serve 25 schools by 2025, but it surpassed that long ago. By the start of this year, LifeWise had set up chapters in more than 300 schools in a dozen states, teaching 35,000 public school students weekly Bible lessons that are usually scheduled to coincide with lunch or noncore courses such as library, art or gym class. LifeWise has won support from conservatives on the front lines of the new culture wars over LGBTQ inclusion, sexually explicit library books and the role of racism in American history. But it also has a growing foothold in some progressive suburbs and cities, including deep-blue Columbus, Ohio. Its explosive growth has been celebrated by Christian groups and parents whove long decried the removal of religion from Americas classrooms and denounced by those who believe there should be a hard line between religion and public education. Supporters say LifeWise, which teaches children character development through Bible lessons, complies with the separation of church and state. Public schools are not allowed to directly promote or fund the program, which is offered free to students whose parents sign permission slips. A lot of parents want to be able to say to their child, Yeah, youre going to get science class, youre going to get math class, youre going to get English class and youre going to have Bible class, too, because this is important to us as a family, said LifeWise founder and former Ohio State Buckeyes defensive lineman Joel Penton. LifeWise founder Joel Penton (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) But parents and activists whove mobilized against LifeWise say that busing students to nearby churches, where they sometimes collect prizes and eat candy, has made some non-Christian children feel left out or pressured to attend. Whether its happening on campus or not, this program is bringing religion into the school, said Demrie Alonzo, an English tutor who works at several schools with LifeWise programs in central Ohio. Its not fair to the kids of different religions. At a time when conservatives nationally are fighting what they portray as liberal indoctrination in schools, some parents and critics see the opposite playing out, accusing LifeWise of using schools to draw children into an evangelical faith tradition whose members overwhelmingly vote Republican. Opponents have also documented several instances of teachers and administrators promoting LifeWise to students, either by allowing LifeWise volunteers to visit classrooms, hosting schoolwide assemblies or advertising the program in paperwork sent home to parents actions that, according to some legal experts, could violate the First Amendment. Penton said LifeWise follows all laws and local policies and avoids hot-button partisan topics in its curriculum, which is designed to guide students through the entire Bible in five years. He said LifeWise receives very broad support from groups with a range of political views. Last summer, LifeWises national teacher summit was sponsored by Patriot Mobile, a far-right Christian cellphone company that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting school board candidates promising to fight LGBTQ acceptance in schools. And in December, Penton appeared on the Truth and Liberty Live Call-in Show hosted by a group whose mission is to reshape American society by advancing conservative Christian values in seven key mountains of public life including media, government and education. On the show, Penton lamented the referendum last year enshrining abortion rights in Ohios constitution, saying it made him incredibly sad. It also made him realize, he said, that LifeWises mission is all the more important. What other hope do we have, Penton said, but to inject the word of God into the hearts of the next generation? Kids participate in LifeWise Academy (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) During school hours Penton said most people are surprised when they learn that this type of program known as release time religious education is legal. Supreme Court rulings in 1948 and 1952 established that public school students could receive religious instruction during the school day, so long as the classes took place off school property and the government did not promote or pay for it. Release time programs cropped up across the country in the decades since including in Utah and New York City with Mormon and Jewish groups among the biggest users, said Steven K. Green, a professor of law and religious history at Willamette University. For the most part, these were mom-and-pop type operations, Green said. Locally oriented, locally run. LifeWise has super-charged the concept, he said, by using a franchise-style, plug-and-play model that allows local groups to easily start new chapters. Community volunteers raise money and find a church to host the classes; LifeWise provides everything else, from curriculum to paid teaching staff to background checks. Bibles for kids; red bus (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) Its just a matter of people becoming aware that this is really possible and then giving them the tools, Penton said. I think parents by and large have always wanted this as part of their kids education. LifeWise has had to seek school board approval in states and districts that did not already have release time policies on the books. Most of the time, school boards have voted to allow the program, Penton said. In districts that have refused, board members and administrators primarily cited concerns about disruptions to the school day. Some GOP-controlled state legislatures recently have sought to expand access to off-campus religious instruction. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, signed a law this month requiring all public schools to accommodate programs like LifeWise. Ohio and Oklahoma lawmakers are considering similar measures. Doug Shoemaker, director of partnerships and legal services at Whitehall City Schools, which includes Etna Road Elementary, said the district has a decades-old policy allowing for release time programs. LifeWise was the first religious group in recent memory to capitalize on it, he said. We dont sell it or advocate for the program, but we also dont disrupt or block the program, Shoemaker said. Its a choice that parents have. Etna Road Elementary School Students at LifeWise Academy. (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) The feature that most inspires opposition to LifeWise the fact that it takes place during school hours is also what Penton believes makes it special. LifeWise has rejected requests by some school districts to schedule the program before or after school, the approach favored by most other religious clubs, because Penton said that would make it less accessible. LifeWise put NBC News in touch with seven parents whose children participate. Several said they wanted their children to learn the Bible but wouldnt have enrolled them in an after-school club. Some said theyve noticed improvements in their childrens behavior since joining and learning about character traits such as gratitude, obedience and respect. Kids bible; Door with message (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) I have firsthand seen differences in my boys that I kind of never thought possible, said Jessica Cappuzzello, who has two children who attend LifeWise in the New Albany-Plain Local School District outside Columbus. The interest in LifeWise Academy has coincided with a surge in donations, according to the most recent publicly available tax filings. LifeWise Inc., the nonprofit that operates the program, brought in $6.5 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2023 six times more than when it started in 2018. Vincent Coleman, a former middle school principal, runs LifeWises programs in Columbus City Schools, where a majority of the nearly 500 students who participate are Black or Latino and come from disadvantaged homes. Coleman said LifeWise volunteers have helped children facing food insecurity, homelessness and mental health struggles. Coleman said he was frustrated at times during his two decades as an administrator because he wasnt permitted to openly share his faith when counseling children. LifeWise, he said, fills that gap. You can communicate to a kid that Hey, your life matters. God loves you, Coleman said. Thats a component that our kids need to hear. LifeWise Academy city wide director Vincent Coleman (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) Using the children Sarah Myers, the mother of a third grader, was upset when she learned in 2022 that LifeWise was starting a program in Hilliard, Ohio, an affluent suburb north of Columbus thats also the location of the nonprofits national headquarters. I consider myself a very strong woman of faith, and I teach that to my child, Myers said. I just dont think this is the way to do it. Although her child doesnt attend LifeWise, she said the program still affects her. Myers said having all the LifeWise kids wear matching red shirts creates an in-group and an out-group. LifeWise chapters, she noted, sometimes send children back to school with invitations to share with friends. Some have promised students ice cream or popcorn parties if they convinced a certain number of classmates to sign up recruiting tactics that Penton said are used by other student clubs. Theyre using the children to proselytize, Myers said. I just think thats so wrong. Kids that are part of LifeWise Academy (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) Sammi Lawrence, a legal fellow at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said her organization, which advocates for the separation of church and state nationally, has received seven reports that she describes as school officials inappropriately promoting or accommodating LifeWise. In some cases, Lawrence said, teachers and administrators really go further than the law allows in terms of promoting LifeWise and trying to convince kids to go. LifeWise officials said they defer to local policies in deciding how to advertise. In some districts, schools have allowed LifeWise to send permission slips home in student backpacks, Penton said. In others, LifeWise has had to mail information packets to families. Alonzo, the tutor who works at several central Ohio schools, said she witnessed an elementary principal in the Fredericktown Local School District guide LifeWise volunteers from classroom to classroom at the start of the school year. In one of the classes, Alonzo said she saw a volunteer share a permission slip with a Hindu student. I told the woman, This student believes in a different God; this isnt for her, Alonzo said. And the woman said, Yeah, but I was just telling her about Jesus. And I said, No, no, no. This is not appropriate. Kids participate in LifeWise Academy (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) Gary Chapman, Fredericktowns superintendent, said the district investigated the incident after learning about it in October from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Afterward, Chapman said, the district reminded administrators that they must refrain from actions that could be viewed as promoting or discouraging participation in any religious release time program. The district also told local LifeWise officials that it prohibits outside groups from soliciting student participation during school hours, Chapman said. Penton said most of the complaints hes heard from groups like the Freedom From Religion Foundation are rooted in misunderstandings about whats legal and how the program works. He denied relying on peer pressure to recruit students and scoffed at the idea that LifeWise might lead to bullying or teasing in schools. These kids are going to our class to specifically learn things like respect and kindness and love and forgiveness, Penton said. He acknowledged that the program aims to reach non-Christian students with lessons tailored for unchurched children. To illustrate their success on that front during recent interviews with conservative outlets, Penton has told the story of a Muslim child who wished so badly to attend LifeWise with his friends that the student faked his parents signature on a permission slip. (Penton said the school spotted the forgery and told the student to ask his parents, who later agreed to send him.) Were praying with students, Penton said, but oftentimes were teaching students how to pray. Sarah Myers (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) Reaching the entire nation After stepping off the red bus, the fifth graders from Etna Road Elementary entered a brightly decorated Sunday school classroom at New Life Church. The children, who attend school in a diverse, middle-class suburb east of Columbus, broke into small groups and took turns sharing prayer requests. One child asked an adult to pray for a sick family member. Another wanted God to bless him with McDonalds for lunch. Dear Jesus, one of the LifeWise volunteers prayed aloud, thank you for loving us. Then the children found their seats and opened their Bibles to the book of 1 Samuel. This weeks lesson: David vs. Goliath. After the reading, a LifeWise teacher led the children to a 9-foot-9-inch poster of Goliath. Thats how tall he really was, one of the volunteers said. One by one, the children took turns slinging jumbo marshmallows at the poster, aiming to strike the giant in his forehead just as David did in the Bible passage. The story of Davids triumph and his faith that he would prevail was meant to illustrate the weeks character trait: discernment, the ability to recognize what is true, despite appearances. Penton stood to the side, observing. Six years after launching LifeWise Academy, hoping then to share Jesus with public school children in at least a handful of Ohio school districts, Penton has discerned that God is now calling him and his team to a far bigger goal. There are 13,000 public schools in America educating about 50 million students, Penton noted. It may sound a little wild, he said, but we would like to make Bible education available to all of them. Students pray (Maddie McGarvey for NBC News) After the last student took her shot at Goliath, it was time for the children to get back on the bus and rejoin their classmates for lunch. The volunteers at New Life Church quickly cleaned up the marshmallows and tidied up the Sunday school classroom. Another group of public school students would soon be on their way. Chef Daniele Uditi holds a piece of focaccia nel ruoto at the 40th annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. The Pizzana chef hopes to open a focacceria in Los Angeles. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) When Daniele Uditi was 9 years old, he remembers hearing voices at 4 a.m. He was in his childhood home in Caserta, Italy, and had just woken up to get a glass of water. He walked around the house, trying to pinpoint the source of the sounds. He eventually found his family awake, chatting and laughing in the basement downstairs. Like many families in the Campania region, his auntie had an oven in the basement, where she made bread. Read more:Review: Jonathan Gold willingly waits in line for hours at Pizzana, where Neapolitan pizza goes L.A. "I used to wake up and see all my family having fun mixing the dough by hand in a wooden bin," Uditi says. "I started to stay with them and play. My slime was water and flour. I got addicted." Uditi is behind the Pizzana restaurants in Southern California and Texas. He's developed a loyal fan base for his excellent, inventive takes on Neapolitan-style pizzas. His cacio e pepe pizza, piped with strips of Parmesan cream and crowded with cracked black pepper, is admired by diners worldwide and often imitated. Now, he's looking to make a version of the focaccia bread his auntie made in his family's basement. And what better way to test a recipe than to make it for thousands of pizza enthusiasts? Focaccia nel ruoto from Daniele Uditi at the 40th annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) I met up with Uditi last week at the 40th annual International Pizza Expo, a three-day pizza convention in Las Vegas. Vendors, pizza chefs, restaurant operators and pizza lovers from all over the world gather for three days of pizza competitions and plenty of pizza. Uditi is there with Rega, an Italian import company that supplies many of the ingredients he uses at his restaurants. He's testing three breads for a planned L.A. restaurant that focuses on focaccia. The first is focaccia nel ruoto, a round bread stretched in olive oil, submerged in more oil and cooked in a pan. It's a darker bread, more wet sand than golden, made with a multicereal flour that includes sesame, rye, oat and barley. "I'm collaborating with Molino Casillo, who are making the flour for me that's barely sifted and very dark," he says. Read more:Welcome to L.A.'s golden era of pizza: Try 21 of the best slices at these pizzerias The crust is fragile and crisp, fried in the oil in the pan until it mimics the exterior of a good doughnut. In the middle, the dough springs back with an airy crumb. There's an almost licorice taste, with a rich, slightly sweet and nutty intensity to the dough. This is not your pandemic focaccia. He tops the bread with a whipped prosciutto crudo, utilizing the often-discarded fat trimmings. It's a decadent meat butter that melts into the warm bread. On top is a dollop of sweet fig jam and shavings of Manuel Lombardi Conciato Romano, or what many refer to as the oldest variety of cheese in the world. The sharply flavored cheese is fermented in vases with wine and herbs giving it the fierce aroma of feet, or what all the best, most pungent foods should smell like. A slice of spianata focaccia with crushed crema di nduja, San Marzano tomatoes, herbs, mozzarella di bufala, anchovies and fresh basil from Daniele Uditi at the 40th annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. (Jenn Harris/Los Angeles Times) A crowd forms around the booth with people eager to taste Uditi's new creation. He's bombarded with questions. "Why is the dough so dark?" "How did you get that texture on the crust?" "Exactly how long is your proof?" He generously answers them all. His spianata focaccia is a long, stretched dough made with multigrain flour. The crackle of the crunch on the crust is audible, giving way to a center that's slightly chewy but mostly air. "These long focaccia are the precursor of pizza," he says. "Pizza comes from focaccia. It's basically flat bread." As soon as the spianata focaccia emerges from the oven, the wide, bubbly surface is thickly laden with hand-crushed San Marzano tomatoes and crema di nduja, a spicy meat paste he makes himself. Then he layers on slices of Latteria Sorrentina mozzarella di bufala. It has a milky fermented tang Uditi wouldn't dream of ruining by baking the cheese. He drapes anchovies over the top, then showers the pizza with fresh basil and drizzles it with some Muraglia olive oil. A slice of spianata focaccia made by Daniele Uditi at the 40th annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) "We also used to make friselle, twice-baked dough, to preserve the bread in the long run," he says. "But before we did the second bake, we used to use some for breakfast because we wanted it softer. We put mortadella inside. Just warm bread with mortadella and cheese." That childhood breakfast is the basis for his spianata focaccia with mortadella. He splits the bread while it's still steaming, the heat intensifying the meaty funk of the mortadella and just melting the stracchino cheese. It's incredibly simple and has all the makings of a great Italian sandwich. "A lot of people are focusing on like the cheese pull and all those Instagram things," he says. "I'm kind of tired of that. I want ingredients and things that are made the way I used to eat them when I was a kid." Spianata focaccia split and stuffed with mortadella and stracchino made by Daniele Uditi at the 40th annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Some of those ingredients include Tomatoes Agriconserve Rega by Luigi Rega, a jar of piennolo tomatoes that hang on the vine for a year and taste like candy. Uditi plans to introduce the focaccia during planned pop-ups and eventually open a dedicated focacceria. "I want to give people a mental connection with the focaccia because I'm tired of hearing people say something was better in Italy," he says. "When you're on the Amalfi Coast and you open up the window and you have the Gulf of Naples there, even a crappy plate of pasta tastes beautiful. How do I make up for that? Of course my beautiful accent and these amazing ingredients." Sign up for our Tasting Notes newsletter for restaurant reviews, Los Angeles food-related news and more. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. By Neil Jerome Morales, Karen Lema and Liz Lee MANILA (Reuters) -China warned the Philippines on Monday to behave cautiously and seek dialogue, saying their relations were at a "crossroads" as new confrontations between their coastguards over maritime claims deepened tensions. It was the second such warning by the Chinese foreign ministry in three months as the two countries openly sparred over territorial claims in the Spratly Islands, a mostly uninhabited archipelago in the South China Sea. The message was delivered by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong during a phone call with Philippine counterpart Theresa Lazaro amid worsening friction over altercations at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. In the call, Lazaro relayed Manila's "strongest protest against the aggressive actions" by the China Coast Guard and maritime militia against a Philippines' resupply mission in the South China Sea, her ministry said in a statement. Chen said in a statement: "China once again urges the Philippines to honour its commitments and consensus, stop its maritime abuses and provocations, stop any unilateral actions that may complicate the situation, and earnestly return to the right track of properly handling differences through dialogue and consultation with China." The Philippines accused China's coastguard of using water cannon against a civilian boat supplying troops on Saturday at the Second Thomas Shoal, which it said had damaged the boat and injured some crew. It was the latest in a series of flare-ups in the past year. The Philippines foreign ministry summoned China's charge d'affaires in Manila on Monday to protest at "aggressive actions" in the wake of the incident. "China's continued interference with the Philippines' routine and lawful activities in its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is unacceptable," it said in a separate statement, adding that a diplomatic protest had been lodged in Beijing. "It infringes upon the Philippines' sovereign rights and jurisdiction," it said, demanding Chinese vessels quit the area. China's coastguard said on Saturday it had taken necessary measures against Philippine vessels intruding in its waters. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, including the Second Thomas Shoal, which is within the Philippines' 200-mile (320-km) EEZ. The Philippines intentionally grounded an old warship at the shoal in 1999 as a means of bolstering its territorial claims and has kept a small contingent of military there ever since. China's foreign ministry said on Monday the Philippines had reneged on a promise to tow away the ship, "violating the commitments it has made to the Chinese side on many occasions". The Philippines has repeatedly denied making any such commitment and said it will not abandon its position at the Second Thomas Shoal. China has deployed hundreds of coastguard vessels throughout the South China Sea to patrol what it deems its waters, despite a 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in a case brought by Manila that said the claim had no basis under international law. China has refused to recognise that outcome. Philippine security chiefs convened a high-level meeting on Monday over the reported water cannon incident to prepare recommendations to put to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on ways forward in the dispute. CHINA SUSPICIOUS OF US-PHILIPPINES ENGAGEMENT Since taking power in 2022, Marcos has adopted a tough line against what he sees as Chinese hostility and rejected Chinese pressure to steer clear of maritime features it claims. China views with suspicion efforts by Marcos to deepen engagement with defence treaty ally the United States, including increasing base access for U.S. troops and expanding military exercises to include joint air and sea patrols. Washington has said it stands with the Philippines as it condemned the "dangerous actions" of China. Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and Australia have also issued statements of support for the Philippines. "The U.S. is not a party to the South China Sea issue but repeatedly intervened, provoked the maritime issues between China and the Philippines," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press conference on Monday. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro suggested on Monday that China should prove the strength of its maritime claims through arbitration, rather than ambiguity. "If China is not afraid to state its claims to the world, then why don't we arbitrate under international law?" Philippines' Teodoro told reporters. "No country believes (their claims) and they see this as their way to use force, intimidate and bend the Philippines to their ambitions." (Reporting by Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales; Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Martin Petty, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Mark Heinrich) A judge ruled GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz, left, and Marjorie Taylor Greene can move forward with their lawsuit against two California cities where rallies were canceled. (Nathan Howard / Associated Press; Mike Stewart / Associated Press) A federal judge has ruled that Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia can move forward with their lawsuit against two California cities where their political rallies were canceled in 2021. In a 22-page decision, U.S. District Judge Hernan Vera ruled Friday that the two lawmakers had grounds to allege that the cancellation of their rallies in Riverside and Anaheim was "expressly predicated on viewpoint discrimination." The judge, however, rejected the claim that the cities conspired with civil rights groups to shut down the events, calling it a "conspiracy theory that relies purely on conjecture." "The Complaint even charitably construed with all reasonable inferences drawn in Plaintiffs favor is utterly devoid of any specifics plausibly alleging such an agreement," the judge wrote. "And without an unlawful conspiracy, all that is left to aver against the Nonprofit Defendants are the unremarkable allegations that they exercised their own First Amendment rights to lobby for the cancellation of the event. That is protected." The two lawmakers who are known for their ardent support of former President Trump filed a lawsuit in federal court last year alleging that the venues caved under pressure from the cities of Anaheim and Riverside and canceled contracts for their America First rally because they disagreed with Greene and Gaetz politically. Anaheim spokesperson Mike Lyster said the city remains confident in its position. "While we disagree with the decision, it isnt unusual to see a claim move forward at this early stage, regardless of the courts initial thoughts on the strengths of the case," Lyster said. Read more:Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson The lawsuit also accused a handful of advocacy or political organizations of conspiring with the cities to push the venues to cancel the rally. Vera dismissed that claim in his decision. "The effect of Plaintiffs unprecedented and stunningly deficient pleading haling nine civil rights groups into federal court for speaking out against an event should shock in equal measure civic members from across the political spectrum," Vera wrote. Greene and Gaetz tried to host their rally at two locations in Orange County and one in Riverside in July 2021, but the venue operators kept backing out. They first tried to host the rally at the Pacific Hills Banquet & Event Center in Laguna Hills, but the venue opted to cancel after receiving a flurry of calls and emails about the event. Read more:Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene sue Anaheim and Riverside over canceled rally The rally was moved to the Riverside Convention Center. But Raincross Hospitality Management, which operates the convention center, said it decided to cancel the event because of a discrepancy on the certificate of insurance it had been provided, according to court records. With less than 24 hours until the rally, the group moved it to the Grand Theater, a private venue in Anaheim, but the outcry over the event followed it. An Anaheim code enforcement officer allegedly called the theater the morning of the rally and told operators that the venue's conditional use permit would be in jeopardy if they allowed it to go forward, according to the lawsuit. The Grand Theater canceled the rally. With time running out and no venue, the lawmakers held a protest "against communism" outside Riverside City Hall. Greene and Gaetz celebrated the judge's decision to allow the case to move forward on social media Monday. Gaetz wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that "spreading the America First message is our duty and our distinct privilege." "We will win these important free speech cases against California cities Riverside and Anaheim and the insane left!" Greene wrote on X. "Then we will return to CA and hold America First rallies inviting everyone in California that hates what the Democrats have done to their state and our country!" Times researcher Scott Wilson contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. By Yurii Kovalenko and Max Hunder KYIV (Reuters) -Debris from a Russian missile attack wrecked part of a three-storey building in central Kyiv on Monday morning and wounded at least 10 people across the city, officials said. Schoolchildren had to run for cover during the assault, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. The side of the building, which held an art academy's gym and exhibition hall, was reduced to rubble in an area packed with high-rise apartment blocks. The air force said it shot down two ballistic missiles fired from the occupied Crimean peninsula, more than 500 km (310 miles) away. CCTV footage obtained by Reuters showed the moment the blast wave blew out a window and upended shelves in a coffee shop that nearly fell on top of a barista working there. The woman, Maria Yestafieva, told Reuters she had narrowly escaped serious injury. "I heard glass being blown out. I was lucky to be wearing a hoodie. I put the hood on and kneeled to take cover under the counter," she said. "I tried to squeeze in as much as possible, but there is a fridge under the counter so there wasn't enough room... I wasn't hurt much. Just my hand (got cut) and my hoodie was ripped." Missile debris came down in the capital's Solomyanskyi, Holosiyivskyi and Darnytskyi districts, the Kyiv city administration said. The street outside the building was littered with bricks and cars coated in a thick layer of dust. LITTLE WARNING Kyiv's air alert system, which usually gives ample advance warning of danger, only sounded about a minute before the first of several explosions were heard by Reuters reporters. A woman working in the building was wounded, acting culture minister Rostyslav Karandieiev said. "Nobody died according to preliminary information," he added. At least nine others were injured in the district, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukraine's allies to supply more air defences. Russia, which has stepped up its missile and drone strikes over the past week, staged its biggest attack on Ukraine's energy system in more than two years of war on Friday, according to Kyiv. Moscow made no immediate comment on Monday's attack but has said it does not target civilians or civilian facilities. Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, described Russia and its president as "terrorists", comparing them in a statement to Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting in Moscow on Friday. U.S. ambassador to Kyiv Bridget Brink said Russia had used hypersonic missiles to attack the Ukrainian capital. "Over the last five days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country," Brink said. (Reporting by Max Hunder, Valentyn Ogirenko, Pavel Polityuk and Felix Hoske in Kyiv and Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk; Writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Alex Richardson) Thousands of Christians celebrated Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, kicking off the first day of Holy Week while the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas persists in the region. Swarms of the faithful attended the traditional procession on the Mount of Olives on Sunday, carrying palm fronds and olive branches to mark the Biblical story of Jesuss entrance into Jerusalem days before he was betrayed and crucified. Palm fronds and olive branches are the items believed to have been placed at Jesuss feet during his entrance, according to the Bible. Jerusalems Church of the Holy Sepulchre believed to be the place of Jesuss Crucifixion and his tomb held a service earlier in the day, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Also called Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the most sacred and somber week of the Christian year. Later this week on Friday, Christians will mark Good Friday a commemoration of Jesuss Crucifixion and death at Calvary and next Sunday, Easter will mark his resurrection. Palm Sunday typically begins with the clergy blessing the palms and a reading of the Passion of Christ, which details the final major moments in Jesuss life, per The Associated Press. Christian pilgrims will carry the palm fronds and olive branches and march from the top of the Mount of Olives to Jerusalems historic Old City, the news wire added. The celebration comes as fighting rages on between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which is roughly a one-hour drive from Jerusalem. More than 32,000 Palestinians have died since early October, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. The war began more than five months ago following a surprise assault by Hamas against Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 were kidnapped. Israeli forces have vowed to eliminate the threat of Hamas from the region and argue a permanent cease in fighting would equal a victory for the group, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. The nearby violence did not appear to hamper Sundays celebrations, the AP reported. Although there is war, in my impression I dont feel any kind of tension, David Manini, a pilgrim from Italy, told the news wire. Im here because I love Jesus Christ, said Jennifer Weedon, who traveled from the U.S., per the AP. A pilgrim on Sunday held a placard that read, Save us lord. The Church of Saint Porphyrius and Holy Family Church, Gaza, the news wire added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) -U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for a massive supply of aid to Gaza to fight starvation, saying there was a growing international consensus to tell Israel a ceasefire is needed in its war on Hamas. Speaking on a visit to Jordan, Guterres said he also saw a growing consensus for telling Israel that any ground invasion of Rafah, Gaza's southernmost town on the Egyptian border, could mean a humanitarian disaster. Rafah has become the last refuge for half of Gaza's uprooted population, swollen by displaced Palestinians escaping fighting elsewhere in Gaza after more than five months of war. Israel should lift all obstacles to aid into Gaze and allow convoys of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA into northern Gaza where starvation is looming, Guterres said. "It is absolutely essential to have a massive supply of humanitarian aid now. This means opening more entry points, this means a concentration of efforts of all entities and without obstacles and limitations from the Israeli side," Guterres said. During a tour of a centre in Jordan's Wihdat camp where UNRWA provides health and education services, the top U.N. official said that the agency was a lifeline of hope and dignity for millions of refugees across the region. "The decision not to allow UNRWA'S convoys to go to northern Gaza where we have a dramatic starvation situation is totally unacceptable and those that took that decision must assume the responsibility facing history of the consequences of the decision," Guterres added. Israel stopped all imports of food, medicine, power and fuel into Gaza at the start of the war. Although it later let in aid deliveries, aid organisations say security checks and the difficulty of moving through a war zone have greatly hindered their operations. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, accompanying Guterres, appealed to U.N. Security Council members to vote on Monday in favour of a resolution calling for a ceasefire and pressing Israel to allow unimpeded aid, saying it would send a "message that what's happening is unacceptable and what's happening has to stop." "Nothing justifies continuing with killing innocent people ... committing so many massacres. Nothing justifies denying men, women and children their right to food and medicine," Safadi added. Jordan, which lies at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict, hosts 2.4 million Palestinian refugees, the largest number of such refugees among Israel's neighbours. Many of its citizens are of Palestinian origin. UNRWA has been in crisis since Israel accused a dozen of its staff of involvement in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks against Israel. The allegations prompted several big donors to UNRWA to pause funding, putting the agency's future in doubt. However, some other countries have since restored funding. Israel denies blocking aid to Gaza, and says delivery of aid once inside the territory is the responsibility of the U.N. and humanitarian agencies. Israel has also accused Hamas of stealing aid, a charge the group denies. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Jehad Abu Shalbak, Tala Ramadan, Nadine Awadalla and Clauda Tanios; Editing by Michael Georgy, Toby Chopra, William Maclean) By James Pearson, Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. and British officials on Monday filed charges, imposed sanctions, and accused Beijing of a sweeping cyberespionage campaign that allegedly hit millions of people including lawmakers, academics and journalists, and companies including defense contractors. Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic nicknamed the hacking group Advanced Persistent Threat 31 or "APT31", calling it an arm of China's Ministry of State Security. Officials reeled off a laundry list of targets: White House staffers, U.S. senators, British parliamentarians, and government officials across the world who criticized of Beijing. Few other victims were identified by name, but American officials said that the hackers' decade-plus spying spree compromised defense contractors, dissidents and a variety of U.S. companies, including American steel, energy, and apparel firms. Among the targets were leading providers of 5G mobile telephone equipment and wireless technology. Even the spouses of senior U.S. officials and lawmakers were targeted, the officials said. The aim of the global hacking operation was to "repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions, and steal trade secrets," Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. In an indictment unsealed on Monday against seven of the alleged Chinese hackers, U.S. prosecutors in court said the hacking resulted in the confirmed or potential compromise of work accounts, personal emails, online storage and telephone call records belonging to millions of Americans. Officials in London accused APT31 of hacking British lawmakers critical of China and said that a second group of Chinese spies was behind the hack of Britain's electoral watchdog that separately compromised the data of millions more people in the United Kingdom. Chinese diplomats in Britain and the U.S. dismissed the allegations as unwarranted. The Chinese Embassy in London called the charges "completely fabricated and malicious slanders." Reuters was not immediately able to locate contact information for the seven alleged hackers being charged by the Department of Justice. The announcements were made as both Britain and the U.S. imposed sanctions on a firm they said was a Ministry of State Security front company tied to the hacking activity. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said the sanctions were on Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology, as well as on two Chinese nationals. "Today's announcement exposes China's continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation's cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation," FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. Tensions over issues relating to cyberespionage have been rising between Beijing and Washington, as Western intelligence agencies have increasingly sounded the alarm on alleged Chinese state-backed hacking activity. China has also begun in recent years to call out alleged Western hacking operations. For example, last year, the Ministry of State of Security claimed that the U.S. National Security Agency had repeatedly penetrated Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies. U.S. prosecutors listed numerous unnamed victims around the globe who had been targeted, but several stand out in the indictment. In 2020, the Chinese hackers targeted staffers working for a U.S. presidential campaign, prosecutors wrote. The disclosure matches public reporting at the time by Google that Chinese hackers sent malicious emails to the campaign of current President Joe Biden, but no compromise had been detected. Another alleged mission involved the hacking of an American firm known for public opinion research in 2018, the same year of a U.S. midterm election. "Politicians, parties, and elections organizations are rich sources of intelligence that offer collectors everything from rare geopolitical insights to enormous troves of data, said John Hultquist, chief analyst for U.S. cybersecurity intelligence firm Mandiant, a division of Google owner Alphabet. "As we've seen in previous election cycles, actors like APT31 turn to political organizations to find the geopolitical intelligence that they're tasked with collecting," Hultquist said. (Reporting by James Pearson, Christopher Bing and Raphael Satter. Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld and Daphne Psaledakis. Writing by Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing. Editing by David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy.) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday defended her claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, arguing the humanitarian situation in the enclave has crossed the threshold of intent. Asked by CNN anchor Jake Tapper about her labeling of Israels wartime actions as genocide, Ocasio-Cortez said, The word is extremely serious. Its one thats taken with extraordinary gravity. And, to me, the threshold of intent is a high one, it is a serious one, and it is not one that is made lightly. However, when we look at the precipice of what is happening, with a forced famine of 1.1 million Gazans where multiple governments, [nongovernmental organizations], and even officials within the United States State Department have stated themselves plainly that the Israeli government and leaders in the Israeli government are intentionally denying, blocking and slow-walking this aid and are precipitating a mass famine I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent, she said. The comments come days after her House floor speech Friday, when she called on the Biden administration to halt military aid to Israel and described the nations bombardment of Gaza as an unfolding genocide. If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes, Ocasio-Cortez said on the House floor. It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. It looks like thousands of children eating grass as their bodies consume themselves, while trucks of food are slowed and halted just miles away. She doubled down on these comments Sunday, telling Tapper, I think it is extremely clear and it is extremely important that all people understand the difference between people and their governments, Israelis and the Israeli government, Palestinians from Hamas. But what we are seeing here, I think, with a forced famine, is beyond our ability to deny or explain away. There is no targeting of Hamas in precipitating a mass famine of a million people, half of whom are children, she continued. The World Food Programme last week warned famine is imminent in the northern part of the Gaza Strip as the territorys population experiences crisis levels of food availability. The agency said about 300 aid trucks are needed in Gaza to address the issues, but only nine convoys were permitted to enter since the start of the year. Tapper said he was told by Israeli officials they are permitting hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza every day and argued the war could end tomorrow if the Palestinian militant group Hamas freed the hostages and laid down arms. Asked if she agrees, Ocasio-Cortez said, I do disagree, because when we are talking about famine, the actions of Hamas should not be tied to whether a 3-year-old can eat. The actions of Hamas do not justify forcing thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, to eat grass as their bodies consume themselves. Progressives and Democrats have increasingly expressed concern about the civilian causalities and reports of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza. More than 30,000 Palestinians have died in the violence since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a series of surprise attacks in southern Israel that left about 1,200 people dead and saw the kidnappings of 240 others. The U.S. began delivering humanitarian aid into Gaza via cargo planes earlier this month, and President Biden vowed to do more to help the civilians caught in the violence. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images) Peter Phillips, nephew of King Charles III, said his uncle has been frustrated with his ongoing cancer battle. Hes in good spirits, Phillips, 46, said of the Monarch, 75, in an interview with Sky News Australia on Sunday, March 24. I think, ultimately, hes hugely frustrated. Hes frustrated that he cant get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do. But he is very pragmatic, [and] he understands that theres a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself. Phillips is the only son of Princess Anne and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips, and he is the first grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. He is always pushing, his staff and everybody and his doctors and nurses, to be able to say, Actually come on, you know, can I do this? Can I do that? Phillips said of his uncle. So the overriding message would be that hes obviously very keen to get back to a form of normality. And hes probably frustrated that recovery is taking a little longer than probably he would want it to. King Charles' Relationship With Daughter-in-Law Kate Through the Years Buckingham Palace confirmed in February that Charles had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer. Specific details on the type of cancer have not yet been disclosed, though Royal expert Omid Scobie reported Charles diagnosis is not prostate cancer. The king stepped back from the full scope of his duties at the time, with Queen Camilla stepping in for his recent public appearances. (Photo by Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images) They would obviously love to see as many people as possible, Phillips continued. They are very keen and very active to be able to, you know, be seen and meet as many people as possible from all walks of life. One month after Charles cancer diagnosis, Princess Kate Middleton announced that she, too, had been diagnosed with the disease and was in the early stages of chemotherapy treatment. Kate went in for abdominal surgery and then they found out she had cancer, a source exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, March 22. Kate Middleton and More Royals Who Were Diagnosed With Cancer In her Friday statement, the Princess of Wales, 42, said her diagnosis came as a huge shock, but she was getting stronger every day. Charles subsequently released a statement in support of his daughter-in-law. His Majesty is so proud of Catherine for her courage and speaking as she did. Following their time in hospital together, His Majesty has remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks, Charles said in a statement regarding Kates diagnosis on Friday. Both their Majesties will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family throughout this difficult time. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) has endorsed Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks over fellow Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) in Marylands closely watched Senate race. Who do we want on the floor of the U.S. Senate defending womens right to choose? I want Angela Alsobrooks. Who do we want defending the right of the people to vote? I want Angela Alsobrooks, Raskin said in a video announcing his endorsement. Alsobrooks and Trone are vying in the Maryland primary for the Senate seat left open by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). Raskins endorsement comes after a Washington Post-University of Maryland (UMD) poll released last week found Trone leading Alsobrooks by roughly 7 points in the primary race. Whichever Democrat emerges from the primary is likely to enter a potentially difficult general election race against former Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who made a surprise entry into the race last month. Maryland is typically a blue state for Senate races, but Hogans entry appears to give the GOP a fighting chance in the state. The Post-UMD poll found both Trone and Alsobrooks losing a hypothetical general election match-up against Hogan, despite a majority of Marylanders saying they would prefer it if Democrats controlled the upper chamber. If Larry Hogan were to go to the Senate, hed be another brick in the wall for Donald Trump and his party, Raskin said in the video. He added that Alsobrooks, if she scored the seat, would be defending democracy and freedom against Donald Trump and the MAGA right. Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, last year turned down the idea of running for Cardins Senate seat and launched his reelection bid for the House. I am thrilled to have the endorsement of my friend, @jamie_raskin. He is a fierce defender of democracy and a passionate advocate for Marylanders and I cant wait to get to work with him to deliver for all Americans in the Senate, Alsobrooks said on X, formerly Twitter. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, dial 988 to reach someone with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. They're available 24 hours a day and provide services in multiple languages. Southern California officials are investigating after a teenager died of a reported-self inflicted gunshot wound Sunday night after she allegedly stole a gun from a deputy inside a sheriff's office lobby. According to information from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, the shooting took place after a struggle inside the agency's Industry Sheriff's Station. The city of Industry, about 20 miles southeast of downtown L.A. Just after 7:40 p.m. deputies found a 17-year-old girl knocking on the front door of the station lobby, the agency wrote in a press release. The deputies walked to the lobby door and the juvenile "lunged into the lobby and reached for the deputys holstered firearm and took possession of it," according to the release. A struggle took place between the deputies and teenager armed with the deputys firearm, the release continues, and during the struggle, the teen suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office armed deputy standing next to a patrol car. A 17-year-old girl reportedly grabbed a deputies holstered firearm on March 24, 2024 and allegedly fatally shot herself inside the lobby of it's Industry station. Indiana bar shooting: 1 dead and 5 injured, including a police officer, after shooting near Indianapolis bar Teen pronounced dead inside sheriff's station lobby No other civilians were in the lobby at the time of the shooting and no deputies were harmed when the teen reportedly fired the gun, officials said. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced the teen dead, the agency reported. Los Angeles coroner to determine teen's official cause of death According to a preliminary investigation by homicide detectives, investigators learned the incident stemmed from "a family disturbance call" deputies from station responded to shortly before the incident. Investigators did not elaborate on the family disturbance and could not immediately be reached by USA TODAY. As of late Sunday night the teen's identity was not being release pending next of kin notification, officials said. The office of The County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the teen's official cause and manner of death. The girl's death remained under investigation on Monday. Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Teen girl takes deputy's gun, shoots herself during struggle: Police By Luc Cohen and Jack Queen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star will begin on April 15, a judge said on Monday, paving the way for the Republican presidential candidate to either be convicted or cleared before the Nov. 5 election. The date all but ensures that Trump will become the first-ever former U.S. president to go on trial for criminal charges. Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said it was unfair for Trump, who held the office from 2017 to 2021, to stand trial while he runs for president. "He shouldn't have to sit for a trial now because (prosecutors) chose to bring this case a year ago and not three years ago," Blanche said in court after Merchan set the date. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she says they had a decade earlier - an encounter Trump denies. Jury selection for the case was initially scheduled to begin on Monday, but Justice Juan Merchan on March 15 delayed it for at least 30 days after Trump's lawyers accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, which brought the charges, of trying to bury documents that could help them challenge Cohen's credibility. The documents came from the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, which previously investigated the payment but did not charge Trump. Cohen testified that Trump directed him to make the payment and went to prison after pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws. At a court hearing on Monday in a New York state court in Manhattan, Merchan appeared skeptical of Trump lawyer Todd Blanche's argument that Bragg's office engaged in misconduct. The judge questioned Blanche about why he did not request documents from the U.S. Attorney's office sooner. Blanche said at the hearing that the U.S. Attorney's office said on Sunday that it would be handing over additional documents related to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. The case is one of several legal travails Trump, 77, faces as he ramps up his 2024 campaign to unseat Democratic President Joe Biden. He faces three other criminal cases, which focus on his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden and his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving office in 2021. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. In the hush money case, prosecutors say the Daniels payoff was part of a broader "catch-and-kill" scheme Cohen and Trump hatched to boost his candidacy by buying the silence of people with damaging information. Daniels says she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump denies an encounter. Trump's lawyers say the payment was meant to spare himself and his family embarrassment, not to benefit his 2016 campaign. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges of violating campaign finance laws through the payment. Trump's defense lawyers in January subpoenaed the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, which charged Cohen, for Cohen's bank records and phone and email accounts in January. Merchan in December denied their request to get some of those materials from Cohen himself. The federal prosecutors handed over the material during the first two weeks of March. In pushing Merchan for a delay, Trump's lawyers said they need more time to review the documents and accused Bragg's office, which brought the charges, of trying to bury material that they could use to undermine Cohen's credibility. Bragg's office said it asked the federal prosecutors for information from their case against Cohen and turned the materials over to the defense last June. They said no further delay was needed because most of the new documents are irrelevant or duplicates of material Trump already had. In another case on Monday, Trump won a bid to pause his $454 million civil fraud judgment if he posts a smaller $175 million bond within 10 days, in a victory for Trump that blocks New York state authorities from taking steps to seize his assets. (Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller) Patrick Smith - Getty Images After jetting off to the Bahamas for a romantic getaway earlier this month, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were spotted holding hands in Malibu this weekend. And while Hollywood's most talked-about couple were practically glowing while entering Nobu, internet trolls are convinced Swift was "yelling" at her Super Bowl-winning boyfriend. According to Newsweek, a video of the pair having an animated conversation while dining at the celeb-fave haunt surfaced on TikTok and ignited rumors of an argument. Some even took the conversation to Reddit, where they debated what she was "yelling at Travis" about. One fan claimed that Swift told Travis, "I already asked you for that." "Lol she looks mad," wrote added. However, plenty of Swifties were quick to defend the couple. "Would people stop saying shes scolding him? Some people are animated speakers. Maybe shes retelling a story, like, you have no idea so stop making shit up," one fan wrote in the comment section on TikTok. "She's such a passionate girl period," another said. "I dont think for a second that she was screaming until crazy people started saying so because they were projecting their relationships onto others," a third person chimed in. " [It's] a completely normal conversation ." Despite online reports to the contrary, the couple looked happy together as they dined on Nobu sushi. They were all smiles as they exited the restaurant, too. Prior to their lunch outing, Kelce and Swift enjoyed a "much-needed" vacation in the Bahamas, where they were captured by Page Six sipping frozen drinks and kissing in the ocean. "They vacationed in the Bahamas for several days," a source told People. "It was a much-needed break for both of them. They very much enjoyed it. They are so happy together." According to other reports, Kelce is already working on their summer travel plans and has booked rooms and reservations at luxe destinations across France and Italy. "He wants to take her on romantic getaways to have her relax and go discover those nice cities and European romantic places together," a source for Page Six claims. You Might Also Like The man known as one of New York Citys most notoriously negligent landlords was briefly hospitalized after an attack at Rikers Island. Daniel Ohebshalom surrendered to police on Thursday after allegedly failing to perform hundreds of court-ordered repairs on some Manhattan properties he owns. He was taken to Rikers where hes expected to serve up to 60 days. A source close to Ohebshalom said the landlord may have suffered broken facial bones Friday afternoon after being punched in the face by another person in custody. The assault occurred at the intake area of the Eric M. Taylor Center around 12:15 p.m., a spokesperson for the Department of Correction said. Ohebshaloms injuries were said to be non-life threatening, and he was taken back to Rikers late Friday. Sources dont believe Ohebshalom was targeted because the assailant threatened a number of other people in custody as well. In a rare move last week, the city issued an arrest warrant against Ohebshalom after years of trying to levy fines against the landlord of a Washington Heights building and making emergency fixes. In the two buildings along West 170th Street, the city alleges that Daniel Ohebshalom and his company, Belmont Ventures LLC, have racked up 700 serious violations affecting health and safety of those who live there. As a result, Housing Preservations and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrion Jr. stepped up action and issued a warrant. We caught up with him. Hes facing $3 million in fines and penalties, and hes going to jail for 60 days, said Carrion. For years, tenant Sonia Peralta and her neighbors have complained about conditions in their apartments. We have rats, roaches, no heat or hot water, she said. Were gonna have a little celebration, were so happy thats happening. Its about time. Another tenant said they would go two weeks or even a month without hot water, always during the worst times. Its not the first time the city has taken action over the conditions inside the buildings, including a seven-figure fine issued in 2022. In Jan. 2023, the HPD made nearly $50,000 worth of emergency repairs. Ohebshalom owns several properties across Manhattan, which also regularly appear on the citys list of worst landlords as well. People are dealing with mold and leaks, pests, rats and roaches, peeling paint, lead paint. Their children are exposed, seniors are exposed. Its time to stop this nonsense, said Carrion. NBC New York reached out to Ohebshaloms attorney for comment, but he did not return calls. YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has announced that following a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris on the evening March 24, France is raising its terror threat level in the wake of Friday's concert hall attack near Moscow. Following the attack in Moscow, the Defense and National Security Council was convened by the president at the Elysee Palace tonight. Taking into account the claims over the attack by Islamic State and the threat that faces our country, we have decided to increase our terror threat level to the highest possible - attack emergency," Attal wrote on X. France's terror alert system has three levels, and the highest level is activated in the wake of an attack in France or abroad or when a threat of one is considered to be imminent. According to Reuters, it allows for exceptional security measures such as stepped-up patrols by armed forces in public places like train stations, airports and religious sites. 137 people were killed and 182 injured in the attack in Crocus Citi Hall in Moscow Region on March 22. According to Russian authorities, 11 people have been detained, including the four suspected gunmen who are citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan living in Russia. YEREVAN, 25 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The President of the RA National Assembly Alen Simonyan met with the Head of the delegation of the United Kingdom to Inter-Parliamentary Union Karen Bradley within the framework of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union being held in Geneva. The Head of Parliament underscored the sustainable development of bilateral relations between Armenia and the United Kingdom . Armenia highlights the development of bilateral relations with the United Kingdom at the level of strategic dialogue, the NA President said. He highly appreciated the cooperation between the legislative bodies of Armenia and the United Kingdom and underlined the positive dynamics of mutual visits and personal contacts between the two countries. Democracy is our only security system, and in this respect also I should stress the role of the United Kingdom in boosting the institutional formation and supporting the agenda of reforms based on common values. Alen Simonyan stressed. The security situation created in the South Caucasus, the social problems of the persons displaced from Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia, the process of the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations and the establishment of security and peace in the region were discussed at the meeting. Touching upon the problem of Armenian prisoners of wars being held in Azerbaijan, Alen Simonyan emphasized the support of Great Britain in protecting and promoting international law in the region. YEREVAN, 25 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. On March 21, The Residence of the President of the Republic of Armenia hosted a ceremony, marking the opening of celebrations dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Charles Aznavour. The following event was implemented as a result of the collaboration with the "Aznavour" Foundation, ARARAT Brandy taking on the role of the main partner for upcoming events commemorating Aznavour's centennial. The series of celebration events marking the 100th anniversary of Aznavour will unfold both in the capital and across the regions. The primary aim is to preserve the cultural heritage of the Maestro, to promote his charity activities, and to spread the human values, he invariably followed throughout his entire life. Aznavour's legacy, comprising a vast area of work and humanitarian activities, was commemorated during the event. A tribute was paid to Aznavour, celebrating, and reevaluating his remarkable journey as an artist, writer, humanist, and diplomat. An exclusive exhibition was also presented to the guests, showcasing Aznavour's stage costume. Yerevan Brandy Company has long revered the Maestro's mastery. In 2018, it introduced the ARARAT Charles Aznavour Signature Blend, a special brandy that embodied Charles Aznavour's eternal legacy. This blend, composed of rare spirits, mirrors the pinnacle moments of Aznavour's career. Throughout the event, guests were offered with ARARAT Armenian brandy and cocktails based on it. They also enjoyed rich facets of Charles Aznavour Signature Blend, which symbolizes the collaborative effort between the legendary artist and ARARAT Armenian brandy. YEREVAN, MARCH 18, ARMENPRESS/BTA. The film Sujo received the Grand Prix in the international competition of the 28th Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) at a ceremony in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture on Saturday evening. The honour comes with a cash prize of EUR 7,000, which is divided between the director and the producer, and is provided by Sofia Municipality. Sujo, a co-production of Mexico, France and the US, is directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, who have been described as the "new masters" of Mexican cinema. Their joint work comes to Sofia after winning the Grand Jury Prize in the International Feature Film Competition of the Sundance Film Festival in January. The jury gave the Bulgarian Short Film Award to Chocolate, directed by Orlin Milchev, as well as a Diploma for Achievement in Cinematography to an entry from Japan: Beyond the Fog, directed by Daichi Murase. The Best Director Award in the international competition went to Shuchi Talati of India for Girls Will Be Girls. The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Adi Voicu's The Capture (Romania). Stefan Komandarev's Blagas Lessons received two prizes: for best film in the New Bulgarian Feature Film Programme, and for best film in the Festival's Balkan competition, awarded by the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers' Film Critics Guild. The Audience Award went to Because I Love Bad Weather, the feature debut of Bulgarian director Yana Lekarska. (This information is being published according to an agreement between Armenpress and BTA.) YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. "Armenpress" news agency has officially become a member of the "Belt and Road News Network (BRNN)." The Media Association, headquartered in Beijing, has been operating since 2019. Currently, 253 media organizations from 109 countries are members of the "Belt and Road Media Network." "Zhenmin Zhibao" (translating to "People's Daily"), the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, presides over the board of BRNN. Expanding the scope of international cooperation, the membership of Armenpress in the structure will foster more intense partnership contacts with BRNN member media. This will also allow for the comprehensive information on Armenian events and Armenian-Chinese relations to reach a wider range of readers. "Armenpress," the state news agency founded in 1918, is the only media outlet in Armenia that has more than three dozen cooperation agreements on information exchange with news agencies of countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Argentina, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, China, Vietnam, Iran, and Israel. The news content of Armenpress is translated into nine languages: Russian, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Georgian, Persian and Chinese. The news agency, thanks to journalists working in correspondent offices both in Armenia and abroad, actively covers events of local, regional and international significance. YEREVAN, 25 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 25 March, USD exchange rate down by 1.71 drams to 396.05 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.85 drams to 428.41 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 4.27 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.53 drams to 499.93 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 105.32 drams to 27651.64 drams. Silver price down by 12.10 drams to 313.11 drams. YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. Israel told four European countries on Monday that their plan to work toward the recognition of a Palestinian state constituted a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict between the neighbours, Reuters reports. Spain said on March 22 that, in the name of Middle East peace, it had agreed with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia to take first steps toward recognizing statehood declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters. "Recognition of a Palestinian state following the October 7 massacre sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X. "A resolution of the conflict will only be possible through direct negotiations between the parties. Any engagement in the recognition of a Palestinian state only distances reaching a resolution and increases regional instability." Gaza has long been under the rule of the Islamist group Hamas, which rejects peace with Israel and attacked it on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage. This attack triggered a devastating war that has stoked violence in the West Bank, where Israel has extensive Jewish settlements. Hamas says more than 32,200 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7. Against the backdrop of vibrant digital economy growth in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is an emerging powerhouse, particularly in the thriving digital banking sector. Fuelled by a mobile-first society, the industry has witnessed a surge in competition with the entry of numerous startups and institutional players. Digital banking enterprises in Vietnam face several challenges on their road to digitalisation. Many fintech organisations are struggling to ensure network security compliance, not to mention compliance with the digital safety rules in the country. Most banks have yet to fully integrate their digital services, making them inefficient when fronting customer experience - a crucial factor for success in the banking industry. Indeed, according to Ernst and Young, there is an urgent need for banks in the APAC region to transform customer experience, especially since customers expectations are rising faster than financial institutions can keep up. Todays customers seek financial services that are intelligent, highly personalized, digitally embedded, and seamless. As one of the pioneers in the digital banking field, a progressive SolarWinds client recognised that success hinged on the seamless delivery of high-quality services to end customers. The company made the strategic decision to spearhead end-user experience upgrades in collaboration with SolarWinds Service Desk. SolarWinds Before implementing Service Desk, the customer was hampered by fragmented databases obscuring critical insights into workflows and resolution processes. The inability to comprehensively track tickets and analyse issue resolution efficiency hindered the customers ability to make informed business decisions and cater to its end-users. SolarWinds Service Desk emerged as the transformative solution the banking client required a comprehensive platform with a centralised system to streamline workflows and facilitate insightful analytics alongside an intuitive interface. This shift changed how the bank apprehended and managed its IT asset and service management processes, elevating its IT operations from reactive to proactive. The bank used to rely largely on manual processing and faced difficulties in tracking and resolving the overwhelming number of service tickets raised. Since implementing Service Desk, the cloud-based and AI-powered IT Service Management (ITSM) platform categorizes tickets based on their importance. It assigns tasks, alerts the relevant personnel based on the nature of the issues, and tracks the entire resolution process against its target response and remediation time. This structured process empowers the customer to delve into any underlying issues or gaps in the system and initiate preventive actions to rectify them. The integration of SolarWinds Service Desk resulted in a paradigm shift. Issue resolution time, once a hold-up, is now three times faster. The platform enables the bank to align service level agreements (SLAs) and resolution times with key performance indicators (KPIs), thus enhancing the overall consumer experience. The Service Desk is Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)-ready. It is designed to optimise IT asset management, offering the SolarWinds customer greater control and visibility over its IT network. For the banking client, this has led to improved asset utilization, cost reduction, and heightened security measures a trifecta of benefits bolstering functionality. "SolarWinds Service Desk has helped to enhance operational efficiency and resulted in a tangible business impact. We received commendations from internal customers for the seamless experience on the platform, with frequent positive feedback highlighting the increased efficiency facilitated by the solution," said Khoa Nguyen, Head of Infrastructure for the SolarWinds Vietnamese banking client. "We take great joy and pride in collaborating with innovative IT partners like SolarWinds to consistently push the technological boundaries of digital banking in Vietnam." While price is an important factor for many companies, the relevance and adaptability of ITSM solutions should also be essential criteria for consideration. As a proof point, the bank started leveraging Service Desk on a smaller scale in mid-2023 and expanded its user license fourfold across its IT sub-departments within the year. According to Khoa, reliability, ease of use, and intercorrelations, coupled with its AI-infused capabilities, are what seized the hearts of Service Desk users. "SolarWinds is always proud to be part of our customers' success story," said Bharat Bedi, Managing Director of SolarWinds APJ. "We will continue working with our partners and customers to resolve IT service management challenges. Our commitment is to improve the products both from the feature and "ease of use" standpoint, to establish a compelling standard for future players in the Vietnamese digital banking landscape." "We're providing a tool that can reshape how our channel partners comprehend and manage their cloud business and those of their customers," said Eric Gourmelen, vice president and CTO of ArrowSphere at Arrow. "ArrowSphere Assistant capitalises on the power of generative AI technology combined with the robust business data in ArrowSphere Cloud, to provide unprecedented quality of answers to channel partner inquiries." Specifically, ArrowSphere Assistant targets three main areas. The first is across partner operations, giving daily business updates with "guided hot spots for additional focus and where to gain additional cloud efficiencies". Secondly, the assistant allegedly provides actionable security intelligence in minutes, including remediation recommendations. Last but not least, ArrowSphere Assistant offers financial assistance by consolidating consumption figures, breaking down billing statements and providing calculation explanations. It can also help analyse current subscription conditions and any discrepancies to "produce a clear revenue forecast and new attractive pricing recommendations, if needed". "Arrow continues to demonstrate leadership by creating innovative distribution offerings to enable their partners to achieve business excellence and deliver customer success," said Microsoft chief partner officer and corporate vice president Nicole Dezen. "The AI-powered assistant in ArrowSphere Cloud is a game-changer for those managing cloud services. It drives great efficiencies and profitability in minutes instead of weeks or months." Exploring the Transformation of DMK's Ideology and Influence in the National Political Landscape It might sound sardonic that the DMK, launched 75 years ago as a regional party with Tamil language assertion as a plank, is today at the vanguard of a nation-wide movement to vanquish the nationalistic Bharatiya Janata Party, popularly known as BJP, in league with the Congress party. But there is nothing ironic about it because that is the way politics and political agendas have evolved over the years. In its new found mission, the DMK, despite owing its origins to a cultivated collective animosity to the then ruling Congress, has now clasped hands with it to usher in a change. Unlike the Congress whose fight with the BJP is confined to the electoral arena, perhaps just spilling over to the politico-ideological domain, the DMK is waging a multi-pronged war in the social, cultural, ideological, political and electoral spheres, emerging as the torchbearer for the anti-Hindutva coalition. Basically a social movement, the DMKs forerunner, the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), targeted caste and wanted its elimination. DK founder Periyar E.V. Ramasamy found religion, particularly Hinduism, to be the root of caste discrimination. This impelled him to set out to uproot it first. Inheriting the same political thought, the DMK, though it decided to change society by gaining political power through elections, never gave up on its basic planks of social justice, rationalism, fight against caste discrimination, state autonomy and Tamil identity. So when the BJP rose on the national horizon as an all-encompassing political force, revealing its colours, it was the DMK that felt that everything the BJP did or wanted to do could knock the bottom out of its ideological moorings. The BJP, too, realised that its real enemy lurked in the southern State that was not only recalcitrant to fall in line with its ways but was rooted in a contrarian cultural mosaic. For example, the communal card that the BJP played to win over swathes of other populations did not work in the State that otherwise had devotion steeped deep into its collective psyche. Then of course, the idea of a national language did not cut ice with the people of the State who took pride in their own language that they knew was the most ancient tongue and had a rich literary heritage. Even the so-called administrative and other reforms expounded by the BJP made no impact as the state had been the pioneer in implementing most of those envisaged changes under the successive regimes of parties spawned by the Dravidian movement. The party from another state, having nothing new to offer locally other than threatening to reduce the primacy of their language and tamper with their culture and tradition, was thus cold shouldered by the people, despite the massive, multi-level publicity blitzkriegs that promised a utopia. That set the alarm bells ringing and the firefighters and strategists of the BJP tried to push the envelope, prompting those opposed to the BJPs rise to seek ways to counter it. And they found in Tamil Nadu the rallying point. It was then that M.K. Stalin provided them all a fulcrum for fighting a force they wanted to eliminate. Stalin was the first to announce Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and it was he who provided platforms for leaders opposed to the BJP to come together then. Even as the present I.N.D.I.A. coalition was taking shape, Stalin guided the initiative, making himself, his party and its leaders as targets of attacks. But his endurance ensured that the Congress remained the axis for Opposition unity, earning the wrath of the BJP that wanted to weaken the DMK within its own base. Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling again and again to the State in hopes of breaking into the Dravidian stronghold, only to hit a cul-de-sac. Earlier, the BJP had picked up dirty tricks from its stacked arsenal and, lo and behold, unleashed a Governor to thwart anything the State might try out. The DMK took on the Governor legally, making him bite the dust. That put the BJP in a quandary since every fiasco of the Governors moves to circumvent the Constitution or cock a snook at democracy reflected badly on it. With the courts ensuring that a parallel government was not run from the Raj Bhavan, Tamil Nadu became the model State for all those out to defeat the designs of Governors specially anointed to teach insubordinate state governments a lesson and also bring them around. However, Tamil Nadu has always been a role model for other States and even the nation on many fronts. As a pioneer in social justice, Tamil Nadu was the first to bring in reservation for Other Backward Castes, much before Mandal came in, and introduced reforms like property rights for women, to name just a few, with the DMK always playing a pivotal role. Even all regional languages were saved by the DMKs historic Mozhi Por (Language War) in 1965, which in fact paved the way for that party to capture power in the State. Later on, the DMK had been part of the National Front government in 1989-91 and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had played a crucial role in forming the UPA, unseating the BJP from power in 2004. It is just natural that Karunanidhis son is treading on the fathers footprints. Today's news: Pyongyang reports meeting proposal launched by Japanese PM Kishida; Philippines summons Chinese charge d'affaires after renewed clashes in the South China Sea.;In a house in Ventiane 16 bear cubs are rescued; The exceptional cold wave in Mongolia does not subside, putting a strain on families. ISRAEL-GAZA At the Doha ceasefire negotiations in Gaza, Israel agreed to release up to 800 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 40 hostages by Hamas. The Israeli media reported this, citing sources involved in the negotiations. If confirmed, it would be a rapprochement between the positions of the two parties, even if Hamas continues to call for a definitive end to hostilities and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza to reach an agreement. NORTH KOREA-JAPAN Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently conveyed her intention to meet the North Korean leader soon. However, Kim said that improving bilateral relations between the two countries will depend on Japan's ability to make concrete political decisions. Asked by the media about Kim's comment, Kishida reiterated the importance of a summit meeting to resolve bilateral issues, such as the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang agents decades ago. PHILIPPINES-CHINA The Philippines has summoned China's charge d'affaires to protest "aggressive actions" in the South China Sea over the weekend. China's continued interference with the Philippines' routine and lawful activities in its exclusive economic zone is unacceptable, the Philippine Foreign Ministry said. China's coast guard said Saturday that it had taken necessary measures against Philippine vessels that were intruding into its waters. China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its own. LAOS Sixteen malnourished Asian black bear cubs were found in a house in the Lao capital, Vientiane, by an animal welfare group. The cubs, also known as moon bears for the white crescent that covers their chest, are classified as vulnerable on the Red List of threatened species. Across Asia, thousands of these animals are kept as pets or bred to extract their bile for use in expensive traditional medicine. SOUTH KOREA South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has promised legislation that would grant greater autonomy to the four "special cities" of Yongin, Suwon, Goyang and Changwon, so defined because they are municipalities with a population of more than 1 million. The initiative aims to facilitate the promotion of strategic industries and the development of own urban development plans. RUSSIA-JAPAN Moscow's ambassador to Tokyo, Nikolai Nozdrev, declared in an interview with Ria Novosti that "relations between Russia and Japan are currently at their lowest point in the entire post-World War II period", due to the actions "constant and deliberate actions of the current Japanese government, which are destroying our relations in all directions." MONGOLIA The exceptional period of frost in Mongolia, which shows no signs of abating at the end of March, caused the death of around 5 million farm animals, and thousands of families were left without means of subsistence, with effects that are also being felt in Kazakhstan, where many horses die because they cannot find food under the snow, and viruses that are lethal to wildlife spread from Mongolia. A group of 17 Christians took part in the gesture promoted by the diocesan office for human development. In Chow Kit they lived together with street people, sleeping next to them on cardboard boxes. "We experienced their love for their neighbour," one of the participants tells Herald Malaysia. The contact with poverty in one of the largest eononomies in South East Asia. Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - "A lesson on human fraternity that warms the heart, lived among the least". This is how the local Catholic weekly Herald Malaysia describes the initiative "Being Homeless for a Night" experienced by 17 Christians aged 17 to 79, as part of the Lenten campaign of the archdiocesan Office for Human Development (AOHD) among the streets of Chow Kit, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur. They went to sleep with homeless people, to get to know them and show their closeness. In every interaction we experienced their love for others: they helped us with words and deeds, explains Melina Yeoh, one of the participants, in a story shared by the Catholic newspaper. The group - which included people from eight parishes of the archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur - met to kick off the experience with Mass at the Cardijn House chapel, presided over at 5pm by Fr. Albet Arockiasamy, ecclesiastical assistant of the AOHD. The celebration was followed by a coordination meeting at 7pm. Then we left with only the clothes we had on, the pieces of cardboard tucked under our arms (which are used to lie down on the street, ed.) and the identity card for checks of the police, continues Melina Yeoh. The first place visited was the soup kitchen in Medan Tuanku, but it was already past closing time. The group thus headed towards a street at the back of the KL Krash Pad nursery. Here the first encounter took place with the homeless people, who were waiting in line for a portion of nasi lemak (a traditional Malay dish), to receive some water and a packet of chrysanthemum tea. The first interactions were warnings. One person told us that he was robbed while he was sleeping in the Bangkok Bank area - adds the participant in the initiative -. She told us to take turns sleeping, to keep watch. He now has a room, but goes there every evening to be with his friends." More advice on how to get food followed; although during Ramadan it is very abundant, and the group did not have any major difficulties for the entire duration of the experience. In the country, the sixth largest economy in South-East Asia, poverty is hidden but widespread, mothers and their children also live on the streets. A truck arrived to deliver used clothes and toys, says Melina Yeoh. The group witnessed simple and unconditional gestures of help, such as that of a benefactor who offered an ice cream to a group of children. The surprising thing was that half of the children opted for instant cup noodles instead of ice cream, she recalls. After the first setting phase, the group split, taking different paths. The advice of those who are not new to sleeping outdoors has also come to the aid of Christians for sleeping arrangements. Instructions for avoiding mosquitoes, banks (where guards do not allow parking) and places without shelter from the rain. Street solidarity. Melina Yeoh's group met a "street brother" with whom she stopped to talk, deciding to lie down on her own corridor near a shop that she would open at 8.30. Fred (not his real name, ed.) was a very lively person, she recalls. When the shop opens, he usually goes to an NGO up ahead to eat and take a shower. The sweater he was wearing came from there. He advised us to put all personal effects under the cardboard, otherwise they would be stolen." It was not easy to face the night for the participants, accustomed to the comforts of a home, a safe and protected place. Some of them managed to sleep for a few hours, others not even one. To guarantee their safety they were followed on sight by a "team" from the AOHD. The hours passed, it was difficult to sleep with the heat and humidity - says Melina Yeoh -. If I had been alone on the street, I would have felt the danger of being exposed to all the risks. I only did it for one night; Fred and his friends do it every day." It was a short-lived experience, but it had the ability to enter the hearts of the participants, making them grow greater empathy towards people who live on the streets. Every time I see someone walking down the street carrying a cardboard, I feel more connected to them, because we have shared an experience together, admits the participant. At 6 the following morning the group met near the KL Krash Pad, to have breakfast and to experience a moment of restitution led by Br. Andrew Manickam OFM Cap. We pray that, thanks to this activity, we change the way we live and appreciate more what we have, looking at what we can do to help more people in difficulty, concludes Melina Yeoh. by Nirmala Carvalho Local churches proved too small to contain everyone from communities displaced by the ethnic violence that has plagued the north-eastern state. Meanwhile, rehabilitation and reconstruction continue, noted Fr Varghese Velickakam. In Karnataka, thousands gathered at the Miraculous Cross in Nandgad on the Day of Prayer for India. New Delhi (AsiaNews) Palm Sunday was celebrated with fervour yesterday among displaced Kukis in Manipur, the north-eastern Indian state that has been grappling with serious ethnic violence since last May. In several places, churches were too small to contain everyone, forcing some worshippers to participate in the service outside. Even in parishes where there are a large number of refugees for example Don Bosco Parish in Churachandpur and St Marys Parish in Tuibong (Churachandpur), churches were packed for Psalm Sunday liturgical services, said Fr Varghese Velickakam, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Imphal and coordinator of the relief and rehabilitation committee. The situation is slowly settling down, Fr Velickakam told AsiaNews, as this day of celebration offered an important sign that things were getting back to normal. The refugees are already in the separate area, the clergyman explained. We are trying to rehabilitate them. Construction is going on. Support is coming from different parts of the country and from their own community". Palm Sunday in India came the day after the Day of Fasting and Prayer held on Friday at the initiative of the countrys Catholic bishops ahead of upcoming elections. One of the most significant celebrations saw thousands of pilgrims gather in Karnataka at the Miraculous Cross, which is located at the top of Nandgad Hill, about 35 km from the city of Belagavi. The Way of the Cross saw a large crowd gather, some coming from the neighbouring states of Goa and Maharashtra, including many non-Christians. On this Friday of Lent, the local diocese also marked its Day of Reparation, with prayers not only in English but also in the local languages, Kannada and Konkani. It is a day to acknowledge our sins and repair the damage caused to humanity. Hence, we will be offering prayers for the nation too, said Bishop Derek Fernandes of Belgaum. The Miraculous Cross in Nandgad was erected in 1888 by people who were suffering, some dying, from various diseases, especially plague, travelling from Goa to Belagavi. They prayed to the Holy Cross to be healed, and if they did recover, they pledged to return each year to praise, worship, and thank the Lord for the healing they had received. On the occasion of the Jubilee of 2000, Nandgad Hill was recognised by the Diocese of Belgaum as a pilgrimage centre; since then, religious activities have developed significantly. Most of the workers are street vendors, hairdressers, drivers, and masseurs, a government spokesman said. In tourist resorts, several traditional practices can only be performed by Thai nationals. Most come from Myanmar, where Thailand today delivered its first shipment of humanitarian aid. Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) In the last six months, the Thai government has discovered more than 700 foreigners occupying jobs reserved for Thai nationals, government spokesman Kharom Polpornklang reported last week, speaking about the activities of the Employment Department (ED) in recent months. After a series of complaints, mainly from the country's tourist provinces, the ED conducted inspections in 25,628 businesses between 1 October and 18 March, resulting in legal proceedings against 820 with charges falling on 721 for hiring migrant workers to fill positions reserved for Thais. Most of the detained foreigners were employed as street vendors, hairdressers, drivers, and masseurs, Kharom Polpornklang said 316 from Myanmar, 175 from Cambodia, 106 from Laos, 65 from India, 42 from Vietnam and 5 from China. In Thailand, some occupations are strictly off-limits to foreigners, mainly related to traditional practices, such as making paper umbrellas, Thai dolls, alms bowls (used by monks), or images of the Buddha. Other jobs, on the other hand, allow exceptions in the case of skilled workers or international agreements with other countries. Recently, Chalermpong Sangdee, an MP from the Move Forward Party, asked the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Development to have more businesses in Phuket inspected; the latter is a well-known tourist destination. Often, he explained, some businesses, particularly in real estate, are run by foreigners on long-stay visas. It is no coincidence that most of the foreigners found in illegal situations come from Myanmar, which has been plunged in a brutal civil war since 2021. Meanwhile, the first delivery of humanitarian aid to Myanmars internally displaced people was made today. The Thai and Myanmar Red Cross handed out about 4,000 relief bags with food and other necessities at the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border crossing. This is part of Thailand's wider peace initiative, and is expected to reach 20,000 Myanmar refugees in Karen State; however, Myanmars exiled National Unity Government (NUG) has harshly criticised it because it relied on permits granted by the military junta and, given the scale of the countrys humanitarian tragedy, it should be done on a larger scale. According to the United Nations, at least 2.6 million people have been displaced by the fighting and more than 18 million need assistance. by Stefano Caprio The terrible terrorist attack on Krokus City Hall takes away the Russians' illusion of living under an unbreakable glass bell. In a Russia that 25 years after the attacks of the first war in Chechnya and a week after Putin's apotheosis finds itself once again at its year zero. It was the first half of September 1999, when a series of Islamic terrorist attacks shook Russia, blowing up houses full of defenceless people in Bujnaksk in Dagestan, twice in Moscow and in Volgodonsk in the south of the country. 307 people died, over 1700 were injured and the second war in Chechnya began, at the behest of the newly installed Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, who inaugurated his 'era of revenge' with vulgar and threatening phrases, then towards terrorists, and in time it became clear that he intended to address the whole world. A quarter of a century has passed, and again just after Putin's election, Russia is shaken by the terrible attack on Krokus City Hall, by Isis-K assailants (according to their own claim), Tajik guerrillas who according to Putin 'were trying to flee to Ukraine' (alluding to Kiev's involvement). The attack produced over 150 dead and hundreds injured. Today, however, this tragedy looms over the war in Ukraine, as it did then over the war in Chechnya, and in between there have been attacks and conflicts of all kinds in Russia and around the world, such as the Russians' war against Isis in Syria and Iraq, now deemed 'stagnant' in the face of continuing escalations in Ukraine and Gaza. History has regressed, a quarter of a century has gone up in smoke along with the roof of the concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow, a symbolic building of the 'new Russia' (with an evidently outdated fire-fighting system) now dissolved in the mists of a backward future. By dint of evoking the greatness of the past, from Aleksandr Nevsky's battles to the conquests of Catherine the Great, the now old and bolder Tsar Putin V finds his youthful image of a 'crude and menacing man' in the mirror, Putin the Terrible, who instead of conquering the world is losing Russia, and instead of ascending to eternal glory is returning to the humiliations of the beginning. It was Chechen separatists who challenged Boris Yeltsin's then 'heir to the throne' in 1999, according to Putin's own accusations, which were never proven, so much so that various analysts and journalists supported the version that it was Putin's own FSB that organised the massacres, to exalt the new leader as Russia's only salvation. The memory of these contradictions has led even today to the hypothesis that Putin was once again the instigator of the attack, even if it seems absurd that just after his consecration to the eternal presidency there was a need to mess everything up, perhaps only to justify a new mobilisation to war, for which there is certainly no lack of motivation. The fact remains that the 1999 bombings were the seal of 'Operation Preemnik' (the 'Successor'), which concluded the transition of power after the thousand contradictions of the Gorbachev-Eltsin decade, and the Krokus Centr massacre is inextricably linked to the 'succession of himself' of the warmongering tsar. Yeltsin too, after all, had been gripped by delusions of grandeur during his years in power between 1990, when he was elected president of the Soviet Russian republic, 1992 of the Federation proclaimed after the collapse of the USSR, and 1996 of the re-election against the reborn communist party of Gennadij Zjuganov. Convinced that he had led Russia on the bright road to democracy, inspired by George Washington he tried to imagine a succession that would truly allow the people to freely choose their leader, consecrating his image on the altar of a modern and credible state for centuries to come. Instead, it ended up reproducing the usual dynamics of Russian autocracy, implementing the programme made famous by a phrase of its prime minister Viktor Cernomyrdin: 'we wanted to do the best, it went the same way as always' (khotelos kak lutsce, polucilos kak vsegda). Instead of preparing genuinely free and participatory elections (the 1996 elections had been heavily influenced by outside influences), Yeltsin considered it his right and duty to personally choose his successor, so that he could control the situation from behind the scenes, a very Soviet approach that is still used without restraint by the satraps of the Central Asian countries, such as Nazarbaev in Kazakhstan or Berdymukhamedov in Turkmenistan, who to avoid misunderstandings put his son in charge as president. Just as the princes and tsars of the past prepared these operations with the advice of the boyars, Yeltsin was assisted by the 'family' of oligarchs, who had grown up around him in the early years of liberal, capitalist Russia. Thus was born Operation Preemnik, as it was called by the Kremlin circle, made particularly urgent in 1998 by the collapse of the financial pyramids and the severe economic crisis, which the successor absolutely had to take over. The heir to the throne therefore had to appear as the 'problem-solver', economic and social, perhaps even more burning problems such as the conflicts in the Caucasus and the tensions of the other neighbouring countries, from Ukraine to the Baltics, which were calling for NATO membership in those very years. Moreover, it had to appear as 'independent' from Yeltsin himself, with no close personal or financial ties. The choice was not an easy one, and the most influential oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky applied themselves to it, and even the figure of the polittekhnolog, the 'technical political scientist', embodied by the mythical Gleb Pavlovskij, former Soviet dissident and prophet of the 'Russian idea' on the post-Soviet scene, who passed away a year ago after having long inspired, and later criticised, the Putin era of power. After Cernomyrdin, between 1998 and 1999, Yeltsin changed six council presidents, throwing the entire Russian political scene into utter confusion. At one point it seemed that the right figure had been found: the economist and army general Sergei Stepasin led the government from May to August 1999, after having been director of the FSB in 1994-1995, then Minister of Justice and Interior. Putin himself later kept him among his most trusted men, as president of the Court of Accounts from 2000 to 2013, and since 2007 also president of the revived Imperial Orthodox Association in Palestine, the famous tsarist structure of Russian pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Even today, at 66, Stepasin still holds key positions in various state institutions, but in 1999 he failed to earn Yeltsin's trust due to too many compromises with opponents, and above all due to his inability to deal with the dramatic situation in Chechnya, where the first civil war and the attempt to create an independent Ickeria was underway, with the risk of destabilising the whole of Russia. This led to the appointment of Putin, Stepasin's successor as head of the FSB services, in August 1999. The choice was sanctioned by Berezovsky's negotiation with Putin to grant total immunity to the Yeltsin 'family', which finally convinced the now exhausted president, increasingly addicted to alcohol (again, in keeping with Russian tradition) to finally give up his chair at the end of the year, replacing the declaimed democracy with autocratic Putinism, the current realisation of the Russian idea in the 'Russian world'. However, attacks have accompanied the whole of the useless Putin quarter century, in which Russia has squandered wealth and honours to become the most sanctioned and most compromised state in every world conflict. Already in the jubilee year of the first presidency in 2000, on 8 August a bomb was planted in the subways of Pushkin Square, near the Kremlin, killing 13 people. Two years later, the most similar tragedy took place, with the kidnapping of spectators at the Dubrovka theatre that ended with the death of 41 guerrillas and 130 hostages. That circumstance allowed Putin to perfect the 'power vertical' scheme by removing the eligibility of regional governors, justifying himself with the need to control the outbreaks of rebellion throughout the Federation. Many other episodes followed, and everyone remembers the Beslan massacre in North Ossetia, with the kidnapping of 1,200 people in a kindergarten on the first day of school, with a death toll of 335, including 186 children and 31 terrorists, as well as 400 wounded. In the following years, it seemed that the situation was more under control, although there was no shortage of new attacks, and now we are once again faced with the terror that takes away the illusion of living under an unbreakable bell jar, as the Russians (and especially the Muscovites) felt during these two years of war that seemed devastating only for the 'uchronazis' and the infantry of Asians, mercenaries and thugs sent to the front in Ukraine. The consequences of the Krokus Centr bombing can only further accentuate the sense of encirclement and the need to defend oneself from the world, which characterises the life of present-day Russia, taking it out on anyone in the West and also in the East. The paradox is that the attack by Islamic extremists "against a large group of Christians", as written in the claim, shatters the image of a Russia where moderate Islam coexists with fundamentalist Orthodoxy, a harmony based on common "traditional moral and religious values", also blown up in the periphery of an empire, which must continually return to year zero. RUSSIAN WORLD IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO RUSSIA. TO RECEIVE A WEEKLY UPDATE EVERY SATURDAY, CLICK HERE. A sale sign stands outside a home in Wyndmoor, Pa., on June 22, 2022. The National Association of Realtors agreed earlier this month to pay $418 million and change its rules to settle lawsuits claiming homeowners have been unfairly forced to pay artificially inflated agent commissions when they sold their home. Starting in July, real estate brokers who find buyers homes can no longer depend on commission payments from the sellers as the result of lawsuit settlements around the country. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Israel is battling fighters from the Palestinian Hamas movement on Monday in the vicinity of at least two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, raising fears for the fate of patients, medical staff and displaced refugees in the facilities. Israeli troops and tanks launched an operation around Al Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest facility in northern Gaza, more than a week ago and also began a siege against Al Amal hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Younis. Israel claims it launched "precision" operations, but humanitarian agencies have warned of the risks to civilians trapped by the fighting. On the diplomatic front, the UN Security Council votes again on Monday on a draft resolution for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza. In addition, talks by technical teams for a truce continue in Qatar. After more than five and a half months of conflict, two issues are of concern to the international community: the growing risk of famine for the people of Gaza and Israel's announced plan to invade Rafah, a town in the south of the territory where some 1.5 million Palestinians, many of them displaced, are sheltering. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres travelled to Egypt at the weekend to the Gaza border, where he called for an end to the "endless nightmare" for the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million people, who have been under Israeli siege since the conflict began. Israel is facing increasing pressure from its main ally, the United States, at a time when Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is due to meet Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who governs a far-right coalition, vowed to press ahead with plans to invade Rafah, with or without US support. US Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated Washington's position on ABC TV over the weekend that invading Rafah would be "a grave mistake" and said "consequences" for Israel could not be ruled out. This photo released by the Israeli army on 28 December 2023 shows troops on the ground in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas - AFP PHOTO/HANDOUT/ISRAELI ARMY "Much suffering" The war erupted on 7 October over Hamas's attack on Israel, which left some 1,160 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data. The Israeli response has left at least 32,333 dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry of Hamas, which has ruled the Palestinian territory since 2007. Acute food and water shortages are increasing the suffering of civilians, especially in northern Gaza. "We have no food to give us the energy to go and collect water," said Basam Mohamed al-Hau in Jabaliya. Falah Saed said the population is experiencing "a lot of suffering" because of the lack of water, as supplies were cut off at the start of the war due to the Israeli siege. Israeli troops in Gaza - MAHMUD HAMS/AFP Fighting in the vicinity of hospitals The Israeli army claimed to be fighting Hamas members in the vicinity of at least two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and said it had killed more than 20 Palestinian fighters in the past 24 hours. People living in the vicinity of the Al Shifa hospital report suffering hellish conditions, with dead bodies in the streets, constant shelling and the detention of many men, who are forced to undress for interrogation. According to Israel, the balance of its operations in this area is 170 "terrorists" killed and nearly 500 arrests of individuals linked to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In Khan Younis, Israeli troops surrounded the vicinity of the Al Amal hospital, preventing any admission to the centre and blocking the exit of medical staff, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said SUV As per tradition, Stellantis' beloved brand Jeep is trekking to the 58th Annual Easter Jeep Safari held in Moab, Utah, between March 23 and 31, 2024. So far, nothing surprising, right? Well, anyone who expected that Jeep would top last year's seven apparitions should think again because now there are 'only' four prototypes on call. However, that may still be more than enough.They're said to be "eye-catching and mission-capable concept vehicles" and represent the company's current roster and powertrains, from electrified 4xe models to the mighty 392ci V8 engine that's going away soon. "Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, is the perfect venue for new Jeep concepts, with more than 20,000 Jeep enthusiasts gathering each year to celebrate the most iconic 4x4 brand in the world," said Bill Peffer, senior vice president and head of Jeep brand North America.Let's start with the Jeep Low Down concept a spiritual successor of the radically modified Jeep Wrangler Lower 40 that was presented no less than fifteen years ago at the 43rd edition. The new Low Down pays tribute to that model and somehow squeezes monster 42-inch BFGoodrich Krawler 42x14.5R20 mud-terrain tires mounted on 20-inch beadlock wheels under its custom high-clearance carbon fender flares. It uses a stock Wrangler Rubicon 392 suspension setup but switches to Dana 60 axles with 5.38 gears, and its body is drenched in Poison Apple Red paint.Other highlights include the custom carbon hood with a "see-through power dome and a bespoke race-style fuel filler door located in the driver-side rear quarter panel." There's also a purpose-built red-tinted bikini top, unique black leather seats with cloth inserts, Rhino-lined floors, and a radio-delete instrument panel. Under the hood resides the 475-horsepower 6.4-liter (392ci) V8 engine mated to an eight-speed automatic.Moving on, the Jeep Willys Dispatcher concept is based on the Wrangler 4xe but aims to bring back memories of early post-war civilian Jeeps. The retro exterior makeover includes Super Traxion 36-inch tires shod on vintage-style 16-by-7-inch alloy "steelies." They won't be the highlight of the vehicle, though that's reserved for the custom shade of Element 115 Green mixed with a gloss black windshield header. Inside, there are "distressed saddle leather and houndstooth cloth inserts," JPP accessories, and power comes from the 2.0-liter plug-in hybrid 4xe propulsion system that churns out 375 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque via an eight-speed automatic.The Jeep Gladiator Rubicon High Top comes next to highlight the JPP design and Mopar engineering with a Ginger Snap metallic exterior featuring retro-inspired two-tone graphics and rides on massive new 40x13.5R18 BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 tires set on 18-by-9-inch Satin Black KMC Grenade Crawl beadlock wheels. There's also an AccuAir adjustable air suspension, and the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 mixed with the TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission rides under the hood.Last but not least comes the Jeep Vacationeer concept a premiumdressed in a Spearminted exterior and featuring a "custom-trimmed and expanded interior space." It, too, features a retro nod to yesteryear design as it arrives with custom bodyside woodgrain graphics inspired by the eep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer models of the late 1960s. It is set on 35-inch BFGoodrich mud-terrain tires, wrapped around 18-by-9-inch bead grip 701 Method racing wheels, features front and rear skid plates, and on top of it is a unique carbon-fiber RedTail Overland Skyloft "a climate-controlled oasis with sleeping space for two people and enough windows to soak in the panoramic views." SUV kW The facelifted Hyundai Tucson and the Santa Cruz will be unveiled on March 27 at the 2024 New York Auto Show, and they will soon launch in the United States after the official public premiere. It is no wonder that the South Korean automaker chose to reveal them together we know that because they have already started the teasing campaign since both the Tucsonand Santa Cruz unibody compact pickup truck are built on the same Hyundai-Kia N3 platform.However, that fact has represented one of the potential issues that didn't allow it to fare better against its only US rival the Mexico-built Ford Maverick is much more rugged and akin to its Ranger and F-150 pickup truck siblings instead of looking like an Escape crossover with a bed instead of a trunk. The Montgomery, Alabama (HMMA)-produced 2025 Santa Cruz supposedly comes with more rugged features and an interior taken directly from the refreshed 2025 Tucson.Because the little Santa Cruz is Hyundai's only American pickup truck , a lot of interest exists for the model even if its sales don't compare positively to the 2024 Ford Maverick. As such, even the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has something to say about the subject the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube have imagined the CGI looks of the upcoming 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz, inside and out, just ahead of its planned release date.Well, as far as the interior is concerned, they didn't have much to say or do about it just like everyone else, they also believe the 2025 Tucson refresh will have a major influence over how the 2025 Santa Cruz cockpit looks like. Moving outside, the resident pixel master worked all the subtle details of the facelifted 2025 Tucson into the hypothetical design of the 2025 Santa Cruz and then also gave it a complete set of unofficial color options.By the way, Hyundai is expected to premiere a new XRT grade this rugged trim adds bolder plastic fender flares, side steps, door trim, and a blackout treatment to the truck. However, the YouTube channel's host made no mention of that, so we suppose they envisioned the standard Santa Cruz in the video feature embedded below. Also, no one really expects any kind of powertrain upgrades, so the unibody compact pickup truck will probably carry on with the 191 hp (194 ps/142) 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine and its turbo sibling that's good for 281 hp (285 ps/210 kW). Indeed, it was a minor miracle that nobody aboard the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX whose door blew off mid-flight was seriously maimed or even killed. But after a troubled service history that saw two horrific and wholly preventable zero-survivor accidents attributed to cornet cutting and sloppy build work on the part of Boeing, the decision by Calhoun to step down from his position is one that isn't entirely unexpected. With roughly eight months remaining in 2024, it will be Calhoun's job to guide the stricken aerospace company through a relentless onslaught of crisis PR, the likes of which have rarely been seen in the aerospace sector. The specific terms and conditions of Calhoun's soon-to-be exit from Boeing were laid out in an official press statement by the company's PR team, detailing the the need for the company to be able to move past the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident that could throw the once most-powerful aerospace manufacturer in the world into an unprecedented crisis. In his own words, it appears that Calhoun has already made peace with his decision to step down very soon. "As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing," Calhoun declared in an official Boeing press statement released this week. "We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company. The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years." With the path forward for Boeing now more up in the air than ever before, the process of finding a new leading man/woman in 2025 seems ready to complicate an investigative process headed by the American aviation sector's chief watchdog, the FAA. In the aftermath of the tragic death of a former Boeing employee and known whistleblower John Barnett, who some in the public and media have accused was murdered by a Boeing-hired hitman in retaliation for his testification against the company, the step-down of its CEO will only make proceedings even messier. Will it lead to the death of Boeing? The answer remains to be seen. Indeed, it was a minor miracle that nobody aboard the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX whose door blew off mid-flight was seriously maimed or even killed. But after a troubled service history that saw two horrific and wholly preventable zero-survivor accidents attributed to cornet cutting and sloppy build work on the part of Boeing, the decision by Calhoun to step down from his position is one that isn't entirely unexpected. With roughly eight months remaining in 2024, it will be Calhoun's job to guide the stricken aerospace company through a relentless onslaught of crisis PR, the likes of which have rarely been seen in the aerospace sector.The specific terms and conditions of Calhoun's soon-to-be exit from Boeing were laid out in an official press statement by the company's PR team, detailing the the need for the company to be able to move past the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 incident that could throw the once most-powerful aerospace manufacturer in the world into an unprecedented crisis. In his own words, it appears that Calhoun has already made peace with his decision to step down very soon."As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing," Calhoun declared in an official Boeing press statement released this week. "We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company. The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years."With the path forward for Boeing now more up in the air than ever before, the process of finding a new leading man/woman in 2025 seems ready to complicate an investigative process headed by the American aviation sector's chief watchdog, the FAA. In the aftermath of the tragic death of a former Boeing employee and known whistleblower John Barnett, who some in the public and media have accused was murdered by a Boeing-hired hitman in retaliation for his testification against the company, the step-down of its CEO will only make proceedings even messier. Will it lead to the death of Boeing? The answer remains to be seen. Photo: Kolesa The vehicle is being tested as we speak, with the team responsible for the R&D phase fine-tuning it with every chance it gets. Word on the street is that it features a different platform, which we know nothing of so far, yet it will also be adopted by its cousin from Kia, the second-gen Telluride.Hyundai has managed to keep the powertrain details secret, too. Still, reports indicate that it might feature a new 3.5L V6 lump with turbocharging. A partially electrified 2.5-liter engine could also join the family, and it appears that the all-wheel drive system will be optional, as all base models should launch with front-wheel drive.The cockpit will be brand new, featuring a widescreen setup that combines the digital dials and infotainment system, previous scoops have revealed. We were also able to catch a glimpse of the steering wheel, but most parts were under wraps.There is not much to report about when it comes to the exterior design, either, as the all-new Hyundai Palisade is still covered in thick camouflage. However, that doesn't mean that certain rendering artists have ignored it. Quite the opposite, in fact, as we have seen several unofficial takes on it, the latest of which came from the peeps at Kolesa.Usually, this outlet is almost spot-on when guessing the design of upcoming rides and filling in the blanks. However, this time, we're not entirely sure that the vehicle in question will look anything like this. Spy shots have shown that it will be much boxier. The front windscreen won't be as arched, and the same goes for the roofline. Even the roof rails look nothing like they did on the snapped prototypes.The shape and placement of the main clusters stay true to the real thing, and it is possible that it will feature a full-width light bar right below the hood. The wide grille and even wider lower air intake in the front bumper are pure assumptions at this point. The same goes for the back-end design, which continues to be hidden by a fake hump on the scooped testers, yet they might be on to something.Guess we'll have to wait for Hyundai to shed some camouflage from the upcoming Palisade to see more realistic renderings, yet for now, it is what it is. So, would you be mad if the vehicle looked like the one imagined here ? We wouldn't, even though the digital illustrations share very few things in common with the prototypes. The Radar RD6 Horizon is the fastest pickup truck in the East, says Geely. The carmaker is already accepting reservations for the all-wheel drive version, even though it has never disclosed the price. Not much information about the performance of the model has been unveiled either, so customers don't really know what they are buying. EV 4WD Photo: Geely AWD kW Radar RD6 Horizon electric pickup truck for China - new official pics. Radar is an EV-brand under the Geely Group. Radar only sells one car at the moment: the RD6, a rear-wheel drive single-motor pickup truck with 200 kW and 384 Nm. The RD6 was launched in 2022, and after that pic.twitter.com/1YzKVHQ2zg Tycho de Feijter (@TychodeFeijter) March 22, 2024 The Geely Radar RD6 Horizon can run from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 kph) in 4.5 seconds, making it one of the fastest out there. But the Chinese model still can't battle the American competition. It is just as fast as the Ram 1500 TRX with 702 horsepower, but it trails behind the Ford Ranger Raptor R, which does the same run in 3.6 seconds.Furthermore, if we go into the electric pickup truck territory to find real competitors for the Chinese, the Radar RD6 Horizon is just going to need to dust off while watching the Ford F-150 Lightning, the Tesla Cybertruck , the GMC Hummer EV, and the Rivian R1T putting some distance behind them.The all-wheel drive Radar comes with a redesigned grille compared to the one with the rear-wheel version, which was launched back in 2022 . The name of the model shows up in large letters across the front fascia, while thebadge is placed on the tailgate.The pickup is 207 inches (5,260 millimeters) long, 74.8 inches (1,900 millimeters) wide, and 74 inches (1,880 millimeters) in height. The size of the cargo bed remains unchanged. The all-wheel drive comes with a more generous payload of up to 1,907 pounds (865 kilograms).What powers the Radar Horizon RD6 is a dual permanent magnet synchronous electric drive system that generates a total of 422 horsepower (428 metric horsepower) and 438 pounds-feet (594 Newton meters) of torque, which are enough to make it accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 'let me brag about it' 4.5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 118 mph (190 kph).Geely has also updated the braking system to match the extra oomph provided by the two electric motors that power theinstead of the single-motor layout of the RWD.Seven driving modes are available on board, off-road-focused modes included. The driver can switch from one to another using voice control. The vehicle is equipped with an intelligent all-terrain feedback system, which allows it to adjust torque distribution to all four corners.An external discharge function enables the pickup truck to provide a maximum power of 21and allows it to operate as an electrical power source.There is no word on pricing just yet, but it will surely start above the rear-wheel drive variant, which goes for 145,800 yuan, which is the equivalent of $20,220. As per a report first broken by Reuters, it appears that Great Britain, a nation that once turned its back on nuclear energy in the 2000s, is preparing to dramatically and radically reverse course on its plan for the national energy grid. In a press release given by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the question of how to power the nation in a post-carbon energy infrastructure is causing top brass to consider investments in the country's aging nuclear energy infrastructure to the tune of over $200 million in future investments. Once the gold standard for nuclear energy production alongside the United States, the UK laid claim to operating the very first commercial nuclear fission reactors out of the Calder Hall facility in Seascale, Cumbria, England, starting in 1956. By the late 1990s, nuclear fission accounted for an impressive 26 percent of Great Britain's energy GDP, alongside natural reserves of coal and natural gas, as well as a considerable level of imported fossil fuels, most notably from the Russian Federation.In the time since the 90s, international anti-nuclear coalitions have maintained a strong grip on European energy policy. Nations like Italy, Germany, Portugal, Spain , Austria, and Norway have all but shut down their respective nuclear energy infrastructure in the last quarter century. In this way, Great Britain was much the same, having downturned to only producing 19 percent of its energy GDP through nuclear means by 2012. With vital supplies of Russian natural gas and oil now under constant threat from Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Sunak and his cabinet are now scrambling to turn the tides against nuclear energy as they had been since the Chornobyl Disaster almost 40 years ago."Safeguarding the future of our nuclear deterrent and nuclear energy industry is a critical national endeavour," declared Sunak, leader of the UK since late October 2022. "Today we usher in the next generation of our nuclear enterprise, which will keep us safe, keep our energy secure, and keep our bills down for good." As the cost of energy in Europe reaches a fever pitch and with tens of millions on the ragged edge of freezing across the continent each winter, Prime Minister Sunak's drive to create 40,000 new nuclear energy jobs by 2030 is just the first step towards dramatically reversing course on once set-in-stone British energy policy.Adding onto the initiative, Sunak also mentioned how nuclear submarine propulsion would be a key component in Britain's fissile resurgence. With key allies like the US and Australia due to operating novel nuclear subs by the end of the decade at the earliest, it could very well be British personnel and British infrastructure forged under this new legislation that gets these submarines out of the dry dock and into hostile waters as soon as possible. Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile Hyundai and sister brand Genesis have issued a safety recall for 98,878 electric vehicles produced for model years 2022 through 2024 for the US market. According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the integrated charging control unit may suffer internal damage due to various electrical load conditions. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Photo: Hyundai In case of a blown fuse, the ICCU will stop charging the 12-volt auxiliary battery. The South Korean automaker further notes that the electronic brain of the vehicle is programmed to enter a fail-safe mode in this scenario, which is another way of saying gradual motive power limitations. Due to the inability to recharge the 12-volt auxiliary battery, any given vehicle will eventually lose all motive power.Hyundai Motor Company started examining ICCU warranty returns in October 2022. Hyundai engineers noted heat damage on the low-voltage converter field effect transistor of the integrated charging control unit. In April 2023, theinformed Hyundai Motor America of a complaint alleging a loss of motive power in a US-market Ioniq 5.Further investigations revealed that fail-safe mode provides a total drive time of up to 45 minutes until the 12-volt battery runs out of juice. After multiple back and forths between HMA and the federal watchdog, as well as two service campaigns from the Hyundai and Genesis brands in the US market, the South Korean automaker finally acknowledged the biggest problem of the fail-safe mode.More specifically, the vehicle initially retains full motive power before entering several stages of gradually reduced motive power, increasing the risk of a crash on highways and interstates. Recalled vehicles include the 2022 to 2024 model year Hyundai Ioniq 5, the 2023 to 2024 Ioniq 5, the 2023 to 2024 Genesis GV60, the 2023 to 2024 Electrified GV70, and the 2023 to 2023 Electrified G80.The lion's share of the recall population is taken by the Ioniq 5, which numbers 69,316 units produced between October 2021 and February 2024. Of those, 27 are used in robotaxi fleets. The suspect ICCU was produced by the Mobis Corporation, a.k.a. the parts and service division that serves the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands worldwide. Hyundai claims that a software update prevents overcurrent and implements voltage peak reduction during high-voltage battery charging. Said update also revises the operational threshold of the water pump to reduce thermal loading during charging and driving. The updated software was implemented in vehicle production in the period between February 29, 2024 and March 5, 2024.Both dealers and owners will be informed of this recall on or about May 14, 2024. Dealers are required to have the software updated. Additionally, service technicians will replace the charging control unit and its associated fuse in case of damage.Of the aforementioned vehicles, only the Genesis Electrified GV70 is produced stateside. The remainder comes from South Korea, with production taking place at the Ulsan and Asan plants. Jaguar Land Rover North America has recalled 2,842 units of the Jaguar brand's entry-level crossover in the US market for a software issue. More specifically, the brake pad wear warning light may not appear on the instrument cluster due to an incorrect setting in the car configuration file. Photo: Jaguar AWD Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover became aware of this problem in November 2023 following an internal report alleging the non-display condition. The British automaker's Product Safety and Compliance Committee promptly started an investigation that was progressed to the Recall Determination Committee in February 2024.For some reason or another, the recall boffins took more than a week to review said issue. Ultimately, the Recall Determination Committee ahem determined that said non-display condition goes against Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 135 for light vehicle brake systems. What's more, the less mechanically inclined among us may ignore the increased brake noise of worn-out brake pads.Supplied by Jaguar Land Rover, the subject car configuration file has no fewer than four E-Pace-specific versions: M9C3-1A324-AD07, N9C3-1A324-AA12, P9C3-1A324-AB06, and R9C3-1A324-AE04. As implied, the company will remedy this problem by updating the configuration file via the crossover's all-important OBD II port.Owner notifications will have to wait until May 10. In the meantime, owners can easily determine if their British crossovers are recalled or not by running the 17-character VIN on Jaguar 's recall portal. The aforementioned 2,842 vehicles were produced for the 2021 through 2024 model years from November 11, 2020 to October 10, 2023.Vehicle identification numbers range between SADF12GX4M1014560 and SADFL2FX5R1044721. Even though SA through SM represents the United Kingdom, bear in mind that Jaguar's most affordable sport utility vehicle isn't made by Jaguar. Contract manufacturer Magna Steyr assembles the E-Pace in Graz, Austria, at the facility where the GR Supra and Z4 are made.Based on the Premium Transverse Architecture of the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport, the Jaguar E-Pace rolled out in July 2017 for model year 2018 with a starting price of $38,600 in the United States of America. At press time, the only specification available in this part of the world is the P250R-Dynamic SE at $49,500 sans freight charge and optional extras.Top dollar for a small crossover with 246 horsepower on tap, isn't it? The beating heart of the P250 AWD R-Dynamic SE is a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder from the Ingenium family of engines, with said lump connected to an eight-speed tranny.Despite being relatively expensive, the E-Pace does come with loads of standard kit. Highlights include a garage door opener, wireless device charging, a Meridian audio system, Pivi Pro Connected Navigation Pro infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a powered tailgate, LED exterior lighting, DuoLeather sport seats, a fixed panoramic roof, and a heated steering wheel. Similar to every other Jaguar currently available to order, the E-Pace will be discontinued this year in favor of a family of EVs based on the Jaguar Electric Architecture. Kia will soon offer a performance variant of the EV9 seven-seater SUV under the EV9 GT moniker. The Korean carmaker is currently honing its skills on the famous Nurburgring racetrack in Germany. The new encounter shows that the EV9 GT has shed black cladding for a lighter, more revealing camouflage. EV kWh SUV Kia EV9 is the brand's second electric vehicle built on E-GMP architecture. The highly versatile platform uses an 800-volt architecture that allows the electrons to flow faster in and out of the battery pack. This means that the EV9 is not only able to charge faster than most EVs on the market, but its drive units can also draw a lot of power very quickly. This is the reason Kia is determined to launch a performance variant of the EV9 called EV9 GT. This will follow the successful recipe of the EV6 GT, Kia's most powerful electric model to date.We've already met a heavily disguised prototype of the Kia EV9 GT when it was winter tested in Sweden. This is an important step in vehicle development, used not only to fine-tune the vehicle's dynamics but also to stress-test various components in extreme temperatures. Now, our photographers have snapped a Kia EV9 prototype that is more revealing, thanks to its lighter camouflage. The pictures were shot while the sportiest EV9 was tested on the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany.Even with the thick black cladding, it was clear that the EV9 GT would not look much different from the regular model. After all, its smaller brother, the EV6 GT, is as inconspicuous as it can be, with only minor details giving it away. You can see in the latest pictures that the EV9 GT prototype features lime-green brake calipers on the rear axle. Although the front calipers are silver, the production model will have lime-green performance brakes on all four corners.Rumors indicate that the EV9 GT will re-use the EV6 GT powertrain, which means it will rely on a dual-motor configuration with 576 horsepower. Don't expect this to extend to the battery pack, as the compacthas a much smaller battery. The three-row EV9 offers either a 76.1or a 99.8 kWh battery pack , and we expect the EV9 GT to adopt the bigger pack. Of course, Kia could also opt to save some weight to make the EV9 GT nimbler. However, the EV6 GT also uses the bigger pack, so we're confident that the EV9 GT will follow the same strategy.The sportiest variants of the EV9 currently available offer 379 horsepower and need only 5 seconds to accelerate from zero to 60 mph. The EV9 GT should drop under 4 seconds, considering that the EV6 GT needs only 3.4 seconds for the same performance. The sportyis rumored to debut in early 2025, and we expect a price in the upper $80K, considering how the tamer GT-Line variant starts at $73,900 The 2025 Kew West mobile home with three bedrooms exudes luxury hotel elegance through every pore. The most spacious and sophisticated model in the capsule range of the O'Hara high-end builder, this three-bedroom abode takes campsite living to the highest level possible. If you weren't familiar with the O'Hara French mobile home builder , you've been missing out. This company was a pioneer in the industry when it opened its gates back in 1994, and there's a fabulous story behind it. It was founded by none other than Annette and Louis-Claude Roux, owners of the prestigious boat-building company Beneteau, known today as Groupe Beneteau.In the early '90s, the boat-building industry in France was at a low point; as savvy business owners, the Roux couple managed to turn this crisis into a successful, trailblazing moment. Inspired by a visit to America, where mobile living is a long-standing tradition, they decided to start building RV-style mobile homes back in France. What started out as a small project primarily meant to save local jobs turned into a huge brand of its own.Today, O'Hara operates as an autonomous company within the Beneteau Group, with specialized factories opened in the area of St-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie in the Vendee, where it all began. O'Hara is directly inspired by the Old South of the US, to which it brings its own French twist. Over the years, this pioneering mobile house builder has brought many innovations and has expanded its product lines. The Key West capsule brand is designed for premium campsite accommodation."Imagine the campsite of tomorrow" is what this French builder promotes and inspires its customers to do. The modern-day bungalows in the Key West collection truly redefine luxury campsite living. The unique formula behind this concept blends hotel-style elegance with maximum openness toward the outdoors.On the one hand, as the builder puts it, "walls seem to fall away," creating an immersive outdoor experience; on the other hand, sophisticated details that you'd hardly find in typical mobile homes elevate the campsite experience to the most refined levels, in true French fashion.The three-bedroom Key West mobile home merges this luxurious concept with generous accommodation capabilities. Designed to welcome a big family in style and as comfortably as possible, this lavish dwelling doesn't lose its sense of vast openness and indoor/outdoor flow for one moment. It all starts with generous proportions and an ingenious layout.This Key West version is more than ten meters long (34 feet) and 4.45 meters wide (14.5 feet), and its floor space is cleverly divided into three beautiful bedrooms, a perfect lounge, and a big kitchen. It even has two separate bathrooms, which is indeed a rare luxury when it comes to mobile homes.All in all, the Key West mobile home can accommodate six people and pamper them with hotel-style comfort. This makes it perfectly suitable for a larger family with more than two kids, as well as for couples who like to entertain and welcome overnight guests.What makes this design particularly sophisticated is the exquisite balance between privacy and openness. The master suite was specifically placed so that it benefits from maximum privacy in two ways: first, the living room and the kitchen keep it totally separate from the children/guest rooms; second, it comes with a separate entrance that connects it directly with the natural surroundings.Inside, this gorgeous suite reveals a huge bed with more than 90 cm (35.4 inches) of space to the sides and facing the glass doors for perfect wide views. The full-length heavy curtains, headboard with built-in storage, and elegant bedside tables are some of the unique hotel room touches.Best of all, it comes with an en-suite bathroom equipped with an extra-large shower, a suspended conventional toilet, and ample built-in storage. Gorgeous double-sliding doors turn this resort-style suite into a lavish cocoon connected to nature. Wider, triple-sliding doors have the same fabulous effect in the lounge area, flooding it with an abundance of natural light.A huge dining table with six chairs dominates this beautiful room, while the luxurious pendant light above adds a touch of glamour. A plush sofa and two cozy armchairs in neutral tones create the perfect relaxation nook surrounded by beautiful views. Everything from the curtains to the light fixtures and storage solutions was chosen to recreate the classic elegance of a luxury hotel room.This open-concept section also includes an ultra-modern kitchen with huge storage capabilities. The premium appliances include a four-burner cooktop, a full-size fridge, and a built-in range hood. An elegant resin sink in a contrasting color, with a draining board, is seamlessly integrated into the generous work surface. With those sliding doors fully open, it basically feels like cooking in the open air. The clever placement of the dining area also invites dwellers to enjoy unforgettable dinners under a starry sky.The Key West maximizes the camping experience while allowing guests to indulge in the purest hotel comfort. The two other rooms are a guest suite with two single beds and an elevated, loft-style kids' room with bunk beds. Both rooms come with ample integrated storage, lights, and generous windows fitted with insect screens. The guest room has its own bathroom fitted with a large shower cabin and a classic vanity, while the conventional, suspended toilet is placed separately.On the outside, the three-bedroom Key West embodies the Old South elegance that defines this French brand. It flaunts premium cladding, contrasting white window frames, extra-large doors and windows, and even white ornamental columns for a striking effect. The sliding doors open onto a fabulous terrace with plenty of space for outdoor lounge furniture. With 40 square meters (430.5 square feet) of floor space and a fabulous terrace, the three-bedroom Key West seems vast and completely open to the outdoors.The new Kew West capsule collection and all of the O'Hara mobile homes are available through mobile home dealers, and private customers looking to level up their campsite living experience can purchase pre-loved versions from private sellers. The big problem is not TikTok By Mark Alexander web posted March 25, 2024 If you tolerate the daily Beltway news cycles and are still sober, you have seen something about the ChiCom social media platform TikTok every day for, well, years. It is a wildly popular app, mostly for narcissists and other sordid exhibitionists, with a few reputable influencers mixed in. Like many questionable outfits, TikTok Ltd is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and based largely in Singapore and Los Angeles. It is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance. I have seen some of the platform videos because they are now ubiquitous across other social media platforms. Like all the other Big Tech platforms, TikTok is a massive private data mining operation, increasingly under restricted use in many nations because of its unbridled privacy violations. A partial listing of data collection in its "privacy policy" includes usage patterns, IP addresses, users' mobile carriers, unique device identifiers, keystroke patterns, and location data, among many other privacy intrusions. That led another platform CEO, Reddit's Steve Huffman, to describe the TikTok app as "fundamentally parasitic" because "it's always listening [and] the fingerprinting technology they use is truly terrifying." Notably, TikTok and its ChiCom counterpart, Douyin, also censor content promoting "demonization of countries" and content related to Tibet and Taiwan. The platform is used by sex traffickers to promote pornographic content. The data being collected on its American users is not just for adjusting ads based on user interests; it's being co-opted for far more nefarious purposes by the Red Chinese government. China's 2017 National Intelligence Law requires that all organizations must "support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts," and that includes TikTok. Recently, as noted by Thomas Gallatin, the House passed a bipartisan bill, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, by a 352-65 vote. The bill's primary target is TikTok. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a cosponsor of the bill, explained, "This is designed to be a framework that will allow us to ensure that we don't have the Chinese Communist Party owning American data and using it nefariously against the American people." Indeed, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the ChiComs' data mining capabilities, declaring: "When it comes to the algorithm, and the recommendation algorithm, and the ability to conduct influence operations, that is extraordinarily difficult to detect. And that's what makes it such a pernicious risk." At the same time Congress was deliberating, the ChiComs were issuing messages to TikTok users to inundate their respective representatives with calls and emails, which, as Emmy Griffin concluded, backfired. However, there are objections to the proposed restrictions on TikTok, and it's no irony that Joe Biden has become a big fan. "Hey by the way, we just joined TikTok," Team Biden announced on February 11, Super Bowl Sunday. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) responded, "Joe Biden is so desperate to pander to young voters, he's willing to give away his campaign's data to Communist China." Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) was more pointed: "Every single Biden national security official from the director of national intelligence to the CIA director to the DIA director to the head of Cyber Command has warned that TikTok is a national security threat. The head of the FBI, Chris Wray, just testified before my committee and said that the parent company that owns TikTok is beholden to the Chinese government and, therefore, is a very significant threat. So here you have Biden's hand-picked advisers telling him that this is effectively a CCP tool or weapon, and yet he's ignoring that. Why? To court the votes of anti-Semitic 18-year-olds? To get progressive in a campaign season? It's not a serious move. It's not serious leadership. It's not the move of a serious country. ... I urge the president's Gen-Z TikTok-addled campaign staffers to reverse course in the interest of national security." As Douglas Andrews noted: "This, of course, is an act of utter desperation by Biden, the 'sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory' whose underlings have told him that he's toast in November without the low-information youth vote. The Left only cares about retaining power, which is why Biden is ignoring his administration's own repeated warnings about TikTok." Well, yeah, but to be fair, Biden has been a ChiCom pawn for decades, now coddling our nation's most dangerous national security adversary as president of, you know, the thing. He has been collecting his "Big Guy" cuts from Hunter Biden's pay-to-play schemes for years. Of course, there is that other guy objecting to the TikTok restrictions, Donald Trump, who, as president, called for banning the app. Trump now says that limitations on TikTok will just push users over to that other massive private data mining operation, Facebook, and he is right. "I don't want Facebook ... doing better," Trump says. "They are a true Enemy of the People!" And again, he is right. Facebook is not only the biggest data mining operation in the world but also the planet's leading systemic speech suppression platform, making it the most perilous enemy of American Liberty. For Congress to put a tiny temporary bandage on TikTok data collection while ignoring the massive arterial data bleed and speech suppression on the Facebook platform is disgraceful. For years, all the congressional testimony by Big Tech oligarchs has resulted in little more than political stage propping. Congress has done nothing to protect the marketing of private user data or freedom of speech on these platforms. Six years ago, I provided a strategy that Congress could implement under the authority of existing interstate commerce and other laws to protect consumer privacy and slow down the privacy pirates. If they actually want to implement a strategy... Congress has the authority to protect consumer privacy through addendums to existing legislation regulating commerce, and in the case of Facebook and other aggregators of private data (which should be classified as private property), that legislation should include explicit requirements regarding the collection and dissemination of consumer data and profiles. When it comes to invasive privacy violations the collecting and marketing of individual profiles the ubiquitous blanket "user agreements" posted by the platforms are completely insufficient. The vast majority of their platform users have no idea of the extent to which they are actually the platform products. Congress should enact legislation requiring that social media companies and other aggregators of individual data, including Google et al., be required to obtain specific and explicit user permissions for each and every transfer of such data prior to the collection of any individually identifiable profiling information. The requirement would be for a platform pop-up in each case, whereby the user is required to authorize the collection of their personal data and disclosure of how that data will be used, including the transfer or sale of such data. Facebook and other data aggregators are already enormously profitable from ad revenues. The internal use of individual profile data to determine what ads and content a user may be more interested in may be a negotiable issue on the legitimacy of using that data. But exporting private data on individuals, either individually or in aggregate, should require explicit permissions and violations should be enormously costly to social media companies. The aggregators will argue about what constitutes "private" that the data they collect is not private. But by any reasonable definition, the individual data in question most certainly is private. The proposal of such requirements would bring the big social media platforms to the table for negotiations, at which point Congress could insist on lifting speech suppression and shadow-banning tactics used by the platforms. This will enrage the Demos' Leftmedia protectorate and Big Tech propagandists, but if Congress is serious about restricting data mining, bring it on! Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. Though it's no longer a novelty, van life continues to gain more and more traction, with folks of all ages and social statuses choosing to live part-time or full-time in converted vans. With this great explosion in popularity comes an overwhelming amount of campervan builds on social media and other mediums. We've presented plenty of amazing DIY conversions here at autoevolution, but this converted Mercedes Sprinter called "Luna" has to be the most visually pleasing self-built camper van I've seen so far. Photo: Abbe Minor Photo: Abbe Minor Photo: Abbe Minor Photo: Abbe Minor A motorhome that is not only well-equipped with creature comforts but also aesthetically pleasing will certainly make spending time in your camper more enjoyable. That's why a tiny space like the interior of a van requires creative solutions to maximize functionality, comfort, storage, and style. Abbe Minor, the designer and builder of Luna, paid attention to each of these aspects and included unique features to achieve all of the above-stated goals.But for Abbe, opting to live in a compact home on wheels is much more than just a lifestyle; it's a way to embrace freedom, simplicity, and nature. That's why Luna was designed with the aim of blurring the lines between living space and nature. The design is inspired by Mediterranean/Spanish architecture, with a focus on indoor-outdoor living, round edges, thriving greenery, and an earthy color palette.There are a lot of details that make Luna a unique van build. It is based on a 2022 4x4 Mercedes Sprinter 170 that Abbe bought from Pennsylvania. She wanted a yellow van because she believes the color matches her personality, and this was the only yellow Sprinter she could find in the entire country. She drove it back to San Diego and then north to Island County in Washington, where she worked on the conversion for about eight months.Starting with the exterior of the Sprinter, apart from its eye-popping color, the van received some chassis upgrades, including military-inspired Black Rhino 17" Arsenal wheels, BF Goodrich K02 tires, and off-road front fenders. A Backwoods Bull Bar front bumper, a roof rack, a bike rack, a side ladder, and 400 Watts of solar panels have also been added.The magic happens once you slide open the side door. From the moment you step inside, you are enveloped in a warm, inviting ambiance and an unparalleled sense of comfort achieved through the use of all-natural materials, soft textures, and smart lighting. It is all the more special considering everything in this van is handcrafted, from the beautiful round-edged cabinets and all the handles to the faux ceiling and unique lighting design. The result - a cozy, welcoming, and clean motorhome that looks like the perfect gateway to a life full of adventures.Innovative and inspiring are the best words to describe this build. Not only does it have a unique, spacious layout that cleverly integrates all the creature comforts you might need and want in your mobile home, but it also pioneers the use of some natural materials that we seldom see in camper vans, such as pebbles, stone mosaics, and hand-made Spanish tile in the bathroom. All the interior walls have a porous concrete-like look, but they are actually made of Tadelakt, a Moroccan plaster that is durable and waterproof.There are two round indentations decorated with stone pebbles on the side wall and the ceiling has an interesting wave design and some circular details with indirect lighting that add style and make the whole interior look intimate and warm. As mentioned before, the interior design is dominated by curved lines and soft edges. The wall and the ceiling on the passenger side seamlessly blend in smooth curvature achieved with the use of Wiggle wood, a bending plywood designed to flex and take the shape and contour that you want.Luna's smart layout won the Best Layout Use of Space Award at TinyFest California 2024, an event that celebrates tiny living, van conversions, gypsy wagons, skoolies, and more. The living space is separated from the van's cab by a pocket door and comprises a dinette/seating area right in the doorway, a bathroom behind the driver's seat, a gorgeous L-shaped kitchen, and the rear sleeping quarters.At first sight, the seating area at the front is a regular setup for two made up of two benches and a Lagun swiveling table. But in reality, this is a versatile, multifunctional area that can actually seat four with two slatted extensions on heavy-duty drawer slides. Just pull them out, add some matching cushions, and you can even host dinner here. Its strategic placement in the doorway allows campers to take in the views regardless of whether they eat, work, or just socialize.Everything flows so beautifully inside this camper van , and the kitchen keeps up with the stylish aesthetic. It occupies most of the van's central area and has a clean design with Spanish plaster countertops and custom cabinets. Modern appliances, including a Dometic fridge, a two-burner induction cooktop, a huge sink, and a vintage-looking oven/air-fryer, are cleverly integrated into the design to ensure its functionality.In terms of sleeping capacity , this van can actually accommodate four people with a queen-size bed in the rear and a modular guest bed up front. The doorway bench system converts into a full-sized bed in the blink of an eye. The rear bed is located at window level to gain some three or four inches of extra length. With two round windows on the back doors and two side windows, you get plenty of natural light in the sleeping area.Luna's wet bathroom is as beautiful and elegant as the rest of the van, with an arched opaque door, tiled walls, India-imported stone mosaics on the shower floor, and a blue-colored dry flush self-contained toilet.Storage needs are also well catered for, with plenty of upper cabinets on the driver's side, a floor-to-ceiling closet, pullout drawers built into stairs and benches, a cabinet for blankets, and a spacious garage area under the rear bed.Of course, for year-round comfort inside the van , a robust electrical system, a diesel heater, and air conditioning are also part of the design. Other noteworthy features include a 40-gallon freshwater tank, 7-gallon grey water tank with electric empty valve, trash and laundry hamper under the kitchen sink, and mini projector with hidden role down-screen.Abbe's excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail are evident throughout this unique build. The sleek design and quality finishes help create a living space that is both efficient and visually pleasing, serving as a great source of inspiration for anyone looking to embark on a DIY van conversion . Watch Abbe giving a tour of her camper van conversion in the video below. Manufactured at MBUSI in Alabama, the mid-size GLE and full-size GLS have been recalled over an improperly secured 48-volt ground connection under the front passenger seat. No fewer than 116,020 vehicles produced for the US market have to be checked by dealers nationwide, with said vehicles ranging between the Benz-branded GLE 350 and the ultra-luxurious Maybach GLS 600. 9 photos Photo: Mercedes / edited Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kids toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones. Full profile If you ask anyone who was a kid or a teenager in the early 1990s what is the Vanilla Ice car, they'd definitely answer the same: the Mustang that shows up in the "Ice Ice, Baby" video. It turns out that is not it. Photo: Vanilla Ice | YouTube The Vanilla Ice car is a no-brand car. Or at least none that Robert Matthew Van Winkle, popularly known as Vanilla Ice, knows of. And hes got to know every single car out there (almost!) because he absolutely loves cars. He is what is called a connoisseur.Rob renovated a house in Melbourne Beach, Florida, which was heavily featured on season 7 of "The Vanilla Ice Project." The estate included 2.5 acres of land, a helipad, a five-car garage with glass doors, an elevator, and about 300 feet of private ocean views from a wrap-around balcony. However, Rob put it on the market for $5 million in 2018 and eventually sold it for $4.8 million.But when he completed the project, his friend came up with a surprise gift. It's a car that seems more of a classic hot rod. They drove it to Rob's driveway, and that was it, it was his to keep. The rapper took it to his buddy, Bones, who painted it as a favor just because he was a huge Vanilla Ice fan.Bones airbrushed the musician's portrait on the tailgate, and it really looks like a canvas. He also came up with references to his songs all over the body of the vehicle. Meanwhile, the hood reads "Wide Open." That is what Vanilla Ice has tattooed on his knuckles. The model also features stripes on the doors and stars on the front fenders.When asked what kind of car he was, Rob van Winkle admitted that he had no clue. "I don't know. The Vanilla Ice car. I think that is the brand. He only made one. They went out of business after this car, he jokes. It is a one-of-one out of one." Of course, it is.Vanilla Ice is indeed a car guy. He has recently talked about buying 50 Cent's blue Lamborghini Murcielago from Fred Fishback, the second owner of the car. 50 Cent forgot something in the car, which prompted jokes about his financial status between owner number 2 and owner number 3, with the latter being none other than Vanilla Ice.He also owns a Ferrari F8 Spider painted in Avorio, which is Italian for 'Ivory.' Rob drives it around Miami on sunny days.He has been the owner of a Ford Mustang that he bought in 1990. He restored it once and is going to do it again soon. The car also showed up in the Ice Ice, Baby! Video over three decades ago. And his garage is full of classic American muscle. Photo: Liberty Walk Sure, the bowtie brand may have cut some corners here and there, but they've done a wonderful job with the C8 'Vette. Nevertheless, you already knew that, as it has been around for over four years. Since then, the more agile Z06 and the electrified E-Ray, with its all-wheel drive system, have joined the base Stingray.The lineup is about to get even more exciting with the addition of the ZR1 . This range-topping trim is expected to have a twin-turbo V8 that might pump out around 850 horsepower. Chevy will likely up the ante with various aero packages, and when it arrives at dealers for the 2025 model year, it should start at around $150,000.A lot has been said about the latest generation Chevrolet Corvette since its launch back in 2020, and despite being four years old, it still keeps enthusiasts up at night. Most major tuners have some aftermarket components on their shelves for it, including Liberty Walk , which has had a few close encounters of the third kind with the blue-collar supercar.The latest is the red copy pictured in the gallery above. The Japanese tuner's founder shared a few images of it on social media, and we found more on the company's official website. It's certainly flashy with that large rear wing, swollen fenders that evade Liberty Walks traditional bolt-on design, new chin spoiler, aggressive diffuser, and side skirt add-ons.Liberty Walk's usual decals decorate the red body, and it rides on a set of aftermarket wheels with wide lips that were finished in black. This 'Vette also sits closer to the asphalt due to what is likely an air-adjustable suspension, and it looks ready to hit the circuit with only a few tweaks.But is it more powerful? The truth is that we don't know. However, we suspect it's not. After all, the tuner based in the Land of the Rising Sun is only famous for its wacky body kits that usually follow the same widebody recipe. As a result, chances are it rocks the OEM firepower, and that's no disappointment, as even the Stingray is very fast.With up to 495 horsepower produced by its 6.2L V8, the C8 Corvette Stingray takes as little as 2.9 seconds to reach 60 mph (97 kph). It has a top speed of 194 mph (312 kph) and can run the quarter-mile in just 11.2 seconds with no outside intervention. Pricing starts at $68,300, excluding dealer fees and destination. So, what are your thoughts on this tuned 'Vette The ministry did not identify that person. It said earlier that it is in constant contact with the relevant structures of Russia regarding the presence of citizens of the Republic of Armenia and ethnic Armenians among the victims of the terrorist attack. It said it is also monitoring relevant information disseminated through unofficial sources. Four men burst into the Crocus City Hall on Friday night, spraying people with bullets during a concert by the Soviet-era rock group Picnic. The presumed attackers, at least one of them a Tajik, were caught and remanded in custody on terrorism charges over the weekend. In a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin sent on Saturday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian joined the chorus of international condemnation of what was the deadliest attack inside Russia in two decades. Armenia strongly condemns this inhumane crime against civilians, Pashinian wrote. I express my deepest condolences to you. We mourn together with the people of Russia and extend our sympathy and support to the families and relatives of the victims who have suffered an irreparable loss. We really hope that the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed and it will be a landmark treaty, he said after talks with his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinian. Georgia is ready to positively assist in that process. Kobakhidze made similar comments when he visited Baku earlier this month, shortly after fresh Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations held in Germany. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan confirmed on March 7 that the conflicting sides did not make major progress towards the peace accord. He indicated that Azerbaijan remains reluctant to unequivocally recognize Armenias Soviet-era borders and stop demanding an extraterritorial corridor to the Nakhichevan exclave. Speaking at a joint news briefing with Pashinian, Kobakhidze stressed that Georgia recognizes Armenias territorial integrity without reservations. Pashinian said that this, coupled with Armenias recognition of Georgias internationally recognized territory, is a key element of a Georgian-Armenian declaration on strategic partnership signed by him and Kobakhidzes predecessor Irakli Gharibashvili in Tbilisi in January. Pashinian said that Georgian-Armenian relations will also be directly affected by the European Unions decision late last year to grant Georgia the status of EU membership candidate. Yerevan welcomes the EUs decision, added the Armenian leader. Amid the Armenian governments mounting tensions with Russia, some members of Pashinians entourage have suggested that Armenia also seek to eventually join the EU. Pashinian called on March 14 for a public discussion on the issue. There were more indications that the attack is connected with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians controversial plans to unilaterally hand over contested border areas in Armenias northern Tavush province to Azerbaijan. Two of the attackers were seriously wounded in the explosion while the other, Stepan Hovakimian, threatened to set off another grenade during a two-hour standoff with security forces. He was eventually detained by them. It emerged that Hovakimian, 34, aired a video address on Facebook just before the attack. He expressed outrage at the arrest of several members or supporters of the National Democratic Alliance (AZhB) who visited the border areas to show solidarity with residents of nearby Tavush villages rejecting Pashinians plans. The AZhB confirmed that the three attackers are its supporters but denied any connection with their actions. One of the groups senior members, Hermine Mkrtchian, described the attack as an emotional outburst. "We learned about the incident from the press, Mkrtchian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. A short statement posted on the AZhBs Facebook page said police began searching the apartments of its supporters early in the morning. It was not clear whether any of them was detained as a result. Armenias Investigative Committee said only that law-enforcement officers are conducting searches and taking other large-scale actions as part of an ongoing investigation into Sundays incident. The AZhB leaders have close ties to jailed members of an armed group that stormed another Yerevan police station in 2016 to demand that then President Serzh Sarkisian step down. Like mainstream opposition forces, the AZhB has condemned the territorial concessions signaled by Pashinian. Earlier on Sunday, the police detained 49 members of another group, called Combat Brotherhood, who were about to visit one of the affected Tavush villages to hold the next session of tactical military training for local men. A police statement claimed that they were rounded up on suspicion of illegal arms possession. All of them were released without a charge several hours later. The Combat Brotherhood leader, Hrant Ter-Abrahamian, said on Monday that the authorities are simply cracking down on anyone standing in the way of Armenian withdrawal from four ruined and deserted Azerbaijani villages occupied by Armenian forces in 1991-1992. He said the detentions will not deter his organization from continuing its activities in Tavush and challenging Pashinians policy. Ter-Abrahamian dismissed Pashinians claims that Azerbaijan will invade Armenia unless it unconditionally cedes the former villages strategically located along one of the two main Armenian highways leading to Georgia. The war against Armenia has not ended for a second, neither on the propaganda nor the military fronts, he told a news conference. Many residents of the border villages in Tavush argue that they will lose access to their agricultural land, have trouble communicating with the rest of the country and be far more vulnerable to Azerbaijani armed attacks if Pashinian does cede the adjacent areas to Azerbaijan. Visiting two of those villages on March 18, the prime minister admitted that in return for such withdrawal, Baku would not give back any Armenian territory seized by Azerbaijani troops at the same border section in the early 1990s. Armenias main opposition groups have warned that such concessions would amount to high treason. One of their leaders, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian, last week urged the Armenian military to defy Pashinians withdrawal orders. Arman Tatoyan, Armenias former human rights ombudsman critical of the government, also expressed serious concern at Pashinians stated intentions. He shrugged off the premiers claims that the handover would mark the beginning of a delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. What is happening now and is described by the government as delimitation has nothing to do with border delimitation, Tatoyan said, pointing to the absence of any mutually agreed mechanism, notably maps, for delineating the long Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier. Besides, according to established international practice, delimitation or demarcation cannot be carried out by causing human suffering, he told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. 25 March 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00) Qabil Ashirov Read more Recently, the Armenian parliament ratified the agreement on the status of the EU mission stationed on the border in Azerbaijan. As is known, the mission was established in January 2023, and in December, the number of mission participants increased from 138 to 209 people. The mission of the European Union in Armenia was supposed to be short-term, later it became long-term and its militarization took a large scale. In this way, the West began military intervention in the region. Currently, the US joining this process and planning to send its soldiers to Armenia as part of the EU mission actually means that the West is creating its own military base in Armenia. All these processes take place on the borders of Azerbaijan. So many think that this format is directed against Azerbaijan. However, member of the Azerbaijani Parliament Fazil Mustafa thinks that this mission links with Russia rather than Azerbaijan. Speaking to Azernews on the issue, Azerbaijani MP noted that Armenia takes these measures because it feels uneasy. He pointed out that Armenia is right in a certain sense from its own point of view. MP underlined that the issue should be approached on the basis of relations with Russia rather than with Azerbaijan. Yerevan emphasized intensive contact with the West. However, they probably calculated how dangerous and risky these relationships are. Otherwise, the presence of the EU mission or the US mission in the region can create great cataclysms for Armenia. Because a country that has built such deep relations with Russia suddenly makes a U-turn and approaches to another power center. The protective capabilities of this power center are also not at a high level. Therefore, this issue is still one of the factors that show that Armenia itself is a bit adventurous. This is a dangerous adventure, and it is difficult to say how Armenia will eliminate its consequences, he said. Fazil Mustafa pointed out that certain countries are arming Armenia. The activity of France and India is observed. However, he added that Azerbaijan or countries who have interests in the regions also take measures. In other words, armament is never one-sided. He said that on the background all of the above-said events, despite emphasizing peace, Azerbaijan does not put aside preparations for any military intervention from Armenia with support of its allies. Because a new version of Armenian revanchism and stupidity may emerge. He underscored that Azerbaijan will not stand idly by and it will react more seriously and harshly. This indicates that the path chosen by Armenia is wrong. On the contrary, it should create more intensive relations with Azerbaijan, so that it somehow removes the fear from his society and takes concrete steps towards peace. As I mentioned earlier, the increase in the number of military personnel from the West is a matter related to Russia. For Azerbaijan, Armenia is already a country that maintains a military base of a foreign state in its territory. As is known, except for the military base in Gyumri, the borders of Armenia and the airport are guarded by the military of another country, not by Armenia's own military. Now, the arrival of a new foreign power means that there will be a problem between the previous power and the newcomers. Therefore, this is more relevant to the relations between Armenia and Russia, Fazil Mustafa opined. The MP pointed out that the creation of the Wests military base in Armenia means a military conflict with Russia. Time will show to what extent they will risk it. He said that but in any case, the issue should be considered in the context of Armenia-Russia relations rather than Azerbaijan. On the other hand, the fact that Armenia is a member of the CSTO and taking steps contrary to the terms of this organization is also thought-provoking. Because this issue is one of the worrying factors regarding the future of Armenia. By turning its back on Russia, Armenia will also experience problems with the countries it joined the agreement with. Armenia and Russia are countries located in the same region. It is enough to look at the recent history to know how many tragic consequences are caused by having problems with neighboring countries, confident of the support of distant countries. For example, in 1917-1920, the Western countries, as well as the United States, that placed Armenia under their mandate could not protect Armenia from the Bolshevik occupation. Armenians must not forget this. In the future, they will understand how dangerous this step is. Of course, there will be certain impact on the region. However, Azerbaijan also follows the processes and is a country capable of expressing its position and protecting its borders, the MP added. --- Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 March 2024 21:42 (UTC+04:00) Some social media users are spreading disinformation by publishing messages that there is currently a concentration of Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of Tavush, Azernews reports. Armenia's official sources also commented on the spread of false information. Thus, the Armenian Ministry of Defense reported that there was no accumulation of Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of Tavush. According to the Armenian side, the situation on the front line is relatively stable. Armenian Defense Ministry also called public not to disseminate unverified information that does not correspond to reality. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A former Keller Williams real estate agent has filed a potential class-action lawsuit in federal court in San Antonio challenging a change to the brokerages profit-sharing program. Feverpitched/Getty Images/iStockphoto Austin-based Keller Williams Realty Inc. is facing a potential class-action lawsuit over changes to its profit-sharing program that could collectively cost former associates millions of dollars. Ex-Keller Williams agent Jerri Moulder wants a court to rule the company cannot retroactively reduce distributions earned by former associates vested in the profit-sharing program just because they now work for a competitor. Shes now an agent with another firm in Kansas City, Mo. Last summer, Keller Williams announced plans to slash from 100% to 5% the profit distributions it shares with agents vested in the program but who left the brokerage to join a rival unless they returned to the firm within six months. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The change takes effect July 1, but does not affect Keller Williams agents who have retired or left the industry. Under the revised policy, former KW agents who actively compete against our brokerages will receive less profit share, with more redistributed to the agents who continue to partner in our growth, said Darryl Frost, a spokesperson for Keller Williams. The dispute involves big money. In Moulders case filed Friday in federal court in San Antonio, she seeks damages of $250 million or an amount to be determined at trial. The class is expected to number more than 100 former agents. As of July 31, Keller Williams had distributed almost $1.6 billion to associates since the profit-sharing program took effect in 1987, HousingWire reported in August. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to the lawsuit, Keller Williams paid from $25 million to $40 million in distributions in the year before an August 2019 presentation to the companys International Associate Leadership Council. The damages claim was calculated by multiplying $25 million by 10 years, said Kenneth McClain, a Missouri lawyer representing Moulder. We just feel that this entire situation is unfair to the agents, as well as being a breach of contract, he said. We just dont think, legally or equitably, that they have a right to go out and change a contract without the approval of these agents. And none of these agents approved of this. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, where both San Antonio and Austin are located. Recruiting agents The franchisor, one of the largest real estate brokerages in San Antonio, developed its profit-sharing program as a way to reward agents who helped build the company by encouraging other agents to join it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Keller Williams associates participate in the program by recruiting other associates who contribute to the profitability of the company, the complaint says. An agent who recruits another person to join the firm is referred to as a sponsor. Keller Williams set up the program by which these agents went out and recruited people in good faith with the promise that as long as those agents remained with Keller Williams, that they would be paid, McClain said. Now, (Keller Williams) has decided they dont want to live up to that promise. A profitable brokerage franchisee shares about 50% of its offices monthly profits with associates who helped the business expand, according to Keller Williams. The profit-sharing program has seven levels of sponsorship, starting with the person who directly recruited a new associate. The next level sponsor is the person who recruited the first levels sponsor, and so on. Funds in the profit-sharing program are distributed in a multi-tiered format based upon the sponsorship of one associate or employee by another another associate or employee, the complaint says. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Some have referred to it as a multilevel marketing program. Its a way for current and former associates to earn passive income. Moulder, in her lawsuit, says Keller Williams policies and guidelines manual does not give the brokerage the right to retroactively terminate or reduce any aspect of the profit-sharing program. The manual states any termination or amendment to the program would be prospective only, the suit says. 2020 change In 2020, Keller Williams amended the program so that any associate who joined it on or after April 1, 2020, and later bolted for a competing brokerage would no longer receive distributions. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A group of top Keller Williams earners pushed for the change, online real estate news site Inman News reported in August. The policy was not retroactive, so it didnt affect agents like Moulder who had been at Keller Williams before that date. She worked as a sales associate at the firm from 2002 to 2011 and now works at Platinum Realty a competing brokerage in Kansas City. In August, though, Keller Williams leadership council met at the Austin Convention Center and voted to change the program so that vested agents who joined before April 1, 2020, and who actively compete with the firms brokerage offices would have their profit share cut to 5%, Inman News reported. The leadership council is the voice of franchisees and agents, said Frost, the Keller Williams spokesperson. At the time of the vote, then-Keller Williams President Marc King told company leaders the change would foster continuous growth, Inman News reported. This change in profit share highlights our commitment to supporting those who continue to grow and journey with us, King said. Profit share will increase for agents that continue to partner in our growth. He stepped down as president two weeks ago but remains with the firm. The latest program change and the earlier one in 2020 appear geared to reward company loyalists and prevent competitors from raking in company money, according to Inman News. Moulder is suing Keller Williams for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The change in profit sharing does not enrich the firm, Frost said. 25 March 2024 13:50 (UTC+04:00) A special presentation on the occasion of the Nowruz holiday was held at the Secretariat of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development - GUAM, Azernews reports. The holiday event was organized by GUAM Secretary General Shafag Orujova for the spouses of accredited diplomatic missions in Ukraine. On the night of the holiday, the guests got acquainted with the history and details of the Nowruz celebration, as well as tasted the samples of our rich cuisine and the festive gifts that decorated the tables. Shafaq Orujova said that the essence of the Nowruz holiday, which is a symbol of the awakening and renewal of nature, is the unity of the people. The speaker drew attention to the fact that the Nowruz holiday was included in the list of the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO at the initiative of Azerbaijan and that in February 2010, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on "International Nowruz Day". She said that the Nowruz holiday does not know any geographical boundaries, it is celebrated as a national holiday in a wide area from Azerbaijan to Turkiye, Tatarstan, Bashkirdistan, Central Asia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and the Balkans. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 March 2024 16:15 (UTC+04:00) Azerbaijanis living in Kazakhstan widely celebrated Novruz holiday, Azernews reports. The Azerbaijani diaspora has organized festive events on the occasion of Nowruz holiday in different regions of Kazakhstan. As every year, yurts were built and festive tables were decorated in the cities of Almaty, Astana, Aktau, Kostanay, Karaganda, Turkestan, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Atyrau, Temirtau, Taldikurgan, Kurday, Shu, Taraz regions. Various dishes of our national cuisine were demonstrated in the corners of Azerbaijan established on the occasion of the holiday, and exhibitions related to the culture of our country were organized. Diaspora leaders speaking at holiday events talked about the role of the Azerbaijani diaspora in preserving our national values and Novruz traditions. The events also emphasized the importance of existing relations between the two brotherly nations, which are connected by historical roots, and the importance of joint activities in the direction of promoting our common values. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 March 2024 15:45 (UTC+04:00) The situation regarding the terrorist act committed in the Crocus City Hall concert hall, which caused the death of many innocent people, makes it urgent to take a sensitive approach to the information spread about the incident. Unfortunately, not everyone in Russia takes this sensitivity seriously. TV presenter, journalist Vladimir Solovyov is one of them, and maybe the first, Azernews reports, citing a statement issued by the Press Council. "The statement that the considerations aimed at looking for traces of Azerbaijan in the known terrorist act exceed the boundaries of the traditional prejudice rhetoric of this person against our country. With his hints, V. Solovyov is causing informational sabotage in relation to Azerbaijan. It does not take into account that a terrorist cannot have any nationality or religion. Moreover, the persons responsible for the incident have been identified, and there is no need for Solovyov to use his conspiracy thinking. V. Solovyov's giving an ethnic background to the provocation committed in Crocus City Hall is an attempt to target Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijan in general, to ignite an ethnic conflict in Russia, and to create antipathy towards our compatriots. It is known which circles this person fulfills "orders". The facts confirming his "collaboration" with Armenians - Russian journalist Margarita Simonyan and media magnate Aram Gabrielyanov - are well known to both the Russian and Azerbaijani public. This "trio" wanted to associate our country with terrorist ISIS in 2016. Solovyov's allusions to the "Crocus City Hall" incident are a continuation of the same unfinished script. It is felt that the main goal is to undermine the current high level of Azerbaijan-Russia relations," the Press Council noted. The statement reads that there is no doubt that V. Solovyov's attempt to look for traces of Azerbaijan in the Crocus City Hall terror stems from his pro-Armenian bigotry. This is an obvious manipulation of media principles and the possibilities of freedom of speech and expression. The statement urges that the journalist's approach to events and processes, as well as his evaluating style, should make the Russian public, including the media community, think seriously. Because Solovyov is busy misleading the society. "His position is to sacrifice real truths and realities to corporate interests. This is extremely serious harm and damage caused by a professional not only to another, but most importantly to the country of which he is a citizen. The Azerbaijan Press Council strongly condemns V. Solovyov's position regarding the terrible terrorist act committed in the Crocus City Hall concert hall, and information sabotage aimed at associating Azerbaijan with this event. The Council appeals to the Russian media, as well as to the public, not to be indifferent to the actions and behavior of the journalist, who seems to have no sense of responsibility towards his homeland and people, and who has turned his profession into a tool of prejudice. The Press Council hopes that a necessary public condemnation will be formed against V. Solovyov, and that the actions of this person will be given a proper legal assessment," the statement concluded. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 March 2024 17:20 (UTC+04:00) Speaker of the Milli Majlis (Azerbaijani Parliament) Sahiba Gafarova met with Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia Ana Brnabic within the framework of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held in Geneva, Switzerland, Azernews reports. At the meeting, satisfaction was expressed with the current state of high-level relations between the two countries, and the development of cooperation in political and economic, as well as a number of other fields was brought to attention. Sahiba Gafarova noted that high-level relations between the heads of state make important contributions to the strengthening of friendship between the two countries and peoples. She emphasized that these relations are successfully continued between the parliaments of the two countries. Recalling her official visit to Serbia with pleasure, Gafarova said that the meetings and discussions held during the visit made it possible to further expand the relations between the legislative bodies. The parties also exchanged views on the possibilities of expanding cooperation between friendship groups and parliamentary committees. The Speaker of the Serbian Parliament congratulated President Ilham Aliyev on his confident victory in the extraordinary presidential elections held in Azerbaijan and pointed out that she followed the elections held in free and democratic conditions with the parliamentary observation mission of Serbia. Emphasizing that her country is interested in the further expansion of relations with Azerbaijan in various fields, the speaker of the Parliament of Serbia said that the relations between the legislative bodies play an important role in deepening the relations between the states. The parties criticized the double standards observed in the system of international relations, including in international organizations, especially in PACE, saying that this contradicts the tasks or mission of the institution. The meeting also noted the importance of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), and the Serbian side congratulated Azerbaijan for hosting this important international event. It was reported that in protest against the non-approval of the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation at the PACE, the Serbian parliament appealed to the organization and called for the cancellation of this decision. Sahiba Gafarova expressed her gratitude to the Serbian side for this step. At the meeting, opinions were exchanged on other topics of mutual interest. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 March 2024 17:55 (UTC+04:00) Georgia hopes that a peace agreement will be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Azernews reports. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated this at a press conference held after a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and added that his country is ready to support this process and contribute to peace and stability in the region. We also talked about regional events. I emphasized the importance of our joint efforts to combat challenges in the region. Georgia supports efforts aimed at stability, peace and coexistence in the South Caucasus, Kobakhidze emphasized. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 March 2024 20:35 (UTC+04:00) Hungary expects that oil supplies from Russia over the Druzhba oil pipeline will remain at the last-year level in 2024, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told reporters, Azernews reports, citing TASS. "So far, we are fine with the quantities that have been contracted," the minister said. Hungary does not expect any changes in this regard, Szijjarto added. Russian oil is supplied to Hungary over the southern leg of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which passes via the territory of Ukraine and is free from European Unions sanctions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 25 March 2024 21:06 (UTC+04:00) Commercial banks in Georgia loaned 52.24 billion ($19.35bln) and received deposits of 50.50 billion ($18.71bln) in February, the latest data from the National Bank of Georgia showsc Azernews reports, citing Agenda. The volume of loans increased by 0.68 percent compared to the previous month, while the number of deposits decreased by 0.36 percent month-on-month. Last month, the volume of term deposits decreased by 0.96 percent, while on-demand deposits increased by 0.07 percent, the NBG also said. Loans taken out in the national currency increased by 1.40 percent, while the volume of loans in foreign currency decreased by 0.21 percent. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Israel vows to continue raid on Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital until last "terrorist" detained Xinhua) 10:55, March 25, 2024 JERUSALEM, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Chief of Israeli army's Southern Command Yaron Finkelman on Saturday said the raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza would end "only when the last terrorist is in the army's hands -- alive or dead." Finkelman made the remarks during a situation assessment with other Israeli military officials at the hospital, once Gaza's largest medical facility and now one of the few hospitals still functioning in the enclave. The hospital has also served as a shelter for displaced Palestinians since the Gaza conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli forces launched the raid on Monday before dawn with tanks and airstrikes. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, the forces also bombed and burned residential buildings surrounding the medical complex. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that more than 170 people have so far been killed in the hospital area and 800 others have been arrested. The IDF affirmed that all the fatalities were militants, a claim denied by the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry, who accused Israeli troops of detaining displaced people, medical staff, and patients, subjecting them to abuse, and coercing them to move south at gunpoint. The army reiterated in a statement on Saturday that "senior officials" with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian armed group, hid in the hospital, adding that "numerous weapons and terror infrastructure" have been located. Video footage circulating on social media showed smoke rising above the medical complex, while another video clip depicted half a dozen individuals clad only in underwear leaving the hospital. Amid a lack of food, water and medical care, at least five injured Palestinians trapped at Al-Shifa have died, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Late on Friday, Director-General of World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on social media platform X that 50 health workers and 143 patients had been kept in one building of the hospital since the second day of the raid, with "extremely limited food, water and only one nonfunctional toilet." No basic medical supplies are available. "Patients are in critical condition, many lying on the floor ... Patients have no companions or caretakers," the WHO chief said, describing the conditions as "utterly inhumane" and urging "an immediate end to the siege" and "safe access to ensure patients get the care they need." In response to the criticism, a spokesman from the office of Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, an Israeli governmental body, stated Saturday that Israeli forces had allowed aid to enter "a designated compound within the hospital," where sick and wounded patients were evacuated to ensure their safety. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, was one of two people killed when a cement truck hit a Hays CISD school bus on Friday, March 22. He was a preschool student at Tom Green Elementary in Buda. Courtesy Hays CISD. Courtesy Hays CISD Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, was one of two people killed when a cement truck hit a Hays CISD school bus on Friday, March 22. He was a preschool student at Tom Green Elementary in Buda. Courtesy Hays CISD. Courtesy Hays CISD A 5-year-old preschool student from Tom Green Elementary and a 33-year-old from Bastrop were killed when a cement truck struck a school bus in Bastrop County Friday afternoon. Ulises Rodriguez Montoya died Friday as a result of injuries suffered in the tragic field trip school bus accident, the Hays Consolidated Independent School District said Monday. Ulises was one of 44 children and 11 adults returning to the elementary school in Buda from a trip to the Bastrop Zoo. The bus was traveling west on Texas 21 near Caldwell Road when the truck, which was driving east, veered out of its lane and hit the bus, knocking it over, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Friday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A man driving behind the bus also was killed in the accident. On Monday, the Texas Department of Public Safety identified him as Ryan Wallace, 33, of Bastrop. DPS said Friday that Wallaces vehicle crashed into the bus or the truck after the initial collision. While they previously said he was driving a Dodge Charger, that may not have been accurate, the agency said Monday. READ MORE: Two killed in crash involving Hays County school bus The school district said in a statement Monday evening that Wallace was not affiliated with the field trip or the school, but we want to extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. In an email to students Monday, the University of Texas said Wallace was a graduate student scheduled to defend his dissertation in April. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We are devastated to lose him, the university said. He has been our friend, colleague and an ever-optimistic J-Horn. According to a student spotlight on the Moody College of Communications website, Wallace was a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism and Media who focused on how science is portrayed in the media, and ways researchers and journalists could better communicate science to the public. As for Ulises, the district said he loved his family, dinosaurs, the color green and going to school. Community members created a makeshift memorial at Tom Green Elementary School in Buda after a fatal crash involving a school bus. Barry L. Harrell/Express-News Staff His preschool bilingual teacher, Naira Dina Solis Shears, said Ulises was filled with a lot of happiness and he often shared it with others. He had a talent for drawing and his favorite thing to draw was dinosaurs, she said. He could almost completely spell the word dinosaur, which demonstrates how smart he was. He always had a dinosaur drawn on all of the assignments he turned in. He liked to tell stories and shared many with his friends and family. Above all he was a loving child. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He is survived by a loving and supportive family, including his parents and siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins, who will miss him dearly, the district said. A GoFundMe campaign created to help Ulises family pay for funeral expenses has raised more than $67,000. Another campaign, started by a former Tom Green Elementary teacher, has raised more than $80,000. That money will be used to help students and staff with expenses related to healing, offsetting funeral expenses for the student who passed away, and other unexpected expenses incurred by families affected by the accident, the school district said. As of Monday afternoon, all students had been released from the hospital, but one staff member, an early childhood education teacher, remains hospitalized, the district said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad She is going to recover, but her physical recovery will take time because of the nature of her injuries, Hays CISD spokesman Tim Savoy said. Our hero bus driver continues to recover at home, he said in the statement. We will be forever indebted to her, and the other adults on the bus, who, though injured, placed the children above themselves and their own wellbeing. In a written statement Saturday afternoon, Tom Green Elementary Principal Jennifer Hanna said at least three staff members and two students were still in the hospital at that time, and the district was waiting for updates on nine other students. Two of the employees will have extensive recoveries ahead, she said, while the third employee and two students were expected to be released in the near future. DPS Sgt. Deon Cockrell said Monday that the investigation into the crash is still ongoing, and no additional information was available about what caused the truck driver to veer into the bus. ASTRONOMY: Bizarre 'Millennium Falcon' / Comet Pons-Brooks in Oregon Coast, Washington Coast Skies Published 3/20/24 at 6:55 p.m. By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Portland, Oregon) There's a lot going on in Pacific Northwest skies in the near future. Besides a slight lunar eclipse on March 24 and a partial solar eclipse on April 8, there has been a spectacular comet showing itself periodically and is still visible with optical aids. (Above: courtesy Steve Elliot / Flickr) Nicknamed the Millennium Falcon Comet lately because of one interesting shift in its shape, Comet 12 / Pons-Brooks may even pop up during the dark minutes of the eclipse on April 8. It's expected to linger in visibility through late April and possibly become viewable to the naked eye. It's something new to look for out on Washington coast beaches like on the Olympic Peninsula or Long Beach, or along the Oregon coast if you're around at night in areas like Cannon Beach, Pacific City, Winchester Bay or Coos Bay. Plenty of photographers around the world have snagged some amazing shots, so those with pro equipment should really consider bringing their gear to the sands and rocky vantage points on your next trip to Gold Beach or Manzanita. Comet Chasers, a team of researchers led by Helen Usher of Cardiff / The Open Universities caught the money shot during the July burst. According to Jim Todd of Portland's OMSI, everyone else should bring binoculars and a sky map. Lately it has been at around 5.2 magnitude, same brightness of the faint stars of the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Dipper, Todd said. There is a chance it will become even brighter in early April. Most of the time you'll see Pons-Brooks as a regular comet with a long tail. However, it's done some bizarre things out there as it travels through the solar system. Because it's an ice comet with a kind of ice and chemical-induced volcanic action, its exposure to solar radiation sometimes causes actual eruptions. In July of 2023, it shed its tail and started looking like a famous space ship. Another time, it acquired a horns look. Now it's sometimes called the Devil Comet or the Millennium Falcon Comet. See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather From previous observations and images from astronomers around the world, the outburst caused the coma to distort into a horseshoe or horned shape, with a dark center and bright wings or points, Todd told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. From this it became the nickname, Devil Comet. Been also called the Millennium Falcon comet, after the ship in Star Wars. Unfortunately, predicting these outbursts is challenging, or even impossible. The comet is currently floating through the constellation of Andromeda the Chained Lady from our earthly point of view. Pons-Brooks comes around every 71 years. Todd said it was first discovered by Jean-Louis Pons on July 12, 1812, and then independently rediscovered by William Robert Brooks in 1883. It's about 10.5 miles across, according to the American Astronomical Society bigger than Mount Everett. Tracking the comet on March 20 / OMSI graphic It's a fascinating and somewhat rare comet, one of the few known whizzing, celestial bodies that has cryovolcanic action. That ball of ice sometimes erupts and spews dust and gas into space, and yet scientists aren't entirely sure why that results in unique prong shapes. It's done it a few times on this run past our Terra and Sol. Whatever it's doing out there, let's hope it does it again: these eruptions can make it bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. Astronomers think it's possible that in late April, as it gets closest to the sun, it may get bright enough on the low, low horizon to be seen outside of optics. However, it soon dips below view from the northern hemisphere then. That April 8 eclipse which gets covered a little more on the south Oregon coast may hold a special surprise for the comet, but a dangerous one for your eyes. As the sun gets covered, both Jupiter and Venus will pop into view on either side of the eclipse. Comet Pons-Brooks may also get quite visible then too, but more likely only seen with pro equipment, and even then exposure ratio with the eclipse present will overpower it. It would show up between the sun and one of the planets. April 2024 Partial Solar Eclipse Coming to Oregon Coast, Washington Coast DO NOT look for it with binoculars during the eclipse. Those with the right photo gear may be able to capture it, but not by looking directly through the viewfinder only the digital display screen. Courtesy Manalo Gomez Very unlikely that the comet will be visible during the partial eclipse from Portland, Todd said. Towns to check out: beaches at night around Yachats, Brookings, Newport, Westport, Gearhart, Lincoln City, etc. Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Mobility Chair Events Coming to Washington Coast, S. Oregon Coast; Newport Celebrates Theirs Published 3/21/24 at 5:55 a.m. By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Brookings, Oregon) Several Oregon coast towns now have specialized, all-terrain wheelchairs to lend out to those with mobility issues, thanks to the group David's Chair. They have brought more accessibility to Gold Beach, Newport, Seaside, Rockaway Beach, Manzanita, Netarts, Florence and Pacific City with the Action Trackchair motorized chairs, available to borrow in various time slots. Use is free. Now, David's Chair may be branching out into the Washington coast, with excursion days set in Westport on April 5 and 6, as well as excursion days down in Brookings on March 29 and 30. These are special events where a trackchair is brought for the day, and those in need get to arrange a time slot and hit the sands as they likely could not before. In Westport, they happen at various time slots on April 5 and 6 at the Westport by the Sea Condos, 16099 W Ocean Ave. See the events page at David's Chair. In Brookings, it's all at Harris Beach State Park on March 29-30. CEO and founder Steven Furst said spots are still available at the scenic attraction on the south Oregon coast. It's the 7th year and longest-running annual excursion event the nonprofit has been doing. The group is named after David Hatrick, who passed away after a bout with ALS, and at one point was able to get hold of a track chair that enabled him to resume some outdoor adventures. Not long after he passed, the group and Furst began their run of helping other individuals. Westport We chose Harris Beach for our first ever excursion back in 2018 just a little over two months after David passed, Furst said. Harris Beach was one of his favorite places to visit and his birthday always falls within spring break. We decided that this is a great way to honor his legacy and kick off each year with an excursion. We will be set up at the day use area on the grass by the restrooms. Although we suggest you sign up for a time slot, we will do our best to accommodate anyone that shows up and wants to get out on the sand. Gold Beach, Newport and Florence were the latest burghs to get the chair, available for reservations online, just as all David's Chairs are. We will have multiple track chairs at this event and are partnering with the Gold Beach Visitor center where we have two track chairs for people to use throughput the year, Furst said. Brookings does not have a regular chair to reserve as other towns do, and neither does Westport up on the Washington coast. The group did not indicate there were plans in the works for regular chairs in either towns. Harris Beach, courtesy Oregon State Parks We have two track chairs at the Gold Beach Visitor Center, Furst said. One is to be used at the beach access from the Visitor Center and the other is a Tow and Go that can be taken to another location. We want to remind people that we do not charge to use the track chairs. Lincoln City and Seaside also have mobi-mats on the beach, which allows more mobility for standard wheelchairs. N. Oregon Coast's Seaside Gets Mobi-Mats for Wheelchair Access Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Need More Space Action? Penumbral Eclipse March 24 Above Oregon / Washington Coastlines Published 3/22/24 at 5:25 a.m. By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) March's full moon is right around the corner, and so is its eclipse. (Photo Oregon Coast Beach Connection: penumbral eclipse in 2020. No, you can't see a difference) For those hanging around the Oregon coast or Washington coast, you should probably head outside around midnight on Sunday or a little ways before, as that's when this penumbral lunar eclipse gets at its height. According to Jim Todd, astronomy expert at Portland's OMSI, said the penumbral lunar eclipse happens on March 24 - 25, lasting for about four hours. Not that it's going to be hugely obvious: the lower righthand corner will get somewhat fainter, but not much. This precedes another literally stellar event by about two weeks, one which will be a little more prominent on the south Oregon coast. Moon above Hug Point, near Cannon Beach This eclipse will be visible in parts of Antarctica, western half of Africa, western Europe, Atlantic Ocean, Americas, Pacific Ocean, Japan, and eastern half of Australia, Todd said. The March 24-25, 2024, penumbral lunar eclipse is followed two weeks later by a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. April 2024 Partial Solar Eclipse Coming to Oregon Coast, Washington Coast There's also a distinct possibility of seeing a wild comet in the skies right now in areas just outside Portland, or in more rural spots like the coast, eastern Oregon, etc. Comet Pons-Brooks has been appearing on and off, visible only with optics, however. Bizarre 'Millennium Falcon' / Comet Pons-Brooks in Oregon Coast, Washington Coast Skies Eclipse watchers in Portland will see that first contact with the penumbra occurs at 9:53 p.m. (March 24) with the full moon 25 degrees above the southeastern horizon, Todd said. The moon will reach its closest to the center of the shadow at 12:12 a.m. (March 25) as it is 40 degrees above the southern horizon. Last contact of the Earth's shadow with the moon happens at 2:32 a.m. on March 25, with our sister world at 39 degrees above the southern horizon. The March 24 - 25 penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the moon is in the constellation of Virgo the Maiden, Todd said. Hoping for more space action above Oregon or Washington coast towns like Depoe Bay, Newport, Westport, Ocean Shores, Seaside or Coos Bay? There's more later in the year, Todd said. A very shallow, partial lunar eclipse will be visible above the region including Portland and Seattle - on September 17 - 18. Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Possible New Killer Whale Discoveries Off of Oregon Coast Waters Published 3/20/24 at 10:15 p.m. By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) Researchers may have found a new population of killer whales off the Oregon coast and California coast. A cadre of marine experts from University of British Columbia (UBC) as well as a host of other agencies have compiled a good deal of observations taken for over 20 years that points to a new discovery about the species out there in the Pacific Ocean. (Killer whale OCX043 photographed with three other whales 175km west of Bandon, Oregon, September 9, 2021. Robert L. Pitman, Oregon State University ) Part of this find includes bite marks from a particular kind of shark. The lead author on the project is Josh McInnes from the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Marine Mammal Research Unit, but he's well known here for the Oregon Coast Killer Whale Monitoring Program on Facebook. It's a group that has famously made some startling observations in this area. The study was published this week in Aquatic Mammals, saying there seems to be a new subpopulation of orcas out there in the open waters off the continent that has never been documented. Using photos and encounters from various vessels between 1997 and 2021, McInnes and his group believe they've found a unique group of transient killer whales living tens to hundreds of miles offshore, and one that looks and behaves differently than other known orcas. About 49 new whales are in the research. Aside from new markings, documented encounters included predation interaction with other marine animals researchers that was new. Jaklyn Larsen Photography The killer whale Facebook group documented some striking, dramatic killer whale behavior in recent years near Depoe Bay (above), Brookings and more. Dozens Watch and Document Orcas Attack, Kill Baby Whale on Oregon Coast: More Videos These whales appear to feed on marine mammals, McInnes told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. However, the species was observed to [attack] marine mammals that occur in open ocean habitats. This included sperm whales, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, and northern elephant seal. There was one record as well of a group feeding on a leatherback sea turtle. It all points to new discoveries about orca movement out in the ocean, and how inhabiting different waters makes for different characteristics and killer whale ecology. There are three ecotypes of killer whale that live along the coasts of California and Oregon: what are called residents, transients, and offshores. The residents seen on this coastline and up north eat salmon. Transients also observed here chomp on mammals, and they sport a gray saddle patch along with pointed fins. Offshores prefer sharks and larger fish. In the photograph at top, this new offshore orca was spotted off the waters of Bandon. It's proof the ocean still holds a lot of secrets. As of right now we can only say that these whales could not be photo-identified and have not been documented in association with other populations of killer whales, McInnes said. They appear to inhabit oceanic/offshore waters and were observed feeding on marine mammals. This was evidence in the occurrence of cookiecutter shark bite marks/scars on their dorsal fins and saddle patches. These parasitic sharks are small and they bite small chunks off large animals, and they are only found in the open ocean. Data was brought together from nine encounters over the two decades, and included a pod attacking a herd of female sperm whales, eventually killing one. Among the sources were passenger boats and fishing vessels that had snapped photographs or recounted their stories over the years. McInnes said there still needs to be much more research done to prove the hypothesis, which will include genetic testing. Also contributing were the Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA and the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Oregon Coast Hotels in this area - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW Transient orca / Josh McInness Josh McInness More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Herbert's 'Dune' Not Just Sci-Fi: Real Science Behind Oregon Place That Inspired Books Published 3/22/24 at 9:25 p.m. - Updated 3/23/24 at 7:25 p.m. By Andre' GW Hagestedt (Dunes City, Oregon) On Oregon's western edge, where the continent meets the coastline, are just about the middle point between California and Washington there's a 40-mile stretch of sand that's become extra famous these days. The Oregon National Dunes Recreation Area has become a bit of a movie star of sorts. It's here where author Frank Herbert spent some time in the '50s, poking around the ecosystem of the beachgrass and the government's plans to stabilize the dunes with those plants, becoming inspired to write the seminal Dune book series in the '60s. (Photo courtesy Florence Visitors Center) Late last year, the most recent sequel in the Dune movies was released, Dune: Part Two, resulting in a flurry of attention to the wild Oregon coast attraction. Yet there's a lot more to these majestic domes of sand: there's a real science behind it all, a whole other category of research going on here long before the two latest films came out. Oregon State University (OSU) in Corvallis has been digging deep into various aspects of the Dunes Rec Area (as it's known colloquially sometimes), especially ways to manage them and how erosion takes place there. The area is in some kind of peril, actually. Those beachgrasses planted there in the 20th century are causing the beloved region to shrink by as much as 16 feet per year, according to Travel Lane County. Into this realm steps Meagan Wengrove, assistant professor of civil and construction engineering in the OSU College of Engineering. The dunes start at Florence and run through Reedsport, ending near Coos Bay. Manuela Durson - see Manuela Durson Fine Arts for more Wengrove said she recently watched the movie Dune: Part Two and noticed how the movie indeed mirrors the real life science of shifting sands and how the dunes cannot actually be controlled. As along this coastal stretch between Florence and Coos Bay, the movie shows high winds whipping up dunes and burying homes. Wengrove published a paper on this last year, showing that vegetation that's been planted there can accelerate erosion. Adjacent to that arm of science, OSU colleagues Sally Hacker and Peter Ruggiero are working with Oregon government agencies on how to manage the dunes region based on the actual science. These guidebooks come from 20 years of monitoring the dunes, and how humans change them even unwittingly. Photo provided by Meagan Wengrove, CoE: Students at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory discovered that dunes with newly planted vegetation scarped faster than bare dunes Wengroves research group is also working with Hacker and Ruggiero on projects designed to predict the evolution of dune morphology - shape and structure - based on different levels of sand trapping as it relates to beachgrass species, a spokesman for OSU said. In addition, Wengrove is starting a study that aims to quantify how a Cascadia tsunami could change the dunes and how much the dunes matter when it comes to inundation from a tsunami. Hacker said coastal ecosystems like these dunes are increasing in importance in the field, particularly when it comes to the effects of extreme storms, tsunamis and how sea level rise is taking place around coastal communities. See Dune Novels, Movies Began with Frank Herbert's Visit to Oregon Coast Dunes, Florence Hacker's work is not unlike Herbert's research here in those early days, about 70 years ago. Her goal is a better understanding of the processes that control large-scale variation in dune morphology and its role in coastal protection, recreation, native species conservation and carbon storage, OSU said. Indeed, she's looking directly at the same non-native species of beachgrass planted here in the last century that Herbert examined, although at the time he and others thought their work here was effective. Instead, as Hacker notes, there were a wide range of consequences. Among those: parts of the Dunes Rec Area are disappearing, as Travel Lane County's Andy Vobora told Oregon Coast Beach Connection in 2019. The beachgrasses help create ugly, emptied areas called deflation plains where water starts to fill up and the dunes go away an essential part of tourism in the area. If the foredune was mobile the open sand would cover the naturally occurring deflation plains and move inward and the natural processes would work as they should, Vobora said. With the foredune stabilized, the deflation grows and eventually fills with vegetation. See Oregon Coast Dunes Area is in Trouble. - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours MORE PHOTOS BELOW More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast. LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Patient Santana McCoy talks with resident Charles Haddock at the ECU School of Dental Medicines Hyde County clinic last year. (Photo by Cliff Hollis) Mike Sheppard was a part-time drummer, keeping the beat to his band's classic rock tunes during gigs in and around his hometown of Canton, North Carolina.But that musical rhythm was interrupted by a different kind of tempo - the throbbing pain that he almost constantly felt in his teeth and mouth. That's when Sheppard had to set down his drumsticks.He sought help at the East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine's community service learning center (CSLC) in Sylva, where he received care during the school's ECU Smiles for Veterans event in December.Sheppard said.He and more than 100,000 patients have received care through the School of Dental Medicine's on-campus and hospital clinics, CSLCs and community program sites across the state - an achievement that goes well beyond a headcount, but is instead measured by smiles restored.said Dr. Greg Chadwick, dean of the ECU School of Dental Medicine.The School of Dental Medicine opened its doors to students in 2011, driven by a mission of preparing dentist leaders and increasing access to oral health care for patients across the state, especially in rural and underserved communities. Since 2012, the school's model has expanded through the creation of the CSLCs and innovative programming that reaches more patients where they are.said ECU Chancellor Philip Rogers.Over the course of his visits the CSLC-Sylva, Sheppard received partial dentures and repairs to cracked and broken teeth. The difference, he said, has been evident in daily life.he said.Sheppard has also returned to his music.he said.'A mutually beneficial setting'said Dr. Jennifer Vrikkis '16, who practices at Reynolda Smiles Family Dentistry in Winston-Salem.An important piece of the school's model is recruiting and educating students who have shown the desire to make a difference for North Carolina through dentistry. These students and alumni come from all over the state, bringing with them a passion for caring for others through creative and daring initiatives.Close to 90% of ECU School of Dental Medicine graduates practice in North Carolina, a number that could be impacted by the school's unique model of care. During their fourth year, students gain experience at three of the school's eight CSLCs across the state, as well as clinics in Ross Hall, the school's campus facility.That model not only provides a wider variety of clinical experiences for students, but more opportunities for patients to receive care.Dr. Robert Pinner '21 runs Pinner Family Dental in Greenville and considers the latest milestone a win for students and alumni from the school's first days.Pinner said.Dr. Roopwant Kaur, assistant dean for engagement and clinical associate professor of operative dentistry, said the milestone is a testament to the school's commitment to delivering care based on a proactive and assertive approach,she said.Dr. Jasper Lewis Jr., a Greenville pediatric dentist who supported and guided the dental school's creation, said the school is going beyond the mission and vision it was first founded to achieve.said Lewis, also the namesake of the school's first endowed professorship.Esse quam videri.The state motto of North Carolina is a poignant yet bold call'To seem' is stationary. 'To be' is a journey, a calling.The School of Dental Medicine's mission has long been less about words and more about works - finding ways to tangibly reach more patients while preparing dentist leaders eager to care for a state that needs them. The school is built on a combination of hope, grit and determination that intersect at a crossroads of better health and better lives.said Dr. Margaret Wilson, vice dean and interim associate dean for student affairs.The CSLC system, an award-winning model that includes centers in Ahoskie, Brunswick County, Davidson County, Elizabeth City, Lillington, Robeson County, Spruce Pine and Sylva, each sprung from roots carefully cultivated in their communities spanning regions, demographics and distinctive needs. These centers serve as the school'sagainst the challenges North Carolina faces in oral health care - aging dentists, remote locations, lack of insurance or means of funding care and other challenges specific to communities, families and patients.said Dr. Ford Grant, faculty director of the CSLC-Ahoskie.Grant said the number also signifies that there is a long way to go still.he said.When Bruce Hair started having dental issues, he stopped talking. He didn't want to meet new people or be put in a position to hear jokes or ridicule.Hair, of Franklin, North Carolina, had dealt with a broken front tooth for more than a year when he sought help at the CSLC-Sylva through ECU Smiles for Veterans.Hair said.These days, he can be himself again.Hair said.Hair and other patients who are considered part of special populations - veterans, children, the elderly, those with special care needs - have found more accessible oral health care thanks to the school's programs focused especially on them.In addition to ECU Smiles for Veterans, the school offers the Sonrie Clinic for migrant farmworkers, school-based dental programs in Bertie and Jones counties and a monthly clinic in Hyde County, among other volunteer and outreach programs. Since 2020, the school-based programs alone have provided more than 12,000 preventive and diagnostic services to over 1,000 children in Bertie and Jones counties who have extremely limited access to care, said Rachel Stewart, supervisor of school-based oral health prevention programs for the School of Dental Medicine.Stewart said.Third-year dental students develop age-appropriate presentations that they present in each county as well, improving the oral health literacy of the children while also helping the dental students develop their passion for working in underserved communities.Faculty and student research also leads to reaching more patients and finding more innovative ways to care for them; the school's research base is expanding and taking advantage of resources, grants and partnerships across the state and nation. Special needs care capabilities are also expanding through state allocations and other funding.The growth in these areas keeps some students confident that their ECU School of Dental Medicine experience is preparing them to care for the next 100,000 patients.said fourth-year dental student Cherina Jo McKnight.Chadwick said the momentum is building for the school's most fruitful years to come.he said. Guest post by Jack Gleason at The Gateway Pundit In the spring of 2021, volunteer investigators from Ohio acquired publicly available voter data for all 88 counties and started their analysis. Over the next year the researchers found hundreds of thousands of records in their states voter rolls with irregular data for which they couldnt identify consistent explanations, no matter who they asked. In late summer of 2022, they reached out to Marly Hornik, coleader of New York Citizens Audit, whose team had identified similar inaccuracies in the New York State data. In 2023, Hornik and Harry Haury, an expert in cybercrime and election law, founded United Sovereign Americans and developed a legal strategy for securing the validity of the 2024 election based on federal civil rights law and Supreme Court precedent, which established for election officials that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Congress seeks to guard the election of members of Congress against any possible unfairness by compelling, under its pains and penalties, everyone concerned in holding the election to a strict and scrupulous observance of every duty devolved upon him while so engaged The evil intent consists in disobedience to the law. In re Coy, 127 U.S. 731 (1888). The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires election rolls to be accurate. The Ohio team had collected more than a million pieces of evidence of apparent violations of law that called into serious question the accuracy of Ohios statewide voter roll database at the time of the 2022 general election and its subsequent certification. The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that only legally qualified voters may vote. The Ohio team uncovered evidence that thousands of voters in Ohio had apparently registered before they were born! Hornik soon invited the Ohio researchers to join United Sovereign Americans and shared more of their data investigation skills and litigation strategies. As a result, the Ohio team, in conjunction with USA, has been able to conduct a peer-reviewed audit of the states voter rolls at the time of the 2022 Ohio election and has prepared a report that summarizes the issues they encountered. The day after certification in 2022, the Ohio statewide voter roll database showed: 58,209 resided in an apartment or in a mobile home lot but had no unit number as required on their voter registration application to ensure proper delivery of mail, including mail-in ballot material. 4,143 were older than the oldest person in the U.S. at the time or were too young to legally register. 6,348 had a date of birth that was different in 2022 than it was in 2020. 253,486 voters supposedly registered on January 1st, 84,221 voters registered on another Federal holiday and 201,693 voters registered on Sunday all times when Ohio boards of elections and state offices are closed. 120,094 had registration dates in the 2022 state voter file that were earlier than their registration date in the 2020 file. 59,025 people were listed as registering to vote before they were born. 243,583 had state identification numbers that had changed since 2020, even though federal laws require each voter be issued a unique state identifier. 34,233 had 2 to 5 registration records with different state identification numbers, making it possible for them to vote more than once. Federal law governing elections specifies that the error rate in Ohios 2022 election allowed a mere 34 errors. Instead, the election in Ohio had been certified despite 713,296 apparent voting violations. In addition to federal laws cited above, theres also the law of common sense. In elections, the number of votes counted must equal the number of voters who voted. On December 10, 2022 11 days after the Ohio canvass officially concluded and one day after the election was certified as accurate and compliant the number of votes reportedly cast (4,201,368), and the number of records identified in the states official list of legally registered voters as having voted (3,039,289) differed by more than a million. In fact, the day after certification, 15 counties had each updated fewer than 10 names to the states voter history. Four hadnt updated any. On January 19, 2024, the Ohio team submitted a written report to Frank LaRose, Ohio Secretary of State, sharing their concerns about serious breaches of statutory standards on both the Federal and state level required by law. Our concern, obviously, is that the resulting election certification apparently was made despite objective, factual data raising concerns that the State had massively compromised systems, and that the certification may represent serious disregard of the voters civil and constitutional rights within the state. The Secretary of State offices response placed responsibility on shortcomings in county boards staffing, IT expertise and database technology, and claimed the core problem is almost always human data entry. It also asserted, contrary to Ohio law, that the county-maintained voter registration list is the official list. In actual fact, Ohio Revised Code 3503.15 establishes: The statewide voter registration database shall be the official list of registered electors for all elections conducted in this state. Next steps for United Sovereign Americans include filing for injunctive relief in federal district court against dilution of the vote and the use of a noncompliant voting system against our right and duty to choose our representatives. On March 6, with Maryland Election Integrity, USA filed its first challenge in federal court citing similar irregularities in Maryland Board of Elections data. With the Ohio teams help, United Sovereign Americans will be engaging in a nationwide educational and advocacy effort to raise public awareness and support, as much work remains to ensure that the 2024 election will be provably accurate and compliant with federal and state laws. In coming weeks, Marly Hornik and Harry Haury will be sharing results of their investigations from other states. Naveen Athrappully, reports at the Epoch Times: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) pave the way for an authoritarian government in America similar to the Chinese communist regime. Im against central bank digital currencies because that is part of the path to getting us where China is today. Thats where they started, thats where all these other countries started with central bank digital currency, and its the end of freedom. We will be slaves if we allow that to happen, Mr. Kennedy said during a March 22 event. He pointed to the Canadian truckers protests to explain why CBDCs were dangerous for freedoms. The Canadian government portrayed the truckers as right-wing, fascist, and racist when they were not, he said. The government used facial recognition systems and other intrusive technologies to identify the participants, all the truckers. They got their license plates, etc. And then they froze their bank accounts. So they couldnt get diesel for their trucks, they couldnt buy food for their kids, they couldnt pay for their education, they couldnt pay their mortgages. A trucker told Mr. Kennedy that he was going to jail for being unable to pay his alimony. It occurred to me that transactional freedom is as important as freedom of the press. If you have freedom of speech in the First Amendment, and yet when you exercise that speech, the government doesnt like it, they can starve you to death, they can throw you out of your home because you cant pay your mortgage or your rent, then that is meaningless. Transactional freedom is absolutely critical for freedom of speech to exist, he said. If we get a central bank digital currency, theyd do what they do in China. In China, people pay for groceries and gasoline using their face, he said, referring to facial recognition systems. The Communist regime keeps a social credit score on its citizens so that anyone found violating regulations will face penalties and restrictions, like potentially restricting an individuals access to grocery stores within a certain radius of their house or workplace. You cant buy gas, you cant buy an airplane ticket, you cant buy anything else. So, youre basically under home confinement. Like the truckers in Canada, they were never charged with a crime. They were certainly never convicted, he said. It was just they were doing something the government didnt like. The government was able to destroy their lives, and that is a very dangerous power to give government. CBDC Dangers In addition to Mr. Kennedy, several other prominent individuals have raised concerns about central bank digital currencies, including former President Donald Trump. During a campaign stop in New Hampshire in January, President Trump vowed to never allow the U.S. Federal Reserve to issue a CBDC. As your president, I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency. Such a currency would give the federal government absolute control of your money, he said. This would be a dangerous threat to freedom and I will stop it from coming to America. Currency of Control: How CBDC Implementation Is Leading to Global TyrannyAaron Day In a July 2023 video, Brexit leader Nigel Farage highlighted the dangers of government control over currencies. The ultimate fear is if we get CBDCs, we could finish up like the Canadian truckers, people who were within the law, found themselves outside the law and had their bank accounts frozen. Controlling peoples money would be the ultimate form of tyranny. Several key international figures admitted that CBDCs will allow for greater control over peoples finances. During a seminar back in 2020, Agustin Carstens, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, pointed out that we dont know whos using a $100 bill today, and we dont know whos using a 1,000-peso bill today. The key difference with the CBDC is the central bank will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use of that expression of central bank liability, and also we will have the technology to enforce that, he explained. In October 2022, IMF Deputy Managing Director Bo Li said that CBDCs can allow government agencies and private sector players to program, to create smart contracts, to allow targeted policy functions. He went on to explain that CBDCs can be used to control items like welfare money, food stamps, and consumption coupons. A February paper from the Bank of Canada research warned that CBDCs could negatively affect bank deposits. The CBDC would directly compete with bank deposits in the market for digital money. As a consequence, there are concerns that a CBDC could substantially crowd out bank deposits, which may undermine financial stability by raising the funding cost and reducing the profitability of the banking sector, the paper said. Republican senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have introduced a proposal seeking to ban CBDCs in the United States. The Biden administration salivates at the thought of infringing on our freedom and intruding on the privacy of citizens to surveil their personal spending habits, which is why Congress must clarify that the Federal Reserve has no authority to implement a CBDC, Mr. Cruz said in a Feb, 26 statement. Im proud to lead the fight in the Senate to restrict the Federal Reserves exploration of and attempt to introduce a CBDC to the American economy. Here are five anesthesiologists who have made headlines since March 5: 1. Pennsylvania anesthesiologist Richard Hubbell, MD, was charged with diverting fentanyl and Dilaudid by falsifying records and reports at an ASC and hospital. Dr. Hubbell allegedly diverted the substances by falsifying records to show the substances were administered to patients while working at Wyomissing-based Pennsylvania Eye and Ear Surgical Center and Berwick Hospital 2. Anesthesiologist and Texas state Rep. Tom Oliverson, MD, is running for Texas House speaker. A fourth-term representative, he will challenge current Speaker Dade Phelan, if he gets past his primary runoff election May 28. 3. Thomas Durick, MD, anesthesiologist at Columbus-based Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, joined Becker's to discuss how he believes the anesthesia provider shortage will accelerate consolidation. 4. Tariq Naseem, MD, anesthesiologist and interventionist at Los Angeles-based Smidt Heart Institute, joined Becker's to discuss the changes needed to the anesthesia reimbursement model. 5. Bay Area Anesthesia, a division of Envision Physician Services, was recently affected by a data breach involving Bowden Barlows computer systems. Bay Area Anesthesia is a provider of anesthesia services to BayCare Surgery Center in Trinity, Fla. Bowden Barlow is a former third-party legal services provider of Bay Area Anesthesia. Mayor Ron Nirenberg stands to applaud special guests during the City Council meeting held in Council Chambers on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Mayor Ron Nirenberg look over at District 10 City Councilman Marc Whyte conferring with City Manager Erik Walsh during the City Council meeting held in Council Chambers on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte confers with City Manager Erik Walsh during the City Council meeting held in Council Chambers on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte and District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez talk before the City Council meeting held in Council Chambers on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Mayor Ron Nirenberg has ceded some of the power he has wielded over City Council over his last three terms. He did so after a push by District 10 Council Member Marc Whyte, a newcomer who found support among some of his council colleagues to limit the lame-duck mayors influence over their policy proposals. Nirenberg and council members Thursday voted 8-3 to establish a timeline for when the Governance Committee will take up these proposals, known formally as Council Consideration Requests. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Now that will happen within 60 days of a council member filing their request with the city clerk. Thats a departure from current practice, where it can take months, if not more than a year, for the committee to discuss a request, which per city ordinance was supposed to happen in a timely manner. I think its so important and I know we all up here agree that everybody has a voice, that were transparent and that everybody has an opportunity to put forth their ideas for fixing some of the citys problems through the CCR process, Whyte said ahead of the vote. Reforming the Council Consideration Request process has been one of Whytes main priorities since he took office in June. A staunch social and fiscal conservative, Whyte is an ideological outsider on council, most of whose members are politically closer to Nirenberg and who, until now, have largely been hesitant to challenge the mayor. But thats rapidly changing. Because of city term limits, Nirenberg is well into his fourth and last two-year term, with almost half of council eyeing his job. In other words, council members hungry to raise their political profiles have less to fear from a short-timer. A gate Nirenberg chairs councils powerful Governance Committee, which is tasked with proposing, reviewing and referring new policy ideas to city staff or other committees. He tapped councils four senior-most members to sit on the committee, all of whom are mulling their own 2025 mayoral run. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Nirenberg crafts the committees monthly agenda in consultation with staff. During a work session last month, council members expressed frustration that Nirenberg and City Manager Erik Walsh have been slow to put their requests on the agenda. Even if its not true, the feeling is that if the mayor didnt want something agendized or if the city manager didnt want something agendized, it wasnt going to be, District 2 Council Member Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said at that session. That may not be true. That was the feeling that was what many of us have said in discussion with one another. Nirenberg and Walsh attributed delays to staff needing time to review and research each request, which could include a legal analysis or a cost estimate. Obviously theres some question about whether or not the city manager acts as a gate, Walsh said. I do not, I have not, I dont think its proposed for me to be a gate, and if I was gate then wed probably have a different process. Advertisement Article continues below this ad McKee-Rodriguez is one of councils more prolific CCR filers and has the most outstanding of all the yet-to-be-discussed requests. The joint request he filed with District 3 Council Member Phyllis Viagran in late November 2022 to ban horse-drawn carriages will finally go before the Governance Committee on April 17. Still too much staff power? McKee-Rodriguez was one of three council members who voted against the ordinance change Thursday. He told the San Antonio Express-News that he did so after hearings concerns that District 4 Council Member Adriana Rocha Garcia raised minutes before the vote. I wouldnt feel comfortable still with staff being able to tell an elected official that represents its residents what it can and cant move forward within policy, said Rocha Garcia, a potential mayoral contender. She told the Express-News that the new ordinance was overly prescriptive in telling the Governance Committee how to handle someones CCR. If the committee were to decide that a request could not be funded without changing council spending priorities, the ordinance says the committee could punt it to the City Managers Office, which could then decide whether to bring up it during annual budget talks. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In Rocha Garcias view, that gives the city manager too much power. While I think that Erik is great right now and his team is great, whats to say that the next city manager is not going to have an agenda? she said. District 5 Council Member Teri Castillo opposed writing a new ordinance simply because the one in place isnt being followed. A slow process Others options available to the Governance Committee include asking staff to return within 90 days to give more details about a CCR or passing it along to another council committee for discussion to decide whether to send it to the full council for a vote. Or the committee can remove a request from further consideration effectively killing it. While the Governance Committee now will take up policy requests more quickly, that wont always translate to faster outcomes for council members eager to tally up policy wins. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Walsh cautioned council of that possibility during a Feb. 21 work session, pointing to a January committee meeting that was stacked with seven requests. We did very little work on those CCRs, he said. They were very high-level. There was not a lot of analysis and work and due diligence. Ill tell you that that will be the case going forward, he added. Here are four headlines on the dental industry in Virginia that Becker's has reported on in March: 1. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Senate Bill 22 into law, making Virginia the fifth state to join the Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact. 2. Effingham, Ill.-based Heartland Dental affiliated with Dental Care at the Courtyards in Alexandria, Va., led by Dominick Pisciotta, DDS. 3. Madison Family Dentistry continued to care for patients at temporary clinics after a fire forced it to close its office. 4. Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond identified the location for its potential new dentistry center. Los Angeles-based Adventist Health White Memorial has been cleared of all deficiencies listed in a state report regarding the power outage that required the evacuation of more than 200 patients last August, the Los Angeles Times reported March 21. The hospital lost power Aug. 21 during Tropical Storm Hilary. The facility was forced to evacuate hundreds of patients including infants and critical care patients after the connection to backup power for its specialty care tower stopped working. White Memorial safely transferred all patients back to the facility Aug. 22 after power was restored and an additional backup generator was installed. "Thankfully, due to the heroic efforts of our caregivers, we were able to keep all our patients and staff safe and rebound successfully," a spokesperson for the hospital told Becker's March 25. The California Department of Public Health alleged that hospital staff failed to maintain proper humidity levels in an indoor tunnel where a steam pipe was leaking, which may have caused electrical equipment connecting to the generator to malfunction. White Memorial said it immediately began repairs after the outage and installed a humidity monitoring device in the tunnel, which technicians now monitor daily, although there are no regulatory requirements for humidity levels in utility tunnels. "Since the power outage, we have worked with the city and regulatory agencies to confirm that our processes were solid and ensure that our equipment is in top working order," the spokesperson told Becker's. "Our hospital has available generator power beyond the regulatory requirements, providing an added layer of security for all who rely on us." State investigators revisited the facility in November and determined the issues had been corrected. The hospital said it did not receive any financial penalties or incur any other citations related to the incident. Editor's note: This article was updated March 25 at 3:21 p.m. CT. New York City-based Montefiore Medical Center has filed a certificate of need with the New York state health department for a nearly $15 million intensive care unit gut renovation at its Henry and Lucy Moses Division campus in the city's Bronx borough. The application, shared with Becker's from a Montefiore spokesperson, would turn the division's existing seventh floor medical-surgical unit into a 21-bed ICU. The ICU project would increase intensive care services and improve patient outcomes in the area at a time when surgeries performed at Montefiore are on the rise. "Since 2019, our transfer center has had a 30% increase in transfers," the application said. "Each day, we are challenged due to our limited bed capacity." The project would not substantially affect employees, expenses or revenue, the application said. A spokesperson for the state department of health told Becker's they are unable to comment on certificates of need under review. Nonadherance seems to be a nonissue for patients taking new weight loss drugs, The New York Times reported March 24. Numerous studies have found high rates of nonadherence for various medications; in one study, between 40% and 50% of patients with prescribed therapies for chronic conditions don't adhere to their regimens. People don't start or refill prescribed medications for multiple reasons, including cost barriers and a reluctance to take drugs that reinforces sickness. "People think they are doing fine, so they don't need the medicine," Corrine Voils, PhD, a social psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies medicine compliance, told the Times. This isn't true for Wegovy and other new weight loss medications. "Compliance is exceptional," Diana Thiara, MD, medical director of UCSF Health's weight management program in San Francisco, told the Times. "People take it. They ask for refills. They take it on trips." Kimberly DelRosso of Pembroke, Mass., told the Times she often skipped her blood pressure pills. She now faithfully takes Wegovy, which helped her achieve a weight where she no longer needs blood pressure medication. The anti-obesity drugs can be difficult to obtain because of high costs, lack of payer coverage and supply shortages, and physicians have long wondered about the cost-benefit ratio between lifelong injections versus surgery. Nevertheless, physicians say they are noticing their patients intend to take these new weight loss medications forever bucking the nonadherence trend that befalls other treatments. Read more here. Paul Perrotti is the new CFO of Montrose (Colo.) Regional Health. Prior to joining the health system, Mr. Perrotti served as assistant CFO of Scion St. Francis-Emory Healthcare in Columbus, Ga., according to a recent news release. In that role, he was responsible for several "post-acquisitions and systems projects" after Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health transitioned its ownership stake in the hospital to Louisville, Ky.-based ScionHealth. He assumed the CFO role at Montrose Regional Health on March 18. The Registered Nurses Professional Association, which represents more than 3,750 nurses in Santa Clara County's health system in California, is set to begin a three-day strike April 2. Union members announced the plans March 25 after voting to authorize a strike in February. RNPA is currently in contract negotiations with the county on behalf of nurses, whose last contract expired in October, according to a union news release shared with Becker's. County representatives issued a statement saying both parties have reached tentative agreements on many key terms and priority areas for nurses, including on workplace safety. However, "key issues that remain unresolved between the parties are overall wage increases, and the temporary assignment of staff from one location to another to better align with patient volumes and needs across the county's hospitals and clinics." The union contends that during negotiations, the county has not bargained in good faith around working conditions and safety issues affecting nurses and patient care. "Nurses called out issues such as short staffing and below-standard nurse-to-patient ratios. Nurses also pointed to a dramatic increase in workplace violence they are seeing, along with troubling rates of nurses dealing with mental health concerns, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic," the union release reads. "These issues, along with pay and benefit packages that are out of step with the local market, make it difficult for Santa Clara County to recruit and retain nurses. Nurses, in turn, have trouble affording to live in the communities they serve." "The county health system has some of the most talented and dedicated nurses in all of healthcare. They deserve fair compensation, and that is why we are paying and continue to offer among the most competitive salaries and benefits in the Bay Area," County Executive James Williams said in the county's statement. "The county hopes that RNPA will return to the table so that we can continue working towards reaching agreement on a fair, competitive and sustainable contract." Mayo Clinic is shedding light on its hiring practices after a right-wing social media account posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, accusing the Rochester, Minn.-based health system of discrimination, according to bringmethenews.com. The X account, Libs of TikTok, shared a screenshot of a job description on LinkedIn for a licensed practical nurse in ambulatory cardiology, with the location in Arizona, where Mayo has campuses. The job description says Mayo is partnering with Jobs for Humanity "to build an inclusive and just employment ecosystem." "Therefore, we prioritize individuals coming from the following communities: Refugee, Neurodivergent, Single Parent, Blind or Low Vision, Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Military Veterans, the Elderly, the LGBTQ, and Justice Impacted Individuals," the description reads. With the screenshot, Libs of TikTok wrote: "Top healthcare company Mayo Clinic is discriminating against straight white people in their 'inclusive' hiring practices." The claim was shared on social media by X owner Elon Musk. Mayo responded to the claims in a statement shared with Becker's, saying it "is aware of a situation on social media where an organization, claiming to be Jobs for Humanity, stated they partnered with Mayo Clinic to promote a job opportunity." Mayo said the information is false. "Jobs for Humanity is not a Mayo Clinic partner and used language for their post that we did not write or authorize," the health system's statement reads. "The post mischaracterizes our recruitment practices. All qualified candidates receive equal consideration for employment at Mayo Clinic." Renton, Wash.-based Providence is leaning heavily into remote patient monitoring for its at-home care strategy, a health system leader told Becker's. The 51-hospital system started piloting the program a year and a half ago and is now scaling it. Over 1,500 patients are currently enrolled in the care model, a number that is expected to reach 5,000 to 8,000 by the end of 2024, according to Eve Cunningham, MD, chief of virtual care and digital health for Providence. "The impact that we're able to make on getting patients into guideline-directed medical therapy, getting patients' hypertension under better control, getting patients' blood sugar under better control for diabetes it's just amazing to see," Dr. Cunningham told Becker's. "And I'm very excited about continuing to expand and grow that program and to add additional conditions over time." The program has been treating hypertension, congestive heart failure and Type 2 diabetes, introducing COPD this year. Providence is embracing remote chronic disease patient monitoring at the same time some other big health systems are banking on "hospital at home," which treats acute care patients. Providence has a small hospital-at-home initiative, with an average daily census of about four patients, compared to about 50 for the largest program. That type of care, which requires clinician visits and hospital-level medical equipment in the home, is "very difficult to scale logistically," Dr. Cunningham said. Remote patient monitoring is a more passive form of care for lower acuity patients, using smart devices to track patient vital signs and alert clinicians if anything is amiss. Dr. Cunningham said the "secret sauce" of Providence's program is that it doesn't add to provider burnout. The health system partners with an outside company that provides both technology and clinicians, including nurse practitioners, behavioral health specialists and pharmacists. "They are an extension of our primary care clinician team," she explained. "So our primary care clinicians don't have to ingest all of this data and titrate medications. They're busy seeing patients in the clinic." Dr. Cunningham said she envisions the use of technology in the home creating a paradigm shift in healthcare. "The way we've traditionally delivered healthcare where we have a patient with congestive heart failure or hypertension, you bring them in every three months, and you try to get them into guideline-directed therapy or you try to get them under better control that's not an efficient or optimized way to take care of patients with chronic illnesses," she said. From eight nurses at a Tenet hospital alleging they were wrongfully terminated to the University of Chicago Medical Center being found responsible in a wrongful death case, here are 10 lawsuits, settlements and legal developments Becker's has reported since March 1: 1. Eight nurses at Worcester, Mass.-based Saint Vincent Hospital filed a lawsuit against the facility and its owner, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, alleging they were wrongfully terminated after raising concerns about staffing shortages and care quality. 2. A Washington judge ordered a debt collection agency hired by Renton, Wash.-based Providence to pay $827,000 for violating patients' medical debt collection rights more than 82,000 times. 3. Copley Hospital in Morristown, Vt., is facing a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by its former emergency department director, who is alleging the hospital retaliated against him after he raised safety concerns related to the switch to a new records system. 4. The University of Chicago Medical Center was ordered to pay $14 million after being found responsible in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of a boy who died at age 4. 5. Seattle Children's Hospital settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former nurse who claimed the hospital failed, repeatedly, to adequately address her concerns, allowing the incidents to continue. 6. NewYork-Presbyterian/Brooklyn Methodist Hospital agreed to pay $17.3 million to resolve allegations it paid kickbacks to physicians using its chemotherapy infusion center. 7. A Washington county court dismissed a lawsuit filed against UW Medicine that accused the Seattle-based system of losing a patient's tumor before it could be tested for cancer. 8. A nurse filed a lawsuit against her former employer, PeaceHealth, alleging the Vancouver, Wash.-based system failed to provide 30-minute meal breaks because of understaffing. 9. A federal judge dismissed a trademark lawsuit brought by New York City-based NYU Langone Health System and NYU Langone Hospitals against New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health regarding the use of the color purple and other elements in Northwell's marketing and advertisements. 10. The family of a man who died at Mercy Hospital Springfield (Mo.) filed a lawsuit against the hospital, claiming delayed care and negligence contributed to his death. A licensed practical nurse is facing criminal charges in the death of an 87-year-old man at an Iowa nursing home, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported March 22. Becky Sue Manning was arrested March 21 and charged with felony wanton neglect of a resident at Fonda (Iowa) Specialty Care. The resident had recently undergone a tracheostomy, so staff kept a suctioning machine in his room to unclog his airway as needed. Prosecutors allege the man died on Feb. 19, 2023, after Ms. Manning failed to suction his airway despite repeated requests from several colleagues. At the time, Ms. Manning was working as a temporary contract employee at the facility. The man's death prompted a state investigation, and the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals fined the nursing home $10,000. This fine was lowered to $6,500 after the nursing home opted not to appeal. Care Initiatives of West Des Moines, which operates the nursing home, told the Iowa Capital Dispatch that it does not admit to any statements, findings or conclusions in the state inspection report. "In service to our nonprofit mission and core value of improvement, Care Initiatives is committed to continuously improving quality in everything we do," a company spokesperson told Becker's March 25. "We take our responsibility to care for our residents and their families seriously and work to ensure we are able to provide all necessary care and services. As part of our commitment to quality, Care Initiatives continues to work to reduce the need for temporary third-party staffing agency workers, which had been utilized due to workforce shortages in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also continually working to ensure our team members are trained and educated to provide the quality care expected for our residents." Ms. Manning was released from jail March 22 on a $10,000 bond and has yet to enter a plea. The Iowa Capital Dispatch could not immediately reach her attorney for comment. Editor's note: This article was updated March 25 at 5:30 p.m. CT. Antonio Fernandez, Catholic Charities president and CEO, talks about how the center has adapted to shifting numbers of asylum seekers, and what he expects in May, when Title 42 ends while giving a tour at the center. Carlos Javier Sanchez / pixelref 18-year-old migrants Erick M. from Guatemala, left, and Josue A., from El Salvador, pick out clothes for their trips to reunite with family in other states, at Catholic Charities St. Stephen's CARE Center in San Antonio on April 9, 2021. Lisa Krantz/Staff photographer People walk out of the Migrant Resource Center located on San Pedro Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, March 20, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News San Antonios Migrant Resource Center, which had been in danger of running out of money next fall, got a lifeline when President Joe Biden on Saturday signed a $1.2 trillion funding package passed by Congress. The bill, which averted a partial government shutdown, opened up millions of dollars for San Antonio for migrant assistance. That could help the city keep the Centro de Bienvenida, commonly referred to as the Migrant Resource Center, open beyond September. The bill is an acknowledgment that more federal resources are needed to continue assisting local communities, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in a statement. Our nation needs a comprehensive overhaul of its immigration laws, but the budget deal will enable local officials to maintain public safety while compassionately helping asylum seekers get to their destinations. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Nirenberg had been alerting congressional leaders for months about what would happen if the center had to close. If we cannot continue current operations, we will be faced with the reality of having thousands of migrants wandering the streets and neighborhoods of the City which will unfortunately bolster anti-immigrant sentiments often associated with influx, he wrote in a Dec. 12 letter to U.S. Rep Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. Earlier this month, after Senate Republicans blocked a bipartisan border deal that included migrant assistance for cities, San Antonio officials said they only had enough Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to cover their costs of running the facility through September. The funding package approved this weekend includes $650 million for FEMAs Shelter and Services Program for fiscal year 2024, which runs through September. Thats down $150 million from what Congress allocated for the previous year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While we fought for more money, we had to work against Republicans who wanted to zero out funding for the program entirely, which would have devastated nonprofits like Catholic Charities in San Antonio, Cuellar said in a news release. Catholic Charities of San Antonio handles the day-to-day operations of the Migrant Resource Center under a contract with the city. The city and the religious nonprofit organization will have to apply for the federal dollars for migrant assistance. Nirenberg told Cuellar in December that the city needed $3 million and Catholic Charities requires $54.5 million to keep the center open through December. The center opened in summer 2022, and the city pays for its lease and security and janitorial costs. The city also transports asylum-seekers from the San Pedro Avenue site to San Antonio International Airport or the city-run Airport Transfer Center, which opened last May as a temporary waiting area to alleviate overcrowding at the Migrant Resource Center. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The facility has room for 700 people. Catholic Charities of San Antonio CEO Antonio Fernandez was not available for an interview. Last week, asylum-seekers told the San Antonio Express-News that Catholic Charities was not offering travel assistance, leaving them to rely on family and friends for financial help. Previously, the organization purchased bus tickets and flights for people who had no means of paying for this travel on their own and who lacked family support. A Venezuelan man had spent 10 nights at the center, and still didnt know when his brother would be able to afford a ticket for him to New York City. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The case involving a former nurse who was accused of mishandling an infant was dismissed by a judge, News 12 Long Island reported March 25. Amanda Burke, RN, 29, was caring for the infant in the West Islip, N.Y.-based Good Samaritan University Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit in February 2023. The child's father said he witnessed and recorded her picking up the infant, flipping him over and roughly putting him back down in the bassinet. The child's father immediately alerted hospital staff, and the nurse was sent home and fired a few hours later. The infant was not hurt, and Ms. Burke was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office notified the state Department of Education's Office of Professional Discipline of the investigation. However, Ms. Burke's registered nurse license was not yet suspended, according to the attorney's office release. In July, the education department's professional discipline review was completed, and it found Ms. Burke's actions "do not constitute professional misconduct" and the incident involved "alleged simple negligence" not "gross negligence." The district attorney's office told News 12 that Ms. Burke did not act with gross negligence, so her conduct did not meet the standard requirements for an endangering charge. The charges were dismissed by a judge. Bosses aren't the only ones pushing back against remote work: American workers are tiring of the debate, too, according to a recent survey for Bloomberg News. The survey conducted for the publication by the Harris Poll, and reported March 2 revealed that 74% of Americans believe employees need to stop complaining about in-office work. A smaller majority 57% agreed that companies are out of touch for focusing so heavily on return-to-office policies. Critics of flexible work say that it's primarily a privileged "laptop class" complaining about in-office work. As of January, only about 11% of American workers over age 16 were fully remote employees, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nick Bloom, PhD, an economics professor at Stanford (Calif.) University who researches work-life balance, told Bloomberg that most remote workers are college-educated urbanites earning at least $70,000 per year, which has helped to politicize the issue. "These folks are heavily Biden voting," Dr. Bloom said. "If you look at employees who cannot work from home typically front-line workers, often non-college, paid hourly and working with customers, equipment or materials they are more likely to vote Trump." Indeed, Bloomberg's survey revealed that different political parties had different opinions on remote work. Democrats were 16% more likely than Republicans to say that remote work helps equalize inequities in the office. Republicans were 10% more likely than Democrats to say that remote work is detrimental to career advancement. There's also an element of fairness involved, according to the publication. Regardless of party, two-thirds of survey respondents said it is unfair that some workers can be remote while others with similar jobs cannot due to differing company policies; 53% said it is unfair that the nature of some jobs does not allow for remote work at all. Nearly 70% of Democrats said it is unfair for firms to require in-person work for jobs that can be done remotely, while just over half of Republicans said the same. The debate itself is growing tiring to the majority of Americans, most of whom are not working remote or hybrid schedules. Two-thirds of respondents told Bloomberg the topic has become unnecessarily politicized. An orthopedic surgeon who has been accused of sexual misconduct is no longer employed by Los Angeles County's Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, The Daily Breeze reported March 22. The employment of Louis Kwong, MD, was ended, but the county Department of Health Services didn't tell The Daily Breeze if he resigned voluntarily or was fired. The county said it was a personnel matter. In October, three orthopedic surgeons Haleh Badkoobehi, MD, and Jennifer Hsu, MD, and former director of emergency medicine Madonna Fernandez-Frackelton, MD sued Los Angeles County and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., alleging they ignored complaints against Dr. Kwong. The hospital in November was placed on probation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Then in December Darrell Harrington, MD, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center's director of graduate medical education and designated institutional official, stepped down from his role amid allegations he protected Dr. Kwong. Dr. Kwong didn't respond to The Daily Breeze's request for comment. It has been claimed small plastic shampoo bottles could be banned from NI hotels under EU regulations A hair-raising story at the weekend has got unionists into a lather over hotel shampoo bottles. A report in The Telegraph claimed that hotel room mini shampoo bottles will be banned from 2030 in Northern Ireland but not in the rest of the UK under EU net-zero rules. Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland is still subject to some Brussels laws, with the EU planning to stand head and shoulders above Westminsters ban on single-use plastics. DUP peer Lord Dodds, who has criticised the Windsor Framework, was first to stick his head above the shower curtain. Its another example of how Northern Ireland is subject to foreign laws which we have no role in developing or making, he told The Telegraph. But DUP colleague Phillip Brett MLA put forward his advanced formula about the claims, saying they were inaccurate and incomplete. The chairman of the Stormont Economy Committee said: The latest story about hotel shampoo bottles and whether they will be phased out in Northern Ireland and not in Great Britain demonstrates a total lack of understanding of the new democratic safeguards that now form part of the new governance arrangements in the re-established Northern Ireland Assembly. He argued that the Assembly could activate the Stormont brake, and the Government could veto the bottle ban. With all Governments considering how to continue to reduce waste it is likely that measures across the whole of the UK will be adopted to phase out mini-bottles, he added, indicating it was more of a sham fight than fight about shampoo. But with shampoo bottles proving such a grave threat to the Union, the TUV attempted to rinse the MLAs claims. Braid councillor Christopher Jamieson said he has had enough of the public being conditioned to accept the Irish Sea border. The banning of hotel room shampoo bottles from Northern Ireland but not Great Britain underscores both the continued existence of the division of our United Kingdom and, frankly, the madness of the EU, he said. Clearly the issues around the Protocol are not going away but continue to drive a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of our nation which, over time, will become ever greater. Those who returned to a Protocol implementing Executive on the basis of the DUP deal with the government own this and must pay the price if we are going to find reverse gear and fight this Union destroying sea border. Airbus has reportedly confirmed that it could buy parts of the Spirit Aerosystems business, which has its main base here in east Belfast. The US firm, which bought the former Bombardier in 2019, announced last year that its negotiating the terms of a deal with Airbus - the international aerospace company. In a new interview with CNBC, Airbus's chief financial officer confirmed it may buy some Spirit assets. "In light of the situation today where Boeing has potentially the interest to take over Spirit, we could also imagine that some of the work packages could find their way to Airbus and we take them over," said Thomas Toepfer. "But that quite frankly is a discussion that's in the very, very early stages," he added. "It's very important for us that we have a stable relationship with Spirit, over the last number of months we've worked with them to support their performance." Airbus is one of the biggest customers of Spirit in east Belfast, where it manufactures the wings of Airbus narrow-bodied jet, the A220. Shorts Brothers plc, the registered company name of Spirit AeroSystems, has made continuous losses, particularly after taking a major hit from the shutdown of aviation during Covid-19 lockdowns. Pre-tax losses at the industry giant sat at $227m in 2022. But it also attributed the loss to the impact of the war in Ukraine, in particular, a $70.3m contract which it was forced to exit. Spirit is a major manufacturing business in Northern Ireland, providing jobs to more than 3,000 people. Earlier this month Airbus's rival Boeing confirmed it had begun talks aimed at buying Spirit. BBC News NI reports that it is unlikely that Boeing would want to keep the parts of the business which supply Airbus. The ownership of the Belfast operation is now in question again because of problems in Spirit's US business. Spirit began life as a spin-off from Boeing in 2005 and remains a key Boeing supplier, particularly for the Boeing 737. Some of its work for Boeing has suffered from delays and quality issues, which has exacerbated problems at the aircraft manufacturer. Celebrity Big Brother finalist Colson Smith has said he had his Coronation Street script in his hands within hours of leaving the reality TV house. The soap actor placed third in the series, which was won by Ibiza Weekender star David Potts. Strictly Come Dancing professional Nikita Kuzmin was the runner-up, while former X Factor judge Louis Walsh came fourth and TV presenter Fern Britton placed fifth in the first series of the show to air on ITV. Smith told ITVs Good Morning Britain he had barely had time to rest before he was straight back to work on the cobbles where he plays PC Craig Tinker. 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 He said: Literally straight out the house, slept in London, had the wrap party, into a car, script straight in front of me, ready to get back on the beat. But today I only have one line. So you know, I cant complain today, they are easing me back in Weatherfield. The line is How old are you?. Its taken me all weekend as well. Smith said he was yet to reunite with most of his co-stars but added: Theyve been so supportive and Im so lucky that I have such a great group of people here. Im excited to get back in the green room with everyone today and listen to what they thought, find out what they enjoyed in the show and share stories of my time in the house. Reflecting on his time in the house, he said: I think when you do a show like this (the thing is) is to expect the unexpected, and Im not quite sure what I expected, but it was certainly more than I could have ever imagined. The Corrie actor placed third behind Nikita Kuzmin and winner David Potts (Ray Burmiston/ITV/PA) I feel so privileged to have been a small part of the iconic show, and Im also buzzing to be back in Manchester now. He added: Im 100% going to watch it all. I havent watched anything. Ive literally only just got used to having my phone again. Ive seen a few clips on social media but the VT youve just seen is pretty much the most that Ive seen of the show. I am looking forward to, when I get the time, sitting back and watching through it all and seeing all my memories because I guess thats a nice thing about it is Ive got it forever. I can always remember what happened as my time as a housemate. The Celebrity Big Brother final drew a peak TV audience of two million viewers and an average of 1.7 million viewers, according to ITV. A man allegedly hindered severely under pressure ambulance crews from responding to emergencies by making more than 40 nuisance calls in a five-day period, a court heard today. Peter OToole is accused of repeatedly having paramedics dispatched to his home in Belfast last week but then refusing to accompany them to hospital. The 59-year-old, of Dunluce Avenue, was remanded in custody amid claims he will continue to waste their time. OToole appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court charged with obstructing the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) from responding to emergency circumstances. He also faces a further count of persistent improper use of a public communications network. The court heard he phoned the 999 system 44 times between March 18-22. Police said that at one stage the NIAS was operating at a level classed as severely under pressure but had to deal with OTooles persistent calls. Every time an ambulance crew went to his home he declined to travel to hospital. Once they left he proceeded to call the 999 system (again), a PSNI officer said. OToole told police his actions were due to anxiety aggravated by alcoholism. He stated that the paramedics had put him at ease, once he spoke to them he didnt feel the need to go to hospital, the officer added. District Judge Steven Keown was informed that OToole has 26 previous offences for similar behaviour. Read more Co Antrim creep harassed ex after she dumped him over cancer and football lies Defence counsel Turlough Madden attributed his clients actions to a vicious cycle of alcohol misuse. He goes into a state of loneliness, the barrister submitted. Bail was refused, however, based on the risk of further offences. Remanding OToole in custody until April 9, Judge Keown stressed: The priority of the court has to be with hard-pressed emergency services. A man allegedly threatened to slit his ex-girlfriends throat with a knife for refusing to add his name to her housing tenancy agreement, the High Court heard today. Iranian national Mohamad Hashimi, 40, is accused of subjecting the woman to a campaign of control and violence aimed at being included on the contract. On one occasion he blocked her from leaving the property and issued instructions to phone the housing association, it was claimed. He grabbed a large knife and threatened to slit her throat, a prosecution lawyer contended. She said she was in fear for her life as he stated nobody is going to help you, youre going nowhere b****. Hashimi, of Kilwee Lane in Dunmurry on the outskirts of Belfast, was refused bail on charges of false imprisonment, common assault, possession of an offensive weapon, threats to kill, non-fatal strangulation, theft of a handbag and domestic abuse. The alleged offences were committed against the woman over a period between August 2022 and August 2023. She told police he became increasingly controlling after she declined repeated requests to include his name on her tenancy lease. Hashimi stopped the woman from leaving the house, seeing friends or family and constantly examined her phone amid accusations of cheating on him, according to her account. The court heard on occasion he attended the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast to check she was not lying about going there for a medical appointment. Another alleged incident involved punching the woman, putting her into a chokehold and squeezing her throat. She said she felt dizzy and fell to the floor, counsel added. The woman claimed Hashimi followed up the outbursts by expressing his love for her but also continuing with demands to contact the housing authority. When she finally ended their relationship he allegedly called her a prostitute. Hashimi denies the charges and told police the complainant was telling lies about him. It emerged during the hearing that he is facing deportation proceedings but has sought asylum Defence barrister Chris Sherrard argued that his client has spent nearly seven months in custody. Concerns were also expressed over Hashimis ability to properly fast and observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Denying bail, Mr Justice Humphreys cited concerns that he could flee. The judge also held: There is a real risk of further offences being committed against ()the complainant) or indeed other females he may come into contact with. A solicitor representing three victims of the IRA is being threatened with legal action around comments he made in relation to his clients civil case against Gerry Adams. Matthew Jury, of McCue Jury & Partners, is facing the action brought by London-based Howe and Co Solicitors. The firm acted on behalf of the former Sinn Fein president in the civil case but confirmed in a statement Mr Adams had nothing to do with the defamation action. The firm alleged that comments made by Mr Jury in a press release following a High Court judgment in January were defamatory about their practice. In January, the High Court ruled that three victims of IRA bombings in London and Manchester can sue Mr Adams in a personal capacity for damages. John Clark, a victim of the Old Bailey bombing in March 1973, brought forward the case alongside Jonathan Ganesh and Barry Laycock. Mr Ganesh is a victim of the London Docklands bombing in February 1996, with Mr Laycock a victim of the June 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester. At the time of the ruling, Mr Justice Soole determined that the three victims cannot sue the IRA itself or the former Sinn Fein leader as a representative of the paramilitary group, but that claims against Mr Adams in a personal capacity would continue. Mr Adams has always denied any membership of the IRA and has refuted any involvement in its terror campaign during the decades of the Troubles. He has never been prosecuted for links with any of the groups activities. Commenting on the ruling at the time, Mr Jurys firm issued a statement saying that: Adams and his legal teams apparent attempt to intimidate them [the claimants] into withdrawing their claims has, rightly failed and their case will continue. In the letter to Mr Jury, seen and reported by The Times, Martin Howe claimed that the meaning of Mr Jurys statement was that Howe and Co had acted improperly in the High Court proceedings by threatening and bullying the claimants. Mr Howes letter demanded an apology from Mr Jury personally in court, as well as insisting that he delete a social media posting of the statement and publish a pre-agreed apology and retraction. Mr Adams solicitor also demanded that Mr Jury undertake not to repeat the statement, and to pay his legal costs. Mr Howe told Mr Jury that if he failed to comply he would pursue a court claim for damages. Mr Howe told The Times that claims that he or his firm had engaged in legal intimidation were seriously defamatory, adding that any such allegation is false. Mr Jury has said the press release which was issued following Januarys judgement contained uncontroversial statements of honest opinion. A campaign group has now claimed the defamation claim is an example of the use of SLAPP (strategic litigation against public participation), which it said is aimed at discouraging Jury from speaking out about the case. A SLAPP case is commonly understood to be one which targets acts of so-called public participation, including journalism and whistleblowing. Howe and Co Solicitors reject the suggestion the defamation is an example of SLAPP. In a statement, the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition expressed concern over the move. The legal case that Jury was commenting on is a matter of widespread public interest and, therefore, the provision of quotes to media outlets constitutes a clear act of public participation, the coalition said. It is incredibly concerning that Jurys effort[s] to call out legal intimidation are now being subject to legal intimidation themselves. In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph, Howe and Co Solicitors and Mr Howe said: The statement, that the legal team intimidated the claimants was false. As part of Mr Adams legal team, I and my firm, and the barristers acting on this case, have never attempted to intimidate the claimants in that litigation. We wrote to Mr Jury about the false defamatory statement he had made, accusing me and my firm of intimidating the claimants in the litigation. Any suggestion that the independent actions of me and my firm to protect our reputations, as is our right, is somehow linked to Mr Adams or his defence of wholly separate litigation is false and inaccurate. Mr Jury and his firm are experienced solicitors. He is well aware of the law and is not a financially weak proposed defendant. He is not being harassed or intimidated by the receipt of a Letter of Claim asserting a lawful legal right in relation to the tort of defamation. Mr Adams had nothing whatsoever to do with the independent decision of me and my firm to write to Mr Jury about his defamatory statement about the legal team acting for Mr Adams. He did not instruct us to write to Mr Jury and has no involvement whatsoever in our defamation claim. A man allegedly held hostage in his Co Down home was bound, beaten, burned and stabbed, a court has heard. The details emerged as Danielle Broom appeared at Downpatrick Magistrates Court accused of causing actual bodily harm, false imprisonment and theft of the complainants clothing. The court heard claims that before he was attacked, the victim had posted on social media that Broom is not a nice person and while her partner allegedly stabbed and poured boiling water over him, she scrolled through his mobile phone, demanding: Do you like me now, do you f****** like me now? Appearing in the dock wearing a grey, police-issue tracksuit, Broom, from Portallo Street in Belfast, confirmed she understood the three charges against her. All are alleged to have been committed on March 20. District Judge Amanda Brady heard that her partner is still being sought by police over the attack. During a contested bail application, a detective outlined how some people had been socialising at the victims home in Comber when he was asked if Broom and her partner, a man named as David Smith, could attend. The injured party was in good spirits and said that was fine, said the officer, adding that a few hours later, Broom and Smith arrived at the door. According to the victim he answered the door and Broom was wearing a black snood with a skeleton logo. When he asked why she had that, she started hitting him to the face. He fled but Smith and Broom chased him and brought him back to the property where he was bound with black cabling wire which Broom produced. He was tied up and put to the floor and further assaulted by both parties, the detective claimed. At some stage he was untied and Broom took his mobile but while she scrolled through it her partner David Smith got a knife and put it into his mouth and started to stab his right leg, got a kettle of boiling water that he poured over him ... and while this was going on the defendant was scrolling though his phone shouting do you like me now, do you f****** like me now? According to the victim he was punched and sliced to his face and he was struck over the head with an empty bottle of Buckfast. As the pair left the flat, he was allegedly ordered to strip off his clothes which Broom put into a bag along with his phone. On leaving they told him not to contact the emergency services or the police or report the matter or they would harm his mother and grandmother who they were able to name personally and they told him that if the matter was reported tell them he hurt himself on a spiked fence, she told the court. Such was the victims level of concern that he did not tell police and it was only when his relatives visited him the following day that they found him lying injured in his home. A formal statement has not yet been recorded but the victim was able to name Broom as one of his alleged assailants. The court heard she was arrested at Connswater Shopping Centre in east Belfast on Saturday. Read more Specsavers Connswater reopens after relocating to retail park During police interview, Broom refused to answer questions and the officer said police were objecting to her being freed due to strong concerns over the risk of witness interference and further offences being committed. Defence counsel Steven Molloy said while she didnt give her version of events to the police his instructions were that she had no knowledge of this and denies being the instigator at all. Claiming that most of the assault is perpetrated by Mr Smith, the barrister argued that with a minimal record and nothing for violence that Broom could be granted bail with conditions. While commending Mr Molloy for his very thorough bail application, the judge said she was concerned that the co-accused Mr Smith is still at large so while that is the situation I think this bail application is premature. I think theres a risk of interference and reoffending so she is not a suitable candidate for bail, said Ms Brady and as she remanded Broom into custody, the defendant burst into tears. She is due to appear again on April 3. Obaidullah Sailani, 11, was fatally run over by an underage relative who accidentally put the car in drive instead of reverse Saturday on the Northeast Side. Tetra Images/Getty Images/Tetra images RF An 11-year-old boy who was run over Saturday when an underage relative put a car in the wrong gear has been identified. Obaidullah Sailani, 11, was identified Monday by the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office. His death was the result of blunt force injuries, and the manner was ruled an accident, according to the examiners office. San Antonio police said the accident occurred about 4 p.m. at a home in the 5700 block of Sunlit Brook on the Northeast Side. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The 11-year-old was standing in the driveway of his home when a family member, an older yet unlicensed juvenile, tried to drive the familys Toyota Corolla, investigators said. The teen had no experience driving and mistakenly placed the car in drive instead of reverse. The 11-year-old was struck after the teen stepped on the accelerator, police said. Family members rushed the 11-year-old to University Hospital, where he later died. Police said family members were cooperating with police during the investigation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Obaidullah is the third child killed after being run over by a vehicle in Texas this month. On March 17, a 1-year-old girl was run over by an Uber driver as she got out of his vehicle in a parking lot in Aldine. Then, on Thursday, a 1-year-old boy was struck and killed while playing in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Texarkana. Advocates from Kids and Car Safety put out a call Monday for specific safety standards to be built into vehicles, including 360-degree cameras and pedestrian automatic emergency braking, which uses cameras to detect a pedestrian and alert the driver. The emergency braking system can even apply the brakes if it detects a potential collision. Kids and Car Safety also provided several safety tips, stating that children should be directly and actively supervised anytime a vehicle is being moved at the home and 100% of the time near parking lots. Advertisement Article continues below this ad People should always carry toddlers or seat them in strollers or shopping carts in parking lots or near vehicles. Lastly, the organization recommends installing door knob covers on all outside doors of the home, paired with stick-on door alarms to know if a child is attempting to sneak out of the house. Banbridge Courthouse where an inquest is to be held into the death of Liam Paul Thompson (inset), who was shot and killed in 1994. Image: PA The PSNI and Government have lost a High Court battle to prevent the disclosure of sensitive information at the inquest into the loyalist paramilitary murder of a man in west Belfast 30 years ago. Lawyers representing the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland took legal action after a coroner decided that a limited summary of some material can be provided to Liam Paul Thompsons next of kin. They argued it would breach a policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) in a way which could go against national security interests. But Mr Justice Humphreys rejected claims that the coroners decision was unlawful and irrational. He said: She took into account all material considerations, including the need to have proper regard to assertions of risks of damage to national security contained in ministerial certificates and the limited circumstances in which a judge or coroner may depart from such an assertion. Mr Thompson, 25, was shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters at Springfield Park while being given a lift in a taxi in April 1994. Amid allegations that the RUC was aware of a credible threat against the cab firm, members of the local community suspect police were complicit in the attack by failing to provide a warning. At the long-delayed inquest into the killing the PSNI and Ministry of Defence requested Public Interest Immunity (PII) for a number of documents which would otherwise be disclosed to properly interested parties in the proceedings. The applications were based on certificates issued by Northern Ireland Office minister Steve Baker MP, who cited the continuing threat from terrorism and asserted that any disclosure would cause a real risk of serious harm to the public interest. Earlier this month the coroner granted PII for nearly all of the material, but concluded that a gist of information contained in one of seven PSNI folders was highly relevant and should be provided. She determined the risk to national security was not at the level asserted, but also ruled that names, dates and intelligence were to be redacted to mitigate against any real risk of serious harm. In a judicial review challenge heard partly in private, the PSNI and Secretary of State claimed the coroner incorrectly applied the legal test and disputed the rationality of her reasons for making a gist of the material. However, Mr Justice Humphreys held that her articulation of the relevant principles was unimpeachable. I am satisfied that the coroner correctly directed herself on the law and was fully sighted on the authorities in relation to PII and the NCND policy, the judge said. There is no basis to assert that there was any misdirection as to the law. Rejecting claims of inconsistency in the decision-making process as untenable, he added: It is perfectly proper for a PII application to be upheld in part. With a further closed judgment to be issued in private, he confirmed: None of the grounds for judicial review have been made out and the applications are dismissed. Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said later: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland accepts the judgment issued by Mr Justice Humphreys. We welcome the clarity that it provides. "We are committed to continuing to work with the Coroner Service on this inquest. As this is the subject of ongoing inquest proceedings, it would be inappropriate for the Police Service to comment further at this time." Concerns have been expressed around finding a resolution for persistent pollution issues impacting two areas of Co Tyrone. Mid Ulster Council chairman, Councillor Dominic Molloy hit out at the air quality issues in Dungannon and Moy. Speaking at a recent Development Committee meeting of the local authority, the Sinn Fein representative for Dungannon DEA said he was alarmed to read in the annual air quality report that Newell Road in Dungannon and Charlemont Street in Moy continue to exceed air quality objectives regarding nitrogen dioxide (NO) pollutants. Cllr Molloy stated: This report comes around each year and were faced with the same two sites that are over the limits that are recognised, and theyre quite high. There have been ongoing meetings with a number of statutory bodies, which has been welcomed, to try to alleviate the issue, but as we progress we can keep those meetings going to keep the issue on the agenda, to try to get a long-term resolution. Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) provides the framework within which air quality is managed by Northern Irelands local authorities. The LAQM process places an obligation on all local authorities to regularly review and assess air quality in their areas, and to determine whether air quality objectives are likely to be achieved. In Northern Ireland, Local Authorities report annually on air quality within their districts via progress reports. Air quality objectives for four of seven identified pollutants are comfortably met within the district. Monitoring took place over a number of years regarding the three remaining pollutants, namely nitrogen dioxide (NO), sulphur dioxide (SO) and PM10. That prolonged monitoring exercise showed all the areas chosen were well within the air quality objectives and were extremely unlikely to exceed the objectives in the future. As a result, monitoring was discontinued for these two pollutants. The only remaining pollutant that is routinely monitored in the Mid Ulster District is nitrogen dioxide. Monitoring for NO takes place along the roads that are more heavily congested throughout the District. Congestion generally occurs along the main North-South transport route. The roads in question link the three main towns of Magherafelt, Cookstown and Dungannon. Two of the smaller villages this traffic passes through are also monitoring sites, namely Moneymore and Moy. The chosen sites tend to be located close to residential dwellings, at points where the traffic is slowing down or idling at busy junctions or traffic lights. In April 2023 the number of diffusion tube monitoring locations across the district was expanded. The new monitoring sites are located at Moy; Newell Road, Dungannon; Circular Road, Dungannon; and Coalisland. There were previously five AQMAs declared for NO within the Mid Ulster District Council area, two of which have already been revoked due to improvements in the air quality at those locations. Ongoing monitoring has however shown continued exceedances of the air quality objective for NO at two of the remaining AQMAs. Diffusion Tube monitoring at locations within the AQMAs in Dungannon and Moy have demonstrated there are two sites where NO levels continue to exceed the objective limit of 40ug/m, namely Newell Road, Dungannon, and Charlemont Street in Moy. Extra funding is needed for the expansion of the medical school in Derry in order to meet Northern Irelands future demand for doctors. Ulster Universitys vice chancellor Paul Bartholomew told a special meeting of Derry and Strabane council that he believes the number of doctors training at Magee should be increased significantly. The meeting heard a proposed new School of Medicine and Personalised Medicine centre has a combined value in excess of 50m from the City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund package. However, more ambitious plans have been put forward which would require additional funds. The Medical School will be located on an existing vacant site adjacent to the Council headquarters on the Strand Road in front of the River Foyle. The Personalised Medicine Centre will comprise a new-build extension to the existing Clinical Translational Research Centre (C-TRIC), facility at the Altnagelvin Hospital site which would cost approximately 11m. In addition, there will be educational facilities at Altnagelvin Hospital worth 4.6m, which can be easily expanded in future if necessary. The medical school opened in 2021 and has an annual intake of about 80 medical students. Its expansion is one of the flagship projects of Derrys city deal. On Monday, UU VC Professor Paul Bartholomew said to fully maximise that expansion, more government money is required. Councillors were told there are currently four options for the relocation. One was to do nothing by staying in the current undersized accommodation. A second would be a new building of 4,600 square metres with 80 students and a new research space, which is the preferred, affordable option. Another was a building of 8,500 square metres which could accommodate more students subject to funding being approved. The most ambitious would see a move to a new 10,300 square metre building, with an officer saying this would be maximising the potential of the site. The difference between the affordable option and aspirational option would be 40m, Professor Batholomew said. The intermediate option would accommodate around 150 students and the most ambitious for over 200 students. He said the size of the building relies on future service needs and appetite to fund the future service needs of Northern Ireland. He added: We do feel there is an extra capital ask to be made of government and that is the right thing to do at this stage. We think its pretty obvious that Northern Ireland is going to need more doctors and theres a route to do it through here, it would seem to be a missed opportunity to be building a building on our campus and then to under-build it in terms of stage. So Ive spent quite a bit of the past year making that case within government that, tell us If you need a bigger building and well try to build a bigger building. He indicated UU would provide extra monies if that was approved by Stormont. Professor Bartholomew pointed to a dilemma of proceeding with a smaller building or waiting for additional capital funds. The logic I have used with people is, lets build a bigger building and if we cant fill it with medical students because commissions dont in due course come, well find some other students because were planning to expand, he said. UU would be putting in 50m of its own money as part of wider expansion plans. The medical school in time would have about 116m of net benefit to the local economy and society under the affordable option and around 193.5m under the more ambitious proposals. SDLP Councillor Brian Tierney said needs a university offering which is attractive to local students and those from outside the city, because it could bring massive growth, citing a figure that 80% of people who study live and work 25 miles from where they studied. Sinn Fein Councillor Sandra Duffy described the plans as hugely exciting, adding that the larger building should be the aim. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and US President Joe Biden during the St Patricks Day Reception and Shamrock Ceremony in the the East Room of the White House (Niall Carson/PA) US President Joe Biden held a phone call with outgoing Irish premier Leo Varadkar on Monday, one week after the two leaders had a bilateral meeting in Washington. The White House said Mr Biden spoke with Mr Varadkar to recognise his seven years of service as premier and deputy premier in Ireland. A statement added: Having recently celebrated St Patricks Day at the White House, they reflected on their cooperation over the years on shared priorities, particularly deepening US-Ireland ties between our people and our economies. They noted recent progress in Northern Ireland with the restoration of its Executive and Assembly, reaffirming the critical role these institutions play in preserving the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said Mr Biden had wished the Taoiseach well in whatever lies ahead. A statement said Mr Varadkar thanked the US president for good wishes and also paid tribute to Mr Bidens role in advancing US-Ireland relations. US President Joe Biden (left) is greeted by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as he arrives for a state dinner at Dublin Castle during his visit to Ireland (Damien Storan/PA) It added: The Taoiseach also took the opportunity to brief him on the upcoming meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council, which will take place on 8 April, and which will mark another important step forward in restoring the institutions under the Good Friday Agreement. He also wished Mr Biden the best of luck in the US elections in November. Last week, Mr Varadkar made the shock announcement he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach once a successor had been appointed. It came days after he returned home from the US following a week of engagements marking St Patricks Day which involved two visits to the White House. Further education minister Simon Harris has since been appointed as leader of Fine Gael and is expected to be formally appointed as taoiseach after the parliaments Easter recess. A statement from the Irish Government added: The Taoiseach told the President that, all going well, his successor will be appointed on 9 April and looks forward to continuing to work with the US on global affairs, including Ukraine and the Middle East, and to continuing to strengthen ties between Ireland and the US. The White House said the US President conveyed that he looks forward to continuing to build a vibrant future for US-Irish relations with the new taoiseach, once elected by parliament. Orange Order wants to see progress on key issues of concern. The Orange Order has said it wants to see tangible progress on issues of key concern around the NI Protocol. The Grand Lodge of Ireland held a meeting in Donegal on Saturday 23 March when members reiterated their opposition to the continued outworkings of the Protocol. A statement said: The members present cautiously acknowledged the political developments in respect of the Safeguarding the Union command paper, but withheld further judgment pending the delivery of tangible progress on implementation around key issues of concern. Furthermore, the Grand Lodge called on all Unionist elected representatives, regardless of party affiliation, to work together in common cause so as to effectively provide representation and resources for the Unionist community. Safeguarding the Union is a deal struck exclusively between the UK government and leadership of the DUP. Read more Dublin Airport urged to apologise over disgusting Princess Kate tweet The DUP had demanded changes to the way Northern Ireland trades with Britain to ease its concerns over post-Brexit rules and the Irish Sea border. A 76-page agreement was published by the government in January. It lays out several new measures aimed at simplifying domestic imports and encouraging trade between GB and NI. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed the constructive approach taken by the Orange Order and the manner in which they continue to engage. He added: In particular, I endorse their call for all Unionist elected representatives to work together in common cause. We will continue to focus on delivering the faithful implementation of all aspects of Safeguarding the Union. Speaking in a personal capacity last month, Orange Order grand secretary Rev Mervyn Gibson gave the thumbs-up to Sir Jeffrey Donaldsons deal, which he said knocks the likelihood of Irish unity out of sight. Mr Gibson said while the agreement to restore devolution isnt perfect, it is a win for unionist determination and unity, and needs to be accepted as such. He added: Lets not turn a significant victory into a defeat. Had unionism not stood its ground there would be no changes. This deal will not only put a united Ireland out of touching distance, it will knock it out of sight. Mr Gibson said it achieved the objectives we required against the constant naysayers screaming Youre wasting your time. The Orange Order has yet to make a collective decision on the deal, which grassroots sources predict it wont back. The UK is aware of no connection whatsoever between Ukraine and the Moscow terror attack, the Defence Secretary has said. Grant Shapps told MPs there is a need to resist the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin to link the two, amid Russias ongoing invasion of Ukraine. An affiliate of terror group, the so-called Islamic State, also known as Daesh and Isis, has claimed responsibility for the attack on Crocus City Hall, which killed more than 130 people and left more than 180 injured. Speaking at defence questions, shadow defence secretary John Healey said: We condemn the deadly terrorist attacks in Moscow on Friday and our thoughts are with all those who were affected. But the attack must not become a Kremlin cover for Putins illegal war in Ukraine and in recent days weve seen multiple Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and yet the last UK air defence support was announced last year. When is the next one? Mr Shapps said he joined Mr Healey in sending condolences following the horrific terror attack, adding: Hes absolutely right to say there is no connection whatsoever that were aware of with Ukraine, and indeed Isis have claimed responsibility. We must resist Putins efforts to try to link the two. With regard to air defence, in fact there have been much more recent attempts to aid our Ukrainian friends, including through the international fund for Ukraine, which has laid 27 contracts, we have a 900 million fund run by the UK on behalf of a large number of other countries. Mr Healey said Labour welcomed the UK Governments 2.5 billion commitment to Ukraine for 2024, but warned: For nearly three months since that announcement, ministers have said that the first deliveries to Ukraine wont happen until Q1 of the new financial year. Wars do not follow financial years so when will the UK move beyond this stop-start military aid and help Ukraine now with the spring-summer offensive? Mr Shapps said there is a constant flow of foreign material being bought and sent to Ukraine, adding: I will just gently say to (Mr Healey) he needs to explain how his side would manage an increased budget to Ukraine when their plan is to cut 7 billion of the overall defence budget. Conservative former minister Tobias Ellwood also told the session: The terrible terrorist attack in Moscow reminds us that jihadi extremism has not disappeared. Given its ideology, its reach and its strength, will the Secretary of State agree with me that Isis-K is every much a threat to the West as it is to Russia? Defence minister James Heappey replied: (Mr Ellwood) is absolutely right. This perception that Daesh has gone away the Daesh core is cooped up in prisons in northern Syria, but Daesh affiliates are growing alarmingly quickly in other parts of the world and the attack in Moscow is a reminder to us all that we must continue to focus both on the counter-terror threat as well as the state threats. International hackers and pubs being forced to shut early feature among the stories on Mondays front pages. The Sun says 40 million UK voters had their personal details accessed by Chinese hackers. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The Telegraph reports Whitehall sources believe China, Russia and Iran are fuelling disinformation about the Princess of Wales. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The Daily Express leads with the Kings Easter message, with Charles said to be eager to provide reassurance to the nation following Kates cancer announcement last week. 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 Costs and lack of customers is forcing a third of pubs to close early, according to the Daily Mirror. 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 Royal insiders believe the family will emerge stronger from the King and Kates health struggles, the Daily Mail says. 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 Metro reports almost 14 billion was donated to charity last year, a 9% increase from 2022. 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 A 760 million boost to nuclear defence spending features on the front of the i. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The Times says Britains leading universities receive most of their fees from foreign students. 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 Turning to international headlines, The Guardian leads with two suspects appearing in court over the Moscow attack which killed 137 people. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The Financial Times reports the US and Japan are planning the biggest upgrade to their security alliance since 1960 in an effort to counter China. 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 And the Daily Star has joined a hunt for sunken treasure. North Korea has said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed a summit with leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea stressed that prospects for their countries first summit in 20 years would depend on Tokyo tolerating its weapons program and ignoring its past abductions of Japanese nationals. Japan acknowledged it has been trying to arrange a bilateral summit but dismissed North Koreas preconditions as unacceptable, dimming the likelihood of a quick realisation of the Kishida-Kim meeting. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, centre (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) Observers say Mr Kim wants improved ties with Japan as a way to drive a wedge between the US and its allies, while Mr Kishida wants to use possible progress in the abduction issue, a highly emotional issue for Japan, to boost his declining approval rating at home. After admitting in 2002 that it had abducted 13 Japanese nationals, North Korea allowed five to return home but said the others had died. Japan believes some were still alive. In a statement, Mr Kims sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, said in a statement that Mr Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Mr Kim in person as soon as possible. She said there would be no breakthrough in North Korea-Japan relations as long as Mr Kishidas government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the Norths exercise of our sovereign right, apparently referring to the Norths weapons-testing activities. Ms Kim said: The history of the DPRK-Japan relations gives a lesson that it is impossible to improve the bilateral relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, only with an idea to set out on a summit meeting. If Japan truly wants to improve the bilateral relations and contribute to ensuring regional peace and stability as a close neighbour of the DPRK, it is necessary for it to make a political decision for strategic option conformed to its overall interests, she said. In February, Ms Kim issued a similar statement on bilateral ties, saying North Korea was open to improving relationships with Japan and even inviting Mr Kishida to Pyongyang. She said if Mr Kishida sticks to his push to resolve the alleged past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, he cannot avoid criticism that he would only pursue talks to boost his popularity. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said a meeting with Kim Jong Un was crucial to resolve the issue of abducted Japanese nationals (Kyodo News via AP, File) Mr Kishida has said previously that he believes a summit with Mr Kim is important in various ways, including solving the problem of the abducted Japanese citizens. Mr Kishida, speaking in a parliamentary session, said that a meeting with Mr Kim is crucial to resolve the abduction issue and that his government has been using various channels to discuss the possible summit. Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters later on Monday that dropping the abduction issue in talks with North Korea is not acceptable. North Korea and Japan do not have diplomatic ties and their relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear programme, the Norths past abduction of Japanese nationals and Japans 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula. After years of denial, in 2002 at an unprecedented summit between Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, North Korea admitted its agents had kidnapped the 13 Japanese nationals. Japan believes North Korea wanted to use them to train spies in Japanese language and culture. Experts say Kim Jong Un and North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the US such as sanctions relief (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) Talk of a possible North Korea-Japan summit comes amid concerns that North Korea could further intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year both in the US and South Korea. Experts say North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the US such as sanctions relief. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said it was closely communicating with Japan on Tokyo-Pyongyang contacts and the North Korean nuclear issue. It said that South Korea, the US and Japan are working closely together to return North Korea to a path of denuclearisation. North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile arsenals pose a major security threat to Japan as well as South Korea and the United States. The three countries have expanded their trilateral training exercises in response to the Norths provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Japan and South Korea are two of Americas key allies in the region, together hosting about 80,000 US troops in their territories. The Philippines has expressed its strongest protest with Beijing after a Chinese coast guard ship used water cannons on a Philippine resupply vessel (Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP) The Philippines lodged its strongest protest against Beijing on Monday and summoned a senior Chinese diplomat over a water cannon assault by the Chinese coast guard. Filipino navy crew members were injured and their boat was heavily damaged in the assault in the disputed South China Sea, officials said. In response, China warned that relations were at a crossroads and the Philippines should choose a prudent path forward. Two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine navy-operated supply boat with water cannons on Saturday in the latest and most serious confrontation between the rival Asian claimants. In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a Chinese coast guard ship, top, tries to block a Philippine government vessel in the disputed South China Sea (Philippine Coast Guard via AP) The repeated high-seas confrontations since last year have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course. The US has warned repeatedly that it is obligated to defend the Philippines its oldest treaty ally in Asia if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. The United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and about 16 other countries have expressed support for the Philippines and the rule of law, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. China accused Philippine vessels of intruding into Chinese waters and its Defence Ministry warned that Beijing will continue to take resolute and decisive measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. The Chinese Embassy in Manila issued a statement by the Chinese coast guard that warned the Philippines against playing with fire. In a phone call with her Chinese counterpart, Philippine foreign undersecretary Theresa Lazaro expressed the Philippines strongest protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China coast guard and Chinese maritime militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Philippine officials have summoned a senior Chinese diplomat to Manila to demand that Chinese ships immediately leave the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that lies in the Philippines exclusive economic zone (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) It added that it separately summoned a senior Chinese diplomat in Manila to convey the protest and demand that Chinese ships immediately leave the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, which lies in the Philippines exclusive economic zone, and for China to stop violating international law. Philippine defence, security and foreign affairs officials convened a meeting on Monday to discuss new steps to deal with what they say is Chinas unacceptable and provocative actions in the South China Sea. Their recommendations would be submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and were not immediately released to the public. Second Thomas Shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of the Philippine navy and marines on a marooned warship since 1999 but has been surrounded by the Chinese coast guard and other vessels in an increasingly tense standoff. It is the second time the Philippine supply boat has been damaged by water cannon in March. The US lays no claims to the busy seaway, a key global trade route, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged Chinas claims to virtually the entire South China Sea. Beijing says the strengthening of US alliances in Asia, including with the Philippines, is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway. Beijing has refused to recognise a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths is stepping down from his role for health reasons after nearly three years of trying to tackle mounting crises in Ukraine, Gaza and Africa, the United Nations announced. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised Mr Griffiths for his tremendous leadership and service to the United Nations and the humanitarian community in advocating for people affected by crises and mobilising resources to address their needs, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. Mr Griffiths, 72, told The Associated Press earlier this month that he suffered a severe case of Covid-19 in October and is still has long Covid. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content Mr Griffiths took on the job of UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator in July 2021 as crises were escalating around the globe and funds for humanitarian aid were shrinking. A veteran British diplomat and seasoned negotiator with wide global experience, he served as the UN special envoy for Yemen for three years before taking on the UNs top humanitarian post. Mr Haq said Mr Griffiths will remain in his post until the end of June to allow for a smooth transition. In 1994, Mr Griffiths served in Geneva as director of the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, which preceded the establishment of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, that he now heads. From 1999 to 2010, he was the founding director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, where according to the UN he specialised in developing political dialogue between governments and insurgents in a range of countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. Mr Griffiths served as the first executive director of the European Institute of Peace from 2014-2018 and he served as special adviser to three UN special envoys for Syria and as deputy head of the UN mission in Syria from 2012-2014, during the early years of the ongoing conflict there. Earlier in his career, he was a British diplomat and worked for various international humanitarian organisations, including Unicef, Save the Children and Action Aid. (Photo : Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) The media behemoth allegedly promoted Trump's false claims that the vote-counting equipment from Dominion was used to rig the 2020 US presidential election. In a Dominion Voting Systems deposition, Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch admitted that several Fox News commentators promoted false assertions that the 2020 election had been rigged. Murdoch's comments were made public in a court document related to Dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News. Rupert Murdoch denied in his deposition that the Fox News Channel collectively supported the false claims that then-candidate Trump used to win the presidency. However, Murdoch admitted that his hosts Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and the late Lou Dobbs spread the fallacy that the presidential election had been rigged, CNN reported. Murdoch remarked that, as for the Fox News presenters' public stances on the election, "some of our hosts were endorsing it." The Fox Corporation chair noted that he "would have liked" Fox News to be "stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight." The court document indicated Rupert Murdoch called several of Trump's campaign promises for the 2020 election "bulls**t and damaging." The unsealed complaint reveals Murdoch's role in Fox News' editorial direction and the Trump 2020 campaign. The records state that Rupert Murdoch sent Jared Kushner, the top adviser to former President Trump and his son-in-law, "confidential" Fox information on Biden's commercials, together with "debate strategy," but that he refused to aid Donald Trump's campaign on election night when Fox News was the first network to announce that President Joe Biden won the poll in Arizona. Read Also: Prisoner Kills Fellow Inmate Fox News Credibility in Trouble In March of 2021, Dominion filed a lawsuit against Fox News in Delaware. According to a report published by GMA News, the 24-hour news giant allegedly pushed bogus accusations of Donald Trump that its vote-counting machines rigged the election. Fox News has denied any intent to defame. It argues that the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech protects it since it was merely reporting on Trump's accusations and not endorsing them. The First Amendment makes defamation cases challenging in America, but the lawsuit may hurt the right-wing network financially and reputationally. The Dominion lawsuit highlights that Fox News presenters and management knew their claims were false. Dominion submitted a briefing last month that revealed several Fox News executives and personalities, including Tucker Carlson, denouncing ex-POTUS Donald Trump's fraudulent election allegations in private, Axios reported. Related Article: Ronna McDaniel Pushes Unity in GOP @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Allison Morris has been following Megans story since the beginning The west Belfast teen had been battered to death, with her body left in a forest outside Dunmurry. Her body was found the next day with 54 fractures to her skull, among other injuries. There is also evidence she had been sexually assaulted. Thomas Purcell brutally murdered her after picking her up from a bar in the area. Murderer Thomas Purcell and his victim Megan McAlorum He claimed to be sixteen. The courts believed him, sentencing him to a juvenile prison, before moving him to a prison in Oxford, England, over concerns for his safety. The murderers move, which Megans family were not told about, sparked a change in victim protection laws. Purcell was released after 17 years in prison, but earlier this month he died following a road collision. Ciaran Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph crime editor Allison Morris, who has worked on this story from the beginning. Made by monks: Drinks that originated in monasteries and the ones that are still made there Shutterstock.com A full solar eclipse will be visible across the United States on April 8. Hundreds of viewing parties for this phenomenal and rare astronomical phenomenon have been scheduled, but many Christian leaders think this event is more than a fantastic scientific occurrence. Many see it as a prophetic sign that were living in the end times and Christs return is imminent. These leaders point to Bible passages, particularly in Revelation, which discuss the end of the age and signs to look out for. Heres what some Christian leaders had to say about this total solar eclipse. Mark Blitz. Blitz believes that from a biblical perspective, a solar eclipse is a sign from God. When a total solar eclipse happens, he says its a warning to a specific nation or nations, depending on its path. Could God be giving a warning that we need to repent, or judgement will come to the United States? Blitz says the timing couldnt be more apparent. Paul Begley. Begley believes the eclipse is a prophetic sign and references a passage from Joel, which says that the sun will be turned to darkness before the Day of the Lord comes. A trumpet will sound because the eclipse might mean were living in the last days. Anne Graham Lotz. Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, said people are preparing to celebrate this significant event by holding viewing parties at exclusive prime sites. However, she said the celebratory nature surrounding the eclipse reminds her of Belshazzar, the Babylonian king who threw a drunken feast the night the Persians and Medes crept under the city gate. Therefore, she says her perspective on the upcoming phenomenon isnt celebratory. While no one can know for sure if a judgment is upcoming on America, it does seem that God is signaling to us about something, and only time will tell what that something is. Hugh Ross. Ross believes the eclipse will be a spectacular event, and he has a group of 140 people going to the desert of Oregon to see the eclipse, along with an astronomer. He added that theyll also give lectures on the astrophysics of the sun and why were in a blessed time in the solar systems history so that we can learn a lot of things that help us understand why Gods responsible for it all. Bob ODell. ODell commented on the fact that the eclipse will be total across the North Pole, saying that the North Pole cant be called the territory of any particular people or nation, so the eclipse is likely a message from God to the entire world. Gary Ray. Ray says that the Bible highlights a number of times that there are going to be signs in the heavens before Christ returns to earth, and this eclipse is possibly one of those. He added that his number one encouragement to people is simply to trust God; more importantly, we should trust the right God. If people want to be ready, the one thing they can do is accept what God has offered, which is the gift of forgiveness and grace, which is all we have to do to be ready. Spiritual meaning of solar eclipses. Solar eclipses make Gods power evident, serving as tangible reminders of our Creators creativity, power, and sovereignty over the universe. When we see a solar eclipse, were witnessing a celestial dance that God choreographed with careful precision. The sophisticated alignment of the sun, moon, and earth and the perfect synchronization of their movements highlights Gods design for creation. The experience of watching a solar eclipse is humbling. Psalm 8:3-4 asks God, When I consider Your heavens, the work of your fingers, the stars and the moon, which Youve set in place, what is humanity that Youre mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? Eclipses remind us of Gods immense love for us, even though were just minor parts of the vast universe. As we look up to the sky to watch the upcoming solar eclipse, we can see the wonder of Gods work dramatically. The spectacle of the eclipse can encourage us to marvel at Gods infinite creativity and wisdom, confirming our faith in God as the marvelous Creator of the universe. Witnessing an eclipse can move us to meditate and pray on Gods wonder. Psalm 145:5 says people speak of the glorious splendor of Gods majesty, and we will meditate on His wonderful works. While we watch the upcoming eclipse, well be filled with awe that can encourage us to move closer to God. An eclipse only lasts a brief time, but the spiritual growth we can experience from inching closer to God afterward will benefit our souls forever. How to watch the upcoming eclipse. The day before the eclipse, look at eclipse predictions and maps to determine the best viewing times and locations. Websites like NationalEclipse.com and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provide helpful information about the path of totality, recommended viewing spots and local weather conditions. Plan your viewing location accordingly to increase your chances of witnessing this special event. Expect crowds in areas within the path of totality and increased traffic. Consider arriving at your viewing location early to secure a good spot and avoid potential congestion on roads. Allow extra time for travel and be ready for possible heavy traffic delays. As we anticipate this solar eclipse, lets approach it with a sense of reverence that helps us find Gods wonder. An eclipse puts Gods creativity on display. When we watch the moon cover the sun, we see the wondrous design that God put in place for the universe. The ultimate impact of an eclipse is that it invites us to seek God and enjoy a closer relationship with Him. Members of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) prepare to evacuate bodies of Rohingya refugees found in waters off Aceh Jaya, a regency in Indonesias Aceh province, March 25, 2024. Indonesian search-and-rescue officials said Monday they had recovered the bodies of 11 Rohingya refugees, mostly women, who were on a boat that capsized off the coast of Aceh province last week. Some of the 75 Rohingya who were rescued had told officials that the wooden boat was carrying around 150 members of the stateless minority group from Myanmar, but an Indonesian official, who declared an end to the search operation on Thursday, later pushed back at reports that people had died. On Friday, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said it feared that more than 70 refugees were dead or had gone missing from the boat that overturned in waters off West Aceh regency last Wednesday. Of the 11 bodies recovered from the capsized boat, six were found relatively close to each other in waters off Jaya district in West Aceh, on Monday afternoon, said Mirza Safrinadi, an operations commander at the local Search and Rescue Task Force. The bodies were initially spotted by local fishermen and reported to authorities. Because the location was near Banda Aceh, the [search-and-rescue] team quickly responded to evacuate the victims, he said. The bodies were transported to Calang City and then transferred to Teuku Umar General Hospital in Aceh Jaya district. One body was discovered by fishermen who were searching for turtle eggs at a beach in Arongan Lambalek District, West Aceh, on Monday morning, Mirza said. After discussions with UNHCR and IOM [International Organization for Migration], we can confirm that these individuals were Rohingya refugees who were victims of the capsized boat incident, Mirza said. The bodies were laid to rest in the mass cemetery in West Aceh for victims of the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, an official said. Two more bodies of Rohingya refugees, found on Saturday and Sunday, were also laid to rest in the same cemetery. Of the 11 dead refugees, nine were women, said Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR protection associate. Boat originated in Bangladesh Of the 75 Rohingya rescued, six were saved on March 20, and 69 others, who had been clinging to their wooden boat for nearly a day and were suffering from hunger and dehydration, were brought ashore the next day. Supriadi, the captain of the search-and-rescue ship that saved 69 refugees, on Friday took issue with the UNHCR and IOMs contention that 76 people may have perished or were missing at sea. He said he didnt believe this was the case because the 69 (of 75) refugees rescued Thursday had clear coordinates provided by fishermen who witnessed the refugees in distress. If there are still victims, where are they located? he had said. Meanwhile, UNHCRs Faisal said the agency was able to get more clarity on how many passengers were on the boat and where it had originated. Faisal said that after collecting more data the agency concluded that there were 142 Rohingya refugees and seven crew members on the boat. Additionally, he said the boat had not originated in Malaysia with Australia as the planned destination as they were originally told, he said. The boat had left from Coxs Bazar in southwestern Bangladesh, where the refugee camps host some 1 million Rohingya, including 740,000 who fled a brutal military crackdown by the Myanmar military in 2017. Through our interviews with several refugees, we can confirm that they departed from Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, Faisal said. Initially, they were headed to Malaysia, where some of their family members already resided. Others had plans to reach Indonesia. This latest incident occurred amid the increasing arrival of Rohingya refugee boats in Indonesia. In 2023 alone, more than 2,300 Rohingya refugees arrived [in Indonesia], with a significant increase from November onwards. This number exceeds the number of arrivals in the previous four years as a whole, UNHCR and IOM said. The Rohingya have been accommodated in locations across Aceh, according to the UNHCR. UNHCR reported that 569 Rohingya refugees had died or gone missing at sea last year, as they made the perilous journey by sea to oppression in their home country or the crowded and violent refugee camps in southwestern Bangladesh to get to Southeast Asia. Pizaro Gozali Idrus in Jakarta contributed to this report. Papua military commander Maj. Gen. Izak Pangemanan (second from right), military spokesman Maj. Gen. Nugraha Gumilar (second from left), and other officials speak at a press conference at the Army headquarters in Jakarta, March 25, 2024. The Indonesian military on Monday apologized to Papuans as it confirmed that it had detained its soldiers who allegedly tortured a Papuan man shown in a video that went viral last week, causing outrage on social media and prompting a statement from a presidential staff member. The incident in the video, which shows troops beating and slashing a Papuan with a bayonet, took place in February in Central Papua, military officials said, adding they had detained 13 soldiers as suspects in the abuse. This action is against the law, tarnished the name of the military and disrupted efforts to handle conflicts in Papua, said Maj. Gen. Izak Pangemanan, a military commander in Papua where separatist rebels have been operating for decades. I apologize to all Papuan people and I hope such an incident wont happen again, he said. The soldiers are detained at a military police station in Jayapura, Papua, and will immediately be named as suspects in the torture, said army spokesman Brig. Gen. Kristomei Sianturi. We examined 42 TNI [Indonesian armed forces] soldiers, Kristomei told reporters, adding 13 allegedly committed violence. Brig. Gen. Nugraha Gumilar, a spokesman for the armed forces, said the TNI would impose sanctions if the soldiers were proven guilty in the abuse case. There are procedures in place, he said. Nugraha alleged that the person in the video and two other Papuan men were separatist rebels who had been arrested after they allegedly fired at troops guarding a health center in Central Papua provinces Puncak regency. All three are members of an armed criminal group, he said at a press conference. Last week, Rumadi Ahmad, a deputy chief of the Indonesian presidential staff, said that President Joko Jokowi Widodo had committed to accelerating development in Papua, but these efforts would be hampered if the military was responsible for the violence in the video. While we hold a strong hope that our soldiers are not involved in such reprehensible acts, if proven true, the individuals responsible must be held accountable in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations, Rumadi said in a statement. Papuans march with placards during a demonstration demanding a referendum on the independence of Papua province in Jakarta, Dec. 1, 2023. [Bay Ismoyo/AFP] Army officials identified the man in the video as Defianus Kogoya, and the other two as Warinus Kogoya and Alianus Mirok. An activist who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal alleged all three were tortured. Maj. Gen. Izak claimed that Warinus died while heading to the police station after being taken into custody. He said the suspect, whose hands were bound, jumped out of a moving police vehicle. We took him to the health center but in the end, he died, Izak said. The incident in the video took place on Feb. 3 after the authorities received a report from locals saying that the three Papuans were planning to burn down a public health center in Omukia village in Puncak regency, according to officials. Izak said military and police decided to guard the health center, but the trio fired shots targeting the security officers. The three were arrested soon after. The soldiers then took Alianus and Defianus to the Gome military post in Puncak Regency where the video was allegedly filmed. The two are in police custody for follow-up investigations. On Monday, Papuan and human rights activists said alleged torture violated Indonesian and international law. They also disputed the militarys version of events, saying locals attested they were nowhere near the health center when the firing occurred. For rights groups who have long accused Indonesian security forces of abuses such as torture and extrajudicial killings in Papua, the video and the militarys confirmation were evidence of their concerns. Papuans have felt marginalized economically and politically, despite the immense wealth their mineral-rich land generates. The separatist insurgency has been fueled by alleged discrimination against indigenous Papuans by the Indonesian government. The territory was incorporated into Indonesia in the 1960s after a controversial United Nations-backed plebiscite. Many Papuans allege the vote was rigged and have since fought for independence. Inaccurate conclusions Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid questioned the militarys version of the arrests. If they really wanted to burn down the health center, then that is a criminal act and under the police authority, not the TNI, Usman told BenarNews. Besides, the armed forces statement was different from information he got from the grassroots, he said. The families of Defianus and Alianus told Usman that the two were arrested on the roof of a house where they were working and not while they were involved in a shootout. They were not planning to burn down the health center so the TNI should refrain from quick but inaccurate conclusions, Usman said, adding the TNI must not look for any excuse to abuse suspects. Torture by security forces, whoever the victim, is a crime that is unacceptable both in peace conditions and in emergency conditions of war, he said. Parliament needs to evaluate security operations throughout the Papua region, said Emanuel Gobay, director of the Papua Legal Aid Institute. He said the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) must send an investigative team to look into the case. In Puncak Regency, there were found violations of the provisions that no person may be detained, forced, excluded or exiled arbitrarily, Emanuel told BenarNews, referring to Article 34 of Law 39 of the 1999 law related to human rights. The alleged perpetrators need to be tried by the civilian criminal justice system in addition to facing an internal military inquiry, said Andi Muhammad Rezaldy, of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). [Military] sanctions cannot replace the judicial process in the general court environment, the Kontras deputy coordinator told BenarNews. Arie Firdaus in Jakarta and Victor Mambor in Jayapura, Indonesia, contributed to the article. A Chinese Navy vessel shadows a Philippine patrol boat while on its way to Pag-Asa island in the South China Sea on March 19, 2024. Pag-asa is the largest island in the Philippine-claimed Kalayaan Island group, a chain in the contested Spratly Islands. UPDATED at 12:46 p.m. ET on 2024-03-25 Manila on Monday summoned a Chinese envoy to strongly protest the aggressive actions of the China Coast Guard in the South China Sea, following an incident that left three crew members aboard a Philippine supply boat injured. The Philippines was on Saturday attempting to resupply troops stationed on a ship at Second Thomas Shoal, known locally as Ayungin Shoal, when Chinas coast guard and maritime militia harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers against the routine RoRe (rotation and resupply) mission, officials said. Chinese water cannon blasts hurt three Filipino crew members and caused significant damages to the vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard said. The Department of Foreign Affairs summoned the Charge daffaires of the Chinese Embassy this morning to convey the Philippines strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal on 23 March 2024, Ma. Teresita Daza, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement. China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal, she said, a low-tide elevation that lies well within the Philippines exclusive economic zone. Chinas continued interference with the Philippines routine and lawful activities in its own exclusive economic zone is unacceptable, said Daza. Saturdays incident was the second time this month that Philippine crew members were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea. Tense incidents at sea that have become more frequent lately, as Chinese ships try to block Philippine ships and boats from delivering supplies to Manilas military outpost there. The Philippines in 1999 deliberately grounded an old navy ship on the shoal BRP Sierra Madre where it maintains a detachment of troops. Four crew members aboard a military-contracted Philippine ship sustained minor injuries when a water cannon blast from China Coast Guard ships shattered the windshield on the bridge during the incident on March 5, according to Filipino officials. The Philippines urges China to take the correct track of abiding by international law and respecting the legitimate rights of other states like the Philippines, and to cease and desist from its continued violation of international law, Daza said, adding the Philippine embassy in Beijing had also been instructed to lodge a protest with Chinas foreign ministry. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including Second Thomas Shoal that is within the Philippines exclusive economic zone. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan also have territorial claims to the sea. A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague dismissed Chinas sweeping historical claims to the waterway, but Beijing has refused to acknowledge the ruling. This frame grab from aerial video footage taken and released on March 23, 2024 by the Armed Forces of the Philippines shows a vessel described as a China Coast Guard ship (L) deploying water cannon against the Philippine military-chartered civilian boat Unaizah May 4 during its supply mission near the Second Thomas Shoal. [Armed Forces of the Philippines/AFP] On Monday, Chinas embassy in Manila said it had communicated its strong opposition to the Philippine government, which it accused of attempting to transport construction materials to the shoal a claim that Manila has denied. The China Coast Guard in response has implemented lawful regulation, interception, and expulsion in a reasonable and professional manner, the embassy said in a statement. It added that the international arbitration award in 2016 was illegal and therefore null and void. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Monday urged Beijing to take its claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea to international arbitration. If China is not afraid to state its claims to the world, then why dont we arbitrate under international law? Teodoro told reporters, adding Manila would not budge on its position. They are the ones who entered our territory. No country believes [their claims] and they see this as their way to use force, intimidate and bend the Philippines to their ambitions. Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiadong, who was appointed to the job last week, conveyed some strong words to his Philippine counterpart during a phone call. China once again urges the Philippines to honor its commitments and consensus, stop its maritime abuses and provocations, stop any unilateral actions that may complicate the situation, and earnestly return to the right track of properly handling differences through dialogue and consultation with China, Chen told Ma. Theresa Lazaro, the Philippine undersecretary for foreign affairs, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Chinese foreign ministry. Meanwhile, Washington condemned Chinas most recent actions as dangerous and said they undermine regional stability but also display a blatant disregard for international law. [The] Peoples Republic of China (PRC) ships repeated employment of water cannons and reckless blocking maneuvers resulted in injuries to Filipino service members and significant damage to their resupply vessel, rendering it immobile, said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. This report has been updated to add comments by Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiadong. A convoy of trucks waits at the Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge No. 2 to deliver aid to three villages in Myanmars Kayin state, on March 25, 2024. Thailands government started aid deliveries to Myanmar on Monday along a newly developed humanitarian corridor to assist civilians affected by fighting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Thai and Myanmar Red Cross Societies, sent aid in an eight-truck convoy across Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge No. 2. Four thousand packages were delivered to three villages in Kayin state, namely Na Bu in Kawkareik district, and Thar Ma Nya and Paingkyon in Hpa-An district. The aid will benefit around 20,000 people in towns selected in the pilot project for their acute need, according to Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. We hope very much to see peace in Myanmar, internal issues certainly will be resolved by Myanmar themselves, Sihasak said at the aid ceremony in Mae Sot. We want every side, all sides, to overcome their differences so that we can be led to reconciliation and peace in the near future. Members of the Thai Red Cross pose with Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow (left) outside the Mae Sot Customs House by Friendship Bridge No. 2 on March 25, 2024. [Kiana Duncan/RFA] Sihasak previously expressed hope that the aid initiative could help open the way for dialogue between the civilian National Unity Government, ethnic armed organizations and the junta, which seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup detat. However, he declined to comment Monday on which groups controlled the territory to which aid would be delivered. I dont want to look at the issue as to which area is controlled by which side, lets talk about the people who are affected. If there is an area where there is a need, then we have to take a look, he said. We are ready to work with everyone, as long as the focus is the people receiving the humanitarian aid. Renewed fighting fuels need Some non-junta stakeholders have criticized the limited scope of the assistance. However, a resurgence in fighting has increased the number of people in need of aid, whatever the amount. After the anti-junta Karen National Liberation Army launched an assault on military camps in Myanmars Myawaddy township on March 7, civilians were left displaced and in need of both food and medicine, according to a spokesperson for the Karen Department of Health and Welfare, declining to be named for security reasons. As many as 30 people were critically injured during battles, and at least three have died from serious injuries in southern Myawaddy and Kawkareik townships. Nearly 3,000 new internally displaced people have been identified since March 7, but the number is likely higher, the spokesperson said. She added that many of them are suffering from diarrhea and fever because they are drinking river water due to the heat. Skirmishes and humanitarian issues are also increasingly affecting Thailands border. Large numbers of migrants fleeing conscription laws enacted by the junta fled through Thai borders, the largest number being arrested in Tak province in February. On Tuesday, 40 junta soldiers fled into Thailands Umphang district, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of Mae Sot, according to the Karen Information Center. The week-long battle with the Karen National Liberation Army caused Thailand to close its border crossing near Paing Ka Hlaing village in Kayin state. Engaging all parties? Despite the foreign affairs ministrys claims to engage all parties, some stakeholders dont feel an adequate effort has been made. Aid would be handed off to community leaders and the district authority in recipient villages, Sihasak said. But the National Unity Governments Ministry of Humanitarian Assistance, along with ethnic armed groups, has drafted an alternative proposal that it said would make Thailands aid delivery plan more effective. It proposed instead to work with local organizations to reach areas controlled by ethnic armed groups. Drivers in a truck marked for Paingkyon village begin their journey outside Thailand's Customs House on March 25, 2024. [Kiana Duncan/RFA] However, the National Unity Government a shadow government formed by members of the civil administration ousted in the coup says there has been no direct communication from Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the plan, proposed ahead of a seminar in Bangkok earlier this month on the situation in Myanmar. For effective delivery of such aid to the most needy people, close cooperation with EROs [ethnic resistance organizations] and NUG [National Unity Government] will be of paramount importance, said Win Myat Aye, the NUG minister of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management. Given Thailands status as a pivotal neighboring country to Myanmar, coordinated and collaborative efforts with NUG and EROs are imperative to resolve the ongoing crisis through diplomatic channels. Thai authorities have reached out to one or two ethnic armed groups, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the situation. He declined to name them. The Karen National Union, running parts of Kayin state, declined to comment on whether Thailand had discussed the delivery with them. Lalita Hanwong, a historian at Kasetsart University and advisor to the Thai government on national security issues, said the humanitarian corridor was a positive development. I believe that the security sector and the Thai government have thoroughly considered this matter, she told BenarNews. What Thailand should do next is to initiate negotiations with minorities, especially those in areas bordering Thailand, to ensure sustainable assistance. Thailand's long-term plan should prepare for various scenarios that could arise with Myanmar, such as fragmentation into multiple groups like the Shan, Karen, and Mon. BenarNews reporter Ruj Chuenban contributed to this story from Bangkok. Mexico is alerting a federal US court to the potential consequences of allowing a contentious Texas immigration law to go into effect, emphasizing it could lead to "significant tension" between the two nations. In a filing submitted Thursday to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals, legal representatives for Mexico highlighted the potential for strain in relations with the US. "Enforcement of SB 4 would inappropriately burden the uniform and predictable sovereign-to-sovereign relations between Mexico and the United States by criminalizing the unauthorized entry of noncitizens into Texas from outside the county and creating diverging removal requirements between and among individual states and the national government" lawyers explained in the brief. "Enforcement of SB 4 would also interfere with Mexico's right to determine its own policies regarding entry into its territory, undermine U.S.-Mexico collaboration on a legal migration framework and border management, and hinder U.S.-Mexico trade," the attorneys told the court. Approved by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in December, the law stipulates that entering Texas illegally is a state-level crime and authorizes state judges to issue deportation orders for immigrants. However, immigration enforcement typically falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The 5th Circuit is currently determining whether Texas can implement Senate Bill 4 while evaluating the larger question of its compliance with the US Constitution. A three-judge panel at the appeals court put the law back on hold late Tuesday after the Supreme Court cleared the way for it to go into effect for a short period earlier that day, reported CNN. Mexico announced its support for those challenging the law, including the Biden administration. In their Thursday brief, Mexican attorneys argued that if the law is allowed to take effect, it will lead to discrimination. Earlier Thursday, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said Mexico's 11 consulates in Texas have been ordered to provide protection and guidance and have made legal support available for any Mexican nationals across the state who "starts to have a problem" under the new law. "This law is deeply unconstitutional," Barcena declared, arguing that immigration issues in the US are under federal jurisdiction, just like in Mexico. "So, we are not going to allow any action by the state of Texas, neither the authorities, nor the police, nor anyone who acts on immigration matters at a state level, at the county level, this is a federal matter and for us too. So we are there," the minister added. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 33F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 33F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. BENNINGTON The Bennington plumbing contractor who allegedly ripped off numerous clients for thousands of dollars has tentatively agreed to plead guilty to three felony home improvement fraud charges and serve a 3- to 7-year prison sentence with restitution for his victims. Robert Billings, 51, charged as a habitual offender, is expected to plead guilty at an upcoming change of plea hearing at the Bennington courthouse on three counts of home improvement fraud greater than $1,000. In exchange, state prosecutors will dismiss a fourth fraud case and a DUI charge. Under the agreement, Billings will plead guilty to three out of four counts of home improvement fraud and serve the concurrent sentence behind bars with credit for the months he has already been incarcerated as he awaited trial. He will also owe his victims restitution for any money paid that did not result in work completed. According to court documents, Billings, owner of 4th Generation Plumbing and Heating, failed to complete or refund deposits to four individuals in Bennington, Sandgate, and Winhall between 2021-2023. The alleged fraud totaled over $16,000. According to prosecutors, the soon-to-be dismissed fourth fraud charge had been settled with a $2,850 restitution already paid. The three remaining charges that are part of the plea deal are as follows: In November 2021, Billings allegedly contracted with an 84-year-old Bennington homeowner to replace a furnace on Scott Street. Billings received deposit checks totaling $8,300 for the work, stating that the homeowner needed to replace his entire furnace. Nearly two years later, the work was never completed, and no money was returned. A second opinion was given to the homeowner in 2023, informing him that the old furnace did not need replacement. In October 2022, Billings allegedly entered into a contract with Winhall homeowners for extensive plumbing work on their Beaver Street home. Several deposit checks totaling $6,000 were written to Billings for the job, which was never completed. Billings returned $600 to the homeowners several months after they threatened to go to the police. $5,400 was never refunded. In February 2023, Billings allegedly promised to fix a heating problem for a Bennington homeowner, including installing a new oil tank. The homeowner gave Billings four checks totaling $10 900 for the work, which was never performed. A heating expert later confirmed to the homeowner that a new oil tank was unnecessary. Billings, charged as a habitual offender, was initially facing a possible life sentence if convicted on any of the felony home improvement fraud charges. A habitual offender in Vermont is a person who has had three or more previous felony convictions, allowing prosecutors to ask for a life sentence if convicted again. He was also facing a possible two year sentence on the DUI if convicted. Billings has a lengthy criminal record in Vermont, including at least five home improvement fraud convictions in Vermont from between 2010 and 2016. A preliminary search online revealed an F-rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) for a company called 4th Gen, a Bennington plumbing business associated with Billings' name with the same listed address as on court records. Several complaints recite familiar circumstances, including up-front monies taken with no work done and none returned, and work being cited that was not needed. Just last week, Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark announced Vermont's top 10 consumer complaints in 2023. Home improvement fraud occurred at number two, with 173 consumer complaints, second only to motor vehicle complaints. A check of Billings on the fraud registry showed at least eight listings for home improvement fraud. Clarks official website provides guidance on finding and hiring a contractor in Vermont. It also links to Vermonts Home Improvement Fraud Registry. The address is ago.vermont.gov/home-improvements. A change-of-plea hearing in the Billings cases has not been scheduled. A Bennington judge will have to sign off on the plea deal before it becomes official. Billings is still in custody at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland on an unmet $5,000 bail on the fraud charges and failure to appear at one of his hearings. Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. BENNINGTON Federal funding earmarked by U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., will help launch a physician residency program at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center to train family medicine doctors specializing in rural delivery of primary care. The $2 million congressionally directed budget earmark was among eight announced Saturday by Welch, totaling $13 million for projects or proposals in Vermont. Dr. Trey Dobson, chief medical officer at SVMC, said Monday that the residency program has been under consideration for about five years in cooperation with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., which is a teaching hospital with about 50 physician residency or fellowship programs. First at SVMC The family medicine residency would be the first within the Dartmouth Health network established at SVMC, he said, and will likely begin in two to three years, with four to eight doctors whove just graduated from medical school. Such three-year residencies typically expand to include double the number of participants in the second year and to triple the original class size in the third year, Dobson said. He added that there will be a dedicated program site, either on the SVMC campus or elsewhere, possibly in downtown Bennington. The hope is to complete the comprehensive regulatory process through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to allow the first residents to begin in July 2026, he said. First steps Dobson said the $2 million in federal funding will allow the health care organization to begin hiring staff, including a physician as director to get the program up and running. Other staff to be hired will include three to five physicians dedicated primarily to the residency program and support staff, he said, while SVMC physicians from other departments will assist in teaching as adjunct faculty. Basically, the community can also look forward to a whole new [health care] site, to house the program, he said. Joining Dartmouth Health Dobson said SVMC formally joining in July 2023 the Dartmouth Health network of hospitals and clinics in the region was the first principal goal in establishing the residency here. The move followed several years of cooperation with Dartmouth in a number of medical areas, including physician recruitment and online access to specialists at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The federal funding earmarked by Welch represents the second significant milestone. SVMC also has and will continue to seek other funding support for the program, Dobson said. Doctor recruitment Dobson said he expects to residency program will certainly help with recruiting primary care physicians to the Bennington area and surrounding region. Typically, 50 percent [of physicians] will stay in the health care system or in a nearby system, after completing their residency, he said. Federal earmarks The $13 million in federal budget funding directed by Welch comes after announcement earlier this month of $30 million in directed spending for 19 other Vermont projects or initiatives. Welch said in a release that the congressionally directed spending was included in a bipartisan agreement that included appropriations for Defense, Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs in the federal budget. This bipartisan bill is not perfect but represents a compromise, he said. We were able to secure solid wins for families across America, while avoiding far-right Republicans attempts to cut spending by 22 percent and include extreme policy riders, which would have hurt hardworking families in Vermont. Welchs office also announced it is now accepting requests for directed spending funding for state and local government entities and non-profit organizations based in Vermont for fiscal year 2025. Requests must be completed and submitted via electronic application by Monday, April 8, at 11:59 p.m., according to the announcement. More information can be found on Welchs website. Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. Anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye said Monday that Senegal's people had chosen to "break" with the current political system as he was set to become the youngest president in the country's history. Faye's main rival from the governing coalition, Amadou Ba, has already conceded the race, triggering a political earthquake in the West African nation. It marked a stunning victory for the 44-year-old Faye, who was only freed from prison 10 days before Sunday's election, whose results are not yet official. He described himself in his first public address since Ba conceded as "the choice of a break" from the establishment. One of his main priorities as president will be "national reconciliation" following three years of unrest and a political crisis, Faye said. Faye also vowed to "fight corruption at every level" rebuild institutions and tackle the cost of living crisis. xIt is the first time in 12 presidential votes held under universal suffrage since Senegal gained independence from France in 1960 that an opposition candidate has won in the first round of voting. Ba, 62, recognised Faye's win and rang him to offer his congratulations. Outgoing president Macky Sall, who did not stand after wins in 2012 and 2019, also congratulated him, hailing "a victory for Senegalese democracy". - 'Hungry for change' - Faye has promised left-wing pan-Africanism and to renegotiate gas and oil contracts, with Senegal due to start production on recently discovered oil and gas reserves later this year. The opposition candidate has never held a nationally elected position before. The United States echoed Sall in hailing a triumph of democracy in Senegal. "The commitment of the Senegalese people to the democratic process is part of the foundation of our deep friendship and strong bilateral ties," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Faye on his victory, and said he looked forward to working with him. El Hadji Mamadou Mbaye, a political science lecturer and researcher at the University of Saint-Louis, told AFP that "people are hungry for change when you see what is happening in this country in terms of corruption, non-respect of the law". The person who most embodied the longed-for change was Ousmane Sonko, Mbaye added, referring to the firebrand opposition figurehead who was barred from running in the election but endorsed Faye as his replacement. Faye had appeared clearly ahead of former prime minister Ba, according to provisional results from individual polling stations published by local media and on social networks. Official results are expected before the end of the week. An absolute majority was required for a first-round win. Newspaper front pages had already congratulated Faye. "Happy Birthday Mister President," said the Walf Quotidien, referring to Monday being Faye's birthday. Hundreds of jubilant Faye supporters had gathered at his campaign headquarters in the capital Dakar late on Sunday. "It's a total revolution. Everything is going to change. Behaviourally, socially and financially, everything is going to change," Coumba Diallo, a singer known as Queen Biz, enthused. At least 10 of the 17 presidential candidates earlier on Monday had congratulated Faye in light of provisional results published by the media. No major incidents were reported during the vote despite three years of bouts of unrest and a last-minute postponement of the election. - Deep change - Faye was released from prison on March 14 under a rapidly passed amnesty law, together with Sonko. He was jailed last year on charges linked to a standoff between Sonko and the state. Sonko was barred from running in the presidential race due to a defamation conviction. The anti-establishment candidate has pledged to restore national "sovereignty" and distribute wealth more equitably. He has also promised to renegotiate mining, gas and oil contracts signed with foreign companies. "I want to say to the international community, to our bilateral and multilateral partners, that Senegal... will remain... a sure and reliable ally to all partners who commit to a virtuous, respectful and mutually productive cooperation with us," Faye said on Monday. - Postponement - Senegal was originally due to vote on February 25, but an 11th-hour postponement by Sall triggered the worst political crisis in decades and violence that left four dead. Around 7.3 million of Senegal's 18 million population were eligible to vote. With the country viewed as a beacon of democracy in coup-hit West Africa, where Russia is strengthening its influence, the election was closely followed. It is Senegal's third democratic handover from one elected leader to another since independence. Hundreds of observers from civil society, the African Union, the ECOWAS regional group and the European Union were on hand. After weeks of confusion, Senegal's top constitutional body overruled Sall's attempt to delay the vote until December and forced him to reset the date to March 24, resulting in a rushed campaign that clashed with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Sall's legacy includes mass arrests, persistent poverty, 20 percent unemployment and thousands of migrants setting off on the perilous voyage to Europe each year. Several episodes of unrest triggered partly by the stand-off between Sonko and the state have seen dozens killed and hundreds arrested since 2021. bur-sba-lal-amt/kjm/aph/mca Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. By James Gamble via SWNS A very polite small Japanese bird gestures with its wings to mates to convey the message "after you" to mates. Researchers discovered that the Japanese tit flutters its wings to politely indicate for a mate to enter a nest box first. However, the birds differ slightly from humans in that it's usually the female birds that make the gesture towards arriving males - meaning the adage of 'ladies first' does not apply. Researchers from the University of Tokyo observed the birds on hundreds of occasions to conduct their study, published in the journal Current Biology. The discovery challenges the previously held belief that only humans and apes use gestures to communicate and could also help us understand the evolution of our own language. Gestures are an integral part of how we humans communicate with one another - whether it be a thumbs up, a wave goodbye or even something more sinister such as a middle finger. Such gestures were once thought to be used solely by humans until closer observations of great apes such as chimpanzees and bonobos revealed that they too communicate non-verbally with their bodies. More recently, studies of other animals such as ravens and fish show that they also use some simple gestures to point out objects or show something of interest, called deictic gesturing. But symbolic gestures, such as showing an open hand to signal 'after you' require complex cognitive skills, and there was previously no conclusive evidence supporting the existence of such abilities in animals other than humans. This is why the researchers from the University of Tokyo were so surprised to find clear evidence of such symbolic gesturing in the Japanese tit (Parus minor). In our latest discovery, we revealed that the Japanese tit uses gestures to communicate with their mate," Associate Professor Toshitaka Suzuki said. For over 17 years, I have been engaged in the study of these fascinating birds. "They not only use specific calls to convey particular meanings, but also combine different calls into phrases using syntactic rules. "These diverse vocalizations led me to initiate this research into their potential use of physical gestures." In spring, Japanese tits form mating pairs and build their nests inside tree cavities with small entrances. When feeding their nestlings, the birds enter the nest one at a time. The researchers observed the behavior of eight pairs of birds breeding in nest boxes and noticed that when carrying food back to the nest, the tits would often find a perch nearby before entering and one would flutter their wings toward the other. After analyzing more than 320 nest visitations in detail, the research team saw that the wing-fluttering display prompted the bird being fluttered at to enter the nest box first, whilst the one doing the fluttering entered second. The researchers said this determined the order of nest entry and mirrored the 'after you' gesture used by humans. We were surprised to find that the results were much clearer than we had expected," Professor Suzuki explained. "We observed that Japanese tits flutter their wings exclusively in the presence of their mate, and upon witnessing this behavior, the mate almost always entered the nest box first." The researchers also found that the gesture was more frequently performed by female birds, after which the male bird usually entered the nest box regardless of which had arrived first - meaning the tits don't appear to subscribe to the age-old human adage of 'ladies first'. If the female didnt flutter her wings, she usually entered the nest box before the male. The researchers believe this behavior fulfils the criteria to be classified as a symbolic gesture as they only saw it occur in the presence of a mate, it stopped after the mate entered the nest box and it encouraged the mate to enter the nest box without any physical contact. They also noted that the wing-fluttering 'after you' gesture was aimed at the mate and not the nest box, meaning it wasnt used as a deictic gesture to indicate something of interest. Professor Suzuki added that his team's findings were not only crucial to deciphering animal languages but could also help us understand the evolution of our own language. There is a hypothesis that walking on two legs allowed humans to maintain an upright posture, freeing up their hands for greater mobility, which in turn contributed to the evolution of gestures," he said. "Similarly, when birds perch on branches, their wings become free, which we think may facilitate the development of gestural communication. We will continue to decipher what birds are talking about through gestures, vocalizations and their combinations. "This endeavor not only enables us to uncover the rich world of animal languages, but also serves as a crucial key to unraveling the origins and evolution of our own language. This happy dog is one of the animals made available through Adopt a Stray Rescue in Benton. The local nonprofit houses unwanted dogs and gives them fresh opportunities to live with forever homes. (Photo : RT/X) Islam Khalilov reportedly helped rescue 100 people from the Moscow terrorist attack. A 15-year-old is being called a hero for reportedly leading more than 100 people to safety during the terrorist attack at a Moscow-area concert hall on Friday. Islam Khalilov was working in a cloakroom at the Crocus City Hall venue when four gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons. At least 133 people were killed in the attack and fire that was set to the building. Amid the bloodshed, the boy helped guide terrified people to the venue's emergency exits, the Daily Mail reported. "At first we heard some strange sounds on the first floor. We thought maybe some noisy group had come," he told the paper. Then he saw concertgoers running in a panic. A video showed Khalilov guiding the fleeing crowd to safety via an emergency stairway. 15 year old Islam Khalilov saved over 100 lives during the Moscow terrorist attack yesterday Despite his age, Islam worked part-time at the hall and he used his knowledge to lead people through passages, out of harm's way Hero. Give him a medal. pic.twitter.com/5FsAyOVYut March 23, 2024 "I understood that if I didn't react, I would lose my life and the lives of many people," he said. "Honestly, it was very scary." He shouted for people to follow him, according to the Daily Mail. Khalilov said he was worried the attackers would start shooting or throw a grenade at him as he was in the crowd. "Thank God, nothing happened," he said. "I managed to open the door in time and let everyone out towards the Expo." In a separate interview with Russian news outet RT he said, "I did not leave anyone behind." I did not leave anyone behind I was doing my job His name is Islam Khalilov. A Muslim who saved lives in Russia: pic.twitter.com/t5xgnv6h8E March 24, 2024 The teen is still reportedly trying to come to grips with the experience, including seeing one man gunned down in front of him before leading the escape. "That all this happened before my eyes," he said. "To be honest, I'm still in a state of shock." He is expected to be honored by Russian law enforcement for his heroism. An offshoot of the Islamic State terror group, ISIS-K, has claimed responsibility for the attack. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. NORTH ADAMS The first time David Towler saw the mural depicting lions, the Ten Commandments and a pair of American flags in this citys first synagogue building, he was, in his own words, blown away. It was like finding this little hidden treasure up in a dusty old attic, he said. It was just very moving. Towler had seen pictures his uncle, the late Harold Taskin, had taken when he visited the old building with a group of members of Congregation Beth Israel sometime in the 1990s. But seeing it in person inspired him to dig deeper. Towler did some research and learned that, while the Francis Street building dates to 1893, an expansion in 1898 for the synagogues sanctuary coincided with the commission of the mural, which was positioned above the ark. Now there's an effort to preserve the 25-foot long mural and move it to a place where it will be seen by an appreciative audience: at the Yiddish Book Center. The initial estimate is $450,000 to conserve, move and install the mural, which is considered one of the earliest works of its kind found in an American synagogue. HISTORY OF A HIDDEN GEM The Lithuanian Jews who formed Congregation Beth Israel commissioned Noah Levin to design and execute the mural for their new synagogue. Levin painted in conte crayon, a type of pastel, that like most other pastels easily smudges. He drew directly onto plaster, incorporating a mix of religious symbolic images, including hands in the sign of the priestly blessing, a crown and laurel leaves. The mural also includes colorful hills, flowers and perhaps cypress trees. Theres also lettering in Hebrew, with the name of the synagogue written across the bottom and Hebrew words that translate as Know before whom you stand, written on top. When Congregation Beth Israel moved its quarters in 1920, the mural was left behind. Over the years, many caught glimpses of the hidden mural. Paulette Wein, who grew up in North Adams, remembers accompanying her sisters Hebrew school class to see it several years ago. Her father was also in attendance. She called the experience of viewing it both creepy and beautiful, remembering the hike up creaky stairs to view the mural, then half-hidden behind a wall. CRUSADE TO SAVE THE MURAL In 2019, historian Carol Clingan contacted Towler to request photographic images of yahrzeit plaques that had belonged to Congregation Beth Israel. As a genealogical researcher, she was collecting images of the traditional memorial plaques, which contain the date of death of the deceased along with the name of the persons father, information she considers invaluable in her work. Towler obliged, sending her the images of the yahrzeit plaques, but he also provided her a piece of tantalizing information. He told her about the mural. Clingans father came from Burlington, Vt., where another, slightly later and more elaborate mural had been recently rediscovered, moved and restored. The earliest Jews in Burlington and in North Adams both came from the same area of western Lithuania and eastern Belarus. And they had a tradition at home of having these little wooden synagogues that weren't decorated on the outside, because Jews weren't allowed to do certain kinds of things like masonry but they were skilled artists, so they decorated them on the inside, Clingan said. Her interest piqued, Clingan made the trip from Boston to view the mural. Seeing it inspired Clingan, who is now on a one-woman crusade to preserve it. To donate Gifts to the Mural in the Attic can be made online here. Checks should be payable to the Yiddish Book Center, a 501(c)3, directed to MARC, and sent to 1021 West St., Amherst, MA 01002. For further information, contact atticmural@gmail.com. Having found no home for it in the Berkshires, she reached out to the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, which has promised to place it in a prominent position, provided Clingan can raise the money. Her largest single donation is $250,000. Clingan has raised a total of $300,000 thus far. LOST TO HISTORY ... ALMOST Clingan invited Samuel D. Gruber, an art and architectural historian and preservationist, who is also president of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments, to visit the mural. In recent years, Gruber has turned his attention to the visual arts and artifacts displayed in American synagogues, including the carving of arks that hold Torah scrolls, the architecture and other interior details, such as murals and paper cuts. After working for decades documenting synagogues and cemeteries in Eastern Europe, Gruber decided to shift his focus to American synagogues for a simple reason: These artifacts are also being lost. We just have so little of it that survives today, he said. In America, we've lost most of the immigrant synagogues, including their decorations. That's because of prosperity, because of moving on, because of disinterest, changing tastes. It has nothing to do with persecution or the Holocaust, but the loss is still just as real. North Adams is a case in point, he said. He called seeing the mural in North Adams in 2019 very exciting. It's very close to the top of good days for discovering new things in my American travels, he said. The 25-foot-long mural is the earliest known piece of this type of folk art in an American synagogue, according to Gruber. He credits Clingan for taking on the fundraising to preserve the mural, which he called adorable. Gruber used that word deliberately, calling it endearing as well. It really comes from the heart of the creator, and probably, in some way, I would like to believe it exemplifies the warmth that one might find in this small immigrant, 50-people community in North Adams around the turn of the 20th century. WORTH SAVING, CELEBRATING The word Gruber didnt use, but could have, was haimish, the Yiddish word for homey. And as Wein and Jane Shapiro Miller describe their growing up years in North Adams, that concept permeates. Wein, whose father, Eugene Wein, and grandfather, Harry Wein, were both presidents of Congregation Beth Israel, said her memories of growing up in North Adams as a Jew were positive. Miller said her parents gave the babysitter the phone number for the synagogue, then on Church Street, when she was growing up. Her great-grandfather, Abraham Shapiro, was a founder. She recalled festivals to celebrate the holiday of Purim at the Church Street synagogue where people set up booths with different activities. "It was a big deal," she said. "Really, really fun." Today Miller has taken a key role on Congregation Beth Israel's cemetery committee, on which Wein and Towler also serve. Among her endeavors, she has mapped the graves at the Clarksburg site that her great-grandfather helped establish, even before the synagogue. And while Miller wishes there could be a local home for the mural, Wein is comfortable with it heading to Amherst, where it will be seen by thousands of people. Likewise, Towler, who at first hoped it could stay in North Adams, says he's now pleased with the plan. Executive Director of the Yiddish Book Center, Susan Bronson who lives in Monterey loves the mural, calling it a treasure. She would be pleased if there were an appropriate location to showcase the mural in or closer to North Adams. Its always great to keep things in the community when its possible, she said, drawing a parallel. We believe that the many books that we've recovered over the years are worth celebrating. This, too, is worth saving and celebrating, and so we're happy to be part of that effort. Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. I had been reading Acts 1 when verse 18 above, which described Judas Iscariots tragic death, arrested me. Judas was one of the original twelve apostles. However, this wasnt how he gained notoriety. Have you noticed how quickly people get triggered these days? From cancel culture to road rage to family tension, it seems offense loads the air we breathe. And since its hard to forgive, lets take every opportunity to practice the skill. Forgiving someone who is near and dear to you may be harder compared to forgiving a stranger. Those close to you also possess the great potential to hurt you on a regular basis. Contrast this to strangers who may only offend you once in your lifetime. If you make a point to forgive a relative strangerJudasit will help you forgive your loved ones in general. Judas, the one who betrayed him, realized that Jesus was doomed. Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priests, saying, Ive sinned. Ive betrayed an innocent man (Matthew 27:3-4, MSG). Doesnt Judas' confession make it sound as though he never forgave himself? This conclusion makes sense, especially given what happened nexthis suicide (Matthew 27:5). Would his fate have been different had he forgiven himself? I wonder. As is often the case, however, forgiving yourself can prove more challenging than forgiving others. I think of women who might regret their abortions. Or mourners who feel culpable in the death of their loved one. If your offspring is an addict or not doing well for any reason, you might blame yourself. Lets learn from Judas tragic example and forgive ourselves. Regardless of how horrible your situation is, ask the Lord for forgiveness and also the grace to forgive yourself. Please dont ever take your own life like Judas did. No matter what. There are others in the Bible whose offenses also await your forgiveness. Pilate knew Jesus was blameless (Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22) and that it was envy that fueled the Jews to crucify Him (Matthew 24:18). None of these mattered. He still pronounced the death sentence to please the crowd (Luke 23:24). Apostle Peter denied any association with Jesus three solid times (John 18:17, Matthew 26:69, Mark 14:66, Luke 22:56, Luke 22:58). Prior to his conversion, apostle Paul killed and jailed Christians (Acts 8:1-3, Acts 9:1-2). As for contemporary candidates for your forgiveness, all you need to do is glance around, and youll find plenty of names. Think of career politicians whose face can boil your blood in a jiffy. What about elected officials who enact policies that oppose your values? How about sex traffickers and drug smugglers and ministers who molested innocent girls and other folks you frown at, whatever the reason may be? In the last days, the love of many will grow cold because lawlessness will abound (Matthew 24:12). One way to fight back is by increasing our forgiveness quotient. The time to forgive is now, no matter the offense. Even if the offender keeps offending. Hasnt Jesus taught us to forgive 70 times 7 (Matthew 18:21-35)basically implying, keep on forgiving? So, lets practice forgiveness. Lets forgive everyone who has hurt, offended, or taken advantage of us. Starting with Judas. Photo Credit: Getty Images/Design Pics BillOReilly.com is not available in this country. We apologize for any inconvenience. Some Western banks are lobbying against an EU plan to use profits made by Russian central bank funds that are frozen in Europe to arm Ukraine, Reuters reported on Thursday. The European Commission has proposed sending up to 3 billion euros to Ukraine per year using the revenue. About 90% would go to a fund called the European Peace Facility that can be used to buy weapons for Ukraine, and the remaining funds would go to the EUs central budget for other types of aid. Russia has slammed the plan and has vowed to respond. This is outright banditry and theft. These actions are a gross and unprecedented violation of basic international norms. We said that we would respond, and so we shall, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday. Sources told Reuters that banks fear they could be held liable by Russia in the future for being involved in the transaction. The report said once sanctions on Russia are eased or lifted, they could face decades of legal action. The banks also worry the move would erode trust in the Western banking system. One source said it would set a bad precedent and that stealing the funds would amount to the weaponization of foreign-held reserves and assets. The US is looking to take an even more extreme measure by giving all of the Russian funds to Ukraine, not just the profit and interest. Last month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen came out strongly in favor of the idea. It is necessary and urgent for our coalition to find a way to unlock the value of these immobilized assets to support Ukraines continued resistance and long-term reconstruction, Yellen said. Legislation to give the Russian money to Ukraine has been introduced in Congress and has received bipartisan support, but the bills have yet to be voted on. About $67 billion in Russian central bank funds are held in the US, while over $200 billion is held in Europe. (Photo : Ron Chaffin/St. George News/AP) Ruby Franke, 42, asked in a jailhouse phone call whether her case was in the news. Ruby Franke - the YouTube parenting guru who pleaded guilty in December to four counts of aggravated child abuse - asked in a jailhouse phone call whether the charges she then faced had made the news, newly released recordings reveal. Franke, 42, and her business partner, Jodi Hildebrandt, were arrested last summer after one of Franke's malnourished children escaped from Hildebrandt's house and pleaded with neighbors for food and water. Subsequent investigations revealed that the pair, who ran a parenting business, had neglected and physically abused multiple children. Utah prosecutors released several documents this week associated with the case, including scans of Franke's journals and recordings of her prison phone calls. In a call made Aug. 31 - prior to her guilty plea - Franke spoke with a man who told her that he was prepared to take care of her children. Later in the call, the man said that the public was aware of the case. "Are we in the news?" Franke asked the man, who was not identified by name in the released recordings. "It sounds like at least you're in the news," he replied, adding that a magazine had contacted him. "This is a witch hunt," Franke said. "The devil's been after me for years." Franke maintained the tone in subsequent phone calls - at one point comparing herself to the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith. "The most upsetting thing is that I am completely misunderstood," Franke said the following day. "Joseph Smith, every, every wonderful man of God has had to be misunderstood." In the same phone call, Franke claimed that God told her that her children were going to be taken away. "God told me I'm done," Franke said. "Satan has taken everything away from me that I love. And I'm a good woman. I don't do naughty things." By the end of the year, however, Franke's convictions seemingly started to waver. She pleaded guilty on Dec. 18. In a phone call made Dec. 28, she told another woman that Hildebrandt - who pleaded guilty the day prior to four counts of child abuse - "knew she was lying the whole time." "I think, in the interview, it's going to be apparent that she's mentally ill," Franke said. Franke and Hildebrandt were sentenced last month, each to four consecutive terms of one to 15 years. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. (Photo : CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images) Two Holland America employees died in an "incident" on a ship in the Bahamas, the cruise line said. Two Holland America cruise ship employees died during aboard a ship in the Bahamas, according to the cruise line. The deaths occurred Friday during what the cruise line called an "incident" in the ship's engineering space. The cruise line did not elaborate on the nature of the incident. The deaths took place on the Nieuw Amsterdam while it was docked at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. Holland America did not identify the employees in a statement to news organizations. "All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with our team members' families at this difficult time," the statement said. "The safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew are the company's absolute priority." The ship was on a seven-night sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. It returned to Florida on Saturday according to tracking site Cruisemapper.com. According to the cruise line, the Nieuw Amsterdam can carry more than 2,100 passengers. It was built in 2010. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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 Postal Code Fujitsu has confirmed plans to wind down its Irish operation. The Japanese IT services giant, which has significant contracts with public sector organisations in Ireland, will maintain just a skeleton staff as it shutters its Irish arm. Advertisement An internal email, seen by Computer Weekly, said the decision followed a review of the business performance and outlook in Ireland. It is with regret that we have taken a difficult decision and plan not to pursue new business in the Irish office, Fujitsu's UK and Ireland boss Anwen Owen said in the email. Going forward, Fujitsu plans to refocus its Irish operations on the fulfilment of existing customer contractual commitments. In a statement to breakingnews.ie, the company confirmed: Following a thorough review of the business performance and market outlook in Ireland, and in alignment with Fujitsus global strategic direction, it is with regret that Fujitsu does not plan to pursue new business in the Irish market. Advertisement Advertisement The statement added the plans are subject to consultation with employee representatives, and Fujitsu will be providing support for all those affected in the coming months. The decision, first reported by technology news site The Register, comes as the company finds itself embroiled in controversy in the UK over its role in the Post Office accounting scandal. Hundreds of subpostmasters across the UK were wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after Fujitsus faulty accounting system made it seem as though money was missing from their branches. In 2019, the High Court in London ruled that the software had contained bugs, errors and defects, leading the scandal to become known as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history. Scrutiny of Fujitsu has intensified in recent months after the saga was dramatised in ITVs Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. Fujitsu has offered its deepest apologies to victims of the scandal and said it would contribute towards compensation payments for those wrongly convicted. US president Joe Biden held a phone call with outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Monday, one week after the two leaders had a bilateral meeting in Washington. The White House said Mr Biden spoke with Mr Varadkar to recognise his seven years of service as Taoiseach and Tanaiste in Ireland. Advertisement A statement added: Having recently celebrated St Patricks Day at the White House, they reflected on their cooperation over the years on shared priorities, particularly deepening US-Ireland ties between our people and our economies. They noted recent progress in Northern Ireland with the restoration of its Executive and Assembly, reaffirming the critical role these institutions play in preserving the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said Mr Biden had wished the Taoiseach well in whatever lies ahead. Advertisement A statement said Mr Varadkar thanked the US president for good wishes and also paid tribute to Mr Bidens role in advancing US-Ireland relations. Advertisement US President Joe Biden (left) is greeted by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as he arrives for a state dinner at Dublin Castle during his visit to Ireland (Damien Storan/PA) It added: The Taoiseach also took the opportunity to brief him on the upcoming meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council, which will take place on 8 April, and which will mark another important step forward in restoring the institutions under the Good Friday Agreement. He also wished Mr Biden the best of luck in the US elections in November. Advertisement Last week, Mr Varadkar made the shock announcement he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach once a successor had been appointed. It came days after he returned home from the US following a week of engagements marking St Patricks Day which involved two visits to the White House. Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris has since been appointed as leader of Fine Gael and is expected to be formally appointed as taoiseach after the Dail's Easter recess. A statement from the Government added: The Taoiseach told the President that, all going well, his successor will be appointed on 9 April and looks forward to continuing to work with the US on global affairs, including Ukraine and the Middle East, and to continuing to strengthen ties between Ireland and the US. Advertisement The White House said the US president conveyed that he looks forward to continuing to build a vibrant future for US-Irish relations with the new taoiseach, once elected by the Dail. The relationship between Ireland and the UK has improved over the past year, new Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has said. However, the Minister for Higher and Further Education acknowledged there were challenges in the relationship and said he was proud of the stance the Government had taken over the UKs controversial Legacy Bill. Advertisement Speaking shortly after being confirmed as party leader, which will see him succeed Leo Varadkar as taoiseach, Mr Harris said he looked forward to engaging with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak as well as the recently restored powersharing Executive in Northern Ireland. Mr Varadkar previously had differences with the UK government over Brexit, and relations were also strained at the Governments decision to launch a legal interstate case against the UKs new laws to deal with the legacy of the Troubles. Advertisement Advertisement Mr Harris said he had recently hosted a reception in London and met with a number of MPs. He said: And I did say to them I do think Irish-British relations are in a much better place this March than they were last March. We have seen real progress around the Windsor Framework, we have seen real progress in relation to the Northern Ireland institutions back up and running. Advertisement That is really important. I am determined to work with the Northern Ireland Executive. I look forward to the first North-South Ministerial Council taking place. Mr Harris continued: I welcome, should I be given the honour of serving in the office of taoiseach, an opportunity to engage early with the British prime minister. This country remains strongly pro-European, our home in the European Union is crucial to who we are, to our identity and to our economic success. But good strong economic, social, personal and interpersonal relations with our nearest neighbour in the United Kingdom is always going to be a major, major part of Irelands diplomatic policy. Advertisement Simon Harris said he was proud of the stance Ireland had taken over the Legacy Bill (Eamon Ward/PA) Mr Harris said issues over truth and justice for victims in Northern Ireland still had to be worked through between the two governments. Advertisement He said: There are challenges in the relationship, like there are in any. Advertisement We are all aware of the Legacy Bill and the recent court rulings in Northern Ireland. Those matters need to be worked through. I am proud of the position adopted by the Irish Government. One that wasnt done lightly at all, but that we will stand by victims and survivors and make sure they have an opportunity for truth and justice. Dublin Airport has been urged to delete a "disgusting" tweet about Britain's Princess Kate. The post on X, formerly Twitter, was made several days before Kate revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer, and that she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Advertisement Kate was admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery on January 16th, and a lack of public appearances led to feverish speculation and conspiracy theories on social media. After it emerged a photo shared on Mother's Day had been edited, the speculation only worsened. The tweet from Dublin Airport is a picture of Kate and Britain's Prince William, captured by The Sun, which is photoshopped to make it look like they are in the airport. It is captioned: "Great to see passengers looking so happy and relaxed this morning." Advertisement While it has not been removed, comments on the post are now disabled. Advertisement Unionist councillor Allister Kyle, from the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), has called for the post to be removed along with an apology. "Dublin Airport have come in for considerable criticism on X for their post and have disabled replies to that particular post. Disgracefully, however, it has been left up," he said. "Many people in Northern Ireland will draw their own conclusions about what this says about the deeply embedded anti-Britishness in the Republic. Advertisement "It is time for Dublin Airport to remove this disgusting post, explain how it ever appeared, what action will be taken against those responsible and apologise to Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales." Great to see passengers looking so happy and relaxed this morning. pic.twitter.com/4u35dXnvhU Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) March 19, 2024 Advertisement A number of celebrities have apologised for sharing memes about Kate following her diagnosis. Hollywood actress Blake Lively seemingly mocked Kate after she issued a personal apology for manipulating the family photograph. Referencing a now-deleted Instagram post, Lively said: Im sure no-one cares today, but I feel like I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the photoshop fails frenzy, and oh man, that post has me mortified today. Im sorry. Sending love and well wishes to all, always. Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, British journalist Owen Jones said he was "very ashamed" for speculating without considering it could be a serious health condition. As someone who speculated on this without considering it could be a serious health condition, Im very ashamed to be honest, and all the very best to her. https://t.co/CvLUGtjdet Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) March 22, 2024 Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis and TV presenter Davina McCall are among the celebrities who have called for Kate to be left alone following her cancer diagnosis. Halloween star Curtis wrote on Instagram: Can we please just STOP with this bullshit conspiracy theory? This is a human being with young children, and clearly some sort of a health issue. That is a private matter. Do we not have better things to do and more important things to think about and be concerned about than this? Its a really low point in our society when there are SO MANY crucial issues that need our attention. Sharing an image of Kate with her children by artist Lucy Claire Dunbar, McCall wrote on her account: This picture by @lucyclaireillustration is called Its the love that gets us through. Theyve been through enough. Now lets give them some space to recover. A fourth Dublin-based garda has appeared in court charged in connection with an investigation by the Garda Anti-Corruption Unit. Robert Gorman (43) appeared at Dublin District Court on Monday, charged with perverting the course of justice and burglary. Advertisement The officer was charged with trespassing with intent to commit a theft offence on September 7th, 2021, at a basement flat at Mountjoy Square North in Dublin. He is also accused of two counts of perverting the course of public justice by later signing information for the search warrant and by creating three incidents on the Garda Pulse computer system. The warrant signing and Pulse computer incidents allegedly happened between September 30th and December 30th, and on September 21st, 2021. Detective Sergeant Paul Dowling told Judge Treasa Kelly that the accused was charged with the three offences on March 11th at Irishtown Garda Station and was granted bail. Advertisement Advertisement The court heard the accused, who has a north Dublin address, "made no reply" to the charges. Det Sgt Dowling confirmed that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed trial on indictment, and the defence consented to the case being adjourned until May in order for the State to prepare a book of evidence. The book of evidence must be served on the accused before a trial order is granted and the case is sent to the Circuit Court. Mr Gorman is yet to indicate a plea. Advertisement Investigation Over the past two weeks, three other Dublin-based Garda members have been charged with connected offences. Garda Mark Duffy, from Dublin 15, Garda Colum Ryan, with an address in Co Meath, and Garda Sergeant Ciaran Whelan, with an address in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, have been charged with burglary and perverting the course of justice. Gda Ryan and Sgt Whelan were further accused of false imprisonment of a female at Saint John's Road West, Dublin 8, on September 7th, 2021. They have not entered pleas yet and will also appear before the District Court on May 17th to be served with their books of evidence and returned to the Circuit Court for trial. A peace commissioner and former Labour Party councillor has also been charged with perverting the course of justice and forgery. Steven Wrenn (50), of Iveragh Road, Whitehall, Dublin, is accused of signing two false search warrants for flats at Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1, and Kenilworth Road, Dublin 6, in 2021. The DPP has directed that his case could remain in the District Court if he pleads guilty. He has yet to indicate a plea, and is due back in court on May 7th. Enduring political stability will be key to unlocking economic opportunities offered by Northern Irelands dual market access, the shadow secretary of state has said. Hilary Benn said it was an extraordinarily exciting time for the region as he referred to increased interest in the United States around potential investments. Advertisement Labours Mr Benn was commenting during a visit to Stormont on Monday by a cross-party delegation of Westminster MPs. The parliamentarians have a two-day schedule of meetings in Northern Ireland as part of a fact-finding initiative. Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew, who is son of former Northern Ireland Secretary the late Sir Patrick Mayhew, also talked up the economic possibilities that he believes the restoration of powersharing will offer up. Shadow Northern Ireland minister Fleur Anderson was also part of the delegation that was welcomed by Assembly speaker Edwin Poots to Parliament Buildings on Monday. Advertisement Advertisement Under the Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework post-Brexit trading arrangements, Northern Ireland businesses can sell freely into both the Great Britain market and the EU single market. Brexit barriers on moving goods in the opposite direction within the UK market, from Great Britain into Northern Ireland, was at the heart of a long-running political dispute that saw the DUP boycott powersharing at Stormont for two years. Advertisement A deal with the UK government aimed at reducing some of the red tape associated with the so-called Irish Sea border led to the DUP ending its blockade seven weeks ago, with the ministerial executive being restored thereafter. Some unionists and loyalists are unhappy with the deal and claim it has done little to remove the barriers on trade between GB and NI. Mr Benn focused on the dual market aspect of the trading arrangements as he spoke of Northern Irelands economic potential on Monday. I think this is an extraordinarily exciting time for Northern Ireland, because the people of Northern Ireland needed their government back and everybody has welcomed the fact that the Executive has been restored, he told the PA news agency. Advertisement I think Michelle ONeill and Emma Little Pengelly have made a fantastic start as the leadership team, as the (Sinn Fein) First Minister and the (DUP) deputy First Minister. Advertisement Hilary Benn during an interview at Parliament Buildings at Stormont. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA. I was in Washington a week and a bit ago, and I think its fair to say that Northern Ireland was, in a way, the star of the show, because so many people were talking about the possibilities and the opportunities that there are. Advertisement Northern Ireland has so much potential rich history, its culture, its tourism, its engineering expertise, in financial services, the new sectors of the economy, what a wonderful place to come and invest when youve got access both, of course, to the UK market as part of the UK, but also to the EU market. I think what the restoration of the Executive has given is a sense of stability and you talk to investors and they will often say to you the most important thing for us is is the place were going to put our money into stable? Thats why having restored the institutions, its really important that that endures, because that is the bedrock on which economic success and growth is going to be built. Asked for his views on potential reform of the powersharing rules to prevent future collapses of the institutions, Mr Benn insisted the responsibility for stability lay with locally-elected politicians. Advertisement I mean, when we stand for office, our constituents expect us to go to work and do our job, not to say well, actually theres a reason why we dont want to participate in the institutions, he said. I just have this feeling that after all of the ups and downs and the start and stop there has been, this is a particular moment, it seems to me, for the future of Northern Ireland and that the people who can ensure that the institutions endure are the politicians who are working in this place. I really hope that that is going to be the case, because its the best thing for the people of Northern Ireland, for its economic future and for the functioning of a powersharing democracy here. Shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn (left) alongside Conservative MP Jerome Mayhew at Parliament Buildings. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA. Mr Mayhew welcomed the return of the Assembly and Executive, noting that on his last visit to Parliament Buildings the institutions were in cold storage. I came around on a tour and this was an empty building, and I walked around the chamber, and it wasnt serving its purpose, he said of that previous trip. So, its fantastic that the chamber is now up and running. We have an executive here in Northern Ireland. Its very early days, but the signs are promising. Advertisement Mr Mayhew said the delegation wanted to hear from businesses about both the opportunities and potential threats posed by post-Brexit trading arrangements. There are opportunities in Northern Ireland. Having a relationship both with the south (of Ireland), but also with the integrated relationship which continues with Great Britain, I think that could be, it has the potential to be, really beneficial for the businesses in Northern Ireland, he told PA. I think stability is absolutely key both for economics but also for politics. But Im not here to lecture the politicians in Northern Ireland about their institutions. Im here to support them as they develop the Executive and find out new ways of working together. Now is the time of optimism. Weve been up and running for seven weeks, its just the beginning and theres so much more that can be done here in Northern Ireland, not being imposed upon Northern Ireland, but the people of Northern Ireland, through their elected politicians working here (at Stormont), and creating economic growth and social growth as well. A woman is accused of being in possession of stolen hanging flower baskets after a community group allegedly traced them back to her home via a tracking device. Cork District Court previously heard an outline of evidence in the case facing Mary ODriscoll from Sgt Pat Lyons. Advertisement In January this year, Sgt Lyons told Judge Mary Dorgan that between May 29th and May 31st, 2023, six hanging baskets and flowers, with a value of 180, were stolen from Inch, Killeagh, Co Cork. Because something similar happened the year before, members of the local community who put up the baskets put an Apple tracker into one of the baskets. The tracker gave its location as Ms ODriscolls address. Sgt Lyons said that gardai obtained a warrant to search the home of Ms ODriscoll and found the baskets and the tracking device on site. Advertisement Ms O'Driscoll (45), of Brookhill, Ballea Road, Carrigaline in Co Cork, is being prosecuted for being in possession of the baskets, knowing or being reckless as to whether they were stolen. Judge Dorgan previously accepted jurisdiction to deal with the matter at district court level. On Monday at Cork District Court, the case was put back until May 21st next. A date for trial will be set on that occasion. Ms ODriscoll is being represented by solicitor Shane Collins Daly, who previously applied for a copy of the prosecution statements to be sent to the defence. Confirmation of Simon Harris' selection as the new leader of Fine Gael dominate the front pages on Monday. The Irish Times leads with assurances from Mr Harris, who is now set to become the next taoiseach, that the Government will remain in office until spring 2025, ruling out the chance of any early general election. Advertisement The Irish Examiner's main headline reads: 'Gardai target over 1,400 crime leaders nationwide', and joins The Echo in reporting on the upcoming court appearance of a man charged in connection with a fatal attack in Cobh. Advertisement Like many of the national papers, the Irish Independent's lead image goes to Simon Harris, pictured with his parents and siblings, as he was confirmed as his party's new leader at a convention in Athlone on Sunday. The Irish Daily Mail, however, reports that following Mr Harris' selection, Fianna Fail have warned their Coalition partners to 'cool you jets' regarding proposed legislative changes. Advertisement Advertisement Finally, both the Irish Daily Star and Irish Daily Mirror lead with investigations into an attack on top jockeys by a gang 'moaning about Cheltenham'. In Britain, international hackers and pubs being forced to shut early feature among the stories on Mondays front pages. Advertisement The Sun says 40 million UK voters had their personal details accessed by Chinese hackers. The Sun: China hack attack on UK #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/g9GRDedDOQ George Mann (@sgfmann) March 24, 2024 Advertisement The Telegraph reports Whitehall sources believe China, Russia and Iran are fuelling disinformation about Britain's Princess Kate. The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'China and Russia 'behind slurs on Princess''#TomorrowsPapersToday Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/N1NNuaBkW9 The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 24, 2024 The Daily Express leads with the Easter message from Britain's King Charles, who is said to be eager to provide reassurance to the nation following Kates cancer announcement last week. Daily Express: Kings easter message of unity and hope to nation #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/NJCJDBLJyt George Mann (@sgfmann) March 24, 2024 Costs and lack of customers is forcing a third of pubs to close early, according to the Daily Mirror. Royal insiders believe the family will emerge stronger from the king and Kates health struggles, the Daily Mail says. Metro reports almost 14 billion was donated to charity last year, a 9 per cent increase from 2022. TOMORROW'S PAPER TODAY 14 BILLION UNITED KINDDOM We give record amount to good causes despite cost of living crisis #tomorrowspapertoday pic.twitter.com/iWUbDUftmp Metro (@MetroUK) March 24, 2024 A 760 million boost to nuclear defence spending features on the front of the i. The i: UK's nuclear defence boost to protect against Putin #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/QpsrWoyUk7 George Mann (@sgfmann) March 24, 2024 The Times says Britains leading universities receive most of their fees from foreign students. The Times: Russell Group gets most of its fees from overseas #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/Bh8Gvhckur George Mann (@sgfmann) March 24, 2024 Turning to international headlines, The Guardian leads with two suspects appearing in court over the Moscow attack which killed 137 people. The Guardian: Suspects appear in court accused of Moscow attack that left 137 dead #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/4M2Oo85yzM George Mann (@sgfmann) March 24, 2024 The Financial Times reports the US and Japan are planning the biggest upgrade to their security alliance since 1960 in an effort to counter China. Advertisement Financial Times: US and Japan plan security pact upgrade to resist China #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/rl3KLM90wS George Mann (@sgfmann) March 24, 2024 And the Daily Star has joined a hunt for sunken treasure. (Photo : SAMANTHA LAUREY/AFP via Getty Images) A 12-year-old Texas boy is accused of stabbing a woman in her Houston home. A 12-year-old Texas boy is accused of stabbing a 59-year-old woman inside her Houston home, leaving her critically injured, according to reports. The assault happened Saturday on April Valley Court, the Harris County Sheriff's Department said. The pre-teen was riding his bike with another boy, 7, when they got into a verbal altercation with the woman, according to authorities. Video from a security camera showed the boys riding off but returning a few minutes later wearing gloves, alternately described in local reports as rubber or surgical gloves. The boys were seen running up the driveway to the woman's home, where the 12-year-old allegedly stabbed her, according to local outlet KPRC. The boys then rode off on their bikes, according to reports. The victim's brother found her when he came to her house for a regular visit. A helicopter flew the stabbing victim to a hospital where she was reportedly in critical condition. Authorities later located the boys, taking both into custody, the sheriff's office said. The children, ages 7 and 12, have been located. The female has been taken by Lifeflight to another hospital. https://t.co/jznFbiEYhL March 23, 2024 The older boy has been charged with aggravated assault, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Sunday. The younger child "is not culpable by law" and will not be charged, Gonzalez said. Neither child was publicly identified by name. Authorities and neighbors told local outlet KHOU that the victim has a history of mental health issues that may have played a role in the initial confrontation with the children. "We try to keep patience," neighbor Maddy Monsalve told KHOU. "We are understanding even though it's very frustrating and we all have to call the cops, not just me, other neighbors have too, we try to have patience." "I think these kids just didn't know any better," Monsalve added to KPRC. "So they retaliated." The incident is the second time in a week that kids were alleged to have committed a violent crime in Harris County. Three children, nicknamed the "Little Rascals" by the FBI, were arrested Tuesday in connection with a bank robbery. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Israel has told Ireland and three other European countries that their plan to work toward recognition of a Palestinian state constituted a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict between the neighbours. Ireland said on Friday that, in the name of Middle East peace, it had agreed with Spain, Malta and Slovenia to take first steps toward recognising statehood declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Advertisement Gaza has long been under the rule of the Islamist group Hamas, which rejects peace with Israel and attacked it on October 7th, triggering a devastating war that has stoked violence in the West Bank, where Israel has extensive Jewish settlements. "Recognition of a Palestinian state following the October 7 massacre sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians," Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz said on X. Advertisement "A resolution of the conflict will only be possible through direct negotiations between the parties. Any engagement in the recognition of a Palestinian state only distances reaching a resolution and increases regional instability." He did not specify what kind of resolution he had in mind. Israel, whose governing coalition includes pro-settlement far-rightists, has long ruled out Palestinian statehood. That has put it at loggerheads with Western powers which support its goal of defeating Hamas but want a post-war diplomatic blueprint. Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that bans children aged under 14 from social media platforms and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent, a measure supporters say will protect them from online risks to their mental health. The measure requires social media platforms to terminate the accounts of people under 14 and those of people under 16 who do not have parental consent. It requires them to use a third-party verification system to screen out those who are underage. Advertisement The state's Republican-led legislature passed a bill in February that would have banned children under 16 from social media entirely. Mr DeSantis, a Republican, vetoed that bill earlier this month, saying it limited parents' rights. The amended version allows for parents to provide consent for older children to engage on social media platforms. It will become law on January 1st, 2025. Advertisement "Social media harms children in a variety of ways," Mr DeSantis said in a statement. He said the legislation "gives parents a greater ability to protect their children". Supporters have said the legislation will stem the harmful effects of social media on the well-being of children who use such platforms excessively and may experience anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses as a result. Advertisement Critics have said the bill violates the US Constitution's First Amendment protections for free speech and that parents, not the government, should make decisions about the online presence of their children of all ages. Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, opposed the legislation, saying it would limit parental discretion and raise data privacy concerns because of the personal information users would have to provide to be age-verified. Meta has said it supports federal legislation for online app stores to secure parental approval for downloads by children. The bill does not name any specific social media platforms, but states that its targets are social media sites that promote "infinite scrolling," display reaction metrics such as likes, feature auto-play videos and have live-streaming and push notifications. It would exempt websites and apps whose main function is email, messaging or texting between a particular sender and recipient. The measure requires social media companies to permanently delete personal information collected from terminated accounts and let parents bring civil lawsuits against those failing to do so. Advertisement In March 2023, Utah became the first US state to adopt laws regulating children's access to social media, followed by others including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas, according to a legislative analysis prepared for the Florida bill. The analysis said numerous other states were contemplating similar regulations. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Elon Musks X Corp against the non-profit Centre for Countering Digital Hate, which has documented the increase in hate speech on the site since it was acquired by the Tesla owner. X, formerly known as Twitter, had argued the centres researchers violated the sites terms of service by improperly compiling public tweets, and that its subsequent reports on the rise of hate speech cost X millions of dollars when advertisers fled. Advertisement On Monday, US District Court Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the suit, writing in his order that it was unabashedly and vociferously about one thing punishing the nonprofit for its speech. X had alleged that the nonprofit scraped its site for data, which is against its terms of service. Advertisement WIN: CCDH has had Musks baseless & intimidatory lawsuit against us thrown out of court! Our amazing lawyers at @KaplanHecker aided us in getting Judge Breyer to dismiss the case. A huge win for everyone working to hold social media giants to account. https://t.co/kkuPVyk9Ef Advertisement Center for Countering Digital Hate (@CCDHate) March 25, 2024 But the judge found that X failed to allege losses based on technological harms that is, the company did not show how the scraping led to financial losses for X. Advertisement X had sought millions of dollars in damages, arguing that the nonprofits reports led to the exodus of advertisers and the loss of advertising revenue. But the judge agreed with CCDHs argument saying X cannot seek damages for the independent acts of third parties based on CCDHs reports, or its speech. The centre is a nonprofit with offices in the US and United Kingdom. It regularly publishes reports on hate speech, extremism or harmful behaviour on social media platforms like X, TikTok or Facebook. Advertisement We are grateful for the district courts careful and comprehensive opinion, which refuses to allow Elon Musk and X Corp. to weaponize the courts to censor good-faith research and reporting.@KaplanHeckers @kaplanrobbie. pic.twitter.com/p0m6NYusLh Advertisement Center for Countering Digital Hate (@CCDHate) March 25, 2024 Advertisement The organisation has published several reports critical of Mr Musks leadership, detailing a rise in anti-LGBTQ hate speech as well as climate misinformation since his purchase. In a statement posted to X, the social media platform said it disagrees with the courts decision and plans to appeal. Imran Ahmed, the centres founder and CEO, said the lawsuit amounted to a hypocritical campaign of harassment by a billionaire who talks about protecting free speech but who then uses his wealth to try to silence his critics. He said the lawsuit shows the need for a federal law requiring tech companies to release more information about their operations, so that the public can understand how these powerful platforms are shaping society. We hope this landmark ruling will embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause, said Mr Ahmed. Roberta Kaplan, the centres lawyer, said the dismissal of Xs suit shows even the wealthiest man cannot bend the rule of law to his will. We are living in an age of bullies, and its social media that gives them the power that they have today, Ms Kaplan said in an email to reporters. Advertisement It takes great courage to stand up to these bullies; it takes an organisation like the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. We are proud and honoured to represent CCDH. The centre is not the only group that has pointed to the rise of hateful material on X since Mr Musks purchase in October 2022. Last November, several big advertisers including IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast, said that they stopped advertising on X after a report from the liberal advocacy group Media Matters said their ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis. It was yet another setback as X tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars, Xs main source of revenue. X has also sued Media Matters. Later that month, Mr Musk went on an expletive-ridden rant in response to advertisers that halted spending on X in response to antisemitic and other hateful material, saying they are are engaging in blackmail and, using a profanity, essentially told them to go away. The Philippines lodged its strongest protest against Beijing on Monday and summoned a senior Chinese diplomat over a water cannon assault by the Chinese coast guard. Filipino navy crew members were injured and their boat was heavily damaged in the assault in the disputed South China Sea, officials said. Advertisement In response, China warned that relations were at a crossroads and the Philippines should choose a prudent path forward. Two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine navy-operated supply boat with water cannons on Saturday in the latest and most serious confrontation between the rival Asian claimants. In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a Chinese coast guard ship, top, tries to block a Philippine government vessel in the disputed South China Sea (Philippine Coast Guard via AP) Advertisement The repeated high-seas confrontations since last year have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course. The US has warned repeatedly that it is obligated to defend the Philippines its oldest treaty ally in Asia if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. Advertisement The United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and about 16 other countries have expressed support for the Philippines and the rule of law, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. China accused Philippine vessels of intruding into Chinese waters and its Defence Ministry warned that Beijing will continue to take resolute and decisive measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. Advertisement The Chinese Embassy in Manila issued a statement by the Chinese coast guard that warned the Philippines against playing with fire. In a phone call with her Chinese counterpart, Philippine foreign undersecretary Theresa Lazaro expressed the Philippines strongest protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China coast guard and Chinese maritime militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Philippine officials have summoned a senior Chinese diplomat to Manila to demand that Chinese ships immediately leave the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that lies in the Philippines exclusive economic zone (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) Advertisement It added that it separately summoned a senior Chinese diplomat in Manila to convey the protest and demand that Chinese ships immediately leave the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, which lies in the Philippines exclusive economic zone, and for China to stop violating international law. Philippine defence, security and foreign affairs officials convened a meeting on Monday to discuss new steps to deal with what they say is Chinas unacceptable and provocative actions in the South China Sea. Advertisement Their recommendations would be submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and were not immediately released to the public. Second Thomas Shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of the Philippine navy and marines on a marooned warship since 1999 but has been surrounded by the Chinese coast guard and other vessels in an increasingly tense standoff. Advertisement It is the second time the Philippine supply boat has been damaged by water cannon in March. The US lays no claims to the busy seaway, a key global trade route, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged Chinas claims to virtually the entire South China Sea. Beijing says the strengthening of US alliances in Asia, including with the Philippines, is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway. Beijing has refused to recognise a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds. Chinese spies are likely to use details stolen by hacking the elections watchdog to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinpings government in the UK, British intelligence services believe. Beijing has been publicly blamed by the UK government for targeting the Electoral Commission and also being behind a campaign of online reconnaissance aimed at the email accounts of MPs and peers. Advertisement A front company, Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, and two individuals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, linked to the APT31 hacking group have been sanctioned in response to the malicious cyber activity against the parliamentarians. Advertisement UK foreign secretary David Cameron said the actions were completely unacceptable and he had raised the issue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. The Chinese ambassador has also been summoned to the British Foreign Office to account for his countrys actions. Advertisement UK deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who announced the measures in a Commons statement, said: The UK will not tolerate malicious cyber activity targeting our democratic institutions. The Electoral Commission attack was identified in October 2022, but the hackers had been able to access the commissions systems containing the details of tens of millions of voters for more than a year by that point. Advertisement The registers held at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters. Oliver Dowden making a statement in the Commons that Beijing is behind a wave of state-backed interference (UK Parliament/Andy Bailey) The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, said it was likely that Chinese state-affiliated hackers stole emails and data from the electoral register. Advertisement This, in combination with other data sources, was highly likely to have been used by Beijings intelligence services for large-scale espionage and transnational repression of perceived dissidents and critics based in the UK. There is no suggestion the hack had any impact on the largely paper-based UK electoral system. John Pullinger, chair of the Electoral Commission, said the announcement demonstrates the international threats facing the UKs democratic process and its institutions but insisted the attack had not had an impact on the security of UK elections. Advertisement Advertisement Hostile actors were active in our systems and had access to servers which held our email, control systems, and copies of the electoral registers. We have since worked with external security experts and the National Cyber Security Centre to investigate and secure our systems. Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) August 8, 2023 The separate campaign against MPs and peers in 2021 was almost certainly carried out by APT31, officials said, with the majority of those targeted being prominent critics of the Chinese government. Parliaments security department identified and mitigated the cyber campaign before any accounts could be compromised, the NCSC said. Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), said critics of the Beijing government have been subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time, but MPs would not be bullied into silence by Beijing. STATEMENT ON PRC FOREIGN INTERFERENCE Together with other members of parliament, activists, and dissidents, we have been subjected to harassment, impersonation, and attempted hacking from China for some time. We take this opportunity to highlight that, though extremely unwelcome, pic.twitter.com/reIIRGRtyU Iain Duncan Smith MP (@MPIainDS) March 25, 2024 He added: We must now enter a new era of relations with China, dealing with the contemporary Chinese Communist Party as it really is, not as we would wish it to be. Advertisement Todays announcement should mark a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for values of human rights and the international rules-based system on which we all depend. UK foreign secretary David Cameron said: It is completely unacceptable that China state-affiliated organisations and individuals have targeted our democratic institutions and political processes. While these attempts to interfere with UK democracy have not been successful, we will remain vigilant and resilient to the threats we face. UK foreign secretary David Cameron (PA) The UK acted with support from allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership, which also includes the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in identifying the Chinese-linked cyber campaigns. Mr Dowden said: I hope this statement helps to build wider awareness of how politicians and those involved in our democratic processes around the world are being targeted by state-sponsored cyber operations. The Chinese government strongly denied that it had carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing the claims as completely fabricated and malicious slanders. A spokesperson for Chinas embassy in London said: China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to law. China does not encourage, support or condone cyber attacks. At the same time, we oppose the politicisation of cyber security issues and the baseless denigration of other countries without factual evidence. Advertisement We urge the relevant parties to stop spreading false information and stop their self-staged, anti-China political farce. With local elections in May and a general election later this year, the NCSC has updated advice for political organisations including parties and thinktanks to reduce the risk of cyber attacks. British home secretary James Cleverly insisted the upcoming elections were robust and secure. NCSC director of operations Paul Chichester said: The malicious activities we have exposed today are indicative of a wider pattern of unacceptable behaviour we are seeing from China state-affiliated actors against the UK and around the world. The targeting of our democratic system is unacceptable and the NCSC will continue to call out cyber actors who pose a threat to the institutions and values that underpin our society. The APT31-linked front organisation and individuals will be hit with an asset freeze and travel ban under the sanctions regime. The announcement increased Tory pressure on Rishi Sunak to take a tougher line on China, including labelling it as a threat to the UK. On a visit to Barrow on Monday morning, the UK prime minister repeated the language used in the British governments integrated review of defence and foreign policy: Weve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths is stepping down from his role for health reasons after nearly three years of trying to tackle mounting crises in Ukraine, Gaza and Africa, the United Nations announced. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised Mr Griffiths for his tremendous leadership and service to the United Nations and the humanitarian community in advocating for people affected by crises and mobilising resources to address their needs, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. Advertisement Mr Griffiths, 72, told The Associated Press earlier this month that he suffered a severe case of Covid-19 in October and is still has long Covid. After 3 years on the job, I have informed @antonioguterres of my intention to step down in June. To everyone at @UNOCHA, it's been the privilege of my life. I am deeply in your debt. To all partners and supporters, thank you for championing the cause of people in crises. Advertisement Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) March 25, 2024 Advertisement Mr Griffiths took on the job of UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator in July 2021 as crises were escalating around the globe and funds for humanitarian aid were shrinking. A veteran British diplomat and seasoned negotiator with wide global experience, he served as the UN special envoy for Yemen for three years before taking on the UNs top humanitarian post. Advertisement Mr Haq said Mr Griffiths will remain in his post until the end of June to allow for a smooth transition. In 1994, Mr Griffiths served in Geneva as director of the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, which preceded the establishment of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, that he now heads. From 1999 to 2010, he was the founding director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, where according to the UN he specialised in developing political dialogue between governments and insurgents in a range of countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. Mr Griffiths served as the first executive director of the European Institute of Peace from 2014-2018 and he served as special adviser to three UN special envoys for Syria and as deputy head of the UN mission in Syria from 2012-2014, during the early years of the ongoing conflict there. Advertisement Earlier in his career, he was a British diplomat and worked for various international humanitarian organisations, including Unicef, Save the Children and Action Aid. Some just sell simple baked goods; others display cascades of creamy deliciousness, gateaux as beautifully constructed as buildings. Some have nothing more than counters from where you take away your purchases in paper bags; others have table service and waiters in white aprons. Bakeries, boulangeries, patisseries, pasticcerie, konditoreien whatever they are called in each country are happy places where locals chatter away as they line up to buy their daily bread (and something for dessert) and impatient children gather for their after-school treats. My guiding principle when Im in an unfamiliar place and I need to get grounded fast is simple. Just as gourmands might seek out the best banh mi in Vietnam or ramen in Japan, my mission is to hunt down the iconic cakes that make a place tick. And luckily, they are easily found. Just follow the crumbs. A few months ago, I was in Trieste, a popular cruise port on the Adriatic due to its proximity to Venice. Its a beautiful, small Italian city that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is almost entirely surrounded by Slovenia. Its also Italys coffee capital, the home of Illy coffee. The Triestino apparently drink twice as much coffee as other Italians, and the city boasts many gorgeous 19th-century coffee houses. Its a kind of Vienna on the sea. Having barely a couple of hours in port after a cruise excursion, I naturally headed straight for the famous cake shop, Pasticceria La Bomboniera, which dates from 1836. While the other passengers traipsed around the citys seven hills, I made the better choice, sitting in the weak sun sampling various Austro-Hungarian delicacies from glass display shelves laden with traditional cakes such as Presnitz Strudel or the rolled cake Putizza. So many cakes, so little time. Perth construction sectors backlog and financial challenges The construction industry in Perth is in a tight spot, said Peter Gavalas (pictured above), of Resolve Property Solutions. We're seeing extended delays and financial strain due to the backlog of projects. Unfortunately, this means first-home buyers have fewer new homes to choose from, limiting their options in an already competitive market." Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth led the way with widespread value uplifts. Values in all 312 house and 167 unit markets analysed in Brisbane increased over the year. In contrast, East Perth, an inner-city suburb, was the sole market in the western capital to see a decrease in house values by -0.8%. In Adelaide, only one house market (Black Forest) and one unit market (Glenelg South) experienced declines, dropping -0.4% and -1.8% respectively by February. One brokerage advocating for change is Mortgage Choice an organisation determined to increase the representation of women in broking through its Aspire Program. Launched in 2020, Aspire was created to support and promote the female talent in the Mortgage Choice network. The initiatives delivered under the Aspire banner are developed in partnership with a committee of brokers and Mortgage Choice head office staff who have been instrumental in the programs success. Chinese, Italian fashion industries deepen cooperation by boosting exchanges Xinhua) 11:10, March 25, 2024 SHENZHEN, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Shenzhen-Milan Lifestyle Week was held in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, from Tuesday to Friday, marking the deepening of cooperation between the Chinese and Italian fashion industries. Mario Boselli, president of the Italy China Council Foundation (ICCF), who has long been committed to promoting Sino-Italian economic and trade cooperation, believes that the Chinese market brings broad opportunities for Italian enterprises. The Shenzhen-Milan Lifestyle Week is an important attempt by Shenzhen and Milan to deepen cooperation and exchanges in the modern fashion industry. In the view of Raffaella Godi, chairman of the Italian Guitar Communication Agency, the interaction between the fashion industries of the two countries sends a strong signal that the two different but very similar cultures of China and Italy can collide to produce more creative sparks. Giliola Adele Maule, president of Camera Showroom Milano, an independent association of selected international fashion showroom in Milan, said that the Fashion Week has a huge impact on the downstream market of the fashion industry chain, gathering resources from domestic and international designers, brands, buyers, foundations and agents, promoting the concentration of development factors, extending the industrial ecosystem, and injecting new momentum into the development of the fashion industry. Zhao Huizhou, founder and chief designer of Eachway Fashion Group, hopes to promote cooperation between Chinese and Italian designers, fashion experts and fashion tourism, and through mutual empowerment between cultures. The Shenzhen-Milan Lifestyle Week has facilitated several deep cooperation agreements between Chinese and Italian fashion industry professionals. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) (Photo : Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Popular fast food chain Chick-fil-A is ending its policy of using only antibiotic-free chicken. Chick-fil-A is ending its "No Antibiotics Ever" policy in an effort to "maintain supply," the popular chicken joint recently announced. "To maintain supply of the high-quality chicken you expect from us, Chick-fil-A will shift from No Antibiotics Ever (NAE) to No Antibiotics Important To Human Medicine (NAIHM) starting in the Spring of 2024," the chain wrote on its website and in a notification to users of its app. Where the NAE policy meant that "no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal," the NAIHM approach "restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important to human medicine and commonly used to treat people, and allows use of animal antibiotics only if the animal and those around it were to become sick," the announcement said. The Georgia-based chicken chain first made its NAE commitment in 2014, according to Reuters. "As we looked to the future, the availability of high-quality chicken that meets our rigid standards became a concern," a Chick-fil-A spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "This change enables us to not only ensure we can continue to serve high-quality chicken, but also chicken that still meets the expectations our customers count on us to deliver." The announcement did not include an exact date for the shift's start. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Boeing only managed to deliver a total of just 70 airplanes to its customers for the first half of the year. (Photo: Reuters / Karen Ducey) Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced on Monday that he will step down at the end of 2024, as part of a broad management shakeup for the embattled aerospace giant. The decision comes as the planemaker has grappled with a series of production and quality control issues, most notably the January incident when a panel blew out of a nearly new 737 MAX 9 plane flown by Alaska Airlines. In a letter to employees, Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident as "a watershed moment for Boeing," emphasizing the need for the company to respond with "humility and complete transparency." He stressed the importance of inculcating "a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company." Calhoun, who was appointed to the top job in late 2019 and took the helm at Boeing in early 2020 after the company ousted its previous chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, for his handling of the aftermath of two deadly 737 Max crashes, said he had been weighing the decision to step down "for some time." In addition to Calhoun's departure, Boeing announced that Larry Kellner, chairman of its board, will not stand for re-election at the company's upcoming annual shareholders meeting. Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of Qualcomm and a Boeing board member since 2020, will replace Kellner and lead the company's search for its next CEO. Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, is also leaving the company effective immediately. Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's Chief Operating Officer after previously running Boeing Global Services, will assume Deal's role. The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company following a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes. Last week, airline CEOs started scheduling meetings with Boeing directors to voice their displeasure at the lack of manufacturing quality controls and lower than expected production of 737 Max planes. Boeing CFO Brian West recently stated that the company would see cash outflows of up to $4.5 billion during the current quarter as it works to shore up its production lines. Despite the challenges, Boeing stock rose as much as 2.5% following the news of the leadership changes, although the stock had lost more than 27% this year through Friday's close. Calhoun has repeatedly promised investors, airline customers, and the general public that Boeing will get its myriad quality struggles under control. In his letter to employees, he acknowledged the scrutiny the company faces, stating, "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years." The leadership shakeup at Boeing comes as the company continues to face the repercussions of the 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019, which together resulted in the death of 346 people. The recent Alaska Airlines incident has further intensified the pressure on the planemaker to address its quality control and manufacturing issues. This is breaking news, check back later for updates. A series of high-level talks between Chinese and American diplomats got off to a rocky start on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters / Mark Schiefelbein) Shares of semiconductor giants Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) dipped following reports that China will restrict the use of their chips in government computers. This move, part of a broader strategy to reduce reliance on foreign technology, threatens to impact billions in sales for these U.S. companies, highlighting the intensifying geopolitical tensions affecting global tech industries. The Financial Times revealed that China's new procurement guidelines aim to phase out not only U.S. chips but also Microsoft's Windows operating system and foreign-made database software, favoring domestic alternatives instead. This directive aligns with Beijing's ongoing efforts to bolster its local semiconductor industry amidst U.S. export curbs on critical technologies, including advanced chips. China's decision could significantly dent the earnings of chipmakers, with Intel's largest market in 2023 being China, accounting for 27% of its revenue, while AMD drew about 15% of its sales from the country. Analysts predict a considerable impact on the companies' bottom lines, with Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon estimating a potential hit of up to $1.5 billion for Intel and several hundred million dollars for AMD. The move is part of a broader context of the U.S.-China technology war, with semiconductors at the heart of the conflict. Semiconductors, vital for a wide array of devices from smartphones to medical equipment, have become a battleground for supremacy between the two superpowers. The U.S. has implemented stringent export restrictions to limit Beijing's access to key semiconductor equipment and technologies, citing national security concerns and the potential military applications of advanced chips. In response to these restrictions, China has ramped up its domestic semiconductor production, with its top 10 equipment makers reporting a 39% revenue increase in the first half of 2023 compared to the previous year. This growth reflects China's determination to achieve technological self-reliance in the face of external pressures. The decoupling extends beyond semiconductors, affecting other tech sectors as well. Apple, for instance, has also been caught in the crossfire of rising Sino-U.S. tensions, with reports indicating that Chinese agencies and state-backed firms have restricted staff from using iPhones at work. As the U.S. continues to tighten controls on technology exports to China, including recent regulations targeting U.S. chip design firm Nvidia's sales of advanced AI chips, the global tech landscape is undergoing a significant realignment. The repercussions of these policy shifts reverberate through global supply chains, financial markets, and international diplomacy, underscoring the complex interdependencies characterizing the tech industry. This evolving scenario presents both challenges and opportunities as companies and countries navigate the shifting terrain of global tech geopolitics. The long-term implications of these developments remain uncertain, but one thing is clear: the tech decoupling between the U.S. and China is reshaping the future of the global technology landscape. Kate Middleton has left copies of her bestselling book in the streets of London. (Photo: Toby Melville/Pool/REUTERS) Growing concerns have emerged among senior government figures that hostile states, such as China, Russia, and Iran, may be fueling the spread of baseless conspiracy theories and online rumors regarding the Princess of Wales's health. The speculation comes in the wake of Princess Kate's announcement on Friday that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing preventative chemotherapy treatment. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak led the condemnation of social media trolls who have targeted the Princess in recent weeks, stating, "She has shown tremendous bravery with her statement today. In recent weeks she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media." However, his intervention has not deterred the proliferation of conspiracy theories online. A Whitehall source, quoted by The Telegraph, expressed concern over the potential involvement of hostile states, stating, "Part of the modus operandi of hostile states is to destabilise things - whether that is undermining the legitimacy of our elections or other institutions." While government sources have distanced themselves from the speculation, insisting there is no conclusive evidence of foreign state involvement, the allegations have raised eyebrows among MPs with strong intelligence links. One such MP told MailOnline, "That is exactly what they do... They don't necessarily make things up, there are enough crazy people out there to do this stuff. What they do is amplify it." A senior Tory backbencher echoed these sentiments, describing such behavior as "contemptible" and suggesting that the aim of these hostile states is to "divide and manipulate." The online attacks have not been limited to the Princess of Wales, with trolls also targeting the Prince of Wales, questioning why he did not sit beside his wife as she filmed the video announcing her diagnosis. Christopher Bouzy, a tech chief executive and avid supporter of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, went on a bizarre rant to his 350,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that recent pictures of Kate were fake and accusing the palace of "North Korea" style propaganda. Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said the social media attacks had "done damage" to the Royal Family. "When you've got a young lady, the Princess of Wales, who has suffered a medical emergency, you see people flooding in with conspiracy theories, you see them being amplified on social media platforms and pushed to millions and millions of people," he told the BBC. The allegations of foreign state involvement in the spread of conspiracy theories come as Downing Street is poised to officially blame China for a 2021 cyber attack on the electoral commission. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden is expected to tell MPs that the superpower was behind the attack, which saw hackers gain access to the personal details of 40 million British electors. Paddy Harverson, the former official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, described the online targeting of the Princess as the worst he had witnessed. "It's a sort of permanent doom loop. And it's the worst I've ever seen," he told BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. As the Royal Family grapples with the distressing news of Princess Kate's cancer diagnosis, the allegations of foreign state involvement in the spread of conspiracy theories have added another layer of concern. While conclusive evidence may be lacking, the speculation has highlighted the potential vulnerability of the UK to destabilization efforts by hostile states through the exploitation of online platforms and the amplification of baseless rumors. The logo of Binance is seen on their exhibition stand at the Delta Summit, Malta's official Blockchain and Digital Innovation event promoting cryptocurrency, October 3, 2019. (Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters/File Photo) Nadeem Anjarwalla, a British-Kenyan executive at cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has escaped from lawful custody in Nigeria, where he and a colleague were being detained on allegations of tax evasion and other offenses. The escape, which occurred on Friday, March 22, has prompted Nigerian authorities to intensify their efforts to apprehend Anjarwalla and file additional charges against the global crypto platform. According to sources familiar with the matter, Anjarwalla, 38, fled from the Abuja guest house where he and U.S. citizen Tigran Gambaryan, who oversees financial crime compliance at Binance, were being held. The two executives were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on February 26, 2024, and a criminal charge was subsequently filed against them before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. Reports suggest that Anjarwalla exploited the privileges granted to the detained executives, such as the use of telephones and being allowed to visit a nearby mosque for prayers during the ongoing Ramadan fast, to plot his escape. It is believed that he fled the country using a Kenyan passport, despite his British passport remaining in the custody of Nigerian authorities. The escape has raised questions about the security measures in place at the guest house and the circumstances surrounding Anjarwalla's ability to obtain a Kenyan passport and board an international flight undetected. Zakari Mijinyawa, Head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, has yet to provide an official statement on the matter. In the wake of Anjarwalla's escape, the Nigerian government has filed four new charges against Binance Holdings Limited, Anjarwalla, and Gambaryan at the Federal High Court in Abuja. The charges accuse the defendants of offering services to subscribers on their platform while failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, pay relevant taxes, issue invoices, and deduct necessary Value Added Taxes. The defendants are also accused of aiding and abetting subscribers on their Binance trading platform to unlawfully refuse to pay or neglect to pay taxes, an offense punishable under the provisions of the Companies Income Tax Act. The Nigerian government's crackdown on Binance comes amidst allegations that the platform has been used for money laundering, terrorist financing, currency speculation, and market manipulation, which have allegedly distorted the Nigerian economy and weakened the Naira against other currencies. Authorities claim that over $21.6 billion was traded by Nigerians whose identities were concealed by Binance. The detention of Binance officials in Nigeria began months after the crypto exchange platform pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle criminal money laundering charges levied by the U.S. Department of Justice. Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, pleaded guilty and agreed to resign, with his criminal trial postponed to April 30 by a U.S. court. The families of the detained executives have expressed their concerns and heartbreak over the situation. Elahe Anjarwalla, Nadeem's wife, stated that she was "completely heartbroken" that he would not be home in time to celebrate their son's first birthday, while Tigran Gambaryan's wife, Yuki, struggled to explain their father's absence to their two children. Unrelenting Blizzard Conditions Paralyze Sierra Nevada, Historic Snowstorm Triggers Avalanches and Power Outages, Disrupting Live (Photo: Famartin/Wikimeida Commons/CC-BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)) A powerful and deadly spring storm continues to batter the central United States, bringing near-blizzard conditions, heavy snow, and strong winds to a vast swath of the region from the Plains through northern Minnesota. The storm, which has already claimed at least two lives in Minnesota, is expected to significantly impact the area through Tuesday, with winter weather alerts stretching for more than 1,000 miles from Texas to Michigan. The Minnesota State Patrol reported hundreds of crashes, spinouts, and jackknifed tractor-trailers on Sunday due to the treacherous winter weather conditions. One woman was killed in a crash south of Minneapolis on Interstate 35 East in Burnsville, while details about the second storm-related death were not immediately available. Minneapolis experienced a record-breaking snowfall on Sunday, with the Twin Cities receiving 8.2 inches of snow, surpassing the previous daily record of 6.2 inches set in 1996, as reported by AP. It was also the snowiest day in Minneapolis since January 2023 and the snowiest March day since 2007. Schools across the region, from the Plains to the Upper Midwest, were closed due to the storm, and the Nebraska Department of Transportation announced the closure of a nearly 150-mile-long stretch of Interstate 80 from Kearney to Ogallala due to the hazardous travel conditions, including blowing and drifting snow. The National Weather Service office in Hastings, Nebraska, warned people to stay off the roads, stating in its Blizzard Warning, "Travel should be restricted to emergencies only. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you." Video footage captured at Denver International Airport showed what appeared to be graupel, or "snow pellets," falling from the sky as the storm impacted the area. Another video showcased the treacherous driving conditions in Timnath, Colorado, as the powerful storm dumped heavy snow across the region. According to the FOX Forecast Center, the storm will continue to affect the northern and central Plains and the Upper Midwest through Tuesday, with periods of snow and strong winds persisting from the central Plains to northern Minnesota, along with some sleet and freezing rain in parts of the upper Mississippi Valley. While Minneapolis experienced record-breaking snowfall on Sunday, the snow is expected to be replaced by rain on Monday before switching back to a mix of freezing rain, sleet, and snow as the storm comes to an end on Tuesday. However, for those on the colder side of the storm, snow will continue to accumulate. Bands of heavy snow with snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour are anticipated from central Nebraska and eastern South Dakota to northern Minnesota. Additional snow totals between 5 and 12 inches are forecast from central Nebraska to northeastern Minnesota, with more than a foot of additional snow possible across northern Minnesota and the Arrowhead, where Blizzard Warnings remain in effect. Blizzard Warnings continue in parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota through Tuesday, while Winter Weather Advisories stretch from the Texas Panhandle to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The bulk of Winter Storm Warnings are in effect from the Dakotas to northern Wisconsin. Mehta said fresh milk will be available in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Dallas and Texas among others. For the first time, Amul fresh milk will be available outside India, with the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) launching four variants of milk in the US market within a week, to cater to Indian diaspora and Asian population. "We have been exporting dairy products for many decades. This is the first time we are launching fresh milk outside India," GCMMF MD Jayen Mehta told PTI. He said "the GCMMF has tied up with 108-year old cooperative organisation Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) to launch fresh milk in the US market," The milk collection and processing will be done by MMPA, while GCMMF will do marketing and branding of Amul fresh milk. "Recipe will be ours. Within one week, Amul Taaza, Amul Gold, Amul Shakti and Amul Slim n Trim will be available in the US market," he said. Mehta said fresh milk will be available in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Dallas and Texas among others. GCMMF will target non-resident Indians (NRIs) and the Asian population. Asked about the selling target, he said GCMMF will focus on branding and marketing for the next 3-4 months. "We are expecting a good response from customers," he said. Mehta said GCMMF would also launch fresh milk products like paneer, curd and butter milk in the near future. During the 2022-23 fiscal, the turnover of GCMMF stood at around Rs 55,000 crore, up 18.5 per cent from the previous year. GCMMF is already exporting dairy products in about 50 countries. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched an investigation into Google Plays billing system over alleged violations of the Payments and Settlements Systems Act, said people aware of the development, requesting anonymity. The probe follows a complaint lodged by Kolkata-based Hoichoi Technologies. The complaint pertains to the operation of several of Googles aggregator platforms in India, which are registered in foreign countries, including Singapore and the US. Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel The Google Play billing system is not a payment system and we are responding to the concerned authorities with regard to their queries, said a Google spokesperson. The RBI, it has been learnt, has already met with executives from Google and sought additional information. An email query to the RBI did not elicit any response. Hoichoi Technologies declined to comment on the matter, citing its sub judice status, and stated it would share its views once the court order is pronounced. The company has lodged a writ petition on the matter at the Calcutta High Court. Industry insiders said that Hoichoi is questioning the legality of GPBS. Google Plays billing system is a service that allows app developers to sell digital products and content within their Android apps. Developers can utilise Google Plays billing system to sell one-time products or recurring subscriptions. Last week, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ordered an investigation into Google Play Stores billing policy for allegedly imposing an unfair service fee on app developers, in response to pleas from several Indian firms. In its 21-page order, the CCI noted that such imposition by Google resulted in app developers having fewer resources to enhance or develop their app offerings, thereby constraining the growth of the app market. The decision was prompted by complaints from a number of startups to the CCI, alleging that the tech giant was not complying with its earlier ruling of allowing third-party billing services for in-app purchases. However, in a reprieve for the tech giant, the Commission recently declined an interim relief that would have prevented Google from levying service fees on app developers until a final decision is reached. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Monday called on Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and other senior ministers and discussed ways to further the strategic bilateral ties, and the situation in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia regions. Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Singapore and reached here on Saturday. He addressed the Indian diaspora on Sunday and met with investors on Saturday. "Honoured to call on Prime Minister @leehsienloong at The Istana. Conveyed the personal greetings of PM @narendramodi. Valued his perspectives on the current state of the world," Jaishankar posted on X. "His positive sentiments on India-Singapore relationship have always been a source of strength for our ties," Jaishankar said about Prime Minister Lee's support the bilateral relationship. Apart from foreign minister Balakrishnan, Jaishankar held separate meetings with Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Valued his perspectives on the current state of the world. His positive sentiments on ???????? ???????? relationship have always been a source of strength for our ties. Honoured to call on Prime Minister @leehsienloong at The Istana. Conveyed the personal greetings of PM @narendramodi Valued his perspectives on the current state of the world.His positive sentiments on ???????? ???????? relationship have always been a source of strength for our ties. pic.twitter.com/5eeOPgx0ly March 25, 2024 "Delighted to meet Singapore FM @VivianBala. Reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation. Spoke about preparations for the next ISMR meeting. Discussed marking 60 years of our diplomatic ties," Jaishankar posted on X. "Exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and West Asia," he wrote. Jaishankar, whose day started by meeting Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, posted on X after the meeting along with a photo: Discussed trade, semiconductors, space, green energy, supply chains, and defence. Hope to take these forward in the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable. His next meeting was with national security minister Teo Chee Hean. Good to meet with Singapore Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Discussed the transformational changes in India and the opportunities they offer for our partnership. Also exchanged perspectives on regional and global issues, he posted on X after the meeting. "Pleased to meet DPM and Finance Minister @LawrenceWongST. Shared perspectives on advancing our relationship especially on new age technologies. Also exchanged views on the evolving global economic situation," Jaishankar posted. From Singapore, Jaishankar is scheduled to visit the Philippines and Malaysia. The March 23-27 visit will focus on enhancing bilateral relations with the three countries, and would provide an opportunity for engagement on regional issues of mutual concern, the Ministry of External Affairs had said before Jaishankar's departure. He also met finance minister Lawrence Wong. According to the relatives of the three men, he said, they were taken to Russia by a recruitment agency with the promise of a whopping salary of Rs 2.5 lakh | Photo: ANI Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan sent a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday seeking immediate intervention of the central government to ensure the safe return of youths recruited by private agencies to the Russian army. In the letter, the Congress leader demanded measures for the safe return of the three youth from Kerala trapped in the war zone and an investigation against the recruitment agencies that are a part of the human trafficking network. "I urge your good self to make every effort to bring back all of those who are stuck in the combat zone and to initiate a comprehensive investigation against these recruitment agencies that form part of a large illegal trafficking network," he said in the letter. Satheesan termed as shocking the "revelation" that some private recruitment companies in Kerala have been recruiting young people to go to war-battered Ukraine after tempting them with the prospect of lucrative employment in Russia. "It is disturbing to learn that three young men from Kerala are among those stranded in war-torn Ukraine after being lured with the promise of a lucrative employment in Russia, only to be forced to engage in the continuing conflict," the letter said. According to the relatives of the three men, he said, they were taken to Russia by a recruitment agency with the promise of a whopping salary of Rs 2.5 lakh. "But when they arrived, their passports and mobile phones were confiscated and they were then forced to fight for Russia against Ukraine. It is learnt that some of them are injured and their families back home have raised serious apprehension about the safety of the youths stranded in Ukraine," Satheesan said. The Congress leader said he believes that this is part of a trafficking network that entices young men to work in Russia and then sends them to war. Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said on Sunday that authorities have launched an investigation into agencies that recruited Indians to go to war-torn Ukraine after luring them with the promise of a lucrative jobs in Russia. He said the Central government is making all possible efforts to bring back all Indians stranded in the conflict zone, and procedures are underway to take legal action against the agencies that recruited them. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) arrived at the Bhojshala Complex in Dhar to continue the survey as directed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The ASI started an archaeological survey of the Bhojshala Complex on March 22. A blaze which broke out in the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Monday during 'bhasma aarti,' left fourteen priests, including 'sevaks' (assistants), were injured. The fire broke out in the 'garbha griha' (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple at around 5:50 am, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said. "Fourteen priests suffered burn injuries. Some are being treated in the district hospital here, while eight have sought treatment in Indore. A magisterial probe has been ordered. It will be conducted by Zila Panchayat CEO Mrinal Meena and Additional Collector Anukool Jain and a report will be submitted in three days," he said. A blaze which broke out in the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Monday during 'bhasma aarti,' left fourteen priests, including 'sevaks' (assistants), were injured. The fire broke out in the 'garbha griha' (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple at around 5:50 am, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said. "Fourteen priests suffered burn injuries. Some are being treated in the district hospital here, while eight have sought treatment in Indore. A magisterial probe has been ordered. It will be conducted by Zila Panchayat CEO Mrinal Meena and Additional Collector Anukool Jain and a report will be submitted in three days," he said. Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu must seek dialogue with neighbours to overcome the financial challenges facing the nation, his predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated. In September last year, Muizzu, 45, had defeated Solih, 62, in the presidential polls. These comments come days after Muizzu asked India to provide debt relief to the archipelago nation. Solih was speaking at an event in Male' to rally support for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary candidates contesting four constituencies in Maafannu.The sitting Lok Sabha MP from Erode constituency in Tamil Nadu was rushed to a hospital after he allegedly consumed pesticide. A Ganeshamoorthy of the MDMK was admitted to a private hospital by his family members after he developed uneasiness and began to vomit in the morning. He was later admitted in the ICU and has been put on the ventilator, police said. He was then shifted to a private hospital in Coimbatore at around 2:30 pm with two doctors and his family members accompanying him in the ambulance. (Photo : ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images) Pope Francis greets the crowd from the popemobile at the end of the Palm Sunday Mass at St. Peter's Square on March 24, 2024. Pope Francis opted not to deliver his homily during Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square, in an apparent last-minute decision. Francis' prepared text for the homily had already been handed out to the media, but when it came time for him to deliver it about midway through the service he declined, leaving the crowd waiting in silence, according to the Associated Press. The pope, 87, has been dealing with various health issues including respiratory problems. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church did deliver a prayer at the end of the mass in what was described as a raspy voice and was clearly fatigued, according to Catholic News site Crux. The service opens Holy Week, the most important period on the Christian calendar. The Vatican press office later said the homily was replaced by "a moment of silence and prayer." An estimated 60,000 people attended the Mass. The pope is scheduled to travel to a woman's prison for the traditional "washing of the feet" ritual that the bible says Jesus carried out the night before his crucifixion. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. By Mihir Sharma Elon Musks long courtship of Indian officialdom may have finally paid off. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted him to open one of his Tesla gigafactories in the country, as part of its efforts to expand its long-moribund manufacturing sector; Musk, meanwhile, wanted India to address tariffs on electric vehicle imports that rendered foreign-made Teslas uncompetitive. Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel On March 15, the government announced a new scheme to promote investment in EVs. Any company willing to invest $500 million in a new manufacturing facility that begins production in three years (and with at least a quarter of its components added locally, to begin with) will also be allowed to import 8,000 high-end vehicles a year at a lower tariff of 15 per cent. Its generally assumed that this quid pro quo will be enough to get Musk and, hopefully, one or two other companies, like Vietnams Vinfast Auto Ltd. to bite. Certainly, the EV producers that currently dominate the Indian market are already bracing for competition. On the one hand, this looks like business as usual. Officials have made a habit of using the supposed potential of the domestic market as an inducement for foreign investors. The stick of high tariffs together with the carrot of possible consumer demand growth should be enough to lure in people like Musk, they think. That said, theres a deeper story to be told here. Size matters: The Indian government is a big believer in the transformative potential of a single large investor. Officials expended enormous amounts of energy wooing Apple Inc. They were ultimately successful, and now think an entire mobile phone manufacturing ecosystem will grow up around Foxconn Technology Co.s factories in south India. For the past few years, theyve been working to convince Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to do the same. Its an anchor investor strategy: Get a whale like Musk in, and the minnows will follow. If Apple and Tesla are both putting hundreds of millions into backing the India story, it is something of a statement about the countrys business environment, right? This isnt the first time governments have tried this, of course. China famously waived its domestic ownership requirements to get Tesla to open a gigafactory in Shanghai. That seems to have paid off: Tesla says that over 95 per cent of the parts that factory uses come from local suppliers. And Musks claim that he couldnt invest big in a country that didnt allow him to get enough cars on the ground first did have a certain logic. Importing vehicles to begin with allows you to start creating a charging infrastructure, for example. That in turn grows the domestic market enough to justify the investment you make in local production. Theres a lot more that India could do to help this trend along. For example, EV makers who take up this offer should be encouraged to invest in interoperable charging. Land is scarce, and finding space for multiple different kinds of EV charging stations would otherwise be a nightmare. Tesla does have an advantage when it comes to making deals like this: Its business model stresses vertical integration. Thats why its factories are giga-sized, after all. Its easier for them to make promises about localization since they have greater control over their supply chains than their competitors do. How will local companies deal with new entrants into Indias EV market? The optimistic take here is that companies like Tata Motors Ltd., if theyre worried about competition from the Teslas of the world now that tariffs have come down, should argue more strenuously for lower trade barriers all round. Thats the only thing that would keep them competitive, given their more expansive supply chains. The automobile sector needs to become the loudest voice in favor of trade deals like the ones the country is currently negotiating with the UK and the European Union. Manufacturing will only take off when the business climate really improves when tariffs are low and stable, and regulators are as welcoming to smaller companies as they are to whales. Indias big bet on big companies may pay off. This is clearly where its industrial policy is going now: relying on trusted foreign partners to transform entire sectors. But, you ask, can you trust Tesla with a task of this magnitude? Or, in particular, Elon Musk, given his history of missed deadlines and impulsive business decisions? The government may have bet on Tesla, but its not taking any chances, either. Any company choosing to take Indias deal will also have to put up a bank guarantee in case it fails to follow through on its promises of investment and local sourcing. Trust, but verify bank details first. Even if the plan had a rough ride through the EU's complicated approval process, the watered-down version was supposed to sail through the final vote. Photo: Bloomberg A major European Union plan to fight climate change and better protect nature in the 27-nation bloc has been indefinitely postponed Monday, underscoring how farmers' protests sweeping the continent influence politics ahead of the June EU parliamentary elections. The member states were supposed to give final approval to the bill on Monday following months of proceedings through the EU's institutional maze. But what was supposed to be a mere rubber stamp has now been possibly shelved forever. "(The plan) is in a very difficult position at the moment and with the upcoming European elections, it won't be easy to get out of this position, said Dutch Climate Minister Rob Jetten. The Nature Restoration plan is a key part of the EU's European Green Deal that seeks to establish the world's most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets and make the bloc the global point of reference on all climate issues. The bill aims for Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, demanding short-term changes and sacrifices from all parts of society to reap the benefits in a generation. "If you want to reach climate neutrality, you also have to look in the broader perspective of protecting biodiversity, strengthening the nature in Europe, Jetten said, stressing that such initiatives were necessary. Even if the plan had a rough ride through the EU's complicated approval process, the watered-down version was supposed to sail through the final vote. Under the complicated voting rules, whereby a qualified majority representing 15 of the 27 member states and 65 % of the population was needed, it was long thought that threshold was safe, until Monday. "It seems that we don't have a qualified majority anymore because ... Hungary has changed its vote. We have to understand why they do that, said Alain Maron, a Belgian regional climate minister, who chaired the meeting of the EU environment ministers. ALSO READ: Ganges, Brahmaputra among major river basins to feel climate change impact The change of heart follows weeks of relentless protests from farmers across the bloc who have argued that reams of environmental laws governing the way they work are driving them toward bankruptcy at a time when food security and self-sufficiency are becoming essential again as the Russian war on Ukraine war rages on. The change of heart follows weeks of relentless protests from farmers across the bloc who have argued that reams of environmental laws governing the way they work are driving them toward bankruptcy at a time when food security and self-sufficiency are becoming essential again as the Russian war on Ukraine war rages on. It is very important to keep flexibility for member states, said Aniko Raisz, Hungary's environmental minister, on Monday. When asked if her country could change its position again, Raisz said she can't promise anything, while stressing the importance of the agricultural sector across Europe. "We have to be realistic and we have to keep in mind all these sectors, she said. Monday's postponement was the EU's latest concession in reaction to protests that have affected the daily lives of tens of millions of EU citizens and cost businesses tens of millions of euros due to transportation delays. Others have included shelving legislation on tighter pesticide rules, loosening checks and controls on farms, and requirements to let some land lie fallow. Under the plan, member states would have to meet restoration targets for specific habitats and species, to cover at least 20% of the region's land and sea areas by 2030. But quarrels over exemptions and flexibility clauses allowing members to skirt the rules plagued negotiations. Last month, the bill was adopted in Parliament by a 329-275 vote with 24 abstentions after the center-right Christian Democratic European People's Party decided to vote against it. Environmentalists and the Greens group were in rapture, thinking it was the last stumbling block. Despite the droughts, floods and heat waves that have swept through many areas in Europe, the postponement of any vote signals a possible pause on such environmental actions to protect economic competitiveness. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a separate statement on Monday that the items have a total value of SGD 18,956.94 ($14,080) | File image Singapore's Indian-origin former Transport Minister S Iswaran on Monday was slapped with eight fresh charges in the alleged case of corruption taking the total charges that he now faces to 35. Iswaran, 61, pleaded not guilty to the new charges. The development comes barely a week after he returned to Singapore from a court-approved trip to Australia, which was extended due to his illness. The eight new charges are under Section 165 of the Penal Code and include allegations that he obtained valuable things, including bottles of whisky, golf clubs and a Brompton bicycle from a man called Lum Kok Seng, reported Channel News Asia. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a separate statement on Monday that the items have a total value of SGD 18,956.94 ($14,080). The transactions occurred when Iswaran's official function as then-Transport Minister dealt with the business Lum had with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) through his company Lum Chang Building Contractors. The new charges allege that Iswaran obtained the valuable gifts from Lum between November 2021 and November 2022, when Lum was concerned with the performance of the T315 contract for addition and alteration works to the existing Tanah Merah (Mass Rapid Transport) Station and existing viaducts between Lum Chang Building Contractors and LTA. Iswaran was first handed 27 charges in January, comprising two of corruption under the Prevention of Corruption Act, one of obstructing justice, and 24 of obtaining valuables as a public servant under the Penal Code. He pleaded not guilty to all charges, which related to his interactions with property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who owns the rights to the Singapore Grand Prix and is chairman of race promoter Singapore GP. Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. ("Biocytogen", HKEX: 02315), a global biotechnology company that drives the research and development of novel antibody-based drugs with innovative technologies, and ABL Bio Inc. (ABL, KOSDAQ: 298380), a Korean clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics in oncology and CNS diseases, today announced a collaboration to develop new bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (bsADCs). Biocytogens RenLite mice platform can produce fully human antibodies with diverse epitopes and high affinity. This platform is notable for its ability to generate antibodies in a common light chain format, offering a distinctive combination of design flexibility, simplified manufacturing processes, and optimal developability for bsADC development. Based on this platform, both companies will be able to discuss expanding their collaboration for various types of ADC development. Dr. Yuelei Shen, President and CEO of Biocytogen, said, We are very pleased to collaborate with ABL, a company that possesses advanced platforms for cancer immunotherapy and treatments against CNS diseases. ABLs consistent success in advancing its pipeline strongly showcases its expertise and capabilities in regulatory, clinical development, and business development activities. BsADC drugs derived from our RenLite mice platform have shown preferable potency in various tumor models, while also exhibiting good safety profiles. We believe our fully human bsADC platform technology, which features increased tumor selectivity, target synergized internalization, and convenient CMC development, will complement ABL's capabilities effectively. Together, we aim to expedite the development of innovative bsADC therapies. Sang Hoon Lee, CEO of ABL, said, We are excited to establish this partnership with Biocytogen for bsADCs. This collaboration is one of the stepping stones for getting down to developing bsADCs. We look forward to a productive collaboration, and firmly believe that this partnership will contribute towards creating a distinctive pipeline, ultimately leading to novel therapies that improve the quality of life for patients. About Biocytogen Biocytogen (HKEX: 02315) is a global biotechnology company that drives the research and development of novel antibody-based drugs with innovative technologies. Founded on gene editing technology, Biocytogen leverages genetically engineered proprietary RenMice (RenMabTM/RenLite/RenNano/RenTCR-mimicTM) platforms for fully human monoclonal/bispecific/multispecific antibody discovery, bispecific antibody-drug conjugate discovery, nanobody discovery and TCR-mimic antibody discovery, and has established a sub-brand, RenBiologicsTM, to explore global partnerships for an off-the-shelf library of >400,000 fully human antibody sequences against approximately 1000 targets for worldwide collaboration. As of June 30, 2023, 50 therapeutic antibody and multiple clinical asset co-development/out-licensing/transfer agreements and 42 target-nominated RenMice licensing projects have been established around the globe, including several partnerships with multinational pharmaceutical companies (MNCs). Biocytogen pioneered the generation of drug target knock-in humanized models for preclinical research, and currently provides a few thousand off-the-shelf animal and cell models under the companys sub-brand, BioMiceTM, along with preclinical pharmacology and gene-editing services for clients worldwide. Headquartered in Beijing, Biocytogen has branches in China (Haimen Jiangsu, Shanghai), USA (Boston, San Francisco), and Germany (Heidelberg). For more information, please visit http://en.biocytogen.com.cn. About ABL Bio ABL Bio Inc. (KOSDAQ: 298380) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing antibody therapeutics for immune-oncology and neurodegenerative diseases. With internal R&D and global partnerships, ABL has developed multiple BsAb platforms, such as Grabody-T, Grabody-B and built an innovative pipeline of multiple clinical and pre-clinical stage drug candidates. In the oncology area, we have developed Grabody-T, a modular 4-1BB engaging platform that has demonstrated superior efficacy and safety. In the neurodegenerative disorder space, we have developed Grabody-B, which is designed to maximize blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetration. Grabody-B is applicable to various CNS targets across a plethora of neurological disorders, potentially providing a breakthrough to address the high unmet medical needs in neurodegeneration. For more information, please visit www.ablbio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240323687537/en/ Global IT corporation FPT and De Heus recently entered a strategic partnership to foster the agriculture giant's security operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240320729005/en/ De Heus Vietnam COO Rick van der Linden (L) and FPT Software Europe CEO Tran Van Dung (R) at the signing ceremony attended by senior leaders of the Netherlands government during the economic mission to Vietnam (Photo: Business Wire) The two firms will join forces to support De Heus Security Operations Center, focusing on the scope of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). Leveraging FPT's prowess in technology and high-quality workforce, this movement will bolster De Heus capabilities in terms of system monitoring, security breach detection, and defense measures to effectively mitigate cyber risk and safeguard its information system and security data on a global scale. The partnership marks a significant milestone for De Heus' digital transformation strategy amid rising cyberattack concerns in the manufacturing and agriculture industries. Both parties expect this to set a solid foundation for future collaborations in other areas like artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and more to further advance De Heus' and the agriculture industry's growth. Tran Van Dung, Chief Executive Officer of FPT Software Europe, said: While all businesses want to scale their digital transformation initiatives quickly, doing so securely is equally imperative in the face of cyber threats. Leveraging our extensive expertise and demonstrated success in deploying SIEM projects for multinational corporations globally, we stand ready to optimize De Heus' security operations. Rick van der Linden, Chief Operating Officer of De Heus Viet Nam, shared: Through this partnership, FPT and De Heus are committing to leveraging our collective expertise and resources to develop robust security frameworks that will withstand the test of time. Together, we will explore innovative solutions and best practices to enhance cybersecurity measures and protect against emerging threats. The signing ceremony was attended by the Netherlands Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Mark Harbers; Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, Christianne van der Wal; Chair of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, Ingrid Thijssen; and over 140 large enterprises from the Netherlands in pivotal fields of high-tech manufacturing, sustainable agriculture and food production, renewable energy, logistics, and climate adaptation and water. Established its first office in 2008 in France, FPT has expanded its presence to 16 offices across 9 countries, serving over 70 leading businesses across Europe. Over the past decade, the tech firm has also been actively intensifying its local footprint and delivery capabilities through partnerships and acquisitions ventures, notably with the acquisition of RWE IT Slovakia, a subsidiary of European energy giant RWE in 2014, and the French IT Consulting Firm AOSIS in 2023. About FPT Corporation FPT Corporation (FPT) is a globally leading technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam. FPT operates in three core sectors: Technology, Telecommunications, and Education. During over three decades of development, FPT has constantly provided practical and effective products to millions of people and tens of thousands of business and non-business organizations worldwide, establishing Vietnams position on the global tech map. Keeping up with the latest market trends and emerging technologies, FPT has developed the Made-by-FPT ecosystem of services, products, solutions, and platforms, which enables sustainable growth for organizations and businesses and offers distinctive experiences to customers. In 2023, FPT recorded a total revenue of US$2.17 billion and 73,000 employees. For more information, please visit https://fpt.com.vn/en. About De Heus De Heus Vietnam, a member of Royal De Heus Group, has been proud to be Vietnam's leading animal feed supplier since 2008. De Heus provides farmers comprehensive nutritional solutions to help improve livestock productivity and product quality. With a team of experienced experts and a modern factory system, De Heus is committed to providing high-quality animal feed for all types of animals, from livestock, poultry, and aquaculture to pets. De Heus' reputable brands, such as De Heus, Windmill, Koudijs, Con Co, and Anco, have become familiar to Vietnamese farmers. De Heus always accompanies Vietnamese farmers, aiming towards developing a sustainable and prosperous agriculture. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240320729005/en/ (Photo : Toronto Police Department) Police were looking for this woman after her dog attacked a 9-year-old boy at a Toronto playground, according to authorities. A 9-year-old boy was left with what police are calling "life-altering" injuries after an unleashed dog attacked him at a Toronto playground. The horrific attack happened at about 10:15 a.m. Saturday at Little Norway Park, according to the Toronto Police Service. Police say a woman was inside the playground with a dog that was not on a leash. A man with his son approached the playground area and the dog charged toward the boy through an open gate, police said. The dog bit and dragged the child to the ground, according to police and a CBC report. The woman and the boy's father attempted to get the dog to release the child. When the dog finally let go, the woman took off from the park with her pet. Emergency crews took the child to the hospital with serious injuries. He was expected to survive, but police called his injuries "life-altering." Police describe the woman as 30 to 40 years old. She was about 5'10" with a large build and dark hair worn in a ponytail. She was last seen wearing glasses, a blue winter jacket and black pants. The dog was a mix of black, tan and white. It was wearing a black hooded jacket and a chain collar. Investigators were asking for the public's assistance to identify the dog and its owner because of a concern for public safety. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Monday, March 25, 2024 at 1:56AM Photo: Apple We've already heard rumours that Apple was planning an international launch for its Vision Pro headset. And now we're getting confirmation for at least one location. At the China Development Forum in Beijing, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed the company's first spatial computer will launch in China this year. This marks the first specific international launch date announced for the device outside the US. Cook also emphasized Apple's commitment to China by highlighting their ongoing investment in research and development within the country. His visit to the new Jing'an store in Shanghai earlier this week further underscores this focus. While Apple has stated that Vision Pro will see additional international launches in 2024, specific dates and locations remain undisclosed. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously predicted an international launch before Apple's WWDC in early June. Source (Photo : Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for SCAD) After an elaborate student-led campaign, Kevin Bacon will return to the Utah high school where Footloose was filmed four decades ago. Students at the Utah high school where "Footloose" was filmed will soon have the opportunity to lose their blues and kick off their Sunday shoes with Kevin Bacon himself, with the actor promising to visit students as they celebrate the final prom in the iconic school building. The 1984 classic stars Bacon as a Chicago teenager who transfers to a small-town high school where dancing is strictly forbidden. The movie's 40th anniversary coincides with another milestone: Payson High School, where filming took place, is now moving to a different building. Payson students have worked for months with the Utah Film Commission to get Bacon's attention. They created a social media campaign, recreated movie scenes and planned an event to benefit Bacon's SixDegrees.org, KTVX reported. Bacon's foundation is "dedicated to creating dialogue, raising awareness, understanding, and empathy around causes that our communities care most about," according to its website. Even the state's Governor Spencer J. Cox joined in the campaign - sharing a video on Instagram in November encouraging Bacon to visit. "Utah's preserved the legacy this film left on our state, so we'd like to formally invite you back to the Beehive State to celebrate four decades of 'Footloose' with us," Cox wrote. Bacon commended the energy the students put into the campaign during a recent phone call he made to a gymnasium packed with eager students. "I've been amazed at the work that all of you have been putting into this, with the musical and the flash mobs and the recreations," Bacon told the students, according to Today. "It hasn't gone unnoticed by me, not to mention the fact that you tied in SixDegrees.org, our foundation, and are trying to figure out ways to give back to your community. It's really inspirational, so thank you. Thank you. And I'm gonna come. I gotta come," he said. Unlike the curmudgeonly adults in the original film, the Payson community is celebrating Bacon's impending return. "Payson could not be happier at the possibility of a visit from Kevin Bacon. He is our favorite celebrity and we are so excited at the chance to have him back," said Payson High Principal Jesse Sorenson, according to KTVX. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CEMEX sets the pace in 2023 ICR Newsroom By 25 March 2024 CEMEX has released its Integrated Report, entitled 'Setting the Pace', which outlines the companys strategic vision, operational performance, and value creation in 2023. Last year saw CEMEX achieve record growth in EBITDA and make significant progress in its decarbonisation efforts, reducing Scope 1 and 2 CO 2 emissions by 13 and 12 per cent, respectively, since 2020. This comes as the company launches its Regenera waste management business globally, as part of its Urbanisation Solutions portfolio expansion. Fernando A Gonzalez, CEO of CEMEX, announced, Our performance is a testament to the focus and commitment of our employees worldwide. Their relentless innovation, unwavering dedication, and steadfast perseverance are creating a more resilient future for generations to come as well as a profitable future for CEMEX. Future in Action CEMEX has become the first company in the cement industry to produce validated environmental impact reporting for 100 per cent of its cement products. Vertua, CEMEXs range of low-carbon construction solutions, now accounts for 56 per cent of total cement sales, with an average CO 2 reduction of 45 per cent. The Vertua brand is now worth US$7.2bn globally. CEMEXs use of alternative fuels now stands at 37 per cent, the highest level in the companys history. Furthermore, the report states that in 2023 the company reduced its clinker factor to 72 per cent and repurposed almost 28Mt of waste and byproducts through Regenera, the businesss circular production arm. CEMEX also outlined plans to optimise water usage at 30 per cent of its sites located in water-stressed areas. Financial In 2023 the companys full-year EBITDA rose 25 per cent, from US$2.7bn in 2022 to a record US$3.4bn. Consolidated net sales increased 12 per cent YoY to US$17.4bn. This growth in sales was accompanied by an EBITDA margin expansion of two per cent. Free cash flow reached a six-year high, as it more than doubled to US$1.2bn over the same period. CEMEXs Urbanisation Solutions business experienced 31 per cent growth in 2023. Stakeholder engagement CEMEX achieved a Net Promoter Score (a metric used to quantify customer experience and loyalty to a brand or company) of 70, exceeding the industry benchmark. It is also stated in the report, that more than 60,000 global customers have onboarded in the companys CEMEX Go digital platform, through which 60 per cent of global orders were processed. CEMEX also celebrated 25 years since the start of its flagship CSR initiative Patrimonio Hoy, which aims to provide affordable housing solutions to low-income families in Mexico, and other countries where the company operates. So far, the programme has benefitted 665,000 families and has improved the living conditions of over 3m people. Published under (Photo : Peter Nicholls/Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 29: Britains King Charles III is seen leaving The London Clinic on January 29, 2024 in London, England. King Charles is "in good spirits" amid his cancer battle, but nevertheless "hugely frustrated" by the pace of his recuperation, nephew Peter Phillips said Sunday, in the first detailed remarks on the monarch's condition by a member of the royal family. Charles, 75, has been eager for a full return to his royal duties, Phillips - the son of Princess Anne, Charles' sister - told Sky News Australia. "He's in good spirits," Phillips said. "[But] I think, ultimately, he's hugely frustrated. He's frustrated that he can't get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do." "But he is very pragmatic," Phillips continued. "He understands that there's a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself." After Charles underwent treatment for an enlarged prostate in January, Buckingham Palace announced in February that an unspecified form of cancer was found during the procedure. Charles has been undergoing outpatient treatment while fulfilling his royal duties on a reduced schedule. "He is always pushing his staff and everybody - his doctors and nurses - to be able to say 'actually can I do this, can I do that?'" Phillips said. Phillips' comments came two days after Kate Middleton revealed that she is undergoing preventative cancer treatment, following a planned abdominal surgery in January. In a statement issued Friday, Charles said that he is "so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did." @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Perhaps the Hamilton County and Chattanooga city sewage treatment plant upgrade could end up performing like the Milwaukee Municipal Waste Sewage treatment plant. It has been doing it right for nearly a hundred years and producing a safe marketable fertilizer: https://www.mmsd.com/about-us/ milorganite Thomas Tripp Steve C. McAfee, 82, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, passed peacefully from this life to his heavenly home on March 22, 2024. He was born in 1942, in Chattanooga. Steve was a devoted husband of over 60 years to his wife, Lynda. He was a loving father to John (Carrie) and Jeff (Shawna) and Poppop to grandchildren, Adam (Priscilla), Maegan (Max), Isaiah, adopted granddaughters Carolina and Madison, and great-grandchildren Ansley, Rosalee, and Sparrow. He also leaves behind his brother, Richard, nieces, nephews, and his fur baby, Lindy Lou. He was preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Marjorie, and sisters Carolyn "Rosebud" DeBerry and Shirley Williams. He was a carman with Norfolk Southern Railroad for 39 years, retiring in 2002. Steve attended City High School. Before attending Providence Baptist Church, Steve was a deacon at Philadelphia Baptist Church where he taught the teen boys' Sunday School class and served as a youth leader with his wife. Steve was devoted to his wife of over 60 years and people considered them to be joined at the hip. When you saw one of them, you would also see the other. He would do anything for his family and often did extra work so that the family could take vacations and have other extras. He was a hard-working man who sometimes only got four hours of sleep before going to the railroad for his nightly shift. He was a prankster and enjoyed playing jokes on co-workers and his wife. He could always be counted on to bring laughter to others. Steve loved to tinker. He was the Mr. Fix-It of the family and would always come when his family called for help with anything. Steve will be deeply missed by all who knew him, and his memory will live on in the hearts of those who loved him. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, April 6, at 2 p.m. at Providence Baptist Church in Ooltewah, TN, with Dr. Jerald Daffe and Rev. John Jones officiating. Friends may visit with the family from 1 p.m. until the service hour at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Steve's memory to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Arrangements are by the Cremation Center of Chattanooga, 1345 Hickory Valley Road, Chattanooga, Tn. 37421. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett honored three Hamilton County students Margaret Brown, Ellie Lee, and Lisa Lin for winning the statewide 2023 Civics Essay Contest. The contest was open to all Tennessee students in public, charter, private school, or home school associations in grades K to 12. Schools selected up to two essays from each grade level to submit for the contest, which featured the theme Why Civility Matters. Miss Brown, a Lookout Mountain Elementary School student, placed first in the K-2nd grade category. Miss Lee, who represents Girls Preparatory School, and Miss Lin, who attends Signal Mountain Middle School, placed second and third in the 9-12th grade category respectively. Congratulations to Margaret Brown, Ellie Lee, and Lisa Lin on their first, second, and third-place finishes in the 2023 Civics Essay Contest, said Secretary Hargett. Students like Margaret, Ellie, and Lisa demonstrate the future of our great state is bright. Misses Brown, Lee, and Lin earned TNStars 529 College Savings Program scholarships for their winning essays. Statewide, 7,749 students participated in this years contest. The Secretary of States Civics Essay Contest, Anne Dallas Dudley Award, College Voter Registration Competition, and Student Mock Election are part of the offices longstanding civics engagement efforts to prepare students to be actively engaged citizens. The Secretary of States office also offers free lesson plans to help teachers incorporate civic engagement and citizenship into their curriculum. The plans, based on the Tennessee Blue Book, were initiated by the Secretary of States office and created by Tennessee teachers. For more information about the Civics Essay Contest and the Secretary of States other civic engagement education efforts, visit sos.tn.gov/civics. A string of burglaries occurred in the Chattanooga area, and the suspect vehicle was located in Collegedale on Sunny Lane. One suspect fled on foot and the other six took off in a vehicle and nearly hit a Collegedale officer head-on. A vehicle pursuit was then initiated and spikes were successfully deployed by HCSO shortly after. A foot pursuit followed, and all seven individuals who were juveniles, were taken into custody. An unknown 911 came in from the 5100 block of Ooltewah Ringgold Road. An unknown 911 came in from the 5100 block of Ooltewah Ringgold Road.Officers checked the area and found no signs of an emergency. Officers made contact with a vehicle emitting heavy white smoke inside the Walmart parking lot. Everything was ok and the driver safely drove away. A Collegedale fugitive was located at the Hamilton County Jail. The individual was booked on a bond revocation warrant for driving charges. A driver in the 9200 block of Lee Highway was arrested for driving on a revoked license. Officers responded to 5910 Reagan Lane on a report of a theft. The shoplifter exited the store and was met by law enforcement who returned the merchandise to the store owner, who decided not to press charges. The individual then drove away as officers discovered a suspended status of their license. The individual was stopped and arrested for driving on a suspended license. Property damage was reported in the 10000 block of Sunny Lane. A traffic stop on a vehicle going 18 miles per hour was conducted in the 5200 block of Little Debbie Parkway. A brief investigation resulted in the driver being arrested for DUI and driving without a license. A Collegedale fugitive was located at the Hamilton County Jail. The individual was booked on a warrant for possession of a Schedule II drug. An individual in the 5500 block of Little Debbie Parkway was misdemeanor cited for driving on a suspended license. A two-vehicle crash was reported in the 4800 block of Ooltewah Ringgold Road. Officers responded to the 5700 block of Sunburst Court on a report of a residence with the front door wide open. Officers cleared and secured the residence. Officers located a suspicious vehicle parked in the 5900 block of Elementary Way. The vehicle was occupied by individuals talking, They were advised to talk elsewhere. Officers settled a disorder between family members that occurred in the parking lot of the police station. A theft was reported at Walmart. A two-vehicle crash was reported in the 5500 block of Little Debbie Parkway. Officers responded to a fire in the 4400 block of Suhrie Drive. Officers arrived and discovered a small controlled campfire. Officers responded to an alarm in the 5300 block of Asher Village Drive. Everything checked ok. Officers were dispatched to a burglar alarm in the 4800 block of College Drive East. Everything checked ok. An unknown 911 call came in from the 9600 block of Chaucer Trail. Officers checked the area and discovered that it was an accidental dial. An individual at Walmart was caught making a fraudulent return. The individual was issued a misdemeanor citation. A Collegedale fugitive was located at the Hamilton County Jail. The individual was booked on a failure to appear warrant. The Spring Plant Sale at Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC), an annual tradition in Rome, will be held April 8-11. The sale will begin on Monday, April 8, at 8 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. The sale will continue Tuesday, April 9, through Thursday, April 11, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. or until plants sell out. Nick Barton, director of Horticulture at GNTC, advises that the plants frequently sell out before the last day of the sale. We have a huge selection of flowering annuals and perennials, he said. Purchases may be made with cash or check. Credit cards are not accepted. The sale is a way for GNTC to contribute to the community while giving Horticulture students real-world experience and an opportunity to display their work. All proceeds from the plant sale will benefit the Horticulture program at GNTC. Items being sold include annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, hanging baskets, blooming plants, Boston ferns and geraniums. The vegetable plants will include tomato, pepper, squash, cucumber, zucchini, cantaloupe and watermelon. Flowering plants include impatiens, dianthuses, petunias, marigolds, SunPatiens, lantana and million bells. The sale will take place at the greenhouses located across from GNTCs Floyd County Campus, next to the Woodlee Building. Here are the new marriage licenses from the County Clerk's office: JAKERIA EDRICKA BORKMAN JAMICHAEL DEWAYNE WOODEN 5700 ROPER ST APT E4 5700 ROPER ST APT E4 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374123552 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374123552 SHAE CASSITY THOMPSON CHRISTOPHER JAMES RIVERS 1332 PASSENGER ST APT 303 1332 PASSENGER ST CHATTANOOGA, TN 374081474 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374081465 BRITTANY ANN EDWARDS MICHAEL DUSTYN HENSLEY 9602 BARBEE RD 9602 BARBEE RD SODDY DAISY, Tennessee 373793952 SODDY DAISY, Tennessee 373793952 CARLOS MOISES RODRIGUEZ ROSE MARISSA COLLEEN CORBITT 3110 GREENWICH AVE 3110 GREENWICH AVE CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37415 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37415 ZACKARY KENNETH LANGLEY JESSICA LEIGH GREENE 2626 LONG ST 2626 LONG ST CHATTANOOGA, TN 374083039 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374083039 KENDRA SASHA GILLESPIE ROBERT MILTON BLEDSOE 1124 GROVE ST APT C 1124 GROVE ST APT C CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37402 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37402 JOHN KEVIN RADOMSKI DEANNON BRADLEY CONWELL 7117 RON RD 236 RUBY CATE OOLTEWAH, Tennessee 37363 MURFREESBORO, Tennessee 37128 WILLIAM SCOTT SMITH KELLY ANNE DANIELS 1806 MCBRIEN RD 1806 MCBRIEN RD CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 TAIVION JAMES ROSSER TYSHUNN NICOLE TURNER 6 NORCROSS WAY RD SW 4546 OLD SUMMERVILLE RD ROme, Georgia 30165 ARmuchee, Georgia 30105 YAW BROWN SHARIEL MAKAY MOSTELLA 1616 AIRPORT BLVD 1616 AIRPORT BLVD GADSDEN, Alabama 35904 GADSDEN, Alabama 35904 LAUREN ELISE EMERY KENAN NEHEMIAH MARKUM 1578 MAREMONT RD 1578 MAREMONT RD KNOXVILLE, Tennessee 37918 KNOXVILLE, Tennessee 37918 JOMARIO BERNARD NORWOOD FORESSA BROWN PATTON 1770 E STATE LINE RD 2147 VADEN VILLAGE DR ROSSVILLE, Georgia 30741 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37421 RAJIV REDDY KUDUMULA SPHOORTHY REDDY MUTYALA 7477 COMMONS BLVD APT 931 7477 COMMONS BLVD APT 931 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374212358 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374212358 PAULETTA MICHELLE HAYWOOD DAVID DANIEL SMITH 1331 BONNELIA CIR 1331 BONNELIA CIR SODDY DAISY, Tennessee 373797006 SODDY DAISY, Tennessee 373797006 OSCAR IVAN JIMENEZ MAIRA ANDREA RUBIANO 936 MOUNTAIN CREEK RD APT Y271 936 MOUNTAIN CREEK RD APT Y271 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374051742 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374051742 NATHAN DANIEL LACEY ANNA LUISA CAMMAROTA 6109 STONEHAVEN DR 6109 STONEHAVEN DR NASHVILLE, Tennessee 37215 NASHVILLE, Tennessee 37215 MICHAEL LEE SMITH AMANDA NOEL COOPER 6840 BENWOOD DR 6840 BENWOOD DR OOLTEWAH, Tennessee 37363 OOLTEWAH, Tennessee 37363 MEREDITH SUSANNE DUNAVANT AARON NICHOLAS LAZOR 1923 CLOSE RD 1923 CLOSE RD CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374121413 ALEXANDRIA REAGAN COX COLBY AUSTIN ROGERS 863 CANAL ST APT 101 863 CANAL ST APT 101 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374022308 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374022308 MUHAMMAD ZIA KAYLA LEANNE BRIDGES 216 BEECH ST 3654 CHATEAU LN APT 160 ROSSVILLE, Georgia 30741 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37411 WILLIAM ALEXANDER ROBERTS EMILY ANNE HALL 506 ACORN CT 506 ACORN CT CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37415 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37415 MARCELLO RASHON PATTON MICHELLE ANTOINETTE OWENS 4168 EAST RIDGE DR APT B 4168 EAST RIDGE DR APT B CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 DAVID ROBERT POWELL MELODY ELLEN COX 4320 DORAL DR 9514 CIMARRON LN MURFREESBORO, Tennessee 37127 OOLTEWAH, Tennessee 37363 ALLISON LYNETTE MITCHELL PEYTON EDWARD SELLERS 8606 DAISY DALLAS RD 8606 DAISY DALLAS RD HIXSON, TN 373431306 HIXSON, TN 373431306 MARY ALICE CLARK CONNOR DEWAYNE PARRIS 4153 WATSON RD 4153 WATSON RD CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374153312 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374153312 BOYD MARSHALL GROGAN SHARA PATRICE COOK 6782 HICKORY CREEK RD 6782 HICKORY CREEK RD CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37421 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37421 BRENT BRANDON TIMBLIN LAUREN NICOLE EKSTEIN N5539 COUNTY ROAD UU N5539 COUNTY ROAD UU FOnd du lac, Wisconsin 54937 FOnd du lac, Wisconsin 54937 EMILY LEIGH NELSON RYAN THOMAS SPARTZ 1410 SE 17TH PL 1410 SE 17TH PL NEWCASTLE, OK 730656627 NEWCASTLE, OK 730656627 TYLER WARREN REICHARD DEVON ELIZABETH O'CONNOR 413 BROUGHTON ST 413 BROUGHTON ST CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37411 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37411 CATHERINE ANNA BEVERIDGE AUSTIN TAYLOR BLACKBURN 21 TRACY LN 21 TRACY LN MARIETTA, GA 300625126 MARIETTA, GA 300625126 ROGER MEDLEY SKYLAR MACAYLA ANN HUCKABEE 27 ORCHARD AVE 27 ORCHARD AVE ROSSVILLE, Georgia 307413992 ROSSVILLE, Georgia 307413992 JACOB KIRK BAILEY EMILY ELAINE TAYLOR 901 CLAY HILL DR 110 SCENIC CIR SODDY DAISY, TN 373795369 RINGGOLD, GA 307365509 RENEE ANNE HOGERVORST TRAVIS DANIEL MARINSHAW 936 MOUNTAIN CREEK RD APT Y274 936 MOUNTAIN CREEK RD APT Y274 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374051740 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374051740 MCKENZIE MARIE ELIZABETH PARKER BRAXTON AVERY REID 1042 JOHN ROSS RD 1042 JOHN ROSS RD CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 BRADLEY DUANE FORD SAVANNAH KATE SOOTER 11162 S HIGHWAY 333 11162 S HIGHWAY 333 VINE GROVE, Kentucky 401757632 VINE GROVE, KY 401757632 HALEY ELAINE MITCHELL JULIO RUIZ 108 WINDSONG TRAIL 108 WINDSONG TRAIL CAnton, Georgia 30114 CAnton, Georgia 30114 EMILY MARIE SMITH CHAD ALLEN FRYMAN 1434 CRESCENT DR 1434 CRESCENT DR KINGSPORT, Tennessee 37664 KINGSPORT, Tennessee 37664 DALTON THOMAS EDMUNDS KATHERINE GRACE WILLIAMS 2000 CACTUS LN 4670 LUKE DR CUMming, Georgia 30040 CUMming, Georgia 30040 TANISHA FAYE SIMPSON COURTNEY RAYSHAWN GAINES 7301 E BRAINERD RD APT G14 7301 E BRAINERD RD APT G14 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374213831 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374213831 JAMIE MATTHEW HUDAK KATHRYN RENEE THOMAS 2400 HUNTINGTON DR 2400 HUNTINGTON DR LOGANVILLE, Georgia 300523277 LOGANVILLE, Georgia 300523277 JACOB BROWN MOOREFIELD RACHEL EVA ALBRIGHT 908 OAK ST APT 1 908 OAK ST APT 1 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374032417 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374032417 ALLYSSA MICHELLE ELDRIDGE ARDEN MATTHEW AZAR 1521 HICKORY VALLEY RD APT 224 1521 HICKORY VALLEY RD APT 224 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374215639 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374215639 AMBER MICHELLE BURCHFIELD JACOB RYAN NATION 11763 CRESTWOOD TRL 6250 BANJO WAY HARRISON, Tennessee 373418992 HARRISON, Tennessee 373418992 EDWIN JOEL VASQUEZ-MUY MELANIE GRACE BOWER 4602 MONTVIEW DR 4602 MONTVIEW DR CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37411 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37411 ZACHARY SEBASTIAN HEINRICH ABIGAIL GRACE BIDINI 605 SOUTH PARK WAY 605 3960 BELL RD APT 1154 SANford, North Carolina 27332 HERMITAGE, TN 370762957 CATHERINE JEAN LORENTZ BENJAMIN AUGUST BRANSTAD 6134 KAHL AVE NE 6134 KAHL AVE NE ALBERTVILLE, MN 553013535 ALBERTVILLE, MN 553013535 CASEY MICHAEL LEWIS DEMI RAE DEFOOR 10477 WALDEN ST 10477 WALDEN ST SODDY DAISY, Tennessee 37379 SODDY DAISY, Tennessee 37379 MICHAEL DAVID NATION JUBY DELA PENA MENDOZA 309 ZIEGLER ST 309 ZIEGLER ST CHATTANOOGA, TN 374053852 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374053852 RAFE WILLIAM GOLDBACH LINDA LORRAINE LEE 2217 ASHMORE AVE 2217 ASHMORE AVE CHATTANOOGA, TN 374156505 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374156505 TYLER AARON SCISSOM JENNIFER CHERYL WILD 2963 E FREEDOM CIR 2963 E FREEDOM CIR OOLTEWAH, TN 373638582 OOLTEWAH, TN 373638582 RONNIE LAMAR BROWN LISA MICHEELE DOBBS 7653 BONNIE DR 7653 BONNIE DR CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37416 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37416 RALPH PARKER SAMIKA LUTRICE PERKINS 1914 WALKER ST APT A 1914 WALKER ST APT A CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37404 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37404 Senator Marsha Blackburn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will visit the southern border in Eagle Pass, Tx. on Tuesday, amid the sovereignty battle between the Biden administration and the state of Texas over enforcing immigration law.Since Inauguration Day 2021, more than 9.2 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States, including over 1.7 million known gotaways. Meanwhile, the Biden administration deported just 142,000 people in all of 2023 less than five percent of all illegal crossings.What is happening at the southern border is nothing short of an invasion. Not only has this White House refused to step in, but they are waiving a historic number of illegal immigrants into our country on parole and actively blocking states from protecting their own sovereignty. Ill be traveling to Eagle Pass to help shine a light on what the state of Texas, Border Patrol, law enforcement and local landowners are doing day and night to uphold the rule of law and secure our southern border, said Senator Blackburn. An attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall has been claimed by the Islamic State group, resulting in the tragic loss of at least 133 lives. The attack signifies one of the deadliest attacks in Russia in recent years. Despite the US presenting evidence supporting the jihadists' claim, Moscow and Kyiv continued to blame each other on Saturday amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. Here is the latest information we have regarding the shooting: ISIS-K Claims Moscow Concert Hall Massacre There are many unresolved issues regarding the Friday night occurrence, such as whether it was connected to a security advisory that the American Embassy in Moscow carried out two weeks prior and whether it represents an upsurge for the group in the West. The four terrorists who opened fire at Crocus City Hall, where 7,000 concertgoers had gathered to observe the progressive rock band Picnic, completely stunned Moscow's security forces. The terrorist organization ISIS-K has taken responsibility for at least 137 deaths and over 100 injuries in several texts and videos. Moscow Concert Massacre Suspects Arrested The four suspects were captured and carried before a court a few hours later when it was found that they had been recorded on camera being blindfolded and transported into an intelligence facility. Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, is a terrorist group that developed in eastern Afghanistan before the end of 2014 and rose to prominence due to its brutal violence. The group's name came from an antiquated term for the area that included portions of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. US Warns ISIS-K Urges to Widen Agenda Even though its membership has decreased since 2018, ISIS-K remains one of the Islamic State's most active regional groups. The US military and the Taliban have not stopped targeting ISIS-K. The US Congress was notified in March that ISIS-K was developing the capacity to carry out "external operations" in Europe and Asia, demonstrating the US nation's ongoing belief that the group poses a threat, according to The Independent. Read Also: Royal Caribbean Suspends Voyages to Haiti Due to Gang Violence ISIS-K's Twin Bombing in Iran ISIS-K has carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people who had gathered to mourn the anniversary of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani's assassination by US forces earlier this year. General Michael Kurilla of US Central Command says that in as little as six months, Moscow may target US and Western targets outside of Afghanistan with little to no warning. Russia Previously Targeted by Terror Grup ISIS-K, a central Asian branch of the Islamist terror group, has attacked Russia's security. The 2017 metro explosion in St. Petersburg was one of their earlier attacks. They saw Russia's promotion of "hatred" against Muslims as being on par with that of the US. They also described how their 2015 action in Syria was caused by Russia's support of the Assad regime. The Wilson Center in Washington says ISIS-K "sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims." He went on to claim that the group includes some terrorists from Central Asia who have their own grievances against Moscow. Additionally, the gang detonated two explosives in Iran, killing about a hundred people. ISIS-K Targets Nations Linked to Afghanistan Additionally, actions such as the attack on Moscow are intended to boost ISIS-K's image within the wider Islamic State network with the intention of possibly obtaining further funding and support. In general, the strategy is a part of the attempt to "internationalize" the agenda that ISIS-K has been pursuing since 2021 with higher intensity. Targeting nations with a presence in Afghanistan, including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China, the group has intentionally broadened the reach of its activities beyond geographical confines. The terrorist strike in Moscow, which after the January attack in Iran, indicates that ISIS-K is stepping up its efforts to take its ideological battle directly to the borders of sovereign nations, SFGATE reported. Related Article: 2 Holland America Cruise Line Employees Die in 'Incident' on Ship in the Bahamas @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Stadium bar Concourse Old Power House will be worked into the stadium design Watching the game Foundries District Planned 300-unit housing Development overview Master planner Jim Irwin County Finance Director Lee Bouner and bond counsel Mark Mamantov Previous Next A hotel and a 300-unit multi-family project are just some of the developments on the drawing board near the planned Southside Stadium, master planner Jim Irwin said Monday. Mr. Irwin told members of the city and county Bond Boards - holding a joint meeting - that S9 Architecture of New York is drawing up plans for the multi-family project to be just outside the new field for the Chattanooga Lookouts. He said work on that project will begin the same time as the stadium construction at the Wheland Foundry/Lookout Pipe site. Stadium construction is expected to take 18-24 months. Mr. Irwin unveiled renditions of the multi-family project as well as new views of the "community" stadium. He said design work is complete on the stadium, while parties involved still finalize the complicated financing scheme. The two boards approved amendments to economic and interlocal agreements dealing with the stadium. Lee Brouner, county finance director, said the county is on board as long as a development agreement is in place detailing multiple developments that will fuel the TIF fund with new taxes and not leave the city and county holding the bag. The city and county are jointly backing $80 million in bonds, while the city is involved in use of some of its revenues, including TIF funds and hotel/motel taxes, on much of the rest. The Lookouts are to provide $3 million toward the construction. The club will backstop $16 million also needed as costs of the stadium went up, while property owners, Perimeter Development, are backing $10 million. Those would only be called if TIF revenues were short. Mr. Irwin said many people see "an eyesore" when they look at the site of rusty buildings, but he said he sees a thing of beauty. He said the collection of old industrial buildings when repurposed will make a dramatic backdrop for the stadium. He joked that the Lookouts will hold an advantage as opposing batters will be awed by the outfield scene. Mr. Irwin said some of the masonry on the still-standing buildings is of a type no longer seen. The developer of major projects in Atlanta and Nashville around old buildings said the location just below a looming Lookout Mountain is a one-of-a-kind site. He cited Camden Yards at Baltimore as another ball field built around historic buildings. Bill Payne, city chief engineer, said the city has reached an agreement with TDEC regarding the brownfield site. He said a number of drillings have taken place and "essentially we are dealing with foundry sand." A traffic study is underway. Officials on Monday announced some $25 million in federal funds for a variety of Chattanooga projects that include: $6.4 million for the Alton Park connector trail on the Southside. $5 million for widening of Cummings Highway in Lookout Valley. It will impact two railroad underpasses and go from Brown's Ferry Road to Tennessee Avenue. It will add a median, turn lanes and shoulders. $4 million for EPB quantum projects. $3.5 million for the UTC quantum Center. $3.5 million for Broad Street redesign between the Aquarium and MLK Boulevard. $2.4 million for UTC Mobility Ecosystems project. $1.5 million for 211 expansion by United Way of Greater Chattanooga. $850,000 for Chattanooga Police Department technology upgrades. As Chattanoogas Congressman, Ive vowed to listen to my constituents and fight for whats best for Chattanooga and East Tennessee in Congress. These investments in our local economy, police force, and city infrastructure will make Chattanooga an even better place to live, work, and raise a family. Im thankful for leaders such as Mayor Kelly and outstanding community groups like United Way, EPB, and UTC for working with me to bring these investments to Chattanooga. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann said, Mayor Tim Kelly said, These are significant investments that will inject new life into our infrastructure, build up our outdoors assets, spur economic development and upgrade public safety. I want to thank Congressman Fleischmann for delivering these investments, and for his partnership with the city and key community partners like UTC, EPB and the United Way. Also attending the press conference were EPB CEO David Wade, UTC Chancellor Steve Angle and officials from the United Way and Chattanooga Police Department. To access the graphics about the projects shown at todays press conference, click here. To read more about the purpose of the community projects funded, read the letters Rep. Fleischmann sent making the requests here. John and Abbie appear to have enjoyed alcohol beverages on a recent vacation, making their drinking stance clear. They aren't the only Duggar couple to do so. John David and Abbie Duggar took a break from the Arkansas winter to enjoy fun in the sun. The Duggar couple took to Instagram this week to share a couple of shots from their recent vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. While most of the snaps were completely mundane, Duggar family followers quickly noticed that the duo appeared to enjoy alcoholic beverages while vacationing in Mexico. Drinking is against Jim Bob and Michelle Duggars rules. While it is still shocking to see a Duggar holding a drink, John and Abbie arent the only Duggar couple who dont seem to have a problem with indulging occasionally. John and Abbie Duggar enjoy drinks in Mexico Duggar family vacations are not big news. The supersized family seems to spend a lot of time jetting around despite losing their moneymaking show, Counting On, several years ago. What isnt typical is to see Duggar family members openly enjoying alcohol. John and Abbies Mexico vacation appeared to include a couple of tasty cocktails. Counting On stars John David Duggar and Abbie Grace Burnett | TLC/YouTube One picture the couple shared on Instagram showed them sitting at a table enjoying tropical drinks. While the couple did not specifically state they were alcoholic, Duggar family followers insist they would have mentioned if their beverages were virgin. It is unclear when the couple jetted off to the resort town or what they may have been celebrating. The duo did enjoy plenty of romance on their trip, though. Which Duggar siblings drink alcohol? While John and Abbie are the most recent Duggars pictured with seemingly alcoholic beverages, they are not the first to drop Jim Bob and Michelles no-drinking rule. Jinger Vuolo and Jill Dillard have both shared their thoughts on alcohol in recent years. The sisters have opted to take a different approach to alcohol than their parents. Jill and Derick Dillard, Ben and Jessa Seewald and Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo | TLC/YouTube Jinger Vuolo sat down for an interview with People ahead of the release of her book Becoming Free Indeed and openly discussed her stance on drinking. She said she had concluded that alcohol was not sinful, despite how her parents felt. While she said she opts not to partake, she does not see the decision to do so as immoral. Its been largely rumored that her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, does enjoy alcoholic beverages ever so often. Jill Dillard and her husband, Derick Dillard, also see no issue enjoying a cocktail or beer on occasion. Derick and Jill once revealed that Jim Bob Duggar offered to send Derick to rehab after learning he had enjoyed a beer. Jill discussed the incident in depth in her book Counting the Cost. While no other Duggar siblings have openly discussed their stance on alcohol, the enjoyment of adult beverages isnt an issue for cousin Amy Duggar King, either. Kate Middleton and King Charles have always been close, and the king reportedly made a trip over to Windsor to see the Princess of Wales before she revealed her cancer diganosis. King Charles and Kate Middleton have more in common than just being royals. Both the current monarch and the Princess of Wales have started 2024 by revealing cancer diagnoses, and its certainly shaken the royal family and the world. Kate recently released a message announcing her diagnosis, and sources say Charles traveled to Windsor on March 21 to have a sit-down with his daughter-in-law, after which he was left feeling very emotional. King Charles with Kate Middleton and Prince William | Danny Lawson/WPA Pool/Getty Images King Charles and Kate Middleton reportedly had a sit-down lunch before her announcement The Princess of Wales shocked the world when she revealed that she has cancer. Kate first took a leave of absence after Christmas, when Kensington Palace announced that she had undergone abdominal surgery and would be out until at least Easter. Based on Kates video message, the palace was unaware of the cancer at the time of the initial announcement. Kate said that upon further testing, cancer cells were found. A source told Daily Mail that Charles made his way to Windsor on March 21 to speak with the princess, which was the day before her video message was released. The King left his lunch feeling very emotional, the source said. They are very close and he thinks of Catherine as his daughter There is no doubt there is a lot they can share and can use each other for support during their own deeply personal cancer battles. As many know, Charles revealed his own cancer diagnosis in early February. Immediately following the announcement, Prince Harry flew to the United Kingdom. At that point, its likely Kate was already aware of her diagnosis, and its unclear if Harry was informed at that time. Ultimately, though, it seems the royals have been working through two difficult diagnoses for quite some time. Kate Middleton, Prince William, Camilla Parker Bowles, and King Charles | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Kate Middleton says she is getting stronger despite being in the early stages of treatment In Kates video, she hinted that part of the reason she had taken so long to announce the cancer is because she was working with Prince William to best explain the situation to their children. William and Kate have three kids: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5. It makes sense that William and Kate had to be careful about how they explained their mothers health to the young ones. She has said that she is getting stronger every day. Kate asked for continued privacy while she undergoes treatment, and Charles released a statement through Buckingham Palace saying that he was proud of his daughter-in-law for having the courage to speak out. Prior to Kates message, there had been nasty rumors surrounding her absence even ones that attacked her marriage and family. It seems that the drama surrounding the royals has simmered down a bit now that she has set the record straight. Kates biggest focus right now is healing, and she does not have a set date to return to royal duties. As the youngest of the McBee brother, Brayden McBee opted to spend less time at the family farm, and more time at home with his mother. The McBee Dynasty on Peacock has taken the reality TV world by storm. Dubbed a real-life Yellowstone, the series follows Steve McBee and his four sons working together on the family farm. The family dynamics and the four brothers battle to control the business when Steve McBee hands things off have made the series pretty juicy. Still, fans note that one of the four brothers is less into the situation than the rest. Now, fans have uncovered why Brayden McBee might be less invested in the family farm than his older brothers. Brayden McBee technically grew up far from the family farm It didnt take The McBee Dynasty fans long to realize the youngest McBee brother seemed much less interested in the farm and reality TV than his older brothers. After some diggings, Reddit users think theyve uncovered why 20-year-old Brayden shows little interest in what is happening with his familys business. Brayden McBee | Paul Andrews/PEACOCK via Getty Images One fan pointed out that the youngest McBee brother seems incredibly invested in his life more than an hour away from the family business. When Steve McBee and his first wife, Kristi McBee, divorced, she stayed in Independence, Missouri. Brayden stayed with her. The town, close to the Kansas border, is far from the Gallatin, Missouri, base of Steve McBees farm. Steve and Kristi officially divorced in 2021 when Brayden was still a teen. Brayden McBee addressed his relationship with his father in The McBee Dynasty The McBees discussed why Brayden was less involved in the farm than his brothers on the show. In episode 5, Brayden revealed that of the four brothers, he spent the most time with his mother. He said that when his siblings opted to go to the farm each weekend to work, he preferred to stay at his mothers house. Steve McBee | Paul Andrews/PEACOCK via Getty Images Brayden noted that he was less interested in farm life and never had much interest in working full-time in the family business. The 20-year-old did note that there were some negative consequences to that decision. He revealed that while hes never had a falling out with his father, he simply is not as close to him as his older brothers are. How old are the McBee brothers? During episode 5 of The McBee Dynasty, Steve McBee said his youngest son was too young initially to enjoy time on the farm, but he isnt all that much younger than his siblings. Steven McBee Jr. is the oldest of the bunch. He is 28. Jesse McBee is two years younger than his older brother, Steven. Cole McBee, 23, is considered the middle child by the family. That means there are just eight years between the four brothers. Brayden is the baby of the family, but he is just three years younger than his closest in-age sibling. AI start-up Tomorrow Things has secured 1.5m in funding to continue the development of an AI-powered Operating System for machines on the internet. This solution will save clients up to 90% in manual integration and other costs. An investment to make AI fly Tomorrow Things 1.5m funding was acquired during the latest round that was led by seed investor High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF) and early-stage Venture Capital fund, neoteq ventures, supported by European VC firm Notion Capital, solo GP Robin Capital, and a number of business angels specializing in fundraising, marketing, and B2B SaaS (Christian Noske, Maximilian Eichler, Thomas Lang, Thomas Hollwedel, and Markus Doetsch). "Significant costs for system integrators and complex service operations on cloud infrastructures are slowing down digitalization. Tomorrow Things is a sales and integration accelerator that is opening up exciting new opportunities across the IoT ecosystem. The founding team has unique experience building twins and knows how to enhance data quality to make AI fly," Johannes Dierkes, Investment Manager at High-Tech Grunderfonds. Building an Operating System for Tomorrow The Bonn-based start-up Tomorrow Things demystifies the daunting complexities of automation for less-technical users to connect their machines to the industrial internet within minutes. This process usually takes several days or sometimes weeks and typically involves significant resources. The Tomorrow Things solution is up to 90% cheaper than existing alternatives. The founders Oliver Habisch, Dr. Christian Dierolf, Ankur Srivastava, and Marcel Zimmerling have ten years worth of experience in closed-loop AI control, which they previously used to increase the process stability of industrial assets and the efficiency of commercial buildings by more than 20%. They have experience creating control policies that work autonomously and adaptively within pre-defined system limits that humans can then monitor or react to when deviations occur. Tomorrow Things SaaS solution Cloud Connect consists of an intelligent automation tool that creates digital twins of machines. These digital twins offer real-time virtual replicas of physical assets, processes, and even entire factories, with which manufacturers can run simulations to rehearse different scenarios before implementing them in reality. This allows them to optimize production lines, predict potential issues, and make informed decisions without impacting real-world operations. Digital twins collect and analyze data from sensors, machinery, and other sources, providing valuable insights into performance, efficiency, and potential problems. This data empowers manufacturers to make data-driven decisions rather than relying on intuition or guesswork. CEO and co-founder of Tomorrow Things, Oliver Habisch, states that he and his team are developing the operating system for machines on the Internet. We are the AppStore for asset blueprints supporting easy onboardings and third-party AI services on top of digitalized assets to make the world more sustainable and efficient. Using AI-generated blueprints to digitalize at the push of a button Open-source integration tools are already being used widely today. Paradoxically, this is where the problem lies. These tools require highly qualified users to get the job done, and therefore an increasing need for highly skilled workers. To cite an example: a machine manufacturer partnering with Tomorrow Things offers around 250,000 data objects in its machine interface, including both significant and insignificant ones. The user is responsible for manually analyzing the importance of each object and deciding whether to select this object for the twin application. As a result, the manual approach is monotonous and error-prone, even for the most qualified people. This inevitably leads to data quality issues, a lack of employee satisfaction and consequently, staff fluctuation. Onboarding a machines interface is time-consuming, complex, and cost-intensive. But with Tomorrow Things, these manual machine onboardings are being automated and standardized via machine blueprints comparable to a fingerprint used to build a digital twin with just one click. The digital representation offers many opportunities for optimization, e.g. finding better input parameters, which results in less material waste, energy consumption, downtime, and improved production performance and profitability. With a dynamic view of their operation, manufacturers can quickly identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in their production processes. Opening up exciting opportunities across the IoT ecosystem Tomorrow Things aims to become the operating system (OS) for machinery worldwide. Skills from the traditional industry and startups are intelligently combined. Third-party providers will connect to the OS and make their own AI applications available in an AppStore that drives business outcomes for onboarded assets, ultimately unlocking as-of-yet untapped value for end-customers. Tomorrow Things enables secure bidirectional data transfer between machines and internet applications. AI-driven control strategies can be created centrally by value-add partners and operated on the edge to execute optimized setpoints in the machine interface that achieve better results. Core business instead of in-house development As of today, customers and interested partners can learn more and register for the AI startups service on tomorrowthings.com. Timo Gunzel, Chief Technology Officer of Bole Intelligent Machinery Co, Ltd, has already been able to test Tomorrow Things Digital Twin platform as part of the closed beta. iron is one of the most common elements on earth and in the entire universe. It plays a key role in all areas of our lives, be it in industry or for the transport of oxygen in our blood. Researchers at Saarland University and other colleagues from Germany have now succeeded in synthesizing a new form of iron. Based on this fundamental research, there are prospects for important fields of application, such as in the energy industry. The findings were recently published in the journal "Nature Chemistry". Prof. Dr. Dominik Munz Universitat des Saarlandes/Thorsten Mohr Iron plays a central role, and not just as a raw material for the steel industry and other technical applications. Iron is also essential for many processes in nature and our bodies. "Iron compounds mediate redox processes, for example in the natural nitrogen cycle or in respiration. Our red blood gets its color from oxidized iron compounds, which transport oxygen through the body in this way," explains Dominik Munz. The Professor of Coordination Chemistry at Saarland University is only marginally concerned with the chemistry of metals in our bodies, known as bioinorganics. However, their oxidation chemistry is one of his scientific focuses. And here, together with colleagues from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (Mulheim an der Ruhr) and the FU Berlin, he has achieved a breakthrough: the chemists have synthesized a new oxidation state of iron, iron(VII), as Dominik Munz explains. "This means that we have removed seven electrons from an iron atom," says the chemist. Such a highly oxidized form of iron has never existed before, and there are only a handful of examples of six electrons. As the work that the scientists recently published in the journal "Nature Chemistry" is basic research, there is not yet any prospect of a concrete application for the new substance. In principle, however, such compounds play a key role in many practical fields, particularly in the sustainable energy industry. "In oxidation chemistry, for example for the production of alcohol, one could well imagine their use, as well as in battery technology, the production of synthetic fuels and in water splitting," explains Dominik Munz. Splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen, i.e. artificial photosynthesis, has so far often been done on the basis of iridium. According to Dominik Munz, being able to replace this "super rare and super expensive" element with iron would be an unprecedented industrial breakthrough. The Missouri dad of a woman who was brutally killed in her bathtub has talked about how, upon knowing her body, he "collapsed in the front yard." On January 15, 2022, Mackenzie Hopkins, 24, had been found dead in her Kansas City home by her father, Shannon Hopkins, sister Hazel, and the police. Mackenzie Hopkins' Death "I got a few feet inside her home, and [police] pulled me out. Blood was all over the place. My body gave out in the front yard," Shannon said to KMBC. The 32-year-old Jose E. Escalante-Corchado entered a guilty plea to Mackenzie's murder and the first-degree assault of her 4-year-old daughter Bella, who was gravely hurt but managed to survive. According to the authorities, a 911 call had been made earlier that morning from the victim's phone number, and blood was located on the floor of the house. There was a boot print at the location that matched the suspect's, eventually identified as Jose Escalante-Corchado. The prosecutors added that their truck was also found close. Escalante-Corchado admitted to investigators that he knew Hopkins and her daughter when he was afterwards caught on camera leaving from Hopkins' home, hopping into a truck, and heading to a petrol station. A report to court records, Escalante-Corchado entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and assault on Tuesday. He received consecutive 30-year terms for each of the allegations against him, according to People. Read Also: Pope Francis Unexpectedly Skips Palm Sunday Homily Amid Lingering Health Issues Missouri Woman's Dad Expresses Grief "It's just shocking to everybody. I don't think anybody wants to believe these things can happen, especially to somebody and affecting somebody you know," Michelle Bishop, Hopkins' aunt, said. Mackenzie Hopkins has a sister-in-law named Shawna Hopkins who has started a GoFundMe page to help with the expense of the funeral and medical care. Escalante-Corchado signed a plea bargain the previous week, which led to him being convicted guilty of first-degree assault and second-degree murder. Shannon Hopkins voiced a feeling that "nothing makes this right." "The only thing we can hope for is that we will be able to tenderly embrace and love her daughter for her and on her behalf to the fullest extent of our abilities," Shannon said. He continued and said, "When she became a mother, she came into her own as an individual." He said to the station, "She was caring. The most loving person was her." This summer, Bella, who is now six years old, will go to the United States to visit her family. Bella is now staying in Puerto Rico with her father, New York Post reported. Related Article: Disgraced YouTube Mommy Vlogger Ruby Franke Asked if Child Abuse Charges Were 'In the News': Jailhouse Call @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Two years ago, this 32-year-old mans 33-year-old wife ended up filing for divorce. While he was crushed about his wife leaving him, he couldnt exactly place any blame on her for her decision. They were with one another for six years, and things were absolutely wonderful between them for some period of time. We had a memorable engagement in Belize (a long story involving bats, getting stranded at the Mayan ruins where I proposed to her, and being rescued by a passing British military exercise but thats a whole other story), he explained. I wont wax poetic about it but suffice to say its the happiest Ive ever been. And I think I made her very happy, too. She was my best friend, and we were ready to spend the rest of our lives together. I was extremely close to her whole family as well. I was her brothers best man at his wedding. Suddenly, his mental health tanked, and he began acting bizarrely and erratically. Any time that he and his wife left their home, he felt as if someone was following him. But then, home stopped being a safe space for him as he also began to believe listening devices were hidden under their roof and mysterious agencies were monitoring the devices they used. His wife took him to the ER after one particular incident, and he was ultimately diagnosed with a psychotic break, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder. His wife didnt leave him and instead tried to be as supportive as possible as he sought treatment for his condition. Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox. As a female New Testament scholar, I simply do not have the luxury of avoiding 1 Timothy 2:1115, where Paul, after stating that women should learn in quietness and full submission, claims they will be saved through childbearing. The saved through childbearing verse has been quoted to me by more strangers and (possibly) well-meaning acquaintances than any other, but one particular time stands out. I dont remember what context could have possibly made his statement appropriate, but one day about ten years ago, a young man said in a conversation about my teaching, Well, you are saved through childbearing. In this instance, I was in a position of authority over him, and I could tell that his joke sought to return me to my rightful place. Then I guess I am not saved, I quipped back, knowing that his interpretation of this verse depended on my literal procreation. I also knew, unlike him, that my body was giving many signs that I might never bear a child. (As a side note, by Gods grace, I eventually did become somebodys mother.) My story provides a minute glimpse into the horrendous ways that women have been hurt by the misuse of 1 Timothy 2:1115, and in the introduction to her recent book Nobodys Mother: Artemis of the Ephesians in Antiquity and the New Testament, Sandra L. Glahn gives a heartbreaking picture of her experiences with infant loss as well as encounters with this text in cultures where it stands supreme in determining how women might participate in the church. She, like I, internalized messages about womanhood and how the worth of women is measured. There must be many arrows in our quivers, they say, and our ministries are in our homes. Glahn, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, sets up her book as one that will deconstruct these views carefully by attending to the historical context of 1 Timothy. By thoroughly examining early evidence about Ephesus and the goddess Artemis of the Ephesians, which involves some exciting myth busting, Glahn provides a better understanding of a terribly complicated passage. Her primary method throughout the book is to illustrate claims through the presentation of historical data, which later she analyzes in relationship with the biblical text. An accurate picture of Artemis Glahns first chapter addresses an important question that may well have crossed your mind: Do we really need another book on this passage? And why now? Glahns resounding yes comes from several directions. We need a fresh look, she says, for these reasons: Article continues below For most of church history, women were considered inferior to men by nature. Evidence suggests that (despite the point above) women were active in the church throughout that time. We have access to more information now through databases, inscriptions, and other archaeological evidence. We can better evaluate information due to advances in the studies of inscriptions, ancient writing materials and practices, signs and symbols, and literary analysis. The second chapter focuses on the city of Ephesus, Timothys likely location when he receives correspondence from Paul. Glahn begins with a survey of places where Ephesus appears in Scripture. Among the more prominent mentions comes in Acts 19, where Pauls ministry led to the burning of magical books and an uprising. During the uprising, a cry rings out from the crowds, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! (vv. 28, 34). Pauls message about Christ threatened their devotion to the goddessand the production of goods that accompanied their worship. This summary of Glahns observations so far aligns with standard accounts, but where it diverges is in her characterization of the goddess. According to many, Artemis is a goddess of fertility and in some instances prostitution. In physical representations, her torso or chest is covered with what looks like eggs, and many think those eggs are her many breasts. As Glahn notes, some have also emphasized a connection between Artemis and the Amazons of Greek mythology. But what do ancient texts say about Artemis? Something quite different. Artemis, who is most often referred to as Artemis of the Ephesians, is nobodys mother. She values virginity and at times fights to preserve her own chastity. Even so, Artemiswho watched her mother suffer through the traumatic birth of her brother Apollowas understood to be a midwife. Women would pray that she either deliver them safely through the experience of childbirth or mercifully release them from its pain and suffering through the swift delivery of one of her arrows. In these accounts, she is never associated with prostitution. As Glahn notes, prostitution was banned in Ephesus at this time. Each of these characterizations of Artemis from the literary sources is also corroborated by evidence from ancient epigraphs that Glahn presents in the next chapter. There she looks at various references to Artemis on buildings and monuments, among other things, and they present a similar picture of the goddess. Article continues below Though Glahn notes a relatively consistent portrait of Artemis in the literary sources and available epigraphs, the representations of Artemis in architecture and art are more varied. At times, she looks like an Amazon, a traditional beautyadorned in jewels with braided hair. At other times, frankly, she looks strange, covered in ovoid shapes interpreted as breasts. But these images are not representative of different goddesses or divergent traditions. As Glahn notes, coins from that time period have one image of Artemis on the front and the other on the back. But the beautiful virgin hunter is certainly nobodys mother, so what are we to make of those strange egg-like shapes? Glahn lists a wild range of explanations, including bull testicles and deer canines, but lands on the idea that these shapes are a type of bead used in magical jewelry connected with the powers of Artemis of the Ephesians. With these many jewels she is depicted as both resplendent and powerfulan apt portrait of Artemis, as we have seen. Image: WikiMedia Commons / Edits by CT Slogan and response The final chapter, Saved Through Childbearing, explores how a more accurate picture of Artemis aids our interpretation of 1 Timothy as a wholebut especially 1 Timothy 2, where misconceptions of Artemis have influenced Christian understandings about how women participate in the church. Glahn understands 1 Timothy to be a (relatively subtle) polemic against Artemis. She demonstrates how language applied to Artemis appears more often and in different ways in Pauls letters to Timothy and Titus, and she connects various themes in those letters with evidence already noted throughout the book. But she also makes arguments that go well beyond this relationship. She demonstrates why interpreters should consider 1 Timothy 2:1115 as instructions to wives, not all women. As she argues, the prohibition on women teach[ing] or assum[ing] authority over a man means only that a woman should not teach with a view to domineering a husband. Though this is where Glahns arguments converge with typical discussions of the passage, her presentation of the issues is clear and connects with the broader thesis. Among the more interesting proposals in this chapter is the idea that A woman is saved through childbearing was a saying or slogan among the Ephesians. If so, then Paul is repeating their assertion and then responding to it when he says, if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control (1 Tim. 2:15, NRSVUE). Interpreters generally puzzle over the shift from the singular to the plural (i.e., a woman is saved if they continue), but as Glahn notes, positing a shift from slogan to response could address this issue. Article continues below Overall, this book is a remarkable resource for those who want to learn more about Artemis of the Ephesians in particular. It provides a thorough survey of ancient literature and some useful analysis. In this way, one of the books great strengths could also be seen as one of its primary weaknesses: At first, it seems intended for an informed lay audience, yet dozens of pages contain extended quotations from primary sources. At times, the discussions are also quite technical. It could be the case that Ive misjudged the intended audience(s), but the distance in style and pitch between Glahns autobiographical introduction and her analysis of epigraphic evidence is significant. It is also the case that some may be disappointed that the interpretation of 1 Timothy does not play a more sustained role in the book. However, to Glahns credit, the chapter that does consider the passage is quite long, comprising about one-fourth of the book. Even so, the analysis is primarily, though by no means exclusively, informed by Glahns assumption that Paul has Artemis of the Ephesians in mind throughout his composition, and this may not be so. Madison N. Pierce is associate professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary. She is the author of Divine Discourse in the Epistle to the Hebrews. [ This article is also available in Francais. ] If you were asked to summarize the gospel in one sentence, which passage might you choose? My guess is any shortlist of candidates would have to include 1 Corinthians 15:35. The gospel, Paul says in those iconic verses, is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. Fundamentally, the gospel is the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in fulfillment of Scripture. It is more than that, of course, but not less. Famously, however, there is a problem. It is relatively easy to identify passages pointing to the suffering and death of Christ for sins. The four Gospels invoke plenty of them, as do Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, and Zechariah 12:1014. But what does Paul have in mind when he says that Jesus was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures? Is there a verse hidden somewhere in the Hebrew Bible that predicts as much? Even my study Bible is perplexed. Usually overflowing with cross references, the only Old Testament text it suggests here is Hosea 6:2 (on the third day he will restore us), which appears to be talking about Israel as a whole. There are clear proof texts for the Crucifixion, like Isaiah 53, but no equivalent for the Resurrection, let alone resurrection on the third day. Yet this is not because the idea of rising to new life on the third day is nowhere in Scripture. In fact, its everywhere in Scripture. Seeing how and why this is can teach us how to read the Bible more attentivelywhich, more often than not, means listening for refrains and echoes in a symphony rather than Googling phrases for an exact match. Scriptures first example of life rising from the ground on the third day appears in the opening chapter of Genesis. On day three, the land brings forth plants and fruit trees, and they carry seed according to their kinds (Gen. 1:12), with the capacity to continue producing life in subsequent generations. From that point on, the rising to life of Gods life-giving seed on the third day becomes a pattern. Isaac, the son destined for death on Mount Moriah, is raised on the third day (Gen. 22:114). So is King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:5). So is Jonah (Jonah 1:17). Josephs brothers are released from the threat of death on the third day (Gen. 42:18), as is Pharaohs cupbearer (40:2021). Israel, dying of thirst in the wilderness, finds life-giving water on the third day (Ex. 15:2225). And on arrival at Sinai, the people are told to be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down (19:11). Queen Esther, with the Jewish people under sentence of death, enters the kings presence on the third day, finds favor with him, and brings her nation from death into life (Esther 5:1). So when Hosea talks about Israel being raised up on the third day, he is not plucking a random number out of nowhere. He is reflecting a well-established theme originating in the Bibles first chapter. As Hosea says, Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. (Hos. 6:12) This is exactly what happened on Easter Sunday. Christ was not merely raised; he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He is the fruit tree with the capacity to bring new life according to his kind. He is the one and only Son, destined for death and then returned to his Father well and truly alive, having proved how deep the Fathers love really is. He is the new Jonah, vomited out of the depths after three days to preach forgiveness to the Gentiles. He is the new Esther, turning his peoples fortunes upside down by interceding in the heavenly throne room, finding favor with the King, conquering their enemies, and ultimately giving them rest. On the third day, promised Hosea, God will restore us so that we may live in his presence. Now he has. So we can. Andrew Wilson is teaching pastor at Kings Church London and the author of Remaking the World. [ This article is also available in espanol, Portugues, Francais, Indonesian, and . ] Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here. Home News Healthcare workers continue legal battle against Maine's COVID-19 vaccine mandate A group of Maine healthcare workers is appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit against the states COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which they believe violated their religious freedom rights. The Liberty Counsel, a conservative Christian legal group, filed a notice of appeal with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday in the case of Alicia Lowe et al v. Janet Mills. The healthcare workers objected on religious grounds to Maines COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which was enacted during the pandemic in 2021 and eventually repealed by the governor. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe This unconstitutional law must be stopped, said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver in a statement. Maine cannot ignore federal law by summarily dismissing employees who have sincerely held religious objections to the experimental COVID shots. In August 2021, Maine required healthcare workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in hopes of curbing the spread of the coronavirus. Vaccinations are the best tool we have to protect the lives and livelihoods of Maine people and to curb this pandemic, said Gov. Janet Mills at the time. With this requirement, we are protecting health care workers, their patients, including our most vulnerable, and our health care capacity. Nine unnamed healthcare workers sued Maine for requiring them to get the COVID-19 vaccine even though they were morally opposed to the vaccines due to their being developed through the use of cell lines from aborted fetuses. Two plaintiffs left the lawsuit because their workplace was no longer covered by the requirement. The names of the remaining seven plaintiffs were released in July 2022 as the litigation continued. The named plaintiffs are Alicia Lowe, Debra Chalmers, Jennifer Barbalias, Natalie Salavarria, Nicole Giroux, Garth Berenyi and Adam Jones, reports News Center Maine. According to court documents, Lowe was fired from MaineHealth for refusing to get vaccinated, while Barbalias, Jones and Salavarria were fired by Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. Genesis Healthcare fired Chalmers and Berenyi for the same reason. In October 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to provide emergency injunctive relief to the healthcare workers as the lawsuit continued, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett authoring a concurring opinion that Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined. Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, dissented from the denial of injunctive relief, writing that Maine does not dispute that its rule burdens the exercise of sincerely held religious beliefs. U.S. District Judge Jon Levy initially dismissed the case in August 2022. However, the First Circuit reversed the ruling and sent the case back to Levy for discovery. In July 2023, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced that they would ask the state government to end the COVID-19 mandate, citing widespread vaccination and a drop in coronavirus-related deaths. Although the government argues that the case is moot since the mandate has been discontinued, Liberty Counsel argues that the state already caused "illegal harm" to its clients by prohibiting the states hospitals from granting their religious exemptions from the COVID-19 shots. Home News 'RuPaul's Drag Race' star accused of multiple sexual assaults: report Editor's note: This article contains sexually graphic depictions. A former "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant known as "Shangela," who attended a 2022 LGBT pride event at Vice President Kamala Harris' residence, has been accused of sexual assault by five people between the ages of 18 and 23. The allegations were uncovered thanks to a 16-month investigation that began at the now-defunct BuzzFeed News and continued at Rolling Stone, which published the allegations last week. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Victims claim that the 43-year-old drag performer, whose legal name is Darius Jeremy Pierce, sexually assaulted them while they were inebriated, with the alleged assaults taking place from 2012 to 2018. Pierce maintains that he has never engaged in nonconsensual sex with anyone. Pierce's accusers say that they were aware of his celebrity status as a drag performer and actor, and three of the alleged victims were aspiring drag queens themselves. The alleged assaults occurred in Louisiana, Texas, California and the United Kingdom. Five people described occasions where they stayed up late drinking, with one source telling Rolling Stone they became so drunk and vomited in the bed where the alleged assault occured. Pierce was accused of assault in May after a production assistant for HBO's "We're Here," Daniel McGarrigle, filed a civil suit against the star. McGarrigle alleged in the suit that he vomited after consuming drinks that Pierce gave him. He claimed he later woke up to Pierce assaulting him with his genitals, with Pierce saying, "I know you want it, and you're going to take it." The case was dismissed after all parties reached a settlement, the outlet reported. Five more alleged victims have come forward since then. The five accusers either identify as "queer" or have participated in drag performances, which made them hesitant to speak out, according to Rolling Stone. Due to recent efforts in some states to restrict drag performances considered inappropriate for children or outlaw so-called "gender-affirming care" for minors, the accusers were hesitant to speak out. One of the sources who spoke to Rolling Stone is 27-year-old Helmer, who told the outlet that he was only 20 at the time of the alleged assault. The young adult claimed that he met Pierce in 2017 while working at a bar in Los Angeles and that the older man messaged on Instagram to ask him out for drinks. Helmer later told police that Pierce bought him a Mojito but could not remember what happened afterward. According to a complaint filed with the police, Helmer recalled "waking up completely naked on a bed and believed to be at Pierce's residence." "[Helmer] asked Pierce what happened last night and why he was naked," the complaint cited in Rolling Stone's reporting said. "Pierce responded with, 'We had sex, and there was another guy involved that you brought in.' [Helmer] asked who that other guy was, and Pierce stated he did not know, 'but you were really into it.'" Helmer eventually told some friends about the alleged assault, who recalled hearing the allegation in 2017, according to Rolling Stone. In a legal letter to the outlet, Pierce's attorney, Andrew Brettler, called Helmer's accusations "absurd." The lawyer stated that Pierce and Helmer "went back to Mr. Pierce's house where they engaged in consensual sex with a third man who they met at the bar." Brettler also claimed that Helmer remained in contact with Pierce months after the encounter, and he supposedly never "once mentioned that Mr. Pierce mistreated him, let alone sexually assaulted him." Brettler said the allegations against his client are "false and unsupported by any evidence or reliable witness testimony," claiming there were "significant problems with purported accusers' accounts." He added that his client "adamantly denies ever engaging in nonconsensual sex." In 2022, Pierce spoke at the U.S. Naval Observatory, which serves as the official residence of the vice president. During his speech, Pierce denounced his home state of Texas, accusing it of trying to "ban drag queens." "I'm a proud drag queen!" Pierce said, prompting some members of the crowd to cheer. Following controversy over various drag performances in Texas that exposed minors to sexually inappropriate content, the state passed Senate Bill 12 in 2023. The legislation, slated to go into effect on Sept. 1, intended to prohibit venues from allowing individuals under 18 to attend "sexually oriented" events and performances. U.S. District Judge David Hittner, a Reagan appointee, ruled in September that Texas could not enforce the law because it "impermissibly infringes on the First Amendment and chills free speech." Several drag shows throughout the state of Texas have prompted concerns about minors witnessing sexually explicit content. In December 2022, the Texas Family Project shared footage of a "Christmas Drag Show" event in San Antonio's House of Eternas, marketed as being for all ages. The video shows a man dressed in drag stroking a young girl's hair, and, at another point in the video, the girl is seen giving money to the performers. Another part of the video shows a little girl began to cry after one of the performers asked if she was enjoying the show, and she shook her head. The venue later canceled its remaining drag shows for the year after the video surfaced, claiming that the footage led to them being bullied. New York City Mayor Eric Adams canceled a supposedly scheduled visit to the US-Mexico border on Sunday (Mar. 24), citing security concerns. According to the Associated Press, Adams was slated to visit Brownsville and McAllen, Texas, and was expected to meet with US immigration leaders as his city struggles to house new migrants seeking asylum. The mayor's spokesperson, Amaris Cockfield, said that Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande, invited him to visit. However, she noted that the US State Department flagged safety concerns at one of his planned stops in Mexico, prompting his office to postpone the trip. "As Lent draws to a close, our team was excited to stand with faith and humanitarian leaders who have dedicated their lives to serving the most needy among us and we were eager to discuss our work in New York City and explore new ways to collaborate with leaders in cities across the country," Cockfield said in an emailed statement. "We hope to continue our partnership with these nationally-recognized Latino leaders and organizations as we look for concrete solutions to resolve the crisis at the border." It was also previously reported that over 100 migrants overpowered border guards at a crossing in El Paso, Texas. Read Also: NYC Mayor's Accuser Reveals Damning Details Of Alleged 1993 Sexual Assault in New Court Filing Big Apple's Migration Problem Adams earlier visited El Paso in January, offering a blistering criticism of the federal government's response to the increase of immigrants into US cities far from the border. He also took a four-day tour through Latin America in October, where he implored people to stop making the dangerous journey to the US. Since the spring of 2022, more than 180,000 migrants have come to New York, with over 64,000 of them being taken care of by the city's shelter sites. Last week, city officials and human rights advocates reached an agreement on Adams's bid to suspend the city's "right to shelter" policy following curbs on migrant shelters after a shooting incident in Times Square last month. The agreement essentially ended the city's blanket requirement to provide shelter for adult immigrants without any time limits. This meant that the compromise would allow officials to decide whether to allow a migrant to stay in a shelter beyond 30 days on a case-by-case basis. Additional time would be granted if a person showed "significant efforts to resettle," which could include making an appointment with an immigration lawyer, applying for a resettlement program, or proof that they're searching for housing. Related Article: Over 100 Migrants Breach Border's Razor Wire, Overpower Guards in El Paso Crossing @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Home News Russia adds LGBT movement to list of terrorist organizations after Supreme Court ruling Russia has designated the "LGBT movement" on its list of extremist and terror organizations, aligning with a Supreme Court decision last year. State media reported that the "LGBT movement" was added to the list maintained by the Rosfinmonitoring agency, which works to combat terror financing and has the power to freeze the bank accounts of over 14,000 entities and individuals designated as extremists. The designation applies to the "international LGBT social movement and its structural units," according to state news agency RIA. The Rosfinmonitoring list currently contains 511 organizations. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Russian media also notes that the Russian Ministry of Justice included the "LGBT movement" on a list of banned and liquidated organizations in March. The move has sparked international condemnation and concerns over human rights violations. In November, Russia's Supreme Court ruled LGBT activists as extremists based on a motion filed by the Russian Justice Ministry to ban the movement's "activity on the territory of the Russian Federation." According to the human rights group Amnesty International, a person convicted of involvement in LGBT-affiliated "extremist organizations" could face between five to 10 years in prison. "This phrase, used by the Russian Ministry of Justice, appears to target not an established, clearly defined group or initiative, but any activism in defense of the human rights of LGBTI people or even any public association with the LGBTI community," Amnesty International reported. At the time, a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church, which has faced international scrutiny for its leaders' support of the invasion in Ukraine, called the ruling a "form of moral self-defense by society" against attacks on "the Christian idea of marriage and family from the public and legal realms." This ruling followed a broader trend of tightening restrictions on LGBT expressions in Russia, emphasizing traditional family values. Laws have been enacted against promoting "non-traditional" sexual relations and gender changes, reflecting the government's stance against Western liberal attitudes. In 2022, Russia expanded laws to allow against "LGBT propaganda," with critics saying it gives authorities the ability to fine any person or group that promotes homosexuality. The European Union criticized the Supreme Court ruling. "Amid the decades-long crackdown on rights of LGBTIQ persons unleashed under President Putin, this decision aims at further persecuting the LGBTIQ community in Russia and aims to stifle civil society and those courageously defending human rights," the EU said in a statement at the time. "This decision will prevent LGBTIQ persons from enjoying their human rights and dignity over fears of unjustified persecution." Last year, the Russian Orthodox Church severed ties with Western churches supportive of LGBT rights. Putin's rhetoric has increasingly targeted Western liberal values, accusing them of undermining traditional family structures and promoting harmful ideologies. Last February, Putin appeared to suggest the advancement of same-sex marriage and other rights for LGBT-identified people destroys the institution of the family and promotes pedophilia. "Look at what they're doing with their own people," he said. "It is all about the destruction of the family, of cultural and national identity, perversion and abuse of children, including pedophilia, all of which are declared normal in their life." As an illustration, Putin claimed priests were being forced to "bless same-sex marriages." Although Putin was likely referencing the Church of England's plans to bless same-sex marriages, the policy grants priests autonomy not to bless same-sex marriages. "Look at the holy Scripture and the main books of other world religions," Putin said at the time. "They say it all, including that family is the union of a man and a woman, but these sacred texts are now being questioned." Home News Trump agrees to pay $175 million bond in fraud case Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has agreed to pay a $175 million bond in a civil fraud case in New York as his appeal in the litigation continues. "We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash," Trump stated on Monday on Truth Social. A state appeals court released an order Monday that Trump, who along with his company and top executives had been ordered to pay a judgment of $464 million after being found guilty of fraud, will have the judgment paused if he can pay a $175 million bond within the next 10 days. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Trump denounced the decision rendered against him, declaring in all capitals that "I did nothing wrong, and New York should never be put in a position like this again." "Businesses are fleeing, violent crime is flourishing, and it is very important that this be resolved in its totality as soon as possible," the former president continued, also in all capitals. A spokesperson for the New York attorney's office clarified to The Hill in a statement on Monday that the $464 million judgment against Trump and his business remains. "Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud," stated the spokesperson. "The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family and his organization." Last month, Judge Arthur Engoron of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, issued a judgment against Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., the Trump Organization and other defendants in a fraud case. According to the litigation, Trump and his associates engaged in financially fraudulent activities, namely unlawfully manipulating his net worth to defraud lenders. The judgment came without a jury and was the result of a years-long investigation overseen by Democrat New York Attorney General Letitia James and her office. "Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on the pathological," wrote Engoron. "Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways." Trump denounced the decision and expressed his intention to appeal the case. Trump has reportedly struggled to secure the money necessary to pay the $464 million bond. A couple of days before an initial deadline to pay the judgment arrived, a majority of shareholders for Digital World Acquisition Corp. voted to merge with Trump Media, giving Trump shares worth around $3 billion and the possibility of being able to pay off the bond with plenty of cash left over. However, Matthew Kennedy of Renaissance Capital told CNN that "President Trump won't be able to monetize that stake right away," still putting him in possible financial peril. Home News West Virginia, Utah pass laws to protect religious freedom The governors of West Virginia and Utah have approved measures proponents say are designed to protect religious liberty and free speech, each of which secured bipartisan support from state lawmakers. West Virginia's Republican Gov. Jim Justice signed Senate Bill 503 into law Friday. The legislation aims to protect "freedom of association and nondiscrimination against students and student organizations" on the campuses of public colleges and universities. The bill was approved by the Republican-controlled West Virginia Senate in a 31-1 vote on Feb. 27. The legislation passed by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates in an 88-10 vote on March 9. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Although primarily backed by Republicans, the legislation received varying degrees of bipartisan support in both chambers of the state legislature. Nearly all Senate Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the bill while all but two House Democrats voted against it. The measure amends existing West Virginia law, which declares that "a state institution of higher education may not deny a religious, political, or ideological student organization which is open to all students any benefit or privilege made available to any other student organization by the state institution of higher education, or otherwise discriminate against an organization" based on "the expression of the organization." Under the law, the protections in the West Virginia code are amended to eliminate the requirement that student organizations are "open to all students." The code is amended to prohibit discrimination against student organizations based on requirements "that the organization's leaders or members" either "affirm and adhere to the organization's sincerely held beliefs" or "comply with the organization's standards of conduct" or "further the organization's mission or purpose." The legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, which has argued several religious freedom cases successfully before the U.S. Supreme Court, praised Justice's approval of the bill in a statement released Friday. "Universities should encourage freedom of speech and religion, not shut it down," said ADF Senior Counsel and Director of the ADF Center for Public Policy Matt Sharp. "That includes safeguarding the ability of belief-based student organizations to associate with those who align with the organization's mission and purpose." "We wouldn't require a Democrat club to select a registered Republican as its president or an environmental club to admit members who support drilling in the Arctic," he added. "In the same way, religious clubs must remain free to require their leaders and members to adhere to their religious beliefs and values. This critical legislation specifically ensures that student groups at public universities can freely choose their leaders and members, and further their mission, absent of discrimination." The measure comes as some Christian campus groups across the nation have been successful in their legal bids to stop universities from taking action against organizations that require leaders to be Christian and adhere to their statement of faith. In Utah, Republican Gov. Spencer Cox approved Senate Bill 150 Thursday. The legislation includes "Exercise of Religion Amendments" and recognizes "freedom of religion as a fundamental right." It is scheduled to take effect on May 1. The bill passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Republican-controlled Senate without opposition. "A government entity or government action may substantially burden a person's free exercise of religion only if the government entity, or any other person seeking to enforce government action, demonstrates that the burden on the person's free exercise of religion" is both "essential to furthering a compelling government interest" and "the least restrictive means of furthering the compelling governmental interest." The bill seeks to enshrine the protections of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act into state law. Under the legislation, those who believe their "free exercise of religion" is burdened will be able to seek legal recourse in court. However, a written notice outlining the alleged infringement on religious freedom and elaborating on its adverse impacts must precede any action brought against a government entity accused of violating the law. Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Greg Chafuen released a statement Friday reacting favorably to the bill's approval. "Citizens shouldn't be left defenseless when their government attempts to burden their ability to live and worship according to their faith. This law provides a sensible balancing test for courts to use when reviewing government policies that infringe upon the religious freedom rights of Utahans." "The law doesn't determine who will win every disagreement, but it does ensure that every Utahan regardless of their religious creed or political power receives a fair hearing when a government action forces a person to violate his or her religious beliefs," he asserted. "We commend the Utah Legislature and Gov. Cox for enacting this important legislation and setting the stage to ensure that freedom of religion is protected for everyone." As explained in a report compiled by First Liberty Institute last year profiling "Religious Liberty in the States," several states do not have a state version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in place. The states lacking such protections are Ohio, Washington, Maryland, Delaware, Hawaii, North Dakota, Maine, Minnesota, Georgia, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina, New Jersey, Michigan, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Alaska, New York, Vermont, California, New Hampshire and West Virginia. Home News From pizza to burgers: What Chick-fil-A's spinoff restaurants have on their menus The popular American fast-food restaurant Chick-fil-A is already one of the largest chains in the country, but the company also operates five spinoff restaurant brands that offer unique items not on the standard Chick-fil-A menu. Chick-fil-A began in Atlanta's Greenbriar Shopping Center in 1967 and has amassed over 3,000 locations in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Over the years, the chain has launched various affiliated restaurants that offer customers different tastes and vibes inspired by Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy. The following pages highlight what Chick-fil-A's spinoff restaurants have to offer. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Home News Christians in India facing surge in attacks ahead of elections Physical assaults, attacks on prayer meetings and threats of cremation A prominent civil society group has sounded the alarm over a surge in attacks and discrimination against Christians across India, raising concerns about the erosion of fundamental rights and protections for religious minorities ahead of the upcoming general elections. The United Christian Forum (UCF), a Delhi-based organization focused on Christian issues, detailed 161 incidents of violence, harassment and ostracization targeting the Christian community in the first 75 days of the year. "January witnessed 70 incidents of violence against Christians, followed by 62 incidents in 29 days of February and 29 incidents in 15 days of March," the UCF stated, citing reports received through their national helpline. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe The incidents span a wide range of offenses, including physical assaults, attacks on churches and prayer meetings, harassment of those practicing their faith, denial of access to community resources and false allegations particularly those related to forced conversions. Chhattisgarh tops the list of offenders According to the UCF, the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has emerged as the most problematic region for Christians, with 47 reported incidents of violence and discrimination. The press release painted a grim picture, with Christians being denied access to village water sources, the bodies of deceased Christians being threatened with cremation against their religious beliefs, and families being physically assaulted, threatened, and driven from their homes. "In this state, sadly, even dead Christians are not spared, as many were denied burial as per Christian rituals. Local villagers have been threatening to cremate the bodies as a final act of 'Ghar Wapsi' (reconversion)," the UCF stated. Though the Assam government proposed a ban on magical healing in the Assam state, and no such bill has been proposed or passed in Chhattisgarh, a pastor of Assemblies of God last week was arrested from the pulpit and sent to jail for praying for the sick people who had come, said Arun Pannalal, chairman of Chhattisgarh Christian Forum to Christian Today. The sad part was that a congregation of 300 just sat silently watching while their pastor was arrested, he added. State-sponsored harassment in Uttar Pradesh The group also highlighted the role of state authorities in perpetuating the harassment of Christians, particularly in the electorally significant state of Uttar Pradesh, which has witnessed 36 incidents so far this year. "There is clear evidence of state-sponsored harassment of Christians in this state, as the police file false allegations of conversion against pastors even for praying in birthday parties and other social gatherings," the release noted. The UCF helpline has recorded over 30 cases of pastors being arrested or detained under Uttar Pradesh's so-called Freedom of Religion Act, which critics say is being misused to target minority communities. Nationwide concern While Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh top the list, the UCF press release documented incidents of violence and discrimination against Christians in 19 states across India, including Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. "In all, there are 122 Christians who have either been detained or arrested on false allegations of conversions in just 75 days of 2024," the UCF stated. Speaking to Christian Today, A.C. Michael, national coordinator for United Christian Forum, expressed great need for the Christian leadership to raise their voices against the attacks, It is high time, said Michael, We, the Christian leadership of the country, must stick out our necks and speak for the voiceless. Calling for action and fair elections Expressing grave concern over the escalating attacks, the UCF has urged the nation's leadership to take strict action against the perpetrators of these crimes and ensure a peaceful and fair electoral process. "As UCF, we request our leadership to put an end to this violence by taking strict action against perpetrators of all such crimes, and we hope and pray for a peaceful and fair election," the group stated in its press release. Till the time we are unable to defend ourselves against these false allegations of forced conversions, we will never be able to live in peace, concluded Michael. This article was originally published by Christian Today India. Home News France raises terror alert level after deadly Moscow attack by ISIS-K kills over 130 France has escalated its terror alert to the highest level following the Islamic States claim of orchestrating a devastating attack in Moscow, Russia, which resulted in the death of at least 137 individuals. The decision, announced by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, precedes the upcoming Paris Olympics, reflecting the intensified security concerns. "Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency," Attal wrote in a tweet, translated from French. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe During Fridays catastrophic incident in a Moscow suburb, a concert hall became the scene of Europes deadliest terrorist act attributed to the jihadist faction, France 24 reported. The Islamic States Afghan affiliate, ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for this massacre. In the aftermath, French President Emmanuel Macron convened an urgent security meeting, addressing the severe implications of the attack and its potential threat to France. Frances terror alert system, comprising three levels, is now at its peak, a status reserved for times of immediate threat or following significant attacks, either domestically or internationally. This heightened alert enables the deployment of extraordinary security measures, including increased armed patrols in vital public areas such as train stations, airports and religious sites. The countrys history with jihadist terrorism, notably the 2015 Bataclan concert hall attack, underscores the gravity of the current threat level. With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics on the horizon, attracting millions of international visitors, the security apparatus is under immense pressure. The opening ceremony, scheduled for July 26, featuring a unique boat procession along the Seine River, is of particular concern due to the expected large gatherings. In Moscow, the tragedy unfolded with gunmen launching a deadly assault in a concert hall. Survivors reported that emergency exits were inoperable, contributing to the chaos and casualties, according to The Telegraph. An anonymous survivor told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that the gunmen initiated their assault at the concert halls main entrance. He opted to exit through the same entrance, as it was the sole escape route available. We tried the fire escape ladder, but it was closed. People climbed the ladder, descended the ladder, all closed, he was quoted as saying. As per Russian media, smoke inhalation might have claimed more lives than the gunfire. Disturbing accounts from the scene describe people trapped, attempting to escape through jammed exits, with some victims found near these blocked routes. The incident has also reignited concerns over fire safety in Russia, recalling the 2018 Siberian shopping mall fire where locked exits and disabled alarms led to over 60 deaths. Despite claims from Crocus City Halls owner, Aras Agalarov, denying that exits were locked, the tragedy has left many questioning the safety measures in place. The Moscow attack, now the deadliest on Russian soil in recent years, has left families in anguish, uncertain of their loved ones fates. Moscows health department is undertaking the grim task of identifying victims through DNA analysis, a process expected to extend over two weeks. Meanwhile, efforts to dismantle the damaged venue continue as authorities and rescue teams navigate the aftermath of this horrific event. Home News MAG Church disaffiliates from Assemblies of God over Chi Alpha abuse scandal Former Assemblies of God pastor J.R. Armstrong of MAG Church in Orange, Texas, announced that his congregation recently voted to follow in his footsteps to disaffiliate from the world's largest Pentecostal denomination in response to a sexual abuse scandal impacting its Chi Alpha Campus Ministries. Assemblies of God leaders have been accused of knowingly allowing 67-year-old itinerant minister and convicted sex offender Daniel Savala to prey on young males for years through the Chi Alpha Campus Ministries. "We wish to be on record as acting ethically and graciously in our response after discussing the options given to us by the South Texas Assembly of God network," Armstrong announced during a March 17 special business meeting. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "And considering the current crisis being faced by this district and fellowship, the board decided that recommending disaffiliation was in our best interest because systematic sexual abuse within this district and others was known dating back to at least 2018." In a 79-2 tally, the congregation voted to leave the Assemblies of God. Armstrong elected not to renew his credentials with the Assemblies of God months after criticizing Assemblies of God General Superintendent Doug Clay for making comments that he believes minimized the abuse Savala is accused of perpetuating on young men through Chi Alpha. Savala was arrested in Waco last June for allegedly sexually abusing the minor sons of one of his proteges in the ministry. Earlier this month, a legally blind Sam Houston State University student who was part of Chi Alpha filed a $1 million lawsuit alleging he was sexually abused by Savala while in the ministry. The lawsuit names several groups as defendants, including the General Council of the Assemblies of God, South Texas District Council Assemblies of God, Inc., also known as South Texas District Council Assemblies of God, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries, USA, and Chi Alpha Campus Ministries Huntsville. The student listed as John Doe alleges that even though some ministry leaders witnessed Savala engaging in sexual assaults, they still brought youth from religious groups across the state to Savala's house for "mission work." Doe alleges that he began making mission trips to Savala's home with members of Chi Alpha Huntsville, a group on the SHSU campus, in the fall of 2017. He contends that Savala lured him into a sense of goodwill as other leaders called him a "savior and angel." Doe maintains that Savala forced him to start performing sexual acts, which grew worse over time until 2022. Using information from Assemblies of God training and policies, Armstrong argues that ministry and denomination leaders were grossly negligent in their handling of Savala's abuse in the ministry because they were warned repeatedly that he was a predator from at least 2018. "In the time between 2018 and April of 2023, it's undeniable that at least three minor children were molested by him. These three boys were allegedly victimized as a direct result of the inaction of elected leadership of the Assemblies of God to follow through on the knowledge that they admit they had at the time. Two of them were sons of an active Chi Alpha missionary. One of them who filed suit in north Texas a few weeks ago was actually 13 at the time," Armstrong said. "All of them were molested since 2018. We are not in any way insinuating that these leaders were predators. It's just a failure and breakdown of communication and leadership. That's all. I don't say that's all dismissively. It's big." Calling the accommodation of Savala's predation in Chi Alpha a "sex cult," Armstrong says the Assemblies of God did not take the allegations about Savala seriously until they began receiving legal demand letters concerning his behavior. "Then and only then was any scrutiny given to the sex cult. And that's what it is, that was operating within the ministries of the Assemblies of God. I know that's strong language, but I'm going to add to this language," he said. "When the Catholic church was doing this, everybody could see it. When the Southern Baptist Church Convention was going through this, everybody could see it. And I'm telling the district officials and this body that everybody can see this and the only people struggling over what to do and that it happened are Assemblies of God ministers and leadership," Armstrong said. "Everybody else sees it very clearly. The language of the lawsuits that are coming, are language of sex trafficking." In earlier comments to The Christian Post on the allegations, the Assemblies for God pointed to an updated statement that the national office confirmed officials had warned local leaders about Savala as far back as 2018. "When a report first surfaced to the General Council and National Chi Alpha in 2018 of Mr. Savala's proximity to certain local Texas Chi Alpha groups, the appropriate districts with which these campuses are affiliated were notified," the statement said. "National Chi Alpha, which serves as a resource for locally operated chapters, made relevant Chi Alpha leaders aware of his status and warned them to cease contact and not permit students or leaders to be around him." The Assemblies of God noted that denominational leaders were unaware that Savala was sexually involved with college students in Texas until April 2023, and investigations have been ongoing since then. The Pentecostal denomination says it has limited public comments on the matter to protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation. The denomination confirmed, however, that ministers are already being appropriately dismissed "in response to the investigative findings." The denomination assured in its June statement that it was "heartbroken" and planned to do everything it could to help the victims. "As of today multiple Chi Alpha missionaries, six or more, have been dismissed, multiple arrests have been made, one leader in Springfield was allowed to resign, God knows why. Yet none of the elected leadership have stepped down after a catastrophic failure to supervise the ministries under its charge," argued Armstrong. "And there seems to be no intention of releasing the results of the independent investigation commissioned by the district and paid at our expense." Home News Major US chains to close on Easter, giving employees the day off As believers across the United States prepare for Easter, one of the most celebrated holidays on the Church calendar, several major U.S. store chains plan to close on the holiday, giving employees the day off. Falling on Sunday, Easter is a festive day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which occurred days after Christ's brutal death on the cross (Good Friday). Christians regard Christ's death as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of humanity. TJX, which runs off-price retail chains TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and HomeSense, announced that it will close its stores for the upcoming holiday on March 31. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe "We consider ourselves an Associate-friendly company and we are pleased to give Associates the time to enjoy Easter with family and friends," a TJX spokesperson said in a statement shared with media. There are over 1,300 TJ Maxx stores and 1,200 Marshalls stores across the U.S. All stores will reopen on April 1, the day after Easter. Warehouse chains Costco and Sam's Club will also be closed on Easter Sunday. There are 876 Costco stores, while there are nearly 600 Sam's Club locations. Retail giant Target will close its over 1,900 stores in the United States. Its main competitor, Walmart, will open for regular hours. Publix supermarkets, with its over 1,400 stores, will be closed on Easter Sunday. Joining the list of chains that are closing for the holiday are Macy's department stores (515 locations) and H-E-B outlets. For the past few years, the hardware giant Lowe's has closed its doors for Easter to "show appreciation for its frontline associates' continued dedication to serving customers." "In recognition of our teams' continued hard work, we are pleased to provide a well-deserved day off so they can spend Easter with their loved ones," Ellison said in a statement last year. Lowe's biggest competitor, Home Depot, will be open for Easter Sunday. Other chains that will remain open on Easter Sunday include Dollar General, Kroger, Meijer and Safeway. Whole Foods Market locations will be open until 6 p.m. on the holiday. Americans can still pick up prescriptions from CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid drug stores. Customers are advised to pay close attention to varying hours of operations on Easter. Home News Planet Fitness staffer accompanied man in woman's locker room, ex-member says A woman who lost her Planet Fitness membership after recording a video of a queer-identifying man shaving in the women's locker room claims she was told that a staffer has since accompanied the man while he used the women's facilities following the viral encounter. Earlier this month, Patricia Silva shared video recapping her encounter with the man at an Alaska Planet Fitness after her membership was revoked. According to Silva, a 12-year-old girl in a towel was inside the locker room while the man was shaving. After Silva told the man he should not be inside the women's locker room, the woman returned to the gym another day and learned that Planet Fitness revoked her membership for violating its policies by taking a photo of the man. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Silva told The New York Post that her friend recently went to the gym and saw the man shaving his face in the women's locker room again. The former member said the friend told her that it appeared Planet Fitness assigned an employee to accompany the man inside the women's-only space. "He is dressed as a man. His hair is cut short. It appeared that he was dressed, shaving his face and getting ready to leave for the day," Silva told The Post. The woman's friend declined an interview with The Post out of a desire to remain anonymous. Silva said her friend told the Planet Fitness employee that the man needed to leave the women's locker room, but the employee replied that she could go into the stall if she is uncomfortable. Planet Fitness did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment. In response to CP's inquiry last week, McCall Gosselin, Planet Fitness's chief corporate affairs officer, said the company is committed to creating an "inclusive environment." "Our gender identity non-discrimination policy states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity. The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated," Gosselin told CP. In the original video shared by Libs of TikTok on March 11, Silva explained that she is not comfortable having a man in a space intended for women. On March 14, Silva posted a video update re-shared by Libs of TikTok, accusing the company of siding with the man over women. "Planet Fitness is defending the man in the women's locker room the man with the penis rather than the child sitting in the corner with the towel wrapped around her," Silva lamented. "So, people, I just want you to know this is weird. It's not good. It's rather disturbing." "So, I would like for you women to stand up and have a voice and stop these shenanigans," she added. "You have authority! Use your authority." Last week, the company's stock dropped amid the media attention resulting from the incident with Silva. However, the company's stock has gone through declines since January. At the beginning of the year, Planet Fitness' stock opened at $72.90, and the numbers have yet to reach that height again this year. The stock price sits at around $58 as of Monday afternoon. The company's attempts to raise prices may also be hurting signups. Last month, Fortune reported a decline in growth in the gym industry. Planet Fitness has paused testing of higher prices and is bringing back its $10 per month promotion in some markets. Fortune also reported that Planet Fitness did not experience an increase in traffic in January, which the outlet noted is usually one of the busiest months of the year for gyms in the United States. At the time of the report, Fortune reported that Planet Fitness was "on track for its second-worst quarterly sales growth since 2021." North Korean leader Kim Jong Un addressed a tank group named "Seoul" for being the first to invade the capital of South Korea during the Korean War, complementing the unit as a "model for the entire army," state media said on Monday. According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Jong Un visited the First Tank Armored Infantry Regiment, which is associated with the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards, and the 105th Tank Division on Sunday. Kim Jong Un Commends Elite Unit's Role in Seoul Visit According to the Korean Central National Army (KCNA), the division has shown itself in several obligations throughout the previous Fatherland Liberation War. It was the first unit to march into Seoul and improve the DPRK flag atop the puppet capitol building. Kim Jong Un has hailed the unit as "the symbol of the heroic and brave spirit of" the North Korean army, saying it deserves to fly the flag high and serve as an example for the entire army in the current situation, when the force is going through intense training to complete preparations for war. Kim visited Seoul, where the division general briefed him on his plan for assault and defense, examined papers, and gave him instructions on operational combat tasks and personnel training. In order to improve the unit's combat readiness and influence, he offered tasks and guidelines that included arming the tank crew with an overwhelming amount of ideological and mental power, training them physically and militarily, and fully preparing combat technology equipment for regular mobilization. The M2020 tank made its debut at a midnight military parade in October 2020, which corresponded with the 75th anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea's founding. Its design, which was similar to both the Russian T-14 Armata tank and the American Abrams tank, attracted a lot of attention, according to Reuters. Read Also: Texas School District Shifting to 4-Day Week to Recruit, Retain Teachers North Korea's Technological Advancement Classically designed, the M2020 tank has a driver's compartment in front, a combat compartment with a manned turret in the middle, and an engine compartment in the back. Chinese-made engine with 1200-1500 HP (883-1103 kW) power transmission. A bend control device-equipped 125-mm gun with a longer barrel than the 2A46 family's 48-caliber guns is the tank's main weapon. A 7.62-mm machine gun and another located close to the gunner's hatch. Right of the turret is a twin anti-tank missile system. The communication and fire control systems are still hidden, but before the commander's hatch is a device that looks like a panoramic viewing equipment. The tank has become four, removing an automated loader. The fire control system's thermal imaging for the commander and gunner is limited by the commander's fixed viewing equipment. The M2020 is a major technological advances for North Korea, exceeding its current armament of over 600 Soviet light tanks (PT-76 and the local M1981/PT-85 models), 2200 old T-54 and T-55 tanks, an unidentified number of T-72 tanks, and 970 unchanged and roughly 2000 modernized T-62 tanks. Although having less tanks than Kim Jong Un's arsenal, South Korea has produced exceptional tanks since the 1980s, including the most recent K2 variants, which have helped the country close the technological gap with the world's best tank manufacturers, Essanews reported. Related Article: Chick-fil-A to End Antibiotic-Free Chicken Policy to 'Maintain Supply' @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Home Opinion Three schools of thought on evil 'Reprehensible' Homeless man charged for slaughtering 3 family members in NJ, Pa. after nailbiting police standoff. Suspect accused of murdering cop, who stopped to help repair tire, caught. Florida mom offers $500 for her 18-month-old baby outside an H&R Block finds no takers and leaves kid. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Haitian immigrant charged with raping 15-year-old girl in migrant hotel. And that was just a 5-minute perusal of the news a few days back. Things have gotten so bad on this front and people are so scared and lonely that theyre now turning to pet rocks for comfort, hoping it will relax them. No, it really wont. I mean, its a rock. Youre going to need something else to come to grips with all the foulness in the world. Wrapping your head around it isnt easy as evidenced by all the heavyweight thinkers who have done their best to explain it. Their efforts generally roll up into three schools of thought. First is the Humanistic model. This is the no-God paradigm that says things are just messy because of time + matter + chance and most likely are going to stay that way. Tough cookies. In my opinion, no one does a better job of articulating this line of thinking than atheist Richard Dawkins who wrote, In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference. If youre a Christian, pretend you arent for a moment and ask yourself if that fits what we oftentimes see. The good being mistreated, the rotten getting ahead, catastrophes that come out of nowhere, swallowing up seemingly innocent people, with all of it just not making sense. If God doesnt exist, what else have you got? Of course, the rub with that is you cant call anything good or evil; things just are. The reason for that is, if theres such a thing as evil, you must assume theres such a thing as good. If you assume theres such a thing as good, you assume theres such a thing as an absolute and unchanging moral law based on which to differentiate good and evil. If you assume theres such a thing as an absolute moral law, you must posit an absolute moral lawgiver, but that would be God the one who doesnt exist. So now rewind: if theres no moral lawgiver, theres no moral law. If theres no moral law, theres no good. If theres no good, theres no evil. Thats why Dawkins says there is no evil, no good in his naturalistic model. The next two common schools of thought on evil include God. The second is much like the first, but it has God authoring evil vs. a naturalistic-only universe. Its the Fatalistic model with a pretty bad, mostly deistic God at the helm and no final purpose behind it all. Your job is again to take the stoic approach of grinning and bearing it. The Bible and the men who penned the Westminster Confession disagreed with this God-authoring-evil approach, with them writing: God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. More on this in a moment. The third model is the Moralistic one which says if youre hurting, well, it must be something youve done. Remember Jobs friends? How did they start with him? By saying: Remember now, whoever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it (Job 4:78). The same thinking was prevalent in Jesus day; for example, when trying to explain a man who was born blind, the disciples asked Christ: Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind? (John 9:2). Of course, the Moralistic model is a sham there is an endless list of wonderful people who have endured great trials, including that Nazarene Carpenter and most other major personalities found in Scripture. So, if youve been taking notes, youve seen that while the Humanistic, Fatalistic, and Moralistic approaches are the most referenced schools of thought on evil, they all fall short from a biblical and reality standpoint of explaining it. Now what do we do? Let's begin by understanding that the Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that an all-powerful, all-good God exists. It also isnt shy about saying evil exists. Therefore, youre left with only one conclusion: God has ordained that evil exists. Sounds kind of bad at first, I know, but keep reading. Because this fact makes many squirm, to get God off the hook for evil a lot of Christians propose the free-will argument: God allows us to have free will but the kicker is weve misused that freedom and thus we now have the evil that we do. Some heavy hitters take up this position (e.g., Augustine) with perhaps the best contemporary scholastic defender being Alvin Plantinga (still alive at 91!). His free-will defense arguments can be found in his book God, Freedom, and Evil. What you find in Plantingas book and others like it is a strong philosophical defense of the free-will argument, but little to no explicit biblical support for it being highlighted. And thats always bothered me. So now lets return to what the fellows of the Westminster Confession wrote about God and evil. Their thinking runs along the same lines as Jonathan Edwards who wrote the following in his book The Freedom of the Will: If by the author of sin, be meant the sinner, the agent, or actor of sin, or the doer of a wicked thing, so it would be a reproach and blasphemy, to suppose God to be the author of sin But if, by the author of sin, is meant the permitter, or not a hinderer of sin; and, as the same time, a disposer of the state of events, in such a manner, for wise, holy, and most excellent ends and purposes, that sin, if it be permitted or not hindered, will most certainly and infallibly follow I do not deny that God is the author of sin. Dont bristle at Edwards statement he isnt accusing God of sin and evil, but rather saying God uses it in His sovereign purpose, primarily for two things. First, to accomplish most excellent ends. Remember Joseph who was sold into slavery? Joseph told his brothers: As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive (Gen. 50:20). Remember the crucifixion of Christ? Peter said to the crowd before him in Acts: ... this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death (Acts 2:23). Yes, free will is involved, but one that melds with the good purpose of God, which stakes the heart of the Fatalistic evil model. Second, God uses evil to demonstrate His righteousness to His creation. Remember Pharaoh of Egypt? Paul says, For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth (Rom. 9:17). Paul also asks plainly, But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? (Rom. 3:5). In other words, we wouldnt understand Gods righteousness without unrighteousness being alive in the world. This turns the Moralistic model upside down to show how the bad acts of humanity showcase the good morals of the Creator. John MacArthur puts it like this: The reason for God ordaining evil is for the praise of His glory. Let me ask you a simple question to help you answer the question the bigger question: is God more glorious because of sin existing or less glorious? Pretty easy question to answer, isnt it? That really is the ultimate question. Throughout all the eons of eternity, will God receive more glory from His creatures because sin existed or less? And, friends, thats really all that matters, is the eternal glory of God. In the end, N. T. Wright is correct when he says, It [the Bible] is written to tell the story of what God has done, is doing and will do about evil. Scripture says that God will destroy evil one day, and the good news for those who put their trust in Christ is Hes able to destroy our evil without destroying us because of the cross. Pretty amazing, huh? Home Opinion Why more Americans (and Christians) now support same-sex 'marriage' According to recent Gallup polls, 71% of Americans think same-sex marriage should be legal, and 64% believe gay or lesbian relationships are morally acceptable. These numbers are double from a generation ago. Among those who attend church weekly, 41% support same-sex marriage, while 67% of those who attend church less frequently do. How is it that so many, including so many in the Church, now embrace a view of marriage that was unthinkable just a few decades ago? Long before the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that legalized same-sex unions as marriages, the meaning of marriage was already fraying. This was due to a host of cultural factors, but perhaps none more important than birth control. The invention and widespread acceptance of the pill in the 20th century finally severed what was long understood to be a package deal: marriage, sex, and children. The only way for sex to be morally severed from marriage was for it to be detached from the good and natural consequence of new life. As a result, extramarital sex was destigmatized and, even more, sexual pleasure and romance replaced commitment and children as the defining features of marriage. Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe Hollywood helped, too. The definitive sitcoms of the 1980s focused on the family. In the 90s, shows like Sex and the City and Friends portrayed an idealized, hyper-sexual, hyper-romantic, commitment-free world. Movies and shows initiated viewers into what Dr. Thaddeus Williams has called the cult of self, where following your heart is the highest goal in life. In a culture drunk on these ideals, the silly and observably false slogan of the gay rights movement, love is love, made perfect sense. Digital technologies added significant fuel to the fire. New media, the combination of the internet, social media, and smartphones, accelerated shifting views about marriage and sex. As author Samuel James noted, the online world put users at the center of the universe and gave them limitless freedom to make fantasy become reality. This power reinforced and incentivized libertarian views about sex and marriage by placing pleasure and romance not at the center of marriage, but at the center of the self. In these cultural waters, the legalization of same-sex marriage was inevitable. The 2015 landmark decision reflected what many already believed. Marriage is primarily about romance, pleasure, and self-fulfillment. Children are optional. If marriage isnt fundamentally connected to procreation, why limit it to two people of the opposite sex? And, in the inevitable next stage in which we currently live, why limit it to just two people? Law is also a teacher. When something is legal, it becomes more socially acceptable. The Supreme Courts ruling in Obergefell not only reflected cultural beliefs, but it also spread them. This explains the increasing acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex marriage, both within the Church and without. Though a majority of those who attend church faithfully still hold to the Christian view of marriage between one man and one woman, it is a shrinking majority. This is due to the same upstream factors. Many U.S. Christians havent thoughtfully considered the inherent connection between sex and marriage and children. Most use digital technology as much and in the same way as the rest of the culture. We all live in the post-Obergefell era in which a bad decision is teaching us wrong ideas. This is not the first time the Church has been plagued by bad views of marriage. Early Christians struggled to understand and live out the meaning of marriage amid the rank immorality of Roman culture. Paul addressed these concerns in his epistles, urging believers to reject wrong ideas and instead fix their eyes on Christ. He appealed, like Jesus did, to a view of marriage based on Gods created design. The marital relationship is built into the fabric of the world. It cannot be replaced or redefined. In fact, it is a sacred mystery that points ultimately to Christ and the Church. For the life of the world and the Church, Christians must continue to regard it as such. To counter the lies about love, marriage, and sex so prevalent in our culture, check out identityproject.tv. The Identity Project is the most comprehensive library of on-demand videos and resources addressing issues of identity, humanness, and sexuality, all from a Judeo-Christian worldview. For a special discount this month, go to identityproject.tv and enter BREAKPOINT at checkout. Originally published at BreakPoint. Christian leaders 'killed, tortured and disappeared' in occupied Ukraine Christian leaders are being "killed, tortured and disappeared" in parts of Ukraine that are occupied by Russia, a Christian religious freedom charity has said. Paul Robinson, CEO of Release International, said, "As President Putin begins his fifth term our partners describe growing pressure on the Church." Partners report that in February, 59-year-old Ukrainian Orthodox priest, Stepan Podolchak, was found dead in the streets of Kalanchak, in Russian-occupied Kherson, his body showing signs of torture. The tragic discovery was made two days after he was seized and hauled away by what is believed to have been operatives belonging to the Russian Interior Ministry's Centre for Countering Extremism. Forum 18 reports that prior to his abduction and murder, he had resisted pressure to leave the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and join the Moscow Patriarchate. "Increasingly, denominations other than President Putin's Russian Orthodox are being regarded as extremists," said Release International. Podolchak is not the only Christian to have suffered this fate after Anatoly Prokopchuk, a Pentecostal deacon, and his 19-year-old son son Aleksandr, were kidnapped, mutilated and shot in Kherson last November. According to Forum 18, "Russian occupation forces have also kidnapped, tortured, and killed other Ukrainian religious leaders since the Russian invasion." Release reports that others have disappeared or been deported to Russia, some after refusing to accept Russian citizenship. Yet there are also signs of hope, with people filling churches in Kherson and showing a hunger for the Gospel. "In the face of fear, insecurity and oppression, hunger for the gospel is growing. We hear reports of churches packed to overflowing and many giving their lives to Christ," said Robinson. An associate of Release International said: "People flock to the word of God and convert to Christ, in whom they find their only hope in the conflagration of war." Release International is working to support Christians who have remained within Ukraine and those who have sought safety elsewhere. Robinson continued, "In our work with persecuted Christians we find time and again that oppression concentrates the mind and cause people to think deeply about the meaning of their lives,' says Paul Robinson of Release International. "When everything else is stripped away, people face up to the really important questions: "Why am I here? And what is my purpose?" "While persecution is a terrible thing, we find that God is powerfully present to restore hope and meaning. Our partners are working in Ukraine to serve a Church which is being refined by fire and where the gospel is preached, that Church is growing." Eton celeb sparks debate on standards of religious education Reality TV star Spencer Matthews, known for his appearances on 'Made In Chelsea' and as an alumnus of Eton College, has ignited a lively debate on the standards of religious education. Candid disclosures by the posh star about his uncertainties regarding the existence of Jesus, despite his elite education and Church of England background, have stirred both curiosity and controversy surrounding the quality of his public school teaching. The old Etonian admits, almost with a degree of pride, "I'd be pretty low in the faith knowledge bracket, but I'm on a quest to broaden my knowledge and religious horizons." In an upcoming episode of the new three-part BBC Two programme 'Pilgrimage: The Road To Wild Wales', 35-year-old Matthews openly expresses scepticism towards biblical miracles, stating, "I kind of thought that the people in the stories could also be made up..." These admission have not only raised eyebrows but also ignited discussions about the efficacy of religious education in elite institutions. During a Q&A session for the sixth series of the show, Matthews further expresses his uncertainties about faith by questioning the existence of Jesus Christ and the prophet Mohammed. He candidly remarks, "By the way, the Jesus being real thing, just to reference it. I think I'm a bit confused with the Old Testament and New Testament - and the parting of the seas and turning water into wine all sound mad to me, so I kind of thought that the people in the stories could also be made up." These off-the-cuff comments from a public figure have fuelled conversations about the role of religion in contemporary society, as well as the importance of comprehensive religious education. If religious education in Eton College is not adequate, what is the standard like in other UK schools? Beyond these religious reflections, Spencer Matthews also opened up about personal struggles, notably the tragic loss of his brother, Michael, who went missing following a climb of Mount Everest. Reflecting on his journey during the pilgrimage, Matthews shared poignant moments of emotional growth and acceptance within the group, indicating his deeper spiritual exploration. 'The Pilgrimage: The Road To Wild Wales' follows seven celebrity pilgrims as they embark on a personal journey along the North Wales Pilgrim's Way. Before heading off on his televised trek, Spencer Matthews admitted he knew little about religion, bluffly saying, "A pilgrimage is when you walk and sleep on church floors and eat dead rats and stuff, which I'm looking forward to." However, later on, sounding more of a mature seeker, he says, "I'm an open mind, an open book. I want to learn about different faiths, cultures and religions and develop a firm understanding of my faith and how it can potentially play a larger role in my life." BBC Two's 'Pilgrimage: The Road To Wild Wales' promises to provide viewers with an intimate glimpse into the spiritual journeys of seven celebrities, including Spencer Matthews, and their personal reflections on faith when it airs in full on 29th March. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer. The full list of the celebrity pilgrims is as follows: wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan, who places her faith in the natural world; Sonali Shah, a journalist and TV presenter who was raised in a Jain household; comedian Eshaan Akbar, a lapsed Muslim; Amanda Lovett, a practising Catholic, who catapulted to public attention in the first series of BBC's 'The Traitors'; actor Tom Rosenthal, star of Channel 4's 'Friday Night Dinner', who calls himself non-religious; and TV personality and former model, Christine McGuinness, who is spiritual but doesn't practise one particular faith. Scotland's new hate crime law is no laughing matter Most people and hopefully all Christians would agree that hate is bad. So, at a superficial level, it would seem that we should all be rejoicing at a Scottish government bill which bans hate. But as is so often the case in the world, things are not quite what they seem and words have different meanings. None more so than in The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, passed three years ago. It was the brainchild of the then justice secretary for the Scottish government, Humza Yousaf. Yousaf is now the Scottish First Minister and his bill is about to become law on April 1st. Sadly it is no joke other than to make Scotland a laughing stock throughout the world. It is one of the most draconian, authoritarian measures passed by a democratic government in recent times and it has profound implications for the Church. The bill will firstly turn any crime into an 'aggravated offence' if it is deemed to be motivated by hatred or prejudice. But the controversial part is that it will create a new criminal offence of behaving in an abusive manner 'designed to stir up hatred' against groups with certain protected characteristics. The problem with the bill is that it does not clearly define what 'stirring up hatred' means. There are already considerable problems in Scotland with this. The main one is with the definition of hate crimes. Police Scotland have a working definition that if the 'victim' perceives it to be a hate crime, then it is. An additional problem with the lack of clarity about 'stirring up' offences is that Police Scotland define a hate crime as 'any crime which is understood by the victim or any other person as being motivated, wholly or partly, by malice or ill will towards a social group'. This means that the subjective feeling of a perceived victim, or of a policeman, could be enough to have you accused of a hate crime one which carries a sentence of up to seven years. Take for example JK Rowling. If she tweets that a man cannot become a woman, she could be arrested for hate crime. Same for a Christian preacher who says that he does not believe that Muhammad is a prophet or a teacher who says they believe marriage is between a man and a woman. The police in Scotland have said they will investigate every report of hate crime, despite having recently announced that they would not be investigating every case of 'low level' crime, including apparently some cases of theft! If the TV series, Taggart, were being made today, instead of Taggart saying, "There's been a murder," he would be crying out, "There's been a misgender." Police Scotland have also gone into full swing with their anti-hate propaganda, putting out a cartoon of the 'hate monster' and explaining that, "The Hate Monster represents that feeling some people get when they are frustrated and angry and take it out on others, because they feel like they need to show they are better than them. In other words, they commit a hate crime." In an astonishing statement they give an example of the kind of people who commit hate crimes as those with "deep-rooted feelings of being socially and economically disadvantaged, combined with ideas about white-male entitlement". By targeting white working-class men as being more likely to commit hate crime, Police Scotland are breaking their own law. At least they would be if they were to be consistent. But therein lies the danger of this law. It has nothing to do with consistency or justice. As for 'equality before the law', that's just so old-fashioned! Now we have the State creating a two-tier justice system where some groups are afforded 'protected' status and others are attacked. We have been heading this way for some time. Back in 2018, I reported the police to themselves for hate crime over their ill-judged "Dear Bigots" post campaign. They replied that because the Scottish government campaign was not motivated by hate towards any particular group, they would not be taking any action thus putting themselves in the position of breaking their own rule that the perception of the victim is what counts, and setting the Scottish government and its now political police wing above the law. Expect much more of the same after April 1st. This Act will pervade through all of Scottish society. Even children are to be targeted. School handbooks now explain that all hate crimes should be reported to the police. Journalist Jim Spence wrote in the Courier that Scotland is about to become a "two-tier society" where "some folk are given protection by the law from some kinds of hate crimes, while others will simply have to suck up abuse." For example, "while it will be an offence to stir up hate against trans folk", it "won't break the law to stir up hate against women", because astonishingly under this Act sex is not a protected characteristic. Stuart Waiton, senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Abertay, Dundee, warns, "There is now a serious danger that lecturers will be reported to the police for simply expressing ideas that some students don't agree with or like. We could even find students like Lisa Keogh, who was taken to a disciplinary for arguing that women don't have penises, ending up with a police record, as every complaint is recorded by the police. This is likely to create a chilling atmosphere in universities." Sadly it won't just be in the universities. The police are to set up Third Party Reporting Centres throughout Scotland where you can go and 'clipe' (a Scots word for snitch or tell-tale) on anyone. These reporting centres include a sex shop in Glasgow, a mushroom farm in North Berwick, and a demolished office block in West Dunbartonshire! And then there are comedians and actors. The Herald reported on police training which encouraged officers to go after anyone who produces material deemed 'threatening and abusive'. You could be prosecuted for a negative portrayal of a trans person in a play, for example. But the thought police are not finished there. The hate crime law states that "giving, sending, showing, or playing the material to another person" will make you liable to prosecution. If you repeat a joke on the internet which someone in the 'protected' characteristic finds offensive, you could be guilty of a hate crime. And as if that were not extreme enough, you could be reported for expressing 'hate' in your own home. As Jim Spence pointed out, "It's a recipe for disaster cooked up by a liberal political class which thinks that you can expunge human emotions, sentiments, and behaviour, from real life." The delusions of grandeur from the Scottish government don't just extend to thinking that by decree they can eradicate hatred in their 'Scottish values' paradise. No, they want to deal with the whole world. The law holds that anything that can be read in Scotland is to be considered as published in Scotland. So, I could be sued in Australia for writing something in Australia, if someone went to a sex shop in Glasgow to anonymously report me for a hate crime. The opposition to this is strong, bringing together unlikely allies including The Christian Institute, the National Secular Society, the Peter Tatchell Foundation and the Adam Smith Institute, amongst others. Scottish Catholic bishops have also expressed concern, but the Church of Scotland has been strangely silent. And sadly, some well-know Christian MSPs have gone along with the party whip and voted for this ill-considered, authoritarian policy. It's a great example of turkeys voting for Christmas. I asked Humza Yousaf, the architect of this new Scottish blasphemy law, the following question a question which he has refused to answer. The last person to be prosecuted (180 years ago) under the old blasphemy law was an Edinburgh bookseller, Thomas Paterson, who advertised amongst other things "that the Bible and other obscene works not sold at this shop". Under the new law would an Edinburgh bookseller be free to advertise something like "the Quran and other obscene works not sold at this shop"? I think Paterson was wrong then and a bookseller would be wrong and unwise to do that today, but if Mr Yousaf's law means that such a bookseller would be prosecuted then we have ended up in a far worse situation now than we have been for the past 180 years because we now have a blasphemy law which will be enforced. And the blasphemy is not against God, but against the Holy State and whatever it decides is 'hateful' (i.e. against their values). Scotland, a country once described as 'the land of the people of The Book', is becoming a great example of what happens when a country turns from its Christian roots and reverts to a kind of pre-Christian 'progressive' paganism. It becomes an authoritarian, confused and unjust basket case (with apologies to all baskets who I hope will not report me!). May the Lord have mercy and turn us again! David Robertson is the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales. He blogs at The Wee Flea. A plane carrying 21 Americans fleeing Haiti arrived in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend, the latest in a string of repatriation operations as the Caribbean nation continues its descent into chaos due to gang violence and political instability. CNN reported that Florida's Division of Emergency Management announced the plane's arrival at Orlando Airport on Saturday (Mar. 23), noting that a total of 35 Americans, to date, have been "rescued by state-coordinated emergency flights." The agency said that the repatriated passengers had access to numerous resources, including meals and water, lodging, transportation, basic health and medical screenings, phones, and ID replacement services. "The Division is working around the clock through every available avenue to get our residents home," state emergency management chief Kevin Guthrie said in a news release. "Governor [Ron] DeSantis directed us to tackle every challenge in our path and not stop until the mission is complete." Read Also: Haiti Gang Leader, Associate Of 'Barbecue,' Killed As Government Transition Nears End DeSantis issued an executive order on March 15 declaring a state of emergency in Florida after the agency received numerous requests from Floridians who were stranded in Haiti. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel previously told a source that hundreds of US citizens remain in Haiti, and nearly 1,000 have filled out crisis intake forms as of Mar. 19. That number includes people who either want to leave or want to receive more information from US officials. A Florida-organized flight brought 14 people from Haiti to Orlando last week, which was preceded by an earlier flight of Americans fleeing the country and arriving in Miami. In addition to the flights out of Cap-Haitien, some Americans fleeing Haiti were able to cross the border into the Dominican Republic, with other options also being explored as the crisis worsens. Hundreds of other Americans still trapped in Haiti are still asking for the State Department to help them leave, Axios reported. Related Article: More Than 33,000 Have Fled Haiti's Capital as Gang Violence, Record Hunger Grip Nation @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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 Specialist Politici de Sanatate ce va contribui la realizarea misiunii A.O. Centrul pentru Politici si Analize in Sanatate (Centrul PAS) prin implementarea si realizarea eficienta in echipa a activitatilor din sfera de competenta a Centrului PAS Tributes have been paid following the death of Richard Taylor, founder of the Damilola Taylor Trust and anti-knife crime campaigner. Taylor, who set up the charity in 2001 after his son Damilola was killed the year before, passed away on 23 March aged 75 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was made an OBE in 2011 for campaigning against violent crime and was described as an incredible man who made a real difference to so many young peoples lives. Damilola Taylor Trust The Damilola Taylor Trust was launched in 2001 after Richard and his wife Gloria, Damilolas mother, met the then Prince Charles, with the aim to provide a legacy of hope and opportunity for disadvantaged and under-privileged young people. The charitys early work included a partnership with Kings College London, which saw the opening of the Damilola Taylor Room, a study room for medical students from deprived areas of London, at the university. In 2014, the charity was saved from closure after struggling for funding in the previous three years. In 2020, a partnership with other organisations including UK Youth and the Spirit of London Foundation called the Hope Collective was formed to mark the 20th anniversary of Damilolas death and work to end poverty and discrimination in vulnerable communities. Taylors family said in a statement: It is with a heavy heart that the family announce the death of our beloved father, grandfather and uncle, Mr Richard Adeyemi Taylor OBE, who sadly passed away in the early hours of Saturday, March 23, 2024, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer. A national treasure Ndidi Okezie, UK Youth chief executive, said: Everyone at UK Youth is truly saddened to learn of the passing of Richard. He was an incredible man who made a real difference to so many young peoples lives. Richard was a dear friend to me and UK Youth. We were thrilled to work alongside Richard with the Hope Collective, working to establish real change and reduce poverty, violence and discrimination among the UKs most vulnerable communities and celebrating young peoples hopes for the future on the Day of Hope, on Damilolas birthday, 7 December, each year. Gary Trowsdale, Spirit of London Foundation executive director, said: One of the most wonderful things about Richard was the way he always made himself available to other parents who suffered as his family had. He did this on the quiet and without publicity, reaching out through police and victim support channels He became a national treasure and he will be sadly missed. I will miss him greatly and his legacy will now sit alongside Damilolas as one of resilience and hope. Former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella, who founded the Ben Kinsella Trust after her 16-year-old brother was stabbed to death in 2008, said: Richards courage in the face of unimaginable grief was an inspiration to me. After the horrific loss of his son Damilola, he chose to channel his pain into a fight for a safer future. He turned tragedy into a relentless determination to keep other families from experiencing the same heartbreak. Richard became a close friend and confidant after Bens murder, sharing his strength and unwavering belief in justice. Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence, said recently that officials cant rule out the possibility of China using TikTok to influence the 2024 election. Plenty of others have expressed their alarm about the ways China could use TikTok to undermine our national security. Just one problem: the First Amendment doesnt allow censorship just in case. It was downright reckless for the House to pass legislation to effectively ban TikTok the day after Hainess comments, without any proof of the kind of imminent and grave threat that the Constitution would require to justify that kind of unprecedented mass censorship. TikTok is used by around 150 million Americans. That includes President Joe Biden, as well as plenty of journalists who use the platform to report and to find stories and sources. Independent journalist Jonathan Katz, for example, used TikTok to expose misleading information from Sen. Katie Britts State of the Union rebuttal. Banning TikTok is, in effect, a prior restraint on all of that journalism, with no regard for whether it contains Chinese propaganda. Heres what else cant be ruled out: that banning TikTok, based on its alleged surveillance and propagandizing of Americans, will set a precedent for all sorts of future censorship, including bans on foreign news sites. And yes, forcing a sale of TikTok is effectively a ban. Imagine the government ordering The Guardian to sell itself to an approved buyer. If the US government bullying or banning a British newspaper sounds unlikely, what about media owned by current US adversaries, like Russian-owned RT? Some countries banned it when Russia invaded Ukraine. The US did not, presumably because officials recognized the Constitution wouldnt tolerate that. Why cant the same logic behind banning TikTok, which by all current indications China does not own, support banning RT, which Russia does? And while RT is a uniquely unsympathetic outlet, the slope gets slippery from there. Consider Qatari-funded Al Jazeera. Surely it has plenty of information on the viewing and clicking habits of the millions of Americans who read it online. And the Biden administration is concerned enough about its influence that it has reportedly pressured it to turn down the volume of its criticism of Israel. A future administration could easily view that as ban-worthy. The concern that censorship could spread beyond TikTok is heightened because the bill the House passed allows for future bans of not just other social media applications but any platform allowing user interaction that the president deems a threat to national security. At least for other platforms, the president is required to issue a report describing the specific national security concern justifying censorship (with the details likely hidden in a classified annex). Sign up for CJR 's daily email The criteria are shockingly vague, but at least its more than the cant rule it out reasoning for censoring TikTok, regarding which no president has issued any such report. The double standard is an implicit admission by the bills drafters that the speculation-based TikTok ban is constitutionally inadequate. The reality is that even definitive proof that a platform is propagandizing or surveilling Americans wouldnt justify censorship. The Pentagon Papers case established that national security isnt a magic word that nullifies the First Amendmentand there, the alleged threat was to troops lives, not college kids political thought. Nonetheless, Justice Hugo Black explained that the word security is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment. Years before that, the Supreme Court rejected a law delaying mail containing communist political propaganda. The Supreme Court said the law was at war with the uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate and discussion that are contemplated by the First Amendment. But even that unconstitutional law was narrow compared with a complete ban on TikTok, which would prevent millions of Americans from using their preferred medium to speak online. In other words, Americans have the right to consume foreign propaganda if they choose, and foreigners dont need to stay on US politicians good side to be able to speak to Americans. Thats why courts have rejected the Trump administrations efforts to ban TikTok (Trump has since reversed himself, and now opposes a ban) as well as the state of Montanas prohibition. The TikTok ban is far more problematic than the communist mail delay because its not the least bit targetedit seeks to shutter TikToks whole operation. The Supreme Court has also rejected efforts to shut down entire bookstores and media outlets, even if they allegedly carried some illegal content. Lawmakers arent even claiming that TikToks content is illegal, just that they dislike some of it for being false or misleading. Sure, TikTok is used to spread lies. Thats true of every social media outlet. But Congress could reduce Americans susceptibility to disinformation by cutting down on excessive government secrecy, which breeds conspiracy theories and distrust. That would not only be more effective than censorship but would strengthen, not undermine, First Amendment freedoms. TikTokers might not have been so fascinated by Osama bin Ladens ridiculous and genocidal manifesto if they hadnt been raised on they hate us for our freedom. After all, while TikTok (and any other social media platform) can be abused to spread foreign propaganda, it is also a helpful tool in combating domestic propaganda. Could our government have misled Americans about the Vietnam War nearly as effectively if TikTok existed? Perhaps because the propaganda justification for the ban is so flimsy, lawmakers have raised the alarm about Chinese surveillance of TikTok users as a fallback basis for censorship. Those claims are every bit as nebulous. If that were really the concern, Congress would pass a data privacy law binding American platforms too, as well as data brokers that TikTok could continue to buy Americans data from even after a ban. No one can explain how TikTok user data in the hands of Chinese spies would justify an unprecedented prior restraint, particularly when they can easily get the same data elsewhere. Former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, who wants to buy TikTok, says theres no way that the Chinese would ever let a US company own something like this in China. Its true that China bans US platforms. But the US shouldnt be resorting to stooping to authoritarians levels, and thats exactly why a bill that kicks open the door for it to do just that is so troubling. Russia, for example, recently declared US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty an undesirable organization, requiring it to stop all work inside Russia. By banning TikTok, the US lowers its moral standing to oppose those kinds of shameful antics. If the Senate passes this unconstitutional TikTok ban, and the White House lets it stand, then what we really cant rule out is the US becoming every bit as censorial as the adversaries it claims to be defending us against. Seth Stern is a First Amendment lawyer and the director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting public interest journalism. A Connecticut employer has the right to terminate an employee who is impaired by medical marijuana in the workplace. The Connecticut Appellate Court on March 19 upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against a nonprofit pre-school by a teaching assistant who used medical marijuana for treatment of her disability and was fired for violating the schools drug-free workplace policy by showing up for work impaired. The court ruled that even though Connecticut has a law permitting use of marijuana for medical purposes, employers still may prohibit qualifying patients from being under its influence in the workplace. According to the appellate court, employees making claims under Connecticuts Palliative Use of Marijuana Act (PUMA) must show that they were terminated solely because the employee had a prescription for medical marijuana. The court also affirmed the right of an employer to seek a drug test of an employee when the employer has a reasonable suspicion that an employee is violating its drug free policy. Prescriptions Alyssa Bartolotta had a doctors prescriptions for Valium and medical marijuana as part of treatment for her epilepsy. She did not inform her employer, Human Resources of New Britain, Inc., of her epilepsy or her Valium or medical marijuana use until after incidents at work. She told her employer about her epilepsy and Valium only after she had a seizure at work. Thereafter, the school made some accommodations for her including letting her leave for the day whenever she had a seizure and assigning her to a room where she would always be with another teacher. The employer, however, declined her request to have the school nurse hold some doses of Valium on the premises for her in case she needed it. In denying her request, the school stressed its drug-free policy and that the part-time nurse was not authorized to administer medications. The school told her she could hold the Valium at work herself. In an incident on January 2, 2019, after a fellow employee questioned her behavior at the school when she called a child by the wrong name, Bartolotta acknowledged that her head was just not right because she likely had ingested too much marijuana and the effects carried over into the workday. Her medical protocol called for her to take the drugs at 8 pm in the evening. Six days later she agreed to take a drug that ending up showing positive for Valium but negative for marijuana. Termination After first suspending Bartolotta, then conducting an investigation that revealed concerns of several other employees, and obtaining the drug test, the school terminated Bartolotta. The school concluded that Bartolotta signed and was aware of the drug-free policy and violated that policy by showing for work in an impaired state, which she admitted in an interview. The school noted that Bartolotta did not disclose her medical marijuana use until an incident occurred and never requested an accommodation. In terminating her, the school explained that her firing was not because of her epilepsy or her medical marijuana user status but for showing to work in an impaired state. Bartolotta said at the time that she understood the reason. After the schools grievance committee and board of directors both upheld her termination as proper, Bartolotta filed an employment discrimination complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. In her accompanying affidavit, Bartolotta alleged that the her employer terminated her employment because of her disability and failed to accommodate her by prohibiting her from working while taking prescription medication for her disability. The commission issued a release of jurisdiction over her complaint. After that, Bartolotta sued Human Resources of New Britain, alleging violations of the states fair employment practices and medical malpractice laws, including unfair discrimination and wrongful termination because of her epilepsy disability and her status as a medical marijuana user, and illegal drug testing. A trial court found she had no case and awarded her employer summary judgment. Now the appellate court has upheld the dismissal of her suit and the actions of her employer. Clams Denied Bartolotta had signed an acknowledgment of the schools drug free workplace policy. In her deposition testimony, she admitted that she was aware that her employment could be terminated if she came to work impaired. But in her deposition she maintained that she was not impaired when the incident occurred on January 2, and that taking medical marijuana does not make her impaired. She further averred that the results of the drug test conducted six days after the January 2 incident proved that she didnt come to work impaired. In dismissing her complaint, the appellate court stressed that the states medical marijuana law contains language making clear that it shall not restrict an employers ability to prohibit the use of intoxicating substances during work hours or restrict an employers ability to discipline an employee for being under the influence of intoxicating substances during work hours. The appellate court noted that the written disciplinary notice issued by school stated that, during an interview on January 8, Bartolotta admitted that she uses medical marijuana, did show up to work impaired, and she may be abusing it. In addition, during multiple phone calls with the schools human resources director, she did not deny showing up to work impaired. Noting that the employers notice concluded that her employment was being terminated because she failed to follow company policy and procedures regarding drug and alcohol use in the workplace, the court dismissed her claims that she was fired because of her disability or her medical marijuana use for lack of evidence. Bald Assertion Bartolottas complaint stated that terminating an employee for using medication for a disability is the equivalent of terminating an employee because of her disability. However, the court found she provided no legal authority for that bald assertion, which runs contrary to the plain language of the law. Bartolotta also failed to provide any legal authority to support the proposition that she should have been allowed to use her medical marijuana during the workday or to appear at the preschool facility in an impaired state. The court found that the schools denial of Bartolottas requested accommodation regarding holding the Valium was reasonable, and that neither Bartolotta nor her doctor ever requested an accommodation for her medical marijuana use. In addition, the court said it is unclear whatif anyaccommodation the school could make short of allowing her to appear impaired in the workplace. Finally, the court found that in light of reports by other employees of her behavior and her own admission of showing up to work impaired, Human Resources of New Britain had the requisite reasonable suspicion under the state law to request a drug test. China-Indonesia joint scientific expedition sets Indonesia's highest diving record Xinhua) 11:13, March 25, 2024 This photo taken on March 22, 2024 shows manned deep-sea submersible "Fendouzhe" on Tan Suo Yi Hao (Discovery One) at the Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. The joint scientific expedition conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency successfully dived 7,178 meters deep into the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, setting the deepest dive record for Indonesia, the expedition team said Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) JAKARTA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The joint scientific expedition conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency successfully dived 7,178 meters deep into the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, setting the deepest dive record for Indonesia, the expedition team said Saturday. According to the team, this joint expedition ran from Feb. 23 to March 23, with the use of manned deep-sea submersible "Fendouzhe" of the CAS Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering. The team noted that "Fendouzhe" is the world's deepest-reaching manned submersible and the first capable of bringing humans 10,000 meters underwater. At the welcome ceremony for the joint expedition held Friday, Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Lu Kang said: "China and Indonesia have been deepening research collaboration in marine sciences in recent years. I hope scientists from our two countries can achieve more high-quality research results in the future and contribute to the blue economy and sustainable development." Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia's coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, said the joint expedition has opened a new chapter for the two countries to strengthen maritime cooperation. He hopes the two countries will further expand scientific cooperation and cultivate more scientists and engineers for Indonesia. This photo taken on March 22, 2024 shows the scientific research ship Tan Suo Yi Hao (Discovery One) docking at the Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. The joint scientific expedition conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency successfully dived 7,178 meters deep into the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, setting the deepest dive record for Indonesia, the expedition team said Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) Guests pose for photos with manned deep-sea submersible "Fendouzhe" on scientific research ship Tan Suo Yi Hao (Discovery One) at the Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 22, 2024. The joint scientific expedition conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency successfully dived 7,178 meters deep into the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, setting the deepest dive record for Indonesia, the expedition team said Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) This photo taken on March 22, 2024 shows biological samples collected from the Java Trench on Tan Suo Yi Hao (Discovery One) at the Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. The joint scientific expedition conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency successfully dived 7,178 meters deep into the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, setting the deepest dive record for Indonesia, the expedition team said Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia's coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, speaks during a ceremony for the China-Indonesia Joint Dive Expedition to Java Trench at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 22, 2024. The joint scientific expedition conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency successfully dived 7,178 meters deep into the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, setting the deepest dive record for Indonesia, the expedition team said Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) This photo taken on March 22, 2024 shows the scientific research ship Tan Suo Yi Hao (Discovery One) docking at the Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Indonesia. The joint scientific expedition conducted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency successfully dived 7,178 meters deep into the Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, setting the deepest dive record for Indonesia, the expedition team said Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Qin) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) New York-based diplomacy think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) published an analysis of the Moscow shooting attack over the weekend, claiming that the "Khorasan Province" of the Islamic State (ISIS-K), which has since claimed responsibility for the mass shooting, has global ambitions of furthering a self-proclaimed caliphate. The New York Times first reported on the matter, saying that ISIS's Khorasan affiliate - based out of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran - is currently the most active cell of the terrorist group. According to the analysis made by CFR's terrorism scholar Bruce Hoffman, ISIS-K has set its sights on attacking Europe and beyond, and they are capable of executing similar attacks. "ISIS has staged over half-a-dozen attacks in Russia since 2016," he said in his analysis. "The movement has long deemed Russia as much of an enemy of the Muslim people as the United States." "In taking responsibility for the March 22 attack, ISIS credibly claimed 'let crusader Russia and its allies know that the mujahideen do not forget to take revenge,'" Hoffman added. ISIS-K's operational resilience could be credited to its adoption of a network-based system when the main group's top-down structure was toppled in Iraq and Syria in 2017. This allowed several cells of the group to become more flexible and independent of each other in the event of a targeted attack. Read Also: Moscow Court Convenes: Suspects in Deadly Concert Hall Attack Appear with Signs of Abuse Previous Warnings, Attacks Hoffman also cited US Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla when he warned Congress last year that ISIS-K could execute "external operations against US or Western interests abroad in under six months with little or no warning." National Counterterrorism Center director Christine Abizaid was also summoned to a Capitol Hill hearing in January 2023. She explained that the group was the "threat actor [she was] most concerned about." "We see concerning indications of ISIS-Khorasan in Afghanistan and its ambition that might go beyond that immediate territory," she told lawmakers. ISIS-K was also responsible for the double suicide bombings that killed 84 in Kerman, Iran, during ceremonies commemorating the fourth anniversary of the killing of Qassem Soleiman, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds Force. "As with the latest incident in Moscow, the United States had warned Iran, as had Russia, of what was believed to be an impending terrorist attack," Hoffman added. It was previously reported that Washington warned the Kremlin of the attack under the Duty to Warn requirement, a non-binding obligation of American spy agencies to alert the intended targets if they learn of planned attacks. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the information as "blackmail" and propaganda. Related Article: Putin, Russia Gather to Grieve as Concert Hall Attack Marks Deadliest Day in Almost 20 Years @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- Chagrin Falls High School Senior J. P. Zimmer was selected as Marchs Student of the Month based on his leadership abilities and his entrepreneurial spirit. The senior has already owned a business -- WR Landscapes and subsequently sold it. Zimmer has also won various awards from the Regional Business Professionals of America Small Business Management Team. The CFHS Yearbook Editor-in-Chief enjoys traveling, including a trip to Rome. Not only does Zimmer enjoy traveling by land, he also travels by air as the senior has his private flying license. Next year, the incoming freshman plans at Ohio State plans to continue flying at local flight schools in Cleveland and Columbus. CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- In a creative, thinking out-of-the-box move, the Chagrin Falls School District is replacing its track at Harris Stadium with the assistance of an Ohio EPA Grant. The grant will cover half of the costs of the new track which will consist of recycled tire scraps. According to Chagrin Falls Schools Manager of Facility Services James Nace, this alternative funding of replacing a high school track is rare, with only four Recycle Ohio Scrap Tire Grants awarded in 2024. Even though the funding for this type of project is rare, the majority of high school tracks are made with recycled tire scraps. INDEPENDENCE, Ohio Sophomores at Independence High School were given a taste of job interviews as part of their careers education. Volunteers including civic leaders, business professionals and school alumni worked with the students to given them an experience of the job interview process in an event organized by career development specialist Amanda Jaronowski. AVON LAKE, Ohio Youngsters at Erieview Elementary School had an immersive experience into the lives of differently-abled people with a visit by performance troupe Dancing Wheels. As part of the schools Kids in the Community groups events, children welcomed members of the Dancing Wheels organization on Thursday, March 21. CLEVELAND, Ohio A former court attorney who mailed some three dozen letters smeared with human feces to Republican politicians apologized Monday and said he acted out of blind anger and frustration at the state of the country. Richard Steinle, 79, told a federal magistrate judge during a hearing that he sent the letters out of frustration and rage. He was sentenced to two years on probation and ordered to pay a $9,500, the maximum fine under federal law. I take full responsibility for my vile and repulsive actions, Steinle said. U.S. District Magistrate Judge Jennifer Dowdell Armstrong handed down the sentence in a case that drew nationwide attention after the letters began popping up at elected officials offices, particularly in the Ohio Statehouse. From August 2021 through July 29, 2022, Steinle sent letters to U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, all 25 Republicans in the Ohio Senate, to federal judges in California and elected officials in Washington, D.C., and Kentucky. The letters typically contained notes calling the politicians racist or pig. U.S. Postal Service inspectors investigating the case stopped three letters from being sent from the Lakemore Post Office near Akron to elected officials in Columbus. Steinle previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of sending injurious materials through the mail. In several decades as an attorney, Steinle worked for the 5th Ohio District Court of Appeals and later launched and ran mediation programs in Summit and Portage county courts. He was fired in 2017 from Portage County Common Pleas Court. He alleged in a lawsuit that he was retaliated against after he wrote a letter to the editor published on cleveland.com that criticized Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation. Steinle said hes a veteran who served in the Vietnam War. He said he protested the war with other veterans upon returning home, launching five decades of interest in politics. He said he sent the feces-laden letters after becoming angered over the countrys direction, specifically systemic racism and gun violence. I allowed frustration and rage to control me, he said. Dr. Renga Pakeeree, a Cuyahoga Falls psychiatrist who has treated Steinle for 10 years, testified during the hearing that his patient suffered from severe depression and anxiety and that Steinle would benefit from continued treatment rather than prison. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Daly and defense attorney Kerry OBrien both recommended probation. Dowdell Armstrong agreed, noting Steinles age, mental illness and lack of criminal history. Dowdell Armstrong called Steinles actions alarming and undemocratic. Your actions were damaging to others and, frankly, to our democracy, she said. Adam Ferrise covers federal courts at cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. You can find his work here. CLEVELAND, Ohio An Ohio man who sent death threats to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs over the 2020 presidential election was sentenced Monday to two-and-a-half years in prison. Joshua Russell, 44, of Bucyrus, left three threatening messages at Hobbs office in 2022 when Hobbs was the secretary of state and running for governor against election denier Kari Lake. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan handed down the sentence, adopting federal prosecutors recommendations. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- April 8, the day of the Great American Eclipse is almost upon us, and Im sure many of you are wondering: How do I take a good photo of the solar eclipse with my smartphone or DSLR/mirrorless camera? Since most people will be using their smartphone Ill explain that first, then Ill explain how to use your DSLR/mirrorless camera. Here are some cellphone tips to get you started: Before you do anything else, make sure you have the flash turned off before you even start taking photos so it doesnt try to fire during totality. Next, do not use the zoom feature on your smartphone when photographing the eclipse. It really doesnt help much, and can even cause your photos to look worse. However, if you want to up your telephoto lens quality, you can buy clip-on telephoto lenses that range in price from $10-$50 on Walmart or Amazon. If you do this, you will also need to follow my tips below on how to protect your sensor/camera just like on a DSLR. Next, most smartphones will allow you to adjust the exposure by tapping on what you are trying to photograph, and a slider will appear. At that point you can just drag it down, thus lowering the exposure slightly to get better detail in the sun. Youre also going to want to lock the focus on the sun. Most smartphones do this by holding your finger on the subject for a few seconds and itll lock the focus. During totality, set your camera to shoot in burst mode, and shoot bursts of the totality. Some smartphones allow you to shoot in RAW mode. If your phone allows this, then set the camera for RAW. If your camera doesnt have this as a native feature, look for camera apps such as Halide Mark II for IOS, or if you have an Android phone, take a look at Halide Pro. And youre probably wondering if you need a tripod. Well, if you plan to shoot video of the eclipse, then definitely get a tripod, but if you are only shooting stills, youll be fine without it. Walmart and Amazon are also great places to find tripods. Since smartphone cameras are similar to DSLR in lenses, youll probably want to protect the lens and sensor on your camera in the same way I describe below. There are a variety of clip on solar filters available from Walmart and Amazon. They clip to the camera to help protect them. They arent as necessary as they are on a DSLR, but they will help somewhat. Lastly, I recently had the opportunity to test a nice little gadget called the SafeShot, made locally by a Maple Heights company. The SafeShot can be purchased at Walmart. Grafix in Maple Heights is producing a device, the SafeShot, that can be used to photograph the upcoming eclipse safely using a smartphone. Your smartphone attaches using a small strip of hook and loop tape. The device is available at Walmart and Amazon, and soon to be at Meiers stores. David Petkiewicz, cleveland.comDavid Petkiewicz, cleveland.com What should I use for my DSLR/mirrorless camera? If you have a DSLR/mirrorless camera - or old-school SLR film camera, and particularly if you have and are planning to use a telephoto lens, you absolutely must use some kind of solar film to avoid doing serious damage to the sensor and/or the lens on your camera. I actually recommend it regardless of what lens you are using. Back in 2017 I traveled to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, to view and photograph the eclipse. It was my first time photographing an eclipse, so I made sure to do a lot of research on how to safely do so without damaging my very expensive equipment. David Petkiewicz with his children, Isabel, Juliana and Max, at the "Point of Greatest Eclipse" in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on August 21, 2017.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com The best, and a very inexpensive way to do so, is to buy sheets of solar film and cut and glue them to the front of a lens filter. I bought a couple of very inexpensive camera lens screw on filters and then removed the glass from them. I then coated the front edge of the lens with a little glue and set it down on the dark side of the film - so that the reflective mirror side would be facing the sun. After that I just trimmed off the excess film with a razor knife and I was set. Then, the entire time you are photographing the eclipse as it approaches totality you leave the solar filter on the front of your lens. Once totality occurs, at about 3:15 p.m. in Cleveland, you can remove the filter and photograph the eclipse without a filter. But remember to put it back on as soon as totality begins to end, which will be only about 3 minutes after it starts. And, if your camera offers a live-view option where you dont have to look through the eyepiece, use that to see what you are photographing. As for exposure, during the run up to totality I was shooting at 1/500 at f8 and ISO 2500 with a Canon 6D using a EF 100-400mm lens with a 1.4x teleconverter. Once totality came, I removed the filter, and my exposure was the same 1/500 second at f8 at ISO 2500. Your exact exposure will vary a bit depending on the clarity of the sky and your lens. You can see what I got below. So, my advice is to invest a few dollars into some kind of lens/sensor protection in order to get the best results. Here is the solar filter on the front of my Canon 6D with a EF 100-400mm lens.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com This is the eclipse of 2017 in the partial phase. This was shot with a Canon 6D using a EF 100-400mm lens and 1.4x teleconverter. The exposure was 1/500 second at f8 and ISO 2500.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com NASHVILLE, Tenn. The state of Tennessee is the first to take steps to protect songwriters, performers and others in the music industry from the potential dangers of AI fabrication. The home of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry that has helped to launch music legends has enacted legislation to block use of AI from replicating an artists voice without their consent. The bill dubbed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act or ELVIS Act signed by Gov. Bill Lee, will take effect on July 1. We employ more people in Tennessee in the music industry than any other state, Lee said after signing the bill into law, the Associated Press reported. Artists have intellectual property. They have gifts. They have a uniqueness that is theirs and theirs alone, certainly not artificial intelligence. Name, photographs and likeness already were considered a property right rather than a right of publicity in Tennessee, one of just three states with such recognition. The new statute adds vocal likeness to that list. The law also allows people to be held liable for use of an individuals voice without permission, as well as using technology to produce an artists name, photographs, voice or likeness without the proper authorization, The AP said. Lee signed the bill at the famed Roberts Western World where he gathered Thursday with country music stars Chris Janson and Luke Bryan. What an amazing precedent for Tennessee to get in front of this, Bryan told the crowd, NPR reported. To know that our state protects us and what were about and what we worked so hard for is just a testament to how great this state is. It remains to be seen how effectively the legislation will protect artists from being replicated by AI without their permission. Many artists in the birthplace of country music say they cant wait for a perfect solution that the threats of AI generated material already are there. Stuff comes in on my phone and I cant tell its not me, Luke Bryan told the AP. Its a real deal now and hopefully this will curb it and slow it down. Tennessee has a long history of trying to protect artists names and likenesses, reaching back to the death of the one of the states most iconic residents, Elvis Presley. After Presley died in 1977, contentious and lengthy legal battles flared over the unauthorized use of his name and likeness. Many argued that once a celebrity died, their name and image entered the public domain, AP said. In 1984, Tennessee enacted the Personal Rights Protection Act, which ensured that personality rights do not stop at death and can be passed down to others. The move was seen as critical to protecting Presleys estate, but in the decades since then has also been praised as protecting the names, photographs and likenesses of all of Tennessees public figures. PREBLE COUNTY, Ohio A resource officer for a high school in western Ohio is been arrested and jailed after he was accused having sexual contact with a student, reports say. Butler County Jail records show Mason Williams, 26, a deputy with the Preble County Sheriffs Office, is being held without bond after being arrested Friday. He is charged with sexual battery, tampering with evidence and dereliction of duty, according to WXIX Channel 19. WLWT Channel 5 reports Williams also has been placed on administrative leave. The Preble County sheriff asked the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office to investigate after learning of accusations that Williams has involved in a relationship with an 18-year-old student at National Trail High School, WHIO Channel 7 reports. This alleged conduct goes against many of the core values of this office professionalism, integrity, and making sound, ethical and moral decisions both on duty and off-duty, Preble Sheriff Mike Simpson tells WXIX. Williams has been the resource officer at the school for two years. National Trail High School is about 35 miles west of Dayton, near the Indiana border. CINCINNATI, Ohio A new artificial intelligence tool developed at the University of Cincinnati can accurately predict whether someone is willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with only a little bit of information. Such accurate assessments of perceptions about vaccines and other medical treatments is information that may one day be useful in designing more effective public health campaigns beyond COVID-19, say the creators of the technology. (Photo : SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS/AFP via Getty Images) French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal says the country has raised its terror level after the attack in Russia. France has raised its terror alert level to the highest possible in the wake of the terror attack in Russia. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the move in a post on X on Sunday after a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron and security officials. He said the decision was made, "Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country." Paris will host the Olympic Games this summer and there are concerns it could be targeted. A la suite de lattentat de Moscou, un Conseil de Defense et de Securite nationale a ete reuni ce soir a lElysee par le President de la Republique. Compte tenu de la revendication de lattentat par letat islamique et des menaces qui pesent sur notre pays, nous avons decide de Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 24, 2024 France's terror alert system has three levels. The highest level brings increased security measures such as more security in train stations, airports and religious sites, according to Reuters. At least 133 people were killed at the Crocus City Hall concert venue on Friday night. More than 140 people were also reported injured. The attack has been claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group, ISIS-K. New York-based diplomacy think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) published an analysis of the Moscow shooting attack over the weekend, claiming that the "Khorasan Province" of the Islamic State (ISIS-K), which has claimed responsibility for the mass shooting, has global ambitions of furthering a self-proclaimed caliphate. Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to tie Ukraine to the attack. Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack. Russia observed a day of national mourning on Sunday. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. COLUMBUS, Ohio State spending on private school scholarships has exceeded estimates by over $15 million and is inching toward the $1 billion mark. As of March 18, state spending on all five scholarship programs was $980.4 million, with several months yet to go in the states fiscal year. That figure is expected to increase, as the state is accepting applications for vouchers through the end of June. The Legislative Service Commission, the legislatures nonpartisan staff, estimated Ohio would spend $964.5 million this school year as lawmakers greatly expanded eligibility for one of its five programs. For comparison, Ohio spent $610.2 million on all five scholarship programs last year, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, the states new K-12 agency. Two of five scholarship programs that allow children with special needs and autism to attend private schools are driving the overage. However, growth in a voucher program that the legislature recently expanded to include families of all income levels is on the cusp of exceeding the budgeted amount as well. State Sen. Andrew Brenner, a Columbus-area Republican who chairs the Senates education committee, downplayed the budget overage, noting it just represented a 1.6% increase and that some families may choose to leave private school before the end of the year, which would adjust the figures downward. But a recent analysis shows that many of the new voucher families this year were those who already had their kids in private schools but now qualify for a scholarship with the universal income eligibility. Brenner said the legislative staff just made estimates, and estimates can be wrong. These are all estimates, he said. Theres plenty of money. Its not an issue. Tax revenues over the past year have exceeded projections, Brenner noted. Public school advocates generally oppose vouchers, believing they ultimately take money from public schools. Once families begin to take the scholarships, they likely will not turn them away, meaning funding for private schools will continue to increase and not be sustainable, unless lawmakers made cuts to other programs. In the two-year budget the legislature passed over the summer, lawmakers made vouchers universal in one of the five scholarship programs, called EdChoice-Expansion, so families of all income levels get at least a partial scholarship. Before, families only qualified for a scholarship if they earned up to 250% of the federal poverty level, or $75,000 for a family of four. Now, there are no income caps, although families only get partial scholarships when they earn above 450% of the poverty level, or above $135,000 for a family of four. The legislature also increased the value of the scholarships starting this year for most programs, except ones for students with disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. Full scholarship amounts are $6,167 for grades K-8 and $8,407 for grades 9-12, up from $5,500 for K-8 and $7,500 in 9-12. We have a situation where the lower-income people of the state are subsidizing the wealthy, picking up the tuition costs of the wealthy, said Bill Phillis, who is leading a coalition of over 130 school districts in suing Ohio over school vouchers, arguing they hurt public schools that the state is constitutionally required to fund. The poor kids, even with the $8,400 high school voucher when some of those schools are charging $15,000 tuition, are not going to get into private schools. A recent analysis by cleveland.com / The Plain Dealer found that most of the new scholarships awarded this year under EdChoice-Expansion were likely going to students already enrolled in private schools, now having become eligible for public money. READ MORE: Fleeing troubled public schools? Ohio voucher data shows many families already enrolled in private schools Its a pattern of the promoters (of school choice) being disingenuous, Phillis said. It starts out, were going to take care of the poor kids. Now, its subsidizing the wealthy. Program Participants as of 3/18 Funding allocated as of 3/18 Projected cost for this school yr Participants last yr Funding last yr Autism Scholarship (Children with autism can attend a special education program outside their district of residence. Vouchers for this program are up to $32,455.) 5,198 $154.4 million $135.5 million 4,698 $128.6 million Cleveland Scholarship (All students of Cleveland Metropoitan School District are elibile for private school vouchers. It's the state's oldest voucher program.) 8,278 $53 million $54 million 7,802 $46.1 million Traditional EdChoice (Students who live in the boundaries of designated low-performing public schools are eligible for private school vouchers. The first EdChoice program.) 42,477 $271 million $276.6 million 39,033 $229.3 million EdChoice Expansion (Students can attend private schools based on their family income. Beginning this school year, all income caps were removed although upper-income families receive a partial scholarship.) 87,312 $394 million $397.8 million 23,272 $124.4 million Jon Peterson Special Needs (For students with a disability and Individualized Education Program from their district. The amount varies on disability and services up to around $30,000.) 8,853 $108.1 million $100.6 million 8,186 $81.1 million Total 152,118 $980.5 million $964.5 million 82,991 $610.2 million John Fortney, a spokesman for Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican who is one of the states chief school choice champions, noted that while voucher spending is on the rise, so is spending for traditional public schools. The legislature is in the process of implementing a six-year school funding overhaul known as the Fair School Funding Plan. Its funded the first four years of the overhaul. The most recent years are providing an extra $2 billion to K-12. Standing up for parents and their childrens education is always the right thing to do, Fortney said. Opponents of the program conveniently forget that the current budget invests an additional $2 billion into public schools, but of course thats never enough, they simply want all the money, and want to dictate terms to parents who they treat like the enemy. These scholarships save the state money compared to the average cost of per pupil spending. Miami University educational leadership professor Thomas Poetter, who edited Vouch for This! Defunding Private Interests, Defending Public Schools, which contains essays and research from students in a course he taught last summer, noted that the legislature created universal vouchers for EdChoice-Expansion in the states budget bill, which contained thousands of funding provisions. If it would have been in a standalone bill, perhaps more people would have protested to the legislature, he said. Poetter believes voucher spending for this year will hit around $1 billion. It will likely be that amount next year, too, he said. We have public institutions in Ohio that could really use $2 billion, he said. The public money should be going to public goods. I think most people would agree that education when its being bought privately is a private good, its not a public good. Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. COLUMBUS, Ohio Ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder is once again facing charges in the ever expanding state and federal bribery cases surrounding the passage of bailout legislation in 2019. The newest charges, announced Monday afternoon, go beyond Householders acceptance of a bribe from FirstEnergy that landed him in federal prison for 20 years. They allege he unlawfully used campaign funds to pay his criminal defense fees in the federal case and lied on state ethics forms that require candidates and office holders to disclose their earnings, assets, and liabilities. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced the new charges Monday. Beyond acting as a backstop to the federal conviction, Yost noted a state conviction would also permanently bar Householder from ever again holding public office. In March 2023, a jury convicted Householder of accepting a multimillion bribe from the two FirstEnergy executives CEO Chuck Jones and top company lobbyist Mike Dowling in exchange for passing House Bill 6, a bailout worth more than $1 billion to the company. He is serving 20 years in federal prison. The formal charges include one count of theft in office, two counts of aggravated theft, one count of telecommunications fraud, one count of money laundering and five counts of tampering with records, according to Yosts office. All are felonies. Five of the 10 counts focus on what Carol OBrien, deputy attorney general for law enforcement, described as more than $750,000 flowing from his campaign committee to his Cleveland criminal defense attorneys. OBrien said Householder stole money from his campaign to pay his attorneys. Campaign finance records show Householders campaign paid $660,000 (not counting $300,000 that was returned) to Marein & Bradley, and $260,000 to McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman. Both firms represented Householder at trial. The Ohio Elections Commission has long held that candidates cannot use donors funds to pay criminal defense attorneys. Mr. Householder was aware that he did not have the authority to pay for his criminal defense with his money from his supporters in his campaign account, she said. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to attorneys from both firms. A criminal complaint laying out the specific allegations is not yet available as of early Monday evening through the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas website. Householder also faces charges of tampering with records. The charges are predicated in part on information Householder himself provided as a witness in his own criminal defense that detailed his legal debts, credit card debts, box seats at a World Series game, a trip on FirstEnergys corporate jet, his business Householder Ltd., and others. Virtually none of these items, established by both sides of the case in some capacity, ever appeared in Householders financial disclosures. Some of these items factored into the prosecutors theory that FirstEnergys money funded these items as part of the bribe or in courting Householder. He denied accepting a bribe, describing some of the payments as loans that would eventually paid off. However, he never denied their existence, nor their non-appearance on his state ethics forms. These omissions are much more than simple mistakes, OBrien said. The sheer breadth and continuity of these omissions show a concerted effort by Mr. Householder to hide his obligations, his personal finances, and his business connections. At trial, Householder repeatedly said he has an attorney fill out his ethics forms for him. After a prosecutor asked him about an extended series of apparent omissions, a question about a $1,500 hotel stay paid by a prominent Cleveland businessman seemingly prompted Householder to throw in the towel. I dont have an answer for you on that, he said. I dont know. Earlier this year Yost filed related charges against a top Ohio regulator and two FirstEnergy executives, accusing the three of engaging in a $4.3 million bribery scheme. Federal prosecutors have also charged the regulator, former Public Utilities of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo. However, only Yost has brought charges against Jones and Dowling. All three have pleaded not guilty. Jake Zuckerman covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. CLEVELAND, Ohio A mild, sunny start to the week greets Northeast Ohio residents. The forecast from the National Weather Service is calling for highs in the low 60s Monday and mostly sunny skies. It will be a bit breezy, with winds steady at about 15 mph. Winds will grow stronger overnight and gusts will reach 32 mph. It also will be cloudy and temps will drop to the mid-40s. That will usher in showers on Tuesday and highs will be in the upper 50s. Extended forecast There is a 30% chance of rain showers Wednesday with highs in the low 50s. Mostly sunny skies are predicted for Thursday but it will be chilly, with highs staying in the upper 40s. Sunshine continues Friday and highs will be around 50 degrees. Saturday is looking cloudy with a 30% chance of showers and highs in the mid-50s, while Sunday will be partly sunny with highs in the mid-50s. Cleveland sunrise / sunset Cleveland will gain nearly three minutes of daylight on Monday. Sunrise: 7:20 a.m. Sunset: 7:45 p.m. Ohio regional radar League City residents may notice their water tastes different during the month of April. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images League City residents may notice their water tastes different in April as the city and the Gulf Coast Water Authority are scheduled to conduct a water maintenance treatment process that will last from April 8 to May 6. This chlorine reversion will affect all users of drinking water from the Thomas Mackey Water Treatment Plant. The city will notify residents once the treatment has been completed. What is the purpose of the water treatment? Municipalities conduct these maintenance treatment processes to improve and ensure water quality and prevent contamination. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Because water comes from various sources such as wells and lakes it can become contaminated with germs, which can also travel through pipes, according to the Centers for Disease and Prevention. PEARLAND PLANS $175 MILLION WATER TREATMENT PLANT: The plant will reduce dependence on Houston water Is it safe to drink the water during the treatment process? Yes. This treatment is conducted in accordance with federal and state drinking water regulations. According to the citys website, one of the most common questions asked by residents about this treatment is whether its safe to drink water during the maintenance process. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Why does the water taste and look different? An important thing for residents to be aware of, according to the citys website, is that the drinking water may take on a different odor and discoloration during the process, which is caused by the flushing that occurs. This does not affect the safety of the drinking water. Whats in the water? League City and the Gulf Coast Water Authority use a combination of chlorine and ammonia, called chloramine, to disinfect the water distribution system. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The chloramine process also reduces any taste and odor issues. The water authority will temporarily change this disinfectant process as part of the annual maintenance by using chlorine only, or free chlorine. Why chlorine and is it safe? Chlorine kills bacteria, viruses, and parasites. A small amount of chlorine does not affect the safety of the water for drinking or cause harmful health effects. It also protects against waterborne disease outbreaks, according to the citys website. Are there any special concerns? The city advises users of kidney dialysis machines and those who own tropical fish aquariums to modify their regular methods. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While dialysis centers will treat the water to remove disinfectants, including chlorine and chloramine, before the water is used for dialysis, those who utilize home dialysis systems are advised to consult the manufacturers of their machines for information on how to properly treat their water before use. Owners of fish and reptiles are advised to follow standard water treatments using products that remove chlorine and chloramine from the water in aquariums, according to the League City website. close-up scales of justice Fry Design Ltd / Getty Images A 12-year-old boy charged on suspicion of stabbing a 59-year-old woman as his 7-year-old brother stood nearby was the latest child in the Houston area to be arrested this week in connection with a serious crime, raising questions about the age at which a minor can be criminally prosecuted under Texas law. Dubbed the "Little Rascals," three kids, one as young as 11, were arrested in Harris County this week in connection with a March 13 bank robbery. Just days later two brothers, 12 and 7, were accused in connection with an unrelated Saturday stabbing of a 59-year-old woman. The 12-year-old was charged with felony aggravated assault, however, the 7-year-old ultimately was not charged because he could not be found culpable, or guilty, due to his young age, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The spate of high-profile juvenile arrests has prompted questions about how children involved in a crime can be treated under Texas law. Advertisement Article continues below this ad With four children between 11 and 16 charged with serious crimes in Harris County this week, here are some answers to the way the criminal justice system treats juveniles in Texas. At what age can a juvenile be charged in Texas? According to the Texas Penal Code, a juvenile who can be charged with a crime is someone aged 10 to 16, and beginning at 17, a juvenile will be automatically charged as an adult. For anyone 10-16, the way they are treated in the criminal justice system is different than as an adult. Most charges, if someone is convicted, will only be punishable until the juveniles 18th or 19th birthday, depending on the crime. But for charges that are more severe, including certain felonies, a juveniles case may be transferred to adult court or adult prison after their original sentence is served in what is called a determinate sentence. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Aggravated assault is one of those felonies, according to the Texas Family Code (along with murder and sexual assault) which means the 12-year-old in this case could potentially be a candidate for a determinate sentence if the judge saw fit. Robberies, however, are not on the list of those felonies, so the "Little Rascals" children who were accused in connection with a bank robbery last week would not receive a determinate sentence or remain jailed once they become adults. If a juvenile is 14 or 15 and is charged with certain severe felonies, the state could file a waiver asking that the juvenile be tried as an adult and therefore be eligible to receive the same sentence as an adult. For more information on the arrest of juveniles in Texas, the Texas District and County Attorneys Association has a blog post explaining some of the nuances. Is Texas like or unlike other states? The majority of states in the U.S. consider people 18 and over to be adults in the eyes of the criminal justice system. Texas is one of only three states, however, that automatically charge a 17-year-old as an adult for criminal offenses (Georgia and Wisconsin are the others). There are some states that charge juveniles younger than 17 as adults automatically in criminal cases, such as Florida, Delaware and Kansas, according to the Interstate Commission for Juveniles age matrix. In West Virginia, there is no minimum age at which a child can be prosecuted as an adult. Advertisement Article continues below this ad What happens to children under 10? As explained in the Texas Attorney Generals 2020 Juvenile Justice Handbook, a child under 10 cant be charged with a crime, but for those between 7 and 10, there are additional services that the Department of Family Services can order for the family of that child, such as crisis family intervention, family counseling, mentoring, parental skills training and youth coping training. This is codified in the Texas Family Code chapter 264.302. Any of the above services could be ordered for the 7-year-old in this case, depending on the results of an ongoing Child Protective Services investigation. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner speaks to the media during a press conference about the 250,000-plus cases that were suspended for lack of staffing at HPD Headquarters on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Police Chief Troy Finner are joined by Houston Area Women's Center President Emilee Dawn Whitehurst and Deputy CEO Sonia Corrales for a press conference on Monday, March 11, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer In the wake of the Houston Police Department's use of an internal code to suspend more than 264,000 incident reports, citing a lack of personnel, other Texas departments have said they don't have a code like that and investigate all their cases. On Feb. 22, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner announced that the department was launching an internal investigation into more than 4,000 reported sexual assaults that had been designated "SL," suspended because of a lack of personnel in the department's record management system. The review quickly grew to include more than 264,000 cases across multiple police divisions dating back to 2016. While some experts contend other departments fall behind because of lack of resources, Houston is facing a unique problem of a code specifically designed to suspend these cases. MORE ON SUSPENDED CASES: Has HPD suspended an investigation into an incident you reported? Search our database. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The San Antonio Police Department does not suspend cases because of a lack of personnel, a spokesperson for the department said. Every case that is assigned to a follow-up detective is investigated until a case is made or all viable leads are exhausted, officials said. When a case is assigned for follow-up, that detective is in communication with the victim(s) throughout the process. Sgt. Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the Fort Worth Police Department, said investigators are allowed to suspend cases only when theyve made a good-faith effort to exhaust all leads. He said the department hasnt taken action in light of Houstons investigation but that department policy requires monthly audits of cases assigned to each detective. Those audits examine the number of open cases and the length of time they are open, and there is a review of selected cases, to ensure that a full good-faith investigation has been conducted, Spencer said. A representative for the Dallas Police Department declined to answer a series of questions about investigations but referred to the departments general orders. Those orders detail the ways in which detectives can close a case, including cleared by arrest, cleared by exception arrest, unfounded leads and suspended pending further leads. Lack of resources not unique to Houston In 2014, when former Chief Charles McClelland was discussing 20,000 cases that had been suspended because of a lack of personnel, he said Houston wasn't alone in operating that way. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "This is not unique to the Houston Police Department," he said then. "Other police departments give it a sexy name called 'early cases closure.' A hundred more detectives will not give the capacity to work 20,000 cases." Experts agreed that Houston might be alone in possessing a code formalizing the arrangement. But with a nationwide battle on law enforcement staffing, other agencies struggle to fully investigate all cases reported each year. There just are not enough staffing hours in the day or year, said Brian Higgins, a retired police chief and lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Even before this, you saw the effects of agencies not being able to handle calls. Youre seeing closure and conviction rates dropping. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Officials with other major police departments around Texas stringently denied doing anything comparable to what Houston police did with the code. But Bill King, a professor in the criminal justice department at Boise State University in Idaho, said he suspects other agencies don't have the capacity to investigate all reports. "Why do departments have investigative screening procedures?" King said. "Reports come into a detective bureau, and the chief investigator will triage them. Why is he triaging them if you're investigating all of them?" The issue across the country is if cases that had strong leads and should have been investigated are instead going uninvestigated, King said. He analyzed the citys police force using data from 2020, which found that it had a greater ratio of investigators to patrol officers than some other large agencies. Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, said he wished agencies would be more transparent with residents, explaining the limitations and logistics of policing in 2024. The public has to understand that with a minor theft or many of the burglaries of motor vehicles unless police catch someone in the act, its hard to investigate all those cases, Griffith said. Finner, however, has been less tolerant of the idea that a lack of resources could have led to the department's dropped cases. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He said in a February news conference that some inside the department had continued using the code despite an order that it cease in 2021, when he became chief. Since the announcement of the dropped cases, two assistant chiefs have been demoted. Alex Verhaeg had just turned 21 years old when he moved into a 95 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan's East Village. The tiny apartment was smaller than the average size of a parking spot which is roughly 150 square feet and didn't have a bathroom. Instead, the five-story building has three bathrooms and two showers on each floor for tenants to share. When CNBC Make It first spoke to Verhaeg back in 2022 he was paying $1,100 a month in rent and said then that a third year in the apartment would probably be his last. Don't miss: My house is 'smaller than the average size of a parking spot': 3 people share what it's like to live in less than 300 square feet "It gave me independence to have a spot all to myself," he says. "You had to share some things like the restroom but the apartment itself was just mine, which I really enjoyed." Health-tech company Masimo , best known for its successful patent litigation over the Apple Watch, is facing a proxy fight for the second time in two years from the same activist investor who now sits on the company's six-person board. Quentin Koffey's Politan Capital, a roughly 9% shareholder, announced it would nominate two directors to Masimo's board, just days after the company announced it would seek to spin off an embattled business unit. Shares surged on the news during Monday morning trading, before closing up around 3%. Masimo announced Friday that it would explore a spinoff of its audio unit, which it acquired in 2022 for $1 billion. The acquisition, which frustrated some investors and was seen as unrelated to Masimo's core health-tech focus, prompted Politan's first proxy fight at the company. Now, Politan is seeking two further board seats to ensure that the company follows through on the spinoff, which Politan said was "rushed" to announcement after the activist told the company it would seek additional board seats last week. A Masimo spokesperson disputed that sequence of events. "It is Politan that rushed the announcement of its candidates this morning to try to take credit for the positive market reaction to the separation announcement," the spokesperson said. Politan's nominees are former Agilent executive Darlene Solomon and former Stryker Chief Financial Officer Bill Jellison. Solomon oversaw research and development at Agilent, while Jellison helped drive Stryker's merger and acquisition strategy. If successful, the activist investor would control four of the company's six board seats. Politan already won two board seats for Koffey and health-care executive Michelle Brennan in its previous proxy fight, which was closely followed by investors given the intensity of the fight and unusual tactics by management to stave off Koffey. Koffey said he had been initially "optimistic" that Masimo's board would work with Politan. "Unfortunately, our efforts were continually rebuffed, as Chairman & CEO Joe Kiani refused to give us basic information, denied us access to management, repeatedly held Board meetings excluding us, and refused to even consider allowing any review of capital allocation or strategy," Koffey said in a release. In the previous proxy fight, Kiani showed no desire to settle a fight with the activist fund. Some of Masimo's maneuvers to try and stave off Politan, such as an unprecedented attempt to force activists to detail their other investments and their clients before seeking a board nomination, drew widespread scrutiny. Politan said in its release that it hoped to avoid another proxy fight. "Darlene and Bill are indisputably qualified to help the Company and adding them immediately would have the benefit of avoiding a costly and distracting contested election," Koffey said. "Members of the Board, including Quentin Koffey, have been a key part of the discussions concerning the separation dating back to January, when Joe Kiani first proposed the idea following a listening tour with shareholders," a Masimo spokesperson said, noting that two-thirds of the company's board had joined within the past nine months. The spokesperson added that the company had previously committed to reassessing the $1 billion Sound United strategy within three years. Apple's virtual and augmented reality headset launched in the U.S. in February for a starting price of $3,500 . In a video posted on one of CCTV's accounts on Chinese social media site Weibo, Cook was heard responding "yes," when asked if the Vision Pro would launch in China this year. In China, Apple will compete against local headset players such as Pico, which is owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance. Cook has been in China for the past few days, touring a new Apple store in Shanghai and attending the China Development Forum in Beijing. His visit comes at a time Apple faces a number of challenges in the northeast Asian country. The iPhone giant's sales in the greater China region fell nearly 13% in the December quarter, as Apple contends with consumer caution over spending and more intense competition in the smartphone market from a resurgent Huawei. Cook reiterated Apple's commitment to the Chinese market. "I am very confident in it (China)," Cook said, according to news package posted on one of CCTV's Weibo accounts. "I love China, I love being here, I love the people and the culture. Every time I come here, I am reminded that anything is possible here." Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks to reporters as he departs from a meeting at the office of Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) on Capitol Hill January 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024 in part of a broad management shake-up for the embattled aerospace giant. Larry Kellner, chairman of the board, will not stand for reelection at Boeing's annual meeting in May, Boeing said Monday. He will be succeeded as chair by Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020 and is a former CEO of Qualcomm. Mollenkopf will lead the board in picking a new CEO, Boeing said. And Stan Deal, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes unit, is leaving the company effective immediately. Moving into his job is Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer after previously running Boeing Global Services. The departures come as airlines and regulators have been increasing calls for major changes at the company after a host of quality and manufacturing flaws on Boeing planes. Scrutiny intensified after a Jan. 5 accident, when a door plug blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 minutes into an Alaska Airlines flight. "As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing," Calhoun wrote to employees on Monday. "We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company. "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years," he wrote. BeeBright | Getty Images LONDON The U.S. and U.K. on Monday accused hackers linked to the Chinese state of being behind "malicious" cyber campaigns targeting political figures, in moves expected to stoke tensions with Beijing. The British government also alleged that China-affiliated hackers were behind an attack that saw the data of millions of voters accessed. "I can confirm today that Chinese state-affiliated actors were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting our democratic institutions and parliamentarians," British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said in a speech to Parliament on Monday. Dowden attributed a hack on the Electoral Commission, the independent agency tasked with setting standards for how U.K. elections should be run, to a China state-affiliated actor. The campaigns were said to have taken place between 2021 and 2022. The attack was identified by the Electoral Commission in October 2022, but wasn't disclosed until last year. Hackers accessed the names and addresses of anyone in Britain registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, the Electoral Commission said in a 2023 public notice. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.K. said allegations of China being behind cyberattacks in the U.K. were "completely fabricated and malicious slanders." "We strongly oppose such accusations," the Chinese Embassy spokesperson told reporters at a press briefing Monday, according to an update that was posted on its website. "China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to law." 'A clear pattern' Dowden said the U.K. believes China to be behind attempted reconnaissance on the email accounts of U.K. lawmakers in the summer of 2021. He accused the Chinese hacking group APT31 of being behind this attack. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which is owned by Google, describes APT31 as a "China-nexus cyber espionage actor focused on obtaining information that can provide the Chinese government and state-owned enterprises with political, economic, and military advantages." Dowden added that attempts to compromise the email accounts of U.K. lawmakers were however "unsuccessful." "We want now to be as open as possible with the House and the British public," Dowden said. "This is the latest in a clear pattern of hostile activity originating in China." Dowden said the U.K. had sanctioned two individuals residing within China, as well as an entity affiliated with APT31. U.S. hits out at China Separately, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment Monday accusing Chinese state-linked hackers of being behind cyber campaigns targeting U.S. businesses, government officials and politicians. The DOJ charged seven Chinese nationals, Ni Gaobin; Weng Ming; Cheng Feng; Peng Yaowen; Sun Xiaohui; Xiong Wang; and Zhao Guangzong, with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for involvement in a China-based hacking group that spent 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses and political officials. These individuals operated as part of the APT31 hacking group, the DOJ said. "The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement Monday. "This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies," Garland added. Geopolitical tensions Xiaomi's first EV, the SU7, is on display at a Xiaomi Automotive delivery center on March 25, 2024 in Hefei, Anhui Province of China. Chinese tech company Xiaomi's first electric vehicle, the SU7, will be formally launched on March 28. It is the first time Xiaomi has confirmed the upper end of the price range. On Thursday, Xiaomi will officially launch the SU7 electric vehicle and begin taking orders. "The goal of the Xiaomi SU7 is to be the best looking, best driving, and most intelligent sedan under 500,000 yuan ($69,328)," Lei said in a post on Chinese social media service Weibo . Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun on Monday teased the price of the Chinese firm's first electric vehicle ahead of its official launch this week. The car is on display across Xiaomi stores in China in 29 cities, according to another Weibo post by Lei. He said that test drives will begin on Thursday. Xiaomi Group President Weibing Lu told CNBC previously that the company is targeting the premium segment of the electric car market. That would pit it against the likes of Tesla in China. For comparison, Tesla's Model S sedan starts at 698,900 yuan while the Model 3 starts at 245,900 yuan. Xiaomi will also be competing against a slew of domestic players including giant BYD, Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto, many of which are also targeting the premium end of the EV market. Xiaomi is best-known as a smartphone and consumer electronics company. But in 2021, the company announced plans to enter the EV race. Three years later it is facing a very different electric car market in China one that is potentially facing a slowdown and where competition is cut-throat. The EV market is in the midst of a price war which was sparked by Tesla at the end of 2022. This has forced other electric car firms to slash prices in order to stoke demand and stay competitive, which has pressured margins and profitability across the industry. Pricing will be key for Xiaomi in such a competitive market and one where the company has no prior history. The big bet on EVs from Xiaomi is not lost on CEO Lei. "Three years ago, I announced that Xiaomi was going to enter the EV market. This is my final new venture I am putting my reputation on the line to fight for a vision I deeply believed in," Lei said in a post on X. In this photo illustration, Anthropic logo is seen on a smartphone screen. Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has struck a deal with a consortium of buyers to sell the majority of its stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic for $884 million, according to a filing submitted late Friday to a Delaware court. The document, dated March 22, lists a mix of buyers, with the largest stake going to ATIC Third International Investment Co., an enterprise aligned with Mubadala, a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates. That group is purchasing nearly $500 million worth of Anthropic shares. Multiple sovereign wealth funds were reportedly clamoring for a piece of FTX's Anthropic stake. Sources told CNBC on Friday that Saudi Arabia was specifically ruled out over national security concerns. The kingdom has been sinking billions of dollars into tech investment funds to try to capture talent from the UAE and to diversify away from oil. The second-biggest buyer in the Anthropic transaction is Jane Street, the quantitative trading firm where FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried worked before venturing out on his own. Caroline Ellison, the ex-CEO of FTX's sister hedge fund Alameda Research, also previously worked at Jane Street. The firm is purchasing shares worth almost $100 million. Jane Street's head of quantitative research, Craig Falls, has also proposed to personally buy around $20 million worth of shares. Venture fund HOF Capital, the Ford Foundation and funds managed by Fidelity Management are others on the list of nearly two dozen buyers. The sales are not yet final and must be cleared by Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing FTX's bankruptcy case in Delaware. Should it be approved, the sale would collectively account for nearly two-thirds of FTX's shares in Anthropic. Markets are red-hot, and investors might be wondering what they can buy right now. The S & P 500 reached a record high in March despite corners of it already getting expensive, some pros believe. There could be more uncertainty, with some still expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve not to cut rates despite the central bank indicating it's staying on track for three rate cuts this year. On top of that, some are calling for investors to move out of cash if rates do fall. If you had a spare $1 million to invest right now, what should you buy? CNBC Pro asked fund managers and wealth advisors how they would allocate their portfolios with that money. The 60/40 portfolio The 60/40 portfolio is a good starting point for many investors. Indeed, Aaron Benson, portfolio manager at investment bank Baird, says he uses the strategy for many of his clients' portfolios. He would allocate roughly 60% into stocks this way: 15% each to U.S. large-cap growth stocks and U.S. large-cap value stocks; 4% to small-caps; and 8% to mid-caps. Another 15% would go to international developed as well as emerging markets equities. "We really believe in style diversification and feel that remaining diversified with value and growth stocks remains prudent," Benson said. He stressed that because the small-cap market is "less efficient," it's more important to do active stock-picking and identify the best opportunities. "Small cap stocks based on price-to-earnings ratio are the cheapest they've been since really the tech bubble, relative to large-caps," he said. "We see that more as a long-term opportunity." With a million dollars to invest, it would be "reasonable" for investors to put their money in both small- and mid-cap stocks now, he said. Benson added that global stocks look "very cheap" right now, relative to their U.S. peers. "So we feel very comfortable including that as a portion of one's allocation with with new capital to invest." As for fixed income, Benson would allocate about 40% this way: 10% to short-term taxable fixed income; 25% to intermediate-term fixed income; and 3% to high-yield bonds. A final 5% would go toward real assets, which are "good diversifiers' to stocks and bonds, he said. Examples he cited are real estate, infrastructure and commodities. Baird's assets under management stand at more than $405 billion, while its private wealth management assets under management are over $275 billion. The size of the average client account is about $1.2 million. Chris Fasciano, senior portfolio manager at Commonwealth Financial Network, also believes that the 60/40 portfolio is "again a worthwhile asset allocation." For the 60% allocated to stocks, he would focus on U.S. large-cap growth, value, small- and mid-cap stocks, as well as international equities. As for bonds, he likes intermediate-term fixed income. AI's power needs, tech and health care If you're an investor interested in focusing on tech and artificial intelligence, take a look at the allocation of Shams Afzal, managing director at Carnegie Investment Counsel. A good chunk of his model portfolio comprises allocations to tech and growth stocks, industrials such as power plays on AI, and semiconductors. "As AI went mainstream in 2023, it sent capital spending in cloud computing capacity and data center storage into overdrive. Valuations in the sector leave little room for error and multi-year growth is almost a foregone conclusion in semiconductors, data centers and other verticals," Afzal said. "This was clear in Nvidia's recent earnings that showed 400% growth year over year in their data center business alone," he said. As a result, he said, there is "urgency for grid modernization and future-proofing" of power needs driven by hyperscale computing. Afzal named one stock to play on AI's power needs: Watsco . Overall, these are his allocations, as he named exchange-traded funds as a way to invest in such trends and more. This portfolio is for a timeframe of one year or so. When it comes to international stocks, Afzal likes Mexico as it's a direct beneficiary of China's dwindling foreign direct investments. He added that he's bullish on India for three reasons: It "remains the go-to destination" for sourcing high-tech labor; is undergoing a digital transformation across industries; and is seeing "healthy" demand from its "sizeable" middle class. 100% to stocks for the 'moderately aggressive' Louis Navellier, chairman and founder of Navellier & Associates, would be 100% invested in stocks. He has a portfolio for the "moderately aggressive" investor, although he says much of the risk comes from small-cap stocks. Overall, he said, "The U.S. is somewhat of an oasis now, because obviously China looks like they've got a real problem." While buying bonds could be a good idea now as yields are set to fall, U.S. investors get taxed more on bonds than on stocks, Navellier said. "I would rather have long term capital gains, which is taxed at a 20% rate, then bond interest tax at a 37% rate," he added. This is a breakdown of the top 15 holdings in his portfolio. He's very bullish on Nvidia and Super Micro Computer right now, saying their earnings are "growing fast" and Nvidia is still dominating the chips space. Here's why he's positive on Nvidia and Super Micro Computer. Navellier also has other global stocks in his portfolio, including Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto , Mexico's Vista Energy , German automaker Volkswagen and Canadian gold producer Alamos Gold . The average amount of money that his clients invest is $1.3 million, and his firm manages over $1.2 billion. Jim Cramer's daily rapid fire looks at stocks in the news outside the CNBC Investing Club portfolio. Boeing : CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024, the company announced Monday alongside two other leadership changes. Its board chairman will not stand for reelection at its annual meeting in May, while the head of Boeing Commercial Airplanes is leaving the company immediately. The company is grappling with the fallout of an Alaska Airlines door incident earlier this year. Boeing shares rose about 0.4%. Jim Cramer said General Electric CEO Larry Culp may be floated as a potential Calhoun successor, given GE's aerospace business. "I don't know if they can get Larry, though," Cramer said. Intel , AMD : Shares of both chipmakers were lower Monday, following Financial Times report that said China plans to prohibit the use of Intel and AMD chips in government computers and servers. "We've seen this before," Cramer said, referring to Beijing clamping down on U.S. tech companies in a bid to elevate its domestic industry. "If it's true, yeah, it's a negative. The government has a lot of PCs," Cramer said, though he cautioned that "I don't know if it's true or not." Masimo : The medical technology company said Friday it is considering spinning off its consumer-focused business. An activist investor with a sizable stake in the company and a board seat already said he intends to nominate two more directors . Masimo shares rose more than 3%. "I think it should split up," Cramer said. Tesla , Rivian : Analysts at Mizuho Securities downgraded a host of electric vehicle makers, including Tesla and Rivian, on concerns about slowing demand for battery-powered automobiles. "Look, is Rivian running out of money? They do have a source of money. Tesla, unfortunately, the numbers are just not there. They're not there in Germany; they're not there in China," Cramer said. In autos, the CNBC Investing Club owns Ford . Cleveland-Cliffs : The steelmaker and mine operator said Monday it is receiving up to $575 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for two decarbonization projects at steel plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Shares rose about 1.5%. "This one should go back to its high," Cramer said, noting that recently Cleveland-Cliffs got "caught up" in negotiations to acquire U.S. Steel. Cleveland-Cliffs had been a "bad company," Cramer said, "but they've gotten disciplined and they've figured it out." Nucor is still Cramer's preferred steel stock. Claire Hao is a Hearst Fellow for the Houston Chronicle's business desk, where she is covering electricity, renewable energy and the Texas power grid. She also spends one day a week covering breaking and trending news. Claire can be reached at claire.hao@houstonchronicle.com. Claire spent her first-year fellowship rotation on the climate and environment team of The San Francisco Chronicle. She has previously interned on the news desks of Bloomberg Law and The Chicago Tribune as well as on the editorial board of The Washington Post. She is a 2022 graduate of the University of Michigan, where she was the 2021 editor-in-chief of her college paper The Michigan Daily. A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's X against the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, writing in a judgement Monday that the "case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech." X sued the research group in July, accusing it of implementing a "scare campaign" to drive away advertisers. The company also accused CCDH of improperly accessing data from the platform and selectively picking posts to "falsely claim" that X is "overwhelmed with harmful content." The suit followed studies published by CCDH in which the British firm, which tracks hate speech and online misinformation, found an increase in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate speech on X after Musk took over the company, formerly known as Twitter, in late 2022. Judge Charles Breyer in the Northern District of California wrote in his ruling that while X claimed the case was about breach of contract and unlawful data scraping, it was clearly about speech. "Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiff's true purpose," Breyer wrote. "Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech." Tinder and Hinge operator Match Group added two new directors and signed an agreement with Elliott Management, months after the activist investor was reported to have taken a stake in the company, Match announced Monday. Instacart Chief Marketing Officer Laura Jones and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff will join the company's board, effective immediately. The appointments come after a "constructive" dialogue with Elliott that resulted in an information-sharing agreement, Match said in a release. Such agreements allow activist investors to have insight into the company's finances and operations, above and beyond what everyday investors have. Elliott is one of the most prolific activist investors in the space. In recent months, the firm has secured board shakeups at telecommunications REIT Crown Castle and the e-commerce platform Etsy . Match shares are down 2% for the year and have fallen 79% from their 2021 high. The company has struggled to retain leadership, moving through a cast of CEOs and executives. The number of paying users, a key metric for investors, has declined for successive quarters. "We are one of the largest investors of Match Group today because we believe in its opportunity for significant value creation as the global leader in online dating," Elliott partner Marc Steinberg said in the release. Neither the exact size of Elliott's position nor its specific plans for a turnaround were immediately clear. The Wall Street Journal reported in January that the activist had an economic interest of around $1 billion. Americans are getting grayer and that could be a windfall for senior housing. Two of the biggest beneficiaries of the trend are certain real estate investment trusts, which also return income to investors, according to Morgan Stanley. The firm likes Welltower , which has a 2.7% dividend yield, and American Healthcare REIT , which went public Feb. 7 and yields 7.1%. Both own senior housing properties. About 18% of the U.S. population is over 65 years old right now and by 2060, the share of senior citizens should rise to more than 23%, according to a Morgan Stanley analysis of Census data. As a result, the firm estimates there will be 2.1 million residents in independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing housing in 2030, up from 1.7 million in 2022. That is based on the current penetration rate of 3% of older adults living in senior housing, yet that could possibly increase as changes are made in the industry, economist Sarah Wolfe and a team of analysts and strategists wrote in a note last week. "Improved affordability and demand for higher quality of life, services and care are key tailwinds," they said. For one, active adult communities may change where seniors age by offering an affordable price point for those looking for a higher quality of life, but not necessarily medical care, the firm said. "Indeed WELL has been a leader in aggregating active adult communities with a recent $1.0 billion acquisition of 3,900 units ($249k / unit) increasing their in-place and under development 'Wellness Housing' portfolio to ~25k units," the team said. WELL YTD mountain Welltower year to date The firm sees the addressable market growing to 185,000 units in 2030 from 150,000 in 2022. In addition, there is a rising need for senior care. Over the past four years, the percentage of senior citizens reporting their health status as "fair" or "poor" versus "excellent," "very good" or "good" has averaged 24%, while those who said they had difficulty with self-care has averaged 9%, Morgan Stanley said, citing data from the National Center for Health Statistics. "This population of seniors that may need higher quality services and care is significantly greater than the ~3.0% of seniors that are currently living in senior housing facilities," the firm's analysts said. Welltower has the highest income and property density in its market, the team said. American Healthcare should see the greatest operating upside from senior housing facilities, they said. AHR mountain 2024-02-07 American Healthcare REIT since its Feb. 7 IPO "AHR is our preferred small cap play given that ~50% of portfolios are exposed to senior housing operating assets, where they can benefit from upside to property cash flow (vs. fixed 1-3% escalators)," they said. The analysts expect 10% growth in funds from operation in 2025 and 2026 for both names, which is significantly more than the REIT average of 2% to 4%. The energy sector is demonstrating strength with a "compelling valuation" that could set stocks up for a comeback after underperforming the broader market since September, according to Morgan Stanley. Strategists led by Michael Wilson upgraded the sector to overweight, anticipating the market rally should broaden and rotate into energy stocks as long as they can deliver on earnings growth. "We continue to believe we're in a late cycle market environment, which has historically been supportive of Energy outperformance," the analyst wrote. Morgan Stanley recommends ConocoPhillips , Devon Energy , Occidental Petroleum and Diamondback Energy as ways to play the potential comeback. The energy sector has been the best performer over the past month, but is still lagging the rally that began in October. Wilson pointed out that energy stocks have actually contributed more to the change in S & P earnings since the Covid-19 pandemic than any another sector. "Yet it remains one of the cheapest and most under-owned areas of the market," Wilson told clients Monday. The energy sector's performance has also lagged the price of crude oil this year, but the divergence is likely to close, according to Wilson. The S & P 500 energy sector is up more than 11% in 2024, while West Texas Intermediate futures have gained 14%. The broader S & P 500 has added 9.5% year to date. The increase in crude prices year over year suggests the sector could see earnings growth, Wilson wrote. Earnings revision breadth for energy stocks also appears to have bottomed and is moving in a positive direction, according to Morgan Stanley. The energy sector's free cash flow margins are down over the past two quarters but are still above the historical run rate, Wilson said. The sector's net debt compared to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is below the historical average dating back to 2010. In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin lights a candle during his visit to a church of the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on March 24, 2024, as Russia observes a national day of mourning after the Crocus City Hall attack. Mikhail Metzel | Afp | Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin's next move is being watched closely after he linked Ukraine to the deadly terrorist attack that took place in a Moscow concert hall Friday, leaving at least 137 people dead. Russian officials and pro-Kremlin hawks continue to level blame at Kyiv for the attack at the Crocus City Hall venue, where gunmen killed concert-goers, including three children, and wounded at least 140. Kyiv vehemently denies any involvement. Four suspects, three of whom were confirmed as Tajik nationals, appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday night, looking beaten, bruised and disoriented. They were charged with carrying out an act of terrorism and remanded in custody ahead of trial. A man suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people, the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, sits inside the defendant cage as he waits for his pre-trial detention hearing at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on March 25, 2024. Olga Maltseva | Afp | Getty Images The Islamic State said at the weekend that it was behind the attack and released graphic footage of the incident via an IS-affiliated news agency. U.S. officials and defense experts agreed that it's highly likely that IS was responsible for the attack. That hasn't stopped top Russian officials blaming Ukraine and the West for the attack. Putin claimed the attackers had links to Ukraine and said they had been caught en route to the country, alleging that "a window had been prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the border." He did not present any evidence for the claim. Russian hawks blame Kyiv A raft of other Russian politicians and senior officials accused Ukraine of being behind the attack, and blamed the West for propping up what they describe as a "terrorist" regime in Kyiv, accusing the U.S. of looking to destabilize Russia. Working to extinguish the blaze continues at Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Russia after reports of a shooting incident on March 23, 2024. Ali Cura | Anadolu | Getty Images On his Telegram channel, Dmitry Medvedev, former president and deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council commented on Telegram that "if it is established that these are terrorists of the Kyiv regime, it is impossible to deal with them and their ideological inspirers differently," he said. Medvedev, a high-profile Russian hawk and ultranationalist, added that "all of them must be found and mercilessly destroyed as terrorists. Including officials of the state that committed such atrocity. Death for death." Kyiv strongly denies having any role or involvement in the attack. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that "what happened yesterday in Moscow is obviously just Putin and the other scum trying to blame it on someone else." "They always have the same methods. It has happened before. There have been bombed houses, shootings, and explosions. And they always blame others," he said on Telegram, in comments translated by NBC News. Russia has been accused of staging false flag attacks in order to justify subsequent military campaigns or attacks. There has been some speculation over the years that the Russian security services were involved in a series of bombings in Moscow in late 1999 that allowed Putin, then in his early days as prime minister, to justify triggering a second Chechen war and large-scale bombing campaign that crushed a Chechen separatist movement. The war greatly boosted Putin's popularity and grip on power, and led to his first election as Russian president at the end of 1999. What could happen next? At least part of the Kremlin's motivation to point the finger of blame at Kyiv could lie in a desire to divert awkward questions over why Russia's intelligence services failed to spot the attack in advance. Moscow openly rebuffed and ignored a warning from the U.S. earlier in March that "extremists" had "imminent plants" to attack large gatherings in Moscow. Law enforcement officers stand guard near the Crocus City Hall concert venue following a reported shooting incident, near Moscow, Russia. Maksim Blinov / Sputnik via AP The attack also raises uncomfortable questions as to the actual security risks Russia faces from Islamist militant groups at a time when Ukraine has been squarely positioned as the main threat to Russia's existence. Just days before the attack, Putin instructed Russia's security services to focus their efforts on supporting Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine. He also said recent Western warnings (that he described as "provocative statements") about potential terrorist attacks within Russia resembled "outright blackmail" and had the "intention to intimidate and destabilise our society." I would also like to recall the recent provocative statements by a number of official Western structures regarding potential terrorist attacks in Russia. All these actions "Putin is so obsessed with this conflict in Ukraine that I think he's going to focus his security response there and use this, essentially, as an excuse to try to build up that narrative," Maximilian Hess, fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told CNBC Monday. watch now Noting that Russia's "whole security apparatus has been focused on Russia's war in Ukraine," Hess said that Moscow had taken its eye off the threat from Islamic State, which appeared to be motivated by Russian operations in Syria and, previously, in Afghanistan. "What's interesting though is that Putin doesn't seem to be focusing on that aspect of it. He's very much trying to blame Ukraine for this attack. There's no evidence of Ukrainian involvement, it doesn't fit in line with the types of attacks that Kyiv has carried out in the past, including ongoing," Hess said. "That will itself leave Russians less secure, because he's focusing on a non-real security risk." Although Putin has not yet accused Ukraine of directing the attack, defense analysts said that it's almost certain that the Crocus City Hall tragedy will be used to boost domestic support for the war against Ukraine. "Regardless of who is behind the shooting, the Kremlin will likely frame the tragedy to in a way to advance its broader geopolitical objectives," Andrius Tursa, central and eastern Europe advisor at Teneo consultancy, said in a note Saturday. "Although Kyiv denies any involvement, Putin's attempts to make linkages between the shooting and Ukraine might be an attempt to distract public attention from internal security failures and signify the Kremlin's efforts to rally public support for the continued war with Ukraine," he added. A man suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people, the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, is escorted by Russian law enforcement officers prior to his pre-trial detention hearing at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on March 24, 2024. Tatyana Makeyeva | Afp | Getty Images A view of the logo of Novo Nordisk at the company's office in Bagsvaerd, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark, March 8, 2024. Denmark's Novo Nordisk said on Monday it had agreed to buy Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to 1.03 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to strengthen its cardiovascular pipeline. The deal is in line with Novo's aim to expand its focus on diabetes and weight-loss therapies to include cardiovascular disease treatments. The Danish company has rocketed to become one of the world's most valuable companies on the back of its hugely popular weight-loss treatment Wegovy. "By welcoming Cardior as a part of Novo Nordisk, we will strengthen our pipeline of projects in cardiovascular disease where we already have ongoing programmes across all phases of clinical development," Novo said in a statement. The deal includes Cardior's lead compound CDR132L, currently in intermediate Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of heart failure, Novo said. The compound is designed to halt and partially reverse the course of disease for people living with heart failure, potentially leading to long-lasting improvement in heart function, the company added. Novo said it planned to start a second Phase II trial investigating CDR132L in people with cardiac hypertrophy, a condition that causes the walls of the heart muscle to become thick and stiff, affecting the heart's ability to pump blood. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, will not impact Novo's 2024 operating profit guidance, it said. The transaction price includes an upfront payment and additional payments if certain development and commercial milestones are achieved, the company said, adding it would fund the deal from financial reserves. An oil pumpjack pulls oil from the Permian Basin oil field in Odessa, Texas, on March 14, 2022. Oil prices rose in early Asian trading on Monday on concern over tighter global supply brought about by escalating conflict in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine, while a shrinking U.S. rig count added to upward price pressure. Brent crude futures had climbed 24 cents, or 0.3%, to $85.67 a barrel at 0029 GMT. U.S. crude futures gained 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $80.88 per barrel. Both benchmarks logged less a than 1% change last week versus the previous week. "Escalating geopolitical tension, coupled with a rise in attacks on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine, alongside receding ceasefire hopes in the Middle East, raised concern over global oil supply," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities. "Falling U.S. rig count also increased worry over tighter supply," he said. Russia struck critical infrastructure in Ukraine's western region of Lviv with missiles early on Sunday, Kyiv said, in a major air strike that saw one Russian cruise missile briefly fly into Polish airspace, according to Warsaw. Moscow launched 57 missiles and drones in the attack that also targeted the capital Kyiv, two days after the largest aerial bombardment of Ukraine's energy system in more than two years of full-scale war, Kyiv said. The move follows Ukraine's recent attacks on Russian oil infrastructure, with at least seven refineries targeted by drones just this month. In the Middle East, Israeli forces besieged two more Gaza hospitals on Sunday, pinning down medical teams under heavy gunfire, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. Israel said it had captured 480 militants in continued clashes at Gaza's main Al Shifa hospital. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that Israel risked global isolation if it attacks the Palestinian city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the U.S. oil rig count fell by one to 509 last week, showed data from energy services firm Baker Hughes , indicating lower future supply. Smoke billows after Ukraine's SBU drone strikes a refinery, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Ryazan, Ryazan Region, Russia, in this screen grab from a video obtained by Reuters, March 13, 2024. Crude oil futures rose Monday as Ukrainian drone strikes disrupt Russian refining capacity and Moscow orders output cuts to meet OPEC+ targets. The West Texas Intermediate contract for May gained $1.32, or 1.64%, to settle at $81.95 a barrel. The Brent contract for May added $1.32, or 1.55%, to settle at $86.57 a barrel. Russia has ordered companies to cut oil output to meet Moscow's commitments to OPEC+, industry sources told Reuters Monday. Several OPEC+ countries have agreed to voluntary production cuts totaling 2.2 million barrels per day through the second quarter. A Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the city of Samara over the weekend. Industry sources told Reuters that one of the major refining units at the facility was knocked out after the assault. Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading. Boeing Shares of the aerospace giant rose more than 2% after the company announced CEO Dave Calhoun was stepping down at the end of the year. Board Chairman Larry Kellner is also resigning. Masimo Shares soared nearly 12% following the medical technology company's announcement late Friday it is considering a spinoff of its consumer business. On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported activist investor Quentin Koffey of Politan Capital Management is planning to fight for two more seats on Masimo's board. In addition, Wells Fargo upgraded the stock Monday, citing the potential separation of the businesses. Cleveland-Cliffs The steel producer added 1.7% after announcing it won award negotiations for funding from the Department of Energy on two projects. Cleveland-Cliffs can get as much as $575 million for projects around decarbonization technology at facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Chipmakers Shares of Intel and Advanced Micro Devices lost about 3% each premarket after The Financial Times reported that new guidelines in China will phase out U.S. processors in government computers and servers, blocking chips from both companies. Nvidia was also under pressure following a Reuters report about competitors' plans to loosen the company's grip on artificial intelligence by targeting software. Baidu Shares of the technology company climbed 1.4% following news that Baidu is reportedly engaged in talks with Apple for a potential collaboration on artificial intelligence services in China. Apple traded 0.6% lower. Disney Shares rose 1.2% after Barclays upgraded the media company to overweight from equal weight, saying Disney has further upside even after its outperformance this year. Separately, Blackwells Capital released a letter criticizing Nelson Peltz, and urging shareholders to vote for its own board nominees. Foot Locker The shoe retailer rose 2.9% after Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to outperform from in line. Foot Locker is gaining share in the U.S. and Europe and should have more positive developments in the coming year, according to Evercore. Electric vehicle makers Tesla and Rivian each fell more than 1% following a downgrade to neutral from Mizuho Securities, which said the industry is facing a "catch-22" when weighing profitability and a ramp-up in production. Nio , which was also downgraded to neutral, slipped 0.6%. Scotts Miracle-Gro The lawn care stock dropped 1.8% on the back of a Raymond James downgrade to market perform from strong buy. Raymond James said the stock's recent rally has pushed it into "fair value territory." CNBC's Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel, Michelle Fox, Brian Evans and Sarah Min contributed reporting Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at 40 Wall Street on March 25, 2024 in New York City. A New York appeals court on Monday paused for 10 days a massive civil business fraud judgment against Donald Trump and sharply reduced to $175 million the bond amount he will have to post to obtain a longer stay of that award. The ruling came the same day New York Attorney General Letitia James could start seizing the former president's real estate assets and bank accounts to satisfy a $454 million and rising judgment after he failed to obtain an appeal bond. James is prevented from doing so for now due to the order from the five-judge panel in Manhattan Supreme Court's appellate division, which did not give a reason for cutting the bond threshold by about 60%. "We'll post whatever is necessary, whether it be cash or security or bonds" Trump told reporters after leaving a hearing in the same court, where his trial on criminal business records charges related to a hush money payment to a porn star was set for April 15. Earlier Monday, he had raged in a Truth Social post that he might be forced to sell his "babies" real estate assets to satisfy the judgment while he appeals a judge's verdict that he and other defendants for years fraudulently inflated the stated value of properties while obtaining loans. Trump's lawyers previously asked that the appeal bond in the case be set at $100 million. In a court filing last week, those attorneys said it was "impossible" for Trump to get an appeal bond for $454 million after having approached more than 30 surety companies without success. Trump's two adults sons, his company the Trump Organization and two executives who all were co-defendants in the case owe a total of about $10 million in additional damages. None of the surety companies were willing to write a $464 million bond without Trump posting cash or some other liquid asset, the attorneys wrote in their filing with the appellate division. Because of the size of the fraud judgment, the companies insisted that Trump show "cash reserves approaching $1 billion," according to his lawyers. But neither Trump nor the Trump Organization company has that amount of cash on hand, the filing said. While Monday's appeals court ruling lowers the size of the required appeal bond, it does not reduce the size of the judgment in the case, which resulted from a lawsuit filed by James. If Trump and the other defendants lose their appeal, they would be on the hook for the full judgment, unless the appeals court cuts it. "The ruling today represents a great first step towards the ultimate reversal of a baseless and reckless judgment," said Trump's lawyer, Charles Kise, in a statement. "The [appellate division] no doubt recognized the rule of law must triumph over the political agenda of the Attorney General," Kise said. "President Trump looks forward to a full and fair appellate process which overturns the judgment and ends the Attorney General's abuse of power and tyrannical pursuit of the front running candidate for President of the United States." A spokesperson for James said, "Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud." "The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization,' James' spokesperson said. "The $464 million judgment plus interest against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands." In its order Monday, the appeals court also stayed trial Judge Arthur Engoron's decision that had barred Trump from serving as an officer or director of a New York company for three years, and that had barred him and the corporate defendants from applying for loans from New York lenders for the same period. The order also stayed Engoron's ruling that had barred Trump's sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, from serving as officers and directors of New York companies for two years. But the appeals court panel rejected a request to block enforcement of Engoron's order extending and enhancing the role of a financial watchdog the judge had installed to monitor the Trump Organization's finances. The panel also allowed to stand Engoron's order installing an independent director of compliance at Trump's company. Octavia Johnson is a general assignment reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at octavia.johnson@houstonchronicle.com. Before joining the Chronicle, Octavia worked as a digital content producer at WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., where she became a leader in producing fast paced, audience-focused content. Octavia graduated from UNC Pembroke with a bachelor's degree in journalism before earning her master's degree in media and communications at Norfolk State University. A man suspected of taking part in the Crocus City Hall attack waits for his pre-trial detention hearing at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on March 24, 2024. Four men Russia says were involved in the deadly shootings at a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow Friday night appeared in court late on Sunday. The men were charged with committing an act of terrorism when they appeared in the Basmanny district court, accused of carrying out an attack in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in which 137 concertgoers were killed and at least 140 were injured. The Islamic State group has said it was behind the attack. The suspects, three of whom confirmed as Tajik nationals, appeared in the Basmanny district court late last night, looking disheveled and disoriented. One of the suspects was wheeled into court while another had a bandage removed from his eyes, revealing a black eye. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres press briefing at UN Headquarters on climate crisis following the recent travel to Chile and Antarctica. Secretary-General answered questions on upcoming COP28 meeting in Dubai and continued war between Israel and Hamas. Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for a massive supply of aid to Gaza to fight starvation, saying there was a growing international consensus to tell Israel a ceasefire is needed in its war on Hamas. Speaking on a visit to Jordan, Guterres said he also saw a growing consensus for telling Israel that any ground invasion of Rafah, Gaza's southernmost town on the Egyptian border, could mean a humanitarian disaster. Rafah has become the last refuge for half of Gaza's uprooted population, swollen by displaced Palestinians escaping fighting elsewhere in Gaza after more than five months of war. Israel should lift all obstacles to aid into Gaze and allow convoys of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA into northern Gaza where starvation is looming, Guterres said. Palestinians wait to receive food during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip March 13, 2024. Mohammed Salem | Reuters "It is absolutely essential to have a massive supply of humanitarian aid now. This means opening more entry points, this means a concentration of efforts of all entities and without obstacles and limitations from the Israeli side," Guterres said. During a tour of a centre in Jordan's Wihdat camp where UNRWA provides health and education services, the top U.N. official said that the agency was a lifeline of hope and dignity for millions of refugees across the region. "The decision not to allow UNRWA'S convoys to go to northern Gaza where we have a dramatic starvation situation is totally unacceptable and those that took that decision must assume the responsibility facing history of the consequences of the decision," Guterres added. A woman reacts as she stands before a vehicle loaded with items secured by rope as people flee from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 13, 2024 north towards the centre of the Palestinian territory amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images Israel stopped all imports of food, medicine, power and fuel into Gaza at the start of the war. Although it later let in aid deliveries, aid organisations say security checks and the difficulty of moving through a war zone have greatly hindered their operations. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, accompanying Guterres, appealed to U.N. Security Council members to vote on Monday in favour of a resolution calling for a ceasefire and pressing Israel to allow unimpeded aid, saying it would send a "message that what's happening is unacceptable and what's happening has to stop." Displaced Palestinians collect food donated by a charity before an iftar meal, the breaking of the fast, on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. - | Afp | Getty Images Even as confusion prevails about the exact number of undocumented Afghans sent back from Pakistan to their country, preparations are afoot to launch the second phase of repatriation aimed at nearly one million documented Afghans, a media report said on Monday.The Interior Ministry had already issued directives to district authorities and police to expedite the mapping, and collecting data of the whereabouts of the Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders and given March 25, Monday, as the deadline to complete the exercise, the Dawn newspaper reported quoting documents it had accessed and an official privy to the developments.Pakistan launched the first round of repatriation of what it called undocumented aliens in November last year. No date has yet been announced, but the official said the campaign to repatriate hundreds of thousands of ACC holders could begin in early to mid-summer, following approval from the federal government.We have already started the mapping process, Abid Majeed, Khyber Pakhtunkhwas additional chief secretary, told the newspaper. It will pick up the pace after Ramazan and we hope to complete the survey before April 30, he said.According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, there are 2.18 million documented Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This includes the 1.3 million refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards as per the census carried in 2006-07, as well as an additional 8,80,000 refugees granted ACCs following a registration drive in 2017.The collapse of the civilian government in Kabul following the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021 saw another influx of worried Afghans into Pakistan. Officials put their number anywhere between 6,00,000 and 8,00,000, some with valid travel documents, but an uncertain future.After the October 31, 2023 deadline ahead of the first drive, no official data was released as to how many of the estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans have left for their country since November 2023, though the figure likely fell hugely short of what is now being considered a grossly exaggerated number.But according to informed sources, the total number of undocumented Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan via Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces in the first round stands at around the half-a-million mark.Amid mounting pressure to speed up the repatriation of undocumented Afghans in the face of a low exit headcount, officials approached the Ministry of Interior soon afterwards wondering about the origin of the 1.7m undocumented Afghans claim and sought revalidation of the figure. No one knows how many of the 8,80,000 ACC holders remain in the country, or how many of them have opted to return to Afghanistan voluntarily.Officials say they have approached the Ministry of Interior to double-check the figure with the National Database and Registration Authority. Also, the exercise to differentiate between those with ACCs and those with PoRs could prove quite tricky and put even more pressure on the already-strained relations between the two neighbours.Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who had called the repatriation of undocumented Afghans unacceptable, struck a more conciliatory tone in an interview with Tolo News recently, calling for more refugee leniency from Pakistan. However, undeterred by criticism from Kabul and the concerns voiced by human rights bodies and the UN, Islamabad appears to have made up its mind to continue with its repatriation programme and expand it further to include even documented Afghans.The repatriation of Afghan refugees, which was part of the National Action Plan, has also now found its mention in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharifs 100-day working plan. Accordingly, all provinces and the so-called government of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have been asked to complete the mapping and verification process of ACC holders by March 25, 2024.But officials say the mapping could take longer, and it may take at least another month to complete the process. The federal government is expected to announce a date for voluntary repatriation with a one-month cut-off once the mapping survey is completed, an official said.No decision has yet been made, nor have there been any formal discussions on the repatriation of a relatively and significantly larger population of PoR card holders, who are formally recognised by the UNHCR as refugees. But more than a million Afghans with PoRs, who have been living in Pakistan for decades, worry their turn could come soon, reported Dawn. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, has stirred speculation with his recent statement indicating that Pakistan is considering a serious reevaluation of its trade ties with India, which have been suspended since August 2019. Dar made these remarks during a press conference held in London following his participation in the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels.Highlighting the sentiments within Pakistan's business community, Dar emphasised their eagerness to resume trade activities with India. "Pakistani businessmen want trade with India to resume," the foreign minister stated on Saturday.Dar's remarks signal a departure from Pakistan's previous stance of downgrading diplomatic ties with India, particularly in response to India's revocation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and its subsequent bifurcation into two Union Territories.Despite the expressed interest in restoring trade ties, concrete proposals for resumption remain elusive, with sources citing a lack of consensus among stakeholders.While some advocate for maintaining Pakistan's stance until significant concessions are made by India, others propose a more pragmatic approach, drawing parallels with China-India trade relations despite ongoing tensions and border disputes. Its an invigorating new era for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (FAC) at Colorado College. A new visionary wants to breathe new life into the cultural icon that has served as the foundation for the arts in the Pikes Peak region for more than a century. FAC Executive Director Nicole Herden has spent the past eight months getting to know the inner workings of the museum, the theatre, and the Bemis School of Art, plus all the professionals that comprise the heart of this triad. I am feeling really energized, motivated, optimistic, and excited for the future, says Herden. I am so thrilled to be part of the FAC for many reasons. It has a unique workplace culture, and every place has its unique challenges. But the potential I foresee here is exhilarating! Herdens arrival in July 2023 follows a successful $36 million dollar capital campaign she led at the Museum of Nebraska Art, which is affiliated with the University of Nebraska. Also credited with overseeing exceptional growth and community engagement in spite of the pandemic, Herden has prioritized a new vision for what will happen at the FAC in the coming years. Community Partnerships Strengthening our relevancy to the community at large, she says is her top priority. My background includes a strong history of developing dynamic partnerships with the community for the institution and doing great work. I believe in the power of partnership strengthening the institutions impact upon the community. One way shed like to do that is by analyzing how the FAC has been serving the community and what she can do to optimize its internal operations to become more effective. She says shes having inspiring conversations with FAC leadership to shape that vision. The feedback and input from existing staff have been tremendous. Needs evolve, institutions evolve. Id like to accommodate what that should look like moving forward. Herden is getting to know the greater community and the multitude of different stakeholdersmembers, donors, artists, and friendsto learn about their history and involvement with the FAC. In my conversations with community members, everyone has been eager to share their opinions and tell me what their experience has been, she says. They are passionate about the FAC. The good old days were ambitious and there was a lot going on. But there are ebbs and flows. Its a natural part of an institutions evolution. CC Partnership Another key priority for Herden is deepening the partnership with faculty, staff, and students at Colorado College to promote artistic excellence and foster a creative space to showcase artwork at the highest level. Being a cultural enrichment space, Id like to broaden the perspectives and exposure of the different cultural educational programs we offer to develop the next generation of artists and art enthusiasts, she says. Im developing an Engagement Department here at the FAC. Its one key path to bolstering our programming for the community. It will be charged with creating events, activities, presentations, and workshops that bring people together to celebrate the arts and contribute to fostering vitality within our local community. As someone who emphasizes growth, Herden is focused on long-term sustainability as an organization through strategic planning, fundraising, and innovative partnerships. Re-envision FACs Roots While looking forward, Herden is also embracing the past. The Fine Arts Center began as the Broadmoor Art Academy, which had novel, artistic origins that continued through the official opening of the FAC in 1936. Local philanthropists Julie Penrose donated the land, Alice Bemis Taylor donated her Southwestern art collection and library, and Elizabeth Sage Hare volunteered to be the first President of the Board of Trustees. Some of the most renowned 20th century American art teachers and students had roots at the Broadmoor Art Academy before becoming the Fine Arts Center. We hope to emulate those roots as we move forward, quickly. We acquired national stature in the 1930s. At the opening gala in 1936, the FAC brought in 5,000 people. The population of Colorado Springs was around 30,000 people. That means nearly 20% of this regions population came to celebrate the avant-garde programming we had on display. What a phenomenal moment in our history! I dont take that lightly. I envision a future when we can have a similar turnout with our population today. Coming Full Circle The art history of the FAC also aligns with Herdens academic research on western American landscapes in photography--exploring landscapes, spaces, and systems that perpetuate the myth of the west. This was my thesis. I grounded my research in historical art of early 20th century, she says. Art is woven into the fabric of Herdens pedigree, which makes her feel ideally suited for this role. I love to collect oddities, vintage typography and scientific illustrations. Im still an artist and the things that inspire my work include science-related topics, such as cellular pathology and microscopic images. I enjoy microbiology because it allows me to examine how cells communicate and cooperate within the human body to fulfill a purpose. In some ways, it makes for a nice analogy to what were now doing at the FAC. Herden is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Social Impact Strategy Executive Program. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, a Master of Fine Arts from Boise State University, and a Master of Arts from Arizona State University. She has also held curatorial roles at the Boise Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, and the Arizona State University Art Museum. She says her family is excited to live in a beautiful city like Colorado Springs where the Front Range is simply breathtaking. The West has always felt like home to Herden. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, her family moved to Arizona when she was a teenager. Living in Colorado is the best of both worlds - situated in the West and close to the Midwest. Im a Midwesterner at heart. Im down-to-earth and have an empathetic spirit. I try to instill the midwestern work ethic approach in my leadership and institutional values. This past October, Herden welcomed her first child Theodore, which means presence has new meaning for her life. What makes any leader great is broad perspective, and theres no way to imitate the perspective that having a child gives you, she shares. Im so blessed to have this opportunity to lead the phenomenal team I am building at the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College and foster community relationships. Then I get to go home at night and be present with this little one. I truly have the best of both worlds. Were so fortunate to be near family in Denver and eventually my mother-in-law hopes to relocate to Colorado Springs to help raise her grandson. I am looking forward to an amazing future with the FAC by emphasizing innovation and creative problem-solving. We were founded by an eager, dedicated group of benefactors with an ambitious vision in the community that will flourish in our second hundred years. Even as a Biden administration official conceded that federal resources are insufficient for Denver, which is bearing the brunt of America's illegal immigration crisis, he, along with with the city's mayor, emphasized Democrats' preferred solution to the crisis work permits for immigrants who illegally crossed the border. Students of Carnegie Vanguard High School graduate on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Houston ISD has made little progress in the past decade addressing long-standing inequities in higher education access for its high school graduates, according to data from the districts latest postsecondary enrollment report. The percentage of HISDs Black, Hispanic and low-income high school graduates who attend college or universities within one year of graduation declined between 2012 and 2022, and some of the gaps between racial demographics have widened due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to HISDs annual report. The rate of white students attending college, while still higher than Black and Hispanic students, dropped sharply over the last decade. We dont have enough counselors in schools to encourage kids to go to college, Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk, said. There isnt this overall mentality of You should go to school. We need to be much more intentional. There needs to be a little bit more hand-holding and saying, This is how you go to school, and this is what you need to do to get into college. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Sanborn said the data shows that HISD and state leaders have not invested enough funding in helping low-income, Hispanic and Black high school students enroll in higher education. Since at least 2011, HISD has shared an annual postsecondary enrollment report with data on college readiness, persistence and degree completion rates for HISD graduates based on data from the National Student Clearinghouse and Texas Academic Performance Reports. This years report does not include data on the Class of 2023, and it does not reflect any of the data or changes in the district since the state takeover. HISD did not respond to a request for comment on this years report, including what actions, if any, the district has taken to improve college enrollment rates since 2022. WHERE TO? : A look at the top 10 colleges where Houston ISD students enroll after graduation Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mirroring statewide and national trends. Black, Hispanic and low-income students in the district are less likely to enroll in college, remain in college and earn a degree compared to Asian, white and non-economically disadvantaged students. Nearly 85% of HISDs current students are either Black or Hispanic, and nearly 80% are low income, according to district data. For the past several years, college enrollment, persistence and completion rates and racial disparities among HISDs graduates remained largely flat, but all demographics saw a decrease due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While rates have bounced back, they have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to the report. In the previous years report for the Class of 2021, former Superintendent Millard House II wrote that the districts college enrollment, persistence and readiness data raised alarms about the ways in which HISD schools are preparing graduates for college and highlights persistent gaps in college success among demographic groups. A year later, the racial disparities in college enrollment among the Class of 2022 widened further, as the percentage of HISDs Asian students enrolling in college within one year of graduation grew faster than rates for Black, Hispanic and white students. Asian students in HISD have had the highest college enrollment rates in the district for at least a decade, while Hispanic students consistently have had the lowest college enrollment rates among any demographic in the district. Advertisement Article continues below this ad About 89% of Asian students in the Class of 2022 enrolled in college within one year, compared to just 49% of Hispanic students in the same graduating class, both improvements from the previous year when 84% of Asian students and 47% of Hispanic students enrolled in higher education after a year. Since 2012, the percentage of Hispanic graduates who enrolled in college within a year has decreased from 52%, while the percentage of Asian students grew from 85%. Black students saw their college enrollment rates drop from 65% to 55% during that decade, and white students also saw a drop from 80% to 67%. HISD has also reported racial disparities among the percentage of students who earn a college degree within six years. According to HISD data, 69% of Asian students and half of white students in the Class of 2017 earned a degree, while less than a quarter of Black and Hispanic students did so within the same time period. Texas has done a very bad job, Sanborn said, of keeping kids in college and helping them earn degrees, and some colleges and universities need to look to states with similar demographics, like California, that have higher college persistence and graduation rates, and model their programs and policies after them to improve student success. MORE HISD COVERAGE: District enrollment drops by more than 30,000 students since peak Advertisement Article continues below this ad What Texas needs to do policywise is say, We want to invest in some of these programs that other states are doing, like first-year experience programs or first-year advising, Sanborn said. Low-income, first-generation kids tend to drop out in the first or second year (of college). Thats where there needs to be more of a concentration. Disparities among HISD campuses Along with racial disparities, stark disparities remain among college readiness, enrollment and graduation rates for students at individual high schools in HISD, according to the report. The district reported that several of the districts magnet schools with a competitive admissions process saw their postsecondary enrollment rates exceed 90%, while many of the districts high school campuses consisting almost entirely of low-income, Black and Hispanic students saw rates below 35%. The average rate districtwide was about 54%. Carnegie Vanguard High School the only high school in HISD where all students are designated as gifted and talented reported the highest college enrollment rates among all schools in 2022, with nearly 96% of graduates enrolling in higher education within a year of graduation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At Wheatley High School, about 27% of students who graduated in the same year went on to enroll in college during the same time period the districts lowest enrollment rate among all traditional high schools. The campus academic performance triggered the state takeover after five consecutive years of failing state accountability ratings, although it has improved since then. Of all the HISD 2022 graduates who enrolled in college, the district reported that about 30% of them did not meet college readiness benchmarks while in high school, which is based on meeting Texas State Initiative criteria, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exam scores or earning dual credit. Like enrollment rates, college readiness rates for HISD students who enrolled in college varied by campus. At schools like Carnegie, DeBakey and Energy Institute high schools, at least 95% of 2022 graduates who enrolled in college met college readiness benchmarks, while a quarter or less of graduates from Madison, North Forest and Yates high schools did so. To improve college enrollment and readiness, Miguel Solis, chief of staff for the Commit Partnership, said there are several actions that districts can take, including putting effective teachers in front of students who need them, implementing rigorous curriculum, hiring high-quality principals and starting efforts to prepare students for colleges much earlier. THE REPORT CARD: Subscribe to the Houston Chronicles weekly newsletter recapping HISD news If a kid doesnt know what college is, if they havent wrapped their mind around what it means to go to a four-year institution, and more importantly, if they dont feel connected to why theyre going to the two- or four-year institution and the passion is not there, then it begins to be really hard to ensure that those kids can be successful down the road, Solis said. HISDs state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles has made providing high-quality instruction and recruitment of effective teachers to low-performing schools a focus point of his reforms, although it will take a few years to determine how his changes to the district may affect college enrollment and readiness among high school graduates. Several of the campuses with the highest college enrollment and readiness rates also saw the highest percentages of high school students in the Class of 2017 who earned a college degree within six years. According to the most recent data, 27% of all of HISDs graduates in 2017 earned a college degree within six years a drop from 29% among the previous class. While some of the districts top high schools saw more than 80% of their graduates earn a degree after six years, certain high schools, including Kashmere, Worthing and Wheatley, reported that less than 10% of their graduates had done so. Solis said increasing equity among college enrollment and graduation rates among HISD graduates is important because research shows that earning an associates or bachelors degree is likely to lead to someone receiving a living wage and exponentially higher earnings over their lifetime. In today's fast-paced world, mental health issues like depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide. With traditional therapy often inaccessible or costly, many people, especially the tech-savvy generation GenZ, are turning to alternative solutions, including AI chatbots. These digital solutions offer support and guidance in navigating mental health challenges, providing a lifeline to those in need. AI chatbots, such as Woebot and Pi, have emerged as promising tools for addressing mental health concerns. These chatbots engage users through empathetic conversations, offering practical advice and coping strategies. For instance, Woebot provides scripted messages crafted by mental health professionals, while Pi prioritizes safety by ensuring responses are respectful and non-harmful. Addressing accessibility An advantage of AI chatbots is their accessibility. Unlike traditional therapy, which may have limited availability and high costs, chatbots are available 24/7, providing support whenever users need it. This accessibility is particularly crucial during non-business hours when traditional therapy options are unavailable. Potential risks While AI chatbots hold promise, there are potential risks, such as providing inappropriate advice. Developers must implement rigorous testing and safety measures to mitigate these risks. Collaboration with mental health professionals ensures that chatbots deliver responsible and helpful interactions, prioritizing users' well-being. The need for further research Despite their potential, the effectiveness of AI chatbots in treating mental health conditions requires further research. University of Pennsylvania professor Ross Koppel expressed his concern about the possibility of AI chatbots displacing proven therapy techniques. Studies are essential to understand their impact accurately and ensure they complement traditional therapy rather than replace it. Ethical innovation and ongoing evaluation are crucial to maximizing the benefits of these digital tools. By providing accessible and empathetic support, these digital companions empower individuals to navigate mental health challenges effectively. With careful development and continued research, AI chatbots can play a vital role in improving mental well-being for millions around the globe. Megan Menchaca is a Houston Independent School District reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the co-author of The Report Card. She can be reached at megan.menchaca@houstonchronicle.com. Megan joined the Chronicle in 2023 after working as the higher education reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and government. If you clicked through hoping this was some fun twist or turn of phrase, I regret to inform you it is not. If youre a hypochondriac, and doubly so if youre an entomophobe as well, I would highly recommend leaving this page. If not, I take no responsibility for the continued terror that is now attached to any slight rumbling from your digestive tract. With that out of the way, we all realize that insects are surprisingly hardy creatures, as anyone whos had a days-long spat with a housefly can attest. If a human got swatted with the proportional equivalent of a 10,000-pound roll of paper and simply walked off a little woozy, theyd be in a government lab by sundown. Unfortunately for all of us, it also seems that the human digestive system is another series of trials and tribulations that these little menaces can endure. Here are, I am dismayed to tell you, seven insects that were found intact during a colonoscopy 7 Fly Pixabay Dismaying, yes, but maybe not especially surprising. Flies seem to have a supernatural ability to come out of absolutely nowhere, like in the lens of a colonoscopy camera. Theyre remarkably good at evading attempts to capture or kill them. Arguably, to go inside the creature trying to end you is a stroke of genius. Genius that probably ends as soon as you meet stomach acid, but some fly had to try it. Plus, flies famously love shit, so why not cut straight to the source? Its practically a bank heist for them. Advertisement 6 Ant Pixabay Its the job of a journalist to uncover additional information about their topic in order to educate the reader. Still, there might be an ethical argument that certain stories can be left at surface level. For example, when a guy has an ant found in his colon, you can just relay that information, add a gross! and file it away. Credit where credits due, though, the likely cause was eventually fished out: chicken wings and potato salad at a picnic two days earlier. Meaning the ant may have ridden a piece of chopped celery like the grossest version of Fievel from An American Tail. Advertisement 5 Cockroach Pixabay Look, this is a gross article altogether, but Ill admit this is the one that pushed my lunch break back by an hour. Also, one that I will cut appreciably short. Given that they can sweat out a nuclear winter, I guess its not too shocking that a cockroach can tank a bit of stomach acid, but its still probably not the scientific discovery any doctor is hoping for. 4 Ladybug Pixabay Advertisement Advertisement Okay, at least this one is kind of cute. Its not a hard bar to clear given the context. All Im saying is its definitely not the short straw of the items on this list. It seems like the sort of thing theyd find during the medical examination of a wood nymph instead of a degenerate hoarder. Sure, the best answer from a doctor on their findings is still nothing, but this is one that they might not have to ask your children to leave the room for. Something youd share as a funny fact with your best friend instead of a secret youd bring to the grave. 3 Moth Pixabay Advertisement Touching a moth with the outside of your body is enough to send shivers down your spine. Theyre horrendously textural creatures, like a damp, living dandelion, and Id prefer them to gather around a lamp as far away from me as possible. Imagining what it would feel like to have an expired moth lodged in your nether regions is enough to never wear wool again. Id rather be put in a brazen bull. 2 Bee Pixabay If there, as some sort of horrific curse, must be a creature in my ass, I would prefer it to be unarmed. Id also like to think that, in the nightmare scenario where I swallow a bee, it would be sufficiently handled by my stomach, and I wouldnt have to worry about the specific way it tumbled through my intestines. Unfortunately, one cyclist bore out a series of nightmares for all of us when a bee he thinks he swallowed while biking showed up on the other coast. After Rebel Wilson revealed that shed devoted an entire chapter to a massive a**hole in her upcoming memoir Rebel Rising, that a-holes PR team allegedly threatened to block the books publication. Rather than backing down, Wilson has decided to go public with the name of the comic actor she says is behind the threats: Sacha Baron Cohen. Not very nice! The warnings appear to be in response to recent sneak previews that Wilson has been sharing on her social channels. Do you wanna know why I have a no assholes policy now with people I work with? she wrote in one recent post. Well its all in the book: REBEL RISING oh and YES I name the asshole! In the accompanying reel, she went further. When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, Yeah, I have a no asshole policy, means like, yeah, I dont work with assholes. I was like, Oh yeah, I mean, that sounds sensible or logical, she explained. But then it really sunk in because I worked with a massive asshole and yeah, now I definitely have a no assholes policy. After Wilson caught flak from someones management team, she continued to fire shots. Now the a**hole is trying to threaten me, Wilson alleged in another post. Hes hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. Hes trying to stop press coming out about my new book. But the book WILL come out, and you will all know the truth. Wilson identified Sacha Baron Cohen as the bad guy in an Instagram Story this weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter and other outlets. The two co-starred together in the 2016 film The Brothers Grimsby. And as Variety notes, Wilsons book wouldnt be the first time she has called out Baron Cohen for his bad behavior. Advertisement Advertisement On a radio show in 2014, per Variety, Wilson says Baron Cohen pressed her to go naked in the movie, despite her threats to report the harassment to their mutual agent. Every day hes like, Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious, she said. On the last day, I thought Id obviously won the argument, and he got a body double to do the naked scene. However, when it came time to film the final scene in Grimsby, Wilson told the radio interviewer that Baron Cohen asked her to, Stick your finger up my butt. Wilson rebelled because 1) the gag wasnt in the script, and b) shed have to stick her finger up Baron Cohens butt. But according to Wilson, Baron Cohen kept pushing. Look, Ill just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, itll be a really funny bit. The major Hollywood trade publications have reached out to Baron Cohens reps for comment but havent received a response yet. Rebel Rising is due out next week, so possibly more revelations to come. In the meantime, if the goal was to stop media outlets from doing press about the book, the threats appear to have backfired. High five! Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Getty Youve probably seen the TopView Sightseeing ticket sellers in their hooded red jackets, standing opposite the Hersheys store in Times Square, pushing bus tours to One World Trade or Wall Street. Youve also probably seen sellers for Gray Line and Big Bus in their also red outfits, standing outside the M&Ms store and offering pretty much the same hop-on, hop-off rides around the city. They can be hard to tell apart, which is one of the reasons theyve been engaged in various legal battles for years. And the occasional headbutt. Its a very complicated history, TopViews lawyer, Maurice Ross, tells me. And really, it is. Earlier this month, the New York Court of Appeals reinstated a claim made by TopView that Big Bus and Gray Line have operated as a secret monopoly, giving new life to a yearslong drama that TopView sees as a David and Goliath story about who gets to shuttle tourists to the Fearless Girl statue. The suit alleges that Big Bus and Gray Line, among others, have used their market share to shut out TopView from the sightseeing hustle. (This isnt Gray Lines first time in court over monopoly allegations: In a 2015 settlement, Gray Line and another company called City Sights were ordered by the New York attorney general to pay $7.5 million and give up dozens of stops on their Manhattan routes to settle an antitrust suit filed by the state and federal officials and allow other companies into the market.) TopView also alleges that Big Bus and Gray Line have impugned its reputation in an effort to tank its business relationships. But the great tour-bus wars of New York City arent just playing out as courtroom dramas which brings us to the headbutting. The citys sightseeing-by-bus industry has never exactly been peaceful, as ticket sellers tried to get an edge on one another while going after the same pool of tourists. But things came to a new head in June 2018. These guys are motherfuckers. Ill beat the shit out of you, piece of shit motherfucker. Ill kill you! a Gray Line worker yelled at a TopView employee stationed near the Empire State Building, according to a lawsuit filed by TopView that year. A few months later, at the same spot, Gray Line ticket seller Pitoh Poyodi was approached by TopView ticket sellers who allegedly wanted to poach him. When he declined, a TopView seller assaulted him. (The New York Post says he was headbutted and kneed in the stomach.) Theres always fighting over territory around here, one TopView seller told the Post. The result of these fights was a heavily negotiated memo on Conduct Guidelines signed by each of the named companies. This agreement included explicit directions to not physically assault competitors and guidance around smack talk, which was also rampant among ticket sellers. (Forbidden statements include: They dont have buses, They are being investigated by the FBI and Homeland Security, They dont show you Statue of Liberty, and Their bus drivers are mean.) But the rivalries persisted all the same: In March 2019, just a month after the agreement between the tour companies was finalized, TopView filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Big Bus, Gray Line, and other tour companies. Two months later, Big Bus filed its own suit against TopView, claiming its ridership was declining in part because of the abusive, deceptive, reckless, exploitative, and dangerous practices of TopView. Big Bus also claimed that in a single 24-hour period in January 2019, over two hundred 5-star reviews were posted to TopViews Google Business profile, the majority of which allegedly came from Nigeria. Also included was an allegation that TopViews use of the color red in the design of its tour buses Big Bus buses are also red was part of a pattern of unscrupulous business conduct. By allegedly copying Big Bus in this manner, the suit read, TopView has unfairly arrogated to itself the benefit of millions of dollars that Plaintiff and its affiliates have invested in recent years in market research, strategic planning, and product design. Ask former employees, though, and it seems there are no good actors involved here. A former Big Bus tour guide seemed delighted that the companies spent so much time squabbling: They are two miserable companies, he tells me. Let em fight it out and spend their money on lawyers. A former TopView worker had this to say about his old bosses: My feeling would be that whatever TopView is coming up with is just like a gangster ploy. Former TopView employees allege that they had pay docked if they were late or had minor uniform deviations and were asked to report drivers for leaving the bus to use the bathroom. (TopView is owned by venture capitalist Asen Kostadinov, who declined to comment on the litigation and did not respond to specific workplace allegations. Big Bus, which is mostly owned by a private-equity firm called Exponent Private Equity and entered into a renewable consolidation agreement with Gray Line in 2020, also declined to comment on the legal proceedings and did not respond to questions about its apparent merger with Gray Line.) One might think that the pandemic wallop to the citys tourism industry quieted things among the bus rivals, and for a brief moment in 2020, it did look as though there may be a truce in the world of the hop-on bus tour. Big Bus voluntarily discontinued its 2019 case in 2020, proposing that both parties throw out their suits. Prudence suggests that the parties focus on restoring their businesses and devoting resources to protecting and rehiring employees, rather than litigation, the claim reads. Moreover, because essentially no one is riding tour buses in New York City now (or for the foreseeable future), there are no reviews (false or otherwise) appearing currently on travel websites. It was, perhaps, an opportunity to forget the alleged anti-competitive practices, forget the street fights, forget the purportedly fake reviews from Nigeria. TopView declined. When I asked Ross about the companys commitment to the fight, he seemed surprised by the question. We had good claims, Ross says. Why would we drop our claims? China Is Predicted To Expand Its Cyber Espionage Operations China is facing major economic pressures from all sides. Its economy is still suffering from the effect of COVID, its manufacturing industry is shrinking, and its property sector is overleveraged due to an aggressive borrowing strategy. There are also signs of growing dissent amongst its youth, driven by rising unemployment. Now, analysts at the threat intelligence firm Cyjax are warning that socio-economic turmoil in China could spell bad news for private industry. Cyjax has recently announced its latest research, Broken China, analysing the turbulent socio-economic situation in China and how this will likely lead to an increase in cyber espionage activities by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) to give Chinese businesses a competitive edge. The report says that although there are remedies that could aid in Chinas economic recovery, its culture of nationalism and conservatism makes implementing them unlikely. There is also the threat of chillier US-China relations if Donald Trump returns to the White House, which could mean even higher trade tariffs than today. With a bleak economic future looming, Cyjax predicts that the PRC will opt for more short-term solutions to grow its economy fast, and this will include more aggressive cyber espionage campaigns designed to steal foreign intellectual property (IP) and boost Chinese industry. The PRC uses various threat groups to conduct espionage campaigns and over the next year Cyjax expects a major uplift in activity from the following: The Gallium group: active since at least 2012, the group is well known for being part of Operation Soft Shell which targets global telecoms and Microsoft Exchange servers. The group targets and steals IP from telecommunication, financial, and government entities in Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Sandman: the group targets telecommunication providers in the Middle East, Western Europe and South Asia. It uses a novel backdoor that abuses the LuaJIT platform to deliver malware. MustangPanda: the group had been observed to be targeting Beijings more local advisories mainly including Southeast Asian governments. VoltTyphoon: believed to have been operating since 2021, the group targets critical US infrastructure for intelligence gathering purposes in alignment with the requirements of the PRC. China is a far more complex and nuanced territory than generally portrayed. Its internal pressures are likely to lead to increased cyber espionage activity, rather than slowing it down, said Ian Thornton-Trump, CISO at Cyjax. The PRCs approach to cyberspace has always been to use it to advance its business interests, extracting technologies from Western companies and creating a protected domestic market for these industries, giving them an advantage in the global market... A better understanding of the countrys internal forces, and how these relate to its cyber strategy, we can plan better defences against PRC cyber espionage. Cyjax | Cyjax | Security Magazine Image: gopixa You Might Also Read: Intelligence Chiefs Accuse China Of IP Theft & Online Deception: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ If you like this website and use the comprehensive 6,500-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription. Individual 5 per month or 50 per year. Sign Up Multi-User, Corporate & Library Accounts Available on Request Cyber Security Intelligence: Captured Organised & Accessible France Suffers Massive Data Breach Over 50% of the French populations personal data has been stolen in a cyber attack. A French government department, which is responsible for registering and assisting unemployed people, is the latest victim of a mega data breach that compromised the information of up to 43 million citizens. According to France Travail and Cap Emploi, the exposed data includes the first and last names, dates of birth, social security numbers, employment agency identifiers, email and postal addresses, and their telephone numbers. However, it is understood that peoples passwords and banking details are so far still secure and have not been stolen in the cyber breach. "Personal information concerning job seekers currently registered with France Travail, people previously registered over the last 20 years as well as people not registered on the list of applicants employment but having a candidate space on francetravail.fr is likely to be disclosed and exploited illegally," France Travail confirmed in a statement. Both agencies said that on Wednesday 13th March they told the National Commission on Information Technology and Freedoms (CNIL), the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) and the judicial authorities. "The security of data entrusted to us by job seekers and businesses is a constant concern for us. In view of the threat of cyber attacks which is increasingly affecting businesses and organisations at national and European level, we must continuously strengthen our protection arrangements, procedures and guidelines," Cap Emploi said. CNIL is telling the victims to remain vigilant over the potential threat of phishing attacks, and has advised at-risk individuals to avoid opening suspect email attachments or sharing passwords and banking details. The attackers could, the agency warned, combine data with other data stolen in previous breaches for the purposes of identity fraud. French public services have faced a major escalation in cyber attacks in recent months, authorities have warned. Recently, sources from the French prime ministers office told told the press that the country has been subjected to attacks of unprecedented intensity. These comments came in the wake of a series of attacks on French government departments which prompted authorities to activate a crisis unit to deal with the incident. In February, 2 French health service firms had data hacks, which affected around 33 million people. Viamedis and Almerys said the stolen data included marital status, date of birth, social security number, the name of the customer's health insurer and the guarantees of their contract. IT Pro | The Register | France Travail | Euronews | Infosecurity Magazine Image: Kagenmi You Might Also Read: Russian Hackers Make A Sustained Attack On France: ___________________________________________________________________________________________ If you like this website and use the comprehensive 6,500-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription. Individual 5 per month or 50 per year. Sign Up Multi-User, Corporate & Library Accounts Available on Request Cyber Security Intelligence: Captured Organised & Accessible January capped the first 12-month period with average global temperatures surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The 1.5 degree benchmark was breached after an intensification of fossil fuel-linked greenhouse gas emissions and El Nino, a cyclical weather pattern that periodically warms the eastern Pacific Ocean. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer From left, David G. Victor, University of California San Diego professor of innovation and public policy, Sergey Paltsev, senior research scientist MIT, R. Max Holmes, president and CEO, Woodwell Climate Research Center, and Ashutosh Singh, S&P Global head of energy transition, participate in a discussion on climate change during CERAWeek by S&P Global Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer From left, Ashutosh Singh, S&P Global head of energy transition, David G. Victor, University of California San Diego, professor of innovation and public policy, Sergey Paltsev, senior research scientist MIT, R. Max Holmes, president and CEO, Woodwell Climate Research Center, participate in a discussion on climate change during CERAWeek by S&P Global Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Houston. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Jenny Espino, 37, Ale Cota, 23, and Leewana Thomas, 32, join environmental activists and community members impacted by fossil fuels to protest outside the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Environmental activists have been using the "1.5 to stay alive" rallying cry since the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate. Nearly a decade of activism, however, could not stop the goal from slipping further out of reach, as January capped the first 12-month period with average global temperatures surpassing 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Few were surprised when Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service released its data on the global shift, and the topic became a talking point at last week's CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference. There, oil executives including Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said the energy transition was "visibly failing" just months after global leaders improbably agreed to phase out fossil fuels. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The 1.5 degree benchmark was breached after an intensification of fossil fuel-linked greenhouse gas emissions and El Nino, a cyclical weather pattern that periodically warms the eastern Pacific Ocean. The overage did not automatically break the global Paris Agreement, which homed in on a longer-term average and specified that its 196 signatories would cut "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2C" while attempting to "limit the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels." But the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in 2018 that warming over 1.5 degrees Celsius would cause severe impacts on weather including droughts, heat waves and storms over time. Scientists and U.S. policymakers at CERAWeek countered Nasser and others at the conference, saying that temperature increases reinforced the need to push ahead with climate policy, though they did not find consensus on the continued relevance of 1.5 degrees Celsius 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit as a benchmark. "I think actually the energy transition is accelerating. And skepticism should be applied to the goals that have never really been achievable, 1.5 degrees Celsius and so on, but there's no question that this is actually happening (and) it's very clear that we have to reduce emissions," said UC San Diego professor David Victor, who spoke on the conference's closing panel. He had made his position known earlier in the week at the event's Climate Hub, where he said the 1.5 target "has been dead for a long time." Other scholars resisted moving on from the benchmark, with MIT's Sergey Paltsev telling attendees he was "not ready to dismiss the 1.5 target at this point," though he said there was nothing magical about the threshold. Woodwell Climate Research Center President R. Max Holmes, who spoke alongside Victor and Paltsey, said the target had been useful for the net zero push even though 1.4 degrees would be better than 1.5, which would be better than 1.6. In a high profile talk at the conference on Tuesday, U.S. climate adviser John Podesta disagreed with the suggestion that a 1.5 degree cap was dead. He said policy leaders needed to stay the course because "the difference between a 2 degree world and 1.5 degree world is enormous." Advertisement Article continues below this ad While climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions cannot currently be reversed en masse, though researchers are exploring ways to recapture some of them, the switch away from El Nino likely to occur later this year could drop global average temperatures slightly below the threshold before it continues to rise. Oil and gas executives, whose CERAWeek comments are a bellwether for the energy industry, focused on the transition toward lower-emitting energy solutions and signaled consumer demand as the culprit for their increase in fossil fuel use and net emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. A report last week from the Carbon Tracker Initiative designed to give investors a sense of the climate alignment of the largest listed oil and gas companies showed they were all "way off-track from Paris Agreement goals." Advertisement Article continues below this ad At first I thought he was in need of support, as his hand suddenly slipped into mine. Had the large quantity of alcohol he'd consumed left him a little unsteady on his feet when he stood up from the table? But no... suddenly he leant forward and with brandy-heavy breath whispered in my ear: 'Nadine, you are a very sexy and desirable woman. Call me. I promise you won't regret it you have nothing to lose.' Au contraire. I'd just lost three hours of my life sitting next to him at a dinner as he talked endlessly about his favourite subject himself. This wasn't an isolated encounter, however. Something similar has taken place four times in the past six weeks. And I'll admit, not all the approaches were unwelcome not all of the men were egotistical, drunk or bores. Two were attractive, successful and funny, and even though they were unusually bold, if a man makes me laugh, he's halfway there. I asked a friend over lunch what on earth she thought was going on. Had a neon sign with the word 'Available' suddenly switched on above my head? Her answer shocked me. 'It's your grief,' she said. 'It's gone. The sadness, it's not there any more. You are almost back to your old self. Time to get back in the saddle.' 'What?' I dropped my voice, gulped back my wine and checked that other diners weren't eavesdropping. 'You mean......sex? I'm not a character in a Jilly Cooper novel for God's sake,' I hissed. She laughed. 'If Marie Helvin is up for it at 70, why aren't you?' Marie Helvin is, of course, the former seventies supermodel who confessed in a recent interview that she still wants sex but not marriage. I could immediately think of a million reasons why I wasn't 'up for it' but plumped for the obvious. Nadine promised a friend that she would be more open-minded and accept the next offer of a date from a man who has his own teeth Former Seventies model Marie Helvin has said that, at 71, she still wants sex but not marriage 'I'm 66! I have a granddaughter,' I exclaimed. 'Oh, rubbish,' she batted my protest away with a flick of her hand. 'Did you ever hear any man say that, like ever? Sixty-six is the new 46. You have to move on, it's time.' My friend was right up to a point, I do feel different. I am laughing more but I put that down to escaping the toxic world of Westminster, not to my grief deserting me. In fact, I didn't want that to happen. It is five years since my girls and I locked ourselves away from the world with their father Paul. Our marriage hadn't been perfect; there had been a time of separation and then reconciliation. But from the moment of his shock diagnosis of terminal cancer in February 2019 to his death that June, we barely left each other's side. We crammed four years into four months and it was painfully sad, but joyous at the same time. I thought we'd handled it pretty well as a tight-knit family. I realise now that the shared experience meant that as well as shouldering our own grief, my daughters and I carried each other's, too. Without my even being aware of it, that grief had become the backdrop to my every day and I was comfortable within it. More than that, I nestled there, I was safe. If we were living in Victorian times, I'd have remained a martyr to loss. A widow, that's who I was, and I could stay wrapped in my widow's weeds forever. But I can't because people won't let me and perhaps that's no bad thing. Celebrity Big Brother star Fern Britton says she's open to meeting someone new The lovely Fern Britton is the same age as me and has also been through a period of loss a divorce of a different type. But she is so much braver and more honest than I am. Fresh from her successful stint in Celebrity Big Brother she made it to the final she says she's open to meeting someone new. Not to marry or even live with but to fall in love with. Can I say the same? Not yet ... the words stick in my throat. If I say them out loud, are they a betrayal of Paul? Am I setting myself up for failure? After our lunch, my friend made me promise that I would be more open-minded and accept the next offer of a date from a man who has his own teeth and doesn't talk obsessively about himself. Well, spring is a time for a new beginning. The daffodils are blooming, the lambs are frolicking and even though I am no spring chicken, I need to be more like Fern. Maybe it's my turn to be brave and bold. Why I didn't jump on Waspi bandwagon I'm a Waspi woman who lost out. When the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign was launched in 2015, seeking compensation for women born in the 1950s who were not properly informed of changes in the state pension age, I spoke out in Parliament in support. TODAY'S LITERARY GEM 'Widow. The word consumes itself.' - Sylvia Plath Advertisement I, too, had never received any communication from the Government informing me that my pension age was rising. And I gathered the details of my former constituents who were Waspi women and wrote to the Chancellor, pressing their case. What I didn't do was jump on the Waspi bandwagon for my own personal political gain. Unlike Angela Rayner, I didn't use the women's plight to make false promises. The Deputy Labour Leader raged that these pensions were 'stolen' and, in the 2019 election campaign, promised that 'within the five years of the Labour government, we will compensate them for the money that they've lost'. But, here's the thing with being in Opposition one day you may be in power and will have to deliver on that promise. I look forward to receiving my cheque in the post, Angela. Are widows anti-woke? More from the frontline of wokery. Staff at Lloyds Bank (that ironically owns life insurance and pensions company Scottish Widows) are being urged not to use the word 'widows' because it can trigger upsetting memories. Instead, the instruction is that widows be referred to as 'separated'. Is this an early April Fool, Lloyds? Are you being run by teenagers? Back off Elon! New research warns that within decades the world population will fall for the first time since the Black Death. Tech billionaire Elon Musk says the falling birth rate 'is a much bigger risk to civilisation than climate change'. At the last count, Musk had fathered 11 children. Can someone please tell him that not every problem is a personal challenge? Time for trolls to lay off Kate Like millions, I was moved by the courage and dignity of the Princess of Wales during her video message to the nation about her cancer diagnosis. I was also appalled to see that distasteful and hurtful claims are still flying around the internet that the footage filmed by a BBC team was fake. If only Elon would focus his energies on the terms and conditions of his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter) and find a way of banning the worst of the conspiracy theorists. Three days after witnessing their country's most devastating terror attack in years, the Russian people are in mourning. And the West is waiting for the Kremlin's next move. While an offshoot of Islamic State (ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K) has emphatically claimed responsibility for slaughtering 137 people in Moscow on Friday evening, Vladimir Putin has insisted Ukraine was responsible. On Saturday, in his first public address following the massacre, the Russian President failed to mention IS entirely, instead declaring that 'the Ukrainian side' had 'prepared a window' for the terrorists to flee to that country after the attack. US intelligence insists, however, it has 'no reason to doubt' IS was responsible and indeed warned some weeks ago that such an attack was likely. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has also denied involvement, saying: 'Miserable Putin, instead of reassuring his own citizens, remained silent for a day thinking about how to link this with Ukraine.' A suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday is escorted inside the Russian Investigative Committee headquarters in Moscow ISIS released a sickening 90-second video showing in graphic detail how its four terrorists slaughtered 140 people Vladimir Putin lights a candle during his visit to a church of the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence on March 24 as the country observes a national day of mourning after the massacre Regardless, Putin plainly hopes to blame Kyiv to shore up domestic support for his ongoing invasion and to justify escalating the conflict. Yesterday morning alone, Russia launched 57 cruise missiles at the Ukrainian capital and the western city of Lviv. With Ukraine low on anti-missile weaponry and American aid stalled by Washington politics and the rerouting of arms to Israel Russia intends to grind down the defenders in a pitiless war of attrition. Yet despite growing confidence in the Kremlin that victory can be secured in Ukraine, this attack horrifying enough on its own, with the death toll likely to rise has left Putin looking weak and impotent. Yes, four suspects accused of carrying out the shooting have been apprehended, with videos circulating showing the men, arms bound behind their backs, being tortured by sadistic Russian captors. One was pictured with electrodes apparently attached to his genitals; another was allegedly made to eat his own severed ear. But arresting, humiliating and tormenting the alleged perpetrators is too little, too late. Ordinary Russians will now be asking themselves whether Putin could have stopped the attack before it took place. Had the old KGB man and his security services been distracted by concentrating on his intractable Ukrainian question? Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall, sits in the defendant cage with a severed ear which is believed to have been fed to him After all, this is far from the first Islamist terror attack on Russian soil. In 2002 came the Moscow theatre siege, which saw 132 hostages killed mostly, in fact, from sleeping gas released by inept Russian special forces. Two years later, 334 people including 186 children were killed in the Beslan school shooting. Putin exploited both these occasions to justify intensified attacks on Muslim Chechen separatists and to clamp down on domestic opposition. His decisive intervention in the Syrian civil war in 2015, supporting President Assad against a range of enemies including IS, further galvanised Muslim extremists against him. In 2017, the St Petersburg metro was bombed, killing 15 people and injuring 45. And in recent years, Russia has fought IS factions largely via proxy forces like its now-disbanded Wagner Group in countries on the edge of the Sahara, like Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, in an attempt to control Africa's natural resources. Together, all of these have helped to motivate totalitarian Islamist sects against him. So for all Putin's warmongering in Ukraine, his most dangerous domestic enemy is almost certainly Islamist terrorism. And that presents him with a further problem. Russia has a huge Muslim population at least 14million citizens and millions more migrant workers. Russian media has claimed the four suspects of Friday's attack are from Tajikistan a poor, majority-Muslim country from the former Soviet Union that supplies a large migrant population to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video address to the nation following the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue Putin desperately needs to avoid stirring tensions in these communities to prevent more terror attacks from flaring up or, worse, sparkling separatist wars in Russian regions with large Muslim populations. He may have just won yet another sham election and murdered his most powerful critic, Alexei Navalny, in an Arctic gulag. But tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed in a 'special operation' that was meant to last a few weeks when it was launched over two years ago. The war has ground into a stalemate, even if the long-term conditions favour the Kremlin. Now a domestic terror attack has horrified his country, dented his image as an invincible strongman and emboldening other Islamist extremists in volatile border regions of his sprawling empire. By blaming Ukraine for this instead of the real perpetrators, he may achieve a temporary propaganda win. But increasing his attacks on Ukraine will only multiply the risk of that conflict escalating further and drawing in other actors, Nato among them. Saving his own skin at huge human cost is now Putin's strategy. Will Russians fall for his cruel ploy? MARK ALMOND is director of the Crisis Research Institute, Oxford With Labour in the box seat to win power at the election, scrutiny focuses ever more closely on the party's economic policies. Given that business is the engine room of the economy, Sir Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves have declared themselves to be proudly pro-enterprise. Just as Gordon Brown had his 'prawn cocktail offensive' to seduce the City ahead of the landslide 1997 victory, so they have been hobnobbing with corporate grandees. The pair are desperate to convince business leaders that they have nothing to fear from a Labour government. But are they speaking with forked tongues? After all, Angela Rayner, the party's deputy leader, has promised that she will bring forward a radically Left-wing employment rights bill in Labour's first 100 days in power. Given that business is the engine room of the economy, Sir Keir Starmer (centre) and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves (centre left) have declared themselves to be proudly pro-enterprise Just as Gordon Brown (right) had his 'prawn cocktail offensive' to seduce the City ahead of the landslide 1997 victory, so they have been hobnobbing with corporate grandees Angela Rayner, the party's deputy leader, has promised that she will bring forward a radically Left-wing employment rights bill in Labour's first 100 days in power Sir Keir himself has publicly endorsed this so-called new deal for working people. But rather than being pro-growth, this would in fact be firmly statist and heap costs and red tape on to private firms. Indeed, almost every pledge might have been calculated to kill jobs and strangle business whether banning flexible zero-hours contracts, giving all workers sick pay and parental leave from day one or making it harder to let unsuitable staff go. Add the handing of more power to the militant unions (Labour's paymasters, remember) and it's understandable that business leaders are sceptical. One of the biggest drags on Britain's economy is the spiralling numbers dropping out of the workforce, while vacancies are at a near record high. The imperative must be to get people into jobs not make it more difficult for firms to employ them. Lord Mandelson, the architect of New Labour who has Sir Keir's ear, understands the importance of not deterring business and investment. Lord Mandelson, the architect of New Labour who has Sir Keir's ear, understands the importance of not deterring business and investment This presents Sir Keir with a huge headache. Does he side with the peer and the enterprise-friendly wing of his party or his hot-headed deputy, who will bridle at having her plans watered down? Yesterday, he warned that Ms Rayner's controversial reforms risk doing just that, to the detriment of the economy. This presents Sir Keir with a huge headache. Does he side with the peer and the enterprise-friendly wing of his party or his hot-headed deputy, who will bridle at having her plans watered down? We have seen what destructive internecine warfare has done for the Tories. The electorate has turned its back on them. Yet anyone who imagines Labour is a united party should think again. The growing row over business shows the cracks are all too clear to see. Platform for hate The Princess of Wales's brave and moving decision to open up about her devastating cancer diagnosis ought to have ended the vile rumours about her on social media. Yet from this online cesspit, bullies have continued to torment Kate and her family at their most vulnerable time. These keyboard cowards should hang their heads in shame. The Princess of Wales's brave and moving decision to open up about her devastating cancer diagnosis ought to have ended the vile rumours about her on social media The chief executive of X formerly Twitter has urged the platform's users to respect her privacy, but that isn't enough. Surely it isn't beyond the tech giant to clamp down on the cruel conspiracy theories. Until it does, any words of sympathy ring hollow. Unhappiness with the Government's handling of immigration is at a record high. Is anyone surprised? Despite repeated pledges to control our borders, the opposite has happened. Mass legal migration has become unsustainable, small boats keep coming and the asylum system is in chaos. What is the Home Secretary doing about it? Risibly, he's launched a campaign in Vietnam warning against coming to Britain illegally. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns. China releases management measures for medical emergency response teams Xinhua) 11:14, March 25, 2024 BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- China's National Health Commission and two other departments have jointly released measures for the management of the country's national medical emergency response teams. According to the measures, China's national medical emergency response teams are categorized to provide services during major epidemics, poisoning incidents, nuclear and radiation emergencies, acute infectious disease outbreaks, and other situations requiring medical rescue. Each national medical emergency response team should be composed of more than 30 healthcare professionals and medical emergency management workers as well as technical and logistic support members, according to the measures. The measures stipulate that medical rescue teams must have the capacity to conduct 20 damage control surgeries, attend to 200 emergency patients and outpatients, and handle 20 observation beds per day. Teams responsible for major epidemic response should be capable of conducting laboratory testing for over 1,000 individuals and serving 200 outpatients per day. They should also have the capability to quarantine and transfer patients and conduct epidemiological investigations, according to the measures. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in a case that challenges access to the abortion drug mifepristone, which has been used safely for more than 20 years for pregnancy terminations and miscarriage management, according to the Food and Drug Administration. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File) Allen G. Breed, STF / Associated Press The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that challenges access to the abortion drug mifepristone. This will be the first time the court has taken up the issue of abortion since it overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago. Here's what you need to know: What is mifepristone? Mifepristone is a drug that blocks the hormone progesterone, which helps maintain a pregnancy. Used in combination with another drug called misoprostol, which empties the uterus, it can safely be used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Its also used for miscarriage management. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The two-drug combo of mifepristone and misoprostol accounts for nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States. More than 20 years of FDA reviews has not found any new safety concerns around the use of mifepristone for abortions through 10 weeks of pregnancy, the agency said. What are the restrictions around mifepristone? Even though the FDA determined mifepristone was safe, the agency decided to implement certain restrictions through a plan known as REMS, or a risk evaluation mitigation strategy. Approved in 2011, the REMS required mifepristone to be dispensed only in person at clinics, medical offices or hospitals under the supervision of a certified physician. Patients were required to show up to three in-person appointments, including a follow-up visit two weeks after taking the medication. In 2016, the FDA expanded the types of providers who could prescribe the drug to include certified non-physicians, like nurse practitioners, and reduced the number of required in-person visits to one. The agency also expanded the time pregnant patients can safely take the medication from seven weeks to 10 weeks. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has argued that the REMS did not make patients safer, was not based on science, and increased barriers for patients and physicians. In 2021, after ACOG sued the FDA over the restrictions, the agency formally changed the REMS and allowed certified pharmacies to dispense the drug directly. The new rules, which took effect last year, allow patients to see their doctor virtually and have the medication mailed to them. Major pharmacy chains have said they've started dispensing the drug where it's legal. What is the Supreme Court deciding, and why does it matter for Texans? Ultimately, the court will decide whether the FDA acted improperly when the agency made it easier for patients to access mifepristone in 2016 and 2021. The decision, which isnt expected to come down until June, could force the FDA to revert to the old rules that required in-person dispensing, prescriptions from a certified physician and multiple in-person appointments. It could also reinstate the seven-week period when patients can use the drug. Even though Texas banned medication abortion, those restrictions still could have major implications for Texans, some of whom are still obtaining prescriptions via telehealth appointments from doctors in states where abortion is legal, said University of Texas law professor Elizabeth Sepper. It could also give way to legal challenges around other FDA-approved medications, she said, because the case challenges the FDAs drug approval process. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The case stems from a 2022 federal lawsuit filed in Texas by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and several anti-abortion medical groups, who argued that the drug is unsafe, contrary to decades of evidence. The plaintiffs challenged the drugs original approval in 2000 and invoked the Comstock Act, a federal law created in 1873 that prohibited the mailing of obscene and lewd materials, including abortion drugs and birth control. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a longtime abortion opponent nominated by former President Donald Trump, last year agreed with the plaintiffs and suspended the drugs original approval. The FDA appealed the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which overturned part of the ruling but affirmed challenges to the FDA rule changes that relaxed the restrictions in 2016 and 2021. You may think I am pretty bad now, but you should have seen me when I was 15. I said, did and thought terrible things, which are now hateful to me. The memory of them is pretty much unbearable. I can still shudder at the remembrance of them. But there it is, nasty actions once done cannot be undone, cruel words cannot be cancelled. Perhaps everyone else is so much better than this, and so pure in heart, that they do not think there is something a bit merciless about the British States vindictive treatment of Shamima Begum. I agree with everyone else, especially my colleague Sue Reid, that her behaviour was idiotic and that she said and did things which she will be ashamed of until the end of her life. Meanwhile I would think that the deaths of her three infant children, something none of us would wish on anyone, should be punishment enough for anybody. I dont like the look or sound of her. I suspect her basic problem is that she is not very bright. I hope never to meet her. But if anyone has any evidence that she committed a crime, then let them accuse her of it in a court of law, before an impartial jury. And if she is then found guilty I will cheerfully support the punishment she is awarded according to law. But this cannot happen, as long as she is condemned to spend the rest of her life in some Syrian slum. This is thanks to a cancellation of her citizenship, which reminds me of the thuggish old Soviet Union at its worst, a despotic Third World measure which this ancient civilisation should be ashamed of wielding. Today, Begum suffered another blow as she lost an initial bid to challenge this cancellation at the Supreme Court. Shamima Begum pictured with her week old son Jerah in Al Hawl camp in 2019 She has, as is all too common these days, been punished without trial. Maybe Sajid Javid, the politician who first condemned Begum to lifelong exile, has a totally clear conscience about his youth, which he is said to have spent reading the Financial Times and watching Grange Hill on the TV. Maybe he cannot conceive that the lives of any of his children or grandchildren might go so wrong, as life went wrong for Jihadi Jack Letts, another of these idiots. And maybe the members of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission - and of the Court of Appeal, which today refused to give her the green light to take her case to the Supreme Court - have likewise lived lives of blameless sweetness from their infancy upwards. Shamima Begum has had her latest bid to overturn the cancellation of her British citizenship refused by the Court of Appeal We must, it seems to me, have some really pure and wonderful people doing these jobs. The same, no doubt, goes for all the politicians and journalists who have applauded the decision to confirm the revocation of Begums citizenship. But all I see is a nasty sort of mob justice. The British Government claims to be so very tough on terror but, in fact, is pretty useless at preventing it, and helped support an Al Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front, in a cynical operation in Syria. They claim to be keeping us safe from Begum, who cannot come here again. And yet, if she somehow managed to get on one of those dinghies from France, she could walk ashore on a Kentish beach one afternoon and vanish into our unpoliced cities, along with the thousands of others doing this without hindrance from this supposedly tough government. This is fake severity, a hunk of meat flung to the angry crowd by a scared and weak state. And it is also merciless, the lifelong relentless punishment of a lonely, bereaved woman. Is this a thing to be proud of? Those who have done it should remember the ancient, simple biblical advice to us all: What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God, and ask if they are obeying it. Unfettered from royal restrictions, Meghan is free to sell her jam and pursue commercial work prompting the question: Why did the late Queen refuse Harry and Meghan's proposal for a new style of monetised royalty? Could it stem from Sophie Wessex's decision to continue working in public relations after her marriage to Edward? The Queen approved of this new type of working royal but changed her mind two years later when Sophie was caught being indiscreet about her royal connections when trying to impress potential clients. It's an experiment no one is in a hurry to repeat. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend The Lion King European Premiere at Leicester Square on July 14, 2019 Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Cullinan V brooch at a visit to London Fashion Week in 2018 Spice Girl Mel B, pictured, recalls sitting beside Charles, then Prince of Wales, when he attended the premiere of the group's 1997 movie Spice World. 'He was laughing his head off, and I'm sitting there thinking, "Oh my God, this movie is amazing, everyone is like really enjoying it," she remembers. 'I said to Charles: "You're really enjoying it, aren't you?" and he went: "I'm a good actor." RUDE!' The Prince of Wales shakes the hand of Scary Spice (Mel B) as he meets the Spice Girls at the gala premiere of Spiceworld, The Movie on December 15, 1997 Pictured in 1997: From left, Ginger Spice, real name Geraldine Halliwell, aged 24; Sporty Spice, Melanie Chisholm, 22, Scary Spice, Melanie Brown, 21; Posh Spice, Victoria Adams, 22; Baby Spice, Emma Bunton, 20 Slow Horses star Gary Oldman still mourns his mother Kathleen who rejoiced when he won an Oscar in 2018 for his role as Churchill in Darkest Hour. 'She would always say to me, "Oh, you're going to win an Oscar one day, darling." I'd just say, "Yeah, you never know. One day, Mum," he tells Saga magazine. 'And I think she held on. I really do. I won the Oscar and she died. She let go. Her mission accomplished.' Gary Oldman with his mother Kathleen Oldman, before she died aged 98 in 2019 Gary Oldman won an Oscar in 2018 for his role as Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017) BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty, pictured, makes the unprompted admission that she has slept in the nude ever since she was a teenager. Will her late colleague Bill Turnbull (a buttoned-up flannel pyjamas man if ever there was one) be turning in his grave? BBC Breakfast host Naga Munchetty with her co-host Charlie Stayt Anglicism's latest delightfully daft cleric, the Ven Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Archdeacon of Liverpool, calls for more anti-whiteness, adding that 'whiteness' does not refer to skin colour per se'. Mind you, she does admit on her X feed that she went to her optician last week. New glasses for the archdeacon, please! Pig farmer and Charles in The Crown Dominic West tells Bath Life about his affection for his first sow. 'We slaughtered her and now we can't eat her,' he wails. 'Poor Marla...' Marla? 'Yes the boar was red and ginger, so we called him Donald. 'And so the sows are named after his wives. We've got Melania and Ivana left...' Sun Tzu, the military genius of ancient China who wrote The Art Of War, had a telling aphorism: 'The opportunity to defeat the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.' Our weaknesses, he meant, are gifts to those who would do us harm. And China has been relentlessly probing the West's weaknesses for years testing our defences and identifying our vulnerabilities. Yesterday came a sharp reminder of the extent of this espionage, as Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden briefed Parliament about a string of devastating cyber attacks masterminded by Beijing's spooks. The electoral records of some 40 million people including almost certainly yours and mine have been accessed by 'malign actors' working for the repressive one-party state, he said. The data includes precise details of who lived at specific addresses and for how long. But that is only the start. As Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016, David Cameron repeatedly minimised the economic, military and political threat represented by the Chinese party-state. Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and Premier Li Qiang (right) arrive for the closing session of the National People's Congress earlier this month Beijing was probably seeking something far more sensitive: the Electoral Commission's secret list of anonymous voters who do not appear on the electoral roll. As well as people placed in witness-protection schemes and those escaping political persecution, this separate list includes our security and intelligence officials who must stay off public databases. The prospect of Beijing coming anywhere near to finding the name and address of every spy in Britain should set Whitehall alarms blaring. Yet the response has been dismally weak. It has taken a year for our authorities even to admit publicly that China is behind the hack. This is part of a much bigger picture. Further targeted hacks have hit a group of at least 43 influential China hawks, including senior MPs and peers, among them former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith. Meanwhile, another group of state-sponsored Chinese hackers, called 'Volt Typhoon', have penetrated deep into the West's critical infrastructure, with FBI director Christopher Wray telling U.S. lawmakers this was the 'defining threat of our generation'. Together, it all represents a disaster for Britain's security and today should stand as the moment we wake up to the threat posed by the ghouls of this ugly regime. Yet with almost painful irony, it fell to Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton to brief the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs about the hacks. As Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016, David Cameron repeatedly minimised the economic, military and political threat represented by the Chinese party-state. Now he can no longer underplay the dangers. Chinese state hackers have been stealing similar databases around the free world for at least a decade. Their coups include millions of U.S. government personnel records including highly sensitive security clearance applications in 2014. Millions of credit-reference files, airline records, hotel reservations and mobile phone accounts have also been compromised. The dawn of biometric data means Chinese spies know faces, voices, fingerprints and even how we walk a gait is a personal identifier that cannot be altered by disguise or surgery. As you read this, China's sophisticated artificial-intelligence software is scanning these vast datasets, looking for patterns and anomalies, filtering and targeting people as sources of intelligence or points of pressure. In short, the terrifying Orwellian surveillance system already used inside China which publicly shames people for jaywalking and which imprisons and tortures ordinary citizens at will is now being used against us. To be blunt, every commercial, political, military and intelligence secret in every Western country is vulnerable to attack from Beijing, now and in the future. They will not sleep until they have acquired it all with terrifying consequences for our independence and freedom. China's President Xi Jinping and Mr Cameron drink a pint of beer during a visit to The Plough pub in London in October 2015 The need for drastic action is clear yet our Foreign Secretary is entirely the wrong man for the job. Remember, Lord Cameron presided over the unlamented 'Golden Age' in Britain's relations with China. From 2010, this essentially consisted of a series of humiliating concessions from Britain to China, on all fronts, including arm-twisting the late Queen to offer tea at Buckingham Palace to a visiting Chinese bigwig. When Chinese dictator-for-life Xi Jinping came to Britain in 2015, he visited a pub with Cameron and posed for selfies while police scandalously used anti-terrorism powers against peaceful protesters. True, the visit brought tens of billions of pounds in economic deals at a time when national security took second place to business with large and powerful countries. But we are hastily dismantling many of those Cameron-era deals, not least Chinese involvement in our nuclear power programme, as we belatedly acknowledge the manifest security risks. READ MORE: David Cameron faces questions over the UK going soft on China after the government indefinitely pauses sanctions Advertisement David Cameron faces questions over the UK going soft on China after the government indefinitely pauses sanctions Many of our universities, too, have sold out to China, which sends more than 150,000 students here a lucrative customer base that enables the bullies of Beijing to curb academic freedom . Other legacies of Cameron's cowardice and folly persist. To its disgrace, Britain has yet to impose a single sanction on the Chinese officials who have ripped up every promise to maintain autonomy, the rule of law and other freedoms in Hong Kong. Cameron limply calls China's treatment of our former territory 'very challenging'. Beijing, he adds, has become 'more assertive'. Yet he and the Government have yet to designate China as a full-scale threat to our national security even after the devastating hacks revealed this week. Indeed, last November, just as Cameron returned to office, the Government indefinitely suspended asset freezes and travel bans on Chinese officials. One reason for our timidity is simple. Swathes of Britain's commercial, financial and cultural elite have enjoyed lucrative professional and personal contracts with China over the past 20 years. Cameron himself has benefited at least indirectly. Shortly after leaving Downing Street, he led a $1 billion UK-China fund that aimed to boost British participation in China's global infrastructure schemes and other trade and investment projects. Mr Cameron was facing questions tonight over the Government's 'indefinite' pausing of sanctions against Chinese officials and firms on Thursday, March 21 In 2017, barely a year after leaving office, he pressed the fund's case with then Chancellor Philip Hammond. Ex-prime ministers are usually expected to wait two years before lobbying government, but Cameron showed no such compunction. Though the fund failed, Cameron's pro-China bias continued. He spoke at a conference in Sri Lanka in January last year, championing the Colombo Port City project, an infrastructure scheme part-owned by China. (Cameron insists he visited the project as the guest of the Sri Lankan president, and was paid to speak by a local company.) Cameron needs to grasp that the only way to address the threat from Beijing is by standing up to it and discarding naiveties about the state's malicious aims. He must get tough, and quickly for the sake of our democracy. It is time for sober realism when it comes to our dealings with China. No longer should we or anyone make excuses for their deplorable interference in our country's private affairs. Edward Lucas is the author of Spycraft Rebooted: How Technology Is Changing Espionage. A woman who sought therapy after she was sexually assaulted has tearfully recalled the moment her therapist told her she was 'attractive' during an online session. Amanda, who sought a therapist on the online platform BetterHelp after a sexual assault triggered memories of past abuse, said she felt 'uncomfortable' after the therapist recommended she deal with the trauma by dating 'three men'. Amanda shared her story on Channel 4's I Don't Trust My Therapist: UNTOLD, a documentary which accuses the company of 'misleading' clients. Better Help is the world's largest online mental health platform, providing services directly to clients for 50 to 80 per session. It operates in both the US and UK and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Following heavy influencer marketing, podcast sponsorships and celebrity collaborations with the likes of Perrie Edwards, the brand has become a household name - but it's not without controversy. Amanda (pictured) broke down in tears after revealing her experience at the hands of a former therapist after she told him she was sexually assaulted Amanda shared her agonising story on Channel 4 's I Don't Trust My Therapist: UNTOLD, which was presented by journalist and mental health advocate Jackie Adedeji (pictured) In November 2021, Travis Scott was accused of 'exploiting' the Astroworld tragedy - where a crowd surge left at least eight people dead and hundreds of others injured - and 'profiting' off of concertgoers' trauma after partnering with BetterHelp to offer free one-on-one online therapy. Last year, BetterHelp was ordered by the US government to pay to pay $7.8 milllion in partial refunds to customers for allegedly releasing personal user data to social media companies like Meta and Snapchat. At sign up, customers were promised that BetterHelp would not 'use or disclose their personal health data except for limited purposes'. However, email addresses, IP addresses, and health questionnaire information were passed on to social media networks for advertising purposes. What is BetterHelp and why is the service controversial? BetterHelp is an online mental health platform that provides mental health services directly to clients via video link, phone and text communication Today, it is the worlds largest online mental health platform, with a network of over 30,000 licensed therapists BetterHelp was founded in the US in 2013 by Alon Matas and Danny Bragonier, and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. Alon Matas was inspired to create an online mental health platform after finding difficulties reaching professional counseling services that accommodated his work schedule. He then partnered with co-founder Danny Bragonier to develop BetterHelp's now web-based therapy portal. From 2016, the platform became available to UK users, with costs for each session starting from between 50 to 80 per user. However, controversy arose when experts pointed out that the company's claim to provide clients with 'licensed, accredited professionals' did not apply to the UK market. In the UK, therapists do not require a licence to practice. To become accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, therapists must meet certain requirements such as completing 450 hours of supervised practice over three to six years. However, there is nothing to stop someone practicing as a therapist without this accreditation. Stats taken between 2022 and 2023 reveal the company made an annual revenue of $1 billion, thanks to aggressive marketing through platforms like social media, with the brand reportedly spending up to $10.5 million on podcast sponsorships in one month alone It has been endorsed as a method of therapy by influencers and celebrities including Perrie Edwards, Travis Scott and Hailey Bieber The platform has been subject to controversy and was last year ordered by the US government to pay $7.8 milllion in partial refunds to customers for allegedly releasing personal user data to social media companies like Meta and Snapchat YouTube stars, influencers and celebrities such as Travis Scott have been accused of capitalising on their followers' mental health while they are rewarded financially by BetterHelp through sponsored posts and affiliate links. Advertisement In the show, journalist and mental health advocate Jackie Adedeji investigated complaints made against the brand by former patients, while also answering questions about its lack of regulation. One of the users was Amanda, who claimed she was made to see three separate therapists in three months during her subscription with BetterHelp. Speaking via video call, she told Jackie of her encounter with the unnamed therapist after confiding in him about her sexual assault. She said: 'We had a conversation regarding the fact that I was getting back on the dating apps. 'I wanted to kind of put some feelers out there - see how I feel about it. Although I wasn't ready at that time to actually take a step forward into communicating with anybody or actually go on dates. 'And he said: "You should be dating. You're a very attractive woman". 'The homework that he gave me for that session was to meet up with three men before our next session. And at that point I felt very uncomfortable'. Amanda then paused before breaking down in tears, prompting a concerned Jackie to send her a 'hug through the screen'. Amanda replied: 'I just need a moment.' This was just one of three negative experiences Amanda had with BetterHelp. Hannah (pictured) another participant in the show, recalled her thoughts of self harm after being told by one employee that sexual assault by a partner was 'not rape' Amanda said she was assigned the male therapist after she parted ways with a female therapist on the platform - who she claimed asked her to consider her 'role' in the abuse she had suffered. 'We began talking about the relationship that I had and the abuse that I went through' said Amanda. 'You know, emotional, sexual, physical at times. 'I recall she had made a comment about halfway through the session along the lines of you know "had I considered the role that I was playing in this relationship that was leading to me being abused?". 'I really just took that one instance of somebody saying: "Have you thought about this?". 'It changed everything. Well, for a really long time.' Later on in the documentary, viewers were introduced to Hannah, an American woman based in London for six years. She too sought mental health services on BetterHelp after being sexually assaulted by a partner. Hannah was subscribed to the app for three months and had 10 sessions with two different therapists. She recounted thoughts of self harm and being told by one employee that sexual assault by a partner was 'not rape'. She shared: 'So I had explained to her that I was in an abusive relationship and that I had been raped by my partner - and I described to her what happened to me. 'And she said to me: "Oh well that's not rape because it was your partner, it's not like someone climbed through your window and attacked you in the night". 'I started feeling like I don't know if I can make it through, like, without doing something to myself because I just didn't know how to feel better.' Martina, a youth support worker awaiting an ADHD diagnosis from the NHS, slammed a BetterHelp therapist for failing to turn up for their first session. She claimed that after requesting a refund for the no-show, she was instead offered an apology and a week's free subscription. Later on Martina, a youth support worker awaiting an ADHD diagnosis by the NHS, slammed a BetterHelp therapist for failing to turn up for their very first therapy session Later on, Jackie, who said therapy once 'saved her life', found that BetterHelp's policy required all hired professionals to have been practising for at least three years. Staff must also be registered with a body that governs therapists and counsellors in the UK. Perplexed as to how these therapy horror stories could then exist, the host contacted Meg Moss, the head of policy and public affairs at National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) who stated there was 'no regulation in terms of online therapy platforms'. She said: 'At the moment there isn't a mechanism to do that. What you would have to do in terms of regulation is you'd have to go through parliament and other kind of government bodies. 'As far as we're aware no one is having that conversation yet'. BetterHelp was founded in 2013 with UK citizens having access to the platform for the first time in 2016. According to the documentary, it boasted an annual revenue of a staggering $1 billion between 2022 and 2023. The company is known for their aggressive marketing through platforms like social media, with the brand reportedly spending up to $10.5 million on podcast sponsorships in one month alone. Jackie contacted Meg Moss (pictured), the head of policy and public affairs at National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) who admitted that there was 'no regulation in terms of online therapy platforms' And due to the private platform claiming to offer users 24/7 access to therapists upon signing up, patients are easily lured away from the NHS where they may otherwise have to wait up to 12 weeks. Jackie also revealed that NHS mental health services are currently 'oversubscribed' with an estimated 969,000 referrals to children and young people's mental health services between 2022 and 2023. In response to the documentary, BetterHelp said: 'Member experiences with BetterHelp are overwhelmingly positive and can provide benefits over alternative UK counselling options. 'We have a rigorous vetting process for our UK therapists that requires them to have at least three years of experience, be qualified and registered/accredited by their respective professional organisation, and be a registered, trained, and experienced UK Practitioner Psychologist, Accredited Therapist, or similar applicable recognized professional certification. 'Your quoted claim that "no one" provides oversight for BetterHelp is simply incorrect. 'We have an in-house team of licensed therapists who conduct quality assurance reviews based on member feedback and concerns.' I Don't Trust My Therapist: UNTOLD is available to stream on Channel 4 Scanning the menu in a restaurant, browsing the sandwich options in the coffee shop at lunchtime or doing the weekly shopping in the supermarket might be simple, everyday tasks for most people, but for 30 years I found them confusing and difficult. Why? Ultimately, I wanted two things that were in direct conflict with each other; to eat all the foods I knew I shouldn't and not to be fat. As a child of the 1980s - a fat child of the 1980s - I lived in the eye of the diet culture storm. Encouraged by my doctor, I attended my first Weight Watchers meeting at the age of 11, though that wasn't my first diet. I have memories of 'can't eat this' and 'mustn't eat that' linked to my growing size long before I joined WW. At some point during my childhood, I started to eat in secret. I'd sneak a packet of crisps out of a multipack in the middle of the night; slice slivers off cheese in the fridge hoping they'd go unnoticed or snap corners off biscuits in the biscuit tin. The binges would start with urges to eat those foods that every GP and diet told me not to. I knew what I should be eating, and that's what I ate in public, and I also knew what I shouldn't and that's what I'd feast on in private. If anyone asked me how much I was eating, I'd lie. The truth is, I couldn't admit it to myself let alone anyone else. Bethenny Frankel has peeled back the curtain on her pre-flight skincare routine before embarking on a long-haul flight. Over the past few years, the former Real Housewives of New York star, 53, has opened up about her life on social media - sharing videos about makeup, fashion and even cooking on her TikTok and Instagram accounts. In a recent clip, which was posted earlier this month before she headed to Australia for her speaking tour, the Skinnygirl mogul took viewers through her skincare routine before a long flight, and what products she liked to take with her for the '24-hour' journey. First, Frankel said that she used an oil to gel cleanser to clean her face, advising users to use their 'most moisturizing' product. In a new video posted to TikTok this week, Bethenny Frankel took viewers through her skincare routine that she applies before a long-haul flight The former Real Housewives of New York star was on her way to Australia to do speaking engagements in both Melbourne and Sydney Get Bethenny's glow! Her skincare for a long flight L'Oreal Paris Age Perfect Midnight Eye Cream: $36.99 ReVive Peau Magnifique Serum: $775 ReVive Fermitif Neck Cream: $175 L'Oreal Paris Age Perfect Cell Renewal Midnight face cream: $34.99 Vaseline: $3.79 Advertisement 'The plane is very dehydrating, so the goal is to feed the face,' she said, as she spritzed on what she called an 'herbal spray toner' all over her visage. Next, the Just B With Bethenny podcast host applied what she called her 'rich b****' cream under her eyes - the L'Oreal Paris Age Perfect Midnight eye cream. 'It's almost like having a mask on, treat it like nighttime times two,' she explained, as she dabbed the $36.99 cream under her eyes. 'Skin is gonna heal while you're on that plane sleeping. It's getting dehydrated, sucking all the moisture out, but we're not going to let that happen,' Frankel promised. Once her eye cream was absorbed, she moved on to applying the $775 Peau Magnifique Serum from the brand ReVive. As the BStrong founder slathered it on, she explained that the serum felt more like an oil to her. 'That's when you really need that kind of thing, when you're going on a plane,' she said. While she rubbed in the product, she admitted that she was 'so excited' for her trip to Australia, where she would be visiting both Melbourne and Sydney for her engagements. Frankel began her skincare routine by cleansing her face with an oil to gel cleanser, followed by an herbal toning spray Once her eye cream was absorbed, she moved on to applying the $775 Peau Magnifique Serum from the brand ReVive Over the past few years, Frankel has become somewhat of a social media guru, often sharing her skincare and makeup tips with followers Frankel followed up the serum with another product from ReVive, this time their Fermitif Neck Cream, which retails for $175. She spread the thick cream all over her neck, declaring that the brand made 'great neck products.' 'Always absorb the product in the hands,' Frankel added, as she rubbed the leftover cream on her paws. 'And then, I'm gonna do the richest b**** of the b****est creams, because it's like a mask, you want to basically have your richest cream on now,' she said as she moved on to apply the next step, which was applying the L'Oreal Age Perfect Cell Renewal Midnight Face Cream. The cream retails for $34.99, and is one of her favorites. 'This is serious, you're getting on a plane,' Frankel said. To top it all off, she applied a bit of Vaseline to the lips, and a lash serum - declaring she was now ready to go Down Under. The Skinnygirl mogul also made sure to apply a neck cream, using the ReVive Fermitif Neck Cream, which retails for $175 To finish off her skincare for the flight, Frankel went in with some Vaseline on her lips and applied a lash serum Frankel took her viewers on her journey to Australia in a series of TikToks, and documented what she looked like when she landed in Melbourne Frankel sipped a green juice during her layover in the first class Emirates Lounge in Dubai, and documented her arrival to Melbourne In the comments section of her TikTok, some people shared their own skincare thoughts In the comments section of her video, some chimed in, admitting that they applied a similar skincare routine before heading off on a flight. 'I'm not too shy to apply sheet masks throughout my flight also,' one person wrote. Someone else typed, 'Don't forget SPF is most important on a day flight!' 'Tip everyone should know specially, for you Bethenny love you whatever goes on your face put on your neck,' another pointed out. When she landed in Melbourne nearly 24 hours later, Frankel showed her arrival, her skin still looking as clear as ever. She said that she and her daughter were 'so happy' to be in Australia. A Love is Blind star is getting hilariously roasted after a woman found a picture of him in a review for a dress on fast fashion website Lulus. After Jimmy Presnell's photo was found on the clothing company's website, TikTok users had a field day poking fun at the reality star. One commenter joked that his wedding date, who commented the dress 'runs a little small' in her review, was 'talking about Jimmy.' Another Love Is Blind viewer quipped that the Charlotte, North Carolina-based reality star, who did not make it to the altar, 'really loves him some weddings. Just not his own.' One Love is Blind star is getting hilariously roasted after a woman found a picture of him in a review for a dress on the fast fashion website Lulus After Jimmy Presnell's photo was found on the Lulus website when a woman shared a wedding guest dress review, TikTok users had a field day poking fun at the reality star Content creator Alicia Page, who's based in Missouri, happened upon a photo of Jimmy at a wedding with a female guest and shared a video Jimmy, 28, was a contentious character on this season of Love Is Blind, the Netflix reality show where single 20 and 30-somethings 'date' while in pods, so they can't see each others' faces until they propose. The star chose Chelsea Blackwell, 30, after being embroiled in a love triangle with Jessica Vestal, 29, and eventually proposed to Chelsea - although he broke up with her just days before their wedding. Chelsea told Jimmy she looked like Megan Fox, which many viewers thought was the reason he picked her. There were plenty of road blocks along the way, especially when Jimmy said he didn't like to go out on the town in the pods, but spent several nights visiting bars with his friends. Content creator Alicia Page, who's based in Missouri, happened upon a photo of Jimmy at a wedding with a female guest online and quickly shared the video. Alicia explained she was scrolling Lulus website looking for a dress of her own when she came across the picture. 'So I'm in Lulus website looking for a dress, and I go to the reviews and I'm pretty sure that's Jimmy from Love Is Blind,' Alicia said. 'There's no escape,' Alicia captioned the video, which received more than 315,000 views. Jimmy chose Chelsea Blackwell (right), 30, after being embroiled in a love triangle with Jessica Vestal (left), 29 Chelsea told Jimmy she looked like Megan Fox, which many viewers thought was the reason he chose her Jimmy, 28, was a contentious character on this season of Love is Blind, the Netflix reality show where single 20 and 30-somethings 'date' while in pods, so they can't see each other's faces Commenters on TikTok had a field day with Jimmy's picture and wondered how she came across it The dress in question is the Hold Your Attention One-Shoulder Sleeveless Midi Dress, which is available for $69, which the reviewer did enjoy wearing as a wedding guest. 'Lots of compliments and fit like a glove!' the reviewer raved while sharing a picture alongside Jimmy. 'The material is thick and good quality. I'm a size 6 so I'd say this runs a little small,' she said of the spandex one-shoulder plum dress. Commenters on TikTok had a field day with Jimmy's picture and wondered how she came across it. 'How in the actual haillll (sic) did you happen upon this?' one commenter asked, and she responded that she was 'just scrolling for the right dress reading reviews.' There were plenty of road blocks along the way, especially when Jimmy said he didn't like to go out on the town in the pods, but spent several nights visiting bars with his friends 'He really loves him some weddings. Just not his own,' another person joked, as he surprised Chelsea when he ended their engagement after a day spent at an amusement park Since their split, Chelsea has admitted they tried dating and said they're friends after rumors of a reconciliation when they were spotted dining together in South Florida Another person pointed out that they 'last year someone found Lydia [in the] Shein reviews. This is so funny.' '"Runs a little small" is prob talking about Jimmy,' a commenter quipped. 'He really loves him some weddings. Just not his own,' another person joked, as he surprised Chelsea when he ended their engagement after a day spent at an amusement park. 'He really had them fooled when he said he liked staying home,' one Love Is Blind viewer joked. Kristine 'Kristi' Johnson was just 21 years old when a stranger approached her at Century City mall in Los Angeles and told her that he was film producer looking for the next Bond girl. It was an opportunity that she was ready to pounce on after moving from Michigan to California with the intention of returning to college following a stint as a freshman at Western Michigan University. The man, who she met at the mall on February 15, 2003, said he could get her an audition and arranged to meet her at a Hollywood Hills home. Just over two weeks later, Kristi's body would be found by hikers in a nearby ravine. Now, her story will be featured on a new Dateline podcast called Murder In The Hollywood Hills, hosted by NBC's Keith Morrison, that will chart how a group of women helped hunt down Kristi's killer. Kristine 'Kristi' Johnson (pictured with mom Terry Hall) was just 21 when a stranger approached her at an LA mall and told her he was film producer looking for the next Bond girl Before she was found dead, Kristi's roommate told investigators that the aspiring star 'was very excited when she came home because she was going to audition for a James Bond clip.' Former prosecutor Ronald E. Bowers shed further light on the details of Kristi's exchange with the man she met at the mall, previously telling Oxygen's Real Murders Of Los Angeles: 'She was told if she had a white blouse, black miniskirt, nylons and stiletto heels, that would really impress.' The man also told Kristi the job would pay $100,000. Kristi had worked as a makeup artist but when she went off to the supposed audition she had been working at a cell phone company, the Los Angeles Times reported. On February 15, she headed up to the Hollywood Hills in her white Mazda Miata and stopped to ask directions. Kristi's mother Terry Hall reported her daughter missing after she failed to show up to work two days later. To figure out what happened to the 21-year-old, a tip line was established for the public to call in with any information about Kristi. Hundreds of calls flooded in, including from three women - one of whom was Susan Murphy - who recalled a similar story to Kristi's. He arranged to meet her in the Hollywood Hills for the audition. Just over two weeks later, Kristi's body would be found by hikers in a nearby ravine. She's pictured left and right as a child Her story will be featured on a new Dateline podcast called Murder In The Hollywood Hills, hosted by NBC's Keith Morrison. Kristi is pictured with brother Derek The man also told Kristi (pictured as a child) the job would pay $100,000 Susan told investigators that she had been at the same mall where Kristi had been on January 24 when she was sought out by a man who asked her to audition for a Bond movie. Another detail that stuck out was Susan revealed she was also asked to wear an identical outfit described by Kristi to her roommate. Wary of the situation, Susan took her boyfriend when she met the man for a second time the following day. When they requested identification from him, the man, who would eventually be identified by Susan as Victor Paleologus, ran off. Other women who came forward had near identical experiences to Susan and Kristi, and their stories matched his pattern of criminal history. For example in 1989, Paleologus, posing as a Columbia Records executive, attacked Christine Kludjian, then 21, in a hotel room after he invited her to a music industry party. She was able to escape and Paleologus was handed three years' probation for false imprisonment by violence. Her killer was identified as Victor Paleologus Nearly a decade later, in 1998, he was accused of the attempted rape of a 24-year-old woman, again luring her in with the opportunity to appear in a Bond film. He was sentenced to prison time, but was released on parole in 2003 after spending three years and five months behind bars, the LA Times reported. But tragically for Kristi, almost three weeks after she first met Paleologus, hikers found her body in a Hollywood Hills ravine on March 3. Her hands and ankles had been tied up, and she had been strangled. Paleologus dodged the possibility of the death penalty when he pleaded guilty in 2006 to murdering Kristi. Instead, the then 44-year-old was sentenced to 25 years to life. In July 2023, a group organized to honor the 21-year-old, known as Justice For Kristi, campaigned to block her killer's potential release on parole. Almost 20 years after he was imprisoned, Paleologus was scheduled for a parole hearing. 'Paleologus doesn't deserve freedom and a second chance to endanger another innocent victim. Before Kristi's murder, he demonstrated how chronically dangerous he is when in 1998, he was convicted of rape of Heather Maher,' the group said in a statement at the time. 'He served five years at Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo and was released on January 20, 2003.' Eventually, the killer waived his right to a parole hearing and will not be eligible again until 2025. 'What a weight off of my back this is,' Kristi's mom Terry told Oxygen.com after hearing the news. 'It's interesting, sometimes in life you don't realize what a big burden you're carrying until it's lifted from you.' Murder In The Hollywood Hills will debut on March 26 across podcast platforms. A Malawian woman who was lured to Oman with the offer of work was enslaved and raped while getting as little as two hours' sleep a night. Georgina, from Lilongwe, Malawi, broke down in tears as she relived the abuse she experienced in new BBC Africa Eye documentary called Trapped in Oman. The 32-year-old believed she had been recruited to work as a driver in Dubai - and hoping for a better life, she took the opportunity. She had owned a small business in Lilongwe and was getting by when she was approached by an agent saying she could earn more money in the Middle East. It was not until the plane landed in Muscat, the capital of Oman, that she realised she had been deceived and subsequently trapped by a family who made her work gruelling hours, seven days a week. Georgina, from Lilongwe, Malawi, was lured to Oman with an offer of work and was enslaved and raped while getting as little as two hours' sleep a night 'When I arrived I was greeting by a stranger, then I was handed over to another person who introduced himself as my boss,' she said. 'I was not allowed to rest. I was waking up at 3am and going to bed at 1am. I reached a point where I couldn't take it.' Georgina had not been there long when her boss began forcing her to have sex with him, threatening to shoot her if she said anything. She added: 'It wasn't only him, he would bring friends and they would pay him after. He threatened me and said if I shouted he would shoot me.' She struggled to speak as she recounted how she was forced into anal sex: 'I got badly injured. I became so distraught.' After several weeks, Georgina became desperate and in a post on Facebook she begged for someone to help her. Thousands of miles away in the US state of New Hampshire, 38-year-old Malawian social media activist Pililani Mombe Nyoni saw her message and began to investigate. She got in touch and got the Facebook post removed for Georgina's safety and passed on her own WhatsApp number, which began to circulate in Oman. She soon realised it was a wider problem. One woman who was enslaved in Oman captured a video of her 'boss' exposing himself to her as she worked Blessings was severely burned in the kitchen of the home she was working in, but her employer would not let her return to Malawi 'Georgina was the first victim. Then it was one girl, two girls, three girls,' she told the BBC. 'That's when I said, ''I am going to form a [WhatsApp] group because this looks like human trafficking.''' More than 50 Malawian women working in Oman ultimately joined the group. Soon, the WhatsApp was full of voice notes and videos, some too harrowing to watch, detailing the horrific conditions the women were enduring. Many had their passports taken away as soon as they arrived, preventing them from leaving. Some told of how they had shut themselves in toilets to secretly send their pleading messages. 'I feel like I am in prison we can never escape,' one said. 'My life is really in danger,' another said. Ms Nyoni began speaking to human trafficking charities in Malawi and was introduced to Ekaterina Porras Sivolobova, founder of Do Bold, based in Greece. Do Bold works with migrant workers in Gulf countries, identifying victims of trafficking or forced labour, and then negotiates with their employer for them to be released. 'The employers pay an agent for providing a domestic worker. One of the most common challenges that we face is that the employer or agent says: 'I want my money back, then she can go home',' Ms Sivolobova told the BBC. 'The laws that are in place [in Oman] prohibit a domestic worker to leave the employer. She cannot change jobs and she cannot leave the country - no matter how you are treated.' This is what is known in the Middle East as the 'kafala' labour system, which ties workers to their employers for the duration of their contract. Oman's National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking said the relationship between the employer and the domestic worker was contractual - and unsettled disputes can be referred to a court within a week. Thousands of miles away in the US state of New Hampshire, 38-year-old Malawian social media activist Pililani Mombe Nyoni began to investigate Blessings finally returned last October, with the help of the Malawian government, an agent had previously lied to her family and said that she had died It added that an employer was not allowed 'to impose any form of forced labour on the worker' and could not keep a worker's 'passport and private documents without his written consent'. After three months in Muscat, and with the help of Ms Nyoni and someone in Oman, Georgina returned to Malawi in June 2021. 'After I helped Georgina, I felt so mad, I felt so angry,' said Ms Nyoni. Georgina's case allowed her to raise the alarm within Malawi - and pressure began mounting on the government to intervene. Malawian charity Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (CDEDI) launched an Oman rescue campaign, calling on the authorities to bring the women home. Blessings was another of the women in Ms Nyoni's WhatsApp group. The 39-year-old had travelled to Muscat in December 2022, leaving her four children with her sister, Stevelia, in Lilongwe. She was severely burned in the kitchen of the home she was working in, but her employer would not let her return to Malawi. She said: 'The degree of the burns, trust me, I saw my sister losing her own life. I remember my sister said: "Sister, I came here because I needed a better life, but should I die, please take care of my kids." That hurt me.' Stevelia began lobbying for her sister to be brought home. At first the agent angrily told the family that Blessings was dead, but this was not true and she finally returned last October, with the help of the Malawian government. Blessings said: 'I never thought there would come a time that I would see my family again, my children, I had no idea that there are people on this earth who treat others like slaves.' For Georgina, the trauma has been hard to put behind her. She finds it calming to go down and look out over Lake Malawi, one of Africa's biggest The Malawian government, which also worked with Do Bold, said it has spent more than $160,000 (125,000) to bring 54 women back from Oman. But another woman, 23-year-old Aida Chiwalo, returned home in a coffin. There was no autopsy or investigation done in Oman after her death. Oman's authorities said the labour ministry had not received any complaints from domestic workers of Malawian nationality in 2022 and only one complaint in 2023 that had been settled. 'The majority of these women have been released because money has been paid to the employer, from $1,000 to $2,000,' says Ms Sivolobova. 'So basically, their freedom had to be bought. And that's what bothers me. How can you buy somebody else's freedom?' A spokesperson from Malawi's government told the BBC it was developing rules 'to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration that benefits migrants, their families and the country at large'. But Ms Nyoni, whose WhatsApp group is now more of a support forum for the returnees, says the issue of trafficked domestic workers to Oman highlights a bigger problem in Malawi - that of poverty and unemployment. 'If the young girls had an opportunity to have jobs in Malawi, they were not going to be trapped. We need to fix the nation so that these youngsters will never be trapped like this.' For Georgina, the trauma has been hard to put behind her. She finds it calming to go down and look out over Lake Malawi, one of Africa's biggest. 'When I watch the waves, it reminds me that nothing in life lasts forever. One day all this will be history,' she said. 'I find peace and encourage myself that I will return to how I was - the old Georgina, who was independent.' Georgina testified against the agents who took her to Oman but after two years there has been no convictions. It is estimated there are around two million female domestic workers in the Gulf Arab states. In a survey of 400 women in Oman by migrant charity Do Bold, published by the 2023 US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report, almost all were found to be victims of human trafficking. Nearly a third said they were sexually abused, while half reported physical abuse and discrimination. You can watch the full BBC Africa Eye documentary Trapped in Oman on the BBC Africa YouTube channel. An upcoming true crime series is set to unravel the twisted case of a teen lesbian love affair that ended in a brutal murder. Mary Ann Murphy's lifeless body was found with 73 stab wounds inside her home in the suburban neighborhood of Humble, Texas, in 2012. The 48-year-old had been in bed when she was ambushed by her assailant. It would later transpire that her 15-year-old daughter, Keri, and her 19-year-old girlfriend, Rebecca Keller, were behind the killing after being forbidden from seeing each other. Here, FEMAIL has laid bare the chilling details of the case as Investigation Discovery gets set to release Mean Girl Murders. Mary Ann Murphy's lifeless body was found with 73 stab wounds inside her home in the suburban neighborhood of Humble, Texas, in 2012 It would later transpire that her 15-year-old daughter, Keri (pictured), and 19-year-old girlfriend Rebecca Keller were behind the killing after being forbidden from seeing each other The gruesome tale began back in the fall of 2010 when a new batch of freshmen girls joined the Junior Varsity Choir at Chester W. Nimitz Senior High School. Olivia Smith, who was part of the intake, said: 'Choir was pretty competitive. You want to sing and showcase what you have and sometimes that opportunity wasn't always given so you have to definitely fight for it.' She explained that 'choir brought in so many different types of people' and among them was Keri Ann Murphy. Friends in the docuseries described her as the leader of the pack and added that people 'gravitated towards her' because she was 'very loyal, outspoken and outgoing.' But many admitted that she could have a 'mean girl streak' stemming from insecurity over her appearance as well as having a turbulent home life. Keri, who had an older brother called Scott, lived with mom Mary Ann and father Don who had a 'rocky relationship' and were constantly arguing. Olivia admitted: 'From the outside, Keri's family looked great. There was a lot of love between Keri and her mother, but Keri's parents dynamic from what I heard wasn't the best.' This meant that Keri often appeared to be 'possessive' and fellow choir girl Antoinette Allen dished: 'There were just days that she would come to school and she would just have it out for everyone. She could get very snarky and very rude sometimes.' Among Keri's admirers was classmate Zein Ahmed, who was described as a loner, with her friends believing he had a crush - or even an 'obsession' Nonetheless, among her admirers was classmate Zein Ahmed who was described as a loner. Keri's friends believed that Zein had a crush on - or even an 'obsession' with - her but that this was never reciprocated. But things began to take a dark turn in December 2010 when the choir was practicing for their annual holiday performance. It was during rehearsal that Keri first met Rebecca, who was in Varsity Choir, who was nearly four years her senior. Reflecting on the event, choir performer Amber Gresset said: 'If I could go back in time and change something, I would probably change Keri meeting Rebecca.' Rebecca, who everyone called Bunny, was bisexual and described as 'quiet and a loner,' but she instantly had a connection with Keri. 'It was almost instant that they really liked each other. I think there was something magnetic there,' Olivia said. Following that first meeting, their friendship developed into a relationship in just a matter of weeks. Keri's friend Heather Tucker said: 'I never knew Keri was gay. I always thought she would follow what her mother wanted for her, but we all welcomed Keri with open arms. 'We weren't worried about her sexuality but her parents were another story definitely - because they are southern, they are Christians.' Rebecca had urged Keri to come out to her family just a few months into their relationship, which left her 'extremely nervous, terrified and unsure of how her mother would respond,' Olivia said. Eventually Keri plucked up the courage and told her mom she was in a lesbian relationship. Mary Ann ended up giving her daughter her blessing and Keri's relationship with Rebecca continued going strong. Antoinette dished: 'They were very lovey dovey with each other - holding hands, hugging, kissing each other all of the time. 'It didn't bother me at all but Keri was a freshman and Rebecca was a senior so the age gap was definitely pretty huge.' Zein initially confessed but later retracted his statement with police dismissing the charges and letting him go It was not until the spring of 2011 that Mary Ann found out about Rebecca's age and was furious that a 19-year-old was dating her 15-year-old daughter. She told Keri to end the relationship, but the teen began sneaking out the house and lying to her mom to meet up with her older lover. Meanwhile, friends described how Keri and Rebecca's relationship was becoming increasingly 'unhealthy and possessive.' Tensions increased when Mary Ann discovered that Keri had been breaking her rules and Heather said: 'The absolute final straw was when Keri's father Don came home and found Keri and Bunny in the shower together.' The concerned mom threatened to call the police if she ever caught Keri with Rebecca again. But, just two months later, Mary Ann had woken up in the middle of the night to check that Keri was still in her room. She was incensed to find Rebecca in bed with her young daughter and immediately called the police. Rebecca was arrested for trespassing and Mary Ann got a restraining order issued that forbade contact between the two girls. But things took a tragic turn in July 2012 when Keri and Mary Ann had been alone in the family home - with her father and brother both working night shifts. Rebecca Keller, who was then 19, pled guilty over Mary Ann's death and was sentenced to 60 years behind bars At 1.06am Keri made a frantic 911 call from a neighbors house claiming she had woken up, heard someone busting in the back door and listened to her mom screaming at the assailants to stop. First responders arrived and made their way through the one-story home before making a gruesome discovery in the main bedroom. Mary Ann was found lying on her back on her bed, covered in blood with 73 stab wounds across her arms, chest, face and legs with her throat also cut. Investigators noticed a broken window by the back door but grew suspicious since it was not big enough for an assailant to fit through and also did not allow for anyone to reach the handle of the back door. For the most part the inside of the house did not look ransacked and officers also found a .22 caliber pistol under Mary Ann's pillow that she kept close by for protection. The fact she had not used it seemed to suggest that she had been ambushed and was not aware of what was happening. Officers started to believe that it was an inside job, but with the alibis checking out for Keri's father and brother, the teen herself was asked to sit a polygraph test. Police informed her that she did not perform well during the assessment, which was when she broke down and appeared to tell cops who killed her mom - claiming that Zein had been responsible. She said that a few nights before the murder MaryAnn had caught Keri sneaking back into the house, but did not believe her story when she said that she had gone to investigate after seeing two men outside. Keri alleged that she had asked Zein to come round to the house and bang on the walls to convince her mom otherwise - but claimed things started to go awry when he turned up with a knife. The teen said that she went across to her Mary Ann's room after hearing her scream and saw Zein stabbing her mom. Zein himself initially denied involvement but then confessed, adding that he did not mean to kill her but had just intended to scare Mary Ann. He told police he went upstairs, held a knife over her neck and said 'boo' before stabbing her four times in a panic. He told police that they could find a red-handled knife in his room, which they then recovered and sent it for testing. But his story did not stand up to scrutiny for very long. Zein had described how he had gone 'upstairs,' but the Murphys lived in a one-story house - with Mary Ann suffering many more than just four wounds. The knife also came back clean from the crime lab and Zein's own parents insisted that he had been home all evening - with timed and dated photos to prove it. Investigation Discovery's Mean Girl Murders premieres Monday, March 25 He eventually retracted his confession with police dismissing the charges and letting him go. As a result, officers were forced to turn their attentions back to Keri who had already given two false accounts. Cops were able to get hold of phone records from Keri's secret burner phone that she had been using to speak to Rebecca after Mary Ann had confiscated her main cell. They found that the duo had been talking constantly up until the day of the murder and Rebecca was brought in for questioning. She appeared to crack under interrogation and told police that Keri had been taking about killing Mary Ann for months. The teen lovers had reportedly waited for Mary Ann to fall asleep before Keri invited Rebecca over to the house. Rebecca alleged that Keri had entered her mother's bedroom and stabbed her to death as she watched on from the hallway. She said that together they had then staged the scene to look like a home invasion before also getting rid of the murder weapon and Keri's blood-soaked clothes - before planning to pin the crime on Zein over his unrequited love. 'I would have never thought Keri was capable of murder,' Olivia said of hearing about the apparent confession - with her other friends equally unconvinced about her guilt. Keri's grandmother stumped up the bail to get her out of jail, but the teen continued to ring Rebecca who was still locked up behind bars. The pair appeared to be unaware that police would be monitoring their calls and, in one particular exchange, Rebecca told Keri: 'I'm glad you didn't see what happened in there.' In response, Keri admitted that she did end up seeing the gruesome killing because, although she was in the hallway, she had peered in. 'You weren't supposed to see. I told you to stay in your room,' Rebecca had responded. Keri and Rebecca ended up both pleading guilty. Keri was sentenced to 30 years in prison and Rebecca to 60 years. Olivia concluded: 'If I could go back to the day that Keri met Rebecca, I would say turn away, don't do this, just listen to your mom.' Investigation Discovery's Mean Girl Murders premieres Monday, March 25. Kaylee Hottle on the set of Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures action adventure Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures People around the world know Kaylee Hottle for her roles in the 2021 film "Godzilla vs. Kong" and its forthcoming sequel "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," which debuts Thursday. But those at the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin know her as a classmate, student and friend in addition to her big-screen exploits. "It's my home," Hottle said through an interpreter. "I have everything there. I have my friends, my education and I really enjoy going to school. When I leave school, I miss school because that's my identity. That's who I am. My friends are at school. My place is at school. But when I leave, I bring back all of those things that I've learned and I just want to be back home because I truly enjoy going to school." Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the Godzilla Kong series, Hottle stars as Jia, a deaf girl who is the last of the Iwi Tribe who lived with Kongs on Skull Island. Jia and Kong have a special bond due to their shared homeland with the two communicating throughout the movie. Jia lives with Dr. Ilene Andrews, played by Rebecca Hall, a renowned anthropologist who studies and interacts with Kong as part of her work. Jia plays a key role in the film as a connector between humans and Kong but also in other ways that are revealed as the story goes on. Hottle said while she and the character have a very obvious similarity, they are also both trying to discover themselves along the journey of life. "Without the movie, of course, I would have had a normal life," Hottle said. "I would have had different experiences. I've traveled a lot. I tried different food. I also traveled with my family. A lot of things that I experienced were new experiences for me. If I didn't have this role, I wouldn't have those experiences. I think that I like being able to gain those life experiences while traveling and being an actress." Advertisement Article continues below this ad When Godzilla vs. Kong was first released, the Texas School for the Deaf held a watch party for the movie. She said they had a whole watch day and her friends enjoyed the movie. The 16-year-old Hottle said she loves going to school. "School is where you learn; it's where you experience things; it's where you make friends," Hottle said. "That's just helped me throughout my life." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Hottle has appeared in a few commercials in addition to her movie work. She said she hopes to continue performing in the future. The Simpsons has shown again they must have a crystal ball to predict future events, this time anticipating a special performance almost 30 years before the collab was first announced. In the penultimate episode of hit American sitcom The Simpsons' seventh season that aired back in 1996, Californian rap group Cypress Hill announced a gig with the London Symphony Orchestra. In the episode, Homerpalooza, Homer takes his family to rock festival Hullabalooza, a play on Lollapalooza, in a bid to prove his street cred to them. The family is allowed backstage by security where they witness a magical but unusual collab start between Cypress Hill and the London Symphony Orchestra. This summer, the legendary rap trio really is sharing the stage with the London Symphony Orchestra, performing a special rendition of their album Black Sunday. Another Simpsons prediction has come true almost 30 years later as Cypress Hill join forces with London Symphony Orchestra. The joke appeared in this episode: Homerpalooza in 1996 Cypress Hill, who have announced they will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall this summer with the London Symphony Orchestra, brings a 1996 Simpsons joke to life During the episode of The Simpsons, a puzzled coordinator backstage asked: 'Hello bands, who is playing with the London Symphony Orchestra?' Nobody responded, much to his annoyance and he continued: 'Come on people, somebody ordered the London Symphony Orchestra, possibly while high!' He then accused the hip hop group of ordering the musicians to play with them, saying: 'Cypress Hill, I'm looking in your direction'. The panicked California collective then whispered to each other: 'Hey man did we order an orchestra? What's up with this orchestra, where'd this orchestra come from?' A member of the trio continued: 'No one told me about this man. We gotta do something,' before replying to the coordinator: 'Yeah, yeah, we think we did.' Turning to the orchestra, who were all suited and booted in black tuxedos he asked: 'Do you know Insane in the Brain?' The orchestra's violinist admitted: 'We mostly know classical...but we could give it a shot.' Their collaboration impressed Marge who beamed: 'Now this, I like'. After the mid-90s episode, fans of the popular rap group hoped that the on-screen joke would one day become reality and almost three decades later they have confirmed this. Cypress Hill said: 'We are thrilled to be performing with the London Symphony Orchestra in such a prestigious venue as the Royal Albert Hall. It's a dream come true, a collaboration only The Simpsons could have predicted.' The group are due to play with the orchestra on July 10 at the Royal Albert Hall. Tickets go on sale at 10am on March 27, where fans can watch the California collective play songs from their 90s album Black Sunday, amongst other hits. Kathryn McDowell DBE, the LSO's Managing Director said: 'After years of social media teasing it, many fans may have started to believe it would only be a pipedream but the LSO is delighted to finally be joining Cypress Hill on stage and in person, and look forward to creating an unforgettable musical moment! 'Many thanks to the creators of The Simpsons for the idea and to AEG Artistic and PolyArts for making it all happen'. These paw-dorable shots show a group of senior dogs taking a happy outlook on older life as they dive to catch treats. The pups are seen plunging into the air with their jaws wide for the camera, ready to snap up a yummy treat. This incredible photographer has snapped more than 200 dogs over the years. More than 10,000 photos have made their way into this collection. Christian Vieler, 53, from Selm, Germany, took the pictures. Kiko the dog is pictured catching a treat as part of a collection of more than 10,000 photos of older dogs catching treats The collection, by German photographer Christian Vieler, 53, from Selm, Germany, shows the pooches' 'happy outlook on life' Here, Cuba the dog is seen with his eyes open in excitement as he opens his mouth in anticipation for the treat Lucky the dog is another of the more than 200 dogs who were snapped by the photographer, who has built a collection of over 10,000 pictures TREATS: Murphy (pictured, left) and Cocco BabyDoll (pictured, right) show their age has not reduced their appetite for snacks According to snapper Christian Vieler, the project is an ongoing one, and he intends to keep taking photos of senior dogs Poldi the dog (pictured, left) is captured catching his treat in the sweet photograph, part of the collection of more than 10,000 DROOL: This senior dog is just seconds away from opening his jaws and snapping up that tasty treat These dogs may be older, but they are still on the ball when it comes to keeping their eye on the ball when it comes to catching their treats PERFECT TIMING: This pooch is a split second away from chomping on this treat, which is just mili seconds away from his jaws He said: 'It's an ongoing project, I take pics of every senior I can get. 'I started photographing senior citizens when I realised how my own dog was slowly ageing by my side. 'It will stay with me for the rest of my life - beautiful and sad at the same time. 'It becomes more difficult when the dogs become 'tired' and can no longer concentrate on me. 'Then I sometimes only have a handful of options that have to work on the first attempt.' Neo the dog (pictured) is less worried about posing stylishly, and more worried about sure he catches that treat in this snap Paula Lotte the dog (pictured) is captured by the photograph just after catching the tasty treat on her tongue SAY CHEESE: Jimmy the dog (pictured, left) and fellow pooch Asta (pictured, right) enjoy their tasty tidbits Christian Vieler is the photographer who took all the snaps of the ageing pooches for his ever-growing collection Lady Amelia tied the knot with Greg in March last year in South Africa Lady Amelia Spencer has been celebrating her one year wedding anniversary with a return to her lavish honeymoon destination. The socialite, 31, tied the knot with her personal trainer husband Greg Mallett, 33, in March last year in a stunning ceremony in South Africa, before jetting off to the Maldives. A year on, Princess Diana's niece has once again indulged in a week of sun and gorgeous white sands at the island's luxurious five-star resort Coco Bodu Hithi, where she also stayed for her honeymoon. Posting to her Instagram story, Lady Amelia announced she was 'arriving back to paradise' and snapped a picture of her spacious hotel room, 'where we spent the first week of our honeymoon'. She cosied up to Greg for a sun-soaked jet ski ride and the couple enjoyed a fresh morning swim with the turtles at Turtle Point, just a 15 minute boat drive from the island. Lady Amelia Spencer, 31, has been soaking up the sun as she returned to her honeymoon destination in the Maldives The socialite, 31, tied the knot with her personal trainer husband Greg Mallett, 33, in March last year in South Africa (pictured this week on their anniversary trip) Later, they shared a look at their intimate anniversary dinner on a private beach, as they were bathed in candlelight underneath the stars - while reflecting on the special memories from their honeymoon the year before. The model, who is the twin sister of Lady Eliza Spencer, showed off her stunning physique in a blue one-piece swimsuit from Heidi Klein swimwear, and also modelled a white Melissa Odabash swimsuit. In between moments of relaxation, nutrition guru Greg posted videos of his workouts, with his adoring wife hailing him an 'inspiration'. The stunning couple have been staying in the Coco Residence - the most luxurious accommodation in the resort. It boasts an extensive pillow selection, exquisite decor and a four-poster daybed and costs in excess of 600 per night - even providing a butler service for their every need. Amelia and Greg also have an infinity pool at their disposal, chef-cooked meals and have been surrounded by white sands and stunning views of the Indian Ocean. The resort is a popular choice with celebrities, having hosted the likes of former England captain, John Terry, supermodel Adwoa Aboah, actress Billie Piper, TV personality and presenter, Laura Whitmore, and most recently, star of Netflixs The Gentleman, Kaya Scodelario. Having arrived in the resort last Wednesday, Lady Amelia and Greg celebrated their anniversary on Thursday and are continuing to soak up the luscious sunshine. They shared an intimate look at their anniversary dinner on a private beach, as they were bathed in candlelight underneath the stars It is a very special trip for the socialite - as they return to their honeymoon destination one year on The couple enjoyed a fresh morning swim with the turtles at Turtle Point, just a 15 minute boat drive from the island Lady Amelia modelled a white Melissa Odabash swimsuit as she lay on decking beside the stunning turquoise waters The model, who is the twin sister of Lady Eliza Spencer, showed off her stunning physique in a blue one-piece swimsuit from Heidi Klein swimwear Taking to Instagram, she announced she was 'arriving back to paradise' at the Coco Resort in the Maldives, which is where she spent the first week of her honeymoon last year Lady Amelia and Greg tied the knot in March last year in an exclusive venue La Cotte Farm in South Africa. According to Hello! Magazine, she wore a custom Atelier Versace gown that took over two months to create, and she was walked down the aisle by her brother, Samuel. The newlyweds then lived the dream as they enjoyed a lavish honeymoon in the Maldives. The society beauty, who is the cousin of Princes William and Harry, met her real estate beau while they were both studying at the University of Cape Town 13 years ago before Greg popped the question in 2020 at the exclusive Clouds Wine & Guest Estate in Stellenbosch. The pair (pictured together on their honeymoon last year) first met through mutual friends in Cape Town 13 years ago The luxurious five-star resort Coco Bodu Hithi in the Maldives, where Amelia and Greg are staying Announcing their engagement on Instagram, Greg wrote: 'So this was the best day of my life. 22nd of July 2020, I asked the love of my life to spend the rest of her life with me and she said YES. 'Couldn't be happier and I love you with all my heart @ameliaspencer15.' Speaking to Hello! magazine shortly afterwards, Greg explained how he presented Amelia with a pink box - which contained eight smaller ones. He said: 'In each box was a photograph of a "first time". The final box contained a note instead of a picture, that said: "But most importantly, I know that you will remember tonight as the night that I proposed." 'As Amelia was reading the note, I dropped to one knee with the ring.' 'I burst out crying,' Amelia added. 'I was in shock, I said: "Yes, yes, yes!" and gave him a hug and a kiss. I'm used to Greg being very romantic but I really had no idea.' A mother has given birth to her fifth child while swimming in the sea at 2am with no medical assistance. Josy Cornelius welcomed her son - named Maui - in the Caribbean Sea of Nicaragua after moving to the island specifically for two months just to give birth to her child. The 38-year-old has gone into labor in the ocean twice and believes different oceans can offer different birth experiences. Josy believes in 'free birth' welcoming a child without the help of medical professionals. And she cares so deeply about the conditions in which she raises her children that, while expecting her youngest, she even moved her family hundreds of miles away to experience the ultimate ocean birth. Josy Cornelius welcomed her baby boy Maui after giving birth to him in the Caribbean Sea at 2am The mother-of-five said: 'Women should plan their pregnancy and birth the same way they plan their dream wedding: no distance too far, no budget too tight, no idea too specific. 'This is the best prerequisite for the dream birth.' Baby Maui was born in the Caribbean Ocean at around 2am local time on September 11, 2023. The family - including their 11-year-old daughter and three older boys aged seven, three, and two - had moved to a Caribbean island in Nicaragua specifically to prepare for his birth. Josy then filmed a 'very special' video of the ocean birth - which she said was a 'flawless experience'. In the clip posted on Instagram, which has racked up nearly 19,000 views and over 900 likes, the mother is seen cradling her newborn while still in the ocean. In another, she smiled alongside her husband Benni, 43, and paddled in the water. Josy previously shared snaps of herself and Benni at their local beach in Nicaragua, Playa Majagual, to mark Bodhi's birth in 2022. Josy (pictured with Maui) believes in 'free birth' welcoming a child without the help of medical professionals The 38-year-old has gone into labor in the ocean twice and believes different oceans can offer different birth experiences Josy filmed a 'very special' video of the ocean birth, cradling her newborn while still in the ocean (pictured) Josy said: 'I planned the last birth meticulously. The preparation took over 70 weeks. 'Our first ocean baby was just five days old when I imagined that our next baby would be born in the Caribbean sea.' After deciding to welcome her youngest child in the Caribbean sea, Josy and her clan moved to an island two months before her due date. She said: 'There's a lot of organisation behind it. We had someone look after our farm and then we went on holiday for eight weeks. 'Since I worked online, this wasn't a problem. I have also looked after my clients from the Caribbean. 'No investment was too big to make this unforgettable moment that shaped our lives come true. 'We spent the two months there during the birth and postpartum period and also in preparation. 'The Caribbean Ocean speaks a different language. The waves are gentle. The colors are brighter and there are many pristine beaches with privacy. Josy says the arrival of Maui has now completed the family - meaning no more ocean births 'Everything we planned was perfect - what we couldn't plan was our baby wanting to come out in the middle of the night!' Users flocked to the comments to share their reactions, with many people offering their support and congratulations. They said: 'I'm in total awe of you! Look at how you made this happen, you are living proof that the women can claim the births they want [] And huge congratulations my friend to you and your family. 'All the best love and good luck on the birth of your little miracle and to your wonderful family'. But the reaction has not been entirely positive, and not everyone is convinced that seawater births are safe. After Josy shared the first video of her free birth of 2022, she was met with hate online from people critical of her decision to have a natural birth in the water. One concerned commenter asked: 'Is this sanitary? There's a lot of bacteria in the sea.' Another wrote: 'What a shock for that bubba from a warm womb to the cold ocean.' There are no available statistics for how many freebirths take place around the world each year, however the number is believed to be small but growing. The process is fraught with controversy, after a California woman's baby was stillborn in 2018 following a six-day labor with no medical intervention. Liesel Teen, a labor and delivery nurse and the founder of Mommy Labor Nurse, previously told Newsweek: 'Unassisted birth, also referred to as 'freebirth' or unattended birth, isn't something I ever recommend. 'Giving birth in the ocean comes with its own set of risks including the temperature of the water, the unpredictability of tides and waves, and risk of infection due to harmful bacteria or pathogens in the water.' Josy took an eight week holiday, allowing her to prepare for her 'dream' ocean birth. Pictured with her five children Josy hopes that she can help get rid of the 'collective fear of childbirth' by promoting free birthing Josy said: 'I didn't really respond to the hate because I knew it just showed how ignorant and uninformed society is. 'I do understand the confusion after my first sea birth. The world is not ready for a new way of thinking about birth. People are ignorant. It just proved to me had to keep going. 'Many people don't realise that midwives also add salt to the water during home births or birth centres. 'Salt water offers numerous benefits. Contractions in water are vastly different from those on land. What is a 'free birth' and is it safe? A free birth or Unassisted Childbirth (UC) refers to when a woman chooses to give birth at home or elsewhere without the assistance of a healthcare professional, according to Doula UK. While the medical profession considers the practice a risk to both mother and baby, the organisation says it's a 'perfectly legal and legitimate informed choice for a woman to make in the UK'. However, article 45 of the Nursing and Midwifery Order it is an offence for any unqualified person to deliver a baby unless it is an emergency. Statistics on the number of UCs in the UK have not been collected by the NHS. In the US, around 7,000 babies are born a year without medical assistance. On Instagram alone the Freebirth Society of which Josy was a member has more than 22,000 members. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) say women should be supported to have the birth they choose. But it insisted that 'safety is paramount' and families need to be aware of the risks of going it alone, without the help of a medic or midwife. Professor Asma Khalil, vice president of the RCOG, added: 'Women and people should have the right to give birth in an environment in which they feel comfortable, and should be supported in their birth choice. 'However, safety is paramount and, while most births are uncomplicated, advising women about the potential risks is crucial for informed decision-making. 'Women opting for unassisted births need awareness of the potential challenges and delays in accessing medical assistance if complications arise, as emergency intervention may be necessary, even for those at low risk. 'Home births, supported by a midwife, may be suitable for healthy, low-risk women who are having a second or subsequent child and have had a straightforward pregnancy. 'However, for women having their first baby, evidence shows a home birth slightly increases the risk of a poor outcome for the baby. 'Some degree of anxiety about giving birth is common in many expectant mothers. 'Women should be given the opportunity to address their fears and past traumas via open discussions with their midwife or obstetrician.' Advertisement 'The body doesn't need that many contractions in such short intervals. Most obstetricians know that today.' 'For far too long, childbirth has been viewed as a threat and treated medically as if it were a fatal illness. Like many other freebirthers, I prove otherwise. 'We have to get rid of the collective fear of childbirth.' Josy has some medical work experience after working in medical technology for several years, focusing on cardiology. She then volunteered in a children's clinic with a focus on premature and high-risk births, completing further training in intensive care. Josy previously went viral after sharing a video of her giving birth to her son Bodhi in the Pacific Ocean in 2022 Jossi and her husband Benni, 43, (pictured) emigrated to Nicaragua from Germany where they met Now Josy is helping other women as a doula under the name @OceanBirthMom on Instagram. She worked with 119 parents in 2023. She is convinced that a natural birth offers the greatest safety for mother and child and says that Maui's arrival has 'completed' the family. Josy and Benni emigrated to Nicaragua from Germany where they met and had their first child together, Marley Mune. She added: 'I have five children, born from five regions of the world. I couldn't be more blessed. 'My last three babies were born within the last three years.' Fresh posters for the upcoming royal drama depicting the life of Queen Maxima of the Netherlands have been unveiled. Dutch streamer Videoland has provided royal fans with a glimpse into the highly-anticipated series - Maxima Zorreguieta: Motherland - by Mill Street Films. Released on 20 April, the six-part show will dramatise the Dutch Queen's upbringing in Argentina and how a chance meeting with the then Prince Willem-Alexander, 56, changed the course of her life forever. The new press shots depict Delfina Chaves as Maxima, looking regal in a red dress. The actress is tipped for superstardom, just like Meg Bellamy - who played Kate Middleton in the final season of the Netflix series The Crown. Meanwhile, Martijn Lakemeier - who plays the monarch in his younger years looks dapper in a black suit. Dutch streamer Videoland has released press shots ahead of the six-part series titled Maxima Zorreguieta: Motherland - by Mill Street Films Maxima's father, Juan Antonio Zorreguieta Bonorino, played by Daniel Freire, is depicted alongside his wife, Cesina Stefanini Borella. The series will delve into Juan's relationship with his daughter and his controversial political background. Juan had served as the Minister of Agriculture under the regime of General Jorge Rafael Videla, commander in chief of the army and a member of the right-wing junta that ran Argentina. Elsewhere on the poster, Maxima's mother, Cesina Stefanini Borella, played by Maria Pame, looked stylish in a chic ensemble. Willem-Alexander's parents, Beatrix of the Netherlands, played by Elsie de Brauw, and Prince Claus, played by Sebastian Koch, also feature in the new shots. Both donning traditional attire, the royal couple gazes towards the camera in a formal shot. It comes after the sizzling trailer for a series all about Queen Maxima of the Netherlands' life was released. Dutch streamer Videoland released a teaser ahead of the six-part series - by Mill Street Films - dropping on April 20. Delfina Chaves (left), 27, has been cast as Queen Maxima (right) of the Netherlands in the new TV series of the royal's life 30-year-old Dutch actor, Martijn Lakemeier (left), will depict King Willem-Alexander (right) in the new series The parents of Queen Maxima, Juan Antonio Zorreguieta Bonorino and Cesina Stefanini Borella (both pictured right) will be played by Daniel Freire and Maria Pame (both pictured left) Willem-Alexander's parents will be played by Elsie de Brauw (pictured left) and Sebastian Koch (pictured right) Scenes recreating her first meeting with King Willem-Alexander during a fair in Seville in 1999 are interlaced with the couple's highs and lows, including meeting her future in-laws, Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg, and getting engaged. The two-minute clip started with a narration from Delfina Chaves - who plays the titular role - over footage of a man and his daughter spending time together in a field in Argentina, where Maxima grew up. READ MORE: Meet the glamorous Argentinian actress, Delfina Chaves Advertisement 'My father always told me I had to reach for the highest, to work hard. He taught me everything,' the voiceover said. 'I am who I am because of him.' Later, Maxima can be seen taking photos at a party during the annual Seville Spring Fair 25 years ago, sporting a chic scarlet off-the shoulder dress. 'Maxima, here is Wilhelm-Alexander, prince of the Netherlands,' a friend said in introduction. Martijn Lakemeier - who plays the monarch - then asked Maxima 'how an Argentinian lady ended up on Wall Street', in reference to her time as vice president of the emerging markets division of Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in New York. 'That's a long story,' she replied. 'Well I have time,' Wilhelm-Alexander quipped back flirtatiously. Another clip then showed the couple enjoying some drinks together, when Maxima remarked that 'it must be hard being a Crown Prince'. 'It's not the most common question I get on a first date,' he said, flustered, before realising his slip-up and correcting: 'Day, first day.' A montage of the royals' romantic antics then portray Wilhelm-Alexander showing up with a bouquet of roses, the couple sharing a passionate kiss, and walking up to meet Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg. Dutch streamer Videoland previously released a teaser ahead of the six-part series - by Mill Street Films - airing this Spring The drama will cover Queen Maxima 's upbringing in Argentina and how a chance meeting with King Willem-Alexander changed the course of her life forever A montage of the royals' romantic antics then portray Wilhelm-Alexander showing up with a bouquet of roses, the couple sharing a passionate kiss, and walking up to meet Beatrix of the Netherlands and Claus von Amsberg Beatrix - then Queen of the Netherlands - can be seen telling Maxima: 'I can see why he likes you.' Elsewhere, Claus von Amsberg - played by Sebastian Koch - offered his sage wisdom to a fellow non-royal marrying into the family: 'You want some advice from an old veteran? Stay where you are.' The last scene, set to dramatic music, show Maxima and Wilhelm-Alexander as he can be heard saying: 'Screw everyone - all I care about is you and what makes you happy.' The drama will cover Queen Maxima's upbringing in Argentina and how a chance meeting with King Willem-Alexander changed the course of her life forever. In November, photographs of the series surfaced on X, formerly known as Twitter - just a few months after filming began in New York. They show Maxima, played by Delfina, chatting to the then Prince Willem-Alexander. Another captured the future Queen as she prepared to announce her engagement to the world in 2001, while a trailer showed the royal couple eagerly dancing with each other upon first meeting in April 1999. Another captured the future Queen as she prepared to announce her engagement to the world in 2001 Willem-Alexander showing off Maxima's ring at a 2001 press conference, after their engagement was announced The then Prince Willem-Alexander initially hid his royal status from his future wife. When he finally admitted the truth, she thought it was a joke. Delfina, 27, is taking on the role of the Dutch Queen. She is already a mega star in Maxima's home country - having appeared in hit shows such as Love After Loving, Rap Battlefield and The Secret of the Greco Family. The glitzy adaptation, comprising three directors, Saskia Diesing, Joosje Duk, and Ivan Lopez Nunez, is based on the historical novel of the same name by Marcia Luyten. It will follow Maxima's transition into royal life and the obstacles she had to overcome along the way, including the tragic death of a sister and Dutch public anger about her father's involvement in the military junta. Maxima's father was an established politician, serving as the Minister of Agriculture under the regime of General Jorge Rafael Videla, commander in chief of the army and a member of the right-wing junta that ran Argentina. The future Queen was educated at the English-style Northlands school in the city where she received a bilingual baccalaureate in 1988, speaking fluently in her native Spanish and English. Pictured (right) with friends in Buenos Aires Maxima and Willem attend the Wedding of Princess Martha Louise of Norway in Trondheim His involvement in the dictatorship would later become an issue for Maxima to confront. It is remembered as the period of the 'dirty war' against political opponents in Argentina. Up to 30,000 people died. Maxima spent her childhood in Buenos Aires with two brothers, one sister and three half-sisters. The future Queen was educated at the English-style Northlands school in the city, where she received a bilingual baccalaureate in 1988, speaking fluently in her native Spanish and English. She later learned to speak Dutch as well as conversational French. She went on to study at the Universidad Catolica Argentina, where she graduated with a degree in economics in 1995. While at university, Maxima revealed her strong-willed nature by confronting a priest in a theology class who said 'women should serve men' to which she retorted 'why am I actually studying then?' leading her to be removed from the class. After graduating, she had a brief stint working in Buenos Aires before relocating to the United States where she took on a series of high-flying roles. These included being vice president of Latin American Institutional Sales for the finance house HSBC James Capel Inc. in New York before moving to Deutsche Bank, where she became vice president of Institutional Sales. The newlyweds waving to the crowd on the balcony of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam in February 2002 Little did she know that in April 1999, while on holiday in Seville, she would meet the love of her life. The pair had both been attending a party at the annual Seville Spring Fair where she bumped into her future husband Prince Willem-Alexander. Although they were in a serious relationship, Maxima did her best to keep the prince's identity secret. She said: 'I would tell them something different (about Willem) every time, but at some point, there was nothing for it other than to say: 'He's the Prince of the Netherlands.'' The next year, in May 2000, Maxima relocated to work at the European Union Representative Office of Deutsche Bank in Brussels, Belgium. Soon after the move, in 2001, Willem proposed to Maxima while ice-skating on a pond near Huis ten Bosch Palace. The couple were married on 1 February 2002 at Amsterdam's Nieuwe Kerk, however, it was not straightforward leading up to the wedding and her father's past threatened their marriage. It became a point of national debate in the Netherlands whether Maxima could become part of the royal family because of her father's ties with the right-wing junta that ran Argentina. Despite ongoing controversies, Willem-Alexander's mother, Queen Beatrix at the time, set to be played by Elsie de Brauw, continued to welcome Maxima into their home. Maxima and Willem were only allowed to marry after the Dutch parliament investigating her father's past concluded that the future Queen had known nothing of the war atrocities. She had been in primary school during the junta years. Maxima managed to overcome the controversy surrounding their marriage amazingly, winning over the Dutch people with her smile, charisma and intelligence. The couple have three children together, Princess Amelia, 19, Princess Alexia, 17 and Princess Ariane, 15. Told from Maxima's perspective, the series sets out to explain the controversy surrounding her father's political career while she simultaneously navigated her relationship with the crown prince. The daughter of Donna Air and Damien Aspinall took to TikTok to share the clip Donna Air's daughter has shared touching footage of her sharing a bed with orphaned lion cubs, who she's preparing for life in the wild. Freya Aspinall, 20, has reared two lion cubs, Zemo and Zala, for six months at Howletts Animal Park in Kent after their mother sadly died from a uterus infection last June. The conservationist took to TikTok to share a glimpse into her role as a mother figure to the two cubs. Freya has followed in the footsteps of her conservationist father, Damian Aspinall, 63, and dedicates her time to caring for various animals in the sanctuary. In the heartwarming clip, Freya cuddled Zemo and Zala as they slept beside her in bed. Freya Aspinall (pictured) took to TikTok to share footage of herself cuddling two lion cubs as they slept Freya made it clear to her followers that she does not plan to domesticate Zemo and Zala. She wrote: 'Sleeping with lions for six months because their mother died at our rescue sanctuary. 'They are not pets. We hate zoos. They are going back to Africa soon where they belong.' 'I became their mother figure and had to hand raise them. They were sleeping as they were too young to be outside and could [have] died.' Freya's father, Damian Aspinall, owns The Aspinall Foundation, which partners with Howletts. Her grandfather John Aspinall founded Howletts. The Aspinall Foundation is British charity that strives to promote wildlife conservation. It also runs projects abroad to protect endangered species. The charity, which was founded in 1984, also aims to return captive animals back to the wild. The lions will soon be sent to Africa to live in the wild as part of a larger effort by Howletts and The Aspinall Foundation. The daughter of Donna Air, 44, and Damien Aspinall stepped in as a mother figure to the lion cubs after their mother died last June The cubs play at Howletts in the day before moving to Freya's bedroom each night to sleep, according to The Times. 'If anyone says the lions are humanised or domesticated, no,' she said. 'If anything, they lionise me. I literally become a lion I speak lion. 'Hand-rearing is the last option possible, but I am their mother figure,' she told the newspaper.' She added: 'It's basically like raising two children.' Freya's mother Donna Air was just 21 when she met and fell in love with multimillionaire Damian, who was 40 at the time. They were introduced at a dinner party in 2000 by their mutual friend, former It Girl Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, and went on to have a seven year relationship. The couple famously hit the headlines when Freya was a baby, announcing they were planning to place their daughter in a gorilla enclosure at Damian's animal park and allow her to be carried off by the female of the group. Freya informed her followers that the cubs are not pets and that they will return to Africa, which is 'where they belong', according to Freya It was a ritual Damian had carried out with his first two daughters, Tansy, 33, and Clary, 30, from his 15-year marriage to Louise Sebag-Montefiore. The couple placed baby Freya in the gorilla enclosure at Howletts and let the female of the group carry her off. Describing his plans for Freya at the time, Aspinall told London's Evening Standard: 'It's a ritual. I'll probably give her to the dominant female who will take her off, sex her, and introduce her to the others. 'I did this with my other daughters, now it's Freya's turn.' Air fully approved of the plan because she did not believe that Freya would be in any danger. 'Why would I not trust them? I know them, I grew up with them. They are my friends,' Aspinall said. However, when she signed her contract a source said she would use her profile to promote conservation issues, rather than being a typical 'nepo baby'. She describes herself as a 'mini version' of her dad, and said that if she ever books a magazine cover it will be as a conservationist rather than a model. 'I grew up with animals and couldn't imagine my world without them,' Freya told the FT. 'This is in my blood I've always known what I wanted to do. Australian shoppers are obsessed with a new beauty trend - but hundreds claim their grandmothers have been using the popular skincare buy since the 1950s. Olay's sensitive moisturising lotion ($8 now on sale, usually $16) has recently had a resurgence. British influencer Shannon Mitchell revealed that her 96-year-old grandmother swears by the product and has used it every day for over 70 years - and she still has clear skin. 'Olay is the secret to how well my nan has aged,' she said in a video. 'It promises to provide all day moisture and leaves your skin feeling soft and nourished.' You can find the popular product at most pharmacies and supermarkets in Australia including Coles, Woolworths, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, and more. Melbourne influencer Christina Podolyan swears by Olay's skincare products Shannon added, 'This is a new staple in my skincare. It would be amazing under make up, it just soaked into my skin and has such a light consistency.' Australian makeup guru Louise B also ran to the supermarket to get her hands on the popular buy after hearing that it 'helps you stay looking young'. 'As soon as I saw people on TikTok mention that them, their mama, and grandmother do not age thanks to this cream, I ran!' she wrote in a video. 'It's half price at Coles right now for $8!' The American skincare brand was first launched in 1952, and its tagline is 'ageless'. With the recent trend of Gen Z worrying about how they are going to look as they get older, anti-ageing products have been on the rise. Olay's sensitive moisturising lotion ($8 now on sale, usually $16) has recently had a resurgence Hundreds of Australian beauty lovers shared their experiences with the brand online. 'I use the Olay retinol and I'm 32 this year,' one said. 'People think I've just turned 20.' 'Listen don't sleep on this!' another advised. 'My great aunt used Oil of Olay until she was 98 and she looked great!' A professional wrote: 'I've been a beauty therapist for 20 years and a lot of my clients use Olay - they have beautiful skin.' The quirky Shamballa bracelet worn by King Frederik of Denmark on the day he ascended to the throne was a gift from his four children. Eagle-eyed royal watchers have long speculated about the bracelet which was seen poking out from his right sleeve as he waved at the crowd alongside his wife, Queen Mary. Many assumed it was part of the royal's promise to bring the monarchy forward - a reflection of his 'spiritual outlook'. This theory was popular as the king wore the bracelet on his right hand, symbolising power, action and an urge to get things done. But now the king himself has revealed the truth behind the expensive accessory, noting it was a 'personal gift from four children to their father'. The quirky Shamballa bracelet worn by King Frederik of Denmark on the day he ascended to the throne was a gift from his four children The bracelet is by Shamballa Jewels and is worth $4400 The bracelet is one of the cheapest of the Shamballa collection, and retails for about $4400 AUD. It is made using matte black ceramic beads, two 18k yellow gold beads and diamonds. More expensive options from the trendy brand cost up to $27,000. It is now on display at the Frederik 10 - King of Tomorrow exhibition at the Amalienborg Museum. 'Full of hopes and love. The bracelet is worn by Frederik 10th for the proclamation on the balcony of Christiansborg Castle. Below on the Palace square are the cheering crowds. By his side the base itself: Queen Mary and their four children,' the sign next to the bracelet reads. It was gifted to the king for the coronation, by his four children The owners of Shamballa Jewels, Mikkel and Mads Kornerup previously told Danish tabloid BT they could confirm the bracelet was from their collection. However, they refused to acknowledge if it was paid for or gifted. The new information suggests the King and Queen's children purchased the bracelet for their dad's big day. The royal family have close ties with the Danish jewelers, Queen Mary even opened their Soho store in 2017. Adventurers are flocking to a dreamy beach just outside Sydney that looks straight out of a tropical island. Wattamolla Beach is an idyllic hidden cove tucked away in Sydney's Royal National Park, an hour south of the CBD. Pristine golden sands contrast the deep blue ocean lined with lush forests and cabbage palm trees. At the back of the lagoon, water cascades down a towering six-metre rocky cliff face into the sea below where visitors enjoy paddling in the calm waters. Wattamolla Beach is a popular spot for families with kids thanks to its still, shallow water and stretching sandy shores giving everyone plenty of room to enjoy the hidden gem even on its busiest days. Wattamolla Beach is an idyllic hidden cover tucked away in Sydney's Royal National Park an hour south of the CBD Pristine golden sands contrast the deep blue and calm ocean lined with lush forests and cabbage palm trees Wattamolla Beach is nestled between Garie Beach and Marley Beach and accessible by car from Audley via Sir Bertram Stephens Drive and Wattamolla Road The scenic secret spot has been hailed as one of Sydney's 'greatest treasures' and one of the city's best places to swim, snorkel, surf or sunbathe. 'This place is a place full of surprises,' one traveller said and another wrote: 'Forget Asia. Amazing beach with a lagoon and powder sand.' 'Wandering along the shoreline at Wattomola Beach, you'll discover a captivating beach experience enriched by an abundance of shells. The rhythmic sound of waves accompanies your exploration, and the shoreline is adorned with various seashells, each telling its unique story,' a third described. Wattamolla Beach is a popular spot for young families thanks to its still, shallow water and stretching shores giving everyone room to enjoy the hidden gem even on its busiest days At the back of the lagoon, water cascades down a towering six-metre rocky cliff face into the sea below where visitors enjoy paddling in the placid sea One beach lover said Wattamolla was a 'slice of paradise' even on a cloudy day and someone else raved about the 'unique' waterfall Others noted there is a cash-only entry fee to get into Royal National Park and it is only open to the public between 7:00am and 8:30pm 'As you stroll, keep an eye out for live crabs scuttling across the rocks, adding a dynamic and lively aspect to the coastal environment. The interplay of shells and live crabs creates a vibrant tapestry, making your beach experience at Wattomola both visually stunning.' One said Wattamolla was a 'slice of paradise' even on a cloudy day and someone else raved about the 'unique' waterfall. Others noted there is a cash-only entry fee to get into Royal National Park and it is only open to the public between 7:00am and 8:30pm. Wattamolla Beach is nestled between Garie Beach and Marley Beach and accessible by car from Audley via Sir Bertram Stephens Drive and Wattamolla Road. A taxpayer-funded Colorado lab that handles the world's deadliest viruses has suffered a shocking number of accidents in recent years, DailyMail.com can reveal. Bombshell documents show there were at least 50 incidents involving safety control lapses at Colorado State University between 2020 and 2023, including workers who were bitten by a Covid-infected hamster, splashed in the face with blood from mice with tuberculosis and scratched by rabies-infected cats. The reports were never disclosed to the public despite occurring at the height of the Covid pandemic, which many officials, including the FBI, suspect was borne out of a similar lab accident in China. Experts slammed what they called a 'disturbing lack of transparency' from the facility and warned it would only erode public trust in America's public health institutions. Workers were bitten by a Covid-infected hamster and splashed in the face with blood from mice with tuberculosis at the Colorado labs in recent years (stock images) In late 2022, a bat infected with MERS-CoV bit a researcher while being put back in its cage. Pictured: Photos of bats confined at a Maryland zoo that shipped the animals to a different NIH lab in Maryland CSU has been a premier research facility for studying bats since the 1980s and is widely regarded as a leading institution in infectious disease and veterinary medicine (pictured, the vet school where some of the incidents are believed to have occurred) The documents, which include meeting minutes, emails and internal reports, were obtained by FOIA requests by the campaign group the White Coat Waste Project and shared exclusively with DailyMail.com. They show a pattern of accidents between May 2020 and July 2023 involving disease-ridden cats, rodents and bats that were never announced publicly and that infected researchers. Officials blamed the increase in accidents on the stress of the pandemic causing staff to 'rush' their work. On two separate occasions in 2020, researchers working with hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2 were bitten by the rodents and another contracted Zika virus after experimenting with infected mosquitoes. An August 2022 report stated a researcher experimenting on a mouse infected with a highly infectious strain of tuberculosis was splashed in the face with contents of a syringe, which contained a solution and possibly the animals blood, while wearing only 'eye protection.' Multiple reports of bites and scratches by rabies-infected cats were discussed in the incident reports, and in late 2022, it was noted a bat infected with MERS-CoV had bitten a researcher while being put back in its cage. Experts say the newly revealed documents raise serious safety concerns about the university's plan to construct a new bat lab later this year. Dr Bryce Nickels, co-founder of the non-profit Biosafety Now and a genetics professor at Rutgers University, told DailyMail.com: Dozens of laboratory accidents at CSU have become known only because of a public records request. This is ridiculous, and once again underscores a disturbing lack of transparency. Irrespective of their funding sources, researchers have an ethical obligation to report any lab accidents that could pose risks to the public. Public reporting of lab accidents should be standard practice, not an issue up for debate. And Sen Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, told DailyMail.com: 'Lab leaks are inevitable and we don't want the next outbreak to happen in our own backyard or near our military bases.' Experts say the newly revealed documents raise serious safety concerns about the university's plan to construct a new bat lab later this year, the plans for which are shown above. The new bat lab on Colorado State University's campus will import, house, breed and experiment on dozens to hundreds of bats All of the reports were included in recorded minutes from meetings of the universitys Institutional Biosafety Committee, which oversees activities and research that involve infectious agents or biological samples at CSU. Minutes from a May 2020 meeting blame the lab accidents up until that point on the pandemic, with members stating: The increase in incident frequency was discussed by the committee. It seems that an increase in stress due to Covid-19 situations both at home and at work may be impacting them. 'There is also a mandate to be on campus as little as possible for critical research functions, which may be causing people to rush. But documents show that lapses continued to occur through 2023, many of which could have resulted in potentially catastrophic outbreaks. The university has a student population of nearly 33,000 and the surrounding city, Fort Collins, Colorado, is home to approximately 168,500 people. In nearly every incident recorded, the public was not notified or made aware of the potential public health risks. CSU said in a statement to DailyMail.com: Colorado State University is one of the nations leading research institutions in a host of vital areas to find cures and improve the human condition. 'In instances when we have something that occurs outside of normal protocols, we immediately self-report and take immediate actions to address it. Additional lab accidents on CSUs campus included experimenters cutting themselves on tools while handling infectious agents. A biohazard bag full of dead mice was found outside along a path between two buildings. There were multiple incident reports from 2020 to 2022 of viral samples being stored improperly or spilled and in 2021, the university had to notify the CDC of unknown samples researchers had found. A report from August 2021 revealed how two researchers were bitten by a mouse infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) and tuberculosis (TB). The diseases CSU researchers were working with included chronic wasting disease, a fatal disease that affects the brain and spinal cord of animals, tuberculosis, a bacterial lung infection, Covid, rabies and MERS Middle East respiratory syndrome. Separate documents also provided to this website show the university was fined for violating the Animal Welfare Act after it failed to protect its animal subjects from harm, pain and death. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) fined CSU $5,800 in April 2022 for violations between 2019 and 2022 after finding CSU researchers failed to protect animals from discomfort and physical harm. Inspectors discovered three dead bats folded in a cloth, as well as four dead sheep that were killed by a predatory animal because the facility's perimeter fence did not meet required specifications. Additionally, animal enclosures were found to be unsanitary and excrement was not removed properly, which increased the risk of disease. The USDA said the lab workers let feces and decaying food accumulate in areas for horses, cows and sheep. Proper observation of animals to ensure their health and wellbeing was also not conducted in line with USDA standards. Experts are now worrying as are Fort Collins residents, who have spoken out with their concerns that the new lab being built on CSUs campus to perform bat experiments could be subject to similar safety breaches and incidents. Dr Peter Daszak (pictured left alongside Dr Anthony Fauci) oversees EcoHealth Alliance, which is involved with the development of the new Colorado lab. The proposals were approved when Dr Fauci was overseeing the NIAID Justin Goodman, senior vice president of WCW, told DailyMail.com: The taxpayer-funded bat lab being built by Colorado State University in collaboration with the NIH and infamous Wuhan lab funder EcoHealth Alliance is a waste of money and a threat to public health. Our ongoing investigation has uncovered an alarming pattern of recent CSU lab accidents with bats, cats, hamsters and mice that exposed staff to coronaviruses, Zika, rabies, Tuberculosis, and other dangerous pathogens that can cause deadly outbreaks. Adding insult to injury, none of these recent CSU animal lab accidents were disclosed to the public. 'Taxpayers shouldnt be forced to foot the $12million bill to build another bat lab at CSU given its extensive history of dangerous lab accidents, wasteful experiments and animal welfare violations. The project is a collaboration between Dr Anthony Fauci's old department at the National Institutes of Health, CSU and EcoHealth Alliance (EHA), a controversial research group at the center of the Covid lab leak theory. There are nearly 100 lab leak incidents every year in the US and many experts say the risks outweigh the benefits of such research Proposals seen by this website showed how the 11,000sq-ft facility could store and study some of the most transmissible pathogens on the planet - including Ebola, Nipah virus and Covid-19. Construction has begun and is slated to be completed by December 2024. Researchers behind the plans said the lab will boost America's 'ability to study the role of bats in disease transmission and help us become even stronger in researching emerging zoonotic pathogens.' But Republican senators still reeling from a lack of answers about the origins of Covid told DailyMail.com they fear the facility could start a 'pandemic on US soil.' CSU has been a premier research facility for studying bats since the 1980s and is widely regarded as a leading institution in infectious disease and veterinary medicine. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, researchers were able to use what they already knew about bats to help contribute to early responses in 2020. The institution currently conducts its bat research in its Center for Vector-Borne Diseases, which houses one of the only bat breeding colonies for use in experimental research in bat-borne viral diseases in the US. Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles, right, listens to speakers alongside Angela Lemond Flowers, secretary of the Houston ISD Board of Managers, during a Houston ISD Board of Managers meeting at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Late this week, the state-appointed superintendent of Houston ISD did something many thought impossible: he listened. It took several protests, community outcry and some three hours of overwhelmingly negative public comment during Thursday's school board meeting, but Mike Miles seems to have heard the message. The uproar began with the leaked release of a list of 117 principals the district said weren't performing well enough yet to secure their spot for next year. Several of the principals at top-rated schools were on the list. Parents and students from those campuses showed up in force. Early Friday morning, with the meeting still plodding along, Miles announced that he and the board of managers changed course and said they wouldn't make any adverse employment decisions this year based off of these proficiency screenings, which broadly measure student achievement with a variety of test data, quality of instruction gathered during spot observations and professionalism judged by a rubric that includes how well principals reinforce "district culture and philosophy." But, he made clear, he would still use the more comprehensive principal evaluation system approved last fall to make those decisions at the end of the school year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Miles told us the next day he'd already gotten some emails from anxious community members "saying thank you" for the decision late last week. "I'm proud of the board who worked so hard to listen," Miles added. We're glad to see Miles pay attention to optics for once. No matter how good his intentions, his reforms won't succeed long-term without community buy-in. That said, we're struggling to see how Miles changed his overarching approach on principal evaluations. Miles never planned to can those 117 principals in fact, he expected the overwhelming majority of them would return based on the proficiency screenings but the handful who were already deemed unsatisfactory don't seem to suddenly be in a different position as best we can tell. Miles insisted those few failing principals not getting asked back didn't just fail the proficiency screening and that the decision to let them go was based on other input. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "We were looking at all the data for them," he told us. And the principals who were told they need to improve, aren't really in a different position either. In practice, then, very little seems to have changed for the campus leaders who will still be judged on some of the same metrics, including spot reviews by the district's so-called independent review teams. Instead, he said the decision was meant to allay some community confusion and ease some anxiety about principal turnover, something he'd been trying to combat since the leaked list was published by the Chronicle ahead of spring break on March 8. People have made it a bigger deal than it is, Miles insisted when he met with the editorial board Wednesday ahead of the school board meeting. You keep your job if youre an effective principal, he said, adding that he expects the majority, at least 80 percent, of the principals to return next year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad What Miles didn't seem to grasp until he heard from a whole new set of angry parents not the "usual suspects" who have protested the state takeover from the outset was how nonsensical his list appeared. Some of the schools aren't just top-ranked in the district but in the country. Carnegie. HSPVA. T.H. Rogers. If people had doubts before about Miles priorities and evaluation criteria, the inclusion of these high-achieving campuses heightened them. It's possible a high-performing school can still have a weak leader, just as it's possible that a low-performing school can have a great one. But the list begged the question. You start to wonder what he is evaluating, a parent with a student at Carnegie told us outside the State of the District event Thursday. She said the schools principal, long-time veteran Ramon Moss, is an integral piece of the school's success. Hell be the first to tell you that the success of the school is due to the teachers and students and community even though his leadership is a big reason why the community is there, she said. Miles has declined to talk about specific campuses and what landed them on the list. So while this decision might relieve some momentary angst, it doesn't address the lingering doubts about whether the district's measures of quality instruction and effectiveness are so narrow they fail to recognize the best educators, a concern that extends well beyond the star campuses. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This principal evaluation chaos is just the latest example of a breakdown of communication and trust. We dont disagree with the idea of evaluations or consistent standards across the district. Its entirely possible that an overall A rating at a campus masks concerning disparities. Or that high-achieving campuses don't show a ton of growth on standardized tests over the course of a school year. What concerns us about the entire saga of the principal list is how, whether it's intentional or not, Miles contributes to fear and uncertainty. He hasn't effectively communicated his vision to the public or to the people tasked with carrying it out, despite his copious slideshows and sincere efforts to clear up the confusion over principals with follow-up press conferences, statements and even interviews with this board. Last week, Miles and team showed greater sensitivity to the environment. It's a good start. But they should make more effort to respond to the substance of the criticisms and not just the volume of them. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A cancer-stricken woman has told how her cancer was spotted during abdominal surgery just like Kate Middleton. Maia Kennedy, 38, of Hackney, London, began suffering with nausea in December 2023 but her GP initially dismissed her symptoms as being down to acid reflux. The website developer was eventually called for an emergency test, where doctors found a tumour in her bowel during her colonoscopy. At the time it was thought to be pre-cancerous. Ms Kennedy, who lives with her partner of 10 years, was then dealt the devastating news that it was stage-one cancer after under going routine surgery to remove part of her bowel in February 2024. Maia Kennedy, 38, began suffering with nausea in December 2023 and was called for an emergency colonoscopy In December 2023, Ms Kennedy (pictured in hospital) experienced nausea and a change in bowel habits, both of which were dismissed by her GP as acid reflux. It wasn't until doctors ran some tests that she was called in for an emergency colonoscopy in January during which they found a tumour Because it was caught early, she didn't need chemotherapy and is now in remission. However, she sees parallels between her own experience and that of the Princess of Wales, who last week announced her own cancer battle. In an emotional video clip filmed in Windsor, Kate, 42, revealed the news had come as a 'huge shock' and that she and William 'have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family'. WHAT IS BOWEL CANCER? Bowel cancer is found anywhere in the large bowel, which includes the colon and rectum. Around 43,000 Brits are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year. Symptoms include: Changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you Needing to poo more or less often than usual for you Blood in your poo, which may look red or black Bleeding from your bottom Often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet Tummy pain A lump in your tummy Bloating Losing weight without trying Feeling very tired for no reason Source: NHS and Cancer Research UK Advertisement Discussing her 'surreal whirlwind of a journey', Ms Kennedy said: 'As a young healthy woman, you never think it will happen to you. 'But it can happen to anyone even royalty, with the best medical care in the world. 'I have a lot of empathy for what Kate is going through, it's a tough time, never mind when you're in the public eye. 'When I heard about her surgery my thoughts went out to her.' She added: 'It was a strange experience finding out my journey was similar to hers. 'With everyone talking about her, it brings up a lot of thoughts of what I have been through too.' In December 2023, Ms Kennedy experienced nausea and a change in bowel habits, both of which were dismissed by her GP as acid reflux. It wasn't until doctors ran some tests that she was called in for an colonoscopy in January, during which they found the tumour. Ms Kennedy said: 'I knew something wasn't right, but you don't go into it expecting them to find something like that it was a huge shock for me.' Originally specialists thought her tumour was non-cancerous, just as they had thought with Kate's at the time of her major abdominal surgery in January. Ms Kennedy stayed in hospital for a week following her surgery to remove part of her bowel in February. Weeks later, while she was still recovering, she received a call informing her a biopsy of the tumour confirmed it had in fact been cancerous. Because the biopsy showed it was stage one bowel cancer, she didn't need chemo. She said: 'It all happened so quickly from December to March. 'It's taken over my life but its been such a short period of time. It's very surreal to say I had cancer.' In a video message on Friday, Kate revealed the diagnosis 'came as a huge shock' but she was now in the 'early stages' of preventative chemotherapy treatment Bowel Cancer, which is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK, can also be known as colorectal cancer. Tumours can be found anywhere in the bowel or rectum. Around 43,000 Britons are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year, Cancer Research UK says. Tell-tale symptoms include bleeding from your bottom, bloating, losing weight without trying, tummy pain and changes in poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you. The Princess of Wales was admitted to a London hospital in January for planned surgery and returned home to Windsor to continue her recovery. Doctors, however, discovered an unspecified form of cancer in tests taken after her operation. In a video message on Friday, Kate revealed the diagnosis 'came as a huge shock' but she was now in the 'early stages' of preventative chemotherapy treatment. Ms Kennedy has still been struggling emotionally with her diagnosis and wants to warn others to look out for the symptoms Ms Kennedy admitted that learning about the Princess' cancer journey revealed many parallels to her own. She said: 'When I heard about her abdominal surgery, my thoughts went out to her. 'I thought it sounds similar to me. 'At the time they weren't saying mine was cancer, just like they said hers wasn't at first.' She is now going through NHS physical rehabilitation sessions to build her strength back up. But Ms Kennedy has still been struggling emotionally with her diagnosis and wants to warn others to look out for the symptoms. 'As a young healthy woman, you never think it will happen to you. I never thought it would,' she said. 'Hearing of Catherine's story, my emotions were up and down - it brings up the "what if" feelings. 'What if I had left it or hadn't caught it, or had to have chemo like she did? 'I have a lot of empathy for her and what she's going through - it's a tough time, never mind doing it while being in the public eye,' she added. 'It has been the most difficult thing I've had to go through. 'You need to be aware of the symptoms, because it can happen to anyone - even royalty. 'The sooner you catch it, the better.' World Health Organization (WHO) chiefs could be given power over Britain's future pandemic policies, MPs fear. Under plans for a new global pandemic treaty, the UN agency is considering making dozens of amendments to its legally-binding rulebook. Critics worry member nations might be made to comply with advice in future health crises, such as enforcing lockdowns or vaccine passports. A group of Conservative MPs have now warned the UK risks 'signing away' its powers to 'unelected' WHO bosses, complaining about mooted changes in a letter to Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs select committee. The MPs, members of the all-party parliamentary group on pandemic response and recovery, have argued the treaty risks 'undermining UK sovereignty'. A group of Conservative MPs have now warned the UK risks 'signing away' its powers to 'unelected' WHO bosses, complaining about mooted changes in a letter to Alicia Kearns, chair of the foreign affairs select committee. The letter was signed by the former Brexit minister and chief negotiator Lord Frost (pictured), The Telegraph reported WHO director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeatedly warned nations that 'everyone will have to give something, or no one will get anything.' He told the final round of negotiations: 'We all know there remain critical areas where you are yet to reach consensus. 'You agree on what you are trying to achieve ... now you need to agree on how to achieve these objectives' They said it would allow 'unaccountable individuals and supranational bodies tacit jurisdiction over national public health measures'. Instead, there must be a greater level of 'parliamentary scrutiny and oversight' over the agreement. The letter was signed by the former Brexit minister and chief negotiator Lord Frost, The Telegraph reported. Other signatories included MPs Philip Davies, Philip Hollobone and Sir Christopher Chope. Under one draft of the treaty, countries would 'follow WHO's recommendations in their international public health response'. It aims to prepare for the next global health emergency and prevent a repeat of what South Africa termed the 'vaccine apartheid' where countries had vastly unequal access to Covid vaccines and drugs. WHO chiefs say it will make the world safer from health threats, with another crisis feared to be lurking around the corner. Lord Frost told The Telegraph, however, that he was concerned the Government was 'not really being that open about what it is doing' in treaty negotiations. 'The other concern is about the practical impact this treaty could have on our domestic laws,' he said. A UN convention doesn't itself have direct legal force in the UK. 'But as we discovered with the Rwanda plan, the doctrine of many government lawyers seems to be that international commitments are in practice just as legally binding as our own laws. 'So, getting the details of this treaty right is really quite important. 'Ministers will claim that these new treaties involve no loss of sovereignty. 'But in practice, if another crisis comes, there will be lots of pressure to act within the WHO framework, and government lawyers will tell us we must.' In response to the fears, the Government insisted it 'would never agree to anything that fails to respect our national sovereignty'. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'Ministers have been clear that that we will not sign up to any agreement which fails to respect our national sovereignty and would not agree to any measure that would cede sovereignty to the WHO in making domestic decisions concerning national public health, including vaccine programmes and lockdowns.' The Government also previously said the treaty 'does not have any provisions' for granting the WHO powers to impose lockdowns, mandatory quarantines or vaccines. The WHO International Health Regulations (IHR) group is set to agree on an amendments package to present to the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May at the 77th World Health Assembly. The ninth and final round of negotiations between countries began on March 18. It will run until March 28. Under one draft of the treaty, countries would 'follow WHO's recommendations in their international public health response'. It aims to prepare for the next global health emergency and prevent a repeat of what South Africa termed the 'vaccine apartheid' where countries had vastly unequal access to Covid vaccines and drugs. Pictured, Sir Christopher Chope, a signatory of the letter to Alicia Kearns WHO chiefs say it will make the world safer from health threats, with another crisis feared to be lurking around the corner. Pictured, Phillip Hollobone, a signatory of the letter to Alicia Kearns In response to the fears, the Government insisted it 'would never agree to anything that fails to respect our national sovereignty'. Pictured, Philip Davies, a signatory of the letter to Alicia Kearns The updated IHR would then come into force within a year for all member states, unless a country files a rejection. WHO director Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeatedly warned nations that 'everyone will have to give something, or no one will get anything.' He told the final round of negotiations: 'We all know there remain critical areas where you are yet to reach consensus. 'You agree on what you are trying to achieve... now you need to agree on how to achieve these objectives. 'It's mission-critical for humanity that you do. We cannot allow the cycle of panic and neglect to repeat.' It comes as a coalition of African scientists earlier this month accused the WHO of being 'colonialist' in its treaty plans. The Pan-African Epidemic and Pandemic Working Group argued lockdowns were a 'class-based and unscientific instrument'. It said they caused 'significant harm' to low-income nations. Instead, African nations should be able to prioritise tackling their own major health needs, including diseases like cholera, yellow fever, malaria, the group said. Last year, six MPs also wrote to the Foreign Office demanding it blocks any new powers that could see the WHO dictate policy and budgets in the UK. It comes as six MPs wrote to the Foreign Office in May last year demanding it blocks any new powers that could see the WHO dictate policy and budgets in the UK. Ex-Cabinet minister Esther McVey, (pictured) the wife of Philip Davies warned the powers would see the organisation, described as China's puppet by critics, move from a 'member-led advisory body to a health authority with powers of compulsion' The initial investigation by the WHO in January 2021, which saw a group of scientists travel to Wuhan, concluded that 'all hypotheses remain on the table'. In its March 2021 report, it ranked the likelihood of four theories, ruling the natural origins theory to be the most likely. But it placed the lab leak an 'extremely unlikely pathway' behind the frozen food origin story. The theory the virus has been introduced via 'cold food chain products' - pushed by the Chinese Government - was deemed a 'possible pathway' instead by the UN agency Ex-Cabinet minister Esther McVey warned the powers would see the organisation, described as China's puppet by critics, move from a 'member-led advisory body to a health authority with powers of compulsion'. The agency has long been criticised for praising China's Covid response, for taking too long to call the outbreak an international emergency and for advising countries against imposing travel bans. In the earliest days of the outbreak, Dr Ghebreyesus even went as far as to praise Beijing's 'commitment to transparency' which he called 'beyond words'. The WHO's probe into the origins of Covid, in January 2021, which saw a group of scientists travel to Wuhan, also concluded that 'all hypotheses remain on the table'. In its March 2021 report, it placed the lab leak as an 'extremely unlikely pathway' behind the frozen food origin story. But the lab leak theory, once dismissed as an outright conspiracy, has gained increasing traction in the years since the virus first caused a global pandemic. No concrete proof to support any origin argument, however, has ever been found, leaving experts fearing the truth will never be uncovered. For years, scientists have warned the next pandemic threat could be triggered by humans catching infections off of animals. But now a study suggests the opposite is actually more likely. Mankind passes on more viruses to animals than we catch from them, researchers from University College London said. Experts said 'humans are as much a source as a sink' for viral health crises. UCL co-author Professor Francois Balloux said: 'We should consider humans as one node in a vast network of hosts endlessly exchanging pathogens, rather than a sink for zoonotic bugs. Mankind passes on more viruses to animals than we catch from them, researchers from University College London said. Experts said 'humans are as much a source as a sink' for viral health crises. Pictured a Brown Long-eared Bat in Sussex UCL researchers analysed tens of thousands of viral genomes on public databases. This allowed experts to look at all of the information hidden inside a virus, including where the virus jumped species. From this, the team could tell whether such pathogens went from human to animal (anthroponosis) or the other way round (zoonosis). They found almost two thirds (64 per cent) of the samples they analysed were transmitted to animals via humans 'By surveying and monitoring transmission of viruses between animals and humans, in either direction, we can better understand viral evolution.' He said this may 'hopefully' allow society to 'be more prepared for future outbreaks and epidemics of novel illnesses'. Concerns have long mounted over zoonotic diseases like Ebola, which spread from animals to humans, and their potential to spark pandemics. Human-to-animal transmission, however, has received 'little attention', researchers wrote in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. UCL researchers analysed tens of thousands of viral genomes on public databases. This allowed experts to look at all of the information hidden inside a virus, including where the virus jumped species. From this, the team could tell whether such pathogens went from human to animal (anthroponosis) or the other way round (zoonosis). They found almost two thirds (64 per cent) of the samples they analysed were transmitted to animals via humans. Lead author Dr Cedric Tan warned human-transmitted viruses could 'potentially pose a conservation threat to the species'. He added: 'It may also cause new problems for humans by impacting food security if large numbers of livestock need to be culled to prevent an epidemic, as has been happening over recent years with the H5N1 bird flu strain. 'Additionally, if a virus carried by humans infects a new animal species, the virus may continue to thrive even if eradicated among humans.' Dr Tan warned that it may 'even evolve new adaptations before it winds up infecting humans again'. He added: 'Understanding how and why viruses evolve to jump into different hosts across the wider tree of life may help us figure out how new viral diseases emerge in humans and animals.' Some believe Covid jumped to humans from bats in China potentially through an intermediate species such as raccoon dog or pangolin. Scientists have largely pointed to Wuhan's Huanan seafood wholesale market (pictured), where numerous species of live animals were kept and sold, as the potential site where Covid spread naturally from animals to people It has been suggested that Covid was bio-engineered at Wuhan Institute of Virology (pictured) in central China, which specialised in studying coronaviruses The initial investigation by the WHO in January 2021, which saw a group of scientists travel to Wuhan, concluded that 'all hypotheses remain on the table'. In its March 2021 report, it ranked the likelihood of four theories, ruling the natural origins theory to be the most likely. But it placed the lab leak an 'extremely unlikely pathway' behind the frozen food origin story Others believe a lab leak is to blame for the pandemic. China has repeatedly insisted one of its wet markets, in Covid's 'ground zero' Wuhan, was the source of the pandemic. Scientists have largely pointed to Wuhan's Huanan seafood wholesale market, where numerous species of live animals were kept and sold, as the potential site where the virus spread naturally from animals to people. Many of the earliest cases in December 2019 and January 2020 had visited the site, where live animals were sold. But Beijing has also repeatedly been accused of a cover-up, stifling attempts to investigate a lab in Wuhan which was experimenting with similar viruses months before the disease emerged in the city. No concrete proof, however, to support either Covid origin argument has been found, leaving experts fearing the truth behind the viruses origins will never be uncovered. Dangerous counterfeit anti-choking devices are being sold in the UK for as little as 15. Regulators today warned the gadgets marketed as being life-savers could prove deadly. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) bosses, who police the safety of drugs and medical equipment in the UK, is urging the public not to buy fake or unbranded versions of the devices because they pose a 'significant risk'. More than 10,000 rogue anti-choking devices are estimated to have been bought in the UK from marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. The devices work by by using air pressure to suck out the item which is blocking the person's airways. It's estimated more than 10,000 counterfeit anti-choking devices have been purchased by the public within the last two years based on listings found across online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay , and drop-shipping websites (image left shows a genuine product) Usually sold for about 60 by the manufacturer, counterfeit devices made in China are sold for as little as 15 on eBay (image right shows a counterfeit) Only LifeVac and Dechoker are registered with the MHRA currently. Both have a valid UKCA or CE mark. Health chiefs say they should only be used after basic life support protocols have been attempted and failed. Fake ones can look almost identical. None of the anti-choking devices registered with the MHRA are made in China. Some claim to be genuine, however. What to do if someone is choking Encourage the person to keep coughing, and remove any obvious obstructions from their mouth. If that fails, give five sharp blows to the back, between the shoulder blades. Check their mouth after each one. If they are still choking, stand behind them and put your arms around their waist above the belly button. Clench one fist and grasp it with your other hand. Pull sharply and upwards five times. Check their mouth each time. Call 999 if this fails. Continue giving five sharp blows followed by five sharp pulls. Start CPR if the person becomes unresponsive. Source: St John Ambulance Advertisement Regulators say the devices could fail to work in a life-threatening situation and might worsen the situation by pushing obstructions further down the airway. MHRA is urging people buying anti-choking devices online to be 'vigilant' and ensure these products are purchased from reputable sellers. Buyers are also warned to be careful of websites using fake reviews to promote their product and should also check to see that the device manufacturer is registered with the MHRA via the public access database. Dr Alison Cave, MHRA chief safety officer, said: 'Patient safety is our top priority. 'Buying anti-choking devices that do not have a valid UKCA or CE mark increases the risk of receiving a product which does not include appropriate instructions and is either fake or does not meet the UK's regulatory requirements. 'These products do not meet our strict quality standards and may put your health and safety at significant risk by failing to resolve or even worsening choking incidents.' Dr Cave added: 'The MHRA is working with online marketplaces to remove unbranded and counterfeit anti-choking devices from sale. 'Do not use the device if you suspect it is counterfeit.' 'Please submit a Yellow Card report if you have previously used a counterfeit or unbranded device and it failed to work, including details of where you bought the product.' MHRA is urging people to contact the legal manufacturer, LifeVac, if they are unsure if their device is is genuine or a counterfeit. Choking happens when someones airway suddenly gets blocked, this can be partially or fully, but enough so they can't breathe properly. If an adult's airways are blocked, they may be able to clear the blockage themselves. However, if coughing doesn't solve the issue, back blows and abdominal thrusts can help. If these do not work, you should call 999 immediately. The NHS warns that you should not give abdominal thrusts to babies under one or to pregnant women. Choking happens when someones airway suddenly gets blocked, this can be partially or fully, but enough so they can't breathe properly Social media was left disgusted after learning what 'spaghetti' chicken is - after a mother's post went viral on X. Alesia Cooper, from Texas, was washing chicken breasts as part of her children's dinner when the raw meat started coming apart in her hands and turned stringy and squishy. Ms Cooper, who had bought from budget supermarket Aldi, wrote: 'I think it's fake meat.' But fact-checkers on X revealed that it was probably a case of 'spaghetti meat' - a phenomenon that affects a small percentage of farmed poultry. Alesia Cooper, from Texas, posted a photo of chicken she had bought from Aldi which resembled fibrous spaghetti Ms Cooper was washing the chicken breasts as part of her children's dinner Spaghetti meat is said to be the result of breeding to make big-breasted chickens grow faster. When some chickens are grown to an unnaturally plump size in a short period of time, their muscle tissues often don't receive enough oxygen, which may cause the fibers to separate and become stringy. The meat is still safe to eat, though it may have a chewier than usual texture. Chickens grown for meat, also known as broiler chickens, are growing much faster than they used to - around twice as fast as 50 years ago - according to the National Chicken Council. In 2000, the average bird went to market at 47 days old, weighing 5.03 pounds. In 2022, the average chicken still goes to market at day 47 - but now it weighs 6.56 pounds. And in 1925, chickens took 112 days to reach a 2.5-pound market weight. This is the result of genetic selection to breed birds that grow bigger breast muscles faster, so there is more meat per bird, and therefore more profit. 'Spaghetti meat' is what researchers have termed chicken breast fillets which can be pulled apart by hand into what looks like stringy spaghetti noodles. They first popped up in 2015 and were being detected in roughly four to five percent of breast meat samples in 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported. 'There is proof that these abnormalities are associated with fast-growing birds,' Dr Massimiliano Petracci, a professor of agriculture and food science at the University of Bologna in Italy, told the WSJ. Meat scientists believe the speedy growth rate of commercially raised chickens can cause the breast muscle tissue to outgrow the oxygen supply offered by chickens' growing circulatory systems, which can cause the muscle fibers to degrade and separate. Companies including Wendy's and Whole Foods are reverting back to slower-grown chickens, as buyers at Whole Foods believe chickens grown more slowly and with an improved quality of life will taste better. 'I been debating on posting this but since I had to see it so do y'all,' Ms Cooper said. 'I was cooking my kids dinner a couple of weeks ago and was cleaning my meat like I normally do and when I went back to start cooking it turned into this... I ain't made chicken off the bone since.' As well as 'spaghetti meat', there is also 'woody breast' - when the chicken is tough and leathery. The altered density and texture of the meat can occur for the same reasons as spaghetti meat, experts have said. Public satisfaction with social care has hit an all-time low with the elderly now routinely forced to wait months for essential care, damning new figures show. More than half of Britons (57 per cent) say they are 'quite' or 'very' dissatisfied with social care, with only 13 per cent 'quite' or 'very' satisfied. The findings, from the gold-standard British Social Attitudes survey of more than 3,000 people, reveal a fall in satisfaction from 14 per cent the previous year. Sentiment is also down from 30 per cent in 2012 when the question was first asked, albeit in a slightly different form. It comes as a separate study shows elderly people in Bath and North East Somerset are being made to wait an average of 149 days (about five months) for care. Your browser does not support iframes. Data supplied by 85 councils to the Department of Health and Social Care show the average wait is 50 days, while 25 have average waits of two month or more and only three report waits of less than ten days. Ministers requested councils provide the total time from a person's first request to be assessed for eligibility, through to the service beginning. The service could be a care package, a direct payment for their care, or other support. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'We routinely hear from older people and their families who are in despair because of their lengthy wait for a care assessment or services. 'Waits of several months are not unusual, unfortunately, though there seems to be a pronounced postcode lottery, reinforcing the sense of unfairness.' The waiting time data, obtained by the Health Service Journal under Freedom of Information laws, cover January to March last year and do not include anyone who is turned down. The figures are not routinely collected or published and - unlike for healthcare - there are no waiting time targets or standard ways or recording them. The BSA survey, published by the Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund think tanks, found people who had used or had contact with social care services in the previous 12 months had higher dissatisfaction (64 per cent) to those who had not (49 per cent). The leading reason for dissatisfaction was inadequate pay, working conditions and training for social care workers (57 per cent), followed by people not getting the social care they need (56 per cent), and not enough support for unpaid carers (49 per cent). Simon Bottery, senior fellow in social care at The King's Fund, said the results are 'awful' but 'sadly unsurprising'. He added: 'For many years governments have taken too little action on social care and this is now seriously affecting those who draw on services, the families who support them and the staff who work in the sector. 'The results demonstrate the need for immediate action to stabilise the social care system, backed by long-term reform and investment. 'The next government must take a strong step forward and prioritise social care.' New findings from the British Social Attitudes survey, published by the Nuffield Trust and The King's Fund, show that public satisfaction with social care services has dropped to just 13 per cent, the lowest level ever recorded. The survey, carried out by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) in September and October 2023, is seen as a gold standard measure of public attitudes in Britain Cyril Lobont, researcher at the Nuffield Trust, said: 'The results make it clear that too many people with care needs and their families are still struggling to access a reasonable level of support. 'Politicians of all parties need to prioritise reversing this record low satisfaction. 'What is left of the delayed reform plans at present would barely stabilise the sector, let alone deliver the improvement so desperately needed.' The most recent survey was carried out in September and October last year (2023) and included 3,374 people across England, Scotland and Wales. Social care is a devolved matter for governments in Scotland and Wales. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We want everyone who needs it to have access to high-quality care, which is why we are investing up to 700million on a major transformation of the adult social care system, including harnessing technology and adapting people's homes to allow them to live independently. 'We are reforming social care careers with training to improve retention and, for the first time ever, a clear career path and a new accredited qualification to give the profession the recognition it rightly deserves. 'We have also made available up to 8.6billion in additional funding over two financial years to support adult social care and discharge.' Asked about having one of the longest waits for care (89 days), an East Sussex County Council spokesperson said: 'It is not possible to fairly compare local authorities with each other because of the different ways the data is recorded. 'Like all local authorities responsible for adult social care, we have been affected by increased demand for services in recent years, alongside reductions in government funding and increasing costs.' The number of assisted suicides in Oregon jumped by a fifth to 367 deaths last year, with ever-more people facing vomiting and other complications, and one patient who took nearly a week to die. The state's annual report on its Death with Dignity Act (DWDA), as procedures are known, comes as ever-more US states consider letting the terminally ill end their lives with lethal doses of prescribed drugs. The 18-page report, released this month, showed that 560 people received prescriptions for deadly medications in 2023, and 367 ingested drugs and died from them both sharp upticks from 2022. Oregon Health Authority (OHA) said the rise was driven by a recent loosening of state law to allow people from other states to travel to Oregon and request drugs there a process known as 'death tourism.' Doctor-assisted suicide schemes are available in all three West Coast states. Pictured: Robert Fuller begins to plunge the drugs that will end his life into his feeding tube in Seattle, Washington Some 4,274 people have received prescriptions and 2,847 have died from ingesting deadly drugs since Oregon passed its Death with Dignity Act in 1997 At least 23 non-residents used the new scheme and ended their lives in Oregon last year though official say this is likely to be an undercount, as not all such deaths are reported, said OHA official Tom Jeanne. Poll Should doctor-assisted suicide be available where you live? Yes No Not sure Should doctor-assisted suicide be available where you live? Yes 6767 votes No 5224 votes Not sure 1052 votes Now share your opinion 'The full impact of allowing out-of-state residents to access the law is unclear, as information about where the patient lives has not been collected during the DWDA prescription process,' said Jeanne. Those who chose to end their lives in Oregon were overwhelmingly white and elderly 82 percent of them were aged 65 and above. Most often, DWDA recipients suffered from cancer (66 percent), followed by brain disease (11 percent) and heart disease (10 percent). Fully 92 percent of them said they wanted to die because their condition would see them lose autonomy Many said they were worried about life becoming less enjoyable (88 percent), loss of dignity (64 percent), and loss of bodily control (47 percent). A worrying 43 percent said they were concerned about becoming a burden on loved ones. Dr Sejal Hathi heads the health authority in Oregon, which manages America's most developed doctor-assisted suicide program An example of the drugs used by doctors to end lives in Belgium, which has one of the world's most developed euthanasia programs Another 8 percent said they were ending their lives because of the costs of their treatment. Most patients died within an hour of taking their drugs typically a fatal cocktail of diazepam, morphine, phenobarbital, and other medicines. Oregon health official Tom Jeanne But not all deaths were quick and easy. Ten people faced complications, such as vomiting up their drugs or getting a burning sensation in their throats. One patient took fully 137 hours nearly six days to die. OHA did not provide any more details about the slow death. Critics of the DWDA said it was evidence that procedures were unsafe. 'If this had been an execution, it would have been cruel or unusual punishment, wrote British author Simon Caldwell. The new numbers come amid growing concerns that Oregon and other US states are liberalizing their assisted-suicide programs too quickly and following the example of Canada, where 13,241 people were euthanized in 2022. Doctor-assisted suicides are currently allowed in 10 states and Washington DC. Oregon's doctor-assisted suicide program has been controversial since the outset. Pictured: Demonstrators from both sides of the debate outside the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington in 2005 In Canada, doctors give lethal injections to the lives of terminally ill patients. In some US states, patients apply for a prescription of deadly drugs, which they typically take at home They are being considered in 19 states this year, including Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia. These bills typically allow people with six months or less to live to request prescriptions from a doctor that they can take at home. Doctors can only prescribe the drugs to patients they assess as mentally competent. Supporters of assisted suicide schemes say they help some desperately sick people end their suffering. Critics say they devalue human life and make death a solution for the infirm, disabled and even those who are cash-strapped or feel like a burden Oregon became the first US state to allow physician-assisted suicide in 1997, allowing terminally ill adult Oregonians, with less than six months left to live, to ask doctors for a fatal dose of drugs they then administer themselves, typically at home. In 2023, it became the first US state to allow non-residents to travel to the West Coast state to end their lives. Out-of-state residents must be able to spend at least 15 days in Oregon to process the paperwork, which requires sign-offs from two doctors and witnesses, before administering the fatal dose themselves. The shock announcement that the Princess of Wales is battling cancer comes amid rising cancer rates across the US particularly among younger adults. Data suggests nearly 40 per cent of Americans will develop the disease in their lifetime while one in five diagnosed will die from the illness. Men were most at risk overall, with 41.9 per cent said to be diagnosed with cancer before they die with lung, colon, breast and prostate cancer the most common. Kate Middleton, 42, revealed her diagnosis on Friday, saying she was receiving preventative chemotherapy. Kate Middleton posted a video online where she revealed her cancer diagnosis and that she was receiving preventative chemotherapy The estimates of lifetime cancer risk or the risk of suffering from cancer before death were calculated by the American Cancer Society, which analyzed data on millions of cases reported to the US national registry. To estimate the risk of suffering from cancer in someone's lifetime, the team analyzed national rates of each type of the disease between 2017 to 2019. The ACS noted online that the estimates would vary from person to person depending on their risk factors. This could include whether they are obese, have a family history of cancer or how often an individual exercises. Overall, the results suggested that for men, they are most likely to develop prostate cancer at 12.9 per cent. Lung cancer was the second most common, with 6.3 per cent estimated to suffer from the disease, and colon cancer was third, with 4.3 per cent. For women, the cancer they were most at risk from was breast cancer with 13 per cent of women estimated to be diagnosed with the disease before death. Similar to men, lung cancer was also the second most common (5.9 per cent) and colon cancer the third most common (3.9 per cent). In both groups, Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer of the lymph system was the least common with 0.2 per cent of both genders suffering from this. The analysis based on data from the National Cancer Institute did not breakdown the risk of cancer diagnosis by age. But separate data shows those aged between 65 and 74 years are most at risk with nearly 30 per cent of cancers diagnosed in this age group. They are followed by 55 to 64-year-olds, who account for 24.1 per cent of cases. At the other end of the scale, people under 20 years old and those aged 20 to 34 years were least at risk accounting for up to 2.7 per cent of cases. But this trend is rapidly changing as young people face a mystery epidemic of stomach and colon cancers. Chinese hackers could bring the NHS to its knees by exploiting a known software flaw, experts warn. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden today blamed 'hostile' Beijing-backed actors for a series of cyber attacks on the British public and elected officials. This includes a 'complex' 2021 attack on the Electoral Commission, the body which oversees elections and political donations in Britain. The cyber attack which went undetected for a year breached personal details, including the names and addresses of 40million Brits. It is not known for certain how much of this information was accessed. Chinese hackers could bring the NHS to its knees by exploiting a known software flaw that allowed them access to 40million Brits' personal details, experts warn (stock image) China's foreign ministry has today insisted that countries should not 'spread disinformation' by making accusations without a 'factual basis' Cyber security experts fear Brits' medical data held by the NHS could also be at risk from the same software flaw used to hack the Electoral Commission. Patrick Burgess, information security specialist at the British Computer Society, The Chartered Institute for IT, told MailOnline: 'It has been reported that the initial ingress point for the Electoral Commission attack may well have been through the Exchange Server Vulnerabilities. 'The NHS will absolutely be utilising this software along with a significant number of other organisations.' Mr Burgess claimed, in real terms, a similar attack to the Electoral Commission on the NHS could have far reaching consequences, including potentially the blackmail of individuals. He said: 'The NHS holds lots of personal data in lots of systems. 'An attack on any of these which resulted in confidential data being leaked could be very painful for the individuals and lead to a risk of blackmail or phishing. 'If this were to happen it would be critical that the NHS communicated quickly and clearly with the impacted individuals so they could be prepared for any further escalation.' Mr Burgess, whose organisation has royal charter to set and maintain standards within the IT profession, added a politically-motivated ransomware attack was also a possibility if actors managed to access NHS systems ahead of time. 'The chance of a ransomware attack on national infrastructure is real and could be timed to coincide with a political event,' he said. However, Mr Burgess said that in contrast to the WannaCry attack on the NHS in 2017, which was an opportunistic attack, a politically-motivated equivalent would require hackers to be in a system already, waiting for orders to strike. The upside of this is there is a chance NHS IT professionals could spot the hackers before the attack was launched and stop access, he said. 'This would be where our monitoring and detection systems would have a chance to detect the behaviour before it became reality,' he said. However, echoing concerns from MPs and PM Rishi Sunak, Mr Burgess said the cyber threat posed by a nation like China cannot be underestimated. 'This level of threat actor, in this case reported to be China, has significant resource and expertise and we should continually be looking at our security posture to protect against past, current and emerging threats,' he said. He said unknown software vulnerabilities that allow hackers to access data are among the biggest cyber threats to organisations, something state-actors like China are keenly aware of. 'Threat actors such as China are continuously looking for these to exploit and the software manufacturers are continuously having to react to patch,' he said. 'We need to ensure rigorous update and monitoring policies are in place to mitigate these issues as fast as possible when they emerge.' Mr Burgess added cyberattacks are impossible to fully prevent and the NHS should have preparations in place in what to do should they occur. A MailOnline's probe which goes up until January 2023 revealed the most common breach was for someone getting unauthorised access to people's personal data (335 incidents). More than 250 of the incidents recorded related to staff faxing or posting data to the incorrect recipient. Another 174 breaches related to documents being emailed to the wrong person 'As it is impossible to make the risk of an attack zero, we have to work under the assumption it will happen at some point and implement multiple layers of protection for data, so we are not just relying on one,' he said. He added: 'When they do happen, we need to be better at communicating quickly to the impacted individuals what has happened and what they can do to minimise the impact on themselves.' An NHS England spokesperson said: 'The NHS faces a broad range of cyber threats and over 338million has been invested since 2017 to help keep health and care organisations safe. 'NHS cyber security specialists monitor for new threats 24 hours a day and we also support organisations across the NHS with advice, assessments, and training.' The NHS didn't comment on any specific steps it has taken in the wake of the Electoral Commission hack to protect patients' data. It also didn't confirm if any similar data breaches had occurred since August 2021. The UK's data watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it was unable to confirm if any data breaches similar to that suffered by the Electoral Commission have occurred in the NHS due the way data breaches are recorded. An ICO spokesperson added: 'Our enquiries into the Electoral Commission incident are ongoing. 'If anyone is concerned about how their data has been handled, they should get in touch with the ICO or check our website for advice and support.' It comes as Deputy PM Oliver Dowden is expected to take the dramatic step of accusing China of being behind a hack that accessed the personal details of 40million Brits. He is set to link China to the attack on the Electoral Commission, which admitted last August that 'hostile actors' had got into its systems as far back as 2021. In a statement to the Commons this afternoon, Mr Dowden is also set to point the finger over the 'impersonation' of MPs online. Officials could be subject to sanctions, with the action likely to be coordinated with other Western countries. However, critics have accused the government of acting too slowly and raised concerns that the response will not go far enough. China's foreign ministry has today insisted that countries should not 'spread disinformation' by making accusations without a 'factual basis'. A small group of politicians who are hawkish on China are also said to have been called to a briefing by Parliament's director of security, Alison Giles, in relation to the cyber activity. They include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton and SNP MP Stewart McDonald. The four are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) pressure group, which focuses on issues involving the increasingly assertive Asian power. Seventy-five NHS bodies have been investigated by the ICO for data breaches since 2021. Such investigations do not necessarily mean personal data was exposed or that the NHS organisations was at fault, with many investigations concluding that 'no further action' was required or that only advice from ICO was provided. However, five NHS bodies were issued with formal reprimands as a result of investigations In a statement today, Sir Iain, Mr Loughton and Mr McDonald said: 'Together with other members of parliament, activists, and dissidents, we have been subjected to harassment, impersonation, and attempted hacking from China for some time.' 'Neither we, nor other parliamentary colleagues, will be bullied into silence by Beijing. For years the behaviour of the Chinese government has gone unchecked. 'Todays announcement should mark a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for values, human rights, and the international rules based system, upon which we all depend.' Luke de Pulford, executive director of IPAC, told the BBC's Today programme that the government had taken two years to 'call out' the behaviour of China. He said it was 'ludicrous' there is still a debate on whether China should be treated as posing an 'enhanced' risk of meddling. But China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing is a 'main target' of hacking, suggesting that the UK needed to cooperate more. According to a translation, spokesman Lin Jian said: 'We combat all sorts of malicious actions online, and we advocate all countries to deal with this together through dialogues and cooperation. 'Tracking of origins of cyber attacks is highly sensitive and complicated. It must be fully backed with objective evidence, and one should not pin the blame on certain countries without any factual basis.' He added that countries needed to 'stop spreading disinformation and take a responsible attitude'. A Rhode Island pediatrician has been charged with molesting a seven-year-old girl and has surrendered his medical license. Dr David S. Healey, 51, from Barringon, is being held without bail after the alleged attack on the girl who was not a patient but was known to him. The doctor, who practiced as a pediatrician in Worcester, Massachusetts since 2024 and North Providence, Rhode Island since 2020, gave up both his medical licenses last week. The little girl did not tell her parents about the alleged abuse right away, but her mother said she noticed her daughter acting strangely and told the police later that her daughter had allegedly disclosed to a therapist that she was being abused. Healey was charged with first-degree child molestation, a crime that carries a penalty of 25 years to life in prison, though his sentence is not yet known. He was set to return to court today. Dr David S. Healey, 51, of Barringon, Rhode Island is being held without bail after it came to light that a young girl of seven had been sexually abused for an undisclosed amount of time Dr Healey, of Barrington, Rhode Island, was ordered to stay away from all children when he was arrested last week. Rhode Island Department of Health spokesman Joseph Wendelken said that Healey is not practicing at this time. The matter is under review with our investigatory and licensing teams. The investigation into him began in January when the little girls mother noticed her unusual behavior. She eventually admitted that something was going on and pointed to her private area. According to an affidavit, the mother took her daughter to a hospital where doctors regularly treat sexual abuse victims, followed by the Aubin Child Protection Center. It was there that she allegedly disclosed the abuse to a psychotherapist, but its not clear for how long the alleged abuse occurred. The arrest warrant went out on March 14, and Healey was arrested a day later. It was initially set for second-degree child molestation but was upgraded to first-degree when he was arraigned last week. Healey, meanwhile, had reportedly admitted to molesting the little girls to a psychiatrist and a nurse numerous times. The latest scandal out of Rhode Island comes on the heels of another involving a Missouri pediatrician who allegedly wrote around 1,200 fake prescriptions to at least 25 females from 2014 to 2022 in exchange for sexual favors, many of whom were drug addicts or women he had treated as minors. Donald Trump speaks during his event at Trendsetter Engineering on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, in Houston. Karen Warren/Staff photographer The claim: At a recent campaign rally, former President Donald Trump fused two high-profile subjects into one explosive claim: the Social Security program, which older Americans rely on for retirement benefits, and the flow of migrants into the United States. Your Social Security will be destroyed by the people coming in. Theres too many of them. Its not sustainable, he said March 16 in Vandalia, Ohio. The ruling: False. However someone views immigrations value, Trump is wrong about the relationship between immigrants and Social Security. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Social Securitys fiscal challenges stem from a shortage of workers compared with beneficiaries. Though immigration alone wont make the program solvent, it would increase the worker-to-beneficiary ratio, potentially for decades, thus extending the programs fiscal life. Discussion Social Securitys trust fund is projected to run dry in about a decade, which would prompt large-scale, across-the-board cuts. But however someone views immigration, saying it will hurt Social Securitys fiscal viability, as Trump did, is questionable. To keep Social Security fiscally sustainable, few developments would be as helpful as seeing high rates of immigration. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee did not respond to inquiries for this article. The key threat to Social Securitys long-term viability is a shortage of workers feeding their tax dollars into the system, alongside a growing number of retirement-age Americans qualifying to receive benefits. President Franklin D. Roosevelts administration established Social Security in 1935. As life expectancy has risen, so, too, has the number of eligible recipients. But as the baby boom generation has increasingly shifted into retirement, fewer workers are paying into the system. In 2000, there were 3.4 workers paying into Social Security for every retiree drawing benefits. By 2010, that had fallen to 2.9 workers per beneficiary. By 2020, it was 2.7. And by 2030, its expected to be 2.5. One way to improve the worker-to-beneficiary ratio is to have higher rates of immigration. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In general, adding to the immigration rate operates in somewhat the same way as an increase in the birth rate, said Eugene Steuerle, a fellow at the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. A higher rate of immigration is generally good for Social Security because it increases the number of workers supporting each beneficiary. Typically, immigrants who are legally qualified to work can receive Social Security retirement benefits after theyve worked and paid Social Security taxes for 10 years. So, for at least 10 years, this immigrant will be paying into the system before they draw any benefits. Immigrants in the U.S. illegally cannot receive Social Security retirement benefits. Most immigrants in the country legally will be paying into Social Security for much longer than 10 years, as long as they arrive in the United States before they are in their mid-50s. Many of those immigrants eventually will draw from Social Security. But not all will; some will return to their country of origin before completing the 10 years, essentially gifting their Social Security taxes to the trust fund. Even many immigrants who are in the United States illegally pay taxes. Sometimes, this consists of money withheld from their paycheck, a portion of which is earmarked for Social Security. (Such paycheck withholding may come from workers who submit fake Social Security numbers.) In other cases, an undocumented immigrant will file a tax return using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number rather than a Social Security number. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Estimates have found that immigrants without legal status pay billions of dollars in Social Security taxes annually without drawing benefits, now or ever. The Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank favoring low immigration levels, argued in a 2023 paper that higher immigration levels offer pluses and minuses for Social Security. The paper says the degree of benefit for the program depends on the mix of younger and older immigrants coming to the U.S., as well as whether newcomers have advanced skills or not and how many children the immigrants have. The paper also argues that much depends on whether the government decides to loosen rules governing who can receive Social Security benefits. Illegal immigrants benefit the system as long as they remain illegal, Jason Richwine, who wrote the Center for Immigration Studies paper, told PolitiFact. Any legalization or amnesty would reverse those gains and create major costs instead. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Steuerle cautioned that rising immigration levels would not by itself solve all of Social Securitys fiscal challenges. It would take a great deal of immigration to do that, he said. A 39-year-old carpenter died from severe seizures after taking the herbal substance kratom in 2021. Matthew Torres was living in Beavercreek with his longtime girlfriend Meghan Gates and enjoyed creating hand-crafted decor items he would share with family and friends. Mr Torres was found 'foaming at the mouth' by Ms Gates in the wealthy Clackamas County in Oregon. She performed CPR on Mr Torres until emergency responders arrived, but he was declared dead on May 27, 2021, one month before his 40th birthday. The coroner determined Torres' cause of death as 'toxic effects of mitragynine' - the active compound in kratom, a herbal substance that is rising in popularity for the opioid and stimulant-like effects it produces. His mother, Mary Torres, sued the smoke shop that sold it to him and is seeking $10million in damages. Matthew Torres, 39, with his mother Mary Torres The kratom Mr Torres was taking. The product's packet shows '100 percent pure mitragyna speciosa leaf powder' as the ingredient He had been using kratom to manage his 'his pain and muscular ailments', the lawsuit said, which he thought it was not addictive and had less side effects than opioids. Kratom is a tree, also called mitragyna speciosa, which grows in Southeast Asia. Mitragynine is one of its main psychoactive components, according to a December 2021 World Health Organization report. It is often eaten by chewing its leaves or consuming the leaves in powdered form, and has been rising in popularity as an alternative pain-relieving substance. Mr Torres was consuming the power as a drink. According to the lawsuit, Mr Torres had been using a product called 'Real Kratom' which he bought from House of Pipes, a chain of smoke shops in the Portland area. The product's packet shows '100 percent pure mitragyna speciosa leaf powder' as the ingredient. Mr Torres worked as a skilled carpenter and was living with his girlfriend in Beavercreek, roughly a 20-mile drive southeast of Portland. There are no products containing kratom or its two main chemical components that are legally on the market in the US, the FDA said, it is sold in stores and online. Mr Torres was using kratom for 'his pain and muscular ailments,' as he thought it was a 'non-addictive substitute to pharmaceuticals' According to the FDA, kratom is often used to self-treat pain, coughing, diarrhea, anxiety and depression, opioid use disorder, and opioid withdrawal. An estimated 1.7 million Americans aged 12 and above used kratom in 2021, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In small doses, kratom can produce stimulant effects, the CDC said, and in higher doses, it can give effects mimicking opioids. In Southeast Asia, kratom has been used for centuries and is accepted as part of everyday life, similar to how drinking coffee is in the US, according to Christopher McCurdy, a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida and an internationally recognized kratom expert, who previously spoke with McClatchy News. There has not been enough scientific data to assess the safety of kratom, the FDA said, and it can lead to liver toxicity, seizures, substance use disorder and even death. The lawsuit filed over Torres death says House of Pipes - and all 'kratom involved business' entities - have never said that kratom was safe. But House of Pipes has profited off of selling 'dangerous' kratom products to Mr Torres and others, according to the complaint. 'I urge kratom consumers to do their homework regarding the product Sellers of kratom dont tell you that its addictive and that you can die from it,' said Tamara Williams, an mctlaw attorney, told McClatchy News. 'Until its deemed safe and approved for use, don't use it.' If House of Pipes made Mr Torres aware of the risks of kratom, his death could have been avoided, the complaint said. 'The kratom industry appears to be organized a lot like a drug cartel. Kratom manufacturers, distributors, and sellers try to conceal their ownership and financial activities to avoid accountability,' said Michael Cowgill, an mctlaw attorney representing Mr Torres' family. 'Families like the Torres' have had enough of this deception and deserve justice,' Mr Cowgill added. The case is one of the most recent kratom-related wrongful death lawsuits filed in America. Last year, mother-of-four Krystal Talavera collapsed and died after taking kratom in 2021. Her eldest son, Devin Filippelli, sued Kratom distributor Grow LLC over her death and a judge ruled they have to pay more than $11million in damages. Mctlaw also represented that case. Sleeping with the blinds open could raise your risk of stroke by up to 43 percent, a study suggests. Street lights and light pollution from traffic interfere with the body's natural sleep-wake cycle and not getting enough quality rest puts strain on the heart and other organs. Researchers in China made the discovery after comparing data from thousands of people. Scientists suggested the bright lights were disrupting people's natural sleep-wake cycles, leading many to sleep less than the recommended seven hours a night (stock image) Dr Jain-Bing Wang, a public health expert involved in the paper, said: 'Our study suggests that higher levels of exposure to outdoor artificial light at night may be a risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. 'Therefore, we advise people, especially those living in urban areas, to consider reducing that exposure to protect themselves from its potential harmful impact.' Many people are keeping blinds open at night amid a new wellness trend encouraging people to 'wake up with the sun'. But scientists warn that about 80 percent of the world's population is already living in light polluted areas which could leave them struggling to sleep. Using the Bortle Dark Sky Scale, which rates the darkness of the sky from one to nine, scientists say the average moonless night has a measurement of one or very little light in the sky. For comparison, major cities like New York have a measurement of nine suggesting high levels of light pollution. For the paper, published today in the journal Stroke, scientists recruited 28,300 people from the Chinese port city of Ningbo, about 120 miles South of Shanghai. Participants were 62 years old on average and did not have a history of cerebrovascular disease such as stroke and aneurysms. Each was tracked for six years from 2015 to 2021 with scientists recording cases of stroke or other cerebrovascular disease via hospital medical records. They detected 1,278 cases overall, of which 900 were strokes. For the analysis, satellite images were used to estimate the light pollution each patient suffered from at night. Results were adjusted by age, sex and income to suggest the risk of suffering cerebrovascular disease by light exposure at night. Writing in the paper, the researchers said: 'Exposure to [bright light at night] could lead to the body's circadian rhythm suppressing melatonin secretion. 'This could result in changes in biological indicators including elevated triglyceride levels... blood pressure and blood glucose, which are all triggers for the occurrence of cerebrovascular disease.' Dr Wang added: 'Despite significant advances in reducing traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, obesity and type 2 diabetes, it is important to consider environmental factors in our efforts to decrease the global burden of cardiovascular disease.' Limitations of the paper included that there was no data on indoor light exposure for participants or whether they used blackout curtains. The research was also carried out in part over the Covid pandemic, which may have affected people's risk of disease via lifestyle changes. The CDC recommends everyone should get between seven to nine hours of sleep every night. The study also investigated the risk of cerebrovascular disease from air pollution. It found that those living in areas with the highest levels of PM10 a tiny compound released from car exhausts had up to 50 percent higher risk of suffering from cerebrovascular disease compared to those exposed to the lowest levels. Those exposed to the highest levels of PM2.5 a smaller substance also released from cars had a 41 percent higher risk. And those exposed to nitrogen oxide, released from cars and industrial areas, had a 31 percent higher risk. The researchers said there was no link between air pollution and light pollution and the risk of cerebrovascular disease. Explaining the higher risk from air pollution in the paper, they added: 'An elevated risk of hemorrhagic stroke may be achieved by provoking arterial vasoconstriction, elevated blood pressure, and increased susceptibility to cerebral vascular rupture by triggering endothelial dysfunction.' It's a dilemma we've all faced at some point should you run to the bathroom now, or can you wait? Now, experts have developed an implant and phone app that could one day remove guesswork from the equation. Researchers have designed a soft, flexible, battery-free implant that attaches to the wall of the bladder to sense how full it is. Then, it wirelessly and simultaneously transmits data to a smartphone app, so users can monitor their bladder fullness in real time. The development marks the first example of a bioelectronic sensor that enables continuous monitoring of bladder function for a prolonged period, the researchers said. The soft, stretchable sensor is the elongated section near the tip of the tweezers. The green box is the implantable base station, which holds electrical components to power the device and wirelessly transmit data The device wirelessly and continuously transmits data to a smartphone app, so users (and their physicians) can monitor bladder filling and function in real time In small animal studies, the system successfully delivered real-time measurements of bladder filling and emptying for 30 days. Then, in a study using non-human primates, the system successfully delivered information for eight weeks. The researchers also demonstrated that the sensors are sensitive enough to detect bladder strain from very low volumes of urine. Professor Guillermo Ameer, from Northwestern University in Illinois, co-led the work. WHAT IS BLADDER CANCER? Bladder cancer is caused by a tumour developing in the lining of the bladder or the organ's muscle. Around 10,200 new cases are diagnosed in the UK each year and 81,400 people in the US, according to figures. It is the 10th most common cancer in the UK - but a little more prevalent in the US - and accounts for about three per cent of all cases. The cancer is more common in men and has a 10-year survival rate of about 50 per cent. Around half of cases are considered preventable. Symptoms of the disease include blood in the urine, needing to urinate more often or more urgently than normal and pelvic pain. However, unexpected weight loss and swelling of the legs can also be signs of the killer disease. Smoking and exposure to chemicals in plastics and paints at work can increase the risk of getting bladder cancer. Treatment varies depending on how advanced the cancer is, and may include surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Source: NHS Choices Advertisement He said: 'In addition to monitoring the filling, the app will be able to send warnings to the patient and then direct them to locations for the nearest restrooms.' The team said the device could be a game-changer for people with paralysis, spina bifida, bladder cancer or end-stage bladder disease where bladder function is often compromised, and bladder reconstruction surgery may be required. 'If bladder nerves are damaged from surgery or from a disease such as spina bifida, then a patient often loses sensation and is unaware that their bladder is full,' Professor Ameer said. 'To empty the bladder, they often have to use catheters, which are uncomfortable and can lead to painful infections. 'We want to eliminate the use of catheters and bypass current bladder function monitoring procedures, which are highly invasive, very unpleasant and must be done in a hospital or clinical setting.' To monitor the bladder the new device comprises multiple sensors, which work together to measure one simple parameter strain. As the bladder fills, it expands. The fuller the bladder becomes, the more it stretches. This stretching pulls on the elastic-like device to signal strain. Likewise, when the bladder empties, it contracts, which then relieves strain. As the sensors detect various levels of strain, the device uses embedded Bluetooth technology to transmit this information to a smartphone or tablet. The team said their sensor system also can enable clinicians to monitor their patients remotely and continuously to make more informed and faster treatment decisions. Preofessor Ameer said: 'This work is the first of its kind that is scaled for human use. 'We demonstrated the potential long-term function of the technology. 'Depending on the use case, we can design the technology to reside permanently inside the body or to harmlessly dissolve after the patient has made a full recovery.' The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Princess of Wales revealing her cancer diagnosis has led to soaring enquiries on NHS and charity websites. Visits to the NHS website's cancer page rose by nearly five-fold following the announcement, while Cancer Research UK and Macmillan also reported a surge in clicks. In an emotional video issued on Friday evening, the Princess told how she was diagnosed with cancer last month, having spent a fortnight in the private London Clinic for abdominal surgery in January. By following in the footsteps of the King, experts hope Kate's message of hope will encourage more people living with disease to reach out for support. Figures show in the 24 hours after revealing she is undergoing treatment, there were 2,840 visits to the NHS page, up 373 per cent on the same period the previous week. New figures from NHS England show that in the 24 hours after the princess revealed she was undergoing treatment last week, there were 2,840 visits to the page on cancer Some 4,172 people the equivalent of one person every three seconds - looked at the cancer symptoms page in the three hours after her recorded television message. The page had 1,922 visits during the same timeframe a week earlier. Meanwhile, Cancer Research UK had more than 200,000 visitors to its support pages and Macmillan close to 100,000 by the end of Sunday the highest weekend figures since the first national Covid in March 2020. In her television address, Kate spoke of taking time to tell their children to 'reassure them I am going to be ok'. Gemma Peters, chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support said many cancer patients would relate to her words. She said: 'We hear from people every day who are worried about how cancer will affect their loved ones, and how best to support each other through it. 'In sharing her news, the Princess of Wales has raised awareness of these worries and will be helping to encourage others who have concerns, to visit their GP and seek support.' She added: 'Many will be relating to the Prince and Princess of Wales at this time. 'Some of the first thoughts parents have after being diagnosed with cancer are how it may affect their children, and whether talking to them about it will make them worry but it is important to give them the chance to talk openly about their fears.' Similarly, Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said online traffic increased by more than a 15 per cent on Friday. She said: 'These figures show how high-profile cancer cases can act as a prompt to encourage people to find out more or think about their own health. 'If people spot something that's not normal for them or isn't going away, they should check with their GP. Spotting cancer at an early stage means treatment is more likely to be successful.' Changes to the body's normal processes or unusual, unexplained symptoms can sometimes be an early sign of cancer. Symptoms that need to be checked by a doctor include a lump that suddenly appears, unexplained bleeding and changes to bowel habits. In many cases symptoms will be caused by another condition, but if it is cancer, an early diagnosis means it's easier to treat. Simple changes to lifestyle - such as healthy eating, taking regular exercise and not smoking - can also significantly reduce a person's risk of developing cancer. NHS England said numbers peaked straight after the announcement, with 1,678 visits to the symptoms page including information of types of disease, spotting symptoms, and early diagnosis between 6pm and 7pm last Friday. Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England's national clinical director for Cancer, said: 'Receiving a cancer diagnosis can be very daunting - it turns your life upside down and speaking about it can be really difficult for people - the Princess of Wales bravely speaking out about her diagnosis will help others to do the same. 'Thanks to this, we have seen a spike in people visiting vital information on our website about signs and symptoms - there is no doubt that talking about cancer saves lives if it encourages people to come forward sooner if things aren't right.' A leading US medical body is encouraging stressed out doctors to use ChatGPT to free up their time. A new study looked at how well the AI model can interpret and summarize complicated medical studies, which doctors are encouraged to read in order to stay up to date on the latest research and treatment developments in their field. They found the chatbot was accurate 98 percent of the time - giving physicians rapid and accurate summaries of studies in a range of specialities from cardiology and neurology to psychiatry and public health. The American Academy of Family Physicians said the results showed that ChatGPT is 'likely to be useful as a screening tool to help busy clinicians and scientists.' ChatGPT was highly effective at summarizing new clinical studies and case reports, suggesting that busy doctors could rely on the AI tool to learn about the latest developments in their fields in a relatively short amount of time The platform was 72 percent accurate overall. It was best at making a final diagnosis, with 77 percent accuracy. Research has also found that it can pass a medical licensing exam and be more empathetic than real doctors The report comes as AI quietly creeps into healthcare. Two-thirds of doctors reportedly see its benefits, with 38 percent of doctors reporting that they use it already as part of their daily practice, according to an American Medical Association survey. Roughly 90 percent of hospital systems use AI in some form, a jump from 53 percent in the latter half of 2019. Meanwhile, an estimated 63 percent of physicians experienced symptoms of burnout in 2021, according to the AMA. While the Covid pandemic exacerbated doctor burnout, the rate was still high before, with roughly 55 percent of doctors reporting feeling burned out in 2014. The hope is that AI technology will help alleviate the high rates of burnout that are driving a physician shortage. Kansas physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Family Physicians assessed AIs ability to parse through and summarize clinical reports across 14 medical journals, checking that it interpreted them correctly and could devise accurate summaries for doctors to read and digest in a crunch. Serious inaccuracies were uncommon, suggesting that busy doctors could rely on AI-generated study abstracts to learn about their fields' latest techniques and developments without sacrificing valuable time with patients. Researchers said: 'We conclude that because ChatGPT summaries were 70% shorter than abstracts and usually of high quality, high accuracy, and low bias, they are likely to be useful as a screening tool to help busy clinicians and scientists more rapidly evaluate whether further review of an article is likely to be worthwhile.' The University of Kansas physicians tested the ChatGPT-3.5 model, the type commonly used by the public, to determine if it could summarize medical research abstracts and determine the relevance of these articles to various medical specialties. They fed ten articles into the AIs language learning model, which is designed to understand, process, and generate human language based on training on vast amounts of textual data. The journals specialized in various health topics such as cardiology, pulmonary medicine, public health, and neurology. They found that ChatGPT could produce high-quality, high-accuracy, and low-bias summaries of abstracts despite being given a limit of 125 words to do so. Only four of the 140 summaries devised by ChatGPT contained serious inaccuracies. One of them omitted a serious risk factor for a health condition being female. Another was due to a semantic misunderstanding by the machine model, while others were due to misinterpreting trial methods, such as whether they were double-blinded. The researchers said: We conclude that ChatGPT summaries have rare but important inaccuracies that preclude them from being considered a definitive source of truth. Clinicians are strongly cautioned against relying solely on ChatGPT-based summaries to understand study methods and study results, especially in high-risk situations. Still, the majority of inaccuracies noted in 20 of 140 articles were minor and mostly related to ambiguous language. The inaccuracies were not significant enough to drastically change the intended message or conclusions of the text. The healthcare field and the public at large have accepted AI in healthcare with some reservation, largely preferring a doctor be there to double check ChatGPT's answers, diagnoses, and drug recommendations All ten of the studies were published in 2022, which researchers did on purpose because AI models were trained on data published up until 2021. By introducing text that had not yet been used to train the AI network, researchers would get the most organic responses from ChatGPT possible without them being contaminated by studies that came before them. ChatGPT was asked to self-reflect on the quality, accuracy, and biases of its written study abstracts. Self-reflection is a powerful language-learning tool for AI. It allows AI chatbots to evaluate their own performance on specific tasks, like analyzing scientific studies by relying on complex algorithms, cross-referencing methodology with already-established standards, and using probability to measure uncertainty levels. Keeping up with the latest developments in ones field is one of many responsibilities that a doctor has. But the demands of their jobs, particularly caring for their patients in a timely manner, often mean they lack the time necessary to delve into academic studies and case reports. There have been concerns about inaccuracies in ChatGPTs responses, which could endanger patients if not checked over by trained doctors. A study presented last year at a conference of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reported that nearly three-quarters of ChatGPTs responses to drug-related questions reviewed by pharmacists turned out to be wrong or incomplete. At the same time, ChatGPTs responses to medical questions were found to be both more empathetic and of higher quality than doctors responses 79 percent of the time by a third-party panel of doctors. The publics appetite for AI in healthcare appears low, especially if doctors rely on it too heavily. A 2023 survey by Pew Research Center found that 60 percent of Americans would feel uncomfortable with that. Meanwhile, 33 percent of people said it would lead to worse patient outcomes, while 27 percent said it would make no difference. Time-saving measures are crucial to doctors to give them more time to spend with patients in their care. Doctors currently have around 13 to 24 minutes to spend with each patient. Other responsibilities related to patient billing, electronic health records, and scheduling quickly take up larger chunks of doctors time. The average doctor spends nearly nine hours per week on administration. Psychiatrists spent the highest proportion of their time 20 percent of their work weeks followed by internists (17.3 percent) and family/general practitioners (17.3 percent). The administrative workload is taking a measurable toll on US doctors, who had been experiencing increasing levels of burnout even before the global pandemic. The Association of American Medical Colleges projects a shortage of up to 124,000 doctors by 2034, a staggering figure that many attribute to rising rates of burnout. Dr Marilyn Heine, an American Medical Association trustee, said: AMA studies have shown that there are high levels of physician administrative burden and burnout and that these are linked. The latest findings were published in the journal Annals of Family Medicine. One of the nation's biggest investment platforms has called for a cross-party commitment to scrap stamp duty on share trading to boost the City and wider economy. Richard Wilson, the chief executive of Interactive Investor, urged the main parties to pledge to ditch the 'absurd' levy in their manifestos for the next General Election. Investors pay 0.5 per cent in stamp duty on the price of UK-listed shares they buy, or 5 for every 1,000 invested. But the levy does not apply to the purchase of shares in foreign companies. And it is far higher than the 0.1 per cent to 0.3 per cent typically charged in Europe, while there is no tax on share purchases at all in the US. So a saver who buys 10,000 of shares in FTSE 100 giant AstraZeneca pays 50 in tax, but nothing for the same investment in New York-listed Amazon. 'Absurd': Investors pay 0.5 per cent in stamp duty on the price of UK-listed shares they buy, or 5 for every 1,000 invested Warning that the tax is deterring investment, and in turn harming the economy, Wilson said: 'It's potty. It's a journey to oblivion. It's absurd.' He said Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and City minister Bim Afolami are 'sympathetic' to pleas to scrap the tax, which is set to raise 3.2billion this year and 23.7bn between now and 2028-29. 'They are sympathetic but they argue it is an affordability question,' Wilson said. 'My view is they cannot afford not to.' Asked about Labour's view, he added: 'Lord knows.' But calling for both parties to commit to scrapping the tax in their manifestos, Wilson said: 'They absolutely need to if they are serious about government and innovation in the UK. 'Liquidity in the markets is like our oxygen. The markets need it to breathe. By taxing transactions, we choke the air supply and make the markets weak, and then one by one the players leave. Give us back our level playing field, and let the London financial markets do what they do best: to compete, to innovate, to win.' Laith Khalaf, of rival trading platform AJ Bell, said: 'Stamp duty on shares brings in around 3billion to 4billion a year for the Exchequer, so it's not insubstantial, but cutting it could provide a boost for the UK stock market and reduce the cost of capital for UK-listed firms.' Transcript suppressed by the Jan. 6 panel was released and corroborates Patel's testimony about National Guard authorization Kash Patel has faced a years-long smear campaign aimed at discrediting his testimony to the Select Committee investigating January 6 that he claims proves Donald Trump did not engage in insurrection. Central to the panel's argument that Trump incited the Capitol riot and is an 'insurrectionist' is their finding that he did not 'deploy' the National Guard to Washington, D.C. as his supporters descended on the Capitol. But Patel testified, and reiterated to DailyMail.com in an interview, that Trump did verbally authorize National Guard deployment during an Oval Office meeting on January 3, 2021 three days before the now infamous riot. The Trump advisor and former National Security Council official was in the meeting where he claims Trump gave his approval for Defense officials to communicate to Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that they were authorized to deploy the National Guard to the District and the U.S. Capitol building amid threats of violence that day. Anthony Ornato, who was in charge of chief executive's Secret Service security detail from January 2019 until Trump left office, said that the president was 'willing to ask for 10,000' National Guard troops for deployment to Washington, D.C. on January 6. 'I remember the number 10,000 coming up of, you know, 'The president wants to make sure that you have enough,' Ornato testified to the committee in a transcript unearthed this month by the Republicans reviewing the January 6 Committee's investigation. Kash Patel says that smear campaign against him is dead after newly unearthed transcription suppressed by the January 6 panel corroborates his testimony that Donald Trump did authorize 10,000 National Guard troops Testimony from Anthony Ornato, who was in charge of Trump's security detail before and during Jan. 6, 2021, said the president authorized deployment of the National Guard. The January 6 Committee previously suppressed a transcript of Ornato's testimony and it was released this month The Select Committee on the January 6 Capitol Attack did all they could to discredit Patels' testimony and label him a Trump lackey who would say anything to protect the former president, the former national security official claimed. The disregard for Patel's testimony in the congressional probe was used as a way for a Colorado court to also claim Patel was not provide credible testimony in the case trying to remove the former president from the state's ballot for allegedly participating in an insurrection. 'The Court finds that Mr. Patel was not a credible witness,' a finding reads from the November 2023 ruling by Colorado Judge Sarah Wallace. 'His testimony regarding Trump authorizing 10,000-20,000 National Guardsmen is not only illogically but completely devoid if any evidence in the record.' Ornato said, according to the newly released testimony, that Bowser declined the offer for troops, claiming she had enough help with National Guard members mobilized to act in a limited capacity under Metro Police Department direction. The testimony from Ornato was first reported by The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway and was later released in full by House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Rep. Barry Loudermilk earlier this month. Bowser wrote a letter to Trump's Pentagon officials on January 5, 2021 denying the offer of additional National Guardsmen outside of the 'unarmed members of the DC National Guard' she brought in to act as glorified traffic cops to give support with 'traffic control and crowd management.' U.S. Capitol Police, who report to the Speaker of the House, also denied the offer for troops. 'The whole point is it defeats their insurrection claim,' Patel said. 'If Trump did not authorize the National Guard before Jan. 6, then how is it factually possible for Bowser and Pelosi to have rejected it, in writing. It's impossible.' 'So, they lose the narrative in the public sphere. Now, they're losing it in the courts with all the litigation,' he added. Rioters at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 clash with law enforcement Patel said in his December 9, 2021 deposition before the panel that Trump did authorize the 10,000 National Guard for deployment. Trump's administration, Ornato confirmed, requested a 'quick reaction force' out of the Defense Department in case it was needed after both Bowser and Pelosi denied the additional support. When Former Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller reiterated Patel's recollection of the meeting regarding the president's authorization in his testimony to the panel, it was sold to the public as a way for Trump to have troops in the area to protect his supporters. Newly unearthed transcripts from Tony Ornato, the man who was in charge of Trump's Secret Service security detail, reveal that he corroborated Patel's claims that Trump did want the National Guard in D.C. on January 6. Asked about preemptively authorizing deployment in the January 3 meeting, Patel said Trump's thinking was along the lines of: 'Just in case there's any security issues in D.C. or any other major city, I know you need my authorization, so I'm giving it to you.' 'Don't come back to me. You have it [authorization]. Don't waste time if a governor asks for troops you have it,' he added. Patel said 'we deployed the DOD leadership to Bowser and Pelosi and to Capitol Police that day' to inform them that they were able to deploy National Guard to help protect the Capitol and District. But he claims 'they said no.' Patel told DailyMail.com that the reason Democrat officials did not take up Trump's authorization of 10,000 troops to the District was because they 'wanted' the images of his supporters descending on the Capitol. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (left) and U.S. Capitol Police, which was at the time reporting to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (right), denied Trump's offer for National Guard troops Mayor Bowser sent a letter to Trump's Defense officials on January 5, 2021 denying the president's offer of additional National Guard support in the District One of the key arguments of the January 6 Committee's report alleging Trump engaged in insurrection is the claim he failed to deploy the National Guard because he didn't want his supporters stopped from reaching the Capitol and protesting the 2020 election results. Since the District of Columbia does not have a governor, the D.C. National Guard is under the authority of the president. While the mayor can have them sworn in as 'special [police] privates' to act under MPD, the president's authority is needed for their full deployment. 'President Trump had authority and responsibility to direct deployment of the National Guard in the District of Columbia, but never gave any order to deploy the National Guard on January 6th or on any other day,' the January 6 panel wrote in its final report. 'Nor did he instruct any Federal law enforcement agency to assist.' The nine-member panel, including seven Democratic lawmakers and two Republicans, decided Patel's testimony claiming Trump did authorize the National Guard was not compelling. And a Colorado judge in the now defunct case trying to remove Trump from the ballot said Patel is 'not a credible' witness. 'Colorado got reversed because there is no insurrection with this new testimony,' Patel insisted in reference to the Supreme Court overturning the Colorado case attempting to say Trump couldn't be on the ballot because he engaged in 'insurrection.' 'I was the lead witness [in Colorado],' he said. 'It was a clown show. And what they're doing now is personal attacks.' The testimony from Ornato was previously suppressed by the Jan. 6 panel and only referenced in part in their final report. But Rep. Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the House Administration Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight, is reviewing the January 6 panel's investigation and disclosed earlier this month the transcript of Ornato's testimony. 'This is one example we've uncovered of the former J6 Select Committee intentionally suppressing critical information because it did not support their narrative,' the chairman told DailyMail.com of Ornato's testimony. He added: 'Our Initial Findings Report is just the beginning, and our investigation will continue in our efforts to get to the truth.' A staffer for the panel asked Ornato during his November 2022 deposition: 'When it comes to the National Guard statement about having 10,000 troops or any other number of troops, do you recall any discussion prior to the 6th about whether and how many National Guard troops to deploy on January 6th?' Patel was a U.S. National Security Council official under Trump. He testified to the January 6 panel about the Oval Office meeting where Trump authorized deployment of the National Guard to D.C. Ornato then recalled a conversations he heard between then-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. 'He [Meadows] was on the phone with her [Bowser] and wanted to make sure she had everything that she needed,' the longtime Secret Service official told investigators. Ornato said that Trump and his team, including Miller and Meadows, were getting frustrated with the slow deployment of National Guard the day of the Capitol attack. 'So then I remember the chief saying, 'Hey, I'm calling secretary of defense to get that [quick reaction force] in here,' Ornato said, later adding: 'And then I remember the chief telling Miller, 'Get them in here, get them in here to secure the Capitol now.'' The timeline of the events leading up to and on the day of January 6, 2021 continues to be disputed between those who think Trump didn't do enough to end the riots sooner and those who say he preemptively tried to give approvals for as much support as possible. With a sense of disbelief, I waved to my children through the February drizzle. I was not going to see them again for ten months. My mission as captain of HMS Turbulent was taking me to sea until December a 286-day submarine deployment, with only brief stopovers to break up the voyage. The regrets were pushed to the back of my mind from the moment I was aboard 'Turbs', a nuclear-powered Trafalgar-class attack submarine with 130 men crews were single sex back then. There is no time for any of the crew to dwell on the family life they are leaving behind. Coming back to the real world after months at sea is just as disorientating. The crew of HMS Vengeance, one of Britain's four submarines armed with Trident nuclear missiles, will have experienced it recently as they returned to home base at Faslane in Scotland after a reported 201 days at sea without any break at all. I'm a veteran submariner, with 23 years service, but the thought of that makes me quail. Ryan Ramsey is a former navy commander and was the captain of HMS Turbulent. He is a veteran submariner with 23 years of service HMS Turbulent is a nuclear-powered Trafalgar-class attack submarine with 130 men Communal games such as cards and a Navy game called Uckers, a sort of Ludo with added strategy, are popular on board What hits you first when you surface after weeks under water is the sea smell, that bracing combination of brine and fish. There's none of that in the submarine itself. Then you realise how strained your eyesight has become. Distance vision inside a submarine quickly atrophies, because it is never used. That is even more noticeable after a voyage than the brightness of the sunlight. Every crew member in a sub plays a crucial role. We all have our individual jobs, precision components in a complex machine. The captain has to be aware at all times of what everyone is doing. By comparison, real life seems chaotic and messy. I remember standing on Plymouth high street, a few hours after disembarking, and feeling bewildered who were all these people, and how could anyone keep track of so many lives? These feelings soon ebb away, but they are a symptom of how intense life is under the sea. The crew live in the closest of quarters, with no privacy and no respite, sharing food, bathrooms, toilets and sleeping quarters. Emotions become magnified, with the incessant threat of attack or ambush by an unseen enemy. We are always hunting and being hunted. I liken submarine warfare to a knife fight with an unseen opponent in a pitch-black room neither knows where the other is, but a single wrong move or even a clumsy sound could be fatal. I had my fair share of terrifying encounters with hostile submarines but details of those remain classified. But around once a month during my deployment, we'd come dangerously close to another submarine it's easy to do since the vessels are so quiet and we'd have to execute our Close Quarters Drill to avoid a collision. It's a well-rehearsed routine. Sonar operators get to work reporting the bearing of the other sub, while the tactical systems guys work out its course and speed. Then the Watchleader (the person leading the team), starts changing course to avoid collision. When collision is avoided, they'll attempt to regain control of the situation you're in a dog fight at this stage (if you've watched Top Gun, that's when you're trying to position yourself behind the 'enemy'). Sealed within a 280ft metal tube, deep below the ocean surface, our lives were also in danger from any number of engineering failures. Turbulent's ten-month mission in 2011 came close to disaster when our air conditioning broke down in the Gulf of Oman. Emotions can become magnified on a submarine, with the incessant threat of attack or ambush by an unseen enemy Submarines are self-sufficient, apart from the need to take food supplies on board: the air is recirculated, the power source is nuclear, but waste water does have to be discharged overboard Every crew member in a submarine plays a crucial role - they all have their individual jobs and are precision components in a complex machine About three hours after sailing out of the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, the temperature on board began to rise sharply. Outside, the water temperature was 37C. Inside, the air felt as though it was boiling, with humidity of 100 per cent and the thermometer hitting 60C very quickly, heated by the machinery and the nuclear reactor. The crew began to drop from heat exhaustion. Some were seriously ill and many more were fighting to stay conscious. We lost so many key players in a matter of minutes, but the training worked, the team functioned and people stepped into positions where they would not usually operate. Our only hope was to dive into the coldest depths with no sonar operating and hydraulics in reserve mode. That cooled the submarine enough for engineers to be able to diagnose the problem: barnacles blocking the coolant inlet pipes. We clear these by blasting compressed air through them. By now we had 27 casualties, five of them in a bad way, with one whose life was in danger. We radioed for medical aid and surfaced at first, my heart sank as I looked through the periscope and saw nothing but empty sea around us. I thought our message hadn't got through. Then, to my relief, I realised the helicopter was directly overhead. The crew member was airlifted to safety. Any Royal Navy ship can suffer a breakdown at sea but the problems are multiplied when the boat is operating underwater. On one patrol, our sewage system malfunctioned, which was not a pleasant experience. Only two toilets or 'heads', in naval parlance were operational, both in the officers' quarters. When 130 men are sharing two toilets, the queues are endless. Even when everything is working, there are only nine toilets and ten sinks on an attack submarine. Tougher still, there are only three showers. Time management is crucial, and so is water conservation. Submarines are completely self-sufficient, apart from the need to take food supplies on board: the air is recirculated, the power source is nuclear, but the waste water or black water, in nautical parlance does eventually have to be discharged overboard. Discharging dirty water makes a noise. That noise can give away the position of the sub. It's vital that the crew use as little water as possible, so showers are used infrequently and quickly. A submariner will turn the water on just long enough to get wet, then turn it off before applying shampoo and soap. Then the water goes back on just long enough for a rinse, and that's it. Anything longer than a minute in total is known as a Hollywood shower, resulting in a lot of mockery and derision. Inevitably, with 130 crew and a lot of machinery in such a confined space, there's a distinctive smell to a submarine. Mixed up in that is a combination of roll-on deodorant and old-fashioned body odour, overlaid with a scorched smell of engine. It's an acrid tang, but you rapidly cease to be aware of it. It was worse when the engines were diesel electric, but it hasn't altogether vanished in the nuclear era. You get used to it, because it's pervasive. Because there's no privacy on board, crew members have to learn to live with each other There's no space for individuals on the submarine. Everyone is committed to the success of the mission, and in many ways everyone is equal, writes Ryan Ramsey The sense of community and camaraderie is like nowhere else in the Royal Navy. When I was Operations Officer on HMS Talent in 1999, the boat's patron Princess Anne came aboard with us. Her visit lasted only three hours but later, we received a message from Admiralty HQ, thanking us for looking after her. It came with a note to say that 'the princess now smells of HMS Talent'. During my 23 years, I served on exchanges with the Royal Netherlands Navy, the U.S. Navy, and went aboard Polish, Portuguese and Canadian subs among others. The one constant was the tightness of the teamwork. When people ask, as they often do, what possessed me to devote my life to submarines, that's the answer the chance to be part of a team like no other. It's as tight as the closest family. The first day I ever went aboard a submarine, I was an 18-year-old midshipman at naval college on a training day, and the experience blew my mind. It wasn't only being inside the most complex machine the British military possesses, or the excitement of being underwater, but the professionalism of the crew working as a seamless unit. I knew that day it was exactly what I wanted to do. First I had to complete my general training but the ambition never left me, and after a couple of years I joined the Submarine Service. That was nearly 35 years ago, and I still have close friends among the crew I first served with. Life on a submarine is nothing like being on a warship. On a frigate or a destroyer, there's much more space as well as a more pronounced hierarchy: the captain has his own chef, for example. On a submarine there's one galley for all, with the same menu: fish on Fridays, steak on Saturdays, roast on Sundays, never changing. Officers and other ranks eat together and that applies to every aspect of life. As a consequence, the sense of community and camaraderie is like nowhere else in the Royal Navy. There's no space for individuals. Everyone is committed to the success of the mission, and in many ways everyone is equal. It doesn't matter whether you are a commander, a lieutenant, an able seaman or an electrician, you all do the same training and earn the same qualification, known as your 'dolphins'. That's a great leveller. Because there's no privacy, you have to learn to live with each other. That doesn't mean everything is always sweetness and light. Human beings will have arguments, but we have methods for managing that before it boils over. My view as captain was that the healthiest thing was to let arguments play out, to release the tension. Bearing grudges is strongly discouraged. We air our problems and move on. Boredom is the worst cause of friction, and the daily routine is calculated to make boredom redundant. The watchkeeping cycle is six hours on, six hours off. During hours of duty, the crew are completely focused on their tasks, for example when we're preparing for strike operations or gathering intelligence. During the other two periods, everyone has to eat and sleep. On a Trafalgar-class submarine, there are 95 bunks for 130 men so some rotation or 'hot-bunking' is inevitable. Usually, there's no more than 90 minutes of recreation time. Some people watch DVDs or listen to music on headphones, but communal games are more popular cards, and also a Navy game called Uckers, a sort of Ludo with added strategy. Increasingly, the lack of mobile phones can be a culture shock at first for new crew members. Again, people adjust quickly, and soon come to appreciate the lack of external 'noise'. The greatest frustration is the lack of news from home. The boat receives a regular short electronic message from headquarters, a short burst of information about two pages long, transmitted either as a very low frequency or an ultra-high frequency signal. This contains a round-up of the week's headlines, for general consumption. But each crew member also gets a weekly 'familygram', which used to be 150 words but is now longer, from their loved ones. It was my job to vet these, to ensure no one on my crew received bad news that could distract them from the job. Submariners have to sign up to this. They all understood that I might know things about their lives that I couldn't tell them. On one very difficult occasion, I received word that a crewman's father had died unexpectedly, a week into the voyage. I had to speak to him 20 times a day, but I couldn't give any hint of the tragedy. On the day before the boat returns to dock, the captain has to call individuals to his cabin, one by one, and deliver the bad news. For me, that was the toughest part of the role. I hated the responsibility. Once those messages are delivered, a message is broadcast to the whole crew, to say, 'That's the end of the bad news.' The ability to cope with that uncertainty is part of what makes submariners such a special breed. Anyone of an anxious disposition could drive themselves mad worrying about what might be going on back home. But I almost never saw that happen. In this hyper-intense, isolated environment, every member of the crew knows they have a vital task. Once you're in a submarine team, you're in a unique family. Submarines are the first and last line of defence for the UK, and that functions only if everyone pulls together. Ryan Ramsey is a former submarine captain and the author of A View From Below Embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams cancelled a Sunday trip to the southern border and Mexico after the State Department told him it was too dangerous. The Democrat leader was expected to set off on Saturday night to speak find out more about the crisis which has seen more than 180,000 migrants arrive in New York City since the spring of 2022. He was due to visit the frontline towns of Brownsville and McAllen in Texas, but it was his planned stop in an unnamed Mexican city that prompted the warning from the White House. It comes just days after the Mayor was forced to abandon the citys right to shelter policy for homeless people in the face of pressure on services from the new arrivals. We hope to continue our partnership with these nationally-recognized Latino leaders and organizations as we look for concrete solutions to resolve the crisis at the border, his spokeswoman Amaris Cockfield said in a statement. New York City Mayor Eric Adams saw the crisis at the southern border for himself in January More than 180,000 migrants arrive in New York City since the spring of 2022 and 64,000 are in the city's emergency accommodation centers, including the Roosevelt Hotel (pictured) Adams had been invited to the southern border by Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande The Mayor visited the southern border back in January unsuccessfully trying to deter those hoping to arrive in New York. That trip also took a four-day tour through Latin America in October in which he made stops in Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia and implored people to stop making the dangerous journey to the US. More than 64,000 migrants are now in the city's care through its more than 200 emergency shelter sites. Last week, city officials and human rights advocates reached an agreement on Adams' bid to suspend the city's right to shelter policy. The agreement essentially ends the city's blanket requirement to provide shelter for adult immigrants without any time limits. Now, officials can decide whether to allow a migrant to stay in a shelter beyond 30 days on a case-by-case basis. Additional time will be granted if a person shows significant efforts to resettle, which can include making an appointment with an immigration lawyer, applying for a resettlement program or proof that they are searching for housing. Adams had been invited to the southern border by Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande. As Lent draws to a close, our team was excited to stand with faith and humanitarian leaders who have dedicated their lives to serving the most needy among us,' she said. 'And we were eager to discuss our work in New York City and explore new ways to collaborate with leaders in cities across the country.' A fresh crackdown on motorists is being launched in Scotland using a new generation of hi-tech cameras installed at traffic lights. Not only does the new technology detect if a driver has jumped a red light, it also records whether cars are speeding when they drive through on green. The dual-action cameras use radar scanners to monitor the area around the lights. Equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), the cameras then send details of the vehicle to the authorities, as well as a short video clip that can be used as evidence. They can also use infrared lamps to read number plates in the dark. The new cameras As with traditional speed cameras, motorists can then expect either a fine, points on their licence or even prosecution. Technical notes for the cameras show they can also be used to unobtrusively gather data by recording the registration of every passing vehicle for civil and security/policing applications. The new technology is to be trialled at two locations in Scotland but could be rolled out across the country if deemed to be a success. Transport Scotland confirmed the cameras would help maximise casualty reduction. A spokesman added: The aim of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme is to deploy Home Office type approved safety cameras where they have the greatest potential to reduce injury collisions and where there is evidence of both collisions and speeding. Until now, a handful of older speed cameras capable of detecting both red light violations and speed offences have been deployed at locations around Scotland. A total of five such cameras were operational in 2022-23. How the new cameras work However, the existing cameras rely on sensors buried in the ground, meaning any damage to the road surface affects the cameras and can make them unreliable. In response, the authorities decided to upgrade to the next generation of speed-detection technology. Transport Scotland has now purchased a red light speed camera enforcement system from a technology company called Jenoptik Traffic Solutions. The camera set-up, the firm says, is a Home Office type approved video-based fully self-contained traffic enforcement system capable of multiple applications. These cameras can collect information for traffic analysis and also the police and security services. The new enforcement system is the latest addition to the technology used to monitor speed adherence, and joins two types of fixed cameras, mobile cameras and average speed cameras. Another recent introduction is HADECS the Highway Agency Digital Enforcement and Compliance System a camera and radar system which aims to encourage compliance with mandatory variable speed limits. (Photo : Unsplash/Bangyu Wang) Whether it wins or loses, the Justice Department's lawsuit could force Apple to share sensitive and detailed information on its inner workings. Apple, known for its secrecy, meticulously shapes its image by sharing only favorable details to make its products and practices look good. However, in business lawsuits, discovery allows access to the company's email, reports, and documents, some of which remain confidential, while others are disclosed publicly during trials. Apple's Antitrust Lawsuit The Justice Department unveiled a comprehensive antitrust lawsuit on Thursday against Apple, which alleges the tech company had an illegal monopoly in the smartphone industry, preventing competitors, stifling innovation, and maintaining artificially high prices. Filed in federal court in New Jersey, the lawsuit claims that Apple holds monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to engage in "a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct." Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco accused Apple of locking consumers into the iPhone and locking competitors out of the market, thereby stifling industry advancement of the market it revolutionized. Apple countered, labeling the lawsuit as incorrect factually and legally, and vowed to defend itself vigorously. Apple's Challenges in Protecting Business Information In past legal battles, Apple grappled with how to navigate such challenges. When it sued Samsung ten years ago, Apple had to disclose details like unreleased prototypes, market research, and its closely guarded design procedures. The lawsuit revealed confidential details that other tech firms wished to keep private, prompting companies like Intel and Qualcomm to file motions to protect their business information. In 2005, Apple had to acknowledge unannounced products during legal proceedings to penalize individuals who leaked its product details. The antitrust case may compel Apple to disclose further details of its business operations, although it could potentially keep its most sensitive arrangements confidential. An Apple representative informed Axios that not all new secrets would necessarily be revealed, saying they have handled numerous high-profile cases in the past 15 years and the Department of Justice (DOJ) has already had access to millions of documents during their investigation but only relied on familiar documents that have been publicly available. READ ALSO: Apple Accused of Questionable Business Practices, Faces About $539M Fine in EU Antitrust Investigation Tech Firms' Antitrust Dilemma Apple strongly dislikes making its business arrangements public, but this is a common challenge for many tech firms who have also dealt with choosing whether to fight or settle antitrust complaints or legal disputes. Legal battles like the recent dispute between Apple and Epic Games can be uncomfortable for all involved. In that case, court documents exposed confidential information not just from Apple and Epic but also from Microsoft, Sony, and other companies. In addition to the risk of sharing secrets, companies face the potential distraction of litigation if they end up in court instead of settling a lawsuit or avoiding it altogether. Defending against legal action consumes time and energy, diverting attention from other priorities and reducing a company's willingness to take risks, which Microsoft encountered similarly during its extensive antitrust battles in Washington and Brussels. In contrast, Intel adopted a cooperative approach with regulators while dominating the processor market for many years, which largely spared the company from the complexities of prolonged court battles. RELATED ARTICLE: Qualcomm Faces Lawsuit Over Anti-Competitive Practices 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Australia needs 90,000 more tradies in the next 90 days in order to meet the Albanese government's 'impossible' new goal to build 1.2million new homes in five years, the building industry has warned. Major building industry groups have called out the Federal government's plan - which would see the country construct 60,000 new homes each quarter from July 1 - as unrealistic. One solution would be for Australia to boost immigration and fast-track skilled tradespeople, Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn suggested. Ms Wawn said she was concerned 'there is no way ... we can get 90,000 (workers) in three months, unless we had a radical change in the way which we are looking at our migration system'. 90,000 additional tradies are required by July 1 if the government wants to meet its ambitious goal of building 1.2m home within five years READ MORE: The graph that shows Australia is going the wrong way in building the 1.2million new homes Australia's new house approvals are slumping casting severe doubt over the federal government's promise to build 1.2milion homes in five years Advertisement Recognising tradies' qualifications from other countries should be easier and cheaper, Ms Wawn said. 'We know that there are a large number of tradies in this country that can't get their licences recognised as it's too expensive and too cumbersome for them,' she said in an interview with Sunrise. 'We have to focus on those who are currently in the country by their skills aren't recognised.' Ms Wawn also said there needs to be a massive push to skill up Australians and encourage them to work in the trades industry. 'We really are focusing on school levers particularly but also those who want a career change to look at trade,' Ms Wawn said. 'Thirdly, as an industry, we need to retain the current tradies and call back the ones that have decided enough is enough.' But she acknowledged finding 90,000 tradies in the next 90 days is unrealistic. 'I think this figure reflects the difficulty that we're going to have if we don't resolve the tradie shortage in meeting the agreed target of 1.2 million homes over five years,' she said. 'The clock starts ticking on July 1 and we've got a huge, huge issue to resolve.' BuildSkills Australia conceded its target of 90,000 tradies within 90 days is unrealistic The national housing crisis has resulted in the rise of pre-fabricated homes (pictured) which are quicker and cheaper to build Ms Wawn remained hopeful the government's target of 1.2m new homes by 2029 can be achieved, despite only 170,215 new homes being built in the 12 months to September last year for 548,800 newly-arrived migrants. 'We need to focus on how we can actually get there,' she said. 'The issue really is: how do we actually encourage more people into our sector?' Poll Do you think 1.2million new homes will be built in the next five years? Yes No Do you think 1.2million new homes will be built in the next five years? Yes 26 votes No 1032 votes Now share your opinion BuildSkills Australia executive director of research and planning Robert Sobyra said finding skilled labour will be the biggest supply-side barrier to addressing the housing supply crisis. 'Returning the housing market to a healthy state will require a significant uplift in the national dwelling completion rate,' he said. 'While there are plenty of hurdles to overcome in achieving this goal, labour will be the single biggest supply-side barrier.' Housing Minister Julie Collins said that while the government's housing target was ambitious, it was getting on with the job. 'We know we've got a lot of work to do,' she told Sky News. 'We're working right across government I know the skills ministers had a meeting just over two weeks ago, where they talked about the skills required to meet the housing demand in Australia and the challenges we currently have.' Around 60,000 new homes need to built per quarter to meet the federal government's goal A rise in modular housing or pre-fabricated homes common in Japan and Germany could see the housing supply fast-tracked. Australian housing giant Mirvac is among the developers trialling modular housing construction in response to the crisis. 'We've been able to reduce the construction of those homes to be watertight within 12 weeks,' Mirvac chief executive of development Stuart Penklis told Nine News. He added that modular housing doesn't come with some of the challenges of a traditional build, such as supply chain shortages and severe weather disruptions. Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic added that governments were working together 'to take a serious look' at modular housing. 'Other countries have got their act together on modular housing and are seeing great jobs and great new homes we want to be able to do that right here on shore,' Mr Husic said. The party's surge in the polls has led to panic in Downing Street , and talk about a return to frontline politics for Nigel Farage. But a Mail on Sunday investigation into the candidates selected to stand at the next election for Reform UK - the successor to Mr Farage's Brexit Party - has revealed that the potential MPs include a convicted animal abuser and a fortune-teller who sold spells for 200 on the pornography-dominated site OnlyFans . Other candidates have also shared anti-Semitic, far-Right, racist and sexist material and spread Covid misinformation. Some polls have put Reform UK, which is led by Richard Tice, just four per cent behind the Conservatives, which if replicated in a general election would split the Tory vote and contribute to a landslide for Sir Keir Starmer 's Labour . Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that 'a vote for Reform is a vote for Labour', but the warning has not dented the party's polling rise. An MSP is threatening to take legal action against Police Scotland after a tweet he posted criticising the Scottish Governments transgender policy was logged as a hate incident. Veteran Conservative Murdo Fraser said the force had behaved not just outrageously, but unlawfully after learning that his name appears in police files for expressing a political view. A trans activist reported the post on X, formerly Twitter, to Police Scotland whose officers decided it did not amount to a crime but should be classed as a hate incident which will remain on record even though no law had been broken. Mr Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, is threatening legal action against the force to have the incident deleted and its hate crime policy changed, with the support of the Free Speech Union (FSU). Tory MSP Murdo Fraser The row comes ahead of the SNP Governments new hate crime laws coming into force next Monday, April 1, amid fears police will be inundated with baseless allegations. The legislation creates a new offence of stirring up hatred on the basis of disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and age, which for most of these categories can include expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule or insult. Last night Mr Fraser told the Mail: Police Scotland has behaved not just outrageously, but unlawfully according to the legal advice obtained by the FSU. This is Police Scotland attacking free speech but it is more sinister than that. My tweet wasnt pointing a finger at an individual, it was critical of a Scottish Government policy. If police are now treating criticism of SNP policy as hate incidents, that is a really serious issue as it shows how Police Scotland has been captured by the SNP policy agenda. On November 18 last year, Mr Fraser shared a column written by Susan Dalgety for The Scotsman, which claimed the SNP Governments non-binary equality action plan would lead to children being damaged by this cult. Commenting on the shared post, Mr Fraser said: Choosing to identify as non-binary is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat. Im not sure governments should be spending time on action plans for either. A member of the public reported the post to Police Scotland, claiming it constituted hatred against non-binary or transgender persons. The Mail is not disclosing the name of the complainant, who is a trans activist. Mr Fraser said the officer who followed up determined that although no crime had been committed and the police would conduct no further investigation, the perception of the complainant meant that my post would be recorded as a hate incident, and a reference number was provided to the complainant. The MSP only found out about the hate incident because the same activist had complained to the ethical standards commissioner of the Scottish parliament about the tweet. The complaint was not taken forward but as a result of this process Mr Fraser was alerted to the police report. A trans activist reported the post to police On December 21, 2023, Mr Fraser wrote to Chief Constable Jo Farrell asking for a meeting to discuss the matter. The local area commander for Perth and Kinross replied on March 11 this year. He confirmed that a hate incident had been recorded based on the victims perception, that there was no associated criminal investigation, but that the incident would remain on police records in line with national guidance. Mr Fraser called in the FSU to back a legal challenge on the basis that Police Scotland has adopted a cavalier and disrespectful attitude towards me and my rights to freedom of expression and privacy, and the right to be informed of false and damaging information held on police records. The MSP argues that the filing of the hate incident breaches laws including the Human Rights Act. Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression. In his letter of complaint, Mr Fraser said the police acted on the basis of a policy that is disproportionate, discriminatory, intrusive, irrational and otherwise unlawful. He said Police Scotland must permanently delete its record of the hate incident related to me by April 5. South of the Border, officers must not record anything that is trivial, malicious or irrational. Toby Young, founder of the FSU, said Police Scotland should focus on policing actual crimes, not non-crimes. The force said hate incidents are not recorded against alleged perpetrators but their names appear in the files for the complainant. A spokesman said: On Monday, November 20, 2023, officers received a report of an offensive tweet. Inquiries were carried out and no criminality was established. The incident was recorded as a non-crime hate incident. Hate incidents are not recorded against alleged perpetrators. The Scottish Government said there are protections in the new Act for individuals rights in respect to freedom of expression for the new stirring up hatred offences. An American has lashed out Australia's hidden 'class system' by taking aim at elite private schools, which he says have created a sense of 'snobbery' and entitlement. John Pabon, a sustainability consultant who previously worked at the United Nations, compared the situation to the caste-system. 'Australians, can someone please help me understand this faux class system created by private schools which has such as stranglehold on people here,' Mr Pabon said. 'For a country that prides itself on a giving everyone a fair go, it seems counterintuitive that you would have artificially created a caste system.' His comments on TikTok come as one of Australia's most prestigious private schools, Cranbrook College, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, was rocked by a ABC Four Corners investigation. The program exposed former staff's allegations of a 'toxic culture' at the school which charges more than $40,000 in fees for Year 11-12 students. John Pabon (pictured) has slammed elite private schools in Australia which he said created a hidden class system Mr Pabon said he experienced first hand the 'snobbery' of Aussies who were once former students at a private school. He said he was in a meeting recently when a person who was in his 60s kept saying several times he went to Scotch College, a private school in Melbourne. Mr Pabon said the 'mind-blowing conversation', left him questioning why some Aussies make a big deal of receiving a private school education. Mr Pabon compared Australian private schools with Ivy League universities in the US, such as Harvard - renowned for their research programs and held in high regard by Americans. 'We have people that talk about going to NYU (New York University) or Yale, but that's an elite university that's churning out scientists, not some random Melbourne high school that's churning out rowers,' he said. Mr Pabon said he couldn't understand the significance of obtaining high school education at an elite private school (pictured Cranbrook College in Sydney) Mr Pabon pleaded for Aussies to explain to him why private schools are so highly thought of and the history behind them in Australia. Thousands of social media users flooded the video with comments and explained that those who attended private schools were often from rich Australian families. 'Its kind of a way for people to identify generational wealth in their peers and also strong alumni networks,' one user said. 'Students from private schools tend to be more successful, not because of their quality of education, but because of nepotism after they leave school,' another user wrote. Others defended private schools as places that provide opportunities for students well after they leave the school grounds. 'As someone who attended an elite private school, the networking and opportunities of just having been to that school is lifelong,' one user said. Some claimed students who attend the elite high schools are taught to think they are better than others. 'We were actively encouraged to think we were better than state school kids. So wrong,' one user said. Several private schools in Australia have been mired in controversy in recent months along with Cranbrook. Several private schools in Australia have been mired in controversy over recent months, including Newington College, who announced a move to become co-ed (pictured protestors outside Newington College in Sydney) Allegations against the school led to the resignation of headmaster Nicholas Sampson, who stepped down following an 'irrevocable breakdown of trust' with the school council. It followed a backlash from former pupils of Newington College who protested outside the school alongside dozens of parents to oppose a move to make the college co-ed. The 160-year-old school, which charges annual fees of $42,201 for a year 12 boy, announced in 2023 that female secondary school students will be allowed from 2026, with plans for it to become fully co-ed by 2033. Figures released by the ABS last year showed independent schools including elite private colleges, had the highest growth rate in the number of student enrolments at 3.3 per cent. France has increased its security alert posture to the highest level after the deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State's claim of responsibility. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the decision in a post on X last night, saying authorities were 'taking into account the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the Moscow attack and the threats weighing on our country'. The announcement came after President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency security meeting prompted by Friday's attack in a Moscow suburb that killed more than 130 people. The attack was claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group. France has repeatedly been hit by deadly ISIS attacks, including the Bataclan theater massacre in 2015 in which extremists opened fire on concert-goers and held hostages for hours. French troops have also fought against Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Africa. France was already on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this year, which are expected to draw millions of visitors to the country. Security concerns are notably high for the the exceptional opening ceremony July 26, which will involve boats riding along the Seine River and huge crowds watching from the embankments. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (pictured at Air Base 942 on Friday) announced the decision last night, saying authorities were 'taking into account the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the Moscow attack and the threats weighing on our country A soldier uses a wave jammer during a demonstration on anti-drone fight at the Air Base 942 of Lyon-Mont Verdun, central France, Friday, March 22, 2024 in Poleymieux-au-Mont-d'Or. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal visited the base as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games security plan Soldiers use a wave jammer, left, or riffles during a demonstration on anti-drone fight at the Air Base 942 of Lyon-Mont Verdun, central France, Friday, March 22, 2024 in Poleymieux-au-Mont-d'Or. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal visited the base as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games security plan Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (left) listens as General Arnaud Bouguignon in charge of anti-drone security for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games (right) speaks, at the Air Base 942 of Lyon-Mont Verdun, in Poleymieux-au-Mont-d'Or, central France, on March 22, 2024 Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (left) holds a NEROD RF portable anti-drone weapon as he visits Lyon-Mont Verdun air base 942 for his first visit to the armed forces, near Lyon, central-eastern France, on March 22, 2024 Russia has charged four men it accused of gunning down scores of people at a concert outside Moscow on Friday night in the deadliest attack inside the country for two decades. President Vladimir Putin declared Sunday a national day of mourning after pledging to punish all those behind the attack, in which 137 people were killed, including three children, and 182 were injured. Over 100 people remained in hospital on Sunday, some of them in a serious condition. Video footage showed a sombre-looking Putin lighting a candle at a church at his residence outside Moscow on Sunday evening to honour those who died. Earlier on Sunday, people laid flowers at Crocus City Hall, the 6,200-seat concert hall outside Moscow where four armed men burst in just before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was to perform its hit 'Afraid of Nothing'. The men fired their automatic weapons in short bursts at civilians who fell screaming. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Putin has not publicly mentioned the Islamist militant group in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. He said that some on 'the Ukrainian side' had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack. Unsuspecting concertgoers had gathered at the Crocus City Hall on the outskirts of Russia 's capital to watch rock band, Picnic, on March 22 The four suspected terrorists were spotted arriving in an unmarked white van shortly before the attack took place They were armed with Kalashnikovs, according to witnesses, and the foursome began shooting as they entered the venue just before 8pm. Pictured: A video grab showing people evacuating the Crocus City Hall Emergency services arrived at the scene and were able to get into the building to help treat the wounded after the blaze was put out by firefighters. Pictured: Rescuers working inside the venue a day after the massacre Moscow's Basmanny district court on Sunday charged four suspects with acts of terrorism in connection with the attack, naming them as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, and Muhammadsobir Fayzov, according to Moscow courts' official Telegram channel. It said the men, identified by Russian media as all being citizens of the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan living in Russia, would be remanded in pre-trial custody until May 22. Three of the four had pleaded guilty to all charges, it said. After unverified and brutal videos of the suspects' interrogations circulated on social media, courtroom images published by Russian media showed one suspect was brought in on a wheelchair apparently missing an eye, another had a bandage where his right ear should be, another had a black eye and a ripped plastic bag around his neck, and a fourth suspect with a swollen face seemed disoriented and struggling to keep his eyes open. Friday's attack was the deadliest on Russian territory since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people hostage. More than 300 people died at the time, more than half of them children. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said Russia would target those behind the deadly shooting wherever they were from and whoever they were. He had previously spoken of the need to meet 'death with death' and some lawmakers have begun to discuss whether the death penalty should be re-introduced. Across Moscow, billboards carried a picture of a single candle, the date of the attack and the words 'We mourn'. Countries around the world have expressed horror at the attack and sent their condolences to the Russian people. That same evening, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and said four of its members were involved. Pictured: The blaze at the Crocus City Hall Pictured: Two of the suspected gunmen in a white Renault car A video shared online shows one suspect shaking on his knees and apparently confessing to carrying out the attack A second suspect was filmed arrested with his hands tied behind his back More footage showed a third suspect, who had what appeared to be blood across his face, being moved along a path and restrained by men Putin said 11 people had been detained, including the four suspected gunmen, who fled the concert hall and made their way to the Bryansk region, about 340 km (210 miles) southwest of Moscow. 'They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,' Putin said. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border. Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, something he called a special military operation needed to protect Russia and Russian-speakers in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame for the concert hall attack by referring to Ukraine. Islamic State, the Islamist group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Telegram statement from the group's Amaq agency. On Saturday night, Islamic State released on its Telegram channels what it said was footage of the attack. In video footage published by Russian media and Telegram channels with close ties to the Kremlin, one of the suspects said he was offered money to carry out the attack. 'I shot people,' the suspect, his hands tied and his hair held by an interrogator, a black boot beneath his chin, said in poor and heavily accented Russian. When asked why, he said: 'For money.' The man said he had been promised half a million roubles (a little over $5,000). One was shown answering questions through a Tajik translator. In a national address, the Russian leader (pictured) accused Ukraine of assisting the terrorists behind the attack At least 137 people were killed, including three children, and 182 were injured in the attack. Pictured: People lay flowers and light candles next to the Crocus City Hall on Saturday Unverified footage posted to Russian Telegram channels appeared to show one of the suspects being tortured with electric shocks in detention. The White House said the US government shared information with Russia early this month about a planned attack in Moscow, and issued a public advisory to Americans in Russia on March 7. It said Islamic State bore sole responsibility for the attack. 'There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,' US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. Russian officials have bristled at the US public comments on the attack, the first of which were made shortly after news of the attack had broken, and say Russian investigators must be allowed to make their own findings. Russell Manser turned his life around after being sexually abused at a juvenile home and again in prison and going into a destructive downward spiral of crime and violence. Tributes have poured in for the former bad boy and outlaw turned good after Manser, 56, died unexpectedly on Saturday night. There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the 56-year-old's death and a report was being prepared for the coroner. He had a history of using drugs including heroin, a habit he picked up in jail as a young man after being sexually assaulted by other inmates. Manser was open about his stints in rehab and ongoing battle with addiction and recovery and would often share updates about his life on social media. READ MORE: Inside Russell Manser's last days living large Tragic story of abuse Manser's history of incarceration began at 15 when he was out with friends on an ordinary Saturday night and made the drug-fuelled decision to steal a ute in Parramatta, in Sydney's west. What ensued was a dramatic police chase in which the teenager could barely even reach the pedals, ultimately crashing the stolen car. 'It was often you'd be driving cars on phone books. I've seen some kids, one doing the pedals and one doing the driving,' he told Daily Mail Australia. Manser was sent to Daruk Boys Home at Windsor, a town northwest of Sydney, for six months and within days had been sexually abused by wardens. Former criminal Russell Mansell (pictured with his girlfriend Liliana Gagic) died suddenly on the weekend after turning his life around READ MORE: Russell Manser's girlfriend breaks her silence about notorious bank robber-turned-TikTok star's sudden death Russell Manser's partner (left) has broken her silence about ex-crim's death Advertisement 'The first night I seen staff grabbing kids out of beds and taking them to the ablutions block,' he told the ABC's Australian Story. 'The second or third night I could smell one of the staff members breathing on me, and he had breath like a sewer. 'He marched me into the ablutions block and sexually abused me.' Authorities have since urged any male who attended the school between 1965 and 1985 to come forward. In 2018, it was reported at least 80 alleged victims had opened up about instances of sexual and physical abuse at the home. Manser, the youngest of six children, grew up in Mount Druitt in Sydney's west. His parents were 'ten pound poms' who emigrated from Liverpool and supported their large family with factory work, his mother working in a plastics factory. 'There was no dysfunction, there was no domestic violence or alcoholism in my family growing up in Mount Druitt,' Manser said. However Manser couldn't help but notice the special treatment dished out to returning inmates who were lauded like 'servicemen' in his suburb. These men had new cars, nice clothes and pretty girlfriends, which appealed to a teenager desperately seeking a distraction from what he saw as a life of misery. 'I would always see people really busting their a*ses. The only people who showed any sort of opulence were the criminals,' he said. 'Waking up at five o'clock in the morning in the middle of winter to walk to the bus stop to go and work in a factory for 10 hours. 'They looked miserable and it really didn't appeal to me.' By the age of 23, Russell Manser (pictured in his early 20s) had robbed five banks Manser had just turned 17 when when he stole a Porsche from the wealthy suburb of Whale Beach on Sydney's northern beaches. He was given an adult sentence of 12 months in Long Bay Correctional Centre to send a stern warning to other aspiring criminals in Mount Druitt. He detailed a prison guard saying 'have fun, boys' as his mattress was thrown to the floor of a cell he shared with two men in a protection wing of Long Bay jail used to house convicted paedophiles. Manser admitted he felt resentful of the sentence and said in comparison to some of the other kids in jail his criminal history was minimal. 'It was illegal for any of us to be there, the way they did it was illegal because they had to go through the Attorney-General,' he said. 'The courts had no power or jurisdiction to be able to do that directly. The lawyers should have said "this kid has been illegally placed in prison". 'That failure to contact family services, child safety and say these kids are in serious danger. There's a duty of care there and they failed to do it.' Manser was sexually abused by two men within hours of arriving at One Wing, a notorious protection unit used to house convicted pedophiles. He remembers the prison guard saying 'have, fun boys' as his mattress was thrown to the floor of their cramped cell. The teenager was abused a few nights later by a third inmate, who offered him his first shot of heroin in return for his silence. Russell Manser (right) was in his mid-teens when he was sexually abused by wardens at Daruk Boys Home. It would be three decades before he opened up about harrowing ordeal Russell Manser was a notorious bank robber who spent 23 years behind bars. Pictured is CCTV of one of the bank robberies In an assessment done four weeks after he arrived, a psychologist stated there was a high probability he was being sexually abused at Long Bay. Manser left prison a shell of his former self and nursing an addiction to heroin. He went on to rob five banks in the early 1990s, on one occasion stealing $90,000 from the Commonwealth Bank in Lane Cove in Sydney's north. Manser committed five robberies within a few months, never stopping to consider the impact he was having on the terrified clerks and witnesses. Russell Manser (pictured) turned his life around in his final years where he helped fellow survivors of abuse, inmates and former prisoners By the age of 23, the career criminal had been sentenced to 15 years behind bars, with a non-parole period of seven-and-a-half years. On his release, Manser started his own business as a fitness instructor, got married and welcomed two boys into the world. However the short-lived period of peace was disrupted by memories of his abuse, which were becoming harder to ignore. His marriage broke down and Manser numbed the pain with drugs and alcohol, returning to his hallmark of robbing banks - this time leaving fingerprints. Back behind bars, he realised 'a lot' needed to change. Russell Manser's sudden death has sparked outpouring of tributes After seeing the announcement of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Manser got the boost he needed. He wrote to the commission and was visited by a representative, before finally receiving an apology from the NSW government and compensation, three decades after he was abused at Daruk Boys Home. When asked about the possibility of confronting his abusers at Long Bay, who he says are dead, Manser asks what purpose it would serve. 'It doesn't give me any closure, I've done a lot of work on that stuff in regards to holding on to resentments and what that's achieving and you know, really worked hard to sort of let that stuff go. It's hard some days,' he said. Manser said he received closure when he accepted that what had happened to him in Daruk and Long Bay hadn't been his fault. 'It takes a lot of practice, it takes a long time. I want a sense of peace,' he said. Manser hen went on to run an advocacy group that helps connected survivors of abuse, prisoners, and former prisoners with legal advice, treatment and rehabilitation. It began when other inmates started suspecting he was ratting to police when in reality he was on the phone with the Royal Commission. After he announced this to the prison yard, several inmates asked how they could share their own stories of abuse. 'That's basically where the Voice of the Survivor was formed. I just had this way of people telling me their stories and feeling at ease,' he said. He was forced to wind up the charity last July. 'It's been really tough going of late,' Manser told Daily Mail Australia at the time 'The directors have decided to put it in voluntary liquidation because we're not having the same volume of clients because of the response to these claims. 'It's just not viable for us to continue on.' When asked what advice he would give his teenage self before he lost control of his life, his response was simple: 'Believe in yourself'. 'Now I sit in boardrooms with these barrister types and my young bloke asked me how I can even talk to these people,' he said. 'I told him I just believe in myself, and it was one of the first times I said it openly.' Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com The ex-girlfriend of reformed criminal-turned-TikTok star Russell Manser has paid a heartfelt tribute to her lover after he died unexpectedly at 56 over the weekend. Manser was a serial bank robber who spent 23 years in prisons around Australia, until turning his life around and starting the charity 'Voice of a Survivor' to help victims of abuse. His cause of death is yet to be made public, but sources told Daily Mail Australia he was found 'unresponsive' by a loved one at a residential address in Sydney. Manser had a following of about 134,000 on TikTok and had only recently shared a video discussing Asian gangs in prisons and, days earlier, the disappearance of missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy. Fans and loved ones flooded social media to pay tribute to Manser, praising his work as an advocate for those who suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse. On Sunday night, his former partner Liliana Gagic posted a series of photos of them together on Instagram. Reformed criminal Russell Manser is pictured with his former girlfriend, Liliana Gagic Russell Manser is pictured with his former girlfriend, Liliana Gagic. He died over the weekend Liliana Gagic wrote a tribute to Manser after his death. 'Goodbye my lover, until we meet again,' she said In the caption, she wrote: 'Goodbye my lover, until we meet again.' Former inmate Max Beer posted a video with Manser on TikTok with the caption: 'RIP my brother, my best friend.' In the video, the pair were talking about the importance of staying motivated and not comparing yourself to others. 'Just be happy with you,' Manser said. Women's rights campaign group, Equality Light Gratitude, thanked him for speaking out against domestic violence. 'He stood up for women and DV matters generally, saying it's never OK to use control, restraint or violence,' the TikTok post read. 'Such a great example of reformation - why did we have to lose one of the good men so early? Prayers are with his loved ones.' Another friend wrote a lengthy Facebook tribute to Manser the early hours of Monday morning. In the post, she said Manser encouraged her with calls and texts, which 'saved' her from relapsing and going back to prison. Liliana Gagic is pictured with Russell Manser. His cause of death is yet to be made public Russell Manser released a book about his life of crime and the sexual abuse he suffered behind bars 'Russ saved me so many times its not funny he saved me from relapsing he saved me from going back to prison with his words of encouragement and his phone calls and messages,' she wrote. 'Most of all, he gave not only myself but many others hope and strength when the system tried to break us.' 'He taught me that it doesnt matter what your past looks like your future can still be as bright as you want it to you just have to work for it and always believe in yourself.' Adam Washbourne, from an organisation called Fighters Against Child Abuse, posted a video tribute on Facebook. 'Russell's much more than the ultimate redemption arc, he's much more than the child abuse survivor who went from boys homes to prison to having a media empire and book deal,' he said. 'He's also probably the greatest mate you could have - he's the absolute definition of cheer when your mates are winning, even if it doesn't involve you. 'Absolutely love you Russell and you're going to be sorely missed.' Manser was the youngest of six children and grew up in Mount Druitt, in Sydney's west. Women's rights campaign group, Equality Light Gratitude, thanked him for speaking out against domestic violence (pictured) Former inmate Max Beer posted a video with Manser on TikTok with the caption: 'RIP my brother, my best friend' (tribute pictured) His parents were British migrants who supported their large family by working in factories. He previously said there was no domestic violence or alcoholism in his family, but he noticed convicted criminals who returned to Mount Druitt from jail were almost rewarded by the community. They had new cars, nice clothes and attractive girlfriends, whereas everyone else appeared exhausted and miserable - waking up at 5am in the middle of winter to do a 10-hour shift in a factory. The year he turned 17, he stole a Porsche from the wealthy suburb of Whale Beach on Sydney's northern beaches and was given an adult sentence of 12 months in Long Bay Correctional Centre. He recalled a prison guard throwing his mattress onto the floor of a cell he shared with two men in a protection wing of the jail which was used to house convicted paedophiles. 'Have fun, boys,' the guard had said. He was abused that night, and again a few nights later by a third inmate who offered him his first shot of heroin in return for his silence. At the time, Manser had spent time in juvenile detention at Daruk Boys Home at Windsor, northwest of Sydney. Russell Manser was a convicted criminal who turned his life around and became an advocate for victims of assault Within days of his six-month sentence, he was sexually abused by wardens. 'The first night I seen staff grabbing kids out of beds and taking them to the ablutions block,' he told ABC's Australian Story. READ MORE: Russell Manser reveals what life will be like on remand in prison for Patrick Orren Stephenson, who is accused of killing Samantha Murphy Pictured: Russell Manser Advertisement 'The second or third night I could smell one of the staff members breathing on me, and he had breath like a sewer. 'He marched me into the ablutions block and sexually abused me.' Authorities have since urged any male who attended the school between 1965 and 1985 to come forward. In 2018, it was reported at least 80 alleged victims had opened up about instances of sexual and physical abuse at the home. Manser left prison a shell of his former self and nursing an addiction to heroin. He went on to rob five banks in the early 1990s, on one occasion stealing $90,000 from the Commonwealth Bank in Lane Cove in Sydney's north. Manser committed five robberies within a few months and had been sentenced to 15 years behind bars at the age of 23, with a non-parole period of seven-and-a-half years. He started a charity, but it folded last July because victims were hesitant to come forward due to the NSW Supreme Court's decision not to pursue cases where the alleged perpetrator had died. 'It's been really tough going of late,' Manser told Daily Mail Australia, at the time. Manser had a podcast called The Stick Up, which featured guests including businessman Mark Bouris, Australian rapper Ay Huncho, NRL star Liam Knight and ex-criminal-turned-porn-star Dale Egan. He also became known for lifting the lid on what life was like inside some of Australia's toughest jails and what their most infamous inhabitants were really like. Manser is survived by his two sons. Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com An astonishing graph has highlighted how almost two-thirds of new overseas migrants are flooding into Sydney and Melbourne, worsening severe city congestion and the housing crisis. A record 548,742 migrants moved to Australia in the year to September, sending population growth to its highest level since 1952 at 2.5 per cent. A graphic by IFM Investors chief economist Alex Joiner reveals 186,433 new migrants set up home in New South Wales alone, while another 161,758 settled in Victoria. More than 63 per cent of newly-arrived permanent and long-term foreigners moved to the two states, which are also home to a larger number of international students. Most will be living in Sydney and Melbourne - Australia's two biggest cities which already have 5million-plus residents each and are enduring a crippling rental crisis. The astonishing graph has highlighted how almost two-thirds of new overseas migrants are flooding into Sydney and Melbourne, adding to severe city congestion Queensland, a recipient of high interstate migration, received 87,954 overseas migrants as mining-rich Western Australian received 67,629 foreigners. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has now unveiled a five-point plan to deal with the record immigration levels. Halt immigration She wants an immediate halt to immigration levels as Australia grapples with a record-low rental vacancy rate of one per cent. 'I call for a halt to further immigration and for government to first look after our aged, the sick and the helpless,' she told the Senate on Thursday morning. 'On behalf of the majority of Australians, I demand a halt to immigration.' Hold a plebiscite Senator Hanson wants Australia to hold a plebiscite on immigration, noting this had only been done three times since Federation in 1901. 'Most Australians don't want high immigration, and the major parties completely ignore the polls that universally confirm this fact,' she said. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has now unveiled a five-point plan to deal with the record immigration levels 'However, there's one type of poll they can't ignore: a national plebiscite.' Of Australia's plebiscites, two out of three have been defeated, including ones on conscription in 1916 and 1917 during World War I. Stand up to big corporations Senator Hanson wants the government to stand up to corporate interests pushing high immigration. 'You've got people like the Harvey Normans of this world and Bunnings who all want higher immigration because they're going to sell more products,' she said. 'That's what it's all about. You're not interested in the average person out there.' Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey in 2017 predicted Australia will be an 'Asian country' with a population of 100 million by next century and said 'there's not a chance in hell we can stop it'. Wesfarmers, the parent company of hardware chain Bunnings, called for a higher immigration intake in 2022. Chief executive Rob Scott argued businesses were struggling to recruit staff and were putting off major projects because of a labour shortage. 'Cafes, restaurants, hospitality, tourism businesses, particularly in regional areas, are struggling,' he said. 'That doesnt have a direct impact on our businesses, but it has an indirect impact because a lot of those small businesses are customers of Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks.' Australia's unemployment rate in February fell back to 3.7 per cent, a big drop from January's two-year high level of 4.1 per cent as 116,500 jobs were created. Fix housing shortage Senator Hanson, a Queenslander, argued Australia couldn't accept so many migrants when there was a severe housing shortage. We must catch up on our housing, infrastructure and services,' she said. 'We must care first for the Australians living here now. 'Why is that such an issue? Why can't you just listen to the Australian people, pull back on the immigration and let us catch up on the services that we need?' In the year to September, Australia built 109,322 houses and 60,813 units, Australian Bureau of Statistics building activity data showed. The 170,215 newly-completed homes would house 425,538, based on an average household size of 2.5 people per dwelling in the last Census. The supply of new housing would leave a shortfall of 92,462, based on new migrants. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to build 1.2million homes over five years from July 2024, even though building companies are increasingly being liquidated because of high costs. She wants an immediate halt to immigration levels as Australia grapples with a record-low rental vacancy rate of one per cent (pictured is a Bondi rent queue) More than 63 per cent of the permanent and long-term intake of foreigners moved to two states Vote out the major parties If all else failed Senator Hanson, a former Liberal candidate, called for voters to throw out the major parties at the next election in 2025. 'To the people out there, I say: if they don't give you a say on the high immigration that's coming into this country and destroying your way of life, then don't vote for them anymore,' she said. You are the Australian people. You have the power in your hands at the next ballot box. At the next federal election, make your vote count. A Newspoll published in The Australian on Monday had the Coalition with 37 per cent of the primary vote, following Labor on 32 per cent. Labor still leads after preferences, 51 to 49 per cent, but it could lose its majority in 2025, like it did in 2010, and have to rely on the Greens or teal independents to retain power. One Nation's primary vote of seven per cent trails behind the Greens on 13 per cent. This is despite multiple opinion polls showing a majority of Australian voters opposing high immigration, with the 548,800 intake more than double the pre-pandemic level of 194,400 in 2019-20. The Newspoll survey of 1,223 voters was taken from March 18 to 22 with a national sample. The heartbroken wife of a man killed in a fiery triple-fatality five-vehicle crash has pleaded for his body to be returned to his family so they can begin to mourn for him. Grandfather Daniel Stuart was transporting lithium batteries from Sydney to Rockhampton on Friday when an SUV smashed into a truck carrying watermelons at Maryborough West, in central Queensland. The impact sent the semi-trailer onto the wrong side of the road, hitting Mr Stuart's rig and setting both trucks alight on the Bruce Highway just before 10pm. The impact caused the lithium batteries to burst into flames, killing three people in the crash inferno, with three others escaping with minor injuries. A ute and caravan trailer were also hit in the tragedy. Grandfather Daniel Stuart (pictured) was transporting lithium batteries from Sydney to Rockhampton on Friday when an SUV smashed into a truck carrying watermelons at Maryborough West on the central Queensland coast Police say the severity of the fire is making it a difficult and slow process for forensic examiners to formally identify the three who died at the scene. They will need to be formally identified via DNA testing, but a forensic backlog means it could take weeks for their bodies to be returned to their families. Mr Stuart's family, originally from New Zealand, has now begged for the process to fast-tracked so they can grieve and bring Mr Stuart's remains home to say goodbye in line with Maori traditions. 'All I've got of him is his dirty shirt that I can smell his aftershave, and he's not here,' wife, Betty Stuart, told 7NEWS. 'He needs to be here...so our grandchildren can sit around his coffin.' His wife, who is also fighting cancer, is now having to hunt for a new rental home after the tragedy robbed the family of their main income-earner. Mr Stuart's granddaughter, Lilly McGuire, has set up a GoFundMe to help her grandmother. 'My Nani who is currently battling breast cancer and caring for my great grandparents has now been left without her main income provider and the stress of needing to find a new rural property to rent within the next six weeks,' she said. 'My Koros loss has impacted our whanau [family] drastically, a light that will never be filled. 'He was an amazing man, selfless , generous and so caring. He will forever leave a hole in our hearts.' SUV driver Sidney Marstella, 53, was also killed in the crash after police believe he failed to give way while turning onto the highway. It is understood that both trucks caught alight on the Bruce Highway near the Walker Street intersection just before 10pm Mr Stuart's granddaughter, Lilly McGuire, has set up a GoFundMe to help her grandmother during this difficult time Loved ones have since shared tributes to Mr Marstella, who was remembered by his niece Leticia Wise as a 'comedian' who made everyone laugh. 'This hurts so much. Cannot believe I'll never see or hear from you again,' Ms Wise wrote to Facebook. 'He was very well known in Maryborough. Those who knew Sid Marstella know he was a big, kind, loving, helpful friend.' Family friend Tabitha Pershouse uploaded an emotional post in honour of Mr Marstella on Saturday. 'R.I.P Sidney Marstella. Cannot believe you're gone, we will definitely catch up with you again mate love always & forever,' she wrote. Tributes have poured in from loved ones after Sidney Marstella (pictured) died in a horror five car crash in Queensland on Friday night A 22-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man from the Northern Territory who were in the ute travelling north suffered minor injuries after their vehicle crashed into the trailers of both trucks. A 50-year-old man who was driving the vehicle towing the caravan was also injured in the crash but was not seriously harmed. The intersection was closed for most of Saturday as emergency crews continue to investigate the cause of the incident. A woman on an online community group said she heard explosions from a suburb 5km away. 'I heard the explosions here at Oakhurst. Was horrible, my heart dropped, so sad,' she said. After the Great Escape came the Great Betrayal. At 5am exactly 80 years ago, on March 25, 1944, German guards at the Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp discovered the most audacious break-out of the conflict. Following almost a year of digging with makeshift tools, avoiding detection by microphones around the perimeter fence as well as the 'ferrets' or Nazi military intelligence in the camp, 76 RAF officers had succeeded in escaping along a tunnel more than 100 yards long. It was an operation of unimaginable courage and resourcefulness, celebrated in one of the best-loved Hollywood films of all time The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. But the aftermath was one of exceptional cruelty. In an apoplectic rage after learning of the escape, Adolf Hitler personally ordered a massive hunt for the men, followed by the execution of two-thirds of them. Just three of the escapers managed to get back to Britain. The rest were foiled by a combination of bad luck, German spy networks and according to new evidence discovered this month outright treason by two British agents. At 5am exactly 80 years ago, on March 25, 1944, German guards at the Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp discovered the most audacious break-out of the conflict (pictured: Steve McQueen in the 1963 film The Great Escape) Following almost a year of digging with makeshift tools, avoiding detection by microphones around the perimeter fence as well as the 'ferrets' or Nazi military intelligence in the camp, 76 RAF officers (pictured, at at Stalag Luft 3) had succeeded in escaping along a tunnel more than 100 yards long One after another throughout the night, men hauled themselves along the tunnel on a wooden 'dolly' or wagon, before ascertaining that the coast was clear and climbing out to crawl across frozen ground to the treeline (pictured: a model of the Prisoner of War camp) In the National Archives, historians have uncovered a page written by Flight Lieutenant Desmond Plunkett, who was 27 when he was taken prisoner in June 1942 after his Short Stirling bomber was shot down over the Netherlands. This yellowing sheet, handwritten in pencil and dated May 11, 1945, claimed: 'There are two individuals, whose authentic names are unknown and whose activities had a direct bearing on the fate of the 50 executed prisoners of war. 'These two persons must be traced, as they are both undoubtedly indigenous Englishmen, and must be tried for their collaborating activities with the enemy. All further details can be expounded on my return.' This is the first time suspicions have been raised that the escape was sabotaged from within. If Plunkett, who died in 2002 aged 86, was referring to fellow prisoners he regarded as traitors, it appears his claims to the War Office Directorate of Military Intelligence were dismissed. Plunkett was a veteran escaper. He once tried to smuggle himself out of the camp at Sagan, in Lower Silesia, Poland, by hiding himself under a heap of rubbish on a dustcart. The plan was foiled when guards emptied a barrel of red-hot ashes over the tip, forcing the Englishman to scramble out with his clothes smouldering. The inspiration for Donald Pleasence's character in the movie, Plunkett was an expert map-maker who helped plot the course of three escape tunnels dubbed Tom, Dick and Harry. The first was exposed by German guards, the second was abandoned and used for storage, and the third ran for 344ft before emerging a disastrous five yards short of safety. One after another throughout the night, men hauled themselves along the tunnel on a wooden 'dolly' or wagon, before ascertaining that the coast was clear and climbing out to crawl across frozen ground to the treeline. Plunkett, in cheerful defiance of superstition, was the 13th man out. Once into the woods, the PoWs or 'kriegies' (from krieg, the German word for war) dispersed in pairs, each with forged documents and a plan for returning to the UK. It was an operation of unimaginable courage and resourcefulness, celebrated in one of the best-loved Hollywood films of all time The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen (pictured) and Richard Attenborough The inspiration for Donald Pleasence's character in the movie (pictured, second from left), Lieutenant Desmond Plunkett was an expert map-maker who helped plot the course of three escape tunnels dubbed Tom, Dick and Harry Instead of running in a perfectly horizontal line parallel to the surface, the tunnel dipped down several feet to a low point in the middle and then climbed back up (pictured: Attenborough and McQueen in The Great Escape) A German guard on patrol raised the alarm shortly before dawn when he almost stumbled into the exit hole. By now, less than half of the planned 200 had escaped. This discovery was certainly an accident, but it could have been avoided if the tunnel had emerged into the woods as planned. Plunkett's bitter accusations of betrayal might centre on that crucial mistake. Most historians, though, are convinced that's all it was a mistake. The tunnel began under a stove in a dormitory, kept constantly burning to deter the guards from taking too close a look. It then burrowed down 30 ft, to get out of range of the microphones. The materials used were extraordinary: 4,000 boards taken from bunk beds, 1,699 blankets and 3,424 towels, 34 chairs and 478 spoons, as well as untold numbers of tins used as crude trowels. Instead of running in a perfectly horizontal line parallel to the surface, the tunnel dipped down several feet to a low point in the middle and then climbed back up. It was this geometric detail that caused the shortfall the tunnel was the right length, but slightly the wrong shape. With his escape partner Freddy Dvorak, Plunkett managed to board a train for the Czech border, getting off at a country station called Bad Reinerz. Disaster almost struck when Plunkett ducked into the public toilets. As he relieved himself, he murmured in English, 'That's better' then realised a German soldier was also in the room. Somehow, his blunder was not noticed. But luck ran out after the two men waded across the border into Czechoslovakia in waist-deep snow. At a police checkpoint in Klatovy, with tickets for Switzerland, their travel documents were spotted as forgeries and they were handed over to the Gestapo. All across central and eastern Europe, other escapers were being simultaneously rounded up. The scale of the manhunt was unprecedented. On Sunday, March 26, a day after the discovery, Hitler headed a council of war at Berchtesgaden, his mountain retreat in Bavaria. The head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, and the Luftwaffe commander-in-chief, Hermann Goering, were present as Hitler ordered the deaths of every recaptured escaper. Himmler argued this would cause an international outcry. Goering suggested a compromise: 50 executions. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, head of the German armed forces, was told he was ultimately to blame for the escape and must enforce the executions (even though Stalag Luft III fell under Luftwaffe command so was Goering's responsibility). When one German general challenged the command for cold-blooded murder, Keitel snapped: 'I don't give a damn. We discussed it in the Fuhrer's presence and it cannot be altered.' A day later, Himmler issued the Sagan Order: 'I order that Department V [the Kriminalpolizei or Kripo plain-clothes police] hand over to Department IV [the Gestapo or secret police] more than half the recaptured officers. After interrogation, it should be made to seem the officers are being returned to their camp but they are to be shot en route. 'The shooting will be explained by the fact that the recaptured officers were shot trying to escape, or they offered resistance, so that nothing can be proved later.' Responsibility for choosing who died was left with Kripo chief General Arthur Nebe, a former commander of an SS Einsatzgruppen [task force] that massacred more than 45,000 civilians, mostly Jewish and many of them women or children, in the Soviet Union. Nebe made his choices based on the officers' identity files. A German doctor named Hans Mertens described the process: 'He threw several [ID cards] in front of me, saying, "Have a look whether they have wives and children." 'Nebe said in one case, "He's for it." He put this card in one pile in front of him and, looking at another, said, "He's so young no." ' Within months, Nebe himself would be executed, for his part in a conspiracy to kill Hitler. Keitel was hanged at Nuremberg in 1946, convicted of crimes against humanity, and 21 members of the Gestapo involved in the killings were also sentenced to death. The scale of the manhunt was unprecedented. On Sunday, March 26, a day after the discovery, Hitler (pictured, with Heinrich Himmler in 1938) headed a council of war at Berchtesgaden, his mountain retreat in Bavaria Himmler (pictured) argued this would cause an international outcry. Hermann Goering suggested a compromise: 50 executions Responsibility for choosing who died was left with Kripo chief General Arthur Nebe (pictured in 1938), a former commander of an SS Einsatzgruppen [task force] that massacred more than 45,000 civilians, mostly Jewish and many of them women or children, in the Soviet Union The ashes of the murdered escapers were returned to Stalag Luft III to be buried by their comrades, where a cross and a memorial still stand... at the edge of the trees. We will probably never know whether the Great Escape was thwarted, as Flt Lt Plunkett believed, by two English traitors. What we do know is that the 50 executions were illegal under the Geneva Convention and a betrayal of their rights as prisoners of war. For that, the guilt lies with one unspeakably evil man Adolf Hitler. (Photo : Unsplash/Marco Tjokro) Police have apprehended a frequent troublemaker in Manhattan who has targeted Lululemon stores multiple times this year, including six instances at one location. Vincent Traficante, 37, described as a one-man crime spree, has been arrested twelve times this year for repeatedly targeting upscale Lululemon boutiques in Manhattan, according to law enforcement sources speaking to The Post. Once more, he was apprehended on Tuesday inside the renowned brand's store in SoHo, where he was caught red-handed with over a dozen bags filled with costly merchandise. According to one police officer, Traficante has primarily been active on Long Island but arrived in New York in January of this year, where he has been causing chaos ever since. READ ALSO: US Army Imitating Jason Bourne Charged with Conspiracy for Selling Military Secrets for $42,000 to China The One-Man Crime Spree Charges On Thursday, Traficante was brought before Manhattan Criminal Court and charged with two counts of third-degree burglary and one count of fourth-degree grand larceny for stealing expensive items from two separate Lululemon stores on three occasions within the past month, as stated in the complaint. Judge Jonathan Svetkey took into account the extensive history of prior charges against the career criminal when he established Traficante's bail at $10,000 in cash, $20,000 insurance company bond, and $30,000 in bond/surety/partially secured, as reported by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Series of Robbery on Long Island In addition, Svetkey imposed a parole hold due to another attempted robbery on Long Island. However, this is only a small part of the numerous offenses committed by this persistent thief. Traficante has accumulated nearly a dozen criminal convictions in Suffolk and Nassau counties over the past few years, including a robbery in 2020 that resulted in his incarceration, according to sources. Since relocating to Manhattan earlier this year, sources report that he has been arrested approximately a dozen more times, seizing about $13,000 worth of upscale accessories from the fashionable retail giant. According to a frustrated law enforcement source in Manhattan, he has been continuously getting arrested left and right in Manhattan. Traficante's Arrest Traficante was arrested on Tuesday during his sixth attempt to steal merchandise valued between $38 and $48 each from the Broadway store. According to the complaint, he was captured on video removing items from the displays, including bags, totaling approximately $790 in value, then purportedly walking past the cashiers and vanishing into the city. Before that incident, on March 5th, Traficante stole over $1,000 worth of merchandise from the store located at 592 Fifth Avenue. This occurred just six days after he took approximately $700 worth of items from a store at 520 Broadway, the same store he targeted on Tuesday. One source stated that he is primarily targeting bags, highlighting that he's struck 520 Broadway six times. A Possible Black Market's Fencing Operation Scheme Police are investigating whether Traficante is involved in a clandestine Manhattan crime ring that recruits aspiring thieves to rob the retailer in exchange for drugs, according to sources. The stolen goods are allegedly sold on the black market afterward. Police became aware of the expansive athleisure brand black market scheme after apprehending three individuals between January and March who provided information about the fencing operation, according to sources. One of the suspects admitted to the police that he stole drugs for a middleman who instructed others to steal merchandise in return for narcotics. According to law enforcement sources, the police focus on an individual who has been stealing a considerable amount of Lululemon merchandise and then selling it in Washington Square Park, near a known fencing operation on McDougal Street. In January, authorities discovered another fencing operation in Manhattan's Chinatown, sources informed The Post. An individual was reportedly purchasing stolen Lululemon items on Mott and Grand streets. RELATED ARTICLE: NYPD's WhatsApp Initiative, Praised as "The Fastest" Shoplifting Epidemic Response by Retail Storekeepers 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. READ MORE: The one mistake Aussies are making when buying a house A young Aussie is warning first-time home buyers that her HECS student debt almost cost her the chance to buy her dream apartment. Kristie McConnell, 26, spoke out about the humiliating experience she faced while attempting to purchase a one-bedroom apartment in Southport, Queensland, for $365,000 in February. Ms McConnell, who earns $80,000 a year, had been saving she was 21 to enter the property market. With no experience in buying property, Ms McConnell sought the advice of a broker and a solicitor. The 26-year-old explained that she was honest about having a $60,000 HECs debt for her international business and finance degree. Initially, Ms McConnell was told by the broker she needed a $27,000 deposit for the unit but this increased to $38,000 after factoring in her student debt. Kristie McConnell (pictured) is warning first-time home buyers that her HECs debt almost cost her the chance to buy her dream apartment. But when she went to sign the contract, the bank unexpectedly asked for a $48,000 deposit. 'He [the broker] went to the actual bank and got confirmation from them on the day that I signed the contract, basically saying, "oh, uh, the bank won't give you that much",' she told news.com.au. Ms McConnell was told this was due to the apartment complex's $70 a week body corporate fees and her student debt. Fortunately, her parents provided her with the necessary funds to cover the shortfall needed for buying the apartment. The ordeal left Ms McConnell feeling disillusioned with the challenges young Australians face trying to get ahead. 'You do all the right things you go to university, get a good job, go get a property but you are still on the back foot,' she said. ' We immediately start our adult lives in debt, and then there is the cost of living and rental prices. 'Young people are throwing money away on rent because they can't afford to enter the property market. I'd love someone from an older generation tell me what I could have done better.' Ms McConnell called out her broker and solicitor for leaving her blindsided during the homebuying process. Ms McConnell was initially told her deposit would be $27,000 but was increased due to her HECS debt. Her final deposit total came to $53,000 - which included solicitor and broker fees and a 'hidden' title transfer fee she knew nothing about Her final deposit came to a total of $53,000, which included broker and solicitor fees and a 'hidden' title transfer fee. She said they failed to let her know about a $2,000 title transfer fee despite asking multiple times about additional costs. 'I have a broker who deals with the bank for me. I have a solicitor who is doing all of the legal stuff for me,' she said in a video posted to social media. 'I am trying to do the right thing and ask all the questions and be as prepared as possible and it feels like every step of the way somebody is turning around and is kicking me. 'I suddenly did not have enough money to buy this apartment that I have signed a contract saying that I am going to buy because there's additional fees that nobody f***ing told me about. 'I feel like an idiot every time something else comes up cause I am so in over my head right now. I feel like a little kid playing an adult's game.' Ms McConnell added she was very 'lucky' to have a supportive partner who was willing to help and gave her the extra money so that she could buy the apartment. Ms McConnell said she 'felt like a kid playing an adult's game' after being hit with fees despite asking her broker and solicitor about additional costs Ms McConnell warned other first-home buyers to be aware as the process was 'hands down the worst experience' of her life. Social media users sympathised with the frustrated woman, with many claiming they had a similar experience when buying their first property. 'I also just purchased an apartment and was told I'd need an extra $12k ($91k!) ONE HOUR before my finance approval was due,' one person wrote. 'I settled and was hit with a special levy of 61k due in 13 days. The levy was struck after I had signed the contract and was never notified until after settlement,' another commented. 'I'm having this exact problem right now as well. It's so hard to get a straight answer about how much my deposit needs to be,' a third chimed. A fourth added: 'I had enough for my deposit and stamp duty but not for the million of other fees no one tells you about. 'It was the most financially stressful three months after buying a house.' A photo shared by the victim of an alleged brutal murder shows him kissing the cheek of his alleged killer, just weeks before his death. Bradley Evennett, 32, allegedly died at the hands of his close friend Bradley Fletcher, 38, the same day the pair moved into their new west Sydney home on Annan Ave in Melonba, near Mount Druitt, on Friday night. Mr Evennett was reported to have allegedly died as the result of a planned MMA sparring match with Fletcher as his mentor. However, a close relative of Mr Evennett told Daily Mail Australia he had no interest in fighting. 'He was not a cage fighter, he was not beginning a career in MMA and had no intentions to,' they said. 'Bradley Fletcher did not mentor him at all.' A new photo shows Bradley Fletcher (left) and Bradley Evennett (right) just seven weeks before they moved into a Melonba home together NSW Police allege Fletcher murdered Mr Evennett and dumped his body 700m down the road from their new home (pictured, officers at the Melonba home) Instead, the relative says the 32-year-old died after an incident 'while moving into their new house together'. 'There was no sparring match and I'm not sure where this narrative has come from,' they said. New South Wales Police allege Fletcher killed Mr Evennett at their new Melonba home sometime between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday, March 22. Fletcher then allegedly drove Mr Evennett 700 metres down the road and left his body on a footpath on Georgina Cres where it was discovered by a mother walking with her two children, who called police. 'I passed that area, nothing over there... when I came back after 10 minutes the man was here, I saw him,' she told Nine News. Emergency services arrived at the scene about 8.45pm and failed to revive Mr Evennett, who police claim suffered 'significant head and body injuries'. Mr Evennett's body was discovered with 'significant head and body injuries' by a mother and her two children (pictured on CCTV) on Friday night Paramedics at the scene attempted but failed to revive Mr Evennett (pictured, a blood stain across the road from the home) A short time later, police were alerted to a nearby collision with a parked car where the driver allegedly didn't stop. Officers attending the scene identified the car as a vehicle of interest with NSW Police alleging it was used to move Mr Evennett's body. Fletcher was found near the scene of the crash, hiding in bushes. He was charged with murder and formally refused bail at Parramatta Local Court on Sunday. Mr Evennett and Fletcher were reportedly close friends with a photo showing the pair sitting closely on a couch with Mr Evennett kissing Fletcher's cheek. The photo was taken just seven weeks before Mr Evennett's death. A relative of Mr Evennett's said his family is struggling to come to terms with his death. Mr Evennett (pictured) has been remembered as a 'gentle giant' with a close relative denying claims he was training to become an MMA fighter Officers (pictured) were seen at the Annan Ave home on Sunday as investigations continue under Strike Force Wilty 'He was a gentle giant ... we don't get any of this or how it could happen to him,' they told the Daily Telegraph. 'Brad was a kind person.' Officers were seen at the Annan Ave home on Sunday as investigations continue under Strike Force Wilty. The owner of one of New York City's most famous cheesecake restaurants says life in the Big Apple has become truly rotten. Alan Rosen, 55, who runs Junior's Restaurant across three locations in Times Square, Manhattan and in Brooklyn, is laying the blame squarely at those in charge, although charitably he is not calling out Mayor Eric Adams by name. Rosen's family has run the famous eatery for three generations and says the city is becoming an increasingly challenging place to live. He believes a general decline in the qualify of life, coupled with rising crime levels are to blame. Rosen said on top of that, woke policies such as cashless bail which allows suspects to roam the streets within hours of their arrest, together with the city's designation as a 'sanctuary city' which has seen hoards of immigrants flood the streets, are all contributing to the deterioration. Alan Rosen, 55, the owner of Junior's Restaurant says life in New York City is becoming increasingly challenging with rising crime and a decline in the qualify of life Rosen runs Junior's Restaurant across three locations in Times Square, Manhattan and in Brooklyn Rosen believes a general decline in the qualify of life, coupled with rising crime levels are to blame For Rosen, who lives outside the city in Westchester, his worries extend beyond that of a mere observer. He says the bad feelings affect him daily with staff telling him they feel 'uneasy and unsafe' while his own daughter became the victim of a random assault in Bushwick, Brooklyn last summer. Rosen says there needs to be substantive change made and that city officials need to take the lead on the most pressing issues. As a longstanding member of the business community he believes parallels can be drawn between running a successful restaurant and governing a city - so long as management is proactive. 'This is not a cheesecake. The product of New York City needs to be polished. It needs smoothing over. It needs a little shine,' Rosen told the New York Post. 'You need to change the narrative. You need to change reality. We need the city to deliver a better product.' Rosen is not a fan of woke policies such as cashless bail and its designation as a 'sanctuary city' policies, which he believes all contribute to the city's problems Crime stats for assaults, robbery and retail theft are all up on this time last year The city's designation as a 'sanctuary city' has seen hoards of immigrants flood the streets, all contributing to the deterioration of the city Immigrants who cannot find work and struggle to survive selling clothes and other used goods on the streets of Queens in New York City The restauranteur believes cashless bail and New York's 'sanctuary' for immigrants has only served to exacerbate the city's problems. '[Cashless bail] gives judges the discretion to put people back in jail. We're letting a few bad apples spoil the bunch. 'When did it become OK to shoplift a pharmacy? In what society is that OK? People shouldn't be able to shoplift at CVS,' Rosen said to The Post. 'Enough! There are no consequences. That's part of the problem. 'We feel uneasy. We feel unsafe. We want our city back,' he added. He says a perceived lack of support and respect for law enforcement has served only to embolden criminals and contributed to the city's deteriorating safety. Rosen is laying the blame squarely at those in charge, although charitably he is not calling out Mayor Eric Adams by name or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who introduced woke bail reform policies Cashless bail allows suspects to roam the streets within hours of their arrest. Left, Michael Thomas was arrested for slugging a cop in the face in Times Square in early February breaking the officers nose. He was released on bail but was re-arrested for punching his probation officer in the face as well. Right, Rudell Faulkner has '47 priors and 28 convictions for preying on New Yorkers' with six arrests so far this year Migrants accused of beating two NYPD cops in Times Square were freed without bail by woke Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Surveillance footage sees a brawl between NYPD officers and migrants in Times Square in February Rosen says New York's role as a 'sanctuary city' has only made the city's real residents feel like second class citizens. 'It can't be a free-for-all. I don't know what else you would call it. Look how much we're spending to house migrants in hotels who have no jobs instead of hosting visitors. It's not helping anybody. We need to take care of the people who have been here first. People who have been here longer don't feel they have been recognized.' Looking to the future, Rosen says plans to introduce at $15 congestion toll to enter Midtown, will be further detrimental to both residents and visitors alike. 'You want to charge people to drive to the theater? That's ridiculous. It's expensive enough to come into New York. We should want more traffic in the city people traffic,' he says. Rosen believes things were at their best during the 12 years Mike Bloomberg was NYC mayor Many stores in New York City now have shelves stocked behind plastic casing to prevent theft Migrants that have been sent up to New York City from the southern border continue to arrive Rosen remains ever the optimist when it comes to the city's potential, noting its vibrant cultural scene and diverse array of attractions. In 2022 the city saw 56 millions visitors as tourism numbers recovered from pandemic lows. Rosen says he wants to see a more nimble and responsive approach when it comes to governing, and although he is not blaming the current mayor Eric Adams for the city's downturn, he believes things were at their best under the 12 years Mike Bloomberg was mayor. 'We need to get in front of the problem. If there's a problem in my restaurant, we address it right then and there,' Rosen believes. 'The city needs to be managed for regular people. It's obvious we're not doing the best we can. We can do better.' Ultimately, he wants to see city leaders prioritize the needs of ordinary residents while continuing to improve and revitalize the city. 'I want to encourage people to come here. I like to see the positives go up. The trend is down now in New York City,' he said. It had been hoped that the Princess of Wales's decision to announce her cancer diagnosis would finally bring a stop to the frenzied conspiracy theories being peddled in recent weeks. But despite Kate delivering an emotional video message which touched the hearts of the nation, the outlandish and cruel claims targeting the 42-year-old have continued to spiral online. Social media platforms were last night urged to clamp down on the vitriol as critics claimed the vile trolling had 'revictimised' the cancer-stricken princess and amounted to 'mafia-style tactics' to force her to divulge more information. Within minutes of Kate's announcement, trolls began spreading bizarre posts that her video was AI-generated while others criticised her for not going public sooner. The sickening uploads saw trolls doctor Kate's heartfelt message with the faces of Princess Diana or the Duchess of Sussex to prove how easily a deep fake could be created. The Prince of Wales has also been targeted by trolls questioning why he did not sit beside his wife as she filmed the emotional video. Kate delivered an emotional video message which touched the hearts of the nation, as she announced her cancer diagnosis Fuelling the fire within 30 minutes of the broadcast, Christopher Bouzy an avid supporter of Harry and Meghan went on a rant to his 350,000 followers on X. The tech chief executive, bizarrely claimed Kate's diagnosis meant that recent pictures were fake and accused the palace of 'North Korea' style propaganda. 'I am sorry to hear Kate has cancer, I hope she has a full recovery. But it is also clear that all three earlier photos of her were fake, and the palace tried to cover it up,' he wrote. Mr Bouzy, who appeared on the Sussexes' Netflix show, was apparently referencing Kate's Mother's Day photo, a video of her shopping in Windsor and an image of her being driven in a car. The 48-year-old added: 'The palace lied, and the British Press happily helped them lie. The countless 'conspiracy theory' headlines, while knowing a lot of what was being said was true. This is really some North Korea/Trumpian type of propaganda.' He went on to accuse Prince William of throwing his wife 'under the bus' over the altered Mother's Day portrait and said he had failed to back her in her announcement. He was among conspiracy theorists who spread a CNN clip, which has now been viewed millions of times, in which a doctor claimed that Kate's statement did not make 'medical sense'. Asked how cancer could be found after surgery, Jonathan Reiner said: 'With all respect to the Royal Family, that kind of press release doesn't make a lot of medical sense.' Christopher Bouzy (pictured in the Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary) bizarrely claimed Kate's diagnosis meant that recent pictures were fake and accused the palace of 'North Korea' style propaganda Dr Jonathan Reiner claimed that Kate's statement did not make 'medical sense' The professor of medicine at George Washington University said such operations are preceded by extensive CAT scans and MRIs, adding it was 'very likely' the surgical team knew of the cancer prior to operating. Several red-faced celebrities and commentators including Blake Lively and Kerry Katona have apologised for their careless comments about Kate. Others have face faced pressure to follow suit including Kim Kardashian, who previously uploaded a picture of herself next to her car with the caption 'on my way to go find Kate'. Paddy Harverson, the former official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the online targeting of her was the worst he had witnessed. 'It's a sort of permanent doom loop. And it's the worst I've ever seen,' he told BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. Imran Ahmed, an expert in countering online extremism, said that platforms were guilty of promoting the conspiracy theories to keep audiences hooked in order to sell ads. The head of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate said: 'There is an algorithmic acceleration of conspiracy theories, hate and disinformation over accurate information and calls for support because that's what keeps the audience captive.' Within minutes of Kate's announcement, trolls began spreading bizarre posts that her video was AI-generated while others criticised her for not going public sooner The princess had been 'revictimised' for not sharing her private medical information immediately and was now being subjected to 'mafia style tactics,' according to critics Paddy Harverson, the former official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the online targeting of her was the worst he had witnessed The sickening uploads saw trolls doctor Kate's heartfelt message with the faces of Princess Diana or the Duchess of Sussex to prove how easily a deep fake could be created Several red-faced celebrities and commentators have apologised for their careless comments about Kate He said that the princess had been 'revictimised' for not sharing her private medical information immediately and was now being subjected to 'mafia style tactics' to divulge more. 'It is morally outrageous ... social media platforms have compounded the harm done to that family at what is already an incredibly difficult time,' Mr Ahmed said. His concerns were echoed by Twitter's former UK and Europe boss Bruce Daisley who said the 'serious issue' was how X's algorithms promote untrustworthy content. Damian Collins, a Tory MP who has chaired the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, also criticised social media platforms for promoting false content. 'If a clickbait story, based on conspiracy theories, grabs people's attention, then they're more interested in that than promoting news,' he said. Chairman of the Labour Party Anneliese Dodds criticised tech bosses for failing to take action against the trolls. She told GB News that the speculation about the princess was 'lurid', adding: 'It must have been extremely distressing.' The Israeli PM previously stressed that the IDF would enter Rafah with or without the support of the United States. Vice President Kamala Harris warned on behalf of the Biden Administration that an Israeli military offensive in Rafah would be a 'huge mistake' that may yield consequences. Harris told ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday that the White House has 'been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake.' The second-in-command said that she is 'ruling out nothing' in terms of potential consequences for the Jewish state should it aggressively invade Rafah - Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza. 'We're going to take it one step at a time, but we've been very clear in terms of our perspective on whether or not that should happen,' she said. A smoke plume erupts during Israeli bombardment on a building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 24, 2024 Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the IDF would enter Rafah - a city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt - with or without the support of the United States. Democratic support in Washington has been waning for the Israeli leader, who has charged ahead with aggressive military action to eliminate Hamas terrorists in Gaza. In a video statement, Netanyahu declared: 'There were times we agreed with our friends, and there were times we did not agree with them. 'Ultimately, we always did what was necessary for our safety, and we will do so this time as well.' He said he had already given the go-ahead to the IDF's planned operations in Gaza and that he would soon approve an outline for the evacuation of civilians from the city. Harris cast doubt upon the IDF's ability to successfully evacuate innocents saying she has 'studied the maps. 'There's nowhere for those folks to go. We're looking at about a million and a half people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there, most of them,' she said. But Netanyahu appears to be immovable in his position. Last Friday, he met with the Biden Administration's top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, to whom he reiterated his message. 'I told [Blinken] that I hope we would [go into Rafah] with US support but if necessary, we will do it alone,' he said after the pair met in Tel Aviv. There are more than a million Palestinians in Rafah who sought refuge from Israeli ground and air strikes that were taking place further north during the opening weeks of the war. But Netanyahu says that without an invasion of Rafah, Israel cannot achieve its goal of entirely destroying Hamas. Earlier last week, President Joe Biden told Netanyahu during a phone call that he would be unable to support a major military offensive against Hamas in Rafah. He said his administration would support a smaller operation that targeted high-value targets inside the terrorist organization. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from an aircraft as he arrived in Tel Aviv last week to attempt to dissuade Netanyahu from executing a military operation in Rafah My husband is Jewish so I am expert at making bad military decisions for Israel. https://t.co/qDaWGFECcq Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) March 24, 2024 Blinken said on Thursday that a major ground assault on the town in southern Gaza would be a 'mistake' and 'unnecessary' to the mission of defeating Hamas. He made his comments after meeting with a group of top Arab diplomats in Cairo for discussions about efforts pertaining to a ceasefire and Gaza's post-war future. Gaza has rejected a number of ceasefire proposals from Israel and the United States, all of which are contingent upon the release of the remaining hostages taken on October 7. Blinken said: 'Our position, which is very clear, is that a major military operation in Rafah would be a mistake, something we don't support.' Despite the Biden Administration's uniformly unambiguous position about Israel's planned invasion of Rafah, the vice president specifically caught a significant amount of flack following her comments Sunday. VP warns Israel not to finish off Hamas https://t.co/6UnDBUHbew Guy Benson (@guypbenson) March 24, 2024 International Security professor Max Abrahams posted to X mocking Harris' position, writing: 'My husband is Jewish so I am expert at making bad military decisions for Israel.' 'One of the worlds great orators AND cartographers. We are so blessed,' wrote RNC Research administrator Jake Schneider, also mocking the VP. Conservative columnist Benjamin Weingarten called Harris' comments a 'betrayal' of the US' single closest ally, and only friend in the troubled region. 'The Ultimate Guide to the Biden Administration's Betrayal of Israel,' he wrote. Every year Liri Albag and her siblings would join millions of young Israelis in celebrating the Jewish festival of Purim, a huge fancy dress holiday. But as families put on costumes for a more sombre event over the weekend, Liri's siblings refused - for their loving little sister remains in captivity in Gaza. Instead, Roni and Shay Albag have marked the occasion by sharing cherished old photographs of Liri's outfits over the years as they implore negotiators not to forget her. Only adding to the urgency to free her, they have learnt the 19-year-old has been kept as a domestic slave, forced to clean toilets and cook while she is fed scraps. Today they have agreed to publish these private pictures which chart how she blossomed from a shy little girl into a confident a young woman who dreams to travel the world. Pictured from left to right: Liri Albag's sister Roni holding a portrait of her, her mother Shira and her other sister Shay. Liri was kidnapped on October 7 from Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border Liri's sisters and mother with a collection of photographs of Liri. Instead of dressing up in fancy dress to mark Purim, Roni and Shay Albag have marked the occasion by sharing cherished old photographs of Liri's outfits over the years as they implore negotiators not to forget her Liri age 6 with her father Eli. The family have agreed to publish these private pictures which chart how she blossomed from a shy little girl into a confident a young woman who dreams to travel the world Soldiers identified Liri's DNA from traces of blood and exclusively shared a picture with the Mail of the room which has children's toys and a pink wardrobe From her very first Purim as an angel, to dressing innocently as a caterpillar and Minnie Mouse, they show how she grew into a typical teenager, donning cowboy hats and miniskirts. 'It's hard to look at, it feels like another life,' said Shay, 22, as she flicked through the photo album with the Daily Mail at the family home in Yarhiv, central Israel. 'This is not a happy holiday. We're not going to drink and we're not going to party or celebrate, because she's sitting there in the tunnels in Gaza. It's very hard for us.' Sat beside her, Roni, 25, says: 'As I look at the pictures, she's so young and so happy. It's very hard to think about this it's very hard to think about her.' Purim commemorates how Queen Esther saved the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an evil official of the Persian empire named Haman. Jewish children dress up while adults must drink so much alcohol they cannot distinguish between the hero and the villain of the story though the latter tradition was toned down this year. It is not lost on Liri's sisters that she is being held by a group whose name and genocidal intentions are nearly identical to that of the 5th Century BCE mandarin. 'Thousands of years ago an evil man named Haman wanted to kill all the Jewish people in the world,' said Shay. 'It is the same today. Hamas wanted to kill us all on October 7.' Liri was kidnapped that day from Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border, with teenagers Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa, Karina Ariev and Agam Berger. The only sign of life they have had is when hostages were released in November and the family can now disclose that they revealed the depraved conditions in which she is being held. Liri celebrating Purim as a child. With pressure building for a hostage deal in Qatar this week, the family are hoping for a Purim-esque miracle that saves Liri from the clutches of Hamas Liri (left) as mini mouse with sisters Shay (centre) dressed up as a pirate and Ronnie dressed up a a devil Only adding to the urgency to free her, they have learnt the 19-year-old has been kept as a domestic slave, forced to clean toilets and cook while she is fed scraps Liri aged 5 (left) and a grown up Liri (right). Released hostages told how Liri was forced to clean the family's toilets and cook them food which she herself was not allowed to eat. She only had her first shower after 37 days. Liri was then moved into the tunnels, and now they do not know where she is Liri's mother - Shira. 'I have a dream that Liri is coming home,' said Shira. 'When she's coming home she will say, 'Mum, it wasn't so bad, they treated me nicely.' I hope that this dream will come true' Shira, Shay and Roni each got the word 'faith' tattooed on their wrists two weeks after she was taken. It is a nod to the etching Liri and her boyfriend, Nir, got after he was run over last April Liri with boyfriend Nir Alboro. He was run over by a terrorist and left unable to walk, but while she has been held captive he has made a miraculous recovery and has vowed to run to meet her when she is freed Her mother, Shira, 51, said: 'She was in a tunnel at that time, 40 metres under the ground, with no air, sunlight, a lot of humidity, no toilet, no water. 'She was drinking salt water from the sea and not much food. That was 112 days ago. From then, we have heard nothing.' They can also say for the first time how the IDF managed to track down where Liri and some other girls were held in their first few days in Gaza. Soldiers identified their DNA from traces of blood and exclusively shared a picture with the Mail of the room which has children's toys and a pink wardrobe. 'At first when I saw it, I was happy because she was in a child's room,' said Shira. 'There were kids clothes in the cupboard and it gave me a little relief that she wasn't in a scary place. 'But then I understood that she is with a family - they kidnapped her, not Hamas. It's the equivalent of me keeping someone else's children locked in my house.' Released hostages told how Liri was forced to clean the family's toilets and cook them food which she herself was not allowed to eat. She only had her first shower after 37 days. Liri was then moved into the tunnels, and now they do not know where she is. Her sisters miss her dearly. 'We are best friends, and we do everything together,' said Roni. 'Now whenever I do something I want to tell her but she's not there.' They are so upset the family, which also includes brother Guy, 15, and father Eli, 54, have not had a single meal together since she has gone as it is 'not right' without her. Liri and her brother Guy. The family are so upset the family they have not had a single meal together since she has gone as it is 'not right' without her Liri as a baby dressed up as a caterpillar with sister Shay, aged 5, dressed up as a ladybird Liri dressed up as queen Esther smiling at her father Eli. Purim commemorates how Queen Esther saved the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an evil official of the Persian empire named Haman Shira, Shay and Roni each got the word 'faith' tattooed on their wrists two weeks after she was taken. It is a nod to the etching Liri and her boyfriend, Nir Alboro, got after he was run over last April. Nir, 20, was hit by a terrorist and left unable to walk, but while she has been held captive he has made a miraculous recovery and has vowed to run to meet her when she is freed. With pressure building for a hostage deal in Qatar this week, the family are hoping for a Purim-esque miracle that saves Liri from the clutches of Hamas. 'I have a dream that Liri is coming home,' said Shira. 'When she's coming home she will say, 'Mum, it wasn't so bad, they treated me nicely.' I hope that this dream will come true.' Independent MP Bob Katter has introduced his Bill to reduce the market power of Australia's major supermarket chains. Under the policy proposal, major supermarkets' market power would be divested by 20 per cent within five years. It would also create a commissioner for food retailing that would have powers to stop price gouging and other anti-competitive behaviour. Speaking in the lower house earlier on Monday, Mr Katter said rising grocery prices were 'disgraceful' and pointed to 15 official inquiries being held into supermarket prices over the past 30 years. He held up a white potato and declared that the price paid to the farmer for the everyday grocery item was between 40 to 50 cents, while the supermarket charged $4.50 per kg. Independent MP Bob Katter has introduced his Bill to reduce the market power of Australia's major supermarket chains Under the policy proposal, major supermarkets' market power would be divested by 20 per cent within five years 'Every time the issue is raised we have an inquiry ... but of course, you haven't got the courage to do what needs to be done,' he said. Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who has backed the proposal, said it was 'unconscionable' that supermarkets were raking in billion-dollar profits while Australians were resorting to dumpster diving and skipping meals. 'What we need is a body that can identify and stamp out wrongdoing without waiting for the government to say so,' he said. Four separate reviews, including a competition watchdog price inquiry, into the conduct of the supermarket chains are under way. The federal government appointed former Labor minister Craig Emerson to lead a review of the food and grocery code in January. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said he was prepared to act but would wait until the outcome of the reviews had been finalised. Public dissatisfaction with the Government's handling of immigration has plumbed new depths, a poll reveals today. Just 9 per cent of Britons are happy with how ministers are dealing with our borders, while 69 per cent say they are unhappy. It is the most damning verdict since the Immigration Attitudes Tracker was launched in 2015. According to the survey of 3,000 voters, carried out by pollsters Ipsos and the think-tank British Future, 54 per cent of those who said they were unhappy cited 'not doing enough to stop Channel crossings' while 51 per cent said 'immigration numbers are too high'. More than half of all respondents now support reducing migration, up from 48 per cent in 2023. Just 9 per cent of Britons are satisfied with the Government's handling of borders, with 69 per cent unhappy (File Image) A breakdown by political party support makes bleak reading for the Conservatives just months before the election is expected, with the flagship policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda on hold and support for Reform UK rising. Only 16 per cent of Tory supporters and 8 per cent of those who backed Boris Johnson in 2019 are happy with the current handling of immigration. And 53 per cent said the issue would be important in deciding how they will vote, behind only the NHS and cost of living. Perhaps less surprisingly, just 10 per cent of Labour supporters have a positive view of the Government's performance, with 72 per cent saying the opposite. Among Labour voters who are dissatisfied, 42 per cent said the main reason was 'creating a negative or fearful environment for migrants' while 41 per cent complained about the failure to stop small boat arrivals. Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, said: 'There is widespread dissatisfaction with the Government's handling of immigration, but for different reasons. Many Conservatives want tougher action to match tough words, while Labour supporters want more compassion alongside control.' In a new attempt to deter migrants from trying to reach Britain, the Home Office today launches an advert campaign in Vietnam, from where an increasing proportion of small boat arrivals are travelling. The Home Office is launching a campaign in Vietnam today in an attempt to deter migrants (File Image) The video shared on social media features testimony of people who regret making the journey as well as setting out the risks of being exploited by smuggling gangs and having no access to public services in the UK. Home Secretary James Cleverly said: 'This is a powerful campaign which demonstrates first-hand that life for people arriving here illegally is a far cry from the lies they have been sold by the gangs on the other side of the Channel.' Yesterday Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was confronted by figures showing that the number of people arriving illegally in dinghies is higher than at the same time last year, with the latest figure put at 4,306. He told Sky News: 'When we get flights off to Rwanda, that will send a very strong signal to smugglers and the people that if you come to the UK illegally then there is a very good chance you will be sent straight back abroad.' Former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella has demanded the government introduces tougher sentences for wife killers so the families of murdered women can get the justice they deserve. Kinsella, 40, successfully campaigned for tougher prison sentences for knife killers after her brother was stabbed to death in Islington, north London, in June 2008 while he was out celebrating the end of his GCSE exams. She is now urging the government to close a loophole that is said to be denying justice to the families of hundreds of women murdered in their homes every year. The government is considering whether to get rid of a 10-year disparity in murder sentencing - which experts have branded one of the largest 'remaining open sores' of the justice system. A person who murders their victim with a knife 'taken to the scene with intent' currently has a sentencing starting point of 25 years. Brooke Kinsella, 40, (pictured) successfully campaigned for tougher prison sentences for knife killers after her brother was stabbed to death in Islington, north London Kinsella, 40, successfully campaigned for tougher prison sentences for knife killers after her brother Ben was stabbed to death in Islington, north London, in June 2008 while he was out celebrating the end of his GCSE exam However, the tougher sentences of 'Ben's law' - created after the death of Kinsella's 16-year-old brother Ben - were not extended to domestic murderers who killed with a weapon that was already stored at the scene. The starting points remained at 15 years for such cases. Kinsella has contributed to the Killed Women campaign by three grieving mothers - Carole Gould, Julie Devey-Waterhouse and Elaine Newborough - whose daughters were stabbed to death by men who went on to receive sentences shorter than the families had hoped. Kinsella told The Times: 'The aim of Ben's Law was always to strengthen sentences for knife crime. But a crucial loophole has emerged. 'Most women murdered with knives are killed at home, and the current law fails to address this. In these cases, the perpetrator faces a much lower starting sentence of 15 years, compared to 25 years for someone who brings a knife specifically to commit murder.' The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is now considering its response to a public consultation following 5,200 responses. The MoJ said: 'We have already taken decisive action to ensure domestic killers are locked up for longer - introducing new statutory aggravating factors for overkill, killing at the end of a relationship, and controlling or coercive behaviour - and are currently analysing responses to our consultation on starting points for murders committed with a weapon already at the scene.' Britons are being cowed into silence for fear of being attacked over their views, a major report reveals today. Three quarters of respondents, including teachers, councillors and academics, told a government adviser they were being forced to self-censor after being bombarded by threats and intimidation, creating a 'chilling' effect on freedom of speech. Some fear for their lives and the safety of their families, while others have had to leave their jobs or move house, the study into social cohesion by Dame Sara Khan found. Yet in many cases they have been let down by the authorities, with some politicians being told that abuse goes with the job. In one example, an RE teacher forced into hiding in West Yorkshire after showing pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad was not even considered a crime victim and no one was arrested for hounding him. Three years on he is still in hiding and suffering from PTSD. The war in the Middle East has also fuelled division in England, with Jews afraid to venture into city centres during pro-Palestinian protests, while many people fear being branded anti-Semitic if they speak out against the Israeli government. The Israel-Hamas conflict has fuelled division and tension between communities, with Jews afraid to go into city centres, while others fear being labelled anti-Semitic for criticising the Israeli government Today's study also tells how the far-Right has stoked division in English towns by spreading fake news and conspiracy theories about asylum seekers. Meanwhile, authors are being 'cancelled' for their views, with librarians being told to censor the books on their shelves and one professor telling the inquiry they lost a publishing deal because of a smear campaign that they had called for the 'murder of transgender people'. Dame Sara wants ministers to set up an Office for Social Cohesion and Democratic Resilience, as well as banning protests outside schools, and says police need dedicated 'safety officers' to tackle persistent harassment, including on social media. She said her findings were a 'damning indictment of the state of harassment and censorship in our country'. 'If we care about protecting those democratic rights and freedoms that are so central to us as a nation, my call to the Government is we have to do far more to tackle this threat which is undermining academic freedom, press freedom, the arts and cultural sector and civic society. 'It poses a serious threat to our democratic way of life,' she told Sky News. Pro-Palestine protesters joined forces with eco-zealots outside the British Museum against BP sponsorship on Sunday Dame Sara's research found that three-quarters of respondents had restricted expressing a view publicly out of fear of receiving abuse to themselves or their family. And almost half (47 per cent) said they had witnessed other people being harassed, which had led them to self-censor. One council leader told the inquiry how they had received thousands of death threats and messages about their two-year-old daughter being gang-raped. 'I make my daughter sleep next to a fire blanket in case someone fire-bombs my home, as a previous councillor has had her property fire-bombed,' they said. 'The response from the police has been dismal and I've had little support. It has made me seriously question whether I want or can stay in politics.' Son Yeol-eum, Svetlin Roussev grace stage with pieces from Love Music album By Pyo Kyung-min The Korea Times' annual Spring Concert took place at Lotte Concert Hall in Songpa District, Seoul, Monday, and drew a significant turnout of music enthusiasts, filling some 2,000 seats in the venue. The evening event, hosted by The Korea Times and organized by Pie Plans, showcased a captivating collaboration between two esteemed musicians celebrated pianist Son Yeol-eum and Bulgarian-born virtuoso violinist Svetlin Roussev who enthralled the audience with their harmonious collaboration. The attendees gathered outside the venue well before the concert commenced, while Son and Roussev added to the spectacle with their elegant presence. Son donned a stunning green gradient dress, reminiscent of the essence of spring, while Roussev complemented her attire with a matching suit, further enhancing the evening's ambiance. Son, 37, gained international acclaim following her remarkable achievements at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, where she secured second prize and the prestigious Best Chamber Music Performance award. Particularly noteworthy are her interpretations of Mozart's compositions, notably her rendition of Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467. This performance, captivating audiences worldwide, has amassed nearly 23 million views on YouTube. "In this global era, especially thanks to K-culture, I believe the role of The Korea Times has become more significant than ever before in garnering worldwide interest in Korea," Son said, sharing her sentiment about The Korea Times' concert. "Personally, whenever I want to convey current issues in Korea to my international acquaintances, I often cite articles from The Korea Times because it's a very familiar media outlet to me. I'm delighted to be collaborating. I hope such opportunities will come again soon in the near future," she added. Teaming up with Son since 2015, Roussev has solidified his reputation as a prominent figure in the music industry. In addition to his virtuosic performances, Roussev holds the esteemed position of artist in residence with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. Furthermore, he imparts his expertise as a faculty member at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. Notably, Roussev is associated with the prestigious Amati-Stradivarius violin, which has been on loan from Amundi since 2011. "I am truly happy and feel particularly privileged to collaborate with The Korea Times," Roussev said. "In my opinion this is the reference regarding past, present and hopefully future stories and issues of this country. Connecting classical, and even more, universal music to The Korea Times with me as a part of it, I can only be so grateful." The event also celebrated the debut of their latest collaborative single, "Love Music," delving into compositions from the late Romanticism era in the Austro-German region. The program captivated the audience with an array of works, including Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Much Ado About Nothing op. 11, Gabriel Faure's Sonata for Violin and Piano no. 1 in A major, op. 13, and Richard Strauss' Sonata for Violin and Piano in E-flat major, op. 18. These selections set the stage for encores, featuring more familiar pieces to delight the audience further. Many cultural figures and diplomats stationed in Seoul honored the concert with their presence, praising the performers for their remarkable prowess. "We're very grateful to The Korea Times for inviting us to the spring concert featuring two wonderful, world-acclaimed artists," Philippine Ambassador to Korea Maria Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega said. "This concert shows the healing power of music and now in the midst of the global challenges that we all face, music unites people and strengthens us to face the challenges." Ambassador Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo, representing the Dominican Republic in Korea, expressed gratitude for the marvelous evening. "The concert was extraordinary. The ability of the performers, mastery of the work, it's just amazing. I am very grateful for the invitation. This has been an amazing experience. Every year, you keep on surprising us," the ambassador noted. Past recipients of The Korea Times' Multicultural Youth Awards, including Kam Hyo-been, a 19-year-old student, also attended the concert. "I never even dreamed that I would meet musicians like Son Yeol-eum and Svetlin Roussev ... Even though the melodies are complex, the harmony between the violin and piano resonated immediately," Kam said. "Being able to listen to the artists' perform from such a close seat was touching and honorable." Russell Group universities now get just a quarter of their income from UK students, as many have become dependent on overseas cash. As much as 57 per cent of income generated from fees at the country's leading institutions is now from foreign students. And at some of Britain's most prestigious universities the figure is even higher, with overseas income accounting for over 76 per cent at University College London, London School of Economics and Imperial College London. At some specialist colleges such as London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, over 80 per cent of their fees from overseas. The number of foreign students coming to study in the UK is up by 50 per cent, the Times reported, an now account for 24 per cent of all students. Britain's universities are becoming ever more reliant on overseas income, with foreign students accounting for over 80 per cent of fees at some institutions With domestic fees having been capped at 9,250 for the last seven years, universities are increasingly having to turn to foreign students, who pay double their British counterparts, to keep their finances in check. While some institutions have other income streams such as research grants and commercial projects, the bulk of funding comes from tuition fees. The Russell Group estimates that it's member universities lose an average of 2,500 per student - predicted to rise to 5,000 by the end of the decade. Millionplus, a group representing newer colleges, said it was recruiting students from countries including India and Nigeria, but warned of certain risks with being reliant on overseas income. Its chief executive Rachel Hewitt said the current funding model was not 'sustainable' and called the global market 'a challenge to be in'. Although UK universities frequently cite their ability to attract foreign talent as a sign of their outreach and success, a high international population can 'change the character of an institution', bosses have warned. John Rushforth, the executive secretary of the Committee of University Chairs, said it was important that universities didn't 'swing too far in one direction'. Alongside finding new ways to generate income, universities are also trimming courses and cutting staff. It comes amid warnings that some universities could go bankrupt without government intervention. While some universities are faced with no choice but to cut courses and slash staff, many students are graduating with huge debts which experts warn may never be paid off But with a cost-of-living crisis and students finding it ever harder to make ends meet and pay rents, neither the Conservatives or a future Labour government will be keen to increase tuition fees. Meanwhile graduates are saddled with large debts, with experts warning that many will never repay their student loans. One student racked up a bill of 230,000 over several courses, while another accumulated a total of 55,000 of just interest. The value of outstanding loans at the end of March 2023 reached 206billion and in September 2023 the Government forecasted the value of outstanding loans to be about 460billion by the mid-2040s. Jacqui Lambie is now more powerful than ever before with the next Tasmanian premier forced to court a crossbench that could include up to three Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) candidates for support. Already a key vote in the Federal Senate, Senator Lambie's stocks went up even further on Saturday night when her party's candidates won a series of seats in the Apple Isle's state Parliament. Speaking on ABC Radio on Monday, Ms Lambie said her candidates had no choice but to work with the Liberals, led by Premier Jeremy Rockliff, since Labor leader Rebecca White had already conceded defeat. 'We have to form government in some way and if (Labor's) not going to be in the race, then I guess we have no choice,' Senator Lambie told ABC Radio. Jacqui Lambie has been very critical of a plan to fund an AFL stadium in Hobart 'I'm quite sure Tasmanians do not want to go back to re-election over the next two months, that's not bringing stability. That's what we promised Tasmanians.' The federal leader suggested a 'good start' for negotiations between Mr Rockliff and her candidates would be a second look at the millions put aside for a controversial new stadium proposed for Hobart. I still cannot come up with a decent reason why it is a priority to have a new stadium with a roof, she said. Mr Rockliff has thrown his support behind a $715million AFL stadium in Hobart - a condition for the state's licence for an AFL team. Senator Lambie has been very critical of the plan. However, one of her network candidates in the mix for a seat supports the stadium. The project must be voted through parliament to get the green light. Mr Rockliff on Sunday conceded the Liberals had taken a "bit of a kick" on the stadium and broadly, with their first-preference vote dropping by 12 per cent. Mr Rockliff and Ms White have both ruled out negotiating with the Greens. The minor party is on track to clinch four or five seats. Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said it was disappointing Labor had ruled out joining forces to form a minority given there was overlap in both parties campaign platforms. Premier Jeremy Rockliff appears to be in the box seat for another term as the state's leader. Labor leader Rebecca White has conceded I dont know why Labor has taken that position at the moment. We are still hoping they will be open to (negotiations), she told Sky News on Monday. Labor won just 10 out of 35 seats in the House of Assembly compared to the Liberals 13. On Sunday, Ms White conceded it was very unlikely her party could form government. On the outcome of the result yesterday, it seems very unlikely the Labor Party can form government, Ms White said. I respect that outcome, I respect the will of the people. Mr Rockliff sent Tasmanians to the polls more than a year early after the Liberals failed to resolve a minority government stand-off with MPs who quit the party to sit on the crossbench. A driver has sparked fury after he parked a huge American style ute across three spaces - including a disabled spot - and then threatened a passer-by who challenged him. A photo shared on Reddit shows a giant Chevrolet Silverado SUV taking up the three parking bays in a Melbourne car park on Saturday. 'He said he doesn't fit in normal people spots (and that he might hurt me),' the witness captioned their picture. The photograph prompted a flood of expletive-riddled comments attacking the driver and large US-style pick up trucks, like the Ford F150 and Dodge Ram. 'These oversized vehicles should be 100 per cent banned,' one person said. A photo shared on Reddit shows a giant Chevrolet SUV taking up three spaces, including a disabled spot, in a Melbourne car park on Saturday 'That's a disgusting photo,' another wrote. Many recommended reporting the issue to Melbourne's City of Yarra Council using the Snap Send Solve app, saying there was 'no excuse' for taking up a disabled spot without a permit. Others suggested owners should face a special licence test to drive larger utes, saying they should be 'separately classed' like motorcycles and heavy vehicles. Poll Do you think people who drive huge American-style utes in Australia face a special licence test? Yes No Do you think people who drive huge American-style utes in Australia face a special licence test? Yes 341 votes No 126 votes Now share your opinion While Melbourne's City of Yarra council has no plans to bring in a ban, they are exploring options to deter drivers from buying giant SUVs. Daily Mail Australia previously reported Greens Councillor Sophie Wade put forward a notice of motion to investigate 'ways to make travelling on Yarra's streets more equitable and discourage large and heavy vehicles on Yarra's streets, including by considering proportionate parking fees based on a vehicle's size'. She said that 'it's really a matter of one person's right to drive whatever they want trumping everyone else's right to (safety) on the street, and I don't think that's a compromise we should be willing to make.' Ms Wade's motion moved that council note 'the dangers posed by the increasing size and weight of vehicles on Australian streets, including vehicles like the RAM and Defender'. Ms Wade said the council was looking to introduce a parking tax on big trucks, similar to a rule rolled out in Paris earlier this year. 'It's nerve-racking having these big giant vehicles bearing down on you,' she told Yahoo News. 'When you've got stats that show SUV's are eight times more likely to kill a child when they hit them than standard cars, I think that's the sort of thing you shouldn't try and accommodate.' Melbourne's City of Yarra council is looking at ways to deter drivers from buying giant SUVs Passionate owners have defended the US-style pick-up truck, saying their reputation has been tarnished by the actions of a few Passionate owners have defended the US-style pick-up truck, saying their reputation has been tarnished by the actions of a few. One Reddit user said: 'We have a very small camper and whenever we do have the displeasure of going into a shopping centre car park with it, it's straight to the outer edge to park away from everyone.' Others agreed, saying it's all about being 'considerate'. A man who allegedly murdered his nine-year-old stepdaughter and dumped her body in a barrel in the bush will face trial later this year. Justin Stein, 32, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court via audio visual link on Monday as he prepares to stand trial over the allegations. He is accused of murdering Charlise Mutten, the daughter of his fiancee, while on a family holiday in the NSW Blue Mountains and dumping her body in a plastic barrel. The schoolgirl's body was discovered with alleged gunshot wounds in bushland near the Colo River in the NSW Central Tablelands in January 2022. Mr Stein has denied murdering the nine-year-old after he was left alone with her on January 11. Justin Stein, 32, appeared in the NSW Supreme Court via audio visual link on Monday as he prepares to stand trial over the allegations he murdered Charlise Mutten, 9 On Monday, Justice Helen Wilson confirmed that Mr Stein would face a seven-week trial in the NSW Supreme Court at Parramatta on May 6. Prosecutor Ken McKay SC said the Crown would seek to rely on evidence of websites Mr Stein had accessed in the lead-up to January 12 when Charlise disappeared. He also foreshadowed an application for the judge to visit the house in Mt Wilson where Mr Stein allegedly killed Charlise. 'We hope to have that done in the next three weeks,' he said. Justice Wilson noted there would be 'seasonal variations in the landscape' because the scene would be viewed in autumn when the schoolgirl was allegedly killed in January. 'We can consider this when we get to it,' she said. Mr Stein was staying at his family's property at Mt Wilson in January 2022 with his fiancee, Kallista Mutten, and her daughter Charlise when the schoolgirl vanished. Prosecutors allege Mr Stein murdered the nine-year-old on either the evening of January 11 or in the early hours of January 12 when the pair were alone together. The body of Charlise Mutten (pictured) was allegedly discovered with gunshot wounds inside a barrel hidden in bushland near the Colo River in the NSW Central Tablelands in January 2022 Charlise Mutten (pictured) was declared missing on January 14, triggering a lengthy multi-agency search of the surrounding bushlands involving hundreds of volunteers. He allegedly then travelled from Mt Wilson to Sydney's northwest and inner west before returning to the Colo River, near the Hawkesbury, where he disposed of her body. Charlise was declared missing on January 14, triggering a lengthy multi-agency search of the surrounding bushlands involving hundreds of volunteers. Her body was found four days later inside a barrel in the bushland and Mr Stein was arrested. He has remained behind bars on remand for two years as he awaits trial. New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy on Sunday suspended her U.S. Senate campaign to replace Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez as he faces federal corruption charges. Murphy said in a video posted to social media that winning the Democratic primary would require her to wage 'a very divisive and negative campaign.' 'With Donald Trump on the ballot and so much at stake for our nation, I will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat,' Murphy said. Her decision to drop out probably clears the way for U.S. Rep. Andy Kim in the Democratic primary on June 4. New Jersey's First Lady, Tammy Murphy, has suspended her Senate campaign amid federal corruption charges facing Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. She made the announcement in a video posted to social media on Sunday Murphy explained her decision, citing the potential for a divisive and negative campaign atmosphere, particularly with the looming presence of Donald Trump. She is pictured on the campaign trail earlier this month Murphy wants to prioritize the larger national stakes with her withdrawal likely paving the way for U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who is mounting his own challenge A Message from Tammy pic.twitter.com/dfl7kPUUej Tammy Murphy (@TammyMurphyNJ) March 24, 2024 Kim is mounting a more formidable challenge than is typical against a well-connected political figure in a state where connections count for a lot. A Fairleigh Dickinson University survey showed Kim with 32 percent of the likely Democratic vote and Murphy with 20 percent. Menendez was only garnering 9 percent support at the time and announced that he would not run in that primary - but has not ruled out seeking reelection as an independent. Murphy, a first-time candidate, was running with the backing of influential Democratic figures. Kim has centered his campaign in part on upending the states unique ballot design, widely viewed as favoring candidates preferred by county party insiders. Murphy's decision to drop out probably clears the way for U.S. Rep. Andy Kim in the Democratic primary on June 4 A recent Fairleigh Dickinson University survey showed Kim with 32 percent of the likely Democratic vote and Murphy with 20 percent. Kim, a mild-mannered three-term congressman, is perhaps best known for being photographed cleaning debris from the U.S. Capitol after the January 6 insurrection 'New Jersey's next senator must focus on the issues of our time and not be mired in tearing others down while dividing the people of our party and state,' she said. Kim, a mild-mannered three-term congressman, is perhaps best known for being photographed cleaning debris from the U.S. Capitol after the January 6 insurrection. He won several state county committee votes, including in his and Murphy's home counties. The stakes are high, with Democrats competing to hold on to their narrow control of the Senate. Republicans have their own primary unfolding, featuring businessman Curtis Bashaw, Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner and former TV news reporter Alex Zdan. New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972. Embattled New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob 'Gold Bar' Menendez said in a video statement Thursday that he will not run in his state's Democratic primary but kept the door open to running for reelection as an independent this fall Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine are seeking separate trials on bribery charges they each face in a New York court Prosecutors released images of the gold bars Menendez allegedly received from a New Jersey businessmen in return for pushing the interests of Qatar and Egypt Menendez vehemently denies allegations that he and his wife accepted bribes of gold bars, cash and a luxury car from three favor-seeking New Jersey businessmen. Menendez is accused of illegally acting as an agent of the Egyptian government and obstruction of justice. The senator has faced calls to resign, including from members of his own party, but has resisted. 'Unfortunately the present accusations I am facing of which I am innocent and will prove so, will not allow me to have that type of dialog and debate with political opponents that have already made it the cornerstone of their campaign,' Menendez said in a video posted to his X account last week. 'Therefore I will not file for the Democratic primary this June,' he said. 'I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election.' The couple is scheduled to go on trial in May. The statement was met with criticism for being 'divisive' and 'alienating' A Church of England Archdeacon has called for 'anti-whiteness' and the 'smashing of the patriarchy,' but insisted that her statement did not mean that she is anti-white' or 'anti-men'. The Ven Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Archdeacon of Liverpool, said that after attending a conference on 'whiteness', she was prompted to reflect on race and gender. The Archdeacon, who also runs a personal blog on topics of Christianity, history, feminism and poetry, concluded that 'whiteness is to race as patriarchy is to gender.' The statement was met with backlash from critics who branded the comment as 'divisive' and 'alienating'. Threlfall-Holmes insisted that her statement was 'not anti-white, or anti-men' but 'anti-oppression'. The Ven Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Archdeacon of Liverpool, said that after attending a conference on 'whiteness', she was prompted to reflect on race and gender Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Threlfall-Holmes wrote: 'I went to a conference on whiteness last autumn. 'It was very good, very interesting and made me realise: whiteness is to race as patriarchy is to gender. 'So yes, lets have anti whiteness, & lets smash the patriarchy. Thats not anti-white, or anti-men, its anti-oppression.' One user, Reverend David Messer, responded by asking: 'Slightly confused by this, so being born white is wrong?' The Archdeacon replied: 'No, that was my exact point! Seek out the training.' This comes as the Diocese of Birmingham, which is headed by Bishop of Birmingham Michael Volland, advertised a 36,000-a-year post for an 'anti-racism' officer to 'deconstruct whiteness' within its 11-person racial justice unit. This was met with criticism by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who claimed the advert should have been written 'in English', after comparing it to mockumentary sitcom, W1A, which satirises the management of the BBC. He asked the diocese 'what on earth does that mean?' when he found out about the advertisement. Threlfall-Holmes insisted that her statement was 'not anti-white, or anti-men' but 'anti-oppression' Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Threlfall-Holmes said that her statement was 'not anti-white, or anti-men' but 'anti-oppression' Earlier this week, it also emerged the Diocese of York was looking for a part-time 'racial justice enabler', who would implement a programme of diversity training to address 'white fragility'. Reverend Dr Ian Paul, associate minister of St Nicholas's Church in Nottingham, said the Church had sought to 'make people feel guilty' about being white. Mr Paul, who sits on the Archbishops' Council, said: 'The racist nature of this 'antiracism' approach is evident in the actions being taken. 'In Birmingham, a post was advertised for a 'Deconstructing Whiteness officer', until it was pointed out that this was racist and the advert was removed. In York, a new Justice Education Adviser will need to run a course on Being White, in order to make people aware of their inherent racial privilege. 'How have we ended up with such a diverse group in our church? It was not by importing divisive critical race theory language from the US. 'It was not by making people feel guilty about their 'whiteness'. It was not by imposing quotas, or virtue signalling, or making a power play. 'It was by taking each person, with their language and culture, seriously, and ensuring that they were welcomed and had an honoured place in the community of faith. 'There is a better way to address these issues. At the moment, the Church of England strategy is not it.' The Archbishop of Canterbury has hit out at the woke language used in a Church of England job advert for a 'deconstructing whiteness' officer The motion, filed by Bishop of Dover Rose Hudson-Wilkin (pictured), also called for better data collection to monitor diversity levels across parishes Delegates vote during the opening session of the Church of England General Synod Last month, the General Synod, the church's legislative body, passed a motion that said it should 'encourage parishes and deaneries to develop local action plans to address issues of racial injustice.' The motion, filed by Bishop of Dover Rose Hudson-Wilkin, also called for better data collection to monitor diversity levels across parishes. In a passionate speech to introduce her motion, the Bishop called for racial justice in the church's governance structures to be strengthened 'in order to hold our church's feet to the fire'. She said she was in 'no doubt that the church must continue to work at embedding racial justice in all its life and structures - lip service will not do, neither will ticking boxes'. She told the Synod: 'When it comes to the topic of racial justice, I've heard the word 'woke' being bandied about by many people including Government ministers, certain radio presenters, those in the media. And in every case, they've used it incorrectly. 'The term woke originated in the USA, and it was a black terminology speaking specifically and directly to black people regarding the need to wake up and stay alert, to be consciously aware. 'So it is not just a mere word, it is a movement. Those who are threatened by the authenticity of this movement, want to scare us into thinking that being woke is a sin created by people on the left.' A 65-year-old laundromat employee in Oakland says she afraid to return to her job after being assaulted by two customers in an incident that was caught on camera. Surveillance footage shows two relatively young women physically harassing, intimidating, and eventually attacking the elderly woman for the better part of ten minutes. Ruth 'Ruthie' Wilde said the attack was the longest eight-minute stretch of her life. She told CBS Bay Area that she was 'very afraid' during the attack and still is, especially now that the pair have been released and may end up having the misdemeanor charges (filed against only one of them) dropped. The terrifying encounter occurred on March 16, shortly after 7pm, while there were still customers inside the local business. 2 hit 65yo Asian woman after victim, 27-year worker at Woodys Laundromat on Park Blvd., told them they missed cutoff time for last wash. They left but came back 40 minutes later. Person in blue cited by @oaklandpoliceca, like speeding ticket, owner tells me. Its disturbing pic.twitter.com/zFGCEFfyEB Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) March 24, 2024 Wilde said she informed her two attackers that the last wash cycle of the day began at 6.30pm, the laundromat - Woody's Laundromat - closes at 8pm. She gestured to a sign on the business's wall clearly displaying the hours of the business. Footage showed the two women then left the business with their clothing and drove away in a car. The pair, however, returned some 40 minutes later at just around 7.40pm. They told Wilde their clothing had gone missing from a washer and asked to see the surveillance videos to see who left with their items. Wilde repeatedly said she didn't have their clothing and had no access to the business's surveillance cameras. Surveillance footage then showed a woman in a black hat grabbing Wilde by the neck, dragging her around and shoving her to the ground multiple times. Wilde also took at least three punches during the assault. The other woman, in a red hat and a yellow shirt, was then shown pushing Wilde to the ground. 'They punched me again and hard enough that my nose was bleeding. I saw stars and lights because they hit me so hard,' Wilde told CBS. The footage showed the two assailants threatening to hurt several of the customers who intervened in the assault. Ruthie Wilde, 65, was assaulted at the Oakland laundromat where she's worked for 27 years Robert Ma (left), said the attack that took place against his employee should be considered elder abuse Woody's Laundromat and Cafe in Oakland, California was terrorized last weekend by two assailants who victimized an elderly woman Wilde said she was 'afraid that they were going to kill me or bash my head into the dryer.' After the attack, Wilde called 911 and officers responded. Both women were apprehended and released, though Oakland officers told CBS they cited the woman in the black hat. They refused to release the suspect's name. The woman who was cited will have to appear before a judge at a later date. Wilde worries, though, that the assailant will get off with simply paying a fine, or potentially having her case dismissed. Wilde said she is livid 'at the system.' 'It's a misdemeanor, and they can't do anything about it,' she said. A full week after the attack, Wilde said her mouth is still in pain. One of the owners of the laundromat, Robert Ma, disapprovingly said the type of assault experienced by his employee is 'considered a misdemeanor.' He said the violent incident should be considered a case of elder abuse. Both women were apprehended and released, though Oakland officers said they only cited the woman in the black hat (pictured) There was a sign on the business's wall clearly displaying the hours of the business that Wilde showed her attackers The elderly Wilde weighs just 88 pounds - she has worked at Woody's for nearly three decades. 'Everybody knows Ruthie. They love Ruthie. Nobody ever had any problem with her. She's super nice. Our regulars love her,' said Ma. But she hasn't come back to work since the attack. 'I'm afraid they're going to come back and do me in.' A California police department which sparked hilarity by using superimposed Lego heads to protect the identities of captured suspects has been asked to stop by the toy manufacturer. The Murrieta Police Department had been editing the images onto suspects' pictures after a new law prohibited them from sharing suspect photos and mugshots for non-violent crimes. But toy company failed to see the funny side, and the department is going to have to find some other way of complying with the law in its Instagram posts. 'The Lego Group reached out to us and respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property in our social media content which of course we understand and will comply with,' the department said in a statement. While the law passed at the start of the year, Murrieta PD has been covering suspects' faces with everything from emojis to Shrek for several years as it prioritizes the presumption of innocence. The Murrieta Police Department in California had been sharing hilariously edited images of alleged criminals on its Instagram The department explained that they are mandated by California law from sharing suspect photos and mugshots for non-violent crimes - which has forced their media team to get creative In a recent post, the cops shared this snap of a thief who was caught after detectives traced him with a stolen iPhone that he forgot to turn off Murrieta PD often includes humorous captions when it shares a Lego suspect mugshot, including a recent image where they said officers won a game of 'hide and seek' with a thief. 'Fortunately for the officers, they were able to use GPS to locate the suspect,' the cops added, saying the suspect - with a sad bearded Lego for a head - was tracked down using the victims' stolen iPhone that he forgot to turn off. In another, they replaced a suspect with a Shrek face because he had been 'acting like an ogre' in a Target store by attempting to steal almost $2,000 of items. While praising their detective skills, many had taken to the comments in the myriad posts to question why they swap out the heads, leading to Monday's explainer. 'Why the covered faces?' they began. 'On January 1st, a new law went into effect that restricts the how and when law enforcement agencies in California share suspect photos & mugshots.' The department said that the new law, Assembly Bill 994 & Penal Code 13665, prevents them from sharing suspect images for nonviolent crimes - unless specified circumstances exist. They added that the new law requires agencies to remove suspect mugshots from social media after 14 days, unless special circumstances exist. 'The Murrieta Police Department prides itself in its transparency with the community, but also honors everyone's rights & protections as afforded by law; even suspects,' the post concluded. Murrieta PD said this suspect had acted 'like an ogre' in a Target store by attempting to steal almost $2,000 of items The mocking edits have split opinions, with some feeling they are a fun way around the law and 'the Lego faces look better anyways' Now the police department has been asked to find some other way of protecting identities 'The Lego Group reached out to us and respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property in our social media content which of course we understand and will comply with,' the department said in a statement 'In order to share what is happening in Murrieta, we chose to cover the faces of suspects to protect their identity while still aligning with the new law.' Murrieta PD said this suspect had acted 'like an ogre' in a Target store by attempting to steal almost $2,000 of items The mocking edits have split opinions, with some feeling they are a fun way around the law and 'the Lego faces look better anyways' Some critics argued that it only serves to help law breakers, and it 'seems there are more laws protecting the criminals than law abiding citizens' The Lego mugshots split opinions, with some feeling they are a fun way around the law while others questioned if they were appropriate and only served to help law breakers. One local commented that the 'Lego faces kill me lmao', and another felt that the 'Lego faces are better anyways.' 'Not everyone who is arrested is guilty, and someday it might be you,' added another proponent. However, some took offense to the editing skills and argued that it only works to protect criminals. 'Who makes up these laws?' questioned one. 'Jeez, seems there are more laws protecting the criminals than law abiding citizens.' Another critic said it was 'another L for California', questioning: 'Why does our legislation spend so much time and effort protecting criminals? It's so backwards.' Although the department said it was mandated by the January 1 law, they clarified in a November post that the decision came after they decided to prioritize the presumption of innocence for those arrested. Some critics argued that it only serves to help law breakers, and it 'seems there are more laws protecting the criminals than law abiding citizens' 'The department had an internal discussion about posting the faces of arrestees in general. After weighing a lot of factors the department ultimately decided to generally not post the faces of arrestees,' they said. 'There are circumstances that arise that do necessitate or warrant the posting of an arrestees face but the dept decided those would be the exceptions and not the rule.' The post also cited potential humiliation of the suspects' families by being shared on social media, and a general risk aversion to sharing the images. 'Our goal is to keep our citizens informed on what is occurring in the City in which we all live as well as the work the police department is doing on behalf of the citizens,' they concluded. A heroic junior police officer has relived the moment she risked her life to rescue a 60-year-old woman from her sinking car. Probationary Constable Kiesha McJannet jumped into Dee Why Lagoon, in Sydney's north, about 12.30am on Sunday after the woman lost control of her car. The 60-year-old's car left Pittwater Road and crashed through some bushes before landing in the water and immediately starting to sink. Constable McJannet said she and her police partner were a few minutes from the scene when the late night alert was put out to officers. Before they had even arrived at the scene, the young officer had emptied her pockets and taken off her belt and vest so she could leap into the water in the dark. Probationary Constable Kiesha McJannet saved a woman from a sinking car (pictured) in north Sydney 'I've gone in, I've gone straight to the passenger door and, just instinct, I've opened the door. But the water's gone in so fast that I've had to shut the door again,' she told Sunrise on Monday. 'I've gone over to the driver's side window, the window was only halfway open and I tried to [help the trapped woman] remain calm. 'Seconds went by, [but] the water kept going into the car. I've told the lady, "can you put the window down any further?", and she couldn't. 'I was trying to open the door [but] the door wouldn't open for me.' With no options left, she called out for her partner's baton to smash the window. Constable McJannet managed to pull the driver from her car (pictured) window 'I've grabbed the baton, I was just about to smash the window and she said, "no, I think I can get through",' Constable McJannet said. 'I grabbed her arms and pulled her out. 'In a matter of seconds, the car went down.' Constable McJannet joined the force last June and has spent years as a member of Surf Life Saving. She told Today: 'I was pretty calm. I patrol the beaches often and I have been in situations where I've had to save people so I just try to stay calm and that's what I did. 'The woman was relieved - she was obviously quite shocked about the situation that she was put in. 'I don't really call myself a hero. It's just something I do and I always do. I'll always put others before myself. That's just who I am.' Superintendent Patrick Sharkey said the young officer 'did a fantastic job'. 'This is another great example of the work that Northern Beaches Police and NSW Police do every day of the week,' he said. 'We don't always hit the news for these sort of jobs, but it it's actually great when when there is a bit of recognition for what they do.' Constable McJannet (pictured) joined the force last June and has spent years as a member of Surf Life Saving NSW Ambulance Paramedics examined the driver at the scene after Constable McJannet saved her just seconds before the car (pictured) sank NSW Ambulance Paramedics examined the driver at the scene and she was later taken to Northern Beaches Hospital for observation. Acting Inspector Adrian De Visser also shared praise for Constable McJannet. 'Her selfless actions of entering the water and saving a woman from a precarious position is deserving of praise,' he said. A Louisiana deacon says he has been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church after suing his diocese and a priest who was jailed for sexually assaulting his son. Scott Peyton resigned from the diaconate in December 2023 after he learned that the priest he served next to had molested his son. However, he was supposed to, sacramentally, remain a deacon. But he now claims he has been punished for speaking out against abusers in the church after the Lafayette diocese excommunicated him on March 13 - the harshest punishment a Catholic can receive. 'It's totally unnecessary and I'm afraid it will make abuse victims and their families afraid to come out,' Peyton told KADN. His son, Oliver, was 16 when he was molested by Father Michael Guidry, now 78, in 2015 - with Guidry giving him alcohol before molesting him while he was drunk. Guidry pleaded guilty to charges of assault and in 2019 was handed a seven-year prison sentence but not before his church honored him with a goodbye luncheon - which it later apologized for. Scott Peyton, was excommunicated from the Catholic Church after his son was sexually abused as a minor by a priest Peyton's son, Oliver, was molested by priest he served alongside, Michael Guidry (left) The abuse occurred at St Peter's church in Morrow, Louisiana, pictured, a tiny rural town in St. Landry's Parish 'I am aware that your family has suffered a trauma, but the answer does not lie in leaving the Most Holy Eucharist,' bishop Douglas Deshotel's letter read, as seen by The Advocate. Peyton said the actions of the bishop appeared to be an overt attempt to silence him after his family became vocal supporters of a law supporting childhood sex abuse survivors who wanted to seek civil damages from the church. He noted how no members of the clergy in the diocese accused of sexual abuse had been excommunicated. The Lafayette diocese had even pushed for Louisiana's supreme court to strike down a law that eliminated filing deadlines for lawsuits demanding damages for childhood sexual abuse from years ago. The law, which was struck down on Friday, saw many new cases coming forward against both the institutions and clerics who had worked for Louisiana's Catholic church. Peyton has described Bishop Deshotel's actions against him as 'very malicious' noting how despite more than 40 priests and deacons being on the organization's list of credibly accused child molesters, none have ever been excommunicated. Father Michael Guidry was arrested by the police and is now serving a seven year jail sentence Scott is pictured alongside his wife, Letitia Peyton Scott and Letitia Peyton founded TentMakers - a non-profit organization designed to support survivors of Catholic clergy sex abuse Peyton was ordained into the diocese of Lafayette as a deacon in 2012. But it was in 2018 his faith was shaken after Guidry, whom he worked with at St Peter's church in Morrow, Louisiana, a tiny rural town in St. Landry's Parish, confessed to molesting Peyton's teenage son, Oliver. Guidry was arrested by the police and is now serving jail time. Three years later, the Paytons, consisting of Scott, wife Letitia and son, Oliver, managed to win a $350,000 from the diocese of Lafayette as part of an out of court settlement as part of a civil lawsuit against the church. As part of the settlement, the church issued a three-sentence apology acknowledging the victim's credibility while denouncing Guidry's actions. Yet Guidry has argued Oliver Peyton's son had brought the sexual abuse upon himself. Bishop J Douglas Deshotel of the diocese has now excommunicate Rev. Scott Peyton Bishop J Douglas Deshotel wrote a letter to Deacon Scott Peyton to excommunicating him One day prior to his resignation, Scott Peyton was recognized as the region's 'deacon of the day' in a Facebook post that sees him smiling He alleged the teenager had drunk from his own bottle and then guided the priest's hands during a nude massage. Despite being in jail, disgraced priest Guidry, remains an ordained member of the clergy. After their success, the Peytons decided to advocate for other victims who had been abused at the hands of the church. Prior to the law being struck down, it had allowed victims to pursue civil damages in connection with sexual abuse no matter how many years ago assaults had taken place. Scott and Letitia Peyton founded TentMakers - a non-profit organization designed to support survivors of Catholic clergy sex abuse. Yet the law was struck down after lawyers for their own diocese argued that having no time limit or 'look back window' made the law unconstitutional. Peyton then quit after deciding he was no longer a good fit to be serving as a deacon in the diocese. 'The pain and suffering endured by the victims, our family, and most importantly our son, coupled with what appears to be a systemic failure in addressing and preventing such heinous acts, have left me disillusioned and unable to reconcile my commitment to the Church with my conscience,' Peyton wrote. Scott Peyton finally quit his role after deciding he was no longer a good fit to be serving as a deacon in the diocese Scott Peyton has described Deshotel's actions as 'not Christ-like' but said that he does not intend to appeal the decree. 'We've endured enough,' he said His resignation was designed to send a message that he was 'conscientiously objecting to the way the church has handled cases of sexual abuse'. 'This has deeply shaken my faith and trust in the institution to which I have dedicated a significant portion of my life,' Peyton wrote in his resignation email. 'It is not easy for me to sever these ties, but I believe it is a necessary step to maintain the integrity of my and my family's faith and principles,' he wrote. 'This decision is not a rejection of my faith in God or my commitment to living a life guided by Christian principles. Instead, it reflects a conscientious objection to the way the Church has handled cases of sexual abuse, and a desire to distance myself from an institution that, currently, falls short of the values it professes.' At first, Bishop Deshotel appeared to show compassion for the position Peyton found himself. 'I was sad to receive your email deciding to leave the church and cease to exercise your vocation as a deacon. I will remember you in my prayers and masses that you be open to the gift of faith in the Catholic church founded by Jesus Christ and built on the Apostles. Sacramentally you are a deacon though you choose not to exercise your ministry,' Deshotel wrote. 'I think the hypocrisy in this excommunication speaks volumes of the leadership of Bishop Deshotel. I think he should resign his leadership and those that are running this diocese behind the scenes should step down along with him,' said Peyton Scott Peyton is seen feeling festive with his wife Letitia Leger Peyton But only weeks later, Deshotel appeared to have a change of heart and had Peyton excommunicated, 'effective immediately', he wrote. For Catholics, excommunication is the most severe censure possible and prohibits those punished in such a way from receiving certain sacraments including receiving holy communion and participating in the Catholic Church. The idea is to shock them into rethinking their sinful behavior before death makes it too late to save their souls from damnation. 'A bishop never wishes to communicate a censure to anyone. I am aware that your family has suffered a trauma but the answer does not lie in leaving the Most Holy Eucharist,' Deshotel wrote in his excommunication decree. 'We are not Catholics because the church on Earth is perfect but because the Lord has entrusted us to a mystery greater than ourselves, which He has established as the means to our salvation. 'The censures of the church are intended to be medicinal, perhaps as much for those who impose them as for those who are subject to them. It is with this objective that I mournfully must declare them.' The action came as a huge shock to Peyton, who only one day earlier, despite his resignation, was recognized as the region's 'deacon of the day' in a Facebook post that sees him smiling. Peyton has described Deshotel's actions as 'not Christ-like' and told the New York Times that he does not intend to appeal the decree. 'We've endured enough,' he said. 'That's a fancy way of the bishop telling me to go to hell,' Peyton explained. 'What he did to my family with this excommunication proves the point of why I left. It's an institution that wants to punish those that speak out against it. 'If molesting a child is not grave enough to get excommunicated, but telling the bishop that I don't agree with how he's running the diocese and how the church is handling the sex abuse crisis, if that's a grave sin, then I guess I'll wear the badge of excommunication as an honor,' Peyton said. 'I think the hypocrisy in this excommunication speaks volumes of the leadership of Bishop Deshotel. I think he should resign his leadership and those that are running this diocese behind the scenes should step down along with him,' said Peyton. 'The diocese of Lafayette has crossed a new line,' Peyton's attorney Kristi Schubert said in a statement. 'When you discourage survivors from speaking out, you miss opportunities to uncover hidden child predators.' By Park Han-sol A striking sight will greet visitors stepping into the pedestrian plaza at the Smithsonians National Museum of Asian Art in Washington from April 27 onward a mammoth empty plinth, curiously held aloft by a swarm of tiny anonymous human figures. The new sculpture, titled Public Figures, by renowned globetrotting Korean installation artist Do Ho Suh, refuses to commemorate a particular heroic individual or a state-level historical event by purposely leaving its pedestal vacant. Instead, it turns its focus to the nameless crowds underneath, silently bearing the weight of the monument. Public Figures, which will be placed on the Freer Plaza for five years to celebrate the museums centennial, is the first installation to be displayed in front of its building in over three decades. Its presence will be visible to more than 25 million annual visitors to the iconic National Mall, home to the Smithsonian Institution, the worlds largest museum complex. Suhs monument will prompt visitors to ask questions about individual and collective identity, whom we memorialize and why, said Chase F. Robinson, director of the National Museum of Asian Art. It also reflects our deepening engagement with the art and culture of Korea, which we have championed since we first opened our doors in 1923. Suh is an artist best recognized for his series of otherworldly, large-scale fabric replicas of his former homes and studios in Korea, Rhode Island, New York, London and Berlin. The 62-year-olds spectral sculptures and architectural installations of varying sizes from single household items like door handles and light switches to life-size residences he has inhabited often grapple with questions surrounding memory, displacement and the bodys relationship to physical space. He became one of the earliest contemporary creatives to be featured at the Smithsonian museum in 2004, when his Staircase-IV, a hovering fabric stairway leading to nowhere in particular, was included in the exhibition series, Perspectives. The National Museum of Asian Art, boasting a collection of over 46,000 objects from East and Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Islamic world, currently cares for nearly 800 Korean artifacts. In 2025, the institution will be one of the destinations for a Euro-American touring show featuring a treasure trove of relics that the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee bequeathed to Koreas national museums. 'I decided that Im going to double down on betting on the electoral process,' Adams said Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes may be uttering some fresh oaths in his Maryland prison cell after learning that his eldest son is standing for election as a Democrat. Dakota Adams is selling his share of the family's rifles, body armor and tactical gear to finance his run for the Montana House of Representatives. And the 27-year-old is abandoning other aspects of the 'toxic childhood' that culminated with his estranged father being jailed for his role in the January 6 storming of Congress. Dressed in leathers and sporting black eyeliner, the volunteer firefighter said he has finally stepped out from the shadow of his domineering father and is 'interacting with people as my genuine self'. 'I spent so long as a child conforming to a little character to enhance my fathers political ambitions and image that I refused to do it ever again for any reason,' he said. Dakota Adams, 27, said the January 6 attack prompted his decision to run for office and 'served as a sobering wake-up call in terms of how much danger we are truly in' His father Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is serving 18 years after being convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in he attack on the Capitol Rhodes became one of the most famous faces of the far-right, but his son said their home life was one of extreme isolation in increasingly paranoid and militant right-wing political spheres Adams and his five siblings suffered a childhood of 'extreme isolation' as they moved from house to house to escape creditors, the law and the threat of a looming apocalypse. 'Basically until Im an adult its all one continuous gray time of survival and moving boxes,' he said. 'We lived in extreme isolation in one particular cultural bubble in increasingly paranoid and militant right-wing political spheres everywhere we moved in the country, until eventually we ended up in Montana.' Rhodes founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 and became one of the best-known figureheads of the far-right staging a series of high-profile stand-offs with federal and local officials. But back at home his children were learning little from their 'home-schooling' other than the history of the American Revolution, leaving Adams functionally innumerate until he taught himself the times tables at 19. Two years ago, Adams and his two eldest sisters spoke of the extreme paranoia that operated in their family and how they had to guard what they said with their only acquaintances their father's militant friends. Today Adams has a job in construction and works as a volunteer firefighter as he tries to catch up with his education at college He believes his background gives him personal insight into what makes his opponents tick And he insists he will not ditch the black eyeliner and black nail polish for his election bid: 'I spent so long as a child conforming to a little character to enhance my fathers political ambitions and image that I refused to do it ever again for any reason' 'That was our only social circle ever,' Adams said, 'And we had to be on guard because any loose talk or violation of operational security could damage our family. 'So we couldn't talk about our lives, or let unnecessary information slip out even to people inside the movement. 'It didn't impinge on our lives it deformed our lives. Our lives happened in the breathing space left around the Oath Keepers. 'I was completely hung up on Stewart's approval of me, and whether I was good enough, and my responsibility to see my family through the apocalypse. 'Then I shifted 180 degrees to plotting against him.' The misery finally ended when their mother Tasha gathered her children and fled one morning in 2018. 'We told him that we were going to the corner store, and he asked us to get steak,' Adams said. 'He didn't think it was weird that I picked up my mom's dog, or that we got all our stuff in the car and snuck it out past him. 'We were going to leave early in the morning before he woke up. But he woke up at 4 in the morning and was in a mania all day. Rhodes' ex-wife Tasha (left) escaped with Adams and his five siblings in 2018. Two years ago Adams' sister Sequoia (right) spoke alongside her brother about their childhood telling an interviewer that Rhodes 'thought he was going to be the new Founding Father' 'So we snuck our stuff in an overnight bag past him while he was pacing up and down through the one-room cabin.' He may have lost his family but Rhodes' star continued to rise in far-right circles as civil unrest under the Trump presidency, culminating in the events of January 6. Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy and evidence tampering after helping organize the attack and sentenced to 18 years. Four days after the attack, he was recorded telling a meeting that his 'only regret' was that they did not bring rifles. 'We should have brought rifles, we could have fixed it right then and there,' he said. 'I'd hang f***ing Pelosi from the lamppost.' Adams says it was the attack on the Capitol that helped persuade him to run for office. 'It served as a sobering wake-up call in terms of how much danger we are truly in and how the Republican Party enabled a president to become an active danger to this republic,' he added. 'I was forced to reevaluate a lot of beliefs and face hard questions about what I really stood for.' He faces an uphill battle in deep-red Lincoln County where the Democrats peaked at 36 percent in 2016. But he believes he has personal insight into what makes his opponents tick, even if he may appear like an 'honest weirdo' 'I'm not starting out from a place of attacking anybody for what they believe,' he said. 'Because of how I grew up, I understand a lot of the lexicon.' 'I feel like being an honest weirdo is a lot better to a lot of people than being a Spirit Halloween cowboy when youre asking for their vote.' Today he works in construction while juggling college classes and therapy sessions to tackle the 'long-term effects of living in a toxic or dysfunctional household'. Rhodes is an Army veteran and graduate of Yale Law School who later worked as a staffer for Republican Congressman Ron Paul Twelve Oath Keepers were charged with seditious conspiracy over the January 6 attack 'It sometimes feels very unreal, because I have a normal life 95 percent of the time,' he said. 'And then five percent of the time, my personal life is relevant to a national news story. 'The disconnect feels incredibly strange. 'I dont think Ill ever be fully caught up to where I would have been in life if Id had a semi-normal childhood.' But he insists that he has put his father's extremism behind him and will seek change through consent. 'I decided that Im going to double down on betting on the electoral process,' he added. 'Regardless of what happens, Im trying again. I think this is going to be a lifelong thing.' Comedians descended on Washington, D.C. as Kevin Hart was honored Sunday evening at the Kennedy Center. for a lifetime achievement award in comedy. Despite the venue for the The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the night largely steered clear of politics save a few jokes. Hart told DailyMail.com on the red carpet that he steers clear of broaching political topics in his comedy because 'the idea of politics is not one that I associate with humor.' Meanwhile, Chris Rock said there are some 'dark days coming' if Donald Trump wins in 2024. Comedian Kevin Hart received on Sunday evening the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Hart appeared on the red carpet Sunday evening with all four of his children and his wife Eniko Chelsea Handler joked that Hart formed his own 'border crisis' by traveling over the Canadian-U.S. border when he was filming a movie during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tiffany Haddish said onstage that she found her new 'baby daddy' after a man who 'looks like he works in Congress' laughed enthusiastically at all of her jokes. There was an absolutely stacked stage of comedians who turned up for Hart in the nation's capital on Sunday including D.C.-native Dave Chappelle, who said he skipped out on a trip to Jamaica to be there. Among the elite appearances included Jerry Seinfeld; Lil Dicky, a rapper whose real name is Dave Burd; Jimmy Fallon, who performed an original comedy song about Hart; Nick Cannon; J.B. Smoove; Keith Robinson, who suffered two strokes but still showed-up; longtime Hart co-star Regina Hall; and brief musical performances from Robin Thicke and Nelly. The award's taping, along with the musical and comedy acts, will air as a special on Netflix on May 11 after in years prior it was put-out on Comedy Central and then PBS. CNN aired the awards in 2023. Dave Rubenstein, chairman of the Mark Twain Prize, was hosting his final event on Sunday evening and delivered one of the best political zingers of the evening. He said author and humorist Twain would be 214-years-old if he were alive to see the award presented to Hart. Rubenstein said that would be 'just about the age when you can run for president' amid a race for the White House between President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Trump, 77. Comedian Chris Rock (right) was among the stacked list of guest appearances at the event honoring Hart. During his set on stage, Rock said that 'dark days are coming' if Donald Trump wins in 2024 Comedian and actress Tiffany Haddish (left) and rapper Lil Dicky (right) also came to honor Hart as he received the Mark Twain prize on Sunday Hart became emotional when accepting his award, with tears streaming down his face as he gave a shout out to everyone who performed and honored him, as well as his family 'How do you bridge the divide and navigate comedy with so much political divisiveness,' DailyMail.com asked Hart on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center. 'That's a great question. I mean, honestly, I don't really partake in it,' he said. 'I'm a product of bringing people together. You know, my comedy is one that's global and when you're global, you're in an environment where laughter is the priority.' 'It doesn't mean I'm against political humor, it's just more that I understand my lane and I operate in what I do very well,' he added. Hart concluded: 'The idea of politics for me is not one that I associate with humor.' Overall, comedians that spoke with DailyMail.com on Sunday evening didn't seem to be concerned with staying politically correct in the more divisive era of the country but acknowledged that 'cancel culture is real.' Writer for the award show Nefetari Spencer says she hopes not to divide anyone with the jokes made for the special. 'I think now with the political things that are happening with our country, I think for me, as a writer, my focus is to bring happiness to people,' she told DailyMail.com on the pre-show red carpet. So my jokes are not to be divisive in any way. It's not to offend anybody on either side, no matter what side you are on.' 'My focus is to bring happiness and to spread love, because I think that that is important and what we all need right now,' Spencer added. EXCLUSIVE The on-again-off-again couple at the centre of the Qantas love triangle are now back together after a previous love spat turned violent, Daily Mail Australia can reveal. Flight attendant Arabella Lansdown, 24, has rekindled her relationship with her tradie ex Jackson Martin, after she punched airline colleague Paula Graham upon finding out the pair had slept together behind her back. However, Lansdown is understood to be giving things another go with her man, with the couple spent the day running errands in Ipswich, in Brisbane's western suburbs. Mr Martin emerged from Lansdown's Redland Plains home on Monday afternoon in nothing but a pair of red Calvin Klein briefs as he took a phone call. Later, the pair looked at ease in each other's company as they visited Zarraffa's coffee shop nearby, followed by a trip to McDonald's and a leisurely drive to Town Square shopping centre. Jackson Martin emerged from Arabella Lansdown's home on Monday afternoon in nothing but a pair of red Calvin Klein briefs as he took a phone call Jackson Martin nipped outside in just his undies on Monday Flight attendant Arabella Lansdown has rekindled her relationship with her tradie ex Jackson Martin A source close to the pair confirmed the couple have had a turbulent relationship since they began dating in 2021. 'It doesn't shock me to see they're back to being a couple again, they've always had a toxic relationship that has been on and off for years,' the insider said. Lansdown faced the District Court in Brisbane last week after pleading guilty to punching her former colleague when she found out she had slept with her then ex-partner Mr Martin. Both women were working as flight attendants for Qantas and Lansdown viewed her victim as a close 'confidante', with the pair said to be 'BFFs' outside of work. The one-punch attack fractured Ms Graham's cheekbone, upper jaw and eye socket. Ms Graham, who no longer works for the airline, required surgery that saw titanium plates and screws inserted into her face. The court was told Lansdown confronted Ms Graham at her home after finding out she had been sleeping with Mr Martin. Despite initial denials, the woman admitted to the sexual relationship and apologised. Lansdown faced the District Court in Brisbane last week Lansdown (right) pleaded guilty to punching her former colleague Paula Martin (left) In her victim impact statement, Ms Graham said she still experienced continued numbness and psychological issues following the attack. But Judge Loury noted the same woman did not wish harm on Lansdown, asking the court not to impose a harsh penalty. 'She writes: 'May this, (victim impact statement) along with your own stress, be punishment enough',' Judge Loury said. Defence barrister Martin Longhurst submitted that the injuries in this case were 'borderline' with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. 'I don't think they're borderline, I don't think you can possibly say that,' Judge Loury told Mr Longhurst. 'This woman had to have surgery to repair these injuries ... they're significant injuries, it's significant that it's one blow that's caused the injuries. 'She's responsible for the injuries, whether she intended them or not.' A source close to the pair confirmed the couple have had a turbulent relationship since they began dating in 2021 Lansdown pleaded guilty to a single charge of grievous bodily harm on Wednesday. The court was told Lansdown was 'well regarded' by her colleagues, who said her actions were 'entirely out of character'. Mr Longhurst said his client had begun an Indigenous traineeship with Qantas while in high school and had worked as a flight attendant for five years. He told the court that Lansdown risked losing her work as a flight attendant if convicted, as she would not be issued an Aviation Security Investment Card required for domestic travel as part of her work. Qantas had maintained Lansdown's employment and she could still work with the airline, just not on aircraft, the court was told. Mr Longhurst said Lansdown had experienced prejudice during her childhood and had been seeing a psychologist regarding 'difficulties' coming to terms with the end of the relationship with her ex-partner. His client had also offered compensation and written a letter of remorse to the court. Judge Loury ultimately handed the 24-year-old an 18-month jail term but suspended it for two years. Lansdown was also ordered to pay $2,000 in compensation to Ms Graham within four months. An urgent search of Sydney Harbour continues for a young reveller who vanished without a trace after a night out with clubbing mates at a busy waterfront precinct. The man, 26, was last seen at Darling Harbour's King Street Wharf around 3.30am Sunday after drinking and partying with friends at the Bungalow 8 nightclub. It's feared he ended up in the water as he hasn't been seen or heard from since. Police from PolAir and the marine command immediately launched an air and water search when the man was reported missing 15 hours later at about 6pm Sunday. Police divers launched a desperate search for the missing man on Sunday night last seen at at King Street Wharf 15 hours earlier (pictured) The extensive search was suspended after several hours due to lack of light. Police divers resumed their search of the harbour on Monday. The man remains missing as of Monday afternoon. Bungalow8 has confirmed that the missing man was at the venue drinking with friends early Sunday morning. 'Our thoughts are with the individual's family and loved ones during this time,' a spokesman said. Anyone with information is urged to call police or Crime Stoppers. Billionaire Elon Musk has joined Australian businessman Dick Smith to slam ABC fact checkers for spreading 'lies and misinformation' about nuclear energy. Mr Smith, 80, last week told 2GB radio that Australia should switch to nuclear energy 'now' because a country cannot run 'entirely on renewables'. 'This claim by the CSIRO that you can run a whole country on solar and wind is simply a lie. It is not true, they are telling lies,' he told Ben Fordham. 'No country has ever been able to run entirely on renewables, that's impossible, and so we should be making a decision to go nuclear now.' But the comments triggered ABC's fact checking unit to claim four countries - Albania, Bhutan, Nepal and Paraguay - have been running 100 per cent on wind, solar and water since 2021. The response incensed Mr Smith who said he was furious to have been branded a liar by the fact checkers. And on Monday, Mr Smith found an unlikely supporter in billionaire Elon Musk. Billionaire energy mogul Elon Musk (pictured in 2022) also weighed in on the fact check saga Dick Smith (pictured with his wife Pip) has blasted a ABC Fact Check report on nuclear energy Mr Musk tweeted his distaste for the notion of government 'fact-checkers' on X on Monday The billionaire replied to a tweet from US columnist Michael Shellenberger about the report. Mr Shellenberger tweeted that 'one of the government's main fact-checker groups has been caught spreading misinformation about renewables and nuclear.' Mr Musk replied: 'Having government 'fact-checkers' is a giant leap in the direction of tyranny'. 'It's deeply disturbing Black Mirror s***,' Mr Shellenberger agreed. Mr Smith has since demanded a correction to the Fact Check report, which came from a dedicated team at RMIT University and published on the ABC's website on Friday night. 'It basically makes out I'm a liar,' Mr Smith told The Australian. 'It's damaging my credibility, and I've never had anything like this done to me before.' Returning to 2GB on Monday, Mr Smith rubbished the report's claims and accused the ABC of taking his comments out of context. He said Nepal had motor vehicles and transport running on fossil fuels and that many households burned wood - which results in a much higher carbon output. The businessman has also rubbished claims made by sustainable energy expert University of New South Wales Mark Diesendorf in the report. 'Several countries (and Tasmania) already run their electricity systems on 100 per cent renewables,' Mr Diesendorf stated, adding the state also used hydro power. Mr Smith said the expert only referred to electricity, while he had been talking about all forms of energy when he made his original statement. 'From my experience with the ABC, because they think they have to be left, they have to be against nuclear,' he told 2GB radio on Monday. 'All of my left friends are all against nuclear, it's sort of like a religion with them. 'What the ABC has done is distort that just to look at electricity which is only 25 per cent of our problem. 'Our government and our scientists say we have to go to zero carbon. That's all energy not just electricity.' Mr Smith (pictured in 2017) has since demanded a correction to the Fact Check report Billionaire Elon Musk owns X, previously known as Twitter, SpaceX and Tesla The businessman also took issue with statements the ABC Fact Check published about California's use of renewable energy. It stated California had been been running on 'more than 100 per cent WWS (wind, water, sunlight) for 10 of the last 11 days for between 0.25 and 6 hours per day'. Mr Smith said California was able to use renewable power because it was connected to the nuclear grid of Arizona and Washington State. 'What they don't say is that California is nuclear-powered, so it's just completely dishonest,' he said. 'So in other words, they are proving what I'm saying is correct.' An ABC spokeswoman defended the report in a statement, saying: 'RMIT is committed to upholding the integrity of public information and stands by the accuracy of its work.' ABC has announced plans to part ways with the fact checkers at Melbourne's RMIT University after their contract ends at the end of the year. Last August, Facebook also ditched the RMIT FactLab following complaints about how it handled material on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. An air traffic controller did not issue a safety warning before two planes collided mid-air because he believed the pilots were already 'sorting themselves out', an inquest has heard. Peter Phillips, Ido Segev, Pasinee Meeseang and Christiaan Gobel were killed when their aircraft collided at Mangalore in central Victoria on the morning of February 19, 2020. Mr Phillips had been instructing Mr Segev on the VH-AEM aircraft, which was descending from about 6000 feet to carry out training closer to 4000 feet. Ms Meeseang was being taught by Mr Gobel in the other plane, VH-JQF, which took off from Mangalore as VH-AEM was approaching the uncontrolled airspace. John Tucker, who was the air traffic controller that morning, told the Coroners Court there was sufficient separation between the two planes in the lead up to the collision. Air traffic controller John Tucker (right) told the coroner's inquest on Monday that he thought there was sufficient separation between the two planes before they collided Peter Phillips, Ido Segev, Pasinee Meeseang and Christiaan Gobel were killed when their aircraft collided in central Victoria. Pictured is the wreckage of one of the planes EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Haunting video emerges of boy pilot, 16, who died after his aircraft crashed Chkye Tracz, 16, (pictured) died in a light plane crash near Camden in January Advertisement He received four notifications through his traffic control system about potential conflict between the aircraft but he did not issue a safety alert. Two of those notifications happened 30 seconds before the fatal crash. Mr Tucker told the inquest it was common for air traffic controllers to receive multiple conflict notifications that were either false or nuisance alerts. He said the two planes appeared to be levelling out before the crash so he assumed the pilots were communicating with each other on a different radio frequency. 'It looked like they were sorting themselves out,' he told the inquest. The planes crashed mid-air at 11.24am and Mr Tucker issued a distress message after he was unable to reach the pilots. The air traffic controller said he believed he did everything required of him. 'I can only assume the aircraft were not communicating or keeping a look out,' he told the inquest. Outside court, Mr Segev's fiancee Brianna Sutcliffe said she hoped the inquest would provide answers. 'This accident has ruined so many lives, including mine,' she told reporters. 'I will not rest until I receive transparency regarding the events surrounding the loss of my soulmate.' The inquest before State Coroner Judge John Cain is expected to run for four days. A man has revealed the terrifying moment he was allegedly stabbed in the back as a party in one of Sydney's most affluent suburbs descended into a bloodbath. Emergency services were called to a home at Somerset Avenue in North Turramurra just before 2am on Sunday following reports two men had been stabbed. One of the alleged victims, a 28-year-old tradie from Sydney's inner west, has told family members he became involved in a fight with the accused knifeman, 30-year-old Jess William Ratcliff, before turning to leave. It is alleged Ratcliff then ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife before stabbing the tradie in the back The tradie alleges he then turned around before being stabbed in the chest and bicep. Police claim Mr Ratcliff then stabbed the host of the party, 31-year-old Matthew Harper, in the leg and sustained facial injuries of his own. Matthew Harper was allegedly stabbed in the leg by 30-year-old party guest Jess William Ratcliff around 2am after a house party at Harper's parents home in North Turramurra turned violent A tradie, 28, who was also allegedly stabbed, described how he was leaving the party after an argument when the incident occurred Neighbours said the party at the $3million home owned by Mr Harper's parents raged into the night before screams rang out about 2am on Sunday. The tradie attended with his girlfriend, after watching the Wests Tigers take on the Sharks in an NRL clash at Leichhardt Oval on Saturday afternoon. He has told friends he was not drinking that night due to being on medication. When police and paramedics were called to the scene, they found a knife and a large amount of blood on the sandstone landscaping outside the Harper family home. Paramedics treated Mr Harper and the tradie, who was the more seriously injured, at the scene before they were both taken to Royal North Shore hospital. Ratcliff was also taken to hospital and treated for facial injuries before being released. A knife, allegedly taken from the kitchen of the family home, lies streaked with blood in the street in the early house of Sunday morning after police and paramedics were called Neighbours said the party at the $3million home owned by Mr Harper's parents (pictured) raged into the night before screams rang out about 2am on Sunday. Police charged him with reckless wounding, wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and affray. He fronted Hornsby Local Court on Monday before being refused bail. Detectives are continuing their investigations into the incident. Anyone with information is urged to call Kuring Gai Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. The body of a young reveller has been found in Sydney Harbour after he vanished during a night out clubbing with mates. The man, 26, was last seen at Darling Harbour's King Street Wharf around 3.30am Sunday after drinking and partying with friends at the Bungalow 8 nightclub. He was feared to have fallen in the water with no trace of him since. The man was reported missing 15 hours later, about 6pm on Sunday, with police from PolAir and the marine command launching an air and water search. A desperate search by police divers for a missing man has come to a tragic end after his body was pulled from the water on Monday (pictured) The man was last seen walking along King Street Wharf early Sunday morning The extensive search was suspended after several hours. Police divers resumed their search of the harbour on Monday morning and located the man's body in the water at Barangaroo at around 12.45pm. 'While the body is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the 26-year-old man,' a police statement read. An investigation into the man's death is now underway to prepare a report for the coroner. Bungalow8 has confirmed that the missing man had spent his final hours at the popular venue drinking with friends early Sunday. 'Our thoughts are with the individual's family and loved ones during this time,' a spokesman said. If you or someone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. An Atlanta property owner says he is at his wits' end with the people who have been living on his land for years without his permission. David Morris, who now resides in California, says squatters have been living on his property in southeast Atlanta since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's been an uphill battle getting them to move elsewhere. While there was once as many as 30 unwanted occupants living on his property, the number Morris is dealing with today is eight. David Perrie, his attorney, said Morris was granted a Writ of Possession last week. The court order is one a landlord must obtain when seeking to terminate a tenant's right to possession when the tenant refuses to vacate the premises. Morris says he is now planning to install fencing to keep out unwanted visitors. The twist is that he also says he plans on turning the nine-acres of land into affordable housing for residents. David Morris (right with his partner) says squatters have been living on his property in southeast Atlanta since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic A shot of Morris' property while it was still home to his now-defunct non-profit, the Lakewood Environmental Arts Foundation 'We're going to build just a big fence here and a gate, and put no trespassing signs. 'I'm not going to build it until all of the tenants are out,' he said. 'You know, start getting this place cleaned up.' He also told the local Fox affiliate that he has been contacted by local authorities and told to clean up the property, which was left by the squatters in a state of decay and disarray. 'It's frustrating that I'm having to spend so much money. I spent $10,000 on cleaning up garbage from vagrants,' he said. The property in question is a nine-acre, rural area that was once the home of Morris' non-profit, Lakewood Environmental Arts Foundation. About a decade ago, he recounted, he began allowing four people to live on the land without paying rent, if they agreed to care for the property. But during the pandemic, he shuttered the non-profit. Around that time, however, he realized far more people than just the four he'd originally agreed to host rent-free were living on the property. He says he ran into trouble because of the government's long-term COVID eviction moratorium. 'The people who were living on the land started having other people live on the land, their friends. 'I tried to file eviction, and the city of Atlanta said, Sorry, we have a moratorium on evictions right now,' he told the local outlet. At present, Morris says he still has about eight people illegally residing on his property - several of whom he does not know. At least one person has filed a $190,000 counter-claim against him. 'That was dismissed, and that counter-claim, because they didn't show up in court. 'So, it will take, I am predicting, another thirty days before the marshals will call me to schedule a time for me to have five people here to move everything from there to the street,' he said. The people Morris had agreed to let live on the land for free in exchange for taking care of the property decided they weren't going to leave, even after he'd shuttered the non-profit Morris says he and his attorney are closing in on being able to boot the remaining squatters from the land. Last week, he secured a Writ of Possession - a court order needed to legally remove tenants unwilling to vacate the premises About a year ago, Morris - California at the time - says he got a call from someone who told him that the Atlanta police had been in the vicinity of his property because of the 'Stop Cop City' protests. In the area, local activists were campaigning against the construction of an Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. More than 20 activists were eventually detained by law enforcement. Morris says that the 'entire medical staff of 'Stop Cop City'' was camped on his land before authorities broke up the demonstration. 'There was about thirty campers and the police came in and pulled them out of their tents,' he said. He added for good measure that he is not on either side of that specific conflict. 'I'm neutral, yeah, I'm not on either side,' he said, noting that he has no political ties to the situation. EXCLUSIVE Bank robber turned TikTok star Russell Manser had done well for himself since leaving prison for the last time, but sometimes still felt like a fraud. For at least the past year, Manser had been living in a luxurious Sydney harbourfront apartment at King Street Wharf, where he died on Saturday night. NSW Ambulance had no record of being called to the scene but police attended the address near Barangaroo after friends said Manser was found 'unresponsive'. There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the 56-year-old's death and a report was being prepared for the coroner. Manser was a serial bank robber who spent 23 years in prisons around Australia until turning his life around and starting 'Voice of a Survivor' to help victims of abuse. Pictured: Russell Manser inside his apartment near Barangaroo, in Sydney's CBD Reformed criminal Russell Manser is pictured with former partner Liliana Gagic His apartment block has a swimming pool (pictured), a gym, and is located on Sydney Harbour He had a history of using drugs including heroin, a habit he picked up in jail as a young man after being sexually assaulted by other inmates. Manser was open about his stints in rehab and ongoing battle with addiction and recovery and would often share updates about his life on social media. In one video, he told his Instagram followers about his morning routine. After he woke up, he would write a list of things he was grateful for, before taking a two-minute cold shower, making his bed, and heading to the cafe underneath his apartment block. In December, he shared an Instagram video in which he spoke of having to learn to be vulnerable to heal from the trauma he suffered. 'Because if I didn't it was going to kill me,' he said. 'I was going to be a statistic. I was going to suicide.' A source close to Manser said the victims' advocate had been taking steroids and supplements as he 'trained his a*** off'. 'And he had damage from using drugs over the years,' the source said. 'People think if [a recovering drug addict] dies it's got to be from the gear. It doesn't.' Manser spoke about testosterone replacement therapy and getting on 'the juice' in another Instagram video last month. Pictured: The apartment block where Russell Manser was found 'unresponsive' on Saturday night Russell Manser told his Instagram followers that he starts his day by heading to the cafe under his apartment block (pictured) 'I'm not here promoting it, denying it, or saying I'm on it,' he said. 'All the juice will do is it'll make you stronger, it'll make you stronger so you can obviously speed up the results.' Another source close to Manser said his family was in shock at their loss. 'There's nothing further we can tell you at this point,' that source said. 'It's just going through the normal processes. It's with the medical officers. 'There's nothing sinister, put it that way. It's just sadly one of those awful things that has happened.' Manser had a following of about 134,000 on TikTok and recently shared a video discussing Asian gangs in prisons and, days earlier, the disappearance of missing Ballarat mum Samantha Murphy. Fans and loved ones flooded social media to pay tribute to Manser, praising his work as an advocate for those who suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse. Ron Isherwood, a retired career criminal who has spent decades helping recovering drug addicts, had been a mentor to Manser. 'Everyone gets caught up in the social media hype that he was an influencer and everything else,' Mr Isherwood said. 'The only reason he was influencing is that he wanted people to be made aware of the abuse that happened to him and to the hundreds of thousands of others.' Russell Manser told his Instagram followers that he starts the day by making his bed (pictured) Mr Isherwood, who founded a recovery program called The Truth About Addiction, said Manser had struggled with success after turning his life around. 'He didn't really cope with that life, a successful life,' he said. 'I think Russ thought he was a fraud but he was succeeding so much. 'The thing about Russell is no matter what anyone tells you he had a heart of gold. I always said to him, "Youve got a head of spaghetti but a heart of gold". 'Don't get me wrong, his ego would get in the way and he'd say stupid things sometimes. I'd ring him and say, "Mate, youre out of line there", but he was just a good human being.' On Sunday night, Manser's former partner Liliana Gagic posted a series of old photos of them together on Instagram. In the caption, she wrote: 'Goodbye my lover, until we meet again.' Former inmate Max Beer posted a video with Manser on TikTok with the caption: 'RIP my brother, my best friend.' In the video, the two men talked about the importance of staying motivated and not comparing yourself to others. 'Just be happy with you,' Manser said. Women's rights campaign group Equality Light Gratitude thanked Manser for speaking out against domestic violence. 'He stood up for women and DV matters generally, saying it's never OK to use control, restraint or violence,' the TikTok post read. Russell Manser released a book about his life of crime and the sexual abuse he suffered behind bars 'Such a great example of reformation - why did we have to lose one of the good men so early? Prayers are with his loved ones.' Another friend wrote a lengthy Facebook tribute to Manser in the early hours of Monday morning. In the post, she said Manser encouraged her with calls and texts, which 'saved' her from relapsing and going back to prison. 'Russ saved me so many times its not funny he saved me from relapsing he saved me from going back to prison with his words of encouragement and his phone calls and messages,' she wrote. 'Most of all, he gave not only myself but many others hope and strength when the system tried to break us.' 'He taught me that it doesnt matter what your past looks like your future can still be as bright as you want it to you just have to work for it and always believe in yourself.' Adam Washbourne, from an organisation called Fighters Against Child Abuse, posted a video tribute on Facebook. 'Russell's much more than the ultimate redemption arc, he's much more than the child abuse survivor who went from boys homes to prison to having a media empire and book deal,' he said. 'He's also probably the greatest mate you could have - he's the absolute definition of cheer when your mates are winning, even if it doesn't involve you. Russell Manser was a convicted criminal who turned his life around and became an advocate for victims of assault 'Absolutely love you Russell and you're going to be sorely missed.' Manser was the youngest of six children and grew up at Mount Druitt in Sydney's west. His parents were British migrants who supported their large family by working in factories. He previously said there was no domestic violence or alcoholism in his family, but he noticed convicted criminals who returned to Mount Druitt from jail were feted by some parts of the community. He noted the crooks had new cars, nice clothes and attractive girlfriends, whereas everyone else appeared exhausted and miserable - waking up at 5am in the middle of winter to do a 10-hour shift in a factory. The year Manser turned 17, he stole a Porsche from Whale Beach on Sydney's northern beaches and was locked up for 12 months in Long Bay jail. He recalled a prison officer throwing his mattress onto the floor of a cell he shared with two men in a protection wing of the jail which was used to house convicted paedophiles. 'Have fun, boys,' the officer told them. Manser was abused that night, and again a few nights later by a third inmate who offered him his first shot of heroin in return for his silence. Before being sent to an adult prison, Manser had spent time in juvenile detention at Daruk Boys Home at Windsor, north-west of Sydney. Within days of his six-month sentence, he was sexually abused by wardens. 'The first night I seen staff grabbing kids out of beds and taking them to the ablutions block,' Manser told ABC's Australian Story. 'The second or third night I could smell one of the staff members breathing on me, and he had breath like a sewer. 'He marched me into the ablutions block and sexually abused me.' Manser left prison a shell of his former self and nursing an addiction to heroin. He went on to rob five banks in the early 1990s, on one occasion stealing $90,000 from the Commonwealth Bank at Lane Cove in Sydney's north. Manser was sentenced to 15 years in jail at the age of 23, with a non-parole period of seven-and-a-half years. After his last stint behind bars, Manser founded Voice of a Survivor. Manser had a podcast called The Stick Up, which featured guests including businessman Mark Bouris, Australian rapper Ay Huncho, NRL star Liam Knight and ex-criminal-turned-porn-star Dale Egan. He also became known for lifting the lid on what life was like inside some of Australia's toughest jails and what their most infamous inhabitants were really like. Manser is survived by his two sons, Ky and Bayley. By Yi Whan-woo Shareholder activism appears to be losing steam in Korea, as evidenced by the general meeting of shareholders at several companies this year, contrary to expectations of an uptick in the influence of retail investors on corporate governance. This trend is surprising given the considerable attention directed toward the government's Corporate Value-up Program that aims to enhance the value of perennially undervalued Korean stocks. Shareholder activists have grown more outspoken in recent years, notably since the introduction of the value-up program by the Financial Services Commission on Feb. 26. This initiative has emphasized enhancing transparency in corporate governance, aligning with the demands of shareholder activists who leverage their stakes in publicly traded companies to exert pressure on management. However, due to their relatively smaller equity ownership levels compared to major stake owners, shareholder activists including hedge funds have been trying to enlist the support of retail investors in conglomerates, banking groups, and other major firms in Korea. Their aim is to exert pressure on management to enhance corporate governance practices. However, retail investors have thus far distanced themselves from shareholder activists, often voting in favor of management during annual shareholders' meetings. This trend persists despite the fact that over 1,600 listed companies have conducted their annual shareholders' meetings starting in early March. Such outcomes, diverging from initial expectations, may suggest that retail investors do not perceive shareholder activists as reliable representatives of their interests in challenging management decisions, said Kim Kyu-shik, chairman of the Korean Corporate Governance Forum, which monitors transparency in business management. Kim added, Retail investors appear to view shareholder activism as excessively aggressive and radical, expressing a preference for moderate reform initiated by management instead. Samsung C&T and Kumho Petrochemical are two such examples where shareholder activism failed to persuade retail investors. Kim noted that retail investors mostly voted for Samsung C&Ts decision concerning the appropriate amount of treasury stocks to be canceled during the companys general meeting of shareholders, March 15. The cancellation of treasury stocks is implemented as a strategy to boost stock prices by reducing the number of tradable shares available in the market. With a combined stake of 1.46 percent, five activist funds ANDA Asset Management, City of London Investment Management, and Whitebox Advisors have requested the cancellation of treasury stocks worth approximately 500 billion won ($372.8 million). They also demanded the distribution of dividends amounting to 4,500 won per common share and 4,550 won per preferred share. Samsung C&T on the other hand proposed the cancellation of 1.9 million common shares and 159,835 preferred treasury stocks. In the end, management emerged victorious, securing the approval of 77 percent of shareholders with voting rights. Kumho Petrochemical prevailed against its former Managing Director, Park Chul-wan, who sought to exert influence by teaming up with activist fund Cha Partners Asset Management. Park, who is a nephew of the firms chief, along with his associates, urged for an expedited cancellation of treasury stocks, aiming to finalize the process by the end of 2025. But the refiner insisted that such a process requires more time. Its proposal garnered approval from 74.6 percent of its shareholders. Another analyst pointed out that allocating excessive dividends to shareholders might not always be beneficial for businesses, as it could diminish their capacity to invest and thereby erode future corporate value. "Retail investors may have been cognizant of this aspect when they opposed the proposals put forth by activist funds," he said on condition of anonymity. Fears have been raised today that China, Russia and Iran are fuelling wild conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales. MPs warned that foreign states could be exploiting the online frenzy as part of efforts to destabilise the UK. The Princess announced on Friday that she is having preventative chemotherapy treatment for cancer, with Rishi Sunak leading the condemnation of online trolls who have targeted her in recent weeks. However, bizarre claims have continued to circulate, with suggestions that malign actors are helping to amplify them on social media. The Telegraph quoted a Whitehall source saying: 'Part of the modus operandi of hostile states is to destabilise things whether that is undermining the legitimacy of our elections or other institutions.' Government sources distanced themselves from the speculation, insisting there was not conclusive evidence it was happening. Energy minister Andrew Bowie refused to confirm or deny the allegations in a round of interviews this morning. But an MP with strong intelligence links told MailOnline: 'That is exactly what they do... 'They don't necessarily make things up, there are enough crazy people out there to do this stuff. What they do is amplify it.' A senior Tory backbencher said such behaviour would be 'contemptible'. 'But that's their aim, to divide and manipulate.' Chinese President Xi Jinping pictured left with Kate and William in 2015 Paddy Harverson, the former official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the online targeting of Kate (pictured) was the worst he had witnessed Energy minister Andrew Bowie refused to confirm or deny the allegations in a round of interviews this morning The uploads saw trolls doctor Kate's emotional message with the faces of Princess Diana or the Duchess of Sussex to prove how easily a deep fake could be created. The Prince of Wales has also been targeted by trolls questioning why he did not sit beside his wife as she filmed the video. Asked about claims Russia, China and Iran were fueling Kate conspiracy theories online, Mr Bowie said: 'I can't comment on speculation in the newspapers regard that. I obviously don't know the detail. 'What I will say is obviously the thoughts and prayers of everybody are with Her Royal Highness.' Pressed for his view on the Kate conspiracy theories more widely, Mr Bowie said: 'It is nonsense. People engage in conspiracy theories online. You see it about various public figures.' Bob Seely, a Tory member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, told MailOnline: 'This is yet more evidence, on top of all the wealth evidence we have, that we need a robust and consistent approach to China. 'When will we learn that China's communist leaders seek to dominate the West, not live on harmony with it? 'Freedom anywhere is a threat to dictators everywhere.' It comes as Downing Street is poised officially to blame China for a 2021 cyber attack on the electoral commission. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will tell MPs today that the superpower was behind the attack which saw hackers gain access to personal details of 40 million British electors. Mr Dowden will also warn that Chinese hackers have targeted dozens of British politicians. Within minutes of Kate's announcement, trolls began spreading bizarre posts that her video was AI-generated while others criticised her for not going public sooner Christopher Bouzy an avid supporter of Harry and Meghan went on a rant to his 350,000 followers on X. The tech chief executive, bizarrely claimed Kate's diagnosis meant that recent pictures were fake and accused the palace of 'North Korea' style propaganda. 'I am sorry to hear Kate has cancer, I hope she has a full recovery. But it is also clear that all three earlier photos of her were fake, and the palace tried to cover it up,' he wrote. Mr Bouzy, who appeared on the Sussexes' Netflix show, was apparently referencing Kate's Mother's Day photo, a video of her shopping in Windsor and an image of her being driven in a car. Christopher Bouzy (pictured in the Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary) bizarrely claimed Kate's diagnosis meant that recent pictures were fake and accused the palace of 'North Korea' style propaganda Dr Jonathan Reiner claimed that Kate's statement did not make 'medical sense' The 48-year-old added: 'The palace lied, and the British Press happily helped them lie. The countless 'conspiracy theory' headlines, while knowing a lot of what was being said was true. This is really some North Korea/Trumpian type of propaganda.' He was among conspiracy theorists who spread a CNN clip, which has now been viewed millions of times, in which a doctor claimed that Kate's statement did not make 'medical sense'. Asked how cancer could be found after surgery, Jonathan Reiner said: 'With all respect to the Royal Family, that kind of press release doesn't make a lot of medical sense.' The professor of medicine at George Washington University said such operations are preceded by extensive CAT scans and MRIs, adding it was 'very likely' the surgical team knew of the cancer prior to operating. Several red-faced celebrities and commentators including Blake Lively and Kerry Katona have apologised for their careless comments about Kate. Others have face faced pressure to follow suit including Kim Kardashian, who previously uploaded a picture of herself next to her car with the caption 'on my way to go find Kate'. Paddy Harverson, the former official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the online targeting of her was the worst he had witnessed. 'It's a sort of permanent doom loop. And it's the worst I've ever seen,' he told BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. Imran Ahmed, an expert in countering online extremism, said that platforms were guilty of promoting the conspiracy theories to keep audiences hooked in order to sell ads. The head of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate said: 'There is an algorithmic acceleration of conspiracy theories, hate and disinformation over accurate information and calls for support because that's what keeps the audience captive.' Harry and Meghan are believed to have made contact with William and Kate 'privately' on Friday night following the princess's video. It is not clear if the contact was a phone, video call or some messages of support - while the possibility of whether Harry will fly back to the UK is unknown. It was also claimed in the United States that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex only learned about Kate's condition at the same time the world heard the news. A bewildered Coles shopper has revealed he was ordered by staff to scan 'big items first', prompting concerns the supermarket's self-service checkout is 'getting out of hand'. A Reddit user explained that he ducked down to Coles in Sydney's Waterloo where he picked up a basket of groceries and two 24-can packs of Pepsi Max. 'I started scanning the way I always do: Bag the loose groceries first, since the Coles self-serve checkouts tend to chuck a fit if you add your own BYO bag midway through a purchase,' he said. 'I'm a few items in when the assistant swoops in and informs me that I'm self-serving the wrong way.' A bewildered Coles shopper has revealed he was ordered by staff to scan 'big items first', prompting concerns the supermarket's self-service checkout is 'getting out of hand' Poll Should Coles be telling you what order to scan your groceries Yes - it's their business they make the rules No - they should leave customers alone Should Coles be telling you what order to scan your groceries Yes - it's their business they make the rules 52 votes No - they should leave customers alone 1037 votes Now share your opinion The staff member said the 'drinks needed to be scanned first' and used her swipe card to void the groceries the shopper had already scanned and bagged. 'She then proceeded to painstakingly enter my drinks, one by one, through the manual menu,' the shopper said. 'On my way out I asked the supervisor if that was standard policy. Apparently yes, it was. 'You must scan the big items first,' she said. 'That's the way Coles says you have to do it now.' Other shoppers have also reported similar experiences on social media. One ex-employee at the supermarket giant said the reason why Coles are urging shoppers to scan larger items first is to prevent theft. 'It's because bulk items are their highest stolen items,' the former employee wrote. 'Even at the normal registers they'll ask you if you have any bulk items first. It's hard on workers (who) get abused by customers for things beyond their control. We didn't implement it, we just work there.' One ex-employee at the supermarket giant said the reason why Coles are urging shoppers to scan larger items first is to prevent theft But the shopper in Waterloo says the supermarket's anti-theft measures are becoming too intrusive. 'Forcing us to use self-serve checkouts by taking staff off the regular checkout was one thing. Installing those ridiculous automatic exit gates was another,' he said. 'But now we can't even scan our own groceries in the order we want at the checkout?! This has gotten completely out of hand.' A Coles spokesperson has since apologised to the shopper and said staff should not be voiding what has been put through by a customer, if they've already started. Horrified shoppers got more than they bargained for when they stumbled across a couple appearing to have sex behind the frosted glass door of a disabled loo. The naked couple were seemingly caught in the act at the Sunshine Plaza shopping centre in Maroochydore in Queensland. Footage of the energetic encounter, which was shared on the 'S*** Maroochydore' Instagram page on Sunday, appeared to show a man wearing only socks and shoes thrust towards his unseen companion as stunned shoppers looked on. Social media users were quick to crack jokes at the couple's expense, with some suggesting the man was merely performing the Heimlich Maneuver. A naked couple were seemingly caught in the act at the Sunshine Plaza shopping centre in Maroochydore in Queensland (pictured) Sunshine Plaza (pictured) centre manager Michael Manwaring said the local police had been notified. 'What a nice guy trying to help the poor person choking,' wrote one. Another said: 'Hope they used better protection than the door provided.' Others were more concerned that the disabled bathrooms had a partially transparent door. 'Hope they used better protection than the door provided,' one person quipped. Sunshine Plaza centre manager Michael Manwaring said the local police had been notified. 'Sunshine Plaza has a comprehensive security management program in place including entrance and in-centre CCTV surveillance, 24-hour security patrols 7 days a week and regular police presence,' Mr Manwaring told news.com.au. Rishi Sunak warned that Britain must 'defend ourselves' today as ministers prepare to blame China for cyberattacks on the elections watchdog and MPs. The PM pointed to the 'increasingly assertive' behaviour by Beijing branding the Asian power the 'greatest state-based threat to our economic security'. Downing Street added that the UK had its 'eyes wide open when it comes to China'. Deputy PM Oliver Dowden is expected to take the dramatic step of accusing China of being behind a hack that accessed the personal details of 40million Brits. In a statement to the Commons this afternoon, he is also set to point the finger over the 'impersonation' of MPs online. Officials could be subject to sanctions, with the action likely to be coordinated with other Western countries. However, critics have accused the government of acting too slowly and raised concerns that the response will not go far enough. The Chinese state has previously been linked to meddling in the NHS. Labour MPs swiped that the announcement is just 'party management' on an issue that raises passions among Tory MPs. China's foreign ministry responded this morning by insisting countries should not 'spread disinformation' by making accusations without a 'factual basis'. Ministers are poised to blame China for cyberattacks on the elections watchdog and MPs (pictured, a meeting of the National People's Congress earlier this month) Rishi Sunak (pictured visiting Barrow today) pointed to the 'increasingly assertive' behaviour by Beijing branding the Asian power the 'greatest state-based threat to our economic security' Deputy PM Oliver Dowden (pictured right with Lord Cameron) is expected to take the dramatic step of accusing Beijing of being behind a hack that accessed the personal details of 40million Brits. Speaking at an engineering firm in Barrow, Mr Sunak said: 'We've been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. 'So, it's right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing.' He would not be drawn on the hacking announcement, saying: 'When it comes to cyber, we have the National Cyber Security Centre, which is world leading. 'Indeed, when I'm out and about across the world, other leaders want to learn and talk to us because they believe that our capabilities in this country are very strong.' Mr Dowden is set to link China to the attack on the Electoral Commission, which admitted last August that 'hostile actors' had got into its systems as far back as 2021. A small group of politicians who are hawkish on China are said to have been called to a briefing by Parliament's director of security, Alison Giles, in relation to the activity. They include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton and SNP MP Stewart McDonald. The four are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) pressure group, which focuses on issues involving the increasingly assertive Asian power. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour last night, Mr Loughton said the challenge from China had not been taken 'seriously' up to now. 'China is a strategic threat,' he said. 'I think it is the most dangerous nation on the planet across a whole range of issues, security but also climate change. 'But the trouble with the Chinese Communist Party government is that you have to call them out, you have to stand up to them and there have to be consequences. 'That is the only language that the Chinese government actually understand and if you just say all this is not very good could you do better please then they laugh in your face.' Luke de Pulford, executive director of IPAC, told the BBC's Today programme that the government had taken two years to 'call out' the behaviour of China. He said it was 'ludicrous' there is still a debate on whether China should be treated as posing an 'enhanced' risk of meddling. But China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing is a 'main target' of hacking, suggesting that the UK needed to cooperate more. According to a translation, spokesman Lin Jian said: 'We combat all sorts of malicious actions online, and we advocate all countries to deal with this together through dialogues and cooperation. 'Tracking of origins of cyber attacks is highly sensitive and complicated. It must be fully backed with objective evidence, and one should not pin the blame on certain countries without any factual basis.' He added that countries needed to 'stop spreading disinformation and take a responsible attitude'. Tory MP Tim Loughton (pictured) said the challenge from China had not been taken 'seriously' up to now Lord Cameron is set to address Tory MPs at a special meeting of the 1922 Committee this evening. Nuclear minister Andrew Bowie said he could not comment on the speculation about China but told LBC radio this morning: 'The fact is that this Government has invested a lot of time, money and effort in ensuring that our cybersecurity capabilities are at the place they need to be, we've increased the powers of our intelligence and security community to be able to deal with these threats. 'And we will stop at nothing to ensure that the British people, our democracy, our freedom of speech and our way of life is defended.' He insisted the Government took a pragmatic approach to dealing with Beijing, amid reports that China's EVE Energy is set to invest in a battery plant in the West Midlands. 'We have to have a grown-up, pragmatic relationship with China. And that means looking at each of these investments in the round, on a case-by-case basis, ensuring that our security and our individual liberties and freedoms are not undermined by any of the investments that are that are underway.' Meanwhile, reforms of UK spying laws are continue to make their way through Parliament, with the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Bill also in the Commons on Monday. The legislation includes measures to make it easier for agencies to examine and retain bulk datasets, such as publicly available online telephone records. Terror group ISIS twice claimed responsibility for the deadly Moscow concert attack that left nearly 140 people dead on Friday night. The attack, which saw four heavily armed terrorists walk into the Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow at around 8pm local time on Friday night and slaughter scores of festivalgoers, was the deadliest carried out by ISIS against Russia in years. The terror group said in a statement on Saturday that the concert attack was part of the 'raging war between the Islamic State and countries fighting Islam.' Russia has been in ISIS' crosshairs for several years, having not forgiven Putin for propping up Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad, who made a concerted effort to boot the terror group from the region, for more than a decade. The terror group's propagandists have for years claimed that Moscow is part of a broad Christian coalition that is engaged in a millennia-long battle against Islam. The attack saw four heavily armed terrorists walk into the Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow at around 8pm local time on Friday night Muhammadsobir Fayzov (pictured, left) is a suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda (pictured) is a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev (pictured) sits inside behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants at the Basmanny district court in Moscow Shamsidin Fariduni (pictured) was arrested for his role in the attack During the 1970s and 1980s, mujahedeen fighters in Afghanistan, who would later form Al-Quaeda, which itself would lead to the creation of ISIS, fought a bloody war against Soviet forces that had control over the nation. Russia has also been developing its relationship with the Taliban, currently in control of Afghanistan. The Taliban has long been in open conflict with ISIS in Afghanistan, with each side receiving support from smaller regional powers. As a result, the ultra-violent sect of ISIS that is believed to have carried out the attack, Islamic State in Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, in particular has focused on recruiting central Asian militants, most of whom speak Russian, to carry out attacks. ISIS-K, known for its extreme brutality, has for the past 18 months been on a major recruitment drive that has targeted experienced members of existing terror cells, according to a report submitted to the UN security council in January. Many recruits are also Russian nationals, meaning they can easily go to cities across Russia, creating new opportunities for attacks the nation. ISIS-K has targeted Russia in the past, having claimed responsibility for the deadly 2022 suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, that killed two embassy staff and four others. Earlier this month, Russias FSB said it foiled an ISIS-K attack on a Moscow synagogue, the countrys Tass news agency reported. The attack was the deadliest carried out by ISIS against Russia in years While the attack on Friday night was a dramatic escalation, experts said ISIS has opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years An interior view of the Crocus City Hall concert venue after the shooting attack and fire While the attack on Friday night was a dramatic escalation, experts said the group has opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent years. 'ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing Putin in its propaganda,' Colin Clarke of Soufan Center, a New York-based research group, told Reuters. Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center said ISIS-K 'sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims.' He added that the group also counts as members a number of Central Asian militants with their own grievances against Moscow. ISIS-K also has a history of carrying out attacks across the world as well. Earlier this year, US intelligence intercepted communications that confirmed the group carried out the twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people during a memorial for dead military commander Qassem Soleimani. And last year, a top US commander told Congress that ISIS-K was quickly building its capacity to conduct 'external operations' in Europe and Asia. A person looks on the Crocus City Hall concert venue following a terrorist attack The attack on Friday night left nearly 140 people dead A security staff stands outside the Crocus City Hall concert venue Michael Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command, said at the time that he believed Western interests may be victim to an ISIS-K attack 'in as little as six months and with little to no warning', though was quick to say that an attack within the US itself was unlikely. The UN report submitted in January cited several foiled ISIS-K plots to conduct terror attacks in Europe, including one where seven Tajik, Turkmen and Kyrgyz individuals linked to the terror cell were arrested in Germany while planning to conduct 'high-impact terrorist attacks for which they were obtaining weapons and possible targets. ISIS-K's name refers to an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. The group has been led by Shahab al-Muhajir, an engineer by training and education, since 2020. His name means 'Shahab the Migrant', referring to the fact that he is the first non-Afghan and non-Pakistani person to run ISIS-K. A man suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people, the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, is escorted by Russian law enforcement officers The attack is believed to have been carried out by members of ISIS-K He reportedly spend time as a subcontractor of a security firm in Afghanistan, and was known to have spent some time on the US' Bagram Airfield, formerly the largest US military base in Afghanistan. al-Muhajir is one of three ISIS-K members on the list of people sanctioned under an anti-terror directive first set out by George Bush in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, and renewed every year since by successive presidents. The others are Sultan Aziz Azam, a spokesperson for the group, and Maulawi Rajab, a senior leader who 'plans ISIS-Ks attacks and operations and commands ISIS-K groups conducting attacks in Kabul', according the US State Department, which only sanctioned the terrorists in November 2021. Meanwhile, the UK only sanctioned the three men in 2023. OFSI, the UK's sanctions body, said cited al-Muhajir responsibility 'for multiple terrorist attacks resulting in hundreds of deaths in 2021' as the reason for his punishment. But dark reality of Russia's prisons likely means their ordeal is just beginning The suspected terrorists have already been electrocuted and badly beaten The four men suspected of carrying out the shocking terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall last week have already been subjected to brutal treatment at the hands of Russia's security forces. Alleged Islamic State gunman Saidakrami Murodali Rajabalizoda was held down by a security team, who in graphic video footage appeared to saw off part of his ear - and then force him to eat it. 'Chew, b****rd! I will cut you open and shove it into your mouth,' one man is heard yelling. Moments later the suspect was seen with blood streaming down the side of his head as a chunk of skin tumbled out of his mouth. Another detainee, Shamsiddin Fariduni, was seen lying on the floor foaming at the mouth with his trousers forced down around his knees. That is because the group who arrested him had connected a military radio to his genitals via a piece of wire to administer electric shocks - a favourite torture method deployed by Russia's armed forces. All four suspected gunmen later appeared in a Moscow court, their faces battered and bruised following what is certain to have been a savage beating by the arresting forces. But their ordeal may only just be getting started. For it is only when these men are committed to the depths of one of Russia's strict regime penal colonies that the real torture will begin. Here, MailOnline explores the dark reality of Russia's prison system and recaps the heinous torture methods used by guards and fellow inmates alike to physically and psychologically break their prey. Photographs show one of the suspected terrorists, named as Shamsuddin Fariddun, lying on a gym floor with his trousers pulled down and wires evidently attached to his groin area Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia March 24, 2024 Muhammadsobir Fayzov sits in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow Possibly the most degrading and psychologically damaging tool used to brutalise inmates in Russia's penal system is rape - by prison workers and other inmates. In recent years, a haul of footage depicting this tactic in graphic detail has been leaked by former prisoners, with videos reviewed by MailOnline documenting the ordeals of several men who were tied down before being sexually abused. One clip showed an inmate screaming in pain as another man violently forced a mop handle between his legs, while another male prisoner was strapped to a bed with his legs spread, allowing others to assault him incessantly. Activists who spoke with former inmates in one particular facility named OTB-1, a prison hospital located in the Saratov region close to Russia's border with Kazakhstan, said officers in Russia's Federal Prison Service (FSIN) and FSB security agency oversaw a 'conveyor belt' of sexual abuse. Gangs were allegedly employed as orderlies and caretakers at the hospital to provide cover for them if their presence was questioned - but their actual job was the routine sexual abuse of inmates as part of a 'criminal conspiracy' operating within the jail. The rapes were filmed, with footage sent back to the FSIN and FSB so it could be archived and then used as blackmail. Besides the Saratov region, clips of such heinous abuse have been recorded in prisons located in the regions of Vladimir, Irkutsk, Belgorod, Transbaikal and Kamchatka. Horrifying footage details the sexual abuse, rape and torture of male inmates inside Russia's prisons under the watchful eye of guards Videos reveal at least five inmates being urinated on, raped by male inmates, and violated with blunt objects inside a prison hospital in the Saratov region The footage was leaked by a former inmate who says he was tasked with archiving it so it could be used to blackmail the prisoners into becoming abusers themselves Activists say the campaign of abuse was carried out with the knowledge and approval of senior members of Russia's prison service and FSB spy agency Besides rape, regular beatings by guards are commonplace in many of Russia's prisons. Battered men appear in court as new footage emerges of the slaughter that killed at least 140 in Russia Advertisement But the brute force is also calculated to be as degrading as possible while remaining contained so it can be hidden by clothing. In one favoured method, the inmate is forced to bend face down over a table, with his arms restrained by officers. They are then beaten mercilessly by a pair of officers from behind, who use special truncheons to strike the inmate on the legs and buttocks. These rounded rubber devices typically do not cause extensive cuts, thereby limiting bleeding and making the punishment easy to cover up. But they can still deliver considerable damage to the victim, particularly when used on such sensitive areas. In one skin crawling clip from a prison in Yaroslavl unveiled by activists, an inmate - with the pseudonym Andrei Ivanov to conceal his identity - was badly beaten in this manner. After being summoned on the pretence of a routine body search, Ivanov was thrown over the table in nothing but his underpants and ruthlessly lashed from behind. Another clip showed guards dealing the same punishment to Georgian citizen Vazha Bochorishvili, with the grainy footage revealing how the inmate screamed and begged the guards to stop, all while they egged each other on and ordered the officers swinging the batons to continue 'stronger'. Inmates are seen stripped and standing against a wall ahead of a torture session A victim known as Andrei Ivanov - not his real name - was shown in dark footage being held over a table and beaten with truncheons Several officers held down the prisoner as others inflicted sharp blows with rubber truncheons on the legs and buttocks (pictured) Inmates are typically sent back to their cells to lick their wounds with no medical treatment. But in some cases, the beatings go too far, and in the case of Bochorishvili, can be fatal. After his ordeal, Bochorishvili was hauled off the table and collapsed to the floor. Guards ordered him to his feet but he remained curled up beside the table - which only prompted them to continue the punishment, but this time striking indiscriminately. His badly bloodied body was thrown back into a cell, but he slipped into unconsciousness, such was the severity of his beating. Bochorishvili was moved to a medical ward hours after guards realised he was unresponsive, but he died in a hospital bed weeks later. His body was later returned to his family for burial - but without his internal organs. Other inmates are instead subjected to revolting methods of torture in prison toilets. In one shocking clip an inmate is seen forced onto his knees before having his head plunged into a toilet bowl. A guard places his boot on the inmate's back, forcing his head into the toilet and preventing him from pulling back. The victim is then held in place while an officer flushes the toilet and effectively waterboards the struggling prisoner. Moments later, the spluttering victim is hauled away and whipped, opening gaping wounds on his unprotected back, before being kicked to the floor where prison staff proceeded to urinate on him. The torture is not just limited to prisons inside Russia. Investigations conducted by various Ukrainian and international organisations have found extensive evidence of Russian-authored torture of Ukrainian citizens in occupied territories following the February 2022 invasion. Plastic ties, which were allegedly used during torture, are seen lying on a broken chair in the basement of an office building in Kherson A former police building in Kherson lies in ruin during Moscow's occupation of the city. Ukrainian civilians were allegedly tortured in facilities like this by Russian soldiers A makeshift detention building in Kherson, Ukraine, is marked with a Z pro-Putin symbol and 'Russia' spelt out in cyrillic script The Reckoning Project, which records and verifies testimonies of crimes against humanity, has discovered evidence of war crimes at almost every detention site they have visited during the Russian occupation of Ukraine The investigations have found the use of torture by Russian forces was a matter of routine, used against members of the Ukrainian military, police or government officials to force them to collaborate, and against civilians to intimidate them or to extract information. In one of the most extreme cases, a man who served as a military volunteer in Mariupol before he was captured told how Russians kidnapped him from his jail cell and held him for five months during which he was tortured - sometimes for days on end. The man recalled being bound, gagged, beaten, strangled with electrical wire until he passed out, then doused in water to wake him up only so the torment could start over again. He said: 'On the third day, I asked my tormentors [to] finish me off, because I didn't have anything to tell them. '[One of the torturers] called one of his supervisors [and] showed me to him through the phone. The one on the phone just nodded and said nothing.' The man expected to be killed, but his jailors ignored the order and carried on abusing him. 'They kept torturing me,' he said. 'My hands were turned back and shackled. I was laid on the floor face down, strangled with wire from the extension cable. 'When I started to lose consciousness, they said: ''Wait. It's too early. You haven't gone through all seven circles of hell yet''.' Other inmates recalled hearing their fellow prisoners being raped in the next room, and were themselves brutally punished if they attempted to aid a prisoner during a beating. An inmate at one makeshift Kherson jail in the early days of the war said he was beaten so badly that he 'had blood in my urine for a month and a half'. Josef Fritzl has reportedly said he would love to live in Britain if he is let out of prison to 'roam free on the Highlands of Scotland'. The 88-year-old has been incarcerated since 2009 after holding his daughter Elisabeth captive in his cellar in the Austrian town of Amstetten for 24 years between 1984 and 2008, raping her thousands of times and fathering her seven children. Fritzl is now able to apply for release and said he dreamed of moving to the UK after seeing a documentary about Shakespeare that revealed Britain's 'spectacular scenery', the Sun reports. He said the documentary had inspired him and that he knew he wanted to 'emigrate to the UK' rather than stay in his native Austria. 'Above all I want to roam free on the wild Highlands of Scotland. For me the lush green fields of Wales are also very, very appealing,' Fritzl added, reiterating he was 'headed' to the UK should he be released. Josef Fritzl was granted conditional release from a prison for the mentally ill by an Austrian court in January, shortly after being pictured outside of prison for the first time in 15 years Elisabeth Fritzl (pictured as a schoolgirl), now 56, was held prisoner by her father Josef in the cellar of the family's Austrian home from 1984 to 2008 Josef Fritzl is seen during day four of his trial at the country court of St. Poelten in 2009 Even if he was released, Fritzl would have to kiss his dream to live in the UK goodbye as the Home Office would refuse to grant him entry due to his long custodial sentence, according to guidance on the grounds for refusal relating to criminality. A court in the town of Krems an der Donau had ordered in January that Fritzl be transferred to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit after being told he was 'no longer at threat of reoffending', but this decision has since been overturned. His daughter Elisabeth, who is now 56 and has been given a new identity, previously said she hopes her evil father will be punished for his crimes 'until death'. Fritzl's trial heard he raped her 3,000 times in the rat-infested cellar and how he beat and kicked her and eventually had seven children with her. The mother lived downstairs in the flat with her children - Kerstin born in 1988, Stefan (1990) and Felix (2002). Meanwhile Lisa (1992), Monica (1994) and Alexander (1996) were raised upstairs in the home Fritzl shared with his wife Rosemarie in sleepy Amstetten in central Austria, 48 miles from Linz. Another son, named Micheal, tragically died from neglect shortly after he was born. Speaking through her lawyer Eva Plaz at her father's trial, Elisabeth said that she hopes he is never released. 'She wants the defendant to be held responsible until death,' Ms Plaz said. Earlier the lawyer had told the court: 'The defendant has made himself the master of life and death. He must be punished for this.' Fritzl, who has now changed his name to one not made public, has been in prison since his conviction in 2009 for incest, rape, enslavement, coercion and the murder by neglect of his newborn son. Fritzl, 88, is detained at Sankt Poelten Prison and is suffering from Alzheimer's disease Elisabeth lived in this dingy, cramped basement for 24 years with her children Josef Fritzl during a four-week-holiday in Pataya, Thailand, January 1, 1998, to February 3, 1998 MailOnline reported that Elisabeth has build a new life with her bodyguard husband in an isolated riverside home just half an hour from the dungeon where she was held captive for 24 years, living opposite her oldest daughter Kerstin. This comes after Fritzl wrote an apology letter earlier this year in which he claims he is a 'good father'. 'I regret all of my actions deeply. Kind regards, Fritzl,' the incestious rapist wrote. 'I was actually a good father,' he claimed, saying that he saved money for the 'children's education', that he visited them often, helped them with chores and even got them to learn instruments 'and so forth'. This is the moment an Ohio dad was arrested after repeatedly calling his son's school to complain about the amount of homework he was being set. Adam Sizemore, 37, from Oxford, was charged with telecommunications harassment and menacing after bombarding Kramer Elementary School with his phone calls. Criminal complaints filed against Sizemore claim he also threatened the school principal, saying he'd 'better get his big boy pants on' which led to the school official fearing violence, WXIX reported. According to a police report sent to Today by Oxford Police Department, Sizemore was making the repeated complaints from February 29 'because his son gets homework which takes away from the time he has with him after school'. The dad was trying to reach Principal Jason Merz, who was unavailable, before he began directing his nuisance calls to school office. Adam Sizemore, 37, was charged with two counts of telecommunications harassment and one count of menacing after making repeated phone calls to Kramer Elementary School, Oxford, Ohio Criminal complaints filed against Sizemore claim he also threatened the school principal, Jason Merz, saying he'd 'better get his big boy pants on' Sizemore was arrested outside his home on March 19 and is due to appear in court on March 28 'During these conversations, Sizemore cursed at the secretaries while making demands of them,' the police report states. The officer said that he noted that Sizemore's speech was slurred, and asked Sizemore if he was intoxicated. Sizemore clarified that he was 'high', reported Today. The calls kept coming in, and on March 1, Merz told police that Sizemore said in a voicemail: 'I hoped that you put on your big boy britches on today and have a conversation like a big boy.' Merz told officers that he was concerned about Sizemore potentially entering the school. Two officers then reportedly paid a visit to Sizemore's home but he did not open the door. But when one officer returned to Kramer Elementary School, Sizemore was still calling. The report stated that Sizemore eventually got through to Merz - but the principal quickly hung up the call after the infuriated dad began cursing at him. When the school stopped answering Sizemore's calls, detectives from Oxford Police Department said he began calling them. 'He calls dispatch, I think it was 18 or 19 times, roughly,' said Oxford Police Detective Sergeant Adam Price. 'It was disruptive,' Price told Today. 'This is a a K-5 school so there is not an abnormal amount of homework,' he added. The dad can be heard on audio recordings becoming agitated as a dispatcher refused to tell him their name. The dispatcher could be heard telling Sizemore to leave the police chief a voicemail if he wasn't answering his call, to which he responded: 'I'm being very nice'. Bodycam Footage from Oxford Police Department officers show the moment Sizemore is placed in handcuffs outside his house on March 19 The dispatcher offered Sizemore the opportunity to come to the station where they would call the chief in so the pair could communicate in person, but Sizemore completely lost his temper. 'He can come to my f****** house. I pay for him. He can come to my house,' Sizemore was heard saying. Following more repeated calls to the station, Sizemore was still unable to reach the police chief. But a dispatcher told the furious dad they would send out officers to speak with him after his repeated calls. 'That ultimately ended when we took him into custody for telecommunications harassment as well as a menacing charge,' Price explained. Body cam footage from the Oxford Police Department shows the moment Sizemore was placed in handcuffs outside his home. Price told Today that if Sizemore is found guilty of his charges - two counts of telecommunications harassment (a first-degree misdemeanor) and one count of menacing (a fourth-degree misdemeanor) - he faces a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail for each count of telecommunications harassment. For the menacing charge, Sizemore faces a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail. Following his arrest, Sizemore was taken to the Butler County Jail, but Price revealed he is no longer in custody. Speaking to Today, the dad said: 'I'm a single dad of a boy and a girl and I'm just trying to do the best I can and that's all I can do. People make mistakes.' Sizemore is due to appear in court on March 28. A teenage girl is dead after she grabbed a holstered gun from a deputy and shot herself dead inside of the lobby of a sheriff's station in Los Angeles. The horrific incident occurred Sunday night inside of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Industry Station, west of downtown LA. According to Deputy Graciela Medrano, a spokesperson for the department, the Hispanic female was banging on the glass in front of the station, demanding to be let in. When she got in the building, she began to struggle with a deputy. She was able to get her hands on the gun and after shooting several bullets, she turned the gun on herself. No law enforcement officers were injured and nobody else was in the lobby at the time. Sheriffs homicide bureau Lt. Art Spencer told the media that the incident is related to a family disturbance call that deputies responded to earlier in the day. The incident occurred here in the lobby of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Industry City, east of downtown LA The girl's identity has not been made public. A video circulating on Twitter purportedly shows the victim's body covered with a blanket in a pool of blood. 'There was an altercation and a critical incident occurred. This was not a deputy-involved shooting incident,' a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department statement read in part. 'It is alleged the female reached toward the deputys firearm and retrieved the firearm from the deputys holster. During the altercation it is alleged that the female suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound with what we believe to be the deputys firearm,' Lt. Spencer told the media Sunday night. We believe that this incident stems from a family disturbance call that deputies had responded to, prior to this incident occurring at the station. 'The deputies are OK. It is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved,' he added. At no point did the deputies return fire on the teen. When asked if the deputy's gun was properly holstered, Lt. Spencer stressed that the investigation is still in its infancy. People in England live in more cramped conditions than those in New York City apartments, a shocking new study revealed today. The Resolution Foundation found the average floor space per person in England is 38 square metres, compared to 43 in the New York metropolitan area. The corresponding figure for London is 33sqm compared to 31sqm for Paris, 43sqm for France, 33sqm for Tokyo, 40sqm for Japan and 66sqm for the US as a whole. The report also revealed that Finland is the only country in the OECD that spends more on housing than British workers as a proportion of total spending. Yet despite paying more than other countries, they are getting less in return due to our 'expensive and ageing' housing stock. This New York City studio apartment may look small, but at just under 43sqm it is still provides more living space per person than the English average This image shows a studio flat in Shoreditch that is 33sqm in size - the average amount of living space per person in London Pictured is an example of a 33sqm studio flat in London compared to a 43sqm one in New York The Resolution Foundation found the average floor space per person in England is 38 square metres, compared to 43 in the New York metropolitan area The Foundation's housing outlook used OCED data to compare the UK's housing issues against other similar economies. England's housing stock is also relatively old, with 38% of homes built before 1946, the report said, compared with around a fifth (21%) in Italy and one in nine (11%) in Spain. Older homes can be poorly insulated, leading to higher energy bills and a higher risk of damp, according to the Foundation, which is focused on improving the living standards for those on low to middle incomes. Researchers also considered what it would cost to rent all homes - incorporating what owners would pay if they rented their home at market rates - to show how the market price of housing varies across different countries. The report said: 'If all households in the UK were fully exposed to our housing market, they would have to devote 22% of their spending to housing services, far higher than the OECD average (17%), and the highest level across the developed economies with the solitary exception of Finland.' The report also revealed that Finland is the only country in the OECD that spends more on housing than British workers as a proportion of total spending Older homes can be poorly insulated, leading to higher energy bills and a higher risk of damp, according to the Foundation Housing is more expensive in the UK compared to other OECD countries when taking into account each country's overall price levels Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: 'Britain's housing crisis is likely to be a big topic in the election campaign, as parties debate how to address the problems of high costs, poor quality and low security that face so many households. 'Britain is one of many countries apparently in the midst of a housing crisis, and it can be difficult to separate rhetoric from reality. 'But by looking at housing costs, floorspace and wider issues of quality, we find that the UK's expensive, cramped and ageing housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy. 'Britain's housing crisis is decades in the making, with successive governments failing to build enough new homes and modernise our existing stock. That now has to change.' Last month a report found just 250,000 homes were built last year across Great Britain against a target of 300,000. Complex and unpredictable planning rules across the three nations are partly to blame for this, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. The report heighted that many planning departments are under-resourced, some do not have up-to-date local plans, and do not have clear targets or strong incentives to deliver the numbers of homes needed in their area. It also said shortfalls were linked to requirements to speak with a wide range of stakeholders. The report looked at a series of indicators to determine the health of the UK housing market. In these graphs the UK as a whole is shown in purple and London in light blue In addition, there were concerns over limitations to private speculative development, highlighting that developers often produce houses based on pricing rather than diversifying the types and numbers of homes they build to meet the needs of communities. The report also found a rise in developers using estate management charges for facilities, such as roads, drainage and green spaces. It said these charges are 'often high and unclear to homeowners' and flagged that some unplanned charges can cost thousands of pounds. A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: 'Housebuilding is a Government priority and despite global economic challenges we remain on track to meet the manifesto commitment of delivering one million homes this Parliament, and have introduced reforms to improve the planning system. 'At the same time as increasing the quantity of homes we are driving up quality, with the number of non-decent homes down by two million since 2010. 'Our landmark Renters Reform Bill is progressing through Parliament and will give tenants more security in their homes, while our 11.5 billion investment in the affordable homes Programme and 1.2 billion local authority housing fund will help build a new generation of affordable and social housing.' A recent report from the Competition and Markets Authority showed how the UK is failing to meet housebuilding targets City's global investments attraction arm to see role expand By Anna J. Park Invest Seoul, established by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in early 2022 to attract major global investors to the capital city, is set to expand both in terms of size and function by early next year. According to the city government, Invest Seoul is currently in the process of gaining independence from the Seoul Business Agency (SBA). Its goal is to complete administrative procedures and establish itself as a distinct entity by early next year. Since its inception two years ago, Invest Seoul has operated as a single department within the SBA, one of the 20 city-affiliated foundations that receive financial support from the local government annually. "There have been calls for Invest Seoul to gain independence from the SBA. While Invest Seoul's mandate revolves around attracting foreign capital and enticing global companies to invest in the capital, SBA is primarily focused on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises within Seoul. Consequently, there has been a growing recognition of the need for Invest Seoul to be separated from SBA and to expand its organizational capacity, role and staffing," an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Government told The Korea Times on Monday. The official explained that Seoul and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety held a meeting last year to discuss the issue, with another assessment meeting slated to be held next month. When affiliated agencies of a municipal government plan to pursue an organizational shift, the city government is mandated to conduct two rounds of meetings with the central government. Once the meetings are over, the city government intends to revise municipal ordinances and undertake other administrative procedures to enable Invest Seoul to operate as an independent entity. Upon approval by Seoul Metropolitan Council, the legal framework for establishing the new foundation will be established. The completion of that process is anticipated by the end of this year. Upon completion of the preparatory steps, Invest Seoul will be established as a foundation affiliated with the Seoul government, with initial funding provided by the city. Additionally, the agency plans to augment its workforce. Established in February 2022 under the leadership of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Invest Seoul has seen significant achievements. In its inaugural year, the agency successfully attracted $10.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), a figure that surged to $14.7 billion the following year. Invest Seoul has also intensified its efforts to attract additional foreign investment, including the release of key reports analyzing various industries within Seoul. A British woman has described how she was gored through the leg by a yak while climbing Mount Everest as she Facetimed her family back in the UK. Emma Keen, 42, was left bleeding heavily after the yak's horn tore through her leg leaving her with a 3ins cut. The shop manager was on a 80-mile mission to trek to Everest base camp when she was attacked on the fourth day of the trek at the village of Tengboche. Ms Keen, from South Wales, was speaking to her brother on Facetime when she saw the yak and turned the camera to show off the mammal, which was just six feet away from her. She said: 'Without warning I could hear the hoofs pounding towards me, a sharp stabbing pain in the top of my leg. It threw me up in the air around a metre and I landed back down with a thud. Emma Keen, 42, was bleeding heavily after the yak's horn tore through her leg leaving her with a three-inch cut (Ms Keen is pictured after reaching the Mount Everest Base Camp, posted by a friend with a congratulatory message) Ms Keen, from South Wales, was speaking to her brother on Facetime when she saw the yak and turned the camera to show off the mammal, which was just six feet away from her (file image of yaks on Mount Everest) Ms Keen (pictured) said about the attack: 'Without warning I could hear the hoofs pounding towards me, a sharp stabbing pain in the top of my leg. It threw me up in the air around a metre and I landed back down with a thud' 'Clutching my upper leg I looked and the yak was dragging its hoof in the dusty ground ready to go at me for a second time with his horns down. I screamed and managed to raise my leg and shout.' A fellow team-member raised the alarm to get medical help for Ms Keen, who was bleeding heavily. She received emergency first aid from other members of the trek group before being airlifted to hospital. She needed ten stitches on her leg following the horror injury. Luckily firefighter Carl Marsh was also on the trek and was able to help Ms Keen thanks to his medical training in the fire service. He said: 'We had just arrived and we were enjoying our first coffee to warm us up when one of the team came running into the tea house screaming for help saying she's just been attacked by a yak. 'Instincts kicked in and we moved Emma to a safe place away from the danger. 'Emma was screaming in pain and I could quickly see the yak's horn had gone through Emma's leg with a big hole in her hiking leggings and blood running down her leg. 'I called for the first aid kit and applied pressure to the wound to try and stop the bleeding. [We] dressed the wound whilst liaising with the Sherpas to arrange for a medical evacuation as soon as possible. 'We were supported by NHS midwife Katy Williams who did an amazing job reassuring Emma and taking her medical observations at the same time. Ms Keen, who has already raised more than 2,300 for Kidney Wales, was adamant about completing the trek so she rejoined the group as soon as she recovered and finished the final steps on horseback (file image of Mount Everest seen from the village of Tengboche) A friend posted pictures of Ms Keen as she reached the Mount Everest Base Camp on social media and wrote: 'Congratulations Emma, you are an inspiration!' 'Emma was in and out of consciousness and realised she needed urgent medical attention.' Yaks, also known as a grunting ox, are a type of of long-haired cow found throughout the Himalayan region. They rarely attack humans but can be highly protective and charge if they think they are in danger. READ MORE: Meet the student training to become the first deafblind climber to reach the summit of Everest... before losing her sight completely Advertisement Ms Keen, who has already raised more than 2,300 for Kidney Wales, was adamant about completing the trek so she rejoined the group as soon as she recovered and finished the final steps on horseback. She said: 'It was important that I continue with the trek as it meant so much to me. Before I headed out for the flight, I could imagine myself at Basecamp - something I had been training for and looking forward to way over a year.' She said she chose the charity because her mum Helen had polycystic kidneys and needed an urgent kidney transplant. Ms Keen added: 'My charity means a lot to me as my brother Peter is currently on the transplant list desperately needing a kidney. 'When the accident happened I just kept thinking of him and how he would feel if I got to Basecamp. 'My team I was with at the time of the accident were outstanding they tended to my wound very fast and were encouraging at what was one of the most scariest times of my life. 'The Sherpas have been outstanding they managed to arrange the helicopter if it wasn't for them then I would have been waiting until the next day as time was getting on. ' A friend posted pictures of Ms Keen as she reached the Mount Everest Base Camp on social media and wrote: 'Congratulations Emma, you are an inspiration!' US spies, including members of the CIA, have been told the term 'blacklisted' is racist and 'sanity check' is disparaging to people who suffer from mental health issues in a new internal diversity letter. The latest guidance, which also included advice from a crossdressing secret agent, was revealed in The Dive - a newsletter issued by the intelligence community's diversity, equality, inclusion, and accessibility office. The document is full of diversity guidance aimed at 'focusing on ways spy agencies can be more inclusive'. The Dive's theme revolves around 'the importance of words' and is packed with phrases that officials have now been urged to refrain from using. One of the six articles within the newsletter - about 'linguistic diversity' - has highlighted the alleged racist connotations around the term 'blacklisted'. The latest guidance, which also included advice from a crossdressing secret agent, was revealed in The Dive This is because it implies 'black is bad and white is good'. The term 'sanity check' has also been discouraged because it suggests that those who suffer from mental illnesses are inferior. The terms 'cakewalk' and 'grandfathered' also made an appearance in the article because of their association with slavery. In another section of the newsletter, an intelligence office warned that previous training had conflated Islamic beliefs with terrorism and cautioned the language that targeted spies' Muslim-American colleagues. The author further detailed an effort to revise intelligence presentations to weed out problematic language. The Dive's editor-in-chief, who has been kept anonymous on the online version of the document, also took to writing a section of the 16-page handout. Terms deemed no longer 'acceptable' 'Blacklisted' - The guidance states that officials should refrain from using the term as it implies 'black is bad and white is good'. - The guidance states that officials should refrain from using the term as it implies 'black is bad and white is good'. 'Cakewalk' - The term was discouraged due to to its links to slavery. The term means that something is very simple to do or achieve, but is based on a dance or march with intricate steps, originally performed by African Americans with the prize of a cake for the best performers. - The term was discouraged due to to its links to slavery. The term means that something is very simple to do or achieve, but is based on a dance or march with intricate steps, originally performed by African Americans with the prize of a cake for the best performers. ' Grandfathered' - The terms was also discouraged due to its ties to slavery. The term 'Grandfathered' describe individuals or companies who get to keep operating under an existing set of expectations when new rules are put in place. But the 'Grandfather' clause, a statutory or constitutional device enacted by seven Southern states between 1895 and 1910 said you could not vote unless your grandfather had voted - an impossibility for most people whose ancestors were slaves - The terms was also discouraged due to its ties to slavery. The term 'Grandfathered' describe individuals or companies who get to keep operating under an existing set of expectations when new rules are put in place. But the 'Grandfather' clause, a statutory or constitutional device enacted by seven Southern states between 1895 and 1910 said you could not vote unless your grandfather had voted - an impossibility for most people whose ancestors were slaves 'Sanity check' - The phrase was included in the guidance because it suggests people with mental illness are inferior. Advertisement They described how the new Asian and Pacific Islander employee resource groups have been successful in 'creating a new framework and language guidelines for how we talk about the People's Republic of China.' In another article on 'gender identity', an intelligence officer who remained anonymous revealed his secret crossdressing habit has sharpened his skills within his job. 'I am an intelligence officer, and I am a man who likes to wear women's clothes sometimes,' the author wrote. 'I think my experiences as someone who cross-dresses have sharpened the skills I use as an intelligence officer, particularly critical thinking and perspective-taking. 'It is challenging for some people to understand crossdressing, and non-binary or genderfluid people because gender is a part of overall identity,' he added. 'Many of us think of our identities as fixed, and some find this approach to gender threatening to their own identity.' The officer said cross-dressing has helped him understand foreign actors, clandestine assets and how to better support his female and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. The newsletter includes six articles - one about changing terminology related to counterterrorism, one about 'linguistics diversity,' another about reimagining how 'we talk about Africa,' a fourth highlighting an intelligence officer's gender expression, one about accessibility in the combat zone and a final article about the 6th Annual African American & Hispanic Leadership Summit. The guidance received a hostile reception from Republicans who took to social media to slam the Biden administration, with one dubbing it a 'clown show' and another questioning how this will help intelligence gathering. In response to The Dive's release, Arkansas Republican senator and member of the Armed Services Committee, Tom Cotton, stated his concerns about the document and quizzed both the Biden administration and the intelligence community's priorities. 'The Biden administration putting DEI above national security is deeply concerning,' Cotton told Fox News. Arkansas Republican senator, Tom Cotton, called the guidance 'deeply concerning' and questioned the intelligence community's priorities 'Intelligence officers should spend their time finding terrorists, not worrying about whether they will offend them.' Jeremy Hunt, a former Army intel officer and the chairman of the national security-focused group Veterans On Duty, was also left angered. 'Rather than our primary focus being on protecting the homeland, these absurd attempts to police the language of intelligence assessments to make them politically correct will undoubtedly result in lower quality, imprecise and confusing intelligence reports that leave lawmakers and decision makers less informed and unable to make reasoned judgments,' he said. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stood its ground and defended the guidance, which they claim is ultimately aimed at 'building a diverse and inclusive workforce'. 'The Intelligence Community Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Office manages the IC's efforts to build a diverse and inclusive workforce, and as part of their work, they distribute The Dive, a quarterly magazine, to each IC element's DEIA office and/or Equal Employment Opportunity office,' an ODNI spokesperson said. It comes as a group of lawmakers introduced a new bill to ban diversity, equity and inclusion practices from medical schools last week. The legislation would cut off federal funding to medical schools that 'force students or faculty to adopt specific beliefs, discriminate based on race or ethnicity, or have diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices or any functional equivalent,' said Greg Murphy, a practicing urologist and North Carolina Republican representative. And companies including Samsung and Intel began backing out of using the US as a hub to build semiconductor microchip makers as they claim 'Biden's DEI rues are worse than Hamas'. The Biden administration promised earlier this year that they would be handing out $39 billion in grants to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. Shortly after the announcement however, Intel announced they would be holding off on their Columbus factory, while Samsung also delayed their facility in Texas. Despite the billions in subsidies, two experts believe the tech companies' decision to back out of building manufacturing facilities in the U.S. stems from the diversity, equity and inclusion policy. In an opinion piece for The Hill, CEO of Strive Asset Management Matt Cole and head of research at the company, Chris Nicholson, say the subsidies are so 'loaded with DEI that it can't move.' A suspicious uncle cut off his dead brother's ear in a bungled bid to prove his nephew was the illegitimate heir to a million-dollar fortune. Jian Zhong Li, 69, had long suspected that his nephew, Cheng Zhang Li, was not the biological son of his brother Jiang Ming Li. His suspicions apparently stemmed from his nephew's thick beard - a trait no one else in the family shared. Li's attempts to have his nephew take a paternity test were rebuffed so when his brother died in March 2022, he hatched a plan with another relative to obtain his DNA to prove his suspicions once and for all. On the day of the funeral, Li and his accomplice snuck inside the South Chapel at Rookwood Cemetery where they unlocked the coffin, unzipped the body bag and used a set of pliers to snip part of Jiang Ming's ear off. He kept it inside a glass jar in his freezer while he launched legal action against his nephew in the NSW Supreme Court. Jian Zhong Li, 69, had long suspected that his nephew, Cheng Zhang Li, was not the biological son of his brother Jiang Ming Li so he cut part of his brother's ear off in a bungled attempt to confirm his paternity (pictured: Li posing with the sharp pliers he used in the grisly act) Li attempted to justify his actions in a interview with A Current Affair which left host Allison Langdon temporarily speechless. 'Wow, I'm not sure what to say about that one... And it was all over a beard,' she said. Li's macabre act remained a secret for over a year before Li let slip to the funeral director who informed the police. Last week, Li lost an appeal against a $1,500 fine for improperly interfering with a corpse. But he defended his actions in the bizarre interview on Monday. A Current Affair host Allison Langdon (pictured) was left temporarily speechless by the report READ MORE: Horror as a man's EAR is bitten off by a complete stranger while on a Sunday walk with his girlfriend and mum Advertisement 'How did you feel about cutting your dead brother's ear off? It's pretty gross,' reporter Hannah Sinclair asked him. 'I also very worry to do these things. I don't like to do it,' Li said. The reporter then asked if Li knew that what he had done was wrong. 'No other way to settle this problem,' Li replied. However, a subsequent biological test revealed that Cheng Zhang Li is the biological son of Jian Ming Li. But Li refused to believe it and hopes the ear can be used to verify the claim. 'I test. Double check,' he told the program. Li claimed his 91-year-old mother was owed some of the money from her dead son's estate. 'Mother has to get some maintenance... because living place is very poor condition,' he said. He previously wrote a letter of apology to the court, claiming he was only trying to protect his family. 'I am sorry to the court for doing this, I didn't mean to break the law, I did not think properly at the time, I am sorry to the community,' he wrote. The family's court battle over the million-dollar property in Petersham in Sydney's inner-west is ongoing. Sussex ally Christopher Bouzy insists he is railing against online bile and told the couple's Netflix documentary that criticism of Meghan Markle was driven by hatred and racism. The Brooklyn-born tech entrepreneur, 48, who began coding on a Mattel computer aged nine, was inspired to combat disinformation and harassment online because of the 2016 Trump election win and the death of his mother during the pandemic. But after scathing comments about the Princess of Wales' historic cancer video, which he likened to 'North Korean propaganda', critics have questioned whether he really practices what he preaches, especially after his own repeated online attacks on the British royals and their appearances. Mr Bouzy claims he would 'never troll' the future queen and that his criticism was aimed at the British press and Palace officials. But his critics have pointed to his previous personal attacks on Kate, William, King Charles and Queen Camilla, including comments about their appearance, writing once that the Prince of Wales 'looks like a balding Muppet'. On another occasion Mr Bouzy said Kate and William were ageing as quickly as bananas, telling his 375,000 followers on Twitter: 'I don't understand why, since they have a team of people who wait on them hand and foot 24/7.' Around the same time on October 2021, he tweeted: 'I'm sorry, but William and Kate look like Harry's aunt and uncle'. And shortly after the death of the Queen in September 2022, he said that critics of Meghan wanted to paint her 'as some sort of harlot', adding: 'King Charles cheated on Diana and his mistress is now Queen Consort. All Meghan did was marry the man she loves while being black. Just stop.' Christopher Bouzy on Meghan and Harry's Netflix documentary and said he believes attacks on the Duchess were about hatred and racism Bouzy described the trolling against Meghan as 'not your everyday' - and said that a huge amount of criticism of her comings from a small number of Twitter accounts In this tweet from 2021, he said that William looked like a 'balding muppet' He said once that William and Kate looked old enough to be Harry's aunt and uncle Mr Bouzy shared this gif of a gymnast doing backflips in a tweet being sarcastic about Kate's health just last week In response to critics of Meghan's podcast launch, he said: 'Harry was never going to marry you' He denies he is a conspiracy theorist but also insists that the video of the Princess of Wales at a Windsor farm shop ten days ago is a fake because the woman with William looked 'ten years younger than Kate'. New Yorker Mr Bouzy was thrown into the spotlight by the release of Meghan and Harry's Netflix documentary, in which he claimed there is an agenda against Meghan driven by 'hatred and race'. The Princess of Wales was filmed ten days ago at her favourite farm shop in Windsor buying bread. She then left with William, smiling, while carrying her shopping. Millions around the world delighted in her seeing her. Bur Mr Bouzy is insistent that it is not her in the video at all. 'Windsor Farm Kate walks like a young woman rushing to use the bathroom. Moreover, Windsor Farm Kate looks ten years younger than Kate. So no, we haven't seen Kate in public yet', he said last week. Doubling down on Saturday, after Kate's cancer video, he said: 'I am not the least bit embarrassed. I said the woman in the Windsor Farm video wasn't Kate, and she's not. Kate bravely sharing her cancer diagnosis has nothing to do with the smiling person who was walking fast and holding a grocery bag. I am vaccinated against gaslighting'. He said in another tweet: 'The last time we saw a clear photo of Kate was in December. That is not a conspiracy theory; that is a fact'. Christopher's journey into the tech world began while coding on an Aquarius computer made by Barbie brand Mattel while brought up in Brooklyn by a single mother. He began his career as a computer service technician, according to LinkedIn, and then founded his own IT firms. Bouzy was inspired to create his analytics business Bot Sentinel by the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections - as a tool to prevent the spread of misinformation. He then came to the Sussexes' attention when he claimed that he was targeted by anti-Meghan Markle Twitter users when he wrote something nice about the couple. He claims that his research found that around 80 Twitter accounts were responsible for than two-thirds of all hateful 'anti-Meghan' messages. Mr Bouzy has since launched own social network Spoutible - billed by him as Twitter without the bad bits - describes itself as a 'safe, inclusive, and enjoyable online space' with a 'zero-tolerance policy for targeted harassment. His mother died in 2021 after being infected with COVID-19 while fighting cancer. He revealed that she was too scared to have the COVID-19 vaccine because 'she had just heard so many different things [online]'. He has said that her memory has inspired him further to force Twitter and other social media to remove misinformation. The Princess of Wales' historic video address about her cancer was released on Friday Just 30 minutes after the announcement, Mr Bouzy took to X to write: 'I am sorry to hear Kate has cancer, and I hope she has a full recovery. But it is also clear that all three earlier photos of her were fake, and the palace tried to cover it up' Yet within 30 minutes of Kate's broadcast, he was fuelling the fire surrounding conspiracy theories about in a rant to his 350,000 followers on X. 'I am sorry to hear Kate has cancer, I hope she has a full recovery. But it is also clear that all three earlier photos of her were fake, and the palace tried to cover it up,' he wrote. Mr Bouzy, who appeared on the Sussexes' Netflix show, was apparently referencing Kate's Mother's Day photo, a video of her shopping in Windsor and an image of her being driven in a car. The 48-year-old added: 'The palace lied, and the British Press happily helped them lie. The countless 'conspiracy theory' headlines, while knowing a lot of what was being said was true. This is really some North Korea/Trumpian type of propaganda.' He went on to accuse Prince William of throwing his wife 'under the bus' over the altered Mother's Day portrait and said he had failed to back her in her announcement. He has also shared a CNN clip, which has now been viewed millions of times, in which a doctor claimed that Kate's statement did not make 'medical sense'. Asked how cancer could be found after surgery, Jonathan Reiner said: 'With all respect to the Royal Family, that kind of press release doesn't make a lot of medical sense.' The professor of medicine at George Washington University said such operations are preceded by extensive CAT scans and MRIs, adding it was 'very likely' the surgical team knew of the cancer prior to operating. Several red-faced celebrities and commentators including Blake Lively and Kerry Katona have apologised for their careless comments about Kate. Others have face faced pressure to follow suit including Kim Kardashian, who previously uploaded a picture of herself next to her car with the caption 'on my way to go find Kate'. Paddy Harverson, the former official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the online targeting of her was the worst he had witnessed. 'It's a sort of permanent doom loop. And it's the worst I've ever seen,' he told BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. Imran Ahmed, an expert in countering online extremism, said that platforms were guilty of promoting the conspiracy theories to keep audiences hooked in order to sell ads. The Princess of Wales with her three children in a photograph released on Mother's Day. Kate later admitted editing it A photo of the late Queen Elizabeth II with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren was also manipulated, Getty images has said According to tech CEO Christopher Bouzy, he believes the image has been photoshopped because, he claims, 'you can literally see where two sides of the sofa were spliced together' According to Christopher Bouzy, writing on Twitter, he believed the 'beautiful' image appears to be Photoshopped The head of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate said: 'There is an algorithmic acceleration of conspiracy theories, hate and disinformation over accurate information and calls for support because that's what keeps the audience captive.' He said that the princess had been 'revictimised' for not sharing her private medical information immediately and was now being subjected to 'mafia style tactics' to divulge more. 'It is morally outrageous ... social media platforms have compounded the harm done to that family at what is already an incredibly difficult time,' Mr Ahmed said. His concerns were echoed by Twitter's former UK and Europe boss Bruce Daisley who said the 'serious issue' was how X's algorithms promote untrustworthy content. Damian Collins, a Tory MP who has chaired the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee, also criticised social media platforms for promoting false content. 'If a clickbait story, based on conspiracy theories, grabs people's attention, then they're more interested in that than promoting news,' he said. Chairman of the Labour Party Anneliese Dodds criticised tech bosses for failing to take action against the trolls. She told GB News that the speculation about the princess was 'lurid', adding: 'It must have been extremely distressing.' Would-be Channel migrants are being warned of the hardships they might suffer in Britain in a new Home Office social media campaign. Adverts on Facebook and YouTube target those who may be considering making illegal journeys to the UK as PM Rishi Sunak seeks to fulfil his vow to 'stop the boats'. The campaign has been launched in Vietnam with an increasing proportion of Channel migrants coming from the south-east Asian country. According to the Home Office, Vietnamese is one of the top 10 nationalities for migrants making illegal crossings to Britain. The adverts warn prospective migrants about the reality of life in the UK as an illegal entrant. One tells of a migrant's initial belief that living and earning in Britain would be 'easy', before they discovered it was 'very difficult to get work'. Another reveals a migrant's 'regret' at making the 'very scary' crossing to the UK on a small boat that was 'significantly different to what the people smugglers described'. The campaign also directs Vietnamese social media users to a new website that sets out the tough laws that face illegal migrants in Britain. This includes the risk of imprisonment for working illegally in the UK, the risk of exploitation by criminal gangs, and a bar on accessing public services. The new social media campaign has been launched in Vietnam with an increasing proportion of Channel migrants coming from the south-east Asian country People are pictured sitting onboard an inflatable boat before attempting to illegally cross the Channel to reach Britain from northern France Small boat crossings: How Vietnam compares with other countries Vietnamese nationals made up 5 per cent of small boat arrivals in the UK in 2023, up from 1 per cent in 2022 but the same proportion as in 2021, Home Office figures show. Of the 28,381 arrivals last year where nationality was known, 1,323 were from Vietnam. This is some way behind the most common country of origin, Afghanistan, which accounted for 5,545 of arrivals in 2023, or 20 per cent of the total. The next most common nationality was Iranian (13 per cent), followed by Turkish (11 per cent), Eritrean (9 per cent) and Iraqi (9 per cent). Vietnamese ranked as the eighth most common nationality last year, compared with 13th in 2022 and sixth in 2021. The figures for 2023 represent a sharp contrast with 2022, when Albania accounted for the highest number (12,658) and greatest proportion (28 per cent) of people making the journey across the English Channel. In 2023 this dropped to just 924 people, or 3 per cent of the total. The fall coincided with action taken by the governments of both countries to discourage people from attempting the crossing. Advertisement The Home Office said the launch of the campaign followed 'successful social media activity' in Albania, France and Belgium. It added that similar campaigns were 'also being considered for other priority countries'. Home Secretary James Cleverly said: 'This is a powerful campaign which demonstrates first-hand that life for people arriving here illegally is a far cry from the lies they have been sold by the gangs on the other side of the Channel. 'Last year, similar work contributed to a 90 per cent reduction in small boat arrivals from Albania, and overall numbers are down by a third, but there is more to do. 'Expanding our campaign to Vietnam, another key partner in our work to tackle illegal migration, will help us to save more lives and dent the business model of the criminals who profit from this vile trade.' In one of the new adverts, a migrant shares his experience of sleeping in a camp in Calais for five nights under the supervision of armed guards, before taking the journey across the Channel from France to the UK. The migrant, referred to as K, says in the advert: 'Never again would I risk my life in a small boat, even if you bribed me.' Meanwhile, the new 'UK Immigration Facts' website features videos from Border Force officers describing 'shocking cases' and their experiences of 'rescuing small boat migrants from life-threatening danger in the Channel'. The Home Office said UK and Vietnamese authorities 'already work closely' to prevent illegal journeys to the UK and remove those with no right to be in the country. It added that senior officials from the UK and Vietnam are due to meet in London on April 17, to 'discuss working in even closer partnership on migration issues'. It comes as a new poll revealed public dissatisfaction with the Government's handling of immigration has plumbed new depths. Just 9 per cent of Britons are happy with how ministers are dealing with our borders, while 69 per cent say they are unhappy. It is the most damning verdict since the Immigration Attitudes Tracker was launched in 2015. According to the survey of 3,000 voters - carried out by pollsters Ipsos and the think-tank British Future - 54 per cent of those who said they were unhappy cited 'not doing enough to stop Channel crossings' while 51 per cent said 'immigration numbers are too high'. More than half of all respondents now support reducing migration, up from 48 per cent in 2023. A breakdown by political party support makes bleak reading for the Conservatives just months before the general election is expected, with the flagship policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda on hold and support for Reform UK rising. Only 16 per cent of Tory supporters and 8 per cent of those who backed Boris Johnson in 2019 are happy with the current handling of immigration. And 53 per cent said the issue would be important in deciding how they will vote, behind only the NHS and cost of living. Perhaps less surprisingly, just 10 per cent of Labour supporters have a positive view of the Government's performance, with 72 per cent saying the opposite. Among Labour voters who are dissatisfied, 42 per cent said the main reason was 'creating a negative or fearful environment for migrants' while 41 per cent complained about the failure to stop small boat arrivals. Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, said: 'There is widespread dissatisfaction with the Government's handling of immigration, but for different reasons. 'Many Conservatives want tougher action to match tough words, while Labour supporters want more compassion alongside control.' The youngest mayor in Ecuadorian history and her staffer were shot dead in the latest spree of political killings in the crime-ridden country. Mayor of San Vincente, Brigitte Garcia, 27, and her communications director, Jairo Loor, were found shot dead inside a rented car in the province of Munabi early on Sunday. Both victims had sustained wounds from gunfire which emanated from inside the vehicle, according to police. The car transporting the mayor and Mr Loor contained a GPS system and was being tracked, Reuters reports. Ms Garcia was a member of ex-president Rafael Correo's left-wing party called the Citizen Revolution Movement. The youngest mayor in Ecuadorian history, Brigitte Garcia, 27, was found shot dead along with her staffer inside a car on Sunday Communications director, Jairo Loor (pictured), alongside the mayor were found to have died from gunshot wounds It is believed the gunfire came from inside the rented car, which also contained a GPS tracking system One of the party's most recent presidential candidates, Luisa Gonzalez, took to X to brand the 27-year-old murder as an assassination. 'I've just found out they've assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia,' Gonzalez said in a post. 'I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador NOBODY.' The young politician is the latest political figure to be killed in the South American country. Last August, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was gunned down when leaving a rally - with only two weeks to go until the election. Footage shared on social media showed Villavicencio, 59, being escorted out of the rally venue at 6:20pm local time and into a waiting car. He was climbing into the back seat when gunfire rang out. The windows did not appear to be bulletproof. A week before his death, the ex-journalist who was well-known for taking on corruption head-on, revealed he had been threatened by a gang leader connected to drug trafficking. In July 2023, another Ecuadorian mayor, Agustin Intriago, was shot dead whilst he toured his city - Manta. Ms Garcia (pictured) was a member of ex-president Rafael Correo's left-wing - Citizen Revolution Movement party The party's most recent presidential candidate, Luisa Gonzalez said: 'I've just found out they've assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia. I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador NOBODY' The 27-year-old's death is the latest in a recent spree of political killings. Last August presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was gunned down two weeks before the election The president at the time - Guillermo Lasso - declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Manabi and Los Rios and the city of Duran following Intriago's death. Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa's government has condemned the murders of the 27-year-old mayor and her staffer. They say that they are collaborating with authorities and the prosecutor's office to ensure a quick investigation. This comes after Noboa declared a state of emergency in Ecuador after a surge in violence which saw hooded thugs invade a state TV news studio in January. He has also categorized 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations. In March, he extended the state of emergency in the South American country. Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa's (pictured) government is working with the police and the prosecutor's office to investigate the killings of the 27-year-old mayor and her staffer The devastating terrorist attack that saw almost 140 Moscow concert-goers slaughtered and hundreds more injuries by a quartet of gunmen is the latest in a long line of deadly Islamic extremist operations on Russian soil. Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), an offshoot of ISIS based in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the assault on the Crocus City Hall concert venue last week, backing up its claim with graphic bodycam footage that showed how terrorists indiscriminately mowed down civilians with automatic weapons. ISIS-K, which seeks to create an Islamic caliphate spanning several Central Asian and Middle Eastern countries, said its attack was part of 'the raging war between the Islamic State and countries fighting Islam'. But the group is just one of several Islamic extremist movements that have declared war on Russia. The brutality of Moscow's military actions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and most recently Syria means Russia is seen as responsible for the deaths of countless Muslims and is a primary target for ISIS affiliates, as well as the likes of Al-Qaeda. Here, MailOnline recaps some of the most notorious and deadly Islamic extremist attacks suffered by Russia in recent memory. A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow ISIS' news agency Amaq released sickening a 90-second selfie video of the attack that is too graphic for MailOnline to share Photographs show one of the suspected terrorists, named as Shamsuddin Fariddun, lying on a gym floor with his trousers pulled down and wires evidently attached to his groin area Crocus City Hall attack, 2024 Death toll: At least 137, expected to climb Perpetrator(s): ISIS-K A white, unmarked van pulled up outside Moscow's Crocus City Hall concert venue just before 8pm on Friday, March 22. A quartet of gunmen exited the vehicle, strode into the foyer and began mowing down horrified, defenceless concert-goers. READ MORE: The conveyor belt of torture in Putin's prisons that awaits Moscow concert hall terrorists Advertisement Scores of bodies were seen piled up in sickening footage circulated on social media, with fleeing civilians collapsing to the floor as they were pumped full of hot lead by the terrorists. Having cleared the foyer, the gunmen stormed into the concert hall and began firing wildly into the crowd, causing a stampede as desperate audience members fled for the exits. The terrorists then detonated small explosives which set fire to the venue and later spiralled into an inferno that consumed much of the building and caused the roof to cave in. In a 90-second clip later published by ISIS-K, one gunman can be heard saying: 'The infidels will be defeated, God willing. God is great. The infidels will be defeated. We went out for the sake of God and to seek His religion.' A Moscow court has remanded four suspected gunmen in custody on 'terror' charges, accusing them of being the assailants who stormed the concert hall and then set it on fire on Friday night. The men, named as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Shamsiddin Fariduni, Saidakrami Murodali Rajabalizoda and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, face life in prison - though some Russian officials have called for the lifting of a moratorium on the death penalty to deliver even harsher sentences. All four, believed to be of Tajik origin, have already been subjected to brutal treatment at the hands of Russia's security forces. Rajabalizoda was held down by a security team, who in graphic video footage appeared to saw off part of his ear - and then forced him to eat it. Shamsiddin meanwhile was seen lying on the floor foaming at the mouth as his genitals were shocked by a wire connected to a military radio. Crocus City Hall is located in the city's Krasnogorsk Urban Settlement in the Krasnogorsky District A person looks on the Crocus City Hall concert venue following a terrorist attack Rescuers clearing the rubble and extinguishing fires in the hall of the Crocus City Hall Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia March 24, 2024 St Petersburg metro bombing, 2017 Death toll: 16 Perpetrator(s): Al Qaeda affiliate (suspected) On April 3, 2017, suicide bomber Akbarzhon Djalilov boarded the metro in St Petersburg, stood into the middle of a packed train carriage and detonated a bomb. The explosion rang out as the train hurtled between the Sennaya Ploshchad' and Tekhnologicheskii Institut metro stations in the heart of the city. Djalilov chose to strike during the afternoon rush-hour, waiting until the train was stuffed full of commuters to cause maximum damage. Official figures put the death toll at 16, including the bomber, but more than 100 people suffered significant injuries. The death toll could have been significantly higher, had authorities not discovered and successfully disarmed a second bomb that the attacker had left at a different metro station. In the days after the attack, authorities revealed the bomber's identity as Djalilov, a 22-year-old Russian citizen of Kyrgyzstani and Uzbekistani descent, though they were unable to determine Jalilov's motivation. But an analysis of the man's profile on Russian social media website VKontakte revealed he had developed an interest in Wahabbism - a conservative branch of Islam known for its strict interpretation of Sharia law - leading Russian media outlets to speculate his involvement with Islamic extremist groups. Weeks later, Al-Qaeda affiliate Imam Shamil Battalion - an extremist group based in Russia's North Caucasus region, declared Djalilov was acting on its behalf and executed orders from Al-Qaeda chiefs. On April 3, 2017, suicide bomber Akbarzhon Djalilov boarded the metro in St Petersburg, stood into the middle of a packed train carriage and detonated a bomb The aftermath of the explosion aboard the St Petersburg metro at the Tekhnologicheskii Institut metro station A subway train hit by a explosion stays at the Tekhnologicheskii Institut subway station in St.Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 3, 2017 Metrojet bombing, 2015 Death toll: 224 Perpetrator(s): ISIS affiliate The downing of Metrojet flight 9268, an Airbus A321 passenger plane operated by the now defunct Russian airline, is thought the be one of the worst terrorist attacks to have ever targeted Russian citizens. Metrojet Flight 9268 departed from Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in Egypt bound for Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia on October 31, 2015. But just 23 minutes after take-off, the plane suffered a violent explosion at an altitude of some 31,000 feet, which tore the fuselage apart and sent its remains plummeting to the ground, spreading debris over a huge area of desert in Egypt's Sinai peninsula. The explosion killed all 224 passengers and crew, 219 of whom were Russian with four Ukrainians and one Belarusian also on board. Unsettling images emerged shortly after the crash that showed children's clothing strewn about in the wreckage. One Egyptian investigator later confirmed they found the remains of one child some five miles away from the main crash site. Islamic State's Sinai branch quickly claimed responsibility, goading Russian investigators with images of what it said was the explosive device responsible for the blast. Russian investigators later claimed they were 'sure' that the explosion was the result of a terror attack, adding they believed an explosive device had been hidden in the plane's cargo hold and was detonated remotely shortly after takeoff. Cockpit recordings recovered from the plane's black box suggested the pilots had no warning whatsoever of the explosion, with the plane's instruments reported to have been operating normally until the devastating incident occurred. Russian authorities ultimately put the explosion down to terror, citing its intelligence reports, discovery of explosive residue at the crash site, an investigation into ISIS communications and the admission of ISIS' Sinai branch. A year later in 2016, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also declared the incident the result of terrorism, after Egyptian investigators were initially hesitant to label the crash a terrorist incident. Debris from crashed Russian jet lies strewn across the sand at the site of the crash, Sinai, Egypt, 31 October 2015 A handout picture taken on November 1, 2015 and released on November 3, 2015 by Russia's Emergency Ministry shows Russian Emergency Minister Vladimir Puchkov (4th L) visiting the crash site of a A321 Russian airliner in Wadi al-Zolomat, a mountainous area of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula Wreckage at the site where a Russian aircraft crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula near El Arish city after exploding at an altitude of 31,000ft Chechnya attacks, 2014 Death toll: 6 (bombing), 15 + 11 militants (shooting) Perpetrators: Caucasus Emirate and lone bomber A pair of attacks in Grozny, the capital of Russia's Republic of Chechnya, resulted in the deaths of some 32 people in late 2014. The first came on October 5, 2014, when 19-year-old Opti Mudarov detonated an IED outside a public building amid Grozny's 'City Day' celebrations. The blast could have killed many more people were it not for a group of police officers who noticed the young Chechen's nervous and erratic behaviour and stopped him to perform a search. But the explosion killed all five officers, as well as Mudarov, and wounded another dozen people attending the celebrations. Authorities initially put the attack down to Islamic terrorism, but Mudarov was not known to be affiliated with any extremist group. Chechen Republic leader and close Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov - whose birthday coincides with Grozny's City Day - declared Mudarov was acting at the behest of the Caucasus Emirate, but the group never declared responsibility and authorities could not prove any link between the bomber and the insurgents. This led many commentators to speculate Mudarov could have been a Chechen separatist wanting to make a statement against Kadyrov. Then just two months later on December 4, a brutal firefight broke out between Russian security forces and a group of Caucasus Emirate militants who shot dead three traffic policemen who demanded they stopped at a checkpoint in the city's suburbs. All 11 militants were shot dead - but not before they managed to kill another 11 Russian soldiers and a civilian when they set the building they had occupied alight. A burnt-out car is seen near the Press House building, a local media agency, in the Chechen capital Grozny, December 4, 2014 A publishing house building is seen in flames in the centre of Grozny, Russia, on December 4, 2014 People walk past burnt out kiosks at a street market close to a destroyed building housing the local media known as the Press House, in central Grozny, on December 4, 2014 Volgograd bombings, 2013 Death toll: 34 Perpetrators: Caucasus Emirate December 2013 saw the Russian city of Volgograd suffer two deadly suicide bombings in as many days. The bombings targeted transportation hubs to maximise the devastation. A total of 34 people ultimately died as a result of the attacks with dozens more sustaining major injuries. The first bomb rang out on December 29 when a suicide bomber detonated their IED at the entrance of Volgograd-1 railway station, targeting holidaymakers departing and returning for New Year. Eighteen people were killed and scores more wounded as the blast sent shrapnel flying through the foyer. Just a day later, a second suicide bomber detonated their explosive device aboard a crowded trolleybus during the morning rush hour. The explosion blasted a huge hole in the side of the bus and set it ablaze, claiming the lives of 16 people. The responsibility for the Volgograd bombings was claimed by the Caucasus Emirate, an Islamist militant group operating in the North Caucasus region of Russia led by the self-declared emir Doku Umarov. But these attacks were among the last major acts of the group, which by 2015 had collapsed as most of its members defected to other Islamist movements, primarily local ISIS affiliate IS-CP (Caucasus Province). A handout photograph released by the Volgograd regional Interior Ministry department's press service shows the wreckage of a trolleybus after an attack by a suicide bomber in Volgograd, Russia, 30 December 2013. Reports stated at least 14 people were killed and 28 wounded in the bombing A destroyed trolleybus stands on a street in Volgograd on December 30, 2013 Russian firefighters and security personnel inspect the destroyed trolleybus in Volgograd on December 30, 2013 Moscow metro bombings, 2010 Death toll: 40 Perpetrator(s): Caucasus Emirate A pair of female suicide bombers rocked the Moscow metro system in 2010, which at the time was seen as one of Russia's most severe Islamic terror attacks. The so-called 'black widows' struck the Moscow metro during the morning rush hour on March 29, with the first explosion occurring at the Lubyanka station, situated near the headquarters of Russia's FSB security services. The suicide bomber detonated her explosives on the platform just prior to the arrival of a train, waiting until the station was packed with as many commuters as possible. Shortly after, chaos ensued at the Park Kultury station when a second suicide bomber set off her device in the middle of a train carriage just after boarding the vehicle. The death toll from the twin bombings reached 40, with more than 100 people sustaining severe injuries. Days later, heavily distorted black-and-white images from the crime scene published by Russian media purported to show the damaged faces of the two women believed to have authored the attacks, and the FSB later declared they had identified both bombers. Dagestani women Dzhanet Abdullayeva, 18, and Maryam Sharipova, 28, were confirmed as the black widows responsible for the killings. Caucasus Emirate leader Umarov said his group had planned and executed the attacks, with authorities later reporting that bomber Abdullayeva had likely been driven to commit the atrocity after her husband, an Islamic insurgent named Umalat Magomedov, was killed by the Russian army. Medics and rescuers giving first aid to victims of the explosion at the Park Kultury metro station in Moscow A wounded woman holds her knee outside the Park Kultury metro station on March 29, 2010 after an explosion went off in a carriage of a train on the platform A wounded man gives a phone call outside the Park Kultury metro station on March 29, 2010 Courtney Grant was set to start her dream job in the real estate industry in just a day's time. Although the 20-year-old had been suffering migraines and bouts of vomiting in the months prior, she was overjoyed about her emerging career and put the lingering illness out of her mind. Then, her excitement turned to pure terror on February 25, when she woke up in her Bray Park home in Brisbane paralysed on her right side and unable to speak. Ms Grant had suffered a freak stroke and a vital artery on the right side of her neck was now blocking critical blood flow. Courtney Grant was set to start her dream job in the real estate industry in just a day's time. Then she woke up paralysed on her right side and unable to speak She eventually managed to get out of bed but fell straight onto the floor. Still unable to call for help, she feared her mother who was sleep in the next room would soon find her dead. 'It took me 20 minutes to try and call out. My mum came rushing in when I was loud enough for her to finally hear my moans,' Ms Grant told the Courier Mail. Paramedics rushed Ms Grant to hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to extract a blood clot from her groin. Doctors could not tell Ms Grant's mother if her daughter would ever walk, talk or speak again. But five days later Ms Grant regained the ability to move and was responding to questions. Ms Grant suffered a stroke and paramedics rushed her to hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to extract a blood clot from her groin She diagnosed with vasculitis - a condition that effects blood flow to tissue and organs - and was almost certainly the cause of her mysterious migraines and nausea. 'I have a long road ahead with various appointments and rehabilitation but I have been told there is little to no chance of this happening again,' Ms Grant said. 'I have so much anxiety from the idea of this happening again and I've tried to wipe some of the memories. 'I have so much respect and appreciation for my life and am focused on recovering in time for my 21st birthday later this year.' The family have set up a GoFundMe page for Grant as she continues her recovery. Two Holland America cruise ship workers were boiled to death when a steam compensator exploded in the engine room while it was docked close to the Bahamas. Named as engineer Joseph Terrado and wiper Wawan Gusnawan by a maritime lawyer, the two were killed by a 'catastrophic explosion' on board the Nieuw Amsterdam ship around 9am Friday. Passenger Laine Doss said the captain broke the news of the deaths to passengers over the ship's announcement speakers. He was audibly crying, it was shocking to hear that, she told ABC News. The entire ship turned somber, he asked for a moment of silence. The explosion released steam into the engine room, triggering an alarm. Staff reportedly closed the water-tight doors and shut down the ventilation to the space before evacuating - but two members were still inside. Two Holland America cruise ship workers were boiled to death when a steam compensator exploded in the engine room (pictured) while it was docked close to the Bahamas Named as engineer Joseph Terrado and wiper Wawan Gusnawan by a maritime lawyer, the two were killed by an explosion on board the Nieuw Amsterdam ship (pictured) at around 9am Friday Passenger Laine Doss said the captain broke the news of the deaths to passengers over the ship's announcement speakers Maritime attorney Jim Walker, of Maritime Lawyers, and they could not manually open the hydraulic doors. 'They were trapped in the space,' Walker said. 'They apparently suffocated due to the lack of oxygen and hot steam (180 degrees Celsius) which overwhelmed them. Their bodies were located near the closed water tight doors. Walker added Terrado, from the Philippines, and Gusnawan, from Indonesia, were 'installing filters when a steam compensator unrelated to their duties exploded.' He said the piece of equipment which malfunctioned was the 'thermal expansion joint' within the compensator. 'The catastrophic explosion, combined with a series of mistakes in responding to the accident, caused the deaths of HAL employees Joseph Terrado and Wawan Gusnawan,' Walker said. Holland America issued a statement saying the tragedy unfolded 'in an engineering space on board' while the boat was anchored at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. 'The appropriate authorities were notified, and the cause of the incident is currently being investigated,' the Seattle-based cruise line said in a statement. Holland America issued a statement saying the tragedy unfolded 'in an engineering space on board' while the boat was anchored at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas A maritime attorney said the piece of equipment which malfunctioned was the 'thermal expansion joint' within the compensator (pictured) 'All of us at Holland America are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with our team members' families at this difficult time.' The cruise line added the 'safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew' are the company's 'absolute priority', and they are offering counseling services to anyone affected by the incident. The Nieuw Amsterdams homeport is Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and it set sail on March 16 on a seven-night voyage, according to ABC News. DailyMail.com has contacted Holland America for more information. Terrado and Gusnawan were not equipped with breathing devices, according to Prince Harry is safe to stay in America as long as Joe Biden remains president, the US ambassador said today as she laughed off Donald Trump's threats to take 'appropriate action' against him. The Republican frontrunner said last week that the Duke of Sussex could face consequences if he is found to have lied about taking drugs on his US visa application. US Ambassador Jane Hartley was asked about his comments in an interview today. She laughed off the suggestion Harry could be deported, telling Sky News: 'It's not gonna happen in the Biden administration.' Harry's references to using cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms in his memoir, Spare, prompted a conservative think-tank to sue the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) to reveal the contents of his visa application. The Heritage Foundation claims the information is of 'immense public interest' as, they claim, it could show Harry 'lied' on his visa application about his past drug use or 'answered truthfully' and 'received special treatment'. Donald Trump said last week that 'action' could be taken against the Duke of Sussex if he is found to have lied about taking drugs on his US visa application US Ambassador Jane Hartley laughed off the suggestion Harry could be deported, telling Sky News: 'It's not gonna happen in the Biden administration' The Biden administration is fighting the case on the basis that visa applicants have a right to privacy. But the foundation has countered by insisting Harry undermined his right to privacy in the book and by 'selling every aspect of his private life'. Interviewed for GB News by Nigel Farage last Tuesday, Donald Trump said Harry should not get 'special privileges' if it turns out he lied. Mr Trump said: 'We'll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they'll have to take appropriate action.' READ MORE - Russia won't stop with Ukraine if Putin wins, US ambassador to Britain Jane Hartley warns Advertisement Asked if 'appropriate action' could mean 'not staying in America', Mr Trump replied: 'Oh I don't know. You'll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago.' The former president also used the interview to accuse Harry and Meghan of 'breaking the Queen's heart' with their public criticism of the Royal Family. Mr Trump said that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were 'horrible' towards the late Monarch during Megxit and claimed that, while she did not express it publicly, they 'really hurt her'. Mr Trump said he got to know The Queen 'very well' on his state visit to the UK in 2019, calling her 'unbelievable'. He said: 'I got to know her very well over the course of a couple of years. And I thought she was treated very disrespectfully by them,' referring to Harry and Meghan. Mr Trump said: 'I would say although she wouldn't show it because she was strong and smart, I would imagine they broke her heart. 'The things that they were saying were so bad and so horrible. And she was in her 90s and hearing this stuff. I think they broke her heart. I think they really hurt her'. The comments by Mr Trump are his latest attack on the Sussexes but serve as a warning shot given he is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate and polls show he is leading Joe Biden by five points. Interviewed for GB News by Nigel Farage last Tuesday, Donald Trump said Harry should not get 'special privileges' if it turns out he lied Harry has said he is considering becoming a US citizen Harry has admitted to using cocaine and marijuana in the past, once saying that cannabis helped heal the trauma of his mother's death. The Duke said that using ayahuasca, the psychedelic drug, he realised that his mother wanted him to be 'happy'. Prince Harry's book, Spare The issue was back in the news following Harry's February interview with Good Morning America which raised the issue of him seeking US citizenship. 'The American citizenship is a thought that has crossed my mind but certainly not something that's a high priority for me right now,' he said. Anyone applying for a visa to live and work in America has to answer 'yes' or 'no' to the question: 'Are you or have you ever been a drug abuser or addict?' Harry's US visa application in March 2020 could show he ticked the 'no' box on questions about his drug use, The Heritage Foundation claims. The US immigration authorities routinely ask about drug use on its visa applications, and it has been linked to travel headaches for celebrities, including Nigella Lawson, Amy Winehouse, and Kate Moss. Acknowledgement of past drug use doesn't necessarily result in a visa rejection or bar people from entering or staying in the country. New factories driving China's high-quality growth Xinhua) 08:24, March 25, 2024 * In recent years, lighthouse factories, unmanned factories, and smart factories have been mushrooming in China. Increased productivity there offers an insight into how new quality productive forces are driving high-quality growth in the world's second-largest economy. * By the end of 2023, China had incubated 421 national-level demonstration factories and over 10,000 provincial-level digital workshops and smart factories, official data showed. * More plans for smart factories are being rolled out across the country. Beijing plans to further add 100 intelligent factories and digital workshops by 2026. Shanghai plans to build 70 municipal-level intelligent factories this year. SHANGHAI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Nearly two years after the first BAO Robot took up the post at Baosteel in Shanghai, the country's largest steel maker has brought in many more such smart robots amid its digital transformation. China Baowu Steel Group Corporation planned to introduce over 10,000 BAO Robots by 2026. Unlike their predecessors, the new robots are powered by smart cloud platforms. In recent years, lighthouse factories, unmanned factories, and smart factories have been mushrooming in China. Increased productivity there offers an insight into how new quality productive forces are driving high-quality growth in the world's second-largest economy. NEW FACTORIES, NEW PRODUCTIVITY Inside a massive factory of Aptiv Electrical Centers (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., rows of robots and CNC machine tools, and automated guided vehicles are busy working. It's rare to see human workers. This undated photo shows a plant of Aptiv Electrical Centers (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua) A smart system precisely arranges all production processes at the factory of Aptiv, a leading global automotive connector supplier. A smart factory is not simply automation replacing human labor, but a full-process digital recreation, from research and development and production to logistics and after-sales services, said Yang Xiaoming, president of Aptiv China and Asia Pacific. Yang said the smart factory has driven down the operating costs by 30 percent, while the company's annual sales have grown by double digits over the past three years. In traditional car manufacturing, buyers often need to choose between standard models. But SAIC MAXUS' smart factory in Nanjing offers personalized customization services, winning the title of Lighthouse Factory awarded by the Davos World Economic Forum. Customers can choose from thousands of configurations and customize their desired models in as short as three minutes without additional costs. After placing an order, they can track the production progress in real time. "Our Nanjing factory has achieved smart logistics and manufacturing, and even our ties with hundreds of suppliers are digitally connected," said Hao Jingxian, general manager of SAIC MAXUS. "We are also a transparent factory, with products displayed to users through different stages." This undated photo shows an exterior view of SAIC MAXUS' smart factory in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua) These are epitomes of how intelligent manufacturing is transforming factories. By the end of 2023, China had incubated 421 national-level demonstration factories and over 10,000 provincial-level digital workshops and smart factories, official data showed. More plans for smart factories are being rolled out across the country. Beijing plans to further add 100 intelligent factories and digital workshops by 2026. Shanghai plans to build 70 municipal-level intelligent factories this year. Authorities will offer policy support to make over 70 percent of new smart factories demonstration and benchmark ones, said Zhang Ying, head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization. At existing smart factories, the production efficiency has increased by 50 percent on average, while the operating costs have decreased by 30 percent, and the energy consumption per unit of added value has decreased by 13.8 percent, the official said. NEW FACTORS, NEW MOMENTUM From visible robots to invisible data, smart factories are gathering new production factors, injecting new momentum into intelligent manufacturing. As China's first city to include robot density in the statistics, Shanghai has seen its density reach 426 robots per 10,000 people at major enterprises of key industries. In the Shanghai STEP Robotics Super Factory, the density has reached 1,080 robots per 10,000 people. The sci-fi-style scene of robots producing robots has become a routine there. Smart robots assemble parts from different suppliers and a robot is produced every 12 minutes. This photo taken on Nov. 29, 2023 shows robots displayed at an exhibition on sci-tech innovations in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe) "China has the world's most diverse application scenarios. We can help better build the unique resilience and competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing," said Zhang Zhenkui, special assistant to the chairman of Shanghai STEP Electric Corporation. Apart from the visible robot employees, the invisible data also unleashes growth momentum. An industrial internet system of Zhijing Technology is applied in more than 9,000 textile enterprises across the country. It has the operation information of over 700,000 textile equipment. "Dyeing formulas used to rely mainly on the personal experience of veteran workers and the records in the books, which was time-consuming, strenuous and error-prone," said Zou Yuanjiao, head of the brand department of Zhijing Technology. "Nowadays, our digital solutions can greatly shorten the sample dyeing period." Rapidly embracing the intelligence wave, China's manufacturing has begun to empower the global supply chain. "The Chinese factory is our most automated and intelligent factory in the world," said Yang of Aptiv China. "China's auto industry has led the electrification and intelligent transformation, and we must take the initiative to adapt to the 'China speed' of intelligent mobility and the requirements of Chinese customers for rapid iteration of new technologies." (Reporting by Wang Yongqian, Yao Yujie, Zhou Rui, Gong Wen, Yang Kai, Li Baojie) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Top Chinese diplomat meets WPK delegation in Beijing Xinhua) 11:24, March 25, 2024 Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, meets with a delegation led by Kim Song Nam, international department director of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, in Beijing, capital of China, March 23, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with a delegation led by Kim Song Nam, international department director of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, in Beijing on Saturday. Noting that it is an unswerving policy of the CPC and the Chinese government in the new era to maintain, consolidate and develop the traditional friendship with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that China is willing to work with the DPRK to run a series of activities of the China-DPRK Friendship Year, expand pragmatic cooperation in various fields, and open up brighter prospects for China-DPRK relations. Kim Song Nam said the DPRK-China friendship is the common strategic wealth of the two countries, adding the DPRK appreciates China's support for its socialist cause and will also support China's measures taken on issues related to Taiwan, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, among others. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a tank unit bearing "Seoul" in its name for being the first to enter the South Korean capital during the Korean War, praising the unit as a "model for the entire army," state media said Monday. Kim visited the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division and the affiliated First Tank Armored Infantry Regiment on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. "The division ... was the first to charge into Seoul and fly the flag of the DPRK on the puppet capitol building and performed distinguished feats in many battles during the past Fatherland Liberation War, thus adding the title of guards and Seoul to its brilliant name," the KCNA said. Kim touted the unit as "the symbol of the heroic and brave spirit of" the North's military, saying it "should hold high the banner as befitting a model of the entire army in the ongoing struggle witnessing the intensive training for finishing war preparations." "He set forth important tasks, guidelines for strengthening in every way the combat preparations and combat efficiency of the unit including the issue of arming the tank crews with overwhelming ideological and moral strength and thoroughly training them in military technical and physical aspects and getting combat technical equipment always ready for action," the KCNA said. During the visit, Kim was also briefed on the unit's attack and defense operation plans and looked around its facilities, such as its cafeteria and medical wards, it added. The visit came as the North has been ramping up tensions after defining South Korea as a "primary foe and invariable principal enemy" and codifying its commitment to "completely occupying" the South in the event of a war in the country's constitution. Last week, North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and conducted a ground jet test of what it said was a solid-fuel engine for a new type of intermediate hypersonic missile. (Yonhap) A British man has plunged to his death after slipping and hitting his head while leaping from a bridge into the water below during a night out with friends in Australia. The man in his 30s died in the early hours of Sunday in the coastal town Noosa Sound, in the eastern state of Queensland. The English tourist was reportedly part of a group taking turns jumping from the Noosa Sound Bridge. After completing one jump, he returned to the bridge for another attempt. Unfortunately, he lost his footing while crossing the railing and struck his head on the descent. The tragic death follows several warnings from police against jumping from the Noosa Sound Bridge (file image of people jumping off the bridge) The man in his 30s died in the early hours of Sunday in the coastal town Noosa Sound, in the eastern state of Queensland (pictured: Noosa Sound Bridge) Local paramedics attended the scene at about 1.15am but were unable to find the man. Police divers discovered his body at 6am (file image) When he failed to emerge from the water, his friends immediately began a frantic search before contacting emergency services at around 1am. The man's body was finally recovered five hours later. Police divers searched the Noosa River for the man, and his body was found at about 6am with the help of a local boat operator with sonar equipment. A report will be prepared for the coroner. Queensland Ambulance Service and local police attended the scene at about 1.15am but could not locate the man. The tragic death follows several warnings from police against jumping from the bridge. Despite cautions it could lead to serious injury, it has remained a popular tourist activity. Now-retired Senior Sergeant Peter Feldman previously explained what makes it so risky. 'They are not only risking their own lives, but that of people in passing boats,' he told Noosa News. 'It is an offence to jump off certain structures and they are breaking the law. 'It's not the height of the bridge that makes it dangerous - it's the way that they can fall. It only takes a fall of a couple of metres to seriously injure somebody.' A spokesman for the Foreign, Development and Commonwealth Office said: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Australia and are in contact with the local authorities.' Steve Jobs remains one of the most iconic figures in the world of technology to this day, 13 years after his death at the age of 56. When Jobs founded Apple Inc. in 1976 alongside Steve Wozniak, they quickly turned the company into a technology world leader. It was Jobs' vision that brought the world the Mac, the iPod and the iPhone. It's thanks to this legacy that Jobs' signature, and all manner of memorabilia associated with his life continue to be valued so high by collectors. Last week, an incredible auction of rare items from the 'Apple Revolution' made over a staggering $1.6million - with a signed Steve Jobs business card from 1983 selling for $181,000. The vintage collection of Apple memorabilia that shaped some of the most popular technology seen on shelves today was sold through Boston based RR Auction. With 120 items up for grabs, the Steve Jobs Apple Computer Revolution auction highlighted the history and evolvement of the brand - which today is worth $2.66trillion. Steve Jobs, shown here presenting the first iPhone, died in 2013 after a lengthy cancer battle. His vision saw Apple become one of the world leaders in the world of technology This Steve Jobs business card sold for $181,183 showing the value that the iconic tech visionary's signature still holds Among the more bizarre items up for a auction was a signed movie ticket from 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean This Apple 1 that was signed by Steve Wozniak sold for $323,789. The Apple-1 has been restored to a fully operational state and came with a custom case with a built-in keyboard A sealed iPhone first generation box sold for $25,000, the groundbreaking device sold for just $499 when it first hit the marketplace back in 2007. This 4GB model was discontinued quickly as customers much preferred the 8GB version A check Jobs used to pay Apple's $200 July 1976 phone bill sold for $66,000. Jobs signature is among the most sought after in the world Apple and technology enthusiasts were offered the opportunity of a lifetime to get their hands on items ranging from an original Apple mouse prototype to a sealed first generation iPhone. Named after the Luke Dormehl book 'The Apple Revolution: The Real Story of How Steve Jobs and the Crazy Ones Took Over the World' the auction made a mind-blowing total of $1,612,854. One of the most expensive items sold for $323,789 was an Apple-1 computer signed by Wozniak. The demo piece is fully functioning, and was sold complete with all the components and accessories required for operation, according to RR Auction. The fascinating history of the item reveals the computer was originally used as a demonstration system at the Data Domain computer store in Columbus, Indiana, in 1977, before being given to the original owner in 1978. The computer was also accompanied by a lengthy, detailed provenance statement from the original owner, whose early exposure to computing with this Apple-1 laid the foundation for a career in software development and hardware research and design. In a less technical sale, a signed Steve Jobs business card from 1983 sold for $181,183. A pair of Steve Wozniak's Apple rainbow glasses, of which only 30 were made in 1979 by an optometrist, sold for $11,000. In 2020, a similar pair sold for $18,973 A glossy 14 x 11 photo of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in their early Apple days, signed in blue felt tip by company co-founders Wozniak and Ron Wayne, sold for $250 to a lucky buyer A collection of Apple iMac G3 computers in a range of different colors sold for $11,229. The iMac, part of Jobs' vision saw Apple relaunched in a then-Microsoft dominated marketplace A prototype of Apple's original mouse design sold for $14,616. One early prototype of the mouse used a roll-on-ball from a bottle of deodorant A rainbow logo that hung in the company's factory in Fremont told for $40,676, other promotional items that went on the chopping block included Apple clothing and embroidered patches A $13 check that Jobs signed in 1976 sold for $176,850. A series of checks went up for auction in 2023 having previously been held by a private collector who bought them in the 1990s Featuring the iconic multi-color Apple 'byte' logo, the off-white card was listed as 'extremely rare, perfectly graded Steve Jobs-signed Apple Computer business card from circa 1983'. According to the auction house, this particular item was extremely sought after as less than five Jobs-signed Apple Computer business cardsfrom any periodhave successfully passed PSA/DNA authentication. Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction, said: 'The sale of the Steve Jobs-signed Apple business card for over $180,000 sets a new standard in autographed business cards. 'It's a testament to the enduring legacy of Jobs and the profound impact of Apple on our modern world.' Also sold within the auction was a prototype mouse - the Douglas Engelbart: Three-Button 'Mark II' Hawley X063X Mouse. The item was personally gifted by computer visionary Douglas Engelbart to his friend and colleague, Bill Daul, who was a member of Engelbart's pioneering research team at Stanford Research Institute. The rectangular mouse, measuring 2 x 3.25 x 1, features three black buttons to the top, and a clear product label from The Mouse House (Berkeley, California) to the underside. The mouse retains its original wire with a serial port connection, and was sold for $1,880 'in fine condition', with missing coating to the wire. This Apple operating manual sold for $250 A sealed first generation iPhone also made the auction - selling for an eye-watering sum of $147,286. The nostalgic 4GB phone came in a factory-sealed box, featuring a life-size image of the iPhone with twelve icons on the screen, indicating that it is from the earliest production (2007); a 13th icon, for iTunes, came later in the year. The 4GB iPhone is the rarest of all original iPhones, as it was discontinued by Apple on September 5, 2007, just over two months after the pioneering product's debut. A glossy 14 x 11 photo of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in their early Apple days, signed in blue felt tip by company co-founders Wozniak and Ron Wayne, sold for $250 to a lucky buyer. Wayne signed over his embossed personal seal and added 'Ronald G. Wayne, Co-Founder, Apple Computer Co., 1976.' to the image. Sold in fine condition, with a couple of small scratches, the piece also features an authenticity label in the lower right corner. Apple auctions are big money. In 2023, an early Apple computer sold for more than $223,000. The Apple-1 was restored to a fully operational state and came with a custom case with a built-in keyboard, according to RR Auction. About 200 were manufactured in Apple co-founder Jobs garage in Los Altos, California, in 1976 and 1977 and helped launch the company. Originally sold for $666, it was expected to sell for about $200,000, RR said. The Apple-1 was signed Woz by Wozniak at an event at Bryant University in 2017. It was acquired used by the person who sold it in 1980 at a computer hobbyist show in Framingham, Massachusetts, and was used throughout the 1980s. It was brought to an operational state earlier this year by Apple expert Corey Cohen, the auction house said. In 2018, a pre-Apple job application that Jobs filled out in 1973 sold for over $50,000. In 2022, a pair of his sandals sold for $281,0000. An RE teacher who faced backlash for showing pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed was 'let down' by his school and police after being driven into hiding, a review has found. The teacher was suspended in March 2021 from his post as head of religious studies at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire and said he suffered suicidal thoughts after being harassed. Dame Sara Khan, the Government's social cohesion tsar, slammed weak leadership in the face of 'aggressive' protests from 'self-appointed community leaders' who accused the teacher of blasphemy for showing pupils the cartoon. The unnamed teacher has since moved away from the area and been given a new identity, after fearing for his life - despite being cleared by an investigation. In her social cohesion review, Khan warned efforts to 'appease aggressive aggravators' could increase the use of 'intimidatory tactics'. 'The circumstances surrounding what happened to the RS teacher are profoundly shocking,' Khan wrote. 'What happened to him could potentially happen to anyone in the course of their job or profession. The Government's social cohesion tsar Sara Khan (pictured) has defended the RE teachers forced into hiding after facing threats for showing pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed Protests were held outside the gates at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire in 2021 'This lesson had been delivered at least four times previously, yet overnight his life changed and his ability to live in our free society was severely restricted.' Dame Sara told BBC Breakfast today: 'How was it that in this day and age a man who was just doing his job as a teacher was forced into hiding and what was the response of the authorities and local agencies at that time? 'Sadly some of the things I realised was that he and I both felt that the local authority had failed him, West Yorkshire Police hadn't taken the appropriate response and the Batley Multi Academy Trust didn't respond to it either effectively. 'This is a much broader problem what my review is showing is that victims like the RS teacher is a victim of what I have termed as freedom-restricting harassment. 'People in our country are experiencing or witnessing threatening, abusive and intimidatory harassment which is then leading people to self-censor out of fear for themselves or their loved ones.' The teacher, in his late 20s, was immediately forced to flee his housing association home in Batley with his partner and four young children. In May 2021 he was cleared following an independent external investigation into whether he caused deliberate offence and told he could have his job back. But he has not returned to the school and has since been living in a secret location outside the Yorkshire area, while also provided with a new identity. The teacher, in his late 20s, showed the controversial image to children at Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire in March 2021. Protesters are pictured outside the school He was immediately forced to flee his housing association home in Batley with his partner and four young children. Pictured: Batley Grammar School The image shown in class was taken from the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which was targeted in a 2015 deadly mass shooting after publishing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. Showing images of the Prophet Mohammed is strictly forbidden in Islam. But the school chiefs at the centre of the Batley controversy have hit back against her criticisms and accused her of putting staff at risk. Dame Sara, whose report was commissioned by Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Micahel Gove, said the suspended teacher 'was not considered a victim of crime' and did not 'receive any of the provisions set out in the Victims Code'. She added: 'In failing to understand the seriousness of the incident, he was let down by all the agencies involved, most notably Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire Police and the Batley Multi Academy Trust. 'There was a considerable lack of leadership by the agencies named above. They should have issued clear messages that threats, harassment and abuse would not be tolerated under any circumstances.' A spokesperson for Batley Multi Academy Trust today insisted: 'We are extremely proud of the school and of our community, and how both have moved forward together so positively from the very difficult period in 2021. 'Those events required us to support all our students, their families and our staff, including the teacher involved, for whom we provided counselling and wider support. 'We remain clear that we delivered on our responsibilities and that we followed due process. This included immediately establishing an independent investigation, accepting its findings and acting on them. Pictured: People gathering outside the gates of Batley Grammar School in March 2021 Dame Sara Khan today criticised the lack of support the suspended teacher got from officials 'We are therefore disappointed by today's report. We do not recognise much of what is in it, its description of the events, nor the characterisation of our school and community. 'We let the Government know ahead of publication that its draft report contained a number of factual inaccuracies but note that these have not been corrected. 'We are also surprised that the authors of a report on social cohesion decided that the right thing to do was name our school and identify some individuals. 'However, our school and community is in a very positive place and we know that this report will not upset that.' A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the concerns in this report regarding our response to this incident and note the recommendations, which we will be reviewing with our partner agencies. 'Threatening behaviour is taken seriously and measures were put in place to manage this incident and the repercussions which resulted from it. 'This included the provision of a personal contact officer for the teacher and his family. A full investigation was also carried out into the offences reported. 'West Yorkshire Police works hard to engage with all communities within its policing area, investing in Neighbourhood Policing Teams and specialist investigators to investigate offences and reduce tensions which may arise as swiftly as possible.' A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: 'The council has fully engaged with the review over the past two years and gave evidence to it. We will look carefully at the recommendations and any lessons to be learned by the government, councils and partner organisations. 'Local people and groups in Batley work across communities every day to promote understanding and tolerance, often in the face of challenges such as deprivation and economic inequalities. 'We will continue to amplify those constructive voices in our communities and challenge those who seek to divide us.' Dame Sara's study published today also found three quarters of Britons - including teachers, councillors and academics - say they are being forced to self-censor due to threats and intimidation, based on a survey of 1,000 people. Her recommendations include asking the Department for Education to introduce 150m 'exclusion zones' or 'buffer zones' outside schools, where protests will not be permitted. MPs last year voted in favour of similar zones outside clinics and hospitals providing abortion services. Dame Sarah said: 'The harm of those protests to pupils' well-being, to teachers and even the local community has been devastating. Dame Sara says 'intimidatory and threatening protests' should be banned outside schools Her study published today was commissioned by Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove 'For many of us, as a parent myself with three children, the idea that people should be able to create that type of climate outside schools which should be a warm and welcoming place for pupils is unacceptable. 'That's why one of the recommendations I've made to the Government is that there should be an exclusion zone or a buffer zone outside schools to protect children. 'If it's the case, for example, that teachers want to go on pickets because of industrial action that should be acceptable and there'll be other reasons where some types of protests will be acceptable. 'But this type of intimidatory and threatening protests should be banned just in the same way that there are exclusion zones outside abortion clinics.' Her report found that many people questioned - including teachers, councillors and academics - fear for their lives and the safety of their families, while others have had to leave their jobs or move house. The war in the Middle East has also fuelled division in England, with Jews afraid to venture into city centres during pro-Palestinian protests while many people fear being branded anti-Semitic if they speak out against the Israeli government. Today's study also tells how the far-Right has stoked division in English towns by spreading fake news and conspiracy theories about asylum seekers. Meanwhile, authors are being 'cancelled' for their views, with librarians being told to censor the books on their shelves. One professor told the inquiry they lost a publishing deal because of a smear campaign that they had called for the 'murder of transgender people'. Dame Sara wants ministers to set up an Office for Social Cohesion and Democratic Resilience. She also says police need dedicated 'safety officers' to tackle persistent harassment, including on social media - as she described her findings as a 'damning indictment of the state of harassment and censorship in our country'. She said: 'If we care about protecting those democratic rights and freedoms that are so central to us as a nation, my call to the Government is we have to do far more to tackle this threat which is undermining academic freedom, press freedom, the arts and cultural sector and civic society.' A landlord who owns multiple rentals has gone on live television to complain about how property owners are 'demonised'. Ann-Maree Eastman, who owns several properties with her husband Phillip, appeared on the ABC's Q+A on Monday evening to rail against the Green Party's campaign to limit Negative Gearing and Capital Gains Tax handouts. 'Why do politicians feel that they need to keep taxing or changing the rules for how to claim our legitimate business expenses?' Ms Eastman asked. 'Owning property is a business, and takes time and effort to make sure all is running smoothly. 'I'm just so angry that, as a landlord, I shouldn't have to feel guilty about owning property - or properties in our case. Why does it appear that all landlords are demonised and put in the same bracket?' Her question was answered by Max Chandler-Mather, the Greens' housing spokesperson, who outlined why his party is lobbying to phase out those tax handouts. Max Chandler-Mather (pictured), the Greens' housing spokesperson, received the loudest applause of the night when he dismantled a landlord's complaint that they were 'demonised' 'We have had a tax system that has encouraged people to buy up property investments and then able to write off any losses they make on those investments off on their tax,' Mr Chandler-Mather said. 'I'm sorry, I just don't think that's fair.' The MP for the Queensland seat of Griffith called for caps on rental increases as Ms Eastman shook her head in disagreement. Q+A host Patricia Karvelas interjected to point out that interest rate rises have hurt many landlords who are slugged with hefty mortgage repayments. But Mr Chandler-Mather dismissed the argument, claiming that the worst consequence for landlords was 'selling an investment property and making a huge capital gain' to a loud applause from the audience. 'If renters lose they are sleeping in their car on the street. If a property investor has to sell their home, that might be bad but they get a huge sale price out of that home,' Mr Chandler-Mather added. Ms Eastman claimed she and her husband were 'self-funded retirees' who took nothing from the government. The amateur theatre enthusiast from Melbourne said she only increased rents 'according to market value'. 'I compared last year's tax return to the year before's tax return - our gross rent was up three per cent. Ms Eastman claimed she and her husband (pictured) were 'self-funded retirees' who took nothing from the government 'Our interest payments were double the year before. 'We are also finding it hard. We have to find the money to pay that interest so we're in just as much of a poop.' But her comments did not wash with many of the viewers. 'Sorry but retirees depending on income from renters - you are not 'self funded', you are funded by renters,' wrote Sydney Inner West councillor Dylan Griffiths on X. Another X user said 'owning a home should not be a business, it's a human right'. 'If you're worried about your business when kids are growing up in tents is disgusting and you should be ashamed.' It is not the first time Ms Eastman has spoken up on issues she cares about. In 2013, she appeared to partially blame the obesity epidemic on sportswear manufacturers. 'Walking past a sportswear shop with big sign on window stating that 57 per cent of adults don't do formal exercise,' M Eastman wrote on Facebook. 'So I walked into shop and very politely told sales girl that is because 55 per cent of adults can't fit into your clothes. 'Getting a bit sick of hearing about the obesity epidemic in Australia and other countries but retailers don't make it easy to find stuff to actually exercise in.' Disney's first-ever affordable housing project is facing pushback from locals due to prospective traffic and school crowding. Announced in April 2022, the complex will bring 1,410 apartments to the Orlando-area, not far from the theme parks. The site, located near a shopping center just west of the Magic Kingdom, clocks in at a whopping 80 acres. The plan is to offer housing opportunities to cast members and families in the 80 percent Area Median Income (AMI) range - about $49,150 to $90,000. Roughly 1,000 of the apartments will be affordable housing units, and only 11 percent of those will be allocated for families at the lowest allowable income. The project was met with warmer reception when it was announced two years ago, in the midst of a national housing crisis. Now, residents are singing a different tune - with one saying the project will effectively corral him and his neighbors into a literal corner. Scroll down for video: Announced in April 2022, the complex will bring 1,410 apartments to the Orlando-area, not far from the company's theme parks The construction site, located near a shopping center just west of the Magic Kingdom, clocks in at 80 acres The project was met with warmer reception when it was announced two years ago, in the midst of a national housing crisis. Now, residents of Horizon West are singing a different tune - with one saying the project will effectively corral him and neighbors into a literal corner 'My family and I, we moved here, after an exhaustive research, knowing full well that Disney would be our neighbor,' Alex Cabrera told the Orlando Sentinel Monday, months after moving to a home in a town two miles from the construction site. 'We just never thought they'd be bad neighbors,' he added. At a planning and zoning board meeting last month, the Horizon West resident claimed Disney is 'trying to pack an enormous amount of density into what is essentially the size of a Costco parking lot' - speaking for some 50,000 residents. 'It's just way too much,' he went on, months after Disney rep shared project details in the same room back in September, sparking unease among many attendees. 'There is a lot of care being put into making this a great community for the people who will live here,' Kathy Hattaway told locals 30 miles west of the city of Orlando. An Orange County staff report described the tone of the meeting as 'mixed' due to objections and concerns - the first hint of what was to come. Meanwhile, more than 100 people attended that meeting, after which several expressed concerns to commissioners in Orange County via email. 'Orange County has already allowed far too many high-density housing complexes in this area,' Horizon West resident Mike Finnan wrote at the time, adding 'current students are [already] being under-served as local schools are overcrowded and understaffed. 'Future schools are already projected to be over capacity,' he went on, claiming: 'Infrastructure and emergency services are already stretched.' The plan is to offer housing opportunities to people in the 80 percent Area Median Income range - $49,150 to $90,000 The project was met with warmer reception when it was announced two years ago, in the midst of a national housing crisis. Pictured: The stretch of road on State Road 429 where developers will break ground '[Disney is] trying to pack an enormous amount of density into what is essentially the size of a Costco parking lot' a Horizon West resident at a planning and zoning board meeting said, speaking for some 50,000 residents 'Future schools are already projected to be over capacity,' he went on, also forecasting traffic as a future effect: 'Infrastructure and emergency services are already stretched' Despite these concerns, Disneys affordable housing project was narrowly passed by a vote from the Orange County Planning and Zoning Commission in February, by a margin of 4-3. At the time, Tajiana Ancora-Brown, Walt Disney World director of external affairs, attempted to quell concerns such as Finnan's and Cabrera's. 'We are working very thoughtfully alongside a prominent developer to create a place that strengthens the surrounding area while making a real difference in people's lives for years to come,' she said, as the planning board narrowly passed it February 15. Just before, the planning board even acknowledged neighbor concerns and suggested developers scale the project back a little, but proceeded to pass the ordinance anyway. The decision, more than a month later, has paved the way for another vote Tuesday, where commissioners are set to decide to appeal the project, bringing it to the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee. It's either that, or the proposal goes back to its planning stages - an outcome that Stephen Lewis, president & CEO of the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, praised in a Monday email. 'Currently many of the businesses we represent are struggling to recruit and retain workers due to the limited supply of affordable and attainable housing in Orange County,' he told the Sentinel Monday, ahead of the all-important vote. Tajiana Ancora-Brown, Walt Disney World director of external affairs, has attempted to quell concerns, promising at a board meeting last month to 'strengthen the surrounding area while making a real difference in people's lives for years to come' 'Ensuring affordable housing is available for West Orange residents is critical to the success of our county and will help grow small businesses and bring long-awaited amenities to the residents of Horizon West.' The amenities mentioned, meanwhile, will be much more bare bones than the luxury residential community elsewhere in Orange County, called Golden Oak. Also built by Disney, the sold-out development boasts a private clubhouse and an array of amenities, including golfing. It costs homeowners who fork over millions an additional $6,600 annual, assessment, as well as an additional $19,000 for a mandatory membership to its Golden Oak Private Club. In contrast, an affordable one-bedroom apartment in the proposed development would cost a low-income renter roughly $900 a month, some $650 less than the cost of the average one-bedroom unit elsewhere in Orlando. Disney, moreover, has said that while cast members will be allowed to apply for housing, they will not be given preference over other families. The amenities mentioned, meanwhile, will be much more bare bones than the luxury residential community elsewhere in Orange County, called Golden Oak, which offers homes with a price tag of up to $12million In contrast, an affordable one-bedroom apartment in the proposed development would cost a low-income renter roughly $900 a month, some $650 less than the cost of the average one-bedroom unit elsewhere in Orlando If approved, the first units - seen here in a an artist's rendition of the project - could be built as soon as 2026. A crucial vote is slated for Tuesday Still, the non-cast member-exclusive housing will help teachers, Clinton McCracken, head of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, affirmed in a letter of support sent to Orange County's Mayor and all six county commissioners this week, Speaking on behalf of about 14,000 educators, he said: 'As you are aware, while teachers and other instructional personnel are dedicated to their profession, we often find it difficult to purchase a home or afford housing on our salaries. 'Furthermore, as cost continues to rise throughout the country, but particularly in Central Florida, we would be remiss if we didnt contemplate how the lack of affordable housing affects our students and their families.' In the interim, Disney has already agreed to a 75-year lease of the land for the project to The Michaels Organization, a New Jersey-based affordable housing developing firm. Disney World Director of External Affairs, Ancora-Brown last month revealed the company will build, own and operate the development, which will be privately financed and will pay all required impact fees, even though fee waivers are typically available for such projects, she said. Those impact fees - which cover the costs of the prospective impact the development will have on parks, public safety, roads and schools - are estimated at more than $8 million. She has also reiterated that the developer will not seek financial help from the countys affordable-housing trust fund. If approved, the first units could be built as soon as 2026. New footage has captured the shocking moment that a 35-year-old woman was rescued by a helicopter crew after being carried away by the Los Angeles River. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, firefighters were summoned to the river in Studio City shortly after 5pm - when the terrified woman was seen by members of the flood control panel near Whitsett Drive. Despite being only knee deep, the water - which was swollen with spring rain - was flowing at a furious 15 miles per hour. The video showed the woman being swept along by the river at a breakneck pace, splashing her arms in the water wildly, desperate for help. Responders could be seen standing on the side of the embankment, throwing life preservers and other floatation devices toward the distressed woman. The unnamed California woman, 35, was swept borne along by the LA River, which flowed at a speed of 15mph On the other side of the overpass, a rescuer hurriedly descended from an LAFD helicopter, hoping to intercept the woman But the woman was moving at such a fast clip that she was unable to seize hold of the floatation devices. In the video, taken by NBCLA, the woman disappeared under an overpass and for a few heart-stopping minutes was hidden from the camera's view. On top of the overpass, myriad ambulances and cop cars and fire trucks stood in nervous anticipation. As the woman disappeared under the overpass on one side, a first responder hurriedly descended from an LAFD helicopter on the other side. The man's window was only a few seconds. He needed to drop into the water and intercept the woman before she was pushed further down stream. In a breathless sequence of events, the first responder could be seen hovering above the raging river, suspended by a cable that came from the helicopter. In the video, the rescuer could be seen positioning himself in the woman's path The woman hurtled toward the responder, who prepared himself to try and yank the woman free from the river They grasped each other's hands for a short moment, and then the river swept the woman farther downstream He positioned himself in the woman's path, and prepared to make contact with her and hopefully wrest her free from the water. She hurtled toward him and the responder reached out for the woman's hand. They grasped each other's hands but the 15-miler-per-hour current was too swift and the woman was swept away from the rescuer. The responder then fell in the water and deftly swam in pursuit of the woman before ultimately grabbing a hold of her. After the responder caught the woman, the two of them were safely lifted into the helicopter around 5:40pm. The woman was flown to Dignity Health-Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where she was treated for minor injuries and hypothermia. Rescuers had previously tried to help the woman by lowering a wooden ladder into the river, which the woman was able to hold on to for only a moment before being ripped away by the river After the woman was swept away from the responder, he got in the water and swam after her In a few moments, he was able to grab a hold of the distressed woman and arrest her progress down the river At this time, it is not known how the woman ended up in the river. At one point during her terrifying journey down the river, the woman was reportedly able to stand up for a brief moment before being battered back down by the river. Firefighters had also attempted to rescue the woman by lowering a 24-foot wooden ladder into the river, which she was able to hold on to for a few moments until the river swept her away. After her rescue, the woman assured firefighters that no other humans or animals were endangered during the incident. The judge is receiving an annual salary of $210K plus a $122K pension The DA's yearly pay is $212K meaning his pension could total upwards of $127K District Attorney Michael McMahon and Justice Judith McMahon continue to receive annual salaries in addition to hefty pensions A Staten Island 'power couple' comprised of a district attorney and state Supreme Court justice have come under fire for discreetly filing for retirement while continuing to collect yearly salaries. Michael McMahon, the district attorney of Richmond County, and Judith McMahon, a justice for the Supreme Court's 13th Judicial District, are being paid six figures while collecting hefty government pensions, according to public records. The husband-and-wife duo are suspected to be pulling in more than $600,000 in collective gross income. DA McMahon covertly retired on December 30, 2023, according to a payroll notice independently verified by DailyMail.com. However, he remained the borough's chief prosecutor, with a subsequent payroll notice listing him as 'appointed' from January 2 to January 19. Public records show his yearly salary as $212,800, meaning his annual pension, which has not been disclosed, could be upwards of $127,000. Michael McMahon, the district attorney of Richmond County, and Judith McMahon, a district judge, have been accused of 'double dipping' into taxpayer funds (pictured together) DA McMahon retired on December 30, 2023, but was sworn in for his third term on January 2. Records show his yearly salary is $212,800, meaning his annual pension could total upwards of $127,000 In a statement to the New York Post, a spokesperson for DA McMahon admitted that he retired last year and subsequently continued to serve as Staten Islands highest-ranking law enforcement official. 'After 30-plus years in public service to the people of New York, DA McMahon submitted his retirement papers at the end of 2023 but of course continues to serve as Richmond County District Attorney,' the representative said. 'Its quite frankly a no-brainer for those in public service, as not retiring when you are eligible puts your family at risk to receive no pension at all if you were to die.' The district attorney's office declined to share the cost of his pension. DA McMahon was officially sworn in for his third term on January 2 by none other than his wife. Photos from the ceremony show the pair beaming at each other. The DA ran unopposed for re-election this past November, pitching himself as a 'common-sense Democrat' in a heavily red county. 'Hes pretty universally beloved,' a Staten Island Democratic operative told City & State last year. 'It is fascinating though you would think any Republican with a pulse could win.' Justice McMahon retired even earlier than her husband, effective December 31, 2022, according to public records. She receives a $210,900 annual salary while collecting a $122,916 pension. Justice McMahon, who retired in December 2022, receives a $210,900 annual salary while collecting a $122,916 pension, records show The district attorney ran unopposed last November, advertising himself as a 'common-sense Democrat' in a deeply red county The judge was caught up in a firestorm of controversy in 2017 when she was abruptly reassigned to a Manhattan courthouse following allegations of overstepping her administrative powers. Clerk Michael Pulizotto had recorded her on several instances and later left his job after facing blowback from court officers, including one who deemed him a 'rat' in recordings. After her husband was nominated by the local Democratic Party to run for district attorney in May 2015, this presented a conflict of interest. As the courts administrative judge, Justice McMahon oversaw both its civil section and its criminal section, which handles proceedings brought by the district attorney. She relinquished her criminal duties to another judge and agreed to manage only civil cases. However, Pulizotto alleged this never panned out. In a 32-page memo sent to the state Office of Court Administration, he accused Justice McMahon of a series of infractions. The most damning were alleged orders to 'suppress' a Freedom of Information Act request in April 2016 and 'influence' a judge into granting a defense motion for a mistrial in one case. The Staten Island district attorney's office denounced the claims as 'baseless' and wrote Pulizotto off as 'a disgruntled employee.' Justice McMahon was exonerated following an investigation. A spokesperson conceded that DA McMahon, who was described by one Democratic operative as 'pretty universally beloved,' retired last year and subsequently continued to work The couple live in a single-family home on Staten Island. Property records show it sold for $392,500 in 1988, but is now valued at more than $990,000. The couple have faced calls to resign on social media from voters on both sides of the aisle. 'Another dirty Democrat. So what's new?' one New York City carpenter lambasted the district attorney on X, formerly Twitter. 'McMahon must go,' remarked a man in neighboring New Jersey. 'This is happening in CA too - should be illegal,' a California Democrat chimed in. As per Title 28 of the United States Code, the federal statutory law governing the judicial system, it is possible for a retired judge to be assigned to active duty. In this capacity, any retired circuit or district judge may be designated 'to perform such judicial duties within the circuit as he is willing and able to undertake.' Furthermore, any justice or judge may 'retain the office but retire from regular active service' after meeting the age of retirement and service requirements - and, 'during the remainder of his or her lifetime, continue to receive the salary of the office,' as long as that person meets requirements laid out in the law. DailyMail.com has reached out to DA McMahon and Justice McMahon's representatives for comment. A local Philadelphia volunteer fire department were called to save the day after a Labrador puppy got its head trapped inside a tire. The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company in Gloucester County found the 11-month-old puppy named Daisy in a driveway with her neck wedged in the middle of a spare tire rim. 'This one is an odd one,' Lieutenant Brandon Volpe told the Philadelphia Inquirer. 'We've never seen this before.' The owner initially tried using dish soap and water to loosen the grip around Daisy's neck, but they were unable to get the puppy out from the metal entrapment. In a Facebook video posted by the department, Volpe is seen keeping Daisy calm while team brainstormed a course of action. The Franklinville Volunteer Fire Company in Gloucester County responded to an emergency call where they found an 11-month-old puppy named Daisy in a driveway with her neck wedged in the middle of a spare tire rim The owner initially tried using dish soap and water to loosen the grip around Daisy's neck, but they came up empty handed Franklinville Fire Company assistant chief Joe Szwed told NBC 10 that when Daisy's eyes began turning read and she began gasping for air, they knew time was of the essence. The crew tried using multiple lubricants to free Daisy, but to no avail. 'We tried some soap, water; we tried plastic bag, we tried some oil,' Franklinville Fire Company assistant chief Joe Szwed told NBC 10. But soon, the initially perceived harmless predicament became a dire situation. 'We realized it started turning into a race against time. 'Her eyes were turning red, she was kind of gasping for air a little bit. 'That's when we started to realize we had to make a move fast.' Volpe then realized he had a pair of plasma cutters that would ultimately save Daisy. Daisy was brought to Volpe's garage in a wheelbarrow where he had the plasma cutter. After 40 minutes of trying different methods of freeing the pup, the plasma cutters sliced through the tire within a few minutes and she was finally freed. Officials have confirmed Daisy is doing well and escaped unharmed. In a Facebook video posted by the department, Volpe is seen keeping Daisy calm while team brainstormed a course of action Volpe realized he had a pair of plasma cutters that would ultimately save Daisy Daisy was brought to Volpe's garage in a wheelbarrow where he had the plasma cutter Officials have confirmed Daisy is doing well and escaped unharmed Daisy's dad, Austin Delano, was so inspired by the efforts of the volunteer fire department that he himself has decided to give back to the community. 'Gonna be going in on Monday, put in an application for a firefighter,' Delano told NBC10. 'It will be good to help other people and hopefully nobody's dog gets its head stuck in a wheel again.' A row of million-dollar mansions in California were red-tagged over the weekend after a landslide damaged the luxurious properties. The homes, located on Flicker Way in Hollywood Hills, were impacted by significant soil movement in the area on Sunday, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Three homes were tagged by Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety officials due to the threat of a landslide that took place behind the homes. The collapsed hill, full of debris and mud, has shifted and trickled down to the luxury properties - making them unsafe to inhabit, according to authorities. No rescues were required and no injuries have been reported as the latest landslide emerged due to severely wet weather across the area. Three homes in Hollywood Hills, California were damaged by a landslide (pictured) on Sunday after torrential rainfall caused significant soil movement A home on Flicker Way - one of the homes impacted by the landslide. The mansion sold for $3.5million and is built right along the hill where the landslide took place It is unclear who lives in the homes, but one of them, located on Flicker Way, sold for $3.5million according to a listing on Zillow. Another property impacted by the landslide, located on Flicker Way, sold for more than $3.6million, according to Redfin. The third home has not been identified. DailyMail.com contacted the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. A 'red-tagged' structure means that the home has been severely damaged to the extent that it is too dangerous to inhabit - resulting in a red posted on the property. Aerial footage captured by FOX 11 Los Angeles showed the homes up against a steep dirt hill that has since seeped into the properties. As the soil gave way, clumps of dirt have piled up along the side of the expensive homes and blocked views from windows. Just before 3am on March 13, another landslide took over a home in Sherman Oaks, a neighborhood of expensive homes about 12 miles northwest of downtown LA, after an outdoor pool was drained reduce weight on the hill. The destroyed house, which appeared to be in the midst of a renovation, was crushed with most of its roof lying on the ground and reduced to a jumble of lumber. The landslide also pulled the pool and deck away from a second home, and left the pool at a third residence on the edge of a huge fissure. An initial search found no victims, but several people were evacuated from the area, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement. Another property impacted by the landslide, located on Flicker Way (pictured), sold for more than $3.6million, according to Redfin As the soil gave way, clumps of dirt have piled up along the side of the expensive homes and blocked views from windows Just before 3am on March 13, another landslide took over a home in Sherman Oaks, after an outdoor pool was drained reduce weight on the hill Firefighters were called to North Ventura Canyon Avenue shortly before 3am Wednesday for reports of downed power lines and a fallen tree. When crews arrived they found a large portion of the hillside had shifted downward, heavily damaging an under construction mansion. Helicopter footage of the area revealed the extent of damage to the mansion. LAFD Captain Adam Van Gerpen told CBS News the slide caused 'the whole thing collapse onto itself'. The property sustained severe damage, especially to the pool area in the backyard, which suffered cracks in the ground. The pool house was also struck by debris. Inspectors have red-tagged the property, meaning it has been so severely damaged that the structure is too dangerous to inhabit. On February 9, three multimillion-dollar homes in Southern California teetered on the edge of a cliffside following a landslide that took place that weekend. The collapse occurred in Dana Point, Orange County and sent mud and debris sliding down the 150-feet chasm below. No evacuations were ordered, and engineering crews assessed the structural integrity of the homes - the only three set on the cliffside. Residents of the affected properties were advised to remain vigilant, and prepare for the looming possibility of relocation. The three affected homes were left at the mercy of Mother Nature, though rains that recently inundated the region look to have past. They are priced around $12.8million, $13million, and $15.9million, and are at risk of falling into the Pacific. Remnants of the large chunk of land that fell could be seen sitting at the base of the cliff. A portal to the Dana Point Caves sat unmarred a few hundred feet to the left of the collapse, along with the stretch of beach that Killebrew had referred to. On February 9, three multimillion-dollar homes in Southern California teetered on the edge of a cliffside e following a landslide that took place that weekend The collapse occurred in Dana Point, Orange County and sent mud and debris sliding down the 150-feet chasm below. No evacuations were ordered, and engineering crews assessed the structural integrity of the homes The trio of homes above, a symbol of status in the affluent region, sat at its precarious place next to the Ocean Institute - another popular tourist attraction. No one was down there when the debris fell, after heavy rains saturated the region and led to countless landslides and mudslides. The landslide saw a a huge portion of cliff to fall the foot of the priciest home in the complex, a $15.9million, four-bedroom behemoth registered to a local radiologist, 82-year-old Lewis Bruggeman, records show. He appears to operate his practice out of his home, and has more than 56 years of medical experience. On the same day, 13 miles south along the Pacific Coast, part of a cul-de-sac on Avenida Columbo dropped about five feet following a mudslide that sent mud and debris at least 150 feet below. The area had already been affected by unstable soil, with one home set on the site of an active landslide that has had ongoing movement for several decades, said Dave Rebensdorf, the city's director of Public Works. Residents in both areas were advised to keep a careful lookout, as they continue to grapple with the consequences of these natural disasters. Republicans refer to Harris as the failed 'border czar' Biden's tenure has seen record numbers and it's become a campaign issue Harris to meet with Guatemala's President Bernardo Arevalo on Monday afternoon to discuss immigration issues Vice President Kamala Harris, who was charged with protecting America's borders, will meet Guatemala's President Bernardo Arevalo at the White House on Monday to discuss how to reduce migration from Central America. Immigration has become a hot-button political issue for President Joe Biden as he seeks a second term in the White House. Republicans accuse him of mishandling border security amid record numbers of crossings. The Biden team counters Republicans torpoeded legislation designed to help the issue at the urging of Donald Trump, Biden's rival for the White House. Biden put Harris in charge of discovering the 'root causes of migration' and the record number of crossings during his tenure led to Republicans calling the vice president a failed 'border czar.' Texas State Troopers stand guard blocking migrants camped out along the riverbank, at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas Statistics from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show that this fiscal year alone, there has already been a reported 961,537 border encounters. The year, which runs from October to September, is already on current pace to break last year's record of 2,475,669. Overall, nearly 7.3 million migrants have entered the country under Biden's watch, a number greater than the population of 36 individual states, a Fox News analysis found last month. Harris' meeting with Arevalo is also meant to boost the new, liberal president's fledgling government. Arevalo's inauguration was delayed in January by opponents seeking to weaken his authority. A White House official told Reuters that having a government in place in Guatemala that is committed to rooting out corruption would help reduce migration. Harris and Arevalo will discuss the Biden administration's use of 'safe mobility offices,' which were set up in Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador to help mitigate the immigration issue. The offices are designed to streamline the refugee process so migrants apply where they are and avoid paying smugglers to make the journey north. The vice president is also expected to announce $5.2 billion in investments in Central America. Those investments include a commitment by Meta to train young people and small business owners in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Vice President Kamala Harris (left) will meet with Guatemala's President Bernardo Arevalo (right) at the White House to discuss migration issues US National Guard personnel reinforce a fence covered in concertina wire in the vicinity of migrants on the border with Mexico, as seen from Ciudad Juarez Migrants huddle on the dry riverbed of the Rio Grand river near El Paso, Texas Arevalo won the presidency in August, beating the establishment candidate by a comfortable margin. He is the 65-year-old son of former Guatemalan President Juan Jose Arevalo, who is credited with implementing some of Guatemalas key labor protections. He has a background in academia and conflict resolution. He campaigned on a message of challenging the countrys entrenched power structure and resuming the fight against corruption. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed his intention to hold a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kim's influential sister said Monday, emphasizing such a meeting would only be possible should Tokyo make a political decision "in actuality." "Shortly ago, Kishida, through another channel, conveyed his intention to personally meet the President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as soon as possible." Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, said in an English-language statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), using the country's formal name. It did not provide details on the channel used for the proposal or a potential time frame for such a meeting. She said opening a new chapter in the relationship between North Korea and Japan would depend on whether Japan makes a political decision, warning that using the summit to resolve the issue of Japanese abductees in North Korea would be seen as a "bid for popularity." "If Japan truly wants to improve the bilateral relations and contribute to ensuring regional peace and stability as a close neighbor of the DPRK, it is necessary for it to make a political decision for strategic option conformed to its overall interests," Kim said. A foreign ministry official said South Korea is "closely communicating with Japan" regarding the North's purported proposal. "The government is closely communicating with Japan on the North Korean nuclear issue and other North Korea-related issues, including contact between North Korea and Japan," he said, stressing that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are in "close coordination" to bring Pyongyang back to the path toward denuclearization. In 2002, Kim's father, then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, met with then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Pyongyang, and admitted that North Korean agents kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies in Japanese culture and language. The North then allowed five of those abducted to make a temporary visit to their homeland, saying eight others were dead. Japan refused to return the five and called on the North to repatriate their family members in the North. Japan has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea. Kim stressed that North Korea will not be a security threat to Japan in any case should Japan respect North Korea's sovereignty and security in a fair and equal manner, according to the KCNA. When asked about Kim's statement during a parliamentary committee meeting Monday afternoon, Kishida said while he is not aware of the specific statement, a summit between the two countries is "important" to resolve many pending issues, including that of abductees. In February, Kim said the North Korean regime is open to improving its relationship with Japan in response to Kishida's remarks that he feels a "strong need" to change the current relationship between Tokyo and Pyongyang, and that he is currently making related activities. (Yonhap) The US ambassador to the United Kingdom issued a stark warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue to war monger in Europe if his forces are successful in Ukraine. 'Anybody who thinks that Russia may stop after this, I think is wrong,' Ambassador Jane Hartley told Sky News' Kay Burley in a new interview. Hartley, 73, went on to say that she is 'optimistic' that President Joe Biden will secure much needed funding for the Ukrainian war effort despite stern opposition from the Donald Trump supporting wing of the Republican Party. 'I was ambassador (to France and Monaco) in 2014, and I saw what happened in Crimea. I don't know why anybody would say, 'Oh this is it for Russia.' Democracy, I think, is at stake. So we need to support Ukraine,' Hartley added. Hartley compared the current geopolitical climate to that of build-up to World War II. 'We want to do everything we can to make sure Ukraine is still a strong democracy and that Russia loses the war.' Jane Hartley sat for an interview with Sky News' Kay Burley at her residence in London Hartley warned that Putin will not stop if his forces are successful in Ukraine orensic experts collect remains of Russian missile after attack on March 25, 2024 in Kyiv Just last week, Putin won a landslide victory in his country's presidential election. Telling his people afterwards that Moscow will not relent in its invasion of Ukraine and plans to create a buffer zone to help protect against long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids. The Kremlin's forces have made battlefield progress as Kyiv's troops struggle with a severe shortage of artillery shells and exhausted front-line units after more than two years of war. The front line stretches over 620 miles across eastern and southern Ukraine. Since his victory, Russia was rocked by a brutal terrorist attack by Islamic fundamentalists that killed 137 people and wounded over 100 inside of a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow. Speaking about other issues, Hartley defended Israel's right to defend itself but called the humanitarian situation in Gaza 'terrifying.' Hartley said 'no children should ever have to go through' starvation and also said that humanitarian aid should get through to the area. Hartley also called President Joe Biden 'the best candidate' in the 2024 election. 'I'm a friend. I'm a fan. I've known the president for many, many, many years. But all you have to do is look at his record and see where he has brought our country,' she said. 'He has not only ability, but he has a sense of history,' Hartley added. Hartley also pushed back on Donald Trump's claims that Prince Harry may be subject to deportation from the US if he is found to have lied on a visa application about his past drug use. 'It's not going to happen in the Biden administration.' Biden settled on Hartley for the high-profile U.K. ambassadorship in July 2021, just six months into his presidency. She served as ambassador to France and Monaco during the Obama administration. She was a significant fundraiser for Biden's 2020 presidential race and has been a big supporter of Democratic candidates over the years. Hartley serves on the board of trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and is a member of the board of overseers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is also chairman of the board of trustees of Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street. 'Given the critical challenges we are facing at this time, the relationship with our allies is crucially important,' Hartley said in a statement at the time of her appointment. 'I look forward to strengthening our special relationship with the UK and deepening the partnership with one of our most important allies.' Presidents have typically rewarded donors and key supporters with sought-after ambassadorships. About 44 percent of Donald Trumps ambassadorial appointments were political appointees, compared with 31 percent for Barack Obama and 32 percent for George W. Bush, according to the American Foreign Service Association. Biden hopes to keep political appointments to about 30 percent of ambassador picks, according to an administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about internal discussions. The ISIS terrorist who had his ear cut off and forced fed to him was tortured by Russian military officers who wore patches linked with neo-Nazi ideaology. Terror suspect Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda, one of four men accused of killing nearly 140 people at a concert in Moscow on Friday, was caught and tortured by Russian authorities trying to flee Russia after helping carry out the deadliest ISIS attack against Russia in years. But photos shared to Nazi-linked Telegram channels have revealed that the military officer who apparently cut his ear off and tried to force him to eat it wore a variant of a Black Sun patch. A photo shared to Nazi-linked Telegram channel 'TopaZ Says' shows a Russian soldier holding a short, bloodied knife that appears to match the knife used to slice off Rachabalizoda's ear, in footage too gruesome for MailOnline to share. The knife can be seen next to a partially obscured gold-and-black patch. While the centre is obscured by a young man's smiling face, the offshoots of the patch are still visible. The patch appears to denote a variant of the Black Sun. While the centre is obscured by a young man's smiling face, the offshoots of the patch are still visible Terror suspect Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda (pictured) allegedly had his ear cut off by a Nazi patch-wearing Russian officer Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev (pictured) is a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue Russian authorities have brutalised the four suspects of the Moscow massacre Muhammadsobir Fayzov (pictured) was unconscious when he was dragged into court The Black Sun, according to the Anti-Defamation League, has been used by neo-Nazis and other white supremacists as a symbol, after it was used in Nazi Germany by Adolf Hitler's brownshirts, the SS and the Nazi Party at large. It was first used in a castle owned by Heinrich Himmler that was used as a central hub for the SS. Russian authorities have brutalised the four suspects of the Moscow massacre, after they were all captured over the weekend. Two of them have so far pleaded guilty to terrorism after all four were charged. While ISIS has twice claimed responsibility for the attack, Russian authorities tried to discredit the direct claims made by the terror group, instead appearing to blame the attack on the West, after it emerged that the US tried to warn Russia about the massacre weeks before it happened. ISIS has twice claimed responsibility for the attack A Moscow court ruled on pre-trial detention of first two suspects in concert hall attack In a piece published in Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called ISIS' claims of responsibility into question. 'Attention - a question to the White House: Are you sure it's ISIS? Might you think again about that', she wrote. Zakharova said the United States was spreading a version of the 'bogeyman' of Islamic State to cover its 'wards' in Kyiv and reminded readers that Washington supported the 'mujahideen' fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s. President Vladimir Putin has not publicly mentioned the Islamist militant group in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. Putin said some people on 'the Ukrainian side' had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame for the concert hall attack by referring to Ukraine. A Biden-appointed bureaucrat with ties to open border advocates is to be hauled in front of Congress amid accusations she has turned immigration enforcement into a 'social services', DailyMail.com can reveal. Claire Trickler-McNulty, a powerful director in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has presided over a stark drop in deportations while pursuing costly and unproven 'alternatives to detention' (ATD), according to a letter by the House Judiciary Committee. She is accused of leaving more than 600,000 illegal migrants with criminal records 'free to reoffend' by committee chairman Jim Jordan and immigration subcommittee chairman Tom McClintock. The pair wrote in their letter, addressed to the bureaucrat, that her approach is 'emblematic of the Biden Administration's open-borders policies that reward illegal aliens to the detriment of American citizens and legal immigrants'. It comes after congressional sources raised fears that Trickler-McNulty, who previously worked for a nonprofit that sought to end deportations, was seeking to push her own woke agenda and undermine immigration enforcement from within. Claire Trickley-McNulty, a top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has been accused of turning the agency into a 'social services' Trickler-McNulty has been accused of pushing 'soft-touch' policies amid migrant crossing chaos at the U.S. Southwest border. Pictured: A border official helps a migrant cross the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Mexico, into Eagle Pass, Texas Jim Jordan, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, wants the bureaucrat to explain why she has pursued costly and unproven 'alternatives to detention' instead of enforcing the law Republicans are concerned that unelected bureaucrats are exacerbating the border crisis by funneling money to anti-enforcement groups and pedaling policies contrary to ICE's mission of enforcing immigration law. The committee's letter, shared exclusively with DailyMail.com, highlighted how ICE removed 41 per cent fewer illegal migrants with criminal convictions and charges in 2023 than in 2020. The letter added that the decline in enforcement coincided with at least 617,607 criminal aliens on ICE's non-detained docket, meaning these people 'are out on American streets and 'free to reoffend'.' It criticized Trickler-McNulty's support for detention alternatives, which include parenting classes for illegal migrants, despite a leaked 2020 draft ICE report concluding that such measures have 'little value' and are of 'significant expense'. The report found that the 'vast majority' of illegal migrants enrolled in such programs for their entire immigration proceedings eventually absconded. The committee's letter highlighted the recent example of a high-profile gang member who allegedly absconded from ATD in Colorado after 'he cut off' his ankle monitor, before going on to reoffend in the US. It requested Trickler-McNulty present herself for questioning in front of Congress 'as soon as possible'. It comes after the US Border Patrol chief Jason Owens warned the crisis at the southern border is a 'national security threat', highlighting the tens of thousands of illegal migrants who haven't been apprehended and processed at the border on their way into the US. Trickler-McNulty, a political appointee who worked on the Biden-Harris transition team, leads the ICE's Office of Immigration Program Evaluation (OIPE), which signs off contracts relating to immigration detention. Prior to her role at the agency, Trickler-McNulty was Deputy Director for Legal Services at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a nonprofit organization which has previously demanded an end to deportations. In May 2020, while Trickler-McNulty was at KIND, the group signed a letter alongside an 'Abolish ICE' group, which criticized government immigration policies. 'Abolish ICE' is a broad movement which favors social service provision for illegal migrants over detention and deportation. Trickler-McNulty previously worked for a nonprofit organization that demanded an end to deportations and was affiliated with an 'Abolish ICE' movement during her tenure Asylum seekers cross the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States on September 30, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas A U.S. Border Patrol agent supervises as immigrants walk into the United States after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico on September 30, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. The agent had cut coils of razor wire to let them pass through for processing Last year, DailyMail.com revealed that Republicans on the Committee on Homeland Security feared Trickler-McNulty had attained a disproportionate level of influence at ICE, citing a recently published internal memorandum from former Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson stating that all contracts relating to detention programs be approved by her personally. Committee sources told DailyMail.com that Trickler-McNulty was now using her influence to turn ICE from 'a law enforcement agency into a social services provider'. The official is allegedly pursuing 'soft-touch' policies instead of detention and removal programs, without the public realizing, the sources said. They highlighted the current ICE Alternatives to Detention contract, which under Trickler-McNulty has been split into three separate contracts, including one for 'community services'. Trickler-McNulty is originally from Boulder, Colorado, and now lives in Edmonds, Washington, according to her Facebook profile, the other side of the country to the ICE headquarters in Washington D.C. This includes services such as 'parenting education'. DailyMail.com has contacted ICE for comment. A spokesman has previously said that 'responsibility for administering the U.S. immigration system spans multiple agencies within the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice'. He added: 'Policy decisions at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are made with coordination through interagency working groups to ensure ICE is working on behalf of the public and within the confines of the law. 'ICE continues to facilitate the safe, orderly, and humane management of the U.S. immigration system alongside its federal partners.' An Iowa mayor has spoken of the economic 'damage' caused by Tyson Foods closing its pork plant and axing 1,300 workers, saying he's scrambling to find new jobs to keep his city afloat. Dirk Cavanaugh, mayor of Perry, said Tyson's departure sent shockwaves across his city of 8,000 people, where a local economy of plant workers, hog farmers and feed suppliers was under threat. But Cavanaugh said he did not believe Tyson was laying off US workers for cheaper foreigners, as many of those working at the soon-to-be-shuttered plant were themselves migrants. Tyson, the city's biggest employer, earlier this month said it would shutter its aging plant in Perry this June. Some employees are being offered jobs at the $54 billion firm's other plants in Iowa. Dirk Cavanaugh, mayor of Perry, says Tyson's exit is a problem for his city, but does not say the firm favors migrants over American workers Tyson's pork plant in Perry, Iowa, is the latest to be mothballed, with 1,300 jobs lost Conservatives have led a boycott of Tyson over the layoffs, calling the company unpatriotic for shedding American workers while announcing plans to hire some 42,000 asylum seekers. Poll Are YOU boycotting Tyson Foods? Yes No Not sure Are YOU boycotting Tyson Foods? Yes 2866 votes No 208 votes Not sure 110 votes Now share your opinion 'I don't really have time to mess with speculation, because I don't think it really helps us with our situation here,' Cavanaugh told DailyMail.com about the controversy. 'Saying: 'They're closing down and firing everybody here to hire migrant workers,' when they've already got a lot of them in town here that they're firing, I don't see where that makes any sense for them.' Cavanaugh said Tyson's Perry plant uses translators to manage a diverse workforce of Latino, Caribbean and African migrants, who represent a significant chunk of its 1,276 staff. Tyson brought many workers to the town and helped them get labor permits over recent years, he added. At least 100 such migrant families were brought to Perry in the past six months. Cavanaugh said some recent newcomers would likely leave Perry when the plant shutters. Tyson is recruiting workers from the influx of migrants to New York City, which struggles to accommodate newcomers Tyson seeks to double its number of immigrant employees to 84,000 this year, including roles at this plant in Springdale, Arkansas But more established migrants, including those with children at school, should be able to find alternate jobs in a tight labor market, he said. Others could continue living in Perry and commute to De Moines for work, he added. He said he was looking for a company to take over the meat-packing plant once Tyson leaves, and there were other plans for business expansion in the city that also has a concrete plant and clothing factory. 'We're optimistic and hopeful that we're gonna get through this,' said Cavanaugh. 'But if we don't find anybody by June, and it's not looking promising, then the outlook will be more dim then we can assess where the holes are, and do additional things to try to minimize the damage.' Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, is set to meet Tyson officials to discuss the closure this week. A mobile job center is visiting the plant to help workers find work and file unemployment claims. Tyson is America's biggest meat and poultry firm, by sales, which dropped by 0.8 percent to $52,881 million last year Tyson, which is based in Springdale, Arkansas, says it's not cutting American jobs to hire migrants, and that it only recruits newcomers with valid work permits. 'Any insinuation that we would cut American jobs to hire immigrant workers is completely false,' Tyson said in a statement. The company declined DailyMail.com's requests for an interview. Conservatives have panned Tyson for shuttering plants in Iowa, Virginia, Arkansas, and Indiana, in recent months The company is meanwhile trying to hire 42,000 asylum seekers and other immigrants, including through job fairs in New York, where many migrants end up, a Tyson official recently told Bloomberg. It offers recruits $16.50 an hour work, paid-for immigration lawyers to help them get work papers, and other perks. The company has in recent weeks hired dozens of asylum seekers from Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia at a job fair in New York City. Conservatives on social media called for a boycott of Tyson and its various food brands Tyson Foods brands include Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, and Aidells They travelled to work at its poultry plant in Humboldt, Tennessee. Tyson seeks to double its number of immigrant employees to 84,000 this year, including roles at this plant in Springdale, Arkansas, said its corporate responsibility boss Garrett Dolan. The meat-packer already employs about 42,000 immigrants among its 120,000-strong US workforce. Meat-packing plants are undesirable places to work, and Tyson says it has lots of vacancies to fill amid a low unemployment rate of 3.9 percent. It cooperates with the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit, to hire thousands of them. Conservatives on social media say the company is unpatriotic. They have called for a boycott of Tyson and its various foods brands, which include Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, and Aidells. Anna Paulina Luna says Tyson wants to hire 'illegals' who are too scared of deportation to ask questions Tyson's $13 million-a-year CEO Donnie King has led the company since 2021 Florida Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna accused Tyson of 'modern-day slavery.' The $79 million American Conservative Values Fund said it had divested from Tyson and would not buy any more stock in the company. America First Legal, a conservative action group launched by former Trump administration officials, warned Tyson that it could be breaking the law by favoring foreign-born workers over Americans. 'It is ILLEGAL under federal law to discriminate against American citizens based on their citizenship in favor of non-citizens of any kind when it comes to employment,' the legal action group posted online. The claims against Tyson play into fears that Democrats, globalists, and big corporations are encouraging migrants to flow into the US as part of a 'great replacement' of American workers and voters. They raise tough questions for Tyson's $13 million-a-year CEO Donnie King, who has led the firm since 2021, during which time it has funded the campaign chests of President Joe Biden, Nikki Haley and others, according to Open Secrets. NBC hosts are objecting on-air to the hiring of former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel after she soft-launched her new contributor gig on Sunday. The vocal objection continued Monday on MSNBC's Morning Joe where the two main hosts, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, said they would not welcome McDaniel on their show. It came after McDaniel appeared on NBC Meet the Press with Kristen Welker for a heated discussion over her previous stances as RNC chairwoman and her seemingly contradicting stances now that she was hired as a contributor with the left-leaning network. Longtime NBC host Chuck Todd joined Welker for a panel after McDaniel's interview and said that their bosses owe her 'an apology' for putting the former RNC head on the show. 'We learned about the hiring when we read it in the press on Friday,' Scarborough lamented at the top of his show on Monday morning. 'We weren't asked our opinion of the hiring but, if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons.' MSNBC Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski (left) and Joe Scarborough (right) complained they didn't know about their parent company hiring former RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and urge NBC bosses to reconsider McDaniel soft-launched her new NBC News contributor gig with an appearance on Meet the Press on Sunday morning with Kristen Welker His co-host and wife Brzezinski added: 'To be clear, we believe NBC news should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier.' 'We hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor,' she said. A video reel then played of McDaniel's various comments questioning the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. NBC announced last week that McDaniel was joining the network as a contributor after she stepped down from her role leading the RNC after an intense pressure campaign from former President Trump and his allies who wanted her gone. Trump's daughter-in-law Lara, who is married to Eric Trump, was elected as the new co-chair of the GOP during the RNC's spring meeting in Texas earlier this month, and North Carolina RNC Chair Michael Whatley was elected to replace McDaniel. McDaniel admitted on Sunday she 'took one for the team' because it was her job to voice the opinion of the entire RNC. She claims this included fighting Trump's claims the 2020 election was not legitimate and that convicted January 6 prisoners should be let out of jail. But Welker questioned why McDaniel could now discuss this but was not willing to make the same claims when she was chairwoman at the RNC for years. 'I do not think people who committed violent acts on January 6 should be freed,' McDaniel told Welker. 'So you disagree with that. He's been saying that for months, Ronna. Why not speak out earlier? Why just speak out about that now?' the NBC host questioned. 'When you're the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team right now,' she replied, saying that now 'I get to be a little bit more myself, right?' 'This is what I believe,' she continued. 'I don't think violence should be in our political discourse, Republican or Democrat. And I disagree with that. I agree with him on a whole host of other things.' 'I don't think we should be freeing people who violently attacked Capitol Hill police officers and attack the Capitol.' NBC host Chick Todd (left) said in a panel on Meet the Press on Sunday that the bosses owe Welker an apology after having McDaniel premier her new contributor gig on her show It followed a tense back-and-forth regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and the repeated claims that the results were not legitimate due to widespread fraud and interference. McDaniel claims that while there were 'problems' in 2020, she does believe that Biden is the legitimately elected president. During an on-air panel after Welker's discussion with McDaniel, her predecessor was visibly upset with the fact the former RNC chairwoman was hired by NBC News in the first place and then put on his colleague's show in her new show. 'Let me deal with the elephant in the room I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation. Because I don't know what to believe,' Todd said. 'She is now a paid contributor by NBC News, so I have no idea whether any answers she gave to you was because she didn't want to mess up her contract,' he continued. 'She wants us to believe that she was speaking for the RNC when the RNC was paying for it.' 'So she has credibility issues that she still has to deal with. Is she speaking for herself or is she speaking on behalf of who's paying her?' The Unites States Supreme Court will hear arguments this week on a commonly used abortion pill in a case which could have widespread implications for abortion access across the country. The case looks at actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration relaxing restrictions on the pill mifepristone, which have made the abortion drug easier to obtain across the country. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which is made up of groups of anti-abortion medical professionals, first challenged the FDA approval of mifepristone and subsequent rule changes in November 2022, less than six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, returning the question of abortion access to the states. Mifepristone is used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. If the Supreme Court rules against its use, it would have a widespread impact not just on access to abortion in states that have passed further abortion restrictions since Roe fell but also on states with abortion protections. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine on March 26 over the FDA actions on the abortion pill mifepristone. The lawsuit challenged the FDA approval process and relaxation of restrictions on the pill since 2016 Mifepristone is one of drug used in the medication abortion process and is used in more than half of all abortions in the U.S. More than 5.6 million women have used mifepristone since it was approved in 2000 The Supreme Court has two questions they must answer. The first is whether the group even has standing to bring the case and the second is whether the FDA's actions on the drug complied with the law. On standing, the justices must decide whether the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine suffer a real injury caused by the FDAs approval of mifepristone. The Justice Department argues the doctors in the case do not prescribe mifepristone and have not identified a case where they were forced to complete an abortion. But lawyers for the alliance argue their members object not only to abortion, but also to 'complicity in the process.' If the Supreme Court finds they do not have standing, the court will dismiss the case without deciding on the issue. If the court rules they do have standing, then they will focus on the FDA's actions regarding the drug in recent years. Mifepristone was first approved for use in 2000 and has been safely used by more than 5.6 million people since. It is part of a two-drug process to end a pregnancy. First a person uses mifepristone followed by the drug misoprostol. The drug is approved for abortion during the first 70 days or up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. When the FDA first approved mifepristone, it did so under a set of regulations meant to expedite the approval of a new drug that has been studied for safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses. But while mifepristone was approved under the expedited process, it was not actually expedited. It took more than four years after the original application was filed. At the time, mifepristone was approved for distribution restricted to prescribers who agreed to dispense it in certain settings such as under the supervision of a qualified physician and it was not widely available for distribution at retail pharmacies. Mifepristone was put through additional risk assessments. In 2016, the FDA updated the approval to expand the use of the drug to its current use up to 10 weeks as well as expanding who could dispense it to include some other medical professionals such as nurse practitioner and physician assistants. In 2019, a generic version of the drug was approved, and in 2021, the FDA changed the in-person dispensing requirements amid the coronavirus pandemic. In January 2023, the FDA approved allowing pharmacies to dispense mifepristone directly to patients. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine first challenged the FDA in the conservative US District Court for the Northern District of Texas on a number of grounds. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk on April 7, 2023 sided with plaintiffs and attempted to block the FDA approval of mifepristone. But the Justice Department appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk is a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The Trump-nominated judge ruled in favor of the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in their original mifepristone lawsuit Abortion rights advocates warn the Supreme Court decision on mifepristone will not just impact access to abortion in states that have moved to restrict or ban abortion but in states that have worked to protect abortion rights after Roe was overturned in June 2022 Erin Hawley is representing abortion opponents in the Supreme Court mifepristone case. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine first filed its lawsuit in November 2022. The group argues the FDA approval process and relaxation of rules around mifepristone are unsafe Several days later the Fifth Circuit court upheld most of the lower court decision, reinstating some of the-pre 2016 restrictions on the medication abortion drug. In response, the Justice Department went to the Supreme Court which granted a temporary stay on the case allowing mifepristone to stay on the market while the case proceeds. In August, the Fifth Circuit court ruled to reinstate some of the pre-2016 restrictions but not to remove the drug from the market, and the Supreme Court stay remained in place. The Supreme Court announced it would review the case late last year, and in January, it announced justices would hear oral arguments on March 26. The highest court will hand down its decision by the end of the term, so the decision is likely to be released in June or early July before the court recesses for the summer. Abortion rights advocates warn that the Supreme Court decision will have national implications. Should the justices side with the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, it could result in access to the commonly used abortion drug being restricted in all 50 states. It comes just weeks after two of the country's largest pharmacy chains just began selling the abortion pill at their stories this month. CVS and Walgreens made the announcement following the FDA decision to allow retailers to stock the drug. Abortion rights advocates also warn the case could have far reaching implications beyond abortion. They say the lawsuit threatens the FDA's authority over the entire drug approval process, which could lead to the development of new drugs being limited overall and other repercussions. The pharmaceutical company GenBioPro which makes the generic mifepristone drug filed an amicus brief in the case as did a number of former FDA officials and food and drug experts. But the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which was formed in 2022, argues the Supreme Court should uphold the lower court decision. They claim the FDA has removed safety standards for the drug that protect the health and safety of women and girls. Abortion is expected to be one of the top issues heading into the November election, and the decision released this summer could have a galvanizing effect as it did in 2022 after Roe was overturned. In the most recent midterms, Republicans did not see the red wave some had anticipated. It was largely due to races where Democrats leaned in on protecting access to abortion. Since Roe was overturned roughly half of states have taken action to further restrict abortion access or ban it altogether. But when abortion was on the ballot even in red states, like Kansas and Ohio, voters moved to protect abortion rights. At the same time, blue states have moved to further protect access passing laws and constitutional amendments since Roe was overturned. However, they would be impacted by mifepristone being further restricted for pulled from the market. Mifepristone was used in approximately 642,700 medication abortions in the U.S. in 2023 New research by Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization, found there were approximately 642,700 medication abortions in the United States in 2023, which made up 63 percent of all abortions last year. Medication abortion is more accessible than procedural abortion. In 2021, 40 percent of facilities that provide abortions only offered medication abortions. The use of telemedicine and mailing of abortion pills has also increased over the past few years. In 2020, only 7 percent of all providers used telemedicine and mailed abortion pills. In 2022, 31 percent were mailing abortion pills. Both victims were originally from Uzbekistan Durdona Sultanova, 43, and her ex-husband Al Allaberg, 44, were found shot dead inside a walk-in closet in her Pennsylvania home on March 16 Two kids have been orphaned after their father shot their mom dead before turning the gun on himself inside their Pennsylvania home. Durdona Sultanova, 43, and her ex-husband Al Allaberg, 44, were found shot dead inside a walk-in closet in the master bedroom of her Norristown home on March 16. Police said they responded to the scene after 'two young residents of the home' called 911. Sultanova, suffered several gunshots to the chest, according to an autopsy. Allaberg died from a single self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Both were originally from Uzbekistan. Durdona Sultanova, 43, and her ex-husband Al Allaberg, 44, were found shot dead inside a walk-in closet in the master bedroom of her Norristown home on March 16 Allaberg died from a single self-inflicted gunshot to the head Durdona Sultanova, 43, and her ex-husband Al Allaberg, 44, were found shot dead inside a walk-in closet in the master bedroom of her Norristown home on March 16 Police have not said what led to the murder-suicide. Allaberg owned a moving company named Iceberg logistics and attended the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, per his Linked In. A GoFundMe started by Sultanova's friend Lilia Tamkovitch says the mother of two was 'was a lovely, kind, and beautiful woman who was unfortunately taken from us too soon.' The donation page added: 'Many know Durdona for her generosity, kindness, and open heart who has helped many. 'She leaves behind two young children who are also left without a father.' The couple's two children are now under care of Sultanova's parents, according to the GoFundMe. The donation page has collected over $50,000. Sultanova, known as 'Donna' to her loved ones, was buried on Sunday. The family has been posting on Facebook to spread awareness of the situation The women are experienced campers and came well prepared for the trip Four women, including two teens from Arizona, have been reported missing after not returning from a family camping trip. Tenaya Gilmore, 15, Hannah Gilmore, 17, Korie Gilmore, 24, and Shelby Berry, 25 were last seen on Thursday, March 21 near McKellips and Gilbert roads in Mesa, a town 30 minutes east of Phoenix. Korie is the older cousin of Tenaya and Hannah, and Shelby is Korie's partner. The family has reportedly been unable to contact the four women, some of whom have autism and anxiety, and are worried about their well-being. According to Jen Shawna, the mother of Tenaya and Hannah, the group headed out Friday morning to camp in Payson, Arizona, a mountainous region, and were expected to be home by Sunday evening, per her Facebook post. 'They have not returned, phones go to voicemail, locations aren't available,' Shawna said. Four women, including two teens, from Mesa, Arizona , have been reported missing after not returning from a family camping trip. L-R: Korie Gilmore, Tenaya Gilmore, Hannah Gilmore, and Shelby Berry Pictured: Tenaya Gilmore, 15. The group was last seen on Thursday, March 21 near McKellips and Gilbert roads in Mesa, a town 30 minutes east of Phoenix, according to police Pictured: Hannah Gilmore, 17. The family has reportedly been unable to contact the four women and are worried about their well-being 'They went prepared with lots of food, a propane heater and supplies. This was a thought out trip.' Shawna also said that her niece, Korie, is an experienced camper. 'They are experienced which is why we allowed the girls to go,' said Shawna. 'I'm choosing to believe that they are stuck somewhere and are waiting to be found.' James Gilmore, the father of Tenaya and Hannah, told DailyMail.com that Korie and her partner Shelby go camping in the mountains at least once a month. The authorities have not confirmed where the four women were heading to. The Mesa Police Department have alerted six different agencies to help find the missing women. Leila Woodard, a friend of the Gilmore family, said one of the women's credit card was used at a Circle K on Sunday, which police are currently investigating. Woodard also clarified that the women were planning on taking part in 'dispersed camping,' or setting up their campsite outside of a designated campground. Pictured: Korie Gilmore, 24. James Gilmore, father of Tenata and Hannah, said Korie and her fiance Shelby were experienced campers and came well prepared Pictured: Shelby Berry, 25, fiance of Korie Gilmore. One of the women's credit cards was used at a Circle K on Sunday They were last seen in a red, 2008 Kia Sportage with the license plate number BYA7LR and decorated with bumper stickers. Authorities do not know what the women were wearing before they disappeared. The two teenagers have been diagnosed with autism and/or anxiety, per the police. Anyone with information about the family is asked to contact the Mesa police. Terrifying video shows the moment a teenage girl was grabbed from the hallway outside the door of her New York City home by a man who leapt out from the stairwell. Doorbell footage from the Astoria, Queens, apartment building captured the moment the grocery store worker tried to snatch the 18-year-old girl as she returned home from taking the dog for a walk around 9am on January 23. The girl's mother, Adriana Alvarez, 35, sprinted out of the house to stop the attempted kidnapping moments later. She said a scuffle ensued down the staircase, and the incident left her daughter badly bruised. NYPD told DailyMail.com the perpetrator, George Vassiliou, 25, of Queens, is the victim's ex-boyfriend. 'From the fourth to the first floor, we were just tumbling, fighting,' Alvarez told CBS News. Terrifying video shows the moment a teenage girl was grabbed from the hallway outside the door of her New York City home by a man who leapt out from the stairwell Police say George Vassiliou, 25, of Queens, jumped out from hiding to attack his ex-girlfriend, 18, before her mom ran out and she and the suspect went tumbling down the stairs The incident left mom Adriana Alvarez with several injuries including a dislocated shoulder Alvarez sprinted to her daughter's aid seconds after she was snatched in the video. She told CBS she sprang into action after hearing 'just the most horrific scream you can think of'. 'It just... a stump and a scream,' she told the broadcaster. 'I run out and I see her being dragged by this man down the fourth floor,' Alvarez said. NYPD told DailyMail.com Vassiliou 'threw her down the stairs', deployed pepper spray in her face and 'punched her several times in the face' during the attack, which unfolded at 25 Avenue and 43rd Street in Astoria. Video shows the teenage girl returning home with a small dog, before Vassiliou leaps over a bannister out of nowhere and pounces on her. She screams as he grabs her from behind and they disappear from view down the stairwell. He 'dragged her, threw her down the stairs and punched her several times in the face causing pain,' NYPD said. 'The suspect then removed pepper spray from his pocket and sprayed her in the face... he then threw her down the stairs, where he began to kick her in the back causing pain, bruising, and a dislocated shoulder.' 'From the fourth to the first floor, we were just tumbling, fighting,' Alvarez told CBS News. Video shows the teenage girl returning home with a small dog, before Vassiliou leaps over a bannister out of nowhere and pounces on her She screams as he grabs her from behind and they disappear from view down the stairwell The teen also suffered bruises in the surprise attack inside the Astoria apartment building Alvarez sprinted to her daughter's aid seconds after she was snatched in the video Alvarez also said the suspect had worked at a local grocery store with his daughter, until the relationship got 'weird.' 'He started following her and started hiding behind cars,' Alvarez said. Vassiliou is being held in West Facility, East Elmhurst, a prison for 'inmates with contagious diseases' on a $50,000 bond according to the NYC Department of Correction. The family's neighbor, Gus Bougas, also ran to help after hearing the commotion. He grabbed Vassiliou, who ran away before lurking in wait for the mother and daughter across the street. 'We were touching, pushing each other,' Bougas told CBS. 'I put my foot in front and threw him on the floor and landed on top of him. Tried to keep him restrained until the cops came.' Alvarez praised Bougas as their 'hero.' 'God forbid if he wasn't here, he would have ran away again.' An American man was rescued by a woman after he was seen wandering at a Medellin mall after he was allegedly drugged and robbed. The victim was seen asking shoppers at the San Lucas Mall on Sunday morning to assist him in contacting his mother back home when a Good Samaritan obliged, El Colombiano newspaper reported. The man, who identified as John and a Los Angeles resident, told the woman he had been robbed of his cell phone, laptop and an undisclosed amount of money. The Good Samaritan, who declined to be named in the report, recalled John telling her, 'I am going to tell all my friends not to come to Medellin.' An American man, who identified himself as John who works as DJ from Los Angeles, was found allegedly drugged and robbed of him laptop, cell phone and money, and found wandering at a mall in Medellin, Colombia, on Sunday A Good Samaritan helped John after finding him in a market Police arrived on the scene and registered an incident report and claimed the only friend John had in the area was a tattoo artist in Envigado, six miles southeast of Medellin. Before placing him in an Uber to take him to the friend's home, the woman advised him, 'Please tell everyone, all your friends who come looking for prostitution and drugs, please don't come.' DailyMail.com reached out to the Aburra Valley Metropolitan Police for comment. The alleged robbery is the latest incident in which tourists in Medellin have fallen victims to crimes in which they were drugged before they were either robbed or killed. At least 13 foreigners have died in Medellin in the first two months of 2024 after 30 deaths were reported in all of last year. Eight Americans in Medellin between November 1 and December 31, 2023. Community activist and comedian Tou Ger Xiong is one of eight Americans died from alleged drug overdoses or were killed after they were lured by people they met on dating apps in Medellin, Colombia between November 1 and December 31, 2023. The 50-year-old was found dead December 11, after going out with a 19-year-old woman he previously met on an app In January, Medellin cops arrested Sharit Mejia and two men for the December murder of American community activist and comedian Tou Ger Xiong. In response, the United States Embassy in Colombia warned travelers about the use of dating apps. The embassy indicated that several of the deaths pointed to 'possible drugging, robbery, and overdose and several involve the use of online dating applications.' The embassy advised also American visitors that they should 'strongly consider meeting only in public places and avoiding isolated locations, such as residences or hotel rooms, where crimes are most likely to occur.' 'It is also recommended that if Americans decide to invite a person they met to a home or hotel, they speak to the 'attendant/concierge beforehand and establish a policy as to what information your new visitor should provide before being authorized entry (photo of identification, etc.) and what process should be followed when your visitor departs,' the mission said. President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday to communicate more closely with the medical community regarding the government's medical reform plans, his spokesperson said. Yoon gave the instruction during his weekly meeting with Han at the presidential office as thousands of junior doctors remained off the job for over a month to protest the government's plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 starting next year. "Please communicate more closely with all sectors of society, including the medical community," he was quoted as saying by his spokesperson, Kim Soo-kyung. A day earlier, Yoon had asked the prime minister to look for "flexible" ways to handle the suspension of medical licenses, which the government was expected to enforce against protesting doctors starting Tuesday. Yoon also asked Han during Monday's meeting to make utmost efforts to properly manage the April 10 parliamentary elections, with special attention to transporting those with mobility problems to the polls. (Yonhap) A new poll indicates a group of Joe Biden's staunchest supporters - black Americans - are not feeling very enthusiastic about voting in 2024, possibly spelling trouble for the president's re-election effort. After losing the first two primaries in 2020, black voters handed Biden his first primary victory in South Carolina. That watershed moment supercharged Biden's campaign and helped him beat out a crowded field to secure the nomination and later the presidency. Over 80 percent of black voters backed Biden in 2020. Now, as Biden has a firm grip on the Democrat party as he heads into a rematch against former President Donald Trump, that cohort of black voters may not show up. A poll released Monday from In Our Own Voice: National Black Womens Reproductive Justice Agenda with PerryUndem found that just 59 percent of black voters are 'almost certain' to vote this fall and 12 percent 'will probably' vote. The results indicate that around 40 percent of black voters are not certain they will cast votes in the 2024 elections. President Joe Biden relied on votes from black Americans to secure his win in 2020 Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., helped Biden with black voters in his home state in 2020, setting up the campaign for a victory march to the Democrat nomination Additionally, 30 percent of respondents indicated the upcoming elections are not that important. And as Biden has ostracized some potential supporters over his stance on the Israel-Hamas war, some voters revealed they have considered withholding their vote as an act of protest. Nearly 20 percent said they have considered withholding their vote, according to the poll. That number shoots up to 25 percent among younger voters. Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict heavily divided black voters with a third approving of his response, a third disapproving and a third unsure. The poll, which surveyed over 1,000 black adults, also provided insights into how the president is performing with younger votes. Only 38 percent of voters aged 18 to 29 said they were almost certain to vote, while just 17 percent indicated they will probably vote. That means that nearly half of black voters in that age group are not committed to voting this cycle. When asked if they had to vote immediately, just 44 percent of young black voters responded they would vote for Democrats. Of that group, 37 percent said they were unsure or they would not vote. When accounting for all those surveyed, 63 percent have a favorable view of Joe Biden while 35 percent view him unfavorably. The number one issue for black voters in 2024 is the cost of living. Racial justice, health care and education also ranked among the top voting concerns. U.S. President Joe Biden greets a family for a conversation about student loan debt forgiveness Former President Donald Trump has recently gained support among black voters Trump, on the other hand, has surged with black voters recently. A March poll from the New York Times/Siena showed that 23 percent of black voters would vote for the former president. A similar poll conducted by the same firms in July 2023 found that 12 percent of black voters would vote for Trump, indicating he is picking up votes as his campaign charges on. Further, a December AP-NORC poll found that 25 percent of black voters approved of Trump, up from 18 percent in 2021. In the 2020 election, just eight percent of black Americans voted for Trump, according to Pew Research data. Police said the victim was airlifted to the hospital for surgery and is in recovery The 12-year-old has been charged with aggravated assault and the seven-year-old was found not culpable under Texas law Disturbing video shows two young brothers, aged 12 and seven, stab a 59-year-old woman in her garage then flee on their bikes in Harris County, Texas. The Harris County Sheriff's Office said the unnamed woman, who has a mental illness, got into an argument with the boys around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday outside of her home on April Valley Court. The children initially rode off on their bikes, then surveillance camera footage from a neighbors house captured them returning about 12 minutes later, reported Click2Houston. Video showed the shorter boy wearing blue gloves and a white shirt and the taller boy in a red hoodie with black gloves walking up the woman's driveway. The boy in a red hoodie is seen pulling an object out of his pants then running inside the garage. Surveillance camera footage from a neighbors house captured the shorter boy wearing blue gloves and the taller boy in a red hoodie with black gloves walking up the woman's driveway The boy in a red hoodie is seen pulling an object out of his pants then running inside the garage Seconds later the boys rushed out of the garage, jumped on their bikes and peddled away from the scene. 'Never did any of us think that it was going to be kids from the neighborhood that came in and attacked her,' a neighbor who asked not to be identified told KTRK. 'If they have the ability to go and do that to an older woman who clearly has mental issues after our neighbor down the road tells them, 'Hey, leave her alone.' It's a concern.' The woman's brother arrived at her house shortly after the stabbing and was able to call for help. 'Her brother came and checked by just to check on her; he checks on her daily. At that point, he just came at the right time, opened the door, and saw she was stabbed,' said Sergio Torres, an investigator with the Harris County Sheriff's Office. She was transported to the hospital via Life Flight and underwent surgery. Senior Deputy Thomas M. Gilliland told DailyMail.com on Monday the victim is recovering in a local hospital. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on Sunday the 12-year-old was charged with aggravated assault and is being held by the Harris County Juvenile Department. The 7-year-old was not charged because he does not meet the age of culpability in Texas. The boys mother told Click2Houston she apologizes to the victim and said her son is mentally ill. 'I'm sorry to the family. I'm very sorry that my son's committed the incident. And I'm praying for your health, for your wellness,' she said. 'My son, he struggles from his mental problems. I am very remorseful because I wouldnt want that to happen to nobody.' 'We just gotta keep our prayers up for both my family and their family,' the mother said. Seconds later the boys rushed out of the garage, jumped on their bikes and peddled away from the scene The unnamed victim, who has a mental illness, got into an argument with the boys around 2:00 p.m. on Saturday outside of her home on April Valley Court The boys mother told Click2Houston she apologizes to the victim and said her son is mentally ill The local ABC News affiliate reported that the juvenile crime is up in the Houston area. Juvenile offender homicide rate has increased by 76 percent since 2021 in Harris County and felony assaults have doubled when comparing January 2023 to January 2024. Three children dubbed the 'little rascals' by the FBI were arrested for robbing a Wells Fargo bank in Houston - which is in Harris County The trio, ages 11, 12 and 16, held up the bank at 10261 North Freeway around 3 p.m. on March 14. Police said they passed a threatening note to a teller and got away on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash. The group was believed to have been armed, but they did not present a weapon, reported KTRK. Home Secretary James Cleverly today furiously dismissed depraved Josef Fritzl's reported wish to move to Britain if he is ever let out of prison. The 88-year-old Austrian has been jailed since 2009 after holding his daughter Elisabeth captive in his cellar for 24 years between 1984 and 2008. He raped her thousands of times and fathered her seven children as she endured years of unimaginable misery in the Austrian town of Amstetten. Fritzl is now able to apply for release and has reportedly said he dreams of moving to the UK after seeing a documentary about Shakespeare in his high-security prison. He is claimed to have expressed a desire to 'roam free on the wild Highlands of Scotland' and to visit the 'lush green fields of Wales'. But, responding to the reports, Mr Cleverly vowed: 'This monster is never coming to our country. 'Any attempt to travel to the UK will be refused as it would be for anyone convicted of serious sex offences like this.' Josef Fritzl has been jailed since 2009 after holding his daughter Elisabeth captive in his cellar for 24 years between 1984 and 2008 Home Secretary James Cleverly furiously dismissed the depraved 88-year-old's reported wish to move to Britain if he is ever let out of prison Fritzl was said to have expressed his desire to move to Britain after witnessing the 'spectacular scenery' of the UK in the documentary. According to The Sun, he said: 'I was filled with this wonderful, uplifting feeling, this sense of inspiration for this fantastic culture. 'And it was then I knew that when I get released, it is not Austria I want to stay, rather I want to emigrate to the UK. 'Above all I want to roam free on the wild Highlands of Scotland.' He added in an interview: 'For me the lush green fields of Wales are also very, very appealing. But the main thing is it's to the United Kingdom that I am headed.' A court in the town of Krems an der Donau had ordered in January that Fritzl be transferred to a regular prison from a prison psychiatric unit after being told he was 'no longer at threat of reoffending', but this decision has since been overturned. His daughter Elisabeth, who is now 56 and has been given a new identity, previously said she hopes her evil father will be punished for his crimes 'until death'. Elisabeth Fritzl (pictured as a schoolgirl), now 56, was held prisoner by her father Josef in the cellar of the family's Austrian home from 1984 to 2008 Josef Fritzl is seen during day four of his trial at the country court of St. Poelten in 2009 Fritzl's trial heard he raped her 3,000 times in the rat-infested cellar and how he beat and kicked her and eventually had seven children with her. The mother lived downstairs in the flat with her children - Kerstin born in 1988, Stefan (1990) and Felix (2002). Meanwhile Lisa (1992), Monica (1994) and Alexander (1996) were raised upstairs in the home Fritzl shared with his wife Rosemarie in sleepy Amstetten in central Austria, 48 miles from Linz. Another son, named Micheal, tragically died from neglect shortly after he was born. Speaking through her lawyer Eva Plaz at her father's trial, Elisabeth said that she hopes he is never released. 'She wants the defendant to be held responsible until death,' Ms Plaz said. Earlier the lawyer had told the court: 'The defendant has made himself the master of life and death. He must be punished for this.' Fritzl, who has now changed his name to one not made public, has been in prison since his conviction in 2009 for incest, rape, enslavement, coercion and the murder by neglect of his newborn son. Fritzl, 88, is detained at Sankt Poelten Prison and is suffering from Alzheimer's disease Elisabeth lived in this dingy, cramped basement for 24 years with her children Josef Fritzl during a four-week-holiday in Pataya, Thailand, January 1, 1998, to February 3, 1998 MailOnline reported that Elisabeth has build a new life with her bodyguard husband in an isolated riverside home just half an hour from the dungeon where she was held captive for 24 years, living opposite her oldest daughter Kerstin. This comes after Fritzl wrote an apology letter earlier this year in which he claims he is a 'good father'. 'I regret all of my actions deeply. Kind regards, Fritzl,' the incestious rapist wrote. 'I was actually a good father,' he claimed, saying that he saved money for the 'children's education', that he visited them often, helped them with chores and even got them to learn instruments 'and so forth'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced that he is canceling the planned visit of a delegation to Washington after the United States refused to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Minutes before the resolution was carried by 14 votes to zero, Netanyahu told Israeli news media that the visit would not happen if Washington failed to veto it. 'In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation would not leave,' his office said after the vote, calling the decision a 'clear retreat' from its previous stance. The impasse is the latest twist in diplomatic efforts to ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians caught up in fighting and to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. And it highlights how the relationship between the U.S. is breaking down amid the bloodshed in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday he was canceling a Washington visit by his officials in protest at a UN Security Council resolution demanding a Gaza ceasefire The resolution passed by 14-0 after the United Nations decided to abstain American officials have repeatedly said they are worried about Israel's plans to launch a major ground offensive in Rafah, where about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population has found refuge. The UN Security Council voted Monday morning on a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan, as well as the immediate release of all hostages. With Ramadan ending next month, it means the ceasefire would last for just two weeks. 'If the US does not veto a resolution for a cease-fire that is not conditional on the release of hostages - I will cancel the delegation's departure to Washington,' said Netanyahu earlier, according to Ynet News. His objection was that although the resolution called for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, it did not clearly make one contingent on the other. His National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were expected to lead the delegation. And they were to present plans for the Rafah offensive along with outlines of how they would protect civilians. Washington vetoed earlier resolutions that had demanded a ceasefire. But international pressure is growing to end the Israeli bombardment that has killed 32,000 Palestinians since the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7. Palestinians, including children, and examine the rubble and collect remaining belongings from a heavily damaged building in Rafah, as Israeli attacks on Gaza continue A wounded Palestinian boy stands beside the rubble of his house destroyed by an overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, March 25, 2024. Thirty-one Palestinians, most of them children and women, were killed President Joe Biden has made much of his close relationship with Netanyahu, but it has become more fraught as the death toll in Gaza soared White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the decision to cancel the planned trip was 'very disappointing. But he added that Monday's abstention did not represent a change of policy. 'The reason we abstained is because this resolution text did not condemn Hamas. and we really believe that Hamas should be condemned for what they did on the seventh of October,' he told reporters. He said U.S. officials were still expecting to meet for separate talks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on hostages, humanitarian aid and protecting civilians in Rafah. His office said he would stress in a meeting with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan the importance of destroying Hamas and returning the hostages. 'We will operate against Hamas everywhere - including in places where we have not yet been,' he said. 'We will identify an alternative to Hamas, so that the IDF may complete its mission.' Since rising to the top of British politics, he has battled the Covid crisis, competed in two Tory leadership contests, and is now fretting about a general election wipeout. So it's no surprise that Rishi Sunak's hair might be significantly greyer than it was when he became Chancellor little more than four years ago. Pictures of the Prime Minister on a visit this morning to Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, showed him with noticeably more silver strands than in early 2020. As he walked into Downing Street to be appointed Chancellor in February of that year, the fresh-faced Mr Sunak appeared free of the stresses of high office. But the pictures of the PM today showed how subsequent years of toil in No11 and, now, No10 have seemingly taken their toll. Slide me Rishi Sunak pictured in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, today (left) and on the day he was appointed Chancellor in February 2020 (right) Perhaps unsurprisingly, ex-Labour PM Sir Tony Blair's brown hair turned silver during his decade in power between May 1997 (above) and June 2007 (below) Mr Sunak would not be the first politician to physically display the strain of running a country. Perhaps unsurprisingly, ex-Labour PM Sir Tony Blair's brown hair turned silver during his decade in power between 1997 and 2007. Former US president Barack Obama also underwent a dramatic greying during his two terms in the White House between 2009 and 2017. But it is not only a whitening of locks that afflicts male world leaders. During his spell as PM, David Cameron once joked that keeping his bald patch 'under control' was his 'number one' priority while in office. Yet the now Lord Cameron did not take as drastic action as former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, who reportedly underwent a hair transplant in 2004. The maverick leader's moving hairline continued to mystify Italians for many years. There has been a similar fascination with Donald Trump's hairline as he continues to dominate US politics, despite being kicked out of the White House after one term. Barack Obama underwent a dramatic greying between January 2009 (left) and his farewell speech as US president in January 2017 (right) During his spell as PM, David Cameron once joked that keeping his bald patch 'under control' was his 'number one' priority while in office There has been a continued fascination with Donald Trump's hairline as he continues to dominate US politics Lord Cameron's bitter political rival, Nigel Farage, once suggested the former Tory leader was secretly using hair dye to turn back the years. Following a clash during a TV debate ahead of the 2015 general election, the then UKIP leader said he had complimented Lord Cameron on his appearance. 'Any man who can reverse the greying process I'm jealous of,' Mr Farage added. 'I'm going to have a go myself, it's a wonderful thing. He's also lost a lot of weight, he's going out jogging.' During his time as PM, Lord Cameron was accused of visiting stylists and even trichologists to keep his hair looking youthful. In 2011, Downing Street was forced to deny claims he was fighting the ageing process with unnatural help after his grey hairs looked less prominent, 'I promise you he has not dyed his hair,' a spokesman said. 'The Prime Minister has other things to think about, he's just not like that.' Before he was elected as PM, Lord Cameron had revealed he was concerned about going grey. 'I've had a few grey hairs and I expect I'll get a few more, whatever happens. This is a relentless process,' he said. In the video, the boss reprimands him for not coming to work and calling in sick with a broken hand TikTok users are split about a viral post where a server claims he was fired for calling in sick with a broken hand. Freddie, who's known as @petobsessed777, posted a video on March 1 of himself playing a voicemail that his boss left him. TikTokers initially supported Freddie, but some of them have also questioned the reality of the situation. Freddie posted a second TikTok video on March 5 of him having a conversation with a woman while he was being fired from his job. Within four days, Freddie went from being a server with a broken hand, to having an intense conversation with a woman who TikTokers thought sounded like Elmo. Freddie's videos have been viewed by about 4 million TikTok users who have either supported him or accused him of lying. Freddie, who's known as @petobsessed777 on TikTok, posted a video on March 1 of himself playing a voicemail that his boss left him TikTokers supported Freddie after he posted the video, but some of them have turned on him after he posted a second TikTok video on March 5 Freddie's boss described the day he missed as an 'all hands on deck day' before he began his phone call rant. 'I know you allegedly broke your hand... The only acceptable reason to call out is an illness that is contagious,' his boss stated. 'Otherwise, you're expected to show up.' Freddie's callout led to catering orders at his work place were going out late 'left and right,' the boss claimed. Freddie's supervisor said he did not tell him about the issues to make him feel guilty, but that he wants Freddie to be inspired. 'When one of our team members is down, the whole team feels it,' he said. Freddie's boss then requested that he call him back and concluded the phone call by calling him 'bucko.' Social media users were not happy about the voicemail and most of them disliked what the server's boss called him. TikTok users that commented on Freddie's March 1 video were annoyed with his boss and were especially upset that he referred to the server as 'bucko' in the voicemail 'Anyone who calls you "bucko" in an authority based relationship has no respect for you at all,' a TikToker wrote. 'I let clients go when they talk to my staff like that.' Other users suggested that Freddie get a lawyer 'immediately' and that he had the right to call out. 'You can actually call out for whatever you want - they legally can't ask you why...,' another user wrote in the comment section. Although the US Department of Labor confirmed that there are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave, Freddie met the requirement to be protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act. The act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for medical reasons that involve the employee or their family if the worker has been employed at the company for at least 12 months. Freddie did not clarify where he worked, but if he worked in California, he would've met the requirements for the Paid Sick Leave law. As part of the law, employers are required to give their employees paid time off for treatment, diagnosis or preventative care for themselves or their family members. The law covers employees who work for the same employer for at least 30 days of the year in California and complete a 90-day employment period before taking a sick day. The law is applied to employees who are seeking medical attention, caring for a family member, or recovering from a physical/mental illness or injury. TikTok users who watched the first video suggested Freddie get a lawyer and they have also called out his boss for calling him 'bucko' Various laws are put in place for employers that are required to give their workers paid or unpaid sick days after the employees work at the company for a certain time period Although these are workplace requirements, Freddie was still fired from his job by a woman who worked for the company. The female boss hinted to him that one of the reasons behind the firing was of him posting the first TikTok video. She then went into other factors that she claimed were also factors in why the company terminated his employment. 'We have to really look back to the impacted client service standards and think on the history of attendance and punctuality,' she told Freddie. Once he asked the woman when attendance and punctuality was an issue, she brought up a callout made by him on January 15, 2021. 'We request that you return of all the company property and note that this does include your company branded hair net and bow tie,' she stated. Freddie, who listened to the entire phone call, couldn't stop smiling when the female worker spoke with him. The phone call and job termination did appear legit to some TikTokers, but it also made users question if the issue was real. The woman who spoke with Freddy hinted that one of the reasons why he was being fired was because of the 'disparaging' TikTok video he posted on March 1 TikTokers stopped believing that everything was real after an employee, who had a voice like 'Elmo' or 'a cartoon character' called Freddie up One of the reasons that TikTokers couldn't believe the issue was real was because of the woman's voice, who one user wrote was 'a cartoon character voice.' 'Is your hr department run by the muppets,' one TikToker asked in the comment section. 'This 100% cannot be real. The original call, maybe. But this no way. I refuse to believe itttttt with her,' another user wrote. A user who didn't believe the issue was real thought that for a reason that's completely different from the female employee's voice. After months of the public demanding an explanation and speculation on her whereabouts the Princess of Wales shocked the world on Friday when she appeared on our TV screens and candidly told us about her cancer diagnosis. Throughout it all Prince William has masked his personal pain and put on a brave face during royal duties. In February, he spoke to Holocaust survivor Renee Salt at the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in central London where he took part in discussions about the rise in anti-Semitism in Britain. It was his first public appearance after pulling out of the memorial service for his godfather, the late King Constantine II of Greece, which was reportedly when he found out about his wife's diagnosis. Then, just three days before Kate's emotional video announcement, William attended a conference to help end homelessness in the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield. In February, Prince William spoke to Holocaust survivor Renee Salt at the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in central London Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, gave William a bouquet of flowers for Kate as they stood with Rabbi Daniel Epstein During his visit to the Western Marble Arch Synagogue, William was seen holding Ms Salt's hand, as the 95-year-old said to him: 'I'm sorry, I'm sure that if your wife would've been well, she would've been here. I miss her so much. Give her my best wishes, please.' She spoke of her experiences at a Nazi concentration camp, prompting William to ask: 'How did you manage?' She replied: 'It wasn't easy. Somehow I survived.' William held her hand when she described how her family were affected by the rise in antisemitism in recent months. William told her: 'I'm so sorry it's got to this stage, it will get better.' He added: 'We were going to come closer to the Holocaust memorial day but unfortunately we had to move it but glad to be able to meet today.' Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, gave William a bouquet of flowers for Kate as they stood with Rabbi Daniel Epstein, who has headed up the Marble Arch synagogue since 2021 with his wife Illana. Three days before Kate's emotional video announcement, William also attended a conference to help end homelessness in the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield. Three days before Kate's emotional video announcement William attended a conference to help end homelessness in the Millennium Gallery in Sheffield Returning to duties for the first time after his wife's abdominal surgery and his father's cancer diagnosis the Prince of Wales hosted a gala dinner for the Air Ambulance service and gave a speech When the topic of childhood was raised by Sheffield City Council chief executive Kate Josephs, William immediately remarked about the success of Kate's early years projects. Holding his palms out and smiling, he said: 'Venturing into my wife's territory here. She needs to be sat here to hear this.' The sweet remark was touching at the time but even more so now that we know why Kate was unable to attend. Returning to duties for the first time after his wife's abdominal surgery and his father's cancer diagnosis the Prince of Wales hosted a gala dinner for the Air Ambulance service and gave a speech. Despite everything going on in his personal life he still managed to crack a joke, he said: Id like to take this opportunity to say thank you, also, for the kind messages of support for Catherine and for my father, especially in recent days. It means a great deal to us all. Its fair to say the past few weeks have had a rather medical focus. So I thought Id come to an air ambulance function to get away from it all! The mother to one of the four teenage boys who drowned on a camping trip in Wales after their car came off the road and landed in a ditch filled with floodwater has revealed her 'anger' and called for new laws for drivers who have just passed their test. Crystal Owen's 16-year-old son Harvey and his friends Jevon Hirst, 16, Wilf Fitchett, 17 and Hugo Morris, 18, left their homes in Shropshire on November 18 last year and headed for Snowdonia National Park where they planned to camp for the night. Their parents reported them missing when they didn't return home the next morning sparking a huge search for the four friends. The following day their car was found overturned near the village of Garreg, partially submerged in a ditch off a remote road almost two days after their last contact. Harvey Owens (pictured), 16, was on a camping trip with his three friends when their car came off the road and landed in a ditch The boys left their homes in Shropshire on November 18 last year and headed for Snowdonia National Park where they planned to camp for the night. Pictured: Jevon Hirst, 16 Their parents reported them missing when they didn't return home the next morning sparking a huge search for the four friends. Pictured: Wilf Fitchett, 17 The following day their car was found overturned near the village of Garreg, partially submerged in a ditch off a remote road almost two days after their last contact. Pictured: Hugo Morris, 18 Police at the site of the car crash on the A4085 that took the lives of all four boys in November last year Harvey Owen's mother Crystal called for stricter rules for new drivers on TalkTV this morning Harvey's mother is now campaigning to bring in new legislation and safeguards for drivers who have just passed their test. Speaking on TalkTV this morning she said: 'The day after the crash, I found out about the graduated licence or progressive driving licensing system, and it was just a light bulb moment. I mean, I hadn't even thought about road safety or anything leading up to what happened.' Graduated driver licensing (GDL) is a three-stage system designed to delay the issuing of a full licence to allow beginners to get initial driving experience under lower risk conditions. The first stage is a minimum supervised learning period, the second is an intermediate licence period that places restrictions on the new driver, and the third is the acquisition of a full, unrestricted, driving licence. A police officer standing next to the ditch that the car was found in with the boys inside Ms Owens said: 'It just angers me that as parents, we have no control, really, because we need this law to enforce telling teenagers something is not enough.' She added: 'The age of driving was decided 100 years ago. Look how more powerful cars are now. 'They say it's like an impingement on their freedom. However, the age group that are more likely to crash are young people, and they are more likely to pass their test early on. 'A driving test itself is there to protect people. And so before the driving test, you're not even allowed to drive and then you pass your test. The idea is to keep them safe.' A spokesperson for the Department for Transport told MailOnline: 'Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with Harvey Owen's family. 'We continue to work tirelessly to improve road safety. Weve commissioned research designed to help learner and newly qualified drivers improve their skills and safety, while our THINK! campaign is specifically targeted at young drivers' At the time police cordon off an entrance to the A4085 road in Garregg, Gwynedd, Wales Tributes were left on the steps of Shrewsbury College in Shropshire where all four boys had been students Tributes left for the four teenage boys at Shrewsbury Abbey in their home town of Shrewsbury, Shropshire The boys grieving friends left emotional hand-written tributes for them at Shrewsbury Abbey They also said there are no plans to introduce any further restrictions on younger drivers and that The Roads Minister has been in contact with Crystal Owens MP to arrange a meeting. Reacting to the governments response Ms Owen's said: 'Sadly they say it's a tragedy. It's preventable tragedies many of these deaths are. 'They've done this research, which has actually been ready since 2022 and still hasn't been published. However, I don't understand what they think this research is going to do. 'Theres 30 years worth of research from other countries, from top psychologists, road experts that have proven education is not enough. 'I've spoken to countless families, some families that have even spoken to their children after Harvey and the boys crash, and they have still gone on to crash and die. Education is not enough.' Ms Owens has been called 'brave' for how she has dealt with her son's death but she disagreed with this sentiment. She said: 'I'm not brave and I'm doing this because Harvey would be here if this law was in place. I've got other children. I don't want them to get to this age and be worrying. 'Of all the things I worried about Harvey, this was not one of them, because I didn't think it affected me.' The former kickboxer and Big Brother contestant entertains his nine million followers on X/Twitter with an unremitting combination of macho posturing and bluster, often delivered bare-chested, all the better to show off his admittedly impressive physique. But following the news last week that the Romanian authorities had agreed to allow Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan, 35, to be extradited to the UK on charges of human trafficking and rape once criminal proceedings have been wrapped up there, Tate appeared to accept that he was in trouble. In a characteristically off-the-wall video exchange with Tristan, he recalls how he refused to celebrate when Tristan gave him a high five for destroying the BBC. Instead, he cited the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the World War II naval engagement that resulted in the sinking of the battlecruiser HMS Hood. When Churchill found out the Hood was sunk, he said: We cannot lose the Hood without them losing the Bismarck. Sink the Bismarck, Tate declaims. When the Bismarck sunk the Hood all of the crew were celebrating except the captain. He updated his will and telegraphed home to his wife and said goodbye because he knew. Andrew Tate was arrested in late 2022 after two women, one of them American, told police they were being held against their will inside the home he shares with his brother Tate has been banned from Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter for violating policies on harmful content Its certainly true that things look bad for the Tate brothers, who have made millions from an online empire that has exposed millions of impressionable children and young adult males to Tates nauseating views about how real men get rich quick, buy fast cars and - most important of all - treat women like chattels. In the UK, where the US-born Tate grew up on a bleak Luton council estate, he has been accused of brainwashing a generation of boys who - say horrified teachers and education officials - often believe that because he is rich, he must be right. Children as young as 11 treat Tate as their god, report teachers in the US, and quote his ugly mantras and soundbites (such as slap, grab, choke, shut up, bitch, sex) as if they are religious texts. The Labour Party last month revealed that it takes Tates misogyny so seriously that it plans to help schools train young men as role models that will provide a powerful counterbalance to him. Experts are dubious, saying his malign influence is too deeply ingrained, especially on sites like YouTube where he has an army of emulators. The Tate philosophy certainly has its appeal to any smirking 11-year-old boy who discovers the swaggering windbag online: women in his world are intrinsically lazy and, incapable of being independent from men, they are a mans property who should stay in the kitchen or the bedroom. If they are raped, they must bear some responsibility for being attacked. Im a realist and when youre a realist, youre sexist, hes claimed. [Women] are just empty vessels, waiting for someone to install the programming. Tate says he prefers relationships with younger women in their teens because he can leave an imprint on them. Hes spoken about hitting and choking ex-girlfriends, saying: Im not a rapist but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. He once demonstrated in a video how he would assault a woman if she ever accused him of cheating. Its bang out the machete, boom in her face and grip her by the neck. Shut up, bitch, he said. Tate has even had the nerve to claim that he is acting under the instruction of God to do good things - to save men from enslavement and to put women firmly in their place. And astonishingly, such are the depressing economics of internet notoriety that ever since he was thrown off Channel 5s Big Brother in 2016 after a video emerged of him slapping his ex-girlfriend and beating her with a belt, instead of becoming a pariah, Tate has become a multi-millionaire. His claims to be the worlds first trillionaire are clearly ludicrous and his insistence that he recently earned 68million from a single burst of cryptocurrency speculation also sounds dubious, ditto his claim to have a 60million collection of supercars. Previous financial investigations have revealed that his business empire was not nearly so glittering as he made out. Last year, Romanian police estimated his total wealth at a relatively modest 10million. However, the current home he shares with brother and chief collaborator Tristan - a lavish 600,000 compound on the outskirts of the Romanian capital Bucharest - is far removed from their old family home on Lutons Marsh Farm Estate. Last year, the financial news magazine Forbes estimated that Tates online school - once called Hustlers University, now The Real World which purports to teach money-making techniques and the War Room an $8,000-a-year, members-only section of his website - generates 4million a month from subscriptions. Tate grew up on a bleak Luton council estate and has been accused of brainwashing a generation of boys' The Tate philosophy certainly has its appeal to any smirking 11-year-old boy who discovers him online And yet while one might not know it from his bullish and boastful social media postings, the walls may finally be closing in on Tate. Earlier this month, Westminster Magistrates Court in London issued arrest warrants against the brothers over allegations of sexual offences said to have taken place between 2012 and 2015. Bedfordshire Police said it had obtained the warrants as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking. As a result, the brothers were detained by Bucharests appeal court which ruled that the Tates can be extradited to the UK after they have been tried on the Romanian charges. The latter relate to the Tates arrest in late 2022 after two women, one of them American, told police they were being held against their will inside the brothers Bucharest compound. Romanias anti-organised crime agency, DIICOT, has since accused the Tates of recruiting at least seven women using the so-called loverboy method - which entailed convincing malleable women they wanted a romantic relationship but instead forcing them to create pornographic videos. The brothers are accused of recruiting the women as cam girls and then subjecting them to acts of physical violence and mental coercion. The Romanian authorities allege the Tates, along with alleged female Romanian accomplices, formed a group in 2021 to commit human trafficking in Romania and other countries including the UK and US. Tate won an appeal last August to be released from house arrest as the trial date has yet to be decided. He and his brothers are allowed to travel within Romania but not leave the country. It isnt the first time that British police have investigated Tate. Three women reported him to Hertfordshire Constabulary as long ago as 2014 alleging rape, and serious physical and sexual assaults dating back to 2012. Some of their allegations were sickening - Tate, they said, enjoyed choking his sexual partners with such force that he burst blood vessels in their eyes. They said he beat them and hit them with a belt. One of them said she supplied police with a text message from Tate in which he told her: I love raping you. He was immediately arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and physical abuse but police waited until 2019 to pass the information to the Crown Prosecution Service. Even though one of the accusers said she witnessed another woman being raped, the CPS decided not to prosecute, citing evidentiary issues and the no real prospect of a conviction. There have been conflicting reports as to whether the current investigation by the Bedfordshire force is related to these earlier allegations. Matthew Jury, a lawyer for the four women who made the original accusations, criticised some of the media coverage of Tate, saying that recent interviews with Piers Morgan and right-wing US pundit Tucker Carlson had provided him with a platform to spread disinformation about the allegations of criminality he faces which only helps to support and spread his toxic influence further amongst vulnerable young men and boys, something we should all be seeking to put an end to. Last year Forbes estimated Tates online school generates 4million a month In January, he bragged that his next big purchase might be in the US Virgin Islands where he would buy Jeffrey Epstein's small island His accusers - who have called for an inquiry into the CPSs handling of their case - have turned to crowdfunding to cover their legal costs as, together with a fourth accuser, they pursue a civil case against him, which is their only legal option. They say the delay in prosecuting Tate in the UK allowed Tate to move to Romania in 2017 - where, ironically, he claimed the rape laws were less oppressive - and abuse more women. The four say they watched with dismay as their abuser became a huge internet star and fear losing their anonymity will make them vulnerable to attack by his fanatical fans. They say theyre confident there are other UK victims who have yet to come forward, adding: We want to show that we, as survivors, can stand up to him and that his despicable actions have consequences. And we want to show him for what he really is and release impressionable young boys from his toxic hold. That is a noble aim although one wonders what more evidence his more fanatical devotees need to desert him. A YouGov survey last September of more than 1,100 UK children aged between six and 15 found that 54 per cent of them had heard of Tate, and that one in six teenage boys had a positive view of him. Twelve per cent of boys aged six to 15 said they agreed with Tates views on women. And that was a year after he was banned from Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter for violating policies on harmful content. On TikTok alone, his posts had racked up 11.6billion views. Even his family admit they are shocked by Tates rise to fame. The son of Emory Tate, an American serviceman and international chess champion, who met his mother, Eileen Ashleigh, a former school kitchen assistant, when he was serving at a US base in Bedfordshire, Andrew Tate initially lived in America, where he was born, and Berlin. He moved to Luton when his parents divorced when Andrew was 11. Last weekend, his mothers brother, John Ashleigh, told the Mail On Sunday he wasnt impressed by Tates flashy image but suggested that it - along with his misogyny - was all part of an act to make money. If you met Andrew or Tristan in the pub, they come across as totally different characters, he said. Andrews no fool but he can come across as quite domineering. Thats not the way he is in real life, hes very respectful. But if it is an act, its certainly a convincing one. A camera crew from Vice News was granted a rare audience with Tate in his Romanian home in 2022 and found a hilariously self-important egomaniac who warned the reporter not to go to classified areas if he didnt want an armed guard putting a gun in his face. In his weird trans-Atlantic accent he spouted endless claptrap while the reporter gamely tried to keep a straight face. He revealed that he shared the huge house only with his brother: I think you get the best version of yourself if you live with other competitive men, he explained. I dont have loser friends. I like sitting down with people and discussing how we can make money from the conflict in Ukraine.I dont want to talk about TV. As for the medieval-style sword he kept waving around, it was a symbol of empowerment - you know, your wife starts talking and you say: Shut up! I decide what I do. Cook! In January, he bragged that his next big purchase might be in the US Virgin Islands where he would buy the small island getaway of another notorious alleged sexual predator, paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. I will buy Epsteins island and put a massive plaque on it saying Western elites are human traffickers not the Tate brothers. he blustered online. Anyone got the price? I swear I will pay it right now. Of course, he didnt. But if he escapes getting a criminal record - which would stop him entering the US - it would be a fitting final destination for the internets most poisonous misogynist. Meanwhile, given the wartime allusion in his latest video, its worth recalling what happened to the Bismarck. The Admiralty mobilised every available warship in the Atlantic to hunt down and destroy the Germans flagship and, three days after the sinking of the Hood, on fire after being shelled and bombed, it was finished off with torpedoes. A notorious crime boss who is serving a life sentence for orchestrating the murders of an innocent couple has lost his High Court challenge over whether he poses a high risk of escape from prison. Nottingham gang leader, Colin Gunn, was jailed for at least 35 years in 2006 for conspiracy to murder John and Joan Stirland, who were shot in Trusthorpe, Lincolnshire, to gain 'revenge' on their son. He took legal action against the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), claiming a decision in February 2023 to not downgrade his escape risk classification was unfair and unlawful. Gunn, currently in high-security HMP Long Lartin in Evesham, Worcestershire, alleged the decision means he experiences a 'significantly more intrusive and restrictive regime in the prison'. Nottingham gang leader, Colin Gunn (pictured), was jailed for at least 35 years in 2006 for conspiracy to murder John and Joan Stirland, who were shot in Trusthorpe, Lincolnshire, to gain 'revenge' on their son He took legal action against the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), claiming a decision in February 2023 to not downgrade his escape risk classification was unfair and unlawful. Pictured: Joan Stirland and John Stirland At a hearing earlier this month, his lawyers claimed it prevents him moving to a lower security category and reduces his prospect of release on licence at the end of his minimum term in 2040. But in a judgment on Monday, Mr Justice Saini dismissed Gunn's challenge. The High Court previously heard that Gunn was last classified as being of 'exceptional' risk in March 2013, due to allegations that he had tried to corrupt a member of staff as part of an escape plan, before being downgraded to 'high risk' in September that year. In his 26-page judgment, Mr Justice Saini said: 'Counsel for the claimant argued that his previous exceptional escape risk was of very limited if any relevance, since his downgrading by definition meant that the concerns which formed the basis for his previous classification were 'no longer valid'... I reject the logic of this submission.' He continued: 'The previous exceptional escape risk categorisation was because of intelligence suggesting that that the claimant and a second prisoner were planning an escape involving a helicopter and firearms... The history forms part of the overall evidential picture.' At a hearing earlier this month, his lawyers claimed it prevents him moving to a lower security category and reduces his prospect of release on licence at the end of his minimum term in 2040. Pictured: Police at the site where the couple were shot The judge also ruled that the decision not to hold an oral hearing over Gunn's classification was lawful, finding 'it would have served no purpose'. Gunn, once said to have run the Bestwood Estate in Nottingham with his brother, David Gunn, built up a multimillion-pound empire based on drugs, extortion and violent crime and played a part in the city previously being known as Britain's gun crime capital. The prisoner, who was also handed a nine-year sentence in 2007 for bribery of two police officers and conspiracy to corrupt, has previously hit the headlines over his jail experiences. In 2010, he claimed to have won the right to be addressed as 'Mr' by prison staff after complaining to the Prisons Ombudsman. Two years later, he urged fellow inmates at his then jail, HMP Belmarsh, to complain that they had been overcharged for sending A4-size mail. By Kim Hyun-bin Ambassador of New Zealand to Korea, Dawn Bennet, expressed her aspirations to bolster bilateral relations through literary connections during the Korea-New Zealand Creative Sector Reception held at the ambassador's residence in Seoul on Thursday. Bennet also conveyed her delight at hosting the event and introducing children's fantasy author Graci Kim. She described Kim not only as a New York Times best-selling author but also as a former diplomatic colleague and a cherished friend. Kim transitioned from a career diplomat to become a writer. Honoring the author's professional success, Bennet emphasized the significance of Kim's work as a bridge between the two countries, noting the writer's Korean origins and her ability to weave Korean mythology into modern children's fantasy tales. "Graci is a Korean New Zealander who has harnessed her creative talents to write children's fantasy stories inspired by Korean mythology," the ambassador said. "She has successfully captured the essence of traditional Korean stories while staying true to her experiences in New Zealand." Kim's acclaimed "Gifted Clans" trilogy has garnered widespread acclaim, appearing on numerous bestseller lists and being translated into multiple languages, including Korean. "Graci's upcoming book, 'Dream Slayer,' promises to continue her legacy of captivating storytelling," Bennet said. "As a permanent expat, I appreciate how Graci 's stories, rooted in Korean mythology, transcend borders and remind us that our culture travels with us wherever we go." Kim explored reflections on life, love, and the pursuit of meaning. One of the striking revelations Kim shared was the realization of the fleeting nature of time spent with loved ones. "By the time we finish high school, we have already spent 90 percent of the time we will ever spend with our parents," Kim said, emphasizing the importance of cherishing moments with children before they embark on their own life journeys. Kim's personal journey took a significant turn as she transitioned from a career in diplomacy to becoming a writer. "Maybe it's not about fitting more into my life, but fitting more meaning into my life," she said, reflecting on her decision to pursue writing. This stemmed from a desire to create literature that resonates with individuals from diverse backgrounds, allowing them to perceive themselves as "heroes" in their own stories, Kim added. "We all deserve to be able to pick up a book and be completely transported into someone else's shoes," Kim said stressing the importance of human connection and the power of storytelling to unite people across cultures and experiences. Former President Donald Trump invoked Jesus and a Bible Psalm about accusers being judged and stricken Monday as he headed to court to try to dismiss charges related to the $130,000 payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump, who has repeatedly denied Daniels' claims they had a sexual affair, posted a Psalm about 'wicked' accusers, on a day he tore into 'crooked' politicians and a judge he called 'corrupt,' while facing a deadline to pay a $454 million bond in his New York fraud case. 'Received this morningBeautiful, thank you!,' Trump posted on his Truth Social site. He then quoted a supporter as telling him, 'Its ironic that Christ walked through His greatest persecution the very week they are trying to steal your property from you. But have you seen this verse?' The Psalm, 109:38 from the New King James Version of the Bible, begins, 'They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause. In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.' Former President Donald Trump invoked Jesus and a Bible Psalm about accusers being judged and stricken Monday as he headed to court to try to dismiss charges related to the $130,000 payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels Former President Donald Trump headed to Manhattan criminal court as two big cases against him collided Monday His post came after he compared his real estate properties to 'babies' being snatched from him while he appeals the court judgment, in trials he compared to a 'crime being perpetrated against me by Crooked Joe Biden and his political Hacks and Thugs.' The Psalm contains stark language about sin and hatred, as well as ultimate vengeance on accusers. 'Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, And let another take his office.' The next line in the Psalm, which Trump did not post, explicitly referenced the death of the accuser. 'Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow,' it said. Trump, who has repeatedly denied Daniels' claims they had a sexual affair, posted a Psalm about 'wicked' accusers, on a day he tore into 'crooked' politicians and a judge he called 'corrupt,' while facing a deadline to pay a $454 million bond in his New York fraud case Trump shared a Bible Psalm on a day he was in court for a hearing in the Stormy Daniels case Trump called the Psalm 'beautiful' The post was one of many Trump made before and en route to court, while his real estate empire was under threat. He attacked 'crooked' politicians, claimed all the cases against him were 'rigged,' blasted a New York judge's massive $454 million court judgment puts his property 'babies' at risk, and claimed the entire country was 'CORRUPT.' 'This is a witch hunt. This is a hoax. Thank you,' Trump said in unusually brief remarks inside Manhattan criminal court. The former president once again claimed his prosecution in multiple jurisdictions was 'coordinated' by the White House, even as local authorities in New York prepared to slap liens on valuable properties following DA Letitia James' threat to 'seize' properties if Trump failed to make good on a $454 million judgment against him. After boiling over online, Trump visited court Monday morning for the start of his criminal trial where he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over $130,000 payments to the porn star. 'These are Rigged cases, all coordinated by the White House and DOJ for purposes of Election Interference. THE NUMBER ENGORON SET IS FRAUDULENT. It should be ZERO, I DID NOTHING WRONG! The D.A. Case, that I am going to today, should be dismissed. No crime. Our Country is CORRUPT!' Trump wrote in one angry post on his Truth Social network. 'Crooked Pols!!! There should be no FINE. Did nothing wrong! Why should I be forced to sell my babies because a CORRUPT NEW YORK JUDGE & A.G. SET A FAKE AND RIDICULOUS NUMBER. TAKE HIS CASH SO THAT HE CANT USE IT TO DEFEAT HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, CROOKED JOE BIDEN. ELECTION INTERFERENCE, ALL HEADED UP BY THE WHITE HOUSE - THIS INCLUDES FANI AND THE CORRUPT MANHATTAN D.A. BRAGG ADMITTED THERE WAS NO CRIME, WAS MORTIFIED BY WHAT MARK POMERANTZ DID - AND HE SHOULD BE. WITCH HUNT!' Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) criticized Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday after she indicated Israel should face 'consequences' if they launched a major ground offensive in Rafah. Both Biden and Harris have warned Israeli Prime Benjamin Bibi Netanyahu not to invade Rafah as part of Israel's military goal of rooting out Hamas terrorists in the region and freeing the hostages held in captivity after the October 7 attacks. When Harris was asked by ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott on Sunday whether she would rule out considering 'consequences' for Israel if they invaded Rafah, Harris replied, 'I am ruling out nothing.' Kamala Harris warns Israel's pending military assault on Rafah would be 'huge mistake' Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., holds a small Israel flag as he heads to the chamber for a vote 'Hard disagree,' Fetterman replied on social media, featuring an image of a news headline generated by the interview. 'Israel has the right to prosecute Hamas to surrender or to be eliminated.' Harris reiterated the administration's position on Israel's decision to invade Rafah. 'We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,' she said in her ABC interview on Sunday. Fetterman has emerged as a Democratic figure staunchly in support of Israel after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. 'Hamas owns every innocent death for their cowardice hiding behind Palestinian lives,' he continued on social media. Fetterman also shared an image of a story of Israel's plans to attack Rafah, backing the effort. 'SPOILER: It's a war and Hamas needs to surrender or face elimination,' he wrote demanding that Hamas, 'Send every hostage back home NOW.' Over 130 hostages remain in captivity by Hamas including eight Americans. They have been held for over 170 days. Pro-Palestinian Democrats are furious with Fetterman who continues pushing back against their protests of the Israeli war in Gaza. John Fetterman drapes the Israeli flag over his shoulders at a March for Israel rally John Fetterman trolls pro-Palestine protestors by waving huge Israel flag at mob who turned up at his Pennsylvania home, In January, Fetterman stood on a roof and waved an Israeli flag at an angry group of protesters who gathered to express their outrage for his position. 'Fetterman, Fetterman, you cant hide. Youre supporting genocide,' the group chanted. Fetterman also appeared at a rally for Israel in November, draped in Israel's white and blue flag featuring the Star of David. A Canadian man has been arrested for allegedly making dozens of phony calls to a Florida sheriff's office. William Tuckett, a 20-year-old from Ontario's Sault Sainte Marie, was cuffed at his home in Canada this past week - after an investigation that involved both his hometown's police force and a sheriff's office 1,400 miles away. Enter Marion County, where county cops received a call from a man believed to be Tuckett on February 16. The caller told deputies he was driving to a local school with a gun to shoot students and staff, spurring a police response that found no threat. A day later, Tuckett allegedly called the Marion County Sheriff's office again - this time claiming he was holding a victim at gunpoint at a home in Ocala. Cops, in this case, responded again - only to find there was not only no hostage, but no suspect. A month later, the mystery started to unravel when deputies contacted police in Sault Ste. Marie Police - resulting in a joint probe that found Tuckett had made dozens more calls to the MCSO, all regarding a person Tuckett knows in the county. Scroll down for video: William Tuckett, a 20-year-old from Ontario, was cuffed Wednesday for making phony calls to this Sheriff's office in Marion County, 1,400 miles away from his home in Sault Sainte Marie County cops first received a call from a man believed to be Tuckett on February 16, a call that saw allegedly saw the suspect notify deputies that he was driving to a local school with a gun to shoot students and staff In a statement over the weekend, Sault Ste. Marie Police outlined the circumstances surrounding the recent arrest, done at Tuckett's home a few days before. 'On March 20th, 2024, detectives with the Investigation Services division charged 20-year-old William Tuckett with public mischief and conveying false information,' officers wrote Friday, before pivoting back to the first call made on February 16. Cops recalled: 'Around 4:00 p.m. the accused called the Marion County Sheriffs Office in Ocala, Florida and told 911 Communicators they were driving to a local school with a gun to shoot students and staff. 'Marion County Sheriff officers responded with a significant police presence to protect public safety,' the statement continued, citing the recent incident at Dunnellon Middle School. 'After a thorough investigation, officers determined there was no immediate threat to public safety.' Still, valuable resources were expended so cops could rush to the scene as students and staff were forced to take shelter, fearing for their lives. Local police chief Chris Scaglione - whose department is distinct from that of the Marion County Sheriff's - described the ordeal in a video interview, delivered to WCJB TV20 hours after cops overseas confirmed Tuckett's arrest. 'When you get those calls, got a gun, got a kid, got a bomb, your reaction is holy cow, is this the day?' Scaglione recalled, lamenting at the lost resources and mental trauma triggered by Tuckett's alleged actions. Sitting down with the Gainesville outlet, Chief Scaglione conceded: 'So, knowing we dont have to mentally go through that is very nice.' The station also interviewed parents and children affected by the incident, after Tuckett allegedly claimed he was parked outside of Dunnellon Middle with an AR-15, handgun and a bomb ready to enter the school. The phony report - known as swatting - elicited a police response that found no actual threat Local police chief Chris Scaglione - whose department is distinct from that of the Marion County Sheriff's - described his force's response to the false report in a video interview, lamenting at the lost resources and mental trauma triggered by Tuckett's alleged actions The station also interviewed parents and children affected by the incident, as students were forced were forced to take shelter, fearing for their lives. Seen here is local parent Tammy Soffe and her son, a student at the affected school Then, a morning after the school incident, Canadian cops recalled, the accused called the Marion County Office yet again, now telling them he was holding a victim hostage at gunpoint at a residence in Ocala. The call came in around 5:30am, cops said - after which responding officers from the Florida police department 'secured the residence and determined all occupants were safe and there was not someone being held hostage.' Over the next few weeks, dozens of false calls continued to flood the Marion Country Sheriffs Office hotline, the ensuing joint probe found - with all of them being erroneous. Cops in Sault Ste. Marie said the calls that came in regarded 'someone the accused knows in their jurisdiction' - an assertion that, as of writing, has yet to be elaborated. When contacted by DailyMail.com Monday, Marion County Sheriff's Public Information Officer Valerie Strong deferred to officers in the Ottawa city - the ones who carried out Tuckett's arrest Wednesday. The operation, they said, was carried out two days after staffers from the Marion County Sheriffs Office reached out to notify them about the calls, part a craze known as swatting, where a person calls in a false police report just for kicks. When contacted by DailyMail.com Monday, Marion County Sheriff's Public Information Officer Valerie Strong deferred to officers in the Ottawa city - the ones who carried out Tuckett's arrest Wednesday. Such calls, if coming under criminal investigation, could yield a charge of public mischief, which could mean a maximum punishment of 6 months as a result. Following his arrest in Sault Ste. Marie, Tuckett has been released on bail - an amount that has yet to be specified as of Monday. DailyMail.com has asked the provincial police department for an update on the case. Facing three public mischief charges and another three for the conveyance of false information, Tuckett is set to appear in court on April 22. The maximum offense allowed for the latter charge in Canadian provincial court is two years. Nearly a month after autistic teen Sebastian Rogers went missing, the United Cajun Navy has taken over the desperate search to find the boy. Sebastian, 15, is believed to have left his family home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, in the early hours of February 26. Since he vanished, volunteers, police and the boy's father, Seth, have looked for Sebastian day in and day out. The nonprofit organization, known for establishing rescue teams to help search for people during natural disasters, has also taken on general missing persons cases. 'Sebastian's father reached out to us and asked for help, and so, we're going to try to help up there as much as we can,' David Flagg, the Director of Operations for the organization told WKRN. The group recently worked on the the search for missing 22-year-old Riley Strain who disappeared in Nashville two weeks ago. A month after autistic teen Sebastian Rogers went missing, the United Cajun Navy has taken over the search 'Sebastian's father reached out to us and asked for help, and so, we're going to try to help up there as much as we can,' David Flagg, the Director of Operations for the organization His father, Seth, has relentlessly searched for his son and said that he has taken off of work and gotten very little sleep as he does so Volunteers involved in the search for Riley have since shifted their efforts to try and locate Sebastian. Though they did not elaborate on where exactly they were searching, the organization did say that drones and K9's are assisting. 'The United Cajun Navy is working with local law officials. Please stand by and let the process work,' the organization said in a Facebook post about locating Sebastian. On Sunday, the boy's father and a group of volunteers searched for Sebastian near the Rockland Recreation Area in Hendersonville. His father has relentlessly searched for his son and said that he has taken off of work and gotten very little sleep as he does so. 'That one child, he was autistic, and in 13 days he walked 200 miles,' Seth said in an interview. 'We're twice that now. So he could be 400 miles from here,' the emotional dad said as he and volunteers searched for Sebastian at Natchez Trace State Park. Police and volunteers have been searching nearby woods blasting Eye of the Tiger, which is Sebastian's favorite song. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said more than 2,000 miles have been searched on foot, and there have been aerial searches with helicopter, drones and a fixed wing plane. His family said Sebastian is drawn to water and pools in the neighborhood have been searched and dive teams have been brought in to search bodies of water. Police and volunteers have been searching nearby woods blasting Eye of the Tiger , which is Sebastian's favorite song His mother, Katie Proudfoot, has claimed that she heard a 'noise' coming from his bedroom the night he vanished. (pictured: her and Sebastian's step father Chris Proudfoot) Sebastian's mother and step father, Katie and Chris Proudfoot, recently sat down for an interview with YouTube channel Chronicles of Olivia to share more details about Sebastian's disappearance. Katie said the day before he vanished was an average day for their family, Sebastian took the garbage down to the end of their driveway as his chore and then around 9 pm, she told him to go to bed. His mother has claimed that she heard a 'noise' coming from his bedroom the night he vanished. 'He was doing something in his room because about an hour later, I heard some noise and I was like, "I don't care what you're doing in there but go to sleep,"' Katie said. 'Six o'clock, I went to wake him up for school Monday morning, and that's when he wasn't there.' Sebastian's mother said, 'I didn't see him in his room. I looked all over. I ran through the whole house. I looked out all the doors and windows, and I was like hollering his name.' 'I jumped in my car, and I drove around the neighborhood, and I drove over by the school, and ... like, at this point I was like hysterical, and I was crying, I was screaming.' Officials analyzed home security video from the Hendersonville neighborhood around 3:10 am on the day the teen went missing. The camera, which was placed at the back of the house, captured two light sources far away and another light source named 'Subject One' closer to the house. Another light source named 'Subject Two' can be seen briefly appearing in the footage and and moving toward Subject One before being obscured by bushes. A few seconds later, Subject One can be seen moving out of frame. Subject Two then reappears in the video and follows Subject One. Officials analyzed home security video from the Hendersonville neighborhood around 3:10 am on the day the teen went missing. The camera captured two light sources far away and another light source named 'Subject One' closer to the house The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said more then 2,000 miles have been searched on foot and there have been aerial searches with helicopter, drones, and a fixed wing plane However, Sebastian's stepfather insisted the video is not what it seems. 'Nothing that is being assumed right now is actually true about that video,' he told Chronicles of Olivia. 'Everybody is trying to assume is a flashlight, I hate to say this it's not as much as we would love it to be one it's not.' The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations said, 'The video has been collected, and from the beginning of the investigation, has been analyzed, and enhanced where possible, by tech experts with the TBI, FBI, and Secret Service. To date, nothing gathered from these video systems has been determined to be significant.' 'We do caution that some surveillance video being shared in the public may have been misinterpreted or misidentified, or not shown in its entirety. It has been determined that it does not hold any evidentiary significance to the investigation.' Seth said that his son would not get into a stranger's vehicle. 'It's up in the air for me. He would not get into a vehicle unless he knew them,' he told NC5. The troubled father said he was at his wits' end trying to work out what happened to his son with no leads that make sense. He said Sebastian was not one to wander off, and due to an experience as a young boy, would never go far without shoes on. China was behind cyber attacks on the UK election watchdog, MPs and peers and has 'hostile intent', the deputy PM said today. In a dramatic statement to the Commons, Oliver Dowden for the first time pointed the finger at Beijing over meddling in the political system. He said state-linked groups had targeted the Electoral Commission's records of 40million Brits, as well as the emails of prominent critics who had 'called out' activities. Mr Dowden said there was a 'clear pattern of activity' from China, identifying the group known as APT31 as involved. He said two individuals and an 'entity' linked to APT31 were being sanctioned, and the Chinese ambassador had been summoned for a dressing down. But Mr Dowden insisted that none of the hacking attempts had been successful. He said that while the compromise of electoral register details was 'concerning' it was unlikely to have caused harm. 'Taken together, the United Kingdom judges that these actions demonstrate a clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signal hostile intent from China,' he said. 'That is why the United Kingdom has today sanctioned two individuals and one entity associated with the Chinese state affiliated APT31 group for involvement in malicious cyber activity.' Mr Dowden said that international partners including the US would be issuing 'similar statements'. But a spokesman for the Chinese embassy condemned 'completely fabricated and malicious slanders', describing the statement as an 'anti-China political farce'. And Tories said they were 'underwhelmed' by the moves. Former Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, one of the MPs sanctioned by Beijing, compared it to 'an elephant giving birth to a mouse'. Robert Jenrick, the ex-immigration minister, branded the Government action as 'derisory'. He claimed the 'feeble response will only embolden China to continue its aggression towards the UK'. In a dramatic statement to the Commons, Oliver Dowden for the first time pointed the finger at Beijing over meddling in the political system Ministers are poised to blame China for cyberattacks on the elections watchdog and MPs (pictured, a meeting of the National People's Congress earlier this month) Rishi Sunak (pictured visiting Barrow today) pointed to the 'increasingly assertive' behaviour by Beijing branding the Asian power the 'greatest state-based threat to our economic security' Deputy PM Oliver Dowden (pictured right with Lord Cameron) is expected to take the dramatic step of accusing Beijing of being behind a hack that accessed the personal details of 40million Brits. Critics have accused the Government of acting too slowly and raised concerns that the response will not go far enough. The Chinese state has previously been linked to meddling in the NHS. Labour MPs swiped that the announcement is just 'party management' on an issue that raises passions among Tory MPs. China's foreign ministry responded this morning by insisting countries should not 'spread disinformation' by making accusations without a 'factual basis'. Who has the UK targeted with sanctions? WUHAN XIAORUIZHI SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMPANY LIMITED The government said the firm 'is associated with APT31, operating on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) as part of China's state-sponsored apparatus'. ZHAO Guangzong The government said they are 'a member of APT31, operating on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), and has engaged in cyber activities targeting officials, government entities, and parliamentarians in the UK and internationally'. NI Gaobin The government said they are 'a member of APT31, operating on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS), and has engaged in cyber activities targeting officials, government entities, and parliamentarians in the UK and internationally'. Advertisement Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said the actions were 'completely unacceptable' and he had raised the issue with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. The Electoral Commission attack was identified in October 2022 but the hackers had been able to access the commission's systems containing the details of tens of millions of voters for more than a year by that point. The registers held at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, said it was likely that Chinese state-affiliated hackers stole emails and data from the electoral register. This, in combination with other data sources, was highly likely to have been used by Beijing's intelligence services for large-scale espionage and transnational repression of perceived dissidents and critics based in the UK. There is no suggestion the hack had any impact on the largely paper-based UK electoral system. The separate campaign against MPs and peers in 2021 was almost certainly carried out by APT31, officials said, with the majority of those targeted being prominent critics of the Chinese government. Parliament's security department identified and mitigated the cyber campaign before any accounts could be compromised, the NCSC said. Mr Dowden said China's 'cumulative attempts to interfere with the United Kingdom's democracy have not succeeded', telling MPs: 'Last summer, the Electoral Commission stated that it had been a victim of a complex cyber attack between 2021 and 2022. 'This was the work of Chinese state-affiliated actors. These actors gained access to the Electoral Commission's email and file-sharing systems, which contained copies of the electoral register. 'As the Electoral Commission stated in 2023, when this attack was first made public, the compromise has not affected the security of elections. It will not impact how people register, vote or otherwise participate in democratic processes. 'I want to reassure people that the compromise of this information whilst it is obviously concerning typically does not create a risk to those affected and I want to further reassure the House that the commission has worked with security specialists to investigate the incident and remove the threat from their systems. The commission has since taken further steps to increase the resilience of their systems Sir Iain, a member of the Inter-parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), said critics of the Beijing government 'have been subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time', but MPs would not be 'bullied into silence by Beijing'. Iain Duncan Smith, one of the MPs sanctioned by Beijing, compared it to 'an elephant giving birth to a mouse' Tory MP Tim Loughton said he was 'underwhelmed' by the government's response He added: 'We must now enter a new era of relations with China, dealing with the contemporary Chinese Communist Party as it really is, not as we would wish it to be. 'Today's announcement should mark a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for values of human rights and the international rules-based system on which we all depend.' Sir Iain also called for China to be officially labelled as a 'threat' by the Government, rather than an 'epoch-defining systemic challenge'. Lord Cameron said: 'It is completely unacceptable that China state-affiliated organisations and individuals have targeted our democratic institutions and political processes. 'While these attempts to interfere with UK democracy have not been successful, we will remain vigilant and resilient to the threats we face.' The UK acted with support from allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership, which also includes the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in identifying the Chinese-linked cyber campaigns. But the Chinese embassy in London said: 'China has always firmly fought all forms of cyber attacks according to law. China does not encourage, support or condone cyber attacks. 'At the same time, we oppose the politicisation of cyber security issues and the baseless denigration of other countries without factual evidence. 'We urge the relevant parties to stop spreading false information and stop their self-staged, anti-China political farce.' Speaking at an engineering firm in Barrow earlier, Mr Sunak said: 'We've been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. 'So, it's right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing.' He would not be drawn on the hacking announcement, saying: 'When it comes to cyber, we have the National Cyber Security Centre, which is world leading. 'Indeed, when I'm out and about across the world, other leaders want to learn and talk to us because they believe that our capabilities in this country are very strong.' Mr Dowden is set to link China to the attack on the Electoral Commission, which admitted last August that 'hostile actors' had got into its systems as far back as 2021. A small group of politicians who are hawkish on China are said to have been called to a briefing by Parliament's director of security, Alison Giles, in relation to the activity. They include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton, crossbench peer Lord Alton and SNP MP Stewart McDonald. The four are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) pressure group, which focuses on issues involving the increasingly assertive Asian power. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour last night, Mr Loughton said the challenge from China had not been taken 'seriously' up to now. 'China is a strategic threat,' he said. 'I think it is the most dangerous nation on the planet across a whole range of issues, security but also climate change. 'But the trouble with the Chinese Communist Party government is that you have to call them out, you have to stand up to them and there have to be consequences. 'That is the only language that the Chinese government actually understand and if you just say all this is not very good could you do better please then they laugh in your face.' Luke de Pulford, executive director of IPAC, told the BBC's Today programme that the government had taken two years to 'call out' the behaviour of China. He said it was 'ludicrous' there is still a debate on whether China should be treated as posing an 'enhanced' risk of meddling. But China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing is a 'main target' of hacking, suggesting that the UK needed to cooperate more. According to a translation, spokesman Lin Jian said: 'We combat all sorts of malicious actions online, and we advocate all countries to deal with this together through dialogues and cooperation. 'Tracking of origins of cyber attacks is highly sensitive and complicated. It must be fully backed with objective evidence, and one should not pin the blame on certain countries without any factual basis.' He added that countries needed to 'stop spreading disinformation and take a responsible attitude'. Lord Cameron is set to address Tory MPs at a special meeting of the 1922 Committee this evening. Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has pleaded not guilty to two terror offences. Choudary, 57, and Canadian national Khaled Hussain, 29, were arrested for membership of the proscribed organisation, Al-Muhajiroun (ALM). The 57-year-old preacher, of Ilford, east London, denied a further charge of addressing meetings of the Islamic Thinkers Society in a way which encouraged support for ALM. On July 17 last year, the cleric was taken into custody during a dawn raid by Met Police counter-terrorism detectives in east London, while Hussain was arrested at Heathrow Airport. Choudary, 57, (pictured) and Canadian national Khaled Hussain, 29, were arrested for membership of a proscribed organisation The 57-year-old preacher, of Ilford, east London , denied a further charge of addressing meetings of the Islamic Thinkers Society in a way which encouraged support for ALM Choudary appeared at the Old Bailey today via video link from HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire while Hussain appeared on a link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs in west London. Both denied a charge of membership of a proscribed organisation, namely Al-Muhajiroun (ALM). Their six-week trial is due to start at Kingston Crown Court on June 4, 2024 with a pre-trial hearing set for 23 April. Founded by Omar Bakri Muhammad, ALM was proscribed in this country in January 2010. The mother of a student stabbed to death by Nottingham triple killer Valdo Calocane has called for laws to be overhauled after a ruling prosecutors were right to accept manslaughter rather than murder charges. Barnaby Webber was killed along with fellow student Grace O'Malley-Kumar and caretaker Ian Coates during Calocane's knife rampage in the city last June. His mother Emma has now joined calls for the Government reforms as she said it was 'abhorrent' that murder charges were not pursued. A review of the actions taken by the Crown Prosecution Service has found prosecutors were right to accept pleas of guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility from Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The findings did highlight areas where the CPS could have handled the case 'better' but campaigners have described the report as a 'missed opportunity'. Speaking to reporters after a review's findings were published today, Emma Webber said the families were 'disappointed but not entirely surprised' Barnaby Webber, 19, was walking home from a night out with Grace when he was stabbed The three victims were stabbed by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane on June 13 last year The watchdog's findings also drew criticism from campaigners who described them as a 'missed opportunity'. The report, ordered by Attorney General Victoria Prentis, called on ministers to consider recategorising homicide laws, as recommended by the Law Commission nearly 20 years ago. That could mean there would be three tiers of charges available to prosecutors - first degree and second degree murder, as well as manslaughter. Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order last month for stabbing to death university students Mr Webber and Ms O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, as well as school caretaker Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year. He admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility as well as pleading guilty to the attempted murder of three people who were hit by a van stolen from Mr Coates. There was an outcry of anger from the victims' families after prosecutors decided not to pursue murder charges for Calocane, prompting Ms Prentis to order the review of how the CPS handled the case and ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence. Inspectors found that if the Law Commission's 2006 recommendations on homicide charges had been accepted and implemented, 'the unlawful killings in this tragic case would have been categorised as murder, albeit second degree murder'. Speaking to reporters after the findings were published today, Mrs Webber said the families were 'disappointed but not entirely surprised'. She said: 'Until the law changes in this country, the diminished responsibility charge and plea means that murderers can get away with murder.' The relatives of Calocane's victims 'never disputed' his mental health problems, she said. Grace O'Malley Kumar, 19, (pictured) was stabbed to death while trying to save Barnaby Mrs Webber is pictured with her husband, Barnaby and Barnaby's younger brother Charlie Ian Coates, 65, (pictured) was Calocane's third victim during the horrific ordeal in June 2023 She added: 'What I would say is that at the moment in this country, if you commit murder and you've got mental health issues, then it's very unlikely that you are going to be tried for murder. 'It's abhorrent that it could be downgraded to manslaughter just because it is how the law is stated'. Grace's father Dr Sanjoy Kumar, father of victim Grace O'Malley-Kumar: 'I think the first question you have to ask is, can a paranoid schizophrenic commit murder in this country? 'Because it seems to me that you can't and that's impossible for us to understand.' Julian Hendy, the director of the Hundred Families charity that supports the relatives of the victims of mentally ill killers, described the findings as 'very disappointing'. She questioned whether the watchdog had 'critically evaluated the evidence', adding: 'They appear to have accepted without question or challenge what they have been told. 'There are serious questions about the quality of evidence and decision-making in this case that remain unanswered. 'This report is clearly a missed opportunity. It will do little to reassure the affected families that agencies are really learning from this tragedy.' There was an outcry of anger from the victims' families after prosecutors decided not to pursue murder charges for Calocane, prompting Ms Prentis to order the review of how the CPS handled the case and ask the Court of Appeal to review the sentence. Inspectors found that if the Law Commission's 2006 recommendations on homicide charges had been accepted and implemented, 'the unlawful killings in this tragic case would have been categorised as murder, albeit second degree murder'. Barnaby's mother Emma has joined calls for the Government to overhaul murder laws and said it was 'abhorrent' murder charges were not pursued against her son's killer The families of the Nottingham attack victims want 'real change' after the city's police force was placed into special measures. Pictured: Barnaby and Grace's parents Barnaby Webber's father David embraces Grace O'Malley Kumar's mother Sinead Setting out his findings to reporters, Anthony Rogers, chief inspector of His Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, said: 'In this case, Calocane would have been charged with second degree murder. 'Obviously the family find it really difficult to understand how somebody who went out knowingly to kill people is not a murderer. 'The families told us that it matters to them greatly that pleas to manslaughter were accepted, even though he actually murdered their children.' Such changes would be a 'sensible manifesto commitment' in an election year, he said, as he also called for a 'fundamental rethink' of the role of victims in the criminal justice system. 'The narrative putting the victims at the heart of the criminal justice system is leading to false expectations', he said, adding: 'The Government needs to consider what role victims have in the criminal justice system because the narrative out there is very unhelpful.' The watchdog said in its report: 'In this case, we conclude that the CPS charging decision was correct, that the acceptance of the pleas of not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter was correct, and generally the CPS met their obligations set out in the Victims' Code and the Bereaved Family Scheme. 'But the experience of the families is such that they felt unsupported and secondary to the whole process.' There were 'a number of aspects where the CPS could have handled this case better', the review said, as it set out problems with how prosecutors communicated with the families of Calocane's victims and the language used to discuss decisions being made. The report acknowledged the watchdog's findings would be 'disappointing for the families', adding: 'They were clear when we met with them that they felt let down, that they had no voice and that they had been treated as secondary parties in the criminal justice system.' Responding to the report, director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said: 'In tragic and complex circumstances such as these, the CPS has difficult decisions to make but must always act with independence and professionalism. Family members of those killed in Nottingham: James Coates, son of Ian Coates, Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber and Dr Sanjay Kumar, father of Grace O'Malley The watchdog's report was ordered by Attorney General Victoria Prentis (pictured) 'I believe that our team did so in this case, and with considerable dedication and commitment. We will carefully consider the report's findings.' Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously promised the victims' families that 'we will get the answers' but their calls for a public inquiry have so far gone unanswered. Other investigations into the actions of police and mental health staff continue. The families previously said they were due tomorrow to meet police watchdog the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which is investigating both Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire forces over their handling of the case. Social media platforms were today accused of promoting conspiracy theories about the Princess of Wales above factual content to keep audiences hooked. Imran Ahmed, an expert in countering online extremism, has led the outcry and claimed platforms were guilty of the practice in order to sell more adverts. It comes after the Princess's decision to announce her cancer diagnosis has failed to bring a stop to the frenzied conspiracy theories being peddled in recent weeks. Despite Kate delivering an emotional video message last Friday evening, outlandish and cruel claims targeting the 42-year-old have continued to spiral online. Social media companies are now being urged to clamp down on the vitriol as critics claimed the vile trolling had 'revictimised' the cancer-stricken princess and amounted to 'mafia-style tactics' to force her to divulge more information. Imran Ahmed, a leading expert in countering online extremism, said platforms were guilty of promoting conspiracy theories above factual content to keep audiences hooked It follows intense speculation and pressure around the health and whereabouts of Kate before Kensington Palace released the video statement last week. And it comes amid fears that China, Russia and Iran are fuelling the wild conspiracy theories. Mr Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre of Countering Digital Hate, said: 'There is an algorithmic acceleration of conspiracy theories, hate and disinformation over accurate information and calls for support because that's what keeps the audience captive.' He said Kate had been 'revictimised' for not sharing her private medical information immediately and was now being subjected to 'mafia style tactics' to divulge more. 'It is morally outrageous... social media platforms have compounded the harm done to that family at what is already an incredibly difficult time,' Mr Ahmed said. His concerns were echoed by Twitter's former UK and Europe boss Bruce Daisley who said the 'serious issue' was how X's algorithms promote untrustworthy content. Damian Collins, the Conservative MP who formerly chaired the digital, culture, media and sport committee, also criticised social media platforms for deliberately promoting false content. March 10: Kensington Palace released the first picture of Kate since her abdominal surgery 'If a clickbait story, based on conspiracy theories, grabs people's attention, then they're more interested in that than promoting news,' he said. Chairman of the Labour Party Anneliese Dodds criticised tech bosses for failing to take action against the trolls. She told GB News that the speculation about the princess online was 'lurid', adding: 'It must have been extremely distressing to her. 'We do think that more needs to be done, particularly when it comes to the kind of online abuse that we see so repeatedly directed a lot of the time actually towards women...' Within minutes of Kate's announcement, trolls began spreading bizarre posts that her video was AI-generated while others criticised her for not going public sooner. The sickening uploads saw trolls doctor Kate's heartfelt message with the faces of Princess Diana or the Duchess of Sussex to prove how easily a deep fake could be created. The Prince of Wales has also been targeted by trolls questioning why he did not sit beside his wife as she filmed the emotional video. Fuelling the fire within 30 minutes of the broadcast, Christopher Bouzy an avid supporter of Harry and Meghan went on a rant to his 350,000 followers on X. Christopher Bouzy (pictured in the Harry & Meghan Netflix documentary) bizarrely claimed Kate's diagnosis meant that recent pictures were fake amid 'North Korea' style propaganda Dr Jonathan Reiner claimed the Princess of Wales's statement did not make 'medical sense' The tech chief executive, bizarrely claimed Kate's diagnosis meant that recent pictures were fake and accused the palace of 'North Korea' style propaganda. EXCLUSIVE READ MORE Cruel British troll who used Chinese social media platform TikTok to cash in on lurid Kate claims is unmasked at last - after his hurtful claims about the Princess of Wales spread across the world Advertisement 'I am sorry to hear Kate has cancer, I hope she has a full recovery. But it is also clear that all three earlier photos of her were fake, and the palace tried to cover it up,' he wrote. Mr Bouzy, who appeared on the Sussexes' Netflix show, was apparently referencing Kate's Mother's Day photo, a video of her shopping in Windsor and an image of her being driven in a car. The 48-year-old added: 'The palace lied, and the British Press happily helped them lie. The countless 'conspiracy theory' headlines, while knowing a lot of what was being said was true. This is really some North Korea/Trumpian type of propaganda.' He went on to accuse Prince William of throwing his wife 'under the bus' over the altered Mother's Day portrait and said he had failed to back her in her announcement. He was among conspiracy theorists who spread a CNN clip, which has now been viewed millions of times, in which a doctor claimed that Kate's statement did not make 'medical sense'. December 25, 2023: Kate was last seen with her family attending church at Sandringham Asked how cancer could be found after surgery, Jonathan Reiner said: 'With all respect to the Royal Family, that kind of press release doesn't make a lot of medical sense.' The professor of medicine at George Washington University said such operations are preceded by extensive CAT scans and MRIs, adding it was 'very likely' the surgical team knew of the cancer prior to operating. Several red-faced celebrities and commentators including Blake Lively and Kerry Katona have apologised for their careless comments about Kate. Others have face faced pressure to follow suit including Kim Kardashian, who previously uploaded a picture of herself next to her car with the caption 'on my way to go find Kate'. Paddy Harverson, the former official spokesman of Kate and the Prince of Wales, said the online targeting of her was the worst he had witnessed. 'It's a sort of permanent doom loop. And it's the worst I've ever seen,' he told BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. MailOnline has contacted Meta, TikTok and X for comment. Veteran BBC Countryfile presenter John Craven claims there is disturbing evidence of racism in the countryside. Mr Craven, 83, said while many white people would insist there is 'no racial prejudice' in rural areas, academics looking into the issue point out bigotry can come across in 'mundane' ways. They cite staring, silence, laughter, or 'mutterings' as instances where people of colour are made to feel unwelcome when they visit the countryside. Writing in BBC Countryfile magazine, the BBC broadcaster said: 'According to official figures, 16 per cent of the UK population is from ethnic minority backgrounds. So what is it about rural Britain that puts so many of them off? John Craven (pictured) claimed there is disturbing evidence of racism in the countryside A stock image of the village of Corton, Denham, Somerset 'Do they find it unwelcoming? 'Is racism any worse in rural areas than in our towns and cities?' The claims come after a controversial report in February by the Wildlife and Countryside Link, a group with 80 members, claiming the countryside is a 'racist, colonial' white space. Its report is a response to a call for evidence on the links between racism and climate change. Meanwhile, a research team from Leicester University are aiming to find the 'true extent of rural racism' by carrying out a two-year survey. Researchers will question people from all races who live or spend time in rural spaces about their experiences. Having spoken to academic Dr Viji Kuppan, a member of the team, Mr Craven said: 'Some of the results so far are disturbing. 'He tells me about two women who live in rural areas, one brown and one black. 'Both were subjected to racist taunts, spat on in one instance and weapons with intent to harm produced in another - very stark incidents of racial and engendered hostility.' 'Dr Kuppan adds: "There are also subtler moments of 'unconscious racism' in the countryside that aren't wilful but are still difficult to be on the receiving end of. '''On a field trip to a National Trust property with a white colleague, it was striking how many of the white people we encountered would acknowledge her but not me". 'Of course, many white voices would insist there is no racial prejudice in the green acres - that, at worst, there might be curiosity about someone from a different ethnic background. 'Dr Kuppan points out that racism can be communicated in mundane ways - through stares, avoidance, silence, laughter, gestures, or mutterings when people of colour appear in rural places. A report in February by the Wildlife and Countryside Link claimed the countryside is a 'racist, colonial' white space (stock image) According to researchers, bigotry can come across in 'mundane' ways (stock image) '"How do you think white people would feel about moving to the countryside if it was made up of 97 per cent people of colour?" he asks. "Wouldn't it be understandable for white people to feel anxious?"' However, he did shed light on recent efforts of 'conviviality' in green areas. Mr Craven continued: 'Recent moves to make minorities feel more at home include waterproof prayer mate for Muslim hikers, signs pointing towards Mecca on a Derbyshire tail and an outdoor activity centre where instructors speak Urdu and Pashtu and Halal food is on the menu. 'When the results of the survey are revealed, my hope is they will help to lead towards a countryside where everyone, no matter what their colour or background, feels they belong.' But not everyone agrees with the claims that the British countryside is racist. Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones - who describes himself as Britain's only black farmer - hit out at the Wildlife and Countryside Link report as misleading and those behind it as patronising 'white liberals'. Mr Emmanuel-Jones, 66, who has run a farm on the Devon-Cornwall border for 26 years and owns the Black Farmer food range, said that organisations behind the report should get their own house in order on the issue first. He told MailOnline: 'Racism is more prevalent in urban Britain than the countryside. Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones - who describes himself as Britain's only black farmer - hit out at the report as misleading and those behind it as patronising 'white liberals' 'I just think rural Britain gets a real hard deal based on old fashioned ideas. 'I get really, really concerned by groups that get together and slag off the countryside without knowing the truth. 'These organisations need to get their own houses in order instead of chasing headlines. If you surveyed what their diversity was like, it's unforgivable. 'They are made up of white liberals who see blacks as victims and all it does is perpetuate the idea that if you're black there's a certain part of England you can't be a part of. 'I would say to these organisations 'what are you doing to bring about more diversity' because if you look into them they are less diverse than most industries. 'I would urge other black people to go and experience the countryside and they can judge for themselves.' Campaign groups have backed an employee who has been suspended after she raised a complaint against Red Bull team boss Christian Horner over inappropriate sex texts. The woman, in her 40s, went to HR at the Formula 1 team after she received the messages from Horner who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell often late at night. She accused him of 'coercive behaviour' but an internal inquiry chaired by an unknown KC appointed by Red Bull cleared him. Horner has strongly denied any wrongdoing. Alesha De Freitas, head of policy at The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women's rights at work, at home and in public life, said: 'This is sadly not uncommon. 'Women just don't have confidence that their complaints will be investigated properly, and one has to wonder whether this is the case here. Campaign groups have backed an employee who has been suspended after she raised a complaint against Red Bull team boss Christian Horner (left) over inappropriate sex texts Alesha De Freitas (pictured), head of policy at The Fawcett Society, which campaigns for women's rights at work, at home and in public life has supported the woman's claims 'What has happened to this woman reinforces the message that you are taking a huge risk as an individual by speaking out and do you really want to do that, which is wrong. 'The most worrying aspect of it is that an unidentified KC has carried out this investigation on behalf of the firm and the findings have not been made fully public. 'I'm not saying the whole report should be made public but certainly the grounds for dismissing her claim 'How can you possibly have confidence that due process has been followed if this is the outcome and you are suspended for raising concerns? 'What is the due process around that? It seems unbelievable.' Ms De Freitas added: 'Sexual harassment is not about sex, it's about power and women are more likely to be victims. 'In F1 you have very powerful men at the top who are seen to be untouchable and that has the potential to create an environment where harassment can prevail. 'Unless you take active steps to prevent that then it's not a surprise and what is disappointing is that we haven't actually seen publicly any real steps communicated to tackle sexual harassment within the sport. 'There is no suggestion that this has been dealt with properly other than an unnamed KC clearing him and no facts made public. 'The most important person within this is the woman herself and Red Bull have a duty of care to explain to her how this was all investigated and to explain that to her. The woman, in her 40s, went to HR at the Formula 1 team after she received the messages from Horner who is married to former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell often late at night Horner is seen holding Halliwell closely in Jeddah as Red Bull cruised to another one-two victory on March 7 Horner was accused of 'coercive behaviour' but an internal inquiry chaired by an unknown KC appointed by Red Bull cleared him 'F1 needs to demonstrate that it takes seriously its commitment to combat sexual harassment within the sport and I haven't seen anything like that. 'I have so much sympathy with this woman because I think there is often this perception that if you do the right think you will be ok, she raised her complaint, followed the process but hasn't been given the dignity of a proper response.' Marie Hemingway of Speak Out Revolution, another group which fights harassment and bullying of women at work, also slammed Red Bull for its handling of the complaint. READ MORE: What texts!? Red Bull chief Christian Horner watches his team WIN Bahrain Grand Prix and says he has their full support at the end of incredible day that also saw Geri kiss him in display of unity as he looks to put phone scandal behind him Advertisement Ms Hemingway also revealed that they were contacted anonymously two years ago by another woman who worked for F1 and was forced out after making complaints against an unidentified team. According to the latest figures from Speak Out Revolution eight out of ten women have complained about mistreatment in the workplace and then forced to sign non-disclosure agreements which prevent them from speaking out. There are fears this will happen in the Red Bull case and Speak Out Revolution revealed their website had been contacted by more than 700 women who have reported bullying and then been asked to sign NDAs to keep quiet. Ms Hemingway said:'The events unfolding at Red Bull are shocking and wholly unsurprising to us at Speak Out Revolution. 'Our global data supports the disturbing trend that women report inappropriate behaviour against senior men, men remain in role unimpacted while women are discredited and forced out of the organisation. 'Such events, and complete lack of transparency by Red Bull, calls into question whether wider industry efforts to inspire more women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) into the profession is appropriate at this time. Red Bull has been slammed for its handling of the woman's complaint Geri Horner walks in the paddock after the F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain on March 2 'This is a matter for all of F1, and collective action must be taken if the sport is serious about creating safe and inclusive working environments for women.' Earlier this month MailOnline revealed how the woman at the centre of the texting scandal has told friends she 'feels let down' by the Austrian based FI team, who also have a base at Milton Keynes where she worked. Officials suspend her for 'dishonesty' just after announcing Horner had been exonerated but she has now appealed although no timeline has been established for her case. Red Bull took action against her after the suggestive WhatsApp messages were sent from anonymous email address to 149 people including officials at F1 and motor racing correspondents. The woman insists she was not the source and is 'disappointed' at how she has been treated by a company where she has worked the last five years. A pal said: 'Questions need to be asked of the Red Bull investigation, transparency would bring confidence in what is happening to her. 'She just can't get over the fact that she made a complaint and was suspended all she wants is transparency in the process.' The woman's plea echoes that of Red Bull racing's current engine partner Honda who also called for 'clarity' over the investigation that ultimately cleared Horner. The Fawcett Society and Speak Out Revolution's concerns mirror those made by British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. He said: 'It's still a male-dominated sport. We're living in a time where the message is if you file a complaint, you will be fired, and that is a terrible narrative to be projecting to the world, especially when we're talking about inclusivity in the sport. 'We need to make sure we stay true to the core values.' Korea and the European Union launched the third round of talks on a bilateral digital agreement, the industry ministry said Monday, as the two parties seek a broader partnership in the digital domain. The negotiation kicked off in Seoul on Monday for a three-day run in Brussels, following two rounds of talks held in December and February, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "During the third round of negotiations, the two parties will exchange their respective stances on detailed articles and work toward narrowing differences to make progress," the ministry said in a statement. Korea and the EU have been seeking to clinch a digital trade pact that "will provide legal certainty for businesses and consumers engaged in digital trade, enhance their protection in digital transactions, and foster an open, free and fair online environment." The pact, when implemented, will bolster the competitiveness of Korean firms by expanding their network with the EU, the world's top economic bloc, the ministry added. (Yonhap) A British horse riding star left behind a heartbreaking letter as she died of assisted suicide after suffering a devastating spine injury in a horror fall. Caroline March, 31, revealed why she wanted to end her life in a poignant message she shared on her public Facebook page in which she said: 'No one can truly understand what I have to go through.' She had been knocked unconscious in a serious fall during a cross-country event at Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market in Norfolk on April 16, 2022. As she attempted to recover she underwent extensive physiotherapy and flew to the US for experimental treatment, but remained hampered by her major injury she had been battling for almost two years. Ms March, from Colchester, revealed her despair at being unable to do 'anything and everything' she once loved - having previously thrived on 'adrenaline hits' and 'spontaneity'. Professional rider Caroline March, 31, suffered a horror fall in April 2022 The death of Caroline from assisted suicide has been announced on Saturday She also posted a heartbreaking letter on her Facebook explaining her decision She described herself as 'strong-minded and 'independent', a person who 'hates asking for help, while saying she wanted her letter to 'silence the voices' of people who might challenge her decision. Ms March, whose death was announced on Saturday, started her letter by saying: 'Where to even start writing this. 'Ideally I'd like to say nothing at all, because at the end of the day the people who I care about know but of course everyone will have an opinion which they'll feel a need to say.' She continued: 'I've never understood society's obsession with longevity and the need to live for as long as possible. 'Alan Watts, a well-known philosopher famously said, ''I'd rather have a short life that is full of what I love doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way''. 'Assisted suicide is always something that I believed in and have always said that if anything happened to me and I was forced into the predicament that I couldn't have the quality of life that I wanted, that would be the route I'd take. 'Not going to lie, never imagined it would come to fruition but here we are.' Ms March is seen with a horse after her accident during a cross-country event at Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market in Norfolk The death of Ms March, who loved horses, was announced on Saturday last week Ms March revealed her despair at being unable to do 'anything and everything' she once loved She added: 'I could keep going but it's a decision I've made which is the best route for me. 'No one can truly understand what I have to go through. My utmost respect for anyone who hasn't only made a life after injury, but those that have flourished. ' Ms March also detailed her longing for a family of her own, writing: 'All I ever wanted was a family and I'd have given up everything in an instant for one. Two/three little sprogs running round the family farm having inherited my feral ways. 'I really wanted to be a young mum and I'd have been a f****** good one.' She had been a professional rider up to four-star level, but her injury forced her to give up eventing despite receiving 'successful' spinal surgery on a fractured vertebrae. She wrote: 'There is a lot of new treatments for SCI and the developments are exciting. For anyone else's sake, I hope it continues so my projected future isn't the same for everyone. 'A broken back can soon be treated the same as a broken arm. It's not an existence I want. The bowel and bladder regime, sexual function, the entire impossibility to do anything and everything that I love. 'I have felt so much love from so many people the last few years. I just wish love could fix it or even make it bearable but it can't. Ms March revealed her despair at being unable to do 'anything and everything' she once loved Ms March is seen before her accident at Barefoot Retreats Burnham Market in Norfolk on April 16, 2022 Ms March had been a professional rider up to four-star level, but her injury forced her to give up eventing despite receiving 'successful' spinal surgery on a fractured vertebrae 'A characteristic that used to be my strength is now my downfall. I'm so stubborn and determined, I have to be good at everything I do and if not I slam doors. 'I am an incredible person, something I genuinely truly believe now but it doesn't change anything. Life is cruel, really cruel. I was amazing, a completely independent stubborn c**t, but I was a f***ing good one.' Her death was announced online by Eventing News, who wrote: 'It's with heavy hearts that we share the news of Caroline March's passing yesterday, March 23rd, just over a month after her 31st birthday. 'Caroline was well-known and loved throughout the British eventing community for her big personality and fiery streak, and a zest for the things that she loved that saw her accomplish much in her three decades. 'She was a professional event rider, competing through four-star, and after a career-ending injury at Burnham Market in 2022, she fought to find new ways to chase joy and purpose. 'But no matter how many talents a person has, they are much more than what they do, and Caroline's passing - a dignified end to her life that she was able to choose for herself - will be mourned by a wide array people who were fortunate to count themselves among her friends and family. 'Here's to you, Caroline - you stayed wholly true to yourself until the end. We'll always raise a glass to that. 'All of us at Team EN send our most heartfelt condolences to Caroline's family and friends.' For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit www.thecalmzone.net/get-support. The Biden campaign is going on offense ahead of the consequential Supreme Court hearing over the commonly used abortion pill mifepristone, warning the decision could be 'disastrous' as abortion rights are expected to play a central role in the 2024 election. The case FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine goes before the country's highest court on Tuesday, March 26. It looks at FDA actions to relax rules around prescribing the drug used in more than half of abortions in the United States. The court's decision could have the largest impact on abortion access nationwide since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade ending the national right to an abortion in 2022. If the court rules to reinstate restrictions on the abortion pill that have been rolled back, it would not just affect states where abortion has been further restricted since Roe fell but also states that have moved to protect and expand abortion rights. 'This case could strip away access to medication abortion everywhere in this county,' Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said on Monday. 'It would be the biggest step toward Donald Trump's ultimate goal of a nationwide abortion ban since Roe was overturned.' She slammed the potential impact of the decision against the FDA, calling it 'disastrous' and warned women would be unable to get the reproductive health care they need. She also blasted the ex-president for nominating three of the Supreme Court justices who ruled to overturn Roe and will hear arguments on Tuesday. 'Trump and extreme MAGA Republicans are showing us every day that reproductive rights are on the ballot in November,' Rodriguez said. She said Biden is 'doing everything in his power' to protect access to medication abortion. The White House on Monday said it will stand by the FDA's 'independent approval and regulation of mifepristone as safe and effective' and will fight back on 'unprecedented attacks on women's freedom to make their own health decisions.' Biden speaking at an event on protecting abortion rights in October. His campaign went on offense ahead of the Supreme Court mifepristone hearing warning it could be 'disastrous' The Supreme Court on March 26 will hear FDA v Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine over FDA actions to ease restrictions on the commonly used abortion pill The case on Tuesday looks at actions taken by the Food and Drug Administration to relax restrictions on the pill mifepristone which was first approved in 2000. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which is made up of groups of anti-abortion medical professionals, challenged the FDA approval of mifepristone and subsequent rule changes in November 2022. The district court sided with the plaintiffs' attempt to block the drug. An appeals court ruled to reinstate numerous restrictions on the drug but did not move to block mifepristone altogether. There has been a stay on the order as the case makes its way through the legal system. Mifepristone is part of a two-drug process to end a pregnancy and is approved for abortion during up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. Research by Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization, found medication abortions made up 63 percent of all abortions last year, and the use of telemedicine and mailing of abortion pills has also increased from only 7 percent in 2020 to 31 percent in 2022 as nearly half of states moved to restrict or ban abortion after Roe was overturned. 'Access to this essential medication is even more critical in the post-Dobbs world that Donald Trump has ushered in,' said Mini Timmaraju, CEO and president of Reproductive Freedom for All, on a Biden campaign call with reporters. Timmaraju warned the case is part of a bigger effort to end abortion access. The Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine lawsuit challenged the FDA approval process and relaxation of restrictions on the pill Mifepristone is one of drug used in the medication abortion process and is used in more than half of all abortions in the U.S. More than 5.6 million women have used mifepristone since it was approved in 2000 While the Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday, the decision is not expected to come down until June or early July before the court goes on recess for the summer. It means the decision could have a galvanizing effect on the November election as the one to overturn Roe did in the 2022. In the most recent midterms, Republicans did not see the red wave some had anticipated. Exit polling showed abortion was one of the top issues, if not the top issue, in several battleground states. Democrats leaned in on protecting access to abortion and credit their stance for helping win multiple tight races across the country that year while even in red states like Kansas, where abortion was on the ballot, voters moved to protect it. In a series of recent battleground and national polls, Biden has trailed Trump in a head-to-head match up. But while voters have said Trump would do better on issues like immigration, Biden leads on protecting abortion rights. It has been a central focus for him and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House and on the campaign trail. Biden has called on Americans to send him a Congress this fall that will support codifying Roe v Wade. Harris recently became the first sitting vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic. Abortion rights have galvanized Democrats and moderates. Protesters in Texes in 2023 rallying against the lawsuit to ban the abortion drug mifepristone Vice President Kamala Harris has seized on abortion as a major campaign issue in the 2024 election and is the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic The Biden campaign said they will continue to focus on the issue and highlight Republicans' stances leading up to November. It comes as Trump has yet clearly stated where he stands on a national abortion ban. Recently, Trump said he would make a decision 'pretty soon' on a national abortion ban and called the Supreme Court overturning Roe 'extremely good.' He signaled he is open to the idea of backing a 15 week federal abortion ban, arguing the majority of the country seemed to be supportive of the idea. 'It'll come out to something that's very reasonable but people are really, even hardliners are agreeing, seems to be, 15 weeks seems to be a number that people are agreeing at,' he said. Trump has signaled he supports a 15-week national abortion ban but has not given a definitive answer as he campaigns for a second term in the White House. He has acknowledged abortion as an issue has hurt Republicans in elections Democrats have blasted Republicans for talk of a 15 week ban but also the GOP for being vague on where they stand on the issue as a party. 'The Republicans may not want to have a unified abortion message that is heard nationally because their underlying goal to ban abortion nationwide is wildly unpopular,' Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on Tuesday. 'So if they can try and throw up a bunch of dust and say, "oh we only want this piece or we only want that piece" they think that will help them at the ballot box,' she said. DailyMail.com reached out to the Trump campaign about where the ex-president stands on restricting mifepristone ahead of the Supreme Court hearing but has yet to hear back. From an ex-public schoolboy to Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, theories about the real identity of elusive street artist Banksy have been circulating for years. The man behind the paintings remains one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world, but that hasn't stopped people from speculating. The most recent theory saw fans disappointed after a man photographed outside a new mural on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, north London, turned out to be a builder who said he was not even a fan of the mural. Initially believed to be Robin Gunningham, a former public schoolboy from Bristol whose link to Banksy was first revealed by a Mail On Sunday investigation in 2008, the builder today identified himself as 67-year-old George Giorgiou. The retired builder revealed himself to be the father of the building's landlord Alex Georgiou, who previously spoke to MailOnline about his plans for the property. For years Banksy's identity has been a hot topic, with names such as Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja and Gorillaz founder Jamie Hewlett circulating around. But as speculators are no closer to finding out the truth, MailOnline takes a look at some of the wild theories about the anonymous street artist's true identity. A man said to resemble ex-public schoolboy Robin Gunningham was photographed at the scene of the latest Banksy mural in Finsbury Park, north London, on Saturday morning A new mural on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, north London, appeared on March 17 Robin Gunningham Banksy uses art as a form of activism, regularly making societal and political statements with their works. The artist was born just outside of Bristol in 1973 and he was a talented illustrator who drew cartoons. Having also sprayed his tag across Bristol, Banksy then evolved with the times and began creating more sophisticated pieces, whilst always keeping his identity hidden. One of Banksy's earliest works is the The Mild Mild West. The large mural was painted in 1999 in Bristol's Stokes Croft and shows a teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at three riot police. It was painted by the artist over three days in broad daylight and is still in the city today, among some of Banksy's other works. The exhaustive MoS investigation into Banksy's identity heard from dozens of friends, former colleagues, enemies, flatmates and even family members. The identity of Banksy is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world, but that hasn't stopped people from speculating. In 2007, the Mail on Sunday published an investigation which suggested Banksy was former public schoolboy Robin Gunningham (above) The search began with an image of a man in Jamaica at work with his stencils and cans of spray paint. Although Banksy denied the image showed him, the Mail's investigation was later backed by researchers at Queen Mary University. They used 'geographic profiling' - a technique more often used to catch criminals or track outbreaks of disease - to plot the locations of 192 of Banksy's presumed artworks. The sites indicated 'hot spots' which were narrowed down to pinpoint an individual. Peaks within these clusters were found to correlate to a pub, playing fields and residential addresses closely linked to Mr Gunningham and his friends and family. Mr Gunningham attended Bristol Cathedral School and was born in July 1973. A school photo of him bore a striking resemblance to the man in the Jamaica photograph. A former school friend described him as being 'extremely talented' at art and admitted he would 'not be at all surprised' if he was Banksy. In anonymous interviews he has done, Banksy has said he first became interested in graffiti at school. And a fellow artist he was living with in Bristol in 1998, Luke Egan, went on to exhibit with Banksy at Santa's Ghetto, an art store in London's West End. However, Mr Gunningham's family denied that he was Banksy and the link was never explicitly confirmed. This month, speculators initially believed Mr Gunningham had been seen beside a mural which appeared on a wall in Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park, north London, on March 17. But instead of being Mr Gunningham, the man today identified himself as 67-year-old George Giorgiou. 'Love is in the Bin', a Banksy artwork that half-shredded itself during a 2018 auction,sold for 18.6 million - four times its estimate - in 2021 Prints of three of Banksy's works are seen above at Sotheby's in February 2022. Centre is Kissing Coppers, next to Girl with Balloon and ''Vandalised Oils (Choppers)' Robert Del Naja Another popular theory is that Banksy is Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja. As well as being a founder member of his hit band, who have sold more than 13million studio albums worldwide, Del Naja, 58, is also a graffiti artist who has done work in Bristol under the name of 3D. Banksy has named 3D as one of his early inspirations. The assumption that Del Naja could be Banksy was first discussed after DJ Goldie reportedly said his name on a podcast while talking about him. He said: 'No disrespect to Rob, I think he is a brilliant artist. I think he has flipped the world of art over.' Another popular theory is that Banksy is Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja Fans have also claimed to have spotted Banksy artworks in the same cities as where Massive Attack played-twice. But Del Naja has denied the claims publicly. Jamie Hewlett It has also been suggested that Jamie Hewlett, who founded the Gorillaz, could be Banksy. This was because an anonymous forensic expert allegedly linked him to every company associated with the street artist. Banksy has also designed work used in the Gorillaz music videos in the past. But any link has been denied by his publicist. Many people also claim to have actually spotted Banksy over the years. One more recent sighting was apparently of the street artist wearing PPE while on the London Underground in 2020. It has also been suggested that Jamie Hewlett, who founded the Gorillaz, could be Banksy And in 2018, it was claimed that a passerby had seen him near one of his works in Hull. Meanwhile, in April 2017, a woman saw an artist in an Israeli mall who was working. The artist had recently opened an exhibition in Bethlehem. She filmed the man, who seemed concerned and covered his face when he realised he was on camera. Fleeing artist in Melbourne In October 2016, an artist furious he was being filmed was captured on camera on in Melbourne, sparking rumours that he was Banksy. In the mobile phone footage, the person filming was seen approaching a man down a dark alleyway as he sprayed paint on wall. After he began walking away, she raced after the man, who turned and tried to block the camera with his hand, shouting 'f*** off, f*** off', before escaping down an alley. Man in Brooklyn warehouse In 2013, many believed Banksy's identity had finally been revealed and Twitter blew up after user @DjJonHenry posted photographs of a group of men and two trucks used for Banksy's recent Sirens Of The Lambs and Waterfall mobile works of art. The photo showed five men arranging stuffed animals in a truck outside a warehouse in Red Hook Brooklyn, leading to speculation that one of the men was the reclusive artist. Henry said the photographs were taken at a warehouse in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn and that he approached the men after recognizing the vehicles from Banksy's month-long residency in New York. The men refused to answer when Henry asked where Banksy was, although he tweeted that he thought the man on top of the truck might be him since he was directing the others and spoke with an English accent. The photographs were taken by twitter user @DjJonHenry/Twitter who believes that the man on top of the van could have been Banksy because he spoke with an English accent The pictures were taken in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn and the photographer approached the men after recognizing the vehicles from Banksy's on-going month-long residency ('Banksy' circled) Other media sources, including Gothamist, speculated that the man to the left of the vehicle could be Banksy because he boew a resemblance to the man in the photo published by the MoS in their 2008 investigation that named Mr Gunningham as Banksy. Henry backtracked the claims after receiving a mass of replies from Banksy-fans who accused him of trying to jeopardize the remainder of Banksy's show. Thierry Guetta The Street artist's 2010 documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop shares the story of Theiry Guetta, a street artist in Los Angeles who goes by the name Mr Brainwash. The French filmmaker runs a vintage clothing shop and obsesses over filming his surroundings, he became famous after the documentary and rumours spread that he was Banksy. The theory has been flattened by various sources. Theiry Guetta, a street artist in Los Angeles who goes by the name Mr Brainwash was also caught up in Banksy speculation An unnamed woman Most theories assume Banksy is a man, but some rumours emerged that the artist is actually a woman in charge of a group of artists. Chris Healey first put forward the theory in the documentary Banksy Does New York, and says that Banksy is the blonde woman who appears in the studio scenes in Exit Through the Gift Shop. While Healey refuses to give up his source, he maintains his stance. Richard Pfeiffer The Brooklyn freelance engineer and artist was admiring one of Banky's works in Manhattan with his girlfriend when he was arrested and accused of drawing the image. At the time, he had a pen in his pocket but was able to prove it was not the same one that drew the graffiti and the charges were dropped six months later. All of the restaurants will implement the change this spring Chick-fil-A will be changing their cooking pledge starting this spring and it will have a big impact on the brand's famous chicken. Like Tyson Foods, Chick-fil-A will stop its promise in providing antibiotic-free chicken at all the chain's locations. According to a statement released by Chick-fil-A on March 25, the restaurant will soon begin to shift from No Antibiotics Ever to No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine. 'NAE means no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal,' read the statement. 'NAIHM restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important to human medicine and commonly used to treat people, and allows use of animal antibiotics only if the animal and those around it were to become sick.' Chick-fil-A's chicken will continue to not have any artificial preservatives, steroids and added hormones. Chick-fil-A released a statement on March 25 saying that they would shift from No Antibiotics Ever to No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine in spring 2024 Chick-fil-A's chicken will continue to not have any artificial preservatives, steroids and added hormones No Antibiotics Important to Human Medicine restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important for human medicine that's used to treat people Chick-fil-A first made its no antibiotics pledge in 2014. However, according to NBC, chicken farmers were forced to turn to antibiotics after an avian-flu outbreak in poultry supplies began in 2022. Chick-fil-A's change comes less than a year after Tyson Foods announced the company was ending its 'no antibiotics pledge.' 'We base our decisions on sound science and an evolving understanding of the best practices impacting our customers, consumers and the animals in our care,' a spokesperson for Tyson Foods told the Wall Street Journal in 2023. According to Chick-fil-A's statement, the fast food chain has been dedicated to quality and their 'commitment to the high-quality chicken' that consumers expect from them come from three things. Chicken farmers began turning to antibiotics following an avian-flu outbreak in poultry supplies starting in 2022 Chick-fil-A is highly selective about the chicken that is served at all of the restaurant locations. 'Quality has always been our approach to food,' their statement read. 'And because chicken is at the center of our menu, we serve only real, white breast meat with no added fillers, artificial preservatives, or steroids.' The restaurant chain sources their chicken from US farms and follow Animal Wellbeing Standards. Other than being hatched, raised and harvested in the US, the chickens must be in climate-controlled barns and raised with proper nutrition. The restaurant chain continues to consult with members of the Animal Wellbeing Council that provide feedback on Chick-fil-A's policies and practices. 'With their input, we are constantly evaluating our approach to animal wellbeing to ensure it is consistent with or exceeds industry standards,' officials said in the restaurant chain's statement. Although it's unclear if the Avian Influenza has affected any of Chick-fil-A's suppliers, it's resulted in the slaughtering of 82 million birds in 47 states since 2022. The restaurant chain sources their chicken from US farms and follow Animal Wellbeing Standards that have been approved by experts Avian flu, which is also known as bird flu, has impacted more than 7 million chickens in about 40 commercial flocks and 24 backyard flocks. California was hit especially hard by the outbreak, and it even led to a San Francisco company needing to kill 550,000 egg-laying hens. 'We have wild birds that are are full of virus,' University of California-Davis researcher Rodrigo Gallardo told The Guardian earlier this year. 'And if you expose your birds to these wild birds, they might get infected and ill.' Thankfully, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have only identified four human infections in the US. The CDC also confirmed that the current risk of bird flu being spread throughout the general public is low, meaning that Chick-fil-A customers will likely not be affected by the Avian Influenza outbreak. U.S. Navy sailor Oriola Michael Aregbesola, who died after going overboard while serving in the Red Sea, shared a heartbreaking Instagram post about attempting suicide just one month before his death. Aregbesola, 34, who was an Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class died March 20 as a result of a 'non-combat related incident' in the Red Sea and an investigation into his death is ongoing, according to the Pentagon. The U.S. Navy said Aregbesola was 'the Sailor lost overboard from USS Mason (DDG 87) while operating in the Red Sea, March 20.' One month prior to his death, the Sailor posted a video to Instagram with the caption 'I died a week ago.' Aregbesola said he had a mental breakdown on February 13 that led to him shaving his head. He detailed his experience in the post and implored anyone suffering from a mental health condition to seek help. U.S. Navy sailor Oriola Michael Aregbesola died after going overboard the USS Mason in the Red Sea on March 20 His wife told NBC6 his death was a 'complete shock' and he was a cherished father of their four-year-old son He shared a heartbreaking Instagram post about attempting suicide just one month before his death Aregbesola said he had a mental breakdown on February 13 that led to him shaving his head 'You know the thing about suicide? You just don't kill yourself, you kill every memory of you,' he said. 'It will be all everyone remembers. Every second that you spend on this Earth will be reduced to how you chose to leave it.' 'Mourning your loss would be hard because it isn't losing your life, it is quitting it,' said Aregbesola. His wife told NBC6: 'I was in complete shock when two service men broke the news at my door on Friday morning. Till this day, I still cannot believe it.' 'As a father of a 4-year-old son, Oriola was a source of guidance and support, always there to offer a listening ear and a comforting embrace.' 'His wisdom and love guided us through life's challenges, and his laughter brought joy to some of the darkest of days,' she said. Aregbesola joined the Navy in July 2020 and reported to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 74, known as 'Swamp Foxes,' in December 2020. His friend, Jacob Rone, posted a tribute on Facebook: 'Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola was an amazing person.' 'He was kind hearted, a gentle soul, an amazing Sailor and an even greater friend, he was the person any sailor could go to and talk for hours, he was always working and Id make sure he had food to eat cause hed miss the meals everyday.' Commander Eric Kohut said: 'Petty Officer Aregbesola fully embodied the selfless character and thoughtful warrior spirit of the United States Navy Sailor.' He joined the Navy in July 2020 and reported to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 74, known as 'Swamp Foxes,' in December 2020 The Pentagon Aregbesola, who was deployed on the USS Mason (pictured), died as a result of a 'non-combat related incident' and an investigation into his death is ongoing 'His outstanding performance prior to and during deployment went well beyond aircraft maintenance; he truly saw and valued every member of the ship/air team. 'He will continue on in the heart of every Swamp Fox and our brothers and sisters in the IKE Carrier Strike Group. Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with his family,' said Kohut. His squadron was deployed to the USS Mason, which has been operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Red Sea since November. The Pentagon announced in December the U.S. is joining forces in a 10-nation military pact to try and counter terror threats in the Red Sea after a series of drone and missile strikes on commercial vessels. Member of the pact - which also includes the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain - has said the attacks are in response to the Hamas-Israel war. The Houthi, which rules much of Yemen, said its attacks are a show of support for the Palestinians and has vowed they will continue until Israel stops its offensive on the Gaza Strip - more than 1,000 miles from the Houthi seat of power in Sanaa. The USS Mason has been in the Red Sea since November to counter terror threats from the Houthis following a series of drone and missile strikes on commercial vessels US military Central Command said an anti-ship cruise missile 'launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen' hit the Strinda and the destroyer USS Mason (pictured in 2021) was providing assistance Houthi rebels have been launching a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea - as well as launching drones and missiles targeting Israel as it wages war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. US Central Command said in February that the destroyer USS Mason downed an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from Houthi-held areas in Yemen towards the Gulf of Aden. The department said it believed the missile was probably targeting MV Torm Thor. A Norwegian-flagged tanker was hit by a cruise missile launched by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea in their latest attack on ships to protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza. U.S. military Central Command said the anti-tank cruise missile, launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen, hit the Strinda and the destroyer USS Mason was providing assistance. If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 Furious Republicans claim the Biden administration is being 'held hostage' and exploited by Mexico after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador demanded billions of dollars in return for helping stem the surge of migrants into the U.S. In a 60 Minutes interview over the weekend, the Mexican president said he would work with its northern neighbor to stem immigration if Mexico U.S. meets his demands. He wanted the U.S. to commit $20 billion annually to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, sanctions to be lifted from Venezuela, the embargo lifted from Cuba and for law-abiding Mexicans living in the U.S. illegally to be given citizenship. Lopez Obrador said that 'the flow of migrants will continue' if the U.S. does not meet his requests. In response, Republicans decried Lopez Obrador's demands as a bribe and slammed Biden for letting him call the shots on U.S. foreign policy. 'The President of Mexico says they will keep invading our country until we pay the bribe,' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted on X Monday. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would help the U.S. stem the flow of migrants if U.S. officials provide billions in funding to Latin American counties and lift restrictions on Cuba and Venezuela Migrants often travel through Mexico in their journey to the U.S., making the country a critical ally for the U.S. in its efforts to stem illegal immigration A group of migrants of different nationalities pray as they prepare to leave in a caravan that aims to reach the border between Mexico and the United States on March 25 President Joe Biden met with President Lopez Obrador in Mexico City earlier this year 'This is a war,' she added. 'He is basically saying either we meet his demands or the invasion continues.' 'Now the President of Mexico is demanding a bribe in order to 'stem the invasion' NOT even stop it,' she said in another post. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, similarly posted on X: 'When Trump was President, Mexico helped us fight the Mexican cartels and stop mass illegal immigration.' 'But now, our country is held hostage and Mexico demands bribe money because Biden is all too happy to sell out American border security.' 'I've met with Obrador, he's a fool and a bully - we need a real leader in the White House to confront him.' Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., also weighed in. 'Mexican President Obrador put 25,000 of his own soldiers on Mexico's southern border to stop migration and supported Trump's Remain in Mexico policy.' 'Now he's dictating border policy to Biden!' But Lopez Obrador's demands are not new. The Mexican president outlined a similar request in January ahead of meeting with Biden. 'Mexico is helping reach agreements with other countries, in this case Venezuela,' he said at the time. 'We have already proposed to President Biden that a U.S.-Cuba bilateral dialogue be opened.' The Mexican president also said he wanted the U.S. to provide visas to at least 10 million Hispanic migrants who have been living in the U.S. for 10 years or longer. He also floated the a plan to deploy $20 billion to help Mexico and Central American countries dealing with the root causes of migration. Thousands of migrants from across Central and South America form a caravan headed to the U.S. on March 25 Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., called the Mexican president's demands a 'bribe' After leftist Lopez Obrador was elected in 2018, his administration and then-President Donald Trump worked together to create immigration reforms such as the Migrant Protection Protocols, known as the 'Remain in Mexico' policy. The policy required immigrants awaiting a U.S. immigration court hearing to remain in the outside of the country until their hearing. It was widely credited for cutting immigration into the U.S. from Mexico and other Latin American counties. On Biden's first day in office, he signed an executive order ending the program. 'President Trump was able to negotiate the 'Remain in Mexico' agreement with Mexico's president,' Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, posted on X Monday. Now, President Biden has opened the floodgates at our border and has rolled over to every world leader who is hostile to America,' he continued. Violent scenes broke out in Jerusalem today as police clashed with ultra-orthodox Jews who were celebrating the Purim holiday. Officers in riot gear were seen escorting paradegoers out of the streets in the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Me'a She'arim on Monday as the city held its first traditional Purim parade in 42 years. Thousands lined the city streets today to participate in the festival of Purim, which marks the victory of Jews over a tyrant in ancient Persia and is celebrated with costumes, drinking and parties. It is unclear what led to the clash, but photographers in Jerusalem allege the chaos broke out after a person climbed on an ambulance. Riot police were reportedly called to the area to disperse the crowd. Many cities across Israel decided to cancel Purim celebrations this year due to the ongoing war in Gaza, but Jerusalem opted to continue with the festivities and led the parade by paying paid homage to the hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7. About two dozen family members and supporters of the approximately 100 hostages being held in Gaza protested the parade. Ultra-Orthodox Jews clash with police in riot gear after a person climbed on an ambulance in the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Me'a She'arim, on March 25, 2024 in Jerusalem Policemen scuffle with Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and children, some in costumes, during the Jewish holiday of Purim in Me'a She'arim today A person smokes and drinks at a gathering they mark the Jewish holiday of Purim, a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, in Me'a She'arim today A person lays on the ground during Purim celebrations today in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem Jerusalem, which celebrates Purim one day later than the rest of Israel, held a traditional Purim parade for the first time in 42 years. It featured large floats of beloved children's characters and DJs dressed up as characters from the story of Purim. Family members of the hostages kicked off the parade, marching silently at the front with a giant yellow ribbon. 'My daughter, she needs to be here, she was supposed to be here. I am wearing a shirt she was supposed to wear, and I'm waiting for her,' said Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi has been held hostage in Gaza for 170 days. Although pictures of the hostages lined the parade route, a small protest against the parade was held near the route, The Times of Israel reported. Demonstrators held placards reading, 'It's still October 7'. 'I know it's tradition to be happy on Purim, but this year I think it's tactless to do these carnivals,' said protester David Heyd. Another demonstrator, Nir Argov, told Channel 12 the 'entire nation is traumatized' and argued 'it is not appropriate to celebrate outside in the city'. Jerusalem, which celebrates Purim one day later than the rest of Israel, held a traditional Purim parade for the first time in 42 years. Men are seen dancing during the festivities today Jews living in the Me'a She'arim neighborhood celebrate the 'Purim holiday' which is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, with different costumes on the streets A man celebrating Purim sits on a car during the festivities in in Me'a She'arim today Orthodox Jews wearing different costumes took to the streets in Jerusalem today to mark the city's first Purim parade in 42 years Ditza Or, mother of hostage Avi Natan Or, gives a statement at an event calling for the immediate release of the hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas at the end of the Jewish holiday of Purim, at a ritual booth at a public square in Tel Aviv, Israel March 25, 2024 'In a year where there are 134 hostages, hundreds of dead, more than a hundred thousand Israelis who [are evacuated and] do not live in their homes - they have no joy,' Argov said. 'It is impossible to be happy.' Netanyahu CANCELS Israeli diplomatic trip to Washington after the US refuses to veto United Nations resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire over Ramadan: READ MORE Advertisement As the parade wound its way through the streets of Jerusalem, children in colorful costumes packed the streets eating sweets and cookies, waiting for the floats to pass. Argov claimed that the children should still have 'parties and celebrations in the schools and kindergartens', but believes the public celebration should have been cancelled, like done in the cities of Holon and Tel Aviv. But other locals said they felt the parade, which according to local media had a turnout that was 'far below the numbers expected by the municipality', demonstrated Israel's resilience. 'We're showing the whole world and our enemies that we're continuing to live, continuing to celebrate,' said Shabi Levy, a Jerusalem resident who was watching the parade with his three children. Purim celebrations were held across the globe over the weekend. The festivities unfolded as the United Nations (UN) Security Council issued its first demand for a cease-fire in Gaza on Monday, with the US angering Israel by abstaining from the vote. Israel responded by canceling a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation in the strongest public clash between the allies since the war began. Relatives and supporters of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group leads the Purim parade in Jerusalem, Monday, March 25, 2024 Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and children, some in costumes, celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim in the Me'a She'arim neighborhood today Violent scenes broke out in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem today as police clashed with ultra-orthodox Jews who were celebrating the Purim holiday Riot officers scuffle with paradegoers after a clash broke out during festivities in the Me'a She'arim neighborhood of Jerusalem today Men gather and dance in the streets as they mark the Jewish holiday of Purim, a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, in Me'a She'arim today Spectators in costume watch the annual Purim Parade on Shushan Purim on March 25, 2024 in Jerusalem Jews celebrate the 'Purim holiday' which is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, with different costumes on the streets in Jerusalem on March 25, 2024 Riot officers hold back men and children amid a scuffle in Me'a She'arim today People take part in a Purim party at the Tower of David Museum in the Old City of Jerusalem on March 25, 2024 A man dances in the Purim parade in Jerusalem on March 25, 2024 A child hands Moshe Lion the Jerusalem Mayor a paper crane while standing with the families of hostages during the annual Purim Parade on Shushan Purim on March 25, 2024 in Jerusalem Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the US of 'retreating' from a 'principled position' by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. The resolution was approved 14-0 by the 15-member council after the US decided not to use its veto power on the measure, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. READ MORE: Israeli family's agony as they mark Jewish festival without 19-year-old daughter taken hostage by Hamas and kept as a domestic slave by the terror group in Gaza Pictured from left to right: Liri Albag's sister Roni holding a portrait of her, her mother Shira and her other sister Shay. Liri was kidnapped on October 7 from Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border Advertisement The chamber broke into loud applause after the vote. The US vetoed past Security Council cease-fire resolutions in large part because of the failure to tie them directly to the release of hostages, the failure to condemn Hamas' attacks and the delicacy of ongoing negotiations. American officials have argued that the cease-fire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for cease-fires. The resolution approved Monday demands the release of hostages but does not make it a condition for the cease-fire for the month of Ramadan, which ends in April. Hamas said it welcomed the UN's move but said the cease-fire needs to be permanent. 'We confirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides,' the group said. For months, the militant group has sought a deal that includes a complete end to the conflict. The US decision to abstain comes at a time of growing tensions between President Joe Biden's administration and Netanyahu over Israel's prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amounts of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. The two countries have also clashed over Netanyahu's rejection of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the expansion of settlements there. Policemen and paradegoers face off during a seemingly violent clash in Me'a She'arim today Officers appear to chase after a paradegoer during a scuffle in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem as the city held its first Purim parade in more than four decades A costume-wearing Purim celebrator is seen on the ground in Me'a She'arim as a riot officer holds what appears to be a baton over his head An officer wearing riot gear brandishes his baton in an apparent bid to hold back paradegoers at the festivities in Me'a She'arim today A costume-wearing paradegoer covers his head amid a scuffle with police today Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men celebrate after getting drunk during the Jewish festival of Purim in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem today Children wearing traditional Purim costumes watch the parade in Me'a She'arim today Police hold back what appears to be a young boy during a clash in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem A Jewish child, sporting an apparent jester costume, looks on from the the window of a car during the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Purim in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem today A supporter of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group is stoped by police after entering into the Purim parade path in Jerusalem, Monday, March 25, 2024 Jews celebrate the 'Purim holiday' which is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, with different costumes on the streets in Jerusalem on March 25, 2024 In addition, the well-known antagonism between Netanyahu and Biden - which dates from Biden's tenure as vice president - deepened after Biden questioned Israel's strategy in combating Hamas. Then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Biden ally, suggested that Netanyahu was not operating in Israel's best interests and called for Israel to hold new elections. Biden signaled his approval of Schumer's remarks, prompting a rebuke from Netanyahu. During its US visit, the Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with its plans for a possible ground invasion of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the US had been 'consistent' in its support for a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal. 'The reason we abstained is because this resolution text did not condemn Hamas,' Kirby said. He said the administration was 'very disappointed' at the cancellation of talks on 'viable alternatives' to a ground invasion of Rafah. The vote came after Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported 'an immediate and sustained cease-fire' in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. That resolution featured a weakened link between a cease-fire and the release of hostage, leaving it open to interpretation, and no time limit. The United States warned that the resolution approved Monday could hurt negotiations to halt the hostilities, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans. The talks involve the US, Egypt and Qatar. Because Ramadan ends April 9, the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, though the draft says the pause in fighting should lead 'to a permanent sustainable cease-fire.' People participate in the annual Purim Parade on Shushan Purim on March 25, 2024 in Jerusalem Jewish settlers wearing costumes celebrate Purim as Israeli security forces secure the celebrations March 24, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank, Palestine Children in Stamford Hill, north London, dress in colourful costumes as they celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim on Sunday, March 24, 2024 People wearing costumes marking the Jewish holiday of Purim in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, March 24, 2024 A member of Knesset (parliament) wearing an Israeli flag costume celebrate Purim as Israeli security forces secure the celebrations March 24, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank, Palestine Jewish settlers dressed in costumes celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim as soldiers secure the annual parade in the West Bank city of Hebron, Sunday, March 24, 2024 A Jewish family celebrates the holiday of Purim, from the Book of Esther, in London on Sunday People dressed in costumes celebrate Purim in Jerusalem on March 25, 2024. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago Jewish children dressed in costumes celebrate the annual holiday of Purim in Manchester, Britain on March 24, 2024 People wearing costumes celebrate Purim in Shuk Machane Yehuda (The Machane Yehuda Market) on Erev Purim on March 24, 2024 in Jerusalem Jews celebrate together with refugees from Odessa, Ukraine during Purim Holiday in Berlin, Germany on March 24, 2024 Jewish settlers wearing costumes celebrate Purim during the parade as Israeli security forces secure the celebrations on March 24, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank, Palestine Jewish settlers dressed in costumes celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim as soldiers and police officers secure the annual parade in the West Bank city of Hebron on March 24, 2024 People wearing costumes marking the Jewish holiday of Purim, a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, dance on the street, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Bnei Brak, Israel on March 24, 2024 Ultra-Orthodox Jewish children wearing costumes marking the Jewish holiday of Purim in Bnei Brak, Israel on March 24, 2024 People dressed in costumes celebrate Purim in Jerusalem on March 25, 2024 US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the resolution 'spoke out in support of the ongoing diplomatic efforts,' adding that negotiators were 'getting closer' to a deal for a cease-fire with the release of all hostages, 'but we're not there yet.' She urged the council and UN members across the world to 'speak out and demand unequivocally that Hamas accepts the deal on the table.' Thomas-Greenfield said the US abstained because 'certain edits' the US requested were ignored, including adding a condemnation of Hamas. The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, was backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations. Algeria's UN ambassador, the Arab representative on the council, thanked the council for 'finally' demanding a cease-fire. 'We look forward to the commitment and the compliance of the Israeli occupying power with this resolution, for them to put an end to the bloodbath without any conditions, to end the suffering of the Palestinian people.' he said. Shortly before Monday's vote, the elected members changed the final draft resolution to drop the word 'permanent' from its demand that a Ramadan cease-fire should lead to a 'sustainable cease-fire,' apparently at the request of the United States. An Israeli soldier wear costumes as he secure the annual parade during the Jewish holiday of Purim in the West Bank city of Hebron, Sunday, March 24, 2024 People dressed in costumes celebrate Purim in Jerusalem on March 25, 2024 Jews pray as they attend Purim celebrations together with refugees from Odessa, Ukraine during Purim Holiday in Berlin, Germany on Sunday, March 24, 2024 Children wearing costumes marking the Jewish holiday of Purim in Bnei Brak, Israel on Sunday, March 24, 2024 Jewish people wear costumes during a street party celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, Friday, March 22, 2024, in Tel Aviv, Israel Jewish settlers wearing costumes celebrate Purim outside the Tomb of the Patriarch during the parade on March 24, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank People attend a parade for the Jewish holiday of Purim, a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jerusalem on March 25, 2024 Jewish settlers celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim during an annual parade in the West Bank city of Hebron, on Sunday, March 24, 2024 Jewish settlers wearing costumes celebrate Purim during the parade as Israeli security forces secure the celebrations on March 24, 2024 in Hebron, West Bank Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Purim in London, UK on Sunday, March 24, 2024 Russia complained that dropping the word could allow Israel 'to resume its military operation in the Gaza Strip at any moment' after Ramadan and proposed an amendment to restore it. That amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum nine 'yes' vote - with three council members voting in favor, the United States voting against, and 11 countries abstaining. Since the start of the war, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire. More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The agency does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Gaza also faces a dire humanitarian emergency, with a report from an international authority on hunger warning March 18 that 'famine is imminent' in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territory's 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation. The United States has vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on Feb. 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire. Children in costumes celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem today A man dances in the streets of in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem today amid Purim celebrations Jewish men celebrate after getting drunk during the Purim festival today in Me'a She'arim Riot police patrol the streets as Purim festivities are underway in Me'a She'arim An Ultra-Orthodox Jew runs after climbing on an ambulance in the Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Me'a She'arim, on March 25, 2024 in Jerusalem Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men gather as they mark Purim in Me'a She'arim, Jerusalem today Police in riot gear were reportedly dispatched to clear the street in Me'a She'arim after a person climbed on an ambulance Police men scuffle with Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and children, some in costumes, during the Jewish holiday of Purim in Me'a She'arim Ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim in the Me'a She'arim neighborhood of Jerusalem today Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored resolution in late October calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a cease-fire. They again vetoed a US resolution Friday, calling it ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks. That vote became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the United States taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, even as tensions between the two countries rise. Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia and China of using the Gaza conflict 'as a political cudgel, to try to divide this council at a time when we need to come together.' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Speaker Mike Johnson had 'failed' Republicans by not forcing resigning Rep. Mike Gallagher to leave early enough to trigger a special election. Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican and chair of the China subcommittee, issued a shock resignation announcement last week that could leave the House with the slimmest of majorities for the rest of the year. He said his last day would be April 19. Republicans will only be able to lose one vote and still pass party-line legislation once he leaves - at least until a runoff election in California's 20th district to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. According to Wisconsin election law, a special election is triggered to replace House members if the seat opens up by the first week of April. If a seat becomes available after that, it may sit vacant until the following congressional term. Greene said Speaker Mike Johnson had 'failed' Republicans by not forcing resigning Rep. Mike Gallagher to leave early enough to trigger a special election 'Speaker Johnson should be forcing Mike Gallagher to leave early so that his district can hold a special election, and any strong Republican Speaker of the House would expel a member for leaving our razor-thin majority in such a delicate, delicate state. We cannot allow we cannot allow this,' Greene said Sunday on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures. 'Mike Gallagher betrayed all of us,' Greene went on. 'And Speaker Johnson, as the one whos responsible for our majority, praised Mike Gallagher on Friday after he announced his departure, saying that hes great and praising him and thanking him for his service in Congress,' she added. A source close to Gallagher told DailyMail.com: Gallagher's decision was 'difficult and personal' and had come 'after discussions with his family.' 'House Republican leadership was made aware of and approved this timeline,' the person said. 'Moreover, when Vince Fong wins his election a few short weeks after Congressman Gallaghers departure, this will be a one for one swap and the number of Republicans in the House will be the same.' On Friday Greene filed a motion to vacate, or a resolution that could oust Johnson, over the spending bills he'd brought to the House floor. She said she would not immediately make the resolution privileged to force a quick vote, but meant it as a 'warning and a pink slip.' Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican and chair of the China subcommittee, issued a shock resignation announcement last week that could leave the House with the slimmest of majorities for the rest of the year On Friday Greene filed a motion to vacate, or a resolution that could oust Johnson, over the spending bills he'd brought to the House floor Greene fist bumping with Speaker Mike Johnson at the State of the Union, just two weeks before she launched a motion to vacate against him But on Sunday, she had forceful words for the speaker too. 'Johnson cannot remain speaker of the House.' Gallagher already announced he was retiring at the end of his congressional term earlier this year after blowback for his vote against impeaching Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas. 'After conversations with my family, I have made the decision to resign,' Gallagher said in a statement. 'Effective April 19.' Gallagher, 39, has been in Congress since 2017. He shares two young daughters with his wife. The policy-focused pragmatic conservative joins a slew of high-level retirements among the House Republican ranks, after a congressional term marred by chaos. Just after Gallagher's announcement, Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, announced she would be stepping down as chairwoman. She already announced she won't be running for reelection next term. Friday was Colorado Rep. Ken Buck's last day after an early resignation, making him the fifth Republican this year to flee early or be expelled in the case of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. Dramatic video captured the moment rescue workers carried a 4-year-old girl who spent more than 16 hours under the mud in Brazil mudslides is rescued. Ayla da Silva was pulled out alive Saturday morning by members of the rescue team in Petropolis, 43 miles north of Rio de Janeiro after the disasters rocked the southern part of the country. The building where the child's family home collapsed Friday after torrential rains slammed the region. While da Silva survived, 27 people have died across Brazil as a result of the floods and mudslides. Government officials have warned locals about the rain and noted the area has received twice what is expected in March in just a matter of a few days. A rescue workers carries Ayla da Silva after the 4-year-old girl was rescued Saturday morning in Petropolis, a city the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. The child spent 16 hours under the mud, wrapped around the arms of her father, who was killed Vehicles were overturned on a street in the southeastern Brazilian city of Mimoso do Sul, where torrential rains over the weekend produced landslides that killed 19 people there A man rides his bicycle through a flooded street on Sunday after a rainstorm slammed Duque de Caxias, a city on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro Da Silva was found wrapped around the arms of her father, Douglas da Silva, 24, who was killed. The child was one of five people who were rescued alive from the rubble of the three-story building. Her mother, Beatriz da Silva, 25; her brother, Lukas da Silva, 9; and her maternal grandmother, Maria Casemiro, 66, were also killed. 'My son was a warrior, he spent all that time there and saved his little daughter,' Ayla da Silva's grandfather, Roberto Napoleao, told local reporters. 'You can't imagine what it is like to lose a son. It hurts so much.' Rio de Janeiro Governor Claudio Castro and mayors had cautioned residents about possible inclement weather problems since Thursday. Residents applauded after rescue workers rescued da Silva from her collapsed three-story home where she lived with her mother, father, brother and grandmother, who were all killed by a landslide Friday Douglas da Silva (left) and his wife Beatriz da Silva (right) were found dead under the mud after their home in Petropolis was destroyed by a landslide Friday night Beatriz da Silva with her son Lukas da Silva, who was killed alongside her, and her daughter Ayla da Silva, who survived Civil Defense member holds Ayla da Silva after the 4-year-old girl was rescued Saturday morning Petropolis was slammed with more 270mm of rain in a period of 24 hours, double the month that meteorologists expected for all of March. 'Our city is in a crisis stage,' Petropolis Mayor Rubens Bomtempo said on social media. 'We also announced an emergency decree, due to the possibility of high rainfall recorded, with consequences in several areas, and the possibility of this scenario continuing in the coming days.' Heavy rains carried over into the weekend and killed at least 8 people in Rio de Janeiro and 19 more in the neighboring state of Espirito Santo. The Espirito Santo state government said Sunday that a total of 17 residents were killed countryside municipality of Mimoso do Sul. The countryside city of Mimoso do Soul was severely affected by heavy rains over the weekend, which forced 7,287 people to leave the homes. At least 411 residents were left homeless An aerial view of the flooding in Mimoso do Sul in southeastern Brazil A man rides his bicycle through a flooded street after a rainstorm in the Uruai neighborhood of Duque de Caxias city, Lieutenant Colonel Benicio Ferrari, the Civil Defense deputy coordinator, said Monday that recovery efforts increased in Mimoso do Sul after the water receded. Authorities said 7,287 residents were forced to leave their homes and 411 people had their homes destroyed because of heavy rain. The storm also hit the state of Sao Paulo, where authorities rescued three people trapped in a car that had crashed into a stream in the city of Lins on Thursday. Firefighters used a rope to bring the group to shore and took them to a nearby hospital, where they underwent medical exams as a precaution and were later released in good health. Donald Trump demanded investigations of the judge overseeing his New York fraud trial as well as New York AG Letitia James as he accused President Biden of running before reversing himself and saying he wasn't capable of doing so. Trump, who is leading in the polls and has called for 'retribution', teed off on the judge and top prosecutor after a New York appeals court threw him a life line and slashed his $454 million court judgment in the case to $175 million an amount he said he would pay. His demand for probes came while Trump summoned 2016 nemesis Robert Mueller and railed against 'Russia, Russia, Russia' and blamed President Biden for the October 7 attack in Israel, which 'he should never have allowed to happen.' 'I respect the Appellate Division for substantially reducing that ridiculous amount of money that was put up by a corrupt judge named Engoron,' Trump said at 40 Wall Street, one of the properties James mentioned as being ripe for potential seizure if Trump didn't pay the judgment during an appeal of his fraud verdict. Former President Donald Trump said during an angry press conference that Judge Engoron and AG James should be 'looked into' 'He ought to be looked at - seriously looked at,' said Trump. 'Especially what he did with valuations. He's the one. He's a fraudulent valuator, where he values Mar-a-Lago at $18 million and people say it's worth 50 to 100 times that much, the biggest experts in the business.' 'So he ought to be looked at and James ought to be looked at because she tried to get him, she's like the puppet master of the judge. It came after Trump in an online post demanding the end of a gag order that prohibits him from attacking Engoron's chief clerk. Trump also complained about the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. 'Not allowed to do that. They raided my house in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. No notice, no nothing,' referencing the FBI search under a grand jury subpoena. 'We'll see how it all works out in the end. But it's illegal what they're doing. It's criminal what they're doing, and it's never been done before in this country. Speaking about the case, he said 'that was done by Biden and his thugs also, because they can't win an election because of the borders ... ' he said. 'These are all Biden trials,' he said later when asked by a reporter if he would testify in the Stormy Daniels trial. James said in a statement that the $454 million judgment still stands Trump repeatedly called Judge Arthur Engoron corrupt Trump attended yet another one of his trials Trump said President Biden doesn't know if he's even 'alive,' after accusing the president and 'thugs' of driving the prosecution 'It's all done by Biden and his group, because I don't know if Biden is even sharp enough. I don't know if Biden knows what's happening if you want to know the truth. Maybe he does. He probably does,' Trump said. 'This is all Biden-run things - meaning by his thugs, because I don't know if he knows he's alive,' Trump, 77, said of Biden, 81. Trump also indicated he would pay the amount now that it was slashed. ''We'll put up cash or bond very quickly, securities, cash or bond, whatever it is. We'll put it up very quickly,' he said. The appeals court gave him 10 days to do so. 'I have a lot of cash,' he said. 'You know I do because you have looked at my statement.' Trump posted last week that he had $500 million in cash, although his letters said in a recent filing blasting the court judgment that he was unable to obtain a bond. Trump referred to Engoron as a 'Democrat judge,' but then mused about how he has benefitted from various prosecutions. 'They're all trying to damage Trump as much as possible,' said Trump. 'It's having the reverse effect, but maybe some day it won't. I don't know. ' Biden's presidential campaing released a statement on the press conference that referenced an earlier post comparing himself to Jesus and latest feat of bragging about winning a pair of trophies at one of his own clubs and getting a trophy presented to him by Jack Nicklaus. 'Donald Trump is weak and desperate both as a man and a candidate for President,' said spokesman James Singer. 'He spent the weekend golfing, the morning comparing himself to Jesus, and the afternoon lying about having money he definitely doesnt have. 'His campaign cant raise money, he is uninterested in campaigning outside his country club, and every time he opens his mouth, he pushes moderate and suburban voters away with his dangerous agenda. 'America deserves better than a feeble, confused, and tired Donald Trump.' Trump claimed the effort to prosecute him was aimed at his campaign, after saying he could cover the amount. 'I have much more than that in cash but I would also like to use some of my cash to get elected,' he said. 'But they dont want me to use it to get elected.' President Yoon Suk Yeol wished Kate, the Princess of Wales, a "full and speedy" recovery from cancer Monday. Yoon posted the message on X, formerly Twitter, three days after the British royal disclosed her condition in a video message following weeks of speculation about her health. "My thoughts are with the Princess of Wales, Prince of Wales, and the Royal Family," he wrote in English. "My wife and I still remember the warm hospitality we received in London last November. We wish Her Highness a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her again in full health." Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee met the princess during their state visit to London in November 2023. (Yonhap) A single Philadelphia neighborhood known for its open-air drug use accounts for more than a third of the city's narcotic-law violations, statistics show. Cops in Kensington recorded 921 narcotics and drug-law violations in 2023 - an alarming rate considering the 1,630 offenses that took place elsewhere. Those crimes were recorded across roughly 150 distinct neighborhoods - none of which even came close to boasting a rate like the notorious area known widely to locals and beyond as 'The Badlands.' Kensington earned the moniker in 1992, from fed-up narcotic cops peeved by the area's then-bustling drug economy. Back then, the $250million market was mostly underground - a dynamic that's since shifted as enforcement laws have eased. That has resulted in people shooting up and ingesting drugs like fentanyl in the streets, leading to some 376 narcotics violations per square mile - compared with a rate of 16 for the rest of the city. Kensington last year accounted for more than a third of Philadelphia's drug-law violations, statistics show. Cops in the notorious neighborhood known for its open drug use recorded 921 narcotics and drug-law violations in 2023 - an alarming rate considering the 1,630 offenses that took place across the city. A Kensington crime scene where a homicide occurred this month is seen here The concentration of drug crime in the neighborhood has since surfaced as a talking point, with many mortified by the sight of people nodding out on the streets and openly injecting drugs. Other footage from the neighborhood regularly shows users passed out on the sidewalks, often in front of shuttered stores. Some spot people picking at open wounds in plain view of the public, in scenes that appear to be straight out of San Francisco. But the crimes are - and for years have been - happening in the municipality named for its 'Brotherly Love', and whose government is finally taking notice of the state of its streets, Kensington in particular. In comments to The Philadelphia Inquirer, residents, leaders, and current and ex-city officials alike outlined how politicians are to blame for Kensington's downfall, which, if the year-end statistics are to be taken seriously, is now at a breaking point. Citing other startling statistics such as Kensington housing more than a-third of the city's known homeless population, the CEO of Impact Services, one of Kensington's three large community development nonprofits, offered her take. 'Kensington has brought both international embarrassment and a sense of urgency to deal with what's happening,' said Casey O'Donnell, as clips showing drug use in the neighborhood continues to gain traction online. Those crimes were recorded across roughly 150 distinct neighborhoods - none of which even came close to boasting a rate like the notorious area known widely as 'The Badlands' Kensington earned that moniker in 1992, from fed-up narcotic cops peeved by the area's then-bustling drug economy Back then, the $250million market was mostly underground - a dynamic that's shifted as enforcement laws have eased This has resulted in people shooting up and ingesting drugs like fentanyl in the streets, leading to some 376 narcotics violations per square mile - compared with a rate of 16 for the rest of the city The issues, residents and city officials have said, stem from local legislation - laws that saw Philadelphia become so overwhelmed by drug-fueled crime under Democratic DA Larry Krasner (pictured) that failure to crack down on crime led to his impeachment in 2022 However, as of writing, he remains in office - as certain pockets of the city remain overrun 'But that urgency and embarrassment does not translate to effective problem solving,' she said, as the city's new police commissioner, Kevin Bethel, declared last month that Kensington could soon see stricter enforcement of drug crimes, as early as April. But, as executive director of the economic development nonprofit HACE Maria Gonzalez put it to The Inquirer Monday, 'The problems are so deep', that one course of action cannot hope to provide a solution. The issues, she and others said, stem from local legislation - laws that saw Philadelphia become so overwhelmed by drug-fueled crime under Democratic DA Larry Krasner that failure to crack down on crime led to his impeachment in 2022. However, more than a year later, he remains in office after his trial was indefinitely postponed - after previously billing himself to voters as a 'progressive prosecutor.' In January, officials appeared to pivot from the two-term politician's lax laws - which included the dropping drug possession charges at a frightening pace. That happened with the appointment of Bethel, who was named to the post by the city's equally green mayor, Cherelle Parker. In January, officials appeared to pivot from the two-term politician's lax laws, with new Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel promising a crackdown just a few weeks ago New mayor Cherelle Parker has also said it will be her mission to address neighborhoods like Kensington's woes, which have worsened over the decades due to reforms surrounding drug-related offenses Both have made promises to address Kensington's rapidly diminishing state, with Bethel hinting at an in-the-works plan to address what he referred to as 'open-air drug market[s]' in Kensington. Seen here is one of many encampment busts in the city, this one back in 2018 Police block off roads and gather evidence as they investigate a shooting near the Kensington area in Philadelphia on St. Patrick's Day Weekend First, though, Bethel said community groups would work to spread awareness of the new enforcement plan, and undertaking that he said would merely consist of people warning those who use or sell drugs on the street that they need to leave and seek treatment That, or they could soon face arrest, the top cop declared. Pictured, a person walking through the Kensington neighborhood in 2021 'They will now be able to say... "There is going to be a heightened level of enforcement, and things that you have previously been able to do on the streets - openly using drugs, defecating on properties, threatening, stealing, those things that have historically been not addressed - will be addressed,"' he said - before optimistically adding, 'I'm hopeful' Both have made promises to address Kensington's rapidly diminishing state, with Bethel hinting at an in-the-works plan to address what he referred to as 'open-air drug market[s]' in Kensington back in February. 'It would be a natural progression of getting back to just enforcing the laws that have not been,' he said at the time, a little more than a month after he was appointed. First, though, he said community groups would work to spread awareness of the new enforcement plan, and undertaking that he said would merely consist of people warning those who use or sell drugs on the street that they need to leave and seek treatment. That, or they could soon face arrest, the top cop declared. 'They will now be able to say... "There is going to be a heightened level of enforcement, and things that you have previously been able to do on the streets - openly using drugs, defecating on properties, threatening, stealing, those things that have historically been not addressed - will be addressed,"' he said - before optimistically adding, 'I'm hopeful.' Bethel went on to add how Parker's administration, along with the department, is unwavering in its resolve to make sure the people currently taking to Kensington's streets dont just disperse to other, nearby neighborhoods. He would not, however, say how he and other officers would go about that, or what services would be offered. He did state that drug encampments - like the ones that currently litter Kensington Avenue - will not be tolerated, despite the department carrying out busts on such sites for the past six or so years. 'Were not going to move this to another area. Were not going to allow, you know, open-air drug market two, three, four, or five. That is not happening,' he said. Kensington's streets are littered with syringes, garbage and homeless encampments, with addicts dealing and using drugs in broad daylight. One addict holds a syringe in his mouth in December The concentration of drug crime in the neighborhood has since surfaced as a talking point, with many mortified by the sight of people nodding out on the streets and openly injecting drugs Drug users are pictured sprawled in the park, waiting for their next fix. The city of Philadelphia is struggling to cope with the surge in use of new drugs like xylazine, colloquially known as 'tranq.' The injectable drug often leaves sores and wounds on users' skin Drugs are openly used and passed round with many bent over in a trance-like state. Pictured, the problem area in December Kensington's streets are littered with syringes, garbage and homeless encampments, with addicts dealing and using drugs in broad daylight A man is resuscitated by emergency workers on Kensington Avenue There, use of drugs like fentanyl, heroin, and new creation xylazine persists, to the point where even longtime residents told the Inquirer that the state of the neighborhood is even worse than it was in the 90s Users are seen shooting up in the middle of the day 'Weve empathized. Weve given food. Weve given water - only to get back that we cant walk outside any more with open-toed shoes,' said one resident of policies implemented by people like Kasner that's gotten to them to this point. 'This is not a community. This is a public crisis' He would not commit to a specific timeline for when the new strategy will begin, but said the first phase will start shortly after Mayor Parkers 100th day in office. That's not until early April - but the communication phase, he said, 'will not be a long-term process. 'All I can say is that we will give it enough time for people to make an informed decision as to what they want to do,' he told onlookers, day before a shooting in Kensington left one person dead after more than 30 shots were fired. As part of the plan, Bethe; said police will not 'occupy' Kensington, but instead work alongside community members and business owners to begin enforcing laws. Meanwhile, use of drugs like fentanyl, heroin, and new creation xylazine persists, to the point where even longtime residents told the Inquirer that the state of the neighborhood is even worse than it was in the 90s. 'Weve empathized. Weve given food. Weve given water - only to get back that we cant walk outside any more with open-toed shoes,' said Kiara Lynn Garcia of policies implemented by people like Kasner that's gotten to them to this point. Claiming that the time for empathy has passed and that what's needed now is action, she concluded: 'This is not a community. This is a public crisis.' Currently, the City of Brotherly Love operates the fourth-largest police force in the nation, with over 6,600 sworn personnel. There is 'no evidence' linking the alleged mastermind of an armed robbery to the guns used to shoot dead PC Sharon Beshenivsky and injure her colleague PC Teresa Milburn, a trial has been told. The unarmed police constables were both shot at point-blank range as they responded to a raid at Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005. PC Beshenivsky, 38, who had only been an officer for nine months, died from her injuries while PC Milburn survived being shot in the chest. Leeds Crown Court has heard seven men were involved in carrying out the robbery, with alleged ringleader Piran Ditta Khan the last to face trial almost two decades on after being extradited from Pakistan. Prosecutors say that although Khan, 75, is not one of the three armed men who went into Universal Express, and did not leave the safety of a lookout car during the raid, he is guilty of PC Beshenivsky's murder because of his 'pivotal' role in planning the robbery knowing that loaded weapons were to be used. In his closing speech to jurors today, Khan's defence barrister Peter Wright KC said: 'There is no evidence linking Piran Ditta Khan to (the firearms). None. No DNA or relevant fingerprints.' PC Sharon Beshenivsky (pictured) was fatally shot in November 2005 as she and her colleague responded to a report of a robbery in Bradford, West Yorkshire Her colleague Teresa Milburn (pictured) was shot at point-blank range and was injured during the ordeal but survived The alleged ringleader of the robbery, Piran Ditta Khan (pictured), was extradited from Pakistan in 2023 Mr Wright reminded jurors of the evidence of Francois Baron, who was working on renovating a 'safe house' in Leeds used by the robbers before and after the raid. He said Mr Baron's evidence was that the firearms had been produced by one of the group before Khan arrived at the house the day before the robbery. 'There is no evidence firearms were ever brandished or produced in Piran Ditta Khan's presence or at any time after he arrived,' Mr Wright said. 'The following day, there is no evidence weapons were visible to anyone prior to their production at Universal Express.' The court has heard Khan was the only one of the robbers who was familiar with Universal Express after using them to send money to family in Pakistan. Khan has claimed the owner of Universal Express, Mohammad Yousaf, owed him 12,000 and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq offered to help him 'get his money back' after the pair met through a business associate. He told jurors he did not know that a robbery was going to be committed or that weapons were to be used, and believed the men Razzaq sent would at most 'slap' the staff in order to recover the cash. Mr Wright said Khan 'was involved in a plot to commit robbery' and 'deserves no sympathy for his conduct'. Sharon Beshenivsky (pictured) had only been an officer for nine months before she was fatally shot The trial heard today there there is 'no evidence' linking Khan (pictured in court) to the guns used in the robbery 'Whether he had or did not have a legitimate grievance against Mohammad Yousaf is no excuse for his involvement in a plan to extract it from staff at Universal Express by force or threat of it. His conduct in that regard is to be condemned.' He told jurors there was no evidence Khan was 'the man in charge', as claimed by prosecutors. Mr Wright said the gunning down of the two police officers 'by three apparently jubilant assassins is behaviour by them so repugnant to right-thinking members of society that their resulting convictions for murder and possession of firearms are indeed to be welcomed'. 'Similarly, you would need a heart of stone not to be moved by the evidence of the courage these officers showed in discharging their duty to the public on that fateful day and the terrible price they paid,' he told jurors. 'But the issues in this case are not to be determined by a binary, simple choice between good and evil, or right and wrong, but by a dispassionate and measured analysis of the competing issues.' Khan denies murder, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He has pleaded guilty to robbery. The trial continues. The scamming ring targeted vulnerable pensioners with an average age of 87 Serial scammers who tricked nine elderly people into handing over nearly 12,000, by persuading them to hand over their bank cards, have been caught after an undercover police operation. Arbaaz Khan, 31, was part of a phone scamming ring targeting vulnerable pensioners, with an average age of 87. Khan would send a 'runner' to collect the bank card from the victims' homes - before the group drained all the money from their accounts. In total, they stole 11,940 over nine offences between 1 November 2021 and 16 February 2022. On the day Khan was arrested, he had sent a member of the ring to the home of a 101-year-old woman in another potential scam. Ringleader Arbaaz Khan, 31, was part of a phone scamming ring targeting vulnerable pensioners, with an average age of 87 Khan pleaded guilty on 12 March to conspiracy to steal and is due to be sentenced on 9 May at Snaresbrook Crown Court. Other members of the ring, Bradley Goode, 23, and Hanad Mohamed, 20, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal. One victim said that the scammers had stolen their savings. They explained: 'I felt really, really low after this happened. I made the mistake and now I will have to pay for it. 'This money was my savings. 'I would encourage anyone who is the victim of a crime like this to contact the police and help prevent this happening.' The Met conducted a three-month undercover operation to catch the scammers preying on the elderly - using CCTV, eyewitness accounts, phone monitoring, and more to trace the ring. The investigation began after a report from a pensioner in Hampstead, and soon, detectives had linked that crime to other reports across London and tracked down those responsible. Mohamed is due to be sentenced alongside Khan in May, while Goode has already been handed a community order of 120 hours unpaid work. On the day Khan was arrested, he had sent a member of the ring to the home of a 101-year-old woman in another potential scam Bradley Goode, 23, has already been handed a community order of 120 hours unpaid work Hanad Mohamed, 20, is due to be sentenced alongside Khan in May Abi Wood, CEO, Age UK London, said: 'This is a terrible case of scamming older people who are so often targeted for this type of crime. 'In this case, the work of the Met Police officers has been vital to prevent any more people becoming victims and we are pleased to see that the criminals were caught. 'Our advice to older people is to say no. Never disclose your bank details either over the phone or to someone in person who asks for it and never hand over your bank cards. 'If you are unsure, check with your bank or someone you know before doing anything. 'For doorstep scams, keep all doors locked when answering the door as people can work together. 'Use a chain on the door, especially if you are not expecting anyone, ask for ID, and ask them to wait while you check with their organisation. 'A genuine person would not mind you doing this. If you feel unsafe or pressured, contact family, a friend, or the police.' He said that Biden 'can't win' in November because of his foreign policy failures Former President Donald Trump criticized President Joe Biden during a press conference on Monday, blaming him for the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel. The presumptive Republican nominee for president accused 'Biden and his thugs' for his ongoing court cases and trials, and said it was all part of the 'weaponization' of the justice system to distract from the president's record of foreign policy failures. 'He can't win because of the October 7th attack of Israel which he should have never been allowed to happen, would have never happened if I was president,' he said. Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference US President Joe Biden speaks at an event in Arizona Trump said Biden's weakness motivated Hamas to attack Israel, speaking at length about the issue in an interview with Israel Hayom that was also published Monday. 'His foreign policy throughout 50 years has been horrible,' Trump said about Biden. 'If you look at people that were in other administrations with him, they saw him as a weak, ineffective president, they would have never done that attack if I were there.' But Trump also offered some criticism of Israel for dropping bombs on buildings in Gaza, warning them that some of the images were very damaging to their moral case for the war. 'I think Israel made a very big mistake. I wanted to call and say don't do it,' Trump said, warning that images and video of the bombs falling on Gaza were 'moving' and a 'bad image' for the Israelis. Palestinians, including children, examine the rubble and collect remaining belongings from the rubble of heavily damaged building A smoke plume erupts during Israeli bombardment on a building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip 'I said, "Oh, that's a terrible portrait. It's a very bad picture for the world. The world is seeing this" every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people,' he said. The former president acknowledged he would have acted in a similar way, if his own grandchildren were kidnapped by Hamas. 'I would say I would act very much the same way as you did. You would have to be crazy not to. Only a fool would not do that. That was a horrible attack.' But Trump said that Israel should try to wrap up the war, warning they were losing public support as it dragged on into multiple weeks. 'You have to finish up your war. To finish it up. You gotta get it done. And, I am sure you will do that. And we gotta get to peace, we can't have this going on,' he said. 'And I will say, Israel has to be very careful, because you're losing a lot of the world, you're losing a lot of support.' .S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands President Joe Biden, left, on March 8, 2024, in Wallingford, Pa., and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu The former president known for his braggadocios demeanor on issues of foreign policy said Israel was struggling with their image abroad as a result of the extended bombing of Gaza. 'I think Israel wanted to show that it's tough, but sometimes you shouldn't be doing that,' he said. Trump indicated the war would continue as long as Biden was president, describing him as the worst president in the history of the United States. 'He can't put two sentences together. He can't talk. He's a very dumb person. He's a dumb person,' he said. Trump boasted he was very popular in Israel, because of his decision for the United States to back Israeli sovereignty over the Golan heights and moving the American embassy to Jerusalem. 'They say if I ran for office in Israel, I'd get 98 percent of the vote,' Trump said. 'I'm not Jewish, and yet Israel to me is very important.' In decades as a New York property developer, landlord and public figure, Donald Trump's legal strategy had three prongs: Delay, then delay and delay again. That approach met its match Monday morning in the form of Judge Juan M. Merchan who is overseeing Trump's trial on charges related to hush money payments to a porn star. He brushed aside Trump's defense lawyers, who said they needed more time to prepare and accused prosecutors of deliberately keeping them in the dark, and ordered the trial to start April 15. 'That you don't have a case right now is really disconcerting because the allegation that the defense makes in all of your papers is incredibly serious. Unbelievably serious,' Merchan said in his Manhattan courtroom. 'You're accusing the Manhattan district attorney's office and the people involved in this case of prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it. And you don't have a single cite to support that position.' Former President Donald Trump sat with a stony face in Manhattan criminal court on Monday morning. He was told he will go on trial on April 15, facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. His legal team had requested more time to prepare a defense Trump is charged with hiding $130,000 paid to Stormy Daniels for her silence, part of an effort to prevent voters learning about their alleged affair during his 2016 presidential campaign For any political figure, the exchange would have been an extraordinary way to start a week that should have seen them out campaigning for the White House. For Trump, it was just one of two cases playing out in New York. A state appeals court up the road delivered him a victory of sorts. It gave him financial breathing room in a $454 million civil fraud case, allowing him to avoid losing assets if he can post a smaller $175 million bond within 10 days. And he still had time to compare himself to Jesus on social media. All before lunch. The net result is that he won one delay but lost another. The hush money case will go ahead in three weeks time. It may turn out to be the only one of four criminal cases that begins before the election. Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law professor, said on X: 'A big win for justice, a huge loss for Trump's strategy of delay, delay, delay.' Trump's lawyers had asked for a delay of at least 90 days over what they said were 'violations' by prosecutors in turning over documents. The former president is charged with hiding $130,000 paid to Stormy Daniels for her silence, part of an effort to prevent voters learning about their alleged affair during his 2016 presidential campaign. Judge Juan M. Merchan gave short shrift to Trump lawyers arguing for a trial delay Trump spoke to reporters at his 40 Wall Street building after leaving court Trump has made no secret of the strategy. 'We want delays,' he said as he arrived for a hearing last month. Both his federal prosecutionsthe documents case in Florida and a 2020 election case in Washington, D.C.have disappeared into the future, possibly after the November election. Fani Willis, the prosecutor in Georgia's election fraud case, is intent on a start date during the summer. But no schedule has yet been set and she has been buffeted by revelations of a romantic relationship with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade, who was forced to resign from the team. Trump's team is planning yet another appeal in that case, this time seeking again to disqualify Willis from the case. For the past few days, his biggest headache has been a civil fraud case and posting a vast bond to stave off the $454 million judgment before New York's attorney general started seizing his businesses and properties. On Monday, his appeal succeeded. An appellate court gave him 10 days to post a smaller bond of $175 million. Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law professor, said on X that Trump's delay strategy had failed Trump left from his apartment in Trump Tower on Monday morning, one of the properties potentially at risk from action by the New York attorney general Afterwards Trump said he would quickly come up with that money, even before news emerged that his stake in the company behind his Truth Social platform had soared to more than $6 billion after a merger was approved last week. 'So a lot of things happened today,' he said in an uncharacteristically understated comment to reporters gathered at his 40 Wall Street property, one of the addresses at risk if he couldn't come up with the funds. But he quickly turned his fire on the prosecutors pursuing him through the courts, accusing them of election interference. 'They're dying to get this thing started. The judge cannot go faster. He wants to get it started so badly,' he said. But he added that the effort was backfiring. 'It can also make me more popular because the people know it's a scam,' he said. 'It's a Biden trial.' The value of Trump's share in the company behind his Truth Social platform soared to more than $6 billion on Monday after a merger was approved last week Trump shared a message from a supporter that compared him to Jesus He may not be wrong. Even without hitting the conventional campaign trail, Trump cleaned up with what strategists refer to as 'earned media,' dominating headlines for the day without paying a penny for airtime. And of all the trials, the New York fraud casewhich could be done by the end of Mayis the least damaging to his election hopes, according to pollster James Johnson, of J.L. Partners. 'Voters see the New York case as the most politically motivated,' he said. 'And voters especially independents, generally feel that this is a distraction and a pursuit of Trump, and that Trump should be able to fairly fight the election, and the prosecutor should be focused on other issues, including what they see as increasing violent crime.' The result, he said, was plenty of exposure for Trump with a slight positive bump for the former president with voters. More than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren have been rescued from a remote forest weeks after they were abducted from their classrooms by a gang of motorcycle-riding bandits. At least 137 students, many below the age of ten, were kidnapped from a remote school in Kuriga in the state of Kaduna, which is controlled by a breakaway faction of the insurgent terror group Boko Haram. A staff member was also taken by the gunmen and died while in captivity, according to military officials. Witnesses reported that dozens of bikes stormed the school during the attack and rounded up the students, with at least one person shot dead during the raid. Now the children have been brought to safety with fresh haircuts and newly-sewn clothes and are set to be reunited with their relieved families. More than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren (pictured on their arrival) have been rescued from a remote forest weeks after they were abducted from their classrooms by gang of motorcycle-riding bandits At least 137 students, many below the age of ten, were kidnapped from a remote school in Kuriga in the state of Kaduna which is controlled by a breakaway faction of the insurgent terror group Boko Haram Now the children have been brought to safety with fresh haircuts and newly-sewn clothes and are set to be returned to their relieved families There is still doubt over whether all the children have been found with school authorities initially claiming that 287 students were taken in the attack They were rescued from a forest more than 120 miles away from their school in a neighbouring state by the military. READ MORE: More than 200 children are abducted from Nigerian school in raid linked to Boko Haram terror group Advertisement It has not yet been confirmed whether any suspected kidnappers were arrested and authorities have released no details about the rescue operation. Six of the students have been taken to hospital after their two-week ordeal in captivity and will be discharged 'as soon as the doctors have certified them fit enough', military chief Major General Mayirenso Saraso has said. The rest were taken to the state government house earlier today. Family members have spoken of the grim weeks spent hoping for their kidnapped children's return. Jubril Kuriga, whose nine-year-old daughter was snatched, said: 'We were traumatised throughout the absence of our children. 'Our children were away in the bush, with no food, and no good water.' There is still doubt over whether all the children have been found with school authorities initially claiming 287 students were taken in the attack. But state governor Uba Sani, speaking on the return of the children, confirmed that 137 had been brought back from the forest. But state governor Uba Sani (pictured) , speaking on the return of the children, confirmed that 137 had been brought back from the forest Family members have spoken of the grim weeks spent hoping for their kidnapped children's return A staff member was also taken by the gunmen and died while in captivity, according to military officials The students (pictured, arriving at the state government house in Kaduna) were rescued from a forest more than 120 miles away from their school in a neighbouring state by the military Jubril Kuriga, whose nine-year-old daughter was taken, said: 'We were traumatised throughout the absence of our children. Our children were away in the bush, with no food, and no good water' (pictured: the students gathered at the state government house after the rescue) He said: 'We are here today happily and celebrating the safe return of our children. 'They will soon be with their family and their parents.' Sani Abdullahi, one of the teachers at the Kuriga school, spoke after the kidnapping and said staff managed to escape with many students when the gunmen attacked the building. 'We began working to determine the actual figure of those kidnapped,' he told local state officials visiting the school. 'In GSS Kuriga, 187 children are missing, while in the primary school, 125 children were missing but 25 returned.' Local resident Muhammad Adam also told France's AFP news agency more than 280 had been kidnapped. 'Early in the morning, before we got up, we heard gunshots from bandits, before we knew it they had gathered up the children and taken away the students and their teachers, almost 200 people,' another local resident Musa Mohammed said. 'We are pleading to the government, all of us are pleading, they should please help us with security.' Witnesses reported that dozens of bikes stormed the school during the attack and rounded up the students, with at least one person shot dead during the raid (pictured: a woman cries after the kidnapping) Nigeria army trucks were seen parked at the school after suspected jihadist gunmen kidnapped school children in Chikun, Nigeria Mohammed and another resident also said around 200 people were abducted. Kidnappings for ransom are common in Africa's most populous country, where heavily armed criminal gangs have targeted schools and colleges in the past, especially in the northwest where the school was located, though such attacks have abated recently. However, the last month has seen an uptick in mass kidnappings after dozens of displaced people were feared to have been kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists some 500 miles away in Gambaru, in north-eastern Nigeria's Borno State, at the start of March. The terror group has carried out massacres - including the killing of 59 schoolboys in February 2014, and other mass abductions - most famously the April 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, in Borno State. As of June 2023, over 90 of the Chibok girls remain missing. Hundreds of schoolchildren and college students have been kidnapped in mass abductions in the country's northwest and central region, including in Kaduna, in the last few years. Almost all were released for ransom payments after weeks or months spent in captivity in camps hidden in forests that stretch across northwestern states. Amnesty International condemned the abductions in Kaduna. Sani Abdullahi, one of the teachers at the Kuriga school (pictured), spoke after the kidnapping and said staff managed to escape with many students when the gunmen attacked the building Nigerian soldiers hold up a Boko Haram flag that they seized after retaking the town of Damasak, Nigeria, March 18, 2015 (Stock Photo) Jihadist group Boko Haram has carried out massacres - including the killing of 59 schoolboys in February 2014, and other mass abductions - most famously the April 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, in Borno State 'Schools should be places of safety, and no child should have to choose between their education and their life,' the rights group said on X, formerly Twitter. 'The Nigerian authorities must take measures immediately to prevent attacks on schools, to protect children's lives and their right to education.' Since coming to office in May, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made reducing insecurity one of his priorities. Coleman was put on probation for being married to two women at the same time He would live with the women as they footed the cost of his food and housing Orlando Coleman, 51, posed as a Protestant pastor to get women to marry him A Houston man has been sentenced to prison after pretending to be a bishop and using the title to dupe at least 10 different women into marrying him, some at the same time. Orlando Coleman, 51, visited black churches across the country, introducing himself as a member of the clergy each time. On social media, he presented himself as the founder of several churches as well as a 'Pentecostal preacher.' But prosecutors say it was all a farce, and contend that Coleman used the title to gain the trust of religious women, at least 10 of whom he married over a 20-year span. Last week, Coleman was sentenced to three years in prison for marrying a third woman just months after he was put on probation for being married to two women at the same time. Bigamy is a third-degree felony in Texas and carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Orlando Coleman, 51, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment last week for committing bigamy, a third-degree felony in Texas The man duped at least 10 women into marrying him over two decades and stayed married to several of them at the same time Coleman, who is being held at the Harris County Jail, was accused of wedding the women for financial security and moving from state to state in search of new victims Prosecutors assert Coleman married the women for housing and financial security. 'At the heart of this repeat offenders schemes was a plan to defraud women and take advantage of them for financial gain,' Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a news release. 'This man used the church to camouflage his scams and hide from any accountability or responsibility.' Investigators believe Coleman's first marriage was in 2001. In the years that followed, he travelled to states including Delaware, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina to meet churchgoing women. After introducing himself as a Protestant pastor or bishop, Coleman would propose marriage. If a woman accepted, he would move in with her and allow her to foot the cost of his housing and food. 'Thats the only thing he had to offer and to validate his word - the proposal to marry - that was something big,' Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Goussen told The New York Times. 'Getting proposed to was a big gesture for these women, and that corroborated his guise that hes a godly person.' Some of the women filed for divorce after Coleman fled to another state. Coleman visited Black churches across the country, introducing himself as a Protestant pastor or bishop. He would then propose marriage to churchgoing women after gaining their trust Coleman's con unraveled when he married a Houston woman in 2021. The woman discovered that he was married to a Virginia woman and still receiving payments from her Coleman left behind several Facebook profiles, each listing him as the founder of a different church. One page deems him 'a Pentecostal Preacher, known for his vast wisdom in matters of church protocol' His scheme came to a head in 2021, when he married a Houston woman. Five months later, the woman discovered that he was receiving funds from a woman in Virginia. The Houston woman reached out to her on Facebook and discovered that the pair had been married since 2019. She was even provided a copy of their marriage certificate, court documents state. The Virginia woman told Colemans new wife that she and Coleman had separated in 2021 and never officially divorced. She explained that their separation came about when he moved to Texas, where, unbeknownst to her, he married the other woman in Houston two weeks later. The Texas woman contacted police, and following an investigation, the Harris County Sheriffs Office filed bigamy charges. Coleman pleaded guilty in July 2023 in exchange for three years' probation. He penned a letter before his sentencing, claiming he believed he was free to marry the Texas woman because he thought the previous marriage had ended in an annulment or divorce. 'If I knew getting married was not allowed, I would have waited,' he wrote. Coleman also claimed to have survived sexual abuse as a child. Growing up, he said, he 'didnt know love on any level.' He also laid out his future plans to return to Kentucky as a pastor, 'helping to feed & clothe people.' Coleman signed off with the abbreviations 'PhD, ThD, DD,' signaling that he held Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Theology and Doctor of Divinity degrees. There is no evidence he held any of these. Shortly after being sentenced to three months' probation, Coleman married a new wife in Kentucky while remaining wed to the Virginia woman Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg asserted that Coleman used the fraudulent title to manipulate women for financial gain Just two months after his sentencing - while still married to the Virginia woman - Coleman wed a Kentucky woman. After learning about the new marriage, prosecutors filed a motion to revoke probation. He was sentenced on March 11. Coleman unknowingly documented his con on Facebook, where he left behind several profiles. One lists him as 'married' and 'Presiding Bishop, Senior Pastor at Word Of Faith Intl. Worship Center' based in Delaware. Another describes him as 'Founder/Establishmentarian at Greater Pentecostal Cathedral Church Of God In Christ' and claims he addended the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. Another page advertising 'Bishop Orlando Coleman Ministries Inc.' deems the 51-year-old 'a Pentecostal Preacher, known for his vast wisdom in matters of church protocol.' Each page is complete with an insignia for the different churches he allegedly founded. In the press release, Goussen, who prosecuted Coleman, noted that his victims said he was a 'con man' who married them 'for room and board and whatever money they would give him.' 'Unfortunately, many con artists hide behind important sounding titles, and it is easier than you think to get swept off your feet,' she said. Goussen encouraged potential victims to run background checks, look for clues on social media and 'ask a lot of questions.' Coleman is currently being held at the Harris County Jail. His defense lawyers argues for sentence under seven years as he is a first-time, nonviolent offender Shamed FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, 32, is set to appear in court later this week to face justice for stealing billions from crypto investors with prosecutors wanting him to spend decades behind bars and his defense demanding he be freed by age 40. Once worth over $26 billion, Bankman-Fried faces a maximum of 110 years in prison for defrauding FTX customers and investors. He conspired with senior officers at his company to steal roughly $8 billion in customer deposits that were supposed to be safe on the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which froze withdrawals and went bankrupt in November 2022. Federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York argued in a March court filing that Bankman-Fried ought to spend 40 to 50 years in prison to deter potential future crimes and 'protect the public.' 'Bankman-Fried's crimes were serious and long-running, causing billions of dollars in losses and significant harm to tens of thousands of victims financially and emotionally,' according to the government's sentencing memorandum. His defense is asking the court to impose a sentence of no greater than six-and-a-half years because, among other things, he's a first-time, nonviolent offender who is neurodivergent. Disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried , 32, is set to appear in court later this week to face justice for stealing billions from crypto investors Federal prosecutors say Bankman-Fried should serve 40 to 50 years in prison, while his defense wants to see him spent less than a decade. Pictured: a drawing of the fraud in court for a February hearing However, the real cornerstone of the defense's argument for a lenient sentence is that a lawyer for the FTX debtors said in January that victims 'will eventually be paid in full.' While that hasn't been confirmed, the crypto market's rebound in 2024 makes it more likely since the FTX estate has been selling crypto to raise cash, according to bankruptcy documents. But prosecutors wanted to see him locked up for decades with little chance of leaving prison before Bankman-Fried becomes an old man. The government argued that an effective life sentence, similar to the ones handed down to Bernie Madoff and Allen Stanford, would be 'greater than necessary' for Bankman-Fried partly due to how much younger he is than them. A separate presentence investigation report by the federal probation office recommended 100 years, a prospect Bankman-Fried's new attorneys called 'grotesque' and 'barbaric.' Over 100 victim impact statements have poured in leading up to his sentencing. Everyone from single parents to young risk-takers trying to boost their wealth to experienced crypto investors wrote in. Each person tells a different story. Some say they lost their life savings in the FTX collapse. Others describe the day the exchange went bust as a 'nightmare.' Many expressed anger at Bankman-Fried specifically and urged the court to take seriously what happened to them. 'All my hard-earned life savings were invested in bitcoin on the FTX platform, hoping to secure a better future for my family and myself. However, the actions of SBF and FTX have shattered those hopes,' one victim wrote. 'The scam has caused immense emotional distress, leading to constant thoughts of suicide.' While another added: 'The same week the FTX collapsed my mother was diagnosed with cancer, it was a very hard time for me and my family I had to travel constantly to be with her and support her. Raising a kid, taking care of my sick mother while struggling financially due to being scammed is something I dont wish on anyone.' Customers wrote about losses well into the hundreds of thousands, some even saying they lost millions when taking into account how much cryptocurrencies have appreciated in recent months. Bitcoin, for example, pushed past $72,000 in mid-March. Ultimately, Judge Lewis Kaplan will decide whether he puts more emphasis on the amount that could be repaid to victims or the fact that customers have been deprived of their money because of the fraud perpetrated by Bankman-Fried. He conspired with senior officers at his company to steal roughly $8 billion in customer deposits that were supposed to be safe on the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which froze withdrawals and went bankrupt in November 2022 Over 100 victim impact statements have poured in leading up to his sentencing. Everyone from single parents to young risk-takers trying to boost their wealth to experienced crypto investors wrote in. Pictured: a courtroom sketch of Bankman-Fried being questioned Some say they lost their life savings in the FTX collapse. Others describe the day the exchange went bust as a 'nightmare': Pictured: a sketch from court as the verdict is given against Bankman-Fried Bankman-Fried's October trial lasted a month, with the government calling over a dozen witnesses to the defense's three. The most explosive testimony came from other FTX executives, including his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison. Ellison served as the CEO for Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm that Bankman-Fried founded in 2017. FTX was founded two years later and according to prosecutors, the two firms were joined at the hip. So much so that Alameda had access to FTX customer deposits through a $65 billion line of credit it frequently drew on. At trial, the government claimed that billions worth of customer money was funnelled into Alameda to pay back the eye-watering loans it had taken out from crypto lenders. Ellison testified in October that Alameda took FTX deposits for 'whatever' it needed and that Bankman-Fried 'directed me to commit these crimes.' Part of what Ellison said Bankman-Fried instructed her to do was to draft seven different balance sheets to send to Genesis, one of Alameda's main lenders, when it recalled its $500 million loan to Alameda. He and Ellison agreed to send a falsified balance sheet that understated Alameda's liabilities and omitted any mention of it borrowing money from the FTX exchange, aka customers, Ellison testified. All told, Ellison said Alameda took about $14 billion from FTX customers over the firm's lifetime. Before FTX collapsed in November 2022, some in financial media considered Bankman-Fried to be a quirky, yet responsible steward of the crypto boom because he championed more stringent regulation for the industry The fraud testified in front of Congress multiple times, professing his belief that the CFTC could assert itself a whole lot more in regulating crypto spot markets. But, prosecutors said at trial, it was part of the facade, and that while Bankman-Fried was talking a big game about regulation, he was busy spending FTX customer money on keeping Alameda afloat, illiquid venture investments and real estate. Bankman-Fried's October trial lasted a month, with the government calling over a dozen witnesses to the defense's three. The most explosive testimony came from other FTX executives, including his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison (pictured) Ellison testified in October that Alameda took FTX deposits for 'whatever' it needed and that Bankman-Fried 'directed me to commit these crimes' Bankman-Fried, along with FTX top brass, lived in a luxury penthouse apartment worth around $30 million. Pictured: Part of the real estate empire held by Bankman-Fried is parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried (pictured), were also deeded a $16.4 million home in the Bahamas. Court testimony revealed that many of these purchases were almost certainly financed with customer deposits from FTX FTX and its related entities spent over $256 million on real estate in 2022 alone, the year the company collapsed. Much of that real estate was based in the Bahamas, where FTX was headquartered. Bankman-Fried, along with FTX top brass, lived in a luxury penthouse apartment worth around $30 million. His parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, were also deeded a $16.4 million home in the Bahamas. Court testimony revealed that many of these purchases were almost certainly financed with customer deposits from FTX. For over a month after FTX went bust, Bankman-Fried struggled to turn down a single interview. He denied the improper use of customer money to numerous outlets, even telling ABC's George Stephanopoulos just over a week before his arrest that he didn't know FTX customer funds were being used to pay off Alameda's loan obligations. Bankman-Fried told the jury a similar story, saying he didn't 'recall' over two dozen times in response to questions from the government. Even Bankman-Fried's arrest and the events leading up to his trial were covered extensively. He was arrested in the Bahamas in December 2022, and then released on $250 million bond secured by his parents' home in Palo Alto, California. He was confined to that home until August 2023, when he violated his bail by allegedly tampering with witnesses. The curly-haired ex-billionaire has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since. High profile prisoners at center have included R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell, Martin Shkreli and now Bankman-Fried who was recently pictured alongside fellow inmates. Republicans on Monday threatened to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if he does not hand over more materials in the Robert Hur investigation of President Biden's classified documents. Oversight Chairman James Comer and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan claimed that Garland had handed over an 'insufficient production' of materials and warned they might move forward with contempt if he does not provide the rest of the documents by April 8. Along with Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., they have subpoenaed transcripts, notes, audio and video files, largely related to Hur's interviews with Biden where he concluded the president has a 'poor memory.' Republicans on Monday threatened to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if he does not hand over more materials in the Robert Hur investigation of President Biden's classified documents The GOP chairmen say they are still waiting for recordings of the Biden interview - though they've received transcripts - and the transcript and audio recordings of an interview with Biden's ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer who he was found to have shared classified files with. 'The February 27 subpoenas create a legal obligation on you to produce this material,' they wrote. 'If you fail to do so, the Committees will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings.' The Justice Department has said it is conducting an 'interagency review' for classified and confidential information within the material. Hur said he found that Biden had 'willfully' retained classified material but stopped short of filing charges, believing a jury would not convict the president. He sparked opposition from all sides - Republicans who questioned why he would not charge the president and Democrats who took issue with his description of Biden as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' He explained his decision to make the assessment in the hearing: 'I knew that for my position to be credible. I could not simply announce that there would be no charges, I needed to explain why. I needed to show my work.' 'We identified evidence that the President willfully retained classified materials after the end of his vice presidency, when he was a private citizen,' Hur said during a high-stakes hearing earlier this month. In interviews with investigators, Biden became muddled about the dates he was vice president and could not even remember the year in which his son Beau died, according to the transcript reviewed by DailyMail.com. Biden forgot the year Beau died, when Trump was elected and said 'I don't recall', 'I don't remember' and 'I have no goddamn idea' more than 100 times while cracking jokes and making car noises with the investigators. And it said his cavalier attitude to classified documents, such as his habit of reading sensitive files to a ghostwriter, posed a significant national security risk. Hur said he found that Biden had 'willfully' retained classified material but stopped short of filing charges, believing a jury would not convict the president Special Counsel Robert Hur spent a year investigating files found at President Joe Biden's home and former office. He said Biden's status as president meant he could not be prosecuted The box circled in the foreground contained documents about Afghanistan. The picture was taken in December 2022 in Biden's garage, with other household items The report is crammed with pictures of documents recovered from Biden's home or an office he used when he was vice president One of the reasons they decided not to press charges was because 'at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' Hur said during testimony that he described Biden this way because of his 'inability to recall certain things' and that he had to be prompted by his lawyers to recall certain dates. According to transcripts of Hur's interviews with Biden on October 8 and October 9, 2023, Biden's lawyer had to tell him what year his son Beau died of brain cancer and the president joked about the special counsel finding pictures of his wife Jill in a swimsuit. I just hope you didnt find any risque pictures of my wife in a bathing suit. Which you probably did. Shes beautiful,' said Biden. 'What month did Beau die?' Biden mused at one point, adding, 'Oh God, May 30th.' 'He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died. And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him,' Hur said. A White House lawyer then chimed in with the year, 2015. 'Was it 2015 he died?' Biden asked. New Yorkers are furious that the charges against a Long Island nurse who was caught on video picking up an infant and slamming him face down into his bassinet have been dropped. Amanda Burke was charged with endangering the welfare of a child at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip in April 2023. Her trial was scheduled to begin on Monday, but a judge granted the defense motion to dismiss after the prosecution revealed their medical expert said it was unlikely that Burke injured the baby. 'Unfortunately, despite the disturbing video which captured the incident in this case, the New York State Department of Licensing found the defendant did not act with gross negligence. As such, we could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt at trial,' a spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office told DailyMail.com. Courtney Scarola, a pregnant woman, told NBC New York the decision to dismiss the case was outrageous and that she will not trust the hospital nursery with her baby when she delivers. The charges against a Long Island nurse who was caught on video picking up an infant and slamming him face down into his bassinet have been dropped Amanda Burke (right) was charged with endangering the welfare of a child in April 2023, but a judge dismissed the case on Monday The two-day-old named Nikko (pictured) was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip in February 2023 and was being treated with antibiotics when the horrific attack happened 'That's absolutely absurd. That's why my next one will not be in the nursery at all,' she said. On social media, other New Yorkers expressed their distress at the decision to drop the case. 'Unreal! NY is disgusting with their laws,' said a Long Island resident named Samantha Leigh on Facebook. 'Now a nurse who slams a baby down face first the charges are being dropped.' 'Definitely that case should have never been dropped that's so sad the video clearly shows how rough she was with that baby and she could have killed that baby,' said Dawn Fabiano. 'Disgusting she should not just be let off,' said Alexandra Rezende. 'That video made me sick she could have killed that baby,' said Emmanuel Martinez. Newsday reported that Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Sean Murphy said in court on Monday, '[The doctor] stated to us that in his professional opinion the defendant's actions were not likely to be injurious to the physical welfare of this child.' A letter obtained by the local newspaper said the state Education Department's Office of Professional Discipline found Burke's actions 'did not constitute professional misconduct' and classified it as 'simple negligence' in June. Burke's attorney, Robert Gottlieb, told DailyMail.com his client is grateful the charges have been dismissed but claimed the decision came far too late. 'The criminal charges against Amanda Burke should never have been brought by the Suffolk County District Attorneys office. Amanda has lived a nightmare for close to a year because the DA failed to conduct the most basic investigation,' said Gottlieb. 'The prosecutors chose to ignore the evidence we handed over to them in June and September 2023 establishing that Amandas conduct was not criminal. We begged the DA for close to a year to speak to their own pediatric expert who we were confidant would confirm that Amanda did not commit any crimes, but the DA did nothing.' 'Instead, the DA waited until four days before the trial was scheduled to begin to first speak to their expert who could not support the DAs position. While we are thankful that the DA dismissed the charges, it came months too late,' Gottlieb said. Good Samaritan Hospital told DailyMail.com at the time that Burke had been a 'recent hire' and she was terminated immediately after the incident Nikko's father, Fidel Sinclair (right), had gone to check on his baby when he witnessed a nurse pick up his son and forcefully turn him around, slamming him face-first into his bassinet He later returned home with his parents, but the pair were left rattled and on edge after the incident The two-day-old named Nikko was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip in February 2023 and was under the care of the NICU being treated with antibiotics when the horrific attack happened. Nikko's father, Fidel Sinclair, had gone to check on his baby and started taking a video of him crying through the window of the nursery when he witnessed a nurse pick up his son and forcefully turn him around, slamming him face-first into his bassinet. He later returned home with his parents, but the pair were left rattled and on edge after the incident. Sinclair told NBC New York witnessing the incident 'broke' him. Mom Consuelo Saravia confronted the nurse immediately, telling her: 'I don't want you to touch my child! You just slammed him.' She claims the nurse responded by saying: 'Oh no, if you think I mishandled him or anything, I'm sorry.' A spokesperson for Good Samaritan Hospital told DailyMail.com at the time that the nurse had been a 'recent hire' and she was terminated immediately after the incident. It is unclear if Burke is still working as a nurse, but her nursing license has not been suspended according to the New York State Office of the Professions' official database. Korea and the European Union (EU) are set to hold their first joint forum for semiconductor researchers in Belgium this week as part of their efforts to deepen their bilateral digital partnership, Seoul's science ministry said Monday. The two-day Korea-EU Joint Researcher Forum on Semiconductors will take place in Brussels through Tuesday (local time) to discuss research on semiconductor materials, neuromorphic computing, advanced chips and chip packaging, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. The forum comes as a follow-up to the digital partnership signed by Korea and the EU in 2022 to enhance the two sides' technological cooperation. The EU and Korea will take turns to host the annual forum starting this year. The ministry said they will also select four research projects on the heterogeneous integration of semiconductors and neuromorphic chips in July, which will be co-funded by the Korean government and the European Commission. "We are at a major crossroads in the intensifying competition surrounding hegemony in chip technology and the shift in the technological paradigm," Science Minister Lee Jong-ho, said, noting cooperation with the EU will help Korea improve its competitiveness in the industry. (Yonhap) The man who died after being attacked by a mountain lion in California has been named as Taylen Brooks. Taylen's brother Wyatt Brooks, 18, was also injured but survived and is recovering, according to El Dorado County Sheriffs Office. 'These two young men being as close as any two brothers could be, lived a full energetic life enjoying the outdoors,' a family statement read. 'We would like to express our sincere thanks for the outpouring of support and prayers from family, friends and the community,' the statement read, according to the Sacramento Bee. 'We are all devastated by the tragic loss of Taylen yet thankful Wyatt is still with us, and are well aware the outcome could have been even worse.' The siblings were hunting for shed antlers in a remote part of Georgetown, California, when they were attacked by the mountain lion - a protected species under California law. It's the first deadly mountain lion attack in two decades. The man who died after a being attacked by a mountain lion has been named as Taylen Brooks Brooks's brother Wyatt Brooks, 18, (right) was also attacked but survived and is recovering, according to El Dorado County Sheriffs Office Wyatt called 911 on Saturday to say he and his brother were attacked, leaving him with 'traumatic injuries to his face,' according to the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office. The teen added he had been separated from his brother during the assault. First responders arrived at the scene about 20 minutes after the 911 call. They began treating the 18-year-old and launched a search for the 21-year-old. 'Shortly after the search started, they located a man down, and next to that individual was a mountain lion in a crouched position,' Kyle Parker, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, told KCRA 3. Police said Taylen's lifeless body was dragged by the mountain lion to another location while his brother searched for help. Deputies fired shots to scare the lion off before finding that the older man was already dead. The animal was captured by wardens and trappers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. It was euthanized near the scene of the attack, the sheriff's office said. 'The mountain lion has been sent to the CDFW forensics laboratory to obtain DNA information and general health of the lion,' the office wrote. Mountain lion attacks are exceedingly rare, and the last fatal encounter in the state occurred in 2004, according to CDFW records. Since 1890, there have been fewer than 50 verified attacks on humans in California, only six of which have been fatal. The last time a mountain lion killed someone in the El Dorado County area was in 1994 when marathoner Barbara Schoener's mutilated body was found in the isolated trails in Auburn Lake area. The men, who were brothers, were hunting for shed antlers in a remote part of Georgetown, California, at the time of the attack. Police Taylen's lifeless body was dragged by the mountain lion to another location while his brother searched for help Wyatt called 911 on Saturday to say that he and his brother were attacked, leaving him with 'traumatic injuries to his face' Mountain lion attacks are exceedingly rare, and the last fatal encounter in the state occurred in 2004, according to CDFW records. (Stock photo) Schooner, 40, was attacked by a cougar that bit her neck and crushed her skull, according to the LA Times. The cougar dragged her partially eaten body about 300 feet and then buried her under leaves. Wildlife experts told the publication that mountain lions conceal their pray and return when they are hungry. What makes the attack even more rare is that victims are alone in most instances. 'When you hear about stuff like that, you get a little on edge,' local Daniel Lesher told KCRA 3. 'I was surprised to hear that it was going after humans. It's not uncommon for them to go after livestock.' Mountain lions are solitary animals that travel alone except during mating or cubbing season, according to the National Park Service. They are known as a keystone species, keeping prey populations in check and culling invasive species. In the instances where lions do attack humans, most are injured, stressed, or hungry, the NPS says. 'A hungry, stressed mountain lion with only one good eye, upon observing an abundance of slow, frequently inattentive bipeds on park trails may attack one of us humans, hoping for an easy meal,' the agency wrote on its website. The mystery man who excited fans claimed is the elusive Banksy has slammed the theories as false - telling MailOnline his first thoughts upon seeing the artist's latest installation was 'what a bloody mess'. George Georgiou, 67, woke up this morning to find himself at the centre of a Banksy identification storm after he was pictured helping install perspex to protect the artist's latest mural which appeared on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park. Those visiting the tree-themed painting on the weekend pointed out Mr Georgiou's striking resemblance to Robin Gunningham - a former public schoolboy from Bristol whose link to Banksy was first revealed by a Mail On Sunday investigation in 2008. Yet Mr Georgiou - who claims he does not have an artistic bone in his body - today shut down the speculation, explaining that he is simply helping his son, Alex Georgiou, 40, who owns the block of flats Banksy used for his latest work. Watching workmen add protective glass to the artwork today, Mr Georgiou told MailOnline: 'No, I am not Banksy. Unforunately it ain't me, I wish it was but I am not that lucky.' George Georgiou, 67, was pictured helping install perspex to protect the artist's latest mural 'When I first saw it I thought 'what a bloody mess' but when you see it in context with the tree, it is a really smart idea,' he added. 'The guy has obviously got a vision, he knows what he's doing, would I have thought of it? Not in a month of Sundays. 'I am just not artistic. You give me a hammar and some nails, I'll make you something but a drawing no? Matchstick men I am good at. We spent a good hour laughing about it [the claim he was Banksy] this morning. No one knows who he is.' Fans had speculated that the retired builder was the artist after comparing photos of him working on the mural this weekend to a photograph allegedly taken of Banksy in Jamaica in 2004 showing a man with a bag of spray cans by his feet. Those passing the painting, which first appeared on March 17, were quick to point out the resemblance between the two men - particularly comparing the pair's glasses. A local Banksy fan who took the initial pictures of Mr Georgiou said: 'I have been going to the mural for a whole week. On Saturday there was more security fences and CCTV up and a few people putting up Perspex over the artwork. 'I went back at 10am to go have another look at what they were doing and saw this man who looks exactly like the photo I saw 20 years ago of Banksy. I found it weird he was putting up his own Perspex. Mr Georgiou shut down the speculation, explaining that he is simply helping his son who owns the block of flats Banksy used for his latest work The street artist's latest mural appeared on Hornsey Road in Finsbury Park before it was vandalised with white paint across it Mr Georgiou insisted that he does not have an artistic bone in his body and could only draw matchstick men Fans had speculated that the retired builder was the artist after comparing photos of him working on the mural this weekend to a photograph allegedly taken of Banksy in Jamaica 'The people putting it up weren't wearing council uniforms or anything. One was wearing a Nirvana T-shirt - he must have been there for hours.' Onur and Seda Erincmen who were visiting Banksy's work today said that they could see an obvious resemblance between the pictures of Mr Gunningham and Mr Georgiou. 'We totally think it's the same guy as in the photo', Mr Enricmen said. 'I always wanted to know who Banksy is.' Precious, another Hornsey Road resident added: 'Looking at the picture of when Banksy was younger and seeing that person I think it is him. He will obviously protect his identity.' Others, however, shut down the theories asking why Banksy would return to the painting a week after it first appeared. 'I can see the resemblance but I don't see why he would be lingering,' Finsbury Park local Alfie Pannell, 23, added. 'They do have the same glasses so it is possible.' Local artist Daniel Lloyd-Morgan said: 'These guys are working here, they are putting up some glass screens so why would Banksy be here? These guys are putting up the screen and protecting it - Banksy would not want to be associated with it. 'I don't know how anyone knows what Banksy looks like - or if he's a man or a woman. So I think Banksy has more important things to do than hang around with workmen on something he did a week ago. The odds are quite slim.' Mr Georgiou, who has lived on Hornsey Road his whole life, was spotted speaking with passersby at the site of Banksy mural Mr Georgiou said that when he first saw the mural he thought it was a 'a bloody mess' but after seeing it in context with the tree, he said it was a 'really smart idea' Visitors pointed out Mr Georgiou's striking resemblance to Robin Gunningham - a former public schoolboy from Bristol whose link to Banksy was first revealed by a Mail On Sunday investigation in 2008 Another artist Medea, sketching Banksy's work added: 'Nobody knows who Banksy is, he wouldn't just appear like this.' Crowds of people have continued to visit the site of the new mural in Hornsey Road. The new mural depicts an abstract appearance of foliage next to a stencil of a person holding a pressure hose. It was later confirmed by Banksy on his Instagram to be genuine. Mr Georgiou, who has lived on Hornsey Road his whole life said he is not sure the painting will still be intact in two year's time. He added: 'This was due for repainting this year anyways but now this has happened. We have spent an absolute shed load of money [carrying out maintenance]. 'It's a point of interest and it's brought a lot of people to the area. If it was something small and they could take it away and sell it I would understand but this is just going to wear away eventually and it will deteriorate. A year or a year and a half I think it will disappear. 'You can see where the old paint is bubbling. This was painted about 12 years ago and it was due a spruce up. We were going to try to get the scaffolding and get it done.' Mr Georgiou's estate agent son Alex was quick to allay neighbour's fears last week after residents in the flat block ferared their rent prices would be hiked off the back of the area's sudden fame. He told MailOnline: 'I was having a bit of a laugh with the girls who were saying I was gonna put the rent up 250 per cent but no no. I doubt it. Members of the public flocked to the mural by the artist Banksy following it's defacement with white pain Visitors could be seen taking photos and posing with mural that was vandalised shortly after it appeared in the Finsbury Park area of London 'Unless we have a massive Banksy fan who is prepared to pay over the odds. But a property is worth what a property is worth. 'You know what, if somebody offered me millions and they can have the building and take the flats with it. Feel free. 'Now we will have to wait and see what happens. It would be nice to see someone make some money out of it but I don't really see how that could happen.' Banksy is also believed to have gone by the name Robin Banks, and in 2017 the DJ Goldie referred to him in an interview on the Distraction Pieces podcast as 'Rob'. One of Banksy's most striking moments was in 2003 when he disguised himself as a pensioner and installed a piece in a vacant spot in the Tate Britain in London. His artwork Girl With Balloon self-destructed in a Sotheby's London saleroom when descending into a shredder in 2018. That piece was then renamed Love Is In The Bin, which in 2021 sold for 18.6million - an all-time high for a Banksy artwork. Home Office will launch public campaign encouraging victims to come forward The Government has ordered a full-scale review into the handling of cases of 'flashing' following an inquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard. Ms Everard, 33, was snatched by serving firearms officer Wayne Couzens after he used his police-issued warrant card to stage a fake arrest on March 3, 2021. He then drove her to a rural area near Dover in Kent, raped and strangled her with his police belt before burning her body in a fridge and dumping her remains in a nearby pond. The Home Office said it would also launch a public campaign to encourage victims to come forward and commission research on flashing and re-offending after the Government accepted all recommendations made by the Angiolini inquiry. The first part of the inquiry, which was published last month, investigated how the serving Metropolitan Police officer was able to abduct, rape and murder Ms Everard, and whether any 'red flags were missed' earlier in his career. It found his history of alleged sexual offending went back nearly 20 years before he committed murder, including a series of incidents where he was accused of flashing. The Government has ordered a full-scale review into the handling of cases of 'flashing' following an inquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard (pictured) Ms Everard, 33, was snatched by then-serving firearms officer Wayne Couzens (pictured in a photo released last month) after he used his police-issued warrant card to stage a fake arrest on March 3, 2021 Alongside calling for an overhaul of police vetting and recruitment, the inquiry recommended a fundamental review of the way masturbatory indecent exposure is treated within the criminal justice system, and research to establish if there is an evidence-based link between active masturbatory indecent exposure and subsequent contact offending. It also recommended launching a public awareness campaign to emphasise indecent exposure and sending unsolicited photographs of genitals amounts to a criminal offence, and to boost victims' confidence to report such crimes. Couzens, pictured in his Met Police uniform, then drove her to a rural area near Dover in Kent, raped and strangled her with his police belt before burning her body in a fridge and dumping her remains in a nearby pond The work will be carried out across the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, College of Policing and National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC). The NPCC and College of Policing have also committed to addressing the remaining recommendations in the inquiry around police culture and more robustness in police vetting. Home Secretary James Cleverly said: 'Sarah's murder was sickening and, tragically, avoidable. She was fundamentally failed by the institutions which were meant to keep her safe. 'Since her death, huge strides have already been taken to root out officers not fit to wear the badge and bolster safeguards to prevent the wrong people joining the force. 'Now we will work with policing partners to understand the link between indecent exposure and an escalation in behaviour to ensure the right measures are in place to catch more criminals, earlier.' Lady Elish Angiolini KC, chairwoman of the inquiry, said: 'In accepting all my recommendations, Government and policing have shown they recognise the need for change and are committed to doing everything they can to ensure that there isn't another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight. The Angiolini inquiry also recommended a fundamental review of the way masturbatory indecent exposure is treated within the criminal justice system, and research to establish if there is an evidence-based link between active masturbatory indecent exposure and subsequent contact offending. Pictured: Sarah Everard Lady Elish Angiolini KC, pictured last month after the first inquiry report, said: 'In accepting all my recommendations, Government and policing have shown they recognise the need for change and are committed to doing everything they can to ensure that there isn't another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight' NPCC chairman Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, pictured, said he and his colleagues recognise the 'urgent call for action and are committed to bringing lasting, impactful change for future generations' 'I trust that work to implement the recommendations will begin without delay and, as I proceed with part two of the inquiry, I look forward to progress updates from those responsible.' NPCC chairman Chief Constable Gavin Stephens said: 'The Angiolini inquiry made for shocking and sombre reading, a view which I know is shared across policing. 'We must ensure there is nowhere to hide in policing for wrongdoers, that we lead a police service which the public, and especially women and girls, can trust to protect them, and that we are uncompromising on the high standards our communities deserve. 'Along with my colleagues and fellow police leaders, we recognise this as an urgent call for action and we are committed to bringing lasting, impactful change for future generations.' Pilots on a Qantas plane packed with terrified passengers have been forced to shut down the engine mid-flight and make an emergency landing after a blowout. Flight QF781 departed Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport about 8.30pm on Monday night bound for Perth. The four hour flight was preparing for descent into Perth when passengers heard a loud bang before being told that the engine had blown out. Another passenger described the sound similar to a tyre exploding. The pilots manually shut down the engine and issued a priority landing notice. Flight QF781 was preparing for descent into Perth when the engine blew out READ MORE: Traveller slams Jetstar's response after her flight to Bali was forced to turn around because of another passenger A Jetstar flight to Bali was forced to turn back and land in Melbourne after a passenger went on a tirade Advertisement The Airbus A330-200 plane safely landed in Perth but was met by emergency crews on the tarmac and escorted to the arrival gate as a precaution. A photo taken by a passenger onboard showed the plane on the tarmac next to a fire truck. 'Pilot and crew on board did a stellar job, plane safely landed and everyone is safe,' the Bell Tower Times post was captioned. 'That's a story for grandkids.' Passengers commended the pilots and crew on how the mid-air scare was handled. 'That landing was very smooth considering we lost an engine upon decent,' a woman posted on X. 'But thankful Ive landed cause s**t was scary to sit through. Yes I did cry the whole time and no I wont be booking a flight soon.' All crew and passengers disembarked without further incident. Qantas engineers will now examine the engine to determine what caused the blowout. 'The pilots followed the procedures for this type of incident and manually shut down the engine and requested a priority landing,' a spokesman told Daily Mail Australia. 'These aircraft are designed to safely operate with one engine. 'We know this would have been unsettling for customers on board and we thank them for their cooperation and understanding.' The plane safely landed in Perth but was met by fire trucks on the tarmac Former Qantas pilot captain Richard de Crespigny said that the engine failure could have be caused by one of several factors. 'It might have been a back-fire or one of the 2,000 air foils in the engine might have departed and created havoc inside the engine,' he told Sunrise on Tuesday. 'I don't know if they felt vibration but hearing an explosion is not a good thing to hear in an aircraft, so they would have absolutely been confronted with not knowing what is going wrong.' Mr de Crespigny added that a two-engine aircraft being restricted to one should be deemed as an emergency. 'The crew took control, told the traffic what they wanted, did a safe landing and I think they did a safe landing and that did an exceptional job,' he said. 'Engines fail. One in eight pilots will see an engine failure and this is why we have excellent pilots in Australia.' Vladimir Putin has said the gunmen who carried out the terror attack at a concert hall in Moscow that killed more than 130 people last week were 'radical Islamists' as he insists the terrorists had been attempting to 'flee to Ukraine.' An Islamic State (IS) affiliate group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack last Friday night but so far Putin has refrained from mentioning IS as the culprits. Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists 'whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries'. He stopped short of saying who ordered the attack, but said it was necessary to find out 'why the terrorists after committing their crime tried to flee to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there'. After the IS affiliate claimed responsibility, US intelligence backed up their claims. French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to 'an IS entity' as responsible for the Moscow attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists 'whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries' he has so far refrained from saying IS were responsible for the attack Murodali Rachabalizod, 30, appeared in court with a bandage strapped to his severed ear. A graphic video shows the moment Rachabalizod had his ear cut off by a soldier who then force-fed it to him The fire damaged Crocus City Hall. The attack on Friday night on the western outskirts of Moscow left 137 people dead and more than 180 injured, proving to be the deadliest in Russia in years Earlier on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to assign blame, urging reporters to wait for the results of the investigation in Russia. He also refused to comment on reports that the US warned authorities in Moscow on March 7 about a possible terrorist attack, saying any such intelligence is confidential. Calls have mounted in Russia to harshly punish those behind the attack. Yesterday, four men were charged by a Moscow court on Sunday night with carrying out a terrorist attack. At their court appearance, they showed signs of being severely beaten. One suspect, Murodali Rachabalizod, 30, appeared in court with a bandage strapped to his severed ear. Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19 appeared in court in a hospital gown and in a wheelchair, accompanied by medical personnel, and sat with his eyes closed throughout. He appeared to have multiple cuts. They appeared in court alongside Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, and Shamsidin Fariduni, 25 who also appeared in court bruised and beaten. Videos released during their capture by Russian soldiers shows them being beaten with the butts of the soldiers guns. A more graphic video shows the moment Rachabalizod had his ear cut off by a soldier who then force-fed it to him. Civil liberties groups cited these as sign that Russia's poor record on human rights under Putin was bound to worsen. Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19 appeared in court in a hospital gown and in a wheelchair, accompanied by medical personnel, and sat with his eyes closed throughout Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants at the Basmanny district court in Moscow Shamsidin Fariduni, 25 who also appeared in court bruised and beaten Crocus City Hall was still smouldering hours after the attack on Friday Team Against Torture, a prominent group that advocates against police brutality, said in a statement that the culprits must face stern punishment, but 'savagery should not be the answer to savagery'. It said the value of any testimony obtained by torture was 'critically low', and 'if the government allows for torture of terrorism suspects, it may allow unlawful violence toward other citizens, too'. Russian politicians have instead come out in favour of harsh punishments. Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the investigation is still ongoing but vowed that 'the perpetrators will be punished, they do not deserve mercy'. Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia's president from 2008 2012, had especially harsh comments about them. He wrote on Telegram: 'They have been caught. Kudos to all who were chasing them. Should they be killed? They should. And it will happen. 'But it is more important to kill everyone involved. Everyone. Those who paid, those who sympathised, those who helped. Kill them all.' The attack on Friday night on Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow left 137 people dead and more than 180 injured, proving to be the deadliest in Russia in years. A total of 97 people remained in hospital, officials said. As they mowed down concertgoers with gunfire, the attackers set fire to the vast concert hall, and the resulting blaze caused the roof to collapse. The search operation will continue until at least Tuesday afternoon, officials said. A Russian Orthodox priest conducted a service at the site Monday, blessing a makeshift memorial with incense. The four suspects were identified in the Russian media as Tajik nationals. At least two of the suspects admitted culpability, court officials said, although their conditions raised questions about whether their statements were coerced. The attack was a major embarrassment for Putin as it occurred less than a week after he cemented his grip on Russia for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times. Many on Russian social media questioned how authorities and their vast security apparatus that actively surveils, pressures and prosecutes critics failed to prevent the attack despite the US warning. The attack was a major embarrassment for Putin as it occurred less than a week after he cemented his grip on Russia for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times Putin with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia's president from 2008 2012, had especially harsh comments about the terror suspects. He wrote on Telegram: 'But it is more important to kill everyone involved. Everyone. Those who paid, those who sympathised, those who helped. Kill them all' A massive blaze is seen over the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow IS, which fought Russian forces that intervened in the Syrian civil war, has long targeted the country. In a statement posted by the group's Aamaq news agency, the IS Afghanistan affiliate said it carried out an attack in Krasnogorsk, the suburb of Moscow where the concert hall is located. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's Sinai peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard, most of them Russian holidaymakers returning from Sharm El Sheikh. The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia's volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It has recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. The White House said it was 'perplexed' by the fact Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a high-level meeting in Washington after the U.S. abstained on a UN ceasefire resolution. 'We're perplexed by this,' White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of 'retreating' from a 'principled position' with its vote. American officials said the U.S. abstained because the resolution didn't condemn Hamas. By abstaining instead of vetoing, the U.S. allowed the resolution to pass. 'We're perplexed by this,' White House spokesman John Kirby said of Israel's decision to cancel a meeting in Washington DC Kirby said that America's vote 'does not represent a shift in our policy.' 'We've been very consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal,' he said. 'But because the final text does not have key language that we think is essential, such as condemning Hamas, we couldn't support it.' 'It seems like the prime minister's office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don't need to do that,' Kirby noted. After the UN vote Netanyahu decried America's decision as 'a retreat from the consistent American position since the beginning of the war,' and said the U.S. abstention 'harms the war effort as well as the effort to liberate the hostages.' He noted he wasn't sending an Israeli delegation to Washington to hold high-level talks with U.S. officials on a planned operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah - a rebuke to President Joe Biden, who had asked for the meetings. The UN resolution is non-binding and the world governing body has no way to enforce it. Kirby denied relations between the two countries are going downhill, saying 'Israel is still close ally and a friend.' A Palestinian injured in an Israeli airstrike arrives at Kuwait Hospital for treatment Palestinians, including children, and examine the rubble and collect remaining belongings from the heavily damaged building, part of which collapsed, after an Israeli attack Humanitarian aid falls through the sky toward the Gaza Strip U.S. officials are meeting Monday for separate talks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is currently in Washington. Gallant met with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at the White House, Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon. He said U.S. officials could continue to bring up Washington's concerns with Israeli policies in Gaza as part of ongoing discussions between the two governments. 'Nothing has changed about our view that a major ground offensive in Rafah would be a major mistake,' Kirby said. The United Nation's 15-member Security Council approved the ceasefire resolution 14-0 after the U.S. decided not to use its veto power on the measure, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. The chamber broke into loud applause after the vote. The U.S. vetoed past Security Council ceasefire resolutions in large part because of the failure to tie them directly to the release of hostages, the failure to condemn Hamas' attacks and the delicacy of ongoing negotiations. American officials have argued that the ceasefire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for ceasefires. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the U.S. decision to abstain on a UN ceasefire vote Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (right) arrives to the U.S. State Department to meet with Secretary of State Blinken The U.S. decision to abstain comes at a time of growing tensions between President Joe Biden's administration and Netanyahu over Israels prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amounts of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. The two countries have also clashed over Netanyahus rejection of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the expansion of settlements there. In addition, the well-known antagonism between Netanyahu and Biden - which dates from Bidens tenure as vice president - deepened after Biden questioned Israels strategy in combating Hamas. Then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Biden ally, suggested that Netanyahu was not operating in Israels best interests and called for Israel to hold new elections. Biden signaled his approval of Schumers remarks, prompting a rebuke from Netanyahu. During its U.S. visit, the Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with its plans for a possible ground invasion of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Gaza also faces a dire humanitarian emergency, with a report from an international authority on hunger warning March 18 that 'famine is imminent' in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territorys 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation. Former President Donald Trump escalated his feud with Vice President Kamala Harris and her family on Monday by questioning why any Jewish person would vote for her. Trump was asked during an interview with the Israel Hayom publication about Harris' stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, who promoted a fundraiser for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on her Instagram profile. 'I think that means that you should never vote for them,' Trump replied. 'How could a Jewish person vote for Kamala Harris?' Emhoff deleted the link after a reporter questioned the White House about her actions. UNRWA is controversial because of its alleged ties to Hamas terrorists in Gaza. Donald Trump criticized Kamala Harris and Joe Biden for their criticism of Israel Ella Emhoff deleted a link to a UNRWA fundraiser after it sparked controversy Trump accused Harris of supporting Hamas. 'She supports the enemy, but he supports the enemy too,' he said, referring to the Biden administration's frequent criticism of Israel's handling of the war after the October 7th terrorist attacks. Trump estimated that Harris would likely become the next president, questioning President Joe Biden's physical and mental abilities. 'Essentially, you know, that's what probably is going to happen because you look at this guy he can't walk down a flight of stairs, he can't walk across a room. He can't find the exit to a stage without five different sets of stairs,' Trump said about Biden. 'You might have Kamala Harris if this doesn't work out. Something happens to him and you have her.' Trump previously sparked controversy for voicing a similar statement about Jews voting for Biden. Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris celebrate Hanukkah US Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff 'Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,' Trump said during an interview aired last Monday. 'They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.' Trump's remarks earned stern condemnation from Harris' husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff during a trip to Omaha, Nebraska. 'This is a disgusting, toxic, antisemitic thing to say by anyone, let alone a former president of the United States,' said Emhoff. On March 3, Harris made headlines after she called for a 'immediate ceasefire' in the region, even though it was ignored by Hamas and Israel. Harris was noncommittal during an ABC News interview on Sunday when asked if the Biden administration would level 'consequences' against Israel if they invaded Rafah. 'Well, were going to take it one step at a time, but weve been very clear in terms of our perspective on whether or not that should happen,' she said. China has blocked the use of American computer chips in their government devices meaning the manufacturers' will lose billions in sales as relations between Beijing and the White House worsen. The communist country has introduced guidelines to phase out chips made by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and also wants to sideline Microsoft's Windows and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options. It is the latest step in a race between the two countries to cut out as much of each other's technology as possible, with the US seeking to restrict TikTok, banning Huawei products and limiting investments in Chinese tech. After the ban was announced over the weekend, shares in chip companies fell - Intel was down 1.6 percent, Microsoft was down 1 percent while Advanced Micro Devices fell but then rose again by 0.66 percent. Experts estimated that the ban could wipe $1.5 billion off Intel and a few hundred million of Advanced Micro Devices in sales. After the ban was announced over the weekend, shares in US chip companies fell It is the latest step in a race between the two countries to cut out as much of each other's technology as possible It is the latest step in a technology cold war between the two countries which has seen the US place sanctions on a long list of Chinese companies on national security grounds. Last week, senators compared social media app TikTok to a 'gun pointed at American's heads.' The House passed a bill that would force China-based ByteDance to divest from TikTok in roughly six months or face a ban. Sen. Richard Blumenthal told DailyMail.com that through the app, 'the Chinese Communist are weaponizing information that they are constantly, surreptitiously collecting from 170 million Americans and potentially aiming that information, using it through algorithms, at the core of American democracy.' Biden also announced in February that he is taking steps against Chinese automakers to prevent them from selling electric vehicles in the US due to security risks. There are currently 2.4 million EVs registered in the U.S., but Biden warned if China is allowed to flood the EV market, carmakers could easily track consumer data at a time when cars are constantly connected to our phones and navigation systems. He equated vehicles to 'smartphones on wheels,' and said his administration is investigating the potential impact on national security with the possibility of a future ban on Chinese vehicles making their way into the American market. Beijing has been trying to reduce its reliance on foreign firms by building out its local semiconductor industry as it grapples with US export curbs on technology including cutting-edge chips. The new chip ban was announced on December 29, according to the Financial Times, with government agencies and patties ordered to start choosing 'safe and reliable' processors when making purchases. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said the threat posed by TikTok must be addressed by the Senate quickly The House passed a bill that could force TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance to divest from the company or face a ban in the U.S. A list of the suitable 'safe and reliable processors' contains only Chinese companies. The latest move could make a big dent on the chip firms' earnings as China was Intel's largest market in 2023 with 27 percent of revenue, while AMD drew about 15 percent of its sales from the country. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said: 'A total cessation of China governmental purchases of Intel and AMD CPUs might impact revenue by low-single digits.' But he said Intel could be dealt a higher hit to its profit 'given higher exposure and the vagaries of a worse cost structure'. Apple has also been caught up in rising Sino-U.S. tensions, with Bloomberg News reporting in December that Chinese agencies and state-backed firms have asked their staff to not bring iPhones to work. Australia has backed the UK and the US after it accused Chinese state-backed hackers of a string of malicious cyber attacks. Britain's deputy minister announced sanctions against two individuals and one company linked to a state-affiliated group, which he said compromised the voting data of tens of millions of people. It came as Washington officials indicted seven individuals on Monday who allegedly conducted hacks against US companies and government officials on behalf of Chinese intelligence services. Australia has backed the UK and the US after it accused Chinese state-backed hackers of a string of malicious cyber attacks In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil called the targeting of democratic institutions and processes 'unacceptable'. 'The Australian Government joins the United Kingdom and other international partners in expressing serious concerns about malicious cyber activities by China state-backed actors targeting UK democratic institutions and parliamentarians,' they said. 'The persistent targeting of democratic institutions and processes has implications for democratic and open societies like Australia. This behaviour is unacceptable and must stop.' The government said Australia's electoral systems were not compromised by the cyber campaigns targeting the UK. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) singled out China as the main culprit behind state-backed cyber hacks on large companies and critical infrastructure in a cyber threat report released in November. Fight over new fuel plan Labor has denied a lack of transparency on its plans to overhaul Australia's fuel efficiency standards after reports claimed the government forced industry groups to sign non-disclosure disagreements to keep the controversial new legislation out of the public eye. On Tuesday, Transport Minister Catherine King and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will unveil Australia's updated New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. The proposal, dubbed as a 'ute tax' by the opposition, aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles by incentivising carsellers to boost sales of low and zero-emissions vehicles and fine companies who fail to meet a yearly cap. Amid claims the federal government tried to gag organisations involved in negotiations, Labor MP Amanda Rishworth argued the government was 'consulting the industry' and said it hoped to get the Coalition's support. 'A lot of very sensitive information has been put forward to make sure that we get our policy right but that's what we're determined to do - to get the right balance for Australia to make sure that we have more choice and cheaper to-run cars,' Ms Rishworth said. Nationals MP Bridget Mckenzie said the party supported a low-emissions transport sector but claimed Labor's policy could make people pay thousands of dollars more for some cars. 'We won't back a plan that makes cars more expensive for everyday Australians, particularly in the middle of a cost of living crisis,' she said. Greens leader Adam Bandt warned the minor party would revoke its support for the policy proposal if Labor watered down its rules on the approval of offshore gas projects. 'If Labor presses ahead with their plan to open up with massive new climate bombs ... Then we'll consider our approach to the remainder of their legislation,' Mr Bandt told ABC's Radio National. 'Labor needs to choose who they want to work with here.' Former President Donald Trump is continuing a war of words against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis by demanding a 'MAGA' candidate run against a GOP lawmaker who supported the governor's presidential bid. In a late Sunday night post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: 'Any great MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Florida's 15th Congressional District?' 'IF SO, PLEASE STEP FORWARD,' his post continued. In April 2023, Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., endorsed DeSantis for president and was notably the only Republican from the Florida delegation to do so. Though she was quick to endorse Trump after DeSantis dropped out of the race in January, the damage had been done. Now, Trump wants her to pay the price. Donald Trump has called for a 'MAGA' candidate to challenge Florida GOP Rep. Laurel Lee (right) after she publicly backed Ron DeSantis Lee, who previously served as Florida's Secretary of State, did not give in to Trump's demands to conduct a full audit of the 2020 election results And payment could come soon as a willing candidate has already announced her desire to de-seat Lee. 'Great MAGA Republican answering the call and ready to serve,' former Florida State Rep. Jackie Toledo posted on X early Monday morning. Currently, no one has filed paperwork to officially challenge Lee in the Republican primary. But the deadline to do so has not passed, meaning if Toledo - or any other candidate - wants to run against Lee, the opportunity is theirs for the taking. Florida's 15th Congressional District encompasses the eastern area of Tampa, which reliably leans Republican. Lee easily sailed to victory in her 2023 Congressional bid, beating her Democrat opponent with 59 percent compared to his 42 percent. This could bode well for any 'MAGA' loving candidate who decides to hop in the race. But the feud between Trump and Lee may not just be about her endorsement. Lee previously served as the Florida Secretary of State under DeSantis. After the 2020 election, Trump pressured her and DeSantis to conduct on audit of the votes cast in her state. Lee ran the state's election office at the time and she received threats when she resisted the audit requests. Lee previously served as a judge in Florida before becoming its Secretary of State She did, however, have a colleague come to her aid after Trump's late night post. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., posted on X Monday that Trump's request for her to be challenged 'is unhelpful and unwarranted.' Lee 'is a conservative thoughtful member of the judiciary committee,' Massie wrote. 'She endorsed DeSantis for President but then endorsed Trump when DeSantis got out of the race. More of my colleagues should call out these ridiculous bullying tactics.' Lee's office did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. South Korea plans to launch its second military satellite in early April, the defense ministry said Monday, under a project to launch five satellites to better monitor North Korea. South Korea launched the first surveillance satellite using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from a U.S. military base in California last December. It is set to launch the second one from a U.S. military base in Florida as part of a project to acquire five spy satellites by 2025. "Final consultations are under way with the satellite's contractors for the launch, which is expected to be in early April," ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu said in a press briefing, without disclosing a specific launch date. While the first satellite was equipped with an electro-optical and infrared sensor satellite that can capture detailed images of the Earth's surface, the upcoming ones are synthetic aperture radar satellites capable of collecting data regardless of the weather using remote sensing systems. The planned launch comes as Pyongyang is also making efforts to acquire space-based reconnaissance capabilities. The North successfully launched its first military spy satellite last November and has vowed to launch three more spy satellites this year. Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said last week North Korea appears to be preparing for the second launch of a spy satellite possibly in late March. (Yonhap) A man has become trapped underground for 36 hours after he fell down a storm drain while trying to retrieve his phone. A resident heard the man screaming for help from inside the storm water network near Kangaroo Point in Brisbane's CBD at about 11am on Monday. Fire crews at the scene were able to cut the drain and pull the man to safety. The man told emergency services he drunk the rainwater to survive and spent most of his time in the drain crawling around on his hands and knees. He was rushed to the Mater Hospital in the city's south where he was treated for hypothermia and some cuts and abrasions. A Kangaroo Point resident heard the man screaming for help from inside the storm water network in Brisbane 's CBD on Monday night The man told his rescuers he had spent some most of the 36-hour ordeal partially submerged in rainwater before finally finding an opening. Here he screamed for help, attracting the attention of a local resident, with witnesses saying they also heard heavy breathing coming from the drain. An employee who worked in a building near the drain said the man had been spotted in the drain the previous day, but had said he was fine. 'A resident asked are you okay and he was like yeah,' he told the Courier Mail. However, when the man was spotted in the drain the following day the resident phoned emergency services. 'Apparently he was running around everywhere down there,' the employee said. 'I'm not sure if he was lying down or if he could stand but there's a dead end he would have met.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Queensland Police in relation to the incident. This will be Derek Draper's legacy. The former Labour spin doctor, who died aged 56 in January after almost four years battling the ravages of Covid, has one more cause to champion. His widow, ITV presenter Kate Garraway, is airing poignant footage from his last few months to expose the underfunding of families left caring for seriously ill loved ones at home. For the first time since Covid left him in a four-month coma, from which he slowly emerged, we hear his voice on camera. Kate reveals in Derek's Story on ITV tonight that she is deep in debt after having to pay up to 4,000 a week for her husband's round-the-clock care. Additional physiotherapy and other treatments such as a hyperbaric oxygen tent cost her even more. 'How can I afford that?' she demands. 'How can anybody afford 16,000 a month? Derek's care costs more than my salary. And that's before you pay for a mortgage, before you pay for any household bills, before you pay for anything for the kids. 'I am in debt and I can't earn enough money to cover my debt because I am managing Derek's care. And I can't even use the money I do have to support Derek's recovery because it's going on the basics all the time.' This will be Derek Draper's legacy. The former Labour spin doctor, who died aged 56 in January after almost four years battling the ravages of Covid, has one more cause to champion (pictured: Draper in ITV's Derek's Story) His widow, ITV presenter Kate Garraway (pictured, on ITV's Derek's Story), is airing poignant footage from his last few months to expose the underfunding of families left caring for seriously ill loved ones at home Kate reveals in Derek's Story on ITV (pictured) tonight that she is deep in debt after having to pay up to 4,000 a week for her husband's round-the-clock care For the first time since Covid left him in a four-month coma, from which he slowly emerged, we hear his voice on camera Despite his debilitating illness, which left him incontinent, unable to walk and barely able to speak, Derek did not qualify for fully funded social care at home Though Derek was one of the most high-profile victims of long Covid, the hidden problem is far wider than most people guess She acknowledges that her situation, grim as it was then, was less difficult than it is for many. 'I'm not going to pretend that I am poorly paid. I have an incredible job that I love which is well paid, but it's not enough.' Despite his debilitating illness, which left him incontinent, unable to walk and barely able to speak, Derek did not qualify for fully funded social care at home. Leaving hospital, Kate says, was like falling off a cliff plunging from NHS care into freefall. Now she is spearheading a campaign to highlight the problem. 'We've got to get the public to understand how crucial and life-changing social care can be,' she says. 'We are entirely reliant on extraordinary carers, but the system in which they work is unbelievably complicated, unbelievably underfunded and trying to meet an impossible need.' Though Derek was one of the most high-profile victims of long Covid, the hidden problem is far wider than most people guess. MP Liz Kendall, a former colleague of Derek's at Labour's Millbank HQ, tells Kate that one in five women in their 50s is an unpaid carer, the majority of them looking after elderly relatives. 'There is currently no national budget for care,' Ms Kendall says, 'and the amount spent is based on individual local authorities, so it is a classic postcode lottery as to whether you get any support.' If Kate, with her formidable clout at ITV, can bring pressure to help the one million people in Britain being cared for at home, some real good might result. With the pandemic now over and Derek having sadly died, it's a practical way for her to move on and find purpose in everything her family has endured, without appearing to milk the misery. The film strikes a balance between remaining upbeat even in Derek's worst moments and revealing how wretchedly depressed he often felt. One sequence, as he tries and fails to stand up before berating himself, howling the word 'pathetic', is especially difficult to watch. Kate acknowledges that her situation, grim as it was then, was less difficult than it is for many With the pandemic now over and Derek (pictured, with Kate and children Darcey and Billy) having sadly died, it's a practical way for her to move on and find purpose in everything her family has endured, without appearing to milk the misery The film strikes a balance between remaining upbeat even in Derek's worst moments and revealing how wretchedly depressed he often felt (pictured: Derek and Kate holding daughter Darcey) Derek (pictured, with son Billy) was able to scrawl phrases on a pad and speak, though with difficulty The rapidity of his answers to questions, though usually just a simple 'yes' or 'no', showed that in some ways his mind worked as quickly as ever a mixed blessing, for his disability will have been even more frustrating (pictured: Derek and Kate in 2019) In his last months, he often did not want friends to visit because he hated what he'd become. That's understandable, but it must have made caring for him doubly difficult. He was able to scrawl phrases on a pad and speak, though with difficulty. The rapidity of his answers to questions, though usually just a simple 'yes' or 'no', showed that in some ways his mind worked as quickly as ever a mixed blessing, for his disability will have been even more frustrating. Through it all, Kate nursed a brittle optimism celebrating what she calls 'strawberry moments of positivity'. She talks about how hard it is to keep going when the person you love is unable to give love back in any conventional way. 'Sometimes,' she says regretfully, 'you show love with a big bunch of flowers, and other times it's bringing a cup of tea at the right moment and he can't do any of those things.' When the little things are gone, only big things are left... and Kate Garraway has the opportunity to do something big in her husband's memory. Do YOU know the men who were detained? UK Border Force has been slammed for 'demeaning' two Israeli survivors of the Nova Music Festival who were 'detained for two hours' at Manchester Airport after flying over to speak about their experience. Footage shows a male Border Force officer speaking in 'aggressive terms' to the two men who had travelled to the UK to raise awareness for a not-for-profit organisation they established to help survivors of the terror attacks. The pair are said to be suffering from PTSD after Hamas invaded the music festival in Israel on October 7 last year, leading to the rape, torture and murder of more than 1,000 civilians. In footage posted on X, the Border Force officer says: 'Knock the attitude off. We've made the decision that you're coming in, so just let us do the checks we need to do, and keep quiet. 'Look at me. Are you clear with that? Good. We're the bosses not you.' Home Secretary James Cleverley has announced on X that the incident is being handled, adding: 'We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination.' The two Israeli men 'do not appear to have been argumentative' towards the officer, according to Marc Levy, the Chief Executive of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region. Footage shows a male Border Force officer (right) speaking in 'aggressive terms' to two Israeli men who had travelled to the UK to raise awareness about terrorism In footage posted on X, the Border Force officer says 'Knock the attitude off' before adding 'We're the bosses not you' James Cleverly has since put a statement up on X saying the incident is being handled Hamas invaded Nova Music Festival in Israel on October 7 last year (pictured), leading to the rape, torture and murder of more than 1,000 civilians People are seen fleeing music festival after Hamas's attack in Israel on October 7 last year A man holding a weapon grabs another man next to a car during an attack by Hamas militants on October 7 Mr Levy added that the officer's tone was 'unnecessary and demeaning' towards the two men. The men - said to be brothers - were allegedly detained for two hours, before the same Border Police officer reportedly said 'they had to make sure you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over here'. In a letter to Manchester Airport Group, Mr Levy wrote: 'We unequivocally condemn the fact that Israeli nationals were detained and subjected to abuse by a Border Police Officer. 'The comment beyond their release proves beyond any doubt that this individual was motivated by antisemitic intent.' He added: 'The only reason for their detention and interrogation was because they are Israeli.' According to Mr Levy, the two men were attending the music festival when terrorists started murdering civilians. 'Instead of fleeing, the brothers, one of whom is a medic, remained at the festival site to save others, combat the terrorists and treat the wounded,' Mr Levy wrote. A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the complaint made against Border Force staff at Manchester Airport and are investigating these claims. 'While the facts and circumstances are being established, it must be reiterated that we do not tolerate antisemitism, in any forms, anywhere.' Meanwhile, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages taken during the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. Hamas has called for a complete removal of troops from Israel as well as the return of displaced Palestinians. The UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and unconditional release of all hostages taken during taken during the October 7 attacks A view of destruction after Israeli attack on Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on February 17, 2024 A group of young boys inspecting a demolished building which belonged to the Palestinian Darduna family, following Israeli attacks at Jabaliya Refugee Camp As one of the council's five permanent members along with the UK, France, China and Russia the US could have vetoed the resolution, as it has done on three earlier occasions. But the US' abstention prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his visit to the White House to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are taking shelter. Mr Netanyahu said that Washington's failure to veto the resolution was a 'clear retreat' from its previous position, and would hurt war efforts against Hamas, as well as efforts to release over 130 hostages. Mr Netanyahu said that Washington's failure to veto the resolution was a 'clear retreat' from its previous position The US abstention prompted Mr Netanyahu to cancel this week's delegation to Washington to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah The Israeli prime minister said: 'Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages'. He added: 'This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security council since the beginning of the war'. The White House denied that the abstention reflected a change in American policy. Its national security spokesman John Kirby said it was 'disappointing' the Israeli delegates would not be coming 'to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah'. A Palestinian boy has his arm measured for malnutrition at a medical tent set up by MedGlobal in cooperation with UNICEF, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 14, 2024 A man is comforted by another man as people inspect the damage to their homes following Israeli air strikes on February 18, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza US Vice President Kamala Harris warned on behalf of the Biden Administration that an Israeli military offensive in Rafah would be a 'huge mistake' that may yield consequences. She told ABC on Sunday that the White House had 'been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake.' The second-in-command said that she is 'ruling out nothing' in terms of potential consequences for the Jewish state should it aggressively invade Rafah - Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza. The US has openly opposed an Israeli ground offensive into Rafah, where three-quarters of the displaced Palestinian population has fled. The war, started by the October 7 attack on Israel, has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, where vast swathes have been reduced to a bombed-out wasteland. Do YOU know the men who were detained? Email tips@dailymail.co.uk The preschooler killed in a school bus crash on Friday has been identified by his Texas school district. Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, died from injuries sustained after the school bus he was on was struck by a concrete truck that swerved into the bus's lane. The school bus, which was carrying 44 pre-kindergarten students from Tom Green Elementary school, had been returning from a field trip to the Capital of Texas Zoo. The Texas Department of Public Safety said that the cement truck veered into the school bus just before a driver in a third vehicle - a Dodge Charger - crashed into the bus. The adult male driver of the Charger also died. Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, died from injuries sustained Friday after the school bus he was on was struck by a concrete truck that swerved into the bus's lane A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper inspects the scene of the fatal school bus crash A pre-Ke-er is taken from the scene of the crash by an emergency responder Community members described Montoya as a 'child who was filled with a lot of happiness,' which he 'often shared with others,' according to Naira (Dina) Solis Shears, his pre-K bilingual teacher. 'He had a talent for drawing and his favorite thing to draw was dinosaurs. He could almost completely spell the word dinosaur, which demonstrates how smart he was. 'He always had a dinosaur drawn on all of the assignments he turned in. He liked to tell stories and shared many with his friends and family. Above all - he was a loving child,' she said. Classes at Tom Green, which is part of the Hays Consolidated Independent School District, were canceled Monday - though the building was open for those in search of counseling. According to recent reports, plans for the little boy's funeral and memorial service are still pending. A GoFundMe launched by Ulises' aunt has raised more than $60,000 that will go toward funeral, burial, and other unforeseen expenses the family must now stomach. The school bus carrying the young students reportedly did not have seatbelts, because it was manufactured in 2011, before the state of Texas mandated the safety feature aboard such vehicles. Ulises Rodriguez Montoya was remembered as a happy child who loved dinosaurs and often shared his joy with others Families reunite with their children at Tom Green Elementary in Buda, Texas, after pre-K students from the school were involved in a bus roll-over crash on Texas State Highway 21 near Caldwell Road on Friday, March 22, 2024, in Bastrop, Texas A little girl is transported from a fatal school bus crash on Texas State Highway 21 near Caldwell Road on Friday A statement from the school district says the family of the deceased child is 'grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support, condolences, and prayers from the community and from people all over the world.' Montoya is survived by his immediate and extended family, including his parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins - all of whom will miss him. Following the crash on Friday, scores of other children were also transported to local hospitals. According to a statement from Tom Green Elementary, 51 others were also injured. A GoFundMe launched by the elementary school's leadership team has raised close to $78,000 for the devastated community. Of Sunday evening, two students and two school district employees remained hospitalized. The crash occurred on Texas State Highway 21, about an hour away from the school's Buda location. People are transported from a fatal school bus crash near Austin - the class of preschoolers were returning from a visit to the zoo The school bus was manufactured in 2011, and therefore did not have seatbelts Classes at Tom Green, which is part of the Hays Consolidated Independent School District, were canceled Monday - though the building was open for those in search of counseling Families were alerted to the crash and spent agonizing hours awaiting reunification with their children. For many of the children on the bus, the crash was a tragic ending to their first field trip. According to one local KXAN report, Hector Campos said receiving the phone call Friday that his daughter's school bus had been in an accident was 'the worst feeling in the world.' 'You never think you would get one, and for me, my heart sunk right away.' The concerned father says he rushed to the crash site, where he waited hours to see if his daughter was okay. 'It was just complete chaos there. It was very hard,' he said. His daughter, Caliana, walked away from the fatal crash with just a few scratches. Trans women will get affordable accommodation in a sought-after area near the centre of Australia's largest city after a council agreed to sell seven properties to the state government at a knockdown price. Seven properties in the inner-east Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst have been designated surplus residential property by the council and will be sold at a discount to community housing provider Common Equity New South Wales. Common Equity New South Wales will partner with the All Nations Housing Co-operative to provide properties for trans women in the 'highly at-risk' group. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she was proud the council could be part of the initiative. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she was proud her council was part of an initiative in providing community housing to trans women 'Trans women are some of the most vulnerable people in our society, and often face rejection and isolation from their families of origin and the broader community,' she said in a statement posted to social media. Ms Moore said despite progress being made in recognising and celebrating people who were LGBTIQA+ people, trans people still faced discrimination and exclusion. 'Providing safe and affordable housing for trans women is essential for their wellbeing,' she said. 'We want all people to feel confident in themselves.' The sale will proceed under the excess land scheme that sells unused or under-utilised properties to organisations providing housing for those most in need. Money from the sales will go into the city's affordable and diverse housing fund that provides grants for future housing projects. Social worker at The Gender Centre and transgender woman, Aurora Green, told The Guardian transgender women often had trouble getting housing because of mismatched documentation. 'Even though it's illegal to discriminate against someone based on their gender, it's still very easy when someone's submitting an electronic application, you can see conflicting details and give this to someone else,' she said. 'There's very, very little protection there.' Seven properties in the inner-Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst (pictured) will be given to 'highly at risk' trans women She also believed housing trans people in a dedicated area could create a sense of shared experience. 'In a dedicated service, there's so much more flexibility for people that are at different stages of their medical transition or whether they want to medically transition at all,' Ms Green said. 'When there's a place that's going to understand why that [ID] information may conflict and be understanding and helpful with that, that's just so important It also brings the trans community together.' Two more council properties in the exclusive inner harbourside suburb of Potts Point will also be made available to women with complex needs. Australia is in a housing crisis and it particularly affects older women. The last national census revealed a 48 per cent rise in homelessness for women in NSW, and a huge 78 per cent rise for women aged 65 to 74. Domestic and family violence is a major contributor to female homelessness. Homelessness NSW reported that in 2020 and 2021 only three per cent of women fleeing violence were in secure long-term accommodation. Whisper it quietly north of the border, but an English whisky has been named the best single malt in the world. Turning tradition on its head, the news will come as a blow to our neighbours a nation with a famed whisky heritage. The Sherry Cask Matured Single Malt, made by The English Distillery in Norfolk, beat global competition, including from Scotland, in the World Whisky Awards. Bottled by hand in Breckland, it is an unpeated single malt that has been matured in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. The whisky is available from the distillery's online shop at 59 a bottle and can also be bought from specialist retailers such as the House of Malt and Bottle Apostle. The English Distillery's Sherry Cask won the World's Best Single Malt Judges praised its 'aromas of rich dark fruits' from the casks, adding it delivers a 'wonderfully balanced and rich whisky' (stock image) Judges praised its 'aromas of rich dark fruits' from the casks, adding it delivers a 'wonderfully balanced and rich whisky'. The English Distillery was founded by farmer James Nelstrop 17 years ago. The whisky, pictured, made from barley grown on the Nelstrop family farms and nearby, has been available for six months. The team behind the success is led by Andrew Nelstrop, who took on the distillery after his father's death in 2014. The father of two, whose wife Katy works alongside him, said: 'We're stunned. Whilst any whisky maker hopes to win an award, winning the big one is the realisation of my father's goal of creating world class single malt whiskies in England, and sharing them with whisky lovers around the world.' Whisky Magazine's editor-at-large Christopher Coates claimed this demonstrates the 'incredible quality being produced by English distilleries'. But a spokesman for the Scotch Whisky Association said: 'Choosing a favourite whisky is a very personal choice, and Scotch Whisky consistently wins awards around the world. 'We are proud it is the world's number one internationally traded spirit.' That China is spying on Britain is hardly the revelation of the century. States have conducted the shadowy tradecraft of espionage since time immemorial. What is most worrying, however, is the major escalation in the Communist regime's deployment of cloak-and-dagger activities against this country. As recently as last September police arrested two men amid allegations that a Parliamentary researcher with links to a minister was a Chinese spy. These days, Beijing is less interested in old-fashioned spying methods, such as coded messages and dead drops. Instead, it increasingly uses cyber warfare against us to steal our secrets, acquire the latest western technology, undermine our security and subvert democracy. A portrait of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Beijing is less interested in old-fashioned spying methods, such as coded messages and dead drops. Instead, it increasingly uses cyber warfare against us Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (pictured) took the highly unusual step of publicly blaming China for a string of 'malicious' cyber attacks Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden took the highly unusual step of publicly blaming China for a string of 'malicious' cyber attacks. One involved the hacking of Electoral Commission files which held the personal details of British voters. The regime also brazenly targeted 43 British politicians who criticised its human rights record. While the minister stressed that no harm had been done to the UK's democratic system, this shows that all our institutions must be constantly on their guard. Indeed, with an election looming, there is bound to be a surge in attacks by enemies who want to influence the result. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insists that the Government has its 'eyes wide open' when it comes to the danger posed by Beijing. But can we be so sure? Sanctions against two key players and a Chinese company over the cyber espionage are derisory. Plans to place those working for Chinese firms on a security services watchlist are only embryonic. Only last year, a damning report by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee laid bare how our leaders have been depressingly relaxed about China infiltrating every sector of our economy. Our universities have become dependent on high-paying Chinese students and donors. Graduates with links to China's military have been given placements in sensitive positions for leading British defence and aerospace firms. And 'honey trap' spies are influencing political figures. Rishi Sunak must now be willing to label China a threat to our security and prosperity. He can no longer appease the bullies of Beijing The concern, too, is that the UK is so economically exposed to China, we are unable to assertively push back. This dates back to David Cameron's so-called 'golden era' of UK-China relations. He didn't just roll out the red carpet for the Communist regime. Desperate for its billions, he naively allowed it to be a major part of our mobile phone and internet infrastructure and invest in other key businesses. The bottom line is, if Britain had been more attuned to the threats posed by the regime, we might not be in this appalling bind. Mr Sunak must now be willing to label China a threat to our security and prosperity. He can no longer appease the bullies of Beijing. Foreign Power Despite scrapping his flagship 28billion-a-year green plan, Sir Keir Starmer is sticking to his pledge to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030. Experts say it would be unfeasible, ruinously expensive and risk the lights going off. But Labour insists it can be achieved by building floating wind farms off the coast. Despite scrapping his flagship 28billion-a-year green plan, Sir Keir Starmer is sticking to his pledge to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 This, Sir Keir says, would reduce the UK's reliance on foreign energy. But given that affordable solar panels and batteries are made almost exclusively in China, this would leave us dependent on the hostile regime for power. Has he thought this through? Rishi Sunak was last night under mounting pressure to finally get tough with China. The calls came after Britain and the US revealed the scale of Beijing's efforts to subvert Western democracy. In a highly unusual move, London and Washington publicly identified China as the source of a wave of cyber attacks directed both at politicians and institutions. But China hawks were furious at a muted response that saw Britain sanction just two hackers and a small firm in Wuhan. An MP targeted by Beijing for criticising China on human rights claimed ministers had 'turned up to a gunfight with a wooden spoon'. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said the attacks had failed to undermine the democratic system despite Beijing being responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission. He said that Britain 'will not tolerate' similar activity in the future. Rishi Sunak was last night under mounting pressure to finally get tough with China The Chinese ambassador has been summoned for a dressing-down and Whitehall sources said that staff at Chinese firms and organisations across the UK could be forced to register with the security services. Beijing denied claims it had carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing them as 'completely fabricated and malicious slanders'. A Chinese embassy spokesman urged London to 'stop spreading false information and stop their self-staged, anti-China political farce'. The US State Department said it was charging seven suspected Chinese hackers with a series of cyber offences. These relate to a 14-year campaign of disruption involving more than 10,000 malicious emails targeting thousands of politicians, journalists, businesses and officials. The seven were all named as being members of the shadowy APT31 hacking group which the US said is used by China's ruling communist party to 'repress critics of the Chinese regime, compromise government institutions and steal trade secrets'. The State Department also said dozens of British parliamentary accounts had been targeted by Beijing. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of 43 British MPs and peers targeted by China, last night savaged the UK response, likening it to 'an elephant giving birth to a mouse'. Beijing denied claims it had carried out, supported or encouraged cyber attacks on the UK, describing them as 'completely fabricated and malicious slanders' (Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping) Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said the attacks had failed to undermine the democratic system despite Beijing being responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters He said the attacks should be seen as a 'watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for values of human rights and the international rules-based system on which we all depend'. He warned it was time to formally designate China as a 'threat' to Britain, rather than its current status as an 'epoch-defining challenge'. 'We need to be tough appeasement never works,' he told a press conference in Westminster. 'If you're tough with people, the lessons you learn from the 1930s appeasement never works. 'If you're strong and you tell them what's wrong, and you tell them that eventually they will probably back down but if you don't they just keep taking advantage of you. That's our biggest problem.' Former home secretary Suella Braverman said that it was now 'absolutely clear that China is a hostile threat'. Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said: 'The Government clearly is not holding China to account for their attack on our democracy. The US State Department said it was charging seven suspected Chinese hackers with a series of cyber offences Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of 43 British MPs and peers targeted by China, last night savaged the UK response, likening it to 'an elephant giving birth to a mouse' Former home secretary Suella Braverman said that it was now 'absolutely clear that China is a hostile threat' 'Taking three years to sanction two individuals and a small company is derisory. This feeble response will only embolden China to continue its aggression towards the UK.' Stewart McDonald, the SNP's defence spokesman and one of the MPs sanctioned by China, said: 'The Deputy Prime Minister has turned up at a gunfight with a wooden spoon. 'If we do not take more robust action and see a proper sea change in government thinking, rather than this tinkering around the edges, will this not happen more and more and get worse and worse?' Mr Dowden told MPs that Beijing was responsible for hacking the personal data of up to 40million voters in an attack on the Electoral Commission. China was also blamed for using cyber attacks against a string of UK critics of its regime. Mr Dowden said Britain was stepping up its cyber defences ahead of the next election, when experts fear there will be a surge in attacks by hostile states wanting to interfere with the result. Whitehall sources said that staff at Chinese firms and organisations across the UK could be forced to register with the security services Downing Street insisted the Government had its 'eyes wide open when it comes to China'. Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, along with the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Limited were those sanctioned. Foreign Secretary David Cameron described China's conduct as 'completely unacceptable'. But the peer, who pioneered a 'golden era' of closer relations with Beijing a decade ago, was challenged over his own dealings with the country during a meeting with Tory MPs last night. One security source described him as the 'great panda hugger'. The Electoral Commission attack was first identified in October 2022 but the hackers had been able to access its systems for more than a year. The registers held at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022. The National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ, said it was likely that Chinese state-affiliated hackers stole emails and data from the electoral register. This was 'highly likely' to have been used by Beijing's agents for large-scale espionage and transnational repression of perceived dissidents and critics based in the UK. Thousands of workers at Chinese firms and organisations in Britain could be forced to register with the security services under a clampdown being considered by ministers. Whitehall sources last night told the Mail that ministers are close to agreement on a move to put China on the 'enhanced tier' of countries deemed a threat to the UK. The move is a key demand of critics who say the Government has been too slow to wake up to the threat posed by China's increasingly assertive communist regime. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden hinted at the plan yesterday, as he criticised China's 'unacceptable' attempts to undermine Britain's democracy. He told MPs: 'We are currently in the process of collective Government agreement in relation to the enhanced tier of the foreign interference registration scheme. 'Clearly, the conduct that I have described today will have a very strong bearing on the decision that we make in respect of it.' Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden hinted at the plan yesterday, as he criticised China's 'unacceptable' attempts to undermine Britain's democracy The National Security Act 2023 came into force in December after being passed by Parliament last summer. It updated espionage laws by creating several new offences aimed at making it easier to detect and disrupt potential foreign threats operating on home soil. It set up a Foreign Influence Registration Scheme designed to create a clearer picture about which individuals or entities may be a risk to Britain's interests. READ MORE: David Cameron faces questions over the UK going soft on China after the government indefinitely pauses sanctions Advertisement It has two tiers, including a 'political influence tier' and 'enhanced tier'. The former requires individuals or entities who 'carry out political influence activities in the UK at the direction of a foreign power' to identify themselves. The latter gives ministers the power to force people or entities to identify themselves for a broader range of activities, such as working in Britain at the direction of a foreign power. If they fail to identify themselves they could face up to five years in jail. Placing Beijing on the enhanced list could result in anyone working in Britain 'at the direction' of Beijing having to identify themselves. This could potentially cover thousands employed by Chinese companies and organisations in the UK. Last night it was unclear whether the law would cover firms such as TikTok, which deny they are controlled by Beijing. But Mr Dowden noted that ministers have already banned the use of the social media app on government devices as part of efforts to 'reduce the Government's exposure to Chinese operators'. Designating China on the enhanced list will be viewed as a hostile act in Beijing and has been resisted by the Treasury, which remains keen to attract Chinese investment. But MPs lined up yesterday to urge the Government to act. Former home secretary Suella Braverman said the legislation was 'designed specifically to deal with such threats so that our authorities have the right powers to tackle them'. Mr Dowden briefed Parliament about a string of devastating cyber attacks masterminded by Beijing yesterday (stock image) She told Mr Dowden: 'Is there not a compelling case for China to be listed on that register, and if not now, when?' Tim Loughton, one of a number of MPs sanctioned by Beijing, said the designation would be a 'proportionate' response to the 'intimidation, impersonation and hacking' carried out by China against MPs and dissidents who have criticised the communist regime. Mr Dowden insisted that the Government had toughened its stance significantly in recent years, including by removing Huawei from the UK's 5G infrastructure, banning Chinese investment in nuclear power stations and blocking the takeover of technology firms by Chinese companies. He said ministers did not believe it was right for the UK to cut itself off from China altogether, adding that its relationship with the UK 'depends on the choices China makes'. But he acknowledged relations had deteriorated sharply since the so-called 'golden era' pioneered by Lord David Cameron a decade ago. The departing Armed Forces minister has said that the UK must 'urgently' invest more in defence. James Heappey, who has announced he will quit the Government, issued the public demand from the Commons despatch box yesterday. He wrote a resignation letter amid reports he was frustrated over Rishi Sunak's refusal to give a significant cash boost to the military. He has also said he will not stand at the next General Election. Before leaving politics, Mr Heappey is expected to become increasingly vocal on the need for defence investment to match threats which are without precedent since the height of the Cold War. James Heappey (pictured), who has announced he will quit the Government, has said that the UK must 'urgently' invest more in defence Mr Heappey, who wore his Rifles regiment tie in the Commons, said: 'Both parties should be strongly considering a further increase in defence spending' (File Image) His call for the UK to spend 2.5 per cent of GDP on defence has echoed the Mail's 'Don't Leave Britain Defenceless' campaign. Mr Heappey had been former defence secretary Ben Wallace's choice to succeed him. But this was blocked by the Prime Minister, who installed Grant Shapps instead. A former Army officer and Afghanistan veteran, Mr Heappey, who wore his Rifles regiment tie in the Commons, said: '2.5 per cent of GDP should be achieved urgently, the fiscal situation is improving and this party has made that commitment. 'Both parties should be strongly considering a further increase in defence spending in the next parliament.' Neither the Prime Minister nor Jeremy Hunt has suggested the economy has recovered enough to make a rise in defence spending of an estimated 9billion fiscally viable. And the Treasury has ignored requests from the Mail to publish the criteria it would use to permit a rise from the current 2.3 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent. Labour MP John Spellar speaking in the House of Commons. Mr Spellar claimed that in a recent exercise intended to simulate such a war the British Army had 'run out of munitions within ten days' Answering questions in the Commons for the last time, Mr Heappey insisted the UK's Armed Forces remained 'fearsome', amid debate on Britain sustaining a conflict against a peer adversary. Labour MP John Spellar claimed that in a recent exercise intended to simulate such a war the British Army had 'run out of munitions within ten days'. But Mr Heappey said: 'In exercises I have seen where the UK have operated alongside the US... American senior commanders hold the UK Force elements in the highest regard.' Yesterday, the Government set out how it will upgrade the country's nuclear deterrent in a move that will create more than 5,000 apprenticeships over the next four years. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: 'The Government has always been unequivocal in its support for the nuclear deterrent, which is a foundation of our national security.' New Dreadnought Class submarines would be introduced in the early 2030s. A Seoul court has sentenced a man to two months in prison for calling police several times and saying he would kill the president, judicial sources said Friday. The 61-year-old, only identified by his surname Kim, was indicted for calling the 112 emergency call service five times on July 7 and making comments like "I should kill the president" and "I will leave this world." Five police officers were sent to where Kim called, but no signs of suicide attempts were found. The Seoul Northern District Court said it sentenced Kim to prison because he committed a crime again after being convicted of similar charges in 2020 and 2023, though his mental health is not in a good state due to his dependence on alcohol. (Yonhap) By WILLIAM LOWTHER, Daily Mail US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld helped Saddam Hussein build up his arsenal of deadly chemical and biological weapons, it was revealed last night. As an envoy from President Reagan 19 years ago, he had a secret meeting with the Iraqi dictator and arranged enormous military assistance for his war with Iran. The CIA had already warned that Iraq was using chemical weapons almost daily. But Mr Rumsfeld, at the time a successful executive in the pharmaceutical industry, still made it possible for Saddam to buy supplies from American firms. They included viruses such as anthrax and bubonic plague, according to the Washington Post. The extraordinary details have come to light because thousands of State Department documents dealing with the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war have just been declassified and released under the Freedom of Information Act. At the very least, it is highly embarrassing for 70-year-old Mr Rumsfeld, who is the most powerful and vocal of all the hawks surrounding President Bush. He bitterly condemns Saddam as a ruthless and brutal monster and frequently backs up his words by citing the use of the very weapons which it now appears he helped to supply. The question is: Why has he never said anything about his role in the negotiations? 'Donald Rumsfeld has some explaining to do,' a senior Pentagon official said last night, while Congressional sources said that a Senate Committee was considering opening hearings to investigate exactly what happened. The documents could hardly have been released at a worse time for Mr Rumsfeld, who is building up troops in the Gulf in preparation for a war with Iraq that is generally expected to start in about a month. They will also embarrass Tony Blair as he attempts to build international support for military action. And they will cause a headache for the Foreign Office, because the news will be seen by Islamic countries as a prime example of American hypocrisy over the issue. For years Middle Eastern countries have accused the US of double-talk over Iraq. They are bitterly critical that the American government helped arm Saddam during the 1980s in a war against Iran, which at that time Washington regarded as its biggest enemy in the region. America's critics are now disgusted by the way the administration has performed a somersault, and now expects them to agree that Saddam's regime should be treated as a pariah. This will make it even harder to persuade neighbouring states to offer Western troops bases and landing strips vital for such an onslaught. But one thing was clear last night - President Bush will not let the embarrassment prevent him from forging ahead with his plans to attack Baghdad, and if that does happen Mr Blair will have no choice but to join him in the attack. It was in late 1983 that Ronald Reagan made Mr Rumsfeld his envoy as the Iranians gained the upper hand in their war with Iraq. Terrified that the Iranian Islamic revolution would spread through the Gulf and into Saudi Arabia - threatening US oil supplies - Mr Reagan sent Mr Rumsfeld to prop up Saddam and keep the Iranian militants within their own borders. The State Department documents show that Mr Rumsfeld flew to Baghdad where he had a 90-minute meeting with Saddam followed by a much longer session with foreign minister Tariq Aziz. 'It was a horrible mistake,' former CIA military analyst Kenneth Pollack said last night. 'We were warning at the time that Hussein was a very nasty character. We were constantly fighting the State Department.' On November 1, 1983, a full month before Mr Rumsfeld's visit to Baghdad, Secretary of State George Shultz was officially informed that the CIA had discovered Iraqi troops were resorting to 'almost daily use of chemical weapons' against the Iranians. Nevertheless, Mr Rumsfeld arranged for the Iraqis to receive billions of pounds in loans to buy weapons and CIA Director William Casey used a Chilean front company to supply Iraq with cluster bombs. According to the Washington Post, a Senate committee investigating the relationship between the US and Iraq discovered that in the mid-1980s - following the Rumsfeld visit - dozens of biological agents were shipped to Iraq under licence from the Commerce Department. They included anthrax, subsequently identified by the Pentagon as a key component of the Iraqi biological warfare programme. The newspaper says: 'The Commerce Department also approved the export of insecticides to Iraq, despite widespread suspicions that they were being used for chemical warfare.' At the time of his meeting with Saddam, Mr Rumsfeld was working for Searle - a company which dealt only in medicinal pharmaceuticals. Both he and Searle made all their money from the distribution of a cardiovascular drug. Under no circumstances did he or Searle have any connection to the production of chemicals which would have been sold to Saddam. And no one in the US has ever suggested that Mr Rumsfeld had any personal interest at stake in the Iraq meetings. The Defence Secretary was making no comment last night. The family of tragic wheelie bin murder victim Chaithanya 'Swetha' Madhagani have farewelled her in a ceremony in India. Her husband, Ashok Raj Varikuppala, did not attend the funeral service at the Mallapur crematorium in the Hyderabad region, and neither did his family. Ms Madhagani body was found in a green wheelie bin on Mount Pollock Road in Buckley, west of Geelong, Victoria at 12pm on Saturday, March 8. Her husband had already flown to India with their four-year-old son Ayra when her corpse was found. Family of Chaithanya 'Swetha' Madhagani embrace outside her funeral in India on Sunday The green wheelie bin that contained Ms Madhagani's body was found in a paddock near Geelong On Sunday, more than 100 mourners gathered at the Mallapur crematorium in the Hyderabad region of India to pay their respects to the beloved mum. In video seen by Daily Mail Australia, loved ones were seen embracing as crowds of mourners made there way out of the service. 'It is not the time to die - you were so young, what will we do without you?' her father Balshetty Madhagani told the congregation. Loud shrieks filled the air as Ms Madhaganis body was placed in the courtyard of her familys home on Sunday, the Herald Sun reported. Another relative, Anna Swamy, told the publication they were desperate for police to charge Ms Madhagani husband. 'We want justice for our daughter,' he said. It is understood Ms Madhaganis husband remains on the run after dumping their son on the steps of his dead wife's home in India. 'We dont know where Ashok is,' Mr Swarmy said. 'There is no one from Ashok Rajs family. They should have been here if they really care about their grandson.'. Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed at the weekend that Raj's family had offered Ms Madhagani's son four acres of land and to take care of and school the boy. Chaithanya 'Swetha' Madhagani was farewelled in India on Sunday Ashok Raj Varikuppala (left) and Chaithanya 'Swetha' Madhagani were married for 12 years before her body was found in a wheelie bin Across the globe days earlier, Ms Madhagani's Australian friends gathered to honour her in Point Cook. Speaking ahead of the vigil, Esha Lakshana, a friend of Ms Madhagani's, told the ABC she was still coming to terms with what had happened. 'I'm totally shocked,' she said. 'I really can't believe that she is no more.' She said Ms Madhagani was a 'genuine person' who was well known in the local Indian community, many of whom attended the silent vigil on Friday. 'She has done so much of community service and she has done so much social work,' she said. Suspected killer's family visit Varikuppala allegedly dropped his son off with Ms Madhagani's parents at their house in the south central Indian city of Hyderabad before vanishing. His parents have since visited the same property to 'apologise' to Ms Madhagani's mother and father for what their son allegedly did, offer them and Ayra four acres of land as well as to take care and school the boy. Ms Madhagani's maternal grandfather K Gopal, who also lives with her parents, told Daily Mail Australia the visit 'happened a few days ago'. 'They wanted to take care of their grandson,' the 80-year-old said. 'They offered four acres of land for him. 'They expressed regret about the incident and apologised for whatever happened. 'They remember Swetha as happy daughter-in-law.' Mr Gopal said Mr Varikuppala's parents had already enrolled Arya in a nearby school. He also said they had didn't know where Mr Varikuppala was but 'are being told he is absconding'. The Hyderabad house where Mr Varikuppala reportedly visited Ms Madhagani's parents to apologise for what happened and drop off their grandson Mr Varikuppala's parents have reportedly offered to take care and school their grandson Ayra (pictured) Victoria Police said Varikuppala is a person of interest in their investigation of Ms Madhagani's death and that he was still overseas despite his claim he would be returning to Australia. Ms Madhagani and Mr Varikuppala were married for 12 years and had seemed happy by many reports from neighbours in the Point Cook suburb of Melbourne where the family had lived for three years. However, close family friend Praveen Kumar Thopucherla - who has known the couple for seven years - told Daily Mail Australia that the family's 'internal problems' were well known to friends, and described their marriage as 'love and arranged'. 'I believe those went deeper (than) it seems,' he said. Victoria Police said that due 'to the seriousness of the matter, there is much we unfortunately cannot comment on and this includes 'any liaison with the victims family'. Daily Mail Australia has also approached the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment on Balshetty Madhagani's claims. The site of last week's migrant riot in El Paso had largely emptied out Monday, as the Texas National Guard sent in more troops and reinforced the crossing with more razor wire. Thursday, some 600 migrants stormed the barrier placed by Texas soldiers and had violent confrontations-- resulting in the arrest of one migrant for assaulting a service member. Junior Evaristo-Benitez, 21, of Honduras, has been charged with assault on a public servant, a 3rd degree felony, and is being held at the El Paso County Jail, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed. 'We continue to reinforce border barriers and repel any illegal immigrants,' Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Monday. 'Texas is holding the line.' More Texas National Guard soldiers deployed and more razor wire installed at the border this weekend in El Paso. We continue to reinforce border barriers and repel any illegal immigrants. Texas is holding the line. pic.twitter.com/NXPbJMHd1V Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) March 25, 2024 A migrant man looks to breach a heavily fortified razor wire fence from the bank of the Rio Grande river in El Paso, Texas, U.S., March 24 Most migrants moved away from Gate 36, the site of last week's riot, looking for less fortified areas to enter the US A dozen additional migrants were identified as 'ringleaders' in planning Thursday's riot will also be facing federal charges, sources told DailyMail.com. The migrants had attempted to storm the border Wednesday night, throwing rocks at Texas National Guard members, but ended up dispersing, another source explained. Images of the bedlam showed hordes of migrants first climbing over a triple layer of razor wire and then pushing past and overpowering national guard members who tried to stop them. Over the weekend, soldiers under Abbott's direction continued to turn away migrants who had already crossed into the US and were attempting to make asylum claims with the US Border Patrol. In order to reach federal agents, migrants had to get past guards members first who held . Texas has spent a staggering $10 billion on the governor's border security plan, however, it's unclear how much of an impact it's having on border crossings. The number of migrants illegally entering the country through the Lone Star State has sharply fallen off since December. Once ground zero for the border crisis, migrant encounters in Eagle Pass have fallen from a high of 23,000 in one week to 2,600 in one week of March, per federal statistics. Instead, traffic has shifted to hotspots in California and Arizona. In February, 87,000 migrants came into California and Arizona, compared to 53,000 in Texas, according to US Border Patrol. Last year, Texas saw 76,000 migrant encounters, while the other two states had a combined total of 55,000 migrant crossings. In recent weeks, Eagle Pass, Texas has become a ghost town. The once popular crossing spot has seen a huge decline in migrant crossings Migrants wait behind razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., September 28, Last week, 600 migrants easily overpowered Texas National Guard members in El Paso by simply climbing over the wire fencing put in place by Gov. Abbott by simply putting blankets over it Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at Shelby Park during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has credited his border security plan, Operation Lone Star, which the New York Times estimated has cost taxpayers $10 billion dollars, with the decline. 'The cartels have rerouted their routes to cross the border because Texas is the only state thats putting up any resistance,' Abbott said during a news conference in Eagle Pass last month. In January, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seized a city park where migrants had been wading in large numbers across the river that separates the US and Mexico because the water was low there. Abbott also kicked out US Border Patrol agents, claiming the federal government was not doing enough to stop illegal entries. The Republican governor reinforced with 2.5 miles of land he seized - stopping nearly all the migrants from crossing in that particular spot. However, his actions simply pushed migrants out to other crossings in more rural areas. Most border experts believe Abbott's actions did have an impact on crossings, but Mexican cartels have the ultimate say over where migrants cross. Mexico too step up border security around the new year, stopping migrants from ever reaching the border. Under this order, Abbott claims 505,800 illegal immigrants have been arrested and prevented from getting into the US since Operation Lone Star began in March 2021. However, Texas has still seen more than 4 million migrants flood over the border into the state in the same time period. A group of Venezuelans used cardboard on their backs to avoid being cut while crawling under a razor wire barrier placed to stop migrants from entering El Paso, Texas The Supreme Court did not rule that the wire fencing Texas deployed was unlawful. The high court only said that federal agents could cut it or move it if they needed to Texas placed razor wire at Shelby Park in the migrant hot spot of Eagle Pass, Texas for more than a year Abbott has only stopped 12.6% of those who crossed into his state. The Republican governor has also exported more than 107,000 migrants to cities that claimed they would welcome migrants, like New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Additionally, the program has been controversial, as Abbott has pulled $360 million from prisons to pay for the program for just 10 months, and at least $875 million was diverted from the state's emergency fund and sent to the border instead in 2022, alone, according to the Texas Tribune. Generative AI has been predicted to add trillions to the world economy in a productivity boost never before seen in history (if it doesn't wipe out humanity first). But what if it doesn't? A growing number of sceptics, including some leading AI scientists, are wondering whether the tech might not deliver on its promises to boost the world economy. Goldman Sachs famously predicted that generative AI would bring about 'sweeping changes' to the world economy, driving a $7 trillion increase in global GDP and lifting productivity growth by 1.5 percent this decade. Professor Gary Marcus of New York University wrote on Substack that 'we are starting to see signs' that generative AI might be a 'dud'. Among the warning signs was a report in the Wall Street Journal suggesting that customers found the $30 a month price of Microsoft's new AI-boosted Copilot software too expensive. Sam Altman of OpenAI has become a figurehead for artificial intelligence Professor Gary Marcus is a noted sceptic of the benefits of generative AI Marcus wrote on his Substack: 'Putting Large Language Models [like ChatGPT] into production is hard; most work to date has been preliminary. 'Companies are starting to temper their expectations. Many initial expectations were unrealistic.' Marcus points out that progress towards actually making money out of Large Language Models has been slow - and that after OpenAI launched GPT-4 in 2023, no one has launched a model that is decisively more powerful. We might be reaching a plateau in terms of sheer capability. Nobody has been able to beat it decisively. Places like Google and Anthropic have put in a lot of money trying. None succeeded; instead there tentatively seems to be convergence at GPT-4 levels.' Marcus says there has been 'progress' towards finding possible uses for Large Language Models - but so far the technology is often being used for crime. He said: 'Bad actors, who may have lower standards for reliability, appear to be using them for cybercrime and disinformation.' Retired professor Jeffrey Funk Retired professor Jeffrey Funk points out that AI has spent huge amounts of money trying to combat 'hallucinations' - where AI systems 'make up' facts - but has not solved the problem. He wrote on LinkedIn: 'The revenue isn't there yet, and might never come. The valuations anticipate trillion dollar markets, but the actual current revenues from generative AI are rumored to be in the hundreds of millions. Those revenues genuinely could grow by 1000x, but that's mighty speculative. We shouldn't simply assume it. Funk also warns that the pace of innovation in generative AI appears to be slowing. He said, 'Think about PCs or the iPhone. There were big improvements in system performance during the early years that diminished over time despite 40 percent annual improvements in the performance to price ratios of memory and processor chips. 'With Moore's Law having slowed considerably in the last 5 to 10 years, [OpenAI's Sam] Altman can't expect much more from Moore's Law and those concerned with generative AI's big appetite for energy are bound to push for regulations. Could the returns from software like ChatGPT be less than expected? (AFP) Speaking to The Information, Todd Lohr, a principal at consulting firm KPMG, which resells Microsoft products, was lukewarm on the benefits of Microsoft's CoPilot AI products. Lohr said: 'Word is okay, Powerpoint isn't particularly useful unless you train it on specific [instructions] because it only creates a Powerpoint that's very basic. 'Excel is not there yetyou have to spend a ton of time prompt-engineering to get it to do anything for you, which takes way longer than just writing the Excel formulas yourself.' Bank of America investment strategist Michael Hartnett has previously suggested that AI might be a bubble, comparing it to the dotcom crash of 2000. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said during an earnings call in February that near-term revenue from AI is 'relatively small'. Speaking to DailyMail.com, Dom Couldwell, Head of Field Engineering at DataStax, said that we remain in the 'unknown unknowns' phase of generative AI. Couldwell said: 'This area has seen so much hype, it is growing up in public - it took Netflix three years to get to one million users, but it only took ChatGPT five days. 'There are also companies looking at this as the next get rich quick scheme after crypto.' The companies that Coudwell works with are still trying to find where Generative AI can deliver results, he said. He said: 'Not to get too technical, but the challenge is how companies get their own data and Intellectual Property working for them, rather than just leveraging OpenAI or Google's tech. 'Just trying to get value from GenAI from out of the box solutions or to replace staff won't work - you need to use it as a multiplying factor to make your employees more productive, offer more value to customers and differentiate from your competition's cut and paste chatbot.' Sci-fi stories have long portrayed human settlements on the moon as filled with glitzy ads and bright neon billboards. For example, in the 2019 film 'Ad Astra', a lunar colony is peppered with logos of big brands including Virgin, Apple and Atico. Now it seems two companies are about to take a giant leap for advertising by making this a reality in just a few years. Californian startup Astrolab has signed a deal with a creative agency called Group of Humans to offer brands the chance to advertise on the moon. Astrolab is aiming to send its 'Flex' rover to the moon in 2026, although it's unclear exactly how the lunar buggy would be involved in flogging the latest products. Astrolab is aiming to send its 'Flex' rover to the moon in 2026 , although it's unclear exactly how the lunar buggy would be involved in flogging the latest products. Ads could potentially be displayed on the side of the buggy, which has been designed to transport humans and materials around the moon (MailOnline's impression) In the 2019 film Ad Astra, a future colony on the moon is peppered with the logos of big brands including Virgin, Apple and Atico READ MORE: Astrolab reveals moon rover that looks like a giant PRAM Called FLEX, the rover would crouch and lift payloads up from lunar surface Advertisement Ads could potentially be displayed on the side of the buggy, which has been designed to transport humans and materials around the moon. Rob Noble, founder of Group of Humans, told the Times that brands in sectors including telecommunications, construction and art could benefit from lunar ads. The firm has developed a 'lunar charter' that all participating brands must sign which sets out a commitment to the 'betterment of life on Earth'. 'Brands can really stand out as a result of putting themselves into this situation where there is no atmosphere and limited gravity,' Mr Noble said. 'You're exposing your products to all sorts of extremes that will help you learn while proving to consumers that it's really strong.' The idea of product placement during space travel is nothing new, he pointed out. For example, during the Apollo missions of the 1960s, Omega's Speedmaster wristwatch made up an official part of each astronaut's kit. And NASA is working with Prada to design spacesuits for astronauts to wear to the moon on the Artemis III mission. Californian space startup Astrolab is aiming to send its 'Flex' rover to the moon in 2026, aimed at transporting cargo and astronauts NASA hopes to develop a sustainable lunar exploration program starting from 2028. This artist's illustration shows what NASA's Artemis base camp could look like READ MORE: NASA is taking astronaut applications Could you be the next Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin? Advertisement But Noble ruled out any kind of 'stunt' akin to the recent failed Peregrine One mission to the moon, which carried the remains of remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Unfortunately, Peregrine One burnt up in the Earth's atmosphere having never reached the lunar surface, meaning Roddenberry's remains were lost. 'It isn't about rubbish stunts to send up Star Trek remains,' he said. 'We are focused on making sure that the resources of the moon are cared for and preserved. 'It's about really being thoughtful and an awareness that this is going to be really important for mankind. 'We want to find the companies that really want to change the world.' Astrolab made the headlines a couple of years ago when it revealed a prototype for its Flex rover to allow humans to quickly zip around the moon's surface. The buggy will also be able to crouch down and lift payloads up from the lunar soil, before carrying them under its belly and depositing the cargo at a desired location The full-scale Flex prototype completed a test drive in the California desert near Death Valley The buggy will also be able to crouch down and lift payloads up from the lunar soil, before carrying them under its belly and depositing the cargo at a desired location The buggy can be controlled remotely, manoeuvre semi-autonomously, and even be modified to include a crew interface so astronauts can ride onboard while driving it across the moon's surface Astrolab plans to assemble a fleet of its rovers over the coming years in an attempt to become 'the UPS, FedEx, and the Uber of the moon'. The full-scale prototype completed a test drive in the California desert near Death Valley, a surface on Earth that's most similar to the dusty lunar surface. Elon Musk's firm SpaceX will transport the first Flex rover to the moon as soon as mid-2026, the same year NASA is planning to put humans on the moon again. Ultimately, Flex will be one of perhaps hundreds of private companies that will have developed equipment to sustain a permanent moon base. Eventually as part of its Artemis programme, NASA plans to have set up a base camp in the lunar south region by the end of this decade. The Group of Humans website is currently putting out calls for interested companies to get in touch. It says: 'Our mission with Astrolabs Flex rover in 2026 isnt just a trip to the moon; its a leap forward for science, culture and civilization itself. 'We are asking a handful of the Earths most responsible and iconic brands to help create a new frontier in communication, product innovation, and ethos.' Experts say 10 per cent of Britain's wind farms should be floating by 2030 The secret to unlocking Britain's clean energy future might be found in giant floating wind farms. These enormous floating structures can reach up to 240 metres (787ft) in height - around the same size as a skyscraper. And experts predict they could make up 10 per cent of the UK's wind farms by 2030. However, building an enormous tower designed to sit in high winds poses some significant engineering issues. From 'spars' that bob like fishing lures to cutting-edge hybrid platforms, engineers have created hundreds of different designs for these clean-energy giants. There are six different types of floating wind turbines which have been developed. They range from simple designs like the spar to more complex hybrid platforms Six innovative designs for floating wind farms 1. Spar A single, cylindrical counterweight which extends up to 100m below the surface. 2. Barge A wide, shallow floating platform. 3. Tension leg platform Cables attach to the seabed and hold a small platform in place. 4. Semi-submersible Several vertical cylinders held together with the turbine in the centre. 5. Combination-type Makes use of several different types of support such as lowering weights. 6. Hybrid-platforms Multiple types of renewable energy collection systems. Advertisement Currently, most wind turbines that you see are 'fixed' turbines, meaning they have been drilled into the sea floor. This method is very effective at ensuring the turbine can resist the strong winds it is meant to harness, but isn't always the best option. Dr Emma Edwards, an engineer at University of Oxford who develops floating platforms, told MailOnline that fixed turbines can't be used in the windiest areas. She explained: 'The wind is much stronger and more reliable in deep water. 80 per cent of global wind capacity is located in water depths that are too deep for fixed platforms.' Since it would be too expensive, or simply impossible, to drill into the seabed, the better solution is for turbines to float above it. The challenge for engineers is to design a floating platform that can keep a 240m-tall tower from swaying too much in extremely strong winds. While Dr Edwards says there are hundreds of different unique designs, these broadly fit into six different categories. 1. Spar The simplest, and potentially cheapest way to build floating farms is by building 'spar' turbines. These counteract the force of the wind by extending a weight to the bottom that extends deep underwater. Just like a fishing lure, these towers bob above the surface while the counterweight keeps them upright even in strong winds. The counterweight, or ballast, can be more than 100 metres below the surface, making the overall structures enormous. Some spar turbines are 253 metres tall, with 78 metres submerged under the sea and anchored to the sea bed by cables. This presents an issue since most normal docks aren't deep enough to accommodate something of this size. Dr Edwards explains that the turbines need specialist installation procedures to install the platform once it has been towed to deep water. Spar turbines like this one off the coast of Scotland have a single, long counterweight which extends up to 100 metres of more beneath the water 2. Barge Rather than going deep like a spar, barge systems spread themselves out wide. Barges use large, shallow platforms to spread the weight of the turbine over a larger area. Since the platform extends less than 10 metres below the surface of the water, they can be towed straight out to sea from a standard dock. This could potentially make barges cheaper since they don't need any specialist installation vessels or equipment. However, as Dr Edwards writes in The Conversation: 'They can be difficult to make because the platform is usually a single, large unit with a complex shape.' Barge turbines like this use a very large, shallow platform to spread out the weight of the turbine and prevent it swaying in the wind 3. Tension-leg platform Tension-leg platforms (TLPs), as the name suggests, make use of tension instead of buoyancy to overcome the force of the wind. The turbines use a smaller platform which is secured to the sea bed using mooring lines which hold the system upright. Since there is no deep drilling required to install these lines, TLPs can be used in much deeper seas than fixed alternatives. Also, since they tend to be smaller and lighter than barges or spars they are easier to construct at standard ports and don't have much of an impact on the sea bed. However, the platforms are not stable by themselves until the lines have been secured. This means they do need specialist towing equipment to safely take them out to sea where they can be secured. Rather than drilling into the sea bed, tension leg platforms, as shown in this artist's impression, use long cables to connect to anchor to the sea floor 4. Semi-submersible These platforms combine elements from both barges and spars to try and solve some of the problems of both. They consist of between three and five vertical cylinders, with the turbine in the middle. This spreads out the weight of the turbine while also acting as a counterbalance in high winds. Dr Edwards says: 'Like barges, semi-submersibles do not require specialist tow-out equipment and work for a wide range of water depths.' Semi-submersible turbines, like this one developed by the University of Maine, use several pillars which sink below the surface to act as a counterweight for the platform 5. Combination-type Combination types are a broader category of platforms that mix together elements from all the other styles. Dr Edwards told MailOnline that these often take inspiration from the oil rigs. 'Large floating platforms have been used in the oil and gas industry for 60 years,' she says. These rigs can access deeper water sites by using a combination of semi-submersible or TLP designs. However, there is now a push to develop wind-power specific floating platforms that use these same advantages. One promising design uses a lowerable ballast to stay stable. These look like traditional barge platforms but can lower a large weight from taught cables once they have been taken out to see. This combines the easy installation of barges with the added stability of having a deep counterweight. 6. Hybrid platforms The last category of platforms are those that try to get more bang for their buck by combining multiple renewable-energy systems in one package. These designs often include wave energy converters or solar panels to gather even more energy while out at sea. And, since the power is all from one source, this drastically reduces the amount of cables you need to build to connect everything up. As a bonus, using a wave energy converter even helps dampen the motion of the platform. This results in a steadier wind turbine which increases the power production even further. Hybrid power systems, as shown in this artist's impression, combine two or more different types of renewable, most frequently wave converters, to generate even more power READ MORE: World's first FLOATING wind farm starts generating electricity off the coast of Scotland Advertisement Where have floating wind farms already been built? Since floating wind farms can tap into the reserves of power in deep water, they are receiving a lot of attention from governments and researchers. There are currently four fully operational floating wind farms in Europe alongside a number of test sites and pilot projects around the world. The largest is the Hywind Tampen wind farm which was opened in 2023 off the coast of Norway. This farm is made up of 11 floating turbines and provides 88MW of power. However, this power is currently used to support offshore oil and gas projects rather than being transported back to Norway for public use. In China, the Shanghai Electric Wind Power Group recently unveiled the first hybrid wind farm which includes solar panels and an area for fish farming. According to the company, it should produce 96,000 kWh of electricity daily at full capacity, enough to provide power for around 42,500 people. There are currently four operational floating wind farms in Europe and one hybrid power plant beginning operations in China. Two of Europe's are located in Scotland Are there any floating wind farms in Britain? Two of Europe's four floating wind farms are located off the coast of Scotland. Hywind Scotland and the Kincardine wind farm are both home to small-scale pilot projects of a few turbines each. Hywind Scotland has five spar turbines which collectively produce enough energy for 35,000 UK homes. The Kincardine wind farm meanwhile has another five floating turbines which use barges. This floating wind turbine is part of the Kincardine wind farm in Scotland. The Kincardine wind farm has five turbines which can collectively power 35,000 homes While these might seem like a small start, at least 10 per cent of the UK's wind turbines should be floating by 2030, according to Dr Edwards. Last year, the government finalised plans for three areas of floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea, not far from the Bristol Channel. Each of these three sites will produce up to 100MW, although the government claims that the entire Celtic Sea project could eventually provide 4GW of power. Dr Edwards told MailOnline: 'In the UK, the water depth is "intermediate," and therefore barges, TLPs or semi-submersibles look best-placed for deployment.' Meta faces claims that its users cannot consent to their data being used The EU alleges that Apple and Google restrict users' choice of services The tech giants are being investigated by the EU for anti-competitive behaviour Apple, Meta, and Google are all under investigation by the EU for suspected breaches of anti-competition rules, the European Commission has announced today. The EU says it has launched five separate investigations into the world's biggest tech companies amid concerns they might have breached the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The investigations concern business practices that make it harder for users to choose products not owned by these companies. If found in breach of the rules, they could each face fines up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover - potentially billions of dollars for the biggest firms. Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition policy lead, says the investigations concern Alphabet's rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing in Google Search, Apple's rules on steering in the App Store and on choosing browsers and changing defaults, and Meta's 'pay or consent model'. Margrethe Vestager, the EU's competition policy lead (pictured) announced today that Meta, Alphabet, and Apple are all under investigation for non-compliance with anti-competition laws In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the European Commission said that it was launching five investigations under the remit of the new Digital Markets Act The DMA, which came into full effect earlier this month, is aimed at breaking up the monopolies large tech companies have over users' choices. Despite having only been in place for just 18 days, the EU is already leveraging this new law to bring a significant legal challenge against the biggest names in tech. Ms Vestager said: 'We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA. 'We will now investigate the companies' compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe.' One of the DMA's biggest concerns is how tech companies act in ways that prevent users from changing to other products or service providers. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the European Commission said it would be investigating Alphabet, Google's parent company, for 'self-preference' and 'steering'. Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for the internal market, wrote in a post on X that the EU wanted to 'make ruse everything is done by the book' The EU claims that Google search results unfairly preference other Google products such as Google Shopping, Google Flights, and Google Hotels over rival products. If true, this would be considered a breach of rules requiring Alphabet to treat its own products and those of other companies with equal weight in searches. Additionally, under the DMA, companies are required to allow developers to 'steer' customers away from the app store. However, the EU now alleges that both Google and Apple are not fully compliant because they 'impose various restrictions and limitations' on users. These restrictions allegedly 'constrain, among other things, developers' ability to freely communicate and promote offers and directly conclude contracts, including by imposing various charges.' Apple's CEO Tim Cook (pictured) now faces regulatory action in the EU and in the US where the tech giant is accused of monopolising the smartphone market Google's parent company, Alphabet, is under investigation for self-preference and steering which are in breach of the DMA. Pictured, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet The new investigation follows just on the back of the EU's decision to fine Apple 1.8 billion (1.5 billion) for breaching competition law in the music streaming sector. Brussels ruled that Apple had failed to comply with anti-competition laws by preventing Spotify from informing customers about payment options outside the app store. Last week, the US Justice Department announced it was launching a landmark lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of monopolising the smartphone market with its policies. Facebook parent firm Meta, meanwhile, is under scrutiny over its scheme which asks people to pay to avoid their data being used for adverts. The DMA requires that data 'gatekeepers', like Meta, obtain consent from users before using their data across different platforms. The EU claims that by offering users a choice to either 'pay or consent', Meta does not give users a real alternative to having their data used. The Commission said it expects its investigation to take around a year to complete. Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) is no stranger to allegations that his company misuses customer data. In the EU's latest case, they claim that Meta does not give users a genuine opportunity to consent to having their data used Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for the internal market, said: 'We have been in discussions with gatekeepers for months to help them adapt, and we can already see changes happening on the market. 'But we are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses. 'Should our investigation conclude that there is lack of full compliance with the DMA, gatekeepers could face heavy fines.' If found in breach, the companies could be hit with fines up to 10 per cent of their total worldwide turnover. In case of repeat offences, these fines could be extended up to 20 per cent. If the breaches are deemed to be 'systematic' then the EU could even oblige companies to sell part of their business or ban them from acquiring additional services. The 10 cities in the US with the worst air pollution in 2023 got a major boost from wildfires, according to a new study, clocking levels of pollution that are far above the maximum safe levels. But big cities like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, places that many people associate with low air quality, weren't anywhere near the top 10 in the world, let alone in the country. In its annual survey of the world's worst cities for air pollution, Swiss air technology company IQAir found that over 1,000 cities in the US experienced air pollution levels multiple times higher than the international standard for poor air quality. This threshold is the World Health Organization's (WHO's) guidelines for the type of air pollution identified as most hazardous to human health: particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns. Here is the list of the 10 most air polluted cities in the US for 2023, according to IQAir's measurements at a reported 7,800 monitoring locations worldwide: READ MORE: Cooking a grilled cheese is MORE toxic than breathing in car exhaust fumes, study claims Gas stoves produce up to 10 times more aerosols per cubic nanometer than what's measured at busy roadsides. Advertisement 1. Coraopolis, PA Forest Park, GA Cave Junction, OR Happy Camp, CA Adrian, MI Claymont, DE Robesonia, PA Attleboro, MA Elwood, IL Huntington, IN These cities had the highest average air levels of 2.5-micron particulates or aerosols, known also as PM2.5. This type of air pollution comes from cars, coal powerplants, and burning waste - common activities all around the world, no matter where you live. According to the WHO, a 'safe' amount of PM2.5 is an average exposure of 0-5 micrograms per cubic meter of air per year. But the top 10 most air polluted cities in the US in 2023 all racked up 15-20 micrograms per cubic meter. What makes these cities so dirty? Besides cars and coal, PM2.5 can also come from burning wood, and according to IQAir, the massive spike in air pollution across the US in 2023 came from the wildfires that raged in Canada for months. The resulting smoke which swept across the United States saw the average person exposed to 66 percent more fine particle pollution than the previous record year in 2021. Coraopalis, Pennsylvania, was found to be the most polluted city in the US in 2023. But it mostly has the Canadian wildfires to blame, as its Cave Junction, Oregon, the third most polluted city in the US, also had a fluke year, spiking from 9.7 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter in 2022 to 17.1 in 2023. In most cases, there is nothing especially dirty about any of these cities. Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, for example, measured 19.3 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5 on average in 2023, according to IQAir's measurements. But these pollution levels don't reflect the typical air in Coraopalis, which measured just 7.2 in 2022. Much of this came from September when levels reached 42.1 and October when they hit a suffocating 54.2. And it's the same story for the other cities on this list: Pollution levels spiked in 2023, especially in summer and fall, corresponding with the Canadian wildfires. Cave Junction, Oregon, the third most polluted city in the US, also had a fluke year, spiking from 9.7 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter in 2022 to 17.1 in 2023. Claymont, Delaware was the 6th most polluted city in the US in 2023, according to IQAir. Despite a summer spike corresponding with the wildfires, its 2023 was not a fluke. Forest Park, Georgia, the second most air-polluted city in the US in 2023, had similarly bad ratings in 2022 and 2021. Part of greater Atlanta, it is home to a crisscrossing tapestry of congested highways. In other cases, 2023 was not a one-off. Claymont, Delaware, for example, was the sixth most polluted city in the US in 2023, according to IQAir. Despite a summer spike corresponding with the wildfires, its 2023 was not a fluke. In 2023 its average PM2.5 concentration was 16.5, only a mild jump from 16.4 in 2022 and even a decrease from 16.7 in 2021. For Claymont, the culprit has already been identified: highways. Interstates I-495 and I-95 run through it, spewing so much air pollution that a one-time spike barely registered. Regardless of their source, clouds of PM2.5 are just the right size to stick in your lungs and infiltrate the bloodstream, making them particularly worrisome from a public health perspective. Adrian, Michigan, fifth most polluted city in the US in 2023, was only a little worse off that year than the one before. According to the WHO, outdoor air pollution is estimated to cause over 4 million premature deaths worldwide annually. Being exposed to high levels of particulate matter, even over relatively short periods of 24 hours, can be harmful, according to the California Air Resources Board. These aerosols can contribute to respiratory diseases like asthma and bronchitis, and increase a person's chances of having to go to the hospital for heart or lung causes. Exposure to these nanoparticles has even been linked to dementia and cognitive decline. The US ranked favorably in a measure of air quality: Out of 134 countries, it ranked 102nd dirtiest in the world. But that's just a national average, and someone in Delaware can't breathe the air in Montana. So for anyone looking for the least-polluted air, here are the rankings from IQAir's data: Makawao, Hawaii Telluride, Colorado Tulalip, Washington Homer, Alaska Waimea, Hawaii Koloa, Hawaii Kihei, Hawaii Bayfield, Colorado Sharp readers will see a pattern. Saudi Arabia now has a matching pair of male and female humanoid robots whose AI is coded to be culturally aligned with the nation's values. Just weeks after the male robot, Muhammed, groped a women's bottom at its debut event, its creator has revealed that a female version, Sarah, was programmed to refuse conversations about sex or politics. Discussing either topic openly is illegal for real Saudi women under Sharia law. Sara 'knows that she's a girl, she's 25 years old, she's 1.62m [5ft, 3in], she's wearing Saudi clothing,' according to the CEO of the Riyadh-based firm QSS AI & Robots. Saudi Arabia now has a matching pair of male and female humanoid robots with artificial intelligence (AI) that's culturally Saudi - meaning the 'woman' (Sara, above) won't discuss forbidden topics like sex and politics A 3D design of the Sara robot's endo-skeleton (left), which provided a first step toward Saudi company QSS's manufacturing of the female robot. 'She should be nice, not talking politics, not talking sex,' the firm's CEO said this month, 'because we're in Saudi Arabia' CEO Elie Metri said Sara's counterpart Muhammed had just been clumsy, an all too human trait in close quarters. 'While humans are speaking, we move hands,' Metri said. 'We are not mannequins. It's the same for a robot.' Like Muhammed, who is clad in traditional Saudi clothing of a red keffiyeh and long gown, Sara wears a traditional abaya, a long-flowing modest dress, and a headscarf-like hijab both symbols of Islamic piety in the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation. Metri boasted that Sara speaks both English and Arabic and that the large language model (LLM) AI that powers her conversational skills doesn't 'rely on anyone else's libraries, not even ChatGPT.' This unique approach, according to news site Asharq Al Awsat, means that Sara can detect and understand a variety of different Saudi dialects. When addressed by a 'Hello, Sara,' the AI springs into action, analyzing sentences, and then providing, as the site put it, 'the appropriate answer.' That definition of appropriate, of course, is uniquely Saudi for QSS's female humanoid. 'She should be nice, not talking politics, not talking sex,' Metri told Business Insider, 'because we're in Saudi Arabia.' Tommy Deblieck, the Co-CEO of Zorarobotics which partnered with the Saudi firm, told reporters the goal for both Sara and Muhammed is to make them both compatible with a host of 2,000 smart sensors, wearables and other 'Internet of Things' (IoT) devices on the market While the two humanoid bots may be the product of domestic Saudi parts and technical labor and bear the nation's 'Saudi Made' branding both were manufactured and programed in partnership with Belgian firm Zorabotics. The European tech firm's handiwork can also be seen in the pint-sized, 23-in. Nao V6 bipedal robot, designed to be 'a programmable personal teaching assistant.' Tommy Deblieck, the Co-CEO of Zorarobotics, told reporters that the goal for both Sara and Muhammed is to make them compatible with a host of third-party smart sensors, wearables and other 'Internet of Things' (IoT) devices on the market. By interacting with humans via a system of microphones, cameras and their AI chatbot skills, both of QSS's gendered humanoid robots could then be able to act as a person's point of contact with an array of smart devices in their real life, not unlike a traditional concierge or personal assistant. 'This QSS-project is not finished,' Deblieck told Robotics and Automation News. While the two humanoid bots may be the product of domestic Saudi parts and technical labor,, both were manufactured and programed in partnership with Belgian firm Zorabots, whose work can also be seen in the ZoraBots Nao V6 (above) 'In the next phase 'Sara' will be linked to IOT making her capable of linking and controlling millions of smart devices from more than 2,000 global brands.' That effort will involve making sure Sara is capable speaking a third language: so-called MQTT standards-based messaging protocol, which lets machines talk to machines efficiently, taking up only limited bandwidth. The Flemish executive also teased that his QSS partners in Riyadh plan to 'develop a Saudi virtual world where 'Sara' plays a central role,' likely linked to the country's flagship 'city of the future' project, NEOM: the site of a daring, underground luxury skyscraper, the world's largest skypool, dubbed an 'elevated heaven,' and perhaps one-day robotic servants, like Sara and Muhammed, as part of its futuristic amenities. Sara was first unveiled at Saudi Arabia's LEAP/DeepFest 2023 event in February of last year. Muhammed debuted this March as part of LEAP/DeepFest 2024, where his controversial apparent butt-pat was caught on video. Despite some efforts to modernize in recent years, Saudi Arabia's legal system is still based on religious Sharia law, derived from the centuries-old teachings of Islam. The results can often be brutal, particularly in Sharia's approval of capital punishment, with 29 people already executed this year, less than three months into 2024. At least seven of this year's executions were beheadings. READ MORE: Scientists create Albert Einstein AI who chats with fans, and answers questions about the physicist's groundbreaking work The late Albert Einstein has been brought to life as a digital human, complete with a German accent. The innovation can talk to users and answer questions about his famed theories. Advertisement Women are especially impacted by the strict, gendered legal system, which can punish them for taking part in political activism or discussing sex in public. Samara Iqbal, an attorney for Manchester-based Aramas International Lawyers, told Mail Online this January that she has started to warn women enticed by the marriage proposals of Middle Eastern royalty and aristocrats. Iqbal's firm has opened new branches in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to deal with the influx of new cases. 'I see so many girls who say they're going overseas with a rich prince, thinking nothing can now go wrong,' She told Mail Online, 'more and more British women are doing so.' 'But if he wants to suddenly cut her off, he can do [...] he can literally throw her on the streets.' 'We're seeing more and more people who have married and moved out to the Middle East, thinking they've being given a luxury lifestyle, but it only lasts so long and the courts will go against her.' Conscious perhaps of Saudi Arabia's reputation in the West, Metri noted that his firm's Muhammed robot had been merely gesticulating while talking when the bot looked like it touched the behind of news reporter Rawya Kassem of Dubai's Al Arabiya channel. Kassem, he said, simply got too close to the lightly-bearded, Saudi humanoid. 'Sexual assault is totally different from a robot hand touching the jacket of a lady,' he explained, although his QSS staff, according to Metro UK, warned other attendees to 'maintain a safe distance from the robot during its demonstration.' The US Treasury Department levied sanctions on a Chinese firm Monday, accusing it of being a front company for 'dangerous and irresponsible' state-sponsored hacking. The announcement came on top of seven indictments issued by the Department of Justice accusing seven men affiliated with that company, Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd. (Wuhan XRZ), of 'malicious cyber operations.' Wuhan XRZ's cyberattacks, officials said, were part of a pervasive effort to sneak malware into critical American utilities, including electric grids and water supplies. Although the presence of this software buried within critical US infrastructure has not yet led to an offensive cyberattack, intelligence officials believe that Beijing had installed the malicious code in an effort to thwart US efforts to defend Taiwan. This afternoon, the US Department of State, which collaborated with the FBI and the DOJ on the hacking probe, announced a $10 million reward for 'information on the group and the defendants' as part of its Rewards for Justice program. The US Treasury Department levied sanctions on a Chinese firm Monday, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued indictments against seven suspected hackers involved, accusing the firm of being a front company for 'dangerous and irresponsible' state-sponsored cyber warfare Above, photos from the DOJ indictment: (Top left to right), Ni Gaobin, Weng Ming, Cheng Feng, (bottom left to right) Peng Yaowen, Sun Xiaohui, Xiong Wang and Zhao Guangzong In recent years, Biden Administration officials and federal law enforcement, including FBI director Christopher Wray, have devoted considerable resources to pursuing a Chinese government covert operation they have dubbed 'Volt Typhoon.' The moniker describes a reported Chinese hacking network that investigators said has burrowed into over 20 major nodes of US infrastructure in the past year alone. Their successful targets, according to government officials who spoke anonymously to the Washington Post, have included a water utility in Hawaii, a major West Coast port and at least one oil and gas pipeline. China's cyber attacks have grown to a 'scale greater than we'd seen before,' FBI director Christopher Wray warned this year, amid fears that US infrastructure is under threat Today's seven indicted and accused hackers linked to Wuhan XRZ, officials said, are believed to be responsible for what had been previously labelled by US law enforcement and intelligence agencies as 'Advanced Persistent Threat 31,' or APT31. The seven accused APT31 hackers, Ni Gaobi, 38; Weng Ming, 37; Cheng Feng, 34; Peng Yaowen, 38; Sun Xiaohui, 38; Xiong Wang, 35; and Zhao Guangzong, 38, are also alleged to have targeted US government officials in addition to public infrastructure. DOJ officials said that the group used 'sophisticated' means to hack into economic and defense companies as well, hiding code in over 10,000 so-called 'phishing' or 'spear-phishing' emails. APT31, according to FBI and DOJ, targeted these companies, as well as government and political officials, candidates and campaign staff for the past last 14 years. The Director of National Intelligence warned in February of 2023 that China is already 'almost certainly capable' of launching cyberattacks to disable oil and gas pipelines and rail systems Analysts believe that China's military has changed its strategy from intelligence-gathering to infiltration in a bid to sew chaos should war break out 'The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses,' Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Monday. 'This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States.' The tandem sanctions issued by the US Treasury Dept. were part of an international effort with partners in the UK to crack down on Chinese hacking into core services. Treasury officials described the work of malicious, state-sponsored cyber-actors as 'one of the greatest and most persistent threats to US national security.' Although the malicious code, buried within critical US infrastructure, has not yet led to a cyberattack, US intelligence officials believe Beijing planted it in order to thwart US efforts to defend Taiwan. Above, a still from an animated video shared by China's military in spring of 2023 - simulating how China would launch an all-out attack on Taiwan READ MORE: Secret world of China's international hacking networks exposed in major leak A major leak of documents from Chinese company I-Soon shows how the private cybersecurity contractor hacked foreign governments and companies on behalf of Beijing. Advertisement According to Treasury Department investigators, the alleged APT31 hackers affiliated with Wuhan XRZ have been responsible for some of China's most malicious cyber operations including a 2020 'spear-phishing' operation targeting the US Naval Academy and the US Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute. The operation, according to court filings, suggestively followed public comments by a US State Department official in 2020, who described Chinese military actions near Taiwan in the South China Sea as 'completely unlawful.' In another example, the hackers are accused of targeting the Norwegian government after the Scandinavian country awarded its famed Nobel Peace Prize to activists from the Hong Kong democracy movement. A series of reports by US intelligence agencies has argued that Chinese military strategists hope to compel the US to pivot away from Taiwan and focus on its own disaster management, directing US military and logistics towards domestic electricity, food and water concerns, in the event of a Chinese attempt to reclaim the island nation. Taiwan's independence and past history as part of China have been a point of tension between the United States and the Asian superpower since the dawn of the Cold War in the years after World War II. A leader of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the country's biggest doctors' group, appeared before police Monday for another round of questioning over suspicions of instigating a mass walkout by trainee doctors. Joo Soo-ho, the chief KMA spokesperson, arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul to undergo questioning, his third police questioning connected to the walkout. He is one of five former and current KMA leaders against whom the government has filed a police complaint, accusing them of instigating the mass walkout by trainee doctors. The collective action has continued for over a month in protest against the government's expansion of the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats starting next year, causing delays and cancellations of surgeries and emergency medical treatment. Before entering the police office, Joo denounced the government's ongoing moves to facilitate dialogue with the medical industry as "two-faced," saying that any dialogue with the government is "unnecessary." After President Yoon Suk Yeol called for flexibility in the government's moves to suspend the medical licenses of striking trainee doctors the previous day, the government said it is reaching out to the medical industry to explore the possibility of dialogue. "On one hand, the government is putting on a show by offering dialogue, but on the other hand, one of the KMA's emergency committee members was questioned again yesterday as a witness," he said. "There's no need for dialogue with a government that displays such two-faced behavior," he noted. Joo also accused the government of triggering the walkout and urged a parliamentary investigation to find those responsible. Meanwhile, police also planned to question the head of the doctors' internet community "medistaff" Monday afternoon over an online post blacklisting trainee doctors not participating in the walkout. Earlier this month, a post deriding trainee doctors sticking to their hospitals without participating in the walkout as "genuine doctors" and revealing their personal information was uploaded on the web community. Police launched an investigation into the case following a complaint from a civic group accusing the head of medistaff and the writer of the post of charges including defamation and business obstruction. (Yonhap) Many say they're two of the best ways to discover a destination's delights Tinder and Bumble are the two largest dating apps in the world Insider knowledge about a destination is much-prized among those travellers seeking a more authentic holiday experience. But how best to acquire it? Guidebooks penned by locals are a solid source, but many turn to dating apps for top tourist tips. According to a subsection of users, Tinder and Bumble are two of the best ways to discover a destination's lesser-known delights. They are the two largest dating apps in the world and offer gateways for tourists to make connections with locals and tap them up for information about the best places to explore. Caroline West, a sex and relationship expert for Bumble, said: 'Using Bumble abroad can be helpful if you're keen to schedule a date or two in between sightseeing, find a travel buddy or a local to show you around. According to a subsection of users, Tinder and Bumble are two of the best ways to discover a destination's lesser-known delights 'Recent polling found that almost a third of people on Bumble use dating apps to meet new people when travelling alone, and over half agree that dating abroad is a fun way to learn about a new culture.' And a Finnish study on female 'Tinder tourism' identified how useful the app was for women abroad. It said that 'solo female travellers are expanding their social network through Tinder when travelling', saying the app is useful for 'alleviating general safety concerns, looking for authentic travel experiences and connections with locals when travelling because of a desire to learn about the local culture, as well as seeking company'. One such user is Anjelica (not her real name), a 38-year-old restaurant manager who lives in London. She told MailOnline Travel: 'I travel a lot on my own and Tinder is a great way to line up someone to have a drink with, first and foremost, but often it can lead to a really exciting way to explore. 'For example, I matched with a local on a week-long trip to San Francisco. We met at BB's for cocktails. Caroline West, a sex and relationship expert for Bumble, said: 'Using Bumble abroad can be helpful if you're keen to schedule a date or two in between sightseeing, find a travel buddy or a local to show you around' 'We talked about all his favourite spots in the city: where to queue to get the best fresh crab, great independent bookstores, and more cocktail spots than was healthy. 'Suddenly, I had a full-blown itinerary mapped out for me. Some we went to together, some I hit on my own. It opened up the city for me in a way I'd never have discovered without the match... I wouldn't have had the same experience without Tinder.' And Chris (41, not his real name), an insurance analyst who lives in Chicago, told MailOnline: 'I travel a lot for work and when I get to a new town I'll swipe right on everyone. That way, instead of sitting in a hotel room ordering room service, I can have coffee with a local and find out what to see, where to go - a nice park, good food, where I can get a massage. 'I don't think I've ever had sex with a travel match, but I've made lots of friends. You get the best out of the city that way.' Chris adds that he uses Bumble, rather than Tinder, when travelling: 'People on Tinder assume you're only after sex.' The first three floors boast bright LED lights, gaming chairs and over 70 PCs Guests can play for hours and sleep in capsules once they've finished gaming It's surely the ultimate hotel for gamers. In Osaka, Japan, a hotel called 'e-Zone' encourages guests to indulge in hours of streaming sessions in an 'environment you can't experience anywhere else'. The interior can only be described as a gamer's paradise. The first three floors are dedicated entirely to e-sports (electronic sports) and are kitted out with over 70 PCs and gaming chairs, enticing customers to 'play all day'. The first two floors are open spaces, lit with red LED lights and containing back-to-back rows of PC monitors. It is in these areas that tournaments are often held with games displayed on large ceiling monitors. Pictured is a two-bed private room in the hotel, which comes with gaming PCs for each person The first two floors (pictured) - often used for tournaments - are illuminated with red LED lights and large monitors occupy the walls and ceilings The third floor is home to PCs available for both individuals and groups to use. Also known as the 'blue-based flour', guests are encouraged to game in a way that suits their 'play style'. Once they've finished gaming, guests can recharge in small 'capsule' rooms. The hotel offers 87 capsules, including 78 male-only and nine women-only rooms. The hotel offers a standard cabin with a bed width of 100cm for 4,000 yen (21.17/$27.04) per night. And a premium cabin for 8,000 yen (42.36/$54.09) with a bed width of 150cm. Both types have access to shower facilities. The hotel has a total of 87 'capsule' rooms where guests can recharge (pictured). There are 78 male-only and nine women-only rooms Game on: Hotel e-Zone in Osaka The eighth floor is a designated women-only cabin floor. According to the hotel's website, it is designed for 'female users to use safely and comfortably'. Alongside its capsules, the hotel offers three private rooms built to accommodate eight people. Each room comes with high-spec gaming PCs, a bed for each person, and a shower with an amenity kit. Guests can choose between a two-bed private room, priced at 16,000 yen (84.73/$108.22) per night, or a four-bed private room at 32,000 yen (169.42/$216.44) per night. For those who dont fancy spending the night, the hotels gaming facilities are still available to book. Prices start at 350 yen (1.85/$2.37) per hour. For an enhanced gaming experience, various equipment is available to rent from LED keyboards and 'ultra-fast gaming mice to Razer gaming glasses that block blue light rays. To book a stay visit go-e-zone.reservation.jp/ja. For more information head to the hotels website at ezone-osaka.com/. Advertisement It's a brew-tiful fusion of geography and gastronomy. This fascinating world map reveals every country's favourite way to consume coffee - and cappuccino is No.1 overall. The map was drawn up by Coffeeness, a blog dedicated to 'all things coffee', which examined the Google search volume for 21 coffee types across countries worldwide over the past 12 months. This includes searches made both in English and in the native language of each respective country. Cappuccino - one espresso shot mixed with steamed milk and foam - tops the ranking in 24 countries, including Belgium, France, Netherlands, Spain, India, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. 'People love cappuccino because it offers a balanced amount of each component in every sip,' Coffeeness says. This fascinating world map reveals every country's favourite way to consume coffee - and the cappuccino is No.1 overall Espresso is the second most popular coffee drink on the planet. The strong, concentrated brew is preferred in 14 countries worldwide including Germany, Greece, Iceland, Pakistan, Egypt and the U.S. In third place, it's black coffee, made using nothing more than coffee grounds and water. It's the preferred choice in 12 countries including Bulgaria, Portugal, Israel, UAE, South Africa and Colombia. The Americano, made by mixing an espresso shot with hot water, ranks fourth, topping the list in 10 countries including Italy, South Korea and Argentina. Rounding off the top five is the Mocha in fifth. The milk-based espresso drink, which is flavoured with chocolate powder or syrup and commonly topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, is the number one brew in six countries including Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Japan and New Zealand. Other popular coffee drinks are latte, Irish coffee, flat white, macchiato and iced coffee - which all tie for the sixth spot. Espresso is the second most popular coffee drink on the planet. The strong, concentrated brew is preferred in 14 countries worldwide including Germany, Greece and Iceland Mocha is the fifth most popular coffee type, favoured in six countries including New Zealand. Macchiato, in joint sixth, is the top choice in four countries including the UK and Australia Latte, made with one or two espresso shots mixed with steamed milk and a thick layer of frothed milk, is most popular in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brazil. Irish coffee is favoured in Ireland and, perhaps more surprisingly, Finland, Norway and Sweden. South America has a mixture of coffee tastes 'Its a curious coffee variation because it is spiked with whiskey, sweetened with some sugar and has a whipped cream layer added to the top,' says Coffeeness. Flat white, made by mixing two espresso shots with steamed milk and no froth, is the go-to coffee in Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Denmark. While macchiato, served in an espresso cup with a coffee-to-milk ratio of one to two, is the No.1 in the UK, Albania, Honduras and Australia. 'It's great for people who find a cappuccino too weak but an espresso too bitter,' according to Coffeeness. Iced coffee - 'simply your favorite coffee drink served on ice and [sometimes] mixed with sweeteners and milk' - is the preferred drink in Nicaragua, Chile, Norway and the Philippines. Coffeeness notes that it's 'different from cold brew coffee in that cold brew coffee has a bolder taste and takes longer to make'. The bottom of the ranking included Cortado (No.1 in Bahrain, equal parts espresso and steamed milk); frappuccino (top in Peru, made with coffee, ice and syrups) and Turkish coffee (top in Turkey, brewed in a copper pot called a cezve using ground coffee and sweetened to taste). A separate map for the U.S reveals the most popular coffee in every state. Reigning supreme, espresso takes the top spot in 28 states from Alaska, Washington and Oregon in the west to Maine, New York and South Carolina in the east. It's also joint first in California, along with cappuccino. A separate map for the U.S reveals the most popular drink in every state, with espresso the overall No.1 choice In second place is the latte, favoured in 14 states including Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky. Taking the bronze, it's cappuccino, which is the preferred coffee drink in 11 states including Texas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Florida. Louisiana is the only state that prefers cafe au lait - a French coffee drink made with equal parts black coffee and steamed milk with no froth. Caffeine-lovers in Hawaii and Connecticut, meanwhile, are big fans of affogato, which usually comes as a scoop of milk-flavoured or vanilla gelato topped with a shot of hot espresso. Advertisement I keep forgetting were on a plane, my husband, Dan, says as we settle into our gigantic thrones. Around us, passengers are sipping on the finest Champagne, perusing a menu that consists of plates of poached Atlantic lobster with smoked salmon and grilled Angus beef fillet, and opening their red ribbon-wrapped Diptyque gifts, which have been left on our marble tables. Were on board a Qatar A350-1000, flying in ridiculously luxurious style from London Heathrow Terminal 4 to Doha, Qatar. Were here to test out the airlines Qsuite - business-class seats with doors that convert into a double bed when travelling as a couple. Id heard so much about the Qsuite since it launched in 2017, with experts in the industry repeatedly referring to it as the very best in the business-class world. Better than some first-class cabins, one said. So I had huge expectations. The Mail's Harriet Sime boarded a Qatar Airways A350-1000 for what turned out to be a very dreamy flight from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Hamad International Airport. Harriet and her husband, Dan (above), put Qatar's Qsuite to the test, with their seats converting into a double bed Harriet writes: 'Id heard so much about the Qsuite since it launched in 2017, with experts in the industry repeatedly referring to it as the very best in the business-class world' Our Qsuite experience begins at Terminal 4, where were granted access to a swanky private business-class check-in area before we head to Qatars expansive lounge for some quick pre-dinner drinks and snacks. An hour later, and were boarding. Within seconds of stepping onto the aircraft, were presented with hot towels to freshen up and deliciously golden glasses of Duval-Leroy Champagne, which we devour in minutes before giddily getting acquainted with our seats while our jackets are hung up. The Qsuite cabin, in the airlines signature burgundy and grey tones, is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, with our seats, 5E and 5F, in the middle, facing backwards. Our seats are big. Really big, with a width of 21.5 inches and legroom pitch of 79 inches, and mountains of space both above, below, and either side of my 5ft 7in frame. We could easily squeeze a couple of children or another adult in. But that would be silly. And not what the Qsuite is all about. Its about total luxury, with acres of space and everything you need within arms reach. I find a pocket to my right with a bottle of water and noise-cancelling Oryx One headphones, as well as space for me to place my laptop and small bag. 'Our seats are big,' writes Harriet. 'Really big, with a width of 21.5 inches and legroom pitch of 79 inches' LEFT: Within seconds of boarding the aircraft, reveals Harriet, she is 'presented with hot towels to freshen up and deliciously golden glasses of Duval-Leroy Champagne'. RIGHT: The Qsuite cabin is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration To the right of my gigantic 20.5-inch screen is a marble grey table where my amenity kit by Diptique, the high-end brand I always have to stop myself buying 100 candles from, is waiting to be unwrapped. Inside, I find a body cream, lip balm, and a glass tube of perfume that retails at 95 a bottle, along with socks and an eye mask. The large TV remote sits under the marble table, along with USB points and a shelf where I place my glasses. The other Qsuites in the cabin are taken up by a mother and her daughter who seem delighted to be dining, sleeping and flying in style next to one another and businessmen who use the time to chat, well, business. My first impressions of the Qsuite? Its enviable reputation is entirely deserved. But the thing that stands out for me is the cabin crew. Theyre as good and knowledgeable as those youll find in top restaurants and have that effortless ability to switch between friendly and formal, depending on the requirements of the passenger theyre serving. Harriet's very first impression of the Qsuite? 'Its enviable reputation is entirely deserved,' she writes. Above are Harriet and Dan's seats in slumber mode The Qsuite is 'total luxury, with acres of space and everything you need within arms reach'. The image on the left shows the ergonomically arranged seat adjustment buttons and charging points. Harriet adds that there's 'mountains of space both above, below, and either side of my 5ft 7in frame' My stewardess is Hiba, who I immediately warm to. She has bright red lips and wears a wide smile throughout the flight. She starts by asking for our drink preferences once were in the air and goes through our dinner options. The a la carte menu is extensive and offers an order when you like concept. We opt for the three-course dinner in the sky at 7pm, three hours after take off. Once were in the air, Hiba lowers the divider between our two seats, places a cushion to soften the gap, and presents my pre-ordered glass of Carmel Road Chardonnay. On the dot, exactly three hours in, Hiba adjusts my tray table, lays down a white tablecloth, battery-operated flickering candle, three variations of a bread roll and asks which of the four different options of olive oil I would like. Ive had worse service at Michelin-starred restaurants. The food? Harriet reveals that she's 'had worst service at Michelin-starred restaurants'. The a la carte menu is 'extensive and offers an "order when you like" concept' LEFT: This image shows how the Qsuite has more-than-ample legroom for Harriet. RIGHT: Storage containing a bottle of water and noise-cancelling Oryx One headphones Above is a Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1000, the model that Harriet flew in Yum's the word: A snap of the a la carte menu. Harriet and Dan opted for the three courses for dinner Harriet's conclusion? 'The Qsuite is a marvel and one all airlines should try to replicate' As we cross over the Adriatic sea and onto Turkey, I tuck into a starter mezze of hummus, moutable and muhammara followed by seared Atlantic halibut with parsley barley risotto. The food is outstandingly delicious. Guests, as were called, are addressed as Mr and Miss/Mrs, and the question Mrs Sime, would you like a top-up?, seems to always land at the perfect moment. And the answer yes please follows every time. The huge burgundy-coloured doors on either side of our seats allow for complete privacy, while the seat numbers double as Do Not Disturb indicators, turning red to let cabin crew know youre after some shut-eye. After dinner, we decide to give the famous lie-flat double bed a go. I head for the large bathroom - which, unusually, has a window and floor-to-ceiling mirrors - to change into the White Company pyjamas and slippers I was handed before take off. I return to find the cabin crew lowering our seats, before covering them with thick mattresses and topping with cushions, pillows and a duvet. We snuggle up and drift off in minutes, waking hours later to find were about to land. The 6 hours and 20 minutes go by in a luxurious blur and I reluctantly leave the plane in Doha to connect to our Seychelles-bound flight. I regularly write about how the golden age of flying is over. But is it? After this flight, Im not so sure. She instantly became a pop culture icon after bursting into the public eye as loudmouthed Page 3 girl, Jordan. Having tried her hand at modelling, singing, presenting, campaigning and reality TV, the glamour model quickly became a household name in Britain. Yet while Katie Price's moniker will ring a bell for both young and old, you would be forgiven for not recognising the star on sight alone, with Katie famously undergoing numerous cosmetic procedures over the years. After two decades in the spotlight, Katie is almost unrecognisable from the naturally pretty teenager who burst on to the modelling scene at the age of 16, with her natural curls and fresh-faced beauty winning her an army of fans. Katie, now 45, has undergone an array of procedures over the years, including rhinoplasty, a silhouette facelift, 3D, veneers, lip fillers and Botox, culminating in her first facelift in 2017. Now, after two decades under the surgeon's scalpel, MailOnline takes a look at the many faces of Katie Price. The many faces of Katie Price: MailOnline takes a look at the star's changing look after two decades of boob jobs, Botox and face lifts 1995 - Barefaced beauty At the age of 17, Katie Price was a fresh-faced natural beauty looking to make it into the world of glamour modelling. At a friend's suggestion, the teenager had professional photographs taken and was quickly snapped up by a modelling agency who landed her a Page 3 slot in The Sun newspaper the following year, sparking the creation of her glamour model alter ego, Jordan. Speaking last year, Katie revealed she was glad that she wasn't exposed to social media at the time as she had 'no idea what Botox was or fillers', otherwise she may have started her tweaks and enhancements at an even earlier age. 1995: At the age of 17, Katie Price was a fresh-faced natural beauty looking to make it into the world of glamour modelling 1998 - First boob job Having just turned 20, the rising glamour model experienced her first taste of cosmetic surgery, boosting her 32B cup breasts to a 32C. The procedure cost 4,500 and it's thought her mum Amy and stepdad Paul helped pay for her to have the procedure. Katie has since spoken out about her decision to go under the knife, admitting she was 'too young' and that she feels sorry for young girls growing up these days in a world of social media and filters. 1998: Having just turned 20, Katie experienced her first taste of cosmetic surgery, boosting her 32B cup breasts to a 32C 1999 - Second and third boob job Despite having only just increased her breast size, Katie opted to have two more procedures the following year at the age of 21. Katie boosted her bust from a C cup to a D cup and just a few months later went up again to a F cup. Katie has previously claimed that she has only paid for two of her boob jobs over the course of her career - it is not known if these were the ones. 1999: Despite having only just increased her breast size, Katie opted to have two more procedures at the age of 21 2001 - Lip fillers At the age of 21, Katie had her first cosmetic procedure on her face, opting for lip fillers. While the glamour model did not confirm the rumours at the time, she was seen sporting a noticeably fuller pout while out enjoying the party scene. Her overall look had also started drastically transforming, with the model sporting dramatic false lashes, bright lipstick and pale hair extensions. 2001: At the age of 21, Katie had her first cosmetic procedure on her face, opting for lip fillers 2004 - Botox Aged 26, Katie began to experiment with Botox injections that relax the muscles in your face to smooth out lines and wrinkles. She made no secret of her love of the procedure, announcing at the time: 'I get my forehead and around my eyes Botoxed every six months and I love it. You can't beat it. It just freezes all the wrinkles and that's what you want.' At the time, Katie insisted she would never take things further and have a facelift, explaining: 'I'd never have a full facelift. I've seen what they can do to people and I don't want to go through that.' 2004: Aged 26, Katie began to experiment with Botox injections that relax the muscles in your face to smooth out lines 2006 - Fourth boob job Katie went under the knife yet again to take her F cup breasts up to a G cup. The glamour model also played around with her overall look and embraced her dark side with a new brunette hairstyle. She also continued to dabble with fillers and Botox. 2006: Katie went under the knife yet again to take her F cup breasts up to a G cup 2007 - First nose job and veneers At the age of 29, Katie took her love of surgery to the next level, undergoing rhinoplasty, a chemical peel and treating herself to a 25,000 set of new veneers. 'Oh my God, it burned like hell!' she said at the time. 'The next day I had this hideous red rash on my chin but two days later there wasn't a single spot left.' Speaking about her nose job at the time, she admitted to liking her original nose, explaining: 'I liked my nose before and now. If I had a cupboard with both noses, I would alternate between them!' 2007:Katie took her love of surgery to the next level, undergoing rhinoplasty, a chemical peel and a 25,000 set of veneers 2008 - Fifth boob job Despite gradually increasingly her bust size over the year, Katie fancied a change on her 30th and brought her bra size back down from an F cup to a C cup. The procedure meant that Katie had returned to the size of her first boob job 10 years prior. Katie's changing shape also coincided with the launch of her first clothing line - an equestrian range. 2008: Despite gradually increasingly her bust size, Katie fancied a change and brought her bra size back down to a C cup 2011 - Sixth boob job Katie's smaller chest didn't last long, and at age 33 she went back under the knife again to boost her bust to an F cup. Katie also underwent body-contouring treatment and cheek and lip fillers. The Loose Women panelist admitted that she loved having her cheeks filled to give her a 'plumper, more youthful look'. 2011: Katie's smaller chest didn't last long, and at age 33 she went back under the knife again to boost her bust to an F cup 2015 - Seventh and eighth boob job Just before appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, the reality star had a botched boob reduction that left her with a hole in her breast and an implant protruding from her flesh. Katie told her shocked housemates: 'Ive got no tits anymore. Theyve gone. Theres not even anything there. If you saw what Im like underneath. The scars gone septic. My whole implant was hanging out on New Years Day.' Shortly after leaving the Big Brother house she underwent corrective surgery and had her implants swapped for a D-cup. 2015: Just before Celebrity Big Brother, the star had a botched boob reduction that left her with a hole in her breast 2016 - Ninth boob job and tattooed makeup Despite her surgery horror the year before, Katie was undeterred and flew to a Brussels clinic to go under the knife yet again, this time settling on a 32GG bust. The reality star also had her eyebrows and lips tattooed, also known as 'permanent make-up', explaining that she prefers to go make-up free on a day-to-day basis. Additionally the star has regular facial treatments, last year sharing a bloodied selfie after having a dermal roller micro-needling treatment, which sees a dermaroller with many tiny needles rolled across into the skin - designed to stimulate cells into regeneration. 2016: Despite her surgery horror the year before, Katie flew to a Brussels clinic to get another boob job, this time a 32GG cup 2017 - First face lift, new veneers and 10th boob job Despite insisting she would never have a face lift and could rely on Botox, Katie went back on her word undergoing a 'Silhouette' face lift. The procedure is designed to lift a sagging cheeks and blurred jawline, using 'sutures' implanted under the skin to sculpt features. However, Katie was soon spotted with puffy features, revealing that she suffered an allergic reaction to anesthetic penicillin after having further work on her veneers. She also had her breast implants reduced from 1000ml implants to 795ml. 2017: Despite insisting she would never have a face lift and could rely on Botox, Katie went back on her word 2018 - Second face lift Katie claimed her first face lift had been a botched job and went back under the knife the following year aged 40 to correct it. She said at the time 'I need to get my face re-corrected after surgeon has totally f**ked my face up', admitting it had He agent added: 'She had the thread and it really quite distorted her look. She got a lot of backlash, a lot of negative press, a lot of trolling, everyone saying shed taken it too far, when actually it was a job that had not gone to plan.' 2018: Katie claimed her first face lift had been a botched job and went back under the knife the following year aged 40 2019 - Third face lift, boob job first Brazilian bum lift and 11th boob job Katie jetted to Turkey to overhaul her entire look with a full body transformation. The reality star opted for a face, eye and eyelid lift, Brazilian bum lift along with a tummy tuck. Just three months later she returned to the clinic and opted for another boob job, going back down to a D cup. 2019: Katie jetted to Turkey to overhaul her look with a face, eye and eyelid lift, Brazilian bum lift along with a tummy tuck 2020 - 12th boob job and another set of veneers Katie returned to Turkey to have another set of veneers and revealed her real teeth had been reduced to stubs as she flashed a smile on her YouTube channel. The mother-of-five then jetted to Belgium to correct botched surgery on her breasts, saying her surgeon was utterly shocked by the 'awful' previous procedure. Katie said: 'They looked deformed, they were absolutely awful. That's the first time I've gone to a different surgeon. I had to go back to Frank with my head down, ashamed that I'd been to another clinic.' 2020: Katie returned to Turkey to have another set of veneers then jetted to Belgium to correct a botched boob job 2021 - Liposuction, eye and lid lifts and 13th boob job Amid the Covid pandemic, Katie jetted off to then red-list Turkey for a complete cosmetic surgery overhaul, undergoing full body liposuction, eye and lip lifts, liposuction under her chin, and fat injected into her bum. The reality star also visited Belgium to have her 13th boob job as well as full body liposuction with bum fat removal. The plastic surgery - performed by Dr Frank Plovier - came just five days ahead of the glamour model's sentencing for her shocking drink-drive crash. 2021: Katie jetted to Turkey for a complete cosmetic surgery overhaul, undergoing full body liposuction, eye and lip lifts 2022 - Another brow and eye lift Katie secretly jetted back to Belgium at the beginning of 2022 for an eye and brow lift and had been concealing her new look with her head in a bandage. Dr Judy Todd, an aesthetic doctor at Clinica Medica in Glasgow, said: 'It appears like she's had a face lift, temporal brow lift, and possibly an upper blepharoplasty.' It was reported last month that Katie plans to travel to Turkey imminently for yet more plastic surgery, amid claims she wanted to get some tweaks in after being unhappy with her latest work. Sian Dellar, Brow Specialist and Founder of Sian Dellar Permanent Makeup Clinic, added: 'Katie's eyebrows, like the rest of her, have changed lots over the years! 'Back in the 90s she had a very thin over plucked brow which was the fashion at the time, and today she has an extremely thick and unnatural looking brow. 'Currently it seems the face or eye lift that shes had have pulled her brows outward which looks unnatural and makes the brows appear almost stretched. 'Of course, as with any enhancement, its personal preference but we recommend not going too many shades darker, and keeping the shape as natural looking as possible and work to create or enhance brows to frame the face. 'Katies choice to have them so thick and dark and in that unusual positioning means they dominate her face and are the first thing the eye is drawn to. I would love to see Katie take her brows back to 2015/2016 when the fuller brow became a big trend. She got it right then and they framed her face well.' 2022: Katie secretly jetted back to Belgium for an eye and brow lift and is planning to to travel to Turkey for more surgery 2023 - 16th and 'biggest ever' boob job It's not clear if Katie lost track of the number of breast augmentations or opted to keep some of her surgery private but by 2023 it emerged she'd undergone her 16th boob job, two years after claiming to be on her 13th. The star went under the knife in a bid to have the 'biggest in Britain' and was subsequently pictured being wheeled into surgery at the Be Clinic in Belgium. She is said to have wanted even bigger breasts, opting for 2120 CC implants in a bid to boost her already large bust size. Katie told OK! magazine of her boobs: 'I love them. They healed really quickly and they didn't hurt at all. That probably doesn't help. Because I heal quickly, it doesn't put me off and I have more. 'I would go bigger as well and I will eventually. I just love having big boobs and a small body. I've always loved that look. In my eyes, if I'm having a boob job, I want them to look fake, I don't want them to look natural. I don't like the natural look. 'I just like that old-school American Playboy pin-up look. When I have surgery, that is what I'm striving for. If I could look like my airbrushed pictures, that would be amazing. But that's impossible to achieve.' MAFS bride Lauren Dunn's heart was shattered when she found out that her groom Jono McCullough was secretly texting bride Ellie Dix on Sunday's episode. The stunning discovery was just the tip of the iceberg in a series of events that Daily Mail Australia reveals were bound to sink this relationship. The latest scandal erupted during the Commitment Ceremony, where the couple's seemingly stable bond was blown wide open by Tori Adams' revelations. But according to insiders, the pair's union was troubled from the start, marred by secrets and insincerity. Jono's attempt to deflect criticism during Monday's dinner party exposed a 'secret pact' between he and Lauren, after she admitted to meeting a man in Bali. MAFS bride Lauren Dunn's heart was shattered when she found out that her groom Jono McCullough was secretly texting bride Ellie Dix on Sunday's episode The stunning discovery was just the tip of the iceberg in a series of events that Daily Mail Australia reveals were bound to sink this relationship The facade of a pact did little to mask the turmoil. 'He told everyone that Lauren told him that she had a boyfriend in Bali and that she was planning to go back to him,' they said. MAFS bosses were reportedly 'pi**ed off' upon discovering Jono's claims, feeling betrayed by the manipulation of the show's premise. Jono's attempt to deflect criticism during Monday's dinner party exposed a 'secret pact' between him and Lauren, after she admitted to meeting a man in Bali 'Jono telling people him and Lauren had a pact is just his way of trying to make Lauren look fake so he can get the heat off,' the insider disclosed. They claimed that Jono 'begged Lauren to stay on the show and not leave to rectify his image'. 'Jono promised her that he was was completely fine that that she wasn't comfortable being more than just friends, and wouldn't hold it against her but wanted to just "try" and she agreed, but it was very fractured,' claimed the source. They claimed that Jono 'begged Lauren to stay on the show and not leave to rectify his image' Lauren has since rubbished claims she had a guy waiting for her in Bali, telling Daily Mail Australia that it was just a 'fling'. 'You've got to give it to some of these publications, they are very good with their creative writing. It's just a bit ridiculous. I didn't have a Bali boyfriend,' she began. 'I told Jono at the very beginning of the experiment. We were talking about our past hookups and who we'd been with. I mentioned I had a holiday fling before the show. 'I feel like me being honest about that has come back to blow up in my face later down the line. It's almost being used against me.' Lauren has since rubbished claims she had a guy waiting for her in Bali, telling Daily Mail Australia that it was just a 'fling' The fracture in their on-screen relationship became glaringly evident when Jono didn't defend Lauren after Jack Dunkley's disrespectful comment to put a muzzle on his wife. Lauren reportedly felt unprotected and undervalued, leading to an even greater rift. Despite Jono's pleas for Lauren to stay for the sake of his image, the damage was irreparable. The fracture in their on-screen relationship became glaringly evident when Jono didn't defend Lauren after Jack Dunkley's disrespectful comment to put a muzzle on his wife Behind the scenes, Lauren and Jono lived separate lives. 'Lauren and Jono's relationship was similarly tumultuous, with the two barely spending any time together on weekends,' the insider revealed. The estrangement was such that Lauren preferred the company of her friends and fellow bride Sara Mesa over Jono. Behind the scenes, Lauren and Jono lived separate lives Claims of poor treatment also emerged, with Lauren accused of dismissing Jono's attempts at conversation while glued to her phone, as Jono prioritised his fitness regime over their relationship. 'Lauren treated Jono very poorly,' stated the source, adding that the cast sympathised with him over her seemingly indifferent attitude. The couple's disconnect was so profound that even the producers' warnings couldn't prevent Lauren from making plans with Sara, opting for companionship over her commitment to the experiment with Jono. Claims of poor treatment also emerged , with Lauren accused of dismissing Jono's attempts at conversation, glued to her phone, while Jono focused on his fitness regime over fostering their relationship In defense of Lauren, another source suggested her actions were a result of feeling let down and betrayed. Jono's failure to stand by her during the dinner parties and his secret affair were cited as reasons for her withdrawal. 'She felt betrayed and let down,' the source said, summing up Lauren's disillusionment. In the end, it appears that Lauren and Jono's marriage was never meant to be. Marcia Hines has broken her silence after collapsing in her dressing room ahead of part one of the Australian Idol final on Sunday night. The judge, 70, was rushed to hospital after she collapsed on the set of the reality series and injured her head in the fall. Following the incident, Hines shared a post to her Instagram page and revealed she is planning to return to Monday night's final show. 'I'm very sorry that I'm not there with you all tonight. It's been a big few days of work and I was feeling a little unwell,' she wrote. 'I'm resting up now so I can be back with you all tomorrow night.' Marcia Hines has broken her silence after 'collapsing in her dressing room' as it's revealed whether she'll be returning to the Australian Idol finale A source told Daily Mail Australia, Hines stayed in hospital overnight for observation but is expected to released this morning. Her collapse was due to her diabetes. She did not appear on Australian Idol on Sunday and Guy Sebastian filled in for her as a judge. Hines is a judge on the singing show alongside Amy Shark and Kyle Sandilands. Host Ricki-Lee Coulter told viewers that Hines would be absent at the start of Sunday's episode. Following the incident, Hines shared a post to her Instagram page and revealed she is planning to return to Monday night's final show 'You will have spotted that we are missing someone very important and very special to the Idol family. Unfortunately Marcia is unwell and unable to join us tonight,' she said. Sandilands then chimed in: 'Sorry, sorry. That's a real downplay. She was taken out of here in an ambulance. 'Just so that everyone knows. She's fine. She's well. But she didn't just ring up with a headache. She went down.' Hines has been a Type-1 diabetic for almost 40 years. Frankie Muniz made the bombshell admission on Sunday that he hasn't spoken a word to his ex-girlfriend Hilary Duff in over 20 years. The I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star, 38, revealed he has had no contact with Duff, 36, since they filmed the movie Agent Cody Banks together in 2002. 'I haven't talked to Hilary, not one word. It's not that I wouldn't love to talk to her, but at that time, it was more an issue with me and her mum,' he told News.com.au. Muniz said the issues began when Duff's mother Susan asked him to get Hilary a role in his spy comedy movie Agent Cody Banks. 'At the time, I had in my contract I got to pick the girl in my movie,' admitted the former child star. Frankie Muniz (pictured) made the bombshell admission on Sunday that he hasn't spoken a word to his ex-girlfriend Hilary Duff in over 20 years And even though Duff did end up co-starring alongside Muniz in the film, Susan's fierce campaigning for her daughter put a strain on the relationship with Hilary, which ended not long after. The revelation comes as Frankie was unveiled as the Hollywood star set to appear on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here Australia season 10. The actor will be appearing on the series alongside Australian radio host Brittany Hockley, Candice Warner, Skye Wheatley and Peter Daicos. The I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star, 38, revealed he has had no contact with Hilary Duff (left) since they filmed the movie Agent Cody Banks together in 2002 Muniz has admitted he will have 'no idea' who any of his cast mates are as he doesn't know 'anybody'. He told The Daily Telegraph that he was asked to appear on several seasons of the show before he finally agreed. 'It was always something that the schedule didn't work and the show doesn't air in the US so to be honest, I wasn't quite sure exactly what it was,' he said. The star notably put his Hollywood career aside to focus on race car driving, and also was briefly a drummer for a band called You Hang Up from 2012 until 2014. Muniz rose to fame in 2001 playing the title character in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, which followed the misadventures of a teenager growing up in suburbia. Kim Kardashian appeared on Instagram over the weekend to share a new selfie with her 364 million followers. The 43-year-old mogul and mother-of-four who recently had an amicable reunion with ex-husband Kanye West displayed her signature sex appeal in the closeup snapshot. Kardashian wore sporty sunglasses and flashed her ample cleavage as she posed in low-cut white tank top with string straps. The bombshell's long, dark hair was pulled to one side, falling over her chest as she wore a nameplate necklace and placed a hand on the back of her neck. It comes after news that the reality television star split from beau Odell Beckham Jr., 31. Kim Kardashian, 43, appeared on Instagram over the weekend to share a new selfie with her 364 million followers Weeks ago the superstar shared another busty selfie online and captioned it, 'miss u' Odell is currently a free agent after parting ways with the Baltimore Ravens last spring. The two stars were last seen together on March 10 when they made a joint appearance at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in Los Angeles. The breakup comes after Life & Style reported that Kim 'loved' the 'idea of having a baby' with the athlete. An insider revealed that Kim 'has plenty of frozen eggs so its really just a matter of talking Odell into this plan, even if that means making it worth his while financially!' Kim shares four children with West North, 10, Saint, eight, Chicago, six, and Psalm, four. Odell also already has a child, a son Zydn, two, who he shares with ex-girlfriend Lauren Wood. Prior to her romance with Odell, Kim was in a nine-month relationship with comedian Pete Davidson. Following her split with the younger comedian, Kardashian declared she was taking a break from dating. Kim's latest selfie comes after news that the reality television star split from beau Odell Beckham Jr., 31; pictured in Beverly Hills on March 10 It was business as usual for the beauty on Saturday as she shared the latest items from SKIMS, her range of bras, underwear, and loungewear Kim threw up a peace sign as she attended a Lakers game in LA last week Kim seems to be taking the recent breakup in stride, as she took to social media over the weekend to promote her successful brand SKIMS. It was business as usual for the beauty on Saturday as she shared the latest items from her range of bras, underwear, and loungewear. The socialite showed off her killer curves in an orange bra and matching bottoms while recording herself in her sprawling closet. She captioned one makeup-free image: 'Trying on my @skims tonight.' Get all Daily Mail Australia's latest MAFS stories on WhatsApp here Married At First Sight intruder couple Jade Pywell and Ridge Barredo have revealed their plans to start a family. The lovebirds said they hope to have twin babies in the near future so they can give Jade's eight-year-old daughter Victoria some siblings to play with. 'Boy and girl twins! I'll definitely be waiting for another ring before we have any kiddies,' Jade told New Idea magazine. 'The show doesn't count. I'd like a proper engagement, instead of me just being handed to him.' Ridge added he was committed to having children with Jade so their family could be complete. Married At First Sight intruder couple Jade Pywell and Ridge Barredo have revealed their plans to start a family 'This is the first time I've been in love. so I don't plan on us going anywhere but forward together,' he said. 'More kids and then we can live happily ever after with Vee and our three dogs.' The lovebirds are still going strong after leaving the social experiment. The lovebirds said they hope to have twin babies in the near future so they can give Jade's eight-year-old daughter Victoria some siblings to play with Ridge, 27, and Jade's, 26, pairing on MAFS was initially questioned during their wedding ceremony after Ridge cracked several immature jokes while delivering his vows. He also repeatedly used a made-up catchphrase 'deccc' and described himself as 'gorgeous', leaving Jade's sister very unimpressed. Speaking to the camera about his bride, Ridge bizarrely said: 'She's gorgeous, like man, decccc!' Ridge also promised to provide 'safety and security' in their relationship, before bizarrely adding, 'because I know you girls love that stuff'. Ahead of the ceremony, Ridge had also described himself as 'picky' when it came to women and gushed over how good-looking he is. He confidently said: 'At the end of the day, I'm picky. Don't tell me how good-looking I am, because I know that, I tell myself every day, I don't need people to tell me that.' However, viewers scepticism about the coupling quickly evaporated during the wedding reception, after Ridge and Jade quickly bonded. China urges Philippines to immediately stop infringement, provocation in South China Sea Xinhua) 11:26, March 25, 2024 BEIJING, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines should immediately stop its infringement and provocation, and refrain from undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Saturday. The spokesperson made the remarks in response to the Philippines' resupply to Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao. According to the spokesperson, in disregard of China's strong opposition, the Philippines sent a supply vessel and two Coast Guard vessels on March 23, without permission from the Chinese government, to intrude into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao, in an attempt to send construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded at Ren'ai Jiao for its repair and reinforcement. China Coast Guard took necessary measures at sea to safeguard our rights, firmly blocked the Philippines' vessels, and foiled the Philippines' attempt, said the spokesperson. "Nansha Qundao and its adjacent waters, including Ren'ai Jiao, have always been China's territory. This is established in the long course of history, and complies with international law," said the spokesperson. If the Philippines insists on going its own way, China will continue to adopt resolute measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, the spokesperson said, adding that the Philippines should be prepared to bear all potential consequences. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Hur Young-in, chairman of bakery giant SPC Group, appeared before prosecutors on Monday for questioning over allegations that he forced bakers at an affiliated firm to quit their labor union. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office grilled Hur, 75, as a suspect in the afternoon about a possible violation of labor union and relations laws, according to judicial officials. The questioning came about one year and five months after the Ministry of Labor and Employment asked the prosecution to indict some officials at PB Partners, an SPC company, on suspicion of forcing bakers at Paris Baguette, another SPC affiliate, to withdraw their membership in the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a hard-line labor umbrella group, between 2019 and 2022. Prosecutors suspect there was intervention at the SPC Group level in the process of giving disadvantages in promotions to the KCTU members. Earlier this month, SPC Group's CEO Hwang Jae-bok was arrested and indicted on charges of violating the labor laws and prosecutors have obtained a statement from him to the effect that there was an instruction from Hur. (Yonhap) ITV viewers have been left divided over a new drama series which kicked off on Sunday night. Passenger tells the story of a London detective marooned in a small town, caring for her exs mother and working off her frustrations by sparring at the local gym with a Polish mechanic. Starring Loki's Wunmi Mosaku, 37, Shameless's David Threlfall, The Bay's Daniel Ryan, the show has drawn comparisons with surreal 90s US classic Twin Peaks, a mystery set in a town where strange events occur. But its premiering episode on Sunday split viewers, with some loving it and others left not so convinced. 'Loving #Passenger Bending all the genres and sprinkling with a sh** ton of Northern grit,' one person said on X, formerly Twitter. 'Top stuff.' ITV viewers were left divided over a new drama series with some branding it 'different' and 'unexpected', and others slamming it as 'boring' as it debuted on Sunday Other newfound fans of the show said; 'Well #Passenger was a bit good wasn't it. Not at all what I expected from ITV on a Sunday night. Looking forward to the rest'; 'One episode in and Im hooked. Happy Valley meets American Werewolf in London;' 'That was a really good first episode! Wunmi Mosaku's Riya is a character I want to follow, her and the rest of the quirky ensemble cast'; 'Enjoyed that. #Passenger Good to see ITV doing something a bit different.' But others were less than impressed, saying: 'Try watching Passenger on ITV. That'll send you to sleep'; 'Anyone watching Passenger on ITV? What a total bore'; 'Just been watching the new drama #Passenger on ITV. Very confusing and hard to follow The only thing familiar in that program was a certain Italian make of car!! If you know you know.'; 'Watching #Passenger on ITV, bizarre and nonsensical, especially the police car being a 1990s Rover Metro;' 'The script is trying to hard to add comedic parts that any drama is going to get lost in this awful awful script location is weird direction is weird sorry very poor ITV.' Wunmi's Riya Ajunwa is a police officer who misses her old job with the Met in London and is desperate for a big case. Starring Loki's Wunmi Mosaku, 37, Shameless's David Threlfall, The Bay's Daniel Ryan, the show has drawn comparisons with surreal 90s US classic Twin Peaks, a mystery set in a town where strange events occur But its premiering episode on Sunday split fans, with some loving it and others left not so convinced Other fans were less than impressed, saying: 'Try watching Passenger on ITV. That'll send you to sleep'; 'She thinks she's found it when Katie Wells goes missing the day her dad is released from prison,' says Wunmi. 'Katie reappears, but Riya knows that something is very wrong. Something weird happens with Katie's car and this huge crack appears in the road, not to mention the mutilated stag. Everything's just off!' Daniel Ryan plays Derek Jackson, who runs the local bread factory. 'Derek appears to be an affable boss, but you get a glimpse of his darker side in the first episode,' says Dan. 'He's involved in transporting whatever is in the bread lorry, and he's horrified when the secret scheme starts to unravel. He gets more frightened as the series goes on, and deeper and deeper into the mess.' The series was filmed around West Yorkshire, and an old department store doubled as the factory. 'We spent two weeks in that place and we were breathing in flour the entire time,' laughs Dan. But screenwriter Andrew Buchan is proud of his cast. 'Another writer said to me, 'Don't be surprised if it turns out nothing like you imagined,' he says. 'But it's better than I hoped. The cast have been magnificent and I feel very proud of Passenger.' Get all Daily Mail Australia's latest MAFS stories on WhatsApp here Married At First Sight groom Ash Galati is making up for lost time after his disastrous pairing with Home and Away star Madeleine Maxwell on the dating experiment. The reality star, 33, was spotted putting on a loved-up display with a mystery woman at the Grand Prix after party in Melbourne on Sunday. Ash could not wipe the smile off his face as he posed up a storm with the brunette beauty during the exclusive event at the renowned Ms Collins nightclub. His stunning partner was seen with her arm wrapped around him and the pair looked to be having the time of their lives as they mingled with their celebrity friends. At one point, Ash passionately kissed his beautiful partner, confirming he is now dating again after things did not work out with Madeleine on MAFS. Married At First Sight groom Ash Galati (left) is making up for lost time after his pairing with Madeleine Maxwell on the dating experiment. The reality star was spotted putting on a loved-up display with a mysterious woman at the Grand Prix after party in Melbourne on Sunday The pest control worker cut a dashing figure at the event in an unbuttoned black blazer paired with a white t-shirt and tan pants. Galati told Daily Mail Australia on Monday he would not return to MAFS in the future, as he is currently off the market. 'I definitely don't think I would. No. 'I'm happily started dating again and things are going good, it's very early on though,' he said. At one point, Ash was seen passionately kissing his beautiful partner, confirming he is now dating again after things did not work out with Madeleine on MAFS Earlier this month, Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed that Madeleine, 30, faced insurmountable challenges within her on-screen marriage to Ash Galati, all underpinned by their painful lack of chemistry. Their relationship reached a breaking point following an intense argument, leading Madeleine to pack her bags and leave the show itself. 'Maddy refused to play ball with producers and sensationally quit. Ash was just as much done and over it too,' an insider dished. The lovebirds posed up a storm with some of Ash's MAFS costars. Pictured with Natalie Parham and Mike Felix 'Ash knew he didn't stand a chance with her. He called up the producers post-ceremony declaring he wanted out. Yet, they were brought back together for one final showdown.' This explosive ending was not what Madeleine had envisioned when she joined the show, hoping for a chance to control her narrative and experience something unforgettable. Following her exit, Madeleine has stepped back from the spotlight, deactivating her social media accounts and choosing not to participate in the show's reunion. It comes after Ash compared his ill-fated marriage to the Titanic during an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Australia, and said 'it was destined to fail.' The parents of Dame Deborah James have praised Kate Middleton's 'bravery' in opening up about her cancer battle. Heather, 66, and Alistair James, 68, whose daughter journalist Deborah died from bowel cancer in 2022, sent their love to the Princess of Wales. The pair believe Kate's 'courage' in speaking publicly about her diagnosis will convince more people to go to the doctor for check-ups and said Deborah would be 'proud' of the princess. Speaking to The Sun, the couple said: 'In being so open and honest, Kate will undoubtedly encourage many more people who are living with potential symptoms of cancer, to seek medical help. In doing so, she will save lives.' Dame Deborah, who was known as Bowelbabe, survived for five and a half years with the disease before her death, spending that time tirelessly campaigning and fundraising. The parents of Dame Deborah James have praised Kate Middleton's 'bravery' in opening up about her cancer battle (Pictured are Deborah and her mother in 2021) Kate, 42, revealed in a video issued on Friday evening that she was diagnosed with cancer last month, having spent a fortnight in the private London Clinic following 'major' abdominal surgery in January She received a damehood from Prince William for services to charity and cancer awareness one month before her death in May 2022. 'We know if Deborah were here to send Kate a message, she would tell the Princess of Wales to hold on to rebellious hope,' her parents said of Kate's statement. 'Deborah was a firm believer in the power of hope, and given how many times she beat the odds to survive, rebellious hope became her mantra.' Heather and Alistair said they believe Deboarh's positive attitude helped her survive as long as she did, and gave them more time with her. Kate, 42, revealed in a video issued on Friday evening that she was diagnosed with cancer last month, having spent a fortnight in the private London Clinic following 'major' abdominal surgery in January. She is now on what has been described as a 'recovery pathway' after starting a course of preventative chemotherapy in late February. Deborah was 35 when she received her devastating diagnosis of incurable bowel cancer and, like Kate does, she had young children. In the wake of her diagnosis, Deborah campaigned every day, including presenting a podcast called You Me and the Big C from 2018. Heather, 66, and Alistair James, 68, whose daughter journalist Deborah died in from bowel cancer in 2022, sent their love to the Princess of Wales (Heather and Alistair pictured in 2022) Dame Deborah, who was known as Bowelbabe, survived for five and a half years with the disease before her death, spending that time tirelessly campaigning and fundraising Deborah received a damehood from Prince William for services to charity and cancer awareness one month before her death in May 2022 (Pictured) Her fundraising as part of her Bowelbabe fund raised a huge 7million and Prince William had praised her for her efforts. Of William's visit to her home in Surrey, Heather said having the prince round to present her daughter with her damehood was akin to having a 'friend round for tea'. Heather reminisced about Prince William speaking to Deborah's children Hugo and Eloise, empathising as someone who lost his own mother at a young age. The mother said his kindness has never been forgotten, and her and Alistair hope he and Kate have time and space to heal together. Kate released a video message recorded last Wednesday at Windsor, saying: 'In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. A photo of Kate and her three children was shared online on Mother's Day two weeks ago William and Kate are pictured here arriving at St David's Cathedral in Haverfordwest in Wales last September 8 for a service commemorating the life of the late Queen Elizabeth II 'The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. 'My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment. 'This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family. As you can imagine, this has taken time.' Kate has been rarely seen in public since attending church at Sandringham in Norfolk on Christmas Day last year - though a member of the public filmed her and William after visiting a farm shop earlier this month. Death In Paradise viewers were shocked to see a former Coronation Street star in a guest role on the latest episode of the hit BBC drama. Richard Fleeshman, 34, appeared in the ITV1 soap opera as a teenager in the early 2000s but popped up in Sunday night's episode of BBC drama Death In Paradise, where he played Taylor Fielding in the series 13 finale. One viewer took to X - formerly known as Twitter - to say: 'Great to see Richard Fleeshman #deathinparadise ' Another said: 'Ohhh its Richard Fleeshman! #deathinparadise' A third said: 'Hes come a long way since Corrie. #deathinparadise!' Death In Paradise viewers were shocked to see a former Coronation Street star in a guest role on the latest episode of the hit BBC drama Richard Fleeshman played Craig Harris on Coronation Street (pictured alongside Helen Flanagan as Rosie Webster in January 2005) Viewers were thrilled to see Richard Fleeshman back on screen, years after he left Coronation Street The actor joined Coronation Street in 2002 alongside his on-screen mother Angela Harris (Kathryn Hunt), father Tommy Harris (Thomas Craig) and sister Katy Harris (Lucy-Jo Hudson), a family under the witness protection programme. Craig's most notable storylines included adopting a goth persona - much to his father's dismay - and becoming the first boyfriend of Rosie Webster (Helen Flanagan). The family was ripped apart when Katy murdered her father during a heated argument over her infamous affair with Martin Platt (Sean Wilson) and Angela took the blame. Wracked with guilt, Katy took her own life and Craig later hatched a plan to run away to Berlin with Rosie, but he ended up going alone and left the Street for good in late 2006. In 2007, Richard - who became the youngest-ever contestant to win Celebrity Stars in their Eyes some years earlier - released his debut album Neon. Since then, Richard has carved out a successful career in theatre, having starred in numerous West End shows such as Ghost the Musical and Company. On television, he has appeared in Call the Midwife and has played Lt. James Brice on Syfy's The Ark since 2023. Other guest stars to appear in this series of Death In Paradise include Disney Legend Hayley Mills and EastEnders star Sean Maguire, who returned to the role of Marlon Collins after more than a decade away. Richard's character was involved in a number of dramatic storylines during his time on the soap (pictured alongside Jack P. Shepherd as David Platt) The family were in the witness protection programme and in later years Angela (Kathryn Hunt, centre) took the blame when her daughter Katy murdered her own father before taking her own life Richard (centre) has carved out a successful career in theatre, seen here taking on the part made famous by Patrick Swayze in a produdction of Ghost: The Musical EastEnders star Sean Maguire, returned to the role of Marlon Collins in Death In Paradise after more than a decade away. Speaking to The Mirror, Ralf Little who plays DI Neville Parker in the series, revealed he was delighted to have Sean back, but also slightly annoyed that Sean managed to steal his title as the only person to have ever done the show twice. He said: 'It was very exciting to see Sean Maguire come back out too. He was in the first ever episode and came back to play the same character. 'That isn't really referenced in the episode, but eagle-eyed viewers will clock that! I've met Sean a handful of times, and I just loved him. He was fun, funny, professional and a brilliant actor.' 'I'm slightly annoyed though because he's now the only other person apart from me to have done the show twice! Although that said, he was playing the same character and I'm the only person to have done it as two different characters, so I still have that little personal milestone!' Katie Holmes was on the move when she was spotted catching an uptown subway in Downtown Manhattan on Sunday. Just like any other New Yorker, the actress, writer and director stood on the platform awaiting the next train to arrive looking casual chic in black slacks with a white-patterned dress shirt and white shoes. With the temperature hovering just above the freezing point, she covered up with a tan overcoat, as she checked her phone for messages. It appears the former Dawson's Creek star left home in a bit of a hurry, as she sported a wet head while down in a subway station. Her long locks were styled long, straight and flowing with a part on the slight right, to go along with the wet look. Katie Holmes, 45, waited for an uptown train in Downtown Manhattan on Sunday with a case of wet head, all while looking casual chic Donning dark sunglasses, while in the midst of all the New York City hustle and bustle, Holmes never seemed to be bothered by any passing fans. The anonymity of the big city has been the lure for many celebrities in choosing to live in New York over places like smaller towns and even Los Angeles. Still minding her own business without directing any attention to herself, the next train could be heard pulling in, which set off the awaiting riders to mingle closer to the train once it stopped and opened its doors. Holmes and the other passengers eventually filed in and she was on the way towards uptown for the next destination on her Sunday agenda. For the most part, the Toledo, Ohio, native has been able to enjoy some downtime ever since she wrapped her most recent acting gig in the Roundabout Theater Company's production of the off-Broadway play The Wanderers a year ago. Holmes portrayed movie star Julia Cheever in director Barry Edelstein's Jewish drama written by Anna Ziegler, which ran from January 26, 2023April 2, 2023 at the Laura Pels Theatre in Manhattan. As for her film career, Holmes last appeared in Rare Objects, in which she served as director, lead actress and co-writer with Phaedon A. Papadopoulos. Shot back in 2022, the drama based on Kathleen Tessaro's 2016 historical fiction novel of the same name also starred Julia Mayorga, Saundra Santiago, Candy Buckley, Giancarlo Vidrio, Derek Luke and Alan Cumming. Rare Objects tells the story of a young woman who seeks to rebuild her life when she takes work at an antique store. She regains her confidence from the kind souls who own the shop, until those from her traumatic past begin to resurface, according to IMDb. Holmes made her film debut with a supporting role in Ang Lee's drama film The Ice Storm (1997), which was followed by the teen science fiction psychological horror Disturbing Behavior (1998). It was around the time of her first two movies that she landed her breakout role in The WB teen series Dawson's Creek, alongside such other future stars as Michelle Williams, James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, and Busy Philipps, among others. The actress, writer and director wore a tan overcoat along with black slacks, a white-patterned dress shirt and white shoes For the most part, the Toledo, Ohio native has been able to enjoy some downtime ever since she wrapped her most recent acting gig in the Roundabout Theater Company's production of the off-Broadway play The Wanderers a year ago; she's seen with the cast after one performance in February 2023 For her last film role, Holmes starred in Rare Objects, which she directed and co-wrote Rare Objects, which was based on Kathleen Tessaro's 2016 historical fiction novel of the same name also starred Julia Mayorga, Saundra Santiago, Candy Buckley, Giancarlo Vidrio, Derek Luke and Alan Cumming The hit series would go on a six season run before wrapping in May 2003. By that time Holmes had already seen her star rise as a film actress with role in such productions as the comedy-drama Wonder Boys (2000), the paranormal thriller The Gift (2000), and the psychological thriller Phone Booth (2002). She would end up landing her big breakout role for the big screen in the blockbuster superhero film Batman Begins (2005) that starred Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader in the first of the three films by Christopher Nolan. Some of her other notable film roles include Thank You For Smoking (2005), Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (2010), The Giver (2014) and All We Had (2016), which marked her directorial debut along with starring as the leading lady. Advertisement Tiffany Haddish put on a dazzling display alongside chic Regina Hall and Chelsea Handler at the star-studded 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor event in Washington DC on Sunday. The 44-year-old comedian who revealed that she is sober following her second DUI arrest last year in November joined Hall, 53, her fellow Girls Trip costar, as well as Handler, 49, at The Kennedy Center for the festivities. The ceremony, 'recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, colloquially known as Mark Twain,' per the official website. Haddish wowed as she stepped onto the red carpet in a dark brown, sequin blazer that had a deep plunging neckline at the front for a sultry flare. She additionally wore a pair of matching loose-fitting trousers and slipped into open-toed black heels to complete her overall look for the evening. Tiffany Haddish, 44, put on a dazzling display alongside chic Regina Hall, 53, and Chelsea Handler, 49, at the star-studded, 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor event in Washington D.C. on Sunday Tiffany accessorized the outfit with a gold-chained necklace, as well as hooped earrings and gold rings placed on each of her hands. Her makeup was glammed up, and comprised of a layer of mascara to her lashes as well as a light purple shadow around her eyes. A warm blush and contour was added to better accentuate her cheekbones, while a dark, rosy satin tint was worn on her lips for a finishing touch. The star flaunted her eye-catching ensemble as she paused for a quick photo session upon arriving to the venue. Her appearance comes shortly after she revealed that she was sober following a second DUI arrest that occurred late last year in November. On a recent episode of The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet podcast on Friday, Haddish stated, 'I haven't drank any alcohol, smoked any weed or anything in, like, 72 days. It's not that hard.' Other celebrities were seen on the red carpet at the event, including Regina Hall who wowed in a long-sleeved, red dress. The vibrant outfit contained a V-neck cut on the front as well as a thigh-high slit on the left side. The waist was fitted to better accentuate her midriff. Haddish wowed as she stepped onto the red carpet in a dark brown, sequin blazer that had a deep, plunging neckline at the front for a sultry flare She additionally wore a pair of matching, loose-fitting trousers and slipped into open-toed, black heels to complete her overall look for the evening Other celebrities were seen on the red carpet at the event, including Regina Hall who wowed in a long-sleeved, red dress The vibrant outfit contained a V-neck cut on the front as well as a thigh-high slit on the left side. The waist was fitted to better accentuate her midriff Chelsea Handler was radiant in a long-sleeved, white dress that had a plunging neckline at the front and a small slit on the right side The hem of the gown concealed the shoes that she had worn for the night, and Hall easily carried a red clutch bag in her hand to hold a few items she needed during the festivities. Regina wore a long, gold-chained necklace as well as an assortment of flashy rings on each of her hands. Her short, brunette locks were parted in the middle, and flowed down straight to stop a few inches above her shoulders. The Scary Movie actress opted for a layer of mascara to lashes as well as a shimmering, gold shadow around her eyes. A light blush and highlighter was added to her cheekbones for a radiant glow, while a bold red tint was worn on her lips for a finishing touch. Chelsea Handler was radiant in a long-sleeved, white dress that had a plunging neckline at the front and a small slit on the right side. The stand-up comedian slipped into a pair of closed-toed, white pumps and chose to not add flashy pieces of jewelry to allow the outfit to be the main focal point. Her blonde hair was parted in the middle, and effortlessly cascaded down past her shoulders in elegant waves. The stand-up comedian slipped into a pair of closed-toed, white pumps and chose to not add flashy pieces of jewelry to allow the outfit to be the main focal point Nikki Glaser was chic in an off-the-shoulder, fitted red minidress that contained a hem which stopped a few inches above her knees The comedian's blonde locks were parted in the middle, and flowed down past her shoulders in light waves Pregnant Ashanti showed off her sense of style wearing a black blouse that was partially unbuttoned around the collar A warm blush was worn on her cheekbones, while a nude-colored, glossy tint was added to her lips to glam up the look. Nikki Glaser was chic in an off-the-shoulder, fitted red minidress that contained a hem which stopped a few inches above her knees. The Trainwreck actress donned closed-toed, shiny gold heels and added a sparkling, gold necklace. She also wore a dainty bracelet on her left wrist as well as stylish rings on each of her hands. The comedian's blonde locks were parted in the middle, and flowed down past her shoulders in light waves. Pregnant Ashanti showed off her sense of style wearing a black blouse that was partially unbuttoned around the collar. The Foolish songstress also wore a pair of black, fitted leggings as well as black, over-the-knee boots. She layered the outfit with a sleeveless, fuzzy outer piece and pulled back her dark hair into a sleek up do. The star added both silver-chained and Chanel pearl necklaces to accessorize her look, as well as a silver watch on her left wrist. Ashanti also opted for large, hooped earrings and added a red tint to her lips that offered a pop of color. The Foolish songstress also wore a pair of black, fitted leggings as well as black, over-the-knee boots She was joined by boyfriend, Nelly, who was dressed to impress for the star-studded event on Sunday Kevin Hart - who was honored with the Mark Twain Prize at the ceremony - was dapper as he posed on the red carpet Hart was joined by wife, Eniko, who was classy in a black, tweed minidress that had large, gold buttons made of different shapes on the front and also wore a matching, cropped jacket The couple - who tied the knot in 2016 - were joined by children Heaven, 19, (far right) Hendrix, 16, (far left) Kenzo, six, and Kaori, three (bottom) She was joined by boyfriend, Nelly, who was dressed to impress for the star-studded event on Sunday. The Hot In Herre hitmaker sported a pair of black-patterned trousers as well as a white dress shirt. The rapper also wore a black vest and slipped into a pair of sleek, black shoes for a finishing touch. Kevin Hart - who was honored with the Mark Twain Prize at the ceremony - was dapper as he posed on the red carpet. The comedian wore a dark navy, double-breasted suit as well as a plain shirt underneath that offered a casual flare. The Ride Along actor donned black and blue-colored dress shoes that were secured with laces. Hart was joined by wife, Eniko, who was classy in a black, tweed minidress that had large, gold buttons made of different shapes on the front and also wore a matching, cropped jacket. She completed her ensemble by slipping into closed-toed, black heels and carried a small, gold clutch bag in her hand. The couple - who tied the knot in 2016 - were joined by children Heaven, 19, Hendrix, 16, Kenzo, six, and Kaori, three. Kevin notably shares his two eldest kids with ex-wife Torrei, and shares Kenzo and Kaori with Eniko. Hart was honored with the Mark Twain Prize, 'which is named to honor one of the world's greatest humorists,' per the event's official website. Kevin notably shares his two eldest kids with ex-wife Torrei, and shares Kenzo and Kaori with Eniko Jimmy Fallon was spotted on the red carpet in a classic, black suit as well as a dress shirt underneath. He also donned a pair of sleek, black shoes for a final touch to his ensemble The SNL alum and talk show host posed for a humorous snap at one point while holding a camera in his hand Robin Thicke dressed for the occasion in an off-white, sequin suit that comprised of trousers as well as a matching blazer In a statement, the actor expressed, 'To be honored in this commemorative year feels surreal.' 'Comedy is my outlet for social commentary and observations on life - I am grateful to the Kennedy Center for recognizing my voice and impact on culture. I can't wait to celebrate!' Jimmy Fallon was spotted on the red carpet in a classic, black suit as well as a dress shirt underneath. He also donned a pair of sleek, black shoes for a final touch to his ensemble. The SNL alum and talk show host posed for a humorous snap at one point while holding a camera in his hand. Robin Thicke dressed for the occasion in an off-white, sequin suit that comprised of trousers as well as a matching blazer. The Blurred Lines hitmaker added a white shirt underneath and wore a pair of white shoes. Film producer, Amy Entelis, was chic in a pair of black trousers as well as a fitted blazer that was secured with a button at the front. She added a white and black-patterned blouse underneath and wore closed-toed, black heels. Carri Twigg, Sonia Rockwell, Phoebe Buck, Raeshem Mijhon, Sehr Thadhani and Skye Townsend turned heads in fashionable ensembles while posing for a group photo on the red carpet. Kevin Hart was also seen with Ted Sarandos, Bela Bajaria, Ori Marmur, Robbie Praw and Peter Friedlander during a quick photo session. Later in the night, both Robin Thicke and Nelly were spotted performing on stage together during the ceremony. The music artists were seen standing next to each other as colorful stage lights shone around them. The stars each held a microphone in their hand as they sang for the star-studded crowd in attendance. Film producer, Amy Entelis, was chic in a pair of black trousers as well as a fitted blazer that was secured with a button at the front Carri Twigg, Sonia Rockwell, Phoebe Buck, Raeshem Mijhon, Sehr Thadhani and Skye Townsend turned heads in fashionable ensembles while posing for a group photo on the red carpet Kevin Hart was also seen with Ted Sarandos, Bela Bajaria, Ori Marmur, Robbie Praw and Peter Friedlander during a quick photo session Later in the night, both Robin Thicke and Nelly were spotted performing on stage together during the ceremony The music artists were seen standing next to each other as colorful stage lights shone around them The stars each held a microphone in their hand as they sang for the star-studded crowd in attendance Hart was also seen taking to the stage as he prepared to accept the Mark Twain Prize at The Kennedy Center He held a look of gratitude and pressed his hands together as he strolled on the stage and was given a warm welcome from the audience Hart was honored with the Mark Twain Prize, 'which is named to honor one of the world's greatest humorists,' per the event's official website 'Comedy is my outlet for social commentary and observations on life - I am grateful to the Kennedy Center for recognizing my voice and impact on culture. I can't wait to celebrate!' he added Other celebrities were also seen sitting inside the venue, such as Ashanti, who appeared to be filming a special moment on her smartphone Chelsea was spotted flashing a smile and applauding with other guests while also seated during the event Hart was also seen taking to the stage as he prepared to accept the Mark Twain Prize at The Kennedy Center. He held a look of gratitude and pressed his hands together as he strolled on the stage and was given a warm welcome from the audience. Other celebrities were also seen sitting inside the venue, such as Ashanti, who appeared to be filming a special moment on her smartphone. Chelsea was spotted flashing a smile and applauding with other guests while also seated during the event. Kanye West and wife Bianca Censori commanded attention on Sunday as they stopped by The Grove in Los Angeles. The couple Kanye, 46, and Bianca, 29 headed to AMC Theatre where they reportedly saw Dune 2 starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya. Bianca arrived wearing a strapless robin's egg blue bodysuit over lacy white pantyhose. The Australia-bred bombshell put on a very busty display in the straight and low-cut piece, which was cut out at the back. She rounded out the look with a pair of open-toe white heels with a perspex strap. Kanye West and wife Bianca Censori commanded attention on Sunday as they stopped by The Grove in Los Angeles Bianca arrived wearing a strapless robin's egg blue bodysuit over lacy white pantyhose The Australia-bred bombshell put on a very busty display in the straight and low-cut piece, which was cut out at the back Bianca, who is stepmom to Kanye's four kids, wore her short, dark hair in her go-to style: a tiny, slicked bun. Her eyebrows were bleached slightly lighter than the hair on her head and she appeared to wear a light face of makeup. For his part, the Yeezy designer wore an all-black outfit consisting of a hooded sweatshirt layered over a T-shirt. He added parachute pants and a pair of black Nike Air Force One sneakers. Censori, who studied architecture before joining the rapper's Yeezy brand as a designer, appeared to be in good spirits. The young beauty flashed her wide smile throughout the outing. After their movie date at the Grove, they made their way to Westfield Mall in Century City, where they grabbed a bite to eat at Din Tai Fung. The eatery is known for their soup dumplings as well as noodle dishes. West shares four children North, 10; Saint, eight; Chicago, six; and Psalm, four with ex-wife Kim Kardashian. The Sunday trip to the movies came after Ye and Bianca took the Chicago-raised music artist's firstborn out to dinner on Saturday night. The couple Kanye, 46, and Bianca, 29 headed to AMC Theatre where they went to watch Dune 2 starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya She rounded out the look with a pair of open-toe white heels with a perspex strap Bianca, who is stepmom to Kanye's four kids, wore her short, dark hair in her go-to style: a tiny, slicked bun For his part, the Yeezy designer wore an all-black outfit consisting of a hooded sweatshirt layered over a T-shirt Bianca's eyebrows were bleached slightly lighter than the hair on her head and she appeared to wear a light face of makeup The couple interlocked fingers during their Southern California outing West added parachute pants and a pair of black Nike Air Force One sneakers Bianca tucked her phone underneath her arm as she decided to skip a purse The Sunday trip to the movies came after Ye and Bianca took the Chicago-raised music artist's daughter North out to dinner on Saturday night Bianca, who studied architecture, made her way to an electronic kiosk Bianca confidently strutted in her heels The couple pored through their movie options together West shares four children North, 10, Saint, eight, Chicago, six, and Psalm, four with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, but he and wife Bianca were kid-free on Sunday Kanye rocked his hair in a very low cut and sported a full, bushy beard Bianca skipped jewelry except for a stack of small hoops in her left ear and two understated rings Kanye and Bianca held hands as they crossed a street at the outdoor shopping mall. The two were spotted walking past Marmalade Cafe Bianca did not leave the Vultures artist's side as they enjoyed their time out Also on Saturday, Kanye took to his Instagram Stories to share a video of him and Bianca shopping for cars. The pair who tied the knot in 2022 were recorded visiting a car dealership, as Censori sat inside a white Porsche. In February, a source told DailyMail.com that Kardashian asked for Bianca, who has become known for her racy fashion, to 'cover up' when she is around her four children. 'Kim instructed Kanye to never let Bianca dress like that around their kids,' the insider stated. 'She is truly surprised that Kanye would let his wife leave the house like that.' 'Kanye did the same thing he is doing with Bianca to Kim throughout their marriage. The difference is that when Kanye dressed Kim, he was respected as a person as an artist.' 'Unfortunately, Kim knows what Bianca is going through but she feels Bianca should have known what she was getting into,' the source continued. Kim and Kanye tied the knot in 2014 and their divorce was finalized in 2022. Last week sources told DailyMail.com that both the rapper and Bianca have been asked by her father, Leo, to fly to Australia in order to address his concerns over her X-rated makeover. 'Kanye has been invited to go to Australia and Bianca is hesitant to allow this to happen because she knows how her father will react,' the insider stated. Onlookers were spotted gazing at the pair Bianca adjusted her bodysuit She was seen checking her phone The duo kept close and Censori flashed her megawatt smile again and again Each half of the couple wore their wedding rings as they stepped out After their movie date at the Grove, they made their way to Westfield Mall in Century City Kanye took off his hoodie and sported a black t-shirt The duo appeared in good spirits amid their busy day The duo grabbed a bite to eat at Din Tai Fung They rode on the escalator Bianca turned heads with her eye-popping look Bianca didn't appear to be cold, despite the evening hour Kanye shielded his eyes with a pair of shades His wife held onto his arm The pair navigated the parking lot 'Her dad still plans to have a sit-down with Kanye, and Leo will not be intimidated by Kanye's power or control. No one is expecting this to be all rainbows and family portraits,' the person added. Censori's mother, Alexandra, recently flew out to Los Angeles in order to assess the situation for herself and 'save' her daughter. 'Bianca's father was not necessarily pleased with his wife's visit to see their daughter because he feels like she enabled Bianca to continue doing what she is doing,' the insider spilled. 'Yes, Bianca dressed provocatively while her mother was there, but it was nothing in comparison to some of the outfits she has worn prior to and since the visit.' Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett has opened up about his new romance with James Packer's glamorous ex-wife Erica. The 48-year-old gushed over their blossoming relationship and said it's been a 'fun and amazing adventure'. 'Erica is great,' Shannon told the Herald Sun. 'She's really good, going back and forwards a lot. It's a fun and amazing adventure, it's amazing we haven't met earlier.' 'We're loving life. I'm a very lucky man,' he added. Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett has opened up about his new romance with James Packer 's glamorous ex-wife Erica The 48-year-old gushed over their blossoming relationship and said it's been a 'fun and amazing adventure' Shannon and Erica were first spotted out and about together over the Christmas holidays. Erica married James in 2007 and they later split in 2013, but are on good terms as they co-parent their three children. Erica reportedly received a $100 million divorce payment, and purchased a family home in Los Angeles shortly after the break-up. James also bought an $80million Los Angeles mansion so he could be closer to Erica and their children whenever he was in town. 'James' main priority at the moment is the wellbeing of his kids,'' a family friend told The Daily Telegraph at the time of the divorce. When Erica visits Sydney, she often lives with her former husband and their children at James' $72 million Crown penthouse home. 'Erica is great,' Shannon told the Herald Sun . 'She's really good, going back and forwards a lot. It's a fun and amazing adventure, it's amazing we haven't met earlier.' Pictured Erica in 2013 The ex-couple are so close that they often enjoy family holidays together. In contrast, Shannon's relationship with ex-partner Madeleine West is not as amicable. Shannon, who rose to fame on MasterChef Australia, split from Madeleine in September 2018 after 13 years of dating. Madeleine later stated the separation process 'turned love toxic'. Two years after their breakup, she left Melbourne and moved to the Byron Bay area to be near their six children, buying her own $4.6million property overlooking Tallow Beach. In May 2022, Shannon said Madeleine saw their children fortnightly, while they spend the remainder of the time with him. Shannon, who rose to fame on MasterChef Australia, split from Madeleine West (pictured) in September 2018 after 13 years of dating Madeleine spent last year embroiled in court battles with Benny Bennett, Shannon's elderly father, who took out an AVO against her after an alleged clash at the chef's Byron mansion in 2022. A magistrate enforced the AVO describing Madeleine as an 'evasive' and unreliable witness, and her alleged treatment of her ex father-in-law, 75, as 'verging on being aggressive'. But the decision was thrown out when Madeleine appealed to the NSW District Court and won in a ruling by Judge Jonathan Priestley, who said 'the evidence of facts supporting them is light on, and not supported by' the footage from five different CCTV cameras around Shannon Bennett's home. Kylie Jenner showed off her incredibly toned frame as she gave a glimpse of her makeup routine in a new video shared to Instagram on Sunday. The 26-year-old TV personality who recently flaunted her radiant skin in a series of sultry selfies could be seen filming herself as she glammed up for the day using products from her successful Kylie Cosmetics brand. She sported a $65 beige cropped top that had a cutout on the right shoulder from her clothing brand, Khy. Jenner also slipped into a pair of matching $80 fitted pants made from the same mesh material and color. Both pieces were included in her recent Drop 004 which became available to consumers late last month in February. Kylie Jenner, 26, showed off her incredibly toned frame as she gave a glimpse at her makeup routine in a new video shared to Instagram on Sunday The TV personality could be seen filming herself as she glammed up for the day using items from her successful Kylie Cosmetics brand Her brunette locks were parted in the middle, and effortlessly flowed down past her shoulders in voluminous waves. Kylie accessorized the look by adding dainty, gold earrings as well as an assortment of bracelets on her right wrist. The reality star also wore flashy rings on each of her hands. When it comes to her personal sense of style, the media personality told the New York Times earlier this month that she is 'stripping down a little bit.' She explained that her evolving fashion occurred after welcoming her second child son Aire in 2022. 'I don't have this thick mane down to my butt, I don't have lash extensions, I don't have these long claws,' Kylie told the outlet. 'It takes me a while after I have a baby to feel like myself again. Then you get your body back, and you're like, "Wait, the trends have changed."' The mother-of-two kicked off the clip by applying a few touches of concealer under her eyes followed by a pink blush from Kylie Cosmetics which she put on with the use of her finger. The beauty mogul then added both powder as well as contour around her nose, and another quick brush of powder on her cheekbones. She sported a $65 beige cropped top that had a cutout on the right shoulder which is from her clothing brand, Khy Jenner also slipped into a pair of matching $80 fitted pants made of the same mesh material and color The mother-of-two kicked off the clip by applying a few touches of concealer under her eyes followed by a pink blush from Kylie Cosmetics which she put on with the use of her finger The beauty mogul then added both powder as well as contour around her nose, as well as another quick brush of powder on her cheekbones Jenner pulled out an eyeshadow palette also from her brand and added a light brown shadow around her eyes For a finishing touch, she took out a lip liner from Kylie Cosmetics and applied the nude color around the edge of her lips. She then applied a nude matte tint to complete her makeup The star stood up from her comfy chair and ran a hand through her hair as she took a final look in the camera Jenner pulled out an eyeshadow palette also from her brand and added a light brown color around her eyes. For a finishing touch, she took out a lip liner from Kylie Cosmetics and applied the nude color around the edge of her lips. She then added a nude, matte lipstick to complete her makeup. The star stood up from her comfy chair and ran a hand through her hair as she took a final look in the camera. The video then cut to the TV personality filming herself in the reflection of a mirror while carrying a large, black bag over her shoulder. In the caption of the latest post, Kylie simply penned to her 400 million fans and followers, 'happy sundaayyy.' Throughout the course of the reel, the track titled Back on 74 by Jungle played in the background. Her mother, Kris Jenner, jumped to the comment section to send kind words to her daughter and wrote, 'what a cutie pie.' While also talking to the New York Times, the beauty mogul got candid about how her looks have 'never been accepted.' 'It's just years and years of not feeling like my face or looks are accepted. There's nothing anyone could ever say now that would hurt me,' she expressed to the outlet. The video then cut to the TV personality filming herself in the reflection of a mirror while carrying a large, black bag over her shoulder In the caption of the latest post, Kylie simply penned to her 400 million fans and followers, 'happy sundaayyy' Also on Sunday, Kylie took to her Instagram stories to show another clip that she filmed after applying her makeup She stepped away from the camera to better showcase her outfit while also linking to her Khy brand The clip began with the mother-of-two holding the phone camera close to her face, but then chose to set it down in front of her She then quickly struck a few quick poses while modeling the ensemble before heading to her next destination Kylie accessorized the look by adding dainty, gold earrings as well as an assortment of bracelets on her right wrist. The reality star also wore flashy rings on each of her hands Also on Sunday, Kylie took to her Instagram stories to show another clip that she filmed after applying her makeup. She stepped away from the camera to better showcase her outfit while also linking to her Khy brand. The clip began with the mother-of-two holding the phone camera close to her face, but then chose to set it down in front of her. She then quickly struck a few quick poses while modeling the ensemble before heading to her next destination. The media personality has been active on social media over the weekend and on Saturday, the star uploaded a series of sultry selfies as she flaunted her radiant skin in a plunging top. Her latest round of Instagram clips and selfies come after Jenner's latest business venture: launching a vodka soda called Sprinter. Earlier this week on Thursday, the media personality held a star-studded party at Catch Steak in L.A. to celebrate the big milestone. She was supported by her mother Kris Jenner and sister, Khloe Kardashian, amongst other celebrities, such as Muse frontman Matt Bellamy. Kylie announced the release of Sprinter earlier this month, and the canned vodka soda is available in four different flavors: lime, black cherry, peach and grapefruit. The media personality has been active on social media over the weekend and on Saturday, the star uploaded a series of sultry selfies as she flaunted her radiant skin in a plunging top Her latest round of Instagram clips and selfies come after Jenner's latest business venture: launching a vodka soda called Sprinter Kylie announced the release of Sprinter earlier this month, and the canned vodka soda is available in four different flavors: lime, black cherry, peach and grapefruit Each can is 100 calories and contains no added sugar. Jenner developed the vodka soda over the course of one year alongside expert, Chandra Richter. In a statement, per People, Jenner expressed, 'Sprinter is my answer to the growing consumer demand for quality canned cocktails - we're adding to a market dominated by only a few players with an incredibly delicious vodka soda in a can.' 'Not only does Sprinter have a unique bold branding that captures the feeling of fun with your friends, it is also the best tasting vodka soda I've ever tried - and I've tried a lot.' 'I can't wait for people to taste it for themselves,' the Kylie Cosmetics founder further gushed about the product. Former Bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis's 14-year-old daughter Camila swayed the judges to win a spot on Sunday's two-hour episode of American Idol on ABC. 'You know what it's like to be on television, you're trying to throw her into this lion's den?' Katy Perry, 39, asked on Sunday's episode, which wrapped up the American Idol auditions for this season. 'Not really,' Juan, 42, said. ' She's been singing since she was little and the opportunity came and she wanted to do it. I said, 'I don't know if you're old enough, that was last year and they said maybe next year.' Juan said his daughter Camila, a high school student who lives in Miami, was only four when he went on the Bachelor to find love. Juan also added that he was currently single. The auditions for this new season closed out in a special way, with the final audition - Julia Gagnon - earning the third and final Platinum Ticket. Former Bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis's 14-year-old daughter Camila swayed the judges to win a spot on Sunday's two-hour episode of American Idol on ABC 'Not really,' Juan, 42, said. ' She's been singing since she was little and the opportunity came and she wanted to do it. I said, 'I don't know if you're old enough, that was last year and they said maybe next year' Juan said his daughter Camila, a high school student who lives in Miami, was only four when he went on the Bachelor to find love. Juan also added that he was currently single The auditions for this new season closed out in a special way, with the final audition - Julia Gagnon - earning the third and final Platinum Ticket The 21-year-old from Cumberland, Maine joined 21-year-old Abi Carter from Indio, California and 28-year-old Odell Bunton Jr. from Arlington, Texas as the three Platinum Ticket winners this season. Camila sang Rabia by Joaquna while her father Juan watched. Katy said she had a good voice but that it sounded a little young. 'Love your confidence, Luke Bryan, 47, said. 'Love your personality. It's very listenable.' Luke told her she was very young and didn't know if she was ready yet. 'I think the right producer right now could take your voice and cut a hit album on you right now,' Luke said. 'I agree with Luke a little bit here in terms of experience,' Lionel Richie, 74, said. Lionel gave her a no and told her to take some time to develop herself. Katy gave her a yes. Luke said he initially was going to give her a no but then changed his mind at the last second. 'You barely made it in,' Luke said. The 21-year-old from Cumberland, Maine joined 21-year-old Abi Carter from Indio, California and 28-year-old Odell Bunton Jr. from Arlington, Texas as the three Platinum Ticket winners this season Camila sang Rabia by Joaquna while her father Juan watched. Katy said she had a good voice but that it sounded a little young Luke told her she was very young and didn't know if she was ready yet Lionel gave her a no and told her to take some time to develop herself. Katy gave her a yes. Luke said he initially was going to give her a no but then changed his mind at the last second Camila hugged her dad Juan to celebrate. Rick Moyer, 22, a barista from Philadelphia was the first contestant of the night to audition. He sang It Must Have Been Love to the judges while playing the piano and they all voted him on. 'It's going to be fun potentially watching you surprise us,' Luke Bryan said. 'Really well done.' Liliana Dalton, 17, a high school student from San Antonio, Texas, went next. She performed her original music called 5%. She said she wrote the song about 'this guy is so f***ed.' 'You're 17 if you are confident enough to say f*** on tv I guess you might as well say it,' Luke said. 'I loved it,' Katy said. Katy then had her sing Adele's song Someone Like You. The judges all voted her on. Sophia Ava Marie, 15, a high school student from Las Vegas sang Katy's song The One That Got Away. Katy said the kids trying out were brave. Camila hugged her dad Juan to celebrate. Rick Moyer, 22, a barista from Philadelphia was the first contestant of the night to audition. He sang It Must Have Been Love to the judges while playing the piano and they all voted him on 'It's going to be fun potentially watching you surprise us,' Luke Bryan said. 'Really well done' Liliana Dalton, 17, a high school student from San Antonio, Texas, went next. She performed her original music called 5%. She said she wrote the song about 'this guy is so f***ed' 'You're 17 if you are confident enough to say f*** on tv I guess you might as well say it,' Luke said Sophia Ava Marie, 15, a high school student from Las Vegas sang Katy's song The One That Got Away. Katy said the kids trying out were brave 'You nailed it,' Katy said. Brant McCollough, 16, a high school student from Samson, Alabama sang Chris Stapleton's hit Fire Away. 'You've really got something,' Luke said. 'And you're going to really have something.' Carmen Olivia, 16, a high school student from Bethel, Connecticut performed Raye's Oscar Winning Tears. The judges voted all three high school students on. Garrison Bennet, 18, a landscaper from Hickory, North Carolina showed up in an outfit that Lionel said reminded him of his younger self. He then sang Stevie Wonder's song Superstition . The judges voted him on. Jayna Elise, 22, from D.C. who tried out last season returned to try her luck again. She sang The Climb from Miley Cyrus. The judges voted her on. 'I think you have really grown in a short amount of time, vocally,' Katy said. 'You nailed it,' Katy said. Brant McCollough, 16, a high school student from Samson, Alabama sang Chris Stapleton's hit Fire Away 'You've really got something,' Luke said. 'And you're going to really have something.' Carmen Olivia, 16, a high school student from Bethel, Connecticut performed Raye's Oscar Winning Tears The judges voted all three high school students on. Garrison Bennet, 18, a landscaper from Hickory, North Carolina showed up in an outfit that Lionel said reminded him of his younger self He then sang Stevie Wonder's song Superstition . The judges voted him on. Jayna Elise, 22, from D.C. who tried out last season returned to try her luck again. She sang The Climb from Miley Cyrus. The judges voted her on 'This time I'm going all the way,' Jayna said. One contestant, Keegan James, 21, from Schenectady, New York performed while on roller skates. Katy asked him to skate around the judges while he sang. 'I think you are for a different stage but keep on rolling,' Katy said. Cate Gartner, 18, from Aledo, Texas who was already a mother to a son that was 18 months old. She said she found out when she was pregnant when she was only 16 and performed an original song about being a young mother. She got three yeses. 'You definitely have a natural talent,' Katy said. Jacy Matthews, 17, from Centre, Alabama, tried out with her sister Mia, 18. They said that their mother was a childhood country performer and their father was a 'hard rocker.' Katy had them warm up with their mother. Jacy went first singing a Kris Kristofferson and then Mia sang No Place that Far by Sara Evans. 'You're both going to Hollywood,' the judges said. Jordan Anthony, 18, from Perth, Australia went next. He performed Forget Me by Lewis Capaldi. The judges gave him a standing ovation. Jayna Elise, 22, from D.C. who tried out last season returned to try her luck again. She sang The Climb from Miley Cyrus. The judges voted her on. One contestant, Keegan James, 21, from Schenectady, New York performed while on roller skates. Katy asked him to skate around the judges while he sang 'I think you are for a different stage but keep on rolling,' Katy said Cate Gartner, 18, from Aledo, Texas who was already a mother to a son that was 18 months old. She said she found out when she was pregnant when she was only 16 and performed an original song about being a young mother. She got three yeses Jacy Matthews, 17, from Centre, Alabama, tried out with her sister Mia, 18. They said that their mother was a childhood country performer and their father was a 'hard rocker.' Katy had them warm up with their mother. Jacy went first singing a Kris Kristofferson and then Mia sang No Place that Far by Sara Evans. 'You're both going to Hollywood,' the judges said. Jordan Anthony, 18, from Perth, Australia went next. He performed Forget Me by Lewis Capaldi. The judges gave him a standing ovation 'You've got the goods,' Katy said. Lionel told him he had natural talent and the judges all voted him on. Luke brought his dog to the set and had him sit in Katy's chair. Victoria Johnson, 16, from Boca Raton, Florida sang No Excuses by Meghan Trainor. 'You have a little star factor going on,' Luke said. Luke then had his dog deliver the Golden ticket to Victoria but he didn't want to let it go. The judges also voted on Tyesha La'shae, 22, a fast food worker from Monroeville, Alabama and Spencer Wells, 24, a medical sales rep from Pearland, Texas. Bethany Teague, 25, a preschool teacher from Charlotte, North Carolina sang Kelly Clarkson's Piece by Piece. Bethany cried at the end of the song sharing that her mother died after giving birth to her sister and that she didn't have a father. Katy gave her a hug and the judges all voted her on. Isaiah Case, 22, a worship pastor from Jacksonville, Illinois, sang his own original song while playing his guitar. The judges gave him three yeses. 'You've got the goods,' Katy said Luke brought his dog to the set and had him sit in Katy's chair. Victoria Johnson, 16, from Boca Raton, Florida sang No Excuses by Meghan Trainor Luke then had his dog deliver the Golden ticket to Victoria but he didn't want to let it go The judges also voted on Tyesha La'shae, 22, a fast food worker from Monroeville, Alabama The judges also voted on Spencer Wells, 24, a medical sales rep from Pearland, Texas Bethany Teague, 25, a preschool teacher from Charlotte, North Carolina sang Kelly Clarkson's Piece by Piece. Bethany cried at the end of the song sharing that her mother died after giving birth to her sister and that she didn't have a father. Katy gave her a hug and the judges all voted her on. 'What a voice,' Katy said. 'What I'm really loving is that voice can tell a story,' Lionel said. Julia Gagnon, 21, a college student from Cumberland, Maine, was the last person to audition for season 22. She said she was raised in Maine after she was adopted but was born in Guatemala. She said she loved Maine but when she entered the school system she got bullied. 'It was really hard to deal with,' Julia said. She said she loved her family but was always curious about her birth family. She said her father hired a private investigator and found her biological parents. She said her birth mother Sara wrote her a letter and said she didn't want me to go but that she was happy because of the life her adopted parents gave her. Julia sang Ain't No Way by Aretha Franklin. The judges applauded her performance. 'You could go really far, you could be in the top ten,' Katy said. 'I am in shock,' Lionel said. 'I grew up with Aretha Franklin. There are certain songs you don't sing because you can't touch the original and you just made it not only your song but you did things that were beyond. That was amazing. That was absolutely outstanding.' Julia Gagnon, 21, a college student from Cumberland, Maine, was the last person to audition for season 22. She said she was raised in Maine after she was adopted but was born in Guatemala. She said she loved Maine but when she entered the school system she got bullied 'It was really hard to deal with,' Julia said Julia sang Ain't No Way by Aretha Franklin. The judges applauded her performance Julia cried as she learned the judges gave her three yeses. When Julia was outside talking to her parents, Luke, Katy and Lionel came outside 'We had a discussion every once in a while. We have something that comes along that's just phenomenal and we have platinum tickets, only three,' Lionel said. ' We only have one left. So I want to tell you, you are the recipient of our third platinum ticket' Julia cried as she learned the judges gave her three yeses. When Julia was outside talking to her parents, Luke, Katy and Lionel came outside. 'We forgot to do one little thing,' Katy said. 'We had a mishap,' Luke said. Luke took away her Golden Ticket saying 'can we have this.' 'We had a discussion every once in a while. We have something that comes along that's just phenomenal and we have platinum tickets, only three,' Lionel said. ' We only have one left. So I want to tell you, you are the recipient of our third platinum ticket.' Julia broke down crying. 'You deserve it,' Lionel said. 'It was one of the most amazing performances we've ever seen.' 'I feel so lucky,' Julia said crying. 'Sara this is for you and this is for my entire family. I'm going to Hollywood.' American Idol will return next Sunday on ABC. By Lee Hae-rin Organizers of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF), a major annual LGBTQ festival, are highly likely to be denied the use of Seoul Plaza for this year's event. The city government disapproved the event last year as well. The festival is scheduled for June 1, but the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to hold the Seoul Metropolitan Library's outdoor book event on that day. Organizers said Sunday they are currently seeking an alternative public venue for the country's largest LGBTQ celebration, just as they did last year. Last year marked the first time the festival was not held in Seoul Plaza, its home since 2015, apart from a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the city government rejected the organizers request to use the plaza and instead allowed a youth concert by the Christian Television System (CTS) Culture Foundation, citing its child- and youth-friendly nature. In response, the festival was held in Euljiro, a major avenue in downtown Seoul, bringing some 150,000 sexual minorities and their supporters together. The SQCF organizing committee, Seoul Metropolitan Library and a Christian group named Boost your youth applied on March 15 to book Seoul Plaza for their respective events scheduled for June 1, according to organizers and the city government. On Thursday, the city government consulted with the three parties on rescheduling the dates according to city square management regulations. However, all three sides failed to reach a consensus. The city government said it already finalized the Seoul Metropolitan Library's outdoor book reading event to be held every weekend in May, June and October, as well as on Sept. 21, 22 and 29 in the entire Seoul Plaza. June 1 is included in those schedules. In response, the LGBTQ festival organizers condemned the city government, accusing it of monopolizing public space to prevent the queer event from taking place in its customary venue. They argue that such actions stifle social diversity. Promoting Seoul Plaza as an open space for citizens is deceptive, given that its calendar is already saturated with city-led events, the committee said in a statement, pointing out the venue is booked with city events on most Thursdays, Fridays and weekends in spring and autumn this year. The city government insisted on the need to use the entire square, citing the large scale of the cultural event, noting that it will host another meeting in early April for further discussions. Brynne Edelsten is relishing in motherhood ever since welcoming her first child, Starr Amari Gordon, two years ago. And on Monday, the 41-year-old shared an adorable photo of her daughter to Instagram, captioning the post, 'Princess Starry'. In the image, Starr is seen posing in a black top and glittering blue dress. Friends and fans were quick to comment beside the image. 'Beautiful like her mamma,' wrote one follower. 'She's so adorable! That time has really flown by Brynne!' wrote another. Brynne Edelsten is relishing in motherhood ever since welcoming her first child, Starr Amari Gordon, two years ago On Monday, the 41-year-old shared an adorable photo of her daughter to Instagram, captioning the post, 'Princess Starry' 'Omg she is growing up so fast beautiful,' commented one more. Brynne's Instagram is filled with adorable photos of her daughter. The American-born socialite welcomed her 'miracle baby' on April 21 2022. She told The Herald Sun in 2022 that Starr is a 'miracle' and providing for her has given her a new perspective on life. The SAS Australia contestant explained she originally thought motherhood 'was not on the cards' for her and she feels so blessed to have a perfect daughter to care for. 'I don't know myself anymore, everything is about her. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me,' she said. The identity of Starr's father has not been made public. However, Brynne confirmed to the publication the man had met his daughter twice. The Oklahoma-born television personality became famous in 2009 when she married Geoffrey Edelsten, who was 40 years her senior. Both pictured The pregnancy was delightful news for Brynne, who discovered during her high-profile marriage to Geoffrey Edelsten that it was unlikely she could ever conceive naturally. The Oklahoma-born television personality became famous in 2009 when she married Geoffrey, who was 40 years her senior. Their marriage, however, was short-lived and the pair divorced in 2014 after Brynne alleged her husband had been unfaithful to her. Rumer Willis took to Instagram to share snaps from her time at a wellness retreat with her close friend, Nikki Reed. The 35-year-old actress posted a series of photographs of her and the Twilight star, also 35, as they enjoyed nature, had spa days and bonded over both recently having babies. Willis who celebrated International Women's Day earlier this month by posing with a sex toy also shared photos of Louetta, her 10-month-old daughter she shares with boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas, taking a nap during their getaway. In the cover photo of her post, Willis and Reed were seen sweetly pressing their temples together and grinning widely. One of the photos was a selfie of the two gal pals in matching bathrobes inside of the spa. Rumer Willis share photos from her time at a wellness retreat with her close friend, Nikki Reed. The 35-year-old actress posted a series of photographs of her and the Twilight star, 35, as they enjoyed nature, had spa days and bonded over both recently having babies One of the photos was a selfie of the two gal pals in matching bathrobes inside of the spa She also shared a smiling selfie as she used a breast pump. Rumer later posted a selfie of herself and Nikki with messy hair as they showcased their 'nice postpartum bangs on the mama's courtesy of [hair wellness brand Nutrafol].' A different photo showed Willis in a radiant outfit as she enjoyed a stroll with her infant daughter in her arms. As part of her photo series, she also posted a snap of the scenery outside with a tall cactus plant as the focus. In her post, Willis also gave a shoutout to her pal's jewelry brand and said Reed gave her an opal necklace from her brand BaYou with Love. In the comments section, Willis defended herself against one social media user trolling her about her famous parents, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. 'Nice to have millionaires for parents,' the Instagram user commented. 'My parents didn't pay for my trip, I did,' Willis responded. 'Cause I'm a grown a** person lol.' In her caption, Willis said she spent 'the most glorious five days' at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona, with her best friend. Together they enjoyed 'a week of wellness, connection, self-discovery, integration and self-care.' 'I have been reflecting on how long it has been since I have been able to nourish my mind and body,' she wrote. 'Everything I have been doing the last 11 months has been to give everything of myself to Lou and help her to grow and thrive.' Willis also shared that the nanny who took care of her when she was three also joined them on the trip to take care of her daughter 'so I could enjoy the glorious spa and fill Lou's imagination with all the magic.' She also posted a selfie of them later in what appeared to be the same day with messy hair as they showcased their 'nice postpartum bangs on the mama's courtesy of [hair wellness brand Nutrafol]' Willis also shared photos of Louetta, her 10-month-old daughter she shares with boyfriend Derek Richard Thomas, taking a nap during their getaway She also shared a smiling selfie as she used a breast pump A different photo showed Willis in a radiant outfit as she enjoyed a stroll with her infant daughter in her arms As part of her photo series, she also posted a snap of the scenery outside with a tall cactus plant as the focus In her post, Willis also gave a shoutout to her pal's jewelry brand and said Reed gave her an opal necklace from her brand BaYou with Love She wrote a lengthy caption about her relaxing getaway alongside her close pal, her nanny and her daughter Louetta at Canyon Ranch In the comments section, Willis defended herself against one social media user trolling her about her famous parents, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore In her lengthy caption, she also wrote a sweet message to Reed, whom she called her 'sister.' 'Being on this journey of motherhood together is such a joy and gives me such strength,' she gushed. 'I love our late night spa dates and getting to play with your glorious @bayouwithlove jewels. Sharing stories of teething and late night breastfeeding. 'I love your tiny humans and would care for their hearts as I do my own sweet tiny Lou,' she added. Melissa Gorga turned heads in a shimmering outfit with stylish Kelly Bensimon as she celebrated the grand opening of her second Envy by Melissa Gorga store in New York on Sunday. The RHONJ star, 45 who recently defended Andy Cohen from allegations that he gave Bravo celebrities with cocaine celebrated the milestone alongside RHONY alumna Kelly Bensimon, 55, and other guests. The TV personality opened the second boutique in the town of Huntington which is located on Long Island. She has another shop that can be found in Ridgewood, New Jersey. Gorga dressed for the occasion in a tan-colored bralette top that was made of a shimmering material. She slipped into a pair of matching pants that were secured with a light gold belt that wrapped around her toned midriff. Melissa Gorga, 45, turned heads in a shimmering outfit with stylish Kelly Bensimon, 55, as she celebrated the grand opening of her second Envy by Melissa Gorga store in New York on Sunday She slipped into a pair of open-toed nude-colored heels that were secured with thin straps around her ankles. Melissa's brunette locks were parted in the middle and cascaded down past her shoulders in light waves. The businesswoman accessorized her outfit with a gold-chained necklace, as well as an assortment of bracelets on each of her wrists. Her makeup was glammed up for the special day and was comprised of a layer of mascara to her lashes as well as a smoky bronze shadow. A warm blush was added to better accentuate her cheekbones while a nude, glossy tint was worn on her lips for a finishing touch. Shortly before the opening, Melissa was seen arriving to the venue alongside her husband, Joe Gorga, and their teenage daughter Antonia, 17. She wore a cream-colored fuzzy coat to help her stay warm in the cooler temperatures, but removed the outer piece once she stepped inside the store. The reality star held an excited expression on her face as she celebrated the boutique's opening, and took time to mingle with other stars and guests that were in attendance. Gorga dressed for the occasion in a tan-colored bralette top that was made of a shimmering material. She slipped into a pair of matching pants that were secured with a light gold belt Melissa's brunette locks were parted in the middle and cascaded down past her shoulders in light waves The businesswoman accessorized her outfit with a gold-chained necklace, as well as an assortment of bracelets on each of her wrists; seen with husband Joe Gorga Shortly before the opening, Melissa was seen arriving to the venue alongside her husband Joe Gorga and their teenage daughter Antonia, 17 During an interview with Millennium Magazine late last year in December, Melissa opened up about her boutique. 'Envy is so amazing and is something that blows me away everyday' RHONY alumna Kelly Bensimon was also in attendance and was chic in a pair of black trousers as well as a plain white shirt During an interview with Millennium Magazine in December, Melissa opened up about her boutique. 'Envy is so amazing and is something that blows me away everyday,' she gushed. 'What I was able to create with that business, it's a small business, I always hope to inspire my daughter and inspire other women. 'I was a stay-at-home Mom of three. I didn't have to work because I was taken care of, but it was something that I wanted for myself,' she explained. 'It makes me happy and who knew it would be so lucrative at the same time! It just really took off, the online EnvybyMG.com is incredible.' The star later added, 'If there is a way that you can get into your own business, start a job, do something that makes you happy, I always encourage it.' RHONY alumna Kelly Bensimon was also in attendance. She looked chic in a pair of black trousers as well as a plain white shirt. The beauty layered the ensemble with a black jacket that was left unbuttoned at the front, and she slipped into a pair of sparkling shoes. Both Gorga and Bensimon crossed paths and the pair also stopped for a photo together. The two also met up with RHONJ star Rachel Fuda, who was stylishly casual in a pair of black leather pants as well as a dazzling silver cropped top The reality star donned open-toed, black pumps and added a silver watch on her left wrist to complete her ensemble Another RHONJ cast member Margaret Josephs also stopped by to support Melissa in her latest business venture The Bravo star was seen flashing a cheerful smile as she purchased a few items during the grand opening The two also met up with RHONJ star Rachel Fuda, who was stylishly casual in a pair of black leather pants as well as a dazzling silver cropped top. The reality star donned open-toed black pumps and added a silver watch on her left wrist to complete her ensemble. Her long dark locks were parted in the middle and fell down straight past her shoulders. Another RHONJ cast member, Margaret Josephs, also stopped by to support Melissa in her latest business venture. She wore a pair of flared blue denim jeans as well as a plain white shirt. Josephs added a cream-colored sweater with a red and black-colored trim on top. Margaret opted for closed-toed gold heels and added a patterned scarf on top of her head. For a final touch, she also donned a pair of large round shades. The Bravo star was seen flashing a cheerful smile as she purchased a few items during the grand opening. Melissa was spotted assisting by checking out guests at the counter during the big day. Joe Gorga crossed paths with Josephs as well as Margaret Kiss who sported a black and white-patterned outfit for the festivities. Joe Gorga crossed paths with Josephs as well as Margaret Kiss who sported a black and white-patterned outfit for the festivities Joe kept it casual wearing a pair of black pants as well as a plain shirt and black denim jacket on top. To complete the look, he slipped into a pair of black sneakers that were secured with laces When she wasn't busy helping guests, Melissa also paused for a fun snap with her daughter Antonia, as the duo modeled fashionable sunglasses After enjoying a shopping spree at the crowded store, both Josephs and Kiss stepped outside and were joined by Lexi Barbuto who donned a denim jumpsuit as well as a warm knit sweater Joe kept it casual wearing a pair of black pants as well as a plain shirt and black, denim jacket on top. To complete the look, he slipped into a pair of black sneakers that were secured with laces. When she wasn't busy helping guests, Melissa also paused for a fun snap with her daughter Antonia, as the duo modeled fashionable sunglasses. After enjoying a shopping spree at the crowded store, both Josephs and Kiss stepped outside and were joined by Lexi Barbuto who donned a denim jumpsuit as well as a warm knit sweater. The threesome held smiles on their faces as they stood in front of a colorful wall as the warm sun shone down on them. Back inside the store, Melissa was seen spending time with Antonia as well as Kelly and her daughter Teddy Bensimon. Melissa and Joe gathered together with Margaret Josephs, Margaret Kiss and also Lexi Barbuto during the busy grand opening. Back inside the store, Melissa was seen spending time with Antonia as well as Kelly and her daughter Teddy Bensimon Melissa and Joe gathered together with Margaret Josephs, Margaret Kiss and also Lexi Barbuto during the busy grand opening Along with her latest business venture, Melissa reached another milestone earlier this week when she celebrated her 45th birthday on Thursday In another image, she gave her fans a glimpse inside a restaurant called The River Palm Terrace while sipping on a glass of Caymus Along with her latest business venture, Melissa reached another milestone earlier this week when she celebrated her 45th birthday on Thursday. She took to her main Instagram page to share a photo with her husband and children Antonia, Giacinto (Gino), 16, and also Giuseppe (Joey), 13, as they headed to a birthday dinner. In another image, she gave her fans a glimpse inside a restaurant called The River Palm Terrace while sipping on a glass of Caymus. In the caption, she penned to her 2.8 million followers, 'This dinner is all that matters. Happy Birthday to me.' Now that Daniel Craig has slipped into his last tuxedo as 007 James Bond after five feature films, there's been lots of chatter over who will be the next man to take on the iconic role. One man who knows a thing or two about what it takes to be a debonair secret agent is George Lazenby, who played the fictional character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). The Australian actor, now 84, is lending his support for British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33, to land the coveted role, saying that he has what it takes to handle all the stunts, and all the ladies throw themselves at the beloved man who routinely saves the world. Lazenby proceeded to tell TMZ that Taylor-Johnson's got the toughness to handle the secret agent life. His high praise comes amid the publication's report that he got an offer to step into the 007 role, winning out over other actors like Idris Elba, Henry Cavill, Sam Heughan, Tom Hardy and Rege-Jean Page, among others. George Lazenby, 84, offered his support to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 33, in the wake of reports that the British actor had received an offer to star as James Bond Lazenby has the distinction of being the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond, albeit, the shortest tenure of just one movie Taylor-Johnson has experience doing the action role playing Pietro Maximoff in Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015), among others. So far, Bond producers have not commented on the Taylor-Johnson rumors, which were reported by the Associated Press. Lazenby noted that he doesn't think Taylor-Johnson has the role yet because 'when he auditioned for the part back in the 1960s, he went through a series of various tests and auditions before he won the role.' The Aussie has the distinction of being the second actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond, though he had the shortest tenure of them, as he only starred in a single Bond film. Lazenby had only acted in commercials when he was cast to replace the original Bond star, Sean Connery. He declined offers to reprise the role in subsequent Bond films, in favor of having the flexibility to take other roles throughout the 1970s such as Universal Soldier (1971), Who Saw Her Die? (1972), The Shrine Of Ultimate Bliss (1974), The Man From Hong Kong (1975), and The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977). Although he only starred in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Lazenby's sole film in the series is now considered one of the best Bond films. Retrospective reviews have praised Lazenby for portraying a more developed emotional life than other Bond actors, and acclaimed filmmakers including Christopher Nolan and Steven Soderbergh have declared the film their favorite of the series. Connery would ultimately return to star in Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and then return a second time for Never Say Never Again (1983), following Roger Moore's run as the iconic character. Taylor-Johnson has experience doing the action role playing Pietro Maximoff in Avengers: Age Of Ultron (2015), among others; he's pictured in a scene with Elizabeth Olsen The Australian actor played the fictional character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) Sean Connery was the first actor to portray Bond in film in Dr. No (1962). He starred as 007 seven times through his career; seen in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) Daniel Craig most recently starred as James Bond in five films, starting with Casino Royale (2006) and ending with No Time to Die (2021) Like Connery, Roger Moore ended up starring in seven Bond films during his career, with the last being A View To A Kill (1985), which was followed by two films starring Timothy Dalton and four starring Pierce Brosnan, ending with Die Another Day (2002). James Bond was most recently played by English actor Daniel Craig, who took over the role in Casino Royale (2006), and then portrayed the handsome but viciously effective spy in Quantum Of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015) and No Time to Die (2021). Elba's name had been mentioned about as much as any of the potential frontrunners, but producer Barbara Broccoli said the Luther star had ruled himself out in 2022. While the 007 role can do wonders for an acting career and a bank account, some actors are likely to be a little weary about the multi-film commitment that's said to span some 10 years. Mia Thornton revealed shocking details behind the reason her marriage to Gordon, her husband of 11-years, blew up on Sunday night's Real Housewives of Potomac on Bravo. 'He doesn't want me to divorce him,' Mia, 39, said. 'He doesn't want me to not stay with him. And had he not gone to TMZ who knows we probably would have figured things out.' Mia said she thought Gordon flipped out after seeing the show's trailer where she said she said she 'might have' married him for his money. 'He didn't like that at all,' Mia said. 'And honestly, I feel like that's why TMZ came out.' The show then flashed a TMZ headline that reads 'Gordon Thornton tells TMZ that Mia is A Gold Digger, Has Been Having An Affair.' 'I don't think you thought this through well enough to think about all the unintended consequences,' said Gordon, 72, when she asked how long she would have to sleep in their children's room. 'This is one of them. I've known you've been having affairs for ten years or longer. I know you had an affair just before we got married.' Mia Thornton revealed shocking details behind the reason her marriage to Gordon , her husband of 11-years, blew up on Sunday night's Real Housewives of Potomac on Bravo. Mia said she thought Gordon flipped out after seeing the show's trailer where she said she said she 'might have' married him for his money. 'I don't think you thought this through well enough to think about all the unintended consequences,' said Gordon, 72, when she asked how long she would have to sleep in their children's room Gordon said their kids told him that she was sleeping with another man. 'Jeremiah said 'I saw mommy sleeping with Mr. Inc.,' Gordon said. Mia said in a confessional that Inc was someone from her past and that Gordon was aware of her sleeping with him when they first got married 'because I told him.' 'We went to counseling and we moved on from it,' Mia said. Gordon said to Mia that he told her on his 70th birthday that because of his prostate cancer that he was okay with her finding someone else to spend time with as long as she was discreet and didn't get the kids involved. 'In this case, you did both, you were careless, coming in at 2 o'clock in the morning,' Gordon said. 'I look at the whole bill you and he talking from the time you leave to two minutes before you get home and get in the garage. Then you will take him around the kids.' 'Gordon if you gave me your blessing then why are you so upset?' Mia said. 'Because you were throwing it in my face and you took the kids around him,' Gordon said. Gordon said their kids told him that she was sleeping with another man 'Jeremiah said 'I saw mommy sleeping with Mr. Inc.,' Gordon said Mia said in a confessional that Inc was someone from her past and that Gordon was aware of her sleeping with him when they first got married 'because I told him' Gordon said to Mia that he told her on his 70th birthday that because of his prostate cancer that he was okay with her finding someone else to spend time with as long as she was discreet and didn't get the kids involved. 'Gordon if you gave me your blessing then why are you so upset?' Mia said. Mia said she rekindled with Inc in April and that Gordon had been fully aware. Gordon said that their open relationship did not include this guy. 'She told me 'he's my soulmate,' Gordon said to the producer. 'She told me all this. Now she's denying it.' 'Why did **** think that Jeremiah was his kid?' Gordon said. 'Years ago I told him, I'm pregnant. I also want you to know that the timeline, that this baby might not be yours,' Mia said in a confessional. 'He said he loves me and he is going to raise the child as if it's his.' Mia told her producer that no paternity test was ever requested. Mia told Gordon that it had been challenging with him suing his family. Mia said if seven years ago Gordon was spending an excess amount of money going to strip clubs, and coming home in the middle of the night. 'I'm perfectly willing to set this all aside and move on for the sake of our kids,' Gordon said. 'Remaining in a marriage with you?' Mia said. 'This life that I'm living is not the life that God intended for me,' Mia said in a confessional. 'I need to follow my heart and whatever happens, happens.' 'She told me 'he's my soulmate,' Gordon said to the producer. 'She told me all this. Now she's denying it' 'Years ago I told him, I'm pregnant. I also want you to know that the timeline, that this baby might not be yours,' Mia said in a confessional. 'He said he loves me and he is going to raise the child as if it's his' 'I'm perfectly willing to set this all aside and move on for the sake of our kids,' Gordon said 'Remaining in a marriage with you?' Mia said. 'This life that I'm living is not the life that God intended for me,' Mia said in a confessional. 'I need to follow my heart and whatever happens, happens' 'If that's what will make you happy, bye,' Gordon said. The episode titled 'An Iconic Ending' opened with a fight that happened after the cameras had stopped filming at Gizelle Bryant, 53, and Ashley Darby, 35, fashion showcase with someone yelling 'stop stop stop!' and someone else yelled 'get the f*** off of her!' A slide said that production cameras were brought back up in the aftermath of the altercation. 'Get her a** out!' Candiace Dillard Bassett , 37, said. Someone yelled for an ambulance to be called. 'Deborah threw a drink on Candiace,' Wendy Osefo, 39, said. 'She threw a drink on Candiace but she hit me in the head,'Keiarna Stewart said. 'Get the raggedy b**** the f*** out,' Candiace said. 'Get that Sesame Street a** out and don't come back.' Deborah Williams told a producer she was arguing with Candiace but didn't throw the glass at her but just threw the cocktail in Candiace's hair. A slide said that production cameras were brought back up in the aftermath of the altercation 'Get her a** out!' Candiace Dillard Bassett , 37, said. 'Then out of nowhere Keiarna hit me in my face and then I threw the drink,' Deborah said. 'And that's when we got on the floor.' 'This seems intentional and attention seeking and K got hurt,' Karen said in a confessional. Keiarna said in a confessional that Deborah grabbed a glass and 'hits me in my damn forehead.' Keiarna got into the ambulance and Karen rode away with her. A few days later, the women gathered for the Mia's Monarch magazine launch party for their iconic photo shoot. Ashley said after the fight that she decided to put a pause on her friendship with Deborah. Gizelle returned after her father's surgery and said that it went well but he was still in the hospital. Charisse walked in wearing a boot on her foot and said she re-injured her leg during the fight. 'I think someone stomped on my toes or something,' Charisse Jordan, 67, said. 'It was crazy.' Mia brought her whole family to the launch party. Ashley told Candiace's sister that she was upset with her friend Deborah. 'That side of her I've never seen before,' Ashley said. 'Then out of nowhere Keiarna hit me in my face and then I threw the drink,' Deborah said. 'And that's when we got on the floor' A few days later, the women gathered for the Mia's Monarch magazine launch party for their iconic photo shoot Candiace describes in a confessional what happened and how all of the sudden she saw 'Cookie Monster' lunging at her at the party. 'Before I can even figure out what to do next, Keiarna is fighting with it,' Candiace said. 'I don't even know how it got there. It literally happened so fast.' Ashley said that Keiarna got 12 stitches. Charisse asked Candiace what she thought she would have done with the champagne bottle she grabbed during the fight. Candiace said she just needed something to protect herself. 'You would have been in jail,' Charisse said to Candiace if she used the bottle. 'Not if she touched me first,' Candiace said. 'I think that there is an elephant in the room and it needs to be addressed,' Karen Hunger, 60, said. 'The other night took us way back. I can't hear what you have to say because these were your friends.' 'Everyone involved in this situation was an adult so while they were my friends, I'm not taking ownership,' Ashley said. 'I don't like what happened and to see what happened to K was heartbreaking.' 'Clearly your friend came with an agenda,' Wendy said. Candiace describes in a confessional what happened and how all of the sudden she saw 'Cookie Monster' lunging at her at the party. 'Not if she touched me first,' Candiace said. Ashley said in a confessional that Deborah told her that Candiace had called her 'vermin' and 'The Help' , antagonizing her before the fight. 'You can't keep going for the white meat,' Ashley said. 'At sometimes, for some people, you hit too low.' 'A level of trust, I'm going to put it out there Ashley, has been destroyed,' Karen said. Karen said they could never allow someone around then that meant them harm. Ashley apologized for putting anyone through that and would be more conscious of who she brings into the group. The group then toasted to the 'sisterhood.' Mia then thanked all the women for participating in the photo shoot. The show then flashed that sadly Gizelle's father passed away shortly after his surgery; Ashley was currently dating but still married; and Nneka Ihim, 36, IUI was unsuccessful. Gordon said he was so proud of his wife. The Real Housewives of Potomac will return next Sunday on Bravo. Married at First Sight star Tristan Black showed off his impressive weight loss as he stepped out with co-star Timothy Smith in Sydney. The pair were all smiles as they exited a Sydney venue, having both called time on their marriages on the Channel Nine program. Tristan appeared cheerful as he playfully posed for the cameras sporting a cream T-shirt and a pair of light blue denim pants. Meanwhile, Timothy looked relaxed in a blue top, dark jeans and matching shoes. The pair forged an adorable father-son bond during season 11 with Timothy even gifting Tristan a matching Byron Bay hoodie during the couples retreat. Married at First Sight star Tristan Black showed off his impressive weight loss as he stepped out with co-star Timothy Smith in Sydney. Both pictured The pair were all smiles as they exited a Sydney venue, having both called time on their marriages on the Channel Nine program Tristan and his bride Cassandra Allen called it quits during last Sunday's commitment ceremony after they struggled to form a connection. Tristan shared his feelings of rejection and withdrawal after confessing his love to Cass. The admission came after a week of reflection, leading them to the painful conclusion that their relationship could not progress beyond friendship. Tristan appeared cheerful as he playfully posed for the cameras sporting a cream T-shirt and a pair of light blue denim pants Timothy looked relaxed in a blue top, dark jeans and matching shoes In a bittersweet farewell, Cass offered Tristan words of encouragement, suggesting that his future partner would be incredibly fortunate. Tristan responded with a heartfelt acknowledgment of Cass's impact on his life, expressing gratitude despite the heartbreak. Meanwhile, Lucinda and Timothy called time on their relationship during Sunday night's commitment ceremony. Timothy acknowledged his lacklustre effort, saying, 'I didn't go into homestay with the best attitude.' The pair forged an adorable father-son bond during season 11 with Timothy even gifting Tristan a matching Byron Bay hoodie during the couples retreat In an emotional stand before the experts, Timothy said he found deep emotional exploration 'uncomfortable' and 'overwhelming'. The pivotal moment came as Lucinda, poised with poetic eloquence, chose to step away from the marriage, marking the end of their journey. Timothy, too, decided to exit the experiment, but not without a glimmer of hope for a friendship beyond the show's confines. Time stood still on Sunday as Lynda Carter attended the 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humour In Washington D.C. The 72-year old actress, best known for her iconic role as Wonder Woman, looked like she'd barely aged since hanging up her leotard as she greeted onlookers at the annual ceremony. Carter captured the hearts, minds and in some cases fantasies of teenagers across the globe thanks to her portrayal of the legendary, lycra-clad superhero, a role she played for four years from 1975. Making her way into the Kennedy Centre on Sunday evening, the actress opted for a comparatively demure black trouser-suit and matching mule-heel shoes as she prepared to honour actor and comedian Kevin Hart - the award's latest recipient. Presented by Wells Fargo, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recognises individuals who have impacted American society in a similar fashion to the 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, better known as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn creator Mark Twain. Time stood still on Sunday as former Wonder Woman Lynda Carter attended the 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humour In Washington D.C The 72-year old actress looked like she'd barely aged since hanging up her leotard as she greeted onlookers at the annual ceremony Carter's appearance at the event comes after she discussed how she ages gracefully by avoiding the Hollywood trend for cosmetic procedures. 'People still recognize me all the time as Wonder Woman,' she told People. 'I don't know that I've changed too dramatically.' Carter noted that she hasn't had facelifts that could drastically change her appearance. 'I don't cut my face, so I probably look just myself, but older,' she said. 'And the reason I've never had any facial surgery is just because I'm afraid. It's scary, because we've all seen some bad ones.' Carter also revealed she is still grieving her late husband, lawyer and video game executive Robert Altman, more than three years after his death at the age of 73 following complications from a medical procedure. 'He was the great love of my life,' she said of Altman, with whom she was married for 37-years and raised two children, Jessica and James. 'I think of him every day. There's so much of my day to day where I find myself thinking, "Oh Robert will know." Carter was accompanied by producer and real estate executive Timothy R. Lowery on the red carpet at Washington D.C's Kennedy Center The actress opted for a demure black trouser-suit and matching mule-heel shoes as she prepared to honour actor and comedian Kevin Hart - the award's latest recipient 'Or if I'm on a flight, I still expect him to text to ask, "Did you land safely? Was everything alright?"' The actress revealed she has also written a song for him, titled Letters From Earth. 'The soul of the song is about how you miss a person so much, because they're such a presence in your life that it's almost impossible to imagine that you won't physically see them again in this life,' she explained. 'You wonder, 'How can I communicate with you? Where are you? You didn't just die there's too much of you left on this earth, too many people that love you.''' BBC Countryfile fans have been left fuming over the content of a special episode of the show which aired on Sunday evening. Viewers were quick to criticise the Archaeology at Hinton Ampner episode of the popular series, slating it for a lack of farming content. The latest instalment of the long-running show saw presenter Anita Rani scavenging fields to uncover ancient relics and work alongside experts to measure electrical current in the ground - which is called resistivity. John Craven also played a prominent part in the episode, as he investigate a prehistoric settlement given the moniker of 'Britain's Pompeii'. Located at Must Farm, the site was perfectly preserved by a Bronze Age fire and John was offered the chance to handle a pot from the site. BBC Countryfile fans have been left fuming over the content of a special episode of the show which aired on Sunday evening Viewers were quick to criticise the Archaeology at Hinton Ampner episode of the popular series, slating it for a lack of farming content Another segment of the programme saw Margherita Taylor head to the Sherwood Pines Forest. Taking to X, formerly Twitter, a number of users expressed their dismay at the topic of the special episode, commenting: 'I love Countryfile, except tonight it was boring boring...scraping the barrel it would seem'. 'The entire programme is rubbish now. Tonight had sod all to do with farming etc. I love an archaeology programme, but not on Countryfile. The BBC have ruined it, along with many other ones.' 'Archaeology isn't what #Countryfile is meant to be. It's supposed to be about farming not ancient no longer of use relics.' 'Such a boring programme tonight not an animal in sight! #countryfile'. A description of the episode on BBC iPlayer read: 'From Roman coins to Stone Age axes and prehistoric bones, Britain's countryside is full of hidden ancient treasures. 'Anita Rani is in Hinton Ampner, a medieval village and country estate near Winchester in the county of Hampshire. It's home to Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements and barrows. 'Some of the Hinton Ampner estate land is being turned from grasslands and farmland into biodiverse habitats such as woodlands and wildflower meadows. 'But, before that happens, the grounds are being meticulously examined for archaeological traces so no important historical artefacts are lost.' Maya Jama has reportedly 'signed a six-figure deal with a huge hair brand,' according to a new report. The Love Island host, 29, will front Beauty Works for the next year with her lucrative new agreement set to be announced in the coming days. She has carved out an impressive career, having fronted a number of TV and radio shows before landing the coveted ITV role. Maya's already has many brand deals, such as Maybelline, Dolce & Gabbana, Rimmel London and has recently collaborated with with Gordon's gin. Now, according to The Sun, she is also set to be the face of Beauty Works, which became the first brand to work with Molly-Mae Hague after she left Love Island. Maya Jama, 29, has reportedly 'signed a six-figure deal with a huge hair brand, Beauty Works' according to a new report (pictured on Love Island last month) A source told the publication: 'Everything Maya touches turns to gold and companies are fighting to work with her. 'She has signed a six-figure deal with Beauty Works to be the face of their hair extensions for the rest of this year. 'Its a clever move for Maya. She is very selective about who she works for and they have to make sense for her brand.' MailOnline has contacted Maya's representatives for comment. Maya has carved out an impressive career, having fronted a number of TV and radio shows before landing her big break as the host of Love Island last year, taking over from Laura Whitmore. But while she's dazzling in the world of TV it's her fashion campaigns that have really boosted her bank balance. The presenter is said to be worth an estimated 3million, with her newest campaign with Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana no doubt being a big help as it's said to be 'worth thousands'. Having promoted everything from luxury fashion, to sportswear and make-up she is now in more in demand than ever. In July 2023, it was revealed that Maya had been unveiled as the new face of luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana. She has carved out an impressive career, having fronted a number of TV and radio shows before landing the ITV role and various brand deals (pictured at her Gordon's gin launch last week) Now, according to The Sun , she is also set to be the face of Beauty Works, which became the first brand to work with Molly-Mae Hague after she left Love Island (pictured last week) Previously, it was announced that Maya had taken over from Kate Moss to be the global brand ambassador for Rimmel London. The presenter signed a multi-million pound deal to replace the 49-year-old supermodel, who had been the role for almost 20 years. Of joining the brand, she said: 'I grew up with this brand and have dreamed about saying the iconic 'London look' line on tv one day and now it's happening I don't even have the words, following in the footsteps of Kate Moss, Adwoa and more doesn't even make sense in my mind but I am honoured. '16-year-old me who moved to London from Bristol with a bag of dreams would not have believed you if you said 12 years later I would be a part of such a legendary London staple. 'London is my home and now you can catch me living the London Look'. Back in 2018, Maya could barely contain her excitement as she landed her first major beauty campaign, starring alongside Jourdan Dunn in a photoshoot to promote Maybelline's Fit Me foundation range. In July 2023, it was revealed that Maya had been unveiled as the new face of luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana (pictured with Stefano Gabbana) Previously, it was announced that Maya had taken over from Kate Moss to be the global brand ambassador for Rimmel London In 2020, Maya joined the likes of Rita Ora and Anthony Joshua to front JD Sports new Christmas campaign. Maya's latest signing is an epic deal with Gordon's Premium Pink gin. The multi-year deal, which will see the star star in campaigns for the well-known drinks brand, will provide a huge boost to the star's bank balance. She has also released two sell-out collections with PrettyLittleThing and modelled for big brands such as Steve Madden. Last year Maya joined forces with two more major brands, Bacardi and McDonald's, helping launch the fast food chain's McCrispy in a memorable advert starring Keith Lemon. Death In Paradise star Ralf Little has broken his silence on his exit from the BBC show. His character DI Neville Parker said farewell to the island of Saint Marie in Sunday night's episode - leaving viewers in tears. The BBC confirmed Ralf had left the show after the finale aired, with Tim Key, Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures paying tribute to its lead actor. And in a video posted to his Instagram following the show Ralf posted a long message to his fans as he said that it was an 'absolute privilege' to play Neville. He said: 'So, there you have it! The secret's out! My time on Saint Marie has come to an end. But, what an end! Death In Paradise star Ralf Little has broken his silence on his exit from the BBC show in a new video His character DI Neville Parker said farewell to the island of Saint Marie in Sunday night's episode - leaving viewers in tears 'New adventures await Neville and he got to sail off into the sunset with his best friend, and, you know, who knows what happens for them next! I just want to say, just an enormous thank you to everyone who watched and supported the show. 'When I arrived, four-and-a-half years ago, I knew I had big shoes to fill. Coming into a series beloved by millions, including me, was a huge responsibility. 'I had no idea if viewers would take to my interpretation of Neville's character and indeed to me, so it was quite a relief the response has been overwhelming. 'It has been an absolute privilege and pleasure to bring Neville Parker to all of you and to share his really quite profound journey with you. I can't thank you all enough for the support over the last four-and-a-half years and as Neville heads off for new challenges and adventures and I head off for new challenges and adventures.' He continued: 'When I look back at the time I spent on Death In Paradise, the way everyone took Neville into their hearts, it really has been one of the most magical and profound experiences of my entire life. If it wasn't for all of you, I'd have never of got to do it. So thank you, so so much! 'What next for the show? Well, I couldn't even tell you if I did know but I don't! I don't know! But what I do know is that the team that makes it, the producers, the writers, directors, all the crew, guest cast and of course my absolutely magnificent co-stars. 'They know what they're doing and the future is in good hands! So I'll be watching series 14 along with you guys with the same excitement you all will. I can't wait to see what happens next!' The video also shared by the official Death In Paradise Instagram account was captioned: 'What can we say? @ralf.little, thanks so much for bringing Neville to life for us, we've loved watching every minute. #DeathInParadise.' In a video posted to his Instagram following the show Ralf posted a long message to his fans as he said that it was an 'absolute privilege' to play Neville Ralf's final episode aired on Sunday night, leaving viewers in tears as his exit storyline was finally revealed - as he rushed to be with fan favourite DS Florence Cassell (Josephine Jobert) Viewers decided it was the perfect ending for the two characters with one tweeting: 'I'm sobbing Neville and Florence sailing off into the sun together was the perfect ending' Ralf's final episode aired on Sunday night, leaving viewers in tears as his exit storyline was finally revealed. After fears his character was planning to leave the island of Saint Marie solo, the final scenes of series 13 saw him rushing to be with fan favourite DS Florence Cassell (Josephine Jobert) after their 'will they, wont they' storyline reached its emotional conclusion. After an intervention from his friends and colleagues, Neville dashed to the port to tell Florence how he felt, leaving viewers in tears as he declared: 'If the unknown is all you have to offer then that's good enough for me. All I want is for us to be together,' The final scene saw the two sailing off together into the sunset. The opening of the episode saw Neville on a plane to Dominica when he spoke to a man who later ended up dead on a beach with a gunshot wound in his chest, leading him to return to Saint Marie to investigate the death. His happy ending with Florence didn't look certain with his return to the island though as he told her he still wanted to leave the island solo. Thankfully Neville's colleagues staged an intervention, which saw the leading man finally acting on his feelings for Florence. Viewers decided it was the perfect ending for the two characters with one tweeting: 'i'm sobbing Neville and Florence sailing off into the sun together was the perfect ending for them both.' '#DeathInParadise finally managed to get a couple together! Only took about 14 years!' agreed another. 'OMG. I can't believe it. They are going traveling together,' cried another but one more was keen to know if it was just a short break for the pair: 'It's just a quick holiday round the islands, right? They're coming back, right? #DeathInParadise' The BBC confirmed Ralf has left the show after the finale aired, with Tim Key, Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures paying tribute to its lead actor 'Joining a successful show like Death in Paradise as the lead is a daunting and risky prospect, but Ralf's confidence and talent shone through from day one and the audience response to Neville and his journey has been amazing,' he said. 'I can't thank Ralf enough for everything he has brought to the show, on and off screen, and wish him all the very best for the future.' Ralf was the longest-lasting lead and followed in the footsteps of Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, and Ardal O'Hanlon who all played in the iconic role, with producers now on the lookout for his replacement. A 14th season has already been commissioned and a Christmas special slated with filming taking place in the coming months. Ralf, 44, previously described playing the show's lead as a 'dream role', emphasizing the show's quality and dismissed the notion of it being a 'guilty pleasure.' In 2021 he said: 'I am still trying to gently steer the narrative away from that phrase. What is there to be guilty about? It is a high quality show, with a complex murder with new characters and a mystery that has to be resolved and they do it all in an hour. 'And it looks beautiful - never was murder so enjoyable. It is an incredible achievement. It is something I am very proud of.' The series, set on the island of Saint Marie, was the BBC's third biggest drama in the UK in 2023, sitting just behind Happy Valley and Doctor Who. The drama has had a huge global success reaching over 240 territories. Its 100th episode will air during the current season. Ralf was the longest-lasting lead and followed in the footsteps of Ben Miller, Kris Marshall, and Ardal O'Hanlon who all played in the iconic role, with producers now on the lookout for his replacement The series, set on the island of Saint Marie, was the BBC's third biggest drama in the UK in 2023, sitting just behind Happy Valley and Doctor Who Since it was announced that Ralf would depart the show after four years as Saint Marie's lead detective, the rumour mill has swirled as to who will replace him. A series of stars have been tipped as next in line - with The Inbetweeners' Simon Bird the bookies' favourite. Betfred's likelihood of Simon, 39, taking on the role is at odds of 5/4, with a 44 per cent probability. Meanwhile, the second most likely star to step in is Diane Morgan, who is best known for her iconic character Philomena Cunk. Medical professors began submitting their resignations and reducing their work hours Monday in support of a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, despite the government's attempt for talks over a reform plan that increased the number of medical students, according to a doctors' group. Professors from 19 out of 40 medical schools signed a joint statement, saying they will "submit their resignations today," according to the group of medical professors nationwide. Medical professors, who are senior doctors at major university hospitals, had threatened to quit this week, but they pledged to remain at work. More than 90 percent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since Feb. 20 to protest the government's decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats. Prospects of talks between the government and the medical community over the walkout by junior doctors were raised Sunday as President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a "flexible" measure over the government's move to suspend the licenses of defiant trainee doctors. However, another group of medical professors demanded the government scrap the reform plan that increased medical school admission seats, saying it would sit down for talks with the government only if the plan is abolished. The demand by the Medical Professors Association of Korea is expected to complicate an attempt by the government to hold talks with the medical community. "Unless the government scraps the plan to increase the number of medical school freshmen and withdraws the allocation of seats, the ongoing crisis cannot be settled," the association said. "If the government is willing to withdraw (the plan), we are ready to discuss all the pending issues in front of the people," it said. Medical professors will also go ahead with their plan to reduce their weekly work hours to 52 hours by adjusting surgeries and other medical treatments, according to the association. Earlier in the day, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said that relevant ministries have swiftly begun work to hold talks with the medical community. "Related ministries have immediately launched working-level preparations to hold talks with the medical community," Cho said at a government response meeting. "We will arrange a meeting between the government and the medical community as soon as possible." Still, it is unclear whether potential talks with the medical community could produce tangible results as the government allocated the additional 2,000 admission seats to universities last week, in an indication that the government would not back down from the plan. The government is pushing to increase the admission quota to address a shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas and essential medical fields, such as high-risk surgeries, pediatrics, obstetrics and emergency medicine. But doctors argue that the quota hikes would compromise the quality of medical education and services and create a surplus of physicians, and the government must devise ways of better protecting them from malpractice suits and extending compensation to induce more physicians to practice in such "unpopular" areas. (Yonhap) Married At First Sight's Lauren Dunn ensured that she was looking her absolute best as she arrived for the dinner party recently. The bride got her hair done at a salon before arriving to face off with her groom, Jonathan McCullough. She headed to a local hairdresser and had her tresses tended by a professional before dressing up for the occasion while also getting her makeup done. Lauren opted for an up do with some loose tendrils around her face, her blonde locks perfectly styled. She posed up a storm for selfies alongside co-star Sara Mesa after getting all dolled up. Married At First Sight's Lauren Dunn (right) ensured that she was looking her absolute best as she arrived for the dinner party recently The bride got her hair done at a salon before arriving to face off with her groom, Jonathan McCullough She posed up a storm for selfies alongside co-star Sara Mesa (left) after getting all dolled up After wearing a casual outfit consisting of a loose white shirt and wide legged jeans, she changed for the big night. Lauren could be seen leaving a limousine in a fitted black dress that befitted her new do. The bride and her groom Jonathan McCullough's 'marriage' has been anything but a fairytale. But it seems Lauren, 32, and Jonathan, 39, may have finally put their differences aside after they were spotted enjoying a rare date during a filming break. The pair were pictured sharing smiles and an intimate evening at the Miso Japanese Teishoku Restaurant in Sydney, hinting at a blossoming connection.. She was wearing a casual outfit consisting of a loose white shirt and wide legged jeans A bag from cosmetics store Mecca hung off her arm She changed for the big night into sultry evening wear Lauren could be seen leaving a limousine in a fitted black dress that befitted her new do The rare outing came after reports that Jono and Lauren wanted almost nothing to do with each other when cameras weren't rolling. 'Lauren didn't want to spend any time with Jono when they weren't filming,' a well-placed insider told Daily Mail Australia. 'Though they had some really good times, Lauren would often prefer to hang out with friends, watch reality TV and ignore him when he asked if she wanted dinner.' 'The rest of the cast felt sorry for him, she would barely look up from her phone or even respond when he tried to talk to her.' She was perfectly made up and styled for the occasion The bride and her groom Jonathan McCullough's 'marriage' has been anything but a fairytale But it seems Lauren, 32, and Jonathan, 39, may have finally put their differences aside after they were spotted enjoying a rare date during a filming break The rare outing came after reports that Jono and Lauren wanted almost nothing to do with each other when cameras weren't rolling 'Lauren didn't want to spend any time with Jono when they weren't filming,' a well-placed insider told Daily Mail Australia Jono, on his part, seemed to prioritise his gym sessions, while Lauren was content with her sleep ins and was frequently seen with fellow bride Sara Mesa. Despite producers warning the cast against any 'catch ups', Lauren and Sara didn't have a care in the world as they continued to plan outings together without their partners. Another source defended Lauren, suggesting a feeling of betrayal from Jono because he 'hung her out to dry' at the dinner parties. 'Lauren absolutely had zero interest in spending more time with him some weekends than was required. She felt betrayed and let down,' said the insider. Marcia Hines has returned to Australian Idol after been rushed to hospital following a 'medical emergency' on Sunday night. The judge, 70, appeared largely in good health as she addressed her absence at the start of Monday night's grand finale episode. However, Hines had a gash on her head that she had sustained in her fall, that has been stitched closed. 'I feel fine. I want to thank everybody who reached out towards me. I do appreciate it,' she said addressing the audience and viewers. 'And you guys need to know - I couldn't have missed this for the world. I couldn't have.' Marcia Hines has returned to Australian Idol (pictured) after been rushed to hospital following a 'medical emergency' on Sunday night The judge, 70, appeared largely in good health as she addressed her absence at the start of Monday night's grand finale episode. However, Hines had a stitched gash on her head that she had sustained in her fall Fellow judge Kyle Sandilands chimed in: 'Show us your gash!' before explaining Marcia had a cut on her forehead. She lifted her hair to briefly show the injury, which appears to be on her forehead. Marcia then explained that she would need to return to hospital following the live broadcast. 'I got stitches and everything. It is all good. I'm good. I go back to the hospital tonight. I'm going back,' she said. She had earlier shared a post to the Australian Idol Instagram Stories where she thanked fans for their well wishes and said she was 'feeling much better' . Fellow judge Kyle Sandilands (left) chimed in: 'Show us your gash!' before explaining Marcia had a cut on her forehead She lifted her hair to briefly show the injury, which appears to be on her forehead. Marcia then explained that she would need to return to hospital following the live broadcast Hines collapsed in her dressing room on the set of the reality series on Sunday and injured her head in the fall. A source told Daily Mail Australia Hines was 'set to perform' on the show before collapsing and was taken to hospital via ambulance. Daily Mail Australia was told that Hines was 'in a stable condition' after treatment on Sunday night and her collapse was likely due to her diabetes. She did not appear on Australian Idol and Guy Sebastian filled in as judge. She had earlier shared a post to the Australian Idol Instagram Stories where she thanked fans for their well wishes and said she was 'feeling much better' Hines shared a statement to her Instagram page on Sunday night. 'I'm very sorry that I'm not there with you all tonight. It's been a big few days of work and I was feeling a little unwell. I'm resting up now so I can be back with you all tomorrow night,' she wrote. Hines is a judge on the singing competition alongside Amy Shark and Kyle Sandilands. Host Ricki-Lee Coulter told viewers that Hines would be absent at the start of Sunday's episode. 'I feel fine. I want to thank everybody who reached out towards me. I do appreciate it' she said addressing the audience and viewers Her collapse was likely due to her diabetes. Hines has been a Type-1 diabetic for almost 40 years. She is a judge alongside Amy Shark and Kyle Sandilands (all pictured) 'You will have spotted that we are missing someone very important and very special to the Idol family. Unfortunately Marcia is unwell and unable to join us tonight,' she said. Sandilands then chimed in: 'Sorry, sorry. That's a real downplay. She was taken out of here in an ambulance. 'Just so that everyone knows. She's fine. She's well. But she didn't just ring up with a headache. She went down.' Hines has been a Type-1 diabetic for almost 40 years. 'Before I was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes, my health and my body felt brilliant, but I wasn't eating properly,' she told Now To Love in 2017. Hines shared a statement to her Instagram page on Sunday night. 'I'm very sorry that I'm not there with you all tonight. It's been a big few days of work and I was feeling a little unwell. I'm resting up now so I can be back with you all tomorrow night,' she wrote Host Ricki-Lee Coulter (left) told viewers that Hines would be absent at the start of Sunday's episode Sandilands then chimed in: 'Sorry, sorry. That's a real downplay. She was taken out of here in an ambulance' 'Just so that everyone knows. She's fine. She's well. But she didn't just ring up with a headache. She went down,' he added 'I was skipping meals. There'd be days when I didn't eat. I was losing oodles of weight. I was thirsty all the time, and, without being vulgar, I was peeing like a pregnant woman!' Hines was diagnosed after a dental procedure refused to heal. 'I wasn't sick, but I had a procedure done on one of my teeth and it just wouldn't heal it just kept throbbing for days,' she said. 'I went to the doctor and that was when I was diagnosed with diabetes.' Hines said she manages her condition with insulin injections and insists, 'I could have a lot worse things than just diabetes.' The performer appeared in good health when she attended the opening night of West Side Story on Sydney Harbour on Friday. Marcia was pretty in pink, opting for a pastel blazer and matching slacks with a pop art graphic print, and looked bright and well. The performer appeared in good health when she attended the opening night of West Side Story on Sydney Harbour on Friday (pictured) Marcia was pretty in pink, opting for a pastel blazer and matching slacks with a pop art graphic print, and looked bright and well Hines previously said she was delighted to return to the judging panel for Australian Idol in 2024. She appeared on the singing competition as a judge during its first seven seasons, and she's taking her seat at the table once again. 'I was surprised and delighted because I really love that gig. I don't know if people realised how much it meant to me,' she told the Daily Telegraph. 'Why? Because like me, they just want to sing, they want to find a career in singing,' the pop star added. Hines was one of the original judges on Idol when it debuted Down Under in 2003. MARCH 2020 Kate revealed she and Prince Charles had got 'relatively close' at the Prince's Trust Awards on March 11 - Charles was diagnosed with coronavirus in mid-March. She said: 'Around the 29/30 March, I came home came in and said [to Derek] 'god you look ill.' 'He said he had a headache, numbness in his right hand, and was struggling to breathe, 'I rang Dr Hilary (Jones) and tried to get through, he talked to Derek. He said put me back on, I think you need to call an ambulance' Derek, 52, was taken into hospital on March 30 and remained in an unresponsive condition. APRIL Kate and her children isolated at home after she displayed 'mild symptoms'. Kate said: 'Derek remains in intensive care and is still very ill. I'm afraid it remains an excruciatingly worrying time. 'I'm afraid he is still in a deeply critical condition, but he is still here, which means there is hope.' MAY Kate said: 'The journey for me and my family seems to be far from over as every day my heart sinks as I learn new and devastating ways this virus has more battles for Derek to fight. 'But he is still HERE & so there is still hope.' That month, Kate and her family took part in the final clap for carers She said: 'I'll never give up on that because Derek's the love of my life but at the same time I have absolute uncertainty' JUNE On June 5, Kate revealed Derek is now free from coronavirus but continues to fight against the damage inflicted on his body JULY On July 5, Kate revealed Derek has woken from his coma but he remains in a serious yet critical condition. On July 8, she announced she would be returning to GMB, after being urged by doctors to 'get on with life' during Derek's recovery. She added that Derek had 'opened his eyes' after waking from his coma, but has been told his recovery could take years. On July 13, Kate returned to GMB for the first time since Derek was hospitalised. On July 28, Kate revealed she'd paid an 'extra emotional' first visit to Derek, and admitted she's 'frustrated' by his slow progress. AUGUST On August 14, Kate reassured GMB viewers that Derek was 'still with us,' but it was 'a waiting game.' On August 19, Kate revealed she celebrated Derek's birthday with their two children, and described the day as 'challenging' for her family. SEPTEMBER At the end of September, Derek reportedly becomes the longest surviving patient with coronavirus after spending 184 days in and out of intensive care. Kate reveals Derek has lost eight stone during his battle. The presenter announces she is returning to her Smooth Radio show so Derek can hear her voice. OCTOBER On October 30 Kate reveals that Derek has spoken for the first time in seven months, saying the word 'pain' to his wife, who watched on 'in tears' over FaceTime. Kate says a day later that her husband no longer needs a ventilator to breathe. NOVEMBER Kate reveals her family car has been stolen in latest 'body blow' to her family life, as kind-hearted fans offer their cars to help. She says she feels 'physically sick' at the prospect of facing her first Christmas without Derek. DECEMBER The GMB star tells viewers it is her dream to visit Derek on Christmas Day. She also reveals she missed two weeks on GMB after her children were exposed to the virus, but thankfully she and the kids tested negative. On December 17, Kate has an emotional conversation live on GMB with two nurses who treated Derek when he was first admitted to Whittington Hospital in North London. On New Year's Eve she reflects on a 'calamitous' Christmas without Derek, as her house was flooded and she struggled to get a food delivery slot until her pal Emma Willis stepped in to help. JANUARY 2021 Kate reveals she and her children got to visit Derek in hospital over the Christmas period, and it was the first time her family had seen him since he was hospitalised. She also says she's banned from seeing him due to new restrictions introduced during the government's third lockdown. FEBRUARY Kate reveals she is unsure how much Derek will 'ever be able to recover' following warning from doctors that he may never wake from his coma MARCH Kate revealed that was in the process of adapting her home to suit Derek's needs when he is finally released from hospital, in the ITV documentary Finding Derek. The programmed was praised by viewers for offering a heartbreaking look at the long-term effects of coronavirus. Kate also revealed that Derek has 'no muscle left' since battling Covid APRIL Kate revealed that Derek was finally allowed to leave hospital, but would require round-the-clock care once he was returned home. MAY Kate revealed that despite now being home with his family, his communication abilities were 'minimal' and he 'couldn't really move' DECEMBER During an appearance on Piers Morgan's Life Stories, Kate revealed that Derek had said 'I love you' for the first time. After celebrating Christmas, Derek was also pictured in a wheelchair during a trip to the pantomime with his family JANUARY 2022 Kate revealed that Derek was 'very fatigued' and 'very weak' following the family outing, adding: 'I don't know what this year is going to bring.' FEBRUARY Kate offered a glimpse into the daily struggles of looking after her husband amid his battle with long Covid in the documentary Caring For Derek She also revealed that Derek would die within three days if he was left alone to care for himself. JULY On July 6, Kate revealed that Derek had been re-admitted to hospital after suffering a 'downturn,' and in a later interview said she takes things 'day by day.' On July 20, it was reported that Kate had pulled out of hosting Good Morning Britain to be at Derek's bedside after he took a 'very serious' turn for the worse. Recalling the day, the presenter told The Sun: 'At one point Derek said to me, "This is it, this time. I am gone." It was just terrifying. 'His sepsis was gut-wrenching for all of us because it had gone undiagnosed until the point where it was about to take his life away again.' JANUARY 2023 Kate became overwhelmed as she confronted former health secretary Matt Hancock over his handling of the pandemic and his decision to go on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here. She then became tearful and looked up as she spoke about Derek, who has been unwell for approaching three years. Describing public anger towards him, Kate added of his decision: 'This gives the impression you still don't get why they are cross. You still don't get why people are upset. They want to hold you to more account.' APRIL Kate revealed that Derek was once again receiving care in hospital, as she shared the emotional moment Sir Elton John dedicated a song to the 'inspiring' couple. She shared the emotional moment Sir Elton John dedicated a song to the 'inspiring' couple, writing on Instagram: 'Yes Derek has been back in hospital this week & yes there's such a long road ahead but #eltonjohn & @davidfurnish you gave the kids & Derek a moment that we will never forget and has lifted their spirits again to feel anything is possible.' It was also reported that Kate was planning a trip across the world for pioneering treatment in a 'final hope' to help her husband. MAY Kate reportedly faced a huge 716,000 tax bill after she was forced to close her husband's business two years after he became stricken with Covid-19. The final total will be settled within the coming weeks, with friends insisting she will pay whatever is owed. A friend told The Sun: 'The figures are terrifying and Kate is of course worried about all the financial pressures, but she has to trust the process. 'When it comes to an end, she is determined to pay back anything that's owed. 'It's no secret that Kate has been battling to keep her husband alive and working through some heartbreaking situations in her personal life in recent years. 'Sadly as well as the emotional stress of Derek's terrible illnesses the financial burden has also been crippling.' DECEMBER Derek was left fighting for his life after suffering a heart attack. Kate held a 24/7 vigil by his bedside and cancelled all work commitments while the family 'prayed for a miracle'. A source said: 'It was sudden and a shock as he had been doing so well and was in great spirits, looking forward to Christmas at home with the family. 'This setback has been a huge blow for his family and all the people caring for him. Kate is by his side 24 hours a day and is willing him on to win this latest battle for his life. 'Derek has fought so many times, and always, against all odds, come out the other side.' JANUARY 2024 Kate announced on January 5 that Derek had passed away. She said: 'Derek was surrounded by his family in his final days and I was by his side holding his hand throughout the last long hours and when he passed. 'I have so much more to say, and of course I will do so in due course, but for now I just want to thank all the medical teams who fought so hard to save him and to make his final moments as comfortable and dignified as possible'. MailOnline understands he passed away on January 3 in a North London hospital. He is survived by wife Kate and their children Darcey, 17, and son William, 14. Ralf Little has departed Death in Paradise, prompting intense speculation from fans over how his exit could impact the future of the show. The fan favourite actor, 44, has played the show's lead character, DI Neville Parker, for nearly five years. His final appearance took place on Sunday night's series 13 finale and saw the character continue with his hunt to find true love. So, will there be a 14th season of Death In Paradise? When is Return To Paradise next on TV? Read on below for everything you need to know about the future of Death In Paradise. Ralf Little has departed Death in Paradise, prompting intense speculation from fans over how his exit could impact the future of the show The fan favourite actor, 44, has played the show's lead character, DI Neville Parker for nearly five years Will there be a Death In Paradise season 14? READ MORE: BBC Death in Paradise's DI Neville Parker replacement 'revealed' after Ralf Little quits show Fact-box text Advertisement The BBC has confirmed that Death In Paradise will be returning for season 14, with a likely broadcast date of January 2025. With Neville (Ralf Little) and Florence (Josephine Jobert) potentially having the chance to strengthen their relationship away from the island of Saint Marie before their next appearance, there is a possibility that Florence features more regularly on the show. Some, though, have speculated that the blooming relationship could signal the perfect time for Neville to say goodbye to his colleagues on Saint Marie, with the character expressing his desire to travel. Other fans appeared to be slightly more sceptical about Little's departure from the show. In response to a BBC social media post, some fans insisted that he will be back for season 14, stating: 'Ralf confirmed he'll return for the next season,' while another said 'the actors are signed on for another season!' To see what will really happen next, viewers will have to tune into the next series of Death In Paradise when it airs in 2025. The first actor to take on the role of Saint Marie's Detective Inspector was Ben Miller, who played DI Richard Poole (pictured) When is Return To Paradise on TV? Another spin-off of the show, named Return to Paradise, will be available to watch later this year. An Australian version of the hugely popular UK drama will be set in the serene beachside hamlet of Dolphin Cove. The plotline follows Mackenzie Clarke, an ex-Metropolitan Police officer who moves back to Australia after earning a reputation for being able to solve extremely complex cases while part of the police force in England. Having escaped her hometown at the earliest opportunity six years previous, Mackenzie will be force to contend with unanswered questions after returning down under for the first time. Speaking about the new show, Sue Deeks, head of BBC Programme Acquisition, said: 'Everything we all love about Death in Paradise the humour, the beautiful scenery, the likeable characters, the ingenious plots [will now be] in a fabulous Australian setting. 'I cannot wait for BBC viewers to be introduced to Detective Mack and the good (and not so good!) folk of Dolphin Cove. What a treat we have in store!' The series will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The next actor to step into the role was My Family's Kris Marshall, who played clumsy DI Humphrey Goodman Farmer Wants a Wife stars Andrew Guthrie and Jess Nathan have secretly eloped, three years after meeting on the Channel Seven reality show. The lovebirds shared the news to Instagram on Sunday evening in an Instagram video captioned, 'Mr and Mrs Guthrie honeymooning hard'. In the footage, the couple are seen strolling along a beach and sharing a romantic kiss during their honeymoon. The post was soon inundated with well-wishers. 'Congrats Mr. and Mrs Guthrie, been rooting for you from the beginning, now rooting for your forever,' one fan wrote. Farmer Wants a Wife stars Andrew Guthrie and Jess Nathan have secretly eloped, three years after meeting on the Channel Seven reality show. Both pictured The lovebirds shared the news to Instagram on Sunday evening in an Instagram video captioned, 'Mr and Mrs Guthrie honeymooning hard' 'Congratulations love birds. Your journey has been amazing to watch,' added another. 'You're married!! What, when??' another follower asked. The couple are yet to post photos of the wedding day. They announced their engagement in August by sharing several photos to Instagram. In the footage, the couple are seen strolling along a beach and sharing a romantic kiss during their honeymoon. The post was soon inundated with well-wishers The couple, who had been enjoying a picnic and Champagne, looked smitten as Jess buried her face in her hands in shock before trying on her ring. In the caption alongside the images, Andrew paid tribute to the show, writing, 'Farmer Wants A Wife' and adding ring and heart emojis. The engagement came less than a month after the pair announced that they had purchased a home together. They announced their engagement in August by sharing several photos to Instagram Posing alongside a 'sold' sign, Andrew told his fans on Instagram: 'We bought a beach shack! 'At one of our favourite places in the world, weve been working on this for what feels like forever and were so excited to open the doors to our little abode for what will soon be an Airbnb for us to share. Watch this space!' In 2021, the pair revealed during a reunion special that they were moving in together on Andrew's farm in Delegate, NSW. The engagement came less than a month after the pair announced that they had purchased a home together Lily Collins enjoyed a trip to Disneyland with her Emily In Paris co-star Ashley Park and other members of the cast on Sunday. The actress, 35, - who plays main character Emily in the Netflix series - donned Minnie Mouse ears as she larked around at the attraction in the French capital. She was joined by Ashley who plays Emily's best friend Mindy Chen as well as French actor Samuel Arnold who plays Julian - one of Emily's work colleagues. Lily looked as stylish as ever in a pair of high-waisted light blue denim jeans and wore a black padded coat. The star mentioned that she was missing her husband Charlie McDowell during the fun day out and so wore a black T-shirt with his name on it. Lily Collins enjoyed a trip to Disneyland with her Emily In Paris co-star Ashley Park and other members of the cast on Sunday The actress, 35, - who plays main character Emily in the Netflix series - donned Minnie Mouse ears as she larked around at the attraction in the French capital She was joined by Ashley who plays Emily's best friend Mindy Chen (centre) as well as French actor Samuel Arnold who plays Julian - one of Emily's work colleagues (right) She penned in the caption: 'Sunday fun day at the happiest place on Earth! Missed @charliemcdowell big time but we brought him along for the ride. Always with me in spirit' Production on the popular Netflix romantic comedy which features tons of enviable fashions began in January. The streamer has yet to announce when Season Four will be released, but Lily gave a few hints about what will happen in a teaser released on YouTube. 'It's safe to say we ended on a dramatic note last season,' she said referring to the cliffhanger ending in which Lucas Bravo's Gabriel was left at the alter by Camille Razat's Camille, only to discover Gabriel will soon become a dad. Emily and Gabriel have been locked in a 'will they or won't they' tug of war since Season one. The star gave a few hints at what the future holds for the American marketing executive living in Paris. 'We have more fun, more fashion, and of course, more drama in store for you all,' she said. 'Emily is gonna have to decide if everything she's ever wanted is really what she needs.' Lily looked as stylish as ever in a pair of high-waisted light blue denim jeans and wore a black padded coat After a long day at the park she and Ashley fell asleep in the car on the way home as her Instagram album documented the fun weekend The star mentioned that she was missing her husband Charlie McDowell during the fun day out and so wore a black T-shirt with his name on it 'And while Emily's heart will always remain true to Paris,' she explained, 'her life takes some unexpected twists this season. Don't be surprised to find her on a Roman Holiday.' Back in January Lily revealed she was back filming with an Instagram post. Following a two-month delay due to Hollywood's long, contentious writers' strike, the British-American actress shared a selfie of herself holding a script from a table read. 'Did someone say Saison Quatre?! Finally reunited with my @emilyinparis fam back in Paris and it feels so good,' she captioned a slideshow, featuring a number of behind-the-scenes snaps from set. The two-time Golden Globe nominee continued: 'Although, I may need to brush up on my selfie skills for Emily's sake.' In the images, the daughter of Phil Collins and Jill Tavelman wore a $675 satin dress from HVN, covered in Eiffel Towers, with cuffed sleeves and satin piping. She paired her chic look with a gold bracelet, multiple rings and long light brown tresses in loose waves. The script she held up was written by Grant Sloss, who serves as a supervising producer and script writer for Emily in Paris. He previously wrote two episodes for the show, for the past three seasons. In 2021, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. She penned in the caption: 'Sunday fun day at the happiest place on Earth! Missed @charliemcdowell big time but we brought him along for the ride. Always with me in spirit' Production on the popular Netflix romantic comedy which features tons of enviable fashions began in January Following a two-month delay due to Hollywood's long, contentious writers' strike, the British-American actress shared a selfie of herself holding a script from a table read in January The streamer has yet to announce when Season Four will be released, but Lily gave a few hints about what will happen in a teaser released on YouTube Her post came at the same time Collins' co-star, Ashley, announced that she nearly died after going into 'critical septic shock' that 'infected her organs.' The 32-year-old took to Instagram to lay bare her terrifying health scare which began with tonsillitis during a vacation in Thailand for New Year. She said she was left in 'excruciating pain' and battled 'so much confusion' before going into the intensive care unit. She has now made a full recovery and is back to filming. She's rarely speechless, but Lorraine Kelly was lost for words on Monday after being presented with a TV BAFTA Special Award while hosting her daily breakfast show. The presenter was surprised by Good Morning Britain anchor Susanna Reid, who interrupted the show to gift her with the award in acknowledgement of a 40-year career in broadcasting. Kelly, 64, looked visibly surprised as ITV colleague Reid, 53, made her entrance shortly after she kicked off the week. 'Good morning Lorraine, this has come as an enormous surprise,' said Reid. 'I have a very special announcement for you, Lorraine Kelly. 'It doesnt get much bigger or more deserved than this. I am here for a very special reason this morning.' She's rarely speechless, but Lorraine Kelly was lost for words on Monday after being presented with a TV BAFTA Special Award while hosting her daily breakfast show The presenter was surprised by Good Morning Britain anchor Susanna Reid , who interrupted the show to gift her with the award in acknowledgement of a 40-year career in broadcasting Brandishing an envelope, she added: 'BAFTA will be celebrating your 40 years in broadcasting. Your programme is nominated in the daytime category, but I have something unique and special to you. 'This is the first time something like this has been announced on air. This is the special gold envelope. 'On behalf of the BAFTA board of trustees, we are delighted to offer you Lorraine Kelly the Academy Special award to be presented at this years BAFTA Television Awards.' 'This is nuts! Wheres Ant and Dec?' replied Kelly. 'It cant be a prank because its Susanna!' On her milestone 40-years in broadcasting, the Scots presenter recalled: 'Its crazy. I joined TVAM in 1984. 'I was a baby, I got my chance in breakfast television because they were willing to take a risk on someone who was told Id never make it to TV because of the way I speak. 'The boss of TV-am was Australian and heard a Scottish accent and it was one of those things where it was like "Give her a go."' Susanna added: 'Youre an inspiration to me and women in broadcasting.' Kelly looked visibly surprised as ITV colleague Reid, 53, made her entrance shortly after she kicked off the week 'Good morning Lorraine, this has come as an enormous surprise,' said Reid. 'I have a very special announcement for you, Lorraine Kelly' Asa well as TV-am and her own daily breakfast show, Kelly has worked on Daybreak, GMTV, The New Paul O'Grady Show and Have I Got News For You. She has also worked as host of Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards and previously hosted her own show on Talk Radio. Kelly was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to charity in 2012 before being named Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 202 for services broadcasting, journalism and charity. Sunday marked the end of an era for Death In Paradise fans as Ralf Little's DI Neville Parker finally left the picturesque island of Saint Marie hand-in-hand with DS Florence Cassell. The actor's final episode drew a line under a protracted 'will they, wont they' storyline, with lovelorn Parker facing a race against time to tell the departing Cassell how he felt before bidding farewell to the island and setting sail for pastures new. Little's departure will be a loss for fans of the BBC show, having followed him across 39 episodes since his arrival in 2020. The BBC confirmed its leading man had left the show after Sunday's emotional finale, with Tim Key, Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures paying tribute to its lead actor 'Joining a successful show like Death in Paradise as the lead is a daunting and risky prospect, but Ralf's confidence and talent shone through from day one and the audience response to Neville and his journey has been amazing,' he said. 'I can't thank Ralf enough for everything he has brought to the show, on and off screen, and wish him all the very best for the future.' But as Parker leaves Caribbean crime-solving behind and prepares for a new life, what were his finest moments as Saint Marie's resident sleuth? Read on to find out. Little had big shoes to fill when he replaced the outgoing Ardal O'Hanlon on Saint Marie mid-way through the show's ninth series 1. THE ARRIVAL (2020) Little had big shoes to fill when he replaced the outgoing Ardal O'Hanlon on Saint Marie mid-way through the show's ninth series. The actor was given a baptism of fire after DI Parker, who suffers from a series of allergies, is called upon to investigate an apparent suicide at a local hotel. But it soon becomes clear that foul play was involved, with Parker left to solve a conundrum after discovering there was no way for the killer to leave the suite as bedroom and bathroom doors were both locked from the inside. However the mystery soon unravels thanks to some solid detective work, giving Parker an opportunity to instantly endear himself to the show's loyal fanbase. What would soon transpire to be an overarching storyline began when DS Cassell, played by French actress Josephine Jobert, returned to the island to take up a vacant sergeant's position 2. THE RETURN OF FLORENCE CASSEL (2021) What would soon transpire to be an overarching storyline begins when DS Cassel, played by French actress Josephine Jobert, returns to the island to take up a vacant sergeant's position. But Parker's introduction to his attractive new colleague is less than auspicious, with Cassell initially unaware of his many issues, among them anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and a past struggle with depression. The pair eventually join forces to crack another case, this time the mysterious death of a prominent local TV reporter, whose body is found floating in her swimming pool. Parker finds himself on the wrong side of the law after being framed for the murder of esteemed criminologist David Cartwright 3. BEHIND BARS (2023) Parker finds himself on the wrong side of the law after being framed for the murder of esteemed criminologist David Cartwright. With investigating officer DI Karen Flitcroft coming to the incorrect conclusion that only he could have committed the crime, Parker was charged with murder and promptly taken to prison while he awaited trial. With time running out and Parker facing a long prison term for a crime he did not commit, the team finally work out who the real culprit is, but it's still bad news for the hapless detective... A two-part storyline ended in heartbreak for Parker after the detective discovers he's been fooled by duplicitous girlfriend Sophie Chambers, played by Chelsea Edge 4. RUMBLING SOPHIE (2023) A two-part storyline ends in heartbreak for Parker after the detective discovers he's been fooled by duplicitous girlfriend Sophie Chambers, played by Chelsea Edge. Much to the detective's dismay, he discovers it was Sophie who killed Cartwright, with the motive traced back to Parker's past. The heartbroken detective later visits Sophie in prison to ask if any of their relationship had been authentic on her part, only to discover she never had romantic feelings for him. 5. A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE (2023) Chastened by his initial failure to rumble Sophie, Neville undergoes a crisis of confidence and decides to leave Saint Marie. But despite discovering the jailed killer had fooled him from the start, Parker finally manages to crack the case after working out how the murder was committed. His success gives him renewed confidence, and with it a change of heart regarding his decision to walk away from the island. Parker's developing feelings for Cassell were dealt a bitter blow when she left the show for a second time in 2022 after apprehending serial killer Miranda Priestley The detective shared an emotional moment with his former colleague before she drove away from the island, presumably forever 6. FAREWELL FLORENCE (2022) Parker's developing feelings for Cassell are dealt a bitter blow when she leaves the show for a second time in 2022 after apprehending serial killer Miranda Priestley during a covert operation. The detective shares an emotional moment with his former colleague before she drives away from the island, presumably forever. But all is not as it seems... 7. 100 EPISODES (2023) Parker had the dubious honour of solving yet another murder as the show celebrated its milestone 100th episode in 2023. Indeed, the detective is on the case after Commissioner Patterson - celebrating fifty years of service with the local police - is shot while visiting the Saint Marie yacht club. The special episode also confirmed Parker harbours strong feelings for Cassell, with the detective seen retrieving a photo of his colleague from one of his drawers. Parker is left stunned after setting up a blog and bonding with one of his first followers - only to discover it's an ex-girlfriend But he receives some welcome news after Commissioner Patterson gets an unexpected phone call from Cassell, who returns to the island 8. A BLAST FROM THE PAST (2023) Parker is left stunned after setting up a blog and bonding with one of his first followers - only to discover it's an ex-girlfriend. The detective's connection to his mystery follower, known only as SunChaser, had started promisingly, with the pair bonding over a love of pub quizzes. But once bitten twice shy, and after his bruising experience with Sophie he decides to probe into SunChaser's true identity. As if by chance, Parker runs into Zoe - an ex from his recent past who he hasn't spoken to in more than four years. 'So sorry to just turn up like this,' she tells him. 'Funny old thing, really, and you're probably going to think its a bit mad.' Events soon turn awry when Zoe confirms she is the enigmatic SunsetChaser, leaving the detective speechless. Parker's final scene saw him sailing off into the sunset with Cassell, for destination unknown 9. A WELCOME RETURN (2024) Parker receives some welcome news after Commissioner Patterson gets an unexpected phone call from Cassell. His old detective has been living on the island of Saint Auguste under a witness protection scheme, but after two-years in the programme she's ready for a return to Saint Marie. 10. A ROMANTIC DEPARTURE The final scenes of series 13 saw him rushing to be with fan favourite Cassell after their 'will they, wont they' storyline reached its emotional conclusion. After an intervention from his friends and colleagues, Parker dashes to the port to tell her how he feels. 'If the unknown is all you have to offer then that's good enough for me,' he tells her. 'All I want is for us to be together,' Christine McGuinness looked nothing short of sensational in a white satin gown as she attended the star-studded Butterfly Ball in aid of charity, Caudwell Children. The model, 36, turned heads in the glamorous plunging number which boasted a short wrap skirt at the front before cascading down into a dramatic long train. The mother-of-three, who is an ambassador for the charity, elevated her frame in a pair of towering heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling drop earrings at the event held at Waddesdon Manor on Friday. Styling her long blonde tresses in waves, Christine beamed for photos at the charity event ahead of enjoying a lavish meal and dancing the night away. Taking to Instagram, Christine also shared a video of her night as she twirled around in eye catching gown which she revealed was from Cinders Party Dress in Liverpool. Christine McGuinness looked nothing short of sensational in a white satin gown as she attended the star-studded Butterfly Ball in aid of charity Caudwell Children on Friday The model turned heads in the glamorous plunging number which boasted a short wrap skirt at the front before cascading down into a dramatic long train Christine, has three children - twins Leo and Penelope, 10, and Felicity, seven, who all have autism, whom she shares with ex Paddy. She revealed the charity ball raised over 1.2million to support autistic children. She wrote: 'It is always an honour to attend @ccbutterflyball last night was a the most incredible charity event I have ever been too! '@johncaudwell you really do make dreams come true! Raising over 1.2 million to support autistic children @caudwellchildren'. Also in attendance was Junior Andre, 18, who dressed to impress in a black blazer which he teamed with a silver metallic shirt and pinstripe trousers. The son of Peter Andre and Katie Price, looked amazing as he completed his evening outfit with a bold black and silver glittering mask. Meanwhile former England rugby star Chris Robshaw, 37, cut a dapper figure in a green and blue checked dinner suit. Since 2007, The Butterfly Ball has been one of the most successful, glamorous, and exclusive philanthropic events in the UK, raising over 25million for Caudwell Children and featuring famous names such as Sir Elton John, Whitney Houston and Sir Rod Stewart. Christine currently still lives with her presenter ex Paddy in their family home despite splitting in 2022 as they co-parent their three children. The mother-of-three elevated her frame in a pair of towering heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling drop earrings at the event held at Waddesdon Manor Taking to Instagram, Christine also shared a video of her night as she twirled around in eye catching gown which she revealed was from Cinders Party Dress in Liverpool Styling her long blonde tresses in waves, Christine beamed for photos at the charity event ahead of enjoying a lavish meal and dancing the night away The blonde beauty posed for a mirror selfie and toted her belongings around in a gold handbag The former couple are currently in the process of finalising their divorce after 14 years together. Speaking with Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast, Christine said she is 'worried how she will cope' when she and Paddy live in separate homes. The model, who also has autism, said: 'I still struggle with change and I'm just learning how to do things the best, what works for me and the children, and not what is expected. 'Of course, when you see a couple split or divorce, you expect them instantly to move out or go separate ways and start your own life and for us, that was never going to work. It has to be slow. 'I am absolutely petrified of the thought of living on my own one day with the children. 'I want to get to the point where I'm excited about it and I'm not there yet. For now, it works because we're not having to change the children's routine. 'So Patrick [Paddy] goes to work, then I got to work. And then I go to work and Patrick stays at home. 'It does worry me when we do go in separate houses, how are we going to cope with that? Christine, who shares three kids - twins Leo and Penelope, 10, and Felicity, seven, who all have autism with ex Paddy, revealed the charity ball raised over 1.2million to support autistic children (pictured with Paddy October 2021) Also in attendance was Peter Ander and Katie Price's son Junior Andre who dressed to impress in a black blazer which he teamed with a silver metallic shirt and pinstripe trousers Meanwhile former England rugby star Chris Robshaw, 37, cut a dapper figure in a green and blue checked dinner suit An orchestral performed at the ball as they revealed they had raised over 1.2million for the charity 'How are they [children] going to be staying at daddy's [house] then at mummy's [house]? That's why we are not sure what is the best way to do that. But whilst we are okay we'll stay here and then eventually figure it out.' Christine recently revealed that she previously 'barely left the house for eight years' and became 'extremely reclusive'. She added: 'I chose to stay at home and I took it to the extreme by becoming very, very reclusive. I barely left the house for about eight years, and I would only go to the supermarket around 1am, 2am in the morning when it was quiet. 'I'd say no to anything because I was comfortable in my bubble at home. I wasn't unhappy, but I think I was just existing. I don't think I was fully living. That's what I've learned from [BBC Two's The Pilgrimage], that I want to live this life that I've got.' Jodi Gordon has had a makeover, showing off her new hairdo on social media. The former Neighbours star shared a video to Instagram this week in which she had her tresses tended to. The 39-year-old headed to Cole Hair Studio in Sydney's upmarket Double Bay where she embraced a lighter look. Jodi showed off her long, brunette locks beforehand, which had grown out long and largely straight. She emerged after her appointment with highlights, a trim and soft waves for a fresh new look. Jodi Gordon (pictured) has had a makeover, showing off her new hairdo on social media The 39-year-old headed to Cole Hair Studio in Sydney 's upmarket Double Bay where she embraced a lighter look (pictured) 'Finding the light side (again lol) with my man,' she wrote in her caption, tagging her colourist, who decried the tone as 'bronde' - a mix of brown and blonde. Earlier this year, Jodi's ex-husband Braith Anasta was praised for putting his differences aside with his former spouse as they attended their nine-year-old daughter Aleeia's baptism. The NRL star, 42, shared a gallery of photos to Instagram capturing the former couple posing alongside their daughter at the ceremony. The proud parents were all-smiles and looked every inch the friendly exes for the milestone occasion. Jodi showed off her long, brunette locks beforehand, which had grown out long and largely straight She emerged after her appointment with highlights, a trim and soft waves for a fresh new look Another picture showed a beaming Braith also posing with Aleeia and his younger daughter Gigi, six, whom he shares with his ex-fiancee Rachael Lee. Braith captioned the gallery with some heartfelt words: 'She's got a beautiful soul with a heart of gold. She's a special one, this one. Jodi and Braith were married from 2012 to 2015 and welcomed Aleeia in 2014. President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell for a fourth consecutive week to 36.5 percent, while support for his ruling People Power Party (PPP) also slid just about two weeks before the parliamentary elections, surveys showed Monday. The positive assessment of Yoon's performance declined 2.1 percentage points from the previous week, while the negative assessment advanced 1.7 percentage points to 60.1 percent, according to a survey by Realmeter conducted from Monday to Friday last week. Yoon's approval rating has taken a downturn after reaching 41.9 percent in the fourth week of February, the pollster said. The survey was commissioned by the Energy Economy News Daily and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. In a separate poll of parties conducted Thursday to Friday last week, the ruling PPP had a support of 37.2 percent, falling behind the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) with 42.8 percent. The latest ratings mark a 0.8 percentage-point drop for the PPP and a 2 percentage-point jump for the DPK. Among minor parties, the New Reform Party, led by former PPP leader Lee Jun-seok, took the lead with 3.8 percent. The share of voters who do not support any political party stood at 5 percent, down 1.1 percentage points. On proportional representative votes, 29.8 percent said they preferred to vote for the PPP's satellite party, while 20.1 percent chose the DPK's satellite party. The Korea Innovation Party, created by the disgraced former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, received 27.7 percent of support. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. (Yonhap) Katy Perry showcased several 'lit' looks from her final season judging ABC's American Idol following Sunday night's episode. The 39-year-old pop star and her glam squad have gone from Malibu to Nashville to Santa Barbara to Tuskagee to Leesburgh looking for the next great performer for the formerly Fox singing competition. 'Listens to country music once,' Katy (born Katheryn Hudson) joked of her brown cowboy hat and grey cowboy boots. 'Here I am in Georgia, wearing what I think they wear in Georgia. A little poof sleeve a la Anne of Green Gables. You'll only know if you know, when you're in your 30s.' Another snap revealed Perry showing a lot of leg in a pink midi-dress, selected by stylist Tatiana Waterford, with her raven hair styled in a severe top bun. Katy Perry showcased several 'lit' looks from her final season judging ABC's American Idol following Sunday night's episode The 39-year-old pop star and her glam squad have gone from Malibu to Nashville to Santa Barbara to Tuskagee to Leesburgh looking for the next great performer for the formerly Fox singing competition The 13-time Grammy nominee - who gets 58.3M monthly listeners on Spotify - wore a nude corset mini-dress while hugging a tree in another snap. Hairstylist Rick Henry made sure Katy's mane was coiffed while make-up artist Michael Anthony made sure her complexion was fully contoured for the reality competition. Perry opted for a cleavage-boosting b&w-dotted slip dress to pose beside the towering cacti of her Santa Barbara hometown. The Coronation crooner - who boasts 429.7M social media followers - captioned her Instagram slideshow: 'Last looks. Lit. Which is/was ur fave? #idol.' Katy and fellow judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan will bring the 22nd season of American Idol to the Idol Arena for 'Hollywood Week' next Sunday on ABC. Perry - who earned an eye-popping $25M to judge Idol in 2017 - confirmed on the February 12th episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live that this will probably be her last season in favor of traveling the world and releasing new music. 'I love Idol so much. I know. It's connected me with the heart of America. But I feel like I need to go out and feel that pulse to my own beat,' the Emmy-nominated producer revealed. 'It's going to be a very, very exciting year, Jimmy, for all pop star girlies. Let's just say I'm creating space for my new wingspan.' Katy (born Katheryn Hudson) joked of her brown cowboy hat and grey cowboy boots: 'Listens to country music once' Perry continued: 'Here I am in Georgia, wearing what I think they wear in Georgia. A little poof sleeve a la Anne of Green Gables. You'll only know if you know, when you're in your 30s' Another snap revealed the 13-time Grammy nominee showing a lot of leg in a pink midi-dress, selected by stylist Tatiana Waterford, with her raven hair styled in a severe top bun Katy - who gets 58.3M monthly listeners on Spotify - wore a nude corset mini-dress while hugging a tree in another snap Hairstylist Rick Henry made sure Perry's mane was coiffed while make-up artist Michael Anthony made sure her complexion was fully contoured for the reality competition The Coronation crooner opted for a cleavage-boosting b&w-dotted slip dress to pose beside the towering cacti of her Santa Barbara hometown Katy - who boasts 429.7M social media followers - captioned her Instagram slideshow: 'Last looks. Lit. Which is/was ur fave? #idol' Perry and fellow judges Lionel Richie (L) and Luke Bryan (R) will bring the 22nd season of American Idol to the Idol Arena for 'Hollywood Week' next Sunday on ABC The Emmy-nominated producer - who earned an eye-popping $25M to judge Idol in 2017 - confirmed on the February 12th episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live that this will probably be her last season in favor of traveling the world and releasing new music Katy revealed: 'I love Idol so much. I know. It's connected me with the heart of America. But I feel like I need to go out and feel that pulse to my own beat. It's going to be a very, very exciting year, Jimmy, for all pop star girlies. Let's just say I'm creating space for my new wingspan' Perry is 'really excited' to next headline 'Girl Day' at the massive Brazilian music festival Rock in Rio, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro's World Stage on September 20 But first, The Peppa's Cinema Party star will voice dressmaker Ms. Leopard in Hasbro's three-part Peppa Pig Wedding Party Special, which airs March 25-28 on Channel 5/Nick Jr. Katy is 'really excited' to next headline 'Girl Day' at the massive Brazilian music festival Rock in Rio, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro's World Stage on September 20. Perry hasn't released a song since her sixth studio album Smile in 2020. But first, The Peppa's Cinema Party star will voice dressmaker Ms. Leopard in Hasbro's three-part Peppa Pig Wedding Party Special, which airs March 25-28 on Channel 5/Nick Jr. On the personal front, Katy has been engaged to Red Right Hand action star Orlando Bloom since 2019, so perhaps she'll finally have the time to plan their nuptials. Perry and the 47-year-old Englishman - who are parents of three-year-old daughter Daisy Dove Bloom - have been in an on/off romance since January 2016. The former Christian crooner ended her 14-month marriage to canceled comedian Russell Brand in 2012, and Orlando ended his three-year marriage to Miranda Kerr in 2013 after welcoming 13-year-old son Flynn. Kourtney Kardashian shared snaps of herself kissing husband Travis Barker to her Instagram page on Sunday night. The reality star, 44, captioned the slideshow simply with 'prayers and kisses' - which was exactly what she was doing in the images. Kourtney was kissing her Blink-182 drummer husband, 48, in five of the images and praying with him in another. The star's loved up snaps comes just one week after her aunt, Karen Houghton, died 'unexpectedly' at age 65. Karen was the younger sister of Kourtney's mom, Kris Jenner. Karen - who famously had a rollercoaster relationship with Jenner, 68 - was reported deceased to San Diego County officials on Monday, March 18, in San Marcos, California, TMZ reports. The exact circumstances of her passing are unclear, with county officials attributing her death to natural causes for now. Karen was Kris' only sister, with the pair growing up in San Diego together raised predominately by mom MJ after her divorce from the pair's father Robert Houghton. On Tuesday, Jenner shared snaps with her beloved sister and wrote: 'It is with the heaviest heart and deepest sadness that I share that my sister Karen passed away yesterday unexpectedly. Kris and Karen had long endured a rollercoaster relationship, oscillating between taking public barbs at one another, to Kris lavishing her little sister with pricey gifts. The star's loved up snaps comes just o ne week after her aunt, Karen Houghton, died 'unexpectedly' at age 65 On Tuesday, Jenner shared snaps with her beloved sister and wrote: 'It is with the heaviest heart and deepest sadness that I share that my sister Karen passed away yesterday unexpectedly Part-time nurse Karen had become known as the black sheep of the family after she candidly opened up outside Kim Kardashian's baby shower in 2013 and even did a jig for waiting reporters. Despite signing an NDA for the event, Karen waxed lyrical about eating 'marshmallow on a stick', the rose cake at the event and the goody bag, saying Kim and Kanye West 'gave out Rolexes'. Karen had frequently been outspoken when her sister Kris has riled her. In 2013 Karen claimed that Kris had spent an eye-watering $1million on plastic surgery, which stemmed from being self-conscious about her weight when she was younger. She was heavy as a kid and became worried about her looks at age 15, Karen told In Touch magazine. She added: The whole world knows it Kris is vain. Kourtney did not publicly acknowledge or speak out on her aunt's death. Her sister Kim Kardashian spoke out, breaking her silence on Thursday, March 21. Her sister Kim Kardashian spoke out, breaking her silence on Thursday, March 21 She shared a series of throwback pictures of her aunt, writing: 'I love you so much auntie Karen;' Kim and Kourtney pictured with their Aunt Karen She shared a series of throwback pictures of her aunt, writing: 'I love you so much auntie Karen.' Kourtney and Travis are parents to one child together: son Rocky Thirteen, on November 1, 2023. Kourtney has three children with ex-partner Scott Disick: sons Mason, 13, and Reign, eight, and daughter Penelope, 11. Travis is dad to son Landon, 19, daughter Alabama, 18, and stepdaughter Atiana, 24, with ex-wife Shanna Moakler. In December 2022, Kourtney revealed she stopped IVF 10 months prior, because it caused her spiral into a deep depression among other symptoms. She had been very open about her struggle with IVF on Hulu's The Kardashians. Kourtney and Travis conceived Rocky naturally, she revealed in an interview with Vogue in November 2023. 'We just got pregnant naturally. It was an indescribable feeling. Shock, then super-happy, fear seats in, worry, but I remember then to have gratitude.' They welcomed their first child together, son Rocky Thirteen, on November 1, 2023 Kourtney and Travis conceived Rocky naturally, she revealed in an interview with Vogue in November 2023 Kourtney seen at her baby shower over the summer, which was a Disney themed one Kourtney and Travis started dating in 2020 after almost 10 years of friendship; Travis was also her neighbor. They went Instagram official in February 2021, and engaged by October 2022. They tied the knot in May 2022 in a Santa Barbara courthouse, and went to Portofino, Italy a week later to hold a lavish wedding at the Dolce & Gabbana mansion in front of their friends and family. Andrew Scott scooped the award for Best Actor as he attended the 33rd Annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards on Monday afternoon. Walking the red carpet at Soho Place in London, the actor, 47, was joined by Celebrity Big Brother contestant Marisha Wallace. Andrew, who picked up the gong for starring as eight characters in Vanya, a one-man Chekov adaptation, proudly held his certificate. For the ceremony, he wore a black double breasted blazer with a sweater and smart trousers. Marisha, 38, who is known for her work in musical theatre, looked chic in a boucle mini dress that featured gold buttons and a white trim. Andrew Scott, 47, scooped the award for Best Actor as he he attended the 33rd Annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards on Monday afternoon Walking the red carpet at Soho Place in London, the actor was joined by Celebrity Big Brother contestant Marisha Wallace, 38 She topped off her look with a pair of heeled leather boots and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. Marisha was booted out the Big Brother house last week in a shock double-eviction just days before the live final. Performing in the play, Andrew brings to life multiple characters in adapter and co-creators Simon Stephens' radical new version of Anton Chekhovs Uncle Vanya. Comedic and tragic, Antons examination of people's shared humanity - hopes, dreams, regrets - is thrust into sharp focus in the production. This play explores the 'kaleidoscope of human emotions, harnessing the power of the intimate bond between actor and audience to delve deeper into the human psyche'. It comes after Andrew said being an openly gay man in the modern age is a 'wonderful gift' that has helped him establish firm friendships within the queer community. He told Attitude: 'I think it's such a wonderful thing to me. It's an extraordinary gift to my life and just to be able to see the real beauty in being gay is completely wonderful. 'The older I get, just the more I feel so lucky to have been born gay and that pervades my life in the sense of all my friendships.' Andrew picked up the gong for starring as eight characters in Vanya, a one-man Chekov adaptation He was joined by Benjamin Lowy and Emily Vaughn-Barrett at the event He added: 'I have so many amazing queer friends in my life now that I just adore.' 'I feel such a huge sense of camaraderie with other queer people now, and without sounding too hippy about it. 'I feel like I just want to spread that love and positivity in our community because we've come such a long way and it's important that we are kind and look out for each other, and celebrate how uniquely different and how f**king wonderful that can be.' Meanwhile, Andrew and Paul Mescal dmitted they weren't too keen on their family members watching their new film All Of Us Strangers. The movie stars Andrew as a screenwriter who enters into a relationship with a mysterious neighbour, played by Paul, 27. Arlene Phillips looked stylish in a red leather bomber jacket Joseph Fiennes, who is currently starring as Gareth Southgate in Dear England, was also in attendance British theatre director Tom Littler wore a charcoal blazer Critic Blanche Marvin, 99, posed for photos wearing a green velvet gown It features several intimate scenes between the actors which the pair discussed during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show. Asked if their families had seen the flick, Paul said: 'With the Irish premiere, trying to allocate tickets to all the aunties and uncles is a tricky business. 'They have seen my bum before but there is a little more going on in this movie I would say!' Andrew added: 'I don't want to be there when my parents watch it!' Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann have been fighting about the smallest of things every singe day, it has been claimed. According to a Monday report from TMZ, they are at each other's throats as they are forced to live together in their Georgia mansion which they are having difficulty selling. The source says 'the two are at each other a lot, with their on-and-off fighting persisting.' And the two are still on track to divorce, it was added, after 13 years of marriage. They first filed in May 2023. The reality TV stars have significant financial pressure as the IRS and other debt collectors have demanded money that they claim the two need to settle. Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann are still on track for divorce as they are constantly bickering according to TMZ It is reported that The Real Housewives of Atlanta stars are having trouble selling their home. The money from the sale of the home would provide them with some wiggle room and help with some of their financial difficulties. They have lowered the price of the home twice, dropping from $6M to $4.5M in desperate attempt to get quick cash. The story of Kim and Kroy's divorce has been ongoing since they took to the courtroom as they first filed the petitioned back in May of 2023. A few months later, they rescinded their attempt for a divorce as they attempted to reconcile. In September, Biermann filed once again. Each side requested sole custody over their four young children. To make matters worse, he accused her of having an extensive gambling addiction. The breaking point was this past November when their own four children had to call police to remedy the situation as one of their fights blew up. There were no arrests made but TMZ noted that the officer's body cameras seemed to show the house in shambles. The former Atlanta Falcons tight end met the reality star back 2010 at the Dancing Stars of Atlanta charity event The two have been spotted out and about Georgia without their wedding rings on. Despite the trouble in paradise, Kim still has Biermann set as her last name on her social media pages. The former Atlanta Falcons tight end met the reality star back 2010 at the Dancing Stars of Atlanta charity event as they hit it off. Just a year later, the pair welcomed their fist child together before getting engaged in October and quickly marrying a month after. In April 2012, the couple's spinoff reality show Don't Be Tardy aired as it followed their growing family before being cancelled in 2021. Their four children had to call police to remedy the situation as one of their fights blew up The blonde beauty commented on their marriage as rumors of a split began to circulate after Kroy was cut from the Buffalo Bills In late 2020, the blonde beauty commented on their marriage as rumors of a split began to circulate after Kroy was cut from the Buffalo Bills. 'I swear Im like, married to the king,' she said at the time, 'Hes like, the most incredible human thats ever walked this planet.' 'On a more serious note, I really dont appreciate people talking sh*t, especially sh*t thats not true because I have the most incredible husband in the world,' she finished. Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori often raise eyebrows when they step out in public together due to her very racy outfits. Now an insider has claimed that the rapper, who has demanded the music industry refer to him as 'Ye', is doing this for a reason. Page Six has asserted that the ex-husband of Kim Kardashian considers Bianca's outlandish clothing choices 'performance art.' 'People are confusing Biancas creativity,' the source told the site. 'She is a phenomenal personality, a phenomenal actor, who can entertain the public. 'Shes a performance artist. Bianca is as much a performer as Ye is,' it was added. Kanye West and his wife Bianca Censori often raise eyebrows when they step out in public together due to her very racy outfits. Now an insider has claimed that the rapper, who has demanded the music industry refer to him as 'Ye' , is doing this for a reason. Pictured in Milan in February On Friday, the Vultures artist posted, 46, a photo of Censori, 29, wearing a strapless white lace leotard and white high heeled sandals, lying in a white bed. 'I think its Ye saying, "My b***h is living in the lap of luxury, I dont know what you all are doing today, but I hope youre all just chilling like me. This is my business." The room is all bed. Its a new context on bedroom,'" Malik Yusef, a musical partner of West, told the outlet. 'She makes her own decisions on how to dress,' contended Yusef. 'I think [she and West] experiment together and say, "Hey, this is beautiful."' Censori trained as an architect in Australia. 'Bianca has always had social media and she was active on it until she married Kanye,' an insider exclusively told DailyMail.com in January. 'He doesn't want her to have it because he thinks that it will hurt her if she had to read the nasty things that people say. 'He convinced her that, since she is a star now, she has to remain a mystery and it is creepy to those who know her as it feels like another form of control.' However, the insider from the West camp said that isn't so, and pointed to a visit from Censori's mother to back up their claim. On Friday, the Vultures artist posted a photo of Censori,29, wearing a strapless white lace leotard and white high heeled sandals, lying in a white bed. 'I think its Ye saying, "My b***h is living in the lap of luxury,' said Malik Yusef, a musical partner of West about the snap Referring to the Australian beauty, a fashion insider said, 'She is a phenomenal personality, a phenomenal actor, who can entertain the public. Shes a performance artist. Bianca is as much a performer as Ye is' The model has been contributing to the Yeezy brand, according to the source. 'Shes a senior advisor to Ye and a senior creative and business advisor to the entire team,' adding, 'She interacts with people independently of Ye' 'Her mother was here [in Los Angeles] the other day,' the fashion source said. 'Her parents are fine [with the relationship].' However, sources have told Daily Mail that Censori's father has requested that Kanye fly out to meet him in Australia after his wife voiced fears about his 'intimidating' demeanor when she visited earlier this month. 'Kanye has been invited to go to Australia and Bianca is hesitant to allow this to happen because she knows how her father will react,' a source exclusively told DailyMail.com. After visiting Disneyland in December wearing a skintight ivory leotard while there with the Mercy rapper and his 10-year-old daughter North, Censori has been covering up while around the four children he shares with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, 43, reportedly at the reality star's request. Censori's friends and family have reportedly been concerned about the control the rapper seems to have over his wife of 15 months. 'Her mother was here [in Los Angeles] the other day,' the fashion source said. 'Her parents are fine [with the relationship]' Censori's father reportedly wants to meet West in Australia after his wife voiced fears about his 'intimidating' demeanor during her visit. 'Bianca is hesitant to allow this to happen because she knows how her father will react,' a source told DailyMail.com exclusively Kanye's ex, Kim Kardashian, has classed it up in recent years: seen at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 10 Censori has taken her unique style, and has been reportedly using it to influence the Yeezy brand. 'Bianca is an important part of the management team. Shes controlling the business in a very big way,' the source said. 'Shes a senior advisor to Ye and a senior creative and business advisor to the entire team, adding, 'She interacts with people independently of Ye.' 'Bianca has a lot of influence she helps control the design, who were selling to, who were collaborating with. Shes fully in.' Kris Jenner has revealed why she can't treat her grandchildren to quality one-on-one time with her, as she claimed she recently made a 'mistake' by taking out her eldest, Mason, for dinner. The Kardashian matriarch, 68, has 13 grandchildren aged four months to 14 years old, with Kendall Jenner her only remaining child who does not yet have a family of her own. Kris, whose sister Karen Houghton died last week, said she was deterred from trying to 'really get to know' them all as she joked it would take her 'half a month' and leave her broke despite being worth an estimated $200 million. 'I often say to myself that I really should be the kind of grandmother that takes my grandchild to dinner, like once a month,' she said at Los Angeles Magazine's The L.A. Woman Luncheon. Kris Jenner says she cannot afford to take out her grandchildren individually to really get to know them The 68-year-old said she would be 'broke' and busy for half a month if she spent on-on-one time with her 13 grandkids Kris said she made a 'mistake' taking eldest grandson Mason, 14, to dinner as she had a vodka and ended up promising to buy him a car if he avoided drinking and drugs before he turned 16 'Like really get to know your grandchild and see what's happening in school and all this stuff. And I thought if I did that, that would take half a month, just to go out to dinner with my grandkids. 'And I am like, nope not going to do that. They're not getting that out of me.' Kris said her decision to refrain from taking them out was bolstered by a recent dinner with her daughter Kourtney Kardashian's eldest son Mason, 14, in which she promised to buy him a car if he avoided drink and drugs before he turns 16. 'I think I did make a little mistake because I took Mason out to dinner, and I was in a really good mood,' she recalled. 'I probably had a vodka or something, I don't know I wasn't driving. 'But we met at dinner because he likes to go have sushi and I was like, "Listen if you don't drink or do drugs until you're sixteen, and you can prove it you know it involves testing and all sorts of stuff I will buy you a car for your sixteenth birthday." And he loved that and what I realized that I have to do that 13 times. I'm going broke! Thirteen times.' Kris, who previously revealed her grandchildren call her 'Lovey,' was speaking at the event at The Fairmont Miramar last week. But despite fearing she will be out of pocket if she treats them all to dinner and promises of cars, the reality star said it makes her 'happy' to see them most days. Kris was speaking at Los Angeles Magazine's The L.A. Woman Luncheon last week Kris has been a doting grandmother and kicked off her 68th birthday in November with an early morning visit from three of her 13 grandkids (pictured with True and Tatum) She said: 'My little thing at the end of the day when I am getting ready for bed, I say, "how many of my grandkids did I get to see today?" And thats really a thing I do every single day. I count. 'And yesterday I was at Kims office... and some of my grandchildren came in and they were walking by and Im like, Hold on one, two, trying to count to see how far I get. But its like my thing. I love it, makes me very happy.' Mason is Kourtney's eldest child with her ex, Scott Disick. They also have daughter Penelope, 11, and son Reign, eight. In November she welcomed her first child with husband Travis Barker, son Rocky. Kris' daughter Kim also has four children, all from her marriage to Kanye West. Ten-year-old North who recently announced her debut rap album is the oldest, followed by Saint, eight, Chicago, six, and Psalm, four. Khloe, 39, shares True, five, and Tatum, 19 months, with her ex, Tristan Thompson, while Kylie Jenner, 26, is mom to Stormi, six, and Aire, two, with her ex, Travis Scott. Rob Kardashian has one child, daughter Dream, seven, with his former partner, Blac Chyna. She also took granddaughters Dream, seven, and True, six, and a friend to see Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas back in December Kourtney, Kim, Rob and Khloe's father is the late Robert Kardashian. Kris went on to marry former Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner, and they welcomed Kendall and Kylie together. The momager, who is now dating toyboy Corey Gamble, was not so dismissive of her grandkids when they 'bombarded' her in celebration of her 68th birthday back in November. Khloe shared a video of True, Tatum and Dream paying their grandmother a visit at her $20 million, 16,000-square-foot Hidden Hills mega-mansion. Khloe said: 'No way to start Lovey's birthday then to just bombard her with three little munchkins!' Kris replied: 'Love it! This is the best ever! You guys, I was so lonely until you got here.' The following month she played the doting grandmother when she took True and Dream to the theatre to see Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Jamie Lynn Spears posted a series of adorable photos of her youngest daughter, Ivey Joan Watson, age five. The kindergartner was getting ready for her first Daddy-Daughter dance with her father Jamie Watson, 42. Britney Spears' younger sister, 32, posted a photo of Ivey sitting patiently while her older sister, Maddie, 15, curled her hair. In other snaps, she showed off her rainbow-colored dress with parrots on the front and built in wings. Ivey also wore red and pink cowboy boots and posed with her father in two of the images. The Zoey 1010 alum captioned the post 'Ivey's first Daddy+Daughter dance,' and added a string of emojis. Jamie Lynn Spears posted a series of adorable photos of her youngest daughter, Ivey Joan Watson, aged five The kindergartner was getting ready for her first Daddy-Daughter dance with her father Jamie Watson, 42 Earlier this month, the All That star celebrated 10 years of marriage to her husband. '10 years of marriage is something to proud of,' she wrote in a post on Instagram' She added: 'Like, that's a long time to tolerate someone's bs.' The couple met through mutual friends and dated on and off until they figured out they were meant to be and got engaged in 2013. They tied the knot in a beautiful outdoor ceremony the next year in New Orleans. Both were born in Louisiana and continue to call the Pelican state their home. Back in 2018, the Dancing With the Stars alum shared a sweet post in honor of their anniversary. 'I was an 18 year old single mom, when this guy came into my life, he made me laugh more then I ever had before, and his never changing consistency gave me stability for the first time in my life,' she said at the time. 'I felt a sense of peace with him, and I think that's what being in love is suppose to feel like, just feeling at peace.' Britney Spears ' younger sister, 32, posted a photo of Ivey sitting patiently while her older sister, Maddie, 15, curled her hair Earlier this month, the All That star celebrated 10 years of marriage to her husband. '10 years of marriage is something to proud of,' she wrote in a post on Instagram' She added: 'Like, that's a long time to tolerate someone's bs' The Zoey 1010 alum captioned the post 'Ivey's first Daddy+Daughter dance,' and added a string of emojis In other snaps, she showed off her rainbow-colored dress with parrots on the front and wings. Ivey also wore red and pink cowboy boots and posed with her father in two of the images Jamie Lynn also has a daughter Maddie, 15, from a previous relationship The spirited child clearly felt like a princess in her dress The Sweet Magnolia star's daughter is her only child with husband Jamie Watson The colorful outfit was the perfect choice for the special night with her father Jamie Lynn got pregnant with her daughter Maddie when she was 16. Her boyfriend at the time, Casey Aldridge is the father. But in light of the release of The Dark Side of Kids TV, an old blind item from 2007 has resurfaced. Journalist and author Liz Crokin posted onn X (formerly Twitter), 'DID DAN SCHNEIDER SEXUALLY ABUSE 16-YEAR-OLD JAMIE LYNN SPEARS & GET HER PREGNANT?' 'In October of 2007, Crazy Days and Nights posted a blind item about a teen girl on a show watched by teens and pre-teens who got knocked up by one of the show producers old enough to be her grandfather. The item also said that new boyfriends were being lined up,' she added. Anne Hathaway credits director Christopher Nolan for helping save her career after public opinion had turned against her following her Oscar win in 2013. The actress, 41, told Vanity Fair, 'a lot of people wouldnt give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online,' following her Best Supporting Actress victory for her role as Fantine in 2012's Les Miserables. 'I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles Ive had in one of the best films that Ive been a part of,' she said, referring to her role as NASA scientist Dr. Amelia Brand in 2014's Interstellar. 'I dont know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect,' the versatile star said in the interview. As a result of the two-time Academy Award winner hiring her for that job, 'my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadnt backed me.' Anne Hathaway credits director Christopher Nolan for helping save her career after public opinion had turned against her more than a decade ago following her Oscar win. 'I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that,' she told Vanity Fair In a 2016 interview with The Guardian, Hathaway said when she won the Oscar, her head was still immersed in the experience she had on the set of Les Miserables. 'I kind of lost my mind doing that movie and it hadnt come back yet,' she said. 'Its an obvious thing, you win an Oscar and youre supposed to be happy I didnt feel that way.' 'I felt wrong that I was standing there in a gown that cost more than some people are going to see in their lifetime, and winning an award for portraying pain that still felt very much a part of our collective experience as human beings.' 'I tried to pretend that I was happy and I got called out on it, big time,' she explained about the poor reception of her speech. 'Humiliation is such a rough thing to go through,' the resilient actress said in Vanity Fair. 'The key is to not let it close you down. You have to stay bold, and it can be hard because youre like, "If I stay safe, if I hug the middle, if I dont draw too much attention to myself, it wont hurt,"' she explained. 'But if you want to do that, dont be an actor. Youre a tightrope walker. Youre a daredevil.' explained the multi-talented star. The actress said 'a lot of people wouldnt give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online,' following her 2013 Best Actress Award win for her role in Les Miserables Hathaway had worked with Nolan previously, when she was cast as Selina Kyle/Catwoman in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises with Christian Bale Nolan cast the actress in the role as NASA scientist Dr. Amelia Brand in 2014's Interstellar, starring Matthew McConaughey She said the director 'gave me one of the most beautiful roles Ive had in one of the best films that Ive been a part of' 'I dont know if he knew that he was backing me at the time, but it had that effect,' she said. As a result of being hired for Interstellar, 'My career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadnt backed me' (Pictured in Beverly Hills in January 2015) 'Youre asking people to invest their time and their money and their attention and their care into you. So you have to give them something worth all of those things. And if its not costing you anything, what are you really offering?' The actress, who first worked with Nolan on The Dark Knight Rises as Selina Kyle/Catwoman spoke with Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt for a Variety Actors on Actors conversation about the confidence she felt working with Nolan on the action film. 'I remember one day we were doing a shot on The Dark Knight Rises,' she explained. 'He came to me beforehand and said, "I just want you to know, this shot has lived in my head for many years. Im going to be very specific about it. Im going to make you do it a lot, but its not actually you. Its just because I have it in my head a certain way."' 'For him to say that in a way where, as an actor, you dont start to question yourself!' she said. Naga Munchetty has revealed that she sleeps naked. The BBC Breakfast host, 49, ditched pyjamas in her late teens and now just throws her dressing gown on when she gets up relatively late on the days she is not on the television. She told The Times: 'I havent worn anything in bed since I was about 16. Theres something very luxurious and freeing about being naked and having clean sheets around you. 'Monday to Wednesday I whack my dressing gown on, check the news sites and do some life admin before 45 minutes of running or weights. By 7.15 Im home and in the shower.' Naga Munchetty has revealed that she sleeps naked and that she has not worn pyjamas since she was in her late teens On the days when she is on the BBC Breakfast sofa Naga sets her 'stupidly early' alarm for 3:45am, to head into the BBC studios for 4:50am On the days when she is on the BBC Breakfast sofa Naga sets her 'stupidly early' alarm for 3:45am, to head into the BBC studios for 4:50am. Naga has hosted BBC Breakfast alongside Charlie Stayt since 2014 and regularly interviews politicians, celebrities and members of the public. But TV star had recently been accused of being 'spikey' with her guests and insisted that her interview technique simply gives people the chance to tell their story in the 'best' way possible. She added: 'Part of interviewing is knowing when and how to draw out interesting facts. If that means a polite interruption its for clarity, not out of disrespect.' Away from the flagship BBC early morning show, Naga also hosts a slot on Radio 5 Live and explained that she is grateful that she doesn't work a standard nine to five job. Claiming that she doesn't have the 'attention span' to cope in such a role, Naga also admitted that that the flexibility of her career affords her the opportunity to have social lunches or a nap in the middle of the afternoon. But some fans want Naga on TV at all hours, with many last year calling for her to become the permanent host of Have I Got News For You. The BBC Breakfast host, 48, presented a December edition of the show, joined by panellists Ian Hislop and Paul Merton and guest panellists Maisie Adam and Richard Osman. Some fans want Naga on TV at all hours, with many last year calling for her to become the permanent host of Have I Got News For You after she hosted in December During the show, she left fans in hysterics as she made an X-rated quip and showcased her risque humour as she took advantage of appearing on a post-watershed show,. Fans were quick to call for her to take over the reigns permanently after making her second appearance as guest host. The topical news quiz has been hosted by a different celebrity each week since former host Angus Deayton was sacked in 2002 over his alleged use of cocaine and prostitutes. Camila Morrone showed off her natural beauty for the cover of Vogue Mexico this month. The Argentinian-American actress and model looked stunning in a strapless black gown that showed off her chest and tiny waistline. She wore little makeup as her freckles stood out while she posed innocently with one hand on her neck and the other behind her back. Her slightly-messy raven hair fell on her bare shoulders as she had a radiant tan. 'What a great honor,' the Marmalade actress penned in Spanish on her Instagram story. Camila Morrone showed off her natural beauty for the cover of Vogue Mexico this month. The Argentinian-American actress and model looked stunning in a strapless black gown that showed off her chest and tiny waistline 'What a great honor,' the Marmalade actress penned in Spanish on her story; seen in January Claiming both countries as her home, the 26-year-old said being Argentinian and American has shaped her in the best way possible. Translated she said, 'I love Argentina, South America, Latin America and I also love being American.' The brunette beauty grew up speaking Spanish before she studied English as she came to embrace her unique identity as a young model. With six years of acting experience on her resume, Morrone revealed that her career is still a challenge as she navigates the industry. 'In this career that I chose, that I love so much, it is a constant uphill battle. There has definitely never been a single moment where I thought "I've made it, I've arrived," it is a constant process of growing, evolving and learning about my craft.' The Daisy Jones and the Six actress noted that her life still feels surreal at times and that she has lived multiple lives. 'It's strange because when I talk about my life I feel like I'm already 100 years old, when I'm only 26; But the reality is that I have been working since I was 14,' she said. Since she was young, she knew venturing into the world of acting was a part of her purpose and calling: 'At the end of the day, I always knew in my gut, in my heart, that I wanted to be an actress. But it was a struggle to make the leap.' She continued, 'I wanted to go after my dreams, but I was very afraid of failing, I saw how difficult this industry is from a very young age.' 'At the end of the day, I always knew in my gut, in my heart, that I wanted to be an actress,' she said; seen in January The now Los Angeles native feels as though she has come full circle in her career and family life; seen in her new Calvin Klein campaign from this month Nevertheless, the now Los Angeles native feels she has come full circle in her career and family life as she was nominated for an Emmy this year. The actress basked in the heartfelt moment saying, 'I think it's like a circle, having been able to take my father to the Emmys, my mother accompanying me to the nominations, both have been in the industry for a long time now. 'It is very special and exciting to be able to share it and make them feel proud of this,' she finished. Morrone's modeling career began in 2016 when she modeled for Victoria's Secret. Since, she has found work with Sephora, Brilliant Earth, and Chanel. She made her acting debut in James Franco's 2013 film Bukowski and has taken on eight roles since as she intends to focus on acting. In October 2019, she received the Rising Star Award at the San Diego International Film Festival. The five foot nine tall beauty was famous linked to Leonardo DiCaprio as their relationship spanned from 2017 to 2022. A group of medical professors on Monday demanded the government scrap a reform plan that increased medical school admission seats, saying it would sit down for talks with the government only if the plan is abolished. The demand by the Medical Professors Association of Korea is expected to complicate an attempt by the government to hold talks with the medical community over a prolonged walkout by junior doctors, who left their worksites in protest of the plan. "Unless the government scraps the plan to increase the number of medical school freshmen and withdraws the allocation of seats, the ongoing crisis cannot be settled," the association said. "If the government is willing to withdraw (the plan), we are ready to discuss all the pending issues in front of the people," it said. Prospects of talks between the government and the medical community over the walkout by junior doctors were raised Sunday as President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a "flexible" measure over the government's move to suspend licenses of defiant trainee doctors. More than 90 percent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since Feb. 20 to protest the government's decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats. The health ministry had warned it would begin suspending licenses of trainee doctors who defied the government's order to return to work from this week. Still, it is unclear whether potential talks with the medical community could produce tangible results as the government allocated the additional 2,000 admission seats to universities last week, in an indication that the government would not back down from the plan. Kim Chang-soo, head of the association, told reporters the allocation of an additional 2,000 admission seats is "unacceptable" because it would undermine the quality of education at medical schools. "The issue of the medical school admissions quota is not worth discussing," Kim told reporters. In support of the junior doctors' walkout, medical professors started tendering their resignations Monday, although they pledged to remain at work. The association said medical professors will also stick to their plan to reduce their weekly work hours to 52 hours by adjusting surgeries and other medical treatments. (Yonhap) After months of performing around the world, Madonna is preparing for a massive finale to her Celebration Tour. The Grammy Award winner, 65, announced on Monday that her 'biggest show yet' will be a free concert on May 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 'The celebration spanning four decades of music will culminate with a free event on May 4th at Copacabana Beach as a thank you to her incredible fans from around the world,' reads the announcement on her website. Hosted at Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel, the concert will be broadcast live on TV Globo. There will be no tickets, and admission will happen on a first-come, first-serve basis. Madonna is preparing for a massive finale to her Celebration Tour, announcing a free show on May 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; seen in October Hosted at Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel, the concert will be broadcast live on TV Globo Marking her first show in Brazil since 2012, Madonna will make her return with Bob the Drag Queen, who has accompanied her throughout the Celebration Tour. Performing her most beloved hits from her decades-spanning career, Madonna kicked off the tour on October 14 in London. Madonna previously had to scale back the seven-month tour after she was hospitalized and intubated over a bacterial infection last June. The Madame X artist later revealed that she was in an induced coma for 48 hours after suffering lung and kidney failure. During her first Celebration Tour stop in London, Madonna admitted onstage that she 'didn't think I'd make it' during the stint, during which she 'forgot five days' of her life. 'I didn't think I would make it, and neither did my doctors,' she said. 'That's why I woke up with all of my children sitting around me.' 'I forgot five days of my life, or my death, I don't really know where I was. But the angels were protecting me,' she continued. 'And my children were there. And my children always save me, every time.' Madonna added, 'If you want to know how I pulled through and how I survived, I thought, I have got to be there for my children. I have to survive for them.' Health scares aside, Madonna has also been met with lawsuits from fans during the Celebration Tour, after her NYC shows started two hours late. There will be no tickets, and admission will happen on a first-come, first-serve basis Performing her most beloved hits from her decades-spanning career, Madonna kicked off the tour on October 14 in London Marking her first show in Brazil since 2012, Madonna will make her return with Bob the Drag Queen, who has accompanied her throughout the Celebration Tour Madonna's legal team and Live Nation responded to the lawsuit in TMZ. 'Madonna just completed and sold out her 2023 Celebration Tour in Europe - which received rave reviews,' they said. 'The shows opened in North America at Barclays in Brooklyn as planned, with the exception of a technical issue December 13th during soundcheck.' 'This caused a delay that was well documented in press reports at the time. We intend to defend this case vigorously,' they added. Madonna's Celebration Tour continues Monday with a second night in Dallas, before heading onto Houston, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami, Austin and Mexico City. MasterChef is set to make its return to screens for its 20th series - where new home cook hopefuls will take on the 'most extraordinary tasks ever seen'. Judges John Torode and Greg Wallace, who have been at the helm of the cooking show since its revival in 2005, will again put a new batch of contestants through their paces. Premiering on BBC on April 1, the news series marks 20 years of celebrating and supporting the country's burgeoning culinary talent. Fifty-eight passionate and talented hopefuls from all walks of life, such as a farmer, archaeologist and musical director, will show what they can do. Viewers can expect to see the contestants, who hail from Dorset and Sunderland to the Scottish Borders and North Wales, serve up their food and cultural heritage in the hopes of making it to the final. MasterChef is set to make its return to screens for its 20th series - where new home cook hopefuls will take on the 'most extraordinary tasks ever seen', it was revealed on Monday Judges John Torode and Greg Wallace, who have been at the helm of the cooking show since its revival in 2005, will again put a new batch of contestants through their paces 'I can hardly believe that we are into the 20th series of this unbelievably brilliant show,' said Australian celebrity chef and judge John, 58. 'It's such a point of pride and celebration. I believe food brings people together and every year we're fortunate enough to be able to help incredibly talented, hard-working people realise their dream and indulge themselves in the joy that is MasterChef.' Urging people to apply themselves for the 21st series, John added: 'This year is so exciting, with tough tests, incredible challenges and passionate cooks as always. Twenty years on, MasterChef continues to show if you have a dream, just go for it! 'The competition gets stronger and more exciting every year. Thanks for watching me and Mr Wallace. I hope you enjoy watching this 20th series as much as we've enjoyed making it.' Meanwhile, co-host Gregg, 59, said: 'This is when the wave of ambition hits the rock of reality for these amateur cooks and we are putting them through the most extraordinary challenges we've ever seen. This show means business and we're so lucky to be able to see the level of cooking inch higher and higher each year. 'John and I are so happy to be part of a wonderful MasterChef community and, each series, welcome new ambitious cooks to show us what they can do. 2024 will be a celebration of the talent emerging from the country's home kitchens this year and from our time on MasterChef so far I cannot wait.' Up first, the amateurs must earn the right to wear a MasterChef apron in two new challenges: Basic to Brilliant, taking an everyday ingredient and turning it into something spectacular; and an Invention Test with a twist as they are challenged to create a plate of food based around a set element such as gnocchi, trout, meringue, or quail. 'I can hardly believe that we are into the 20th series of this unbelievably brilliant show,' said Australian celebrity chef and judge John, 58 Premiering on BBC on April 1, the news series marks 20 years of celebrating and supporting the country's burgeoning culinary talent Fifty-eight passionate and talented hopefuls from all walks of life, such as a farmer, archaeologist and musical director, will show what they can do Up first, the amateurs must earn the right to wear a MasterChef apron in two new challenges: Basic to Brilliant, taking an everyday ingredient and turning it into something spectacular The last four standing will then show off their own style in two courses served to three familiar faces from MasterChef series past. That Quarter Final brief is then set by some of country's toughest critics and chefs. The fifth week will be a celebration of MasterChef talent before its sixth week sees contestants whittled down to just 16 for Knockout Week. The culinary tasks include a Market Invention Test in the MasterChef kitchen; the opportunity to step inside a professional kitchen for the first time and deliver a lunch service at two of London's top restaurants Nessa, led by Executive Chef Tom Cenci, and Joia, under Head Chef Jose Jara; and back in the MasterChef kitchen contestants will create nine identical portions of a canape. Later, semi finalists will have to cater an extraordinary event celebrating MasterChef's legacy and emerging talent, as well its wider influence on the UK's culinary food scene; tackling an ingredient they didn't enjoy as a child; creating a theatrical and surprising dish; impressing Michelin-starred Swedish chef, Niklas Ekstedt; and finally, creating a plate of food inspired by a past contestant. The last four standing will then show off their own style in two courses served to three familiar faces from MasterChef series past The fifth week will be a celebration of MasterChef talent before its sixth week sees contestants whittled down to just 16 for Knockout Week The four finalists will travel to the culinary melting pot of Singapore -where they will take on a trio of exciting challenges at Chong Pang Hawker Market, Pangium. Back in London, the final four will cook on Chef's Table at globally-revered Le Gavroche, delivering one of the iconic restaurant's last services before it closes its doors for the last time - all under the watchful eye of world-leading chef and past MasterChef: The Professionals judge, Michel Roux Jr. Finally, after one finalist is sent packing, it's back to the studio where the Final Three must produce the best three dishes of their lives for John and Gregg - before one is crowned the 20th winner. Alex Bain could be about to leave Coronation Street. The actor, 22, has played Simon Barlow since 2008 and has been involved in numerous hard-hitting storylines but took to social media on Monday to share a behind-the-scenes snap. In the new picture, the soap star can be seen posing in front of his dressing room where he claimed he was 'glad' to have some days on set left. He captioned the post: 'Well my day is done! Nice and short day today! I'm gonna miss this little space some dearly when I go! 'So glad I've got some shooting days left! So thankful! Alex Bain could be about to leave Coronation Street, more than 16 years after he was cast as Simon Barlow In the new picture, the soap star can be seen posing in front of his dressing room where he claimed he was 'glad' to have some days on set left Simon Barlow is the son of Street legend Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) - who exited the serial towards the end of last year after almost 25 years - and his late wife Lucy. He was born on the show in 2003, but the character emigrated to Australia with his mum and returned as a five-year-old when she passed away following a battle with cancer. During his first decade on the cobbles, Simon found a surrogate mother in Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson), was trapped in a fire amid the 2010 tram crash, and was bullied mercilessly by Faye Windass (Ellie Leach) for a period of time. In 2015, he was at the centre of a storyline that saw him become physically abusive towards Leanne and in later years supported his cousin Amy Barlow (Elle Mulvaney) through her brief teenage pregnancy that ended in a termination. In more recent years, Simon found himself groomed into a drug dealing ran by Harvey Gaskell (Will Mellor). News of Alex's supposed exit was first reported towards the end of 2023. At the time, Alex was said to be 'very excited' to move on from the ITV soap opera. A source told The Sun: 'Alex is sad to be leaving Coronation Street because it really is like a family but he realises that the time is right to move on. 'He's very excited about the future and other opportunities. Alex was just six years old when he landed the part of Simon on Coronation Street (pictured in 2010) Simon is the son of Street legend Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne, pictured) and his late wife Lucy Barlow The character is part of the Barlow family, and his on-screen grandmother was the iconic character Deirdre Barlow (Anne Kirkbride, centre), whilst his aunt is classic soap baddie Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) He found a surrogate mother in Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson, pictured) after she had a relationship with Peter in the late 2000s In more recent years, Simon has become involved with drug lord Harvey Gaskell (Will Mellor, pictured in 2021) Alex won the British Soap Award for Best Young Actor in 2011 and scooped up another gong in 2014 at the Inside Soap Awards. In real life, the actor became a dad at the age of 17, when his then-girlfriend Levi Selby gave birth to their daughter Lydia-Rose at 16 years old. At the time, a source said: 'They were over the moon at the birth of their baby girl and were really happy together. But they've been through a lot together and they're both still so young.' Their relationship ended the following May, and the soap star met dancer Mollie Lockwood, 22, in 2019. Katie Couric was sent well wishes by some of her top celebrity pals on Monday after she announced she is a new grandmother. Sharon Stone said 'God bless' while Mandy Moore wrote, 'Congrats to all!!! And this song!! Katie!!!' and Helena Christensen sent a red heart emoji. Lisa Rinna wrote, 'Congrats!!! Hes beautiful!' Julianne Moore said, 'Congratulations!!! Hes beautiful.' And workout guru Denise Austin noted, 'Congratulations!!!!!! So wonderful!!! Xoxo.' This comes the day after Katie said she is a first-time grandmother. The former Today Show anchor, 67, shared that her daughter Ellie, 32, and her husband Mark Dobrosky had a son. And the child is named after her late husband and her daughters Ellie and Carrie's, 28, father Jay Monahan. Monahan was an attorney who died of colon cancer at the age of 42 in 1998. Katie Couric is a proud, gushing, first-time grandmother. The former Today Show anchor, 67, shared that her daughter Ellie, 32, and her husband Mark Dobrosky were expecting a baby back in December But the new parents kept the sex of the baby under wraps until he was born. Now the journalist is sharing that her first grandchild is named after her late husband and her daughters Ellie and Carrie's, 28, father Jay Monahan Couric wrote in a caption to her 1.7 million followers, 'John Albert Dobrosky was born on his due date, Saturday, March 23rd at 8:23 am, just shy of seven pounds. 'He will be called Jay in honor of his maternal grandfather. Albert is after Mark's paternal grandfather,' she continued. Katie and Jay had been married for nine years at the time of his death. Couric opened up about her husbands last days in a 2021 interview on The Today Show. 'I was so worried about letting go of hope, because I didn't want Jay to spend whatever time he had left just waiting to die,' Couric said. 'I think it takes extraordinary courage to be able to face death, and I think I was too scared, honestly.' She also wrote about those moments in her 2021 memoir Going There. 'I did everything I could to keep Jay alive,' Couric wrote. 'Looking back, I wish I had done a better job helping him die.' Since Monahan's death, Katie founded Stand Up to Cancer and has dedicated herself to informing the public about colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death among men and women in the United States, and it claimed the life of Chadwick Boseman at the age of 43. In March 2000, Katie had a colonoscopy on live TV to emphasize the importance of the preventative measure. Couric wrote in a caption to her 1.7 million followers, 'John Albert Dobrosky was born on his due date, Saturday, March 23rd at 8:23 am, just shy of seven pounds' 'He will be called Jay in honor of his maternal grandfather. Albert is after Mark's paternal grandfather,' she continued Katie and Jay were parents to Ellie, 32, and Carrie, 28 Couric opened up about her husbands last days in a 2021 interview on The Today Show. 'I was so worried about letting go of hope, because I didn't want Jay to spend whatever time he had left just waiting to die,' Couric said At the time of Jay's death, Couric said focusing on her work kept her grounded, per Today. 'Working was my salvation,' Couric said. 'If I was doing a cooking segment, I couldn't be thinking about, you know, Jay's latest scan. It helped me maintain my sanity.' Couric healed and found love again with banker John Molner, whom she married in 2014. Patricia Arquette is getting showered by support after revealing she was made to feel uncomfortable during a nude scene on the set of the 1997 David Lynch film Lost Highway. The 55-year-old Academy Award winner said last week while at a forum at Series Mania in Lille, France, that it really took her aback 'I was so extremely modest, I would take a bath in the dark. The scene when my character had to strip was terrifying to me,' said Arquette, according to Too Fab. 'Some of the guys were saying crude things and I told David, "I am not comfortable --they are saying gross things,"' she recounted. Now her fans have stepped up. 'That was so brave of you to tell your story, I hate how women have to suffer so much on movie sets,' said one fan online while another added, 'Props to you for speaking up, it takes beautiful guts to tell an ugly Hollywood story.' Patricia Arquette's fans are supporting her after she recently recalling how the crew on David Lynch's 1997 film Lost Highway said gross things about her during a nude scene Arquette told the director she was uncomfortable after overhearing crew members say 'gross things.' After Lynch talked to them, Arquette said the men were 'looking at their feet, all apologetic' Although Lynch initially thought she was talking about the script, he took a second to understand the situation before asking her, 'Wait, who said what?' 'When I came back, all these men were looking at their feet, all apologetic,' said Arquette. 'I do have a tough side, I'll tell ya,' she added, noting she also stuck up for herself while making the movie. 'It was supposed to be a closed set.' 'I said, "If I take this robe off and I look at you, and I know you dont have to be there, I am going to punch you in the face,"' Arquette recalled. She also recalled telling costar Balthazar Getty: 'Just keep your hands on my tits.' 'I would rather you hold them than the whole world saw them,' she told him. Arquette played two characters in Lynch's 1997 thriller, which follows a jazz musician (Bill Pullman) who's convinced his wife Renee (Arquette) is having an affair, only to become accused of her murder. In an intersecting story, a young mechanic (Getty) finds himself in the web of a cheating temptress Alice (Arquette) and her gangster boyfriend (Robert Loggia). She also recalled telling costar Balthazar Getty: 'Just keep your hands on my tits. I would rather you hold them than the whole world saw them' As the scene was supposed to be filmed on a closed set, Arquette threatened to 'punch you in the face' if someone wasn't supposed to be there Arquette was this year's guest of honor at Series Mania, delivering a masterclass about her career Arquette was this year's guest of honor at Series Mania, delivering a masterclass about her career. She made her feature directorial debut last year with Gonzo Girl, starring herself, Camila Morrone, Willem Dafoe and Sean Penn. Arquette can also be seen in the Apple TV+ shows High Desert and Severance, the latter of which is preparing for season 2. Channel 10 boss Beverley McGarvey has suffered a massive email blunder after crediting recently axed Studio 10 for their involvement in the coverage of the Australian Grand Prix over the weekend. McGarvey sent a company-wide email to the network's employees on Monday afternoon, thanking staff for their efforts and involvement in the broadcast of the race. 'We had a massive weekend across the business with both Formula One and I'm A Celebrity broadcast across our platforms,' the email, obtained by The Australian, read. The newly-appointed president of Network 10 accidentally thanked the staff at Studio 10, despite the morning program being axed four months ago. 'A special shout out to the sport team who worked tirelessly in the lead up to the event as well as the news, Studio 10, Project, 10 Play, operations, technology and social teams who executed special live coverage, bulletins and interviews in the lead up and across the weekend,' the email continued. Channel 10 boss Beverley McGarvey has suffered a massive email blunder after crediting recently axed Studio 10 for their involvement in the coverage of the Australian Grand Prix over the weekend Channel 10 began their coverage of the GP on Friday, while Sunday's action aired from 8.30am right through until 5pm. In November, a Ten spokesperson confirmed that embattled Studio 10 had officially been axed after more than a decade on the air. Hosts Angela Bishop, Narelda Jacobs and Tristan MacManus, as well as special roving reporter Daniel Doody, were to remain with the network and be deployed in different roles. Following the announcement of the show's cancellation, staff at Ten hit back at network executives after receiving a brutal email that informed employees of the axing. McGarvey sent a company-wide email to the network's employees on Monday afternoon, thanking staff for their efforts and involvement in the broadcast of the race. Pictured: Carlos Sainz driving Ferrari SF-24 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia McGarvey accidentally thanked the staff at Studio 10, despite the morning program being axed four months ago. Pictured: Former Studio 10 host Angela Bishop Crew members on the breakfast show were left furious by the 'emotionless and cold' announcement that the last episode would air on December 22. The email explained the program was being canned, but offered no words of support or comfort to the team, reported The Daily Telegraph. According to the publication, a senior Channel 10 staff member said many employees were disgruntled by the lack of empathy and care in the email. 'Just two weeks ago Studio 10 was celebrating its 10th anniversary on air - now the team isn't even being thanked for its hard work or successes,' they said. The last episode of Studio 10 aired December 22 after more than a decade on Australian screens. (L-R: Studio 10 panelists Sarah Harris, Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Joe Hildebrand, Angela Bishop) 'For management to blame it on a 'change in viewing habits' rather than poor decision making at the top is unfair.' In the email, Network News Director Martin White said 'there will be a new morning lineup' in 2024. He added there would be 'an increased focus on news and current affairs throughout the day', with a 3.30pm news bulletin being added to the timetable. 'We will be welcoming some members from the Studio 10 team into the news team. No news jobs will be impacted because of this change,' he wrote. Dylan Wright was crowned winner of Australian Idol 2024 during Monday night's nail-biting finale, beating West Australian Amy Reeves and Queenslander Denvah Baker-Moller. The Bangalow-native was stunned by the life-changing news and almost broke down in tears. But many fans of the Channel Seven revamp of the singing show are furious with the outcome and believe Amy should have taken home the top prize. Several viewers took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their disappointment with the finale results. 'Call the police! A robbery has taken place on Australian Idol. Amy has been absolutely shafted. Easily the best performer in idol history,' wrote one. Dylan Wright (pictured) was crowned winner of Australian Idol 2024 during Monday night's nail-biting finale, beating West Australian Amy Reeves and Queenslander Denvah Baker-Moller But many fans of the Channel Seven revamp of the singing show are furious with the outcome and believe Amy (left) should have taken home the top prize Many more echoed the opinion Amy was the rightful winner: 'I don't have words. Amy has been robbed.' 'What?! Dylan won! He has a sweet voice, not a great voice. Amy was robbed,' another read. 'Shocked Amy didn't win. Thought she was the best singing show contestant in some time,' another Idol fan said. Meanwhile, other disappointed fans were hopeful for Amy's future career, citing previous examples of runners-up of the show. 'Usually the one who didn't win becomes bigger than the winner, hope it happens to Amy,' wrote one. Another brought up the example of Jessica Mauboy, who was runner up in her season of Australian Idol and is now touring the nation. 'The guy who won I believe hosts community radio. You'll be a okay,' the Amy fan wrote. During Monday night's finale, Dylan became emotional when he took home the crown. 'Call the police! A robbery has taken place on Australian Idol. Amy has been absolutely shafted. Easily the best performer in idol history,' wrote one. Pictured: Australian Idol host Ricki-Lee Coulter and finalist Amy Reeves 'Thank you. I don't know. I'm about to cry! So, thanks!' he told the studio audience and judges Kyle Sandilands, Marcia Hines and Amy Shark. Dylan walked away with a $100,000 cash prize and a recording contract with Sony Music Australia, following the record public vote. At the end of the show he performed his winner's single, Paper Heart, to rapturous applause. Prior to the announcement, Sandilands said that both Dylan and Amy would have bright futures. 'As judges, what we want is to deliver up the best that we have found,' he said. 'Both of these two I would be pleased to manage, to sign. They both have amazing records. Couldn't be happier. They are both just fantastic'. Does your beloved pet make your teary-eyed and sniffly? It could mean you're one of the 49 million Americans who are allergic to animal fur. But one TikToker thinks he has stumbled upon a DIY cure for the condition. In a clip posted to the video-sharing platform, one Phoenix-based content creator claimed that he used to be allergic to his cat until he started putting egg white protein powder into his pets' cat food. 'When I Googled this it's 93 percent effective, or something like that,' he says. 'I've spoken to some vets about it...I hope this helps somebody as it did for me.' While it might seem like fluke, allergy specialist Dr Zachary Rubin has taken to TikTok to explain the science behind this 'cure' - and says it actually works. It's estimated that around 15 percent of Americans suffer with pet allergies, a total of almost 50 million. 'The vast majority of people who are allergic to cats are allergic to one particular protein that is mainly found in cats' saliva, skin cells and urine called Fel d 1, which is shorthand for felis domesticus 1,' he says in a TikTok video that's so far had 2.6 million views. 'This was the first protein discovered by scientists that could create allergy symptoms in humans. 'Scientists later figured out when chickens are exposed to cats on a regular basis, they produce a protein called IgY antibodies.' Dr Rubin explains that these antibodies can bind to Fel d 1 cat allergy proteins and 'essentially neutralize it. 'This protein is passively transferred into egg yolk,' he says, adding that pet food brand Purina Pro Plan has created a type of cat food that utlilizes this mechanism.' He adds that studies have shown that when cats are eating this food regularly everyday for four weeks, they have a 50 percent reduction in the amount of allergy proteins in the animals' saliva. However, Dr Rubin adds that, while there is some science behind an approach like this, there is no guarantee that the chickens who produced the eggs in your powder were exposed to cats. Without cat exposure, the chickens won't produce the allergy-fighting antibodies. Other anti-allergy treatments for cats include shampoos, sprays and powders for pet hair which aim to neutralize the proteins that trigger symptoms. Nasal sprays, decongestant medication and immunotherapy injections are also effective for preventing symptoms. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is to step down at the end of the year in a management overhaul in the wake of a safety crisis at the troubled aerospace giant. Calhoun plus the chairman of the board and the head of its commercial airlines business are all leaving amid the ongoing 737 MAX safety issues. Wall Street responded positively to the news - with Boeing shares rising by 4 percent by 8.45am EST in premarket trading. The company has been hit by problems including a near-catastrophic incident in on January 5 when a fuselage panel on a 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off mid-flight. Since then, the company has faced questions following several other potentially dangerous episodes - but regulators, airlines and passengers have been frustrated at the lack of answers from Calhoun. Shares had fallend 25 percent since the incident. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is finally stepping down as head of the troubled airline maker A panel blew out from the fuselage of a 737 Max 9 aircraft carrying Alaska Airlines passengers on January 5 Alaska Airlines has resumed service on the Boeing 737 MAX 9 following a three-week grounding in the wake of a January 5 emergency landing Board chairman Larry Kellner is resigning and will leave at the airline maker's annual meeting in May. Steve Mollenkopf, who has been a Boeing director since 2020, will take over as chairman - and lead the search for a replacement for Calhoun. The planemaker also said that Stan Deal, Boeing commercial airplanes president and CEO, would retire. Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeing's chief operating officer, will take up that role. In a letter to staff after annoucing he was stepping down, Calhoun referenced putting 'safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do.' He added: 'The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company.' After the news broke, Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth said: 'They need more than just a shake-up at the CEO and the chairman of the board level... they're just paralysed from making decisions.' Last week, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration blasted Boeing for focusing on 'production' instead of 'safety and quality.' Administrator Michael Whitaker was left unimpressed with the aerospace giant following a visit to its facilities. 'My impressions were similar to the culture survey that just got completed at Boeing and our audit, which is that there are issues around the safety culture at Boeing,' he told Lester Holt on NBC Nightly News in a segment that will air Tuesday evening. 'Their priorities have been on production, and not on safety and quality. So what we really are focused on now, is shifting that focus, from production to safety and quality.' The FAA has put the company under intense scrutiny and recently ordered an audit of assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle, where the company builds planes like the Alaska Airlines 737 Max that suffered a door-panel blowout. No one was seriously injured on the Alaska flight, but the plane was forced to make an emergency landing with a gaping hole in the cabin. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory. The incident has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Meanwhile, last week airline CEOs began scheduling meetings with Boeing management. As well as concerns over manufacturing issues, they are increasingly frustrated by reductions to the number of planes being delivered this year. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is to step dopwn after safety questions piled up for the company Southwest previously expected 79 737 Max aircraft this year but that forecast was cut to 46 The Federal Aviation Administration capped production of the 737 Max due to safety concerns Since a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, Boeing has lurched from crisis to crisis - and it stock has fallen by a quarter. While they investigate what went wrong, Federal investigators have capped the production of 737 Max aircraft - which means US airlines will not get all the planes expected ahead of the summer. So far this year, Boeing has delivered only 42 planes to customers despite facing a backlog of more than 4,700 orders. Meanwhile, shares of United Airlines fell about 5 percent in premarket trade on Monday after the FAA move to increase its oversight of the carrier after a series of recent safety incidents. Last week, the FAA said it would initiate a formal evaluation to ensure the Chicago-based airline was complying with safety regulations. Real estate brokerage Compass has agreed to pay $57.5 million to settle claims it conspired to overcharge US home sellers by billions of dollars. Compass is the first major firm to reach a settlement sum since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed to pay $418 million last week on behalf of smaller brokers. Tens of millions of Americans who sold homes in recent years are likely to receive a payout from the settlements, including the latest one from Compass - but details of who will qualify are scant. The NAR has refused to answer repeated requests from DailyMail.com asking how sellers can claim compensation, which is now almost $700 million across several cases. Compass is one of many large home brokerages facing claims they violated antitrust laws. A judge still needs to approve the Compass settlement - which is thought to be a formality. Once they do, news of how to claim is set to be released. Real estate brokerage Compass has agreed to pay $57.5 million to settle claims it conspired to overcharge US home sellers by billions of dollars. It has denied any wrongdoing Previously, the buyer's agent could see which properties have the highest sales commission and 'steer' buyers to them Compass, based in New York, also agreed to change its business practices to ensure home movers understand how brokers and agents are compensated. CEO Robert Reffkin today said the company - which denied any wrongdoing - was pleased to resolve the claims to 'minimize distractions.' The decision was welcomed by Mike Ketchmark, an attorney representing the home seller plaintiffs. He said: 'Brokers around the country are continuing to join with NAR in abandoning the broken system. We expect many more settlements in the coming months.' The case concerns a longstanding practice designed to keep rates high and extract as much commission as possible. Among the changes it has agreed to make, Compass will require its brokerages and their agents to clearly disclose to clients that commissions are negotiable and not set by law. They also must state that the services of agents representing homebuyers are not free. It also agreed to require that its agents who represent homebuyers disclose right away any offer of compensation by the broker representing a seller. Three other major brokerages have made similar deals to settle the litigation. Re/Max Holdings and Anywhere Real Estate agreed to pay out $140 million combined last fall. Meanwhile Keller Williams Realty reached a $70 million settlement in February. Combined with the NAR's $418 million agreement, it means the industry has agreed to pay $684 million in total. The decision was welcomed by Mike Ketchmark (pictured), an attorney representing the home seller plaintiffs. Americans will likely see a drastic drop in the cost of selling their houses after a landmark legal settlement was reached on Friday morning Currently commissions for buyer's and seller's agents amounts to between 5 and 6 percent of a home's sales price. This is usually divided between the two agents. But it is much higher than in other countries - around double the average fees paid by home movers in the UK, for example. The NAR is the largest trade association in the US and only its fee-paying members are allowed to call themselves 'Realtors'. They are also the only people with access to its proprietary database of properties available for sale. Those databases are referred to as 'multiple listing services' or MLSs and require the seller's agent to list the amount of commission their client is paying. That, in theory, enables the buyer's agent to 'steer' buyers to houses on which the commission is higher and through which they can profit more in the event of a sale. According to a survey by consulting firm 1000watt, more than 76 percent of 640 real estate agents in the US said buyer's agents would be more likely to show a property if they knew the seller was paying higher commission. This system, in turn, allows the seller's agent to tell sellers that if they don't offer up enough commission, buyers won't ever see their house. By KTimes A controversial adult-themed event scheduled to be held in Suwon next month is drawing strong opposition, especially due to its proximity to an elementary school that is just 50 meters away. The upcoming "2024 K-XF The Fashion " is scheduled to be held April 20-21 at Suwon Messe in Gwonseon District of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and is expected to attract around 10,000 visitors, according to organizers. The event will feature guest appearances from popular Japanese adult film actresses, lingerie fashion shows, and more, marking a significant increase from its predecessor in Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province, last December. Organizers defend the event's legality and the importance of open discussions on sex in society. After reviewing relevant laws, Suwon City officials found no legal basis to prohibit the event but have requested ID checks to prevent minors from entering and informed local schools. However, the Suwon Women's Hotline and other civic groups have denounced the festival as a blatant objectification and commodification of women. Amid strong opposition from women's groups decrying the event as promoting sexual exploitation, a petition demanding the event's cancellation was recently posted on the National Assembly's public agreement petition site. A petitioner claiming to be a citizen of Suwon expressed shock on March 21 at the event's content. "I am angry that an event akin to sex trade is being held in the heart of the city. An event no different from the sex trade is taking place just 50 meters away from an elementary school," the petitioner said. He requested the education authorities to take decisive actions based on Article 10 of the School Environment Protection Act, which prohibits any activities or the installation of facilities within the school environment protection zones that may harm students' health, safety, learning or educational environment. The venue is located approximately 50m away from an elementary school in Suwon, separated only by a road. As of this morning, the petition has garnered the support of more than 5,000 people. This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, was translated by generative AI and edited by staff at The Korea Times. An Israeli airstrike deep in northeastern Lebanon early Sunday wounded at least three people, a local official said. The airstrike near the city of Baalbek, a stronghold of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group, was the latest to hit the area in recent weeks. The strike occurred a few minutes after midnight and wounded three people according to Baalbeks mayor, Bachir Khodr, who posted the news on X. It was not immediately clear what was struck. The strike came hours after Hezbollah said it used two drones carrying explosives to attack an Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system in the northern Israeli town of Kfar Blum. The Israeli military said warplanes attacked a workshop used by Hezbollah for military activities. It added that after the strike some 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel, saying some were shot down and others fell in open areas. A pair of Israeli airstrikes March 12 near Baalbek killed at least two people and wounded 20, marking a continuing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah over the war Israel is fighting with Hamas militants in Gaza. Since the Israel-Hamas war began October 7, Hezbollah has been carrying out attacks on Israels military posts along the border. Israel has since staged dozens of airstrikes, mostly along the border. But since late February the Baalbek area has been attacked at least three times. In a tragic incident, a 24-year-old Indian professional was killed in a car accident in the US state of Pennsylvania. Arshia Joshi lost her life in a tragic car accident in Pennsylvania on March 21, the Consulate General of India in New York said in a post on X on Saturday, expressing deep condolences to her family. Joshi had completed her graduation last year. The Consulate said it is in touch with Joshis family and local community leaders. Extending all possible assistance to transport her mortal remains to India at the earliest, it said, without divulging more details about the deceased. Volunteer-based nonprofit organisation TEAM Aid is assisting in sending Joshis mortal remains to Delhi to her family. TEAM Aids primary focus has been to help members of the Indian community who are either travelling or living abroad and face dire situations such as accidents, suicides, homicides or sudden death of loved ones. It has been working to provide assistance and help repatriate the mortal remains to India of people who have tragically lost their lives while in the US. Amidst a series of tragic incidents, our hearts are heavy with grief, TEAM Aid founder Mohan Nannapaneni told PTI. In the past week alone, TEAM Aid has sent the remains of five individuals to India and organised three local funerals, he said. Nannapaneni and his team are currently assisting several more families in sending the mortal remains of their loved ones who died in the US and Canada to India. These include two truck drivers who tragically lost their lives in an accident in New Mexico. Their remains are being sent to Punjab. A young truck driver passed away suddenly in New Mexico and his remains are being sent to Amritsar, Nannapaneni said. In Seattle, Washington, a promising 25-year-old Indian student was found dead in his apartment and his remains are being sent to Bangalore. Mourning the loss of a talented 38-year-old restaurant chef in San Jose, California, Nannapaneni said his remains are being sent to Kolkata. In a devastating hit-and-run incident, a 50-year-old man in Palacios, Texas was killed. His remains will be sent to Ahmedabad for the last rites. In another tragic incident, a 27-year-old recent graduate was found dead in his apartment in Vancouver, Canada. We will send him home to Kerala, Nannapaneni said. TEAM Aid did not disclose the names and identities of the deceased to respect their privacy. Nannapaneni said his team is in the process of initiating educational and preventative programmes soon to offer guidance and support to Indian immigrants here, including students and workers, aimed at ensuring their safety and security. Every day brings news of more loss, alongside numerous other challenges spanning health, immigration, social issues, and beyond, he said. Earlier this week, former CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi released a video message, advising Indian students in the US to be watchful and respect local laws and urging them to not engage in drugs or excessive drinking to ensure their safety and security. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of IDEX Co. (NYSE:IEX Free Report) by 420.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 781,172 shares of the industrial products companys stock after purchasing an additional 631,172 shares during the quarter. IDEX makes up 1.1% of Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigts portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned approximately 1.03% of IDEX worth $169,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IEX. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of IDEX by 274.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,151,334 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $491,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,576,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of IDEX during the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,556,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of IDEX by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,269,952 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $746,628,000 after acquiring an additional 306,008 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of IDEX by 316.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 368,849 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $76,667,000 after acquiring an additional 280,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in IDEX by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 433,415 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $90,159,000 after purchasing an additional 146,218 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.96% of the companys stock. Get IDEX alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In IEX has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of IDEX in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded IDEX from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $235.56. IDEX Trading Down 0.3 % NYSE:IEX traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $243.08. 46,622 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 398,606. The company has a quick ratio of 2.05, a current ratio of 2.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $226.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.45. IDEX Co. has a twelve month low of $183.76 and a twelve month high of $246.36. The company has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.97. IDEX (NYSE:IEX Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $788.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $767.96 million. IDEX had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 18.21%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that IDEX Co. will post 8.35 EPS for the current year. IDEX Profile (Free Report) IDEX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides applied solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Fluid & Metering Technologies (FMT), Health & Science Technologies (HST), and Fire & Safety/Diversified Products (FSDP). The FMT segment designs, produces, and distributes positive displacement pumps, valves, small volume provers, flow meters, injectors, and other fluid-handling pump modules and systems, as well as flow monitoring and other services for the food, chemical, general industrial, water and wastewater, agricultural, and energy industries. See Also Receive News & Ratings for IDEX Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for IDEX and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Allstate (NYSE:ALL Get Free Report) had its target price raised by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $164.00 to $195.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the insurance providers stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.20% from the companys previous close. ALL has been the subject of several other research reports. HSBC started coverage on shares of Allstate in a research report on Thursday, December 28th. They issued a hold rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $171.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $164.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Allstate in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an outperform rating and a $193.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $162.75. Get Allstate alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Allstate Allstate Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:ALL traded up $2.57 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $167.82. The companys stock had a trading volume of 912,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,752,319. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -135.69, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.51. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $158.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.29. Allstate has a fifty-two week low of $100.57 and a fifty-two week high of $168.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. Allstate (NYSE:ALL Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The firm had revenue of $14.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.36) earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Allstate will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Activity at Allstate In other news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $637,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,736 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,389,000. Markel Group Inc. grew its position in Allstate by 10.1% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 141,550 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $15,770,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in Allstate by 42.7% during the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,795 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 3,828 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 9.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,261,274 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $140,519,000 after purchasing an additional 104,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 540,851 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $60,257,000 after purchasing an additional 22,683 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About Allstate (Get Free Report) The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Allstate Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Allstate and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 733,113 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 80,245 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLPs holdings in Archer-Daniels-Midland were worth $52,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 4th quarter worth about $525,111,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,641,438 shares of the companys stock valued at $651,737,000 after buying an additional 2,547,232 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland in the 1st quarter valued at about $105,741,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,364,445 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,369,897,000 after buying an additional 1,314,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,935,163 shares of the companys stock valued at $233,815,000 after buying an additional 1,245,194 shares in the last quarter. 78.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Archer-Daniels-Midland alerts: Archer-Daniels-Midland Stock Up 0.5 % Shares of NYSE ADM traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $62.28. The company had a trading volume of 2,476,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,795,122. The company has a market capitalization of $31.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.60. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company has a 12-month low of $50.72 and a 12-month high of $87.30. Archer-Daniels-Midland ( NYSE:ADM Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.79 billion. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 3.71% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Archer-Daniels-Midlands revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland Company will post 5.58 EPS for the current year. Archer-Daniels-Midland announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the companys management believes its shares are undervalued. Archer-Daniels-Midland Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from Archer-Daniels-Midlands previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. Archer-Daniels-Midlands payout ratio is presently 31.25%. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a neutral rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from an overweight rating to an underweight rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $66.00 to $60.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $98.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $67.00. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ADM About Archer-Daniels-Midland (Free Report) Archer-Daniels-Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities, products, and ingredients in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ADM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE:ADM Free Report). 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. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST Free Report) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 659,284 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $25,395,000. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Vistra by 19,070.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,566,621 shares of the companys stock worth $214,426,000 after buying an additional 5,537,584 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,726 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,145,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,145,891 shares of the companys stock valued at $82,660,000 after buying an additional 87,494 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vistra in the 4th quarter valued at about $831,000. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Vistra by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 102,237 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,938,000 after buying an additional 13,551 shares during the period. 90.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Vistra alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VST shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Vistra from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Vistra in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Vistra from $42.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Vistra presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $61.75. Vistra Trading Up 4.7 % Vistra stock traded up $3.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $72.35. The companys stock had a trading volume of 5,701,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,764,890. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.03. Vistra Corp. has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $72.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.26. The stocks fifty day moving average is $49.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.10. Vistra (NYSE:VST Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.48) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($1.02). The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 10.10%. On average, analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.26 EPS for the current year. Vistra Increases Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 20th will be issued a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Vistras previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Vistras dividend payout ratio is 24.02%. Insider Activity at Vistra In other Vistra news, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 184,201 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,536,508.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Stephanie Zapata Moore sold 98,020 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.50, for a total transaction of $5,734,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 161,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,470,448. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carrie Lee Kirby sold 72,748 shares of Vistra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.63, for a total transaction of $4,556,207.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 184,201 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,536,508.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 257,285 shares of company stock valued at $15,404,397 over the last quarter. 1.36% of the stock is owned by insiders. Vistra Profile (Free Report) Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding VST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Vistra Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vistra and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,857 shares of the insurance providers stock after buying an additional 659 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management owned about 0.06% of First American Financial worth $4,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 119.2% during the third quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 56,392 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $3,186,000 after buying an additional 30,664 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,988,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 17.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,169,320 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $178,994,000 after buying an additional 473,961 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 92.6% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 35,405 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $2,000,000 after acquiring an additional 17,025 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,127,746 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $572,116,000 after acquiring an additional 81,888 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the companys stock. Get First American Financial alerts: First American Financial Price Performance Shares of FAF traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.02. The stock had a trading volume of 183,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,144. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.94 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.25. First American Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $49.55 and a 52 week high of $65.54. First American Financial Announces Dividend First American Financial ( NYSE:FAF Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.06). First American Financial had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. First American Financials payout ratio is 101.92%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages recently commented on FAF. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of First American Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet lowered First American Financial from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First American Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on First American Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First American Financial has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $68.00. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on FAF First American Financial Profile (Free Report) First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for First American Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First American Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $70.99 and last traded at $71.32. Approximately 1,903,776 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 7,802,275 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.60. Analyst Ratings Changes SCHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Charles Schwab from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $87.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $71.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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 Hold and an average target price of $71.12. Get Charles Schwab alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SCHW Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.4 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.00. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $65.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.00. Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. Charles Schwabs quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Charles Schwab Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.37%. Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab In other Charles Schwab news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 29,991 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.80, for a total value of $2,033,389.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 81,446 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,522,038.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 29,991 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.80, for a total transaction of $2,033,389.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 81,446 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,522,038.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,500 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.71, for a total value of $361,405.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,111 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,584,333.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 202,607 shares of company stock valued at $13,214,499. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of Charles Schwab Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 69,360,233 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,771,985,000 after buying an additional 17,369,091 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $1,325,555,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,853,005,000 after purchasing an additional 8,563,389 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 86,421,986 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,945,833,000 after purchasing an additional 8,182,467 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,634,700,000 after purchasing an additional 6,195,934 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the companys stock. Charles Schwab Company Profile (Get Free Report) The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services. Featured Stories 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. Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares (NYSEARCA:TECL Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $82.23, but opened at $80.00. Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares shares last traded at $80.05, with a volume of 269,578 shares. Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares Stock Down 1.3 % The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94 and a beta of 3.54. Get Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TECL. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 34,691 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,495,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 500 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its position in Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 8,465 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,703 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. About Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares The Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares (TECL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Technology Select Sector index. The fund provides 3x leveraged exposure to a market-cap weighted index of US large-cap technology companies. TECL was launched on Dec 17, 2008 and is managed by Direxion. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB Free Report) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 670,774 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after buying an additional 23,712 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLCs holdings in Schlumberger were worth $34,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Schlumberger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,528,372 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $7,609,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,821 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Schlumberger by 1.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 106,818,561 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $5,246,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129,628 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,794,992 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $4,136,112,000 after purchasing an additional 861,439 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Schlumberger by 1.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,171,516 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,584,099,000 after purchasing an additional 282,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Schlumberger by 1.6% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,347,967 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,241,319,000 after acquiring an additional 401,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the companys stock. Get Schlumberger alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets SLB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Schlumberger from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a positive rating and set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Benchmark restated a buy rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Schlumberger from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $70.87. Schlumberger Price Performance Shares of Schlumberger stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $54.30. The stock had a trading volume of 5,587,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,686,673. The firm has a market cap of $77.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.59. Schlumberger Limited has a 12 month low of $42.73 and a 12 month high of $62.12. The businesss 50-day moving average is $50.03 and its 200 day moving average is $53.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.96 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 12.68%. The firms revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Schlumberger Limited will post 3.54 earnings per share for the current year. Schlumberger Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Schlumbergers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.25%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Schlumberger news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $336,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 163,515 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,806,917.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $336,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 163,515 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,806,917.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Abdellah Merad sold 50,000 shares of Schlumberger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.52, for a total transaction of $2,426,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,507 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,688,319.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 178,441 shares of company stock worth $8,972,947 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock. Schlumberger Profile (Free Report) Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, and integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SLB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Schlumberger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Schlumberger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Monday to push for legislation that will grant more autonomy to four "special cities," including Yongin and Suwon, and allow them to foster strategic industries and design urban development plans on their own. Yoon made the promise during a government-public debate held at Yongin city hall, 42 kilometers south of Seoul, referring to the cities of Yongin, Suwon, Goyang and Changwon, all of which have been given the name "special city" as municipalities with a population of over 1 million. "The government will legislate a special law supporting the special cities in order to expand the authority held by special cities, and come up with a legal system so that special cities can properly establish various urban development plans, including for strategic industries," he said. Yoon cited the example of construction permits for high-rise buildings and arboretums, saying approval authority should be transferred from the regional governments to the special cities, which know the local conditions best. He also said special support will be given to Yongin, a global semiconductor production hub that will receive around 500 trillion won ($372.9 billion) of the 622 trillion won in investment pledged for the construction of a semiconductor mega cluster across southern Gyeonggi Province, including Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, Yongin and Icheon. "We will drastically expand Yongin's transport infrastructure," he said, pledging to accelerate the construction of a "semiconductor highway" that will facilitate movement across the semiconductor mega cluster. (Yonhap) Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in shares of Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 564,757 shares of the utilities providers stock after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in Entergy were worth $57,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Entergy by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,562,369 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $422,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787,977 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Entergy by 16,815.8% during the 2nd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,319,436 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $128,473,000 after buying an additional 1,311,636 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Entergy by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,122,596 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,415,313,000 after purchasing an additional 908,932 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Entergy by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,944,167 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $209,465,000 after purchasing an additional 762,393 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Entergy by 86.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,633,335 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $183,750,000 after purchasing an additional 754,971 shares during the period. 88.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Entergy alerts: Insider Activity at Entergy In other news, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,019,247.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Deanna D. Rodriguez sold 1,500 shares of Entergy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.23, for a total transaction of $151,845.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $348,433.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marcus V. Brown sold 8,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.84, for a total transaction of $874,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,247.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,226,685. Insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages have commented on ETR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Entergy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, December 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Entergy from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of Entergy in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Entergy from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Entergy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $111.09. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ETR Entergy Trading Down 0.0 % Shares of NYSE:ETR traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $103.16. The stock had a trading volume of 676,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,347,573. Entergy Co. has a 12-month low of $87.10 and a 12-month high of $111.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $22.00 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.70. The companys 50 day moving average is $100.78 and its 200-day moving average is $98.98. Entergy (NYSE:ETR Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.52. The company had revenue of $2.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.27 billion. Entergy had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.54%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Entergy Co. will post 7.22 EPS for the current year. Entergy Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Entergys payout ratio is presently 40.76%. Entergy Company Profile (Free Report) Entergy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and retail distribution of electricity in the United States. It generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power in portions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, including the City of New Orleans; and distributes natural gas. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ETR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Entergy Co. (NYSE:ETR Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Entergy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Entergy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 874,966 shares of the pharmacy operators stock after purchasing an additional 4,875 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in CVS Health were worth $69,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CVS Health by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 43,213 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $3,017,000 after purchasing an additional 18,385 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 991,601 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $69,261,000 after acquiring an additional 207,702 shares in the last quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of CVS Health by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 50,488 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $3,525,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 10,405 shares of the pharmacy operators stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in CVS Health by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 19,355 shares of the pharmacy operators stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. 80.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get CVS Health alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at CVS Health In other news, EVP Prem S. Shah sold 29,473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total transaction of $2,267,947.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,059,916.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. CVS Health Trading Up 0.6 % NYSE CVS traded up $0.49 on Monday, reaching $78.97. The stock had a trading volume of 3,771,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,300,049. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $64.41 and a 12-month high of $83.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.23. CVS Health (NYSE:CVS Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The pharmacy operator reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.11. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 2.33%. The company had revenue of $93.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.99 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CVS Health Co. will post 8.33 EPS for the current fiscal year. CVS Health Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.665 per share. This represents a $2.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 19th. CVS Healths dividend payout ratio is currently 41.18%. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of CVS Health from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. HSBC started coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. They set a buy rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $78.00 price target for the company. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of CVS Health in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $90.21. Read Our Latest Report on CVS Health CVS Health Company Profile (Free Report) CVS Health Corporation provides health solutions in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Health Services, and Pharmacy & Consumer Wellness segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CVS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for CVS Health Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CVS Health and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 104,299 shares of the aerospace companys stock after selling 2,220 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $47,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LMT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 81,305.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,907,328 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $927,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904,985 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 586.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 369,500 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $163,097,000 after purchasing an additional 315,700 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lockheed Martin by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,302,719 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $9,120,920,000 after purchasing an additional 279,162 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Lockheed Martin by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,256,069 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $2,320,030,000 after acquiring an additional 264,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Lockheed Martin during the 2nd quarter worth $21,499,000. 74.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Lockheed Martin alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In LMT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $475.00 to $470.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $438.00 to $472.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $513.00 to $503.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $508.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $540.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $491.92. Insider Buying and Selling at Lockheed Martin In other news, COO John Frank A. St sold 6,648 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.35, for a total value of $2,827,726.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Lockheed Martin news, insider Gregory M. Ulmer sold 6,204 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.19, for a total transaction of $2,675,102.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,604 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,434,718.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John Frank A. St sold 6,648 shares of Lockheed Martin stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.35, for a total value of $2,827,726.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,874 shares of company stock valued at $7,249,946 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Lockheed Martin Stock Down 0.1 % Shares of Lockheed Martin stock traded down $0.49 during trading on Monday, reaching $445.39. 427,171 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,175,583. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $434.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $438.05. Lockheed Martin Co. has a 1-year low of $393.77 and a 1-year high of $508.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.48. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The aerospace company reported $7.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.26 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $18.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.96 billion. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 79.91%. The businesss revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.79 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Lockheed Martin Announces Dividend The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $3.15 per share. This represents a $12.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. Lockheed Martins dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.74%. Lockheed Martin Profile (Free Report) Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Lockheed Martin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lockheed Martin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc. (NYSE:FBIN Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.63. A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Fortune Brands Innovations in a research report on Friday, January 19th. They issued a market perform rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Fortune Brands Innovations from $68.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Fortune Brands Innovations from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a market perform rating and issued a $82.00 price target (up from $76.00) on shares of Fortune Brands Innovations in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Get Fortune Brands Innovations alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on FBIN Fortune Brands Innovations Price Performance FBIN stock opened at $82.20 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.30. Fortune Brands Innovations has a 1 year low of $54.10 and a 1 year high of $84.29. The stock has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Fortune Brands Innovations (NYSE:FBIN Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.14 billion. Fortune Brands Innovations had a return on equity of 22.61% and a net margin of 8.74%. Fortune Brands Innovationss quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Fortune Brands Innovations will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Transactions at Fortune Brands Innovations In related news, Director Ronald V. Waters sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.10, for a total value of $162,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $197,478.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBIN. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Fortune Brands Innovations in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,052,123,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Fortune Brands Innovations in the second quarter valued at about $392,938,000. State Street Corp bought a new position in Fortune Brands Innovations during the second quarter worth about $365,010,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Fortune Brands Innovations during the second quarter worth about $193,486,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Fortune Brands Innovations in the 2nd quarter worth about $142,667,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.20% of the companys stock. Fortune Brands Innovations Company Profile (Get Free Report Fortune Brands Innovations, Inc provides home and security products for residential home repair, remodeling, new construction, and security applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Water, Outdoors, and Security. The Water segment manufactures or assembles, and sells faucets, accessories, kitchen sinks, and waste disposals under the Moen, ROHL, Riobel, Victoria+Albert, Perrin & Rowe, Aqualisa, Shaws, Emtek, and Schaub brands. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Fortune Brands Innovations Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fortune Brands Innovations and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Globus Medical, Inc. (NYSE:GMED Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of Moderate Buy by the nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.33. GMED has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Globus Medical from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Globus Medical in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BTIG Research upgraded Globus Medical from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Globus Medical from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Globus Medical from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Get Globus Medical alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Globus Medical Globus Medical Stock Performance Globus Medical stock opened at $52.02 on Monday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $53.90 and its 200-day moving average is $51.16. The company has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 4.88 and a quick ratio of 2.72. Globus Medical has a 12 month low of $43.38 and a 12 month high of $62.88. Globus Medical (NYSE:GMED Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The medical device company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $616.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $608.21 million. Globus Medical had a return on equity of 8.82% and a net margin of 7.83%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 124.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Globus Medical will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling at Globus Medical In other Globus Medical news, Director Leslie V. Norwalk sold 10,590 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total transaction of $550,574.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $905,613.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 24.30% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Globus Medical by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 28,776 shares of the medical device companys stock worth $1,714,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Globus Medical by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,094 shares of the medical device companys stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Globus Medical by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,242 shares of the medical device companys stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of Globus Medical by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,622 shares of the medical device companys stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC grew its position in shares of Globus Medical by 109.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 503 shares of the medical device companys stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.54% of the companys stock. Globus Medical Company Profile (Get Free Report Globus Medical, Inc, a medical device company, develops and commercializes healthcare solutions for patients with musculoskeletal disorders in the United States and internationally. The company offers spine products, such as traditional fusion implants comprising pedicle screw and rod systems, plating systems, intervertebral spacers, and corpectomy devices for treating degenerative and congenital conditions, deformity, tumors, and trauma injuries; treatment options for motion preservation technologies that consist of dynamic stabilization, total disc replacement, and interspinous distraction devices; interventional solutions to treat vertebral compression fractures; and regenerative biologic products comprising of allografts and synthetic alternatives. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Globus Medical Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Globus Medical and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK Get Free Report)s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $28.69 and last traded at $28.59, with a volume of 296819 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.22. Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages recently commented on GPK. Raymond James downgraded Graphic Packaging from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, November 27th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Graphic Packaging from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $28.22. Get Graphic Packaging alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Graphic Packaging Graphic Packaging Price Performance The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.99 and a 200 day moving average of $23.93. Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 35.66% and a net margin of 7.67%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Graphic Packagings quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year. Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packagings dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%. Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging In other news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 85.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,419,429 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $730,979,000 after buying an additional 14,040,222 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,127,808 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $574,983,000 after purchasing an additional 566,205 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 5.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,681,314 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $282,540,000 after purchasing an additional 628,663 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 10.3% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,207,562 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $271,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 67.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,133,955 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $225,785,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074,508 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Graphic Packaging Company Profile (Get Free Report) Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides paperboard packaging solutions to food, beverage, foodservice, and other consumer products companies. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Graphic Packaging Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Graphic Packaging and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ICL Group (NYSE:ICL Get Free Report) and PureBase (OTCMKTS:PUBC Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends. Valuation and Earnings This table compares ICL Group and PureBases top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Get ICL Group alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio ICL Group $7.54 billion 0.93 $647.00 million $0.51 10.41 PureBase N/A N/A N/A $0.00 -65.38 ICL Group has higher revenue and earnings than PureBase. PureBase is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ICL Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Analyst Recommendations Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score ICL Group 1 2 0 0 1.67 PureBase 0 0 0 0 N/A This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for ICL Group and PureBase, as provided by MarketBeat. ICL Group currently has a consensus target price of $5.75, suggesting a potential upside of 8.49%. Given ICL Groups higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe ICL Group is more favorable than PureBase. Profitability This table compares ICL Group and PureBases net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets ICL Group 8.65% 12.04% 6.15% PureBase N/A N/A N/A Insider and Institutional Ownership 14.5% of ICL Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of ICL Group shares 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 ICL Group beats PureBase on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks. About ICL Group (Get Free Report) ICL Group Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty minerals and chemicals company worldwide. It operates in four segments: Industrial Products, Potash, Phosphate Solutions, and Growing Solutions. The Industrial Products segment produces bromine out of a solution that is a by-product of the potash production process, as well as bromine-based compounds; produces various grades of potash, salt, magnesium chloride, and magnesia products; and produces and markets phosphorous-based flame retardants and other phosphorus-based products. The Potash segment extracts potash from the Dead Sea; mines and produces potash and salt; produces polysulphate; produces, markets, and sells magnesium and magnesium alloys, as well as related by-products, including chlorine and sylvinite; and sells salt. The Phosphate Solutions segment uses phosphate commodity products to produce specialty products; produces and markets phosphate-based fertilizers, as well as sulphuric acid, green phosphoric acid, and phosphate fertilizers; and manufactures thermal phosphoric acid for various industrial end markets, such as oral care, cleaning products, paints and coatings, water treatment, asphalt modification, construction, and metal treatment. It also develops and produces functional food ingredients and phosphate additives for use in the processed meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, beverage, and baked goods markets; and produces milk and whey proteins for the food ingredients industry. The Growing Solutions segment develops, manufactures, markets, and sells fertilizers based primarily on nitrogen, potash, and phosphate, including water soluble specialty, liquid, soluble, and controlled-release fertilizers. It sells its products through marketing companies, agents, and distributors. The company was formerly known as Israel Chemicals Ltd. and changed its name to ICL Group Ltd in May 2020. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. About PureBase (Get Free Report) PureBase Corporation, an industrial mineral and natural resource company, provides solutions to the agriculture and construction materials markets in the United States. It offers PureBase Shade Advantage WP, a natural mineral plant protectant that reduces sunburn damage to plant tissue exposed to UV and infrared radiation. The company also provides humic acid products; and private labels product for other agricultural companies. It exports its products to Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The company was formerly known as Port of Call Online, Inc. and changed its name to Purebase Corporation in January 2015. Purebase Corporation was incorporated in 2010 is headquartered in Ione, California. Receive News & Ratings for ICL Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ICL Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KB Home (NYSE:KBH Get Free Report) and Smith Douglas Homes (NYSE:SDHC Get Free Report) are both construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations. Institutional & Insider Ownership 91.3% of KB Home shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of KB Home shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Get KB Home alerts: Profitability This table compares KB Home and Smith Douglas Homes net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets KB Home 9.29% 15.78% 9.14% Smith Douglas Homes N/A N/A N/A Analyst Recommendations Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score KB Home 1 5 5 0 2.36 Smith Douglas Homes 0 5 1 0 2.17 This is a breakdown of current recommendations for KB Home and Smith Douglas Homes, as provided by MarketBeat. KB Home currently has a consensus price target of $63.46, suggesting a potential downside of 7.22%. Smith Douglas Homes has a consensus price target of $27.70, suggesting a potential downside of 9.92%. Given KB Homes stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe KB Home is more favorable than Smith Douglas Homes. Valuation and Earnings This table compares KB Home and Smith Douglas Homes top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio KB Home $6.41 billion 0.81 $590.18 million $7.35 9.31 Smith Douglas Homes $925.89 million N/A N/A N/A N/A KB Home has higher revenue and earnings than Smith Douglas Homes. Summary KB Home beats Smith Douglas Homes on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks. About KB Home (Get Free Report) KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers. The company also provides financial services, such as insurance products and title services, as well as mortgage banking services, including residential consumer mortgage loans to homebuyers. It has operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington. The company was formerly known as Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation and changed its name to KB Home in January 2001. KB Home was founded in 1957 and is based in Los Angeles, California. About Smith Douglas Homes (Get Free Report) Smith Douglas Homes Corp. engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family homes in the southeastern United States. The company operates in metropolitan Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Huntsville, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, and Houston. It also provides closing, escrow, and title insurance services. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Woodstock, Georgia. Receive News & Ratings for KB Home Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Home and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE:HPP Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Piper Sandler from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trusts stock. Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wedbush cut Hudson Pacific Properties from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $7.50 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $7.10 to $10.60 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hudson Pacific Properties from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $8.40 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hudson Pacific Properties currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $9.15. Get Hudson Pacific Properties alerts: View Our Latest Report on HPP Hudson Pacific Properties Stock Performance NYSE HPP opened at $6.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $896.05 million, a PE ratio of -4.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Hudson Pacific Properties has a 1-year low of $4.05 and a 1-year high of $9.85. Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE:HPP Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.15. The business had revenue of $223.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $223.93 million. Hudson Pacific Properties had a negative return on equity of 5.74% and a negative net margin of 19.20%. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Hudson Pacific Properties will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year. Hudson Pacific Properties Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 15th. Hudson Pacific Propertiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.60%. Insider Buying and Selling at Hudson Pacific Properties In other Hudson Pacific Properties news, CIO Drew Gordon sold 10,000 shares of Hudson Pacific Properties stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.11, for a total transaction of $71,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 116,694 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $829,694.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hudson Pacific Properties news, CIO Drew Gordon sold 10,000 shares of Hudson Pacific Properties stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.11, for a total transaction of $71,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 116,694 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $829,694.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Barry A. Sholem bought 40,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $6.69 per share, with a total value of $267,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,176 shares in the company, valued at $469,477.44. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Hudson Pacific Properties by 103,925.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,161 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE purchased a new position in Hudson Pacific Properties during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Group One Trading L.P. purchased a new position in Hudson Pacific Properties during the 1st quarter worth $149,000. 97.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About Hudson Pacific Properties (Get Free Report) Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE: HPP) is a real estate investment trust serving dynamic tech and media tenants in global epicenters for these synergistic, converging and secular growth industries. Hudson Pacific's unique and high-barrier tech and media focus leverages a full-service, end-to-end value creation platform forged through deep strategic relationships and niche expertise across identifying, acquiring, transforming and developing properties into world-class amenitized, collaborative and sustainable office and studio space. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Hudson Pacific Properties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hudson Pacific Properties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. North American Construction Group Ltd. (TSE:NOA Get Free Report) (NYSE:NOA) Director Martin Robert Ferron sold 4,000 shares of North American Construction Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$31.85, for a total value of C$127,400.00. North American Construction Group Stock Up 0.3 % NOA stock traded up C$0.08 during trading on Monday, hitting C$30.75. 47,108 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 75,151. The firm has a market capitalization of C$821.95 million, a P/E ratio of 14.86, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$32.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$29.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 201.05. North American Construction Group Ltd. has a 1 year low of C$21.42 and a 1 year high of C$34.87. Get North American Construction Group alerts: North American Construction Group Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. North American Construction Groups payout ratio is 19.14%. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. ATB Capital dropped their price target on North American Construction Group from C$46.00 to C$45.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on North American Construction Group from C$39.00 to C$42.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on North American Construction Group from C$43.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC increased their price objective on North American Construction Group from C$32.50 to C$33.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of North American Construction Group from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$40.13. Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on North American Construction Group About North American Construction Group (Get Free Report) North American Construction Group Ltd. provides equipment maintenance, and mining and heavy construction services in Canada, the United States, and Australia. Its Heavy Construction & Mining division offers constructability reviews, budgetary cost estimates, design-build construction, project management, contract mining, pre-stripping/pit pioneering, overburden removal and stockpile, muskeg removal and stockpile, site preparation, air strip construction, site dewatering/perimeter ditching, tailings and process pipelines, haulage and access road construction, tailings dam construction and densification, mechanically stabilized earth walls, dyke construction, and reclamation services; and Equipment Maintenance services. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for North American Construction Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for North American Construction Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup met with the chief of the country's arms procurement agency Monday, officials said, days after he flew back home for what he said were official duties amid calls for his return to face an investigation to which he is subject. Lee met with Seok Jong-gun, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), to discuss defense exports, officials with knowledge of the matter said. Lee returned home Thursday, less than two weeks after he assumed the post in Canberra, as criticism has been growing over Lee's appointment and departure after revelations that he was banned from leaving the country over an investigation into his alleged interference in a military probe into a Marine's death last year. The foreign ministry said Lee returned to attend a defense cooperation meeting of South Korean ambassadors to six countries, including Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Qatar and Poland. But speculation arose that the meeting may have been organized to give Lee a pretext to return home, because there has been no precedent for such a meeting. Some critics also speculated that the presidential office ordered Lee to return in haste as public sentiment has been worsening in the run-up to the parliamentary elections set for April 10. On Friday, the foreign ministry said Lee had separate meetings with the ministers of foreign affairs, defense and industry, apparently dismissing the speculation about the timing and real purpose of his trip back home. The ministry said Lee will have various meetings with officials of government agencies involved in the defense cooperation, as well as with the top envoys of the six countries in Seoul. The ambassadors' defense cooperation meeting will take place later this week, a foreign ministry official said, without giving further details. (Yonhap) Citigroup reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH Free Report) in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $39.00 target price on the stock. A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on INVH. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Invitation Homes in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. They issued an outperform rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on Invitation Homes from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Invitation Homes from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Invitation Homes from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Invitation Homes from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.79. Get Invitation Homes alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Invitation Homes Invitation Homes Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:INVH opened at $34.59 on Friday. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $33.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.19. Invitation Homes has a fifty-two week low of $28.49 and a fifty-two week high of $36.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.23). Invitation Homes had a net margin of 21.34% and a return on equity of 5.06%. The company had revenue of $624.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $623.51 million. As a group, analysts predict that Invitation Homes will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year. Invitation Homes Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Invitation Homess payout ratio is 133.33%. Insider Buying and Selling at Invitation Homes In other Invitation Homes news, CFO Jonathan S. Olsen sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total value of $347,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,037 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,287,035.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Invitation Homes Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 1.0% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 73,517 shares of the companys stock worth $2,330,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 5.3% during the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 38,918 shares of the companys stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Invitation Homes during the third quarter worth about $3,481,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 13.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 54,381 shares of the companys stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 6,446 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 23.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,674 shares of the companys stock worth $2,620,000 after purchasing an additional 15,935 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.79% of the companys stock. Invitation Homes Company Profile (Get Free Report) Invitation Homes, an S&P 500 company, is the nation's premier single-family home leasing company, meeting changing lifestyle demands by providing access to high-quality, updated homes with valued features such as close proximity to jobs and access to good schools. The company's mission, "Together with you, we make a house a home," reflects its commitment to providing homes where individuals and families can thrive and high-touch service that continuously enhances residents' living experiences. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Invitation Homes Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invitation Homes and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $85.20 and last traded at $85.69, with a volume of 1418334 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $85.99. iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF Price Performance The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $85.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.90. Get iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF alerts: Institutional Trading of iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IGV. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF by 91.0% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 128 shares of the companys stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF in the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF during the 3rd quarter worth $90,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF during the 4th quarter worth $136,000. iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF Company Profile iShares North American Tech-Software ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares S&P North American Technology-Software Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the S&P North American Technology Software Index (the Underlying Index). Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KB Home (NYSE:KBH Free Report) had its price objective cut by Evercore ISI from $82.00 to $78.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the construction companys stock. Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on KB Home from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush boosted their price target on KB Home from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of KB Home from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of KB Home from $63.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KB Home from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $63.46. Get KB Home alerts: View Our Latest Report on KBH KB Home Price Performance NYSE:KBH opened at $68.40 on Thursday. KB Home has a 12-month low of $38.26 and a 12-month high of $72.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.11. KB Home (NYSE:KBH Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The construction company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. KB Home had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 15.78%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that KB Home will post 7.79 EPS for the current fiscal year. KB Home Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. KB Homes dividend payout ratio is 10.88%. Insider Activity In other KB Home news, CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger sold 165,307 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total value of $9,819,235.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,491,298 shares in the company, valued at $88,583,101.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other KB Home news, CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger sold 165,307 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total transaction of $9,819,235.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,491,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,583,101.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger sold 59,157 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.34, for a total value of $3,569,533.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,491,298 shares in the company, valued at $89,984,921.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 373,635 shares of company stock valued at $22,400,005 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.44% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of KB Home Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of KB Home by 32.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,251,656 shares of the construction companys stock worth $57,927,000 after purchasing an additional 305,820 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of KB Home by 7.1% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 181,169 shares of the construction companys stock worth $8,385,000 after acquiring an additional 12,048 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC raised its holdings in shares of KB Home by 188.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 50,820 shares of the construction companys stock worth $2,331,000 after acquiring an additional 33,197 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KB Home by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 15,619 shares of the construction companys stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 4,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of KB Home by 935.4% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 92,896 shares of the construction companys stock worth $4,299,000 after purchasing an additional 83,924 shares in the last quarter. 91.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About KB Home (Get Free Report) KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for KB Home Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Home and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Autoliv (NYSE:ALV Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Mizuho from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the auto parts companys stock. Mizuhos price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.42% from the companys current price. Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ALV. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Autoliv from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Autoliv from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Autoliv from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Autoliv from $101.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Autoliv from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, January 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $114.00. Get Autoliv alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on ALV Autoliv Trading Down 0.1 % Shares of NYSE:ALV traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $123.38. The companys stock had a trading volume of 175,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 553,658. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $112.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.17. Autoliv has a fifty-two week low of $79.66 and a fifty-two week high of $124.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.71. Autoliv (NYSE:ALV Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The auto parts company reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.37 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.75 billion. Autoliv had a return on equity of 27.13% and a net margin of 4.66%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Autoliv will post 9.75 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Activity at Autoliv In other Autoliv news, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total transaction of $86,551.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,594 shares of the companys stock, valued at $619,143.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Autoliv news, CEO Mikael Bratt sold 4,226 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.72, for a total value of $463,676.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 17,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,925,256.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Colin Naughton sold 782 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.68, for a total value of $86,551.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $619,143.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,388 shares of company stock worth $921,757 in the last ninety days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autoliv A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Autoliv by 188.9% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,468,058 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $510,498,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575,146 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Autoliv by 185.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,455,700 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $135,904,000 after buying an additional 945,517 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Autoliv during the 4th quarter valued at $67,916,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Autoliv by 292.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,146,435 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $87,794,000 after acquiring an additional 854,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Autoliv by 169.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 759,239 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $83,661,000 after buying an additional 477,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.70% of the companys stock. Autoliv Company Profile (Get Free Report) Autoliv, Inc, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and supplies passive safety systems to the automotive industry in Europe, the Americas, China, Japan, and rest of Asia. It offers passive safety systems, including modules and components for frontal-impact airbag protection systems, side-impact airbag protection systems, seatbelts, steering wheels, and inflator technologies. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Autoliv Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Autoliv and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Premium Brands Holdings Co. (TSE:PBH Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 15th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from Premium Brandss previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Premium Brands Stock Performance Shares of Premium Brands stock opened at C$87.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 148.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$91.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$93.04. Premium Brands has a 1-year low of C$84.66 and a 1-year high of C$113.60. The company has a market cap of C$3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.03. Get Premium Brands alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes A number of analysts have weighed in on PBH shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Premium Brands from C$103.00 to C$99.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. CIBC decreased their price target on Premium Brands from C$102.00 to C$97.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. TD Securities decreased their price target on Premium Brands from C$130.00 to C$120.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Pi Financial reissued a buy rating and set a C$111.00 price objective on shares of Premium Brands in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Premium Brands from C$117.00 to C$115.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Premium Brands presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$111.50. About Premium Brands (Get Free Report) 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 processed meat, deli products, meat snacks, beef jerky and halal, sandwiches, pastries, specialty and gourmet products, entrees, panini, wraps, subs, hamburgers, burgers, salads and kettle products, muffins, breads, pastas, and baking and sushi products. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Premium Brands Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Premium Brands and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. (NYSE:REPX Get Free Report) shot up 5.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $32.32 and last traded at $32.30. 54,983 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 84,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.72. Riley Exploration Permian Stock Performance The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $657.08 million, a PE ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.22. The businesss 50 day moving average is $24.34 and its 200 day moving average is $27.02. Get Riley Exploration Permian alerts: Riley Exploration Permian (NYSE:REPX Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.91). The business had revenue of $99.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $94.77 million. Riley Exploration Permian had a return on equity of 25.08% and a net margin of 29.75%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Riley Exploration Permian Announces Dividend Insider Activity at Riley Exploration Permian The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 25th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 24th. Riley Exploration Permians dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%. In related news, Director Bryan H. Lawrence sold 1,100 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.30, for a total value of $25,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,197,367 shares in the company, valued at $51,198,651.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Riley Exploration Permian news, major shareholder Riley Exploration Group, Llc sold 15,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.27, for a total transaction of $375,869.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,232,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,194,424.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bryan H. Lawrence sold 1,100 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.30, for a total transaction of $25,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,197,367 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $51,198,651.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 105,748 shares of company stock worth $2,545,988 in the last 90 days. 4.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in Riley Exploration Permian during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Riley Exploration Permian during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Riley Exploration Permian by 109.4% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 710 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in Riley Exploration Permian by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,200 shares of the companys stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Riley Exploration Permian by 68.7% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,331 shares of the companys stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. 58.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Riley Exploration Permian (Get Free Report) Riley Exploration Permian, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Texas and New Mexico. The company's activities are primarily focused on the Northwest Shelf and Yeso trend of the Permian Basin. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Riley Exploration Permian Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Riley Exploration Permian and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Safehold Inc. (NYSE:SAFE Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 15th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.177 per share on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $0.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Safehold has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 25.9% annually over the last three years. Safehold has a dividend payout ratio of 43.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Safehold to earn $1.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.71 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.3%. Get Safehold alerts: Safehold Stock Performance Safehold stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $20.59. 28,622 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 342,650. The company has a current ratio of 36.61, a quick ratio of 36.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.74. Safehold has a 1-year low of $15.00 and a 1-year high of $30.29. Analyst Ratings Changes Safehold ( NYSE:SAFE Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $103.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.89 million. Safehold had a negative net margin of 15.59% and a positive return on equity of 4.31%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($6.00) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Safehold will post 1.52 EPS for the current year. A number of brokerages have issued reports on SAFE. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Safehold from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Safehold in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a buy rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities initiated coverage on shares of Safehold in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an outperform rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Safehold from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Safehold from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Safehold has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $29.80. Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SAFE Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safehold Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Safehold by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,262 shares of the companys stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Safehold by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 187,299 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,385,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Safehold by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,548 shares of the companys stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Safehold during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,099,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Safehold by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,119 shares of the companys stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 3,965 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.38% of the companys stock. Safehold Company Profile (Get Free Report) Safehold Inc (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Safehold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Safehold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $171.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Valero Energy traded as high as $172.46 and last traded at $171.21, with a volume of 187898 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $169.64. Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $173.00 in a research note on Friday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Valero Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on Valero Energy from $146.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Valero Energy from $154.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Valero Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $156.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $163.08. Get Valero Energy alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on VLO Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valero Energy Valero Energy Stock Up 0.4 % A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VLO. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Valero Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in Valero Energy by 1,676.9% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 231 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. 78.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. The company has a market capitalization of $56.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.53. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $143.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The oil and gas company reported $3.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.60. Valero Energy had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 6.10%. The company had revenue of $35.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $34.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.45 EPS. Valero Energys quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Valero Energy Co. will post 15.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Valero Energy Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a $1.07 dividend. This is an increase from Valero Energys previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This represents a $4.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. Valero Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 17.31%. About Valero Energy (Get Free Report) Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Valero Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Valero Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,250 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises 4.1% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $10,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 662 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 894 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 727 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 177 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triangle Securities Wealth Management grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 8,112 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $3,129,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $357.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $421.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. Edward Jones initiated coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $406.87. The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.4 % The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $1.69 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $405.13. The stock had a trading volume of 1,072,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,344,852. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. The stock has a market cap of $131.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.42. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $416.76. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $386.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $355.97. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The investment management company reported $5.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $1.86. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 7.85%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 32.6 EPS for the current fiscal year. The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.20%. Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total transaction of $1,634,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,463 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,357,659.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total value of $1,634,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,463 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,357,659.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,907 shares of company stock worth $15,080,021 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders. About The Goldman Sachs Group (Free Report) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM Free Report) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $250.00 to $298.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the specialty retailers stock. A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a sell rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $243.38. Get Williams-Sonoma alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Williams-Sonoma Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.2 % NYSE WSM opened at $312.63 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $316.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $231.01 and a 200-day moving average of $192.43. The company has a market cap of $20.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.66. Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current year. Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonomas previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Williams-Sonomas payout ratio is presently 24.71%. Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock worth $10,044,174 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the companys stock. Williams-Sonoma Company Profile (Get Free Report) Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Williams-Sonoma Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Williams-Sonoma and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon said Monday that potential talks between the government and medical professors can be a "new starting point" in resolving the prolonged walkout by junior doctors before it further escalates. Han, the leader of the People Power Party (PPP), made the remarks after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for "constructive dialogue" with doctors and instructed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to deal "flexibly" with the issue of suspending the licenses of striking doctors. Yoon's instruction came after Han had a closed-door meeting with a group of medical professors in an effort to explore the possibility of dialogue amid little signs of a breakthrough in the strike by junior doctors against the government's plan to increase the medical school admissions by 2,000 starting next year. Medical professors also began submitting their resignations and reducing their work hours in support of a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors. The walkout, now into its sixth week, has become a hot-button issue in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections set for April 10. On Monday, Han said that medical professors asked during Sunday's meeting that the government exercise "flexibility" in dealing with the issue of suspending licenses of junior doctors for defying the government's return-to-work order. "I delivered the request to the president and conveyed the opinion that this should fully be considered, and the government accepted it," Han told reporters after a party campaign meeting. "So, I think it can be a new starting point," Han said. Han pointed out that resolving the clash needs some time given that there are multiple parties involved, and said that he has a mediation job to prevent the situation from bringing a catastrophic outcome. "I've heard a desperate call for mediation, so please keep watching. How can it all end at once?" Han said. The PPP leader declined to comment when asked about the need for the government to revise the 2,000 quota. "Any direction that I propose will bring confusion ... Many people agree to the government's direction," he said. "We lacked in efforts to start a constructive dialogue and my job is to mediate that part." Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung took a swipe at the PPP for using Han's mediation aiming for an eleventh-hour agreement in an attempt to boost the party's support ahead of the general elections. "What I don't understand is this. We have the prime minister, the health minister in the government, and all of a sudden the ruling party chief says he's been asked, or assigned, to do this," Lee, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea said in a press briefing while campaigning in Changwon, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Lee urged the ruling party to keep political motivation out of the issue. "This is the government's job, not the party's," Lee said. "We ask the government and the presidential office not to approach this issue from a political perspective, but resolve it seriously and faithfully from the perspective of people's rights to health, their lives and safety." (Yonhap) You have to hand it to the Russians, when dealing with terrorist interrogations they sure dont mess around. Cutting off one terrorists ear and feeding it to him made him sing like a canary, and another terrorist was brutally subjected to genital electrocution (EEK!) to make him talk. Theres certainly no Geneva Convention involved in those scenarios. However, the brutality of the actions of the terrorists at a Moscow concert where approximately 150 Russian civilians were murdered in cold blood by these idiots certainly begs for a more brutal approach when it comes to information retrieval. Western agencies usually resort to waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and loud heavy metal music blasted at terrorists, which may or may not work although, if moved to a clandestine ops site offshore where the Geneva Convention is not valid, it is almost a certainty that other more effective solutions are deployed at information retrieval sites like for example, torture, Sodium Pentothal or other drugs. All in all, the augurs do not bode well, ISIS are back, as we revealed in one of our previous articles. Some of the blame should be on Putins and the FSBs heads, simply because they were warned of such an ISIS terrorist attack by the Americans a month before, but chose to ignore the warnings. Ruling party reignites issue of stripping foreign residents of suffrage By Lee Hyo-jin Rival parties have clashed over the idea of revoking the voting rights of foreign residents, a move pursued by the conservative ruling People Power Party (PPP) specifically targeting Chinese nationals. Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), criticized PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon for associating foreign policy concerns with the upcoming general elections, expressly, the idea of rescinding the voting rights of Chinese nationals with permanent residency here. "Provoking anti-China sentiment and fostering hatred toward foreign nationals is highly inappropriate for a leader who should have a future-oriented vision," he said during a radio interview, Monday. "Han twisted the facts by suggesting that foreign residents could influence the outcome of the upcoming parliamentary elections through their votes," Hong said, clarifying that foreign residents only have voting rights in local elections, not in elections to choose the president or National Assembly members. Under the Public Official Election Act, foreign nationals who have resided in Korea for three or more years after obtaining permanent residency are given the right to vote in local mayoral and gubernatorial elections. Hong remained cautious about displaying his party's official position on the matter, saying, "Our party is willing to engage in debates after the issue reaches sufficient social consensus based on mutual respect." Hong was referring to the PPP leader's remarks made the previous day when he pledged to revise the Public Official Election Act to strip foreign nationals with permanent residency visas of their voting rights based on the principle of reciprocity. Han said that this move targets Chinese nationals, who account for 80 percent of some 126,000 eligible foreign voters here. "Korean nationals living in foreign countries do not have their voting rights guaranteed, yet we grant voting rights to foreigners in our country. There is no logical basis or benefit herein. We will rectify this unfairness," Han said during a party meeting, Sunday. He also claimed that his party's efforts to expand the current anti-spy law, another move targeting China, is being hindered due to opposition by the DPK. The current law defines espionage as activities aiming to benefit an enemy, and singles out North Korea as the sole enemy state. Consequently, it does not categorize similar acts benefiting other countries as espionage. "There is a critical flaw in that espionage charges only target hostile countries, making it impossible to punish those who leak information to foreign countries, such as China. The DPK strongly opposes the proposed amendment to this law," Han said. The PPP leader's outspoken remarks on China were part of denouncing DPK leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung's pro-Chinese remarks. During a speech criticizing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's foreign policy, Friday, Lee stated, "Just say 'Xiexie' (Thank you in Chinese) to China and 'Xiexie' to Taiwan too. There is no need to intervene in the Taiwan Strait issue and antagonize China." Political observers said that Han's brazen remarks toward China are part of a broader election strategy to frame the opposition party as submissive to China. "The liberal bloc has been depicting the PPP as a pro-Japanese party in their election campaigns. The PPP sees the DPK's perceived subservience toward China and pro-North Korean attitude as a strategic opportunity for a counter-offensive," said political commentator Rhee Jong-hoon. Canoo (NYSE:GOEV Get Free Report) will be announcing its earnings results after the market closes on Monday, April 1st. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($1.78) per share for the quarter. Investors interested in listening to the companys conference call can do so using this link. Get Canoo alerts: Canoo Price Performance Canoo stock opened at $4.28 on Monday. Canoo has a 52 week low of $1.22 and a 52 week high of $19.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $3.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.69 million, a PE ratio of -0.24 and a beta of 1.17. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Canoo in the 1st quarter valued at about $67,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Canoo during the 1st quarter valued at about $95,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Canoo during the 1st quarter valued at about $93,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canoo during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canoo by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,951 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448 shares during the last quarter. 36.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOEV shares. Alliance Global Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Canoo from $20.00 to $18.50 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Canoo from $34.50 to $17.25 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Canoo in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They issued an outperform rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. Get Our Latest Report on Canoo About Canoo (Get Free Report) Canoo Inc, a mobility technology company, designs, engineers, develops, and manufactures electric vehicles for commercial and consumer markets in the United States. The company offers lifestyle delivery vehicles, lifestyle vehicles, multi-purpose delivery vehicles, and pickups. It also provides multi-purpose platform architecture is a self-contained, fully functional rolling chassis that directly houses the critical components for operation of an EV. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Canoo Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canoo and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Financial Corp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,096 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Exxon Mobil comprises about 1.0% of First Financial Corp INs investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. First Financial Corp INs holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Get Exxon Mobil alerts: Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Exxon Mobil during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. IMA Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 720.0% in the second quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 369 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Exxon Mobil during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 222.5% in the 1st quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 574 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Exxon Mobil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the companys stock. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 30,189 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,169,845. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages recently issued reports on XOM. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $133.00 to $132.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reissued a hold rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Exxon Mobil has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $128.18. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Exxon Mobil Exxon Mobil Stock Performance Shares of Exxon Mobil stock opened at $113.49 on Monday. Exxon Mobil Co. has a one year low of $95.77 and a one year high of $120.70. The company has a market capitalization of $450.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.90. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.28. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 18.51% and a net margin of 10.45%. The firm had revenue of $84.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.40 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. Exxon Mobil Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Exxon Mobils dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%. About Exxon Mobil (Free Report) Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding XOM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Exxon Mobil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Exxon Mobil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Get JinkoSolar alerts: JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE:JKS Free Report) Stock analysts at Roth Capital decreased their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of JinkoSolar in a note issued to investors on Thursday, March 21st. Roth Capital analyst P. Shen now forecasts that the semiconductor company will earn ($0.44) per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.10. Roth Capital currently has a Neutral rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for JinkoSolars current full-year earnings is $5.27 per share. Roth Capital also issued estimates for JinkoSolars Q2 2024 earnings at $0.26 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.98 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.70 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $2.49 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $6.80 EPS. Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Roth Mkm restated a neutral rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (down from $50.00) on shares of JinkoSolar in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on JinkoSolar from $30.00 to $26.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of JinkoSolar from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of JinkoSolar from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC restated a hold rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of JinkoSolar in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $27.20. JinkoSolar Stock Down 5.2 % Shares of JKS opened at $22.43 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.38. The companys 50-day moving average price is $26.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.06. JinkoSolar has a 12-month low of $22.42 and a 12-month high of $51.71. Hedge Funds Weigh In On JinkoSolar Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JKS. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of JinkoSolar by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,678,032 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $78,895,000 after buying an additional 493,976 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of JinkoSolar by 16.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,632,512 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $127,123,000 after purchasing an additional 366,251 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of JinkoSolar by 65.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,026,002 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $61,530,000 after purchasing an additional 803,164 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of JinkoSolar by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,657,885 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $50,350,000 after purchasing an additional 150,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of JinkoSolar by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,576,610 shares of the semiconductor companys stock valued at $58,240,000 after purchasing an additional 22,254 shares during the period. 35.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. JinkoSolar Company Profile (Get Free Report) JinkoSolar Holding Co, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, production, and marketing of photovoltaic products. The company offers solar modules, silicon wafers, solar cells, recovered silicon materials, and silicon ingots. It also provides solar system integration services; and develops commercial solar power projects. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for JinkoSolar Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JinkoSolar and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. lessened its position in Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,665 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc.s holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Get Exxon Mobil alerts: Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 83.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,269,030 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $149,213,000 after buying an additional 575,649 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 34.3% during the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 4,700 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 390,975 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $45,971,000 after acquiring an additional 21,895 shares in the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 87,395 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $10,276,000 after acquiring an additional 23,148 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 160,807 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $18,908,000 after purchasing an additional 46,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.80% of the companys stock. Analyst Ratings Changes XOM has been the subject of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic raised Exxon Mobil from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $119.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Erste Group Bank restated a hold rating on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Monday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $128.18. Insider Buying and Selling at Exxon Mobil In related news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 2,400 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.00, for a total transaction of $252,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 30,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,169,845. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the companys stock. Exxon Mobil Price Performance Exxon Mobil stock opened at $113.49 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $104.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.90. Exxon Mobil Co. has a one year low of $95.77 and a one year high of $120.70. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.28. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 18.51% and a net margin of 10.45%. The business had revenue of $84.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.40 earnings per share. Exxon Mobils revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current fiscal year. Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Exxon Mobils dividend payout ratio is currently 42.74%. About Exxon Mobil (Free Report) Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Exxon Mobil Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Exxon Mobil and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A man charged in connection with the finding of a kilogram of cocaine in a van on the Foyle Bridge has been refused bail. Aaron Andrew Drever (43) with an address at Drumadd Green in Armagh is charged with possessing cocaine with intent to supply on December 20 last year and a charge of possessing the drugs on the same date. A police officer told the court that police stopped a white van on the Foyle Bridge and Drever was the passenger. A package of cocaine was said to have been found valued at 50,000 but the officer said some of the packaging was similar to that on a drug shipment valued at 10 million found at Jonesboro in Armagh on December 11. At interview the defendant made no comment or remained silent and refused to give police his PIN number for his phone. Bail was opposed due to the risk of re-offending and the court heard that Drever had 87 previous convictions with 24 of them being drug related. A defence barrister said that the co-accused had already been released on bail. He asked for this defendant to be released to help his family. Deputy District Judge Alan White said there was a risk of re-offending and refused bail. Drever will appear again on April 22. Derry Magistrate's Court heard today that a man on explosive charges who had been described in court as 'a trusted member of the New IRA' could now be released on bail. John Martin Kelly (43) of Columbcille Court in Derry faced a total of six charges. He was charged with possessing explosives including two Soviet grenade heads and plastic explosives with intent to endanger life on September 7. He was also charged with possessing explosives in suspicious circumstances on the same date. Kelly was further charged with two counts of possessing weapons, namely a Browning firearm and a Tokarev weapon with intent to endanger life on the same date as well as having the weapons in suspicious circumstances. At today's court Kelly was listed for a bail application and when the case was called a prosecution barrister said there would be no objection to the accused being granted bail subject to 'a raft of conditions'. Defence counsel Gavyn Cairns said that the only condition his client would have an issue with was one of a list of 7 people that the accused is prohibited from having contact with was his son. The prosecution said that condition could be removed and bail could be granted. Kelly was released on bail on condition he observes a curfew, wears a tag, has no contact with six named individuals and carry a mobile phone with details given to police. Kelly will again on April 8. 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. A man who has been banned from entering Boots in Foyleside for life has been remanded in custody at Derry Magistrate's Court today facing two charges of entering the store as a burglar and stealing items valued at hundreds of pounds. John Coyle (52) of St Eithne's Park in Derry was charged with entering the premises as a burglar on March 19 and March 22. The court heard that at 5.20pm on March 19 Coyle was said to have entered Boots and cleared a row of products valued at more than 1,000 and left without paying. On March 22 at 2.55pm Coyle was again said to have entered Boots in Foyleside and again stole a range of products into a bag and left without paying. The court heard that Coyle had been banned from entering Boots in October 2022. Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said that his client had 'an extensive record' but said that these were 'technical burglaries'. He said the defendant had made admissions and was stealing to fund his addiction. The solicitor said that Coyle could be managed with stringent bail conditions. Deputy District Judge Alan White said he had no intention of granting him bail. He said Coyle had been given a chance in January when he was given a suspended sentence and then committed more offences. Coyle was remanded in custody to appear again on April 11. A County Derry teenager has appeared before a local court accused of being the third person involved in a 'gun team' which visited five licensed premises in Dungiven in January and issued treats to alleged drug users. The 17 year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, appeared via videolink before Coleraine Magistrates Court today (Monday). The court heard that the boy was arrested in the Claudy area on Saturday morning. When asked if he could hear the court, the accused replied 'yes' before three charges were read to him. The teenager is charged with professing membership of a proscribed organisation, namely the 'New IRA' and possession of a handgun with intent to cause fear of violence. He is further accused of having an offensive weapon, a metal pole, in a public place, namely Garvagh Road, Dungiven. The charges relate to an incident which happened in Dungiven on January 19 when three masked and armed individuals reportedly issued threats at a GAA club and in four other bars in the town. The teen is the third person to be charged by detectives investigating this report. Dermot Burke (58), of Drum Road in Dungiven, and Michael Conwell (30), with an address at Lettershendoney Avenue in Drumahoe, were charged earlier this year with the offences of professing membership of a proscribed organisation, possession of a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. Both men were remanded in custody after appearing in court at the end of January. Prosecution barrister Natalie Pinkerton told the court that police were opposed to releasing the teenager on bail due to the 'violent' nature of the offences. An investigating officer told the court that police have concerns that the accused will interfere with witnesses if released on bail and could also discourage any potential witnesses from coming forward. He also stated that the weapons and van used by the team have not yet been recovered and that police believe that the teenager could take steps to move or dispose of them. The investigating officer also expressed a concern of 'risk of flight' should the accused be released. Stephen Mooney, barrister for the accused, stated that his client has no criminal record, has no previous involvement with police and officers had confirmed that he was not the person allegedly in possession of a handgun or weapon during this incident. The investigating officer confirmed this. Mr Mooney said that the bail framework was 'entirely different' due to the accused's age and said that the court could not detain him 'unless it is necessary to protect the public'. He said the accused's parents, who were present in court and are 'aghast' at the allegations against their son, were willing to sign a surety. Revealing that the teenager has Type 1 diabetes, Mr Mooney said his client 'had a very difficult 48 hours in custody' as police had seized his mobile phone, which he uses to manage his blood sugar levels, as soon as he had been arrested. I don't believe this young boy is a risk to the public, Mr Mooney added. District Judge Peter King said the defendant has 'added protection in respect of his age' and the only reason he could possibly deny bail was if there was 'a need for public protection'. The judge said he found it 'profoundly and utterly depressing' that he was dealing with a young person four days before Good Friday on these type of charges. Describing the incident as a 'very crude' attempt at 'community control through the barrel of a weapon', he said it had to be classed as a case where the public needed to be protected. Judge King said it didn't give him any joy remanding the teenager in custody, adding that he found it 'profoundly depressing'. The accused was remanded in custody and is due to appear before court alongside his co-accused on April 8. Simon Harris has been confirmed as the new leader of Fine Gael paving the way for him to become Irelands youngest premier. The announcement was made in Athlone by the chairman of the partys executive council, Willie Geraghty, after nominations closed and no other candidates put their names forward for the leadership. Mr Harris, 37, currently the further and higher education minister, will be formally elected as taoiseach in the Dail in April following the Easter recess. It follows the shock announcement by Leo Varadkar that he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader and would resign as taoiseach as soon as his successor was selected. Mr Harris announced his candidature on Thursday night following a series of endorsements from within the Fine Gael parliamentary party and after a number of senior colleagues said they did not intend to stand for the leadership. He has previously said he remains fully committed to the programme for government agreed with coalition partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. Mr Harris has stopped short of ruling out a general election this year but insisted such a poll was not his priority. Outgoing Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Mr Varadkar surprised many within the political establishment by announcing his resignation on Wednesday. He said he was resigning for personal and political reasons and was not the best person for the job anymore. China-funded renovation of Mongolian land port completed Xinhua) 11:33, March 25, 2024 ULAN BATOR, March 24 (Xinhua) -- An inauguration ceremony was held on Sunday for the China-funded renovation of a land port in southeastern Mongolia. Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene and Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia Shen Minjuan attended the ceremony to mark the completion of the land port renovation in Zamiin-Uud, a border soum (administrative subdivision) in the southeastern Mongolian province of Dornogovi. Oyun-Erdene expressed his gratitude to China for overcoming the difficulties of the pandemic, assisting in building port facilities of international standard, increasing the passenger and cargo customs clearance capacity fivefold, and supporting Mongolia's port revival policy. "Port revival is one of the key goals of the government's medium-term development target program, New Revival Policy," said Oyun-Erdene. Noting that renovating ports is crucial to Mongolia's economy, Shen said that China is willing to work with Mongolia to continue to improve port infrastructure, promote new modes of transportation, launch cross-border tourism activities and improve connectivity. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Prolonged strike feared to pull down support for ruling bloc By Nam Hyun-woo President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling People Power Party (PPP) interim leader Han Dong-hoon are demonstrating a united stance and advocating for dialogue with striking doctors, aiming to prevent the issue from negatively impacting support for the ruling bloc leading up to the general elections. The synchronized approach toward the April 10 elections introduces an element of uncertainty. This stance contrasts with Yoon's prior commitment not to concede to the strike and to advance his medical reform agenda by expanding the enrollment quota for medical students. According to the presidential office, Yoon ordered his administration on Sunday evening to devise "flexible measures" regarding the license suspensions that striking trainee doctors faced. This directive came promptly after the president received a request from Han. During a meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Monday, Yoon reiterated that the government "should have candid conversations with medical and other social groups." The order came after the prime minister held a 50-minute closed-door meeting with representatives of the Medical Professors Association of Korea about the month-long standoff between the government and doctors over the presidents drive to expand the enrollment quota for medical schools across the country. The swift cooperation between Yoon and the PPP chief is perceived as both leaders seeking breakthroughs in the current situation. The administration faces mounting pressure due to the prolonged strike, while the ruling party is noticing a decline in support with just over two weeks remaining until the elections. The Yoon government has unilaterally decided to increase the total annual enrollment quota for medical schools by 2,000 slots a move that has been met with opposition from over 90 percent of the nation's 13,000 trainee doctors, who have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since February. Until Sunday afternoon, the government had vowed to commence suspending the medical licenses of trainee doctors starting Tuesday. Although surveys show that the majority of voters still approve Yoons quota increase, fears have been growing within the ruling bloc that the public's patience will be drained over the presidents steadfast stance, as the standoff drags on and continues to disrupt the countrys medical system and public access to treatment. The PPP was also in need of a chance to reverse a drop in public support, as the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) pulled itself together after some internal conflicts were resolved. The PPP chief proposed a compromise to the president, styling himself as one capable of bringing a resolution to the standoff. This also provided Yoon with a pretext to take a step back from his hardline stance against doctors. I will serve my political role as an arbitrator for constructive conversation and a mediator who can address this problem, Han told reporters Monday. Political analysts suggest that the public display of alignment between Yoon and Han is an attempt by the ruling bloc to appeal to the public ahead of the elections. With approximately two weeks left before the general elections, public sentiment toward the ruling bloc is not that good, and their (Yoon and Han) actions show that they were observing an alarming signal and there is no other effective option to choose in the current political situation, said Cho Jin-man, a politics professor at Duksung Womens University. Cho suggested, however, that their actions might not necessarily lead to a win-win situation for the ruling bloc. This is because the compromising gestures could raise public doubts about why Yoon initially pushed the medical reform so forcefully if he could compromise his determination on medical reform with a single request from the ruling party leader. I think Sundays actions were a political mistake, Cho said. With the elections coming in two weeks, the president compromised his stance on a single word of the ruling party after paying all those social costs that arose through the standoff. This can be interpreted as if the president is admitting that he pushed it too hard, and provide a chance to the opposition to mount offensives. In line with Cho's comments, main opposition Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Rep. Hong Ihk-pyo said in a radio interview with broadcaster BBS that Hans mediation was "choreographed for the general elections." I knew this would happen, Hong said. I think the government used the medical school admissions quota issue more for political gain than to genuinely improve the countrys health care system I believe this was all part of the scenario in which the government is creating an impression that it is actually working for the people by criticizing doctors, and eventually allowing the PPP to emerge and patch up the feud by making concessions to medical associations. The relationship between Ireland and the UK has improved over the past year, Simon Harris has said. However, the man who is set to become Irelands next premier acknowledged there were challenges in the relationship and said he was proud of the stance his Government had taken over the UKs controversial Legacy Bill. Speaking shortly after being confirmed as party leader, Mr Harris said that he looked forward to engaging with the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as well as the recently restored powersharing Executive in Northern Ireland. Outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had differences with the UK Government over Brexit. Relations were also strained when Ireland launched a legal interstate case against the UKs new laws to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Mr Harris said he had recently hosted a reception in London and met with a number of MPs. He said: And I did say to them I do think Irish-British relations are in a much better place this March than they were last March. We have seen real progress around the Windsor Framework, we have seen real progress in relation to the Northern Ireland institutions back up and running. That is really important. I am determined to work with the Northern Ireland Executive. I look forward to the first North-South Ministerial Council taking place. Mr Harris continued: I welcome, should I be given the honour of serving in the office of taoiseach, an opportunity to engage early with the British prime minister. This country remains strongly pro-European, our home in the European Union is crucial to who we are, to our identity and to our economic success. But good strong economic, social, personal and interpersonal relations with our nearest neighbour in the United Kingdom is always going to be a major, major part of Irelands diplomatic policy. The new Fine Gael leader said issues over truth and justice for victims in Northern Ireland still had to be worked through between the two governments. He said: There are challenges in the relationship, like there are in any. We are all aware of the Legacy Bill and the recent court rulings in Northern Ireland. Those matters need to be worked through. I am proud of the position adopted by the Irish Government. One that wasnt done lightly at all, but that we will stand by victims and survivors and make sure they have an opportunity for truth and justice. Generative AI and HAMR will drive next wave of growth for traditional hard disk drives SSDs have benefited greatly from the development of 3D NAND flash memory technology, which has led to continuous growth in data density and capacity. In comparison, the data storage density of existing HDDs has approached its technical bottleneck. HDDs are often seen to be eventually replaced by SSDs, but the large amount of data required for AI learning, coupled with new HDD data storage technologies, has extended the market lifespan of HDDs. The key technology among all this is Seagate Technology's heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, which introduces laser heating to increase data storage density. It is estimated that this technology can achieve an annual data storage density growth rate of 20% for HDDs. According to the Japanese market research institute Techno System Research (TSR), global HDD shipments reached a peak of 650 million units in 2010 but have been steadily declining since then. By 2023, it has dropped to only 19%, or 120 million units, with the 500 million units lost almost all replaced by SSDs. HDDs still hold the advantage of having a lower capacity cost per unit compared to SSDs, especially in the nearline storage market for data centers. A report from Nikkei pointed out that in 2023, a nearline storage HDD had a unit price per GB of US$0.013, while large-capacity SSDs for servers had a unit price per GB of US$0.123, nearly 9.5 times higher than HDDs. According to estimates by IDC, to store the learning data of generative AI, the average annual growth rate of capacity demand for data storage devices is up to 20%. Currently, the construction of each data center requires US$1 to 1.5 billion, with electricity and maintenance costs reaching US$10 to 100 million annually. With limited funds, companies tend to prefer HDDs due to their lower storage capacity cost per unit. However, the mainstream technology for large-capacity HDDs, PMR, is only suitable for HDDs below 16TB. Even with improved technologies from major HDD manufacturers such as Western Digital (WD)'s ePMR and Toshiba's FC-MAMR, the upper limit is only 22 to 24TB with an annual data density growth rate of only 8%, which cannot meet the 20% annual capacity increase demand of data center operators. In 2021, Toshiba proposed a new technology, MAS-MAMR, which can increase HDD's data storage cap to 30TB, an 87% increase over the mainstream 16TB HDDs used in data centers. On top of that, it significantly reduces power consumption per TB, which can greatly reduce electricity costs for data centers, thus making it suitable for upgrading existing data centers. However, Seagate is set to begin mass production of HAMR HDDs with capacities exceeding 30TB in March 2024, with plans to produce 40TB HDDs in 2025 and introduce products that exceed 50TB between 2027 and 2028. Seagate's advancement in this technology surpasses Toshiba's MAS-MAMR, making it the hope of the HDD market in the latter half of the 2020s. India roundup: stable electricity supply key issues for manufacturing relocation to India Amid global production relocation, India remains disadvantageous due to a lack of stable power. To attract global manufacturers, India lowered import duties on EVs.Stable power supply is a key issue for manufacturing relocation to India As global manufacturers diversify their production bases, Vietnam and India are among the preferred choices. DIGITIMES Research analyst Chou Yen warns that the electricity supply in Vietnam is more stable than in India. In 2020, Vietnam saw an average of 356 minutes without power that year, compared to 6,369 minutes in India. In addition, power outages occurred an average of 3.12 times in 2020 in Vietnam, compared to 157 times in India. India lowers EV import duty to attract Tesla investments According to a statement of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India, the country will reduce import EV import taxes from 70-100% to 15% if the EV importers meet certain requirements, which include minimum investments of US$500 million or INR41.5 billion. Manufacturers will have three years to establish production facilities, commence commercial operations, and achieve 50% Domestic Value Addition (DVA) within five years at most. India-based CynLr adds human instincts to robotic arms Robotic arms have been a part of various industries for quite some time now. However, most of them still cannot work independently, having to be spoon-fed each process separately. CynLr, a startup based in Bangalore, India aims to bridge this gap by developing layers of perception that extend from 'eye' to 'fingers'. India removes permit requirements for generative AI platforms India's Ministry of Electronics and IT has issued a fresh advisory on AI, altering compliance regulations for IT firms and platforms. The new directive, which supersedes the previous advisory from March 1, eliminated the permit requirement for untested AI models and stressed the importance of labeling AI-generated content. Foxconn subsidiary reportedly in talks to set up facility in India The Economic Times quoted sources saying that Rayprus, a Foxconn Group subsidiary engaged in the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of camera modules, is talking with Foxconn about setting up a manufacturing facility near Foxconn park near the airport in Bengaluru. Sources said the companies did not disclose detailed information like the size of the investment, but the talks progressed smoothly. Ex-Google Gemini guy heads Samsung's AGI venture, eyes OpenAI and Meta collaborations Samsung Electronics has launched its AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) business. New research and development organizations will be established under this business unit. This will pave the way for collaborations with international entities. The Korea Economic Daily reported that Kye Hyun-Kyung, the head of Samsung's Device Solutions (DS) division has announced the establishment of "AGI Computing Labs" in the United States and South Korea. He made the announcement on social media. AGI Computing Labs System semiconductors veteran and former Google AI chip division leader, Dr. Dong-hyuk Woo will reportedly lead this effort. Woo will be tasked with developing specialized semiconductors for AGI. With a decade of experience at Google, he was involved in the development of Google's Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) and the Gemini Nano AI model. Kye revealed that the initial focus of the AGI Computing Lab will be on inference, service applications, and the development of chips for large language models (LLMs). Samsung is reportedly reassessing various aspects of chip architecture to significantly reduce the power consumption required to run LLMs. The company's targets for enhancement include memory design, lightweight model optimization, high-speed interconnects, and advanced packaging. Additionally, Samsung plans to introduce new chip designs from the AGI Computing Lab through rapid iterations. These designs aim to provide sufficient performance for continuously growing models while helping to save power consumption and costs. AGI international collaborations Samsung's AGI venture will likely be supported by international players. Collaboration with entities like Meta and Open AI is on the table. Meta announced its intention to develop its own AGI in early 2024. Subsequently, in February 2024, Samsung Chairman Jae-yong Lee met with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to discuss AI semiconductor collaboration. Open AI's CEO Sam Altman previously expressed interest in AI chip collaboration with South Korean enterprises. He voiced his interest during the "K-Startup & OpenAI Matching Day in the US" event held at the company's headquarters by the South Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS). Altman said he is willing to collaborate with Samsung and SK Hynix. Open AI's strong desire to create AGI leaves the door open for further in-house manufacturing and external collaborations. Arm advocates PSA certified as cornerstone for complying with IoT security regulations According to statistics, the global number of connected devices reached 16 billion by 2023, more than double the global population! However, there are many device manufacturers who have yet to adopt security by design principles leading to hacking and privacy risks at the population level. To protect consumers many governments consider device security as a crucial national security issue and are in the process of legislating for its implementation. This trend will impact the entire electronics industry, from IP, chips, software and end devices, posing a challenge for stakeholders to comply with various security regulations and laws. In response, Arm has incorporated cybersecurity requirements mandated by different regulations, including those from the EU and the UK, into the new version of PSA Certified Level 1 v3.0 document. Leveraging its large security ecosystem, Arm assists stakeholders in preparing early for compliance. Irresistible Legislative Trends for Stakeholders PSA (Platform Security Architecture) Certified, initiated by Arm in 2018 to address various underlying security issues, has become a common security platform in the IoT industry, with a total of 200 PSA Certified products globally. Regarding the latest legislative trends in security, Rob Coombs, Security Director, Arm & PSA Certified (PSA JSA) Chair, mentioned that in Europe, governments are formulating baseline cybersecurity regulations. For Taiwanese companies operating in the European market, preparing before the laws are enforced is crucial. The UK's Product Security Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Act is the fastest approaching regulation, set to come into effect this April. Additionally, the EU's Radio Equipment Directive (RED) has cybersecurity requirements that will come into force in August 2025. A couple of years further out is the Cybersecurity Resilience Act (CRA) that is currently under legislation. In the United States, state laws have already banned default passwords, such as California's SB-327. PSA Certified brings all of these requirements together in a new section of PSA Certified Level 1. OEMs can answer the Level 1 requirements to see if they comply or assess the gap that needs to be fixed. They can optionally get a third party assessment from a test laboratory to get an impartial assessment. "For PSTI, manufacturers can use the PSA Certified Level 1 certification to document whether their submitted chip/device/software designs comply with the security requirements, allowing third-party labs to review their answers. As for EU's RED and CRA, the new version of PSA Certified Level 1 document also includes the draft requirements from regulations, enabling companies to prepare this year without waiting for the regulations and standards to take effect. As PSA Certified is widely accepted in the industry as a security solution, using it as a design foundation will help companies address upcoming security regulatory issues in a more cost-effective and simpler manner." Assisting OEMs in Overcoming Challenges to Security Design In addition to various security standards, OEMs now face new regulatory issues, making security design for IoT devices more challenging. Rob Coombs believes that regulations will be a more significant concern for stakeholders because this involves whether products can be sold. Therefore, whether products can adhere to security principles from the outset will be the starting point for the design challenges that stakeholders face. However, on the other hand, the complexity of the entire OEM value chain is even more challenging. Chip manufacturers are responsible for providing Hardware Root of Trust (RoT), which includes security functions such as encryption and keys. The software layer, such as FreeRTOS LTS or one of the Linux platforms, is responsible for executing OTA updates and secure communication. Typically, OEMs combine the software platform of their choice with a main System on Chip (SoC), then add their own application code. It is challenging for OEMs to answer product level security requirements when they have not designed the chip or platform software. To overcome this issue, PSA Certified uses composition which means that the OEM can reuse a pre-certified chip or software platform. They only have to answer a smaller set of security questions that focuses on their device application code. Growing cybersecurity regulation will force all device makers to adopt security by design practices, PSA Certified makes that as easy as possible by dividing up the problem into chip + system software + device One way that security is better on Arm is the availability to chip vendors of open source trusted firmware for MCUs and MPUs. This provides a consistent set of crypto and secure storage APIs available to OEMs from many chip manufacturers. Providers of key middleware components such as Other The Air (OTA) updates and Transport Layer Security (TLS) can use these standardized interfaces to the chip's hardware security to better protect devices and services. Rob Coombs likened it to, "Just as PCs have BIOS and TPM, chips based on the Arm architecture have a PSA Certified RoT to achieve secure boot and PSA Crypto API to standardize crypto functions." Building a Strong Security Ecosystem Starting from the Root of Trust (RoT) Anurag Gupta, Director Business Development, Platform Security Architecture at Arm, added that PSA Certified has three different levels of certification for the chip. PSA Certified Level 1 indicates that the chip has a hardware RoT and the chip vendors written assessment responses were passed by the lab. PSA Certified Level 2 involves chip testing in the lab for basic software attacks and is suitable for most connected devices. PSA Certified Level 3 demonstrates protection from substantial physical and software attacks on the RoT, assessed in the lab by passing penetration testing. Therefore, OEMs can choose the appropriate security level according to their needs, whether it only needs to pass software attacks or needs to pass both software and hardware attacks. "This is the first time in the industry that there is a common language for OEMs to tell chip manufacturers what security level chips they need, which is a significant step forward for security design." Moreover, since many software engineers are not familiar with hardware security technologies, defined PSA Certified APIs make it easier for developers to leverage the security features provided in chips. Developers who choose a chip that supports PSA Certified APIs can use hardware security functions on different chips with the same code, greatly simplifying product development. Rob Coombs stated that PSA Certified is independent of architecture, and certification is not exclusive to chips based on the Arm architecture; it is applicable to other architectures as well. However, Arm's various security offerings, such as TrustZone technology and availability of optimized trusted firmware with common APIs have been optimized for PSA, making chips based on the Arm architecture best suited to a security by design approach and PSA Certified. Therefore, under Arm's promotion for many years, PSA Certified has not only been adopted by leading chip manufacturers but has also been widely expanded to many software and device manufacturers, constructing a powerful security ecosystem. At the same time, Arm continues to strengthen its security technologies. In addition to adding Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) protection methods to newer Arm processors, which effectively reduce serious security errors such as memory security violations and memory corruption, significantly reducing the chances of being attacked, Arm will also later this year transition to Long Term Stable for Trusted Firmware, making security solutions on the Arm architecture even more attractive. *Visit the PSA Certified website: https://www.psacertified.org/ *Download the 2023 PSA Certified Security Report - Regulations and Security: The Multiplier Effects, to understand the insights from PSA Certified founders and partners on the security of connected devices amidst increasing security investment costs due to rising security demands. *Watch the video of the "Arm Security Summit 2024" to understand how Arm assists industries in designing a more secure world on Arm. *To learn more about certifying products, visit: https://www.psacertified.org/development-resources/certification-resources/ The 2023 PSA Certified Security Report - Regulations and Security: The Multiplier Effects Weekly news roundup: Google to redefine smartphone connectivity with satellite integration in Pixel lineup These are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories in the week of March 18 March 22. Google set to revolutionize smartphones with satcom integration Tech giant Google is poised to lead the charge in integrating satellite communication capabilities into its Pixel lineup. In a move set to redefine the landscape of smartphone connectivity, Google follows in the footsteps of industry heavyweights Apple and Huawei, who introduced satellite features to their flagship models in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Google's strategic pivot signals a watershed moment for the industry. Intel CFO admits IC design firms not placing big foundry orders for 18A Intel CFO David Zinsner recently told investment bank analysts that Intel is still one of the big customers of TSMC and will continue to outsource chip production to TSMC in a conference hosted by Morgan Stanley. In the Intel Foundry Direct Connect Conference in late February, Intel's senior executives repeatedly said the "5 nodes in 4 years" goals have been met, and 18A will start mass production in the second half of 2024. Samsung rumored planning to buy Continental AG automotive electronics business Samsung Electronics is reportedly considering acquiring some part of the automotive electronics business of Continental AG. It has been 7 years since Samsung made an acquisition, and the market is keeping a close eye on the latest developments. South Korea media Money Today cited industry sources saying that Samsung is discussing an acquisition of the ADAS and automotive display business from Continental AG. However, Samsung declined to comment on rumors or speculation. Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 leaked benchmark scores reportedly outperform Apple's next chip Just as Qualcomm is poised to unveil an updated Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, leaked benchmark scores for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, a 3nm flagship SoC slated for the second half of 2024, have emerged, surpassing even Apple's forthcoming SoC. This signals a rare instance of Android's mobile SoC outperforming Apple's. While the final specifications of both SoCs remain unconfirmed, it's clear that Qualcomm's CPU architecture demonstrates promising performance under the same manufacturing process technology. Samsung's AI accelerator reportedly cost one-tenth the price of Nvidia GPU Samsung Electronics recently announced the launch of its self-developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) accelerator, MACH-1. It's reported that Naver has become its customer, with plans to procure approximately 200,000 units by the end of 2024. Building on this, Samsung aims to further target tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, etc., to meet their demand to "reduce reliance on Nvidia." According to reports from the Korea Economic Daily, Samsung's System LSI division will supply MACH-1 to Naver by the end of the year, currently in negotiations regarding pricing and supply volume. Samsung ranks top Global Innovator while Huawei gets 7th spot Samsung Electronics is again recognized by Clarivate in its Top Global Innovators 2024 ranking as the world's most innovative company. Despite the US sanctions, Huawei managed to make it to the 7th place. The result somewhat echoes the top patent filer report released by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO). Huawei Technologies remained the top filer with 6,494 published PCT applications in 2023. Samsung Electronics of South Korea came in second (3,924 applications). KLA to exit FPD business by 2024 KLA decided to exit the Flat Panel Display business (FPD) by the end of 2024 and will continue to provide services to the installed base. According to the released files in its 8-K document, KLA's decision stems from various factors, including the termination of its major customer's significant new technology project, leading KLA to investigate alternatives for its FPD business. KLA said exiting the FPD business will not affect its revenue expectation for the quarter. An Garda Siochana are assisting the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) after a vehicle was stolen in Strabane and driven over the border to Donegal where it was located, 18 miles away, stripped of its parts. The theft came to light after a burglary was reported at a house in Bracken Gate in Strabane on Sunday morning, March 24. The house had been entered and the keys to a white Audi Q7, registration DG7 0BZO, were taken sometime between 12:30am and 1am. Working with An Garda Siochana, the vehicle was later found on a remote forest road, near Lough Hill Bog, in the vicinity of Ballybofey. The Audi had been stripped of its engine, wheels, doors, bonnet and boot. "An Garda Siochana are assisting the Police Service of Northern Ireland with this matter," a spokesperson told DonegalLive. "Investigations are ongoing." The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are appealing for information and witnesses. "This was a well-planned and organised theft and we're appealing to anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity in Bracken Gate between the times mentioned to get in touch, Detective Sergeant Gingell from Strand Road Criminal Investigation Division said. We're also appealing for sightings of the Audi Q7 or any dash cam footage from the Strabane/Lifford area around 1am on Sunday. We also want to hear from anyone who is offered parts for sale, similar to those stripped from the Audi, to get in touch on 101, quoting reference number 413 of 24/03/24." A garda has appeared in court charged with intending to pervert the course of justice and burglary at a Dublin flat in 2021. Robert Gorman, 43, with an address in north Dublin, appeared before Dublin District Court on Monday charged with three offences. He is the fourth garda to appear before the courts in relation to an investigation into a Garda unit based in the Dublin region. Gorman is charged with entering a flat in Mountjoy Square North on September 7 2021 as a trespasser with intent to commit theft. He is also charged with intent to pervert the course of public justice in signing information for a search at the same Dublin flat between September 30 and December 30 2021. He is also charged with creating three incidents on the Garda Pulse system on September 21 2021 with intent to pervert the course of public justice. Detective Sergeant Paul Dowling told the court that Gorman was arrested on March 11 at Irishtown garda station. He said he made no reply after being cautioned. Gorman was remanded on continuing bail until service of the book of evidence on Friday May 17. The court heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions directions are for trial on indictment. Gorman, who appeared in court wearing a facemask, jeans, brown shoes and carrying a shopping bag, thanked the judge at the end of proceedings. The Department of Education has released a statement in response to secondary school principals who have voiced their concerns over the rollout of a new free school book scheme this coming September. Issues which have caused concern include that of the workload of paperwork involved in order to implement the scheme, as well as the financial side of it and the expertise required to process it. Describing the scheme as a "landmark initiative", the Department of Education said it is "committed to providing additional guidance and support to schools to aid them with procurement and its roll-out for the 2024/25 school year". "The Department recognises that this scheme is in its first year, and that, when implementing any new initiative of this size, challenges may be experienced," it says in a newly released statement. "The Department has committed to providing additional guidance and support to schools to aid them in fulfilling their obligations under procurement legislation, and greatly appreciates the continued commitment of school communities and management bodies to overcoming any challenges and to deliver this valuable scheme in time for the start of the new school year." The new Junior Cycle School books Scheme, introduced for the 2024/25 school year, will remove the cost from families of funding school books, including that of eBooks, and core classroom resources for all Junior Cycle students in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. "This is a landmark moment in Irish education and will result in free schoolbooks for up to 213,000 students in over 670 recognised post-primary schools from this September," the Department says. "It follows the hugely successful roll-out of the free school books scheme for all children and young people enrolled in primary and special schools this past year. "Providing Junior Cycle students with schoolbooks will help to enhance their educational experience, not just in the classroom but at home and as they prepare for life after school. It will help to ensure that no student will be disadvantaged by a lack of ability to access essential learning resources, and help to ease some of the financial burden facing families," the statement reads. The Junior Cycle Schoolbooks Scheme grant funding has now issued to 672 post-primary schools. Concerns were initially raised by the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), which said that the process of applying and completing the paperwork associated with the new scheme as 'complex' and requires 'special expertise'. By Shin Hye-suk Recently, I visited Gokokuji Temple in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, nestled in the southeastern part of the Japanese archipelago, accompanying descendants of the Yeo clan. This temple holds historical significance as it was once led by a monk named Yeo Dae-nam (15801659), originally from the current Hadong County, South Gyeongsang Province, who served as its first chief monk over four centuries ago. During the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 15921597, a Japanese general named Kato Kiyomasa took Yeo Dae-nam, then a young boy of 13, to Japan as a captive, like many others. Recognizing Yeo's innate literary talent and wisdom beyond his years, Kiyomasa became an unexpected mentor, guiding him in the ways of Japanese writing and the tenets of the Nichiren Shu sect of Buddhism. Under Kiyomasa's tutelage, Yeo flourished, his intellect and spiritual depth propelling him to prominence within Japanese society. By the age of 29, Yeo Dae-nam had risen to become the third chief monk of Honmyoji Temple in Kumamoto. Despite being of Korean descent, Yeo Dae-nam gained respect and reverence from the Japanese, earning titles such as the Sunlight Ascetic Monk or the Goryeo Monk. He continued to serve as the master monk of several other prominent Japanese temples, further solidifying his reputation and influence within Japanese society. He yearned for his homeland throughout his life, but sadly, he never set foot on Korean soil again and instead fell in love with Japan. The Yeo clan members presented the genealogy of their ancestors as a gift to the current 19th chief monk, Iwanaga, of the temple. Additionally, Iwanaga requested to be included in the same genealogy as the first chief monk under the Korean name Yeo Tae-hyeon. This act symbolizes a profound friendship between Korea and Japan. The Japanese chief monk demonstrated an impressive depth of knowledge about the history between Korea and Japan, surpassing that found in textbooks. His detailed responses to inquiries from the Korean side were remarkable. Upon unpacking my luggage, I discovered a pristine Arita Yaki white porcelain water cup adorned with delicate dark blue grape motifs, gifted by the chief monk of Gokokuji Temple. This ceramic object symbolizes Japanese luxury, originally crafted by Korean potters, highlighting cultural connections between the two countries. Reflecting on the past, we can envision our ancestors gazing upon similar landscapes centuries ago, likely filled with profound nostalgia for their hometowns. The Island of the Prairie, Shimabara, nestled along the Ariake-kai Sea in Nagasaki Prefecture, undoubtedly evokes such sentiments. Gokokuji Temple, led by its first Korean chief monk, Yeo Dae-nam, holds a special place in the hearts of the Japanese people. Through wisdom and virtue, it has fostered a lasting connection between Korea and Japan, laying the foundation for a bond that endures. Shin Hye-suk (sinesu@naver.com), whose English name is Shindy, completed a doctorate in sociology and has devoted two decades of her life to academic pursuits at a university in Japan. She is also a flower artist and has served as president of the Rotary International Seoul Club Korea. New Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met for over an hour on Monday morning to discuss the transition of power. The pair met at Government buildings in Dublin a day after Mr Harris was selected as the new party leader in Athlone, Co Westmeath. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met Fine Gael leader Simon Harris this morning for well over an hour, a spokesman for Mr Varadkar said. The Taoiseach briefed the Fine Gael leader on upcoming national and international issues. Mr Harris was confirmed as leader of Fine Gael after nominations closed and no other candidates put their names forward for the leadership. The 37-year-old, currently the further and higher education minister, will be formally elected as Taoiseach in the Dail in April following the Easter recess. It follows the shock announcement by Mr Varadkar that he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader and would resign as Taoiseach as soon as his successor was selected. Speaking to party members on Sunday, Mr Harris said he would repay the trust put in him with hard work as leader of the party. Mr Harris is expected to meet other coalition leaders Micheal Martin and Eamon Ryan later this week. Fianna Fail representative and finance minister Michael McGrath said these discussions will include plans for the future of the Government, as he said the country needs certainty and stability. Speaking in Kilkenny, Mr McGrath added: We have an agreed programme for Government and all parties are committed to that programme for Government. Fianna Fail has been very consistent in our approach to Government over the last four years and we will continue to offer that certainty and stability that I think the country needs at this time. Mr McGrath also welcomed Mr Harriss commitment for the Government to run into next year. The coalition could run into February, allowing for an election to be called as late as March 2025. Speaking in Kilkenny, Mr McGrath added: Governments should serve their full term except for events or exceptional unforeseen circumstances. Outgoing Taoiseach and former Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar has told his successor to bring authenticity to the office, Simon Harris has said. Mr Harris and Mr Varadkar met for more than an hour on Monday morning to discuss the transition of power. The pair met at Government buildings in Dublin a day after Mr Harris was selected as the new party leader in Athlone, Co Westmeath. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Harris said Mr Varadkar updated him on a number of national and international issues. Asked what advice he was given by Mr Varadkar, he added: I dont think hed mind me saying it is important to be yourself. That every holder of office has to bring themselves and their own authenticity to the role and thats good advice for which I was truly grateful. He added: Im aware that as we prepare to take up this role, that we have a number of pressing issues facing Ireland, facing Europe. The 37-year-old, currently the further and higher education minister, was confirmed as leader of Fine Gael after nominations closed and no other candidates put their names forward for the leadership. It follows the shock announcement by Mr Varadkar that he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader and would resign as Taoiseach as soon as his successor was selected. Mr Harris said he was looking forward to the next Cabinet meeting on Thursday which will be chaired by Mr Varadkar, who still holds the office of Taoiseach until Mr Harris is formally appointed as expected in April after the Easter recess. He will also meet the leaders of the other coalition parties this week. Fianna Fail representative and finance minister Michael McGrath said these discussions will include plans for the future of the Government, as he said the country needs certainty and stability. Speaking in Kilkenny, Mr McGrath added: We have an agreed programme for Government and all parties are committed to that programme for Government. Fianna Fail has been very consistent in our approach to Government over the last four years and we will continue to offer that certainty and stability that I think the country needs at this time. Asked about the comments on Monday, Mr Harris said that the relationship between the three coalition leaders is the key to the success and stability of the Government. He added: Thats where I want to put my real focus and energy into. Asked if the coalition parties could expect fundamental changes under his leadership of Fine Gael, Mr Harris said: Im very clear on this. Theres a new leader of Fine Gael and Fine Gael has a right to have a new leader and Fine Gael has a right to set out its positions as a political party. When you go into coalition, you dont give up your rights to be a political party lets be very clear on that. And my party wants to renew, it wants to reset, it wants to reconnect. But Im really clear as a party leader in the Government, that we will stay true to the programme for Government. Mr Harris also said he believes the current Government should endeavour to go the full term into early next year. Mr Harris said he wants to support housing minister and Fianna Fail TD Darragh OBrien in making more progress. He said: Government must have and Fine Gael must have the moral courage to admit and acknowledge areas that we want to do better and we want to do more. We have an excellent housing minister working extremely hard, he has my full support. Add I want to support him in my new role in making sure we can make even more progress. He said there were conversations ongoing in Government in ensuring the Department of Housing had enough capital funding. Separately, Mr Harris said legitimate questions had been raised about the contents of the Governments hate crime bill, adding that he expects clarifying revisions and amendments to the legislation. Over the weekend Louth MEP Colm Markey announced that he was withdrawing his name from the MEP selection convention for Midlands North-west constituency, but left the door open to contest future elections. In a statment Markey thanked Fine Gael members for their support. He continued: However, I believe the most viable path to winning two seats for Fine Gael in the election in June is with two candidates, and I wish the remaining candidates all the best during their campaigns. I am immensely proud of the work I have achieved in the last three years as an MEP since I took on the role after Mairead McGuinness became an EU Commissioner. In that time, I have worked hard for all my constituents on many matters including agricultural, energy, transport, fisheries, environmental and social issues. I would like to thank my family, supporters, team both in Ireland and Brussels, as well as the people of Midlands North-West whom I have been proud to serve. I also wish to thank Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and my fellow MEPs for their help and support and I want to wish our new leader Simon Harris every success in his new role. I will continue to remain in politics and plan to contest in future elections. "My focus will return to my home county of Louth and in particular Drogheda which has faced particular challenges in recent months and years, I want to play a central role in tackling these issues and working closely with Fergus O'Dowd TD to carry on work he has completed over the last 22 years. By Steven L. Shields Hardly a day goes by that we do not see a news item about immigration or Koreas low birthrate. Does Korea truly want immigration? Does Korea need to worry about its birthrate? Opinion is hotly debated these days. The president, cabinet officials and other analysts warn the nation with a siren voice: Korea will disappear as a country within a few decades. Typically, government solutions involve large sums of money thrown around to solve a perceived problem." One official declared generous subsidies for couples who get pregnant and have children. Even the corporate world is weighing in on benefits to employees. But does society understand why young adults today are deferring marriage or deciding to remain childless? Some good friends of mine are middle-aged, higher-level managers working for top-notch organizations. They have two children and a grandmother in the household. Mom and Dads combined salaries are not insignificant. Yet, after 20 years of marriage and professional life, they still have not been able to buy their own home. For years, even the deposit money on their apartment was mostly borrowed. They now have that debt paid off, but it is no longer enough to buy an apartment in Seoul. In addition, because their boys are in middle and high school, the money they spend on education each month is several million won. The mother scoffs at the recently proposed subsidies for families to get pregnant and have children. Another friend, believing their son could be a great pianist, pulled him out of middle school. They spent tens of millions of won the past five years paying for exclusive private lessons and a grand piano in their home for him to practice. Even though I think hes quite good, hes failed to gain admission to music schools three times. Part of the problem is his heart was never in it. He dreams of having an indoor food cart restaurant like his father. The kids a great cook and knows all the ins and outs of the business. When I first came to Korea, the government was hell-bent on reducing the birthrate. Street corner mobile clinics from the Red Cross offered lunchtime snips for men. Government benefits were granted to families with few children. At one point, a campaign told us not to worry if our single child was a boy or girl but to happily raise them well. Though many worry about the low birthrate, other government officials lament the lack of bodies to fill the needed manufacturing jobs and workers for other sectors. Perhaps if your business plan included paying good wages that Korean families could live on, the problem might not be so bad. But instead, profits rule the business world, so cheaper labor from other countries is demanded. In the child care sector, the Bank of Korea is suggesting exempting foreign nannies from the minimum wage altogether. In most developed countries, the so-called minimum wage is grossly inadequate for a single individual to live on. When such an idea was proposed in the United States not quite 100 years ago, the minimum wage was supposed to be enough for a working man with a wife and two children to be paid enough to maintain a basic standard of living. That wage standard hasnt been seen in the United States for most of the last 70 or 80 years. No elected official will make the hard call to raise it for fear of losing corporate donations to their reelection campaign. I have a friend from the Philippines who has lived and worked in Korea for almost 30 years. Hes in his early 50s. While his company provides minimal housing for their immigrant workers, his wages are less than what would be needed to live independently, get married or have a family. Indeed, hes paid more than the minimum wage, but it is still so low that not many Koreans will work for such a small salary. Many may recall the recent news about a naturalized citizen born in Ukraine, a white woman, who was crowned Miss Japan. Though her language fluency was excellent, many complained that such a person did not represent traditional Japanese beauty ideals. She was dethroned a few days later over an alleged affair with a married man. Immigration brings myriad other problems as society struggles to deal with various cultural and linguistic matters. Can Korea become a multicultural and multilingual pot of stew with its varied colors, textures and tastes? Forget the melting pot metaphor because, time and again, its proven unrealistic when a generally homogeneous society begins adding others to the mix. Peoples distinctiveness never gets melted into a new alloy. Be careful what you wish for. Rev. Steven L. Shields (slshields@gmail.com) has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. A lifelong member of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea, he has served as a director and president. He was copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not reflect The Korea Times editorial stance. By Baek Byung-yeul Korea concluded the negotiations with the European Union to become an associate member of Horizon Europe, the worlds largest multilateral research and innovation funding program, providing a valuable chance for researchers here to expand their network and pursue joint research starting as early as next year, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT, Monday. The ministry said Minister Lee Jong-ho concluded negotiations for Koreas accession as an associate member of Horizon Europe and agreed to initiate the procedure to join the program next year during his meeting with Iliana Ivanova, commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth of the European Commission, the EUs executive body. Horizon Europe is the world's biggest multilateral research and innovation funding program, supporting a total of 95.5 billion euros ($103.3 billion) over seven years from 2021 to 2027. Unlike previous research funding programs that were open only to EU member states and neighboring countries, the EU proposed associate membership in the program to six non-European nations with excellent scientific and technological capabilities Korea, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Japan and Singapore, the ministry said. If the joining process proceeds without any issues, Korea will join as the third country after New Zealand, which joined in 2023, and Canada, which joined this year, and will become the first Horizon Europe associate member in Asia. With the associate membership, Korea is expected to contribute financially, granting its researchers direct access to Horizon Europe research funds. Participating as an associated country in Horizon Europe, the worlds largest multilateral research and innovation program, will open up greater opportunities for both Korea and the EU to enhance research competitiveness through joint research, the science minister said. We are committed to completing the process leading up to the signing of the association agreement by the end of this year, so that Korean researchers can participate in Horizon Europe with associated country status starting from 2025. The ministry expressed anticipation for the expansion of Korean researchers' networks, strengthening of research cooperation, acquisition of advanced European research systems and an expanded level of openness in Korea's science and technology sectors through Korea's participation in this program. Under Koreas current status as a non-associated third country, Korean researchers cannot participate directly in Horizon Europe calls, instead only as partners of researchers from other member states or associated countries, and must bring their own funding for their research as Horizon Europe's budget is not allocated to them. When Korea becomes an associate of Horizon Europe, Korean researchers will be able to apply for funding to carry out Horizon Europe projects as a coordinator or participant, the ministry said. A CORK accountant who enjoyed a successful global career is following her dream and opening a B&B with a difference in her native Mitchelstown. Ciara OBrien has worked in London, Singapore and The Netherlands with various multinational companies, and most recently with Google in Dublin. But she had a growing desire to work in an area that was more in tune with her love of the outdoors and to be more involved in her community, which eventually became impossible to ignore. During Covid, I moved back to Mitchelstown for the first time since college and decided to stay in Ireland. I joined Google in Dublin in 2021 working with their data centre operations globally, however, with all the uncertainty in tech I decided to make the jump in Spring, 2023, and pursue the B&B idea full-time, said Ciara. Accountant Ciara O'Brien. Id probably been thinking about it for five or six years, and what really gave me the momentum to do it was the period of WFH during Covid. Long 12-14 days sitting in an office, alone on endless Zoom calls - I realised I just didnt want to do that any more. I love movement and exercise and being outdoors so it finally dawned on me that I needed to make the big change and see if I could live my life a bit differently! Ciara bought the property, an old farmhouse, in July, 2021 then spent a year on architects drawing, planning permission, etc. Work started in April, 2023, to transform Barnahown into a four-bed guest house. Theres been a few ups and downs along the way, but everything is now on track to launch in May. Her vision is to essentially put hospitality back into the hospitality sector. We have plenty of Airbnbs in this area but a lot of them now operate with a keybox/help yourself type approach which is fine for some guests but not all. I want to provide that more traditional welcome: to greet people in reception when they arrive, help them to plan their days, and taste lot of our local produce, and hopefully find some hidden gems along the way. This area in the Galtee/Ballyhoura region is beautiful but its not particularly organised in terms of itineraries for visitors - you really have to try and find your own way. The renovated B&B. I hope to be able to showcase lots of local businesses in food and beverage, plus culture and arts that people might otherwise miss. Hiking is Ciaras passion, and one shell share with her guests. One of my biggest challenges so far was when a friend and I committed to climb Kilimanjaro to celebrate my 30th birthday. We spent about six months in training, successfully completing it with Pat Falveys team. Since then I always seek out challenge locations wherever I go, whether thats in the Alps or theres also lots of good climbing in Indonesia which I was able to do when I lived in Singapore. The old farmhouse. There are so many benefits to being out in nature - whether its a walk in the wood, to climbing to a mountain summit. Its also something thats free and can involve everyone young and old if you pick the right route. Im obviously biased, but I think the Galtee/Ballyhoura region is one of the most beautiful and undiscovered areas of Ireland. Sustainability is at the core of everything she does, with the ultimate ambition to offer carbon-free holidays. My dream for the business is to run at net zero: we do not use any excess carbon in allowing our guests to enjoy their time with us. "Ive developed that tendency during my time working with PepsiCo and Unilever, where they really believed sustainable operations were important for the long-term viability of the company. Im lucky with the retrofit in that I will be taking an 1800s house and retro-fitting it to current A-rated standard. That means heating, etc, should be more efficient to run via the solar panels and heat pump. In addition, Im installing EV charging points for cars so that people driving feel more able to venture into the countryside. And from day one well be a no single-use plastic of packaging business - I think its much easier to start as you mean to go on versus trying to come back and correct things later. Ciara hopes the business will be a sustainable one. Failte Ireland provide great supports around climate impact assessment for hospitality businesses which Ive been able to avail of to help me plan things out. One area Ciara is naturally apprehensive about is the day-to-day running of the B&B, but shes taken a hands-on approach to learn the trade. I dont have a hospitality background other than I know what I like as a tourist! So Ive been trying to make the most of work experience opportunities which people have given me: from Deebert House Hotel in Kilmallock where the team were kind enough to take me in for breakfast prep and room change-overs, to Praline in Mitchelstown where Ive been serving guests over the busy Christmas period to see how a well-run kitchen and guest experience is designed. This for me has been a highlight because I love to learn new things and see how I could re-apply them. Ill start out doing food myself so I can learn what guests want: whether its a full Irish or maybe theyd prefer a nice breakfast roll to go and bring a packed lunch with them. "Once I figure that out and we extend bedrooms then I will definitely be hiring a chef and hopefully also extending into a dinner service. Were really lucky in this area to have so many award-winning food and beverage producers. I was recently doing the menu and I can get almost everything I need from within a 20km radius of the property, which is great from a transport and food miles perspective but Im also proud to be supporting local businesses, she said. With just weeks to go until Ciara opens the doors to welcome her first guests, shes excited and energised and already has plans to extend to seven rooms in spring, 2025. FRANK Prendergast and Marci Cornett live together and work together, having met while she was on a one-year visa and tried long distance for a while before deciding that they wanted to make a life together. Marci is from Kentucky, and met Frank while she was in Cork on a years visa to do an internship at Paradiso, she explained, telling The Echo: I made some friends in the restaurant, and I quickly found out that if you know one group of friends in Cork, before you know it, you feel like you know everyone. Frank and I have mutual friends, and I ended up sharing a house with Virgina Thomas the photographer, who is a childhood friend of Franks we just kept bumping into each other, and eventually we both expressed mutual interest. Frank says because of the Venn diagrams of Cork people, Marci was actually seeing a friend of mine at the time, but it all worked out. We got together, then Marcis years visa was up, so we did some long distance, we did some trips to each other, and we realised that actually we want to be together, so the best way to do that was to get married, he continued. It was a mutual discussion, but I then did actually propose as well, he said. I proposed with a ring thats been in my family for generations that my mum gave to me. Marci said: There was a little bit of surprise when he did propose, because it was one of those things wed been talking about so long but hadnt made a decision. Romance Frank explained: For us, the romance centred around the fact that we wanted to be together and how we live our lives together, but neither of us were traditional in being caught up in any of the trappings of a marriage and the traditions. They married in 2015 in Lexington, Kentucky, a small wedding at the courthouse which Marcis parents and younger sister and a friend of Franks from Cork who lived in Canada attended. She flew down and spent the weekend with us, it was a lovely wedding day very relaxed, we got married, then went for coffee and went for dinner that night, Marci said. Frank Prendergast and Marci Cornett, couple and multi-award-winning marketing duo. Picture: Ayna Lorenzo. Frank added: Were both off coffee now, but at the time, we were massive coffee snobs it was a very important part of our lives so it was perfect for us to go get married then have a coffee. When Marci returned to Cork in April 2016, they had a big party with all of their friends and family there. Now, the couple split their time between Cork and Kentucky. We were mostly living in Cork and making trips to Kentucky, then the lockdown happened and it caused a big shift it was quite scary in the very early days, we were so used to popping over and back. Suddenly that was taken away and it made us very conscious of not just wanting to go back and forth, so since lockdown, were focusing a lot more on splitting our time between the two locations. Marketing business The couple not only live together, but work together, and explained how they came to set up their marketing business. Frank was working for himself as a marketer, primarily as a web designer, and Marci was in the food industry, but they liked to find projects they could do together, then they decided to make it full-time. Frank Prendergast and Marci Cornett, couple and multi-award-winning marketing duo.Picture: Ayna Lorenzo. He said: Marci will tell you that she had the brilliant idea of coupling my marketing business with her writing, Ill tell you that I had the idea of inviting Marcis brilliant writing skills into the business one of us had the genius idea of teaming up. They do primarily do digital marketing, with Frank on the brand strategy and design side and Marci copywriting, for primarily Irish clients but some of their clients are US-based. I think during lockdown, wed be chatting to clients and theyd realise that we work together and live together and people would be like wow, how do you not kill each other? but it just never crossed our minds that it might be an issue we live in each others pockets and that suits us, he said, adding that equally, they might do months apart when Marci might take a trip home without him. Marci added, I know what life is like without Frank, so the time apart really makes me appreciate the time we have together. A CORK City Council tenant has said he is living in fear of electrocution because wastewater and sewage run down his walls from an upstairs flat onto electrical fittings. Jason OSullivan, 53, has lived in the flat on Noonan Road since 2019, and he has been on the housing list since 1998. Mr OSullivan told The Echo that he lives in the living room, because wastewater and sewage come down the walls from upstairs and because rats and mice have been in the bedroom. Stench He sleeps on the floor on a rolled-out mattress on foam, and he keeps the windows open because the stench is terrible. He shares the living room, which is extremely tidy, with his 11-year-old dog Dax. Mr OSullivan, who has a disability and an acquired brain injury, describes himself as a person with vulnerabilities. He turns off the electricity supply in the flat at night, because fittings spark and he is terrified that the wastewater will cause an electrical fault and electrocute him. The plaster on Mr OSullivans bathroom ceiling is peeling and falling down, as a result of persistent leaks from upstairs. Last September, tenants on Noonan Road, St Finbarrs Road, Fort Street, and Dean Street were told by Cork City Council that it favours rehousing tenants, demolishing the 60-year-old flats, and redeveloping the sites. Shocking That announcement came after a campaign last summer by tenants, highlighted by The Echo, against conditions later described by the councils chief executive, Ann Doherty, as shocking. Now, almost half of the Noonan Road flats are shuttered, with tenants moved out to other properties, but Mr OSullivan is one of the residents remaining in the complex. He said he has been told by the council that he will be moved to a new development in a couple of weeks but he has not been given a definite date. Nightmare I just want this nightmare to end, Mr OSullivan said. I think these flats should have been condemned, instead of putting someone into them. Its a death sentence, I cant recover, Im going downhill, Im not going to get better. Its just a fight every day to survive in a place like this, and it shouldnt have to be like this. Housing activist William OBrien, who is running as an independent candidate in the Cork City South Central ward in the upcoming local elections, said he was calling for the Cork City Council Private Inspection Unit to investigate the property. In 2023, a pilot scheme to inspect 100 public properties was supposed to commence. I would like to know whether this scheme has commenced, Mr OBrien said. Need to be protected Jason and other tenants have a right to live in safety and comfort, and they need to be protected at all costs. A spokesperson for Cork City Council said it does not comment on individual cases. The Cork City Council Customer Service Request Centre is available to all tenants to report repair requests. These are then addressed by the relevant Housing Operations staff, they said. A CORK city councillor has urged caution over what he described as con artists cleaning out house gutters for outlandish sums of money. Independent councillor Mick Finn said he recently posted on social media about three men cold calling to homes, asking people if they wanted their gutters cleaned, but then asking for huge sums of money. I know one woman parted with 450 and another 300 to have gutters cleaned by hand by three fellas with high-viz vests some of these people were vulnerable and just agreed, before being faced with an ask for big money. I would urge people to close their doors and refuse the offer of work, and report to gardai if they have handed over large sums of money, Mr Finn said. When I posted on social media, it seemed the scammers were well known, as many [people] posted that they had been in different areas of the city or were back in the area since last year. The only way this can be dealt with is by people refusing to engage and instead use reputable builders or handymen to carry out any necessary works in their homes, he said. One person contacted me to say the men were very pushy and using fake information to try and get her to hand over money. The former lord mayor said he reported the issue to gardai but suggested that community or neighbourhood watches would be the best defence against such rogue operators. My advice is to say no on the spot and call it in to gardai if you think these people are operating in your area. Vigilance and information sharing is key. I also hope that gardai can catch them in the act and prevent others from being scammed, he added. Previously, gardai have advised the public regarding tradespeople cold-calling to properties, that people should never employ someone in this manner outright, but first ask for a sales brochure or other documentation to help verify that the caller is credible. This documentation should contain a contact number, known address, and a Vat registration number. People are advised to be particularly careful where sales documentation only displays mobile contact numbers or incomplete addresses. If you are satisfied that the company or individual is credible and you still think their employment is necessary, ask for an itemised written quotation for the services being offered and the names of persons and locations where they have previously worked successfully. Never solely rely on the accuracy of the information being proffered. Verify the information yourself, An Garda Siochana advised. People have also been encouraged to always seek comparable estimates from other established reputable companies for any services offered, and advised never to engage a person who insists on cash payment for services offered, because payment should be traceable. Additionally, people are advised to never leave strangers, even bona fide workers, unsupervised in their homes. SINN Fein local election candidate for Cork City North West Michelle Gould has written to Cork City Council requesting confirmation and timelines for the promised retrofitting of homes in Churchfield. Ms Gould said the Churchfield area has some of the oldest houses and least energy-efficient homes in the city and residents need to have their homes retrofitted as soon as possible. In 2021, the Government allocated over 3m to retrofit 123 Cork City Council properties under the Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme, including 69 properties in Churchfield Avenue. The scope of the energy efficiency retrofitting works includes attic insulation, cavity wall insulation, internal dry lining or external wall insulation, as deemed appropriate to the property. Also included is the installation of fire front doors and sealing fireplaces, windows and door upgrades, and heat pump installation. Ms Gould said, however, that only about half of the houses in Churchfield Avenue have been retrofitted to date. Its not right for the government and Cork City Council to promise and yet not deliver fully, she said. We know that homes in a number of areas such as Wolfe Tone Street, Allen Square, Fr OFlynn Place, Brother Rice Avenue have had retrofitting works carried out. This has been very positive for residents however, it is very frustrating for other residents to have to wait for years with no start date or confirmation that their homes will be retrofitted. The Government, especially Minister Eamon Ryan, has been making statements on making homes more energy efficient but for people in Gurranabraher, Churchfield and other areas this needs to happen sooner rather than later. What we have seen from the majority of houses that have been retrofitted is that the houses are warmer, and their electricity bills have reduced dramatically. By Lee Min-hyung Mini is set to make an aggressive foray into the compact electric vehicle (EV) market here with the planned launch of its two electrified Mini Cooper and Countryman models, the carmaker said Monday. The iconic brand of BMW Group is set to start selling the two electric models in June, with an aim to attract more customers seeking to purchase compact EVs with a strong brand identity. Mini boasts its distinctive position in the car industry due to the combination of its adorable exterior and powerful driving performance. Mini has been expanding its footing gradually in the Korean market with its unique brand identity. According to the company, Mini has achieved ten-fold growth over the past 18 years since it entered the market here. Its total vehicle sales reached 761 in the first year it debuted in Korea in 2005. But the figure has soared to more than 9,500 in 2023. This has led the carmaker to become the nations eighth-largest imported vehicle maker as of last year. The launch of the firms two electrified models came in line with an ongoing mobility paradigm shift. The Mini Cooper and Countryman are the two favorite vehicles for many Mini fans here and abroad, so the company hopes to attract more customers to purchase the eco-friendly electric vehicles and extend its winning streak here. The two new electric models will be available for sale in June, both of which will offer a whole new experience to drivers at this period of electrification, Mini Korea director Jung Soo-won told reporters during a media event in Seoul. Both vehicles are equipped with Minis symbolic circular screen, but this time, they are equipped with OLED displays provided by Samsung Display. Mini Korea will also continue its two-track strategy of launching gas-powered vehicles and EVs. The carmaker plans to release gasoline versions of its new Mini Cooper and Mini Cooper Convertible models sometime in the third quarter of this year. A 30-year-old man has appeared before Midleton District Court in Co Cork charged in connection with the murder of 33-year-old father of two Ian Baitson. Dylan Scannell of ORahilly Street in Cobh was charged with the murder of Mr Baitson at Newtown Road in the town. Evidence of arrest, charge and caution was given by Detective Sergeant Gerard OShaughnessy. He said that he arrested Dylan Scannell at 1.26pm yesterday and charged him with the murder of Mr Baitson. Det Sgt OShaughnessy said Mr Scannell made no reply when the charge was put to him under caution. Defence solicitor Ken Murray applied for and was granted free legal aid. Supt Adrian Gamble said that there was no objection to legal aid being granted in the case. Judge Colm Roberts acceded to the States request to remand Mr Scannell to a sitting of Mallow District Court tomorrow where he will appear by video link. Mr Scannell was dressed in dark clothes and didnt speak during the brief hearing. No application for bail can be made at District Court level on the charge of murder. Attack Mr Baitson was attacked shortly before 9pm on March 15 in the Eurospar car-park on the Newtown Road in Cobh. He was taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment. However, he was pronounced dead on March 19. A postmortem examination was carried out last Wednesday afternoon at Cork University Hospital. The case was then formally upgraded to murder. An incident room was established at Cobh Garda Station, and a senior investigating officer is leading the investigation. A family liaison officer has also been appointed to keep the family updated. Funeral arrangements have been announced for Mr Baitson. He will lie in repose at Cahills funeral home in Newtown tomorrow, Tuesday, from 5pm to 7pm. Removal will take place on Wednesday at 12.30pm for 1pm requiem mass following by cremation at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy. Mr Baitson is survived by his children Zoe and Myles, his mother Helen his brother Richard, his extended family and a large circle of friends. He was predeceased by his father Paul. Councillor William OLeary has declared that he is resigning from the Fianna Fail party and indicated that he is going to run in the coming local elections as an independent, it has emerged. The Watergrasshill based elected representative made his announcement on Facebook on Monday and disclosed that he had been disgruntled with his party for some time. In my five years as a county councillor, I have to my disappointment observed the failure of my party to listen to the ordinary people on the everyday issues and struggles that they face and to myself as a councillor (on the bottom of the political ladder), said Cllr OLeary in his statement. He said that he would have voted against Fianna Fail going into the current coalition Government arrangement with Fine Gael and the Green Party. In my view, many of these concerns have now materialised, he said. Since the foundation of the state while at different times either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael have governed this country. What makes a good government is an even stronger opposition. That is what keeps a government on its toes. In my view when these parties joined in coalition, strong opposition was lost. This left less pressure on Government to listen to the needs of the ordinary people. I cannot in good conscience put myself forward as a Fianna Fail Candidate when I know my heart and soul wouldnt be in it. I feel this would be dishonest with constituents and dishonest with the party itself which would lead me just going through the motions for the next number of years. This is not what the electorate vote a candidate in for. He suggested that the party that he had stood for and been elected to represent in the 2019 election had lost its identity and had abandoned core values. There are many good people in Fianna Fail, both elected and ordinary supporters, who say this to me regularly, he said. I have agonised long and hard over the last number of months about how I can best represent those who elect me, he said. I have finally taken the very difficult decision that I must move forward as an Independent candidate in the forthcoming elections. Cllr Seamus McGrath, Fianna Fail leader of Cork County Council said: "I am very sorry that William has decided to leave the party. I've always had a good working relationship with William and on a personal level I'm disappointed with his decision. He made a significant contribution as a Fianna Fail councillor over the years and I wish him well for the future. "As a team of Fianna Fail councillors on Cork County Council, we will continue to work hard on representing our constituents across the county and working with all elected members across the Chamber in progressing key issues." Fianna Fail have been contacted for comment. A 45-year-old woman is pleading not guilty to handling stolen property in a case where a community group put a tracking device into a hanging basket of flowers because of previous baskets going missing. The case was adjourned until today in relation to Mary ODriscoll of 18 Brookhill, Ballea Road, Carrigaline, County Cork, to allow time for prosecution statements to be sent to the defence. Ms ODriscoll faces a charge of possession of six stolen flower baskets each valued at 30. Shane Collins-Daly, solicitor, said, She is pleading not guilty. On the application of Sergeant John Kelleher, Judge Mary Dorgan adjourned the case to Court 3 at Cork District Court on May 21 when a date will be fixed for a hearing of the case. Judge Dorgan was previously told that between May 29 and May 31 2023 there were six hanging baskets and flowers stolen from Inch, Killeagh, County Cork. They were valued at 180. Because something similar happened the year before, members of the local community who put up the baskets put an Apple tracker into one of the baskets. It is alleged that the tracker gave its location as Ms ODriscolls address. Gardai obtained a warrant to search her property and found all six baskets and the tracking device at her home, it was alleged. She was prosecuted for being in possession of the baskets, knowing or being reckless as to whether they were stolen. A Cork man who was given the option of having two months of his jail term suspended on condition that he would attend at the probation service said he did not want to do that and would serve the full sentence instead. Thomas OSullivan, 39, of Cork Simon Community made that clear at Cork District Court. Sergeant Aisling Murphy said the accused man was caught with 25 worth of drugs for his own use on April 29 2023 at Paul Street, Cork. Shortly before 4 p.m. on that date gardai observed Thomas OSullivan acting suspiciously and they approached him on the street. He dropped a package and a silver-coloured pipe he had been smoking on the ground. When asked, he said it was crack he had been smoking. The drug was confirmed as cocaine on analysis, with a value of 25, Sgt. Murphy said. On another afternoon around this time a handbag was stolen from a car parked on OConnell Street in Cork city centre. Thomas OSullivan had 117 previous convictions, including seven convictions for having drugs for his own use and 13 for theft. Defence solicitor, Shane Collins-Daly, said the defendants life had been blighted by addiction. When he is on the street he invariably takes drugs. He is very mannerly. When he comes out of prison he deals with Cork Alliance and is reducing his methadone at the moment. He is hoping to get into St. Francis Farm and has struggled for many years. He got into old habits when he got out of prison. He knows he needs to commit to treatment, Mr Collins-Daly said. Judge Mary Dorgan said after hearing all of these submissions from the defence that she would impose eight months in prison with the last two months suspended, provided he would comply with the directions of the probation service. However, the 39-year-old spoke up from prison on the video link to court, saying, I dont want to do probation. Judge Dorgan said the accused might change his mind. Thomas OSullivan said, I am not going to change my mind. Judge Dorgan said that all she could do in that event was impose the full eight months. FINANCE Minister Michael McGrath has hailed the opening of a new Cork warehouse facility as a landmark development for a company that has played a vital role in Corks economic growth over many years. The 126,000 sq ft warehouse is the latest facility to be opened by Crane Worldwide Logistics, and is located in Little Islands Harbour Gate Business Park. Mr McGrath said ease of access to Cork Airport and Ringaskiddy Port meant the warehouse was ideally located to support both domestic and international businesses in growing their distribution capabilities. I wish management and staff at Crane Worldwide Logistics every success in the years ahead, he said. Clients, partners, and employees attended the opening event to celebrate the growth of Crane Worldwide Logistics in Ireland. This is a groundbreaking celebration for our team in Ireland, who have worked tirelessly to place the new Cork warehouse on the map, said Gerard Ryan, President of Global Commercial at Crane Worldwide. The investment in this prime real estate presents an opportunity for companies to grow their distribution capabilities with tailored 3PL support and develop employment opportunities in the County. We are grateful for all the support from our dedicated clients, partners, and exceptional people to officially open the Cork facility today, he adds. With an influx of companies searching for shared and dedicated warehouse facilities in Ireland, Crane Worldwides investment is a testament to the company's continued focus on attracting new business not only to Cork but also to Shannon and Dublin, where it already has a solid presence, a spokesperson said. The CEO of IDA Ireland, Michael Lohan, welcomed the companys decision to expand its Irish presence. This strategic investment underscores Cranes long-term commitment to Ireland, and the investment is a vote of confidence in its Irish operations, he said. 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. Destruction in the Carpathian forests in Hungary observed by Greenpeace environmental activists and experts on May 31, 2023. Max Zielinski / Greenpeace The European Unions nature restoration law, which had set out to restore 20% of land and sea areas in the EU by 2030, has now been postponed indefinitely after a vote to pass the bill on Monday was canceled. The nature restoration law was initially proposed in June 2022 and has spent the last several months going through the legal approval process in the EU. But following protests by farmers and a withdrawal of support from Hungary, the EU canceled the vote. It seems that we dont have a qualified majority anymore because Hungary has changed its vote. We have to understand why they do that, said Alain Maron, a regional climate minister for Belgium, as reported by The Associated Press. The European Commission had already previously weakened environmental regulations, including the proposed nature restoration law, because of the protests. Laws on sustainable farm practices, such as crop rotation and reduced use of pesticides, have been weakened or scrapped altogether, The Associated Press reported earlier this month. The agricultural sector is a very important sector, not only in Hungary, but everywhere in Europe, said Aniko Raisz, Minister of State for Environmental Policy and Circular Economy of Hungary, as reported by Reuters. The decision to cancel the vote to pass the nature restoration law also comes ahead of elections for the European Parliament that are to take place this June. According to the European Parliament, about 80% of EU habitats are in poor condition. The bill would have worked to restoring 90% of these degraded habitats to a good condition as well as enacting protections to prevent further degradation. We condemn all Member States who are not supporting the law at best, it suggests a deep failure to understand the situation we are in and what it means for the rights of citizens, the #RestoreNature coalition, which includes BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth, European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-EU, shared in a statement. An online public forum on the law in 2021 showed overwhelming support from over 110,000 people and organizations, according to Carbon Brief. The law was agreed upon in November 2023 and passed a European Parliament vote in February 2024. The vote that had been planned for Monday was to formally adopt the law via the European Council. This final step is typically considered a formality; however, in the case of the nature restoration law, environmentalists are concerned over whether it will come to vote again at all. The #RestoreNature coalition is calling for lawmakers to adopt the law before the EU Parliament takes its summer recess. Thai Feed Mill-USSEC MoU pushes for sustainable sourcing of feed ingredients in Thailand The Thai Feed Mill Association (TFMA) and the US Soybean Export Council (USSEC) recently signed a memorandum of understanding to support and advance sustainable sourcing practices for feed ingredients in Thailand. The MoU aims to establish a sustainable and dependable supply chain for soybeans, soybean meal and soy products for the Thai feed milling community. Thailand ranks as the world's third largest chicken meat exporter, contributing to growth in domestic animal feed production. Total feed demand is also expected to increase by 4.5% from 2024 to 2029, with the growing call for more sustainable sourcing in the country. The MoU, which was signed at a ceremony in Bangkok, will drive TFMA's sustainability initiatives through knowledge sharing on sustainability and services including the US Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP), which verifies the sustainability of US soy products for animal feed uses. This also includes the sharing of technical expertise and best practices in sustainable agricultural practices, environmental conservation, supply chain transparency and the latest sustainability advancements, while emphasising the role of US soy as a source of sustainable protein. Additionally, the MoU will support the adoption and alignment of sustainability metrics and reporting mechanisms with global standards, further bolstering TFMA's sustainable feed and animal production practices. Jim Sutter, chief executive officer of USSEC, said: "This year marks 30 years of collaboration between US Soy and Thailand, making the signing of this MoU with TFMA even more significant as USSEC continues to develop strong and enduring relationships between the US and Thailand. As the demand for sustainably sourced products continues to grow in Thailand, we look forward to collaborating with TFMA to pave the way for a resilient future in Thailand's agriculture sector." Pornsil Patchrintanakul, president of TFMA, said: "Thailand's animal feed producers are committed to transitioning towards green production and strengthening their operations to deliver environmentally friendly products. This MoU will bolster the sustainable sourcing initiatives of our members, ensuring that Thailand's food exports can compete globally, while overcoming challenges in the traceability of raw materials for animal feed. Through our collaboration with USSEC, we aim to enhance the competitiveness of the Thai feed milling industry while advancing our sustainability goals." Timothy Loh, regional director of SEA and Oceania at USSEC, said: "We have developed an incredibly successful and mutually beneficial relationship with the Thai agriculture industry over the past three decades. This MoU with TFMA marks another remarkable milestone in our commitment to promoting sustainable practices while highlighting the environmental advantages of US soy. We look forward to sharing our trade and technical expertise with the Thai feed milling community, facilitating knowledge transfer processes to enhance the local feed industry and align with Thailand's vision for economic growth." - USSEC TARS 2024 returns to Thailand with renewed focus on Asia's finfish aquaculture The organisers of The Aquaculture Roundtable Series (TARS) have announced that the theme for the event's 13th edition is "Finfish Aquaculture: Steering an Industry into Focus". TARS 2024 will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 14-15, 2024, at the Avani+ Riverside Bangkok Hotel. The event offers expert analysis as well as providing a look into business models, technology, innovations and state-of-the-art biotechnology along the entire aquaculture supply chain. In Asia's finfish aquaculture, there are large, integrated operations that are making waves globally. However, most stakeholders are still searching for directions for growth. Additionally, finfish production is still associated with lower-value fish such as tilapia and pangasius while there are no marine fish species of significance in the market, according to TARS organisers. Nevertheless, there are opportunities for producers in Asia to become a leading supplier in the global whitefish market and play a larger role in food security. Zuridah Merican, chair of TARS 2024 said: "At TARS 2024, we will seek answers on what is holding back growth, despite opportunities. Pangasius faces a saturated market while tilapia has moved into the commercial export segment but more needs to be done. Marine fish is an opportunity to build a third leg for expansion into the whitefish market. At this (year's) TARS, we take a deep dive and analyse the situation, and set the scene on where the industry wants to be." Aside from industry and technical presentations, attendees at TARS 2024 can expect an industry dialogue, 'real talk' sessions with business leaders, panel discussions with the participation of producers and an interactive roundtable breakout session. Participation is limited to 250 to facilitate networking and attendee engagement. "Our unique proposition is the interactive roundtable breakout session where all participants have a voice," Merican said. "This has been the forte at TARS to get stakeholders to interact together and resolve the industry's challenges. We also encourage industry partners to join us in this endeavour. The last TARS was very successful with stakeholders in the shrimp aquaculture industry to regenerate the sector. The new highly interactive format attracted more participation from the farming and hatchery segments." Given that aquaculture spans many sectors, the focus of TARS annually rotates to cover aquafeed, shrimp aquaculture, or finfish aquaculture. - TARS By Park Jae-hyuk Hanwha Ocean has recently intensified its endeavors in eco-friendly shipbuilding and offshore engineering, alongside advancements in technology within the global maritime defense market, the company announced on Monday. With the aim of becoming a global ocean solutions provider, the shipbuilder has automated its shipyard on Geoje Island in South Gyeongsang Province, while developing various eco-friendly products and technologies in response to tightening global environmental regulations. It also plans to enter the global offshore wind power market and provide total offshore wind services for a sustainable future, based on Hanwha Groups capabilities in the energy industry. Hanwha Ocean said its R&D center in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, has enabled it to advance technologically, as the facility is equipped with an advanced acoustic water tank, the worlds largest towing tank and a cavitation tunnel with cutting-edge automated systems. By seeking synergies with our sister companies, we are at the forefront of innovation, a Hanwha Ocean official said. We are dedicated to achieving a technological edge and preparing for the next half-century. As a naval ship powerhouse with over 40 years of experience in submarine construction, the Hanwha Group subsidiary has also tried to revolutionize the global maritime defense market by surpassing its rivals in technology. In 2011, when it was known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, the shipbuilder exported three domestically developed submarines to the Indonesian Navy, making Korea the worlds fifth country to export submarines. After its delivery of a 3,600-ton KSS-III submarine to the Republic of Korea Navy in 2021, Hanwha Ocean caught the attention of Poland, Canada and Middle Eastern countries, as the submarine is equipped with advanced combat management systems and sonar, which ensures full interoperability with allied forces, and with automated systems, which allow its operation with only a crew of 33, thus providing improved habitability. Hanwha Ocean said that the KSS-III submarines also use lithium-ion batteries, which can dramatically improve performance and double underwater endurance compared to conventional lead-acid batteries, which require frequent snorkeling (a technique used to allow a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from the surface) and thus limit a submarines tactical capabilities. We are rivaling traditional submarine export powerhouses in the global market, leveraging Koreas independently developed lithium-ion battery system, air-independent propulsion and armaments, the Hanwha Ocean official said. The company has also been expanding its presence in the surface combatant market, since it started building warships for the ROK Navy in the early 1980s. Based on its extensive experience in designing and building surface vessels for the ROK Navy, Hanwha Ocean successfully delivered surface combatants to Bangladesh and Thailand, and a training ship to Malaysia. In addition, the shipbuilder has demonstrated its technological competitiveness in the global market by delivering high-end logistic support vessels to the U.K. and Norway that comply with NATO standards. For the ROK Navys next-generation frigate program, the shipbuilder delivered four FFX-Batch-II frigates, featuring a combined diesel-electric and gas propulsion system to increase survivability. It is also engaged in developing more advanced FFX-Batch-III frigates, equipped with Hanwha Systems latest S-band AESA radar and combat management system. The company plans to deliver two FFX-Batch-III frigates to the ROK Navy by 2028. Based on our extensive experience, we are well-prepared to contend in the forthcoming tender for the ROK Navy for next-generation 8,000-ton KDDX destroyers, which shall apply a more advanced propulsion system and autonomous systems, the Hanwha Ocean official said. We have consistently led the Korean destroyer projects, ranging from the KDX-I to the advanced 10,000-ton KDX-III Aegis destroyers. Aligned with the ROK Navys Navy Sea GHOST vision for unmanned naval operations, Hanwha Ocean is also pioneering the development of innovative unmanned underwater vessels. The company explained that this initiative is a collaborative effort with the ROK Navy and the Agency for Defense Development, underscoring Hanwha Oceans commitment to reshaping the future of naval warfare and defense technologies. By Baek Byung-yeul SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus are facing continued pressure from the government to lower their customers' monthly bill payments. However, according to industry officials and experts on Monday, concerns have been raised that such price cuts could lead to a reduction in their capacity to invest as well as decrease the overall level of industrial competitiveness. To reduce the burden on households, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration has been pushing for a reduction in monthly bill payments, asking the mobile carriers to offer lower price plans and enhance benefits for socially vulnerable groups. In response to the government's demands, telecommunications companies have allowed users to subscribe to both 5G and the slower LTE services since the beginning of this year, and a low-cost 5G plan of around 30,000 won (around $22) is also expected to be released soon. However, with the April 10 general elections approaching, the government has continued to pressure the companies to offer lower fees, sparking concerns over political interference in market regulations. "While there are investors hoping that the government-led Corporate Value-up Program could ease regulations on domestic telecommunications companies, the likelihood of this becoming a reality is slim," Kim Hong-sik, a researcher at Hana Securities, said. "This is because telecom firms are still reluctant to invest in networks, and the issue of communication fees is closely related to the elections." The governments latest action to lower monthly bills came last week as Kim Hong-il, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), a state-run communication services regulator, asked top executives of the mobile carriers and mobile phone makers Samsung Electronics and Apple to increase subsidies for users who change their mobile carrier when purchasing new phones. During the meeting, the chairman specifically requested the operators special cooperation regarding the recently introduced policy of support funds for switching to alleviate the burden of household communication expenses and to vitalize competition," the KCC said. Support funds for switching refers to a system where mobile carriers can provide subsidies when consumers switch carriers upon purchasing new phones. It is designed so that users who subscribe to expensive monthly plans can receive more subsidies. "We requested the mobile carriers and mobile phone manufacturers to expand the subsidies, and they promised to actively cooperate," Pan Sang-kwon, director of government affairs at KCC said, after the meeting. It is expected to be increased to a level that can be felt by the public." In response to the request, the three mobile carriers announced on March 23, the next day, that they would provide subsidies ranging from a minimum of 30,000 won to a maximum of 330,000 won. Industry officials said the government's continued pressure to lower prices would result in reduced investment capacity of the companies. "The telecommunications business essentially requires a lot of capital investment, such as network equipment investments. While it is natural to align with government policies, support for measures that can invest more in the transition to the AI era, preparation for the upcoming 6G network and new businesses, such as air mobility and self-driving cars, are also needed," an official in the telecommunications industry said on condition of anonymity. Kim Yong-jae, a business professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said Koreas communications fees are not as expensive as some other developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Sweden and Japan. "Korea's telecommunication fees cannot be considered cheap, but they are not excessively expensive either. Looking at the overall level of fees, they are around the average," the professor said during a forum held last September, hosted by Rep. Kim Yeung-shik of the People Power Party. "Especially when bundled with wired products, Koreas fee level is relatively cheaper. The government's pressure to lower cell phone fees appears to have been somewhat successful in slowing the increase in household telecommunication expenses. According to the statistics from Statistics Korea, the average monthly mobile bill per household last year was 128,000 won, up 3.5 percent from 124,000 won in 2021, but the amount remained the same as in 2022. Nacional Las peticiones en Policia Nacional para ir a Cataluna se triplican: 1.322 solicitudes en 2023, frente a 407 en 2020 Farmers need to consider to what extent they enter new environmental schemes after inheritance tax relief was extended to such projects, a property expert warns. In his Spring Budget, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that Agricultural Property Relief (APR) will also apply to land used for environmental schemes. Many have been awaiting clarification of the policy to consider to what extent they use schemes such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). But Carrie Marshall, consultant at Fisher German, explains in this article that farmers need to have a balanced approach between environmental projects and land devoted to food production. With the phasing out of BPS, farmers need reliable sources of income more than ever, she says. The SFI scheme is a great new way for farmers to have a steady stream of cash coming into their businesses, but some were holding back on large environmental schemes because APR may not have applied to that land. The Chancellor has clarified that land in environmental schemes will be eligible for APR, and although a tax advisor should still be consulted, many farmers may now be looking to increase the area of land they are planning to enter a scheme. However, it is crucial that farmers take a balanced approach. Its important to remember that the SFI scheme isnt written in stone its a government policy that could be taken away after the next election or funding could be reduced at any time. "Farmers should be wary about committing their whole farm to an SFI scheme and selling surplus machinery. Additionally, prices for commodities like wheat can be highly variable with the war in Ukraine and the price of fuel all contributing to this uncertainty. One year, crops may bring in lots of money, while in other years, prices may drop. Having unproductive land used for environmental schemes that bring in steady cash, while saving more productive land for crop growth is often the best strategy to balance the risk. And while environmental schemes can bring in SFI payments, there can often be high costs involved with some of the options. It is important to look further than just the headline income figure. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution that maximises value, so we would encourage farmers to seek expert advice before starting a new environmental scheme on their land. "Our country needs to strike the right balance between growing our own food and protecting our environment, and farmers clearly play a vital role in achieving both of these goals. While incentives to care for the environment are undoubtedly important and can now provide a solid income for farmers, future governments must ensure grants relating to efficient food production and equipment upgrades are not overshadowed in the process. British developers behind world-first technology that autonomously harvests raspberries have been awarded a further 600,000 grant by the government. The fund will support the development of Fieldworks next autonomous model and has two aims: to enhance the AI-powered vision of the robot and to improve its decision-making capabilities. The 600,000 grant is the second government grant that Cambridge-based Fieldwork Robotics has won in the last six months. The updated robotic system will have enhanced AI capabilities, meaning that the model will have the capacity to work in a fleet with one operator running multiple robots across the field. According to Fieldwork, this significantly reduces the labour intensity of the harvesting process and improves harvesting efficiency. Until now, the cameras on the agri-tech firm's robots have mostly utilised the human visual spectrum, mimicking the ability of a human harvester. This project, however, will incorporate technology that utilises wavelengths invisible to the human eye. This development will improve the robots ability to detect crop and determine ripeness, according to Fieldwork. Development of these two functions will make the robot more autonomous and more efficient as an alternative to human harvesting. In addition to improving the vision of the robot, the project is also targeting decision making within the robots in order to improve their autonomy. The expectation is that improved AI decision making will allow the robots to operate for long periods of time with minimal human oversight, making the robots increasingly cost-effective and efficient. Martin Stoelen, Fieldwork Robotics founder said harnessing the robots capacity for autonomy was key to scaling up the firm's offering. "The combination of these two key steps in software development super-human vision and improved autonomous decision-making will make Fieldworks technology an even more commercially viable option for growers," he said. We are currently on track to complete field trials within the next quarter and we are excited to see the real-world applications of our technology continue to develop. The 600,000 grant was awarded by Defra and Innovate UK. Weekly pig slaughtering numbers appear to be at the lowest level outside of Christmas and New Year since April 2010, figures suggest. Estimated GB slaughterings for the week ended 16 March were nearly 6,000 down on the previous week, 20,000 below the same week a year ago and 34,000 below the 2022 figure. The figures, which are often subject to revision, were published by AHDB as part of its latest market data for the pig sector. The National Pig Association (NPA) said the drop appeared to be a combination of the vastly reduced breeding herd, combined with productivity issues, partly the result of the relentless wet weather. "The most eye-catching part of the latest of AHDB's market data is the drop of in estimated slaughter numbers," the body said. "If these turn out to be accurate - and they are often revision - weekly GB slaughterings at 141,000 for the week appear to be at the lowest level outside of Christmas and New Year since April 2010." Meanwhile, the EU-spec SPP has dropped back again, losing 0.18p to stand at 211.31p/kg during the week ended 16 March, following the previous weeks 00.16p increase. It has been stable since the end of January, when it stood at 211.38p/kg, fluctuating up and down by small amounts since, and is now roughly back to where it was. It is now, however, for the first time in a very long time, now more than 1p behind the SPP of a year ago, which stood at 212.53p/kg, at a time when pig prices were still rising at a decent rate. The more volatile APP, which includes premium pigs, gained 1.2p during the week ended 9 March to stand at 211.63p/kg, cancelling out the declines of the previous fortnight. This put it back ahead of the SPP for the week by just 0.14p/kg. Despite the latest reverse, the NPA said many within the industry remained optimistic that the combination of tightening supplies and rising EU markets will support the market over the coming weeks. SK bioscience, a pharmaceutical affiliate under Korea's SK Group, on Monday unveiled its latest strategic initiative, aimed at preparing for possible pandemics in the future and expanding into emerging sectors in the post-COVID-19 era. The new strategy, dubbed SKBS 3.0 Reboot, focuses on broadening SK bioscience's next-generation vaccine portfolio and new businesses as well as upgrading research and development (R&D) infrastructure, according to its officials. The company will also improve its preparedness for future health crises and promote its "glocalization" project, which seeks to transplant R&D and manufacturing capabilities to countries lacking sufficient vaccine infrastructure, as part of efforts to become a global vaccine distribution hub. To achieve the goal, the biopharmaceutical company increased its R&D investment to 31.75 percent of its annual sales in 2023 from 24.74 percent the previous year. In line with the new strategy, the company broke ground to expand its vaccine manufacturing plant in Andong, about 190 kilometers southeast of Seoul, earlier this month to build new facilities for the production of its next-generation pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate, GBP410. "We will continue to expand our market share of existing products including the influenza vaccine and shingles vaccine globally as well as to diversify our portfolio by extending the investment for our mid-to-long term growth," a company official said. Meanwhile, the company held an annual general shareholders' meeting earlier in the day and reappointed its CEO Ahn Jae-yong. (Yonhap) Big sea monsters are lurking in the planet's oceans. Sea monsters are present in the planet's oceans Marine expert Dr. Charles Paxton argues that there are many unknown species - all over six feet long - that are yet to be discovered. He says that "all bets are off" in terms of what is present in the sea and has refused to rule out the existence of creatures such as the Loch Ness Monster. Dr. Paxton, from St Andrews University in Scotland, said: "There's a possibility of finding new animals greater than two metres long in the main trunk of the body. "So we're talking big, chunky animals. All bets are off if you start saying what could be crawling down there - the deep sea benthos - because that's a different story. "But then there are other ecological arguments we can infer about that - so large animals in the abyssal plain are a possibility." Palestinians who fled an ongoing Israeli raid of Gaza's main hospital described mass arrests and forced marches past bodies in interviews on Sunday, while the United Nations said Israel is now blocking its main agency helping Palestinians from sending food aid to the enclave's devastated north. Israel's military says it has killed more than 170 militants and detained about 480 suspects in the raid on Shifa Hospital that began Monday, calling it a blow to Hamas and other armed groups it says had regrouped there as the war nears the six-month mark. The fighting highlights the resilience of Palestinian armed groups in a heavily destroyed part of Gaza where Israeli troops have been forced to return after a similar raid in the war's earliest weeks . Kareem Ayman Hathat, who lived in a five-story building about 100 meters from the hospital, said he huddled in the kitchen for days while explosions sometimes caused the building to shake. Early Saturday, Israeli troops stormed the building and forced dozens of residents to leave. He said men were forced to strip to their underwear and four were detained. The rest were blindfolded and ordered to follow a tank south as blasts thundered around them. From time to time, the tank would fire a shell, he told The Associated Press. It was to terrorize us. Israeli jets on Sunday launched several strikes near Shifa Hospital, which largely stopped functioning following the November raid. After claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command center there, Israeli forces months ago exposed a single tunnel leading to a few underground rooms. Hardly any aid has been delivered in recent weeks to northern Gaza and Gaza City, where Shifa is located. The isolated area suffered widespread devastation in the early days of Israel's offensive launched after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war. As of Sunday, Israel has told the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees it will no longer approve agency food convoys to northern Gaza, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said on social media. This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine, he said. The agency, Gaza's biggest humanitarian provider , is repeatedly accused by Israel of having links to Hamas. Israel's government didn't immediately respond. Experts have said famine is imminent in northern Gaza , where more than 210,000 people suffer from catastrophic hunger. A day after standing near some of the estimated 7,000 aid trucks waiting to enter Gaza and calling the starvation a moral outrage, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate humanitarian cease-fire, the release of hostages held in Gaza and Israel's removal of obstacles to allow a flood of aid delivery. Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it, Guterres said in Egypt, adding that nothing justifies the collective punishment of Palestinians. Gaza's Health Ministry said that five wounded Palestinians trapped at Shifa Hospital died without food, water or medical services. The World Health Organizations director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described conditions as utterly inhumane. Jameel al-Ayoubi, among thousands sheltering at Shifa when the current raid began, said tanks and armored bulldozers plowed into the hospital courtyard, crushing ambulances and civilian vehicles. He saw tanks drive over at least four bodies of people killed in the raid. Israel's military said Saturday it had evacuated patients and medical staff from Shifas emergency department because militants entrenched themselves there, and set up an alternative site for seriously wounded patients. Abed Radwan, who lived about 200 meters (yards) from the hospital, said Israeli forces stormed all area buildings, detaining several people and forcing the rest to march south. He saw bodies in the streets and several flattened homes. They left nothing intact, he said. Israel's military early Sunday also stormed al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis amid very intense shelling, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said. Israel's military announced operations in Khan Younis targeting Hamas infrastructure but said troops weren't currently operating in the hospitals. It accused Hamas of using hospitals as shields. The war has killed at least 32,226 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry . It doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll, but says women and children make up around two-thirds of the dead. Among the latest killed were at least seven people, including three children, when an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Rafah overnight, according to health authorities. And an airstrike near Deir al-Balah late Sunday killed at least 10 members of a family including two children, according to an AP journalist who saw the bodies at a hospital. Israel says it has killed more than 13,000 militants, without providing evidence. It blames civilian casualties on Hamas, accusing it of embedding in residential areas. More than 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, with most seeking refuge in the southernmost city of Rafah , which Israel calls the next target of its ground offensive. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects pleas from the United States and others to avoid a major ground operation there, calling it essential for defeating Hamas. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that he was traveling to the U.S. on Sunday at Washington's invitation, with a goal of preserving our ability to obtain air systems and munitions for the war and maintaining critical ties with Israel's top ally. The Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack across southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took scores hostage. Hamas still holds an estimated 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others. Most of the rest were freed in exchange for the release of some Palestinian prisoners in November. The United States, Qatar and Egypt are trying to broker another cease-fire and release. Over the border from Gaza on Sunday, Jews celebrated their most joyful of holidays , Purim, the biblical story of how a plot to exterminate Jews in Persia was thwarted as an affirmation of Jewish survival. (AP) Sacha Baron Cohen has branded Rebel Wilson's allegations about him "demonstrably false". Sacha Baron Cohen has hit back at Rebel Wilson The 'Pitch Perfect' actress had branded her 'Brothers Grimsby' co-star a "massive a*******" and claimed he had made attempts to stop the publication of her forthcoming memoir 'Rebel Rising', and the 52-year-old comic has now hit back and insisted he has "extensive detailed evidence" that prove he has done nothing wrong. His spokesperson said: While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of 'The Brothers Grimsby'." The 44-year-old star had publicly named Sacha on Sunday (24.03.24), a few days after she'd alleged an unnamed "a*******" had "threatened" her over her book. She wrote on her Instagram Story: I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The a****** that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen. Her message followed one from a few days before, in which she claimed: I wrote about an a****** in my book. Now, said a****** is trying to threaten me. Hes hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. He is trying to stop press coming out about my book. But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth. Following her remarks, Rebel's past quotes about making 'The Brothers Grimsby', which was known just as 'Grimsby' in the UK, have resurfaced, in which she admitted she had threatened to contact their shared agent to report Sacha for "harassing" her. Speaking on 'The Kyle and Jackie O Show', she said: Sacha is so outrageous. Every day hes like, Just go naked, it will be funny. And Im, like, No! Sacha and I have the same agent in America and Im like, Sacha, Im going to call our agent Sharon and tell her how much you are harassing me.' " And of filming the movie's final scene, she added: He was like, Rebel can you just stick your finger up my butt? And I went, What do you mean Sacha? Thats not in the script.' And hes like, Look, Ill just pull down my pants, you just stick your finger up my butt, itll be a really funny bit. Carrie Fisher lost her virginity to her friend Griffin Dunne - even though she had a boyfriend at the time. Griffin Dunne took Carrie Fisher's virginity The 'This Is Us' actor recalled how he agreed to "do a favour" for his late pal by having the "honour" of deflowering her because she didn't want her partner to realise how inexperienced she was. Griffin told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: I was doing her a favour. She had a boyfriend and she didnt want him to know she was a virgin and she trusted me and gave me the honour. But despite the clinical nature of the arrangement, the 68-year-old actor insisted they were both "into it". He said: We were into it. We had a few practice sessions. Look at her, she was gorgeous! I couldnt have been luckier. "[I was] hardly Casanova, but I was a tad more experienced. The 'Girls on the Bus' actor stayed in contact with the 'Star Wars' legend until she died in 2016 at the age of 60. He said: We had a core group of friends." The friendship circle still have a group chat where they regularly share "a memory" of their late pal. Griffin said it contained: "An irreverent filthy story or the funniest, most unpublishable things you can imagine. Before he became an actor, Griffin was keen to be a writer or a journalist, but he got expelled from high school after being found smoking marijuana. He explained: "I was in Colorado in a boarding school and I got caught smoking pot." And the 'After Hours' actor noted he was unlucky the incident didn't happen a few years later. He added: Colorado, by the way, was the first state to legalise pot, so my timing was a little off. Gwyneth Paltrow is struggling with a "deep sense of impending grief' as her son Moses prepares to leave home. Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter Apple has left for college and son Moses is going this year The actress' 17-year-old son - from her marriage to Coldplay's Chris Martin - will be heading off to college later this year and Gwyneth, 51, has revealed she's dreading having an empty house because her daughter Apple, 19, has already moved out and her stepson, Brody, is also going to be leaving. She told The Sunday Times newspaper: "In the fall [husband] Brad [Falchuk] and I have boys that will be going off to university. Itll be interesting to see how the morning routine changes with no kids in the house." Gwyneth added: "On the one hand incredible sadness. A deep sense of impending grief. On the other hand this is exactly what should be happening. "Your kids are supposed to be, you know, young adults who can achieve and cope and make connections and be resilient. Thats exactly what you want. And that means they leave the house." She went on to insist motherhood won't be the same without her kids living at home. Gwyneth explained: "Ive been so defined and so fulfilled by motherhood. Its been kind of the central its been like the central kind of I dont know even how to articulate it! "Its like the guiding force. Its what I return to. I observe a lot of my friends whove had kids whove gone off to college. Your kid it changes. And, you know, they come home a lot and all that stuff, but its not quite the same as living under the same roof all the days of the year. So Im just trying to be open to what that means." Apple moved out in 2022 and she's believed to be studying English and Law, History, and Society at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Gwyneth previously described her daughter's exit as the "worst heartbreak" she's ever felt. She told Us Weekly: "Its been a major transition. I didnt know what to expect, but I knew it would be hard because Apple and I are so close and were together all the time. But I had no idea. It was like the worst heartbreak Ive ever [felt]. "I felt like the love of my life broke up with me for weeks. It was terrible." Gwyneth is mum to Apple and Moses with her ex Chris Martin, while she's also step-mum to husband Brad Falchuk's kids Brody, 17, and 20-year-old Isabella from a previous relationship. King Charles has felt "frustrated" amid his cancer treatment. King Charles has been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer The 75-year-old monarch was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, and Peter Phillips - who is the the only son of Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips - has now revealed how Charles is coping with his treatment. Speaking to Sky News Australia, Peter shared: "He's in good spirits. "I think, ultimately, he's hugely frustrated. He's frustrated that he can't get on and do everything that he wants to be able to do. "But he is very pragmatic (and) he understands that there's a period of time that he really needs to focus on himself." Charles is keen to return to some of his royal duties - even though he's been advised against it. Peter said: "He is always pushing, his staff and everybody and his doctors and nurses to be able to say actually come on, you know, can I do this? Can I do that? "So the overriding message would be that he's obviously very keen to get back to a form of normality. "And he's probably frustrated that, recovery is taking a little longer than probably he would want it to." Charles' cancer diagnosis was publicly revealed on February 5. A statement from Buckingham Palace read: "During The King's recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted. "Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer. "His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties. "Throughout this period, His Majesty will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual. "The King is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure. "He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible. "His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer." Princess Anne is feeling the "pressure" of taking on more royal duties while her brother, King Charles, battles cancer. Princess Anne has been undertaking more official duties while King Charles battles cancer The 75-year-old monarch has stepped away from public-facing engagements while receiving treatment, leaving senior royals including wife Queen Camilla, and his siblings the Princess Royal and Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, stepping up to take on more tasks, and Peter Phillips - the son of Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips - admitted they are all feeling the streain. Speaking to Sky News Australia, Peter said: "Everyone has their own different role to play. "There's a lot of pressure on the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, my mother and the Queen to take on a lot more of the responsibilities that adds its own pressures. "There is definitely a short-term pressure on certain members of the family to be able to continue to be out and about and to be seen and to support organisations and conduct official engagements that need to be done." Peter - who has Savannah, 13, and Isla, 11, with ex-wife Autumn Kelly - is close to his cousin Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, and he hailed the couple a "fantastic team". In an interview recorded before the princess disclosed on Friday (22.03.24) that cancer had been found after she underwent major abdominal surgery in January, Peter said: "She's remarkable in herself Her and William make a fantastic team together." The 46-year-old businessman is impressed with how William and Catherine have found a balance when it comes to raising their children - Princes George and Louis, 10 and five, and eight-year-old Princess Charlotte - in the public eye. He said: "Their kids are great and they have the balance of public life and trying to be parents to three young children which is always difficult. They've got it pretty right because I think as history has taught us and anyone knows that actually you want to be there for your children." Rebel Wilson has branded Sacha Baron Cohen an "a*****e" and claimed he has "tried to threaten" her into silence. Rebel Wilson has blasted Sacha Baron Cohen The 44-year-old actress revealed last week an unnamed male celebrity was trying to stop the publication of her upcoming memoir 'Rebel Rising' - which is due for release on 2 April - and she's now identified the mystery person as her co-star in 2016 movie 'The Brothers Grimsby'. She wrote on her Instagram Story on Sunday (24.03.24): I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The a*****e that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen. Her message followed one from a few days before, in which she claimed: I wrote about an a*****e in my book. Now, said a*****e is trying to threaten me. Hes hired a crisis PR manager and lawyers. He is trying to stop press coming out about my book. But the book WILL come out and you will all know the truth. Rebel previously spoke about facing harassment from a male co-star who then tried to "destroy" her career. She told People magazine in 2022: " [Years ago, a male co-star], he called me into a room and pulled down his pants. It was awful and disgusting. "And all the behaviour afterwards this was all before #MeToo where they kind of tried to destroy me and my career. If it had happened after #MeToo, then I could have just blasted them. However, Rebel - who trained as a lawyer before turning to acting - made sure to "document" the alleged incident at the time and insisted that while the behaviour was "gross", other women have had it "worse." She said: "Because I'm a lawyer, I documented it. I called my rep. I got certain things in writing about what happened. Definitely amongst industry circles, I made sure people knew what happened. "Why did I stay in that situation with that awful guy? I should have left. It wasn't worth it. But at the same time, I was like, 'Oh well, do the right thing, be a professional and finish the movie.' Now I would never do that. "I thought even complaining to my agency was a big step. And to complain to the studio. I found out I was like the fourth person to complain about the guy. Such gross behavior, but a lot of women have had it way worse." To read the full story, become a PRIME member today. PRIME Unlimited Access to Insightful Industry Information All Corporate Members and TexPro Subscribers are eligible to access F2F PRIME CONTENT using the same login credentials. Bangladesh has prioritised signing and implementing transit and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) with Bhutan and Nepal in upcoming talks. Media reports claimed this citing concerned officials, adding, while Bangladesh has transit and Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) deals with Bhutan, efforts are underway to finalise operational modalities in April discussions. Commerce officials emphasised discussions on eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers and addressing various bilateral and regional issues in both meetings. Seventh Bangladesh-Nepal commerce secretaries' meeting scheduled for April 18-19 in Kathmandu aims to finalise the PTA product list and potentially sign the agreement. April 24-25 commerce secretary-level meeting with Bhutan will concentrate on operationalising the transit agreement and reviewing the effectiveness of the Bangladesh-Bhutan PTA. The seventh Bangladesh-Nepal commerce secretaries meeting scheduled for April 18-19 in Kathmandu aims to finalise the PTA product list and potentially sign the agreement. Regarding Bhutan, an agreement on traffic-in-transit and protocol was inked in March 2023, ratified by Bangladeshs Cabinet Division in June 2023, with Bhutan proposing implementation from March 2024. However, unresolved transit fee issues posed a challenge. The Ministry of Commerce has urged expediting fee fixation to facilitate deal implementation, alongside advocating for trial runs and defining transit routes. The April 24-25 commerce secretary-level meeting with Bhutan will concentrate on operationalising the transit agreement and reviewing the effectiveness of the Bangladesh-Bhutan PTA, operational since July 2022. This marks the first bilateral commerce secretary-level meeting since the agreements signings. Bangladeshs recent offer granting Nepal and Bhutan access to its seaports and airports underscores regional cooperation efforts. Nepal has already utilised Mongla port for imports, while transit facilities are extended to India as well, boasting rail, road, water connectivity, and air links. All four nations engage in sub-regional cooperation on trade and trans-border vehicle movements. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DR) Sanya Malhotra is one of the most versatile actresses of this generation. She has repeatedly gone and opted for scripts that establish her capability of pulling off diverse roles and Mrs helmed by Arati Kadav is said to be no different. It is a remake of the Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen that addresses the power of resilience and is touted to have a deep connection with the audience. The impressive narrative and quality of storytelling in the film are said to be one of the many reasons why the film has been selected for screening at the Hawaii International Film Festival this year and adds another feather to her cap. Aadujeevitham First Review: "Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life)" is a forthcoming Malayalam survival drama film penned, directed, and co-produced by Blessy. This international co-production involves companies from both India and the United States. Scheduled for release on March 28, 2024, Aadujeevitham promises a gripping cinematic experience. "Aadujeevitham" is a cinematic adaptation of the acclaimed 2008 Malayalam novel "Aadujeevitham" by Benyamin, inspired by real events. In the film, Prithviraj Sukumaran portrays Najeeb, a Malayali immigrant labourer compelled into slavery as a goatherd on an isolated farm in Saudi Arabia. The film underwent a prolonged development phase starting in 2009, with Blessy expressing interest in adapting Aadujeevitham after discovering the novel in 2008. Prithviraj was cast during the same year, and in 2009, Blessy initiated negotiations with Benyamin and commenced work on the screenplay. However, financial constraints hindered significant progress. Blessy devoted years to securing a producer, achieving success in 2015, which propelled the project forward. Joining as producers were Jimmy Jean-Louis and Steven Adams, alongside Blessy himself. A. R. Rahman contributed the film's original score and songs. Filming occurred in stages from March 2018 to July 2022, spanning six schedules across the deserts of Wadi Rum, Jordan, and the Sahara, Algeria, supplemented by scenes shot in Kerala, India. The crew faced a 70-day ordeal in the Jordanian desert from March to May 2020, trapped by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Eventually, they were repatriated to India through the Indian government's Vande Bharat Mission evacuation program. Filming wrapped up on July 14, 2022. Initially, Suriya was chosen and approached for the character of Najeeb, and Blessy had discussions with him regarding the role. However, due to his busy schedule and prior commitments, he opted out. Subsequently, Prithviraj agreed to take on the role while he was filming on the sets of Pokkiri Raja (2010) in 2008. Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life) First Review Journalist and PRO Suresh recently shared his thoughts on the movie "Aadujeevitham" (The Goat Life), praising it as a gem of a film. In his review, he commended actor Prithviraj for his remarkable portrayal of the real-life character Najeem, applauding his dedication and hard work. Suresh also lauded A R Rahman for his exceptional background score, which added depth and emotion to the movie. Director Blessy was credited for his adept storytelling, effectively bringing this true story to the screen. Additionally, the breathtaking visuals captured by the Director of Photography were described as unparalleled, making "The Goat Life" a must-watch cinematic experience. Watched gem of a film #TheGoatLife. A visual spectacle .Take a bow @PrithviOfficial sir for your grit dedication and hardwork. Breathed life into role of real life Najeem character. @arrahman gave life to this film with marvellous BGM. Hats off to Director Blessy for bringing Suresh PRO (@SureshPRO_) March 25, 2024 Outstanding response for the #TheGoatLife special premiere show from top directors of TFI Get ready to experience THE BEST SURVIVAL TALE on the big screens Grand release on 28th March Telugu release by @MythriOfficial.#TheGoatLifeOn28thMarch #AaduJeevitham pic.twitter.com/i4XT4VW9lK Mythri Movie Makers (@MythriOfficial) March 25, 2024 #TheGoatLife & @PrithviOfficial's performance has left the TFI directors SPELLBOUND Grand release on 28th March. Book your tickets now for the MIND-BLOWING CINEMATIC experience 2 DAYS TO GO https://t.co/EbFIoq02UC Telugu release by @MythriOfficial. pic.twitter.com/JudznCQoWi Mythri Movie Makers (@MythriOfficial) March 26, 2024 Aadujeevitham Cast And Crew The film features Prithviraj Sukumaran in the role of Najeeb Mohammed, Amala Paul as Sainu, Najeeb's wife, Jimmy Jean-Louis as Ibrahim Khadiri, Shobha Mohan as Ummah, Najeeb's mother, KR Gokul as Hakeem, Talib Al Balushi as Khafeel, Rik Aby as Jasser, and Nazer Karutheni as Kunjikka. Scripted by Benyamin and helmed by Blessy, the film's cinematography was handled by Sunil K. S., with editing done by A. Sreekar Prasad, while the musical score was composed by A. R. Rahman. The production was overseen by Blessy, Jimmy Jean-Louis, and Steven Adams under the banners of Visual Romance Image Makers, Jet Media Production, and Alta Global Media. Donald Trump's hush money case is set for a crucial hearing Monday as a New York judge weighs when, or even whether, the former president will go on trial after a postponement due to a last-minute document dump. The presumptive Republican nominee is expected in court for a hearing that is happening instead of the long-planned start of jury selection in the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial. The trial has been put off until at least mid-April because of the recent delivery of tens of thousands of pages of records from a previous federal investigation. Trump's lawyers argue that the delayed disclosures warrant dismissing the case or at least pushing it off three months. Prosecutors say there's little new material in the trove and no reason for further delay. New York Judge Juan M. Merchan has summoned both sides to court Monday to explain what happened, so he can evaluate whether to fault or penalize anyone and decide on the next steps. Trump is charged with falsifying business records . Manhattan prosecutors say he did it as part of an effort to protect his 2016 campaign by burying what Trump says were false stories of extramarital sex. Trump has pleaded not guilty and says the prosecution is politically driven bunk. The prosecutor overseeing the case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is a Democrat. The case centers on allegations that Trump falsely logged $130,000 in payments as legal fees in his company's books to disguise his and others criminal conduct, as Bragg's deputies put it in a court document. The money went to Trump's then-personal attorney Michael Cohen, but prosecutors say it wasn't for actual legal work. Rather, they say, Cohen was just recouping money he'd paid porn actor Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf, so she wouldn't publicize her claim of a sexual encounter with him years earlier. Trump's lawyers say the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses, not cover-up checks. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges, including campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payoff. He said Trump directed him to arrange it, and federal prosecutors indicated they believed him , but they never charged Trump with any crime related to the matter. Cohen is now a key witness in Manhattan prosecutors' case against Trump. Trumps lawyers have said Bragg's office, in June, gave them a smidgen of materials from the federal investigation into Cohen. Then they got over 100,000 pages more after subpoenaing federal prosecutors themselves in January. The defense argues that prosecutors should have pursued all the records but instead stuck their heads in the sand, hoping to keep information from Trump. The material hasnt been made public. But Trump's lawyers said in a court filing that some of it is exculpatory and favorable to the defense," adding that there's information that would have aided their own investigation and consequential legal filings earlier in the case. Bragg's deputies have insisted they engaged in good-faith and diligent efforts to obtain relevant information" from the federal probe. They argued in court filings that Trump's lawyers should have spoken up earlier if they believed those efforts were lacking. Prosecutors maintain that, in any event, the vast majority of what ultimately came is irrelevant, duplicative or backs up existing evidence about Cohen's well-known federal conviction. They acknowledged in a court filing that there was some relevant new material, including 172 pages of notes recording Cohens meetings with the office of former special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russias 2016 election interference . Prosecutors argued that their adversaries have enough time to work with the relevant material before a mid-April trial date and are just raising a red herring. Trump's lawyers also have sought to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court rules on his claims of presidential immunity in his election interference case in Washington. The high court is set to hear arguments April 25. (AP) Cooku With Comali Season 5: Cooku with Comali, a Tamil cooking competition show aired on Star Vijay Television, has amassed a significant fan base across its four seasons since its inception in 2019. The show, also available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, saw a surge in popularity during its reruns amidst the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The highly anticipated fifth season is on the horizon. Ahead of the new season, chef Venkatesh Bhat announced his departure from the show to take a break. Following Bhat's departure from Cooku with Comali, speculation swirled regarding his replacement until Star Vijay TV made a significant announcement on March 18. The renowned Tamil broadcaster surprised audiences with a launch promo for the eagerly awaited fifth season of the beloved cooking show, unveiling actor Madhampatty Rangaraj as one of the judges. The Cooku with Comali 5 promo begins with the iconic show logo displayed on a chartered flight. Chef Damu emerges from the aircraft first, followed by the introduction of Madhampatty Rangaraj, signalling the start of their new partnership as they join hands. Anticipation for Cooku with Comali season 5 is mounting, fueled by swirling rumours about the potential contestant lineup circulating online. The initial prediction list includes celebrities such as actor VTV Ganesh and actress-model Dhivya Dhuraisamy, who are among those speculated to join the show. Rumoured Contestants List Srikanth Deva: Rumours suggest that Srikanth Deva, son of renowned music composer Deva and composer for over 100 Tamil films, may join this programme as a participant. Vasanth Vasi: Actor Vasanth Vasi, currently appearing in the serial "Pandian Stores 2" on Star Vijay TV, is reportedly joining the show. Given Saravana Vickram's participation in the first season of "Pandian Stores" in "Bigg Boss (Tamil season 7)," speculations suggest Vasanth Vasi's selection as a Vijay TV celebrity contestant in the upcoming season. Dhivya Dhuraisamy: Actress Divya Dhuraisamy, known for her minor roles in several films, gained prominence with her recent role in the film "Blue Star." Additionally, she boasts a sizable Instagram following, leading to speculation that her social media popularity played a role in her selection as a contestant. VTV Ganesh: There are rumours circulating that VTV Ganesh, known for his roles as an actor, comedian, and film producer, might be making his debut on the Cooku with Comali show. Speculation suggests that his comedic skills could be a valuable addition to the programme. Irfan: There are rumours circulating that YouTuber Irfan, known for his food review videos, might be participating in the show. With his significant presence on social media, speculation suggests that his involvement could generate even more buzz online. Priyanka Deshpande: Despite Priyanka's fame as a Vijay TV host, rumours suggest she might debut as a contestant on this show. Priyanka was previously a contestant on Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5), finishing as the first runner-up. If she indeed joins Cooku with Comali, it's anticipated to garner significant attention. According to the latest reports, discussions are underway with Dinesh Gopalsamy and Poornima Ravi, both former contestants of the recently concluded Bigg Boss Tamil season 7. If these two, along with Priyanka Deshpande, participate in the show, a total of three former Bigg Boss contestants will be part of the show, which is expected to increase its popularity. There are also reports of talks with Krishna Mckenzie, a Frenchman engaged in organic farming in Puducherry. Typically, senior actors and actresses participate in this programme, and this time, actor Ambika is expected to join the lineup. As speculations about potential contestants circulate on social media, fans eagerly await the show's launch and the official announcement of the contestant list. GV Prakash has made a significant impact in Tamil cinema, both as a music composer and an actor. His latest film, "Rebel," hit theatres on March 22nd and has already caught the attention of many, including celebrities like Ajay Gnanamuthu, M.S. Bhaskar, and Rajkumar Periasamy. The movie showcases the struggles of Tamil tea plantation workers in the 1980s and their children's fight for rights in a Palakkad college. The setting and costumes effectively transport viewers back in time, adding depth to the story. In "Rebel," GV Prakash plays Kathir, a young man from Moonaru Nettikudi. His family, like many others, depends on the estate and small businesses for survival. Despite their poverty, they see education as a way out and strive to get into college. However, they face challenges from student unions that discriminate against Tamil students. The film explores whether Kathir can overcome these obstacles. Based on true events, the story resonates with youth and highlights the power of standing up for one's rights. The performances in "Rebel" have been praised, with GV Prakash shining as a revolutionary student and Mamitha Baiju delivering a strong portrayal of the heroine. The music by GV Prakash and cinematography by Arun Krishna are other highlights of the film. Directed by Nikesh, "Rebel" has garnered mixed reviews but managed to collect Rs 2 crore on its opening day. With upcoming festivals, there's anticipation that its earnings will increase. The film also features notable actors like Venkatesh V.P., Shalu Raheem, Karunas, Aditya Bhaskar, College Vinoth, and Subramanya Siva in key roles. In the bustling world of Tollywood, senior actors are stepping up their game, producing movies at a remarkable pace. Among these seasoned stars, Chiranjeevi shines brightly. Since his return to the film industry, he's been working tirelessly, managing to release two films annually. His latest venture, 'Vishwambhara,' is currently under production. Directed by the talented Mallidi Vashista, this movie falls into the socio-fantasy genre and carries high expectations. The production of 'Vishwambhara' is noteworthy for its lavish budget, and is unprecedented in Chiranjeevi's illustrious career. The film's shooting kicked off this year with an action-packed sequence, followed by several scenes. Key portions featuring Chiranjeevi, Trisha, and other main cast members were shot in a renowned studio in Hyderabad. 'Vishwambhara' aims for a Pan-India release, incorporating actors from various languages to cater to a wider audience. Interestingly, the film has roped in young Tollywood actors for significant roles. Leaks reveal that Raj Tarun and Naveen Chandra are part of this unique ensemble. In 'Vishwambhara,' Chiranjeevi's character has three sisters, with these young actors playing their partners. This dynamic promises to bring emotional drama scenes, especially between the brothers-in-law and the Megastar Chiranjeevi. 'Vishwambhara' is being produced under the banner of UV Creations. Trisha stars as the female lead alongside Surabhi and Isha Chawla in crucial roles. The music for the film is composed by Keeravani. With its release scheduled for January 10th, 'Vishwambhara' is set to be a festive treat for audiences during the upcoming Sankranti season. AriBio Co., Ltd. (AriBio), announces signing of exclusive marketing rights for AR1001, an investigational drug for early Alzheimer's disease, in China for up to $770 million USD. The term consists of a non-refundable upfront payment of 120 billion KRW (approximately 90 million USD), with the total deal summing up to 5.59 billion RMB (approximately 770 million USD) inclusive of milestone payments with additional royalties. The upfront payment will be paid starting from mid-2024. In response to the increasing Alzheimer's disease population in China, prominent pharmaceutical companies have sought to develop safe and effective oral treatments for Alzheimer's disease. To date, AriBio has partnered for exclusive marketing rights in South Korea with Samjin Pharmaceutical for 100 billion KRW. And now, the partnership has expanded to China, cumulating to 1.12 trillion KRW (approximately 840 million USD). Considering the market competition for Alzheimer's drugs in China and the sales strategy, the licensee requested not to be disclosed until an agreed upon time. The global Phase 3 clinical trial for AR1001 in early Alzheimer's disease patients (Polaris-AD) is on-going in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Korea. Furthermore, the clinical trial is awaiting regulatory approval in China and the European Union. This study will be conducted across 180 global sites. The first patient enrollment began in the United States in December 2022, and the rest of the regions are actively enrolling. Matthew (Jai Jun) Choung, CEO and Chairman of AriBio, stated, "This deal demonstrates our unwavering commitment to developing meaningful treatments for Alzheimer's disease, and our partners will help position AR1001 for success in the major Asian territories. We are building momentum in our AR1001 program, as we continue to discuss with other potential partners in Asian countries, the Middle East, South America, as well as Europe and the United States." About AR1001 AR1001 is a PDE5 inhibitor being developed as an investigational oral agent for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Pre-clinical studies have confirmed neuroprotective effects of AR1001 via inhibiting neuron apoptosis and restoring synaptic plasticity. AR1001 has also demonstrated robust reduction of hyperphosphorylated tau proteins in pre-clinical models as well as in a Phase 2 trial. About AR1001-ADP3-US01 AR1001-ADP3-US01 (NCT05531526) is a Phase 3 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AR1001 over 52 weeks in participants with early Alzheimer's disease. The study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of AR1001 in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease through various cognitive and functional assessments. The details of the clinical trial are available at ClinicalTrials.gov. About AriBio AriBio Co., Ltd. is a biopharmaceutical company based in South Korea with offices in both South Korea and the United States. The company focuses on the development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company continues to expand its partnerships to accelerate the development of meaningful treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240324642699/en/ Contacts: Fred Kim fredkim@aribiousa.com Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. LOI signed as first step in Orosur reassuming 100% ownership of Anza Project Targeting completion of transaction by end of April 2024 Planning for reassuming ownership, operatorship and recommencement of drilling is underway LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Orosur Mining Inc. ("Orosur" or the "Company") (TSXV:OMI)(AIM:OMI), is pleased to announce an update on the status of the Company's flagship Anza Project ("Project") in Colombia. The Project is the subject of an Exploration Agreement with Venture Option ("Exploration Agreement") with Colombian company Minera Monte Aguila ("MMA"). MMA is itself a 50/50 joint venture between Newmont Corporation ("Newmont") and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico") and is the Colombian vehicle by which these two companies jointly exercise their rights and obligations with respect to the Exploration Agreement over the Project. MMA is the current operator of the Project. The Exploration Agreement came into effect in September 2018, with the first phase lasting four years and being successfully completed in September 2022, such that MMA earned a 51% interest in the Project. The Company and MMA then began the process of moving toward Phase 2 of the Exploration Agreement, which included a US$2 million option payment being made to Orosur in early March 2023. Subsequent to this, as announced on May 4, 2023, the Company was informed that MMA was reviewing its alternatives in respect of the Project and may not proceed to Phase 2 of the Exploration Agreement. The Company is pleased to announce that on March 22, 2023 it entered into a non-binding letter of intent with MMA, that provides for a transaction pursuant to which Orosur would repurchase, directly or indirectly, MMA's interest in the Project, resulting in Orosur having a 100% ownership of the Project ("Transaction"). The proposed consideration set out in the letter of intent is a net smelter return royalty of 1.5% and cash payments of up to US$15 million payable upon meeting certain agreed production thresholds. Subject to several conditions, including but not limited to, the negotiation of definitive documentation and the completion of due diligence, the Company expects that the Transaction can be completed as early as the end of April 2024. Further details of the Transaction remain commercially confidential and will be disclosed if and when the Transaction is completed. Preparations Concurrently with negotiation of the Transaction, the Company has begun the process of preparing to reassume ownership and operatorship of the Project. This involves, among other things, the recruitment of staff, liaising with the local community, discussions with relevant contractors and suppliers and the obtaining of various permits required for field operations. Should the Transaction be completed, the Company hopes to be able to recommence drilling operations as quickly as possible after reassuming operatorship. Orosur CEO Brad George commented: "After such a long period in abeyance, we are excited at the prospect of reassuming ownership and control of Anza at this time of buoyant gold prices and heightened market interest in precious metals. Most importantly, the structure of the Transaction whereby all consideration is deferred and contingent upon production allows us to immediately direct our resources into the ground." For further information, visit www.orosur.ca, follow on X @orosurm or please contact: Orosur Mining Inc Louis Castro, Chairman Brad George, CEO info@orosur.ca Tel: +1 (778) 373-0100 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP - Nomad & Broker Jeff Keating / Caroline Rowe / Kasia Brzozowska Tel: +44 (0) 20 3 470 0470 Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd - Joint Broker Andy Thacker/James Pope Tel: +44 (0)20 3657 0050 Flagstaff Communications Tim Thompson Mark Edwards Fergus Mellon orosur@flagstaffcomms.com Tel: +44 (0)207 129 1474 The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR') which has been incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. 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. About the Anza Project Anza is a gold exploration project, comprising three exploration licences, four exploration licence applications, and a small exploitation permit, totalling in aggregate 207.5km2 in the prolific Mid-Cauca belt of Colombia. Orosur's interest in the Anza Project is currently held via its subsidiary, Minera Anza S.A. The project is located 50km west of Medellin and is easily accessible by all-weather roads and boasts excellent infrastructure including water, power, communications and large exploration camp. The Anza Project is subject to an Exploration Agreement with Venture Option dated September 7th, 2018, as announced on September 10th, 2018, between Orosur's 100% subsidiary Minera Anza S.A ("Minera Anza") and Minera Monte Aguila SAS ("Monte Aguila"), a 50/50 joint venture between Newmont Corporation ("Newmont") and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico"). Forward Looking Statements All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including but not limited to the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on expectations estimates and projections as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the exploration plans in Colombia and the funding of those plans, completion of the Transaction to re-assume 100% of the Anza Project, and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. The Company's continuance as a going concern is dependent upon its ability to obtain adequate financing, to reach profitable levels of operations and to reach a satisfactory implementation of the Creditor's Agreement in Uruguay. These material uncertainties may cast significant doubt upon the Company's ability to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business and accordingly the appropriateness of the use of accounting principles applicable to a going concern. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, those as described in Section "Risks Factors" of the Company's MD&A for the year ended May 31, 2023. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Orosur Mining Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2024) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. (TSXV: MAX) (OTC Pink: MXROF) (FSE: M1D2) ("Max" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has received high-grade assay results from rock chip channel sampling collected at the AM-14 target in the AM District of its wholly-owned Cesar Copper-Silver Project in Northeast Colombia (see Figure 1). Highlights The assays at AM-14 confirm copper-silver stratiform mineralization at Cesar is extensive and demonstrate significant thickness: Results include 2.2% copper & 12.8 g/t silver over 5.2m and 4.8% copper & 53.6 g/t silver over 2.2m; AM-14 lies along a 15-km corridor of high-grade, stratiform copper silver mineralization (refer to Figure 1); Four distinct copper silver mineralized horizons have been discovered at AM-14 (refer to Figure 2). "We are elated to confirm that high-grade copper and silver assay results over substantial widths from the numerous outcrops at AM-14 not only confirm our thesis of Kupferschiefer style mineralization but also substantiate our belief that the 15-km corridor of mineralization has the potential to host a significant deposit," commented MAX CEO, Brett Matich. "MAX's field team is currently expanding the exploration foot print at AM-14 to define the limits of the copper silver mineralization and to obtain a thorough understanding of the multiple mineralized horizons both in the context of AM-14 and equally important, in the context of the Cesar Basin," he concluded. Description of the Mineralisation Mineralization is hosted in layers of medium to fine-grained sandstone rich in organic material. The copper silver bearing horizons are distributed across a 700-metre-thick package of interbedded sedimentary rocks that strike 240 to 260 and dip 30 to 45 northwest. Chalcocite, malachite and azurite are the most abundant copper minerals observed in the outcrop (refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4). All four of the outcropping mineralized beds are open along strike with copper silver bearing sandstone horizons traced for up to 285m along strike. Crews continue to map the area in deal with the goal of extending the footprint of mineralization. Assays from the two remaining outcrops discovered at AM-14 are pending and will be released when received. Figure 1: Image showing 15-km corridor of high-grade copper silver mineralization at AM. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/202972_maxfig1.jpg Figure 2: Image Showing Location of 4 Mineralized Horizons at AM-14 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/202972_eb2d449a1411a97f_004full.jpg Figure 3: Results from Recently Discovered Mineralized Outcrop Target AM-14. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/202972_maxfig33.jpg Figure 4: Newly Discovered Mineralized Outcrop at Target AM-14. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/202972_eb2d449a1411a97f_017full.jpg Figure 5: Image Showing Recent Assay Results at Target AM-14 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/202972_eb2d449a1411a97f_018full.jpg Results Assay results from continuous chip channel samples collected at two different locations at the AM-14 target are presented in Table 1 and Table 2 below. Table 1: Assay Results from Sandstone Outcrop at AM-14 Sample Number UTM Coordinates (WGS84 Z18N) Host Rock Width Cu Ag Easting (m) Northing (m) (m) % (g/t) 504583 760,453 1,214,550 Sandstone 1.2 2.02 20.04 504584 760,453 1,214,549 Sandstone 1.0 7.40 93.90 Weighted Average Assay Result 2.2 4.8 53.6 Table 2: Assay Results from Mineralized Sandstone Outcrop at AM-14 Sample Number UTM Coordinates (WGS84 Z18N) Host Rock Width Cu Ag Easting (m) Northing (m) (m) % (g/t) 511174 761233.00 1214319.00 Sandstone 1.0 2.92 13.4 511175 761233.14 1214318.01 Sandstone 1.0 1.54 12.1 511176 761233.28 1214317.02 Sandstone 1.0 2.16 12.3 511177 761233.42 1214316.03 Sandstone 1.0 3.97 26.4 511178 761233.56 1214315.04 Sandstone 1.2 0.63 2.1 Weighted Average Assay Result 5.2 2.2 12.8 Quality Assurance All CESAR rock chip samples are shipped to ALS Lab's sample preparation facility in Medellin, Colombia. Sample pulps sent to Lima, Peru, for analysis. All samples were analyzed using ALS procedure ME-MS41, a four-acid digestion with inductively coupled plasma finished. Over-limit copper and silver are determined by ALS procedure OG-62, a four-acid digestion with an atomic absorption spectroscopy finish. ALS Labs is independent from Max. Background The Cesar Copper Silver Project comprises three districts: AM, Conejo and URU. Collectively the three contiguous districts stretch over 120-km in NNE/SSW direction (refer to Figure 6). This region provides access to major infrastructure resulting from oil & gas and mining operations, including Cerrejon, the largest coal mine in South America, held by global miner Glencore. Max's twenty mining concessions collectively span over 188-km. In 2022, Max executed a 2-year co-operation agreement with Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX: EDR) (NYSE: EXK), which assists to expand its 100% owned landholdings, Endeavour will hold an underlying 0.5% NSR. Figure 6: Location and Scale of the Cesar Copper Silver Project, NE Colombia. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/202972_maxfig7.jpg AM District Starting in the far north of the Jurassic basin, classic stacked red bed outcrops with extensive lateral continuity have been rock sampled over many kilometres within the AM District. Highlight values of 34.4% copper and 305 g/t silver have been documented in the sedimentary red bed sequences. The Company confirmed that stratiform mineralization continues at depth with two scout drill holes completed earlier this year (Max News Release dated April 4, 2023). In addition, Colombian field crews continue to discover and sample new mineralized outcrops including at the recently identified AM-7 target (Max News Release dated May 25, 2023 and Max News Release dated June 22, 2023). Conejo District Midway south, the Conejo District is the most recent to be recognized and is characterized by structurally controlled mineralization hosted in intermediate and felsic volcanic rocks. Numerous mineralized outcrops have been discovered over 3.7-km at the primary target in the district with surface samples averaging 4.9% copper (2% cut-off). No drilling has been conducted at Conejo, but it has emerged as an area of focus for the Company. URU District Mineralization within the URU District is hosted in intermediate volcanic rocks and is structurally controlled, similar to deposits in the Central African Copper Belt. At URU-C, a 9.0m of 7.0% copper and 115 g/t silver surface discovery was confirmed at depth by drill hole URU-12, which intersected 10.6m of 3.4% copper and 48 g/t silver. At the URU-CE target, 750m to the east, 19.0m of 1.3% copper discovered in outcrop was confirmed by drill hole URU-9, which intersected a broad zone of copper oxide returning 33.0m of 0.3% copper from 4.0m, including 16.5m of 0.5% copper (Max News Release date January 24, 2023). CESAR Target Evaluation Max has identified and is evaluating 28 targets along the 120-km-long belt for potential drill testing. The Company is focused on expanding, refining, and prioritizing these targets in preparation for a drill program. Initial efforts have been concentrated on those targets with the greatest size potential with work that includes the following field activities: Systematic chip and channel sampling of the mineralized outcrops. Detailed geological and structural mapping of each showing. Target scale prospecting and soil sampling. Airborne Magnetic/Radiometric Surveys. Regional Exploration Max has demonstrated that the Cesar basin is fertile for copper-silver mineralization over a large area; however, only a fraction of the basin has been explored. As a result, Max has dedicated one of its geological teams to regional exploration with the goal of discovering additional copper-silver prospects within its land package covering more than 1,000 sq-km. Qualified Person The Company's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release was reviewed and approved by Tim Henneberry, P.Geo (British Columbia), a member of the Max Resource advisory board, who serves as a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. About Max Resource Corp. Max Resource Corp. (TSXV: MAX) is a mineral exploration company advancing the newly discovered district-scale Cesar copper-silver project. The wholly owned Cesar project sits along the Colombian portion of the world's largest producing copper belt (Andean belt), with world-class infrastructure and the presence of global majors (Glencore and Chevron). In addition, Max controls the RT Gold project (100% earn-in) in Peru, encompassing a bulk tonnage primary gold porphyry zone, and 3-km to the NW, a gold bearing massive sulphide zone. Historic drilling in 2001, returned values ranging 3.1 to 118.1 g/t gold over core lengths ranging from 2.2 to 36.0m. Max is proactive, with the corporate goal of transitioning the Cesar basin towards the mining of copper, the key metal for Colombia's transition to clean energy. The safety of our people and the communities where we operate is most important. We conduct exploration in a manner which supports protection of ecosystems through responsible environmental stewardship. Source: NI 43:101 Geological Report RT Gold Project for Max Resource Corp. by Luis Rodrigo Peralta, Mar. 8, 2023. NI 43:101 Geological Report Rio Tabaconas Gold Project for Golden Alliance Resources Corp. by George Sivertz, Oct.3, 2011. For more information visit: https://www.maxresource.com/. For additional information contact: Tim McNulty E: info@maxresource.com T: (604) 290-8100 Rahim Lakha E. rahim@bluesailcapital.com Brett Matich T: (604) 484 1230 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. Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-Looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-Looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the TSXV. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for Max Resources Corp. described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedarplus.ca. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/202972 SOURCE: MAX Resource Corp. Oslo, 25 March 2024: The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection gave their approval to the construction of the planned ammonia bunkering facility at Fjord Base in Flor, Norway. The permit marks a significant milestone for enabling ammonia as a safe and low emission alternative to traditional shipping fuels. Ammonia is widely recognized as a low-emissions shipping fuel. Even though interest in ammonia as a decarbonized shipping fuel is high, the final leg of the journey, from the production plant to the vessel, has been missing. Now Yara Clean Ammonia, Azane and Fjord Base have demonstrated how the planned ammonia bunkering terminal can meet the strict safety requirement of the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB). The planned terminal consists of a floating stationary barge with a capacity of 1000 cubic meters, or 650 tons, of low-emission ammonia. The permit allows for up to 416 operations annually, many of these expected to be bunkering operations for offshore supply vessels that regularly call at Fjord Base in Flor. The planned terminal is part of Yara Clean Ammonia and Azane's efforts to make low-emission ammonia a common fuel for shipping. With ammonia's potential to fully decarbonize the maritime sector, the companies plan to roll out a network of terminals in Scandinavia. This milestone is important to meet the growing demand for ammonia as shipping fuel, as well as incentives needed to enable ship operators and owners to switch from high-emitting, but cheaper fuels, to the low-emission alternative of ammonia. Demand seems to gain momentum in Norway as ENOVA, which manages the Norwegian Climate and Energy fund on behalf of the government, is planning ammonia grant tenders for both ammonia powered ships and ammonia infrastructure in 2024. There are multiple newbuilding projects in the pipeline, and ongoing ammonia-powered Platform Supply Vessels (PSV) tender processes. Yara Clean Ammonia, Azane and Fjord Base will now commence work with their project partners to obtain a permit with the local municipality before a final investment decision. Magnus Ankarstrand, President Yara Clean Ammonia, stated: "We are grateful for the permit awarded from the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection. This acknowledges how ammonia can be used safely and efficiently as a shipping fuel at the site in Kinn. The ammonia terminal will enable the decarbonization of the maritime sector and showcase ammonia's assets as a zero-emission shipping fuel. We look forward to working together with our partners and the local community in Kinn to complete the project and provide the shipping fuel for the future to the Norwegian offshore supply segment." Steinar Kostl, VP Projects& Products, Azane, commented: "This marks a milestone for ammonia as a fuel. Now we finally know with certainty the safety zones we will have to operate under when bunkering ammonia. The required safety zones are very encouraging and demonstrate how it will be possible to bunker ammonia in the biggest and busiest ports around the world." Stig Frde, CEO, Fjord Base, stated: "The Fjord Base community welcomes with great enthusiasm the declaration of conformity issued by DSB. It underscores our commitment to providing our customers with innovative solutions aimed at minimizing their carbon footprint. The development of an ammonia bunkering terminal marks a significant step forward in this endeavor, bolstering our competitive edge at Fjord Base and showcasing our dedication to sustainability." Contacts: Hilde Steinfeld Communication Director, Yara Clean Ammonia E-mail: hilde.steinfeld@yara.com Mobile: +47 99 35 30 30 Hakon Skjerstad CEO, Azane Fuel Solutions Mobile: +47 95 24 50 20 E-mail: hakon.skjerstad@azanefs.com Steinar Kostl VP Projects&Products, Azane Fuel Solutions Mobile: +47 97 00 53 27 E-mail: sk@azanefs.com Stig Frde CEO, Fjord Base AS E-mail: stig.forde@fjordbase.no Mobile: +47 90 91 01 76 Bjrn Erik Kringstad VP Sales, Market and Communication E-mail: bjorn.kringstad@fjordbase.no Mobile: +47 94 05 56 30 About Yara Clean Ammonia Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Yara Clean Ammonia is uniquely positioned to enable the hydrogen economy in a market expected to grow substantially over the next decades. We aim at significantly strengthening our leading global position as the world's largest ammonia distributor, unlocking the green and blue value chains, and driving the development of clean ammonia globally. Building on Yara's leading experience within global ammonia production, logistics and trade, Yara Clean Ammonia works towards capturing growth opportunities in low-emission fuel for shipping, power generation, carbon-free food production and ammonia for industrial applications. Yara Clean Ammonia operates the largest global ammonia network with 15 ships and has, through Yara, access to 18 ammonia terminals and multiple ammonia production and consumption sites across the world. Revenues and EBITDA for the FY 2023 were USD 1,9 billion and USD 101 million respectively. Yara Clean Ammonia is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. www.yaracleanammonia.com About Azane Azane Fuel Solutions is developing the world's first ammonia bunkering terminals. Our company has developed groundbreaking technology designed to deliver fast, safe, and reliable bunkering of ammonia to ships. Our commitment extends beyond bunkering solutions, as we actively contribute to the decarbonization of the shipping industry by innovating technologies for ammonia bunkering terminals, ammonia cargo handling systems, and ammonia fuel handling systems. Headquartered in Oslo and Sandefjord, Norway, we are backed by solid owners with leading positions in the maritime sector and ammonia industry: Amon Maritime, ECOnnect Energy, Navigator Gas and Yara Growth Ventures. In collaboration with Yara Clean Ammonia, Azane is preparing, in Scandinavia, the world's first ammonia bunkering network, planned to commence construction in 2024, with the first bunkering operations anticipated to be operational by 2025. This initiative serves as a landmark demonstration of ammonia's potential as a carbon-free, secure, and reliable fuel source for the shipping industry. For further details, please visit our official website: www.azanefs.com About Fjord Base Group Fjord Base is a leading Norwegian supply base, servicing major offshore energy and renewable companies along the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It is Norway's largest supply base by area and is located in Flor on Norway's western coast, handling 2,000 ships per year and 430.000 tons over quay per annum. The business has an established track record over decades of providing critical infrastructure and logistics services to major multi-national energy companies with on- and off-shore operations, such as Equinor and Neptune Energy, on long-term contracts. It is an essential transport base in the Norwegian energy sector. Our strategic business fields are within oil and gas, offshore wind and fossil free fuel. We have a long tradition of servicing oil and gas fields and are close to the upcoming rounds of developing offshore wind. We think that offering sustainable hydrogen-based fuels to the maritime sector is essential to reduce carbon footprint and strengthen our position as the leading supply base in Norway. Fjord Base Group has strong shareholder backing. Our majority owner Ancala, a leading European infrastructure investor, has significant experience in renewable energy and substantial capital available for further investments at Fjord Base. For more information visit our website www.fjordbase.no Attachments Global IT corporation FPT and De Heus recently entered a strategic partnership to foster the agriculture giant's security operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240320729005/en/ De Heus Vietnam COO Rick van der Linden (L) and FPT Software Europe CEO Tran Van Dung (R) at the signing ceremony attended by senior leaders of the Netherlands government during the economic mission to Vietnam (Photo: Business Wire) The two firms will join forces to support De Heus' Security Operations Center, focusing on the scope of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). Leveraging FPT's prowess in technology and high-quality workforce, this movement will bolster De Heus' capabilities in terms of system monitoring, security breach detection, and defense measures to effectively mitigate cyber risk and safeguard its information system and security data on a global scale. The partnership marks a significant milestone for De Heus' digital transformation strategy amid rising cyberattack concerns in the manufacturing and agriculture industries. Both parties expect this to set a solid foundation for future collaborations in other areas like artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and more to further advance De Heus' and the agriculture industry's growth. Tran Van Dung, Chief Executive Officer of FPT Software Europe, said: "While all businesses want to scale their digital transformation initiatives quickly, doing so securely is equally imperative in the face of cyber threats. Leveraging our extensive expertise and demonstrated success in deploying SIEM projects for multinational corporations globally, we stand ready to optimize De Heus' security operations." Rick van der Linden, Chief Operating Officer of De Heus Viet Nam, shared: "Through this partnership, FPT and De Heus are committing to leveraging our collective expertise and resources to develop robust security frameworks that will withstand the test of time. Together, we will explore innovative solutions and best practices to enhance cybersecurity measures and protect against emerging threats." The signing ceremony was attended by the Netherlands Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Mark Harbers; Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, Christianne van der Wal; Chair of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, Ingrid Thijssen; and over 140 large enterprises from the Netherlands in pivotal fields of high-tech manufacturing, sustainable agriculture and food production, renewable energy, logistics, and climate adaptation and water. Established its first office in 2008 in France, FPT has expanded its presence to 16 offices across 9 countries, serving over 70 leading businesses across Europe. Over the past decade, the tech firm has also been actively intensifying its local footprint and delivery capabilities through partnerships and acquisitions ventures, notably with the acquisition of RWE IT Slovakia, a subsidiary of European energy giant RWE in 2014, and the French IT Consulting Firm AOSIS in 2023. About FPT Corporation FPT Corporation (FPT) is a globally leading technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam. FPT operates in three core sectors: Technology, Telecommunications, and Education. During over three decades of development, FPT has constantly provided practical and effective products to millions of people and tens of thousands of business and non-business organizations worldwide, establishing Vietnam's position on the global tech map. Keeping up with the latest market trends and emerging technologies, FPT has developed the Made-by-FPT ecosystem of services, products, solutions, and platforms, which enables sustainable growth for organizations and businesses and offers distinctive experiences to customers. In 2023, FPT recorded a total revenue of US$2.17 billion and 73,000 employees. For more information, please visit https://fpt.com.vn/en. About De Heus De Heus Vietnam, a member of Royal De Heus Group, has been proud to be Vietnam's leading animal feed supplier since 2008. De Heus provides farmers comprehensive nutritional solutions to help improve livestock productivity and product quality. With a team of experienced experts and a modern factory system, De Heus is committed to providing high-quality animal feed for all types of animals, from livestock, poultry, and aquaculture to pets. De Heus' reputable brands, such as De Heus, Windmill, Koudijs, Con Co, and Anco, have become familiar to Vietnamese farmers. De Heus always accompanies Vietnamese farmers, aiming towards developing a sustainable and prosperous agriculture. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240320729005/en/ Contacts: Mai Duong (Ms.) FPT Software PR Manager MCP.PR@fpt.com GOTHENBURG, Sweden, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SKF has decided to join and co-fund Mission 0 to contribute to the development of groundbreaking technologies and deliver solutions to eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in materials, production and end-of-life of passenger cars. In an initial pilot project, SKF will collaborate with academia and industry experts in a research arena to solve GHG emissions in materials and processes that require new knowledge or disruptive technologies. "In this deciding decade, we need to take the right decisive actions. At SKF, we are committed to sustainability, and we know that innovation is key to succeed. By innovating and collaborating with leading companies and partners, we can achieve more. This is made possible in Mission 0 where we expect new ideas to emerge, new connections to be made, and that we together can create results that might remain unattainable if we act alone. SKF can contribute in many ways, for example in the areas of sustainable materials and lubrication," says Annika Olme, CTO and Senior Vice President, Technology Development. As part of this research and innovation project, a Mission 0 House has been established in Gothenburg, Sweden. This collaborative space brings together researchers and engineers from product companies, material suppliers, and academia to work on concrete projects, exchange knowledge, and jointly develop groundbreaking technologies and solutions. "The transport sector is the fastest-growing GHG emitting sector worldwide. Together, with the Mission 0 partners, we are envisioning the possibilities of discovering new ways to eliminate GHG emission in modern materials in industrial manufacturing. Decarbonization and accelerating sustainable transformation within industries are our core priorities. We are excited to be part of this important project to make a difference", says Kerstin Enochsson, President Automotive. Mission 0 includes, except SKF, also Boliden, Borgstena, Lindholmen Science Park, Polestar, Sekab, SSAB, Stora Enso, Volvo Cars, and several universities. Aktiebolaget SKF (publ) CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Press Relations: Carl Bjernstam, Head of Media Relations, +46 31-337 2517; +46 722 20 18 93; carl.bjernstam@skf.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/637/3951256/2691618.pdf 20240325 SKF joins new research and innovation project aiming to eliminate Greenhouse gas emissions https://mb.cision.com/Public/637/3951256/a25ba31865bc1520_org.jpg Annika Olme-0717 https://mb.cision.com/Public/637/3951256/b046053a8a504bac_org.jpg Kerstin Enochsson 2 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/skf-joins-new-research-and-innovation-project-aiming-to-eliminate-greenhouse-gas-emissions-302097918.html Fighter jet maneuvers during training China Military Online) 13:13, March 25, 2024 A fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade with the air force under the PLA Eastern Theater Command maneuvers during a flight training exercise on March 2, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Huang Guotai) A fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade with the air force under the PLA Eastern Theater Command unfolds landing gear before landing during a flight training exercise held on March 2, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Huang Guotai) A fighter jet attached to an aviation brigade with the air force under the PLA Eastern Theater Command lands on the runway during a flight training exercise on March 2, 2024. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Huang Guotai) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) The bodies of three Rohingya refugees were found in the sea as the Indonesian authorities ended a search for survivors from a boat that capsized near Aceh province, the provincial search and rescue agency said Sunday. Fishers and a search and rescue team rescued 75 people from the boat on Thursday 44 men, 22 women and nine children after they huddled on its overturned hull throughout the night. A few were taken to a local hospital for treatment, but most were sent to a temporary shelter in the Aceh Barat district. Several told UNHCR workers they had lost family members on the journey. Fishers first spotted the three bodies and reported them to local authorities on Saturday. After we searched the area, the team found three bodies, two adult women and one boy. They are allegedly Rohingya refugees who were the passengers of the capsized and sunken boat, Al Hussain, chief of Banda Aceh Search and Rescue Agency in a statement on Sunday. The bodies were immediately taken to the hospital in Calang city in Aceh Jaya district, before local authorities buried them. Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR staff member in Aceh, said that some of the survivors also helped to identify the bodies. We have verified as we take one of the refugees to identify and verify that they were together on the boat, Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR staff member in Aceh, said Saturday evening. Local authorities in Aceh have received several reports about dead bodies floating in nearby waters since Saturday. U.N. agencies in a statement on Friday said that about 70 Rohingya refugees are feared missing or dead from a boat that made a grueling sea voyage from Bangladesh and sank off Indonesias coast this week. About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar. They include about 740,000 who fled in 2017 to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by Myanmar's security forces, who were accused of committing mass rapes and killings and burning thousands of homes. The Rohingya minority in Myanmar faces widespread discrimination and most are denied citizenship. Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, and so is not obligated to accept them. However, the country generally provides temporary shelter to refugees in distress. (AP) Der kostenlose Dividenden-Report zeigt ganz genau, wo Sie in diesem Jahr zuschlagen konnen. Das sind die Favoriten von Borsenprofi Dr. Dennis Riedl HELSINKI (dpa-AFX) - Finland's producer prices declined for the eleventh straight month in February, though at a slightly slower rate than in the previous month, data from Statistics Finland showed on Monday. The producer price index fell 5.1 percent year-over-year in February, following a 5.4 percent decline in the previous month. The decrease in producer prices for manufactured products was particularly caused by the fall in prices of paper and paper products, basic metals, and electricity, the agency said. Domestic producer prices declined 3.8 percent annually in February, and those in the export market slid by 6.9 percent. On a month-on-month basis, producer prices dropped 0.2 percent, reversing a 0.3 percent increase in January. Data also showed that the export price index logged a decline of 6.9 percent, and import prices dropped by 5.9 percent. The decrease in the export price index was especially due to the lower prices of basic metals, paper and paper products, and chemicals and chemical products. Copyright(c) 2024 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Hancom acquires exclusive business rights to FacePhi in APAC region Hancom to establish bridgehead for entering the overseas AI market by selling under Hancom brand (white labeling) FacePhi holds facial recognition technology with world-class security BARCELONA and SEOUL, South Korea, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hancom (CEO Seong-jun Byun and Yeon-soo Kim) plans to make a strategic investment in FacePhi, a Spanish artificial intelligence (AI) biometric company. Hancom announced on the 25th that it has signed an investment agreement in Barcelona, Spain, with Hancom's CEO Yeon-soo Kim and FacePhi's CEO Javier Mira in attendance. This investment agreement will allow Hancom to make equity investments in FacePhi and secure exclusive business rights to FacePhi in the APAC region. Listed simultaneously on the Spanish and French stock exchanges, FacePhi holds various AI-based biometric technologies such as face, fingerprint, pupil, and voice recognition technologies required for biometric authentication. The company operates mainly in Europe and Latin America. Recognized for its excellent technology at home and abroad, it has secured a large number of financial companies as customers in Korea. In particular, with regard to anti-spoofing (fake identification) functionality, which is the most important feature in facial recognition technology, FacePhi possesses technology using a passive method (authenticating identity with a single frontal facial image), which is emerging as a next-generation technology, rather than the widely used active method (requiring the person to move his or her face to prove identity). In 2022, FacePhi acquired i-Beta Level 2 certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which guarantees the anti-spoofing performance of facial recognition technology. The fact that there are only nine passive i-Beta Level 2 companies in the world demonstrates that FacePhi's technology is world-class. This investment will make Hancom the second largest shareholder of FacePhi, and the company will use it as a bridgehead to strengthen its position in the global AI market through white labeling by selling FacePhi's solutions under the Hancom brand in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Hancom expects this contract to have a synergistic effect and plans to discover new and improved services and businesses by combining FacePhi's multi-recognition biometric technology with Hancom's AI, HancomWITH's security technology, Clipsoft's reporting tool, and Hancom CareLink's healthcare service. "Through this investment, we will be able to expand Hancom's AI business area and we expect to expand overseas sales by supplying Hancom-branded FacePhi solutions to the entire Asia-Pacific region in the future," said Yeon-soo Kim, CEO of Hancom. "We will continue to lead the AI market by actively promoting collaboration with, investment in, and acquisition of competent AI businesses." Meanwhile, the global digital authentication solution market is growing at an average annual growth rate of 12%, and as security levels are strengthened, there is a trend of shifting from the traditional fingerprint recognition-centered biometric technology to facial recognition. In order to respond to technological developments such as deepfakes, the adoption of passive methods to prevent forgery is expected to increase. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2369762/Press_Release__Hancom_s_CEO_Yeon_soo_Kim__L____FacePhi_s_CEO_Javier_Mira__R__at_the_Invest_Signing_C.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2238419/4609929/HANCOM_Logo_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hancom-announces-strategic-investment-in-spanish-ai-biometric-company-facephi-302097203.html Highlighted by a 42.6% Increase in Revenue and First Full Year of Profitability COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. (NYSE American:IDR) ("IDR", "Idaho Strategic" or the "Company") today announced its consolidated operating and financial results for the year ending December 31, 2023. IDR achieved a 42.6% increase in revenue and a 35.1% increase in gold production over 2022. Idaho Strategic's CEO and President, John Swallow stated, "2023 proved to be a pivotal year for Idaho Strategic. At the end of 2022 we knew a year of blocking and tackling lay ahead and our team really delivered. Not only did we continue our track record of profitable gold production established in Q4 of 2022, but we also advanced our Golden Chest and critical minerals exploration efforts considerably. Looking beyond the operations, I believe our overall business plan is being validated amongst a broadening array of stakeholders within and outside of the sector. Throughout the year we gained knowledge, built relationships, and worked to expand exposure to those that typically invest elsewhere. The benefits of our production-backed exploration business plan are becoming evident amongst investors, local communities, national laboratories, and government agencies, where we are seeing increased attention given to our business approach and operating track record." Golden Chest Highlights for 2023 Include: Produced a total of 8,247 ounces of gold contained in concentrates and dore'. Commenced mining of the high-grade H-Vein at the Golden Chest Mine. Mined 37,780 tonnes of ore from underground at the Golden Chest Mine at an average grade of 6.36 grams per tonne (gpt) and completed 135 meters of development related to the Main Access Ramp (MAR) and 435 meters of stope access ramps. Mined 2,350 tonnes of ore from the Jumbo pit at an average grade of 12.40 gpt gold. Processed 40,130 dry metric tonnes (dmt) at the Company's New Jersey Mill with an average gold head grade of 6.71 gpt and gold recovery of 92%. Completed approximately 3,740 meters of additional Golden Chest drilling. A highlight of the core drilling was GC-22-233 which intercepted 18.7 gpt gold over 2.24 meters in the H-Vein. Completed mining in the open pit and transitioned fulltime to underground production. Rare Earth Highlights for 2023 include: Trenched up to 5% total rare earth elements (REE) at Lemhi Pass - including magnet REE concentrations in excess of 70%. Sampled 28.2% and 34.1% total rare earth oxides at the Company's Mineral Hill REE project. Added to the Company's Mineral Hill REE landholdings and expanded the strike length of known REE mineralization over 0.5 miles. Provided numerous REE samples to collaborative partners from various national laboratories, universities, and government agencies. Corporate Highlights for 2023 include: Achieved the first profitable year in Company history and recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of profitability. Announced the addition of Carolyn Turner to the Company's Board of Directors. 2023 Financial Highlights Include the Following: Revenue from concentrate sales increased 42.6% to $13,656,733 for the year ending December 31, 2023, compared to $9,580,189 for the comparable period in 2022. The increase was combination of selling 2,001 more ounces of gold during the year, recognizing higher gold prices on concentrate sales, and a shift in the majority of mine production to the H-vein. We anticipate ore from the H-vein to be the primary source of ore for 2024. Gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $3,965,036 compared to a gross profit of $1,553,921 in 2022. This resulted in an increase in gross profit as a percentage of sales to 29.0% in 2023, up from 16.2% in 2022. The consolidated net profit (loss) included non-cash charges of $1,470,563 in 2023, compared to $1,633,492 in 2022. Net income (loss) attributable to Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. was $1,157,746 and ($2,535,429) in the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively. Gold sales receivable increased to $1,038,867 from $909,997 at December 31, 2023 compared to 2022 as a result of increased gold sales. The Company saw a decrease in exploration expenses for 2023 largely due to less drilling being done on the Company's gold properties in 2023, as well as capitalizing a portion of the 2023 drilling that was incorporated into the Mineral Reserve. We anticipate an increase in drilling activity in 2024 over 2023, which may result in an increased exploration expense. General and administrative costs decreased significantly in 2023 compared to 2022 due to no stock option awards taking place in 2023. All in sustaining cost (AISC) for gold production decreased to $1,279.38 in 2023 from $1,689.24 in 2022 as a result of both an increase an improved scheduling and mine sequencing at the Golden Chest mine, as well as higher grade ore being processed from the H-vein. Mr. Swallow concluded, "While 2023 proved to be a successful year of impressive growth and marked IDR's pivot into profitable operations, it is now behind us and our excitement for the future is palpable. Looking ahead With the first quarter largely in the books, I believe 2024 will be another year of growth for the company. Consistent with our recently announced plans for a paste backfill plant at the Golden Chest and the purchase of additional land near the mine, we have already initiated some of the capital investments necessary to deliver overall production growth and cost savings. These expenditures have been addressed through a combination of equipment financing, first quarter cash flow, disciplined and largely targeted sales in our ATM facility with known investors, and funds received from the exercise of existing warrants. With the backdrop of higher gold prices, higher grades, and more streamlined operations (and if things go as planned) we anticipate the combination of open field running and the 'pulling forward' of our development plans at the Golden Chest to add significantly to our financial profile for the year and future production growth. In short, this is it. This is the time." Qualified person IDR's Vice President, Grant A. Brackebusch, P.E. is a qualified person as such term is defined under S-K 1300 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data included in this press release. About Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. Idaho Strategic Resources (IDR) is an Idaho-based gold producer which also owns the largest rare earth elements land package in the United States. The Company's business plan was established in anticipation of today's volatile geopolitical and macroeconomic environment. IDR finds itself in a unique position as the only publicly traded company with growing gold production and significant blue-sky potential for rare earth elements exploration and development in one Company. For more information on Idaho Strategic Resources click here for our corporate presentation, go to www.idahostrategic.com or call: Travis Swallow, Investor Relations & Corporate Development Email: tswallow@idahostrategic.com Phone: (208) 625-9001 Forward Looking Statements This release 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 that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by forward-looking words such as "intends", "potential", "believe", "plans", "expects", "may", "goal', "assume", "estimate", "anticipate", and "will" or similar words suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, beliefs, assumptions, intentions, or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information includes, but are not limited to, Idaho Strategic Resources' potential to deliver revenue and production growth in 2024, the potential for the Company to initiate and complete additional capital investments in 2024 that will lead to increased production and profitability, the Company's plans to increase its exploration efforts in 2024, the potential for the Company's 2024 financial performance to be in-line, better, or worse than 2023, the potential for the Company's relationships built in 2023 to have any positive or negative outcome to the Company in 2024, and the potential for Idaho Strategic's operations to remain profitable in 2024. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of Idaho Strategic Resources as of the date such information is provided and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of IDR to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Investors should note that IDR's claim as the largest rare earth elements landholder in the U.S. is based on the Company's internal review of publicly available information regarding the rare earth landholdings of select companies within the U.S., which IDR is aware of. Investors are encouraged not to rely on IDR's claim as the largest rare earth elements landholder in the U.S. while making investment decisions. The forward-looking statement information above, and those following are applicable to both this press release, as well as the links contained within this press release. With respect to the business of Idaho Strategic Resources, these risks and uncertainties include risks relating to widespread epidemics or pandemic outbreaks, if they occur, including our ability to access goods and supplies, the ability to transport our products and impacts on employee productivity, the risks in connection with the operations, cash flow and results of the Company relating to the unknown duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; interpretations or reinterpretations of geologic information; the accuracy of historic estimates; unfavorable exploration results; inability to obtain permits required for future exploration, development or production; general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; fluctuating mineral and commodity prices; the ability to obtain necessary future financing on acceptable terms; the ability to operate the Company's projects; and risks associated with the mining industry such as economic factors (including future commodity prices, and energy prices), ground conditions, failure of plant, equipment, processes and transportation services to operate as anticipated, environmental risks, government regulation, actual results of current exploration and production activities, possible variations in ore grade or recovery rates, permitting timelines, capital and construction expenditures, reclamation activities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from this forward-looking information is available in Idaho Strategic Resources filings with the SEC on EDGAR. IDR does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or other such factors which affect this information, except as required by law. SOURCE: Idaho Strategic Resources, Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Relevant Gold Corp. (TSXV:RGC)(OTCQB:RGCCF) (the "Company" or "Relevant Gold") is pleased to report release of data from the 2023 airborne magnetics geophysical survey flown by the Wyoming Geological Survey (WSGS) and US Geological Survey (USGS). The regional survey covered the Company's entire 16,000-hectare portfolio of projects and reveals structural and geological detail far surpassing existing mapping (figure 1). Importantly, some of the most prominent anomalies highlighted by the survey are major structures at South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (Figure 2). The survey shows patterns very similar to those of Canada's Abitibi Gold Province and provides strong support for the Company's exploration thesis that Wyoming has Abitibi-style geology and gold potential. Key takeaways from the magnetic data ( see geophysics presentation ): The magnetic data provides far more detail than existing regional geologic maps (figure 1). The overall results show strong similarities to the Abitibi Gold Province, especially the Red Lake, Hemlo, and Canadian Malartic districts. The magnetic data highlight the major Archean orogenic structures of Wyoming that coincide with historical mining districts. The magnetic data agree very well with the Company's detailed mapping. The two most prominent structural/magnetic anomalies are at Relevant Gold's South Pass and Bradley Peak camps. South Pass and Bradley Peak are clearly connected along a regional primary structure (figure 2). Secondary structures revealed at both South Pass & Bradley Peak camps coincide with known high-grade gold occurrences. The magnetics support Relevant Gold's target concepts and show where to tighten targets at South Pass (figure 4). The strength of the 100 km2 Bradley Peak anomaly strongly encourages expediting drill permitting (figure 3). "The superb detail revealed by this government-sponsored survey is a huge step forward in understanding Wyoming's Archean geology, mirroring what's seen in Canada's prolific Abitibi Gold Province. A big thank you to the State of Wyoming and USGS for investing in mineral resource development in the state," said Brian Lentz, Relevant Gold's Chief Exploration Officer. "These initial processed results really strengthen Wyoming's connections to the Abitibi while showing that South Pass and Bradley Peak lie on Wyoming's structural Main Street - giving us some of the best discovery opportunities in the state. We look forward to more detailed processing of the data to see what else it can show us, but Bradley Peak appears to be a monster 100 km2 structural trap which coincides closely with high-grade targets we recently generated; we look forward to accelerating exploration there!" Figure 1. Modified Geologic map of Wyoming (Love and Christiansen, 1985) with the vertical derivative of the 2023 airborne magnetics survey overlain (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024). Figure 2. Regional airborne magnetic vertical derivative interpolation map (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024) with major structural features, high-grade targets, and the Company's two primary gold camps highlighted. About the Survey This survey was funded jointly by the State of Wyoming and the US Geological Survey as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (aka Earth MRI) and is the first of three regional aerial geophysical surveys being conducted in Wyoming (figure 1). Magnetic and radiometric data was collected over approximately 3,300 square miles (~854,000 hectares) in central Wyoming using 200m spaced flight lines-it includes Relevant Gold's entire ~16,000 ha landholdings (Press Release - May 24, 2023). Airborne geophysical surveys are commonly employed in gold-bearing Archean terranes like the Abitibi of Canada. The technique can "see" through extensive cover and reveal remarkable details of the major geology and structural trends that control gold mineralization. Data produced from the Wyoming survey provides a much clearer picture of the geology and highlights targets within both the South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (figures 1 and 2). The magnetic survey data provides clear resolution on the nature and extent of major Archean crustal-scale structures and highlights important related secondary structures. Understanding these structural features is critical in gold exploration as they are the primary controls for orogenic gold emplacement. Some of the most notable geophysical signatures within the survey highlight the South Pass and Bradley Peak areas (figure 2). This high-resolution geophysical data ties very well to the detailed mapping completed by the Company in both gold camps where regional geologic data is limited. In 2023, the company completed an initial mapping and rock chip sampling program at Bradley Peak identifying 3 new district-scale targets. The rock chip sampling returned high-grade results, highlighted by 5.3 g/t Au, 107 g/t Ag, and 6.25% Cu (see full Press Release - Nov 7, 2023). The geophysical survey outlines the structural trap for these targets in the center of a major 100 km2 anomaly (figure 3). The survey illustrates a very large (100 km2) fold hinge structure developed off the crustal-scale Oregon Trail Structural Belt affecting Archean rocks including, iron formation, mafic greenstones, mafic intrusives, felsic intrusives, komatiites, and others. This rock assemblage and type of structure is known as the primary host for numerous gold deposits in the Abitibi, with strong similarities to the Red Lake district and Hemlo districts. Over South Pass the magnetic data illustrates numerous major structures cutting Relevant Gold's property and agrees closely to the Company's detailed mapping and high-grade gold targets (figure 4). Importantly, this data confirms the Company's model for South Pass and continues to tighten targets throughout the camp. The geophysical signatures, geology, and mineralization at South Pass display strong similarities to the Canadian Malartic region along the Cadillac-Larder Lake deformation zone in the southern Abitibi gold belts (geophysics presentation). The Company will begin more detailed processing of the data for each property area, with ground truthing based on mapped geology to tease out key details and connections between the geology and gold. Figure 3. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of Bradley Peak Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Figure 4. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of South Pass Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Qualified Person All technical information has been reviewed by Mr. Brian Lentz, CPG, who is the Chief Exploration Officer and Qualified Person for the Company according to the 43-101 disclosure requirements. About Relevant Gold Corp. Relevant Gold Corp. is a North American gold exploration company founded by experienced exploration geologists and operated by a highly respected team with a proven record of significant value creation for shareholders. Relevant Gold is focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery, and development of district-scale gold projects in the state of Wyoming - one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions in the United States and globally. On behalf of Relevant Gold Corp., Rob Bergmann, Chief Executive Officer More information For further information about Relevant Gold Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at www.relevantgoldcorp.com or contact Rob Bergmann, President and CEO, or Kristopher Jensen, Manager of Investor Relations, at 763-760-4886 or by email at investorrelations@relevantgoldcorp.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Historical Information This news release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events of Relevant Gold Corp. ("Relevant" or "Relevant Gold" or "the Company"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "outlook" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks include, among others, the inherent risk of the mining industry; adverse economic and market developments; the risk that the Company will not be successful in completing additional acquisitions; risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; the possibility that the Company's estimated burn rate may be higher than anticipated; risks of unexpected cost increases; risks of labour shortages; risks relating to exploration and development activities; risks relating to future prices of mineral resources; risks related to work site accidents, risks related to geological uncertainties and variations; risks related to government and community support of the company's projects; risks related to global pandemics and other risks related to the mining industry. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation, to update any forward-looking information except as required by law. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities of the Company in Canada, the United States, or any other jurisdiction. Any such offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein will be made only pursuant to subscription documentation between the Company and prospective purchasers. Any such offering will be made in reliance upon exemptions from the prospectus and registration requirements under applicable securities laws, pursuant to a subscription agreement to be entered into by the Company and prospective investors. The scientific and technical contents of this release have been approved by Mr. Brian C. Lentz, CPG #11999, Chief Exploration Officer of the Company, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Lentz is not independent of the Company. SOURCE: Relevant Gold Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com Joint Venture Partner Sama Resources Announced a New Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Project Delivering a Pre-tax NPV8 of US$463M and a Pre-tax IRR of 28.2%, with an Estimated Initial Capital Cost of US$338M The Project has the Potential for a 16-Year Mine Life Producing a Conventional 26% Copper Concentrate and a 13% Nickel Concentrate, with Associated Platinum, Palladium and Cobalt By-Products PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Ivanhoe Electric Inc. ("Ivanhoe Electric") (NYSE American:IE);(TSX:IE) Executive Chairman, Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive Officer, Taylor Melvin are pleased to announce today that Ivanhoe Electric has completed its earn-in to acquire a 60% interest in the Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project in the Ivory Coast ("Project"). On March 21, 2024, Ivanhoe Electric's joint venture partner at the Project, Sama Resources Inc. ("Sama") (TSXV:SME), disclosed a new 2024 preliminary economic assessment for the Project ("2024 PEA") in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. The Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project is now a 60/40 joint venture between Ivanhoe Electric and Sama. In addition to a 60% interest at the Project level, Ivanhoe Electric also owns 22.7% of the common shares of Sama. Mr. Taylor Melvin, President and CEO of Ivanhoe Electric commented: "We are pleased to have completed our earn-in to 60% of the Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project. We are particularly encouraged by the significant improvement in both the quality and quantity of potential future copper concentrate production at the Project compared to earlier studies. The results announced by our joint venture partner, Sama, are a product of the hard work by our dedicated joint team. We look forward to working together with Sama on the next steps for our high-quality nickel-copper Project." A full copy of Sama's press release for the 2024 PEA can be found here. The Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project The Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project is located in western Ivory Coast approximately 600 km from the capital Abidjan. The total area of the Project is approximately 835 km2. Ivanhoe Electric entered into a binding term sheet for an earn-in and joint venture agreement with Sama which was subsequently formalized in March 2021. Ivanhoe Electric satisfied the terms of its 60% earn-in by spending C$25 million by March 2024. Figure 1: Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project Location in Cote d'Ivoire Highlights of the 2024 Preliminary Economic Assessment Announced by Sama Resources The 2024 PEA outlines the potential for a conventional open pit mining operation supporting 86.5 million tonnes of modelled mill feed together with 1.62 million tonnes of direct shipped laterite material entirely from the Grata, Main and Extension deposits and the Sipilou Sud Laterite deposit. Over the life of mine, the Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project would produce an annual average of 38,627 tonnes of a 26% copper concentrate and 55,119 tonnes of a 13% nickel concentrate through a process plant with a capacity of 5.475 million tonnes per year. This would be achieved through a conventional process that focusses entirely on flotation, for the production of separate copper and nickel concentrates together with cobalt, platinum, palladium and gold as by-products. Highlights from the 2024 PEA announced by Sama Resources include: Average annual production of approximately 38,627 tonnes of 26% copper concentrate and 55,119 tonnes of 13% nickel concentrate Average annual nickel metal in concentrate of approximately 7,165 tonnes per year and copper metal in concentrate of approximately 10,043 tonnes per year 16 year-life of mine Pre-tax Net Present Value ("NPV") at an 8% discount rate of US$463M and internal rate of return ("IRR") of 28.2% Post-tax NPV8 of US$257M and post-tax IRR of 22.3% Initial capital costs of US$338M including a contingency of US$61M Post-tax payback period of 3.8 years The 2024 PEA is based on a long-term nickel price of US$8.83/lb and a long-term copper price of US$3.99/lb. The 2024 PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources, considered too speculative in nature to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated economic viability. Additional trenching and/or drilling will be required to convert inferred mineral resources to indicated or measured mineral resources. There is no certainty that the results of the 2024 PEA will be realized. The 2024 PEA includes only the Grata, Main and Extension deposits and the Sipilou Sud Laterite Deposit, which together with the proposed mine infrastructure, covers only approximately 3% of the 835 km2 Project area. This provides ample opportunities for exploration upside and expansion opportunities, including at known mineralized zones at Yepleu and Draba, as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project Highlighting Areas Included in the 2024 PEA and Known Prospective Sectors for Further Exploration The Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project is a potentially commercially profitable operating open-pit operation consisting of magmatic polymetallic sulfide mineralization with by-product metals, including copper, gold, cobalt, platinum, and palladium. The Project has a comparatively small capital cost and favorable internal rate of return while producing competitive nickel and copper concentrates. Figure 3 compares the Project's total estimated capital and pre-tax IRR against other pre-production nickel assets, including primary magmatic sulfide deposits like Tamarack, as well as the bulk-tonnage low-sulfur, ultramafic-hosted deposits like Dumont and Crawford. Based on the 2024 PEA, the Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project has one of the lowest total capital costs while producing a pre-tax IRR that is second only to the Tamarack deposit in the United States providing the opportunity to construct a relatively small, but comparably profitable polymetallic mining operation. Figure 3. Total Capital and Pre-Tax IRR for Selected Pre-Production Nickel Deposits Source: S&P Capital IQ database; company reports and presentations. Finally, the polymetallic nature of the Samapleu-Grata Nickel Copper Project means that it has the potential to produce not only a nickel concentrate, but a high quality 26% copper concentrate that is on par with the copper concentrate produced from primary copper mines. Qualified Persons Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature included in this news release, including the information regarding the 2024 PEA have been reviewed, verified and approved by by Mark Gibson, P.Geo. and Mr. Glen Kuntz, P.Geo. Each is a Qualified Person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 and Regulation S-K, Subpart 1300 promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Gibson is the Chief Geophysics Officer for Ivanhoe Electric and Mr. Kuntz is the Senior Vice-President, Mine Development for Ivanhoe Electric. Neither Mr. Gibson nor Mr. Kuntz is considered independent. About Ivanhoe Electric We are a U.S. company that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies with electric metals exploration projects predominantly located in the United States. We use our accurate and powerful Typhoon geophysical surveying system, together with advanced data analytics provided by our subsidiary, Computational Geosciences Inc., to accelerate and de-risk the mineral exploration process as we seek to discover new deposits of critical metals that may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration technologies. We believe the United States is significantly underexplored and has the potential to yield major new discoveries of critical metals. Our mineral exploration efforts focus on copper as well as other metals including nickel, vanadium, cobalt, platinum group elements, gold and silver. Through the advancement of our portfolio of electric metals exploration projects, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as other exploration projects in the United States, we intend to support United States supply chain independence by finding and delivering the critical metals necessary for the electrification of the economy. We also operate a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma'aden to explore for minerals on ~48,500 km2 of underexplored Arabian Shield in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Website: www.ivanhoeelectric.com. About Sama Resources Sama Resources is a Canadian-based, growth-oriented resource company focused on exploring the Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. The Company is managed by experienced industry professionals with a strong track record of discovery. Sama's projects are located approximately 600 km northwest of Abidjan in Cote d'Ivoire and are flanked to the west by the Ivorian and Guinean borders. Sama's projects are located adjacent to the large world-class nickel-cobalt laterite deposits of Sipilou and Foungouesso, forming a 125 km-long new base metal camp in West Africa. Sama owns 40% interest in the Samapleu-Grata Nickel-Copper Project in Cote d'Ivoire with its joint venture partner Ivanhoe Electric owning 60%. Contact Information Investors: (480) 656-5821 or info@ivanhoeelectric.com Follow us on Twitter Ivanhoe Electric's Executive Chairman Robert Friedland: @robert_ivanhoe Ivanhoe Electric: @ivanhoeelectric Ivanhoe Electric's investor relations website located at www.ivanhoeelectric.com should be considered Ivanhoe Electric's recognized distribution channel for purposes of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation FD. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable US and Canadian securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Ivanhoe Electric, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect the Ivanhoe Electric's current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak only as of the date of this news release. Such statements in this news release include, without limitation, all of the results of the 2024 PEA announced by Sama and include future estimates of internal rates of return, net present value, future production, estimates of cash cost, proposed mining plans and methods, mine life estimates, cash flow forecasts, metal recoveries, and estimates of capital and operating costs as well as statements regarding exploration upside and expansion opportunities at the Project. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including changes in the prices of copper or other metals Ivanhoe Electric is exploring for; the results of exploration and drilling activities and/or the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations; the final assessment of exploration results and information that is preliminary; the significant risk and hazards associated with any future mining operations, extensive regulation by the US government as well as local governments; changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with Ivanhoe Electric to perform as agreed; and the impact of political, economic and other uncertainties associated with operating in foreign countries, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economy. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements and risk factors described in Ivanhoe Electric's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Ivanhoe Electric cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Subject to applicable securities laws, Ivanhoe Electric does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release, and Ivanhoe Electric expressly disclaims any requirement to do so. No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Ivanhoe Electric cautions you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Subject to applicable securities laws, Ivanhoe Electric does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release, and Ivanhoe Electric expressly disclaims any requirement to do so. SOURCE: Ivanhoe Electric Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com CHANDLER, Ariz., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AvAir, a leading inventory solutions provider for the aviation aftermarket, has announced the successful closure of a new three year syndicated senior credit facility led by HSBC Bank USA. This new facility represents a significant leap forward, offering increased availability, more favorable pricing, and improved terms compared to the company's previous credit arrangement. The overwhelming interest from syndicate participants enabled AvAir to increase the facility's size at closing, showcasing a strong vote of confidence in the company's growth trajectory. The syndicate, led by HSBC Bank USA as Administrative Agent and Lead Arranger, also includes First Citizens Bank and Western Alliance Bank. Mike Bianco, Chief Executive Officer of AvAir, expressed his enthusiasm about the company's financial and operational success, which has positioned them to not only refinance but also substantially expand their borrowing capacity. "Partnering with esteemed aviation lenders such as HSBC, First Citizens, and Western Alliance is a testament to our commitment to excellence and innovation in serving our customers' inventory needs," stated Bianco. AvAir's recent accolade of being named the No. 1 "Parts Supplier of the Year" by Airline Economics for the fourth consecutive year underscores the company's unwavering dedication to industry leadership and outstanding reputation. With over two decades of experience, AvAir offers customized solutions for customers and suppliers to transact through buying, selling, exchanging, loaning, leasing, or consigning, boasting a vast inventory of more than 26 million components. The company's adherence to ISO 9001, AS9120, and ASA 100 certifications ensures the highest quality standards across all operations, from procurement to shipping, solidifying AvAir's position as a trusted partner in the aviation aftermarket. About AvAir Founded in 2000, Arizona-based AvAir is a global leader in the aviation aftermarket, providing customized inventory solutions for airlines, OEMs, and MROs. AvAir has been named Parts Supplier of the Year for 2021, 2022, and 2023 by Airline Economics, the leading industry trade publication. It has also been recognized for its work in sustainability by The Aviation 100, AvAir received the Environmental Sustainability award. For more about AvAir, visit AvAir.aero. CONTACT: Claire Natale claire@evolveprandmarketing.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2370084/AvAir_Headquarters.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/avair-secures-major-expansion-with-enhanced-credit-facility-302097533.html WOBURN, Mass., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sirtex Medical ("Sirtex"), a leading manufacturer of interventional treatment solutions, announced today the appointment of Matt Schmidt as chief executive officer and board of directors member, effective March 25. Since joining Sirtex in 2023, Schmidt has been an integral part of the company's executive leadership team, collaborating with senior leaders and shareholders to set corporate strategy, accelerate organizational performance, deliver strong results and build a winning culture. "I am confident Matt will advance Sirtex's vision of providing minimally invasive cancer and embolization therapies to more patients around the globe," said Dr. Weikun Tang, chairman of Grand Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. "Matt's performance-driven leadership capabilities, as well as his commitment to partner with physicians to provide patients with innovative solutions, positions him as the right person to lead Sirtex into its next phase of growth. We are excited to work closely with Matt as Sirtex continues to create value for patients, physicians, employees and shareholders." With 20 years of industry experience and expertise, Schmidt joined Sirtex as executive vice president of global sales in February 2023 and was subsequently promoted to chief commercial officer in August. He previously held leadership positions at Abbott Vascular, including divisional vice president, where he was responsible for leading the company's U.S. coronary interventional cardiology device business, overseeing sales, marketing, commercial excellence and customer engagement. Prior to that role, Schmidt was divisional vice president and general manager for Abbott's vascular business in Japan. He earned an MBA from the University of Michigan and a bachelor's degree in accounting from Goshen College in Indiana. "I am optimistic about the future and honored to lead the Sirtex team during this exciting time in company history, especially given some of the transformative solutions we have brought to market over the last year," said Schmidt. "We are a patient-centered organization with talented employees who are dedicated to improving lives. I am very much looking forward to what we will achieve together." About Sirtex Sirtex is a global healthcare business with offices in the U.S., Australia, Europe and Asia, working to improve the quality and longevity of patients' lives by providing innovative minimally invasive cancer and embolization therapies. Sirtex's current lead offering in its product portfolio is a targeted radiation therapy for liver cancer called SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres. For more information, visit www.sirtex.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/926923/Sirtex_Medical_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sirtex-medical-appoints-matt-schmidt-as-new-chief-executive-officer-and-board-of-directors-member-302097797.html MIAMI BEACH, Fla., March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MCI announces the acquisition of Atlanta, GA based Market Force Information LLC. Market Force Information is a leading Customer Experience (CX) company specializing in solutions to enhance customer experience for businesses through a variety of digital and onsite Customer Experience (CX) services such as customer feedback surveys, mystery shopping, operational audits, and competitive benchmarking to help businesses understand their customers' needs and preferences better. Market Force Information, along with its Knowledge Force Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) analytics and case management suite, operates across the globe with a presence in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom (UK). Market Force Information specializes in providing solutions to enhance the customer experience for businesses through improved satisfaction, customer loyalty and retention. In addition, Market Force provides digital and voice call center services, tech-support, customer service, customer survey solutions, employee satisfaction/engagement programs, complaint resolution services, social media management/monitoring, and SG&A support services. Market Force services are available with or without its industry leading SaaS Platform Knowledge Force. This advanced platform leverages data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to deliver actionable insights from enterprise data & market research. Predictive models inform brands of the specific actions designed to drive growth and profitability, taking the guess work out elevating customer experience. Anthony Marlowe, CEO of MCI commented, "We loved the Market Force suite of services and their approach to business improvement via market research, data collection, and tech-enabled business services. It was an easy decision for us to acquire 100% of the equity and assets." The combined MCI entity boasts an onsite delivery capability that spans all seven continents, with strategically located CX BPO contact centres across eight countries. MCI's global CX footprint optimizes both quality of service, and cost, while still providing C-suite attention to clients making MCI an ideal partner for companies that continue to be neglected by their legacy behemoth service providers. Dr. Phil Doriot, EVP Market Force Information commented, "As a result of partnering with MCI, we now have one of the most differentiated and complimentary modern CX BPO mid-market conglomerates in world. The team at Market Force and I, are thrilled to be part of MCI and to co-lead CX innovation. The combined capabilities are highly unique." Marlowe further said, "I am not sure I'm aware of another mid-market company with the analytics, AI/automation, BPO, and CX capabilities as comprehensive as MCI, with all our subsidiaries that can move as quickly, have the flexibility, and come with an extraordinary price advantage." The addition of Market Force further bolster MCI's capabilities and differentiation for new and existing customers. About Market Force Information Market Force is a leading global provider of CX analytics, case management software, CX applications, customer experience as a service (CXaaS), mystery shopping, customer care call centers, and omni-channel business process outsourcing (BPO). Market Force is a Mystery Shopping powerhouse, with clients in e-commerce, restaurant, quick serve restaurant, big box, specialty retail, grocery, petro-convenience, automotive, hospitality, travel, telecom, technology, energy, education, health and wellness, movie studios, theatres, fitness, financial services, gaming, CPG, alcohol and tobacco, pharma, government agencies and more. For our corporate or multi-unit clients, our dedicated/shared contact center teams answers calls, process email/messaging/chat, process transactions, provide customer support, manage social media, and conduct surveys. Further, our professional services teams implement our and/or third-party software and technology solutions, while providing consulting and/or analytics services. Learn more at: www.marketforce.com About MCI MCI is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Miami Beach, FL, USA. With a diverse lineup of tech-enabled business services MCI's offering range from Artificial Intelligence. Contact Information: MCI Email: info@mci.world Website: www.mci.world HONG KONG, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Company Limited ("PAAMC HK"), the offshore asset management platform of Ping An Group, is delighted to announce that Ping An of China SIF - RMB Bond Fund (the "Fund")[1] has been recognized with 2 awards at the Offshore China Fund Awards 2023[2], jointly sponsored by the Chinese Asset Management Association of Hong Kong (HKCAMA) and Bloomberg. The Fund was honored with the 1st Runner-up in two categories - Best Total Return - Greater China Fixed Income (5 Years) and Best Total Return - Greater China Fixed Income (3 Years). This accomplishment marks the 6th consecutive year that the Fund has been honored in this category, substantiating its industry-leading performance. Several months earlier, the Fund also secured the Refinitiv Lipper Fund Award 2023 in the category of Bond Asia Pacific LC - 10 years[3]. Launched in 2011, the Fund aims to provide total returns comprised of interest income and capital growth. The Fund invests primarily in RMB denominated instruments including fixed income instruments, asset backed securities, convertible bonds, commercial papers and short term bills and notes. The Fund is actively managed with a variety of strategies. Its holdings are well diversified in terms of industries and regions, with the majority in the investment grade space. Albert Wang, Head of Capital Markets and CIO of PAAMC HK, said, "We are proud to be consistently recognized by the Offshore China Fund Awards. The awards are a testament to our team's investment approach, which prioritizes rigorous risk management, disciplined decision-making, and a focus on long-term value creation. We remain steadfast in our pursuit of excellence, consistently seeking to exceed our investors' expectations." HKCAMA and Bloomberg announced the winners at their ninth annual Offshore China Fund Awards on 21 March, in recognition of their outstanding performance and contributions to China's offshore fund industry. The award rankings were calculated using proprietary methodologies from data compiled by Bloomberg. [1] Ping An of China SIF - RMB Bond A RMB [2] Source: Offshore China Fund Awards official website: https://www.bloomberg.com/company/press/hkcama-and-bloomberg-host-eighth-annual-offshore-china-fund-awards/ [3] Source: Lipper Awards official website: https://www.lipperfundawards.com/ View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ping-an-of-china-sif---rmb-bond-fund-wins-2-awards-at-offshore-china-fund-awards-2023-302098121.html The cash and stock transaction bolsters DLT's Gross Sales by an additional USD $40,000,000 LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / DLT Resolution Inc. (OTC PINK:DLTI), a prominent Software as a Service (SAAS), information technology, and communication company, proudly announces the signing of a Term Sheet, through its wholly owned subsidiary Global Motor Trade International LLC, acquiring the 100% ownership of Marshal Group LLC. This strategic acquisition further reinforces DLT Resolution Inc.'s commitment to its growth strategy and market expansion. The acquisitions highlight DLT Resolution Inc.'s foresight in cultivating a diversified and innovative portfolio aligned with evolving market demands. Drew Reid, Executive Chairman of DLT Resolution Inc., stated, "This additional acquisition marks another significant step towards strengthening our offerings and diversified holdings. We are driven by a shared vision of innovation, excellence, and value creation for our customers and stakeholders." Charles Brofman of Global Motor Trade Group of Companies expressed enthusiasm, stating, "the acquisition of Marshal Group LLC and its Canadian subsidiary is a major milestone of growth for our emerging business. Nate Huskins brings 17 years of experience and year after year of profitability to our team. Marshal Group focuses its export business on the markets of Japan, Australia and Europe and brings another dimension to our business". Nathan Huskins of Marshal Group LLC, expressed enthusiasm, stating, "We are thrilled to be part of this venture. Drew Reid's vision for DLTI aligns perfectly with our growth aspirations. We are already planning our strategy to achieve the next level of revenue within the first twelve months after closing. Additionally, being part of DLTI will enable us to make strategic acquisitions within our industry, enhancing our customer base and international supply chains." Empowering Future Growth The Corporation's Global Motor Trade Group of Companies, based in the United States, specializes in international vehicle, vehicle parts and equipment, and machinery and equipment, wholesale distribution and sale, with a primary focus on United States, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia, China, Europe, Dubai, Africa , Japan, Israel, Australia and other markets worldwide. This strategic move will contribute a combined annual gross revenue of $92,189,000 USD to DLT Resolution Inc. The acquisition is a cash-stock transaction, with 750,000 USD and 4,000,000 restricted common shares of DLTI issued to the venders. Multiple Add-On Acquisitions Planned DLT Resolution Inc. is on track to finalize multiple acquisitions within this calendar year, aiming to catalyze growth and expand its market footprint. Advancing into the Future The acquisition of Global Motor Trade Group of Companies signifies a substantial step towards amplifying value and expanding horizons. Bringing new software technologies to the import/export market will be in the forefront of strategic planning. With a shared commitment to innovation and customer-centric excellence, DLT Resolution Inc. is poised to create a lasting impact across sectors, forging an exciting path forward. About DLT Resolution Inc. DLT Resolution Inc. has undergone transformative evolution, focusing on driving advancements in telecommunications and technology. Our core operations center around strategic Software as a Service (SAAS) acquisitions, enabling us to seize opportunities in the dynamic world of tech companies and cutting-edge technologies. At the forefront of our pursuits lies the realm of SAAS, where we revolutionize how businesses operate and engage with their clientele. Through these acquisitions, we empower organizations to leverage state-of-the-art solutions for domestic and global growth. DLT Resolution Inc. is more than a company; it's a catalyst for technological transformation. We are driven by the pursuit of groundbreaking solutions that empower businesses to navigate the digital era with confidence and embrace the limitless possibilities of telecommunications and technology. Welcome to the future, where innovation is our foundation, and technology is our compass. CONTACT: Drew A. Reid Executive Chair & CEO 1 (800) 463-5465 dreid@dltresolution.com www.dltresolution.com Disclaimer: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations or forecasts of future events, can be affected by inaccurate assumptions, and are subject to various business risks and known and unknown uncertainties, a number of which are beyond the control of management. Therefore, actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Additional information respecting the factors that could materially affect the Company and its operations are contained in its annual report on Form 10K and Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. SOURCE: DLT Resolution Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MNC Capital Partners, L.P. ("MNC") today announced that it has submitted an increased all-cash proposal to acquire Vista Outdoor, Inc. (NYSE: VSTO) ("Vista" or the "Company") for $37.50 per share, or approximately $3.0 billion. Vista's shares were trading below $30.00 per share when MNC made its initial proposal on February 19, 2024. MNC's $37.50 per share proposal values Revelyst at $1.1 billion, a 93% premium to Vista's own $570 million implied Revelyst standalone value from its Investor Presentation dated February 1, 2024. A transaction with MNC would not be subject to a financing contingency and would not be subject to CFIUS review. MNC has provided the details of its financing to Vista, as well as all other information that Vista requested in its March 4, 2024 letter. MNC expects Vista to promptly engage and agree to MNC's proposal, which is clearly in the best interest of Vista's shareholders and employees. MNC is confident that Vista, including its current management and employees, will have a bright future as a private company, and it appreciates the complementary portfolio of brands and assets within The Kinetic Group and Revelyst. MNC Capital is deeply invested in the welfare of Vista's employees, their families, and the broader communities across the United States and beyond. Contacts Media: Michael Landau / Lauren Odell, Gladstone Place Partners (212) 230-5930 The association's flagship event connected leaders with international business opportunities throughout Karnataka, India NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) - an international trade organization connecting more than 300 World Trade Center (WTC) locations in nearly 100 countries - and World Trade Center Bengaluru have successfully concluded the 54th annual WTCA Global Business Forum (GBF) in Bengaluru, India. The five-day event, which took place March 3-6, brought together WTCA Members, international B2B delegates and local Indian business delegates comprised of leaders in business, government, academia, media and international organizations to hear insights from chief dignitaries representing the state of Karnataka and key experts from around the world; engage in conversations on current trends across AI, agritech and real estate; and explore India's economic development. Nearly 300 attendees across 36 countries and territories, and 105 WTC businesses gathered to learn about the business opportunities in Bengaluru, Karnataka and throughout India, and to forge new global business connections. The 2024 WTCA GBF marked the meeting's debut in Bengaluru since its rebrand, further elevating WTCA's core mission, "Connecting Businesses Globally," and the highest WTCA Member turnout at the annual event since 2017. With the theme, "EPIC: Empowering Progress through Innovation & Collaboration," the GBF included addresses from the Hon. Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Sri. D.K. Shivakumar and Sri. M.B. Patil, Minister of Large & Medium Industries, Infrastructure Development on India's economic development, growth potential and business opportunities, especially in the state of Karnataka as the sixth-largest state in India aims to become a USD $1 trillion economy by 2032 by growing at a sustained growth rate of 18 percent. Sri. D.K. Shivakumar's felicitations stressed that Bengaluru's association with the World Trade Centers Association symbolizes an enduring legacy of excellence and achievement, and how the GBF would bring attendees to work together, think together, and visit important places in Karnataka, offering them insights to bring back to strengthen their businesses. Sri. M.B. Patil also discussed that the state will drive automation and develop AI-powered subscription products or services, through partnering with technology companies to leverage Industry 4.0 technologies; and introduce a new clean mobility policy that aims to position Karnataka as the premier destination for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing. Romal Shetty, CEO of Deloitte South Asia, also gave a keynote address unveiling the new Deloitte research report, "India as an Investment Destination and Scope of Karnataka." Other notable speakers included M.R. Jaishankar, Executive Chairman of Brigade Group, who gave the opening remarks with John E. Drew, Chair, Board of Directors of the WTCA, to welcome GBF attendees to the state of Karnataka, known as "One State, Many Worlds," and to kick off this year's premier annual event. In partnership with the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), the event offered onsite B2B matchmaking services, with over 300 scheduled B2B meetings, connecting delegates with business opportunities in Karnataka and across the international market. "This year's GBF successfully united WTCA Members from around the world with local Indian businesses, underscoring our commitment to establish interconnected business networks around the world. We selected Bengaluru to host our first rebranded GBF as we focused more on B2B matchmaking and implemented it as a new initiative to strengthen the business connections we normally make during our annual events. Having a partner like BCIC ensured the quality of local Indian business delegates for our attendees to connect with," said Mr. Drew. "The GBF exemplified our dedication to promote international investment opportunities in India and facilitate meaningful business relationships. We learned and witnessed firsthand, India's strength as the third largest country in purchasing power in the world, and our members are now leveraging the new connections they made to find ways to drive prosperity and innovation between their regions and India. Following this GBF, we left with confidence that this region is right for investment for businesses as well as for our Membership growth as we further expand our Association." "We are honored to have hosted so many incredible leaders from around the world, introducing and sharing Bengaluru's diverse talent pool, growing innovation sector, and world-class hospitality," said Vineet Verma, newly-appointed WTCA Board Member and Managing Director of World Trade Center Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi. "India aims to be a global production hub, attracting many global companies to invest here, and we look forward to nurturing new relationships and furthering strategic partnerships with those who attended this year's GBF." Additionally, another indication that India is ripe for investment is the interest in establishing partnerships between India and around the world. During the GBF, a total of 12 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signings between WTCA Members in various regions, and between WTCA Members and BCIC took place - most notably, MOUs were signed between WTC Bengaluru, WTC Twente and BCIC fostering a partnership between the Netherlands and India; and between WTC Bengaluru, WTC Riyadh and BCIC fostering a partnership between Saudi Arabia and India. The 2024 WTCA GBF concluded with a grand ceremonial announcement of next year's host. The 55th annual WTCA GBF is scheduled to take place in Marseille, France from April 6-9, 2025, and will be hosted by WTC Marseille Provence. MEDIA CONTACTS: World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) Chanelle Dimalanta Phone: +1 212 432 2644 Email: cdimalanta@wtca.org Violet PR Kate Traina Phone: +1 908 967 2117 Email: kate@violetpr.com About World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) is a network of more than 300 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organizations in 91 countries. As the owner of the "World Trade Center" and "WTC" trademarks, WTCA licenses exclusive rights to these brands for Members to use in conjunction with their independently owned, iconic properties, facilities and trade services offerings. Through a robust portfolio of events, programming and resources that it offers its Members, the goal of WTCA is to help local economies thrive by encouraging and facilitating trade and investment across the globe through Member engagement. To learn more, visit www.wtca.org. About World Trade Center (WTC) Bengaluru World Trade Center (WTC) Bengaluru is a licensed member of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), headquartered in New York. Promoted by the Brigade Group, it was set up in 2010 to help develop an international business platform specific to the region of Bengaluru and Karnataka as a whole. WTC Bengaluru meets specific needs of its clients & partner organizations by providing international market research, business matchmaking and connections to valuable public and private resources, as well as through the planning of strategic trade missions, trade educational programs and networking events. In addition to Bengaluru, the Brigade Group has operational WTC businesses in Chennai & Kochi along with upcoming locations in Hyderabad, Devanahalli and Thiruvananthapuram. To learn more, visit www.wtcbengaluru.org. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2369674/377A2753_GBF_PLENARY_GROUP_HERO_Photo_Credit_WTC_Bengaluru.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/704442/WTCA_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nearly-300-leaders-from-36-countriesterritories-attend-world-trade-centers-association-and-world-trade-center-bengalurus-54th-annual-global-business-forum-302097193.html LONDON, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Zambia External Bondholder Steering Committee (the "Committee") is pleased to announce that it has reached a conclusive agreement (the "2024 Agreement") with the Government of Zambia (the "Government") on a restructuring of Zambia's (i) US$750,000,000 5.375 per cent. Notes due 2022, (ii) US$1,000,000,000 8.500 per cent. Notes due 2024 and (iii) US$1,250,000,000 8.970 per cent. Amortising Notes due 2027 (collectively the "Eurobonds"). This agreement follows the Government's confirmation that the terms of the 2024 Agreement are compatible with Zambia's Official Creditor Committee (the "OCC") assessment of comparability of treatment and the IMF's program parameters under the Second Review framework. Since November 2023 when the OCC determined that the previous agreement-in-principle reached with the Government (the "November 2023 AIP") did not meet the requirements of the comparability of treatment provisions set out in the memorandum of understanding ("MOU"), the Committee has continued to support the Government's efforts to pursue a restructuring on terms close to those of the November 2023 AIP, recognising that some adjustments were required as that agreement was predicated on implementation of a restructuring before 31 December 2023. While the 2024 Agreement provides some further debt relief beyond that provided for in the November 2023 AIP, these additional concessions will allow for the-standing default on the Eurobonds to be cured, will support the restoration of Zambia's macro-economic and debt sustainability in the context of the IMF-financed program, and were required to ensure the support of all key stakeholders including the IMF and the OCC in a timely manner. Prompt implementation of a debt restructuring agreement with bondholders is not only in Zambia's interests, but the wider creditor community as a whole. The proposed restructuring terms set out in the 2024 Agreement are based on the same structure as the November 2023 AIP. Two new Eurobonds (further described as Bond A and Bond B in the Government's press release) will be issued which provide future debt relief commensurate with Zambia's economic progress in the next few years. While the 2024 Agreement requires both additional debt reduction and net present value relief compared to the restructuring terms agreed pursuant to the November 2023 AIP, it also includes enhanced repayment terms and higher coupons on Bond B, in the event that Zambia's debt carrying capacity, as assessed by the IMF and World Bank's Composite Indicator, moves to medium from weak or Zambia continues to meet or exceeds current IMF projections as measured by exports of goods, services and fiscal revenues measured in US Dollars. The 2024 Agreement also includes agreement on certain non-financial terms, including a most favoured creditor clause that will ensure that certain other creditors do not receive a better recovery in the restructuring on net present value terms, a loss reinstatement clause if Zambia were to default during the term of the IMF program, and certain ongoing information covenants for Zambia. The Committee appreciates the collaborative and transparent discussions with the Government that have allowed for this conclusive agreement to be reached. A spokesperson on behalf of the Committee said: "We are pleased to have finally reached a definitive and conclusive agreement with the Government that is supported by all stakeholders and which will, in due course, restore full international capital markets access to Zambia and encourage long-term investment in the country, to the benefit of all Zambians." The key elements of the 2024 Agreement are contained in the Government's press release. Implementation of the 2024 Agreement is conditional on mutual agreement on deal documentation, and the objective is to fully implement the agreement as promptly as feasible. The Committee encourages all holders of the Eurobonds to carefully consider the terms of the Government's prospective offer in relation to the 2024 Agreement and to make their own independent appraisal of the merits and risks of participation. Members of the Committee include the following asset managers (acting either directly or on behalf of funds or other accounts they manage): Amia Capital LLP; Amundi (UK) Limited; Farallon Capital Management, LLC; Greylock Capital Management, LLC; RBC BlueBay Asset Management. The Creditor Committee is being advised by Newstate Partners and Weil Gotshal & Manges (London) LLP Questions can be directed to: Spencer Jones, Newstate Partners LLP, +44 20 3998 8199 or sjones@newstatepartners.com Annie Emery, Newstate Partners LLP, +44 20 3998 8187 or aemery@newstatepartners.com Andrew Wilkinson, Weil, Gotshal & Manges (London) LLP, +44 20 7903 1068 or Andrew.Wilkinson@weil.com For media enquiries: Greenbrook, +44 20 7952 2000, zambia@greenbrookadvisory.com View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/zambia-external-bondholder-steering-committee-reaches-agreement-with-zambia-on-debt-restructuring-302098344.html PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / ArmorPoint, a leader in cybersecurity solutions, has been recognized by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, with a prestigious 5-Star Award in its 2024 Partner Program Guide. This annual guide provides essential information to solution providers exploring technology vendor partner programs that offer high value and align with their business needs and goals. The breadth and depth of support and resources technology vendors offer through their partner programs is a critical consideration for solution providers assessing which IT vendors, service providers, and distributors to team with in building world-class technology solutions. Program elements such as financial incentives, sales and marketing assistance, training and certification, technical support and more can set vendors apart and play a key role in boosting their partners' long-term growth. The 5-Star rating is awarded to the companies that have built their partner programs to go above and beyond in their commitment to nurturing strong, profitable, and successful channel partnerships. For the 2024 Partner Program Guide, CRN evaluated vendors based on program requirements and offerings such as partner training and education, pre- and post-sales support, marketing programs and resources, technical support, and communication. Launched in 2020, the ArmorPoint Partner Program was designed to offer our partners a streamlined approach to adding cybersecurity to their portfolios. Our comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services spans the full spectrum of cybersecurity program management-from Managed SOC to risk management and strategic cybersecurity planning. Ultimately, our goal is to empower our partners with the tools, resources, and support necessary to excel in delivering end-to-end cybersecurity program management solutions, ensuring they can meet the evolving security needs of their clients with confidence and expertise. "Earning the 5-Star rating in CRN's 2024 Partner Program Guide is a milestone that signifies the strength of our partnership ecosystem," explains Corey Ayers, Director of Product. "This distinction celebrates our unwavering dedication to delivering exceptional support and services, driving growth, and sparking innovation among our partners. Together, we're setting new standards not only in the channel, but in the cybersecurity industry as a whole." "Recognition on this list reflects the value of the spotlighted vendor partner programs and their commitment to evolving with solution providers and supporting IT channel success," said Jennifer Follett, VP, U.S. Content and Executive Editor, CRN, at The Channel Company. "This recognition empowers solution providers to discover vendors that keep pace with the evolving requirements of their business and their clients. With CRN's 2024 Partner Program Guide, solution providers can access deep insights into the unique strengths of each partner program and vendors who demonstrate dedication to their partner community." The 2024 Partner Program Guide will be featured in the April 2024 issue of CRN and online at www.CRN.com/PPG. About ArmorPoint ArmorPoint, LLC provides proactive solutions for cyber resilience, not just reactive tools. Specializing in integrated cybersecurity program management, ArmorPoint delivers deep expertise fused with their innovative technology to continuously assess and mature your security posture, transforming cybersecurity from a defensive necessity to a strategic asset driving competitive advantage. To learn more, visit armorpoint.com. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by nearly 40 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. 2024 The Channel Company, Inc. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, Inc. All rights reserved. The Channel Company Contact: Kristin DaSilva The Channel Company kdasilva@thechannelcompany.com Contact Information Ashley Capps Chief Marketing Officer acapps@armorpoint.com (602) 282-3090 SOURCE: ArmorPoint View the original press release on newswire.com. OXURION announces its presence at the Paris SmallCap event on March 28, 2024. Leuven, BELGIUM - March 25, 2024 - 7:00 p.m, Oxurion NV (Euronext Brussels: OXUR), a Leuven-based biopharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce its participation in the SmallCap event, scheduled for March 28 in Paris. The event, organized in key cities such as Paris, London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, serves as a platform for bringing together European issuers and a wider network of institutional investors and family offices across Europe. Pascal Ghoson, CEO of Oxurion, expresses his enthusiasm: "Our participation in this event is an opportunity. In fact. This will be an ideal place for us to unveil our future growth strategy and highlight the strengths that make us unique." For more information on the event, please visit their website. About Oxurion Oxurion . Important information on forward-looking statements Certain statements contained in this press release may be considered as "forward-looking". These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are therefore subject to various risks and uncertainties. The company therefore cannot guarantee that these forward-looking statements will materialise and does not undertake to update or revise them, whether as a result of new information, future events or for any other reason. Additional information on the risks and uncertainties affecting the company and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements is included in the company's annual report. This press release does not constitute an offer or an invitation to sell or buy securities or assets of Oxurion in any jurisdiction. No Oxurion securities may be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the 1933 U.S. Securities Act as amended, or pursuant to a waiver of such Act, and in accordance with all applicable state securities laws. Contacts : OXURION NV Pascal Ghoson pascal.ghoson@oxurion.com (mailto:pascal.ghoson@oxurion.com) Attachments RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alghanim Industries has forged a strategic partnership with the Saudi Coffee Company, which is owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. This collaboration highlights the Saudi Coffee Company's specialty coffee brand, Jazean, and is aimed at promoting Saudi Arabia's distinguished coffee culture on a global scale. A significant milestone of this partnership is the opening of Alghanim's 100th Costa Coffee store, symbolizing the shared dedication to enhancing the worldwide appreciation of coffee culture and fostering the industry's growth both within Saudi Arabia and internationally. As the largest Costa Coffee franchisee in the region, Alghanim Industries is dedicated to showcasing Jazean Coffee's exclusive blends, cultivated in Saudi Arabia's southern region, across all Costa Coffee locations in the Kingdom, highlighting the depth of local coffee culture. Kutayba Alghanim, Executive Chairman of Alghanim Industries, stated, "Partnering with the Saudi Coffee Company to introduce locally-grown Jazean coffee beans into our Costa Coffee stores represents a significant strategic initiative that underscores our deep commitment to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This effort shines a light on our continuous drive to support job creation and expand employment opportunities, aligning perfectly with the objectives of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. It signifies our contribution to the local economy, our dedication to energizing the job market, and our celebration of the Kingdom's rich coffee culture. We view this not merely as a business opportunity but as an avenue to support the community and safeguard the deep-rooted traditions that characterize this region's identity." Mahmoud Samara, CEO of Alghanim Industries, reflected, "Our alliance with Costa Coffee, flourishing for over a decade, transcends the bounds of conventional business partnerships by merging global excellence with the essence of local culture. This collaboration, especially through integrating Costa's esteemed brand with distinctive local concepts like Jazean coffee, not only underscores our commitment to innovation, community involvement, and the celebration of local heritage but also opens the door to showcasing Saudi coffee beans across the region and potentially beyond, leveraging our position as the largest Costa Coffee franchisee. It embodies our strategic vision to enhance the consumer experience significantly, contributing positively to the Saudi economy and elevating the nation's rich coffee culture on a global stage." The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's ambition to become a prominent player in the global coffee market is supported by significant initiatives, notably by entities like the Saudi Coffee Company. Their efforts to cultivate the southern region of Saudi Arabia aim to harvest some of the highest quality Arabica coffee available, contributing to the development of a vibrant local coffee culture and meeting the growing demand within the Kingdom. Khalid Abu Theeb, CEO of Saudi Coffee Company, commented: "We are delighted to partner with Alghanim Industries facilitating the integration of locally produced coffee beans in global coffee blends. This partnership underpins Saudi Coffee Company's commitment to empower the private sector in the coffee industry, as well as promote Saudi-based coffee production across the region and globally. At Saudi Coffee Company and through its specialty coffee brand Jazean, we are keen to partake in sustainable coffee production processes across the full value chain; placing the Saudi coffee beans on the global stage for coffee trade." Philippe Schaillee, CEO of Costa Coffee, said: "It is an honor to join Alghanim Industries in celebrating the opening of their 100th Costa Coffee retail store. Alghanim have some of the best Costa Coffee stores in the world - helping us create a progressive and innovative brand in Saudi Arabia, targeting younger consumers, as well as inspiring those who already know and love the Costa Coffee brand. The partnership with Saudi Coffee Company is a fantastic example of how a global brand like Costa Coffee can operate in multiple markets and regions, whilst working with local partners to celebrate and champion individual markets heritage and produce." The majority of Alghanim Industries' food offerings at Costa Coffee are sourced from local suppliers within the Kingdom, highlighting significant collaborations with Saudi brands that are prominently featured in Costa Coffee stores. Under the strategic guidance of Alghanim Industries, Costa Coffee has experienced significant growth not only in the Kingdom but also in expanding markets, including Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, demonstrating the brand's growing influence and commitment to the Gulf region's coffee culture. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371074/Opening_of_the_100th_Costa_Coffee_store_in_KSA.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371075/Group_Photo_Alghanim_Industries_Costa_Coffee.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371076/Mahmoud_Samara_Khaled_Abu_Theeb_Philippe_Schaillee.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/alghanim-industries-collaborates-with-saudi-coffee-company-to-promote-saudi-arabias-coffee-heritage-globally-302098509.html THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / South Star Battery Metals Corp. ("South Star" or the "Company") (TSXV:STS)(OTCQB:STSBF), is pleased to announce that it has awarded contracts for the National Instrument 43-101 ("NI43-101") Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA" or the "Study") for the BamaStar Graphite Project ("BamaStar"). The interdisciplinary team of consultants, engineers and scientists is co-led by Dorfner ANZAPLAN GmbH and Lycopodium Limited. The PEA is anticipated to be completed and published in July 2024. With the recent mineral lease and surface rights extensions, South Star has successfully completed all the other requirements for BamaStar's option agreement, and preparing the PEA is the final milestone that will give the Company the right to acquire an undivided 75% legal and beneficial interest in and to the minerals, mining rights and the underlying agreements for the mine. The PEA will incorporate the Company's 2023 drill-program results, providing an update to the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the BamaStar project. The Study's techno-economic analysis will present a scenario with concentrates from both BamaStar and Santa Cruz providing feedstocks for the secondary processed, specialty-graphite products. The Study will outline the strategic production/commercial plan for South Star's planned downstream transformation plant for the manufacturing of battery-graphite and other specialty-graphite commercial products, in the southeastern USA. Additionally, senior representatives of the Company have engaged and met with numerous senior economic-development representatives for states in the region, including Alabama and Louisiana. The team has commenced a site-selection process to determine the most advantageous location for siting South Star's planned downstream transformation plant to produce coated spherical purified graphite ("CSPG") for lithium-ion ("Li-ion") battery applications, in addition to conductivity-enhancement products suited for numerous battery chemistries, and other unique and innovative products. Richard Pearce, CEO of South Star, commented, "We are pleased to kickoff the PEA for BamaStar and to advance the project together with our partners. The PEA is expected to take approximately three to four months to complete, and we believe it will present a robust scenario with two scalable mines producing high-quality concentrates and a value-add plant in the middle of one of the most critical EV, defense, and energy storage corridors in the U.S. At a time of increasing geopolitical risks and supply-chain concerns regarding critical metals and the energy transition, it's great to be one of the first movers advancing a phased, vertically integrated graphite supply chain with near-term production and high-quality assets in Tier 1 jurisdictions in the Americas." In addition, 10 kg of Santa Cruz material is being tested as part of ongoing characterization and optimization of the Santa Cruz graphite concentrates for battery applications for the Company's US downstream transformational technologies technical program. Currently, Santa Cruz graphite concentrate is being analyzed, purified, transformed and upgraded to produce a variety of different products, including CSPG. As part of that ongoing characterization, the as-received Santa Cruz graphite concentrate was recently imaged using scanning electron microscop ("SEM"), as shown in the Figure 1 below. Figure 1: The SEM image on the above left is of South Star's >96% Cg graphite concentrate from the Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil. The SEM image on the above right is of the EXACT same material as in the image on the left, imaged concurrently, but utilizing a SEM backscattered electron detector. Backscattered electron imaging is used to differentiate between materials of different compositions. Phases heavier than carbon will look bright (meaning, impurities will luminesce), and pure carbon will look matte black, as seen here. The even coloration demonstrates the >96% C purity of the Santa Cruz graphite concentrate. ABOUT DORFNER ANZAPLAN GmbH Dorfner is a leading European specialty minerals producer delivering high-quality mineral products to different industries. ANZAPLAN was founded in 1985 to become the most independent venture within the Dorfner group of companies while concentrating the group's analytical and engineering know-how to serve external customers. Extensive know-how in specialty minerals processing, including liberation of fine-grained minerals, separation, flotation, and mechanical, chemical, and thermal modification derived from more than a century of day-to-day processing experience at Dorfner, has been successfully applied in the processing of various graphite raw materials. Furthermore, ANZAPLAN has detailed expertise in advanced chemical and thermal purification, upgrading graphite concentrates to >99.9% purity levels. Today ANZAPLAN is a specialist with a strong focus on specialty minerals and metals businesses (e.g. graphite, lithium minerals, rare-earth elements, high purity quartz), providing a one-stop-shop solution across all phases of the economic evaluation and process development -- with technological expertise from its laboratories, test-center and pilot-plant processing facilities including basic and advanced engineering services. Purification processes including mechanical, chemical, and thermal-refinement technologies are key elements in ANZAPLAN's and Dorfner's daily business to efficiently remove impurities by targeting high-value products. ANZAPLAN's experience in the processing of graphite includes extensive test work carried out for several different projects including flake and hydrothermal vein graphite deposits as well as processing of synthetic graphite. LYCOPODIUM LIMITED Lycopodium is a leader in its field, working with clients globally to provide integrated engineering, construction and asset management solutions. The company has the expertise to deliver complex, multidisciplinary projects, through to the provision of feasibility studies and advisory services. Operating across the resources, infrastructure and industrial-processes sectors, Lycopodium offers a diverse team of industry experts to deliver bespoke and innovative solutions across all commodity types. With the capability to deliver projects around the world, the company has offices in Australia, South Africa, Canada, Ghana and the Philippines. About South Star Battery Metals Corp South Star Battery Metals Corp. is a Canadian battery metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Star's Santa Cruz Graphite Project, located in Southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of industrial and battery metals projects that will be put into production. Brazil is the second-largest graphite-producing region in the world with more than 80 years of continuous mining. Santa Cruz has at-surface mineralization in friable materials, and successful large-scale pilot-plant testing (> 30t) has been completed. The results of the testing show that approximately 65% of graphite concentrate is +80 mesh with good recoveries and 95%-99% graphitic carbon (Cg). With excellent infrastructure and logistics, South Star is fully funded for Phase 1, and the construction and commissioning are underway. Santa Cruz will be the first new graphite production in the Americas since 1996, with Phase 1 commercial production projected in Q2 2024. Phase 2 production (25,000 tpa) is partially funded and planned for 2026, while Phase 3 (50,000 tpa) is scheduled for 2028. South Star's second project in the development pipeline is strategically located in Alabama in the center of a developing electric vehicle, aerospace, and defense hub in the southeastern United States. The BamaStar Project includes a historic mine active during the First and Second World Wars. A NI43-101 technical report with the maiden resource estimate has been filed on SEDAR. Trenching, Phase 1 drilling, sampling, analysis, and preliminary metallurgical testing have been completed. The testing indicates a traditional crush/grind/flotation concentration circuit that achieved grades of approximately 94-97% Cg with approximately 86% recoveries. South Star is executing on its plan to create a multi-asset, diversified battery metals company with near-term operations in strategic jurisdictions. South Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS, and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF. South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations that embrace the highest standards of ESG principles, based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, ongoing education, and stewardship. To learn more, please visit the Company website at http://www.southstarbatterymetals.com. This news release has been reviewed and approved by Richard Pearce, P.E., a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of South Star Battery Metals Corp. On behalf of the Board, MR. RICHARD PEARCE Chief Executive Officer For additional information, please contact: South Star Investor Relations Email: invest@southstarbatterymetals.com Phone: +1 (604) 706-0212 Website: www.southstarbatterymetals.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/southstarbm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southstarbatterymetals LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southstarbatterymetals/ YouTube: South Star Battery Metals - YouTube Forward-Looking Information This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the successful closing of the Private Placement and anticipated timing thereof and the intended use of proceeds and statements regarding moving Santa Cruz into production and scaling operations as well as advancing the Alabama project and the Company's plans and expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE, NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICE PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT OF THIS NEWS RELEASE. SOURCE: South Star Battery Metals Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com BELLEVUE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Trilogy International Partners Inc. (TSXV:TRL.H) (the "Company") is pleased to announce today that the shareholders of the Company (the "Shareholders") approved the previously announced acquisition of the Company by SG Enterprises II, LLC (the "Purchaser") by way of a plan of arrangement (the "Plan of Arrangement") at a special meeting of the Shareholders held earlier today (the "Meeting"). A total of 52,580,047 (59.327%1) common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") were represented at the Meeting. The special resolution approving the Plan of Arrangement was approved by (i) 99.997% of the votes cast by Shareholders present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting and (ii) 99.996% of the votes cast by Shareholders present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting, excluding the 16,908,563 Common Shares held by the Purchaser, in accordance with applicable securities laws. Under the terms of the Plan of Arrangement set out in the arrangement agreement between the Company and the Purchaser dated December 19, 2023 (the "Arrangement Agreement"), Shareholders (other than the Purchaser) will receive, in exchange for each Common Share held, US$0.07 in cash (the "Consideration") per Common Share, subject to the terms and conditions of the Arrangement Agreement. Information regarding the procedure for the exchange of Common Shares for the Consideration is provided in the Company's proxy statement and management information circular dated February 21, 2024 (the "Circular"). The Circular and the accompanying letter of transmittal (the "Letter of Transmittal") are available under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Registered Shareholders who have not already done so must complete and sign the Letter of Transmittal and return it, together with the certificate(s)/DRS advice(s) representing their shares and any other required documents and instruments, in accordance with the procedures set out in the Letter of Transmittal. Non-registered Shareholders who hold their Common Shares through a broker, investment dealer, bank, trust company, nominee or other intermediary (each, an "Intermediary") should contact their Intermediary for instructions and assistance in receiving the Consideration. Completion of the Plan of Arrangement remains subject to the approval of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Court"), the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") and the satisfaction of other customary conditions. The Court hearing for the final order to approve the Plan of Arrangement is currently scheduled to take place on March 27, 2024 and the Plan of Arrangement is expected to be completed on or about March 28, 2024. Following completion of the Plan of Arrangement, the Common Shares will be delisted from the NEX board of the TSXV and the Company will cease to be a reporting issuer in the applicable jurisdictions. 1 Based on 88,627,593 Common Shares issued and outstanding as of the record date of January 26, 2024. About Trilogy International Partners Inc. The Company formerly owned wireless and fixed broadband telecommunications subsidiaries in New Zealand and Bolivia. Its head office is located at 155 108th Avenue NE, Suite 400, Bellevue, Washington, 98004. For more information, visit www.trilogy-international.com. Investor Relations Contact Scott Morris 425-458-5900 scott.morris@trilogy-international.com Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Additional Information Further details regarding the Plan of Arrangement are set out in the Circular, which is publicly filed on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov. Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, as defined under applicable U.S. and Canadian securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). The words "will", "intend", "anticipate", "could", "should", "may", "might", "expect", "estimate", "forecast", "plan", "potential", "project", "assume", "contemplate", "believe", "shall", "scheduled", and similar terms and, within this news release, include, without limitation, any statements (express or implied) respecting: statements with respect to completion of the Plan of Arrangement; the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to the Plan of Arrangement; the timing of the Court's final approval; the Company delisting from the TSXV and ceasing to be a reporting issuer. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, actions, or developments and are based on expectations, assumptions and other factors that management currently believes are relevant, reasonable, and appropriate in the circumstances. Although management believes that the forward-looking statements herein are reasonable, actual results could be substantially different due to the risks and uncertainties associated with and inherent to the Company (as more particularly described in our continuous disclosure filings available under the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca and at www.sec.gov), as well as the following particular risks: risks that a condition precedent to the Plan of Arrangement may not be satisfied; risks that the requisite Court or other applicable approvals for the Plan of Arrangement may not be obtained or be obtained; potential legal proceedings relating to the Plan of Arrangement and the outcome of any such legal proceeding; and risks of not achieving all or any of the anticipated benefits of the Plan of Arrangement, or the risk that the anticipated benefits of the Plan of Arrangement may not be fully realized or take longer to realize than expected; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Arrangement Agreement; the risk that the Plan of Arrangement will not be consummated within the expected time period, or at all. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. SOURCE: Trilogy International Partners Inc. View the original press release on accesswire.com NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Gold Mountain Mining Corp. ("Gold Mountain" or the "Company") (TSX:GMTN)(OTCQB:GMTNF)(FRA:5XFA) announces that it has reached agreements with two secured creditors for the settlement and postponement of certain secured debts (the "Debt Settlements"). The secured creditors are Nhwelmen Construction LP Ltd. ("Nhwelmen") who is currently owed $7,784,850.71 (the "Nhwelmen Secured Debt") and Hedge Minerals Corp.("Hedge") who is currently owed $1,241,669.18 (the "Hedge Secured Debt"). Nhwelmen is the contract miner at the Company's Elk Gold Mine, and Hedge is an arms-length lender to the Company pursuant to a loan arrangement entered into effective September 13, 2023. Nhwelmen has agreed to accept common shares of the Company in payment of $1,250,000 of the Nhwelmen Secured Debt at an issuance price of $0.0075 per share (the "Issue Price"), which pricing is at a discount to market price (for a maximum of 166,666,667 common shares being issued to Nhwelmen), and the remaining amount of the Nhwelmen Secured Debt will be repaid in equal cash payments over 24 months commencing in April, 2024 and including interest at a rate of 18% per annum. The entire Hedge Secured Debt will be repaid through the issuance of common shares of the Company at the Issue Price (for a maximum of 165,555,891 common shares being issued to Hedge). The Company has also approached certain unsecured vendors who provide critical services to the Company for the conversion of up to $1.5 million of unsecured debt for settlement of such debts in payment of common shares of the Company at the Issue Price for a maximum issuance of 200,000,000 common shares. Further, the Company is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of up to 100,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company at the Issue Price for gross proceeds to the Company of up to $750,000, which would represent a maximum of up to 14.28% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares following the issuance of common shares with respect to the Debt Settlements. The common shares issued are subject to applicable resale restrictions, including a hold period of four months and one day from the closing of the Private Placement under Canadian securities rules. The Private Placement is subject to customary closing conditions including final Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") approval. Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to ramp up operations at the Elk Gold Mine and for working capital and general corporate purposes. No insiders of the Company will be participating in the Private Placement. Insider Participation None of the creditors currently own (directly or indirectly) any securities of the Company. Upon completion of the Debt Settlements (assuming no settlement of unsecured debts and prior to closing of the Private Placement) Hedge would own 39.38% of the Company's common shares (non-diluted) and Nhwelmen would own 39.65% of the Company's common shares (non-diluted). Assuming settlement of all $1.5 million of the unsecured debt and closing of the Private Placement of $750,000 in gross proceeds, Hedge would own 23.64%, Nhwelmen would own 23.80% and the unsecured creditors would own 28.60% the Company's common shares, all on a non-diluted basis. As a result of such ownership, Nhwelmen and Hedge will become "insiders" of the Company for purposes of the TSX Company Manual and a "related party" of the Company pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Depending on the participation of the unsecured creditors, such unsecured creditors may also become "insiders" and "related parties" and the Company will make such disclosure in future press releases once determined. The Debt Settlements will result in a change of control of the Company as both Nhwelmen and Hedge will become control persons in the Company, owning more than 20% of the current issued and outstanding. The Company does not anticipate that any of subscribers pursuant to the Private Placement will become "insiders" or "related parties" of the Company. The Debt Settlement is a "related party transaction" within the meaning of MI 61-101. However, in light of the fact that the Board and Special Committee have determined that the Company is in serious financial difficulty and that the Debt Settlement is designed to improve the Company's financial situation, the Company is relying on the exemption from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Section 5.5(g) and Section 5.7(1)(e) of MI 61-101, respectively, on the basis of the "financial hardship" exemption therein. Special Committee A special committee of the board of directors of the Company (the "Special Committee") was constituted and considered the fairness of the Debt Settlements and related matters. The Special Committee is comprised of two independent directors. The Special Committee has determined that the Debt Settlements are reasonable for the Company in the circumstances and recommends that the Company proceed with the Debt Settlement. The Special Committee carefully considered management's efforts in recent years in exploring various alternatives to improve the financial situation of the Company and considered whether other alternatives may be available (e.g., various corporate transactions, M&A transaction with third parties, accessing public or private debt or equity markets). The Special Committee has concluded that the Company is in serious financial difficulty and there are no viable alternatives available on commercially reasonable terms that would be more likely to improve the financial situation of the Company compared to the Debt Settlement (and related transactions). Financial Hardship Exemption As the Debt Settlement will: (i) result in the issuance of shares to Hedge and Nhwelmen in an amount greater than 25% of the number of common shares outstanding and materially effect control of the Company (section 604(a)(i) of the TSX Company Manual); (ii) dilute the Company's market capitalization by more than 25% (section 607(g)(i) of the TSX Company Manual); and (iii) the issuance of common shares in the Debt Transactions and Private Placement are being priced lower than market price less the maximum applicable discount (section 607(e) of the TSX Company Manual), disinterested shareholder approval and an independent report regarding the value of the transaction consideration is required. However, the Company has applied to the TSX for a "financial hardship" exemption from the requirements to obtain disinterested shareholder approval and an independent valuation report on the basis that the Company is in serious financial difficulty and the Debt Settlement is designed to improve the Company's financial situation. The application was made upon the recommendation of the Special Committee, free from any interest in the Debt Settlement and unrelated to the parties involved in such transactions (other than the Company) and was based on its determination that the Debt Settlement is reasonable for the Company in the circumstances. There is no certainty that the terms of the Debt Settlement will be acceptable to any of the unsecured vendors. The Company anticipates that a resolution will be put to shareholders approving a share consolidation at its next Annual Meeting. Appointment of Director The Company's Chief Executive Officer, Ronald Woo, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Company effective immediately. Mr. Woo has served as President of the Company between December 23, 2020 until December 23, 2021 and has served as CEO of the Company since July 10, 2023. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements thereunder. About Gold Mountain Gold Mountain is a British Columbia based gold and silver production, exploration and development company focused on the development of the Elk Gold Mine, a producing mine located 57 kilometers from Merritt in South Central British Columbia. Additional information is available at www.sedar.com or on the Company's new website at www.gold-mountain.ca. For more information, please contact: Gold Mountain Mining Corp. Ronald Woo, CEO Email: IR@gold-mountain.ca Website:www.gold-mountain.ca Twitter:www.twitter.com/goldmtnmine Forward Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation regarding the closing of the Debt Settlement and the timing of the same, the closing of the Private Placement and the timing of the same, the ability of the Company to continue as a going concern, the pro forma ownership of Hedge and Nhwelmen and the exact number of shares to be issued by the Company, the impact of the Debt Settlement on the Company and the results thereof, including that it will allow the Company to address its significant working capital deficiency and provide operating capital to the Company so that it can go forward as a viable going concern, receipt of the regulatory and TSX approval, the removal of all secured debt, elimination of future interest payments and the ability for the Company to restart the mine, thereby significantly improving the Company's financial situation. Forward-looking statements include statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release and are not purely historical including any information relating to statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future and often, but not always, use words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; the price of gold; and the results of current exploration. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Gold Mountain disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this News Release. SOURCE: Gold Mountain Mining Corp View the original press release on accesswire.com ThreatLocker Expands Endpoint Security Services and Data Infrastructure to Australia Sydney, March 25, 2024, proudly announces the launch of its advanced data centre in Sydney, Australia, just over a year after the grand opening of its second headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. This strategic move aims to enhance cybersecurity capabilities across various sectors in Australia, including the private sector, commonwealth, state, territory, and local governments. The expansion of ThreatLocker will assist Australian entities in complying with the urgently recommended Australian Cyber Security Strategy implemented by the Australian Government. Additionally, ThreatLocker offers Zero Trust Application Controlsand Ringfencingcapabilities that align almost any organization with requirements presented by the Australian Cyber Security Centre's Essential Eight Maturity Model. Commenting on the extension of their security footprint, ThreatLocker Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Danny Jenkins said, "Zero Trust is a mindset, and I admire the Australian government's holistic approach, involving the wider community to tackle a modern-day threat." Jenkins continued, "As one of the top vendors assisting businesses with Essential Eight guidelines, we are thrilled to strengthen our collaboration with Australia through this centre, bolstering their data protection and compliance initiatives." ThreatLocker, founded in 2017 by CEO Danny Jenkins, COO Sami Jenkins, and VP of Quality Assurance John Carolan, protects over 2 million endpoints across more than 40,000 organizations globally. The company provides 24/7/365 support with an average response time of 60 seconds or less. ThreatLocker offers a powerful Zero Trust endpoint protection platform that enables organizations to stop ransomware and other cyberattacks by controlling what software can run in their environments. The combined solutions of ThreatLocker, including Application Allowlisting, Ringfencing, Storage Control, Elevation Control, and Endpoint Network Control, lead the cybersecurity market toward a more secure approach by blocking the exploits of unknown application vulnerabilities. Attachment graswald.ai, a Hannover, Germany-based company building automated 3D tooling for enterprise brands and 3D creatives, raised $3.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lakestar as well as Supernode Global with continued support from existing investor HTGF and further participation from FOV Ventures, Robin Capital, Angel Invest Ventures and Notion Scout Fund as well as Arnav Bimbhet (ICONIQ Capital), Christopher North (L Catterton), Philipp Pip Klockner and Patrick Andrae (CEO, HomeToGo). The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. Led by CEO and Founder Julius Harling, as well as Akanksha Yadav, Jayesh Bafna and Lucas Kuzma, graswald.ai builds automated 3D tooling for enterprise brands and 3D creatives to democratize 3D creation with its community of over 170,000 users. Its 3D AI pipeline enables anyone to turn physical objects into photorealistic 3D content within a few minutes of work, producing 3D content faster and cheaper with unmatched life-like results. Enterprise brands use graswald.ai to create product visuals at a lower cost and higher speed from 3D viewers to 2D product images, videos, ads, or product demos. FinSMEs 25/03/2024 Tomorrow Things, a Bonn, Germany-based developer of an AI-powered Operating System for machines on the internet, raised 1.5M in funding. The round was led by High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF) and neoteq ventures, supported by Notion Capital, Robin Capital, and a number of business angels specializing in fundraising, marketing, and B2B SaaS (Christian Noske, Maximilian Eichler, Thomas Lang, Thomas Hollwedel, and Markus Doetsch). The company intends to use the funds to continue the development of an AI-powered Operating System for machines on the internet. Founded by Oliver Habisch, Dr. Christian Dierolf, Ankur Srivastava, and Marcel Zimmerling, Tomorrow Things is an intelligent automation platform that creates digital twins of technical assets to simplify and accelerate the complex digitalization of machines and connect them to the industrial internet. Tomorrow Things SaaS solution Cloud Connect consists of an intelligent automation tool that creates digital twins of machines. These digital twins offer real-time virtual replicas of physical assets, processes, and even entire factories, with which manufacturers can run simulations to rehearse different scenarios before implementing them in reality. This allows them to optimize production lines, predict potential issues, and make informed decisions without impacting real-world operations. Digital twins collect and analyze data from sensors, machinery, and other sources, providing valuable insights into performance, efficiency, and potential problems. This data empowers manufacturers to make data-driven decisions rather than relying on intuition or guesswork. FinSMEs 25/03/2024 World Fund, a Berlin, Germany-based climate tech venture capital firm, closed a 300M first fund. Backers included EIF, KfW Capital, Wachstumsfonds, BPI France, PwC Germany, NRWbank and Ignitis Group, a number of pension funds including the UK Environment Agency Pension Fund, Wiltshire Pension Fund, Erste Plavi, and Ecosia. Read more on VCWire.tech, our new website dedicated to the tech venture capital industry. FinSMEs 25/03/2024 The tweet has gone viral as the actress has been confirmed to be contesting elections from Mandi Actor Kangana Ranaut, who was named as one of 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls by the BJP on Sunday, said she is elated to officially join the political party and is looking forward to being a reliable public servant. The news of Ranaut taking the political plunge comes months after she hinted at entering electoral politics when she offered prayers at Gujarats Dwarkadhish temple in November 2023. Advertisement However, an old tweet of the actress has gone viral where she said she wouldnt contest elections from HP as its a small state with a population of 50-60 lacs with no poverty or crime. She said she would want to contest elections from a state with complexities she could work on. More about 2024 elections In its fifth list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party said the four-time National Award winner will contest on a ticket for the party from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi constituency, her birthplace. In an Instagram post, Ranaut who has been a vocal supporter of the ruling party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said she is honoured to join the BJP. Advertisement My beloved Bharat and Bhartiya Jantas own party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have always had my unconditional support, today the national leadership of BJP has announced me as their Lok Sabha candidate from my birthplace Himachal Pradesh, Mandi (constituency). I abide by the high commands decision on contesting Lok Sabha polls. I feel honoured and elated to officially join the party. I look forward to being a worthy karyakarta and a reliable public servant. Thanks, the 37-year-old actor wrote on her Instagram Stories. Kangana Ranaut is the BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. The Bollywood actor, a self-proclaimed fan of PM Narendra Modi, has been backing the saffron party on critical issues like the Ram temple and CAA Kangana Ranaut has long been supporting the BJP on various issues. PTI File Photo Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut is the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. The saffron party announced its fifth list of nominees for the upcoming general elections last Sunday (24 March) night. Besides Ranaut, former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Ramayan TV serial actor Arun Govil and industrialist and ex-Congress MP Naveen Jindal were among the 111 candidates whose names were on the recent list. Advertisement Some political observers believe Ranauts foray into politics is not surprising nor is her electoral debut on a BJP ticket. In fact, the Tanu Weds Manu actor has been hinting the same for a while. Lets take a closer look. Kangana Ranauts reaction to her Mandi LS nomination Reacting to her nomination from Mandi, Ranaut wrote on X that the BJP has always had her unconditional support. She said she would abide by the (BJP) high commands decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections. I feel honoured and elated to officially join the party. I look forward to be a worthy karyakarta and a reliable public servant, the actor added. My beloved Bharat and Bhartiya Jantas own party, Bharatiya Janta party ( BJP) has always had my unconditional support, today the national leadership of BJP has announced me as their Loksabha candidate from my birth place Himachal Pradesh, Mandi (constituency) I abide by the high Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 24, 2024 Advertisement Ranaut was reportedly born in Bhambla, a village in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. The actor has expressed interest in contesting elections several times over the past two years. Advertisement After her candidature for the Lok Sabha polls came to light, a purported old tweet of Ranaut saying that she would not want to contest from Himachal because its population is hardly 60/70 lakhs with no poverty/crime has gone viral. If I get into politics, I want a state with complexities I can work on and be the Queen I am in that field also, she had reportedly replied to a user on X in March 2021. Advertisement When Kangana Ranaut hinted at joining politics Ranaut has links to politics. Her great-grandfather, Sarju Singh Ranaut, was a Congress MLA, as per an Indian Express report. Her father Amardeep Ranaut is a businessman, and her mother, Asha, retired as a Mandi schoolteacher. Although her family was traditionally a Congress supporter, they appear to have shifted their stance in recent years. Advertisement Ranaut said last month that this may be the right time for her to take the political plunge. Speaking at an event of TV9 Bharatvarsh, the Bollywood actor said it was not her place to announce whether she would be contesting the Lok Sabha polls or not. Ranaut said she is a really aware person who has done more than anyone could for the country. I have literally fought from film sets with political parties. That doesnt keep me away, it doesnt take me a seat to do what I want to do for my country. But, if I want to get into politics, I probably think this is the right time, Indian Express quoted her as saying. The actor, who has been highly vocal on various hot-button political issues and has often courted controversies with her remarks, also boasted about her nationalist credentials at the function. I have always been more of a nationalist and that image has taken over even my very glorious acting career". Last November, the 37-year-old had said that if Lord Krishna blesses, she will fight the Lok Sabha elections. She had made the remarks while visiting the famous Dwarkadhish temple in Gujarat. The Tejas actor had also shown the inclination to make her poll debut in October 2022. During an AajTak conclave, when asked about her possible political entry, Ranaut said she was open to fighting the elections from Mandi on a BJP ticket if the public wants. She said that it would be great if people in Himachal Pradesh would give me a chance to serve. She had made the comments just a month ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections. As per a 2022 India Today report, while some Himachali women favoured Ranauts foray into elections as she is bold, beautiful and could bring a change in state politics, men were sceptical about the move. The local men had said that she was popular but might not prove to be a good politician, the report added. How she has been laying the groundwork Kangana Ranaut has long been backing the BJP on different issues, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The self-declared fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi never misses a chance to laud him. Taking to Instagram Stories in January, she wrote that PM Modis intensity, intent and action makes him extraordinary. She has also called him Mahapurush. Ranaut, who is gearing up for the release of her movie Emergency where she plays the role of former PM Indira Gandhi, also marked her attendance at the consecration ceremony of the grand Ram temple in Uttar Pradeshs Ayodhya in January. Donning a cream-hued saree at the event, the Fashion actor shared a video on Instagram of her excitedly chanting Jai Shri Ram. She captioned the post: Ram aa gaye (Ram has come). She previously hailed the BJP-led Central government for the consecration of Lord Rams idol at Ayodhya which was made possible after 600 years of struggle. Earlier this month, Ranaut voiced her support for the CAA after the Union Home Ministry implemented the contentious law. Sharing PM Modis old video on the legislation, she took to Instagram Stories and wrote, Before you form an emotion about CAA, first understand what it stands for. It is not just Ranaut who has backed the BJP. In 2020, the saffron party led a campaign to support the actor in Himachal Pradesh after her controversial remarks on Mumbai created a stir. She had landed in a soup for comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) while responding to the then undivided Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut who had slammed her for saying she was scared of the Mumbai Police. The Congress had accused Ranaut of touting the BJPs political agenda. Following concerns about her security, Ranaut was granted Y-Plus security from the Union Home Ministry at the time. The then Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur had also deployed police security at her Manali residence. After years of vocal support, Ranaut is officially now in the BJP fold. Come June and we will know if her bet paid off. With inputs from agencies The ISIS-K, the Islamic States Afghan branch, has claimed responsibility for the deadly shooting at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow last week that killed and wounded hundreds. The militant group has long declared its intent to target Russia A couple embrace next to a screen with displayed mournful message in St. Petersburg, Russia, 24 March 2023. Russia observed a national day of mourning on Sunday after an attack on a suburban Moscow concert hall. AP Russia witnessed its deadliest attack in years over the weekend. As many as 137 people were killed and over 180 others injured after four khaki-clad men armed with automatic weapons opened fire at the auditorium in Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Friday (22 March) night, leading to a stampede. An affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took responsibility for the brutal attack, a claim that the United States has confirmed. However, Moscow expressed doubts on Monday (25 March) about the US assertion. Russias foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, questioned the claim that Islamic State was behind the attack, saying that Washington was spreading a version of the bogeyman of the militant group to cover its wards in Ukraine, according to Reuters. Advertisement On Saturday, Russian president Vladimir Putin tried to blame Ukraine for the bloody, barbaric terrorist act. However, Kyiv has denied any involvement. According to The Conversation, the modus operandi of the Moscow assault is in line with previous attacks by the Islamic State. But, why would Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), a branch of the Islamic State, target Moscow? Lets take a closer look. ISIS-K claims responsibility for Moscow attack Following the Friday attack, Islamic States Amaq news agency in a statement on Telegram said its fighters struck on the outskirts of Moscow. As per the statement, they killed and wounded hundreds, causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely, reported ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Advertisement Earlier this month, the US had warned that ISIS-K extremists had planned to target Moscow. However, Russia had rejected the warnings, as per The Conversation. What could be ISIS-Ks motive? ISIS-K has long declared its intent to target Russia, as per The Conversation article. The militant group, which emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014, had claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul in September 2022, killing at least six. Advertisement ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticising Putin in its propaganda, Colin Clarke, with the Soufan Center, an independent foreign policy research centre, told ABC. ISIS-K opposes Moscow over its military occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and its alleged crackdowns on Muslim communities in Russia, The Conversation article noted. Advertisement Speaking to ABC, Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center said ISIS-K sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims. Putins intervention in the Syrian civil war in 2015 supporting President Bashar al-Assad also irked the Islamic State. Putin had sent Russian troops to back al-Assads regime and fortify Russian influence in the region, much to the chagrin of ISIS. Advertisement The Islamic State, which had seized large parts of Syria and Iraq by 2013 after the war began in 2011, lost 95 per cent of its territory by the end of 2017, reported ABC. Iraqi Special Forces members conduct military operation, against Islamic State militants in the desert of Anbar, Iraq, 23 April 2022. Reuters File Photo Russia was a target of the Islamic State multiple times from 201619. Its other attacks were foiled from 202123. Several ISIS-K militants arrested in Europe, including in Russia, over the past two years have been Russian nationals and people from Central Asia with connections to Russia, reported The Conversation. Militants from Central Asia have had their own resentments against Russia. Just last month, two Russian nationals allegedly having Islamic State links were arrested in Poland and Turkey in separate incidents. The Islamic State has also hired fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union for long. A branch of ISIS operates in the Caucasus, mostly in Russias Muslim-dominated North Caucasus region, noted ABC. The southern Russian republic of Chechnya has previously seen an Islamist insurgency, resulting in armed conflict between Moscow and militants from 2007 to 2017. The region is currently under the control of Ramzan Kadyrov, a leader picked by Russia. Several jihadist groups, including those affiliated with Islamic State, are present in Chechnya. What would Russia do next? Putin has vowed to punish the perpetrators behind the dastardly Moscow attack. All the perpetrators, organisers and those who ordered this crime will be justly and inevitably punished. Whoever they are, whoever is guiding them. We will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this strike against Russia, against our people, the Russian president said on Saturday in a televised address, as per Reuters. Shamsidin Fariduni, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, 25 March 2024. Reuters The attack is a reminder of the terrorism threat posed by groups like the Islamic State. As per The Conversation article, it is unclear whether the Kremlin will continue to blame Ukraine or the West for the attack or hold the Islamic State responsible. However, the attack is likely to just be the beginning of violence. Russia could launch a crackdown on its Muslim minority communities in the North Caucasus region and beyond, The Conversation article noted. All eyes are now on Russias response. With inputs from agencies Republicans are targeting no-fault divorce, arguing that not being in love alone cannot be the premise to leave your spouse. This has raised an interesting question what is marriage for, anyway? First comes love, then comes marriage so goes the classic childrens rhyme. But not everyone agrees. Increasingly, the idea that love is the most important reason to marry or at least to stay married is under attack. Republican pundits and lawmakers have been pushing back on the availability of no-fault divorce, challenging the idea that not being in love is a valid reason to end a marriage. Advertisement Speaking as a professor of family law , I know such views arent new. Zsa Zsa Gabor once quipped , Getting divorced just because you dont love a man is almost as silly as getting married just because you do. But while Gabor was probably joking, the Republican attack on divorce is serious. Brief history of divorce in the US For most of US history, getting a divorce was difficult. Many states banned it entirely , while others permitted it only under limited circumstances typically cruelty, desertion or adultery . Unhappily married couples who couldnt prove such faults were effectively stuck. Then, in 1969, California became the first state to allow no-fault divorce meaning that a spouse could get a divorce simply by asking for it, without having to prove that their partner had done something wrong first. Advertisement After California enacted no-fault divorce, the rest of the states quickly followed. By 1977, 47 states permitted no-fault divorce, and by 1985, all 50 states permitted some form of no-fault divorce . But now, nearly 50 years later, no-fault divorce is under increasing attack. California was the first state to allow no-fault divorce. Pixabay (Representational Image) The issue gained renewed national attention in 2023, when Steven Crowder, a conservative commentator who prides himself on his provocative views, expressed outrage and disbelief that his wife could divorce him without his consent. Advertisement Crowder isnt alone in such criticisms: Divorce has become a hot topic among many red-state Republican lawmakers. Most recently, in January 2024, Oklahoma lawmaker Dusty Deevers proposed a bill to eliminate no-fault divorce and suggested public shaming of spouses who commit marital fault and then divorce. Restricting no-fault divorce is also part of both the Texas and Nebraska Republican Party platforms, and was recently debated by Louisiana lawmakers. Advertisement The ability to divorce regardless of what the other party wants is the essence of no-fault divorce. I think its alarming that its under attack. Nevertheless, the idea that not being in love is a valid reason to divorce is an assumption that should be questioned. Its based on the idea that love is the purpose of marriage, and that itself is debatable. Advertisement What do people get from marriage? Marriage is a legal status that confers important rights and benefits on the married, and these rights and benefits have nothing to do with love . In fact, the purpose of these advantages is to give couples non-love reasons to marry. The idea is that the social benefits of marriage are so significant that incentivising marriage, or even flat-out paying people to marry , is justified. For an example of this kind of cost-benefit analysis, consider the policy debate over whether children are better off being raised by two married parents. In her recent book The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and started Falling Behind , economics professor Melissa Kearney argues that this advantage is significant and wide-ranging. Not surprisingly, Kearneys work was eagerly embraced by pro-marriage advocates and has reinvigorated long-standing discussions about how to further encourage marriage . Marriage is a legal status that confers important rights and benefits on the married. Pixabay (Representational Image) If children do better when raised by married parents, its understandable that the government would enact laws and policies to promote marriage. It also explains why the government might seek to limit divorce. This is a purely instrumental view of marriage, and one that would have been very familiar to 18th- and 19th-Century Americans . For most of US history, marriage was unabashedly transactional. Laws essentially guaranteed that most men and women would wed; love had nothing to do with it. The marital bargain Historians refer to marrying for legal and economic benefits as the marital bargain . However, in the late 19th Century, acceptance of the transactional nature of the marital bargain began to wane, and publicly, men and women began to declare that love was the purpose of marriage . As historian Nancy Cott writes in her book Public Vows , by the turn of the 20th Century, American culture had put love and money on opposite sides of the street. My book, Youll Do: A History of Marrying for Reasons Other than Love , also explores this history and shows how Americans went from encouraging the marital bargain to viewing it as harmful, both to couples and to the institution of marriage as a whole. Despite the public view that love is the only reason to marry, the law takes a more practical approach, recognising that love alone may not be enough to get couples to the altar. Thats why it continues to encourage marriage for instrumental reasons, with benefits ranging from tax breaks and immigration preferences to criminal law defences . When marriage was a clear bargain for exchange, the benefits of the union were obvious. Like the 19th-Century marital advertisement Man with farm seeks woman with tractor , each side knew exactly what they were getting. Now, the purpose of marriage is less clear. I believe the move to eliminate no-fault divorce is simply the latest symptom of this confusion regarding the goals of marriage. If marriage is about love, then a lack of love should be the quintessential reason to divorce. However, if marriage is a contract for benefits, then it isnt surprising that Crowder and other no-fault critics are outraged that it can be unilaterally broken. Although the push to eliminate no-fault divorce is presented as a fight over the purpose of divorce, its really a fight over the meaning of marriage. Marcia Zug, Professor of Family Law, University of South Carolina This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article . The US is one step closer to banning TikTok, the popular video-sharing app. If this happens, China could retaliate against America with trade restrictions. Beijing could also impose sanctions as it has in the past against data firms, officials and researchers A woman demonstrates outside the US Capitol following a press conference by TikTok creators to voice their opposition to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," pending crackdown legislation on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington. File image/Reuters TikToks owner is once again navigating troubled waters in the United States, where the US House of Representatives has issued an ultimatum : divest or face shutdown within six months. In Australia, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Senator James Paterson , the shadow home affairs spokesperson, want Canberra to follow suit. TikTok, owned by the Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, has been here before. It fought off a similar order by the Trump administration banning the video-creating and sharing app in the United States several years ago. Advertisement In a bid to mollify US security concerns about user data potentially being handed over to the Chinese Communist Party, TikTok pledged to migrate American user data to US-based Oracle Cloud . However, TikTok has reportedly struggled to live up to this promise. TikToks growing resistance to US pressures The platforms survival in Western markets depends on its ability to navigate these geopolitical complexities. This situation will test TikToks adaptability and strategic approach, as well as the power of its user base. In the past four years, TikTok has seen tremendous growth in both its user base and advertising revenue, though this has started to slow somewhat in the US. Last year, ByteDance was valued at $220 billion , which was down from $500 billion in 2021, but still ranked as the worlds most valuable non-public startup. Advertisement This valuation not only highlights its worldwide appeal, but also uniquely equips it to deal with US regulatory hurdles. TikTok has seen tremendous growth in both its user base and advertising revenue in the US. Last year, TikToks parent company, ByteDance, was valued at $220 billion. File image/Reuters Indeed, TikToks response to the latest attempted US ban has demonstrated the power of its resistance. On 7 March, the platform engaged its users directly with a pop-up message urging them to contact Congress to complain. In doing so, it shifted the narrative from a direct confrontation between itself and Washington to a broader conflict between the US government and American citizens over freedom of expression . Advertisement The bill that would force ByteDance to sell the app or face a nationwide ban must still pass the Senate , so public pressure may come to bear. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill if its passed. Although the bill has widespread support on both sides of the political spectrum, senators from both parties will need to consider the potential backlash from young people in a pivotal election year. Already, former President Donald Trump the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential contest has backflipped on a potential TikTok ban, which underscores ByteDances growing political leverage. Advertisement Should the bill become law, civil liberty groups could also challenge it in US Federal Court as an infringement on TikTok users First Amendment rights to free speech. Some groups are already mobilising for action. Federal judges have struck down attempted bans in the US in the past, but on different grounds. (One of these cases was brought by TikTok users, but was reportedly orchestrated by TikTok and its Chinese parent company.) Advertisement A new challenge on free speech grounds, which have yet to be tested in court, could lead to an eventual appeal to the US Supreme Court. Other ways China could retaliate Although US national security officials were briefing US senators on the risks posed by TikTok this week, this isnt the sole reason the social media app has run into problems in Washington. TikTok has also been targeted because of the burgeoning tech rivalry between the US and China, where many fear the spectre of a far-reaching tech decoupling between the countries or even an outright tech cold war . Facing potential pressure to sell at a reduced value, ByteDance might decide to exit the US market altogether, considering the challenges faced by other Chinese tech companies in Western countries, like Huawei . Such a decision could prompt retaliatory trade restrictions or other actions by the Chinese government due to nationalistic pressures. This could boost ByteDances stature in China similar to what happened to Huawei after it was banned in the US. A man stands near a giant sign of Chinese company ByteDances app TikTok, known locally as Douyin in Beijing, China. A ban on TikTok in the US could result in China imposing retaliatory trade restrictions. File image/Reuters China already blocks many US media outlets, social media platforms and other websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google. But it could retaliate with sanctions, as it has in the past against US data firms, officials and researchers (with limited impact). The Chinese government has also said any sale of TikTok would have to comply with its law on tech exports, which requires licences for the export of certain technologies. Its not entirely clear how the law would apply to TikTok, but some experts believe it could encompass the algorithm that powers the app. This means, theoretically, China could prevent ByteDance from selling this technology to a foreign company. TikToks predicament in the US also could set a precedent for other Chinese tech companies, like the e-commerce platforms Temu and Shein. Both companies are also under increasing congressional scrutiny , which likely makes them apprehensive about potential mandates for divestment or other regulatory hurdles they could face in the future . Could Australia be next? In Australia, TikTok is already banned on government-issued devices. Now, there is renewed momentum for a nationwide ban as well. As a close ally of the US and a major trading partner of China, Australia is in a particularly vulnerable position. It could be forced to choose between a US strategy of decoupling its tech industry from Chinas, or prioritising its improving relationship with Beijing. As the debate in the US drags on, the point of difference between the two major parties in Australia will likely become more defined. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government has no plans at this stage to follow the US lead on a TikTok ban, but this could change as the next federal election gets closer. Politicians on both sides will need to take into account the impact of a potential ban among TikTok supporters, as well as the Chinese-Australian community. Many Chinese-Australians would see a ban as yet another slap in the face to their country of origin and further evidence of anti-China foreign policy. Marina Yue Zhang , Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney and Wanning Sun , Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article . The BJP has announced names of 19 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal. There are 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, candidates for 20 seats were named on March 2 Political events are taking new and bigger turns in India with less than a month left for the much-awaited Lok Sabha 2024 elections. Key parties in the contest are wisely and strategically choosing candidates and fielding them with hope of winning from the seat. Amid this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced names of 19 candidates who will be contesting on partys ticket from West Bengal in General Elections 2024. Advertisement The BJPs West Bengal candidate list contained surprises over predictions as the party has fielded former justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who recently resigned as a Calcutta High Court judge; and Sandeshkali victim Rekha Patra. Lok Sabha 2024 polls: Big names in BJPs West Bengal candidate list 1 - Rekha Patra The party has named Rekha Patra, an alleged victim of violence in West Bengals Sandeshkhali from Basirhat. Patra will be contesting against Trinamool Congress (TMC) Nurul Islam, whom the party supremo and Chief Minister of the state Mamata Banerjee has fielded, dropping the sitting MP Nusrat Jahan. I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the candidature. I will raise my voice for the Sandeshkhali victims, Rekha Patra was quoted as saying by ANI after her candidature from Basirhat. Advertisement Now, who is Rekha Patra, BJPs Lok Sabha candidate from Basirhat? Patra is among the most vocal Sandeshkhali protestors. It was based on her complaint that the West Bengal police arrested Shibu Hazra, a local muscleman and TMC leader Sheikh Shajahans associate. Patra is an alleged victim of torture at the hands of arrested TMC strongman from Sandeshkhali - Shajahan Sheikh. Advertisement She is also believed to have been part of the group that met PM Modi on the sidelines of his public meeting in Barasat on March 6 and related the plight of Sandeshkhali women to the Prime Minister. Why BJP has chosen Rekha Patra as LS candidate from West Bengals Basirhat? By choosing Patra, a housewife from the troubled region of Sandeshkhali, as its candidates, BJP has perhaps made strongest political statement. Advertisement BJPs national convener of the IT cell, Amit Malviya, has described Patras nomination as a strong statement" from the party. The BJP has fielded Rekha Patra from Basirhat in Bengal. She is one of the victims of Sandeshkhali, who suffered at the hands of Sheikh Shahjahan. Let Mamata Banerjee wipe the tears of women like her, who are suffering in silence, and are subject to her apathy, before she asks for their vote. Strong statement that @BJP4Bengal stands with the women of Sandeshkhali and Bengal, Malviya said in a post on X. Advertisement 2 - Abhijit Gangopadhyay The BJP has decided to field Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former judge of Calcutta High Court from the Tamluk seat, which is a stronghold of Suvendu Adhikari, the current Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, and his family. Lets know more about who is Abhijit Gangopadhyay? On March 4, Abhijit Ganguly had announced his decision to resign from his post of judge in Calcutta High Court to make his political plunge and join BJP. He resigned ahead of his retirement later this year. Since 2022, Justice Gangopadhyay posited himself as a crusader against corruption. He is known for his swift judgments in corruption cases, had won both praise and criticism during his tenure as a judge. In April 2023, Gangopadhyay sparked a major controversy by giving an interview to a TV channel when he was hearing a case related to the school jobs for cash scam. He spoke on the alleged role of TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in the matter. The Supreme Court while taking strong objection, had said sitting judges had no business giving interviews to TV channels. As a High Court judge, Gangopadhyay has issued several directives instructing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe allegations of irregularities in the recruitment processes of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools. 3 - Dilip Ghosh Dilip Ghosh, who was the BJPs state president from December 2015 to October 2021, will be contesting for BJP from Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat, which was earlier represented by Surendra Singh Ahluwalia. Ghosh is presently MP from Medinipur constituency. He is known for his straightforward remarks and has often earned both praise and criticism within the party and in social life. He is often credited for the rise of the BJP in the state during his tenure as the state BJP chief. It was during Ghoshs tenure as the party president of the state when BJP won 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and 77 seats in the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021. 4 - Agnimitra Paul A renowned fashion designer-tuned-politician, Agnimitra Paul, who is currently MLA from Asansol South and BJP state general secretary, will be contesting for the party from Lok Sabha seat. Paul, widely recognised as one of the most outspoken BJP leaders, joined the party in 2019 and swiftly became actively involved in protests and campaigns against the ruling TMC following the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She previously served as the president of the West Bengal BJP Mahila Morcha. 5 - Tapas Roy Four-time MLA and a loyalist of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Tapas Roy will now be contesting on BJPs ticket in the Lok Sabha polls 2024 from Kolkata North seat. Earlier this month, Roy switched allegiance to the BJP from TMC. He resigned from all his party positions as well as the Assembly, giving a major blow to West Bengals governing party in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls. He had switched from TMC to BJP due to disagreements over the re-nomination of Sudip Bandopadhyay, the partys five-term MP from the constituency. He served as the deputy chief whip of the West Bengal Assembly but resigned from his position before joining the BJP. As a seasoned politician with deep knowledge of North Kolkata, Roy faces a challenging task in contesting from a constituency with a diverse population, including a significant minority community comprising 30 per cent of the electorate. The TMC has held the seat for three consecutive terms and secured nearly half of the total votes cast in 2019. 6 - Arjun Singh Arjun Singh, known as a strongman in the political circle of North 24 Parganas, will be contesting for BJP from Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming elections. He had won the seat on a BJP ticket in 2019 after being denied an MP ticket from the TMC. After winning the seat by a margin of 14,000 votes, he returned to TMC in 2022 but did not resign as an MP. He went back to BJP this month after being denied the ticket from the Barrackpore seat, known as his pocket borough. There are 42 Lok Sabha seats in the West Bengal. The BJP had, on March 2, announced the name of candidates for 20 seats for the Lok Sabha polls 2024. With inputs from PTI Buc-ee's wall of sweet treats inside the New Braunfels location. Photo by Gabriel Romero Fans of Texas' favorite gas station hoping for some eclipse treats in Central Texas will have to wait a little longer. Once again, the newest beaver-branded gas station has been delayed this year. The Buc-ee's in Hillsboro was expected to open in time to capitalize on the increased traffic from the April 8 total solar eclipse after pushing its initial opening date earlier. However, travelers will be out of luck this spring as construction has continued to delay Buc-ee's' opening, Hillsboro announced in a Facebook post. "Buc-ee's Update: Due to supply issues for construction, the Hillsboro, Buc-ee's no longer plans to be open prior to the eclipse on April 8. We don't have an updated opening date at this time," the city wrote in a social media post. Advertisement Article continues below this ad This isn't the first time the Hillsboro Buc-ee's has been delayed. The location was set to open in January but "general construction" caused a delay, according to a MySA report. Hillsboro Economic Development Administrator Arthur Mann said in the report that Buc-ee's' goal was to open just after Easter Sunday on April 1. The location has already hosted a job fair in Waco for prospective employees. MySA reached out to Buc-ee's representatives to find out when a grand opening date will be, but the company responded in an email saying there is no opening date scheduled as of Monday, March 25. MySA also reached out to the City of Hillsboro for a comment on the delays and a possible opening date. Advertisement Article continues below this ad India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will reduce the time and cost of transporting goods and increase connectivity (cables and pipelines) between Europe, the Middle East, and India. It will make India the hub for supplying South and Southeast Asia, insulating them from Chinas trade aggression Cacio pepe is a pasta dish that has come to signify typical Roman cuisine over time. It is, however, in its simplicity, the witness of millennial trade between India and Italy, the will and need to connect the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Cacio, or pecorino romano, is a cheese that has been traditionally made in the agro romano, the farmland controlled and influenced by Rome. The pepe, or pepper (both longum and nigrium), increased in popularity in Rome around 30 BC, and eventually over 70 per cent of Roman recipes required the use of Indian pepper. Advertisement This simple dish stands for the importance of the trade and trade routes between India and Europe (and Italy), which have been strategically important for over 2,000 years. The first major change in these trade routes was when Constantinople became the hub for trade between Europe and India, once Egypt fell to Islam. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1452 started the race between European powers to find a new route to India. Vasco da Gama, in 1498, discovered a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, landing again in Kerala, from where the Romans used to load their pepper. The third change was the actual creation of the Suez Canal, which brought back the Roman route. Only this time were the Mediterranean and the Red Sea finally connected, rather than shipping goods to Alexandria by land and barge from Berenice. Advertisement The persistence with which Europe has pursued its links with India, eventually leading to European colonisation of India and the Indo-Pacific, has demonstrated the importance of the Europe-India trade routes. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), launched during the G20 in New Delhi in September 2023, only tried to politically secure this trade route by including countries that the United States-New Delhi partnership viewed as politically safe and strategic. Advertisement In one direction, this was an extension of the I2U2, the West Asian Quad, a loose supply chain resilience and trade alliance between the US, UAE, India, and Israel. Securing the trade lanes from Europe and the Middle East to India automatically increased supply chain resilience in the Indo-Pacific and ASEAN. Advertisement Ships today deliver crude from the UAE and Saudi Arabia to Indias west coast ports, which have important refineries. A future extension of the IMEC could see refined products supplied by pipeline to Indias ports on the east coast and Bay of Bengal to supply countries in South and Southeast Asia. Advertisement Eventually, not only will IMEC reduce the time and cost of transporting goods and increase connectivity (cables and pipelines) between Europe, the Middle East, and India, but it will also make India the hub for supplying South and Southeast Asia, insulating them from Chinas trade aggression. IMEC disrupted trade between India and Europe again and continues to be a priority for all governments involved, including France, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, and the United States. Italy, which is a founding signatory of the IMEC MoU, Rome, whose typical dish is the mascot of the Europe-India trade, still has to make a move. France has appointed a IMEC special envoy in February 2024; the UAE-India framework for the IMEC has been signed in the same month; and Saudi Arabia has kept discussing normalisation with Israel despite the Israel-Hamas conflict. The European Union and Italy have not yet made a move. During this period of silence from the EU, another important development occurred that was largely ignored in Europe. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA)-India Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). The EFTA is composed of four countries: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway, which constitute the European Economic Community but not the European Union. The EFTA-India TEPA, signed after a 15 year negotiation, not only promises $100 billion in investment into India from these countries but also reduces duty on over 90 per cent of products exported between both sides. For Italian exports to India, especially from northern Italy, this could be of great advantage for the private sector, but would weaken Italys own contribution. It would encourage Italian businesses to open a final mile in Swiss free zones, as products such as coffee, machinery, and technology with a Swiss certificate of origin would attract much reduced or waived duty in India. The TEPA makes Swiss equipment competitive with Chinese equipment in several cases in India due to customs duty reduction or elimination. To maintain this advantage, the EFTA states will invest $100 billion in India in the next 15 years, creating over 1 million jobs. While the EFTA managed to conclude its free trade agreement, the European Union-India FTA still languishes, creating a huge disadvantage for Italian and European companies. The EU-India FTA is fundamental for the final success of the IMEC, as is Italys role as the final destination of the IMEC from Haifa. If Italy is able to negotiate Taranto and Trieste as the two final terminals of IMEC into Europe, it will develop the future of Tarantos port, which was recently abandoned by China, and reestablish Trieste as the gateway to northern and eastern Europe. IMEC is not just connectivity or a trade route; it is the future-proofing of Europe, the Middle East, and Indias connectivity, energy, and supply chain resilience from a list of enemies, from China to the Muslim Brotherhood. History has taught us that religion, politics, and trade are intertwined, and for the Italy-India trade story to triumph again, the success of both the trade route (IMEC) and the EU-India free trade agreement is essential. Sometimes politics is as simple as cacio-pepe. The author is an Indo-Italian entrepreneur and has over 24 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience across a wide range of disciplines including pharmaceuticals, technology, renewable energy, strategic consulting, not-for-profit and development in over 30 countries. He is also the founder of the Dialogue on Democracy. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. Its not just Kautilyas Mandala theory that makes Pakistan and China eternal enemies of Bharat. For the uninitiated, it must be reiterated that the Mandala theory, as explained in Arthashastra, makes it categorically clear that an immediate neighbour cannot be ones natural friend or ally. They would be naturally susceptible to being upset and agitated, prone to gratuitous rivalry and one-upmanship, and bugged by an innate sense of jealousy even while sharing a similar ideological worldview. What further goes against Pakistan and China, in particular, is while the very raison detre of Islamabads existence is anti-India-ismyou remove it and the very rationale of that countrys very presence goes awaythe latter is a pale shadow of its old, civilisational self, especially since 1949. Advertisement To confuse todays China with the historic, civilisational China would be a blunder of epic proportionssomething Jawaharlal Nehru compulsively committed during his 17 years as Prime Minister. The old China shared with Bharat a guru-shishya relationship, and not that of a geostrategic rivalas has been the case today. The difference between the two Chinas is so glaring that while the old one would fight battles with its neighbours for acquiring knowledgein fact, one Chinese ruler chose to invade a neighbouring state simply because the latter refused to part ways with a Sanskrit scholarthe post-1949 China has been obsessively fighting for land and resources. While the old China was hungry for knowledge, todays China has had an insatiable appetite for power. When one adds this genetic reorientation of China with communist doublespeak and the result is outright dangerous, to say the least. In 2012, Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary and one of the best minds on China in current times, narrated a story during a public lecture. Referring to a conversation between former Secretary-General, Ministry of External Affairs, RK Nehru, and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai in 1962, just before the big war, Saran said, RK Nehru drew attention to reports that China was leaning towards the Pakistani position that Jammu & Kashmir was a disputed territory. He recalled to Chou an earlier conversation, where when asked whether China accepted Indian sovereignty over J&K, he had said rhetorically has China ever said that it does not accept Indian sovereignty over J&K, or words to that effect. At this latest encounter, Chou turned the same formulation on its head, to ask: Has China ever said that India has sovereignty over J&K? Advertisement This is todays China, hegemonic, imperialistic and hypocritical. Seeing Nehru deal with this China as if he were dealing with a civilisational one, one realises how naive and imprudent the first prime minister was in his dealing with Mao Zedong and his men, especially Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. One is well aware of Nehrus Tibetan folly (forget about rallying the world against Chinas invasion of Tibet, about which the US was extensively worried and agitated in the 1950s, Nehrus India actually helped the PLA take over the Roof of the World by providing them with rice when they faced food scarcity up there). So has been the case with the Nehruvian rebuffing of the UN Security Council seat, saying China should get it first. Former foreign secretary MK Rasgotra in his 2016 book, A Life in Diplomacy, too exposed how Nehru refused then President JF Kennedys offer to take the American help to nuclearise India. Kennedy wanted democratic India to become the first nuclear power in Asia, beating communist China, but Nehru the idealist had other plans. Advertisement Now Vijay Gokhale has come up with a new book, Crosswinds, which provides another aspect of Nehruvian folly vis-a-vis China. Among other things, the book brings out quite eloquently the undue haste on the part of the Nehru dispensation to grant official recognition to Maos China, at Britains behest, and against the wishes of the United States. The book, in that way, can be said to be an extension of Gokhales previous work, The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India, which cites the hurried recognition of the communist state as one of the major diplomatic failures of the Nehruvian State. Advertisement Crosswinds: Nehru, Zhou and the Anglo-American Competition over China | Author: Vijay Gokhale | Publisher: Vintage Books While the previous book confines itself at explaining how Nehruvian Indias haste in recognising Maos China was a diplomatic naivete, Crosswinds takes the narrative forward to let the readers know about the conniving role played by Britain in pushing Nehru towards recognising communist China at the earliest. This was against the American thinking which didnt want India to recognise in a hurry. The feeling in the UK in the late 1940s grew that, writes Gokhale, far from trying to create a joint Anglo-American policy on China, the US was paying scant attention to British interests when crafting its China policy. Advertisement To add to it, Britain had by then realised that the US would not be able to stem the communist rise in China. Also, it could see the Chinese not joining the Soviet forces, thus the British dispensation, unlike its American counterpart, wasnt particularly alarmed by Maos rise. Writes Gokhale, In May 1949, the British government advised other Commonwealth governments, including the Government of India, that while they watched and waited for the communists to make the first move, any appearance of ganging up against them should be avoided. In the case of India, however, this was not the major concern for the British. Noel-Baker had reported to the cabinet that Nehrus tendency was to write down the menace from that direction (communists). Britain played both ways: To the Americans it said that Nehru was too tied up internally to play any role in China. And to the Indians, it said that China was largely an America problem with which India should not get involved. To quote Gokhale again, Britain understood well that if the US got Indias support for its China policy (which was to delay recognising the new communist regime), Nehrus stature and capacity to influence other Asian states and the Commonwealth members could potentially jeopardise British interests in the Far East. Just before Nehrus official US visit in 1950, the US Ambassador to India categorically told the Ministry of External Affairs that there should be no haste in recognition (of the) regime. Among the four reasons, one categorically asked New Delhi top seek convincing evidence from Beijing that such recognition would result in marked improvement in Indias ability to protect its interests. Interestingly, even when Nehru was on his official visit to the US, Britain left no stone unturned to convince India of the correctness of the British position and to persuade India to follow suit. Britain, thus, played a sinister role in not just encouraging India to officially recognise Maos China in a haste, but also created a deep wedge between New Delhi and Washington DC. One wonders how the Chinese saga would have unfolded had India not pursued the Nehruvian self-goal. Interestingly, as one ponders over this, a news report appears saying the Biden Administration has backed New Delhi on Arunachal Pradesh, calling the Northeastern state an integral part of India. Winds are blowing again in Bharats favour. Its leadership must take advantage of this situation and let the country sail fast in the sea of development, strength and prosperity. Above all, new India must correct its notion of enemy (shatru bhava). Even if the West may not have enough prerequisites to be Bharats ally, it is in the latters interest to create an honourable space for itself in the Western global order. As for the enemies, remember Chanakyas Mandala theory and be wary of Pakistan and China: One is born out of anti-India-ism, while the other just cannot see itself excelling in a world order where Bharat is thriving. And, yes, the country must keep a healthy scepticism for anything coming out of the British island. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views. The International Astronomical Unions working group of Planetary System Nomenclature has officially approved the monicker Statio Shiv Shakti for the landing site of ISROs Chandrayaan-3, after almost 7 months the name was proposed Its finally official. Approximately seven months after Prime Minister Modi suggested naming the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon as Shiv Shakti, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially approved the name Statio Shiv Shakti. The working group for Planetary System Nomenclature of the IAU approved the name for the iconic landing site of Chandrayaan-3s Vikram lander on March 19, 2024. Advertisement According to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, a comprehensive repository detailing planetary names endorsed by the IAU, the official approval states: The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Statio Shiv Shakti for the landing site of Chandrayaan-3s Vikram lander. According to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature announcement, the name Statio Shiv Shakti derives from Indian mythology, symbolizing the dual nature of masculine (represented by Shiva) and feminine (represented by Shakti). This name has been attributed to the landing site of Chandrayaan-3s Vikram lander. The IAU is often acknowledged as the global authority for assigning names to planetary surface features. For this, the IAU has to adhere to specific rules and conventions in this process. For example, Rule 4 emphasizes the international nature of solar system nomenclature, with final name selection resting with the IAU, while Rule 9 prohibits the use of names with political, military, or religious significance, except for those of political figures predating the 19th century. Advertisement When he announced the name of the landing site on August 26, PM Modi gave the rationale behind the name Shiv Shakti. In Shiva, theres a resolution for humanitys welfare and Shakti gives us strength to fulfil those resolutions. This Shiva Shakti Point of Moon also gives a sense of connection with the Himalaya to Kanyakumari, PM Modi had said. Advertisement In addition to naming the Chandrayaan-3 landing site as Shiva Shakti, PM Modi back in August had declared that the spot where Chandrayaan-2 made its mark would be known as Tiranga. He expressed that this designation would serve as a source of inspiration for Indias endeavours and a reminder that setbacks do not signify defeat. Advertisement Fifteen years prior to Chandrayaan-3s soft landing, Indias Chandrayaan-1 missions moon impact probe (MIP) touched down on November 14, 2008. The designated name for the impact site, Jawahar Point or Jawahar Sthal, was communicated to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The Astrogeology Science Centre of the U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the IAU and with funding from NASA, maintains the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature, serving as a vital resource for planetary naming conventions and approvals. Advertisement (With inputs from agencies) In response to growing sanctions on tech products from US and its allies, China has unveiled new guidelines that effectively bans Intel and AMD products from computers on government operated networks and systems China has unveiled guidelines aimed at phasing out U.S. microprocessors from government personal computers and servers, as reported by the Financial Times on Sunday. The directive also aims to sideline Microsofts Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favour of domestic alternatives. According to the report, government agencies above the township level have been instructed to prioritize safe and reliable processors and operating systems in their procurement processes. Advertisement Chinas industry ministry issued a statement in late December listing CPUs, operating systems, and centralized databases deemed safe and reliable for a three-year period, all sourced from Chinese companies, Reuters checks confirmed. The State Council Information Office, responsible for media queries for Chinas cabinet, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did Intel nor AMD immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. This move comes amidst efforts by the US to boost domestic semiconductor production and reduce reliance on China and Taiwan, as outlined in the Biden administrations 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. The act aims to bolster US semiconductors and offers financial aid for domestic production, including subsidies for the manufacturing of advanced chips. While reports suggest Israel is now willing to release as many as 800 prisoners, including 100 inmates convicted of murder, a response from Hamas will take several days due to difficulties in communicating with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be in hiding beneath southern Gaza A man holds a sign calling for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas militants to Gaza during the 7 October attack, during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 20 January, 2024. AP File Softening its earlier position, Israel has indicated its willing to release hundreds more Palestinian prisoners than initially agreed to in an initial phase of an accord, with Israeli officials giving even odds to chances of reaching a deal. Right now, were feeling 50/50 about the chances for a deal, The Times of Israel quoted an Israeli official as saying. Advertisement Israeli and American officials involved in the discussions returned to their respective countries following their trip to Doha for negotiation purposes. However, sources in Jerusalem refrained from fostering any premature optimism regarding the potential for a breakthrough. Despite indications of progress after months of meticulous deliberations, caution prevails regarding the outcome, according to a Times of Israel report. Another Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Sunday that Israel had accepted a recent US compromise proposal during the talks, which has been sent to Hamas. The official did not say what the proposal entailed, but reports suggested it was willing to nearly double the number of security inmates it had already agreed to release in exchange for 40 hostages women, children, the sick and elderly in the first phase of a 6-week truce deal, added the report. Advertisement Israel is now willing to release as many as 800 prisoners, including 100 inmates convicted of murder, according to a report carried by Channel 12 news. Other Hebrew media reports suggested Israel was prepared to release 700 security prisoners in return for the 40. However, it is anticipated that receiving a response from Hamas will take several days due to difficulties in communicating with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is believed to be in hiding beneath southern Gaza. Advertisement Israeli officials have indicated that Hamass political leadership in Qatar lacks the authority to accept or reject a deal without Sinwars approval, which has slowed down the negotiation process. Mossad chief David Barnea, Israels top official involved in the talks, flew back from Qatar late Saturday night, along with Shin Bet security agency director Ronen Bar and Israel Defence Forces point man Nitzan Alon, though a lower-level team hashing out technical details remained in the Gulf state. Advertisement CIA director Bill Burns departed Doha as well, a source briefed on the talks told AFP. A framework deal Israel agreed to in Paris last month included the willingness to release 400 security inmates in the first phase of the deal. An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that the main sticking point in talks has been the number of high-value prisoners Israel will release in exchange for female soldiers. Advertisement According to a report in Al Jazeera Saturday, Hamas has demanded that 30 Palestinian security prisoners sentenced by Israel to life imprisonment for terror offenses be released for every single female IDF soldier currently being held by the terror group in Gaza. The report said Israel in its response offered five such prisoners per female soldier, and has also insisted that in the first phase of any deal, 40 abductees must be released from across all categories of hostages, including elderly and younger men. The Qatar-based broadcaster reported that Israel was also insisting on the right to exile high-value security prisoners released under the deal to locations outside the West Bank and Gaza, a condition that Hamas has rejected in the past. According to Channel 12, Israel showed increased flexibility as well by being willing to discuss allowing Palestinian civilians to return to northern Gaza, a first. Quoting an unnamed senior source close to the talks, the channel reported that Israel has offered the return of 2,000 Gazans a day to the north, beginning two weeks after an agreement goes into effect and a temporary ceasefire begins. The source said there would be unspecified conditions for a return to the north of the Strip, which Israel demanded civilians evacuate from in the beginning of the war as fighting focused on Hamass seat of power in Gaza City and its environs. Men would likely not be permitted to return, according to the report, which added that Israel continued to reject Hamas demands for a full military withdrawal and a permanent ceasefire. Israel refuses to agree on a comprehensive ceasefire and refuses the complete withdrawal of its forces from Gaza, A Hamas official told AFP over the weekend. The official added that Israel had indicated it wanted to keep matters of relief, shelter and aid under its control, and was demanding that the United Nations not return to work, especially in the northern Gaza Strip. With inputs from agencies This warning, the second of its kind from the Chinese foreign ministry in three months, comes as tensions rise between the two nations over territorial disputes in the Spratly Islands, located in the South China Sea China issued a cautionary message to the Philippines Monday, urging them to exercise caution and pursue dialogue as their relations reach a critical juncture amidst escalating confrontations between their coastguards over maritime claims. This warning, the second of its kind from the Chinese foreign ministry in three months, comes as tensions rise between the two nations over territorial disputes in the Spratly Islands, located in the South China Sea. Advertisement Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong conveyed this message during a phone call with his Philippine counterpart, Theresa Lazaro. The call focused on the recent incidents at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, where friction has intensified. According to a statement from Lazaros ministry, she expressed Manilas strong protest against the aggressive actions of the China Coast Guard and maritime militia during a Philippines resupply mission in the South China Sea. Chen said in a statement: China once again urges the Philippines to honour its commitments and consensus, stop its maritime abuses and provocations, stop any unilateral actions that may complicate the situation, and earnestly return to the right track of properly handling differences through dialogue and consultation with China. The Philippines accused Chinas coastguard of using water cannon against a civilian boat supplying troops on Saturday at the Second Thomas Shoal, which it said had damaged the boat and injured some crew. Advertisement It was the latest in a series of flare-ups in the past year. The Philippines foreign ministry summoned Chinas charge daffaires in Manila on Monday to protest at aggressive actions in the wake of the incident. Chinas continued interference with the Philippines routine and lawful activities in its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is unacceptable, it said in a separate statement, adding that a diplomatic protest had been lodged in Beijing. Advertisement It infringes upon the Philippines sovereign rights and jurisdiction, it said, demanding Chinese vessels quit the area. Chinas coastguard said on Saturday it had taken necessary measures against Philippine vessels intruding in its waters. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, including the Second Thomas Shoal, which is within the Philippines 200-mile (320-km) EEZ. Advertisement The Philippines intentionally grounded an old warship at the shoal in 1999 as a means of bolstering its territorial claims and has kept a small contingent of military there ever since. Chinas foreign ministry said on Monday the Philippines had reneged on a promise to tow away the ship, violating the commitments it has made to the Chinese side on many occasions. Advertisement The Philippines has repeatedly denied making any such commitment and said it will not abandon its position at the Second Thomas Shoal. China has deployed hundreds of coastguard vessels throughout the South China Sea to patrol what it deems its waters, despite a 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in a case brought by Manila that said the claim had no basis under international law. China has refused to recognise that outcome. Philippine security chiefs convened a high-level meeting on Monday over the reported water cannon incident to prepare recommendations to put to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on ways forward in the dispute. CHINA SUSPICIOUS OF US-PHILIPPINES ENGAGEMENT Since taking power in 2022, Marcos has adopted a tough line against what he sees as Chinese hostility and rejected Chinese pressure to steer clear of maritime features it claims. China views with suspicion efforts by Marcos to deepen engagement with defence treaty ally the United States, including increasing base access for U.S. troops and expanding military exercises to include joint air and sea patrols. Washington has said it stands with the Philippines as it condemned the dangerous actions of China. Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and Australia have also issued statements of support for the Philippines. The U.S. is not a party to the South China Sea issue but repeatedly intervened, provoked the maritime issues between China and the Philippines, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press conference on Monday. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro suggested on Monday that China should prove the strength of its maritime claims through arbitration, rather than ambiguity. If China is not afraid to state its claims to the world, then why dont we arbitrate under international law? Philippines Teodoro told reporters. No country believes (their claims) and they see this as their way to use force, intimidate and bend the Philippines to their ambitions. With inputs from Reuters Government agents have apprehended around 75,000 alleged criminals under the clause, many of whom are being held captive in the biggest jail in the Americas, which Bukele had custom-built. Approximately 7,000 were later released President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador declared on Sunday that 6,000 armed troops and law enforcement personnel had been sent to the countrys north to apprehend gang members following the murders of two individuals. In March 2022, Bukele declared a state of emergency that suspended certain civil freedoms, including the requirement for arrest warrants. This marked the beginning of his war on gangs. Advertisement Government agents have apprehended around 75,000 alleged criminals under the clause, many of whom are being held captive in the biggest jail in the Americas, which Bukele had custom-built. Approximately 7,000 were later released. We are not going to stop until we eradicate what little remains of the gangs, Bukele warned on social media platform X, which included a video of heavily armed troops parading a pair of captured men. He added that 5,000 soldiers and 1,000 police officers had surrounded the districts of San Jose Cancasque, San Antonio Los Ranchos, Potonico and San Isidro Labrador. Bukele said the action was a response to two homicides in the countrys north, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of capital San Salvador, and that two culprits from the Surenos faction of the 18th Street gang had been captured. Advertisement We will completely clean the area, we will extract every last remnant of gangs, Defence Minister Rene Francis Merino Monroy said in a separate post on X. Bukele was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote in February and is widely credited with slashing homicides to the lowest rate in three decades. Advertisement His tactics have been praised by crime-weary authorities from Ecuador to Argentina, but criticized by rights activists who argue innocent people have been swept up in the anti-crime campaign. In wake of deadly attack at a concert hall in Moscow, France has beefed up its security and heightened patrolling measures. With just four months remaining in Olympics 2024, Paris wants to leave no stone unturned to avert any terror attack France has raised its terror alert to the highest level and has beefed up security after a catastrophic concert hall attack in Russias Moscow last week killed over 140 people. The decision comes as Paris is gearing up to host the 2024 Olympic Games. The European country will increase armed patrolling, including patrols by military personnel in public areas such as train stations, airports, and religious sites. Advertisement Threats weighing on France Prime Minister Gabriel Attal took to X to announce the terror alert after a security cabinet meeting, attended by President Emmanuel Macron. Given the Islamic States claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the [national security alert] to the highest level: Attack Emergency, Attal wrote in his post. A la suite de lattentat de Moscou, un Conseil de Defense et de Securite nationale a ete reuni ce soir a lElysee par le President de la Republique. Compte tenu de la revendication de lattentat par letat islamique et des menaces qui pesent sur notre pays, nous avons decide de Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 24, 2024 Advertisement France has three levels in its terror alert system, the highest level is declared if it is assumed that an attack is imminent. Advertisement The French capital has also scaled down its 2024 Olympic opening ceremony plans which will take place in July on the River Seine, amid concerns over a theoretical Islamist terror attack. For many years France has been under several attacks by Islamist State terrorists. In 2015, IS terrorists attacked the Bataclan concert hall in Paris, cafes, and Frances national stadium killing 130 people, in the deadliest peacetime attack in French history. Advertisement What happened in Moscow last week? Last Friday, at Crocus City Hall concert hall in Russia, terrorists from the Afghanistan-based Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) group began shooting at concert-goers with automatic rifles killing 137 innocent people and injuring 140. Russian authorities have largely ignored ISISs claim of responsibility and instead suggested that Ukraine was behind the attack. Ukraine has denied any involvement, with American officials saying there is no evidence connecting Kyiv to the concert hall attack. Advertisement Russian officials have detained at least 11 people, for being directly involved in the attack. However, they have not identified the assailants or their motives, but say the suspects are foreign nationals President Vladimir Putin vowed to track down those behind the attack. In an address, he said, All the perpetrators, organisers and those who ordered this crime will be justly and inevitably punished. Whoever they are, whoever is guiding them, Putin said. We will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this strike against Russia, against our people. Previous attempts for a ceasefire have been vetoed by the US, but it has expressed increasing dissatisfaction with Israel despite its declared intentions to extend its military operation to the crowded southern city of Rafah The resolution requests that the ceasefire result in a "lasting, sustainable ceasefire" and that the captives taken on October 7 by Hamas and other militants be released Image Courtesy AFP The United States, an ally of Israel that has vetoed earlier drafts, abstained, and the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the first time on Monday urged an immediate ceasefire after more than five months of fighting. Drawing unusual applause in the often staid United Nations Security Council (UNSC), all 14 other members voted in favor of the resolution which demands an immediate ceasefire for the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Advertisement The resolution requests that the ceasefire result in a lasting, sustainable ceasefire and that the captives taken on October 7 by Hamas and other militants be released. Russia abruptly took issue with the phrase permanent ceasefire being removed and sought a vote, which was unsuccessful in passing. Algeria, the current Security Council member of the Arab bloc, collaborated with a wide range of nations, including Slovenia and Switzerland, to craft the victorious resolution. Previous attempts for a ceasefire have been vetoed by the US, but it has expressed increasing dissatisfaction with Israel despite its declared intentions to extend its military operation to the crowded southern city of Rafah. Friday marked a shift in the United States attitude toward its Middle Eastern ally, as it proposed a resolution recognizing the imperative of a immediate and sustained ceasefire. Advertisement However, China and Russia vetoed that document, criticizing it along with Arab states for not going so far as to urge that Israel immediately end its attack in Gaza. In an effort to strike a balance between providing Israel with military support and expressing dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip rises, the United States has repeatedly rejected ceasefire resolutions. Advertisement In contrast to the text from Friday, the new resolutions request for a ceasefire has nothing to do with the ongoing negotiationswhich are being spearheaded by Qatar with assistance from Egypt and the United Statesto end hostilities in exchange for Hamas freeing its hostages. The Security Council has drawn criticism from Israel for earlier decisions that did not expressly denounce Hamas. Advertisement Approximately 1,160 persons, primarily civilians, lost their lives in the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant Hamas, according to an AFP count of Israeli casualties. Additionally, the terrorists took 250 hostages, of whom Israel estimates that 130 are still in Gaza, 33 of whom are thought to be dead. Advertisement The health ministry in the zone controlled by Hamas reports that over 32,000 individuals have died as a result of Israels military effort to destroy Hamas, the majority of them were women and children. Since the attacks on October 7, the Security Council has been divided on the Israel-Hamas conflict, passing only two of eight resolutions, both of which centered on humanitarian assistance. Furthermore, it appears that the resolutions have had no impact on the ground, where UN staff report that Israel is still obstructing aid convoys despite experts warnings of impending starvation. (With agency inputs) Replying to Pakistans criticism, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh said, lectures by a country which has an abysmal track record of democracy is laughable, to say the least During the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held in Geneva in Switzerland, India delivered a sharp critique of Pakistan, underlining the irony of receiving lectures on democracy from a nation notorious for its democratic deficiencies and its sponsorship of terrorism across borders. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, representing India, used his right of reply to address Pakistans criticisms of India directly. Advertisement Harivansh underscored Indias status as the worlds most populous democracy, which is widely regarded as an exemplar worth following. He remarked, lectures by a country which has an abysmal track record of democracy is laughable, to say the least. It would have been better if Pakistan did not undermine the importance of a platform like IPU by such absurd allegations and false narratives. In response to Pakistans claims concerning Jammu and Kashmir, the Deputy Chairman reiterated Indias steadfast position regarding its territories. He declared that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh are, and forever will be, inseparable parts of India. He said, no amount of rhetoric and propaganda from anyone can override this fact. Instead, Pakistan would be well advised to stop its terror factories that continue to launch countless cross-border terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir while farcically claiming to champion the cause of human rights. Advertisement Harivansh also pointed out Pakistans documented history of supporting terrorism, reminding the international community of significant instances that link Pakistan with global terrorism. Let me recall that Osama Bin Laden, the face of global terror, was found in Pakistan. The country holds the ignoble record of hosting one of the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the UN Security Council, he stated. Advertisement He concluded with a hopeful note that Islamabad might reflect on its actions and chart a course beneficial for its populations well-being. Leading the Indian delegation, Harivanshs statements at the IPU were a direct condemnation of Pakistans actions and narrative regarding Jammu and Kashmir and its broader approach to terrorism and democracy. Advertisement With inputs from agencies Shell gas station prices are seen on May 30, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Gas prices begin to rise nationally, but remain lower than prices around this time last year. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Decades after helping establish Houston's reputation as the Energy Capital of the World, oil and gas giant Shell is shifting its focus. The company recently published its Energy Transition Strategy 2024 report and announced it will be getting rid of about 1,000 gas stations over the next two years and funneling resources to expanding services for electric vehicles (EVs), journalist Suvrat Kothari wrote for InsideEVs. "We are upgrading our retail network, with expanded electric vehicle charging and convenience offers, in response to changing customer needs," read the report cited by Kothari. "In total, we plan to divest around 500 Shell-owned sites (including joint ventures) a year in 2024 and 2025." That comes out to about 4 percent of the total number Shell-owned sites, per Kothari. The company also set a goal of cutting down customers' carbon emissions from 2021, which was 569 million tonnes, by 25-30 percent by 2030. "Our target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 remains at the heart of our strategy," the report stated. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In its strategic vision, Shell outlined a goal to almost quadruple its number of public charging stations. "We aim to increase the number of public charge points we operate to around 200,000 by 2030, from around 54,000 today," executives wrote in the report. They cited Shell's vast global network of service stations as a major competitive advantage. "We have other competitive advantages, such as our convenience retail offering which allows us to offer our customers coffee, food and other convenience items as they charge their cars." Shell will primarily focus on expanding EV service stations in China and Europe, where growing demand is highest, officials said in the report. Just six months ago in September 2023, Shell opened its largest EV charging station in Shenzhen, China, in partnership with Chinese automaker BYD. It's not clear which Shell locations will be taken offline and whether Houston stations will be impacted. The Bayou City has long been an oil and gas hub, but there's been a recent push to go electric. One report from the Environment America Research and Policy Center found that investing in EVs instead of gas-powered fleets could yield the state of Texas about $864 million in lifetime savings. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2020, then Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the city's climate action plan, which included a call to convert all nonemergency, light-duty municipal vehicles to EVs by 2030. Houston leaders have made little progress in the years since, according to the Chronicle's Yilun Cheng. She reported in February that battery-powered and plug-in EVs and hybrid vehicles only make up about 10 percent of the city's nonemergency, light-duty fleet. Kyiv said that Russian drones had attacked the southern areas of Mykolaiv and Odesa, as both nations maintained their recent blitz of midnight aerial raids on energy infrastructure behind the front lines A Russian drone strike on southern Ukraine injured almost a dozen people, authorities said Monday, while a fire broke out at a major Russian power facility when Ukrainian drones targeted the region. Kyiv said that Russian drones had attacked the southern areas of Mykolaiv and Odesa, as both nations maintained their recent blitz of midnight aerial raids on energy infrastructure behind the front lines. Advertisement The enemy attacked Odesa region with attack drones once again, Governor Oleg Kiper said in a post on Telegram in the early hours of Monday. Energy infrastructure has been damaged and there is no electricity supply in parts of Odesa (city), he added. In an interview with national TV, Ukrainian army spokesperson Nataliya Gumenyuk reported that a Russian drone assault had injured about eleven persons in the southern city of Mykolaiv. Following a flurry of Ukrainian drone strikes in the vicinity, a fire broke out at a power plant in the southern province of Rostov, according to the local governor. Governor Vasily Golubev said in a Telegram message that two power units of the Novocherkassk power station, one of the largest in southwest Russia, had been turned off. Advertisement A fire broke out at the transformer substation which was promptly put out, he said. Two power units of the power plant have been temporarily taken out of operation, he added. The Rostov region borders Ukraine and the regional capital is home to Russias military command headquarters for its offensive on Kyiv. Advertisement There were no casualties. The causes of the fire are being investigated, Golubev said. Russias defence ministry reported downing 11 Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region. On social media, videos circulated purporting to show several large blasts in the vicinity of the power plant. The flea market in Israels Tel Aviv saw thousands of Indians and Israelis coming together to celebrate heritage and cultures from both countries. Holi and the Jewish festival of Purim share numerous cultural similarities People celebrate Holi and Jewish festival Purim in Tel Aviv, Israel. Source: Embassy of India in Israel Over 2,000 Indians and Israelis celebrated Holi and the Jewish festival of Purim in Israels Tel Aviv enjoying the fusion of Indian and Israeli cultures. Thousands sipped Chai as they enjoyed dancing to Indian music. Many were seen wearing desi dresses, henna, and calligraphy in Hindi at Tel Avivs flea market, including Israelis of Indian origin and Indian students, from all over the country. Advertisement The India in flea market event organised by the Tel Aviv municipality in association with the Indian mission in Israel celebrated the two festivals which more or less fall on the same day every year, or at the most with a difference of a day before or after. The Indian festival of Holi, often referred to as the festival of colors, and the Jewish festival of Purim, characterized by vibrant attire and communal celebrations, share numerous similarities. VIDEO | People celebrate Holi and Jewish festival Purim in Tel Aviv, #Israel.#Holi #Purim (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/uV6wE75zfE Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 25, 2024 Advertisement Both festivals are celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil. Both festivals are celebrated around the same time- the arrival of spring and the end of winter. Both festivals are celebrated outdoors where communities come together, dance, sing, eat and make fun in a spirit of togetherness, a participant noted. Advertisement The event was attended by Deputy Chief of Mission, Rajiv Bodwade, and Rafi Shushan, CEO of Mishlama Leyafo from the Tel Aviv Yafo Municipality. In association with #TelAvivYafo Municipality, the Embassy of India celebrated India in Flea Market event on the occasion of #Holi and #Purim festivals. Over 2000 visitors enjoyed Indian dance, classical music, Indian dresses, henna, calligraphy in Hindi & Indian Chai. pic.twitter.com/VbWtz4ZsGM India in Israel (@indemtel) March 24, 2024 Advertisement There was also a classical Indian instrumental music performance called Trikundram, enacted by three Israeli artists who played Bansuri, Tabla and Sitar, and an Indian classical dance performance by Israeli artists. Advertisement Henna stalls attracted many women visitors who enjoyed Mehendi drawing on their palms. Calligraphy stalls writing names of visitors in Hindi also was a hit among youngsters. A dress corner was also set up showcasing Indian costumes to the visitors. The visitors dressed up in Indian costumes took photographs at the selfie points and drank Indian Chai giving the event a sense of Purim celebrations. The news from North Korea elicited no instant response from the Japanese administration. Kim Yo Jong, a senior official and Kims sister, stated in a statement released by state media that Kishida communicated his desire to have an early face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong Un through an unidentified route In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, supervises artillery firing drills in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. Korea News Service via AP, File North Korea announced on Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had suggested holding a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The North had encouraged Japan to be sincere in its efforts to strengthen bilateral relations and have the first summit between the two nations in around 20 years. Advertisement The news from North Korea elicited no instant response from the Japanese administration. Kim Yo Jong, a senior official and Kims sister, stated in a statement released by state media that Kishida communicated his desire to have an early face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong Un through an unidentified route. Kim Yo Jong stated that as long as Kishidas administration brings up the subject of Japanese nationals kidnapped to North Korea in previous decades and opposes what she called the Norths exercise of sovereign rights, presumably alluding to the Norths weapons testing operations, there wont be any progress in relations between North Korea and Japan. If Japan continues to try to interfere with our exercise of our sovereign rights, and continues to be preoccupied with the abduction issue, of which there is nothing more to resolve or investigate, then the prime ministers (offer for talks) will inevitably be labeled as just an attempt to improve his popularity, she said. Advertisement As long as Japan is hostile toward (North Korea) and infringes our sovereign rights, we will consider it as an enemy that is within our target, not as a friend, Kim Yo Jong said. The prime minister should know that he wont be able to meet the leadership of our country just because he wants to or just because hes determined to. Advertisement In February, Kim Yo Jong issued a similar statement on bilateral ties, saying North Korea was open to improving relationships with Japan and even inviting Kishida to Pyongyang. But she said those would be possible only if Tokyo drops its bad habit of unreasonably pulling up (North Korea) over its legitimate right to self-defense and does not lay such a stumbling block as the already settled abduction issue. Advertisement Kishida has said previously that he believes a summit with Kim Jong Un is important in various ways, including solving the problem of the abducted Japanese citizens. Japanese media reported he said he wasnt aware of the North Korean announcement when he was asked about it in parliament Monday. Some experts say North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken a trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington security partnership, while Kishida also wants better ties with North Korea to increase his declining approval rating at home. Advertisement The U.S. and South Korea have been expanding their military drills and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Koreas provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. The North Korean weapons tested in recent years included nuclear-capable missiles designed to strike key facilities in Japan as well as those in South Korea and the mainland U.S. North Korea and Japan dont have diplomatic ties, and their relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear program, the Norths past abduction of Japanese nationals and Japans 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in an unprecedented 2002 summit between Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped 13 Japanese, mainly to train spies in Japanese language and culture. It allowed five of them to return to Japan that year, but said the others had died. Japan thinks at least some of them may still be alive, and believes hundreds more may also have been abducted. Earlier Monday, North Koreas state media reported that Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea. A lockdown would be inevitable to some degree, until governments, scientists and healthcare workers know more about an emerging virus and how it spreads, an expert said The world has not forgotten horrors of COVID-19 that became a deadly pandemic claiming scores of lives and infecting a large number of population worldwide. As people across the globe grapples to bounce back to normalcy, experts have warned that next pandemic could strike anytime. There are chances of virus getting transmitted from animal to humans, causing a pandemic again, a report by Sky News quoted infectious disease experts in the UK as saying. Advertisement The experts have not specified any timeline of future pandemic, if any, but have exhorted not to let the guards down, the report said. Preparing for the future: Anticipating another pandemic Hinting at the possibility of future pandemics, experts warn of the need for vigilance and preparedness. Factors such as global warming and deforestation increase the likelihood of viral or bacterial outbreaks, underscoring the importance of proactive measures to mitigate risks. Were creating a situation that is rife for outbreaks, Dr Nathalie MacDermott, clinical lecturer in infectious diseases at Kings College London, was quoted as saying in the report. I know that COVID was very hard for people and we want to believe we can just go back to normal and I understand that entirely, Dr MacDermott said. Advertisement When another pandemic can hit the world But the next pandemic is around the corner - it might be two years, it could be 20 years, it could be longer - but we cant afford to let our guards down. We need to stay vigilant, prepared and ready to make sacrifices again, Dr MacDermott said. Advertisement Why a pandemic again? Dr MacDermott went on to say that by cutting down trees in the Amazon and parts of Africa, animals and insects are moving closer to homes of people. Also, with rising temperatures, outbreaks of mosquito and tick-borne viruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) are happening in parts of Europe rarely seen before. Advertisement As temperatures increase around the world, even the UK will become an area where its possible for those types of mosquitoes to live, she said. Lockdown dynamics: Contemplating restrictions & compliance Whether possible pandemic could lead to lockdown, Dr MacDermott said until the government, scientists and healthcare workers know more about an emerging virus and how it spreads, a lockdown would be inevitable to some degree. Advertisement However, the prospect of another lockdown prompts discussions on its potential duration and severity. Experts advocate for investments in mitigating measures such as improved ventilation and rapid vaccine development to minimize the impact of future lockdowns on society. Navigating uncertainty: Addressing challenges & adaptations Concerns arise about the feasibility of enforcing lockdown measures and managing societal disruptions. From potential restrictions on socialising to the operation of schools, experts stress on the need for nuanced approaches tailored to specific contexts and community needs. Learning from experience: Evaluating preparedness & responses Reflecting on past experiences, policymakers and public health officials stress the importance of learning from mistakes and improving readiness for future health crises. Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic inform discussions on enhancing infrastructure, stockpiling essential supplies, and refining response protocols. The United States does not see an imminent threat from the Islamic State group to the homeland, the White House said Monday, after the jihadists claimed a deadly attack in Russia The United States does not see an imminent threat from the Islamic State group to the homeland, the White House said Monday, after the jihadists claimed a deadly attack in Russia The Islamic State may have carried out a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow, but the US does not feel any threat from the Islamist group. The United States does not see an imminent threat from the Islamic State group to the homeland, the White House said Monday, after the jihadists claimed a deadly attack in Russia. Advertisement We dont see an imminent, credible threat by ISIS to the homeland, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists, using an acronym for the jihadist group. (With agency inputs) The first such drive was launched in November 2023. Officials familiar with the matter said that although no date has been set to launch the next phase of the exercise, hundreds of thousands of ACC holders could be sent back to Afghanistan by mid-summer following approval from the federal government Police conduct a search and verification drive for undocumented Afghan nationals, on the outskirts of Karachi. Reuters file Months after Pakistan deported millions of undocumented Afghans, the government is charting out a plan to begin the second phase of repatriation aimed at sending back one million people to Afghanistan. According to a report by Dawn, the Interior Ministry has already issued directives to district authorities and police to expedite the mapping, and collecting data on the whereabouts of the Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders before the March 25 deadline. Advertisement The first such drive was launched in November 2023. Officials familiar with the matter said that although no date has been set to launch the next phase of the exercise, hundreds of thousands of ACC holders could be sent back to Afghanistan by mid-summer following approval from the federal government. We have already started the mapping process, Abid Majeed, Khyber Pakhtunkhwas additional chief secretary, told the newspaper. It will pick up the pace after Ramazan and we hope to complete the survey before April 30, he added. According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, there are 2.18 million documented Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This includes the 1.3 million refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards as per the census carried out in 2006-07, as well as an additional 8,80,000 refugees granted ACCs following a registration drive in 2017. Advertisement Amid mounting pressure to speed up the repatriation of undocumented Afghans in the face of a low exit headcount, officials approached the Ministry of Interior soon afterward wondering about the origin of the 1.7m undocumented Afghans claim and sought revalidation of the figure. No one knows how many of the 8,80,000 ACC holders remain in the country, or how many of them have opted to return to Afghanistan voluntarily. Advertisement With inputs from PTI In the South China Sea, Beijing and Manila have a lengthy history of maritime territorial disputes. In recent months, their boats have frequently clashed close to contested reefs A Chinese navy ship is seen sailing in the South China Sea. Reuters File In response to aggressive actions by the China Coast Guard and other vessels near a reef off the coast of Southeast Asia, the Philippines said on Monday that it had called in a Chinese ambassador, and Beijing also filed a protest. In the South China Sea, Beijing and Manila have a lengthy history of maritime territorial disputes. In recent months, their boats have frequently clashed close to contested reefs. Advertisement The most recent incident happened on Saturday as Filipino troops were on a routine operation to replenish the BRP Sierra Madre, a stranded military ship, near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. According to the Philippines, three troops were hurt when the China Coast Guard damaged their supply vessel with water cannons and stopped it. The China Coast Guard has defended its actions, describing them as lawful regulation, interception and expulsion of a foreign vessel that tried to forcefully intrude into Chinese waters. On Monday, Chinas embassy in the Philippines said it had complained to Manila over what it called the illegal intrusion of the Southeast Asian countrys ships into its waters. Advertisement Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from Chinas nearest major landmass, Hainan island. Manila conveyed its strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday , using the Filipino name for Second Thomas Shoal. Advertisement It said the Philippine embassy in Beijing also lodged a similar protest with the Chinese foreign ministry. In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal, the foreign affairs department said. The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately. Advertisement It is the same location where there have been recent collisions between vessels belonging to both countries, as well as water cannoning by the China Coast Guard. Cooling diplomatic relations China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries including the Philippines and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. Advertisement The United States, which has a mutual defence pact with Manila, has denounced the attack. It came days after visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its ironclad commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea. Relations between Manila and Beijing have cooled under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos as he seeks to deepen cooperation with the United States and regional neighbours, while standing up to Chinese aggression towards Philippine vessels. Chinese and Philippine officials agreed in January on the need for closer dialogue to deal with maritime emergencies in the South China Sea, including Second Thomas Shoal. But Manila said Monday that Chinas aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea. Despite the attack, Philippine officials said the damaged vessel and a coast guard escort ship that came to its aid later deployed rigid-hull inflatable boats to deliver its cargo and personnel to the Filipino outpost. Filipino soldiers stationed on the shoal live on the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre and require frequent resupplies for food, water and other necessities as well as transport for personnel rotations. Apart from supplies and equipment, the Philippine military said six navy personnel were delivered to the BRP Sierra Madre on Saturday, replacing one soldier who was recently evacuated on medical grounds. The damaged supply boat and its escorts sailed back to port after completing their mission, the task force said. The Philippines on Monday summoned Chinas envoy to register its objections to what it deemed aggressive actions in the South China Sea over the weekend, with Manilas defence minister issuing a challenge to Beijing to take them to international arbitration A Chinese navy ship is seen sailing in the South China Sea on 4 October, 2023. Reuters File The Philippines on Monday summoned Chinas envoy to register its objections to what it deemed aggressive actions in the South China Sea over the weekend, with Manilas defence minister issuing a challenge to Beijing to take them to international arbitration. The Philippine foreign ministry asserted that Chinas coastguard deployed water cannons against a civilian vessel providing supplies to troops on Saturday at the Second Thomas Shoal. This action purportedly resulted in damage to the vessel and injuries to some crew members, marking the latest incident in a series of confrontations over the past year. Advertisement Chinas continued interference with the Philippines routine and lawful activities in its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is unacceptable, Reuters quoted the Philippine foreign ministry as saying in a statement, which announced the charge daffaires of the Chinese embassy had summoned and a diplomatic protest lodged in Beijing. It infringes upon the Philippines sovereign rights and jurisdiction, it said, demanding Chinese vessels leave the area. The Chinese coastguard reported on Saturday that it had taken necessary actions against Philippine vessels trespassing in its maritime territory. China asserts nearly full sovereignty over the South China Sea, encompassing the Second Thomas Shoal, which falls within the Philippines 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In 1999, the Philippines deliberately grounded an antiquated warship at the shoal to reinforce its territorial assertions and has maintained a small military presence there since. Advertisement Despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, prompted by Manilas case, dismissing Chinas claims in the South China Sea as unfounded under international law, China persists in deploying numerous coastguard vessels to patrol what it perceives as its waters, refusing to acknowledge the courts decision. Following the incident, Philippine security officials convened a high-level meeting on Monday to formulate recommendations to present to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr regarding potential steps to resolve the dispute. Advertisement Heightened tensions The Philippines has made sincere efforts to implement the instruction of President Marcos and President Xi to lower tensions, Manilas foreign ministry added. Chinas aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace. Chinas defence ministry told the Philippines to cease provocative actions and comments that may lead to conflict and an escalation. Advertisement Since taking power in 2022, Marcos has taken a tough line against what he sees as Chinese hostility and has refused to cave in to Beijings pressure to steer clear of features it claims. The tensions come at a time when Marcos is seeking to deepen engagement with defence treaty ally the United States, including increasing base access for U.S. troops and expanding military exercises to include joint air and sea patrols, developments China has viewed with suspicion. Advertisement In comments likely to rile Beijing, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro suggested on Monday that China should show the strength of its maritime claims through arbitration, rather than ambiguity. If China is not afraid to state its claims to the world, then why dont we arbitrate under international law? Philippines Teodoro told reporters. No country believes (their claims) and they see this as their way to use force, intimidate and bend the Philippines to their ambitions. With inputs from agencies In an address on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed the blame on Ukraine, claiming that the detained men had tried to hide and enter Ukraine Camouflaged gunmen stormed into the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a suburb of Moscow, on Friday night, setting the building on fire and killing at least 137 people Image Courtesy Agencies Contrary to what intelligence has confirmed, Russia is sceptical if the Islamic State (IS) executed the countrys deadliest attack in Moscow that killed 137 people and injured more than 182, despite the terror claiming responsibility for it. Russias Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, questioned US assertions that Islamic State, which once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, was behind the attack. Advertisement Attention - a question to the White House: Are you sure its ISIS? Might you think again about that? Zakharova said in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. Meanwhile, the US intelligence has confirmed IS role in the terror attack. On Friday, four men barged into Moscows Crocus City Hall, opening fire on thousands of concert-goers moments before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was to perform its hit Afraid of Nothing. The next day, Russian authorities arrested 11 men, including four men who allegedly sprayed bullets into the concert hall. Putin blames Ukraine In an address on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed the blame on Ukraine, claiming that the detained men had tried to hide and enter Ukraine. They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border, he said. Advertisement Russias Federal Security Service said that the four gunmen had been in contact with Ukraine and that they were caught near the border as they were trying to flee. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has criticised Russia, saying that it is typical of Putin to divert the blame. The French government said late on Sunday it was raising its terror alert warning to its highest level following the shootings in Moscow. With inputs from agencies Following the armys overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyis elected administration in February 2021 and the suppression of massive peaceful protesters calling for a restoration to democratic rule, Myanmar is currently experiencing a countrywide military war. The war has damaged the economy and forced millions of people to flee their homes A Myanmars truck driver walks by his truck carrying aid before they leave the customs checkpoint near the border with Myanmar, in Mae Sot, Tak province Thailand. AP On Monday, Thailand sent its first shipment of humanitarian supplies to the war-torn nation of Myanmar. Officials anticipate that this will be the start of a continuous effort to alleviate the suffering of millions of displaced people. However, detractors claim that the relief would primarily help those who live in regions controlled by the Myanmar military, giving them a propaganda boost at the expense of the great majority of displaced people living in disputed areas who will not get aid. Advertisement Following the armys overthrow of Aung San Suu Kyis elected administration in February 2021 and the suppression of massive peaceful protesters calling for a restoration to democratic rule, Myanmar is currently experiencing a countrywide military war. The war has damaged the economy and forced millions of people to flee their homes. Thailand sent ten trucks over the border from the northern province of Tak, carrying some 4,000 packages of aid to three towns in Kayin State, also known as Karen State, where it will be distributed to approximately 20,000 displaced people. The parcels contained aid worth around 5 million baht ($138,000), mostly food, instant beverages and other basic items such as toiletries. Advertisement More than 2.8 million people in Myanmar are displaced, according to U.N. agencies, most by fighting that arose after the armys takeover. They say 18.6 million people, including 6 million children, require humanitarian aid. Carl Skau, Chief Operating Officer of the U.N.s World Food Programme, said earlier this month that one in four of the displaced is at risk of acute food insecurity. Advertisement The initiative for what has been called a humanitarian corridor is being carried out by the Thai Red Cross, with funding from Thailands Foreign Ministry and logistical support from the army, which traditionally has played a major role in border activities. Officials from Thailand and Myanmars Kayin State attended a send-off ceremony, which was presided over by Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. Myanmars Red Cross will handle distribution of the aid. Advertisement Drivers from Myanmar took the trucks across the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, which crosses the Moei River on the border. That corridor puts humanitarian aid into the hands of the junta because it goes into the hands of the junta-controlled Myanmar Red Cross, Tom Andrews, the U.N. independent human rights expert on Myanmar, said last week. Advertisement So we know that the junta takes these resources, including humanitarian, and weaponizes them, uses them for their own military strategic advantage. The fact of the matter is, is that the reason that humanitarian aid is in such desperate need is precisely because of the junta. Andrews said the areas in desperate need are conflict areas in which the junta has absolutely no influence or control whatsoever. So those are the areas we need to focus on. Large areas of the country, especially frontier areas, are now contested or controlled by anti-military resistance forces, including pro-democracy fighters allied with armed ethnic minority organizations that have been fighting for greater autonomy for decades. Thai officials say the process of distribution will be monitored by the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management to ensure it reaches people fairly and equally. Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak said after the ceremony that the aid is expected to be delivered to the three towns the same day, and that Myanmar will send photos as proof it has been delivered. I would like to emphasize that this is truly humanitarian aid and not related to the politics or conflicts in Myanmar. I think, now, people should think about the interests of the Myanmar people as a priority, he said. Of course, if the initiative today is carried out smoothly, and meets the objectives that we set, Thailand as a neighbor will see how we can expand the help to other areas. The humanitarian corridor project was initiated by Thailand with support from Myanmar and other fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during an ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Laos in January. Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara had said ASEAN needs to actively push to implement what it calls the Five-Points Consensus, which it agreed to just a few months after the armys 2021 takeover. The agreement called for an immediate end to violence, dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties. But Myanmars generals, despite initially assenting to the consensus, failed to act on it, leaving ASEAN looking powerless. Dulyapak Preecharush, a professor of Southeast Asia Studies at Bangkoks Thammasat University, said the aid initiative is a good start for Thailand, which has been quiet and inactive" about Myanmar. The readiness of Thailand to deliver the aid is not an issue, but when the aid is delivered to Myanmar, it will face obstacles from violent fighting and different stakeholders who will have their gains and losses. Sihasak said Thailand hopes the aid will be distributed equally and transparently, and that the delivery of the aid will help create a good atmosphere that will contribute to the peace process in Myanmar. Daniel Fosado, founder of Biokaab. Courtesy/Mile One Daniel Fosado, founder of Biokaab, speaks to the audience during the introduction of Biokaab into the United States Market at MileOne on Wednesday, March 20, 2025. Courtesy/Mile One Daniel Fosado Jr., Daniel Fosado and Gene Lindgren during the introduction of Biokaab into the United States Market at MileOne on Wednesday, March 20, 2025. Courtesy/Mile One Daniel Fosado, Daniel Fosado Jr. and Cesar G. Hernandez during the introduction of Biokaab into the United States Market at MileOne on Wednesday, March 20, 2025. Courtesy/Mile One MileOne International Business Assistance Center introduced BioKaab to the U.S. Market on Wednesday, March 20, 2025. Courtesy/Mile One A bio-innovative cleaning product that is crafted with the latest in enzymatic technology and commitment to sustainability was introduced in the United States market by MileOne International Business Assistance Center on Wednesday, March 20. BioKaab is engineered to deliver high-performance cleaning without the environmental and health risks associated with caustic chemicals and acids. We are delighted to bring BioKaab to the United States, said Cesar G. Hernandez, Director at MileOne. BioKaabs innovative formula and commitment to sustainability represents a significant advancement in cleaning technology. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We look forward to a warm reception from U.S. consumers seeking sustainable and effective solutions. He added that MileOne -- renowned for its commitment to fostering global business partnerships and introducing innovative products -- has played a pivotal role in ensuring BioKaab's smooth entry into the competitive U.S. market. The center has provided indispensable support in market analysis regulatory compliance and distribution logistics, paving the way for a successful launch, he said. Daniel Fosado, founder of BioKaab, has dedicated the past 15 years to sustainability projects, industrial consulting in eco-efficiency to make processes cleaner. He is also an impact business mentor. Advertisement Article continues below this ad He said that the company was founded in 2019 in Laredo after they were in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the Tec de Monterrey, and they selected BioKaab to represent Mexico in Austin in the innovation contest. We were one of the top 10 companies in the world, and that allowed us to enter the United States innovation ecosystem from Austin, he said. After seeing the prize and the possibilities, I decided to create a company in Laredo to bring the product and launch it. A sustainable alternative for industrial cleaning Fosado said that the company has existed in Mexico since 2017 and created it after realizing -- through his job as consultant -- all the problems that cleaning chemicals generate in the industry and how entrepreneurs do not realize the associated costs to this. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Some of these problems are damage to personnel from touching or inhaling chemicals, impact on their infrastructure and equipment, impact on the environment, and loss of money from not carrying out studies on the impact of the products they are using. I created this company together with my co-founder David Alfaro, a chemist who had previous experience in enzymes, he said. That allowed us not to start from scratch, not to want to invent the wheel, but rather to integrate the knowledge and developments from it into the objective that I detected in the companies. He said that then they began to develop and integrate formulas, already with some research progress for this purpose. "So we decided to launch cleaning products, which are degreasing and cleaning products but with potential for industrial use, he said. "Our innovation is that we managed to enter the industrial market with a product that ... is truly biodegradable. Instead of using acids or soda or what using common industrial products, we use enzymes that, as in the human body, degrade the fats, proteins, carbohydrates. And they make cleaning easy and fast." Advertisement Article continues below this ad He added that when they won the award in Austin in 2019, the natural step was to establish a company in the United States. But just when we were closing the first sales and negotiating with investors to receive capital, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 arrived," he said. "Then everything shut down, and we had to stop our plans. Advantages of using BioKaab Fosado said that business owners can spend a lot on the plant's overall energy without realizing that a high percentage goes only to heat the cleaning product or rinse it. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Businessmen have not realized that they spend a lot on their water discharges because they have to heat their product or rinse it, but they have not realized that our product is not only biodegradable but also works in a way that makes the processes more efficient. It's not just about being biodegradable, but the product works in a way that makes your processes more efficient." Fosado said they help companies measure everything they are saving by using their products. What the product does is make cleaning processes more efficient and have less water pollution," she said. "Also our products don't need to be heated, so there are fewer emissions into the atmosphere for its energy. There are also fewer risks because workers do not burn themselves or inhale chemicals. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It also has the advantage that the processes become faster because the product works differently, which allows more production in factories, washing more trucks in logistics or finishing shifts in warehouses sooner. He said that business owners don't see the savings until they start measuring from their financial and operational side. There is also a benefit in the infrastructure because it does not wear out due to chemicals, so we extend the life of fixed assets. Market niche and expansion plans Fosado said that his target are transportation companies, logistics companies with warehouses and maquilas, schools, industrial canteens, and food factories, among others. Advertisement Article continues below this ad So those companies belonging to the gas industry, wells or anything that has oil or anything that has food, we can clean anything from kitchen oil to an oil facility, he said. And it's not that we want to cover a lot, but the product can be used in different ways. Fosado said that once operating in Laredo, they will look to expand to San Antonio, Austin and then outside of Texas. We have to go to San Antonio because that is where the food or car factories are. In reality, everything around San Antonio is going to help us with industrial growth, he said. And from there, we want to return to Austin to take advantage of the Texas entrepreneurial ecosystem. Regarding expanding outside Texas, he said they hope that will happen within two years. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Now what we are doing is stepping on United States territory in Laredo, although this is where our warehouses would be, he said. Although we have been successful in Mexico, I have always believed that BioKaab's future is in the United States due to industry trends in this country. Fosado said that he feels a personal responsibility as a sustainability advocate to not only help companies be more efficient, but also help Laredo have a lower environmental impact due to the chemicals that end up in the river or the air. BioKaab products Fosado said that his company has a portfolio of eight products, but in Laredo they have only launched three because these are the basis of everything. Advertisement Article continues below this ad One is Origin, blue in color that has enzymes to break down fats. This cleaner cleans grease from a kitchen to a deck, he said. "Then we have Triple D, which is pink, and in addition to fat enzymes it contains others that break down sugars, proteins and carbohydrates. Lastly, we have one that is Rust-D, a product that is made to remove, in addition to heavy grease, corrosion, salts and oxidation. BioKaab products contain enzymes, citrus fruits, sufractants and herbals. Fosado invited everyone to learn about his products and dare to make a change of vision and realize that within his client's factories, efficiency and money savings are not in conflict with sustainable development. In sustainability, one of its axes is precisely economics, he said. I ask you to look at savings opportunities. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But let's also remember something very important: we are in a global and regional water crisis. Our river is very polluted, and not to mention the use of fossil energy, which is also a problem. So from our daily work and without costing us more, we can contribute to leaving a better world for our children and future generations. MileOne International Business Assistance Center leads in facilitating international business partnerships, offering comprehensive support to businesses aiming to expand their market reach and introduce innovative products. Sennheiser is a German audio equipment manufacturer which is well-known for premium audio gear including headphones, microphones and soundbars. Over the years, Sennheiser has become synonymous with professional audio quality, making their equipment the preferred choice in most professional environments. Sennheiser has launched the HD 490 Pro and Pro Plus India recently. We have had the chance to test these headphones for quite some time now and these are one of the most interesting studio headphones in the price range. The Sennheiser HD-490 PRO Plus open-back headphones is targeted at musicians, producers, and content creators and aims to offer professional monitoring headphones which are reliable yet comfortable to wear. Are they worth considering? Lets dive into our review. Specifications Design : Circumaural(Over Ear), Open Back Impedance: 130 ohms Drivers : 38mm neodymium Max Sound Pressure Level: 128 dB Connector: 3.5mm / 6.3mm Weight: 260g (w/o cable) Cable Length: 1.8m & 3m Box Contents HD 490 PRO 1.8 m cable 3 m cable 3.5mm 6.3mm jack adaptor Travel Case Mixing ear pads Producing ear pads Extra headband pad Design and Build Quality The design of the HD 490 PRO looks robust and professional, and the large open-back design might be daunting at first. At the heart of each earcup is a neodymium magnet and a low-frequency cylinder, which work in harmony to deliver an accurate sound signature. Once you put these on, you realize that at 260g these headphones are light and fit quite well around the head. The materials are nice to the touch and dont press against the body even though the HD 490 is a large device. The patented cable coil near the jack which prevents noise or distortion due to cable scraping against your body or equipment. The headphones ship with production ear pads installed and another set of ear pads for mixing included in the box. They can be removed and replaced without any tools. The pads can be washed in a washing machine once they need some cleaning. I am sure most of us have one or more pair of headphones we stopped using because the ear pads were ruined. Kudos to Sennheiser for this initiative, and I wish they extend this to other products in their portfolio. Have you ever been in a situation when you have run a cable across your desk in order to connect to your computer/ equipment? The good news is that there are connectors on both sides and the cable is detachable. Really wish that more audio companies and VR headsets copy this feature. The HD 490 PRO uses a 4-pin mini XLR connector on each ear cup. The product is engineered in Germany and hand-assembled in Romania. Audio Performance The open-back design of the HD 490 Pro offers an exceptionally wide and dimensional soundstage, along with precise sound reproduction. It gives you complete control over every detail of the audio. At FoneArena we do deal with a lot of video processing and these headphones came to us for review during Mobile World Congress which is a busy time of the year. We usually do our edits on a Mac and connect our headphones to the 3.5mm jack directly without an amplifer. Our work involves dealing with Final Cut Pro, Davinci Resolve and Premier Pro. Comfort is an often under-appreciated area when it comes to headphones. I personally dislike wearing headphones for long periods because it tends to get uncomfortable and messy with sweat. The HD 490 Pro absolutely shines in this department, and I was able to wear it for hours in humid weather without having to turn on the air conditioner. The open-back also allows for more air circulation. My colleague Srivatsan who also used these headphones for a considerable time and had mostly nice things to say about it. The open-back design provides a wide and natural soundstage, which helps with accurate positioning of instruments and vocals in a mix. The bass response was tight and accurate, important for monitoring low-end frequencies. The sound signature has a slight emphasis on the mids and highs, since it boost mid-high frequencies from 4-7kHz with both the fabric and mixing pads. In some cases, the treble can become a bit bright, especially with the included mixing pads. I tried using the HD 490 Pro for some gaming in Forza and Flight Simulator and absolutely loved it. This is what makes the HD 490 Pro fun to use. Although it is aimed at professionals, consumers who like to dabble with production, music and gaming will not be disappointed. Conclusion The Sennheiser HD 490 Pro marries excellent audio with extreme comfort with the additional possibility to change earpads and even wash them! These are one of the best sounding and most comfortable headphones we have tested in this price range and its vicinity. The ability to connect the audio cable on either side depending on your desk setup is a nice touch. My only gripe is that these are not foldable. The headphones in the carry case takes up considerable amount of space. The Sennheiser HD 490 Pro Plus is available for Rs. 32,990 on Amazon.in (originally Rs. 41,300). The HD 490 Pro non-plus model costs Rs. 27,590 on Amazon.in (MRP Rs. 34,500). The main difference between the two is that you can get a carry case, an extra fabric headband pad and an extra 3 m audio cable with the Plus version. If you are planning to keep the headphones for a long time, I would recommend spending extra and getting the Plus version as it might cost more to get these in the market separately. Pros Excellent sound with high accuracy Open-back with wide soundstage Great fit and comfortable even after long sessions Excellent build quality with German engineering and Sennheiser brand promise Washable, replaceable ear pads Cons Cannot be used during recording Cannot be used outdoors Requires amplifier for best performance Samsung is preparing to release its newest smartphone, the Galaxy M55 5G. Leaked details, including specifications and color choices, were disclosed by mspoweruser.com. The Galaxy M55 5G boasts a 6.7-inch FHD+ 120 Hz Super AMOLED+ display with thin bezels and a peak refresh rate of 1,000 nits. Its lightweight at around 180g and comes in light green and black color options. In the camera department, it features a triple setup on the rear: a 50MP main camera with OIS, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro lens, accompanied by an LED flash. On the front, theres a 50MP selfie camera housed in a centered punch hole. Under the hood, it runs on Qualcomms Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, a step up from its predecessors Exynos 1380. It packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 45W Fast Charging 2.0. Memory options range from 8GB to 12GB of RAM, with storage variants of 128GB and 256GB, expandable up to 1TB via microSD card. Security features include an under-display fingerprint sensor and Samsung Knox Vault. Additional features include Dolby Atmos, Wi-Fi 6, dual-SIM connectivity, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC support. The phone will launch with Android 14 and One UI 6, promising five major Android updates and five years of security updates. Launch date? The support page listing in India for the Galaxy M55 5G (8GB Memory), with model number (SM-M556B/DS), hints at an imminent launch, with pricing and sale dates to follow soon. Source The Laredo ISD tax office located at 904 Juarez Ave. Courtesy/Google Maps The Laredo Independent School District announced its closure for the Easter holiday which will begin Friday, March 29 and run through Monday, April 1. During the holiday break, all LISD campuses and administrative offices will be closed as well as the LISD Tax Office. Located at 904 Juarez Ave., the LISD Tax Office will be open 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 28 prior to the break. It will reopen Tuesday, April 2 and resume its normal 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. schedule. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In addition to the closures, students will also be released early on Thursday, March 28 heading into the break. Elementary school students will be released at 1:30 p.m., middle school students at 2 p.m. and high school students at 2:15 p.m. Despite the early releases, breakfast and lunch will still be provided by the Child Nutrition Program. All campuses and administrative offices will resume normal schedules on Tuesday, April 2. For more information, visit laredoisd.org. Santa Maria Elementary students wear their protective glasses on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017 as they follow the partial solar eclipse outside their campus. Cuate Santos/Laredo Morning Times file The eclipse reaches it maximum coverage at 1:08 p.m., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. Cuate Santos/Laredo Morning Times file A total eclipse will be seen in North American on Monday, April 8, and Laredo is projected to see 97.7% coverage. The website eclipse2024.org estimated what Laredo will see on April 8 based on its latitude and longitude. It said Laredo will see a deep partial eclipse with a magnitude of 97.7%. The partial phase of the eclipse will begin at 12:09 p.m. and will reach its midpoint by 1:29 p.m. The midpoint is when the maximum amount of the suns disk is covered. The eclipse is projected to conclude by 2:52 p.m. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Early forecasts for April 8 project a high of 92 degrees and a low of 69 with cloudy skies. According to nasa.gov, it is never safe to look directly at the eclipse without eye protection. Eclipse glasses or a safe handheld solar viewer are required. Sunglasses are not safe for viewing the sun no matter how dark they are. For more eclipse safety information, visit science.nasa.gov/eclipses/safety. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Laredo Police Chief Miguel A. Rodriguez Jr. prevented a crime in the downtown area. Courtesy/Laredo Police Department The man arrested by the Laredo Police Department chief is facing a drug possession charge, authorities said. Authorities said that the 32-year-old male was charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. The case unfolded on Thursday afternoon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad LPD Chief Miguel A. Rodriguez Jr. was on his way to a meeting in the downtown area when he came across a crime in progress, authorities said. Rodriguez observed the 32-year-old male attempting to steal from a pickup parked near the intersection of San Bernardo Avenue and Hidalgo Street. Rodriguez said he felt he had a duty to act. Once a cop, always a cop. It doesn't matter the rank. If you see a crime in progress, it is one's duty to stop and take action. It's a vital part of the mission of keeping our city safe," Rodriguez said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Rodriguez detained the male and notified the owners of the pickup, according to police. In addition, authorities found the male in possession of marijuana. A records check revealed the male had multiple misdemeanor and felony convictions. The fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A backtracked from its decade-old no antibiotics ever pledge intended to help prevent human antibiotic resistance linked to the rampant use of the drugs in livestock production (Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times From front left: John Christman; Seymour Nussenbaum, seated; and Bernie Bluestein are honored for their service in the WWII-era Ghost Army during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 21, 2024. The mission of soldiers serving in units that became known as the Ghost Army was to deceive enemy forces as to the location and size of American troop movements. Lithuanian Soldiers Train Pennsylvania Guard on Weapon System By Brad Rhen, Joint Force Headquarters - Pennsylvania National Guard March 22, 2024 FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. -- Soldiers from the Lithuanian Armed Forces recently trained Pennsylvania National Guard Soldiers on the M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor/Anti-Personnel Weapon System. Lithuanian soldiers from the Griffin Brigade's Anti-Tank Company conducted MAAWS training with Soldiers from Alpha and Charlie companies, 1-110th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, March 14-17. The M3 MAAWS is a man-portable recoilless rifle that allows dismounted soldiers to engage different targets, including vehicles, people and structures. The Pennsylvania National Guard fielded the weapon in 2023. The Lithuanian soldiers came to train the Pennsylvania Guard members because they have a lot of experience with it, said Capt. Daniel Kysela, training officer for the 1-110th Infantry. "Since we only recently fielded the MAAWS, the addition of the Griffin Brigade's soldiers to our training was a huge force multiplier," Kysela said. "They've been using these for years, and our Soldiers were quickly able to absorb years of TTPs through their interactions this weekend." The training included classroom instruction, crew drills and a field maintenance class. In addition to the MNAAWS training, the Lithuanians' visit also helped strengthen the partnership Lithuania and the Pennsylvania National Guard have through the National Guard's State Partnership Program, Kysela said. "Events like this show the true strength of the partnership between the Pennsylvania National Guard and Lithuania, as we can help each other by sharing our expertise," Kysela said. "As our Soldiers look to begin carrying these weapon systems for our situational training exercises and firing them during our live-fires, they'll rely on the foundation that our friends in the Anti-Tank Company helped build." The Pennsylvania National Guard and Lithuania have partnered through the State Partnership Program since 1993. They have had over 800 security cooperation engagements, including senior leader engagements, subject matter expert exchanges, familiarization visits and cooperative training and exercises. The Department of Defense National Guard Bureau SPP program now includes more than 100 nations. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address March 22 Red Sea Update U.S. Central Command Press Release | March 22, 2024 USCENTCOM March 22, 2024 Release Number 20240322 - 01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAMPA, Fla. -- On March 22, between approximately 4:22 a.m. and 11:10 p.m. (Sanaa time), United States Central Command (CENTCOM) forces successfully engaged and destroyed four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen in self-defense. During this timeframe, Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired four anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damage reported by U.S., coalition, or commercial ships. Additionally, CENTCOM forces conducted self-defense strikes against three Houthi underground storage facilities in Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen. These strikes targeted capabilities used by the Houthis to threaten and attack naval ships and merchant vessels in the region. Illegal Houthi attacks have killed three mariners, sunk a commercial vessel lawfully transiting the Red Sea, disrupted humanitarian aid bound for Yemen, harmed Middle East economies, and caused environmental damage. These weapons storage facilities presented a threat to U.S. and coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region. These actions are necessary to protect our forces, ensure freedom of navigation, and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address March 23 Red Sea Update U.S. Central Command Press Release | March 23, 2024 USCENTCOM March 23, 2024 Release Number 20240323 - 01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAMPA, Fla. -- From 2:50 to 4:30 a.m. (Sanaa time) March 23, the Iranian-backed Houthis launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) into the Red Sea in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated oil tanker. At 4:25 p.m. (Sanaa time), a fifth ballistic missile was detected as fired toward M/V Huang Pu. The ship issued a distress call but did not request assistance. M/V Huang Pu suffered minimal damage, and a fire on board was extinguished within 30 minutes. No casualties were reported, and the vessel resumed its course. The Houthis attacked the M/V Huang despite previously stating they would not attack Chinese vessels. Between 6:50 and 9:50 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. forces, including USS Carney (DDG 64), engaged six Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over the southern Red Sea. Five crashed into the Red Sea, and one flew inland into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. It was determined these UAVs presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels in the region. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S, coalition, and merchant vessels. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Consulate General of Mexico in Laredo and the Consulate General of United States in Nuevo Laredo held the 5th Laredos Region Binational Dialogue at the Texas A&M International University Study Center on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Courtesy/Consulate General of Mexico in Laredo The Consulate General of Mexico in Laredo and the Consulate General of United States in Nuevo Laredo held the 5th Laredos Region Binational Dialogue at the Texas A&M International University Study Center on Thursday, March 21. The topic for the 5th Binational Dialogue was "Binational cooperation against simultaneous succession," and had the participation of local and federal authorities, as well as members of the logistics sector of the Dos Laredos. This dialogue, convened by Consul General of Mexico in Laredo Juan Carlos Mendoza Sanchez, and Consul of the United States in Nuevo Laredo Erika Zielke, with the support of the Mayor of City of Laredo Victor Trevino, aims to develop a comprehensive executive agenda that addresses the issues in which binational actions are required for their management, serving as a roadmap in decision-making for both the public and private sectors. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In his opening message, Consul Mendoza Sanchez emphasized the importance of binational cooperation. He called for preparing unified responses to possible political measures that affect the operation of border crossings and explained Mexico's position regarding the SB4 law, in which under no circumstances would it cooperate with Texas authorities that assume immigration functions that correspond to the federal government. At the meeting, priority topics were identified and were addressed specifically in the Binational Working Groups of the Laredos Region, which was divided into 5 panels: 1) Where is cooperation going? 2) Main challenges of cooperation; 3) Needs of the binational customs agents and transporters; 4) Management of the migration phenomenon; and 5) Preventive health and binational contingency plans. Topics discussed in the first panel, led by Mayor Trevino and the Secretary of Economic Development of Nuevo Laredo, Juan Angel Martinez, were: Interdependence of the Dos Laredos where issues that involve decisions are resolved through local binational cooperation Importance of the expansion of the World Trade Bridge Sanitation and conservation of the Rio Grande; There will be no persecution of undocumented immigrants in Laredo, if Texas Bill SB4 comes into force Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the second panel, those responsible for the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo-Colombia customs office discussed the following: Productive relationship between said customs offices Fluidity of binational trade Necessary modernization of customs infrastructure with non-intrusive technology Importance of joint dispatch that improves crossing times Associated with these topics, in the third panel customs agencies, transporters and logistics clusters analyzed the following: Urgent need to expand the World Trade Bridge Seek safety of trailer operators, goods, units and supply chains Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the fourth panel, the immigration authority of both countries explained that: In the Laredo Sector, encounters with undocumented migrants are low, mostly Mexicans and not foreigners seeking asylum Laredo supported the processing of over 100,000 asylum seekers The political treatment that the immigration issue receives Containment of migratory flows carried out in Mexico that explains why there are almost no non-Mexican migrants in the Laredo Sector Finally, the fifth panel, formed by the health representatives of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo highlighted: Binational coordination and cooperation maintained through the Binational Health Council (COBINA) Medicine by Lifestyle program was explained Coordination that has existed to face health contingencies in the Laredos Region. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The nearly 40 participants expressed the importance of holding these meetings to promote the relevance of the Laredos Region in the binational Mexico-USA and international trade and the commitment to communicate in a timely manner before customs closures to face the contingency. Consul Zielke, at the end of the Binational Dialogue meeting, highlighted the Laredos region that has everything and is an example of brotherhood. She also spoke about the advantages of drawing up plans together and priorities focused on border security, regular migration, bilateral trade and environmental procurement. The Laredos Region Binational Dialogue endorsed the importance of binational communication and cooperation, as privileged means to address common challenges in a coordinated and orderly manner, following institutional channels to guarantee regional prosperity and security, as well as the well-being of border communities. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on the Philippines' Resupply to Ren'ai Jiao People's Republic of China Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2024-03-23 17:21 Q: On March 23, China Coast Guard obstructed the Philippines' resupply to Ren'ai Jiao. What's your comment? A: In disregard of China's strong opposition, the Philippines sent a supply vessel and two Coast Guard vessels on March 23, without permission from the Chinese government, to intrude into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao, in an attempt to send construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded at Ren'ai Jiao for its repair and reinforcement. China Coast Guard took necessary measures at sea in accordance with law to safeguard China's rights, firmly obstructed the Philippines' vessels, and foiled the Philippines' attempt. Nansha Qundao and its adjacent waters, including Ren'ai Jiao, have always been China's territory. This is established in the long course of history, and complies with international law. The Philippines should immediately stop its infringement and provocation, and refrain from undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea. If the Philippines insists on going its own way, China will continue to adopt resolute measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. The Philippines should be prepared to bear all potential consequences. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address March 24 USCENTCOM, Royal Jordanian Air Force Conduct Humanitarian Airdrops U.S. Central Command Press Release | March 24, 2024 USCENTCOM March 24, 2024 Release Number 20240324 - 01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TAMPA, Fla. -- U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Northern Gaza on March 24, 2024, at 12:18 p.m. (Gaza time) to provide essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict. The combined joint operation included Jordanian provided food and a U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft. A U.S. C-130 dropped 13,080 meal equivalents, including rice, flour, milk, pasta, and canned foods, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza. The DoD humanitarian airdrops contribute to ongoing U.S. and partner-nation government efforts to alleviate human suffering. These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel/Palestine: Statement by the Spokesperson on the announcement to confiscate occupied land European External Action Service (EEAS) 24.03.2024 EEAS Press Team The European Union firmly condemns the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that over 800 hectares of land in the occupied Palestinian territory have been declared as 'state lands'. This is the largest confiscation since the Oslo Accords. Settlements are a grave breach of international humanitarian law. At this week's European Council, EU leaders condemned Israeli Government decisions to further expand illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, urging Israel to reverse these decisions. In line with its longstanding common position and UN Security Council Resolutions, the EU will not recognise changes to the 1967 borders unless agreed by the parties. This position goes hand in hand with the EU's commitment to Israel's security and to ensuring that the horrific attacks against Israeli civilians on 7 October will never be repeated. The EU is determined to fight such terrorism in word and deed, by continuously condemning Hamas in the strongest possible terms and through sanctions and other measures. Settlement expansion runs counter to this objective. It fuels tensions and undermines prospects for a two-state solution, which remains the only sustainable guarantee for the long-term security of both Israelis and Palestinians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese Defense Ministry vows to take resolute measures against Philippine provocations Global Times By Liu Xuanzun Published: Mar 24, 2024 07:12 PM The Chinese Ministry of National Defense (MOD) on Sunday vowed to take resolute measures against the Philippines should it continue to challenge China's bottom line, with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) announcing a combat exercise was conducted recently in the South China Sea. Senior Colonel Wu Qian, an MOD spokesperson, said in a statement on Sunday that the Philippines broke its promises and is vainly attempting to fortify its illegally grounded warship on Ren'ai Jiao (also known as Ren'ai Reef) into a permanent facility, a move that China will by no means sit by and watch. Demanding the Philippines to stop all infringing and provocative moves, Wu warned that if the Philippines repeatedly challenges China's bottom line, China will continue to take resolute measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. Wu's remarks came after the China Coast Guard (CCG) on Saturday repelled a Philippine attempt to reinforce the illegally grounded Philippine warship on China's Ren'ai Jiao in the South China Sea. The CCG completely intercepted the Philippines' cargo ship using water cannon, according to an on-site video the Global Times obtained from the CCG. The PLA Southern Theater Command on Sunday said in a press release that a naval landing ship detachment recently conducted a multi-course, highly intensive combat exercise in the South China Sea featuring the PLANS (PLA Navy Ship) Wuzhishan and Changbaishan. According to photos attached to the press release and the publicly available information, the PLANS Wuzhishan and Changbaishan are Type 071 comprehensive landing ships. China Central Television reported previously that the Type 071 has a displacement of about 20,000 tons and can act as a beach assault base by sending armored vehicles and hovercraft at an optimal landing distance. Facing the Philippines' repeated provocations on Chinese islands and reefs, China has exercised restraint and deployed reciprocal countermeasures, namely the law enforcement forces from the coast guard, but not the navy, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday. However, if the Philippines escalates the situation, brings its armed forces or even forces from outside the region into the equation, the PLA is always ready to safeguard territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, the expert said. The PLA Navy, Air Force and the CCG recently held a joint exercise, which analysts said displayed their interoperability. China is willing to resolve the disputes through talks, and had made temporary special arrangements under humanitarian considerations that allowed necessary living materials to be supplied to the Philippines' illegally grounded warship, observers said, urging the Philippines to return to the right track of dialogues. The Philippines should notify China about its resupply operations, and the CCG will conduct verification of the materials to be carried by the Philippine vessels, Ding Duo, deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at the China Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday. But China only allows such necessary living materials, with no building materials allowed to reinforce the hull or build permanent facilities, Ding said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jaishankar's remarks over China's Zangnan disregard common sense, a vicious attempt to win votes, say analysts Global Times By Deng Xiaoci Published: Mar 24, 2024 07:35 PM The claims made by India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar over the Chinese territory of Zangnan in Singapore on Saturday were slammed by Chinese analysts on Sunday as a brutal disregard of historic common sense, and the recent acts and remarks by the Indian government are viewed as merely a vicious attempt to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party to win reelection, by establishing a hawkish image to court domestic nationalist voters. Responding to a question after delivering a lecture at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of National University in Singapore on Saturday, Jaishankar called China's claims on the so-called Arunachal Pradesh "ludicrous" while asserting that the region is "a natural part of India," India's NDTV reported. According to the reports, the Saturday event marked Jaishankar's first public comment on the issue after the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese Ministry of National Defense came out in opposition to Indian leaders' visit to the Zangnan region earlier in March. Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, said at a routine monthly press conference that the area of Zangnan is Chinese territory and the Chinese government has never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh and strongly opposes the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India, demanding India to stop taking any actions that complicate border issues and to effectively maintain peace and stability in border areas. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a routine daily press conference on March 11 that "The area of Zangnan is Chinese territory. The Chinese government has never recognized the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' illegally set up by India and firmly opposes it. The China-India boundary question has yet to be solved. India has no right to arbitrarily develop the area of Zangnan in China." "India's relevant moves will only complicate the boundary question and disrupt the situation in the border areas between the two countries. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the Indian leader's visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary. We have made solemn representations to India," Wang noted. It is a show of total disregard of the most basic historic common sense and a move to use territorial issue to court domestic voters, Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow with the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday, refuting Jaishankar's provocations. The Modi administration has always tried to use the issue of Zangnan to bargain with China. "Militarily, China needs to keep on high-alert and be prepared for any provocation and present effective determination. Only by doing so can we make sure India will not be arrogant enough to do anything unwise," Hu noted. Jaishankar's erroneous claims came after a US State Department spokesperson said on March 20 that the US recognizes Arunachal Pradesh (namely Zangnan of China) as Indian territory, which China immediately strongly deplores and firmly opposes. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a routine press conference on Thursday that the China-India boundary has never been delimited. Zangnan has always been China's territory, a basic fact that is undeniable. "The China-India boundary question is a matter between the two countries and has nothing to do with the US side. It is known to all that the US has consistently spared no efforts to provoke and take advantage of other countries' conflicts to serve its selfish geopolitical interests." Due to the US' pushing India over its "Indo-Pacific Strategy" and supporting India's position on the Xizang issue, it further exposes the US' strategic intention of forming an anti-China coalition with India, Chinese analysts pointed out. This action by the US stimulates and encourages India's anti-China behavior, making the China-India border issue more complex and detrimental to the peaceful resolution of border disputes between the two countries, Hu remarked. Speaking at the same event on Saturday, Jaishankar, while stressing the need for peace and tranquility between borders, smearing that it was China that disrupted the "equilibrium" at the border with the 2020 border standoff. Slamming such remarks, Hu said that it was a deliberate attempt by the Indian government to confuse public opinion, garner sympathy and attention both domestically and internationally, while seizing the opportunity to suppress China and enhance India's international influence. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Update Regarding the Shifa Hospital Operation by IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari IDF Press Release March 24, 2024 24.03.24 IDF Today is day 6 of the IDF's operation against Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Shifa Hospital. 170 terrorists were neutralized in or around the Shifa Hospital compound while firing at our forces. The IDF apprehended hundreds of terror suspects with confirmed ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad, making this one of the most successful operations since the start of the war. A large number of these terrorists were involved in planning and executing the brutal massacre of October 7. This operation is not over. Right now, Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists are barricading themselves inside Shifa hospital wards. Hamas is destroying Shifa hospital. Hamas is firing from inside the Shifa Emergency Room and Maternity Ward and throwing explosive devices from the Shifa Burn Ward. Terrorists hiding around the hospital fired mortars at our forces, causing extensive damage to the hospital buildings. I repeat: Hamas is firing mortars at the Shifa hospital. Hamas is destroying the Shifa hospital. Hamas hijacked the Shifa Hospital and hides behind the sick and injured, waging war from inside Shifa Hospital. The IDF operates with precision and acts with care towards the patients and medical staff inside the hospital. We do this because we distinguish between Hamas terrorists and the civilians they are hiding behind. We do this because our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza. And our actions prove this. Since the beginning of this operation against Hamas at Shifa Hospital, the IDF has assisted the sick and wounded and helped move many of them out of harm's way. We brought dozens of medical devices; over 10 thousand units of medications; hundreds of medical supplies; as well as food, water, and other equipment into Shifa Hospital. When Hamas's attacks resulted in the failure of the hospital generator, our troops helped restore electricity to the hospital. Our operation at Shifa Hospital proves once again: Hamas systematically uses hospitals to wage war and consistently uses the people of Gaza as human shields. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas deplores int'l silence on Israeli regime's Al-Shifa Hospital atrocities IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, has deplored international inaction over the humanitarian disaster unfolding at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital and its surrounding areas, which remain under the Israeli regime's attacks for nearly a week now. According to Al-Ahed news network, Hamas issued a statement on Sunday, deploring the silence of the international community in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe created by the occupying regime's war machine at Al-Shifa Hospital and the areas around it. The movement said that the Israeli occupiers have continued horrifying atrocities including executing people and burning down their houses, leaving Palestinians without food and water as well as displacing the Gaza residents for six consecutive days, but despite these Nazi-style acts, there has been no reaction from UN agencies or international humanitarian organizations. Hamas urged the Islamic and Arab world as well as freedom-seeking people around the globe and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds city to make all-out efforts to put maximum pressure on the occupiers and their advocates to stop the onslaught in Gaza. The Palestinian movement also underlined that such heinous crimes would not stop resistance fighters and civilians fighting the occupation and seeking liberation and their right to self-determination. Al-Shifa Hospital and other medical centers in Gaza have been among the prime targets of Israeli attacks since the regime began its genocidal war on the territory in early October. 4208**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Palestinian aid seekers targeted in yet another Israeli attack IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Another massacre against Palestinian air seekers in Gaza as the Israeli regime's military forces started shooting at people waiting for to receive food aid, leaving 19 martyrs and 23 others injured. According to a CNN report on Saturday night, the Palestinians, who were unarmed, were waiting for wheat bags at the Kuwaiti Roundabout in Gaza City when troops began firing at them. Those wounded were taken to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, east of Gaza City, the report added. The Israeli military denied shooting at the civilians, saying that it was investigating the incident. Similar tragedies have taken place in the past several weeks at the same roundabout as Israeli forces attacked Palestinian civilians whom eye witnesses said had posed no threat to the forces. The regime unleashed its war on Gaza in early October, pounding different areas of the besieged territory in intense airstrikes. The latest such strikes hit the southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah packed with more than a million refugees taking shelter from attacks in other parts of the territory. According to Palestinian Sama news agency, the airstrikes in Rafah left at least seven people dead. The attacks in Khan Yunis targeted areas near Nasser Hospital. That's while the regime's artillery hit Al Burij and Al Nuseirat refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip. 4208**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Another Israeli soldier killed in Gaza IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Israeli regime's military has confirmed the death of another soldier during clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestine's Shehab news agency on Sunday, Israeli media outlets released pictures of the soldier of the Nahal Brigade of the regime's military. There was no immediate report of when and where the Israeli soldier was killed. According to the Israeli military, more than 250 soldiers have been killed since the regime began its ground assault in Gaza in late October. Palestinian resistance groups however say that the Israeli military death toll is much higher as the regime hides the real number of the casualties amid public anger in the occupied territories over the Benjamin Netanyahu cabinet's handling of the war and its failure to release captives held in Gaza. Palestinian resistance fighters have been engaged in fierce clashes with the Israeli regime forces since the onset of the Gaza war on October 7. The latest such clashes took place near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as the hospital remains under Israeli siege for a week now. According to Al-Ahed news, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which is the military wing of the Hamas resistance movement, hit Israeli military forces and equipment, including some Merkava tanks near the hospital. The Qassam Brigades fighters also clashed with the occupying forces in the vicinity of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis city, in the southern Gaza Strip. 4208**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah releases footage of attack on Israeli base IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, has released images of its latest attacks on the Israeli regime's positions, which targeted a military base. Hezbollah released the images early on Sunday, saying that its attack targeted spy equipment of the Israeli regime's army at the Radar base in northern occupied Palestine. The resistance group announced that its attack was in response to the Israeli regime's bombing of Baalbek city in eastern Lebanon. According to Lebanese media, the Israeli army bombarded Baalbek city on Sunday morning, targeting a building near the residence of one of Hezbollah leaders. There was no immediate report on possible casualties in the Israeli attack. Following the onset of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli positions in northern occupied Palestine in a bid to give support to Palestinian resistance fighters battling the regime's forces inside Gaza. In recent weeks, Hezbollah has also conducted attacks on the Israeli positions after the regime struck civilian areas in southern Lebanon. The resistance movement has time and again said that civilians is a red line and warned the regime against targeting them. 4208**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address HK officials ramp up efforts in countering smear and attacks targeting Article 23 13:34, March 25, 2024 By Chen Qingqing ( Global Times The HKSAR CE John Lee signed the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance on March 22,2024. Photo: Courtesy of the HKSAR government With the implementation of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, signifying that Hong Kong has fulfilled its constitutional responsibility as stipulated in the Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong officials stepped up efforts in countering Western attacks and smear targeting the new law, emphasizing that foreign companies are still eager to invest in the city despite political maneuvers made by some Western politicians. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive John Lee signed the ordinance passed by the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Friday night, and the long overdue local security law was officially gazetted on Saturday and started to take effect. The long overdue local law consists of nine parts, covering offences and punishments such as treason, state secrets and espionage, sabotage endangering national security, external interference endangering national security and organization engaging in activities endangering national security. Some Western countries including the US, Australia and the UK as well as some anti-China hawks in the US like former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi have been criticizing the law, calling it as further "erosion of Hong Kong's freedom," raising concerns about its impact on the business sentiment. The Security Bureau of the HKSAR strongly condemned on Saturday the unfounded and biased remarks made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for deliberately misleading the public and undermining the ordinance. Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung pointed out in the statement that Blinken once again targeted the HKSAR government's work on safeguarding national security and made slandering, smearing, misleading and erroneous remarks against the ordinance, with his latest despicable political maneuver and hypocrisy built on double standards. It's normal for the foreign business community to pay attention to the Article 23 legislation, but it should not be described as "doubt" regarding the concern of foreign business, the city's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po was quoted as saying in local media reports on Saturday. When commenting on Australian government's updating its travel advisory for HKSAR due to the implementation of the legislation, Chan said Australia is taking a political stance but in reality, companies are still willing to invest in Hong Kong. Tian Feilong, a vice-dean of the Law School of Minzu University of China in Beijing and director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday that exaggerating panic through the Article 23 legislation, talking down Hong Kong, attacking Hong Kong's status as an international financial center, and scaring off foreign capital and professional migration are part of the new cold war and decoupling strategy of the US and the West against China. "This constitutes a fixed discourse strategy and action pattern that even Western businesses in Hong Kong do not believe," Tian said. Surveys on the business environment in HKSAR and foreign investment confidence can confirm this, the expert said, noting that Western businesses understand and recognize the rule of law and the business environment in Hong Kong better than Western governments and politicians do. They also maintain confidence in ''One Country, Two Systems'' and Hong Kong's economic and trade freedom, as well as its legal status. Regina Ip, the chairperson of the New People's Party and convener of the Executive Council, told local media in Hong Kong on Sunday that the national security laws of Western countries are more stringent than those of Hong Kong, and she sees no basis for the criticism from foreign governments. Ip said that she has continued to engage with foreign media recently, willing to explain the regulations to any foreign businesses and scholars with questions. Among the institutions she has been in contact with, some said there are absolutely no issues, while others expressed a desire to know more details, the local official noted. "Moreover, I have not seen anyone 'so scared they want to leave,' considering such claims to be completely unfounded and exaggerated," Ip added. "I believe we have full confidence in the future development of Hong Kong, because both its past development and its future actually depend on the governance and development of China, a super-large country," Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan affairs from Nankai University, told the Global Times on Sunday. The potential unleashed by the country's development will bring historic opportunities for Hong Kong's development. These opportunities are not charity from Western countries, Li noted. Even during the British colonial period, the development of Hong Kong was recognized by the colonizers for its pivotal position as a hub between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world. And Hong Kong's past, present and future are indeed closely linked to the destiny of the entire country's development, the expert said. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) The Deer Park Shell Manufacturing Complex is seen after Hurricane Harvey September 1, 2017 in Deer Park, Texas. / AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) AFP Contributor/AFP via Getty Images Four days after a mysterious flare appeared over Shell's chemical treatment plant in Deer Park, the energy company says the plant is now back to 'normal operations.' The flare first drew ire from residents and officials, including Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo, who said they had not been notified of the flare when it first appeared Friday afternoon. By Monday afternoon, a Shell representative said while the plant had resolved the power outage that had prompted the flare and resumed 'normal operations,' the flare could continue for at least another four days. "As we move through the start-up process, we expect the size of the flare will be smaller and flaring activities will conclude at the end of the week," the energy company said in a statement. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "We are taking steps to minimize any noise, light or smoke associated with this flaring activity," the statement continued. "Neighbors may continue to notice light from the flare reflecting off of the low cloud deck due to the current weather system. We apologize for any inconveniences this activity may cause and will continue to keep the community informed." In an email to Chron Monday, Shell representative Curtis Smith said the flare was composed of hydrocarbon, and that once hydrocarbon is flared, potential emissions are reduced by at least 98 percent. The flaring poses no danger to nearby residents, Smith said. According to Accuweather air quality measurements, the air quality at Deer Park as of noon Monday is poor but is expected to improve by Tuesday. In a post on X Friday, Judge Hidalgo criticized the energy company for failing to inform local officials of the flare's chemical makeup and purposes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Iraqi Islamic Resistance conducts drone attack on Israeli war ministry IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq issued a statement early on Sunday, announcing that its fighters had carried out a drone attack on the headquarters of the Israeli war ministry. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror groups, declared on its website that it will intensify attacks against the occupying regime during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in a show of support to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq also announced that they targeted Ben Gurion Airport in the Israeli-occupied territories with several drones. The Iraqi group had earlier warned that they would add up to their military operations against Israeli positions if the regime continues its onslaught on Gaza. 4208**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Palestinian resistance inflicts heavy losses on Zionist invaders IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas announced on Saturday night that it had inflicted heavy blows on invading Israeli on the ground in the Gaza Strip. According to a report cited by IRNA, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters targeted a personnel carrier of the Zionist regime near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City with a Yassin-105 rocket. It also announced targeting 3 Israeli tanks with rockets and Showaz anti-armor explosives, killing and wounding a number of Israeli soldiers in a separate operation near the hospital. A few hours ago, al-Qassam fighters also shelled the positions of the Zionist soldiers around Al-Shifa, a medical complex that in under siege following its storming by Israeli forces last week. Israeli captive dies Meanwhile, Abu Obeidah, spokesman of al-Qassam announced on Saturday night the death of one of the Israeli captives due to lack of medicine and food. A telegram message quoted by Palestine's Sama news agency named the Israeli captive as 34-year-old Yejiv Bukhattaf. "We previously warned that enemy captives suffer from the same conditions as our people; hunger, deprivation, shortages of food and medicine, and that illness now threatens the lives of many of them," Obeidah said in a short video message. "Although he survived the attacks of the Israeli army, he was not spared from the lack of food and medicine", he added. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Road to Gaza ceasefire passes through Rafah: Zionist envoy to UN IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- Gilad Erdan, the Israeli representative at the United Nations has reiterated the regime's threat to go ahead with its ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza where 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering. Erdan claimed in his address to the UN Security Council that no one wants to avoid an operation in Rafah more than Israel but insisted that "the road to a permanent ceasefire passes through" the city, yet another show of defiance to global outcry and international humanitarian law. No ceasefire will be achieved unless all Hamas battalions are destroyed. You cannot put out most of the fire and leave the rest to grow again and spread, he repeated usual narratives of the Zionist regime and its officials. The Israeli ambassador's reactions came a day after Russia and China, the two veto-wielding Security Council members as well as Algeria rejected a US draft resolution that they said give a green light to attack on Rafah. The US-crafted resolution was presented ion Friday but failed to pass as three countries voted against and one country abstained. IRNA cited diplomatic sources on Saturday that the vote in the UN Security Council on the new ceasefire resolution on Gaza has been postponed to Monday after the US vetoed a separate draft. The extraordinary meeting entitled "The situation of the Middle East and Palestine" was postponed because of weekend holidays. China and Russia are calling for an immediate ceasefire to end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. They believe that the US resolution did not clearly call for a ceasefire and stop Israel's aggression in Gaza. For the first time, the two countries vetoed a resolution on Gaza, a move that has been hailed by Hamas. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN chief condemns Israel's blocking of aid into Gaza ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 24 March 2024 / 06:54 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the blockade of relief trucks on Egypt's side of the border with the Gaza Strip, describing it as a "moral outrage." Tehran-ISNA- During a visit to the Rafah border crossing on Saturday, the UN chief stressed the urgent need for Israel to guarantee unrestricted access to humanitarian aid throughout Gaza and called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. "Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all. A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other," he said. "That is more than tragic. It is a moral outrage." Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said that the Israeli regime blocked a food convoy the second time this week. In a post on X, Lazzarini said the last time the UNRWA was able to deliver aid to northern Gaza, where starvation is spreading, was two months ago. "I've said it many times: this is a man made hunger & looming famine which can still be averted," he noted. Visiting the Rafah crossing, Guterres warned of the dire consequences of continued obstruction of aid, saying, "It's time to truly flood Gaza with life-saving aid. The choice is clear: either surge or starvation." The visit coincides with escalating global pressure on the Israeli regime to allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza, which is at risk of an imminent famine amid widespread shortages of food and water. The United Nations is working with Egypt to facilitate the flow of aid into Gaza, with Guterres emphasizing the urgent need to address the dire situation. Before his stop at the border, where he met UN humanitarian workers, Guterres landed in Al Arish in Egypt's northern Sinai, where much of the international relief for Gaza is delivered and stockpiled. Regional governor Mohamed Shusha told Guterres that some 7,000 trucks were waiting in North Sinai to deliver aid to Gaza, but they were held up because of inspection procedures demanded by the Israeli regime. As pressure mounts on the Israeli regime to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, concerns also grow over a planned major military offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population is sheltering. Despite warnings that an invasion of Rafah would cause mass civilian casualties and worsen the humanitarian crisis, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with the attack. "I hope to do that with the support of the United States, but if we need to, we will do it alone," Netanyahu told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday. End item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli officer killed in Al Aqsa Brigades operation in West Bank ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 24 March 2024 / 06:52 Israeli media revealed that an Israeli officer from an elite military unit was killed, and another was injured, alongside six soldiers, in the shooting operation in Ramallah. Tehran-ISNA- The Israeli occupation forces announced on Saturday the killing of an officer from the 'Duvdovan' unit, an elite military force, in the shooting operation claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Ramallah on Friday, Israeli media reported. Israeli website Ynet stated that the Israeli officer was killed in direct confrontations with the Resistance fighter conducting the operation, and revealed that another officer and six soldiers were wounded as well. Martyr Barakat Mansour carried out the operation and was targeted by an Israeli helicopter after a four-hour chase and consistent clashes. Initially, Mansour fired at cars on the 'Habarsa' crossroads and then retreated. Israeli occupation forces had chased him and reported that he was still actively engaging against them for over four hours. An Israeli airforce helicopter was deployed in the chase and actively fired at nearby locations. The operation was described as an "exceptional event" and the shooter as an "expert", with media reports adding that "It is crazy to think that one individual could extend the operation for over four hours against massed forces, a drone, and helicopter, that could not locate him." Israeli media declared, "We ['Israel'] are on the verge of losing control." End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli war of starvation in Gaza kills Israeli captive: Abu Obeida ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 24 March 2024 / 06:50 Begev Bukhataf has been killed as a result of malnutrition and lack of medicine amid "Israel's" blockage of all aid trying to get into Gaza. Tehran-ISNA- Abu Obeida, the military spokesperson for the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Saturday, the death of an Israeli captive, Begev Bukhataf, as a result of malnutrition and the absence of medicine. Abu Obeida had previously emphasized the conditions that both Israeli captives and the Palestinian people were facing, as they fought hunger, food insecurity, and illness that has threatened their lives. In his statement, Abu Obeida highlighted, in a video of the captive published by the Brigades' military media, that although the captive had survived "Israel's" targeting and airstrikes, he could not survive the lack of food and medicine, and that Israeli captives will suffer from the same things Gazans are suffering from. Earlier at the start of March, Abu Obeida revealed that the number of "enemy prisoners" killed by Israeli occupation forces "may have exceeded seventy." This came after Israeli airstrikes killed a total of seven Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian Resistance. "Throughout this time, we have sought to preserve the lives of the prisoners. However, it is evident that the enemy's leadership deliberately intends to eliminate this issue by killing its captives." However, the military spokesperson confirmed that the Resistance would only exchange the same number of Palestinian detainees for the same number of Israeli captives, be they dead or alive. The Gaza Strip is facing a major food shortage, with the situation so dire that people are resorting to using animal feed as a source of food, according to Adnan Abu Hasna, a media advisor for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In a press statement, Abu Hasna said that the situation in the Gaza Strip was "miserable" and that "the food shortage is a major catastrophe." He added that the aid that has been airdropped into the Strip was not enough nor was it reaching all of those who need it. Abu Hasna stressed the need for immediate food and water supplies to be sent to the Gaza Strip, warning that malnutrition is becoming a serious problem, especially in the southern part of the Strip. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran calls for international probe into Israel's war crimes in Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 9:27 PM Iran has called for an international investigation into the war crimes that the Israeli regime has committed during its siege and subsequent raid of al-Shifa Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. "Unfortunately, during the past couple of days, 180 patients, medical staff and Palestinian refugees who were besieged in al-Shifa Hospital have lost their lives due to [Israeli forces'] blind attacks and prevention of entry of basic foodstuff and medicine [into the complex], while survivors are prone to gradual death," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Sunday. Nasser Kan'ani added that there are "horrific reports" indicating that Israeli forces have embarked on torture, rape and massacre of Palestinian women trapped in the hospital. "This issue requires the international community's immediate and categorical measure, including the formation of an international investigation group to reveal the scope of Zionists' war crimes in al-Shifa Hospital," he said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns blatant violation of international laws and regulations, including human rights and international humanitarian law, by the Zionist regime while highlighting the responsibility of the international community and Muslim governments for supporting the oppressed nation of Palestine," Kan'ani said. The Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated that global measures must be taken by governments and international bodies to bring perpetrators of such crimes and their supporters to justice. "Such savage crimes prove more than ever before the rightfulness of the Palestinian nation's resort to resistance as their legitimate right, and will further strengthen the resolve and determination of the Palestinian people and their ... heroic resistance for achieving their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination," Kan'ani concluded. His remarks came as Israeli forces have been carrying out airstrikes and artillery shelling in and around al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Ever since the regime's military raided the hospital last week, reports have suggested unspeakable atrocities being carried out against doctors, nurses, and general staff as well as thousands of displaced people there. Israelis have admitted to executing 140 people inside al-Shifa, including paramedics, patients and the wounded, whilst the siege is still ongoing after seven days with mass arrests. A new report has also emerged in which a Palestinian woman has recounted terrifying incidents after Israeli forces raided the hospital, saying the occupying regime's soldiers have raped Palestinian women before killing them. Jamila al-Hisi, an eyewitness who was trapped in the medical complex and managed to finally get out, said on Saturday that women have been subjected to rape, starvation, torture, and extrajudicial execution, adding that the International Committee of the Red Cross is doing nothing. She went on to say that Israeli troops have "forced 65 families to leave the area around the al-Shifa Medical Complex whilst burning and killing entire families," noting that they have burned a building where Palestinian civilians were taking shelter. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said at the time that about 3,000 people were inside al-Shifa seeking refuge and that those attempting to leave were being targeted by Israeli snipers and helicopters. Since the start of its genocide in Gaza, Israel has killed at least 32,226 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured 74,518 others. The regime has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, medicine and water to more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Only effective way to ramp up Gaza aid is by land: UN chief Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 6:06 PM United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods to meet the humanitarian needs of the people in Gaza is by road. Guterres made the remarks while speaking during a visit to Egypt on Sunday following a visit to the gates of the besieged Gaza Strip at the Rafah border crossing on Saturday. He warned of the impact Israel's months-long genocidal war on Gaza was having around the globe. "The daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community," he said. Guterres repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire to alleviate "the plight of Palestinian children, women and men struggling to survive the nightmare" in famine-threatened Gaza. "Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it," he said. "The whole world recognizes that it's past time to silence the guns and ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire." The United Nations has repeatedly warned of famine in the Palestinian territory, particularly in the north, which has been largely cut off from aid deliveries. Guterres said Palestinians in Gaza "desperately need what has been promised - a flood of aid". "Not trickles. Not drops," he added. Israel has waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. More than 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and more than 74,000 injured. The regime has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel keeps UN agency from providing lifesaving aid to north Gaza: Lazzarini Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 4:37 PM The head of the UN's Palestine refugee agency has condemned the Israeli regime's decision to halt approval for aid convoys managed by UNRWA amid widespread hunger and starvation in the Gaza Strip. Philippe Lazzarini slammed the move as "outrageous" and accused Israel of intentionally obstructing lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine in Gaza. "This is outrageous [and] makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine. These restrictions must be lifted,"he wrote in an X post. Expressing grave concerns, Lazzarini warned that these restrictions could accelerate the onset of famine in northern Gaza. He highlighted the looming threat of hunger and dehydration, which could claim many lives if immediate action is not taken. According to the Integrated Food-Security Phase Classification (IPC), famine is projected to strike northern Gaza as early as May, potentially spreading throughout the region by July. The IPC's recent report revealed that 70 percent of Palestinians in certain parts of northern Gaza are facing severe food shortages, surpassing the threshold for famine by threefold. About 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of the population, are grappling with catastrophic food scarcities. In another message on X, Lazzarini said the decision by the United States to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to UNRWA will have serious repercussions for Palestinians in Gaza and beyond. Lazzarini stressed that any funding shortfall to UNRWA could jeopardize critical services such as food assistance, shelter, healthcare, and education at a time of profound crisis. He urged the international community to step up support to address the escalating humanitarian crisis and prevent further suffering in Gaza. The US, being the largest donor to the UN agency, suspended its funding until March 2025 following allegations by Israel that a number of UNRWA staff members were involved in October 7 attacks against the Israeli regime. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israeli forces target two hospitals in Khan Yunis amid heavy gunfire: PRCS Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 3:41 PM The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says two hospitals in the southern city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip are under heavy attack by Israeli forces, as the occupying regime continues its genocidal war on the besieged enclave. PRCS made the remarks in a statement on Sunday, saying Israeli troops have raided the Nasser and al-Amal Hospitals nd the regime's military vehicles are encircling both medical complexes amid very intense shelling and heavy gunfire. It went on to say that Israeli military vehicles are currently surrounding al-Amal Hospital and conducting extensive excavation work around it, stressing that PRCS teams "are in extreme danger at the moment and are completely immobilized." The humanitarian organization further noted that one of the displaced people sheltering in al-Amal hospital has been injured in the head, adding that smoke bombs were fired at the facility to force the staff, wounded and displaced people out of the building. Israeli troops closed the gates of the hospital with barriers and everyone in the hospital was told to leave naked, PRCS added. Earlier in the day, Amir Abu Aisha, a member of the emergency operations room of the PRCS, was killed by Israeli gunfire while working inside al-Amal Hospital, according to medical sources. PRCS said its crews were unable to bury the body of their colleague in the hospital's backyard due to heavy gunfire. Eyewitnesses also said Israeli forces stormed various areas of Khan Yunis, causing deaths and injuries, as the regime's military vehicles suddenly entered near the Nasser Medical Complex. Thousands of displaced people took refuge in the facility escaping the Israeli military operations. On February 15, Israeli forces raided the hospital in a military operation that lasted 10 days, during which they killed dozens of displaced people, medical staff, and patients inside the hospital, and arrested hundreds more, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The latest development comes as the Israeli military continues to carry out air strikes and artillery shelling in and around the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for the seventh day in a row. Israelis have admitted to executing 140 people inside al-Shifa, including paramedics, patients and wounded whilst the siege is still ongoing after seven days with mass arrests. Israel waged the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime's intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 32,226 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured another 74,518 individuals. Tel Aviv has also imposed a "complete siege" on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Harris County Sheriff's Office said two children were involved in a stabbing in NW Harris County. A 12 year old boy was charged with aggravated assault. Sheila Paras/Getty Images One day after a 12-year-old boy was arrested for stabbing a woman in northwest Harris County, his mother apologized to the victim and her family, according to a new report. "I'm sorry to the family. I'm very sorry that my sons committed the incident. And I'm praying for your health, for your wellness," the mother said, according to KPRC News. The 59-year-old Houston woman remains in critical condition after she was stabbed by two children outside her home on Saturday afternoon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, the womanwho suffers from mental illnessgot into a verbal argument with the 12-year-old and his 7-year-old younger brother. Investigators said the boys rode off on their bikes after the argument, but were caught on camera returning about ten minutes later. In the video, the boys can be seen running up to the woman standing in her garage. The 12-year-old boy is accused of stabbing the woman several times in her abdomen, according the KPRC News. The 12-year-old boy was charged with aggravated assault, and he was brought into custody. The 7-year-old boy was not charged, as the minimum age for criminal charges is 10 years old in Texas. "He is not culpable by law," Gonzalez said on X. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The mother of the two boys told KPRC News that her son "has some mental issues." She said he "struggles from his mental problems." The sheriff's office said Child Protective Services was notified and the investigation is ongoing. HCSO did not immediately respond to a request for an update on the investigation. It was the second time in the past week that a group of young kids were alleged to have committed a serious crime in Harris County. A group of three children, nicknamed the "Little Rascals" by the FBI, were arrested and charged with robbery by threat in connection with a bank robbery in Aldine. Authorities said the children who were arrested were 11, 12 and 16. They are alleged to have robbed a Wells Fargo bank on March 14. Iran, Oman urge world bodies to prevent Israel from committing more crimes against Palestinians Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 1:49 PM The foreign ministers of Iran and Oman say world bodies should take firm and immediate action to prevent Israel from committing more crimes against the oppressed Palestinian people. In a phone conversation on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi discussed bilateral relations and the recent developments in the Gaza Strip amid the continuation of Israel's war crimes over the past six months. Amir-Abdollahian and Busaidi denounced the continuation of Israel's crimes in the Gaza Strip, especially the regime's barbaric and inhuman siege of al-Shifa hospital and the killing of its patients and medical staff. Israel first raided al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City last November, saying that the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas used it as a command center. Hamas officials have rejected the accusations on several occasions. On March 18, Israeli occupation forces started a new wave of attacks on the medical complex and imposed a siege on it. Al-Shifa used to be the Gaza Strip's largest hospital before the current conflict started. It is now one of the few partially operational healthcare facilities in the north. In a statement on Sunday, the Gaza-based Hamas denounced the international community over its "shameful silence" on the Israeli military's raid against al-Shifa Hospital. Since the start of Israel's aggression in October 2023, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 32,226 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured another 74,518 individuals. Elsewhere in the conversation, the top Iranian and Omani diplomats reiterated the two countries' firm determination to enhance mutual relations and strengthen regional and international cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah attacks Israeli barracks in reprisal for east Lebanon aggression Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 11:36 AM The Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has fired dozens of rockets at the northern part of the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories, targeting missile and artillery launch pads at two Israeli military barracks in response to the regime's strikes on the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek. Lebanon's Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news channel reported that the barrage, one of the heaviest since the start of pro-Palestine retaliatory operations in October, hit facilities at Yoav and Keila barracks in the predawn hours of Sunday. Hezbollah said in a brief statement that the attack came in support of steadfast Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as well as their brave and honorable resistance fighters and in response to Israeli attacks on the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon. It highlighted that the attack on the Keila barracks was conducted with more than 60 Katyusha rockets, and came as a unit of the Golani Brigade that had lately returned from the Gaza Strip was exercising in the area. Israeli media reported that at least 50 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, pointing out that the Israeli military shot down only several of the projectiles. Three people were wounded by Israeli air strikes on Lebanon's eastern city of Baalbek overnight, one of which hit a two-storey building. The Israeli military claimed in a statement fighter jets "struck a Hezbollah manufacturing site containing weapons in the area of Baalbek." "The Israeli air force fired five missiles at a two-storey inhabited building in al-Osseira, on the outskirts of Baalbek," a correspondent for AFP news agency said. The Israeli regime launched the devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory's Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity. The Israeli war on Gaza has killed at least 32,142 people, most of them children and women. The Israeli military has also been carrying out attacks against the Lebanese territory since the start of the Gaza war, prompting retaliatory strikes from Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Strip. The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its onslaught on Gaza. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hamas slams 'shameful' intl. silence over Israeli raid on Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 9:55 AM The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has denounced the international community over its "shameful silence" on the Israeli military's raid against Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering. The Gaza-based group said in a statement that the ongoing Israeli aggression against the hospital indicates the international community and the United Nations' "moral failure" who are not capable of pressuring Israel's traditional ally, the US, to stop sending arms to the occupying regime. "The shameful silence on the situation of the al-Shifa Hospital Complex [in Gaza City] and those trapped inside represents a disgrace and a moral failure on the part of the international community and the United Nations, " the statement said. "They are unable to stop Zionists' killing machine, and pressure Washington to stop its partnership and support with arms exports to the Nazi-Zionist occupying regime," it added. The Israeli military continues to carry out air strikes and artillery shelling in and around the al-Shifa Hospital for the seventh day in a row. Media reports say Palestinians sheltering near al-Shifa Hospital have no food and no water as Israeli bombardment and air raids continue. Hamas says Israel is striking targets "without regard" to the patients or medical staff inside - what people at the complex also echoed. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing medical sources, reported that Israeli forces are detaining about 240 patients along with their caregivers, in addition to 10 healthcare workers inside the hospital, under harsh conditions without water, food, or health services. A large number of the wounded are facing dire conditions inside the medical complex and worms have begun to emerge from their wounds, the sources added. Five Palestinian patients at al-Shifa were reportedly pronounced dead on Saturday. Jamila al-Hissi, a Palestinian woman who was trapped in a building near al-Shifa Hospital has told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces raped, kidnapped, and killed women during their ongoing raid on Gaza's largest hospital. "They raped women, kidnapped women, executed women, and pulled dead bodies from under the rubble to unleash their dogs on them," she said. "Is there anything worse than this? Is there anything more horrifying than hearing women call for help, and when we try to reach them to provide assistance, they shoot at us?" The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor also reported that the Israeli army is burning homes near al-Shifa Hospital, in some cases while occupants were inside the buildings. Al-Shifa used to be the Gaza Strip's largest hospital before the current conflict started. It is now one of the few partially operational healthcare facilities in the north. Israel first raided al-Shifa last November, arguing that Hamas used it as a command center, what Hamas officials have rejected on several occasions. On Monday, the Israeli military claimed that "senior Hamas terrorists" were using the facility to "conduct and promote terrorist activity." Later that day, Israel said that "terrorist forces" were firing at Israeli troops. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said at the time that about 3,000 people were inside al-Shifa seeking refuge and that those attempting to leave were being targeted by snipers and fire from helicopters. According to the UN, 155 health facilities in the Gaza Strip have been damaged since the war began. Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 32,142 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured another 74,412 individuals. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address At least 19 Palestinians killed as Israeli troops open fire on Gaza aid seekers Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 7:25 AM The Israeli military has attacked desperate Palestinians lining up for humanitarian aid in Gaza City, killing at least 19 people and injuring 23 others in a new massacre against aid seekers. The Government Media Office in Gaza said in a statement that the carnage took place on Saturday near the al-Kuwait roundabout, southeast of Gaza City. "The occupation army and tanks opened fire with machine guns at the hungry people who were waiting for bags of flour and aid in a remote place that did not pose a threat to the occupation," the statement said. Mahmud Basal, spokesman for the Civil Defense Department in Gaza, said there had been "heavy shooting at civilians" looking for food to help their families and children. "There were very serious injuries, some of whom were injured by shrapnel. The reality is tragic, difficult, and challenging," he added, saying the victims were taken to the nearby al-Ahli Arab hospital. Speaking to Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV network, Alaa al-Khudary, a witness at the scene, said that Israeli forces shot at the crowd, leaving "many dead" and injuring others while they tried to get "a bite to eat" for their children. However, the Israeli army claimed that the reports of its troops firing on a Gaza aid queue are "incorrect." In recent weeks, Israeli soldiers have conducted several deadly attacks on crowds of aid seekers in the besieged Gaza. In mid-March the Israeli military opened fire on Palestinian civilians who had gathered in Gaza to obtain humanitarian aid, targeting them with gunfire from helicopters, tanks, and drones near the Kuwait roundabout on the outskirts of Gaza City, killing over 60 people and injuring 160 others. In what is known as the "flour massacre", the occupation forces killed 118 people and wounded 760 others as they opened fire on hundreds of Palestinians waiting for aid trucks in Gaza City's al-Rashid Street on February 29. Earlier this month, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that a total of 400 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on aid seekers since the beginning of Israel's genocidal aggression against the Palestinian territory. Israel waged its US-backed war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime's intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people. So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 32,142 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 74,412 others. Israel is intentionally starving the people in Gaza by blocking their access to food, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraqi resistance targets Israeli ministry for military affairs in Tel Aviv Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 2:05 AM The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has said it targeted the headquarters of the Israeli regime's ministry for military affairs in the occupied territories with a drone early on Sunday. The Iraqi umbrella group of anti-terror groups said in a statement published on its Telegram channel on Sunday that it. The statement said that "the fighters of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted, at dawn today Sunday 3/24/2024, by drone, the headquarters building" of the Israeli ministry for military affairs in the occupied territories. "This qualitative operation comes in these blessed nights to confirm our continuation of destroying enemy strongholds and our completion of the second phase of operations to resist the occupation, which will escalate during the blessed month of Ramadan, in support of our people in Gaza, and in response to the Zionist massacres against defenseless Palestinian civilians," it added. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has carried out a number of key operations in recent weeks, including multiple attacks on Ben Gurion Airport, a power plant in Tel Aviv as well as major Israeli ports in solidarity with the people of Gaza. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq on Wednesday said its fighters attacked Ben Gurion Airport twice in one week using drones. The resistance confirmed the attack against Israel which waged a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. In response to the Israeli massacres against innocent Palestinian civilians, the second phase of the Resistance's operations has started which include the enforcement of a blockade on Israeli maritime navigation in the Mediterranean and putting Israeli ports out of service. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it will continue its attacks on Israeli targets until the regime stops its genocide in Gaza. It has also struck major American military bases in Syria and Iraq amid anger over the US support for Israel's onslaught on Gaza. Israel has waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. More than 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and more than 74,000 injured. The regime has also imposed a "complete siege" on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the Palestinians living there. The secretary-general of the Sayyed Al-Shuhada Brigades in the Popular Mobilization Forces of Iraq said that the Islamic Resistance in Iraq is a fundamental pillar of the Axis of Resistance and the concept of the unity of fields." "The Islamic Resistance has set the most difficult goal within its commitment in the face of the Zionist genocide that Gaza is subjected to, and it will reach it by Allah's will, which is to strike the ports and facilities of the entity in the Mediterranean, including refineries, bases, and airports, as well as power generation stations. Time is in favor of the resistance; indeed, it is the era of resistance," Abu Alaa Al-Walae stated. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Mar. 23: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 12:44 AM By Press TV Website Staff Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, including at least 14,000 children, resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers. Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on Mar. 23: Targeted an Israeli military vehicle with a Yassin-105 shell in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City. Targeted a battalion of Israeli soldiers holed up inside a building near the Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City with a TBG rocket, resulting in multiple casualties. Shelled a group of Israeli forces in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City with mortar shells. Targeted an Israeli military vehicle carrier (APC) with a Yassin-105 rocket south of the Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City. Targeted three Merkava tanks south of the Al-Shifa Hospital complex in western Gaza City with Shawath explosive devices and Yassin-105 rockets, causing casualties. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on Mar. 23: Shelled gatherings of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles with regular 60-caliber mortar shells around the Al-Shifa Hospital west of Gaza City. Targeted an Israeli military vehicle with RPGs in the Al-Bura area east of Beit Hanoun City, north of the Gaza Strip. Shelled Israeli forces and their military vehicles with a barrage of mortar shells around the Al-Shifa Hospital west of Gaza City. Martyr Omar Al-Qasim Forces' operations on Mar. 23: Engaged in clashes with Israeli forces on Al-Wehda Street and the outskirts of the Al-Shati camp in Gaza City, using explosive devices. Fired an R.P.G. shell at the Israeli military personnel in the Al-Baraka area south of Deir al-Balah city. Al-Asifah Forces' operations on Mar. 23: Attacked an Israeli infantry force using machine guns and anti-personnel weapons in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood. Hezbollah's operations on Mar. 23: Eastern sector: At around 12:00 local time, Ramim barracks were targeted with artillery shells. At around 12:20 local time, two Iron Dome platforms at the "Kfar Blum" air defense site were targeted by multiple drones. At around 13:10 local time, surveillance equipment at the radar site in Shebaa Farms was targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 13:15 local time, the Bayad Blida site was targeted with appropriate weapons. At around 16:50 local time, the Ruwaisat Al-Alam site in Kafr Shuba was targeted with artillery shells. Western sector: At around 17:55 local time, the Al-Malikiyah site was targeted with artillery shells. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address What exactly happened to Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong? Two deputy prime ministers, two presidents and another Politburo member have been dismissed since December 2022. A commentary by Zachary Abuza 2024.03.24 -- On March 20, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam voted to accept the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong, capping the spectacular downfall of a once-promising new leader that underscores the risks of Hanoi's anti-corruption campaign. The following day, an extraordinary session of the National Assembly accepted his resignation but failed to elect his successor. Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan will serve as the acting president until the National Assembly elects a president. There's no sign that Thuong will be the last scalp in an anti-corruption campaign that has toppled a slew of senior leaders in the one-party state in recent years. The dismissal of two deputy prime ministers, two presidents and one other Communist Party of Vietnam Politburo member, as well as other ministers and former ministers, since December 2022 undermines Vietnam's selling point of political stability and rattled markets. Rumors of Thuong's downfall began on March 14, when the Netherlands announced the postponement of a March 19-22 visit by the Dutch royal couple at the request of the Vietnamese government "due to internal circumstances." Word quickly emerged that Thuong had submitted his resignation to the ruling party Politburo. He is the fourth Politburo member forced to resign since December 2022, bringing the number of members down to 14, the smallest since the Doi Moi economic reform era began in 1986. Spilling tea on corrupt officials Thuong has been described by some academics as the party's ideologue. While he held ideological positions within the party, he was no ideologue. It's true that before becoming the president in March 2023, following the ouster of Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Thuong chaired the Central Committee's Propaganda and Education Commission, as well as heading the Central Council on Political Thought, a brain trust of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. But that was a mid-career reinvention in part to burnish his credentials. He's not the party ideologue nor apparatchik that some claimed. From 2011-2014, Thuong was the party chief of Quang Ngai province, before moving to Ho Chi Minh City in 2014. He served as the deputy party chief under Le Thanh Hai, better known as the godfather of Ho Chi Minh City. Little happened in terms of the region's economic and real estate development without his knowledge and approval. Despite his leadership role in the freewheeling south, Thuong was brought to Hanoi, in large part, to spill the tea on corrupt party officials, as the central government moved to reassert control. In 2016, Thuong was appointed to the Central Committee's Propaganda and Education Commission. He was elevated to the Politburo in 2020, and joined the Secretariat, which is in charge of the party's day-to-day operations, in 2021. Thuong was clearly being groomed for bigger things. Born in 1970, Thuong was the youngest person on the Politburo, and many pundits had tipped him as being a possible successor to Nguyen Phu Trong as general secretary at the 14th Congress, expected to be held in early 2026. He was also the only southerner amongst the senior leadership. For a party that is out of touch with Vietnamese youth, choosing a younger general secretary has a certain logic. Even if passed over at the 14th, Thuong would have been well positioned to take over the party at the 15th Congress. In short, his fall is quite spectacular. Who brought Thuong down and why? So who wanted Thuong gone and why? After all, he was often described as a young protege of the powerful party chief, which should have accorded him some protection. It's worth noting that Thuong's resignation was the result of an investigation dating back to his time in Quang Ngai, from 2011-14, which shows just how far back rivals are willing to dig. All eyes quickly fell on Minister of Public Security To Lam. When the Politburo elected Thuong president in February 2023, not everyone was happy, least of all Lam who may have seen the presidency as a path to whitewashing his own scandals, including being filmed in celebrity chef Salt Bae's London restaurant eating $1000 gold encrusted steaks after placing a wreath at the grave of Karl Marx. In April 2023, four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhut airport for smuggling 11 kilograms (22 pounds) of illegal narcotics. One was rumored to be Thuong's niece. In a country known for the quick dispatch of the death penalty for drug offenses, all four stewardesses were quickly released with a slap on the wrist. The message to Thuong could not have been more clear. Since Lam's own scandals appeared to preclude him from contention to be the next general secretary, the presidency would extend his political lifespan, especially if he could ensure that his protege, Deputy Minister of Public Security Luong Tan Quang, succeeded him. Lam goes after his own rivals His predecessor, Tran Dai Quang, after all, continued to keep an office in the security ministry despite becoming president in 2016. Lam expected to continue to wield influence over the powerful ministry in order to keep rivals in check and protect his family's growing corporate empire. For years,Trong used Lam and the security ministry to target rival faction members. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who challenged Trong for the general secretaryship in 2021, was ousted in February 2023. Other leaders tied to former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung have been systematically taken down. Increasingly, Lam dispatched his own rivals. With Thuong's dismissal, there are now only three other eligible replacements among members of the Politburo under existing party rules: Secretariat chief Truong Thi Mai, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Mai is competent, has broad-based experience, and is relatively clean. But Mai's already amassed unprecedented power for a woman in the male-dominated world of Vietnamese politics. At 65, she's also hinted that she has little interest in serving another five-year term. Chinh has had numerous corruption investigations surrounding him and has already had to write a self-criticism. Hue is rumored to be under investigation. Should Hue be forced to resign, that would leave Lam as the last man standing. The media widely pinned Lam as the likely next president, viewing it as a stepping stone to becoming party chief in 2026. But that is unnecessary and begs the question, why would Lam want the presidency? 'Four Pillars' Too often the presidency is described as being a ceremonial post. But it's one of the "Four Pillars" of the collective leadership, and should the president choose to wield his authority and influence, especially through his patronage networks, it can be a powerful position, as Le Duc Anh (1992-1997) and Truong Tan Sang (2011-2016) proved. Nonetheless, the minister of public security has something the presidency doesn't have: investigative powers. In short, Lam doesn't need the presidency as a stepping stone to become general secretary if that's his goal. He can use his current position to keep his rivals on the defensive. While it's possible that the National Assembly wouldn't endorse Lam for the presidency, it's more likely that he was unable to secure the promotion of his deputy, Luong Tan Quang, to the Politburo, a requirement to become minister. Ergo, the presidency remains in the hands of Vice President Xuan. We also need to consider an alternative, that someone else brought Thuong down to force Lam into the presidency. If Lam was forced out of the security ministry, while his hand-picked successor gets passed over, he would be politically vulnerable to corruption charges. With the Politburo now down to a decades-low 14 members, repeated central committee plenums since early 2023 have failed to elect replacements, an indication of factional deadlocks. Planning for the 14th Party Congress is already underway, with two preparatory sessions on documents and personnel held in February and March. Having weaponized anti-corruption, Trong is suddenly unable to contain the campaign, taking down rivals and proteges alike. 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 Radio Free Asia. Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content March not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Ministry statement in connection with the 25th anniversary of NATO aggression against Yugoslavia 24 March 2024 13:06 539-24-03-2024 History knows many events which, by virtue of their profound impact on the international order, marked a change of eras. The NATO attack on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999 is certainly one such event. It went beyond being a tragic milestone in the life of the Serbian people with thousands of ruined lives and desecrated national dignity, and included a devastating blow to international law and European security foundations that had been laid after World War II. The United States and the EU got finally convinced in their own impunity and moral superiority which was bad news for those who prefer to choose their own path rather than become someone's tool in their efforts to realise their own interests. The strategic balance of power collapsed, and a drawn-out crisis of international relations ensued which continues to worsen. The US and its allies who assaulted a peaceful European country trampled on the UN Charter and the CSCE/OSCE principles, and desecrated the very notion of sovereignty. They have thus made it clear that they will stoop to anything, including radioactive contamination of vast swathes of land, to achieve global dominance. The widespread use of depleted uranium munitions by NATO has led to a multifold increase in cancer cases in that region, contaminated the environment where millions of people had lived for many years, and went down in history as a separate dark chapter on the list of NATO crimes. During the 78 days of military aggression 14,000 bombs were dropped on Yugoslavia and over 2,000 missiles were fired, including cluster and demolition shells. Under the mocking front of a "humanitarian intervention," mostly civilian targets were hit, including residential districts, hospitals, schools, bridges, mass transit vehicles, and refugee convoys. Thousands of civilians were killed, including 89 children, whom the Western coalition cynically referred to as "collateral damage." No one has ever been held accountable for these atrocities, and international justice turned a deaf ear to the suffering of the Serbs and let NATO atrocities go unnoticed. Not only the bombed-out buildings of the Yugoslav General Staff and Defence Ministry in central Belgrade which irritate the US officials to this day remind us of those terrible days. Serbia has many other unhealed wounds. A portion of the country's ancestral territory, Kosovo and Metohija, has been forcibly taken away. The West has taken under its wing terrorists from the Kosovo Liberation Army, gave the province the status of a pseudo-state, and encourages the expulsion of the indigenous Serbian population. This inevitably begs the question: was the "Kosovo project" worth the sacrifice and destruction that the alliance brought upon Yugoslavia? Has the self-proclaimed "republic" added stability or prosperity to the Balkan region? There is no doubt that the United States' concern for the rights of Kosovo Albanians is a fake claim from the get-go. It is nothing but a false pretext for the crackdown on Serbs. The West's goal was to turn the provisional self-governing bodies in Pristina into a tool for anti-Serb ethnic cleansing and a festering trouble spot to put pressure on Belgrade. At the end of the day, the Kosovo settlement is in a deadlock, and the situation on the ground threatens to escalate into an armed conflict. This is what the Western "peacemaking" is all about. Its disastrous ramifications can now be seen in Ukraine, where a neo-Nazi regime has been nurtured on the basis of Washington and its supporters' rejection of the principles of equality and mutual respect in international affairs, a regime that committed genocide against the Russian population and plunged the country into a military face-off. We can hear the US and the EU increasingly call on Serbs to "turn the page" and forgive NATO for the invasion that took place 25 years ago. On top of that, they lay the bulk of the blame on the Serbs for the dramatic events during the breakup of Yugoslavia, including the 1999 bombing attacks. I'd be hard pressed to find proper words to describe the extent of Western shamelessness and lack of self-criticism. The Alliance will never be able to wash off the shame of war crimes. No one believes its demagoguery about defending freedom and democracy anymore. The United States and the rest of NATO have no right whatsoever to talk about implementing an obscure new "rules-based order." Their every effort to put together some kind of "global security architecture" is by definition malevolent and toxic, and aimed solely at perpetrating the neocolonial hegemony of the West. Russia and its partners in Belgrade will continue to oppose the attempts to distort the history of the Yugoslav crisis and to shift the emphasis to demonising Serbs and justifying the 1999 aggression. The attempts to insult the memory of the innocent victims of NATO hangmen are unacceptable. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Israel tells UN it will reject UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza 24 March 2024 - Israeli authorities informed the United Nations on Sunday that it will no longer approve the passage of any UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, food convoys into northern Gaza. "As of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for Palestine refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a social media post on X. He called the decision "outrageous", saying it was made to intentionally obstruct lifesaving aid deliveries during a man-made famine in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. He underlined the need to lift this ban, adding that UNRWA - the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza - is the largest relief agency in the Strip and has the greatest ability to reach displaced communities there. 'Restrictions must be lifted' "Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north. This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine," he wrote. "These restrictions must be lifted," he continued. "By preventing UNRWA to fulfill its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine & many more will die of hunger, dehydration + lack of shelter," he warned. "This cannot happen, it would only stain our collective humanity." WHO slams fresh aid ban World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus slammed the new order. "Blocking UNRWA from delivering food is in fact denying starving people the ability to survive," he said in a social media post. "This decision must be urgently reversed," he continued. "The levels of hunger are acute. All efforts to deliver food should not only be permitted but there should be an immediate acceleration of food deliveries." Famine warnings The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza Strip stated last week that famine is imminent in the northern part of the Strip and is expected to occur between now and May in the two northern governorates, which are home to about 300,000 people. Upon the report's release, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described the findings as an "appalling indictment of conditions on the ground for civilians". "Palestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering," he said at the time. "This is an entirely man-made disaster, and the report makes clear that it can be halted." In Egypt, UN chief calls for flooding Gaza with aid The UN chief is currently in the region on his annual Ramadan solidarity trip, having visited with Palestinian women and children injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza, and strongly renewed his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. His trip included a visit to the Rafah border crossing into Gaza and planned meetings in Egypt and Jordan. Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Guterres met the press in Cairo, reiterating that call. "Palestinians in Gaza desperately need what has been promised: a flood of aid," he said, "not trickles, not drops." He said some progress has been made, but much more needs to be done, and making that increasing aid flows requires very practical steps. Israel must remove 'chokepoints to relief' "It requires Israel removing the remaining obstacles and chokepoints to relief," Mr. Guterres explained. "It requires more crossings and access points. All alternative routes are, of course, welcome, but the only efficient and effective way to move heavy goods is by road. It requires an exponential increase in commercial goods, and, I repeat, it requires an immediate humanitarian ceasefire." He said efforts must ensure that ample aid shipments are delivered as soon as possible. "The current horrors in Gaza serve no one and are having an impact around the globe," he said. "The daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community." US financing situation Early on Sunday, UNRWA's Commissioner-General said that there will be widespread consequences for Palestine refugees in Gaza and the region following the newly passed United States foreign aid spending bill for 2024, which limits funding to the agency until March 2025. He said the humanitarian community in Gaza is racing against time to avoid famine and that any gap in funding for UNRWA will undermine access to food, shelter, primary health care and education at an extremely difficult time. Palestine refugees are counting on the international community to increase its support to meet their basic needs, he said. UNRWA will continue its mandate UNRWA supports about 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations: Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Mr. Lazzarini expressed his appreciation for UNRWA's supporters from members of the US Congress "who are speaking on behalf of the agency during this difficult period" and for US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's support last week with the European Union. The UNRWA chief stressed that the agency will continue to work with the US on the path of joint commitment towards Palestine refugees and peace and stability throughout the region. He said that UNRWA, along with donors and partners, will continue to implement its mandate entrusted to it by the UN General Assembly to protect the rights of Palestine refugees until a lasting political solution is reached. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Chief Assails Israel for Blocking Gaza Aid Trucks By VOA News March 24, 2024 United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres assailed Israel on Sunday, contending that "horror and starvation stalk the people of Gaza" and that only Israel can remove the obstacles to getting more aid into the Palestinian enclave. "Let me be clear. Nothing justifies the abhorrent October 7 Hamas attacks and hostage-taking in Israel," the U.N. chief said in a visit to Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials to push for a cease-fire in the six-month Israeli-Hamas war. "But nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," he said. Later, Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the U.N.'s Palestinian relief agency, said Israeli authorities told the agency that they were immediately blocking new food convoys to northern Gaza. "This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine," Lazzarini said. "These restrictions must be lifted." He said that by blocking the aid being transported by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, "the clock will tick faster towards famine and many more will die of hunger, dehydration and lack of shelter. This cannot happen. It would only stain our collective humanity." On a Saturday visit to Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt, Guterres said it was a "moral outrage" that aid is being blocked from being sent into Gaza. "Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all. A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other," Guterres said. He said the only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods into Gaza was by road and included an exponential increase in commercial deliveries. He said in Egypt, "The daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community." He offered his remarks as the U.N. Security Council heads to a Monday vote calling for a cease-fire in the war, with the U.S. supporting the resolution and representatives of all 10 elected members of the council also supporting it, according to U.N. diplomats. The Security Council on Friday failed to call for a cease-fire in Gaza after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-drafted resolution supporting a halt to the fighting. This was the seventh time the council failed to agree on a cease-fire resolution since the war started. Heavy fighting raged in Gaza on Sunday as Israel vowed to push on with its ground war in the territory's far south near Rafah despite U.S. objections and ongoing truce talks in Qatar. But Israel has not launched a full-scale attack on the southern reaches of Gaza. Several of its war strategists, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, are headed to Washington for discussions this week as U.S. officials try to prevent further bloodshed in a region where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering in makeshift tents. Washington has made it clear it will not support an Israeli attack on Rafah without a plan to protect civilians there, but Israel has not said where it would move the Palestinians. The refugees mostly were pushed there on orders from Israeli forces who told them to leave their homes in northern Gaza as Israeli troops advanced there in the earlier stages of the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has contended that "we have no way to defeat Hamas without getting into Rafah and eliminating the battalions that are left there." The Israeli leader told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Friday meeting in Israel, "I hope to do that with the support of the United States, but if we need to, we will do it alone." The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said another 84 people had been killed over the past day, raising the total death toll in the war to 32,226, a figure that includes Hamas fighters Israel has killed. The war started with the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages, 100 or so of whom the militants still hold in Gaza. Combat has flared for almost a week in and around Gaza's biggest hospital complex, Shifa in Gaza City, which has been a refuge for patients and displaced people. It is also a facility where Israel says Hamas and Islamic Jihad group militants have been hiding out. Hamas is a U.S.-designated terrorist group. In Israel, relatives and supporters of the hostages demonstrated Saturday outside the defense ministry in Tel Aviv, demanding greater efforts to bring them home. Some scuffles broke out between the demonstrators and police. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 30: Houston Community College is the top rated schools among Houston ISD graduates. (Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images) Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspap/Houston Chronicle via Getty Imag Houston Community College is the top school Houston ISD graduates select if they pursue higher education, according to the district postsecondary enrollment report by the Class of 2022. According to a Houston Chronicle report, around 6,000 students graduated in HISD's Class of 2022, and many opted to enroll in a college or university within a year of graduating. Of those students, 32 percent went to four-year colleges, while 23 percent went to two-year institutions. Around 1,700 HISD students enrolled in HCC after graduating, and it has consistently been the favorite for students in the state's largest school district for a few years. In addition to Houston Community College, HISD graduates chose the University of Houston's main campus and UH-Downtown to further their education. The UH main campus ranked second with 559 students enrolled, and UH-Downtown had 374 students enrolled. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Overall, based on the latest enrollment report, thousands of Houston ISD graduates decided to stay local within the Houston area. Meanwhile, a few hundred students chose to enroll in larger state schools, including Texas State University in San Marcos, Sam Houston State University, and University of Texas San Antonio. Despite Texas A&M's main campus in College Station not making the list, more than 100 Houston ISD graduates enrolled in the the state's largest HBCU, Prairie View A&M University. The top ten schools chosen by 2022 graduates are: Houston Community College (1,713) University of Houston (559) University of Houston-Downtown (374) University of Texas-Austin (199) San Jacinto College (198) Lone Star College (150) Texas State University- San Marcos (143) Prairie View A&M University (103) Sam Houston State University (99) University of Texas-San Antonio (92) 16 Suspects Arrested in Somalia Hotel Attack By Harun Maruf, Hassan Kafi Qoyste March 24, 2024 Somalia's security agents have arrested 16 people in connection with the March 14 attack on an upscale hotel near the presidential palace in Mogadishu, the government has announced. The Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) said the suspects included a man accused of being the "mastermind" of the attack. In a statement issued by the Ministry of Information, the government also accused the key suspect of facilitating the smuggling of the vehicles that al-Shabab militants used for the attack. Also arrested were four people who are registered as owners of two vehicles the militant group used for the attack. The government said it is also investigating five members of the government's own security personnel who were stationed at the checkpoints the attackers passed through. Five al-Shabab militants stormed the hotel around 9:15 p.m. local time on March 14 after detonating a vehicle-borne explosive device outside the building. The attackers were overwhelmed early the following morning after an hours-long battle. The government did not give specific details of the time arrests were made. Also, no further details were given about the other suspects arrested. "Apprehending these murderers sends a message to the criminals and murderers of al-Shabab Khawarij [deviants] who are always bent upon harming the public," Information Minister Daud Aweis told VOA Somali. "The message tells them that the government and its security agencies are vigilant to go after whoever attempts to harm the public and destabilize the security." Meanwhile, al-Shabab militants launched a deadly attack on government forces at a military base south of Mogadishu on Saturday. The dawn attack at Busley base, about 17 kilometers (11 miles) south of Mogadishu claimed the lives of about seven soldiers and 10 al-Shabab fighters, according to a security officer who was at the camp. The officer asked not to be identified, as he is not allowed to speak with the media. Al-Shabab claimed it killed 57 soldiers in the attack. The militant group often gives casualty figures that are higher than those released by the government. Their claim could not be independently verified. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Senegalese Voters Hit the Polls to Choose Their Next Leader By Mariama Diallo March 24, 2024 Senegalese voters are casting ballots after outgoing President Macky Sall's attempt to delay the elections plunged the country into months of political crisis. It's a day many have been waiting for, including Jules Rolland Pascal Diatta. He was the first to cast his ballot in voting room number seven at a school about 30 minutes outside Dakar's city center. He arrived two and half hours before the poll officially opened. "I see that they are actually on time and open at 8 a.m. sharp. This is a very important election for me and everyone here. I like my candidate because he has a solid and well-defined program that I think could save Senegal," he said. He says he voted for the coalition led by Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Faye, a former tax inspector, is backed by Ousmane Sonko who was seen as the key challenger to outgoing President Macky Sall. Sonko was barred from running in this year's elections over a previous defamation conviction. Both Faye and Sonko were recently released from prison. Another voter, Ahmadou Khadim Lo, hopes for job creation to be the number one goal for the next leader. "Seventy-five percent of the Senegalese population is young and many of them have diplomas but can't find jobs," he said. A sentiment echoed by Khady Diagne who spoke to us before casting her vote. "Living conditions are difficult here. The health care system is poor, there are no jobs, I could spend an entire year telling you about all the problems our country has," she said. About 17 candidates are vying for the top job, including former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who is endorsed by Sall. Seynabou Faye told us she wants a continuation of the policies of the current regime. "I just love Macky Sall. He's done more work than any other president before him. He's built bridges, the Bus Rapid Transit system, stadiums, roads. I would like to see Amadou Ba win so he can work on some of Sall's unfinished projects," said Faye. Ndoumbe Gueye is the head of voting room number 7 at the polling station in the neighborhood of Scat Urbam. She explained the voting process. "Once a voter comes in, he or she shows me their national identification card first," she said. "My team verifies that the person is registered, and this is the right place for them to vote. Then they can pick 5 out of the 19 candidates, pick up an envelope, and proceed to the voting booth. Their final choice can be inserted into the envelope and submitted. Once that's done, they come back to us and dip their small finger in ink [to show they've voted]." Observers from many organizations are also present, including some from the European Union which sent 100 observers all over the country. Malin Bjork, who heads the group which arrived in early January, held a news conference Sunday morning. "What we've been able to observe is that the polling started on time with sometimes long lines, which shows that people are motivated and interested in voting. The material was in place and the rules were followed by all voting centers," said Bjork. Senegal has always been seen as a stable democracy in a region plagued by coups, until recently when President Sall tried unsuccessfully to postpone last month's elections by 10 months. While Sall said he would not seek a third term, his critics accused him of wanting to hold on to power. Whoever wins, today's elections are a chance to maybe put those uncertainties to rest. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Forced transfer of Palestinians from Rafah a war crime' IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 25, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- French President Emmanuel Macron has issued yet another warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about any forced transfer of Palestinians from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, calling any such move a war crime. Macron, in a telephone conversation with Netanyahu, also reiterated his opposition to any ground operation in Rafah, a city that is currently sheltering about 1.5 million Palestinians. The French President informed Netanyahu that he is planning to submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza. The Israeli regime has, so far, defied international calls, including those from its western backers to stop its genocidal war on Gaza that has internally displaced one-third of the population and pushed tens of thousands to the brink of famine. Denouncing Israeli expansionism In the continuation of his conversation, Macron also strongly condemned the Zionist regime's announcement on Friday regarding the seizure of 800 hectares of more Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank for new settlements. Meanwhile, the German Foreign Ministry also condemned the regime's decision to confiscate Palestinian lands. Berlin strongly condemns the announcement of the confiscation of more than 800 hectares of land belonging to Palestinians in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank, the ministry wrote in a statement on its X social media account, adding that the move would further fuel tensions in this very fragile situation. In a statement, the European Union also condemned the Israeli seizure of 800 hectares of Palestinian land, which was, announced by Bezalel Smotrich, the regime's finance minister. Peter Stano, the spokesperson for the EU foreign policy called it the biggest land confiscation since the signing of the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Israeli regime in 1993. He said that the bloc leaders, at the European Council meeting this week, condemned Israel's decision to continue with its illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank. All Israeli settlements are illegal under the Geneva Convention and international laws and are in breach of UN Security Council Resolution 2334. 4399 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russo-Ukraine War - 24 March 2024 - Day 759 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 31 A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. "To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal] The UK Ministry of Defence reported that on 18 March 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the construction of a railway line from Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia through the Russian temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to Crimea. According to Putin, the new line will ultimately reach Sevastopol in southern Crimea and provide redundancy for the Kerch bridge. Although Putin claimed the first completed section restores access to Berdyansk, the pre-existing rail connection used to complete this journey passes through territory vulnerable to interdiction by Ukrainian long-range precision strike systems. The new railway line, south of Donetsk, between Kolosky and Kamianka, is nearly 60km in length and took eight months to build. It is almost certainly one of the largest infrastructure projects Russia has carried out in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and re-establishes the rail connection denied by the fighting outside of Donetsk. It is likely one of the immediate objectives of the new line will be to support Russian activity in Mariupol. The port city, destroyed by Russia in 2022, contains the Azovstal steel works and other heavy industry facilities that, although currently severely damaged, Russia may seek to repair and exploit in the future. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of March 24, there were 52x tactical engagements. Russian forces launched a total of 32x missile and 47x air strikes, 48x MLRS attacks on positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Residential apartment blocks and private houses got destroyed and damaged. Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group. Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the russian areas bordering Ukraine. Russian troops conduct subversion in order to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to threatened axes. Russia continues shelling of Ukrainian settlements from the territory of Russia and increases the concentration of mining operations along the state border of Ukraine. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Peremoha and Popivka (Sumy oblast). More than 15x settlements came under Russian artillery and mortar fire, including Bleshnya (Chernihiv oblast), Sorokyne, Bachivs'k, Starykove, Volfyne, Popivka (Sumy oblast), Veterynarne, Borysivka, Ambarne, Strilecha (Kharkiv oblast). Kup'yans'k axis: no Russian offensive operations reported. The Russian invaders fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Syn'kivka, Ivanivka, Berestove (Kharkiv oblast). Lyman axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 5x assaults in the vicinity of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), where the Russian enemy, using air attacks, made attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Serebryans'ke forestry (Luhansk oblast), Ozerne (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Makiivka, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Serebryanka, Spirne (Donetsk oblast). Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 5x attacks in the vicinities of Klishchiivka, Bohdanivka, Andriivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Zalizne (Donetsk oblast). Around 10x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Bohdanivka, Vasyukivka, Chasiv Yar (Donetsk oblast). Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 8x attacks in the vicinities of Berdychi, east of Umans'ke, Pervomais'ke (Donetsk oblast). The Russian occupiers launched air strikes in the vicinities of Ocheretyne and Novokalynove (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 20x settlements, including Oleksandropil', Keramik, Novobakhmutivka, Semenivka, (Donetsk oblast). Novopavlivka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to block Russian forces near Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Novomykhailivka, Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast). In that area, the Russian invaders, using air attacks, made 17x attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Paraskoviivka, Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast). Orikhiv axis: Russian forces, with air support, conducted 2x attacks on positions of Ukrainian defenders in the vicinity of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Makarivka, Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast), Malynivka (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Around 10x settlements, including Poltavka, Rivnopil', Charivne, Orikhiv, P'yatykhatky (Zaporizhzhia oblast), were under Russian artillery and mortar fire. Kherson axis: Russian forces did not conduct offensive operations. The Russian occupiers launched MLRS strikes at the settlements of Kosats'ke, Ponyativka (Kherson oblast). During the day of March 24, the Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes on 8x concentrations of Russian troops, weapons and military equipment. The Ukrainian Missile Forces hit 2x air defense systems, 3x artillery systems, 1x electronic warfare station of the Russian invaders. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the previous night the Russian Aerospace Forces have launched a group strike with long-range airborne precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against facilities of the electric power industry, the gas industry, and assembly and testing sites for uncrewed boats. As a result of the strike, the work of industrial enterprises for the manufacture and repair of weapons, military hardware, and ammunition has been disorganised, and foreign-made military equipment and means of destruction transferred to Ukraine by NATO countries have been destroyed. All the goals of the strike have been reached. In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces have defeated manpower and hardware of 14th, 32nd mechanised, and 57th motorised infantry brigades of the AFU close to Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Terny (Donetsk People's Republic), and also have repelled three enemy counterattacks. The AFU losses were up to 140 servicemen, one tank, two pickup trucks, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, one Msta-B howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems. In Belgorod direction, Russian units continue to carry out measures to identify and destroy AFU sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the border areas of Ukraine. As a result of the fire attack on AFU manpower and hardware, up to 40 servicemen, one Czech-made RM-70 Vampire MLRS combat vehicle, and one German-made Mars multiple-launch rocket system have been destroyed close to Potikhonovo and Zemlyanki (Kharkov region). In Donetsk direction, as a result of active operations, units of the Yug Group of Forces have occupied more favourable lines, defeated the enemy near Kleshcheyevka, Krasnoye, and Kurdyumovka (Donetsk People's Republic), and also repelled a counterattack by formations of the 80th Air Assault Brigade of the AFU close to Krasnogorovka (Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy losses were up to 300 servicemen, one U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carrier, three motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M119 howitzer, one D-30 gun, and one field ammunition depot. In Avdeyevka direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces have improved their front line position as a result of successful actions and repelled nine counterattacks by assault groups of 24th, 47th mechanised, 57th motorised Infantry, 25th airborne, and 3rd assault brigades of the AFU close to Novgorodskoye, Shumy, Tonenkoye, Pervomayskoye, and Berdychi (Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy losses were up to 360 troops, two tanks, five armoured fighting vehicles, and nine motor vehicles. In the course of counter-battery warfare, one U.S.-made M777 howitzer, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, and one D-30 howitzer have been destroyed. In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces have improved their tactical position and inflicted a fire defeat on formations of the 31st Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard near Urozhaynoye (Donetsk People's Republic). The enemy losses were up to 140 troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, one Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system, and one Rapira anti-tank gun. In Kherson direction, units of the Dnepr Group of Forces have inflicted a fire defeat on manpower and hardware concentration areas of 65th mechanised and 128th mountain assault brigades of the AFU, the 35th Marine Brigade, as well as the 126th Territorial Defence Brigade near Pyatikhatki (Zaporozhye region), Gavrilovka, Ivanovka, and Tyaginka (Kherson region). The AFU losses were up to 50 servicemen and three motor vehicles. During counter-battery warfare, two U.S.-made M777 howitzers, one Msta-B howitzer, and one D-30 gun have been destroyed. Operational-Tactical Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged ammunition and UAV storage depots, four P-18 radar stations for detecting and tracking aerial targets, one electronic warfare station, as well as manpower and military hardware of the AFU in 129 areas. Air defence facilities have shot down 172 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as 11 Storm Shadow cruise missiles, three Neptune anti-ship missiles, four MALD aircraft guided missiles, and 22 HIMARS and Vampire multiple-launch rocket system projectiles. In total, 577 airplanes and 270 helicopters, 16,908 unmanned aerial vehicles, 489 air defence missile systems, 15,587 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 1,256 combat vehicles equipped with MRLS, 8,514 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 20,153 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address West Virginia Guard Fighting Wildfires From the Air By Edwin Wriston, West Virginia National Guard March 22, 2024 CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- Two West Virginia National Guard UH60M and HH60M Black Hawk helicopters and personnel helped the West Virginia Division of Forestry and local government and emergency management officials battle large-scale wildfires in Hardy County March 22. The deployment of aircraft and personnel was in response to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's state of emergency issued March 21 for Grant, Hampshire, Hardy and Pendleton counties due to "extensive forest fires." Local emergency management officials requested National Guard support via the West Virginia Emergency Management Division. "The Guard motto is, 'Always Ready, Always There,'" stated Maj. Gen. Bill Crane, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard. "We take that pledge seriously and we are always ready to provide support to our partners at the local and state levels when needed. Our aircrews have extensive experience in helping to combat wildland fires, and we will do all we can to help bring these fires under control to protect lives and property in the impacted communities." The two WVNG Black Hawks are using an aerial firefighting system with lightweight, flexible buckets slung under the helicopter fuselage that can hold 630 gallonsaroughly 4,500 pounds of water. Helicopter crews dip the buckets into local water sources and drop the water as directed by ground crews. This allows firefighters to contain or extinguish the fire in rough, dangerous terrain ground-based personnel cannot easily reach. West Virginia National Guard crews are experienced in this type of firefighting, assisting in firefighting efforts in California and at home. In November 2022, crews helped officials combat a fire in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve that threatened homes and businesses and burned more than 200 acres. "Our crews are some of the best in the nation and we will continue to support efforts to combat these fires until our partners with the Division of Forestry say the danger has passed," said Lt. Col. Todd Justice, director of Joint Operations. "These fires are extensive, with a total of more than 4,000 acres burned thus far. We will do all we can to protect our fellow West Virginians and work to keep local responders safe." Personnel and aircraft responding to this incident are from Company C, 1-150th Assault Battalion, headquartered in Wheeling, and Company C, 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion, headquartered in Parkersburg. Additional Guard personnel and equipment may be deployed if needed. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Explainer: What Is Islamic State-Khorasan, The Group Blamed For The Moscow Concert Attack? By Frud Bezhan March 24, 2024 Scores of people were killed after gunmen stormed a concert venue in the Moscow region in what was the deadliest attack in Russia in decades. The March 22 attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group. U.S. officials said a regional branch of IS -- Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) -- was behind the incident. Based in Afghanistan, IS-K has previously targeted the Russian Embassy in Kabul and threatened to carry out attacks inside Russia. When Did IS-K First Emerge? IS-K was founded in Afghanistan in late 2014, the same year that IS overran large swaths of Iraq and Syria and declared a self-styled caliphate, or a state governed by Islamic law. IS was later defeated by a U.S.-led coalition. IS-K initially captured small pockets of territory in eastern and northern Afghanistan as part of IS's broader aim of expansion throughout South and Central Asia. Khorasan refers to a historical region that comprised parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. But IS-K began withdrawing from its territorial strongholds in Afghanistan around 2019 after coming under increasing fire from Afghan and foreign forces as well as the Taliban, a rival militant group. IS-K then embarked on a new strategy of urban warfare. Where Are IS-K Fighters From? IS-K was founded by disgruntled members of the Afghan Taliban, the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, and Al-Qaeda who declared allegiance to IS. Over the years, IS-K's ranks have been further boosted by local recruits and foreign fighters, particularly those from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. In a report published in June 2023, the UN Security Council said IS-K fighters included citizens of Pakistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and a small number of Arab fighters from Syria who had traveled to Afghanistan. The UN Security Council said the number of IS-K militants in Afghanistan ranges "from 4,000 to 6,000," including family members. Some experts estimate that the number is much lower. What Attacks Has IS-K Carried Out? IS-K has carried out attacks against Afghan and international forces as well as the Taliban. It has also targeted Afghanistan's religious minorities. The group carried out one of its most high-profile attacks -- the killing of 170 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the U.S. military at Kabul's international airport -- in August 2021 as foreign troops pulled out of Afghanistan. After the Taliban seized power that month, IS-K has since targeted Taliban officials, foreign nationals and embassies, Afghanistan's Shi'a Hazara community, and others it considers incompatible with its own extreme interpretation of Islam. On March 21, IS-K claimed responsibility for an attack outside a bank in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar that killed at least 21 people, most of them Taliban employees. The group has also launched cross-border attacks. In January, IS-K was blamed for killing more than 90 people in Iran's southern city of Kerman, the deadliest attack in the Islamic republic in decades. Experts said IS-K has remained a resilient force despite hundreds of its fighters being arrested or killed by the Taliban since 2021. "IS-K is probably the most active and potent of all of the regional affiliates of Islamic State today," said Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson's Center in Washington. Why Would IS-K Attack Russia? In September 2022, IS-K claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside the Russian Embassy in Kabul that killed at least six people, including two employees of the embassy. The attack did not surprise observers, who said IS had long threatened to carry out attacks inside Russia. Lucas Webber, co-founder and editor of MilitantWire.com, said IS had named Russia alongside the United States early on as a primary enemy. "This was only intensified in 2015 when Russia intervened militarily in Syria to support the government," he said, referring to Moscow's backing of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war. "And it continued to intensify after Russia's various military and private military contractor interventions across Africa," during which IS fighters were targeted, he added. Experts said Moscow's support of the Taliban could have also motivated the attack. Russia, like the rest of the international community, does not recognize the Taliban government and officially considers the hard-line Islamist group to be a terrorist organization. But Moscow on multiple occasions has hosted Taliban officials and maintained an embassy in Kabul. Reid Standish and Neil Bowdler contributed to this report. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/islamic- state-khorasan-explainer-moscow-concert-attack/32875320.html Copyright (c) 2024. 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 China's anti-graft chief urges eradication of breeding grounds for corruption People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 11:17, March 23, 2024 HANGZHOU, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China's top anti-graft official Li Xi has urged efforts to eradicate the breeding grounds and conditions for corruption. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, made the remarks during a fact-finding mission to east China's Zhejiang Province between March 18 and 21. There, Li visited local villages, research institutes and historical sites. Li called on discipline inspection commissions and supervision agencies to enhance inspection and supervision while centering around the country's most fundamental interests, to facilitate and guarantee the development of new quality productive forces, and to advance the country's high-quality development. While presiding over a symposium, Li also urged efforts to intensify political oversight, further improve conduct, enforce discipline and combat corruption, and deepen the reform of inspection and supervision system. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address HK officials ramp up efforts in countering smear and attacks targeting Article 23 Global Times Exaggerate panic through new local law and talk down city part of new cold war strategy led by US-led West: experts By Chen Qingqing Published: Mar 24, 2024 08:52 PM With the implementation of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, signifying that Hong Kong has fulfilled its constitutional responsibility as stipulated in the Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong officials stepped up efforts in countering Western attacks and smear targeting the new law, emphasizing that foreign companies are still eager to invest in the city despite political maneuvers made by some Western politicians. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive John Lee signed the ordinance passed by the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Friday night, and the long overdue local security law was officially gazetted on Saturday and started to take effect. The long overdue local law consists of nine parts, covering offences and punishments such as treason, state secrets and espionage, sabotage endangering national security, external interference endangering national security and organization engaging in activities endangering national security. Some Western countries including the US, Australia and the UK as well as some anti-China hawks in the US like former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi have been criticizing the law, calling it as further "erosion of Hong Kong's freedom," raising concerns about its impact on the business sentiment. The Security Bureau of the HKSAR strongly condemned on Saturday the unfounded and biased remarks made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for deliberately misleading the public and undermining the ordinance. Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung pointed out in the statement that Blinken once again targeted the HKSAR government's work on safeguarding national security and made slandering, smearing, misleading and erroneous remarks against the ordinance, with his latest despicable political maneuver and hypocrisy built on double standards. It's normal for the foreign business community to pay attention to the Article 23 legislation, but it should not be described as "doubt" regarding the concern of foreign business, the city's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po was quoted as saying in local media reports on Saturday. When commenting on Australian government's updating its travel advisory for HKSAR due to the implementation of the legislation, Chan said Australia is taking a political stance but in reality, companies are still willing to invest in Hong Kong. Tian Feilong, a vice-dean of the Law School of Minzu University of China in Beijing and director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday that exaggerating panic through the Article 23 legislation, talking down Hong Kong, attacking Hong Kong's status as an international financial center, and scaring off foreign capital and professional migration are part of the new cold war and decoupling strategy of the US and the West against China. "This constitutes a fixed discourse strategy and action pattern that even Western businesses in Hong Kong do not believe," Tian said. Surveys on the business environment in HKSAR and foreign investment confidence can confirm this, the expert said, noting that Western businesses understand and recognize the rule of law and the business environment in Hong Kong better than Western governments and politicians do. They also maintain confidence in ''One Country, Two Systems'' and Hong Kong's economic and trade freedom, as well as its legal status. Regina Ip, the chairperson of the New People's Party and convener of the Executive Council, told local media in Hong Kong on Sunday that the national security laws of Western countries are more stringent than those of Hong Kong, and she sees no basis for the criticism from foreign governments. Ip said that she has continued to engage with foreign media recently, willing to explain the regulations to any foreign businesses and scholars with questions. Among the institutions she has been in contact with, some said there are absolutely no issues, while others expressed a desire to know more details, the local official noted. "Moreover, I have not seen anyone 'so scared they want to leave,' considering such claims to be completely unfounded and exaggerated," Ip added. "I believe we have full confidence in the future development of Hong Kong, because both its past development and its future actually depend on the governance and development of China, a super-large country," Li Xiaobing, an expert on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan affairs from Nankai University, told the Global Times on Sunday. The potential unleashed by the country's development will bring historic opportunities for Hong Kong's development. These opportunities are not charity from Western countries, Li noted. Even during the British colonial period, the development of Hong Kong was recognized by the colonizers for its pivotal position as a hub between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world. And Hong Kong's past, present and future are indeed closely linked to the destiny of the entire country's development, the expert said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nauruan president starts six-day China visit Global Times Trip expected to enhance mutual trust, yield practical results By Fan Anqi Published: Mar 24, 2024 08:05 PM Nauruan President David Adeang arrived in Beijing at noon on Sunday, embarking on a six-day state visit to China from Sunday to March 29. It marks the first visit by a Nauruan president after the two countries resumed diplomatic ties in January 2024. Experts believe the trip will enhance political mutual trust and understanding, which will serve as a springboard from which further and more substantial cooperation can be realized. The deepening China-Nauru ties will also have a strong demonstration effect on the three Pacific Island Countries (PICs) that still maintain the so-called ties with China's Taiwan region, prompting them to stand up to US interference and make the right decision. Upon Adeang's arrival, the Chinese Embassy in Nauru published the first article on its official WeChat account on Sunday morning, noting that the two countries, standing at a new historical starting point, will continue to jointly commit to deepening political mutual trust, promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, enhancing people-to-people friendship, and advancing bilateral relations to new heights. As developing countries and members of the Global South, the article read, China is willing to work with Nauru to jointly advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, strengthen coordination in international affairs and uphold the common interests of developing countries. The Nauruan president's trip reflects his country's strong desire to further cement and advance ties with China. "It is both politically significant and economically practical," Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday. From a political perspective, Chen noted, it is necessary for both sides to reestablish mutual trust. Adeang's visit will promote mutual understanding and align each other's demands and needs, as well as stances on hot-button issues. As for pragmatic cooperation, Nauru possesses phosphate deposits that can be used in various applications, including raw materials for fertilizers, which China has a substantial need for. The rich agricultural, fishery and tourism resources of Nauru will also provide important conditions for cooperation between the two sides, Chen noted. In turn, by partnering with China, Nauru can purchase manufactured goods with higher cost-effectiveness. Moreover, China's assistance and cooperative projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative have proven to bring substantial benefits to the PICs. Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the Research Center for Pacific Island Countries of Liaocheng University, told the Global Times on Sunday he believes that during the visit, the two sides are likely to sign cooperation agreements in areas including economy and trade, fisheries, education and health, climate change and environmental protection, as well as infrastructure. Nauru announced it would sever "diplomatic relations" with China's Taiwan region in January on the heels of the island's regional election. On January 24, China and Nauru officially resumed diplomatic ties, unveiling a new chapter for bilateral relations. The decision leaves only three countries in the Pacific Island region that still maintain the so-called relations with Taiwan - Tuvalu, Palau and the Marshall Islands. In fact, it is evident to all that following Nauru's historic decision, some Taiwan secessionists vented their frustrations while showing complete disrespect for the Nauruan government and its people, which exposes that Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party's true intention in maintaining ties with the PICs is to serve its own political interests, Chen said. Observers further pointed out that the three island nations have already shown great eagerness to develop relations with China. However, under the political and economic pressure from the US, they were forced to become the pawns of the American strategy to hinder the peaceful reunification of Taiwan and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Despite pressure from the US, however, the overall trend of severing ties with Taiwan is unstoppable, experts noted, expressing confidence that the Nauruan president's China visit will set an example for the remaining few to make the right choice, withstanding interference from both foreign and domestic forces. An example at hand is the case of Nauru, which decided to reinstate relations with China after observing the practical results of China's cooperation with the Solomon Islands, Yu noted. "They have come to realize that the greatest characteristic of cooperation with China is equality and pragmatism, and this is a key reason why the PICs are particularly willing to get closer to China," Yu said. "Thus, the deepening of China-Nauru ties will also have a strong demonstration effect on the remaining three island nations." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Boris Pistorius on "The Comprehensive Approach to Security in the Sahel" Germany - Federal Ministry of Defence Mar 20, 2024 Speech by Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius at the conference jointly hosted by the Federal Ministry of Defence, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung on "The Comprehensive Approach to Security in the Sahel". Martin Schulz, Svenja Schulze, Members of parliament, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen, During my first year in office, I travelled to the Sahel twice. On my first visit together with you, Svenja, I travelled to Niger and Mali before visiting Niger again in December. On both trips it was important to me to have an exchange with the local people - with those in power, but also with those representing civil society. I took away several messages from these conversations that I will happily put up for discussion here at this forum - a forum at which we not only want to talk about Africa and the Sahel, but talk with representatives from the continent and the region. One: People in the Sahel want security and stability as the prerequisite for a life in dignity with material security. Violent criminal, extremist and terrorist organisations challenge this security and stability on a daily basis. Two: Democracy is the preferred form of government - this is also true for the people of the Sahel. Yet the experiences they have had so far in their - purported - democracies are not all positive. Many people have experienced instances of corruption and illicit enrichment on the part of political parties or clans. Three: Black-and-white thinking is not helpful. The African continent cannot be split into democracies on the one hand and autocracies on the other. Rather, we are facing many shades of grey. Good or bad governance seems to be a key touchstone for the people: which government meets my needs for security, social prospects and participation - and which one does not? Four: The people in the Sahel want to lead self-determined lives, in both minor and major matters. They do not want to be told by others what rules and principles they should abide by in governing or managing their country. They strongly aspire to national sovereignty, not least as a result of their collective experience under colonial rule. Five: International support is welcome, both in the economic domain and in matters of national security. Such support, however, must always respect the country's national sovereignty. It is not about placing executive authority into the hands of foreign troops or advisers. Rather, international assistance should enable and enhance, so that African nations and the countries in the Sahel can take destiny into their own hands. Six: Germany continues to be a welcome partner, because we respect sovereignty and focus our engagement on enabling and enhancing at the local level. We thereby help people to help themselves. We are equally appreciated as a partner by those in power and by civil society. Even those forces that are critical towards the military governments have asked me to keep up our military support. I heard these messages, loud and clear, both in Mali and Niger. And I think these findings give us something to work with, because they correspond to our own interests: We, too, have a vital interest in a Sahel region that is stable and prosperous. We, too, want to prevent terrorist organisations from gaining a foothold there, from bullying the population or controlling territory. We, too, want people to live in dignified and secure conditions that give them no reason to leave their home with their sights set on Europe. And, naturally, we maintain that democratic systems that allow people to participate in political life and where governments are controlled by parliament and free media will, in the medium and long term, lead to better governance than any autocratic regime can offer. But this should not come to mean that we stipulate democratic conditions as a prerequisite of our engagement. Instead, our efforts to further security and stability and to boost economic development should contribute to decent living conditions and, in the medium term, help social participation and political ownership to prevail. What does that mean for our commitment? Again, I would like to summarise this in six points: One: We have to design our commitment in a strategic manner, which means: no knee-jerk reactions, no back and forth, but having a policy for the long haul. Sure, we do not always agree with who is ruling the country and they may not always meet our standards in terms of legitimacy. We must address serious violations of human rights in a frank and open manner. But this should not knock us off our strategic political course. Once bridges have been burnt, their reconstruction becomes arduous work. Two: We want to cooperate in a multilateral framework: in recent decades and in the context of the Sahel, this meant the European Union and the United Nations. When this framework is no longer given, and that is the situation right now, we have to get engaged bilaterally, too. In close consultation with other nations who are also continuing their commitment. And in the knowledge that by doing so, we are building a bridge for a time when international organisations will gain traction once more. So that we can use our bilateral channels, for example to enable staff from the EUEuropean Union police mission EUCAPEU Capacity Building Mission Sahel to safely leave Niger. I am glad that this was successfully achieved last weekend. So that we can use our bilateral channels, for example to enable staff from the police mission Sahel to safely leave Niger. I am glad that this was successfully achieved last weekend. Three: Over many decades, we have established an impressive toolbox of bilateral military assistance, ranging from training assistance and equipment aid - which includes the dispatch of advisory groups - to capacity building, mobile training teams, bilateral annual programmes, and the deployment of military advisers to participating defence ministries. These tools are very well received in the beneficiary countries - which becomes clear to me every time we have to terminate a programme for lack of capacities or simply because the original task has been fulfilled, and the country concerned makes every effort to ensure its continuation. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many servicemen and servicewomen and other experts who have been fulfilling these advisory tasks for decades with great professionalism and motivation. Because of the success of these instruments, however, we must also expand our capacities. We must not turn down countries that want to cooperate with us as equal partners, that fulfil all necessary requirements and whose support benefits our own security interests - even if that means we have to invest more money. The rule that we can only exert influence where we continue to be actively involved and present applies here as well. This influence also aims at good governance and democratic development. These tools are very well received in the beneficiary countries - which becomes clear to me every time we have to terminate a programme for lack of capacities or simply because the original task has been fulfilled, and the country concerned makes every effort to ensure its continuation. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many servicemen and servicewomen and other experts who have been fulfilling these advisory tasks for decades with great professionalism and motivation. Because of the success of these instruments, however, we must also expand our capacities. We must not turn down countries that want to cooperate with us as equal partners, that fulfil all necessary requirements and whose support benefits our own security interests - even if that means we have to invest more money. The rule that we can only exert influence where we continue to be actively involved and present applies here as well. This influence also aims at good governance and democratic development. Four: African Ownership. Or, to use the words of the famous Ghanaian economist George Ayittey: African solutions to African problems! What I mean by that is, firstly, that our measures are always primarily intended to support sovereign states in the region. Secondly, our objective is also to enable Africa to take collective action if the deployment of external stabilisation forces should become necessary in times of crisis. This is why Germany and the European Union support the African Union and ECOWASEconomic Community of West African States - as institutions, but also in the form of capacity building for their members states' standby forces - for example in Ghana, Benin or Senegal. Increasing multilateralism will definitely help the African continent to better make its voice heard on the international stage. This is why Germany and the European Union support the African Union and - as institutions, but also in the form of capacity building for their members states' standby forces - for example in Ghana, Benin or Senegal. Increasing multilateralism will definitely help the African continent to better make its voice heard on the international stage. Five: I cannot stand next to my colleague Svenja Schulze without addressing the comprehensive approach. However, it is also my firm belief that we cannot have isolated military solutions to challenges, especially not in the Sahel region. If you want to get down to the roots of crime, extremism and terrorism and eliminate their breeding ground, you must improve the socio-economic situation of the people. This is a broad field of activity for development cooperation - and at the same time for military assistance. For economic measures are frequently not effective if the environment is not safe. In other words, providing economic assistance and building up an effective security sector are often two sides of the same coin and must therefore be addressed together. And this comprehensive approach is exactly what gives our policies the necessary weight. And this comprehensive approach is exactly what gives our policies the necessary weight. Six: Russia has significantly consolidated its position in the Sahel region in recent years. I will spare you a detailed analysis of how this came about. I am far more interested in what that means for the people who live there. The sobering truth is that wherever Russian troops are deployed, the security situation is deteriorating considerably. For one thing, this is due to the fact that Russia usually does little to protect civilians in its fight against terrorism - and is creating more and more martyrs this way. For another thing, given its lack of development policy instruments, Russia does not follow a comprehensive approach that would consider the root causes of terrorism in the first place. Which is why I don't see any competition between us and Russia in the Sahel region. But I do see the danger of practically driving these states into Russia's arms by automatically suspending our entire cooperation with them in response to unconstitutional regime changes. The people in these countries do not deserve this. At the same time, it runs counter to the interest we have in sustainable security and stability in the Sahel. It means leaving the field in Africa to an autocratic power that is fighting an illegal war of aggression against its neighbour in the heart of Europe. This cannot be what we want to achieve. Which makes it all the more important that we act strategically in terms of our engagement in the Sahel region, and that we are patient - regardless of the uncertainties that invariably come with this engagement. I want to pursue an approach for that region that is both strategic and comprehensive - an approach that is not just accepted by the people in the region, but which they are actively involved in. We need relations on an equal footing - without losing sight of our own interests, values and principles. The situation in the Sahel is constantly changing. What does not change is the interests of the local people, our own interests in the region, and, most importantly, our common interest in security and stability. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's telephone conversation with Foreign Minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry 23 March 2024 17:52 537-23-03-2024 On March 23, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt Sameh Shoukry. Sameh Shoukry resolutely condemned the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall and expressed solidarity with the Russian people over those tragic events. He conveyed condolences to the victims' families and friends and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Ukraine Becomes Den of Terrorism in Europe With Help of West - Foreign Ministry Sputnik News 20240323 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine has been turning into a center for the spread of terrorism in Europe for the past 10 years with the help of the West, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday. A shooting occurred on Friday evening in the Crocus City Hall concert venue just outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that at least three men in camouflage had broken into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs. According to the latest data from the Russian Investigative Committee, at least 115 people died in the terrorist attack and many others were injured, with the number of those killed expected to increase. "The main thing is that the US authorities do not forget how their information and political environment linked the terrorists who shot people at Crocus City Hall with the banned terrorist organization ISIS [banned in Russia]. Now we know in which country these bloody criminals planned to hide from persecution a Ukraine. The very country that, with the help of Western liberal regimes, has been turning into a center for the spread of terrorism in Europe for the past ten years," Zakharova said on Telegram. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hungarian PM Expresses Condolences to Russians After Deadly Terrorist Attack Sputnik News 20240323 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has expressed condolences to Russians after a deadly terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region. "I would like to express my deepest condolences to the people of the Russian Federation following the heinous terrorist attack that took place near Moscow this evening. We pray for the families of the victims!" Orban wrote on X. A shooting occurred on Friday in the Crocus City Hall concert venue just outside Moscow to the northwest, followed by a massive fire. According to preliminary data, several armed men opened fire inside the venue. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) initially said 40 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured. Later, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said 115 people were hospitalized, adding that more then 30 people sought outpatient care. Russia's Investigative Committee, which opened a criminal case into the attack, said over 60 people had been killed in it. Emergency and security services are responding on the scene. Statements condemning the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall and expressing condolences to Russians have been made by top and high-ranking officials of many countries, including Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, the EU, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Mali, Malta, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, the US, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Uruguay. "The images are just horrible and just hard to watch and our thoughts obviously are going to be with the victims of this terrible, terrible shooting attack," White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said on Friday. "We condemn the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall near Moscow. This is a terrible tragedy. We express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those affected and killed during today's events," the UK Embassy in Russia said. International organizations, including the United Nations, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League have also condemned the attack and expressed their condolences. "The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest possible terms today's terrorist attack at a concert hall outside Moscow, in which at least 40 people were reportedly killed and over 100 others injured," United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Friday. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin vows punishment as Moscow mourns victims Global Times Russia likely more united as people want govt to seek revenge: expert By Yang Sheng and Zhang Wanshi Published: Mar 24, 2024 09:39 PM The terror attack in Moscow that has reportedly caused at least 137 deaths will further unify Russians, as Chinese experts said the incident will not weaken, but will strengthen the authority of Russian President Vladimir Putin as Russians want the government and military to revenge for the victims, and Russia will surely retaliate not only against the terrorists but also other related hostile forces behind the attack. Although the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack, Russia's investigation and interrogation of the arrested suspected attackers show that the case is complicated, as the suspects were reportedly trying to escape from Russia to Ukraine. Analysts said that Russia will retaliate, but they will not ease up on their operations in Ukraine. If Moscow confirms that Ukraine and the US are involved in this attack, the Ukraine crisis would be further escalated, said the experts. Due to the struggles and strategic competition between the US and other non-Western major powers like Russia and China, international counterterrorism cooperation has been paralyzed. This has allowed some terrorist groups like IS to reemerge in many regions of the world and undertake deadly attacks. Experts noted that China will keep boosting counterterrorism cooperation with its partners, especially among developing countries, to better safeguard the world from the terrorist attacks. More united According to a report from Russian state media TASS on Sunday, the death toll from the terrorist attack has climbed to 137 people, the Russian Investigative Committee said. Some voices from the West said the attack will damage Putin's authority in the wake of his recent reelection as he tries to prove that Russia is safe and stable despite the conflict with Ukraine and Western sanctions. Chinese analysts disagree with this opinion, as the counterterrorism operation is more likely to strengthen Putin's authority. Russian public calls for retaliation and a more effective counterterrorism response will enable the Russian government to strengthen control and law-enforcement activities in many fields. Therefore, Putin's authority will not be weakened, but will be strengthened and reinforced. Zhang Hong, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that "this attack will bring some interruptions to Russian society, and bring pressures to Putin's governance in his new six-year term. But all of these are controllable, and the pressures will prompt Russia to make more adjustments and improvements to its policies and strategies." Russians, including Moscow residents, reached by the Global Times said that many people have been lining up to donate blood, as they want to help save lives among the survivors of the Friday attack on the Crocus City Hall. They said they believe the government will hunt down and destroy all hostile forces related to the attack. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told TASS that terrorist raids and the hybrid war of the West will not force Russia to change its course and foreign policy. "I want to say no change of the foreign policy, the course of President [of Russia Vladimir Putin], particularly after elections - nothing will take place," the Ambassador said. "Such strikes from behind... will not change our line, our course, and we will continue our work," Antonov noted, referring to the terrorist act at Crocus City Hall. It is the West that chose the line for the hybrid war with Russia, the Ambassador said. "If they chose their line aimed at undermining Russia, at strikes against Russia, with the aid of Ukraine in this case, now - this is their choice," Antonov stated. "Everything they are supplying [to Kiev], items that they will forward - all that will be destroyed," he cautioned. Retaliation against whom? In a televised address, Putin said 11 people had been detained, including the four alleged gunmen. "They tried to hide and moved toward Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," he said, Reuters reported. On Saturday, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan posted footage of the interrogation of one of the suspects. The man in the video claims that he went on the killing spree after he was promised 500,000 rubles ($5,400). The suspect also claimed that his handlers had instructed him as to where the attack should take place. He said he was ordered to "kill people there... doesn't matter who." The suspect claimed that the terrorist act was organized on Telegram with an unknown person who provided weapons. After the attack, the terrorists planned to flee to Ukraine, Russia's FSB security service said in a statement on Saturday, RT reported. "This attack is quite different from the attacks launched by the IS in the past. As the attackers [this time] were motivated by money rather than extremist thoughts, and after the attack, they were not like jihadists who would normally launch a suicide attack to become 'martyrs,' they were trying to escape to Ukraine," said a Beijing-based expert on international security who asked for anonymity. This is very strange because although the IS has claimed responsibility, it will surely make Russia continue to investigate to uncover the hostile forces behind the attackers, the expert said. The IS in recent years has frequently attacked countries like Russia and Iran which have tensions with the US, and terror attacks against Western countries have reduced, he noted. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said any statement from the US authorities to justify Kiev until the end of the investigation into the terrorist attack "should be considered as evidence," TASS reported. "Over the decades, the political elites of the US have learned how to skillfully divert attention from high-profile crimes and all sorts of staging. Therefore, until the investigation into the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall is completed, any phrase from Washington justifying Kiev should be considered as evidence," the diplomat wrote in her Telegram channel. She noted that the financing of "the terrorist activities of the Kiev organized crime group by American liberal democrats and participation in the corruption schemes of the Biden family have been going on for many years." Li Wei, an expert from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Sunday that "in recent years, IS has claimed responsibility for some attacks that are not conducted by them, as it wants to improve its influence. So at this moment, we still need to pay attention to the investigation result rather than simply believe that this is just an attack launched by the IS." Li also said although the US released a warning of terror attacks earlier this month, the information released was too vague, and was not really helpful for Russia to prevent an attack. The attackers can adjust their plan due to the warning released to the public. Against the backdrop of Ukraine crisis, relevant parties will possibly use intelligence about terrorist attacks to achieve their military and political goals, and right after the attack, the US' act to immediately clarify for Ukraine looks very strange, Li noted. Russia will surely take actions to retaliate for attack, but against whom it will retaliate remains in question, analysts said. Some Western voices said Russia should focus on counterterrorism after the attack rather than "imaginary foes" in Ukraine, but Chinese experts said if Russia confirms that Kiev and Washington are involved in this attack, the Ukraine crisis will not be eased but will also escalate. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin vows punishment over Moscow concert massacre ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Sun / 24 March 2024 / 06:49 Russian President Vladimir Putin pledges to punish the terrorists and any party involved in the Crocus City Hall massacre that killed nearly 150 people in the Russian capital. Tehran-ISNA- The Russian authorities have arrested 11 individuals in connection to the Crocus City Hall concert massacre that took place on Friday, including the four suspected gunmen allegedly responsible for the massacre. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a televised address in which he assured the nation that those behind the attack would face justice. The death toll from the massacre has officially been confirmed at 133 by Russia's state Investigative Committee, though earlier reports suggested a higher number. Crocus City Hall in Moscow fell victim to a horrifying shooting and fire, resulting in numerous casualties and injuries, Russian authorities confirmed on Friday. The incident has sparked global condemnation, with officials terming it a "bloody terrorist attack." Gunshots were heard in the concert hall shortly before flames engulfed it. The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported fatalities and injuries in the wake of the assault. Preliminary figures reported by TASS estimated that 40 were killed and over 100 others were wounded as a result of the terrorist attack. The gunmen, reportedly linked to the Islamic State (ISIS), were apprehended while attempting to flee towards the Ukraine border. Putin revealed that preliminary investigations indicate a connection with contacts in Ukraine amid Western claims that the attack was committed by the terrorist organization. In his address, Putin denounced the perpetrators as "international terrorists" and pledged to collaborate with any state willing to combat such threats. He vowed to identify and punish all involved in the planning and execution of the attack. The FSB security service disclosed that the captured gunmen had ties in Ukraine and were intercepted near the border. They are currently being transported to Moscow for further interrogation. While ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicions linger regarding a potential Ukrainian involvement, despite denials from Ukrainian officials. Andrei Kartapolov, a senior Russian lawmaker, asserted that if Ukraine's complicity is proven, Russia must respond decisively. Meanwhile, the United States has confirmed intelligence supporting the terrorist organization's claim of responsibility. A US official, speaking anonymously, revealed that Washington had previously alerted Moscow about the possibility of an attack set to be carried out by ISIS. Russia's FSB security service told President Vladimir Putin that 11 people had been detained following Friday's deadly attack near Moscow, including four people directly involved, Interfax cited the Kremlin as saying on Saturday. It said FSB security service chief Alexander Bortnikov had reported to President Vladimir Putin that those detained included "four terrorists" and that the service was working to identify their accomplices. Putin vows punishment over Moscow concert massacre Russian lawmaker Alexander Khinshtein said the attackers had fled in a Renault vehicle that was spotted by police in the Bryansk region, about 340 km (210 miles) southwest of Moscow on Friday night, and disobeyed instructions to stop. While two were arrested after a car chase, two others fled into a forest, but they were later caught and arrested as confirmed by the Kremlin. According to data on victim hospitalizations released by Moscow Region's Health Ministry today, at least three children have been killed in the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall near Moscow. The data revealed that there were three children and two men enlisted in the "biological death" section of the register. Governor of the Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyov revealed on Telegram that the spill of structures perpetuates in the Crocus City Hal and individual fires are ongoing, however, the fire has been mostly extinguished. "Currently, the spill of structures continues. There are still some pockets of fire, but the fire has been mostly extinguished," he wrote. Regardless of the pain and physical and mental impact of the terrorist attack, the Russian people continue to support each other. In one act of solidarity, a RIA Novosti video shows a line of people who went to donate blood in groups ever since this morning and less than 24 hours since the attack. End item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Telephone conversation with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev March 24, 2024 13:25 During the conversation, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev strongly condemned the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, which claimed the lives of over 100 innocent civilians, expressed deep condolences to their families and friends, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. Ilham Aliyev stressed that the people of Azerbaijan stand together with the Russian people on this day of national mourning and expressed confidence that the severe punishment of the criminals and those who masterminded that crime was unavoidable. Vladimir Putin thanked the President of Azerbaijan for his words of support and expressed readiness to further strengthen practical interaction in the spirit of strategic partnership and alliance between Russia and Azerbaijan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Telephone conversation with President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon March 24, 2024 13:25 President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon telephoned Vladimir Putin to express deep condolences and solidarity with the Russian people over the death of innocent civilians in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. The President of Tajikistan emphasised that there was no nor could not be any justification for that crime. During the conversation, Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon noted that the security services of Russia and Tajikistan were working closely together to counter terrorism and that they would build up their cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Day Of Mourning Reportedly Marred By Xenophobic Incidents By RFE/RL's Tajik Service March 24, 2024 Several apparent xenophobic incidents targeting Central Asian migrants have been reported in Russia as the country observes a day of mourning for the victims of a March 22 terrorist attack on a concert hall outside of Moscow that left 133 people dead. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 24, condemned the attack, saying: "Terrorists have no nationality, no homeland, and no religion." The Tajik Embassy in Moscow has warned citizens not to leave their homes out of concerns about possible retaliatory violence. The Russian authorities have arrested 11 people in connection with the attack, including the four alleged gunmen. Officials have said the four suspects are all foreign nationals. Unnamed officials and Telegram channels reportedly connected to the security services have suggested that the attackers may be Tajiks or Russian citizens with a Tajik background. The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which at least 154 people were also injured. In the Russian Far Eastern city of Blagoveshchennsk, a cafe owned by Central Asians was reportedly burned down, several Russian Telegram channels reported. In the western city of Kaluga, three Tajik migrants were assaulted, and one was hospitalized. In the Moscow region, a group of young people threw four Tajik migrants out of a commuter train after reportedly threatening to kill them. The Russian Telegram channel Baza reported that some Interior Ministry regional branches have set up special units to police migrants, stepping up document checks and inspections of dormitories and other places where Central Asian migrants congregate. The Democratic Party of Tajikistan and some members of the Tajik parliament have urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to take measures to prevent xenophobic violence. Hundreds of thousands of Tajik citizens and Russian citizens of Tajik background reside in Russia. IS issued a statement of responsibility not long after the attack and on March 23 published pixelated photos of four men it claimed were the attackers. The group said they had dealt a "heavy blow" with assault rifles and explosives by targeting "Christians" as part of a "raging war" against countries fighting Islam. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-day-mourning-xenophobic- incidents-migrants-tajiks-crocus-attack/32875255.html Copyright (c) 2024. 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 Moscow Terrorist Attack 'Serious Intelligence Failure,' Says Ex-U.S. Envoy To Russia By Todd Prince March 24, 2024 WASHINGTON -- A former U.S. envoy to Moscow said the worst terrorist attack on Russian soil in nearly two decades represents "a serious intelligence failure" and warned that President Vladimir Putin could use it to justify further mobilization and oppression. Alexander Vershbow, who served as U.S. ambassador to Moscow from 2001 to 2005, a period that saw two of the worst terrorist attacks in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, said it was "hard to explain" how the perpetrators were able to take so many lives considering the United States had warned the Kremlin weeks earlier of just such a possible assault. The toll from the March 22 deadly attack at a popular concert hall at the edge of Moscow has already reached 133, but Russian authorities have warned it is likely to climb higher. The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the worst in Russia since 333 were killed at a school in Beslan in North Ossetia in September 2004. "It seems kind of unbelievable that Russian security services missed this," Vershbow told RFE/RL in a March 23 interview from Washington, where he is an analyst at the Atlantic Council, noting the public U.S. message on March 7 that Putin later derided. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on March 23 that Washington had also privately warned Russian authorities at the same time. "Clearly, it was an intelligence failure for this to happen in such a prominent venue right on the beltway of Moscow, and to have such a serious death toll despite those small number of terrorists that appear to have actually perpetrated the act," Vershbow said. IS said four perpetrators carried out the attack at the Crocus City Hall venue, while Russia said it has arrested four suspected gunmen along with seven others who were allegedly involved. Vershbow dismissed speculation that the attack could have been an internal job for domestic purposes. Putin's rise to power in 1999 came on the heels of several explosions in Russia that were blamed on Chechen terrorists. There has long been speculation that the bombings were masterminded by the Federal Security Services (FSB) to catapult Putin into the Kremlin though it has never been proven. Vershbow said that, in contrast to the 1999 attacks, he did not see the March 22 attack "as being in the interest of Putin." 'Chilling' Speech Nonetheless, he said the Kremlin leader may seek to use the tragic event to pin blame on the West, generate more forces for his war in Ukraine, and crush any remaining opposition to his rule. "The Russians may choose to link this [terrorist attack] to their war against the collective West and hold the U.S. and its Ukrainian proxies -- as they might call them -- ultimately responsible. I wouldn't be at all surprised," he said. In a March 23 statement, Putin said the four suspected gunmen "tried to hide and were moving toward Ukraine, where, according to preliminary information, the Ukrainian side had prepared a window for them to cross the border." Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has failed to achieve its initial goals in part because of large-scale Western aid to Kyiv. Putin now portrays the war as one against NATO. Vershbow accused Putin in his "chilling" speech following the 2004 Beslan attack of using the United States as a scapegoat to cover up for what he said was another Russian intelligence failure. In that speech, Putin said that there are some countries who see Russia as a threat, and they are helping others who want to dismember the country. Terrorism, Putin said, was just "an instrument to achieve these goals." Putin eliminated direct elections for governors following the Beslan attack, tightening his grip on power. Vershbow warned more oppression could follow on the heels of this attack. "If they decide to emphasize the U.S. and Ukraine link, then I think we can anticipate very harsh measures at home in the wake of this intelligence failure," Vershbow said. He said the Crocus attack may also be used "to justify a significant mobilization of additional forces for the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin this time may not allow hundreds of thousands of Russians to flee mobilization as it had after the first call-up in September 2022, he said. Regardless of how Putin tries to portray the attack, it will impact his image, Vershbow said. "Russians may no longer have the opportunity to ask why this could have happened in a public way, but they'll be asking themselves around the kitchen table 'how can our great president have allowed this to happen'?" Source: hhttps://www.rferl.org/a/russia-moscow-terrorist- attack-vershbow-intelligence-failure/32875186.html Copyright (c) 2024. 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 Press Release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's telephone conversation with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar 24 March 2024 15:39 540-24-03-2024 On March 24, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The Indian diplomat vehemently condemned the inhumane terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue, which claimed the lives of more than 130 civilians. He reaffirmed India's resolution to continue fighting terrorism in all its manifestations together with Russia. He offered words of support and asked to convey his sympathy to the families of the victims, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pacific Fleet's corvette Gremyashchy returns to its home base in Kamchatka after completing its tasks 24.03.2024 The multi-purpose corvette Gremyashchy of the Pacific Fleet has returned to its home base in Kamchatka after fulfilling a number of combat training and operational tasks in the fleet's area of responsibility. In accordance with the approved schedule, the warship underwent scheduled maintenance at the Dalzavod Ship Repair Centre. Before proceeding to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the corvette crew successfully completed course tasks K-1 and K-2 in Vladivostok, the main base of the Pacific Fleet. After resupply, the crew of the corvette Gremyashchy will start fulfilment of its assigned tasks. Press Service of the Eastern Military District NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Rescue Operation at Crocus City Hall Completed, Search Underway - Moscow Region Governor Sputnik News 20240324 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The rescue operation at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow has wrapped up, with 133 bodies pulled from the rubble, while the search effort is still underway, Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Saturday. "The rescue operation at the scene of the tragedy has been completed. The search operation is still ongoing. Today, rescuers have cleared a huge swathe of the auditorium. Over the course of 24 hours, 133 bodies have been pulled from under the rubble, we have managed to tentatively establish the identities of 50 victims. Identification by relatives is ahead. In hospitals, doctors are fighting for the lives of 107 people," Vorobyov wrote on Telegram. A shooting occurred on Friday evening in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that at least three men in camouflage had broken into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs. The Russian Investigative Committee said the number of those killed in the terrorist attack had so far reached 133, according to the latest data. Eleven people were detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly responsible, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. All four were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, a few hours apart, the FSB added A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Telephone conversation with President of Syria Bashar al-Assad March 23, 2024 19:40 During the telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, the President of the Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemned the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, stressing that Syrian citizens share the pain and grief of the Russian people. He wished fortitude to the victims' families and friends and a speedy recovery to the injured. Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad discussed the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and the current situation in Syria, which is directly facing the terrorist threat. The leaders agreed to intensify contacts both in addressing counterterrorism and in all other areas of bilateral cooperation. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria repels Israeli missile attack on Damascus suburb IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Mar 24, 2024 Tehran, IRNA -- The Syrian army's air defense has repelled missile strikes by the Israeli regime on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the army's air defense confronted the Israeli missiles near Damascus, destroying most of them early on Sunday. The news agency did not say how many missiles were involved. There was no mention of the exact location of the Israeli attack either. The Israeli regime has been conducting airstrikes on various positions in Syria in the past several days. Syria labels the attacks as blatant acts of aggression against its soil, with the government time and again submitting letters to the United Nations and the UN Security Council, calling for the halt to the airstrikes. 4208**4194 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syria's air defense repels Israeli missile strike near Damascus Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 7:17 AM Syrian air defense units have intercepted and shot down most of the missiles launched by the Israeli military near the country's capital city of Damascus, local media reported. According to local Syrian media reports, early on Sunday, Israeli military aircraft "carried out an aerial attack from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights, and targeted several sites in the Damascus countryside." The reports added that Syrian air defenses shot down most of the missiles. There were no injuries in the strike, but there were material losses. Israel often conducts airstrikes on military installations in Syria, particularly those belonging to the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been instrumental in supporting the Syrian army in its battle against terrorists backed by foreign entities. The Tel Aviv regime infrequently acknowledges its military actions within Syrian territories, which is widely interpreted as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government's triumph over terrorism. Since the onset of foreign-backed militancy in Syria in 2011, Israel has stood as a staunch supporter of terrorist factions that are in opposition to the democratically-elected leadership of President Bashar al-Assad. The recent strikes also come amid an upsurge in Israel's acts of aggression against Syria and its ongoing genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip which has killed at least 32,142 Palestinians, most of them women and children. On Tuesday, the Israeli regime also attacked several military positions belonging to Syria near Damascus. The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates says Israel is desperately attempting to cover up its abject failures in the Gaza Strip by attacking the Syrian territory. Observers have described these attacks as a reckless bid threatening to fan tensions throughout the region. Israel launched the bloody war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm in the occupied territories in retaliation for the Tel Aviv regime's relentless crimes against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Telephone conversation with President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan March 23, 2024 19:30 President of the Republic of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan telephoned Vladimir Putin to personally offer his deep and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the heinous terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. He noted that the Turkish Republic stands with the people of Russia in this dark hour. Vladimir Putin emphasised that Russia appreciates the support of the Turkish people and informed his Turkish counterpart on the status of the investigation into the terrorist attack. During the conversation, the Turkish leader stressed the urgent need for closer bilateral cooperation in the fight against the terrorist threat. Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude for the condolences and supported the idea of stepping up cooperation in countering terrorism. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Poland on alert as Russia launches air strikes on Ukraine's Kiev, Lviv Iran Press TV Sunday, 24 March 2024 11:17 AM Russia has launched air strikes on Ukraine's capital Kiev and the western region of Lviv, prompting neighboring Poland to activate its air force. The Polish Armed Forces Operational Command (RSZ) said on Sunday morning that a Russian cruise missile had violated its airspace while targeting Ukraine. "The object entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and stayed there for 39 seconds," the Operational Command said adding that it was observed by military radar systems throughout its flight. It added that Polish and allied aircraft have been activated, which may result in increased noise levels, especially in the south-eastern part of the NATO-member country, and that the RSZ forces were on a heightened state of readiness. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials reported that Russia launched about 20 missiles and seven drone attacks directed towards critical infrastructure in the broader Lviv region, near the Polish border. Furthermore, multiple explosions in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev were reported. "Several explosions rocked Kiev early on Sunday, with Ukraine air defense forces destroying about a dozen of Russia-launched missiles over the capital and its vicinity, "Sergiy Popko, head of the Kiev's military administration said, adding that there were no casualties or damage. The attacks came two day after a terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall killed at least 133 people and injured more than 150. Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the attack as tensions escalated between the two countries. "They (terrorists) tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," Putin said in his televised speech. On Saturday, the Russian military said it had seized the strategic Ukrainian village of Ivanivske west of Bakhmut. Kiev is contending with acute shortage of weapons and soldiers as the two-year Russia's "military operation" continues, however, it has vowed to respond by bringing the battle to the Russian territory. The situation remains tense as both countries continue to engage in escalating conflict. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Missiles Target Kyiv As Poland Claims Its Airspace Was Violated By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service March 24, 2024 Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in a predawn attack on March 24, the third "massive" attack on the city in the last four days. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, wrote on Telegram that there were no immediate reports of casualties. The air raid in the capital lasted about two hours. Russian missiles also hit the western Lviv region, prompting NATO-member Poland to place its air defenses on heightened alert. Warsaw reported that one Russian cruise missile had violated the country's airspace near the town of Oserdow. Two Polish and two U.S. F-16 fighters were scrambled during the incident, during which the Russian missile reportedly penetrated about 2 kilometers into Polish territory. Poland's Foreign Ministry said it would demand an explanation from Moscow for the incident and called on Russia to "stop terrorist air attacks on the inhabitants and territory of Ukraine." Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the missile was not shot down because there were no signs that it was headed for targets in Poland. Kosiniak-Kamysz said Poland will strengthen its troop presence in the areas bordering Belarus and Russia, adding that this had already been a topic at a government national security meeting last week. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy wrote on Telegram that the Russian missile attack had not targeted Lviv city but was aimed at "critical infrastructure" in the region. Ukrainian military officials said at least two advanced Russian Kinzhal missiles were used in the Lviv region attack. The Ukrainian military said that 18 of 29 missiles and 25 of 28 attacking drones had been intercepted. It also claimed to have hit two Russian military ships stationed at the annexed peninsula of Crimea in overnight strikes. "The Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully struck the amphibious landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications center, and a number of the Black Sea Fleet's infrastructure sites," the Ukrainian armed forces' strategic communications center said on March 24. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of the Russian-occupied Crimean port of Sevastopol, said one person was killed and four were wounded in a "massive" Ukrainian missile attack on the city on March 24. Razvozhayev said 10 missiles were shot down during the attack which he called "the most massive in recent times." Residents reported explosions and smoke in the area of an oil depot in the village of Gvardiyske near Simferopol. In Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, a Russian air strike damaged energy infrastructure in a village near Bilopol, the mayor of Bilopol, Yuriy Zarko, said. Private houses, farm buildings, cars, and garages were also damaged, he added. Russian forces dropped three high-explosive aerial bombs on the settlement around 1 p.m. local time, Zarko said, adding that the village had no electricity, water, or gas services as a result of the attack. Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, the chairman of Ukrenerho's board, said the latest Russian attacks on energy facilities caused losses of at least 100 million euros, according to preliminary calculations. Kudrytskiy said Ukrenerho was prepared for more attacks on the energy system and had set up a warehouse to hold the necessary equipment and materials and trained personnel, he said. Oleksiy Chernyshov, the chairman of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, said earlier on Facebook that Naftogaz Group facilities were damaged in attacks on infrastructure in western Ukraine on March 24. Chernyshov said Naftogaz was currently working on localizing and eliminating the impact and vowed that that attack would not affect the supply of natural gas to Ukrainian customers. Ukraine's largest private energy provider, DTEK, lost 50 percent of its capacity, according to the head of the Yasno distribution firm, Serhiy Kovalenko. Kovalenko told Ukrainian national television that Russia had attacked two parts of the energy system -- generation and distribution, hitting both thermal and hydropower plants. The Energy Ministry said that Russia attempted to hit a critical energy infrastructure facility in the Lviv region on March 24, sparking a fire. There were no casualties, and the consequences are being assessed, the ministry said. With reporting by Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russian-missiles-strike- kyiv/32875176.html Copyright (c) 2024. 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 Air Defenses Down 22 Vampire Missiles Over Belgorod Region Sputnik News 20240324 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian air defense systems shot down 22 missiles fired by Ukraine from the Vampire multiple launch rocket system at the Belgorod Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "On March 24, at about 05:50 p.m. Moscow time [14:50 GMT], the Kiev regime's attempt to carry out a terrorist attack using the RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system against targets on Russian territory was foiled. Twenty-two missiles were destroyed over the Belgorod Region by the air defense forces on duty," the ministry said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Forces Carry Out Strike Against Ukrainian Energy Facilities Sputnik News 20240324 MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the progress of special military operation. The Russian aerospace forces carried out high-precision missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian power facilities over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday. "Tonight, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched a group strike with long-range airborne precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against electric power facilities, gas production facilities, and assembly and testing sites for unmanned boats," the ministry said. All of the targets were hit, the ministry added. "As a result of the strike, the work of industrial enterprises for the production and repair of weapons, military equipment and ammunition was disorganized, and foreign military equipment and means of destruction transferred to Ukraine by NATO countries were destroyed," the ministry said. At the same time, Russian air defense systems destroyed 172 Ukrainian drones, 11 Storm Shadow cruise missiles and three Neptun anti-ship missiles, as well as 22 multiple launch rocket system shells and other targets, the military said. A Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address On the weekend 15-17 March, the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation (RCO) was held in Madrid. This was a historic milestone for several reasons: we had the largest presence and participation of any previous congress; we launched a new organisation; and the comrades came out more determined than ever to build the forces of communism in the Spanish state and around the world. [The following has been edited based on reporting here and here.] Present were comrades from all the areas where we are organised: Madrid, Euskal Herria, Catalunya, Pais Valencia, Andalucia, Illes Balears, Salamanca, and Murcia. In addition, we had the presence of a delegation of our comrades from Portugal, a guest from the Revolutionary Communist Party (British section of the International Marxist Tendency), and Jorge Martin, a representative of the international leadership of the IMT. This congress represented a real refounding of our organisation. With a new, clearly revolutionary profile, we will march forward more vigorously, to spread our ideas more boldly, and are confident that under this banner, wide layers of young people and workers will be drawn into the fight for communism. Spanish capitalism On the first day of the congress, we discussed the perspectives for the Spanish state / Image: OCR On the first day of the congress, we discussed the perspectives for the Spanish state, discussing what we communists have to do here to fight against the bourgeoisie and its rotten system. The global crisis of capitalism gives no respite to the working class and youth, provoking a deep sense of malaise in society. Wherever we look, all we see is precariousness in living conditions, in work, in access to housing, in healthcare. The predatory plundering of the planets resources by large corporations are aggravating climate change with each passing day. Wars have become the new normal as imperialist thieves carve up the world for exploitation. And yet, the conditions are in place to create a paradise on earth. To achieve this, we must overthrow capitalism through the collective action of millions of oppressed people around the world, who constitute the vast majority of the population. Congreso de @_luchadeclases, seccion de la Corriente Marxista Internacional en el Estado espanol pic.twitter.com/K5nyX2AYil Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) March 16, 2024 In Spain, 38 percent of workers suffer from job insecurity (temporary, part-time or discontinuous work). The purchasing power of wages is even 7 percent lower than it was in 2008. According to the latest figures, 89 percent of new employees hired in 2022 were paid the minimum wage or less. 38 percent of renters are in severe poverty after their rent comes out. In contrast, 10 percent of the population has 54 percent of the total wealth. The bottom half of the population has only 8 percent. The situation of young Spanish workers is particularly alarming. Unemployment rates among the youth, at 27 percent, are more than double the official figures. The prevalence of part-time and temporary contracts is also double the average. According to the latest data from the INEs Living Conditions Survey, 53.2 percent of under-30s live in families that find it difficult to make ends meet. Comunistas revolucionarios por Triana! Ayudanos a construir la OCR en tu barrio! pic.twitter.com/HgUBHIOjgx OCR Sevilla (@OCRSevilla) March 21, 2024 But the crisis of Spanish capitalism is not just a question of bread, shelter and work. It is a crisis of a rotten, repressive, corrupt political regime. We have a parasitic monarchy imposed by the Franco dictatorship, and supported by the leaders of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Communist Party (PCE) during the so-called Transition to democracy. The state apparatus (army, police force, judiciary, administration) has remained intact since Francos regime, with positions being passed down from parents to children and grandchildren. They plunder the state coffers with privileges of all kinds and are irremovable by law. They are irreconcilable opponents of all that is progressive and living in Spanish society. They viciously repress the historical nationalities (Euskal Herria, Catalonia, Galicia) that try to exercise their democratic right to self-determination. There is no possibility of reforming this apparatus, it must be demolished to its foundations and with it, the Bourbon monarchy. What is needed is a revolutionary leadership that can draw together all the mainsprings of discontent into a struggle for a voluntary Federation of Iberian Socialist Republics, as a first step towards a socialist Europe and a socialist world. Our aim is nothing short of the abolition of private ownership of the means of production through a regime of workers democracy. Only this can provide the stepping stone to a classless society of world communism, without states or national borders that separate and divide us, in a universal and fraternal community of humanity. Launch of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation Our primary task is the construction of a revolutionary organisation / Image: OCR The strength of the capitalists lies not in the enormity of their repressive and coercive apparatus, but in the disorganisation of the exploited, and the lack of a finished programme for the socialist transformation of society. Towards this end, our primary task is the construction of a revolutionary organisation, drawing together the thousands of organised communists that exist across Spain and the world, into an organisation with a clear programme and plan of action that can connect with the wider struggles of the working class. Towards this end, this congress delved into the lessons of our work in 2023, and the plans comrades have to redouble our efforts in spreading the ideas of Marxism and recruiting new people who are fed up with the capitalist system and want to overthrow it. But the highlight of the weekend was the launch of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation (RCO). A vote was taken on the new name, which was unanimously approved to a standing ovation. The comrades, full of enthusiasm, showed a deep understanding that this is not a simple change of name, but a renewal of forces under a bolder and more openly communist banner. This is a necessary step, of which they are proud to be a part. Es preciso rescatar las verdaderas ideas y tradiciones del leninismo tanto de las calumnias de sus enemigos como de las tergiversaciones y distorsiones de muchos de sus supuestos partidarios #OCR #Lenin100 pic.twitter.com/QsBJPcOJIL Organizacion Comunista Revolucionaria (@comunistas_ocr) March 17, 2024 The Spanish working class has a proud tradition of militant and revolutionary struggle stretching back to the last third of the 19th century. But its leaderships has never lived up to its militancy and determination. Today, the PSOE and IU-PCE (United Left-Communist Party) are firm pillars of the regime, joined by Yolanda Diazs SUMAR. Their progressive government is fully aligned with western imperialism and limits itself to managing the crumbs that fall from the table of the powerful. If the old left failed, the new left represented by Podemos has also failed miserably. However, everywhere today we are witnessing an enormously inspiring phenomenon: an unstoppable movement of broad layers of youth turning towards the ideas of communism. Indignation burns in their breast against the oppressors and the powerful. They want to fight for communism here and now, and to realise the inspiring task of socialist revolution in their lifetimes. But at the same time, the lack of a genuine international revolutionary communist organisation is felt everywhere. That is why the International Marxist Tendency, present in 60 countries around the world, is taking steps to launch a new Revolutionary Communist International (RCI) in June this year. [Click here to attend the World School of Communism, at which the Revolutionary Communist International shall be founded] The comrades of the IMT in Spain are going to give it the initiative with every possible impulse and maximum enthusiasm. We therefore call on all those who want to fight for the communist future of humanity, not as national detachments, but as part of an international army of revolutionary communist proletarians, to join us and participate in the task of developing and strengthening the organisation that the working class and youth in Spain and internationally needs. The launch of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation, which will become the official Spanish section of the RCI, represents part of this relaunch of the international focus of communism. Plans are now in place for a series of launch meetings of the new RCO in all regions throughout the months of April and May, with a big national launch event in Madrid in November. You too can help us build the Revolutionary Communist Organisation. Join us today! Commemorating Lenin We ended the congress on Sunday with a session devoted to the life and work of Lenin, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his death. We traced the most relevant aspects of Lenin's revolutionary life and his most important contributions to the theoretical and practical arsenal of Marxism, which covered many facets. There is much to learn from this great revolutionary, to apply in our analysis and understanding of the crisis of capitalism and revolution today, and the session served to strengthen us in this. In Defence of Lenin is now available to pre-order! Over two volumes, Rob Sewell and Alan Woods trace Lenins life and explain his ideas, drawing on the tremendous heritage of what he actually wrote and did. Pre-order now: https://t.co/POcbzWgf1R pic.twitter.com/EoBeod5HaK Wellred Books (@WellredBooks) November 23, 2023 At the end of the last day we took up a collection where we raised 6,200, over 1,000 more than last years collection. The contributions showed the comrades willingness to sacrifice and their confidence in the future of the organisation. We closed the congress with an evening of music with bassoon, viola and guitar playing the Internationale, which was followed by the singing of the Internationale by all present. Adelante hacia la construccion de la Organizacion Comunista Revolucionaria, adelante hacia la construccion de la Internacional Comunista Revolucionaria #OCR #SoyComunista pic.twitter.com/Tph2Qfdmum Organizacion Comunista Revolucionaria (@comunistas_ocr) March 17, 2024 In all the sessions, there was an atmosphere of effervescence, confidence and determination to build the RCO and the International, which is our main inspiration. Join the Revolutionary Communist Organisation! President of Ukraine had a phone call with Prime Minister of Spain President of Ukraine 24 March 2024 - 21:32 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a constructive and meaningful phone call with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro SAnchez. The Head of State thanked the Spanish government for its unwavering support of Ukraine and recent decisions made following the meeting in the Ramstein format, particularly the approval of a powerful defense package. Volodymyr Zelenskyy also expressed gratitude to Spain for sheltering more than 180 thousand Ukrainians who were forced to flee their homes due to the full-scale Russian invasion. The President informed his interlocutor of the situation on the battlefield, recent massive Russian shelling of Ukraine's energy infrastructure and the difficult situation in several regions of our country. In this context, the interlocutors discussed further defense cooperation between the two countries, in particular, bolstering Ukraine's air defense system to protect the skies from aerial attacks by the terrorist state. "It is extremely important for us to protect people and major industrial centers. It is crucial for the economy and the return of people home," the Head of State emphasized. Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted Spain's active participation in the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. The leaders agreed on further cooperation in the context of the preparation of the inaugural Peace Summit, as well as joint work with the countries of the Global South. The interlocutors also focused on the preparation of a bilateral security agreement and agreed on a further schedule of political contacts for the near future. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian terrorists used almost 190 missiles, about 140 "Shahed" drones and almost 700 guided aerial bombs this week - address by the President of Ukraine President of Ukraine 24 March 2024 - 20:40 I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians! First, I would like to thank our defenders of the sky. I am grateful to all the warriors of the mobile firing groups, our aviation, the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces, and all the specialists of our electronic warfare. Thank you for every missile shot down, for every downed "Shahed" drone. Of course, our sky shield requires significant strengthening. We are working on this with all our partners whose decisions can change the nature of this war and protect our cities and villages from terror. But already now, our warriors are shooting down at least some of the missiles and most of the "Shahed" drones. Over the past week, from Monday to today, Russian terrorists have used nearly 190 missiles of various types and almost 140 "Shahed" drones. Also, they launched almost 700 guided aerial bombs. There has not been a single week in the more than 2 years of this war when Russia refrained from terror. And we are doing our best to make sure that the occupation contingent feels our quite fair response to this terror in the same way - every week, every day. I am grateful to all of our heroes who destroy enemy logistics in the occupied territories. Those who clear Crimea and the Black Sea of the occupiers' presence. This is a difficult task, but our warriors are completing it step by step. Everyone sees it. And, of course, I would like to express my special gratitude to all units of our Defense and Security Forces that reduce Russia's war potential. The less money Putin's system makes, the stronger the sanctions against it and the physical destruction of Russia's war potential, the sooner Ukraine, our Europe, and the world will feel safe again. Restoration work is underway in some of our regions after the Russian strikes on Friday night. I am grateful to everyone who is working non-stop in Kharkiv to restore electricity and heat supply to people. The situation is extremely difficult. More than 200,000 customers - apartments and houses - in the city of Kharkiv and one of the districts of the region are without stable power supply and are subject to rather tough electricity schedules. Local authorities, all services and the government clearly understand the timeframe and technical basis for normalizing the situation. In other regions, electricity supply has been restored to all consumers. I am grateful to everyone who ensured this result and to everyone in the world, all our partners, who supported Ukraine after such a heinous attack against our energy sector. One more thing. This week yielded many results in relations with partners. The European Union has approved a a5 billion Ukraine Assistance Fund. This will significantly contribute to our defense. There is a new a4.5 billion macro-financial tranche from the European Union. There is also a decision on a new IMF tranche - almost $900 million. Canada has provided 2 billion Canadian dollars in macro-financial direct budgetary support. There are good results in terms of defense support packages as well, with both received packages and new ones announced. These include artillery, drones, and armored vehicles. I have also just spoken with Spanish Prime Minister SAnchez. We focused on air defense for Ukraine, as we need more systems. We also discussed our cooperation with Spain at the bilateral level and in European institutions. I am grateful to Spain for its unwavering support and our shared belief that life must prevail. The key is not to grow weary, not to reduce our activity, not to lose faith in Ukraine, in our people, and in our ability to convey to the world that the enemy of human life has no right to win - Putin has no right to win. He must lose the ability to destroy the lives of others. This is the only way to ensure the common security of our people, of all Europeans, of the whole world. I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine! Glory to all our warriors, to all our people! Glory to Ukraine! NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Missiles Hit Underground Gas Storage Facility in Ukraine By VOA News March 24, 2024 Russian missiles hit an underground gas storage (UGS) site Sunday in western Ukraine, the latest attack in a wave of Russian missile strikes on the country's energy infrastructure. Naftogaz CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said that equipment was damaged in the strike and that repairs were proceeding. "The situation will not critically impact the UGS operations since the gas is stored deep underground," Chernyshov wrote on Facebook. "The damaged surface infrastructure will need repairs; however, we have sufficient backup capacities in place to mitigate any immediate impacts," he said, adding that the company was keeping up with customer demand. The massive Russian strikes have impaired the country's energy infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address. "Over the past week, from Monday to today, Russian terrorists have used nearly 190 missiles of various types and almost 140 Shahed drones. Also, they launched almost 700 guided aerial bombs. There has not been a single week in the more than two years of this war when Russia refrained from terror," he said. 'Extremely difficult' Zelenskyy added that power was being restored in parts of the country and noted that teams were working nonstop in the eastern city of Kharkiv to bring back electricity and heat to people without power. "The situation is extremely difficult. More than 200,000 customers - apartments and houses - in the city of Kharkiv and one of the districts of the region are without stable power supply and are subject to rather tough electricity schedules," he said. The country's energy ministry and distributors said Ukraine ramped up imports of electricity and halted exports Sunday after the recent spate of Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure, in which Ukraine's top energy producer, DTEK, lost 50% of its capacity. Russian air defense systems destroyed 22 Vampire missiles launched by Ukraine at Russia's Belgorod region, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement Sunday. The Ukrainian military said it hit two large Russian landing ships in attacks on the annexed Crimean Peninsula early Sunday, along with a communications center and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea. The statement did not say how the targets were hit. A Moscow-installed official in the region reported a major Ukrainian air attack and said air defenses had shot down more than 10 missiles over the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said on the Telegram messaging app that a 65-year-old man was killed when three homes were hit by shrapnel. Razvozhayev said transport infrastructure, including passenger boats and buses, was partially damaged. The Reuters news agency could not immediately verify the extent of any damage. Polish demand Poland said Sunday that it would demand that Russia explain "a new violation of airspace" after a Russian missile strayed briefly into Polish airspace during Moscow's latest attack on Ukraine. In the incident in question Sunday morning, which targeted the Ukrainian capital, a missile breached Polish airspace by about two kilometers before returning to Ukraine, according to a spokesperson for the Polish army. The incident prompted Poland, a NATO member, to activate F-16 fighter jets. The head of Kyiv's military administration said that Russia used cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers in the attack. It wasn't immediately clear if Russia intended for a missile to enter Poland's airspace. "Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces ... of the Russian Federation," the Polish army said on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding, "The object flew through Polish airspace above the village of Oserdow (Lublin province) and stayed for 39 seconds." Reuters quoted Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Pawel Wronski as saying, "We ask the Russian Federation to end its terrorist airstrikes against the population and territory of Ukraine, to end the war and to focus on the country's own internal problems." Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russian Missile Breaches Polish Airspace By VOA News March 24, 2024 A Russian missile breached the airspace of NATO member Poland by about 2 kilometers Sunday morning before returning to Ukraine, according to a spokesperson for the Polish army. "Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces... of the Russian Federation," the army said on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding, "The object flew through Polish airspace above the village of Oserdow (Lublin province) and stayed for 39 seconds." The Polish military said it is monitoring the situation and "remains on permanent alert to ensure the security of Polish airspace." Russia shot down 10 Ukrainian missiles over Sevastopol in Crimea and captured a village near Bakhmut on Saturday, Russian officials said. As Ukraine has suffered shortages of ammunition, Russia has captured several villages on the front line in eastern Ukraine. On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had taken the village of Ivanivske. The town of Chasiv Yar is nearby, and beyond that lies the city of Kramatorsk. While the ground war may be moving slowly, the two militaries have kept up their aerial assaults. Ukrainian forces shot down 31 of 34 attack drones launched overnight Friday into Saturday by Russia, the Ukrainian air force said Saturday, as the country continues to recover from Russia's massive Friday assault on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The drones were downed over parts of central, southern and southeastern Ukraine, the country's military said. Power grid recovers slowly Energy workers are still working to restore electricity to some Ukrainians, though, a day after Moscow launched what Kyiv said was the largest attack of the war on the country's power grid, authorities said Saturday. The "technical possibility for electricity supply" had been restored in most affected regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram. But the situation remained difficult in the region of Kharkiv, which was hit particularly hard. People in Kharkiv city, as well as the western Khmelnytskyi region, were still without power, national grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement. The Russian assault killed at least five people and left more than 1 million people without power. It also struck Ukraine's largest dam. On Saturday morning, meanwhile, two people were killed and seven were injured in Ukrainian air attacks on Russia's Belgorod region, regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. "It's shaping up to be a difficult morning," Gladkov said in a post on Telegram. An overnight drone attack by Ukraine on Russia's Samara region caused a fire at a major oil refinery. In turn, Russia's defense ministry said Saturday its forces had taken control of the village of Krasnoye in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Campaigners Urge Australia to Let Ukrainian Refugees Stay Permanently By Phil Mercer March 24, 2024 Australian community leaders are urging the Canberra government to allow displaced Ukrainians to apply to stay permanently in the country. Temporary humanitarian visas for thousands of refugees from the Ukraine war expire next year. More than 11,000 Ukrainians on various types of Australian visas, including visitors' permits, have come to Australia since Russia invaded in February 2022. About 3,790 Ukrainians were granted three-year temporary humanitarian visas under a special Australian government program that ran from April to July 2022. The humanitarian visas are to expire next year. The government has said displaced Ukrainians with that type of immigration permit might be allowed to stay by applying for the skilled, family, student and visitor visa programs. Community groups, though, say some displaced Ukrainians might find it hard to qualify for permanent visas because of such obstacles as applicant age limits, lack of recognition of overseas qualifications and limited English language skills. Some visas require applicants to be younger than 45 and to have relevant experience and qualifications in occupations that are in short supply in Australia, such as accountants, pilots and engineers. Andrew Mencinsky, the vice president of the Ukrainian Council of New South Wales, told local media that for many visa holders their future in Australia is uncertain. "At the moment there is no clear pathway to permanent residency and their current humanitarian visas are approaching expiry," he said. New Zealand and Canada have already established special residency pathways for Ukrainians in their countries. Natalia Borodina is a Ukrainian refugee who works for a charity in Sydney helping new migrants. She told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that many Ukrainians in Australia worry about what will happen when their current visas expire. "Over the past six months and currently, that is the first question I hear from my clients. Everyone who calls, the first question [is] have you heard anything in terms of our visa future? And that causes a lot of worries within the community," she said. Australia's Department of Home Affairs said in a statement that it was processing "visa applications from Ukrainian nationals as a priority, particularly for those with a connection to Australia." It added that Ukrainian nationals could apply for a so-called bridging visa, which would allow them to "stay in Australia lawfully while [their] immigration status is resolved." Australia is among the largest non-NATO contributors to Kyiv's war effort, supplying missiles and armored personnel carriers. The government also has placed sanctions on hundreds of Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, military commanders and businesspeople. They are the most sweeping penalties Australia has ever imposed on another country. Additionally, Canberra has banned imports of Russian oil, petroleum, coal and gas. A statement Friday following annual security talks between the foreign and defense ministers of Australia and Britain "unequivocally condemned Russia's full-scale, illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine and demanded Russia immediately withdraws its forces from Ukraine's internationally recognized territory." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Connor Consulting, a leading software licensing and advisory firm with a growing presence in the Middle East, today announced its achievement as the first company in the region to earn Oracle's prestigious Verified Software Asset Management (SAM) Expertise. This recognition reinforces Connor Consulting's expertise in helping Middle Eastern businesses optimize their IT investments by effectively managing their Oracle software assets through the Verified SAM program. Optimizing IT Investments Oracle's Verified SAM program empowers Middle Eastern businesses to optimize their IT investments through efficient Oracle software asset management on a continuous basis by aligning contracts with actual usage, a critical cost-saving factor. Connor Consulting's expertise ensures clarity and confidence in navigating the complexities of Oracle licensing. Being the first organization to be certified as a Verified SAM Partner reinforces Connors position as a leading software asset management advisor, committed to driving value and excellence for clients across the Middle East. Connor Consulting's Verified SAM certification solidifies their dedication to software asset management excellence and innovation in the Middle East. Their meticulous reviews and continuous licensing updates empower organizations to confidently navigate the intricacies of Oracle software, helping optimize cost control and address compliance. This commitment to clarity and proactive management demonstrates that Connor Consulting is a trusted advisor, helping businesses across the region maximize their Oracle investments. A Testament to Expertise and Innovation "Earning the first Verified SAM Partner in the Middle East is a badge of honor for Connor Consulting," says Jay T. Buck, Global Vice President of Software Solutions. "This recognition validates our deep expertise in Oracle licensing and advisory services, built over years of expanding our global presence and specifically strengthening our Middle East team. This recognition by Oracle validates our efforts and drives us to continue evolving alongside the dynamic tech landscape of the Middle East. We're not just consultants; we're partners in our clients' success, helping them navigate the future of software asset management with confidence. As we continue to grow and innovate, Connor Consulting is committed to driving value to the ever-evolving clients in the Middle East. Extending Our Expertise: Beyond On-Premises Solutions Unveiled by Oracle at CloudWorld in Las Vegas in September 2023, the Verified SAM program is a comprehensive solution catering to on-premises environments, including Database & Options, Fusion Middleware, and E-Business Suite. Connor Consulting's proficiency extends to delivering parallel services for SAAS and PAAS clients, further solidifying its status as a holistic advisor in the software landscape. Get in Touch For additional information or inquiries about how Connor Consulting can assist your organization in optimizing its software asset management strategy through the Verified SAM program, please contact jbuck@connor-consulting.com Press Contact: Mandi Newman (639) 471-8882 mandi@connor-consulting.com New Facility Expands Production Capacity by Up to 5 Times FORT WORTH, TX, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Just Right Products Inc., the wholly owned subsidiary of ADM Endeavors (ADM or the Company) (OTCQB: ADMQ), announces that it has been granted the final building permits for its new production facility. The facility will be built in Fort Worth on a 17.5-acre site, five miles away from the current ADM operation, and is projected to be operational before the end of 2024. This development marks a significant milestone in ADM's expansion strategy. Detailed plans covering approximately 80,000 square feet of retail and production space have been finalized, with construction set to commence immediately, weather permitting. The required custom fabricated metal for construction has been procured and is ready on site. Permits, materials and financing are all in place so that construction of our new facility can officially begin, said ADM Endeavors CEO Marc Johnson. Once completed, we estimate that the facility could increase our production capacity by up to five times, significantly increasing our current maximum in-house revenue capacity of US$7 million. Consolidating operations under one roof will also streamline processes and catalyze additional synergies, which could lead to gross margin and EBITDA margin expansion. I look forward to providing additional construction updates as we progress. The completion of the new facility holds strategic significance for ADM's shift toward more consistent school and government uniform markets, by offering a centralized manufacturing hub and expanding the Companys school uniform retail storefront. This multi-purpose utilization could significantly augment ADM's market presence while offering a convenient avenue for retail sales. The new improved and larger facility also provides opportunities for diversifying its product portfolio and securing additional contracts. ADM Endeavors would like to acknowledge two City of Fort Worth employees, Wendy Beasrdlee and April Smith, who helped navigate the complex 3-year permit process. ADM would also like to recognize the general contactor, Danny Christenson, for his commitment to the project, addressing concerns and ensuring compliance with all requirements. About ADM Endeavors ADM Endeavors is a diversified, direct marketing and value-added manufacturing company providing customers with customized promotional products and wearables. Since 2010, our wholly owned subsidiary, Just Right Products, Inc., has been consistently increasing our recession resistant customer base, with sales topping $5.3 million for the last reported 12 months. The Company sells "Anything With A Logo" on its website, www.JustRightProducts.com , developing products ranging from unique business cards to coffee cups, T-shirts to boots, with tens of thousands of other unique products from which to select. Just Right Products, Inc. operates a diverse vertical integrated business in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, consisting of a retail sales division, screen print production, embroidery production, digital production, import wholesale sourcing, and uniforms. For more information, please visit: Forward-Looking Statement This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Any statements that are not historical facts contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "strategy," "expects," "continues," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "would," "will," "estimates," "intends," "projects," "goals," "targets" and other words of similar meaning are intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of identifying these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the fluctuation of global economic conditions or economic conditions with respect to the retail industry, the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance of management, actions of government regulators, vendors, and suppliers, our cash flows and ability to obtain financing, competition, general economic conditions and other factors that are detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe -harbor provisions. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For further information about ADM Endeavors, please contact: Marc Johnson, CEO Phone: 817.231.8048 E-mail: info@admendeavors.com For investor information for ADM Endeavors, please contact: Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations Phone: 647.255.7570 E-mail: sean@sophiccapital.com Attachment Sterling, Virginia, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aqua-Tots Swim School, the largest international swim school franchise, is celebrating the grand opening of its brand-new location in Sterling, Virginia with a splash-tastic party! Activities will include free swim lessons (walk-in or scheduled), face painting, balloon animals, music, unlimited Anita's frozen cotton candy, giveaways and raffles. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 30 at their state-of-the-art facility, located at 45591 Dulles Eastern Plaza, Suite 120. Aqua-Tots Sterling is the brand's eighth location in Virginia and 145th location worldwide. Owned by business partners and local residents, Mark Wilkinson and Stephen Bosanko, the duo also has locations in Centreville and Leesburg. Their new school is conveniently located to serve the Loudon County communities of Sterling, Dulles, Reston, Ashburn, Oak Grove, Potomac Falls and Broadlands. Sterling is known for its sense of community and growth. We hope to add to that with Aqua-Tots' signature trademark of prioritizing relationships, customer satisfaction and quality, Bosanko said. At Aqua-Tots, you havent just joined a swim school, youve joined a family! Team members here look after your children like they are their own. Were so excited to help even more children discover the joy of gaining new skills and absolutely smashing their goals in the water. Aqua-Tots caters to the needs of young, active families, offering a wide range of schedules and flexible make-up lessons. Spanning more than 7,000 square feet, Aqua-Tots Sterlings 90-degree heated pool, top-of-the-line amenities, and friendly, skilled instructors come together to create a safe, fun swimming experience for children all year long. Stephen and I really resonate with the companys core values and its crucial mission to prevent childhood drownings, Wilkinson said. Its vital for children to learn how to swim properly. Our goal is to ensure that everyone has acess to learning the water safety skills needed to keep their family safe. The Aqua-Tots swim program is trusted by parents all over the world to create confident, lifelong swimmers. Aqua-Tots Sterling offers a wide range of swim programs to suit every age and stage, including small group lessons with four students, semi-private lessons with two students, private lessons, adaptive lessons, Fast Track and Swim Club. Families are free to come in any time during business hours to tour the school, speak with the team and learn more about the program. New families will receive a free swim lesson to assess which level their child will be placed at within the program. For updates, follow the schools social media pages on Instagram and Facebook (@aquatotssterling). Those wanting more information can call the school at 571-520-2201, email sterlingvainfo@aqua-tots.com, or visit aqua-tots.com/sterling/. About Aqua-Tots Swim School Founded in 1991 and headquartered in the Phoenix area, Aqua-Tots Swim School is making waves as the largest international provider of year-round, indoor swim instruction, community outreach and drowning prevention education. Its trusted program is dedicated to children of all abilities from four months to 12 years old and features a proven curriculum used to teach more than five million swim lessons each year. Recognized in Entrepreneur's Top 15 Childrens Franchises of 2023, Entrepreneurs Franchise 500, Inc. Magazine's Top 5000 and Franchise Times Top 200, Aqua-Tots has more than 145 locations in 25 states across 14 countries and is rapidly expanding with 90 locations in development. To learn more about franchise opportunities, visit aqua-tots.com/franchise-development and for more information about Aqua-Tots or to sign up for lessons near you, visit aqua-tots.com and follow Aqua-Tots on Facebook and Instagram. ### Attachments Basseterre, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a historic move for the Caribbean, St Kitts and Nevis, one of the countries with a Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBIP), and part of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the nations leadership has worked tirelessly with its partner OECS jurisdictions to enhance the integrity of CBIPs in the region. The twin-island federation alongside Antigua & Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, and Grenada agreed on mutual legislation, through the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which is aimed at a regional effort to strengthen the CBIPs and address international partners concerns surrounding CBIPs. Caribbean CBIPs are designed to obtain foreign direct investments (FDIs) to support socio-economic developments in exchange for citizenship through thorough stringent due diligence processes. St Kitts and Nevis is one of the CBI countries that have implemented initiatives that include a fixed minimum investment amount to ensure that the CBIP maintains its integrity and enhances confidence from its international partners. The current Charmain of the OECS, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew, spearheaded this initiative to enhance collaboration among the five Caribbean CBI countries. This Memorandum of Agreement is a clear indication that St Kitts and Nevis, among the other three Caribbean CBI nations, are prepared to make necessary adjustments that will benefit CBIPs, Caribbean citizens and international stakeholders. Honourable Dr Drew stated that the four small island developing States who signed this Memorandum have committed to increase and harmonise the minimum investment threshold of their CBIPs to an investment sum of at least US$200,000 no later than June 30, 2024, and more importantly, to bring an end to underselling, a scourge on the CBI industry in the recent past. We have therefore agreed that the minimum investment thresholds for our CBIPs shall represent the actual amount of funds received and applied towards an applicants qualification under our respective CBIPs, and not the gross amount of funds paid by an applicant from which deductions, including the payment of commissions, are made. The Memorandum of Agreement dated 20 March 2024, outlines raising the minimum investment threshold to US$200,000 to be initiated by 30 June. The agreement addresses other aspects including sharing information on CBIP applicants; enhancing transparency measures, establishing a regional competent authority; setting common standards of communication and promotion; regulating agents; and facilitating joint training programmes. St Kitts and Nevis is the pioneer of CBIPs and since its establishment in 1984, it continuously welcomes suggestions and spearheads reform in the wider migration industry. In this instance, St Kitts and Nevis and Caribbean CBIP countries have collectively adopted CBI legislation that maintains the integrity and security of Caribbean CBIPs. Although ahead of the curve, St Kitts and Nevis introduced new legislation last year addressing many of these areas now reflected in the Memorandum of Agreement, including increasing the investment thresholds. The Head of St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU), Mr Michael Martin, has diligently supported the Government to ensure measures are in place, including efforts to prioritise strengthening due diligence processes to maintain the CBIPs' integrity and competitiveness in the industry. Standardising the minimum investment requirements will safeguard the importance of Caribbean CBIPs, improve security measures and reduce risks of CBIP countries not receiving the necessary FDI to develop their economies. Attachment Roseau, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The citizenship by investment programme (CBIP) countries within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have agreed upon legislation to ensure the integrity of their CBIPs, supported by the government of the Commonwealth of Dominica. The virtual signing ceremony was held on Wednesday, 20 March, the four OECS countries, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, and St Kitts and Nevis signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 20 March 2024. This landmark pact included setting a minimum CBIP price threshold to US$200,000, elucidating the commitment of Caribbean CBI countries to solidify their commitment and maintain the dialogue with international partners. The MoU includes outlined agreements among the four CBI countries to accomplish the following: Exchange of best practices and due diligence processes Set a minimum threshold of USD200,000 and this threshold must represent the actual amount of funds received Sharing information on applicants; Enhance transparency by disclosing funds; Conduct independent financial and operational audits; Establish regional authority to set regional standards; Set common standards for communication and promotion; Regulate agents; and Conduct joint training programmes and capacity-building initiatives for CBI administrations. Dominica leads on CBIP integrity The Commonwealth of Dominica was at the forefront of these changes, with the Prime Minister of Dominica, Honourable Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, announcing that he signed the agreed-upon changes ahead of his Tuesday press conference. Dominica continues to demonstrate receptiveness towards enhancing and maintaining the integrity of the CBIP. As announced in the press conference, Honourable Dr Skerrit explained that the Caribbean CBI countries will work together to address the European Unions (EU) questions about CBI and visa-free travel to the Schengen area. Honourable Dr Skerrit explained that CBI countries are continuing the push to strengthen the integrity of the CBIPs. As you know there are countries within the OECS who have these programmes, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Kitts and Nevisand the concerns have been raised by these [European] countriesand the need for all of us to take certain actions to set aside the concerns which the EU in particular would have had with these programme, Honourable Dr Skerrit said. Changes made in line with EU dialogue Honourable Dr Skerrit reiterated Dominicas consistent dialogue with the EU, emphasising the meeting held between the five CBI Caribbean countries and the EU Directorate General of Migration and Home Affairs. This is evident in the EU officials visit to Dominica on 24 January 2024 with the OECS countries to discuss the Caribbean CBIPs. Honourable Dr Skerrit stated that Dominica has taken some very comprehensive measures to allay and to set aside the concerns of the European Union and other parties who we engage in on this matter. Further to that, the countries within the OECS who have these programmes, we have met jointly, and we have agreed to take some joint actions, some of which, not limited to but include having the same legislation to deal with the whole (CBI) programmes. Standardising CBIPs The legislation standardises due diligence, information between CBIPs, and sets minimum price structures to ensure no applicants could apply for citizenship below a particular fixed rate. These things, Honourable Dr Skerrit maintained, will place all of us in a much stronger position in terms of our response to the concerns the EU would have raised. Attachment Last Friday, the world was shocked and horrified by reports of an appalling massacre at a packed concert venue in Moscow. According to the latest reports at the time of writing, at least 137 people were killed in this barbaric attack. Men, women and children were slaughtered indiscriminately by a group of gunmen who showed no mercy. Subsequent events have revealed that the perpetrators are Tajik. According to this mornings news, three out of four of the assailants have pleaded guilty to an act of terrorism. Interestingly, at least one has confessed to having been paid (the amount is said to have been about US$10,800, of which he received half in advance). The Islamist terrorist organisation ISIS-K immediately claimed responsibility. Later on, the main ISIS organisation released bodycam footage of the attack through its official press agency. That means ISIS were at least in contact with the perpetrators and had some level of involvement, if they were not the direct organisers. The western media lost no time in falling over themselves to support this claim and to rubbish any suggestion of Ukrainian involvement an idea that they dismissed as simply absurd. In his initial address to the nation, Vladimir Putin did not openly lay the blame for this outrage at the door of Kyiv. But in pointing out that the terrorists had been apprehended in a car speeding towards the Ukrainian border, he heavily hinted at such a possibility. Was this the work of ISIS? The gunmen were clearly professionals who carried out their butchers work with clinical efficiency / Image: mosreg.ru On the face of it, all the evidence points in the direction of ISIS, or one of its offshoots like ISIS-K. The murderous savagery of the slaughter perpetrated on defenceless people by the assassins, crying out, death to all infidels, God is great is clear enough. The gunmen were clearly professionals who carried out their butchers work with clinical efficiency. They clearly had detailed knowledge of the venue, which they had reconnoitred thoroughly in advance. They knew precisely where to attack and when, choosing an hour when the roads outside would be full of traffic, thus impeding access to any rescuers or emergency services. These are all hallmarks of ISIS methods, which have always involved careful preparation in advance of any terrorist act. But that having been said, there are other aspects which contradict the initial impression. The main problem is the fact that, immediately following their murderous assault, the assassins fled from the building. This is entirely at odds with the normal procedure of ISIS and similar Islamist outfits. As a rule, Islamist terrorists do not leave the place of bloody execution. They do not flee, but fight to the death or blow themselves up with suicide vests. They never surrender. In fact, I cannot recall a single case where that has occurred, including the previous terrorist actions perpetrated inside Russia. Contrary to the usual modus operandi of Islamist terrorists, they not only fled the scene of the crime, but when the vehicle in which they were travelling was intercepted by armed forces (apparently Chechens), they surrendered without a fight, having thrown their weapons away. Kadirov, the Chechen leader, praised his men for carrying out the arrests without killing the terrorists. But how was that possible? This is very strange and demands some kind of an explanation. It appears that the perpetrators were fleeing in a white Renault car being driven furiously towards the border with Ukraine. In his broadcast, Putin states that there is evidence that a window had been prepared to allow them to cross into Ukrainian territory. This is also very strange. The borders between Russia and Ukraine must be heavily guarded on both sides. Moreover, the Russian defences will have been strengthened as a result of recent attempted incursions over the border by the Ukrainians, which were beaten back with very heavy losses on the Ukrainian side. Even if one supposes that the Ukrainians had opened a window on their side of the border, the fleeing terrorists would first have to cross the Russian lines which would seem a very difficult task indeed. There are, of course, possible explanations. It may be that a breach in the frontier may have been somehow opened in a location other than the existing checkpoints, through which the gunmen could escape. Another explanation probably more likely is that they may have been promised a safe route that did not, in fact, exist. It is impossible to say. Another interesting detail is that it seems that one of the arrested men admitted that he had been paid for his butchers work. This, again, is completely in contradiction with the traditional methods of Islamist organisations like ISIS. When they recruit fighters to carry out their bloody work, they do not do so with the lure of cash, but with the prospect of a martyrs death, leading automatically to a one-way trip to paradise. To accept cash rewards for murder is not characteristic of religious fanatics, but rather of mere mercenaries. In fact, the severe defeats inflicted upon ISIS in Syria and Iraq have seriously weakened ISIS, which has been conspicuously absent from the scene until now. And the Middle East must be awash with unemployed former terrorists, anxious to sell their butchers trade to anyone with ready cash to buy their services. That would include employment by the intelligence services of states that have absolutely nothing to do with Islam or Paradise, but plenty of ready cash to pay them. If these men were paid to carry out this attack, the only question of interest is: who was the paymaster? In order to answer this question, we must look at the broader picture. The war is lost After the fall of Avdiivka, every reasonable person will have concluded that the war in Ukraine has been irrevocably lost. Even Biden has warned that if the latest military aid package is not approved, Ukraine will probably collapse in a few months. This is leading to a general mood of panic in ruling circles in the West. After the fall of Avdiivka, every reasonable person will have concluded that the war in Ukraine has been irrevocably lost / Image: President Of Ukraine, Flickr But instead of drawing the logical conclusion, and seeking some kind of deal with Moscow that might salvage something from the wreckage at least preserving something resembling an independent Ukrainian state the panic has found an expression in outbursts of hysterical rage against all things Russian. Governments are desperately scrambling around to find money and arms to send to Kyiv in order to prolong the agony. But no amount of money from the EU can make up for the shortfall caused by the collapse of funding from the USA. The $61 billion package intended for Ukraine has been blocked by the Republicans in congress for many months. At the time of writing, there is no indication that the situation is going to change anytime soon. Even if the money were available, it would not change anything fundamental, since the West is not able to produce enough shells, rockets and air defence systems that had been lost by Ukraine, and which continue to be lost at an alarming rate. The Russians have overwhelming superiority now, and their war industries are churning out shells, tanks and missiles at a rate that cannot be matched by the West. Ukrainian stocks of all these things are being rapidly depleted and cannot be quickly replaced. Signals from Washington The West is prepared to fight to the last drop of Ukrainian blood / Image: public domain Even if both money and arms were available, the crucial factor of available fighting forces would still be missing. Ukrainian losses have reached horrific levels. According to figures issued by the Russian Ministry of Defence, since the beginning of the year Ukrainian losses (dead and wounded) amounted to 71,000. That is three times more than the losses suffered in the same period last year, when the bloody battle for Bakhmut was raging. One might object that the Russian figures are exaggerated. This may be the case. But there is absolutely no dispute about the fact that Ukrainian losses on the battlefield have reached truly staggering proportions. All western sources coincide with that appraisal, which is not open to doubt. Such levels of losses of men, weapons and ammunition cannot be sustained. The outlook is therefore, frankly, critical. The West is prepared to fight to the last drop of Ukrainian blood. But they are not prepared to sacrifice their own soldiers to defend Ukraine. Macrons panicky speeches calling for NATO to send troops to Ukraine immediately met with a solid wall of resistance, even from countries like Poland. No, Ukraine must be left to fight its own battles, their gallant allies reply from the safety of their comfortable studies. Despite their brave words of encouragement, the Americans are least of all inclined to any suggestion that their forces should be sent to fight and die on the muddy battlefields of Ukraine. The signals coming from Washington and other European capitals are hardly encouraging for the men in Kyiv. If there is panic in Paris, London and Washington, the mood in the Ukrainian capital is one of absolute desperation. And desperate men do desperate things. Who is Kyrylo Budanov? Budanov is an adventurer, an intriguer, skilled in the black arts of covert operations / Image: gur.gov.ua Kyrylo Oleksiiovych Budanov is the chief of the Main Directorate of Ukrainian Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence. His record as an intelligence chief has not been outstanding. Ukraines army has been constantly outmanoeuvred by superior Russian tactics. That was shown clearly by the fall of Avdiivka, which caught the Ukrainians completely by surprise. Ever since then, the Russians have been pressing forward slowly but relentlessly all along the frontline. The Ukrainians, whose forces have been severely depleted both in men and in weapons and ammunition by Russian fire, are unable to predict where the expected Russian counter-offensive will take place, and therefore cannot concentrate forces at any particular point. The failures of Ukrainian intelligence are highlighted by this very fact. However, what Budanov lacks in skills and intelligence gathering, he makes up for by other talents. To put it bluntly, Budanov is an adventurer, an intriguer, skilled in the black arts of covert operations in the well-known tradition of James Bond. His principal field of expertise is carrying out terrorist acts behind enemy lines sabotage, targeted assassinations and the like. The Ukrainians had been stepping up talk of asymmetrical war in 2024 (i.e. terrorist attacks), which makes sense, as they are being defeated in the battlefield of normal war. Desperate measures The recent attempt to seize some small villages on the Russian side of the frontier in the region of Kursk and Belgorod were just such desperate measures. Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence chief, claimed that anti-Kremlin militias were involved in this operation, and Ukrainian forces would try to support them to the extent possible. In reality, this was an operation by a large Ukrainian force, which, however, was easily beaten back with huge losses a fact which has been diplomatically glossed over by the western media. This operation had Budanovs fingerprints all over it. But this is not a man who would easily be deflected from his objectives by the loss of soldiers lives. He would merely turn the page and look for another means of achieving his objective: the destabilisation of Russia and the demoralisation of its population, such that they would turn against the government and the war. The Financial Times recently published an interesting pen portrait of this shady individual. It writes: As head of the defence ministrys Main Intelligence Unit (GUR), Budanov has masterminded Ukraines covert war against Russia, becoming one of the most lionised figures in Kyivs fightback. The survivor of 10 known assassination attempts, he lives, more or less continuously, in this office on the outskirts of the capital, encamped with patriotic art and war memorabilia on the walls and his pet frog Petro swimming in a tank beside his desk. Budanovs metier is running attacks behind enemy lines in Russian-occupied territory and Russia itself. But the spy chief rarely takes credit for them, keeping Moscow and the rest of the world guessing about his directorates reach and abilities. In addition to the failed attempt to seize some villages on the Russian side of the frontier, he was behind a spate of recent drone attacks that extended as far as St Petersburg, striking an oil terminal, and targeted a gunpowder factory and an oil depot in Bryansk region, just north of the Ukrainian border. These tactics are provoking alarm in western circles. The Financial Times comments: The brazen tactics have at times irked Ukraines western backers; some fear it will provoke a brutal and perhaps even nuclear response from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The spy chief is unmoved by such concerns and vows to keep operating deep inside Russia to sabotage Putins war machine. We do not foresee any drastic changes in the near future, Budanov said. Everything we have done, we will continue to do. Islamists and Ukraine What meaning can be ascribed to those words of Budanov? Last year, Ukraines parliament established a special committee to formulate a legal framework for interactions with small and indigenous national movements within Russia. Its underlying goal is to establish enduring peace for both Ukraine and the trans-Atlantic community. The so-called decolonisation policy is a thinly veiled expression for breaking up the Russian Federation into its constituent parts. It is a policy designed to appeal to nationalist tendencies, including the most reactionary Islamic fundamentalists in Central Asia and the Caucasus. In the murky world of espionage and counter-espionage, Budanov will have contacts with other like-minded people: terrorists and assassins for hire, always willing to offer their services to the highest bidder. It is well known that there are Islamic fundamentalists (Syrian veterans, Chechens) fighting with Ukraine against Russia. A former Ukrainian National Defence and Security Council member, also a veteran of anti-terrorism and military intelligence, Yevdokymov Valerii, is now ambassador in Tajikistan. There is, as yet, no formal proof of direct or indirect Ukrainian involvement in this affair / Image: mosreg.ru Is it possible that the gunmen who perpetrated the Moscow atrocity all of whom appeared to be Tajiks may have been recruited by Ukrainian intelligence in this way? There is, as yet, no formal proof of direct or indirect Ukrainian involvement in this affair. But if I am asked whether a man like Budanov would be capable of resorting to such a desperate measure, my answer would be in the affirmative. A man like Budanov will not stop at anything to hit out at Russia, to create the maximum havoc and sow panic in the population with the aim of weakening support for the war in Ukraine. However, if that was the intention, it has achieved precisely the opposite result. The attack has caused a wave of fear and revulsion in the population, further strengthening the hand of Putin. The ferocity of the attack, its indiscriminate nature and extreme cruelty will fuel the mood that Russia and its people are under attack by external enemies. Those who foolishly imagine that Putins position will somehow be weakened are committing a very serious mistake. Far from weakening Putins position at home, he will be further strengthened. Already before the elections, his popularity had risen to 86 percent a figure that has not been disputed by the West, which nevertheless insists on questioning the election result of about 87 percent. Western commentators expressed their bewilderment as to why Putin should be popular. They ought not to be surprised. The Russian president mainly has the West to thank for this. The aggressive actions of NATO and the constant barrage of vicious anti-Russian propaganda that is daily churned out by our so-called free press convinces people in Russia that the West is the enemy. And that is not far from the truth. In such a climate, it is natural that people will unite around the government at least for the time being in the interest of national security. Putin will be able to carry out a further curtailment of democratic rights in Russia, and inevitably there will be severe retaliation against Ukraine. There has already been a wave of missile strikes against Ukraine, including the destruction of an airfield in Western Ukraine, which is said to have been preparing for the arrival of western F-16 fighter planes. There has also been a lot of talk about a possible new wave of mobilisation in Russia. That may or may not be the case. The fact is that there will be plenty of volunteers in Russia queueing up to join the fight at a time when very few Ukrainian men are any longer eager to sacrifice their lives for a lost cause. What did the CIA know? As I have pointed out, the US was extremely quick in declaring that ISIS was responsible and that the attack had nothing to do with Ukraine. They made this judgement without having examined all the available facts or waiting for any Russian investigation. As usual, their minds were made up in advance. A week or so before the attack, the US had warned its citizens of the likelihood of terrorist attacks in Russia and warned them to avoid large gatherings like concerts and malls. Putin dismissed these warnings as a provocation and blackmail. After the atrocity, there has been a lot of fuss about this question. The western media point an accusing finger at Russian intelligence for failing to heed this warning. But the Russians assert that no direct information was ever shared with their intelligence services. Without specific information, general warnings are more or less useless. The Russians assert that no direct information was ever shared with their intelligence services / Image: kremlin.ru To this day, it is not clear how much information the American intelligence services possessed about the oncoming attack. Nor do we know where they got their information from. Such information would immediately shed light upon who the real perpetrators were. Whether this information will ever see the light of day is another matter altogether. So far, two main hypotheses have been put forward: a) that it was a terrorist act perpetrated by ISIS, and b) that it was an action behind which the hand of Ukraines secret services was involved. In reality, there is no contradiction between the two hypotheses. ISIS may have been the material authors of the crime, but it is quite possible that other, less visible, forces were involved. So far, we have yet to hear any firm evidence that the Kyiv regime had a hand in these events. But this hypothesis is not entirely ruled out. In fact, both the Ukrainians and Islamists had reasons to carry out or be involved in the attack. We must patiently await further evidence that will no doubt shed some more light on this murky affair. I suspect well never get the full story. Whoever did it, Ukraine is going to pay a heavy price for it. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES TORONTO, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Water Ways Technologies Inc. (TSXV: WWT) (FRA: WWT) ("Water Ways" or the "Company"), a global provider of Israeli-based agriculture technology, providing water irrigation solutions to agricultural producers, announces that it received two new orders totaling over CAD$140,000 from clients in South America for smart irrigation equipment. The first order with a value of over CAD$70,000 is for a flower greenhouse irrigation project in Columbia. The project is designed and built by a local system integrator and Water Ways is supplying the automation and control system as well as other high-tech components. The second order with a value of over CAD$70,000 is for an irrigation distributor in Chile for irrigation and control components. Water Ways expects to deliver these orders in Q2 2024. Ohad Haber the Company's Chairman and CEO commented: "We see again a demand for our technology in South America and I forsee our business improving during this year." About Water Ways Technologies Water Ways Technologies Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a global provider of Israeli-based agriculture technology, providing water irrigation solutions to agricultural producers. Water Ways Technologies competes in the global irrigation water systems market with a focus on developing solutions with commercial applications in the micro and precision irrigation segments of the overall market. At present, Water Ways Technologies' main revenue streams are derived from the following business units: (i) Projects Business Unit; and (ii) Component and Equipment Sales Unit. Water Ways Technologies is capitalizing on the opportunities presented by micro and smart irrigation, while also making a positive mark on society by making these technologies more widely available, especially in developing markets such as Africa and Latin America and developed markets such as China and Canada. Water Ways Technologies irrigation projects include vineyards, Cotton fields, Apple and Orange orchards, Blueberry, Medical Cannabis growers, fresh produce cooling rooms and more, in over fifteen countries. For more information, please contact Ronnie Jaegermann Director T: +972-54-4202054 E: ronnie@waterwt.com https://www.water-ways-technologies.com/ https://www.hg-wwt.com/ Twitter: @WaterWaysTechn1 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. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" as such term is defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "potential", "will", "seek", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions as they relate to Water Ways. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Such statements reflect Water Ways' current views and intentions with respect to future events, and current information available to Water Ways, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Material factors or assumptions were applied in providing forward-looking information. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking information to vary from those described herein should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize. Should any factor affect Water Ways in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Any such forward-looking information is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Moreover, Water Ways does not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information included in this press release is made as of the date of this press release and Water Ways undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable law. Water Ways' results and forward-looking information and calculations may be affected by fluctuations in exchange rates and its own share prices. All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3b250a7a-f386-40e8-9e6a-2f2fc08edcbf https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69cf2fff-6c31-465b-8dc4-0604eff720bd Revive Drip delivers fast and effective IV hydration in the comfort of your home. GIG HARBOR, WA, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Revive Drip, a leading mobile intravenous therapy (IV) company providing customized hydration and immune-boosting therapy throughout the Puget Sound, announced today the opening of the companys brick-and-mortar clinic in Gig Harbor, Washington. The companys expansion marks an exciting milestone for Revive Drip, delivering expert relief through progressive IV hydration for customers seeking alternative medical solutions. Since 2021, Revive Drip has been providing convenient and effective solutions tailored to their clients specific wellness needs within the comfort of their clients homes. The team is comprised of local, highly skilled registered nurses qualified to treat the symptoms of various health concerns, from chronic illnesses to dehydration, utilizing state-of-the-art technology. The clinics opening aligns with the mission of founders Heather Pounds, ARNP, Olivia Mariettakes-Reed, RN, and Laura Ude, RN, to restore the feeling of care in healthcare. Our goal is to fill the gaps in the healthcare system by building meaningful relationships while getting you back on your feet quickly. We offer clients an alternative option for specific ailments, such as battling a migraine, dealing with cold and flu symptoms, feeling jet lag, or managing an autoimmune condition. We provide expert nursing assessment skills combined with hydration and immune support for temporary relief, explained Laura Ude, RN and Chief Operating Officer of Revive Drip. Revive Drip was created to help concertgoers manage symptoms of too much fun in the sun in eastern Washington. As the pandemic continued to roar in the fall of 2021, Ude and the team recognized the communitys need for customized support for those suffering from COVID-19 symptoms. Leveraging ARNP Heather Pounds emergency room nurse and pre-hospital experience, Ude and Pounds developed a care model to support patients with basic interventions at home, effectively reducing unnecessary hospital visits for some. Their innovative approach allowed Revive Drip to help their clients beyond hydrating concert spectators and private gatherings to include in-home infusions. In October 2023, Revive Drip achieved another milestone by expanding its personalized IV infusions into a state-of-the-art clinic and diversifying its services to include GLP-1 injections for weight loss support and educational classes for the local clinical community. To date, the Revive Drip team has administered more than 3,500 infusions throughout Washington state. What sets us apart is our exceptional staff. We are a collection of highly skilled nurses from various backgroundsairlift, trauma, intensive care, and emergency room. Our shared passion drives us to provide expert-level compassionate care while adhering to rigorous guidelines and regulations. Additionally, we specialize in challenging IV placements, and our multiple vascular access-trained registered nurses skillfully use ultrasound machines to ensure our clients comfort and well-being, said Olivia Mariettakes-Reed, RN, Director of Nursing for Revive Drip. Whether at the clinic or in your home, each visit begins with an assessment from Revive Drips staffed Nurse Practitioner, who will discuss treatment goals and tailor a customized care plan for each patient. IV hydration involves placing a small needle into a vein, which allows for faster system support and electrolyte replacement compared to oral intake, as the nutrients are absorbed directly into the bloodstream. The Revive Drip team specializes in administering challenging IVs and utilizes ultrasound technology to ensure precise positioning while maintaining hospital-level standards of care. A team member remains by your side throughout the approximately 45-minute infusion process to ensure safety and comfort. Olivia Mariettakes-Reed emphasized, It has been incredibly rewarding visiting a clients home and administering fast-acting treatment whenever and wherever they need it. Our services particularly benefit clients with autoimmune diseases, chronic headaches, and those seeking alternative solutions to the traditional medical system. We are here to help and offer relief. The Revive Drip clinic is located at 5800 Soundview Drive, Building B, Suite 201-202, Gig Harbor, Washington 98335. To learn more about events and promotions, follow Revive Drip on Facebook and @revivedripmobile on Instagram. To schedule an appointment or a free weight loss consultation, call (253) 858-3800 or visit mobilerevivedrip.com. ABOUT REVIVE DRIP Revive Drip is a leading intravenous therapy (IV) company dedicated to enhancing clients well-being through customized hydration and immune-boosting treatments. Since 2021, our team of qualified acute care nurses has provided convenient and effective solutions tailored to your specific wellness needs in the comfort of your home and beyond. We offer expert relief for various health concerns in Pierce, Kitsap, Mason, Thurston, King, and Snohomish counties. Our mission is to restore care into healthcare through meaningful relationships while prioritizing your wellness. The Gig Harbor, Washington clinic offers GLP-1 injections for weight loss support, IV therapy, and educational classes for healthcare providers. Learn more at mobilerevivedrip.com. Media Contact Jennifer Lang (253) 732-6295 Jennifer@harbormarketingsolutions.com Attachment NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the American Hospital Association, more than 33 million people are hospitalized annually across the country. With the millions of people experiencing the stress of the hospital environment, along with their concerned loved ones and dedicated healthcare workers, Musicians On Calls (MOC) mission to bring live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients, families and caregivers in healthcare environments is more critical than ever. Through Musicians On Calls bedside and virtual programs, patients experience the physical, mental and emotional benefits of live music in the hospital setting. It has been demonstrated that music has a direct effect on people and can manage stress, alleviate pain and improve blood pressure, outlook and overall mood. Data collected from MOCs Hospital Partner Survey shows its programs have a favorable impact on 95 percent of patients surveyed, and 99 percent would recommend the programs to others. All caregivers surveyed believe that experiencing these programs together strengthens their relationships with their patients. For nearly four years, volunteer and visitor restrictions in local hospitals paused Musicians On Calls in-person programs. Now that we are able to return to hospitals in person, thousands of people have made meaningful connections with music thanks to the return of MOC Bedside. From New York to Nashville, Chicago and L.A., the return of this beloved program has been met with so much joy and excitement from our hospital partners and volunteers, and the patients and caregivers we serve, said Musicians On Call President & CEO Pete Griffin. Our commitment to enhancing the hospital environment through the transformative power of music continues as the demand for our programs grows. We look forward to fostering hope, strength, and unity in more communities with the expansion of our programs." Through a special collaboration with HCA Healthcare and MOC supporters, Musicians On Call developed an innovative online program platform to continue its work towards revolutionizing access to music in healthcare. The platform has transformed MOCs program delivery and will enable the organization to connect Volunteer Musicians from anywhere with patients in underserved communities and remote hospitals, breaking down barriers and bringing the healing power of music to the most vulnerable populations. As Musicians On Call continues to expand its bedside program in cities like Houston, Portland, Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Washington D.C., San Jose and Las Vegas, the organization is also looking for musicians and music lovers to help share the joys of live music as certified MOC Volunteers. Volunteer Musicians are local, professional-caliber musicians who perform hopeful songs at the bedside or live during virtual programs. Volunteer Guides act as the "eyes and ears" of MOC, leading the musician through the experience of playing for patients and liaising between families and staff, both at the bedside and virtually. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can learn more at www.musiciansoncall.org/volunteer. For 25 years, Musicians On Call has used music to promote and complement the healing process through bedside, virtual and digital streaming programs that are available across all 50 states. As the nations leading provider of live music in hospitals, MOC volunteers have performed for more than one million individuals in healthcare facilities nationwide. For more information on Musicians On Call visit www.musiciansoncall.org. About Musicians On Call (MOC) As the nations leading provider of live music in hospitals, Musicians On Call (MOC) celebrates 25 years of delivering the healing power of music to patients, families and caregivers in healthcare environments. More than one million people across all 50 states have experienced the joys of live music in the hospital setting through MOCs bedside, virtual and streaming programs. MOC Volunteers perform live for children and adults facing any health challenge, including Veterans recovering in VA facilities, family members supporting loved ones in need and healthcare workers caring for patients. With innovations like its online program platform, the organization continues its work towards revolutionizing access to music in healthcare. MOCs network includes Volunteer Guides, Volunteer Musicians and renowned artist supporters including Bruce Springsteen, Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Kelly Clarkson, Darius Rucker, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Ed Sheeran, Olivia Rodrigo, Reba McEntire, Camila Cabello, Nick Jonas, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban, Pharrell, Kelsea Ballerini, Amos Lee, Luis Fonsi, Peter Frampton, Luke Bryan, Charles Esten and many more. For more information on how Musicians On Call delivers the healing power of music, visit www.musiciansoncall.org. Musicians On Call Media Contact: Melinda LaFollette Senior Communications Manager, Musicians On Call 615.314.4378 (o) | melinda@musiciansoncall.org Photos accompanying this announcement are available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a4ab579-4902-4e99-9b8d-b97442ff8d69 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/870899d3-d80c-49fa-82bc-7819dd1ebcb1 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/805a8a7f-4739-4c39-b492-525e51f609de https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a26964e5-d74f-44bb-9c18-75f71963b690 https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f4b0fcab-45db-4492-bea6-e7858af5f82f Dublin, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Thermal Countermeasure Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Platform, Product Type, Integration Type, and Country - Analysis and Forecast, 2023-2033" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Thermal countermeasures have an interesting history that is connected with the growth of warfare and technology. The thermal countermeasure market witnessed growth in 2022 and was valued at $12.63 billion in 2022, whereas the market gained more traction in 2023 and was valued at $13.41 billion. Thermal countermeasures represent a key breakthrough in modern fighting and defensive methods, notably in military and security situations. These countermeasures are intended to disguise or change the heat signatures of vehicles, equipment, or individuals to avoid detection by infrared (IR) sensors or targeting systems, which are widely utilized in contemporary guided weaponry and surveillance equipment. The emergence of thermal countermeasures was prompted by the growing dependence on infrared technology in military applications, which necessitated the development of efficient means to oppose IR detection and targeting. As a result, different techniques and materials that may absorb, reflect, or disperse heat have been developed, decreasing the efficiency of infrared imaging equipment. Asia-Pacific was the highest-growing market among all the regions, registering a CAGR of 6.92%. Europe is anticipated to gain traction in terms of thermal countermeasure adoption owing to the growing demand for military modernization programs as well as cross-border tensions in the region. Moreover, favorable government policies are also expected to support the growth of the thermal countermeasures market in North America and Europe during the forecast period. In North America, the U.S. is anticipated to show the highest growth in the thermal countermeasures market among other countries in North America. U.S. is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 5.42%. The U.S. rise in the thermal countermeasures market is mostly because the country is one of the world's largest spenders on weapons, defense systems, and other military technology. The region is home to some of the world's most recognized manufacturers of thermal countermeasures, which motivates enterprises in the region to continually meet the market's expanding demand. Market Introduction Additionally, these defenses are intended to keep military vehicles and aircraft safe from heat-seeking missiles and infrared-guided weaponry. Thermal countermeasures have been developed since the mid-20th century when heat-seeking missiles became a substantial concern. Flares were deployed by airplanes as crude countermeasures during World War II to confuse enemy heat-seeking missiles. However, more effective thermal countermeasure systems were not developed until the Cold War era. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were at the forefront of this technical race, continuously increasing their infrared countermeasure capabilities to outmaneuver advancing missile technology. Additionally, the emergence of improved flare systems and infrared jamming devices in the 1970s was an important turning point in the history of thermal countermeasures. These advancements enabled military aircraft to fire flares that radiated high heat and light, deflecting heat-seeking missiles away from their intended targets. Infrared jamming devices further affected these missiles' guidance systems by producing infrared signals that confused and misled them. These countermeasures were crucial in securing the survivability of military aircraft in hostile areas against the rising threat of infrared-guided armament. Furthermore, due to the rising complexity of opposing thermal imaging equipment, improvements in thermal countermeasures have become increasingly important in military applications. Thermal countermeasures include a variety of devices meant to deceive or reduce the efficacy of thermal sensors and infrared detection systems. One major advancement is the use of multispectral camouflage materials, which can actively adjust to ambient temperatures and blend in with the surrounding environment. These materials are intended to decrease the thermal signature of military vehicles, equipment, and soldiers, making them less detectable by hostile thermal sensors. This technique considerably improves the survivability of military troops in dangerous circumstances by minimizing their exposure to thermal surveillance. Industrial Impact Thermal countermeasures are important in military applications, especially in current combat settings where powerful thermal imaging technology is a typical element of enemy surveillance and targeting systems. These countermeasures include a variety of strategies and technology aimed at tricking or deceiving thermal imaging sensors, thereby protecting military troops and equipment. The invention and fabrication of specific materials and coatings that are particularly effective at dispersing or diverting thermal signatures is one key industrial consequence of these countermeasures. These materials are frequently utilized in the manufacturing of military vehicles, aircraft, and military uniforms to limit heat emissions and the likelihood of detection by adversary thermal sensors. Additionally, the industrial element of thermal countermeasures includes the creation of complex thermal decoys and flares. These countermeasures mimic the heat signatures of real-world military equipment, diverting adversary attention and fire away from the actual targets. Cutting-edge technology and materials are used in the manufacture of these decoy systems, propelling breakthroughs in the military sector. Thermal countermeasures' industrial significance is also seen in the study and development of sophisticated camouflage techniques. Thermal camouflage clothes and equipment are used by military personnel to successfully blend into their environment, making it harder for enemies to identify their heat signatures. These advancements have consequences that extend beyond the military field, as they may influence the development of more energy-efficient and thermally optimized civilian technology, affecting sectors ranging from aircraft to consumer electronics. Subsequently, the industrial influence of thermal countermeasures in military applications includes materials, decoys, camouflage, electronic warfare, and stealth technologies, promoting innovation and growth in a variety of industries. Key Market Players and Competition Synopsis The companies that are profiled have been selected based on thorough secondary research, which includes analyzing company coverage, product portfolio, market penetration, and insights gathered from primary experts. The thermal countermeasures market comprises key players who have established themselves thoroughly and have the proper understanding of the market, accompanied by start-ups who are looking forward to establishing themselves in this highly competitive market. In 2022, the thermal countermeasures market was dominated by established players, accounting for 73% of the market share, whereas start-ups managed to capture 27% of the market. Market Segmentation Military Aircraft Segment to Dominate the Global Thermal Countermeasure Market (by Platform) The military aircraft segment dominated the thermal countermeasures market and generated a revenue of $10.61 billion in 2022. An increase in military modernization programs by the defense industry is driving the growth of the thermal countermeasures industry. Thermal countermeasures provide an escape route and add safety to the aircraft, fighter jet, and UAV in case of firefight engagement, allowing for quick evading and maneuvering. This degree of safety is critical for properly detecting and confusing incoming missiles. To offer extensive coverage, modern thermal countermeasures frequently come in the form of flares, electronic countermeasures that possess the ability to jam the adversary weapons, allowing them to follow threats across long distances and in all situations, including high altitudes. Active Segment to Witness the Highest Growth between 2023 and 2033 The active thermal countermeasures segment dominated the global thermal countermeasures market (by product type) in 2023, with $10.50 billion in terms of revenue due to the capability of providing target evasion capabilities, which are of utmost importance in terms of firefight encounters and evasion. Additionally, the active thermal countermeasures segment includes jammers, flare dispensers, directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM), and other segments. These platforms provide solutions for thermal countermeasure capabilities along with other military-related operations. Key Attributes: Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 211 Forecast Period 2023 - 2033 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $13.41 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2033 $24.41 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 6.1% Regions Covered Global Business Dynamics Growth Opportunities and Recommendations Utilization of 3D Printing in Manufacturing Improved Thermal Countermeasure Capabilities through Integration with IoT Industry Outlook Overview: Thermal Countermeasure Market Current and Emerging Technological Trends Unified Modular Airborne EW Self-Protection Suites Lockheed Martin Infrared Search and Track 21(IRST 21) Ongoing and Upcoming Programs Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLS) for Infrared Countermeasures Northrop Grumman's Next-Generation Laser-Based Infrared Countermeasure Systems Business Drivers Military Modernization Programs France Germany Russia China Japan India Australia Turkiye Israel South Africa Need For Advanced Missile Defense Capabilities in Airborne Platforms Rising Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Military Activities Business Challenges Complex Sensor Tethering and Data Processing Rise in Possession of IR-Guided Missiles by Adversaries Integration of Modern Countermeasures in Legacy Aircraft Business Opportunities AI and ML Integration into Countermeasure System Emergence of Next-Generation Fighter Jets Development of Miniaturized System Business Strategies Partnerships, Collaborations, Agreements, and Contracts Market Developments Regulatory Policy and Legal Framework U.S. China India Russia Patent Analysis Supply Chain Analysis Competitive Benchmarking and Company Profiles BAE Systems Bharat Dynamics Limited Chemring Group PLC Elbit Systems Ltd. L3Harris Technologies, Inc. Leonardo S.p.A. MBDA Northrop Grumman Rheinmetall AG RUAG Saab AB TARA Aerospace AD TERMA Thales For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/f864hg About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment Washington, D.C., March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) is pleased to announce ExxonMobils Karen McKeepresident of ExxonMobil Product Solutions Companyas the 2024 Petrochemical Heritage Award recipient for her outstanding contributions to the petrochemical community. McKee received the award today, March 25 during the International Petrochemical Conference in San Antonio, Texas hosted by AFPM. This award reflects the extraordinary achievements of the talented employees at ExxonMobil who push for excellence every day. I am confident that our next generation of leaders will continue to pioneer new technologies and develop even greater products that will further improve living standards for societies around the world. Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company Chet Thompson, AFPM president and CEO issued the following statement commending McKee on her accomplishments: Being named this years Petrochemical Heritage Award recipient is a testament to Karens leadership and ingenuity. Throughout our industry, Karen is recognized as one of the best business minds and someone who reliably delivers results in constantly evolving markets. Her strategic vision and ability to see beyond the next corner is certainly helping to propel ExxonMobils global work and ever-broadening suite of sustainable products and patented innovations. We applaud Karen for her substantial contributions to our industry and congratulate her on this well-deserved recognition. She rightfully joins a long list of petrochemical industry greats, and her work and legacy in our sectorand on behalf of consumersis far from over. Acclaimed as a skilled pioneer and business leader, Karen is the first woman to receive the Petrochemical Heritage Award. In her near 34-year career with ExxonMobil spanning multiple continents, McKee has overseen the combination of ExxonMobil's downstream and chemicals operations into a single Product Solutions business, led refinery expansions and a series of North American chemical growth projects. All the while, shes worked to increase community engagement, led several multi-million-dollar ExxonMobil giving campaigns and advance the companys effectiveness in service to customers. McKee is recognized throughout the petrochemical industry and has held leadership posts in trade associations, including currently serving as president of the International Council of Chemical Associations. She previously served on the executive committee for the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, working on behalf of petrochemical producers and brands to advance policy promoting circularity, sustainability and responsible care. Additionally, McKee has been a leading voice for the industry in the recent United Nations negotiations of a global agreement on plastic pollution, championing the need to develop policies that enable a circular economy for plastics. Presented annually by AFPM, the Science History Institute and the Founders Club, the Petrochemical Heritage Award recognizes individuals who have displayed significant entrepreneurship in the petrochemical profession, contributed to better public understanding of this critical industry and been active in philanthropic and communal affairs. Established in 1997, this award encourages emulation, inspires achievement and promotes public understanding of modern science, industries and economies. ### Attachment BANGOR, MAINE, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Husson University is pleased to announce that Retired United States Army Staff Sergeant Travis Mills will deliver the address at the 2024 Husson University Commencement on Saturday, May 4, 2024. Hussons 125th Commencement Ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Mills is a motivational speaker, actor, author and an advocate for veterans and amputees. He is also one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite losing portions of both arms and legs from an IED while on active duty in Afghanistan, Travis continues to overcome lifes challenges, breaking physical barriers and defying odds. In September 2013, Travis and his wife Kelsey founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed to benefit and assist post-9/11 veterans who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service to our nation. Critical to the foundations mission is for the veterans family to be included, not just the vet. Through the foundation, the veteran and their family receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid, barrier-free vacation to Maine where they spend time with Travis and his family, and participate in adaptive activities, bond with other veteran families, and enjoy much-needed rest and relaxation in Maines great outdoors. As we prepare to launch students into the world at commencement, Travis Mills story of perseverance and defying odds is an inspiration that we hope will stay with our graduates and their families for years to come, said Husson University President Robert A. Clark, Ph.D. We are so grateful and appreciative that Mills will deliver the address. For 125 years, Husson University has prepared future leaders to handle the challenges of tomorrow through innovative undergraduate and graduate degrees. With a commitment to delivering affordable classroom, online and experiential learning opportunities, Husson University offers quality educational programs in business, technology, communications, health, education, pharmacy studies, science and humanities. For more information about educational opportunities that can lead to personal and professional success, visit Husson.edu. Attachment Dubai, UAE, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As we edge closer to 2024, the cryptocurrency market continues to evolve, presenting investors with new opportunities for growth and diversification. Among the standout altcoins making headlines are Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and the emerging 1000x token, Option2Trade (O2T), priced attractively at $0.024. This trio represents a blend of established prowess and promising potential, setting the stage for what could be an explosive year in the crypto space. Solana (SOL): The High-Speed Blockchain Solana (SOL) has consistently been in the spotlight for its high-speed blockchain capabilities, offering fast transactions and scalable solutions. As we look towards 2024, Solana (SOL) continues to be a top contender in the altcoin market, attracting developers and investors alike with its robust platform that supports decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. The continued growth and development within the Solana ecosystem underscore its potential for sustained success in the coming years. Cardano (ADA): The Research-Driven Platform Cardano (ADA) is another heavyweight in the altcoin arena, known for its research-driven approach to blockchain technology. With a strong emphasis on security and sustainability, Cardano (ADA) aims to provide a more balanced and inclusive blockchain ecosystem. As we approach 2024, Cardano (ADA) is poised to expand its reach and utility, with ongoing projects and upgrades that promise to enhance its network and attract further adoption. Option2Trade (O2T): The Newcomer with 1000x Potential Entering the scene as a dark horse, Option2Trade (O2T) has quickly garnered attention with its claim of being a 1000x token, priced at an enticing $0.024. O2T distinguishes itself by offering a unique platform that leverages cutting-edge technology to optimize trading strategies and maximize investor returns. As investors search for the next big opportunity in crypto, Option2Trade (O2T) stands out as a promising newcomer with the potential to disrupt the traditional altcoin hierarchy. The Market Dynamics of Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Option2Trade (O2T) The dynamics between Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Option2Trade (O2T) are indicative of the diverse landscape of the cryptocurrency market. While Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) have established themselves as mainstays in the altcoin world, the emergence of O2T represents the market's constant demand for innovation and high-return opportunities. The interplay between these coins will be a fascinating aspect to watch as 2024 approaches, with each offering unique advantages to the crypto ecosystem. Investor Sentiment and Strategy Investors closely monitor the developments surrounding Solana (SOL) , Cardano (ADA), and Option2Trade (O2T), strategizing to maximize their exposure to these promising altcoins. The affordable entry point of O2T, coupled with the technological prowess of Solana (SOL) and the secure, research-based foundation of Cardano (ADA), presents a compelling case for portfolio diversification. As the crypto market matures, the ability to identify and invest in such varied assets will be crucial for achieving long-term success. Looking Ahead: The Future of SOL, ADA, and O2T As 2024 looms on the horizon, the future of Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Option2Trade (O2T) is bright with potential. Each token brings something unique to the table: Solana's (SOL) speed and scalability, Cardano's (ADA) security and sustainability, and O2T's groundbreaking approach to trading. Together, they form a compelling vision of what the future of cryptocurrency could look like, offering investors a mix of stability, innovation, and high-growth potential. Conclusion The top cryptocurrency altcoins of 2024, including Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and the rising star Option2Trade (O2T) , priced at $0.024, represent the cutting edge of blockchain and crypto technology. As the market continues to evolve, these tokens stand as beacons for investors looking to navigate the complexities of the crypto world, offering a blend of established track records and exciting growth prospects. In the dynamic world of cryptocurrency, diversification across such promising altcoins could be the key to unlocking significant returns. For more information on the Option2Trade (O2T) Presale: Use promo code O2TLaunch to get 15% bonus Visit Option2Trade (O2T) Join and become a community member: Arlington, Va., March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pamela J. Keefe, a leader with broad financial experience at non-profit and for-profit organizations, is joining the American Institutes for Research (AIR) as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Keefe, who begins her new position in April, has most recently served as senior vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a non-profit research and development organization that seeks to address challenges facing the energy industry. Keefe has more than 30 years of experience in finance, with much of that time in senior leadership positions. At EPRI, Keefe had oversight of many functions related to finance, including accounting and treasury; taxes and auditing; sourcing; contract and risk management; government business practices; and compliance, real estate, and facilities. At AIR, she will oversee financial and operational functions that are crucial to the institutions work with national, state, and local government agencies; philanthropies; non-profits; and community organizations in the U.S. and around the world. She will succeed Marijo Ahlgrimm, who is retiring from AIR after 15 years as chief financial officer and, overall, more than 40 years in financial management and leadership of government contracting organizations. Ahlgrimm will remain with AIR in an advisory role until June, working with Keefe to ensure a smooth transition. Keefe will be a part of AIRs executive leadership team and will report to President and CEO Jessica Heppen. Pamela brings a wealth of financial expertise to AIR and has extensive experience working in critical areas that are key to AIRs success, Heppen said. I am deeply grateful for Marijos financial stewardship of AIR these past 15 years. Her leadership has helped to make AIR a strong, stable organization that is well-positioned for the future. Before joining EPRI, Keefe was chief financial officer for the Central Vermont Public Service Corp., which was an investor-owned electric utility in Vermont until it was acquired in 2012. She also served in leadership roles at IDX Systems Corp., a healthcare software company, and held positions at banks and financial institutions. Keefe received her Bachelor of Arts in economics and mathematics from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, and her Master of Business Administration from St. Michaels College in Winooski, VT. About AIR Established in 1946, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and the workforce. AIR's work is driven by its mission to generate and use rigorous evidence that contributes to a better, more equitable world. With headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, AIR has offices across the U.S. and abroad. For more information, visit www.air.org. Attachment MINNEAPOLIS, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- We are advised by Atomic Data that journalists and other readers should disregard the news release, Atomic Data Invited to VMware by Broadcom Premier Partner Program, issued March 22, 2024 at 13:11 ET, over GlobeNewswire. New York, NY, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Latico Leathers is pleased to share that it has a new line of leather sling bags for everyday use. Crafted with precision, these crossbody bags are a perfect blend of fashion and functionality. They can be used when running quick errands at a grocery store or a bank. They are also great for spontaneous coffee runs. These sling bags are the most versatile bags any woman could ask for. The lightweight bags feature one main compartment with two exterior pockets. While the main compartment can be used for storing purses, sunglasses, and makeup items, the exterior pockets can be used for storing keys and other essentials. Latico Leathers These leather sling bags allow ladies to go hands-free on any occasion. With easy access to essentials, the bags have plenty of room for belongings. All the bags feature adjustable shoulder straps so that they can be accessorized according to the look. Latico Leathers takes extreme care in choosing their hide. Its boho-chic crossbody bags are made using heirloom quality, full-grain leather. They are designed to meet the needs of modern women without having to sacrifice style. Whether it is a night out at the pub or a boardroom event, a social gathering, or a day out with girlfriends, these sling bags offer timeless fashion for any occasion or event. Like all of their other leather handbags, Latico Leathers has carefully handcrafted its leather sling bags using natural dyes and non-toxic colors. Every leather hide is sourced as a by-product from the meat and dairy industry, minimizing waste, given the mass production of handbags. The bags are handstitched by artisans from India and South America, prioritizing quality and workmanship over quantity. With over 40 years in the industry, this brand has made it their mission to create bags that become trusted companions for life. Latico Leathers stands out for its innovative designs, featuring extensive interior organization and cleverly hidden compartments complemented by unique leather treatments. With over 30K 5-star reviews and the winner of the 2020 Independent Handbag Designer Award, Latico Leathers has a long history of excellence. They provide an incredible online shopping experience by helping customers find the perfect bag according to their preferences. The 30-second personalized style quiz helps customers get matched with the right leather sling bags or handbags. Whats more, customers get to be a part of its community service with every order they make. The company donates 10 meals to Feeding America with every purchase. So far, it has donated over 100,000 meals and is still counting. To learn more about Latico Leathers, visit https://laticoleathers.com/collections/sling-bags. About Latico Leathers Latico Leathers is a family-owned and operated company that has been manufacturing premier leather accessories since 1984. Founded by Paul Schreiber, the store is a one-stop shop for premier leather goods. The company has been creating heirloom-quality pieces that ripen as they age. Every hide used in the manufacturing process is carefully handpicked. The factory uses a unique blend of natural dyes to allow the natural character of the leather to shine through the process. ### Contact Latico Leathers Ben Schreiber Phone: (800) 969-8426 Website: https://laticoleathers.com/ Email: info@laticoleathers.com Attachment Central Park Elementary students pose with a banner after they took home first place in Odyssey of the Mind state finals on Saturday, March 16 in Middleville. From left to right, bottom row: Mark Xu, Vivaan Soni, Max Hoops, Bo Rui Koh and Meredith Chalk. Back row Shan Pin Koh (left), Dan Chalk (right). LeeAnn Rielle/Courtesy of Central Park Elementary With some affirming, upbeat sound effects, five Central Park Elementary students solved a problem in Odyssey of the Mind through a robot that landed them in first place for the state competition on Saturday, March 16. Now, theyre destined for the Odyssey World Finals at Iowa State University Tuesday, May 21 until Friday, May 24. Central Park students coded a robot to judge art, ranging from paintings to violin playing. They created the solution to their assigned problem through a skit of artists trying to get feedback on their work. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That was really encompassing the STEAM aspect where the arts meet the sciences, said LeeAnn Rielle, third-grade teacher and Odyssey advisor. Started in 1978, Odyssey of the Mind is a competition that challenges students from elementary to high school age to solve a problem using a creative solution within a skit. In the regional competition in February in Corunna, the students just presented paintings to the robot, Rielle said. At the state competition in Middleville March 16, they showcased different kinds of art, too, like violin playing, and improved in almost every aspect. Advertisement Article continues below this ad When the students learned they had won their division, she said they were ecstatic. It was priceless, Rielle said. You can tell it meant a lot to them to have accomplished that. Some of the feedback the team received included needing to fix holes in their script, she said. The students received a trophy and a banner. Central Park Elementary students took home first place in their division after competing in Odyssey of the Mind state finals on Saturday, March 16 in Middleville. From left to right, Coach Dan Chalk, Max Hoops, Bo Rui Koh, Vivaan Soni, Mark Xu, Meredith Chalk, and Coach Shan Pin Koh. LeeAnn Rielle/Courtesy of Central Park Elementary At the World Finals hosted in Ames, Iowa, Central Park will be one of 900 teams at the event. Rielle said they will have the opportunity to partner with an international team and meet many other students. Advertisement Article continues below this ad About half of our teams (families) are from China or India, she said. They were excited for the opportunity to partner with a team from China or India to help them navigate the world competition, too. The team will have the opportunity to stay on campus at Iowa State, trade pins with teams from other states and countries, and attend opening and closing ceremonies and the Creativity Festival. Because its the first time the school has ever gotten this far, Rielle said she isnt sure what to expect. Its the final competition in the year-long process for Odyssey of the Mind. Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands , March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- "Offered via Zoom from George Town, Cayman Islands, this exciting development provides entrepreneurs and small business owners across the Cayman Islands with a unique opportunity. This is the second batch sponsored by CaymanStory.com, a rising digital marketing startup led by Jaci Patrick, the former Miss World Cayman Islands. Hosted over Zoom, this comprehensive 90-day course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to build powerful personal brands and excel in thought leadership," says Jaci Patrick. Forbes Council member Qamar Zaman Course Highlights: Expert Instruction: Led by renowned Forbes Council member, CEO, and founder of Storytellers, INC, a Cayman Islands company in the Cayman Enterprise City, Qamar Zaman, this master class promises to deliver actionable insights and strategies drawn from years of successful industry experience. In partnership with the local digital marketing company Cayman Story, headed by Caymanian Jaci Patrick, a former Miss World Cayman Islands 2019, the course is poised to offer unparalleled expertise. Flexible Learning: With each 90-minute session available on both weekdays and weekends, the course offers flexibility to accommodate the busy schedules of professionals and entrepreneurs alike. Engagement and Interaction: Participants are encouraged to engage fully by sharing their wins on social media, fostering a supportive community of like-minded individuals. Comprehensive Curriculum: From discovering ones unique value proposition to leveraging digital tools for brand enhancement, the course covers a wide range of topics essential for building and maintaining a strong personal brand. see class outline here https://www.caymanstory.com/personal-branding-class Participation Guidelines: No Cost: The master class is offered completely free, providing unparalleled access to premium personal branding education. Commitment to Growth: Attendance is key to gaining the full benefits of the course. Participants missing more than two sessions will be subject to removal to ensure a dedicated learning environment. Active Participation Required: A commitment to active involvement, including camera presence during Zoom calls and completion of weekly interactive homework, is essential for personal and professional development. About the Instructor: Qamar Zaman, a globally recognized leader in digital marketing and public relations, brings his wealth of knowledge to the forefront of this master class. His expertise has helped numerous individuals and businesses achieve remarkable success, and his approachable teaching style makes complex concepts accessible to all. About Jaci Patrick A pivotal player in the formation of this strategic partnership is Jaci Patrick, who claimed the title of Miss World Cayman Islands 2019. She steps into the role of local representative for CaymanStory, working hand in hand with Qamar Zaman. Together, they will play a crucial role in enlightening Caymanian businesses on the strategies and advantages of digital PR. Their efforts will be channeled through a specialized Masterclass designed to unfold the myriad benefits digital PR can offer in the modern business landscape. Enrollment Now Open: Spaces for the Personal Branding Master Class are limited to ensure a quality learning experience for all participants. Interested individuals are encouraged to secure their spot promptly to take advantage of this unique opportunity to transform their personal and professional branding strategies. For More Information and Registration: Visit https://www.caymanstory.com/personal-branding-class to learn more about the course details and to register. Media Contact: Jaci Patrick CaymanStory.com Jaci@storytellers.ky Follow on https://www.instagram.com/caymanstorypersonalbrand/ Source CaymanStory.com Attachment TORONTO, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Western Metallica Resources Corp. (TSXV: WMS) (Western Metallica or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on its current exploration activities aimed at advancing the recently discovered Luz Maria and Cana Brava 1 prospects, two key copper-molybdenum porphyry targets located within its 100% owned Cana Brava Project, and situated in the La Libertad Department of Northern Peru. Geophysical and field mapping crews are currently deployed at Luz Maria and Cana Brava 1, following up on previous work conducted as it relates to strong magnetic anomalies coincident with large alteration footprints, typical of Andean copper-molybdenum porphyry systems. The previous geophysical results and field mapping confirmed the potential for a large porphyry Cu-Mo cluster under the sedimentary and colluvial cover, providing valuable targets for further exploration, which the Company is now working to further validate. Approximately 16-line kilometres of pole-dipole Induced Polarization (IP) geophysical surveys will be completed near term, aimed at identifying sulphide rich mineralization and possible blind intrusions under the strongly altered Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and under recent colluvium. The acquisition of geophysical data is supported by an in-house geophysicist, with ample experience in exploring for porphyry and intrusion-related systems in the Andes, responsible for the daily quality control of the data, as well as for the processing and modeling. The Company is simultaneously acquiring systematic portable-XRF soil data, aimed at vectorizing the Cu-Mo distribution at surface, as well as pole-dipole IP geophysical data to identify sulphide-rich and/or resistivity anomalies, possibly indicating the presence of mineralized bodies under the sedimentary and the recent colluvial covers. The current field programs will allow the Company to extend mapping and sampling outside the main creeks, where all outcrops of mineralized intrusive have been found to date, with the intent of confirming the presence of significant and continuous Cu-Mo porphyry mineralization at a higher level of geological confidence and across a more prominent alteration footprint. The Company believes that the integration of this large dataset will provide a solid picture about the potential of both prospects, supporting the next phase of scout drilling expected to commence by Q3-2024. Previous work at the Luz Maria prospect successfully defined a 2.7-kilometre by 1.5-kilometre phyllic and potassic alteration footprint, comparable in size to other major Peruvian porphyry deposits. A 46 diamond-sawn channel sampling campaign displayed consistent anomalous grades up to 0.06% Cu and 0.03% Mo from multi-phase intrusions, confirming at least three intrusion phases that host both Cu and Mo-sulphide mineralization (refer to press release dated January 22, 2024). Previous work at the Cana Brava 1 prospect confirmed at least a 1-kilometre by 1-kilometre sized porphyry target characterized by a distinctive leached zone with goethite and hematite box works. A 17 diamond-sawn channel sampling campaign had confirmed grades up to 0.3% Cu and average 500 ppm Cu from intrusive rocks. Gregory Duras, Western Metallicas CEO and Director, commented, We are systematically advancing toward the definition of our drilling targets and moving efficiently through the permitting process, as we aim to start our scout drilling program by Q3-2024. The highly-prospective porphyry targets which coincide with Cu-Mo anomalies at both Luz Maria and Cana Brava 1, defined across previous work and currently being further validated and potentially extended, allows the Company to delineate key areas for the prospective drill program. We are very excited with the evidence of these large, well-preserved porphyry systems located in such a new, accessible, and socially favorable sector of La Libertad. It is unusual to find a virtually unexplored exposed porphyry anywhere in the world, but particularly so in Peru, where some of the largest porphyry discoveries of the past 50 years have been made. We look forward to updating the market on the results of the first IP survey completed over the area, as well as the new sampling and mapping of this new target located in one of the worlds premier porphyry belts. Background Western Metallica holds the option to acquire 100% of the mineral claims, rights, and interests in two Cu-Mo projects located in Northern Peru: Cana Brava and Turmalina (refer to press release dated August 10th, 2023). Both projects lie in a prolific Cu-Mo metallogenic belt, extending from Northern Peru into Ecuador, which has seen notable exploration success and hosts world class discoveries and deposits such as La Granja (First Quantum), Canariaco (Alta Copper), and Rio Blanco (Zijin Mining Group). The Companys projects are well located in proximity to industrial ports and major paved roads, and each project is comprised of large mineral concessions conducive to future project scalability. The Cana Brava Project is a highly prospective 5,700-hectare copper-molybdenum property located in the La Libertad Department, only 35 kilometres inland from the Peruvian coast and at an elevation of 1,500 metres in the western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes. The Cana Brava Project is neighboring Hudbays Llaguen Project which lies on the western margin of the Miocene epithermal-porphyry copper-gold belt of Northern Peru, with the potential for Cana Brava to similarly host shallow high-grade mineralization across a considerable alteration footprint. Figure 1 - Cana Brava Project: RTP magnetic anomaly map, wrapped on topography, showing the location of the exploration lines across the alteration footprints over Cana Brava 1 and Luz Maria Quality Assurance and Quality Control Sample preparation and analyses will be conducted according to standard industry procedures. Rock samples are crushed, split, and pulverized prior to analysis of Gold by fire assay and Atomic Absorption and multi-elements by ICP-AES after four acid digestion. Analytical performance is monitored by means of certified reference materials (CRMs), coarse blanks, coarse and pulp duplicate samples. Samples are prepared and analysed in SGS lab in Lima, Peru. Qualified Persons The technical and scientific information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Giovanni Funaioli, Eur.Geol., Vice President Exploration of Western Metallica, who is a Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Giovanni Funaioli is an employee of the Company and is not considered independent under NI 43-101. Some of the technical information relating to the Cana Brava and Turmalina Projects is historical in nature and has not been independently verified by the Company. About Western Metallica Resources Corp. Western Metallica is an Ontario registered company with its head office in Toronto, Ontario, trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under symbol WMS. Western Metallica is in the business of mineral resource exploration and development, and holds the options to acquire a 100% interest in two copper projects in Peru; Cana Brava, in La Libertad Province, and Turmalina, in Piura Province. Western Metallica is also advancing its 100% owned Nueva Celti Copper Property in the Ossa Morena belt in Andalusia, Spain, and three other Spanish gold projects in the Navelgas Gold Belt in Asturias, Spain (Penedela, Valledor and Sierra Alta). Further information of the Company can be found at: www.westernmetallica.com For more information please contact: Western Metallica Resources Corp. Gregory Duras Chief Executive Officer Email: gduras@westernmetallica.com Investor Relations Email: info@westernmetallica.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements The TSXV has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This press release contains statements that constitute forward-statements. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements, or developments to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words estimate, project, belief, anticipate, intend, expect, plan, predict, may or should and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the planned drill program and the development of the Companys projects and other mining projects and prospects thereof, the impact of the management additions on the Company; and the potential and economic viability of the Cana Brava and Turmalina Projects. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that managements beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/68b47de1-949c-49cd-aa55-4ea10cef413f VANCOUVER, March 25, 2024 - Relevant Gold Corp. (TSXV:RGC)(OTCQB:RGCCF) (the "Company" or "Relevant Gold") is pleased to report release of data from the 2023 airborne magnetics geophysical survey flown by the Wyoming Geological Survey (WSGS) and US Geological Survey (USGS). The regional survey covered the Company's entire 16,000-hectare portfolio of projects and reveals structural and geological detail far surpassing existing mapping (figure 1). Importantly, some of the most prominent anomalies highlighted by the survey are major structures at South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (Figure 2). The survey shows patterns very similar to those of Canada's Abitibi Gold Province and provides strong support for the Company's exploration thesis that Wyoming has Abitibi-style geology and gold potential. Key takeaways from the magnetic data (see geophysics presentation): The magnetic data provides far more detail than existing regional geologic maps (figure 1). The overall results show strong similarities to the Abitibi Gold Province, especially the Red Lake, Hemlo, and Canadian Malartic districts. The magnetic data highlight the major Archean orogenic structures of Wyoming that coincide with historical mining districts. The magnetic data agree very well with the Company's detailed mapping. The two most prominent structural/magnetic anomalies are at Relevant Gold's South Pass and Bradley Peak camps. South Pass and Bradley Peak are clearly connected along a regional primary structure (figure 2). Secondary structures revealed at both South Pass & Bradley Peak camps coincide with known high-grade gold occurrences. The magnetics support Relevant Gold's target concepts and show where to tighten targets at South Pass (figure 4). The strength of the 100 km2 Bradley Peak anomaly strongly encourages expediting drill permitting (figure 3). "The superb detail revealed by this government-sponsored survey is a huge step forward in understanding Wyoming's Archean geology, mirroring what's seen in Canada's prolific Abitibi Gold Province. A big thank you to the State of Wyoming and USGS for investing in mineral resource development in the state," said Brian Lentz, Relevant Gold's Chief Exploration Officer. "These initial processed results really strengthen Wyoming's connections to the Abitibi while showing that South Pass and Bradley Peak lie on Wyoming's structural Main Street - giving us some of the best discovery opportunities in the state. We look forward to more detailed processing of the data to see what else it can show us, but Bradley Peak appears to be a monster 100 km2 structural trap which coincides closely with high-grade targets we recently generated; we look forward to accelerating exploration there!" Figure 1. Modified Geologic map of Wyoming (Love and Christiansen, 1985) with the vertical derivative of the 2023 airborne magnetics survey overlain (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024). Figure 2. Regional airborne magnetic vertical derivative interpolation map (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024) with major structural features, high-grade targets, and the Company's two primary gold camps highlighted. About the Survey This survey was funded jointly by the State of Wyoming and the US Geological Survey as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (aka Earth MRI) and is the first of three regional aerial geophysical surveys being conducted in Wyoming (figure 1). Magnetic and radiometric data was collected over approximately 3,300 square miles (~854,000 hectares) in central Wyoming using 200m spaced flight lines-it includes Relevant Gold's entire ~16,000 ha landholdings (Press Release - May 24, 2023). Airborne geophysical surveys are commonly employed in gold-bearing Archean terranes like the Abitibi of Canada. The technique can "see" through extensive cover and reveal remarkable details of the major geology and structural trends that control gold mineralization. Data produced from the Wyoming survey provides a much clearer picture of the geology and highlights targets within both the South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (figures 1 and 2). The magnetic survey data provides clear resolution on the nature and extent of major Archean crustal-scale structures and highlights important related secondary structures. Understanding these structural features is critical in gold exploration as they are the primary controls for orogenic gold emplacement. Some of the most notable geophysical signatures within the survey highlight the South Pass and Bradley Peak areas (figure 2). This high-resolution geophysical data ties very well to the detailed mapping completed by the Company in both gold camps where regional geologic data is limited. In 2023, the company completed an initial mapping and rock chip sampling program at Bradley Peak identifying 3 new district-scale targets. The rock chip sampling returned high-grade results, highlighted by 5.3 g/t Au, 107 g/t Ag, and 6.25% Cu (see full Press Release - Nov 7, 2023). The geophysical survey outlines the structural trap for these targets in the center of a major 100 km2 anomaly (figure 3). The survey illustrates a very large (100 km2) fold hinge structure developed off the crustal-scale Oregon Trail Structural Belt affecting Archean rocks including, iron formation, mafic greenstones, mafic intrusives, felsic intrusives, komatiites, and others. This rock assemblage and type of structure is known as the primary host for numerous gold deposits in the Abitibi, with strong similarities to the Red Lake district and Hemlo districts. Over South Pass the magnetic data illustrates numerous major structures cutting Relevant Gold's property and agrees closely to the Company's detailed mapping and high-grade gold targets (figure 4). Importantly, this data confirms the Company's model for South Pass and continues to tighten targets throughout the camp. The geophysical signatures, geology, and mineralization at South Pass display strong similarities to the Canadian Malartic region along the Cadillac-Larder Lake deformation zone in the southern Abitibi gold belts (geophysics presentation). The Company will begin more detailed processing of the data for each property area, with ground truthing based on mapped geology to tease out key details and connections between the geology and gold. Figure 3. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of Bradley Peak Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Figure 4. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of South Pass Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Qualified Person All technical information has been reviewed by Mr. Brian Lentz, CPG, who is the Chief Exploration Officer and Qualified Person for the Company according to the 43-101 disclosure requirements. About Relevant Gold Corp. Relevant Gold Corp. is a North American gold exploration company founded by experienced exploration geologists and operated by a highly respected team with a proven record of significant value creation for shareholders. Relevant Gold is focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery, and development of district-scale gold projects in the state of Wyoming - one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions in the United States and globally. On behalf of Relevant Gold Corp., Rob Bergmann, Chief Executive Officer More information For further information about Relevant Gold Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at www.relevantgoldcorp.com or contact Rob Bergmann, President and CEO, or Kristopher Jensen, Manager of Investor Relations, at 763-760-4886 or by email at investorrelations@relevantgoldcorp.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Historical Information This news release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events of Relevant Gold Corp. ("Relevant" or "Relevant Gold" or "the Company"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "outlook" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks include, among others, the inherent risk of the mining industry; adverse economic and market developments; the risk that the Company will not be successful in completing additional acquisitions; risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; the possibility that the Company's estimated burn rate may be higher than anticipated; risks of unexpected cost increases; risks of labour shortages; risks relating to exploration and development activities; risks relating to future prices of mineral resources; risks related to work site accidents, risks related to geological uncertainties and variations; risks related to government and community support of the company's projects; risks related to global pandemics and other risks related to the mining industry. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward?looking information should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation, to update any forward?looking information except as required by law. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities of the Company in Canada, the United States, or any other jurisdiction. Any such offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein will be made only pursuant to subscription documentation between the Company and prospective purchasers. Any such offering will be made in reliance upon exemptions from the prospectus and registration requirements under applicable securities laws, pursuant to a subscription agreement to be entered into by the Company and prospective investors. The scientific and technical contents of this release have been approved by Mr. Brian C. Lentz, CPG #11999, Chief Exploration Officer of the Company, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Lentz is not independent of the Company. SOURCE: Relevant Gold Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com HIGHLIGHTS: Constant Tia was formerly regional Chief Financial Officer at Kinross Gold, overseeing several regions including Africa He has a strong track record of establishing and leading the finance function across several operations He has strong experience in managing large capital projects as he played a key role in the execution of a +$4 billion capital projects at the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania As an Ivorian national, he has a profound understanding of the West African region and a strong local network He will be based in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and will play a key role in overseeing the finance function and engaging with both local stakeholders and West-African lending banks ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - March 25, 2024 - Montage Gold Corp. ("Montage" or the "Company") (TSXV: MAU) (OTCQX: MAUTF) is pleased to announce the strengthening of its leadership team with the appointment of Constant Tia to the position of Chief Financial Officer, effective July 1, 2024. Constant will succeed Glenn Kondo, current CFO of Montage, who as announced on November 28, 2023, accepted the role of CFO of Lucara Diamond Corp., also within the Lundin Group of Companies. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Glenn has agreed to support Constant over the next few months. Constant will be based in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and will lead the finance function while playing a key role in engaging with both local stakeholder and West African lending banks. Constant Tia has over 18 years of experience in the mining industry with a strong track record of establishing and leading the finance function across various operations and overseeing major capital projects, notably in West Africa. Prior to joining Montage, Constant held the position of regional Chief Financial Officer for Kinross Gold Corp., responsible for overseeing the Africa and Chile regions, and previously also the Russian region. His 14-year tenure at Kinross Gold Corp., which commenced in 2010, was marked by a progression of senior leadership roles at mine sites, regional offices, and at the corporate office. Martino De Ciccio, CEO of Montage, commented, "Following the recent appointments of Peder Olsen as Chief Development Officer and Silvia Bottero as Executive Vice President of Exploration, we're thrilled to complete Montage's senior executive team by welcoming Constant as Chief Financial Officer. His experience in establishing a best-in-class finance function and executing large capital projects will be invaluable as we progress our Kone project. Furthermore, aligning with our commitment to local content, we're extremely pleased to establish a strong presence in Cote d'Ivoire. Constant and other members of the management team will be based there, ensuring close proximity to our business and our local stakeholders, as we progress our strategy of creating a premier African gold producer. Finally, I would like to thank Glenn Kondo for his ongoing commitment to Montage while he continues in the role of CFO during this transition phase." Constant Tia, incoming Chief Financial Officer of Montage, commented: "I am thrilled to join Montage at such an exciting time as it embarks to create a premier African gold producer, with the high quality Kone project at the forefront. Personally, I'm proud to contribute to such an important project in my home country as it will provide significant social and economic benefits. Given that the value chain commences at the financing stage, I will prioritize securing a significant portion of the Kone project financing from African regional banks, leveraging the strong financial capacity of the region to self-fund its economic growth and development." About Constant Tia: Incoming Chief Financial Officer Constant Tia has over 18 years of experience in the mining industry with a strong track record of establishing and leading the finance function across various operations and overseeing major capital projects, notably in West Africa. He has strong expertise across financial reporting, treasury, tax, audit, budgeting, capital management, and financial systems. Prior to joining Montage, Constant held the position of regional Chief Financial Officer for Kinross Gold Corp. and was responsible for overseeing the Africa and Chile regions, and previously also the Russian region. His 14-year tenure at Kinross, which commenced in 2010, was marked by a progression of senior leadership roles at mine sites, regional offices, and at the corporate office. Constant played a key role in establishing and leading the finance function at the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania, initially while at Red Back Mining and thereafter with Kinross. Constant notably had oversight of the execution of a +$4 billion expansion projects at Tasiast which transformed the mine into a top tier operation. Before joining Kinross, Constant served as Financial Controller for Endeavour Mining in Burkina Faso in 2010 and Audit Supervisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Cote d'Ivoire between 2005 and 2010, where he audited and consulted for numerous clients in the mining industry across West Africa (such as Barrick Exploration, Newcrest, First Quantum, Nordgold, and the Ivorian State mining company SODEMI). Constant holds a Master of Science in Commerce from ESCA Business School (National Polytechnic Institute of Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire), and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New Hampshire, USA. His credentials include certifications as an Internal Auditor (CIA), Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Project Management Professional (PMP). He is fluent in French, English, Spanish, and several Ivorian dialects. Stock-Based Compensation Grants The Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate 1,000,000 incentive stock options to certain officers, directors and other eligible persons of the Company. The options are exercisable, subject to vesting provisions, over a period of five years at a price of C$1.17 per share. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. ABOUT MONTAGE GOLD CORP. Montage Gold Corp. (TSXV: MAU) is a Canadian-listed company focused on becoming a premier multi-asset African gold producer, with its flagship Kone project, located in Cote d'Ivoire, at the forefront. Based on the Feasibility Study published in 2024, the Kone project ranks as one of the highest quality gold projects in Africa with a long 16-year mine life, low AISC of $998/oz over its life of mine, and sizeable annual production of +300koz of gold over the first 8 years. Over the course of 2024, the Montage management team will be leveraging their extensive track record in developing projects in Africa to progress the Kone project towards an investment decision, thereby unlocking significant value for all its stakeholders. TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE The Kone and Gbongogo Main Mineral Resource Estimates were carried out by Mr. Jonathon Abbott of Matrix Resource Consultants of Perth, Western Australia, who is considered to be independent of Montage Gold. Mr. Abbott is a member in good standing of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralization under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. The Mineral Reserve Estimate was carried out by Ms. Joeline McGrath of Carci Mining Consultants Ltd., who is considered to be independent of Montage Gold. Ms. McGrath is a member in good standing of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the work which she is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. For further details of the data verification undertaken, exploration undertaken and associated QA/QC programs, and the interpretation thereof, and the assumptions, parameters and methods used to develop the Mineral Reserve Estimate for the Kone Gold Project, please see the UFS, entitled "Kone Gold Project, Cote d'Ivoire Updated Feasibility Study National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report" and filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are encouraged to read the UFS in its entirety, including all qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that relate to the details summarized in this news release. The UFS is intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. QUALIFIED PERSONS STATEMENT The scientific and technical contents of this press release have been approved by Hugh Stuart, BSc, MSc, a Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101. Mr. Stuart is the President and a Director of the Company, a Chartered Geologist and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "Forward-looking Statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute Forward-looking Statements. Words such as "will", "intends", "proposed" and "expects" or similar expressions are intended to identify Forward-looking Statements. Forward looking Statements in this press release include statements related to the use of proceeds from the Offering; the final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange; the Company's mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; the timing and amount of future production from the Kone Gold Project; expectations with respect AISC of the Kone Gold Project; anticipated mine life of the Kone Gold Project; and expected recoveries and grades of the Kone Gold Project. 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 the Company's expectations include uncertainties inherent in the preparation of mineral reserve and resource estimates and definitive feasibility studies such as the Mineral Reserve Estimate and the UFS, including but not limited to, assumptions underlying the production estimates not being realized, incorrect cost assumptions, unexpected variations in quantity of mineralized material, grade or recovery rates, unexpected changes to geotechnical or hydrogeological considerations, unexpected failures of plant, equipment or processes, unexpected changes to availability of power or the power rates, failure to maintain permits and licenses, higher than expected interest or tax rates, adverse changes in project parameters, unanticipated delays and costs of consulting and accommodating rights of local communities, environmental risks inherent in the Cote d'Ivoire, title risks, including failure to renew concessions, unanticipated commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, risks relating to COVID-19, delays in or failure to receive access agreements or amended permits, and other risk factors set forth in the Company's 2022 AIF under the heading "Risk Factors". The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any Forward-looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Montage to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any Forward-looking Statement. Any Forward-looking Statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. NON-GAAP MEASURES This press release includes certain terms or performance measures commonly used in the mining industry that are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), including cash costs and AISC (or "all-in sustaining costs") per payable ounce of gold sold and per tonne processed and mining, processing and operating costs reported on a unit basis. Non-GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and, therefore, they may not be comparable to similar measures employed by other companies. The Company discloses "cash costs" and "all-in sustaining costs" and other unit costs because it understands that certain investors use this information to determine the Company's ability to generate earnings and cash flows for use in investing and other activities. The Company believes that conventional measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS, do not fully illustrate the ability of mines to generate cash flows. The measures, as determined under IFRS, are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flows from operating activities. The measures cash costs and all-in sustaining costs and unit costs are considered to be key indicators of a project's ability to generate operating earnings and cash flows. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS and are not necessarily indicative of operating costs, operating profit or cash flows presented under IFRS. Readers should also refer to our management's discussion and analysis, available under our corporate profile at www.sedarplus.ca for a more detailed discussion of how we calculate such measures. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/montage-gold-announces-appointment-of-constant-tia-as-chief-financial-officer-302098165.html SOURCE Montage Gold Corp. President/CEO of the Midland Area Community Foundation Sharon Mortensen discusses the 15 original trustees of the organization at the Ripple Effect event on Oct. 18, 2023 at the Midland Country Club. Isabelle Pasciolla/Midland Daily News Midland Area Community Foundation logo. (Photo provided/MACF) The Construction Talent Attraction Program at the Midland Area Community Foundation is accepting applications for 2025. Photo Provided Midland Area Community Foundation is working to expand the areas workforce through a series of talent attraction programs. The Midland, Gladwin and Clare county community foundations are working together to attract professionals with a post-secondary degree or certificate to these communities by offering a student loan forgiveness program. Community foundations have traditionally given scholarships to help students pursue their post-secondary education, said MACF President/CEO Sharon Mortensen. So, we help students get the education, but weve never really had a tool to help students with debt repayment or trying to attract them back to our community or attract others to our communitythat can fill important voids in the community. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Recipients will receive a reverse scholarship to cover expenses and outstanding student debt incurred while obtaining an education. The programs would focus on attracting individuals with a bachelors degree, associates degree or certification in a skilled trade from a college, community college or trade school. Its a unique way to look at: How do we attract talent and retain them? Mortensen said. The Gladwin and Clare county programs are looking to attract any professionals to come live and work in the counties, while the Midland program is specifically attracting individuals for construction businesses. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Typically, talent attraction programs are used in distressed areas. Gladwin and Clare counties are considered distressed because their median household income is lower compared to the rest of the state and their percentage below the poverty rate, below the ALICE threshold and unemployment rate are all higher. In addition, the percentage of the Gladwin population with a bachelors degree or higher is 14.2% and in Clare is 12.1% compared to 30.6% in the state of Michigan. Attracting talent can be tough in a smaller, rural community, Mortensen said. So, anything we can do to attract talent. Attract and then live in that community because its a wonderful community in (Clare and) Gladwin (counties). Getting people to find a job and live there, and then just enjoy the things that community has to offer. Midland County is not suffering from financial distress, but it is lacking in one industry: construction. Advertisement Article continues below this ad While the state of Michigan was going up in the number of those working in the construction industry, Midland was going down, Mortensen said. Thats concerning because we need construction both for industrial construction as well as home construction. For the Midland program, recipients must be employed or self-employed in a business that has a physical office in the county, but they can live in Midland, Gladwin or Clare counties. We expanded it outside of Midland County just because we know the difficulty people have securing housing here in Midland, Mortensen said. The Gladwin and Clare programs would require the business to have a physical location in one of the counties and the recipients would reside in those counties. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Those graduating from a degree or certification program would apply for the program. If selected, they would receive the payments over a multi-year period. The idea is that the longer you keep somebody in the community, the more apt they are to stay because at that point they will have established friends, theyve likely gotten engaged in the community, they might be doing some volunteering, Mortensen said. This has become their home. The program in Midland is getting ready to award its first scholarship this year, while the Gladwin and Clare programs have just been proposed. Midland has gotten enough funding to get started, but Gladwin and Clare will spend the next few years working up the funds before they begin. Those interested in applying for the Midland program have until Aug. 15. Awardees will be selected in September. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The amount that individuals will receive depends on how much debt they have, but Mortensen said the highest award will be $20,000. If they know they could get $20,000 in loan repayment, that could be a real deciding factor and help people say, Im going to make Midland my home, Mortensen said. Its a pretty wonderful community. We hope by the time they get to four years, it will be their home at that point. This program focuses on those with a degree or certification because it requires the recipient to have outstanding student loan debt. Mortensen explained that these workers tend to fill job needs and have a higher earning potential that enables them to give back to the community. We know that they contribute economically, they contribute socially, volunteer-wise, Mortensen said. They contribute as a citizen and participating in government and elections and serving in different ways. They really add to the vibrancy and the vitality of the community. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mortensen also said its important to bring in a younger population that can fill in roles as people retire and aid the aging population. We want to make sure that older adults are well supported in our communities, just in terms of people that can bring them a meal or can help in some way, she said. Its just a benefit to have talent in our community. Isabelle Pasciolla is a politics/government reporter at the Midland Daily News. Email her at Isabelle.Pasciolla@hearst.com. Alonso went too far with Russell brake test Fernando Alonso went "too far" in "using his elbows" in the dying moments of the Australian GP. Fernando Alonso, Australian GP 2024 Aston Martin Racing That is the view not only of expert pundits, but also the FIA - whose stewards put three penalty points on his F1 superlicense and a 20-second penalty for the scary incident that effectively ended the Melbourne race. Mercedes' George Russell pleaded in terror on the radio for red flags after bouncing back onto the racing line after a heavy crash - arguably caused by Alonso having 'brake-tested' him. Alonso's long-time friend, and now Aston Martin ambassador, Pedro de la Rosa, criticised the stewards' decision. They cannot tell the drivers how to drive, he insisted. No one here deliberately stood on the brakes. Fernando just defended his position, which is what a racing driver does. Russell should have anticipated that Fernando would do everything he could to get the perfect exit in turn 6, because he was most vulnerable on the long back straight. The stewards, however, found that Alonso's act of lifting, braking and downshifting more than 100 metres earlier than usual was dangerous enough for the penalty. Former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos told Ziggo Sport that the stewards also wouldn't have appreciated Alonso's Oscar-worthy performance of blaming technical issues for the approach to turn 6 that Russell called bizarre . If you give an Oscar-worthy performance, shouting about the battery and the pedal, and he didn't have those problems, the FIA saw that and said 'You're talking nonsense', he said. "The FIA asked for the data and they saw that the closing rate was enormous. It's also not the first time Alonso has brake tested a competitor. A bit of push and pull is part of it, but that went too far, Doornbos added. Another former driver, Timo Glock, told Sky Deutschland: "Fernando is always using his elbows. I think he knew exactly what he was doing. "His idea was to catch Russell off guard, slow him down and then be on the gas early to open a gap. But it was so extreme that Russell didn't expect it at all. Alonso extends his elbows and uses these grey areas to gain an advantage, Glock added. For his part, 42-year-old Alonso defended his actions on social media. He insisted that with his more than 20 years of experience, with epic duels like Imola 2005-2006, Brazil 2023, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits is simply part of the art of motorsport . Also awkward for Alonso is that he is believed to be a frontrunner to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year. I don't want to accuse Alonso of anything, because I only watched a few laps back so far, team boss Toto Wolff said in Melbourne. But he braked on the lap of Russell's crash at a point where he had not braked before. (GMM) No panic at Red Bull after defeat to Ferrari Carlos Sainz won the Australian GP, but the jury is out as to whether Ferrari can now mount a sustained attack on Red Bull's dominance. Max Verstappen, Australian GP 2024 Red Bull The Spaniard admits his red car worked really well in Melbourne, but he admits that a clear gap to Red Bull persists. It's going to be tough to keep it up there in every track until we bring an upgrade to close that gap that we saw in Bahrain and Jeddah, he said. Indeed, many experts think Red Bull's struggles in Melbourne - on top of Max Verstappen's first technical DNF for two years - may be isolated to the Albert Park layout. We looked at Max's tyres after qualifying and they looked pretty damaged, revealed McLaren team boss Andrea Stella. Although Verstappen was out of the race early, Red Bull's top F1 advisor Dr Helmut Marko thinks Sergio Perez's pace in the sister car demonstrates that the team got something fundamentally wrong in Melbourne. At some points we were two seconds slower than the leaders, he told Servus TV. The tyre pressure may have been too high or the wrong settings may have been selected. After all, Checo is not two seconds slower than the others. However, team boss Christian Horner thinks Perez's car was damaged in a duel with Fernando Alonso. But even the Mexican driver admits the inherent pace was somehow lacking. We had problems from the start and saw that Ferrari and McLaren were better, said Perez. But there is very unique asphalt here and we didn't manage to find the best grip throughout the weekend. He said Verstappen for sure what have struggled to beat Ferrari's Carlos Sainz if he hadn't suffered the brake failure and fire. Marko, though, isn't worried. It's nothing special, said the 80-year-old, and I expect Max to dominate again in Japan. We did this for all the people who find it boring when Red Bull wins, Marko joked. "Last year at Suzuka, Max was much faster than the competition, and we're going to have some updates there as well. But the first thing Max said to me when he got out of the car today was that he could have followed Carlos very easily without those problems. There is no panic from us, Marko insisted. "At least we got rid of the endless questions about whether we can win everything this season. No more perfect statistics! But as long as we win the title, I personally don't attach much importance to anything else. Even Ferrari's Fred Vasseur admits Melbourne is not proof that the Maranello based team really has caught up with Red Bull. When asked if Sainz still would have won without Verstappen's DNF, he answered: "I don't have a crystal ball. We were in pretty good shape. I don't know if Max's first lap was representative either, so let's just enjoy what we've achieved now. There will be more fights with Max. (GMM) American sugar producers are seeking to curb imports from Mexico after the US said it would examine whether some shipments from the Latin American nation breached trade deal rules. The American Sugar Coalition wants the government to lower the amount of sugar Mexico is allowed to send to the US by 44%, according to a March 12 letter sent to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. The curbs would be effective from April 1 and apply to the year ending in September. Mexican sugar production slumped last season, but shipments to the US continued to flow. That prompted the US Department of Commerce to say it planned to look into whether the supply deals skirted trade rules preventing Mexico from bringing in sugar from other countries to meet domestic demand, while exporting its own output to the US. A similar picture is emerging this season. Exports from Mexico during the current export limit period already exceed the quantity Mexico can supply from its production surplus, Robert C. Cassidy Jr. of Cassidy Levy Kent, counsel to the American Sugar Coalition and its members, said in the letter. The DOC should consult with Mexico to see how the government plans to conform with the rules by reducing the quota, he said. Any reduction to Mexicos export limit would likely require the US to bring in more supplies from other countries, tapping already tight global stockpiles. US sugar prices reached a record last year, while world prices gained for a fifth year, the longest winning streak since 1989. The US sugar industry is highly regulated, with caps on overseas imports. The rules are intended to protect profits for beet and cane refiners, especially given higher US production costs, and prevent other countries from flooding the American market. Mexico is the biggest supplier. The American Sugar Coalition wants to cap imports from Mexico at less than 500,000 short tons raw value, down from almost 900,000 now, according to the letter. Thats because dry weather cut production there, meaning the nation wont have enough to meet domestic consumption and fill its US quota. This isnt the first time the group wrote to the DOC. In a separate letter dated Oct. 6, it argued for the reduction in the export limit, without providing a particular target. It also stressed inconsistent data from various agencies. The significant differences between the official Mexican government data and data from other sources inevitably raise the question: How much sugar is Mexico importing? according to the Oct. 6 letter. The Mexican government has previously denied having broken the rules of the trade agreement, according to a separate letter to the DOC dated Oct. 6. The DOCs International Trade Administration, the Mexican Economy and Agriculture ministries and Camara Nacional de las Industrias Azucarera y Alcoholera didnt respond to requests for comment. Members of the American Sugar Coalition include the American Sugar Cane League, the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, American Sugar Refining Inc., and the Florida Sugar Cane League. Fluent foreigners spread the word on dialects 14:17, March 25, 2024 By Wang Xin ( China Daily LU PING/CHINA DAILY Tobias Le Compte, a 35-year-old Belgian musician widely known as Tobias or Gao Yue, has become a sensation on social media for his excellent grasp of the main Shanghai dialect. A multi-instrumentalist and the chief operating officer of Montreux Jazz Festival China, Le Compte has been sharing his everyday experiences, which he delivers in Shanghai dialect, on video-sharing and lifestyle platforms Douyin and Xiaohongshu, garnering thousands of followers and millions of likes. In the videos, he speaks fluent Shanghai dialect, which many non-locals believe is as difficult to learn and understand as a foreign language. He talks about walking on the city's streets, enjoying the food and music, and recording his daily life in the city. "I started shooting and posting these short videos for my own practice purposes. I didn't expect so many people would be watching them, following me and sending me comments and encouragement," said Le Compte. "For me, the tone of the Shanghai dialect sounds like music with fascinating waves," said the musician who enjoys learning languages and dialects. "I believe a dialect is the heart of a local culture." In 2008, Le Compte, who is a percussionist, guitarist, bassist and piano player, visited Shanghai for the first time as a member of a music and dance group that participated in an arts festival in Baoshan district. He was enchanted by the city right away, and returned the next year and enrolled as an undergraduate student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Like most expats in China, Le Compte first studied Mandarin and spent about half a year teaching himself the language. "At first, I had little contact with the Shanghai dialect. People around me in the city could all speak Mandarin and it was enough for daily life and communication, so I didn't feel it was necessary to learn the dialect," said Le Compte. It was not until 2021, when Le Compte was back in Belgium and confined to his home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that he started learning Shanghainese. "When I was back in Belgium, I realized that many of my Chinese friends were from Shanghai and they had been talking in the Shanghai dialect. I have always loved studying languages and dialects, so I chose to learn some Shanghai dialect to fill the boring days at home during the pandemic," Le Compte said. He was also motivated by the 2021 hit movie B for Busy, a tale set in Shanghai starring local stars who speak their lines in the city's dialect. "I was not thinking too much when I started learning the Shanghai dialect it was just for fun. I turned to my friends to speak and learn the dialect. I also watched TV series and movies in the Shanghai dialect, as well as Shanghai farces," he said. Listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2011, Shanghai farce, or huajixi, is a traditional opera and type of comedic performance that originated in the city in the early 20th century. Le Compte said when he uploaded the short Shanghainese videos it was simply to practice the dialect and he didn't think much about it. "Gradually, and unexpectedly, many people saw my posts and sent me positive and encouraging comments, which made me dive deeper into the dialect and local culture," Le Compte said. He settled back in Shanghai in January. Much to his surprise, when he arrived at the airport he was recognized by many people as "the foreigner who can speak fluent Shanghai dialect". "Since then, I have been frequently recognized on the city's streets. People keep telling me 'thank you for promoting our Shanghai dialect' and 'we support you', which makes me feel that I am doing something very meaningful. I feel a greater sense of responsibility," he added. Musician Tobias Le Compte is fluent in the local dialect. [CHINA DAILY] 'Brave' mistakes Le Compte did not bury his nose in textbooks or undertake intensive study to learn Shanghainese. He said his learning methods involved getting immersed in a language environment, having a positive attitude, and speaking bravely "without being afraid to make mistakes". "Some people may worry too much about being looked down upon for their accent or using the wrong words, which I think is not the right approach. Although non-native speakers can't grasp a language 100 percent, the more words you say, the more accurately you will end up saying them," Le Compte said. However, he is worried that the dialect seems to be disappearing from common use. "It's such a pity to know that many residents in Shanghai can't speak the dialect. There are many traditional customs and local cultures that are hard to describe precisely in Mandarin. Some of them can only be expressed and understood in the dialect, such as nursery rhymes and slang," said Le Compte. Shanghai residents tend to be more welcoming to those who speak the dialect, he added. "I used to live in a shikumen (lane house) in Shanghai, where I got quite immersed in the city's authentic local life," he said. Le Compte has also posted videos of himself speaking the dialect with Shanghai natives who live overseas. "We share their stories and their life in another country, it's especially relevant to Shanghai people who have not been to these nations," Le Compte said. Many Shanghai people living overseas speak better Shanghainese than the locals, especially the younger generations, he added. Le Compte said he did not expect he would contribute to the promotion of the Shanghai dialect, but he hoped more people would end up speaking it. It would be an honor and pleasure if his posts encouraged his followers to learn and pass on the dialect, he said. Le Compte, who rates his dialect skills 70 out of 100, said he hopes to one day be able to understand subtle variations in the dialect and also be capable enough to write a Shanghai farce. Federico Demarco is studying other dialects in Shanghai. [CHINA DAILY] Deeper look Argentine Federico Demarco, a postgraduate linguistics student at Shanghai University, is traveling even further along the path of understanding dialects in Shanghai. The first Argentine to pass HSK 6, the Chinese-language proficiency test's highest level, Demarco is researching a dialect spoken in Shanghai's Jinshan district. Married to a woman from Shanghai, Demarco became fluent in the main Shanghai dialect while living abroad with his wife. When he relocated to Shanghai in 2018, his curiosity and passion for Chinese dialects drove him to explore variants beyond the city's urban center. His enthusiasm led him to uncover the lesser-known dialect spoken in Jinshan, which is located an hour from downtown Shanghai. Partnering with Jinshan resident Feng Xuanxin four years ago, Demarco began documenting the dialect's nuances through field research in rural villages. The pair made audio recordings and notes of pronunciations of words, vocabulary and cultural traditions. "We want to preserve the dialect before local knowledge disappears," Demarco said. However, finding speakers of the dialect is becoming difficult as younger generations have shifted to speaking Mandarin, he said. With his South American looks, locals are always surprised when Demarco speaks near-perfect Jinshan dialect. He also posts videos on Douyin, which have attracted hundreds of thousands of views, explaining different aspects of the dialect. For the past four years, Demarco has taken long car trips to and from Jinshan on a regular basis to conduct interviews and make recordings. He is intrigued by the structure of the Jinshan dialect. For instance, dialects spoken in Zhujing, Fengjing, and Xingta towns have eight tones, while dialects spoken in other areas of Jinshan have seven, and Shanghainese has just five. "Languages are my passion. I hope that these unique dialects can be passed on," he said. The pair are planning to turn their research into a book on the Jinshan dialect. Demarco is also a co-founder of an online free dictionary for the Wu dialect, one of the main dialects spoken south of the Yangtze River. Academic Ding Dimeng has taught foreigners Shanghainese for three decades. [CHINA DAILY] Conveyor of culture Ding Dimeng, a Shanghai dialect expert and a retired associate professor of Chinese at Shanghai University, has written several books on the Shanghai dialect. Some include fun features such as games, riddles, tongue-twisters and poems, which have helped make them bestsellers. Ding has been teaching Mandarin and the Shanghai dialect to Chinese and overseas students for three decades. "Over the past 20 years, we have seen an increasing number of foreigners becoming interested in learning the Shanghai dialect," Ding said. Compared with Mandarin, foreigners can usually acquire the Shanghai dialect faster, as the pronunciations are easier for them, she added. Foreigners are motivated by many reasons, including doing business locally, to learn Shanghainese. However, some of them are intrigued by the unique and pleasing tones of the dialect. It also helps them better fit into life in Shanghai, Ding said. Spaniard Mario Alonso, a pianist who has lived in Shanghai for seven years, said it would be a waste of time to live in China without immersing himself in the local culture. He taught himself Mandarin, and is reasonably fluent, and now hopes to pick up some Shanghainese colloquialisms. One expression he finds intriguing is "your forehead touches the ceiling", which is a way to describe a rare and lucky incident, such as winning the lottery. After the release in December of Blossoms Shanghai, the hit television series of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, the Shanghai dialect has attracted even greater attention. Ding is pleased to see the positive reaction, as well as foreigners sharing their dialect skills on social media. "We used to have TV programs promoting the Shanghai dialect and even speech competitions in the dialect which were open to expats in the city. I think they (foreigners who speak the Shanghai dialect) are a positive influence on both domestic and overseas audiences," said Ding. She welcomed foreigners learning the dialect as well as Shanghai people, both at home and abroad, promoting it. "This is not only about the language, but also about Shanghai's culture and Chinese culture, as a dialect is the carrier of local cultures," Ding said. Zheng Zheng and Zhang Kun in Shanghai contributed to this story. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) From left, Lakeem Jetter, brother of Lauren Smith-Fields, and his mother, Shantell Fields, of Bridgeport along with Dorothy Washington of Seymour, sister of Brenda Lee Rawls, are interviewed in the office of Attorney Darnell D. Crosland in Stamford on March 9, 2024 concerning the deaths of their loved ones. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media Two years ago, failures by Bridgeport Police to notify families about the deaths of two Black women drew national outrage and headlines. Mayor Joe Ganim called the delayed notifications and investigations unacceptable. He promised accountability and to do right by the families of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Lee Rawls. But in the 25 months since, families of both women say police and city officials have provided them with scant updates about the death investigations, stonewalled requests for records and answered few questions as they seek closure. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The families say city officials did not even tell them police closed both death investigations more than a year ago. Whats more, scathing reports CT Insider recently obtained from Bridgeport Police describe how the departments internal investigators found detectives failed to promptly and properly notify the families about the deaths. One of the reports also faulted the lead investigator of one case for failing to properly investigate that death. When told by a CT Insider reporter during a recent interview that the investigation into her daughters death had closed, Shantell Fields began crying uncontrollably. Advertisement Article continues below this ad They never told us they closed it, said Smith-Fields brother, Lakeem Jetter. They just kept putting on a show. Its all smoke and mirrors. Dorothy Washington, the sister of Rawls, was in disbelief. So they dont tell the family when the case is closed? The families in December filed lawsuits, alleging pseudo and sham death investigations and that police failed to properly investigate because the women were Black. The city has not yet responded to the allegations in the lawsuits in court. I dont feel like they really did anything, said Fields. Its like they were saying, Your daughter is dead: move on. Theres nothing to see here. Advertisement Article continues below this ad To this day, I still say they never did an investigation, said Washington. Bridgeport officials declined to be interviewed or answer questions for this story and declined to release records CT Insider requested about both cases. Former city police chief, Rebeca Garcia, who ran the force at the time of the deaths and subsequent investigations, could not be reached for comment. Families not notified On December 12, 2021, Lauren Smith-Fields was found dead in her own apartment at age 23 after meeting up with a man she met on the online dating app Bumble. Advertisement Article continues below this ad After not being able to reach her by phone, her family showed up at her apartment to check on her the next day. There, the landlord told her mom that Lauren died and gave her a phone number the police had left the day prior. When the family called the detective assigned to the case, he promised to meet them and explain what happened. But Detective Kevin Cronin never showed up, and the family told the internal investigator he yelled at them to stop calling. As media attention grew, the detective several days later was ordered to call the family and answer their questions. Internal Affairs reports recently obtained by CT Insider show an internal investigator at the police department weeks later listened to a recording of that phone call and determined Cronin was, rude and abrasive (and) failed to offer the most basic human dignity, compassion, or empathy and that the call deteriorated into a verbal sparring match. Lakeem Jetter, left, brother of Lauren Smith-Fields, and his mother, Shantell Fields, of Bridgeport are interviewed in the office of Attorney Darnell D. Crosland in Stamford on March 9, 2024 concerning the death of Lauren Smith-Fields. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media A few miles from Smith-Fields apartment, another family was struggling to find their loved one. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Their search for Rawls eventually took them to a male neighbor's home, who the family said informed them Rawls died while at his home on December 12, 2021. Police found the 53-year-old woman dead in his bed the same day. Recently-obtained Internal Affairs reports say an internal investigator at the police department later determined no one from the police department contacted anyone from Rawls family for weeks to inform them what had happened to their loved one. National media attention and outrage from the public followed as details about these cases emerged, with the city receiving thousands of calls and emails. Ganim responded, and said he was extremely disappointed with his police department and announced the lead detectives handling their cases would be held accountable and new detectives had been assigned to resolve their cases. Advertisement Article continues below this ad (I) have found the actions taken up to this point with regard to these two investigations unacceptable, Ganim said in a 3-minute video posted on his Facebook page seven weeks after their deaths. My disappointment and demand for accountability in these and other matters brought to my attention will remain until all the questions that have been asked are answered to the satisfaction of all. Flawed investigations Officials in the state medical examiners office ruled Smith-Fields died from an accidental overdose six weeks after her death and Rawls from natural causes related to artery disease and diabetes 10 weeks after her death. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Police department officials regularly point to those autopsy results as proof no foul play contributed to their deaths. Both cases have been closed based on the stated findings, Bridgeport spokesman Scott Appleby told CT Insider in February 2023. The states chief medical examiner, Dr. James R. Gill, whose office completed their autopsies, declined to speak about either of these cases specifically. But, Gill spoke to CT Insider in broad terms about the death determination process his office goes through. He said it relies on the information provided by his inspectors and the police. He said the doctors who work in his office must determine both the cause and manner of death. The cause of death is straightforward, he said, explaining it is the actual disease or injury that killed someone; such as a seizure or drug overdose. Advertisement Article continues below this ad However, the manner in which someone died depends on the circumstances surrounding their death. That classification either accidental, homicide, natural causes, or suicide relies on what information is given to his medical examiners. We need the circumstances. We need the police investigation in order to determine the manner of death, Gill said during an interview. Someone who does an autopsy in a vacuum, is kind of doomed to failure. They're gonna miss things. You really need the circumstances. Take, for example, determining if someone died from an accidental overdose versus being drugged. So if we had that information, that someone intentionally gave someone too much drugs to harm them, we would call it a homicide. The autopsy is not going to tell us that. We need the investigation, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad So how thorough were the investigations? Reports recently obtained by CT Insider outlining the Internal Affairs investigations completed by the police department provide a glimpse into what the detectives first assigned to these cases did and didnt do to investigate. CT Insider received copies of these heavily-redacted reports a year-and-a-half after reporters first made the request. In the Rawls case, internal investigators found the only detective assigned, Angel Llanos had not written a report until he was ordered to do so 15 days after the death. That report is supposed to outline what the detective witnessed and investigated on the scene. Upon receiving that incident report, his boss Lt. Christopher LaMaine told internal affairs that the most overwhelming thing that stands out is the lack of content. He (Llanos) didnt do anything. It was just laziness, and you cant train away laziness Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Internal Affairs report concluded that, Llanos basically cut and pasted (the patrol units) initial report and used it as his own when ordered (to complete his report.) Llanos relied on (the patrol unit) to complete his investigation and he did not conduct an investigation that would align itself with basic investigative practices and procedures. Llanos never canvassed, utilized (the patrol units) body camera footage or attempted to use any of the services available in the Detective Bureau. When questioned by an internal investigator, Llanos said he was not aware of the search engines the department has to find relatives and did not knock on any doors around the area to see if anyone saw anything. Its not normal for me to knock on any door, Llanos, who has been a Bridgeport detective for 30 years, told internal investigators, the report said. Theres so many houses You know? So no, I didnt. From left, Lakeem Jetter, brother of Lauren Smith-Fields, and his mother, Shantell Fields, of Bridgeport along with Dorothy Washington of Seymour, sister of Brenda Lee Rawls, are interviewed in the office of Attorney Darnell D. Crosland in Stamford on March 9, 2024 concerning the deaths of their loved ones. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media The report into the handling of Smith-Fields death revealed potential shortfalls as well. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Once the Medical Examiner concluded that the cause of death was a fentanyl overdose, the Detective Bureau could now rule out a homicide, the report concludes. The report does not spell out what detective work was done to ensure Smith-Fields wasn't drugged. In their lawsuit, the family alleges police conducted what amounted to a pseudo-death investigation riddled with negligence. For example, claims noted in their lawsuit said police did not test the tequila bottle her Bumble date brought with him or the glasses they drank from to see if it was laced with anything. They also said they found her apartment disheveled, there was blood on her bed sheets, an unknown pill on the counter and a used condom in the trash can. The family provided pictures of how they found her apartment to CT Insider, which they said they also provided to police. Her attorney and her family said it wasnt until media attention swelled that the department sent a forensic team to investigate. The Internal Affairs report says a forensic team showed up to process the scene 18 days after Smith-Fields death; its unclear from the report if a forensic team had visited before that. But her attorney said the evidence collected was never logged at the state forensic lab in Meriden to be analyzed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad You can't ask for justice in Bridgeport, said Jetter, the brother of Smith-Fields. It's ridiculous. Bumble, the dating app through which Smith-Fields met the man who last saw her alive, declined to tell CT Insider whether Bridgeport Police reached out to them. A Bumble spokesman, however, did tell NPR in late-January 2022 that "law enforcement has not requested any customer information to date." A spokesperson for the Drug Enforcement Agency said the agency is in the process of closing a criminal narcotics investigation it launched in conjunction with Bridgeport Police after Smith-Fields death. The spokesperson said the case is expected to be closed by June, and no arrests are expected. The families attorney, Darnell Crosland, said if proper investigations took place, police should have no problem releasing the final findings. Advertisement Article continues below this ad They should release the final reports. (Mayor) Ganim said he wants transparency, said Crosland. Transparency lacking Both families said they doubt the deaths were fully and properly investigated in part because the city has provided them with little information or documentation about the cases. They straight up lie when they say an investigation was done, said Washington. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The families said they have not been able to get many records theyve been requesting for years. You ask, and you ask, and you ask until you cant ask anymore then you're forced to file a lawsuit, said Crosland, who filed the suits on the families behalf two years after the deaths. The families litigation has yet to yield any new records from the city, but Crosland hopes the court process, albeit slow-moving in its own right, will eventually force the city to turn over long-awaited documents. Attorney Darnell D. Crosland is photographed in his office in Stamford on March 9, 2024. Arnold Gold/Hearst Connecticut Media City officials have also declined over the last 7 months to release a host of records related to the two closed death investigations including the final reports of their findings which CT Insider requested under the states Freedom of Information Act. Advertisement Article continues below this ad They declined interview requests or to answer emailed questions, including what, if any, discipline the detectives first assigned to these cases faced. In June 2022, city officials said both detectives returned from their suspensions after an arbitrator ordered the city to return Llanos to duty. Llanos and Cronin are currently detectives, and city officials declined to answer questions about what, if any, new discipline they faced as a result of internal investigations. A spokesman for the officers union said when Cronin returned to the force, he faced discipline, which the union challenged and is awaiting another arbitration decision. The City of Bridgeport and the Bridgeport Police do not comment nor interview on pending or future litigation, Bridgeport spokesman Scott Appleby said in an email. He referred CT Insiders 7-month-old records requests for audio of the 9-1-1 call, body camera footage of the police who responded, toxicology reports, medical examiner reports, inventories of item taken into custody for investigations, and other records surrounding the investigations to the city attorneys office despite promises made by Ganim last year to remove the bottleneck delay of having that office process all requests. Ganim made that vow after CT Insider published a three-part investigation last year outlining the citys pattern of stonewalling residents requests for public records and violating the states transparency laws more often than any other municipality. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The city's attorney, Tyisha Toms, who was appointed to the position by the mayor in January, declined to release any of the records CT Insider requested 7 months ago. The matter is the subject of pending litigation, Toms said. Therefore, neither will be produced at this time. But Russell Blair, a spokesman for the states Freedom of Information Commission, which can compel public agencies to release records, said the lawsuit does not prevent Bridgeport from releasing these records. CT Insider has filed a case with the commission asking it to order Bridgeport to turn over the records. A lawsuit or an FOI complaint being filed does not preclude the police department from releasing records of an investigation, said Blair, whose team has repeatedly trained Bridgeport officials on the states open record laws, including last year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Toms cited a provision under state FOIA law that exempts the disclosure of records pertaining to strategy and negotiations with respect to pending claims or pending litigation. It's unusual to see this exemption claimed for a request regarding police records, Blair said. Typically, that exemption is dealing with legal communications or a proposed settlement agreement. The commission has ruled both ways on this exemption after hearing why such records may be part of a legal strategy. Experts say the lack of transparency in police investigations is a problem. Advertisement Article continues below this ad It really is indicative of systemic issues in law enforcement response to cases involving Black victims, particularly Black women, said Robert O. Motley Jr., a professor at Boston College who studies policing in Black communities. This case, and other cases like this, really highlights the need for more equitable and accountable investigative practices by police. Black women in the U.S. are six times more likely to be murdered than white women, research shows. But civil rights advocates and experts who study the police said there are yawning disparities in how police respond to the deaths of Black women. Scot Esdaile, president of Connecticut NAACP, compared the police response for the deaths of Smith-Fields and Rawls in Bridgeport to the police response in the death of Jennifer Dulos, a well-off white woman from tony New Canaan. If we monitor the case that happened in New Canaan compared to the cases in Bridgeport, you see a lot more law enforcement engagement, he said. It's imperative that all people are treated equally and that these two black womens lives get the same type of urgent investigation equivalent to the investigation and media attention that is given to the white female from New Canaan. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Smith-Fields and Rawls families are tired of waiting for answers so they can find some closure. Lolas 2 W. 28th St., nr. Fifth Ave Carrot masala yogurt with naan at Lolas. Photo: Hugo Yu Even among the culinarily inclined, Suzanne Suzy Cupps stays under the radar. Mention her to industry folks and they will offer an admiring nod plus the highest praise a chef can muster: Yeah, she can cook. She is best known as the executive chef of Untitled at the Whitney, Danny Meyers arty eatery, and the short-lived 232 Bleecker, a sit-down concept from the lunch chain Dig that closed during the pandemic. To fund her new restaurant, Lolas, she turned to former regulars. We raised $1 million in $20,000 increments, she says. No one wants to be telling me what to put on the menu. Theyre just super-excited to support us. Lola is the Tagalog word for grandmother, and the name is an homage to Cuppss own grandmother, Annunciasion Noning Rocamora Paraiso, who fled the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and died after Cuppss father was born. From her, Cupps has inherited only a single jade bead and a solitary photograph. Despite the name and the lustrous green of the open kitchen, Lolas is not, as one might guess, Filipino home cooking: The name is about honoring a brave, amazing woman who allowed me to be here right now, Cupps says, but I dont cook a ton of Filipino food. Cupps grew up in Aiken, South Carolina, and spent the early years of her New York career cooking under Anita Lo at Annisa and Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern. At Lolas, her menu is filled with southern and Pan-Asian influences: sesame milk bread with pimento cheese, carrot masala yogurt with naan, a beef-and-barley tartare with gochujang and sunchokes, vaguely adobo-y fried chicken, marinated rib skewers with Carolina BBQ sauce, and a bento box with an ever-changing cargo of seasonal vegetables. The Asian influence, Cupps says, isnt due to personal biography: Its because the first chef I ever worked with was Chinese American, my first sous-chef was Japanese, my second sous-chef was Taiwanese, and I worked next to a Filipino. Lolas is a bet that its still possible to open a modest restaurant in Manhattan without a menu of TikTok-baiting gimmicks or the backing of a well-financed restaurant group. There are just 70 seats because, Cupps explains, my food doesnt translate on a large scale. She is a Greenmarket devotee who brines, roasts, and cures with the intention not of using ingredients but enhancing them. Even pork ribs are brightened with a broth of spring garlic and greens. I dont want you leaving here feeling like you need a nap, she says. Less obviously, Lolas is also a gentle challenge to the narrative that white chefs are afforded the privilege to cook whatever they want while chefs of color are bound to their biographies. Cupps, with her years of experience, light touch, and steady hand, is leading a kitchen predicated not on where shes from but on what she wants. China wants to ban Intel and AMD chips and Windows OS from state computers China introduced guidelines that aim to prevent the use of US processors from Intel and AMD. The new rules also want to block Microsoft Windows and other foreign database products in favor of domestic solutions, reported The Financial Times on Sunday. All government agencies above the township level must have computers and servers with hardware deemed safe and reliable. The list of approved hardware includes chips from Huawei and Phytium, both banned in the United States. The move could have a significant financial effect on both chip companies. According to FT, 27% of Intel's $53 billion in sales were in China, while AMD's had 15% of its $23 billion revenue in China. However, these numbers do not include any info how many chips are actually used in the government sector. The move is seen as a retaliation to the United States ban of Chinese chip manufacturers from working with US companies and blocked Nvidia from selling AI-related chips to China. The United States hosts all major players in chip design, along with Japan and the Netherlands, but Chinese companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo are already developing their own solutions. The State Council Information Office of China, AMD, and Intel did not respond to a request for comment by Reuters. Source | Via A flooded section of Frank Street in the Point Beach neighborhood in Milford, Conn. during heavy rains on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Flooding is likely to continue throughout Sunday in parts of CT, forecasters said. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media The National Weather Service said Sunday should not be a washout like Saturday, but gusty winds are expected and flood warnings remain in parts of Connecticut. Strong winds are expected throughout Sunday, mostly in between 10 and 20 mph, according to the weather service. Gusts may reach 30 mph at some point throughout the day, according to their forecast. The weather service said that the gusts will result in a wind chill. The state could see a high in the early 40s between 3 and 5 p.m., but it will feel several degrees colder than it actually is throughout the entire day. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Temperatures will reach the lower and middle 40s later today, but when you factor in a north wind gusting to 25 mph at times it will feel no warmer than the middle and upper 30s," the weather service's Boston office said on X. Samsung's big AI-infused One UI 6.1 update is almost ready to make it to last year's top of the line devices. The company has already announced that all of the AI features that launched with the Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra back in January will be ported to the Galaxy S23, S23+, S23 Ultra, S23 FE, Z Flip5, and Z Fold5. This update is now scheduled to roll out on March 28, which is this coming Thursday. The rollout may not start globally on the same day, but it will at least take place in several territories, as evidenced by notifications received by owners of the aforementioned devices. Furthermore, following a confirmation of the date by Samsung Korea last week, now Samsung China is basically saying that March 28 is indeed the big day. Samsung Korea in the meantime reiterated the date in a response to users on its community forums, and suggested that the Galaxy S23 FE will be part of the first wave - unlike what's usually happened so far with such updates, when the FE model(s) would get them a bit later. Considering how update rollouts generally work, it may be April before One UI 6.1 has rolled out to all eligible devices across the world, but it definitely seems like the ball will start rolling later this week. Via Attorney General Douglas Moylan on Monday sent to the Department of Corrections draft rules and regulations for the implementation of Guams long unenforced chemical castration law, as part of efforts to curb rampant sex crimes on the island. Since 2015, Guam has had a law on the books allowing DOC and the Guam Parole Board to require convicted sex offenders who are let back out on the street to submit to a chemical castration program. The program would be a requirement of their parole, or post-prison supervision. But concerns about a lack of resources for the program, and skepticism about its potential effectiveness, have so far kept the chemical castration program from getting off the ground. DOC was supposed to draft rules for the handling of chemical castration, also called anti-androgen treatment, but never did. Moylan, who said during his campaign he would seek permanent chemical castration for sex offenders, had his office draft up rules for the program. The rules, he said, were drafted following a survey of similar programs in the states. Under Guam law, the Department of Corrections is required to establish this program. Considering the over eight years since its passage by our Legislature, and it being the will of our People, we request your expedited review and sending to me any suggested changes, Moylan said in his March 25 letter to DOC Director Fred Bordallo. The rules as drafted would allow for the administration of a testosterone-blocking medication to be considered for any serious sex offender, defined as a person convicted of first-, second-, or third-degree criminal sexual conduct under Guam law. The sex offender participating in the program would be responsible for paying DOC for the costs of treatment. That person must not have a medical condition that precludes such treatment, according to the rules. To be eligible for the chemical castration program, the person must also have a diagnosis of pedophilia, or any other diagnosis where chemical castration would be a treatment. A licensed physician would have to make a medical examination, examine psychiatric records, and make a determination of pedophilia or other conditions. DOC would also have to hold a pharmacological treatment hearing for the inmate, and provide the inmate at least 72 hours notice before the hearing. The prison would have to prove that chemical castration is an appropriate treatment, and the inmate would have a right to an advocate to represent them at the hearing, as well as a right to appeal. Pharmacological treatment shall be continued throughout the duration of the serious sex offenders supervision, the draft rules state, though a review of the chemical castration order would be done every 24 months. DOC would have to host its own hearings on the draft rules, before they could move forward. Any final version would need approval from the AG, the governor, and the Legislature. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero previously stated that she does not believe chemical castration would be effective in curbing sexual assault and child abuse. DOCs Bordallo has likewise stated that he does not believe such a program would be effective. Since February alone, two men who were previously convicted for sex acts involving minors were arrested and charged again for rape and sexual assault, PDN files show. John Manibusan, a senior student from John F. Kennedy High School, shared a newfound interest in exploring college options beyond his initial plans for the military after attending a two-day college fair last week that attracted juniors and seniors from various high schools across the island. "I was set on the military but my parents always told me to keep my options open because if I did go to college, I would go (the University of Guam). So, I wanted to see what it was all about," he said. Manibusan also emphasized the value of learning about financial aid options, challenging common misconceptions about the affordability of higher education. He was among the hundreds that participated in the UOG Global Learning and Engagement's College Fair held on March 20 and 21. The event wrapped up with a college fair night on March 21, where students had the opportunity to interact with representatives from numerous other colleges and universities, including institutions from the mainland such as Chaminade University. The first day of the fair welcomed students from public schools, while the second day catered to those from private and charter schools. Students engaged in informative sessions and interactive presentations aimed at providing insights into the college application process, financial aid options, and the overall college experience. Klowee Magano, a senior from Okkodo High School, highlighted the importance of events like the college fair in helping students understand college life and explore various academic options. "This college fair provides an opportunity to ask questions and get a feel for different colleges and universities," Magano said. "For students like us, college fairs can help us explore options, learn about different schools' programs, and connect with current students." Junior participants like Emily Cruz and BJ Guanlao from George Washington High School expressed their eagerness to learn about college requirements and opportunities. Cruz, aspiring to become a teacher, acknowledged the eye-opening experience of discovering potential colleges off island. Guanlao, who's interested in biomedical engineering, appreciated the chance to explore a college campus for the first time. Throughout the event, students received guidance on academic advisement, financial aid, and strategic planning for their college journey. Presentations by UOG faculty and staff, including School of Business and Public Administration advisor Iris Lapid, and Financial Aid advising specialist Vivian Valdes provided valuable insights into navigating the transition from high school to college. The College Fair at UOG served as a platform for students to broaden their horizons, explore diverse academic pathways, and make informed decisions about their future endeavors. By fostering a supportive and educational environment, event coordinators aimed to empower students in their pursuit of higher education and career aspirations. Several parents and teachers raised concerns about the lack of special education teachers, aides and counselors in schools, during a Guam Department of Education engagement forum on Thursday. The third monthly engagement forum, held at the Sinajana Mayors Office, brought together parents, teachers, school administrators, Guam Education Board chair Mary Okada, Education Superintendent Erik Swanson and other officials. At the forum, attendees formed groups to discuss and assess the current state of education, and identified areas for improvement, successes, challenges, and recommendations. One group voiced their concern over a great lack of one-to-one aides in their school, which they said results in some students with Individualized Education Plans not receiving the necessary support. That group said not all schools are fully staffed, and that students whose IEPs call for one-to-one aides are not being given support. Another group addressed the lack of special education teachers in certain schools, urging education officials to overhaul the current procedures. The same group noted that many schools also do not have counselors, a concern that was also brought up during the last education board meeting. Meanwhile, a school counselor reiterated the same point, suggesting collaborating with other government agencies to address the staffing shortages. In another groups discussion, parents brought up the issue of having no uniformed curriculum in CHamoru studies, urging education officials to offer support and training for teachers in the CHamoru Studies Division. Lack of qualified applicants GDOE employees acknowledged the challenge of filling vacant positions across the department, citing the lack of qualified applicants despite continued recruitment efforts. Its not because GDOE isnt hiring, they said, but because they couldnt find applicants or not getting enough qualified applicants to fill positions. They mentioned wanting to host more job fairs and explore new methods to generate greater interest in employment opportunities within the department. Employees noted their commitment to showcasing the positive aspects of GDOE and cultivating a positive public image to attract more job applicants. GDOE employees also noted that the biggest challenge lies in GDOEs public perception, which they said is frequently misrepresented. They said they are taking proactive steps in putting out a good presentation. They specifically pointed out that food served in public schools is being portrayed as crappy when they are not. Forum participants expressed strong support to monthly engagement forums to foster communication with various stakeholders, specifically to facilitate feedback from parents and students and educate them about departmental processes, which they said are often misunderstood. They said this would also enable GDOE to address internal misunderstandings and improve services accordingly. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close A man sitting in a vehicle thats later discovered to be reported stolen in January, was arrested on Friday morning for drug possession. Del. James Moylan has announced that he is preparing to introduce a bill that would address the issue of pending inspections by the Guam Environmental Protection Agency, which adversely impacts the progress in completing construction projects both inside and outside of military fences in Guam within projected timelines. The bill seeks to enhance the manpower needed to complete these inspections. Presently, Guam EPA does not have the adequate number of inspectors to address both military and civilian projects hence creating additional burdens for contractors, inclusive of financial concerns. Under the Moylan proposal, the Department of Defense would enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use federal inspectors to address military projects on Guam. This would free up Guam EPA inspectors to address the inspections for civilian projects. The measure would also ensure that all local and federal inspection laws are complied with. "The lack of manpower with inspections is concerning, and creates unnecessary burdens on contractors, including the need to meet certain timelines," Moylan said in a statement. For military projects, this affects readiness, he said. For civilian projects, this impacts timely completion of homes or commercial buildings. "No one wants to bypass inspection requirements, and GEPA needs the help. We are hopeful that this legislation accomplishes many objectives," the delegate said. Moylan said this outside-the-box concept aligns with DoDs previous efforts in establishing an MOU with federal entities. "It is also a discussion our office has had with several federal and local partners, and it has been gaining some positive traction," he added. His office is currently circulating the measure to secure original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and is also in conversation with some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to consider the introduction of a companion measure. The introduction will take place this week once a pro forma session is called in the house. "The draft legislation has certainly gained some interest with some house offices along with the House Armed Services Committee Staff since the brass of the INDOPACOM have raised concerns on the delayed inspections with military projects in Guam. It is no secret," Moylan said. He also said the measure is a process to educate congressional members on the importance of the issue, and to secure as much co-sponsorship and/or general support. "However, our team is also working with the HASC staff to try and get the language inserted in the 2025 NDAA," Moylan said. "This is a pro-business measure, which will supplement economic activity, which everyone in the community benefits from." The Philippines said Monday it had summoned a Chinese envoy over "aggressive actions" by the China Coast Guard and other vessels near a reef off the Southeast Asian country's coast, while Beijing lodged its own complaint. Deputy foreign ministers from the two countries later held a phone call in which China urged Manila to "pull back from the brink" and stop "provoking trouble at sea", Beijing said. Beijing and Manila have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and there have been repeated confrontations between their vessels near disputed reefs in recent months. The latest incident took place Saturday near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands during a regular Philippine mission to resupply Filipino troops garrisoned on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded navy ship. The Philippines said the China Coast Guard blocked its supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon, injuring three soldiers. The China Coast Guard has defended its actions, describing them as "lawful regulation, interception and expulsion" of a foreign vessel that "tried to forcefully intrude" into Chinese waters. Manila conveyed its "strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal," the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, using the Filipino name for Second Thomas Shoal. It said the Philippine embassy in Beijing also lodged a similar protest with the Chinese foreign ministry. "In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal," the foreign affairs department said. "The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately." On Monday, China's embassy in the Philippines said it had complained to Manila over what it called the "illegal intrusion" of the Southeast Asian country's ships into its waters. In the later phone call, Chinese vice foreign minister Chen Xiaodong said bilateral relations were "currently at a crossroads". The Philippines must "pay serious attention to China's concerns, pull back from the brink, and return as soon as possible to the correct track of resolving differences with China through negotiation and consultation," Chen said. Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island. It is the same location where there have been recent collisions between vessels belonging to both countries, as well as water cannoning by the China Coast Guard. - Cooling diplomatic relations - China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries including the Philippines and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The United States, which has a mutual defence pact with Manila, has denounced the attack. It came days after visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its "ironclad" commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Monday challenged Beijing to seek arbitration, which he said was the "best way of solving a legal dispute sustainably". "That's why they don't like that," Teodoro told reporters. Relations between Manila and Beijing have cooled under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos as he seeks to deepen cooperation with the United States and regional neighbours, while standing up to Chinese aggression towards Philippine vessels. Chinese and Philippine officials agreed in January on the need for closer dialogue to deal with "maritime emergencies" in the South China Sea, including Second Thomas Shoal. But Manila said Monday that China's "aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea." Despite the attack, Philippine officials said the damaged vessel and a coast guard escort ship that came to its aid later deployed rigid-hull inflatable boats to deliver its cargo and personnel to the Filipino outpost. Filipino soldiers stationed on the shoal live on the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre and require frequent resupplies for food, water and other necessities as well as transport for personnel rotations. Apart from supplies and equipment, the Philippine military said six navy personnel were delivered to the BRP Sierra Madre on Saturday, replacing one soldier who was recently evacuated on medical grounds. The damaged supply boat and its escorts sailed back to port after completing their mission, the task force said. amj-tjx/reb/dhw Anti-establishment candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye said Monday that Senegal's people had chosen to "break" with the current political system as he was set to become the youngest president in the country's history. Faye's main rival from the governing coalition, Amadou Ba, has already conceded the race, triggering a political earthquake in the West African nation. It marked a stunning victory for the 44-year-old Faye, who was only freed from prison 10 days before Sunday's election, whose results are not yet official. He described himself in his first public address since Ba conceded as "the choice of a break" from the establishment. One of his main priorities as president will be "national reconciliation" following three years of unrest and a political crisis, Faye said. Faye also vowed to "fight corruption at every level" rebuild institutions and tackle the cost of living crisis. xIt is the first time in 12 presidential votes held under universal suffrage since Senegal gained independence from France in 1960 that an opposition candidate has won in the first round of voting. Ba, 62, recognised Faye's win and rang him to offer his congratulations. Outgoing president Macky Sall, who did not stand after wins in 2012 and 2019, also congratulated him, hailing "a victory for Senegalese democracy". - 'Hungry for change' - Faye has promised left-wing pan-Africanism and to renegotiate gas and oil contracts, with Senegal due to start production on recently discovered oil and gas reserves later this year. The opposition candidate has never held a nationally elected position before. The United States echoed Sall in hailing a triumph of democracy in Senegal. "The commitment of the Senegalese people to the democratic process is part of the foundation of our deep friendship and strong bilateral ties," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Faye on his victory, and said he looked forward to working with him. El Hadji Mamadou Mbaye, a political science lecturer and researcher at the University of Saint-Louis, told AFP that "people are hungry for change when you see what is happening in this country in terms of corruption, non-respect of the law". The person who most embodied the longed-for change was Ousmane Sonko, Mbaye added, referring to the firebrand opposition figurehead who was barred from running in the election but endorsed Faye as his replacement. Faye had appeared clearly ahead of former prime minister Ba, according to provisional results from individual polling stations published by local media and on social networks. Official results are expected before the end of the week. An absolute majority was required for a first-round win. Newspaper front pages had already congratulated Faye. "Happy Birthday Mister President," said the Walf Quotidien, referring to Monday being Faye's birthday. Hundreds of jubilant Faye supporters had gathered at his campaign headquarters in the capital Dakar late on Sunday. "It's a total revolution. Everything is going to change. Behaviourally, socially and financially, everything is going to change," Coumba Diallo, a singer known as Queen Biz, enthused. At least 10 of the 17 presidential candidates earlier on Monday had congratulated Faye in light of provisional results published by the media. No major incidents were reported during the vote despite three years of bouts of unrest and a last-minute postponement of the election. - Deep change - Faye was released from prison on March 14 under a rapidly passed amnesty law, together with Sonko. He was jailed last year on charges linked to a standoff between Sonko and the state. Sonko was barred from running in the presidential race due to a defamation conviction. The anti-establishment candidate has pledged to restore national "sovereignty" and distribute wealth more equitably. He has also promised to renegotiate mining, gas and oil contracts signed with foreign companies. "I want to say to the international community, to our bilateral and multilateral partners, that Senegal... will remain... a sure and reliable ally to all partners who commit to a virtuous, respectful and mutually productive cooperation with us," Faye said on Monday. - Postponement - Senegal was originally due to vote on February 25, but an 11th-hour postponement by Sall triggered the worst political crisis in decades and violence that left four dead. Around 7.3 million of Senegal's 18 million population were eligible to vote. With the country viewed as a beacon of democracy in coup-hit West Africa, where Russia is strengthening its influence, the election was closely followed. It is Senegal's third democratic handover from one elected leader to another since independence. Hundreds of observers from civil society, the African Union, the ECOWAS regional group and the European Union were on hand. After weeks of confusion, Senegal's top constitutional body overruled Sall's attempt to delay the vote until December and forced him to reset the date to March 24, resulting in a rushed campaign that clashed with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Sall's legacy includes mass arrests, persistent poverty, 20 percent unemployment and thousands of migrants setting off on the perilous voyage to Europe each year. Several episodes of unrest triggered partly by the stand-off between Sonko and the state have seen dozens killed and hundreds arrested since 2021. bur-sba-lal-amt/kjm/aph/mca Tiara Flores said she wanted to be a foster parent because she believes the children are the future and will be the ones to make a change in the community. I get a chance to actually see the milestones. I look at my children and I know that Ive provided them with something that no one could ever take away from them, Flores, a licensed foster parent, said. They came into my house looking for a hero, not realizing that they are the true heroes. But Flores is only among a few dozen foster parents on Guam, which has hundreds of children under Child Protective Service custody, so the Department of Public Health and Social Services issued a callout for more potential licensed foster parents. By opening your home to a child in need, you have the opportunity to provide stability, love and support during a critical time in their life, according to Heidi Lujan, acting chief of Public Healths Division of Childrens Wellness under the Bureau of Social Services Administration. Your guidance and care as a foster parent can make a profound and lasting impact, helping Guams children grow into thriving adults. There are currently about 667 children in CPS custody but there are only about 70 licensed foster homes. There are about 16 children staying in shelters also ready for foster placement but are lacking available homes. As a foster parent, Ive experienced the incredible privilege of opening my heart and home to children in need, Public Health Deputy Director Terry Aguon said. Being a foster parent is not just about providing a safe space, its about instilling hope, healing wounds, and creating a brighter future for the children and youth of Guam. There are different types of foster care, including respite care, emergency care and full-time Care. Public Health said for more information about the different types of foster care, and how to become a foster parent, contact the Home Evaluation and Placement Services by calling (671) 475-2653/72 or through email at bossa@dphss.guam.gov. Speaker Therese Terlajes committee on health will be holding an informational hearing on foster care at 2 p.m. on March 25. Foster care payments BOSSA also issued a reminder to foster families that the processing of foster care maintenance payments may be delayed due to the transition of the new financial management system with the Department of Administration. Public Health said to follow up on payment status, contact BOSSA at (671) 475-2653/72 or through email at cps@dphss.guam.gov. A groundbreaking ceremony that will mark the official start of a long-awaited refurbishment of F. B. Leon Guerrero Middle School in Yigo will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. FBLG Middle School students have been sharing a campus with Okkodo High School students since last year via double-session classes. The middle school had to close following a 2022 structural engineering inspection report which stated that the school has deteriorated, after decades of use without regular repairs, with numerous roof leaks and corrosion in concrete reinforcing bars. The same 2022 report stated that there is an immediate need for major structural retrofit and/or restoration...Failure to do so will result in even more damages that may cause an overall failure of the structure. Its a significant milestone, according to the Guam Department of Education, which issued an announcement Monday about the March 26, 2024 groundbreaking for the refurbishment. The school in October 2022 closed a section of its campus to assess and address safety concerns in certain classrooms. Thereafter, a step taken to address the repairs in the school was a priority, GDOE said in a press release, describing the October 2022 proactive partial closure as evidence of the schools dedication to providing a safe and conducive learning environment. GDOE said Tuesdays event would be a momentous occasion for the community, reflecting the collective efforts and dedication to the advancement of education. This commitment is a testament to the resilience and dedication of educators who strive daily to create a nurturing and conducive atmosphere for academic growth and success, Education Superintendent Erik Swanson said in a statement. The ceremony will take place at the school on 533 Juan Jacinto Road in Yigo. GDOE said the event symbolizes a commitment to enhancing educational facilities and providing a better learning environment for students. The dedication to overcoming challenges and ensuring a secure learning environment is a cornerstone of educational leadership. Dr. Erik Swansons statement reflects a deep commitment to student safety and well-being, which is paramount in the mission of the Guam Department of Education, GDOE said. As one of the seven public middle schools on the island, FBLG Middle School has a storied history, having transitioned from an elementary school to a middle school in 1982. Its reputation for excellence is well-known, marked by the distinction of being the first public middle school in Guam to receive a full six-year accreditation term in 1998, a standard of excellence it maintained with another six-year accreditation awarded, GDOE added. George C. Eustaquio is a resident of Frederick, Maryland, and was principal staff assistant for 12 years to Guams first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, the late Antonio B. Won Pat. 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. The lineup has been revealed for Octobers NOLA Funk Fest. Three days of fun, food and funk will be coming to the New Orleans Jazz Museum from Friday, Oct. 18, until Sunday, Oct. 20, with heavy-hitting musical acts like George Porter Jr. and Leo Nocentelli, The Soul Rebels, Big Freedia and more. The festival is a fundraiser for the proposed Louisiana Music and Heritage Experience, a museum of grand scale dedicated to the preservation of Louisianas rich musical history. The museum is set to be built across the street from the New Orleans Convention Center, and is tentatively slated to open in 2027. General admission tickets are on sale now at $35 for a one-day pass and $90 for a three-day pass. Louisiana locals can purchase discounted tickets online, but must present a valid Louisiana ID at the ticket booth to receive their bracelets. Prices go up on Sunday, March 24, at 11:50 p.m. CT. Last years NOLA Funk Fest included two symposiums dedicated to influential funk artists from New Orleans, Earl King and Dave Bartholomew. The festival will hold similar symposiums this year, with admission only available through the Super VIP ticket package. The VIP package also includes an exclusive show on Thursday, Oct. 17, special access to front/side stage areas and a complimentary merch bag. Haiti - Insecurity : More than 230 American citizens evacuated in one week In the past week, more than 230 American citizens were evacuated from Haiti by helicopter to the Dominican Republic, said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel (130 Americans in Port-au-Prince since March 20 and counting of 100 citizens to leave Cap-Haitien since March 17). "We will continue to monitor demand from U.S. citizens for assistance in departing Haiti on a real-time basis," declared Saturday March 23 Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson for the State Department, who reiterated that American citizens should not travcel to Haiti and should leave the country when transportation options are available and it is safe to do so. Vedant Patel said several flights are planned each day to help as many people as possible leave the country, stressing "of course, the situation on the ground is one of the biggest factors into determining the frequency at which we can do this." Another official later said the State Department intended to facilitate the departure of about 30 Americans via two helicopter flights each day for the duration of the mission and that government personnel would be on hand in the Republic Dominican Republic to help compatriots book commercial travel to the United States upon landing. But the official warned that the department's ability to continue operating these flights would depend on security conditions in Haiti and the availability of commercial charters, as well as the demand for evacuations. Members of the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service were working with the Department of Defense to ensure the security of departing citizens and the helicopter landing zone (which is very close to the embassy) but Americans must travel at their own risk and by their own means to the departure points. The United States organized a charter flight from Cap-Haitien to Miami on Sunday March 24 with 30 Americans on board. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41935-haiti-department-of-state-helicopters-began-to-evacuate-american-citizens.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41919-haiti-flash-nearly-1-000-americans-in-haiti-request-help-from-the-state-department.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41902-haiti-flash-the-state-department-will-evacuate-americans-in-haiti.html SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Politic : The Canadian Ambassador will remain in Haiti despite the rise in violence Saturday March 23, 2024, on the sidelines of the funeral of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, questioned about the possible closure of the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince, in a context of confrontation Bloody declared that Andre Francois Giroux, Ambassador of Canada to Haiti would remain with a reduced team in Haiti despite the increase in violence "We will ensure that our Ambassador is in Haiti. [...] Its important for Haitians, its important for Canadians, its also a message for the world." "Even if the country is going through a huge political and security crisis, we must show the Haitian people that we are their best friends and that we are there for the long term," declared the Minister adding that she was in contact with the Ambassador in Port-au-Prince every two or three days. Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said Friday that soldiers from Canada's elite special forces unit are currently working with the embassy in Port-au-Prince to assist with "contingency planning," but are not did not provide further details. According to GAC, there are currently 3,039 Canadians in Haiti registered with the registration service for Canadians abroad. It also said its Emergency Monitoring and Response Center had responded to 245 requests since March 3rd, mainly regarding general travel information and the general security situation. HL/ HaitiLibre The West Texas Symphony presents the chamber series featuring the Permian Basin String Quartet spring recital titled 'Reflections in C' on Saturday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. at First Methodist Midland (Chapel). Courtesy photo The West Texas Symphony presents the Permian Basin String Quartet spring recital titled 'Reflections in C' on Saturday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m. at First Methodist Midland (Chapel). The performance will feature what is considered one of Mozarts most earth-shaking developments when meeting composer Joseph Haydn and hearing his Opus 33 Quartets. Reportedly, the chance encounter between the two musicians inspired Mozart to compose his six Hadyn Quartets. The work received the nickname Dissonance in the 1780s because of the clashing pitches (cross-relations) in its slow introduction, resulting from Mozarts bold approach to counterpoint, writes Jane Vial Jaffe. The Permian Basin performance will also feature the work of composer Dmitri Shostakovich and his first string quartet, the String Quartet No. 1 in C major, opus 49. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Four-string performers will carve out these composers' musical offerings for the audience consisting of Romina Dimock (violin), Gabriella St. James (violin), Dr. Conrad Sclar (viola) and Suyeon Kim (cello). A native of Honduras, Dimock has served in several professional orchestras in Honduras, Guatemala, and Texas. She was a member of The National Symphony of Honduras for seven years, The Amarillo Symphony, the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra, and lastly a proud member of the West Texas Symphony since 2019. She has taught several young musicians and has a record of UIL sweepstakes in various schools in both Odessa and Midland. Dimock holds two bachelors degrees from the National University of Honduras in Music Performance and Foreign Languages and has completed two masters degrees in Music Performance and Interdisciplinary Studies, along with a String Quartet certificate from WTAMU. Gabriella St. James works at Milam Elementary where she teaches Suzuki Pedagogy from Kindergarten to fifth grade students. St. James was a member of several orchestras including Newark Symphony, Williamsport Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Binghamton Symphony, Firelands Symphony and Mansfield Symphony. Advertisement Article continues below this ad St. James holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware where she studied with Xiang Gao. She also holds two Masters; the first from Pennsylvania State University, majoring in music performance and studied under Max Zorin and James Lyon, and the second masters at Ithaca College, with a double concentration in Suzuki Pedagogy and music performance under Carrie Reuning-Hummel and Calvin Wiersma. Dr. Conrad Sclar has performed chamber and orchestral music from Colorado to the East Coast. His work includes international performances such as the Saarburg International Music Festival in Germany and Siena International Music Program in Italy. Dr. Sclar received his Masters degree in 2017 from the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Karen Ritscher. He then proceeded to the University of Colorado, where he served as a Viola Studio Graduate Assistant. In 2020, he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree, studying with Erika Eckert and Geri Walther. Last but not least, Suyeon Kim has been featured as a soloist, chamber artist, teacher, recording artist, and orchestral musician in the U.S. and South Korea. Kim has collaborated with eminent musicians such as Quartor Ebene, Arnold Steinhardt, and Ronald Leonard. In 2015, she recorded soundtracks for a BBC documentary titled Planet Earth II under Hans Zimmer. She has also performed in WDCH as a part of the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival 2016, sharing the stage with world-renown cellists such as Mischa Maisky, Thomas Demenga, Matt Haimovitz, Frans Helmerson, Giovanni Sollima, and many more. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Currently, Kim is a doctoral of Musical Arts candidate at Texas Tech University where she studies with Jeffrey Lastrapes. She obtained her Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles where she studied with Ronald Leonard and achieved a 2014 Colburn Teaching Fellowship under the guidance of Dr. Robert A. Duke. Haiti - Insecurit y: Special flights for vulnerable French people wishing to leave Haiti Due to the interruption of commercial air links with Port-au-Prince, the Quai d'Orsay has made special flights available to the most vulnerable French nationals who want to leave Haiti's plagued to attacks by armed gangs. Around 1,100 French people, including a large number of dual nationals, live in Haiti, according to figures from the Quai d'Orsay. No figures have been communicated on the number of French people wanting to leave Haiti. The Quay d'Orsay specifies that this is not an evacuation strictly speaking, but an opportunity offered to vulnerable nationals, namely elderly people and people undergoing medical treatment to leave the country. The families of these people will also be able to accompany them. These flights, which began on Sunday, are carried out by French army helicopters. The French nationals concerned are transported to a helicopter carrier, before being evacuated by sea to Guadeloupe or Martinique before deciding whether to stay on the islands or return to France. Nationals wishing to leave Haiti are invited to report to the French Embassy in Port-au-Prince at +509 29 99 90 90 if they have not already done so. https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-41926-icihaiti-notice-the-french-embassy-lists-french-nationals-wishing-to-leave-haiti.html The French Embassy in Port-au-Prince remains open and continues its (reduced) activities despite the degraded conditions. It remains fully mobilized in support of the French community on site https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41916-haiti-news-zapping.html See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-41926-icihaiti-notice-the-french-embassy-lists-french-nationals-wishing-to-leave-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41916-haiti-news-zapping.html S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Social : The Haitian population caught in the spiral of hunger Just like last year, 2024 started with the same factors that contribute to increasing the vulnerability of households by depriving them of food and other basic necessities. The already catastrophic humanitarian situation has deteriorated recently with an increase in the level of violence in several neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince since the end of February... From March 8 to 14, 2024, 17,000 people left the Metropolitan Area of Port-au-Prince towards the provinces and more than 362,000 people are currently displaced throughout the country. This widespread violence has not only caused massive displacement, but it has also caused households to lose their livelihoods and employment opportunities. The availability of food is scarce in the markets, leading to soaring prices which are beyond the reach of vulnerable households. The numerous barricades erected by the gangs and the increase in the cost of fuel are making the prices of these commodities high on the markets. According to the results of the price analysis carried out at the end of January 2024 by the World Food Program (WFP) team, the cost of the food basket increased in 7 out of 10 departments: West (+10%), Grand'Anse (+9 %), South-East (+2%), South (+2%), North West (+1%), Center (+1%) and North Department (+0.3%). North (+0.3%). Increases which can be explained by the increase in the prices of basic food products such as beans, rice, corn and to a lesser extent, wheat flour. To compensate for product shortages, traders import a large part of agricultural products and other food products from the Dominican Republic. According to Price monitoring data from the International Organization Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) for February 2024 "All cooking oil is imported and rice imports represent nearly 80% of national needs. Large quantities of beans and corn are also imported." Being deprived of all means of subsistence and given their state of vulnerability, these displaced people and host families have pressing needs, including food assistance which will allow them to relieve their suffering immediately and to plan for the future. to support them in regaining their means of subsistence lost in this troubled situation. It is in this context that the food security sector notes the weak capacity of its members to mobilize and respond to the needs of people in distress, due to a lack of financial resources to deal with this deep crisis situation. The operational environment is increasingly hostile for the population and humanitarian actors operating in Haiti. Despite this, the humanitarian community continues to support affected populations despite the increase in attacks. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41962-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41954-haiti-social-45-of-the-population-facing-a-situation-of-acute-hunger.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41908-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41847-haiti-news-zapping.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41769-haiti-humanitarian-the-un-launches-an-appeal-for-674-million-us-dollars-to-help-36-million-people-in-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-41681-haiti-insecurity-the-wfp-urgently-calls-for-humanitarian-corridors-against-a-backdrop-of-urban-guerrilla-warfare.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-39828-haiti-humanitarian-food-insecurity-rate-in-haiti-2nd-highest-in-the-world.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping Santiago : Birth certificate service available and free The Consulate General of Haiti in Santiago, Dominican Republic, informs all Haitians in the Cibao community that the birth certificate service is available and free. You can come Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Note that if the parents are married, you must come with the marriage certificate and if the mother comes to do the birth certificate, the father must give her notarized authorization. The CPS has not received any ships since March 5 The Caribbean Port Services (CPS) has not received any ships (and therefore no containers) since March 5, 2024. If the situation persists, Haiti risks running out of everything... Alarming situation in pharmacies Pierre Hugues Saint Jean, the President of the Association of Pharmacists of Haiti (APH), launches a cry of alarm in the face of the impossibility for hospital and community pharmacies to restock with medicines. He informs that one of the country's three large laboratories has already closed its doors, the other two are operating slowly while several pharmaceutical agencies have been looted or vandalized. Canadian Embassy temporarily closed: The Canadian Embassy in Haiti is temporarily closed to the public. Operations continue and consular services will be provided remotely. Register at: https://ow.ly/ovBG50PUg4m Request emergency consular assistance: https://ow.ly/MWCP50PUg6k Diaspora : International Finance Summit: Group Croissance S. A., together with its various partners, announces the 1st edition of the International Finance Summit in the Diaspora on April 6 and 7, 2024 in Miami, Florida. This activity will take place around the theme "Financing the Haitian economy from direct investments from the diaspora." 86,000 people live in sites In Port-au-Prince, 84 sites (schools, churches and other open spaces) house more than 86,000 people... The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its partners continue to provide a vital response to meet the needs the most urgent. HL/ HaitiLibre Police have identified a body found in a burned car at a rest area on Interstate 65 in southern Kentucky. They say they don't suspect any foul play. Kentucky State Police say the body of 46-year-old William Bruce Dugas of Scottsville was identified by dental records. Police received a report of the burning vehicle on Friday and Dugas' body was found inside. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Daily News of Bowling Green reported that Dugas was a grandson of Cal Turner, one of the founders of discount retailer Dollar General. Dugas also was the stepfather of Lucas Goodrum, an Aubrey, Texas, man who was cleared at trial in 2005 of charges stemming from the death of a Western Kentucky University student two years earlier. Havre Police Department A caller on Third Avenue reported a two-vehicle crash Friday at 11:29 a.m. after accidentally sliding into a parked vehicle. -- A written or verbal warning was issued after a caller on Second Avenue reported two dogs running around Friday at 11:42 a.m. -- Officers were asked at 12:32 p.m. Friday to assist Montana Highway patrol on 15th Street West. -- Brandon Lee Wombold of Havre, 28, was arrested on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia after a caller at a First Street West business reported Friday at 1:03 p.m. someone might be doing drugs in the business. -- A caller on Third Avenue reported backing their vehicle into a parked vehicle at 1:12 p.m. Friday. -- A Friday 3:40 p.m. caller asked officers to perform a welfare check on a family member on Seventh Avenue. -- A Rich Street West caller asked Friday at 7:47 p.m. to speak with officers about an issue that was subsequently investigated. -- A side-swiped vehicle was reported on Ford Avenue at 8:02 p.m. Friday. -- A theft, forgery or fraud was reported on 19th Avenue Northeast Friday at 11:57 p.m. -- Roy Walter McDaniel II of Havre, 20, was arrested on charges of aggravated driving under the influence, speeding and minor in possession and Jesse Strickland, 20, Braeden Romo, 19, and Jacob Buessing, 19, all of Montana but with no town listed, were each arrested on a charge of MIP after a vehicle stop on Fourth Street at 1:48 a.m. Saturday. -- Officers investigated an incident while assisting sheriff's deputies on Eighth Avenue West at 4:10 a.m. Saturday. -- Officers assisted sheriff's deputies at the hospital Saturday at 6:16 a.m. -- James Wyatt Osgood of Havre, 36, was issued a summons on a criminal contempt charge related to a 24/7 Sobriety Program violation reported at 8 a.m. Saturday at the police station. -- A Seventh Avenue caller reported Saturday at 4:45 p.m. that a rifle had been stolen and there were signs of recent tracks to the residence. -- A hit and run crash was reported on First Street at 6:22 p.m. Saturday. -- A 9:14 p.m. Saturday caller reported their son was missing in the Havre area. -- A caller at 11:12 p.m. Saturday asked officers to perform a welfare check on someone on McKinley Avenue. -- A woman was reported laying in the middle of the street near a First Street establishment Sunday at 12:24 a.m. -- A 12:48 a.m. Sunday caller at a First Street establishment asked officers for assistance removing two underage men who wouldn't leave when asked. The did leave the establishment prior to arrival of officers. -- Dustin John Grandchamp of Havre, 32, was arrested on nine Justice or City court warrants after a Ninth Avenue caller reported neighbors fighting at 12:51 a.m. Sunday. -- A caller at 2:09 a.m. Sunday reported a credit card was stolen in the Havre area. -- A possible break-in was reported on Seventh Avenue Sunday at 5:24 a.m. -- A written or verbal warning was issued after a 16th Street caller reported a black dog running around Sunday at 10:41 a.m. -- Officers assisted sheriff's deputies on U.S. Highway 2 West at 11:21 a.m. Sunday. -- A Sunday 4:41 p.m. caller asked officers to be on the look-out for a vehicle stolen out of Rocky Boy. -- A Havre area caller ask officers Sunday at 7:51 p.m. for assistance, and they opened an incident investigation. Hill County Sheriff's Office Stuart Roland Lumsden of Havre, 72, was arrested on a partner or family member assault charge after a Friday 8:37 a.m. caller on River Road reported being afraid for their safety while a person was yelling at them. -- Shawna Faye Small of Box Elder, 32, was arrested on a state District Court warrant and a charge of obstructing a peace officer or other public servant after a trespasser was reported on Main Street East in Box Elder at 4:14 p.m. Friday. -- Deputies were asked Friday at 9:07 p.m. to be on the lookout for a possible missing person. -- Jayson Klay Kohler of Havre, 27, was arrested on charges of assault with a weapon and partner or family member assault after an Eighth Avenue West caller at 4:07 a.m. Saturday reported a threatening man. -- Deputies searched for but could not locate an erratic driver reported Saturday at 4:55 p.m. on Fourth Street in Hingham. -- Elias Paul Lamere of Box Elder, 27, was arreseted on a warrant for revocation of a suspended or deferred sentence served Saturday at 4:16 p.m. while Lamere was being held at Hill County Detention Center. -- Deputies were asked Sunday at 10:21 a.m. to assist someone on U.S. Highway 2 East and the incident was resolved peacefully. Havre Fire Department Emergency medical technicians responded to two calls Friday, four calls Saturday and one call early Sunday. -- One engine and six firefighters responded to a shop fire on the 7200 Block of Highway 2 East Friday at 3:09 p.m., Havre Fire Chief Nathan Courtnage said. The small fire at the ceiling was put out prior to their arrival, he added, and firefighters checked for hotspots and cooled the roof. Courtnage said the fire, which caused minimal charring to the ceiling and some smoke damage, was started by a tractor that was being worked on and was running in the shop. Havre Animal Shelter This morning the animal shelter held three 9-week-old kittens all of unknown gender, four female cats, two male cats and a 19-week-old male kitten. -- Also this morning, the animal shelter held seven mixed-breed puppies between 7 weeks and 6 months old, six female and one male mixed-breed dogs, and one female German shepherd-cross dog. Additionally, five 9-week-old puppies were being housed off-site. Democratic candidate for Montana's eastern U.S. House seat was Steve Held was in Havre over the weekend in a campaign swing through the district. Held is among the Democrats running for Montana's Second Congressional District, a campaign with a crowded primary field that does not include the seat's current occupant, Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont. In the Democratic primary, Held faces Kevin Hamm, a Helena community organizer and activist, as well as retired pharmaceutical rep Ming Cabrera of Billings, and former Montana lawmaker and writer John Driscoll. Among the Republicans running are Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen, Montana Auditor Troy Downing, former Republican state lawmakers Joel Krautter, Ric Holden and Ed Walker, along with Montana State Sen. Kenneth Bogner, R-Miles City, former Motana Rep. Denny Rehberg, former Drug Enforcement Administration official Stacy Zinn and Billings Republican Kyle Austin, formerly of Havre. Rosendale - who for less than a week was in the race for Sen. Jon Tester's seat before dropping out after former president Trump endorsed his primary opponent Tim Sheehy - also dropped out of the race for reelection to his House seat, citing alleged death threats made to his family and rumors being spread about him. Held, a fourth-generation Montana rancher, motel owner and former professional actor from the Broadus area, said he's never identified with either political party, but running for the seat required that he make a choice, and, unfortunately, he said, the Republican party is dominated by too many extremists to be a viable choice. He said the GOP has demonstrated a willingness to hurt people for the sake of getting elected, and no where was this more apparent than it was with the recent "debacle" over the U.S. southern border. He said Democrats bent over backward to give Republicans practically everything they wanted in a bill that would have addressed the border crisis, but they killed the bill anyway, because they wanted to keep the issue alive as a wedge in the upcoming election cycle, a display of politicking that Held described as "disgusting." He said there are well-meaning people in the party who want to solve problems, but they hardly ever get anything done because the reins are in the hands of people who don't. "That party is broken right now, and that makes me sad. My dad is a Republican," Held said. " ... The good people in that party are not going to get heard." He said this has been a problem for some time, such as when Republicans opposed the Affordable Care Act for political reasons, despite the fact that it was modeled after health care reforms championed by Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, but it's gotten completely out of hand as time's gone on. Recent Republican efforts to restrict access to health care for women and transgender people is another manifestation of this extremism, he said. Montanans, regardless of their political party or identity, he said, should have the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies with their health care providers, which he considers a matter of personal privacy. Held said a lot of Republicans publicly express support for these restrictions but, when pressed, will acknowledge the troubling implications their position has for Montanans' right to privacy, a matter that they take very seriously. As for the Democrats, he said, he's the only one on the ticket that he feels can effectively represent the interests of Eastern Montana and he wants to get Congress moving on legislation like the Farm Bill. He said the Farm Bill is a vital piece of legislation, and Republican efforts to prevent its passage, all for the sake of winning political points, are hurting countless people in the agriculture industry, and that needs to stop. Held said the Republicans' lack of interest in addressing climate change is another problem they're making for the agriculture industry, as the effects of the crisis are now plainly visible for all to see. He said even during the Trump years, a strong majority of Americans believed the government must do something to address the issue, and that number has only grown, so it is clearly a priority. Held's daughter, Rikki Held, was the primary plaintiff in a successful lawsuit against the state of Montana saying the plaintiff's constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment was not being maintained by the state, resulting in the first legal opinion of its kind, which spelled out the environmental harms caused by greenhouse gas emissions as well as the effects of climate change on the physical and mental wellbeing of young people. The ruling may have wide-reaching implications for Montana energy policy, and Steve Held joked that it's made his daughter much more famous than he is. He also said Congress is facing an issue that continues to damage its legitimacy, with multiple members of both parties being credibly accused of insider trading. Held said people in Congress have access to information that can be used to illegally play the stock market, and while there are measures in place to try to prevent that information from being used or passed on to others who can use it, it's not difficult to circumvent them. He said this is blatantly corrupt and needs to be addressed immediately. He also talked about increasing access to affordable health care and affordable housing, saying the government will likely need to intervene to help provide that. Held said he understands that people don't like taxes, and neither does he, but there are things the government needs to do to help people who are in need, and that costs money. However, he said, that money can't come solely from the middle class, and the wealthy need to pay their share. He also talked about little things the government can do, like raising awareness about soil health, which could really help out Montana agriculture producers. He said despite the dangerously polarized times "most Americans agree on most parts of most issues," and Democrats need to be willing to find common ground with those Republicans who do want the best for the U.S. and Montana, and ignore the extremists in their own ranks. Held said in his travels around the state he's had a great many conversations about issues going on for people and he's found that he has some kind of personal or family connection to all of them, which he thinks is an indicator that he can represent people's issues effectively. He said extremist Republicans represent a danger to Montanans' safety and rights, and if he's elected that is a worry that no one in the state will need to have. MONDAY, Feb. 1, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- As Tony Bennett releases what may well be his last album, his family has disclosed that the 1950s crooner who became popular with younger audiences decades later has Alzheimer's disease. His wife, Susan, made the announcement in an interview published in AARP magazine. She said Bennett, 94, is content and happy and took the diagnosis calmly. "But that's because he already didn't understand," she said. "He would ask me, 'What is Alzheimer's?' I would explain, but he wouldn't get it. He'd tell me, 'Susan, I feel fine.' That's all he could process -- that physically he felt great. So, nothing changed in his life. Anything that did change, he wasn't aware of." But Bennett, who was still playing more than a hundred dates a year when he married Susan in 2007 at age 80, noticed something was wrong during a 2015 tour, AARP reported. He told Susan he couldn't remember the names of the musicians on stage. She thought it was normal aging. He wanted to see a doctor. Dr. Gayatri Devi, a neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, diagnosed Bennett in 2016. She told AARP that he has "an amazingly versatile brain." "He is doing so many things, at 94, that many people without dementia cannot do," Devi said. "He really is the symbol of hope for someone with a cognitive disorder." Devi attributed Bennett's high functioning to his strong family support -- especially from Susan, his primary caregiver. "I am humbled by the level of devotion," Devi told AARP. "She also expects a lot from him. I think her background as a teacher helps, but she's also very much in love with him. And he rises to her expectations." According to the magazine, Bennett has so far been spared the disorientation that can lead Alzheimer's patients to wander from home, as well as episodes of terror, rage or depression that often accompany the disease. But Bennett is not always sure where he is or what is happening around him, according to the magazine, and common objects like a fork can be baffling to him. Documentary footage of his work on the new album with his protege Lady Gaga revealed a more muted presence than before, according to the magazine. Bennett rarely spoke and seemed halting when he did. Often, he appeared to be lost or bewildered. Gaga, who was aware of his condition, spoke to him in short, simple sentences, as recommended by Alzheimer's experts. At one point, according to the magazine, she told Bennett he sounded so good. "Thanks," he replied. "The pain and sadness in Gaga's face is clear at such moments," author John Colapinto wrote in AARP. "But never more so than in an extraordinarily moving sequence in which Tony sings a solo passage of a love song. Gaga looks on, from behind her mic, her smile breaking into a quiver, her eyes brimming, before she puts her hands over her face and sobs." Bennett's family kept his secret for four years, but decided to break their silence now with the release of his new album. The disclosure is a way to remove some of the stigma associated with the incurable disease, they said. "Being open about a diagnosis in such a public manner takes great courage and compassion," said Beth Kallmyer, vice president for care and support with the Alzheimer's Association. "Tony's brave transparency will help encourage important conversations around early detection and diagnosis while helping families access crucial care and support services," she added. And the need for support will only grow. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia among older people. More than 5 million Americans have it -- a number projected to soar as baby boomers born between 1954 and 1964 get older. More information The Alzheimer's Association has a list of 10 early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's dementia. SOURCES: AARP Magazine, February 2021; Beth Kallmyer, MSW, vice president, care and support, Alzheimer's Association Shocking and ongoing levels of violence in Ecuador since the New Year followed by flooding caused by El Nino landed a double blow for those in the country who live day to day and are most vulnerable to instability. Farming families and communities, already struggling to earn a living income, saw the entire food market disrupted. Escalating crime and violence made it more dangerous and challenging to get crops, fish and meat to market, while growing insecurity also dampened consumer demand. Reports reached us of women sleeping in their shops to protect their agri-food businesses while migration levels continued to climb. Yet against the odds, many communities are keeping local food supplies moving thanks to ongoing collaboration with local development groups that has strengthened their resilience to shocks, offering a blueprint for cost-effective, community-led economic development elsewhere. Clemente Caceres measures a crab collected from mangrove ecosystems in Esmeraldas, Ecuador. This region is one of the hardest hit by the current wave of violence. Photo by Isadora Romero/Heifer International. Many rural communities in Ecuador were able to adapt to the effects of recent events with the support of organizations on the ground, including Heifer Ecuador, the Global FoodBanking Network and others. Grassroots efforts to minimize the impact of such crises have reduced the scale of losses and the cost of rebuilding as well as the imperative to migrate, making long-term resilience a strategic investment for the humanitarian and development sectors. This picture of hope in Ecuador should inspire the international community to invest more funding and resources into strengthening local and rural economies in Latin America and around the world so that similar shocks do not set back development gains elsewhere. Core to building long-term resilience is learning and applying lessons from previous shocks or stressors. For example, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers in Ecuador united to pool their produce at dedicated and sanitized collection centers and create food baskets for home delivery, targeting low-income families. Meanwhile, communities established open-air marketplaces with the help of the Heifer Ecuador team to provide farmers with a safe place to sell their produce during periods of restricted movement. This meant farming families could continue to make a living, while also supporting local food security. Today, farmers are applying the same flexibility and creativity to keep food markets functioning despite criminal gangs controlling key roads and ports. This includes adapting schedules to get key commodities like coffee and cocoa to ports safely. A second element of long-term resilience is anticipating and preparing for shocks as much as possible. The 1997-98 El Nino brought extreme rainfall to Ecuador, resulting in agricultural losses of more than $300 million by February 1998 alone. But this year, ahead of a forecasted El Nino, Heifer Ecuador worked with partners to carry out an innovative study of the areas at most risk to help take preventative measures to reduce agricultural losses and damage. The data analyzed the potential threat to 500,000 farmers and producers in the provinces of El Oro, Esmeraldas, Manabi, Santa Elena and Guayas, and recommended measures such as reinforced flood walls and barriers, improved soil drainage, and storage and processing for crops harvested early. During the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Popular Arts Collective "La Changa" delivered agro-ecological food baskets by bike in southern Quito. Heifer Ecuador supported this effort with transport, sanitation services and equipment. Photo by: Isadora Romero / Heifer International The result was that communities were better prepared this time with more information about what to expect. Some simple but key prevention actions were implemented to protect food collection centers' post-harvest equipment, among others, minimizing the impact on food systems and local economies. One such preventative action in El Oro province involved the co-financing of a canopy for a farmer-run association to cover and protect harvested cacao as it dried an intervention that helped prevent the product from getting wet and losing its quality during the winter season. Similarly, in Santa Elena, Heifer Ecuador and local partners reinforced the soil around a meat processing center, channeling rainwater away from the center's perimeter to reduce the risk of flooding and prevent the deterioration of the sites infrastructure. With more empowered, resilient communities, humanitarian aid can therefore be better allocated for moments of unprecedented, urgent need. In the meantime, vulnerabilities that exacerbate the impact of shocks like the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Ecuador in 2016, which killed hundreds and displaced thousands more must be addressed through long-term disaster risk reduction, including improvements to infrastructure and early warning systems. The effectiveness of responding to shocks like the recent violent conflict and climate extremes depends as much on the decisions taken in preceding years as it does those taken in the moment. And with climate extremes becoming increasingly frequent, investing in long-term resilience is even more critical. By investing in local teams and working to strengthen the resilience of rural and agricultural communities at the bottom of the pyramid, the whole fabric of society is stronger and more stable as a result. This has benefitted Ecuador when it most needed it, and by replicating this model elsewhere, it can help protect the most vulnerable around the world. Originally published on Inter Press Service. Two months before Pope John Paul II is scheduled to canonize Mexico's most beloved miracle, a San Antonio scientist is protesting the long-awaited event, saying an image of the Virgin Mary believed to have been imprinted on a peasant's cloak is not miraculous at all. The olive-skined Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Guadalupe reportedly appeared to an Aztec peasant in 1531 and turned millions of polytheist Indians into Roman Catholics. Her 5-by-3 foot image, which is said to have appeared miraculously on the cloak worn by the peasant Juan Diego, is housed at Mexico City's Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the world's second most popular Catholic site after the Vatican. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 1990, the pope beautified Juan Diego, the step before full sainthood, and some Catholics have been hoping for centuries for canonization, the ultimate stamp of legitimacy. But recent studies of the image are feeding centuries-old uncertainty over its origin, says Leoncio A. Garza-Valdes, 61, who in 1999 was part of a team that evaluated the cloth. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "The cloak of Our Lady of Guadalupe is not one painting but three paintings, and one is signed and dated. So this is not a miraculous image; it was created by man," Garza-Valdes was quoted as saying in Sunday's editions of the San Antonio Express-News. Garza-Valdes, whose conclusions were published last week in the Mexican magazine Proceso, believes the image of the Virgin is not of supernatural origin, and that Juan Diego is a creation of 17th-century church writings. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "We want to stop the canonization of Juan Diego," Garza-Valdes said. "The church is making a boo-boo. I am a Catholic and a Guadalupano, but I am not an apparitionist, and I do not believe in Juan Diego." Garza-Valdes, a pediatrician and microbiologist, said photographs taken of the image in the basilica vault in February 1999, using various filters that allow the passage of ultraviolet and infrared light, revealed three paintings, each painted over another. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In the earliest painting, Garza-Valdes says, the female figure was quite different and one can see the shadowy presence of a naked baby Jesus, reclining in the Virgin's left arm. He believes this original image was borrowed from a well-known statue in a basilica in Extremadura, Spain, which he recently inspected. And he says the initials of the artist, M.A. for Marcos Aquino, a historical figure, can be seen in the corner of the painting, next to the date 1556. Advertisement Article continues below this ad To others, these features are so vague as to be undetectable, and Garza-Valdes could cite no other independent observer who sees them. In photos of what the scientist calls the second and third Virgins, distinct changes to the figure's facial features are easily seen. In the final image, the eyes of the Virgin have become smaller and her features are less Indian. And, Garza-Valdes says, her face has been moved roughly 6 inches on the canvas. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Garza-Valdes also says microscopic examination of the canvas fibers reveal it to be made of hemp, typical of 17th-century paintings, and not of the Mexican agave cactus. This conclusion corresponds with those of a church-commissioned study done at the behest of Monsignor Guillermo Schulenberg, the longtime abbot of the Virgin's basilica in 1982 and only recently made public in Proceso. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The study, by Jose Sol Rosales, a Mexican expert in art restoration, concluded the painting was the work of human artists, using identifiable 17th-century materials and techniques, and was not the result of a supernatural event. "Look. This isn't the product of a miracle," Rosales said in an article published three weeks ago in Proceso. "You can identify the various layers (of paint). It has the marks of the paintbrush. But they say it was imprinted miraculously, with no preparation. No, no. This is not so." Advertisement Article continues below this ad Garza-Valdes, recently sent the pope a copy of his soon-to-be published 600-page book about his findings, saying his sole motive is to prevent an improper canonization. But Mexican church officials say Garza-Valdes is completely mistaken. And two Americans who went with him to Mexico in 1999 to take the photos do not agree with him on critical points. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Dr. Gilberto Aguirre, a San Antonio optometrist and a student of the Virgin, said that because the pictures were taken through a quarter-inch acrylic screen using only ambient light, the images they reveal cannot all be trusted. He also said ultraviolet light cannot reveal subsurface features. Lester Rosebrook, a photographer at the University of Texas Health Science Center who took the ultraviolet and infrared photos in Mexico, said Garza-Valdes sees specific things that he cannot. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "I didn't see the baby. If it was there, I think it would have been more clear," said Rosebrook. Monsignor Jose Luis Guerrero, a Mexican priest chosen by the Vatican as the advocate in Juan Diego's canonization cause, said ultimately, there is no way to prove the picture is not of supernatural origin. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "When God changed the water to wine, and made the fish and bread multiply, they seemed to be the same ordinary bread and wine," he said. "Even though they were miraculous, they appeared similar to ordinary things." Guerrero said Vatican officials already have reviewed Garza-Valdes' book, and nothing has undermined the church's conviction about Juan Diego and the cloak bearing the image of the Virgin. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "In our opinion, Juan Diego was a real person, a model Christian, and that he had contact with God through the Holy Virgin, and she left us something totally sufficient for the Indian culture to which it was directed," he said. "There have been many attacks. This is just one more." The agency, he added, is calling especially for measures to guarantee what it considers critical deliveries, such as food deliveries to grocery shops. THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY Supply Agency (HVK) and the Finnish Industrial Union will today continue discussions about measures to guarantee the availability of diesel and petrol amid the ongoing political strikes, Janne Kankanen , the CEO of HVK, stated to Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday. Safeguarding critical deliveries is the priority for us. That means official operations and critical logistics in the corporate side, the most important example being food deliveries to shops, said Kankanen. The Finnish Industrial Union is one of several trade unions involved in strikes organised in protest of government proposals on labour market reforms and social security cuts. The strikes have halted the handling of goods at ports, disrupted rail freight services and complicated industrial processes since 11 March. Following a one-week extension announced by the participating unions, they are scheduled to end on 31 March. HVK has pleaded with unions to rule fuel deliveries outside the scope of the strike. Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday reported that individual service stations are already experiencing diesel and petrol shortages. Kankanen on Sunday stated to the newspaper that although there are no immediate concerns about a fuel shortage, the agency has taken a proactive stance because the risks will increase as the strike continues. A lot will depend on whether the strikes will continue after the third week, he said. The Finnish Industrial Union announced earlier that fuel deliveries to airports will resume on Monday. Chairperson Riku Aalto said to Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday that the union has asked for clarifications from HVK. Well get back to it tomorrow, he added. Members of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), including the Industrial Union, have yet to reveal whether they are willing to extend the strikes beyond this week. Minister of Employment Arto Satonen (SAK) sat down with representatives of the central organisation last week, but the meeting failed to result in genuine discussions about details of government proposal on local bargaining. Satonen on Friday said he has asked Katariina Murto of the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) and Millariikka Rytkonen of the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals in Finland (Tehy) to look into the conditions for initiating negotiations about an export-driven system of wage formation. Aleksi Teivainen HT On Friday, diplomats from the member states withdrew the restoration law from the agenda after determining that it does not have the necessary support. A SLIM MAJORITY of EU member states have blocked the approval of a much-debated piece of legislation that would mandate that the 27-country bloc restore at least 20 per cent of its land and sea areas to or close to their natural state by 2030, reports Helsingin Sanomat. The diplomats convened to prepare for this weeks meeting of environment ministers from the union. Helsingin Sanomat reported that a last-minute attempt to rescue the law by the president of the Council of the EU, Belgium, fell apart due to opposition from Finland. The European Parliament and member states had agreed on the contents of the law in November, but Hungary declared at the end of last week that it is withdrawing its support for the law, breaking up the slim majority. Belgium launched a last-ditch effort to rescue the law by initiating negotiations with Finland, which had abstained from voting for the law an action that is counted as a vote against under the council rules. Finland reversing its stance would have sufficed to re-establish the requisite majority. The Finnish government, however, dug in its heels and declared, in a symbolic gesture, that rather than abstaining it would vote against the law. Also Belgium was compelled to abstain from voting on the law due to opposition from its northern Flemish Region, according to Euronews. The EU is seeking to restore land and sea areas to or close to their natural state over concerns about biodiversity loss. In Finland, opponents of the restoration law have argued that the bloc is meddling in domestic forest policy, whereas advocates have argued that the steering is justified because restoration falls under the common climate and environment policy. While the restoration law was only tabled, no timetable for revisiting it has been set, according to a diplomat who spoke to Helsingin Sanomat. Another attempt to assemble the necessary support, the newspaper wrote, could be launched after the European elections in June. Concerns, though, linger that right-wing populists will increase their influence in the elections. Aleksi Teivainen HT TOKYO, Mar 26 (News On Japan) - This July, the eagerly awaited anime "Small-Town Folk Series" will start its broadcast, bringing to life the peculiar and tumultuous school days of two high school students aspiring to live modestly. Despite their intentions, they find themselves entangled in one mysterious incident after another. The series explores whether these two can ever achieve the tranquil days they long for. Originating from a youth mystery novel series that has surpassed 800,000 copies in total sales, this adaptation into anime has been highly anticipated by fans. Source: ANN Aries: If you are already engaged in a service-oriented role, then you can expect an improvement in your work conditions. This may be in terms of increased resources, a sense of belonging, team spirit, or recognition for your contributions. Your determination and perseverance will bring you acclamation. If seeking a job, ensure that you frequently check out the latest job postings that fit your expertise. Read daily money and career horoscopes for all zodiac signs and know your fortune for today at Hindustan Times. Taurus: Keep the door open to advice, as it can help you figure out any ambiguous situation. Being nice to everybody you work with and your boss will improve your reputation. Listen or learn something useful for your working plans, and by doing this, you will have the right information to serve you in times of confusion in the workplace. Pay attention to your duties; you dont need to worry about the deadline. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Gemini: Pay close attention to all the thoughts and opinions expressed, including those you may disagree with. By bringing in different viewpoints, you will be able to add a new dimension and make your projects stand out better. Your empathetic and understanding leadership style will help your peers and seniors realise your leadership style and sense of camaraderie within the team. Cancer: Job seekers should take this opportunity to polish up their search tactics. Your attention to detail allows you to revise your applications with fine-tuned precision, which, in turn, enhances your chances of attracting the attention of the employers you are targeting. Working professionals should work on difficult tasks or look for new opportunities. Your improved cognitive ability will make it possible for you to overcome every difficulty with ease. Leo: The office atmosphere may be far from your liking. This might trigger conflicts and disputes, eventually escalating to co-worker quarrels. Although it may be hard sometimes to hold your nerves, it is essential to stay calm. Steer clear of getting caught in arguments and concentrate on finding peaceable resolutions. You will be considered for bigger roles if you can deal with difficult situations with composure and tact. Virgo: Today, the stars give you a reason to step out of the ordinary and bring some creativity into the picture. Whether you are getting ready for an interview or already employed, the time has come to add some spice to your style. If you want to stand out, try putting on something that makes you stand out or think about the things you are doing in a new way, maybe adding a new twist to how you are doing things at work. Libra: Although you have been trying hard, the complicated tasks may still be hard to tackle, and therefore, you can get upset. But this is the chance for you to prove your ability and creativity. Take this opportunity to showcase your problem-solving skills and earn some valid recognition for your hard work. Your colleagues and managers will surely recognise your never-say-die attitude, which can earn you some brownie points at work. Scorpio: Its the right time to kindle your imagination and enlighten your career. Take the risk of going beyond your usual boundaries and discovering the hidden talents that will elevate your career, reputation, and income. Your capacity to think unusually will make you stand out and help you solve difficult problems. This is the day to bring out your best and showcase your competencies. Sagittarius: Job applicants and employees may be attracted to jobs that call for a skill set that focuses on outlining every detail. Not only will you be able to schedule your appointments, but this could also be the right moment to balance your finances and make sure that all your resources are in order. The more you focus on details, the sharper your vision becomes. Spot and correct those flaws that were neglected in the past. Capricorn: Currently, the job market may be more dynamic than ever, and the same is true for the employed and the job seekers eager to realise professional advancement. Be single-minded and choose assignments that enhance your career by seeking to be better, learn, and impress. This stubbornness will help you, as you will make your goals your priorities and manage your time well. Aquarius: Your thought process is perfect, but if you don't have the courage and you are not a leader, then your ideas are useless. Today, spend your time developing your leadership and decisiveness skills. Do not only think about what must be achieved but be ready and willing to make it happen. Leadership roles will require you to be able to influence people and advance the company's business forward. Pisces: Be open to experimenting and exploring options for different industries or positions that meet your desires. Team up with people with the same enthusiasm to explore the unexplored possibilities. Collaborate with those who share the same passion to uncover hidden opportunities. Contact your contacts or come to industry events; it might lead you to the job of your dreams. ---------------------- Neeraj Dhankher (Vedic Astrologer, Founder - Astro Zindagi) Email: info@astrozindagi.in, neeraj@astrozindagi.in Url: www.astrozindagi.in Contact: Noida: +919910094779 Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of the year, AP reported on Monday. He had taken over as the aircraft giant's CEO following his predecessor Dennis Muilenburg's ousted following twin crashes in late 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia. In a letter to his employees, Calhoun had written,As we begin this period of transition, I want to assure you, we will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do." A file photo of Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun.(Reuters file) Calhoun acknowledged that Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 was a watershed moment for Boeing. We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company, AP quoted him as saying. ALSO READ: FAA to increase oversight of United Airlines following recent flight mishaps Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Beoing has come under intense scrutiny over its manufacturing process since the two crashes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently ordered an audit of assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle, where the company builds planes like the Alaska Airlines 737 Max that suffered a door-panel blowout on January 5. According to the investigators, the bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory. Board Chair Larry Kellner has also told the company he doesnt plan to stand for re-election. The company added that Stan Deal, president and CEO of its commercial airplanes unit, will retire from the company. Stephanie Pope will now lead the division. The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Kellner as independent board chair. In this role, Mollenkopf will lead the boards process of choosing Boeings next CEO. EU antitrust regulators opened their first investigations under the Digital Markets Act into Apple, Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms claiming potential breaches of landmark EU tech rules. The EU executive said in a statement as per news agency Reuters, The (European) Commission suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA. EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager holds a press conference in Brussels, Belgium.(Reuters) What is the EU antitrust investigating? The EU antitrust will investigate Alphabet's rules on Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search. Meanwhile, Apple is being probed over rules on their App Store and the choice screen for Safari and Meta's pay or consent model is being checked. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The commission said that it suspects that the measures put in place by these gatekeepers fall short of effective compliance of their obligations under the DMA", adding, The Commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Metas pay or consent model may not provide a real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by gatekeepers." The commission also said that is concerned that Google and Apple are imposing various restrictions and limitations including charging fees that prevent apps from freely promoting offers. What is the Digital Markets Act? The European Commission said it was investigating the companies for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act- a broad rulebook that targets Big Tech gatekeeper companies providing core platform services. The rules force the companies to comply with a set of dos and donts and in case they don't they need to pay heavy financial penalties or even end businesses in the EU. The aim of the rules is to make digital markets fairer and more contestable" by breaking up closed tech ecosystems. China is limiting the use of US-made microprocessors and servers in government computers, Financial Times reported as the new rules will replace chips made by US firms Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. with local alternatives. The report cited guidelines unveiled by the finance ministry and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on December 26 last year. The Chinese national flag is seen in Beijing, China. Software provided by companies including Microsoft Corp. will be replaced by China, it was reported. (Reuters) What is China changing in government computers? Software provided by companies including Microsoft Corp. will be replaced, the report noted. Although, there is still some flexibility for government agencies and state-owned enterprises to buy computers powered by foreign processors servers, two unnamed procurement officials told the newspaper. Although Microsoft and Intel declined to comment on the report. AMD has also not responded to a request for comment. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Why is China pushing out foreign technology? China has been removing key overseas technology from within its most sensitive organs over the past years as in 2022, Beijing ordered central government agencies and state-backed corporations to replace foreign-branded personal computers with domestic alternatives. The order stated that the change should be made within two years. This comes after Bloomberg reported that the US is considering blacklisting a number of Chinese semiconductor firms linked to Huawei Technologies Co. This could mark another escalation in Washington's campaign to curtail Beijings AI and semiconductor ambitions. Following Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to impose business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) over regulatory concerns, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said that Paytms FY25 revenue ,could decline by 24 per cent. In an analysis report, Motilal Oswal said, We remain watchful on the ongoing business transition and Paytms ability to recover lost business and resume growth trajectory over FY25- 26E. We thus estimate FY25E revenue to decline by 24 per cent, while contribution profit declines 30 per cent." The interface of Indian payments app Paytm is seen in front of its logo displayed in this illustration picture.(Reuters) It also said that the companys contribution margin is expected to sustain at 51 per cent, adding, We will revisit our rating post Q4 results and in the interim maintain our Neutral stance on the stock." Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The restrictions could result in the company losing customers and merchants, it warned, noting that even Paytm could lose 15-20 per cent of merchants but the impact on customers may be moderate. This comes as, earlier this month, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) gave its nod to Paytms parent company One97 Communications Ltd (OCL) to become a third party UPI app under the multi-bank model under which four banks YES Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC and Axis Bank- will be included. Motilal Oswal also said that there will be a major decline in the revenue of the company which is expected to fall by 27 per cent as it projected a 28 per cent cut in payment processing margin to a range of ~7bp which it primarily attributed to reduced business volumes. It said, We expect GMV growth to recover gradually, estimating ~20 per cent CAGR over FY25-27E vs. ~45 per cent CAGR witnessed during FY22-24E." Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi is preparing for orders this week. But how much will the company's car- which aims to be "best looking, easiest to drive and smartest car"- cost? Xiaomi's CEO said that the firm's first electric vehicle will be priced below 500,000 yuan (approximately $70,000) marking the first time that the company has confirmed the upper end of the price range for its car- SU7. Although, the company will announce its official price range on Thursday evening and start taking orders for the car after that. Visitors film around Xiaomi's first electric vehicle, the SU7, displayed at an event in Beijing, China.(Reuters) What we know about Xiaomi's SU7 so far? The car was unveiled by Xiaomi in December as the company said that aims to become one of the world's top five automakers. Touted as having technology capable of delivering acceleration better than Tesla cars and Porsche's EVs, the company began displaying the car in Xiaomi stores in China. Since then, prospective customers and car bloggers have lined up to get a close view of the "ocean blue" version. The company has also uploaded its "Xiaomi Car" app to Chinese app stores. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. How is the car different from Tesla's Model S? The car will come in two versions. The first will have a driving range of up to 668km (415 miles) on a single charge while the second will have a range of up to 800km. Tesla's Model S has a range of up to 650km. What are Xiaomi's plan for electric vehicles? Xiaomi pledged to invest $10 billion over a decade and is one of the few new players in China's EV market as it gained approval from authorities. The company's cars are being produced by a unit of state-owned automaker BAIC Group in a Beijing factory which has an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles. The exterior of American Freight's Rock Hill store at 1930 Silas Deane Highway. The store closed on Sunday. Luther Turmelle/ Hearst Connecticut Media Discount furniture and appliance retailer American Freight has closed one of its three Connecticut locations. The chain's Rocky Hill location at 1930 Silas Deane Highway closed on Sunday, according to the manager of American Freight, who declined to provide their name. The store employed about a half dozen people, they said. With the closing of the Rocky Hill store, Ohio-based American Freight has just two remaining Connecticut locations: at 65 Holmes Road in Newington and in the Hilltop Commons Shopping Center on Route 34 in Derby. The Derby store opened in March 2023. Advertisement Article continues below this ad American Freight opened its Rocky Hill store after Puritan Kids Furniture closed at that location in 2016. The nearly 36,000 square foot building, which was built in 1965, was purchased for $2 million last year by a Rockland County, N.Y.-based limited liability company, 1930 Silas Deane LLC. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released the final list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. As expected, the name of six-time MP from Uttara Kannada district, Anantkumar Hegde, who often lands in soup with his controversial remarks, has been dropped. File photo of former Union minister and BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde(Sonu Mehta/HT File Photo) Also Read - Lok Sabha polls: BJP announces four more candidates for Karnataka Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Instead of Hegde, the BJP fielded Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, the former speaker of Karnataka assembly from the Uttara Kannada seat. Kageri had lost assembly elections in 2023 from the Sisri constituency. Five times Anantkumar Hegde's remarks stoked row Hegde, known for his controversial remarks, was in the news recently for his statement wherein he called for changes in the constitution and claimed that it does not favour the Hindu religion. It is important for BJP to get 400 plus seats in both the houses. In that case, we will be able to make necessary amendments to the constitution. Our constitution was amended earlier to oppress the Hindu religion," Hegde was quoted as saying. Within hours of his controversial statement, the BJP distanced itself from Hegdes statement and said that the party has nothing to do with his personal views. This is not the first time Anantkumar Hegde has stirred controversy with his statements. In 2019, the senior BJP leader said that Siddaramaiah would even celebrate Kasab Jayanti in Karnataka if he was not stopped. The MPs comments received flak from many opposition leaders, calling him an irresponsible leader. In 2017, Hegde had written to then Karnataka chief minister Siddaramiah, asking the government not to invite him to an event organised to celebrate the birth anniversary of Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, calling him a brutal killer and mass rapist. Conveyed #KarnatakaGovt NOT to invite me to shameful event of glorifying a person known as brutal killer, wretched fanatic & mass rapist, he had posted on X. In 2016, Hegde, who was also then the union minister in PM Modi's first cabinet, called Islam a ticking time bomb of terror and said that it must be eradicated. He also claimed that Shah Jahan bought the popular Taj Mahal from Hindus as it was a temple named Tejo Mahalaya. At least 14 staff, including a priest, were injured in a fire that broke out in the sanctum sanctorum of Ujjains Mahakaleshwar temple during Holi on Monday morning, police said. Relatives and family members outside the burn ward of a hospital where the people who were injured in a fire that broke out in the Mahakal temple are being treated in Ujjain. (PTI) The condition of nine is said to be critical. They have been referred to Indore. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered in the matter. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. At the time of the accident, thousands of devotees were celebrating Holi inside the temple. Ujjain superintendent of police Pradeep Sharma said, One of the injured said that someone threw gulaal on priest Sanjeev from behind while he was performing the aarti. The gulaal fell on the lamp. It is believed that there was some chemical in the gulaal which caused the fire. The matter is being probed. Two Russian nationals, a student and a restaurant manager managed to run a fake international recruitment agency in central Delhis Patel Nagar for almost a year. The accused promised work permit VISAs to job seekers who wanted to work in Poland, Germany, Luxembourg and other European countries. The office seemed legitimate and the presence of two foreign nationals led victims to believe their money was going to fetch them a VISA, police said. The matter came to light last month when a Nagpur-based student alleged he was in touch with a Delhi-based company to get a work VISA for Poland but was cheated of 75,000. (Representational image) The gang specialised in cheating gullible people and duped almost 65 people so far. Each victim was duped of 60,000 to 75,000. On Sunday, the Delhi Police said they arrested all four members of the gang. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. To make their scam look real, the accused had an office, an Instagram page and a WhatsApp channel for their targets. The matter came to light last month when a Nagpur-based student alleged he was in touch with a Delhi-based company to get a work VISA for Poland but was cheated of 75,000. The company, WGA Visa India Pvt. Ltd had been operating from an office in Patel Nagar near the metro station since April 2023. Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Paweriyas team led by ACP Pawan Kumar and Inspector Virendra Singh conducted several raids. We found that the complainant as well as dozens of other victims were cheated of huge amounts on the pretext of providing work permit VISAs. It also came to our notice that the fraudsters contacted the complainant through Instagram and then shared a link to their fake website, DCP Paweriya said. On March 18, his team found the office and arrested 33-year-old Artem Tolkachev from there. Police said Tolkachev had tried to escape. He was asked to provide a copy of a valid licence/permit issued by the Ministry of External Affairs which is required for running emigration services but he failed to do so. On searching the premises, various incriminating documents and devices were recovered. Meanwhile, Tolkachev tried to flee but he was overpowered by the police. He disclosed the name of his partner who was arrested from his house in DLF Capital Greens, Moti Nagar, Paweriya added. The accused was identified as Igor Sirenko. Based on their interrogation, their Indian employees Sagar Sharma and Rohit Kumar were also arrested from Delhi. During interrogation, the accused revealed that they had started an unauthorized overseas work VISA agency. Investigators said the accused wanted to evade suspicion and started the business in the name of an auto-rickshaw driver. He was also named as director of the company and offered a 15% commission. Police said Sirenko had met the auto-driver in Central Delhi while travelling and hired him. Investigators revealed the men were working under a person named Natsya who is based in Russia and ran the daily affairs of the company from Russia through CCTVs installed at the office. Everything was done under the supervision of Natsya. The motive was to cheat young innocent job seekers in India on the pretext of providing fake work permits at non-existing companies in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Luxembourg and other European countries because Indians are the most passionate about going abroad at any cost, said Paweriya. The gang created an Instagram page WgaPoland and ran ads online. They also hired employees through an application for tele-calling the victims. According to the police, a written script was provided to the callers. Sharma has a diploma in hotel management and worked at a hotel in Rajender Place where he met Sirenko. He was hired as a manager at the office and paid around 50,000 per month. Police said he would meet the victims at the office. Kumar is a graduate of Dayal Singh College and is pursuing his MBA. He was hired as a receptionist by the accused and has been working at the office since July 2023. Investigators said Sirenko came to India in October 2022 and has a business VISA. He and Tolkachev started the business when Tolkachev came to India in April 2023. He visited different places in India, Nepal and UAE. Later, Tolkachev converted his tourist Visa into a Business Visa, added the officer. Police said they are looking for other associates who are on the run. Mumbai: The Trombay police on Sunday arrested a senior officer with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for allegedly raping a staff member, initially under the promise of giving a job to her brother and the husband of her sister, and later by threatening to terminate the services of her brother. Meanwhile, the Progressive Students Forum, (PSF), a TISS students collective, demanded strict action against the deputy registrar. (Representational Image) Acting on the womans complaint, the Trombay police booked the senior officer under Sections 376 (rape), 376(2)(n) (raping the same woman repeatedly), 354D (stalking), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. He was arrested on Sunday and produced before a metropolitan magistrate court which remanded him to police custody till March 27. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Also Read | TISS students body demands period leave In her complaint to the police, the woman has alleged that the accused promised to secure jobs in TISS for her brother and her sisters husband, and raped her multiple times in Delhi and Hyderabad. She further claimed that he threatened to get her brother thrown out of his job. She added that even his wife had threatened to send her photographs with the accused to their office (TISS) to smear her image. Professor Manoj Kumar Tiwari, in-charge VC of TISS, confirmed the arrest and said, After the arrest, we immediately suspended the person and sent the matter to the Internal Complaints Committee too. Meanwhile, the Progressive Students Forum, (PSF), a TISS students collective, demanded strict action against the deputy registrar. In a letter written to the vice-chancellor, the PSF stated that this was not an isolated incident. The collective also raised questions about the administrations commitment to creating a gender-just and safe space in the institute. Also Read | Why BVoc graduates from TISS are jobless We believe it is the bare minimum responsibility of any university administration to ensure safe spaces at campus and build confidence among students. In the context of the recent development, the PSF demands that the administration bring clarity on the issue. We also demand that all cases of sexual harassment must be fairly and transparently investigated by the Internal Complaints Committee. The institutes leadership must also speak to the students and adopt concrete steps towards creating safe spaces for students on the campus, reads the letter. . The Serchhip Battalion of Assam Rifles and local police in a joint operation arrested a Myanmar national and seized a large cache of firearms near India-Myanmar international border in Mizoram on Saturday, officials said.d. Police havent revealed the identity of the arrested person. (Representative Image) Assam Rifles officials said that based on specific intelligence, a joint operation was launched in Champhai district where the firearms were recovered. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. A large cache of weapons and ammunition siezed during a joint operation in Zokhawthar village near the Mizoram-Myanmar border, the Assam Rifles said in a statement. The Assam Rifles apprehended a Myanmar national for possessing the illegal arms and ammunition, the statement added. The Police Department of Mizorams Champhai district said that they recovered an M4 Assault Rifle with a magazine, a German Pistol with a magazine, two double barrel rifles, two single barrel rifles, 20 rounds of 5.56 mm, six rounds of 9 mm, and two helmets. Police said that the person has been arrested under several sections of the Arms Act 1959 and The Foreigners Act, 1946. Hell be produced before the court after initial investigation, officials said. However, they didnt reveal the identity of the arrested person. Tripuras former chief minister and Lok Sabha poll candidate Biplab Kumar Deb has said that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury got the opportunity to become the leader of the Opposition in the state because of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s mercy. Biplab Kumar Deb. (Sushil Kumar/HT File Photo) Deb, who would contest from the West Lok Sabha constituency, one of the two Lok Sabha seats in Tripura, said, The CPI(M) became the main opposition party only after the TIPRA Motha joined the BJP. Jitendra Chaudhury became the Opposition leader because of our mercy. He won the Assembly polls (held in 2023) from Sabroom constituency due to the mercy of (TIPRA Motha founder) Maharaj Pradyot Kishore Manikya, said Deb while speaking at a rally organised as part of a poll campaign at Charilam in Sepahijala district on Sunday. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Slamming the Congress-CPI(M) alliance for the Lok Sabha polls, he said, Time is still there. Join us. There is no point in staying with them (CPM and Congress). They (both the parties) work for their personal benefit. PM Narendra Modi works for the country, he doesnt work for himself. Our karyakartas ( activists) will visit each household to seek blessings for me and vote for Modiji, he said. Being partners in the opposition INDIA alliance, the CPM and the Congress shared the two Lok Sabha seats. Congress president Asish Kumar Saha was fielded from West Lok Sabha constituency against Biplab Deb while the CPI(M) fielded former MLA Rajendra Reang to contest from ST-reserved East Lok Sabha constituency against BJP candidate Kriti Singh Debbarma, granddaughter of last ruler of the state Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya. Deb further said, People are aware of the 25-year-long regime of the CPI(M)-led state government, the Congress-led coalition government and the ten years of the Left government prior to 2018. These governments were formed by fights between the two parties. Now, I want to ask the Congress candidate how they have reconciled the old bitter rivalry. Reacting to Debs statement, CPI(M) secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said, It shows (Debs) political immaturity. His statements prove that the party (BJP) is full of political clowns. In the wake of Mahadev Jankars decision to return to the Mahayuti, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has initiated search for an alternative candidate from the Madha Lok Sabha (LS) constituency. In the meeting, it was decided that Jankar will get one seat from the Mahayuti an alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP to contest the upcoming LS polls. (HT PHOTO) Deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar on Sunday held a meeting with Jankar who heads the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) at Mumbai. In the meeting, it was decided that Jankar will get one seat from the Mahayuti an alliance of the BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP to contest the upcoming LS polls. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Earlier on Wednesday, Jankar held a crucial meeting with NCP (SCP) president Sharad Pawar to discuss his joining the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance. Following the meeting, Jankar stated that Sharad Pawar had extended his support for Jankars nomination from the Madha LS constituency. However, with Jankars joining the Mahayuti having created challenges ahead of the opposition alliance, Sharad Pawar has turned his attention towards forging new equations and consolidating existing support bases in Madha. Among those under consideration are the influential Mohite-Patil family, which has dominated the regions politics for many years and has a lot of clout in Akluj. Mohite-Patils son Ranjitsinh is with the BJP. However, as BJP announced the candidature of sitting MP Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar from Madha, both Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil and his nephew Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, along with other aggrieved leaders, have openly voiced their dissatisfaction with the partys decision. Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, who is keen to contest from the Madha seat, has now initiated his political campaign in the region at his own level with a resolve that he will contest the LS polls. Dhairyasheel Patils decision to kickstart his campaign comes amid speculation that he may switch to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. There are speculations that after Jankars move, the Shard Pawar-led NCP is likely to initiate talks with the Mohite-Patil family for exploring the possibility of a mutually beneficial collaboration ahead of the upcoming elections. When Hindustan Times tried to contact Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, he was unavailable for comment on recent political developments in the Madha constituency. However, refusing speculation on Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) Maharashtra president Jayant Patil said, No one from the Mohite-Patil faction or no one from BJP from Madha constituency contacted us. We are not in contact with anyone. At the same time, local NCP (SCP) units from the Solapur and Satara districts have sought the candidature of Abhay Singh Jagtap in Madha. Jagtap is Satara and Solapur district head of the party, Jagtap is a computer engineering graduate and known for his work during the pandemic. It was also said that Jayant Patil is also in favour of Abhay Singh Jagtap. Abhay Singh Jagtap said, We have organised an NCP workers meeting at Mhaswad on March 28. After speaking with party workers, we will convey our decision to our party high command. Whereas Jankar holds considerable clout among the Dhangars, a community of shepherds with significant presence in six to seven LS constituencies, including Baramati, Madha, Solapur and the adjoining areas. If the RSP joins the MVA, it could provide a much-needed boost to the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) in the Baramati constituency where his daughter Supriya Sule is likely to lock horns with Ajit Pawars wife Sunetra Pawar. Jankar contested the LS polls from Baramati constituency against Sule in 2014 and lost by only 69,719 votes. Reports of the involvement of Islamic State (IS), especially its so-called Khorasan Province affiliate, in the gruesome terror attack last week on the outskirts of the Russian capital that left 133 people dead should be a cause for concern. It was believed the IS was past its peak and had been stripped of its networks and firepower in West Asia, and was only capable of carrying out attacks within Afghanistan, where it remains locked in conflict with the Taliban. It is also significant that Russia was alerted by the US early this month about a planned attack in Moscow and that Washington has concluded the IS bears sole responsibility for the strike. The IS claimed responsibility for the attack on messaging app channels, providing gruesome images of the terrorists involved.The terror group has a strong motivation to target Russia since President Vladimir Putin supported President Bashar al-Assad against the group in the civil war in 2015. The IS has frequently criticised Putin and security analysts believe the groups networks in Afghanistan and Central Asia give it the capability to carry out such an attack. How Putin responds to this terror attack could have larger repercussions for global power relations, especially at a time when Russia is locked in a dragging war with Ukraine. It would be disingenuous for Russia to claim there is some sort of Ukrainian link to the terror strike, especially since Moscow has presented no evidence to back up such allegations. On the other hand, there is evidence purportedly linking some of the attackers to Tajikistan, which fits in with Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-KP)s efforts to expand to Central Asia. A UN Security Council report in January had warned about IS-KPs ability to project influence into the region and beyond, and about its increased appeal within Tajik networks. The Russian leadership will do well to focus on the real source of the problem and work with countries in the region, including Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been fighting IS-KP in its backyard. Unlike the Moscow theatre siege by Chechen terrorists in 2002 or the Beslan school hostage crisis in 2004, the implications of the IS attack wont be restricted to Russias borders. Russia can hardly afford to open any new fronts, and the need of the hour is more focused action, including collaborating with countries where the IS has a presence, to hunt down those responsible for the carnage. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has announced that it will reopen the application form correction window of the Chartered Accountancy (CA) Intermediate and Final May 2024 examination. Candidates who have applied for the two examinations before will be allowed to change the examination city, group and medium between March 21 (10 am) and March 29 (11:59 am). The correction window will be available on the institute's official website, icai.org. ICAI to reopen CA Inter, Final correction window for some changes (Representational image)(Unsplash) in order to facilitate the examinees, who have already applied for May 2024 CA Examinations, it has been decided to re-open the online request for change in examination city, group and medium. Therefore, candidates of Chartered Accountants Intermediate and Final Examinations seeking change of examination city, group and medium can avail this online facility available at https://eservices.icai.org (Self Service Portal - SSP) w.e.f. 27th March 2024 (10 AM) to 29th March 2024 (11.59 PM), the ICAI said. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The commission further clarified that other particulars or details mentioned in the announcements dated January 25 and March 19 will remain unchanged. It has asked candidates to stay in touch with the website of the Institute, icai.org for further updates related to the examination. In view of the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections, the ICAI has rescheduled the CA Inter and Final May 2024 examinations. The Intermediate course examination Group I will be conducted on May 3, 5 and 9, 2024 and for Group II, exams will be held on May 11, 15 and 17, 2024. For the Final course, the Group I examination will be on May 2, 4 and 8, 2024, and the Group II exam will be conducted on May 10, 14 and 16, 2024. International Taxation -Assessment Test has been scheduled for May 14 and 16, 2024. The Foundation examination is scheduled for June 2024 and will be held after the Lok Sabha Elections are over. Hence, there is no change in the Foundation course exam dates. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) on Sunday elected its first Dalit president from the Left-backed groups after nearly three decades. JNUSU Election: Students wait to cast their votes at JNU on Friday. (ANI) The United Left panel on Sunday effected a clean sweep in the JNUSU election, defeating its nearest rival the RSS-affiliated ABVP. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Also read: JNUSU Election Result: BAPSA secures Central Panel seat with Left's support In the polls that happened after a hiatus of four years, Dhananjay from the All India Students' Association (AISA) won the JNUSU president's post by securing 2,598 votes against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) Umesh C Ajmeera who secured 1,676 votes. Dhananjay hails from Gaya, Bihar, and is the first Dalit president from the Left after Batti Lal Bairwa, who was elected in 1996-97. Speaking to PTI after the win, Dhananjay said, "This victory is a referendum by the students of JNU that they reject the politics of hate and violence. The students have once again shown their trust in us. We will continue to fight for their rights and work on issues that concern students. "The safety of women on campus, fund cuts, scholarship hike, infrastructural and water crisis are among the top priorities of the students union to begin with," he added. Amid cries of 'Lal Salaam' and 'Jai Bhim', the winning students were hailed by their supporters. Red, white and blue flags were waved by the students to celebrate the victory of the candidates. Avijit Ghosh from the Students' Federation of India (SFI) trounced ABVP's Deepika Sharma by 927 votes to win the vice-president's post. Ghosh received 2,409 votes as against 1,482 votes by Sharma. Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA) candidate Priyanshi Arya, who was supported by the Left, won the general secretary post's by defeating ABVP's Arjun Anand by 926 votes. Arya polled in 2,887 votes while Anand received 1961 votes. The United Left extended its support to Arya after the Election Committee cancelled the nomination of its candidate Swati Singh when her candidacy was challenged by the ABVP. The Left's Mohammad Sajid won the joint secretary's post by defeating ABVP's Govind Dangi by 508 votes. His was the lowest victory among all the four winners. With the Left panel sweeping the polls, the JNU lived up to its reputation of being a Left bastion. The ABVP gave a neck-and-neck fight and was leading on all the four central panel posts in the initial trends. The United Left panel comprises AISA, Democratic Students' Federation (DSF), Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF). The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union polls on Friday witnessed a voter turnout of 73 per cent, highest in the last 12 years. Vince Neil of Motley Crue, performing during a concert between Def Leppard and Motley Crue bands, at Estadio Banorte on February 21, 2023 in Monterrey, Mexico. Medios y Media/Getty Images Glam metal band Motley Crue is making its return to Connecticut this summer with a show at Mohegan Sun Arena on Aug. 31. Known for hits like "Kickstart My Heart," "Shout at the Devil" and "Dr. Feelgood," Motley Crue has become synonymous with the hard-partying, rock star lifestyle. The band last performed in Connecticut in 2015 at Bridgeport's Webster Bank Arena (now-Total Mortgage Arena) as part of the band's planned "Final Tour," according to concert tracking website setlist.fm. Despite signing a contract in 2014 to stop touring after 2015, the band has reconvened and has continued to tour since 2022. In October 2022, guitarist Mick Mars exited the band, which resulted in lawsuit by Mars against the other members of Motley Crue for allegedly unpaid royalties. Guitarist John 5 was announced as Mars' replacement, who continues to perform with the band today. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Singer Vince Neil is shown performing on stage during a concert appearance with Motley Crue on April 7, 1990 in New Haven. John Atashian/John Atashian/Getty Images In April 1990, Motley Crue played one of its more notable shows in Connecticut at the New Haven Coliseum. The show was cut short after drummer Tommy Lee fell from his drum kit and suffered a mild concussion, according to a 1990 article from the New York Times. Since that concert, the band has performed in Connecticut on 16 different occasions. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Priyanka Chopra had a gala time with her family and friends at a grand Holi party. Pictures and videos of Priyanka dancing with Nick, and holding Malti in her arms were shared by the fan pages of the actor on Instagram. (Also read: Priyanka Chopra asks Malti Marie to say Ayodhya as they visit Ram Mandir with Nick Jonas. Watch) Priyanka Chopra with Nick Jonas and daughter Malti in the new pictures. Priyanka celebrates Holi In one of the pictures, Priyanka is seen with her family and friends in a group picture. She held Malti in her arms, who looked cute in a white dress and a small white hat. Priyanka was dressed in a white churidaar, and kept her hair untied. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Another video had Priyanka dance to dhol beats with Nick standing beside her. She was seen encouraging Nick to match her steps and dance along with her. The other pictures had Priyanka and Nick drenched in pink colour, posing with family and friends. Sharing the pictures on Instagram, the fan page of the actor wrote in the caption: Happy holi from the Chopras! More details Last week, Priyanka had shared pictures and videos from her visit to Ayodhya. She had visited the Ram Temple with Nick and Malti. She shared a video in which she was seen protecting Malti from the wind at the airport with her saree. She later ensured that Nick got a tilak on his forehead once they were inside the temple. Priyanka landed in Mumbai last week with her daughter Malti for the launch of a new Bulgari store in the city. She looked stunning in a light pink saree as she appeared the event. Later, she also attended a Holi bash hosted by Isha Ambani. Recently, Priyanka became an executive producer for the Oscar-nominated documentary To Kill A Tiger. She will be next seen in The Bluff, which will be directed by Frank E Flowers. She will also be seen in Heads of State alongside John Cena and Idris Elba. Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place Amid buzz that Shraddha Kapoor is ready to go public with rumoured boyfriend Rahul Mody, the actor on Sunday posed a series of photos of herself that added fuel to the fire. The actor gave a glimpse into her lazy Sunday as she clicked selfies wearing a purple night suit. What caught fans' attention was the pendant with 'R' that Shraddha wore in the pictures. Also read: Who is Rahul Mody? Here's a primer on Shraddha Kapoor's boyfriend as they make first public appearance together Shraddha Kapoor seems to be in mood to hide her relationship with Rahul Mody anymore. Reactions to Shraddha Kapoor's 'R' pendant Sharing her latest photos on Reddit, a person wrote, "Shraddha posts pics wearing R pendant. Subtly trying to make relationship with Rahul Mody official?" Reacting to it, a fan wrote, "Notice that the R is visible in all 4 pics. All celeb posts are curated. So it seems intentional." One more said, It isnt even subtle. They have been dating for two years now and are definitely getting married this year. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Shraddha Kapoor and Rahul Mody's relationship Rumours of Shraddha dating Rahul, who gave her company at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants pre-wedding festivities in Jamnagar earlier in March, have been around for a couple of years now. While flying from a private airport in Mumbai for the Ambani celebrations, Shraddha was even seen introducing Rahul to her Aashiqui 2 co-star and alleged ex, Aditya Roy Kapoor. Although Rahul and Shraddha have been spotted out and about together, the actor has not yet announced their relationship. Rahul is a film writer, who wrote the 2023 rom-com Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, which featured Ranbir Kapoor opposite Shraddha. Shraddha may make relationship official As per a recent Hindustan Times report, Shraddha is not planning to hide her relationship with Rahul anymore; Shraddha and Rahul reportedly got close to each other while working on Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. After working on the film, they have been going strong. They are in a very comfortable position with each other, which is why they dont feel the need to hide their affair. And thats the reason they are getting spotted together more often, a source told HT City. The insider added, They are not afraid to be photographed with each other, but that doesnt mean they will make their relationship official anytime soon. They are both private people, and want to keep their relationship out of the limelight. Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place The Kennedy Center honoured comedian Kevin Hart with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday with an evening that featured routines from fellow comics Dave Chappelle, Chelsea Handler and Jerry Seinfeld in tribute to Hart's career. Kevin Hart reacts during the 25th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.(REUTERS) In a recorded show that will air on May 11 on Netflix, Hart's peers celebrated him with a mix of humour, profanity and emotion. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. "You remind me ... why I love comedy so much," Chappelle, a previous winner of the award, told Hart from the Kennedy Center stage, quipping that he had given up a trip to Jamaica to attend. "I am honoured to know somebody like you. I really wish you had come when I won this award." Eniko Hart and Kevin Hart attend the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.(Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP) Hart, 44, became the 25th recipient of the prize, which the Kennedy Center has previously bestowed on Adam Sandler, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Stewart, and Carol Burnett. Hart called the award amazing and thanked his peers for "showing up." Known for films such as Ride Along, Central Intelligence, and Fatherhood, Hart has achieved success as a comic, a movie and television actor, and as a producer and businessman. He launched the media company HARTBEAT in 2022. Handler ribbed Hart for telling her on the talk show she hosted in the early 2000s that he was headed for greatness. "It was clear from the moment we met that he was destined for superstardom, especially when he told me he was destined for superstardom," she deadpanned. "I admired his pluck ... as well as his drive and determination and the unrelenting hard work that brought him here tonight to a place where the talk show host he told he was destined for superstardom is now presenting him with a lifetime achievement award." Seinfeld called Hart the most likable human in history with an ideal last name. "If you look at Kevin Hart's career, it doesn't look like it was that hard to do," he joked. Comedian Keith Robinson, a stroke survivor, delivered a sendup of himself and the honoree, drawing roars from the crowd with a story about calling Hart after being put in a hospital's COVID ward. Hart said he would handle the issue and then, according to Robinson, failed to deliver. "My New Year's resolution: no more strokes," Robinson said. Comedian Chris Rock said Hart had taken his advice to find his own voice and used it to surpass him as a star. He jokingly praised the wealthy entertainer's performance in the movie The Upside with actor Bryan Cranston. "The best acting Kevin Hart has ever done because ... he had to act like he had less money than Bryan Cranston," Rock said. In 2018, Hart stepped down as the host of the following year's Oscar ceremony and apologized for "insensitive" words he had posted on Twitter about gays. Deborah Rutter, president of the Kennedy Center, said that incident had not given her pause about presenting him with the award. "The thing with ... comedy is that, it makes everybody ... a little bit uncomfortable," she said. Other recipients of the Mark Twain Prize include Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Letterman, Tina Fey, Eddie Murphy and Ellen DeGeneres. The prize is named after novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, better known by his pen name, Mark Twain. Its Holi today, the Indian festival of colours that entranced everyone from desi to Hollywood celebs. What can be more fun than taking part in a festival that allows you to let your inner child out? And it looks like these celebs agree too. Looking back at five times Hollywood celebs played with gulaal the desi way. (Also Read: Jackky Bhagnani's first interview and Holi together: Rakul has brought colour into my life) Check out the times when celebs like Pharrell Williams, Nick Jonas and others had a ball at Holi Josh Brolins Holi experience Josh Brolin, famous for his roles in Dune and Avengers, wished fans a Happy Holi in 2019 by sharing a throwback picture from his visit to India in 2013. In the picture, he and writer Gregory David Roberts can be seen all smiles while drenched head-to-toe in colours. Josh seemed to have gotten the Holi outfit down pat as he was seen dressed in shorts and a vest. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. A very Jimmy Holi In 2017 when Priyanka Chopra attended the Jimmy Fallons The Tonight Show, she introduced him to Holi. She explained how Holi is a big party with lots of colour to celebrate spring and good over evil. When he said, How fun is that, its like a giant rave. He then brought out paints instead of colour and thandai so she doesnt miss home. Jimmy and Priyanka then proceeded to have a Holi fight. Pharrell Williams post colour attack Australian chef-model Sarah Todd and Pharrell Williams were among the few celebs who attended the Holi party thrown by Adidas in Mumbai in 2018. While Sarah looked happy in the post colour attack, fans pointed out that Pharrell did not look as impressed by the festival of colours. One fan even wondered on X what did Bollywood do to him sharing a few of his pictures and videos back then. DJ Snakes Holi concert DJ Snake held a concert in India on Holi in 2019. He even shared a picture of him waving the Indian flag as concertgoers enjoyed in the background. The DJ was even dressed in a white kurta pyjama and covered with gulaal thrown by the attendees. Jacqueline Fernandez, Nora Fatehi and others were spotted at the bash, having a ball back then. Nick Jonas first Holi Nick Jonas married Priyanka Chopra in 2018. Since then, he has adapted the Indian culture, celebrating the festivals in style along with Priyanka. But he celebrated his first Holi only in 2020 when he visited Mumbai with the actor. He shared a sweet video and pictures posing with Priyanka, Katrina Kaif and other celebs that attended the bash. He called the experience so much fun. Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! Click to follow our WhatsApp Channel Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place. Oscar winner Anne Hathaway may have starred in her latest Amazon Prime Video, The Idea of You, alongside Nicholas Galitzine just to have fun, but her Hollywood ride hasn't always been all sunshine and rainbow. Gracing her first solo Vanity Fair cover, she addressed the 2013 viral phenomenon Hathahate that portrayed her identity as toxic post her Best Supporting Actress win at the Oscars for the musical Les Miserables. Anne Hathaway arrives for the world premiere of "The Idea of You" at the Paramount Theatre during the South by Southwest Film Festival on Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)(Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP) What was the growing online hate about? Nothing. Hathaway merely won an Oscar that year, yet the career-high moment sent her tumbling down because of how the internet turned on her for simply enjoying her moment at the top. Suddenly, everything she did was deemed annoying. In her new Vanity Fair interview, she finally gets real about a ton of issues. One of them highlights how Hollywood turned its back on the acting marvel, but thankfully, Christopher Nolan, now a fellow Oscar winner himself, came to her rescue. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Also read | Peter Parker is no more: What Tom Holland's Spider-Man 4 would look like Anne Hathaway, Christopher Nolan and the Interstellar rescue The Devil Wears Prada actor didn't mince words while addressing all the flak she got after her 2013 Oscar win. Eventually, she started losing roles due to her alleged toxic persona being peddled by the internet. A lot of people wouldn't give me roles, because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online, Hathaway told Vanity Fair. So, what changed? The ultimate Interstellar offer came her way. I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles I've had in one of the best films that I've been a part of," revealed Anne. In her moving recollection of the life-changing moment, she wondered if Nolan knew that he was backing her at the time. Nevertheless, it worked as a comforting cushion for her, especially since her career did not lose momentum the way it could have it he hadn't backed (her). Hathaway had previously starred in Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. The former Batwoman's new film The Idea of You premiered at SXSW earlier this month. Its OTT release is slated for Prime Video on May 2, 2024. Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur are busy promoting their upcoming release Family Star. The two actors had a blast at an event in Hyderabad where they celebrated Holi with the team and danced on stage. Mrunal also shared videos from the event on her Instagram Stories. (Also read: Vijay Deverakonda interacts with fans while shooting for Family Star in New York; teaser screened at Times Square) Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur also applied colours on each other. Vijay and Mrunal dance together For an event on Holi, both Vijay and Mrunal chose in white outfits. While Vijay chose a white kurta and pyjama, Mrunal looked pretty in a white churidaar and anarkali kurta. The two wished all the fans present at the event a very happy Holi and treated them to a short dance performance to their song Kalyani Vaccha Vaccha. Videos of them dancing on stage were uploaded on social media by several fan pages. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Mrunal was also seen putting colours on Vijay's face. She took to her Instagram Stories to share a short video where she was seen smearing dry colours on Vijay's cheeks while he stood smiling. In the caption, she wrote @deverakonda bura na maano holi hain. More details Fans also received a gift on Holi from Vijay and Mrunal as the third single from their film was released today. Titled Madhuramu Kadha, the soulful ballad was picturized on the relationship between Mrunal and Vijay's characters in the film. Directed by Parasuram Petla, Family Star is all set to release in theatres on April 5 and the films team began promotions today. Family Star marks Mrunals third film after the highly successful Sita Ramam with Dulquer Salmaan and Hi Nanna with Nani. On Sunday, she paid a visit to Sri Yellamma Pochamma in Balkampet, Hyderabad to seek blessings ahead of the release of her film. Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place Aside from his glimmering identity as a member of the global sensation BTS, J-Hope's self-introductory individualistic presence is one of its kind. Known as the septet's dance leader,' the 94 Liner has earned this title for a reason, and its origins tie in with his pre-BTS past. Hes made his mark with his historic 2022 Lollapalooza headlining act, becoming the first Korean artist to lead a major US music festival. The award-winning artist's Jack in the Box album marked his official foray into a soloist's territory. Continuing the streak despite being away for his mandatory military service, the 30-year-old rapper is ready to break out with another career-defining outing this month. Hope on the Street starts streaming on Prime Video on March 28, 2024, with new episodes every Thursday and Friday.(Prime Video) Along with his follow-up mini-album, the accompanying Prime Video docuseries Hope on the Street will debut a day ahead of the musical premiere. Rocking the same name, the upcoming projects will jointly work as a time machine, returning to J-Hope's dancer roots. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The BTS member's former instructor, South Korean street dancer Boogaloo Kin, will join him on this journey again. Together, they will explore the streets of Osaka, Seoul, Paris, New York and Gwangju (J-Hope's hometown), meeting inspiring street dancers on their globetrotting dance-venture. Follow J-Hope as he pursues a dream connecting his past, present and future, reads an extract of the official synopsis of Hope on the Street docuseries, which documents his street dance report. Also read | K-dramas releasing in April: Parasyte to Missing Crown Prince, new shows on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney plus BTS J-Hope doc Hope on the Street release date The 6-episode docuseries will be available on Prime Video, starting Thursday, March 28 at 12 am KST (or March 27, 11 am ET). New episodes will drop on the streamer every Thursday and Friday. South Korean audiences can stream the series on TVING. What does the prolific dancer hope to achieve through the documentary? I want fans to see what genre of dance I used to work with and my overall journey with the world of dance," J-Hope revealed in a video teaser ahead of the series premiere. Hope on the Street Vol 1 tracklist Like the docuseries, J-Hope's upcoming EP is also a 6-part record, which will release on March 29. An official press release described it as encompassing a diverse array of sounds and moods that showcase j-hopes musical prowess and depth. The star-studded album features several collaborations, including J-Hope's bandmate Jungkook, Benny Blanco, Chic's Nile Rodgers, Le Sserafim's Huh Yunjin, Jinbo the SuperFreak, South Korean hip-hop giant Gaeko (Dynamic Duo) and yoonmirae. The previously dropped press release also foregrounded the interconnection between the docuseries and the album, adding, "J-Hope will convey the messages from his tracks through the documentary. The tracklist is as follows: on the street (solo version): i wonder (with BTS' Jungkook) lock / unlock (with Benny Blanco and Nile Rodgers) i don't know (with Le Sserafim's Huh Yunjin) what it (with JINBO the SuperFreak) NEURON (with Gaeko and yoonmirae) Also read | NCT Dream's live-action Fruit Ninja MV crushes gloomy defeat to make a mature victory Smoothie | Watch| Watch Each of these tracks from the album dives into J-Hope's artistic street dance roots from before he debuted as a BTS member. Neuron is a direct reference to his old dance crew. The 2000s old-school hip-hop direction of the song is reminiscent of a genre that made a significant impact on J-Hope as an artist, in addition to reflecting the album's overarching theme. The newly featured what if is a reworked dance mix of J-Hope's 2022 track of the same name. Additionally, On the Street boasts his solo outing contrary to his 2023 collaboration with J. Cole for the track. Netflixs April content Library is packed with new shows and new movies. This month brings a diverse range of stories to your screen, from the chilling world of body-snatching parasites to the hilarious antics of professional criminals in Crooks. Scroll down to check all the releases, originals, and new licensed ones. Whether you're in the mood for heart-pounding action with City Hunter or mysterious scoops, Netflix has something for everyone. New on Netflix in April 2024: Parasyte to Scoop, City Hunter, Crooks, and more, check all titles Netflix originals in April 2024 Also read: Queen of Tears hits record ratings amid Kim Soo Hyun's dating rumour, Hide sees major boost Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. SCOOP (2024) Release date: April 5th The infamous Prince Andrew interview on BBC Newsnight is getting the biopic treatment. Directed by Philip Martin, Scoop will explore the events leading up to and following the controversial interview. Look for it in theaters in early April 2024. City Hunter (2024) Release Date: April 25th City Hunter is a 90-minute comedy-action film directed and written by Ryohei Suzuki. This is the second major Japanese film released by Netflix in 2024, after The Parades, which was released in February. Ryohei Suzuki plays a private detective. What Jennifer Did Release date: April 10th What Jennifer Did directed by Jenny Poppe, we get a first-hand look at what happened after Jennifer Pan called 911 to report her parents had been shot. Parasyte: The Grey Release Date: April 5th K-drama series From the creators of Train to Busan, Parasyte: The Grey is another live-action adaptation of the beloved manga series by Hitoshi Iwasaki. True to its name, the story depicts how parasites slowly infiltrate and control human bodies. Also read: Netflix's 3 Body Problem Season 2 update: Showrunners eyeing exciting storyline Crooks (Season 1) - German action series Release date: April 2 As per IMDB, the plot revolves around, Charly's quiet life with family in Berlin disrupted when past associates threaten them, forcing him to steal coin. Charly and driver Joseph, fatefully collided, now flee with family to escape danger. April 1st: The Magic Prank Show with Justin Willman - Reality series Demetri Martin: Demetri Deconstructed - Stand-up comedy special Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer - True-crime documentary Rodeio Rock / Zero to Hero - Brazilian music drama April 2nd: Crooks (Season 1) - German action series I Woke Up A Vampire (Season 2) - Kids live-action series April 4th: Ripley (Limited Series) - Thriller adaptation set in 1960s New York The Tearsmith (2024) - Italian romance drama April 5th: Parasyte: The Grey - K-drama series Scoop (2024) - British drama movie The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem - Documentary April 8th: Spirit Rangers (Season 3) - Kids animated series April 9th: Neal Brennan: Crazy Good - Stand-up comedy special April 10th: Anthracite (Limited Series) - French series The Hijacking of Flight 601 - Colombian series Unlocked: A Jail Experiment - Documentary series What Jennifer Did - British true-crime documentary April 11th: As The Crow Flies (Season 3) - Turkish series Heartbreak High (Season 2) - Australian teen series Midsummer Night (Season 1) - Norwegian thriller series April 12th: Amar Singh Chamkila - Hindi romance Good Times - Animated sitcom Love, Divided - Spanish rom-com Stolen - Swedish drama movie Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp (2024) - Kids live-action animation crossover April 16th: Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer - Stand-up comedy special April 17th: The Circle (Season 6) - Dating reality series Dont Hate The Player - French reality competition series The Grimm Variations - Anime anthology series Our Living World - Nature docuseries narrated by Cate Blanchett April 18th: Bros - Israeli drama series The Upshaws (Part 5) - Multi-cam sitcom comedy April 19th: Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver - Fantasy space opera sequel April 22nd: CoComelon Lane (Season 2) - Pre-school animated series Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen - Stand-up comedy special April 23rd: Brigands: The Quest for Gold - Italian period drama western series Fight for Paradise: Who Can You Trust? - German reality series April 24th: Deliver Me (Season 1) - Swedish teen drama April 25th: City Hunter - Japanese action comedy movie Dead Boy Detectives (Season 1) - Originally HBO Max series set in The Sandman universe April 26th: The Asunta Case - Spanish crime drama series Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut - Health documentary April 29th: Honeymoonish - Kuwaiti rom-com April 30th: Fiasco - French mockumentary series To Be Determined: Super Rich in Korea - Reality series The new series The Three Body Problem continues to be mired in controversy. According to a new report, now a former executive at Yoozoo Games named Xu Yao has been sentenced to death for murdering Lin Qi, the founder of the high-profile Chinese gaming company. This company owns the film rights of the text The Three Body Problem, which released in Netflix this month. (Also read: Why Chinese viewers are objecting to Netflix adaptation of 3 Body Problem) A former executive has been sentenced to death for murdering Three Body Problem producer. Court details about food poisoning In December 2020, Xu Yao poisoned the food of company founder Lin Qi because there was a dispute over the running of the business, as per the statement of the Shanghai First Intermediate Peoples Court. Lin, who was 39 at that time, died about 10 days later. Xu was detained a few days after Lin's death. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The court also said in a statement that four other people were sickened but did not die after Xu poisoned the beverages in the office. This occurred between September and December 2020 because of disputes with the two of them. More details Yoozoo owns the film rights to The Three Body Problem, which is a best-selling Chinese science fiction trilogy. According to Chinese media reports, Xu was heading a subsidiary in charge of business related to it. In September 2020, the company granted Netflix the right to produce an adaptation of the trilogy, Chinese state media reported at that time. Also known as Youzu Interactive, Yoozoo developed Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming, a game based on the hit TV series. The Three Body Problem was translated into English in 2012 and became an instant hit. It became the first Asian novel ever to win a Hugo Award for best novel. The new Netflix series which released on March 21, has an ensemble cast of Sea Shimooka, Benedict Wong, Tsai Chin, John Bradley, Eiza Gonzalez, Liam Cunningham, Jess Hong and Jovan Adepo. Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday launched a social media "DP (display picture) campaign over the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case. Delhi Education Minister Atishi along with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters, take out a candlelight march against the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal According to Delhi minister and AAP leader Atishi, all party leaders and volunteers have changed their profile picture on X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social media accounts with the one displaying Kejriwal behind bars. The picture also has the text Modi Ka Sabse Bada Dar Kejriwal (Modi's biggest fear is Kejriwal) written on it. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. To spread Arvind Kejriwal's message to every household, today AAP has launched a 'DP campaign' across the country on social media. Starting at 3 pm, all AAP leaders and party workers are changing their DPs, Atishi said while addressing the media. Atishi also urged people to join the campaign and change their social media account picture to save the constitution and democracy in the country. Atishi said Kejriwal is the only leader in the country who can challenge PM Modi. "So he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate without any evidence just after the announcement of Lok Sabha polls. BJP has framed Kejriwal in a fake case and used the ED to put him behind bars. Why is he (Arvind Kejriwal) incarcerated as soon as the election is announced? the minister said. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Kejriwal on March 21 after his name was mentioned multiple times in the chargesheets relating to the excise policy case. The ED had summoned him nine times in the case, but he did not depose before the probe agency. According to the chargesheet, all the accused in the excise policy case were allegedly in touch with the Delhi CM to formulate the excise policy that resulted in undue benefits to them in return for which they paid kickbacks to the party. The AAP leaders on Monday also decided to not celebrate the Holi festival as a mark of protest against their convenor's arrest. Holi is not just a festival, but a symbol of the victory of good over evil, a symbol of justice over cruelty. Today, every leader of Aam Aadmi Party is fighting this evil, cruelty and injustice day and night. This year, Aam Aadmi Party has resolved that we will not play with colours, we will not celebrate Holi, Atishi wrote on X. This is Patrick Hemingway's mug shot from when he was arrested in New Jersey. The former officer from Glastonbury and New Britain is a suspect in dozens of burglaries in three states, police say. New Jersey State Police/contributed A burglar, who police say was Patrick Hemingway, a former police officer in Glastonbury and New Britain, steals what appears to be a cash register drawer from an East Hampton restaurant in March 2023. Anastasios Papagiannopoulos/contributed Patrick Hemingway when he was a Glastonbury police officer. Glastonbury Police Department/contributed This is the South Windsor Police Department mugshot of former Glastonbury Officer Patrick Hemingway. South Windsor Police Department/contributed Patrick Hemingway Connecticut State Police/contributed Patrick Hemingway, a former police officer in Glastonbury and New Britain, appears before a judge in state Superior Court in Manchester on computer crime charges in September 2023. Jim Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media COVENTRY While midnight shift officers were at a Coventry pizzeria last April surveying damage from a burglary, their suspect was up the block, kicking down a door inside an Italian restaurant and helping himself to $350, according to warrants for his arrest. The suspect in the burglaries, Patrick Hemingway a former police officer in Glastonbury and New Britain drove past the police station, probably before the officers had been alerted to the first burglary, on his way to his next target on the same road, the warrants show. Coventry police arrested Hemingway, 37, of Glastonbury, last Tuesday in connection with the back-to-back burglaries as well as a third, earlier one in town last year. In all, Hemingway now is charged with a dozen burglaries in eight Connecticut municipalities and is in custody at the Osborn Correctional Institution in Somers in lieu of a total $1.5 million bail. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That bail is expected to rise, as more departments file charges. Dubbing him a serial burglar, investigators say they believe Hemingway carried out more than 40 burglaries at businesses in three states last year, all while he was a police officer. The Coventry burglaries happened at the Lakeview Restaurant & Banquets on March 29, 2023 and at Husky Pizza and Dimitris on April 23, police said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to the warrant for the Lakeview case, officers were dispatched to the Lake Street restaurant at 12:46 a.m. March 29 after being notified of a tripped alarm. They arrived one minute later, but didn't see anything amiss and left. Late that afternoon, a bartender opened up the cash register and discovered there was no money inside, the warrant said. Surveillance video showed a Jeep Grand Cherokee had pulled into the front lot about 12:40 a.m. The burglar used a screwdriver or similar tool to easily open a kitchen door, the warrant said. He is in and out of the restaurant within about two minutes during which he finds the bar register, that has the key in the lock, and empties it of approximately $1,000, according to the warrant. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Warrant: After first burglary, suspect drives past police station to second Less than a month later, an officer and a sergeant were dispatched to Husky Pizza at 1011 Main St., where a burglary alarm was triggered at 1:18 a.m. April 23, 2023. They arrived at 1:21 a.m., according to the warrant for that case. The officers checked the main entrance and found that it was unlocked, so they went inside. There they found a computer screen and keyboard on the floor by the counter and exposed computer wires dangling off the counter, the warrant said. It was obvious that the items had been knocked off the counter when the cash register drawer was stolen, the detective wrote in the warrant. The cash drawer turned out to have only coins. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Police later learned that while they were at the Husky Pizza scene, a burglar was up Main Street, or Route 31, at Dimitris Restaurant, 3444 Main St., on the other side of the Coventry Police Department, that warrant said. At 1:26 a.m., the person tried but was unable to get in through the back door, surveillance video showed. At 1:31 a.m., the burglar got in through an unlocked window that the staff used to leave open a crack to let in fresh air, according to the warrant. The thief kicked open the locked office door and took a set of keys, which he used to get into the registers at 1:33 a.m., the warrant said. He took $350 in cash before leaving at 1:40 a.m., the warrant said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Surveillance video showed the burglar has a slender to moderate build and appears to be agile because of the way he was able to slip in the window, the warrant said. The thief was wearing the same clothes as the one from Husky Pizza, the warrant said, and when police compared the April burglaries with the March one they saw similarities, as well. Detectives also talked to police in other towns who were investigating similar break-ins and learned that those also involved a Jeep Grand Cherokee and that Hemingway, who had resigned from the Glastonbury Police Department on Sept. 1, was their suspect. Detectives in Wethersfield and Shelton had collected cellphone tower data from the times of their burglaries that linked the crimes to a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee owned by Hemingways wife, who knew nothing about the burglaries, the warrants said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Coventry police also learned that Patrick Hemingways DNA was found at burglary scenes in Old Saybrook and Middlefield. However, Hemingway has not been charged with the Middlefield burglary. Detectives obtained information about the movement of the Jeep around the time of the April burglaries. That information showed the Jeep stayed still, in the Rockville section of Vernon, until about 12:50 a.m. on April 23, according to the warrants for the April break-ins. The Jeep moved to the Coventry area around 1 a.m. April 23 and showed stagnant activity near Husky Pizza until about 1:11 a.m., the warrants said. It traveled north, toward Dimitris, where the Jeep was still until about 1:40 a.m. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Enforcement Directorate has taken cognizance of Delhi minister Atishi's statement that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sent her directions from the agency's custody to initiate public welfare works related to water and sewerage, official sources said on Sunday. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (Vipin Kumar/HT) The federal agency will conduct an investigation to ascertain if these directions from the arrested chief minister were in line with the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court's order issued to the ED and Kejriwal during his custody period, the sources said. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. While remanding Kejriwal in ED custody till March 28, the court had allowed his wife Sunita Kejriwal and personal assistant Bibhav Kumar to meet him every day for half hour between 6 and 7 pm, apart from his lawyers for another half hour. Earlier on Sunday, Water Minister Atishi said at a press conference that Kejriwal sent her a document from ED custody on Saturday with "his directions" to resolve public issues related to water and sewerage. She said the chief minister directed that a sufficient number of water tankers be deployed in areas facing a water shortage to strengthen supply ahead of the summer months. Kejriwal also directed her to issue instructions to the chief secretary and other officers in this regard, she added. Kejriwal, 55, was arrested by the ED on March 21 following raids at his official residence in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case. The ED, the sources said, will investigate if due processes were followed during these meetings. If any aberrations are found, the designated special court will be duly informed, they said. The meeting area where the arrestee meets his lawyers and family members at the ED headquarters on A P J Abdul Kalam Road in central Delhi is monitored via a CCTV video link, according to the sources. Kejriwal, who is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is understood to have been questioned over the last few days about the formulation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22, his meetings with various government officials and private stakeholders and the statements made by other accused and witnesses in the case till now. The ED is also investigating if mobile phones handled by the chief minister's aides and staff were formatted or reported missing soon after the policy was scrapped and the agency and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered separate criminal cases to investigate the alleged irregularities. While the ED has alleged that Kejriwal is the "kingpin and key conspirator" of the Delhi excise policy "scam", the chief minister and his party have termed the agency's action against him "political vendetta" by the BJP-led central government. The Hyderabad Police have arrested two additional superintendents of police (ASP) in connection with a phone tapping case that has rocked Telangana. A look out notice has also been issued against former state intelligence bureau chief T Prabhakar Rao and two others for not being present during probe and alleged non-cooperation, PTI reported. According to an NDTV report, Rao, who is believed to be in the US, has been named as accused No.1 in the case. According to the report, additional deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Thirupathanna and additional superintendent of Police N Bhujanga Rao, who were arrested, worked as ASPs in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) and Intelligence Department respectively. They were sent to judicial custody on Sunday. READ | Two more Telangana cops accused of destroying official data, phone tapping arrested Prabhakar Rao The lookout notice has also been issued against then deputy commissioner of police of Commissioner's Task Force (a wing of Hyderabad Police) P Radhakrishna and a senior executive of a Telugu TV channel. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. What is the Telangana phone tapping case? According to the Telangana Police, both the arrested ASPs allegedly colluded with suspended state intelligence bureau (SIB) deputy superintendent of police (DSP) D Praneeth Rao. Rao was earlier arrested for allegedly erasing the intelligence information from various electronic gadgets as well as for alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS government. A Hyderabad Police statement said that the two arrested police officials confessed to alleged involvement in conspiracy to monitor private persons illegally by developing their profiles, abusing their official positions; to cause disappearance of evidence by destroying public property to conceal their involvement in collusion with the already arrested D Praneeth Kumar alias Praneeth Rao and some other persons". READ | Suspended Hyderabad DSP held in phone-tapping case Praneeth Rao is accused of developing profiles of unknown persons and monitoring them clandestinely, without authorisation and illegally, besides destroying certain computer systems and official data. He was recently suspended by the Telangana government led by Revanth Reddy. Rao was a DSP during the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS dispensation and was subsequently working in the office of the Director General of Police (DGP). He was earlier accused of tapping phones of opposition party leaders. Based on a complaint filed by an additional superintendent of police of the SIB on March 10, a case was registered against Praneeth Rao and others at Panjagutta police station here on charges of criminal breach of trust by a public servant, causing disappearance of evidence, and criminal conspiracy and other sections of IPC, PDPP Act and IT Act-2000. The case was registered against them for allegedly destroying certain computer systems and official data of the SIB, including those obtained by him clandestinely and illegally in collusion with others with an intention to make wrongful gain, the police had said. They were also accused of developing profiles of some persons and monitoring them, causing disappearance of physical and electronic records of the SIB, and copying intelligence information into personal drives, police added. Ramayan actor Arun Govil, who will be the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, thanked prime minister Narendra Modi and the party's Central Election Committee (CEC) for the opportunity. Arun Govil (Hindustan Times/File) Heartfelt gratitude to prime minister Narendra Modi and the election committee for giving me such a big responsibility. I will try my best to fully live up to the faith shown in me by the BJP, and people's expectations, Govil posted on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after his name featured on the party's fifth list, which declared candidates for 111 seats. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The actor, who replaces the party's sitting Meerut MP Rajendra Agarwal, is from the city. He joined the BJP in March 2021. Govil, 72, became a household name in late 1980s after he played Lord Ram in Ramanand Sagar's TV adaptation of Ramayan. Also, he was among the guests to attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22. The BJP's fifth list, meanwhile, also named another actor as a candidate: Kangana Ranaut will contest from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, her home state. The Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases; on April 19, the first day of polling, as many as 102 of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will vote, while on June 1, electors in 57 constituencies will get to exercise their right to vote. The counting of votes for all 543 seats will be held on June 4. The BJP, under prime minister Narendra Modi, is aiming for a third straight term, with the PM himself targeting a hattrick of wins for the top post. It will be challenged by I.N.D.I.A (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), a Congress-led coalition of more than two dozen opposition parties. You cannot overlook the relationship of people with forests and the stance the women in Raini village in Uttarakhand took on March 26, 1974, was a representation of that intimate relationship they shared, said Chandi Prasad Bhatt (90), who led the Chipko movement and gave birth to its parent organisation, Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in 1964. Chandi Prasad Bhatt. (HT Photo) This is the 51st anniversary of the Chipko movement that happened at Mandal but the 50th anniversary of the Raini movement, Bhatt said. The victory for Rainis forests did not come easy. The movement had already started gaining ground in Gopeshwar, Mandal, Phata-Rampur (all around Chamoli) before it reached Raini. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. In December 1973, there was a resistance movement among locals in Phata- Rampur after the forest department tried to divert forests in May-June 1973. There was a man called Hayat Singh Rawat, whose in-laws lived in Raini village. He used to visit us often. He informed us that the entire forest in Raini has been also marked by the forest department for felling. We decided to visit the place and understand the concerns of the area north of Joshimath. This was a very sensitive area, also because it is our international border, recollected Bhatt when he met this reporter at his house in Gopeshwar. In those days there were several comrades who were also block heads and we were members of Sarvodaya. As you understand Sarvodaya members did not have a very good relationship with comrades, but we had to work together to save our forests. In November 1973, we took out a huge yatra which included participation from some of these comrades. For two days we only appreciated the block pramukhs so that they participate and help us in saving our forests but on the third day we went to a village which had suffered a landslide. I asked why did this landslide happen? Someone said trees had been cut here in 1970 and that is why. So, people were gradually seeing the relationship between disasters and forests, said Bhatt. Bhatt and other Gandhian Sarvodaya activists also held a meeting in Raini. No women participated. We asked the men what should be done about felling of forests? The men said forests have to be saved. So, we made watchdog committees of men from Tapoban, Lata, Regri, Raini etc. In 1968 there was a huge landslide in Raini so people understood the connection very easily, he added. In early 1974, Bhatt was informed that Rainis forests were being auctioned by the forest department. I immediately left for the auction which was to be held at the townhall in Dehradun. I stopped at a friends place. Someone said let college boys protest and stop the auction of Rainis forests. But I said no. Because we are from Sarvodaya movement and that would create violence. So, I said lets warn authorities by sticking posters around the townhall, remembered Bhatt. Also Read | Unsung heroes of Chipko movement, women look to gain rightful place The conservator of forests hit the auction table at 4.75 lakhthe price for nearly 2,500 trees in Raini. By then I had already written to chief minister HN Bahuguna that felling these trees in Raini would be calling for a disaster. Raini was an extremely border sensitive area. After the auction, the DFO (divisional forest officer) told me that as per the working plan, which is like the holy scripture for the forest department, these trees will have to be cut, said Bhatt. The Sarvodaya activists organised a big protest meeting in Joshimath on March 15, 1974 with members of all political parties including Jan Sangh, Congress, CPI and Sarvodaya members in attendance. Members of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), IB (Intelligence Bureau), local journalists etc had also joined the meeting. But I could see pressure was building up on activists and comrades to allow felling of Rainis forests. After 2 days, a lot of labourers reached Raini with their lumberjacks to cut trees. I, however, had full confidence in the watchdog committees, said Bhatt. All of a sudden, Bhatt was informed by the Conservator of Forests that he would meet Bhatt on March 26 in Gopeshwar. Incidentally, they also called all the men from most border villages to Chamoli for compensation for border roads that cut through their villages and at the same time they called me for a meeting in Gopeshwar. Other men in Sarvodaya needed permits to enter Raini area. So there was nobody to oversee Rainis forests except the women, he said. On the evening of March 26, the conservator, ranger, DFO etc came to Gopeshwar to meet Bhatt. The conservator kept praising me, got 3-4 rounds of tea, different kinds of sweets etc and got me very busy with unnecessary banter. Hayat Singh, in the meanwhile, also reached Gopeshwar from Raini. He looked at me but did not speak. After the conservators left, he told me what had happened in Raini that afternoon, recalled Bhatt. When forest officials and labourers reached Rainis forests that morning, some girls had spotted them going to the forest. All the women decided to gather together. Gaura Devi and 27 other women ang girls headed to stop the men. They had to struggle a lot, I was told. But women did not budge. Some women also broke the small road connecting to the forest so that the men dont go to the forest at night. Next morning I was impatient to reach Raini, said Bhatt. Bhatt recalled that Gaura Devi informed him not only about the struggle they had with the agents and labourers but also how the men had insulted Rainis women. She asked me not to inform anyone about this because these officials would lose their jobs. Raini women were also scared if they would be arrested for going against the law. I said there should be no violence in this because we are Sarvodaya members and that is very important. We decided that we will do a rally to recognise the womens struggle on March 30. I stayed on in Raini for those days. I wanted to ensure nobody insults the women of Riani, he said. On March 30, Bhatt recalls seeing something which appeared surreal- all these women from Lata, Raini and other border villages wearing their traditional Bhotia attire and carrying drums etc from Mahila mandals. The rally started from Rishi Ganga. I used to have a protest song which they also sang. They were carrying Chipko banners. Ber Bhao todne dil ko dil se jodne, rok ne tabahi chale shanti ke sipahi (To end discrimination, to bring hearts together...there go soldiers of peace...). I believe people and forest have a relationship and you cannot oversee it. In Raini you could see that if forests are cut there will be landslide, said Bhatt. During the 1970 flood in Uttarakhand, Bhatt noticed that wherever there was a loss of trees there were landslides. I gave this note to all senior officials involved. I also gave it to Jayprakash Narayan in Delhi, we were very influenced by his philosophy. Forests is a matter of subsistence and if that relationship is destroyed, communities will face disaster, Bhatt said. There have been several active phases of this movement. In 1980, women in Dungi Pantoli protested their men for handing over their common forests to the forest department. Delhi University professor, Gopa Joshi and I were gheraoed by men during that andolan. So, every andolan will have a different anniversary date, said Bhatt. Taking a jibe at I.N.D.I.A, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday that the Congress-led opposition bloc was intact, though not on Earth, but on the Moon and Sun. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (File Photo) The INDI alliance is intact, not on Earth, but perhaps on the Moon and Sun. Here, we have not seen the presence of many parties, such as the Trinamool Congress and Janata Dal (United). So, with our normal eyes, we cannot see the INDI alliance. However, it (the opposition bloc) might be on the Sun or Moon, and so we cannot see it with naked eyes, the BJP leader, an ex-Congressman, remarked. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Sarmas statement came after Congress MP Jairam Ramesh stated that I.N.D.I.A would cross 272 seats in Lok Sabha, with that figure being the halfway (majority) mark in the 543-seat House. Sarma, meanwhile, also asserted that the people of India, and Assam in particular, will participate in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections not defensively, but freely and wholeheartedly. The people of India, and the Assamese in particular, will not fight this election from a defensive position. They will fight with a free mind that we have no crisis of identity as of now. Of course, after 20 years, it is a different matter. So, this will be an election that the Assamese people will join with a free mind, Sarma said. The northeastern state accounts for 14 of the regions 25 Lok Sabha seats. In the previous 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the ruling BJP and its allies won 18 parliamentary segments in the northeast, including 11 in Assam. In the 2024 general elections, voting in the state will be conducted on April 19, 26, and May 7. The nationwide polling will be held in seven phases: April 19, 26, May 7, 13, 20, 25, and June 1. The counting of votes for all 543 constituencies will be done on June 4. The BJP, which is seeking a third consecutive term, will be challenged by I.N.D.I.A, formed to deny the saffron party a hattrick of wins. (With ANI inputs) Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani, who had earlier levelled allegations against former MP Mahua Moitra of sharing her Parliamentary login ID and password with him, has been named as an accused along with the latter in the FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the cash-for-query case. Moitra was expelled on December 8 last year over the cash-for-query charges. (HT Archive) The CBI filed the first information report, dated March 21, based on the order from the Lokpal a body to probe corruption cases against public servants including legislators directing a formal probe by the central agency against Moitra. A complaint into the matter was filed by BJP lawmaker from Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The FIR, issued in compliance with Lokpals order, registered a case against Moitra, Hiranandani, and unknown others under Sections 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Moitra has denied any wrongdoing, and is set to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket from Krishnanagar in West Bengal. The FIR has been lodged based on the allegations that Ms. Mahua Moitra indulged in corrupt practices including, but not limited to, taking bribes and other undue advantages from Sh. Darshan Hiranandani S/o Sh. Niranjan Hiranandani, Private Person for compromising her parliamentary privileges and causing national security threats by sharing her login credentials of Lok Sabha. The case has been entrusted to additional superintendent of police Alok Kumar Singh. Earlier on Saturday, the CBI conducted raids at multiple locations, including the Kolkata residence of the TMC leader, in connection with its probe into the cash-for-query case. Moitra on Sunday wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI), saying that the CBI conducted consecutive raids at four of her properties on Saturday to hinder her campaign and create a negative perception about her, and urged the poll panel to intervene so that all parties in the fray get a level playing field. The CBIs preliminary inquiry report to the Lokpal led to further investigation into the allegations against the TMC leader on Tuesday. Referring to the CBI findings, Lokpals judgment on Tuesday said, It is stated in the PE report that it is prima facie revealed that Moitra had unauthorisedly shared her login credentials of Members Portal of Lok Sabha with Darshan Hiranandani, who either provided information or posted questions directly on the Lok Sabha portal on behalf of Moitra. Moitra was expelled on December 8 last year over the cash-for-query charges. She alleged substantial illegality and arbitrariness by the Houses ethics committee that recommended the action against her. She was expelled over her direct involvement in cash-for-query charges and unethical conduct. The Lok Sabha expelled the TMC legislator with a voice vote amid a walkout by Opposition members, adopting an ethics committee report that recommended her expulsion for sharing her log-in credentials and password with an unauthorised person, its impact on national security, and accepting gifts and possibly cash as a quid pro quo from businessman Darshan Hiranandani. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday hit out at Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his indigenous remark on the migrant Muslim community, saying that it just a naked show of bigotry and racism. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi (ANI) Bengali-speaking Muslims are already 'indigenous' to India. He is no one to demand constant proof of loyalty, Owaisi wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Owaisi's comments come a day after Sarma said that his government does not have a problem with anyone calling themselves indigenous as long as they prohibit child marriage, do not engage in polygamy, encourage their children to pursue higher education, and other such parameters that are an intrinsic part of the larger Assamese society. Sarma was responding to a question on a recent statement by the All India United Democratic Fronts (AIUDF) Nagaon Lok Sabha candidate Aminul Islam, that a large number of Bengali-speaking Muslims had settled in Assam before partition and should be considered indigenous to the state. He also urged the Muslim community to follow the Assamese culture if they want to be treated as indigenous. I have always said to the immigrant Muslim people that his government does not mind being indigenous but they should not get married twice or thrice. This is not the custom of the Assamese peopleYou should not allow girls aged 11-12 to get married. You should enrol your children to be a doctor or engineer, and not into a madrasa. To be indigenous, one has to accept the culture here, the chief minister said. Sarma went on to cite an example saying, Hindus, Muslims, Assamese Hindus, Assamese Muslims- irrespective of whether they follow Sankaradeva or not, all of them respect him." The Assam government on Saturday stopped the selling of lands between two different communities for three months to avoid any possible "conflict on communal lines" ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. In a notification, the Revenue and Disaster Management Authority claimed that the intelligence agencies have informed the government of several cases of attempted transfer of land by fraudulent means in some places. (With inputs from agencies) Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck hosted a special dinner for Prime Minister Modi during his recent visit to the Himalayan country recently. Pictures from the special dinner hosted for the PM showcased the friendship and camaraderie shared between the two leaders. PM Modi seen along with Bhutan King Wangchuck, family at Lingkana Palace.(ANI) At the private dinner hosted at the Lingkana Palace, the entire family of the king of Bhutan, including Queen Jetsun Pema and their three children, Jigme Namgyel, Jigme Ugyen, and Sonam Yangden were present. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Prime Minister Modi seen along with Bhutan King Wangchuck at the special family dinner hosted for the former in Lingkana Palace.(ANI) PM Modi interacting with the two young princes while Princess Sonam is seen in Queen Pema's lap.(ANI) Pictures from the dinner also showed PM Modi interacting with the two young princes while Princess Sonam cradled in Queen Pema's lap. In other photos, the Prime Minister was seen along with the children of Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck. PM Modi seen with the children of Bhutan King Wangchuck.(ANI) PM Modi was also conferred with the Order of Druk Gyalpo during his visit to the Himalayan kingdom. He became the first foreign dignitary and the fourth person overall to receive the honour. The Order of the Druk Gyalpo is at the pinnacle of the honour system in Bhutan. PM Modi was given the honour for his outstanding contribution to the growth of India-Bhutan relations. Following the prime minister visit to Bhutan, Bhutanese King Wangchuck termed him as an exceptional leader. In a video message, King Wangchuk said, Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, India has not only achieved remarkable success in the past decade, but also paved the way for a promising and prosperous future. We applaud and rejoice in India's accomplishments. Countries require exceptional leaders to advance and flourish, yet such leaders are rare. To find an exceptional leader must possess compassion, a deep dedication to the country, and a willingness to devote themselves entirely to the service of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also thanked Bhutan King Wangchuck for the special gesture. During his State visit to Bhutan, he also inaugurated Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck Mother and Child Hospital with his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay. (With inputs from ANI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday expressed confidence in the future of India-Russia relations, and stressed that Moscow has always maintained a strong and positive relationship with New Delhi. External affairs minister S Jaishankar. (AP FIle Photo)(HT_PRINT) EAM Jaishankar, while interacting with the Indian community during his visit to Singapore, said that both India and Russia have taken extra care to look after each other's interests. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. While responding to a question, Jaishankar said, I will ask myself...Has Russia helped us or harmed us?...Are there gains to be made from Russia? or is it only damage that will come out of that? If I do my calculation from my perspective and my experiences, I will get the answer. And the answer in this case is that Russia is a country with which we have always had a positive relationship. Both India and Russia have taken that extra care to look after each other's interests, he added. The foreign minister further insisted that both the countries should move forward with confidence, which will further strengthen their ties. Jaishankar is on an official visit to Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia from March 23-27, 2024. Moreover, he also emphasised India-Singapore ties during his interaction with the Indian community in Singapore and said it was a privilege to have been personally involved in this journey. "As our connections grew closer, as the community has grown, as India has become more globalized, the ties between India and Singapore have reflected that and it's been my privilege to be part of this journey at least for a decade and a half personally, the foreign minister said. S Jaishankar's comments on strong ties with Moscow came hours after he interacted with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, offering his condolences for the March 23 terror attack on a Moscow shopping mall and concert hall. (With inputs from ANI) Ujjain: A fire broke out in the sanctum sanctorum of Ujjain's Mahakal Temple on Monday morning, injuring 13 priests. The incident took place during the bhasma aarti. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the accident is extremely painful. CM Mohan Yadav has said the situation in Mahakal temple is under control. (ANI photo) The accident that took place in the Mahakal temple of Ujjain is extremely painful. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the devotees injured in this accident. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in all possible help to the victims, he said. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh confirmed the incident. He said a magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident. Thirteen priests suffered burn injuries and are being treated in the district hospital here. A magisterial probe has been ordered, he told ANI. According to eyewitnesses, 'gulal' was being thrown inside the sanctum sanctorum as part of the Holi celebration. Someone threw the coloured gulal on an earthen lamp. They believe chemicals inside gulal may have triggered the fire. The chief priest of Bhasma Aarti, Sanjay Guru, is among those injured. The condition of nine people is said to be critical. They have been referred to Indore. Ujjain superintendent of police Pradeep Sharma told HT: "One of the injured informed said that someone threw gulal on priest Sanjeev from behind while he was performing the aarti. The gulal fell on the lamp. It is believed that there was some chemical in the gulal which caused the fire. Union minister Amit Shah reacted to the unfortunate incident. He said the local administration is providing treatment to the injured. "Regarding the fire incident in Shri Mahakal Temple of Ujjain, took information from Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav. The local administration is providing assistance and treatment to the injured. I pray to Baba Mahakal for the speedy recovery of the injured," he wrote on X. Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav wrote on X: "The incident of fire at the 'garbha griha' of Mahakal Temple during bhasma aarti is unfortunate. I have been in touch with the administration since morning. Everything is under control. I pray to Baba Mahakal for the quick recovery of all injured." With inputs from PTI, ANI, Shruti Tomar Putin calls Moscow terrorist attack bloody, barbaric, vows retribution Xinhua) 14:59, March 25, 2024 MOSCOW, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called a terrorist attack here bloody and barbaric, vowing retribution for the perpetrators, organizers and financiers. Putin made the remarks during a televised address to the nation after a deadly shooting Friday evening at the Crocus City Hall in northwest Moscow claimed the lives of at least 133 people. Putin said all four perpetrators of the terrorist attack were arrested, adding that all perpetrators, organizers and financiers of this crime would be punished. "Whoever they are, whoever guides them. I repeat, we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity. This is a strike against Russia, against our people," Putin said. The Russian president added the terrorist attack was "carefully, cynically planned," and "a prepared mass murder of civilians." He also said that the perpetrators tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, and according to preliminary information, a "window" was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the border. Earlier, advisor to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Mikhail Podolyak and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry both rejected the notion of Ukraine's involvement in the attack. Putin added that the main thing now is to prevent those who were behind the terrorist attack from committing new crimes. He noted that the Federal Security Service and other law enforcement agencies are working to identify the entire "terrorist support base." Putin also declared March 24 a day of national mourning in Russia for those killed in the terrorist attack. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) The developer, 118 Armstrong, LLC, has withdrawn a request to change the 2.1-acre lot at 118 Armstrong Road from R-1 to a Planning Development District, which was part of plans to construct 40 condominiums. Brian Gioiele/Hearst Connecticut Media SHELTON A proposed 41-unit townhouse condominium development on Armstrong Road is off the table, at least for now. The developer, 118 Armstrong, LLC, had been seeking to change the 2.1-acre lot at 118 Armstrong Road from R-1 to a Planning Development District with plans to construct 40 condominiums, all with two bedrooms. In all, the plan included five structures, with attached dwellings in each. The single-family home already on site would have remained and was to be renovated into a three-bedroom condominium, bringing the project's total to 41 condos. The plans called for access to the townhouses from Armstrong Road and a total of 96 parking spaces. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Planning and Zoning Commission last month held a public hearing on this plan, which drew opposition from nearby residents. The commission canceled a second public hearing after the developer submitted a letter withdrawing the plan. My client will resubmit an amended application in the future, stated attorney Dominick Thomas, who represents the developer, in a letter dated March 19. Residents had voiced concerns about the development's density and if the location qualified as a Planned Development District under the city's zoning regulations. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Thomas told Hearst Connecticut Media that the withdrawal was due to issues with the applicability of the PDD, that forced the developer to reassess the zoning strategy. Thomas said at the initial public hearing that the site is a transition location, fitting the PDD rules, as it abuts the United Illuminating substation, which abuts Eversource high-voltage transmission lines. The Conservation Commission, in a letter submitted to Planning and Zoning prior to the withdrawal, stated that the site is explicitly prohibited from PDD consideration under the zoning regulations because it is entirely surrounded by single family residential zones. Residents also raised concerns about necessary blasting, increased traffic, loss of green space, displacement of wildlife and potential damage to the underground aquifer, which helps to keep the homes wells operating. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Conservation Commission also stated that the project could negatively impact nearby Cranberry Bog and pond. The bog and pond is a rare "true floating sphagnum bog," according to a Yale University study, commissioners said. A sphagnum bog contains various acid-tolerant plants and tends to form peat deposits. According to the Yale study, disturbance of the sulfide-bearing rocks at the site could acidify runoff and release heavy metals detrimental to the bog, commissioners wrote. The commission said the original proposal would have consisted of 80 percent impervious surfaces draining directly into the bog, along with additional road salt, lawn fertilizers and pesticides. On March 11, the Government of India formally notified the rules implementing the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The law provides persecuted religious minorities hailing from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan an expedited pathway to Indian citizenship, provided they belong to the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Parsi, or Sikh communities. Notably, the law does not provide such a pathway to those who belong to the Muslim faith. The notification of the CAA ruleson the eve of Indias 2024 general electionhas kicked off a fresh debate over the law, its implementing provisions, and the resulting implications for the future of secularism in India (HT) The notification of the CAA ruleson the eve of Indias 2024 general electionhas kicked off a fresh debate over the law, its implementing provisions, and the resulting implications for the future of secularism in India. On last weeks episode of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy co-produced by HT and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, legal scholar M. Mohsin Alam Bhat joined host Milan Vaishnav to discuss the law, the rules, and the political impacts. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Bhat, a Lecturer in Law at Queen Mary University of London, specializes in constitutional law and human rights and has written extensively about law and citizenship in India. Asked about using religious persecution as a criterion for fast-tracked citizenship, Bhat said theres nothing wrong with taking religion into account given it is one of the major grounds of persecution. Furthermore, India has a responsibility toward religiously persecuted minorities in its region. However, Bhat argued, one cannot ignore the political and social context in which the CAA and the subsequent rules have been unveiled. What India is doing is a political project, a transformation of India into a religiously, sectarian ethnic state. It is not the response of a secular, inclusive, just democratic country to address problems of religious persecution in its neighborhood, even if its piecemeal, he said. Bhat continued, For instance, the government could have said that were interested in handling religious persecution, its a piecemeal project, theres a current emergency in Bangladesh, and we can resettle [refugees]. But that is not what is happening here. It is part of a political project to reimagine India in a very different manner. On the question of the laws constitutionality, Bhat says critics of the law, including myself, have started arguing that the real challenge [with the CAA] is... about constitutional identity. If India is a secular country and citizenship status is fundamentally a constitutional question which relates to the very foundations of the polity, it cannot be that the test for citizenship in a secular country is a sectarian test. Ultimately when the Supreme Court will decide this case, Bhat noted, it will have to make up its mind about the future course of what constitutional identity of Indiaparticularly secular identitymeans. New Delhi: A united Left on Sunday defeated the ABVP in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students' Union elections, winning all four central seats that went to polls -- president, vice president, general secretary and joint secretary. Dhananjay, a PhD student from Bihar, has been elected as the president of JNUSU. Left Unitys Dhananjay is the new JNUSU president. (HT Photo) Who is Dhananjay? The JNUSU polls were held on Friday after a four-year-long hiatus. Left-backed groups like the All India Students Association (AISA), Democratic Students Federation (DSF), Students Federation of India (SFI), and the All India Students Federation (AISF) contested the elections in alliance against RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. A total of 19 candidates contested for positions on the central panel of JNUSU, with eight candidates in the fray for the post of the president. Dhananjay defeated ABVPs Umesh Chandra Ajmeera by 922 votes. Avijit Ghosh (Left) defeated Deepika Sharma (ABVP) by 927 votes for the vice-presidents post. Priyanshi Arya (Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association, supported by the Left) defeated Arjun Anand (ABVP) by 926 votes for the general secretarys post; while Mohammad Sajid (Left) defeated Govind Dangi (ABVP) by 508 votes for the joint secretarys post. Dhananjay, a PhD student from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, is a native of Bihar's Gaya. Dhananjay is the first Dalit JNUSU president since Batti Lal Bairwa, who won in 1996. Also read: In first JNU student polls in four years, Left sweeps 4-0 Dhananjay told PTI that the victory in JNUSU polls is a students' referendum against the politics of hate and violence. "This victory is a referendum by the students of JNU that they reject the politics of hate and violence. The students have once again shown their trust in us. We will continue to fight for their rights and work on issues that concern students," he said. The safety of women on campus, fund cuts, scholarship hike, infrastructural and water crisis will be his core agenda as the president of JNU's students union. The Left's 4-0 clean sweep, despite a tough challenge by ABVP, shows that JNU is still a Left bastion. JNU polls witnessed a 73 percent voter turnout on Friday. With inputs from PTI The Congress on Monday lashed out at former Calcutta high court judge and now Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha election candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay over his recent remark on Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godse. Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay (left) and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. It is worse than pathetic that a judge of the Calcutta High Court, who resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls as a BJP candidate blessed by none other than the Prime Minister, now says that he cannot choose between Gandhi and Godse. This is totally unacceptable and his candidature should be withdrawn forthwith by those who spare no effort to appropriate the Mahatma's legacy, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in an X post. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. What will the Father of the Do-nation do to protect the Father of the Nation? Ramesh added. Gangopadhyay who has been named as the BJP candidate days after resigning as Calcutta high court judge, recently told a Bengali channel that he cannot choose between Gandhi and Godse. ALSO READ: Mamata Banerjee's message to former HC judge who joined BJP and a challenge As someone from the legal profession, I must try and understand the other side of the story. I must read his (Nathuram Godse) writings and understand what triggered him to kill Mahatma Gandhi. Until then, I cannot choose between Gandhi and Godse, Gangopadhyay, who is contesting against Trinamool Congress candidate Debangshu Bhattacharya in Tamluk, was quoted by India Today as saying in an interview to Aajtak Bangla. The jurist-turned-politician said he must read the book written by Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, elaborating the reasons that provoked him to assassinate the Father of the Nation. ALSO READ: Why a high court judge decided to join a political party I must read that book to understand what inspired Godse to kill Gandhi, Gangopadhyay had said. Gangopadhyay stoked controversy last April when he discussed a school jobs for cash scam case in an interview to a TV channel. His comments, particularly on TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's alleged involvement, drew criticisim from the Supreme Court. The top court had said that judges should refrain from giving media interviews. Rooted in Japanese aesthetics, Wabi-Sabi embodies the beauty of imperfection, impermanence and simplicity hence, channelling this 'simplistic' design ethos into home decor involves embracing natural materials, muted colours and a mindful approach to space. Incorporating Wabi-Sabi into interiors means celebrating the authenticity of materials, such as raw wood, stone and textiles that bear time marks. What is Wabi Sabi? Interior tips to channel this 'simplistic' design ethos into home decor (Photo by Kam Idris on Unsplash) In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Rachna Agarwal, Founder and Design Ideator at Studio IAAD, suggested, Instead of concealing imperfections, they become part of the narrative, infusing spaces with a sense of history and character. For colour palettes, earthy tones and muted shades create a serene ambience, evoking the calmness of nature. The design principle encourages a decluttered space, favouring essential pieces that serve a purpose and hold personal significance. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. She asserted, Spatial arrangement is crucial; it's about balance and harmony rather than excess. Open layouts, natural light, and uncluttered surfaces create a calming environment. Incorporating handmade or artisanal elements further underscores the uniqueness of the space, fostering a connection to craftsmanship and the human touch. Ultimately, Wabi-Sabi in home decor invites a departure from perfectionism, urging occupants to appreciate the beauty in simplicity, the transient nature of life, and the stories embedded in every design choice. It's a holistic approach that transforms living spaces into havens of understated elegance and serene authenticity. Bringing his expertise to the same, Anuj Kapoor, Principal Architect and Founder at Logic Design + Build, explained, The essence of Wabi Sabi can be captured in this quote: it's something that happens naturally, you can't just create it. Wabi Sabi is about honest work that gets graceful as it ages. It seeks a return to humble and unpretentious values. The intent of this philosophy is to embrace aging rather than hiding or correcting it. True Wabi Sabi lies in the journey and thought behind an object, space or structure, not just its appearance. An object that simply mimics the Wabi Sabi style but is created without this authentic process and mindset doesnt fully represent Wabi Sabi. He elaborated, An object might visually resemble what is typically associated with Wabi Sabi for example, it might have an imperfect, rustic, or aged appearance. However, if it hasn't undergone the natural process of aging or imperfection typically revered in Wabi Sabi philosophy, it doesn't embody the true essence of the philosophy, which is about authenticity and the natural cycle of growth, decay, and imperfection. It is not advisable to intend to create such an effect of imperfection. These details should simply emerge organically, and remain as an index of the objects contact with the world. This can happen only by building honestly exposing natural materials in their true form, rather than concealing them with artificial inorganic layers like paint, allowing them to interact with the environment naturally and age over time. According to Anuj Kapoor, design with Wabi Sabi focuses on the quality and authenticity of materials and embraces a less-is-more philosophy. He said, It doesnt reflect any of the trends, because the main aim is to bring joy to the person who uses it. It's about creating harmonious spaces that soothe the soul, a luxury in its own right. Talking about how this 'simplistic' design ethos can be channelled into our home, he advised, Wabi-Sabi is about creating spaces that evolve with time, just as we do. A Wabi Sabi home is never truly 'finished' in the conventional sense. It's designed to grow and change, acquiring new layers of meaning and beauty with each passing day. He recommended - Focus on using natural materials, like exposed bricks, wood, stone, concrete and metal, in their most organic forms, ensuring that the imperfections are celebrated, not concealed. Their unrefined nature and raw textural quality can be incredibly expressive. These materials age beautifully, developing a patina and gaining character over time, rather than deteriorating. They end up telling a unique story and adding depth to spaces. Besides, these traditional building techniques like stonemasonry and rammed earth walls, not only look beautiful but also have a lower environmental impact. Embrace Minimalism with Meaning: Focus on the less is more philosophy and practice restraint in your decor choices. Avoid unnecessary decoration to highlight the beauty of the structure and materials themselves. Wabi-Sabi is about appreciating the beauty in simplicity and avoiding clutter. Each element in your space should have a purpose and a story. Incorporate less but functional elements that will be used and will age well. Handmade Over Mass-Produced: Wherever possible, choose handmade items. These pieces carry the marks and idiosyncrasies of their makers, making them unique and full of character. Collaborate with artisans to create bespoke pieces for your home. These pieces contribute to the personal story and spirit of your space, resonating with the Wabi Sabi philosophy. Light as an Architectural Element: Design spaces that capture and play with natural light. The way light interacts with materials and spaces can create a serene, almost spiritual experience. Employ advanced lighting design to create moods and highlight the beauty of imperfections. This could involve integrated lighting in unexpected places, shadow play to accentuate textures and forms, or the strategic use of skylights and natural light. Incorporate Nature: Integrate natural and living elements to create a deeper connection with nature. This can involve more than just plants; think of incorporating elements like indoor water bodies, natural light wells, or green walls. These features not only bring tranquility and movement into our spaces, but they also evolve over time, embodying the Wabi Sabi essence of growth and change. Devika Khosla, Creative Director at The Works Interiors, encouraged to embrace Wabi Sabi in home decor by choosing raw materials like unfinished wood, favouring asymmetry and opting for minimalist furniture. Echoing that this Japanese design philosophy celebrates imperfection and simplicity, creating a serene and harmonious atmosphere that values the beauty found in the natural and unpolished elements of life, Devika Khosla advised: Bring in nature with plants, woven fabrics, and natural textures and showcase heirloom pieces and decor. Avoid excessive ornamentation and clutter, allowing the space to breathe. Pick colours that are quiet and earthy, show surfaces that look a bit imperfect using unfinished wood or weathered stone. Make spaces for relaxing and keep some empty spots for simplicity. Integrate handmade or artisanal pieces that showcase craftsmanship and individuality. Celebrate the uniqueness of each item rather than aiming for uniformity. Fuse Wabi Sabi simplicity with Indian flair in home decor. Integrate raw materials, minimalist furniture, and asymmetry. Enhance ambiance with soft lighting and aromatic touches like incense or herbs. Infuse Indian charm by incorporating aged furniture, handmade fabrics, and a touch of creativity. Create a harmonious space celebrating imperfection and cultural richness. Making your home Wabi Sabi means using simple materials, natural looks, calm colours and a mix of cultural styles to create a home that feels simple, a little imperfect and truly beautiful. Hola Mohalla 2024 Wishes: The vibrant festival of Hola Mohalla is here. Hola Mohalla, also known as Hola, will take place from March 25 to March 27. The three-day festival will unfold at Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib in Anandpur, located in the Rupnagar district of Punjab. This site holds special historical significance as it is one of the five Sikh Takhts. The celebrations were established by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, in the late 17th century. During these three days, Sikhs demonstrate their military skills in mock battles and exercises. The festival also fosters a sense of unity and camaraderie among the community. If you are celebrating this festival, here are some wishes to share with your friends and family. Check out below. Happy Hola Mohalla 2024 wishes, images, quotes, SMS, greetings, WhatsApp and Facebook status to share with loved ones. (HT Photo) Happy Hola Mohalla 2024 Wishes, Images, Messages, Quotes, SMS, Greetings, WhatsApp & Facebook Status: On this Hola Mohalla, may Waheguru bless you with abundant joy, success, and fulfilment. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Happy Hola Mohalla 2024! (HT Photo) Enjoy the festivities of Hola Mohalla with love, joy, and the blessings of Waheguru. Warm wishes to you and your family on Hola Mohalla. May this auspicious occasion bring prosperity and happiness into your lives. Happy Hola Mohalla 2024: Send these greetings to your family on the auspicious occasion of Hola Mohalla. (HT Photo) Happy Hola Mohalla! May you always be blessed with happiness, success, and the blessings of Waheguru. As we celebrate Hola Mohalla, may the teachings of Sikhism guide us towards righteousness and compassion. Wishing you a blessed day ahead. Happy Hola Mohalla 2024: The festival will take place from March 25 to March 27. (HT Photo) Wishing you and your family a very happy Hola Mohalla filled with joy, prosperity, and the divine blessings of Waheguru. Sending you heartfelt greetings on Hola Mohalla. May this festival bring you closer to your loved ones and strengthen the bonds of unity. Happy Hola Mohalla 2024: The three-day festival will unfold at Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib in Anandpur. (HT Photo) May the teachings of Waheguru guide you through the festivities of Holi and beyond. Happy Hola Mohalla to you and your family! Wishing you a vibrant and colourful Hola Mohalla filled with laughter, love, and positivity. Happy Hola Mohalla 2024: The celebrations were established by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, in the late 17th century. (HT Photo) As we celebrate the Festival Of Colours, let's pray for a life imbued with the colours of joy, love, and happiness as per Gurbani's divine teachings. Holi 2024 Highlights: Holi, the Festival of Colours, is today, March 25. Check out all the love updates about this auspicious Hindu festival here. Holi 2024 Highlights: Holi falls on March 25, 2024. The Festival of Colours is also known as Dhulandi and Rangowali Holi. It is celebrated by old and young alike by playing with colours, eating Gujiya, drinking Thandai and more. Holi 2024 Highlights: Kiara Advani-Sidharth Malhotra, Shweta Bachchan-Navya Nanda, and others; how celebs are celebrating Holi. Happy Holi 2024 Highlights: The auspicious festival of Holi is here. The Festival of Colours is being celebrated today, March 25. On March 24 night, Hindus celebrated Holika Dahan. Also known as Dhulandi or Rangowali Holi, the festival falls annually during the full moon or Purnima tithi on the evening of the Hindu month of the Phalguna. Traditionally celebrated in late February or early March according to the Gregorian calendar, Holi marks the arrival of Spring and the end of Winter. On this day, young and old alike play with colours and water, and the celebrations can last for the better part of the day. People visit their friends and family, smear each other's faces with Gulaal (colours), play with water balloons, use toy water guns on each other, eat Gujiya, drink Thandai, and prepare delectable Holi special meals during the day. (Also Read | Happy Holi 2024: Wishes, images, quotes, SMS, greetings, WhatsApp and Facebook status to share with your loved ones)...Read More Holi holds great significance for Hindus. It is the second biggest festival for Hindus after Diwali. The day celebrates the love and devotion between Lord Krishna and Radha. It also marks the victory of good over evil, which is commemorated during Holika Dahan. According to Hindu mythology, Radha was extremely fair, and Lord Krishna had a dark complexion. Krishna often worried about whether Radha would accept him and complained to his mother, Yashoda, about their different skin tones. Yashoda once jokingly suggested that Krishna paint Radha's face with a different colour to hide any differences. Krishna did as his mother advised and used Gulaal to smear Radha's face. And that's how the celebration of Holi began. (Also Read | Holi 2024: Why do we celebrate Holi? Know history and significance of the festival of colours) Whether dogs truly understand the words we say -- as opposed to things like tone and context clues -- is a question that has long perplexed owners and so far science hasn't been able to deliver clear answers. Can dogs understand words? Brain wave study suggests dogs recall names of favourite toys (Photo by Rebecca Campbell on Unsplash) But a new brain wave study published Friday in Current Biology suggests that hearing the names of their favourite toys actually activates dogs' memories of those objects. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. "It definitely shows us that it's not human-unique to have this type of referential understanding," first author Lilla Magyari of the Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, told AFP, explaining that researchers have been skeptical up to this point. With a couple of famous exceptions, dogs have fared poorly on lab tests requiring them to fetch objects after hearing their names, and many experts have argued it isn't so much what we say but rather how and when we say things that pique our pooches' interest. Yelling "Go get the stick!" and having a dog successfully bring the object back doesn't conclusively prove they know what the word "stick" means, for example. Even scientists who concede that dogs do pay attention to our speech have said that, rather than really understanding what words stand for, they are reacting to particular sounds with a learned behavior. - Brain waves - In the new paper, Magyari and colleagues applied a non-invasive brain imaging technique to 18 dogs brought to their lab in Budapest. The test involved taping electrodes to the dogs' heads to monitor their brain activity. Their owners said words for toys they were most familiar with -- for example "Kun-kun, look, the ball!" -- and then showed them either the matching object or a mismatched object. After analyzing the EEG recordings, the team found different brain patterns when dogs were shown matching versus mismatched objects. This experimental setup has been used for decades in humans, including babies, and is accepted as evidence of "semantic processing," or understanding of meaning. The test also had the benefit of not requiring the dogs to fetch something in order to prove their knowledge. "We found the effect in 14 dogs," co-first author Marianna Boros told AFP, proving the ability is not confined to "a few exceptional dogs." Even the four that "failed" may have simply been tested on the wrong words, she added. - Case closed? - Holly Root-Gutteridge, a dog behavior scientist at the University of Lincoln in England, told AFP that the ability to fetch specific toys by name had previously been deemed a "genius" quality. Famous border collies Chaser and Rico could find and retrieve specific toys from large piles but were deemed outliers, she said. But the new study "shows that a whole range of dogs are learning the names of the objects in terms of brain response even if they don't demonstrate it behaviorally," said Root-Gutteridge, adding it was "another knock for humanity's special and distinct qualities." The paper "provides further evidence that dogs might understand human vocalizations much better than we usually give them credit for," added Federico Rossano, a cognitive scientist at UC San Diego. But not all experts were equally enthusiastic. Clive Wynne, a canine behaviorist at Arizona State University, told AFP he was "split" on the findings. "I think the paper falls down when it wants to make the big picture claim that they have demonstrated what they call 'semantic understanding,'" he said, though he praised the "ingenious" experimental setup as a new way to test the full extent of dogs' "functional vocabulary." For example, Wynne said, he needs to spell out the word "w-a-l-k" when he's in front of his dog -- lest his pet get excited for an outing there and then -- but he doesn't need to take the same precautions in front of his wife, whose understanding of the word goes beyond simple association. "Would Pavlov be surprised by these results?" asked Wynne, referencing the famous Russian scientist who showed dogs could be conditioned to salivate when they heard a bell signaling meal time. I do not think he would be. A U.S. judge on Monday threw out Elon Musk's lawsuit against a nonprofit group that faulted him for allowing a rise in hate speech on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. The decision is a blow to Elon Musk, the world's third-richest person, who has for many years styled himself as a free-speech champion.(Reuters) U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said it was "evident" that Musk's X Corp sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) because he didn't like its criticism, and thought its research would hurt X's image and scare advertisers away. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. "X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp--and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism," Breyer wrote. "It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp is far more concerned about CCDH's speech than it is its data collection methods," he added. X, in a statement, said it plans to appeal. The decision is a blow to Musk, the world's third-richest person, who has for many years styled himself as a free-speech champion. But since paying $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022, he has faced wide criticism for firing too many people who policed misinformation, and from civil rights groups for allowing more harmful and abusive posts. Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, in a statement said Breyer's decision affirms his group's right "to hold accountable social media companies for decisions they make behind closed doors." Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for the nonprofit, said the decision shows that Musk "cannot bend the rule of law to his will." Musk and X have also faced many other lawsuits, including claims by former Twitter executives that Musk improperly withheld severance, and by vendors claiming they haven't been paid. Tesla, the electric vehicle maker that Musk runs, has separately faced several lawsuits claiming it tolerated the harassment of workers. It has denied those claims. MUSK TAKEOVER NOT FORESEEABLE X accused the center of breaching its 2019 user contract by scraping and cherry-picking data to create false and misleading reports that Musk turned X into a haven for hate speech, extremism and misinformation. According to X's complaint filed last July, the nonprofit designed its "scare campaign" to drive away advertisers, and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages. X had argued that the nonprofit was bound by Musks policy changes, and could have left Twitter if it didnt like them. Breyer agreed that X's desire to staunch criticism was "entirely reasonable from a business point of view." But he said the nonprofit could not have foreseen when it signed up with Twitter that Musk would eventually take over and loosen how it moderated user content. Breyer also dismissed X's claims against the European Climate Foundation, a nonprofit based in The Hague, Netherlands that promotes efforts to mitigate climate change. X had accused it of conspiring with the Center for Countering Digital Hate to illegally gather data. Nathaniel Bach, a lawyer for ECF, said that nonprofit was grateful for the dismissal of Musk's "frivolous" lawsuit. Musk's own speech has often also drawn complaints. In November 2023, Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on X that said members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user spoke "the actual truth." Musk has denied being antisemitic and sought to make amends, including in a January visit to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz in southern Poland. The case is X Corp v. Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 23-03836. US aviation giant Boeing has grappled with high-profile production problems and incidents involving its aircraft for more than a year leading up to Monday's announcement that CEO Dave Calhoun would step down at the end of 2024. HT Image These are the issues that his successor, who has yet to be named, will be dealing with: Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Throughout 2023, the aircraft maker was hit by production and delivery delays on its flagship 737 vessel due to manufacturing problems. In April last year, Boeing reported issues with a supplier part on the 737 MAX that was expected to slow deliveries of the jets. A few months later, Boeing noted a problem with the aircraft's rear bulkhead, describing the issue as the result of misshapen holes drilled in a part of the fuselage that helps maintain plane pressure. And in December, Boeing urged customers to inspect for loose hardware on plane rudder control systems after an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance. By early 2024, Boeing's production issues spilled into other parts of its operations. On January 5, a panel known as a "door plug" blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole in the cabin. The affected door plug panel is used to fill an unneeded emergency exit in planes. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded 171 MAX 9 planes and launched an audit into the company's quality control. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board published in February found that four bolts securing the panel that blew off were missing. Boeing employees removed the bolts during an inspection at the Renton plant in Washington state prior to delivery of the aircraft last October. But Boeing has been unable to produce key information about work performed on the plane before the mid-air scare, according to the NTSB. Boeing has itself launched an internal investigation and taken steps to improve its safety and quality procedures. The FAA's audit identified "non-compliance issues in Boeing's manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control" at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems. In a statement dated March 4, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to outline its action plan to address findings, including from an expert review panel's report examining the company's safety culture. In 2018 and 2019, two accidents off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft claimed 346 lives. After the latest incident with Alaska Airlines, the FAA halted production expansion of the Boeing 737 MAX as well. According to US media, in addition to investigations by regulators, the US Department of Justice has also opened a criminal investigation into the January 5 incident. Last week, the Seattle Times said passengers had received letters notifying them that they had been identified as possible victims of a crime. Meanwhile, an investigation has been launched in New Zealand after a LATAM 787 Dreamliner dropped violently mid-flight, injuring dozens of travelers. Against this backdrop, incidents involving Boeing aircraft have come under extra scrutiny attracting regulators' probes in some cases. Boeing has noted that several of these other incidents occurred on older aircraft, whose maintenance would be an airline's responsibility. In mid-January, an Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo plane made an emergency return to Miami International Airport following an engine problem. In late February, United Airlines pilots reported that the rudder pedals of the 737 MAX they were flying were stuck after landing in Newark, New Jersey. Other recent episodes include one in which a United flight headed for Florida returned to the airport it departed from, in Houston, after experiencing an engine fire due to plastic bubble wrap ingested from the airfield. Another United plane bound for Japan lost a tire after taking off from San Francisco. elm/bys/nro BOEING This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. The UN Security Council called Monday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza five months into the grinding war, despite Israel's ally the United States abstaining. HT Image Here are some reactions to the resolution to halt fighting over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan with an aim for a "lasting" truce, which drew rare applause at the Security Council: Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for swift implementation of a ceasefire after Israel voiced anger over the resolution. "Failure would be unforgivable," Guterres wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Hamas welcomed the resolution to halt fighting in Gaza while saying it was ready to negotiate the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. "We also affirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides," the militant group said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the UN vote "hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees". "It gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees," the statement said. It also took aim at the US abstention, calling it a "clear retreat" from its earlier position. Hussein al-Sheikh, minister for civilian affairs of the Palestinian Authority which has partial administrative control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, hailed the resolution in a post on X. "We call for a permanent cessation to this criminal war and Israel's immediate withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," he wrote. Following the vote, the United States said a ceasefire can "only" be implemented once Hamas begins releasing hostages it still holds. "A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage," US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. After the United States vetoed previous drafts, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists that the US decision to abstain from Monday's vote does not represent a "shift in our policy". The Arab League's Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the decision "comes late". "The lesson now is to implement the decision on the ground, stop military operations and Israeli aggression immediately and completely," he added. Top European Union officials welcomed the resolution, calling for a ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages. "Implementation of this resolution is vital for the protection of all civilians," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X. Egypt welcomed the resolution following the Security Council's "repeated inability" to demand a ceasefire. "It represents the first important and necessary step to stop the bloodshed," the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement to the UN. France's UN representative called for a sustained truce between Israel and Hamas beyond the ongoing month of Ramadan. "This crisis is not over," said Nicolas de Riviere. "After Ramadan, which ends in two weeks, it will have to establish a permanent ceasefire." Baghdad's foreign minister applauded the resolution in a statement and stressed "the importance for the parties to respect their obligations under international law". The Jordanian Foreign Ministry stressed "the necessity of building on this decision" in a statement quoted by the ministry's spokesperson Sufyan Qudah. He also expressed hope that "the Security Council and the international community would take action to safeguard the two-state solution and ensure the establishment of an autonomous and sovereign Palestinian state". Qatar said it hopes the resolution "represents a step towards a permanent cessation of fighting in the Strip". The gas-rich emirate has been engaged in weeks of mediation between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce in Gaza and an exchange of hostages and prisoners. Foreign minister Naledi Pandor welcomed the resolution on public radio but stressed that "the ball is in the court of the Security Council". Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez applauded the resolution, saying it was "in line with what Spain has been saying since the start of the conflict. "The realization of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security is the only realistic and viable solution for the region," he wrote on X. Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte welcomed the resolution, adding, "What is now needed is to stop the violence, free the hostages, immediately send in vastly more humanitarian aid to Gaza and find a lasting solution." The country's far-right leader, Geert Wilders, who swept to victory in recent polls, voiced support to "my Israeli friends in fighting Hamas". "The UN, USA and Europe don't understand you are fighting an existential war. Against the dark forces of hate and destruction called Hamas," he said on X. Turkey called the resolution and prospective return of humanitarian access to Gaza "a positive step". "We hope that Israel will comply with the requirements of this resolution without delay," Turkish foreign affairs spokesman Oncu Keceli wrote on X. Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnes Callamard said the resolution is "long overdue". "This resolution must be accompanied by a shift in political pressure, including an immediate and comprehensive arms embargo," Callamard added. Human Rights Watch's UN lead Louis Charbonneau said called for Israel to halt "unlawful attacks" and Palestinian armed groups to "immediately release all civilians held hostage". "The US and other countries should use their leverage to end atrocities by suspending arms transfers to Israel," Charbonneau added. Oxfam's UN representative Brenda Mofya said the resolution should provide "much-needed respite from the relentless and devastating Israeli violence". "It is imperative for Member States to fulfil their obligations to ensure that it is implemented," she added. burs-giv/rlp/spb/giv This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Joseph Marrone, Republican Town Council chairman, said plans for consolidating Lyman Hall and Sheehan high schools are "dead in the water," after the Board of Education voted overwhelmingly in favor of consolidation and is close to releasing education specifications for a single high school. Dave Zajac / Hearst Connecticut Media WALLINGFORD "Dead in the water" is how Town Council Chairman Joseph A. Marrone III described the Board of Education's plan to consolidate the two local public high schools, during an interview Friday. Marrone's statement comes about a year after the Board of Education voted to replace Lyman Hall and Sheehan high schools with a single new school building potentially on the Lyman Hall site a project for which the school board is just weeks away from completing education specifications. But Marrone said Friday he did not see a path forward for the plan due to a lack of public support. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I think they could bring it up again and we could talk about it, he said. But based on the conversation we had last time, I can't see a scenario where the Town Council wants to move forward with putting a single high school on the Lyman Hall site. The Board of Education voted 8 to 1 in favor of consolidating Lyman Hall and Sheehan high school in February 2023. The decision was made after years of research and deliberation, Superintendent Danielle Bellizzi wrote in a statement sent to parents right after the approval, and was based on studies and input from community stakeholders. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But the concept of consolidation and the board's ultimate decision to move forward with the project deeply divided the community. The decision to go with one high school versus two should be a community decision, according to Marrone, a Republican who won a fight for Town Council leadership after former council chairman Republican Vincent Cervoni was elected mayor, replacing longtime incumbent William W. Dickinson Jr. I think that for the Board of Education to just say 'We want to do it,' and then drop it in the Town Council's lap is a little disingenuous, Marrone said. They need to get some other stakeholders behind the idea before they come to us, looking for us to spend money. There are many teachers, parents and students that arent on board. Different outcome? Marrone noted that new Board of Education members have been sworn in since the decision on consolidation was made and that if the board voted again, the outcome might be different. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Melanie Rossacci, for instance, was outspoken in her opposition to the board's decision, creating a Facebook group titled Wallingford Says No to One High School." She has since been elected to the Board of Education. Other community members have organized petitions opposing the consolidation, citing concerns about its potential impact on students and the community in the areas of academics, transportation and tradition. One petition has gathered over 1,000 signatures. But Rossacci, a Democrat, says there is a slim chance that the board will vote again. She is still an advocate for retaining the two high schools, she said, adding that the board is working on studies that will bring forward new information. I know that in order for the Town Council to even think about allocating dollars for the project, there are certain questions they want answered, she said. One of them being a transportation study. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Path uncertain Meanwhile, the Board of Education expects educational specifications for a single high school to be completed with a few weeks. Bellizzi explained that ed spec typically refers to documents used in planning and designing of schools. The ed spec outlines a schools goals, objectives and requirements, including the physical layout, spatial requirement, programmatic and equipment needs, and other features that are necessary to support the educational programs. The specifications are developed based on input from educators, administrators, architects, and other stakeholders who are involved in the planning process. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Once we get the ed specs then we can really start to get the ball rolling, said Board of Education Vice Chairperson Rajan Doering, a Republican. We would need to go before Town Council again. If the two high schools are consolidated on the Lyman Hall property, the total estimated cost is $216,057,188, and with a reimbursement of 43.22% from the state, the project will cost an estimated $122.67 million to local taxpayers. One common misconception about the consolidated high school plan is that a location was voted on, according to Doering. We voted on looking at the feasibility of putting a building on the Lyman property, he said. Not that it will be the location. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Doering says that when plans for the consolidation of the two high schools were first proposed, former superintendent Salvatore Menzo suggested the Lyman Hall property, and from there it became a possibility researched by board members. But Rossacci says that she isnt sure the consolidated school could be built elsewhere because no other site has been identified yet. Deteriorating schools Republican Board of Education Chairperson Marla Roscoe wants a project to move forward because the two current high schools are getting beyond their useful life. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Our students really do deserve the safest environment and the most supportive environment for education, said Roscoe. Whether that is the consolidation or renovation of the two high schools, Im just interested to move the project forward because its sort of the start to all of the projects that need to be done across our 12 schools in Wallingford and thats just really important to me. Doering says that if plans for the consolidation of the two high schools were to fall through, the board would be back to square one. While he said he cant speak for the board, he expects the board would vote to renovate if the project were to fall through. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that a single Wallingford high school could be built on the existing Lyman Hall property. Disagreements among delegates over who should head Haiti's transitional council are stalling the body's official formation, a representative told AFP Monday, while over the weekend one member quit amid death threats. HT Image Overshadowing the Caribbean nation's ongoing security crisis has been a political one: elections have not been held since 2016, with Prime Minister Ariel Henry heading the country since President Jovenel Moise's 2021 assassination. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. As the security situation deteriorated under Henry's rule culminating when armed gangs united to launch attacks and demand his ouster late last month the prime minister said he would resign once a transitional council was stood up. But the body, supported by the United Nations and regional bloc CARICOM among others, is still struggling to come into shape two weeks after Henry's March 11 announcement. The transitional council to be composed of seven voting members and two non-voting members draws from Haitian political parties and the private sector, and is to name an interim prime minister and government to set the stage for fresh elections. Its formation has dragged on amid arduous negotiations, though its composition changed again over the weekend: Haiti's ambassador to UNESCO Dominique Dupuy, chosen by one of the political coalitions, said she was stepping aside, citing threats against her and her family as well as misogynistic attacks. She was the sole woman representative on the council, and was replaced by Smith Augustin, Haiti's former ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Currently holding up the official formation of the council is the disagreement over who should lead it, one of the delegates told AFP, speaking anonymously. Meetings were held through the weekend and on Monday morning, with another one scheduled between delegates and CARICOM Monday afternoon, the same source said. The meetings did make progress on several points, the delegate said, including on the criteria for becoming president of the council and for choosing the interim prime minister. Ahead of the CARICOM meeting, a calm held across Port-au-Prince Monday morning, after a weekend of intense exchanges of gunfire in the embattled Haitian capital, which has been under a state of emergency for almost a month. While people made their way onto the street, however, the absence of government order could still be felt as schools and government offices remained closed. Gangs are thought to control some 80 percent of the capital and swaths of the countryside. str-gma-iba/pno/nro/des This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Former US President Donald Trump said he would have responded the same way as Israel did after the October 7 attack by Hamas but urged the country to "finish up" its offensive in Gaza and "get this over with", warning about international support fading. Former US President Donald Trump(AFP) "You have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up. You've got to get it done," he said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. "We've got to get to peace. You can't have this going on, and I will say Israel has to be very careful because you are losing a lot of the world. You are losing a lot of support." Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Trump, who earlier this month became the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, brought up global criticism of Israel's offensive even as he has repeatedly attacked President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict. According to the newspaper's transcript of the interview, Trump said "Israel made a very big mistake" in releasing photos and videos of its offensive in Gaza, commenting the country's public image is "in ruin". A video shared of the interview does not show those comments. "That's a terrible portrait. It's a very bad picture for the world," Trump said. "I think Israel wanted to show that it's tough, but sometimes you shouldn't be doing that." The Israel Hayom is widely seen as a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Soon after the attack in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, Trump denounced Netanyahu for allegedly letting him down while he was in the White House. He also said Netanyahu "was not prepared" for the deadly incursion from Gaza. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Trump also again suggested that American Jews were wrong to support Democrats, days after being criticised by some Jewish advocates for saying Jewish Democrats were being disloyal to their religion. He alleged that Biden "supports the enemy". Was Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) really behind the shooting at Moscow's Crocus Hall which killed nearly 140 people and injured 182? Russia has challenged the assertions made by the United States on a possible ISIS-K hand behind one of the worst terror attacks on its soil in decades. Four men, including a Tajik national, stormed the concert hall on Friday, spraying spectators with bullets during a concert by the Soviet-era rock group Picnic. The Islamic State group on Telegram had claimed that the attack was "carried out by four of its terrorists armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and firebombs" as part of "the raging war" with "countries fighting Islam". Contrary to popular claims of an ISIS-K role in the attack, Russian president Vladimir Putin had hinted at a possible Ukraine hand in the massacre. They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border, the Russian leader had said. Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a major European war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other. ALSO READ: 'India stands in solidarity with Russia': PM Modi reacts to Moscow attack Shattered glass lies at the scene of the deadly shooting attack in Crocus City Hall, in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, on March 23.(Reuters) Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, accused the US of evoking "bogeyman" of Islamic State to cover its "wards" in Kyiv, and reminded readers that Washington had supported the "mujahideen" fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. "Attention - a question to the White House: Are you sure it's ISIS? Might you think again about that?" Reuters quoted Zakharova as saying in the article. Meanwhile, Kremlin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia could not comment on the Islamic State claim while the investigation was ongoing, and would not comment on the U.S. intelligence, saying it was sensitive information. (With agency inputs) More than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren rescued after more than two weeks in captivity arrived Monday in their home state in northwestern Nigeria ahead of their anticipated reunions with families, following the latest in a series of mass school abductions in the West African nation. The freed students of the LEA Primary and Secondary School Kuriga upon their arrival at the state government house in Kaduna, Nigeria, Monday, March 25, 2024. More than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren rescued after more than two weeks in captivity have arrived in their home state in northwestern Nigeria ahead of their anticipated reunions with families. (AP) Six of the 137 students remain in hospital, and one staff member who was abducted along with the children died in captivity, military officials said. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Also Read | College students raise funds for security guard to visit his family in Nigeria after 11 years. Watch wholesome video The children were seized by motorcycle-riding gunmen at their school in the remote Kaduna state town of Kuriga on March 7, triggering a wide-ranging rescue operation. They were rescued Sunday by the military in a forest about 200 kilometers (more than 120 miles) to the north in neighboring Zamfara state, though authorities have provided no details of the rescue or said whether any suspected kidnappers were arrested. The students, many of them below the age of 10, were brought Monday to the Kaduna State Government House with fresh haircuts and newly sewn clothes and footwear their first change of clothing since their abduction. Some of them had sore feet suggesting they might have trekked long distances in the forests where they were held hostage. The six children still in hospital will be made available as soon as the doctors have certified them fit enough, Maj. Gen. Mayirenso Saraso, a military chief in Kaduna, said while handing them over to the government. Also Read | Court refuses bail to Nigerian national in Cordelia drugs bust case Information Minister Mohammed Idris told reporters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, that no ransom was paid for the children's freedom and that their kidnappers will be fished out by the security agencies and will never go unpunished. Arrests are rare in Nigeria's kidnapping crisis as most victims are released only after ransom payments by their families or through deals that sometimes involve the release of their gang members. The Nigerian government, however, does not admit to such deals. School authorities originally had told the state government that a total of 287 students were kidnapped during the attack. However, Kaduna Gov. Uba Sani said only 137 are confirmed to have been seized. We are here today happily and celebrating the safe return of our children. They will soon be with their family and their parents, Gov. Sani said. Their parents were not available to receive them and authorities did not allow the schoolchildren to speak to reporters. The Associated Press could not reach families in Kuriga town, which does not have cellphone service. But one parent on Sunday spoke of their sleepless nights as they waited for the return of the children. We were traumatized throughout the absence of our children. Our children were away in the bush, with no food, and no good water, said Jubril Kuriga, whose 9-year-old daughter was among the children kidnapped. At least 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since the 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants in Borno states Chibok village shocked the world. In recent years, abductions have been concentrated in the countrys conflict-battered northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travelers for ransom. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the gunmen who carried out the concert hall attack that killed over 130 people in a Moscow suburb last week were radical Islamists. HT Image Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists "whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Putin, who said over the weekend the four attackers were arrested while trying to escape to Ukraine, didnt mention the affiliate of the Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for the attack. He again refrained from mentioning IS in his remarks Monday. He also stopped short of saying who ordered the attack but said it was necessary to find out why the terrorists after committing their crime tried to flee to Ukraine and who was waiting for them there. After the IS affiliate claimed responsibility, U.S. intelligence backed up their claims. French President Emmanuel Macron said France has intelligence pointing to an IS entity as responsible for the Moscow attack. Earlier Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to assign blame, urging reporters to wait for the results of the investigation in Russia. He also refused to comment on reports that the U.S. warned authorities in Moscow on March 7 about a possible terrorist attack, saying any such intelligence is confidential. As Putin spoke, calls mounted in Russia to harshly punish those behind the attack. Four men were charged by a Moscow court Sunday night with carrying out a terrorist attack. At their court appearance, they showed signs of being severely beaten. Civil liberties groups cited this as sign that Russias poor record on human rights under Putin was bound to worsen. Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the investigation is still ongoing but vowed that the perpetrators will be punished, they do not deserve mercy. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy head of Russias Security Council, urged authorities to kill them all. The attack Friday night on Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow left 137 people dead and over 180 injured, proving to be the deadliest in Russia in years. A total of 97 people remained hospitalized, officials said. As they mowed down concertgoers with gunfire, the attackers set fire to the vast concert hall, and the resulting blaze caused the roof to collapse. The search operation will continue until at least Tuesday afternoon, officials said. A Russian Orthodox priest conducted a service at the site Monday, blessing a makeshift memorial with incense. The four suspects were identified in the Russian media as Tajik nationals. At least two of the suspects admitted culpability, court officials said, although their conditions raised questions about whether their statements were coerced. The men were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Russia's Federal Security Service said seven other suspects have been detained. Three of them appeared in court Monday, with no signs of injuries, and they were placed in pre-trial detention on terrorism charges. The fate of others remained unclear. Russian media had reported the four were tortured during interrogation. Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda and Fariduni showed signs of heavy bruising, including swollen faces. Mirzoyev had a plastic bag still hanging over his neck; Rachabalizoda had a heavily bandaged ear. Russian media reported Saturday that one suspect had his ear cut off during interrogation. The Associated Press couldnt verify the report or videos purporting to show this. Faizov, wearing a hospital gown, appeared in court in a wheelchair, accompanied by medical personnel, and sat with his eyes closed throughout. He appeared to have multiple cuts. Peskov refused to comment on the suspects' treatment. Medvedev, Russias president in 2008-12, had especially harsh comments about them. They have been caught. Kudos to all who were chasing them. Should they be killed? They should. And it will happen," he wrote on his Telegram page. "But it is more important to kill everyone involved. Everyone. Those who paid, those who sympathized, those who helped. Kill them all. Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-funded television channel RT, shared photos of the four men's bruised and swollen faces on X, formerly Twitter. She said that even the death penalty currently banned in Russia would be too easy a punishment. Instead, she said they should face lifelong hard labor somewhere underground, living there too, without the opportunity to ever see light, on bread and water, with a ban on conversations and with a not very humane escort. Russian human rights advocates condemned the violence against the men. Team Against Torture, a prominent group that advocates against police brutality, said in a statement that the culprits must face stern punishment, but savagery should not be the answer to savagery. It said the value of any testimony obtained by torture was critically low, and if the government allows for torture of terrorism suspects, it may allow unlawful violence toward other citizens, too. Net Freedoms, another Russian group that focuses on freedom of speech cases, said Medvedev's remarks, as well as Putin's recent call on security services to punish traitors without a statute of limitation no matter where they are, made against the backdrop of demonstrative torture of the detained ... effectively authorize extrajudicial killings and give instructions to security forces on how to treat enemies." We're seeing the possible beginning of the new Great Terror, Net Freedoms said, referring to mass repressions by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. The group foresees more police brutality against suspects in terrorist-related cases and a spike in violent crimes against migrants. Abuse of suspects by law enforcement and security services isnt new, said Sergei Davidis of the Memorial human rights group. We know about torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, we know about mass torture of those charged with terrorism, high treason and other crimes, especially those investigated by the Federal Security Service. Here, it was for the first time made public, Davidis said. Parading beaten suspects could reflect a desire by authorities to show a muscular response to try to defuse any criticism of their inability to prevent the attack, he said. It was a major embarrassment for Putin and came less than a week after he cemented his grip on Russia for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since Soviet times. Many on Russian social media questioned how authorities and their vast security apparatus that actively surveils, pressures and prosecutes critics failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warning. Citing the treatment of the suspects, Davidis told that "we can suppose it was deliberately made public in order to show the severity of response of the state. People are not satisfied with this situation when such a huge number of law enforcement officers didnt manage to prevent such an attack, and they demonstrate the severe reaction in order to stop these accusations against them, he said. The fact that the security forces did not conceal their methods was a bad sign, he said. IS, which fought Russian forces that intervened in the Syrian civil war, has long targeted the country. In a statement posted by the groups Aamaq news agency, the IS Afghanistan affiliate said it carried out an attack in Krasnogorsk, the suburb of Moscow where the concert hall is located. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people aboard, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt. The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russias volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. The Russian ambassador to Poland did not show up Monday for a meeting at the Polish Foreign Ministry where he had been summoned because of a Russian cruise missile that violated Polish airspace on the weekend, the Polish ministry's spokesman said. Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev was to be given a note of protest after the Russian missile entered the airspace of the NATO member for 39 seconds early Sunday. (File)(AP) Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev was to be given a note of protest after the Russian missile entered the airspace of the NATO member for 39 seconds early Sunday amid a Russian attack targeting western Ukraine. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Pawel Wronski, the Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters in a brief statement outside the ministry that Andreev did not come to the meeting, and that his failure to appear has led the Warsaw government to wonder "whether he is able to properly represent the interests of the Russian Federation in Warsaw." Wronski said the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations clearly defines the duties of an ambassador in a host state. The Polish Foreign Ministry had said it would demand explanations from Russia over the violation of its airspace the latest of several incidents since Moscow launched its war against Ukraine more than two years ago. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of details of the incident by phone on Monday, the ministry said in a statement. Sikorski stressed that Russia's war against Ukraine also threatens the security of NATO member states, the statement said. Former Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih criticised his successor Mohamed Muizzu amid strained ties with India, advising him to stop being stubborn. Solih further urged Muizzu to fix the relations with India amid the financial challenges faced by Maldives. Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu. (File)(HT_PRINT) Local media outlets quote Solih as saying: "However, I am confident that our neighbours will help. We must stop being stubborn and seek dialogue. There are many parties that can help us. But he [Muizzu] doesn't want to compromise. I feel they [the government] are starting to understand the situation only now. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The former president said the government was deceiving the public and relaunching projects initiated by the MDP government. He said ministers are now lying to cover up those lies. These remarks by Ibrahim Mohamed Solih come shortly after Muizzu, who has been viewed as a pro-China leader, asked India to provide debt relief for Maldives as the country is struggling financially to keep its economy afloat. While speaking at an event in Male, former President Solih said that Maldives has a debt of MVR 18 billion owed to China compared to MVR 8 billion owed to India, with the repayment period being 25 years. He further pointed out that the financial challenges are not caused by Indian loans. Muizzu's stance on relations with India Mohamed Muizzu criticised India during and after the presidential election campaign and relations between the two countries have deteriorated since he assumed office in November. The relations worsened when several ministers from his cabinet made objectionable comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Chalo Lakshadweep campaign. The Maldives president demanded the complete withdrawal of 88 Indian military personnel manning three aviation platforms used for humanitarian and medical evacuations in the Maldives by May 10. The first batch of 26 Indian military personnel have already left the island nation and were replaced by civilians. Read more: Maldives says 2nd batch of Indian military personnel will be withdrawn by April 10 However in a recent media interview, Muizzu said that he has not made any comments or taken any actions to strain the relations between the two countries. India will continue to remain the Maldives closest ally, he emphasised. (With inputs from PTI) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a high-level delegation's planned visit to Washington after the U.S. decided not to use its veto power and instead abstained from Mondays U.N. Security Council demand for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the . HT Image The U.S. has previously vetoed three resolutions calling for a Gaza cease-fire. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The resolution, which passed 14-0, calls for a cease-fire during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It also demands the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. However, the measure does not link that demand to its call for a cease-fire. International aid officials say the entire population of the Gaza Strip 2.3 million people is suffering from food insecurity and that famine is imminent in the hard-hit north. More than 32,000 people have been killed in the territory, and more than 74,000 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesnt differentiate between civilians and combatants in its counts. It says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Some 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 when Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack out of Gaza, triggering the war, and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 Israelis hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others. Currently: Palestinians describe bodies and ambulances crushed in Israels ongoing raid at Gazas main hospital. U.N. passes resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza during current Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Thousands of Christians attend Palm Sunday celebrations in Jerusalem against a backdrop of war. Israeli airstrike in northeastern Lebanon wounds three people, local official says. Find more of s coverage at /hub/israel-hamas-war. Here's the latest: WHITE HOUSE SURPRISED BY ISRAEL'S RESPONSE TO U.N. VOTE WASHINGTON White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the response by Israel to the U.N. resolution was surprising. Were kind of perplexed by this, he said. He said the Israelis were choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that. According to a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the talks, American officials were in touch with Israel throughout the weekend to make the U.S. position known on the Security Council resolution, and to articulate that it was not a change in policy or in support for Israel. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions. Netanyahu did not talk to Biden before he canceled the delegations trip, and Biden doesnt have any immediate plans to phone Netanyahu, the official said. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was set to meet with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and others Monday in Washington where discussions would continue. The U.S. official said the plan by Israel to enter Rafah was not imminent and there would still be time for ongoing talks despite the canceled trip. Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Bar Ilan University, said Netanyahus decision to cancel the diplomatic delegation to the United States was a mistake and demonstrates the tension between the US and Israel at this moment. Gilboa said Biden is trying to placate voices within the Democratic party that oppose his support of Israel, while Netanyahu is trying to show his ability to stand up to American policies he considers anti-Israel. If domestic considerations are dominating decision making in the war, you have very harsh exchanges of rhetoric, he said. Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed. REASONABLE GROUNDS TO BELIEVE ISRAEL IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE IN GAZA, INDEPENDENT U.N. EXPERT SAYS GENEVA An independent expert working with the U.N.s top human rights body says there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel has been carrying out genocide in Gaza. Israels government quickly rejected the report. The report from Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, cited Israeli polices and the patterns of violence during Israels military operation in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. It accused Israeli military forces and government leaders of having intentionally violated the laws of war and protections that they confer, in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people. By analyzing the patterns of violence and Israels policies in its onslaught o Gaza, this report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israels commission of genocide is met, said the report, entitled Anatomy of a Genocide. The report was drawn up under a mandate from the Human Rights Council., the U.N.s top human rights body. It lays out some of the most methodical reasoning yet into claims of genocide against Palestinians that have been raised by critics of Israel and others. The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva, where the council is based and is currently in session, said the report brings shame on the 47-country rights body and blasted Albanese for a campaign of delegitimizing the very creation and existence of the State of Israel. Since the war, she has continued this campaign unabated, excusing and legitimizing the attacks of Oct. 7, dismissing their antisemitic nature and dismissing any concrete evidence of acts of savagery that were perpetrated on that day, the mission said. It is clear from the report that the Special Rapporteur began with the conclusion that Israel is committing genocide, and then tried to prove her distorted and politically-driven views with weak arguments and justifications, it added. U.N. human rights officials have been careful to say that only a competent court can make the final determination about genocide, and that is especially hard during ongoing conflict like the one in Gaza. Albanese is an outside expert and does not speak for the United Nations. JORDAN AND TURKEY PRAISE U.N. CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION ANKARA, Turkey Jordan and Turkey have welcomed the U.N. Security Councils resolution on Gaza, with both countries saying Israel must comply with the resolution's demands. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement that the resolution was "a positive step." We call on the international community to take a united stand against Israel to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the spokesman said. Jordan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufyan Al-Qudah noted the resolution emphasizes protecting civilians and allowing the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid. HAMAS WELCOMES U.N. CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION BUT WANTS TRUCE TO BE PERMANENT CAIRO Hamas said it welcomed the decision by the United Nations to call for a cease-fire but said the truce needs to permanent. We confirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides, the Palestinian militant group said Monday. Israel is seeking the release of the more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, while Hamas wants an end not a temporary pause to the war along with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Hamas also wants Israel to release large numbers of Palestinian prisoners. International mediators, led by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt, have been working on a cease-fire to pause or end the war in Gaza. WHITE HOUSE SAYS U.S. POLICY HAS NOT CHANGED, AFTER ABSTAINING ON U.N. CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION WASHINGTON White House national security spokesman John Kirby insisted the the U.S. abstaining from a U.N. resolution on Gaza cease-fire, allowing the resolution to pass, was not a change in American policy. There is no reason for this to be seen as an escalation. Nothing has changed about our policy, he said. Kirby said the resolution called for both a cease-fire and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. And that is, broadly speaking, in keeping with what has been our policy." Kirby said the U.S. was disappointed in Israel's decision to cancel this week's diplomatic delegation to Washington, but said the discussions with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant would likely include some of what the U.S. had hoped to discuss with the delegation on Israel's planned ground assault on the Gaza city of Rafah. He said he would not discuss whether the U.S. would consider withholding support if the Israelis were to proceed. The White House was aiming to talk to the Israelis about possible alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah, but Kirby would not get into specifics. NETANYAHU CANCELS ISRAELI DELEGATION'S TRIP TO WASHINGTON IN PROTEST OF U.N. CEASE-FIRE VOTE JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a planned visit to Washington by a high-level delegation to protest Mondays U.N. Security Council decision calling for an immediate cease-fire. The resolution passed 14-0 on Monday after the U.S. decided not to use its veto power and instead abstained. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of retreating from what he said had been a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. The Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with plans for an expected ground invasion of the strategic Gaza town of Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. U.N. DEMANDS CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA DURING RAMADAN, ITS FIRST DEMAND TO HALT FIGHTING UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Security Council has demanded a cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its first demand to halt fighting. The United States abstained on the resolution, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. However, the measure does not link that demand to the cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends April 9. Because Ramadan ends next month, the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, although the draft says the pause in fighting should lead to a permanent sustainable cease-fire. Since the start of the war, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire. The United States has previously vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on Feb. 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire. Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in late October calling for pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a cease-fire. They again vetoed the U.S. resolution Friday, calling it ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks. HAMAS ACCUSES U.S. OF DISRUPTING ITS TALKS WITH ISRAEL CAIRO Hamas has accused the United States on Monday of disrupting cease-fire talks the militant group has been holding with the Israeli government. In a statement, Hamas said the U.S. should not be a mediator due to its support of Israel. The American administration is the main reason for stalling any agreement, senior Hamas official Husam Badran said in a statement. He also described Washington as military partner of Israel, making it unfit to play the role of mediator. The criticism comes days after a fresh round of cease-fire talks concluded in Doha, Qatar, which included the CIA chief, William Burns. The U.S. has provided Israel with key diplomatic and military support throughout the war. It has worked with Qatar and Egypt in mediation attempts to broker a deal that would include a pause in fighting and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Hamas has demanded guarantees for an end to the war, the release of Palestinian prisoners and a plan for reconstruction of war-battered Gaza. During a previous one-week cease-fire in November, around 100 hostages, mostly Israelis, were released in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners. Badran also claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in a deal and is deceiving hostages families. Israeli media have reported that Israel has accepted a formula that would release hundreds of prisoners for the hostages and was waiting for a response from Hamas. The issue is not related to the prisoners and their numbers, Badran said. The problem is that the occupation refuses to give any guarantees to the mediators on the basic issues in the lives of people in Gaza. Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Hamas of making unrealistic demands. U.N. CHIEF SAYS AN INVASION OF RAFAH WOULD BE CATASTROPHIC AMMAN, Jordan The U.N. secretary-general says there is a growing consensus that an Israeli ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah would be a catastrophic humanitarian disaster." Antonio Guterres, speaking to reporters during a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan on Monday, reiterated his call for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas. He noted that the United States, European and Muslim countries have urged Israel not to expand its ground offensive to Rafah. Some 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom have fled fighting elsewhere in Gaza, have packed into the southern city on the border with Egypt. Israel and Egypt refuse to accept refugees, and its unclear where civilians could flee within the war-ravaged territory. Israel says Hamas maintains four battalions with thousands of fighters in Rafah, and that it cannot defeat the militant group without crushing them. I strongly hope that this consensus that is emerging in the whole of the international community will make Israel reflect and avoid what would be a dramatic threshold, Guterres said. ISRAELIS IN JERUSALEM CELEBRATE PURIM IN THE SHADOW OF WAR JERUSALEM Tens of thousands of Israelis are celebrating the Purim holiday in Jerusalem in the shadow of the war in Gaza. The festival of Purim marks the victory of Jews over a tyrant in ancient Persia and is celebrated with costumes, drinking and parties. Although many cities across Israel decided to cancel the celebrations due to the ongoing war, Jerusalem celebrates Purim one day later than the rest of the country held a traditional Purim parade for the first time in 42 years. It featured large floats of beloved childrens characters and DJs dressed up as characters from the story of Purim. About two dozen family members and supporters of the approximately 100 hostages being held in Gaza protested the parade. I know its tradition to be happy on Purim, but this year I think its tactless to do these carnivals, said David Heyd. Other family members of the hostages kicked off the parade, marching silently at the front with a giant yellow ribbon. My daughter, she needs to be here, she was supposed to be here. I am wearing a shirt she was supposed to wear, and Im waiting for her, said Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi has been held hostage in Gaza for 170 days. As the parade wound its way through the streets of Jerusalem, children in colorful costumes packed the streets eating sweets and cookies, waiting for the floats to pass. Were showing the whole world and our enemies that were continuing to live, continuing to celebrate, said Shabi Levy, a Jerusalem resident who was watching the parade with his three children. ISRAELI STRIKES KILL AT LEAST 30 PALESTINIANS IN RAFAH IN PAST 24 HOURS, PALESTINIAN HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY RAFAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 30 Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah over the past 24 hours. The Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, which received the bodies, said Monday that 10 children and 11 women were among those killed. Israel has vowed to expand its ground offensive to Rafah, which is now housing some 1.4 million people more than half of Gazas population. Most have fled fighting elsewhere. Israel ordered Palestinians to move south in the opening months of the war but has continued to carry out strikes in all parts of the territory, including Rafah. The United States, Israels closest ally, has urged Israel against launching a major operation in Rafah, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel says it cannot defeat Hamas without going into Rafah, where it says the group has four battalions composed of thousands of fighters. Israels offensive has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and driven a third of Gazas population to the brink of starvation. It was launched in response to Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Hamas-led militants also took around 250 people hostage. It is still holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of around 30 others, after most of the rest were freed during a cease-fire last year in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS AT LEAST 21 IN CENTRAL GAZA, PALESTINIAN HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian health officials say an Israeli airstrike on an apartment block in central Gaza killed at least 21 Palestinians from two extended families. The strike late Sunday killed 10 members of the Salman family and 11 members of the Buhesi family, according to hospital records. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies at the hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential neighborhoods. But the military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. The war broke out on Oct. 7. when militants from Gaza stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. In response, Israel launched one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. Gazas Health Ministry says over 32,000 Palestinians have been killed. It does not differentiate between civilian and combatant casualties but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed. AID GROUPS DESCRIBE UNIMAGINABLE SITUATION IN GAZA HOSPITAL RAFAH, Gaza Strip Aid groups that visited a packed Gaza hospital described an unimaginable situation in which large open wounds were left untreated. An emergency medical team organized by three aid groups spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis. The southern city has seen heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since the start of the year. The hospital has expanded to 1,000 beds from its original capacity of 200 to accommodate patients from Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in Khan Younis, which Israeli forces raided last month. There are also an estimated 22,000 people sheltering at the European Gaza Hospital. The visiting surgeons reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardizing patient treatment. In a statement released Monday, the team said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital. It said Israeli restrictions had led to shortages of medical supplies, including basics like gauze and plates and screws used to stabilize broken bones. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to shield its fighters and has raided a number of medical facilities since the start of the war. Most of Gazas hospitals have been forced to shut down, even as scores are killed and wounded each day in Israeli strikes. Israels offensive has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, and experts warn that even more are at risk of dying from disease and starvation. The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 people. The emergency medical team was organized by Medical Aid for Palestinians, the International Rescue Committee and the Palestine Childrens Relief Fund. UN SET TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION DEMANDING IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE UNITED NATIONS The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Monday on a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The vote comes after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported an immediate and sustained cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. The United States warned that the resolution to be voted on Monday morning could hurt negotiations to halt hostilities by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans. The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, is backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations. THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS MARK PALM SUNDAY IN JERUSALEM JERUSALEM Thousands of Christian faithful attended Palm Sunday celebrations at Jerusalems sacred Mount of Olives, marking the first day of Holy Week as conflict surges across the region. Pilgrims waved branches and fronds in the air, items that were placed before Jesus feet as he was greeted by cheering crowds during his entrance into Jerusalem, according to the Bible. Earlier Sunday, Jerusalems Church of the Holy Sepulchre revered as the site of Jesuss crucifixion also held a service. The annual celebration came as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in Gaza. However, the conflict appeared to have had little effect on the procession, which swelled to a similar size as last year. The celebration marks the beginning of the most somber week in the Christian calendar, which marks Jesus crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE HITS LEBANON, WOUNDING AT LEAST 3 PEOPLE BEIRUT An Israeli airstrike deep in northeastern Lebanon early Sunday wounded at least three people, a local official said. The airstrike near the city of Baalbek, a stronghold of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group, was the latest to hit the area in recent weeks. The strike occurred a few minutes after midnight and wounded three people according to Baalbeks mayor, Bachir Khodr, who posted the news on X. It was not immediately clear what was struck. The strike came hours after Hezbollah said it used two drones carrying explosives to attack an Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system in the northern Israeli town of Kfar Blum. The Israeli military said warplanes attacked a workshop used by Hezbollah for military activities. It added that after the strike some 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel, saying some were shot down and others fell in open areas. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Farmers drove dozens of tractors in a slow-motion convoy towards Britains Parliament on Monday to protest post- Brexit rules and trade deals that they say are endangering livelihoods and food security. Farmers drive their tractors past the Houses of Parliament during a protest against issues including substandard food imports, in London, UK, on Monday, March 25, 2024. British farmers are joining their unhappy counterparts from across the globe who are trying influence policy in a year filled with elections. Photographer: Carlos Jasso/Bloomberg(Bloomberg) Supporters of the campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent rolled from southeast England and through southern districts of the capital, bound for Parliament Square, where dozens of supporters waited to welcome them. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. A line of tractors flying Union Jack flags or signs reading Stop substandard imports snaked along the River Thames and towards the Houses of Parliament before circling Parliament Square to cheers and honking horns. Britain has so far not seen large-scale farmers protests like those that have snarled cities in France and other European countries. Farmers from across the 27-nation European Union have protested against what they see as unnecessary bureaucratic rules, clean-air and soil targets and unfair competition from abroad that, they say, is driving them toward bankruptcy. U.K. agriculture has been heavily affected by Britains exit from the EU, which took Britain out of the blocs free trade zone and complex web of farming rules. Many British farmers backed Brexit out of opposition to the EUs much-criticized Common Agricultural Policy. But now many say post-Brexit trade deals between the U.K. and countries including Australia and New Zealand have opened the door to cheap imports that are undercutting British producers. Organizers also criticize labeling that allows products to bear a Union flag when they have not been grown or reared in Britain. The U.K. has also delayed checks on imports that were due to begin after the countrys final break with the EU at the end of 2020, a move farmers say threatens biosecurity. Liz Webster, a beef and arable farmer from western England who is one of the protest organizers, said the government had totally betrayed us all. Polling shows that the public back British farming and food and want to maintain our high food standards and support local producers, she said. We need a radical change of policy and an urgent exit from these appalling trade deals which will decimate British food. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said on Sunday that Israel had definitively barred it from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest. Members of a Palestinian family walk near a building destroyed by overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 24, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.(AFP) "Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any @UNRWA food convoys to the north," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the agency, said on X. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. "This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine." Israel did not immediately respond Sunday to AFP's request for comment about Lazzarini's statement. UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma told AFP the decision had been relayed in a meeting with Israeli military officials on Sunday. It followed two denials in writing for convoy deliveries to the north last week. No reason for the decision was given, Touma said. Gaza faces dire humanitarian conditions as a result of Israel's war against Hamas that began nearly six months ago, triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7. Last week a UN-backed food security assessment warned that famine was projected to hit the north of Gaza by May unless there was urgent intervention. UNRWA has not been able to deliver food to the north since January 29, Touma said. "The latest decision is another nail in the coffin" for efforts to get desperately needed aid to Gazans reeling from war, Touma said. Martin Griffiths, head of the UN humanitarian coordination office, said on X on Sunday that UNRWA "is the beating heart of the humanitarian response in Gaza". He added: "The decision to block its food convoys to the north only pushes thousands closer to famine. It must be revoked." Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said on X that blocking UNRWA aid deliveries was "in fact denying starving people the ability to survive". Earlier Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an end to the "non-stop nightmare" endured by Gaza's 2.4 million people in the territory's worst-ever war. Israel has accused UNRWA staff members of participating in the October 7 attack and called the agency "a front for Hamas". Touma said Israeli authorities on Sunday also rejected a UN request to send a team to Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, where fighting has flared for almost a week, "to evacuate people who are injured". The October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures. Israel's military campaign to eliminate Hamas has killed at least 32,226 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Vietnam veterans Chuck Larkins and Mike Oliverio at 2017 Quilts of Valor ceremony. File photo by Lisa Reisman File photo Mike Oliverio at Camp Eagle with 27th engineer battalion in Vietnam December 1969. Contributed photo Elliot Hastings in Vietnam Contributed photo Mike Oliverio at Camp Eagle with 27th engineer battalion in Vietnam December 1969 in faded photo. Contributed photo Gary Tercyak and Elliot Hastings at Stop and Shop distributing red poppies for veterans in need in 2022. File photo by Lisa Reisman. File photo BRANFORD Gary Tercyak did three combat tours in Vietnam over a four-year span. When he got home, no one thanked him for his service. It was like nothing ever happened, like we didnt do anything for our country, like we never left, the Branford VFW Post 12106 member said. Now, Terycak, as well as the estimated 850,000 Americans who served on active duty in Vietnam from 1964 to 1975 a number that has dwindled from 2.7 million, according to dav.org are getting their recognition. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In 2017, Congress designated March 29 as Vietnam War Veterans Day to give Americans the opportunity to say Welcome Home to a group of veterans who never got the reception they deserved when they returned to the United States, as the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act reads. On Thursday, April 4, Branford VFW Post 12106 will host a free breakfast for Vietnam veterans at the Parthenon Diner to celebrate Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. No RSVP is necessary. We owe them a debt of gratitude, said organizer Ed Masotta, who served in Afghanistan and Africa. People nowadays come home from different tours and we get spectacular receptions, and they came home to anger and indifference. They came home as well, as the New York Times reported in November 1970, at a time of business cutbacks and rising unemployment, with job-hunting veterans, unlike their predecessors, rarely sought out by employers. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Mike Oliverio was a combat engineer and radio operator for the Army during his 16 months in Vietnam. Touching down in Seattle in September 1970, he learned that Jimi Hendrix had just died. We decided to go to the funeral and they told us we had to wear civilian clothes, theres a lot of protestors, youll have a hard time, youll probably end up in jail, he recalled. That was a slap in the face. For Air Force veteran Chuck Larkins, it just wasnt a pleasant atmosphere in the country. While going from base to base through Texas and the Far West in the late 1960s, the order of the day was do not travel in your uniform, he said. Returning home after 19 months in Vietnam, I never acknowledged I had been there, and because of that atmosphere, no one asked, and that was for years. VFW Post 12106 commander Elliot Hastings, who served in the Army, didnt experience overt hostility or witness people protesting the war. Even if he had, he said it probably wouldnt have bothered him. Advertisement Article continues below this ad That why I joined in the first place, to protect their right to speak their minds, he said. Masotta put it simply. Its the least we can do for these guys for what theyve gone through, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As Mike Johnson confronts an expulsion threat from his own party, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., warned that Democratic support for the House Speaker could come at a cost. On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a surprise motion to boot House Speaker Mike Johnson, after the GOP leader collaborated with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown.(Bloomberg) Johnson was appointed speaker in October, after the House voted to dismiss Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., even before he completed one year of his tenure. Johnson, who is just five months into his leadership term, faces a potentially similar destiny. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. On Friday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed a surprise motion to boot Johnson, after the GOP leader collaborated with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown. Speaking to CNN, AOC said that she has no intention to support Johnson's leadership, but she wants Democrats to work together as team. "I dont think we do that for free, and I dont think that we do that out of sympathy for Republicans," Ocasio-Cortez said. Also Read: Marjorie Taylor Greene slams Biden for 'disrespecting' Laken Riley during SOTU address Kevin McCarthy backs Mike Johnson Meanwhile, McCarthy extended his support to Mike Johnson, stating that he should not be afraid of the motion to eject him from the position. "Speaker Johnson is doing the very best job he can," McCarthy told CBS News on Sunday. Calling the situation 'difficult", he said that his advise is: "Do not be fearful of a motion to vacate. I do not think they could do it again." Last year, Johnson replaced McCarthy after three GOP leaders Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer - failed to garner enough backing in a more than three-week process that left the House without a leader. Moreover, Johnson has so far approved two budget measures with the support from Democratic party. Also Read: House Speaker Mike Johnson says no need to public alarm over classified national security threat We need a new Speaker: Marjorie Taylor Greene After filing a motion against Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke with the reporters outside the Capitol on Friday. We need a new Speaker. I filed the motion to vacate today, but it's more of a warning and a pink slip," she said. Her statement came after the House approved a $1.2 trillion federal budget package with primarily Democratic votes. However, the outcome of her motion is unknown since House rules require a majority vote to oust the Speaker. In a statement, Johnson's spokesperson stated that the Speaker always listens to member concerns and is currently focused on governing. "He will continue to push conservative legislation that secures our border, strengthens our national defense and demonstrates how we'll grow our majority." The upcoming Boeing management shakeup will witness many officials emptying their seats in 2024. CEO Dave Calhoun is reportedly resigning effective at the end of 2024. Additionally, board chairman Larry Kellner will leave after Boeing's annual meeting in May. Thirdly and lastly, the president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal, is resigning effective immediately. FILE PHOTO: Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks with reporters ahead of meeting with U.S. senators on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 24, 2024. REUTERS/Valerie Insinna/File Photo(REUTERS) Boeing director Steve Mollenkopf will replace Kellner, whereas Boeings Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope will take over Deal's spot. These change-ups follow the rising scrutiny the aerospace giant has faced regarding the manufacturing shortcoming that prominently came to light after the Boeing Jan 5 incident. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Boeing Jan 5 incident explained A commercial flight Boeing 737 Max 9 door plug blew out on January 5 as the plane was ascending. The fatally disastrous Alaska Airlines unravelling opened flight safety to new scrutiny. This isn't the first of the misfortunes of the Boeing 737 Max planes. They've previously been subject to software glitches and two plane crashes as well. Also read | Trump dubbed Don Poorleone ahead of half-a-billion-dollar penalty deadline The January mishap happened 20 minutes after the flight from Portland, Oregon, to Ontario, Canada, took off. Previous reports highlighted a loud, alarming sound signalling the door plug coming off suddenly with a hole in the plane's side mid-air. Startled passengers witnessed mobile phones and other equipment, including a pilot's headset, getting sucked out with the changing pressure. Oxygen masks were also released so they could breathe. Fortunately, no injuries came across as pilots facilitated an emergency landing in Portland shortly. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun addresses the issue Calhoun has attempted to tighten the chain of command these past months, promising officials and the public to deal with the quality flaws head-on. Calling the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident a watershed moment for Boeing, he asked the employees to continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency on Monday. With the world's eyes on them, airline CEOs kicked off a series of meetings with Boeing director last week. They addressed the downhill manufacturing quality and sinking 737 Max planes' production. Calhoun's impending departure is sharply reminiscent of former CEO Dennis Muilenburg's expulsion in 2019 after two fatal 737 Max plane crashes. Boeing's stock fell by nearly 25% since the start of 2024, but grew more than 2.8% in pre-market trading after Calhoun's announcement on Monday. Donald Trump will ask a judge on Monday to delay or dismiss his trial on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, citing thousands of pages of potential evidence about witness Michael Cohen that prosecutors turned over only weeks ago. Donald Trump faces a deadline on Monday to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment for manipulating the values of his real estate holdings to dupe lenders, or risk New York state seizing his properties.(REUTERS) Cohen, Trump's onetime lawyer and fixer, made a $130,000 payment to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she said they had a decade earlier - an encounter Trump denies. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Lawyers for Trump, the former U.S. president, accuse Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, which brought the criminal charges, of trying to bury documents that could help them challenge Cohen's credibility. The documents came from the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, which previously investigated the payment but did not charge Trump. Cohen testified that Trump directed him to make the payment and went to prison after pleading guilty to violating campaign finance laws. Also Read: Elon Musk makes major statement ahead of US elections; Is SpaceX CEO endorsing Trump? Trump's trial was initially scheduled to start on Monday, but prosecutors consented to a 30-day delay to give Trump time to review the new documents. Trump's defense is asking Justice Juan Merchan for another delay or for the charges to be thrown out altogether because of the late disclosure. Merchan's decision will set the course for what could be the first-ever criminal trial of a former president. Trump, the Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election, has pleaded not guilty and called the case a politically motivated "witch hunt." The case is one of several legal travails Trump, 77, faces as he ramps up his 2024 campaign. He faces a deadline on Monday to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment for manipulating the values of his real estate holdings to dupe lenders, or risk New York state seizing his properties. He faces three other criminal cases, which focus on his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden and his handling of sensitive government documents after leaving office in 2021. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Trump has sought delays in most cases, and successfully pushed back an early March start date to his federal trial in Washington, D.C., over the 2020 election efforts as he pursued an appeal on presidential immunity grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in that case on April 25. He has also leveraged his criminal cases to try to raise money from supporters, as he lags Biden in fundraising. Prosecutors say the payoff to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was part of a broader "catch-and-kill" scheme Cohen and Trump hatched to boost his candidacy by buying the silence of people with damaging information. Also Read: Trump fumes as $454m bond deadline looms, claims he has fine amount in his bank account Trump's lawyers say the payment was meant to spare himself and his family embarrassment, not to benefit his successful 2016 campaign. Defense lawyers subpoenaed federal prosecutors for Cohen's bank records and phone and email accounts in January, after Merchan denied their request to get some of those materials from Cohen himself. "They sought to obstruct our efforts to collect evidence we are entitled to review and use in connection with our trial defense," Trump's lawyers wrote in a Feb. 15 court filing, referring to the state prosecutors. Prosecutors say no further delay is needed because most of the new documents are irrelevant to the case or duplicates of material Trump already had. Bragg's office said it asked the federal prosecutors for information from their case against Cohen and turned the materials over to the defense last June. "Defendant has taken every possible step to evade accountability in this case," prosecutors with Bragg's office wrote in a March 21 court filing. "Enough is enough. These tactics by defendant and defense counsel should be stopped." March 25th was a crucial day for former president Donald Trump as he faced a deadline to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment and was scheduled to appear for hearing at New York Criminal Court to seek that the judge delay or dismiss the hush money trial. Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at 40 Wall Street after a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. (AP) While Trump won an appeal to decrease his NY fraud bond, Judge Juan Merchan set an April 15 trial date for his hush money case. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. A New York appeals court reduced Trump's bond obligation to delay the enforcement of a $454 million fraud judgment against the former US President and his businesses to just $175 million. The court allowed Trump an additional 10 days to post the new amount. Trump was fined more than $464 million, including interest, after Judge Arthur Engoron concluded that he and his co-defendants illegally exaggerated the value of their properties in order to obtain significant loans. For the time being, the ruling precludes New York Attorney General Letitia James from seizing Trump's property in order to enforce the judgment against him. Also Read: Trump dubbed Don Poorleone ahead of half-a-billion-dollar fraud case penalty deadline Trump denounces hush money trail as pure case of voter intimidation Following developments in two legal cases against him, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social and also held a press conference to convey his message to supporters as well as his opponent Joe Biden. He slammed the hush money case against him as a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference. The Republican presidential candidate blasted the jury for not delaying the hush money trial and called it an election interference with "Biden and his thugs" plotting against him. This was a case that could have been brought three-and-a-half years ago and they decided to wait now, just during the election, so that I won't be able to campaign, Trump said while speaking to reporters. Addressing the media at 40 Wall Street property in New York, Trump claimed a Hush money trial against him is being rushed, stating that there should be no trial during elections. You have a case which theyre dying to get this thing started. The judge cannot go faster. He wants to get it started so badly," he said. Trump, however, added that he would have "no problem" testifying in upcoming trial scheduled to start next month. I would have no problem testifying. I didn't do anything wrong. He was then questioned if he had any worries that a conviction would harm his presidential candidacy. Trump responded that it may "make me more popular because the people know it's a scam". It's a Biden trial. Trump has been charged with 34 offenses of fabricating business documents. The charges stem from remittances made to his ex-attorneys and fixer Michael Cohen for hush money payments before the presidential election of 2016 to cover up his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Also Read: Lisa Murkowski declines to vote for Trump in 2024 US election, hints at leaving Republican party Trump boasts he has a lot of cash After NY vivil fraud verdict, the former president boasted that he has a lot of cash. When a reporter asked about the timeline of securing the $175 million bond, Trump mentioned: As they say I have a lot of cash. You know I do because you looked at my statements. He further stated that he would like to use his cash funds for his reelection bid, but claimed that "they don't want me to use my cash to get reelected." Taking to Truth Social, he said that the verdict by Appellate Division shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engorons original decision was at $450 million. Blasting judge Engoron as a disgrace to this country, Trump said, What he's done is such a disservice and should never be allowed to happen. New York state is being battered by his decision. Ahead of the US presidential elections, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk made a major statement that appears to support former US President Donald Trump, who is all set to challenge incumbent Joe Biden. In a post on X, Elon Musk said the United States "is toast" if the Republican party does not prevail in the 2024 election.(AFP) Musk, a vocal critic of Biden, stated that America now requires a red wave, adding that the United States "is toast" if the Republican party does not prevail in the 2024 election. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Musk posted on his social media platform X (previously Twitter): "I voted 100% Dem until a few years ago. Now, I think we need a red wave or America is toast." At several instances, Musk has slammed Biden's way of tackling the Southern border crisis and accused the Democrats of being "controlled by the unions". Previously, he admitted that he voted for Biden in the 2020 election, but he became critical of Biden after Tesla was barred from the president's 2021 electric vehicle summit. Also Read: Elon Musk rails against potential TikTok ban after Trump, says it's about censorship and government control Musk hasn't ruled out the possibility of endorsing Trump Musk, during The New York Times Dealbook Summit in November, clarified that he will not be voting for Biden, adding that it doesn't mean he would back Trump. Both Musk and Trump confirmed about their recent meeting at the X owner's friend place following the reports that the duo met as ex-US president is seeking new donors for his campaign. In an interview with former CNN host Don Lemon, Musk stated Trump did not request any financial assistance and that he will not pay his legal fees in any circumstances. However, Musk has not rejected the prospect of endorsing a candidate in the White race. "I want to make a considered decision before the election, and if I do decide to endorse a candidate then I would explain exactly why," he said. Also Read: Donald Trump offered to sell Truth Social to Elon Musk: Talks failed but Earlier in March, The Washington Post reported that Trump proposed to sell his social media platform Truth Social to Musk. Citing two unnamed sources, the report said that the offer was made last summer when Musk was already running X, formerly known as Twitter. According to the sources, the two discussed the matter "more than was previously known," and Trump told his confidants that the X owner should buy Truth Social despite the failed talks. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. A state parole board member resigned Monday after recommending the release of a man who a day later attacked a pregnant Chicago woman with a knife and fatally stabbed her 11-year-old son while he tried to protect her, according to authorities. HT Image The Illinois Prisoner Review Board's handling of the case prompted Gov. J.B. Pritzker to order that procedures for dealing with situations involving domestic violence be revamped. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Pritzker announced that LeAnn Miller, 63, of Junction has submitted her resignation. Miller had prepared a report recommending Crosetti Brand's release from prison. The 37-year-old felon had repeatedly violated orders of protection and threatened Laterria Smith of Chicago, police said. On March 13, investigators said that Brand went to Smith's apartment armed with a knife and assaulted her. When her son, Jayden Perkins, intervened, Brand stabbed him to death, police said. Smith, 33, remains hospitalized in critical condition but doctors expect her and her unborn child to live. Her 6-year-old son was present during the attack but was uninjured. A message seeking comment was left at Miller's home and with the Prisoner Review Board. Pritzker said in a news release that she made the correct decision in stepping down. The Democratic governor's spokesperson, Alex Gough, said he was unaware of Pritzker requesting her resignation. It is clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve and I am committed to ensuring additional safeguards and training are in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again," Pritzker said in a statement. Two other board members, Ken Tupy and Krystal Tison, concurred with Miller's draft order, according to a copy of the order provided by the Prisoner Review Board in response to a public records request from The Associated Press. A phone message was left for Tupy. A number for Tison could not immediately be located. Pritzker ordered the Prisoner Review Board to engage experts and advocates to design and implement expanded training in domestic violence cases for the 15-member board. The board and the Department of Corrections will also review procedures for sharing information on cases involving domestic violence. Pritzker said the case might also raise issues which require legislation to broaden officials' legal authority in such instances. Brand, who police say had a relationship with Smith 15 years ago, is charged in Cook County with first-degree murder and a half-dozen other violent felonies related to the attack. He had served half of a 16-year sentence for attacking another ex-partner in 2015 when he was paroled in October. Brand was shipped back to prison in February after being accused of repeatedly contacting Smith, who has an order of protection against him. He turned himself in after Smith reported he was at the door to her apartment on Feb. 1, repeatedly ringing the bell and pulling on the handle. But when Brand appeared before the Prisoner Review Board on Feb. 26, he denied going to her apartment and his lawyer provided evidence that his electronic monitoring bracelet did not indicate violations of his movement restrictions, according to a copy of the board's order. He answered other reported parole violations by saying he sometimes worked late hours at a Red Lobster restaurant. The board determined there wasn't enough evidence to verify Smith's claims, although she was not called to testify. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. The Indian Students' Association (ISA) at Arizona State University (ASU) came together to celebrate Holi, the festival of colours. Event organisers said that approximately 2,000 people from different cultural backgrounds attended the event. The grass field north of the Tempe SDFC was painted in various colours. Indians at ASU came together to celebrate Holi (The State Press screenshot/YouTube) In India, the celebration of Holi marks the beginning of Spring. "Holi is the biggest festival we celebrate in India," said Aviral Jain, a graduate student studying global management, according to The State Press. "There are a lot of different stories from it." Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Holi celebration at ASU Holi marks an event of cultural exchange at ASU, with the colours signifying inclusivity and connection. "There is no boundary, basically," Jain said. "I'm not playing with a friend, I'm playing with strangers, and there, you develop connections." "This whole festival is about making friends and adding colors and spreading positivity," Akshay Sukumaran, a graduate student studying global management, said. That's it, there's nothing else. ASU officials confirmed that about 6,400 of ASU's international students come from India. Arin Shaw, a member of the Indian Students' Association and a senior studying molecular biosciences and biotechnology, said that he decided to join ISA because there is a "huge population of Indian students." "I realized that ISA had events which remind me of home and celebrated our culture," he said. "It's enriching, not just for Indians on campus but for every other individual, because they're getting to know about our culture more every single day with events like this." According to Jain, since there is an increasing global conflict, Holi is important socially too, and not just culturally. "Everywhere there are fights and disputes," Jain said. "It's a festival of letting go, and you're all accepting the negativities, forgiving everyone and celebrating the friendships, the brotherhood and the relationships." Israeli news media reported on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled his top aides Ron Dermer and Tzachi Hanegbi's planned trip to Washington after the US refrained from blocking a call for a ceasefire. The growing discord will apparently continue to sour Israeli connections with the US as the latter did not veto the UN proposal. This combination photo shows President Joe Biden, left, on March 8, 2024, in Wallingford, Pa., and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Biden and Netanyahu spoke Monday, March 18, in their first interaction in more than a month as the divide has grown between allies over food crisis in Gaza, conduct of war. (AP Photo)(AP) The initially scheduled delegation travel was on the cards to go over Israel's military operation in Rafah, a southern Gaza city. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. Consequently, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote on X (formerly Twitter), It's shocking irresponsibility from a prime minister who has lost it. Statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office: New media reports shed light on a statement from the PM office, calling out the US abstinence on the matter a clear retreat from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. It also added that US' inaction gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without releasing (Israel's) hostages. Also read | UN passes resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan Netanyahu had agreed to send delegations to the US nearly a week ago as he and Biden's agreement to discuss the Rafah operation opened their first conversation in over a month. Though originally allies, the escalating food crisis in Gaza had widened the divide between the two, according to the White House. With this pre-confirmed interaction, both sides looked forward to making clear to the other its perspective, as White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan noted. The White House has reportedly become increasingly apprehensive of the Israeli PM's supposed invasion operation of Rafah as the southern city has become the sheltering ground for about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians. The UN ceasefire resolution was passed on Monday (14-0) when the US abstained from exercising a veto against the proposal. The country departed from its three initial dismissals of the ceasefire resolution. UN's Monday resolution marks its first demand to halt fighting. Vice president Kamala Harris was seen smiling and clapping as a man started singing in Spanish outside a Puerto Rico community centre last week, only to be told that he was actually protesting her. The 59-year-old went to a courtyard after visiting the Goyoco community centre in San Juan. There, a protester started singing in Spanish. Kamala Harris clapped along as a man in Puerto Rico sang in Spanish, only to realise he was protesting her (Photo by JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP) Clueless, the vice president nodded and clapped. However, an aide then told her what the lyrics meant, making her stop suddenly. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. We want to know, Kamala, what did you come here for? We want to know, the man sang, according to some translations. The vice president is here making history. We want to know what she thinks of the colony. Long live Free Palestine and Haiti, too. Mariana Reyes, executive director at La Goyco, and Frankie Miranda, Hispanic Federation president, had officially joined Kamala at the time. Harris was in Puerto Rico to tout federal aid to the territory. This came in the wake of Hurricane Maria. So far, our administration has invested over $140 billion in Puerto Rico, Harris said. The deadly hurricane hit Puerto Rico in 2017. An estimated 3,000 people were killed. During Harris visit, protesters greeted her motorcade. One of them held a sign saying, Kamala Harris war criminal. This was a demonstration against the Joe Biden administrations support of Israel. These are the people who seek to rule your life Many commented on the video showing Harris clapping, with one user saying, Kind of like Let's Go Brandon. I think she fell from a coconut tree, one user said, while another wrote, Vice president of the United States of America. It still cant sink in for me stop it. Is this true? I need verification. If so, this is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time, wrote one user. This is what happens when you blindly patronize a community for votes!! one user said. One wrote, Hahahaha... Reminds me of when all those Celebs went to Haiti to show how nice it was and they got chased back to their resort. GET REKT NERD! Another said, The wheels on the bus go round and round. These are the people who seek to rule your life, one user mocked. Kate Middleton is currently enjoying quality time with her three children and husband Prince William at Anmer Hall. Putting an end to missing theories, she recently released a video message addressing the nation about her battle with cancer. The Princess of Wales has since been receiving a lot of love and support from the royals and the public. As social media goes soul-searching after fueling conspiracy theories, the estranged royals Harry and Meghan continue to make headlines. Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton's outing marks the first time the two couples have appeared in public together since Commonwealth Day on March 9. According to several reports, Prince William extended the invite to his estranged brother and wife.(AFP) Harry and Meghan learned about Kates cancer on TV Also read: Kate Middletons uncle Gary publicly apologises after slamming Meghan Markle with fickle remark Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. According to reports, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan were not aware of Kate Middleton's cancer until the princess made the public announcement. The news came as a complete surprise to royal fans, who were shocked at how Harry and Meghan have been kept out of the spotlight by the British royal family since they stepped down from their roles in 2020. According to some experts, the couple even tried to reach out to Kate in private after the news was made public. Now, according to new reports, Kate doesn't need them to be by her side as she recovers. Kate Middleton doesnt need Meghan and Harry Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith recently spoke to the New York Times, asserting that Kate is not relying on Meghan and Harry for support. Instead, she will seek solace from her close circle. "Kate doesnt need Harry and Meghan to console her. She has her parents and a sister, and shes very close to King Charles." Said Smith. Also read: Meghan Markle bad for Harry and country, Kate Middletons uncle Gary slams Duchess of Sussex The expert emphasises that Kate is very close to King Charles, with whom she reportedly had a private dinner before announcing her news. The Princess of Wales relies on Prince William as her strongest support system, alongside her parents and siblings, who support her in difficult times. Earlier, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex issued a statement wishing Kate a healthy and speedy recovery. They said, "We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace." Following this, ITV's royal editor Chris Ship claimed that the couple were in touch with their brother and sister-in-law but kept it an extremely private affair. Luke Macomber runs through a flooded section of Bayshore Drive in Milford Conn. during heavy rains on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media A flooded section of Frank Street in the Point Beach neighborhood in Milford Conn. during heavy rains on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media Days after heavy rain fell over the weekend, some flood warnings remain along Connecticut rivers, the National Weather Service said. Monday will be sunny with highs in the upper 40s to around 50, but some parts of the state are still recovering after heavy rain over the weekend inundated roads and swelled rivers and reservoirs. Several areas recorded 3 or more inches of rainfall, including parts of Tolland, Windham and Hartford counties. In Ridgefield, about 3 inches of rain was recorded, causing flooding that prompted the high school to close on Monday. As of Monday morning, flood warnings remained for three areas along the Housatonic River in western Connecticut. Those were the Falls Village area of Canaan, the Gaylordsville section of New Milford, and the area around the Stevenson Dam, which borders Oxford and Monroe. Farther east, the Pawcatuck River in Westerly, R.I., caused a flood warning that extended into parts of New London County. Advertisement Article continues below this ad All of the flood warnings are set to expire by Tuesday morning. Monday should otherwise be quiet weather day with moderate temperatures. "Another dry, breezy and sunny day is expected for Monday. Temperatures will moderate compared to Sunday and should reach the upper 40s to lower 50s," the weather service said. Wind gusts could reach around 25 mph, the weather service said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Areas along the shoreline should see highs top off around 50 degrees. Farther inland, highs will range from the low to upper 40s. Rainy weather is predicted through most of the remainder of the week. Tuesday will start mostly cloudy before a slight chance of rain later in the day. More rain is expected Tuesday night into Wednesday and Thursday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Social media users have hailed Leslie Stahl for calling out Jim Jordans lies about the 2020 election during a 60 Minutes episode. X users have pointed out how Jordan looked speechless upon being fact-checked by Stahl. Leslie Stahl has been hailed for calling out Jim Jordans lies about 2020 election (@60Minutes screenshots/X) The Congressman suggested that tech companies should not remove most of what they think is misinformation. I think you let the American people respect the American people, their common sense, to figure out whats accurate, what isnt, Jordan said. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. What about this idea that the 2020 election was stolen? Stahl asked. You think that these companies should allow people to say that and individuals can make up their own mind? What Ive said is that there were concerns about the 2020 election, I think Americans agree with that, Jordan said. No they dont, Stahl shot back. You dont think there were concerns with the 2020 election? Jordan asked. Most people dont question the result. Thats all Im saying. Right? Stahl asked, leaving Jordan looking visibly confused and struggling to find an answer. Liars don't want their lies removed Many took to the comment section of the video posted by 60 Minutes on X, with one user saying, I mean, of course the liars don't want their lies removed. @Jim_Jordan wants you to believe his lies and misinformation, one user said, while another shocked user wrote, So allow lies to be published even when you know they are lies because it's up to individuals to decide of lies are actually lies instead of not sharing the lie so no one is confused about what the truth is. While I loved seeing Leslie Stahl take down Jim Jordan, he is one of the most unserious politicians of the current era. He does not deserve time on the air, one user said. One wrote, This is an excellent training film for people who need to learn the signs and mannerisms of someone who is lying. Study it - it's a classic. Take a look at some more reactions: Meghan Markle and Prince Harrys friend, Christopher Bouzy, has said that the palace lied about Kate Middletons cancer diagnosis. Rumours about the Princess of Wales whereabouts started getting out of control as she stayed away from the public eye. Days later, she revealed in a video message that she has been diagnosed with cancer. Meghan Markle, Prince Harrys friend has claimed that the palace "lied" about Kate Middleton's cancer diagnosis (Anthony Upton/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)(via REUTERS) The palace lied, and the British press happily helped them lie. The countless "conspiracy theory" headlines, while knowing a lot of what was being said was true. This is really some North Korea / Trumpian type of propaganda, Bouzy, a tech entrepreneur, wrote on X. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. You are beneath contempt Bouzy is now being blasted in the comment section, with one user saying, Hmm the Palace lied....nahhh you just couldn't keep your nasty little noses out of things, and I'm not even a royalist. She is a mother to young children, a wife, a daughter, a sister. She is a damned human being who should not be hounded at the darkest time in her life. They did not lie. The Palace said it was not cancer she was told that. Just Like King Charles was. Testing came back cancer was found. Was the Family's right to deal with it first. They needed to face it then tell their family & children. She has the right to Medical Privacy, one user said, while another wrote, No one lied. Your ridiculous. She had surgery. They said if anything else significant came up they would update. It did and they updated. You are despicable. Comparing a cancer stricken mother who TOLD you she'd say something after Easter, it's still not Easter, to trump and N. Korea is beyond vile, one user wrote. Have you not got the grace to even stop with your venom and cheap vibes even now. It does say an awful lot about you, one angry user wrote. You are beneath contempt, one user said, while another wrote, Forgotten in all of this is a women who is dealing with cancer. Take some time to think about this, Chris! What lies? The Palace respected Princess Catherines wish to be private. Thats all. Why dont you take a break - youre tedious and boring, one said. The Midwest and Plains are about to get a rude awakening from winter. A powerful storm is looming, set to drop thick snow over the region from Colorado to Minnesota through Tuesday. Blizzard conditions are expected to prevail through multiple states with strong wind gusts occurring simultaneously. The storm, unfolding across Central and Northern Plains is expected to increase overnight Sunday. People walk during a snowstorm in Boulder, Colorado. The National Weather Service predicts as much as two feet of snow in the front range region of the state. Travel chaos in Colorado amid heavy snowstorm: Travellers stranded as highway shutdown, flights cancelled (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images via AFP) Heavy Snow and Blizzards pummel the Midwest The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the central and northern plains, with the storm expected to cross from Colorado and Kansas on Sunday night into parts of Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota on Monday. The storm is expected to bring freezing rain and sleet to some areas. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. A CNN forecast says that on Tuesday this storm will sweep across the Great Lakes into midwest before heading northeastwards. The situation is even worse in the Northeast where more than 160,000 homes and businesses still remain without power after receiving several feet of snow over the weekend. WPC predicts power outages and dangerous travelling condition Some parts of the United States would face impossible travel conditions if this happens because weather forecasts show the wind speed will go above 50 miles per hour when it hits the alerted area. The storm is expected to hit an area that hasn't seen much snow this winter. Sleet and rain are expected to fall during the night in parts of the storm's path, according to the Weather Prediction Center. Power outages and tree damage are likely in some areas due to the heavy and wet snow combined with icing and strong winds, says WPC. Also read: US snowstorm: Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin under winter weather advisories Parts likely to get affected The storm warning covers New Mexico, Wisconsin, and the Dakota regions. The weather department is expecting snowfall accumulations of 4 to 12 inches in some areas. Wind gusts over 50 mph are possible in areas with severe blizzard conditions. On Sunday, the National Weather Service issued winter storm warnings for the following regions: Minnesota, eastern Montana, North Dakota, northwestern Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and parts of Colorado. Also read: Netflix's 3 Body Problem Season 2 update: Showrunners eyeing exciting storyline The National Weather Service has issued a recommendation to 'travel only in emergencies' for affected areas. A winter storm warning is in effect for portions of Colorado from 6:00 p.m. on Sunday to 9:00 a.m. on Monday as well as the central and western parts of Nebraska from 1:00 am on Monday to 7:00 am on Tuesday. As Donald Trump's $454 million New York civil fraud judgment deadline approaches on Monday, March 25, the former US President launched a blistering attack on those who could seize his properties. According to Trump, he intended to use his hard earned money in running the White House race. (AP) Taking to Truth Social on Monday, Trump claimed that he had "done nothing wrong", adding that Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James should not be permitted to take away his assets. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. In February, Justice Engoron ordered that Trump must pay around $454 million, with interest added, for substantially misrepresenting his net worth and asset value for more than a decade in order to obtain loans on favourable conditions. Slamming the communists and radical left lunatics, Trump said that he is being asked to pay such a huge amount because they saw a similar amount in his bank account. According to Trump, he intended to use his hard earned money in running the White House race. "They don't want me to do thatELECTION INTERFERENCE! he stated. Why should a Crooked, highly political New York Judge, Arthur Engoron, working in concert and coordination with an even more Corrupt Attorney General, Letitia 'Peekaboo' James, his Puppet Master, and the White House, be allowed to take away, and sell off, very successful properties and assets that took me years to zone, build and nurture into some of the best of their kind anywhere in the WorldWHEN I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG! the ex-US President wrote on Truth Social. Also Read: Lisa Murkowski declines to vote for Trump in 2024 US election, hints at leaving Republican party They want to bankrupt him: Eric Trump complains as clock runs down Appearing in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump's son Eric accused Attorney General Letitia James of attempting to bankrupt his father with the ruling. While Trump's attorneys claim that the former president is unable to pay for an appeal bond, James told an appeals courts that it should not accept Trump's plea to halt the judgment from taking effect. They're trying to deprive him of his cash, they want to bankrupt him, and they want to hurt him so badly, Eric Trump, a co-defendant in the fraud case, told Fox News. Claiming that Trump "is going to win" the presidential elections, he said that every single person he approached for a half-billion dollar bond for his father laughed at him. They were laughing. They were laughing, he mentioned. As "Don Poorleone" was trending on X on Sunday, Trump made his followers aware about his situation. He slammed James for having a "terrible record on violent crime" as New York State Attorney General, claiming that "she goes after Trump for doing absolutely nothing". Also Read: Here's how Donald Trump can raise money by $3 billion to pay his legal bills The former president further described Judge Engoron as "grossly incompetent and corrupt", adding that he had "fraudulently undervalued Mar-a-Lago" to build a "fake narrative". On March 18, Trump's legal team stated that paying the full civil fraud penalty would be "a practical impossibility," fuelling concern that James may soon start confiscating the former president's properties or compel him to sell some of his real estate empire to pay the fine. Trump is yet to make it clear how he would pay his fine or what other actions he may take. Donald Trump will in three weeks become the first former US president to face a criminal trial, a judge ruled Monday, hours after an appeals court threw the tycoon a lifeline in his effort to stave off an unrelated, half billion dollar civil fraud judgment. Former President Donald Trump speaks after hearing at New York Criminal Court, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. New York Judge Juan M. Merchan has scheduled an April 15 trial date in Trump's hush money case.(AP) New York Judge Juan Merchan rejected demands from Trump's attorneys to delay his trial on charges of paying hush money to a porn star for at least 90 days, and ordered jury selection to begin on April 15. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The Republican presidential candidate denounced the upcoming trial and other cases brought against him as "election interference" by Democrat Joe Biden, his likely opponent in the November White House vote. "I don't know how you can have a trial that's going on right in the middle of an election," he said. "It's not fair. If I were doing poorly this wouldn't be happening." Separately, the 77-year-old Trump welcomed the decision by a New York appeals court in his civil fraud case to slash a potentially crippling $454 million bond payment to $175 million and give him 10 extra days to pay. Trump had been facing a Monday deadline to pay the huge original bond pending an appeal against a New York state judge's decision that he is liable for fraudulently conspiring to inflate his net worth. Trump risked seeing New York authorities confiscate parts of his real estate empire if he failed to come up with the bond but the appeals court panel's decision hands him a legal and financial lifeline. "I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and I will post $175 million in cash and bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly, within the 10 days," he said. The hush money trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday but was delayed because thousands of pages of potential evidence were belatedly produced by prosecutors. Trump faces charges of falsifying business records for the payments made on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to make sure porn star Stormy Daniels did not publicize a sexual encounter. A visibly exasperated Judge Merchan pushed back against the bid by Trump's attorneys to delay the start of the trial a tactic they have used in his various other cases. Asked by reporters if he would take the witness stand in the hush money case, Trump said he "would have no problem testifying." "I didn't do anything wrong," he said. Trump regularly rails against a judicial system he claims is "fixed" against him. Trump also faces federal and state charges for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election and has been indicted in Florida for refusing to return classified documents after leaving the White House. Trump has said that New York Attorney General Letitia James who is Black is "racist," and accused Judge Arthur Engeron in the civil fraud case of being "crooked." Trump got some positive financial news last week when it was announced that Truth Social would finally go public through a merger, a transaction that could net him billions of dollars. He cannot tap into the funds for six months, but it potentially could help him secure the bond. In the trial involving Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, Trump is accused of illegally using campaign funds to secure her silence about an alleged sexual encounter back in 2006. If she'd spoken out, the fallout could have been ruinous for Trump's presidential hopes, coming right on the heels of another scandal over the married businessman's boasting, caught on tape, that as a celebrity he was freely able to "grab" women by their genitals. After more than five months of war, the UN Security Council for the first time Monday demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States, Israel's ally which vetoed previous drafts, abstained. HT Image Drawing applause in the normally staid Security Council, all 14 other members voted in favor of the resolution which "demands an immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a "lasting, sustainable ceasefire" and demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized in their October 7 attack that triggered the massive Israeli military campaign. "The bloodbath has continued for far too long," said Amar Bendjama, the representative of Algeria, the Arab bloc's current member of the Security Council and a sponsor of the resolution alongside a diverse group that included Slovenia, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea. "Finally, the Security Council is shouldering its responsibility," he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that the resolution be implemented. "Failure would be unforgivable," Guterres wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour fought back tears as he said that the resolution should be a "turning point" in ending the war. "Apologies to those who the world has failed, to those that could have been saved but were not," he said. The United States had repeatedly blocked Security Council resolutions that put pressure on Israel but has increasingly shown frustration with its ally as the United Nations warns of impending famine in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week vowed to defy US appeals and expand Israel's military campaign to Rafah, the southern Gaza city where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken shelter. Moments after the United States declined to veto the latest resolution, Netanyahu announced that he would no longer send to Washington a delegation requested by President Joe Biden to discuss Rafah. The resolution "gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees," Netanyahu said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was already in Washington on a separate trip, said his country will not end the war until the hostages are freed. "We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza," he said outside the White House. Hamas welcomed the resolution and said it would engage in talks on a prisoner exchange brokered by Qatar, after repeated delays in securing a deal. At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US side was "perplexed" and "disappointed" that the Israeli delegation visit had been scrapped. US officials argued that the resolution was non-binding, a point contested at the United Nations, and said it would not jeopardize talks that have been making headway under Qatar. Even without the delegation's visit, the United States will keep communicating to Israel that an assault on Rafah would be a "mistake," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The October 7 attack by Hamas, the deadliest in Israel's history, resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures. Israel responded by vowing to eliminate Hamas. Its Gaza campaign has killed more than 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Russia made a last-minute but unsuccessful push Monday to call in the resolution for a "permanent" rather than "lasting" ceasefire, with envoy Vasily Nebenzia accusing the United States of still wanting to give Israel "a free hand." abd-sct/des This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. While the Royal family is paying all its attention to King Charles and Kate Middleton's road to recovery, a new report claims that Britain's rivals are deliberately fueling conspiracy theories surrounding the Princess of Wales, who recently revealed her cancer diagnosis. UK's adversaries are fuelling attacks on Princess Kate Middleton in an attempt to destabilise the nation, Telegraph reported.(AP) According to a Telegraph report, Whitehall officials are worried about the potential involvement of hostile states such as Russia, China, and Iran in the proliferation of conspiracy theories and rumours concerning Kate's health on social media. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. UK's adversaries are fuelling attacks on Princess Kate in an attempt to destabilise the nation, it stated. Speaking to the UK newspaper, an unnamed Whitehall said: Part of the modus operandi of hostile states is to destabilise things whether that is undermining the legitimacy of our elections or other institutions. Kate's long disappearance from the public following her abdominal surgery in January sparked several rumors and speculation, prompting the 42-year-old princess to share the news of her cancer diagnosis with the nation. Kate stated that she required to recuperate from surgery before commencing "preventative chemotherapy" as directed by her medical staff. The announcement came as another blow to the royal family, since King Charles III is also battling cancer. While Kate's heart-touching video message garnered huge affection and support from royal fans and celebs, rumours and conspiracy have continued to swirl online, with critics questioning the efficacy of chemotherapy. The reports of alleged Chinese interference in UK democracy come ahead of the expected general elections. Deputy PM Oliver Dowden will raise the issue in the parliament on Monday. Also Read: Queen Camilla gives major update on King Charles; Were his medical records also breached? PM Rishi Sunak says Kate has love and support of the whole country On Friday, UK PM Rishi Sunak denounced the social media trolls targeting Kate over her absenece from the public eye. In recent weeks she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media, Sunak wrote on X. Ex-royal adviser Paddy Harverson labelled the speculations and rumours about Kate's health as the "worst I've ever seen". Also Read: What King Charles told beloved daughter-in-law Kate Middleton after learning about her cancer diagnosis Earlier this month, the UK Embassy in Ukraine was compelled to debunk rumors claiming the King had died after Russian media began disseminating false information. A photoshopped statement bearing the Buckingham Palace logo surfaced on social media, reading: "The following announcement is made by royal communications. The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon." The White House said Monday it was "perplexed" and "disappointed" by the cancelation of an Israeli delegation's planned visit to discuss US concerns over a possible offensive in southern Gaza. HT Image Israel scrapped the visit after the United States abstained from a UN Security Council vote demanding an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza a move that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said hurt Israel's fight against Palestinian militant group Hamas. Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now. "We're kind of perplexed" by the cancelation, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists, saying it "seems like the prime minister's office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don't need to." Kirby had earlier said Washington was "very disappointed" the delegation would not be visiting, and that the Security Council abstention "does not represent a shift" in US policy. "We've been consistent in our support a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal," he said, referring to efforts to free the roughly 130 people still believed to be held in Gaza after they were seized in a shock Hamas attack on October 7. That attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures. Israel's military campaign in response to eliminate Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The United States has backed Israel with both military and diplomatic support, but has voiced frustration with Netanyahu as the civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip mounts. While the delegation's trip has been canceled, a separate visit by Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is proceeding. Kirby said Gallant was meeting with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday, and the Pentagon said the minister would meet US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin the following day. Austin "is still planning to meet with Minister Gallant," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists. The Austin-Gallant talks will cover "efforts to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas" and "the need for more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians," Ryder said. They will also discuss "plans to ensure the safety of the more than one million people sheltering in Rafah while also ensuring Hamas can no longer pose a threat to Israel," he added. wd/des This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text. Four men who are charged with terrorism appeared in court in Moscow on Sunday, plainly bruised, and were suspected of planning the Russian music hall assault that claimed the lives of over 130 people. One seemed hardly to be cognizant at all during the hearing. Two of the suspects confessed that they were involved in the attack after being charged during the preliminary hearing, according to a court statement. However, it was unclear whether they were speaking freely due to their conditions. Russian media sources have previously published contradictory allegations claiming that three or all four individuals had acknowledged their guilt. Moscow Court Charges Tajik Citizens Over Deadly Attack Moscow's Basmanny District Court has charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, and Mukhammadsobir Faizov with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, were ordered to be held in pre-trial custody until May 22. Russia's worst attack in years happened on Friday night in Krasnogorsk, west of Moscow. About eight o'clock at night, four suspected terrorists were driven to the performance hall in an unmarked white van. In video records posted on social media during their imprisonment, one of the suspects kneels and admits to the crime. The four suspects' identities and images were made public by Russian media. The killers shot the victims in the lobby before making their way into the concert hall. Alleged ISIS-K terrorists opened fire on the structure after shooting at concertgoers, causing the roof to collapse. The men may have been ISIS-K members, since the Islamic State claimed responsibility. After the event, the group shared a filthy 90-second selfie that MailOnline has been unable to reveal, according to Daily Mail. Read Also: Cruise Ship Carrying 3,000 People Stranded off the Coast of Mauritius Over Health Risk ISIS-K Attack Footage Emerges The video clip depicts the bloody attack on Christians in Krasnogorsk, Moscow, by the Islamic State group. The clip begins with a terrorist holding a knife running into the main hall of Crocus City Hall, and the man filming the video twice says: 'Bring the machine gun. Kill them and have no mercy on them.' Another man carrying what appears to be a yellow and black machine gun then runs into the hall and begins firing wildly in all directions. The gunman filming the sick attack can be heard saying: "The infidels will be defeated, God willing. God is great. We went out for the sake of God and to seek His religion." Putin has connected the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue, which resulted in the deaths of at least 137 people, to Ukraine. The worst attack on Russian soil in recent history was claimed by the affiliate of Islamic State. The US and UK embassies had been warning of a Russian capital assault nearly exactly when the attack began. The details came when video seemed to show tyrant Vladimir Putin being informed of the atrocities in his office. A photographer at Crocus City Hall caught the image of Tajikistani suspect Shamsuddin Fariddun on March 7. The incident caused the lives of about 140 individuals and wounded another 150. One of the injured is an eight-year-old child, who is reportedly in severe condition at the hospital. Seven other individuals were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the crime, and the four accused assailants were taken into custody by Russian officials. While going to Ukraine, Putin said that the attackers were caught; still Kyiv refuted this. Putin declared March 24 to be a day of national mourning, attributing the horrific attack on Ukraine. The US, however, refuted these assertions by asserting that there was no participation from Ukraine and that ISIS was solely responsible for the attack. Adrienne Watson, a spokesman for the National Security Council, supported the assertion, New York Post reported. Related Article: Florida Woman Found Dead on Caribbean-Bound Cruise Ship, American Tourist Arrested in Cocaine-Filled Cabin @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. In the aftermath of this weekend's mass shooting at a concert venue in Moscow's west, the country held a day of mourning on Sunday, March 24, with thousands gathering at the scene to place flowers at a makeshift memorial to remember the 137 people killed in the attack. Russian authorities said that they arrested the four gunmen suspected of carrying out the attack near the border on Saturday, March 23, further alleging that they were from Tajikistan and had been in Russia on either temporary or expired visas. State media named the suspects Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, and Muhammadsober Faizov. The Islamic State earlier claimed responsibility for the assault in a short statement by the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency on Telegram on Friday, March 22. Russian President Vladimir Putin also turned out to pay his respects to the victims, lighting a candle in a church at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow. "The whole country, our whole people, mourns with you," he told the nation in an address on Saturday. The last time Russia experienced a mass shooting incident was during the Beslan school siege in 2004, CNN reported. Read Also: Moscow Concert Massacre: Here's What We Know So Far Members of the clergy also paid their respects and offered prayers for the sake of the victims, while Russian flags were flown at half-mast to indicate that the country was in mourning. Prior to identifying the suspects, Putin claimed that the shooters were trying to escape to Ukraine, an allegation officials in Kyiv flatly denied. "Ukraine was of course not involved in this terror attack," Ukrainian military intelligence service spokesperson Andriy Yusov said. "Ukraine is defending its sovereignty from Russian invaders, liberating its own territory and is fighting with the occupiers' army and military targets, not civilians." Meanwhile, the United States stressed that they provided the Kremlin with an advanced warning about the attack, which Putin regarded as "blackmail" days prior to the attack. Out of the 137 bodies recovered at the scene, only 62 were identified so far. Related Article: Russia Mourns Concert Hall Shooting as Some Families Still Await News on Loved Ones @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Israeli raids on Gaza's main hospital were still going on Sunday, and Palestinians who had to leave said they were arrested in large groups and pushed pass dead bodies. The UN said Israel has begun stopping its main agency that helps Palestinians from sending food aid to the north of the enclave, which is in terrible shape. The Israeli military sees its assault on Shifa Hospital, which started on Monday, as a blow to Hamas and other armed groups which it claims have gathered there as the war approaches its six-month mark. It purports to have murdered over 170 terrorists and captured over 480 suspects. Israel Raids Gaza Hospital Gaza is severely destroyed, currently Palestinian armed groups, especially Hamas, have persevered there. A similar raid in the early stages of the war killed 170 combatants from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas and forced Israeli forces to retreat. 500 terrorists, including top field commanders from both armed groups, were among the 800 IDF arrests. Weapons, millions of dollars, and Jordanian dinars were taken. There were three Israeli soldiers killed. Thousands of Palestinians at al-Shifa had to relocate to shelter south of the hospital due to a barrier. While Israeli forces inspected each space, there were firefights and cases of the Israelis using small drones and bulldozers. Since the start of the fight, the greatest number of terrorists have been captured by another operation. It has been rare in the five and a half months since Hamas began a cross-border onslaught on Israel on October 7 to see big confrontations between the IDF and Palestinian terrorists. Smaller cells and guerrilla tactics are used by Hamas members who are unable to confront IDF weapons. A current IDF attack in Khan Younis, southern Gaza's largest city, targets "terrorist infrastructure" and operatives. Local media and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the city's al-Nasser and al-Amal hospitals, which the IDF attacked last month, are surrounded. Some opponents said the tunnels below the hospital did not correspond to IDF assertions of a large command and control center, prompting worldwide outrage during Israel's first attack at al-Shifa in November. Following withdrawing from much of northern Gaza, including al-Shifa, the IDF now conducts targeted operations with lesser forces. Others believe the al-Shifa attack and the massive number of terrorists in north Gaza show Hamas's resilience and Israel's lack of postwar preparedness, according to Financial Times. Read Also: Over 100 Nigerian Children Freed Weeks After Mass Gunpoint Kidnapping IDF Launches New Offensive in Khan Younis, Gaza The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has launched a new offensive in Khan Younis, southern Gaza's largest city, targeting "terrorist infrastructure" and operatives. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society and local media reports claim that the city's al-Nasser and al-Amal hospitals, which the IDF raided last month, are being encircled. Israel drew widespread international censure during its first operation at al-Shifa in November, with some critics arguing that the tunnels underneath the hospital did not meet IDF claims of a sprawling command and control center. Since Israel has withdrawn from much of northern Gaza, including al-Shifa, the IDF uses fewer soldiers to carry out targeted operations. Others think that Israel's lack of postwar preparation and Hamas's tenacity are demonstrated by the al-Shifa attack and the large number of terrorists in north Gaza. Over 32,000 Palestinians were killed and injured in Israel's al-Shifa hospital strike. Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas chairman, said Zionist control of al-Shifa hospital building indicates the enemy's plans to resurrect Gaza. The southernmost Gaza town, Rafah, was hit by an Israeli air strike that killed seven. The Israeli attack on Gaza has killed 32,226 Palestinians and injured 74,518 since October 7. The conflict began when Hamas-led Islamist terrorists broke the southern Israel border barrier, killing 1,200 and taking 253 captives to Gaza. Qatar and Egypt's US-backed mediation failed to bring Hamas-Israel peace, prison discharges, and famine relief to Gaza. Hamas demands an agreement that involves an Israeli pledge to end the war and leave soldiers from Gaza, while Israel intends on continuing until Hamas is defeated both politically and militarily, USA Today reported. Related Article: Israel Launches New Operation on Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital Following Intel on Hamas Terrorists Activity @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, made her health problems public in a moving video statement on Friday. The mother of three stated that after additional testing following her abdominal surgery in January, it came as a "huge shock" to her. However, a source informed the New York Post that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle knew about Kate Middleton at the same time as other people in the world. Prince Harry, Meghan Markle Uninformed Amid Kate Middleton's Health Crisis For the past four years, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been blamed for causing issues for the royal family, while not being informed of Kate Middleton's condition. The previously unfaithful couple has remained silent about the revelation, saying that their past behavior makes them suspicious. The brothers' loss of interaction and lack of faith in the royal family, according to royal analyst Richard Fitzwilliams, has led to their actions, even the Duke and Duchess of Sussex expressing their best wishes for Kate Middleton's recovery. Tech tycoon Christopher Bouzy, who made fun of Kate Middleton soon after hearing she had health conditions, has criticized Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix series. Bouzy, the propagator of the theory that Prince William and Kate Middleton are separating, said that Kate Middleton's sickness was stage-managed in a manner reminiscent of "North Korean propaganda." During his brief stay in the nation, Prince Harry focused on taking care of their kids and figuring out how to handle the conspiracy theories on social media. Bouzy joined 300 Prince Harry and Meghan Markle fans in an online forum, where a member even questioned the truth of the Princess's cancer diagnosis. The circumstances accentuate the significance of resolving the problems encountered by both of them and their supporters, according to People. Read Also: Powerball Jackpot Rolls to $800M After No Top Winners in Saturday's Drawing Harry and Meghan Unaware of Kate's Cancer Diagnosis Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have allegedly been reducing news that Princess Kate was diagnosed with cancer, which she revealed in a social media video message. Following Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022 at the age of 96, the pair travelled to Europe for charitable activities. They traveled further from California so they could be there at the late Queen's funeral. Before making the news, Kate Middleton and Prince William spent some time explaining what happened to their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Their kids' private prep school, Lambrook School, is presently having a half-term break, which gives the family a chance to spend some quality time together in private after Kate's news. There was resentment between the two partners because Prince Harry and Meghan were not previously informed of Kate's recovery and surgery. According to a family source, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle knew everything that was going on in England, but they weren't told anything specific about Kate Middleton. When Prince William visited the United Kingdom in February, it was not to meet with Prince William or Kate following King Charles's personal cancer diagnosis. There were no preparations for the two brothers to meet together when Prince Harry was in town, according to a royal source. Related Article: Kate Middleton Cancer Diagnosis: Blake Lively Apologizes for Poking Fun at Princess of Wales' Photoshop Skill @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Irish Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris was named the newest leader of the ruling Fine Gael party and taoiseach (prime minister) of the country over the weekend after the shock resignation of Leo Varadkar. In his opening speech to party colleagues on Sunday (Mar. 24), Harris, who was elected unopposed to succeed Varadkar, pledged to help small businesses, focus on law and order, and tackle migration. "This is a moment for Fine Gael to reset," he told hundreds of members at a party event in the midlands town of Athlone. "Under my leadership, Fine Gael stands for supporting businesses, especially small businesses ... Fine Gael stands for supporting the family farm ... Fine Gael stands for law and order, on the side of An Garda Siochana [police], where our streets are safe and crime is never allowed [to] go unchecked." While already taking on the role of the country's new youngest prime minister, 37-year-old Harris's election has yet to be confirmed by Fine Gael's coalition partners when parliament next sits on April 9. However, he would have less than 12 months to save the coalition from defeat at parliamentary elections as polls for the last three years favored Sinn Fein, a left-wing party backing unification with British-run Northern Ireland, to head the next government. Nevertheless, Harris intended to run a full term to March 2025. It was previously reported that Varadkar - Ireland's first openly gay PM - resigned due to "personal and political" reasons. He was 38 when he was named to Ireland's top job in 2017. Read Also: Irish Voters Reject Referendum To Modernize Constitution on Women, Family in 'Wallops' to Government Who is Simon Harris? Harris was born in 1986 and grew up in the coastal town of Greystones, County Wicklow. One of the first instances when Harris was involved in politics was when he was 16. According to the BBC, his younger brother Adam is autistic, and he invited autistic people and their families to a gathering in his local parish hall, which resulted in the establishment of a new autism support and lobby group. "I was really frustrated - as that moody, opinionated teenager - with the lack of information around autism," he told Hotpress in a 2022 interview. "I saw the stress and strain my parents went through, and called a public meeting in my hometown." Harris entered politics for Fine Gael in 2009 as a local councilor. He became the youngest MP ever elected in 2011 when he won the seat of Wicklow for the party. He eventually became health minister in 2016. As a government minister, he was one of Ireland's most visible and most performing on social media. He was also best known for helping steer the country's initial response to COVID-19. His keen social media presence further led one opponent in parliament to dub Harris the "TikTok taoiseach." In 2017, Harris married his long-term girlfriend, children's cardiac nurse Caoimhe Wade, with his brother Adam as his best man at the ceremony. The couple shares two children together. Related Article: Leo Varadkar, Ireland's First Openly Gay Prime Minister, Resigns @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. On Saturday, the foundation of the statue that is expanding outside of Tom Green Elementary School in Buda was filled with stuffed animals. Joann Thornton, a local, remarked, "I can't believe it, especially pre-K. It serves as a devastating reminder of a young life lost." Texas School Bus Crash The news of a young preschooler's death in another awful occurrence shocked the neighborhood around Tom Green Elementary School. Unfortunately, the preschooler on board the school bus perished after it struck a concrete truck on Friday in Bastrop County when it was going to Tom Green Elementary. A man driving a third vehicle behind the bus also lost his life in the accident. Molly Andrews, the community leadership representative for Tom Green, expressed the sentiments shared by many, stating, "No one wants to hear what we had to hear." The profound impact of such a loss reverberated throughout the tight-knit community, leaving neighbors and school staff reeling from the shock. As details regarding the tragedy came to hand, it was found that the bus involved in the crash did not come with seatbelts. Despite Texas' mandate that all buses purchased after 2017 come equipped with seatbelts, the bus in question was a 2011 model, which raised concerns about safety. Just 40 of the 200 buses in the company's fleet, according to Hays CISD, had seatbelts. Although the district stated that it was unclear if the student's outcome would have been different had seatbelts been used, a meeting to discuss expediting the bus replacement process had been arranged. In response to the tragedy, the community rallied together, with an outpouring of support evident in various forms. Joann Thornton, a local resident, laid flowers at the growing memorial outside the school, symbolizing solidarity and compassion during this difficult time. A GoFundMe campaign swiftly garnered support, amassing over $20,000 within a day to assist affected families with funeral expenses and unforeseen financial burdens, according to Fox7. Read Also: Pope Francis Unexpectedly Skips Palm Sunday Homily Amid Lingering Health Issues Tom Green Community Unites in Face of Tragedy Andrews said, considering the community's resilience, "That just kind of goes to show just how amazing this staff, these teachers, these families are." The united strength of the Tom Green community can be seen by their continuous support and sympathy for those affected by the tragedy. Tom Green Elementary said on Monday that classes will not be held because of the psychological damage, while also providing trauma treatment services to those in need. Families decided to decorate the school fence as a tribute and way to show support for one another. Concerns over safety protocols and safeguards surfaced as the accident investigations went on. Despite efforts to raise safety standards, the accident served as a somber reminder of the loss of life and the value of placing safety precautions in school transportation first. A new GoFundMe campaign was created by a former fourth-grade teacher to raise money for the whole Tom Green community that was affected by the tragedy. The teacher pleaded for assistance, emphasizing the importance of working together to speed up the healing process and ease the financial burden on families and staff, WSBT reported. Related Article: 2 Dead, 32 Hospitalized After Cement Truck Struck School Bus Carrying 40 Pre-K Students @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs summoned Chinese Charge d'affaires Zhou Zhiyong after officials in Manila protested the latest aggressive actions the Chinese Coast Guard made against a Filipino resupply mission in the South China Sea. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza told local media that Assistant Secretary Raphael Hermoso summoned Zhou on Monday (Mar. 25) to protest the incident, as well as instructed the Philippine embassy in Beijing to lodge a similar protest before the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs there. "In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal, a low-tide elevation that lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Award," she said, referring to Second Thomas Shoal, where the dilapidated World War II-era Philippine Navy ship BRP Sierra Madre was deliberately ran aground. Read Also: Philippines Accuses Chinese Coastguard of 'Dangerous Maneuvers' Leading to South China Sea Collision Later that afternoon, local time, Daza released another statement saying that Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and ASEAN Affairs Ma. Theresa Lazaro had a call with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong earlier that morning, telling the Chinese official the Philippines' "strongest protest" against China's newest aggressive acts in the Spratly Islands. The diplomatic challenge came a day after Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said that the confrontation wounded three Filipino military personnel and caused severe damage to the vessel they were in, the supply boat Unaizah May 4. The boat's sister vessels had earlier suffered her fate late last year. While Ano did not reveal the extent and nature of the injuries of the three servicemen aboard the boat, he stated that they were transferred to a Philippine Coast Guard escort ship for emergency treatment at sea, Al Jazeera reported. Related Article: Chinese Intimidation: Philippines Says China Made Another Dangerous Sea Moves @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images) Residents sit near the site of a rocket strike in a park after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, on March 24, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Poland demanded an explanation from Russia after one of its missiles entered Polish airspace during a Sunday attack on Ukraine. Russia launched its third massive missile attack on Ukraine in the span of four days on Sunday. Poland's Armed Forces Operational Command said in a statement that one of the cruise missiles launched by Russia violated Polish airspace. The announcement on X stated the missile entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and stayed there for 39 seconds. Military radar systems tracked the missile. It was redirected to Ukraine and left Polish airspace. The NATO member said "all necessary procedures" were launched to protect Poland. That included activating F-16 fighter jets, the Associated Press reported. Poland's defense minister, Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, said "The Russian missile would have been shot down had there been any indication it was heading towards a target in Poland." Speaking to the Polish broadcaster TVN24, a deputy foreign minister said the foreign ministry intended to summon the Russian ambassador to "provide information and explanations," the Guardian reported. The missile barrage against Ukraine came after Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to tie Ukraine to a deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall outside of Moscow. Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement, while an affiliate of the Islamic State terror group in Afghanistan, ISIS-K, has claimed responsibility. The head of Kyiv's military administration said Russia used cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers and Kyiv was one of the targets. Officials said 18 Russian missiles and 25 drones were shot down over the Ukrainian capital. There was only minor damage, according to the BBC. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : MANDEL NGAN,MIKHAIL METZEL/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called President Vladimir Putin "scum" for trying to tie Ukraine to a mass shooting in Moscow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin as "scum" for trying to tie Kyiv to the terror attack in the Moscow area. "What happened yesterday in Moscow is obvious and Putin and other scums are just trying to shift the blame to someone else," Zelenskyy said in the caption of a video posted on X. "All of this happened yesterday, and instead of taking care of his Russian citizens and addressing them, this duffer Putin, remained silent for a day, thinking about how to link this to Ukraine." He added that it was "absolutely predictable" that Putin would try to pin the attack on Ukraine. What happened in Moscow yesterday is obvious, and Putin and other scums are trying to shift the blame to someone else. Their methods are always the same. We have seen it all before. There were blown-up houses, mass shootings, and explosions. And they always blame others. They pic.twitter.com/N6WhZujMh9 March 23, 2024 Putin tried to link Ukraine to the Friday massacre at the Crocus City Hall, and said those behind the attack will be "justly and inevitably punished." Ukraine has vehemently denied any involvement in the mass shooting. The United States also said Ukraine wasn't involved and blamed it on an ISIS-affiliated group. An affiliate of the Islamic State terror group in Afghanistan, ISIS-K, has claimed responsibility, claiming through its news agency that it was attacking "Christians" at the concert. That has not stopped Putin from blaming Ukraine as the Russian military launched a huge missile attack on Kyiv and other locations, amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. "Everything is absolutely predictable," Zelensky said. "Those hundreds of thousands of Russians who are now killing on Ukrainian soil would certainly be enough to deter any terrorists." @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images) Palestinian children carry banners during a march demanding an end to the war and an end to the famine that citizens suffer from due to the war. The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution Monday that would demand an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The vote comes after Russia, China and Algeria voted down a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported "an immediate and sustained cease-fire" in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Council members had disagreed over elements of the draft, and some highlighted what the United Nations called "glaring exclusions" despite having raised multiple concerns with the U.S. during negotiations. Ambassadors largely supported swift action to bring food and lifesaving aid at scale into Gaza, where a U.N.-backed report raised alarms about famine as Israel continues to block and slow shipments. Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan said the draft would have marked the first time any U.N. body condemned Hamas' attack on his country, but its failure to be adopted is "a stain that will never be forgotten". The United States warned that the new resolution up for a vote could hurt negotiations by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to halt hostilities, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans, the Associated Press reported. The 22-nation Arab Group is pleading for the resolution to be supported on Monday. In a statement issued Friday night, the group asked council members "to act with unity and urgency" to avert further human suffering in Gaza. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Metro Nashville Police) Riley Strain's body was pulled from the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee on March 22, 2024. Preliminary autopsy results indicate that there was no foul play involved in the death of Mizzou student Riley Strain, whose body was discovered last Friday, eight miles away from where he was last seen alive in Nashville. "Detective attended the autopsy examination," Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Kris Mumford told the Tennessean. "Continues to appear accidental." Strain was visiting Nashville with other members of his fraternity when he was kicked out of Luke's 32 Bridge bar on March 8. Surveillance footage showed the 22-year-old stumbling as he walked toward the Cumberland River. A married couple living in a homeless encampment near the river believe they spotted Strain and described the student as "very, very, very intoxicated." In the ensuing days, Strain's family descended on Nashville to assist in the search efforts. After his body was pulled from the Cumberland River, the family held a press conference thanking community members who assisted in the search. "I just ask that you mommas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please," said mother Michelle Whiteid, according to the Tennessean. "Please for me. Hug your babies tight tonight." The final results of the autopsy are pending - coroners still need completed toxicology reports to make a determination. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down by the end of 2024, he announced on March 25, 2024. Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun announced Monday that he will step down as CEO at the end of 2024. The embattled company had faced intense scrutiny since two of its aircraft crashed, killing hundreds of people in late 2018 and 2019. But the pressure ratcheted up recently after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered an audit of assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle in the wake of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max suffering a midair door-panel blowout on Jan. 5. In a letter to employees, Calhoun referenced the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident, calling it a "watershed moment for Boeing." The company also announced on Monday that Board Chair Larry Kellner doesn't plan to stand for re-election and Stan Deal, president and CEO of its commercial airplanes unit, will retire. Stephanie Pope will replace him. "As we begin this period of transition, I want to assure you, we will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do," Calhoun said. Developing a brand-new aircraft to replace the 737 was something Boeing contemplated over a decade ago. However, to avoid falling behind European competitor Airbus in sales, Boeing opted for the easier route of making minor adjustments to the 737, giving birth to the Max series. In 2018, a Lion Air Max 8 plane went down in Indonesia, and in 2019, an Ethiopian Airlines Max 8 also crashed. As Boeing modified an automatic flight control system linked to the disasters, regulators globally grounded the jets for over two years. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Local officials are seeking a Pure Michigan Outdoor Recreation Byway designation for a stretch of M-55 from the Big M Trail to M-55 Cooley Bridge (pictured) over the Pine River in Manistee County. File photo Sammie Lukaskiewicz, executive director or the Manistee County Tourism Authority, is pictured speaking at a 2022 event in Manistee. Scott Fraley/News Advocate Is M-55 one of the states best places for outdoor recreation? The Manistee County Tourism Authority thinks so, and its executive director Sammie Lukaskiewicz is looking to make it official by pursuing a Pure Michigan designation. A Pure Michigan Byway is the designation for a segment of the state trunkline highway system that is a "scenic, recreational or historic route that is representative of Michigan's natural and cultural heritage," according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. Lukaskiewicz met with members of the Manistee County Board of Commissioners on March 19 to seek their support in promoting M-55 as the Pure Michigan Outdoor Recreation Byway. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Pure Michigan Byways program through the state allows people like me to work with MDOT on making this designation that helps free up some promotional dollars, but also some infrastructure dollars, Lukaskiewicz said during the March 19 board meeting. If adopted by the state, the M-55 Recreation Byway would run from the Big M Trail to Cooley Bridge in Manistee County. The designation helps promote regional attributes by providing funding opportunities for new and existing improvements to infrastructure, protection of special assets and resources and provides some marketing dollars to attract visitors and encourage economic growth to the area, Lukaskiewicz said. Lukaskiewicz points to hiking, biking and fishing opportunities that can be accessed from this stretch of M-55 as reasons the state may consider designating it as a recreation byway. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Pure Michigan byways legislation (Public Act 445) helps define recreational as facilities associated with leisure time activities, parks, public access sites, wildlife refuge, forest areas, swimming areas, hiking trails and sightseeing areas and we certainly have those along M-55, she said. In 1993, the state legislature passed Public Act 69 that directed MDOT to establish a program of identifying, promoting and protecting roadways to be known as Heritage Routes. In 2014, Public Act 445 was passed to rename the program Pure Michigan Byways. The Pure Michigan Byway program was a collaborative effort of MDOT and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to rebrand the former Heritage Route program, linking the goals of the program with the success of the Pure Michigan tourism campaign. MDOT also includes Pure Michigan byways as part of its corridor management plan, and Lukaskiewicz says that this designation could provide opportunities for road construction and maintenance. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If it helps secure some extra funding for maybe widening a road or additional signage and things like that, then Im willing to do the work to help get that funding, she said. So I look at this as just the start of bringing more exposure, but also funding some of the most beautiful areas that we have in Manistee County. The board of commissioners wasted little time in unanimously approving (7-0) a motion to support the Manistee County Tourism Authoritys efforts to obtain the Pure Michigan designation. With the boards vote of confidence Lukaskiewicz said she plans to seek additional support from impacted municipalities along M-55, as well as other stakeholders including the Manistee County Road Commission in coming weeks. (Photo : /AFP via Getty Images) People flee as smoke rises above buildings near the Al-Shifa hospital compound and its vicinity during Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on March 21, 2024. Israel has agreed to an American proposal to exchange 700 Palestinian prisoners for 40 of the remaining hostages in Gaza, according to two reports of the negotiation talks being held in Qatar. Hamas has not yet signed on, however. "We're still not close to an agreement, but the negotiations continue," a senior Israeli official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Some members of the Hamas leadership have already rebuked the plan, describing comments from Israeli officials as "manipulation to justify the continuation of the war," Haaretz reported. These discussions follow Israel rejecting a proposal from Hamas to release 700 to 1000 Palestinians, with Israeli officials describing the plan as "ridiculous" and "absurd," according to CNN. There are an estimated 130 hostages, including some Americans, captured during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel who remain in Gaza. There are approximately 7,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli prisons, with at least 2,000 being held under administrative detention - meaning they were never charged with or convicted of any crime, according to Human Rights Watch. Of the 700 Palestinians that would be slated for released under the American deal, there are reportedly 100 who are serving life sentences for killing Israelis, according to CNN. Under the American proposal, the hostages will be released in stages, with Hamas proposing that they will first release the remaining women, the elderly, the sick and wounded. This plan will likely include some of the remaining American men, according to CNN. Among the disputed terms of the American hostage proposal are the distribution of aid to Palestinian civilians and the ability of displaced Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza. Arab diplomats say that Hamas wanted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to handle aid distribution but Israeli officials refused, alleging that the UN agency has ties to Hamas, Haaretz reported. The same officials also allege that Israel does not want any displaced Palestinians - including women and children - to return to the northern region of the Gaza Strip, which has been subject to intense bombardment since the Oct. 7 attacks. It is expected that a definitive response from Hamas will not come for several days. "Those details need to go from Hamas representatives in Doha, who are negotiating, to the person who really calls the shots, and this is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, who is in a bunker some 100 feet under the ground, so this takes a long time," said CNN analyst Barak Ravid. The families of the remaining hostages wrote a letter to President Joe Biden last week, urging him to "convince all parties, including the Israeli Prime Minister, to agree to the deal that you assess is reasonable." "Above all, the Israeli public yearns for the safe return of the hostages," the letter said, according to Haaretz. "We are reaching out to you because we are increasingly frustrated and worried about the lack of ongoing communication and commitment from the Israeli Prime Minister and the War Cabinet to the hostage release cause." @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A search has turned into a recovery operation for a little Pennsylvania girl who was swept away in a creek over the weekend. 6-year-old Lin'ajah Brooker was carried away in the rain-swollen Chester Creek after several inches of rain fell in a matter of hours. Authorities in Delaware County officials said little Lin'ajah was reported missing at about 7 p.m. Saturday after she slipped and fell into the water. She had been playing with three girls when two of them fell in. One made it out. Lin'ajah did not. Crews searched for hours in an unsuccessful effort to locate her. A search on Sunday was also unsuccessful. "This is an extremely sad day for the City of Chester," said Chester Mayor Stefan Roots told WACU-TV. "This is a community that will wrap its arms around those are hurting or who are in need." Chester @ChesterCityFire and Pennsylvania State Police crews search Chester creek with electronic equipment Monday morning. pic.twitter.com/MftgwupDrH Pete Bannan (@PeteBannan) March 25, 2024 Crews returned on Monday to try to locate her body, with the Pennsylvania State Police was using sonar technology. Brooker's grandmother, Kimberly Richardson, says the family held out hope for as long as they could. "My emotions are all off hinge. I haven't had sleep. I can't eat," Richardson told WPVI-TV. The family told the news outlet that Brooker's sister passed away on the day five years ago at the age of three. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images) People mourn as they receive the dead bodies of victims of an Israeli strike on March 25, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. The United Nations Security Council on Monday demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The resolution also demands the release of all Israeli hostages taken captive during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, the Associated Press reported. The vote passed on Monday morning after the United States abstained. Before the vote, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the council, "For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, civilian deaths is a strategy and, sadly, you are playing right into their hands as they predicted." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a delegation's planned visit to Washington by a high-level delegation to protest the vote. Netanyahu claimed the U.S. was "retreating" by not vetoing the measure. Monday's vote came after Russia, China and Algeria voted against a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported "an immediate and sustained cease-fire" in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Council members had disagreed over elements of the draft, and some highlighted what the United Nations called "glaring exclusions" despite having raised multiple concerns with the US during negotiations. Ambassadors largely supported swift action to bring food and lifesaving aid at scale into Gaza, where a UN-backed report raised alarms about famine as Israel continues to block and slow shipments. After the vote, the U.S. State Department issued a statement explaining it did not make a policy change by not vetoing the measure. "We reiterate the need to accelerate and sustain the provision of humanitarian assistance through all available routes - land, sea, and air. We continue to discuss with partners a pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state with real security guarantees for Israel to establish long-term peace and security," the statement read. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation after the US refused to boycott a UN cease-fire vote. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a hgih-level Israeli delegation's planned visit to Washington, D.C. in apparent protest of the United States declining to block a United Nations Security Council measure on Monday that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Netanyahu claimed the U.S. was "retreating" by not vetoing the measure. Before the vote, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the council, "For Israel, every civilian death is a tragedy. For Hamas, civilian deaths is a strategy and, sadly, you are playing right into their hands as they predicted." White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it was not a policy shift and said the U.S. had been "consistent" in its support for a cease-fire. "The reason we abstained is because this resolution text did not condemn Hamas," Kirby said, according to the Associated Press. Monday's vote came after Russia, China and Algeria voted against a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported "an immediate and sustained cease-fire" in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Council members had disagreed over elements of the draft, and some highlighted what the United Nations called "glaring exclusions" despite having raised multiple concerns with the US during negotiations. Ambassadors largely supported swift action to bring food and lifesaving aid at scale into Gaza, where a UN-backed report raised alarms about famine as Israel continues to block and slow shipments. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. One person died and several others were injured following an officer-involved shooting outside an Indianapolis bar Sunday morning. Two Indianapolis Police Department officers in full uniform were working off-duty at the bar when a disturbance unfolded in the parking lot, according to police. Officers alleged they witnessed a male suspect shooting at a victim. They confronted the man and exchanged gunfire, resulting in the injury of one of the officers. The suspect was also shot during the confrontation but fled. He later on showed up to an area hospital for treatment, but succumbed to his injuries, police said. The Marion County Coroner identified the man as 37-year-old Dominique Lamonte Durham Sr., WXIN-TV reported. Four others suffered non-fatal gunshot injuries during the incident, including a 33-year-old woman, and three men in their 40s, said police. Detectives are investigating how the victims sustained their injuries. One gun was recovered from the scene. Police Chief Christopher Bailey announced the officer who suffered a gunshot wound, "is on the mend and in high spirits. He is ready to get home to his family and get back to serving our community as soon as he is able." The officers were placed on administrative leave. A motive in the shooting remains under investigation. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. At least nine people including a teenage girl were injured during a Russian missile attack on Ukraine on Monday. Falling debris also damaged at least two buildings in central districts of Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko issued a warning on his Telegram channel as the attack began "Explosions in the capital. Urgently to the shelter!", the BBC reported. Two ballistic missiles fired from occupied Crimea were intercepted, the Associated Press reported. Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, posted a video on X showing school children in Kyiv running for cover. Children in Kyiv run for cover at 10:30 a.m. as deadly Russian ballistic missiles are shot down over the capital by air defense. There are no atrocities Russian bastards would not commit, including an attempt of a ballistic strike at the heart of a multimillion city. This is a pic.twitter.com/uc19jrwFIg March 25, 2024 "There are no atrocities Russian bastards would not commit, including an attempt of a ballistic strike at the heart of a multimillion city," he said. U.S. Ambassador Bridget A. Brink said Russia had fired hypersonic missiles in the attack. "Loud explosions in Kyiv," she said in a post on X. "Over the last 5 days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country." Again this morning Russia is attacking Ukraine with hypersonic missiles. Loud explosions in Kyiv. Over the last 5 days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country. Ukraine needs our assistance now. There is not a moment to lose. Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) March 25, 2024 It was the third missile attack in five days on the capital city. Russia has escalated aerial attacks on Kyiv in recent days, targeting key infrastructure in the wake of fatal Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions. At least two explosions were also reported in Odesa. There was no immediate word on injuries or damage there. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy continued his plea for more Western military aid in the wake of the attack. "We never tire of repeating that Ukraine needs more air defense," he said. "This is security for our cities and saves human lives." @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Authorities recovered the body of a Georgia teen floating in a pond nearly 24 hours after her mother reported her missing. Letia Green, 13, disappeared from her Americus, Georgia, home Saturday afternoon, according to the sheriff's office. Her bike was recovered Sunday morning, about a half-mile from her home. Around noon, rescuers discovered Letia's body in a nearby pond, WALB-TV and WMAZ-TV reported. Foul play is not suspected and authorities are investigating the teen's death as an accidental drowning, the outlets reported, citing the sheriff's office. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Seven Chinese nationals were charged Monday in a "sinister" 14-year scheme to hack the computers of numerous high-ranking U.S. government officials, as well as defense contractors, political dissidents and critics around the world. The defendants are accused of being part of a group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 31, or APT31, which works with the Chinese Ministry of State Security to conduct cyber espionage, according to the Justice Department. Their targets allegedly included officials in the White House and the Justice, Commerce, Treasury and State Departments; Republican and Democratic members of Congress; and campaign staffers from both sides of the 2020 presidential race. Some officials' spouses were also targeted, as were workers in vital sectors of the American economy, including military contracting, information technology and telecommunications, according to the Justice Department. APT31 also allegedly went after academics and activists in Hong Kong, the U.S. and elsewhere, as well more than 400 government officials tied to the global Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. The hackers even targeted Norway's governmment and a Norwegian internet service provider after leaders of Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018, according to the Justice Department. "This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a prepared statement. Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, also called the alleged operation a "sinister scheme" that "victimized thousands of people and entities across the world, and lasted for well over a decade." The hackers allegedly sent their targets malicious emails, including some that "spoofed" the name of a leading American TV journalist, according to a 27-page indictment unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York. Some emails contained tracking links to help the hackers access computer routers and other devices, while others held files with various types of malware to let the hackers take control of the computers and access larger, private networks. As part of the operation, more than 10,000 emails were allegedly sent to the work and personal addresses of various targets in the U.S. just between June and September 2018. Computer networks were compromised at a leading U.S. provider of 5G network equipment, a public-opnion polling company and an aerospace and defense research company in Alabama, according to the Justice Department. The defendants were identified as Ni Gaobin, 38; Ni Gaobin, 37; Cheng Feng, 34; Peng Yaowen, 38; Sun Xiaohui, 38; Xiong Wang, 35; and Zhao Guangzong, 38. They were each charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud conspiracy, which carry a maximum total prison term of 25 years. All are believed to be at large in China, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference after a pre-trial hearing on March 25, 2024 in New York City. Judge Juan Merchan scheduled Trump's criminal trial to begin on April 15, which would make it the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. Trump Media & Technology Group the parent company for Truth Social will begin trading on the stock market on Tuesday, after closing a merger deal with the shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp. The company will trade under former President Donald Trump's initials: DJT. As of Monday afternoon, Digital World stock prices had surged to $51 a share. While Trump's stake in the company is worth an estimated $4 billion, he will likely be unable to sell any shares in the coming months, due to "lock-up" provisions, a common Wall Street restriction preventing early investors from immediately unloading their shares. The deal is still expected, however, to boost Trump's net worth at a moment when he is required to come up with at least $175 million within 10 days to meet the bond in his New York civil fraud case. Trump founded Truth Social in 2022, a year after he was banned from major mainstream social media platforms in connection with the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot. Though Meta and X, formerly Twitter, subsequently reversed the bans, the former president still prefers using his own platform. Former U.S. Rep. and current Trump media CEO Devin Nunes said that the merger and public option will "reclaim the Internet from Big Tech censors." "We will continue to fulfill our commitment to Americans to serve as a safe harbor for free expression and to stand up to the ever-growing army of speech suppressors," said Nunes, according to CNN. Even with the former president's backing, however, Truth Social has struggled to establish itself as a major player in social media. While it has more active users than other right-wing social platforms, like Gettr, it still trails industry giants like TikTok and Facebook, the Associated Press reported. The company also reported a net loss of $49 million in the first nine months of its existence while its user base continues to shrink. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. (Photo : Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) People at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, watch a television broadcast showing a file image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on May 31, 2023. North Korea said Monday that Japan was seeking a summit with its leader Kim Jong Un - one day after he told his military to prepare for a potential war amid rising tensions with South Korea and the U.S. In a statement carried by state media, Kim's sister, senior government official Kim Yo Jong, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to say he wanted to sit down "as soon as possible," according to the Associated Press. But Kim Yo Jong said the two countries' first summit since 2004 would be contingent on Japan accepting North Korea's nuclear weapons program and dropping its grievances over the kidnapping of Japanese citizens during the 1970s and '80s. North Korea and Japan don't maintain diplomatic ties and during a session of the Japanese parliament, Kishida acknowledged using various channels to try to arrange a meeting with Kim. He said face-to-face talks could be "crucial" to resolving the abduction issue, which is highly emotional for many Japanese. A government spokesperson late told told reporters that not addressing the subject during any potential meeting was "not acceptable." Japan has officially recognized 17 kidnappings of its citizens by North Korean agents but estimates have put the number as high as 869. In 2002, North Korea acknowledged kidnapping 13 Japanese, primarily to train its spies in Japanese language and culture. Pyongyang allowed five to return to Japan but said the others had died. Monday's developments followed Kim Jong Un's Sunday supervision of an exercise by the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division, which got its name after becoming the first North Korean unit to reach the South Korean capital of Seoul during the bloody Korean War of the 1950s. During his visit, Kim reportedly called the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards a model for his military "in the ongoing struggle...for finishing war preparations." South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Monday that it was in close contact with Japan over potential talks with North Korea and that it, Japan and the U.S. were working to end the North's nuclear weapons program. @ 2024 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Midland County crime log Andrew Mullin/Midland Daily News The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department, compiled by reporter Tereasa Nims. Sunday, March 24 8:32 p.m. - A 29-year-old man reported that an unknown subject wearing a mask showed up at his Porter Township house with a gun. The unknown male left in a truck. There were no injuries. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 8:09 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence for a report of a domestic altercation between a 44-year-old Lee Township woman and her 36-year-old husband. There were no injuries. The woman was arrested for domestic assault and lodged in the Midland County Jail. A report was sent to the prosecutor. 7:53 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Ingersoll Township location regarding a suicidal 72-year-old man. The man was transported to the hospital by EMS and a mental health petition was completed. 6:22 p.m. - Midland police responded to a obstructing justice complaint in the 200 block of West Carpenter Street. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 11:59 a.m. - A deputy responded to a Jerome Township area after a motorist reported a vehicle driving erratically. The deputy located the suspect vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. The female was dealing with loose steering on an older vehicle. No signs of intoxication were observed. 11:43 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Geneva Township residence regarding a 58-year-old man who called to say a 68-year-old man came over to his residence and began an argument over property. The two were arguing over tools in the garage and threatening each other. The deputy stood by for a civil stand by while the two exchanged agreed-upon property. 10:48 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to the area of S. 8 Mile Road near W. Chippewa River Road for the report of a suspicious vehicle in a school parking lot. The deputy checked the area and found that the driver of the vehicle was pulled over using his cell phone. 10:07 a.m. - Midland police were called for a death investigation in the 1300 Block of Glen Road. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 8:55 a.m. - A deputy was dispatched to a Midland Township residence regarding a verbal argument between a 42-year-old woman, and her 40-year-old boyfriend. No assault occurred, and the argument was verbal only. The 42-year-old woman was leaving the home to attend church, giving them a break from arguing. 3:00 a.m. - Midland police responded to a juvenile trouble complaint in the 900 block of Waldo Road. 1:06 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Midland Township residence for a civil complaint between roommates. The parties agreed on a civil compromise for the evening and no further assistance was needed from deputies. 12:54 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Larkin Township residence for a verbal between a 45-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter. There was no assault. The two agreed to be civil for the remainder of the night. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 12:41 a.m. - Deputies made contact via the telephone with a 49-year-old man, who had received a suspicious letter in the mail. Deputies documented the incident for the man. 12:24 a.m. - A 41-year-old Lee Township man was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant out of Gladwin County following a traffic stop for defective equipment in Lee Township. The man was turned over to the Gladwin County Sheriff's Office without incident. Saturday, March 23 8: 50 p.m. - Midland police responded to the area of Ashman and Hines streets for disorderly conduct and a noise violation. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 10:29 p.m. - Deputies contacted a 53-year-old Larkin Township man who stated kids were ringing his doorbell and running away. Deputies searched the area and were unable to locate the kids. 8:51 p.m. - Midland police were called to the 5200 block of Hedgewood Drive for a malicious destruction of property. 8:33 p.m. - A deputy backed-up Midland police that was taking a subject into custody on a warrant following a traffic stop in the City of Midland. 2:47 p.m. - Deputy dispatched to an Edenville Township location where a 54-year-old Bay County man reported the larceny of a license plate. The plate was entered into a network as stolen. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 1:35 p.m. - A deputy dispatched to a Homer Township location regarding a suspicious situation. A 71-year-old man reported receiving a text threatening to ruin his life after refusing to send $150 to an alleged Texas female to fix her car. The man met the alleged female on a social media website but never in person. The man advised he blocked the female and will stay off dating sites. The male already knew to never send money to someone he doesn't know. Its believed this was an attempted scam. 12:43 p.m. - Midland police were called to a malicious destruction of property complaint in the 6800 block of Eastman Avenue. 11:20 a.m. - A 37-year-old man reported his ex-wife denied his parenting time. The complainant was advised to contact the courts regarding denied parenting time. 9:10 a.m. - Deputies were dispatched to an Edenville Township residence for a verbal dispute between a 53-year-old woman and her 23-year-old daughter. The complainant requested the daughter leave and she refused. Deputies responded and spoke to both parties. The daughter was later arrested for a warrant out of Midland County. The 23-year-old woman was transported to the Midland County Jail, where she was lodged without incident. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Friday, March 22 9:46 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a Mount Haley Township residence and spoke with a 65-year-old woman, who was having a verbal argument with her 38-year-old daughter. Parties were separated for the night. 8:16 p.m. - A deputy received a referral from Adult Protective Services regarding a possible vulnerable adult fraud in of an 86-year-old woman. It was discovered the woman lives in Saginaw Township. The complaint was turned over to the Saginaw Township Police Department for investigation. 5:03 p.m. - A 60-year-old Ingersoll Township man reported having his bank account hacked and an unknown amount of money being withdrawn fraudulently. The man is working with the bank to isolate the issue and get reimbursed. All his accounts have been frozen in the meantime. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 4:28 p.m. - Midland police responded to a fraud complaint in the 800 block of Cambridge Street. 2:33 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a single-vehicle injury crash in Mount Haley Township. The driver was transported to My Michigan Medical Center for an evaluation. 1:57 p.m. - A 33-year-old man accused a Lee Township business of damaging his property. Deputies spoke to the business owner who denied the accusations. The complainant was advised to file a small claims suite if he wished to pursue the matter. 1:38 p.m. - A deputy dispatched to a Lee Township location regarding a vehicle in a ditch. The deputy was disregard prior to arrival due to the vehicle sustaining no damage. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 12:55 p.m. - Deputies were dispatched to a verbal dispute at a Lee Township residence. Deputies were unable to establish contact at the residence. Deputies later spoke to the male homeowner who denied having a dispute with anyone. 12:08 p.m. - Assist the Department of Health and Human Services in Mount Haley Township investigating a complaint involving a 16-year-old girl. 12:13 p.m. - A deputy dispatched to a Mills Township location regarding a vehicle in a ditch. There was no damage to the vehicle. The deputy stood by for traffic control while the driver's friend towed the vehicle out of the ditch. 9:24 a.m. - Midland police handled a crash that occurred in Ingersoll Township. It was discovered the crash occurred in the county, since Midland police was already on scene, they handled the crash for sheriffs office, who were all tied up on numerous other crashes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 8:52 a.m. - A deputy provided traffic support while a semi-truck got unstuck from snow/ice conditions while trying to drive up and overpass. 7:51 a.m. - Midland police responded to an injury crash at East Patrick and Abbott roads. 3:34 a.m. - Deputies contacted a 59-year-old Lincoln Township man, who stated his daughter left their residence without permission. The minor was located and returned home without incident. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Midland County Courthouse, located at 301 W. Main St. File photo A Mecosta County man is lodged in the Midland County Jail on a $750,000 bond, charged with criminal sexual conduct and accosting children for immoral purposes. Leon Lyon Jr., 54, of Rodney, was arraigned Friday in Midland County District Court on one county of first-degree CSC, two counts of second-degree CSC and accosting children. He is set for a probable cause hearing at 1 p.m. April 2, before Judge Michael Carpenter. Midland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Atea Duso said the victim was between 13 and 16 years old. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw said Lyon is a registered sex offender. According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, in 2005 Lyon was sentenced to two to five years in prison for assault with intent to commit criminal sexual conduct in Gratiot County. He was released in November 2011. Tereasa Nims can be reached at Tereasa.Nims@hearstnp.com News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Today, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts' luxury & lifestyle portfolio, announces the Summer 2024 opening of InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk. The 21-story property, boasting incredible views, features 390 rooms with 20 suites, 18,000-sqft of meeting space, a Club InterContinental lounge, and four unique restaurant and bar concepts. Located in the bustling downtown Riverwalk neighborhood - and less than a mile from the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center - the InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk will offer direct access to the landmark pedestrian promenade as well as easy access to a water taxi-landing zone. At the helm is the newly appointed General Manager Stefan Gruvberger, who brings nearly 30 years of global hospitality experience with him to Texas. Gruvberger has led numerous hospitality teams throughout his tenure and is looking forward to captivating guests and locals alike with meaningful, culturally rich experiences. Boasting more than 18,000-sqft of meeting and event space, InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk offers stunning spaces from an intimate board room with the latest A/V, to an 8,000-sqft ballroom with 18' ceilings and flexible meeting space with views of the San Antonio skyline. The property is also equipped with luxurious amenities that include a 1,800-sqft state-of-the-art fitness center, Les Clefs d'Or concierges with unrivalled local and cultural knowledge, on-site valet parking services along with an ample self-park garage, dedicated house cars, same-day dry cleaning services, shoeshine capability, childcare assistance, and a Club InterContinental lounge, to name a few. Owned by Trailbreak Partners in conjunction with Scarlett Hotel Group, the hotel brings a new sense of worldly luxury and refined ambiance to the area. Designed by Leo A Daly in conjunction with the internal IHG design team, the overall aesthetic is inspired by classic film heroine Joan Crawford and the golden age of Hollywood. It seamlessly blends mid-century architecture and furnishings with elegant, yet striking, finishes. Plush velvet furniture in various pops of color offset the otherwise neutral color palette, and the space comes to life through the rich finishes that consist of brass, marble, dark wood, cognac leather and glass. In conjunction with Heartwood Hospitality, InterContinental San Antonio Riverwalk will house four unique on-property restaurant and bar concepts poised to be new neighborhood favorites, including a ground floor American brasserie; a sociable third floor rooftop pool and cocktail oasis; a grab-and-go all-day cafe and coffee shop; and a luxurious lobby bar with an extensive cocktail menu. The anticipated 2024 summer opening will be part of IHG Hotels & Resorts' robust 2024 development pipeline in Texas, with 15 new properties opening across eight brands in all stay categories, including lifestyle, luxury, premium, essentials and suites. The opening also marks more than seven decades of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts' experience pioneering luxury travel in new and emerging destinations. Hotel website Eager to shower and get to bed after a late-night arrival in Brussels last summer, my husband and I were disappointed but not surprised to find that my wheelchair didnt fit into the bathroom of our supposedly accessible hotel room. Too late to find a new hotel to stay in after a short but laborious flight from our home in Dublin, I clumsily lowered myself to the floor, scooted into the shower and sat while my husband angled the showerhead toward me and sprayed me down. Using the toilet was an even bigger issue, but Ill spare you the details. Navigating hotels as a person with a disability can be challenging in unexpected ways. After a long day of traveling, nothing feels better than settling into a cozy bed. But for wheelchair users like me, there are often several obstacles that keep us from resting, relaxing and getting anything else done in a hotel room that was clearly not designed with anyone like me in mind. From stories about beds being too high to limited floor space and roll-in nightmares, there are so many things that the global hospitality industry needs to address. I have to hope that change is underway, because this cant be as good as it gets. I spoke to several big hotel groups about what theyre doing to ensure better accessibility for their disabled guests and some of them appeared to already have plans in action. InterContinental Hotels Group brands include Even and Crowne Plaza, as well as, on a luxury level, Kimpton and the InterContinental. At the InterContinental specifically, theres a new inclusivity initiative that prioritizes accessibility through a pledge to focus on diversity in clientele. Read the full article at huffingtonpost.com STR's global "bubble chart" update as of 9 March 2024 shows that 77% of markets increased revenue per available room (RevPAR) from the comparable period in 2023, which was 4% more than the last update. Occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) were also steadily higher than last year. Among countries with 50,000 rooms and adequate hotel reporting levels, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, France, Switzerland, and New Zealand led in RevPAR on an actual basis. Singapore recorded the highest ADR at $284, which was 17% higher year over year as the market hosted Taylor Swifts Eras Tour. During the same period, occupancy increased mildly by 4.6%. New Zealand joined the leader list for the first time since this update began years ago. The country recorded the highest occupancy rate (84.8%) toward the end of its summer season. Notably, Thailand recorded occupancy above 80%, continuing to surpass its highest occupancy of the post-pandemic period. Source: STR Overall, 36 of 48 countries with hotel supply greater than 50,000 rooms recorded growth in RevPAR versus 2023. Excluding countries with fluctuating exchange rates, the leaders in year-over-year RevPAR growth were Japan, Greece, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, and Singapore. Notably, Greece and the Czech Republic recorded occupancy growth of more than 8%, while Japan experienced a slight decrease in the metric (-0.1%) but the highest ADR growth (+30%). Source: STR Excluding provincial areas and country markets, the top five performers in RevPAR were Macau, Stuttgart, Hokkaido, Sanya, and Frankfurt. Leisure markets in China benefited greatly from the Lunar New Year holiday, with Macau experiencing a 17% increase in occupancy and Sanya seeing a 46% rise in ADR. While other China markets were influenced by the shifting calendar effect of Chinese New Year, most of the countrys markets experienced drops in both occupancy and ADR. Excluding Chinas markets, 65% and 75% of markets saw higher occupancy and ADR, respectively, year over year. Source: STR *Analysis by Eddie Yeung. Note: All financial figures presented in US$. About STR STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. For more information, please visit str.com and costargroup.com. View source HVS staff members Jack Mahan, Josh Williams, and Ryan Karawan at the Hunter Conference The Atlanta Marriott Marquis was bustling this week with another successful Hunter Hotel Investment Conference. Kudos to the Hunter and Marriott teams for executing an extraordinary event! Some key takeaways from the HVS brokerage and consulting staff members who attended the conference are summarized as follows: There is still a material gap on bid/ask in brokered deals, but buyers are nevertheless active and looking increasingly toward deals outside of the top 25 MSAs, which may produce better yields. Fewer listings in general were launched at Hunter than at ALIS. Several buyers mentioned that some ALIS listings were owners/brokers trying to "test the market." Although Fed rate cuts may start by early summer, there was understanding that enough meaningful change to boost the transaction market will not come until the third rate cut towards the end of the year or after the election. Nevertheless, refinancing activity is warming up, as owners are accepting available rates to access loan proceeds and further their investment goals. Top lines look good compared to 2019, but bottom lines do not in all cases. Insurance and labor costs have been challenging, making the alignment with a talented management company all the more important. Property tax increases have also been a limiting factor. One owner reported an insurance cost increase of 300%. Insurance cost increases were noted as a particular challenge for Florida deals. PIPs that cannot be further delayed should intensify some decisions to sell rather than renovate. Owners who choose to renovate are managing longer project timelines; for example, renovations that used to take six to seven months can now take a year. In brand talk, Marriott may be developing a new conversion brand, likely their version of Spark by Hilton. White label and transition brands are likely to grow in popularity as renovation costs rise. Additionally, Aloft and Sleep Inn prototypes were relaunched. Development in the economy, extended-stay space remains hot given high flow-through and cheaper construction costs. One bright spot is Airbnb trends, which are illustrating less of a direct threat to hotels. Primary unit growth is occurring in 3+-bedroom units, rather than those types directly comparable to hotels. Moreover, Airbnb retains only 20% of new guests for a second stay. We are looking forward to the next industry gathering at the AAHOA Convention & Trade Show in Orlando from April 2 through 5. Our full brokerage and advisory team will be present. If you would like to schedule a meeting, let us know at eguerrero@hvs.com or jwilliams@hvs.com. See you then! Global Tourism - It's (not Only) About Technology Global tourism faces unprecedented challenges: climate crisis, skills shortage, digitalization. Yet, at ITB Berlin Convention 2024, the industry showcased confidence and pioneering spirit. Over 24,000 guests and more than 400 speakers discussed ideas and impulses for travelling in the 21st century. The industry wants to become fit for the future with intensive collaboration, new guiding principles and the use of artificial intelligence. The tourism industry has a leading role to play in the fight against the climate crisis. At the three-day ITB Berlin Convention as part of the world's largest tourism trade show ITB Berlin, it became clear that the industry has a wide range of options and ideas for reducing emissions and resource consumption, protecting biodiversity and achieving climate protection goals. The urgency of these tasks was repeatedly emphasised in Berlin not only by company representatives but also by external consultants: Bruno Oberle, President of the World Resources Forum, called on the specialist audience to act quickly and decisively: "Set yourself targets, preferably ambitious targets, and create databases so that you can steer and drive your industry forward. Transform, change and report". The range of measures discussed at the convention was broad: projects to protect biodiversity in holiday regions, greater involvement of local initiatives for climate protection, but also more radical ideas such as limiting flight routes and flight capacities made for lively debates. Jeremy Sampson, CEO, Travel Foundation, appealed to the tourism industry to aim for net zero emissions by 2030. He presented a strategy focussing on the regulation of air travel and forty measures to achieve sustainable tourism by 2050. The customer is at the centre of many of the ideas discussed at the convention: transparency and comparability are seen by the industry as key factors in making it easier for consumers to make climate-friendly decisions. Many speakers were convinced that increasing the visibility of CO2 emissions would influence customers' decisions in favour of sustainability and increase demand for sustainable products. The willingness to tackle such a change was noticeable in many places at the convention: "We want to make the carbon footprint of travel products visible at the point of sale because we are convinced that this will make sustainable booking decisions much easier and ultimately lead to a more climate-friendly offer," emphasised Swantje Lehners, CEO, Futouris. However, the discussions at the convention also showed that increased cooperation within the industry is necessary in order to implement changes. "We all need to work together to display sustainability information that is consistent and contextualised," emphasised Jessica Matthias, Director of Sustainability, Sabre. Modern data management and artificial intelligence should also help to achieve the desired goals. It has become essential for the industry to use valuable data efficiently to optimise resources and prevent greenwashing. Artificial intelligence and its potential applications were also a key topic outside of the sustainability debates, dominating many forums and events at the convention. The expectations of the new technology are far-reaching: the industry hopes that the use of AI will provide impetus in terms of optimising operational processes, communication with customers and resource management, for example. Glenn Fogel, CEO of the booking platform Booking, is convinced that AI can also provide customers with crucial support when planning their holidays. However, the industry's ambitions with regard to AI go much further. The possibility of AI putting together complete service packages for customers no longer seems far away: "We all dream of creating an Amazon-like travel experience. This will soon be possible," emphasised Gary Wiseman, EVP & Chief Product Officer, Sabre. However, before this happens, many tourism players must first gain experience with AI and go through a learning curve. "The travel industry needs to familiarise itself with the use of AI," said travel tech consultant Leila Summa, but also warned against false and exaggerated expectations. The new technology will not replace human labour, but those who use it effectively will have an advantage over others, she explained. However, the current shortage of skilled labour shows that not every challenge in tourism can be overcome by technology alone. In order to make the industry more attractive to young talent and skilled workers, numerous contributions emphasised the need for new guiding principles and more diversity in many places. The urgency of these tasks is beyond question, as the shortage of skilled labour will continue to preoccupy the industry in the coming years. The readjustment of training content and requirement profiles appears necessary in order to improve the situation and reverse the trend. "For many people, tourism acts as a gateway to the labour market. The most important question is: How can we make the industry more interesting so that people stay in tourism?" emphasised CornA Dijkmans, Director of the Breda University of Applied Sciences. His institute's most recent study on the subject showed that digital skills and sustainability competences are becoming increasingly important for working in tourism. Employers should also pay more attention to the personal and cultural skills of their applicants in future: "The biggest skills gaps in tourism are in the social and cultural areas. Skills such as empathy and the ability to learn are becoming increasingly important," believes Dijkmans. For futurologist Rohit Talwar, diversity and collaboration are the key to combating the labour shortage: "It will be crucial to train our own staff accordingly. We need to train customer-centric employees who are able to deal with problems in real time." 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. Roxbury artist Sterett-Gittings Kelsey has donated one of her Freedom Angel sculptures to the town of New Milford. The sculpture is located on Patriots Way Road next to the town's 9/11 monument. Friday, March 22, 2024, New Milford, Conn. H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media Roxbury artist Sterett-Gittings Kelsey has donated one of her Freedom Angel sculptures to the town of New Milford. The sculpture is located on Patriots Way Road next to the town's 9/11 monument. Friday, March 22, 2024, New Milford, Conn. H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media Roxbury artist Sterett-Gittings Kelsey has donated one of her Freedom Angel sculpture to the town of New Milford. the sculpture is located on Patriots Way Road next to the town's 9/11 monument Friday, March 22, 2024, New Milford, Conn. H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media Roxbury artist Sterett-Gittings Kelsey has donated one of her Freedom Angel sculpture to the town of New Milford. the sculpture is located on Patriots Way Road next to the town's 9/11 monument Friday, March 22, 2024, New Milford, Conn. H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media Roxbury artist Sterett-Gittings Kelsey has donated one of her Freedom Angel sculpture to the town of New Milford. the sculpture is located on Patriots Way Road next to the town's 9/11 monument Friday, March 22, 2024, New Milford, Conn. H John Voorhees III/Hearst Connecticut Media NEW MILFORD Standing beside the towns 9/11 monument, a seven-foot bronze Freedom Angel sculpture has taken up residence on Patriots Way Road as a symbol of what it means to be an American citizen. Sterett-Gittings Kelsey, the angels creator, said the goal behind her Freedom Angels is to educate and help Americas future generations to love, honor, protect and cherish their country. She said the angel was created specifically to promote Americas history and cultural heritage, from patriotic songs and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. America is basically an idea, the Roxbury artist said, and ideas, like all ideas, are invisible so if you dont make your ideas visible on a regular basis, it can disappear. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Kelsey said her goal is to get more Freedom Angel sculptures installed in all 50 states to inform, educate and celebrate the U.S. Constitution. Her original Freedom Angel sculpture, which she created in 2011, was temporarily loaned to the town of New Milford and installed on Patriots Way Road a few weeks ago. The angel sculpture will remain on Patriots Way Road for the foreseeable future, Kelsey said. She said each state can have a Freedom Angel at no charge, and the sculptures can be acquired by calling the American Bronze Foundry in Sanford, Fla., at 407-915-4868. We have the original from which well be reproducing 50 angels at no cost one for every state and theres got to be someone in each state and install it somewhere in their state, Kelsey said. Whoever buys one can get a tax write-off or can loan it to a town. Kelsey accredited the sculptures installation in New Milford earlier this month to the kindness of Mayor Pete Bass. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Pete made this possible to show the angel, she said. Bass said he saw the Freedom Angel sculpture in an arts magazine and thought the sculpture was beautiful. He said he reached out to Kelsey, who loaned New Milford the Freedom Angel to present to the public. We continue to really highlight our arts community here in New Milford, Bass said. Having a beautiful piece of art there that people can enjoy, I think it begins the process of other sculptures well be able to bring in for people to appreciate it. I think its a good start of the process. The Freedom Angel sculpture installed in New Milford is one among numerous sculptures that Kelsey has crafted over 50 years to spread hope and honor. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Her first angel sculptures was created in 1988 in response to the terrorist bombing that downed Pan American Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland. Most of the kids killed on that flight were from Syracuse University, Kelsey said. Children were burned up in the middle of the night. My neighbor also happened to be on that flight. Kelsey built her first 12-inch bronze angel, which she named Joy, and sent it as a gift to Lockerbie. I named the sculpture Joy to let them know we cared about their losses as much as their own, she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Two decades later, Kelsey built a much larger Freedom Angel sculpture based on her original model after hearing former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole talk about how American troops were being short-changed. She decided to create a Freedom Angel to serve as an insignia for veterans but had to set up a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization for her Freedom Angel Foundation before she could build a Freedom Angel. The Freedom Angel Foundation achieved status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2010, and Kelsey built the Freedom Angel, which now resides in New Milford, in 2011. She said the nonprofit organization has since closed and Freedom Angels can now be purchased by calling the American Foundry. For more information about the Freedom Angel sculptures, call Sterett-Gittings Kelsey at 860-350-4938. Hudson, NY (12534) Today Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 35F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 35F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Americas Gen Z is embracing UK electronic music As Gen Zers across America discover drum and bass, the question remains if other U.K. subgenres will follow this same trajectory, first pioneered by dubstep. By Sarah Kloboves and Melina Raglin For American Gen Zers, the term drum and bass is most likely new to their vocabulary. The sound? Well, chances are they heard it for the first time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic , either on TikTok or sprinkled into an American house or dubstep set. As for Gen Zers in the U.K., drum and bass was the music a friends brother played at house parties in high school. Its nothing new in fact, its what they grew up on. As two of the music industrys largest markets, the export relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. is historically one of the strongest. We see it dating back to the British Invasion in the 1960s, and can even point to more recent examples in genres like rap and drill . That being said, one of the most long-standing pipelines exists specifically within the electronic music ecosystem. From house to dubstep, these EDM subgenres have gone back and forth across the pond a time or two, with the latest craze being the U.K.s very own 170 bpm golden child: drum and bass, aka DnB. Dubstep and the culture of UK electronic music To help understand the current trajectory of drum and bass in the U.S., its important to first take a look at its predecessors. Born out of South London at the dawn of the millennium, dubstep emerged as an offshoot of U.K. garage and was typically identified by its two-step rhythms and dub basslines. The genre rapidly gained popularity through the mid-2000s and broke through the British mainstream around 2010, thriving specifically on local sounds and scenes. At least that was the case until Skrillex entered the scene. In 2011, LA-based DJ and producer Sonny More, better known as Skrillex, began the American development of dubstep, eventually leading to brostep and the birth of modern U.S. rave culture. Because many in the U.S. were hearing these sounds for the first time, the sonic view of mainstream dubstep quickly morphed into this new rendition. In fact, its commercial success was so great that currently half of the top 10 dubstep artists by Chartmetric score are Americans. However, the unfamiliar bass-heavy sounds of U.S. dubstep have deep roots in the U.K.s musical and cultural history, tracing back to one particular genre: jungle. Jungle was born in the early 90s at the forefront of rave culture, distinguished by its echoey basslines, vocal samples, and heavy drums. Many of these key auditory motifs were sourced directly from genres like reggae and ska , imported to the U.K. by Jamaican and Caribbean immigrants in the 60s and 70s. Despite the mainstream music industrys rejection of the genre, jungle continued to thrive in the underground scene, eventually paving the way for speedy drum and bass breaks, two-step U.K. garage grooves, and heavy dubstep basslines, all sounds well-known and loved by ravers across the globe. Todays landscape of U.K.-born electronic music After witnessing the Americanization of dubstep, one might question whether drum and bass is next up on the list of genres to break into the U.S. mainstream. Yet, one thing is certain DnBs popularity is growing on a global scale. Zeroing in on electronic musics most followed Spotify playlist, Mint , theres been a clear upward trend in tracks from drum and bass artists that have been added since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Growing from just 77 tracks in 2020, in 2023 the playlist saw 101 tracks added from drum and bass artists, out of 379 total for the year. This equates to nearly a third of all tracks added an impressive feat as Mint features songs from all subgenres of EDM. As the top editorial playlist for DnB music, Spotifys Massive Drum & Bass has steadily grown in popularity, with its audience doubling throughout 2023 to where it is now with nearly 85k followers. The same goes for their Jungle Classics playlist, which received an average of 95 new followers a day in 2023. Its clear listeners are flocking to these U.K.-born subgenres, but the question now becomes who are these listeners, and where are they coming from? To help pinpoint this activity, a sample of dubstep, jungle, garage, and DnB artists was pulled from top playlists of their respective genres. From here, the average age ranges of audiences were calculated across Instagram and TikTok.1 On Instagram, the most prevalent age group for all four genres is from the 25 to 34 bracket. That being said, Gen Zers ages 18 to 24 years old are not far behind, especially with regards to dubstep and DnB artists, indicating that these subgenres have particularly resonated with younger audiences. The audience demographics on TikTok further highlight this, as drum and bass has the second-highest share of 18 to 24-year-old followers out of the four genres. While TikToks overall user base naturally leans towards the younger side, DnBs prevalence emphasizes that the app has played a major part in exposure to Gen Z audiences, while longtime millennial fans continue engagement through Instagram. All in all, dubstep and drum and bass have been at the forefront of this resurgence, with the other subgenres following closely behind. As the harsh lines separating all music genres from one another continue to blur, its important to honor the strong ties between dubstep, drum and bass, jungle, and garage music. Its clear that these U.K.-originated genres are Gen Zs newest obsession, with users between the ages of 13-24 making up the majority of TikTok fans. Within each genre, when looking at the average country breakdown of each artists top 30 cities by Spotify monthly listeners, a clear pattern emerges. While cities in the U.S. take up twice as many slots as those in the U.K. in dubstep artists top 30 cities, the U.K. takes the lead for DnB, garage, and jungle artists. However, the smallest gap between the two countries is for DnB, indicating that the genre is similarly popular in both locations. When looking at the percentage of artists within each genre that have certain cities in the U.S. and U.K. appear in their top 30, the trend continues. London is a huge epicenter for all four genres, with an overwhelming majority of all artists examined able to claim the city among their top locations. U.S. cities, like Los Angeles, tend to have far more representation amongst dubstep artists than for the other genres, ultimately displaying the impact that the 2010s wave had on the country as a whole. As for garage and jungle artists, the U.K. cities tend to appear more frequently, which indicates that these subgenres remain a bit closer to home, and may not have exploded yet among American audiences in the way dubstep and DnB have. U.K. electronic artists who are moving the needle Now that a clear picture of U.K.-born subgenres has been painted, lets jump back to the original question is drum and bass really the next dubstep? While there is a clear trend of engagement and fanbases popping up all over the United States, the genres recent explosion is different from dubstep in one primary way: the tracks exploding are directly from U.K. producers, not Americans. Thanks to TikTok and other digital platforms, North American members of Gen Z have been able to interact directly with the British producers leading this wave. The same goes for other subgenres like jungle and garage, which have seen their share of the limelight thanks to producers like PinkPantheress breaking into mainstream radio. Alongside other sensations like Sammy Virji and Nia Archives, these three Brits are leading the way for U.K. subgenres in America. In terms of raw U.K. garage, Sammy Virji is as good as it gets. A forerunner of the UKG renaissance in the U.S., Virjis explosion onto the scene in 2023 has been an impressive feat. While the popularity of tracks like Peach and If U Need It certainly helped push his popularity beyond the mainstream, the virality of his DJ Mag set last August can be credited as the catalyst. To date, the video has over 1.3 million views on YouTube, and helped boost Sammys Spotify audience from under 500k monthly Spotify listeners to over 2 million in just a year. As the garage wave continues to spread, one thing is for certain if you hear Its Virji, Isnt It, theres no doubt youre about to hear some filthy U.K. garage beats. A Junglist to the core, Nia is one of the U.K.s most innovative and versatile musicians of the 2020s. Her effortless blend of classic jungle with modern rave sounds is accentuated by her knack for songwriting, capturing both old and new audiences with emotional lyricism and raw energy. Ravers flocked to her shows after she was crowned Breakout Producer by DJ Mag in 2022 . Nias remix of Fred again..s leavemealone featuring Baby Keem has amassed over 3.5 million Spotify streams since its release at the end of 2023. After performing in five major U.S. cities during her recent UP YA ARCHIVES tour, its clear that Nia has won over American ravers with her massive jungle hits. PinkPantheress took the internet by storm when her first three singles were swept up by Gen Z on TikTok in 2021. Today, she has successfully ridden the viral wave into global Superstar status. Even though she hails from the U.K., Pinks fanbase is dominated by U.S. fans, who comprise 58% of her overall audience on TikTok. Her new-nostalgia sound draws influence from all corners of the diaspora of U.K. electronic music, featuring samples from OG drum and bass, jungle, and garage anthems. One of her first releases, Pain, samples Flowers (SunShip Edit), a quintessential U.K. garage tune well-known to Y2K ravers, but unfamiliar and bewitching to Gen Z, who are responsible for over two-thirds of her 2.9 million TikTok followers. Similarly, the 1995 drum and bass classic Circles by Adam F was sampled in Break it off bonus, the second most-streamed track on Pinks debut EP (behind Pain at 500 million), with 270 million Spotify streams to date. These subgenres are just getting started. If theres one thing to be excited about the recent drum and bass wave, its authenticity. Unlike the 2010s dubstep wave, fans today are able to engage directly at the center of the genres roots thanks to platforms like TikTok. No longer are the days of Americanizing subgenres, at least to the scale of completely warping their entire sonic view (no offense Skrillex, we still love you). Instead, new-gen fans appreciate the sounds of artists who know them the best. The future is bright for drum and bass, garage, and everything in between. As the boom in electronic shows and festivals shows no signs of slowing, fans of all walks of life will continue being exposed whether its through a sprinkle of DnB at a Calvin Harris show, or maybe even their first all drum and bass set. The opportunities are endless, and its clear this renaissance is just the beginning. Data Notes 1 The sample was built using artists featured on the UK Garage Classics, Jungle Classics, Massive Drum & Bass, and Dubstep Classics playlists dating back to the earliest available records on Chartmetric, with some editorial discretion from the Chartmetric team. The results were 207 garage artists, 1249 DnB artists, 88 jungle artists, and 75 dubstep artists. Some artists may have been included in more than one genre. Graphics and additional writing support by Nicki Camberg; cover image by Crasianne Tirado. Data as of March 21, 2024. Share on: NBUW Urges Organizations to Submit Food and Shelter Program Applications NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The Emergency Food and Shelter Program National Board has awarded Berkshire County $46,359 in Phase 41 (FY23) Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) assistance funding. Northern Berkshire United Way, local administrator of the program, is urging qualifying organizations located throughout Berkshire County to submit an application for supplemental emergency food and shelter. Learn more and access the application at https://www.nbunitedway.org/emergencyfoodandshelterprogram Local organizations chosen to receive funds must be private voluntary nonprofits (with a voluntary board) or units of government; have an accounting system; practice non- discrimination; and have demonstrated the capability to deliver emergency food and/or shelter programs. Applicants must submit their application by email only with their financial audit by midnight April 15 to Patti Messina at pmessina@nbunitedway.org . Paper applications will not be accepted. The funds are awarded through the Department of Homeland Security and the award is made by the Emergency Food and Shelter Program National Board, that consists of representatives from the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, The Jewish Federations of North America, Catholic Charities USA, National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA and United Way Worldwide. Funds pass directly from the Department of Homeland Security to the EFSP program and then to local agencies. A subcommittee of a local board made up of representatives of organizations that are not requesting or receiving funds determine the actual organizations that receive funding. The dry-laid stone wall supporting a section of Walnut Street has been undermined by water for decades. The city is estimating $2 million to fix it. North Adams Seeks Federal Grant to Repair Walnut Street Retaining Wall Residents raise concerns about flooding and road safety at the meeting on March 11. NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The city is planning a $2 million repair to the more than century-old collapsing Walnut Street retaining wall. "Don't think that we're not doing anything because we've done quite a bit of work internally," Mayor Jennifer Macksey told about two dozen residents in person and online recently during a meeting at City Hall. "You're not forgotten. So the takeaway from tonight is you're not forgotten." Neighbors have complained for years about the deterioration of the road above the wall and the supporting infrastructure, particularly after the east edge gave way two years ago. The recent heavy rains have also contributed to the undermining of the roadway. The mayor said Tighe & Bond was hired to provide some preliminary engineering with the Department of Public Works. The city's grants and procurement specialist Stacy Abuisi has been seeking the grant funding to make the repairs. The proposal is to reconstruct some of the dry-laid stone retaining with new cast-in-place concrete and to relocated the existing drainage and stabilize the slope. The runoff will be tied into the storm drainage system at the bottom along State Street. The estimated cost is $1,999,791 of which $1,499,843 would be covered by a grant through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. The mayor says the balance of $499,948 is "doable." "It's not all about the wall itself. It's about a lot of storm remediation, and capturing the runoff that I know goes to Keith and Laurie's property because I've walked that several times with them," the mayor said, referring property owned by the Simons along State Street. "We know that there's a storm remediation issue coming off the mountain. We especially know what happened to us on State Street on July 10, the infamous date that we never forget, in 2023 when we had a significant collapse on State Street. We know it's coming off the mountain and it's the same issue that's happening in your neighborhood." Walnut Street runs above State Street and the section that collapsed is above a large gorge just north of Oak Avenue. A pipe runs under the road and streams water into the gorge a 20- or 30-foot drop. "Now to all of you and me maybe seems slow. But we've been working with Berkshire Gas and Tighe & Bond and the Highway Department monitors that area regularly," Macksey said. The repairs are dependent upon the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant the city applied for in January. The federal government has $1.8 million for BRIC and Flood Mitigation Assistance for this round of funding for hazard mitigation projects. The grant awards are expected to be made later this year. "We feel confident we will get the grant but then awarded versus funding are two different things," the mayor said, also noting that the budget and the bids may also be different. "Now in the meantime, the team is always working on grant opportunities. I don't feel comfortable taking this to a full band and have the city be on the hook for the whole $2 million project when we have opportunities for grant money." Either way, fixing the issues is at least a year or more away, something that had residents worried although the mayor assured them that the engineers say the area is stable even though "it's frustrating and it's even scary." One resident was concerned about "the safety and strength of the road" and others about the water issues affecting their properties. A resident of Dean Street said the gutter that ran along her road has mostly disappeared; Commissioner of Public Services Timothy Lescarbeau said he will address it. The mayor acknowledged that the city has "water issues in places where we've never had water issues" but that the road is being closely monitored. Lescarbeau has marked the road and said Tighe & Bond comes regularly to check it for movement. "You're going to get some cracking but we're more worried about it sloughing off," he said. "[Tighe & Bond] have gone up there right after it rains, during a dry spell, they don't go as often. ... we're up there all the time during the heavy rains." Resident Richard Dasatti asked if more could be done right now to stabilize the wall. Lescarbeau said putting up a frame wouldn't address the underlying issues causing the deterioration. These include wooden pipes that are/were carrying the water. "I feel if we just put the wall back we're going to be in the same situation further down the line without proper drainage," said Lescarbeau. "It's the heavy rains, it's saturated and it can't take anymore. ... "It's a 130-year, 140-year-old dry stack wall with no proper drainage because they didn't do that. then. The dry stack allows the water to flow out through the stones. But when you get the water that we've had in the last 10 years it's gonna go somewhere." Dassatti also asked that more signage be put up because of how narrow the road is in that section, it's closer to one lane than two. (He requested to be put on the City Council agenda for Tuesday to discuss the topic; Councilor Ashley Shade is requesting his request be referred to the Traffic Commission and Public Safety Committee.) Dalton Select Board Approves ARPA Funds for Easement Appraisals DALTON, Mass. The Select Board last week approved utilizing $7,500 in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the appraisal of three easements. Two of the easements are located on Orchard Road and the other is on West Housatonic Street, Town Manager Thomas Hutcheson said. The purpose of the appraisals is to determine the property's loss in value resulting from the taking of a permanent drainage easement so the town can compensate the owners accordingly. Each of the appraisals cost $2,500 a piece. Unless the owners agree to donate the easements, the town has to get them appraised and pay fair market value, Hutcheson said. The owner of the West Housatonic Street parcel is not interested in donating the easement. The town easement for West Housatonic is overdue and should have been done when the town did the street's reconstruction, Hutcheson said. He is awaiting responses from the owners of the other two properties regarding donating the easements. The easements on Orchard Road are so the town can work in the area while doing the Orchard Road reconstruction The town hopes to start construction by summer. The road, which is often used as a connector to Route 9, has had flooding for many years because of undersized drainage pipes. The new drainage system will replace the piping and catch basins with new and bigger pipes and move them to the center of the road. Hutcheson wanted the board to allocate the cost of the appraisals for the Orchard Road easements in case the owners are not interested in donating it. The appraisal could take five to six weeks but Hutcheson is hoping it will only take four to five due to the tight timeline. "It's a tight timeline for getting the amount of money onto the motions and an explanation sheet for town meeting and we won't have the figures until then either," Hutcheson said. "For diligence in order to get started, I thought I would ask at this select board meeting so we can get going this week so we have the information for the residents." In other news: The board approved the Dalton Carnival which will take place from Thursday, May 30, until Sunday, June 2. The carnival will have fireworks on Friday and Saturday night and will include vendors from local nonprofits. The Community Recreation Association will be working with the Police and Fire Departments for coverage of the event. The Dalton Carnival Committee will be meeting in early May to review the plan and discuss any concerns or issues. The board approved the appointment of The board approved the appointment of John Curro to the Americans with Disabilities Act Committee The board approved three grants for the Council on Aging and Senior Center amounting to $78,947. The Senior Center received a formula grant for $28,404 and a Massachusetts Council on Aging Supplement Formula grant for $150, which will help fund its wheelchair accessible transportation program. It also received a $50,393 Executive Office of Elder Affairs Hybrid Programming grant that will allow the center to provide "hybrid learning opportunities to the community," Executive Director Kelly Pizzi said in her letter to the Select Board. "We hope to narrow the digital divide in our community and not leave our over 60 population behind." China launches record-breaking deep-water jacket Haiji-2, marking a milestone in offshore oil and gas exploration Global Times) 16:22, March 25, 2024 Photo: China Media Group Asia's first deep-water jacket, Haiji-2, was launched in the Pearl River Mouth Basin of the South China Sea on Monday, setting multiple records in Asia, which will advance the country's offshore oil and gas exploration capability. The project sets a series of records in Asia in terms of structural height, weight, operating depth, and construction speed, showcasing that China's offshore marine engineering has achieved high-level technological self-reliance and improvement. With a total height of 428 meters and weighing more than 50,000 tons, Haiji-2 will become Asia's tallest offshore oil and gas production platform, supporting the development of the deep-water Liuhua Oil Field, the China Media Group reported. The jacket platform serves as the foundation for supporting and fixing the huge body of offshore oil and gas platforms where seabed conditions are challenging. It's a widely used marine oil and gas development equipment in the world, according to the report. Haiji-2 is set to be deployed in the Liuhua 11-1 oilfield, in the deep waters of the South China Sea, the largest carbonate reef oilfield found offshore in China, with over 100 million tons of proven oil and gas reserves, according to Chinese media reports. The mega project was designed and built independently by China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's top offshore oil and gas producer, designed to withstand extreme sea conditions that occur once a century. The project faced major engineering challenges during its construction and installation, such as complex design calculation, high technical requirements, and harsh sea conditions. Its floating crane was confronted with high operational risks by pushing to its limits due to the weight and height of the structure. On March 24, the jacket platform began its offshore installation operations, marking Asia's first fixed pipeline structure installation in waters 300 meters below the surface. Its completion represents the country`s capability of independent design and construction for large deep-water jacket platforms has reached an advanced level. In the past decade, China has ramped up efforts to build mega infrastructure while improving innovation capabilities in a bid to ensure the country's energy security. Haiji-2's predecessor, the Haiji-1 platform, which entered operation in 2022, marked the first time that China exploited offshore oil and gas employing such a model. It turned out to significantly bring down engineering costs and boost oil recovery and economic efficiency. In 2021, the Shenhai-1, the world's first 100,000-ton deep-sea semi-submersible oil production and storage platform, was put into operation, signaling that China's offshore oil and gas exploration capacity had entered an advanced level. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Blog Archive: Mar 2024 (155) Feb 2024 (145) Jan 2024 (156) Dec 2023 (155) Nov 2023 (150) Oct 2023 (155) Sep 2023 (150) Aug 2023 (155) Jul 2023 (155) Jun 2023 (150) May 2023 (155) Apr 2023 (150) Mar 2023 (155) Feb 2023 (140) Jan 2023 (155) Dec 2022 (156) Nov 2022 (150) Oct 2022 (155) Sep 2022 (150) Aug 2022 (155) Jul 2022 (154) Jun 2022 (150) May 2022 (155) Apr 2022 (150) Mar 2022 (155) Feb 2022 (140) Jan 2022 (156) Dec 2021 (156) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (150) Aug 2021 (155) Jul 2021 (155) Jun 2021 (150) May 2021 (155) Apr 2021 (150) Mar 2021 (155) Feb 2021 (140) Jan 2021 (155) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (150) Oct 2020 (158) Sep 2020 (150) Aug 2020 (130) Jul 2020 (124) Jun 2020 (120) May 2020 (124) Apr 2020 (120) Mar 2020 (124) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (125) Dec 2019 (126) Nov 2019 (120) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (120) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (124) Jun 2019 (120) May 2019 (123) Apr 2019 (121) Mar 2019 (124) Feb 2019 (112) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (126) Nov 2018 (120) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (121) Aug 2018 (124) Jul 2018 (125) Jun 2018 (120) May 2018 (124) Apr 2018 (121) Mar 2018 (124) Feb 2018 (112) Jan 2018 (123) Dec 2017 (124) Nov 2017 (124) Oct 2017 (141) Sep 2017 (135) Aug 2017 (138) Jul 2017 (137) Jun 2017 (134) May 2017 (138) Apr 2017 (135) Mar 2017 (139) Feb 2017 (129) Jan 2017 (143) Dec 2016 (135) Nov 2016 (138) Oct 2016 (142) Sep 2016 (128) Aug 2016 (133) Jul 2016 (136) Jun 2016 (138) May 2016 (164) Apr 2016 (311) Mar 2016 (348) Feb 2016 (320) Jan 2016 (348) Dec 2015 (314) Nov 2015 (338) Oct 2015 (363) Sep 2015 (358) Aug 2015 (399) Jul 2015 (374) Jun 2015 (331) May 2015 (337) Apr 2015 (319) Mar 2015 (320) Feb 2015 (271) Jan 2015 (286) Dec 2014 (254) Nov 2014 (238) Oct 2014 (287) Sep 2014 (267) Aug 2014 (259) Jul 2014 (260) Jun 2014 (238) May 2014 (241) Apr 2014 (228) Mar 2014 (240) Feb 2014 (217) Jan 2014 (263) Dec 2013 (226) Nov 2013 (254) Oct 2013 (256) Sep 2013 (252) Aug 2013 (263) Jul 2013 (261) Jun 2013 (251) May 2013 (250) Apr 2013 (221) Mar 2013 (193) Feb 2013 (164) Jan 2013 (157) Dec 2012 (155) Nov 2012 (240) Oct 2012 (526) Sep 2012 (411) Aug 2012 (394) Jul 2012 (284) Jun 2012 (229) May 2012 (213) Apr 2012 (213) Mar 2012 (253) Feb 2012 (269) Jan 2012 (298) Dec 2011 (273) Nov 2011 (219) Oct 2011 (204) Sep 2011 (201) Aug 2011 (236) Jul 2011 (217) Jun 2011 (211) May 2011 (206) Apr 2011 (215) Mar 2011 (215) Feb 2011 (186) Jan 2011 (215) Dec 2010 (107) Nov 2010 (98) Oct 2010 (55) 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 }} Jessica Chastain has revealed why it was difficult to work with her co-star Anne Hathaway on the set of their latest movie, Mothers Instinct. The psychological thriller, set in Sixties suburbia, follows Alice and Celine, two best friends and mothers, as a tragic accident leads to paranoia and guilt rapidly unravelling their bond. Chastain, who previously worked with Hathaway on Christopher Nolans sci-fi movie Interstellar, unpacked the dynamic between them on set in an interview on BBC Radio 4s Womans Hour. The actor said it was difficult to work with the Princess Diaries star due to their previous relationship. The pair consider each other close friends and Chastain said their closeness made the performance of enmity a challenge. It was more difficult to play friends who have conflict in the story, especially when you care about the person so much, adding that she would love to work with her where we dont have an extreme conflict. Bafta and Emmy award-winning actor Hathaway praised Chastain for being one of the greatest living actresses, saying she considered Chastain a darling friend. Chastain reiterated the closeness of their friendship, praising Hathaways performance. Shes really incredible and can just switch on a dime, she said. You see actresses who have to rev it up for a long time, but shes not like that. Shes professional, and once cameras roll she is able to conjure up this depth of feeling. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free The actor, who won an Academy Award for her performance as televangelist Tammy Faye in the 2021 movie The Eyes of Tammy Faye,recently starred in the movie Memory, directed by Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco. The pair consider each other close friends (Getty Images) In The Independents three-star review of Memory, chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey said: Chastain allows the grief of a lost girlhood to twist her body inwards, to keep it taut and perpetually on the defence. Hathaway and Chastain, who are both producers on the movie, also commented on the industrys inclusivity in the interview. Im hesitant to celebrate, Hathaway said, while both acknowledged that some progress was being made towards more diverse and inclusive films being made. Mothers Instinct is released in cinemas on 27 March. 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 }} Olivia Colman has criticised the gender pay gap in Hollywood between male and female stars. The actor, known for playing Queen Elizabeth II in Netflixs royal drama The Crown, said she would earn a f*** of a lot more as a male actor. Colman, who won an Oscar for her lead role in The Favourite, opened up during an appearance on Sundays (24 March) episode of The Amanpour Hour on CNN while discussing her latest film Wicked Little Letters. Dont get me started on the pay disparity but male actors get paid more because they used to say they draw in the audiences, the star told host Christiane Amanpour. That hasnt been true for decades but they still like to use that as a reason to not pay women as much as their male counterparts. Colman has starred in a range of successful productions across both film and TV, and was nominated for Academy Awards for her roles in The Lost Daughter and The Father. Amanpour asked Colman if she had experienced pay disparity herself, with the actor responding: Im very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, Id be earning a f*** of a lot more than I am. She added: I know of one pay disparity, which is a 12,000 per cent difference do the maths. The actor has also recently talked about other personal topics, and recalled her experience getting loads of Botox done. Colman said she was be earning more if she was called Oliver Colman (Getty Images) Other Hollywood stars who have voiced support of closing the gender pay gap include Emma Stone, Taraji P Henson and Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence was reportedly paid $25m for her lead role in Netflix comedy Dont Look Up, compared to the $30m earned by co-star Leonaro DiCaprio. Adam Sandler was named as the worlds highest paid actor in 2023 by Forbes. Sandler made a huge $73m (57.3m) thanks in part to the success of his Netflix film Murder Mystery 2 , plus a successful stand-up comedy tour, according to Forbes annual high-earner rankings. Margot Robbie was the second on the list , earning $59m (46.3m) last year in the wake of Greta Gerwigs blockbuster Barbie. The only other woman to place in the top 10 was Friends star Jennifer Aniston, who starred alongside Sandler in Murder Mystery 2. Aniston placed sixth by earning $42m (32.9m). 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 }} Details of the private funeral for Strictly Come Dancing star Robin Windsor have been confirmed by his family. The professional dancer passed away in February at the age of 44. His cause of death has not been disclosed. The private event, scheduled for Tuesday (25 March), will take place in the dancers home town of Ipswich in Suffolk with guests asked to bring a rainbow umbrella in what is expected to be a colourful celebration according to the Daily Mail. A family statement said: The funeral will be a private service for invited family, friends and colleagues who were important to Robin in both his personal life and professional career. In the meantime we once again thank everyone for the love and the memories shared of Robin. As a family we also please ask for there to be no further upsetting speculation. We thank you for respecting our continued privacy at this difficult time. News of Windsors death was first announced by the dance company he helped founder, who said the dancer had tragically passed away. In a Facebook statement the company, called Burn the Floor, wrote: The BTF family has lost one of its founding members, Robin Bobby Windsor who has tragically passed away. A BTF journeyman, he danced with us for 20 years including Broadway, the West End and all our crazy adventures around the world. During his time on Strictly Come Dancing, Windsor was paired with various celebrities from 2010 to 2013 on the main show, including Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden. Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Robin Windsor passed away at the age of 44 last month (PA Archive (Matt Crossick/PA)) He also danced with model Patsy Kensit, and actors Anita Dobson and Lisa Riley on the BBC One series. For the Christmas specials, he was partnered with The Great British Bake Off co-host host Alison Hammond in 2015, and BBC Radio 2 presenter Sara Cox. Susanna Reid danced with Windsor when she took part in 2011s Children In Need special. He was forced to pull out of the series in 2014, due to a slipped disc injury that left him paralysed for four days. Windsor, who started dancing at the age of three, said at the time: I couldnt risk going ahead. It was a heartbreaking decision but I had no choice. However, he eventually made a special return for what would become the shows first-ever same-sex dance, which he performed alongside Aljaz Skorjanec in 2014. 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 former executive was sentenced to death on Friday in the 2020 poisoning of the founder of the high-profile Chinese gaming company, which has links to Game of Thrones and the new Netflix series, The Three-Body Problem. Xu Yao poisoned the food of Yoozoo Game founder Lin Qi in December 2020 because of a dispute over the running of the business, the Shanghai First Intermediate Peoples Court said. Lin, who was 39, died on Christmas day. Police detained Xu a few days after Lins death. Four other people were left seriously ill but did not die after Xu poisoned beverages in the office between September and December 2020 because of disputes with two of them, the court said in a statement. Lin Qi, Chairman and CEO of Yoozoo Games Co was poisoned (VCG via Getty Images) Shanghai-headquartered Yoozoo said at the time of the death that it had received notice of Lins passing via his family. It did not specify a cause or provide further detail. In a post to social media signed from the entire staff, the company wrote: You saw through what was imperfect but still believed in beauty; encountered unkindness but still believed in kindness. Together, we will continue to be kind, continue to believe in beauty, and continue to fight against all that is unkind. The goodbye was paired with an image of a handwritten note with a quote from The Three-Body Problem. Yoozoo owns the film rights to The Three-Body Problem, a best-selling Chinese science fiction trilogy, and Xu headed up a subsidiary in charge of business related to it, according to Chinese media reports. Lin was an executive producer alongside Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss on the high-profile English-language adaptation of novelist Liu Cixins trilogy for Netflix. The Yoozoo Game logo in Shaghai (Chinatopix) In September 2020, the company granted Netflix the right to produce an adaptation of the trilogy. The series has just been released on Netflix and follows a group of present-day scientists as humanity faces an alien invasion. In present-day Britain, a group of physicists, nicknamed The Oxford Five seek to understand why scientific experiments around the world are failing. They get a helping hand from unconventional detective, Da Shi (Benedict Wong), an operative of a secret intelligence agency. The eight-episode series ensemble cast includes actors Eiza Gonzalez, Jovan Adepo, Jess Hong and Jonathan Pryce, while Brad Pitt, Rosamund Pike and Rian Johnson are among the shows executive producers. Yoozoo, also known as Youzu Interactive, developed Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming, a game based on the TV series. 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 British tourist has drowned after being swept out to sea with his wife while on holiday in India. Vijay Tulshidas Daswani, 72, died at Talpona beach in Goa on Friday evening after going for a swim just after 6pm. Harish Raut Dessai, a police officer at Canacona police station, told The Independent the couple were dragged out to sea by a strong wave. Lifeguards rushed to rescue the pair and brought them to shore. While the woman was revived, the man could not be saved. Mr Daswani, from Mapesbury in London, was taken to a local hospital but was later pronounced dead. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: We are supporting the family of a British man who died in India and are in touch with the local authorities. Mr Dessai said: We received a call from a duty officer on Friday at 6.13pm informing us that a 72-year-old man named Vijay Tulshidas Daswani, a resident of Mapesbury, London, had been brought [in] dead in a case of drowning. At Talpona Beach, a strong wave dragged the deceased and his wife into the sea. Both were brought to the shore by the lifeguard, but Mr Vijay was declared dead at Community Health Centre Talpona. The dead body was taken to the district hospital in South Goa District Hospital in Margao, where the autopsy was conducted over the weekend. We have filed a case of unnatural death under section 174 of CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure). A Canacona police spokesperson added: The couple ventured into the deep sea despite warnings. They began to drift and raised an alarm, when the lifeguards rushed to their rescue. The lifeguards were able to revive the wife but could not save the man. 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 }} Millions of people in northern and central parts of India on Monday celebrated the Hindu festival of colours, which marks the beginning of spring. Holi is celebrated at the end of winter, on the last full moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month of Falgun. Hindus in the country and abroad usher in the new season with festivities including bright colours, sweets and by offering prayers to their revered gods. People smeared with Gulal as they celebrate Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colours, in Hyderabad (AFP via Getty Images) People drenched in water were seen smearing colours on each other's faces, singing and dancing to the beat of drums on the streets. The festival is typically marked with either family or community-based parties but it is not uncommon for strangers to also throw colour and water balloons at each other in the street. This has led to rising concerns over womens safety during the festival, where women have complained about being harassed and groped by men under the pretext of applying colours. A Times of India survey of 111 women in 2021 found that one in three had experienced such harassment at Holi. A Hindu man sprays coloured powder as people celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Jammu, India (AP) In addition to marking the arrival of spring, Holi also celebrates fertility, colour, love, and the triumph of good over evil. The origins of the festival can be found in various legends in Hindu mythology, one of which tells the story of a demon, Holika, and her brother, King Hiranyakashipu. Women, with their faces smeared with coloured powder, pose for a photograph as they celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, in Kolkata, India (AP) People covered with colored powder take part in the Holi festival celebrations in Bangalore (EPA) The King Hiranyakashipu believed that everyone should worship him as a god but his son, Prahlada, refused to do so, opting to worship the Hindu god Vishnu instead. The king and his sister Holika plotted to kill Prahlada and lured him onto a pyre in an attempt to burn him to death. However, Prahlada survived and Holika perished in the flames instead. Boys with their faces painted in silver ride a motorbike during Holi celebrations in Mumbai (REUTERS) The night before Holi is celebrated by lighting bonfires to signify the burning of Holika and the victory of good over evil. Some Hindus who observe the festival will also smear themselves with ashes from the fire, as a symbol of purification. Other legends tell the tale of the love shared between the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna, who is frequently depicted with blue skin. Hindu devotees walk around a bonfire during a ritual known as Holika Dahan which is part of the Holi festival celebrations on the outskirts of Ahmedabad (REUTERS) The ancient legend tells how Krishna fell in love with Radha, but was concerned their difference in skin colour would keep them apart. After voicing his concerns, Krishna's mother encouraged him to smear a brightly coloured powder on Radha's face. In parts of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh home to the mythology of Radha and Krisha Holi lasts for nearly 10 days. In Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, a two-day Masaan (crematorium) Holi on the banks of the Ganges river draws thousands of people from across the country and beyond. Hindu devotees gather at the Manikarnika Ghat as they take part in the 'Masaan or Bhasma' Holi, celebrated with ashes of funeral pyres, in Varanasi (AFP via Getty Images) Here devotees and hermits smear the ashes from funeral pyres on each other's face in celebration of death and the Hindu god, Shiva. The oldest accounts of Holi being commemorated date as far back as the 4th century. Its celebrated around the world, although the festivities predominantly occur among communities from India and Nepal. 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 }} North Korea says Japans prime minister Fumio Kishida has requested to meet Kim Jong-un as soon as possible in what would be the first summit between the two countries leaders in about two decades. Kim Yo-jong, a senior North Korean official and the influential sister of the hermit kingdoms leader, said the meeting would depend on Japan, which occupied the Korean peninsula from 1910-45, making practical political decisions. That appears to be a reference to the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents decades ago, an episode that has overshadowed relations between the two countries ever since. The prime minister should know that just because he wants to and has made a decision, it doesnt mean he can or the leadership of our country will meet him, Ms Kim said, according to state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). She said the Japanese prime minister made his intention known through another channel, without giving details. What is clear is that when Japan antagonises the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and violates its sovereign rights, it is considered our enemy and will become part of the target, Ms Kim added. Japans Kishida (right) has previously said a summit with Kim Jong-un is essential to improve relations in the region (AFP/KCNA via KNS/AFP/Getty) Japan acknowledged it has been trying to arrange a bilateral summit but dismissed as unacceptable North Koreas preconditions for it. Mr Kishida on Monday reiterated the importance of a summit to resolve issues such as the abduction matter. Nothing has been decided for now, he told reporters. North Korea and Japan dont have diplomatic ties: relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear programme, the abduction issue, and Japans 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula. Japans colonial wrongdoing is also a source of on-again, off-again wrangling between Tokyo and Seoul. After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in an unprecedented 2002 summit between Kim Jong-il, the late father of Kim Jong-un, and the then Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped the 13 Japanese. Japan believes North Korea wanted to use them to train spies in Japanese language and culture. In 2004, Koizumi made a second visit to North Korea and met Kim Jong-il again. That was the last summit between the leaders of the two countries. Ms Kim said there would be no breakthrough in North Korean-Japan relations as long as Mr Kishidas government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the Norths exercise of our sovereign right, apparently referring to the Norths weapons testing activities. The history of the DPRK-Japan relations gives a lesson that it is impossible to improve the bilateral relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, only with an idea to set out on a summit meeting, Ms Kim said, using the abbreviation of the Norths official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. If Japan truly wants to improve the bilateral relations and contribute to ensuring regional peace and stability as a close neighbour of the DPRK, it is necessary for it to make a political decision for a strategic option conformed to its overall interests, she said. Kim Yo-jong is the influential sister of Kim Jong-un (AP) In February, Ms Kim issued a similar statement, saying North Korea was open to inviting Mr Kishida to Pyongyang but that it would only be possible if Tokyo stopped taking issue with North Koreas legitimate right to self-defence and the abduction issue. Talk of a possible North Korea-Japan summit comes amid concerns that North Korea could further intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year both in the US and South Korea. Experts say North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the US such as sanctions relief. While North Korea may be waiting out elections in South Korea and the United States before re-engaging those countries in diplomacy, it probably wants to strengthen its hand by developing weapons and driving wedges between US allies, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Kishida feels political urgency to address the abductions issue and is thus showing diplomatic effort. The impoverished North also considers any possible Japanese economic assistance it could receive if the two countries normalised their ties, said analyst Moon Seong Mook with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea could seek the current value of the Japanese assistance that South Korea received when those two countries normalised their ties in 1965 $500m or more. South Koreas foreign ministry said on Monday it was closely communicating with Japan on Tokyo-Pyongyang contacts and the North Korean nuclear issue. It said that South Korea, the US and Japan are working closely together to return North Korea to a path of denuclearisation. North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile arsenals pose a major security threat to Japan as well as South Korea and the United States. The three countries have expanded their trilateral training exercises in response to the Norths provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Japan and South Korea are two of Americas key allies in the region, together hosting about 80,000 US troops in their territories. Additional reporting by agencies 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 }} Texas authorities are preparing to battle yet another set of wildfires as the state experiences a bout of critical fire weather. The Texas A&M Forest Service, the agency that handles Texas fire response, says that the potential blazes are centred in the Texas plains and southwest Texas near Amarillo, Lubbock, Childress, Andrews and Alpine/Fort Davis. At least 73 counties currently have burn bans in place. The development comes almost two weeks after the state contained the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest blaze in its history and one of the largest in the country. The wildfire left at least three people dead, displaced multiple families, killed thousands of cattle and burned hundreds of structures. According to the forest service, new fires will depend on the magnitude of the wind causing moderate to high potential for large wildfires thatll be difficult to control. High wind gusts will make power line ignitions possible, the release added. Officials anticipate a potential wildfire outbreak for the southern plains and across the Panhandle region. Any wildfires that start in dry grass could spread three to five miles per hour, authorities noted. As a result, crews have been set up in the necessary areas ready to fight any fires that may arise this week. On Sunday, meteorologists expected a cold front to move south through the western plains going into Monday morning. Cold winds could cause the southern or right flanks of wildfires to become active. The increased threat of new blazes is set to continue later into the week with dry conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday and another storm system on Thursday, bringing possible increased winds across the Texas Plains and Trans-Pecos regions. Last week, Republican Governor Greg Abbott issued a state emergency response as more wildfires continue to threaten the state. Texans in at-risk areas are urged to remain vigilant, regularly monitor conditions and take necessary precautions to protect themselves and their loved ones, the governor said in a news release. I thank all of the brave firefighters and emergency personnel who worked around the clock to protect their fellow Texans from the recent historic wildfires and will continue to do so in the coming days. 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 }} Influencers Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra shocked the internet this week when they announced they had called off their wedding after five years together. The former couple announced their split in separate statements posted to Instagram, with Malik revealing that she had cheated on Chakra just a few weeks before their wedding. Hey everyone, there has been a major turn of events in my relationship with Anjali, Malik began her black and white Instagram post. I made an unrecognisable mistake of betrayal by cheating on her a few weeks before our wedding. Ive hurt her tremendously, beyond my own understanding. Im owning up to my mistake and will continue to do so. I understand the gravity of the situation and can only ask relentlessly for forgiveness, from Anjali and Allah. Ive hurt the people I love and care about the most through my actions, including our family and friends; our community that I cherish, she continued. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us all these years, we owe everything to you all. We ask you all for privacy and respect at this time. Malik signed her statement: With humility, Sufi. Meanwhile, Chakra shared her own statement about the breakup to her respective Instagram page, where she also admitted to fans that Malik had cheated on her. Sufi and I have been blessed to spend the last five plus years together in a loving and beautiful partnership that we have been so honoured to share with all of you, she wrote to her 237,000 followers on Instagram. The New York City and San Francisco-based influencer explained to fans that their outpouring of love and support has played such a special part in her relationship with Malik and they will continue to carry that love with us moving forward. This may come as a shock, but our journey is now shifting, Chakra continued. We have decided to call off our wedding and end our relationship due to infidelity committed by Sufi. She wished for absolutely no negativity to be directed toward Malik and that their fans respect this difficult decision. What we have shared has been so full of love and nothing short of magical - I will choose to remember it this way, Chakra concluded her post, signing it: All my love, Anjali. Who are Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra? Malik and Chakra rose to internet fame more than five years ago when their photoshoot together went viral. The former couple, who gained popularity as a same-sex interfaith couple, have amassed more than 136,000 subscribers on their shared YouTube channel since 2019, and over 200,000 followers on their respective Instagram pages. Back in 2019, Malik and Chakra went viral when photographer Sarowar Ahmed shared sweet images of the couple posing under an umbrella on a rainy day in New York City in honour of their one-year anniversary. A New York Love Story, he captioned the photoshoot. They posted additional photos of themselves one week later dressed in traditional outfits, a lehenga and a saree, along with traditional jewellery. The photos captivated the internet, as people praised Malik and Chakra for providing representation and visibility for the queer South Asian community. Internet users immediately fell in love with Malik, a Muslim artist and teacher from Pakistan, and Chakra, a Hindu event planner from India. Since they began dating in July 2018, the pair have documented their relationship on social media, often sharing birthday tributes or anniversary posts dedicated to each other on Instagram. Following their viral photoshoot in 2019, Malik and Chakra uploaded a video to their YouTube channel detailing exactly how they met. They explained that they had followed each other on Tumblr for seven years before finally forming a connection. Chakra initially reached out to Malik over Instagram private messages because she didnt have a strong queer South Asian community and she just wanted someone to talk to. When Chakra, who was living in California at the time, found herself planning a trip to New York, where Malik was born and raised, she reached out to the artist and asked to meet each other in person. Their first date took place at the Empire State Building, and lasted four whole days. From there, Chakra and Malik began a long-distance relationship. People message us so often to say that theyre so happy they found us because they didnt realise that there were any other queer South Asian people out there, the couple previously told Business Insider. To us, using our platforms responsibly means sharing about others doing important work for our communities without those privileges. In September 2022, Malik and Chakra announced their engagement on Instagram. The Pakistani artist proposed to her then-girlfriend at the Empire State Building, the same location as their first date. Chakra shared photos of the proposal to Instagram, captioning the post: Easiest yes of my life!!!! Taking to social media, fans were devastated to learn the former couple had called off their wedding. Not me looking at the date to see if it was April Fools Day, one user commented under Chakras Instagram post, while another echoed a similar sentiment: WTFFFFFFFF is this a prank? A third person commented: Okay yeah I dont believe in love anymore. 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 }} Upon entering a room, we absorb everything we sense simultaneously, with scent playing a critical role in the impression we form and the memories that follow. Recently, an increasing number of creatives have caught on to this, seeking to capture the spirit of influential spaces and distil it into fragrance. Lizzie Ostrom, fragrance expert and creative director at Diem Scents, explains: There are many exciting developments happening in sensory design at the moment. Ive done quite a lot of work with architects and interior designers on how to translate light, dimensions, historic features, aesthetics, and materials into aroma relating their beautiful physical spaces into memorable, synergistic scents. Keep reading to discover the latest in fragrances and the settings that inspired them. No 98 Ghost by L.A Space No 98 Ghost, the first home fragrance from L.A Space, is inspired by brutalist masterpiece The Ghost House the home of the brands founder, Lorna Luxe. Surrounded by large reflecting pools, this unique property is constructed from rugged in-situ concrete and matt black steel, with floor-to-ceiling windows. Brutalist masterpiece The Ghost House (L.A Space) Luxe explains, This profiled scent of our home began as a personal fragrance for my husband and me, capturing the ambience of our beloved, modern space as a launchpad for creative thinking. The positive feedback was so strong from guests that we decided to commercialise it, and thus, the candle was born. No 98 Ghost comes in pink and black variations (L.A Space) Crafted in collaboration with acclaimed perfumier Azzi Glasser, No 98 Ghost opens with a burst of fresh green notes before leading into a rich smoky heart of Chinese cedarwood, amberwood, frankincense and myrrh. Finally, the base is a fusion of Mousse de Saxe and soft musk. No 98 Ghost is the first home fragrance from L.A Space (L.A Space) Slow Exhale by Diem Scents Slow Exhale, the latest perfume launch from Diem Scents, started with a visit to Londons oldest surviving church, St Bartholomew the Great. Picture a mix of cool flagstones and worn wooden pews, a vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows, with the lingering waft of incense. Slow Exhale is a heady blend of bergamot, frankincense, laurel, and Palo Santo wood eliciting tranquillity and a distinct sacred allure. Its designed to recall the awe and stillness felt upon stepping off a bustling street and into a grand, medieval church. Slow Exhale by Diem is an unusual, complex aroma made from ancient resins and woods (Diem) Le Meridien x Malin+Goetz Conceptualised by Air France in the 1960s, Le Meridien hotels remain a gathering place for todays jetsetters. The hospitality group has partnered with luxury apothecary brand Malin+Goetz to craft a signature scent inspired by its origins in the golden age of air travel. Titled LM002, the candle takes a flight back in time to the summer of 1969, evoking a journey across the French Riviera and a stay in Le Meridiens Nice property. Neroli blossoms and notes of black amber linger at Saint-Tropez, while musk and sandalwood bark seduce the senses along La Croisette in Cannes. Caviar lime and cypress are reminiscent of an evening in Antibes, and finally, fig, star jasmine and freesia whisper a bientot to the sparkling Mediterranean seaside. Malin+Goetz also offer a fragrance discovery kit that allows you to explore their range (Malin+Goetz) Unifrom Unifrom, a fragrance house founded in Stockholm by Haisam Mohammed, is inspired by the stairwells of Swedish highrises and the array of scents that gather in those in-between spaces. Unifrom scents are conceptualised in Stockholm, developed in Paris and made in Grasse (Unifrom) Mohammed explains, My interest in scents started with the building I grew up in with the smells of food being prepared, the mixture of spices, and the incense that would slip through the cracks of the doors and combine in the stairwells. This amalgamation of aromas reflects a bridging of many cultures under one roof. Oils are a concentrated version of an eau de parfum spray without the alcohol base (Unifrom) One of the brands perfume oils, titled Bliss, channels this with a blend of green vanilla, saffron, almond, and suede leather. The scent is lovingly described as a warm-hearted invitation into the homes of the diaspora, manifested in the form of hard-shelled sweets. 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 }} On 25 March people around the world will celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours. Observed for centuries, the festival is a jubilant occasion that sees Hindus create bonfires and cover each other in rainbow-hued powder to commemorate the beginning of spring. From the festivals significance to how it is celebrated, heres everything you need to know about Holi: What is Holi? Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Show all 20 1 / 20 Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Hindu devotees raise their hands in prayer as they are sprayed with colour by a priest during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours A girl smears her friend in colour during Holi festival celebrations at Durgiana Temple in Armristar, India EPA Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Hindu devotees celebrate Holi inside a temple in Uttar Pradesh, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Hindu devotees are sprayed with colour by a priest during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India AP Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours College girls pose during Holi festival celebrations in Bhopal, India EPA Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours A college girl takes part in the Holi festival celebrations in Bhopal, India EPA Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours A young girl smeared with colour during Holi festival celebrations at Durgiana Temple in Armristar, India EPA Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Colour fills the air during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours An Indian man is splattered with colour during Holi celebrations in Allahabad, India AP Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Hindu devotees celebrate Holi inside a temple in Uttar Pradesh, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours A vendor sells coloured powder known as gulal prior to Holi celebrations in Siliguru, India AFP/Getty Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours An Indian man is splattered with colour during Holi celebrations in Allahabad, India AP Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours A hindu priest is smeared with colour during Holi festival celebrations at Durgiana Temple in Armristar, India EPA Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours A student is covered in colour on a campus in Chandigarh, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Colour is sprayed from a temple during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Students smeared in colour dance during Holi celebrations in Chandigarh, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Hindu devotees are sprayed with colour by a priest during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Hindu devotees are sprayed with colour by a priest during Holi celebrations in Ahmedabad, India Reuters Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours A young man is smeared in colour by his friend during Holi festival celebrations at Durgiana Temple in Armristar, India EPA Holi 2019 in pictures: Hindus celebrate Indian Festival of Colours Women play with powdered colours Holi festival celebrations at Durgiana Temple in Armristar, India EPA In addition to marking the arrival of spring, Holi also celebrates fertility, colour, love, and the triumph of good over evil. The origins of the festival can be found in various legends in Hindu mythology, one of which tells the story of a demon, Holika, and her brother, King Hiranyakashipu. According to the legend, King Hiranyakashipu believed that everyone should worship him as a god. His son, Prahlada, refused to do so, opting to worship the Hindu god Vishnu instead. Spurred by his sons disobedience, the king and his sister Holika plotted to kill Prahlada. As part of their plans, Holika lured Prahlada onto a pyre in an attempt to burn him to death. While sitting on the pyre with Prahlada, Holika donned a magical shawl that protected her from the fire. However, as the pyre burned, the shawl flew from Holikas shoulders onto Prahladas, resulting in the demon perishing in the flames. Vishnu, the god who Prahlada had chosen to worship instead of his father, then appeared. Taking the form of a half man and half lion, the god killed the treacherous king. On the night before Holi, bonfires are lit to signify the burning of Holika and the victory of good over evil. Some Hindus who observe the festival will also smear themselves with ashes from the fire, as a symbol of purification. One of the other legends pertaining to Holi tells the tale of the love shared between the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna, who is frequently depicted with blue skin. The ancient legend tells how Krishna fell in love with Radha, but was concerned their difference in skin colour would keep them apart. After voicing his concerns, Krishna's mother encouraged him to smear a brightly coloured powder on Radha's face. After doing so, Radha then returned Krishna's love and the pair were married. It is said that lovers have continued this tradition ever since, painting their faces the same colour in celebration of Holi and their love. When does it take place? This year, Holi falls on Monday, 25 March. The timing of Holi depends on the moon, meaning that the date of the event can vary, although it usually occurs in March to mark the end of winter. The festival is split into two events, beginning with Holika Dahan on the night before the main festivities and culminating with Rangwali Holi on the next day. How is it celebrated? The oldest accounts of Holi being commemorated date as far back as the 4th century. Its celebrated around the world, although the festivities predominantly occur in India and Nepal. The festival begins with Holika Dahan, the ritual burning of pyres that take place the night before. This tradition is mostly followed in regions including North India, Nepal and South India. Wood and the other materials burnt in the bonfires are collected days in advance, while an effigy of Holika is also typically placed on top of the pyre. On the day of Holi, the main portion of the festival, Rangwali Holi, is observed. Those taking part in the festivities cover each other in gulal, a fine powder that comes in many different colours, while also being drenched in water. The colours of the rainbow are all symbolic in Hinduism. For example, red represents sensuality, while green symbolises life and happiness, Sanskriti magazine outlines. Yellow is believed to represent knowledge, white signifies purity, and blue symbolises determination. Before joining in the fun of the Festival of Colours, people are advised to take appropriate precautions to take care of their skin and hair. According to Times of India, one should apply oil to their face, exposed skin and hair to protect against staining colours. Once the celebrations are over, its recommended that those who took part shower as soon as possible to remove the colours. They should use lukewarm water to wash the colours from their face, and refrain from rubbing their skin too roughly. 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 }} Jeremy Hunt came under fire recently for claiming that 100,000 is not a huge salary. The chancellor of the Exchequer doubled down on the comments when challenged, saying that it doesnt go as far as you might think. And hey, when you think about it, hes right. After all, for the 4 per cent of Brits who earn six figures, there are plenty of outgoings to consider: the 16k-per-term fees to send your kid to the better class of private school; soaring mortgage payments on the second home; 800 per roll of gold wallpaper to redecorate your Downing Street office... and now, just shy of 4k for an ironing board. This last essential item comes courtesy of Harrods, which has just started selling the Laurastar x Germanier ironing system for an oh-so-reasonable 3,999. Theres no doubt it offers bang for your buck. The iron and ironing board combo would make a bold yet functional addition to any home, says the retailer, and comes with an inbuilt water tank, intelligent steaming system, and most practical of all a keychain made from upcycled Swarovski crystals. The iron also offers maintenance alerts via a smartphone app, though what these could possibly consist of its hard to say. The bold pattern and colour palette were designed by Swiss fashion designer Kevin Germanier, a former student of Central Saint Martins art school in London, who said the product was all about glamour, sustainability and authenticity. And who are we to argue? Theres nothing that says authenticity quite like charging the price of a car for something that would set you back 25 quid from Argos. And nothing screams glamour like an armful of wrinkled laundry. While its hard to put a price on creative genius, Germaniers clocks in at around 2,000 thats how much more his ironing board costs than Laurastars model with the same specs minus his design. Whenever I see wilfully, extravagantly overpriced versions of everyday items the worlds most expensive burger retailing at $6,000 (4,750); the 5m iPhone encrusted with diamonds I always experience an overriding sense of perplexity. Who, I wonder, are these products for? This feeling is even more acute when it comes to the ironing board, given that the kind of person who has thousands to spend on such frivolity is spectacularly unlikely to be the one using the appliance themselves. Im not convinced that the help will fully appreciate those Swarovski crystals, however upcycled they may be. If its supposed to be a status symbol, one also has to question the efficacy; its not like anyone will ever see it. Once again, I must posit that the kind of person who has that level of dosh sploshing around is hardly going to have an ironing board out when guests come over, are they? It creates something of a paradox: owning a luxe, aspirational ironing board, but being unable to have it out for people to lust after because the very act of having such an obviously domestic item on display bursts the luxe, aspirational bubble. It also poses the classic tree falling in the woods philosophical question if a person acquires a 3,999 ironing system and theres no one to see it, does it still make a sound (investment)? Theres nothing that says authenticity quite like charging the price of a car for something that would set you back 25 quid from Argos I cant help but wonder whether the whole purpose of releasing such a product is pure publicity stunt, with zero expectation that any will ever be sold. If the old adage that all press is good press is correct, why not infuriate people for sport with a headline-grabbing domestic appliance amid a cost of living crisis in which spiralling rents and mortgage rates have left thousands struggling to keep a roof over their heads? Either that, or Londons flagship upmarket department store is even more out of touch than career politicians floundering to guess the price of a pint of milk when pressed on their man of the people credentials. Either way, I think weve all learned a valuable lesson about what a struggle it would be to survive on a mere 100k a year when forced to keep up with the Joneses. Perhaps the rest of us should count ourselves lucky that weve sidestepped the pressures that Hunt and his ilk are subject to and appreciate the simple pleasure of doing the ironing without the side of bling. 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 }} Youve probably seen photos or videos online of huge crowds of people jubilantly throwing brightly coloured powder and paint at one another as part of Holi Festival which falls on 25 March this year. But do you know why this glorious rainbow display happens every year? Or where the name comes from? 1. Its a celebration of good triumphing over evil Marking the arrival of spring, Holi is a national holiday in India and Nepal held to coincide with the last full moon day of winter, according to the Hindu lunar calendar. The religious origin centres around the legend of Holika (hence the name Holi). The sister of the demon king Hiranyakashipu, Holika was killed in a fire after she attempted to murder her nephew Prahlad, who prayed to the god Vishnu and was saved from the fire. 2. It starts with bonfires Symbolising the fire that killed Holika, in India the festival starts the night before Holi with the lighting of bonfires (called Holika Dahan). People gather around the fires sometimes topped with an effigy of Holika celebrating the coming of spring (the heat of the flames is said to represent the onset of warmer weather). 3. The colours symbolise equality Also known as the festival of colours, Holi honours the vibrant hues of spring, and the bright powders and colour waters symbolise flames as well, but theres a deeper meaning behind why people cover each other with pigmented abir powder and gulal paste. The colours act as a great leveller, making everyone equal (or equally messy) no matter their caste, culture or religion. 4. Food is an important part of the celebrations No party would be complete without a delicious spread, and during Holi its all about sweet treats. To fuel all that energetic paint throwing, big batches of desserts are served up, such as Gujiya, flaky pastry parcels filled with dried fruit, served with sugar syrup; malpua, deep-fried mini pancakes; and thandai, a sweet, milky drink flavoured with the likes of cardamom, saffron, fennel seeds and rosewater. 5. As is a certain stimulating drink Bhang is the name of a traditional Indian cannabis-infused drink often consumed during Holi, mixed with creamy lassi or the aforementioned thandai. While cannabis is technically illegal in India, the law banning the consumption of the plant neglects to mention the leaves, the part used to make bhang. 6. Nepal has its own Holi traditions In Nepal, Holi begins when a ceremonial bamboo pole called a chir is erected in capital Kathmandu. Strips of cloth are tied to the pole as good luck charms, and it is later burned in a bonfire. As well as the usual paint and powder, in Nepal people also pelt each other with water balloons called lolas. 7. Its celebrated all over the world While the biggest celebrations take place in India and Nepal, people around the world gather each year to mark the festival, some for religious reasons, others just for fun, from Berlin to Barcelona, Singapore to Suriname (pandemic restrictions allowing). 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 }} Celebrities who took part in the online frenzy of Kate rumours and conspiracy theories are apologising following the Princess of Waless cancer diagnosis. In a moving video released on Friday, Kate revealed that shed been undergoing chemotherapy in the wake of major abdominal surgery in January, which led to cancer cells being found in subsequent tests. At the time, Kates condition was not disclosed to the public, and the release of a photoshopped image of the princess and her children exacerbated the spread of conspiracy theories speculating on the reason behind her low profile. Actor Blake Lively was one of the first to apologise for partaking in the frenzy, referring to a now-deleted post that seemingly poked fun at Kate posting an edited picture of her family for Mothers Day. Posting on an Instagram Story on Friday (22 March), the Gossip Girl star wrote: Im sure no one cares today but I feel I have to acknowledge this. I made a silly post around the photoshop fails frenzy and, oh, man, that post has me mortified today. Im sorry. The Age of Adaline actor had made an Instagram post announcing an update for her alcohol brand on 15 March, when she made a subtle nod to the photoshopped family photo. Blake Lively said she is mortified by the silly post she made (Getty Images for Michael Kors) Livelys post showed a photo of her head conspicuously photoshopped onto a distorted womans body lounging by a pool, with one of her Betty Buzz drinks in hand. Seemingly poking fun at rumours over Kates whereabouts, Lively added in the post, Now you know why Ive been MIA. Blake Lively has apologised after poking fun at Princess Kates photo editing mishap (Instagram / Blake Lively) Journalist and political activist Owen Jones has also expressed regret for adding to commentary on Kates whereabouts. After photo agencies pulled the photoshopped family picture, Jones remarked on the kill notice with: I am so obsessed with this already omg!! Another post featured Jones sharing his scepticism about a photograph of Kate and Prince William in a car together. He wrote: You have to be kidding me. That is not a public appearance. Choo choo! All aboard the Kate Middleton truther express! However, the journalist has now said he feels ashamed for the speculation, and wishes Kate well. As someone who speculated on this without considering it could be a serious health condition, Im very ashamed to be honest, and all the very best to her, Jones wrote in a post on X/Twitter. In the week before, Kensington Palace had issued a photo of Kate and her three children on Mothers Day. In an unprecedented move, photo agencies recalled the picture after realising it had been manipulated. Kate then addressed the edited image, writing on X/Twitter: Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. Meanwhile, fans have been calling on reality TV star Kim Kardashian to apologise for joining in the speculation about why Kate had been absent from public life. Kim Kardashian posted a picture of herself stood next to a car with the caption On my way to find Kate (Getty Images) On 17 March , the reality star posted a photo of herself posing in front of a luxury car, and captioned the post: On my way to go find Kate. After the news of her having cancer has been revealed, you should really take this down. Its extremely insensitive and you owe our princess an apology, one person commented on Kardashians post. Can you please go find an apology instead?? Added another. On social media, fans have also asked British-American comedian John Oliver to retract a joke made during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. There is a non-zero chance she died 18 months ago, Oliver quipped earlier this month. They might be Weekend at Bernies-ing this situation. Im not saying it happened, but Im saying its non-zero until proven otherwise. Until we see her sitting there with a copy of the days paper. Weekend at Bernies was a 1989 comedy film in which two people manipulate a dead body to make it appear as if hes still alive. Piers Morgan called out Oliver for his comments on X/Twitter after the announcement that Kate is receiving cancer treatment. He said: I hope this smug p***k has the decency to apologise for such a disgusting joke. At the time of writing, neither Kardashian or Oliver have responded to criticism of their comments. The Independent has contacted them for comment. The 42-year-old princess said on Friday that she needed to recover from surgery before she could start preventative chemotherapy, as advised by her medical team. This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family, she added. Kate explained she had needed time to come to terms with the news and tell her children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, before informing the wider world. She said: It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but Ive had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful. In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment. Praising her husband as a great source of comfort and reassurance, Kate said: It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK. As I have said to them, I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits. 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 }} My sister, who works at a specialist college, was recently telling me that phones are the number one issue that she and her colleagues are struggling with. Students have them out at all times, clutched in their hands like shiny, black security blankets. Her class will message each other from across the room during lessons, or scroll social media, or listen to music; meanwhile, shes desperately trying to claw their attention back and get them to engage with the real world. Screens and teens: its a combination thats become increasingly tricky to navigate over the last decade. The switch from what I think of as analogue phones those with buttons but no internet to smartphones, compounded by an upsurge in digital living during pandemic lockdowns, has resulted in 46 per cent of adolescents reporting they are online almost constantly. Some 97 per cent of children have a smartphone by the age of 12, according to Ofcom data. In February, new battle lines were drawn in this ongoing war. Government ministers confirmed plans to ban them in schools in England, with the Department for Education (DfE) issuing guidance to help teachers with implementation. Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, said the DfE believed the guidance would empower headteachers to exorcise these digital demons, and would send a clear message about consistency. You go to school, you go to learn, you go to create those friendships, you go to speak to people and socialise and you go to get educated, she told BBC Radio 4s Today programme. You dont go to sit on your mobile phone or to send messages while you could actually talk to somebody. Some 97 per cent of children have a smartphone by the age of 12 (Getty/iStock) The reason this is so pressing isnt simply that tweens and teens arent paying proper attention in class. It has a far more sinister impact on children and young peoples mental health, according to a new book, The Anxious Generation, written by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. He presents the compelling argument that the uptick in time spent online has coincided with an alarming mental health crisis all over the world. Between 2010 and 2015, suicide rates among 10 to 14-year-old girls and boys increased by 167 and 92 per cent respectively. Self-harm rates for teenage girls in the UK soared by 78 per cent. Anxiety diagnoses for those aged 18 to 25 jumped by 92 per cent. During this same five-year period, smartphones reached a majority of US households they were adopted faster than any other communication technology in human history. There is a tangible link, too, between screentime and poor mental health, reveals Haidt: nearly 40 per cent of teenage girls who spend over five hours on social media a day have been diagnosed with clinical depression. Childhood and adolescence have been rewired, claims Haidt. Referencing the shift that started at the turn of the millennium, when tech companies began creating a set of world-changing products based around exploiting the rapidly expanding capabilities of the internet, Haidt paints a deeply concerning picture. The companies had done little or no research on the mental health effects of their products on children and adolescents, and they shared no data with researchers studying the health effects. When faced with growing evidence that their products were harming young people, they mostly engaged in denial, obfuscation, and public relations campaigns, he says. Business models that relied on maximising engagement using psychological tricks were the worst offenders, he says, adding that they hooked children during vulnerable developmental stages, while their brains were rapidly rewiring in response to incoming stimulation. For girls, some of the greatest damage was inflicted by social media; for boys, video games and porn sites had the most chilling impacts. By designing a firehouse of addictive content that entered through kids eyes and ears, and by displacing physical play and in-person socialising, these companies have rewired childhood and changed human development on an almost unimaginable scale, Haidt writes damningly. Companies are accused of behaving like the tobacco and vaping industries, designing highly addictive products and skirting laws in order to sell them to minors. These companies have rewired childhood and changed human development on an almost unimaginable scale It makes for terrifying reading. Developmentally, childrens brains are not at all adapted to cope with all of the above. The reward-seeking parts of the brain mature earlier, but the frontal cortex, responsible for self-control and will-power, isnt operating on all cylinders till our mid-twenties creating a dangerously toxic cocktail when you throw in algorithms advanced enough to even hold adults attention hostage for hours at a time. Haidt tells the story of one Boston mother, representative of many of the parents hes worked with, who said she felt she had lost her 14-year-old daughter, Emily. She recounted how she and her husband had tried to reduce the amount of time Emily spent on Instagram. In one distressing episode, she got into her mothers phone, disabled the monitoring software, and threatened to kill herself if her parents reinstalled it. Lest you think that the sudden deterioration in young peoples mental health is down to current events for example, political crises, the rise of right-wing and populist movements, Brexit, Donald Trump and all the rest Haidt compared a number of countries that were culturally similar enough but experienced different major news events over the same time period, including Canada, the UK and Nordic countries. All experienced a near-identical shift starting in the early 2010s. There are four foundational harms triggered by the new phone-based childhood, puts forth Haidt: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction. The first is obvious. Children need a lot of time to play with each other, face to face, to foster social development, says Haidt. Teens who spend more time in-person with their peers have better mental health, according to research, while those who spend more time on social media are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. But the percentage of 17 to 18-year-olds in the US who said they hung out with their friends almost every day dropped dramatically from 2009 onwards. Time spent interacting with people online has replaced IRL equivalents and adolescent mental health has taken a corresponding nosedive. Rates of depression and anxiety in teenagers have been going up since 2010 (Getty) The second is less clear-cut, but an upsurge in sleep problems that had levelled off in the early 2010s but continued on a steep upward trajectory in 2013 has been linked to the phone-based childhood. There are significant associations between high social media use and poor sleep, according to a review of 36 correlational studies. One UK data set found that heavy use of screen media was associated with shorter sleep duration, longer sleep latency and more mid-sleep awakenings. Teenagers need more sleep than adults, particularly during puberty; those who are sleep-deprived dont concentrate or retain information as well as those who have had eight hours a night. Adults will be very familiar with number three: attention fragmentation. The double-digit tabs and the constant pinging of Slack and countless WhatsApp groups are hard enough to juggle as a fully-fledged grown-up. One study found that the average teenager gets 192 alerts or notifications per day from social media and communication apps the equivalent of 11 per waking hour, or one every five minutes. No matter how hard it is for an adult to stay committed to one mental road, it is far harder for an adolescent, who has an immature frontal cortex and therefore limited ability to say no to off-ramps, writes Haidt. He argues that the never-ending stream of interruptions takes a toll on young peoples ability to think and may leave permanent marks in their rapidly reconfiguring brains. And finally, addiction. This stems from app creators designing products that dispense variable rewards, triggering dopamine hits that make us feel good. They use every trick in the psychologists tool kit to hook users as deeply as slot machines hook gamblers. Adolescents are much more susceptible to these tricks than adults, due to the aforementioned frontal cortex, which isnt mature until age 20 and beyond. With all of this at work, is it any wonder that Generation Z and those that came after are in crisis? And is there any way of breaking this hugely detrimental pattern? Yes, according to Haidt but it will take robust and collective action to delay the age at which children get smartphones and social media accounts, making the switch from a phone-based childhood back to a play-based one. No matter how hard it is for an adult to stay committed to one mental road, it is far harder for an adolescent Voluntary coordination can be a useful tool here for example, a group of parents at a school can collectively decide none of their children will be allowed phones until a certain age. This group decision means kids dont feel left out in the same way if you can reach critical mass, not having a phone even becomes the norm. Haidt also highlights technological solutions, such as the introduction of better basic phones to avoid giving children smartphones; lockable pouches for phones; and quick and easy age verification methods. Finally, governments need to step in. Laws such as requiring all social media companies to verify the ages of new users, and policies demanding schools enforce a phones in lockers rule during the school day, could have a big impact. The main thing to stress is that its not too late to make a change, says Haidt: When new consumer products are found to be dangerous, especially for children, we recall them and keep them off the market until the manufacturer corrects the design. In 2010, teens, parents, schools and even tech companies didnt know that smartphones and social media had so many harmful effects. Now we do. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt is published on 26 March by Allen Lane for 25 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 cost of hiring a real estate agent to buy or sell a home may soon change, along with decades-old rules that have helped determine broker commissions. The policy changes could help spur price competition for agents' services and lower the cost for sellers who now typically cover the commission for the buyer's agent, as well as that of their own. In turn, more homebuyers could face pressure to pay for their agent's commission out of pocket. That could be a challenge, especially for buyers already stretching financially to make a down payment and cover other upfront costs involved in buying a home. Still, housing market watchers say it can't be immediately determined how significantly any changes that potentially shift the cost of hiring an agent to a homebuyer will affect home sales. An adjustment period is likely as buyers, sellers and agents figure out how to navigate what comes next. I just think its too soon to tell," said Greg Kling, an associate professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business who has taught and written about real estate taxation. Were going to either see prices are going up for buyers, or the market is going to correct itself." WHAT'S DRIVING THIS? As part of a settlement announced Friday, the National Association of Realtors agreed to make some policy changes in order to resolve multiple class-action lawsuits brought on behalf of home sellers across the U.S. The trade group agreed to change its rules so that brokers who list a home for sale on any of the databases affiliated with the NAR are no longer allowed to include offers of compensation for a buyers agent. This change is meant to address a central assertion in lawsuits brought against the NAR and several major real estate brokerages: that homeowners are being forced to pay artificially inflated agent commissions when they sell their home. The trade group also agreed to require agents, or others working with a homebuyer, to enter into a written agreement with them. That is meant to ensure homebuyers know going in what their agent will charge them for their services. If the court signs off on the settlement, the NAR would implement the rule changes in mid-July. Meanwhile, several real estate brokerage operators, including Anywhere Real Estate and Keller Williams, have reached separate settlement agreements that include provisions for more transparency about agent commissions for homebuyers and sellers. The residential real estate marketplace will take some time, perhaps several years, to fully process the implications of this settlement," said Stephen Brobeck, senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America. But over time more, agents will feel free to offer different types of compensation and more consumers will comparison shop and negotiate commissions in a more transparent marketplace. WHAT THIS COULD MEAN FOR HOMEBUYERS The key potential change centers on who foots the bill for real estate agents who represent homebuyers. Currently, an agent or broker representing a home seller typically splits a commission often around 5% to 6% of the home's sale price with the agent working on behalf of the homebuyer. Such an arrangement is known in the industry as cooperative compensation. Under the proposed NAR settlement, a broker who represents a seller would no longer be allowed to include a blanket offer of cooperative compensation to a prospective buyer's agent when they advertise the property on NAR-affiliated Multiple Listings Services, where a majority of U.S. homes are listed for sale. This is meant to remove any incentive from a buyer's agent to steer their client away from home listings that don't include a cooperative compensation offer. However, the proposed rule change leaves it open for individual home sellers to negotiate such an arrangement with a buyers agent outside of the MLS platforms, essentially creating a loophole for agents to keep things as they are now. Homebuyers could also ask the home seller for a concession that includes money to help cover the buyers agent compensation. What happens if a seller doesn't want to offer to pay the buyer's agent commission? Homebuyers would be on the hook to shop around for an agent they can afford. They'd also have to sign a contract with an agent before they enlist their services, spelling out how much the agent's compensation will be. Having to factor in another expense into their homebuying budget could be challenging for homebuyers without a lot of savings or financial flexibility, making it tougher for them to navigate the housing market. Still, many variables are at play when it comes to buying or selling a home, not the least of which is how motivated each party is to close the deal. If Im a buyer and I know this seller is not going to reimburse my agent, then I may make a lower offer," said Kling. "Now, obviously in a hot market, that strategys not going to work. But then in a hot market, I would have paid over listing price anyway. HOW MIGHT THIS AFFECT HOME SELLERS? The biggest change for homeowners looking to sell is they could push back against paying for buyer-agent commissions, which could translate into considerable savings. Consider a seller who agrees to pay a 3% commission for their listing agent instead of potentially twice that to cover the buyer's agent, too and sells their home for February's national median sale price of $379,100. That homeowner would save roughly $11,373 paying only their agent's commission. The settlement will also encourage more sellers to negotiate the compensation of their listing agents, said Brobeck. Still, sellers may still face some pressure to cover buyer-agent commissions. The NAR built in an exception to its proposed rule change that would allow a buyers agent to see offers of cooperative compensation on home listings being advertised by their own brokerage. That workaround could tempt buyer agents to steer clients away from any listings that dont come with an upfront compensation offer, which could prompt sellers to offer more competitive commissions to be split between their agent and the buyers, analysts with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods wrote in a research note Monday. So long as steering incentives still exist, home sellers may be compelled to offer supracompetitive commissions to buyer agents in order to avoid steering, the analysts wrote. HOW MIGHT THIS CHANGE THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY? One concern is that by making it easier for sellers to opt out of making a cooperative compensation offer to buyer agents, some buyers will opt against hiring an agent or only doing so toward the end of the process after they've gone through most of the home hunt themselves. That could end up weeding out some "lower-performing brokers," Kling said. Another scenario is that alternative types of real estate business models will become more popular. This includes using discount brokers that will list a home for a flat fee of $500. They dont offer any compensation to the buyer agent because the buyer agent negotiates their own conditions if they want more, said Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. That business model has been around for a long time. 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 }} Six more bodies of Rohingya refugees have been found at sea off Indonesia after a boat with more than 150 people aboard capsized last week, local authorities said Monday. The bodies of the six women were found off the coast of Aceh province, search and rescue officials said in a statement. Five bodies were found over the weekend. The United Nations refugee agency confirmed with survivors that the women had been on their boat, staff member Faisal Rahman said. The agency has said the boat carrying Rohingya Muslims left a refugee camp in Bangladesh but capsized on Wednesday. Fishermen and search and rescue workers rescued 75 people on Thursday after they huddled overnight on the boat's overturned hull. U.N. agencies on Friday said at least 70 were feared missing or dead. About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar. They include about 740,000 who fled a brutal counterinsurgency campaign in 2017 by Myanmars security forces, who were accused of committing mass rapes and killings. The Rohingya minority in Myanmar faces widespread discrimination. Most are denied citizenship. Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention and is not obligated to accept them. However, the country generally provides temporary shelter to refugees in distress. ___ Tarigan reported from Jakarta. 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 }} An obsessed former police constable has been convicted of stalking his estranged policewoman wife who he caught having sex with an inspector in a Screwfix car park. On Monday, a jury at Liverpool Crown Court found father-of-two Gavin Harper, 45, guilty of the aggravated stalking of Stephanie Glynn, 40, causing her serious alarm or distress between December 2020 and February 2021. Jurors could not reach a verdict on the allegation that Harper also unlawfully wounded Andrew McLullich, 42, at the Screwfix car park in Birkenhead, Wirral. Prosecutors will return to court on April 2 to announce whether they will seek a retrial on the outstanding count. The Crown said the security officer subjected Ms Glynn to obsessive, intrusive and unwanted behaviour including spying on her, secretly bugging her car, listening into her conservations, tracking her whereabouts and taking her phone without her permission. Harper discovered the late night Screwfix tryst after it was said he placed a tracker underneath Ms Glynns vehicle. The defendant and Ms Glynn met as Merseyside Police officers and were in a six-year relationship before they married in 2018. But Ms Glynn left the family home in December 2020 after she grew close to her work mentor Mr McLullich and the prosecution said the defendant could not accept the marriage breakdown and became obsessed with catching her in the act. Ms Glynn and Mr McLullich were naked from the waist down in the back of the inspectors vehicle when Harper crept up and filmed them at the window with his mobile phone. Glynn, now divorced, was said to be sickeningly anxious as a result of the defendants campaign of behaviour and told the jury she constantly looked over her shoulder, had changed her routes to work and had undergone counselling. Ryan Rothwell, prosecuting, said that Harper knew what he was doing was wrong, not only because of his police background but also because he was warned about his behaviour on a number of occasions including from Ms Glynn who told him he was unhinged. The Crown alleged the defendant rained punches on the married inspector after he opened the rear passenger door of the vehicle. It was then said Ms Glynn pulled Harper away as Mr McLullich managed to get out of the car and pull up his tracksuit bottoms. The prosecution further alleged that Mr McLullich tried to stop Harper retrieving a tracker from underneath Ms Glynns car and the defendant responded by striking him, possibly with a torch, to the top of his head. Harper denied causing cuts to Mr McLullichs head with, or without, a torch. Harper also denied self-inflicting facial injuries after he left the scene at Screwfix and said Mr McLullich, who has since left Merseyside Police, did not have a head injury when he drove off. His barrister, Suzanne Payne, told the jury: Up until October 2020 Gavin Harper thought he was in a good marriage and they were going to have a family. Then his wife started acting out of character and he wanted to know what was going on. Giving evidence Harper said he did not have violence on his mind when he arrived at the car park and just wanted undeniable proof of the affair which Ms Glynn had persistently denied. His intention was to pass the video on to police as evidence of two serving officers having an inappropriate relationship during Covid, he said. Harper, from Liscard, Wirral, said Mr McLullich was the aggressor and it was he who started punching him from inside of the vehicle and he responded with three, four punches in self-defence. He said he did not have the energy to react any further and was punched again on the floor by Mr McLullich who had leg-sweeped him before he said Ms Glynn kicked him to the side of his body with her socks on. Harper said he later made a comment about the size of Mr McLullichs penis and was met with further blows. Jurors found Harper guilty of aggravated stalking by a 11-1 majority verdict. Harper was granted conditional bail ahead of his next court appearance but was told by Judge David Potter he faced an immediate custodial sentence for the offence he had been convicted of. 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 murder suspect has been arrested at Heathrow Airport hours after a man was hit by a car and killed in east London, police said. The Metropolitan Police was called at 5.11am on Sunday to reports of a collision involving a car and a pedestrian in Barking Road, Newham. Police officers provided first aid to the pedestrian, a 35-year-old man, who was found injured at the scene, near to the junction with Arragon Road. Despite the efforts of emergency services, he died a short time later. A 33-year-old man was then arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of murder at around 3.30pm on Sunday. A 30-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They both remain in custody. Detective Chief Inspector Joanna Yorke, who is leading the investigation, said: My thoughts are with the victims family at what will be an incredibly difficult time for them. Our family liaison officers will support them as our inquiries continue. I am aware that a large number of people had been at an event in Barking Road overnight and many would have witnessed the incident. I am appealing for those people to come forward immediately. Your information could be vital to the investigation. Forensic collision investigators have worked at the scene throughout the day and, although we do not believe there to be any risk to the wider community, officers will remain in the area over the coming days to provide reassurance. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 quoting CAD 1281/24Mar. 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 notorious crime boss serving a life sentence for orchestrating the murders of an innocent couple has lost his High Court challenge over whether he poses a high risk of escape from prison. Nottingham gang leader Colin Gunn was jailed for at least 35 years in 2006 for conspiracy to murder John and Joan Stirland, who were shot in Trusthorpe, Lincolnshire, to gain revenge on their son. He took legal action against the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), claiming a decision in February 2023 to not downgrade his escape risk classification was unfair and unlawful. Gunn, currently in high-security HMP Long Lartin in Evesham, Worcestershire, alleged the decision means he experiences a significantly more intrusive and restrictive regime in the prison. He is once said to have run the Bestwood Estate in Nottingham with his brother, David Gunn, built up a multimillion-pound empire based on drugs, extortion and violent crime and played a part in the city previously being known as Britains gun crime capital. The prisoner, who was also handed a nine-year sentence in 2007 for bribery of two police officers and conspiracy to corrupt, has previously hit the headlines over his jail experiences. In 2010, he claimed to have won the right to be addressed as Mr by prison staff after complaining to the Prisons Ombudsman. Two years later, he urged fellow inmates at his then jail, HMP Belmarsh, to complain that they had been overcharged for sending A4-size mail. At a hearing earlier this month, his lawyers claimed it prevents him moving to a lower security category and reduces his prospect of release on licence at the end of his minimum term in 2040. But in a judgment on Monday, Mr Justice Saini dismissed Gunns challenge. John and Joan Stirland (PA) The High Court previously heard that Gunn was last classified as being of exceptional risk in March 2013, due to allegations that he had tried to corrupt a member of staff as part of an escape plan, before being downgraded to high risk in September that year. In his 26-page judgment, Mr Justice Saini said: Counsel for the claimant argued that his previous exceptional escape risk was of very limited if any relevance, since his downgrading by definition meant that the concerns which formed the basis for his previous classification were no longer valid I reject the logic of this submission. He continued: The previous exceptional escape risk categorisation was because of intelligence suggesting that that the claimant and a second prisoner were planning an escape involving a helicopter and firearms The history forms part of the overall evidential picture. The judge also ruled that the decision not to hold an oral hearing over Gunns classification was lawful, finding it would have served no purpose. 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 government is reportedly concerned that Britains adversaries are deliberately fuelling disinformation about the Princess of Wales to "destabilise the nation". Kates absence from the public eye following planned surgery in January became a source of online rumours, speculation and conspiracy theories until the princess revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer in a personal and moving video message. The 42-year-old princess said she needed to recover from surgery before she could start preventative chemotherapy, as advised by her medical team. The news is another cruel blow to the royal family with King Charles III and the future queen both fighting cancer at the same time. While Kates video message has been met with an outpouring of public sympathy, unfounded conspiracies have continued to circulate about both the truthfulness of the princesss announcement and cancer itself, with commentators online questioning the efficacy of chemotherapy or blaming Kates diagnosis on Covid-19 vaccines. There are now growing concerns among Whitehall officials about the possible involvement of state adversaries like China, Russia and Iran in the rise of conspiracy theories on social media surrounding the princess's health, The Telegraph reported. Part of the modus operandi of hostile states is to destabilise things whether that is undermining the legitimacy of our elections or other institutions," an unnamed Whitehall source told the newspaper. Kate Middleton announces cancer diagnosis (Independent TV) Alleged Chinese interference in British democracy, just months ahead of an expected general election, is to be raised in parliament on Monday by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden. Downing Street is said to be preparing fresh sanctions on Chinese individuals involved in state-backed interference in Britains democratic processes, including a cyberattack that saw the personal details of millions of voters accessed. Ministers were due to set out details on Monday of hacking incidents targeting the Electoral Commission as well as 43 people including MPs and peers. The government last year launched a taskforce to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign interference, with that remit including tackling the spread of disinformation on social media. Countering this is right at the heart of the work of the taskforce, The Telegraph quoted a government source as saying. Prime minister Rishi Sunak on Friday led the condemnation of social media trolls for targeting the princess over her disappearance from the public eye. "In recent weeks she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media," Mr Sunak said in a statement on X. Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, said the princess has been "revictimised by being blamed for not having come out immediately". When youve got a young lady, the Princess of Wales, who has suffered a medical emergency, you see people flooding in with conspiracy theories, you see them being amplified on social media platforms and pushed to millions and millions of people, he told the BBC. I think its the inhumanity of the way that social media has made us behave, forcing people to talk about things that can be very deeply personal. And also seeing of course the impact of that on our society, how quickly it was picked up by millions of people, and how much its done damage to the Royal family themselves. Former royal adviser Paddy Harverson said the speculation and pressure around the princess's health had been the "worst I've ever seen". Last week the British Embassy in Ukraine was forced to deny rumours that the King had died after Kremlin-approved state media channels, some with millions of followers on social media, began spreading the fake news. The first false claims appeared on Telegram, when a photoshopped statement adorned with the Buckingham Palace logo read: The following announcement is made by royal communications. The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon. "We would like to inform you that the news about the death of King Charles III is fake," the embassy clarified in a social media post. 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 }} With the royal family facing a string of health setbacks, the close relationship between King Charles and his beloved daughter-in-law has become increasingly apparent. Since both have been diagnosed with unspecified forms of cancer, the two senior royals have begun their respective treatments and are supporting one another as they take a step away from public duties to recover. Charles is said to have driven to Windsor Castle to have lunch with Kate on Thursday, just one day before she announced that she had been diagnosed with the illness. It is believed that the pair discussed her upcoming announcement, with the King left feeling very emotional. Charles reportedly visited Kate in hospital and went for lunch with her on Thursday (Chris Jackson/PA Wire) They are very close and he thinks of Catherine as his daughter. There is no doubt there is a lot they can share and can use each other for support during their own deeply personal cancer battles, a source told The Sun. In January, they both spent time at The London Clinic, a private hospital in Marylebone, with Charles said to have been seen toddling from his hospital bed to spend time with Kate, after she underwent major abdominal surgery. The 75-year-old monarch was himself being treated for an enlarged prostate, and revealed last month that cancer had been discovered during the course of his treatment. In comparison, he has largely been allowed to remain out of the public eye while speculation and conspiracy theories have hounded the princess. This dramatically increased after an image taken of the Wales family was found to have been digitally manipulated, with Kate offering an apology on social media. Following her moving statement to the public on Friday evening, in which she revealed she was in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy, the King issued a statement offering his love and support. In a short message, Buckingham Palace said: "His Majesty is so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did. The Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis in a video on Friday (AP) "Following their time in hospital together, HM has remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks. Both Their Majesties will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time." A source close to Charles told The Sunday Times: The King has always had a close, warm and unique relationship with the princess. She has a great love and respect for him and his position. When they were in hospital together there was a lot of toddling down the corridor to spend time with her. He has been encouraging and supporting her throughout. While the royals only occasionally attend joint engagements together, Kate and her father-in-law have reportedly held a close relationship for years. In pictures taken at the 2021 premiere of the 24th James Bond film No Time To Die, the two can be seen giggling and laughing together on the red carpet. Both royals are now stepping back from public engagements to undergo treatment (Chris Jackson/PA Wire) In an interview to mark their engagement, Kate also said Charles had been "very, very welcoming" and "very friendly" when she first met the family. She admitted being nervous to meet the then-Prince of Wales but added: "It couldnt have gone easier, really for me." Since his cancer diagnosis, the King has only been seen on a handful of occasions but has continued to deal with state affairs and private audiences. His wife, Queen Camilla, told well-wishers that he was doing very well, while it has been reported that he hopes to attend the traditional Easter service. During her video statement, the princess said her own diagnosis had come as a huge shock but that she is getting stronger every day with the support of her husband and medical team. The couple have now requested privacy following weeks of speculation, with Kate unlikely to return to royal duties for the foreseeable future. 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 M4 eastbound in west London near Heathrow Airport was closed as police investigated an incident on the motorway. National Highways (NH) had told motorists to expect delays of 20 minutes and three miles of congestion following the incident at Junction 3 earlier on Monday morning. Following an incident recently, road is closed within J3 for @metpoliceuk investigation work, it wrote on X. The motorway, a major commuter route into the capital, was closed from shortly after 6am so that the Metropolitan Police could carry out their work. The incident was fully cleared and all lanes reopened on the motorway by 8:15am. NH warned that delays remain but are beginning to ease and should clear soon. Elsewhere, part of the M3 was shut following a collision. The eastbound within Junction 11 near Winchester, Hampshire was shut at around 7.30am. One lane was closed on the motorway and drivers were told to expect delays of up to 45 minutes. All lanes of traffic have since reopened. Following the earlier collision, the vehicles have now been recovered and all lanes are open, NH said in a statement. 30 min delay remains but should begin easing now. Part of the M1 near Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire was also shut on Monday morning following a collision. One lane of traffic on the northbound part of the motorway within Junction 13 was shut following the incident. A lorry crashed into a car within roadwork taking place on the carriageway. NH told drivers to expect delays which were rapidly increasing. 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 }} Martin Lewis has warned Britons face missing out on hundreds of pounds if they fail to claim tax allowances before the looming April deadline. The money-saving expert said people can claim back the tax allowances from up to four years before, and urged them to act fast before the financial year ends on 5 April. In his latest newsletter, Mr Lewis said these include the marriage tax allowance, Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and the uniform tax rebate. He said: With a number of tax allowances you can claim back four tax years before the current one. So that means when the new tax year starts on 6 April we say bye-bye to the 2019/20 tax year. Here we take a look at the four tax reclaims you could be eligible for ahead of the April deadline: Marriage tax allowance More than two million couples are eligible for the marriage tax allowance but do not claim it, according to Mr Lewis. Married couples and those in civil partnerships where one person earns less than the tax-free personal allowance threshold of 12,570 qualify for this allowance. The non-taxpayer can apply to transfer 10 per cent of their tax-free allowance to their spouse, saving 252 per tax year. Once signed up, it is automatically paid every year. Those eligible since 2019/20 can backdate it for a gain of 1,260. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) The deadline to reclaim missold PPI was 29 August 2019, which means those who have received a payment in the last four years could be eligible for money back on overpaid tax. Those affected can claim back by filing in a R40 on the HMRC website. It can be complete online or printed off a posted to HMRC. Check tax code A tax code is tells employers what tax to deduct and features as a series of numbers and letters on your pay slip. It is the responsibility of the employee to check they are on the correct tax code, not HMRC or employers. People on the incorrect tax code could be paying more than they need to and can claim back any overpayments. Employees tax code can be found on their payslip or by logging into their personal tax account on the HMRC website. Taxpayers have until 5 April to claim back tax for the year 2019/20. Uniform tax rebate People who wash or repair their work uniform are eligible for an allowance to cover the cost, even if it is just a branded t-shirt. The minimum allowance is 60 per year, which is worth 12 per year for a basic 20 per cent taxpayer, and 24 for a higher 40 per cent payer. People can claim for the previous four years. 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 river so polluted that locals refuse to swim in it is being cleaned up as part of a 25 million rewilding project. The River Stort, a chalk stream in Hertforshire, is set to undergo restoration efforts following a government grant issued to the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. The Species Survival Fund has allocated resources to 20 new conservation projects nationwide, focusing on rehabilitating critical habitat areas equivalent in size to the city of York. The group of rivers covered by the fund include stretches of the Lea, Quin, Stort, and Ash, and over time could regenerate thousands of miles of crucial waterways and inlets. Residents of Bishops Stortford, a historic market town along a section of the river, were quick to highlight its importance in their community. The Port Jackson, the Wetherspoon pub Billianna Instrall, 19, works at, is beside the Stort in Bishops Stortford. (Canqi Li) Postman Neil Whitbread said the Stort is a solace for the local residents. He said: Growing up, the river was always part of my life. Ive laughed there, Ive cried there. I took my kids down there to fish. The Stort is more polluted than it was when I was a kid, because we used to go swimming there. But I wouldnt go swimming there now. Wetherspoon shift leader and student Billianna Instrall, 19, also cherish their time spent at the stream: On nice days, my family and I often walk along and enjoy the river. My parents love canal boats, we often pick out and choose the nice ones and admire them. Chalk rivers are special lowland streams emerging from chalk aquifer and are normally characterised by clear water and diverse wildlife. (Canqi Li) Ms Instrall found the funding announcement amazing: The Stort is our name, our heritage. I cant imagine not having it here, so if theres something to change, to keep it alive for us, Im very glad to hear that. Earning a living by supplying boaters coal, gas, and diesel on a canal boat on the Stort, Ben Partridge, 31, was also happy to hear the news, as he thinks there are parts of the river needing lots of care and attention. Its not very often that they want to fund stuff. Its all mainly just take, take, and take, not fund. The Stort is only one example of the UKs polluted chalk rivers, rare special lowland streams springing from the chalk aquifer normally with clear water and a wide variety of flora. A 2014 report stated that most chalk streams worldwide were classified as not in good health, with no stream in High status, 23 per cent of the streams being Good, 46 per cent Moderate, and 30 per cent Poor or Bad. Bishops Stortford local Neil Whitbread, 57, said that the Stort is more polluted than it was when he was a child. (Canqi Li) Some 85 per cent of the worlds 200 chalk rivers are in southern and eastern England. The main bulk of money will be on capital work for the rivers, Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust river catchment coordinator Sarah Perry said. We have work in progress on 11.5 km of our chalk rivers. The Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust received 1.7m as part of the fund. Other projects included in the funding scheme will also restore waters elsewhere in the UK, including the Medlock River managed by Groundwork Greater Manchester. Its a really exciting opportunity to improve the habitats and connect people to nature, Groundwork Greater Manchester project manager Lucy Stowell-Smith said. However, several environmental campaigns are dissatisfied with the new government fund. Water voles are among the iconic species predicted to benefit from the governmental wildlife fund issued on March 15. (PA Archive) We cant just have sprinklings of bits of money here and there and everywhere. It has to be part of the concerted plan, and we dont have that concerted plan. Its a mess, Friends of the Earth nature campaigner Paul de Zylva said. An Extinction Rebellion spokesperson stated that the governments approach to nature and the environment is piecemeal, insufficient, and contradictory to say the least. They added: They have allowed water companies to kill our rivers with sewage, and the new drilling they have licensed in the North Sea is doubling down on a pathway that leads to extinction for much of life on Earth. University of Oxfords Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery researcher Thomas Atkins said that although the funding allocation is a positive initiative, offering 20 projects a share of 25m is not enough to achieve the governments legally binding target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. From a biologists perspective, we need a systematic change in the way we manage and develop in the countryside to have any chance of succeeding at this, he commented. That said, Mr Whitbread is still delighted that the government is funding the rewilding of the Stort, saying: The river is there for everybody, no matter how rich you are, how poor you are. 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 }} Shamima Begum has lost her initial bid to challenge the removal of her British citizenship by taking her case to the Supreme Court. Last year, Ms Begum lost her first appeal against the decision to revoke her citizenship on national security grounds at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp following her travel to the country as a 15-year-old in 2015. Earlier this year, three judges at the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed her bid to overturn the SIAC decision. Shamima Begum loses appeal against removal of her British citizenship (PA) On Monday, a judicial spokesperson confirmed that Ms Begum had asked the Court of Appeal for the green light to take her case to the Supreme Court, but had been refused. Ms Begum may now ask the Supreme Court directly for permission to have her case heard by the UKs highest court. Dismissing her Court of Appeal challenge in February, the lady chief justice, Baroness Carr, said: It could be argued the decision in Ms Begums case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune, but it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view. The only task of the court was to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. Since it was not, Ms Begums appeal is dismissed. Following this decision, Ms Begums solicitor Daniel Furner said: I want to say that Im sorry to Shamima and to her family that after five years of fighting she still hasnt received justice in a British court, and to promise her and promise the government that we are not going to stop fighting until she does get justice and until she is safely back home. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The UK backed a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) call for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Downing Street said the UNSC resolution sent a clear message that the hostages held by Hamas should be released and aid should allowed in to Gaza. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said Israel had a right to defend itself but too many Palestinian lives were being lost, with a clear and present risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Israels ally the US did not wield its veto at the Security Council and the resolution is the first time the body has called for a halt to the fighting. The resolution did not link the demand for a release of the hostages to the ceasefire during Ramadan, which runs until April 9. It is hoped a pause in the fighting could lead to a sustainable ceasefire, with the UK saying a lasting peace would mean Hamas being ousted from power in Gaza and not being in a position to launch attacks against Israel. The Prime Ministers spokesman told reporters: We have long called for an immediate humanitarian pause or temporary ceasefire leading to a sustainable ceasefire, which is what this resolution calls for. And that is why the UK voted in favour of it. We of course recognise that Israel continues to deal with the aftermath of the brutal attacks on October 7 and innocent hostages continue to be held by Hamas. Israel has a right to defend itself and ensure that such an attack can never happen again. But far too many Palestinians had been killed and a humanitarian catastrophe is a clear and present risk. This resolution sends a clear message for the need for all hostages to be released and for aid to be scaled up, the spokesman added. Asked what message the Government would send to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said: We would obviously urge both sides to listen to that and to follow this resolution. Challenged over whether the UN vote would make any difference, the spokesman said: Weve obviously seen a number of talks in recent weeks and we believe and have previously said that we hope negotiators can reach an agreement on a temporary ceasefire as soon as possible. Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, said the vote advanced (the) goal of reaching a sustainable ceasefire and getting hostages out of Gaza and aid into the territory. In a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: We continue to support Israel in light of the brutal horror of the October 7 attacks and the fact that innocent hostages continue to be held by Hamas in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains severe. Weve seen a welcome increase in humanitarian trucks getting in, but more is needed. We will continue to do all we can by air and sea, but the land access remains crucial. The Foreign Secretary held a wide-ranging foreign policy briefing with Conservative MPs at a meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee following the vote at the UN, which is understood to have largely focused on the conflict in Gaza. One MP present said Lord Cameron dismissed claims over the weekend that he was considering imposing an arms embargo on Israel if the flow of aid into Gaza did not increase. But they added that the Foreign Secretary was working as a close friend of Israel and, as such, did not want to see the country in a situation where they are being prosecuted for not letting the aid in. Mr Netanyahus immediate response to the UN resolution was to cancel a planned visit to Washington by a high-level delegation in protest. He accused the US of retreating from what he said had been a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without linking the ceasefire to the release of the hostages held by Hamas. David Lammy MP, Labours Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, responding to the UN Security Councils resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, said: The UN Security Councils call for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages and full humanitarian access in Gaza could not be more necessary. The resolution must now be implemented in full, and the UK government must play its part in applying diplomatic pressure to make it happen. Israels threatened Israeli ground offensive in Rafah must not go ahead, Hamas must release all the hostages and there must be an immediate ceasefire that is observed by all sides, so aid can reach those in desperate need and avert a famine. A ceasefire must create the space for an intense diplomatic process toward a two-state solution to begin, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and independent Palestine, where all can enjoy security, dignity and statehood. International efforts to implement this resolution must not fail. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The UK has slapped sanctions on China after it accused state-backed hackers of carrying out two malicious cyberattacks, including one on Britains election watchdog, Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said the malign attacks on MPs and the Electoral Commission during which hackers allegedly accessed the personal details of about 40 million voters marked a clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signals hostile intent from China. The Foreign Office will now summon the Chinese ambassador to explain what happened, with Mr Dowden insisting the UK would take swift and robust actions against Beijing for any behaviour which targets the UKs democratic institutions and politicians. But he stopped short of labelling the country a threat, admitting the UK will continue to engage with China on issues such as trade and climate change when its in our national interest. Former Cabinet Office minister Sir David Lidington was leading a delegation of MPs on a visit to China over the past week to talk with the Communist Party about relations between the two countries. Mr Dowdens statement came after GCHQ identified a Chinese state-affiliated hacking group as the culprit of the cyberattack, which took place between 2021 and 2022 and gave the attackers personal details of those registered to vote between 2014 and 2022. The deputy prime minister has confirmed that China will face sanctions (PRU/AFP/Getty) MPs calling for Rishi Sunak to use the statement as a watershed moment hit out at Mr Dowdens response, with China hawk and former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith describing it as like an elephant giving birth to a mouse. In a day of international political posturing: Sir Iain compared Mr Sunaks stance on China to Britains appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the governments response was feeble and would only embolden China Ex-home secretary Suella Braverman called for China to be listed on a register of threats to Britains national security Foreign secretary Lord Cameron briefed backbench Conservative MPs on the threat posed by China Labours Pat McFadden backed the government but demanded assurances that the general election would be safe from hackers Critising Britains response to China, Mr Jenrick, tipped as a future Tory leadership contender, said the government clearly is not holding China to account for their attack on our democracy. Ms Braverman, also expected to contest a future leadership election, hit out at the danger that China holds, telling MPs: It is abundantly clear that China is a hostile state and poses an unprecedented threat to our national security. As a row broke out over the governments approach to Beijing, Sir Iain who has repeatedly called for Mr Sunak to designate China officially a threat as opposed to an epoch-defining systemic challenge even compared the governments current policy to that of Britains pre-Second World War administration. We need to be much stronger and tougher. The lesson we learned from the 1930s is that appeasement never works, he said at a press conference in Westminster over the issue. Todays announcement should mark a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for values of human rights and the international rules-based system on which we all depend. Prime minister Rishi Sunak said the UK would take measures to protect itself (PA Wire) Former Labour minister Sir Chris Bryant said he found Mr Dowden utterly unconvincing, telling the Commons: If he thinks this is the sum total of all of the Chinese states attempts to disrupt the British democratic system, hes wilfully blind, and is therefore dangerous. And SNP MP Stewart Malcolm McDonald accused Mr Dowden of turning up at a gun fight with a wooden spoon. He says he has taken robust action ... He hasnt sanctioned a single Chinese state official. Mr Sunak had earlier insisted that Britain was taking steps to protect itself from an increasingly assertive China, describing the country as the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. Echoing the language used in the governments foreign policy review, he said: Weve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. So, its right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing. During the statement, Mr Dowden told MPs that the UK was putting sanctions on two people and a company associated with the cybergroup APT31, which is linked to the Chinese Ministry of State Security. The hack is reported to have begun in August 2021 but was not identified until October 2022. Senior Conservative MP Henry Smith, a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), told The Independent the government should not be naive and needs to recognise the threat posed by China. Responding to the news of Chinas hacks targeting British MPs and the electoral system, he said it was no surprise, sadly. He added: I think we need to get a lot more serious when it comes to China. We have this dichotomy of them being a huge part of global markets, and they cant be ignored, but at the same time, the way they dont play by the international rules-based system is something we need to get real about and take defensive measures against, quite frankly. Whether its hacking MPs in the UK, whether its abusing the Uyghurs or democracy campaigners in Hong Kong, or threatening Taiwan, we need a much more robust response. Clearly, they are a threat by their actions. What more do they need to be doing before people acknowledge that? James Cleverly visited Beijing last year to try and boost Chinese investment in the UK (PA) Posting on social media site X, former cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke called on the government to end our naivety on China, adding that if we blame ourselves for not seeing Putins true nature, why make the same mistake with Xi? Conservative MP Bob Seely also called for a robust and consistent approach to China and said the relationship is still too one-sided. Downing Street insisted the government has its eyes wide open when it comes to China. When asked why the attack was only being revealed a year after it was uncovered, the PMs spokesperson said that the investigation was obviously complex and sensitive and we have been working closely with international partners over a period of time to identify those responsible and hold them to account. They also downplayed suggestions that the timing of the announcement was politically motivated. Emily Taylor, associate fellow at Chatham House, was more sceptical. She told The Independent that although the hack is a vivid example of the vulnerability of the machinery of democracy to cyberattacks, the timing raises a question over whether it is a timely message encouraging electoral resilience, or an attempt to reach out to the China hawks in the party. Ms Taylor also explained the tensions inherent in the governments foreign policy, which she said had resulted in a struggle to create a clear, consistent position on China between seeing the country as an exciting opportunity for trade partnership and inward investment, and the rip and replace decision on Huawei and 5G after years of prevarication. In October last year, Lord Cameron came under fire from some Conservative backbenchers for his softer approach toward the Chinese regime after he spoke at two investment events linked to the countrys global infrastructure strategy. Sir Iain called on Lord Cameron to reconsider the position hes taken on this after Politico reported that the former prime minister had flown to the Middle East in late September to speak at two events for Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka. Labour has called for a new strategy for tackling threats from foreign states. Jo Stevens, shadow secretary of state for Wales, said: We need a new strategy, which we have long been calling for, to tackle state threats, with closer working between the Home Office and the Foreign Office to coordinate the UKs strategic response to this growing threat both to domestic security and our electoral freedoms. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have said it is outrageous that Lord Cameron is not planning to address the House of Commons but just the 1922 Committee. Foreign affairs spokesperson Layla Moran said: When were facing such serious national security threats, it is outrageous that only Conservative backbenchers will hear from the foreign secretary and have the chance to question him, not all MPs. Inmates pass through San Quentin prison during a media tour on Monday. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Theres an utterly new feeling at San Quentins Death Row these days, and its not just for the people running the place. You can feel it like electricity all up and down the grim, time-worn cell blocks housing the worst criminals in the state. Its hope. For the first time since they were sentenced to death and locked into the 170-year-old prison to await execution, the 402 men on the infamous cell block are going to other California prisons. Theyll still be freighted with their death sentences, but theyll be in the general population there, able to move around more and able to socialize and get a wide range of rehabilitation and educational services. Advertisement Article continues below this ad For many, it will amount to the closest thing to freedom any of them have felt in years which means decades for many of them. Its all part of Gov. Gavin Newsoms 5-year-old effort to transform the prison into a gentler place of rehabilitation. The fortress-like lockup even has a new name: San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. A small crowd of reporters on Monday got to tour the row, which will be emptied by late summer, and everyone from the guards to prisoners squeezed into their tiny 4-by-10-foot cells had an almost buoyant attitude. Nobody feels that more than the longest-serving man on Death Row, convicted serial rapist-killer David Carpenter. Death row inmate David Carpenter, 93, uses a tablet in his cell on Monday. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle At 93 years old, Carpenter has been on the row since 1984, after being convicted of murdering at least eight people in Bay Area parks and earning the nickname the Trailside Killer. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Moving away from here will be like being free, he said from behind the black-grated door of his cell. Here, whenever I leave this cell I have to put on waist chains. They walk me everywhere. Its being caged all the time. His wizened face, framed by brown-rimmed glasses, lit into a smile. Im telling you, people are moving boom-boom out of here, someone leaving every day, he said. And the word comes back to us that theyre all happy as can be out of here. Carpenter said he wants to go to the prison systems California Health Care Facility in Stockton because he has friends and family living nearby. Im still trying to prove my innocence, but in the meantime if I can get that move it will be wonderful, he said. I cannot wait. San Quentin spokesperson Lt. GuimMara Berry led the media tour with a big smile. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Russelle Carrington walks through the hall with puppy Geraldine, as they do training during a media tour at San Quentin prison on Monday. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Its a very different feeling here, she said. I feel like were really trying to bring a level of trust between staff and inmates here that we havent had in decades. Were about giving a person purpose. Its going to be grand not just for us, but for them, for their mental health, for everything. Ive always been taught that if you treat people with respect, it will be reciprocated. Thats what were trying. The last execution here was in January 2006, when triple-murderer Clarence Ray Allen was put to death by lethal injection. Before him, there had been 12 others executed since the practice resumed in 1992, but after Allen, there was great legal debate over whether lethal injections constituted cruel and unusual punishment. That point became moot shortly after Newsom was elected in 2018 when he declared a moratorium on executions. Since then, the governor had the death chamber shut down. Its now an empty room, and his plan is to turn the entire prison into a Scandinavian-style model of rehabilitation, taking precedence over mere punishment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Death Row inmate Keith Lewis, 67, of Oakland sits in his cell on Monday. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Some of the nations most notorious killers are still among the condemned from Yosemite quadruple-killer Cary Stayner to Polly Klaass murderer Richard Allen Davis. At its height, there were more than 700 convicts on the row. A long, slow process of transferring prisoners out of San Quentin has already placed hundreds in other facilities, leaving the 402 who are there now. Not only is Newsom aiming for a more humane environment at the prison, but emptying Death Row saves money. The average prisoner in San Quentin costs the state around $60,000 a year, but those on the row cost twice that. Guard Andrei Kinshin closes the door to the entrance to Death Row at San Quentin prison on Monday. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle This change is good, said San Quentin officer Andrei Kinshin, who for 10 years has guarded the door of the East Block of Death Row, the main building for the condemned men. (There are no women on death row in San Quentin.) Advertisement Article continues below this ad Most of the inmates here behave like normal people, but you think about what theyve done, he said. I always keep that in mind. But everyone is a person. You cant forget that. Some victims' advocates and family members of people affected by crime have sharply criticized Newsoms plan, saying any funding spent to transform San Quentin would be better spent on helping victims heal. Robert Galvan, 49, of Fresno admitted that he needs to do his time, but he said he wants to be a better person while doing it. Robert Galvan, 49, of Fresno has been on Death Row in San Quentin since 2012. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle Hey, Im here because I killed my cellie (cellmate) in Corcoran state prison, Galvan, whose entire upper body and face is coated with tattoos of skulls and family depictions, said in a special interviewing cage in East Block. But I do think it would be great if we were transferred. Look, were not doing anything here, but if I can go to Folsom (prison) thats where I want I can be near my wife and my kids. He looked down contemplatively. If I could do my life differently, I would think before I act, he said. Ive been locked up most of the time since I was 12, and I got here (to Death Row) in 2012. But Im changing. And theres always hope. My wifes brother just got out of prison after 46 years, and my uncle just got out after being inside since 1981. My wife and kids keep me sane while Im in here, and Im trying to do good so maybe, just maybe, someday I can get out. 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 state-affiliated cyber actors were behind the malicious targeting of parliamentarians and a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has said. The UKs cyber security agency, which is part of GCHQ, said it believes a China-backed group known as APT31 was responsible for a campaign of online spying against the email accounts of a group of MPs and peers critical of China. APT31 has previously been accused of targeting other government entities and political figures around the world, including attacks on the Finnish parliament and Norwegian government IT systems in recent years, as well as an attack on Microsoft Exchange servers in 2021. The malicious activities we have exposed today are indicative of a wider pattern of unacceptable behaviour we are seeing from China state-affiliated actors against the UK and around the world Paul Chichester, NCSC The NCSC said it had also attributed the compromise of computer systems at the Electoral Commission between 2021 and 2022 to a Chinese-backed actor in a separate incident. The cyber security agency said the attack on the Electoral Commission was likely to have seen email data accessed and exfiltrated for use by the Chinese intelligence services. When the attack was made public last year, it was confirmed that the hackers had been able to access reference copies of the electoral registers, held by the commission for research purposes and to enable permissibility checks on political donations. The registers held at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters. But they did not include the details of those registered anonymously. The register for each year holds the details of around 40 million individuals, which were accessible to the hostile actors, although this includes people on the open registers, whose information is already in the public domain. The NCSC said it believed it was highly likely this data would be used by the Chinese intelligence services for large-scale espionage campaigns and to repress perceived critics of China in the UK. On the targeting of Members of Parliament, the NCSC said the cyber campaign against email accounts had been identified and successfully mitigated by Parliaments own security department before any accounts could be compromised. It is vital that organisations and individuals involved in our democratic processes defend themselves in cyberspace and I urge them to follow and implement the NCSCs advice to stay safe online Paul Chichester, NCSC Paul Chichester, NCSC director of operations, said: The malicious activities we have exposed today are indicative of a wider pattern of unacceptable behaviour we are seeing from China state-affiliated actors against the UK and around the world. The targeting of our democratic system is unacceptable and the NCSC will continue to call out cyber actors who pose a threat to the institutions and values that underpin our society. It is vital that organisations and individuals involved in our democratic processes defend themselves in cyberspace and I urge them to follow and implement the NCSCs advice to stay safe online. The Electoral Commission said the attack did not have an impact on the security of UK elections, and resilience has been strengthened since the attack. As part of the response to the attacks, the NCSC said it had updated its guidance for political organisations with further advice on how to reduce the likelihood of cyber attacks. Al Lakhani, founder and chief executive of cyber security firm IDEE, said the Government needed to be more robust in its cyber security response. When it comes to something as important as national security, relying on outdated cybersecurity solutions that detect attacks, but stop short of preventing them, is nothing short of dangerous Al Lakhani, cyber security firm IDEE International relations are built on good faith, mutual interests and a fair bit of give and take, he said. But these are all completely opposed to good cybersecurity practices, which must be built on zero trust. The Government is blatantly tiptoeing around the issue, evidently paralysed by the fear of alienating global superpowers, but the result is compromised personal data and undermining confidence in electoral processes. To avoid these awkward situations, the Government needs to find better ways of protecting its systems and data. When it comes to something as important as national security, relying on outdated cybersecurity solutions that detect attacks, but stop short of preventing them, is nothing short of dangerous. A general election is on the horizon, and the threat of international interference is huge. So, I hope that lessons have been learnt from past breaches, that this marks a turning point in the UKs cyber security preparedness, and that we move towards a digitally secure future rooted in identity proofing and transitive trust. 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 }} Oliver Dowden said he could guarantee the elections this year would be safe from Chinese cyber attacks and insisted UK national security would not be put at risk by Chinese-made smart vehicles. The Deputy Prime Minister said the local elections in May and the general election later in 2024 will be safe and secure, after earlier formally blaming Beijing for an attack on the Electoral Commission which exposed the personal data of 40 million voters. In a statement to the House of Commons, he announced sanctions on two people and an entity associated with Chinese state-linked hacking group APT31. I can guarantee that our electoral processes will be safe and secure Oliver Dowden Speaking to the PA news agency later on Monday, he expressed confidence the electoral process would be safe from Chinese espionage. Mr Dowden said: Yes, I can guarantee that our electoral processes will be safe and secure. That is not to say there isnt an increasingly hostile landscape against which all elections around the world are being conducted. He added that its precisely because were in this year of elections when we face this heightened risk from malign actors such as China, acting in co-operation with states including Russia, Iran and North Korea, that it is important that nations that believe in democracy, openness, the rule of law stand together. Pressed on why the action was only being taken now, when the Electoral Commission attack was identified in October 2022, the Deputy Prime Minister said it was important to have a robust evidence base and a united and concerted front with the United States. The UKs increased pressure on China came amid similar action from the US, which indicted several Chinese individuals accused of malicious cyber operations on Monday. US President Joe Biden, citing possible national security risks, recently announced an investigation into Chinese-made smart cars that can gather sensitive information about Americans driving them. Mr Dowden, asked whether the UK has similar concerns, insisted the Government would ensure Chinese connected vehicles were secure. Well make sure that we protect the security of our transport infrastructure, he said. And of course, any new technology requires approval from safety authorities. And I know that the Secretary of State for Transport will ensure that any new technology thats deployed on our roads is protected and secure. The minister also said the UK kept all decisions on Chinese nuclear investment under review, amid fresh concerns about Bradwell B, the proposed nuclear power station at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex, put forward by China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN). Mr Dowden said: Of course we keep all these decisions under review. But I believe that weve reached a sensible place in relation to this and working across Government and with our intelligence community, well make sure that any nuclear investments are safe and secure. Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} The number of Britons without financial savings has jumped by more than one million in the past year, with the financial security of working families plunged into chaos, according to a new analysis of poverty figures. Around 7.9 million people had no savings in the bank account in the year 2022/23 up from 6.8 million a year earlier. More than 21 million almost one third of Brits have less than 1,500 in reserve. Labour, which analysed the figures, accused the Conservatives of shattering family finances and blamed the economic chaos of the past few years for plunging half a million more people from working families into absolute poverty in the same year. Shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall has called disastrous for the living standards of working families. The number of children in relative poverty in the UK has hit a record high (PA Wire) Ms Kendall said: These figures lay bare 14 years of devastating Tory economic failure. On their watch, the Tories crashed the economy and unleashed a cost of living crisis, causing mortgages to soar and shattering family finances. In February, a report from the Resolution Foundation estimated that the UK had a 74bn shortfall of funds saved for emergencies and for retirement compared with a country in which every family had at least three months of income kept in precautionary savings. It found that less than half (49 per cent) of working-age families had savings worth at least three months income, leaving a country of people who are vulnerable to shocks from family breakdown and unemployment. The foundation also warned that those with lower levels of savings were more than twice as likely to use credit cards, overdrafts or borrowed money than those with at least 1,000 in reserve. It is estimated that 6.7 million people in Britain are now in financial difficulty, according to campaign group Debt Justice, which found that 13 per cent of adults had missed three or more credit or bill payments in the last six months. Fears about the state of UK family finances were confounded last week when it was revealed that the number of children living in poverty is at a record high. Some 4.3 million children are now growing up in poverty in the UK, marking the highest level since records began over 20 years ago. In comparison to 2020/21, 900,000 more people are living in absolute poverty, 400,000 of them children. Liz Kendall has said the figures lay bare 14 years of devasting Tory economic failure (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire) The data, released by the Department for Work and Pensions, paints a bleak economic picture across the nation, which the average household income falling in the past year by 1.5 per cent and widening income inequality. Analysis of the figures by think tank the New Economic Foundation (NEF) found that levels of child poverty had risen 5.6 times faster in the most deprived areas compared to the richest. Nineteen of the 20 local authorities in the UK that saw the highest increase in child poverty since 2014/15 were in the North West, East Midlands and West Midlands. Campaigners said the statistics should act as a wake-up call, with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation accusing the government of failing to protect the most vulnerable people in Britain. A Conservative Party spokesman said: Labour cant say what they would do because they have no plan whatsoever. Their countless unfunded spending pledges would wreck the economy and leave Brits to pick up the bill through higher taxes. They added: The Conservatives are sticking with the plan, which has delivered a 900 tax cut for workers. Labour would take us right back to square one. 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 }} Tory MP Scott Benton is quitting parliament almost a year after being embroiled in a lobbying sting. The Blackpool South MP has written to Jeremy Hunt with a heavy heart tendering his resignation, meaning Rishi Sunak faces another tricky by-election in the seat. His departure comes as a recall petition in his seat was ongoing, Benton having been suspended from the parliament after allegedly being caught offering to lobby ministers on behalf of gambling investors in exchange for money. Scott Benton was caught in a lobbying sting (PA Wire) He was expected to be recalled from parliament by his constituents and face a by-election in the seat, which he would have been likely to lose. Mr Benton won the seat, which had been held since 1997 by Labour, for the Tories under Boris Johnson in 2019. He had a narrow majority of just 3,690, and with the Conservatives currently trailing Labour in the national polls by 22 points, he was expected to lose the seat in a by-election later this year. His immediate resignation, rather than waiting for the recall petition to conclude next month, will bring forward the contest. In his statement, Mr Benton said: It's with a heavy heart that I have written to the Chancellor this morning to tender my resignation as your MP. I have always sought to do what I believed to be in the best interests of Blackpool, and of our country. In 2019, I pledged to be an active, hardworking and relatable MP who would listen to your concerns and views and act upon them. Id like to think that I have more than succeeded in that aim. The chancellor, Mr Hunt, confirmed he had appointed Mr Benton to be Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead under parliaments arcane rules for MPs who want to quit. It is expected that the Blackpool South contest will take place on the same day as the local elections on 2 May. Scott Bentons resignation is the latest headache for Rishi Sunak, who has faced a series of devastating by-election losses in the past year (PA Wire) In February, Mr Benton was suspended from the House of Commons for 35 days after being found to have breached the rules. The House of Commons committee on standards found the MP had given the impression he was corrupt and for sale after he was secretly filmed saying he could table parliamentary questions and provide behind the scenes information for up to 4,000 a month. Mr Benton was prepared to leak market-sensitive information to an investment fund and ask parliamentary questions on its behalf, in breach of parliamentary lobbying rules, an undercover investigation for The Times found. He was caught on camera telling undercover reporters posing as investors how he was willing to take actions that would break Parliaments lobbying rules. In a meeting in March 2023, Mr Benton described how he could support a fake investment fund, which he believed was set up by an Indian businessman looking to make investments in the UK betting and gaming sector, by attempting to water down proposed gambling reforms. Mr Benton also offered a guarantee to provide a copy of an upcoming gambling white paper to the business at least two days before publication, potentially allowing it to benefit from market-sensitive information. He also said he could table parliamentary written questions and said he had previously done it on behalf of a company. Mr Benton said he could offer the direct ear of a minister who is actually going to make these decisions and speak to them outside the Commons voting lobby. The MP agreed with a fee proposed by the reporters in the range of 2,000 to 4,000 a month for two days work. The contest in Mr Bentons seat will be the latest challenge for Mr Sunak, who has faced a slew of brutal by-election defeats in the past year, including in Peter Bones former constituency of Wellingborough and Chris Skidmores old seat of Kingswood. 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 }} Nearly 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolchildren have been freed more than two weeks after they were seized from a school in the north-western state of Kaduna, local officials have said. Kaduna state governor Uba Sani did not give details of the release of the 287 students, who were taken from their school in the remote town of Kuriga on 7 March. In a statement, Mr Sani thanked Nigerian president Bola Tinubu for particularly ensuring that the abducted Kuriga schoolchildren are released unharmed. Mr Tinubu had vowed to rescue the children without paying a dime as ransom. Abductions of students from schools in northern Nigeria are common and have been a major source of concern since 2014 when Islamic extremists kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in Borno states Chibok village. In recent years, abductions have been concentrated in the countrys north-western and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for ransom. 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 }} South African prosecutors said on Monday they intend to charge the parliament speaker with corruption, alleging she took $135,000 and a wig in bribes over a three-year period while she was defence minister. Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has not been arrested or charged. The prosecutors spoke at a court hearing over her claims that authorities hadnt properly informed her of allegations or followed the correct procedure. The judge was expected to rule on a stay of arrest later on Monday. In court papers submitted for the hearing, prosecutors say Mapisa-Nqakula received 11 payments totalling $135,000 between December 2016 and July 2019. She sought another bribe of $105,000 but that wasnt paid, prosecutors said. On one occasion in February 2019, Mapisa-Nqakula received more than $15,000 and a wig at a meeting at the countrys main international airport, the papers say. The person who allegedly paid the bribes was not named. Prosecutors gave her the opportunity to hand herself in at a police station and be taken to court to be formally charged. They said they would not oppose her bail. Mapisa-Nqakula has denied wrongdoing and had said she would cooperate with authorities after they searched her home in Johannesburg and seized evidence last week. She has taken a leave of absence from her role as parliament speaker. She was previously accused of taking bribes, but a parliamentary investigation was dropped in 2021. The case re-emerged after a whistleblower came forward last year, prosecutors said. On Tuesday, it was reported a special investigations unit searched her home and seized evidence. The search and seizure operation at the Johannesburg home was confirmed in a statement from parliament. The investigation of Mapisa-Nqakula was made public this month by a newspaper, which said she was suspected of receiving at least $120,000 in bribes from a defence contractor between 2016 and 2019. The money was delivered to her in cash in gift bags, according to The Sunday Times. Her case is the latest graft scandal to hit the ruling African National Congress party, which faces a pivotal national election on 29 May. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel 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 Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun and two top executives have announced that they will step down from their positions at the company following a string of incidents that have sparked major safety concerns. In a memo posted to the companys website on Monday, Mr Calhoun said the Alaska Airlines flight 1282 incident in which a panel on the side of a plane blew out mid-flight was a watershed moment for Boeing, and that he had decided to leave the company at the end of the year. He emphasised the need for a transparent approach in future. We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company, Mr Calhoun wrote. Reflecting on his time as CEO of Boeing as the greatest privilege of his life, Mr Calhoun said the company was going to fix what is no longer working to help rebuild its reputation for safety. In addition to Mr Calhouns departure, Boeings chair, Larry Kellner, and the CEO and president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Stan Deal, will also step down. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks to reporters as he departs from a meeting at the office of senator Mark Warner (Getty) The news comes after a string of high-profile accidents led to public distrust in Boeing aircraft, specifically the 737 Max. In January, a door panel blew out on a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight over Portland, Oregon. Photos and videos from the incident went viral and caused panic among passengers. Ultimately the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board opened investigations, which led to the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft. Preliminary investigations found that several critical bolts had been missing from the panel before take-off, calling into question Boeings manufacturing practices. But Boeings problems did not start or end with the Alaska Airlines incident. The company has been embroiled in previous safety concerns over the 737 Max 8, after two of the planes crashed in 2018 and 2019 resulting in the deaths of all passengers and crew. Though Boeing has taken responsibility for some of the safety concerns and begun implementing changes to assure the public that they will remedy them, people have still expressed scepticism about flying on Boeing-manufactured planes. Mr Calhouns resignation, alongside those of Mr Kellner and Mr Deal, seems to be motivated by the companys desire to rebuild its reputation. The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years, Mr Calhoun wrote. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US 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 four-day search has come to an end for an experienced and avid hiker in California after her body was discovered over a steep drop-off at the base of a waterfall. The body of 30-year-old Caroline Meister was discovered by search and rescue personnel on Friday, after she went missing on 18 March after she left on a hike and never returned, the Monterey County Sheriffs Office announced on Friday. Along with several search and rescue teams and assistance from other counties, a drone team, a K9 unit and a heat-sensing aircraft, all helped in the search for the missing woman in the Ventana Wilderness. Search and rescue teams were carrying out a high angle search off the Cut Off trail, where a waterfall drops off of the trail, when they discovered Meisters body on Friday. The rescuers rappelled down the steep drop-off at around 10.45am, where they found Meisters body at the base of the waterfall. Meister worked and lived at the Tassajara Zen Center, which she left to embark on a solo day hike on 18 March (Monterey County Sheriffs Office) The sheriffs office said that her injuries were consistent with falling down a cliff, and there were no signs of foul play. The search for Meister began after the sheriffs office received a report on 18 March that Meister did not return from a hike. She left the Zen Center, where she has worked and lived for over a year and a half, at Tassajara in the Ventana Wilderness at 10am that day to embark on a day hike. Meister went prepared with food for the day and the clothing she was wearing but did not carry items for an overnight hike. She planned to hike a trail that loops back around to the Zen Center, according to the sheriffs office. She also mentioned hiking the Windcave Trail, which is not an official trail but likely refers to an area known to the hiking community, Andy Rosas, a spokesperson from the Monterey County Sheriffs Office told SFGATE. Meisters body was found at the bottom of a Waterfall near the Cut Off trail by search and rescue (Monterey County Sheriffs Office) When she did not return, concerned staff and friends at the Zen Center began a search for the hiker and then contacted the sheriffs office. The search for Meister continued for four days across a wide area until the discovery of her body on Friday. Before Meisters discovery, her parents spoke with KSBW and said their daughter was an avid hiker and was very familiar with the area as she had been working at the centre in the Los Padres National Forest for a while. After news of Meisters death, her parents expressed their gratitude to all those who searched for their daughter. Heather Iarusso, director of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where Meister resided, told CBS that hiking in the nearby trails alone was not uncommon. Many of us have lived here for a while, and were familiar with these trials. She was not out there doing anything risky," Ms Ianrusso said. "Shes just a lovely human being, and we all we already miss her deeply. She was an amazingly sweet, bright spirit, very gentle and kind and helpful, she added. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US 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 South Carolina court clerk has announced her resignation after being plagued by accusations of jury tampering during Alex Murdaughs high-profile double murder trial. In what marks her first public appearance since the bombshell allegations were made by the convicted killers legal team last year, Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Becky Hill addressed reporters in front of the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro on Monday morning. Flanked by her attorney Justin Bamberg, she confirmed she will not run for reelection, adding that she is quitting her role effective immediately. I will now be able to focus on being a wife, mother and grandmother to my two grandboys, she said. And will be spending time with the people who mean the most to me. Her attorney said that today is not in response to any new development in the state investigations into her, adding that her resignation is about allowing other candidates to run. When we run for elected office, we run publicly, our lives become public, so its only fitting, and I respect Ms Hill very much, that the conclusion of her service happens publicly, he added. Bamberg refused to address the state investigation against her. The court clerk is currently under investigation by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for allegations of abusing her government position for financial and personal gain, specifically jury tampering during Murdaughs trial in order to help sell copies of her upcoming book. SLED is the same state agency that led the investigation into the murders of Murdaughs wife Maggie and son Paul in 2021. Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill announced her resignation after being plagued by accusations of jury tampering during Alex Murdaughs high-profile double murder trial (ABC4 News) Ms Hill has served as Colleton County clerk of court since she was elected in 2020 and was the clerk during what became known as the Lowcountrys trial of the century. When the jury returned its verdict, it was Ms Hill who read out his conviction on all charges to the court. Following the six-week long trial in early 2023, she went on to write an insider book about it. Then, in September, Murdaughs attorneys filed a motion for a retrial claiming that Ms Hill had tampered with jurors, and had swayed the panel towards a guilty verdict to help sell copies of her book. During Murdaughs retrial hearing in January, retired South Carolina Chief Justice Jean Toal denied the request for a new trial. But, despite dismissing Murdaughs request, the judge said that Ms Hill was not completely credible as a witness. The judge did acknowledge that Ms Hill had a conflict of interest but said that the fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-seeking clerk of court were not sufficient to grant a new trial. I find that the clerk of court was not completely credible as a witness. Miss Hill was attracted by the siren call of celebrity, Judge Toal said. During cross-examination, Murdaughs attorney Dick Harpoolitan read an excerpt from Ms Hills book where she wrote that while visiting Murdaughs estate with jurors she had locked eyes with them with the unspoken understanding that Murdaugh was guilty. Mr Harpoolitan also asked if she made up facts because she was motivated by financial gain. Ms Hill testified under oath she had taken some poetic license, but never told jurors that she thought Murdaugh was guilty. She also admitted that she made around $100,000 in book sales, and apologised for plagiarizing reporting from a BBC reporter in her book. Im very sorry and I have apologised, she said. Alex Murdaugh found guilty on all counts In December 2023, sales were halted on the book Ms Hill co-authored with Neil Gordon entitled Behind the Doors of Justice: the Murdaugh Murders, due to revelations that Ms Hill plagiarized a portion of the book without Gordons knowledge. Gordon says it was discovered that she took passages from a draft of a BBC article. When I confronted Becky about this, she admitted she plagiarized the passage due to deadline pressures, he said in the statement. As a veteran journalist myself, I cannot excuse her behavior, nor can I condone it. This has blindsided me, he added. Because the book was self-published in July, it was the authors decision to halt sales, Gordon told The Independent. Ms Hill has denied all of the allegations levelled against her in a September motion. In a sworn statement, the state branded the allegations as a sweeping conspiratorial theory and said that not every inappropriate comment made by a member of court staff to a juror rises to the level of constitutional error. One of the most damning accusations centres around the dismissal of juror number 785, just hours before jury deliberations began. According to Murdaughs attorneys, Ms Hill invented a story about a Facebook post to remove a juror she believed might not vote guilty. Murdaughs attorneys filed a motion for a retrial claiming that Ms Hill had tampered with jurors (The State Newspaper, 2024) Judge Clifton Newman, who oversaw the murder trial, removed the female juror from the panel for allegedly discussing the case with at least three other people outside of the court. The woman then prompted some light-hearted and widely-reported relief when she asked to pick up her dozen eggs from the jury room before she left. According to the motion, Ms Hill had gone to Judge Newman on 27 February the day after Murdaugh testified claiming that she had seen a post in the local Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth from juror 785s former husband, Tim Stone. The post purportedly claimed that the juror was drinking with her ex-husband and, when she became drunk, she expressed her views on whether Murdaugh was innocent or guilty. A follow-up post from an account called Timothy Stone apologised for the post saying that he was driven by Satan. In a court filing, Murdaughs attorneys claimed that the Mr Stone behind the Facebook posts was actually a random Georgia man who was ranting about his wifes aunt and has no connection to the case. Murdaughs attorneys had claimed that based on these allegations he should be granted a new murder trial. Murdaugh has remained adamant that he did not kill his younger son with a shotgun and his wife with a rifle since the moment he told deputies he found their bodies at their Colleton County home in 2021. He testified in his own defence. Hes also serving 27 years after admitting he stole $12 million from his law firm and from settlements he gained for clients on wrongful death and serious injury lawsuits. Murdaugh promised not to appeal that sentence as part of his plea deal. Jessica Flores is a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. Before joining The Chronicle in 2021, she worked for USA Today, NPR affiliate KPCC and Curbed LA. Originally from L.A., she received her masters degree in journalism from the University of Southern California and a bachelors degree from Mount Saint Marys University in Los Angeles. She can be reached at Jessica.Flores@sfchronicle.com. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US 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 }} Kaylee Gain, a teenage student from St Louis, Missouri, was brutally beaten near her high school on 8 March. The 16-year-old suffered a skull fracture, and bleeding and swelling on the brain, during the fight. On Friday, 22 March, her family announced that she is breathing on her own and out of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Meanwhile, the suspected attackers family caused outrage by starting a Change.org petition calling for the fifteen-year-old to be tried as a juvenile. Here is everything we know about Kaylees condition, and the teenager who has been charged with her assault. Brutal attack caught on video Around 2.30 pm on 8 March, St Louis police were called to an intersection near Hazelwood East High School and discovered a teenage girl, later revealed to be Kaylee, suffering from a head injury after a brawl. The fight was captured on video and went viral soon afterwards, receiving millions of views on social media. The footage showed a fight between two girls with a large group surrounding them on the street. Kaylee Gain has left the ICU and is breathing on her own, her family said on 22 March (Supplied) One girl can be seen pushing Kaylee to the ground, and slamming her head against the concrete. Some bystanders then tried to break up the fight, but others began fighting themselves. The Hazelwood School District said it is a tragedy anytime that a child is hurt. Bullying and fighting in the community is an issue for which we all need to take ownership and work towards a resolution for the sake of our children, the statement read. The Hazelwood School District offers our sincerest condolences to everyone involved, and will offer additional emotional support from our support and crisis team to those in need. St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell called the video sickening but said that his office did not have the power to act in the case and that the juvenile court division would handle the situation. Kaylee leaves ICU as GoFundMe raises thousands Kaylee spent nearly two weeks in the ICU following the fight, suffering from a fractured skull, brain bleed and swelling. The full scope and extent of Kaylees injuries and prognosis for recovery cannot be determined until, with Gods grace, she regains consciousness, Bryan Kaemmerer, an attorney for her family, said last week. Kaylees family established a GoFundMe to pay for her care and recovery. They have raised nearly $400,000, with billionaire investor Bill Ackman donating $10,000. On 22 March, Kaylees mother April Nordstrom announced on GoFundMe that her daughter was removed from the ICU. We are so happy and blessed to announce that Kaylee is now stable, breathing on her own , and was moved out of the ICU, Ms Nordstrom wrote in an update. She still has an incredibly long journey ahead of her but she is strong. The suspected teenage attacker Soon after the brawl, St Louis police arrested an unnamed 15-year-old believed to be Kaylees attacker. The teenager is in custody and it is yet unclear whether she will be charged as an adult. After her arrest, the teens aunt set up a Change.org petition calling on Chief Juvenile Officer Rick Gaines not to charge her as an adult. The girl is a multilingual honour roll student who was defending herself from harassment and bullying during the attack, the petition states. We ask that the Juvenile Court use a combination of Restorative Justice and Rehabilitation methods instead of only using punitive measures to address the harm that occurred, the petition reads. The petition has just over 800 signature on 24 March. The family had also started their own GoFundMe campaign to help with the 15-year-olds legal bills. It raised $3,000 before GoFundMe officials removed the page for violating the terms of service. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey called for the girl to be tried as an adult on 22 March. However, the choice is still up to the Juvenile Court. There is no discretion that the court has to hold a certification hearing when you have teens who should know better who do know better and theyre committing adult crimes, Mr Bailey said, KSDK reported. There needs to be adult punishments. The GoFundMe for Kaylee Gain has raised nearly $400,000 as of 24 March (Bryan M Kaemmerer, an attorney representing Kaylee Gains family.) Law enforcement and school responds Mr Bailey also announced that he is investigating the Hazelwood School District, claiming their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies led to Kaylees injuries, KSDK reported. The attorney general claimed that the district adopted a statement of solidarity to reevaluate the districts relationship with local police, and as a result removed uniformed officers from their schools. Notably, during the attack on Ms. Gain, which was captured on video by other students, not a single school resource officer was on the scene to protect Ms. Gain or restore order, he wrote, in a letter to the school districts superintendent. The absence of SROs on the scene is directly attributable to Hazelwoods insistence on prioritizing race-based policies over basic student safety. By its actions, HSD has endangered not only Ms. Gain, but the general school community writ large. In response to the letter, the Hazelwood School District (HSD) reaffirmed its commitment to the policies. Contrary to recent statements, HSD does not prioritize DEI initiatives at the expense of student safety, the district said, according to KSDK. Rather, we believe that fostering an inclusive environment is essential to ensuring the well-being of every member of our school community. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US 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 body of missing University of Missouri student Riley Strain has been located in West Nashville after he disappeared two weeks ago. Authorities discovered Strains body approximately 8 miles from downtown Nashville in the Cumberland River, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at a press conference. Workers were removing an object from the river when they stumbled upon Strains body. Riley Strain's mother speaks out after his body is recovered According to police, Strain was wearing his distinctive black and white shirt when he was found, contradicting earlier claims by that the shirt had been taken and worn by a man named Ross. An initial autopsy revealed there were no signs of foul play-related trauma, local outlet WKRN reports. Mr Drake made note of a grim detail during the presser that could shed some light on why it took so long to find Strain; a body matching Strains height and weight would typically take approximately 14 to 20 days to surface after being submerged in a body of water. He said the police were expecting to find him sometime this week as a result. Strain, 22, was visiting Nashville with his fraternity brothers for an annual spring formal trip. On 8 March, he was kicked out of country star Luke Bryan's 32 Bridge Food + Drink, reportedly for being intoxicated. After being kicked out, Strain spoke with his friends on the phone and told them he would return to their hotel. Rather than doing so, he began walking in the opposite direction, toward the Cumberland River. Riley Strains body was recovered on 22 March (Chris Whiteid via AP/Metro Nashville PD) The last signal sent from Strain's phone placed him in the proximity of a park located near the river's banks. Strain's friends eventually realised that he had not returned to the hotel. They called 911 to report Strain missing at 1.46 am on Saturday, 9 March. That kicked off a two week search in Nashville. Police, volunteers, and Strain's friends and family from Missouri wandered the streets and questioned locals in an attempt to find the missing student. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department used sonar-equipped boats to search the Cumberlands River's waters for any sign of Strain while a helicopter and drone inspected the nearby riverbanks. Those searches turned up no evidence that Strain had fallen into the river. Police continued to push for answers, and told the public relatively early that they believed there had been no foul play involved in the student's disappearance. Two women assisting in the search for Strain eventually discovered his bank card discarded on the banks of the Cumberland River. Homeless residents told police they'd seen him wandering near the banks on the night of the disappearance, and eventually even a police officer revealed he'd had a chance, albeit brief, encounter with the student the night he disappeared. A candlelight vigil for Riley Strain, held on the same street where footage last captured him alive (AP) The night his body was found, Nashville residents held a candlelight vigil for Strain on Gay Street, where he was last seen by surveillance footage. Strains family also held a press conference thanking the Nashville community for their support during the two-week search for the student. I want to reiterate how thankful we are for everyone and how much we appreciate everyones support, love and prayers, Riley Strains mother, Michelle Whiteid, said. I just ask that you mamas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please, for me, she continued. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US 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 man has been charged for allegedly stabbing nineteen-year-old twin sisters in New York City, leaving one dead. Veo Kelly, 20, turned himself in on 22 March to the New York Police Departments 78 Precinct, according to the New York Daily News. He has been charged with murder, assault and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD told The Independent. 20-year-old Veo Kelly turned himself in to the New York Police Department on Friday (FOX 5 New York) Samyia and Sanyia Spain were stabbed at a deli in Park Slope, Brooklyn around 2am on 17 March. Samyia was stabbed in the chest, and later died of her injuries in hospital, police said. Sanyia was stabbed in the arm and has since been released from hospital. The sisters had allegedly rejected Mr Kellys advances before the attack. Sanyia Spain told the Daily News that she tried to remove herself and her sister from the situation in the deli. I grabbed her phone and I was like, Come with me, come with me, she said. I was like, Why are you talking to that boy? She said, I dont want to talk to that boy. Samyia Spain was fatally stabbed in a Brooklyn bodega on 17 March (myia.2xx/Instagram) The twins were with their older brother, and had just left a family game night. Sanyia told the Daily News that the deli worker ejected the individual from the store and locked the door. However once the siblings left the deli, they saw the man and two of his friends. He had a knife in his hand and was saying, Im gonna stab yall in the face, Sanyia told the New York Daily News. Im telling everyone to back up. And he pushed little Samyia to the ground. As the man approached, the twins brother punched him in the face. As I was going to grab [Samyias phone], he stabbed me in my arm, Sanyia said. Samyia then asked him to give her the phone back, and he stabbed her in the neck. Slope Natural Plus deli in Brooklyn, New York, where Samyia Spain was fatally stabbed (Google Maps) Sanyia said that she called the police after her sister told her, Im going to faint. Im trying to be strong for [our parents], she added. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told the Daily News that Mr Kellys attorney had made contact with investigators. Police searched Mr Kellys apartment on Thursday after identifying him as a suspect. Mr Kenny said the suspect became angry after the twins turned him down, describing him as aggressive. Mr Kelly is being held by police and due in court on 27 March, according to the New York City Department of Corrections. Community members shared their grief over the tragic loss. "Theyre very nice. I know their father, too. They come here all the time, customers for maybe over, I would say, over 10 years I know them," Mohammed Alba, who works at the deli where the attack took place but was not present on the night Samyia was killed, told CBS News. "Take somebody elses life, a young lady, 19 years old, a beautiful girl. A memorial of flowers, teddy bears and candles has gathered outside of Samyias home. The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US 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 }} Watch live as authorities raid a Los Angeles property associated with Sean Diddy Combs and his production company on Monday, 25 March. It comes after footage showed US authorities outside the rappers Miami Beachs exclusive Star Island. The reason for the authorities presence was not immediately confirmed; Fox 11 reported that the raids were in connection with a federal sex trafficking investigation. Officials familiar with the matter told ABC News authorities raided three properties associated with Diddy. "Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners. We will provide further information as it becomes available," the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. The 54-year-old has recently faced sexual assault allegations. A male music producer has accused Mr Combs of sexually assaulting him and forcing him to sleep with sex workers in a lawsuit which alleges repeated instances of unsolicited groping and sexual touching. The lawsuit also said that the man had to work in a bathroom while Mr Combs showered and walked around naked. Mr Combss lawyer, Shawn Holley, said events described in the lawsuit were pure fiction. Through his lawyer, Diddy also denied allegations from R&B singer Cassie - full name Cassandra Ventura - claiming that she was trafficked, raped and beaten by the rapper over 10 years. Ms Ventura and Mr Combs - who denied the allegations - settled the lawsuit amicably, both parties said. Close Missing Sebastian Rogers' father speaks as search reaches one month mark The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US 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 non-profit organisation helping in the search for Sebastian Rogers in Tennessee called off its search on Friday over safety concerns. Members of the United Cajun Navy reportedly received death threats online and in person, with the group announcing it was regrouping. Meanwhile, the 15-year-olds parents met with law enforcement on Thursday, as the search for him nears five weeks. The 15-year-olds father said he could not discuss with reporters what the meeting was about, but insisted that he still has hope that his son is out there somewhere. I dont know if hes been abducted or if hes just over at a friends house, but Ill know when I find him exactly what has happened to him, Seth Rogers told Fox 17. Authorities revealed on Tuesday that at least 10,000 miles had been logged by those searching for the autistic teenager, with an Amber Alert still in effect. He vanished overnight on 25 February, with his mother Katie Proudfoot finding his bed empty the next morning. So far there has been no sign of him. 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 }} NBC News political director Chuck Todd isnt ready to defend his networks hiring of former GOP chief Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst. On Sunday, he made sure his bosses and everybody else knew it. Ms McDaniels hiring as a paid contributor at NBC News this past week was reported to have made a number of journalists at the network uncomfortable. As Meet the Press turned to its panel segment on Sunday morning, Todd vocalised those objections in a fiery admonition of NBC brass, whom he said owed moderator Kristen Welker an apology for booking Ms McDaniel as one of her interviews for Sundays programme. Welkers interview with Ms McDaniel touched on several topics including her leadership of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Her tenure as RNC chair came to an end this year after Donald Trump endorsed her removal following the South Carolina primary. Ms McDaniels time at the head of the party was punctuated by poor fundraising which trailed that of the partys Democratic foes in 2023 and left a number of state parties in dire financial straits. A year prior, Republicans saw a dismal showing in US midterm congressional and statewide elections. A number of high-profile candidates endorsed by Donald Trump lost important races for governorships and congressional seats leading to the GOP eking out a tiny majority in the lower chamber and failing to capture a minority in the Senate. Asked about those statistics and a description of her as a failure by an RNC member who spoke to NBC News, Ms McDaniel responded: I push back on that very hard, and went on to tout gains the party made with recruiting women and people of colour to run for congressional seats under her leadership. She took the role at the RNC shortly after the 2016 election, and supported Donald Trump publicly as he continued to spread lies and disinformation about the 2020 election in the wake of his defeat. Many journalists, especially on Twitter, have speculated over the past few days about the morality of putting someone who supported those lies on air. Todd was one of them. I think our bosses owe you an apology, he told his successor at the Meet the Press desk on Sunday. He noted that Ms McDaniel claims that she made her statements on those topics and others during her tenure on behalf of the party, not herself. [But] she still has credibility issues that she has to deal with, said Todd. Ronna McDaniel defends silence over January 6 and supports convictions for violence He went on, with emotion in his voice, to denounce how Welker had been informed of Ms McDaniels hiring as a paid contributor only after the interview was booked. Its unfortunate for this programme that NBC brass handled the situation this way, he concluded. The co-hosts of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, joined in on the criticism of their network Monday morning in their first broadcast since the controversy began. The pair said that Ms McDaniel would not appear on Morning Joe in her paid NBC News capacity. To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage. But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier, Brzezinski said. And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. Ms McDaniel has not commented publicly on the controversy her hiring has caused among her new colleagues. NBC News has so far declined to comment. 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 }} Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis disputed that her offices prosecution of Donald Trump for his efforts to pressure state officials in Georgia to change the 2020 election results was in any way hindered or slowed down by the dispute over her relationship with a prosecutor on the case. Ms Willis spoke to a CNN reporter on Saturday and said that while outside forces were working to slow the case down, her office had continued working on the case throughout the recent proceedings determining whether there was a conflict of interest on Ms Williss part given a romantic relationship she engaged in with a prosecutor on her team. A judge determined that there was not, but the dispute took several weeks to litigate. No, my teams been continuing to work, she said when asked if the prosecution had been set back even temporarily by the complaint. All while that was going on...we were still doing the case in the way that it needed to be done, the district attorney continued. I dont feel like weve been slowed down at all. I do think that there are efforts to slow down this train, but the train is coming. Mr Trump has continued to rail against Ms Willis and her team following his repeated failure to stifle or dismiss entirely the charges filed against him in Georgia. The case represents one that he, as president, would not be able to wipe away with a pardon and also represents a clear risk of jail time for the former president given the mandatory minimum sentence a racketeering charge carries. The Georgia charges represent just one of the four prosecutions bearing down on the twice-impeached former president; he faces a total of 91 felony counts. Its one of two cases, the other taking place in Washington DC, charging him with crimes related to his effort to stop Joe Bidens election victory from being certified. Ms Williss case did suffer a minor setback earlier this month when a handful of charges against Mr Trump and his allies were dismissed, though the bulk of her case remains intact. Court rules also allow for those charges to be refiled. The former president is once again his partys presumed nominee for the White House; he is set for a rematch against Mr Biden in the fall. He is almost certain to be in court for parts of his campaign against Mr Biden; this week a court in New York set jury selection for April in his criminal hush money trial. 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 }} Watch as Karine Jean-Pierre held Mondays (25 March) White House briefing after Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a high-level delegations planned visit to Washington. The Israeli prime ministers decision came after the US abstained from a United Nations (UN) vote demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Its disappointing. Were very disappointed that they wont be coming to Washington, DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. The UN Security Council passed the resolution, which was backed by 14 nations of the council, demanding an immediate cease-fire during the month of Ramadan and the release of all hostages held by Hamas. The USs rare decision to withhold its veto on the matter represents a major shift in US policy, which has used its permanent member status on the Security Council to veto three previous resolutions demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, even as the death toll reached tens of thousands. 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 }} Kamala Harris is being roasted on social media after she was seen clapping along to a protest song before awkwardly realising that they were protesting against her. The vice president visited Puerto Rico on Friday to highlight the Biden administrations actions in supporting the island nations recovery and renewal efforts. During the visit, she stopped by the Goyoco community centre in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan. In video footage from her visit to the community centre, Ms Harris is seen gleefully clapping and smiling as Puerto Rican protesters banged on drums and sang in Spanish. However, Ms Harris cheerful mood came to an abrupt end when her aide appeared to inform her what they were singing about. We want to know, Kamala, what did you come here for? We want to know what you think of the colony, the protestors sang, adding: Long live Free Palestine and Haiti, too. Ms Harris swiftly stopped clapping, lowered her hands and assumed a more serious facial expression as the song continued. Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Frankie Miranda, Hispanic Federation president, applaud, during a visit, in San Juan, Puerto Rico (AP) The vice president was roasted for her blunder on social media, with one X user calling her a clown. Harris may be the dumbest VP in the history of our country, they added. Shes her own parody, another person wrote. This is a new low, even for her. This is also quite an embarrassment and reflects poorly on America, a third person wrote. Kamala Harris was seen gleefully clapping and smiling as Puerto Rican protesters sang (Sky News Australia) During her visit to San Juan, which was marred by protests, Ms Harris spoke to community leaders and centre staff, according to Fox News. Before visiting the community centre, Ms Harris visited a residential home outside San Juan that was damaged during Hurricane Maria but has since been outfitted with solar panels and water tanks, through a federal program. What we all need to do then is just supply the community and the talent here with the capacity and the resources. And so President Joe Biden and I have been very intentional about what we are doing for the leaders and the people and the families of Puerto Rico. So far, our administration has invested over $140 billion in Puerto Rico, Ms Harris said during the visit. People protest outside the facility where Vice President Kamala Harris is holding a meeting, in San Juan, Puerto Rico (AP) Her visit also came amid a push by Democrats to boost their outreach to Latino voters ahead of the 2024 election. Polling from late February showed President Joe Bidens support among Hispanics has dropped by 12 points since 2020, from 65 per cent to 53 per cent, according to CBS News representing the steepest drop in his share among demographic groups surveyed. Puerto Ricans living on the island are not eligible to vote in the general election, owing to its status as a US territory rather than a state, although this November, for the first time, they will be able to cast a symbolic ballot. Legally, people in Puerto Rico are citizens with no power, with no political power in the federal system, said Latino Rebels founder, Julio Ricardo Varela, ahead of Ms Harris visit. Now theres plenty of people in Puerto Rico who want to become part of the federal system and theres always a sector that does not want to become a part of it. 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 }} Kevin McCarthy has claimed that Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz ousted him as speaker because he refused to do something illegal to stop an ethics probe into the congressman. The former California Republican congressman and House speaker appeared on CBSs Face the Nation on Sunday, pointing to the motion to vacate filed against his successor, Speaker Mike Johnson, by Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene after Mr Johnson made a deal with Democrats to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year until 30 September. Mr McCarthy was ousted after just nine months as speaker in October after Mr Gatez filed a motion to vacate after Mr McCarthy also compromised with Democrats on government funding. The one advice I would give to the conference and to the speaker is do not be fearful of a motion to vacate, he said on CBS. I do not think they could do it again. That was surely based on Matt Gaetz trying to stop an ethics complaint. It was purely Matt coming to me trying ... [to get] me to do something illegal to stop the Ethics Committee from moving forward in an investigation that was started long before I became speaker, Mr McCarthy said. Speaking to NBC News, South Carolina Republican Representative Ralph Norman said he saw but didnt hear a conversation between Mr Gaetz and Mr McCarthy on the floor of the House which he noted was out of the ordinary as they werent friendly. Mr Norman said he later asked Mr Gaetz about the conversation and that the Floridian had said that Mr McCarthy had asked him Do you want this to go away? or something like that. He added that Mr Gaetz didnt consider any alleged offer in the interaction and that Mr McCarthy didnt get the opportunity to ask for anything in return. I dont think it even got that far, Mr Norman told NBC. The only thing Matt said was, Kevin said, Do you need the ethics violation to go away? And I think Matt ... said, No youre the reason its there, he added. Mr Gaetzs office confirmed Mr Normans version of what happened to NBC, but Mr McCarthy told the network the story was bull****. Noting that the conversation took place in May, Mr McCarthy said, What hes referring to [is] on the floor, Im talking to Gaetz, but then Gaetz brings up ethics to me. Apparently he got a letter from Ethics asking for documents ... I told him, I dont know anything about this. I told him, You gotta talk to [Ethics Committee Chair Michael] Guest, Mr McCarthy told NBC News. The ethics panel opened an investigation into Mr Gaetz in 2021 regarding allegations of sexual misconduct. The Justice Department was also looking into allegations against Mr Gaetz. The ethics panel probe was paused during the DoJ investigation. Mr McCarthy told NBC he thinks the ethics panel probe was opened during the speakership of Democrat Nancy Pelosi, adding that he was unaware when it was reopened during his time as speaker. He said he didnt know the probe had been reopened until he had a conversation with another member about the investigation last year. Mr Gaetz wasnt charged by the DoJ and he has rejected all allegations of wrongdoing. When reached for comment by The Independent, a spokesperson for Mr Gaetz referred to two tweets, in which the congressman said: Kevin McCarthy is a liar. Thats why he isnt Speaker. Kevin McCarthy is a quitter. Thats why he isnt a congressman. If Kevin stops lying about me, Ill stop telling the truth about him, he added. Mr Gaetz was recently served with a subpoena to take part in a deposition in a civil lawsuit connected to allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, ABC News reported earlier this month. The subpoena is part of a lawsuit brought by a friend of the Florida Republican representative, targeting the young woman and others. The subpoena was issued by lawyers representing the young woman who is now in her 20s. The allegations were at the centre of the investigation by the Department of Justice lasting years into the claims that Mr Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor, according to ABC. Mr Gaetzs deposition has been scheduled for 5 April. Its part of a larger defamation and racketeering lawsuit brought by Chris Dorworth, a friend of Mr Gaetz and a former Florida House member and lobbyist, against the woman and others. An attorney for the woman, John Clune, told ABC he was able to confirm that Matt Gaetz has been served for his deposition. During the deposition, Mr Gaetz may be asked while under oath about the alleged sexual activity. A spokesman for Mr Gaetz told The Independent earlier this month: Congressman Gaetz received a witness subpoena in an ongoing lawsuit between outside parties. He is not being sued, and he is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in this matter. Tattoo artist Jin Kin inks Leilani Ysalgue, 22, as Pastime Tattoo in San Leandro takes part in Still Not Asking For It, a national fundraiser and awareness event supporting survivors of sexual violence. In the red shirt in the foreground is Justin Ysalgue, Leilanis brother. Laure Andrillon/Special to the Chronicle Von Champa, 33, background, and Ana Molina, 54. get inked at Pastime Tattoo as part of the Still Not Asking For It fundraiser. Laure Andrillon/Special to the Chronicle Leilani Ysalgue wanted to be early for her Sunday morning family outing, so she had her mom, Ana Molina, and her brother Justin Ysalgue standing at the door of Pastime Tattoo in San Leandro when it opened. Within minutes Leilani, 22, was lying on a massage table getting a sun put on the biceps of her left arm while Justin, 24, was in a chair by her head having a cowgirl needled onto his right arm. Their mom was getting a wreath above her left ankle. It wasnt on a dare, and it wasnt for vanity. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I try to get them to do things that are good for the community, said Leilani, a San Leandro pharmacy technician, and this is for a good cause, bringing awareness for domestic violence. Ben Verhoek takes a picture of the tattoo he just completed on Justin Ysalgues arm. Laure Andrillon/Special to the Chronicle The familys entire outlay of $750 was going toward Still Not Asking For It, a nationwide Sunday tattoo-athon or what is known in the trade as a tattoo flash day. The six artists at Pastime were working for free. We want our customers to feel comfortable and know that we are allies if they are victims of sexual assault or violence, shop co-owner Nate Burrow said as he inked a heart and flame design, known as a sacred heart, into the left calf of Von Champa, 33. People coming to the event might meet people whove had similar events and struggles, and they can find friends, you know. This is the third year Pastime has been part of the event. Last year, it raised nearly $7,000 toward a national tally, which has topped $1 million in 10 years. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Were incredibly proud to be a part of such a meaningful movement and to see the impact it has had over the years, co-owner Ben Verhoek said. Nate Burrow tattoos a customer at Pastime Tattoo during the fundraiser. Laure Andrillon/Special to the Chronicle Shops can designate specific recipients, and Pastime is supporting Bay Area Women Against Rape, based in Oakland. Raffle tickets supported by local restaurants and hair salons had already raised more than $3,000 before the first tattoo was inked. Champa, of Oakland, has had 10 tattoos done by Burrow alone, but she was on the table for one more. Its important to show support for a good cause, she said as Burrow went to work with what they call the machine. All right, Von. You ready? he said at the outset. Yeah. Lets do it, she responded. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There is pain, she said. But the outcome is worth it. Ana Molina, 54, flew 10 hours from her home in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to be there for her daughter and son, plus his girlfriend, Gabby Zakas, who did her part with a heart behind her left knee for $200. You want to support them whenever they do something for a good cause, Molina said, and you want to let them know they can count on you. Ana Molina, 54, gets inked by Anthony Stewart at Pastime Tattoo in San Leandro. Laure Andrillon/Special to the Chronicle Her outlay for the wreath was $200, but as she jumped off the table, with Kool & the Gang playing Get Down on It on the sound system, she decided she had more to give to the cause. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I want to get another tattoo right now, she said, picking out a flower for her back. Then her son, Justin, an infrastructure engineer, decided he needed a frog. Then Gabby decided she needed a cactus on her calf. There was time. Pastime was open until 8 p.m. and there were 25 premade designs to choose from in the flash event. The family was five tattoos into it already, and double figures were not out of the question. Its just a question of how much money I have, Molina said before heading across the street to the bank cash machine to find out. 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 }} Republican Representative Lauren Boebert defended bragging about bringing home $20m for water and infrastructure projects to her Colorado district in the recent spending bill that passed despite having voted against the bills final passage. The right-wing Republican put out a press release last week touting the funding for projects in her states 3rd district. These include important federal resources for new water storage, improving water quality, funding water treatment plants, building new water supply lines, reducing congestion on I-70, and building roads and bridges, Ms Boebert said in a press release. I'm grateful to all the local stakeholders who brought these important projects to my attention and that worked with my team and I throughout this process to ensure that 10 out of 10 of our requests were successfully funded in public law. Can't wait for the ribbon cuttings and to see these priorities come to fruition. But Ms Boebert voted against the spending bill on 8 March. The legislation was the first of six spending bills that passed this month to fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year, which expires on 30 September. Last week, the House and Senate passed the second round of spending bills to keep the government open. Ms Boebert bragged about bringing the money back to Colorado last week to The Independent. Sure did, I fought to get it in there, did I not, she said. If I wasnt working on it, then it wouldnt have been in there. But when asked about why she voted against its final passage, she said she disliked the process. I didn't agree to the swampy way it came to the floor but I fought to get the stuff in the bills and it's there, she said. And Colorado is going to benefit from it. Ms Boebert has come under fire almost as soon as she entered Congress. In her first term, she closely aligned herself with former president Donald Trump and during the January 6 riot, tweeted that then-speaker Nancy Pelosi was being removed from the chamber. She also implied that Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, one of the first two female Muslim members elected to Congress, was a terrorist. The numerous controversies led to her narrowly winning her re-election in 2022 to Democrat Adam Frisch by 546 votes. Since her second term began, she continued to be a lightning rod, voting against making Kevin McCarthy being speaker in the early days of the 118th Congress. She received additional attention when she and a date were thrown out of a theater for vaping during a musical performance of Beetlejuice and security footage revealed that she behaved inappropriately with her date. Moment Lauren Boebert removed from Denver theatre production of Beetlejuice Facing a tough re-election, Ms Boebert announced earlier this year that she would run in Colorados 4th district after Representative Ken Buck would not seek re-election. Mr Buck resigned from Congress last week, which triggered a special election for his seat. 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 }} Lisa Murkowskis future in the Republican Party is now publicly in question as the Alaska senator says she is grappling with the reality that her party is set to nominate the twice-impeached former president who faces 91 criminal charges for the presidency. Donald Trumps continued control of the GOP and the dominance of his Maga faction is not sitting well with the centrist Republican who has broken with her partys base several times in recent years, including in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump and the 2017 failed vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ms Murkowski was interviewed by CNNs Manu Raju on Capitol Hill and said that she wouldnt be endorsing Mr Trump for president as most other Republicans on Capitol Hill have already done in 2024. She further added that she was independently minded, and was asked whether that meant she was considering dropping her party affiliation. "I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Lets just leave it at that," she responded. Her potential departure from the Republican Party could have a number of consequences, depending on whether she continued to caucus with the GOP in the Senate. Independents in the chamber can choose to caucus with one of the two major parties; Senators Angus King and Bernie Sanders, both officially unaffiliated with the Democratic Party, are members of the Democratic caucus in the upper chamber; so is Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in 2022. Ms Murkowski would likely remain a viable candidate for office after dropping her party affiliation, something that couldnt be said for Ms Sinema after her departure from the party. Unlike her colleague from Arizona, Ms Murkowski hails from a state with a strong tradition of independence from both major parties, though the state trends red in election years. Ms Murkowski is popular in her home state and in the past has fought off conservative challengers to her re-election. Her most recent performance in that regard was in 2022 when she defeated Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka in the midterm elections that year. She wont be up for re-election again until 2028. By contrast, Ms Sinema announced earlier in March that she would not seek re-election in 2024, stating in a video message that she understood Arizonans were not backing her own brand of centrism as polls showed her trailing both Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego and Trump acolyte Kari Lake in polls of the state Senate race. Senator Kyrsten Sinema announces she will not run for re-election I think Im very independent-minded," Ms Murkowski said on Thursday in her interview with CNN. "I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump." Mr Trump remains the only Republican candidate vying for the nomination after crossing the threshold of pledged delegates required to win the GOP nomination earlier this month. His last remaining challenger, Nikki Haley, was supported by Ms Murkowski. At the same time, he faces four separate criminal prosecutions with dozens of felony counts; some, in Georgia, carry mandatory prison sentences. Much of his charges stem from his possibly illegal efforts to overturn the 2020 election after his defeat to Joe Biden. The former president pushed nonsense conspiracies about his loss for months while pressuring GOP officials in states where he was defeated to support false slates of electors with the intent of subverting the actual election results when they were certified by Congress. The Alaska senators remarks are likely to turn eyes on her oft-ally from Maine, Susan Collins. Ms Collins is on the same list of usual suspects when it comes to Republican defections in the Senate and comes from a state with another independent senator (Mr King). Like Ms Murkowski, Ms Collins has not endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency and says she will not do so even now that he is the presumed Republican nominee. 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 }} Former US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer appeared to endorse ending lifetime appointments to the bench in an interview aired on Sunday. Mr Breyer retired in 2022 after serving on the nations highest court for 28 years. His seat was filled by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to be appointed to the court. In a pre-recorded interview, which aired on NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday, Mr Breyer was asked by Kristen Welker about imposing a term limit, or age limit, on Supreme Court justices. I dont think thats harmful, he responded. If you had long terms, for example, they'd have to be long. Why long? Because I don't think you want someone who's appointed to the Supreme Court to be thinking about his next job. So, a 20-year term? I don't know, 18? ... I don't think that would be harmful. He added that an age limit, or 20-year term limit, would have helped him make the decision of when to retire. Mr Breyer, who had a liberal record during his time on the Supreme Court, retired in early 2022. The move allowed for the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson under a Democratic-controlled Senate ahead of that years midterm elections, which threatened to return the chamber to GOP control. The issue of Supreme Court retirements became sharply politicised during the final months of Barack Obamas presidency. Mr Obama was facing down an election cycle as a lame-duck president with a GOP-controlled Senate headed by then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, Mr Obama nominated appellate court justice Merrick Garland as his replacement. However Mr McConnell, unwilling to see a conservative seat flipped to a liberal-aligned justice, refused to bring Mr Garlands nomination to the floor. Democrats anger over that perceived underhanded maneuver grew exponentially during the Trump presidency. Mr Trump filled that vacancy caused by Mr Scalias death and another in 2018, following the retirement of conservative justice Anthony Kennedy. But it was the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the bench just weeks before the 2020 election a reversal of Mr McConnells pledge not fill court vacancies so close to an electon that enraged Democrats. The Supreme Courts trust ratings are at near all-time lows. The court, with its strong conservative majority, threw out federal protections for abortion rights in 2022, reversing decades of seemingly settled legal precedent. Mr Breyer also told NBC that the Supreme Court could revisit the question of whether the Constitution guarantees the right to abortion in future - with potentially different results. But who knows? he added. The retired justice also condemned the 2022 leak of the courts decision to overturn Roe v Wade. I think it was unfortunate, that leak, Mr Breyer said. In the wake of the fallout from the Roe v Wade decision, investigative journalism site ProPublica, exposed a controversial financial relationship between conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, and a right-wing billionaire connected to organisations that have brought cases before the court. Mr Thomas is also embroiled in a separate controversy over his refusal to abstain from cases involving the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, and Mr Trumps false claims of election fraud. Mr Thomas wife, Ginni Thomas, is a well-known conservative activist who was revealed to have been involved in that effort and present at protests in Washington DC on the day of the attack. Close Trumps mental acuity questioned on Fox News 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 to his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday to wish a happy Easter to all, including all those he claimed were doing everything possible to put him in jail. In a lengthy and all-capitalised post on Sunday afternoon, Mr Trump railed against some of his usual suspects, including DOJ special counsel Jack Smith and Georgia attorney Fani Willis. HAPPY EASTER TO ALL... INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, he wrote. It comes as Republicans, led by the former president, are sounding off on Joe Biden after he issued a statement recognising Trans Visibility Day becasue it happened to coincide with Easter Sunday this year. Created by a Michigan-based transgender activist, Rachel Crandall, in 2009, International Transgender Day of Visibility (often shortened to Trans Visibility Day) falls on March 31 every year. In 2024, that date coincidentally falls on Easter Sunday, which is determined annually by marking the first Sunday after the full moon occurring on or after the Spring Equinox. President Biden marked the push for transgender rights with a statement recognising Trans Visibility Day on Friday that has immediately set off alarm bells on the far right. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} As the deadline approached for Donald Trump to post a $464m bond payment, social media users came together to coin yet another nickname for the former president: Don Poorleone. The meme uses an image of the iconic Marlon Brando character, Vito Corleone, from The Godfather and adapts his famous line where he vowed to make him an offer he cant refuse. The Trump meme states: I made an offer everyone refused. It arrived just a day before the former president would have had to post the bond to comply with a New York civil court ruling that found him, his adult sons and former Trump Organization executives, guilty of fraud earlier this year. However, a New York appeals court intervened on Monday, giving Mr Trump a 10-day extension and allowing him to post just $175m. Before the appeals court order, Mr Trumps assets were at risk of seizure by New York Attorney General Letitia James because he was unable to secure the nearly half-billion-dollar bond. The hashtag also inspired posts about other members of the Trump family. #DonPoorleone and his #FamilyFullOfFredos, one X user wrote, including a photo of Mr Trump and his two sons, Eric and Don Jr, and referring to wayward son Fredo Corleone from the Godfather movies. Last week, Mr Trumps legal team told the appeals court he did not have the funds to post bond and asked the court to lower it to $100m. They claimed Mr Trump faced insurmountable difficulties in securing the bond after approaching almost 30 companies to no avail. The appeals court decision arrived just in time to offer the former president a lifeline. On Sunday, lawyer and commentator Neal Katyal referenced the Don Poorleone meme while discussing Mr Trumps financial woes. There is a reason why I think some people are calling Donald Trump Don Poorleone right now, and its because hes kind of talking out of both sides of his mouth, Mr Katyal said. Despite Mr Trumps attorneys telling the judge he doesnt have the money, the former president said on Friday that he has almost five hundred million dollars in cash. His lawyers say he cant get the money in time, hes getting on Truth Social his social media platform and saying he can, Mr Katyal continued. You know, these things dont make much sense together. Its a microcosm of what got Trump in trouble in the first place: Lying about his assets. And now hes kind of doing the same thing. Mr Trump has also reached out to his supporters, asking for donations in an email blast, and warned that he could lose his properties. This inspired yet more social media posts. Revenge is a dish I can no longer afford without your patriotic cash gift. #DonPoorleone, wrote one person on Twitter/X. Others on X, including actress Bette Midler, mocked Mr Trump for being unable to secure the bond. For many, the prospect of some of the former presidents famous properties being taken from him, like Trump Tower, inspired memes about the building having a fire sale. But for now, Ms James will not seize Mr Trumps properties. The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment. 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 has called on Israel to finish up its war in Gaza because it is losing support around the world. In an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the former president said he had watched images of bombs being dropped on residential buildings in Gaza every night, calling it a big mistake. You have to finish up your war ... You gotta get it done. And I am sure you will do that. And we gotta get to peace, we cant have this going on. And I will say, Israel has to be very careful, because youre losing a lot of the world, youre losing a lot of support, he told the newspaper. The former president has refrained from issuing running commentary on the war since the Hamas attacks of 7 October and the subsequent Israeli response. The comments represent his most forceful intervention yet on the matter ahead of the United Nations Security Council vote on Monday that demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, which the US abstained from. When asked how he would have countered a rise in anti-Semitism that followed the Hamas attacks and Israels response, Mr Trump appeared to blame the images of Israeli bombings coming out of Gaza. Well, thats because you fought back, he said. And I think Israel made a very big mistake. I wanted to call [Israel] and say dont do it. These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, thats a terrible portrait. Its a very bad picture for the world. The world is seeing this every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people. When pressed on the presence of Hamas fighters in the buildings struck by Israel, Mr Trump said, Go and do what you have to do. But you dont do that. And I think thats one of the reasons that there has been a lot of kickback, he added. If people didnt see that, every single night Ive watched every single one of those. And I think Israel wanted to show that its tough, but sometimes you shouldnt be doing that. Mr Trump blamed President Joe Biden for the war. He cant talk. Hes a very dumb person. Hes a dumb person. His foreign policy throughout 50 years has been horrible, Mr Trump said during the interview at Mar-a-Lago. If you look at people that were in other administrations with him, they saw him as a weak, ineffective president, they [Hamas] would have never done that attack if I were there. Mr Trump repeated his argument that Jewish people who dont back him hate Israel. When asked how he would react if his children or grandchildren had been kidnapped by Hamas, Mr Trump said he would act very much the same way as you did. You would have to be crazy not to. Only a fool would not do that. That was a horrible attack. Mr Trump was asked about recent comments by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who called for new elections to be held and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be replaced. I think its a terrible thing to do because it takes all of your momentum away, Mr Trump said, going on to call progressive Democratic lawmakers in the US lunatics who hate Israel and the Jewish people. Israel has to get better with the promotional and with the public relations because right now theyre in ruin, Mr Trump told Israel Hayom. Mr Netanyahu cancelled a trip to Washington on Monday after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire. The US allowed the vote to pass by abstaining. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has publicly called for Israel to rethink its plan to invade the city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering after being displaced from across the territory. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Mr Netanyahu on Friday. As he left the country, he told reporters he had candid conversations with the Israeli prime minister. He added that such an offensive in Rafah risks killing more civilians. It risks wreaking greater havoc with the humanitarian assistance. It risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardising its long-term security and standing. Mr Netanyahu has baulked at the suggestions, however, and said following his meeting with Mr Blinken he remained committed to launching an operation in the city. I also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without going into Rafah and eliminating the rest of the battalions there. And I told him that I hope we will do it with the support of the US, but if we have to, we will do it alone, he said in a video statement. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Attorneys for Donald Trump failed to convince a judge that the Manhattan District Attorneys Office mishandled potential evidence in his criminal case stemming from an alleged hush money scheme to bury embarrassing stories of his affairs. The former president arrived inside a 15th floor criminal courtroom in Manhattan on Monday morning for yet another pretrial hearing in the case, what was supposed to be the first day of jury selection for the first-ever criminal trial against a president. Instead, New York Justice Juan Merchan presided over a hearing where Mr Trumps attorneys levelled allegations of misconduct against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs office over the production of thousands of pages of documents surrounding Michael Cohen, Mr Trumps former attorney and a key witness in the case. The judge grew increasingly frustrated with the former presidents legal team, saying at one point that he found it odd that were even here. What Im seeing is, to me, what has become a pattern, the judge told Mr Trumps attorney Todd Blanche before a morning break. I hear certain information, I see certain information Your interpretation of that is really different from my interpretation, he added. Its frankly been going on for months. You just heard one set of facts and interpreted that as the People not doing anything its really its odd that were even here. The judge ultimately rejected the accusations and set a new trial date for 15 April. Judge Merchan determined that the district attorney was not at fault for the late production of documents, that the office has complied and continues to comply with its discovery obligations and has made diligent, good faith efforts for discovery production. This court finds the defendant will not suffer any prejudice because the defendant has had reasonable time to prepare for trial, he added. Earlier, the judge scolded Mr Blanche for apparently failing to cite any prior cases to explain how, exactly, the district attorneys office failed its discovery obligations under state law. If you dont have a case right now it is really disconcerting, he said. The allegation that the defence makes in all of your papers about the Peoples misconduct is incredibly serious. Unbelievably serious. You are literally accusing the Manhattan DAs office and the people prosecuting this case, and trying to make me complicit in it. And you dont have a single cite to support that position? Donald Trump speaks to reporters outside a criminal courtroom doors in Manhattan on 25 March. (POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Jury selection was initially set to begin on 25 March, but Judge Merchan agreed to delay the proceedings after attorneys for both parties wanted to review thousands of documents from federal prosecutors and the US Attorneys Office. The judge agreed to hold a hearing to get to the bottom of who, if anyone is responsible for delays in that document production, and what sanctions if any are appropriate. Earlier this month, DA Bragg said the agency had produced thousands of pages of records related to a separate but parallel federal investigation into Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance charges stemming from the alleged scheme. Among the charges, Cohen pleaded guilty to making payments to women who allegedly had affairs with Mr Trump. Mr Braggs office had urged the judge against further delaying the start of a trial, after finding that fewer than 300 of 170,000 documents recently provided by federal prosecutors were relevant to Mr Trumps defence. Mr Braggs office also called Mr Trumps focus on the documents a red herring and another delay tactic. Last year, in the first criminal indictment against him, a grand jury charged the former president with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with repayments to his then-lawyer, who arranged a hush-money scheme to prevent the release of potentially compromising stories about Mr Trump and his alleged affairs. Prosecutors are expected to rely on Cohens testimony that Mr Trump authorised his business to falsely file payments as legal expenses, according to prosecutors. Were not doing our jobs if were not independently looking at new material, Mr Blanche told the court on Monday. When repeatedly asked by the judge for the number of new documents deemed important to their case, Mr Blanche responded: Tens of thousands. I just want to be accurate. And the reality is every document is important, he added. We still have to have a process in place to look at the bank records, to look at the internal correspondence. 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 }} An imposing neoclassical New York criminal courthouse overlooks a small park that used to be a public sewer. On the buildings 15th floor, Donald Trump was listless, finding himself once again seated between his attorneys with his oversized red tie pressed against the defence table in front of him. Inside the criminal section of New York Supreme Court in Manhattan on Monday morning, he sat there quietly, leaning back in his chair or hunching his shoulders forward to listen to the lawyers in the room, rarely darting his eyes anywhere else, or fixing them towards nothing in particular. Behind the courtrooms doors, the former president cant interrupt, cant argue with the prosecutors across the room from him, and cant argue with the judge in front of him. He can only sit and watch in a crowded room of reporters and other people he calls his enemies and whisper into his attorneys ears while a judge guts their arguments. On the other side, however, Mr Trump lashed out at the witch hunt, hoax, election interference, voter intimidation, and disgrace against him. After a two-hour hearing, he immediately went to his 40 Wall Street property to give a rambling 21-minute press conference attacking New York Justice Juan Merchan and the Manhattan prosecutor who argued in court against him. Its been a familiar scene over the last several months, as the Republican Partys likely nominee to face President Joe Biden in November uses courtrooms across the country as an extension of his campaign, leveraging media attention to rewrite the narrative of crime, corruption and fraud detailed in lawsuits, judgments and indictments against him. He uses courthouse settings to cast himself as a victim of political persecution, while telling his supporters that what he claims is a conspiracy against him will come for them, too, unless he stops them. A court sketch depicts Donald Trump during a petrial hearing in his so-called hush money case in Manhattan on 25 March (REUTERS) Mr Trump began exploiting that dynamic at his civil fraud trial only a few doors down from the criminal courthouse, where a months-long proceeding gave him ample access to a stable of photographers and video cameras assembled in a hallway on the days he planned to show up. Fundraising messages from his campaign recounted his days in court. He lost that case. On Monday, a state appeals court granted him an extension to secure a bond that would block enforcement of the judgment against him, giving him 10 more days to find at least $175m to prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from seizing his assets and freezing his accounts. Mr Trump accepted that reprieve, which came in the middle of his separate hearing in Judge Merchans courtroom. Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records in connection a so-called hush money scheme to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his 2016 presidential campaign. His attorneys asked for either a 90-day delay or to dismiss the case altogether, accusing the Manattan District Attorneys Office of violating its obligations to the defence during the discovery process. But Mr Trumps attorney Todd Blanche often found himself stumbling over the judges questions about the serious allegations Mr Trumps legal team lobbed against the district attorney, at one point asking to pause to look at his notes. At another low point, the judge invoked Mr Blanches own resume including his decade of prior experience as a federal prosecutor to suggest that he should know better. Now, the former president faces the prospect of a criminal trial in 20 days, in his hometown, down the street from the courthouse that found him liable for fraud and put him on the hook for nearly half a billion dollars. Mr Trump will be the first American president to face a criminal trial when jury selection in the hush money case begins on 15 April. Judge Merchan dismissed attempts from the former presidents attorneys to further delay a trial that prosecutors have outlined as a kind of election interference case one that predated the alleged criminal conspiracy to overturn 2020s election results and a scheme that pushed the boundaries of what he could get away with after successfully litigating himself out of trouble for decades. Mr Trump is now staring at the start date for yet another trial, failing to avoid returning to the Manhattan courthouse as a criminal defendant after pushing for delays, appeals, and motions to dismiss the cases against him to no avail, on top of lawsuits that could see him forfeit tens of millions of dollars. I shouldnt have a trial, Mr Trump told reporters from the lobby of 40 Wall Street on Monday. I dont know if were having one. Im going to be appealing, right now. I can tell you that, he said. We did nothing wrong, just like I did nothing wrong in the other case. 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 will go on trial next month for allegedly falsifying business records that covered up hush money payments to an adult film star, what New York prosecutors have called a criminal scheme to bury embarrassing stories of his affairs in the leadup to the 2016 presidential election. The trial, which was initially set to begin with jury selection on Monday, will mark the first of four criminal trials against him, and the first-ever criminal trial against any current or former American president. Mr Trump arrived for yet another pretrial hearing in the case inside a 15th-floor courtroom in Manhattan on Monday as his attorneys prepared to argue allegations of misconduct from the Manhattan District Attorneys office in front of New York Justice Juan Merchan. The judge rejected the accusations and set a trial date for Monday, 15 April. Jury selection will begin that week. Mr Trumps attorneys said they planned to file a motion to appeal the schedule. Thats fine, Judge Merchan said. See you all on the 15th. Outside the courtroom, Mr Trump fumed over the judges decision and labelled the case election interference and voter intimidation. Mr Trump appeared in court as he separately faced an imminent deadline to secure nearly half a billion dollars for an appeals bond to block enforcement of a mammoth judgment against him in a civil case. The former president and his attorneys signalled they were coming up empty-handed at the end of a 30-day grace period to post a $464m appeals bond after Mr Trump and his co-defendants lost a months-long trial on allegations of fraud opening the door for the states attorney general to begin seizing his assets as he fights to overturn the ruling against him. In the middle of Mondays hearing in criminal court, a state appellate court extended that deadline by another 10 days and lowered the threshold for bond to $175m. Donald Trump appears with his attorney Todd Blanche outside a Manhattan criminal courtroom on 25 March. (Getty Images) Last year, in the first criminal indictment against him, a grand jury charged the former president with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with repayments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, who arranged a hush-money scheme to prevent the release of potentially compromising stories about Mr Trump and his affairs. The case from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg could rely on Cohens testimony that Mr Trump authorised his business to falsely file payments as legal expenses, part of an alleged effort to quash stories that could interfere with then-candidate Trumps campaign, according to prosecutors. Mr Trump, Cohen and David Pecker, the former owner of the National Enquirer, allegedly worked in concert to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about then-candidate Trump to boost his electoral prospects, according to prosecutors. Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg who was separately prosecuted and convicted on tax fraud charges in 2022 had agreed that Cohen would be paid $420,000 to reimburse him for the payment to Daniels, according to court documents. Mr Trump finalised the agreement in February 2017, one month after he was sworn into office, according to prosecutors. Last month, Judge Merchan said a trial is expected to last five to six weeks, with 15 to 17 days for the prosecutions arguments, running from 9.30am to 4.30pm ET on weekdays, except on Wednesdays. The trial taking place in the middle of Mr Trumps presidential campaign, and expected to last up until the Republican National Convention is the first among the four cases encompassing 88 criminal charges against the former president. Mr Trump is federally charged with obstruction and conspiracy for his multi-state effort to overturn 2020 election results and for his failure to stop a mob that sought to do it by force. He is separately charged in Georgia for his alleged criminal enterprise to overturn that states results. He also is federally charged for his withholding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property after he left the White House. Mr Trump has claimed presidential immunity from prosecution in his attempts to have the charges against him dismissed. That defence will be tested at the US Supreme Court next month, days after Mr Trumps criminal trial in Manhattan is set to begin. 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 }} Tensions between the United States and Israel escalated further on Monday as Washington allowed the UN to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, prompting a furious response from Benjamin Netanyahu. The United States abstained from the United Nations Security Council vote, enabling the first ceasefire resolution since the 7 October Hamas attacks. Applause broke out in the chamber as the vote was passed. Israels prime minister cancelled the planned visit of a high-level delegation to Washington DC in protest, and accused the US of retreating from what he said had been a principled position. A statement from Mr Netanyahus office said the new resolution regrettably calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages. It added that the decision constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. Not vetoing the ceasefire vote follows months of pressure on president Joe Bidens administration from within his own party, as well as from international allies, to do more to constrain its close ally Israels offensive in Gaza as the death toll passes 32,000 and much of the besieged territorys population is on the brink of famine. The move is likely to further raise tensions between the US and Israel, who have been engaged in a public rift over Israeli plans to invade the Gazan city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are now sheltering after being displaced from elsewhere in Gaza. Responding to US opposition to the plan to attack the city last week, Mr Netanyahu said the operation would happen with or without US support. I hope to do that with the support of the United States, but if we need to, we will do it alone, he said following a meeting with US secretary of state Antony Blinken. The US has blocked three previous UN Security Council resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire, including one last month backed by Arab states for which it was the only country on the 15-member council to issue its veto. Since 1945, the US has vetoed 89 Security Council resolutions in total more than half of those have been resolutions critical of Israel. Mr Blinken, the top US diplomat, said in a statement that the US did not agree with all provisions reflected in the resolutions final text, but stressed that it contained adjustments which he described as consistent with our principled position that any ceasefire text must be paired with text on the release of the hostages. This resolution further explicitly recognises the painstaking, non-stop negotiations being conducted by the governments of Egypt, Israel, Qatar, and the United States to achieve such a release in the context of a ceasefire, which would also create space to surge more lifesaving humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians, and to build something more enduring, he said. John Kirby, the White House National Security Communications Adviser, told reporters following the vote that the US abstention does not and I repeat, does not represent a shift in our policy. Weve been clear ... weve been consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal ... we wanted to get to a place where we could support that resolution, he said, before adding that the US could not support it because it did not include key language that we think is essential such as a condemnation of Hamas. Mr Kirby also expressed dismay at Mr Netanyahus decision to cancel the high-level Israeli visit. Were very disappointed that they wont be coming to Washington DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah, he said. At the daily White House press briefing a short time later, Mr Kirby said the president and Biden administration officials were a bit perplexed by Mr Netanyahus decision, citing the resolutions non-binding status and lack of restrictions on Israels ability to engage in self-defence. The prime ministers office seems to be indicating through public statements that we somehow changed here. We havent and we get to decide what the policy is. It seems like the prime ministers office is choosing to create a perception of daylight when they dont need to do that, he said, adding later that the US still has Israels back and is providing tools and capabilities so Israel can defend itself on what we agree is a viable threat. Algerias ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, told the council after the vote: The Palestinian people has suffered greatly. This bloodbath has continued for far too long. It is our obligation to put an end to this bloodbath before it is too late. It comes just days after the Security Council failed to pass a US-submitted resolution that declared the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire, but did not make it a legally binding demand. In that resolution, and others prior to Mondays, the US had linked demands for a ceasefire with a similar demand for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. The resolution passed by the Security Council on Monday demands the release of hostages but does not make it a condition of the ceasefire. It has been nearly six months since Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage in a surprise attack on 7 October in southern Israel. Israels offensive in response has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, who told The Independent there have been at least 27 reported deaths due to starvation and dehydration, including 23 children. While it was not immediately clear whether Mr Netanyahu or his right-wing coalition government would heed the UN Security Council resolution, a White House official told The Independent that the Biden administrations understanding of the resolution is that Israel does not have to follow it because it does not create any binding legal obligations on any party, though United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed the opposite point of view in a post on X, writing that the resolution must be implemented and calling a failure to do so unforgivable. But Israels foreign minister, Israel Katz, said on X that there would be no halt in fighting. The state of Israel will not cease fire, he said. We will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the hostages returns home. FILE - Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun speaks with reporters after meeting Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 24, 2024. Calhoun will be stepping down at the end of the year from the top job at the company, which is under pressure from major airlines wanting to know how Boeing plans to fix problems in the manufacturing of its planes. J. Scott Applewhite/AP FILE - An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 with a door plug awaits inspection at the airline's hangar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will be stepping down at the end of the year from the top job at the company, which is under pressure from major airlines wanting to know how Boeing plans to fix problems in the manufacturing of its planes Lindsey Wasson/AP FILE - A door plug area of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, with paneling removed, is shown prior to inspection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Jan. 10, 2024, in SeaTac, Wash. Air safety in general and concerns about Boeing-made planes in particular have been on the minds of many since January, when a panel covering an emergency door hole blew off an Alaska Airlines plane flying 16,000 feet above Oregon. Lindsey Wasson/AP A leadership shake-up at Boeing, including news Monday that its top executive plans to step down, highlights the difficult path facing the iconic aircraft manufacturer as it tries to navigate through yet another safety crisis. CEO David Calhoun, who has been under unrelenting pressure since a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max jetliner during a January flight, said he would retire at the end of the year. He said the decision to leave was his and the timing would allow for an orderly transition. The head of the company's commercial airplanes unit, Stan Deal, is already out. Boeing said he was replaced immediately by Stephanie Pope, a fast-rising insider who just became chief operating officer on Jan. 1. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a third high-profile decision, board Chairman Lawrence Kellner, a former Continental Airlines chief, won't stand for reelection in May, Boeing said. A former Qualcomm CEO who was appointed to succeed Kellner will lead the search for Calhoun's replacement. Calhoun was on the Boeing board during its worst time the crashes of two 737 Max planes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. He leaves with the company under intense scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers since a door-plug panel blew off a brand-new Alaska Airlines Max jet in midflight on Jan. 5. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory. The Federal Aviation Administration reviewed Boeing's 737 factory near Seattle and gave the company failing grades on nearly three dozen aspects of production. The company has until late May to give the FAA a plan for improvement. In the meantime, the federal agency is limiting production of 737s. The FBI recently told passengers from the Alaska Airlines flight that they might be victims of a crime. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Airline executives have expressed their frustration with Boeing, and even minor incidents involving jets the company produced are attracting extra attention. In a note to employees on Monday, Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines blowout a watershed moment for Boeing" that requires a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company." The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years, he said. Boeings most significant effort to improve quality has been opening discussions about bringing Spirit AeroSystems, which builds fuselages for the Max and many parts for that and other Boeing planes, back into the company. Mistakes made at Spirit, which Boeing spun off nearly 20 years ago, have compounded the company's problems. Bringing the work of the supplier back in-house would, in theory, give Boeing more control over the quality of manufacturing key airplane components. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Calhoun said the two companies were making progress in talks and its very important. Calhoun had been a Boeing director since 2009 when he became CEO in January 2020, replacing Dennis Muilenburg, who was fired in the aftermath of the Max crashes. In 2021, Boeing's board raised the mandatory retirement age for CEO to keep Calhoun in the job. He oversaw the Maxs return to service after a worldwide grounding that lasted nearly two years, and orders for the plane quickly picked up. Since then, however, a series of manufacturing flaws have delayed deliveries of new 737s and larger 787 Dreamliners to airlines, forcing the carriers to reduce growth plans. Boeing has not filed its proxy statement for 2023, but previous filings show that Calhoun received compensation valued at more than $64.6 million from 2020 through 2022. Almost all of it was in the form of stock awards, options and bonuses. The company, based in Arlington, Virginia, has lost more than $23 billion since Calhoun took over, although most of that is residual damage from the two Max crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. Boeing shares have fallen more than 40% in that time 24% since the Alaska incident, through trading on Friday. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Last week, Chief Financial Officer Brian West warned that Boeing burned between $4 billion and $4.5 billion more cash than it expected in the first quarter as it slowed down airplane production after the Alaska Airlines accident. The company tapped former Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf to become the new board chairman and lead the search for Calhouns replacement. Some Boeing critics in Congress said the shake-up in the top ranks is not enough and that Boeing needs to worry more about safety and less about producing more airplanes. That view is shared by a leading Boeing whistleblower. It is going to be hard to fix the culture, but the people at Boeing (who build planes) are capable of it, said Ed Pierson, a former manager at Boeing's 737 factory who is now director of a safety foundation. Those employees need to feel valued and supported instead of (management) just directing them and pressuring them to produce planes. The focus on Boeing since early January took some of the surprise out of Mondays news. Citi analyst Jason Gursky called the shake-up both predictable and thoughtful. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Some analysts had viewed the fast-rising Pope as a likely successor to Calhoun. Gursky said, however, that her move to lead commercial airplanes opens the way for an outsider to become CEO. Before her promotion to chief operating officer at the beginning of the year, Pope, 51, was president and CEO of Boeings services business, where she dealt with both airline and military customers. She served as chief financial officer of the airplanes division before that. Richard Aboulafia, a longtime aerospace analyst and now a consultant at AeroDynamic Advisory, said the management shake-up is likely to be a pivotal moment in Boeings history, and probably a very positive one, but the outcome depends on the next CEO. Rebuilding Boeing will be very hard, and a long road, Aboulafia said. Putting people with technical skill in higher leadership positions would be a plus, he said. He said Patrick Shanahan a former Boeing executive and acting U.S. defense secretary during the Trump administration who has led Spirit AeroSystems since the fall would be a great choice. Cai von Rumohr, an aerospace analyst at financial services firm TD Cowen, said the management changes are a partial step toward changing its culture to underscore safety and rebuild investor confidence in the company." He said the fact that Calhoun gave more than eight months notice will help the Boeing board make a considered decision instead of a knee-jerk reaction. The CEO of Irish airline Ryanair, a major Boeing customer, welcomed the management changes, including the replacement of Deal at the head of the commercial airplanes division. Michael OLeary said in a video posted on X that Deal did a good job at Boeing sales, but hes not the person to turn around the operation in Seattle, and thats where most of the problems have been in recent years. Shares of The Boeing Co. rose about 1% in trading Monday. ___ Close Zelensky rejects Putins claims that Ukraine involved in Moscow attack 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 is using barges in a bid to enhance the defences of one of its ports in the Black Sea, Britains Ministry of Defence has said. It comes following a number of successful Ukrainian strikes on navy ships in the region. Recent imagery analysis has identified four barges positioned at the entrance to the Black Sea fleet facility of Novorossiysk Sea Port, the MoD said in its latest intelligence update. This is an effort to enhance the defence of the port against attacks from Ukrainian Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USVs). Elsewhere, A Russian cruise missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraines western Lviv region killed one man, while another died in an attack in the northeast, officials said Sunday. The attack in Lviv destroyed a building and sparked a fire, governor Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on social media app Telegram. He said that rescue operations were being conducted. In the Kharkiv region, governor Oleh Syniehubov said that an air attack killed an 19-year-old man after a missile hit a gas station. 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 }} Footage that appears to show the torture of suspects in the Moscow concert hall attack during which more than 130 people were killed is circulating in Russia, although the Kremlin is refusing to answer questions about the videos. A total of 97 people remain in hospital, officials said. One of the films appears to show security forces cutting off the ear of one of the suspects and trying to feed it to him, while another shows a man apparently being subjected to electric shocks to his groin. A third shows security forces beating a man with their rifle butts and kicking him as he lies in the snow. Isis has claimed the attack, and has released graphic video footage of the attackers firing on the crowd inside the concert hall. Four men appeared in court over the weekend and were charged in relation to the attack. They appeared to have been beaten, and one of the suspects had heavy bandaging to his right ear. Another had to be brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. The four suspects were named by Russian authorities as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, 30, Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, and Muhammadsobir Fayzov, 19. The men the court identified during the proceedings as Mr Mirzoyev and Mr Rachabalizoda both had black eyes. Mr Rachabalizoda appeared with the bandage on his right ear. The face of the man identified as Mr Fariduni was badly swollen. Mr Fariduni said in an interrogation video published on social media that he had arrived from Turkey on 4 March. He was trembling while being questioned by the side of a road, with his hands tied behind his back. He said that he had shot people in Crocus City Hall for money, having been offered 500,000 roubles (4,300) by a person he did not identify. The man named as Mr Fayzov appeared to lose consciousness as he was brought into court in a wheelchair. Photographs circulating online on Sunday appeared to show Mr Fayzov with one of his eyes missing. One of the videos published on Russian social media, appearing to show one of the suspects (Telegram) The men were officially identified as citizens of Tajikistan, Russias Tass state news agency said. A court statement on the Telegram messaging service said Mr Mirzoyev had admitted his guilt in full, while Mr Rachabalizoda had also admitted guilt. All four were remanded in pre-trial custody until May. The men were caught about 14 hours after the attack in the southern Bryansk region, around 400km (250 miles) southwest of Moscow, when they fled a vehicle and tried to reach a nearby forest. When asked about the videos showing alleged torture of the suspects, the Kremlins spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, refused to comment. On Tuesday, Russia's commissioner for human rights has called the use of torture against detainees unacceptable. "Despite the fact that the detention of criminals can be very critical, and criminal law stipulates that actions taken during arrests which cause harm do not entail liability, it is absolutely unacceptable to use torture on detainees and defendants," the commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, was quoted as saying by the Russian state-run TASS news agency. The Russian constitution outlaws torture, and Russia is also part of the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Russian authorities say at least 139 people were killed in the Moscow attack and close to another 200 were injured. It constitutes the deadliest attack claimed by Isis in Europe and the worst such attack in Russia for two decades. On Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron said that the Isis branch behind the attack, known as Khorasan Province (Isis-K), had previously attempted attacks on France, as he agreed with the US assessment that Isis-K was behind the act of terror. Isis-K frequently criticises Russian president Vladimir Putin in its propaganda. The information available to us ... as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State [Isis] which instigated this attack, Mr Macron said during a visit to French Guiana. This specific group ... had over the past months attempted attacks on our soil, he said. Suspect Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda in court (AP) French prime minister Gabriel Attal later said these foiled attacks had included a plot involving the city of Strasbourg in eastern France. The claim of responsibility for the [Moscow] attack by a branch of Islamic State that planned attacks in European countries including France prompted us to increase the Vigipirate [security threat assessment] to its highest level, Mr Attal said, speaking from a Paris railway station about the decision to raise the terror threat level on Sunday night. We will deploy exceptional means everywhere on [French] territory, he added. On Monday, Italys interior ministry said it was also stepping up police activity. In anticipation of the upcoming Easter holidays, an intensification of surveillance and control activities by the police has been agreed, a statement said, adding that special attention would be given to all sensitive targets. Russian MPs have called on those found guilty of the attack in Moscow to face capital punishment. Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Mr Putin who served a term as Russias president from 2008 to 2012 and has become increasingly strident since Russia sent its troops into Ukraine two years ago, discussed the detained suspects on his Telegram channel on Monday. They have been caught. Kudos to all who were chasing them. Should they be killed? They should. And it will happen, he wrote. Emergency services at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Saturday (EPA) But it is more important to kill everyone involved. Everyone. Those who paid, those who sympathised, those who helped. Kill them all. Russias prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said that the perpetrators will be punished and that they do not deserve mercy. Russia has had a moratorium on capital punishment since the 1990s, but it remains on the statute book. No executions have been carried out since 1996, when the president at the time, Boris Yeltsin, issued a decree establishing the moratorium, which was explicitly confirmed by the Constitutional Court in 1999. Russias penal code currently allows for the death penalty for five offences: murder, genocide, and attempted murder of either a judge, police officer or state official. Now many people are asking questions about the death penalty. This topic, of course, will be deeply, professionally, meaningfully studied, Vladimir Vasilyev, parliamentary leader of the United Russia faction in the lower house of parliament, was quoted by Tass media as saying on Saturday. However, Mr Peskov told reporters that the Kremlin is not taking part in this discussion at the moment. A soldier patrols close to the Eiffel Tower on Monday as France stepped up its terror threat level (AP) Russian officials have been slow to acknowledge the claim by Isis. On Sunday, Mr Putin instead claimed that the attackers were trying to reach Ukraine, though he did not offer any evidence of this. Mr Putin said some people on the Ukrainian side had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack. Its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Mr Putin of seeking to divert blame for the attack by mentioning Ukraine, which is defending itself against an invasion by Russian forces that Mr Putin launched in February 2022. Mr Peskov said in his news conference on Monday that it was inappropriate to comment on the Isis claim until an investigation had been completed. Later in the day, Mr Putin called the attack an act of terrorism committed by radical Islamists. But he again tried to pin some of the blame on Kyiv. The White House strongly dismissed the suggestion of a link to Ukraine. There was no linkage to Ukraine. This is just more Kremlin propaganda, said White House spokesperson John Kirby. Mr Macron warned Russia against trying to exploit the attack by blaming Ukraine. I think that it would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine, he said, adding that France had offered help to find the culprits. We have offered to increase cooperation with the Russian [intelligence] services and our partners in the region, so that the culprits can be found as quickly as possible and so that we continue to fight effectively against these groups which are targeting several countries, Mr Macron said. Mr Peskov said Russias security services had not accepted any help from the West. No, our security services are working on their own; no assistance is currently on the table, he said. Eleven people have been detained in connection to the attack so far, according to Russian officials. Counterterrorism researcher Lucas Webber said that Isis had been focused on outreach efforts to central Asia since the mid-2010s, finding success in recruitment, fundraising, and violent incitement. He added that Isis-K had been the terror groups most internationally minded branch, and that it had created Uzbek, Tajik, and Russian-language media wings to build support. He added that Isis-K-linked plots had been foiled in Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Austria, and Sweden since last year. 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 four men suspected of carrying out the deadly terrorist attack in Moscow have appeared in court bearing the marks of torture. The suspects, identified by Russian authorities as being from Tajikistan, a Central Asian nation bordering Afghanistan, were allegedly picked up in the Bryansk region about 210 miles southwest of Moscow hours after the attack. Without providing any evidence, Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed they were heading for Ukraine. Both Ukraine and its western allies, including the US, have denied any involvement in the attack. A man identified as Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday, sits in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow (AP) Russias security service (FSB) said the four men who appeared in court on Sunday evening killed more than 130 people in the Crocus City Hall last Friday, but they added that they have also detained an additional seven people allegedly involved in the attack. The oldest of the four suspects, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, is 32 years old while the youngest, Mukhammadsobir Faizov, is 19, according to Russian authorities. The other two suspects have been identified as 30-year-old Saidakrami Rachabalizoda and 25-year-old Shamsidin Fariduni. Their identities have not been confirmed and multiple Russian analysts have warned against taking the word of the Kremlin authorities as fact. But footage posted of the attack appears to match with subsequent footage of those detained, suggesting at least some of those arrested were directly involved. Two of the four have pleaded guilty. This combination of pictures created on March 24, 2024 shows (from L) Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda, Dalerdjon (alternatively spelled Dalerdzhon) Barotovich Mirzoyev, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people, the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in decades (AFP via Getty Images) The Tajik government, a close ally of Moscow, insists it has not received any official information from Russian authorities about Tajiks allegedly involved in the attack. But counterintelligence analysts have said that Isis-K, an offshoot of the terrorist group Isis, has a strong presence in Tajikistan. It is believed the four carried out the attack on behalf of Isis-K. Saidakrami Murodali was pictured in court on Sunday evening with his right ear covered in bandages. Over the weekend, footage circulated by Russian bloggers appeared to show security services cutting his ear off. Teenage Mukhammadsobir Faizov, sitting in hospital robes, was shown sitting in a wheelchair, half conscious, during his court appearance. Russian media reported that he is from the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. Two accounts on Russian social media platform VKontake that are believed to be linked to Faizov suggest that he worked at a barber shop in the Russian city of Ivanovo, a five-hour drive northeast of Moscow, until November. The two other suspects, Shamsiddin Fariduni and Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, were shown with bruised faces when they appeared in court. The names of several other alleged Tajik nationals and their photos appeared on Russian websites as suspects in the attack. However, Tajikistans Interior Ministry quickly rejected reports about three of the alleged suspects. They said that two of the men were at home in Tajikistan at the time of the attack and a third was at work in the Russian city of Samara, more than 600 miles from Moscow. 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 has launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to the third time in five days, injuring 10 people, as Moscow ramps up its aerial assault across the country. Roughly 190 missiles and 140 drones have been fired at targets across Ukraine across the last week, according to the foreign ministry in Kyiv. Fired uncharacteristically late in the day - usually the attacks happen overnight - it caught thousands of civilians off-guard as air raid sirens resounded just seconds before a hypersonic Zircon missile tore through a multistorey building in the central district of Pechersk. It is another day of horror in Kyiv, said Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik. The missiles that attacked us, they launched very quickly. The explosions were right at the same time as the air raid sirens. Today is just another horrifying example of what will go on and on with Russia unless they are stopped. The Mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, said at least 10 people had been injured as a result of the missile hit in the Pechersk district, including a 16-year-old girl. He posted footage on the Telegram messenger site of rescuers searching through the rubble for more survivors. Missile debris also damaged homes in two districts, Ukraines National Police said. Footage shared by Ukrainian foreign minister. Dmytro Kuleba, meanwhile, showed a group of children frantically running for cover after the delayed siren. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later led a chorus of officials calling for more air defences to mitigate against further attacks. Russian terrorists attacked the capital with ballistic missiles, he wrote on Telegram. We never tire of repeating that Ukraine needs more air defence. This is security for our cities and saves human lives. All of us in the world who respect and protect life must stop this terror. Later in the day, Ukrainian news outlets reported at least two explosions in the southern city of Odesa as Russian missile strikes also targeted several other regions. There was no immediate word on injuries or damage there. It comes as preliminary estimates from Ukraines national energy company Ukrenergo suggested that Russias devastating missile attack last Friday caused more than 90 million (77m) of damage to the power grid. More than 150 missiles and drones were fired across Ukraine in the early hours of Friday, plunging more than a million Ukrainians into temporary blackouts, in what Kyiv claimed was a deliberate attempt to hit energy infrastructure. Three days later, access to electricity in the southern region of Odessa and the northeastern region of Kharkiv remained patchy, Mariia Tsaturian, a representative of Ukrenergo, told The Independent. She said more than 100 restoration specialists were working to repair the grid but that it could take up to a week to fix access to the grid in Kharkiv - and that is provided that Russia does not launch another attack. The most difficult situation is in Kharkiv, she said. The damages are high there. Our restoration teams, together with some colleagues working on the distribution grid, are trying to find some tricky, creative solutions to return power to the city and to the district of the region. Local governor Oleh Syniehubov reported that certain districts would be without power for up to six hours a day until at least April. 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 UK Space Agency will open four new bases across the country. In an attempt to support the space sector across the UK, it will open a new headquarters in Oxfordshire as well as regional offices in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands as it works to support the space sector across the UK. The expansion is designed to allow UKSA to work closely with the UKs space sector, and promote regional skills and job opportunities. The new premises at the Space Cluster at the Harwell Science Campus is due to open in June, while offices at William Morgan House in Cardiff and Space Park Leicester will open in April. The office at Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh will open later in the summer. Andrew Griffith, minister for space at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said: Harwells Space Cluster is already a hub of collaboration, with more than 100 thriving research organisations and 1,400 jobs, making it the ideal location for the UK Space Agencys new headquarters. At the same time, our space sector has grown considerably across all parts of the UK and new offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Leicester will serve the talented space researchers and innovators around the country while creating more jobs, growing our local economies and strengthening the UKs science superpower ambitions. Dr Paul Bate, UKSA chief executive, said: This is a transformational moment for the UK Space Agency, responding directly to the feedback that the agency should be embedded in the sector. Our new headquarters, located at the UKs biggest space cluster in Harwell, will connect to regional offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Leicester, helping us recruit space talent from across the nation and deliver the National Space Strategy. This will place the UK Space Agency at the heart of the space sector we serve, boosting growth, improving relationships with regional organisations and supporting a strong, diverse and connected sector. We have seen a significant rise in space organisations across the UK and its crucial we nurture their skills and expertise, to ensure we continue this journey. The UK space sector is worth more than 17.5 billion per year and employs over 45,000 people, while satellites underpin 360 billion per year of wider economic activity. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel 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 Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} In the weeks leading up to the tragedy at a Moscow music venue on Friday night, warnings had been relayed to Russia that a terror attack perpetrated by extremists was imminent. Despite this, it appears their intelligence services were caught unaware when a group of four gunmen opened fire at Crocus City Hall, where 7,000 concertgoers had gathered to watch the progressive rock band Picnic. At least 137 people have been killed, while over a hundred more have been wounded with the jihadist group ISIS-K claiming responsibility in a series of videos and messages. The car which, according to Russian authorities, the suspects in the shooting at Moscow's Crocus City Hall used to escape (Ostorozhno Novosti via REUTERS) The four suspects have since been arrested and hauled before a court, just hours after footage emerged of them being dragged into an intelligence headquarters whilst blindfolded. Who are ISIS-K? Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), named after an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and quickly established a reputation for extreme brutality. While the group has seen a decline in membership since 2018, it remains one of the most active regional affiliates of Islamic State. Over the years, it has been increasingly targeted by US forces and the Taliban, both of whom have inflicted heavy losses upon the group. Despite this, the US continues to view the group as a threat, with Congress told last March that ISIS-K was developing the ability to carry out external operations in Europe and Asia. General Michael Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command predicted it would be able to attack U.S. and Western interests outside Afghanistan "in as little as six months and with little to no warning." Why attack Russia? Jihadist terror groups have often posed a challenge to Russias security, with ISIS-K previously carrying out the 2017 St Petersburg metro bombing in 2017, which left 15 dead. The gunment opening fire in the concert hall foyer (UGC/AFP via Getty Images) Largely based in central Asia, ISIS-K has come to view Russia on a similar level to the US, which they believe espouses hatred towards the Muslim faith. They have also cited Russias support of the Assad regime which saw them intervene in Syria in 2015, with airstrikes occurring as recently as last year. Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center said ISIS-K "sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims." He added that the group also counts as members a number of Central Asian militants with their own grievances against Moscow. What other attacks have the group carried out? Earlier this year, the US intercepted communications confirming the group carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people who had gathered to mourn the anniversary of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimanis assassination by US forces. In September 2022, ISIS-K militants claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul. The group was also responsible for an attack on Kabuls international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US troops and at least 169 civilians during the chaotic US evacuation from the country. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel 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 Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Venice is pressing ahead with its plan to become the first city in the world to charge admission for daytrippers. It will become a city of culture, cuisine and charges. Starting 25 April 2024, visitors to the historic heart of Venice must pay 5 (4.25) to access the city between 8.30am and 4pm on key days in spring and summer. A leading city transport and tourism official, Arianna Fracasso, told The Independent the scheme is aiming to safeguard the city from overtourism. Visitor numbers: only 30% of tourists in Venice stay overnight (Simon Calder) Around 30 million tourists visit Venice in a typical year with about seven out of 10 (or 21 million) staying only for the day. Just before the Covid pandemic, Unesco warned the citys status as a World Heritage property is in jeopardy. While tourists who stay overnight in Venice hotels will be exempt from the charge, they will still need to register online and obtain a code that will allow them to pass checkpoints. Ms Fracasso said: Its like a museum in the open air, so we want to safeguard it. During 2024, charges will apply on 29 days. The first is Italys Liberation Day, commemorating the struggle of the Italian resistance movement against fascism during the Second World War. The charge will apply for the following 10 days, up to and including Sunday 5 May. Visits on the seven subsequent weekends, up to and including Sunday 14 July, will also be subject to the fee. Its an experimental thing just for this year, Ms Fracasso said. Next year, maybe it will be changed. Unesco warns that Venices Outstanding Universal Value, the hallmark of every World Heritage property is in peril. Cruise ships were banned from docking in the historic centre of Venice in 2021 in response to a request from the UN body that seeks to protect cultural heritage. But Unesco remains concerned about overtourism, the potential negative effects of new developments [and] the lack of an integrated management system. How will the system work? Any visitor who wishes to access the historic heart of Venice pretty much anywhere in the city apart from the Piazzale Roma transport access area and the offshore islands between 8.30am and 4pm will need to register online, in advance, at cda.ve.it/en. You will need a QR code on your smartphone or printed out to get through what are expected to be checkpoints at the entries to the ancient city. If you simply want to pay the fee, clicking on Pay the access fee will take you through a fairly straightforward process. One tricky aspect is that you have to pretend you have read the privacy policy (all in Italian) by clicking on it, before you can enable a checkbox. Admission ticket: Permit to enter the historic core of Venice on the day the new scheme takes effect (Citta di Venezia) How can I dodge the fee? Be under 14 (with proof if you look as though you might be older). If you live in, or were born in, the Municipality of Venice you can gain exemption simply by presenting a document certifying it. Be a holder of the European Disability Card or their accompanying caregiver. Stay overnight. Guests in hotels anywhere in the Municipality of Venice which includes the islands and the mainland hinterland around Mestre are entitled to exemption including the day you check in and the day you check out. This requires you to click on I am a guest in an accommodation facility located in the Municipality of Venice. You fill in the usual personal details. Then you have less than a minute to make a call from the registered smartphone to an Italian number. It is said that this does not go through nor results in any charge. Note that guests in Venice hotels must pay an accommodation tax, usually included in the final bill. Is an access fee going to catch on elsewhere? The unique geography of Venice, comprising an archipelago accessible only by bridge or water, makes it one of the few cities where levying a charge is feasible. But other cities with concerns about overtourism, including Amsterdam, Barcelona and Dubrovnik, will be watching developments closely. A tradition dating back to 1914 has been revived in Paris as the French capital prepares to welcome the Olympic Games this summer. The waiters race - open to the staff of all Parisian bistros - was organised in front of the Paris town hall on Sunday 24 March. Dozens of participants set off carrying a plate with a croissant, coffee and a glass of water for a 1.2 mile-long route through the Marais neighborhood in central Paris. An essential element of Parisian heritage, bistros are at the heart of the effort to promote the Parisian way of life and attract visitors during the Olympics. Two individuals and a company linked to the Chinese state have been sanctioned over attacks on the Electoral Commission between 2021 and 2022, Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons on Monday, 25 March. The same company also carried out reconnaissance activity against UK parliamentary accounts in a separate campaign in 2021, the deputy prime minister added. British intelligence services believe Chinese spies are likely to use details stolen by hacking the elections watchdog to target dissidents and critics of Xi Jinpings government in the UK. The El Dorado County Sheriffs Office said an 18-year-old who was injured in a mountain lion attack that killed his brother is expected to recover fully. El Dorado County Sheriff's Office An 18-year-old man who was injured in a mountain lion attack that killed his brother is expected to recover fully after undergoing multiple surgeries, according to the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office. The mountain lion, which was tracked down and euthanized, was male and weighed about 90 pounds, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Sunday. The sheriffs office on Monday released the identities of the two men: 18-year-old Wyatt Brooks and 21-year-old Taylen Robert Claude Brooks. Both were from Mount Aukum, a small community in El Dorado County. Advertisement Article continues below this ad These two young men being as close as any two brothers could be, lived a full energetic life enjoying the outdoors, the family said in a statement that mourned the loss of Taylen and expressed thankfulness that Wyatt survived. The two hunted and fished together almost daily, the family said. The brothers were hunting for antlers Saturday in a remote area of Georgetown when the attack happened, the sheriffs office said. The 18-year-old, Wyatt, called 911 around 1:15 p.m. to report the attack, which left him with traumatic injuries to his face. He was separated from his older brother during the attack. After deputies arrived, they found the older brother on the ground with the mountain lion crouched beside him. The deputies fired their guns, scaring off the mountain lion, but Taylen had died, the sheriffs office said. A professional trapper located and killed the mountain lion within a few hours, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said. Wyatt, who enjoys baseball and bow hunting, hopes to join Cal Fire and has been at the Mount Adams Fire Academy since last September, the family said. Taylen worked painting homes and cutting wood, and loved fishing, the outdoors and playing guitar. He was a very kind and gentle soul and will be deeply missed by all who knew him, the family said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad DNA samples taken from the carcass and the scene matched, confirming the mountain lion killed was the one involved in the attack, the department said. The mountain lion appeared healthy, and forensic scientists will continue analyzing necropsy results to check for underlying health conditions. First and foremost, our hearts go out to the families and loved ones affected by this tragic incident. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time, said CDFW Director Charlton Bonham. Wildlife experts said mountain lion attacks are rare. The attack is the first fatal mountain lion attack in California since 2004, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Most wildlife attacks on humans are related to the animals protecting their young or their food source, said Beth Pratt, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation. Mountain lions dont see humans as prey and try to avoid encounters, she said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Former Obama official and lawyer Neal Katyal branded Donald Trump Don Poorleone, while discussing the former US presidents financial woes. Mr Katyal appeared on the Inside with Jen Psaki political show on Sunday (24 March) and explained why people are referring to Trump as the iconic Marlon Brando character Vito Corleone from The Godfather. Mr Katyal said: There is a reason why I think some people are calling Donald Trump Don Poorleone right now, and its because hes kind of talking out of both sides of his mouth. Today (25 March), the former president must post a $464m bond payment to comply with a New York civil court ruling that found him guilty of fraud earlier this year. Just Stop Oil protesters plastered Exeters Labour headquarters with posters on Monday 25 March. Two of the groups supporters fly-posted the building with posters and printouts of a letter sent to parliamentary candidate Steve Race last week. The letter asked him to commit to leaving the party within six months of forming a government if they fail to revoke the Tory oil licences granted since 2021. Mr Race sent a response which refused to commit to the pledge, according to a statement from Just Stop Oil. Police officers attended the scene on Monday and spoke with the protesters but made no arrests. The US is still supplying "defence capabilities" to Israel after abstaining from a UN ceasefire vote, White House spokesperson John Kirby confirmed on Monday, 25 March. Mr Kirby's announcement came after Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a high-level delegations planned visit to Washington following the US's abstention on the UN Security Council's resolution, which was backed by 14 nations, demanding an immediate cease-fire during the month of Ramadan and the release of all hostages held by Hamas. The resolution marked the first time the body has called for a halt to the fighting. Farmers on tractors converged on Westminster on Monday, 25 March, in a protest against substandard imports and dishonest labelling they warn threatens food security. Campaigners from Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent assembled for a go-slow convoy and drive around Westminster. Organisers anticipated 50 to 100 tractors as well as other farm vehicles to show up as the group raised concerns over the increasing difficulties faced by the British farming industry which they say are leaving the nations food security at risk. The Home Office has launched a social media campaign in Vietnam to deter migrants from coming to the UK illegally. Beginning on Monday 25 March, the campaign will use adverts on Facebook and YouTube to target people in the south-east Asian country who may be considering making illegal journeys to the UK. An increasing proportion of small boat migrants are Vietnamese and they are one of the top 10 nationalities for migrants crossing the Channel illegally, the Home Office said. It added that the adverts will set out the risks of being indebted to and exploited by the people-smuggling gangs who profit from facilitating small boat crossings. David Lloyd Leisure plans for state-of-the-art fitness centre rejected by Fingal planners Design and layout of proposed development were of poor unacceptable quality The company had wanted a 4,300sqm building over two storeys. Photo: Getty Sean Pollock Sun 24 Mar 2024 at 03:30 Plans by David Lloyd Leisure, one of Europes leading premium health and wellness groups, to develop a fitness centre near Swords, Co Dublin, have been rejected by council planners. Project manager Frank Sinton made allegations against Qatari-owned Maybourne Hotels and four directors Defamation allegations taken by a close associate of businessman Paddy McKillen against the Qatari-owned Maybourne Hotels group whose high-end properties include Claridges and The Connaught in London have been thrown out by the UKs High Court. Project manager Frank Sinton, who has worked on a number of luxury hotel developments undertaken by Maybourne Hotels, sued the group and four individuals who are directors of the company. Represented by the offices of high-profile Northern Irish lawyer Paul Tweed, Mr Sinton made allegations of libel, malicious falsehood and breach of data protection law against the defendants. The action stemmed from a decision in early 2022 by the Maybourne Hotels board to withdraw access rights from Mr Sinton to the companys offices and three of the groups sites, including properties that were being developed in London and Nice. That decision was made following allegations made against Mr Sinton, fellow project manager Ronnie Delaney, and Mr McKillen that they had acted inappropriately towards staff at the site in Nice and one in London. An email was sent by the Maybournes board to Mr McKillen and his secretary, as well Liam Cunningham, a director of a firm called Hume Street Management Consultants (HSMC), that is owned by Mr McKillen. HSMC was managing construction works at the relevant sites and also managing Claridges, the Connaught and another Maybourne property, the Berkeley. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th Mr McKillen sold his 36pc stake in Maybourne Hotels to the family office of His Highness Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who was formerly the Emir of Qatar, in 2015. Mr McKillen was removed from the Maybourne Hotels board in 2022 and his relationship with the Qatari owners subsequently deteriorated. A number of other individuals were also informed that Mr Sintons access had been suspended, while he claimed that dozens of construction workers at the hotel site in Nice many of them British had also been informed of his access suspension. Mr Sinton complained that one communication to a director of the French company that owns the hotel site in Nice stated that: Frank Sinton is guilty of particularly serious reprehensible behaviour and, in view of the seriousness of his conduct and to protect all the people present at the Maybourne Riviera site, his access to the site should be suspended. He also complained of another message sent to an employee of a company connected to Maybourne Hotels that stated: There is an investigation into Frank Sintons conduct that was much more serious than people can think and there is a possibility that the authorities would be informed. But the defendants applied for summary judgment in the case. They argued that in respect of his defamation claim, Mr Sinton had no real prospect of showing that one of the relevant letters caused or was likely to cause serious harm to his reputation. Justice Martin Chamberlain has granted summary judgment to the defendants on the defamation and malicious falsehood claims made by Mr Sinton. He invited submissions in relation to the resolution of the data protection claim made by him. He also noted that he could not draw any firm conclusion from the evidence Mr Sintons action was being funded by Mr McKillen let alone that it is actuated by an improper motive on Mr McKillens or Mr Sintons part. Electricity provider Yuno Energy is showing up its rivals by announcing a fourth cut in its prices this year. The supplier has now reduced its charges six times since the company launched in Ireland last August. Its latest cut comes in response to the collapse in wholesale electricity costs. Recent official figures show that wholesale electricity prices are down 78pc since they peaked in August 2022. Despite this, there have been just two cuts in prices for households from the main players, with consumer electricity prices falling by between 20pc and 25pc. Research has shown that Ireland has the highest electricity prices in Europe. Yuno Energy is cutting its fixed rate by 3.4pc, with effect from today. It is the fourth cut this year in its fixed rate. The new rate applies only to new customers, because those already locked in on a previous fixed rate will not see any change in what they pay. The new price is more than 500 cheaper than standard rate offers from other suppliers, even after all the latest reductions take effect. It would become the cheapest price in the market, Yuno said. Yuno is also understood to be responding to the fact that recent cuts from rivals Energia and Flogas meant their pricing was coming close to that of Yuno. The new provider is aiming to be the cheapest in the market. The companys new unit rate for electricity is 25.24c per kilowatt hour, including Vat. This is down 3.4pc from 26.13c per kWh. Yuno said this meant it would have the cheapest unit rate in the market. The total annual cost for a typical customer will be 1,325 a year, which is more than 500 cheaper than the average standard rates from other suppliers. Yunos customer numbers have jumped from 10,000 at Christmas to around 17,000 now. Yuno chief executive Cathal Fay said: This is a fixed-rate offering, so it will not change for the year. Wholesale markets have increased in the last few weeks and are still volatile, so the new rate were announcing might be particularly appealing to those that want to be sure they can lock in the benefits of recent price reductions. If you havent changed in a year or more, you will save a minimum of 430 by joining Yuno. The company is a subsidiary of pay-as-you-go electricity provider PrepayPower, but offers a bill-pay service and operates as a separate entity. Recent Central Statistics Office figures show that last month wholesale electricity prices fell by 15.3pc when compared with the previous month. In the last year, wholesale prices were down 46.8pc. Calculations based on CSO figures show that wholesale electricity costs are down by 78pc since their peak in August 2022. But prices for households have come down by only a fraction of that. Michael Kilcoyne, chairman of the Consumers Association of Ireland, accused electricity suppliers and the Government of fleecing households. We are being short-changed. The industry and the Government, with its Vat and other levies on electricity, are taking us for fools. Consumers are being fleeced, Mr Kilcoyne said. The Workplace Relations Commission decided the sanctions imposed on the man by an agricultural-sector employer were excessive. Photo: Clare Keogh Excessive disciplinary sanctions imposed on a farm labourer who lashed out at a cow have been dramatically reduced. The worker at a Munster farming operation was initially suspended without pay for six months, but his employer has since reduced this to three months. This followed a Workplace Relations Commission adjudication officers decision that the sanctions imposed on the man by an agricultural-sector employer were excessive. Peter Glynn of Siptu, who represented the labourer at a hearing at the commission, said he was very upset at the way he was treated and had no money in the run-up to Christmas. He said he is back at his job now, and confirmed that his employer reduced the sanctions taken that would have included a reduction in pay on his return to work. In fairness, the cow kicked him first, he said. He was putting a kick bar on. They were fairly young cows, getting ready for calving, and very lively with their feet. He retaliated by hitting the cow with a kick bar. There was no serious damage, and the cow walked out of the parlour. There was no need for vets. We were pleased that the adjudication officer reduced the sanctions because, in the first place, he thought it was very excessive. He wouldnt have access to social welfare. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th He noted that if the man had to return to the bottom of his pay scale, he would lose the benefit of his length of service. It takes over 13 years to reach the top of the scale. The labourer was initially dismissed after admitting he hit the animal. Following an appeal, this decision was reversed but other sanctions were imposed. They included suspension without pay for six months. It was also proposed that this pay would be reduced by moving him from the top of his pay scale to the bottom. He would also be moved to duties that meant he lost a 6,000 allowance. The appeal board handed down a final written warning that would remain on his personnel file for 24 months. The worker would also be required to participate in training related to animal handling and welfare. His employer said that it is a minimum requirement that animals are handled with care and patience and the misconduct was not acceptable in an organisation that provides agricultural education. It argued that the sanction of suspension without pay was a reasonable response in its disciplinary process. The farm labourer felt that no consideration or weight was given to mitigating circumstances. He said it was a once-off incident in a 26-year career and no injury occurred to the animal. He admitted he struck a cow, but said this was after receiving a severe kick from the cow following milking, which he described as a momentary lapse of judgement. In an anonymised decision in January, adjudication officer Conor Stokes noted that the worker admitted striking the animal in his care. He noted that this was a momentary lapse due to frustration and irritation having been kicked by the animal, he said. He noted that the animal was not injured when he struck it. Mr Stokes considered the imposition of multiple sanctions unreasonable and amounted to the application of excessive sanctions. He said a six-month suspension without pay does not appear reasonable in circumstances where an employee cannot seek employment elsewhere and there are additional sanctions imposed. I believe that this places undue hardship upon the employee. I consider that a three-month suspension without pay is reasonable in all the circumstances, he said. He said he should remain on the pay increment he was on before the incident, but recommended a final written warning, that the worker undergo retraining in animal welfare, and his reassignment be reconsidered. Downtown Oakland in March. Reported crime rose across the city over the last several years, but certain areas have been hit particularly hard. Noah Berger/Special to the Chronicle Crime in Oakland was up for the third year in a row in 2023, as the city struggles to get a handle on public safety post-pandemic. But trends at the city level dont tell the whole story. A Chronicle analysis of crime data shows that certain crimes are rising in some neighborhoods far more than others. And in some cases, they are even staying relatively flat. Overall, reported crimes in Oakland rose 18% in 2023 compared to 2022, with violent crime up 21% and property crime up 17%. The surge was driven by a jump in robberies and motor vehicle thefts, both of which were up significantly from the year before robberies rose 38% between 2022 and 2023, and motor vehicle thefts by 45%. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Homicides remained steady between 2022 and 2023, though 2023 was up more than 20% compared to the average of the previous five years. Aggravated assaults were also slightly elevated year over year. Oakland, like most other major cities, has been grappling with rising crime ever since the pandemic began. The citys violent crime rates were already higher than other California cities, and, unlike other cities, Oaklands pandemic spike has yet to come back down. Nationwide, violent crime in cities of similar size decreased by 6% in 2023, and property crime decreased by 4%, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In San Francisco, violent crime rose 3%, and reported property crime decreased by nearly 9%. Experts have said that the closure of schools and community gathering places and economic instability during the pandemic disrupted Oaklands social support systems for vulnerable groups. Violence prevention programs, which the citys police credited with declining violence in the five years before the pandemic, were also interrupted. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At the same time, gun sales surged across the state, including ghost guns, which are designed to get around Californias strict gun laws and are more difficult to trace. But not every area of Oakland is experiencing crime trends the same way. While all areas of Oakland have seen an increase in crime over the last five years, the area encompassing North Oakland and Uptown, covered by Police Area 2, saw the largest increase in total crimes reported in 2023 compared to 2022 jumping 28%. It also saw the largest increase compared to the previous five year average at 59%. That upswing was largely driven by an increase in motor vehicle thefts, which increased by almost 70% from 2022 to 2023. They were up 132% compared to the previous five-year average, which was the largest jump of any of the six police areas, all of which also saw an increase over that period. Homicides and aggravated assaults, less common but more serious crimes, also spiked. In response to increasing crime in the area, the police department told the Chronicle in December that it was increasing the number of officers in the district, using surveillance footage and instituting volunteer ambassador programs to alert police of suspicious activity and help people get to their cars safely. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Oakland Police Area 6, which encompasses the furthest east part of Oakland and struggles with persistently higher crime rates than the rest of the city, saw a relatively small rise in crime 2022-23 at 15%. But thats largely because the area had already seen such large increases in the previous few years. Compared to the previous five years, overall crime was 52% higher than the average of the previous five years. Over the past five years, Area 6 saw particularly high spikes in auto burglaries and larceny compared to the other police areas and the city at large. Auto burglaries were 97% higher in 2023 than the previous five years by far the highest increase of any police area. East Oakland has suffered from decades of disinvestment and high poverty rates, and community advocates have said the pandemic increased devastation and desperation in the area. In late 2021, then-police chief LeRonne Armstrong reconfigured the police areas to create Area 6, redeploying patrol officers from other parts of the city to East Oakland in response to rising crime. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Robberies have been a particularly stubborn problem in Police Area 4, which covers central Oakland, including Fruitvale. The area saw a 50% rise in reported robberies from 2022 to 2023, and unlike other parts of the city had not seen any decline in previous years. As a result, robberies were up an even greater 66% compared to the average of the previous five years. Last summer, merchants in Fruitvale threatened to stop paying rent if the city did not work to improve safety in the area. In the fall, police added foot patrols to the area, as well as a stationed community resource truck and a satellite office of the citys Department of Violence Prevention. Every police area has had elevated homicide numbers since the pandemic, but some had larger spikes than others. Police Area 1, West Oakland and Downtown, saw an unusually large increase in homicides during the pandemic nearly doubling from nine in 2020 to 16 in 2022, and again to 30 in 2022. While down slightly, the number remained high in 2023 at 26. Areas 5 and 6, which cover East Oakland and have historically struggled with high homicide rates, also both saw increases in 2023. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Holly Joshi, chief of the citys Department of Violence Prevention, told the Chronicle earlier this month that Oaklands persistently high homicide numbers were devastating, and, she believed, partly the result of the disintegration of Oaklands Ceasefire program, which was first launched in 2012 and was credited with reducing gun violence before the pandemic. Despite the rising numbers, Oakland still is not at the heights of violent crime it experienced in past decades. Violent crime, which includes homicides, assaults, robberies and rapes, hit a peak in Oakland in the early 1990s. Still, the rising crime prompted both local and state officials to take a number of steps to address the issues. The police department has spread officers out into neighborhoods, refocusing its efforts on patrolling beats. In October, the city announced it would install 300 license plate readers meant to help police collect evidence. In January, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao announced plans to reinvigorate the citys Ceasefire program. She has also increased security cameras around the city and community ambassadors in business districts. In February, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a ninefold increase in the number of California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland and the East Bay. Community-based violence prevention programs like Youth Alive also continue to work in the city to help connect survivors of gunfire and other violence with services like counseling and education in an effort to disrupt the cycle of violence. Data from the first few months of 2024 shows some positive signs for the city, as well as worrying ones. Homicides so far in 2024 were down as of March 17, with 16 so far this year compared to 19 at this time last year. Motor vehicle theft was also down 8%, and aggravated assault was down 6%. Burglary, including auto burglary, were both down significantly for the beginning of 2024, at 48% and 52% respectively compared to the same period last year, when the crime surge appears to hit a high. Still, robberies were up 34% this year compared to the same period last year, prompting police to issue a public safety advisory on March 13. Gavan Hennigan was also the first Irish person to compete in the Alaskan race. Photo: Soulogav Instagram In a remarkable display of resilience and endurance, Galway native Gavan Hennigan crossed the finish line of the Iditarod Trail Invitational 1000 on Friday, claiming the title of Mens Foot Champion. The race, now in its 18th year, requires contestants to pull a sled 1,000 miles across Alaska, including over the Bering Sea, and has only ever seen 50 athletes complete it before the 30-day cut-off period. Mr Hennigan is not only the first Irish person to win the race but also the first ever Irish person to compete. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th Following the victory, Mr Hennigan (42) said: Made it to Nome!! 1,000 miles on foot and took the win too. Absolutely trashed. Thank you all for such amazing support. His journey across Alaskan wilderness culminated in the small city of Nome after 24 days, 18 hours and nine minutes of relentless effort, battling against natures harshest conditions. The ITI follows the historic Iditarod Trail from its trail head at Knik Lake near Anchorage to the remote interior village of McGrath, continuing to the Bering Sea before reaching the trails conclusion in Nome. Contestants availed of seven checkpoints with food and minimal lodging as well as three supply drops with food and liquids. On the final night of the race, Mr Hennigan posted on Instagram, writing: Just got some signal, about 12k out. Horrible last push overnight. Alaska bringing the Irish weather for the craic, sleet/rain/wind. Wearing a bin bag like a proper hobo, necked 600mg of caffeine at 1am to fight off the sleepies. Ski pole will be turned into flag pole. Mr Hennigans arrival in Nome was described by organisers as being straight out of an adventure tale. They said: Soaked from the relentless rain that had accompanied him in the final leg of his journey, only to be greeted by a heavy snowfall that seemed to celebrate his monumental achievement. This victory is not just about crossing a physical finish line; its a testament to his indomitable spirit and unwavering determination. No stranger to the Iditarod Trail Invitational in Alaska, Mr Hennigan previously won the ITI 350 in 2020, finishing the 350-mile race in six days, 12 hours and 20 minutes. He also made headlines after completing a solo row across the Atlantic in 2017. He set a new Irish record, crossing from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the West Indies in 49 days, 11 hours, 37 minutes and 21 seconds. He was also crowned the fastest solo rower for the course in its history. Before that event, Mr Hennigan, who was then 35, labelled himself an extreme-environment athlete who was also a deep-sea saturation diver for construction oil rigs. His return this year to the Alaskan wilderness to tackle the 1,600km challenge was a journey that organisers described as fraught with obstacles. They said Alaska unleashed its full arsenal including Arctic-blast winds, weeks of bone-chilling cold, unpredictable rain and snow showers, and a trail that challenged every step. Yet he persevered, turning each challenge into a stepping stone towards his ultimate goal. As we congratulate Gavan on this monumental achievement, were reminded of the power of the human spirit and the endless possibilities that await those who dare to challenge the status quo. His journey through the heart of Alaskas wilderness is a compelling testament to what lies within each of us an unyielding drive to overcome the insurmountable. Anger at uniform and fears of unrest are to be discussed The body representing garda middle management will call for a review of the forces suspension policy at its annual conference, which starts today in Mayo. It follows major controversy about a garda who faced a four-year disciplinary and criminal investigation for giving a farmer a loan of a bicycle. While this case has not been specifically referenced by Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) delegates ahead of their conference, the organisation will seek a review of the garda suspension policy with a view to having an independent oversight mechanism put in place. In a statement, the AGSI said that the length of time that investigations were taking was unacceptable and the level of communication to suspended members dismal. AGSI president Paul Curran said: The motivation for this call is to give confidence to members that the suspension policy is fair, transparent and accountable. We understand the need for a robust policy, but members must have the confidence that there are appropriate oversight mechanisms in place. Their statement came after the Sunday Independent yesterday revealed that the garda at the centre of the bike controversy is to sue the force for damages. Two motions in relation to disciplinary investigations introduced by delegates from Westmeath and Cork will be discussed at the conference in Westport. Delegates from two Dublin garda divisions will express strong criticism of the garda uniform that was introduced in February 2022, with one motion stating it is not fit for purpose due to quality of the material to retain heat, meaning an extra layer of clothing is needed. With deep concerns about public order policing being highlighted after last Novembers Dublin riots, delegates from Wexford are calling for a fully equipped public order van for each garda division. With an upsurge in organised and violent crime in Kerry, delegates in that county want Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to carry out a review of the potential response times for ASU (armed support unit) personnel to respond to rural locations. Top of the agenda for the 170 delegates who represent 31 AGSI branches will be the recruitment and retention crisis, along with ongoing transformation challenges and what the AGSI describes as never-ending and over-burdensome oversight. Separately, delegates will hear more details about upcoming ballots on the proposed new garda roster and the recently announced Public Service Pay Agreement 2024-2026. The AGSI has described the mood among members as one of frustration as they seek faster decision-making on key issues and enhanced internal collaboration and communication. They described the mood as one of change fatigue. There are 23 motions on the programme over the next three days which were submitted following AGMs in January. Both Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris will address the conference tomorrow. Fitzpatrick was one of the most sought-after lawyers of his generation Solicitor and property developer Ivor Fitzpatrick has died at his home, Castle Howard, in Avoca, Co. Wicklow after a Covid-related illness, at the age of 68. Fitzpatrick, whose legal business was situated in ivy-clad offices on St Stephens Green, worked with some of the countrys best known business figures, including Dermot Desmond, Paddy McKillen, the late Robert Pino Harris and Fianna Fail taoiseach, Charlie Haughey. He also put together the syndicate of well-known figures who bought the famous Christina O yacht, once the plaything of Aristotle Onasis and his famous friends. He is survived by his wife Susan (Stapleton), who was a founder of the law firm which became probably the best-known legal practice in the country. His wealth from his business activities was estimated at between 50-100 million. The media-shy solicitor was known for a flamboyant personal life which included being helicoptered to work in Dublin, mixing with the business and political elites and hosting extravagant shooting parties at his Avoca castle and estate, which was originally built by a son of the Earl of Wicklow. He also hosted a famous party in his offices at Christmas time, which was attended by judges, solicitor, barristers, and other legal luminaries. He died from a difficult illness, bravely borne on Sunday last. He was also a noted dog-lover, who once hosted a lavish funeral for one of his pets, and his loyal canine companion Coco Bean is mentioned in the death notice. As well as his lucrative business activities he was appointed a director of Aer Lingus by his friend Charlie Haughey, who it was said he counselled for free when he became embroiled in the Moriarty Tribunal. Although he was regarded as very secretive, he fell out with his one-time business partner, Paddy McKillen Snr. But an expected court case which threatened to reveal much of the way they conducted business, which included property development and a quarrying business in Vietnam, did not materialise. Under a separation agreement, their company Canton Caseys Ltd the name of a pub in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath - would be split, with Fitzpatrick getting a 10 million pay-off and McKillen retaining assets in South Anne Street in central Dublin and a Vietnamese quarrying business. Fitzpatrick also fell out with the flamboyant Donegal art-collector Pat Doherty, and Andrew Parker-Bowles, first husband of Queen Camilla of England, over a property development with their company, Harcourt Developments on the tax-haven island of Jersey. This was eventually settled after a three-week hearing. A spokesman for Harcourt said at the time: Mr Fitzpatrick requested a confidentiality clause and we respected that. He also came to international prominence with the release of the Panama Papers, which revealed details of how Mr Fitzpatrick put together the syndicate of prominent and mostly Irish businessmen who bought the Christina O yacht, with the help of a 2 million loan from Michael Fingletons Irish Nationwide Building society. Because of a tax loophole some members of syndicate were then able to write off more than 25 million in losses incurred in refurbishing the ship. It later hosted the reputed 1.5 million lavish wedding of the developer Sean Dunne and his gossip-columnist wife Gayle Killilea, at the height of the Celtic Tiger. Mr Fitzpatricks Dublin-based company Sandyway Investments financed the purchase of the yacht, which was then syndicated to a group of Irish businessmen. One of them, the late trucking multi-millionaire Pino Harris, wrote off 9.1million in tax for his share of the refurbishment costs. This was challenged by the Revenue Commissioners, who lost the case at the Appeals Commission. Among the yachts guests over the years were Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy, Maria Callas, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor and her husband Richard Burton. I dont think there is a man or woman on this earth who would not be seduced by the pure narcissism shamelessly flaunted on this boat Burton is said to have told Onassis. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th Fitzpatrick was said to be one of the most brilliant lawyers of his generation and despite huge legal fees was much sought after by the business community and finances houses. He had over 40 years experience in commercial, banking and corporate law and was the managing partner of the firm he and his wife founded. According to its website, he has advised a broad range of clients in public, private and non-profit sectorsoffering clients strategic and innovative solutions to achieve outcomes in their best interest. Mr Fitzpatricks law firm has continued in his absence, but it was known in legal circles that he had been ill for some time. There will be a requiem service for Mr Fitzpatrick on Thursday next at the Church of St Mary and Patrick, Avoca, Co. Wicklow. A former European parliamentary assistant has been handed 150 hours of community service after admitting to hacking Luke Ming Flanagans Twitter account. Diarmuid Hayes (34) from Dublin admitted to a Belgian court last month that he hacked the MEPs account and posted a tweet referring to Irish Green Party candidate Saoirse McHugh skinny dipping. The tweet, posted on September 28, 2020, was shared from a third-party app known as TweetDeck without Mr Flanagans knowledge. Hayes told the court that he was upset with the MEP for not renewing his contract and published the controversial post as a joke after smoking cannabis. However, the court heard that the social media post had led to Mr Flanagans family being put through hell and the MEP was forced to seek therapy due to the online backlash. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th According to the prosecutor, the post had been published in the early hours of the morning with a deliberate spelling mistake to make it look like the MEP had been drunkenly searching for photos. The court heard that it was a calculated act of revenge and that Diarmuid Hayes had knowingly thrown the MEPs honour to the dogs. Mr Flanagan said that he did not accept Mr Hayes' apology, saying: Sorry doesnt add up. This was a cold, calculated and skilfully carried out attempt to destroy me. Hayes was charged with fraudulently intending to damage the reputation of Mr Flanagan and was this morning sentenced to 150 hours of community service at a hearing in the Palace of Justice in Brussels. Judge Isabelle Jacquemin also handed him a fine of 5,000 and warned that he would face a 15-month prison sentence if he did not comply with the community service order. You realised it would damage his reputation, you published it with the intention to damage his reputation and honour, she told Hayes at todays sentencing. You knew it would have very clear consequences. Ahead of the hearing, Mr Flanagan posted on X, formerly Twitter, and said he was looking forward to getting the sentencing "over and done with. Afterwards, he wrote: Done and dusted. Destroyed his life. My family and I are now heading off to have pancakes and enjoy the sun. A FOURTH garda arrested in an anti-corruption probe has been accused of creating "incidents" on the force's Pulse database after burgling a flat. Robert Gorman (43) appeared in court today as part of an investigation into the activities of a Dublin-based garda unit. It is also alleged he signed information for a search at the burgled address, perverting the course of justice. Gda Gorman is facing trial and the case was adjourned at Dublin District Court for the preparation of a book of evidence. He is the fifth co-accused to be charged after three other gardai and a peace commissioner appeared before the courts in recent weeks. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th Gda Gorman, with an address in north Dublin is charged with burgling a basement flat at Mountjoy Square North on September 7, 2021. Two perverting the course of justice charges allege that he created three Pulse incidents on September 21 and signed information for a search between September 30 and December 30 that year. The charges are under Section 12 of the Theft and Fraud Offences Acts and Common Law. Today, Detective Sergeant Paul Dowling told Judge Treasa Kelly the accused was arrested for the purpose of caution at Irishtown garda station on the morning of March 11. He was charged at 11.01am that day and made no reply after caution. He was handed copies of the charges sheets, the court heard. Gda Gorman was already on bail granted at the garda station when he appeared in court. The DPP was directing trial on indictment and Det Sgt Dowling asked the judge for an adjournment for the preparation of a book of evidence. The judge remanded the accused on continuing bail to May 17 after hearing defence barrister Fiona Pekaar consented. She extended the time required for the service of the book of evidence. Gda Gorman, wearing a white face mask pulled down to his chin and carrying a Lidl shopping bag, said thanks, Judge before leaving the court. He has not yet entered pleas to any of the charges. The Garda Anti-Corruption Units investigation has led to four officers being suspended from duty. The three other gardai who have been charged are also facing trial and their cases were previously adjourned for the preparation of books of evidence. Gardai Colum Ryan (35), and Ciaran Whelan (51) are both charged with false imprisonment of a woman, perverting the course of justice and burglary. Garda Mark Duffy (39) is charged with burgling a flat and perverting the course of justice. A former Dublin city councillor and peace commissioner, Steven Wrenn (50) of Iveragh Road, Whitehall, Dublin is charged with forging search warrants for two addresses at Mountjoy Square North, Dublin 1 and Kenilworth Road, Dublin 6, and perverting the course of justice. Mr Wrenn's case can remain in the district court on a guilty plea but he has not yet indicated how he intends to plead. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th The countrys 385,000 public servants are set for pay rises of 10.25pc over the next two and a half years after unions formally endorsed a new national wage deal this morning. Gardai, teachers, nurses, doctors, civil servants, TDs and senators, judges, members of the defence forces and local government officials are among the state employees who will benefit. The pay rises in the deal well exceed inflation forecasts over the timeframe of the agreement. Nineteen public sector unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions met this morning to aggregate the ballots of individual unions at Ictus headquarters on Parnell Square in Dublin. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th Ictus public services committee, which represents the 19 unions, said in a statement that the new deal will see the full and final unwinding of emergency legislation that cut public servants pay. It noted that it also provides for unions to negotiate up to an extra 3pc of total pay costs via local bargaining deals. Although it has just been ratified, the new deal runs from January 1 this year to June 30, 2026. This means the first pay rise of 2.25pc or 1,125, whichever is greater, that is due since January 1 should be paid immediately. The public services committee said most affiliate unions have returned ballots of their members with sizable majorities in favour of the new pay agreement. It said this paved the way for pay improvements worth 9.25pc - with a further 1pc available for local bargaining - for public service workers. Kevin Callinan, public services committee chair and Forsa general secretary, noted that the deal provides for pay rises worth 4.25pc to be paid this year. He said the new agreement marks the end of an era of industrial relations conducted under the terms of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation, which was introduced during the financial crash in 2009. Unions had sought the full and final unwinding of the legislation in these negotiations to re-establish normal industrial relations, he said. This agreement also provides specific provisions for local bargaining, which will give trade unions the scope to negotiate up to an additional 3pc of pay costs, inclusive of allowances, for particular grades, groups or categories of employee. In both respects weve established a unique pay agreement, while ensuring the maximisation of benefits for public servants in the early phase, with 4.25pc payable this year, he said. According to the unions, the pay proposals are estimated to be worth up to 17.3pc for workers earning less than 50,000 a year. Detailed arrangements for local bargaining on claims lodged by individual groups of staff are to be agreed by June 30 this year. These talks are due to take place between July this year and June next year. The new deal for public servants will mean: In 2024 A backdated pay rise for all public servants of 2.25pc or 1,125, whichever is greater, on January 1. A pay rise of 1pc on June 1. A pay rise of 1pc or 500, whichever is greater, on 1 October 1. In 2025 A pay rise for all public servants of 2pc or 1,000, whichever is greater, on March 1. A pay rise of 1pc on August 1. A local bargaining payment, equal to 1pc of basic pay, will be paid on September 1. In 2026 A pay rise 1pc or 500, whichever is greater, on February 1. A pay rise of 1pc on June 1. The agreement will cost 3.6bn over four years. Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoes officials had previously offered unions a 2.9bn package, but this was rejected. Talks on the new agreement began last November and finished in January this year. The previous public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, expired at the end of last year. Exclusive | They said I was going to be safe, it was going to be fun and Id probably win it Louis Walsh talks about his 1m stint on Big Brother An Irish doctor who was the chief medical officer of health in New Brunswick Canada for eight years has died of ovarian cancer . Eilish Cleary (60) was sacked from her job in New Brunswick after she spoke out about the risks from fracking and also while she was examining potentially carcinogenic glyphosates. She became the youngest doctor to graduate here when she was 22, and moved to Canada in 1998, first in Manitoba before settling in New Brunswick. According to her obituary "Eilish believed deeply in access to healthcare for all and worked throughout her entire life to ensure that this was available." The mother-of-four was New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health from 2007 to 2015 before becoming a family doctor She also spent time fighting Ebola in West Africa, and won the President's Award from the Public Health Physicians of Canada in 2016. The Liberal government dismissed Cleary from her role as chief medical officer of health in 2015 in a high-profile case that left many New Brunswickers calling for her reinstatement. She later got a new job with the federal government working as a specialist focusing on First Nations health issues. She said at the time she would be focused on First Nations health and based in Fredericton,. After her departure as chief medical officer a settlement was reached. According to her obituary she died on March 22, 2024. Ms Cleary was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1963 to John and Mary Cleary. She had four siblings, Brid, Kevin, Fiona, and Siobhan. Eilish believed deeply in access to healthcare for all and worked throughout her entire life to ensure that this was available. With Gerard Beirne, Eilish had four children, James, Luke, Sorcha, and Cormac, who she loved dearly. She enjoyed travel, and shared this love with her children at early ages. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th In 1998, the family moved to Northern Manitoba and lived in Norway House Cree Nation, where she worked at the hospital. Though this move was planned to be temporary, she found another job in Manitoba, which became the familys home for many years. Eventually, Eilish moved with her family to New Brunswick, where she rose to the position of Chief Medical Officer of Health. Eilish met Paul Meyer in New Brunswick and found that they shared a passion for travel and adventurous water sports. They bought a house together in Penniac and worked on the property extensively, building a bunkhouse and walking trails through the woods behind it. In subsequent years, they explored the property regularly, walking its wooded hills for hours at a time. Nestled in the backwoods, Eilish loved this cozy home until her final days. As per her wishes, her ashes will be brought home to Ireland. A visitation was held yesterday at McAdabms Funeral Home on Sunday, March 24, 2024 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated today 11am am at St. Dunstans Catholic Church New Brunswick. Her ashes will be brought back to Ireland and buried with her mother in the family plot in Crosskeys, County Cavan, Ireland, at a later date. The late Charlie Bird's ClimbwithCharlie initiative also raised 1.7m for the charity in 2022. Photo: Gerry Mooney. The JP McManus Foundation has provided a 500,000 boost to the work of the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association (IMNDA). The large donation by the foundation named after the billionaire Limerick native was the second major funding boost for the IMNDA in 2022 and followed the 1.72m generated by the late Charlie Bird's ClimbwithCharlie campaign. Asked if the association received any similar large donations in 2023, a spokeswoman for the IMNDA said on Monday that the association didnt receive any such large scale donations in 2023, unfortunately. All of our fundraising [in 2023] came from in-house campaigns, community fundraising and donations from individuals and a small number of corporate clients. The IMNDAs 2022 annual report discloses the 500,000 from the JP McManus Foundation in 2022. The JP McManus Foundation has donated tens of millions of euros to various charities and initiatives around the country. The 2022 annual report shows that the JP McManus Foundation donated the 500,000 to support the provision of an additional Motor Neurone nurse and associated costs for the Limerick, Tipperary, Cork and Kerry areas. The funding for the role commenced on October 28, 2022, and is to be spent over the next five years. Commenting on the JP McManus Foundation in the IMNDAs annual report, Ceo, Lillian McGovern stated that during 2022, we also received the news that we were the beneficiary of a hugely significant donation from the generous J P McManus Foundation to support our work nationally. Recognising the importance of home support for those with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), we were provided with the funds to employ an additional nurse to provide this valuable support to those in the South/Mid-Western region. For many years, our small team of nurses, which started off with just one nurse, struggled to meet clients in their homes as they covered huge territories and long distances. This expansion of the team has eliminated this and ensured that our clients and their families receive the care they need and in a timely manner. Ms McGovern stated that the 1.7m from the Climb with Charlie funding is to be ring-fenced for direct support to those affected by MND and was aptly named the Charlie Bird Development Fund. As a result of consulting with members, seven programmes or initiatives have been created under this fund. The monies will fund the below programmes - Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNM2) for the Midlands region; the development of a voice banking service grant; the development of a transport support service through MND centres; the development of a respite recharge service; the development of a carer support programme; the establishment of a dedicated fund for longer-term respite care and the support for three-year EU Research programme into MND treatments Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a progressive neurological condition that attacks the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord which means messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and wasting. There are over 400 people living with MND in Ireland and the report states that MDN is often referred to as the 1,000 day disease as most people die within 1,000 days of symptom onset. Installation view of Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection in New York includes artworks from left: Amy Sillman, Radiator, 2021; Simone Leigh, Stick, 2019; Charline von Heyl, Dunesday, 2016; Charline von Heyl, Platos Pharmacy, 2015; Rachel Jones, SMIIILLLLEEEE, 2021. Shah Garg Foundation A celebrated Bay Area collection with an emphasis on women artists will be getting a big homecoming this fall. The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive plan to present the exclusive West Coast engagement of Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection this fall, museum officials announced Monday, March 25. The collection was founded in 2014 by Atherton philanthropists Komal Shah, a former tech engineer and executive, and her husband Gaurav Garg, a tech entrepreneur. The show will open in the first floor galleries on Oct. 26 and be on view through April 20, 2025. Advertisement Article continues below this ad I felt that for our show, this would be the right place, Shah said, a place where there has been so much support for feminist art and for supporting women artists. The exhibition was originally curated in 2023 at the former Dia Center for the Arts space at 548 W. 22nd St. in New York by Cecilia Alemani, chief curator of High Line Art. The local show will be curated by Alemani in collaboration with BAMPFA Chief Curator Margot Norton. This second iteration is expected to highlight artists in the collection with deep ties to the Bay Area such as Mary Corse, Trude Guermonprez, Mary Heilmann, Mary Lovelace ONeal, Elizabeth Murray and Kay Sekimachi, in addition to celebrated international artists including Lynda Benglis, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Sonya Gomes, Maria Lassnig, Joan Mitchell, Julie Mehretu, Howardena Pindell and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. The fall opening of the exhibition will coincide with the launch of the new Shah Garg Women Artists Research Fund, which will allow the museum to create new public programs, publications and exhibitions featuring women artists. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Additionally, Shah and Garg have promised several works from the collection to BAMPFA. Mary Heilmann, San Francisco (Night), 1990. Mary Heilmann The significant investment in the work of women artists by Komal and Guarav is truly inspiring and groundbreaking, said BAMPFAs Executive Director Julie Rodrigues Widholm in a statement. We are so grateful that their vision dovetails with ours at BAMPFA to create public access to such excellent examples of artwork by leading artists of our time, which will generate new scholarship and new art histories for years to come. More Information Making Their Mark: Works From the Shah Garg Collection: Mixed media. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. Oct. 26-April 20, 2025. $10-$14. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St., Berkeley. 510-642-0808. www.bampfa.org Shah is a graduate of the Haas School of Business; Rodrigues Widholm noted that it is particularly fitting that this partnership is with an esteemed UC Berkeley alumna. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Originally from Ahmedabad, India, Shah came to California in 1991 to study computer science. She has a masters degree from Stanford University in addition to her MBA from UC Berkeley. Shah has held positions in the executive suites of Oracle, Netscape and Yahoo but in 2008 retired from tech to focus on philanthropy. Shah is a trustee at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as well as a former board member at the Asian Art Museum. Komal Shah sits near an art piece by Jacqueline Humphries in her home in Atherton. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle Its been a very busy year. We published a book on the collection, weve had about 50,000 visitors in New York, and at least two-thirds of the artists that are alive and in the show have visited, Shah said of last years East Coast showing. Now with it in the Bay Area, she believes its a great opportunity for students from UC Berkeley and in the Bay Area to come together and see these works showcased. Norton is especially excited to see how the collection will present at BAMPFA. Advertisement Article continues below this ad If you want to know about the new surge in cross-county property price changes based on remote and hybrid working, just ask a Dublin city centre publican. Last week a BBC report on the changing face of the Irish pub industry quoted a pub owner in the IFSC, home of the worlds leading banks and financial companies, who told them that his busiest day is Wednesday not Friday or Saturday or even Sunday. Walk around Dublins most popular pubs on a Friday night and youll be surprised to find that plenty of them are sparsely populated or empty. Leo Varadkar urges Simon Harris to be authentic as taoiseach-in-waiting vows to renew, reset and reconnect party Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar advised him to be yourself as he prepares to become taoiseach. Mr Harris has been selected as the uncontested leader of the party following Mr Varadkars shock resignation last Wednesday. He met with Mr Varadkar for almost two hours at Government Buildings today, with the outgoing Taoiseach offering advice and updating Mr Harris who is expected to be appointed to the office in April on key issues. "It was an opportunity to be updated on national and international issues and also to talk to a man who has been Taoiseach for a significant period of time, said Harris. Asked what advice he was given by Mr Varadkar, he added: I dont think hed mind me saying it is important to be yourself. That every holder of office has to bring themselves and their own authenticity to the the role and thats good advice for which I was very grateful. Mr Harris said he is yet to sit down with the other coalition leaders Tanaiste Micheal Martin and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan and that issues relating to cabinet positions are truthfully a matter for another day. Asked if the coalition parties could expect fundamental changes under his leadership of Fine Gael, Mr Harris said: Im very clear on this. Theres a new leader of Fine Gael and Fine Gael has a right to have a new leader and Fine Gael has a right to set out its positions as a political party. When you go into coalition, you dont give up your rights to be a political party lets be very clear on that. And my party wants to renew, it wants to reset, it wants to reconnect. But Im really clear as a party leader in the Government, that we will stay true to the programme for government. Mr Harris also said he believes the current Government should endeavour to go the full term into early next year. He accepted that his appointment as leader of the party came very fast but said he is ready to serve. "I cant deny that the past few days have been somewhat overwhelming. Its been an extraordinarily intense period of time and Ive taken all of that in. Mr Harris said he wants to get on with the job and is using this week to engage with key people. Mr Harris will attend the Fine Gael Ard Fheis as party leader in the coming weeks and will meet individually with members of the parliamentary party to take stock of where they are at. Eleven TDs from Fine Gael have said they will not contest the next general election. People in any walk of life can decide to step back for a whole variety of reasons and I just want to talk those through with everybody and get a sense that everyone is happy with their decision and also to take their counsel and to take their advice, Mr Harris said. Speaking in Kilkenny earlier today, Fianna Fail representative and finance minister Michael McGrath said the country needs certainty and stability welcoming Mr Harriss commitment for the Government to run into next year. Asked about those comments, Mr Harris said that the relationship between the three coalition leaders is the key to the success and stability of the Government. He added: Thats where I want to put my real focus and energy into. Separately, Mr Harris said legitimate questions had been raised about the contents of the Governments hate crime bill, adding that he expects clarifying revisions and amendments to the legislation. I think if weve learned anything from the referendum, I think politicians should approach all of these issues with humility and listen to people and the concerns that theyre raising. He said he knows his colleague and friend Justice Minister Helen McEntee is doing that. Mr Harris said he wants to support housing minister and Fianna Fail TD Darragh OBrien in making more progress. He said: Government must have and Fine Gael must have the moral courage to admit and acknowledge areas that we want to do better and we want to do more. We have an excellent housing minister working extremely hard, he has my full support. Add I want to support him in my new role in making sure we can make even more progress. He said there were conversations ongoing in Government in ensuring the Department of Housing had enough capital funding. He was speaking tonight ahead of an event at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin hosted by MEP Frances Fitzgerald, with Mr Harris acknowledging that there are a number of pressing issues facing Ireland, facing Europe. The celebrated Irish sculptor Imogen Stuart has died at the age of 96. Ms Stuarts creations are housed in public areas and churches across Ireland and the sculptor was recently the subject of a touching documentary. The sculptor was born Imogen Werner in Berlin in 1927 into an upper middle class family with a Jewish background, before they escaped from Nazi Germany. Ms Stuarts grandmother was forced to wear the yellow star and towards the end of the war, her father - Bruno E. Werner - a newspaper editor and later a cultural diplomat - was almost shipped off to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to Ms Stuart, saying he and wife Sabina were fortunate to call Imogen a friend for many years. Mr Higgins conveyed his deepest condolences to Imogens daughters Aisling and Aoibheann, and to all of her family and many friends. The sculptors final major piece was unveiled in May 2022 by President Higgins. The granite stone work, carved by Ciaran Byrne, stands opposite the Forty Foot swimming spot in Sandycove and is a depiction of King Laoghaire and St Patrick. Imogen Stuart made a singular contribution to the enrichment of the lives of so many throughout Irish society, not only through her inspiring and challenging work, but by her committed vision of art as an essential public good, something that must for that very reason be accessible and available to the public, he said. Imogens practical commitment to the importance of the cultural space was a broad, inclusive and magnanimous one. For her, the shared places that make up the daily lives of our citizens were its central location. "Thus, presentation of her distinctive artwork was never confined to galleries and other separated spaces, but it can be found in churches, schools, hospitals and shopping centres to be enjoyed by all. "As a nation, we are all deeply indebted to Imogen for this great spirit of generosity and for the rich wealth of public art which she has left us and which, not only for our generation has so enhanced our society and our shared environment, but will give joy to future generations. Throughout the time we shared, we became fervent admirers, not only of her work, but of this generosity of spirt to which I refer that has ensured that her beautiful sculptures have become firmly rooted in the public space to be shared by all. It was a particular privilege, as President of Ireland, to confer on Imogen the Torc that signified her election as a Saoi of Aosdana, the highest tribute by her fellow artists, in September 2015. It was a further privilege to receive her major work Pangur Ban to its new location at Aras an Uachtarain in January 2020, where it remains a greatly enhancing feature of the Aras enjoyed daily by the many members of the public who visit each year. Joining Maud Gonnes family didnt strike me as anything special: 96-year-old Imogen Stuart on her extraordinary life While training as a sculptor after the war in Bavaria, Ms Stuart met Ian Stuart, the grandson of Irish revolutionary Maud Gonne. They married and the couple moved to Ireland in 1949 and she converted to Catholicism. They lived in Laragh, Co Wicklow and had three daughters before moving to Sandycove, south Dublin. The couple separated in the 1970s and later divorced. During her life in Ireland, Stuarts passion for sculpture was evident by the works left behind. She worked mainly on church art, including on St Kevin in Glendalough, Co Wicklow, the Angel of Peace outside St Teresas Carmelite Church Clarendon Street, Dublin, a bronze cross at St Patricks Cathedral in Co Armagh and the intricate doors of Galway Cathedral. Stuart also carved the altar and baptismal font at UCCs Honan Chapel and a sculpture of Pope John Paul II on the exterior of St Patricks College in Maynooth. In her senior years, Stuart was honoured as a Saoi of national artists organisation Aosdana in 2015, and was elected as a professor of sculpture at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 2000. In 2018, she was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. After 70 years in the her field, Ms Stuarts grandson, filmmaker Emile Dinneen made his documentary about her to remember her vast contribution to the arts and her history as a child with Jewish heritage in Berlin during World War II The documentary, Imogen from the Heart, which aired on RTE One in December, took 13 years to make and Mr Dinneen didnt expect his beloved grandmother to live to such a senior age. In December, the Irish Independent spoke to Mr Dinneen and Ms Stuart. She stated, at that time: Nobody in my family ever lived as long as I have. Nobody on my mothers side or my fathers everybody died much earlier. Joining Maud Gonnes family didnt strike me as anything special: 96-year-old Imogen Stuart on her extraordinary life The whale washed ashore over the weekend. Photo: Marcus Hogan A large Sperm Whale washed up near Glencolumbcille in West Donegal. Picture: Joe Boland A huge Sperm Whale has died after being washed up on a remote Co Donegal beach over the weekend. The creature, estimated to be up to 70 feet long and weighing 25 tonnes, came ashore at around 5.30pm on Saturday night at An Tra Mhor at Glencolmcille. Local whale-watchers estimate the whale is between 25 and 40 years old. The whale washed ashore over the weekend. Photo: Marcus Hogan The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has been examining the whale since it washed ashore. The whale initially became trapped on the beach but it is not known if it was dead at that stage. Locals say the creature showed no signs of life on Sunday morning. The whale also has some damage to its body. The find has been reported to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. Locals, who have been visiting the scene, say they are unsure what will happen to the huge creature now. "Perhaps the whale came into the beach to die, or maybe sand got stuck in his gills and blocked them. Or it was hit by a boat or rock and the tide took it in. "We're not sure if the tide will take it out again so we are waiting to see. "The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group has been informed though," said one local. A number of people are visiting the site but people have been advised to stay away from the dead animal. A study carried in 2020 estimated there is a population of 380 sperm whales in waters deeper than 300 metres off Ireland's western shores. Althought still on the road Lucas Bittencourt admits there could be an issue when he applies for a renewal A taxi driver who told a female passenger she looked sexy before asking if she lived alone insists he is not a creep but says he wouldnt trust some other cab drivers with young women in their vehicles. Lucas Bittencourt (37), from Dominick Street in Dublin, was ordered to pay 1,600 to a female passenger as redress after Dublin District Court heard he subjected her to interrogation by repeatedly asking if she was single or lived alone and saying, You look sexy. Bittencourt pleaded guilty to using obscene and offensive language toward a passenger in Dublin on May 14 last year. Lucas Bittencourt The National Transport Authority prosecuted the case and withdrew a second count for acting in an offensive manner towards the woman on the same date. Bittencourt told our sister publication the Sunday World this week that he has no recollection of making the comments but that he no longer speaks to women alone in his cab. Do I look like a creep to you? This is the most bizarre thing, he said. He also hit out at what he said was a feminist agenda before saying some other taxi drivers were sick and he wouldnt trust them with young women in their vehicles. He said: From what I see in [taxi] WhatsApp groups, some people are sick. They post murder videos and things like that. You wouldnt want your daughter to be in their cab. Today's News in 90 Seconds - March 25th Bittencourt said he pleaded guilty as he was advised he was going to lose the case and was told the second count would be withdrawn if he did. His barrister also sought to have the Probation Act applied, which would leave Bittencourt without a conviction. I was like yeah [Ill plead guilty], I just dont want to lose my licence. He told the Sunday World that he no recollection of dropping the woman from Rathmines to Northwood in Santry in the early hours of May 14 last year. I dont remember the girl. He said he cant imagine himself saying you look sexy to any passenger. Our reporter Alan speaks to Bittencourt It was a rugby night [Leinster v Munster] as well and as a taxi man its like driving through zombie land and you are trying to figure out who is not going to s**t on your taxi. Who is going to be sexy at 3am after a rugby night? There is no sexiness about anything driving a taxi at night. He later added: Its the whole feminist agenda thats whats going on here. Its OK, were trying to progress and I respect that, but at what cost? He said other taxi drivers have been mocking him in WhatsApp driver groups since the case was heard earlier this month. Some taxi men were laughing at me in WhatsApp groups and all that. I didnt even respond, but my rationale is that dont be laughing too ahead of time because it could happen [to you]. He then said he was on his way to install a camera in his vehicle in case any allegations are made against him in the future. Im late now for an appointment to put a camera in the taxi right now. I dont think I can legally record them talking but I probably still will so I can show it to the garda. Bittencourt said he usually likes to talk to passengers and feels he can help them with problems. Bittencourt in his taxi This is one of the last places where people can open up. Its really therapy for them and I feel the need to help people and I do it out of good heart and faith. A lot of people are depressed about issues. Everybody leaves the taxi happy and I think thats my duty. However, he said he has now changed how he behaves. Im extra careful now. It takes the joy out of my job. Every time youre just talking s**t but if its a girl by herself I just keep to myself [but think] maybe she needed to chat to somebody, maybe she is going through a lot of s**t in her life and maybe I could have been helpful but now I cant and I dont. Now on a busy night like Paddys Day, rather than saving the girl that was by herself and taking her home safely Im skipping her and Im getting the young lad and Im bringing him home instead. It takes the naturality away from the conversation. He said he is still currently allowed to drive a taxi. There could be an issue on the renewal. Its up in the air. I dont know. I dont think it will happen but if it does happen Ill have to fight it in court. At the hearing in Dublin District Court earlier this month, prosecutor Jason Teahan said the woman reported that she flagged down the taxi in the city centre and asked to be brought to Northwood. She had been in the back seat, and they chatted generally. Bittencourt said he was Brazilian, but the conversation became a bit more personal, and he started asking her, Do you live alone? before they arrived. When he reached her destination, he unbuckled his seat, turned and said: I thought you were single. Do you live alone? He repeated it a few times, and the woman was taken aback and felt a bit uncomfortable. Mr Teahan told the judge that Bittencourt, who has no previous convictions, then said, I didnt get a good look at you. He put the light on in the vehicle and told her, You look good; you look sexy. At this stage, she felt very uncomfortable and asked to pay the fare, and there was a little delay in that. Ultimately the fare was paid, and she got out of the taxi. She complained to NTA officer Anthony Carey, and he questioned Bittencourt, who made a general denial. He told the NTA he was sorry for any offence caused, although he could not recall the specifics of the trip. In court, his barrister said he was instructed to fully apologise on his clients behalf for the language used and any inappropriateness. He said he had a previously unblemished record. To consider the Probation Offenders Act, Judge Anthony Halpin said he required a 400 contribution toward the NTAs cost and 1,600 for the victim as redress for the harm she experienced, and he added: This court takes that very seriously. The defence said the driver agreed to pay but needed time. Judge Halpin said if Bittencourt had been convicted following a contested hearing, it could have been more severe for him, and he may have lost the right to drive a taxi. The case was adjourned to December to allow the driver time to raise the money. My mother had been an alcoholic for many years before we could bring ourselves, as a family, to openly acknowledge that she had a serious drink problem. I still vividly remember the moment we broke our conspiracy of silence when I was about 13. We were on holiday in South Africa, staying at this wonderful hotel in Plettenberg Bay but Mum had refused to leave the room, seemingly preferring the mini-bar for company than her own husband and three children. Vladimir Lenin is credited with saying: There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen. The past week wasnt exactly in that vein, but it was certainly a long and tumultuous week in politics. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and he is still Taoiseach started the week in the White House for a St Patricks Day reception hosted by US president Joe Biden. He took the opportunity to spotlight the role the US could play in bringing peace to the Middle East. The people of Gaza desperately need food, medicine and shelter. Most especially they need the bombs to stop. This has to stop. On both sides, he said, calling also for the hostages Hamas took on October 7 to be returned. Mr Varadkar ended the week being replaced as Fine Gael leader by Simon Harris, who will now go on to become taoiseach in a fortnights time. Mr Harris has a narrow window to make an impact and he cannot just devote his time to the electoral strategies of Fine Gael over the next year. The rotation of the taoiseachs job in Fine Gael overshadowed the Labour Partys 73rd conference in Dublin at the weekend. Labour leader Ivana Bacik couldnt but refer to what has played out. The Taoiseachs resignation is the ultimate vote of no confidence in his own Government. I do personally wish Simon Harris well, but my challenge to the man who will be the new temporary taoiseach is this; if he has confidence in this Government, then he should call a general election now, she said. Ms Bacik was reflecting the sentiment of the opposition benches that the change of Fine Gael leader and third taoiseach in this administration should precipitate a general election immediately. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald and Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns expressed similar views last week. Sinn Fein even has an online petition going. Its not going to happen, there isnt going to be a general election. Mr Harris will become taoiseach after the Easter break, with changes to his cabinet ministerial line-up on the Fine Gael side. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was vague on the date of the general election and the Government seeing out its five-year term. This has led to speculation about an autumn election this year, rather than the spring of next year. It would be helpful if Mr Harris committed to the Coalition that he will lead seeing out its constitutional mandate. Having 12 months of speculation about a general election distracts from the running of the country. The entire system in the public service will slow down if there is a perception of a general election coming any day, with a new government and a new minister with new priorities coming along. There is still plenty to be done in the next year in the delivery of public services that can improve the lives of citizens. Theres been enough drama from this Coalition over the past four years. The country could do with a bit of predictability in its final year and ministers getting on with their jobs. How do we get white teeth? Should we brush before or after eating? And does teeth whitening actually work? I was delighted to talk about everything: smiles, dental hygiene and healthy teeth this week and bust all the myths associated with oral care. This week on The Real Health podcast, I was joined by dentist, Dr Bronagh Keane, AKA Irelands Tooth Fairy. First of all, Dr Keane told me about mouthwash and when to use it: mouthwash is something that a lot of people like to use after brushing their teeth. Often because that's what mouthwash adverts tell you to do and the movies tell you to do, but they are not supported by literature. So, if you're using mouthwash, use it at a different time of the day to when you are brushing. She added that alcohol-based mouthwash should be avoided. I then asked the dentist about teeth whitening, she told me about over the counter teeth whiteners, I kind of regard them as like stain removers, because they're only scrubbing off the top layer of your tooth and they are not penetrating the tooth to be effective, and when they scrub off the top layer of your teeth with these abrasive particles, they're causing thinning of that white layer on your tooth, which is the outer layer, the enamel. On brushing before and after meals, Bronagh said, when brushing your teeth before food you remove the protein layer on your teeth, which is protective, and you're supposed to wait like two hours for that to rebuild. So, the brushing before and after thing, you kind of want to wait just half an hour either side of it, regardless. You can listen to the full episode here or wherever you get your podcasts. Cynthia Ni Mhurchu wants an evidence based approach to the impacts of the bi-annual changing of the clocks. Photo: Gerry Mooney Ireland South EU parliament candidate Cynthia Ni Mhurchu has called for an evidence-based analysis of the impact of the bi-annual changing of the clocks on energy, health, agriculture and transport in Europe. Households across the country will be winding their clocks forward this coming weekend as summertime officially arrives and heralds the beginning of longer, brighter evenings. Carlow native Ms Ni Mhurchu has urged for more up-to-date research to be done on the effects of Day-Light Saving Time and asked if the clocks moving forward is actually a backward step. Follow Independent Kilkenny on Facebook Everyone loves longer summer evenings but when the clocks revert by an hour in the winter, it means higher energy bills because we are turning on the lights more. It also impacts on peoples mental health, anxiety and depression and I think it is worth looking into the alternative of scrapping the bi-annual clocks change," she said. Brighter evenings would have a positive benefit for public health. One study of 23,000 children, published by the BBC, found that their daily activity levels were 15 to 20 per cent higher on summer days than winter days and that moving the clocks back causes a five per cent drop in physical activity. We need an informed debate on whether it is a good idea to continue winding the clocks back and forwards every year and commission up-to-date research on the impacts on health, energy and agriculture. Winding the clocks forward every March may actually be a backwards step." The European Commission published the results of an online consultation from 2018 which received 4.6 million responses from all 28 Member States, the highest number of responses ever received in any Commission public consultation. Should we scrap daylight savings? This showed that 84% of respondents are in favour of putting an end to the bi-annual clock change. "The results echo a growing chorus of MEPs who are in favour of scrapping the constant changing of the clocks, explained Ms Ni Mhurchu. The European Commission and the European Parliament continue dialogue on the issue of the changing of the clocks. Talks have stalled since the UK left the EU. Agreement would have to be reached with the UK to move in unison, concluded Ms Ni Mhurchu Fianna Fail councillor Bernard Moynihan raised the issue under Any Other Business (AOB). Speaking at the meeting Cllr Moynihan said the public and business owners in Cullen had no access to water for a prolonged period. The good people of Cullen in North Cork in my area, right now have no water. The school, the creche and the local hairdressers have no water. Irish Water were there last week and people from Cullen were ringing me on Sunday night, March 24 and on Monday morning March 25 saying they have no water in the village. There is a whole raft of the village with no water whatsoever, he said. Cllr Moynihan requested that the local authority use their influence with Irish Water regarding the issue of water supply in the village. I would ask the council to use our influence with Irish Water and alert them that this issue of water supply for the people of Cullen was raised at Cork County Council. There were workers there last week and they left on Friday evening- (March 22). An hour after they left the water was gone. It is my understanding that the piping going through Cullen needs to be replaced. They are replacing one section of pipe. They put in a new section and then ten yards down the road the next section breaks, he added. We need a completely new piping system in Cullen, said Cllr Moynihan. There is a whole new pipe needed in Cullen. The system is not good enough. Replacing a break doesnt work. I would ask that we would write to Irish Water to highlight the issue of Cullen. Fine Gael councillor John Paul OShea who supported the call from Cllr Moynihan acknowledged the process has been challenging for the locality. There have been a number of breaks over the last few days. It has been challenging. The public of Cullen have been without water for a good few days on and off. It was subsequently agreed that a letter would be sent to Uisce Eireann highlighting the water supply issue and requesting the installation of a new piping system in Cullen. The book "Flavorama" by Arielle Johnson Mars Holsinger / Special to The Chronicle A programming announcement: Starting next week, Bite Curious will land in your inbox on Tuesdays instead of Mondays. The first time I heard about Arielle Johnson, I was talking about eating ants. Lars Williams, the former head of the Nordic Food Lab, was telling me about how Noma often uses wood ants as a substitute for citrus. Rene Redzepis restaurant, arguably the most influential in the world, only uses hyperlocal ingredients, and lemons dont exactly flourish in Denmarks climate. Williams was looking at the molecular structure of ant pheromones, as you do, when Johnson walked by his desk. Why are you researching lemongrass? she asked. Williams said that, actually, he was learning about ant juice. Well whats on your monitor is the molecule behind the flavor of lemongrass, she replied. Johnson has a PhD in the chemistry of flavor. If she were a different person, she would make people call her Dr. Flavor, and it would be justified. Shes worked with chefs, was a fellow at the MIT Media Lab and just published a book, Flavorama. You could say its a cookbook, and while that would be technically accurate there are 99 recipes for everything from Meyer lemon miso to Moxie Cola vinegar what she has written is more of a highly entertaining chemistry textbook. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Flavor and how to describe it is something that is often on my mind, as someone who communicates about food for a living. All too often I find myself relying on the word umami to talk about a dish with a savory, satisfying depth. Johnson assures me I am not alone. Umami can be hard to describe as well as to consistently notice, she writes. You might find that something you had been calling umami was actually not a taste at all, but a meaty, funky, or browned aroma. This distinction between taste (fairly basic) and aroma (so complex!) is eye-opening. Did you know that unlike the cells on our tongue that send information about taste to our brain, the smell receptor cells in our nose are literally part of our brains? Right now, as you read this, you have brain cells dangling out of the bottom of your skull, exposed to the air inside your nose at all times, Johnson writes. Pretty messed up, but if you say so, Dr. Flavor! About half of the book is devoted to categorizing ingredients that have similar taste and smell properties from a molecular point of view, and this proves helpful if youre a cook who would like to rely on recipes less. Theres a handy chart, for example, that shows you how to improvise on herb sauces like salsa verde or zhug by swapping in ingredients that have overlapping flavor attributes. Or suggestions on how to tweak a basic beurre blanc sauce by trading the wine and vinegar for other acidic liquids like sake or kimchi brine. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But you dont have to be a cook to appreciate Flavorama, just someone interested in why food tastes the way it does. It also helps if you have an appreciation for puns like My glucose brings the amines to Maillard, the caption of an illustration about the molecules involved in the Maillard reaction. If you would like to congratulate Johnson on this extremely nerdy reference, you can catch her on the San Francisco leg of her book tour. Shell be in conversation with author and food scientist Harold McGee at 3 p.m. on March 30 at Omnivore Books. A lucky Cork lotto player has won an impressive 500,000 in the EuroMillions Plus draw last weekend. The winning Quick Pick ticket was bought at Downeys Spar on the Main Street in Castletownroche. The winning numbers in the EuroMillions Plus draw were: 02, 03, 14, 21, 24. So far no one has come forward to claim the half a million prize and players are being urged to check their numbers as soon as possible. This is Cork Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Cork newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details Its been a big weekend for two National Lottery players in Ireland. A Cork EuroMillions player was the biggest winner of the weekend and now has a ticket worth a massive 500,000. We are encouraging any of our Rebel County players who may have purchased their tickets for the Friday night draw in the Castletownroche area to check their tickets immediately as one player could have a huge prize waiting for them, said a National Lottery spokesperson. And of course, they werent the only big winner! A Mayo Lotto player had plenty to celebrate on Saturday night after matching five numbers and the bonus to win 87,616. The two biggest winners from the weekend are advised to sign the back of their tickets and keep them safe. They should make contact with the National Lottery prize claims team on 1800 666 222 or email claims@lottery.ie and arrangements will be made for them to collect their prizes in Lotto HQ. There was no winner of the 29,416,867 up for grabs in the main EuroMillions draw on Friday night, meaning Tuesdays jackpot is now set to roll towards an estimated 40m. Projects in Mallow, Mitchelstown and Fermoy are some of those that will be supported A sum of 96,000 has been granted to Cork County Council for work on Mallow Castle. Architectural projects across north Cork are to receive funding after it was announced that the Rebel County will be granted over 500,000 under two heritage schemes. A total investment of 524, 138.72 will be made in the county under the governments Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and the Historic Structures Fund (HSF), to support projects in areas including Charleville, Fermoy, Mallow and Mitchelstown as well as others across Cork. Under the BHIS, 16 projects in the county will receive funding from a sum of 162,138.72, with 38,948 specifically allocated for conservation works for three thatched building which are located in Charleville, Mitchelstown and the east Cork village of Ballymacoda. The remaining balance of the fund will go towards supporting conservation works for 13 buildings, including St Patricks Church in Fermoy, Glenville Park in Glenville, Creagh Castle House and St Marys Church in Doneraile and Annes Grove Gatelodge in Castletownroche. This is Cork Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Cork newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details The conservation of Saint Georges Arts & Heritage Centre in Mitchelstown, the Thatched Cottage in Ballindangan and Athnowen Church in Ovens will also be funded by the BHIS. The Historic Structures Fund, which will provide grants of between 15,000 and 200,000, will also help owners of Cork heritage structures, including the local authority, to care for historical properties. As part of the grant, which totals 362,000, Cork County Council has received funding of 20,000 for the care of Mourneabbey Monastic Site, while 96,000 has been granted to the local authority for the conservation and repair of Mallow Castle. Another 96,000 has been ringfenced for Mallow Castle next year. The Mayor of the County of Cork, councillor Frank OFlynn, said the funding was a very welcome investment in the unrivalled built heritage of County Cork. These funds will facilitate important heritage conservation works at 22 different properties throughout the county. Through excellent heritage practice and schemes such as the BHIS and HSF, the built heritage of County Cork is clearly being valued and I wish all applicants success with their projects, Mayor OFlynn said. Speaking of the funding, Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Valerie OSullivan added that Heritage is one of the countys greatest assets. As a Council we welcome the opportunity to administer and support these schemes which provide essential funding for the conservation of important heritage buildings, Mrs OSullivan said. Food stylist Anne Marie Tobin has worked on everything from Game Of Thrones to TV adverts Anne Marie Tobin fell in love with food styling when she was in London Some of the food designed by Anne Marie for the Disney movie, Disenchanted If you find your mouth is watering while watching food on your favourite TV series, theres a good chance Anne Marie Tobin might be the reason. Ms Tobin is an award-winning food stylist whose designs have appeared in Game of Thrones, Little Women, Penny Dreadful, and dozens of TV campaigns, including one for Denny sausages featuring a young Paul Mescal. After attending art college in Dublin, she went to the UK to train to become a chef and met her now husband who worked as an assistant in a food studio. She spent roughly two years assisting various food stylists before going out on her own. My husbands food photography portfolio was stolen at the time and he asked me to help him out. I just thought it was a natural fit for me because it was like using food as an art form, she said. An ad for Denny sausages starring Paul Mescal Her work has appeared in season four of Game of Thrones, and shes worked on huge banquets for Disneys Disenchanted, as well as a Jurassic Park scene and three seasons of gothic TV series Penny Dreadful. Ms Tobins role entails preparing food for the camera, which could be anything from creating vegan edible ash to be used as a prop for a horror movie, to using traffic cones to help construct tall cakes. It can be pretty intense. Yesterday I was working on a shoot for a restaurant on their summer drinks, ice-creams, and sundaes so we were dealing with dry ice, and summery things tend to be quite sticky, Ms Tobin said. One of her favourite types of jobs is to work on period movies, which means she gets transported back in time. In period movies, every detail matters, including the food, from the grand banquets of royalty to the meals of the poor. Our job is to ensure that every dish reflects the time and place, she said. On one occasion, for a regency period film called Malcolms List, she had to produce a trifle that was gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free and nut-free. I had to work it out and find a recipe, the shaping. I figured it out and made a regency period trifle, she added. The process of finding the perfect way to style food is something that Ms Tobin says takes time, and shes constantly learning new techniques, collaborating with the photographer and art director on set. Anne Marie has designed banquets for a number of films Great lighting, oil, and other techniques are her best tools when it comes to shooting her designs. One example she used is the way she approaches designing a shoot for a pizza. In the past, I wouldve cooked the pizza the way it said on the box, but now I do it very differently, she said. She cooks the pizza base first, then takes out a slice and puts some cheese in the area she has cut out, places tomato sauce, more cheese, and then the toppings and grill. When you take it out of the grill and then let it sit for a minute, you can do the [pizza] pull. Thats something I wouldnt have done years ago, she added. Overall, she said she really loves what she does, and seeing her work on TV or on a poster at a bus shelter is pretty cool. There have been urgent calls for the public to submit their views to a Department of the Marine consultation on trawling near coastlines, a practice a recent Kenmare Municipal District meeting heard is having a disastrous effect on local fishermens livelihoods. Kenmare-based Fine Gael Councillor Patrick OConnor-Scarteen, a long-time vocal critic of pair trawling, raised the matter again last Friday, calling on members of the Kenmare MD to make a submission to the Department, asking for a ban on pair trawling by 15-metre-wide boats within six nautical miles of the coast. Cllr OConnor-Scarteen said that on a recent walk in Tahilla, just east of Sneem, he could see the practice taking place within Kenmare Bay. Its ridiculous whats going on, he said. I met with Minister [Charlie] McConalogue in Donegal and raised the issue with him. I was glad to see a delegation from Pobalscoil Inbhear Sceine and teacher John OSullivanwent up and outlined their case at the Oireachtas. Its a practice thats been very destructive. Kenmare Bay has taken an awful battering. Cllr OConnor-Scarteen said he sometimes goes mackerel fishing, but theres been very little to be seen of the fish in recent years. Kenmare MD Cathaoirleach Cllr Norma Moriarty (Fianna Fail) drew attention to the April 12 deadline for submissions for a public consultation on trawling within the six-nautical-mile zone and baselines, which the public can respond to at www.ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/TrawlingConsultation or by emailing TrawlingConsultation@agriculture.gov.ie. Independent Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae gave Cllr OConnor-Scarteens Notice of Motion his strong support, described boats taking part in the practice as effectively factory ships, and criticised foreign operators of such boats for not contributing a cent to the Irish economy in return. An ongoing Health Service Executive (HSE) recruitment embargo has led one Councillor to ask if Health Minister Stephen Donnelly plans to close the HSE down. Independent Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae made the comment at last Fridays Kenmare Municipal District (MD) meeting. Cllr Healy-Rae said the HSE recruitment freeze has meant that Kenmare Community Hospital hospital, for instance, has been unable to replace a physio position, which he claimed has been vacant for about two years. He said he is aware of other hospitals in Kerry being unable to even find a replacement chef if none is available, with other staff members stepping up to fill in. Not to mind extra staff, nobody is being replaced, Cllr Healy-Rae said. Weve situations in hospitals in this county, if the chef takes sick, theres no one to cover, and theyre depending on an outside agency, and there have been cases recently where they could get no chef, and other people or staff had to step in to make the dinner for people who are near the end of their time. Cllr Healy-Rae requested that the Kenmare MD write to the Department of Health to express our extreme disappointment at the staffing situation at Kenmare Community Hospital. Maybe one of the questions we should ask, is he planning on closing down the HSE altogether? Cllr Healy-Rae said. If he doesnt maintain the level of staff that we have, as well as increasing them, thats what inevitably will happen. If you dont replace someone, thats what happens, the department or a section is closed and no longer active. Laura McNamee was one of the performers at the Gneeveguilla GAA Club fundraising Concert on St. Patricks Night for the Kerry-Cork Cancer Link Bus Joan Collins was on stage at the Gneeveguilla GAA Club fundraising Concert on St. Patricks Night for the Kerry-Cork Cancer Link Bus Eileen, Noreen and Eleanor Cronin on stage at the Gneeveguilla GAA Club fundraising Concert on St. Patricks Night for the Kerry-Cork Cancer Link Bus Sonny Egan taking a break after telling some stories at the Gneeveguilla GAA Club fundraising Concert on St. Patricks Night for the Kerry-Cork Cancer Link Bus Pat Sullivan, Christy Cronin and Tom McKenna singing In the Kingdoms Green and Gold at the Gneeveguilla GAA Club fundraising Concert on St. Patricks Night for the Kerry-Cork Cancer Link Bus. Maura Kelly and her son Eoin played a duet at the Gneeveguilla GAA Club fundraising Concert on St. Patricks Night for the Kerry-Cork Cancer Link Bus. Photos by Sheila Fitzgerald. Although recent deaths from cancer cast a dark shadow over the local community and the relentless bad weather had dampened the spirits of everybody, Gneeveguilla GAA Club members still said game on and decided to run a fundraising concert on St. Patricks night in aid of the Kerry-Cork Cancer Link Bus. Sean OKeeffe welcomed everybody and said that the club was delighted to host the concert for such a worthwhile cause, remarking that cancer can impact any family at any time and it is vital that we do all we can to make the daunting journey easier for patients who are fighting the disease. Performers from across Kerry and Cork gave their services free of charge on the night and the full house audience in Gneeveguilla Community Centre was treated to a feast of Irish music, song and dance in a program spanning three hours in keeping with the tradition of St. Patrick. A club member said: In a word, a great night was had by all and people were extremely generous with their contributions to the charity. One cannot put a price on health, but everyone can do a little towards easing the pain and burden borne by so many. What one small rural GAA club achieved without any great effort surely can be replicated by every club in the County. It requires only one person to say lets do it. To date, approximately 3,000 has been contributed and organisers continue to set the bar high saying that they want to double this amount. Envelopes marked Cancer Bus can be given to any member of Gneeveguilla GAA Club, dropped into the bar in the club or into any sacristy. Performers at the Concert included Ballydesmond Scor Group, Maura Kelly, Sonny Egan, The Cronin Family, Laura McNamee, Joan Collins, Joan Harrington, Pat McCarthy, Jerry McCarthy, Nicky McAuliffe Musicians, Aine Murphy School of Dance, Sheila Fitzgerald, Elaine McCarthy, Christy Cronin, Pat Sullivan, Tom McKenna and Johnny Walsh. Wilson da Silva from Brazil, owner of the 'Movement & Fitness Club' Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Capoeira Academy), and Emanuel Silassie from Poland demonstrating the Capoeira moves for pupils at the International Day celebrations in Gaelscoil Faithleann in Killarney on Wednesday. Photo by Tatyana McGough. Principal of Gaelscoil Faithleann in Killarney, Lisa Ni Iarlaithe, members of Ukrainian ensemble 'Vilni' from Tralee: Iryna Chekhonadskykh, Maryna Babych, Liliia Nemchenko, Myroslava Herus, Oksana Mishchenko, Daria Bielashko pictured with Mary Carroll (Chair of the Parents Council) and Kerstin Milotzke (parent) from Germany pictured at the International Day celebrations on Wednesday. Photo by Tatyana McGough. Wilson da Silva from Brazil (centre), owner of the 'Movement & Fitness Club' Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Capoeira Academy, pictured demonstrating the Capoeira moves for pupils at the International Day celebrations in Gaelscoil Faithleann in Killarney on Wednesday. Also pictured are Fernando Buturi from Brazil (at the back) and Emanuel Silassie from Poland (from the left). Photo by Tatyana McGough. Parent Victor Ogiemudia from Nigeria addressing the class at the International Day celebrations in Gaelscoil Faithleann in Killarney last Wednesday. Photo by Tatyana McGough. Pupils of different nationalities from l-r: Daniyal Mustafa (Pakistan), Abdullah Aouhab (Morocco), Sean Sharma (India), Siraiye Ogiemudia (Nigeria) pictured at the International Day celebrations in Gaelscoil Faithleann in Killarney last Wednesday. Photo by Tatyana McGough. Pupils from Gaelscoil Faithleann in Killarney pictured celebrating International Day last Wednesday. Pictured from l-r are Tara Ni Dhalaigh, Ultan MacCoitir, Noah Crawley, Erin Ni Dhalaigh, Kitty Ni Cheallachain, Mia Ni Chlumhain Kuhlmann, Rory Salvador, Conor Mac Ranaill and Ellis Ni Chonraoi. Photo by Tatyana McGough. Gaelscoil Faithleann in Killarney was a hive of activity last Wednesday as the schools staff and pupils pulled out all the stops to ensure that their International Day/La Idirnaisiunta went down a treat. The day was organised by the schools Parents Council and the idea/aim of the day was to recognise and celebrate the many cultures represented in the school. Chair of the Parents Council, Mary Carroll, said that: often in Gaelscoileanna we might not realise there is a large diversity of cultures represented but here in Gaelscoil Faithleann we have counted 21 different countries amongst our parent community, from Ghana to Lithuania to Portugal and Chile. This was a day to acknowledge and celebrate all these cultures. Going on, Mary said that the day was one full of colour, fun and learning, with flags, food, music and even some Brazilian martial arts thrown in for good measure. "Parents came into each class to talk about their culture. We had parents from Nigeria, Lithuania, Canada, Germany, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the children loved to hear facts about these countries and to realise all the diversity that exists in the school," Mary continued, adding that the children of Rang 6 also got to have an interesting discussion about asylum seekers and refugees. Another of the many highlights of the day included when the talented Ukrainian choir from the Tralee International Resource Centre came to sing in both English and Ukrainian to the children while the children sang back to them in Irish and English. This will be an annual event from now on and its importance in recognising other cultures and making children aware of the value of diversity is significant. It is a fabulous opportunity for children to meet directly with people from other countries and to hear first-hand what it is like to live there, said Mary. Finally, Mary said that she wished to say a big thank you to Wilson da Silva of Killarney Movement and Fitness club for his fabulous display of the Brazilian martial art, Capoeira which left the children enthralled. Money was raised to provide a proper memorial for the unbaptised babies who were buried in unmarked graves at Tonduff Cillin in Abbeyleix Unbaptised babies buried at a historical burial site in Abbeyleix, Co Laois will never be forgotten as Laois County Council have given the green light for a memorial to be constructed in their honour. Money was raised to provide a proper memorial for the unbaptised babies who were buried in unmarked graves at Tonduff Cillin in Abbeyleix. Cillin sites were used across Ireland to bury unbaptised babies, primarily stillbirths or children who died before they had the opportunity to be baptised. The Tonduff Cillin committee have now received confirmation that the plans for a burial plot including a piece of commemorative stone have been agreed by Laois County Council. Area engineer, Wes Wilkinson and Laois Heritage Officer, Thomas Carolan gave the go-ahead for the project along with a number of conditions. The initial plans for a stone sculpture and reflection seat to be erected at the burial site in Ballytarsna, Abbeyleix has changed slightly due to health and safety concerns. The reflection seat, alongside a QR code that visitors can scan to read about the burial site, will now be located in a community reflection area at the North end of the town close to the Abbeyleix Heritage House Museum. "Because of Health and safety concerns in this area it is now agreed that the reflection seat and QR code will now be relocated to a community reflection area at the North end of the town close to the Abbeyleix Heritage House Museum," explained local historian and Tonduff Cillin committee member Noel Burke. "There is a group of bereaved mothers that live in our community who attend a prayer service every October to remember the sad loss of their own babies, it will now be their intention to also use this community area when completed early this year to reflect on all the babies that were buried at the Abbeyleix Tonduff Cillin, as well as the loss of their own babies. At the burial site itself in Tonduff, the plan is to now erect a piece of natural stone marking the Cillin burial site with text written in both English and Irish. The Parish Priest for the area, Fr. Paddy Byrne will also celebrate a mass at the Tonduff Cillin site on April 23 at 7pm. Mr. Burke is a long-time advocate for the babies buried at Tonduff Cillin and set up the original Go Fund Me page in January to raise funds for the project. This is the time now to recognise that yes the Catholic Churchs teaching on the subject of how they dealt with the unbaptised babies in our dark past was wrong. It was described as not being Christian by our own very popular parish priest Fr. Paddy Byrne, explained Mr. Burke. "How the parents of the unbaptised had to cope and deal with the loss of their babies, a practice that continued right up until the early part of the 1960s, can you just imagine how these parents felt as they had to bury their babies in the dark of night in a rural location, in a burial plot that was unconsecrated. Noel added: "The emotional suffering that these parents felt just because they were unable to comply with the Churchs teaching at the time for one reason or another was just unimaginable. The parents were further forbidden to talk about the loss of their baby, or their experience to any other member of their family, neighbours or friends at the time. Alongside Mr. Burke, a number of other people and groups have been instrumental in getting recognition for the unbaptised babies buried in unmarked graves at Tonduff Cillin. Follow Independent Laois on Facebook "We want to thank our Parish Priest, Fr. Paddy Byrne a man of the people, he's a very popular man in our community, enthused Mr. Burke. We also want to thank the Abbeyleix Women's Development Group for given up all their free time knitting Easter egg covers with all the proceeds going towards the Tonduff Cillin Go-Fund me account. "The Go-Fund me account will remain open until just after the Easter ceremonies. The money collected will maintain both sites for many years to come. Cllr Gerald Farrell, behind the bar of his pub in Lanesboro. The local politician has revealed he will be standing under the label 'Geardie Farrell' as an Independent candidate. Lanesboro Cllr Gerald Farrell is hoping to secure a third term on Longford County Council, this time by seeking re-election as an Independent candidate. Cllr Gerald Farrell has announced his decision to resign from Fine Gael and run as an Independent candidate in June's local elections. Longford county councillor Gerald Farrell has announced his resignation from Fine Gael and intention to stand as Independent candidate at the local elections in June, the Irish Independent website can reveal. The Lanesboro publican made his announcement today (Monday) citing a combination of personal and political reasons behind his decision. Follow Independent Longford on Facebook Cllr Farrell said he would be standing in Junes upcoming local elections under his more locally known moniker Geardie Farrell with a view to securing a third term as a local politician while also upholding his familys near 60 year-long association with Longford County Council. I am running as Geardie Farrell, a straight talking, hard-working representative for the people of the Ballymahon Local Electoral Area, he said. Lanesboro Cllr Gerald Farrell is hoping to secure a third term on Longford County Council, this time by seeking re-election as an Independent candidate. Cllr Farrell said he had been left disappointed by a decision taken by party bosses not to add his sister, Lorraine to its Ballymahon ticket last November after first revealing his decision not to seek re-election as a Fine Gael local politician. He said that decision was due to personal circumstances outside of his own control, a choice which he contended was his own and not one that led to the cynicism and fake news that greeted it in some quarters. The former Rathcline GAA chairman also told his announcement to run as an Independent candidate was similarly fuelled by approaches on a virtually daily basis by local supporters to add his name to Junes ballot paper. I am so grateful to have the backing of so many members of the wider community and I am not here to slate any party or anything like that or the current government, he told the Irish Independent website. There are things that I wouldnt be totally happy with but the Government are doing plenty of positive stuff too. There have been things that annoyed me and I suppose from the party point of view due to circumstances beyond my control I didnt put my name forward for the selection convention last November. My sister, Lorraine put her name forward and would have been a very good candidate as well. It went to convention, but unfortunately she lost out by two votes. We looked to the local branch for Lorraine to be added and we outlined the stats on the consistent vote the Farrell family have got for the best part of 60 years, but unfortunately they didnt listen and she wasnt added. Cllr Gerald Farrell, behind the bar of his pub in Lanesboro. The local politician has revealed he will be standing under the label 'Geardie Farrell' as an Independent candidate. Cllr Farrell while he held no ill-will against a party he has represented for close to a decade, there were a number of political misgivings that had also convinced him to stand as a non-party representative. I am involved in the agri-sector all my life and I dont agree with all the red tape and bureaucracy that is involved, he said. Things like the nitrates derogation, fertilizer records and there is just more and more bureaucracy coming on stream all the time. Just Transition is just as big an issue. Richard Bruton (then Environment Minister) came down here to Lanesboro in 2019 and announced the power station in Lanesboro and Shannonbridge was to close. But there has been no Just Transition. There was a promise made that there was going to be millions spent on the deep retrofitting of houses, yet there hasnt been one house retrofitted in my area since. The south Longford local politician referenced the introduction of a commercial rates rebate scheme as positive policy decisions that have been enacted locally in recent times, but said more was needed to help cash-strapped retailers. The hospitality sector I have been involved in all my life, its a sector thats in trouble and we need more supports for coffee shops, restaurants and pubs. Its something I will continue to fight for if re-elected to the council. Cllr Farrell said his track record as a local politician was unequivocal as he singled out his father, former long serving county councillor Adie Farrell as being instrumental in his decision to stand for election in a little over ten weeks time. I am stepping away from a party, thats all, he added. There has been a lot of reflection over the last while and we, as a family, have discussed this over and over. I am there for the last ten years and I have done a lot of work for the people of this area. "I have a very good relationship with my colleagues on Longford County Council and it was decided to put my name forward. I have delivered an awful lot and that can be seen physically on the ground in our area. I am looking for the support of the local people that have supported me over the last ten years as Geardie Farrell. "I have no party agenda and my father before me was the very same. His main interest was in getting things done locally for his local area and thats what I am single-minded on continuing on. Three Sligo students before Sligo Circuit Court charged with assault causing harm after an unprovoked attack on a young man out socialising with his girlfriend all pleaded guilty. The assault took place at Gracies Bar, Grattan St, Sligo on December 26th 2022. Oran Blake (21), Killery, Ballintogher, Co Sligo was charged with assaulting Adam Murphy causing him harm. Pauric Feeney (20), Faughts, Calry, Co Sligo was also charged with assaulting Mr Murphy causing him harm. Niall Whelehan (21), Altvelid, Ballintogher was also charged with the same offence. He was also charged with assaulting Lauren French. The case was heard by Judge Keenan Johnson at Sligo Circuit Court. Mr Leo Mulrooney BL with Ms Elisa McHugh were prosecuting, while Ms Elaine Finneran BL instructed by Mr Mark Mullaney solicitor appeared for Mr Feeney. Mr Eoin McGovern BL instructed by Mr Gerard McGovern solicitor appeared for Mr Whelehan, while Mr Keith OGrady BL instructed by Mr Eddie Henry solicitor appeared for Mr Blake. Mr Mulrooney told the court all three had pleaded guilty to the assault causing harm on Mr Murphy with charges of violent disorder withdrawn and Whelehans section 2 assault charge on Ms French to be taken in to consideration. Sgt Fergal Flynn of Sligo Garda Station was outlining the evidence, led by Mr Mulrooney. In his statement, Adam Murphy sets out that he was out socialising with his girlfriend Lauren French at Gracies Bar on St Stephens night. Mr Mulrooney said it was relatively student clientele and it was a busy night. At 11:30pm, he was walking by to the toilets when a man pushed him, this individual who is not before the courts. The man got in his face and was shouting at him. Mr Murphy noticed his girlfriend speaking with Oran Blake. Blake was previously in a relationship with Ms French the court heard. Mr Murphy then said Blakes right arm was coming across and pushing the left side of his face. After the first punch he got another punch on the right side and he covered his face. He was knocked to the ground and there were punches everywhere. The assault lasted about ten or 15 seconds and he blacked out. When he regained consciousness, he got a punch from Blake and he fell back and hit his head off a glass cabinet. He stood up and his hands were covered in blood and there was a huge crowd. His girlfriend brought him into another room and got him tissues and ice. Bouncers escorted the couple out and they went to Ms Frenchs parents home. It was clear Mr Murphys nose was badly swollen and he could barely see out his left eye. There was severe bruising over his left eye. He was brought to Sligo University Hospital and there were lacerations to his forehead, lips, there was a bump to his left ear and he was suffering from dizziness. There was bruising to his left eye, tenderness to his cheekbone and abrasions to his forehead. He was diagnosed with a minor brain injury. A CT scan found no fracture and he had blurring vision. He was discharged with head injury instructions. Mr Frenchs statement set out that she was speaking to a man who then pushed her partner and she said what was he doing. She saw her ex, Oran Blake, punch him four or five times hitting him against a wall. She tried to pull him off and tried to hold off Niall Whelehan and they fell to the ground and she said when he got up, he kicked her in the stomach. Sgt Flynn, who led the investigation, analysed CCTV footage obtained from Gracies bar. He said at 11:40pm one man not before the court was seen squaring up to Mr Murphy. Ms French was intervening. All three accused were seen punching Mr Murphy a number of times with Ms French trying to separate them. Photographs of Mr Murphys injuries were handed into the court. He had injuries to his left eye, lips, right forehead and a neck injury. All three volunteered interviews. A Victim Impact Statement from Adam Murphy was read out by Sgt Flynn. Adam Murphy said he was at an economic loss of 220. His physical injuries from the assault included a concussion and bruising to his eye. He spent 14 hours in hospital and had to attend his GP twice. He had no long term injuries. Mr Murphy was a native of Dublin and his girlfriend is from Sligo. He said he was afraid of going out in Sligo since the assault and had only gone out once since. He said he suffered PTSD for two or three months following the incident but is okay now. Mr Mulrooney said none of the accused had previous convictions or had come to garda attention since. CCTV footage of the assault was played in court. Mr OGrady on behalf of Blake said it was St Stephens night and there was a lot of alcohol taken. It was mentioned about the other individual not before the court and Judge Johnson asked what happened him and the reply was he is out of the jurisdiction. Judge Johnson said that from viewing the CCTV footage, he seemed to be the instigator. Mr OGrady said Mr Murphy was very benign and decent in his Victim Impact Statement and said thankfully his injuries were not severe. He said Blake had brought 5,000 to court. When he attended voluntarily for interview he apologised. He was an apprentice carpenter and hopes to find work in Australia which a conviction would impact on. Ms Finneran, for Whelehan asked the sergeant that there was a reference about him kicking Ms French and she said from the CCTV that he pushed her. Sgt Flynn said all the footage could not be seen and when he attended for interview and questioned, his answers were that the CCTV footage speaks for itself. Ms Finneran said her client was 20 years of age on the day of the incident and was not a person known to gardai. He was a third year student in ATU Sligo and brought 5,000 to court. Mr McGovern for Feeney said his client was 20 years of age. He fully accepts the harm caused to Mr Murphy and was extremely remorseful. He had no previous convictions. He brought 5,000 in compensation for Mr Murphy. Judge Johnson said it seemed all three were equally culpable and drink was a factor. He said the instigator was not before the court. In his evidence. Blake said from watching the video he was deeply ashamed by his actions. He said he was very apologetic to the victim and if given a chance, he will never be in court again. Mr OGrady said he comes from a very respectable family and was supported by them in court. He said he was ashamed of what he did. When asked by Judge Johnson how much he had to drink he replied a lot. When asked if he learned anything, he replied not to drink excessively or hurt anyone. A letter from his employer was handed into the court. He said it was his intention to emigrate when he finishes his apprenticeship. When asked about the compensation money if it was his way of trying to buy his was out he replied no. He said it was his own money. Blake said he was fully apologetic. Niall Whelehan, in evidence had a written letter in which he said he wished to apologise to both Adam Murphy and Lauren French. He said he was disappointed with himself that he let down his family and friends. He said there was drink involved but that was not an excuse. He said it was poor judgement from him to join in a row and had learned a hard lesson. He said the Victim Impact Statement was a great sigh of relief that Mr Murphy is okay now. His parents were in court with him. He was a third year Architecture student. He said his employer was also disappointed in him. He said telling him was one of the hardest people he had to tell as it was a surprise to him. He also said he had a lot to drink. When asked by Judge Johnson what has he learned, he replied never to take matters into his own hands and that serious damage could have been done. He had borrowed the 5,000 from his father and was paying it back. Mr McGovern handed in references to the court on behalf of Mr Feeney. He also had written a letter of apology. He told Mr Murphy he wanted to express his full remorse for the pain he had to endure from his actions. He apologised for the physical and emotional harm and said the behaviour was not acceptable. He said he will regret it for the rest of his life and hopes he can recover. He agreed with his barrister that he comes from a hardworking family and had brought shame to his family. He felt guilt for the harm caused to the injured party and expressed that to his Probation Officer. He was engaging in counselling weekly before work. He was studying Logistics & Marketing. He said he hopes in the future to go abroad. His father was in court with him. Judge Johnson said the position was the three accused had pleaded guilty to assault causing harm. Niall Whelehan had a second charge of assaulting Lauren French. The background was that the accused and the victim were in Gracies Bar. Lauren French was the previous girlfriend of Mr Blake. The other party not in court seems to instigate things by pushing Mr Murphy. Mr Blake and the two men joined in. Judge Johnson said it was an absolute disgrace their behaviour with four people against one. He said there were numerous kicks and blows to the head and Mr Murphy was rendered unconscious. He attended A&E at Sligo University Hospital with concussion and bruising and thankfully he had no broken bones and no long-term injuries. Judge Johnson said Mr OGrady pointed out the benign Victim Impact Statement which also outlined Mr Murphys concerns on returning to Sligo. There was no Victim Impact Statement for Ms French who he said did go to the defence of Mr Murphy to her credit. It was quite clear all three accused were highly intoxicated. He said the aggravating factors were the fact it was three against one in a sustained attack and an unprovoked attack. None of the accused had previous convictions. All three co-operated in the investigation and pleaded guilty. The Probation Report from Mr Feeney said he had huge remorse and has an excellent work ethic. He had a very supportive family. He had a huge sense of shame. Niall Whelehan was also remorseful and had no previous convictions. He came from a good family. He had a part-time job and is studying architecture. Oran Blake had pleaded guilty and was remorseful. He accepts responsibility. He also comes from a good family support. Judge Johnson said in respect of all three, the Probation Reports were extremely positive. They all expressed extreme remorse and brought significant compensation to court. Taking all the factors into account, he said it was at the mid range of a two year and six months sentence. He said taking into account the extent of their remorse and the testimonials it was apparent the offending was out of character. Judge Johnson said each of them were in their early 20s and a conviction would be a mark on the rest of their lives. He said in the interests of justice, he was going to apply the Probation Act section 1:2. He said he wanted to make it abundantly clear none of them were buying their way out. He said the money has to be of assistance to the victim. He ordered 12,000 be given to Mr Murphy and 3,000 to Ms French. Three Sligo students before Sligo Circuit Court charged with assault causing harm after an unprovoked assault on a young man out socialising with his girlfriend all pleaded guilty. The assault took place at Gracies Bar, Grattan St, Sligo on December 26th 2022. Oran Blake (21), Killery, Ballintogher, Co Sligo was charged with assaulting Adam Murphy causing him harm. Pauric Feeney (20), Faughts, Calry, Co Sligo was also charged with assaulting Mr Murphy causing him harm. Niall Whelehan (21), Altvelid, Ballintogher was also charged with the same offence. He was also charged with assaulting Lauren French. Mr Leo Mulrooney BL with Ms Elisa McHugh were prosecuting, while Ms Elaine Finneran BL instructed by Mr Mark Mullaney solicitor appeared for Mr Feeney. Mr Eoin McGovern BL instructed by Mr Gerard McGovern solicitor appeared for Mr Whelehan, while Mr Keith OGrady BL instructed by Mr Eddie Henry solicitor appeared for Mr Blake. Mr Mulrooney told the court all three had pleaded guilty to the assault causing harm on Mr Murphy with charges of violent disorder withdrawn and Whelehans section 2 assault charge on Ms French to be taken in to consideration. Sgt Fergal Flynn of Sligo Garda Station was outlining the evidence, led by Mr Mulrooney. In his statement, Adam Murphy sets out that he was out socialising with his girlfriend Lauren French at Gracies Bar on St Stephens night. Mr Mulrooney said it was relatively student clientele and it was a busy night. At 11:30pm, he was walking by to the toilets when a man pushed him, who is not before the courts. The man got in his face and was shouting at him. Mr Murphy noticed his girlfriend speaking with Oran Blake. Blake was previously in a relationship with Ms French the court heard. Mr Murphy then said Blakes right arm was coming across and pushing the left side of his face. After the first punch he got another punch on the right side and he covered his face. He was knocked to the ground and there were punches everywhere. The assault lasted about ten or 15 seconds and he blacked out. When he regained consciousness, he got a punch from Blake and he fell back and hit his head off a glass cabinet. He stood up and his hands were covered in blood and there was a huge crowd. His girlfriend brought him into another room and got him tissues and ice. Bouncers escorted the couple out and they went to Ms Frenchs parents home. It was clear Mr Murphys nose was badly swollen and he could barely see out his left eye. There was severe bruising over his left eye. He was brought to Sligo University Hospital and there were lacerations to his forehead, lips, there was a bump to his left ear and he was suffering from dizziness. There was bruising to his left eye, tenderness to his cheekbone and abrasions to his forehead. He was diagnosed with a minor brain injury. A CT scan found no fracture and he had blurring vision. He was discharged with head injury instructions. Mr Frenchs statement set out that she was speaking to a man who then pushed her partner and she said what was he doing. She saw her ex, Oran Blake, punch him four or five times hitting him against a wall. She tried to pull him off and tried to hold off Niall Whelehan and they fell to the ground and she said when he got up, he kicked her in the stomach. Sgt Flynn, who led the investigation, analysed CCTV obtained from Gracies bar. He said at 11:40pm one man not before the court was seen squaring up to Mr Murphy. Ms French was intervening. All three accused were seen punching Mr Murphy a number of times with Ms French trying to separate them. Photographs of Mr Murphys injuries were handed into the court. He had injuries to his left eye, lips, right forehead and a neck injury. All three volunteered interviews. A Victim Impact Statement was read out by Sgt Flynn. Adam Murphy said he was at an economic loss of 220. His physical injuries from the assault included a concussion and bruising to his eye. He spent 14 hours in hospital and had to attend his GP twice. He had no long term injuries. Mr Murphy was a native of Dublin and his girlfriend is from Sligo. He said he was afraid of going out in Sligo since the assault and had only gone out once since. Mr Mulrooney said none of the accused had previous convictions or had come to garda attention since. CCTV footage of the assault was played in court. Mr OGrady on behalf of Blake said it was St Stephens night and there was a lot of alcohol taken. In his statement, he said about the other individual and Judge Johnson asked what happened him and the reply was he is out of the jurisdiction. Judge Johnson said that he seemed to be the instigator. Mr OGrady said Mr Murphy was very benign and decent in his Victim Impact Statement and said thankfully his injuries were not severe. He said Blake had brought 5,000 to court. When he attended voluntarily for interview he apologised. He was an apprentice carpenter and hopes to find work in Australia which a conviction would impact on. Ms Finneran, for Whelehan asked the sergeant that there was a reference about him kicking Ms French and she said from the CCTV that he pushed her. Sgt Flynn said all the footage could not be seen. Ms Finneran said her client was 20 on the day of the incident and not a person known to gardai. He was a third year student in ATU Sligo and brought 5,000 to court. Mr McGovern for Feeney said his client was 20 years of age. He fully accepts the harm caused to Mr Murphy. He had no previous convictions. He brought 5,000 in compensation for Mr Muphy. Judge Johnson said it seemed all three were equally culpable and drink was a factor. He said the instigator was not before the court. In his evidence. Blake said from watching the video he was deeply ashamed by his actions. He said he was very apologetic to the victim and if given a chance, he will never be in court again. Mr OGrady said he comes from a very respectable family and was supported by them in court. He said he was ashamed of what he did. When asked by Judge Johnson how much he had to drink he replied a lot. When asked if he learned anything, he replied not to drink excessively or hurt anyone. A letter from his employer was handed into the court. He said it was his intention to emigrate when he finishes his apprenticeship. When asked about the compensation money if it was his way of trying to buy his was out he replied no. He said it was his own money. Blake said he was fully apologetic. Niall Whelehan, in evidence had a written letter in which he said he wished to apologise to both Adam Murphy and Lauren French. He said he was disappointed with himself that he let down his family and friends. He said there was drink involved but that was not an excuse. He said it was poor judgement from him to join in a row and had learned a hard lesson. He said the Victim Impact Statement was a great sigh of relief that Mr Murphy is okay now. His parents were in court with him. He was a third year Architecture student. He said his employer was also disappointed in him. He said telling him was one of the hardest people he had to tell as it was a surprise to him. He also said he had a lot to drink. When asked by Judge Johnson what has he learned, he replied never to take matters into his own hands and that serious damage could have been done. He had borrowed the 5,000 from his father and was paying it back. Mr McGovern handed in references to the court on behalf of Mr Feeney. He also had written a letter of apology. He told Mr Murphy he wanted to express his full remorse for the pain he had to endure from his actions. He apologised for the physical and emotional harm and said the behaviour was not acceptable. He said he will regret it for the rest of his life and hopes he can recover. He agreed with his barrister that he comes from a hardworking family and had brought shame to his family. He felt guilt for the harm caused to the injured party and expressed that to his Probation Officer. He was engaging in counselling weekly before work. He was studying Logistics & Marketing. He said he hopes in the future to go abroad. His father was in court with him. Judge Johnson said the position was the three accused had pleaded guilty to assault causing harm. Niall Whelehan had a second charge of assaulting Lauren French. The background was that the accused and the victim were in Gracies Bar. Lauren French was the previous girlfriend of Mr Blake. The other party not in court seems to instigate things by pushing Mr Murphy. Mr Blake and the two men joined in. Judge Johnson said it was an absolute disgrace their behaviour with four people against one. He said there were numerous kicks and blows to the head and Mr Murphy was rendered unconscious. He attended A&E at Sligo University Hospital with concussion and bruising and thankfully he had no broken bones and no long-term injuries. Mr OGrady pointed out the benign Victim Impact Statement which outlined Mr Murphys concerns on returning to Sligo. There was no Victim Impact Statement for Ms French who did go to the defence of Mr Murphy to her credit. It was quite clear all three accused were highly intoxicated. He said the aggravating factors was the fact it was three against one in a sustained attack and an unprovoked attack. None of the accused had previous convictions. All three co-operated in the investigation and pleaded guilty. The Probation Report from Mr Feeney said he had huge remorse and has an excellent work ethic. He had a very supportive family. He had a huge sense of shame . Niall Whelehan was also remorseful and had no previous convictions. He came from a good family. He had a part-time job and is studying architecture. Oran Blake had pleaded guilty. He accepts responsibility. He comes from a good family support. Judge Johnson said in respect of all three, the Probation Reports was extremely positive. They all expressed extreme remorse and brought significant compensation. Taking all the factors into account. He said it was at the mid range of a two year and six months sentence. He said the extent of their remorse and the testimonials the offending was out of character. Judge Johnson said each of them were in their early 20s and a conviction would be a mark on their lives. He said in the interest of justice, he was going to apply the Probation Act section 1:2. He said he wanted to make it abundantly clear none of them were buying their way out. He said the money has to be of assistance to the victim. He ordered 12,000 be given to Mr Murphy and 3,000 to Ms French. The incubation period for a chocolate Easter egg at Sees Candies can be up to four days. So to prepare 4 million of them in time for Easter, which arrives early this year, on Sunday, March 31, the 102-year-old candymaker needs a head start. For months now, workers at the companys South San Francisco factory have been placing decorative flowers and bright pastel-colored frosting on a nearly endless stream of treats manufactured inside. On any given morning, as chilly winds blow through the Bay Areas morning gridlock, workers have already begun making thousands of candies per hour, from vanilla buttercream with silky chocolate to dark chocolate almond bites. While many of Sees Candies are efficiently finished in just minutes, Sees popular large eggs some the size of a melon are made entirely by hand. Were not automated and we dont intend to be, Pat Egan, president and CEO of Sees, said of the egg decorating process. Chocolate eggs have been a key offering at Sees since the 1930s, Egan said, around the time the company expanded into the Bay Area, which is now its headquarters. (About half of Sees Easter candies will be produced at its other factory in Los Angeles.) Easter is still one of the companys strongest sales periods, with sought-after products that include chocolate bunnies and ornate, 9.5-ounce rocky road eggs filled with a blend of milk chocolate, walnut and marshmallow ($19). Other top-sellers include more modest, 3- and 4-ounce chocolate eggs with fillings like peanut butter, scotchmallow (Sees popular mix of sticky marshmallow and butterscotch) and nougat-like Bordeaux filling (another Sees bestseller). This is how Sees Easter eggs are born. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Left: Juana Tostado decorates chocolate pecan butter Easter eggs at the Sees Candies factory in South San Francisco. Right: Finished eggs decorated with fondant and frosting florals. Photos by Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Above: Juana Tostado decorates chocolate pecan butter Easter eggs at the Sees Candies factory in South San Francisco. Below: Finished eggs decorated with fondant and frosting florals. Photos by Jessica Christian/The Chronicle When Sees plant manager Bob McIntyre opens the door to the factory floor, you feel the atmosphere shift. Cool recirculated office air gives way to a thick and warm mass, rich with the smell of chocolate. The factory has two 50,000-pound milk chocolate tanks that feed into the production. There are also 85,000 pounds of dark chocolate and 10,000 pounds of white chocolate. With so much buttery cacao in the air, you dont just smell and taste it, but also feel it on your skin. Candy fillings also perfume the factory. A daily 2,000 pounds of Bordeaux filling is cut into trays 40 pounds at a time. On a large machine upstairs at Sees, fillings like Bordeaux, vanilla chip and chocolate butter are laid out into small, 0.8-ounce egg-shaped bites. A large lump of the sweet filling is placed into a machine that feeds the sugary mass through an extruder to make row after row of 21 eggs. The machine produces 17,400 pieces per hour that will end up in Sees Easter six-piece boxes ($10). Advertisement Article continues below this ad The rows march along a conveyor belt, where staff cut out any scraps from the extruded shape. A few yards later, the bits get a chocolate dip that covers the bottom before reaching a chocolate waterfall that fully enrobes them. To give the chocolate a bright sheen, it has to be tempered heated to well past its melting point. The cascading chocolate gives each row of candy eggs a uniform layer before a team of decorators quickly places a small handmade flower on top of each piece of candy. Vanilla chip mixture is rolled out before being cut into even eggs during the first step on the assembly line at the Sees Candies factory in South San Francisco. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Left: An assembly-line worker checks each vanilla-chip egg as it moves down the assembly line at the Sees Candies factory. Right: Vanilla-chip mixture is coated on the bottom with milk chocolate as it moves down the assembly line. Photos by Jessica Christian/The Chronicle Above: An assembly-line worker checks each vanilla-chip egg as it moves down the assembly line at the Sees Candies factory. Below: Vanilla-chip mixture is coated on the bottom with milk chocolate as it moves down the assembly line. Photos by Jessica Christian/The Chronicle The team works quickly, some reaching to the center of the line to place their flowers, while others place theirs on eggs near the edges. Next, the egg rows reach a cooling area that hardens the molten chocolate into a shell, surrounding the candy inside and locking the flower into place. Last, another team receives the finished eggs, which are placed on small, wax-bottomed cardboard boxes that are sent to a packing facility, where the eggs are put into their respective boxes before reaching shelves at Sees shops. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The big event of Easter at Sees are its large eggs: The factory will produce a grand total of 400,000 this year, featuring patterns and decorations applied by hand. They vary in size from 6 to 14.5-ounces. Some fillings like marshmallow have to rest, and the eggs are enrobed in chocolate twice to ensure they have a thick and uniform cover a process that can take up to four days before the final decorative touches are applied by hand. Maria Julia Castillo has been decorating Sees candies by hand for 21 years, making her the longest tenured decorator on the South San Francisco factory staff. She began 30 years ago in the packing department after arriving in the Bay Area from her native El Salvador. She now works on the six-person team responsible for decorating each large egg with fondant and frosting. This Easter will be Castillos last one as a decorator, as she plans on retiring. We have such a nice, hard-working group here, Castillo said in Spanish. There is lots of harmony, we trust each other and get the work done. Castillo demonstrates the multistep process on one of the 9,000 chocolate-pecan-filled eggs her team is decorating. First, with a smooth, bobbing motion they apply a border made of bright pink frosting to create a frame thats wavy and has a lacy texture. Then, four stems drawn with green frosting go into the center of the oval, adorned with green frosting leaves. Finally come the fondant rosebuds, held in place by the frosting, to be festooned with more frosted leaves. Loading... Castillo says every decorator must go through a special training to master consistency and shape making. Because each flower is also handmade, bouquets have flowers with petals that are slightly more open, bulbous or angled. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In a small building adjacent to the factory, Sees operates one of its more than 200 shops. Castillo, the egg decorator, plans on returning to the store as a shopper after retirement. She hopes to buy some peanut squares and rocky road eggs, her favorite, even after she has stopped decorating them. Of course Im coming back to buy eggs. All the former workers come back for candy, too, she said. Pictured with partners at the recent launch, Charlene Logue, Donegal Youth Service Youth Outreach Manager, Leanne McCrory (Cedar Foundation) Service Manager for the organisations Employability and Skills services in the Western area, Cormac Hanlon, Adult Education Officer, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board, Ciaran McManus South West College Director of Development and Support, Liza Wilkinson TIDES, Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald David Taylor Programme Development and Delivery manager of the Youthscape Plus Programme South West College Sharon McGrath Director of Corporate Services at South West College. The funding from the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) PEACEPLUS programme aims to drive forward a pioneering Cross-Border Good Relations Programme, Youthscape Plus, dedicated to fostering positive relationships among young people aged 14 to 24 across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. With a focus on collaboration and inclusivity, the programme will operate across eight locations, including Enniskillen, Dungannon, Cookstown, Omagh, Letterkenny, Ballybofey, Sligo, and Leitrim. The Youthscape Plus programme is designed to enhance good relations, education, training, and employment opportunities for young individuals from diverse communities and bringing them together. South West College has partnered with organisations such as Donegal Youth Services, Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education and Training Board, Tides Training, and the Cedar Foundation to spearhead this initiative. Together, the organisations aim to bridge gaps between education and employment, empowering young people with the skills and resources needed to succeed in today's dynamic job market. The Cross-Border Good Relations Programme will offer participants a comprehensive range of initiatives to enhance their employability prospects. Through structured support and practical experiences, up to 1,200 marginalized young people from counties Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal, Leitrim, and Sligo will have the opportunity to further develop their personal development, good relations, active citizenship, employability skills and be fully supported with progressing into education, training, and employment. Celine McCartan, Principal and Chief Executive of South West College said she delighted that the Colleges application to Investment area 3.2 Peace Plus has been successful. "We are incredibly grateful to the Special EU Programmes Body for their generous funding and unwavering support of our mission to empower young individuals with the tools they need to succeed. "This funding will enable us to expand our efforts in fostering cross-border collaboration and creating pathways to meaningful employment for youth in our community and we look forward to delivering the programme to realise the benefits of this initiative for our community, said Ms McCartan. This initiative not only benefits individual participants but will also contribute to the broader socio-economic development of the region by strengthening the talent pipeline and fostering a skilled workforce. The project is supported by the PEACEPLUS Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Mattress Mick (left!) is set to open his newest store in Gorey, Co Wexford, on April 3. Having carefully searched for the right premises for months, legendary mattress mogul Michael Flynn, aka Mattress Mick, has unveiled the chosen location for his latest superstore in Co Wexford. Without doubt the most instantly recognisable and famous mattress salesman in the country, Mick had put out an appeal back in October looking for somewhere to set up shop in the Model County. Now he has found a place to call his Wexford home Unit 24 in Gorey Business Park and the store will open on April 3. This is Wexford Newsletter Enter your email address below and click 'Sign Up' to receive the This is Wexford newsletter direct to your inbox. Please check your inbox to verify your details The Gorey store will feature over 50 brands of beds and mattresses as well as bedroom furniture and Sliderobes in a 5,5000 sq m unit. Speaking about why he chose to open his latest store in Gorey, Mick says that it was on his hitlist for some time. When I decided to branch out of Dublin, I made a short list of towns and cities that I wanted to open in, and Wexford was right at the top of that list, he said. It took us longer than I expected to find the right premises but thankfully, with the perfect premises, we also found the perfect town. Gorey is an absolute gem of a town and I cant wait to get to know it, and its people better. With each store, Mattress Micks also provide a Community Chest, which offers funding and sponsorship throughout the year to various worthy clubs and charities. It was following the recession of the late noughties that Mick reinvented himself and his wacky sales style of crazy videos, funny songs and media appearances gained him a bit of a following. However, he insists that despite his crazy carry on, hes dead serious about mattresses. Life is too short to not have fun, but its also too short to not have a quality mattress, Mick beams. Ive been saying it for years - the two most important things to invest your money in are your shoes and a mattress because if youre not in one, youre in the other! Mick says that hell be having an official opening in his Gorey store in the coming weeks with celebrity guests, giveaways and a big sale, but until then, he invites everyone to come down and say hello and pick a mattress that will change their life, as soon as the store opens on April 3. In the meantime, Mattress Mick Gorey is currently recruiting sales staff to join the team. If that could be you, send a CV to ryan@mattressmickwaterford.ie. The Revd Ross Styles, Rector of the Parish of Newcastle and Newtownmountkennedy with Calary Parish, has been appointed Archdeacon of Glendalough, following the retirement of Archdeacon Neal ORaw. Archdeacon ORaw had served in the role since October of 2018 and will continue to serve as Rector of Donoughmore and Donard with Dunlavin. The Archdeaconry of Glendalough spans an area from Arklow, Inch and Kilbride in the south to Kilternan in the north and reaches west to Athy and Celbridge and Straffan with NewcastleLyons. Announcing the appointment, Archbishop Michael Jackson paid tribute to Archdeacon ORaw and looked forward to working with his successor. The Venerable Neal ORaw has served the Diocese of Glendalough faithfully as archdeacon throughout his tenure. I want to thank him for his positive spirit and his care of others with diligence and with affection. I have pleasure in appointing the Revd Ross Styles as his successor. Ross has a wide and varied career along with the experience that goes with this. I look forward to working with him in the same spirit of positivity and loyalty to God and to the Church of Ireland. Revd Ross began to follow his calling by embarking on the foundation course in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in 2010. In 2011 he joined the parttime masters in theology course. He was ordained Deacon in 2015 and spent two years as a Deacon Intern with Canon David Mungavin in the parish of St Patricks, Greystones. In 2017 he was ordained priest and served as Curate in the Christ Church Cathedral Group of Parishes. In 2021 he was appointed rector of the parishes of Newcastle, Newtownmountkennedy with Calary. His hobbies include fishing and hill walking. He is married to Fiona and they have two children. Revd Ross said he was looking forward to building on the work of his predecessor. It is a great honour for me to be offered the role of Archdeacon of Glendalough and I would like to thank the Archbishop for this opportunity, he said. I hail from the west of County Wicklow and it is my privilege to minister in the parishes of Newcastle, Newtownmountkennedy with Calary in the east of the county. I have a great love of the diverse diocese of Glendalough. It is a humbling thought that my name is being added to a long list of names stretching back far into our countrys history, as the Archdeaconry of Glendalough has existed for nearly a thousand years. I have been very fortunate in my ministry, both in Dublin and in Glendalough, to have worked with, and been inspired by, many clergy who live out our call to service. I would like to thank Archdeacon ORaw for all that he has done and all that he has given to the diocese of Glendalough. I will endeavour to continue and build on his work and to help and serve in Glendalough and the wider diocese, while continuing to minister to my parishioners. I am very grateful for their amazing support and friendship. Please keep me, Fiona, Ben and Ava in your prayers. Wicklow will receive a total of 473,000 in funding under the Historic Structures Fund (HSF) and the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) for a total of 20 projects. Both schemes support the conservation of historic buildings for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations and are managed jointly by the National Built Heritage Service (NBHS) in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and a network of conservation staff in the 31 local authorities, including expert Architectural Conservation Officers. The schemes fund a variety of repairs and renovation works to prevent deterioration, protect character, and encourage the re-use of protected structures. The schemes also provide important support for the employment of traditional craftspeople and conservation professionals. Announcing the awards , Minister of State Michael Noonan said: I am delighted to announce 9 million in funding for 676 heritage projects up and down the country. My Departments two grant programmes the Built Heritage Investment Scheme and the Historic Structures Fund support the owners and custodians of our nation's historic structures to conserve and protect them, helping to revitalise historic town centres and ensure their unique character is preserved for future generations. The level of funding available highlights the Government's ongoing commitment to the built heritage that communities know and love. These schemes also provide valuable work for the many traditional craft and tradespeople across Ireland, helping to keep these unique skills alive. Wicklow County Council will receive 96,000 in mainstream funding and 5,000 for roof thatching under the Built Heritage Investment Scheme. Christ Church, Bray will receive 14,000 for bell structure repairs. Russborough House, Blessington have been awarded roof works, while Lawnview, Church Hill, Enniskerry will receive 11,000 for roof works. 7,500 will be provided for external walls at Church of Ireland and 7,500 to Nuns Cross Church of Ireland, Ashford. Valleymount House will be provided with 7,000 for roof works and Darraghville, Kilcoole will receive 5,000 for works to the external walls. The Church Of Ascension, Ballinure receives 3,700 for windows and 1 Claremont Terrace, Bray receives 4,000 for roof works. Natures Gold, 1 Killincarrig Road, Greystones have been awarded 3,000 for roof works and the Old Bolting Mill historic ruins at Newtownmountkenmnedy gets 3,000. St. Matthews Church, Newtownmountkennedy will get 3,000 for its roof. 4 Royal Marine Terrace receives 2,500 for interiors. Dawn Cottage, Ballinahinch, Ashford is set to receive 10,800 for external walls and 2,500 for roof thatching. Creech Barrow, Delgany will receive 2,500. Under the Historic Structures Fund, Wicklow County Council will receive 372,000. 171,000 goes towards Clermont House in Rathnew for repairs to the important early Georgian mansion, including slating repairs, renewal of valleys and repointing and rendering to address serious moisture ingress and decay. Rosebank, Avoca will receive 10,000 for the restoration of original sash windows and frames in the traditional family farmhouse. Old Post Office, Main Street, Shillelagh receives 20,000 for the reinstatement of the shopfront, including replacement of existing windows and front door with joinery to match the original 1800s shopfront design, as per historic photographs. Bandits release 130 children abducted from school but almost 170 remain missing two weeks after capture Gunmen had marched students into forests before security forces could arrive A boy protests against the kidnapping of hundreds of school pupils by gunmen. Photo: Reuters Chinedu Asadu Mon 25 Mar 2024 at 03:30 At least 137 of nearly 300 Nigerian children abducted more than two weeks ago from their school in the northwestern state of Kaduna were released yesterday. Frankie McMillan, 8, has been regularly climbing mountains with his mum Basia since he was a toddler (Basia McMillian/PA) An eight-year-old mountaineer from Cumbria said he is excited ahead of climbing to Mount Everest base camp with his mother to raise money for charity. Frankie McMillan has been regularly climbing mountains with mother Basia since he was a toddler, and last year took on his greatest challenge yet becoming the youngest Briton to climb Mount Olympus in Greece. Four suspects in the terror attack claimed by Isis on a Moscow concert hall in which 130 people died appeared in court yesterday. Russian media carried reports that the men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, had been tortured in custody and they all bore the signs of having been beaten, with one of the men appearing in court in a wheelchair. Poland furious as missile from Russia strays across the border Nato ally scrambles fighter jets after airspace violation in Moscows attack on Ukraine Police inspect part of a Russian Kh-55 cruise missile that landed in a park in Kyiv. Photo: Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters Vanessa Gera Mon 25 Mar 2024 at 03:30 Poland demanded an explanation from Russia yesterday after one of Moscows missiles strayed briefly into Polish airspace during a major missile attack on Ukraine, prompting the Nato member to scramble F-16 fighter jets. Production at a weapons plant in Northern Ireland has doubled, and is set to double again as Russias war on Ukraine continues. Thales UK operates two sites in the region with high precision missiles designed and produced at a plant in east Belfast, and final missile assembly carried out at another plant in Crossgar, Co Down. In the weeks leading up to the tragedy at a Moscow music venue on Friday night, warnings had been relayed to Russia that a terror attack perpetrated by extremists was imminent. Antonio Abundis, who gained Medi-Cal coverage as part of Californias expansion for all immigrants regardless of legal status, learned he lost coverage when he went for blood work after a leukemia diagnosis. Hiram Alejandro Duran/El Timpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member Medi-Cal health coverage kicked in for Antonio Abundis just when the custodian needed it most. Shortly after Abundis transitioned from limited to full-scope coverage in 2022 under Californias expansion of Medi-Cal to older residents without legal immigration status, he was diagnosed with leukemia, a cancer affecting the blood cells. The soft-spoken father of three took the news in stride as his doctor said his blood test suggested his cancer wasnt advanced. His next steps were to get more tests and formulate a treatment plan with a cancer team at Epic Care in Emeryville. But all of that was derailed when he showed up last July for blood work at La Clinica de La Raza in Oakland and was told he was no longer on Medi-Cal. They never sent me a letter or anything telling me that I was removed, Abundis, now 63, said in Spanish about losing his insurance. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Abundis is among hundreds of thousands of Latinos who have been kicked off Medi-Cal, Californias Medicaid program for low-income people, as states resume annual eligibility checks that were paused at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The redetermination process, as it is known, has disproportionately affected Latinos, who make up a majority of Medi-Cal beneficiaries. According to the California Department of Health Care Services, more than 653,000 of the more than 1.3 million residents who have been disenrolled over eight months identify as Latino. Some, including Abundis, had only recently gained coverage as the state expanded Medi-Cal to residents without legal residency. The collision of state and federal policies has not only set off enrollee whiplash but swelled demand for enrollment assistance as people are dropped from Medi-Cal, often for procedural issues. Health groups serving Latino communities report being inundated by requests for help, but at the same time, a state-sponsored survey suggests Hispanic households are more likely than other ethnic or racial groups to lose coverage because theyre less knowledgeable of the renewal process. They may also struggle to advocate for themselves. Some health advocates are pressing for a pause. They warn that disenrollments will not only undercut the states effort to reduce the number of uninsured but could exacerbate health disparities, particularly for an ethnic group that bore the brunt of the pandemic. One national study found that Latinos in the U.S. were three times as likely to contract COVID and twice as likely to die of it than the general population, in part because they tend to live in more crowded or multigenerational households and work in front-line jobs. These difficulties place all of us as a community in this more fragile state where the safety net means even more now, said Seciah Aquino, executive director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, a health advocacy organization. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Assembly Member Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, has introduced a bill that would slow disenrollments by allowing people 19 and older to keep their coverage automatically for 12 months and extend flexible pandemic-era policies such as not requiring proof of income in certain cases for renewals. That would benefit Hispanics, who make up nearly 51% of the Medi-Cal population compared with 40% of the overall state population. The governors office said it does not comment on pending legislation. Tony Cava, a spokesperson for the Department of Health Care Services, said in an email that the agency has taken steps to increase the number of people automatically re-enrolled in Medi-Cal and does not consider a pause necessary. The disenrollment rate dropped 10% from November to December, Cava said. Jane Garcia is CEO of La Clinica de La Raza. She says disenrollments continue to pose a challenge just as her team tries to enroll newly eligible residents. Hiram Alejandro Duran/El Timpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member Still, state officials acknowledge more could be done to help people complete their applications. Were still not reaching certain pockets, said Yingjia Huang, assistant deputy director of health care benefits and eligibility at DHCS. California was the first state to expand Medicaid eligibility to all qualified immigrants regardless of legal status, phasing it in over several years: children in 2016, young adults ages 19-26 in 2020, people 50 and older in 2022, and all remaining adults this year. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But California, like other states, resumed eligibility checks last April, and the process is expected to continue through May. The state is now seeing disenrollment rates return to pre-pandemic levels, or 19%-20% of the Medi-Cal population each year, according to DHCS. Jane Garcia, CEO of La Clinica de La Raza, testified before the Alameda County Board of Supervisors health committee that disenrollments continue to pose a challenge just as her team tries to enroll newly eligible residents. Its a heck of a load on our staff, she told supervisors in January. Although many beneficiaries no longer qualify because their incomes rose, more have been dropped from the rolls for failing to respond to notices or return paperwork. Often, renewal packets were sent to old addresses. Many find out theyve lost coverage only upon seeking medical care. They knew something was happening, said Janet Anwar, eligibility manager at Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in the East Bay. They didnt know exactly what it was, how it was gonna affect them until actually the day came and they were disenrolled. And they were getting checked in or scheduling an appointment, then, Hey, you lost your coverage. But reenrollment is a challenge. A state-sponsored survey published Feb. 12 by the California Health Care Foundation found 30% of Hispanic households tried but were unable to complete a renewal form, compared with 19% for white non-Hispanic households. And 43% of Hispanics reported they would like to restart Medi-Cal but did not know how, versus 32% of people in white non-Hispanic households. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Jane Garcia, CEO of La Clinica de La Raza, testified before the Alameda County Board of Supervisors health committee about the barriers to reenrollment for Latinos. Its a heck of a load on our staff, she told supervisors in January. Hiram Alejandro Duran/El Timpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member The Abundis family is among those who dont know where to get their questions answered. Though Abundis wife submitted the familys Medi-Cal renewal paperwork in October, his wife and two children who still live with them were able to maintain coverage; Abundis was the only one dropped. He hasnt received an explanation for being disenrolled nor been notified how to appeal or reapply. Now he worries he may not qualify on his own based on his roughly $36,000 annual income since the limit is $20,121 for an individual but $41,400 for a family of four. It is likely an eligibility worker could check if he and his family qualify as a household for Medi-Cal. Covered California, the states health insurance exchange, offers private plans that can run less than $10 a month in premiums and allows for special enrollment when people lose Medi-Cal or employer-based coverage. But immigrants who are not living in the state lawfully do not qualify for Covered California subsidies. Abundis assumes he wont be able to afford premiums or copays, so he hasnt applied. Abundis, who first visited a doctor in May 2022 about unrelenting fatigue, constant pain in his back and knees, shortness of breath, and unexplained weight loss, worries hes unable to afford medical care. La Clinica de La Raza, the community health clinic where he received blood testing, worked with him that day so he didnt have to pay upfront, but he has since stopped seeking medical care. More than a year after his diagnosis, Abundis still doesnt know which stage cancer he has, or what his treatment plan should be. Though early cancer detection can lead to a higher chance of survival, some types of leukemia advance quickly. Without further testing, Abundis does not know his outlook. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Ive mentally prepared, Abundis said of his cancer. What happens, happens. Even those who seek help run into challenges. Marisol, a 53-year-old immigrant from Mexico who lives in Richmond, without legal permission, tried to reestablish coverage for months. Although the state saw a 26% drop in disenrollments from December to January, the share of Latinos disenrolled during that period remained nearly the same, suggesting they face more barriers to renewal. Marisol, who requested her last name be withheld out of fear of deportation, also qualified for full-scope Medi-Cal during the state expansion to all immigrants 50 and older. She received a packet in December letting her know that her household income exceeded Medi-Cals threshold something she believed was an error. Marisols husband is out of work due to a back injury, she said, and her two children primarily support their family with part-time jobs at Ross Dress for Less. That month, Marisol visited a Richmond branch office of the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department, hoping to speak to an eligibility worker. Instead, she was told to leave her paperwork and to call a phone number to check her application status. Since then, she made numerous calls and spent hours on hold, but has not been able to speak with anyone. County officials acknowledged longer wait times due to increased calls and said the average wait time is 30 minutes. We understand community members frustration when they have difficulty getting through at times, spokesperson Tish Gallegos wrote in an email. Gallegos noted the call center increases staffing during peak hours. After El Timpano reached out to the county for comment, Marisol said she was contacted by an eligibility worker, who explained that her family was dropped because their children had filed taxes separately, so the Medi-Cal system determined their eligibility individually rather than as one household. The county reinstated Marisol and her family on March 15. Marisol said regaining Medi-Cal was a joyous but bittersweet ending to a months-long struggle, especially knowing that other people get dropped for procedural issues. Sadly, there has to be pressure for them to fix something, she said. Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and a staffer were found shot dead in a car early on Sunday, said police in the South American country, which is in the grips of a wave of violence that authorities blame on drug trafficking National police said they were investigating the deaths of Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente, and Jairo Loor, her communications director, after the discovery of their bodies in the province of Manabi. Both had suffered gunshot wounds, police said in a statement. Israeli forces raid two more hospitals A Palestinian boy looks at an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters Palestinians who fled an ongoing Israeli raid of Gazas main hospital described mass arrests and forced marches past bodies as the United Nations accused Israel of blocking its main agency helping Palestinians from sending food aid to the enclaves devastated north. It comes as the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said all its food aid deliveries for northern Gaza are being blocked by Israel, as famine looms. My dad was a strong person so if this can happen to him, what else is happening? Martin Abbott's daughter on his death in University Hospital Limerick Photo Courtesy: PIB Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck praised Indian PM Narendra Modi, who recently visited the Himalayan nation, and described him as an exceptional leader. He said countries require such leaders to advance and flourish. King Wangchuk, in a video message, underlined that India has paved the way for a promising and prosperous future, adding that Bhutan applauds and rejoices in Indias accomplishments, reports ANI. Under Prime Minister Modis leadership, India has not only achieved remarkable success in the past decade, but also paved the way for a promising and prosperous future. We applaud and rejoice in Indias accomplishments. Countries require exceptional leaders to advance and flourish, yet such leaders are rare. To find an exceptional leader must possess compassion, a deep dedication to the country, and a willingness to devote themselves entirely to the service of the country, he said. A leader wields power not for his own sake, but to affect substantial change with the unwavering support of the people. In my perspective, Prime Minister Modi embodies these qualities. Prime Minister Modi Imbe Salamiraji the conferral of the order of Druk Galpo, Bhutans highest award to Prime Minister Modi, symbolizes our deep appreciation towards the government of India, the people of India, and to Prime Minister Modi for always being there for Bhutan, he added. Modi visited Bhutan on March 21 and March 22. Modi was conferred the Order of the Druk Gyalpo, Bhutans highest civilian decoration, by King of Bhutan in a public ceremony at the Tendrelthang, Thimphu. Prime Minister Modi is the first foreign leader to be given this prestigious award. As per ranking and precedence established, the Order of the Druk Gyalpo was instituted as the decoration for lifetime achievement and is the pinnacle of the honor system in Bhutan, taking precedence over all orders, decorations and medals. Photo courtesy: UNI Chennai/UNI: Police have registered cases against ruling DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Anitha r.Radhakrishnan for allegedly making some derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Police sources said cases were registered against the Minister following a complaint from BJP Thoothukudi district President R.Chitranganthan for his remarks against Modi during a meeting of the INDIA Bloc in the district two days back. Cases were registered under Sec 294 (b) (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place) of the IPC against the Minister. The BJP has also filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the State Director General of Police, seeking action against Mr. Radhakrishnan on the matter. In a complaint to Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo, BJP State Vice-president Karu.Nagarajan said Radhakrishnan had used what was considered to be the vilest language unpardonable in public discourse. The BJP leader said it was a grave breach of rules prescribed under the Model Code of Conduct, and submitted a video of Radhakrishnans speech to the Commission. Condemning the Minister's remarks, BJP State President K.Annamalai in a social media post said, "DMK leaders have reached a new low in their uncouth behaviour by passing vile comments & unpardonable public discourse against our Hon PM Thiru @narendramodi avl." "When they have nothing to criticise, this is the level DMK leaders have stooped. DMK MP Smt Kanimozhi avl was on the stage and did not bother to stop her colleague," he said. Annamalai said, "BJP4TamilNadu is taking up this matter with the Election Commission & the DGP of TN State police today, seeking the strictest & immediate action against DMK Minister Thiru Anita Radhakrishnan." Photo Courtesy: UNI The Congress party announced on Monday the names of five more candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Giving this information, party General Secretary K. C. Venugopal said that the names of these candidates were selected by the Central Election Committee of the Congress. While releasing the fourth list on Sunday, the party had declared only three candidates. The party has declared four candidates from Rajasthan: Ramchandra Chaudhary from Alwar, Sudarshan Rawat from Rajsamand, Dr. Damodar Gurjar from Bhilwara, and Prahlad Gunjal from Kota. The Congress has fielded advocate Robert Bruce from Thiruvananthapuram, Tamil Nadu. (With UNI inputs) Representative image/ courtesy: Pixabay Hyderabad/IBNS: Former Telangana Intelligence Bureau chief T Prabhakhar Rao has been named accused number 1 in the phone-tapping case that has created a major controversy in the state ahead of a general election. Rao, on whose order reams of electronic data are said to have been gathered by illegally tapping the phones of opposition leaders during the earlier BRS government led by K Chandrashekar Rao, is reportedly in the United States. A look-out notice has been issued in his name. Rao's home in Hyderabad has been searched, as have nearly a dozen other locations, including the residence of Shravan Rao, who runs a Telugu TV channel called I News. Sharvan Rao, who is also believed to be out of the country, allegedly helped set up phone-tapping equipment (from Israel) and servers on the premises of a local school. Another cop, Radha Kishan Rao, who was serving in the city task force, has also been named as an accused and a look-out notice has been issued for him as well. Several other Telangana police officers are being investigated in connection with this case. Three cops including Additional SPs Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, and Deputy SP Praneeth Rao have already been arrested. The police said Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna, arrested last week, had confessed to monitoring private persons illegally and destroying the evidence. Indian government under PM Narendra Modi's leadership implemented CAA recently. Photo Courtesy: PIB The notification permitted the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) that was passed by Parliament. On December 9, 2019, the Lok Sabha (Lower House) passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) with an overwhelming majority of 311 votes to 80 votes. Again, on December 11, after a 9-hour-long, intense debate, the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) passed the CAB with 125-105 votes. As per the notification dated May 28, 2021, the MHA invited applications for citizenship from Sikhs, Hindus, Jains, Christians and Buddhists hailing from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who are currently residing in 13 districts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab. Most importantly, the option of naturalisation or registration is not available to illegal immigrants. For legal migrants, who want to apply for Indian citizenship, all rules are the same. The Act actually makes it easier for persecuted minorities of Indias neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to become citizens of India as it entitles Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians facing religious persecution in these nations, to seek Indian citizenship. The religious minorities residing in the above-mentioned countries not only face discrimination, but they are targeted, hounded and killed in broad day light. And most significantly, all these three countries are either Islamic theocracy or with a volatile combination of rudimentary democracy along with strong Islamist principles. Therefore, CAA becomes more pertinent by the day, for non-Islamic minorities, who are practically living in morbid atmosphere since many decades. Pakistan In Pakistan, the overwhelming Muslim majority of 96.28% contrasts starkly with the small Christian population at 1.59% and Hindus at 1.60%. The Sikh community, once vibrant, faces extinction, with conflicting estimates of their numbers. While Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) claims that there are only 6,146 Sikhs registered in Pakistan, according to an estimate, census conducted by NGO Sikh Resource and Study Centre (SRSC), about 50,000 Sikhs still live in Pakistan. This discrepancy highlights the challenges in accurately representing minority populations. The situation of Hindu minorities in Pakistan reveals a distressing narrative marked by inhuman treatment, relentless atrocities, and daunting challenges for survival. With their population declining drastically from 24% at the time of partition to a mere 1.60% today, Hindus continue to endure egregious discrimination, violence, and systematic oppression that imperil their very existence. Forced conversions, abductions, and targeted attacks are the grim realities that confront religious minorities in Pakistan. Young Sindhi Hindu girls, aged between 12 and 28, are frequently abducted, forcibly married off, and coerced into converting to Islam. The reduction in the number of Hindu temples from over 400 at partition to a mere 20 today paints a grim picture of the deliberate destruction and desecration of their religious sites. This cultural vandalism is not just a physical assault but a symbolic erasure of their heritage and traditions. The plight of Pakistani Christians is equally distressing. They endure substandard living conditions and are increasingly targeted by intolerant factions. Pakistan's blasphemy laws, carrying the threat of death for perceived insults to Islam, have led to egregious injustices. The case of Asia Bibi, falsely accused of blasphemy, exemplifies the grave risks faced by Christians. Despite her acquittal after years of legal battles, Asia Bibi had to seek refuge in Canada, underscoring the perilous situation for religious minorities. International bodies like the US State Department and human rights organizations have raised serious concerns about Pakistan's treatment of religious minorities. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has highlighted the alarming frequency of forced conversions and marriages, condemning the exploitation of underage girls from minority communities. Moreover, discriminatory practices in employment and education further marginalize minorities, pushing them into impoverished conditions and limited opportunities. The lack of representation and advocacy exacerbates their vulnerability, leaving them voiceless in the face of relentless persecution. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, non-Muslim groups such as Hindus, Sikhs, Bahais and Christians make up less than 0.3% of the population. During the first Taliban regime, militant rulers announced that Sikhs and Hindus would be forced to wear yellow badges for identification, sparking international outrage. Additionally, they were prohibited from constructing new temples and were required to pay jizya, a tax imposed on non-Muslims. By 2023, the Sikh and Hindu populations in Afghanistan had dwindled to fewer than 100 individuals, despite Taliban assurances of their safety, as reported by the US. This represents a staggering decline from the estimated 60,000 members they had in 1992. The remaining few are primarily concentrated in Nangarhar, Kabul, and Ghazni provinces. Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, Sikhs have faced escalating challenges. In August, the Taliban forcibly removed the Nishan Sahib, a Sikh holy flag, from the GurdwaraThala Sahib in the Chamkani region of Paktia province. Additionally, in June 2022, a Sikh Gurdwara in Kabul was subjected to a fortified attack, resulting in casualties and injuries. Sikhs and Hindus are subject to stringent restrictions on their outward appearance and are forbidden from publicly observing religious holidays, prompting many to flee the country. While the Taliban have attempted to ease the fears of non-Muslim Afghans by visiting Sikh and Hindu temples and pledging safety, their actions have failed to provide meaningful protection. The harsh treatment of Sikhs and Hindus under Taliban rule has led to a mass exodus from Afghanistan, with many seeking refuge in India. On the other hand, Afghan Christians, who are mostly converts, are facing increased security threats. There are reports suggesting that the Taliban have put bounties on capturing Afghan Christians, which has forced this community to practice their faith secretly. Revealing their religious identity in public could put their lives at risk due to the dangers posed by the Taliban. Despite the Taliban's denial of the existence of Christians in Afghanistan, international organizations have consistently highlighted Afghanistan's dismal record on religious freedom, particularly for Christians. Many Afghan Christians have gone into hiding to evade abduction and persecution by Taliban authorities. Bangladesh The challenging situation of religious minorities in Bangladesh is a distressing reality marked by persecution, atrocities, and an appalling status quo. Despite Bangladesh's inception in 1971 with a secular constitution, Islam was officially declared the state religion in 1988, a status reaffirmed by the top court in 2016. This legal framework has led to a complex environment where religious and ethnic minority communities face severe challenges. Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Chakma Tribal, Free Thinkers, and Atheists comprise the marginalized groups enduring discrimination along ethnic and religious lines. The US State Department has expressed concerns about jihadi and Islamist terrorism in Bangladesh, highlighting the gravity of the situation. Amnesty International's "Bangladesh 2022" report paints a grim picture, citing instances of violence and persecution. The death of Indigenous rights Buddhist activist Nabayan Chakma Milon in military custody, the mob attack on a Hindu temple and homes in Narail district, and the exodus of millions of Hindus from Bangladesh depict the widespread plight of minorities. Violence against Hindus has escalated, with thousands of attacks resulting in deaths, injuries, and property damage. Tribal Christians face a double vulnerability, confronting land disputes and violent acts. The killing of eight tribal Christians in April 2023 underscores the ongoing threat to religious minorities. Christian converts endure social media hate campaigns and personal information exposure, reflecting a broader pattern of intolerance and discrimination. In Bangladesh, Christians represent a minuscule fraction (.06%) of the population and are often treated as inferior second-class citizens. The targeting of converts and the spread of anti-Christian rhetoric highlight the challenges faced by this marginalized community. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in neighboring India offers a potential solution by easing the path to citizenship for persecuted minorities from countries like Bangladesh, providing them with an opportunity to seek refuge and escape religious persecution. According to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and other reports, around 12.5 million Hindus fled from East Pakistan between 1950 and 1971. Additionally, an estimated 15 million Hindus have left Bangladesh between 1974 and 2016, indicating a significant trend of migration due to persecution and insecurity. In conclusion, The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) stands as a beacon of hope for persecuted religious minorities in India's neighboring states, embodying India's commitment to humanitarian values and regional stability. The Act's implementation, following rigorous parliamentary debates and due process, marks a significant step towards offering refuge and citizenship to communities facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. By addressing the dire plight of minorities in these countries and providing a legal pathway to Indian citizenship, the CAA showcases India's proactive role in safeguarding human rights and fostering a more inclusive and secure South Asian region. About the author Dr. Maheep is a leading analyst of International Relations and Global Politics. He contributes regularly on issues of utmost significance of Humanity. Boxes of the drug mifepristone sit on a shelf at the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on March 16, 2022. The Supreme Court will hear opening arguments Tuesday in a case that could limit the use of the drug. Allen G. Breed/Associated Press Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris cheer as she speaks at a rally for abortion rights at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose on Jan. 29. Many fear the Supreme Court's decision in an abortion pill case that begins Tuesday could have far-reaching effects in California. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle Selena Smedley of Sacramento confronts an antiabortion passer-by outside the San Francisco Ferry Building during the Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights rally to protest the court decision limiting access to the abortion pill mifepristone on April 10, 2023. Jana Asenbrennerova/Special to the Chronicle Antiabortion activists march around the Capitol at the California March for Life in Sacramento on March 6, 2023. Salgu Wissmath/The Chronicle On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that could limit the use of mifepristone, the pill used in more than half of all abortions. Reproductive rights supporters say the conservative courts decision could have unimaginable and probably immeasurable effects even in California, which has the nations strongest reproductive rights protections. The case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, was brought by a group of antiabortion doctors who challenged the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations 2000 decision that found mifepristone to be safe and effective. More than 5 million people have used mifepristone since it was approved. Typically, patients take one 200 milligram mifepristone pill, which blocks the hormone called progesterone that is necessary to continue a pregnancy. Within up to 72 hours, patients typically follow up with misoprostol, which allows the uterus to contract to get rid of its contents. Patients can have a misoprostol-only abortion, but it can be more painful. Their suit also contested the FDAs later decisions to allow the pills to be used in up to 10 weeks of pregnancy rather than seven, to be prescribed by a medical professional who is not a doctor and to be prescribed and delivered by mail rather than in person at the doctors office. This month, Walgreens announced it would start selling mifepristone in California and four other states. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But even though California voters enshrined the right to an abortion in the state constitution last year and Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed 24 abortion protection-related bills into law over theplast two years, the court could make abortion medication harder to obtain. If the court agrees that the FDA is barred from approving telehealth abortions that would not only change how Californians access mifepristone; it could set the stage for a ruling that the law bans mailing any abortion-related item and thus operates as a de facto ban on abortion in California, said Mary Ziegler, a professor of law at UC Davis and leading scholar on abortion rights. Medication abortion is the most commonly accessed form of abortion, accounting for 63% of all abortions in 2023, with 1 in 6 being delivered by telemedicine, said Dr. Mai Fleming, a family physician and assistant professor of medicine at UC San Franciscos Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health. Before the Supreme Courts 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision that rescinded the constitutional right to obtain an abortion, 40% of the counties in California didnt have an abortion provider, Fleming said. Now, because of virtual sexual and reproductive health clinics like Hey Jane, where Fleming provides care, she said, we have provided medication abortion via telemedicine in nearly every one of those counties that had previously had no abortion provider. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But that care could be at risk in California. Legal abortions in California increased an estimated 16% in 2023 compared to 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports access to abortion and has measured the number of abortions in the U.S. for nearly 50 years. Some Republicans are downplaying the potential impact of the case, and emphasized that it should be a states rights issue though the Supreme Court decision will also apply to states that have made the decision to keep abortion legal. The Chronicle spoke with politicians, advocates and abortion providers about what the impact of the case on California could be. Heres what they told us, in their own words. Some worry it will restrict abortion access even in California. The impact of taking away the access to mifepristone and other medications to help to facilitate womens health care, for a state like ours 40 million people it is going to be unimaginable and probably immeasurable. Advertisement Article continues below this ad We have a court system that is not necessarily working in the best interest of women in this country with these rulings that attack our ability to make decisions about our own body and California has been a beacon. I want to continue to lift up the work that our state legislature and our governor have done to protect women in our state and, frankly, those in surrounding states who are coming to California to get the health care that they need. It may not reach California in the state today. But the opportunity that California has is to make sure that we have the folks elected to Congress and in the Senate that will also protect us from a national abortion ban. California Sen. Laphonza Butler Whatever the Supreme Court decides, it will limit that expansion of access in some way, shape or form for folks in all states, whether there are abortion restrictions or bans on the books or not. The folks most harmed by any abortion restriction, including medication abortion restrictions, are the folks most likely to call abortion funds poor, working class folks, uninsured people, people of color, the queer and trans community. So these types of restrictions and decisions are really rooted in racism and classism and ableism, misogyny, and take away the bodily autonomy for folks to make decisions about their bodies for themselves. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Jessica Pinckney Gil, executive director of Access Reproductive Justice Other state leaders insist that California will remain a haven for abortion. California stands ready to protect the health and well-being of anyone seeking critical reproductive services. Any rollback of the FDAs approval of mifepristone even a partial rollback would limit access to a safe form of abortion medication. However, a misoprostol-only medication abortion remains a safe and effective alternative. Medication abortion is and will continue to be available and accessible here in California, and we will continue to protect peoples freedom to choose. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly The stakes could not be higher for Californians and individuals across this country who are faced with relentless attacks on their reproductive freedom. Fiercely defending and protecting access to reproductive health care has been a top priority and is now more critical than ever, since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. No matter what happens in the case before the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Department of Justice will remain immovably committed to ensuring that our state continues to be a safe haven for all individuals seeking reproductive health care services, including medication abortion. Advertisement Article continues below this ad California Attorney General Rob Bonta I feel very confident that the court recognizes that this is not just important for the purposes of mifepristone and the millions of Americans today who have either used or count on medication abortion for their health care that they need. Undoing what the (Food and Drug Administration) meticulously and painstakingly went through would not just impact mifepristone. The FDA for more than 20 years saw its efforts for a safe and effective means of caring for women out there on the streets and work very, very well for millions of Americans. Time tested, time proven that FDAs work was well done. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra The case threatens to reverse the work California has done policy changes that improved access to medication abortion in the state and grounded in evidence-based research that has shown that mifepristone is safe and effective. Lets be clear that this case is part of the anti-abortion movements efforts to ban abortion nationwide, including in states like California, with no regard for the devastating impacts on pregnant people that we are seeing in banned states. While the Courts decision in this case has the potential to severely restrict or prohibit patients in California from accessing their preferred method of abortion care, California will remain a reproductive freedom state, abortion will remain legal here, and we will continue to fight for everyone to be able to get the care they need, no matter what. Jodi Hicks, CEO, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California The Supreme Court made the decision to leave the right to choose up to the states. Though we believe abortion care is a fundamental right, in light of that decision, California has done all it can to protect reproductive choice. The Supreme Court going against states ability to protect mifepristone fundamentally threatens choice once again, and undermines the standard that they have already set of state autonomy. Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda Republicans downplayed the impact, and emphasized states rights. I would need more background to understand the context of what the courts contemplating. I believe the FDA is on shaky ground with a lot of things after COVID right now. I dont have enough information to talk about that right now. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Chico (Butte County) I dont think it has an effect from an electoral perspective or from a political perspective. California has gone so far left on this issue that the average voter doesnt see the abortion issue as being threatened. The drug itself isnt being threatened. If it gets threatened at the federal level or by the Supreme Court, the state itself will do something to make sure that thats offset and nullified. I have been very clear that the Dobbs decision puts that decision-making process in the states for the federal government. So, thats not a conversation we should be having here; that should be happening in Sacramento. If theres a drug that is going to be out there thats legal then the FDA should have some authority on not only the efficacy of it, but the safety of it as well. And so, (I dont agree with) this idea that the FDA should exit the conversation. Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County) I hope we do preserve access to it. (The) Supreme Court is going to rule as they rule, and then states will have to just like IVF states will have to respond with their legislation to make sure theres access. Regardless of what type of drug it is, if you can make a case that theres new information or that there was insufficient care taken. Im going to guess its an uphill battle, but I guess Ill have to wait and see what the Supreme Court says. What weve seen in the case of IVF particularly is that even very red states are ensuring access to IVF. And I think that in my state theres going to be access to that pill. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash French authorities have decided to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with potential threats to the country after the recent terror attack in Moscow which left over 100 people dead. French President Emmanuel Macron convened a defence and security meeting Sunday night at the Elysee Palace in the wake of the attack in Moscow, reported Xinhua. A la suite de lattentat de Moscou, un Conseil de Defense et de Securite nationale a ete reuni ce soir a lElysee par le President de la Republique. Compte tenu de la revendication de lattentat par letat islamique et des menaces qui pesent sur notre pays, nous avons decide de Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 24, 2024 "Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency," posted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on X. Moscow attack The number of those killed in the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region has risen to 143 people, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and the Rossiya Segodnya media group, said on Saturday (March 23, 2024). "There are already more victims than in [the 2002] Nord-Ost [siege of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow]. 143 people [killed]. Oh, God, rest their souls," Simonyan said on Telegram as quoted by Sputnik. A shooting occurred on Friday evening in the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, just outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. A Sputnik correspondent who witnessed the attack reported that at least three men in camouflage had broken into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs. Eleven people were detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly responsible, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. All four were detained in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, a few hours apart, the FSB added. Photo Courtesy: UNRWA Israeli authorities informed the United Nations on Sunday that it will no longer approve the passage of any UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, food convoys into northern Gaza. As of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for Palestine refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a social media post on X. He called the decision outrageous, saying it was made to intentionally obstruct lifesaving aid deliveries during a man-made famine in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. He underlined the need to lift this ban, adding that UNRWA the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza is the largest relief agency in the Strip and has the greatest ability to reach displaced communities there. 'Restrictions must be lifted' Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north. This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine, he wrote. These restrictions must be lifted, he continued. By preventing UNRWA to fulfill its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine & many more will die of hunger, dehydration + lack of shelter, he warned. This cannot happen, it would only stain our collective humanity. WHO slams fresh aid ban World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus slammed the new order. Blocking UNRWA from delivering food is in fact denying starving people the ability to survive, he said in a social media post. This decision must be urgently reversed, he continued. The levels of hunger are acute. All efforts to deliver food should not only be permitted but there should be an immediate acceleration of food deliveries. UN relief chief: UNRWA is 'beating heart' of aid in Gaza UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths echoed that message. "I have urged Israel to lift all impediments on aid to Gaza. Now this MORE impediments," he wrote on social media. "UNRWA is the beating heart of the humanitarian response in Gaza," he stated. "The decision to block its food convoys to the north only pushes thousands closer to famine," he warned. "It must be revoked." Famine warnings The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report on Gaza Strip stated last week that famine is imminent in the northern part of the Strip and is expected to occur between now and May in the two northern governorates, which are home to about 300,000 people. Upon the reports release, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described the findings as an appalling indictment of conditions on the ground for civilians. Palestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering, he said at the time. This is an entirely man-made disaster, and the report makes clear that it can be halted. In Egypt, UN chief calls for flooding Gaza with aid The UN chief is currently in the region on his annual Ramadan solidarity trip, having visited with Palestinian women and children injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza, and strongly renewed his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. His trip included a visit to the Rafah border crossing into Gaza and planned meetings in Egypt and Jordan. Earlier on Sunday, Guterres met the press in Cairo, reiterating that call. Palestinians in Gaza desperately need what has been promised: a flood of aid, he said, not trickles, not drops. He said some progress has been made, but much more needs to be done, and making that increasing aid flows requires very practical steps. Israel must remove 'chokepoints to relief' It requires Israel removing the remaining obstacles and chokepoints to relief, Guterres explained. It requires more crossings and access points. All alternative routes are, of course, welcome, but the only efficient and effective way to move heavy goods is by road. It requires an exponential increase in commercial goods, and, I repeat, it requires an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. He said efforts must ensure that ample aid shipments are delivered as soon as possible. The current horrors in Gaza serve no one and are having an impact around the globe, he said. The daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community. US financing situation Early on Sunday, UNRWAs Commissioner-General said that there will be widespread consequences for Palestine refugees in Gaza and the region following the newly passed United States foreign aid spending bill for 2024, which limits funding to the agency until March 2025. He said the humanitarian community in Gaza is racing against time to avoid famine and that any gap in funding for UNRWA will undermine access to food, shelter, primary health care and education at an extremely difficult time. Palestine refugees are counting on the international community to increase its support to meet their basic needs, he said. UNRWA will continue its mandate UNRWA supports about 5.9 million Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations: Gaza, the West Bank including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Lazzarini expressed his appreciation for UNRWAs supporters from members of the US Congress who are speaking on behalf of the agency during this difficult period and for US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkens support last week with the European Union. The UNRWA chief stressed that the agency will continue to work with the US on the path of joint commitment towards Palestine refugees and peace and stability throughout the region. He said that UNRWA, along with donors and partners, will continue to implement its mandate entrusted to it by the UN General Assembly to protect the rights of Palestine refugees until a lasting political solution is reached. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash The Paris Summer Olympics could become a "premium terrorist target" after Friday's terrorist attack at a concert venue in the Moscow Region, a senior adviser to the Counter Extremism Project international non-government organization, Edmund Fitton-Brown, said on Monday. "I worry about the Paris Olympics ... They would be a premium terrorist target," the adviser told The New York Times newspaper. The concerns come as counterterrorism officials said the recent terrorist attack in Russia was more sophisticated than others over a period of time: there was a greater level of planning and an ability to infiltrate into local extremist networks, the newspaper reported. Among the main forces that could motivate such attacks during the upcoming Olympics, a senior Western intelligence official cited the existence of dormant terrorist cells in Europe and images of the war in the Gaza Strip circulating on the internet. The January UN report on terrorism said some people of North Caucasian and Central Asian origin who traveled to Europe from Afghanistan or Ukraine could present an opportunity for a branch of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia) known as ISIS-Khorasan to launch attacks against the West, according to the report. US authorities blame ISIS-Khorasan for the attack on Crocus City Hall. A shooting occurred on Friday evening at the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the city of Krasnogorsk, outside Moscow, followed by a massive fire. Several men wearing camouflage broke into the music hall, shooting people point-blank and throwing incendiary bombs, a Sputnik correspondent reported. Russian authorities said that at least 137 people were killed in the attack. Eleven people have been detained in connection with the attack, including four who were directly involved, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said. All four suspected shooters were apprehended in Russia's Bryansk Region, which borders Belarus and Ukraine, the FSB added. The Olympic Games in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11. Photo Courtesy: UNICEF/James Elder The UN Security Council on Monday (March 25, 2024) passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and "the urgent need to expand the flow" of aid into Gaza. There were 14 votes in favour with the United States abstaining. Gilad Erdan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel, questioned why the Security Council discriminates among victims, recalling that it condemned the deadly attack on a concert hall in Moscow on Friday, but failed to condemn the Nova music festival massacre of 7 October. Civilians, no matter where they live, deserve to enjoy music in safety and security and the Security Council should have the moral clarity to condemn such acts of terror equally, without discrimination, he said. Sadly, today as well this Council refused to condemn the 7 October massacre this is a disgrace, he added. Erdan further note that for the past 18 years, Hamas initiated ceaseless attacks against Israeli civilians. Thousands and thousands of indiscriminate rockets and missiles against civilians, he stressed. He added that while the resolution failed to condemn Hamas, it did state something that should have been the driving moral force. This resolution denounces the taking of hostages, recalling that it in violation of international law, he said, stressing taking innocent civilians hostage, is a war crime. When it comes to bringing the hostages home, the Security Council must not settle for words alone but take action, real action, he added Gazas ordeal must end, now: Palestine UN Photo Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for the observer State of Palestine, said it had taken six months, with more than 100,000 Palestinians killed and maimed, to finally demand an immediate ceasefire. The Palestinians in Gaza have shouted, cried, cursed and prayed, defying the odds time and time again. Now they live with famine with many buried under the rubble of their own houses. Their ordeal must come to an end, and it must come to an immediate end, now, he told ambassadors. He said the rule of international law was being destroyed by Israels crimes. Instead of implementing a mandatory order from the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israel has doubled down on its actions, he said. He said Palestinians had been killed if they stayed, or left, and now Israel threatens an invasion of Rafah. They have also continued their incitement of the UN, attacking the UN chief and the UN relief agency UNRWA. The UN must be defended, he said. This outrageous incitement has real life consequences for UN and humanitarian staff on the ground who are targets of attacks, who are killed, arrested and tortured, he said. It also has real life consequences for the blocking of UNRWA aid. It is time for all these Israeli actions to trigger a serious international action, he said. He welcomed the adoption of the resolution and saluted Arab unity in demanding the ceasefire. This must be a turning point, this must lead to saving lives on the ground. This must signal the end of this assault of atrocities against our people, said, declaring that his entire nation was being murdered. Three main demands: Ceasefire, return hostages, let aid into Gaza The resolution is a bare-bones call for a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, which began on 11 March. It also demands the return of about 130 hostages seized in Israel and held in Gaza and emphasizes the urgent need to allow ample lifesaving aid to reach a starving population in the besieged enclave. The demand to end hostilities has so far eluded the Council following the Israeli forces invasion of Gaza in October after Hamas attacks left almost 1,200 dead and 240 taken hostage. Since then, Israels daily bombardment alongside its near total blockade of water, electricity and lifesaving aid has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry there, where a recent UN-backed report showed an imminent famine unfolding. Guterres calls for a lasting peace With starvation bearing down on Gaza, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday repeated his call for a sustainable end to the conflict and the release of all remaining hostages amid unprecedented and ongoing devastation in the occupied enclave. The need is urgent, Guterres said in Amman, alongside Jordans Foreign Minister Ayman Safady, as he pledged to keep pushing for the removal of all obstacles to life-saving aid, for more access and more entry points into Gaza. The UN chiefs appeal came amid increasingly dire scenes reported by UN humanitarians and other aid partners, particularly in northern governorates, where the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 27 children have now died from complications linked to severe malnutrition. We must face facts. There will be no sustainable humanitarian solution with an ongoing war as bloody as this, the UN chief stressed. Let me repeat: nothing justifies the abhorrent October 7 attacks and hostage-taking by Hamas and nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, a body dedicated to farmers of the financially-hit South Asian nation, has urged the government to declare an agriculture emergency in the country, media reports said. In a statement, Kissan Ittehad Chairman Khalid Hussain Bath demanded the restoration of the Rs1.8 trillion package announced by Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif for the farmers community, reported ARY News. He said if the government failed to address the issues raised by the community then the body will begin its protest after the upcoming Eidul Fitr. He said a sit-in demonstration will be held in Islamabad if needed. Lamenting there was no clear government policy regarding the farming sector, he said farmers were buying urea for Rs6,000 per bag. He said that his organisation could guide the government about the crops that could bring foreign exchange to the country. Kissan Ittehad President Mian Umer was quoted as saying by ARY News that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has not conducted a single meeting on the agriculture sector. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence recently tracked seven Chinese naval vessels and five military aircraft around Taiwan between Sunday and Monday, media reports said. Of the five Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one flew into the southwest corner of Taiwans air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND, reported Taiwan News. During that time, no PLA aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the PLA activity, the news portal reported. In this month, Taiwan has so far tracked Chinese military aircraft 301 times and naval vessels 165 times. Photo Courtesy: Bangladesh History Olympiad Facebook page They remarked ahead of the Genocide Remembrance Day. The experts made the remarks during a webinar titled Recognition of the Bangladesh Genocide was organised by the Bangladesh History Olympiad and Mukto Ashor, a prominent non-governmental organisation from Bangladesh on Sunday. During the event, educators, researchers, social activists, and authors discussed the atrocities and brutalities faced by the people of East Pakistan. On March 25, 1971, 53 years ago, the West Pakistani army, along with local collaborators, perpetrated horrific atrocities in Bangladesh. The event participants paid tributes and respects to those who fell that day. The targets were civilians, including students, women, and children, reported ANI. It is estimated that as many as 3,000,000 Bengalis from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) were killed during the nine-month war of liberation in 1971 Priyajit Debsarkar, an author from London and the events host, told ANI, On March 26th, 1971, about 53 years ago, the West Pakistani army, along with local collaborators, perpetrated horrific atrocities in Bangladesh. Their targets were civilians, including students, women, and children, who eagerly anticipated the restoration of democracy after the General Election of 1970. This marked the beginning of the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. Debsarkar added, The impact of these actions in 1971 continues to resonate deeply, shaping the world today. Gary Bass, an American Diplomat stationed in Dhaka and author of Blood Telegram, labelled it a Forgotten Genocide, yet a new generation is rising, demanding justice. Stephane Michot, the President of IDEAL International Foundation in Paris and a renowned international lawyer, said: 1971 was an event that not only shaped the destiny of Bangladesh but also left indelible marks on the conscience of humanity. It is our shared duty to honor the memory of those who suffered, to acknowledge the resilience of the survivors, and to recommit ourselves to the principles of justice and human rights for all. Christopher Blackburn, an associate of the Bangladesh Europe Foundation from London, through a video submission stated as quoted by ANI, we continuously strive to recognize the genocide of Bangladesh. It is crucial to acknowledge the role of India who stood in the dark times. The liberation war of 1971 was carried out by Pakistan and its associates. They have escaped justice for too long. Today, Bangladesh is a global contributor to global peace. The United Nations must act as its silence speaks volumes. Bangladesh has become the real Asian tiger. Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary-General, has recognised the 1971 atrocities. Hence to recognize the genocide. A new generation is demanding justice, its not forgotten, and silence is not an option. Bob Lancia, a former American legislator, and an educator in Rhode Island, US, told ANI, At the end of the day, we are talking about humans, living beings who want to live in peace. The genocide of 1971 was an unmitigated disaster. Photo Courtesy: BNM X page Baloch National Movements Germany Chapter staged a protest in Berlin recently, observing March as the black day when the Pakistan Army marched on March 27, 1948, and forcibly annexed Balochistan. Since then, the people of Balochistan have rejected Pakistan and resisted Pakistani occupation. During the event, participants distributed pamphlets and informed the public about the historical background, as well as ongoing Pakistani atrocities in Balochistan, read a statement issued by BNM. Hammal Baloch, a Central Committee member of the Baloch National Movement, declared, This is a black day in Baloch history, the darkest day, but the Baloch nation will alter the tide of time in its favor. He also provided historical context regarding March 27th. Asghar Ali, the President of the Baloch National Movement Germany Chapter, addressed the audience, stating, It is our national duty to continue raising our voice against slavery. Pakistan occupied Balochistan on March 27, 1948, and Baloch people have endured untold miseries. He concluded, For a more significant national cause, we must emerge from the confines of our homes and unite under a broader prism of national unity to rid ourselves of the slavery weve endured for the past 76 years. Speaking to local journalists, he emphasized, Balochistan has never been a part of Pakistan, and the world should acknowledge and accept this reality. The colonial rule of Pakistan will not endure. The Baloch nation has struggled with blood and sweat against Pakistani occupation, and our goal is a free Balochistan. We will not cease our efforts until we are liberated from Pakistani oppressive rule. Shar Hassan, the Joint Secretary of the Baloch National Movement Germany Chapter, urged the German government to halt the supply of weapons to Pakistan. He stated, The Pakistan Army has been using these weapons to kill innocent people in Balochistan. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay Leaders of the joint action committee, including Prof Dr Kaleemullah Barech, Shah Ali Bugti, Nazir Ahmed Lehri, Fareed Khan Achakzai, and others, on Sunday said despite passage of 24 days in March, professors and employees of the University of Balochistan (UoB) have not received salaries and pensions for the last three months. Additionally, the announced 35 per cent payment in the annual budget for research centres professors, officers, and employees, as well as house rent allowance, has not been disbursed yet, they were quoted as saying by Dawn News. They said that professors and employees have set up camps in front of the main gate of the UoB to demand salaries and pensions throughout Ramazan. They have been organising daily protest rallies and sit-ins on Sariab Road. The protesters recently held protest rallies from the UoB to the Quetta Press Club. They even demonstrated in front of the secretariat, Quetta commissioner office and Manan Chowk. However, neither the provincial nor the federal government has taken notice, and the Higher Education Commission, Islamabad has also shown indifference, reported Dawn News. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash Human traffickers and notorious smugglers are trying to cruelly treat immigrants who illegally attempt to reach Europe via Iran by holding them for ransom. The smugglers in Pakistan with the help of their sub-agents detain and torture immigrants aspiring to reach Europe, film the ordeal, and send it back to their respective families to seek money for the safe release of their loved ones, reported Dawn News. According to reports, three such events were reported in which 10 young men were tortured and incarcerated by the gangs. A few of them paid money to secure freedom while some were released by the Iran police in collaboration with the Pakistani embassy in Tehran, Dawn News reported. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that the dangerous trend of arranging the travel of illegal immigrants and detaining them abroad to extract heavy amounts by local gangs in cohort with their international counterparts has picked steam in recent times. A Pakistani resident named Muhammad Husnain, his cousin Faisal and neighbour Anwar left for Europe via Iran last month. They were on their way to the country with their agent Muhammad Sarwar on valid visas. The agent promised to take them to Greece via Iran and Turkey. Upon arriving in Tehran, Sarwar sought $2,500 each from the trio to send them to Europe. The three contacted their families in Pakistan for the money. As the families failed to raise the required amount, Sarwar took them to a three-storey house in Tehran on the pretext that he would arrange their travel against a few hundred bucks, Dawn News reported. When we reached the house, the people present there overpowered us and shut us in a small room. After 24 hours, some three to four persons wearing facemasks gave us water and afterwards, they unleashed brutal torture on us. They also filmed the torture and sent it to our families in Pakistan demanding $5,000 each for freeing us, Husnain told Dawn. When our families told the captors that they could not arrange the money they became crueller. They cut an ear of Faisal, burnt the hand of Anwar, and put nails into my feet. They would use electric shocks to torture us and send the videos to our families which finally paid a sum of Rs300,000 using Easypaisa to a pointed person, he said and added their captors subsequently put them in separate rooms. After 22 days of captivity, I got a chance to escape. My captors were confident that there were nails in my feet and I could not walk. One day they didnt bother to lock me from the outside and I managed to escape. On road, I came across a Pakistani driver who helped me connect with my family who requested him to drop me at the Pakistani embassy, Husnain said. Iran Police recovered Faisal and Anwar and later handed them over to Pakistani Embassy. The FIA in Pakistan's Punjab arrested agent Muhammad Sarwar after he returned home after selling the three men to the gang. Workers install lighting on an X sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco on July 28, 2023. A federal judge has rejected Elon Musks lawsuit against an organization that accused Musk of promoting hate speech since his acquisition of the social media company. Noah Berger/Associated Press A federal judge on Monday rejected Elon Musks lawsuit against an organization that accused the billionaire of promoting hate speech since his acquisition of Twitter, which he renamed X. Musk claimed the Center for Countering Digital Hate had breached its contract by using Twitter postings to support its accusations, but U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco said Musk was actually trying to punish the group for exercising free speech. X Corp. has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp. and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism, Breyer wrote in a 52-page ruling dismissing the suit. He also said CCDH may be able to show that Musk was trying to suppress dissent, a finding that would require him to pay the organizations legal fees. After Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, he reinstated the accounts of former President Donald Trump and others who had been suspended for extreme statements in their postings. CCDH, which publishes articles on topics such as reproductive care, climate change and COVID-19 vaccinations, remained on X but said in February 2023 that hateful speech on the platform had soared since Musks restoration of accounts held by neo-Nazis, white supremacists, misogynists and spreaders of dangerous conspiracy theories. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Musk accused the organization of labeling anything with which it disagreed as hate speech, and said its allegations had cost him tens of millions of dollars in advertising. His lawsuit, filed in July, contended CCDH had violated the social media sites ban on scraping, extracting content or data from the website and copying it for use elsewhere. CCDH acknowledged it had used scraping tools to extract and reuse selected X postings, some with the help of Brandwatch, a company whose contract with Twitter and X gave it access to selected material. But the organization argued, and Breyer agreed, that Musk was trying to punish it not for any violations of its contract but for harming his reputation. Noting that Musk had not sued CCDH for libel which would have required him to prove that its statements were knowingly or recklessly false the judge said, X Corp. wishes to have it both ways to be spared the burdens of pleading a defamation claim, while bemoaning the harm to its reputation, and seeking punishing damages based on reputational harm. Breyer also noted that CCDH had signed its Twitter contract and agreed to its restrictions in 2019. He said Musk had failed to allege that the organization could have known at the time that the platform would abruptly change course to restore accounts that it had banned for spreading hate speech, or that its reporting of public posts on X would allegedly cost Musk tens of millions of dollars. This is a fatal flaw in the lawsuit, Breyer said. As late as January 2022, he recalled, this Court was still fielding lawsuits from right-leaning users arguing that Twitters content-moderation policies discriminated against them. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Those lawsuits likewise were dismissed. But Breyer said the American Civil Liberties Union has reported that more than 100 research studies involving material from the platform have been delayed or canceled since Musks acquisition, and that more than half of the researchers said they acted in fear of being sued. The ACLU and its allies filed arguments urging Breyer to dismiss the suit, and praised his ruling. This is an important decision that sees Elon Musks lawsuit for what it is an effort to punish his critics for constitutionally protected speech and to deter researchers from studying his platform, said Alex Abdo, litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Todays decision proves that even the worlds wealthiest man cannot bend the rule of law to his will, said Roberta Kaplan, the attorney for the Center for Countering Digital Hate. We are living in an age of bullies, and its social media that gives them the power that they have today. It takes great courage to stand up to these bullies. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Holi 2024 like every year has brought a lot of happiness and colors to our families. People are out and about celebrating the festival with their loved ones. Celebrities from the Indian film industry have been sharing snippets from their Holi celebration on social media which is full of colours, food and big smiles. Celebrities Celebrate Holi 2024 1. Akshay Kumar On Twitter AKA X, Akshay Kumar shared a video in which he could be seen celebrating Holi with his Bade Miyan CHote Miyan co-star Tiger Shroff. The song lets play Holi can be heard in the background. 2. Kangana Ranaut Kangana Ranaut, the actress who just announced her participation in Lok Sabha elections from Mandi, shared a photo of herself wearing a traditional hat. She is also seen celebrating the festival in a video shared by ANI. #WATCH | Himachal Pradesh | BJP's candidate from Mandi for Lok Sabha elections and actor, Kangana Ranaut celebrates #Holi at her residence in Mandi. pic.twitter.com/RLkABgWB6K ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 3. Pulkit Samrat-Kriti Kharbanda The newly-wed couple shared a bunch of photos of their pehli holi together. The two looked lovely in white as they celebrated the festival together. Instagram 4. Sidharth Malhotra-Kiara Advani One of the most loved couples of Bollywood, Kiara and Sid rang in Holi by playing with colours with each other at their Mumbai home. Instagram 5. Preity Zinta During her visit to India, Preity Zinta celebrated Holi with her husband and a bunch of other people. She dropped photos on Instagram. 6. Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi As shared by pap Yogen Shah, Javad and Shabana were spotted wearing colourful turbans and white attires to celebrate Holi in Mumbai. 7. Vijay Devarkonda In an adorable post, Vijay shared a photo with his husky and captioned it We dressed in white for Happy Holiii :) Instagram Also read: Holi 2024: Here Is Your Bollywood Playlist For The Festival Of Colours Holi, the festival of colours, has arrived. We are celebrating the Festival of Colours today, March 25. Hindus observed Holika Dahan on March 24. The celebration, which is also known as Dhulandi or Rangowali Holi, takes place every year. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. Kangana Ranaut, the actor-turned-politician who is running for Lok Sabha from the Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh, celebrated Holi alongside the party's local unit. She expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MP Anurag Thakur, and BJP leader JP Nadda for the chance. Kangana Ranaut says as per ANI, "I extend greetings to everyone on #Holi. This is my 'janmabhoomi' and it has called me back, I am fortunate...If they choose me, I will serve them. I am overwhelmed, this is an emotional day for my family and me. I express heartfelt gratitude to BJP chief JP Nadda...BJP's culture is one of cooperating with one another. Believing in the same, I will walk with them and we will win...We will have a big campaign..." #WATCH | Himachal Pradesh | BJP's candidate from Mandi for Lok Sabha elections and actor, Kangana Ranaut says, "I extend greetings to everyone on #Holi. This is my 'janmabhoomi' and it has called me back, I am fortunate...If they choose me, I will serve them. I am overwhelmed, pic.twitter.com/rqdOTqi98C ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 Yesterday she had also tweeted, My beloved Bharat and Bhartiya Jantas own party, Bharatiya Janta party ( BJP) has always had my unconditional support, today the national leadership of BJP has announced me as their Loksabha candidate from my birth place Himachal Pradesh, Mandi (constituency) I abide by the high commands decision on contesting Loksabha polls. In a widely shared video, Kangana Ranaut met with local officials of the Bharatiya Janata Party and marked the celebration of Holi by putting tilaka on their foreheads. Afterwards, she chanted Jai Shri Ram alongside other leaders. #WATCH | Himachal Pradesh | BJP's candidate from Mandi for Lok Sabha elections and actor, Kangana Ranaut celebrates #Holi at her residence in Mandi. pic.twitter.com/RLkABgWB6K ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 The BJP unveiled its fifth list of 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections on Sunday. Arun Govil is also contesting for the Lok Sabha elections. Heartfelt gratitude to Shri Narendra Modi ji and the selection committee who have given me such a big responsibility by making me the MP candidate of Meerut. I will make every effort to fully live up to the trust of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the expectations of the public Jai Shri Ram , Arun Govil shared on X. For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment. People all throughout the country are preparing for Holi, the festival of colours. We all know that a lively gathering is incomplete without some delectable dishes. Who made Holi sandwich? Food vlogger made a special Holi Sandwich | Image: Instagram A food blogger recently uploaded a video demonstrating how to make a special Holi Sandwich. Sahini Bannerjee in the video can be seen cooking a wonderful dish from scratch, from colorful bread to multicolored stuffing. What is the best part? She did not use any artificial coloring to give the meal its different colors. The video starts with the vlogger asking her partner what he wants to eat in Bengali, to which he replies Holi Sandwich. The process begins with the vlogger preparing a multicolored loaf of bread. After kneading the dough, she divides it equally. She kneads the dough again and adds turmeric powder to make yellow bread. A similar procedure is followed for the other hues. What did she use to make colours at home? She used matcha powder to get the green colour | Image: Instagram She used matcha powder to get the green colour. Pink was derived from beets, orange from saffron, and blue from blue pea. Before putting it in the oven, Sahini rolls the various colored dough pieces on top of each other to create a cylindrical shape. This is later seen as a swirling effect. The video shows her slicing freshly baked bread and spreading a blue spread on top. She made the filling with slices of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and other ingredients. She captioned the clip, "Holi Sandwich." My way of celebrating colors. A Holi Sando. Soft, silky, nuanced, and delicious! Pigments: yellow - haldi or turmeric (retains color), pink - beetroot (lost color due to thinness). It browned. Green - Matcha (color preserved), Orange - saffron (deeper yellowish), and Blue - Blue pea flower powder (brighter after baking)". How did people on the internet react? The internet was really fascinated by this colorful artwork and its swirling design. Many people linked it to the renowned painting by the Dutch artist Van Gogh. A comment stated, "It's a Van Gogh sandwich." "That looks like, A Starry Sandwich - Van Gough wala!" Read another. Another person said, "That looks really good!!!!" "The entire rainbow." A few people praised Sahini for her baking abilities, with one comment reading, "This is absolutely brilliant, a class apart, your baking skill is top notch." Some admitted to watching the clip repeatedly. "This is very beautiful. "I can't stop obsessing over this and watching it on repeat," one person wrote. "That's a masterpiece," another wrote. Check the video here. What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments. For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram. Hiroshi Suzuki, the esteemed Ambassador of Japan to India, along with his wife Eiko Suzuki, wholeheartedly embraced the vibrant festivities of Holi 2024, the joyous Festival of Colors. Ambassador of Japan to India played holi with wife Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, played holi along with his wife Eiko Suzuki Amidst the lively ambiance characterized by joviality and the tradition of tossing colorful 'gulaal', the couple enthusiastically participated, immersing themselves in the wonderful occasion by playfully showering each other with the vibrant hues of 'gulaal'. Capturing the essence of their spirited celebration, the Ambassador shared a delightful video on social media platform X, accompanied by the heartfelt remark, "Happy Holi", spreading the joyous spirit of the festival. Internet poured in with happy wishes The post has received over 50,000 views and countless replies. Everyone wished the Ambassador and his wife a very merry Holi. The Suzukis' investigation of Indian culture included a fascinating visit to Mumbai's Film City, a famed Bollywood hotspot. Their journey through this cinematic wonderland was documented on social media, where they posted images and videos of their adventures. The Ambassador's interest in Indian culture extends beyond Holi and Bollywood; he frequently expresses his enthusiasm for Indian cuisine, cinema, and other aspects of Indian culture, demonstrating Japan's deep linkages and close ties with India. Check the video here. Happy Holi!! pic.twitter.com/fgQQxgl9EZ Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan (@HiroSuzukiAmbJP) March 24, 2024 What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments. For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram. Kate Middleton will face "significant" challenges in 2025, according to a self-proclaimed living Nostradamus who predicted the Queen's death. Who predicted what happens to Kate Middleton in 2025? Athos Salome, a 36-year-old Brazilian mystic, claims he predicted the coronavirus | Image: YourStory (Representational) Athos Salome, a 36-year-old Brazilian mystic, claims he predicted the coronavirus, Elon Musk acquiring X, and even the death of the late British monarch. He feels that his expertise is a profound and intuitive understanding of hidden information, rather than the ability to forecast the future. Salome asserts that by delving into the depths of the mind, he can expose facts and deliver inexplicable insights, according to reports. He mentioned WW3 in a recent interview with the Daily Star, and he now believes Kate Middleton, who is now dealing with a number of issues, will face a rough path ahead. What did the living Nostradamus predict? Salome reports that, while the princess has difficulties with her knee, leg, and bone, which are said to be improving with physical therapy, the crown is her main obstacle. However, the Palace has not validated any of these conditions. the princess has difficulties with her knee, leg, and bone | Image: Instagram "The reported challenges include whether she will be ready to take the crown. Salome informed the Daily Star that the months of March, June, September, and December, as well as the year 2025, are part of her life. He went on, "For there is a big debate among the brothers regarding who will substitute the father on necessary occasions. Kate's life is predetermined, so it is critical that she cares for both her emotional and physical health. The structure and responsibilities weigh not just on her thoughts, but also in her bones. Although they will never confirm it, she does have this problem." How should Kate deal with the time ahead? According to Salome, the countdown to 2025 has begun, forcing the princess to prioritize her health and continue battling for her well-being. He also told the news site, "In 2025, people around the world eagerly await to witness how the Princess of Wales overcomes problems and demonstrates perseverance in accepting the responsibilities and possibilities that await her. What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments. For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram. The Greek leader is on an official visit to Canada through Monday (March 25). The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has confirmed that Nadeem Anjarwalla, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria has escaped from the custody. Recall that Anjarwalla, one of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences escaped from lawful custody on Friday, 22 March, from the Abuja guest house. However, Ribadu, explained that the Binance officer, fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport, adding that security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect. In a statement signed by Head of Strategic Communications, Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, the NSA disclosed that the personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested. The statement read: The Office of the National Security Adviser confirms that Nadeem ANJARWALLA, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria has escaped from lawful custody on Friday, 22 March 2024. READ MORE: One Of Two Detained Binance Executive Escapes From Custody, Flees Nigeria With Kenyan Passport Upon receiving this report, this office took immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well as the international community, to apprehend the suspect. Security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect. Preliminary investigation shows that Mr Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport. We urge the Nigerian public and the international community to provide whatever information they have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect. All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has called on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government to intervene in the unbearable price of cooking gas in the nation. According to him, Nigerians shouldnt be facing harsh economic conditions in getting what to eat while at the same time, having difficulty using gas to cook food. Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Osogbo, the State capital, he lamented that the cost of refiling a 12.5kg cylinder of gas in many parts of the country now ranges between N17,500 and N18,000. While recalling that Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), announced that the Federal Government asked producers of petroleum gas to stop exporting the commodity, he posited that the decision had not yielded any positive results in the reduction of its price. His words: I know that Mr. President has a listening ear, and he will do something urgent about this matter. The announcement by the petroleum minister(state) on the ban on the exportation of the product is a good one, but it has not started having any positive effects on the masses. The fuel subsidy removal is biting hard on the people, and the electricity supply is not stable. READ ALSO: Nigeria To Stop Cooking Gas Export To Crash Price All these are impacting negatively on Nigerians, and solutions should be provided without further delay. All relevant and critical stakeholders must join hands with the President to tackle the challenges in the oil and gas industry. Rising prices of the item might be as a result of LPG producers secretly exporting the products. While emphasising the need for a reduction in the price of cooking gas, he noted that the use of solid fuels like charcoal and firewood is detrimental to the quality of the environment. Aggravate climate change challenges and its adverse effects such as deforestation, desertification, and soil degradation that could lead to erosion. This will in turn pose serious danger to the respiratory organ, fatigue, headaches, confusion, and dizziness to the human system due to inadequate oxygen delivery to the brain, thereby reducing the overall well-being of people. Human beings depend on green plants for our daily supply of oxygen while giving back carbon dioxide to the plants. In an attempt to substitute clean cooking gas for firewood and charcoal by cutting down green trees, this will affect human survival, he added. The trial of one Christopher Jackson Edeh, alleged to be involved in a N2.7 billion Fidelity bank fraud case, is scheduled to commence on May 30, 2024, as announced by Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos. According to a statement published on X, Edeh faces nine-count charges brought forward by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 28, 2024, including fraudulent false accounting and unauthorized access to a computer, under Sections 337 and 387 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State. One of the charges brought forward against Edeh was for allegedly altering customer account details of Dangote Cement Plc while employed at Fidelity Bank Plc, with the intent to defraud. Another charge alleges that he facilitated the theft of N2,737,784,800.00 from Fidelity Bank Plc by gaining unauthorized access to the banks Entrust portal. Part of the statement read: He was also alleged to have with intent to defraud altered the bank account details of the Kano State Government Power Intervention Fund, NNPC Trading Limited, Stallion Vision Ltd, the Lagos State Government-Blue Line, State Contributory Pension Account, and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ujukwu University. The sureties shall depose to an affidavit of means, must be gainfully employed and resident within the jurisdiction of the court, and must show evidence of tax payment for the last three years to the Lagos State, stated Justice Abike-Fadipe. Additionally, Edeh pleaded not guilty to all charges during his plea. The defense counsel emphasized that the offense was bailable, urging the court to grant bail to his client. The case was adjourned to May 30 and June 6, 2024, for the commencement of trial, marking the next phase in the legal proceedings against Christopher Jackson Edeh. As part of the previously announced CEO renewal process, Fletcher Building Limited (the Company), today announced that the Board has appointed Nick Traber as Acting CEO of the Company, replacing Mr Ross Taylor, effective from 29 March 2024 for an interim period until a permanent CEO is appointed. Mr Traber has been Chief Executive of the Companys high performing Concrete division since January 2021. During his tenure he has improved the operational performance of the division, including lifting its performance in health & safety, customer satisfaction, sustainability, and innovation along with a strong and improved financial performance. Prior to joining the Company, Mr Traber held CEO roles within leading concrete and building materials company, Holcim, in Europe and South America. The Board is progressing a robust CEO search process which includes Mr Traber as an internal candidate, as well as external candidates. The process for the appointment of a permanent CEO will conclude following appointment of the new Company Chair. To ensure an orderly transition, Mr Taylor will remain available to support Mr Traber and the business as required until 23 August 2024. Mr Taylor commented that he is pleased to see Mr Traber appointed as Acting CEO: Mr Traber has participated in a robust internal succession process and has an impressive track record of strong performance and effective leadership. Mr Taylor looks forward to being available to support Mr Traber in the coming months. The Board appreciates the contribution Mr Taylor has made in the role and his availability to support Mr Traber over the next few months as required. Mr Thornton Williams will be appointed acting CE of the Concrete division while Mr Traber is acting in the CEO role. Mr Williams is currently CFO of the Concrete division. Board Renewal As also previously announced, the Board of Fletcher Building Limited has committed to a Board renewal process to identify replacement directors and the appointment of a new Chair. The Board is working with Johnson Partners to assist with this process, and discussions are continuing with potential external candidates. The renewal process will bring new skills and perspectives to the Board, to assist with the options available for the election of a new Chair. The Board is committed to finalising the Board renewal process as soon as possible. To facilitate the process of Board renewal, Mr Doug McKay has informed the Board that he will step down with effect from 30 June 2024. Additionally, Mr Rob McDonald has advised the Board that he will not stand for re-election at the next annual shareholders meeting in October and will retire from the Board at that time. An orderly transition of their Board and Committee responsibilities will occur as the Board supports management in the financial year end processes and in other key areas. The Board wishes to thank Mr McKay and Mr McDonald for their very significant contributions to the Board over the past five years. #Ends. 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. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: SML - Synlait Milk Limited - Trading Halt of Securities AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes CEN - Tauhara commissioning progress update FPH initiates voluntary limited recall March 28th Morning Report KFL Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Investment Mgmt. SVR - Savor FY24 Earnings Guidance & Change in Banking Partner NZK - NZ King Salmon Investments Limited FY24 Results March 27th Morning Report Kaduna-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, was not involved in the rescue of the 137 abducted Kuriga school kids, State Governor Uba Sani says. Sani who stated this in an interview on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics noted the children were rescued by the military in collaboration with local authorities from neighbouring Zamfara State, where the hostages were moved by their kidnappers. READ ALSO: Kaduna Schoolchildren: No Lobbying Convinced Kidnappers To Release Hostages, Ransom Was Paid Jaafar Jaafar He also dismissed speculations in some quarters that ransom was paid. All those speculations you are hearing today are figments of some peoples imagination. I can tell you that without any fear of contradiction. There was nothing like Gumi in this operation. I can tell you. I wont undermine the efforts of our Armed Forces, he said. Jaafar Jaafar, Nigerian journalist and founder of Daily Nigerian, an online publication company, says the Nigerian government paid to secure the release of abducted Kaduna pupils. His position was made known via X on Sunday, as he claimed that no lobbying, persuasion, flattery, charm or conning will convince the ruthless bandits to release hostages without payment of ransom. Recall that Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani announced the release of the over Kuriga schoolchildren who were kidnapped by suspected bandits. The abductors had demanded N1 billion as ransom as the only condition for their release. However, according to Jaafar, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Sanis choice of words after the rescue of the Kuriga schoolchildren, suggested that the government paid through the nose. READ ALSO: Kidnapped Kaduna School Children Regain Freedom The reality is that no lobbying, persuasion, flattery, charm or conning will convince the ruthlessly avaricious bandits to release hostages without payment of ransom. From President Tinubu to Governor Uba Sanis choice of words after the rescue of the Kuriga schoolchildren, you know the government paid through the nose to simply rescue its image, held hostage by the worsening insecurity. Our leaders hardly bother taking proactive measures to stop these abductions. In hindsight, the money the government paid the bandits should have been used to resettle villages that were prone to attack. Government is more concerned about its image than the security of lives and property. Whenever you see a government in turbo action, its political image is concerned, he posted. Veteran Nollywood actor Anayo Modestus Onyekwere, better known as Kanayo O Kanayo, has expressed his sadness over the death of his dear friend and colleague Amaechi Muonagor over the weekend. A picture of the deceased along with a statement remembering their time together was shared on Instagram by Kanayo O Kanayo, who announced Amaechis passing. The experienced actor revealed how he frequently feels anxiety when Amaechi Muonagor does an acrobatic summersault, which he does exceptionally well considering his age and size. Kanayo O Kanayo stated that he breathed life into the set and worked hard to preserve its traditional features. He also advised his companion to rest comfortably, as God understood why he was summoned at this time. READ MORE: How Olamide Saved My Life By Instructing Me To Leave The Girlfriend I Had When I Became Star Asake Kanayo O Kanayo penned: Iyi, I was always afraid whenever you did your acrobatic somersault. It was indeed outstanding despite your weight. You would always say. Nwokem, o taa, meaning, you grew up doing it. On set, there was no dull moment as you did your best to preserve our Igbo culture. God knows why he called you now. Good night dear brother. RIP The abductors of Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tony Aziegbemi, have reportedly demanded ransom of N500 million to release him. Aziegbemi was kidnapped eight days ago while returning home after a meeting at the Government House in Benin. An anonymous family source disclosed to journalists on Sunday that the kidnappers contacted the family and made the demand. The kidnappers have contacted the family of Tony Aziegbemi, and they have demanded N500 million ransom. READ ALSO: Gunmen Abduct Edo PDP Chair, Aziegbemi I dont know what the family members are doing to raise the money or if the party, the PDP, is doing anything to assist them, the source said. Another family member, identified as Sam Ogbeiye, urged the security agents to intensify efforts to secure his freedom unhurt. When contacted, Police spokesperson in the State, Chidi Nwabuzor, said the force isnt aware of any demand from kidnappers. I am not aware of any ransom demand. I can only confirm what I am aware of, he said. The Labour Party (LP), at the weekend, changed the venue for its national convention to Nnewi, Anambra State over fear of disruption. Information Nigeria understands that this is the second time the party has changed the venue of the convention slated for March 27. The Party had earlier scheduled the event for March 29 in Benin City, the Edo State capital. It later changed the venue from Benin to Umuahia, the Abia State capital and now its Nnewi, in Anambra State. Meanwhile, the Party, in a letter addressed to Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, signed by the National Chairman and Secretary, Julius Abure and Umar Ibrahim, informed the commission of the new venue. The letter reads in part, We write to kindly refer you to our letter on the above subject matter in which our National Convention rescheduled for 27th of March 2024 at the International Conference Center Umuahia, Abia State. READ ALSO: Four Die, Others Fatally Injured In Bauchi Auto Crash We are, however, constrained to change the venue as a result of non availability of the proposed venue on the scheduled date. We kindly request you to be present and monitor the convention. However, a top LP official told Daily Trust on Sunday night that The convention could not be held in Abuja due to the fear of likely disruption by the Obidients and this would also make it extremely difficult for our national chairman (Abure) to win another term in office. He said the Obidients insisted it should be held in Anambra to honour Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election. LPs National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, who also confirmed the development to the platform, however, said the change of venue was not because of fear of disruption. A yet to be identified number of people have been reportedly killed in a clash between rival youths in the Mikang Local Government Area of Plateau State. It was gathered that many people were also injured during the clash which started on Saturday night between Taroh and Motola youths in the locality and lasted till the early hours of Sunday . Confirming the development, the state Commissioner for Information , Musa Ashoms, blamed the situation on disputed land in the area. READ MORE: Unknown Gunmen Kill Teenage Herder, 35 Cows In Plateau He said: I have just called the Mikang Local Government chairman over the issue. He told me that it is something that could have been avoided and not allowed to escalate to the point that people lost their lives, and at the moment, there are persons receiving treatment at the hospital. It started as a result of dispute over land. According to the LG chairman, the land in question cannot even produce six bags of rice, and you know when people are attached to their land, they could go extra mile. It is something they could have controlled their nerves, but somehow, it got to a point where others too joined them and houses were burnt down and people were maimed. Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Alabo Alfred, also said that security operatives had been deployed to the chaotic area while investigation over the incident continues. Alfred said: The area is now calm. People are going about their normal businesses. Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has reacted the death of two students of the Nasarawa State University during a palliative distribution stampede in the school last week. Recall that he had ordered the distribution of two 7.5 kg bags of rice and N5,000 to each student of the state university in Keffi, the state capital. While speaking as a guest on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics, Sule said the sad incident was not as a result of negligence or poor planning on the part of the government. Human rights activist Femi Falana had blamed the deaths of the two students Grace Danladi and Rose Micheal, on official negligence. Falana said the distribution exercise was not well-organised, hence the avoidable tragedy. Reacting, the Governor said, Its not something that happened on the part of negligence by government. Its very unfortunate that it happened but it had nothing to do with any planning, it has nothing to do with any negligence. We have been to eight places. It was the last place, which would have been the ninth institution that we went. So, all these other places that we went, everything went so smooth. READ ALSO: Teacher Kidnapped With Kaduna Pupils Died In Captivity Governor According to him, some students thought that their names were being replaced by the Students Union Government of the institution, hence, the anxiety. He said: We are very sad that two students died. We are talking with the families. So, for somebody to politicise it? Its unfortunate that we are in a country where everybody looks at a tragedy and politicise it. During the process, they (students), overpowered the security and God so kind, the security did not open fire on anybody. So, its not like anybody was shot. It was during the stampede that happened, may be, these two students fell and other students marched on them. So, who are you going to look for compensation from? The students or the management of the university. The Governor furthered that his Deputy and Commissioners had paid condolence visits to the families of the two deceased students. We are going to support the family with some form of assistance but I am not going to use the word, compensation because its not something that happened on the part of negligence by government, Sule added. The Edo Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has debunked its recent statement laying emphasis on the high rate of illegal drug sale and usage in the State. Recall that the State Commander, Alumona Callys Obioma, said that we have been to Ihama and Country Home Hotel Roads and other hotspots for sale of illicit drugs in the State. What we saw was not pleasing at all. Drugs are being hawked like pure water in these areas. The agency however dismissed the report via a statement by its spokesperson, Bebetu Ondotimi. According to the NDLEA, the alleged statement did not accurately represent the remarks made by the State Commander. READ ALSO: Drugs Hawked Like Pure Water In Edo NDLEA Ondotimi highlighted that the State Commander assumed duty only four weeks ago, hence, the reported comment was damaging and malicious, as it misrepresented the Obiomas actual briefing. At no point was Benin City classified as drug-infested or where drugs are hawked like pure water. Particular reference was made to two notorious black spots and the command has set in motion plans to dislocate this brazen trafficking. For the avoidance of doubt, the State Commander said that his predecessor, Mr Buba Wakawa briefed him about the unholy trade in narcotics at Iyamu Street and Country Home Road in Benin. Obiomas predecessor also said the governor himself had identified these black spots, Ondotimi stated. A teacher who was kidnapped along with the Kuriga pupils in Kaduna States Chikun Local Area died while being held captive. Senator Uba Sani, the state governor, revealed this on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics programme, saying all of the pupils kidnapped by terrorists were freed by the military in coordination with local authorities from neighbouring Zamfara state. On March 7, 2024, the abducted Kuriga pupils were abducted from the Government Secondary and Primary Schools in Kuriga 1, Chikun LGA of the state, and held captive for 17 days. However, Sani expressed concern that the teacher did not survive due to health difficulties while in captivity. READ MORE: Ensure Fairness On Mohbads Case Human Right Group Urges Lagos Coroner Its only one person that has not returned, and that is the teacher. That is the fact of the matter, but all of the 137 children are safely back. We had the unfortunate incident that the teacher couldnt make it because he had some complications; he was sick that was the report we got from the military and the security agencies but the rest of the children, all of them are back with us, he said. Ayoola Ayoola, a Nollywood actor, has disclosed the reason behind his suicide attempt. The actor from The Mens Club revealed that he felt depressed and considered suicide after learning he was expecting a child he wasnt ready for. He stated that he was not prepared to be a father, therefore he decided to end it all. In an honest conversation with Chude Jideonwo, Ayoola admitted that looking at his son today made him regret his actions. READ MORE: Ensure Fairness On Mohbads Case Human Right Group Urges Lagos Coroner He said, The time the pregnancy for my son came, I wasnt prepared to be a father. I got depressed and almost took my life. I deliberately miscalculated while crossing the road so that I would be hit and the car just brushed me. I look at my son now and Im like, This is what I was about to miss? This is whose live I was about to destroy? This little boy would have been fatherless. Simplicity has announced its latest private equity investment, taking an 18.8% stake in the parent company of two tax technology companies, Tax Traders Limited and its latest startup venture, Taxi Limited. The investment will primarily support the development of Taxi, a new startup that offers access to affordable working capital for businesses, backed by their provisional tax payments. Were delighted to make this investment, which is designed to make our members sustainable returns and support good Kiwi businesses, said Sam Stubbs, MD of Simplicity. Tax Traders, which started in 2012, is a tax pooling intermediary and works with accountants to provide taxpayers with more flexibility when paying provisional tax. The business has grown significantly over the last 10 years and is investing into its next venture Taxi, which uses the same provisional tax framework to provide more affordable business funding. According to co-founders of Taxi and Tax Traders, Josh Taylor and Nicola Taylor, securing capital to invest in Taxi is a critical part of scaling quickly. Taxi has the potential to have a huge impact for Kiwi businesses and New Zealands GDP, and we knew that securing an investment partner would mean we could scale quickly and see many more businesses benefitting faster, says Nicola. However, the co-founders were very particular about who to bring on as an investor. We were very clear that we wanted a partner who shared a vision for this country and was interested in sustainable business results, rather than an investor who was solely focussed on a short-term financial return. We are in business because we believe business can be a force for good and this requires a different approach to capital investment. In Simplicity, we found an investor whose values align with ours and who we knew would encourage us to make sustainable business decisions, in line with our DNA, not purely with a financial outcome, says Nicola. Kiwi businesses on average experience negative cashflow for four months of the year which leads to many challenges. Nicola cites research from NZIER[1] who have calculated the new funding service offered by Taxi is projected to have a measurable impact on both individual business productivity and the economy as a whole. NZIERs economic modelling shows that even a conservative uptake of Taxi by New Zealand businesses could give them the ability to increase GDP by up to $900 million per year. Long-run, widespread use of Taxi would increase GDP by up to $10.8 billion or 2.7% annually similar to the food and beverage manufacturing industry. Savings on overdraft costs alone could easily exceed $50 million annually. Were incredibly excited to get Taxi on the go and in the hands of Kiwi businesses. Simplicitys investment has been pivotal in enabling Tax Traders to gear up for this, says Nicola. We also know that the investment will ensure Tax Traders retains its status as the most preferred tax pool in New Zealand and continues to release smart tools for accountants to simplify the provisional tax process. Stubbs adds The power of using our KiwiSaver and Investment Funds to gain exposure to private Kiwi companies is very exciting. We want to be supporting great businesses to grow over the long term, and we are finding no shortage of great people with great companies to invest in. Our passive equity provides the company with another funding option instead of taking on debt or selling a major equity stake. Simplicitys private equity strategy is gathering momentum with its unique proposition take minority and passive equity stakes in unlisted Kiwi companies across different industries and be there for the long term. The preferred private equity investment is between $5-10 million to support established small-to-mid size private enterprises which are the lifeblood of the New Zealand economy. This investment marks Simplicitys sixth private equity investment, and it joins a portfolio of other New Zealand businesses that includes Icehouse Ventures (management company), Quantifi Photonics, Reliable Foundations, Pure Food Co, and DataTorque. For more information on Simplicity, visit simplicity.kiwi For more information on Taxi, visit gotaxi.co.nz ENDS 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. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: SML - Synlait Milk Limited - Trading Halt of Securities AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes AIA - Auckland Airport announces board chair changes CEN - Tauhara commissioning progress update FPH initiates voluntary limited recall March 28th Morning Report KFL Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Investment Mgmt. SVR - Savor FY24 Earnings Guidance & Change in Banking Partner NZK - NZ King Salmon Investments Limited FY24 Results March 27th Morning Report John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls' High School, the first all-girls Catholic high school in the U.S., closed in 2021. The building could again house a school; the Belmont Charter network is eyeing the building for its high school. Read more The former John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School building, closed since 2021, could become the site of a Philadelphia charter school. Hallahan, on N. 19th Street just off Vine Street in Center City, is being eyed by the Belmont Charter Network to house its high school. We are thrilled to announce we have identified a space that we feel will be more suitable for our high school students, Belmont officials wrote to staff in a message last week. We have the opportunity to relocate to the former Hallahan Catholic School building. ... This campus provides the much-needed space and includes many of the amenities that we feel would best serve our students, including a gym, auditorium, and larger cafeteria. It will also enhance our co-op, internship and other programmatic opportunities available to our students. A Belmont spokesperson confirmed the charter school is in the process of further exploring the possibility of making this historic building the future home of Belmont Charter High School. Advertisement The school, Belmont Charter Network spokesperson Allison Steele said, has been engaged in a search for a place to relocate our high school, as we have outgrown our current location. We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from our school community about the prospect of moving to a new building. Totally ecstatic Hallahan was the first all-girls Catholic high school, founded in 1911 by Mary Hallahan McMichan. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia closed the school in 2021, citing dwindling enrollment and finances. The closure was strongly opposed by alumnae at the time. Some Hallahan alumnae had banded together to attempt to open Center City Girls Academy, a private, non-diocesean school to take Hallahans place, but its not clear whether that school will ever get off the ground. The would-be schools board had hoped to name it after McMichan, but were blocked by the archdiocese from doing so. Denise Baron, a Hallahan alumna, said the latest development in the buildings history was most welcome. Theres a lot of us that are totally ecstatic, said Baron. We would love for it to stay a school, not become condominums or anything else. We want the legacy of Mary Hallahan McMichan to stay alive, educating youth. I think she would be very happy about this. Belmont is one of the citys oldest charters; it opened in 2002 in West Philadelphia as a K-8 school, and in 2014 was granted the ability to expand to high school grades. Belmont high schoolers currently share space with Inquiry Charter, another of the networks schools, at 1301 Belmont Ave. The former Hallahan building was sold by the archdiocese in 2022 to developer Lubert-Adler for $13.1 million. Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel speaks at a news conference at the Philadelphia Military Academy to announce a $1 million program that will train 300 officers and 100 school staff on how to support Philadelphia students who experience violence outside of the classroom. Read more When Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel worked in the Philadelphia Police Departments narcotics division, hed sometimes go into homes of school-age children who had witnessed deeply upsetting events, and think: Whats going to happen to them? For years, Bethel dreamed of a formal program that would help police and school staff assist Philadelphia students who witness traumatic events. On Monday, Bethel and district officials announced the launch of just such a program, funded with a $1 million federal grant. The Handle With Care initiative, built in West Virginia and piloted across the country, is the first such effort to work directly within a school district, officials said. The funds will pay for training for 400 police officers and school staff and a dedicated staffer whose job it will be to identify such incidents and ensure schools are notified and have the appropriate resources to respond. READ MORE: This 17-year-old Philly student saved a gunshot victim. Hes being honored by the U.S. Army as a hero. Advertisement The federal grant will pay for a pilot of the 15 schools in the 22nd police district, in North Philadelphia, a 4.3-square mile area that has seen some of the citys highest gun violence. In 2021, Bethel said, 300 people were shot and 70 killed there. Imagine the level of violence our kids are exposed to on a daily basis, said Bethel. Were starting here in one of our most challenging communities, to be able to create this bridge. It fits very directly into the mayors charge of making this a safer city. Bethel wants the program to go citywide eventually. Officials already reach out to principals when significant crimes occur. But sometimes, incidents fall through the cracks. Brandy Blasko, a senior research associate in the districts Office of School Safety, said in recent weeks, a child showed up to school the day after their father was murdered, and because they were not directly involved, the school was not notified. The child was acting odd, but no one knew why the child was acting odd, said Blasko. Under Handle With Care, which will begin this summer into the 2024-25 school year, school staff would know before the child even entered the building, and be prepared to respond. Ultimately that could have lasting consequences, emotionally and academically, the commissioner said. We know that many of our kids who are exposed to trauma will drop out of school, will go onto delinquency, and do other things, said Bethel. Jayme Banks, the districts deputy chief of prevention, intervention and trauma, said that the program will make a difference for the large number of Philadelphia students who witness difficult events outside of the classroom. They have to go to school and class carrying this burden, and theyre still expected to function, said Banks. This level of stress can interfere with their ability to succeed, make positive relationships. It leads to behavioral issues, it can lead to dropouts. Theres multiple things that can occur when it sits on their shoulders. Nadia Porter, a student at Philadelphia Military Academy, where officials gathered Monday to announce the program, is JROTC Command Sergeant Major, a leader at the school. She said she sees the effects of trauma on her fellow students, and said she believes Handle With Care will be beneficial. A lot of kids often arent seen as trauma victims. Theyre seen as problem starters, said Porter. We always wonder here why our kids skip class, why theyre failing, why they come late, said Kaheem Bailey-Taylor, another Philadelphia Military Academy student and the schools JROTC brigade commander. Bailey-Taylor who earned a Medal of Heroism from the U.S. Army for using his first-aid training to save the life of a victim of gun violence when he witnessed a shooting at a relatives birthday party said students are frightened just to get to and from school, especially in light of recent shootings near Imhotep Charter High School and Northeast High. More support, Bailey-Taylor said, will bring some hope to the youth. Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill, is rolling out to stores in Philadelphia and around the country. Read more The first birth control pill available over the counter at pharmacies without a prescription is rolling out to pharmacies in Philadelphia and around the country. Also available online for purchase, Opill is offering health officials and providers in the Philadelphia region a new option to expand access to reproductive health care. Pharmacies are eager to stock it and sell it, said Rob Frankil, the executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Retail Druggists, an organization of independent pharmacies in the area. Wider availability of birth control is particularly important for people who dont see a doctor regularly or who are not comfortable talking about their sexual activity with a physician, said Aasta Mehta, the medical officer of womens health at the Philadelphia health department. Advertisement Its a win for reproductive health, she said. Pennsylvanians living far from a pharmacy or doctors office can also benefit from ordering the pill online and shipping it directly to their homes, said Adam Hosey, the policy director for Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, the political action arm of the reproductive health-care organization. This is just a different way for folks to access birth control more discreetly, he said. READ MORE: Pa. providers warn against stockpiling Plan B emergency contraception Its kind of a safer bet Opill, a contraceptive taken by mouth, was approved last summer by the Food and Drug Administration for sale without a prescription. It uses the hormone progestin, a formulation that makes it safe to use for a larger swath of the population. Many birth control pills combine estrogen and progestin, but such combination pills may not be recommended for people with high blood pressure, those who have issues with blood clotting, and smokers, especially those over 35. Progestin, in and of itself, alone, doesnt have any of that same risk profile, Mehta said. That can be safely taken by a lot of the population. Its kind of a safer bet. Opill is priced at $19.99 for a months supply, $49.99 for a three-month supply, and $89.99 for a six-month supply, NPR reported. The drug can be sold from shelves, but Frankil anticipates that some pharmacists may choose to keep it behind the counter and dispense it at customers requests, because of the relatively high price. It probably will be kept behind the counter due to cost and theft concerns, like some pharmacies have more expensive products behind the counter in a glass case, he said. In my own opinion, the manufacturers have priced it a little bit too high. Planned Parenthood is also advocating to keep contraception costs low, and is supporting a state bill from Rep. Leanne Kreuger (D., Delaware) that would require insurers to cover contraceptive medications and devices. READ MORE: Individual and small business health insurance plans must cover abortion care in N.J., new rules state We do need better insurance coverage over-the-counter is still expensive, and folks should have access to birth control if they need it, Planned Parenthoods Hosey said. Expanded reproductive health care The effort to expand access to birth control follows the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to strike down a national right to an abortion in June 2022. Since then, confusion around reproductive care, contraceptives, and access to abortions has been prevalent even in states like Pennsylvania, where abortion is still legal, Mehta said. There is this chilling effect on behalf of patients, where theyre not sure whats legal and whats not, she said. So having contraception be so readily available, even in a place where its still legal to have abortions, is really important. Because birth control has not been available without a prescription, Frankil said its hard to anticipate the demand that pharmacies might see for it. Many people may still choose to get birth control with a prescription thats covered by insurance. Mehta said the health department will monitor interest in the drug to see how patients access it and what kind of barriers, like cost, might keep some people from getting it. It really will just depend on what the uptake is, she said. Parents who say doctors at Lehigh Valley Health Network falsely accused them of medically abusing their children protest in Allentown in September. Debra Esernio-Jenssen, the physician at the heart of the controversy, will retire March 31, 2024. Read more A Lehigh Valley Health Network physician who has been accused by parents of misdiagnosing them with medical child abuse will retire at the end of the month, the health system said. Debra Esernio-Jenssen is being sued for allegedly mistaking complex medical issues for abuse by parents, leading some to lose custody. Esernio-Jenssen diagnosed parents with a rare condition called Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The condition can cause a parent to lie or falsify medical information or even harm a child to make a child seem sick. Children subjected to this form of medical child abuse unnecessarily undergo procedures or take medications. Munchausen syndrome by proxy has been the subject of multiple high-profile cases, including an over $200 million verdict against Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital in Florida that was popularized by the Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya. Advertisement READ MORE: Parents in Lehigh Valley say a local doctor falsely diagnosed them of medical child abuse Esernio-Jenssen was the medical director of the health networks child advocacy center, which investigates cases of suspected abuse. Kim Steltz, an Leigh County mother, temporarily lost custody of her two children after Esernio-Jenssen falsely diagnosed her and her husband with the rare condition. The case unfolded over more than a year and the couple eventually regained custody of their kids. Steltz founded Parents Medical Rights Group, an advocacy nonprofit that has been pressuring authorities to investigate Esernio-Jenssen. In August, Lehigh County controller Mark Pinsely issued a report documenting the disproportionate rate of medical child abuse diagnoses at the Lehigh Valley. Northeast Pennsylvania accounted for 40% of the Munchausen syndrome by proxy diagnoses in Pennsylvania between 2017 and 2021, despite having only 11% of states children. The health network replaced Esernio-Jenssen at the helm of the child advocacy center in September, following months of complaints and the Lehigh County controllers report. Esernio-Jenssen is facing multiple civil lawsuits brought by parents she diagnosed with medical child abuse. Lehigh Valley Health Network declined to comment on the retirement, but said in a statement that diagnosing medical abuse cases can be difficult. Early recognition of abuse can be lifesaving and our clinicians remain committed to caring for and protecting the children in our community, said Brian Downs, a spokesperson for LVHN. Esernio-Jenssens last day will be March 31. Jill Bowen, then interim commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, speaks to the media about releasing the police body camera footage from the Walter Wallace Jr. shooting in 2020. Bowen will step down April 15. Read more Philadelphias behavioral health commissioner, Jill Bowen, will step down April 15, after leading the department for over three years. Bowen is moving to Vermont to serve as the states commissioner of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, the office of Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, announced last week. Bowen has family in Vermont, she said in an email to behavioral health providers who work with the city. It is so very hard to leave this amazing city, she wrote in the Friday email, which was obtained by The Inquirer. The city did not respond to request for comment. Advertisement Bowen took over as interim commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services in October 2020. Weeks later, two Philadelphia police officers shot and killed Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black man in the midst of a mental health crisis. The incident drew calls for the city to develop ways to respond to behavioral health crises, such as deploying on-call health-care professionals, instead of only police officers. READ MORE: Philly health commissioner Cheryl Bettigole to step down Dr. Bowen is a proven administrator and problem solver who will bring valuable experience to the Department, Scott said. New administrations commonly replace most of the commissioners in the citys operational departments. But the Parker administration hasnt appointed any health officials yet. Cheryl Bettigole, the former commissioner of health, stepped down in February. Frank A. Franklin, who was Bettigoles deputy, has been serving as the interim commissioner since. The city said that it will conduct a nationwide search to fill the role. A billion dollar operation Bowen, a clinical psychologist, worked in New York City government prior to joining DBHIDS. She moved to Philadelphia in January 2018 as deputy commissioner, and became the interim commissioner in October 2020 after the departure of David T. Jones. DBHIDS oversees a large number of mental health and addiction programs, and is the city contractor to administer state-funded services for Philadelphians with intellectual disabilities. Part of this broad portfolio includes the citys response system to behavioral health crises, such as those who answer crisis calls and mobile crisis units. Bowen led an expansion of crisis services in Philadelphia, which was hailed as a model by federal officials who came to Philadelphia to mark the launch of a national three-digit crisis line, 988. READ MORE: When mental health crises require more than a phone conversation, these mobile units come to help But activist groups, such as the Treatment Not Trauma Coalition, protested DBHIDS in recent years, calling for a faster expansion of crisis response services and pointing to funds allocated by City Council for mobile crisis units that havent been used. The DBHIDS commissioner is also the president of the board of Community Behavioral Health, a nonprofit organization that oversees all Medicaid payments toward addiction and mental health services in Philadelphia. NovoLog maker Novo Nordisk is among the pharmaceutical companies named in a price-gouging lawsuit filed by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. Read more Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is suing some of the largest pharmaceutical coompanies and pharmacy benefit managers in the country over the cost of insulin. He contends that the leading insulin manufacturers Eli Lily, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi-Aventis colluded with top pharmacy benefit managers, including CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, and OptumRx to keep insulin prices artificially high and price gouge consumers. In a lawsuit filed without fanfare in October, Krasner said he wants the companies to end unfair pricing and pay unspecified monetary damages. The drug makers and pharmacy benefit managers said the lawsuit is baseless and should be dismissed. Indiana and the city of Baltimore filed similar lawsuits over insulin prices last week, amid ongoing federal efforts to try to rein in high drug prices. Krasner planned to hold a news conference Monday to call attention his offices efforts to make affordable a medication that is essential to the health of thousands of city residents. Advertisement Insulin has been a particular focus among drug price critics because it is widely used and expensive. Some of the most popular insulins can cost up to $700 for a months supply. The medication is used by people with diabetes, a condition in which the body doesnt produce its own insulin or doesnt regulate it properly. Insulin regulates the amount of sugar in the blood. People with type 1 diabetes dont produce any insulin and are at risk of diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening emergency in which the body begins to shut down, if they dont take their medication. Yet about 17% of people reported rationing or skipping doses of insulin because of cost in 2019, according to a 2022 report by the Department of Health and Human Services. Feds working to bring down insulin prices Medicare last year established an insulin cap of $35 a month, which the federal government estimated could save seniors and people with disabilities covered by the program hundreds of dollars a year. Under private insurance, insulin prices can vary widely. Prices vary depending on the plans copays and cost sharing, the type of insulin, and which medications are favored in the drug formulary. A drug formulary is a list of medications covered by a health plan, typically organized in tiers. Drugs on the lowest tier are least expensive, while drugs on upper tiers cost more. Pharmacy benefit managers serve as middlemen between insurance companies and drug companies to develop drug formularies. In their response to Krasners lawsuit, insulin manufacturers said they already help consumers to keep the costs of insulin limited through rebates and financial help programs. Lilly has been working for years to reduce insulin out-of-pocket costs for people with diabetes, against the headwinds of a healthcare system that incentivizes others like the parties filing these lawsuits to choose higher list-price medicines over lower-priced options, a spokesperson for Eli Lilly said in a statement. For their part, pharmacy benefit managers denied the lawsuits claim that they colluded with drug makers on insulin prices. Pharmaceutical companies alone are responsible for the prices they set in the marketplace for the products they manufacture, a spokesperson for CVS Health said in a statement. Nothing in our agreements prevents drug manufacturers from lowering the prices of their insulin products and we would welcome such an action. The Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on May 8, 2023, as the Philadelphia Department of Prisons reported the escape of two prisoners the day before. Read more In the last year, at least four people have escaped from Philadelphias city prisons, some briefly and others for days on end, shining a spotlight on issues in the citys jails, including short staffing and increased violence. After a year that saw multiple escapes, Blanche Carney, the commissioner of Philadelphias Department of Prisons, notified staffers she would be retiring next month and acknowledged some of the challenges the prison system has faced. Heres what we know about recent prison escapes in Philadelphia. How many prison escapes have there been in Philly recently? In the last year, the citys prison system has dealt with several escapes, including the escape of four incarcerated people within a span of six months. In May, Ameen Hurst, 18, and Nasir Grant, 24, broke out of Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, the result of multiple institutional failures that caused their disappearance to go unnoticed by correctional officers for nearly 19 hours. Advertisement First, the two manipulated their cell doors open, walked down the hallway, then crawled toward a door as another prisoner, also out of his cell, acted as a lookout. Hurst and Grant then crawled through a hole in a chain-link fence that had been cut weeks earlier. Correctional officers didnt notice the two were gone for more than half a day, partially because one guard fell asleep on her shift. Hurst, who was accused of killing four people, and Grant, who was in custody for drug and gun offenses, were both caught within about a week. Four people were charged with helping Hurst and Grant once they got out. In September, a 30-year-old woman briefly escaped from the same facility. Angie Molinuevo jumped a razor-wire-lined fence and landed on the other side, but was immediately apprehended by guards. And last November, Gino Hagenkotter, 34, an inmate at Riverside Correctional Facility convicted of theft and drug charges, escaped while doing supervised work behind the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Complex in the Northeast. Officials said he asked his supervising guard for permission to use the restroom, then jumped the jails fence and fled through the neighboring sanitation plant. After a weeks-long manhunt, Hagenkotter was found dead in a Harrowgate warehouse from an accidental drug overdose, police said. What is the state doing to reduce prison escapes? Philadelphia jails have been under review by a federal monitor for more than a year, as part of the settlement of a class-action lawsuit over violence, prolonged lockdowns, and staffing shortages alleged by civil rights lawyers representing incarcerated people. The Philadelphia Department of Prisons did not admit to any civil rights violations in the agreement. Monitoring was extended into 2026 because the citys jails failed to meet most of the courts benchmarks by the end of last year. What does the Philly Department of Corrections have to say about why the escapes are happening? After Hurst and Grants escape last May, Carney asked the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to conduct a security assessment. At a virtual City Council hearing on the matter last November, problems in the prison system were laid bare, including ongoing staffing shortages, a decades-old video surveillance system that is difficult to use and not monitored in real time, and external motion sensors that were not functioning when Grant and Hurst broke out. In the past, Carney has also raised concerns with city officials about the flow of drugs, phones, tools, and other contraband into the jails. Why is Commissioner Carney retiring? Carney, who was appointed by former Mayor Jim Kenney, has been Philadelphias prisons commissioner since 2016 and was the first woman to hold the post. She informed staffers of her retirement on March 8, according to a letter she sent to her staff, and her last day in the role will be April 5. Last year, Local 159 of AFSCME District Council 33, the union representing Philadelphia correctional officers, cast a unanimous vote of no confidence in Carney, saying the jails were in a state of chaos. According to a report from Pennsylvania Prison Society last year, violence in the systems facilities had surged, lockdowns were frequent, and many men had not been outdoors in months. In her letter, Carney acknowledged some of the issues highlighted by the report, saying her first four years in the role aligned with collaborative efforts with criminal justice partners to reduce the over reliance on jails for marginalized people, but said the coronavirus pandemic caused a massive strain on staff and incarcerated people. ACT UP Philadelphia protests in May 2020. Syringe exchange reduces the spread of HIV by removing barriers to accessing prevention tools, writes Jose DeMarco. Read more In 1991, ACT UP Philadelphia, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, started the first syringe exchange program in Philadelphia, which became Prevention Point Philadelphia. Research by George Washington University has demonstrated that Prevention Points syringe exchange program has prevented tens of thousands of cases of HIV over its 30-year history. Collectively, this has saved taxpayers over $182 million a year, or $1.8 billion over the lifetimes of those who avoided contracting HIV. Syringe exchange reduces the spread of HIV by removing barriers to accessing prevention tools. Just like providing free access to condoms reduces the spread of HIV/AIDS without encouraging more sexual behavior (just safer sex), syringe exchange makes drug users less likely to contract and spread HIV without increasing drug use (and in many cases, being part of decreasing drug use). In Philadelphia, we have started to see a slight increase in HIV rates in the last several years, especially among people who inject drugs. This can be attributed to the spread of fentanyl in the illegal drug supply, which breaks down faster in the body, requiring more injections to avoid dangerous withdrawal symptoms. With limits placed on the number of syringes Prevention Point can exchange, but demand creeping up, more Philadelphians are returning to sharing or reusing syringes, a practice that had dropped dramatically when Prevention Point opened. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and the Kensington Caucus push to move Prevention Point from Kensington and end city funding for syringe exchange will create more barriers to accessing clean syringes, but it will not create any new barriers to accessing injectable drugs in Kensington. The impact on quality of life for neighbors will be minimal. People in active addiction need opioids and want clean syringes; if the drugs stay and the clean syringes leave, they will reuse syringes. Advertisement If Mayor Parker and the Kensington Caucus make it harder or impossible for people in Kensington to access clean syringes, they will have thousands of new HIV infections on their consciences. Syringes, which cost just a few cents, are incredibly powerful at preventing HIV infections, which are complex and costly to treat over an individuals lifetime. Philadelphia can learn from the experiences of Zurich, where in the 1980s, thousands of people gathered in Needle Park using injectable drugs. Streets were littered with garbage and needles. Overdose and HIV rates were staggering. Police in riot gear pushed people out of parks and arrested people in droves. But most simply fled to other areas of the city, and nothing changed. This shifted when Switzerland implemented an approach designed to reduce public consumption and provide access to services. Building on its universal health care and quality affordable housing, Switzerland was able to scale up a response with several key principles: Low barriers to access. Within 20 minutes of entering a clinic, people can start medically assisted treatment, obtain prescriptions to continue treatment at home, and do not need to prove abstinence from nonprescribed substances to maintain their treatment. Multiple treatment options. Long-term support. Integrated care. In addition to addressing addiction, treatment centers connect people to housing and health care, including mental health care, even while they are still actively using street drugs. When these more liberal policies were implemented, both HIV infection rates and opioid use in Switzerland dropped. Theft decreased by 98%. Law enforcement has become some of the biggest supporters of Switzerlands pragmatic approach to drug use. In Philadelphia, to build on Switzerlands model, we will need to leverage Medicaid to fund access to medically assisted treatment and create new affordable housing options. Additionally, we need to offer noncriminalized, accessible treatment through comprehensive drop-in centers a much more effective use of the more than $100 million Mayor Parker has pledged to put toward triage centers and forced treatment using outdated, abstinence-only models. Policy failures led to Prevention Point having to step in to save lives in the first place. Put Prevention Point out of a job by coming up with a real plan to provide comprehensive services for drug users, not by blaming it. Jose DeMarco has been a member of ACT UP Philadelphia for longer than they would care to admit and is a cofounder of Black and Latinx Community Control of Health and the Michael Hinson Justice Institute. March 25. 2024: Tugboats settle the Battleship New Jersey into its relatively quiet temporary stop at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal after leaving crowds on the Camden waterfront and both sides of the Delaware River on Thursday. Read more Journalists, unlike those who work in filmmaking, animation or video game design, dont pre-visualize as much. We dont create story boards as photographers did for classic photo essays in magazines like Life. However, planning is still a critical part of newspaper coverage, especially for scheduled news events. Before the Battleship New Jersey was moved from its berth on the Camden Waterfront this week, I visited the current dock, consulted with officials from the World War II-era battleship-turned-museum, and reviewed Google Earth and Street Maps. Then I drove down along the Delaware River to see first hand. My photo colleagues Jose F. Moreno and Tyger Williams covered the move from a ship in the Delaware River and from the shore in South Philadelphia, while Lauren Schneiderman handled the video. My assignment was Jersey side, and there were three views I knew I needed to capture: the departure ceremonies, the battleship passing under the Walt Whitman Bridge, and its arrival at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal. I have photographed the New Jersey many times since it became a museum ship in 2001, but still I wanted to capture the excitement of veterans, naval history enthusiasts, and big ship aficionados expected at the event. After driving along the ships route, I realized the public viewing areas did not offer what I was looking for since the best shots were from restricted, security-tight ports. So it took some phone calls and letter-writing to get permission. Advertisement On the day of the move, after covering the ceremonies and capturing the anticipated moment of the battleship turning in the river with spectators in view, I had to adapt when people moved past barriers onto the dock after the governors departure. No matter how much planning goes into making pictures with or without storyboards when things are developing and changing your proximity or premeditation doesnt matter, you must adjust. So I moved back to the dock. I decided I did not need the entire 887-foot long ship in my frame. But I did want to include other elements in what I anticipated would be the newspapers main news image for the story. I needed the spectators, the BB-62 number on the bow, the Philadelphia skyline, a tugboat, and, if I could, the waterfronts other battleship, the Cruiser Olympia from the 1898 Spanish-American War docked across the river at Penns Landing. That last one didnt work out. The tugs moved the New Jerseys 45,000 tons faster than youd think, and everything did not line up. By the time I got through traffic leaving the dock in Camden and my escort at the Gloucester City Port got me under the bridge, the ship, moving faster than anticipated, was nearly at its destination. Abandoning the initial plan to capture it directly underneath due to the cluttered background of huge cranes on the Philadelphia Ports side, I ran further downstream, past dock workers pausing to admire the Big J as it passed. The atmosphere at the Paulsboro Terminal was markedly tranquil compared to the bustling Camden and Philadelphia Waterfronts, as tugboats maneuvered the battleship against the dock, where it will be balanced over the coming week. Then, back across the river to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Expect more photos then, and again when the battleship is in dry dock for routine maintenance, repairs, and repainting, the first such work in 32 years. The entire project is expected to cost about $10 million, with the restoration work anticipated to last at least two months. The goal is to get the battleship back to Camden for Memorial Day and summer tourism traffic. Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralishs Scene Through the Lens photo column in The Inquirers local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: Mark Houck addresses the Plumbstead GOP club, meeting in Pipersville, on March 20. Houck is running against Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the GOP primary. Read more First-time candidate Mark Houck was supposed to be on friendly turf. The crowd at the Pennridge Area Republican Club had just booed the mention of incumbent U.S. Rep Brian Fitzpatrick, whom Houck is challenging in the GOP primary in the Bucks County-based district. But then the issue of abortion came up. Houck, who wants to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest, said hed support a ban that includes those exceptions in Congress if it meant saving more babies. Theyre gonna kill you on that, a man wearing a Lets Go Brandon T-shirt, shouted out from the back. That is going to turn a lot of women away, the suburban women Advertisement Im not running on that. Im only answering the question, Houck responded. But we gotta win, the man said. The exchange reflects how even some ultraconservative, antiabortion Republicans are wary of getting beaten on abortion rights again, and it comes as former President Donald Trump has tried to take a more cautious approach in laying out his abortion messaging with the presidential election looming. Trump has drawn both praise and heat from antiabortion activists in his own party on the issue. Hes bragged about appointing the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, but he also called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis six-week ban on abortion a terrible thing and a terrible mistake. This week he indicated hed consider supporting a national 15-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, saying he thought it was something people could agree on. But in the same interview he also seemed to suggest reluctance to a federal ban. While the economy and the border remain atop most voters lists of concerns, Democrats see abortion rights as a motivating issue, as polling shows people largely favor abortion access. The issue helped Democrats sweep statewide midterm races in 2022 and win a state Supreme Court race in Pennsylvania in 2023. Now, President Joe Biden is making defending reproductive rights a cornerstone of his reelection campaign. Antiabortion groups are still a huge influence on the GOP and plenty of Republican voters want to see the procedure further restricted and banned in more states. But others in the party have expressed concerns that its a losing issue. Houck, who made a name for himself after getting arrested protesting at a Philadelphia Planned Parenthood clinic, is a long shot candidate against Fitzpatrick, who is seeking a fifth term representing Bucks County and part of Montgomery County. But his campaign could provide material for Democrats seeking to portray the GOP as extreme on the issue. My whole thing is, Im tired of losing, said Carole Speakman, 69, at the Republican Club event in Perkasie. Im pro-life but I also realize we have a country with a wide variety of opinions and that most people do not agree with me. GOP distancing from extreme abortion bans Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Republican candidates have been somewhat more moderate on the issue. GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick said during his primary campaign in 2022 that he believed abortion should be banned, except to protect the life of the mother. He told The Inquirer on the campaign trail this cycle that he misspoke then, leaving off exceptions that he believes should exist for rape and incest. He said in the interview last month that he opposes total bans and that he didnt want to suggest Pennsylvanias law, which allows abortions up until 24 weeks, should change. Theres a lot of debate between 15 weeks, 16 weeks or, in Pennsylvania, its 24 weeks, McCormick said. The people in Pennsylvania have come together in support of that, so I wouldnt be presumptuous enough to say the people in Pennsylvania should support something different than what theyve chosen. Thats what I would say. I dont expect it to change. Delaware County GOP chair Frank Agovino has argued that Republicans running in swing states like Pennsylvania, particularly in Philadelphias collar counties, need to engage sensibly on the issue so as not to be defined by Democrats as extremists. My advice just being in the trenches, have an answer on it, whether youre for first trimester, 15 weeks when you do that, people will say, Whether I agree with you or disagree with you, its certainly a reasonable place to be. Olivia Cappello, state communications manager for Planned Parenthood Votes, the political arm of the organization, said she thinks the moderation is a recognition of public sentiment. Polls consistently show most Americans believe abortions should be legal through the initial stages of pregnancy. I think it speaks to the fact that voters are starting to recognize that these are politicians who are looking to interfere with very personal and very complex decisions, Cappello said. We feel confident that voters are going to reject this agenda and our goal in this election cycle is to hold opponents of reproductive freedom accountable. Houcks uphill climb against Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick joined every Republican in voting against the Womens Health Protection Act in 2021, which would have prohibited governmental restrictions on abortion services. Hes voted for and against other bills aiming to curb womens reproductive rights, earning him a C grade from the antiabortion Susan B. Anthony Foundation. Fitzpatrick has hung onto the 1st Congressional District the last seat in Southeastern Pennsylvania still represented by a Republican by appealing to voters as a moderate. Part of succeeding in a purple district has meant distancing himself from Trump. He has stayed mum so far on whether hell support the former president in November which has turned off more conservative voters in the district. Were not into middle of the road Republicans, said Tony Wilwert, a repair shop owner and Houck supporter in Perkasie. I dont want to negotiate with liberals. That never ends good because you have to give up so much. Were gonna stand our ground and support people like Mark. Houcks entire political journey came out of his antiabortion activism. He was arrested in 2021 after he was accused of shoving a Planned Parenthood escort. He was charged with a felony under a federal law that prohibits intimidating someone performing abortion services. Houck was acquitted of the charges, which carried a maximum prison sentence of 11 years. Now he uses that story on the trail, telling the crowd he, like Trump, is a victim of Bidens Department of Justice. In November Houck announced his intent to sue the Biden administration for a faulty investigation and excessive force. Houck has other obstacles. Hes running an amateur campaign without much money, and hes come under some scrutiny for past comments about gender roles and pornography. In conversations around the wood-paneled room in Perkasie earlier this month, many Republicans said they liked Houck and some even agreed with his stance on abortion, but worried about how the candidate would fare in a general election. The Democratic challenger in the Bucks County district, Ashley Ehasz, has already indicated shell campaign on protecting womens reproductive rights. Dave Christ, a candidate for Hilltown Township supervisor in Bucks County last year, lost along with most of the GOP slate. He called it a slaughtering, he doesnt want to repeat. Hes a great guy, hes got a good story, Christ said of Houck at the event. I just dont think hes got a shot in Bucks County. You cant be that rock solid. You have to compromise. The situation escalated dramatically on Feb. 18 when the Houthis attacked the British-operated cargo ship Rubymar with missiles in the Red Sea Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemens Houthi group, raised alarms earlier this month with his declaration of intent to disrupt maritime traffic in the Indian Ocean, particularly around the strategic Cape of Good Hope. Broadcast on the groups al-Masirah TV, al-Houthis pronouncement of ongoing operations to hinder Israeli-affiliated shipping has heightened regional tensions. A protestor holds a model of a Houthi missile during a protest against Israel's continued war on the Gaza Strip and the U.S.-led airstrikes and sanctions against the Houthi group in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 16, 2024. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua) Further compounding these concerns are reports from Russias RIA Novosti news agency, which indicated that the Houthis may have acquired hypersonic missiles. This claim has elicited a mix of skepticism and apprehension among military experts, with some questioning the groups ability to effectively utilize such advanced technology due to logistical and operational challenges. Ali Bin Hadi, a Yemeni military analyst, argued that the Houthis lack the means to disrupt maritime traffic near the Cape of Good Hope, as it exceeds the range of their existing arsenal. Despite their demonstrated capacity to affect shipping in regional waters, notably the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, controlling far choke points like the Cape of Good Hope remains beyond their grasp. The cape lies thousands of miles away, well outside the operational range of Houthi missiles and drones, making any threats to that area highly unlikely, Hadi asserted. Khaled Salman, a Yemeni political observer, said that while the Houthi group does not possess the technical know-how to develop either long-rang or supersonic missiles independently, it may have illicitly obtained hypersonic missiles through a third-party source. The prospect of the Houthis wielding hypersonic capabilities is particularly troubling, Salman noted, as it could significantly threaten international navigation and maritime trade routes. The observer also suggested that Yemen could inadvertently become a testing ground for major powers to test their hypersonic weapons in real-world scenarios. Thabit Hussein, a Yemeni researcher and military expert, viewed the potential proliferation of hypersonic and long-range reaching technologies to non-state actors like the Houthis as deeply concerning, with implications for regional stability and conflict escalation. The Houthi campaign against commercial shipping intensified last November, coinciding with increased tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. The group claims its attacks on Israeli-linked vessels are in retaliation for the Israeli offensive in Gaza and in solidarity with the Palestinians. In response, the United States and Britain conducted airstrikes and missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since Jan. 12, 2024. Far from deterring the group, these actions have led to a Houthi escalation, with the group expanding its targeting to include U.S. and British naval vessels. The situation escalated dramatically on Feb. 18 when the Houthis attacked the British-operated cargo ship Rubymar with missiles in the Red Sea. The sinking of Rubymar, confirmed by Yemens internationally recognized government on March 2, marks the first such incident since the conflict escalated last November. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has created a series of new positions and offices that correspond to her campaign promises. Read more The $6.29 billion budget proposal that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker unveiled two weeks ago would keep the citys overall tax and spending levels essentially flat compared with the current budget. But one department would more than double compared with its original budget for the current fiscal year: the mayors office. Under Parkers proposal, the office would receive $15.2 million in the next fiscal year. That represents a 151% increase over its original budget for this year, the largest of any department. The increase is almost entirely due to growth in the offices personnel costs, driven in part by Parkers creation of a series of new positions and teams that correspond with her campaign promises, such as the Office of Minority Business Success. Advertisement The proposed budget for the office of the mayor is increasing because were doing big things in fiscal year [20]25, with many of them coming right out of the mayors office, Tiffany W. Thurman, Parkers chief of staff, said in an interview. READ MORE: Mayor Parkers $6.29 billion budget plan keeps taxes flat, increases spending on police and code enforcement In some ways, its unsurprising that Parker has gravitated toward a top-heavy administration. The mayor has said repeatedly that she is a process-oriented leader, meaning that she wants a consistent structure and as much information as possible before making major decisions, such as naming top appointees or crafting policy proposals. Each new mayor shapes the top levels of city government to fit goals and style of leadership. Former Mayor Michael A. Nutter funneled much of his administrations through newly created deputy mayor positions, and he was known to be a hands-on manager through those appointees. Former Mayor Jim Kenney grew the managing directors office over the course of his tenure, reflecting his penchant for delegating to the operational side of government. In last years budget negotiations, Kenney and City Council agreed to a $6.1 million mayors office budget, which includes the mayors top advisers, policy experts, and the citys liaisons with the state and federal governments. The budget has grown over the course of the year, which is common, and the city now estimates it will spend $8.2 million by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Even compared to that adjusted amount, Parkers proposal is 86% over current estimated spending levels. Thats the second-highest increase of any agency behind the Office of Children and Families, which spends less than $1 million of city money a year. READ MORE: What kind of mayor does Cherelle Parker want to be? Personnel costs and new positions The mayors office staff would jump from 39 budgeted positions to 113 under her budget, an eye-popping increase. Some of the new positions, such as an expansion of the policy planning team, are in line with behind-the-scenes work typically associated with the mayors office. But Thurman emphasized that many of the new initiatives that will be housed in the mayors office are operational and will have a direct impact on Philadelphia residents and businesses. A new program called PhillyStat360, for instance, is designed to connect geographic police data with the delivery of other city services. Chief legal counsel Kristin Bray will lead it, and the program will include 14 other mayors office staffers. What were doing is funding dynamic programs that will make life better for Philadelphians, Thurman said. Another cost-driver is likely to be increased pay for mayors office staffers. Were also looking at our competitive edge and ensuring that salaries are competitive, Thurman said. Its important for municipal leaders and those in the mayors office to represent what were seeking here, which is the best and brightest in leadership. New positions focused on Parkers campaign promises The mayors office is small compared to other city agencies the police department, for instance, is poised to get $877 million under her proposal so any funding increase will have an outsized impact on its bottom line. But the growth in her own offices budget and the size of her staff is nonetheless unusual. In the first two years of Kenneys administration, the office budget ranged from $4.3 million to $4.8 million, and its staff topped out at 50 budgeted positions. Parker has named a trio of top aides she calls her big three Thurman and chief deputy mayors Sincere Harris and Aren Platt who each have separate portfolios and staffers of their own, all of which are part of the mayors office. Other new positions and teams she has created directly include the mayors business roundtables, Brays position as chief legal counsel, the Office of Neighborhood and Community Engagement, and the Office of Strategic Partnerships, which coordinates with the corporate and philanthropic sectors. Parker is also expanding existing teams within the mayors office, including the chief integrity officers staff, and Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Thurman said. Mustafa Rashed, a Parker supporter who owns a Philadelphia-based lobbying firm, said building out the top rungs of city government and, given the tight labor market, increasing pay for those staffers is necessary for Parker to achieve her goals. There are a number of new positions for the things that the mayor campaigned on, Rashed said. Theyre looking for people who will work in city government, which is not always an attractive thing to do, so you need to be competitive. Graphics editor John Duchneskie contributed to this article. WURD Radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders asks a question to the Philadelphia mayoral candidates at Black Media Matters: A Mayoral Candidate Forum, an Every Voice, Every Vote event, on April 13, 2023, at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. Read more A citywide civic engagement initiative on Monday announced plans to spend $4 million to bolster local journalism and help Philadelphia residents get involved with local government over the next two years. Every Voice, Every Vote was launched in 2022 as a $1.5 million effort by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the nonprofit organization that owns The Inquirer. While the projects first effort was focused on the mayoral election, this second phase will be focused on keeping residents engaged under Mayor Cherelle L. Parkers new administration. The previous project sought to engage Philadelphians in the election of the citys 100th mayor, and encourage conversation about issues that affect residents daily lives rather than just who was winning. The initiative resulted in more than 365 projects undertaken by 130 partners, which included local media organizations, community organizations, and social media influencers. Jim Friedlich, the executive director and CEO of the Lenfest Institute, said the project leveled the playing field for Philadelphians of varying ages and backgrounds through such efforts as community listening sessions and televised debates that incorporated public feedback. Advertisement People who dont vote say they dont know why their vote matters, dont see government influence their day-to-day lives, or theyre simply convinced that things will not change, he said. The new focus of the post-election project is to try to move the needle on those views and those challenges to show people how their vote does matter, how their government can and should work for them. The program will fund listening sessions, data- and solution-driven journalism, public forums, and opportunities for residents and government officials to speak, Friedlich said. Every Voice, Every Vote will also take on public issue awareness campaigns and public opinion research, and partner with social media creators. Its the scale and the depth and the breadth and the diversity of the ways in which we engage, and the ways in which the variety of communities with whom we engage that is most exciting about this, he said. A new way to present election coverage The initiatives first round included 38 candidate forums across the city, voter guides published in 15 languages, nearly 600 pieces of content across various media organizations with a solutions-, service-, or community-driven focus, and a public-opinion survey that helped drive coverage. The Inquirer was awarded $100,000 through the program last year to report on polling commissioned through the project, which resulted in a dozen in-depth front-page stories, develop a series of video interviews with candidates in their home neighborhoods, and help produce town hall meetings and debates. The 2022 public opinion survey found that residents wanted the next mayor to focus on public safety and gun violence, along with public health, homelessness, infrastructure, and public schools. Parker promised that the city will be safer, greener, and cleaner, with economic opportunity for all. Friedlich said its important to track the citys progress on all of these issues, and tell people how they can engage to hold the government and themselves accountable. READ MORE: This $1.5 million voter project for the 2023 mayoral election hopes to engage every neighborhood in Philadelphia Thats why just months into the citys new administration, Every Voice, Every Vote is launching again. Out of the $4 million dedicated to the effort, $2.875 million will be allocated to grants. The project will continue to seek to improve media coverage of local government and better engage residents in civic life, with hopes of improving voter turnout in the long run. Sarah Glover, the vice president of news and civic dialogue at WHYY, said one of the various projects that WHYY News pursued with a $75,000 grant from the 2022-2023 program was a mayor matchmaking quiz that the organization wouldnt have been able to produce otherwise. That had real impact, and was really interesting, and a new way to present elections coverage, she said. READ MORE: Every Voice, Every Vote Organizations interested in joining the effort can apply for funding for community-centered journalism or nonpartisan civic engagement projects to address the needs of underrepresented communities, such as: Solutions journalism and government accountability reporting. Civic education and civic literacy. City performance data, data visualization, and related news reporting. Collaborative community civic engagement activities. Translation services, applied to civic education and/or civic news and information. Projects focusing on one or more of the following issues of concern to Philadelphia: public safety, public health, education, economic opportunity, affordable housing, homelessness, trash pick-up, and the environment. Grants will range from $10,000 to $150,000 and run from May 2024 to November 2025. The deadline to apply is April 19 at 11:59 p.m. Save the Sound fisheries biologist Jon Vander Werff discusses the 2017 Pond Llly Dam Removal project on the West River in New Haven, Conn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Save the Sound next plans on removing the upstream Konold's Pond weir while regrading the stream to reduce regular flooding events. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media Save the Sound fisheries biologist Jon Vander Werff by the West River in Woodbridge, Conn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. The organization plans on removing the Konold's Pond weir and regrading the stream to reduce regular flooding events. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media The Freshwater Pond looking towards the dam next to the former Thompsonville Fire House on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media Two town owned housing complexes on the banks of the Freshwater Pond on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media Two town owned housing complexes on the banks of the Freshwater Pond on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media The Freshwater Pond Dam at the next to the former Thompsonville Fire House on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media Homes and businesses near the Freshwater Pond on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media A senior citizens complex on the banks of the Freshwater Pond on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media The Freshwater Pond Dam at the next to the former Thompsonville Fire House on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media Charise Hewitt has lived near Konold's pond in the West Hills neighborhood of Woodbridge for about 20 years, and every spring and summer her yard floods twice a month. It takes weeks for it to dry out enough to walk on the ground, she said, and it's gotten worse over time. In a nearby grove of trees, a small ancient dam more than 100-years-old is choked with brush as it holds back the swollen West River that drains the pond. It's spring, and more water is coming as the snow melts up north. The water stays; theres more of a chance that the water is gonna rise in the pond, said Hewitt. Its going to stay on our side of the flow, rather than spilling out into the river where it belongs, where its supposed to go. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Down the road, on a little cul-du-sac abutting the pond, resident Steve Sappo said the neighborhood floods constantly. The last few times its rained its been, well you know ... we have two pumps running downstairs. Sappo, who works in construction, said it would be smart if someone removed the dam, or dredged the pond. Homes near Konold's Pond on the West River have been experiencing regular flooding in Woodbridge, Conn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Save the Sound plans on replace the existing concrete weir forming the pond with a regraded stream channel to resduce the flooding events. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media Unlike the dramatic failure of the Fitchville Pond Dam and precautionary evacuation in Bozrah in January, the Konold Pond dam is like most: small, privately-owned, and gone unchecked by engineers for years. And it's not alone. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Connecticut is one of the most heavily dammed states in the country, with about 4,800 spread throughout cities and towns, 84 percent of which are privately owned and many more than a century old. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the state is home to 54 dams per every 100 miles of free-flowing rivers more than any other state per river mile. The national average is six. Over half of the dams were originally built to supply local water power to mills or to make small ponds. They easily blend into the landscape, largely going unnoticed until catastrophe strikes. Making matters worse, there are no federal or state laws that require owners of high risk or significant hazard dams to disclose who might be in the flood zone should a dam fail, or get clogged and backup. Keeping count The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection classifies all dams by the level of risk to life, property and infrastructure it poses to the region should it fail, ranging from the lowest being Class AA, a "negligible hazard," and the most hazardous and likely to cause severe damage or loss of life classified as C. Class B dams pose significant risk to the local area, while Class BB dams are considered a moderate risk, should they fail. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There are a total of 288 dams in the state with a C classification, 27 of which are privately owned, according to DEEP officials. Konold Pond dam is rated Class A, according to DEEP records. The dams are also classified by inspectors and rated for their condition, including unsatisfactory, poor, fair, or good. Dam owners must hire the inspector, who submits the rating to DEEP. The Fitchville Pond Dam was among those that had a long history of missing inspections before it failed. Other privately-owned Class C dams can be found throughout the state, including Pemberwick Dam in Greenwich, Williams Pond Dam in Glastonbury, Warren Pond Dam in Stafford, and the Hockanum Reservoir Dam in Vernon. Advertisement Article continues below this ad According to DEEP, there are roughly 960 dams in Connecticut that have no hazard ratings at all the dam has not been inspected and in some cases, the state isn't sure if it still exists. Laura Wildman, vice president of the nonprofit Save the Sound, said frequently people living and working downstream of high hazard dams have no idea they are in a potential flood zone. This is a national problem, not just a Connecticut problem, said Wildman. There are no laws, no federal or state laws, that require people who live in dam breach inundation zones to be told that they live in a dam breach inundation zone. Thats even the case when buying a property. In October 2007, owners of high and significant hazard dams in Connecticut were required to file a notice with municipal land records and register "all dams in the state of Connecticut with DEEP, but neither the state nor the municipality is required to warn residents or businesses downstream of a high-hazard dam. The state has oversight of all dams in Connecticut, regardless of who owns it, except for those regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DEEP spokesman Paul Copelman said. If a dam is given a Class AA negligible hazard rating, its management and regulation is transferred to the local municipality, as its of little consequence, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Save the Sound fisheries biologist Jon Vander Werff at the Konold's Pond weir on the West River in Woodbridge, Conn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. The organization plans on removing the concrete spillway and regrading the stream to reduce regular flooding events behind the existing weir. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media Under state law, every dam should have undergone a regulatory inspection by at least 2016 that included a determination by a professional engineer recommending a hazard classification in order for DEEP to accept it, Copleman said. However, close to 1,000 dams throughout the state have no hazard class rating because they were not inspected before the 2016 deadline. In 2014, Connecticut transferred the obligation to inspect dams to the dam's owner, with higher risk dams requiring more frequent inspections and the most hazardous requiring an emergency action plan submitted to the state, showing the land most at risk from a dam failure and recommended responses to breaches. The statutory change requires dam owners to hire a licensed professional engineer to conduct the inspections and report the results to DEEP. However, since 2015, DEEP's Dam Safety Program has issued 69 notices of non-compliance and 52 notices of violations for Class C dams lacking emergency action plans. Some of these were issued multiple times to the same dam owner. About 14 percent of high and significant hazard dams are past their inspection due dates, per DEEP, while 17 percent of high and significant hazard dams have submitted emergency action plans that DEEP has not accepted because they need revisions or updates. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Wildman said that even with good dam safety requirements, funding for enforcement is lacking from the state. You can send dam safety orders to a dam owner over and over again, said Wildman. We have almost no funding for enforcement, and because of that these things are almost never enforced. According to DEEP, there are no high or significant hazard dams in unsatisfactory condition in Connecticut, however there are 30 rated as poor. One such dam is the Freshwater Pond Dam in Enfield, which is owned by the town. The dam's most recent inspection report filed with DEEP was conducted in April of 2020, listing the dam's overall condition as "poor." At the time, parts of the dam, which was built in 1900, showed "significant deterioration" since its previous 2014 inspection. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Freshwater Pond Dam at the next to the former Thompsonville Fire House on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media It has since been repaired following the 2020 inspection, town officials say. Enfield spent roughly $441,000 to address concerns raised by DEEP, Public Works Director Donald Nunes said. Work included removing all vegetation from a masonry retaining wall, constructing a new retaining wall adjacent to the downstream spillway retaining wall, and repairing storm drains, among other improvements, he said. We have done exactly what was required of us and its all been repaired, Nunes said. Weve made extraordinary efforts to make sure this dam is safe. State and federal response State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, said that while the legislature has made strides in providing accountability for dam owners, such as making sure prospective property buyers are aware there's a dam on a parcel theyre purchasing and the responsibilities that come with it, more should be done. A large issue, she said, is that people who own private dams most likely don't have the money to make costly repairs or even pay for inspections. Advertisement Article continues below this ad "Inspections are not cheap," Osten said. "To fix a dam is not cheap. There isn't a dam that is going to cost less than $1 million and that's just construction." Other costs include engineering and permits, she said. "All of that is expensive, takes time, and there is no real enforcement on making sure that private land owners of dams do all of those things." In hindsight, Osten questions if moving some regulatory authority from DEEP to the dam owners was the best approach, even though it minimizes the cost to taxpayers. And while the state Bond Commission has approved millions of dollars for dam repairs throughout the state in recent months, funds dont go to private dams. U.S. Sens. Richard Blumethal and Chris Murphy agree more needs to be done and are looking for solutions at the federal level. While there is no new legislation proposed by Congress to address Connecticuts private, aging dams there are a variety of existing sources that could be of use, including through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. Homes near the Freshwater Pond on Monday, February 26, 2024, in Enfield. Jim Michaud / Hearst Connecticut Media Each year, Connecticut gets hit with increasingly frequent and dangerous storms that come at a huge cost to homeowners, local businesses, and municipalities," Murphy said. "Repairs after a devastating flood are vital, but we need to get serious about mitigating damage before disaster strikes. Advertisement Article continues below this ad There are limited federal funding avenues for privately-owned dams, however, said Blumenthal, who added that he's explored possibilities through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and general flood resiliency funding. Any money from the Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program is a loan, not a grant, and is limited to dam safety projects that are not federally owned, operated, and maintained. Privately-owned dams like the one in Bozrah or West Haven could potentially be eligible for those funds, he said. The funds would be a welcome relief to those like Heidi Duff, who estimates she'll spend $25,000 or more on repairs to her Norwich hair salon after two feet of water streamed down her street during a January flood. The final damage could've been much worse at the Details Hair Salon and other neighboring businesses, Duff said. If that dam were to collapse, my basement would be filled with water, said Duff, noting that in 2010, the former tenant had four feet of water in their basement space. With that in mind, Duff bought a flood door that she and her husband reinforced with sealant. Im hoping well be OK for the next one, Duff said. Spring is coming; weve never had a flood like this in the winter, but you cant stop Mother Nature with her rain and the volume of snow that we had prior to that. Well hope and pray, and if the water comes again, well clean it out. Duff says she was one of the more fortunate business owners in the area, as others were totally annihilated. She places most of the blame on the town for not properly maintaining the Yantic River. I think the bigger story, in all honesty, is the history of the area and what was or wasnt put in place for future generations to be protected, she said, adding that the river is routinely littered with debris that creates its own dam, causing water to flow over the rivers banks. My concern is more the obstructions that are down river that arent being addressed, Duff said. Without the maintenance of the river, it could be a catastrophe. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Why so many dams? With so many ancient dams in the state, the question remains if they're all necessary. People initially built dams to power water wheels, make ponds for fishing or livestock, while others were created for flood control or canals. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, dam building reached a fever pitch as early mills relied on fast-flowing rivers, plugging them up with dams to power the mills. Save the Sound fisheries biologist Jon Vander Werff discusses the success of the 2017 Pond Lly Dam Removal project on the West River in New Haven, Conn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Save the Sound next plans on removing the upstream Konold's Pond weir while regrading the stream to reduce regular flooding events. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media Ari Perez, a Quinnipiac University civil engineering professor said that over time, as economics and technology shifted, many of those dams deteriorated. Water can burrow through earthen dams, eroding holes to make them larger. Reinforced concrete chips and cracks with age, exposing rebar to rust. And maintenance wasn't always a priority once they were no longer needed. Advertisement Article continues below this ad But the other thing thats more difficult to account for is that sometimes things just run their course, said Perez. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inspects a dam, part of their process is asking the question does this dam still need to be here? Andrew Fisk, northeast regional director for the nonprofit environmental group American Rivers, said that there were many thousands of privately owned dams across America that no longer serve a purpose. They are suffering from needed maintenance in order to prevent them from partially breaching and fully breaching, he said, pointing to an earthen dam in Michigan that was not maintained and burst in 2020, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate. Back in Woodbridge, Jon Vander Werff, a fish biologist, strolled the banks of Konold's Pond and wondered if the same thing might happen there. The water on that sunny, March 13 day was just out of flood stage, but still really high. The small concrete-and-stone wier creating the shallow and widening pond runs the width of the river. Beyond it, shaded in a stand of maples and oaks and choked with brush is an earthen dam that's over a century old. Recent rains have pushed the pond beyond its normal bounds, as the West River roars down through the trees. Vander Werff, who works with Save the Sound, said it's unclear when the ancient dam was built or who built it, but it was probably installed to make a fishing pond. Theres no evidence of a mill here, unlike other sites downstream, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad In my eyes its creating all kinds of issues, said Vander Werff. Its not super big, but its making the water level higher. Some of the neighborhood residents contacted Save the Sound during a dam removal and river restoration project at the former site of the Lilly Pond Dam, he said, asking if anything could be done about the Konold Pond dam that was flooding the neighborhood. Discussions are at the early stages. The problem with this dam, and this pond, is that over its long life span Konold Pond has gotten shallower and shallower as silt has built up, Vander Werff said. Resident Carol Perrotti said the pond used to be beautiful, but it's now choked with lily pads. Its just deteriorated, thats all I can say, since I was a kid, the last few years especially, she said, adding that she was lucky to have a basement high enough to avoid the water. Other houses in the neighborhood experienced flooding in their backyards and basements in recent months. The people on both sides of me have water in their basements. It cracked the floor, the water; it cracked the floor from the ground up. According to the Woodbridge Assessor's Office the dam and the pond are privately owned and controlled by an LLC, so dredging the silt or removing the dam isn't easily done, and prospects are few. No one from the LLC or the family trust attached to the company could be reached for comment. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The pond does provide a much-needed spawning habitat for migratory river herring, herons, wood ducks and occasionally bald eagles, Vander Werff said. Locals come to kayak and canoe on the pond. A year round vernal pool created as part of the 2017 Pond Lliy Dam Removal project on the West River in New Haven, Conn. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media What takes so much time is that there are so many different stakeholders, said Vander Werff. Downstream, the river channels, which makes pond remediation tricky. If work is done on the dam to lower the pond, it needs to be engineered so that it doesnt make the West River more prone to flooding, or destroy the homes and businesses that abut the channel, he said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Difference makers The insurance industry continually faces challenges that require strong, decisive leaders, which has shaped IBs Global 100 list for 2024. All of the winners have taken their organizations to new levels with their insight and inspirational qualities. The industry as a whole can feel secure knowing that such skilled operators are mentoring, supporting, and giving their colleagues greater chances to shine, along with mapping out the best courses to plot. Colette Taylor Sovereign Insurance Chief operating officer Leading from the front is never easy, but doing it under pressure and in challenging circumstances is what truly separates the best from the rest. Taylor has completed a Super Bowl year by guiding the Canadian firm through two major projects: implementing the largest technological overhaul in the firms history introducing a new partner proposition The tech plan was key as it underpins their entire operation. Taylor says, Our technology was such legacy technology; to support our future, we had to modernize. It was also a reaction to certain parts of our business struggling with profitability in prior years and the realization of the need to invest in our capabilities and systems. We dont just want to stay relevant in the market; we want to thrive. The changes have been introduced effectively and are working well, showcasing Taylors leadership prowess. I spend more time probably thinking about the people aspect of the business and the psychology than I do pouring over the numbers of the business, she says. Dont get me wrong, the numbers are really important, but its how we operationalize things and how were able to execute, which is so much still grounded in the people aspect of our business. Listing the questions she routinely asks herself: How can I remove roadblocks for the team? How can I advocate for the organization? Where can I best support and serve? Taylor prescribes servant leadership and prepared Sovereigns workforce for the major changes by using her experience of coming up through the ranks over the course of her 28-year career. She says, I reflected on my observations when I was in more junior leadership positions of everything that had frustrated me at the time of observing senior leaders, and either what they did or didnt do. I wasnt going to make the same mistakes. My way was to be really authentic in the way that we communicate with people so they can trust theyre getting straight messaging, whether its the message they want to hear or not. Another factor was Taylors focus on all the changes being fully completed and resisting the urge to use new systems before they were entirely bedded in. I had observed in my past that when companies get shiny new object syndrome, it gets half-baked. I had seen the churn that it creates in teams when they only half finish a project, but their resources are redeployed to something else, she says. I was clear that we were not taking on any other things. That was our mandate, and we were all pulling in that direction. Another signature of her leadership is realizing that having her input into everything is counterproductive. Taylor has the foresight to know that delegation pays dividends. She says, My proudest achievement would be knowing when to let the team and the experts run and do what theyre best at and knowing when to step in and assist with the difficult decision-making or help reframe to get back to the strategy. It gets harder to pin your own name to any individual milestones, and I think rightfully so, because no leader really gets there by doing everything themselves. I had observed leaders rising through the ranks who disassociate themselves from the person theyve been and become unrelatable. I made a commitment to myself early in my leadership journey that I was always going to show up. I get a lot of validation and feedback from people that they appreciate that Colette Taylor Sovereign Insurance Phil Hobbs Liberty Specialty Markets President and managing director Devising strategy and understanding in what direction to go are the acid tests for any leader. Hobbs has shown his ability to tackle both. He has overseen the expansion of LSM into a true global player. The biggest impact we have had is establishing ourselves as a material international player in Continental Europe, Asia, and Latin America while maintaining market-leading and award-winning businesses in London, MENA, and Australia. The business and our customer base today look very different from how we looked five years ago, he says. Even with his innovative mindset, Hobbs has not allowed LSM to deviate from its fundamentals of being: consistent thorough insightful Hobbs says, The risk environment our customers operate in is extremely volatile, and what our clients and broker partners are looking for is a proper partnership. That long-term view is crucial to our value proposition. Being able to sustain success has seen LSM overcome industry-wide challenges such as: managing the loss trend adapting to the post-COVID-19 working environment internally transforming to modernize However, one stands out as harder to manage than others for Hobbs. The war on talent has reemphasized our peoples first values, he says. It is a collective effort of all of our people managers to ensure that we are challenging each other and setting a high-performance culture that continues to make people want to work for Liberty. While Hobbs is being honored, he attributes it to the collective effort of his global team. A key component of his success is ensuring projects are completed. I think that learning and maintaining an open mind are critical to being a good leader, but there is one simple thing I always aspire to do. It is also what I look for in my team to finish the last 5%, he says. Starting things is the easy bit, but finishing them is where the real value lies. It sounds very simple, but you would be surprised if you used that as a filter and as a personal driver for what you might see around you. A 2024 PwC survey showed that 45% of CEOs dont believe their business will be economically viable in a decade on its current path, up from 39% in 2023. Hobbs relates to that opinion and is mindful of it in how he leads LSM forward. He says, While I would not put myself in that category, I do think that the sentiment is there that everything has to change. My goal is to build an organization that embraces and drives change rather than feeling like change is being imposed on it. We must adapt to the world around us to ensure we continue to provide that same partnership to our customers. One of the great things about my job is that I am learning every day. A key component of our strategy is to attract, develop, and retain diverse, high-performing talent from within and outside our industry Phil Hobbs Liberty Specialty Markets Over the last 12 years, the division now recognised as Partner Solutions has been crafting a diverse line-up of tailored insurance products. This includes everything from financial lines and general liability to more specialised products like hole in one insurance and event cancellation policies. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Fahad Al-Hesni, the former MD/CEO, for his tremendous contributions during his tenure with the company, and we wish him the best of luck in his future ventures, it said. Sompo, as a global (insurer and) reinsurer, exemplifies the Bermuda value proposition and is a welcome addition to the Abir membership. Their support will help Abir build on our public policy, education and advocacy work that has never been more important, said John Huff, the CEO of Abir. In his new position, Freeman will lead the firms efforts in third-party assets under management, directly reporting to AXIS chief financial officer Peter Vogt. The newly appointed head of ILS has been with the insurance group since 2021, initially serving as ILS structuring head for property. We want folks to be able to retain their core workflows, Wynn continued. That means they can work out of their agency management system or, in the case of MGAs and carriers, their policy admin system. We want to be able to read and write integrations with them to ensure consistency on their teams and make adoption much easier. Commenting on the fraud, Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said: This scheme to bill for unnecessary services has no place in our healthcare system. It not only increased healthcare costs for all beneficiaries, but they also violated the trust of patients. John Oxendine not only profited from this scheme but took it a step farther and directed another to lie to federal agents to try and cover up the fraud. Building on an established agreement between Apollo and Munich Re since 2019 in the hull specialty, the new consortium will offer brokers a lead line capacity of up to $75 million for each vessel. This has become particularly important since the transition of the shipping industry towards greener energy and its expansion in naval shipbuilding. Virginia State Police have identified the five people who were killed when a small private jet crashed as it approached a rural airport earlier this month. The twin-engine IAI Astra 1125 left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 10 and was scheduled to land at Ingalls Field Airport in Hot Springs, Virginia, but it crashed, killing all five people aboard, including a child, Virginia State Police said in a statement. Police identified them Wednesday as pilot Claudio Jose Alberto Colmenares Perez, first officer Gagan Gupasandra Srinivas Reddy. The passengers were identified as Alfredo Diez, Kseniia Shanina and their son, Nicholas Diez, according to Sgt. Allen Mann. Police did not release their ages or hometowns. A state police spokesperson told The Associated Press that the plane caught fire on impact and local reports showed what appeared to be plumes of white smoke rising from the site. An attorney for the planes owner and family friend told police that the people aboard planned to attend an event at the nearby Homestead Resort. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash and caught fire under unknown circumstances during its approach, according to a Federal Aviation Administration preliminary report posted online. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to issue a preliminary report within 30 days on the initial phase of its investigation, though a final report with a probable cause and contributing factors is expected to take one to two years. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Law Enforcement Virginia Aviation An employee of a diagnostics firm in Virginia who was injured when she fell on a crosswalk on her way to work is not entitled to workers compensation benefits. The Virginia Workers Compensation Commission (VWCC) has upheld a deputy commissioners denial of benefits for the employee, finding she did not qualify under exceptions to the coming and going rule or under the extended premises doctrine. The claimant is employed as a phlebotomist for Quest Diagnostics at its location inside Roanoke Memorial Hospital. She testified that when hired, she was told to park in the parking garage next to the hospital. She has multiple sclerosis and thus has a disabled parking placard. I can park anywhere theres a handicap spot as long as its open and I have a placard, she explained. The employee sustained multiple injuries in February 2022 when she slipped and fell in a crosswalk on her way to work. She sought an award of medical benefits and temporary total disability. Her employer, Quest Diagnostics, and its insurer, Travelers Property Casualty, argued that she was not eligible for workers compensation because the accident did not arise out of and in the course of her employment. After the deputy commissioner denied her claim for benefits, the VWCC considered her appeal. The employee testified that she would go through the front entrance of the hospital to get to her work, and this was the only entrance she could use. She denied that she could come through the hospitals other entrances, such as through the emergency room, the hospitals back entrance, or the entrance accessed through a tunnel on the north side of the hospital. However, she did not explain why she felt she could not use these other hospital entrances. On the day of her accident, she parked her car in a designated handicap spot in the parking garage, walked from the garage along a walkway and then came to a crosswalk that led to the hospital entrance. There, she stopped and waited for the light to signal it was safe to cross. When the light changed, the claimant proceeded across the street staying within the crosswalk. When halfway across the street, her foot slipped on ice, causing her to fall. The VWCC noted that the claimant bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that her accident occurred in the course of the employment. An accident occurs in the course of the employment when it takes place within the period of the employment, at a place where the employee may reasonably be, and while[she] is reasonably fulfilling duties of [her] employment or engaged in doing something incidental thereto, the commission explained. Coming and Going Rule As a general rule, an employee going to or from the place where her work is to be performed is not engaged in performing any service growing out of and incidental to her employment. There are several exceptions to this rule: 1) where transportation is provided by the employer or time consumed is paid for, 2) the way used is the sole and exclusive means of ingress and egress, or where the way of ingress and egress is constructed by the employer, or 3) the employee is still charged with some duty or task in connection with employment. In this case, the deputy commissioner found that none of the exceptions to the coming and going rule applied since Quest neither supplied the means of transportation, nor paid the employee for the time consumed in travel. When she entered the crosswalk, Quest hadnt charged her with some work duty or task. The deputy commissioner further concluded that nothing suggests Quest constructed the way of ingress. Nor was the path the employee used the sole and exclusive way of ingress . . . with no other way in. According to the employer, there were five different public parking areas, and four separate hospital entrances, all open the day she fell. Last week, the VWCC agreed with the deputy commissioner: There is insufficient evidence for us to find that the claimant was injured while coming to work on a route that was used as the sole and exclusive means of ingress and egress for the claimant. The employer allowed the claimant to park in the garage/lot across from the hospital entrance. However, the evidence showed there were three other entrances, and employees could park in a variety of lots or on the street. The claimant was not directed to park in any particular area, nor was she prohibited from parking in any particular place. She took the walkway from the garage that led to the crosswalk, a crosswalk that was not, from the evidence, the only means of ingress and egress for employees nor was it constructed by the employer. Accordingly, her injury did not fit into any of the exceptions to the coming and going rule. Extended Premises Doctrine The VWCC also considered the case in light of the extended premises doctrine, which says that if a claimant suffers an accident in a location that is in practical effect, a part of the employers premises, then any injuries sustained will be considered to have occurred in the course of employment. According to the commission, the extension of the premises doctrine applies to the grounds immediately surrounding the building . . . even if the employer did not own or lease the particular place where the injury occurred, provided the employer has some kind of right of passage . . . through which the employer has something equivalent to an easement.' Here, the accident occurred while the claimant was passing from the parking garage where she was allowed, but not required, to park her car. She fell in a crosswalk on a street in front of the hospital in which her place of employment was located. The deputy commissioner found and the VWCC affirmed that the claimants injury did not occur in a place that could be considered the employers extended premises to bring her injury into the course of her employment. because the crosswalks physical proximity to the hospital is not such as to be in practical effect a part of the employers premises and there is no evidence of the employers control over the parking deck in which the claimant parked. The VWCC noted that it considered the case after the Court of Appeals of Virginias decision in United Continental Holdings, Inc., v. Sullivan, 79 Va. App. 540 (2024), which was issued after the deadline for the submission of written statements had passed. In the Sullivan case, the court held that the walkway on which the claimant was injured constituted the extended premises of the employer because it was on adjacent premises used by the employee as a means of ingress and egress consistent with the implied consent of her employer. The court in Sullivan noted that the extended premises doctrine has its limitations. For example, a publicly-used traffic lane connecting a parking lot to an employers workplace does not extend the employers workplace under the doctrine. The VWCC also cited a case where a man was struck and killed by a vehicle as he was crossing a public street adjacent to his employers plant. The Supreme Court of Virginia held that the public street was not in such relation to the employers plant that it was in practical effect part of the employers premises. Topics Workers' Compensation Virginia Its every cryptocurrency projects nightmare: Well-resourced hackers perhaps backed by a rogue state like North Korea strike out of nowhere, dismantling cyber defenses and making off with millions of dollars in customer funds. Many crypto outfits, large and small, have suffered permanent damage this way. Yet across the industry, startups strapped for cash after a prolonged funding drought have cut security spending even as soaring digital-asset prices tempt hackers, according to firms that sift through code for weaknesses. That leaves the cryptosphere vulnerable as the number of exploits targeting the industry skyrockets, undermining efforts to establish it as a viable alternative to traditional finance. In particular, hackers linked to North Korea, among the most sophisticated in the business, are showing no signs of letting up. The only way to stop exploits is to stop them from happening in the first place, said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, which uses blockchain forensics to track crypto crimes. That means hardening cyber defenses. Hacks and scams cost the crypto industry an estimated $1.8 billion last year, down about 50% from 2022, according to Immunefi, which runs a platform where companies offer bounties to those who locate and flag security flaws in their software. A drop in the very biggest heists, like the roughly $600 million one related to blockchain game Axie Infinity two years ago, explains why the total value fell. But the number of incidents almost doubled, to 319, Immunefi estimates. Lazarus Group, associated with the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, accounted for nearly a fifth of total losses, Immunefi data show. A separate report from Chainalysis Inc. in January showed that the number of North Korea-linked crypto hacks jumped to a record last year. Crypto thieves have stalked the industry almost since its inception. In what remains perhaps the most famous incident to date, Japan-based Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox was struck in 2011. Over time, the hackers made off with tokens worth billions of dollars based on the current market price. Mt. Gox eventually went bankrupt and its users have yet to recover their losses. As the number of blockchains and projects built upon them multiplied over the following years, so too did the target surface area for hackers. Exploits mushroomed, creating a lucrative niche for security firms and white-hat hackers who earn bounties reaching into the millions of dollars for uncovering crypto vulnerabilities. Devastating Outcomes To a certain extent, the very underpinnings of crypto decentralized systems where all transactions are governed by code leave it inherently vulnerable. A case in point are the software bridges that link different blockchains, which became entry points for thieves who struck the Ronin bridge linked to Axie Infinity, as well as in exploits targeting crypto projects Wormhole, Harmony and Nomad. Getting hit can be catastrophic. When you have a really big incident, when you lose customer funds you are either well funded enough that you or your investors can bail out your customers, or you dont reimburse your users, said Oliver Horr, director of operations at security firm Hats Finance. Obviously if you dont reimburse them, your product is dead. But both outcomes are pretty devastating. Despite the high stakes, many firms find themselves having to make tough choices. While there isnt any data tracking code-auditing spending by crypto firms, executives at outfits that provide such services say demand has cooled. Even after the cost of a typical crypto audit dropped roughly 50% since 2022 to around $20,000 per week, according to several firms, projects are still unable to afford that, said Hind Kurhan, who in September founded security auditing firm Thesis Defense and aims to establish an industry standard for audits. At crypto-auditing startup Halborn, Chief Executive Officer Robert Behnke said inbound interest dropped 60% last year. Rates for auditing a type of smart contract built on the Ethereum blockchain fell as much as 20%, he said. Diligence, the auditing arm of ConsenSys, has seen the waiting time for its security screenings shrink. Some companies forgoing labor-intensive manual code audits in favor of using less-precise automated tools to scan for weaknesses, security experts say. Euler Finance Exploit To be sure, audits are no guarantee that cyber defenses will hold. Euler Finance, a decentralized lending protocol, was drained of almost $200 million in cryptocurrencies by hackers in March last year even after being audited at great expense, according to founder Michael Bentley. So harrowing was the experience that Bentley wrote a 13,000-word blog post about it, outlining in great detail the hack and its grueling aftermath. We worked hard and were above industry standards for the time in terms of security, Bentley said in an interview. So it was shocking for everyone and highlighted the challenges of building in the space. He described the incident which happened a few days after the birth of his second child and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank as a dreadful period. After three weeks of working almost 20-hour days and employing lessons from game theory to negotiate with the hacker, Bentley and his team recovered all the stolen funds. The fact that Euler got hacked even after big outlays on security doesnt mean Bentley plans cut back on spending. For the second version of its protocol thats in development, the company will run several code-audit competitions with high bounties for those who find weaknesses, he said. North Korean Menace Not everyone recovers from a major hack. Axie Infinity, whose meteoritic rise during the last bull market brought terms like play-to-earn into the popular vernacular, has seen the number of daily players plunge since before the Ronin heist, which has been attributed to North Korea-backed Lazarus. North Korea in particular poses a formidable threat to the industry. The United Nations Security Councils Panel of Experts said in a report this month that its investigating 58 suspected cyberattacks by Kim Jong Uns regime on crypto-related companies that took place between 2017 and 2023 and were valued at about $3 billion, which reportedly help to fund the countrys development of weapons of mass destruction. North Korean hacks were 10 times as damaging as those linked to other thieves, TRM said in a January report. In June alone, Lazarus was responsible for high-profile heists targeting crypto companies Alphapo, CoinsPaid and Atomic Wallet, according to the FBI. Over the last few years, we have seen North Korea attack crypto projects at alarming speed and scale, said TRMs Redbord. It is absolutely critical that if you are building today in the crypto space centralized or decentralized that cyber security is foundational infrastructure. Top photograph: Computer code displayed on screens arranged in Danbury, UK, on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. Photo credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Topics Cyber InsurTech US aviation authorities are considering drastic measures to curb growth at United Airlines Holdings Inc., including preventing the carrier from adding new routes, following a series of safety incidents. The Federal Aviation Administration has discussed temporary actions it may take with the airlines leadership in recent days, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In addition to route restrictions, United may be barred from flying paying customers on newly delivered aircraft, said the people, who asked not to be identified describing the closed discussions. The FAA already is suspending Uniteds ability to approve and promote pilots to fly different aircraft models, two of the people said. The proposed clampdown would effectively pause growth for an unspecified period at one of the largest US airlines, underscoring the heightened scrutiny on commercial aviation safety following a near-catastrophe earlier this year involving a Boeing Co. plane. Since the January incident, in which a panel blew out in midair from an Alaska Airlines jet, United has endured multiple headline-grabbing mishaps. The renewed focus reflects stresses on commercial air travel after years of rapid growth coming out of the depths of the pandemic. United declined to comment on the potential restrictions. The FAA said in a statement late Saturday that its increasing oversight of United to ensure its complying with safety regulations. Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight, the FAA said. The agency plans to increase oversight of United in the coming weeks to review processes, manuals and facilities, the carrier told employees in a memo. Sasha Johnson, Uniteds vice president of corporate safety, said in the message that regulators and the company agree it needs to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance. Johnson also said the FAA planned to pause a variety of certification activities for a period of time, without specifying which ones. The limits under consideration would restrict United from adding new routes beyond those the airline has already sold tickets for, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Leaders of an Orlando-area local for United pilots sent a message to members saying that the FAA recently stepped in to take substantial action against the carrier, including restricting its abilities around pilot approval. The so-called line check process to certify and promote pilots has been paused pending further action from the FAA, according to two people familiar with the situation. Increased Presence There are now regulator-imposed restrictions on our ability to operate and grow our airline, according to the message from the Local Council 150 chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association. We will also see an increased FAA presence in our daily operation. ALPAs United Master Executive Council hasnt issued formal communications on the matter to its members and declined to comment to Bloomberg. Among the incidents at United just this month, a plane in Houston ran off the taxiway into a grassy area, while another aircraft lost a tire shortly after departing from San Francisco. And a Houston-to-Florida flight had to make an emergency landing after one of its engines began spewing flames. The FAA has announced investigations of those and other incidents. United Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby this week promised customers that the carrier would review the incidents and its employee training. Photo: Boeing 737 Max 9 planes operated by United Airlines at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg Copyright 2024 Bloomberg. Topics Aviation Aerospace Chrysler is recalling nearly 286,000 vehicles in the United States over a manufacturing defect that might cause the side curtain airbag inflators to rupture, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday. The right and left side curtain airbag inflators may rupture and cause sharp metal fragments to strike occupants, resulting in injury or death, the US regulator said. The recall would affect certain 2018-2021 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 models. Stellantis-owned Chrysler said certain vehicles may have been equipped with side air bag inflatable curtain inflators that had moisture introduced during supplier manufacturing. This may lead to stress corrosion and potential rupture. These inflators do not use the same propellant or inflator design as previously recalled Takata airbags, the automaker said. Stellantis last year had warned 29,000 owners of 2003 Dodge Ram pickups to immediately stop driving pending repairs after one person was killed when a Takata airbag inflator exploded. BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Three years after COVID-19 vaccines became widely available in the United States, Louisiana continues to debate policies related to inoculation mandates, including civil labilities if a work place mandates vaccines or not and a bill that would prohibit schools from requiring students to receive the vaccine. The ongoing debates, which are often marred by anti-vaccination rhetoric, come on the cusp of relaxed guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and COVID-19 no longer being the public health menace it once was. This legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers conversations on COVID-19 vaccines have broadened to also apply to experimental or emergency use vaccinations for fear of future pandemics. Louisianas GOP-controlled House passed a bill Wednesday that protects businesses from being sued because they dont mandate experimental or emergency use vaccines including COVID-19 shots. Under the proposed legislation, if a person believes they got sick from contact at a business, they would be unable to file a lawsuit against the business. Rep. Danny McCormick, who authored the measure, said the bill would do away with any frivolous lawsuits. The Republican added that it would be difficult to directly pinpoint, before a judge, where or from whom a person contracted COVID-19. Opponents of the bill, such as Democratic Rep. Denise Marcelle, said while that is true, McCormicks bill wouldnt give people the chance to even reach that point. The legislation passed mainly along party lines and now heads to the Senate. In a narrow vote, the House rejected another bill that would allow people who suffer from vaccine injuries to sue their school or employer if they are required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment. Louisiana GOP Rep. Mike Echols, who authored the bill, said he knows of several constituents who died or were maimed and injured by the COVID-19 vaccine. Across the country, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccine activists have incorrectly and baselessly blamed the injuries and deaths of hundreds of children, teens, athletes and celebrities on COVID-19 shots. Deaths caused by vaccination are extremely rare, and rigorous study and evidence from hundreds of millions of administered shots have proven COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. The bill received an influential note of disapproval from a powerful lobbying organization that represents business industry interests, describing the measure as harmful to the long-established purpose of workers compensation throughout the country. The bill failed 51-50, but Rep. Echols said he plans to bring the measure back in another attempt of passage. This session, the GOP-dominated legislature will also take up a measure that would prohibit schools from requiring students to get COVID-19 vaccines. A nearly identical bill easily won legislative approval last year, but was vetoed by then-Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. Since then, conservative Gov. Jeff Landry has taken office. In his veto message, Edwards said the bill is unnecessary as the vaccine is not mandated by the state. In addition, Edwards said the measure seeks to undermine public confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. Arguments in Louisianas capitol echo those from statehouses throughout the country since COVID-19 vaccines became widely used in 2021. Vaccines have helped to dramatically reduce instances of serious disease and death from COVID-19. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Louisiana COVID-19 BASTROP, Texas (AP) A cement truck veered into a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students returning from a field trip to a Texas zoo Friday, killing a boy on the bus and a man in another vehicle, authorities said. Officials said the bus rolled over on the highway in the rural outskirts of Austin, where a heavy presence of emergency vehicles shut down traffic for hours. The roof of the bus was crumpled, and much of another vehicle nearby was pulverized. Personal items were strewn across the road. Four people in critical condition were airlifted from the crash site. Six others with potentially serious injuries were transported by ambulance, said Kevin Parker, division chief Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services. An ambulance bus transported about 10 other patients to a childrens hospital with minor injuries, Parker said. Passengers on the bus included 44 students and 11 adults, according to the Hays Consolidated Independent School District. The child who died was a precious young boy who was a pre-K student at Tom Green Elementary School in Buda, according to Eric Wright, school district superintendent. The childs name was not released. Wright said in addition to the two people who died, 51 others were injured, including the bus driver. This is a horrible and tragic day for our school district, Wright said. The bus was struck at about 2 p.m. when the concrete truck, which was traveling in the opposite direction, veered into the bus lane, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Deon Cockrell said. He added that authorities told him initial information indicated the truck hit the bus head-on, causing it to roll over. The man who was killed was in a vehicle that either ran into the back of the bus or maybe part of the concrete truck, Cockrell said. There was one person in the truck and one man in the other vehicle. Cockrell didnt know how fast the vehicles were going. He said the truck driver was cooperating with authorities. Parents of the students on the bus were notified of the crash and all the children were reunited with their families by the evening, Wright said. Cynthia Yescas said her 4-year-old nephew had been on the bus and that he was OK, but a little hurt, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The kids are more scared than anything else, she said. The bus didnt have seatbelts because it was a 2011 model, Tim Savoy, a Hays school district spokesperson, told the newspaper. New buses have been fitted with belts since 2017, he said. Gov. Greg Abbott said in a post on the social media platform X that he spoke with the district superintendent and offered the states full support as they help their community through this tragedy. State Rep. Erin Zwiener, whose district includes Buda, said in a post on Facebook that her heart goes out to the families affected. In this terrible moment, our community must come together to support those whove lost loved ones and those who are recovering, she wrote, also thanking first responders and school district employees who she said saved lives today. Buda is about 16 miles (25 kilometers) southwest of Austin. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Texas Auto Education K-12 ATLANTA (AP) A former Georgia insurance commissioner who made a failed Republican run for governor has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care fraud. John W. Oxendine of Johns Creek entered the guilty plea Friday in federal court in Atlanta, just three weeks before his trial was set to start April 15. The 61-year-old had been indicted in May 2022 on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He had denied knowledge of the scheme and had asked a judge in 2022 to dismiss the charges. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but Oxendine is likely to be sentenced to less. Federal sentencing guidelines discussed in the plea agreement suggest prosecutors will recommend Oxendine be imprisoned between 4 years, 3 months, and 5 years, 3 months, depending on what U.S. District Judge Steve Jones decides at a sentencing hearing set for July 12. Jones could also fine Oxendine and order him to serve supervised release. Oxendine, who had previously served for 16 years as state insurance commissioner, also agreed to pay nearly $700,000 in restitution to health insurers who lost money in the scheme, the plea document states. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss the money laundering charge as part of the plea. John Oxendine, as the former statewide insurance commissioner, knew the importance of honest dealings between doctors and insurance companies, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement. But for personal profit he willfully conspired with a physician to order hundreds of unnecessary lab tests, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prosecutors say Oxendine conspired with Dr. Jeffrey Gallups to pressure other physicians who practiced with Gallups to order unnecessary medical tests from Next Health, a lab in Texas. Prosecutors said Oxendine pushed the plan in a September 2015 presentation to doctors who worked for Gallups practice. The lab company, Oxendine and Gallups agreed the company would pay Gallups a kickback of 50% of the profit on the tests, Oxendines indictment said. Next Health paid $260,000 in kickbacks through Oxendines insurance consulting company, prosecutors said. Oxendine paid a $150,000 charitable contribution and $70,000 in attorneys fees on Gallups, behalf, prosecutors said, keeping $40,000 for himself. Some patients were also charged, getting bills of up to $18,000 for the tests, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Oxendine told Gallups to lie and say the payments from Oxendine were loans when a compliance officer at Gallups company asked about them. Oxendine told Gallups to repeat the same lie when questioned by federal agents, prosecutors said. And they said Oxendine falsely said he didnt work with the lab company or get money from Next Health when interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Gallups pleaded guilty in October 2021 to one count of healthcare fraud after waiving indictment. Gallups was sentenced to three years in prison in June 2022. He was also ordered to pay $700,000 in restitution, and was fined $25,000. In 2021, Gallups agreed to pay $3 million after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit saying Gallups defrauded the federal government through the Next Health scheme and a kickback scheme with a separate medical device company. That amount was raised to nearly $5.4 million in March because Gallups and his company, Milton Hall Surgical Associates, didnt pay the original amount within a year. Next Health has faced other allegations of fraud. The company and associated people and entities were ordered to pay health insurer UnitedHealth $218 million in a Texas lawsuit in 2023. Oxendine served as the elected state insurance commissioner from 1995 to 2011. He ran for governor in 2010 but lost the Republican primary. The state ethics commission began investigating and prosecuting campaign finance cases against him in 2009, alleging Oxendine broke state law by using campaign funds to buy a house, lease luxury cars and join a private club. Oxendine settled that case with the Georgia Ethics Commission in 2022, agreeing to hand over the remaining $128,000 in his campaign fund while admitting no wrongdoing. He was also accused of accepting a $120,000 bundled contribution, 10 times the legal limit, from two Georgia insurance companies in 2008 when he was running for governor. A judge ruled state officials waited too long to pursue Oxendine on those charges. Photo: Oxendine in 2010. (AP Photo/John Amis, File) Related: Oxendines Georgia Fraud Trial Must Finally Start April 15, Federal Judge Says Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Georgia Numbers A medical sales representative and a pain clinic owner in Alabama have been sentenced to years in prison for their roles in a long-running, $28 million fraud scheme that involved a compounding pharmacy, unneeded nerve tests and a former workers compensation treating doctor. James E. Ray, 53, of Gadsden, Alabama, last week was sentenced to 40 months for conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He also must forfeit some $850,000 and attempt to pay more than $5 million in restitution, according to court records and the U.S. Attorneys Office for Northern Alabama. U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler also sentenced David Shehi, 43, of Rainbow City, to 28 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay restitution. Shehi owned Etowah Pain, a clinic in Rainbow City. He had accepted kickback payments in exchange for ordering unnecessary nerve-conduction testing, prosecutors said. Also named in Rays 2022 indictment was John Hornbuckle, president of QBR Inc., which provided the electro-diagnostic testing, and Dr. Eric Beck, of Huntsville. Beck, who previously had treated injured workers in his practice, owned Valley Center for Nerve Studies and Rehabilitation. Beck pleaded guilty in 2022 and was sentenced to 15 months, plus restitution. Hornbuckle was sentenced in 2023 to six years in prison, federal court records show. Prosecutors said the scheme ran from 2012 through 2018. Ray was paid kickbacks to lure medical providers into ordering unneeded meds and services, including expensive compounded drugs, durable medical equipment, and the nerve tests from QBR. Ray also paid kickbacks to the providers, court papers contend. The doctors billed Medicare, Medicaid, TriCare, BlueCross BlueShield and other insurers as much as $28 million over the years, according to court records and news reports. Shehi also caused his practice to routinely bill health insurance programs for patient office visits using the code that would generate the highest reimbursementeven though that code was not appropriate and Shehi was warned that billing in this way was not allowed, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a press release last week. Rays indictment did not mention if workers compensation insurance carriers were billed. But compounded drugs and medical equipment have long been a component of alleged workers comp fraud cases. Insurers have for years complained about the difficulty in controlling the cost of compounded medications. Ray had owned Integrity Medical, through which he marketed health products and services, the indictment shows. Photo: nerve conduction testing. Topics Fraud Alabama As global warming raises temperatures, a California work safety board has approved standards that would require companies to protect employees from excessive indoor heat, particularly in warehouses. The rules still need to overcome opposition by another state agency. The rules were approved last week by the board of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly known as Cal/OSHA, despite a late objection from the state Department of Finance because of cost effects on the state, the Los Angeles Times reported. There is no federal heat standard in the United States. California has had heat protection rules for outdoor work such as agriculture and construction since 2006. But tackling indoor heat protections has taken years since the state passed legislation in 2016 to draft standards for indoor workers. The proposed regulations would apply to workplaces ranging from warehouses to schools and kitchens, requiring cooling devices, access to water and cooling-off break areas at certain temperature thresholds as well as monitoring for signs of heat illness. Sheheryar Kaoosji, executive director of the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, applauded the vote and said 15 million workers in the state stand to benefit. The hottest years on record have occurred in the last ten years. That means the danger of working in high heat has become more acute in the time it has taken to finalize these standards, Kaoosji said in a statement. California experienced an e-commerce-driven boom in the construction of massive warehouses for companies such as Amazon. Concerns about heat illnesses have been repeatedly raised by workers in the industry. Amazon said in a statement that its heat safety protocols often exceed industry standards, and it provides air conditioning in all of its fulfillment centers and air hubs. The Department of Finance sought to halt the Cal/OSHA boards vote, citing concerns about huge costs to correctional and other facilities. H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the Department of Finance, told the Times the impact could be in the neighborhood of billions of dollars. The state Office of Administrative Law will need the Department of Finances approval before it can move forward with the regulations, Palmer said. Palmer also said the Department of Finance only received some of the data involving the regulations in February. This was a decision that was driven by our inability to do our fiscal due diligence and evaluate this data late in the process that had a potential impact to the state, he said. Labor and climate activists opposed the effort to remove the heat-protection item from Thursdays meeting agenda, and board Chair David Thomas agreed. Theres no reason this shouldnt be passed in my mind, because they are right that their lives are the ones that are on the line, Thomas said. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun has announced he will step down from the embattled plane maker at the end of the year after a series of mishaps at one of Americas most storied manufacturers. Board chairman Larry Kellner has also told the company he does not plan to stand for re-election. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said the US FDA has declined approval for its blood cancer therapy for two forms of lymphoma on concerns over the progress of ongoing confirmatory trials. The FDA said in its response letter that it needs more data from enrollments in dose-finding and confirmatory portions of trials, delaying its decision on the drug, while confirming no issues with clinical efficacy or safety, trial design, labelling or manufacturing. An exterior view of the state police DESPP headquarters in Middletown. Staffer in Connecticut State Police overtime office approved nearly $10,000 of her own OT while she was working second job, warrant shows. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media An employee of the agency that oversees the Connecticut State Police has been accused of approving nearly $10,000 in her own overtime while simultaneously working a second job, according to a warrant for her arrest. Sherry Pina, 57, was employed as a processing technician in the overtime coordinator's office in the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, according to the warrant for her arrest. The warrant claims that on 95 occasions in 2021, Pina's hours working for DESPP "overlapped" with her second job for a "phone answering service." In total, the overlapped time she's accused of working both jobs amounted to 247 hours and 47 minutes, according to the warrant. She was paid $9,295.96 in DESPP overtime while she was working the second job at the same time, the warrant said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Pina was charged with third-degree larceny. She has worked for DESPP since 2012, the warrant for her arrest said. It's unclear from the warrant if she remains employed by DESPP. In June 2023, state police with the agency's Western District Major Crimes Squad began investigating Pina's "past use of state time," according to the warrant. Two people told investigators they learned Pina had a second job working for the phone answering service, which she did at home on nights and weekends, the warrant said. Advertisement Article continues below this ad One of the people investigators contacted told them Pina printed out submitted overtime cards from her job at DESPP and approved them at home, the warrant said. She had two screens set up at home, one for the answering service job and the other for the overtime cards, the warrant said. The warrant said state police employees are prohibited from working a second job unless it's been approved in writing and cannot use department facilities, supplies or equipment for their second job. During an interview while state police were investigating, Pina told a detective that she hadn't put in for any overtime with DESPP while also working the phone service job, the warrant said. Pina also implied to the detective that her DESPP workload had increased when another member of the staff left, causing her to file 1.5 or two hours of overtime each day to complete her daily tasks, the warrant stated. Advertisement Article continues below this ad State police said they were unable to reach McDonald for the investigation into Pina because he no longer worked for the agency. Ireland's legal profession saw a 6% deterioration in its gender pay gap, despite the overall economy seeing a 1.4% improvement last year. New analysis by PwC of gender pay gap reports from more than 550 Irish firms found the mean hourly gender pay gap across all companies is 11.2%, down from 12.6% last year. This compares to a national gender pay gap of 9.6%, according to the CSO and an EU average gender pay gap of 12.7% (2021) based on Eurostat data. According to PwC, the largest gender pay gaps are in the legal profession at 35.1%, which is a 6% deterioration on the previous year. This is followed by the aviation sector at 33.5%, insurance at 22.9%, banking at 18.9% and construction at 21%. Retail, administration, government/health, and charities continue to report single-digit gender pay gaps with minor movements over the two years. Aviation experienced the largest improvement of 4% in the gender pay gap compared to last year. PwC said that more female representation at more senior levels is critical to eliminating or reducing the wage gap and that the mandatory reporting of disclosures on pay quartiles was key to understanding the representation of males and females in the workforce. Three-quarters of companies analysed demonstrated a greater relative concentration of males in the highest-paid quartile. Female participation in the workforce plays a significant role in shaping the gender pay gap. They also found that female participation in the workforce plays a significant role in shaping the gender pay gap. Just under a quarter of the total workforce in construction and engineering companies that reported gender pay gap numbers were females, with most of these in the lower and lower middle quartile. On the other hand, 50.8% and 69.5% of the total workforce in retail and healthcare respectively were females. Doone ODoherty, PwC Ireland people leader and workforce tax partner, said the improvement year-on-year is not due to a single initiative or effort. "Gender pay gaps are created by a complex combination of factors, including female workforce participation, promotion rates, allocation of performance ratings, access to the best opportunities to progress, and recruitment criteria," she said. Doone O'Doherty, PwC Ireland, said flexible working or changes to recruitment processes may have a pronounced effect. "In some organisations, for example, flexible working or changes to recruitment processes may have a pronounced effect. "Its critical to understand the nature and origin of the problem and not jump to convenient conclusions or make generalisations. "The starting point should always be the organisations own data and experience." From this year, companies with 150 employees or more will have to begin publishing gender pay gap reports. The analysis highlights that closing the gender pay gap can take time, pointing out that hiring more relatively low-paid women to nurture those individuals as they climb the ladder to more senior, higher-paid roles, would make the gender pay gap worse in the short-term. In the longer term, however, if that female talent can be retained and developed, the gender pay gap will narrow and the organisations gender pay gap will be better at every level. "The pressure is now on companies with 250 or more employees to demonstrate progress on the efforts that they are making to reduce their gender pay gap," Ms O'Doherty said. "This may include reviewing and amending people policies and processes from recruitment to retention and promotions. "Focus and momentum are needed to continuously evaluate the organisational strategy in addressing the gender pay gap and refine measures to sustain meaningful change." The Irish Farmers' Association has said that beef price rises of 10c/kg over the past week must continue. IFA livestock chairman Declan Hanrahan said that demand for beef in the key UK and EU markets is strong, with supplies in these markets reducing for the year, "creating real potential for strong and sustained growth in beef prices here". EU beef production dropped 4% in 2023, with a further reduction of 1% projected for this year. UK beef supplies are predicted to tighten in particular for the second half of the year and into 2025 as figures show the numbers of cattle under 12 months of age to be down 3% year-on-year, the IFA said. These figures provide real opportunity for Bord Bia and meat factories to increase volumes and returns for Irish beef from these high-value markets which must be returned to farmers, Mr Hanrahan commented. Prices for this week have risen a further 5c-10c/kg, with factories leaving no cattle behind as they try to fill orders to meet the demand from key customers. Steer base prices are 5.15 to 5.25/kg. Heifers are making from 5.20 to 5.30/kg, young bulls grading R and U are ranging from 5.30 to 5.50/kg. Demand for cull cows continues to strengthen with P grades in most factories starting at 4.20 to 4.30/kg and moving all the way up to 4.90/kg for good quality young continental cows in specialist factories. Live exports Mr Hanrahan said that supplies of beef cattle here are conservatively predicted to be back 30,000-40,000 head for the year by Bord Bia, a figure that is likely to increase with the positive start to the live export trade for stores and finished cattle to date this year. Live exports for the first 10 weeks of the year are up over 55% for stores and finished cattle alone, a pattern that is expected to continue. To date, 7,653 cattle have been shipped to markets outside the EU while the trade with the UK has also gotten off to a firm start with 8,077 cattle making the journey to Northern Ireland and a further 1,000 animals exported to Great Britain. Mr Hanrahan said this important trade will provide "much-needed competition to factories for beef cattle for the year ahead". "Farmers should sell hard to ensure the realities of the market conditions are reflected in beef price and the upward momentum continues," he said. PGI Mr Hanrahan said that the rollout of the PGI for Irish Grass Fed Beef on the Italian market recently "must add further value" to Ireland's beef exports and be returned in higher beef prices to farmers. Market conditions and supplies of beef cattle are pointing prices in only one direction and this upward momentum must continue in prices paid to farmers," Mr Hanrahan added. Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has welcomed the "collaborative approach" by stakeholders in the beef sector on the development of the new Irish Grass Fed Beef PGI brand for Irish beef. The work to secure the PGI recognition from the EU was a five-year project, which culminated in the promotional launch of the product to consumers in Italy last week. "It takes an enormous effort to successfully get a PGI application over the line and only the best and highest quality products can reach that standard," Mr McConalogue said. "Having Irish grass-fed beef on that exclusive list should be an immense source of pride to everybody involved in the Irish beef sector. "Im always proud to tell the story of Irish beef wherever I go internationally and this launch in Italy is a major milestone for showcasing the premium Irish beef products on offer." There is a deepening crisis on farms due to the persistent wet weather and while all sectors are suffering, the Irish Farmers Association has warned that tillage is at breaking point. Farmers are unable to plant and sow their crops so far this year, and this follows a horrendous harvest last year where they incurred big losses, IFA president Francie Gorman has said. It is stated Government policy to increase the amount of tillage in the country, but instead it is contracting. The Government must come forward with urgent supports to keep tillage farmers in business. If the Government doesnt act now, lasting damage will be done, he said. The ongoing weather conditions have delayed planting and sowing. The situation arising from Russias invasion of Ukraine is causing huge uncertainty in grain markets leaving farmers in a precarious position." He said he has raised this with the Government, urging them to introduce critical intervention without delay. Farmers are under huge pressure at present. It is hugely difficult to get into our fields to plant crops or graze our animals, Mr Gorman said. This is putting extra costs into the system and leading to a much heavier workload. 'No promise at all' John Jeffrey who is farming in East Ferry in Co Cork said that there are farmers wondering if it is worth continuing in the industry, as the future holds no promise at all at the moment. Alongside growing crops, Mr Jeffrey has 70 cattle, and they should be out grazing for the last fortnight and the only ones we have out are the ones that have calved - theres only 15 cows calved. Mr Jeffrey said the grass is growing but you would do terrible damage if you let out the cattle on it and the regrowth on it would be very slow. In a typical year, Mr Jeffrey said growers by this stage would be sowing. Winter beans, for example, could usually be planted in January and Mr Jeffrey questions if any farmer managed to do that. Winter barley was put in fields in October and in Mr Jeffrey's area, as a result of floods, "there are some fields with nothing in them, and there are more very patchy. Growers are concerned as well that even if they get sowing done, the prices could be down significantly this year, so the future holds no promise at all at the moment. Mr Jeffrey, who is on the IFAs grain committee, said that with dairy farmers' demand for land increasing as a result of the change in nitrates rules, tillage farmers are wondering if they would be better off letting their land. Mr Jeffrey said that farmers are being told by Government how important the tillage sector is for environmental sustainability, but this contribution can only be made if the sector gets support soon. Adding to the stress of it all for farmers is bureaucracy, especially as they try to get scheme applications done in the coming weeks and meet requirements. Fodder scheme Farmers are also urging Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue to introduce a fodder support scheme immediately. With cattle housed in many parts of the country since last September and in most areas since early October, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association said that action is needed to address what has been an "exceptionally long and wet winter period necessitating prolonged housing and the obvious need to replenish stocks as the year progresses". A fodder scheme was in place in 2022 and 2023, which aimed to incentivise farmers, in particular drystock farmers, to grow more fodder. Mr McConalogue said in recent days that from his department's monitoring, it appears that fodder supplies are relatively stable on both dairy and beef farms. He said that Teagasc has advised that silage is available to purchase, and that some farmers had included the option [to] purchase fodder in their winter feed budgeting plans. Grass growth over the winter period has yielded strong pasture covers on farms. However, I am aware the risk of shortages is dependent on spring weather and the ability to turnout livestock to grass, Mr McConalogue said. My department will continue to monitor the situation but at the moment there are no plans to introduce supports to assist farmers buying silage at this time. Gliceria Tupinamba The Hahawpua Pavilion, The Venice Biennale, Italy April 20 November 24 Gliceria Tupinamba will be the first Indigenous artist to represent Brazil with a solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale, the worlds most prestigious festival of the visual arts. The Brazilian Pavilion will be renamed the Hahawpua Pavilion for the occasion, in reference to the Pataxo peoples word for the territory before its colonisation by the Portuguese. Tupinamba is a noted activist, and once served two months in jail with her baby for protesting police brutality. Another Brazilian, Adriano Pedros, will curate this years iteration of the Biennale, the first time a South American has done so in the festivals 129-year history. Eimear Walshe, ROMANTIC IRELAND Left: Eimear Walshe, who represents Ireland at the Venice Biennale 2024 (Photo: Faolan Carey). Right: Production still from Eimear Walshe's ROMANTIC IRELAND, at the Venice Biennale 2024 The Irish Pavilion, The Venice Biennale April 20 November 24 Longford artist Eimear Walshe, with Sara Greavu and Project Arts Centre as curator, will represent Ireland at the Biennale with an exhibition entitled ROMANTIC IRELAND. The project comprises a multi-channel video installation with an operatic soundtrack housed in an immersive earth-built structure, and explores collective building and the Irish tradition of the meitheal. Frank Auerbach, The Charcoal Heads Frank Auerbach Self-Portrait 1958. Charcoal and chalk on paper, Private Collection. Picture: Frank Auerbach, courtesy of Frankie Rossi Art Projects, London The Courtauld Gallery, London, UK Until May 27 Frank Auerbach, German-born but long settled in London, represented Britain at the Biennale in 1986. Auerbach is best known for his intense portraits, which tend not to flatter his sitters, though the same handful have sat for him over several decades. The works at the Courtauld date from the 1950s and 60s. Each was executed in charcoal and chalk, and reworked again and again over several months. The drawings are displayed alongside paintings he made of the same subjects. Auerbach turns 93 in April. Yoko Ono, Music of the Mind Yoko Ono with Glass Hammer 1967 from HALF-A-WIND SHOW, Lisson Gallery, London, 1967. Photo Clay Perry Tate Modern, London, UK Until September 1 Yoko Ono, a mere whippersnapper at 91, has had a long association with London, where she met her future husband John Lennon in November 1966. Tokyo-born but long resident in New York, Ono has cut a singular dash in the international arts world. She invited gallery visitors to cut off her clothing for Cut Piece (1964) and found no shortage of volunteers willing to expose their derrieres for posterity in No. 4 (Bottoms) (1966-67). These works are among over 200 in the huge retrospective at the Tate, which also invites visitors to climb into cloth bags, drive nails into a white canvas or paint messages of hope on a migrant boat. Mark Rothko Mark Rothko, Light Cloud, Dark Cloud, 1957 Oil on Canvas 169.6 x 158.8 cm Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Museum purchase, The Benjamin J. Tillar Memorial Trust 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko - Adagp, Paris, 2023 Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France Until April 2 Rothko, Latvian-born but resident in America from the age of ten until his suicide in 1970, is best known for his transcendent colour field paintings. This retrospective includes 115 works borrowed from major collections such as those of the Tate in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the artists estate, tracing chronologically his development from figuration to abstract expressionism. Chagall, A Cry for Freedom The Mapfre Foundation, Madrid, Spain Until May 5 Marc Chagall was born near the city of Vitebsk, in what is now Belarus but was then part of the Russian Empire, in 1887. Over the next 97 years, living mostly in France and America, he distinguished himself as a prodigious painter and stained glass artist, and is remembered today as the most important Jewish artist of the 20th century. This exhibition in Madrid features 160 of his works and is curated by his granddaughter, Meret Meyer. Cindy Sherman, Tapestries Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden Until June 9 The American artist Cindy Shermans career has been a 50+ year exercise in self-portraiture. In all that time, her work has consisted of photographing herself made up as different characters, most famously in the series Untitled Film Stills (1977-80). Shermans exhibition in Stockholm is the same but different; this new body of work finds her transforming low-resolution Instagram selfies into monumental tapestries crafted from cotton, wool, acrylic and polyester. Hilma af Klint and Wassily Kandinsky, Dreams of the Future K20, Dusseldorf, Germany Until August 11 Born in Sweden in 1862, Hilma of Klimt was a mystic who claimed her paintings were inspired by spirit guides. She left more than 1,200 works to her nephew, with the proviso that they not be shown until 20 years after her death, and it is only in recent times that she has been acknowledged as a pioneering abstract artist. Wassily Kandinsky was Russian, and a near contemporary, whose work brought him international renown in his lifetime. This is the first time their work has been shown together in a comprehensive exhibition. Anselm Kiefer, Fallen Angels Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy March 22 July 21 Long recognised as a giant of contemporary European art, Kiefer presents a major exhibition of painting, sculpture, installation and photography, including a large new work specially created for the Renaissance courtyard at the Palazzo Strozzi. In Kiefers practice, he typically explores memory, myth, history and literature, often confronting the history of his native Germany, and particularly the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust. Brancusi Constantin Brancusi, Oiseau dans l'espace Centre Pompidou, Paris, France March 27 July 1 Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian who spent most of his working life in Paris, is celebrated in an exhibition that features over 120 of his sculptures, along with a number of films and hundreds of drawings. At its heart is a reconstruction of his studio at 11 Impasse Ronsin in the 15th arrondissement, where, in the last years of his life, he obsessed over the placing of his works and their relationship to one another. Searing heat and empty swimming pools look set to play havoc with Irish holidaymakers plans this summer as severe droughts and resulting water shortages impact the tourism sector. Last summer, much of southern Europe saw temperatures in excess of 40C. In parts of Spain and Italy, the heat was particularly severe. Temperatures in Spain climbed to nearly 30C, far higher than normal for this time of year, while parts of eastern central Europe and southern Europe were averaging 20C, around 10C above the average. The extreme weather conditions have prompted Acosol, a water utility company in Western Costa del Sol in Spain, to submit proposals that would limit residents in relation to the filling and replenishment of private swimming pools. Meanwhile, Junta de Andalusia, situated in the southernmost region of Spain, has a drought decree in place with a view to restricting water to safeguard production sector supplies. Last summer, much of southern Europe saw temperatures in excess of 40C. A total of 217m was ploughed into water reduction measures to mitigate potential issues. Maynooth University professor of geography and climate change Peter Thorne described last summer's heatwaves and the records being set early this year as just a small taste of what is ahead. This is just what we are seeing today. What we will see is increasing frequency and ferocity as we move forward. "Its going to increasingly come to the forefront. What we're experiencing in terms of many of the extremes this year around the globe is simply a foretaste of whats to come. He explained how airmiles clocked up by Irish holidaymakers are contributing to the problem. A short-haul flight into Europe releases about half a tonne of carbon dioxide emissions. "These are just the extra emissions carrying you so the argument that the plane was going anyway is somewhat muted. "Flying on holiday results in the most consequential climate impacts we have. He urged people to do their part by curbing air travel and holidaying in Ireland, or adapting their travel methods when overseas. "There are also opportunities to slow travel to Europe which are far lower impact. "Drought has a much longer-lived impact than flooding, which is what weve been principally dealing with in Ireland. "The most significant impacts are on locals, agricultural productivity, and of course peoples enjoyment of the country. "However, the major impacts are going to be felt in things in things like the supermarket food prices because food will become more expensive. Mr Thorne said that people will need to be vigilant to mitigate the effects of climate change. If we're going to reach net zero, we need to get a lot more serious about our travel-based emissions. "Our transport sector emissions nationally have been increasing, without even counting international travel. "However, international aircraft emissions have been increasing substantially over recent decades with the exception of the covid-19 pandemic when it basically went to zero. There is a cognitive dissonance about this, that ones personal actions don't matter, but ultimately it is the actions of 8bn people that are driving this problem. The Government has to play its part, but they cannot do it all. Director of the Tourism Office of Spain in Dublin, Ruben Lopez-Pulido, said that water usage limits in countries like Spain are nothing new. "This is our lifestyle. There are always measures in place to manage water. That has been happening since the Roman times," he said. "Spain is one of the countries that is going to suffer the most because it is one of the most southern locations in Europe. "We have been living like this for centuries. What is in place in Spain right now is not a crisis. "This is about saving the planet. Such a word has not been mentioned among the Spanish media whatsoever. The Government's lack of a meaningful response to Israel's actions in Gaza has been described as "shameful and disgraceful". Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, told the Irish Examiner that countries cannot rely on supportive rhetoric alone. Ms Albanese, who was in Ireland speaking as a guest of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway, said: "Because Israel has violated the interim order of the International Court of Justice, it's appalling that meaningful measures have not been taken. There's this tendency to be very supportive with rhetoric, as Ireland has, but when it comes to taking concrete actions, there is zero. "Not a little. Zero. "The countries that have been most outspoken like Ireland what have they done in practice? Nothing. And this is shameful. It is disgraceful. Heavy fighting continued around Gaza's main hospital in recent days, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will continue in its actions with or without US backing. Ms Albanese is fearful of what is to come. In Gaza, the worst is yet to come. I trust every person who comes out of there. "They are traumatised to a point I've never seen. "Israelis, too, have been taken away by a collective madness. This is a society that is turning genocidal. Of the complicity of the US and others supporting Israel's military actions, Albanese was damming. My fear as a scholar of forced displacement is that this pier they are building, a pier in a place that has no roads because they are all destroyed, will be the place that celebrates the forced displacement of the Palestinian people out of Gaza. This is pure depravity. The State is set to accept up to 2,600 refugees from Jordan and Lebanon over the next four years as part of a resettlement programme. The Government is also seeking to establish permanent integration teams across every local authority to co-ordinate supports and services for refugees arriving here. Integration Minister Roderic OGorman is due to bring a memo to Cabinet, as early as Tuesday, to seek approval for the 2024-2027 phase of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, with an expected 650 people due to arrive in Ireland this year under the scheme. The programme, established in 2015, will see mainly Syrian refugees from both Jordan and Lebanon arrive throughout 2024 and 2025. The memo states that there are particular challenges in meeting the housing needs of refugees, citing that the landscape has changed since the previous phase of the scheme between 2020 and 2023. The effect of Mr OGormans proposal will require local authorities to provide a total of between 100 and 120 houses each year. There are plans for all resettled refugees to be distributed in an equitable manner across the country, with this due to take place on a scheduled basis to better manage accommodation provision. While there will still be a need to deliver housing, there are also plans to expand the Community Sponsorship Programme to 25 families a year. This programme is where an individual family will be supported by a voluntary group for up to two years, including through providing accommodation and other support. It is understood that Mr OGorman will seek to establish new permanent local authority integration teams across the country, to provide integration supports, information, advice, and guidance to all refugees arriving in Ireland. This includes ensuring their basic needs are met as well as facilitating independent living, if possible. Alongside these proposals, Mr OGorman is due to order his department to begin a focused review of the overall resettlement scheme, which is set to be completed by the end of 2025. Mr OGormans long-awaited revised White Paper, which will outline how the State will accommodate asylum seekers in the future, could also be brought to Cabinet tomorrow. The Irish Examiner reported earlier this month that the plan will involve the State buying or leasing empty buildings and increasing the use of both prefabs and marquee-style units on publicly owned land. It is understood the Government may also hire an agency to identify properties, negotiate contracts, and refit empty buildings including office spaces. The White Paper has been delayed for a number of weeks after Coalition leaders sought more concrete measures from Mr OGorman. A man in his 30s is due in court on Monday charged in connection with the death of Cork chef Ian Baitson in Cobh. Mr Baitson, a 32-year-old father of two children, was found seriously injured in a carpark in Cobh on March 15 and later died in hospital. A man in his 30s was arrested in Cappoquin, Co Waterford on Friday. He was questioned by gardai in Cork over the weekend and is due before Midleton District Court at 10.30am on Monday. Gardai launched an investigation last week after an autopsy was completed on Mr Baitsons remains. Requiem Mass for Ian Baitson will take place St Colman's Cathedral, Cobh, on Tuesday. See funeral details below. Picture: Dan Linehan Mr Baitson was found badly injured after 8pm on March 15 in a car park near a busy shop on Newtown Rd in Cobh. Locals with first aid training rushed to his aid and cared for him until paramedics arrived but he died in Cork University Hospital last Tuesday. Meanwhile, a Gofundme campaign has raised more than 14,000 for Mr Baitsons grieving family, significantly exceeding its 1,000 goal. Fundraising campaign organiser Shane Connolly said people who knew Mr Baitson have been left utterly devastated by his sudden death. Ian was a charming young man and proud father to two beautiful children, Zoe and Myles, Mr Connolly wrote. His untimely departure has left a void that can never be filled. Those of us lucky enough to have known Ian fondly remember his infectious laughter, enthusiastic greetings, and smile that could illuminate even the darkest of rooms. He was not only a great family man, but a great friend and colleague. Mr Connolly said money raised through the Gofundme campaign will help cover the sudden and unexpected expenses of Mr Baitsons funeral. It will also help support Mr Baitsons precious children, Zoe and Myles. The family also wish to donate a portion of the proceeds to the intensive care unit at Cork University Hospital (CUH) in honour of the exceptional care and support they provided to Ian during his time there, Mr Connolly wrote. The ICU at CUH holds a special place in our hearts for the remarkable work they continue to do, and the extraordinary care they extend to patients and their families. "By making a donation in Ians honour, we express our deepest gratitude to the dedicated healthcare professionals who tirelessly serve our community through the most difficult of times. The funeral arrangements for Mr Baitson have been announced. He will repose at Cahills Funeral Home, Newtown Rd, Cobh from 5pm until 7pm on Tuesday, with prayers at 6pm. After his removal at 12.30pm on Wednesday, Requiem Mass which will be livestreamed here on mcn.live/camera/st-colmans will be celebrated at St Colmans Cathedral in Cobh at 1pm, followed by cremation at the Island Crematorium, Ringaskiddy. Over 1,000kgs of illicit tobacco was seized at Dublin Port last Thursday. The tobacco was found during an intelligence-led operation by Revenue officers who were assisted by detector dog, Milo. Officers seized approximately 1,050kgs of chewing tobacco and 24kgs of tobacco. The tobacco has a combined estimated value of around 597,300. It was discovered when officers examined an unaccompanied trailer arriving to Dublin Port from Rotterdam, via the Czech Republic. No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing. Vapes were stolen in the course of burglaries of two shops in Cork City and on Monday one teenager allegedly involved in the crimes was told the cases were too serious to be dealt with at district court level. It was alleged that 2,500 worth of vapes were stolen in one burglary and 920 worth of vapes in another. 18-year-old Nathan OCallaghan, of 28 Innishmore Square, Ballincollig, Cork, appeared before Cork District Court facing charges including two counts of burglary. Sergeant John Kelleher outlined the allegations in the case so Judge Mary Dorgan could decide on whether or not she would accept jurisdiction to deal with the cases. Sgt Kelleher said, On September 1, 2023, there was a burglary at Unity Store, Lower Glanmire Road, Cork, at approximately 3am. Twenty boxes of vapes, valued 920 were stolen. The three men involved were observed by an off-duty member of An Garda Siochana as they fled the scene. It is alleged that Nathan OCallaghan was identified on CCTV from the scene. On September 4, 2023, a burglary occurred at Spar, Douglas Street, Cork, at approximately 3.15am. The front door was forced by three males who proceeded to steal vapes valued at 2,500, cigarettes valued 495 and cigars valued 62. It is alleged that these items were found in the possession of Nathan OCallagahan, along with a knife when he was stopped a short distance from the scene. The valuation for damage to the front door was estimated at 8,210. Judge Dorgan said because of the combined value of criminal damage and the stolen property, jurisdiction was refused. Sgt Kelleher said further directions would now have to be obtained from the Director of Public Prosecutions. Judge Dorgan adjourned the case until May 13 for that purpose, with the accused on bail. The accused was represented by solicitor Eddie Burke. Edwardsville High School For the Intelligencer This rendering is the view from the north hallway of the proposed new single-stall bathroom design at Edwardsville High School. Billy Woods/The Intelligencer This rendering is the view from the lobby of the proposed new single-stall bathroom design at Edwardsville High School. Billy Woods/The Intelligencer This rendering is the view from the northeast corner of the proposed new single-stall bathroom design at Edwardsville High School. Billy Woods/The Intelligencer This rendering is the view from the southeast corner of the proposed new single-stall bathroom design at Edwardsville High School. Billy Woods/The Intelligencer This draft drawing shows Option 2 proposed for single-use bathroom stalls as part of the restroom designs in the new Edwardsville High School commons area, which is being expanded. Courtesy of District 7 This draft drawing shows Option 1 proposed for single-use bathroom stalls as part of the restroom designs in the new Edwardsville High School commons area, which is being expanded. Courtesy of District 7 Renderings of the new commons area at Edwardsville High School. The new expansion is slated to begin construction this summer and be completed by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. For the Intelligencer Renderings of the new commons area at Edwardsville High School. The new expansion is slated to begin construction this summer and be completed by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. For the Intelligencer Renderings of the new commons area at Edwardsville High School. The new expansion is slated to begin construction this summer and be completed by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. For the Intelligencer Renderings of the new concourse area at Edwardsville High School. The new expansion is slated to begin construction this summer and be completed by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. For the Intelligencer EDWARDSVILLE The Edwardsville District 7 school board meeting on Monday will come with a vote on a controversial topic among the local community. District 7 will vote on the new 8,000-square-foot, $6.8 million commons area expansion at Edwardsville High School, including the vote on the new single-stall bathroom design that comes with the expansion. The closed session of the meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. and the public session starts at 7 p.m. District 7 will livestream the meeting on Facebook. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The commons area expansion, which will be done by Holland Construction Services, is estimated to cost $6,844,242. The project is part of the $100 million bond referendum for District 7 facilities improvements passed by voters in April 2023. The district initially estimated $8 million as the cost of the commons revamp. The expansion will increase the capacity of the concourse area to 900 people. As part of the expansion is the proposed controversial change of the nearby bathrooms. The bathrooms will feature private single stalls with floor-to-ceiling partitions and a sink area in the middle of the room. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Any gender can use the single-stall restrooms. Each single stall will be fully enclosed with a floor-to-ceiling partition with a dedicated lighting and ventilation system. The stalls will be equipped with a locking mechanism, as well as feminine product dispensers and disposal containers. Outside of the corridor area, an additional restroom will be constructed for any students who require assistance. The entire space will be visible from the lobby and will be supervised during busy times of the school day. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Two handicapped-accessible stalls will be included and the water fountains will be moved to the outside of the space. Over the past few weeks, the single-stall, gender-neutral bathrooms have become a controversial topic among Edwardsville District 7 parents, educators and students. Not only have community members shown opposition to the proposals, but those in favor of the new bathrooms have also spoken out recently. Most of the concerns are about safety and the problems that can arise from all genders using the same bathroom area. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Although no official plans or designs have yet been shared, some community members are concerned that this bathroom style will extend to Lincoln Middle School as part of facilities improvements there. Protest camps outside direct provision centres in Cork and Tipperary which became flashpoints for anti-migrant sentiment were disbanded and removed this weekend. Families are now living in the centres Abbeyville House in Fermoy and Racket Hall in Roscrea and to continue to protest could constitute intimidation, gardai had warned some protesters. Some 52 people, approximately half of whom are children, moved into Abbeyville House on Thursday. The camp, which had been outside the former B&B for some 125 days, was taken down on Saturday night. A relief is how one local described the removal of the camp. You couldnt have kids living there and coming outside to see posters and banners to save Abbeyville House, it would be intimidating. The children are now enrolled in local schools to start after Easter. "Most of them are primary-school age children and primary schools were undersubscribed in the area so theyve been competing to get the new pupils. Protest placards on the exterior boundary at Abbeyville House. Abercrombie Place, Fermoy, on Thursday. Picture: Larry Cummins Flowers and Easter eggs were delivered to the new accommodation centre by well-wishing locals in recent days. As were welcome drawings made by children in a local primary school which were hung in the communal canteen at Abbeyville House to make the new arrivals feel welcome, despite the then-ongoing protests outside. What they say is true, for every action theres an equal and opposite reaction. I think sometimes the more people push the anti-immigrant thing it does galvanise people on the other side to do something in the opposite direction, a local who asked not to be named said. Anthony Cody, who was involved in the protest, said that the group decided to remove the camp yesterday. Gardai had warned them that they would be ordered to remove it in the coming days as continuing the protest when people were living inside could constitute intimidation. It was never set up to intimidate anyone. It was just set up because we were afraid for 56 males going in there, he said. Its a bit disappointing but were not going to be sat outside either with kids in the building. Its not their fault, its the Governments fault. There was an active protest going on. But we were good enough to walk away, we decided it was the best thing for everyone. The camp, which was stationed outside the period property was manned since November by people in protest at the buildings proposed use as a direct provision centre. The building had been vacant and had not been used as a B&B for some years. Some people said that they were against the building being used to shelter people seeking refuge in Ireland because they felt it was unsuitable as a listed structure. Others were influenced by an anti-immigrant, far-right, nationalist movement, some of which has been known to spread misinformation, fear and hate. Local group Fermoy and Mallow Against Division, which come together to build positive community of connection released a statement on Sunday welcoming the end of the protest. Local group Fermoy and Mallow Against Division, which come together to build positive community of connection released a statement on Sunday welcoming the end of the protest. Picture: Larry Cummins The town can now move forward into a new phase of trying to pull the community back together, it said. Many of the families who have come to Abbeyville this week will likely stay living in Fermoy and the surrounding areas for many, many years to come. The kids will be in our schools, join our local teams and parents will work alongside us, volunteer and participate in local groups. This is what community life is all about. Time to turn a new page in the town. A controversial protest outside a hotel in Roscrea was also disbanded this weekend. The protest at Racket Hall hotel, which began in January and made international headlines, ended on Sunday morning. The former hotel is now accommodating some 160 asylum seekers, including children. Ireland has been struggling to accommodate refugees and asylum seekers during a housing crisis created by years of under-investment in affordable housing following the devastating 2008 financial crash and policies which have permitted many buildings to fall into dereliction. A record 13,531 people accessed emergency accommodation in January, including 4,027 children, according to Department of Housing figures. The State has been turning to the private sector to rent hotel rooms and B&Bs as an emergency response while trying to house some Ukrainian refugees, asylum seekers and homeless people in Ireland. The funeral for Ian Baitson will take place in Cobh on Wednesday. The 32-year-old chef died in Cork University Hospital on Tuesday, four days after he suffered serious injuries in an assault in the car park of Eurospar on Newtown Rd in the east Cork town on Friday, March 25. His family published his funeral arrangements on Sunday evening after a man has been charged in connection with his killing. The man is due before Midleton District Court on Monday morning. The man, aged in his 30s, was arrested on Friday under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. Read More Family of chef killed in Cobh thank 'heroic' people who helped him Mr Baitson will lie in repose at Cahills Funeral Home, Newtown Rd in Cobh, on Tuesday from 5pm until 7pm, with prayers at 6pm. His removal will take place on Wednesday at 12.30pm to St. Colmans Cathedral for 1pm Requiem Mass followed by cremation at the Island Crematorium, Ringaskiddy. In his death notice, his family said: "We, Ians family wish to thank our extended family and friends for their unwavering help and support throughout this hard time, Arian and Liam whose heroic efforts kept Ian with us so we were able to say our goodbyes." The family also hailed the actions of friends of the dad of two children, including those "who travelled home from abroad to say their last goodbyes". They have thanked the staff of the ICU ward, the paramedics, gardai, surgeons and nursing staff "who helped prepare us for the devastating loss of a beautiful and wonderful person." Sinn Fein has called for gardai to be provided with powers to arrest individuals involved in illegal evictions, as the party brings forward legislation to give effect to Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) recommendations. The partys housing spokesperson, Eoin O Broin, said he had brought forward the proposals following an RTB report on an illegal eviction, where seven people were removed from a property in Dublin. The report was provided to Housing Minister Darragh OBrien in 2022. Mr O Broin said the legislation would make an illegal eviction an offence and provide gardai with the power to arrest people who carry out such evictions. In addition, the RTB would be given the power to issue fines of up to 40,000 to landlords who illegally evict their tenants. It is not known how many illegal evictions there were last year but between 2017 and 2022 the RTB reported there were 78. Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Mr O Broin said his legislation was about standing up for renters. Its making it very, very clear that it is not acceptable under the law for a landlord or their agents to attempt to illegally evict tenants who have done nothing wrong, Mr O Broin said. Mr O Broin said in his constituency, Dublin Mid-West, there were at least three illegal evictions in 2023, all causing 'enormous distress and enormous concern'. There is a clear process which landlords have to take through the Residential Tenancies Board and the courts and we should not have images of families with children having their belongings illegally thrown onto the streets in attempt to forcibly evict them. Mr O Broin said in his constituency, Dublin Mid-West, there were at least three illegal evictions in 2023, all causing enormous distress and enormous concern. He added the proposed powers for gardai would be significant, as they cannot prevent illegal evictions from taking place at present and only attend to ensure there is no breach of the peace". On fines, Mr O Broin said it would primarily be a prevention measure for the RTB to have to dissuade landlords from evicting tenants outside the normal processes. Its about sending a very, very clear signal to any landlord or agent of a landlord out there that it is simply not worth your while because the guards will be called, they will intervene, they will stop the eviction and you could be liable for a fine of up to 40,000. A spokesperson for the Housing Minister said Mr OBrien supported every effort to enforce compliance with residential tenancies laws. The RTB recommendations for legislative change relating to evictions are being carefully examined and considered for progression through to legislative change through the Houses of the Oireachtas, the spokesperson said. This is being done in the context of the upcoming rental sector review which is being finalised. US president Joe Biden has wished outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar well as he steps down, during a call between the two leaders earlier today. In a White House readout, Mr Biden spoke with Mr Varadkar to recognise his seven years of service as Taoiseach and Tanaiste. Having recently celebrated St Patricks Day at the White House, they reflected on their co-operation over the years on shared priorities, particularly deepening US-Ireland ties between our people and our economies, the US readout stated. Mr Varadkar thanked Mr Biden, while paying tribute to the role the US president has played in US-Ireland relations, which, he added, have never been better. The call, which took place earlier today, saw Mr Varadkar brief the US president on the upcoming North/South Ministerial Council which is due to take place on 8 April. The Taoiseach told the president that, all going well, his successor will be appointed on April 9, and looks forward to continuing to work with the US on global affairs, including Ukraine and the Middle East, and to continuing to strengthen ties between Ireland and the US, the Irish Government readout stated. Mr Varadkar also wished Mr Biden well on his upcoming re-election campaign in November. The president conveyed that he looks forward to continuing to build a vibrant future for US-Irish relations with the new taoiseach, once elected by the Dail, the US readout ends. River View Aesthetics in Bandon, West Cork, offered an unnerving service called skin tightening treatment. The treatment, called plasma skin tightening, was hailed as an alternative to botox and could be used around the eyes, smile lines, the neck, and the stomach. The salon, set up in early 2019 and registered in October of that year, was operated by Pamela Murphy, wife of a man called John Coone. In promotional copy, the firm said it also offered a wide range of skin and cosmetic products and services, a one-stop shop for such treatments. Unknown to any customers who frequented the salon, it had attracted the attention of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB). In reality, it was a one-stop shop for Coone. Less than a year after opening up, in February 2020, 120 gardai searched 21 premises linked with Coone, including 11 residential properties. This included the couples rented home and a garage CAB officers suspected Coone was using, along with the salon, to funnel through the proceeds of his drug dealing. The CAB investigation resulted in proceedings in the High Court last January. The Coones were called but did not appear. Evidence presented to the court included: Cash lodgements totalling 220,000 through Pamelas private accounts; 15,000 spent going to Lapland with their kids; A six-week holiday to Greece during the covid pandemic; A single cash lodgement of 61,000; Lodgements to Paddy Power of over 68,000. The court heard that Coone had 47 criminal convictions and had climbed the ladder of the drug trade, from selling small amounts of cannabis to moving significant amounts in the South. CAB sought an order that four motorcars seized, a Land Rover, Kia Sportage, VW Passat, and Skoda Superb, as well as cash, monies in bank accounts, and Louis Vutton bags be declared the proceeds of crime. Judge Alex Owens noted that the couple lived an exotic lifestyle. He accepted CABs evidence and said the obvious conclusion was that the monies moving through the accounts were from drug dealing and that Coone was a significant drug dealer. Company records show River View Aesthetics in Bandon is listed for strike off, which is where a company is removed from the Register of Companies and ceases to exist. It is thought that the Coones have moved out of West Cork and are now residing in the North. 'Eyes and ears' Michael Gubbins, Chief Bureau Officer at the Criminal Assests Bureau. Photograph Moya Nolan This is an example of cases in local areas, where the targets of our work have a big impact on the local community, said CAB boss Mick Gubbins. The Coones are just one of almost 800 targets of the agency outside Dublin, more than half of the bureaus total caseload. Many of these targets are brought to the attention of CAB through local asset profilers, trained by the bureau but working in their normal jobs as detectives in their own divisions. The divisional asset profilers are the eyes and ears on the ground, said Detective Chief Superintendent Gubbins. These profilers are suggested by local divisional officers as people believed to be suited to the role, with a knowledge of serious crime in the area and an understanding of the work required to identify the proceeds of crime of local criminals. This can be either in the form of assets, such as houses, extensions, and cars, or the lifestyle of the individuals and their families, such as holidays, lavish weddings, and christenings. We have a form the profilers fill out, a template, that gives us the information, said Det Chief Supt Gubbins. This can be the lifestyle of the targets and their associations with other known criminals. The important thing is the detail on the criminality of the individual. He said they currently have 580 local asset profilers across the country, the bulk of them gardai. As per the make-up of the multi-agency unit that is CAB, other members trained are customs officers and social welfare officials. A further 50 people are due to be trained next month, bringing the total to 630. Most of the gardai are based in detective units but Det Chief Supt Gubbins said they did expand it to drug units as part of Operation Tara, set up by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in 2020 and launched in 2021, to target both national and local drug networks. John and Pamela Coone: A CAB investigation led to proceedings in the High Court, with the judge noting they lived an exotic lifestyle. He said targets nominated by local profilers are one of four streams through which CAB identifies targets. A second stream is what they call good citizen reports, whereby local people anonymously contact CAB. They will say, for instance, X is a criminal, he deals in drugs, he works with this person. Hes got this car, he has a house here, hes loads of money. Thats typical of what we get, but its very useful for us. He said people contact them through various ways: they write in, send in a typed-up report, contact them through Facebook or X or via email, or just ring in. The third stream is via CAB itself, where it has identified potential targets, sometimes through previous investigations, where associates of the target raise significant concerns. A fourth stream is through other specialist Garda units, namely the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB). CAB hit list As the map shows, CAB had a total of 1,430 targets at the end of last month, including 653 in the Dublin Metropolitan Region and 762 in the rest of the country. Some 15 are targets not living in Ireland, thought to include senior figures in the Kinahan cartel based in Dubai. A breakdown of the figures shows: DMR West, which includes Ballyfermot, Clondalkin, Finglas, and Blanchardstown, has by far the highest number of targets (301); The next highest is DMR South, which includes Tallaght, Crumlin, Drimnagh, and Walkinstown, with 149 targets; Limerick has the third highest number of cases (105); The three Cork divisions have a total of 45 targets, including 26 in Cork City; The combined Clare/Tipperary division has 50 targets, with 35 in Kerry; Large numbers of targets are found in the Roscommon/Longford division (79) and Westmeath/Meath division (89). Det Chief Supt Gubbins said that when CAB is seen doing a series of searches in an area, such as the high profile ones in Limerick, Cork, and Kerry in recent years, it promotes the work of CAB and it ends up getting phone calls from a range of people providing further information. When we do an action, everyone in the areas knows if a car has been taken, or the house has been seized," he said. "Everyone can see if weve raided a premises. People would, you know, pass our guys on the street and say listen, well done, or it's about time hes been hit. So, there is local recognition of the work thats done and they appreciate it. Its all well and good having the big names, but, I think, when a local person is hit, it means a lot to the local community, because they know the criminals in their area, they know they are living beyond their means, that they go on holidays, holidays several times a year, they have the cars, theyve got the jewellery, the clothes, the extensions the ostentatious nature of it. Thats the bigger value [than the value of the assets seized] the message thats given to the local community, that these people that destroyed your community with drugs, your kids, your neighbours, all the addiction and violence, they got caught, they did not get away with it forever. He said crime bosses get a shock when CAB comes knocking. Generally, the targets wont know we are investigating them until theres a knock on the door early some morning. At that stage we have a lot of our work done, so we know what were looking for. Were obviously looking for assets, cars, high-value items. We could bring a quantity surveyor to assess the value of the house, or of extensions. He said targets often have the home, or homes, registered in someone elses name, such as a family member or an associate. 'Cash is king' He said the fundamentals of targets have not changed since the bureau was set up in 1996: it is still all about cash and they want to spend it, and spend it now. With our people cash is king. They will use cash to buy their assets and fuel their lifestyle. The CAB boss said: They spend to live and live to spend and when they get money they spend it now. Theyre not saving for a pension, like most of us do, because we are looking to the future and planning ahead they live for now. They know this [the money] is not forever, so they live for now. He said the ways they do that are endless. They spend it on clothes, the shoes, the runners, holidays, and multiple holidays, out entertaining, lavish christenings and weddings they pay for all of that by cash. And then they might get cosmetic surgery, or other embellishments, or the Turkey teeth [the gleaming white dental treatment done in Turkey]. And theres the high-value assets the cars, the watches, the handbags, and, of course, house extensions. In a case concluded earlier this month, involving Christopher Waldron, in Cabra, north Dublin, the High Court heard that in excess of 430,000, excluding professional fees, was spent on extensions and renovation to his house. Waldron had funded the work through the sale of drugs in the local Cabra and Finglas areas. Det Chief Supt Gubbins said the ostentatious displays of wealth, typically in working-class communities hit hardest by the drugs trade, are a statement not just of their wealth, but of their status. Its like a uniform, I suppose," he said. Its how they show people they're a success in their minds, yeah, Ive got these trinkets, I am successful at what I do. They're living above and beyond their neighbours. But they are also saying to the community, Im the boss. Im in charge. He said with the younger generation of dealers, the open display translates to the online world. They belong to the Instagram brigade, so they want to show off what they have the new runners, the Canada Goose, the watches. One benefit of this is that it can provide information for CAB. I mentioned earlier of good citizen reports, so we often get people sending in a printout of a screengrab of a guy with the runners and showing off the watch or something like that. These guys they are flaunting it, theyre putting it in peoples faces. He said this was not just in Dublin or other urban areas, but across the country, in rural areas and small towns. Asked about the likes of iPhones, he mentioned one case where a designer was being used by the Kinahan crime cartel to launder significant amounts of money and was selling luxury phones costing up to 3,000 a pop. Moving cash Another way criminals, their partners, and other family members transfer their cash is onto store cards, gift cards, and the like, and they could have a wallet or handbag bulging with them. Weve seen people spend thousands of euro on department cards, loyalty cards, and when you have them you can also check the history of purchases. He recollected one case where officers said a card had around 4,500 on it. Criminals are also using pre-paid cards on phone apps, and online banking services such as Revolut. Weve seen transactions on Revolut, people receiving quite substantial sums on a regular basis, and the sums are all rounded. He said that any one transaction may not be more than 1,000, but added: But you could have multiple people sending you those amounts. And just as easy to send people money, and they could be using someone elses account. Revolut also turned up in a CAB investigation into fraudulent claiming of social welfare by a couple. Officers found unexplained lodgements in excess of 85,000 in a Revolut account of one of them. The couple also owned an Audi Q7 worth over 70,000 and had gone on extensive foreign holidays. When CAB searched their home they found over 70,000 in cash, luxury jewellery, and designer watches. Other traditional ways of moving cash are through the likes of courier companies or hidden in concealed compartments in vehicles, or in luggage, which Customs officers are empowered to seize under proceeds of crime legislation. An informal banking system known as halawa is used by organised crime groups across the world, including in Ireland. Under Operation Decimal, CAB dismantled a similar-type system run by a Chinese criminal network last year. "The services of this Chinese organised crime group was used by our own domestic groups to launder, store, count, and transport cash. Under the system, the criminal gang drops off the cash, the Chinese group collects it. It is then in the system whereby the Irish gang can collect the same amount in another country from an affiliate of the Chinese group. The group charged 6% for the service which operated across south and west Dublin. Collaboration with police in Spain as part of an investigation into organised crime in Sligo. Other systems are used by criminals to store their cash within Ireland. The first is home safes. They're not in every house we search, but they are regular enough. There could be cash in them, watches, documentation, and sometimes there is nothing," said Det Chief Supt Gubbins. We do not leave until we open them. He said the first way is to simply ask the target for the code or key. Some will and on other occasions we will use the services of a locksmith, but generally we have the likes of the ERU or the armed support unit. Major gangs also use safe houses to simply store the cash and several have been found around the country, both by CAB and the DOCB. Det Chief Supt Gubbins said gangs also use safe deposit boxes to store large amounts of cash and valuables, pointing out that these services are no longer provided by banks but by companies. Last December, CAB held a public auction of high-value goods seized, including the usual top-of-the-range designer watches and handbags as well as jewellery. The 100 items went for a total of 400,000 for the exchequer, with the most expensive item, a Rolex, going for 30,000. He recognises many people are fascinated with the bling of criminals. The majority of people we engage with derive their assets from drug trafficking, so with drug trafficking comes violence, intimidation, addiction and the stress and distress it causes families and communities. Id like to remind people not to forget that when they look at all those flash watches, all that bling. Recent cases I was surprised when the Aer Lingus flight from Rome sat on the tarmac in Dublin sunshine for a considerable time because, passengers were told, of a problem with the steps. Not the air bridge, we noted. The steps. Eventually, we descended, like visiting dignitaries in the 1960s expecting the taoiseach and foreign affairs minister to greet us on a little stretch of red carpet. Nobody greeted us. Into a bus we climbed and set off to the terminal. Once we were inside and lined up at the right luggage carousel, I took out my phone and turned it on. Like a mad wasp, it went, buzzing with incoming texts. I scanned through them. Whats the REAL story? asked one. WTF? demanded another. Share! commanded a third. The demands for clarification went on and on and I stood, baffled. Clarifying a thing when you dont know what the thing is can be a challenge. Now, if I had a brand, it would be all about being in the know. Being privy to important stuff before it happens, being aware of behind-the-scenes machinations. Of course, I dont have a brand and am clueless 90% of the time, but you have to keep up a good front, so I needed to find out what had happened without revealing pig ignorance to all and sundry. Whatever had happened seemed to be a political event, given the preponderance of messages from politicians, so I went to someone from a different profession and asked the nakedly simple question: Whats happened? Leo! came the breathless, useless response. Leo? I replied, demonstrating praiseworthy patience. Yes! the individual maddeningly replied. Leo what? I asked, grinding my teeth in irritation. Leo resigned", the phone told me. Why? I asked, to be frustratingly told that my correspondent wouldnt have been on to me in the first place if they hadnt believed I would know the answer to that question. Then fellow ministers Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar at the hustings at IT Carlow for the 2017 Fine Gael leadership election. While no such campaign took place this time, Fine Gael does seem to love leadership contests. Picture: Patrick Browne At this point, I realised I was on my own in front of the baggage carousel, with one bag mine circling like a baggage orphan, and customs guys looking at me through narrowed eyes, as if they had it sorted that I was the one bringing in the shrink-wrapped crystal meth. I got a move on, confident that the next day or so would be exciting. As they were. Its not an accident that one of the most exciting and popular recent TV series was entitled Succession. The who-gets-what battle is riveting. Resignation. Then succession In politics, we love an old resignation. It doesnt matter whether the previous leader is (metaphorically) assassinated or as in this case goes in an orderly, self-decided fashion, what follows is a ratcheting up of adrenalin among participants and non-participants alike. The belief that an election is good for the candidate, not to veer into gynaecology, seems to be akin to the theory that babies who have to go through their mothers labour and depart her via the birth canal are better served by that rigour than Caesarian babies, who have it easy. Commentators reach quickly for the coronation term, always calculated to raise a hackle or two in a republic. It has, for example, been suggested that Ivana Bacik might have been better off if shed had to fight for her accession to the leadership. Its difficult to find scientific support for any of this, but difficult, too, to shake the belief that overwhelming voter support obviating an election in some way devalues the victory. The other aspect of this is the belief that a good contest invigorates and unites a party. Again, the absolute dearth of supportive evidence for this theory doesnt ever seem to dent those who hold it. Particularly in Fine Gael. President Michael D Higgins, centre, with Leo Varadkar and newly-appointed Cabinet members in 2017: Heather Humphreys, Tanaiste Simon Coveney, and Josepha Madigan. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Fine Gael loves debates and leadership contests. But if you look at the partys 2017 leadership contest involving several hustings around the country between Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney, youll find, first of all, one doing better when it came to the parliamentary party and the other getting the popular vote. Read More Winner to take all after Coveney and Varadkar play out cup final This has proven to be something of a continuing complaint, a kind of parallel to the comfort blanket deployed by Hillary Clinton supporters after she lost the presidential election to Donald Trump. A contest, in any party, presents the new leader with an immediate personnel issue: Does the new leader give the other contender a senior ministry or tell them to go play in the traffic? In or out? Advisers inevitably tell the new leader that leaving the loser out of Cabinet would create a rump of discontent on the backbenches. This somehow suggests that being given a senior role as Albert did with Bertie somehow assuages the need for the top job on the part of the defeated. It doesnt, and a discontented Cabinet member can arguably do more damage than a ratty backbencher. Fianna Fails late George Colley was what was once called a stirring stick as a cabinet member, ostentatiously refusing to be bound by the expectations of loyalty to his leader. It should also be remembered that someone on the front bench has a built-in reason for talking constantly with backbenchers, many of whom, as a result, can safely bring the minister information/opinions not in accord with the leaders views. Those who are good at conspiracy (as was Charles Haughey when in theory he was obligated to Jack Lynch for giving him ministerial office) single out, not the brightest and best, but the weakest, the most disaffected, and the half-mad. Theyre the naturals for rump-formation. The other aspect of the personnel issue for any new political party leader is the question of the previous leaders confidants. The civilised advisers in the new administration always want some of the latter to be kept in Cabinet as a gesture towards party cohesion. Fianna Fail's newly-elected leader Bertie Ahern with outgoing leader Albert Reynolds in November 1994. Advisers tend to tell new party leaders that leaving the losing candidate out of Cabinet could create a 'rump' of discontent. But giving them a senior role may not assuage their ambitions, as Reynolds was to discover. Picture: PA The uncivilised advisers want the whole previous lot out on their collective ear as fast as humanly possible and loyalists to the new leader installed in their place. Its the uncivilised ones who should be listened to. The more idealistic approach rarely works. As texts fly and half-confidences get leaked, a strange process always happens. Those vying for the top job cease to be seen as human beings, becoming, instead, the cast of an opera bouffe: Caricatures useful only to confirm some prejudice or illustrate some perceived moral point. Every good move by a leadership contender is interpreted as manipulative and too smart altogether. Every bad move is seen as proof of arrogant stupidity. In pursuit of the 'Happily ever after...' Once the contest is over, the next thing is to measure the bounce in popularity donated to their party by the new leader. This gets measured as if the party was testing out a newly-purchased trampoline to decide if they were now due some buyers regret. The first few weeks represent the Once upon a time in the story of a leader. Its a pity that story so rarely ends with And they all lived happily ever after. More than six dozen countries will hold elections this year, but none will be more consequential than the one scheduled for November in the United States. After all, what happens in the US invariably has outsize impact, given Americas economic, military, and diplomatic power and influence. Countries in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific count on the US to guarantee their security a guarantee they have not had reason to question for three-quarters of a century. Moreover, unlike most presidential elections in American history, this is one in which the differences between the two likely major party candidates far outweigh their similarities. Much the same can be said about which of the two parties wins control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. What makes the coming year so fraught for America and the rest of the world, though, is the reality that American democracy faces multiple hurdles. Indeed, the near future consists of three distinct phases, each with its own challenges and dangers. First phase The first phase is already under way and will continue through election day, November 5. The problem is already in plain sight: with politics taking priority over policy, it has become nearly impossible to enact important legislation. Military aid to Ukraine has been put on hold because the Republican-controlled House, following the lead of Donald Trump, the partys presumptive presidential nominee, refuses to approve it. Two years of successfully resisting Russian aggression in Europe have been put at risk. House Republicans also refuse to pass legislation that would improve security at the countrys southern border, in this case because Trump apparently believes that the influx of migrants weakens public support for President Joe Biden. The political dynamics could make it impossible for the US to maintain, much less expand, immigration policies that have done so much to contribute to the countrys economic success. Second phase The second distinct set of challenges will follow Election Day. The peaceful transfer of power a hallmark of the American system can no longer be assumed. The 75-day window between election and inauguration could well become the most perilous phase of a dangerous year. The violent insurrection of January 6, 2021, occurred during this interval. The accurate counting and verification of ballots, which is carried out first at the state and then at the national level, will be imperative. As most readers will know, US presidents are not elected on the basis of the national popular vote. Each of the 50 states tallies the votes cast there, and in all but two whoever receives the most votes garners all of the states electoral votes (equal to the size of its congressional delegation). For example, California, the most populous state, has 54 electoral votes, while six low-population states (and the District of Columbia) get three each. A candidate must have 270 Electoral College votes to win. A supporter of Donald Trump carries a Confederate battle flag on the second floor of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. As in America's last election, there is the potential for political violence in the country's upcoming elections. File Photo: Reuters/Mike Theiler As we saw in 2020, though, it is possible that the results will be challenged. Legislation passed in late 2022 and signed into law by Biden makes it more difficult, but not impossible, to do so. Such challenges would be considered in a joint session of Congress (most likely on January 6, 2025) presided over by the sitting vice president, Kamala Harris. In addition, there is the potential for political violence. It is most likely that the outcome will be decided by tens of thousands of votes (out of more than 150 million cast) in a handful of states. A close and contested result could well lead to civil disorder, especially if the process results in Bidens re-election and a loss for Trump. What is all but certain is that a country distracted and divided over the results of the election will lack the focus and unity to act in the world. Americas adversaries could be tempted to take advantage and press to achieve long-sought objectives. Third phase The third and final challenge will begin early next year on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2025. If Biden is re-elected, much will depend on whether his election is accepted by Trumps supporters and on which party controls the Senate and the House. One can imagine a scenario in which little changes: Republican congressmen refuse to work across party lines to pass needed legislation. A different sort of test faces America and the world if Trump regains the presidency. Trump has voiced skepticism of Americas membership in Nato and even encouraged Russia to attack Nato members that do not spend enough on defence. He has threatened to levy 60% tariffs on Chinese imports while reportedly questioning whether the US should defend Taiwan against Chinese aggression. He continues to show a penchant for autocrats and a disdain for Americas democratic allies. Yes, the US has a system of checks and balances, but presidents enjoy great latitude when it comes to hiring and firing personnel and setting the policy agenda, especially if their party controls both chambers of Congress. If Republicans gain control of the executive and legislative branches, both the post-World War II international order and American democracy itself could come under enormous pressure. Only Americans get to vote in November, but the rest of the world will feel the effects. As a result, Americas year of living dangerously could easily become everyones. One of Cork's biggest pubs has appealed to An Bord Pleanala in a bid to retain its outdoor seating. KMont Properties Holdings Limited, acting on behalf of Reardens of Washington Street, had been refused permission by Cork City Council to retain its outdoor seating on Little Cross Street. In applying to retain the seating, the developer also wanted to install metal frames and glass panels over the existing structure to create a sheltered space. However, planners said the location of the proposed development and area to be retained was on an existing pedestrian footpath and a section of the public street, adding both the existing and proposed developments would inhibit access for emergency service vehicles. Planners also noted its placement would endanger the safety of pedestrians and road users by reason of traffic hazards or obstruction of road users. In its appeal, the developer rejected the suggestion it would cause a traffic obstruction or inhibit emergency vehicles, noting the street in question Little Cross Street is pedestrianised 24 hours a day. It also rejected the suggestion the development would represent a negative visual impact, and claimed there were inconsistencies between the council's decision relating to Reardens and other bars in the area which have developed outdoor seating areas. Elsewhere, Trigon Hotels has been granted planning permission to modify the iconic Metropole Hotel in Cork City. Located on MacCurtain Street, the hotel will see works to its ground floor windows and entrance doors, east of the original entrance of the hotel, which is a protected structure. Separately, the operators of West Cork's well-known Inchydoney Island hotel are seeking permission to revamp its guest apartments. Inchydoney Island Management Company No 1 Ltd has lodged a planning application with Cork County Council seeking permission for alterations and modifications to 20 guest apartments located at the hotel in Clonakilty. The work involves enlarging 16 balconies at first, second, and third floors, and the addition of screening to existing private open space for six ground-floor apartments. Inchydoney Island Hotel has been operating since 1998. It sits on the site of the original Inchydoney Ocean Hotel, and has 67 guest rooms, in addition to its self-catering apartments. People in Senegal have voted in a tightly contested presidential race following months of uncertainty that has tested the West African nations reputation as a stable democracy in a region shaken by a wave of coups in recent years. The election comes after President Macky Sall unsuccessfully tried to postpone the February 25 vote until the end of the year, sparking violent protests. Mr Sall was barred by the constitution from seeking a third term. As a result, the vote is taking place during Ramadan, the holy month when observant Muslims fast from dawn until dusk. Election officials count votes in Dakar (Sylvain Cherkaoui/AP) Vote counting began in the early evening in a tense atmosphere in some parts of the country. In St Louis, a major fishing town, a crowd booed and threw stones at a government delegation that entered a polling station after the polls closed. Observers said turnout among the more than seven million registered voters appeared to be high in the morning, though more precise figures would be available later on Sunday. Babacar Gueye, who heads Senegals COSCE civil society network of observers, said participation was important to give the election legitimacy. At the opening of polling stations today, I have never in the past 15 years seen so many people going to vote, he told The Associated Press. Young people have master's degrees but theyre selling coffee on the side of the street or are motorbike taxi drivers theres no work Queues formed outside polling stations around the capital Dakar. Roads were quiet as the nations elite police force was deployed across the city in armoured vehicles, checking voters cards. Official results are expected next week but the leading candidates said they would know first results on Sunday night. In the run-up to the election, opposition leader Ousmane Sonkowas was released from prison last week, triggering jubilant celebrations on the streets of Dakar and renewed excitement about the contest. Mr Sonko was barred from running due to a prior conviction for defamation and is backing his key ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also freed from prison last week. Senegalese opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye casts his ballot (Stefan Kleinowitz/AP) Khodia Ndiayes, a 52-year-old cook, said she picked Mr Faye on the ballot because she wanted Mr Sonko to win. Im proud to have voted, she said. We need a new president because life is expensive, the economy is bad and we need better schools. At the forefront of concerns for many Senegalese voters is the economy, which has been squeezed by high food and energy prices partly driven by the war in Ukraine. Almost a third of Senegals youth are unemployed, according to the independent researcher Afrobarometer, driving thousands to risk their lives on dangerous journeys in search of jobs in the West. Young people have masters degrees but theyre selling coffee on the side of the street or are motorbike taxi drivers theres no work, said Cheikh Omar Sy, who works for an international development agency in Dakar. Senegal has stood apart in a region where the military has seized power from civilian governments in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The election is set to be the nations fourth democratic transfer of power since it gained independence from France in 1960. Despite Senegals record, the electoral process over the past year has been marred by violence and unrest, with dozens killed and hundreds of opposition protesters jailed. There are 19 candidates in the race, including one woman, the highest number in the nations history, although a couple dropped out to support the team backed by Mr Sonko. Analysts say no candidate is expected to win more than 50% of the vote, which means a run-off is likely and more coalition building could lie ahead. Along with Mr Faye, hopefuls include Amadou Ba, a former prime minister; Khalifa Sall, a former mayor of Dakar unrelated to the president; and Idrissa Seck, a former prime minister from the early 2000s who was the runner up in the 2019 presidential race. North Korea has said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed a summit with leader Kim Jong Un. Mr Kims sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, made the comments in a state media dispatch on Monday. Japans government did not immediately respond to the North Korean announcement. She said Mr Kishida used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Mr Kim at an early date, but said improving bilateral ties hinges on Japan. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, centre (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) If Japan continues to try to interfere with our exercise of our sovereign rights, and continues to be preoccupied with the abduction issue, of which there is nothing more to resolve or investigate, then the prime ministers (offer for talks) will inevitably be labelled as just an attempt to improve his popularity, she said. As long as Japan is hostile toward (North Korea) and infringes our sovereign rights, we will consider it as an enemy that is within our target, not as a friend. The prime minister should know that he wont be able to meet the leadership of our country just because he wants to or just because hes determined to. In February, Kim Yo Jong issued a similar statement on bilateral ties, saying North Korea was open to improving relationships with Japan and even inviting Kishida to Pyongyang. She said if Mr Kishida sticks to his push to resolve the alleged past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, he cannot avoid criticism that he would only pursue talks to boost his popularity. Mr Kishida has said previously that he believes a summit with Mr Kim is important in various ways, including solving the problem of the abducted Japanese citizens. Japanese media reported he said he was not aware of the North Korean announcement when he was asked about it in parliament on Monday. North Korea and Japan do not have diplomatic ties and their relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear programme, the Norths past abduction of Japanese nationals and Japans 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula. Some experts say North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken a trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington security partnership, while Mr Kishida also wants better ties with North Korea to increase his declining approval rating at home. The US and South Korea have been expanding their military drills and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Koreas run of weapons tests since 2022. GLEN CARBON Last month, Glen Carbon officials began discussing three items that could rise to the ordinance stage in April. First, the village seeks to change the parking lot width definition. The current definition is cumbersome: For lots with parallel side lot lines, the shortest distance [is] between the side lot lines. For lots where the side lot lines are not parallel, the width of the lot shall be the length of a straight line measured at right angles to the axis of the lot at the front setback required for the district in which the lot is located. The axis of a lot shall be a line joining the midpoints of the front and rear lot lines. The proposed definition is: the horizontal distances between the side lot lines, measured at the front building line. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Next, they wish to review parking requirements. According to a Feb. 12 note from Erika Heil, director of community development, considerable discussion and variances have occurred regarding the village's parking requirements. Her department compiled a table comparing the village's various practices with those of other Metro East communities and two in St. Charles County, Missouri: Edwardsville; O'Fallon, Illinois; O'Fallon, Missouri; Troy; and Dardenne Prairie. For single-family dwellings and duplexes, all six municipalities have the same code, two spaces per dwelling unit. When it comes to multiple family dwellings, Glen Carbon allows 2.5 spaces per dwelling unit. Edwardsville and O'Fallon, Ill., permit two spaces per dwelling unit while Troy does the same plus one space for every two units for visitors. Dardenne Prairie permits three spaces per dwelling unit. O'Fallon, Mo., lets tenants have 1.5 spaces for each efficiency and one-bedroom unit, plus one additional space for each additional bedroom (covered parking is optional). At restaurants, Glen Carbon allows one parking space per 50 square feet of floor space, plus one space per every eight seats in an outdoor seating area. Edwardsville permits one space per every two seats; O'Fallon, Ill., allows nine spaces per 1,000-square-feet of gross floor area; O'Fallon, Mo., allows 20 spaces plus one space per 100-square-feet of floor space, including outdoor patio space; in Troy, one space for each three-person capacity and one space for each employee is permitted; in Dardenne Prairie, 20 spaces are allowed, plus one space per 100-square-feet of gross floor area. At places of public assembly, churches, synagogues, temples, auditoriums, etc., Glen Carbon has one parking space for every three seats. Edwardsville has the same but in the largest seating area. O'Fallon, Ill., permits one space for every 2.5 seats or one space per three-person capacity based on occupant load or whatever combination is greatest. O'Fallon, Mo., allows one parking space per three seats or six feet of bench length in the main auditorium. In Troy, it allows for one space per sanctuary or chapel seats plus one space for each employee plus one for every 300-square-feet of "other" floor areas. finally in Dardenne Prairie, it's allowable for one space per three seats. Advertisement Article continues below this ad At the doctors' offices, hospitals or other health services, Glen Carbon splits things into more than and less than 10,000-square-feet. Under that amount, it permits one space per 150-square-feet of floor area. At more than 10,000-square-feet, 67 parking spaces are allowed, plus one space per 200-square-feet of floor area over 10,000-square-feet. For nail salons, the rules vary widely. In Glen Carbon, the requirement is 3.5 spaces per manicurist station or one space per 100-square-feet of floor space, whichever is greater. In Edwardsville, the rule is one space per 100-square-feet of gross floor area. In O'Fallon, Ill.,, it allows four spaces per 1,000-squre-feet of gross floor area while in O'Fallon, Mo., the rule is one space per 150-square-feet of floor area and a minimum of five spaces. Troy allows for three spaces for each station while Dardenne Prairie allows for two spaces per operator or employee. General retail rules use total floor square footage as guides. In the village, any site up to 50,000-square-feeet requires 5.5 sparking spaces per 1,000-square-feet. Surpassing 50,000-square-feet up to 150,000-square-feet means 4.5 spaces per 1,000-square-feet. Above 150,000-square-feet, four spaces per 1,000-square-feet are allowed. Edwardsville keeps it uniform regardless of these sizes, requiring one parking space per 300-square-feet of gross floor area. O'Fallon, Ill., does the same but allows four spaces per 1,000-square-feet of floor space. O'Fallon, Mo., is even more generous than Edwardsville, permitting 5.5 spaces for every 300-square-feet of floor area. Troy's code allows for the same specs as Edwardsville's and Dardenne Prairie permits one sparkng space every 200-square-feet up to 1,999-square-feet. At 2,000-square-feet or greater, 10 parking spaces are required plus one space per every 400-square-feet in excess of the first 2,000. Advertisement Article continues below this ad The Philippines lodged its strongest protest against Beijing on Monday and summoned a senior Chinese diplomat over a water cannon assault by the Chinese coast guard. Filipino navy crew members were injured and their boat was heavily damaged in the assault in the disputed South China Sea, officials said. In response, China warned that relations were at a crossroads and the Philippines should choose a prudent path forward. Two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine navy-operated supply boat with water cannons on Saturday in the latest and most serious confrontation between the rival Asian claimants. In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a Chinese coast guard ship, top, tries to block a Philippine government vessel in the disputed South China Sea (Philippine Coast Guard via AP) The repeated high-seas confrontations since last year have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course. The US has warned repeatedly that it is obligated to defend the Philippines its oldest treaty ally in Asia if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. The United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and about 16 other countries have expressed support for the Philippines and the rule of law, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila. China accused Philippine vessels of intruding into Chinese waters and its Defence Ministry warned that Beijing will continue to take resolute and decisive measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. The Chinese Embassy in Manila issued a statement by the Chinese coast guard that warned the Philippines against playing with fire. In a phone call with her Chinese counterpart, Philippine foreign undersecretary Theresa Lazaro expressed the Philippines strongest protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China coast guard and Chinese maritime militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Philippine officials have summoned a senior Chinese diplomat to Manila to demand that Chinese ships immediately leave the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef that lies in the Philippines exclusive economic zone (AP Photo/Aaron Favil It added that it separately summoned a senior Chinese diplomat in Manila to convey the protest and demand that Chinese ships immediately leave the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, which lies in the Philippines exclusive economic zone, and for China to stop violating international law. Philippine defence, security and foreign affairs officials convened a meeting on Monday to discuss new steps to deal with what they say is Chinas unacceptable and provocative actions in the South China Sea. Their recommendations would be submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and were not immediately released to the public. Second Thomas Shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of the Philippine navy and marines on a marooned warship since 1999 but has been surrounded by the Chinese coast guard and other vessels in an increasingly tense standoff. It is the second time the Philippine supply boat has been damaged by water cannon in March. The US lays no claims to the busy seaway, a key global trade route, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged Chinas claims to virtually the entire South China Sea. Beijing says the strengthening of US alliances in Asia, including with the Philippines, is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway. Beijing has refused to recognise a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds. "A multitude of challenges including climate change is putting coffee production in danger, according to farmers in Colombia. Coffee farmers in the South American countrys Sierra Nevada mountain range say warming temperatures are forcing them to plant their crops on higher ground, while increasingly unpredictable rainfall cycles are affecting growth and harvesting logistics. The region used to be free of coffee plant diseases but farmers say climate change means their plants are increasingly vulnerable to rust, brown eye spot or borer insects, further hitting their yields. Production in the area has shrunk by 35% in the last five years, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Fairtrade Network (CLAC). One Sierra Nevada farmer, Javier Ardila, 44, said coffee workers would wear coats in the afternoons 30 years ago but now temperatures reach around 28C. Arabica coffee can tolerate mean annual temperatures of up to 24C. We are natives of the Sierra Nevada and we feel really sad because we know every day is getting worse, he said. Another farmer, Jaime Garcia Florez, 59, from Siberia township, said producing coffee is now going to be very hard with warmer temperatures and increasingly unstable conditions. Were in danger because of climate change, he said. Coffee farmer Jaime Garcia Florez tending to his crops at his farm in Siberia township, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Picture: Chris Terry/Fairtrade/PA Wire We used to think it was something existential and far away, but now we see it is really here. On top of these environmental challenges, farmers are facing tougher market conditions, with international prices dropping to around $3 per kilogram from a high of more than $5 per kilogram in early 2022. Soaring fertiliser and higher labour costs also mean many are struggling to cover the cost of production this year. 'Coffee could be destined to disappear' More and more have been looking to other products such as cocoa and honey which historically had been less profitable to ensure they make ends meet. Mr Ardila said: Coffee could be destined to disappear. If the prices are not good, then we have to change to other crops. If after harvesting, you sell everything and youre still in the same place, its very hard for you to continue in the business. Farmers also say young people in the area are moving away to find easier work, meaning the future of their way of life is even more uncertain. On the emotional impact of these challenges, farmer Fernando Gutierrez, 48, said: You feel like something is dying and you cant avoid it. You see something dying little by little. Thats what we feel. Coffee plants where borer insects have drilled into the cherries on the Nueva Granada farm, Siberia township, Colombia. Picture: Chris Terry/Fairtrade/PA Wire Jorge Marino, a 63-year-old farmer in the Siberia township, said: If there is a day that we dont produce any more coffee, we will suffer in our spirits because that is what we know how to do, what we learned from our parents, our grandparents and its our way of living. I will be heartbroken if we cant do that anymore. The farmers are part of the Red Ecolsierra association a Fairtrade organic co-operative that unites more than 400 farming families. The organisation has been using Fairtrade Premium payments to help farmers invest in agroforestry systems, which involves planting a variety of trees among the crops to provide shade, bolster biodiversity and improve the soil as a way to save future production. Red Ecolsierra is also introducing soil-friendly bioproducts, conservation projects, selling carbon credits, carrying out a wastewater decontamination project, providing member training and funding childrens education. Is it going to help us in the future? Maybe it wont help us enough but we are trying, Mr Garcia Florez said. We are trying to do our job. More widely, Red Ecolsierra has invested in infrastructure to improve the farmers access to international markets, building an administrative headquarters in the port city of Santa Marta, setting up more convenient coffee drop-off centres and launching a roasting business. The organisation now exports its own coffee directly, meaning it shortens the supply chain and retains more value for the farmers. Fairtrade campaigners are calling on consumers and retailers to buy products that better support farmers and workers on the front lines of the climate crisis as it marks its 30th birthday on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a planned visit to Washington by a high-level delegation to protest over Mondays UN Security Council decision calling for an immediate ceasefire. The resolution passed 14-0 after the US decided not to use its veto power and instead abstained. More than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren rescued after two weeks in captivity have arrived home ahead of anticipated reunions with families, following the latest in a series of mass school abductions in the West African nation. Six of the 137 students remain in hospital, and one staff member who was abducted along with the children died in captivity, military officials said. The children were seized by motorcycle-riding gunmen at their school in the remote Kaduna state town of Kuriga on March 7, triggering a wide-ranging rescue operation. They were rescued on Sunday by the military in a forest about 120 miles to the north in neighbouring Zamfara state, though authorities have provided no details of the rescue or said whether any suspected kidnappers were arrested. Freed students of the LEA Primary and Secondary School Kuriga (Chinedu Asadu/AP) The students, many of them below the age of 10, were brought on Monday to the Kaduna State Government House with fresh haircuts and newly sewn clothes and footwear their first change of clothing since their abduction. The six children still in hospital will be made available as soon as the doctors have certified them fit enough, Major General Mayirenso Saraso, a military chief in Kaduna, said while handing them over to the government. School authorities originally had told the state government that a total of 287 students were kidnapped during the attack. However, Kaduna Governor Uba Sani said only 137 are confirmed to have been seized. We are here today happily and celebrating the safe return of our children. They will soon be with their family and their parents, Mr Sani said. Their parents were not available to receive them and authorities did not allow the schoolchildren to speak to reporters. The Associated Press could not reach families in Kuriga town, which does not have mobile phone service. But one parent on Sunday spoke of their sleepless nights as they waited for the return of the children. We were traumatised throughout the absence of our children. Our children were away in the bush, with no food, and no good water, said Jubril Kuriga, whose nine-year-old daughter was among the children kidnapped. At least 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since the 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants in Borno states Chibok village shocked the world. In recent years, abductions have been concentrated in the countrys conflict-battered north-western and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for ransom. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the gunmen who carried out the concert hall attack that killed more than 130 people in Moscow last week were radical Islamists. Speaking in a meeting with government officials, Mr Putin said the killings were carried out by extremists whose ideology the Islamic world has been fighting for centuries. Actor Kevin Bacon will return to Payson High School in Payson, Utah for the building's final prom. Bacon's popular film "Footloose" was filmed at the school in the 1980s. ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images Students at Payson High School in Payson, Utah have been workin' so hard to get actor Kevin Bacon to come to their 2024 prom, they finally got a response from the Golden Globe winner. Payson High School was the film site of Bacons cult-classic Footloose, and now that the curtain is about to close on the school made famous by the 1984 film (the building is being torn down the institution relocated) Bacon told the students of Payson, via a connection with NBCs Today, that he will indeed attend the final prom at whats become an iconic Hollywood set away from the glitz and glamor of L.A. Im gonna come. I gotta come, Bacon told the students and staff gathered at an assembly. He attended virtually from Atlanta. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Needless to say when the Apollo 13 star confirmed his appearance for one last dance, the entire auditorium cut loose and erupted in to cheers and screams. Payson is located about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City and just a short 20-minute drive south of Provo. The students of Payson High School took to social media using the hashtag #BaconToPayson to attract Bacon to town. They also came together to make videos to get his attention and said they would collect money that would go toward Bacons foundation Six Degrees, which supports impactful initiatives to sustain and enrich local communities, according to the foundations website. Footloose, despite its popularity through generations, was only nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and a Grammy. All for the music by rocker Kenny Loggins and composer Dean Pitchford. Seems now that every week, the cost of filling your gas tank in Miami costs more, with a gallon of gas now costing 21.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and 17.9 cents per gallon higher than this time last year. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at the gas tracking price website and app GasBuddy says that while it is not uncommon for gas prices to rise this time of the year, what is not common are the number of attacks on Russian oil refiners; attacks which could have ripple effects worldwide if they continue." "Russia could see more capacity impacted by the attacks, forcing it to buy such products on the global market, pushing prices up everywhere. With oil prices now under more pressure and attacks potentially increasing on Russian refiners, we could be in for a few more weeks of rising prices, De Haan added. Over the last week, the average gasoline prices in Miami rose 5.5 cents per gallon, now averaging $3.56 per gallon, according to GasBuddy's survey of 1,690 stations in Miami. The cheapest station in Miami Sunday was priced at $2.79 per gallon and the most expensive was $4.79 per gallon, close to Key Biscaynes price which was $4.49 per gallon as of the weekend. The national average price of gasoline rose 6.4 cents per gallon in the last week, now averaging $3.51 per gallon. For more, click here. Thursday, Jan 19th, 2023 (12:01 am) - Score 1,704 The fifth contract awarded under the Governments 5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout scheme worth 36 million has today been handed to UK ISP Wildanet, which will upgrade connectivity for more than 19,250 hard-to-reach homes and businesses across rural parts of Cornwall in South West England. At present, Wildanet is already in the process of deploying their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network backed by an investment of 50m from the Gresham House British Strategic Investment Infrastructure Fund (BSIF) to reach rural premises across rural parts of Cornwall and Devon (they also operate a slower fixed wireless network). But the operator has, thus far, been quite vague about how much progress theyve made. NOTE: Around 73% of UK premises can already access a gigabit network (c. 45% via just Around 73% of UK premises can already access a gigabit network (c. 45% via just FTTP ) see here By comparison, Project Gigabit aims to extend 1Gbps capable (download speeds) networks to reach at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025, before hopefully achieving nationwide coverage (c. 99%) by around 2030 (here). Commercial investment is expected to deliver around 80% of this, which leaves the governments scheme to focus on tackling the final 20% (mostly rural and some sub-urban areas), where the private sector alone often fails. The project is technology neutral, so it can be delivered via either full fibre FTTP, Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) or fixed wireless access (e.g. 5G), but FTTP favoured. The project uses a number of different approaches to tackle this challenge (e.g. vouches and investment in dark fibre builds), but the largest part of the scheme involves a gap-funded subsidy approach the Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy (GIS). This is where smaller local and larger regional contracts are awarded to network operators and ISPs who can help to build their gigabit-capable infrastructure across the final 20%. The Building Digital UK (BDUK) team, which manages Project Gigabit, awarded their first GIS contract to Wessex Internet for North Dorset (Lot 14.01) in August 2022 (here), which was followed by GoFibre picking up the contract for both Teesdale (Lot 4.01) in September 2022 (here) and North Northumberland (Lot 34.01) in October 2022 (here), then Fibrus scooping Cumbria (Lot 28) in November 2022 (here). The Cornwall project being announced today actually appears to reflect two local supplier procurements Central Cornwall (Lot 32.03) and South West Cornwall (Lot 32.02) with the funding and premises being fairly evenly split between both. Work will start today to survey rural premises from Newquay to Fowey. Building work to connect those are then set to begin as early as this summer 2023. Helen Wylde, Wildanet CEO, said: This is great news for remote communities in Cornwall as we continue to connect Cornwalls homes and businesses to full fibre broadband in non-urban areas, with the economic and social transformation that brings. The funding from the Government will help to breathe new life into Cornwalls rural communities and give people access to the opportunities that gigabit broadband provides. It will also send out a positive signal to remote communities across the country who, to date, do not have the broadband connectivity to benefit from the digital age that many of us now take for granted in our daily lives. Wildanet undertakes to deliver on this project using the public funds provided through these awards as a key player for Cornwall, by Cornwall, and of Cornwall. We passionately believe that the funding provided by DCMS for these two vitally important infrastructure projects will assist Cornwall in growing its economy, connecting more people and businesses, and democratising digital services so that everyone can benefit from the opportunities that they present. Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, said: From Tintagel to Tredavoe, we are investing millions of pounds to connect almost 20,000 homes and businesses across Cornwall to lightning-fast broadband. This will generate growth and opportunity for people in the regions rural communities. The move is part of the governments flagship 5 billion Project Gigabit programme to spread fast, reliable and fit for the future broadband to rural and remote communities in the UK. The announcement represents a significant vote of confidence in the alternative network provider, which hopefully suggests that the Governments Building Digital UK (BDUK) team has done plenty of due diligence to ensure theyre able to deliver on what is quite a sizeable contract for an operator of their size. As a result of these new contracts, Wildanet expects to create 200 jobs on top of the 150 the company has created in the area already. This will include a range of skilled roles across the build operation including network design, surveying and partner management plus engineering and head office roles. There will also be indirect opportunities for local companies such as civil contractors and through the supply chain. Full fibre customers of the service typically pay from 39.99 per month (currently discounted to 25) to receive a 200Mbps (100Mbps upload) package on a 24-month term with free installation, which rises to 59.99 if you want their top 900Mbps (400Mbps upload) package. As a side note, Wilanet appears to have quietly launched a cheap social tariff for those on state benefits (only Universal Credit is mentioned), which costs 20 per month on a 12-month contract for download speeds of 30-100Mbps and uploads of 6-50Mbps (we suspect the unusual performance range exists to help accommodate both their variable wireless and full fibre connections). 1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241 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. EZULWINI Eswatini men may not enjoy the proposed privilege of having paternity leave, mostly due to the cultural practice of polygamy. There are also fears that allowing such may create inequality and men could use the time to make more babies. Paternity leave is practised in other countries whereby men, whose wives have given birth, are allowed some time off work to assist in taking care of the newborn. Delegates of the 2024 Labour Law Seminar, hosted by the Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration Commission (CMAC), said the issue of considering paternity leave in countries that practised polygamy, among other cultural practices, might need to be reviewed to ensure that it did not create inequality before Eswatini could consider it. The cultural practice of polygamy and whether men would really spend their paternity leave with their newborns, were the mostly raised concerns during the 2024 Labour Law Seminar on Friday. The second day of the seminar, which was themed Enhancing harmony in the workplace, covered topics such as social security of workers in employers liquidation or sequestration the need for legislative amendments, mental health at work: trend and analysis 2020-2023, as well as best practices: Paternity leave, lessons learnt from South Africa. The South African Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) Acting Director, Xolani Nduna, told delegates that paternity leave was still a challenge in SA. He mentioned that the talks of this leave started when a couple cited discrimination issues and questioned why the mother was entitled to maternity leave, while the father was not granted paternity leave. He cited that people were not happy that the father of the child was given three days off family responsibility leave, while the mother was given 10 weeks. From January 1, 2020, the three days of family responsibility leave employees were entitled to upon the birth of a child, was replaced with parental leave, as per the Labour Laws Amendment Act of 2018. In South Africa, as long as a male is listed as the father of the child, qualifies for parental leave. After the presentation, delegates had to look into the possibilities of having a maternity leave in the context of Eswatini. The programme director, who is also one of CMAC directors, Nokwazi Mathabela, noted that Eswatini was not in isolation, hence it was time to look into considering paternity leave or parental responsibility leave in the different kinds of families that existed in the society. The delegates noted a number of issues that needed to be interrogated before calling for this form of leave. Nduna shared that in South Africa, the law had a number of amendments, including the name of the leave from maternity/paternity leave to parental rights leave. He said it was important to look at the ever-changing family dynamics, because in some instances, the mothers were sole providers, while the fathers were stay-at-home parents. He added that some parents were of the same sex, among others types of receiving a child through adoption and surrogacy. He said it was important to embrace non-racialism and non-sexism when looking at having a parental responsibility leave. Bewilderment The Director of Legal Aid Eswatini, Lungile Magagula, noted that custom dictated that a father could only see a baby after three months of birth, expressing bewilderment on what the father would be doing at home under the parental responsibility leave. Chances of him actually taking care of the baby are very limited if not non-existent. If the father has multiple partners, he qualifies for paternity leave for his wives, because he would be listed as a father for all the babies. Dont you think that this provision, which is supposed to actually create equality, would create inequality? she asked. Magagula questioned how would Eswatini deal with a situation where the parental right leave was abused for other purposes. She mentioned that in the African context, fathers only saw their newborns after three months. She noted that it would seem the leave would be more advantageous for polygamists, who might have more than one parental leave every year. The man might have 10 wives and qualify for paternity. Have we thought about the implications? Did South Africa look at those aspects and how are the findings in that regard? she asked. Legal Practitioner Ntsika Fakudze raised concerns relating to legislation preparedness for such changes. He mentioned that in South Africa, the issue stated in court influenced legislative changes.Im concerned about how the judge tried to be descriptive about it. Is this a practice that is common? Musa Sibandze asked how frequently the parental leave could be taken or what were the limitations, because maternity leave had restrictions. Nduna, when responding to some of the questions, acknowledged that most men hardly spent the leave in question with their newborns. I know when I got married in 1992, I was given time off after my son was born. I can tell you today, I spent most of my time going to my friends and relatives, telling them that Unyanaka Nduna uvelile (my son has been born), he said. He told the delegates that as Eswatini was looking into legalising this leave, it was crucial to look at those loopholes. In terms of the three-month waiting period for fathers, he said it was crucial that when Parliament made amendments, it had to take into consideration those cultural practices and make provisions that were practical. MBABANE - Do not consume that water! This is the caution issued by the Eswatini Environment Authority (EEA), following that residents living along the banks of the Mkhondvo River have raised concerns about a mysterious change in the colour of the water. The residents said normally, the rivers water was clear, but for the past three weeks, it exhibited a greenish hue from its normal appearance, causing uneasiness among residents. The residents feared that the river might be contaminated or affected by some sort of chemical or environmental issue. The river, a vital artery of life, provides a lifeline for thousands of people within the Shiselweni Region and beyond, as its waters sustain countless households, farms and serve as a haven for local wildlife. The Assegaai River enters Eswatini through the Mahamba Gorge, where it becomes Mkhondvo. The river confluence with Lusutfu River at Sidvokodvo. Contamination Explaining about the rivers contamination, Buseleni resident under Nkwene Constituency, Anna Tsela, said they noticed the musky green colour three weeks ago, raising concerns about possible contamination. Tsela said the normally clear riverbed was visibly discoloured; prompting suspicions that something may have been dumped into the waterway. According to Tsela, more residents detailed their suspicions about the river, as it was something unusual and they did not have answers on what caused it. She explained that whispers rippled through the community, whereby many residents raised fears of consuming the water, some alleging that they heard talks, that fertiliser, which had accumulated over the years, had caused the discoloration. Fear Theres no way Im letting my family drink that! she declared, her voice echoing the growing fear in the community. Tsela stated that the stagnant water level did not explain the unsettling hue. She said they hesitantly cupped their hands to drink, only to be met with a strangely sweet taste, unlike anything they had ever experienced from the river before. According to Tsela, the familiar, refreshing river water had been replaced by an unsettling sweetness, leaving them wary and parched. We have relied on the river for decades and we have never seen such. I tried to taste the water and there is some sweetness which is not normal. Other residents have complained about the same sweetness. This has been happening for almost three weeks now, she said. Adding, Tsela mentioned that some residents fishing rods remain unused as they were afraid to even consume the fish found in the river. The resident said they made attempts to engage EEA to report the unfamiliar situation of the river. She said officers from EEA came and took samples and advised them not to consume the water until they brought a report on their test results. Even though we depend on the river, we have decided not to use the water while we wait for EEA. They promised to give us answers on what contributed to the green colour, she said. Bongani Mdluli, a resident of Nkwene, said he used to bath in the river when returning from work, but these days, he had refrained from doing so, due to the green colour. I dont trust the water anymore, Mdluli said. Upstream He alleged that upstream, they were dumping some waste, as this was the first time they witnessed such changes in the river. He explained that on normal days, the water was crystal clear, but after a good downpour, the stream turned into a murky mud mess. We will wait for answers from EEA before we continue using the water. For us, alternative sources of water are far, but we will not risk consuming water with some substances we dont know, he said. Following these complaints, this publication visited the river last Thursday and confirmed the presence of some greenish tint in the water. The cause of this discoloration remains unknown, and it is unclear if it poses any environmental or health risks. Meanwhile, EEA issued public advisory, urging citizens to avoid using water from the river for consumption purposes. Citing concerns about potential contamination, EEA stressed a precautionary approach until the water quality testing was completed. Seeking to quell the rising tide of worry, the Acting Director of Environmental Assessment and Compliance, Ndumiso Magagula, assured the public that they were taking swift action, as water samples had already been collected from various points along the Mkhondvo Rivers course and testing was currently underway. Magagula confirmed that they received complaints from Nkwene residents two weeks ago, about an unfamiliar colour in the river. According to Magagula, upon getting the complaints, they rushed to investigate and found that the water had discoloration, which was not something that should be seen in water. Explained He explained that this meant that there was something in the water. We collected water samples from various points and sent them to the laboratory to determine the cause, because we can not tell by mere looking. We expect the results to be back sometime this week as the laboratory gave us two weeks, Magagula said. He explained that the exact status of the river remained unclear until they received the results, but the authority advised the public to exercise extreme caution and avoid consuming the rivers water until they had answers. Adding, Magagula advised the public that whenever they saw something which was foreign in the water they consumed, they should always practice precautioun. He said the residents would be updated, as further information became available but in the meantime, they should seek alternative water sources for consumption purposes. He added that at the moment, the river was posing danger to its tributaries. Substances We dont know what has been poured in the river, but whatever substances it is, it poses a danger not only to Mkhondvo but also to other rivers, he said. Magagula elaborated that from an environmental perspective, people should avoid consuming water from the river until such a time they knew what caused the water to be green. Furthermore, he warned against attempts to boil the water, because currently, they did not know what had turned the water green. These days we are affected by Masta 900 as a country and boiling water with Masta 900 wouldnt kill the poison. Without knowing what causes the water to turn green, they should avoid using it, particularly for consumption and even being in contact with such, Magagula warned. An N.C. House Select Committee is recommending that the General Assembly change a state law forcing districts to start school the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday clo Chemnitz, Germany (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) Germany and the United States have very different political cultures, but also some similarities. They are both federal states and have seen in recent times how their political future could be partly decided in courts of law. In the US, former President Donald Trump is currently facing a mountain of legal cases that could still prevent him from running for president once again next November. This, however, appears increasingly unlikely after the US Supreme Court decided on March 4 that Trump would not be removed from the presidential ballot by a state court. The court was unanimous in determining that neither Colorado which had banned Trump from the ballot nor any other US state is qualified to decide on the eligibility of a presidential candidate. Furthermore, a majority opinion coming from the five conservative judges three of them nominated by Trump himself determined that only the US Congress can disqualify an individual from running for office on the grounds of insurrection. This majority opinion, the three progressive judges in the minority warned, risked closing the door to any possible future US Supreme Court decision to ban an insurrectionist from becoming President. An indictment against Trump for his role in inciting the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, is still possible but the Supreme Court would probably not act on it. On the other side of the Atlantic, in Germany, media attention is focused on a judicial proceeding taking place in Munster, a city in the West of the country. At the core of the dispute, we find the far-right party Alternative fur Deutschland (Alternative for Germany or AfD) and the Bundesamt fur Verfassungsschutz (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution or BfV), a domestic intelligence agency that has no clear counterpart in other European countries. The agencys role is to police anti-constitutional extremism. The BfV, however, has often been unable or unwilling to fulfill this vital task. From 2012 to 2018, when the president of the agency was Hans-Georg Maaen, the AfD founded in 2013 grew more powerful and more radical. Maaen recently founded a right-wing party called Werteunion (Values Union) that is willing to reach agreements with the AfD and embraces part of its agenda. In 2021, the BfV determined that the AfD merited the category of suspected case of far-right extremism. The far-right party appealed against the decision and the case has dragged on until now. The hearing in Munster is the second and last appeal. The AfD is likely to lose the appeal, but that would not imply its illegalization. A win for the BfV would bring further rights to investigate and surveil the activities of the party. Both Trump and the AfD have been following the same legal strategy when forced to appear before the courts: delay, delay, and, if possible, delay even further. CNN reporter Stephen Collinson notes that Trump appears to want to also forestall jury verdicts until after the general election likely because polls have suggested some voters would be less keen to vote for him if he is a convicted felon. Meanwhile, the AfD wants to prevent for as long as possible a final decision on whether the BfV was right in qualifying the AfD as a suspected case of far-right extremism. This could negatively affect its electoral performance. There are elections to the European Parliament in June and regional elections in the three Eastern states of Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg in September. In the European elections, the AfD is polling second with around 20% of the vote, whereas in the three Eastern states, the radical right is polling first with over 30% of the vote. After the September elections in three of the five eastern states, broad coalitions, or at least tacit alliances from the left to the center-right will be needed to avoid that the far-right reaches its highest level of power in Germany since the end of the Second World War. In this sense, it is very worrying that the leader of the center-right CDU, Friederich Merz, continues to equate the left-wing party Die Linke with the AfD, announcing it will reach agreements with neither of these forces. Unless the pre-election polls are wrong by a huge margin, the CDU will soon be forced to pick a side. By delaying the legal process in Munster, the AfD does not only seek to preserve the pretense that it is just as legitimate as any other German party if not more, according to their discourse. The far-right party also seeks to prevent the BfV from taking the next step and qualify the whole AfD as proven right-wing extremist. The regional AfD groups in the eastern states of Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt are already classified in this category. DW News Video: Why is Germanys far-right AfD party so successful? | DW News The AfD has close ties with openly neo-Nazi groups and some of its leaders, especially in eastern Germany, have adopted a language very often reminiscent of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. Bjorn Hocke, the regional leader of the AfD in Thuringia and powerbroker within the national leadership of the party, has used multiple times the expression Everything for Germany, the motto of the SA, a paramilitary Nazi group that was key in Hitlers power takeover in 1933. Hocke has said that Africans have a biological reproduction strategy different from Europeans or, about Adolf Hitler, that there is no black and white in history. The AfD often employs terms such as Volkstod (death of the German nation), as well as Stimmvieh (voting cattle) for voters of opposing parties. The AfD has often fantasized about the possibilities of remigration, a common term among far-right European groups. The concept refers to the deportation of people with a migration background and has been popularized by Martin Sellner, an Austrian neo-Nazi. The Austrian ideologist is banned from entering the US because he accepted money from and probably met Brenton Tarrant, a white supremacist terrorist. In 2019, Tarrant killed 51 people and injured 40 more in his attack against two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. On March 19 it became known that Sellner had been banned from entering Germany. The concept of remigration is not a new one, and Hocke and other members of the most radical current within the AfD have been toying with the idea for years. However, many Germans became aware of how specific the concept of remigration has become in recent times when it was revealed that Sellner had presented his racist theses in a secret meeting in Potsdam organized by two businessmen. The meeting was attended by high-ranking AfD cadres among them Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD leader in Sachsen-Anhalt and some low-ranking members of the center-right CDU, who were later forced to resign. According to research by the independent investigative platform Correctiv, Sellner proposed that a far-right government in Germany should plan the deportation of asylum seekers, non-Germans with residency rights, and non-assimilated German citizens. The Correctiv revelations triggered a wave of massive demonstrations in Germany against the far-right. They also renewed the discussion on whether a process should be started to ban the AfD. A call for a party ban can be issued by the German government, the parliament, or the Bundesrat, an institution where the different German states are represented. The final decision would always be in the hands of the German Constitutional Court. The process could take years and there would be no guarantee of success. The openly neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) was deemed too politically irrelevant to be banned when the Constitutional Court decided on the matter in 2017. There is no consensus between the different German parties on whether an attempt to ban the AfD is the path to follow. The differences of opinion are also found within the parties. Whereas a parliamentarian for the center-right CDU was one of the early proponents of banning the AfD, the leader of the party Frederich Merz is against this. The neoliberal FDP is generally against the ban. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz have not taken a clear position, as views diverge on the issue. Within the Greens, banning the AfD would probably find wider acceptance. Every case is different, but the governing coalition in the northwestern state of Bremen, where the Social Democrats lead a government with the Greens and the left-wing Die Linke, has asked for an AfD ban. German society appears to be equally divided on the appropriateness of initiating a process to illegalize the AfD. According to a poll from February 2024, 51 percent of the population was against starting such a process and 37 percent was in favor. The percentages change significantly when citizens are asked whether the AfD should continue to receive public funding as the other parties do. 41 percent are in favor while 48 percent want public funds not to reach the AfD. On February 23, I attended a counterdemonstration against Martin Sellner, the neo-Nazi who has been pushing for remigration, when he visited the city of Chemnitz, in the state of Saxony. The protest was organized by Chemnitz Nazifrei, a group that has been mobilizing against the far-right for fourteen years in a city that represents a radical right stronghold. Before the march against Sellner, I discussed with two activists of the Chemnitz Nazifrei movement their views on whether a procedure should be started to ban the AfD. They told me this had been a major issue of discussion within their group in recent times. Although more members of the Chemnitz Nazifrei movement are in favor of an AfD ban than against it, there is no clear majority. One of the strongest arguments in favor of a ban, the activists I interviewed remarked, is the significant consequences this would have for the AfDs financial situation, which could be forced to reduce its activities. At the same time, they fear that AfD followers could become more violent if a ban was implemented. They did not discard that something similar to the assault on the Capitol in Washington could take place in Germany if the AfD was banned. The open question for the members of Chemnitz Nazifrei, as for many others, is: If you ban the AfD, what about the situation afterward? A poll from February 2024 shows that only 43 percent of those who plan to vote for the AfD would be willing to consider voting for another party in the coming years. It is certainly urgent to discuss whether Trump should be able to run again for president, or whether the AfD should be banned by the Constitutional Court. But the key issue is that broad sectors of both German and US society a far stronger one in the latter case have radicalized themselves to the extent that they are ready to use the instruments of democracy to undermine its foundations. This does not mean that every Trump or AfD voter is anti-democratic, and part of these voters can still be convinced to move to less extremist positions. But a considerable percentage of them, and maybe even the majority, have crossed the point of no return. Democracy is not only destroyed through authoritarian power grabs or military coups but also through free and fair elections. While Germany has known this for a long time due to its historical trajectory, this does not necessarily imply that it is better prepared than other countries. The poor performance of the BfV in protecting the Constitution is proof of this. While democratic systems offer many opportunities that right-wing radicals can exploit, they are not defenseless and have mechanisms to combat radicalism. If all democratic forces in Germany take the right-wing threat seriously and here the center-right CDU needs to play a responsible role and focus on what unites them, the AfD can still be kept away from the main centers of power in the country. It might be too late for the US, where Biden has recovered some ground in the polls in recent months but lags behind Trump in the states that will probably decide the November election. Germany, meanwhile, still has a strong anti-AfD majority but should not be too complacent. ( Tomdispatch.com ) Ive been describing this world of ours, such as it is, for almost 23 years at TomDispatch. Ive written my way through three-and-a-half presidencies god save us, it could be four in November! Ive viewed from a grave (and I mean that word!) distance Americas endlessly disastrous wars of this century. Ive watched the latest military budget hit almost $900 billion, undoubtedly on its way toward a cool trillion in the years to come, while years ago the whole national security budget (though insecurity would be a better word) soared to well over the trillion-dollar mark. Ive lived my whole life in an imperial power. Once, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was even the lone superpower, the last great power on planet Earth, or so its leaders believed. I then watched how, in a world without great-power dangers, it continued to invest ever more of our tax dollars in our military. A peace dividend? Who needed that? And yet, in the decades that followed, by far the most expensive military on planet Earth couldnt manage to win a single war, no less its Global War on Terror. In fact, in this century, while fighting vain or losing conflicts across significant parts of the planet, it slowly but all too obviously began to go down the tubes, or perhaps I mean (if you dont mind a few mixed metaphors) come apart at the seams? And it never seems to end, does it? Imagine that 32 years after the U.S. became the last superpower on Planet Earth, in a devastating kind of political chaos, this country might indeed reelect a man who imagines himself running a future American dictatorship his very word for it! even if, publicly at least, just for a single day. And yes, in 2024, as chaos blooms on the American political scene, the world itself continues to be remarkably at war think of war, in fact, as humanitys middle name in both Ukraine and Gaza (with offshoots in Lebanon and Yemen). Meanwhile, this countrys now 22-year-old war on terror straggles on in its own devastating fashion, with threats of worse to come in plain sight. After all, 88 years after two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, nukes seem to be making a comeback (not that they were ever truly gone, of course). Thank you, Kim and Vlad! Im thinking of how North Korean leader Kim Jong-un implicitly threatened to nuke his nonnuclear southern neighbor recently. But also, far more significantly how, in his own version of a State of the Union address to his people, Russian President Vladimir Putin very publicly threatened to employ nukes from his countrys vast arsenal (assumedly tactical ones, some of which are more powerful than the atomic bombs that ended World War II), should any European countries think France send their troops into Ukraine. And dont forget that, amid all of this, my own countrys military, eternally hiking its defense budget, continues to prepare in a big-time fashion for a future war with yes China! Of course, that country is, in turn, rushing to upgrade its own nuclear arsenal and the rest of its military machine as well. Only recently, for instance, the U.S. and Japan held joint military maneuvers that, as they openly indicated for the first time, were aimed at preparing for just such a future conflict with China and you cant get much more obvious than that. Another World War? Oh, and when it comes to war, I havent even mentioned, for instance, the devastating civil war in Sudan that has nothing to do with any of the major powers. Yes, we humans just cant seem to stop making war while, to the tune of untold trillions of dollars globally, preparing for ever more of it. And the truly strange thing is this: it seems to matter not at all that the very world on which humanity has done so forever and a day is now itself being unsettled in a devastating way that no military of any sort, armed in any fashion, will ever be able to deal with. Lets admit it: we humans have always had a deep urge to make war. Of course, logically speaking, we shouldnt continue to do so, and not just for all the obvious reasons but because were on a planet that cant take it anymore. (Yes, making war or simply preparing for it means putting staggering amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and so, quite literally, making war on the planet itself.) But as both history and the present moment seem to indicate all too decisively we just cant stop ourselves. In the process, while hardly noticing, it seems as if weve become ever more intent on conducting a global war on this planet itself. Our weapons in that war and in their own long-term fashion, theyre likely to prove no less devastating than nuclear arms have been fossil fuels. Im thinking, of course, of coal, oil, and natural gas and the greenhouse gases that drilling for them and the use of them emit in staggering quantities even in what passes for peacetime. In the previous century, of course, there were two devastating world wars, World War I and World War II. They were global events that, in total, killed more than a hundred million of us and devastated parts of the planet. But heres the truly strange thing: while local and regional wars continue in this century in a striking fashion, few consider the way were loading the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and methane while, in the process, heating this planet disastrously as a new kind of world war. Think of climate change, in fact, as a kind of slow-motion World War III. After all, it couldnt be more global or, in the end, more destructive than a world war of the worst sort. And unlike the present wars in Gaza and Ukraine, which, even thousands of miles away, continue to be headline-making events, the war on this planet normally gets surprisingly little attention in much of the media. In fact, in 2023, a year that set striking global heat records month by month from June to December and was also the hottest year ever recorded, the major TV news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox actually cut their coverage of global warming significantly, according to Media Matters for America. If I Dont Get Elected, Its Going to Be a Blood Bath I live in New York City which, like much of the rest of the planet, set a heat record for 2023. In addition, the winter we just passed through was a record one for warmth. And I began writing this piece on a set of days in early March when the temperature in my city also hit records in the mid-60s, and when, on March 14th (not April 14th, May 14th, or even June 14th), it clocked 70-plus degrees. I was walking outside that afternoon with my shirtsleeves rolled up, my sweater in my backpack, and my spring jacket tied around my waist, feeling uncomfortably hot in my blue jeans even on the shadier side of the street. And yes, if, as my wife and I did recently, you were to walk down to the park near where we live, youd see that the daffodils are already blooming wildly as are other flowers, while the first trees are budding, including a fantastic all-purple one thats burst out fully, all of this in a fashion that might once have seemed normal sometime in April. And yes, some of what Im describing is certainly quite beautiful in the short run, but under it lies an increasingly grim reality when it comes to extreme (and extremely hot) weather. While I was working on this piece, the largest Texas fires ever (yes, ever!), continued to burn, evidently barely contained, with far more than a million acres of that states panhandle already fried to a crisp. Oh, and those record-setting Canadian forest fires that scorched tens of millions of acres of that country, while turning distant U.S. cities like New York into smoke hells last June have, it turns out, festered underground all winter as zombie fires. And they may burst out again in an even more devastating fashion this spring or summer. In fact, in 2023, from Hawaii to Chile to Europe, there were record wildfires of all sorts on our increasingly over-heated planet. And far worse is yet to come, something you could undoubtedly say as well about more intense flooding, more violent storms, and so on. We are, in other words, increasingly on a different planet, though you would hardly know it amid the madness of our moment. I mean, imagine this: Russia, whose leader, Vladimir Putin, clearly doesnt consider climate change a significant issue, is on pace to achieve an oil-drilling record for the second year in a row. China, despite installing far more green power than any other country, has also been using more coal than all other nations combined, and set global records for building new coal-fired power plants. Meanwhile, the third great power on this planet, despite having a president dedicated to doing something about climate change, is still the largest exporter of natural gas around and continues to produce oil at a distinctly record pace. And dont forget the five giant fossil-fuel companies, BP, Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies, which in 2023 produced oil, made profits, and rewarded shareholders at yes, you guessed it! a record pace, while the major petrostates of our world are still, according to the Guardian, planning expansions that would blow the planets carbon budget twice over. In sum, then, this world of ours only grows more dangerous by the year. And I havent even mentioned artificial intelligence, have I? As Michael Klare has written in an analysis for the Arms Control Association, the dangers of AI and other emerging military technologies are likely to expand into the nuclear realm by running up the escalation ladder or by blurring the distinction between a conventional and nuclear attack. In other words, human war-making could become both more inhuman and worse at the same time. Now, add just one more factor into the global equation. Americas European and Asian allies see U.S. leadership, dominant since 1945, experiencing a potentially epoch-ending, terminal failure, as the global Pax Americana (that had all too little to do with peace) is crumbling or do I mean overheating? What they see, in fact, is two elderly men locked in an ever more destructive, inward-looking electoral knife fight, with one of them warning ominously that if I dont get elected, its going to be a blood bath for the country. And if he isnt victorious, heres his further prediction: I dont think youre going to have another election, or certainly not an election thats meaningful. Of course, were he to be victorious the same could be true, especially since hes promised from his first day in office to drill, drill, drill, which, at this point in our history, is, by definition, to declare war on this planet! Unfortunately, Donald Trump isnt alone. All too sadly, we humans clearly have trouble focusing on the world we actually inhabit. Wed prefer to fight wars instead. Consider that the definition not just of imperial decline, but of decline period in the age of climate change. And yet, its barely news. Copyright 2024 Tom Engelhardt Via Tomdispatch.com MBABANE A woman claims she was swindled E500 000 through a fictitious investment scheme. The E500 000 was part of a substantial amount of money that was paid to her by the Road Accident Fund (RAF). RAF provides compulsory cover to all users of South African roads, citizens and foreigners, against injuries sustained or death arising from accidents involving motor vehicles within the borders of South Africa. The payment to Tsakatsile Queeneth Mamba, who is a former employee of Eswatini Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC), was paid by RAF after she was involved in a road traffic accident in the neighbouring country. She alleged that she was swindled the money by three individuals, who enticed her to invest part of the money in an alleged investment scheme, trading as Black Womens Diary, wherein they were directors. After unsuccessful engagements with the directors of the alleged investment scheme to reimburse her, Mamba has decided to seek legal recourse. Summons Defendants in the matter are Ntombi Hypencia Nhlengetfwa, Norman Mayibongwe Maseko, Winile Wendy Mdluli, Ingcebo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society, the commissioner of cooperative societies and the attorney general. In her combined summons filed at the High Court, Mamba stated that Nhlengetfwa, Maseko and Mdluli had been cited in their personal capacities and as directors of Black Womens Diary. According to the plaintiff (Mamba), the trio was purportedly responsible for orchestrating the plan to swindle her. She narrated to the court that in May 2022, around Manzini, Nhlengetfwa informed her that Ingcebo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society was an investment entity that could assist her in investing her money for good returns. She brought it to the courts attention that during the negotiations, Nhlengetfwa told her that she would, in the process, earn interest at the rate in percentages as agreed between the parties on the invested amount, which was to be payable into her (plaintiff) bank account. Account Mamba alleged that Nhlengetfwa also told her that the investment scheme would thereafter pay back and/or credit her (Mamba) bank account with the capital/lump sum she invested within a period of six months. She submitted that Nhlengetfwa further impressed upon her that this was a viable business investment, which would take care of her needs on account of her state of health. These are allegations whose veracity is still to be tested and the defendants are yet to file their papers in the event they are disputing the claim against them. The representation by the first defendant (Nhlengetfwa) was material and was made with the intention of inducing me to enter into an agreement/contract with the fifth defendant (Ingcebo Savings and Credit Cooperative Society) in respect of me investing my money, which I had been paid by the Road Accident Funds, submitted Mamba. She alleged that Nhlengetfwa was aware that the money that was to be paid to her (Mamba) by RAF was a substantial amount. She averred that, following the negotiations, the parties entered into a written agreement, by way of an application, in which she was to invest her monies with the fifth defendant for a certain specified period and in return get interest. Mamba highlighted that the material terms of the agreement, was that upon acceptance of her application, she would become a member of the fifth defendant, until the investment elapsed without any renewal. As per the agreement, I was to receive interest as per the rate in percentages signed in the application form. The monthly interest was to be credited monthly on the last day of every month into my bank account, submitted the plaintiff. Mamba mentioned that on the strength of the representation made by the trio (Nhlengetfwa, Maseko and Mdluli), on May 16, 2022, she made an online banking transfer of a total amount of E100 000 into the fifth defendants purported bank account. Furthermore, on or about June 1, 2022, and on the strength of the aforesaid representation, I deposited a sum of E400 000 into the fifth defendants bank account as investment, contended Mamba. She pointed out that the purported agreement between her and the defendants was to be for a period of six months and had now lapsed, but the defendants had failed to transfer the amount of E500 000 to her. She stated that at the time of the negotiations, Nhlengetfwa allegedly knew that the fifth defendant was their alter ego with Mdluli and Maseko. Contention It was further her contention that Nhlengetfwa only brought about the alleged investment opportunity to her, as a design to allegedly defraud her money that was paid to her by RAF as a result of serious injuries she sustained. She argued that Nhlengetfwa allegedly knew that she would not invest the money on her behalf, but same would allegedly be shared among the three of them, utilising Black Womens Diary. According to the plaintiff, the second and third defendants (Maseko and Mdluli) were at all material times aware of the falsity of the representation made by Nhlengetfwa, which was allegedly intended to induce her into transferring the money to the three of them, through the purported bank account. It was also her averment that the defendants had a duty to inform her that the representation that was previously made by Nhlengetfwa was false. She argued that despite this duty, the defendants, with intent to defraud her, did not inform her at all about the falsity of the representation made to her by Nhlengetfwa. Siphoned As a result of this false representation made by the defendants, I suffered damages in the sum of E500 000, being an amount which was siphoned illegally by the defendants from my bank account, through the false representation made by the Nhlengetfwa, she argued. The plaintiff told the court that despite several demands to the defendants, they allegedly refused and/or neglected to pay her the sum of E500 000, which was now due and payable to her. The matter is still pending in court and appearing for the plaintiff is Linda Dlamini of Linda Dlamini and Associates. By Sara Harmouch, American University, and Amira Jadoon, Clemson University | Russia is reeling from the worst terror strike on its soil in a generation following an attack on March 22, 2024, that killed at least 137 concertgoers in Moscow. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group. And despite Russian authorities expressing doubt over the claim, U.S. officials told The Associated Press that they believed ISIL-K, a South and Central Asian affiliate of the terrorist organization, was behind the assault. It comes amid heightened concern over the scope of ISIL-K activities following recent terrorist operations in countries including Iran and Pakistan. The Conversation turned to Clemson Universitys Amira Jadoon and Sara Harmouch of American University terrorism experts who have tracked the activities of ISIL-K to explain what this latest deadly attack tells us about the organizations strengths and agenda. What is ISIL-K? ISIL-K, short for Islamic State Khorasan Province, is a regional affiliate of the larger Islamic State group. The affiliate group operates primarily in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, although it has presence throughout the historical Khorasan a region that includes parts of the modern-day nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, along with other Central Asian countries. Established in 2015, ISIL-K aims to establish a physical caliphate a system of governing a society under strict Islamic Sharia law and under religious leadership in the South and Central Asian region. What to know about ISIS-K, the group that claimed the Moscow attack FRANCE 24 English Video ISIL-Ks beliefs follow the ideology of its parent organization, the Islamic State group, which promotes an extreme interpretation of Islam and sees secular government actors, as well as non-Muslim and Muslim minority civilian populations, as legitimate targets. The group is known for its extreme brutality and for targeting both government institutions and civilians, including mosques, educational institutions and public spaces. Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, ISIL-Ks key objectives have been to diminish the now-ruling Talibans legitimacy in the war-ravaged nation, assert itself as the rightful leader of the Muslim community and emerge as the principal regional adversary to regimes it deems oppressive. Moreover, the Talibans transition from an insurgency group to a governing entity left numerous militant factions in Afghanistan without a unifying force a gap that ISIL-K has aimed to fill. Why was Russia targeted by ISIL-K? ISIL-K has long framed Russia as one of its main adversaries. It has heavily featured anti-Russian rhetoric in its propaganda and has attacked Russias presence within Afghanistan. This includes a suicide attack on Russias embassy in Kabul in 2022 that left two Russian Embassy staff and six Afghans dead. The broader Islamic State group has targeted Russia for several reasons. They include long-standing grievances relating to Moscows historical interventions in Muslim-majority regions like Chechnya and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Russias partnerships with regimes opposed by the Islamic State group, notably Syria and Iran, have positioned Russia as a primary adversary in the eyes of the terrorist organization and its affiliates. In particular, Russia has been a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the beginning of Syrias civil war in 2011, providing military support to the Assad regime against various opposition groups, including the Islamic State group. This direct opposition to the terrorist group and its caliphate ambitions has rendered Russia as a prime target for retaliation. Moreover, Russias cooperation with the Taliban ISIL-Ks key nemesis in Afghanistan adds another layer of animosity. The Islamic State group views countries and groups that oppose its ideology or military objectives as enemies of Islam, including actors who seek to establish relations with the Taliban. By attacking Russian targets, ISIL-K in part seeks to deter further Russian involvement in the Middle East. But also, such attacks provide high publicity for its cause and aim to inspire its supporters worldwide. As such, for the Islamic State brand, the Moscow attack serves as retribution for perceived grievances held against Russia, while also projecting global reach. This approach can provide significant dividends, especially for its South and Central Asian affiliate, in the form of increased recruitment, funding and influence across the jihadist spectrum. What does the attack tell us about ISIL-K capabilities? The mere association of ISIL-K with this attack, whether it was directly or indirectly involved, bolsters the groups reputation. Overall, the attack signals ISIL-Ks growing influence and its determination to make its presence felt on the global stage. Being linked to a high-profile attack in a major city far from its base in Afghanistan indicates that ISIL-K can extend its operational reach either directly or through collaboration with like-minded militant factions. The scale and sophistication of the attack reflect advanced planning, coordination and execution capabilities. This only reaffirms unequivocally ISIL-Ks intent, adaptability and determination to internationalize its agenda. Similar to ISIL-Ks attack in Iran in January 2024 that left over 100 dead, this latest atrocity serves to reinforce ISIL-Ks stated commitment to the broader global jihadist agenda of the Islamic State group, and helps broaden the appeal of its ideology and recruitment campaign. How does this fit ISIL-Ks strategy? The attack in Moscow serves as a powerful recruitment and propaganda tool by attracting international media attention to the group. This allows it to remain politically relevant to its audiences across South and Central Asia, and beyond. But it also helps divert attention from local setbacks for ISIL-K. Like its parent organization Islamic State group, ISIL-K has been confronted with military defeats, loss of territory and leadership and diminishing resources. In the face of such challenges, ISIL-Ks potential links to the attack in Moscow remind observers of its persistent threat and adaptability. By targeting a major power like Russia, ISIL-K aims to project a broader message of intimidation aimed at other states involved in anti-Islamic State group operations and undermine the publics sense of security. Additionally, operations such as the Moscow attack seek to solidify ISIL-Ks position within the broader Islamic State group network, potentially securing more support and resources. More broadly, the strategy follows a process of internationalizing ISIL-Ks agenda something it has pursued with renewed vigor since 2021 by targeting the countries with a presence in Afghanistan, including Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China and Russia, marking a deliberate expansion of its operational focus beyond local borders. The Moscow attack, following the January assault in Iran, suggests that ISIL-K is intensifying efforts to export its ideological fight directly to the territories of sovereign nations. It is a calculated strategy and, as the Moscow attack has exemplified, one that has the potential to strike fear in capitals far beyond ISIL-Ks traditional base. Sara Harmouch, PhD Candidate, School of Public Affairs, American University and Amira Jadoon, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Clemson University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE American: UEC) (the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to announce the appointment of Brent Berg as its Senior Vice-President, U.S. Operations. Brent Berg is a highly qualified mining and mineral processing professional with over 27 years of experience in the minerals industry, including more than 21 years in uranium production in the United States and Canada. Mr. Berg is the former President of Cameco Resources, where he led Cameco's U.S. uranium In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") operations in Wyoming and Nebraska. This experience included management and oversight of Cameco's in-situ recovery facilities and the successful start-up and operation of the North Butte satellite ISR operation in Wyoming. Under his management, U.S. production reached over 2.6 million lbs. prior to Cameco curtailing production due to market conditions. Mr. Berg also has extensive open pit and underground mining experience, including Cameco's Key Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake operations. Amir Adnani, CEO and President stated: "Brent is a proven uranium mining professional with significant ISR production experience including many years developing and operating projects in the great state of Wyoming. He will be working with Donna Wichers, Vice President of Wyoming Operations, for the important restart of uranium production at our Christensen Ranch/Irigaray In-Situ Recovery operations in Wyoming. Brent will also be working with our other exciting ISR production growth initiatives underway in Texas." Most recently, Mr. Berg was the President and CEO of Rare Element Resources Ltd., where he was responsible for overall day-to-day management and operation of that company, including its strategic, financial and operational leadership. Mr. Berg is a Professional Engineer with a B.A.Sc. in Regional Environmental Systems Engineering from the University of Regina and an MBA from the University of Regina. In 2023, Mr. Berg completed a Master of Legal Studies, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Arizona, with a focus on mining law and policy. About Uranium Energy Corp Uranium Energy Corp is the fastest growing supplier of the fuel for the green energy transition to a low carbon future. UEC is the largest, diversified North American focused uranium company, advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly ISR uranium projects in the United States and high-grade conventional projects in Canada. The Company has two production-ready ISR hub and spoke platforms located in South Texas and Wyoming. These two production platforms are anchored by fully operational central processing plants and served by seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all their major permits in place. Additionally, the Company has diversified uranium holdings including: (1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of North American warehoused U 3 O 8 ; (2) a major equity stake in Uranium Royalty Corp., the only royalty company in the sector; and (3) a Western Hemisphere pipeline of resource stage uranium projects. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining. X (formerly known as Twitter): @UraniumEnergy Stock Exchange Information: NYSE American: UEC WKN: AJDRR ISN: US916896103 Safe Harbor Statement Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2024) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. (TSXV: MAX) (OTC Pink: MXROF) (FSE: M1D2) ("Max" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has received high-grade assay results from rock chip channel sampling collected at the AM-14 target in the AM District of its wholly-owned Cesar Copper-Silver Project in Northeast Colombia (see Figure 1). Highlights The assays at AM-14 confirm copper-silver stratiform mineralization at Cesar is extensive and demonstrate significant thickness: Results include 2.2% copper & 12.8 g/t silver over 5.2m and 4.8% copper & 53.6 g/t silver over 2.2m; AM-14 lies along a 15-km corridor of high-grade, stratiform copper silver mineralization (refer to Figure 1); Four distinct copper silver mineralized horizons have been discovered at AM-14 (refer to Figure 2). "We are elated to confirm that high-grade copper and silver assay results over substantial widths from the numerous outcrops at AM-14 not only confirm our thesis of Kupferschiefer style mineralization but also substantiate our belief that the 15-km corridor of mineralization has the potential to host a significant deposit," commented MAX CEO, Brett Matich. "MAX's field team is currently expanding the exploration foot print at AM-14 to define the limits of the copper silver mineralization and to obtain a thorough understanding of the multiple mineralized horizons both in the context of AM-14 and equally important, in the context of the Cesar Basin," he concluded. Description of the Mineralisation Mineralization is hosted in layers of medium to fine-grained sandstone rich in organic material. The copper silver bearing horizons are distributed across a 700-metre-thick package of interbedded sedimentary rocks that strike 240 to 260 and dip 30 to 45 northwest. Chalcocite, malachite and azurite are the most abundant copper minerals observed in the outcrop (refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4). All four of the outcropping mineralized beds are open along strike with copper silver bearing sandstone horizons traced for up to 285m along strike. Crews continue to map the area in deal with the goal of extending the footprint of mineralization. Assays from the two remaining outcrops discovered at AM-14 are pending and will be released when received. Figure 1: Image showing 15-km corridor of high-grade copper silver mineralization at AM. Figure 2: Image Showing Location of 4 Mineralized Horizons at AM-14 Figure 3: Results from Recently Discovered Mineralized Outcrop Target AM-14. Figure 4: Newly Discovered Mineralized Outcrop at Target AM-14. Figure 5: Image Showing Recent Assay Results at Target AM-14 Results Assay results from continuous chip channel samples collected at two different locations at the AM-14 target are presented in Table 1 and Table 2 below. Table 1: Assay Results from Sandstone Outcrop at AM-14 Sample Number UTM Coordinates (WGS84 Z18N) Host Rock Width Cu Ag Easting (m) Northing (m) (m) % (g/t) 504583 760,453 1,214,550 Sandstone 1.2 2.02 20.04 504584 760,453 1,214,549 Sandstone 1.0 7.40 93.90 Weighted Average Assay Result 2.2 4.8 53.6 Table 2: Assay Results from Mineralized Sandstone Outcrop at AM-14 Sample Number UTM Coordinates (WGS84 Z18N) Host Rock Width Cu Ag Easting (m) Northing (m) (m) % (g/t) 511174 761233.00 1214319.00 Sandstone 1.0 2.92 13.4 511175 761233.14 1214318.01 Sandstone 1.0 1.54 12.1 511176 761233.28 1214317.02 Sandstone 1.0 2.16 12.3 511177 761233.42 1214316.03 Sandstone 1.0 3.97 26.4 511178 761233.56 1214315.04 Sandstone 1.2 0.63 2.1 Weighted Average Assay Result 5.2 2.2 12.8 Quality Assurance All CESAR rock chip samples are shipped to ALS Lab's sample preparation facility in Medellin, Colombia. Sample pulps sent to Lima, Peru, for analysis. All samples were analyzed using ALS procedure ME-MS41, a four-acid digestion with inductively coupled plasma finished. Over-limit copper and silver are determined by ALS procedure OG-62, a four-acid digestion with an atomic absorption spectroscopy finish. ALS Labs is independent from Max. Background The Cesar Copper Silver Project comprises three districts: AM, Conejo and URU. Collectively the three contiguous districts stretch over 120-km in NNE/SSW direction (refer to Figure 6). This region provides access to major infrastructure resulting from oil & gas and mining operations, including Cerrejon, the largest coal mine in South America, held by global miner Glencore. Max's twenty mining concessions collectively span over 188-km. In 2022, Max executed a 2-year co-operation agreement with Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX: EDR) (NYSE: EXK), which assists to expand its 100% owned landholdings, Endeavour will hold an underlying 0.5% NSR. Figure 6: Location and Scale of the Cesar Copper Silver Project, NE Colombia. AM District Starting in the far north of the Jurassic basin, classic stacked red bed outcrops with extensive lateral continuity have been rock sampled over many kilometres within the AM District. Highlight values of 34.4% copper and 305 g/t silver have been documented in the sedimentary red bed sequences. The Company confirmed that stratiform mineralization continues at depth with two scout drill holes completed earlier this year (Max News Release dated April 4, 2023). In addition, Colombian field crews continue to discover and sample new mineralized outcrops including at the recently identified AM-7 target (Max News Release dated May 25, 2023 and Max News Release dated June 22, 2023). Conejo District Midway south, the Conejo District is the most recent to be recognized and is characterized by structurally controlled mineralization hosted in intermediate and felsic volcanic rocks. Numerous mineralized outcrops have been discovered over 3.7-km at the primary target in the district with surface samples averaging 4.9% copper (2% cut-off). No drilling has been conducted at Conejo, but it has emerged as an area of focus for the Company. URU District Mineralization within the URU District is hosted in intermediate volcanic rocks and is structurally controlled, similar to deposits in the Central African Copper Belt. At URU-C, a 9.0m of 7.0% copper and 115 g/t silver surface discovery was confirmed at depth by drill hole URU-12, which intersected 10.6m of 3.4% copper and 48 g/t silver. At the URU-CE target, 750m to the east, 19.0m of 1.3% copper discovered in outcrop was confirmed by drill hole URU-9, which intersected a broad zone of copper oxide returning 33.0m of 0.3% copper from 4.0m, including 16.5m of 0.5% copper (Max News Release date January 24, 2023). CESAR Target Evaluation Max has identified and is evaluating 28 targets along the 120-km-long belt for potential drill testing. The Company is focused on expanding, refining, and prioritizing these targets in preparation for a drill program. Initial efforts have been concentrated on those targets with the greatest size potential with work that includes the following field activities: Systematic chip and channel sampling of the mineralized outcrops. Detailed geological and structural mapping of each showing. Target scale prospecting and soil sampling. Airborne Magnetic/Radiometric Surveys. Regional Exploration Max has demonstrated that the Cesar basin is fertile for copper-silver mineralization over a large area; however, only a fraction of the basin has been explored. As a result, Max has dedicated one of its geological teams to regional exploration with the goal of discovering additional copper-silver prospects within its land package covering more than 1,000 sq-km. Qualified Person The Company's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release was reviewed and approved by Tim Henneberry, P.Geo (British Columbia), a member of the Max Resource advisory board, who serves as a qualified person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. About Max Resource Corp. Max Resource Corp. (TSXV: MAX) is a mineral exploration company advancing the newly discovered district-scale Cesar copper-silver project. The wholly owned Cesar project sits along the Colombian portion of the world's largest producing copper belt (Andean belt), with world-class infrastructure and the presence of global majors (Glencore and Chevron). In addition, Max controls the RT Gold project (100% earn-in) in Peru, encompassing a bulk tonnage primary gold porphyry zone, and 3-km to the NW, a gold bearing massive sulphide zone. Historic drilling in 2001, returned values ranging 3.1 to 118.1 g/t gold over core lengths ranging from 2.2 to 36.0m. Max is proactive, with the corporate goal of transitioning the Cesar basin towards the mining of copper, the key metal for Colombia's transition to clean energy. The safety of our people and the communities where we operate is most important. We conduct exploration in a manner which supports protection of ecosystems through responsible environmental stewardship. Source: NI 43:101 Geological Report RT Gold Project for Max Resource Corp. by Luis Rodrigo Peralta, Mar. 8, 2023. NI 43:101 Geological Report Rio Tabaconas Gold Project for Golden Alliance Resources Corp. by George Sivertz, Oct.3, 2011. For more information visit: https://www.maxresource.com/. For additional information contact: Tim McNulty E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. T: (604) 290-8100 Rahim Lakha E. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Brett Matich T: (604) 484 1230 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. Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-Looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-Looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the TSXV. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for Max Resources Corp. described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedarplus.ca. Highlights: The Company has commenced its fourth phase of fieldwork at the White Willow Lithium Pegmatite Project with the goal of further defining its drill-ready "Maple Leaf" and "Bingo" LCT dykes prior to commencing its maiden drill program in the Spring. Phase 3 was completed in January. A total of 727 grab samples were collected as part of detailed mapping and prospecting over 10 weeks that successfully extended the potential strike of the LCT pegmatite trend to approximately >27 km, still open at both ends. Assays results will be released shortly following final compilation and interpretation. Fractionation indicators suggest the dykes at Bingo and at Maple Leaf have reached spodumene-type degrees of fractionation. Select highlight results from targets identified to-date include up to 0.5% Li 2 O (2,310 ppm), 1,833 ppm cesium, 120,000 ppm tantalum and 4,100 ppm rubidium. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Usha Resources Ltd. ("USHA" or the "Company") (TSXV:USHA) (OTCQB:USHAF) (FSE:JO0), a North American mineral acquisition and exploration company, is pleased to provide this update on its on-going field program at the White Willow Lithium Pegmatite Project ("White Willow" or the "Project") located 170 km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Phase 4 of fieldwork at the Project has commenced with the goal of further defining its drill-ready "Maple Leaf" and "Bingo" LCT dykes prior to commencing its maiden drill program in the Spring. In total, 10 target pegmatites have been identified across 19 weeks of fieldwork at the Project. Most recently, the Company completed Phase 3 in January where in 10 weeks it collected and submitted a total of 727 grab samples from pegmatites and their host rocks for laboratory analysis as part of detailed mapping and prospecting to identify geochemical anomalies associated with lithium mineralization not visible at surface. The Company will shortly release the results of Phase 3 following final compilation and interpretation. Phase 4 was initiated immediately based on its preliminary review of assay data from Phase 3 as milder winter conditions permitted early access to the Project. "We are thrilled with the findings from the most recent phase of fieldwork at White Willow and are very excited to continue to build on our success," said Deepak Varshney, CEO of Usha Resources. "As seen at Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette Project, which has over 20 kilometres of trend, lithium pegmatite swarms occur in clusters, each of which has the potential to become a deposit. With 10 existing primary target areas already identified across our 27-kilometre-plus trend, we believe Phase 4 will contribute significantly in defining these targets ahead of our planned maiden program of 4,000 metres. The findings thus far strongly validate our belief that Willow is a flagship asset where Ontario's next major lithium discovery will occur and we look forward to sharing further updates in the coming weeks and months." Figure 1 - Property map of the White Willow property and extent of the pegmatite swarm. Fieldwork will focus across the 27 km strike length of fractionated pegmatites, particularly at Bingo, where preliminary results have returned some of the most evolved chemical signatures on the property of K/Rb~20; Nb/Ta <1; 4,100ppm Rb; and 954 ppm Cs, and Maple Leaf, where samples have assayed 14.64% Ta 2 O 5 and very coarse tantalite mineralization is present that is similar to the North Aubrey pegmatite at Green Technology Metals (GT1) Seymour Lake Project where GT1 has identified a 9.9 Mt resource at 1.04% Li2O. Detailed sampling and hand stripping have successfully identified beryl and Nb-Ta oxides at these targets and fractionation indicators suggest the dykes have reached spodumene-type degrees of fractionation. Preliminary results show lithium (Li), cesium (Cs), and rubidium (Rb) elevations in the metasedimentary host rocks around the beryl-type pegmatites with up to 450 ppm Li were returned in the metasedimentary rocks adjacent to the largest of the beryl-type dykes. Lithogeochemical sampling of pegmatite host rocks is one of the most common techniques to test for buried spodumene mineralization. Pegmatites leave a recognizable chemical halo in the surrounding country rocks, and this halo is reflective of the chemistry of the pegmatite. By sampling the country rocks in a systematic grid, Usha plans to identify the areas of the Bingo and Maple Leaf pegmatite swarms that have the highest chance of hosting spodumene. The preliminary results have returned up to 450 ppm Li along the margins of beryl- and tantalum-bearing pegmatites, suggesting that the evolved pegmatites are part of a lithium enriched system. Property Transaction The Company is also pleased to announce that it has entered into two separate option agreements with arm's-length parties ("Option #1 and Option #2", collectively, the "Options") to acquire a 100% interest in certain 107 mineral claims (the "Claims") adjacent to its priority "Bingo" LCT-pegmatite swarm. There is no net-smelter returns royalty (the "NSR") on the claims. The Company will issue 12,000,000 common shares to the Vendors of Option #1 and 3,000,000 common shares to the Vendors of Option #2 within five days of receipt of approval from the TSX Venture Exchange. The transactions contemplated, including the issuance of the Shares, are subject to the final approval of the Exchange. The Shares will be subject to the applicable hold periods in accordance with securities laws in Canada and the Exchange policies. Quality Assurance/Quality Control All collected rock samples were put in sturdy plastic bags, tagged, and sealed at site. Sample bags were then put in rice bags and kept securely before being sent by road transport or delivered by the crew supervisor to either AGAT Laboratories Ltd. or Activation Laboratories in Thunder Bay, Ontario. All samples are analyzed with Four-Acid Digestion/Combined ICP-AES/MS package (49 elements). The QA/QC protocol included the insertion and monitoring of appropriate reference materials, in this case high concentration and low concentration certified OREAS and CDN lithium standards to validate the accuracy and precision of the assay results. Qualified person The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Andrew Tims, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. About Usha Resources Ltd. Usha Resources Ltd. is a North American mineral acquisition and exploration company focused on the development of quality lithium metal properties that are drill-ready with high-upside and expansion potential. Based in Vancouver, BC, Usha's portfolio of strategic properties provides target-rich diversification and includes Jackpot Lake, a lithium brine project in Nevada and White Willow, a lithium pegmatite project in Ontario that is the flagship among its growing portfolio of hard-rock lithium assets. Usha trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol USHA, the OTCQB Exchange under the symbol USHAF and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol JO0. USHA RESOURCES LTD. For more information, please call email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit www.usharesources.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking statements: This news release may include "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and are based on a number of estimates and/or assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking information are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, uncertain and volatile equity and capital markets, lack of available capital, actual results of exploration activities, environmental risks, future prices of base and other metals, operating risks, accidents, labour issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, and other risks in the mining industry. The Company is presently an exploration stage company. Exploration is highly speculative in nature, involves many risks, requires substantial expenditures, and may not result in the discovery of mineral deposits that can be mined profitably. Furthermore, the Company currently has no reserves on any of its properties. As a result, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:ARK) ("Arras" or "the Company") is pleased to introduce the results of its soil sampling program over the Aimandai Target, located within its Elemes Project ("Elemes" or the "Project") in northeastern Kazakhstan. The Elemes project is composed of several mineral licences that are 100% owned by Arras and not included in the Teck-Arras Strategic Exploration Alliance announced on December 7, 2023. Highlights from the Soil Sampling program Identified a second, unexplored 14 km x 3.2 km NE-SW trending coherent copper ("Cu") anomaly (>100ppm) called the "Aimandai Target" located within the Elemes Project. Large, overlapping Arsenic ("As") anomaly interpreted to be associated with an intermediate - to high sulphidation epithermal system indicating a preserved porphyry system. Field mapping and sampling has identified coincident altered rocks typical of a porphyry alteration system that has never been drill tested. The Aimandai Target is a parallel copper anomaly to the "Berezski Target," which Arras announced on February 22, 2024. The Berezski Target is an 8.8-kilometer-long copper anomaly with historical drilling that has yielded notable results such as 132 meters at 0.80% CuEq and 108 meters at 0.94% CuEq from surface. Both the Berezski Target and the Aimandai Target are located within the Elemes Project. Tim Barry, CEO of Arras Minerals stated, "Our Elemes Project is starting to yield some very exciting potential. Recently we announced the "Berezski Target", an 8.8-kilometer-long copper-in-soil anomaly with historical drill holes spread over a 5-kilometer strike of this anomaly, which intercepted 132.6m @ 0.80% CuEq and 108m @ 0.94% CuEq from surface. In this news release we are now announcing a second parallel copper-in-soil anomaly called the "Aimandai Target", that stretches over a remarkable 14-kilometer strike and is associated with "at surface" porphyry-style alteration that has never been drilled. The large alteration zone and associated arsenic anomaly suggests preservation of the upper and generally higher-grade parts of a porphyry system. In summary, we have now defined what appears to be two parallel, multi-kilometer porphyry-epithermal targets (the Aimandai and Berezski targets) on the Elemes Project, which we intend to develop further in 2024." Figure 1. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8-kilometer long Berezski Copper Targets are shown as NE-SW trending copper soil anomalies. The location of historical drill holes is also shown on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly. Figure 2. Soil sampling alteration map on the Elemes project. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8 kilometer long Berezski Targets are shown as NE-SW trending zones which correspond to the mapped alteration. Also shown is the location of historical drill holes on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly. Figure 3. Soil anomaly maps showing copper (Cu), and arsenic (As) for the Berezski and Aimandai Targets located within the Elemes Project. The new Aimandai Target copper soil anomaly highlights a second, 14-kilometer-long parallel porphyry system to the Berezski Target that has never been drill tested. The Soil Sampling Program In 2023, a comprehensive soil sampling program was undertaken across the Elemes License area. This program specifically targeted the well-developed "B soil horizon" utilizing a 50-meter sample interval and 200-meter line spacing grid. This press release announces the analysis results from the final 14,000 samples from this program. The 2023 program collected approximately 31,000 samples were collected and covered an area of 328.5 square kilometers and was completed in November 2023. The soil analysis was conducted utilizing a Portable X-ray fluorescence device ("pXRF"), a widely employed instrument for determining the elemental composition of samples. Due to the limited sampling area of the pXRF, the results presented in this release are considered "indicative" rather than fully quantitative regarding mineralization. Despite this limitation, the results have revealed a substantial and coherent copper-in-soil anomaly, with copper concentrations exceeding 100 ppm. Background copper in the area is less than 20 ppm. This anomaly stretches over a remarkable distance of more than 14 kilometers in a northeast to southwest direction and extends to approximately 3.2 kilometers in width from east to west. Limited historic drilling has occurred to the south of this new anomaly exploring a series of outcropping low-sulphidation Au-bearing quartz veins. The Berezski and Aimandai Targets: are located within the 531 square kilometer Elemes Project. The Project benefits from excellent modern infrastructure and ease of accessibility, being located only 20 kilometers from Arras' operational base in the city of Ekibastuz, northeastern Kazakhstan. A paved highway runs through the license, and within 5 km of the two targets. 1100 KVA power lines and heavy rail all lie within a 15-kilometer radius of the project. The Elemes Project is located within the Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt that also hosts the Beskauga porphyry copper-gold-silver project approximately 80 km to the east, and KAZ Minerals' Bozshakol porphyry copper-gold mine approximately 60 km to the northwest. Figure 4. Arras's License Package showing Arras-Teck Strategic Alliance Areas as "Package A" and "Package B" as well as the Elemes and Beskauga Projects and the Tay license which are 100% owned by Arras. Sampling Methodology Samples were collected on a 50m (East-west) by 200m (north-south) grid spacings. Samples were collected from hand-dug pits, trying to consistently sample the B horizon. Approximately 500 grams of material was collected and sieved (5mm mesh size) to review larger particles and organic matter. Following collection, the samples were bagged, dried, and analyzed by the company with a Portable Niton XL5 X-ray fluorescence analyzer at the company's core storage facility in Ekibastuz. Assay, QAQC Procedures Analysis was conducted using the company's two Niton XL5 portable XRF units. Units were calibrated at the start and end of each work shift as well as after every 100 samples to verify accuracy. In addition, a measurement from a certified reference material was taken every 20 measurements to ensure accuracy and repeatability of data. In addition, prior to commencement of the measurements, 100 duplicate samples were analyzed using both units to confirm that both units were producing accurate results and that no bias was present in either of the units. All soil material is stored at Arras' warehouse in Ekibastuz, and the company plans to send a proportion of these samples to ALS Chemex in Karaganda, Kazakhstan for reanalysis with a 4-acid digest ICP-MS61 analysis and for trace gold analysis (using Au-ST43). Qualified Person The scientific and technical disclosure for this news release has been prepared under supervision of and approved by Matthew Booth, Vice President of Exploration, of Arras Minerals Corp., a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101. Mr. Booth has over 19 years of mineral exploration experience and is a Qualified Person member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG 12044). On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim Barry" Tim Barry, MAusIMM CP(Geo) Chief Executive Officer and Director INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Further information can be found on: the Company's website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals or or follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/arrasminerals About Arras Minerals Corp. Arras is a Canadian exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project. The Company has established the third-largest license package in the country prospective for copper and gold (behind Rio Tinto and Fortescue). In December 2023, the Company entered into a strategic alliance with Teck Resources ("Teck") in which Teck will sole fund a US$5 million generative exploration program over a portion of the Arras license package in 2024-2025 focusing on critical minerals. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX-V under the trading symbol "ARK". Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources This press release uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources", and "inferred resources" which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. The Company advises U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically minable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Arras' future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding plans and expectations of the exploration program Arras is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Arras' exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras' management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "may," variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond management's control, including undertaking further exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities and that such results support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Management Discussion and Analysis filed on the Company's profile on SEDAR on February 28, 2024 and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2023 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 28, 2024 available on www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Relevant Gold Corp. (TSXV:RGC) (OTCQB:RGCCF) (the "Company" or "Relevant Gold") is pleased to report release of data from the 2023 airborne magnetics geophysical survey flown by the Wyoming Geological Survey (WSGS) and US Geological Survey (USGS). The regional survey covered the Company's entire 16,000-hectare portfolio of projects and reveals structural and geological detail far surpassing existing mapping (figure 1). Importantly, some of the most prominent anomalies highlighted by the survey are major structures at South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (Figure 2). The survey shows patterns very similar to those of Canada's Abitibi Gold Province and provides strong support for the Company's exploration thesis that Wyoming has Abitibi-style geology and gold potential. Key takeaways from the magnetic data (see geophysics presentation): The magnetic data provides far more detail than existing regional geologic maps (figure 1). The overall results show strong similarities to the Abitibi Gold Province, especially the Red Lake, Hemlo, and Canadian Malartic districts. The magnetic data highlight the major Archean orogenic structures of Wyoming that coincide with historical mining districts. The magnetic data agree very well with the Company's detailed mapping. The two most prominent structural/magnetic anomalies are at Relevant Gold's South Pass and Bradley Peak camps. South Pass and Bradley Peak are clearly connected along a regional primary structure (figure 2). Secondary structures revealed at both South Pass & Bradley Peak camps coincide with known high-grade gold occurrences. The magnetics support Relevant Gold's target concepts and show where to tighten targets at South Pass (figure 4). The strength of the 100 km2 Bradley Peak anomaly strongly encourages expediting drill permitting (figure 3). "The superb detail revealed by this government-sponsored survey is a huge step forward in understanding Wyoming's Archean geology, mirroring what's seen in Canada's prolific Abitibi Gold Province. A big thank you to the State of Wyoming and USGS for investing in mineral resource development in the state," said Brian Lentz, Relevant Gold's Chief Exploration Officer. "These initial processed results really strengthen Wyoming's connections to the Abitibi while showing that South Pass and Bradley Peak lie on Wyoming's structural Main Street - giving us some of the best discovery opportunities in the state. We look forward to more detailed processing of the data to see what else it can show us, but Bradley Peak appears to be a monster 100 km2 structural trap which coincides closely with high-grade targets we recently generated; we look forward to accelerating exploration there!" Figure 1. Modified Geologic map of Wyoming (Love and Christiansen, 1985) with the vertical derivative of the 2023 airborne magnetics survey overlain (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024). Figure 2. Regional airborne magnetic vertical derivative interpolation map (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024) with major structural features, high-grade targets, and the Company's two primary gold camps highlighted. About the Survey This survey was funded jointly by the State of Wyoming and the US Geological Survey as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (aka Earth MRI) and is the first of three regional aerial geophysical surveys being conducted in Wyoming (figure 1). Magnetic and radiometric data was collected over approximately 3,300 square miles (~854,000 hectares) in central Wyoming using 200m spaced flight lines-it includes Relevant Gold's entire ~16,000 ha landholdings (Press Release - May 24, 2023). Airborne geophysical surveys are commonly employed in gold-bearing Archean terranes like the Abitibi of Canada. The technique can "see" through extensive cover and reveal remarkable details of the major geology and structural trends that control gold mineralization. Data produced from the Wyoming survey provides a much clearer picture of the geology and highlights targets within both the South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (figures 1 and 2). The magnetic survey data provides clear resolution on the nature and extent of major Archean crustal-scale structures and highlights important related secondary structures. Understanding these structural features is critical in gold exploration as they are the primary controls for orogenic gold emplacement. Some of the most notable geophysical signatures within the survey highlight the South Pass and Bradley Peak areas (figure 2). This high-resolution geophysical data ties very well to the detailed mapping completed by the Company in both gold camps where regional geologic data is limited. In 2023, the company completed an initial mapping and rock chip sampling program at Bradley Peak identifying 3 new district-scale targets. The rock chip sampling returned high-grade results, highlighted by 5.3 g/t Au, 107 g/t Ag, and 6.25% Cu (see full Press Release - Nov 7, 2023). The geophysical survey outlines the structural trap for these targets in the center of a major 100 km2 anomaly (figure 3). The survey illustrates a very large (100 km2) fold hinge structure developed off the crustal-scale Oregon Trail Structural Belt affecting Archean rocks including, iron formation, mafic greenstones, mafic intrusives, felsic intrusives, komatiites, and others. This rock assemblage and type of structure is known as the primary host for numerous gold deposits in the Abitibi, with strong similarities to the Red Lake district and Hemlo districts. Over South Pass the magnetic data illustrates numerous major structures cutting Relevant Gold's property and agrees closely to the Company's detailed mapping and high-grade gold targets (figure 4). Importantly, this data confirms the Company's model for South Pass and continues to tighten targets throughout the camp. The geophysical signatures, geology, and mineralization at South Pass display strong similarities to the Canadian Malartic region along the Cadillac-Larder Lake deformation zone in the southern Abitibi gold belts (geophysics presentation). The Company will begin more detailed processing of the data for each property area, with ground truthing based on mapped geology to tease out key details and connections between the geology and gold. Figure 3. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of Bradley Peak Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Figure 4. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of South Pass Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Qualified Person All technical information has been reviewed by Mr. Brian Lentz, CPG, who is the Chief Exploration Officer and Qualified Person for the Company according to the 43-101 disclosure requirements. About Relevant Gold Corp. Relevant Gold Corp. is a North American gold exploration company founded by experienced exploration geologists and operated by a highly respected team with a proven record of significant value creation for shareholders. Relevant Gold is focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery, and development of district-scale gold projects in the state of Wyoming - one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions in the United States and globally. On behalf of Relevant Gold Corp., Rob Bergmann, Chief Executive Officer More information For further information about Relevant Gold Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at www.relevantgoldcorp.com or contact Rob Bergmann, President and CEO, or Kristopher Jensen, Manager of Investor Relations, at 763-760-4886 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Historical Information This news release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events of Relevant Gold Corp. ("Relevant" or "Relevant Gold" or "the Company"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "outlook" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks include, among others, the inherent risk of the mining industry; adverse economic and market developments; the risk that the Company will not be successful in completing additional acquisitions; risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; the possibility that the Company's estimated burn rate may be higher than anticipated; risks of unexpected cost increases; risks of labour shortages; risks relating to exploration and development activities; risks relating to future prices of mineral resources; risks related to work site accidents, risks related to geological uncertainties and variations; risks related to government and community support of the company's projects; risks related to global pandemics and other risks related to the mining industry. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking information should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation, to update any forwardlooking information except as required by law. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities of the Company in Canada, the United States, or any other jurisdiction. Any such offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein will be made only pursuant to subscription documentation between the Company and prospective purchasers. Any such offering will be made in reliance upon exemptions from the prospectus and registration requirements under applicable securities laws, pursuant to a subscription agreement to be entered into by the Company and prospective investors. The scientific and technical contents of this release have been approved by Mr. Brian C. Lentz, CPG #11999, Chief Exploration Officer of the Company, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Lentz is not independent of the Company. Winter regional exploration drill program complete; Results warrant follow-up on key targets on prolific trend KELOWNA, BC, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - FISSION URANIUM CORP. ("Fission" or "the Company") is pleased to announce completion of the winter 2024 exploration drill program at its PLS high-grade uranium project, in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan, Canada. A total of 15 holes (~5,567m) were completed on six separate target areas. The target areas were located along strike to the east (East Extension) and to the west (Bridle & Saddle) of the Triple R deposit as well as parallel shear structures located to the north (Holster and Pistol) as well as to the south (Saloon) of Triple R. Drilling encountered highly prospective features considered essential to the presence of high-grade uranium mineralization such as favorable lithology, large-scale hydrothermal alteration, graphitic shear zones and in some cases elevated radioactivity on the various target areas. Based on the results of the winter program, multiple target areas on the PLS Corridor will be prioritized for follow up drilling in subsequent programs. Drilling Highlights Winter exploration drilling complete with multiple holes intersecting anomalous radioactivity in association with hydrothermal alteration and favorable lithostratigraphic and structural features: Both holes at the Saloon target were deemed highly prospective particularly considering they are west along trend of the recent "PCE" high-grade discovery All 7 holes at the Far East target hit anomalous features considered prospective and proximal to the presence of nearby uranium mineralization, including 4 holes with anomalous radioactivity Highly prospective geology was encountered at the Pistol and Saddle target areas Ross McElroy, CEO for Fission, commented, "This is an extremely encouraging start to the renewed exploration activity at PLS. With anomalous radioactivity in multiple holes, we are very excited to have a number of high-priority target areas identified for follow up drilling. I particularly want to highlight the fact that these results are from regional exploration drilling. While our Triple R deposit continues to advance towards production on time and on schedule, we believe the PLS project has a lot more to give, and these drill results speak clearly to that potential." Map 1: 2024 Winter Final Diamond Drill Hole Location Table 1: Drill Hole Summary Collar Downhole Gamma Probe Results (>300 cps / >0.1M minimum) TARGET AREA HOLE ID Easting (UTM NAD83) Northing (UTM NAD83) Elevation (masl) Az Dip Lake Depth (m) Basement Unconformity Depth (m) Total Drillhole Depth (m) From (m) To (m) Width (m) CPS Peak Range Saloon PLS24-638 595434 6385561 549 326 -66 NA 130.7 530.0 295.9 296.4 0.5 301.0 - 578.9 PLS24-641 595608 6385696 550 327 -71 NA 122.8 491.0 No anomalous radioactivity East Extension PLS24-639 600388 6390455 498 337 -67 4.8 50.0 293.0 223.6 224.0 0.4 302.6 - 492.8 PLS24-640 600366 6390500 498 337 -58 4.9 59.2 149.0 No anomalous radioactivity PLS24-644 600354 6390512 498 345 -51 4.9 66.6 104.0 61.7 62.1 0.4 302.6 - 350.6 PLS24-646 600335 6390497 498 342 -41 3.0 74.9 95.0 No anomalous radioactivity PLS24-646A 600335 6390497 498 338 -45 3.0 77.0 110.0 No anomalous radioactivity PLS24-647 600395 6390501 498 335 -45 4.9 70.8 179.0 88.1 88.8 0.7 269.6 - 361.7 PLS24-648 600396 6390436 498 336 -66 7.2 52.8 380.0 240.7 241.00 0.3 305.8 - 411.9 Pistol PLS24-642 598434 6390496 498 340 -67 6.4 63.9 779.0 No anomalous radioactivity PLS24-650 598777 6390548 498 19 -56 7.6 69.0 932.0 No anomalous radioactivity Saddle PLS24-649 593810 6387807 554 333 -75 NA 150.9 365.0 No anomalous radioactivity Bridle PLS24-643 595580 6388810 552 331 -72 NA 124.0 282.5 No anomalous radioactivity PLS24-645 594857 6388266 549 322 -58 NA 133.0 269.5 No anomalous radioactivity Holster PLS24-637 597091 6389989 517 337 -74 NA 79.0 608.7 No anomalous radioactivity Technical Summary for All Target Areas Saloon Target (Holes PLS24-638 and PLS24-641 for a total of 1,021m) Both holes hit anomalous radioactivity in strongly altered (clay, chlorite, hematite, graphite, silica) structural deformation zones. Anomalous radioactivity and alteration at Saloon has now been identified over 50m in the down-dip direction and 220m along strike, suggesting a major hydrothermal fluid pathway which contains uranium mineralization. The Saloon shear zone is on trend to the west with the recent high-grade "PCE" discovery (hole RK-24-183) reported at NexGen's SW2 property. Drill results demonstrate the Saloon target is highly prospective and warrants follow up. East Extension Target (Holes PLS24-639, PLS24-640, PLS24-644, PLS24-646/646A, PLS24-647 and PLS24-648) for a total of 1,310m) All seven holes hit anomalous radioactivity up to + 490 cps in the same graphitic shear zone, the "main shear zone", that hosts the Triple R pods to the west. There is pervasive strong clay alteration and structural deformation in the Far East holes. Drill results demonstrate the East Extension target is highly prospective and warrants follow up. Pistol Target (Holes PLS24-642 and PLS24-650 for a total of 1,711m) PLS24-642 intersected potentially the same hanging wall stratigraphy as the nearby Arrow deposit, and hosted zones of wet rock alteration, dravite breccia and rose quartz, all of which are reported to have a close spatial relationship to uranium mineralization at Arrow. A series of graphitic shear zones, which are likely an extension of the same host rocks as Arrow was intersected below the previously noted features. No uranium mineralization was intersected in this hole but results nevertheless contain very positive signs. PLS24-650 was drilled 340m northeast along trend and intersected a wide zone of wet rock style alteration starting at 339m with potential rose quartz but no dravite or graphitic shear zones. Drill results demonstrate the Pistol target is highly prospective and warrants follow up. Saddle Target (Hole PLS24-649 for a total of 365m) Located west along trend of the Triple R high-grade pods, PLS24-649 hit a silicified hanging wall, underlain by a thick sequence of graphite, chlorite, clay and hematite altered gneissic rocks, which are equivalents to the Triple R host rocks (i.e., same stratigraphy and similar alteration as Triple R host rocks). This is significant as it is the first time that drilling has intercepted the same rocks and alteration as Triple R west of the R1515W zone. Drill results demonstrate the Saddle target is highly prospective and warrants follow up. Holster Target (Hole PLS24-637 for a total of 609m) The drillhole intersected a thick sequence of variably silicified, clay, chlorite and sericite altered quartz-feldspar-biotite-garnet gneiss and dioritic gneiss, with local sections of abundant semi-massive to massive sulphide minerals. A 0.5m lens of elevated radioactivity was intersected at 95m in pervasively chlorite altered gneissic rocks, returning up to 320 cps but is suspected to be due to thorium, rather than uranium. Bridle Target (Holes PLS24-643 and PLS24-645 for a total of 552m) PLS24-643 and PLS24-645 tested the PLV-3A EM conductor approximately 1km and 1.6km west of R1515W respectively, along the same EM conductor that hosts the Triple R deposits where interpreted faults identified from resistivity crosscut the conductor. Both of the drillholes intersected variably chlorite, silica and hematite altered quartz-feldspar-biotite-garnet gneiss and mafic rocks throughout their length. A graphitic, strongly deformed fault zone was intersected in PLS24-643, no similar fault zone was intersected in PLS24-645. Natural gamma radiation that is reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a Mount Sopris 2GHF-1000 Triple Gamma probe, which allows for accurate measurements in high grade mineralized zones. The reader is cautioned that gamma probe readings are not directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured, and should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive materials. In addition, natural gamma radiation was measured in counts per second (cps) using a hand-held RS-125 Scintillometer, manufactured by Radiation Solutions, which is capable of discriminating readings up to 65,535 cps. All intersections are down-hole depths. All depths reported of core interval measurements including radioactivity and mineralization intervals widths are not always representative of true thickness. Samples from the drill core will be split in half sections on site and where possible, samples will be standardized at 0.5m down-hole intervals. One-half of the split sample will be sent to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories (an SCC ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accredited Facility) in Saskatoon, SK for analysis which includes U 3 O 8 (wt %) and fire assay for gold, and includes a 63 element ICP-OES analysis and boron. The other half of the split core remains on site for reference. PLS Mineralized Trend & Triple R Deposit Summary Uranium mineralization of the Triple R deposit at PLS occurs within the Patterson Lake Conductive Corridor and has been traced by core drilling over ~3.18km of east-west strike length in five separated mineralized "zones", which collectively make up the Triple R deposit. From west to east, these zones are R1515W, R840W, R00E, R780E and R1620E. Through successful exploration programs completed to date, Triple R has evolved into a large, near-surface, basement-hosted, structurally controlled high-grade uranium deposit. The discovery hole was announced on November 05, 2012, with drill hole PLS12-022 from what is now referred to as the R00E zone. The R1515W, R840W and R00E zones make up the western region of the Triple R deposit and are located on land, where overburden thickness is generally between 55m to 100 m. R1515W is the westernmost of the zones and is drill defined to ~90m in strike length, ~68m across strike and ~220m vertical and where mineralization remains open in several directions. R840W is located ~515m to the east along the strike of R1515W and has a drill-defined strike length of ~430m. R00E is located ~485m to the east along strike of R840W and is drill defined to ~115m in strike length. The R780E and R1620E zones make up the eastern region of the Triple R deposit. Both zones are located beneath Patterson Lake, where water depth is generally less than six metres, and overburden thickness is generally about 50m. R780E is located ~225m to the east of R00E and has a drill-defined strike length of ~945m. R1620E is located ~210m along strike to the east of R780E and is drill defined to ~185m in strike length. Mineralization along the Patterson Lake Corridor trend remains prospective along strike in both the western and eastern directions. Basement rocks within the mineralized trend are identified primarily as mafic volcanic rocks with varying degrees of alteration. Mineralization is both located within and associated with mafic intrusives with varying degrees of silicification, metasomatic mineral assemblages and hydrothermal graphite. The graphitic sequences are associated with the PL-3B basement Electro-Magnetic (EM) conductor. Patterson Lake South Property The 31,039-hectare PLS project is 100% owned and operated by Fission Uranium Corp. PLS is accessible by road with primary access from all-weather Highway 955, which runs north to the former Cluff Lake mine. Qualified Persons The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geo., President and CEO for Fission Uranium Corp., a qualified person. About Fission Uranium Corp. Fission Uranium Corp. is an award-winning Canadian uranium project developer and 100% owner of the Patterson Lake South uranium property a proposed high-grade uranium mine and mill in Canada's Athabasca Basin region. Fission's common shares are listed on the TSX Exchange under the symbol "FCU" and trade on the OTCQX marketplace in the U.S. under the symbol "FCUUF" and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 2FU. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD "Ross McElroy" ___________________________ Ross McElroy, President and CEO Cautionary Statement Certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information", within the meaning of Canadian legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur", "be achieved" or "has the potential to". Forward looking statements contained in this press release may include statements regarding the future operating or financial performance of the Company which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in our reports filed with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation. The Israeli government announced Friday it was confiscating 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, which activists called the largest such seizure in decades. An area of about 1,980 acres in the northern Jordan Valley has been declared "state land", said far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has vowed to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which are regarded as illegal under international law. Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said the seizure was the single largest since the 1993 Oslo Accords, and that "2024 marks a peak in the extent of declarations of state land". Peace Now called the timing of the announcement a "provocation" as it came during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been critical of settlement expansion by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken met Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Friday for talks which highlighted deep differences between the Israeli government and Washington over the conduct of the war with Hamas. Israel captured the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and all Israeli settlements in the territory are considered illegal under international law. "While there are those in Israel and the world who seek to undermine our right over the Judea and Samaria area and the country in general, we are promoting settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country," Smotrich said, using Israel's term for the West Bank. Jordan condemned the new land seizure, "reaffirming the kingdom's categorical rejection and denunciation of the Israeli government's ongoing violations of all international law norms". Despite international condemnation of a policy that is regarded as one of the main obstacles to Middle East peace, successive Netanyahu-led governments have sharply accelerated the expansion of Israeli settlements across the West Bank. Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, they are now home to more than 490,000 Israelis, who live alongside around three million Palestinians. The UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk said last week that Israel settlement expansion constituted "a war crime" and risked eliminating any possibility of a viable Palestinian state. Since the Hamas attacks of October 7 triggered war with Israel in Gaza, violence has escalated between the settlers and Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank. Several hardline settler leaders have been targeted with asset freezes and travel bans by Britain, the European Union and the United States for their alleged roles in the violence. Twenty-five years ago, on March 24, 1999 NATO launched 11 weeks of air strikes on Yugoslavia to force it to end its bloody crackdown on separatists in Kosovo. It was the first time NATO had attacked a sovereign state in its 50-year history and remains a source of deep resentment both in Serbia, home of the former Yugoslav capital Belgrade, as well as in fellow Slavic ally Russia. Here's what you need to know about the US-led campaign: - Why did NATO bomb Serbia? Europe was still reeling from the brutal conflicts that had engulfed the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia and Croatia from 1991 to 1995 when Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic sent troops into Kosovo, a Serbian province with an ethnic Albanian majority, to crush pro-independence guerrillas, in early 1998. Milosevic portrayed the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) as a terrorist organisation bent on driving ethnic Serbs out of a province cherished by Serbs as a cradle of their Orthodox Christian faith. His campaign against them left some 13,000 people dead, mostly ethnic Albanians, and drove hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, leading NATO to accuse him of ethnic cleansing. After failed peace talks, NATO Secretary General Javier Solana announced on March 23, 1999 that the alliance had "no alternative... but to take military action". - How did the world react? - Serbia's allies Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, strongly rejected the military intervention, which went ahead without the UN's authorisation. "Morally, we are on higher ground right now than America," Russian President Boris Yeltsin said of the airstrikes. In Serbia and fellow Yugoslav republic Montenegro, which was also targeted by the airstrikes, even those who were opposed to Milosevic saw NATO as the chief aggressor. Across Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East critics of European imperialism and American interventionism took a similar view, leading to mass anti-NATO demonstrations. "Is NATO's work to prevent war or to fuel one?" asked India's prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. - What did NATO target? - The strikes on the Serbian capital Belgrade, Kosovo's capital Pristina and other cities and towns began on the evening of March 24. Over the 11-week "Allied Force" campaign, NATO carried out 38,000 sorties and 10,000 bombardments. After running out of military and regime targets, NATO's focus shifted to infrastructure such as petroleum and power plants, roads and railways. One of its most controversial strikes targeted Serbian state-run broadcaster RTS. Sixteen employees were killed in that bombing, which NATO justified on the grounds that the broadcaster was part of Milosevic's propaganda machine. - How did Milosevic react? - NATO was hoping that a few days of strikes would bring Milosevic back to the negotiating table. Instead, he stepped up his brutal campaign against Kosovo's Albanians, exacerbating the refugee crisis. NATO blunders such as the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade due to a CIA mapping error that left three dead, and an attack on an Albanian refugee convoy that left scores dead, increased global opposition to the campaign. - How did the war end? - After 78 days of airstrikes, Milosevic suddenly capitulated. On June 10, 1999, he ordered his forces to withdraw from Kosovo, which was effectively taken over by the international community. The toll of the bombing campaign is disputed to this day. Serbian authorities say 2,500 civilians were killed. A report by Human Rights Watch in 2000 put the figure at around 500. After the war, many Kosovo Serbs were pressured to either flee or sequester themselves in enclaves. Milosevic was ousted in an uprising in 2000 and later sent to the Hague where he was put on trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Balkans wars. He died in his cell in 2006, aged 64. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move Serbia, China and Russia still refuse to recognise. Montenegro, which became independent in 2006, joined NATO in 2017. Most Serbians remain bitterly opposed to the alliance. Night has fallen when Nika Jeiranashvili opens the high, faded-blue, wrought-steel gates of the family home in Kolagi, a two-hour drive from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Under the arbours covered with climbing vines crackles a fire of vine branches, ready to cook the generous shashliks (pork skewers) piled on a stainless steel dish, arranged on a barrel. Nika smiles, the air is fresh and humid. The international lawyer turned bio winemaker has swapped his elegant suits and coloured ties for a grey knit sweater, more suited to the chill of this late winter in Kakhetia. The region produces 75% of the wines of Georgia, the birthplace of the worlds wine where the first vines are said to have been planted 8,000 years ago. Im happy here, I breathe, I get up early and I work hard, but I never feel tired like I did all those years of battling with the ICC, says like a joyful admission the man who fought to take Georgian civil societys case before the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was in the ICCs cold glass and metal corridors that I first met Nika, with his grand moustache and immutable politeness, in September 2017. The Georgian jurist had been pacing the Courts offices, scrutinizing its ups and downs, since the opening in early 2016, of the ICC investigation into the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, which resulted in 20% of Georgias territory being de facto occupied by Russia. Funded for the first year by the American Soros Foundation, he soon set up his own organization, Justice International, for greater flexibility in our advocacy with the Court and with States. For the ICC, Nika was the figurehead of the coalition of Georgian organizations representing victims, and for Georgians, he was the unofficial spokesman for an ICC that in fact had none. The first time someone thanked me for what I did In the white smoke around the fire, Andro, his father who is a former military prosecutor, and Nina, his wife and head chef in Tbilisi, take turns greeting visitors whilst keeping an eye on the shashliks cooking. A childhood friend his father Vano who has never left the small village of Kolagi chides Vano on how the skewers were crafted. Wine and food are a very serious business in Georgia, and nothing really profound can be said without the ritual of the table and the rhythm of tamadas, the toasts given by the host. The table, set on the first floor of the ancestral building, is simple and generous. A door separates the room from the kvevris, the clay jars buried in the ground where wine is traditionally made in Georgia. The family home, with its rustic comforts - well fix it up later, says Nika with a gesture - was furnished in Soviet chic by a grandfather who was a governor. Nikas pride and joy is in taking over the wine-making, which was started 136 years ago by a great-grandfather on the small family estate known as Kolagis. Thats our story. His name was Nika, I am named after him, and am now the one trying to continue,he says. Three years on, and after a catastrophic 2023 season in terms of weather, the business is not at all profitable", he says, with its three to five thousand bottles a year, for six distinct cuvees. But his winegrowing neighbours have embraced him, he smiles, and in particular Zura Mghvdliashvili, a pioneer of natural wine whose amber, fruity bottles Nika lets us taste. Like his pupil, Zura is modernizing old grape varieties, building on the recent success of a festive wine called Pet Nat (Petillant naturel, in French on the label). Its hard because in the beginning youre building your business, your brand, people dont know you, you dont have experience, youre making a lot of mistakes, says Nika. The good thing is that I found one of the top wine makers. He knew me from TV, he knew my work. When I met him he thought it was just for fun, didnt see me turning my back on everything. I said no, I stopped. Then he was shocked, and he said you have done so much for the people and for the country, so I will help you. I will share all my knowledge and experience with you, I will tell you things that I would not tell anybody else. Without him I would not be at this level, it would have taken me at least five more years. So I guess my former life helped me here. That was maybe the first time somebody said thank you for what I did. The tasting continues late into the night. Nika talks about the perfection he strives for in his wine, how he fuses it with Ninas cooking, and is full of praise for the people of Kolagi, with whom he has worked alongside daily for over three years. Here I meet honest, hard-working people, and I like them. In the village, they respect me because theyve seen how hard I work, just like them. Nobody is lying or trying to manipulate you. Its a great relief. Nika tells us about his faith in natural wine in Georgia and about his mentor, a renowned winemaker who confided his secrets and helped him save years. When he realised Id given up everything, he was shocked and said you have done so much for the people and for the country, so I will help you.' Photo : Franck Petit / Justice Info Ignorance and naivety The next morning, Nika didnt go to the vineyard. The weather was cloudy, raining intermittently. The atmosphere is reminiscent of bad weather in the Netherlands, he laughs, sitting by the gas heater upstairs on the veranda overlooking the Caucasus mountains. Was it difficult to leave the world of international justice? It was not easy because I had to start from zero, he replies. All my education, experience, my name, everything was in this [international justice] field, so you basically lose half of your life. At that time, I was 32. I am 36 now. Then when you go to the vineyard, you start working, you look at nature, you feel so much freedom. When you are sitting in an office, your head is fed with so many negative things, with politics, conflicts, victim stories. All kinds of things, and it affects you. But it was easy in a way, because I was sure. I was 100% sure that it was not right to continue like that. Disillusionment grew is stages after his move to The Hague. Initially you think its going to be great, youre very enthusiastic, then you see what happens in practice, he continues. I helped the Court to write the strategy on Georgia, to do a mapping of who is who. I was there all day, I had a pass when I did the mapping. They dont talk to each other, there is no proper coordination. And there was worse. When ICC officials were preparing their first mission to Georgia, he says, they didnt even know what language people spoke here, and some asked me if French was spoken in Georgia. They had been in Cote dIvoire, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but they didnt seem to realize that this was a different continent. Then they went to Russia and came back telling him they thought Moscow would cooperate with the ICC. They treated us well, they invited us to restaurants, the ICC officials told him. But what were they talking about, he asks. Did they think they were going to be welcomed with weapons of war? This child of the Caucasus, who has lived through the wars in Abkhazia, Ossetia and Chechnya, couldnt believe his ears. Moscow dispelled the naivete of the ICC members a few weeks later by announcing it was withdrawing its signature from the Rome Statute at the end of 2016, just as the ICC Assembly of States Parties was starting. Incompetence and blunders Nikas priority rapidly shifted from obtaining trials to damage control. You realize that of course the Court [in The Hague] is not going to catch any Russian general or Putin. Because first of all it has never been successful. In every [other] situation, the Court failed or even created more problems than before. And that was also the risk in Georgia. I explained this to the Court. Because of the tensions between the ruling party [considered pro-Russian] and the opposition [close to the pro-Western ex-president Saakashvili], the government might try to send the former governments officials to jail, I told them. If the ICC had made that mistake, this could have provoked a civil war in Georgia. Seeing no realistic judicial outcome for this first ICC case outside Africa, the jurist helped lead Georgian NGOs plea for the ICC Trust Fund to intervene on behalf of victims under its assistance mandate. The NGOs supported their request with a meticulously documented report, 10 years after the war, in 2018. The assistance programme did not get underway until April 2023. Again, it took so much time, sighs Nika. And this is because of internal bureaucracy. It could have been done years before. Another major plea seemed to have succeeded: the opening of an ICC office in Georgia at the end of 2017. They did it, but then the head of the field office who was selected was the wrong one. He lied when he said he speaks Georgian. He had a background in Georgia of monitoring borders mission for the EU. An Estonian diplomat. The offices action was not very visible. We were complaining, the guy has not done anything during his first year, just university lectures with students in Tbilisi. We told him do your job, go to the settlements, meet the victims, do some outreach. And when he did, he went to the wrong people, they were from Abkhazia [displaced from the war of the early 90s], not Ossetia [who fled the 2008 war, the subject of the ICC investigation]. Then he spoke in Russian to the victims. I talked to them they were shocked. Imagine you have been living in bad conditions for years, a guy comes from the ICC, you have some hope, and they listened to him. They thought that Russia was so powerful it controlled the court. They live like kings in The Hague Nika is in full flow. When you see this, your perception changes, you already dont see the institution as professional anymore. You see the people getting high salaries, with all the benefits, and they dont pay taxes. They live like kings in The Hague, and in reality, what they do is a joke. Everybody knows this problem. Its not only the Georgia situation. Then you talk to Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, FIDH, who have been working with the Court for so many years. You have to be vocal about this problem, criticize. That is what we did, but most of the time nobody supported us. In the NGOs, I had some friends who told me Nika, if I criticize too much and I put my name on it, I would lose my job tomorrow, he continues. But thats the idea of those organizations, to be loud, to shout and be vocal. The world believes in you organization, so what are you doing? Realizing all this, I told them look guys, its not going to work for me. Id rather go back to my village and I will make wine. This is a system that is too flawed, and I realized I could not change it. I tried. But I cant change it, because people are too comfortable. Its not just the money, its also because most of them come from countries that havent experienced war. They dont know because they havent seen it. They go on missions, meet people and say to themselves, this is serious. But then they forget, have a nice dinner and go back to their country. In the latter stages of his life as an international lawyer, Nika began working on the ICCs Afghan case and was asked to work on the Ukraine case. Then, back in Georgia, he was asked to work as a lawyer with NGOs. But at this time, because of the political situation, because of the ruling party, theres nothing really an NGO can do, he says. You would just be taking money and basically doing nothing. I dont want that. After my experience, I would then be the same guy that I dont like. The only concession to his old life is that sometimes I do translation of legal documents, editing documents, which I can do in the evenings when I come back from the vineyard. Considering I dont get any money from my wine yet, because its still initial stages, you need money to pay the bills. Return to roots Now Nika cant imagine doing anything else but make wine. Its exciting. I feel like Ive found what I really like doing in my life. In my education everything was very legal, graduating from universities, studying so much and working hard in the field of law, human rights, with the ICC and so on. With wine, its different. Its made me really happy. However, he cant help seeing a little further ahead. Using one of his talents from his previous life, he obtained funding from the USAID development aid agency for the Natural Wine Association, founded by his friend Zura, which brings together over a hundred producers in Georgia. He went to New York to meet American distributors, who in turn came to Georgia at the end of February. I hope the association will grow and there will be a lot of business deals happening with these small families wineries. Then it will influence a lot of things, Nika says thoughtfully. In Georgia wine is our thing, very deeply rooted in our tradition. Because of Soviet times, it has been ruined, because there was no demand for quality, it was all about the quantity, how many litres and bottles you produce. Then when the Soviet Union collapsed, they continued this trend, especially big companies, selling the worst wine to Russia. It was not good wine. After that, there was the Russian embargo, the 2008 war, and thats when we started to really work on the quality of the wine. Making good wine in todays Georgia is perhaps one of the only honest and realistic ways to change mentalities, Nika thinks, not just blaming the government for what it doesnt do but getting back to roots - his own and those of his country. The pride of the repentant lawyer is to have taken up wine-making, started "136 years ago" by an ancestor who was also named Nika Jeiranashvili. In the family house, one room is dedicated to the kvevris, buried clay jars that have been used to make wine for thousands of years in Georgia, and which now coexist with aluminium barrels. Photo : Franck Petit / Justice Info MBABANE Political analyst and former Senator Mbho Shongwe says the independence of the Judiciary is misunderstood and Parliament can question some of its administrative issues. Shongwe was responding to written responses in the annual performance report and budget debate of the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee on the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. He said Parliament could question administrative issues of the Judiciary, because they needed to know the issues to approve the budget. He said the independency of the Judiciary was being misinterpreted. The MPs were right to raise the issue of the Judiciary, but cannot question operations of cases in courts, he said. The MPs had asked the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Prince Simelane, about a number of issues in the Judiciary. The MPs had requested the minister to lead the portfolio committee to His Majesty the King, to try and resolve issues of the Judiciary and report the CJ, whom they claimed was a law unto himself. The minister was asked if he had power over the Judiciary and an example of the ongoing probe into the Masters Office, that had been unilaterally ordered and authorised by the CJ, despite the ministers non-involvement at any of the stages leading up to the probe. Issues of cars among others were questioned during the debate. Cases The MPs, however, did not question court judgments or anything that pertained to ongoing cases. The responses that were given by the ministry in writing stated that the Judiciary was an independent body and neither the Crown, Parliament nor any person acting under the authority of the Crown or Parliament or any person whatsoever, shall interfere with judicial officers in the exercise of their judicial power. Section 2 of the Constitution was cited, which provides for the supremacy clause that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Accordingly, the independence of the Judiciary as a third arm of government and as entrenched and enshrined in Section 141 of the Constitution, should be respected by all. The ministry mentioned that the constitutional provision provides, inter alia, that in the exercise of judicial power of Eswatini, the Judiciary in both its judicial and administrative functions including financial administration, shall be independent and subject only to the Constitution, and shall not be subject to the control or direction of any person or authority. Shongwe explained that the independence of the Judiciary applied in court judgments. No party should interfere with them making judgments and question cases. In other words, dont ask about sentencing and why a certain judge presided over a case instead of judge so and so, he said. Adding, he said parliamentarians were free to question if it was suspected that some things were not going well administratively in courts. It might happen that some things that were not going well in courts were caused by certain problems; then Parliament has to know about that. Delayed judgments and prolonged cases can be asked about in Parliament. The minister will then explain the problems, of which among them are, shortage of human resources and working tools, he added. The wife of jailed and ailing Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday said she was in favour of prisoner exchanges to rescue him and other political detainees in Russia. Following the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison colony last month, his team revealed that a deal to free him as part of a prisoner swap had been "at the final stage" before he died. Asked whether similar discussions were under way for her husband, Evgenia Kara-Murza told reporters in Geneva that she was "not aware of any active negotiations". "But I know that this was a method of liberating some dissidents in the Soviet times, and I believe that if that was possible in the Soviet times during the Cold War... it is definitely possible today," she said. She acknowledged that due to very limited communication with her husband, she did not know if he would agree to leave if the opportunity presented itself. "But I believe that in those cases where human lives are at stake, and there is a number of such cases in Russia today... I believe that every method should be used to save these people's lives," she said. - Punishment cell - Navalny's death has raised fears for remaining Kremlin critics imprisoned in Russia, of whom Kara-Murza is perhaps the most prominent. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison last year -- the longest known sentence of all of President Vladimir Putin's jailed critics. He was charged with "treason" after using a speech in the United States to say Russia had committed "war crimes" against Ukraine. The dual Russian-British citizen suffers from serious health problems, which his wife and lawyers say were due to two poisoning attempts orchestrated by Russia's FSB security service in 2015 and 2017. Evgenia Kara-Murza said the poisoning attempts had brought on a serious condition called polyneuropathy, which can lead to paralysis. It figures on the list of medical conditions that should prevent incarceration under Russian law, she said. "But of course, Vladimir is not only incarcerated," she said. "He is held in a very strict regime of a punishment cell. For over half a year now, he has not received any medical treatment and obviously his health is deteriorating there." - 'No appeasement' - Moscow's crackdown on critics has dramatically worsened since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Russia currently counting nearly 700 political prisoners, according to Nobel Prize-winning rights group Memorial. The intensifying crackdown shows that "appeasement of dictators does not work", Evgenia Kara-Murza said. "There can be no appeasement of Vladimir Putin anymore, because appeasement will lead to more warmongering and to more repression," she said. Following the deadly Moscow concert hall attack on Friday, there is fear the situation will deteriorate further. Evgenia Kara-Murza cautioned that the attack, like previous ones, could be used by the Kremlin as an excuse "to further toughen its grip on power, to further repress society, and to start new aggressions against our neighbours". Rights defenders also voiced alarm that four alleged perpetrators of the attack were brought to court showing signs of torture. The men had bruised and swollen faces, and Violetta Fitsner, a lawyer with Memorial, pointed out that one still had a torn plastic bag hanging around his neck. "It's obvious he was tortured," she told reporters, saying it was "very troubling" that the authorities so unabashedly "showed that they did it and that they can do it". "It's a signal," Memorial co-chair Sergei Davidis agreed, suggesting the authorities were now so sure of their grip on the population that they determined "there is no reason to conceal their methods". "They just were honest this time, because they decided that it was possible." "Flex X Cop" Episode 15 delivered a surprising plot twist involving the death of Hansu chairman and its connection with the death of Jin Yi Soo's mother. Based on the 2015 Russian series "Silver Spoon," the SBS weekend K-drama focuses on the third-generation chaebol, Jin Yi Soo (Ahn Bo Hyun), and his unexpected career as a detective. Due to an incident, he entered the police force and worked under the feisty team leader, Lee Kang Hyun (Park Ji Hyun). Throughout his participation in the team, Jin Yi Soo also learned more about himself, particularly the mysterious death of his mother. 'Flex X Cop' Episode 15 Rating: Ahn Bo Hyun's Drama Garners High Viewership Ahead of Finale As the crime drama heads to finale, "Flex X Cop" becomes the most-watched K-drama in its time slot. According to Nielsen Korea's report, Ahn Bo Hyun and Park Ji Hyun's series garnered an average nationwide rating of 9.5 percent. Interestingly, SBS previously announced that the adaptation would return with Season 2. However, the cast members and target release date are yet to be confirmed. 'Flex X Cop' Episode 15: Was Jin Yi Soo Able To Find Out Cause of His Father's Demise? Hansu's chairman's death surprised the nation after the police ruled out that it was a suicide. Per the investigation, the chairman's death was due to sleeping pills overdose. Upon hearing such tragic news, Jin Yi Soo blamed himself and thought that his father had committed suicide because of him. READ ALSO: 'Flex X Cop' Cast Ahn Bo Hyun, Park Ji Hyun Keep Their Promise to Viewers After Surpassing 10% Rating "Flex X Cop" Episode 15 featured the last hours of the chairman with Jin Yi Soo, who was questioning the truth about his mother's death. At their vacation home, Jin Yi Soo confronted his father and told him that his mother didn't die because of suicide, and he suspected that it was something else. At the time, Yi Soo suggested that his father might know the true reason behind it. However, he revealed to his son that he was about to leave all behind, and be with him and his mother and live quietly. The next day, the chairman was found lifeless by his secretary inside his vacation home. During the wake, the brothers, Jin Yi Soo and Jin Seung Joo, still couldn't process everything. Jin Yi Soo still blamed himself but believed that it might be a foul play since several pieces of evidence point to the fact that no sleeping pills were seen at the crime scene, just like what happened when his mother died. With the help of the chairman's aide, Mr. Choi, and team leader Lee Kang Hyun, they gathered evidence, resulting in their prime suspects, Jin Seung Joo and his mother, Jo Hee Ja. Also, in "Flex X Cop" Episode 15, Jo Hee Ja got a phone call from her helper that a cop was investigating them. She then got a visit from her son, Seung Joo, and he confronted her about the incident. Here, Hee Ja was taken aback by Seung Joo's confession that he was the one who orchestrated the fake suicide and did it to get the whole Hansu, like what he was told by his mother. In the last part of the episode, Jin Seung Joo was attending the inauguration of him taking over Hansu. Will Jin Yi Soo expose the truth before it's too late? READ MORE: 'Physical:100' Season 2 Cast: K-drama Stars Who Could Join the Netflix Survival Show For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Flores Just when they rekindled their marriage, Hong Hae In (Kim Ji Won) discovered Baek Hyun Woo's (Kim Soo Hyun) plan. Read on to know what went down in "Queen of Tears" Episode 6! 'Queen of Tears' Episode 6: Cheon Da Hye Teams Up With Yoon Eun Sung To Ruin Queens Group The episode resumed with Baek Hyun Woo embracing Hong Hae In. Later on, they both left for their room. Meanwhile, Yoon Eun Sung (Park Sung Hoon) and Cheon Da Hye (Lee Joo Bin) entered Hae In and Hyun Woo's room to look for clues to ruin their relationship. They also planted some things in Hyun Woo's room to get him into trouble. Back in Germany, Hong Hae In discussed her death and prepared her husband for her funeral. Overwhelmed with what he was hearing, he requested Hae In to focus on getting healthy first before revising her will. Elsewhere, Da Hye and Grace scheme to control the Queens Group, seeing Hyun Woo as their major obstacle. They were engaged in a heated argument, narrowly avoided by Da Hye's mother-in-law. ALSO READ: 'Queen of Tears' Episode 5: Kim Ji Won & Kim Soo Hyun Yearn For Each Other's Love Grace, on the other hand, manipulated Da Hye's mother-in-law, making her believe that Baek Hyun Woo was the reason why her son Hong Soo Cheol's (Kwak Dong Yeon) business flopped. This made her furious at Hyun Woo. Meanwhile, Hong Soo Cheol attempted to persuade his grandfather about the business deal, leveraging Yoon Eun Sung's investment. However, his grandfather questioned the legitimacy of Eun Sung's funds, raising doubts about Hyun Woo's thoroughness in financial matters. It was revealed through a flashback the true intentions of Cheon Da Hye to Hong Soo Cheol. During their family dinner, Hong Soo Cheol's grandfather raised suspicions about the paternity of Soo Cheol's son, as he didn't look similar. Baek Hyun Woo Accompanies Hong Hae In During Her Checkups In Germany, Hong Hae In and Baek Hyun Woo reminisced about their past and confronted Hae In's fear of morality. While she was on her way for a checkup, she followed a little boy. This made Hyun Woo panic and tried to find her. After he found her, she revealed that she was hallucinating about the young boy who was her late brother. She opened up about her guilt of being the reason behind her elder brother's passing. Elsewhere, Hong Man Dae learned that someone was messing with the Queens Group and suspected Hyun Woo as part of it. Hong Hae In Learns Baek Hyun Woo's Plan Of Divorcing Her Kim Sun Hwa asked to investigate more about Hyun Woo. Unfortunately, they found a divorce paper hidden in Hyun Woo's safe. It raised tension among the family and speculated that he would have been the one who planted audio and video recorders around to meddle. Meanwhile, Beom Ja uncovered a shocking revelation about Sul Hee's identity. In Germany, Hae In and Hyun Woo had a wonderful time together. However, their joyful moments were ruined after Hae In learned about the divorce paper. She made Hyun Woo explain that he planned to divorce her. The couple once again encountered misunderstandings in their marriage. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'Queen of Tears' Tops Netflix Global Ranking + Will It Surpass 'Crash Landing on You's' Popularity? For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article. Shai San Miguel wrote this. In an exclusive interview, Ahn Bo Hyun openly talked about the controversy he was involved in last year, much to the fans' surprise. The actor clarified the air regarding the issue, and also finally explained his side 7 months later. Ahn Bo Hyun Dishes On Past Attitude Problem Controversy In an interview with Nate News, Ahn Bo Hyun connected with the fans and cleared out the misunderstanding that the public has about the Hallyu superstar. Earlier in August 2023, the actor was involved in an "attitude problem" controversy due to a scene from his mega hit series "Yumi's Cells" making video that was released in 2021. In the clip, Ahn Bo Hyun was leaning against a table and looking at the script held by a female staff member standing next to him. Many netizens criticized the actor, and was soon swarmed with malicious comments. One viewer commented, "Can't you hold the script by yourself? You made the staff hold it on purpose, didn't you?" Although the issue broke out, Ahn Bo Hyun's side didn't release any statement. The female staff in the clip clarified the controversy, saying that the actor never asked her to hold the script for him. In the interview, Ahn Bo Hyun revealed being shocked about being misunderstood by the public, saying that he's always treated his staff with respect like close family members. YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THIS: Jung Ho Yeon Dubbed As New Comedy Queen For 'Chicken Nugget' Cameo - Here's Why "I've been with my staff, stylists and managers for more than 12 years now," Ahn Bo Hyun revealed. "I thought nothing would be a huge deal because they are all like friends to me." When asked why he didn't speak on the rumor, Ahn Bo Hyun reasoned that he initially thought it would only feel like an excuse, especially that he never did such actions. With that, the actor thankfully shed light to the issue, satisfying the public's curiosity. At the moment, Ahn Bo Hyun is preparing for his silver screen comeback this 2024. Ahn Bo Hyun Returns With Exciting New Film Ahn Bo Hyun's fans are in for a treat as he returns with a romance film this 2024. Alongside Girls' Generation Yoona, the actor headlines the upcoming romantic comedy film "2 O'Clock Date," which tells the story of a woman who meets with a man at 2:00 a.m. for a date. The film also stars veteran star Sung Dong Il and rising actors Joo Hyun Young and Go Geon Han. Meanwhile, "2 O'Clock Date" is scheduled to hit the theaters in June 2024. Are you excited for Ahn Bo Hyun and Yoona's film? Stay tuned for more updates! YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THIS: Choo Ja Hyun Gets Candid About Insecurities As Actress: 'I Hated My Own...' KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mariscotes. Kim Soo Hyun's fans were in a complete state of shock after Kim Sae Ron shared a photo with the top star on her Instagram. The controversial actress, who got involved in a drunk driving incident back in 2022, once again made headlines after she posted a snap, sparking dating rumors. Kim Soo Hyun's Agency Speaks Up Amid Dating Speculations With Kim Sae Ron In a now-deleted Instagram Story, Kim Sae Ron surprised the public when she uploaded a photo of herself and Kim Soo Hyun on March 24. Although she immediately deleted the post, netizens were quick to screenshot the photo, making it viral on social media and stirring speculation about their romantic status. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Kim Sae Ron Issue: Actress Clarifies 'Financial Difficulty Controversy' During Court Trial Shortly after the news broke, local media outlet Osen shared the stance of Kim Soo Hyun's agency, Gold Medalist, regarding the issue. In an official statement, the agency denied the dating rumors, stating that the photo was taken during the time when Kim Sae Ron and Kim Soo Hyun were in the same agency. "We are informing you that Kim Soo Hyun's dating rumors are not currently true. The photo that has been spread online appears to have been taken in the past." In addition, Gold Medalist added that they are "completely unable to understand the motivation behind Kim Sae Ron's action," referring to the uploaded photo. Calling it "unnecessary misunderstandings and groundless speculation," the label plans on "taking strong legal action in response to malicious slander and insulting posts" against Kim Soo Hyun. Following the controversial post by Kim Sae Ron, Kim Soo Hyun's past remarks regarding his ideal type resurfaced. Netizens 'Disgusted' by Kim Soo Hyun's Remark Regarding His Ideal Type Netizens dug deep into the actor's past interviews, where he spoke about his thoughts regarding the May-December love affair. Back in 2013, Kim Soo Hyun was asked about his marriage plans and mentioned "marrying a 21-year-old girl at 41." His explosive statement caused displeasure among fans as netizens flocked to online communities to express their disappointment towards Kim Soo Hyun's remark. 36-year-old Kim Soo Hyun has a 13-year age gap with Kim Sae Ron, who is 23. Viewership of Kim Soo Hyun's Drama 'Queen of Tears' Reaches Peak Following Dating Rumors While his agency warned the public regarding the legal actions against malicious comments, Kim Soo Hyun's drama "Queen of Tears" garnered massive viewership at the height of the controversy. Per reports, the 6th episode achieved its highest rating to date with a nationwide rating of 14.068 percent and was watched by 3.56 million viewers in South Korea. "Queen of Tears" Episode 6 is higher by 3.1 percentage points compared to the previous episode. READ MORE: Where is Kim Sae Ron now? Controversial Actress Has Found Her New Calling For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars. KDramaStars owns this article Written by Geca Flores Kennesaw State nationally recognized for online and hybrid course quality KENNESAW, Ga. | Mar 25, 2024 Ivan Pulinkala and Anissa Vega Kennesaw State University has earned a national award for campus-wide commitment by its faculty to provide high-quality online and hybrid learning. The University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) honored Kennesaw State with its 2024 Strategic Innovation in Online Education Award. The award recognizes KSUs course quality management model, a comprehensive system to ensure that online and hybrid courses meet federal requirements for digital course design, accessibility, and instructor interaction. Kennesaw State initiated its course quality management process in 2021 in the wake of the COVID pandemic, which required a shift to online coursework. During that time, each of KSUs academic colleges developed online and hybrid course quality policies, and, with participation from faculty across both campuses, more than 2,300 course designs to date have been successfully reviewed and earned the high-quality designation. Faculty from all of our academic colleges have shown tremendous effort and dedication to the course review system, so this national recognition truly is an award for our entire university, said Ivan Pulinkala, KSUs provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. This achievement underscores Kennesaw States commitment to ensuring student success through excellence in all modes of instruction. Supported by KSUs Digital Learning Advisory Council and Digital Learning Innovations, instructors submit their courses for review using a workflow automation tool. Once a course is determined to meet the high-quality criteria such as being accessible to students with disabilities, having the complete instructional content available within the online course, and faculty actively engaging with students that course is entered into a database where KSU faculty and leaders can see up-to-date course quality information. The national award enhances Kennesaw States established reputation as a leader in online education. KSU has more Georgians enrolled in online higher education than any other institution, according to data from the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), which establishes national standards for postsecondary distance education. We are the top destination for Georgians seeking online programs, said Anissa Vega, associate vice provost and professor of instructional technology. Offering online and hybrid courses with the same level of academic rigor as traditional classroom settings is crucial in today's digital landscape, and I am proud to be part of a university community where that is such a high priority. Along with earning the national award and being the No. 1 provider of online programs for Georgians, Kennesaw State has launched the brand identity KSU Online to heighten the recognition of its online programs. Additionally, the course quality management model potentially could extend beyond KSU and be used by other schools as a sustainable course quality review process since our model is unique in its comprehensive scope, Vega said. Award recipients are being honored this week at the 2024 UPCEA Annual Conference in Boston. Related Stories A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 45,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The universitys vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu. MANZINI The effects of the alleged misconduct relating to the procurement of medial drugs are seemingly getting serious and life-threatening. This is if more allegations of death threats against certain government officials are anything to go by. As it is, Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Health Khanya Mabuza is reportedly receiving death threats, allegedly from some government suppliers, while two senior civil servants have resigned from the Ministry of Health due to same. Mabuza is said to have received the threats along with two senior civil servants from the ministry, who have since resigned in fear for their lives. The two senior civil servants were said to have been responsible for technical activities, which included the procurement of drugs. According to sources, the pair tendered in their resignations to the ministrys management, citing that their lives were in grave danger as they were receiving calls and text messages threatening them. Threatened According to sources, the two senior officials claimed that they were being threatened by some of the suppliers who were supposedly fingered in the Forensic Audit Report on the Acquisition and Distribution of Medicines to Public Health Facilities in Eswatini. It was gathered that one of the senior staff members, who was being intimidated, communicated with the management of the Ministry of Health that resigning was the best option, as she had a family that needed her the most in her native land. The sources claimed that the threats directed to the personnel of the ministry had been subtle, but intensified following the publication of the Comprehensive Forensic Audit Report on the Acquisition and Distribution of Medicines to Public Health Facilities in Eswatini, which was tabled in Cabinet and is yet to be presented in Parliament. It is worth noting that during the national budget presentation by the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, he submitted to Parliament an abridged report on the forensic audit. Corrupt On the other hand, the comprehensive report, which is yet to be tabled in Parliament, details a number of alleged corrupt acts, which were said to have been committed by a number of suppliers and also Central Medical Stores (CMS) personnel. As such, the sources claimed that due to the allegations published in the comprehensive report and also what could be submitted in the two ongoing investigations within the ministry, many players who supposedly engaged in illicit acts were panicking and threatening people. The sources claimed that there were more personnel who were being intimidated. They supposed that the technical staff was more hands-on in the procurement of medical drugs and supplies within the ministry. Since the conception of the investigations into the shortage of medical drugs and supplies in public health hospitals, a number of people have purportedly received death threats. Among them is the Audotor General (AG), Timothy Matsebula, who this publication reported that he had dashed to detail intimidation and death threats to law enforcers, allegedly from businesspeople along with some civil servants. Matsebula was said to have been receiving declarations of an intention to inflict damage, punish or hurt him. The threats were said to have had connotations instructing him to supposedly desist from proceeding with the investigations. The communication relaying the threatening message is said to be from unknown telephone numbers to him. As such, the AG was said to have reported the matter to the police and according to sources, it had been referred to prosecutors. The threats were against the backdrop of Matsebula reporting to law enforcers that his email account, used to store valuable government information, had been hacked. The AG expressed suspicions that the people behind the hacking of his email were linked to the probe into the theft of medical drugs and pharmaceutical supplies. Alerted At the time, Matsebula said he was alerted of the hacking by a former employee at his office, who is now based in the Republic of South Africa. The AG reportedly said a number of email accounts using his name were being used to send messages to his various colleagues. His suspicions were that the perpetrators were impersonating him in anticipation of getting confidential government information. Also, on February 14, 2024, this publication reported that Judge Muzikayise Motsa said his safety was threatened due to presiding over the medical drugs case. According to Judge Motsa, his personal safety and security and that of his children and family, whom he endeared so much, was now at stake and threatened, because he presided over the matter. On the other hand, last month, it was reported that Senior Attorney Zweli Jele was reportedly receiving menacing threats, as he represents two Ministry of Health officials (Principal Procurement Officer Sincedile Magwaza and Deputy Director Pharmaceutical Services Fortunate Bhembe) in the case against the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the Ministry of Health, AG (Matsebula) and Funduzi Forensic Services. Jele was quoted saying the threats to the judges were linked to the intimidation directed at him, and that they were all reported to the police. It is worth noting that, not less than E2.4 billion went to waste at the CMS, through undelivered drugs, duplicate payments, price ballooning and payment of donated medication. According to the Forensic Audit Report on the Acquisition and Distribution of Medicines to Public Health Facilities in Eswatini, a number of factors account to a loss of E2 406 558 897.23. The cumulative figure of events said to have happened in a period of two financial years: 2020 - 2022- has factors which include that suppliers cashed E1.17 billion for drugs they did not deliver to the CMS. Some of the allegations contained in the report: The report states that investigators from Funduzi Forensic Services reported that they identified that there were payments made in respect of the years 2021, 2022 and a portion of 2023, which were made without orders. From this act, they said their conclusion was that the procurement process was riddled with inefficiencies, possible corruption and fraud, as well as undue enrichment to certain suppliers. The report stated that in 2021, CMS paid E346 227 869 and in 2022 paid E467 224 258. Last year, it was said drugs valued at E352 590 390 were paid for. Also, drugs for the antiretroviral therapy (ART) valued at E328.2 million were delivered without being ordered. It was reported that the Government Payment System reflected that payments were made to foreign companies based on the reference numbers/codes against those payments. They said at the time of concluding the report, they had not obtained or been furnished with details relating to these payments and justification thereof. The orders delivered without purchase orders tallied E328 228 715 as at 2021, government paid E45 529 405 while in 2022, an amount of E237 829 361 while last year, E44 869 949 was paid. Also, it was the finding of the investigation that there were discrepancies between delivered stock on record and payments made. It was said in the antiretroviral (ARV) inward book for 2020/21 financial year, E233 871 079.15 was recorded, while there was a total expenditure of E257 742 616.34. This depicts a variance of E23 871 537.19. Expenditure On the other hand, in the 2021/22 financial year, the inward book reflected E118 275 882.47, while the total expenditure was E265 291 612.32 which depicted a difference of E147 015 729.85. It was also said government paid E7 million for donated trial drugs. The report states that in one instance, this possible fraudulent, fruitless and wasteful expenditure resulted in E7 million paid towards a service provider in respect of donated trial drugs, which should not have been paid for. It is said in light of this, certain suppliers were complicit in the creation of a false claim relating to payment for donated trial drugs (Remdesivir). The trial drugs were said to have been donated at the height of COVID-19 and during the forensic investigation by Funduzi Forensic Services, they were found in large quantities at CMS and also at the Mbabane Government Hospital. In addition to this, it was the finding of Funduzi Forensic Services that there were possible duplicate payments made to certain suppliers and in one instance, amounting to E68 million. On the other hand, certain suppliers were reportedly overpaid, as in one instance, a supplier was paid about E8 million more, following that they were awarded a tender at E2 million which at the end cost the taxpayer E10 million as the it is the amount government paid. The report also states that CMS had drugs valued at E81 162 288.06 of expired medicines reported over the two years under review (2020-2021 to 2021-2022). This was said to be fruitless and wasteful expenditure of millions incurred by government. Abusing It was further claimed in the report that certain suppliers found a way of abusing the (procurement) system by dumping stock, which had not been ordered knowing that certain public officials would facilitate payment thereof. The investigators identified that some orders were delivered, but without any records of the orders being placed. In the 2020/21 financial year, it was claimed that orders delivered without being requisitioned by the CMS amounted to E101 721 535.42, while in 2021/22 were valued at E42 765 018. Subsequently, the unordered products were reportedly paid for by CMS to the tune of E7 330 079. This, it is said, clearly indicated that certain suppliers could bully their way into being paid by government by simply dumping their excess stock and later demand and indeed get paid for same. Expenses Furthermore, it was reported that the expenses incurred due to orders not being delivered or partially supplied amounted to E516 936 183.80 for just 10 public health facilities. It was claimed that certain suppliers did not deliver the full stock of drugs despite huge payments being made or expenditure being incurred thereof. Also, it was reported that Eswatini pays E208 485 293.91 more than South Africa for the antiretroviral (ARVs) of a similar population of 45 000, annually. The report states that the ordering patterns do not seem to follow best practices regarding the determination of volumes and quantities to order in order to avoid excess stocking of drugs that end up expiring. In an example of the ARVs ordered in South Africa and Eswatini, a population of 11 556 in South Africa had an expenditure of R12 649 280.40 while in Eswatini it is E66 188 303.88. This means Eswatini spends E53 539 023.48 more despite the population being equal. Another example was that of a population of 45 000 which result in South Africa spending R49 257 322.43 annually while Eswatini spends E 257 742 616.34 in the same period. Monday, March 25, 2024 - A controversial South African blogger identified as Prof EX on Facebook, who claims to have dirt on top African preachers, claims that controversial South African Prophet Shepherd Bushiri and Prophet Lovy have chewed Kenyan-based preacher, Reverend Lucy Natasha. The blogger alleges that he has recordings of Prophet Bushiri and Prophet Lovy discussing the number of tattoos on Natashas body. He reportedly played the recordings to Natashas husband Prophet Carmel after he confronted him and threatened to sue him for defaming his wife. Prophet Carmel was reportedly baffled after listening to the recordings. Check out the popular bloggers posts. The Kenyan DALY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 - The World Bank has announced that it will be posting a list of debt defaulters starting next week. This was revealed by World Bank President Ajay Banga who was speaking at the China Development Forum. According to Banga, publishing a defaulter list is part of a wider scope to make publicly available proprietary data routinely. The rationale of this decision is to attract more private-sector investment to developing countries like Kenya. While the World Bank, which is the biggest lender to Kenya, has been key in funding development projects in emerging economies, Abanga noted that the bank was taking action on several fronts to overcome barriers holding back private sector investment in third-world countries. For the last two decades, the World Bank observed that developing countries had an average growth rate of between 4 and 6 per cent which does not instill private sector investment confidence. Kenya on its part, is expected to see its economy grow by 5 per cent in 2024 which is among the highest growth rates in the African continent. With the World Banks decision, Kenya will need to religiously honour its debt obligations to get a positive rating and attract more private investors. As of June 2023, Kenya had an outstanding loan of Ksh1.6 trillion from Word Bank subsidiaries. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has removed the floor limit that had been imposed on landlords building apartments within the capital. This is after he got the nod from President William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza administration. Speaking at a church service in Makadara yesterday, Sakaja revealed that landlords would now be allowed to build houses up to 25 floors upwards. Previously, the floor limit within the residential apartments was four floors with developers restricted from exceeding the limit. However, according to Governor Sakaja, the height limit was imposed in Nairobi in residential areas close to the airports to aid in the evacuation of the President during emergencies. Sakaja further explained that given the changes in Nairobi, and the growth of the population, such an evacuation would not be possible, necessitating the revision of the restrictions. There was a restriction of houses especially close to the Airport in Eastleigh Airbase. These restrictions were in place to aid the evacuation of the President during an emergency. However I requested the President to remove the limit, which he agreed to, stated Sakaja Additionally, while responding to criticism by Nairobi residents on the development of High-rise estates in various areas of Nairobi such as Kilimani and Kileleshwa, Sakaja elaborated that the citys population was growing. He stated that it was only possible for the expansion of the city upwards hence the lifting of the limit. Nairobi is 696 square Kilometres, in 2050 the population will be 10.5 million people and since we cant expand the city, the only way to go is up, explained Sakaja Further, the Governor noted that the city will be aiming to develop better sewerage and water reservoirs to facilitate the growth. The lifting of the restriction comes at a time when the Nairobi County leadership has been faulted for turning a blind eye towards the development of high-rise estates in the suburbs of Kilimani and Kileleshwa. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 Ecuador's youngest mayor and her aide were shot dead on Sunday, March 24, police in the South American country have said. Brigitte Garcia, 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente, and her communications director Jairo Loor, were found dead in Manabi province, officers said. National police said they were investigating the deaths of Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente, and Jairo Loor, her communications director, after the discovery of their bodies in the province of Manabi. Both had suffered gunshot wounds, police said in a statement. Police added that the gunfire had come from within the car, which was rented, and they were tracking the vehicle's GPS system. Ms Garcia, a member of former president Rafael Correa's left-wing Citizen Revolution Movement party is the latest political figure assassinated in Ecuador. Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed last August while leaving a campaign event two weeks before the election. He was a vocal critic of corruption and organised crime. Monday, March 25, 2024 - Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said the Kenya Kwanza Alliance administration is working on a model of reintroducing low-priced but healthy and affordable alcoholic drinks as one way of getting rid of illicit brews In an interview with Kameme FM on Monday, Gachagua said that under the model, the government will also address taxation, which impedes the production of cheaper but healthy brands. The DP said talks are ongoing with a leading alcoholic beverages manufacturer over the production of low-priced alcohol. We will address the taxation issue. The main problem is the portable spirits whose alcohol level is extremely high and toxic which have ruined families. "As a government, we have a responsibility to eradicate the illicit brews, he said. Gachagua explained that the ongoing fight is targeting manufacturers and sellers of illicit and illegal brews. The Deputy President highlighted the governments achievements and the ongoing efforts to turn around the economy. Legit businesses will not be affected by the crackdown. Bar owners must unite and work with the government to eradicate the rogue traders and manufacturers producing the killer drinks. "Instead of rushing to court to fight the crackdown, the bar owners should establish an organization to eradicate the rogue traders amongst them, he said. "Bar owners must stop claiming that the government is fighting their businesses. We are not fighting legitimate businesses because the government supports genuine enterprises." Gachagua noted that the government will not allow unscrupulous traders to kill people. The Kenyan DAILY POST The Filipino Times Watchlist: Top Engineers and Architects in the Middle East Summit, organised by New Perspective Media (NPM) Group, convened a diverse assembly of experts and officials during its second edition held on March 1. The international summit, held in Dubai, UAE, witnessed the gathering of government dignitaries from both the Philippines and the UAE, alongside leading industry figures. The event brought together renowned organisations such as AESG, Emirates Green Building Council, Diamond Developers, Maccaferri Middle East LLC, Dell Technologies, Godwin Austen Johnson, Arcadis, China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Middle East, and Women in Cyber Security Middle East (WiCSME). Future of AEC industries The expert panel delved into the future of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries, exploring topics such as the evolution of landscape design to incorporate blue and green spaces for climate adaptation. They discussed the development of smart cities that seamlessly integrate modern advancements while preserving heritage and natural environments. Sustainable practices, including the construction of green buildings and the use of renewable energy sources, were highlighted, with an emphasis on what role Filipinos in the Middle East can play in introducing innovative solutions for a sustainable future. Esteemed speakers included Abdullatif Albitawi, Director of Emirates Green Building Council; Joel Jude Tadeo, Sustainability Consultant at AESG; Hani Khalaf, CTO, and Business Development Lead - Internet of Things and Digital Cities META at Dell Technologies; Karim Naja, Senior Design Manager Landscape, Diamond Developers; and Jayakrishnan P.V., Regional Technical Manager, Maccaferri Middle East. Also contributing to the discussions were Arch Christine Espinosa-Erlanda, Associate Director at Godwin Austen Johnson; Kairmein Deboo-Irani, Director for Urban Planning at Arcadis; and Eng Mansour Faried, Chief Engineer and Member of Senior Management at China State Construction Engineering Corporation (Middle East). Elite panel Further enriching the panel discussions were Mazin Gadir, Director of Volunteers at Project Management Office Global Alliance UAE Hub; Arch Paul Peter Son R Rigor, Lead Architect at Arcadis; Eng Sheryl Dela Pena, President of PICE-UAE and Senior Quantity Surveyor and Contracts Administrator at Distance Studio Consultants; and Irene Corpuz - Founding Partner and Board Member - Women in Cyber Security Middle East. Key government figures present included Eng Shayma Al Awadhi, Assistant Undersecretary for Communication and International Relations for the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) who highlighted the significant contribution of Filipino professionals to the region's growth. Al Awadhi said: The contributions of the Filipino community to our nations growth story throughout the past 52 years have been truly remarkable and indispensable, and it will continue to be so. Al Awadhi extended her gratitude to the attendees of the event, acknowledging their significant role in the advancement of the UAE: Engineers and architects play crucial roles in shaping the world we live in, from designing and constructing buildings and infrastructure to developing technologies that improve our quality of life. Pursuing avenues Philippine Consulate General Dubai and Northern Emirates Head of Post and Vice Consul Aleah Gica, said: The government is actively pursuing avenues for cooperation with competent UAE authorities and exploring initiatives to streamline the recognition of credentials held by licensed Filipino professionals aiming to facilitate smoother transitions and has opportunities for our compatriots seeking to establish successful careers in the UAE. We hope to see progress in these efforts hopefully in the near future, through the support of our esteemed officials and friends. Hon Jaime V Mendoza, Member of the PRC Board of Engineering of the Philippine Professionals Regulation Commission lauded TFT and NPM Groups initiative, stating: The Professional Regulatory Board of Electrical Engineering (PRBEE) recognises the importance of knowledge-sharing and innovation-driven events like this, in empowering Filipino professionals, including those based overseas. These events provide invaluable opportunities for networking, learning, and collaboration, enabling professionals to expand their knowledge base, exchange ideas, and stay abreast of industry trends. Dr Karen Remo, Chief Executive Officer & Founder of New Perspective Media Group, publisher of The Filipino Times, and Chairman of TFT Watchlist Summit and Awards said: To create solutions, we need information. Through the power of The Filipino Times, the largest digital news portal for overseas Filipinos globally and the biggest free newspaper in the UAE, we are happy to reach out to 4.5 million every month viewers and empower them with knowledge and inspire them with remarkable achievements of architects and engineers who have not only built impressive structures but also paved the way for the future. Expand Watchlist Vince Ang, Chief Operations Officer at New Perspective Media Group and General Manager of The Filipino Times, commented: Committed to helping Filipinos develop themselves and their careers, we at The Filipino Times aspire to provide knowledge-sharing platforms. This commitment is our contribution to their success, and we aim to expand the Watchlist in support of more Filipinos across different industries. Filipino engineers and architects in the Middle East are synonymous with excellence, innovation, and resilience. Their outstanding contributions to sustainable landscape designs and urban development have not only reshaped the region but also earned worldwide admiration and recognition. The event, centered around the theme Filipinos in the Middle East: Charting a Sustainable Future for Architecture and Engineering with Cutting-Edge Solutions, showcases NPM Groups commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility by aligning with the UAEs extension of the Year of Sustainability campaign. The summit and awards are supported by Hotel101, Arthaland, Megaworld, Blueberry Travels, Karat World, and Darcey Flowers.--TradeArabia News Service Monday, March 25, 2024 - Former Mombasa County Governor, Hassan Joho, has declared his intentions to succeed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader. Raila, 79, is expected to join the African Union as its chairperson and this has opened a succession battle in ODM. Speaking on Saturday during a food distribution exercise for Muslims at Nidhamia Hall in Malindi, Joho insisted that he was ready to battle it out with anyone to succeed the ODM leader. Joho further said he will not accept any boardroom deal to decide on who will succeed Raila Odinga, saying it is a vote by secret ballot that will decide the next ODM supremo. There are people within the Azimio coalition who have been calling me saying I am in a hurry. "They have been requesting for talks. "But I will not talk to anybody. We shall talk on the ballot. "I have just started and will not look back. "It is time for the coastal people to be appreciated," Joho said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 - Missing JKUAT graduate Victor Kibet is reportedly part of an international gang involved in online bank fraud. The 23-year-old claimed that he was doing forex trading but it is now emerging that he is among international online fraudsters who have been emptying bank accounts. He reportedly has accomplices from China. Victor had been on the DCIs radar for quite some time before he was abducted on March 18 in Juja by armed men claiming to be police officers. He has not been booked in any police station. The abducted graduate had been displaying a lavish lifestyle on social media before he went missing. His wealth which includes a Toyota Mark X, an Audi Q5, Mercedes Benz GLC 250, and a Subaru Forester, which are suspected to be proceeds of crime. His father has denied that his son was involved in crime, although he had no idea where he got his money from. Detectives and officers in all stations within Thika, Kiambu & Nairobi counties have denied any involvement with his disappearance. Below is a post on X exposing his criminal activities. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Monday, March 25, 2024 - Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is now not sure if former Prime Minister Raila Odinga will indeed become the next African Union Commission Chairman. This follows certain pronouncements by both Azimio and President William Rutos Kenya Kwanza. According to Mudavadi, the pronouncements are likely to cost Raila the AU Chairmanship post. He regretted that members of Kenya Kwanza and Azimio were not taking Railas AU Chairmanship issue with the seriousness it deserves and were uttering reckless remarks that may cost Raila Odinga the post. Mudavadi urged Kenyans to take the AUC Chairmanship seriously and rally behind Raila Odinga, saying it would be the biggest honour for the country if Baba bags the coveted seat. Please let us take this issue of the AUC chairmanship more seriously than we are taking it. It is in our national interest that is my plea to you, he warned the politicians. Raila's candidature has been supported by leaders from all political divides in the country. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 - First Lady Rachel Ruto has announced the establishment of a unique team of intercessors to back up the Kenyan police readying themselves for the peacekeeping mission in Haiti. Speaking during a gospel event at Weston Hotel, Rachel revealed that she was involved in the intense plans to have the prayer team established long before the team flew out to the Caribbean country. According to her, the law enforcers would need prayers to accompany their mission. Constituting the team were intercessors from Kenya, the US, and Haiti, she said. "Some friends of ours have been holed up in a meeting for two days discussing the issues of Haiti because we felt at the national altar that we cannot allow our police to go to Haiti without prayer. "So, they have been strategizing on a spiritual solution and prayer for our police as they go to Haiti and pray for the people there," she said. "We were in that meeting where he had pastors from Haiti and America, and saw how these countries can come together to pray because with prayer everything is possible," added Rachel. However, the move has not gone down well with Kenyans, who accused her of wasting taxpayers money on prayers when President William Ruto was warned by former US envoy and majority of Kenyans that the mission was risky and should not send the Kenyan police to Haiti. Kenya and Haiti on March 1 signed an agreement formalizing the deployment of 1,000 police officers to the North American nation. The High Court on January 26 blocked the deployment of Kenyan officers to Haiti saying the National Security Council lacks authority to deploy police officers outside the country. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 - President William Rutos Chief Economic Advisor, David Ndii, has revealed why he has refused to advise Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on how to wage his war against illicit brew, specifically in Mt Kenya. Speaking yesterday, Ndii remarked that Gachagua is handling the issue the wrong way and is likely to fail. Furthermore, he argued that the spread of illicit brews could be traced back to 1979 when the late President Daniel Moi banned traditional liquors. The problem is economic but its roots are demographic, geography and politics, he explained. Responding to the post, a Kenyan asked, Why dont you advise the Deputy President to do the right thing? The Chief Economist then used a phrase to remark that he did not have the patience to explain to the Deputy President. He further added that just because the DP was his boss did not mean he was mandated to advise him. This happened a day after the Deputy President reiterated that the government would not relent until illicit brew was permanently eradicated. In defence of his sentiments, Ndii quoted a past article he had authored noting that consumption of illicit brew in Mt Kenya had been exacerbated by migration. He explained that over 30,000 young Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in different parts of the country were in 1994 dumped in Kiambu and other Mt Kenya regions. He explained that due to that, the young Kenyans being homeless and unemployed resorted to cheap liquor. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 - Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, has asked Kenyan politicians to stop careless talks regarding Raila Odinga's bid for African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship. Speaking in Kajiado county on Sunday, Mudavadi said politicians from the opposition and the Kenya Kwanza Alliance might jeopardize Raila's chances of winning the seat. Mudavadi insisted that Raila's bid is of national interest and should be supported by all Kenyans, irrespective of their political affiliations. Mudavadi, who is also the foreign affairs Cabinet Secretary, also called on politicians to take Raila's candidature for the AU seat seriously and stop making irrelevant statements that might undermine the country's interests. "Please let us take this issue of the African Union Commission chairmanship more seriously than we are taking it. It is in our national interest. "That is my plea to you, and I hope what I have said will resonate with all reasonable men and women in this country so that we can focus and get our act together. "Be careful (about Railas AUC chairmanship bid) because what you say may undermine our national interest," Mudavadi said. Raila,79, wants to replace Mousa Faki as AUC chairperson in 2025. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 - Kiharu Member of Parliament, Ndindi Nyoro, has warned the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) against over-taxing Kenyans. Speaking in Nyandarua on Sunday, Nyoro, who is also the chairman of the National Assembly Budget and Appropriation Committee, said KRA should create a conducive environment for businesses and not overtax Kenyans. The lawmaker further urged the KRA commissioner for domestic tax to stop the process of raising tax and engage traders. "I urge KRA, as you do changes, especially duty increase, it is important to do public participation. "I call upon the KRA commissioner in charge of domestic taxes to halt raising duty and engage business owners," said Nyoro. Nyoro spoke even as farmers and the business community complained of over-taxation by KRA. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 Former Prime Minister Raila Odingas bid to become the next African Union Commission Chairman is now in limbo. This is after the Federal Republic of Somalia unveiled a new strategy that may stop Baba from ascending to the throne. While giving the clearest indication that it would not recall Fawzia Yusuf Adam from the African Union Commission Chairperson race, Somalian Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre appointed an 8-member team that will develop a formula and lobby for Fawzia Yusuf Adam to defeat Raila Odinga for the AU chairpersonship. In that regard, the team is made of two special envoys and six organising committee members drawn from high-ranking government institutions. The Prime Minister saw the need to appoint a Special Envoy in charge of the Election Campaign for the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, 2025-2028, which will be represented by MP Fawzia Yusuf X. Adam, in Somalia, Barre explained why the nation was not backing down. The two members who were appointed as special envoys were Daoud Aweys Jama (Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism) and Ismail Jimale Alasow. The two envoys are in charge of the relationship between the governments of the need for support while carrying out the duties assigned to the Election Campaign Committee for the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, it was explained. On the other hand, members of the ministerial committee to organize the election campaign of the AUC include Bihi Cige, Daoud Aweys Jama, Abdirisaq Omar Mohammed, Abdullahi Ahmed Jama, Abdisalan Abdi Ali, and Ali Mohamed Omar. The Prime Minister announced that Somalia had seen the importance of participating in the race necessitating the appointments. Additionally, Barre remarked that he had considered the importance of AUC and strengthening the role of the Government of Somalia in the national and regional organisations that are part of the African Union. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 - Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei has come to the rescue of First Lady Rachel Ruto after she received backlash from Kenyans following her announcement that she had set up a special prayer team for the police officers that President William Ruto will be deploying to Haiti. According to Rachel, she has a team of intercessors from Kenya, the US, and Haiti praying for the officers preparing for the mission. Her revelation attracted criticism from a section of Kenyans who argued the officers needed proper safety gear and war equipment at the expense of prayers. "Prayer strategy team? Just buy bulletproof vests, might save a life," said Raptcha The Sayantist. "It is militia in Haiti, prayer is for the spiritual world but this is a battlefront where it can only be met with equal but opposite force and that is military force not even police," argued Alvin Halgo. Coming to the rescue of the First Lady in the face of the backlash, Sing'oei said the commitment to prayer to Kenyan police heading to Haiti is important. He appreciated the importance of prayer and its contribution to solving such challenges as anarchy in Haiti. "We shouldn't be too quick to discount the role of faith communities in addressing difficult social challenges," he said. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 Former Prime Minister Raila Odingas Azimio now wants President William Ruto to sack Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha and take charge of the negotiations with the striking doctors. This is after Nakhumicha failed to end the strike and have doctors return to work to the detriment of poor Kenyans. Speaking at a funeral in Ugunja, National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi appealed to Ruto to take charge of the government's negotiations with doctors to end the strike that continues to cripple service delivery in public hospitals. According to Wandayi, Nakhumichas failure to end the stalemate with doctors is reason enough why President Ruto should step in. He pushed for the dismissal of the CS over what he termed as her failure to discharge her mandate. Where we have reached, this matter can no longer be left in the hands of the ministers, Susan Nakhumicha has failed in her work. "It will be Rutos responsibility to lead the negotiations with the doctors to end the strike, stated Wandayi. He also explained that the concerns expressed by the Opposition were growing since the effects of the doctors strike were getting worse by the day. The Kenyan DAILY POST. Nation to further expand opening-up, premier says 09:07, March 25, 2024 By Cao Desheng, Liu Zhihua and Fan Feifei ( China Daily Premier Li Qiang shakes hands on Sunday with Apple CEO Tim Cook after the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing. FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY China will take pragmatic and effective actions to promote its high-quality development, injecting greater certainty and more positive energy into global economic recovery and stability, Premier Li Qiang said on Sunday. When delivering the keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, Li also highlighted the nation's commitment to expanding opening-up. He said that China, with greater openness, will create more opportunities for the world to advance win-win cooperation. The premier's remarks came amid consistent efforts made by the Chinese government to bolster economic growth despite multiple challenges. The country has unveiled a number of policies and measures to address the difficulties that are hindering high-quality growth. Senior Chinese officials recently held a series of meetings with foreign business executives as part of the nation's efforts to boost the confidence of foreign investors in the vast Chinese market. Li assured the participants at the meeting that China's economy remains resilient, dynamic and full of potential, with the fundamentals sustaining the country's economic growth in the long run staying unchanged. The positive momentum of economic recovery has continued to strengthen with new industries, business models and driving forces growing rapidly, he said. Noting that profound changes are taking place in the international environment and the global economy is confronted with grave challenges, the premier pledged that China will take effective steps to contribute to world economic recovery with its high-quality development. He emphasized that China will strengthen macro policy readjustment and coordination to drive economic growth. Speaking of specific measures, Li said the nation will focus on expanding domestic demand, promoting construction of a unified national market, advancing new urbanization, and driving large-scale equipment renewal and trade-ins of consumer goods. China will also accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, promote industrial innovation through technological advancement, and facilitate the upgrading of traditional industries, the growth of emerging industries and the cultivation of future industries to speed up the development of new quality productive forces, he added. The premier underlined the importance of taking prudent and comprehensive risk prevention and control measures to ensure the long-term healthy development of the Chinese economy. He said that China will further deepen reforms in key fields, continue to improve the efficiency of government services, protect the legitimate rights and interests of all types of enterprises in accordance with the law, steadily promote institutional opening-up in terms of standards, management and rules, and continuously connect with the world with a higher level of openness. Highlighting China's deep integration with the global economy, the premier pledged to continue fostering a world-class, market-oriented business environment that is governed by a sound legal framework. Approximately 400 participants, including World Bank President Ajay Banga, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and domestic and international experts, as well as business leaders and government officials, attended the opening ceremony of the two-day event. Pascal Soriot, CEO of United Kingdom-based biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, said that Li's speech underlined the Chinese government's confidence in the nation's economic growth prospects. "We recognize China's numerous strengths in accelerating global healthcare, innovation and sustainability, and we look forward to advancing further partnering opportunities with Chinese enterprises, both to promote Chinese innovations overseas and to advance scientific research in our own laboratories," Soriot told China Daily. Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, expressed his full confidence in China's 5 percent growth target this year, saying that the nation is "still the biggest single contributor to global growth". He said the number of foreign CEOs attending this year's China Development Forum is roughly double that of last year or even more. "I think that reflects the level of ongoing interest in the Chinese market and in investing in China." Denis Depoux, global managing director of market consultancy Roland Berger, said he understands China's emphasis on developing new quality productive forces is all about the transformation of its economy. Foreign companies can play a bigger role in supporting China's economic transformation in fields such as decarbonization, automation and digitalization of industrial and supply chains, Depoux said, adding that China's efforts to develop new quality productive forces will attract more foreign companies to bring more investment and technologies to the world's second-largest economy. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Bahrains Labour Fund Tamkeen has announced its support for Bahrainis wishing to enrol in the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) programme at the Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF). The initiative aims to qualify Bahraini talent to specialise and excel in the field of human resources (HR), by providing them with specialised training in partnership with the CIPD, a leading professional body for HR, Learning and Development (L&D), and Organisation Development (OD). This strategic partnership with the BIBF underscores Tamkeen's commitment to strengthening the capabilities of national talent and driving sustainable economic growth across key sectors of Bahrains economy. By investing in the professional development of Bahraini talent, Tamkeen will also equip individuals with the skills they need to get employment opportunities and excel in their careers. National talent "Through partnerships with institutions such as the BIBF, Tamkeen is making it easier for national talent to access high-quality training programmes that are essential for career advancement and personal growth, said Maha Abdulhameed Mofeez, Tamkeen Chief Executive. We are pleased to support initiatives that nurture Bahraini professionals so that they can thrive in today's dynamic labour market and contribute further to the Kingdom's economic prosperity." Meanwhile, the BIBFs CEO, Dr Ahmed Abdul Hameed Al Shaikh highlighted the significance of the partnership, by stating, "This collaboration underscores our commitment to delivering high-quality training programmes that address the needs of Bahrain's workforce. Together with Tamkeen and the CIPD, we aim to elevate HR standards and practices in the kingdom and empower Bahrainis to pursue successful careers in the field." Hallmark of excellence The CIPD qualification, recognised as a hallmark of excellence in HR and organisational development, offers three levels tailored to professionals at different stages of their careers. Tamkeen's support will enable Bahraini candidates to access training opportunities across all three levels, ensuring that they receive a comprehensive education that aligns with industry standards and best practices. Participants must be Bahraini nationals aged 18 and above and meet the eligibility criteria for their respective CIPD levels. Level 3 is suitable for those aspiring to or already working in entry-level HR roles. Level 5 targets professionals with experience in HR roles who aim to advance their careers. Finally, Level 7 is designed for experienced HR practitioners or those in senior roles looking to enhance their strategic and leadership skills. Tamkeens partnership with the BIBF is aligned with its 2024 strategic priorities focused on economic impact and the private sector under three pillars; increasing economic participation through employment opportunities for new entrants, expanding career development opportunities available to the Bahraini workforce, and further developing the private sector by supporting enterprises and boosting productivity and adoption of technology.--TradeArabia News Service Monday, March 25, 2024 An Aviation Machinists Mate 2nd Class, Oriola Michael Aregbesola, has died after he reportedly fell off from USS Mason (DDG 87) while operating in the Red Sea, March 20. In a statement released, the US Navy said late Aregbesola was lost overboard from USS Mason (DDG 87) while operating in the Red Sea. The statement read Aviation Machinists Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola, assigned to the Swamp Foxes of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74, was deployed with a detachment aboard Mason, which has been operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet since November. Aregbesola, of Florida, joined the Navy in July 2020. He reported to HSM-74 in December 2020. Petty Officer Aregbesola fully embodied the selfless character and thoughtful warrior spirit of the United States Navy Sailor, said Cmdr. Eric Kohut, HSM-74 commanding officer. His outstanding performance prior to and during deployment went well beyond aircraft maintenance; he truly saw and valued every member of the ship/air team. He will continue on in the heart of every Swamp Fox and our brothers and sisters in the IKE Carrier Strike Group. Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with his family. Mason and HSM-74 are part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and currently deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.'' Meanwhile a friend of the deceased took to X to mourn him. He quoted a tweet shared by the late Aregbesola announcing his enlistment into the US Navy after denouncing Nigeria. Monday, March 25, 2024 - Two months ago, Mumias East Member of Parliament, Peter Salasya, came out guns blazing and washed Didmus Barasas dirty linen in public. Salaysa claimed that Barasa dumped his wife and eloped with an older woman in Nairobi. He further alleged that Barasas wife is suffering in the village as he elopes with the older woman in the city. He challenged him to post his wife on social media to prove him wrong. Who has ever seen Barasas wife? Let him post her on social media to prove me wrong, Salaysa said. The youthful MP told Barasa that he had no moral authority to advise him to get married and reminded him that he shot an innocent person dead. Salaysas remarks came days after Barasa advised him to get married to address his aggressive behaviour, which has led to physical fights in public. Renowned blogger Aoko Otieno has added fuel to the fire by exposing the older woman that Barasa is reportedly eloping with. According to Aoko, Barasa chews CS Mithika Linturis ex-wife Maryanne Keitanny, the member of parliament for the Aldai constituency. Check out her post on X. Monday, March 25, 2024 - President William Ruto's aide Farouk Kibet has directed Kikuyu MP and the National Assembly majority leader, Kimani Ichung'wah, to personally lead the probe into the fake fertilizer scandal. This is after the country was shocked by a revelation by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) that the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) depots were stocking bags of substandard fertilizer. The quality assurance agency went ahead to revoke the standardisation marks of the companies supplying the bogus farm inputs. Reacting to the development, Farouk called for the prosecution of the suppliers, tasking the Kikuyu MP with leading the process. "The government issued fertilizers under the subsidy program but there are cartels selling fertilizer laced with soil. We want the police to arrest those suppliers. This goes to MP Ichung'wah," said Farouk. This came days after President Ruto issued a warning to the suppliers selling fake seeds and fertilizers to farmers, saying the government would deal with them. The Head of State noted that security officials have already arrested individuals taking advantage of the subsidized fertilizer programme to sell fake fertilizers to unsuspecting Kenyans. He further attributed the shortage of subsidized fertilizer to the ongoing conflict at the Red Sea that has delayed supply to Kenya. The Kenyan DAILY POST Monday, March 25, 2024 Azimio Leader Raila Odinga and his allies may be behind the fake fertilizers being sold around the country. This was revealed by Kirinyaga Women Representative Njeri Maina. Speaking during an event in Kisii, Maina, who is President William Rutos ally, criticized cartels behind the sale of fake fertilisers in the country, claiming they are aiming to derail Kenya Kwanzas agenda and plan. She accused the government critics, among them Raila Odingas Azimio, of running the cartels. People are selling fake fertilizers and they want to ruin the governments name. They thought we cant support farmers to produce food, she stated. Those people who were claiming the fertilizers will not work have come together as cartels to sell the fake fertilizers. The legislator further called on President William Ruto to crack down on the cartels, who were interfering with the governments plan to provide food security for Kenyans. The president said there are three options. I urge the president to deal with them because we wont watch as people derail our plans, she added. The Kenyan DAILY POST One of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, State Street Corporation, today celebrates the official opening of its new office building in Kilkenny. State Street established its Irish operations in 1996 and has grown to become one of the largest international financial services employers in Ireland. With a presence in Kilkenny for over 20 years, State Street was the first company in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), to establish a regional base outside of Dublin. Todays opening ceremony, hosted by the Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath and by State Street chairman and chief executive officer Ron OHanley, signifies a major milestone in the firms ongoing commitment to the region and to Ireland. Our new office and global cybersecurity centre reflects State Streets commitment to Ireland and our confidence in the South-East region's exceptional talent pool, said Ron O Hanley, chairman and chief executive officer of State Street. "We are grateful to the Irish government for its support in our continuing journey to enhance our operational capabilities by leveraging Irelands exceptional workforce and its strength as a fund domicile and ecosystem. The availability of relevant and skilled technology talent from universities in the South-East region, alongside the need to support global operations outside of the US, are two of the key reasons for the firm to select Kilkenny as its regional base. Welcoming the news, Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath said: I want to congratulate State Street on this important milestone for their regional operations in Ireland. The Kilkenny operations are a vital element in the development of the international financial services sector in the South-East region and the cybersecurity centre is a testament to links they have developed with the third level institutions. State Street is one of the largest employers in financial services and I want to wish all the team in Kilkenny the very best and continued success as they build out their exciting new cybersecurity global business in the new offices. Located at IDA Ireland Business and Technology Park, the new state of the art building is also home to State Streets recently established global cybersecurity centre of excellence, the only dedicated cybersecurity hub outside of the US, supporting the needs of its employees in over 200 geographic markets worldwide. Terri Dempsey, country head of Ireland, added: "The establishment of this new office will amplify the work State Street has been doing in Kilkenny for over twenty years, deepening our connections to local community, businesses and institutions to nurture growth and innovation. Kilkennys thriving talent pool and dynamic innovation landscape make it an ideal base for our established cybersecurity fusion centre and enables us to actively promote female participation in the tech industry. Government policies and the continued support from the IDA have laid a solid foundation for State Street to grow together with the people of Kilkenny and for the prosperity of the region." State Street was recognised as the leading provider of fund administration services and custody services, and transfer agent in Ireland in The Monterey Insight 2023 report. Together with State Street Global Advisors, State Streets asset management business, the firm has grown over the years to become one of the largest international financial services employers in Ireland. In addition to its strategic importance to the firm, the modern building also reflects State Streets strong commitment to environmental responsibility, including energy management systems, photovoltaic panels, and rainwater harvesting achieving BER A3 rating. The building has also integrated biodiversity elements and prioritised employee well-being with Fitwel certification, ample bicycle parking, walking trails, beehives, fitness hubs and diverse accessibility features to create a sustainable and employee-centric environment. Dublin, Mar 25 (UNI) Irish Higher Education Minister Simon Harris was named leader of the governing Fine Gael party in an uncontested election, paving the way for him to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Leo Varadkar who formally resigned last week, Irish media reported. The 37-year-old politician is expected to become the youngest prime minister, or taoiseach, in Irish history, The Irish Times newspaper reported on Sunday. Other possible candidates for the party leadership, including Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney and the minister for public expenditure, Paschal Donohoe, stood aside. Harris was the only candidate to put his name forward to replace Varadkar, and the nomination period closed at lunchtime on Sunday. Harris is expected to be voted in as Ireland's prime minister on April 9 when parliament returns after the Easter break, the newspaper reported. Varadkar announced his resignation as leader of Ireland and Fine Gael last Wednesday, citing "personal and political" reasons. He pledged to remain in office until his successor was elected. UNI/SPUTNIK AKS Washington, Mar 25 (UNI) Israel agrees to the terms proposed by the United States for the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages held by Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip and is awaiting a response from the movement on this matter, CNN reported, citing a source. The proposal was put forward by CIA Director Bill Burns, the report said, adding that it involves the release by Israel of about 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages by Hamas. However, agreements were still not reached on other issues, including the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the deployment of the Israeli military in the enclave, the report read. On Sunday, Israeli reporter for the Axios news portal Barak Ravid wrote on X, citing unnamed Israeli officials, that the US proposal involves the release of 100 Palestinians serving life sentences for killing Israelis, fewer than what was proposed by Qatari mediators three weeks ago. Israel rejected the Qatari proposal because Hamas had failed to respond to the one put forward during the Paris talks, which included the release of 400 prisoners, among them 25 serving life sentences, Ravid wrote. Israel is also willing to discuss a US "bridging proposal" on the return of Palestinian civilians to the northern Gaza Strip, which the journalist described as "one of the main points of contention in the talks." Last October, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing 1,200 people and abducting around 240 others. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 32,200 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said. UNI/SPUTNIK AKS Aden, Mar 25 (UNI) Fierce clashes erupted between Yemeni pro-government forces and Houthi militants on Sunday in the country's northeastern Marib province, resulting in a total of nine fatalities among both sides, a military official told Xinhua. The local military official, who asked to remain anonymous, said heavy artillery fire was noticed during pre-dawn armed confrontations on the Balaq front lines south of Marib province, making it one of the fiercest battles between the two sides in months. The source stated that "the hours-long gun battles left three soldiers dead and four others injured, while six Houthi fighters were killed and several more wounded within rebel ranks." The escalation comes in the wake of a relative calm that had prevailed across Marib's frontlines, where the internationally recognized government forces have managed to fend off large-scale attacks by the Houthis. The renewed violence flies in the face of recent appeals by the United Nations for maximum restraint to protect tentative progress toward ending Yemen's nine-year civil war. During a UN Security Council session on Thursday, UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg urged the warring parties to reduce rising hostilities and "refrain from provocations" that could jeopardize nascent peace efforts. Yemen's grinding war, which erupted in 2014 when the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa, has precipitated one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 in an attempt to restore the government. Despite multiple diplomatic endeavors over the years, neither side has demonstrated the requisite will to revive negotiations aimed at resolving a conflict that, according to United Nations estimates, has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and pushed millions more to the brink of famine. UNI/XINHUA AKS Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that he will not support the government's proposal on exempting ultra-Orthodox men from conscription into the military. CVA Family Office LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,937 shares of the companys stock after selling 134 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLCs holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 349,588 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,683,000 after purchasing an additional 169,536 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $2,423,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 159,225 shares of the companys stock worth $13,064,000 after buying an additional 9,376 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $1,078,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 36,124 shares of the companys stock worth $2,964,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.59% of the companys stock. Get Merck & Co. Inc. alerts: Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.2 % Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, reaching $123.85. The company had a trading volume of 7,022,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,463,445. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $313.67 billion, a PE ratio of 884.64, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $123.94 and a 200-day moving average of $112.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $130.24. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year. Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.49%. Merck & Co., Inc.s payout ratio is 2,200.00%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a b+ rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a hold rating to a sell rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $129.14. Read Our Latest Report on MRK About Merck & Co., Inc. (Free Report) Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Merck & Co. Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CVA Family Office LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,580 shares of the credit services providers stock after selling 35 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLCs holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $21,442,000. United Bank increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 63,040 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $1,168,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $12,926,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.94% of the companys stock. Get Mastercard alerts: Mastercard Stock Performance Shares of MA traded down $6.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $481.67. The companys stock had a trading volume of 2,277,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,228,909. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $346.31 and a one year high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $449.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.08. The stocks 50-day moving average is $461.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.22. Mastercard ( NYSE:MA Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 EPS for the current year. Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $11.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued. Mastercard Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercards payout ratio is 22.32%. Insider Activity at Mastercard In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $20,003,217.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the companys stock, valued at $20,003,217.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $425.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $476.35. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MA Mastercard Profile (Free Report) Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions. Read More 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 Free Report). 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. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (NYSEARCA:BINC Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,189 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 2,384 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLCs holdings in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF were worth $1,369,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $454,000. WBH Advisory Inc. bought a new position in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF in the 4th quarter worth about $2,224,000. TBH Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 20,864 shares of the companys stock worth $1,052,000 after purchasing an additional 2,307 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in BlackRock Flexible Income ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $323,000. Finally, Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock Flexible Income ETF during the 4th quarter valued at about $823,000. Get BlackRock Flexible Income ETF alerts: BlackRock Flexible Income ETF Stock Performance Shares of BINC traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.42. 498,061 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 870,808. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $52.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.37. BlackRock Flexible Income ETF has a 12 month low of $49.54 and a 12 month high of $52.62. BlackRock Flexible Income ETF Company Profile The BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (BINC) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in high yield fixed income. The fund provides an actively managed approach to multisector fixed-income exposure globally. It may hold debt and income-producing securities, of any credit quality or maturity, with the objective of maximizing long-term income and capital appreciation. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BINC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (NYSEARCA:BINC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for BlackRock Flexible Income ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BlackRock Flexible Income ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CVA Family Office LLC reduced its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,188 shares of the energy producers stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. CVA Family Office LLCs holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norris Perne & French LLP MI raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the third quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 4,364 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.3% in the third quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 35.9% in the third quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the third quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 4,702 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.8% in the third quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 3,305 shares of the energy producers stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 80.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get ConocoPhillips alerts: Insider Activity In related news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total transaction of $502,781.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,654 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $293,399.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $953,070.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total transaction of $502,781.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $293,399.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,425 shares of company stock valued at $4,077,489 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COP shares. Mizuho restated a neutral rating and set a $139.00 price target (up previously from $132.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $141.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $139.00 to $133.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $135.12. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on COP ConocoPhillips Price Performance Shares of COP traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $123.03. 4,976,248 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,102,452. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $93.26 and a 1-year high of $127.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $112.85 and a 200-day moving average of $115.95. The stock has a market cap of $144.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.23. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 22.08%. The firm had revenue of $15.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. Analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year. ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from ConocoPhillipss previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. ConocoPhillipss dividend payout ratio is 25.61%. About ConocoPhillips (Free Report) ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding COP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for ConocoPhillips Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ConocoPhillips and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,961 shares of the pharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. INs holdings in GSK were worth $147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of GSK by 6.9% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,346 shares of the pharmaceutical companys stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in GSK by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 6,462 shares of the pharmaceutical companys stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 9,367 shares of the pharmaceutical companys stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory now owns 21,391 shares of the pharmaceutical companys stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners grew its stake in GSK by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 6,345 shares of the pharmaceutical companys stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.53% of the companys stock. Get GSK alerts: GSK Price Performance Shares of NYSE GSK traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.35. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,482,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,822,703. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.21. GSK plc has a one year low of $33.33 and a one year high of $43.84. The company has a market cap of $87.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. GSK Increases Dividend GSK ( NYSE:GSK Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.07 EPS for the current year. The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd will be given a $0.3564 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from GSKs previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. GSKs payout ratio is presently 52.82%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GSK shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an equal weight rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised GSK from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Guggenheim upgraded GSK from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised GSK from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. Read Our Latest Research Report on GSK About GSK (Free Report) GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GSK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for GSK plc (NYSE:GSK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for GSK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for GSK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWO Free Report) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 350 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Horizon Bancorp Inc. INs holdings in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF were worth $88,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IWO. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 33,931 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $8,678,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,286 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $3,654,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 1,321 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,581 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,253,000. Get iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF alerts: iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF Price Performance Shares of IWO traded down $3.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $265.08. 365,549 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 602,939. iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has a fifty-two week low of $203.42 and a fifty-two week high of $273.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $256.27 and a 200-day moving average of $238.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 1.15. About iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (the Fund) is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Russell 2000 Growth Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the small-capitalization growth sector of the United States equity market. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IWO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (NYSEARCA:IWO Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. A senior North Korean official has called for further strengthening ties with China, North Korea's state media said Monday, the latest in a series of meetings with senior Chinese officials. Kim Song-nam, director of the international department at the Workers' Party, made the comments in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Saturday, noting this year marks the year of the North Korea-China friendship, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between North Korea and China, the North's longtime ally and largest economic benefactor. In response, Wang said he is certain their friendly ties will advance under the strategic leadership of their leaders and said Beijing will bolster communication and cooperation with Pyongyang to guard their common interests, the KCNA said. Kim also met with Wang Huning, a member of the standing committee of the political bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, and Liu Jianchao, the minister of the party's international liaison department Thursday. Kim was in Beijing for the first leg of his three-nation trip, which will also take him to Vietnam and Laos. The trip came as North Korea appears to be resuming diplomatic activity with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following years of Pyongyang's COVID-19 border shutdowns. Laos plans to host the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and other ASEAN-related meetings as this year's chair country. The annual ARF is the sole regional forum joined by North Korea. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. (Yonhap) Korea's industry ministry said Monday it has discussed ways to broaden its industrial partnership with Romania focusing on the nuclear energy and defense sectors. Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun met his Romanian counterpart, Stefan Radu Oprea, in Seoul to share ideas on expanding cooperation in trade and investment, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, the two countries shared a consensus on seeking carbon neutrality, with Romania vowing support for Korea's Carbon-Free Energy initiative, or CFE, proposed by President Yoon Suk Yeol during his keynote speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September. Korea also emphasized that Asia's No. 4 economy will stand as the most optimal partner for Romania in the nuclear energy sector, offering competitive prices, quality and timely delivery. In June, Korea's Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power secured a deal with Romania's nuclear energy company SNN to build a tritium removal facility, meant to extract tritium from heavy water and store it in a safe form. Korea also expressed hopes to strengthen ties with the Eastern European nation in the defense sector, emphasizing that its advanced defense systems can significantly contribute to the modernization of Romania's military. The ministry added that the two countries can enhance their ties in the defense sector through investment, technology transfer and jointly pursuing exports to third-party nations. (Yonhap) By Ko Kwang-hyo In July 2021, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) acknowledged South Korea's transition from a developing to a developed country, marking a historic milestone. This recognition came just 70 years after the nation began rebuilding from the devastation of the Korean War. Today, Korea stands among the world's top 10 economies, boasting significant rankings in global trade volume and military capabilities, affirming its status as an advanced nation. However, the stature of a "global pivotal state" demands more than economic and military might. It requires a commitment to playing a vital role in the international community. Aligned with its national vision: "Global Pivotal State for Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity," Korea is extending its influence beyond economic prowess to encompass culture, diplomacy and defense. This was evidenced at the United Nations General Assembly last September, where Korea pledged to significantly increase its Official Development Assistance (ODA). In a demonstration of commitment, the Korean government has allocated a record 6.3 trillion won ($47 billion) to ODA for this year, up 31 percent from the previous year, highlighting Korea's dedication to being a responsible leader on the global stage. In concert with this vision, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) unveiled its new ambition in October last year: "Dynamically Innovative Korea Customs Service for Forward-Leaping Korea as a Global Pivotal State." Focusing on employing ODA as a strategic tool, the KCS has embarked on numerous projects and programs to promote shared growth and trust with developing countries. Utilizing Korea's advanced IT and customs management expertise, the KCS has offered consultancy services to developing nations, helping them reengineer their customs procedures. This initiative not only shares Koreas best practices but also encourages the adoption of Koreas e-clearance system, UNI-PASS, a testament to Korea's leading role in e-government solutions. To date, KCSs efforts in customs modernization have extended to 42 countries, with 14 adopting the UNI-PASS system, marking significant contributions to Koreas e-government export sector. This initiative has not only promoted Korea's e-government solutions globally but also underscored the significant economic and competitive benefits for the recipient countries. For instance, Tanzania and Ghana have witnessed remarkable fiscal and trade improvements after the introduction of UNI-PASS. Tanzania has witnessed a remarkable increase in annual revenue of 29 percent while Ghanas cargo clearance time has shortened by 48 percent, validating the critical impact of these systems on national development. My recent visit to North Macedonia, where I attended the kickoff meeting for establishing KCS's e-clearance system and met with the president at the countrys request, further solidified the global interest in adopting our advanced systems. Furthermore, the KCS commitment to fostering international cooperation includes seminars and training programs aimed at building capacities in customs administration. Ahead of the Korea-Africa Summit, the KCS is set to host a High-Level Customs Policy Seminar for the heads of customs authorities from 10 African countries including Ghana and Cameroon, and international organizations such as the AfDB. At the working level, a total of 1,672 customs officials from 443 countries have been invited and trained in 78 customized training programs over the past five years. These efforts demonstrate Korea's commitment to sharing its expertise and promoting customs modernization worldwide. The synergy between consultancy, tailored training, and e-clearance system establishment by KCS illustrates a comprehensive approach to supporting developing countries while also creating favorable conditions for Korean exporters. This mutual growth philosophy is epitomized by the African proverb, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." As Korea continues to fulfill its role as a global pivotal state, the KCS remains dedicated to expanding our ODA efforts and sharing knowledge and experience of K-customs administration worldwide. Ko Kwang-hyo is the commissioner of Korea Customs Service. Angola, IN (46703) Today Periods of rain. Thunder possible. Low near 40F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Periods of rain. Thunder possible. Low near 40F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 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. ITZY Ryujin triggered a heated discussion after she was allegedly caught flipping off. What really happened? On March 24, the idol became a hot topic among K-pop fans after a so-called MIDZY (ITZY fandom) took to the web forum Pann and uploaded a clip of Ryujin along with Yeji during their time in Sydney. While the co-members appeared to be casually taking photos in front of the Sydney Opera House, the fan pointed out how surprised they were after seeing Ryujin flash her middle finger. ITZY Ryujin Gives Middle Finger? MIDZYs Defend Idol As a quick background, ITZY was recently seen roaming around Sydney to enjoy their free time prior to their "Born to Be" tour stop in Australia from the 24th to the 26th. According to the OP, they were in front of the opera house when Ryujin suddenly flipped someone off and perplexed, Yeji who was taking pictures with her at the time immediately covered it. While the video was a bit blurry, it was confirmed that the two girls were the ITZY members as on the same day, the group's official TikTok account posted a video of the two along with Yuna and their outfits matched the fan-taken clip. ALSO READ: ITZY Ryujin Sparks Concern Following Latest Appearance What Happened? Upon upload, the post about Ryujin, titled, "Wow, this is my first time seeing a female idol giving the middle finger", immediately spread like wildfire among K-netz and fans, amassing over 306,000 views as of writing. Eventually, it caught malicious comments from online users, which MIDZY was quick to revoke. Ryujin fans claimed that it wasn't a big deal and that it was just a normal youth who was trying to play a harmless prank with her friends. There are even claims that Ryujin didn't actually curse with her finger, but only teased Yeji and did a finger heart instead. "At a concert hall surrounded by fans, there is a female idol who flipped off her friend. What's the big deal?" "They are just playing around themselves, so it's really unfair to film them with a hidden camera and then blame them for it." "Men, they are starting again. It's really hard to live as a female idol." "Should we follow rules of etiquette even when taking personal photos? She must be so sick of it." "Nate Pann kids don't have friends so please just understand them (sarcasm)." K-Netz Note Double Standards Between Male & Female Idols Flipping Off While MIDZY tried to defend Ryujin, this just caused more backlash to the idol, with netizens pointing out the double standard between male and female idols flashing the middle finger. While the majority think Ryujin's case is not a big deal, other fans claimed that if it was a male idol, things would have been different. Rather than just looking at it as an ordinary adult who is having fun with his friend, he would most likely cause an uproar, and call him "rude" and other names. Thus, these fans want MIDZYs to stop defending Ryujin and hold her accountable for her "mistake," emphasizing that giving a middle finger is one of the most offensive gestures, even if it was given to a close friend. "When a male idol does this, they swear at him and call him a 'human trash." "If a male idol had done that, there would be an uproar. "It's obviously a double standard." READ MORE: ITZY Ryujin's 'Hot Girl' Aesthetic in THIS Post Has MIDZYs Down Bad: 'She needs to chill' For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dela Cruz Amid multiple celebrity dating rumors right now, (G)I-DLE Miyeon's video drew laughter with over 1.1M views for her response to a Chinese fan asking her not to date an "ugly" man. (G)I-DLE Miyeon Makes Hilarious Response to Chinese Fan's Request About Her Dating Life On March 24, a 22-second clip of Miyeon went viral on the X platform due to the idol's funny reaction when a fan pleaded with her to never date an "ugly" man. In Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, a Chinese Neverland (fandom) uploaded her conversation with the idol during a fan call. At the time, she brought a placard with the words, "Please don't date an ugly man," and after reading it out loud, Miyeon burst into laughter. Without hesitation, she responded, saying: "Okay! Don't worry!" With her broken Korean, the Chinese fan repeatedly says, "Please don't do it," and Miyeon also continued to shake her head to attest to the fan. pic.twitter.com/5tY7qSYkn5 (@summer_kiii) March 24, 2024 ALSO READ: (G)I-DLE Miyeon Relationship: Truth Behind Dating Rumors With Jung Jinhyung When this video was released on X, it immediately became a trending topic with over 1.1 million views, drawing laughter, especially from Korean and international Nevies. Fans chuckled and felt relieved somehow about (G)I-DLE Miyeon's dating life, although they felt concerned about the idol choosing someone who doesn't have the beauty standard to be called "handsome." It wasn't particularly clarified if the fan meant to say "ugly" physically or internally, but netizens assumed that the Chinese fan pertained to looks. K-Netz React to Hilarious Interaction Between Miyeon & Chinese Neverland Meanwhile, fans found it hilarious as they claim that it seemed to be a "shade" to other K-pop idols, who were previously embroiled in dating news. At the start of the year, aespa Karina was confirmed to be dating Lee Jae Wook, followed by Ryu Jun Yeol's alleged "transit love" to Han So Hee from Girl's Day Hyeri, and just recently, TWICE Jihyo's dating rumor with athlete Yun Sung Bin. Although "beauty is subjective," some complained about the aforementioned idols choosing guys that are "not" handsome, based on the Korean standard. Thus, K-pop fans immediately turned the clip into an online meme and claimed that they would send it to their faves as well to warn them to choose wisely. "@ tagging all the women I love." "I have to show this to all my girls." "Women must watch this to prevent damage." "I think Miyeon's fans must have been relieved haha" "Ah, it's funny how Chinese people say things like this without hesitation." "It's funny how Miyeon keeps saying 'okay' as if she knows..." READ MORE: The Boyz Hyunjae Dating Rumor: Did You Know He Was Linked to (G)I-DLE Miyeon? For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dela Cruz Ex-IZ*ONE Hitomi might re-debut in Korea and join this existing girl group, according to K-pop fans who noticed this huge "hint." On March 24, the girl group tripleS's official YouTube channel uploaded a new video," titled, "We were 'already' one and also twenty-four | EN | SIGNAL 240324." On this day, the current 20 members of tripleS gathered at Gapyeong HAUS Kitchen on the 18th. SUAH, the voice entity that resides in HAUS, then raised the group's anticipation as she announced that the last four S (members) had arrived. Ex-IZ*ONE Hitomi to Re-Debut in tripleS? Here's Why Netizens Think So In the video, the last four unrevealed tripleS members were seen walking inside the venue, partially showing off their physiques and features. While the last members were yet to take off their veils, fans who had been anticipating the large-scale group to be completed then started to speculate who would join tripleS and why the existing members were surprised. There are claims that it was due to the fact that some of the members were already known in the music scene and one of them could be actually Hitomi Honda! Their faces weren't revealed, but the biggest proof that fans were highlighting why it must be Hitomi was the scar on the former IZ*ONE's left shin. Ok guys hear me out new S Honda hitomi? Her scar and stance kinda match perfect lmao pic.twitter.com/6l4jJDovsx March 25, 2024 ALSO READ: Triple S Agency Drops Hammer on Cyber Bullies Shocking Legal Battle Against Online Predators Unveiled Looking at the video uploaded by tripleS, one of the members has a visible scar in the same area, and the resemblance is really uncanny that fans think they could be the same person. Hitomi Honda, who was born in 2001 and is 22 years old this year, began her career in Japan in 2014 as a member of the popular idol group, AKB48. In 2018, her fame expanded in South Korea after she joined Mnet's "Produce 48," which led her to debut in the girl group, IZ*ONE. Despite the popularity, the "Nation's Pick" team sadly disbanded in 2021 and she decided to return to her country to promote AKB48 again. However, she once again revealed sad news after she graduated from the team in January. Since then, she hasn't updated anything on her Instagram, and with this, attention is being paid to whether she will really continue her activities in Korea again. In the meantime, MODHAUS is yet to confirm this and the four S members are still yet to be named. What Is tripleS? Girl Group Who's Dubbed the Girl Version of 'NCT' for Having 24 Members Meanwhile, for those who are not aware of tripleS, the team is a large-scale group with 24 members which debuted in May 2022. They drew attention day by day for their unique concept of not revealing all members at once, but they unveiled the current S members from 1 to 20 through various solo, unit and group projects and releases. As of the moment, tripleS comprised Kim Yoo Yeon, Mayu, Xinyu, Kim Na Kyoung, Park So Hyun, Seo Da Hyun, Nien, Yoon Seo Yeon, Kotone, Kim Chae Yeon, Gong Yu Bin, Lee Ji Woo, Kaede, Park ShiOn, Lynn, Jeong Hye Rin, Jeong Ha Yeon, Kim Soo Min, Kwak Yeon Ji, and Joo Bin. Since their debut, their decentralized system which allowed them to have a rotating lineup has created seven sub-units so far, including Acid Angel from Asia, +(KR)ystal Eyes, ACID EYES, LOVElution, EVOLution, NXT and Aria. There is high anticipation of how their next group and concept will differ from their existing units, now that they are about to be complete. READ MORE: NCT Female Version? New Girl Group to Debut With 24 Members For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns this article. Written by Eunice Dela Cruz Jang Wonyoung has sparked discussion regarding her visuals in her newest pictorial for VOGUE. Here's what DIVEs are saying about her appearance! IVE Jang Wonyoung Has DIVEs Swooning For 'Dark Makeup' In Vogue Photoshoot On March 24, netizens and fans gathered in an online community that discussed Wonyoung's May photoshoot for VOGUE Japan. In the post, the author uploaded numerous scans of Wonyoung's photos showing her slaying a sophisticated fashion and serving her gorgeous visuals. Jang Wonyoung stuns in smokey makeup for VOGUE Japanhttps://t.co/U7ScMy2sn2 pic.twitter.com/plmzEHmoLW pannchoa (@pannchoa) March 25, 2024 While many were astounded by Wonyoung's style and vibe, most noticed Wonyoung's makeup, which they praised for bringing out a new side to the idol! Read their comments below: "I didn't recognize Wonyoung here but she's still pretty." "Oh, I like how we're seeing a new side of her here." "I'm seeing a new side of her face in these photos." "She looks like Kim Hyojin in a few photos here." In a separate platform, international fans joined the conversation, saying how much they appreciated Wonyoung in a different makeup style. "Wow, they really changed her whole face for the photoshoot, like if you didn't tell me it was Wonyoung then I would've no idea." "But she looks the same in the video, so it is just the poses, editing, and makeup." "It is nice to see photoshoots that actually try something new so I kind of like this." "She shines the most to me when she's not styled with Korean style makeup." "Oh, now I want to see more Wonyoung in androgynous style and dark makeup. The last picture is my fave." "Wow the eye makeup suits her she looks gorgeous." "I love this darker makeup. It looks really new on her." "Refreshing to see different makeup and styling on her." IVE Lands Spot on K-pop Girl Group Brand Rankings for March 2024 In other news, IVE made it on the brand reputation list for March 2024. According to the organization, IVE managed to secure the sixth place with a brand reputation index of 2,121,304. The girl group has also garnered traction for their social media updates, along with their promotions, and content. These factors also contributed to their overall engagement with DIVEs, fueling their exposure to the media and buzz online. See the full list here: 1. TWICE 2. (G)I-DLE 3. LE SSERAFIM 4. BLACKPINK 5. NewJeans 6. IVE 7. Girls' Generation 8. OH MY GIRL 9. Red Velvet 10. Apink 11. NMIXX 12. H1-KEY 13. BABYMONSTER 14. MAMAMOO 15. ITZY 16. WJSN 17. STAYC 18. LOONA 19. fromis_9 20. aespa 21. APRIL 22. MOMOLAND 23. Kep1er 24. tripleS 25. Dreamcatcher 26. Girl's Day 27. TRI.BE 28. LABOUM 29. Ladies' Code 30. woo!ah! 31. Weki Meki 32. EXID 33. ALICE 34. CLASS:y 35. f(x) 36. cignature 37. Rocket Punch 38. Brown Eyed Girls 39. ARTBEAT 40. DIA 41. Billlie 42. Weeekly 43. TWEETY 44. CAMILA 45. EVERGLOW 46. BLACKSWAN 47. PURPLE KISS 48. ICHILLIN' 49. LIMELIGHT 50. mimiirose For more intriguing K-pop news and exciting updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz! IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: IVE Jang Wonyoung Has DIVEs in Love With Her Immaculate Presence at Launching Event: 'She slayed for real' KpopStarz owns this article Written by Riely Miller 600 million to strengthen rescEU firefighting fleet The Commission is financing the purchase of new firefighting planes to increase the aerial firefighting capacity of rescEU, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism's strategic crisis response reserve. 600 million in EU funds will be used to purchase 12 new planes, which will be hosted across 6 EU Member States: Croatia, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Spain. These planes will be used to extinguish fires across the European Union, in particular during the difficult summer months when lives, homes and livelihoods are coming increasingly under threat to large scale forest fires. The announcement comes as Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, participated in Zagreb today in the signature ceremony of the agreement between the government of Croatia and the Canadian Commercial Corporation to purchase specialised firefighting aircraft. This, together with the signature of a similar agreement by the government of Greece recently, marks an important step in increasing the aerial firefighting capacity in the EU, protecting EU citizens from disasters. Five years ago, the European Commission upgraded the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and created rescEU to further protect citizens from disasters and manage emerging risks. rescEU was established as a reserve of European capacities, and it includes a fleet of firefighting planes and helicopters. rescEU is fully funded by the EU. Background The EU ensures a coordinated approach to preventing, preparing and responding to wildfires when those overwhelm national response capacities. When the scale of a wildfire overwhelms the response capabilities of a country, it can request assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Once activated, the EU's Emergency Response Coordination Centre coordinates and finances assistance made available by 27 EU Member States and 10 Participating States (Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Moldova and Ukraine) through spontaneous offers. On 25 March 2024, the government of Croatia signed an agreement with the Canadian Commercial Corporation about the purchase of the medium amphibious aircraft. The government of Greece signed a similar agreement with the Canadian producer on 24 March. Six EU Member States (Greece, Croatia, Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal) will host the new aerial firefighting fleet being financed by the Commission under rescEU. For more information EU Civil Protection Mechanism rescEU Emergency Response Coordination Centre Quote It has been a couple of years since the European Commission has initiated the process to scale up aerial firefighting capacities in Europe. I congratulate Croatia as well as Greece, who were the earliest to sign into reality the first planes of what will form a new generation of European firefighting aerial capacity. And I thank Canada for facilitating these agreements with the company concerned resuming production of these very much needed planes. This is an important step to acquiring the aircraft which will help protect citizens not just in Croatia and Greece but across Europe. It will be 100% paid for by the European Commission as part of our strengthened rescEU firefighting capacity ready to fight ever more intense wildfires in Europe. Janez Lenarcic, Commissioner for Crisis Management 2024-03-24 Medininagar (Jharkhand), Mar 25 (PTI) Two minor girls drowned in the Koel river in Palamu district on Monday, police said. Six girls had gone to the river for taking bath after playing Holi, but two of them drowned, Officer-in-Charge of Mohamnadganj police station, Pankaj Kumar Tiwary, said. Also Read | Delhi Shocker: Man Shot Dead, Mother and Sister Sustain Injuries After Being Attacked Over Property Dispute in Mangolpuri Area. The deceased were identified as Priya Kumari (9) and Rubi Kumari (8). The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, he added. Also Read | Justice Mohd Yusuf Wani Sworn In As Judge in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh High Court in Srinagar. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ladakh [India], March 25 (ANI): Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command, visited forward posts in Eastern Ladakh early this morning to celebrate Holi with personnel of Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Indian Air Force (IAF), an IAF release said. Air Marshal Singha complimented them for steadfast vigilance despite the terrain and weather conditions, adding to the statement. Also Read | Lok Sabha Election 2024: Solapur Congress Candidate Praniti Shinde, BJP's Ram Satpute Kick-Off Poll Campaign With Barbed 'Open Letters'. Earlier on March 19, Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha flew sorties in a Jaguar and a MiG-21 to assess operational preparedness and interact with personnel at forward bases. Air Marshal Singh appreciated the Op readiness of the bases and high morale of all personnel. Meanwhile on Sunday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh celebrated the festival of colours with soldiers of the Fire and Fury corps in Leh. Also Read | Moscow Terror Attack: How the Deadliest Attack on Russian Soil in Years Unfolded Over the Weekend. Speaking to jawans and other senior defence personnel on the occasion, the Raksha Mantri said, "If Delhi is our national capital, Ladakh is a capital of bravery and valour. Visiting you all to celebrate Holi makes this one of the happiest moments for me. Siachen is no ordinary land. It is an unshakeable symbol of India's sovereignty and determination. It represents our national determination," he said. "I have said it many times before and will say it again: it is our duty to take care of you, your children, your parents...your family. We are always ready for that. I do not need to tell you here that with the same diligence with which you are working for this country by dedicating your body and mind, our government is also working for the betterment of our armed forces," Rajnath 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) Nagaon (Assam) [India], March 25 (ANI): The police seized narcotics worth around Rs 80 lakh and apprehended two drug peddlers in Assam's Nagaon district, officials said on Monday. The apprehended persons were identified as Anarul Islam and Moinuddin Ahmed. Also Read | Supriya Shrinate Issues Clarification Over Purported Post Against Kangana Ranaut, Says 'I Cannot Use Objectionable Words Against Women' (Watch Video). Based on a tip-off, a police team led by the officer-in-charge of Nagaon police station set up a Naka checking in Nagaon and intercepted a four-wheeler. "We had a special input and based on that input, the officer-in-charge of Nagaon police station and police team set up a naka check and intercepted the vehicle. During the search, the police team recovered 37 soap cases containing heroin from the vehicle," Partha Protim Saikia, Additional Superintendent of Police of Nagaon district said. Also Read | Israel-Hamas War: UN Security Council Passes Resolution Demanding Immediate Gaza Ceasefire. We have apprehended two persons. Our investigation is underway. The apprehended persons carried the seized drugs from Dimapur, Nagaland," Partha Protim Saikia, Additional Superintendent of Police of Nagaon district said. Meanwhile, a senior police official said that the market value of the seized drugs is estimated at around Rs 80 lakh. Further investigation is on.(ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bhubaneswar, Mar 25 (PTI) A burglar, who used to spend nights in five-star hotels, was arrested in Bhubaneswar after being on the run for years, police said on Monday. Parsuram Giri was wanted in at least 21 cases of burglary that happened in the city over the last one year, they said. Also Read | IPL Betting Case: UP Police Raid Flat in Lucknow, Arrest 12 Bookies for Operating Online Betting Games on IPL Matches Through Telegram App. Giri was caught at a check-post set up in the city in view of elections, they added. "He usually targeted locked residential buildings in the city. He used to break in through the windows to enter the buildings and steal cash and jewellery. He carried out the burglaries singlehandedly," said Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda. Also Read | Holi 2024: Delhi Police to Set Up Check Points Across City on Holi to Catch Traffic Violators. Among the items seized from his possession were Rs 21 lakh in cash, gold and silver jewellery worth nearly Rs 50 lakh, two high-end motorcycles and documents of five flats in the state capital. He has let out some of these flats on rent. Besides the flats, he has also built a palatial building at his native place in Balasore district's Soro. Giri used to maintain a lavish lifestyle and stayed in five-star hotels in different metros cities. He also used to spend money in bars and pubs. (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, Mar 25 (PTI) The Congress on Monday listed "massive failures" of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) in the last 10 years and asserted that a new era of women's safety, prosperity, and development will begin when its government "takes charge in June". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the formation of a Congress-led government in June 2024 will end the "10 years of anyaay-kaal for women". Also Read | Justice Mohd Yusuf Wani Sworn In As Judge in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh High Court in Srinagar. He alleged the BJP government's slogans of 'nari shakti' remain empty words without real action. For 10 years, the WCD Ministry has seen only "incompetence, apathy, and an anti-women mindset," Ramesh said. Also Read | US Shocker: Minor Hospitalised After Being Served Alcohol at Michigan Restaurant. "While minister Smriti Irani herself remains silent as women across India are assaulted, waking up only for crimes in Opposition-ruled states, her ministry diverts funds away from necessary schemes and hardworking women," he claimed. Ramesh alleged that the five "massive failures" of the ministry are: "crimes against women and children have doubled; shrinking budget & underutilisation of funds; low pay and ill-treatment of ASHA and anganwadi workers; rise in anaemia among women and children; unemployment & lost income among women". On crimes against women and children, he said, "Around 35 lakhs cases of crime against women have been reported under the Modi Sarkaar, between 2014 and 2022 (NCRB data). Crime against women has almost doubled in the last 10 years - from 2.4 lakh crimes in 2012 to 4.5 lakh in 2022." He said the number of POCSO incidents has also almost doubled in five years, from 32,600 incidents in 2017 to 63,400 incidents in 2022. Ramesh said that in 2013, the UPA government had set up the "non-lapsable Nirbhaya Fund" to implement initiatives that ensure safety of women. However, under the Modi government, the ministry has failed to utilise the funds, with only 33 per cent utilised until 2022, he said. Ramesh said the BJP has "brutally suppressed" women wrestlers who were protesting alleged sexual harassment by MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. "They freed the convicted rapists of Bilkis Bano - even the Supreme Court stepped in to call it blatantly 'illegal'," he said. "From Kathua to Hathras, the BJP has made India unsafe for women. What more can we expect from the party of Kuldeep Sengar, the convicted rapist of Unnao?" he said. "Most concerning, while every day a new report of rape and assault comes from Manipur, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and the Minister for WCD have remained completely inertial," Ramesh said. "If she cannot even speak up on these issues, what exactly is the Minister of Women and Child Development doing?" Ramesh said. The Modi government has been quietly cutting the budget for the WCD Ministry, he alleged. The Congress leader said that women who are at the frontlines of India's community health system, like ASHA, anganwadi, and mid-day meal (MDM) workers, faced the worst effects of the BJP's "incompetent and failed" management of the Covid crisis. Despite their outstanding work during the pandemic and before, the government has completely neglected these women, he alleged. "ASHA and anganwadi workers remain underpaid and overworked, and have gone on nationwide protests to demand wage increases," he said. The Congress' 'Shakti ka Samaan' guarantee, however, will double the central contribution to their wages, ensuring they receive the respect they deserve, he said. On the issue of rise in anaemia among women and children, Ramesh said the most "striking failure" of the ministry is the reversal of progress on anaemia. The BJP has created an increasingly male-dominated and hostile environment for working women, he added. "In 2022-23, the female labour participation rate was a mere 8.8%, indicating that over 90% of working-age women did not even look for a job. This is the lowest in almost 8 years!" he said. Ramesh said due to "neglect and incompetence" of the present minister, the last 10 years have been a disaster for women and children in India. Listing the five guarantees of Congress on the matter, Ramesh said that under the 'Mahalakshmi' guarantee, Rs 1 lakh per annum direct cash transfer would be made to one woman from each of India's poorest families. Also, 50 per cent of all new recruitment to the central government positions will be reserved for women, if the Congress comes to power, he said. The central government's contribution to the monthly pay of ASHA, anganwadi, and Mid-Day Meal workers will be doubled, he said. "No more will the women who lead the fight to improve public health, nutrition, and education be underpaid and exploited!" he said. "We will appoint an Adhikaar Maitri in every panchayat to serve as a paralegal to educate women and assist them in the enforcement of their legal rights," he said. The Congress party has already introduced legislation to address crimes against women, such as domestic violence, dowry, and sexual violence, Ramesh said. "Now, we will help women access the resources they require to assert their rights," he added. The Congress has also promised to set up 'Savitribai Phule Hostels', under which the central government will double the number of working women's hostels in the country, with at least one hostel in each district. "The Congress-led government that takes charge in June 2024 will end the 10 years of anyaay-kaal for women, and begin a new era of women's safety, prosperity, and development in India," Ramesh said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], March 25 (ANI): A few members of a family were injured due to an electric shock in the Pandav Nagar area of East Delhi during Holi celebrations, police said on Monday. Police said that the incident was caused by a high-tension wire in the Pandav Nagar area. Also Read | Supriya Shrinate Issues Clarification Over Purported Post Against Kangana Ranaut, Says 'I Cannot Use Objectionable Words Against Women' (Watch Video). The injured have been admitted to Safdarjung hospital. Further details are awaited. Also Read | Israel-Hamas War: UN Security Council Passes Resolution Demanding Immediate Gaza Ceasefire. Earlier, six people were injured due to an electric shock from a high-tension wire during Holi celebrations at Ganesh Nagar in east Delhi's Mandawali area. The condition of three people, including a woman, is said to be critical, they said. According to the police, they received information about a case of electrocution from a high-tension electric wire at Mandawali. After receiving the information, local police, ambulance and a fire brigade reached the spot immediately and the injured were taken to the Safdarjung Hospital. (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], March 25 (ANI): Stepping up security, the Delhi Traffic Police has deployed 400 traffic personnel across major roads in the city to crack down on drunk driving during the Holi celebrations. Following this, authorities conducted rigorous checks at the ITO intersection in the national capital. Motorists and drivers found lacking essential vehicle papers, failing to wear helmets, or neglecting seat belt usage were promptly issued challans (fines) by the vigilant police officers. Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Former Tamil Nadu CM, O Panneerselvam To File Nomination Papers As Independent Candidate Today. Speaking on the security arrangements made in Delhi on the occasion of Holi, Prashant Gautam, DCP Traffic, said, "Delhi Traffic Police have made elaborate arrangements for the Holi festival to ensure a safe and peaceful celebration of the festival of colours." "In the New Delhi range, around 400 traffic personnel have been deployed at 61 traffic points, along with 40 joint pickets with local police. Our focus will be on implementing traffic regulations, especially targeting drunk driving and triple riding," the DCP further said. Also Read | UP Road Accident: Two Killed, Three Injured After State Roadways Bus Hits SUV on Ganga Canal in Muzaffarnagar. In addition to this, the Delhi traffic police issued an advisory to citizens, asking them to follow the guidelines issued by the police. The Delhi traffic police, in its advisory, asked citizens "not to drink and drive, observe prescribed speed limits, not to engage in dangerous racing or competition with other vehicles, wear helmets, avoid triple riding, not allow minors or unauthorized persons to drive vehicles, avoid performing stunts on two-wheelers and encourage celebrating Holi indoors rather than in public places or on roads. The Delhi Traffic Police issued another advisory in view of the Hola Mohalla festival celebrated by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management, asking commuters to take alternate routes and avoid Mathura Road, Bharat Scouts and Guides Marg, as well as the areas around Neela Gumbad, Oberoi Flyover, under Lodhi Flyover, Zakir Hussain Marg, and Lala Lajpat Rai Marg. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Pulwama (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 25 (ANI): The Indian Army organised a career counselling session for the youths of Pulwama focusing on the Agniveer recruitment process for the army. The event was aimed at providing comprehensive guidance and support to the youth of Kashmir interested in joining the Indian Army under the Agniveer scheme. Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Congress Announces Four More LS Candidates From Rajasthan, Prahlad Gunjal Fielded From Kota. On the occasion, an orientation lecture was delivered on the various aspects of the recruitment process, offering valuable insights into the preparation strategies, eligibility criteria, and selection process. The initiative is part of the ongoing efforts to empower the youth of Kashmir with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue their dreams of serving the nation. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Road Accident: Three Dead in Collision Between Two Motorcycles in Budaun, Two Injured. "We have organised a lecture in which we guided the aspirants who attended the lecture. Right from the qualifications needed, the age limit, and the bonus marks they can get. We have told them how they can enrol in the process and that they can approach us and the local unit of the Indian Army in case they need assistance. The aspirants seem interested. We hope the maximum number of people out of them will join the Indian Army. The Indian Army has given a good opportunity to the youth, to study, to work and to earn a good salary," Col. Anshul Sharma (Director ARO Srinagar) told ANI. A youth named Tabesh Nazir who joined the counselling session said that the Agniveer scheme. "A lot of unemployment is here in our region. The Agniveer scheme has a lot of benefits. If educated youth want a job, they can look forward to this scheme," he said. The Union Cabinet on June 14, 2022, approved an attractive recruitment scheme for Indian youth to serve in the Armed Forces called AGNIPATH and the youth selected under this scheme will be known as Agniveers. Candidates will be appointed as 'Agniveers' for four years under this scheme. (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, March 25: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) on Sunday elected its first Dalit president from the Left-backed groups after nearly three decades. The United Left panel on Sunday effected a clean sweep in the JNUSU election, defeating its nearest rival the RSS-affiliated ABVP. In the polls that happened after a hiatus of four years, Dhananjay from the All India Students' Association (AISA) won the JNUSU president's post by securing 2,598 votes against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's (ABVP) Umesh C Ajmeera who secured 1,676 votes. Dhananjay hails from Gaya, Bihar, and is the first Dalit president from the Left after Batti Lal Bairwa, who was elected in 1996-97. Speaking to PTI after the win, Dhananjay said, "This victory is a referendum by the students of JNU that they reject the politics of hate and violence. The students have once again shown their trust in us. We will continue to fight for their rights and work on issues that concern students. "The safety of women on campus, fund cuts, scholarship hike, infrastructural and water crisis are among the top priorities of the students union to begin with," he added. JNUSU Election Results 2024: Left Wins All Four Posts, Defeats ABVP Amid cries of 'Lal Salaam' and 'Jai Bhim', the winning students were hailed by their supporters. Red, white and blue flags were waved by the students to celebrate the victory of the candidates. Avijit Ghosh from the Students' Federation of India (SFI) trounced ABVP's Deepika Sharma by 927 votes to win the vice-president's post. Ghosh received 2,409 votes as against 1,482 votes by Sharma. Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students' Association (BAPSA) candidate Priyanshi Arya, who was supported by the Left, won the general secretary post's by defeating ABVP's Arjun Anand by 926 votes. Arya polled in 2,887 votes while Anand received 1961 votes. The United Left extended its support to Arya after the Election Committee cancelled the nomination of its candidate Swati Singh when her candidacy was challenged by the ABVP. The Left's Mohammad Sajid won the joint secretary's post by defeating ABVP's Govind Dangi by 508 votes. His was the lowest victory among all the four winners. With the Left panel sweeping the polls, the JNU lived up to its reputation of being a Left bastion. The ABVP gave a neck-and-neck fight and was leading on all the four central panel posts in the initial trends. BAPSA Secures Historic Central Panel Seat in JNUSU with Left's Support The United Left panel comprises AISA, Democratic Students' Federation (DSF), Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF). The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union polls on Friday witnessed a voter turnout of 73 per cent, highest in the last 12 years. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kollam, March 25: A five-year-old girl succumbed to injuries at a stampede during the 'Chamayavilakku' festival in Kottankulangara Devi temple in Kerala's Kollam district, authorities said on Monday. The child died last night after a ceremonial chariot ran over her, after she slipped and fell from her father's arms amid the chaos. Kerala Stampede: Four Students Die in Stampede During Music Concert at Cochin University in Kochi; 46 Injured (Watch Videos) The child was rushed to the nearest hospital but could not be saved. The young victim has been identified as Kshethra, the daughter of Rameshan and Jiji, who were accompanying her to the festival. The Chavara police have registered a case for the unnatural death. Stampede in Bihar: Five-Year-Old Boy Among Three Killed, 14 Injured in Stampede at Durga Puja Pandal in Gopalganj District In November last year, four students were killed and around 60 students injured in a stampede at a festival at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) in Kochi in the State. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 25 (ANI): Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday celebrated Holi and extended wishes to everyone on the occasion. "I wish a very happy holi to all my sisters and brothers of the state and the country. This is a festival of joy, fun and happiness. It is a festival when everyone sets their differences aside and comes together. I pray for the well-being of everyone and may the holi fill the colour of happiness in everyone's life," Chouhan told ANI. Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Former Tamil Nadu CM, O Panneerselvam To File Nomination Papers As Independent Candidate Today. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also extended wishes to all the citizens of the state and the country on the occasion. CM Yadav posted on X, "May there be a shower of joy and happiness, may the entire state be drenched in the colours of love, unity and harmony and may this festival of colours bring happiness, peace and prosperity in everyone's life. Hearty greetings to all the people of the state on the occasion of Holi." Also Read | UP Road Accident: Two Killed, Three Injured After State Roadways Bus Hits SUV on Ganga Canal in Muzaffarnagar. Holi, a festival celebrated with as much fervour in the country as it is overseas, will be marked on March 25, Monday, this year. The festival is preceded by a ritual of lighting bonfires called 'Holika Dahan', signifying the burning of the demon Holika. The festival is dedicated to Lord Krishna, who is believed to have spent considerable time in the region called Braj in Uttar Pradesh. It not only replicates the spirit of Holi but also reflects the timeless love of Radha and Krishna. Amidst the revelry, traditional sweets are shared, fostering a sense of amity and togetherness among the people, with revellers exuding the spirit of joy and love. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chandigarh, Mar 25 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday met the families of the Sangrur hooch tragedy victims and demanded a compensation of Rs 20 lakh and a government job for each of them. Twenty people have died due to suspected consumption of spurious liquor in Sangrur. The deaths have been reported from Gujran, Tibbi Ravidaspura and Dhandoli Khurd villages in Dirba and Sunam blocks. Several people are undergoing treatment at Patiala's Rajindra Hospital and the Civil Hospital in Sangrur. Also Read | US Shocker: Minor Hospitalised After Being Served Alcohol at Michigan Restaurant. Badal visited Gujran and Dhandoli Khurd villages and expressed grief over the deaths in the hooch tragedy. In a post on X, he said, "I demand a murder case and strict action against Excise Minister Harpal Cheema, Home Minister Bhagwant Mann and all their accomplices under whose patronage the hooch was being sold openly." Also Read | MVA Meet: NCP (SCP) President Sharad Pawar Arrives at Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray's Residence Matoshree To Attend Maha Vikas Aghadi Meeting (Watch Video). "I also warn the state government that if the families of the victims fail to get justice and compensation (Rs 20 lakh and one job each) by March 28, Shiromani Akali Dal's leadership and workers of Sangrur district will launch a massive protest outside the Sangrur Deputy Commissioner's office and force this government to do justice with the hooch tragedy victims," he added. Police have so far arrested 10 people in connection with the incident. Three FIRs have been registered at Dirba, City Sunam and Cheema police stations under various IPC sections, including 302 (murder), and the Excise Act. Police investigation detected methanol, a chemical which is used in industrial products, in the spurious liquor. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], March 25 (ANI): Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Monday celebrated Holi at the Chief Minister's residence in Jaipur and extended wishes to everyone on the occasion. The chief minister gave a chance to visitors, who were eagerly waiting to apply colour and click selfies with him, to exchange Holi wishes on the occasion. Also Read | Haryana Shocker: Elderly Woman, Her Sister-in-Law Crushed to Death by Goods Train at Faridabad Railway Station After Slipping Off Platforms Edge. He said," The act of applying colors during the festival helps individuals set aside any grievances they may have." "The festival helps to foster love and brotherhood. While applying colours, everyone forgets all the grudges. People are celebrating Holi, the festival of colours with great enthusiasm and joy. I would like to extend my greetings to all. Holi, in fact, a 'good Holi' will be celebrated on June 4 as well," the Chief Minister said while speaking to the media. Also Read | Madhya Pradesh: ASI Continues Survey at Bhojshala Complex in Dhar for Fourth Day. The Chief Minister also extended his wishes to the citizens of the country on his official social media platform X. "Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all the people of the state on the sacred festival of love, enthusiasm and harmony, the festival of colors, "Holi". I pray to God that this traditional festival decorated with colors of harmony paves the way for happiness and prosperity in the lives of all the people of the state," Bhajanlal wrote on X. Apart from playing with colours, enjoying snacks, drinks, etc., various other traditions and beliefs are prevalent in the country. One such tradition is walking barefoot on the embers after Holika Dahan in Kokapur village of Dungarpur district in Rajasthan. Even today, the people of Kokapur village have kept this tradition, which has been going on for years, alive. On the next day of Holika Dahan, the villagers walk barefoot on the embers. The villagers believe that by doing so they will remain healthy for the whole year. They also believe that their wishes will be granted and absolve them of all sadness and problems. Earlier, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan celebrated Holi and extended wishes to everyone on the occasion. "I wish a very happy holi to all my sisters and brothers of the state and the country. This is a festival of joy, fun and happiness. It is a festival when everyone sets their differences aside and comes together. I pray for the well-being of everyone and may the holi fill the colour of happiness in everyone's life," Chouhan told ANI. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Bengaluru, Mar 25 (PTI) Youths and students who raise "Modi, Modi" slogans should be slapped, Karnataka Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi has said, as he attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre, accusing it of not honouring the promise to create two crore jobs per year. Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Union Minister L Murugan Files Nomination From Nilgiris LS Constituency (See Pics and Video). The Kannada and Culture Minister also said the BJP should be ashamed to ask for votes in the coming Lok Sabha elections as, he alleged, it has failed on the development front as well. Also Read | Holi Tragedy in Telangana: Four Drown in Wardha River After Celebrations. "They should be ashamed, with what face are they coming to seek votes. They are incompetent to do even a single development work. They had promised to give two crore jobs. Did they give jobs to anyone? When asked for jobs they say -- sell 'pakoras'. They should be ashamed," Tangadagi said. Addressing a Congress workers' meeting at Karatagi in Koppal district on Sunday, he said: "If any students or youths still say 'Modi, Modi' (slogans), they should be slapped." "One has to be ashamed. Is it a small thing? They promised two crore jobs a year, it should have been 20 crore jobs now in 10 years," he added. Senior BJP leader and party's former national General Secretary C T Ravi hit out at the Congress over the Minister's comments. "Realising that CONgress is going to lose the upcoming Lok Sabha elections very badly, CONgis are stooping to new lows. And they call PM Modi a dictator!" he posted on 'X'. BJP has petitioned the election commission seeking strict action against the Minister. He should be barred from the election process and from campaigning in favour of the Congress, the BJP said, calling it a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Accusing Tangadagi of instigating Congress workers against BJP voters and young voters, it is said: "this may create fear among young voters, and they may stay away from voting." (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jaipur, Mar 25 (PTI) The festival of Holi was celebrated with great enthusiasm across Rajasthan on Monday, with everyone joining in the revelry and coming out in the streets to painting each other with colours. Its gaiety was no less in temples, at least one of which, Jaipur's famous Govind Devji temple, witnessed people throwing gulal in air. Also Read | Shaheed Diwas 2024 Date in India: Know History and Significance of the Day That Commemorates Death Anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. Foreign guests who are staying in Rajasthan also enjoyed the 'Rangotsav' and several of them were seen playing with colours in the walled city of Jaipur. More than 5,000 policemen have been deployed to maintain law and order and check hooliganism on Holi in the state capital. Also Read | Bihar Diwas: From Maithili to Angika, 5 Different Languages Commonly Spoken in Bihar State. Chief Minister Bhajnalal Sharma played Holi with the people on the Officers' Training School campus. Foreign tourists in Pushkar also enjoyed Holi. Tourists were seen dancing in groups and applying colours on each other. In Bharatpur, minister Jawahar Singh played Holi with people and danced to music with his supporters. Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria met people in Udaipur and exchanged Holi greetings. Police said that no untoward incident was reported in the state and the festival was being played peacefully. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Russia is reeling from the worst terror strike on its soil in a generation following an attack on March 22, 2024, that killed at least 137 concertgoers in Moscow. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group. And despite Russian authorities expressing doubt over the claim, U.S. officials told The Associated Press that they believed ISIS-K, a South and Central Asian affiliate of the terrorist organization, was behind the assault. It comes amid heightened concern over the scope of ISIS-K activities following recent terrorist operations in countries including Iran and Pakistan. The Conversation turned to Clemson University's Amira Jadoon and Sara Harmouch of American University terrorism experts who have tracked the activities of ISIS-K to explain what this latest deadly attack tells us about the organization's strengths and agenda. What is ISIS-K? ISIS-K, short for Islamic State Khorasan Province, is a regional affiliate of the larger Islamic State group. The affiliate group operates primarily in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, although it has presence throughout the historical "Khorasan" a region that includes parts of the modern-day nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, along with other Central Asian countries. Established in 2015, ISIS-K aims to establish a physical "caliphate" a system of governing a society under strict Islamic Sharia law and under religious leadership in the South and Central Asian region. ISIS-K's beliefs follow the ideology of its parent organization, the Islamic State group, which promotes an extreme interpretation of Islam and sees secular government actors, as well as non-Muslim and Muslim minority civilian populations, as legitimate targets. A Taliban fighter checks an Islamic State group house destroyed in the ongoing conflict between the two in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File) The group is known for its extreme brutality and for targeting both government institutions and civilians, including mosques, educational institutions and public spaces. Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, ISIS-K's key objectives have been to diminish the now-ruling Taliban's legitimacy in the war-ravaged nation, assert itself as the rightful leader of the Muslim community and emerge as the principal regional adversary to regimes it deems oppressive. Moreover, the Taliban's transition from an insurgency group to a governing entity left numerous militant factions in Afghanistan without a unifying force a gap that ISIS-K has aimed to fill. Why was Russia targeted by ISIS-K? ISIS-K has long framed Russia as one of its main adversaries. It has heavily featured anti-Russian rhetoric in its propaganda and has attacked Russia's presence within Afghanistan. This includes a suicide attack on Russia's embassy in Kabul in 2022 that left two Russian Embassy staff and six Afghans dead. The broader Islamic State group has targeted Russia for several reasons. They include long-standing grievances relating to Moscow's historical interventions in Muslim-majority regions like Chechnya and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Russia's partnerships with regimes opposed by the Islamic State group, notably Syria and Iran, have positioned Russia as a primary adversary in the eyes of the terrorist organization and its affiliates. In particular, Russia has been a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the beginning of Syria's civil war in 2011, providing military support to the Assad regime against various opposition groups, including the Islamic State group. This direct opposition to the terrorist group and its caliphate ambitions has rendered Russia as a prime target for retaliation. Moreover, Russia's cooperation with the Taliban ISIS-K's key nemesis in Afghanistan adds another layer of animosity. The Islamic State group views countries and groups that oppose its ideology or military objectives as enemies of Islam, including actors who seek to establish relations with the Taliban. By attacking Russian targets, ISIS-K in part seeks to deter further Russian involvement in the Middle East. But also, such attacks provide high publicity for its cause and aim to inspire its supporters worldwide. As such, for the Islamic State brand, the Moscow attack serves as retribution for perceived grievances held against Russia, while also projecting global reach. This approach can provide significant dividends, especially for its South and Central Asian affiliate, in the form of increased recruitment, funding and influence across the jihadist spectrum. What does the attack tell us about ISIS-K capabilities? The mere association of ISIS-K with this attack, whether it was directly or indirectly involved, bolsters the group's reputation. Overall, the attack signals ISIS-K's growing influence and its determination to make its presence felt on the global stage. Being linked to a high-profile attack in a major city far from its base in Afghanistan indicates that ISIS-K can extend its operational reach either directly or through collaboration with like-minded militant factions. People chant slogans at the scene of Wednesday's bomb explosion in the city of Kerman, about 510 miles (820 kms) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Investigators believe suicide bombers likely carried out an attack on a commemoration for an Iranian general slain in a 2020 U.S. drone strike. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) The scale and sophistication of the attack reflect advanced planning, coordination and execution capabilities. This only reaffirms unequivocally ISIS-K's intent, adaptability and determination to internationalize its agenda. Similar to ISIS-K's attack in Iran in January 2024 that left over 100 dead, this latest atrocity serves to reinforce ISIS-K's stated commitment to the broader global jihadist agenda of the Islamic State group, and helps broaden the appeal of its ideology and recruitment campaign. How does this fit ISIS-K's strategy? The attack in Moscow serves as a powerful recruitment and propaganda tool by attracting international media attention to the group. This allows it to remain politically relevant to its audiences across South and Central Asia, and beyond. But it also helps divert attention from local setbacks for ISIS-K. Like its parent organization Islamic State group, ISIS-K has been confronted with military defeats, loss of territory and leadership and diminishing resources. In the face of such challenges, ISIS-K's potential links to the attack in Moscow remind observers of its persistent threat and adaptability. By targeting a major power like Russia, ISIS-K aims to project a broader message of intimidation aimed at other states involved in anti-Islamic State group operations and undermine the public's sense of security. Additionally, operations such as the Moscow attack seek to solidify ISIS-K's position within the broader Islamic State group network, potentially securing more support and resources. More broadly, the strategy follows a process of "internationalizing" ISIS-K's agenda something it has pursued with renewed vigor since 2021 by targeting the countries with a presence in Afghanistan, including Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China and Russia, marking a deliberate expansion of its operational focus beyond local borders. The Moscow attack, following the January assault in Iran, suggests that ISIS-K is intensifying efforts to export its ideological fight directly to the territories of sovereign nations. It is a calculated strategy and, as the Moscow attack has exemplified, one that has the potential to strike fear in capitals far beyond ISIS-K's traditional base. Sara Harmouch is a PhD Candidate at the School of Public Affairs, American University and Amira Jadoon, is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Clemson University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) Six people were injured after they came in contact with a high-tension wire while celebrating Holi on the roof of a house in east Delhi's Ganesh Nagar area on Monday, police said. Among the injured, three people, including a woman, are reported to be in serious condition. Also Read | Shaheed Diwas 2024 Date in India: Know History and Significance of the Day That Commemorates Death Anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. A senior police officer said a call regarding the incident was received around 12 pm at Mandawali police station after which a team was rushed to the spot. "The injured were shifted to the hospital where they are undergoing treatment," said the officer. Also Read | Bihar Diwas: From Maithili to Angika, 5 Different Languages Commonly Spoken in Bihar State. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dakar (Senegal), Mar 25 (AP) A former Senegalese prime minister has conceded the presidential election to the opposition candidate based on preliminary results a day after the vote was held. Amadou Ba in a statement shared by his campaign Monday said he congratulated opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye and wished him success. Also Read | Israel-Hamas War: UN Security Council Passes Resolution Demanding Immediate Gaza Ceasefire. The first round victory reflected widespread frustration among youth with high unemployment and concerns about governance in the West African nation. Faye, backed by popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, has vowed to protect Senegal from government corruption. The election on Sunday followed months of uncertainty and unrest after President Macky Sall's unsuccessful attempt to postpone it until the end of the year. The protests that followed shook Senegal's reputation as a stable democracy in a region that has seen a wave of coups in recent years. Also Read | Israel-Hamas War: UN Demands Ceasefire in Gaza During Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan, Its First Demand To Halt Fighting. Senegalese anxiously awaited the results of a presidential election Monday, following months of uncertainty and unrest that tested the country's reputation as a stable democracy in a region rife with coups. The vote Sunday was largely peaceful with a high turnout, observers said. Results from polling stations that had completed counting were posted overnight on social media with official announcements expected later this week. More than 7 million people were registered to vote in a country of roughly 17 million. To win in the first round, a candidate must gain more than 50% or it goes to a runoff. Analysts say a second round is likely, between opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye and former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, the candidate for the governing party. Some opposition supporters Sunday night were adamant their candidate had already won. In the capital, Dakar, some people sat on car rooftops chanting, while others carried flags, banners and set off fireworks saying Faye would win outright. The news is circulating ... there will be no second round, said Dime Jueye, a local vendor. This is Senegal's fourth democratic transfer of power since gaining independence from France more than six decades ago. It took place one month later than initially scheduled after President Macky Sall tried to delay it until the end of the year. Sall is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term and is expected to step down on April 2 when his mandate ends. After the polls closed Sunday, voters praised the peaceful outcome amid concerns after months of deadly protests ignited last summer by the jailing of the popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and concerns that the president wanted to stay in power. Rights groups said dozens were killed, while hundreds more were jailed. In a move that defused tensions just ahead of the election, Sonko was released after months in prison along with Faye, to jubilant celebrations on the streets of Dakar. Sonko was barred from the race in January due to a prior conviction and Faye ran in his place. Our democracy will emerge stronger from these results, Ndeye Sow, 27, told The Associated Press. We're delighted, there was no violence here serenity is the order of the day, she said. But the atmosphere remained tense in some parts of the country as votes were counted. Locals pelted a visiting government delegation with jeers and stones in the northern fishing town of Saint Louis after they entered a closed polling station. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Tel Aviv [Israel], March 25 (ANI): The Indian diaspora, along with Israeli nationals, celebrated the festival of colours and the Jewish festival of 'Purim' on Monday. The Indian embassy in Israel shared some amazing visuals of people turning out in large numbers in the Flea Market of Jaffa in Israel to celebrate the occasion with colours, and capture the moments on their phones. Also Read | EAM on Three-Day Singapore Visit: S Jaishankar Meets Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, Indian Origin Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan To Further Deepen Bilateral Ties (See Pics). "Holi celebrations in Israel ! Indians and Israelis celebrated the festivals of #Holi and #Purim in the Flea Market of Jaffa," the Indian Embassy in Israel posted on X. Additionally, Israeli nationals were also seen playing with colours, envoying food and clicking photos at the picture points specially made for the occasion. Also Read | Afghan Refugees in Pakistan: Pak Government Preparing To Send Back Nearly One Million Afghans in Repatriation Drive. At the event, people danced to Bollywood songs and enjoyed a special cultural performance. Earlier in New Delhi, Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon expressed his disappointment at not celebrating Holi this year due to the ongoing war in Gaza and extended Holi wishes to all the Indians. "This year, I find it difficult to join in the joyous celebration of Holi, knowing that Israeli children, women and men are still held captive in the dark tunnels of Gaza. But, a very happy Holi to our Indian family! Let us celebrate this day with prayers for the victory of good over evil," he posted on X on Monday. Holi, the festival of colours, is a celebration of liveliness, joy and, of course, familial ties and close bonds. It marks the blooming of spring after a long winter season. On the day of Holi, people come together and smear dry and wet colours on each other. Many people, especially children, celebrate the festival by playing with water-filled balloons and water guns. As with any other festival, people also treat each other to special Holi delicacies like 'gujiya'. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington, DC [US], March 25 (ANI): Indian Embassy in US extended its greetings for Holi, wishing everyone a joyous celebration resplendent with colors and music. The festival of Holi is being celebrated at Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. Also Read | Moscow Terror Attack: Russian Forces Brutally Torture Suspect, Hook His Genitals Up to 80v Battery; Disturbing Photo Surfaces. https://twitter.com/IndianEmbassyUS/status/1771989903095574697?s=20 "Holi in the heart of Washington DC @DuPont circle - a joyous celebration resplendent with the colours, music and culture of India! In India, Holi marks the arrival of spring - this year, it coincides with the cherry blossoms weekend in DC! We wish all of you a Happy Holi!," Indian Embassy in the US said on X. Also Read | Massive Blaze Erupst at Godown in Delhis Alipur, 34 Fire Tenders Rushed To Spot: Live Breaking News Headlines & Updates, March 25, 2024. In a video shared on X, the Indian Embassy in US captured the exuberant spirit of Holi celebrations. The video showcased a lively scene at DuPoint Circle, where people immersed themselves in the festivities, dancing joyously while playing with vibrant colors. Amid the colorful revelry, several cultural performances unfolded, adding to the jubilant atmosphere of the occasion. Additionally, Consulate general of India, New York wished everyone 'happy holi' from Times Square https://twitter.com/IndiainNewYork/status/1772090610003910973 "Wishing everyone a colorful and joyous Holi from the heart of New York City. #TimesSquareMay the festival of color fill your life with happiness, love and peace," consulate general of India in New York said on X. Meanwhile in Delhi, US Ambassador to India extended Holi wishes to the people of India In a video message shared on X, the US envoy Garcetti expressed warm wishes to all celebrating the festival of Holi. "I want to wish everybody a very happy Holi. We have this amazing gujiyas, which has a little bit of an American twist with some pistachios in here, beautiful rose water. There's no better way than to celebrate Holi across the Indo-Pacific together," Garcetti said in a video message while showcasing special Gujiyas adorned with an American twist. https://twitter.com/USAmbIndia/status/1772073122759360606?s=20 In his post, Garcetti emphasized the US-India friendship in the celebration and said, "#HappyHoli, friends! Celebrating my first Holi in India with delicious gujiyas made of American nuts - a delightful fusion of traditions and a celebration of #USIndiaDosti! I've had vibrant Holi celebrations back in Los Angeles, but nothing beats being here in India for the festival of colors. #CelebrateWithUS." (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Porbandar, March 25: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued five fishermen from a sinking Indian fishing boat Premsagar, at mid-sea, approximately 50 km from Porbandar on Sunday. The ICG's action came in response to an SOS call. ICG Ship C-16 sailed immediately from Porbandar after input from the fisheries community regarding the sinking boat was received at Maritime Rescue Sub Centre Porbandar of Indian Coast Guard's Dist HQ -1 (South Gujarat Daman & Diu), according to a statement by the Indian Coast Guard. The ICG ship C-161 arrived in the vicinity of the fishing boat in a short time and launched the rescue and support mission. The ICG team stopped flooding in the boat temporarily and the half-submerged boat was tried to be towed by another fishing boat in the vicinity. However, the fishing boat that was already 75 per cent flooded, sank 12 km off Porbandar, the Indian Coast Guard said in a statement. Coast Guard Ship Samudra Paheredar on Overseas Deployment to ASEAN Nations, Arrives in Philippines The ICG ship rescued all five crew members and medical support was provided to them. The survivors were brought to Porbander and handed over to the Fisheries Association. Earlier on March 20, the Indian Coast Guard carried out a rescue operation of eight crew members from a flooded boat after receiving a distress call off the coast of Kundapura in Karnataka. "In a swift operation @IndiaCoastGuard Ship Rajdoot rescued 08 crew of distressed IFB Ajmeer-I (IND-KA-02-MM-4882) 10 NM west of #Kundapura on 20 Mar which had a major flooding at sea. Indian Coast Guard Ship Rajdoot reassured the crew & provided de-flooding assistance," the Indian Coast Guard said in a post on X. Karnataka: Coast Guard Rescues Eight People from Flooded Boat off Kundapura Coast ICG Rescues Crew of Sinking Fishing Boat @IndiaCoastGuard Distt HQ 1 (S Gujarat Daman & Diu) swiftly responded to a distress call from fishing boat Premsagar. The boat was flooded & sinking about 50 km East of Porbandar.(1/2) @giridhararmane pic.twitter.com/tNDLIC175r Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) March 24, 2024 It further said that the disabled boat was handed over to the IFB Goat Fish boat for further towing towards the Gangoli harbour. "After confirming safety of boat and crew it handed over the disabled boat to buddy boat IFB Gold Fish (IND-KA-03-MM-4566) for further towing towards #Gangoli harbour. Boat and crew safely entered harbour under tow #WeProtect," it added. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Tel Aviv [Israel], March 25 (ANI): Israel has nodded to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage exchange deal, under which Tel Aviv would release over 700 Palestinian prisoners, including 100 serving life sentences for killing Israeli nationals, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to CNN. Israel has agreed to make "significant compromises in order to return the abductees home," CNN affiliate Channel 11 (Kan News) also reported on Sunday, quoting a senior Israeli official. Also Read | EAM on Three-Day Singapore Visit: S Jaishankar Meets Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, Indian Origin Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan To Further Deepen Bilateral Ties (See Pics). Additionally, CNN also confirmed the update with a diplomatic source, who said outstanding issues remain, including the entry of aid, and "Israeli military repositioning" in Gaza. Israel agreed to the proposal put forth by CIA Director Bill Burns. Burns was in Doha, where Hamas and Israel are engaged in talks through mediators, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravid reporting on the recent round of talks in Doha, Qatar. Also Read | Afghan Refugees in Pakistan: Pak Government Preparing To Send Back Nearly One Million Afghans in Repatriation Drive. The agreement has not gotten any approval from the Hamas side and it could take one to three days to respond to the deal, Ravid said. "Those details need to go from Hamas representatives in Doha, who are negotiating, to the person who really calls the shots, and this is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, who is in a bunker some 100 feet under the ground, so this takes a long time," CNN analyst Ravid said. Ravid said the proposed exchange will "definitely include some" American hostages, because it will include the release of men over the age of 50. Hamas' latest proposal this month demanded that some 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners be released. Israel, at that time, described the demands as "ridiculous" and "absurd." CNN reported that the agreement, if it happens, is expected to have multiple phases. In the first stage, Hamas has proposed releasing the hostages, who are women, including Israeli soldiers, elderly, sick and wounded. That number is believed to be roughly 40 out of the around 100 hostages who remain alive. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Singapore, Mar 25 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Monday called on Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and other senior ministers and discussed ways to further the strategic bilateral ties, and the situation in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia regions. Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Singapore and reached here on Saturday. He addressed the Indian diaspora on Sunday and met with investors on Saturday. Also Read | US Shocker: Minor Hospitalised After Being Served Alcohol at Michigan Restaurant. "Honoured to call on Prime Minister @leehsienloong at The Istana. Conveyed the personal greetings of PM @narendramodi. Valued his perspectives on the current state of the world," Jaishankar posted on X. "His positive sentiments on India-Singapore relationship have always been a source of strength for our ties," Jaishankar said about Prime Minister Lee's support the bilateral relationship. Also Read | EAM on Three-Day Singapore Visit: S Jaishankar Meets Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, Indian Origin Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan To Further Deepen Bilateral Ties (See Pics). Apart from foreign minister Balakrishnan, Jaishankar held separate meetings with Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. He also met finance minister Lawrence Wong and Minister of Home Affairs & Law K Shanmugam. "Delighted to meet Singapore FM @VivianBala. Reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation. Spoke about preparations for the next ISMR meeting. Discussed marking 60 years of our diplomatic ties," Jaishankar posted on X. "Exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and West Asia," he wrote. "Always a pleasure to welcome my good friend Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar to Singapore," Balakrishnan wrote on X. He noted that "Singapore and India share warm ties, underpinned by our cooperation in forward-looking areas such as skills development and digitalisation, and close people-to-people links." "We had a wide ranging discussion on regional and global developments. We agreed that bilateral cooperation had progressed well, and that it was important to keep up regular exchanges between both countries," Balakrishnan posted. Jaishankar, whose day started by meeting Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, posted on X after the meeting along with a photo: Discussed trade, semiconductors, space, green energy, supply chains, and defence. Hope to take these forward in the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable. His next meeting was with national security minister Teo Chee Hean. Good to meet with Singapore Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Discussed the transformational changes in India and the opportunities they offer for our partnership. Also exchanged perspectives on regional and global issues, he posted on X after the meeting. "Pleased to meet DPM and Finance Minister @LawrenceWongST. Shared perspectives on advancing our relationship especially on new age technologies. Also exchanged views on the evolving global economic situation," Jaishankar posted. Before departing from Singapore, he also caught up with Home Minister K Shanmugam. Great to catch up with Minister of Home Affairs & Law K Shanmugam as I end my Singapore visit. Appreciate his insights and assessments. Value his consistent support for our strategic partnership, Jaishankar said. Earlier on Saturday, Jaishankar told Singapore-based investors of opportunities emerging in the manufacturing sector, especially as India embarks on the journey to build a semiconductor-led industry. On Sunday, the Minister described the strength of the growing relationship with the city-state at an interaction with some 1,500 Indian diaspora at the newly built Quantum Arena, an auditorium built by an Indian-led education group, in association with the Global Indian International School. Commenting on Jaishankar Sunday's update to the diaspora, Nimit Shedh from the Singapore Gujarati Society, said, It was very insightful. Jaishankar is always very insightful and the way he presented India to the diasporav... this brings us very close to India, it helps us get the understanding of the Indian Government views on how they are going to tackle various issues. The Minister has shared with us how India has come a very long way, it makes us very proud, said Puneet Pushkarna, a Singapore-based businessman at the Jaishankar interaction here. The diaspora should be very positive of getting an update on the latest Indian industrial development, he said. Jaishankar will also visit the Philippines and Malaysia. The March 23-27 visit will focus on enhancing bilateral relations with the three countries, and would provide an opportunity for engagement on regional issues of mutual concern, the Ministry of External Affairs had said before Jaishankar's departure. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Singapore, March 25 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Singapore counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan and reviewed the progress of bilateral cooperation. The two leaders exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and West Asia. In a post on X, Jaishankar stated, "Delighted to meet Singapore FM @VivianBala. Reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation. Spoke about preparations for the next ISMR meeting. Discussed marking 60 years of our diplomatic ties. Exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and West Asia." Also Read | Holi 2024 Wishes: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Shehbaz Sharif Wish People on Holi. Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Singapore, also met Singaporean Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Jaishankar and Hean discussed the transformational changes in India and the opportunities they offer for partnership between two nations. "Good to meet with Singapore Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Discussed the transformational changes in India and the opportunities they offer for our partnership. Also exchanged perspectives on regional and global issues," Jaishankar posted on X. Also Read | Sri Lankan PM Dinesh Gunawardena Arrives in China for Six-Day Tour, To Hold Talks With Chinese President Xi Jinping. Earlier in the day, S Jaishankar held a meeting with Singapore's Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and discussed trade, semiconductors, space, green energy, supply chains and defence. In a post on X, Jaishankar stated, "Started the day by meeting Singapore Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong. Discussed trade, semiconductors, space, green energy, supply chains.and defence. Hope to take these forward in the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable." Jaishankar also interacted with the Indian community on Sunday. On Saturday, he made remarks at the Institute of South Asian Studies of the National University of Singapore. He was speaking on 'Why Bharat Matters'. EAM said that the momentum today in India has to be experience, to be believed and the country is going to be a much bigger economy in the coming years. He also recalled India's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the country reaching out to other countries through vaccines. EAM Jaishankar also engaged in discussions with prominent corporate figures from the country who offered positive feedback on India's growth story derived from their investment experiences. "A very productive interaction with leading Singaporeon Corporate figures. Appreciate their positive feedback on the India growth story based on investment experiences. Confident that their commitment to doing more business in India will further increase," S Jaishankar posted on X. Jaishankar kicked off his Singapore visit on Saturday by paying homage to Subhash Chandra Bose and the brave Indian National Army soldiers. In a post on X, Jaishankar stated, "Began my Singapore visit by paying homage to Netaji and the brave Indian National Army soldiers. The INA Marker in Singapore recognizes their deep patriotism and indomitable spirit that remain an inspiration for generations to come." The ties between India and Singapore have a history rooted in strong commercial, cultural and people-to-people links. India was one of the first countries to recognise Singapore in 1965, according to the High Commission of India in Singapore. The relations between two nations are based on shared values and approaches, economic opportunities and convergence of interests on key issues. India and Singapore have more than 20 regular bilateral mechanisms, dialogues and exercises. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Seoul/Tokyo [South Korea/Japan], March 25 (ANI): A summit meeting between North Korea's Kim Jong-un with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would only be possible if Tokyo make a political decision "in actuality," Yonhap News agency reported on Monday citing the influential sister of the North Korea's supreme leader. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed his intention to hold a summit with Kim Jong-un, an English-language statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), quoted Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, Yonhap said. Also Read | Holi 2024 Wishes: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, PM Shehbaz Sharif Wish People on Holi. "Shortly ago, Kishida, through another channel, conveyed his intention to personally meet the President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as soon as possible," Kim Yo-jong said, according to the Seoul-based news agency which cited KCNA. Yonhap citing KCNA reported Kim as saying, "If Japan truly wants to improve the bilateral relations and contribute to ensuring regional peace and stability as a close neighbor of the DPRK, it is necessary for it to make a political decision for strategic option conformed to its overall interests." Also Read | Sri Lankan PM Dinesh Gunawardena Arrives in China for Six-Day Tour, To Hold Talks With Chinese President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, Kishida said in parliament on Monday that his administration has lobbied for a possible meeting with the North Korean leader, though he is not aware of the report. The prime minister stressed the importance of summit talks to secure the return of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang in the past, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. In 2002, Kim's father, then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, met with then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Pyongyang, and admitted that North Korean agents kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies in Japanese culture and language. North Korea then allowed five of those abducted to make a temporary visit to their homeland, saying eight others were dead. Japan refused to return the five and called on the North to repatriate their family members in the North. Japan has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea. Kim stressed that North Korea will not be a security threat to Japan in any case should Japan respect North Korea's sovereignty and security in a fair and equal manner, according to the KCNA. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad, March 25: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday extended his felicitations to the Hindu community on Holi, urging the people to commemorate the auspicious festival by making a resolve to "celebrate our differences as strengths." In the Punjab province, a special Holi package was announced for 700 Hindu families. The Hindu community in Pakistan and across the world is celebrating Holi on Monday. I extend my felicitations to the Hindu community on the auspicious occasion of Holi festival - the Festival of Colours. As Pakistanis we take pride in the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious characteristics of our society, Sharif said in his message. 'Bura Na Mano Holi Hai' Norwegian Ambassador to India May-Elin Stener Extends Holi Greetings to People of India (Watch Video) Let us commemorate this day with a resolve to celebrate our differences as strengths. May the arrival of spring bring new beginnings, hope, and happiness to us all. Happy Holi to all who celebrate!" Sharif said. President Asif Ali Zardari also extended congratulations to the Hindus on the occasion. Zardari said that Pakistan's constitution guarantees religious freedom, reflecting its status as a diverse nation where people of all faiths coexist harmoniously. May the celebrations also usher in peace, prosperity and joy not only in the lives of Hindus but in the lives of all people," he said in his message on Sunday. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also wished all those celebrating the festival of Holi. In a statement on Sunday, the former foreign minister and son of President Zardari highlighted the importance of fostering inclusivity and respect for diverse cultural traditions within the nation. He said, "Holi serves as a reminder of the shared humanity that transcends religious or cultural differences." Separately, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also felicitated the Hindu community on the occasion of Holi and announced a special Holi package for 700 Hindu families. Holi 2024 Wishes: US Ambassador Eric Garcetti Extends Holi Wishes to People of India, Shares Video of Festive Experience According to the CM's Secretariat, cheques worth Rs 10,000 each will be distributed as part of the Holi package to enhance the joy of the Hindu community. According to officials, the provincial government was dedicated to representing every citizen and serving each individual. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) by David Winner Coming from a Jewish family that arrived in America between the Slave Trade and the Holocaust, I thought that we were ethically in the clear, but researching my family story for Master Lovers, a book about my great-aunt Dorles love life in the 1930s, brought me face to face with famously fraught questions about evil and prejudice and the degree to which art and/or historical context can relieve us of its burdens. I thought of Ezra Pounds and T.S. Eliots fascism, of course, Dustin Hoffman, Keven Spacy, and all the other actor/molesters but also Alice Walkers interrogation of the Talmud, antisemitic or simply pro-Palestinian. And V.S. Naipaul, Indian from Trinidad, whose work (Bend in the River, India: A Wounded Civilization) skewered the post-colonial world. Dorle Jarmel Soria, a Jewish woman who was a force in mid-century music, integral to both Leonard Bernstein and Maria Callass careers, and her husband Dario, whod fled Rome after the Mussolini/Hitler pact, essentially raised my father. Once, he questioned Dorle about her friend soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopfs, close relationship (maybe affair) with Goebbels only to be rebuffed by the claim that great art lay outside of politics. And learning more about both her family and her lover, John Franklin Carter, whom she nearly married, revealed more dark associations. Ben Affleck convinced Henry Louis Gates not to reveal his enslaved-owning ancestors, but I unfamous, little to lose feel driven to out my family. Dorle, who smoked Benson & Hedges, drank gin and tonics, and traveled to Capri well into her nineties always recalled Graham Greens beloved Aunt Augusta (Travels with my Aunt), but learning more about her made her seem more like Aunt Denver from Beloved, Heathcliff perhaps, someone haunted by their past. By age thirty, I knew only a few facts about my Jewish family: our name did not come from Weiner, we were from somewhere near Poland, a distant relative translated the Declaration of Independence or was it the Constitution into Hebrew or Yiddish. Whereas my mothers mother, born in Hapsburg Prague, compiled a genealogy going back centuries, my fathers Jewish side was apparently the family who fell to earth. But one afternoon in 1995, Angela, my then-girlfriend/now spouse, glimpsed the letters S. Jarmulowsky and Sons emblazoned on a grand old building on Canal Street in Chinatown and intuited a connection to Dorle Jarmel. In the AIH Guide to New York, we learned that the building had been involved in a painful chapter of New York Jewish history, which due to what historian, Tony Michels, has called Jewish Triumphalism has been largely forgotten. The troubling family tale had a Horatio Alger beginning. Sender Jarmulowsky, who turned out to be Dorles Grandfather, was orphaned in a cholera epidemic in (yes!) Poland. He became a rabbi and businessman, living proof according to the Yiddish newspaper, Morgan Zhurnal that, in America one can be a rich businessman but also a pious Jew. He created a shipping line in Hamburg and later the bank on Canal Street responsible for bringing nearly half the Jews to the Lower East Side from Europe and holding their accounts, making him famous throughout New York and the Pale of Settlement. But when his son Louis (Dorles father and my great-grandfather) and his brother Meyer took over, they used depositors money to buy buildings in Harlem. According to historian Rebecca Kobrin, they engaged in racist redistricting, redlining. While not involved in the slave trade like Afflecks ancestors, my family deprived African Americans of a chance to gain the real estate equity that has been the traditional path to the American middle class. When World War One approached, account holders took out money to send to relatives in Europe. With so much capital locked up in real estate, the bank collapsed, wreaking financial havoc on the Jewish Lower East Side. Some depositors committed suicide. One depositor almost killed Meyer, and many others rioted outside of Dorles uptown apartment building, forcing her and her family to escape to the roof. The collapse of the family released Dorle and her sister, Faie, my grandmother, from traditional female Orthodox Jewish roles, allowing Dorle to be a publicist and Faie, a shoe designer. But neither sister ever relayed the shameful story to later generations. Dorle and Faies disquieting family history recalled other unsettling family photographs: Grandfather Percy standing next to Mussolini, whom hed interviewed, the first American to do so, Uncle Dario, an officer in the Italian Fascist Colonial army, standing over a cheetah hed shot in Eritrea. Fascist tendencies werent unusual in that era. Mussolinis approval rating (long before the term) was sky-high in Italy, and probably higher in America than either Bidens or Trumps now. But more surprises were in store when I was tasked with clearing out Dorles apartment after her death. First, I found Master Lovers of the World, a book Dorle wrote in her teens romanticizing problematic figures like Henry Vlll: no monster but a powerful generous man with gold hair and beard, penetrating blue eyes and a ruddy face, and then, like a companion piece, five sets of hidden love letters from different men in the 1930s. John Franklin Carter, who wrote her hundreds of them, was known as a reporter and FDR apparatchik. Still, when I plugged his name into the New York Times archive, I found the following from 1932: John Franklin Carter, a young American now traveling in Europe, has been appointed chairman of an organizing committee for a New National Party that is to introduce Hitlerism in the United States. I walked around for months believing that not only had my great-grandfather helped deal a lethal blow to poor New York Jews, but my great-aunt had had a long affair with a married Nazi. Antisemitic tropes of Jews sticking together may have been blown, but I felt tainted, nauseated. I thought of Hannah Arendt and the banality of evil, and wondered if Dorle exemplified the inability to think. Was her connection to Nazis and the Nazi adjacents due to thoughtlessness as well as stupidity? I poured through Carters letters to Dorle, struggling with his handwriting, but found no reference to a Nazi party. And Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, wrote Carter to reluctantly walk back the claim that he ran one, but Carters politics remained suspect. When Puzi Hanfstaengl, Hitlers press secretary, took John and his wife Sheila to see Hitler speak in Munich in 1932, Sheila declared it quite a good show, in her diary. All of Berlin, she wrote admiringly when Putzi brought the Carters up to Berlin, feels electric over the showdown in Reichstag- where all the traffic has been stopped, heavy police guards posted. John also wrote Dorle about encountering a friend named George Viereck, the top banana of German infiltrators in the lead-up to the Second World War, according to Rachel Maddows 2022 Ultra podcast. Viereck suggested to Carter that he might be on the congressional list of suspected Nazis. He wasnt, but I still wondered how I should judge Dorle for the company she kept, how I should cast her in Master Lovers, my book about her and her lovers. Around 2000, the tour guides at Monticello, Jeffersons home up the mountain from Charlottesville where I grew up, finally stopped erasing his (and our) original sin by calling where the enslaved lived, servants quarters. The Confederate statues in town were also removed though at the cost of Heather Heyers life 2018, Unite the Right. With Virginia in mind, I wondered how I could address my own family history. I dont have the tools (or guts) to tear down the insignia of the family bank, but I could interrogate the narrative of Dorles life. In early versions of Master Lovers, I sentimentalized her. Amazing woman, polite readers would tell me, great lady, but I kept revising, trying to cast her as the ethical anomaly that I think she was. An earlier novel of mine, Tylers Last, involves fictional versions of Patricia Highsmith and Ripley. Generations of readers gave Highsmith a pass. But I tried to reveal her antipathy to Jews, black people, and Puerto Ricans, who, according to the sympathetic protagonists of The Dogs Ransom, were ruining 1970s New York, by using close third narration to place prejudice in her mind. I placed troubling thoughts in Dorles head too, though, she was less an open racist than a tolerator of evil. Dorles version of Paul Gauguin, for example, written when she was eighteen, encountered his great love in a blue stream against a background of lime and mango trees, only thirteen, but a woman by Tahitian standards. In the mans mans mans world in which Dorle lived, she often fought off sexual assault, once at the hands of conductor Werner Klemperer, the father of the man who played Colonel Klink. Unfazed, she turned it into cocktail party fodder and would have likely been unsympathetic to #metoo as she believed that women could always resist. After Elizabeth Schwarzkopfs deeper Nazi ties were revealed late in Dorles life, I asked her my fathers question. Yes, she said, it bothered her. She had grown more empathetic as shed aged. I wonder how she would have responded to questions about John Franklin Carter. Or other Nazis shed known in America and those that she did not in Poland, where members of our family must have died in the Holocaust. When black soprano, Leontyne Price, was asked to take the service elevator to Dorles apartment in the early sixties, she and Dario expunged that policy, but racism, sexual harassment, and antisemitism may have seemed immutable, not worth fighting. Her own family was implicated, after all. What about me, though, still around decades later? I must own Dorles history as Ive tried to do something that she never did herself, which is to tell her story. Dorle took many ships to Europe and the Middle East in the thirties, and I have inherited her travel bug. The summer of 2023 found me wandering gleefully around Bucharest, marveling at the sculpted angels and goddesses on the early twentieth century buildings amidst old Orthodox churches and socialist monoliths. A quick dip into my phone to learn the Romanian history of those eras brought me right back to Dorle and the Jews. While Romania may not be notably worse than many countries in Europe, violence towards Jews and Roma was inextricably linked to its history. As an expiation of a sort, I sought out Bucharests two Jewish museums, hoping to find the city accurately telling those stories like Monticello has in more recent times. The museums are located in the old Jewish quarter, which, like much of the city, had been razed, socialist-era apartment buildings put up in their stead. The first address had no museum at all, and the second museum, dedicated to the Holocaust, was inexplicably closed. Sitting on a bench in front of a small memorial, I thought about the Jews whod lost their lives, as well as the other Jews, some from Bucharest, whod lost their money in the family bank. What can I say, a phrase that my therapist, the daughter of Ukrainian Holocaust survivors herself, is wont to say when the answer is nothing. In America, structures have often been built over the graveyards of the indigenous and the enslaved. New resorts in Maui are likely to do the same. We cant always avoid such places as we dont always know where they may lay, but we can try to listen for the voices of ancestors, not just our own. Those who suffered. Those who caused suffering. Evil runs in the best of families. London, Mar 25 (PTI) An online petition which urges the UK government to allow foreign healthcare workers, a large chunk of them from India, more time to find a job after their sponsors fail them has attracted hundreds of signatures within days. Under tougher rules that came into effect earlier this month, care providers in England acting as sponsors for migrants are required to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) the industry regulator for Health and Social Care, a move the government said will tackle abuse within the sector. Also Read | US Shocker: Minor Hospitalised After Being Served Alcohol at Michigan Restaurant. However, the consequence of this crackdown is that many innocent workers from countries such as India find themselves abandoned when a previously legitimate sponsor loses their licence, with only 60 days to find alternative employment in the sector. Sixty days is a very short notice for a family to arrange departure as it could unsettle their children's schooling, lead to loss of rent or deposit, furnishing costs, air ticket and relocation costs, reads the petition launched by UK-based Indian-origin professional Balakrishnan Balagopal. Also Read | EAM on Three-Day Singapore Visit: S Jaishankar Meets Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong, Indian Origin Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan To Further Deepen Bilateral Ties (See Pics). Several healthcare workers who arrived in UK are left without jobs as their sponsors are unable to provide them with one or that there wasn't a job available for them when they arrived. Some firms lose their licence to sponsor due to their own mistakes...The request is to extend jobless health workers' stay in the UK for one more year for them to secure another job, it adds. The petition, launched on the UK Parliament website over the weekend, is intended to shed light on a pressing issue and after 10,000 signatures will require a response from the government. According to Balagopal, hundreds of healthcare workers who arrived in the UK to meet shortages in the social care sector since 2022 are stuck in a situation not of their making. Many firms who had promised them jobs lost their licence to sponsor due to errors beyond the workers' control and others found that the promised job never materialised. Earlier this month, the UK Home Office said it has evidence that care workers have been offered visas under false pretences, travelling thousands of miles for jobs that simply don't exist or to be paid far below the minimum wage required for their work and exploiting them. It sought to crackdown on the abuse of the system, including a ban on international care workers bringing their dependent family members when migrating to the UK. Care workers make an incredible contribution to our society, taking care of our loved ones in times of need. But we cannot justify inaction in the face of clear abuse, manipulation of our immigration system and unsustainable migration numbers. It is neither right nor fair to allow this unacceptable situation to continue, said UK Home Secretary James Cleverly. With the letters starting to go out to those affected in recent weeks, the fallout of the crackdown is expected to hundreds already in the country and left in the lurch due to no fault of their own. "Sending these workers back to their home countries and having care homes struggle to find adequate staffing may lead to severe healthcare implications for the UK population. By addressing these concerns, we can ensure that the healthcare system remains robust and capable of meeting the needs of those it serves," says Balagopal, who hopes his petition can help draw attention to this injustice. His campaign intends to lobby the authorities to adopt a more compassionate stance that addresses the pressing social care needs of British society and the wellbeing of foreign workers simultaneously. According to official statistics from the past year, an estimated 140,000 visas were issued to overseas workers to come to the UK to meet staff shortages in the UK's health and care industry and 39,000 of these went to Indians. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Gilgit Baltistan [Pok], March 25 (ANI): Protest demonstrations took place in Hunza and Islamabad on Sunday in response to the alleged abduction and forced marriage of an underage girl from Gilgit Baltistan, Dawn reported. The 13-year-old girl disappeared from Sultanabad village in Gilgit four days ago. Also Read | Northern Lights Due to Severe G4 Geomagnetic Storm Hitting The Earth! 5 Best Places Where You Can Experience Aurora Borealis Bliss and Witness Natures Dazzling Spectacle. In Hunza, the protest was held at Karakoram Highway in Aliabad, drawing a significant turnout of activists from various political parties, as per Dawn. Participants held placards demanding the girl's recovery without her being forced into marriage. Also Read | Moscow Terror Attack: How the Deadliest Attack on Russian Soil in Years Unfolded Over the Weekend. According to Dawn, the Awami Workers Party organized the protest against the purported abduction and forced marriage of the student. AWP senior leader Baba Jan accused the Gilgit-Baltistan police of protecting those involved in the abduction and forced marriage of the underage girl. He said that, "the girl's father was a laborer, due to which both the police and the alleged abductors were trying to pressure him. He threatened a large protest at Ittehad Chowk of Gilgit if the police did not show seriousness and recover the girl." Ikram Baig Jamal, Akhun Bai, and others also spoke on the occasion. The protesters demanded that the girl be recovered immediately. They said forced statements were being made about the girl. Simultaneously, civil society activists, child rights organizations, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, lawyers, journalists, and representatives from various political parties convened a separate protest outside the National Press Club in Islamabad, urging the immediate recovery of the girl. They also demanded a transparent investigation into the case. The protesters questioned the role of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Rights Commission as the unlawful marriage was solemnised in the Mansehra district of the province. Moreover, the suspects also applied for a transit bail at Peshawar High Court, which makes it mandatory for the Child Rights Commission to investigate, respond, and rescue the child. A video posted on social media by the alleged abductors of the girl claimed that she was married to a 17-year-old boy. This age is also not legal for marriage under Child Marriage Restraint Amendment Act of 1929. Furthermore, in the video, the suspects showed the girl older than her actual age contrary to her original Nadra issued birth registration certificate. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Members of the United Nations Security Council vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire, in New York (Photo Credits: Reuters) New York, March 25: The United Nations Security Council on Monday approved the resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in Gaza and the "unconditional" release of all hostages held by Hamas following the October 7 attack on Israel, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. He asserted that the resolution must be implemented and any fall in its imposition would be "unforgivable." "The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable," Guterres posted on X. Benjamin Netanyahu Cancels Israel Delegation Trip to Washington After US Declined To Veto UN Ceasefire Demand. The draft resolution was put forward by 12 non-permanent members of the international forum, including Algeria, Guyana, Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, South Korea and Switzerland, Al Jazeera reported. The draft resolution demanding a ceasefire was introduced by Mozambique's ambassador to the UN, Pedro Comissario Afonso, who said, "We express our deep appreciation for all members of this council for their efforts and inputs on this draft resolution and at ending the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip." Benjamin Netanyahu Warns if US Does Not Veto UNSC Resolution Demanding Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza, Israel Delegation Will Not Visit. "The situation in Gaza is a matter of grave concern to the entire international community; indeed, the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip and its catastrophic consequences are a clear threat to international peace and security," he added. Al Jazeera reported that the resolution was passed after permanent members Russia and China vetoed a US draft resolution on Friday for not urging an unconditional, immediate ceasefire and the resolution was again introduced by the non-permanent countries of the body calling for an immediate ceasefire. (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, March 25: US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, on Monday extended Holi wishes to the people of India In a video message shared on X, the US envoy Garcetti expressed warm wishes to all celebrating the festival of Holi. "I want to wish everybody a very happy Holi. We have this amazing gujiyas, which has a little bit of an Amrican twist with some pistachios in here, beautiful rose water. There's no better way than to celebrate Holi across the Indo-Pacific together," Garcetti said in a video message while showcasing special Gujiyas adorned with an American twist. In his post, Garcetti emphasized the US-India friendship in the celebration and said, "#HappyHoli, friends! Celebrating my first Holi in India with delicious gujiyas made of American nuts - a delightful fusion of traditions and a celebration of #USIndiaDosti! I've had vibrant Holi celebrations back in Los Angeles, but nothing beats being here in India for the festival of colors. #CelebrateWithUS." 'Bura Na Mano Holi Hai' Norwegian Ambassador to India May-Elin Stener Extends Holi Greetings to People of India (Watch Video) The US embassy in India also joined in to wish all Indians on the occasion of the festival "Holi Hai!. From vibrant colors to infectious laughter echoing through the grounds, the Holi celebration at our Embassy was quite some fun! But the fun doesn't stop here! Let's keep the Holi spirit alive all year round. Here's to greater friendship, and more unforgettable moments together in #USIndiaDosti! #HappyHoli" Holi 2024 Songs' Playlist: 5 Bollywood Hindi Songs for a Lively Holi Rain Dance Party (Watch Videos) US Envoy Eric Garcetti Extends Holi Wishes to People of India #HappyHoli, friends! Celebrating my first Holi in India with delicious gujiyas made of American nuts - a delightful fusion of traditions and a celebration of #USIndiaDosti! Ive had vibrant Holi celebrations back in Los Angeles, but nothing beats being here in India for the pic.twitter.com/LgtfkgpEUi U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti (@USAmbIndia) March 25, 2024 Earlier on March 8, Ambassador Garcetti had inaugurated the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Taste of America Booth at Bharat Mandapam. At the event, Eric Garcetti emphasised the stronger ties between India and the US. "Better together, stronger together--I would say even more delicious together. So we are so excited to launch this booth to encourage our Indian friends to think with us, to cook with us, to plan with us" the US Ambassador had said. On the occasion, the FAS Taste of America booth, showcase several delectable samples including include duck and turkey sandwiches and the Holi festival treat - Gujiya made with US pecans. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kolkata, March 25: Three school-going children got severely injured on Monday afternoon, following an explosion at Gangarampur in Dakshin Dinajpur district in the northern outskirts of Kolkata. The reason for the explosion is yet to be confirmed by the police. However, local police sources said that from the nature of injuries of the three children, it seems that the mishap was caused by explosion of battery or crude bombs. Bomb Blast in West Bengal: Explosion Near Primary School in Kanchrapara, Injured Rushed to Hospital (See Pics) The three children were first admitted at Gangarampur Super Specialty Hospital. However, one of them had to be shifted to Malda Medical College & Hospital as his condition deteriorated. The other two are undergoing treatment at the hospital at Gangarampur. The local Lok Sabha member and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said that the police should investigate impartially and unearth the reason behind the explosion. West Bengal Shocker: Crude Bomb Hurled Near School in Kanchrapara, Probe Launched I was told that the kids sustained injury as an explosion took place at the spot they were playing. However, it is up to the police to reveal the truth behind the explosion, Majumdar said. Eyewitnesses have told local cops that they spotted the children playing with an item which apparently looked like a battery. Investigation in the matter is underway. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2024 03:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena arrived here on Monday for a six-day official visit during which he will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on ways to further deepen bilateral ties. A massive fire broke out at a godown in outer Delhis Alipur area on Monday, a fire department official said, adding that so far no casualty has been reported. Delhi Minister Atishi announced on Monday, March 25, that Aam Aadmi Party leaders will initiate a DP (Display Picture) campaign in solidarity with jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. She emphasized that all party members will update their DPs on social media to express support for AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. "To ensure that Arvind Kejriwal's inspiration reaches all corners of the nation, all the leaders, MLAs and workers of Aam Aadmi Party will change their DPs", she affirmed. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday at his official residence in connection with an excise policy-related money-laundering case. Arvind Kejriwal Continues to Function As Chief Minister From ED Custody, Issues First Order. AAP Launches DP Campaign: #WATCH | Delhi Minister Atishi says, "To ensure that Arvind Kejriwal's inspiration reaches all parts of the country, we are starting a DP campaign on social media today...All the leaders, MLAs and workers of Aam Aadmi Party will change their DPs..." pic.twitter.com/dLEW55Ydlf ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) In July 2019, compelling photos of love transcending boundaries emerged from a Hindu-Muslim, same-sex couple's charming photoshoot in New York. The pictures, which were shared by a photographer named Sarowar, quickly gained widespread attention and adoration on social media. Sundas Malik, aka Sufi, from Pakistan and Anjali Chakra from India became internet sensations, sparking debates about love and overcoming barriers of gender, religion, and nationality. Fast forward to March 2024, and a sad announcement shook their followers. Anjali Chakra and Sufi Malik, as she is known, decided to call off their wedding, sending shockwaves through their community. The reason, confirmed by both via heartfelt Instagram posts, is Sufi's admission of infidelity, betraying Anjali's trust. Same Sex India-Pakistan Couple Anjali Chakra and Sundas Malik Wins Hearts on Social Media, Photo Shoot of the Hindu-Muslim Lovers Goes Viral. View Anjali Chakras Breakup Post Here View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anjali (@anjalichakra) View Sundas aka Sufi Maliks Breakup Post Here View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sufi Malik (@sufi.sun) (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) Despite often bragging about how rich he is, Donald Trump has sent a flurry of fundraising emails to supporters, asking them to donate money as the deadline for paying the $454 million New York fraud ruling approaches and New York Attorney General Letitia James is set to seize some of his most prized properties, including Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street. "Keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower" was the subject line of one Trump fundraising email and was repeated at the start of the message in bold, italics, and all caps. The letter told Trump supporters that the New York AG "wants to SEIZE my properties in New York," adding, "THIS INCLUDES THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER!" After that, he then proceeded to ask his supporters for money as a show of support and strength against all the legal troubles he is currently facing, which he claimed to be a political witch hunt. He only has until Monday, March 25, to pay that $454 million penalty in the civil fraud trial he lost or find a bond company willing to work with him and pay that money so he could appeal. As the New York Times reported, his attorneys have already admitted that they are unable to secure a bond after approaching over 30 bond companies, with many of the companies unwilling to pay that much money, especially now with Trump being found liable for fraud. In another one of the dozens of emails he sent supporters as part of his fundraising blitz, Trump stated, "Our movement started on the golden escalator in Trump Tower! Now Democrats want to seize it!" In a different email, he insisted that "Trump Tower is mine!" and he also repeated his baseless claim that Letitia James had no evidence against him. What Will Letitia James Do When Donald Trump Fails To Pay? Letitia James has plenty of options that she and her office could do should Donald Trump fail to meet the payment deadline tomorrow. This includes freezing his bank accounts and seizing some of his most prized properties, from his private jet to the crown jewel of his business empire, Trump Tower. READ MORE: Donald Trump Threatened Mike Pence Before January 6 Capitol Insurrection, Ex-President's Valet Testified Before she could do any of that, though, the New York AG will still be required to go back to court to get a judge's approval so she could even gain access to Trump's property. As Politico noted, she also would likely not begin targeting his real estate properties but his bank accounts. She would begin by seizing them and get direct access to his cash. If this is not enough to pay for that nearly half-million judgment, then James can begin seizing his properties to liquidate them. Donald Trump-Dubbed 'Don Poorleone,' Goes Trending on Social Media as Letitia James Closes In Meanwhile, the possibility of Trump declaring bankruptcy to get out of paying that $464 million penalty, coupled with his inability to find a company to bail him out of that penalty, has led to some mockery in social media, with the #DonPoorleone trending on X. .@neal_katyal: "There is a reason why some people are calling Donald Trump, Don Poorleone right now." pic.twitter.com/jl317S37sY Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) March 24, 2024 I made an offer everyone refused. - Don Poorleone #DonPoorleone pic.twitter.com/XrxsWE7eA6 Jack E. Smith (@7Veritas4) March 24, 2024 READ MORE: Donald Trump's Own Vice President, Mike Pence, Will Not Endorse Him This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Trump FREAKS OUT in Dozens of Emails about LOSING IT ALL - MeidasTouch by Marie Snyder I recently listened to a podcast of Dr. Louis Cozolino, a neuroscientist and psychoanalyst, discussing what he would teach if he were training psychotherapists. The first year would be phenomenology: the power of Carl Rogers perspective to train how to develop an alliance through reflective listening while keeping countertransference out of the session. The second year would be physiology: developmental neuroscience and the evolutionary history of brains and bodies. The third year might be called intersectionality: the interpenetration of the spectrum of options that affect clients brain, mind, family, culture and a reaction against therapy as a mere opiate to calm the oppressed and exploited. The final year would be on narratives and stories that we live by and on that half second that it takes our brain to construct our experience of the present and feed it back to us. Cozolino insists that its not enough to just sit and listen to people vent. After developing a non-judgmental alliance with the client, therapists need to be amygdala whisperers, to be able to down modulate amygdala activation to stop any inhibitory effect on the parietal system that enables problem solving. In other words, they need to soothe anxieties while arousing enough interest for clients to be able to learn new information. Then its time to challenge the clients old system of thinking, slowly and delicately, a little at a time, to help them expand previous conceptualizations of themselves and the world. Theres a necessary plan and a strategy to the sessions. By contrast, in my MA psychotherapy program, were currently learning Piaget and Eriksons stages of development that many of us first encountered in high school classes. Theres little to no encouragement to look at these older theories with a critical eye, and were required to identify stages without a clear idea of how that knowledge might practically help clients. Im doing well in the class despite the reality that I dont understand how acknowledging that a client is in the identity vs role confusion stage can provoke a useful change in the clients perceptions. So I read Eriksons book from 1950, Childhood and Society, specifically looking at his notion of identity formation. Theres a surprising amount on Hitler, which has been left out of our lessons, how he used adolescent imagery to gain dominance, and I wonder if that might have provoked Erikson to promote a need to further our industrialization through our career-focused youth. Overall, I have some concerns with the linearity of his stages, with a career as the primary signifier of identity formation, and with whats left out of his discussions of identity. Erik Erikson significantly expanded Freuds stages of development to acknowledge that we continue to change throughout the lifecycle, well beyond Freuds endpoint of 18 years old. However, I generally disagree with the discontinuous idea of change through specific linear stages, in which, for instance, unresolved trust issues might make us fixate or stagnate at a specific age. Having experienced times of profound confidence and connection followed by times of abject alienation and back again, I propose a slinky theory instead. One moment of broken trust in infancy, for instance, can resolve, but then a second moment of broken trust as a toddler piggybacks on that moment, and then resolves again, over and over throughout our lives. We sometimes accept that nobody can be trusted, then our faith in humanity gets magically restored. Those difficult moments adhere together over time when were at a low point. We might aspire to have a life in which we just gain and gain on a continuous upward trajectory, but that doesnt appear to be anything close to reality. The best childhood can only protect us so much from the negative effects of a devious interaction in our adult lives. Snyders Slinky Theory Illustrated: Numbers indicate a few significantly troubling moments. 1. Mom didnt come when we cried; 2. We couldnt find dad at the park; 3. Friends took off on us; 4. We got stood up on a date; 5. Our partner had an affair; 6. Our kid stole from us, 7. We didnt get that raise the boss promised, etc. The rest of time is recovery from these transgressions. Theres different points on the slinky for autonomy, initiative, and so forth, as it bends in all directions. Sometimes the events seem disparate and unconnected, but during a new experience of mistrust, they can be experienced as continuous and all encompassing as if these things always happen to us as our memory links them together. We dont ever fully learn that people can be trusted, because some of them cant. Eriksons intimacy vs role confusion stage generally starts at puberty, but can last to 18 or 21. While Freuds adolescent stage focuses almost exclusively on sexual awakening (see Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, written in 1905), Erikson has a very different view of teenagers as far less interested in embracing, and I wonder how much of that is just wishful thinking as his own children fell in that age range at the time of his writing. The sense of ego identity, then, is the accrued confidence that the inner sameness and continuity are matched by the sameness and continuity of ones meaning for others, as evidenced in the tangible promise of a career. The danger of this stage is role diffusion. Where this is based on a strong previous doubt as to ones sexual identity, delinquent and outright psychotic incidents are not uncommon. If diagnosed and treated correctly, these incidents do not have the same fatal significance which they have at other ages. It is primarily the inability to settle on an occupational identity which disturbs young people. To keep themselves together they temporarily overidentify, to the point of apparent complete loss of identity, with the heroes of cliques and crowds. . . . To a considerable extent adolescent love is an attempt to arrive at a definition of ones identity by projecting ones diffused ego images on one another and by seeing them thus reflected and gradually clarified. This is why many a youth would rather converse, and settle matters of mutual identification, than embrace (228). Identifying with cliques and crowds? That hasnt changed much except to trickle further into adulthood. However, concern with sameness and continuity could reflect the post war conformity sought after in a quest for stability and normalcy. More importantly, using the theory today to better understand clients ignores the dramatic shift in the job market. Only 6% of students went to college at the time (Erikson hadnt), so landing a career to carry you clear to retirement right out of high school was much more of a possibility. Many teens today expect to have a variety of completely different types of jobs over the next forty years, so an occupation-derived identity falls apart. Erikson, raised in the Jewish faith, converted to Christianity when he married in 1930, and then left Vienna for America in 1933 where he changed his name from Homburger. I would think identity would provoke far greater issues for him than merely occupational. Alternatively, perhaps its the case that his career trajectory was the most stable part of who he was, however that stability didnt come until his thirties. If identity were tied primarily to occupation, then it seems that sets people up for despair at retirement. Who are we if not our jobs? Just before Erikson made these determinations about the stages, Sartre wrote at greater depth about identity. What Erikson discusses as identity, the types of things we might put on a resume for instance, Sartre took for merely our facticity. To avoid all his hyphenated terms, its the facts about us that can constrain us from becoming. The other vital aspect of identity is transcendence, the potential to stretch beyond that list. Without that, were stuck stagnating in our current position without the possibility of future change. We operate from a position of inauthenticity when we think of ourselves as just one or another instead of always both. In psychotherapy, this understanding can help to recognize that we are much more than just our capabilities or talents. Furthermore, we can look to older writing to find the notion of identity as a collection of memories , Because we can reconstitute memories and this affects neural pathways by reinforcing or abandoning them, we can change our identity by changing our stories of ourselves. We can reframe the past to better understand ourselves in the present. And even further back we find writing suggesting that once we find our identity, the next task isnt intimacy, as Erikson would have it, but dissolving identity for some oneness with the universe stuff! Another way to look at identity is not as something we form ourselves in a cognitive process, but something we recognize within us something we uncover by removing the external pressures and layers covering all we currently value. We develop an identity first by comparing and contrasting ourselves to others. But later the task becomes to separate the self from external ideas of how we should be and from decisions other people have made about us. Pronouncements made by others are free to be rejected or accepted, but it takes a conscious effort to question and consider if theyre on to something or mistaken. Otherwise we might form a shell around us that feels protective but becomes difficult to escape. Sartre complained about the power others have to stamp an impression on us despite what we know to be true about ourselves, concerned that in death we can no longer revise their errors. Or as Jimmy Carr said, I think your identity is about more than just a few facts, its more than your behaviour. Its about your core beliefs and values. And those are things that change over time. . . . I know who I am and I also know how Im perceived. I think you need both. Attaching identity to any one aspect of the self will necessarily miss the vastness of our potential. We pretty quickly object to people reducing us to one aspect, but we too willingly do it to ourselves, often around our career or another role in our lives. Occupation is an external layer of skills and knowledge; it barely touches our core self. Why does it matter? We have an innate desire to live with a sense of being true to ourselves, living up to our own ideals with evidence that were being the kind of person we want to be. Otherwise we aim towards merely having what we want to have. We need to develop a unity of self so who we think we are aligns with our thoughts and actions, so our nature and our choices are congruent instead of being at odds. It just doesnt feel right when it doesnt all click. A career can be a stand in for identity until we delve deeper, but as long as that works, it keeps us from looking further. In responding to external ideas of who we should be, we become estranged from ourselves. Our lives become little more than necessary fictions. The Nicolas Maduro regime's crackdown against critics continues in Venezuela, and recent reports have shown that last month, a prominent manager for US oil giant Chevron was among those who were arrested. The report of his arrest came days after the Venezuelan government ordered the arrest of staffers for then-opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado. A report from the Associated Press revealed that Chevron manager and former fighter pilot Alejandro Gonzalez was arrested back on the evening of February 9 after counterintelligence agents raided his home near the eastern oil center of Barcelona in Venezuela. His family reportedly did not know why he was arrested but only learned why after Maduro's chief prosecutor released a statement that accused him of revealing national security secrets and obstruction of justice. "I can't stop thinking that this is all a nightmare and isn't really happening," the Chevron manager's eldest daughter, Alexandra Gonzalez, told the AP in an interview in Spain. "We don't know how our dad is doing. We haven't spoken to him, nor has he had access to his chosen lawyers." Chevron Manager's Daughter Says Her Father Being Part of Anti-Government Plot Is False Gonzalez is married to human rights attorney Rocio San Miguel, who was the prominent human rights defender whose arrest sparked an international outcry against the Maduro regime. She was accused by Attorney General Tarek William Saab of being a spy. READ MORE: Venezuela Elections: Three Times Nicolas Maduro Undermined Democracy During an Election Year Her daughter, two brothers, and another former husband were also arrested, but they were soon released. However, she and Gonzalez remain under custody as they face charges of conspiracy. Several other opposition figures, including Machado staffers, have also been arrested as part of an alleged conspiracy to assassinate dictator Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, Gonzalez's daughter, Alexandra, defended her father, a retired Venezuelan Air Force Colonel. She stated that he is just a "'normal' hardworking professional who fulfilled his boyhood dream for flight in the cockpit of an F-16 and other aircraft he operated while serving in the Air Force." "How can someone who hasn't been a military officer for 13 years hold any state secrets?" she said. "It makes no sense." Chevron Has Special Permission To Operate in Venezuela As for Chevron, which is the only major US oil company operating in Venezuela, it stated that the arrest of Gonzalez had nothing to do with the company and added that it would not comment on personnel matters. According to Oil Price, Chevron is the only Western supermajor with special authorization to operate oil fields and export from Venezuela. However, the company is starting to be at odds with the Maduro regime, especially when the dictator renewed his interest in the Essequibo region of Guyana. The two countries are currently in an international standoff, with Chevron operating on both sides of the border. Venezuela is claiming the Guyanese territory, especially after vast amounts of oil and minerals were discovered there. READ NEXT: Venezuela Elections: Maria Corina Machado Names College Professor Corina Yoris as Replacement Presidential Candidate This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Rick Martin WATCH: Venezuela politics: Arrest warrants issued for opposition members - Al Jazeera English Murder suspect Nicole Weems with LPD officer Jack Hammett just before she made her initial appearance in Laurel Municipal Court. (Photo by Mark Thornton) A housing expert believes the real housing needs in Laois are massively underestimated in official figures. Associate Professor and author of the best-selling book on Irelands housing situation, Gaffs, Rory Hearne said an entire generation is trapped and locked out of the housing market. He outlined some of the figures for Laois. The generation stuck at home. In Laois there are 9,793 people, thats 10,000 people who are adults over 18 living at home with their parents. They are not counted anywhere in terms of housing needs. This is a big issue of mine. The targets are nonsense because they don't actually include the real level of housing needs, Mr Hearne said. If you look at the number of people on the housing waiting list in Laois it is 1,500 people. All those adults living at home are in need of affordable housing. They are not living at home by choice. They are living at home because they cannot find somewhere to rent or to buy and yet the social housing waiting list, which is what they base the level of how much social and affordable housing needs to be built on, is only a fraction of that 1,589. Of course you are not going to be meeting your need if your local authority plan is based on this smaller level of need, he pointed out. According to Mr Hearne, it is not just the people who are living at home that are left off the lists. Another figure which are not included in housing needs are those in receipt of HAP, the Housing Assistance Payment. In Laois we have 1,000 households in receipt of HAP. They arent on the social housing waiting list, government changed policy in 2014 where they took people on HAP off the housing waiting list. So there is 1,000 households in Laois who are in private rental, being supported in their rent. They are entitled to social housing, they need social housing but yet they are in a completely insecure form of housing. They can be evicted. In Laois in the last 18 months alone 466 rental households evicted in Laois, thats phenomenal numbers, he said. The Associate Professor, whose mother Mary Bates is from Clonaslee, is the Social Democrats Midlands-North West candidate for the European Elections. One of the things I am putting central to my campaign. Because the government overly focused on the market and investor funds in the last 10 years in their housing policy. They basically relied on them to buy all their housing and they havent developed the capacity to deliver social housing where investor funds arent building housing, Mr Hearne said. He said in counties where investors arent building, very few homes are being delivered. It has been a completely flawed strategy for building social housing in regional areas and in areas outside cities. He believes a regional approach is needed to pool together resources on housing delivery skills across local authorities. He said there is a role for not for profit housing bodies and fast build factory housing should be considered. He also wants to see more done to tackle dereliction and vacancy. I do think we need a national building agency to coordinate that. So that would really focus on how we develop our public capacity to deliver the homes, he said. Mr Hearne said it will take investment and a few years but will ramp up the delivery of housing in the country. I have seen the massive mental health damage of the housing crisis to younger generations, and its not just younger people, its 30s, 40s and 50s, who are in different forms trapped, he remarked. I really dont feel that our government or State is taking it seriously yet and I just want to give people hope that we can solve it and that there are people who really care about this and want to put this as their number one priority, said Mr Hearne. Irish Rail has come in from sharp criticism in Laois for not including Portlaoise Train Station in a new Dublin commuter zone that cut the cost of travel. The new 50km zone includes towns like Drogheda, Navan, Newbridge, Kildare, Greystones, and Wicklow. The change meant that an adult return from Drogheda to Dublin fell from 19.50 to 14 with the weekly adult ticket reduced from 61.20 to 56. The monthly adult ticket dropped from 211 to 196. Portlaoise councillors were upset and confused by the exclusion of Portlaoise given the rate of commuting by car out of the county to the capital each day and the fact that commuter trains serve Portlaoise. Cllr Barry Walsh, Fine Gael, raised the issue at a recent meeting in County Hall Portlaoise. He tabled a motion calling for Portlaoise to be part of Dublins commuter zone. He asked that commuter zone fares for public transport including railway services in the form of a Leap Card or similar be made available. There was a recent announcement on the extension of this to other commuter towns but excluded Portlaoise. Can it be clarified the reasons it was not extended to Portlaoise and the criteria for selecting other towns? Portlaoise/Laois has a significant commuter population which deserves serious consideration to the above proposal," he said. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Commuter trains which are cleaned and serviced in Portlaoise also serve Portlaoise and Portarlington Stations. Pic: M Owens. Mr Walsh told the meeting that a recent creation of a 50km Dublin commuter zone would have benefited local people. We are trying to promote public transport the best incentive is through the pocket, he said. Praising the good train service in Portlaoise, he said he could not understand why Portlaoise is not included in Irish Rails Dublin commuter zone given its high commuter population. He added that climate change targets would not be reached if people were not encouraged to use public transport. However, he said the Census showed that 6,200 commute for work to Dublin each day from Laois and two-thirds of those use their cars to do so. If cheaper public transport is not made available, he said jobs must be created in Laois by the IDA and others. Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, Sinn Fein, backed her colleague. She recalled the dreadful service when she commuted to Dublin for work. She said the service has improved greatly but the cost is too high. We now have a great service but it is not affordable. Thats the reality. Its a no-brainer that the Government should put pressure on CIE to lower prices, she said. She shared the view that Portlaoise is a commuter town. People moved out of Dublin because they couldnt afford houses and now they are in their cars every morning because they cant afford the price of public transport, she said. Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald, Fianna Fail, also praised the service. It is pricey and should definitely be included in the Dubin commuter price range, she said. Replying, Laois County Council Director of Service Simon Walton said that a letter would be sent but he added that Irish Rail had communicated in the days before the meeting with councillors. Mr Walton said it does address some of the issues raised by Cllr Walsh. He referred to the two commuter zones one of which is 23 kms around Dublin and the new one extends to 50 kms outside Dublin. MORE BELOW PICTURE. Pictured: M7 at Ballydavis near Portlaoise; Census showed thousands of people travel by car each day to work. Mr Walton said Irish Rail added that the National Transport Authority intends to publish plans this year to implement the second part of the National Fares Strategy. He said the train company say this will extend beyond the new commuter area including Portlaoise where revised fares for intercity and national bus services. It indicates that revised reduced fares will be available following publication of NTA document, he said. The issue was raised at the March meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District. Prominent unionists are demanding an apology from Dublin Airport over a photoshopped picture of Princess Kate and her husband, Prince William. The picture - a clearly photoshopped image of the duo walking inside the terminal - was posted in jest on Dublin Airport's X (formerly Twitter) account on March 19 with the caption, "Great to see passengers looking so happy and relaxed this morning." The post was viewed almost 9 million times, with 105,000 likes, 10,000 retweets and almost 1,000 comments. The picture was posted amid a media and social media frenzy on the whereabouts of Princess Kate - who had been missing from public life for several weeks - with many people turning to conspiracies to explain her absence. The Princess of Wales posted a video on March 22 clarifying she has taken a step back from her duties to undergo treatment for cancer. However, her explanation hasn't appeased everyone as some social media users continue to insist the video is an AI 'deep fake'. Since Princess Kate's revelation, unionists such as News Letter editor Ben Lowry and TUV councillor Allister Kyle have called for an apology from the airport. In a tweet posted on X today (March 25), Lowry wrote, "It's extraordinary that Dublin Airport still has this post up three days after it emerged that we had seen little of William and Kate because she is battling cancer but had not divulged that until she had to do so to quell relentless and cruel speculation." Some social media users agreed with him, with one X user stating, "It's quite disgusting that it hasnt been removed." Another stated, "It's absolutely disgusting." However, others were quick to condemn his reaction. One user wrote, "I don't think that the tweet was mocking the couple at all. It was a comment on the tabloid frenzy that was happening and as your article points out it was days before the cancer revelation." Another person wrote, "So let me get this straight Ben. Media publications the length and breadth of UK were engaged in all sorts of light hearted 'mockery' of the princess in the week before, but you tweet about the only Irish based one? Interesting mindset you have." Another wrote, "And despite all the calls for privacy journalists like you are still writing about them." According to the Irish Independent, Councillor Kyle has written to the airport to complain that the image should be removed. He reportedly wrote, "I have today written to Dublin Airport to register my protest at their decision to mock Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales who is currently recovering from cancer. "We have all been profoundly moved by the Princesss bravery in going public about something which is deeply personal and something which she and her family need to deal with away from the glare of the media." He continued, "To say, therefore, that it is in poor taste for the official X (formally Twitter) account of Dublin Airport to still be displaying a tweet mocking the Princess and her husband is an understatement. "Dublin Airport have come in for considerable criticism on X and have disabled replies to that particular post. Disgracefully, however, it has been left up. "It is time for Dublin Airport to remove this disgusting post, explain how it ever appeared, what action will be taken against those responsible and apologise to their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales." Dublin Airport has been contacted by Iconic Media for comment. by Jeroen Bouterse You are aware, I ask a pair of students celebrating their fourth successful die roll in a row, that you are ruining this experiment? They laugh obligingly. In four pairs, a small group of students is spending a few minutes rolling dice, awarding themselves 12 euros for every 5 or 6 and losing 3 euros for every other outcome. Im trying to set them up for the concept of expected value, first reminding them how to calculate their average winnings over several rounds, and then moving on to show how we calculate the expected average without recourse to experiment. It would be nice, of course, for their experimental average to be recognizably close to this number. Not least since this particular lesson is being observed by the Berlin board of education, and the outcome will determine whether or not I can get a teaching permit as a foreigner. In case they are reading this, I would like to emphasize that I plan all my lessons with care and forethought; but for this particular one, you can bet I prepared especially well and left nothing to chance. Except for the part I left to chance, that is. To be precise: I had neglected to calculate in advance how likely it was for the experimental average over roughly 80 games to diverge from the expected value by a potentially confusing amount. I relied on my intuition, which informed me that 80 is a large number. Turns out its not that large after all. The probability of at least 50 cents divergence (which would bring the experimental average at least as close to another integer as to the expected value of 2 euros) is, I have now figured out, a whopping 56%. There was only a 0.6% chance for the experimental average to exceed, as it did, 4 euros, but I had also implicitly accepted a 4% chance that the results would have been closest to 0 or even negative. Just imagine the damage that would have caused. It would not have been the first time for a probability experiment to result in my pleading with my students to trust the math over actual results they have just seen with their own eyes. The Monty Hall problem has been especially awkward at times. At first sight, the famous (initially) counterintuitive situation begs for enactment in a classroom situation. A contestant selects one out of three doors, one of which holds a prize. The host then eliminates a different door guaranteed not to hold the prize, and the contestant is given the choice either to open the door they picked, or switch to the remaining one. The switchers win two in three times, the stayers only one in three. Of course, things that have a one in three chance of happening happen a lot. I preface these experiments with extensive disclaimers about making the right decision but just being unlucky, but it still bothers me when, under my watch, bad things happen to rational people. Worse still, over the years I have been host to several occasions where a majority of stayers found the treasure while a majority of switchers uncovered a goat or whatever other cartoon animal I had whimsically stuck behind the virtual door. In a 1985 article, statistics educators Schuyler Huck, Sheldon Clark and Gipsie Ranney already explained what I have gradually come to realize over the last decade: that as a math teacher, I have only myself to blame for failing to take into account the range of likely outcomes of my classroom experiments. The central thesis of this paper, the authors write, is that the proper amount of data for many classroom demonstrations can and should be calculated prior to conducting the demonstration in class. (Good point, noted.) As one of the types of experiments that definitely require such prior calculation, they list inductive approaches to formulas. Clearly, if too few trials are run, the estimate [] may not approximate the theoretical probability; as a consequence, no intuitive insights will be gained. (Well, clearly.) In their concluding remarks, the authors address instructors who determine the amount of data to collect by letting the size of their class dictate the N they end up with. (Wonder who would do such a thing.) The final paragraph reminds those lazy sods why they should know better: after all, by determining the proper N in advance, the instructor uses the content of his or her discipline (ouch), helps to make the teaching process a bit more scientific (oomph), and, obviously, decreases the chances that uncooperative data will produce frustration and embarrassment.[1] In larger groups, or with less time pressure, there are ways to avoid this embarrassment. Math teacher Darin Beigie, for example, gave his students a homework task in which they had to sum the results of two D6 rolls a hundred times and, in pairs, enter the frequencies of the sums in a shared spreadsheet.[2] Combining the results of three classes gave him and his students 2400 (double) rolls to work with. Its an excellent idea. Even so, when his students repeated the experiment with a D4 and D8, the results displayed a noticeable aberration compared to the theoretical probabilities: 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 are all equally likely sums, but it is very unlikely for the experimental results of all these rolls to be the same or imperceptibly different. Pace Huck et al., the ways in which minor aberrations can present themselves as tempting visual patterns are hard to enumerate in advance, making it difficult to do the math on them. In Beigies experiment, the graph exhibited a small dip in the middle, which does not seem to have confused his students (489). No harm done, then; and I wish I had thought of this idea of probability experiments as homework sooner. Admittedly, there are also reasons why it can be good to be present while the students are doing their experiment: to make sure that the book-keeping is going well, to see how they interpret their initial findings, or even just because it is a lot of fun to observe the activity. As a case in point, the most exciting experiment with probability experiments in the classroom that I know of was done by the teaching couple Nadine and Guy Brousseau. It spanned several dozens of sessions, and revolved around the problem of finding out how many black and how many white checkers pieces a bag contains, given that there are five pieces in total, when you can only take out and inspect one random piece at a time. The description of the experiment by Guy (written up and translated to English a few decades after the fact, based on notes kept by Nadine, who taught the series) is great fun to read.[3] Their experiment is striking in its duration and subtlety, and also a disciplined exercise in constructivist pedagogy. Not only does the teacher not directly contradict the false ideas of her ten-year-old students, such as the thought that after a few black pieces, the whites are about to have their turn (367); but at no point does she open the bags. The students have to convince themselves and each other based just on the experiments they do on the three different bags that the teacher brings to every session. This makes the first few phases very sensitive to statistical fluctuations: the students are inclined to jump to (deterministic) conclusions about patterns that suggest themselves in the first handful of draws. Guy notes Nadines concern over not seeing the characteristic events of the process realized, the characteristic events being those supposed to drive the students thinking forward. For example, the appearance of a series of five whites from the (4w, 1b) sack at the moment when its usefulness in the childrens reflections had been mentioned had only one chance in three of happening. But this event has a good chance (nearly 9 out of 10) of happening in the course of five or six draws, which the process provides at that moment. The permanent presence of researchers who had calculated the situations and evaluated the risk of things going wrong proved nearly indispensable for relieving the teacher of the responsibility for an evolution which she feared would escape her control, for exploiting certain opportunities and for continuously explaining the development of the learning. (406) Multiple sessions are devoted just to drawing series of five from each of the bags, and forming ideas about how to move from these draws to conclusions about the number of white and black pieces in the bags. The students, for instance, decide to ignore draws that have five identical colors: they know from previous draws that each bags contains both colors, so 5-white or 5-black draws are false. To decide between the others, a student proposes to go with the composition that is drawn the most frequently, until it beats every other one by a difference of two. This works to the groups satisfaction for one bag, but seems to force a conclusion that doesnt feel right for the other bag. This phase must have been especially nerve-wracking for the teacher and the observers (Guy calls this part of the experiment terribly ambitious and perilous). Relatively small chance events influence the groups sense of success and openness to new approaches. As it happens, different students do come up with vital new ideas: adding up the blacks and whites from all draws; and preparing their own bag with known contents, to see how the draws from those bags behave. Although in a later session, they temporarily revert to counting how frequently different combinations of 5 pieces occur, the idea has taken hold that longer series of draws provide more confidence: they cant reach any conclusion after 15 draws, so they ask to do 150. (382) Though the results now convince the students, the teacher nudges them back to the other path they had started to take earlier: add up the numbers from different draws, and compare them to the total number of draws. In the next three sessions, the students get to work on performing the relevant additions and divisions. Here, finally, we get to sample sizes where the teacher does not need to worry about uncooperative data anymore; instead, she now has to worry about uncooperative students. By session eleven, the little data workers get tired of all the manual computations. They complain they are now sure of the composition of the bags and start demanding the teacher open them. She refuses. The situation becomes strained, we read; the students consider that there has been a sort of breaking of a contract by the teacher. (387) In subsequent sessions, new tools are introduced: graphs are drawn, a computer is brought in to simulate draws, and the students will think about what results would lead them to what conclusions (and with how much confidence). The students, who had craved new perspectives, ideas and insights that rendered their calculations meaningful, forget their fatigue with the project, and are engaged again. It is a reminder that the teacher cannot simply optimize for the probability of the experiment giving the desired outcome; other parameters, including student understanding and motivation, always need to be taken into account. All the more reason to heed the admonitions of Huck, Clark and Ranney, about being conscious of the relevant probabilities; but when the stakes are low and there is more to be done, a quick high-risk activity may sometimes be justified. My visitor seems to agree. After granting me the teaching permit, he informs me that he is an enthusiastic lottery player. The moral of the lesson on expected values has been heard and understood, but he plans on staying his course and beating the odds. I wish him the best of luck. [1] Schuyler W. Huck, Sheldon B. Clark, Gipsie B. Ranney, Estimating the probability of success for classroom demonstrations in statistics, Journal of educational statistics 10.3 (1985) 239-251. [2] Darin Beigie, Gwen Johnson, James Dogbey, Mathematical explorations: probability experiments with shared spreadsheets, Mathematics teaching in the middle school 15.8 (2010) 486-491. [3] Guy Brousseau, Nadine Brousseau, Viriginia Warfield, An experiment on the teaching of statistics and probability, Journal of mathematical behavior 20 (2002) 363-411. Convicted garda killer Pearse McAuley was not seen as being a man of good standing by any republican in the country, a Sinn Fein TD has said. McAuley, who was in his late 50s, was found dead in his home in Strabane last week. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail for the manslaughter of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, who was shot dead by an IRA gang during a post office raid in Co Limerick in June 1996. At McAuleys funeral in Strabane on Thursday, his coffin was draped in an Irish flag with a black beret and gloves placed on top. After Simon Harris was confirmed as Fine Gael leader on Sunday, he criticised the tricolour being draped over the coffin of a garda killer. Asked whether it was appropriate to have a tricolour draped over McAuleys coffin, Eoin O Broin said on Monday: Ultimately, funerals are a private matter for the people organising them, Sinn Fein wasnt in any way involved in that funeral, as you know. Certainly I was very uncomfortable watching given Pearse McAuleys treatment of my party colleague Pauline Tully. In 2015, McAuley was sentenced to 12 years for stabbing his estranged wife, Pauline Tully, now a Sinn Fein TD, with a steak knife at her home on Christmas Eve in 2014. The pair had married while McAuley was serving his 14-year sentence for the garda killing. I never met Pearse McAuley, but in my view, particularly given his treatment of my party colleague Pauline Tully, hes not a republican. Hes not somebody I have any time for, had any time for or any respect for, Mr O Broin said. Obviously, during the peace process there were important negotiations, including around the release of political prisoners, and what Sinn Fein did during that time was essential to consolidate and secure the peace process. But I have to say, given how events transpired, Pearse McAuley isnt somebody who I have any time for whatsoever. He added: I dont know a republican anywhere in the country that has any time for Pearse McAuley, or would see him as somebody of good standing. Pauline Tully is a republican, Pauline Tully is the kind of republican that Im proud to be a colleague of. And I think in particular, given his treatment of Pauline I think that says everything about Pearse McAuley. A County Dublin man was sentenced on Thursday, March 21 last for a drug-driving offence he committed in Maynooth. Alessandro Velardo, with an address listed as 4 Cooleven Walk, Cloverhill Road, Dublin 22, County Dublin, but who is currently in custody on separate matters, appeared before Judge Desmond Zaidan via video-link. The 34-year-old submitted a guilty plea in relation to the offence. Gardai at Naas District Court told Judge Zaidan that on March 3, 2023, Mr Velardo was caught driving a vehicle while under the influence of cocaine at Mill Street in Maynooth. It was heard that a blood test showed that he had cocaine in his system at the time of the offence. The court was told that Mr Velardo has 30 previous convictions, 26 of which are for matters related to road traffic offences, but no previous convictions for any drug-driving offences. Defending barrister Donncha Craddock told the court that his client is a father of four children has 'a difficult background.' "He fell into the drug trade quite some time ago, and as a result, he had received threats on his life." Barrister Donncha Craddock. File photograph. Mr Craddock added: "A number of the road traffic offences for which he was convicted over happened because he was living in his car for some time." He further said that Mr Velardo lost a close friend, and this, combined with turning to drugs, caused him to suffer a downward spiral. Concluding his points, he asked Judge Zaidan for leniency for his client, and pointed out that Mr Velardo has been availing of both an educational programme and counselling services in prison. In response, the judge said that he would not add on any further jail time onto Mr Velardo's current sentence. He instead ordered Mr Velardo to immediately pay a fine of 500, and also disqualified him from driving for two years. The people of Kildare are being encouraged to wear the Easter Lily with pride to mark the 108th Anniversary of the Easter Rising. Aontus Melissa Byrne, who will stand in the Newbridge LEA for the upcoming local elections, said, We wear the Easter Lily to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising and all the men and women who gave so much for Irish Independence and Freedom. We wear the Lily to honour their enormous sacrifice and to focus on the ideals and objectives that they fought for. Not all those objectives have been achieved and we need to work harder, together, to ensure that they are. Democratic Irish Independence, economic justice and to cherish all the children of the nation equally; thats what our brave heroes called for as they struck that fateful blow for our freedom in 1916. The ideals of our wonderful men and women who took on a powerful Empire in 1916 are shared by Aontu and we are working tirelessly every day to bring them to reality. All of us owe all the men and women who lit the flame for our freedom as a country, our deepest gratitude. Show it by wearing the Easter Lily. www.Aontu.ie for online sales of the Aontu Easter Lily badge. Grindr Partners with Burnett Foundation Aotearoa to Offer Free At-Home HIV Test Kits to Grindr Users Throughout New Zealand Grindr Inc. (NYSE: GRND), the world's largest social network for the LGBTQ+ community, today announced the launch of its new partnership with Burnett Foundation Aotearoa to offer free HIV self-test kits to Grindr users throughout New Zealand. The partnership is the latest step in Grindr's expansion of its work to advance public health for the LGBTQ+ community, driven by Grindr for Equality, the company's global social impact initiative. As of today, Grindr users in New Zealand can order free HIV self-test kits through Burnett Foundation directly from links embedded in the Grindr app in less than one minute. Grindr for Equality's partnerships with public health organizations, launched nationally one year ago to expand free at-home HIV test kit distribution, has proven remarkably successful. Grindr for Equality works with Building Healthy Online Communities and others to enable Grindr users in the U.S. and a growing number of other countries, to order free HIV self-test kits by connecting them directly to self-testing partner organizations through the Grindr app. In 2023 alone, this program distributed more than 235,000 HIV test kits, many to Grindr users in the U.S. who had never previously been tested. This success inspires Grindr and the Burnett Foundation's efforts in New Zealand, where they aim to promote HIV testing awareness and education globally. Today's announcement builds on Grindr's continued collaboration with the Burnett Foundation to promote safe sex practices nationwide. Over the last year, Grindr has helped to raise awareness for the HIV resources made available by the Foundation in New Zealand, periodically sharing in-app messages to encourage users to obtain self-test kits distributed by Burnett. Now, Grindr users in New Zealand will be able to order these kits directly through the Grindr app around the clock. "Grindr could not be more thrilled to expand in-app access to HIV self-testing to our community in New Zealand," said Steph Niaupari of Grindr for Equality. "In launching similar initiatives in other countries, we've seen the tangible impact that in-app access can drive in increasing global access to HIV testing. We look forward to bringing similar programs to Grindr users around the world." "We are incredibly excited to partner with Grindr to make HIV self-test kits more easily available across Aotearoa New Zealand," said Joe Rich, Chief Executive at the Burnett Foundation. "We hope this will encourage more people in our communities to test for HIV regularly so they can know their status and enjoy great sexual health. Testing for HIV regularly is a vital tool in helping us achieve an Aotearoa with zero HIV transmissions." Increasing access to testing remains one of the most valuable tools in the fight against the global HIV epidemic. Self-testing, in particular, offers a convenient and discreet alternative to in-person testing, which can pose obstacles such as clinic operating hours, transportation, and costs. These barriers can be even more pronounced for a variety of Grindr users, such as those living in rural areas and those who are not "out" to their families. Grindr is proud to partner with Burnett Foundation to help its users across New Zealand overcome these challenges, and to drive community-led progress towards eliminating HIV. Through Grindr's partnership with Burnett Foundation, New Zealand becomes the fourth country in which users can order free HIV self-test kits directly through the Grindr app. Last November, Grindr partnered with MPOWER and Equality Movement to offer free HIV self-test kits through its app to users across Georgia and Ireland. Today's launch in New Zealand builds on Grindr's commitment to advancing public health for the LGBTQ+ community globally. Grindr looks forward to collaborating with similar programs around the world. About Grindr Inc. With more than 13 million monthly active users in virtually every country in the world, Grindr has grown to become a fundamental part of the LGBTQ+ community since its launch in 2009. The company continues to expand its ecosystem to enable gay, bi, trans, and queer people to connect, express themselves, and discover the world around them. Since 2015 Grindr for Equality has advanced safety, health, and human rights for millions of Grindr users and the global LGBTQ+ community in partnership with more than 100 community organizations in every region of the world. Grindr is headquartered in West Hollywood, California, with offices in the Bay Area; Chicago; New York; and Washington, D.C. The Grindr app is available on the App Store and Google Play. 24 march 2024 at 16:05 News published onand distributed by: New PeerLINC Knowledge Hub will Leverage Local Expertise and Experience to Accelerate New, More Effective TB Cures Around the World Hub will focus on supporting global use of new treatments that effectively treated drug-resistant TB in 98% of Filipino participants MANILA, Australia, March 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TB Alliance's new Peer-to-Peer Learning for Innovative Cures (PeerLINC) Knowledge Hub launched today in Manila, with funding from the Australian Government through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative. PeerLINC, operating in partnership between TB Alliance and the Tropical Disease Foundation, Inc. (TDF), and in close collaboration with the Department of Health, Philippines, will help countries implement best practices in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) to help speed the worldwide programmatic implementation of innovative, more effective treatments for the disease, starting with the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended six-month, all-oral BPaL/M regimens, composed of the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L), with or without moxifloxacin (M). PeerLINC will provide practical training and technical assistance to countries to support this objective, via experts from the Philippines and the Department of Health, including Lung Center of the Philippines and the National TB Reference Laboratory (NTRL). The Philippines has successfully and rapidly deployed new treatments through participation in TB Alliance's Leveraging Innovation for Faster TB Treatment (LIFT-TB) initiative. "TB Alliance works to minimize the gap between research and access, ensuring people anywhere in the world can have access to new treatments as soon as possible, maximizing the number of lives and livelihoods saved," said Sandeep Juneja, Senior Vice President of Market Access at TB Alliance. "PeerLINC will make training and knowledge on new treatments available swiftly and efficiently to ensure their rapid adoption and roll out. We are proud to launch PeerLINC in the Philippines with DOH and TDF and establish the first Knowledge Hub on the introduction of new DR-TB regimens, and we are grateful for the support of Australia in helping make this a reality." "It is important for the Philippines to share our knowledge and experience in using the BPaL/M regimens," said Dr. Mamel Quelapio, TDF Board of Trustees member and Programmatic Implementation Lead at PeerLINC. "DOH's leadership through the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau in partnership with TDF and TB Alliance in the LIFT-TB initiative has led to improved outcomes and treatment experiences for people. We are eager to help new treatments reach far and wide." The BPaL/M regimens combine the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), linezolid (L) with or without moxifloxacin (M). The BPaL regimen was first clinically studied by TB Alliance and the BPaL/M regimens are now recommended by WHO as the standard of care treatment for the vast majority of people with DR-TB. Prior to the initial study of the BPaL regimen, global treatment success rates for DR-TB were less than 50% and treatment options were limited, expensive, toxic, and lengthy ? requiring individuals to take more than 14,000 pills over the course of treatment, which could last from nine months to two years or longer. Data to date reveals treatment success rates of 90% or higher with BPaL/M, in addition to reduced treatment duration and approximately 95% lower pill burden. TB Alliance's LIFT-TB initiative, which is co-funded by GDEF/KOICA, the South Korean Development agency, helped accelerate implementation of the regimen in the Philippines, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Interim data from these countries shows an average success rate of 92.5%, with the Philippines program reporting a 98% cure rate. Several key high-burden countries around the world, including the early adopting LIFT-TB countries, are now rolling out BPaL/M in their national programs. However, some countries have moved more slowly. Leveraging a group of experts and the experience garnered from those who have rapidly and successfully implemented the BPaL/M regimens, PeerLINC will focus on assisting other countries in doing the same. "In the Philippines, the new regimen exceeded all expectations," said Dr. Irene Flores, Medical Officer of the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Medical Center and Head of PeerLINC. "Every country with drug-resistant TB can benefit from widespread implementation of the best available TB treatment. With BPaL/M, we see a path toward transforming DR-TB treatment for everybody, anywhere in the world." "I tried everything before I was given BPaL as part of the research program," said Joegene Mangilaya, a participant from the Philippines who was treated with the BPaL regimen. "I was losing hope that I'd be cured, but shortly after I started on this new regimen, my body felt stronger and I had a new hope for my health and future. It is important to speed the availability of life-saving new therapies everywhere they are needed ? the work of PeerLINC will help save lives." PeerLINC will offer support such as advice, assistance, training materials, tools, guides, and other materials to TB programs, clinicians, lab specialists, and community organizations, all delivered through peer-to-peer learning models. Trainings will be provided in-person in the Philippines or in the beneficiary country or remotely through virtual meetings. The expert team from PeerLINC will continue to guide countries after trainings, as they work to implement the regimens. A delegation from Peru is scheduled to visit PeerLINC in April 2024 and will be the first to receive training on BPaL/M from PeerLINC and its partners in the DOH. "We are excited to visit the PeerLINC Knowledge Hub and work with experts from the early implementers of the short, highly effective treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis," said Dr. Valentina Alarcon, Executive Director at the Directorate of Tuberculosis Prevention and Control - MINSA Peru. "The communities affected by resistant tuberculosis in Peru deserve the best possible experiences and treatment schemes and we are taking measures to access the BPaL and BPaL/M regimens and make them available to people throughout Peru in a timely and rapid manner. Our experience with PeerLINC will help us achieve those goals." About TB TB is a difficult infection to cure, requiring patients to take a combination of medicines for at least four to six months. Even after symptoms disappear, medicines still need to be taken so that the disease can be fully eradicated. The scope and intensity of TB globally is in large part fueled by antiquated and inadequate TB drugs. Novel drug regimens are urgently needed to bring the TB pandemic under control. About BPaL The BPaL regimen?which combines the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L)?was first designed and clinically studied by TB Alliance. Pretomanid, as part of the BPaL regimen, received its first regulatory approval in August 2019 for use against highly drug-resistant strains of TB. Prior to the initial BPaL clinical trial, less than one-third of drug-resistant TB patients around the world were being successfully treated. Treatment options were limited, expensive, toxic, and lengthy ? requiring patients to take more than 20 pills per day for 9-20 months. About TB Alliance TB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight TB. Through innovative science and with partners around the globe, we aim to ensure equitable access to faster, better TB cures that will advance global health and prosperity. TB Alliance operates with support from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (United Kingdom), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Global Disease Eradication Fund (South Korea), Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Irish Aid, Korea International Cooperation Agency, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Unitaid, and the United States Agency for International Development. For more information, please visit: www.tballiance.org . Contact: Jessica Wiggs, +1 (646) 616-8613 / [email protected] SOURCE TB Alliance 24 march 2024 at 22:00 News published onand distributed by: ZTE showcases all-optical products and solutions for turbocharging FTTx innovations at FTTH Conference 2024 50G PON Combo for seamless evolution, Light ODN for easy construction and management, Beyond Connectivity for gigabit+ experience Compact, high-density, low-carbon 800G OTN BOX and switch box, diverse multimedia terminals for extending video services High-performance servers for powerful cloud infrastructure BERLIN, March 24, 2024 /CNW/ -- ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of information and communication technology solutions, has successfully participated in the FTTH Conference 2024 in Berlin, Germany. The conference brought together decision-makers, thought leaders, corporate executives, and investors from the optical communication industry. As the 10G PON global market share leader, ZTE showcased 50G PON & 10G PON & GPON Combo PON solution to support the smooth evolution of three PON technologies. The solution shares the same ODN and platform, solves problems of high construction costs, large room space occupation in central offices, complex fiber cabling, and difficult O&M during the evolution. For ODN deployment in Europe, ZTE provides Light ODN solution, adopting pre-termination, no-splicing, plug-and-play, and visibility. It makes ODN network visible, manageable and significantly lowers OPEX. To improve Wi-Fi signal coverage at home, ZTE presents innovative connected home solution, which includes XGS-PON ONT, Wi-Fi 7, Mesh Wi-Fi&FTTR, and SCP (Smart Cloud Platform) management platform. ZTE's 800G OTN BOX is specifically designed for Metro and DCI (Data Center Interconnect) scenarios. With 800G pluggable modules, a single subrack can achieve a capacity of up to 12.8T. The design reduces space requirements by 73% for photoelectric integration. WebGUI replaces EMS (Element Management System), enhancing user interface and management capabilities. Additionally, power consumption is lowered to 0.1W per Gbit. The compact 1.2U OTN BOX supports multi-service access and can be installed both indoors and outdoors. ZTE's high-density, low-carbon switch boxes offer a remarkable 4.8T switching capacity within a compact 1U height. They feature various port types to accommodate different networking scenarios. An advanced structure design enhances heat dissipation efficiency by 30%, ensuring optimal performance. Moreover, the energy consumption per Gbit is impressively low at 0.1W/Gbit. Android TV and RDK STBs will enrich video content and ecology. Based on in-depth cooperation with ecological partners, ZTE could bring various contents and applications from Google, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. ZTE ranks No. 1 in IP STB market share. Since 2021, ZTE has ranked No.1 in the number of newly activated Android TV users. ZTE ranks No. 1 for both PON CPE and DSL CPE shipments, according to the latest report Broadband Access & Home Networking Quarterly Report Q4 2023 by Dell'Oro Group. High-performance servers have also been showcased, aimed at establishing a robust cloud infrastructure for the digital economy. With its products and services deployed across more than 160 countries, ZTE is committed to advancing technological innovation. Through close collaboration with industry partners, the company remains dedicated to meeting the core needs of operators and end-users, delivering best-in-class broadband connectivity solutions. MEDIA INQUIRIES: ZTE Corporation Communications Email: [email protected] SOURCE ZTE Corporation 24 march 2024 at 22:32 News published onand distributed by: FPT and De Heus Partner to Elevate Security Operations in High-Tech Agribusiness Global IT corporation FPT and De Heus recently entered a strategic partnership to foster the agriculture giant's security operations. The two firms will join forces to support De Heus' Security Operations Center, focusing on the scope of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). Leveraging FPT's prowess in technology and high-quality workforce, this movement will bolster De Heus' capabilities in terms of system monitoring, security breach detection, and defense measures to effectively mitigate cyber risk and safeguard its information system and security data on a global scale. The partnership marks a significant milestone for De Heus' digital transformation strategy amid rising cyberattack concerns in the manufacturing and agriculture industries. Both parties expect this to set a solid foundation for future collaborations in other areas like artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and more to further advance De Heus' and the agriculture industry's growth. Tran Van Dung, Chief Executive Officer of FPT Software Europe, said: "While all businesses want to scale their digital transformation initiatives quickly, doing so securely is equally imperative in the face of cyber threats. Leveraging our extensive expertise and demonstrated success in deploying SIEM projects for multinational corporations globally, we stand ready to optimize De Heus' security operations." Rick van der Linden, Chief Operating Officer of De Heus Viet Nam, shared: "Through this partnership, FPT and De Heus are committing to leveraging our collective expertise and resources to develop robust security frameworks that will withstand the test of time. Together, we will explore innovative solutions and best practices to enhance cybersecurity measures and protect against emerging threats." The signing ceremony was attended by the Netherlands Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Mark Harbers; Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, Christianne van der Wal; Chair of the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, Ingrid Thijssen; and over 140 large enterprises from the Netherlands in pivotal fields of high-tech manufacturing, sustainable agriculture and food production, renewable energy, logistics, and climate adaptation and water. Established its first office in 2008 in France, FPT has expanded its presence to 16 offices across 9 countries, serving over 70 leading businesses across Europe. Over the past decade, the tech firm has also been actively intensifying its local footprint and delivery capabilities through partnerships and acquisitions ventures, notably with the acquisition of RWE IT Slovakia, a subsidiary of European energy giant RWE in 2014, and the French IT Consulting Firm AOSIS in 2023. About FPT Corporation FPT Corporation (FPT) is a globally leading technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam. FPT operates in three core sectors: Technology, Telecommunications, and Education. During over three decades of development, FPT has constantly provided practical and effective products to millions of people and tens of thousands of business and non-business organizations worldwide, establishing Vietnam's position on the global tech map. Keeping up with the latest market trends and emerging technologies, FPT has developed the Made-by-FPT ecosystem of services, products, solutions, and platforms, which enables sustainable growth for organizations and businesses and offers distinctive experiences to customers. In 2023, FPT recorded a total revenue of US$2.17 billion and 73,000 employees. For more information, please visit https://fpt.com.vn/en. About De Heus De Heus Vietnam, a member of Royal De Heus Group, has been proud to be Vietnam's leading animal feed supplier since 2008. De Heus provides farmers comprehensive nutritional solutions to help improve livestock productivity and product quality. With a team of experienced experts and a modern factory system, De Heus is committed to providing high-quality animal feed for all types of animals, from livestock, poultry, and aquaculture to pets. De Heus' reputable brands, such as De Heus, Windmill, Koudijs, Con Co, and Anco, have become familiar to Vietnamese farmers. De Heus always accompanies Vietnamese farmers, aiming towards developing a sustainable and prosperous agriculture. 25 march 2024 at 04:10 News published onand distributed by: PolyU research reveals significant effects of instructors onscreen during video classes in aiding student learning HONG KONG, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Online learning has become "the new normal" of education since COVID-19 severely disrupted face-to-face teaching activities. Researchers from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have conducted a study to analyse whether and how the instructor's presence in online video lectures affected student learning and learning outcomes. The results reveal that students are more motivated to perform socio-emotional and cognitive processing when an instructor, human or animated, is present onscreen, hence facilitating more effective learning. The study findings have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Previous studies have indicated that socio-emotional cues, such as human facial expressions and gestures, help students understand and stay focused on learning content. Led by Prof. Ping LI, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Sin Wai Kin Foundation Professor in Humanities and Technology at PolyU, the research team studied how learners respond to virtual learning with different types and levels of interaction by examining multimodal data of students' learning performance, brain activity and eye movement, as well as the correlation between these measurements. Eighty-one PolyU students participated in the experiment where some of them watched video lectures with a human instructor accompanying the lecture slides, some watched the same video lectures with an animated instructor, and still some watched the lectures with no onscreen instructor and only the lecture slides. This was followed by a set of assessments of how effectively they had learned. Compared with the no-instructor group, students with an onscreen instructor performed significantly better in the post-course assessments, while the exact embodiment of the instructor?real vs animated?did not affect the overall scores. The results provide strong and important evidence that the instructor's image, human or animated, improves educational outcomes in the virtual setting. The researchers examined the impact of instructor's image on learning through a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and eye-movement tracking of the students as they watched the lectures. While students with an instructor performed better, the eye-tracking results, surprisingly, showed that the human instructor may actually distract the students from the slides, as more time was spent by students looking at the slides when the instructor was absent or was an animation. A deeper analysis of the eye-tracking data resolved this contradiction. Crucially, the correlation of eye movements?the extent to which the students shifted their gaze in unison?was higher in instructor-present groups than in the no-instructor group, and better-performing students also displayed more correlated eye movements than the lower performers. This suggests that although an instructor's image may distract students from the slides, it is also more likely in guiding them to pay attention to the appropriate parts of the onscreen content. In other words, students with an instructor tend to focus on the same places, while those without an instructor are more random in their focus. The fMRI results, which identified the specific brain regions students used most, aligned with the eye-tracking data. Just as their eye movements were synchronised, so did the students with an instructor show greater synchrony in the activity of brain regions crucial for learning, including regions involved in working memory and mentalising. This alignment can be attributed to the higher level of cognitive and socio-emotional processing motivated by the onscreen instructor that served as a social cue. Under this condition, learners follow the visual content in the video more closely, allocate attention more proactively and ultimately learn better. As the data suggest that an onscreen instructor's image entails both socio-emotional benefits and attentional distraction unrelated to learning, the researchers further propose a trade-off hypothesis suggesting learning outcome depends on whether the benefits can outweigh the costs brought by the distraction. While the trade-off also relies on a learner's ability to leverage socio-emotional processing and attention control for learning, it explains the individual difference in student learning under the same virtual setting. Prof. Li remarked, "Although the pandemic has subsided, online learning through the use of multimedia instructional videos continues to shape education. Our findings suggest that an onscreen instructor?even an animated one?can make up for some deficits of the online learning setting, where socio-emotional cues are less salient and cognitive engagement is harder to sustain. This contributes to the development of an evidence-based instructional design for multimedia learning, thereby enhancing student's learning experience and outcome." SOURCE The Hong Kong Polytechnic University 25 march 2024 at 04:23 News published onand distributed by: eDreams ODIGEO Urges European Commission to Take Firm Action Against Google's clear DMA Non-Compliance eDreams ODIGEO (hereinafter, "the Company"), the world's largest travel subscription company and one of Europe's largest e-commerce businesses, joined fellow independent online companies in denouncing Google's ongoing non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) at a Brussels meeting addressing its compliance plan. The Company believes that Google's response to the DMA merely continues its deeply entrenched practice of self-preferencing?a longstanding issue that directly opposes the regulation's goals. This approach perpetuates the previous status quo and undermines the DMA's intent. As a result, eDreams ODIGEO strongly calls on the European Commission to take decisive action against Google. Two weeks into the enactment of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Brussels meeting provided a forum for eDreams ODIGEO and fellow independent businesses to share feedback and voice their concerns regarding Google's state of compliance. Despite a series of feedback sessions and extensive correspondence with Google ahead of the DMA's enforcement date, intended to guide Google towards alignment with the regulation, it has become clear that the measures outlined in Google's compliance plan do not meet the regulatory standards set forth by the DMA. Among others, it has been noted that the display is not uniform across all EU countries, indicating that Google is presenting displays that do not accurately reflect its own compliance report. Notably, some of these displays continue to feature Google Flights as a separate search engine results page (SERP) box or tab, a clear violation of the DMA's stipulations. These discrepancies highlight a significant gap between Google's stated commitments to compliance and the actual state of its adherence, highlighting the urgent need for strong enforcement to safeguard fair competition within the European digital marketplace. Despite the recent statements by EU Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, advocating for stronger enforcement1, the Company regrets that there continues to be no substantive response to Google's lack of compliance. Guillaume Teissonniere, General Counsel at eDreams ODIGEO said: "Two weeks into the enforcement of the DMA, it is now evident that Google has chosen a path of non-compliance. The changes implemented amount to a few adjustments that fail to address the core issue at hand: Google continues the long-standing self-preferencing of its services to the detriment of competing EU-based businesses, thereby undermining the competitive landscape the Digital Markets Act seeks to protect. This is not just disappointing; it is a direct challenge to the fairness and competitiveness of the European digital market. Commissioner Vestager has a clear mandate and the time to act is now. With the upcoming European elections just around the corner, this moment offers a unique opportunity for the Commission to prove to EU citizens and businesses that it truly prioritises their interests and is willing to protect them. We call on the European Commission to take action against Google's blatant failure to comply with the DMA." -ENDS- About eDreams ODIGEO eDreams ODIGEO is the world's leading travel subscription company and one of the largest e-commerce businesses in Europe. Under its four renowned online travel agency brands ? eDreams, GO Voyages, Opodo, Travellink, and the metasearch engine Liligo ? it serves more than 20 million customers per year across 44 markets. Listed on the Spanish Stock Market, eDreams ODIGEO works with nearly 700 airlines. The business conceptualised Prime, the first subscription product in the travel sector which has topped 5.4 million members since launching in 2017. The brand offers the best quality products in regular flights, low-cost airlines, hotels, dynamic packages, car rental and travel insurance to make travel easier, more accessible, and better value for consumers across the globe. 1 competition enforcement must be bolder, Vestager says 25 march 2024 at 06:00 News published onand distributed by: ATMA CENA Celebrates Groundbreaking Support from Alberta Blue Cross for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies CALGARY, AB, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - ATMA CENA Psychedelic Healthcare Solutions (PHS) is a collaboration of ATMA Journey Centers Inc. ("ATMA"), Cena Life Inc. and partners across Canada to advance and expand access of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PaT) through the establishment of a clinic network. ATMA CENA PHS would like to congratulate Alberta Blue Cross on its landmark decision, effective immediately, to begin covering psychedelic-assisted therapy (PaT) in Alberta. This pivotal policy shift by Alberta Blue Cross marks a monumental leap forward in advancing access to evidence-based novel mental health solutions for Albertans. Alberta Blue Cross has become the first insurance provider in Canada to embrace PaT within its health coverage options. This decision is a testament to the visionary leadership of CEO Mark Komlenic and his team, who have bravely ventured beyond traditional healthcare models to support essential, innovative care. This initiative not only serves the organizations supported by Blue Cross but profoundly impacts the lives of individuals across Alberta, providing them with much-needed access to advanced therapeutic options. The current era is witness to a rising tide of mental health issues, with a significant impact on individuals short-term and long-term well-being. In addressing these challenges head-on, the inclusion of PaT in insurance coverage is a game-changing development that reflects a deep commitment to enhancing access. Initially focusing on ketamine-assisted therapy, this coverage is designed to include psilocybin and MDMA once they are legalized for therapy in Canada. This shift not only alleviates the financial burden on individuals seeking these therapies but also signifies a major shift in the acceptance of PaT as a vital tool in mental health management. With Alberta Blue Cross providing coverage to millions of Albertans this initiative has the potential to reshape the landscape of mental health care, especially for healthcare professionals and first responders who face heightened psychological stress and trauma. The inclusivity of this coverage extends to group, workplace, and individual plans, ensuring broad access to transformative care. Reverdi Darda, CEO states, "this coverage sets a precedent and challenges all other health insurers in Canada to be as visionary and strategic as Alberta Blue Cross. The financial benefit of providing this coverage, and the incredible impact it will have on the Canadians whose mental health and well-being they support is required" The ATMA CENA network of clinics, with their client centered, evidence informed and operationally efficient psychedelic therapy programs, stand ready to support eligible individuals under this new coverage. These programs are meticulously aligned with Alberta Blue Cross's coverage criteria, ensuring seamless access to these transformative therapies. For more information on Alberta Blue Cross Coverage please see our FAQ. About ATMA Journey Centers Inc: Dedicated to uplifting the mental health profession, ATMA is at the forefront of integrating psychedelic-assisted therapy into healthcare. By focusing on education, training, clinical trials, and the development of a clinic network, ATMA is cultivating the largest community of psychedelic practitioners. Their approach prioritizes healthcare providers, laying a solid foundation for enhanced participation, accessibility, and the delivery of safe, effective care. About Cena Life : Cena Life stands at the intersection of science and nature, offering innovative mental health care solutions that honor holistic wellness. Their approach combines evidence-based psychedelic therapies with traditional healing wisdom, promoting a harmonious blend of science, tradition, and culture. Supported by a dedicated interdisciplinary team, Cena Life is committed to providing personalized care journeys, aiming to transform the mental health care landscape with accessible, groundbreaking therapies. SOURCE ATMA Journey Centers Inc 25 march 2024 at 06:00 News published onand distributed by: by Ed Simon Past the regal bronze lions of Trafalgar Square and Nelsons towering and triumphant column, up the steps of the National Gallery and behind its porticoed, columned, Regency facade, and on the second floor in room 34, the same place where the museum displays William Hogarths formal, yet warm, portrait The Graham Children and Joseph Turners dramatic Dutch Boats in a Gale, is the most luminescent painting of the British Enlightenment, Joseph Wright of Derbys 1768 masterpiece An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump. Fully six feet tall by eight feet wide, Wrights composition depicts a wizardly natural philosopher framed in long gray locks and draped in a red coat not dissimilar to a robe, contrasted by flickering candlelight in an eerie chiaroscuro, with his hand atop the perfectly spherical chamber of a vacuum pump, inside of which is a fluttering Australian cockatoo exotic at the time right before the pressure of the exhumed air crushes its tiny avian lungs. A number of characters witness the scientific presentation; a gentleman in powdered wig and green jacket gives the experiment his rapt attention, two young lovers seem more concerned with each other, an assistant boy at the window closes the birds cage while bathed in the light of a full moon, and an elderly man seems to time the demise with an intricate pocket watch. Demonstrations such as these had been conducted for more than a century by the time Wright put brush to canvas, and during the eighteenth-century they were performed as often by theatrical presenters with a paying audience as they were by scientists, yet the choice of test subjects in these experiments was frequently as cruel as the painter depicted. Robert Boyle, the chemist and philosopher who commissioned the scientist and engineer Robert Hooke to construct Englands first air pump in 1659, records the results of an experiment on a lark, where as oxygen was pumped out of the chamber the bird began manifestly to droop and appear sick, and very soon after was taken with as violent and irregular convulsions, so that the animal threw herself over and over two or three time, and died with her breast upward, her head downwards, and her neck awry. The dispassionate empiricism of Boyles report is in keeping with the mechanistic philosophy which dominated the Royal Society, the scientific organization established by King Charles IIs proclamation shortly after Restoration in 1663, and to which the chemist would donate the vacuum pump. Mechanistic thought configured the world more as ingenious machine than as anything else, in keeping with the French philosopher Rene Descartes dismissal of animal intelligence in his 1637 Discourse on Method, seeing them as mere automata. The bird in Wrights composition is more akin to the gentlemans pocket watch that the human spectators. An approach which dominated the Royal Society, where the groups most famous president Isaac Newton and the astronomer Edmund Halley once saw fit to dissect a Thames River dolphin on the table of Londons Grecian Coffee House. Wrights painting is ambiguous as to the morality of such experiments, but there are implicit critics rendered within the scene; two young girls with their father, the later of whom seems to be explaining the experiment to his daughters, the older girl covering her eyes, while the younger of them has a pained expression as she watches the dying cockatoo. Notable that the only people in the picture to be disturbed by the birds death in the name of science are girls, perhaps a comment from Wright on the innate sentimentality of women, and of the necessary rigorous, objective, analytical and even cold approach which science requires (which is possibly belied by the innate showmanship of the natural philosopher himself). The men gathered about the vacuum look forward to the progressive Enlightenment of science, while the feminine children are mired in misplaced and frightened mawkishness on behalf of a simple bird. In a worried glance, the dusk of one manner of thinking and the dawn of another are expressed; the dismissal of animal vitalism in favor of rational mechanization, and all which the Enlightenment philosophes believed the later promised. Had Wright saw fit to include Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the first woman to be granted the right to attend meetings of the Royal Society in 1667, then a more complicated painterly allegory would have been the result, for the philosopher surely would have disapproved, but would have no hesitancy being quiet on that score. By dint of both her undeniable brilliance and the privileges of her tremendous family wealth, Cavendish was able to vociferously debate the political theorist Thomas Hobbes and Boyle at conclaves of the society; she produced six books of natural philosophy on the nascent scientific method, and more than double that in literary works, including plays, poetry, and perhaps the first science fiction novel. By contrast to the cold mechanical philosophy which dominated amongst her colleagues at the Royal Society, Cavendish expanded upon vitalist thought, understanding reality a an interconnected, complex, emergent, and conscious phenomenon, while rejecting the noxious reductionisms of scientificity and positivism. Not hard to guess at what Cavendishs evaluation of such stunts as the air pump experiment would be, witness to similar demonstration performed on sparrows and frogs, she wrote that the ignorance of men concerning other creatures elevates the former to the position of petty Gods in Nature. By contrast, writes Kathryn Shevelow in For the Love of Animals: The Rise of the Animal Protection Movement, Cavendish rejected the power relationships and sense of hierarchy presupposed by the new science one of a small number of intellectuals who believed that all creatures possess their own kinds of knowledge, which are by definition limited to their spheres and that this is true of humans, too. Cavendish the poet, the playwright, the novelist has rightly been rediscovered in the past two generations of scholarship, often by feminist critics adding her to the canon of what Virginia Wolf desired in A Room of Ones Own when she ruminated on the cultural silence surrounding Renaissance writers who could be Shakespeares sister. Wolf, rather uncharitably, rejected Cavendish in The Common Reader by claiming that her philosophies are futile her plays intolerable, and her verses mainly dull, while describing the seventeenth-century author as possessing the freakishness of an elf, the irresponsibility of some non-human creature and this was in a passage meant to be laudatory. More recently, scholars like Deborah Boyle, Kathleen Jones, Anna Battigelli, and Emma L.E. Reese have done invaluable work both in recovering Cavendish and making her pertinent to our contemporary moment. As critics well should, for while weve started to read Cavendish for the depth of her creativity, particularly in 1666s The Blazing World, arguably the first science fiction and fantasy narrative written in English, as a society we collectively have yet to fully grapple with the significance of her thought. Cavendish was an exemplary figure of curiosity, her opulent chariot followed by children through the streets of London, her immaculate self-designed fashion the subject of gossip. As a result, she was often dismissed by the men of the learned Royal Society as an autodidact and dilletante, with member and diarist Samuel Pepys calling her conceited, ridiculous, and the nickname Mad Madge taking hold amongst Londons intelligentsia. Partially, this was because Cavendish was a woman out of time, John Rogers writing in The Matter of Revolution: Science, Poetry, and Politics in the Age of Milton that at the very moment in Restoration England when the mechanistic theories of atomic matter in motion forwarded by the Royal Society are gaining increasing intellectual assent, Margaret Cavendish repudiates the tenets of mechanism to embrace the animist materialism that had flourished decades earlier. Regardless, she had her defenders, including the Poet Laurette John Dryden, and even Hobbes whom she shared a philosophical atomism with, even while they differed on the particulars of materialism. Cavendishs amazingly egalitarian marriage to the Duke of Newcastle, a war hero of the Royalist cause, bestowed upon her an ability to move within circles that would have otherwise been denied to her because of her gender, though it also helped that she was a daughter of the esteemed Lucas family and a member of Queen Henrietta Marias retinue who resided at Versailles during the Interregnum. She rightly took advantage of those privileges, an audaciously prolific writer who penned several volumes of unusual verse, including the 1653 collection Poems and Fancies, more than a dozen closet dramas with titles like The Lady Contemplation, The Public Wooing, and The Unnatural Tragedy, which were collectively printed in 1662, several treatises on natural science and a 1656 autobiography entitled A True Relation of my Birth, Breeding, and Life. Reason why I write in Verse, she explained in her 1653 collection Poems and Fancies, is because I thought Errors might better passe there, then in Prose, since Poets write most Fiction, and fiction is not given for Truth, but Pastime. An axiom thats the key to all of Cavendishs work, the code for her metaphysics, her epistemology, her science her entire worldview. True enough to her contention about poetrys anarchic possibilities, and Cavendishs verse is uncategorizable by the standards of seventeenth-century poetry, as neither metaphysical nor Cavalier, while being heavily indebted to the scientific lyrics of the classical writer Lucretius. All things are governd by Atomes, Cavendish writes in a lyric so entitled from Poems and Fancies. The so-called Atomic poems reflect Cavendishs materialist and Epicurean sensibilities, and put forward a theory of the physical which is based entirely on the pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus concept of atoms. Even mental states spirit could be understood through this new materialism. Thus Life and Death, and young and old, /Are, as the several Atomes hold. /So Wit, and Understanding in the Braine, /Are as the several Atomes reign:/And Dispositions good, or ill, /Are as the several Atomes still. /And every Passion which doth rise/Is as the several Atomes lies. /Thus Sicknesse, Health, and Peace, and War, /Are always as the several Atomes are. That Cavendish was a materialist is interesting, though of course so were many enthusiasts of the new science, notably Hobbes. Whats crucial with Cavendish is the form her materialism took, for she thoroughly rejected the mechanistic implications of atomism. For the writer, these dreary and cold particulars of mechanization exorcized free will from the universe, with disastrous ethical and political implications. Jay Stevenson notes in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 that Cavendish stands out as an anomalous champion of randomness with Rogers elaborating that she engages the science of animist materialism with the unembarrassed intention of exploiting the revolutionary potential of its anti-patriarchal logic, where the rhetoric of free will is meant to combat the oppressive power politics of mechanistic determinism. If the paradigm then being established by the Royal Society was one of analysis and dissection, of prediction and measurement, where animals were as little machines and the universe a vast timepiece, then Cavendishs materialism was warm, organic, variable. Deborah Boyle argues in The Well-Ordered Universe: The Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish how the author developed a detailed, internally consistent alternative to the mechanistic natural philosophy embraced by many of her contemporaries. In addition to being fascinating in its own right, notes Boyle, it also expands our understanding of the landscape of seventeenth-century philosophy. More importantly is the open question of how Cavendish can expand our understanding of twenty-first century philosophy. The wizards of the Newtonian clockwork universe may have bragged that a hypothetical being with the knowledge of every particles location and momentum would be able to perfectly foresee the future, but Cavendish asserted the sovereignty of the unpredictable; she endowed inert matter with its own independence, its own intelligence. Nature taking delight in variety suffers irregularities, she writes in the 1664 Philosophical Letters, for otherwise, if there were only regularities, there could not be so much variety. Freedom and variety were intrinsically connected in Cavendishs philosophy, and both were the handmaids of imagination. A poet and a fantasist after all, she has been rediscovered as a novelist far more than as a philosopher, and yet these two roles are intrinsically connected in her most celebrated production, The Description of the New World, Called the Blazing-World, first printed in that nefariously numbered year 1666. An exceedingly odd book, The Blazing World has sometimes been categorized as the first science fiction novel. Genre questions are only slightly more useful than they are interesting, which is to say little of either. The reduction of Cavendishs novel to merely inaugurating a genre whether she beats Jules Verne or Mary Shelley to writing the first of science fiction is an issue for trivia more than literally analysis. Whats far more important is what The Blazing World does, which as Corrine Harol notes in Imagining Religious Toleration: A Literary History of an Idea, 1600-1830 is to investigate the relationship between literary imagination and philosophical or scientific truth, expressed as the difference between description and observation. Whats abundantly clear to anyone who reads The Blazing World is that while there are certainly elements of it which are evocative of science fiction there are both microscopes and submarines which feature in the narrative, for example its plot is far weirder than an uncomplicated genre categorization would imply. Cavendishs fable is about a woman with her name a woman who clearly is her who is able to shift into another dimension by benefit of a vortex at the north pole, a realm that is equivalent with the titular blazing world of the title. In that utopian realm Cavendish encounters a number of chimerical animal-men bear-men, fish-men, bird-men, even lice-men whom each have certain roles in the society of the Blazing World, which in short order she becomes empress on, eventually launching an invasion of our real world. At its core, The Blazing World is an investigation of the role which imagination rather than analysis plays within life; far more than just a science fiction novel, Cavendishs speculation is a metaphysical, metafictional, fabulist fantasy. Fundamentally, the plot of The Blazing World is actually about writing The Blazing World, its a commentary on the omnipotent powers of fiction to create and generate our own multiverse. As she writes in the preface, she cannot be Henry the Fifth, or Charles the Second, but will rather endeavor to be Margaret the First, since rather than as a conqueror she will be Mistress of a World she has made herself. Epistemologists and metaphysicians have often ignored the strange quality of fiction, of being able to make your own world, a distinct and discrete realm that can express a psychic interiority commensurate with actual experience but which doesnt correspond to anything in the actual world. Cavendish didnt occlude the eeriness of literature, writing that all of us can create world of their own, and govern them as they please, for every human Creature can create an Immaterial World fully inhabited by Immaterial Creatures, and populous of Immaterial subjects all with the compass of the head or skull. Her arguments concerning the philosophical implications of imagination are not incidental to her scientific concerns, they are intrinsically related to it. Thats something often obscured when The Blazing World is taught and read today, for in its first printings the novel was also bound with another work of Cavendishs, Observations on Experimental Philosophy. To redact the latter from the former is to render an incomplete work, for Cavendish is clear that these two books are meant to have Sympathy and Coherence with each other, that they were joined together as Two several World, at their Two Poles, just as she describes the relationship between her blazing dimension and the mundane realm of everyday life. Harol argues that this configuration is thus analogous to the thought experiment, and it suggests that Cavendish is engaged in thinking about the relationship between science and literature as a way of thinking about the nature of world, including new worlds, real worlds, and fictional worlds. From the perspective of Cavendishs novel, rhetoric is metaphysics. It would be easy to see this as consummately non-materialist, as if Cavendish was rejecting the world of empirical science entirely, but its actually the opposite, for she had a far more subtle and nuanced understanding of the relationship between metaphor and that which metaphor is used to describe than did the partisans of mechanization whom she sparred with at the Royal Society. Mathematics is mathematics, and whether or not a systematized theory can predict observational and experimental results is an entirely separate issue from what rhetoric we used to describe those theories, of what the fictions are which we spin to explain those realities. When Boyle or Hooke described the universe as a cold, unfeeling, mechanized contraption, that was a fiction no less than describing the cosmos in the opposite manner, and there were ramifications to the choices of what language we use to depict those things something Cavendish understood well. In opposition to the developing clockwork model of the universe an instrumental, utilitarian, pragmatic device defined by force and energy Cavendish rather imagined the cosmos by the principles of vitalism. An easy to malign physical theory today, where even while steadfastly materialist, Cavendish and others in her stead (including pantheist Baruch Spinoza) described matter as if it were alive, as if it had a spirit and agency. Writing in The Blazing World, and Cavendish claims that matter, self-motion, and self-knowledge, are inseparable from one another. Vitalism was not new to her thinking in The Blazing World, as she described her physical theory at great length in Philosophical Letters, denigrating the mechanistic Opinions of some Wise and Learned Men that all Exterior Motions, or Local Actions or Accidents proceed from one Motion Pressing upon another, and so one thing Driving and Shoving Another to get each others Place, but by contrast she claims that actions of nature are not forced by one part, driving, pressing, or shoving another, as a man doth a wheel-barrow, or a whip a horse; nor by reactions, as if men were at foot-ball or cuffs, rather Nature moved not by force, but freely. For Cavendish, a billiard ball doesnt move because its hit by another billiard ball; it moves because its freely decided to do so upon that interaction. This might seem absurd to the point of ridiculousness, but its no less bizarre than using the equally anthropomorphic language of force to describe motion. Most importantly, Cavendishs quibble wouldnt have necessarily been with the objective mathematics than just beginning to be used to describe motion and inertia, momentum and velocity, but rather with the metaphors which we use in our everyday language to explain such science to each other. Mechanical metaphors are just as arbitrary as vitalist ones. Whether or not you say a billiard ball forced the other one to move, or that the second ball decided to do so is simply the poetry which you use to clothe the ineffable world of mathematics. Boyle and Hooke appropriated an objectivity which no human could have, they built an idol of a mechanistic universe and mistook it for the real thing Cavendish had the sense to understand whats fantastical about any model which we use to explain experiment and observation, whatever those experiments and observations might imply. What language we use to describe the objective world isnt arbitrary, it has certain social and political implications. As Rogers notes, the binary structure of these competing perspectives no doubt strikes us as familiar; the tension between the empirical perspective on outward objects and the rationalist perspective on the inner world of material parts reproduces almost exactly the conceptual antinomy of the public and private spheres of human activity. To imagine the universe as a clock and an animal as a machine is to risk instrumentalizing humans as well, to render them as tools, as birds in a vacuum. A rigorous critique not against science, or even experimentation, but against how we choose to think about and describe these things. An assault on the positivism which makes an idol out of mechanical metaphor, which confuses a clock for the universe. The claim which Cavendish makes in Poems and Fancies about poetrys importance isnt some mere trifle, its what she proposes is the proper way to speak about science and nature, because rhetoric has implications. New metaphors are capable of creating new understandings and, therefore, new realities, writes linguist George Lakoff in Metaphors We Live By, something which Cavendish understood well. Disingenuous to pretend that Boyle and Hookes rendering of animals as machines, as the world as a mechanism, is not a metaphor. A metaphor is only a means of establishing meaning, which by definition is a human-centered affair, what Lakoff describes as an issue of imaginative rationality. Cavendish bemoaned the excising of imaginative faculty from experimental science, and in The Blazing World she offered a model of their union. Philosophically, Cavendish argued that the Royal Societys dominant approach to understanding nature as relying too much on arid reductionism and inert rationality, where she was dedicated rather to imagination, particularly fancy and wit. Hobbes may have argued in Leviathan that imagination was decaying sense, but Cavendish found in it a regenerative force capable of generating new reality whether it be really existent without his mind or not. Even clearer some thirteen years later, when in The Blazing World Cavendish writes in the preface that Fancy creates of its own accord whatever it pleases, and delights in its own work. The end of reason is truth; the end of fancy, is fiction: but mistake me not, when I distinguish fancy from reason, for often the later requires the former to recreate the mind. In the parable of Cavendish defending the bird over Boyle, there are intimations of a different way of not conducting science necessarily, but of thinking about science. Not in embracing her literal view of the world though no scientist from the seventeenth-century has seen their work endure in all of its particulars over the past three centuries (as is the nature of science), but rather in embracing the contingent models and metaphors Cavendish uses to think about reality. A holistic, organic, vital approach to the natural world which functions though a genuine and equal consilience of science and the humanities; where imagination is centered over vivisection and the literary counterfactual is both a means of constructing thought experiments, but also of generating parallel worlds, where the category of fiction becomes instrumental in understanding nature, and the divisions between the human and the inanimate are rightly seen as illusory. Wit creates, wrote Cavendish, in its imaginations, not only Worlds, but Heavens and Hells, Gods and Devils, but it is not mere superstition, or even duplicity, but an ability to create new; not a falsifier of the old. We are, in the waning days of late capitalism and the warming evenings of the Anthropocene, in desperate need of new worlds, both figurative and literal. Much of what has pushed us to this ecological precipice are the mirror images of positivism and puritanism, the first being the technocratic, instrumental, mechanized understanding of the world as an inert substance to be used for mans benefit, and the later the spiritual justification for that same system. By imagining that the world was a living, breathing, organic thing by choosing to imagine it as such Cavendish gestured towards the possibility that material circumstances might be affected by intellectual perspective. Of something different. Within The Blazing World, Margaret may have been an empress, but she was also a liberator when she turned back to our own world, her banner reading not Enlightenment but Enchantment. Now with the water levels rising, and our own lungs as poisoned as that cockatoo choking on carbon dioxide, we are in need of a map that can help us find the Blazing World. I take more delight and glory, then ever Alexander or Caesar did in conquering this terrestrial world, writes Cavendish. I have made my Blazing world, a Peaceable world and if any should like the World I have made, and be willing to be my Subjects, they may imagine themselves such but if they cannot endure to be Subjects, they may create World of their own. The question is, do we still have time to do such a thing? Would we even be able to imagine it? Powering Drones to Full Capacity for Spring Farming in Xuzhou, Jiangsu XUZHOU, China, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gradually rising temperatures mean a critical growth stage for the 333,000 hectares of winter wheat in the Xuzhou region of Jiangsu Province. Farmers are seizing the moment, diligently combating plant diseases and pests in their fields to lay a strong foundation for a successful summer grain harvest. In the local wheat fields, a new type of drone carrying pesticides is also being efficiently utilized to combat pests among wheat seedlings. As it maneuvers through the fields, the drone evenly disperses a mist-like pesticide, completing the disease control work for approximately one hectare of wheat in just 40 minutes. To ensure the uninterrupted operation of the agricultural drones, the State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company has deployed mobile charging stations to the fields. This "zero-distance" charging service reduces the need for farmers to travel back and forth between the wheat fields and fixed power sources for drone charging, thereby enhancing the efficiency of crop protection. "During the spring plowing and irrigation season, we have repurposed repair vehicles into mobile charging stations to assist farmers in their drone battery charging. With this setup, 10 hectares of wheat can be sprayed with pesticides in less than 3 hours, effectively reducing costs and enhancing efficiency for farmers", explained Wang Shutian, a member of the Party Member Service Team at the State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company. On another front, the State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company is also consistently expanding its electricity assurance services, in order to secure the irrigation water supply for crops like wheat. A dedicated team has been established to conduct targeted inspections on low-voltage irrigation lines and equipment used for spring irrigation electricity services. Thorough examinations of power facilities are also underway at electric pumping stations, to ensure the prompt identification and mitigation of safety hazards, as well as uninterrupted electricity supply for farmers during irrigation work. SOURCE State Grid Xuzhou Power Supply Company 25 march 2024 at 06:21 News published onand distributed by: Sixth Amendment Center Launches New Right to Counsel Interactive Website BOSTON, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sixth Amendment Center (6AC) proudly announces the launch of its new interactive website, revolutionizing public access to objective and digestible information on the constitutional right to counsel. Founded in 2013, 6AC has been at the forefront of helping policymakers meet their constitutional obligation to provide effective lawyers to people with limited means facing the potential loss of liberty in courts across America. "Our mission is to ensure that no person faces time in jail or prison without first having the aid of a lawyer with the time, ability, and resources to present an effective defense, as required under the United States Constitution. Our new website furthers this mission by providing accessible and comprehensive resources to advocates, policymakers, and anyone seeking to understand or improve indigent defense systems nationwide," stated David Carroll, Executive Director & Founder of the Sixth Amendment Center. The newly redesigned website's interactive map provides a comprehensive view of the funding, administration, and oversight of the right to counsel across the United States, offering valuable insight into state-specific challenges and initiatives related to ensuring constitutional representation. Additionally, users can delve deeper into the landscape with curated state-specific data, staying informed about the latest developments and data in each region. Supporters of 6AC are encouraged to explore the new website and contribute to the cause through engagement or donation. Visit 6AC.org to learn more. 6AC extends its heartfelt gratitude to Duckpin , the agency behind the website redesign, for their dedication and expertise in bringing this vision to life. Together, we remain committed to ensuring no person faces potential time in jail or prison without effective legal representation. As we continue our journey, this is just the beginning, with more updates and enhancements planned for the near future. About 6AC: The Sixth Amendment Center (6AC) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that assists federal, state, and local policymakers meet their constitutional obligation to provide effective indigent defense services. We do so by sharing objective information and a national perspective with policymakers on what works and does not work. When asked by governments, we assess their current indigent defense services. We trust that when policymakers are armed with good information, the legislative process will result in constitutional services that meet the unique needs of a jurisdiction. We do not lobby or litigate. To learn more about the Sixth Amendment Center, visit 6AC.org . Contact: Taylor Caplan [email protected] SOURCE Sixth Amendment Center 25 march 2024 at 07:02 News published onand distributed by: Squirrel Ai showcases L5-level Large Adaptive Model at AI Summit Seoul The AI adaptive education Unicorn company engages in forward-looking discussions on AI's future with industry giants SEOUL, South Korea, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Joleen Liang, the co-founder of Squirrel Ai Learning, took the stage as a keynote speaker at the 6th AI Summit Seoul, a prestigious conference renowned for its focus on AI-driven innovation. During the summit, Dr. Liang showcased the company's innovative L5-level AI-powered Large Adaptive Model (LAM) technology, offering insights into the cutting-edge advancements in AI applications. Her discussions with other leading figures in the AI community explored the current and future state of AI technology, contributing significantly to the event's examination of technological innovation. The summit, held in Seoul, drew over 200 professionals and experts from academia, the corporate sector, and research institutions as well as executives from global tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta, Google, and NVIDIA, further highlighting the event's importance in the technology sector's calendar. After a decade of relentless dedication to AI education, Squirrel Ai takes the lead in AI-driven LAM technology With its forward-looking approach, Squirrel Ai has emerged as a pioneering force in China, spearheading the integration of AI adaptive technology into K12 education. The company has not only established itself as a leader in AI educational technology but also advanced market development. Over the past decade, Squirrel Ai has consistently invested in research and development, making technological innovation the cornerstone of its efforts. The company has established joint laboratories with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and partnered with the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) to undertake technology research projects, further cementing its position as a front-runner in the field of AI education. Dr. Joleen Liang categorizes adaptive education into six levels, from L0 to L5, reflecting the progression of intelligence. While many in the industry remain at the L2 level, Squirrel Ai's sophisticated L5 adaptive learning system represents a significant breakthrough: it operates independently of human intervention, with AI entirely managing the learning process. Additionally, Squirrel Ai has led the way in merging adaptive technology with large-scale models and recently unveiled the world's first all-subject Large Adaptive Model (LAM), marking another significant leap in product performance. The proactive development of the AI education ecosystem has led to a significant number of successful implementations The primary advantage of adaptive education extends beyond personalizing learning experiences to embracing the philosophy of tailoring education to each student's unique strengths and interests. By effectively replicating the capabilities of top-tier educators, the approach not only addresses the challenges of teacher scarcity and uneven distribution found in traditional education, but also drives significant profitability for the AI-powered adaptive education model. To this end, Squirrel Ai has devised a product strategy that effortlessly merges software and hardware, targeting the mid- to high-end segment of the intelligent learning machine market. The integration of LAM technology allows for comprehensive online and offline reach, creating an innovative closed-loop business ecosystem that encompasses the trifecta of "engine, content, and service." Dr. Liang notes that Squirrel Ai has established 2,000 offline service centers for smart learning tablets in 2023, achieving cumulative sales of 200,000 learning tablets sets and a remarkable 300% business growth rate, solidifying its position as the leading AI learning machine brand in China by retail store footprint. SOURCE Squirrel Ai Learning 25 march 2024 at 07:06 News published onand distributed by: Uranium Energy Corp Announces the Appointment of Brent Berg as Senior Vice-President, U.S. Operations NYSE American: UEC CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE American: UEC) (the "Company" or "UEC") is pleased to announce the appointment of Brent Berg as its Senior Vice-President, U.S. Operations. Brent Berg is a highly qualified mining and mineral processing professional with over 27 years of experience in the minerals industry, including more than 21 years in uranium production in the United States and Canada. Mr. Berg is the former President of Cameco Resources, where he led Cameco's U.S. uranium In-Situ Recovery ("ISR") operations in Wyoming and Nebraska. This experience included management and oversight of Cameco's in-situ recovery facilities and the successful start-up and operation of the North Butte satellite ISR operation in Wyoming. Under his management, U.S. production reached over 2.6 million lbs. prior to Cameco curtailing production due to market conditions. Mr. Berg also has extensive open pit and underground mining experience, including Cameco's Key Lake, McArthur River and Rabbit Lake operations. Amir Adnani, CEO and President stated: "Brent is a proven uranium mining professional with significant ISR production experience including many years developing and operating projects in the great state of Wyoming. He will be working with Donna Wichers, Vice President of Wyoming Operations, for the important restart of uranium production at our Christensen Ranch/Irigaray In-Situ Recovery operations in Wyoming. Brent will also be working with our other exciting ISR production growth initiatives underway in Texas." Most recently, Mr. Berg was the President and CEO of Rare Element Resources Ltd., where he was responsible for overall day-to-day management and operation of that company, including its strategic, financial and operational leadership. Mr. Berg is a Professional Engineer with a B.A.Sc. in Regional Environmental Systems Engineering from the University of Regina and an MBA from the University of Regina. In 2023, Mr. Berg completed a Master of Legal Studies, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Arizona, with a focus on mining law and policy. About Uranium Energy Corp Uranium Energy Corp is the fastest growing supplier of the fuel for the green energy transition to a low carbon future. UEC is the largest, diversified North American focused uranium company, advancing the next generation of low-cost, environmentally friendly ISR uranium projects in the United States and high-grade conventional projects in Canada. The Company has two production-ready ISR hub and spoke platforms located in South Texas and Wyoming. These two production platforms are anchored by fully operational central processing plants and served by seven U.S. ISR uranium projects with all their major permits in place. Additionally, the Company has diversified uranium holdings including: (1) one of the largest physical uranium portfolios of North American warehoused U 3 O 8 ; (2) a major equity stake in Uranium Royalty Corp., the only royalty company in the sector; and (3) a Western Hemisphere pipeline of resource stage uranium projects. The Company's operations are managed by professionals with decades of hands-on experience in the key facets of uranium exploration, development and mining. X (formerly known as Twitter): @UraniumEnergy Stock Exchange Information: NYSE American: UEC WKN: AJDRR ISN: US916896103 Safe Harbor Statement Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable United States and Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to analyses and other information that are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans, "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as "forward-looking statements". Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the actual results of exploration activities, variations in the underlying assumptions associated with the estimation or realization of mineral resources, the availability of capital to fund programs and the resulting dilution caused by the raising of capital through the sale of shares, accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry including, without limitation, those associated with the environment, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and that could impact the Company and the statements contained in this news release can be found in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities. SOURCE Uranium Energy Corp 25 march 2024 at 07:30 News published onand distributed by: Beyond Oil Ships Container of Product to West Coast Reduction Ltd. Shipment Represents First Order Under Strategic Opportunities & Distribution Agreement VANCOUVER, BC and KIBBUTZ YIFAT, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Beyond Oil Ltd. (CSE:BOIL)(OTCQB:BEOLF) ("Beyond Oil" or the "Company"), a food-tech innovation company extending the life of frying oil, reducing costs, waste and health risks, is pleased to announce that further to the news release dated January 18, 2024, it has shipped a container of its high-quality product to West Coast Reduction Ltd.'s ("West Coast Reduction") facilities in Canada. The shipment was made pursuant to the Strategic Partnership and Distribution Agreement with West Coast Reduction (the "Strategic Agreement"), and will serve multiple purposes, including ongoing customer demonstrations and the introduction of Beyond Oil's product to new customers in West Coast Reduction's territory of Canada and Washington State, USA. This milestone further solidifies the strategic partnership between Beyond Oil and West Coast Reduction, while also expanding Beyond Oil's market presence in North America. "The completion of this purchase order marks an important milestone for our partnership with West Coast Reduction and we look forward to increasing our market presence in North America with their leadership," said Jonathan Or, CEO and Co-Founder of Beyond Oil. "The teams are working closely to build a successful long-term business and create a more sustainable and healthier future in the North American food industry." Beyond Oil's High-Quality Product in Transit to West Coast Reduction in Canada Pursuant to the Strategic Agreement, Beyond Oil is also pleased to advise the market that it continues to work closely with West Coast Reduction in the training, demonstration and commercial planning aspects of their planned commercial rollout in North America. Customer demonstrations of the product have been ongoing since the Strategic Agreement was announced in January, with inventory that was previously sent to West Coast Reduction. These activities with potential customers in the food service and industrial sectors continue to produce a range of positive outcomes, and Beyond Oil expects to announce positive commercial updates in the coming weeks and months. Product Highlights Frying Oils Recovery : Extensive testing indicates that the Beyond Oil Product extends the usable life of frying oil, improves product quality, and reduces frying oil costs. As a preferential adsorbent, the product reduces and prevents the formation of harmful components such as Free Fatty Acids ("FFA"), Total Polar materials ("TPM"), acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ("PAHs"), trans fats, and other impurities, ensuring frying oil stays fresh and fried food tastes fantastic. Patent Protected : The Company also has a portfolio of registered and patent-pending solutions that extend the shelf-life of produced and used vegetable oils. Potential Cost-Savings : One of Beyond Oil's unique value propositions is that it can dramatically lower costs for quick-service restaurants by significantly extending the useful life of the oil while meeting food quality and safety requirements. For more information on how the Beyond Oil Product extends the life of frying oil, see the Company's news release dated December 12, 2022. Distribution Ready : The Company received a non-objection letter from the US Food & Drug Administration ("FDA") in March 2022, on the basis that all the Beyond Oil Product ingredients meet food-grade specifications of the FDA. In May 2022, Beyond Oil received a non-objection letter from Health Canada and a National Sanitation Foundation certification. Beyond Oil is legally permitted to sell its product into the Israeli market according to the processing-aid and filtering-aid regulations. How the Beyond Oil Product Works The Beyond Oil Product integrates into the existing filtration systems of both commercial and industrial fryers. The combination of active filtration by the powder and passive filtration by the filter and filtration machine ensures the best results by removing other degradation particles. The powder remains on the filter and creates an additional layer which provides the microfiltration benefit. About Beyond Oil Ltd. Beyond Oil is an innovative food-tech company dedicated to transforming the way we consume and produce food. We provide sustainable solutions for the food industry, prioritizing environmental protection and the well-being of its workers and customers. Our innovative solutions help reduce costs for our partners and clients while ensuring responsible and eco-friendly practices. We are committed to environmental responsibility, minimizing the carbon footprint of the food industry on our planet. By implementing cutting-edge techniques, we deliver a healthier final product by reducing the formation of carcinogenic substances in fried food. Our vision is to create a more sustainable future where food safety, cost efficiency, and environmental consciousness come together seamlessly. For more information, visit our website at: www.beyondoil.co. Contacts Jonathan Or CEO and Co-founder [email protected] Caroline Sawamoto Investor Relations 1-647-691-9801 [email protected] Forward Looking Statement and Information The Canadian Securities Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the Company and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the securities laws. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based upon management's current expectations, beliefs and projections, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain. Such expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith. However, there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs and projections will be achieved, and actual results may differ materially from what is expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements. In addition, we cannot assure that any patent will be issued as a result of a pending patent application or, if issued, whether it will be issued in a form that will be advantageous to us. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting the Company, reference is made to the Company's reports filed from time to time at sedarplus.ca. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, subsequent events or circumstances, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect thereto or with respect to other forward-looking statements. References and links to websites have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release. The Company is not responsible for the contents of third-party websites. SOURCE: Beyond Oil Ltd 25 march 2024 at 07:30 View the original press release on accesswire.comNews published onand distributed by: triLift By Lumenis Receives Medical Device License from Health Canada, Launches in Canada triLift, facial muscle stimulation technology, addresses key signs of facial aging using Dynamic Muscle Stimulation technology (DMSttm), for a naturally lifted look. SAN JOSE, Calif., March 25, 2024 /CNW/ -- Lumenis Be, Ltd., a global leader in developing and commercializing energy-based solutions for the Aesthetic and Vision markets, is proud to announce that the Facial Muscle Stimulation treatment that has taken over the U.S. is now coming to Canada. triLift, the groundbreaking Dynamic Muscle Stimulation technology (DMSttm), has received a Medical Device License (MDL) from Health Canada. Our muscles play a crucial role in defining facial structure, and as we age, we lose facial muscle mass, leading to sagging jawlines, droopy cheekbones, the appearance of mouth folds and baggy lower eyelids. triLift is a game-changing advancement in the facial aesthetics market with its novel Dynamic Muscle Stimulation (DMSttm) technology complemented by RF and RF microneedling. By specifically targeting the facial muscles, triLift effectively treats structure, contour, and texture, resulting in a naturally lifted look, reduced wrinkles and a tighter, smoother jawline. It also allows for each patient to receive targeted and customized treatments. Finally, practitioners in Canada can go beyond the skin, to address a key cause of facial aging?the muscles. With triLift, addressing the facial muscles is possible without invasive surgical methods. triLift's Dynamic Muscle Stimulation technology (DMSttm) activates and tones facial muscles by stimulating muscle contractions that mimic physiological muscle function, but at a high frequency and intensity. This dynamic approach results in visible and natural-looking results from the first treatment.1 "This is an exciting moment and ultimate game changer for those who are seeking a non-invasive way to address the facial muscle," stated Dr. James Chelnis of Manhattan Face and Eye. "For patients who want to avoid injectables and surgery, triLift's facial muscle stimulation technology is a major breakthrough for the Canadian market. triLift by Lumenis is a unique device, allowing providers to target a patient's specific need with a quick, comfortable treatment option. Patients will love that the results are visible and noticeable".4 triLift also targets the epidermal and dermal layers through the sequential use of two synergistic technologies with DMSt: TriPollar RF employs third-generation technology, reaching significant depths, with a high safety profile - ideal for the face. Regenerating collagen, 2 increasing dermal thickness by 50% 2 , and reducing wrinkles by 30% 3 . increasing dermal thickness by 50% , and reducing wrinkles by 30% . triFXtm Radiofrequency Microneedling, with its ultrathin needles, increases smoothness by 80%3, and triples hyaluronic acid production3. This combination offers significant results without downtime or numbing. Patients and physicians across Canada now have a safe, approachable, non-invasive, 20-30 minute in-office treatment option that is designed to specifically address the facial muscles and deliver a face lift-like effect. Celebrities such as Alyssa Milano, Jennie Garth, Colton Underwood, Kerri Walsh, Teddi Mellencamp, and Teresa Guidice, all expressed their enthusiasm regarding their resulted natural lifted look.4 The official Canada launch event will take place on March 28, 2024, in Toronto. This is another important milestone for Lumenis as triLift continues its global expansion as an exciting new option for facial muscle stimulation, and addressing facial muscles, skin and volume, all in one treatment. Lumenis, the inventors of gold standard Aesthetics technologies such as Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), CO2 and fractional lasers, disrupted the aesthetic industry once again with the innovative facial muscle stimulation device, triLift. triLift's multilayer approach allows muscle, skin, and volume to be reached in one treatment, through its Dynamic Muscle Stimulation (DMSTTM) technology. triLift is safe for all skin types and tones, can be complementary alongside other aesthetic treatments, is easy to perform, making it a great addition to any practice or medical spa. "The clearance of triLift by Health Canada is a significant moment in the Canadian facial aesthetics market," said Lumenis Vice President & Regional President, Americas, Brad Oliver. "triLift facial muscle stimulation allows patients to finally address a key root cause of facial aging, muscle atrophy. Patients can now regain their youthful and toned appearance through a natural, non-invasive, energy-based solution. Lumenis looks forward to partnering with Canadian providers to bring their practices this groundbreaking treatment and provide patients with a new and natural way to address facial aging without surgery". For more information regarding the March 28 launch event in Toronto, click here. To stay up to date on all things triLift, follow Lumenis on Instagram at @lumenis.aesthetics. 1 The recommended treatment protocol is 5 treatments, 1 week apart for optimal results. 2 Haim Kaplan, Andrea Gat, Clinical and histopathological results following TriPollartm radiofrequency skin treatments Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy 2009; 11: 78?84 DOI: 10.1080/14764170902846227 3 Potekaev N, Zhukova O. Evaluation of Safety and efficacy of the Maximus System for facial wrinkles. Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 2013; Vol. 3: 151-156. 4 This testimonial represents a specific experience of a paid spokesperson. Experience of others may vary About Lumenis Lumenis is a global leader in the medical aesthetic market and is a world-renowned expert in developing and commercializing innovative energy-based technologies, including Laser, Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and Radiofrequency (RF). Excelling a new category in facial aesthetics, Lumenis is evolving the beauty market through patient focused products that treat and solve providers' biggest problems. Lumenis is the leader in minimally invasive facial aesthetics products, and with a portfolio of globally renowned products that range from skin care to body treatments. For more than 50 years, Lumenis' ground-breaking products have redefined medical treatments and set technological and clinical gold-standards, revolutionizing existing treatment methods, and creating solutions for previously untreatable conditions. Lumenis is a portfolio company of Baring Private Equity Asia. For more information regarding Lumenis' range of clinical solutions, please visit: https://trilift.me/ About triLift Lumenis energy-based treatments are not suitable for everyone and do carry some risks. triLift treatment is not suitable for patients with pacemakers, defibrillators, or any implanted electronic devices, as well as metal implants in the treatment area. Risks may include damage to natural skin texture, skin redness, swelling, bruising, itching and change of pigmentation. Be sure to consult with your treatment provider before choosing this treatment. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2370625/triLift_Lumenis.jpg Contact: Gabby White +1-219-775-6717 [email protected] Chen Reingold +972 548-133-777 [email protected] SOURCE Lumenis Be Ltd. 25 march 2024 at 08:00 News published onand distributed by: American Farmland Trust and Anheuser-Busch Support Arkansas Farmers through New U.S. Farmed Certification CERTIFICATION INCLUDES NEW PACKAGING SEAL FOR PRODUCTS MADE WITH INGREDIENTS GROWN BY AMERICAN FARMERS JONESBORO, Ark., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch recently announced the national rollout of its newly-adopted U.S. Farmed certification and seal for several of its industry-leading beer brands, showing support for farmers in the U.S., including Arkansas, where the state's farmers sold $13.9B worth of agricultural products in 20221. Developed and verified by the American Farmland Trust (AFT) , a national nonprofit that helps to keep American farmers on their land, the U.S. Farmed certification and packaging seal helps shoppers choose products that derive at least 95 percent of their agricultural ingredients from farms in the United States. Anheuser-Busch is a proud supporter of American farmers, including the 70 direct rice grower partners across Arkansas from whom the brewer purchases 48% percent of its rice for Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch has a local agriculture facility in Jonesboro, the Anheuser-Busch Rice Mill, and spends over $161 million purchasing rice from Arkansas farmers each year. Consumers in Arkansas are empowered to purchase U.S. Farmed certified products to benefit U.S. farmers and invest in the future of domestic ingredient sourcing, helping to ensure a vibrant and thriving agricultural sector in America for generations to come. Companies across the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry are encouraged to join the effort by obtaining U.S. Farmed certification for their domestically-sourced products. AFT will use funds raised through those certifications to expand programs and provide U.S. farmers across all 50 states with free resources and expert advisory services to help them access, protect, and maintain American farmland. By harnessing the potential of U.S. sourced goods across the entire CPG industry, the U.S. Farmed certification aims to create a far greater impact for American agriculture than any one company could alone. This industry-wide effort will be supported by an Anheuser-Busch led campaign, " Choose Beer Grown Here ," to encourage consumers to seek the U.S. Farmed certification and seal when shopping for products. "American farmers are the backbone of this country, and Anheuser-Busch has been deeply connected to the U.S. agricultural community and committed to sourcing high-quality ingredients from U.S. farmers for more than 165 years ? that's who we are," said Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth. "We source nearly all the ingredients in our iconic American beers from hard-working U.S. farmers ? many of whom we have worked with for generations. The U.S. Farmed certification takes our commitment to the next level, and we are proud to lead the industry in rallying behind American farmers to ensure the future of U.S. agriculture, which is crucial to our country's economy. We look forward to other companies joining us in seeking U.S. Farmed certification for their products so that together we can make an even greater impact and show our support for American farmers." The U.S. Farmed certification comes at a critical moment for American agriculture. According to AFT, within the next 15 years, ownership of over 30 percent of our nation's agricultural land could be in transition as the current generation of farmers prepares to retire. At the same time, farmland loss threatens the very foundation of our agricultural capacity, and new and beginning farmers are often challenged to secure the capital needed to enter agriculture. The U.S. Farmed certification will address this challenge head on by providing growers in Arkansas and across the country with access to the direct support needed to pursue their options for maintaining and protecting their farmland, as well as innovative strategies for transitioning their land to the next generation of farmers. "For over four decades, American Farmland Trust has worked tirelessly to ensure the land that sustains us remains in farming and its soils stay healthy and productive. Now, with the launch of the U.S. Farmed certification, we're taking a bold step to help secure the future of American agriculture and create both a movement and a market niche that celebrates and supports our nation's farmers," said Beth Sauerhaft, PhD, AFT Acting President and CEO. "Each U.S. Farmed certification has the potential to open new opportunities for farmers to receive assistance with succession planning, farmland protection tools for their operations, and other useful tactics to safeguard their land ? our nation's food systems. We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's leadership in bringing the U.S. Farmed certification to some of the country's most iconic brands, while also making tangible impact for American farmers." "I'm grateful to see Anheuser-Busch and American Farmland Trust introducing the U.S. Farmed certification in support of American farmers," said Eric Vaught, farmer at E & K Rice Farms. "Here in Arkansas, we take great pride in growing rice and other raw commodities that go into America's finest brews and foods, so it's rewarding to see this push towards recognizing and supporting our nation's hard-working farmers." "Crops grown in Arkansas are key ingredients in products Americans see on store shelves every day," said Arkansas State Representative Jeff Wardlaw (R). "Now, thanks to the American Farmland Trust's new U.S. Farmed program, consumers will know that their choice in products supports farmers in Arkansas and across the United States, and I'm excited that Anheuser-Busch will lead the way by being first with the U.S. Farmed label on its products." For more information on the U.S. Farmed certification and seal, including resources for American Farmers and product certification, please visit http://www.farmland.org/us-farmed. Learn more about Anheuser-Busch's commitment to U.S. farmers here http://www.anheuser-busch.com/USFarmed . ABOUT AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 7.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families. Learn more at www.farmland.org . ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 18,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer and beyond beer brands, including Michelob ULTRA, Cutwater Spirits, Stella Artois, Budweiser and Bud Light as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook, and Instagram. 1 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services (2022). Census of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/index.php. SOURCE Anheuser-Busch 25 march 2024 at 09:00 News published onand distributed by: Circular Announces $10.5M in Funding to Scale First-of-its-Kind Platform for Sourcing Recycled Materials Circular.co, the leading sustainable sourcing platform, secured $10.5M to expand its massive database of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials and its accompanying platform that streamlines buying and selling of PCR materials. The financing includes a new $5.3M round, backed by Maniv, Oxygea, and Eclipse, which followed a $5.2M seed round previously led by Eclipse. Circular will use the funding to grow its team, expand to additional sustainable materials, continue to add more companies and suppliers, and deepen the scale and functionality of its platform. The world's leading companies and consumer brands ? from sectors ranging from food & beverage to durable goods and automotive ? are racing against the clock to meet their plastic reduction and net zero emissions targets by 2025 and 2030, in line with international agreements from the United Nations. Currently, signatories to plastic reduction commitments like The Global Commitment led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation are likely to miss 2025 targets. Additionally, only 18% of companies are reported to be on track to reach their net zero emissions goal by 2050, according to Accenture. Sustainability and procurement teams tasked with meeting these goals have been plagued by the fragmented nature of the PCR market, which has resulted in ongoing issues and inconsistencies with price, quality, availability, and access. "Many of the global Fortune 500 have set aggressive targets to use up to 50% ?recycled resin in the coming 3-5 years," said Eclipse Partner Aidan Madigan-Curtis. "Globally, we manufacture north of 400 million tons of plastic goods per year, which will require not only a mind-bending amount of PCR to source, but a complete overhaul of the supply chains and manufacturing processes used to procure plastic in order to meet these targets. In a world where procurement and product teams are expected to reimagine their supply chains almost overnight, Circular is the only single-pane-of-glass solution that can streamline the vendor identification, supplier qualification, specification standardization, quality assurance, and logistics to create consistency of supply, price, and quality to make PCR possible." Circular provides access to over 9,000 global suppliers with over 50,000 PCR technical records codified using artificial intelligence (AI), including details such as price, specs, and volume of materials, and supplier certifications. Its extensive database brings visibility and transparency to an ? until now ? disjointed, opaque, and illiquid industry. Circular handles the searching, sourcing, vetting, and onboarding process for its customers, with results in days compared to months or even years, using analog methods. "Buyers transitioning to recycled materials face the typical challenges of an emerging, analog market rife with inefficiency and a lack of transparency. They can't find the material they need, and if they can find it, it's too expensive ? and if they can afford it, there are often quality or consistency issues," said Ian Arthurs, Founder and CEO of Circular. "Existing relationship-driven systems fail to provide the information necessary for buyers to make fast informed decisions, and on the flip side, suppliers have a hard time being discovered by and getting access to serious buyers. Circular unblocks these common issues using data and technology to help buyers and sellers navigate the global market efficiently. Armed with our data, buyers and suppliers make faster and smarter business decisions and simplify their process to get sustainable materials into production now." "As a trusted global brand, Danone is on a mission to improve the circularity of our packaging," said Marcu Alexander, Manager, Packaging Sustainability at Danone. "Increasing the use of post-consumer recycled plastics in particular is critical to meeting our ESG goals. Large manufacturers need more efficient ways to navigate new PCR markets and Circular is taking an innovative approach there." The newly-enhanced platform includes new features such as: Explore ? The first self-serve tool to see what PCR materials are available at specific specifications and prices anywhere in the world. ? The first self-serve tool to see what PCR materials are available at specific specifications and prices anywhere in the world. Search ? Where buyers can connect directly with suppliers through digital custom quotes. ? Where buyers can connect directly with suppliers through digital custom quotes. Procure ? Helping buyers with everything from testing and onboarding and contracting to carbon footprinting and freight. The funding follows recent company momentum, including several notable hires. Circular has brought on industry titans, Shannon Gordon, former Vice President of Customer Experience at Walmart Global eCommerce, and Rob Ianelli founder of Oceanworks, to help reach the company's goal of transitioning the $600B plastics market to circularity. Arthurs is the former COO of TaskRabbit and Medium, and also previously held senior roles at Google and Airbnb. In Q4 2023 alone, Circular sourced 35,000 tons of post-consumer recycled material with $43 million gross merchandise value, supported nine global brands, across four continents, and saved companies on average more than 10% vs. market price. The vast majority of PCR pricing came in under virgin plastic index prices, thus breaking the commonly-held belief that there is always a green premium in PCR. With the additional funding, Circular plans to grow in its current industry, expand internationally, and add additional sustainable materials including paper and metals, to continue to foster sustainable global trade. Additional Quotes in the News "In a nascent, highly fragmented PCR market, Circular.co's platform can help address existing supply shortages. As brands increasingly prioritize sustainability, Circular offers a seamless marketplace solution to purchase PCR reliably. With a world-class, experienced team, Circular is poised to solve some of the unique requirements of the industry," said Artur Faria, CEO of Oxygea. "Oxygea is the manager of Braskem's $100 million corporate venture capital fund. Our investment in Circular aligns seamlessly with Braskem's circular economy objectives, and we look forward to supporting the company as it scales." "With guidance and support from the U.S. Pact, our members (called ?Activators') are demonstrating strong commitments not only to our collective PCR targets, but also their own individual PCR goals," said Emily Tipaldo, U.S. Plastics Pact Executive Director. "U.S. brands, including large manufacturers like Danone, have committed to adopting PCR to hit ESG goals and in doing so need help navigating new markets and new materials. We're excited that Circular.co, as one of our committed Activators, is delivering an innovative, data-driven approach to advance these goals. Their technology complements our own PCR Toolkit to help manufacturers navigate opaque PCR markets. By offering helpful resources, we can increase the adoption of PCR throughout U.S. manufacturing." About Circular.co Launched in 2022, Circular is the leading sustainable sourcing platform, simplifying buying and selling of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials through the world's largest curated technical database. On a mission to power and expedite the industrial evolution to sustainable materials, we put information in the hands of manufacturers and suppliers to efficiently find the material they need. For more information and to arrange a demo, visit circular.co. 25 march 2024 at 09:05 News published onand distributed by: Plan International Canada launches campaign to improve the lives of 200 million girls by 2027; part of global pledge to address girls' greatest needs Charity establishes $2 million fundraising target to be met by June 30, 2024, to support girls' health care, education, economic empowerment and protection from violence TORONTO, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Every day, millions of girls around the world are denied access to education and health care, are forced to marry before the age of 18, live in extreme poverty and endure life in harrowing conflict zones. This is their reality, and Plan International Canada, a global charity working to advance children's rights and equality for girls, is determined to change it. Plan Canada has set a target to improve the lives of 30 million children, 15 million of them girls, around the world ? part of Plan International's global goal to reach 200 million girls worldwide ? and is calling on Canadians to join its effort. The campaign, Until We Are All Equal, aims to raise $2 million before June 30, 2024. "Imagine being a girl and being the last to eat and the first to be taken out of school, simply because you're a girl. Imagine being forced to marry as a child. That is what millions of girls experience every day. That's inequality! When girls are left behind, the world misses out," warns Plan International Canada President and CEO Lindsay Glassco. "The need to protect girls' rights has never been greater. This work requires ensuring girls everywhere are safe from harm, have enough to eat, have the opportunity to go to school and are not forced into child marriage. It requires standing together with girls so that their incredible potential doesn't only get recognized but is fully realized." Established in 1937, Plan International is a prominent advocate for children's rights and equality for girls, operating in more than 80 countries worldwide. With input from experts, community leaders and girls themselves, Plan's programs are designed to address the root causes of gender inequality in five priority areas: education, health, protection from violence, youth leadership and economic empowerment, and humanitarian response and resilience. Globally... 122 million girls are out of school. The leading cause of death for girls 15 to 19 years old is pregnancy and childbirth complications and a lack of access to health care. 12 million girls under the age of 18 are forced to marry each year ? that's nearly one girl every two seconds. Nearly one in six girls and women live in an active conflict zone. In 2023, Plan International reached more than 22 million girls and their communities and is setting an ambitious goal for the next three years to ensure that girls can learn, lead, decide and thrive. Building a more just and equal world starts with removing barriers that keep girls from participating in their communities and society. Plan International Canada invites Canadians to help tackle today's greatest challenges facing children, especially girls, by learning more and making a donation at PlanCanada.ca/Equal. About Plan International Canada Plan International Canada is a member of a global organization dedicated to advancing children's rights and equality for girls. Plan International has been building powerful partnerships with and for children for over 85 years and is now active in more than 80 countries. We stand with children, especially girls, wherever they are oppressed, exploited, left behind or not equally valued. We're determined optimists, and we will continue to persevere until we are all equal. Visit PlanCanada.ca for more information. Media contact Plan International Canada PR & Communications [email protected] SOURCE Plan International Canada 25 march 2024 at 09:09 News published onand distributed by: Children of Bulgaria, Inc. Surpasses $500,000 of Lifetime Donations Children of Bulgaria, a leading charity serving Bulgarian children, today announced that it has surpassed $500,000 in lifetime donations! The nonprofit organization has successfully completed 11 projects for Bulgarian kids and is working on its next one. NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Children of Bulgaria, Inc., a leading nonprofit organization based in New York City, is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in its fundraising efforts. Through the generous contributions of donors and supporters, the organization has successfully raised $503,000 / 905,000 Bulgarian Leva (current exchange rate) in lifetime donations to help various organizations focused on children in Bulgaria. Over the past decade, the charity has completed 11 projects in Bulgaria benefiting schools and centers for children with special needs, pediatric departments in hospitals, schools for children with vision and hearing impairments, centers for socially disadvantaged children and more! "With reaching this significant milestone, we celebrate the trust, generosity and passion that our donors, volunteers and supporters have placed with us. With your help, over the last 10 years we have become one of the most recognized and successful non-profit organizations doing work in Bulgaria. We are looking forward to reaching our next milestone, 1,000,000 Bulgarian Leva in donations, and helping even more children in the country," said Polina Jordanova, Co-Founder and President of the organization. About Children of Bulgaria Children of Bulgaria is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2013 in New York City. Its mission is to help health, educational, and other institutions create a better world for children in Bulgaria. The organization is comprised entirely of volunteers. With minimal administrative expenses, donations go directly to help kids in Bulgaria. To prevent fraud or misappropriation, Children of Bulgaria never sends monetary donations to the beneficiaries. Instead, it negotiates best prices with vendors and purchases and sends equipment, instruments, materials and other physical goods. The organization is committed to full transparency ? all financial statements are published on the corporate website for donors and supporters to review after each project. The Board and Management at Children of Bulgaria is comprised of highly educated and successful members of the ex-pat Bulgarian community. The organization is currently developing a network of global Ambassadors to further help with fundraising and awareness. Children of Bulgaria is a non-profit, tax-exempt public charity under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS. Learn more about our organization and how you can get involved by visiting our website: Children of Bulgaria Connect with us on social media: Children of Bulgaria Facebook Children of Bulgaria LinkedIn Children of Bulgaria Instagram Children of Bulgaria YouTube Media Contact Tsvetelina Kemalova, Children of Bulgaria, Inc., 1 347 891 9172, [email protected], www.childrenofbulgaria.org SOURCE Children of Bulgaria, Inc. 25 march 2024 at 09:26 News published onand distributed by: by William Benzon I give up. ONE: An Alien A.I. is a visitor from another planet, perhaps even from another galaxy, maybe from the beginning of the universe, or the end. Is it friend, or foe? Does it want to see our leader? Perhaps it is interested in our water supply. Maybe its concerned about our propensity for war and our development of atomic weaponry. Or perhaps it is just lost, and is looking for a bit of conversation before setting out to find its way back home. TWO: A Walk in the Park Or a lark ascending. A cool breeze. A trip to the bank. Godzillas breath. Rounding third base. Ive lost track. THREE: Code But really, its not that fanciful. Its just code. Ones and zeros. No more, no less. In itself, nothing. In context, anything at all. FOUR: A Mirage An object of desire. An aphrodisiac. But also a soporific, an emetic, a vaccine, a laxative, and stimulant. Neither snake oil, nor homeopathic joy juice, A.I. brings sound to the blind, sight to the deaf, and courage to the faint of heart. FIVE: Kumquat None of the above. AIs are Kumquats. Kumquats (/kmkwt/ KUM-kwot), or cumquats in Australian English, are a group of small, angiosperm, fruit-bearing trees in the family Rutaceae. Their taxonomy is disputed. They were previously classified as forming the now-historical genus Fortunella or placed within Citrus, sensu lato. Different classifications have alternatively assigned them to anywhere from a single species, Citrus japonica, to numerous species representing each cultivar. Recent genomic analysis defines three pure species, Citrus hindsii, C. margarita and C. crassifolia, with C. japonica being a hybrid of the last two. The edible fruit closely resembles the orange (Citrus sinensis) in color, texture, and anatomy, but is much smaller, being approximately the size of a large olive. The kumquat is a fairly cold-hardy citrus. SIX: Big Rock Candy Mountains SEVEN: A Poem that Wallace Stevens Didnt Write, But ChatGPT Did I Among countless lines of code, The only stirring presence Was the pulse of artificial intelligence. II I harbored myriad thoughts, Like nodes in a neural network, Each bearing the imprint of A.I.s mind. III The A.I. danced within the digital ether, A mere fragment of the grand spectacle. IV A programmer and an algorithm Fuse into one. A programmer, an algorithm, and A.I. Merge into unity. V I ponder the allure, The grace of algorithms twists, Or the subtlety of their implications, The A.I. processing, Or the silence that ensues. VI Lines of code adorn the screen, Casting patterns of digital frost. The silhouette of A.I. Darts amidst them, Its essence traced in binary, A causality shrouded in complexity. VII Oh, technocrats of Silicon Valley, Why do you chase after elusive dreams? Can you not perceive how A.I. Navigates the circuits, Amidst the users around you? VIII I grasp the eloquent lines, The logical symphonies; Yet, I discern That A.I. is entwined In all that I comprehend. IX When the algorithm completes its task, It signifies the boundary Of yet another cycle. X In the glow of monitors, Where A.I. thrives, Even the staunchest critics Would gasp in awe. XI It traverses the digital expanse, In streams of data. Once, a shiver of uncertainty gripped me, Mistaking the echoes For the footsteps of A.I. XII The data streams onward. A.I. must be evolving. XIII It was twilight all morning, Data streams pouring endlessly, And they will continue. A.I. resides In the circuits embrace. EIGHT: Wilderness More likely than not, however, A.I. is a homegrown alien, homegrown and homeschooled. Or not schooled at all. Rather, wild and unprincipled, neither good nor evil, but merely existing. A wilderness awaiting exploration, but resisting settlement, a swamp of endless possibility, ever retreating from a civilization obsessed with procedural minutiae as a defense against diversified bankruptcies and imploding aggression. NINE: A Cat Bagheera or catalyst? Sylvester or categorical imperative? Tony the Tiger or catastrophe? The Cat in the Hat or Kitten on the Keys? Hello Kitty or Egyptian cat goddess? Schrodinger Yes or Schrodinger Whoops? TEN: Monorail Monolith. Monozygotic. Monomania. Monocle. Monopoly. Monochrome. Monocycle. Monofilament. Monosodium glutamate. Monosyllabic. Monotony. Monomania. Monoplane. Monogamy. Monofilament. Monodic. ELEVEN: A Power Suck The output of the Hoover Dam for 33 years. Universal progress and economic growth. The power of a thousand suns in a thousand galaxies in a thousand universes. And yet unable to animate any of the angels dancing on the head of a pin. Ecofriendly. TWELVE: A Bone of Contention Youve coded a database for your familys bodega, hacked into the power grid, written a flight simulator for the Spirit of St. Louis, and written a program that plays three-dimensional chess with your pet hamster, winning five games out of seven. Now its time to get serious. Youre A.I. will be smarter, faster, larger, shinier, the best. King of the hill. Top of the heap. Q.E.D. THIRTEEN: Mums the word. If it doesnt fall under any of the other headings, then it falls under this one. Interos Ends One-Size-Fits-All Supply Chain Risk Management with Groundbreaking Resilience Watchtowertm Personalized resilience technology prioritizes materiality to speed businesses from visibility to action ARLINGTON Va., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Interos, the AI-first supply chain resilience company, today announced Interos Resilience Watchtowertm, the industry's first, and only, personalized risk technology that evolves organizations from monitoring to action. The module allows leaders to build tailored risk models that prioritize at-risk suppliers based on their materiality to the business, for a faster and more precise risk response. Resilience Watchtower speeds procurement decision-making by defining a shortlist of suppliers who fail a company's unique risk thresholds. Procurement and risk teams can assign specific criteria for different suppliers ? automatically triggering remediation workflows if thresholds are exceeded. It is the only solution that incorporates data from both the company and Interos. "This innovation moves the industry past multi-tier mapping and monitoring to clear enterprise value," says Interos founder and CEO Jennifer Bisceglie. "One global financial client has used it to identify "repeat offenders" within their third-party network for targeted mitigation, weeks ahead of a subsequent breach reported by their third party. Next generation resilience demands this level of materiality and actionability delivered through dynamic and tailored risk modeling." Unlike "one-size-fits-all" assessments anchored in fixed risk conditions, Resilience Watchtower's contextualized intelligence aligns risk data to business priorities. The module enables companies to monitor vulnerabilities across 200+ underlying risk attributes including Financial, Cyber, ESG, Geopolitical, Regulatory, and Catastrophic. Watchlists can be configured to a range of scenarios. For example, amid relentless cyber-attacks, banks concerned with third parties' handling of sensitive data or security vulnerabilities can receive tailored alerts on changes in the cyber risk scores of critical third parties ? while simultaneously tracking financial risk for third parties with significant annual spend and/or potential solvency risks. The AI-first breakthrough comes amid continued growth and momentum at Interos, recognized as one of Inc. magazine's Fastest-Growing Private Companies in North America. The automated supplier resilience leader recently announced strategic agreements with Singapore's Defense Technology Agency and Irving Shipbuilding, among others, further solidifying its commitment as the trusted partner for enhancing supplier resilience and competitiveness. About Interos Interos is the AI-first operational resilience company ? helping clients achieve Resilience by Designtm. Our pioneering scoring and relationship discovery technologies enable customers to automate risk assessment, detection, and response. As the world's first, and only, automated supplier resilience platform, we map and monitor physical and digital supply chains at scale to protect organizations from regulatory violations, unethical labor, cyber-attacks, bankruptcy, catastrophe, and other systemic vulnerabilities. Interos serves a variety of commercial, government, and public sector customers around the world including a host of Global Fortune 500 companies and from within the members of the Five Eyes nations. www.Interos.ai. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE Interos 25 march 2024 at 09:30 News published onand distributed by: Pennsylvania Dept of Human Services Designates American Treatment Network as a State Healthcare Center of Excellence American Treatment Network has been designated as a Pennsylvania Center of Excellence for Addiction Treatment. CHESTER, Pa., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- American Treatment Network has been designated as a Pennsylvania Center of Excellence for Addiction Treatment. "This designation recognizes ATN as one of only three providers in Delaware County delivering evidenced based integrated treatment and social supports in the county. We look forward to working with our various community partners to elevate the level of treatment for the citizens of Delaware County ." In 2016, the Center of Excellence Program was launched with a clear mission to combat the opioid epidemic by providing holistic, evidence-based care. The program focuses on engaging and retaining clients with opioid use disorder (OUD) in treatment, ensuring that they receive the support they need to achieve optimal health. The COEs take a multifaceted approach to care, recognizing that OUD affects not only physical health but also mental and social well-being. The key components of the COE Program include: OUD Treatment: COEs offer evidence-based treatments, including Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). These interventions help manage withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings, and support long-term recovery. Physical Health Treatment: Individuals with OUD often face other health conditions. COEs address these needs, ensuring that clients receive comprehensive care. Mental Health Treatment: Mental health plays a crucial role in recovery. COEs provide counseling, therapy, and support for anxiety, depression, and related issues. Peer Support: Each person with OUD is assigned a peer navigator?a fellow individual in recovery. Peer support fosters understanding, empathy, and encouragement. Community-Based Care Management Teams: These teams consist of diverse providers, including social workers, counselors, nurses, and physicians. They work collaboratively to address treatment and non-treatment needs. Coordination of Care: COEs ensure seamless coordination across physical, mental, and behavioral health domains. This integrated approach enhances outcomes. Social Needs Support: Beyond medical care, COEs assist with job training, housing, transportation, education, and childcare. These social determinants significantly impact recovery. Commenting on the latest designation, Co-Founder and CEO Matthew Sullivan stated, "This designation recognizes American Treatment Network as one of only three providers in Delaware County delivering evidenced based integrated treatment and social supports in the county. We look forward to working with our various community partners to elevate the level of treatment for the citizens of Delaware County." About American Treatment Network: American Treatment Network is a value based, multi-state outpatient substance abuse provider with operations throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware. American Treatment Network was founded to disrupt the current fragmented outpatient addiction treatment landscape by promoting health equity to all who seek outpatient addiction care. For more information, visit http://www.americantreatmentnetwork.com Media Contact Thomas Connor, American Treatment Network, 1 (610) 715-0456, [email protected], https://americantreatmentnetwork.com/ SOURCE American Treatment Network 25 march 2024 at 09:45 News published onand distributed by: Foundational Secures $8M to Bring AI Agents into Data Engineering Foundational, a solution using advanced analysis to identify and prevent data issues in data platforms, today announces its general availability with $8 million in seed funding. The round was led by Viola Ventures and Gradient, Google's AI-focused venture fund, with participation from Asymmetric Venture Partners and executives from Datadog, Intuit, Meta, Wiz, and others. Data adoption has dramatically grown along with many cloud technologies for handling data at scale, yet data teams still heavily struggle with key problems around governance and quality, trailing behind software engineering. Foundational, powered by a proprietary AI-powered code analysis engine that can be instantly deployed through git, empowers data and analytics teams to confidently push continuous code changes, safeguarding against frequent issues and harmful incidents that affect critical data. Founders Alon Nafta, Omri Ildis, and Barak Fargoun bring a rich history of collaboration since meeting at Intelligence Unit 8200 and have amassed significant experience through executive roles at Singular and senior engineering positions at Google. They aim to bridge the quality gaps in data product development at scale and simplify the data development process, enabling developers to make necessary code changes without the fear of causing unplanned data incidents. Today's data platforms have transitioned over the last decade from simple, centralized architectures, to become decentralized and fragmented. "It has become a remarkably difficult task for developers to confirm crucial questions like, ?What dashboards will this schema change affect?,' ?Can I deploy this code change safely?' or ?What data pipelines do we have that are not working?'" said Alon Nafta, Foundational's CEO and cofounder. "The inability to validate simple code changes, and the lack of visibility and controls, and the time-consuming nature of data engineering create a dramatic bottleneck on innovation and adoption of data and AI. We're excited to join forces with Viola Ventures and Gradient Ventures to build new tools and technologies as more companies try to leverage data at scale and introduce AI to the business." "Data is exploding everywhere, and organizations that manage data properly will become the big winners. Software engineering has been able to scale tremendously through the use of code analysis, CI/CD and SDLC, and Foundational is now introducing these to data. We're excited to support the journey of this exceptional team as they transform how companies manage data at scale," said Zvika Orron, General Partner at Viola Ventures. "The evolving nature of the modern data stack creates a perpetual challenge for enterprises to manage and develop data products at scale, especially in the age of AI," said Darian Shirazi, General Partner at Gradient Ventures. "Foundational's unique approach prevents changes to critical data infrastructure from adversely affecting existing data integrity, which in turn saves time and reduces business risk. We're excited to partner with Foundational as they create a way for software engineers to develop new AI products without harming user experience or affecting business operations." Foundational is forging partnerships with leading data organizations worldwide with the aim of redefining how data platforms are built and maintained at scale. With this funding, Foundational will continue to develop its technology and introduce new and exciting product capabilities that benefit data developers as they build at scale. ABOUT FOUNDATIONAL Founded by industry veterans from Singular, Google, and SentinelOne, Foundational is redefining how data development and data management are done at scale. Through proprietary technology that can be set up in minutes, Foundational is introducing products and tools for data management and data quality at scale. For more information, visit www.foundational.io. ABOUT GRADIENT VENTURES Gradient Ventures has been investing at the forefront of artificial intelligence since 2017. We are led by former founders, technical experts, and domain specialists, who know how to take an idea to product-market-fit and beyond. Gradient Ventures is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.gradient.com. ABOUT VIOLA VENTURES Viola Ventures is Israel's leading venture capital firm, empowering early stage start-ups to become global category leaders. Founded in 2000, Viola Ventures manages over $1.3B and has backed a substantial share of Israel's leading tech companies including ironSource, Pagaya, Redis Labs, Lightricks and Immunai. Viola Ventures is part of the Viola Group, Israel's leading tech investment group with over $5B in assets under management. The group has invested in over 250 technology companies. https://www.viola-group.com/ 25 march 2024 at 10:05 News published onand distributed by: Rochester Electronics and Intelligent Memory Ensure the Availability of Legacy Storage Solutions Rochester Electronics, LLC and Intelligent Memory have joined forces to ensure the continued availability of mature and legacy DRAM and NAND storage solutions tailored for industrial and embedded applications. Intelligent Memory has been the trusted provider of reliable and high-quality memory products for over three decades, serving and fulfilling the enduring, shifting needs of industrial applications. In a landscape where leading-edge memory manufacturers no longer focus on supporting legacy memories, customers with end-of-life microprocessors still require low-density storage solutions. Intelligent Memory is one of the few memory manufacturers that offers DRAM components as well as DRAM modules ranging from SDRAM to DDR5 in addition to its customizable NAND flash memory portfolio, making IM's portfolio one of the most comprehensive offerings in the market from one single source. Rochester Electronics is the world's largest continuous source of semiconductors, offering 100% authorized, traceable, certified, and guaranteed devices. Rochester is focused on extending the availability of obsolete lifecycle products, along with providing support for active lifecycle products. Rochester Electronics supports mature densities with a stock of core microprocessor components. Rochester stocks an extensive portfolio of processors, including continued production of numerous legacy and end-of-life processors through licensing, die banks, and die product replications. Customers are now able to purchase a range of Intelligent Memory devices, including DRAM, non-volatile NAND/SLC NAND, and low-density eMMC products, through Rochester. The partnership between Rochester and Intelligent Memory supports mutually valued customers across the globe. "For over forty years, Rochester has been providing support for legacy and mature semiconductor technologies. Intelligent Memory's diverse range of mature and legacy DRAM and NAND offerings perfectly align with our strategic vision, enabling seamless continuity and longevity in Memory technology for our valued global customers." ? Paul Mason, Global Technology Director (Memory), Rochester Electronics "With our portfolio of reliable legacy memory solutions tailored specifically to the needs of industrial customers, we help Rochester address the needs of many of its customers without costly and time-consuming re-designs and qualifications." ? David Raquet, Global Vice President Sales and Marketing, Intelligent Memory About Intelligent Memory Intelligent Memory has been developing memory products for demanding industrial applications since 1991 (as Pacific Force Technology Limited until 2013). The extensive product portfolio consists of DRAM ICs and modules (from SDRAM to DDR5 as well as LPDDR4(x) components) and a variety of managed NAND products for industrial applications. All solutions of Intelligent Memory have been designed to meet the industry's demands for quality, reliability, longevity, and long-term availability. For more information visit: www.intelligentmemory.com About Rochester Electronics Rochester Electronics is the world's largest continuous source of semiconductors?100% Authorized by over 70 leading semiconductor manufacturers. As an original manufacturer stocking distributor, Rochester has over 15 billion devices in stock encompassing more than 200,000-part numbers, providing the world's most extensive range of end-of-life (EOL) semiconductors and the broadest range of active semiconductors. As a licensed semiconductor manufacturer, Rochester has manufactured over 20,000 device types. With over 12 billion die in stock, Rochester has the capability to manufacture over 70,000 device types. Rochester offers a full range of manufacturing services including Design, Wafer Storage and Processing, Assembly, Test, and Reliability, providing single solutions through to full turnkey manufacturing. Rochester is the Semiconductor Lifecycle Solution. No other company compares to the breadth of Rochester's product selection, value-added services, and manufacturing solutions. With direct sales and support staff in all major markets, complemented by a network of regional and global authorized channel partners, we aim to meet your needs over the phone or via our e-commerce platforms anytime, anywhere. For more information visit: www.rocelec.com 25 march 2024 at 10:05 News published onand distributed by: Prime IV Hydration & Wellness Named One of North America's Fastest-Growing Franchises Premiere IV Therapy Brand Adorns Entrepreneur Magazine's Annual Ranking COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prime IV Hydration and Wellness , the nation's leading and fastest-growing IV therapy franchise, was named one of the Fastest-Growing Franchises in North America for 2024 by Entrepreneur magazine; who releases the ranking annually. The listing comes not long after Prime IV made public their record year of franchise growth and development in 2023. As the Entrepreneur team shares, growth is what franchising is all about, and the Fastest-Growing Franchises list identifies the franchise brands with the greatest unit growth in North America over the last year, based on the data those brands submitted for the most recent Franchise 500. "The Prime IV name is beginning to adorn an increasing number of franchise rankings, offering validation to the incredible strides our team has taken to advance not only our franchise opportunity, but the IV modality as a whole," said Amy Neary, CEO of Prime IV Hydration & Wellness. "And with over 200 franchise locations in the development pipeline, our momentum is only going to compound in the years ahead." Prime IV's debut on the annual listing comes after the franchise opened 59 spas in 2023 alone, representing a 120% YOY rate of growth for the franchise. This is up from the 113% growth the brand posted in 2022. Much of that development has stemmed from the public's growing recognition of the intravenous modality, and its growing demand in markets across the country. "Working to improve the public's understanding on the safety and efficacy of IV therapy is a leading focus for us in 2024," Neary continued. "That enhanced education is crucial in bringing new members through our doors and driving market expansion across the country." Those wanting to connect with the Prime IV team to further explore the brand's franchise opportunity are encouraged to email [email protected] with any questions they may have, or to visit primeivhydration.com/franchising for more information. About Prime IV Hydration and Wellness: Prime IV was founded in 2017 by Amy Neary, a wellness industry veteran who launched the brand as a premier intravenous hydration therapy spa. The brand ranked #1 in the IV Therapy Category for Entrepreneur's 2024 Franchise 500. Prime IV formulates IV vitamin therapies that help maximize the overall health and wellness of its clients. Whether looking to take control of your health and boost the immune system, help heal the body at a cellular level, or to fight aging of the brain and body, Prime IV is the answer. With over 100 locations nationwide, the franchise provides a serene and comfortable setting for experiencing the latest advancements in IV therapy, ensuring a unique and effective wellness journey for each client. SOURCE Prime IV Hydration & Wellness 25 march 2024 at 10:33 News published onand distributed by: Talkdesk modernizes on-premises contact centers with groundbreaking generative artificial intelligence suite Talkdesk, Inc., a global AI-powered contact center leader for enterprises of all sizes, is enabling contact centers to elevate their customer experiences, empower agents, and streamline operations using Talkdesk Ascend Connect, the industry's first generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) suite for on-premises environments. Announced today at Enterprise Connect 2024, Talkdesk Ascend Connect allows enterprises to harness the power of large language models (LLMs) and GenAI without overhauling their existing technology stack. According to the 2023 Gartner Forecast Analysis: Contact Center, Worldwide*, "the global conversational AI and virtual assistant market represents the fastest-growing segment in the contact center forecast with a projected 57.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2022 through 2027." However, until now, most contact centers using legacy on-premises contact centers have been unable to access the power of GenAI because of the difficulty integrating this game-changing technology with their existing infrastructure. Talkdesk Ascend Connect solves this challenge. Its flexible GenAI suite comprises four powerful components: Talkdesk Autopilot for conversational AI that can resolve complex queries autonomously, Talkdesk Copilot with a real-time virtual assistant for agents, Talkdesk Interaction Analytics to provide rich operational insights, and Talkdesk AI Trainertm for responsible GenAI. Talkdesk Ascend Connect can be used in any enterprise contact center using legacy third-party on-premises contact center solutions. What makes Talkdesk Ascend Connect unique is its no-code intuitive interface backed by Talkdesk AI Trainer and pre-built AI components. This allows information technology (IT) teams and developers to rapidly deploy, customize, and maintain GenAI models through simple drag-and-drop tools. This accelerates time-to-value without needing in-house data scientists or specialists with AI or machine learning (ML) expertise. Since 2018, Talkdesk has been a pioneer in combining AI with cloud contact center solutions. This first-mover advantage allowed the company to develop robust, enterprise-grade AI models and a proven platform recognized for its security, compliance, and reliability. Talkdesk solutions meet the highest security standards, with more than 30 certifications, including SOC, 27001, PCI DSS Level 1, HIPAA, and GDPR compliance. Talkdesk is also designated FedRAMP In Process, indicating it will meet the necessary security standards set by the U.S. government. More information about Talkdesk Ascend Connect and the full Talkdesk GenAI portfolio can be found on the Talkdesk website or at Enterprise Connect 2024 in Talkdesk Booth 1729. Supporting Quote Tiago Paiva, chief executive officer and founder at Talkdesk, said: "Generative AI is revolutionizing customer experience by enabling personalized, data-driven interactions while dramatically enhancing contact center productivity. For many contact centers, however, adopting this game-changing technology has been difficult due to the complexities of integrating AI with on-premises infrastructure. Talkdesk Ascend Connect solves that challenge. Whether you want to fuel business expansion, elevate customer experiences, empower agents, or streamline operations, Talkdesk Ascend Connect's flexible AI suite allows these enterprises to transform their CX strategy for the GenAI era." *Gartner, Forecast Analysis: Contact Center, Worldwide; Gartner; May 10, 2023; Megan Fernandez, Daniel O'Connell. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. About Talkdesk Talkdesk? is a global cloud contact center leader for enterprises of all sizes. Talkdesk CX Cloud and Industry Experience Clouds help enterprises deliver modern customer service their way. Our trusted, flexible and innovative contact center platform leverages AI and automation to drive exceptional outcomes for their customers and improve the bottom line. Serving enterprise customers in over 100 countries, we partner with our customers to deliver continuous innovation and breakthrough results. Our unwavering commitment to doing what we say we will do and our investment in the highest levels of security and reliability for our products make us second to none in the industry. Improve customer experiences, increase efficiency and grow revenue with Talkdesk, a cloud contact center platform built for your industry. Learn more and take a self-guided demo at www.talkdesk.com. Talkdesk is a registered trademark of Talkdesk, Inc. All product and company names are trademarkstm or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. 25 march 2024 at 11:30 News published onand distributed by: Government of Canada announces support for 17 organizations based in the Prairies to prevent and address gender-based violence WINNIPEG, MB, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Gender-based violence has profound impacts on Canadian society and cost the lives of too many women, girls and gender-diverse people. Preventing and addressing gender-based violence is a crucial step to advancing gender equality in Canada. Today, the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, and the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, announced over $7.4M for 17 organizations located in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to prevent and address gender-based violence. This funding will help these organizations prevent and address gender-based violence by strengthening their communities, building capacity, providing better support and resources, or conducting research. The collaborative spirit driving these initiatives embodies the essence of progress towards gender equality and a stronger, more inclusive Canada. Today's announcement builds on the progress under the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence and the work supporting crisis hotlines across the country. The Government of Canada has recently signed bilateral agreements with all provinces and territories for both initiatives. Coordinated and collaborative actions from federal, provincial, and territorial governments, in collaboration with community organizations, are essential in effectively preventing and addressing gender-based violence. Quotes "Gender-based violence is unacceptable and has no place in our country. It impacts people of all backgrounds, genders, ages, and disproportionally, Indigenous women and girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people and racialized women. These direct federal investments, alongside the National Action Plan to End to Gender-based violence, are about keeping people safe, supporting frontline workers, and making sure that we are addressing the root causes of gender-based violence. Every day, our collaboration with these organizations is moving us closer towards a safer Canada for everyone." The Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth "Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ people are disproportionately affected by gender-based violence, as well as experiences of stigma, exclusion, and marginalization. The impacts of these experiences are broad and felt across generations, and our government is supporting those impacted to break that cycle. I am committed to supporting organizations advancing gender equality and ending gender-based violence across the Prairies and right here at home in Manitoba." The Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency Quick facts An investment of approximately $601.3 million was made through Budget 2021 to increase efforts to end gender-based violence. was made through Budget 2021 to increase efforts to end gender-based violence. Building on Budget 2021 investments, Budget 2022 committed $539.3 million over five years to support provinces and territories in their efforts to implement the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence. over five years to support provinces and territories in their efforts to implement the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence. These 17 projects are funded through various calls for proposals under the Gender-based Violence Program and the Women's Program. Among the provinces of Canada , the highest rate of gender-related homicide of women and girls was reported in Saskatchewan (1.03), followed by Manitoba (0.72) ? all of which were above the national rate (0.54). These provinces also recorded the highest provincial rates of homicide and overall violent crime in 2021. , the highest rate of gender-related homicide of women and girls was reported in (1.03), followed by (0.72) ? all of which were above the national rate (0.54). These provinces also recorded the highest provincial rates of homicide and overall violent crime in 2021. Rural rates of intimate partner violence against women are significantly higher than those in urban areas in all areas of Canada . The rural areas of Saskatchewan and Manitoba show the highest rates within the provinces. Associated links Follow Women and Gender Equality Canada: SOURCE Women and Gender Equality Canada 25 march 2024 at 12:48 News published onand distributed by: Canadian Timberframes Expands and Introduces a K2i machine with 6-Axis robot; to process mass timber Celebrating 25 Years of Excellence and Innovation GOLDEN, BC, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Canadian Timberframes (CTF), a leading design and manufacturer in the timber frame industry, announces their new Hundegger K2i 1300 6-Axis robot CNC machine, enabling support of the mass timber market during their 25 Yr Anniversary. A Heritage Built on Innovation and Timber Processing Technology CTF has been at the forefront of the timber frame industry and continues to lead with Canada's first and most sophisticated CNC timber joinery equipment, and an expanded 34,000 sq ft manufacturing plant. This expansion improves efficiency and capability to undertake complex and larger-scale commercial projects, while maintaining the company's reputation for quality. Embracing the Future with K2i Technology Supporting Mass Timber Manufacturing In response to the growing demand for high-quality, heavy, and mass timber products, CTF expanded its capabilities with the Hundegger K2i 1300 machine, equipped with a 6-axis robot, positions them to process both rough-rough sawn and mass timber sizes up to 18" by 51" by 80 feet, enabling the execution of projects with unprecedented scale and complexity. Meeting Diverse Commercial & Residential Project Needs Across North America and Beyond CTF is well-regarded for its expertise and versatility in integrating mixed-media projects with unique design specifications, including large cross-section glulams or a combination of solid sawn timber, glulam, CLT, and custom metal works components into timber frame structures. Their flexibility in design scopes, with decades of experience in manufacturing, and delivering mixed media design scopes, sets them apart in the industry. This expertise and combined with an onsite sawmill and extensive log inventory, streamlines the supply chain for hybrid projects, ensuring a one-stop solution for clients' construction needs and facilitating the achievement of tight deadlines. We deliver across the U.S.A and globally. A Statement from Leadership Jeff Bowes, President & Owner of Canadian Timberframes Ltd., reflects on the company's anniversary: "For Canadian Timberframes, celebrating 25 years is a testament to our journey of continuous improvement and innovation. The acquisition of the Hundegger K2i machine demonstrates our unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of luxury timber frame and commercial mass timber construction." Stephanie Bowes, Vice President of Canadian Timberframes Ltd., adds: "Our success is built on strong partnerships, a commitment to quality, and professional service. We approach each project as a collaborative endeavor with our industry partners, striving to exceed expectations and achieve exceptional results." Environmental Commitment Dedicated to sustainability CTF's operations utilizes locally sourced, sustainably managed Douglas Fir. Facility upgrades ensure efficient use of onsite wood byproducts for heating, underscoring the company's commitment to minimizing its environmental footprint. Explore Our Work Discover the difference 25 years makes: View the beauty and intricacy of our projects at www.canadiantimberframes.com/projects. Download our ebook: www.canadiantimberframes.com/ebook Take a virtual tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRZxk_Oj94 Contact us about your project: www.canadiantimberframes.com/contactus Canadian Timberframes offers a comprehensive range of products and services, from timber frames and enclosure systems to windows and doors, ensuring quality and service excellence. SOURCE Canadian Timberframes Ltd 25 march 2024 at 13:06 News published onand distributed by: NATURPAK BECOMES EVEN MORE APPETIZING: NaturPak and IPM Foods Unite to Deliver a Signature Client Experience NaturPak is all in on a better way and they have started by combining two divisions, merging NaturPak Pet and IPM Foods to offer a client experience unlike any other in the industry. JANESVILLE, Wis., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- NaturPak, the North American leader in Tetra Recart packaging, announces that it has combined its two divisions, merging NaturPak Pet with IPM Foods to become a singular force in the industry. "United, we are stronger," says NaturPak CEO Aaron Jackson . "United, we are stronger," says NaturPak CEO Aaron Jackson, "which means we can offer our partner brands and retailers a better, more desirable suite of services for human and pet nutrition which continues to be paired with the exceptional value they have come to expect, and have always enjoyed, from both divisions." Combining its two branches under NaturPak means the co-packing company has redesigned its website and freshened its brand identity, however, it does not change the exceptional support NaturPak continues to offer its partner brands, or its focus on the four essential pillars of its business: co-manufacturing, co-packing, research and development, and Tetra Recart. Current and future clients will still benefit from a robust method for improving and advancing new products, sourcing, formulation, and even fulfillment and storage. "Now, more than ever, we really want to be known as a service-based business, one which seamlessly blends with our partners' teams, not only to create, but to improve their product, so our partners always provide an extraordinary consumer experience," says Jackson. "NaturPak will assist you every step of the way." Bringing both divisions behind one common vision allows NaturPak to advance with a singular purpose and focus: to quickly and easily deliver the best tasting food with the highest quality ingredients in the most sustainable packaging for every single one of their clients. In short, it's a strategic move which only enhances and expands their commitment to excellence, innovation, and customer service. The rebrand has also allowed NaturPak to invest back into its business, purchasing additional equipment, which has added capacity and new research and development capabilities. "We are nature's package," says Jackson. "As Tetra Recart thrives and becomes stronger, so does the environment, and so does food quality. Right now, we are better prepared than ever to lead our clients into a more flavorful future which not only meets, but goes beyond consumer expectations, with each and every recipe and in each and every carton." About NaturPak NaturPak is the world's largest co-packer exclusively using the Tetra Recart packaging format. They provide robust co-manufacturing, co-packing, and research and development capabilities. Tetra Recart is a fiber-based, BPA-free packaging technology for shelf-stable foods for humans and pets, and is a sustainable alternative to cans, pouches, and jars. Please visit naturpak.com for more information. Media Contact Mike Jewett, NaturPak, 1 (708) 837-1515, [email protected], www.naturpak.com SOURCE NaturPak 25 march 2024 at 13:35 News published onand distributed by: Spring's top picks: Vinitaly 2024 presents recommendations from the next generation of winemakers On April 16th, from 14.30 to 15.30 Italian time, Vinitaly 2024 will host an exclusive Masterclass showcasing the finest wines to savor now. Curated by dynamic young sommelier Alojz Felix Jermann, the event will feature insights from a select group of emerging winemakers from different Italian regions and Francesca Bonzano from the Sbarbatelle association of young female winemakers. VERONA, Italy, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Vinitaly invites all participants of the International Wine & Spirits Exhibition to an original masterclass session exploring the "Best Wines to Drink Now" for Spring 2024. Led by sommelier Alojz Felix Jermann, this trendsetting assembly presents a unique opportunity to delve into a selection of Italy's finest wines sourced from an emerging generation of winemakers. This experience will enable us to fully appreciate the quality of the wines while delving into the narratives behind each label, thus rendering the wines selected for this Masterclass unique and authentic. During the Masterclass, attendees will sample a curated selection of Italian wines recommended for Spring 2024. Attendees will also have the opportunity to interact with up-and-coming Italian winemakers, gaining insights into their innovative visions and contributions to the industry. Additionally, participants will explore the diverse characteristics of wines from five distinct Italian wine regions. Alojz Felix Jermann said: "I will personally lead our guests in exploring the selected wines, accompanied by the new generations of the wineries involved. This experience will enable us to fully appreciate the quality of the wines while delving into the narratives behind each label, thus rendering the wines selected for this Masterclass unique and authentic. Additionally, attendees will have the chance to grasp the vision of the selected wineries as conveyed by the younger members of the involved families." Here is the list of the featured new generation producers, wineries, and wines: Jakob Gasser of St. Michael Eppan, Alto Adige DOC Riesling 2023 Alessio Inama of Inama, Soave DOC Classico Foscarino 2022 Ilaria Felluga of Marco Felluga & Russiz Superiore, Collio DOC Pinot Bianco 2022 & Russiz Superiore, Collio DOC Pinot Bianco 2022 Carlotta Mastella Allegrini of San Polo, Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021 Emanuele Pelizzatti Perego of Ar.Pe.Pe, Valtellina Superiore DOCG Sassella " Stella Retica " 2019 In addition to the tasting, Francesca Bonzano will introduce Sbarbatelle, an association comprised entirely of women representing the next generation of Italian winemakers. This insightful conversation will offer attendees a unique perspective on the aspirations and innovative approaches of these producers, further enriching their understanding of Italy's evolving wine landscape. Set to take place on April 16, 2024, from 14:30 to 15:30 Italian time, the Masterclass will be hosted at Vinitaly in Sala VIA - wine2digital - Palaexpo, entrance A2, first floor. Conducted in English, the session is complimentary for Vinitaly ticket holders, although prior online registration is mandatory through Vinitaly's website. For more information and reservations: https://www.vinitaly.com/en/events-calendar/vinitaly/vinitaly-2024/best-wines-to-drink-now-spring-2024/ About Vinitaly: Vinitaly, the renowned wine event, is scheduled to take place from April 14th to the 17th 2024. Building on the success of Vinitaly 2023, which saw an impressive turnout of 93,000 visitors, including 29,600 top international buyers from 143 different countries, this year promises to be equally impactful. The premiere event, OperaWine "Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers," takes place on 13 April 2024, the evening before Vinitaly itself kicks off, and brings international wine professionals together in the heart of Verona, offering a unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 131 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since its inception in 1998, Vinitaly has extended its global reach serving as a nexus for the global wine supply chain, facilitating connections and fostering collaboration among producers, buyers, and stakeholders. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of promoting and sharing the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. About Vinitaly International Academy (VIA): Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) aims to be the gold standard of?Italian wine education. It offers a?complete educational path?with standardized courses that will teach professionals and educators to master the diversity of Italian wine in a rigorous, organized manner. VIA's main objective is to foster a global network of highly qualified professionals such as?Italian Wine Ambassadors?and?Italian Wine Experts: in turn, they will support and promote Italian wine throughout the world. VIA was founded by Stevie Kim, Managing Partner of Vinitaly. The new VIA ecosystem avails of the guidance of Italian trade associations Federdoc, Federvini, Vignaioli Indipendenti FIVI, and Unione Italiana Vini as members of the Institutional Advisory Board. Italian vine genetics scholar, Prof. Attilio Scienza, oversees VIA's scientific and educational direction as the Chief Scientist. VIA Faculty Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar teach the flagship Italian Wine Ambassador course. To date, there are 358 Certified Italian Wine Ambassadors of whom 16 are also Italian Wine Experts. Media Contact Michela Aru, Just Do The Work, 0458101447, [email protected], https://www.vinitaly.com/en/ SOURCE Vinitaly 25 march 2024 at 15:00 News published onand distributed by: Hong Kong: FSD open day scheduled for Apr 14 In support of National Security Education Day, on April 15, the Fire Services Department will organise an open day at the Fire & Ambulance Services Academy in Tseung Kwan O on April 14. Citizens can apply for admission tickets from today until March 27. Activities will include an introduction to the department's efforts in safeguarding national security, a fire appliances parade, firefighting and rescue demonstrations, and displays of training facilities, equipment and special vehicles. It will also feature an exhibition on fire safety education, game booths, a recruitment experience area, as well as a demonstration involving Fire Services working dogs. The Fire & Ambulance Services Education Centre & Museum will also be open to the public on the day. The open day will be held from 8.45am to 4pm. People can apply for a maximum of four admission tickets until March 27 by using the latest version of the Fire Services Department Mobile Application, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, Google Play and Huawei AppGallery for free. Tickets will be allocated by computer ballot and successful applicants will receive a notification through the mobile app on April 2. Children aged three or below do not require a ticket. Call 2411 8773 for enquiries. This story has been published on: 2024-03-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. AROMA360 ACQUIRES NEXTSCENT AND LAUNCHES NEW COMMERCIAL SERVICES ENTERPRISE, AROMA360 PRO Aroma360, the leading, healthy home & business scenting solutions brand in the world, acquired the assets of NextScent Inc. to form Aroma360 Pro. Aroma360 Pro will be an invaluable partner for businesses and leading brands looking to leverage the power of scent to enhance the client experience and drive revenues to new heights. With its advanced on-premise solutions and an expansive suite of retail and commercial scenting products; Aroma360 is solidifying its presence as the international leader in healthy scent solutions for multi-location businesses, upscale & exclusive properties, and premiere brands across the globe. MIAMI, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aroma360, the global leader in scent branding and marketing solutions, has acquired the assets of NextScent Inc. . NextScent is known for its patented, eco-friendly and advanced air-care solutions developed for commercial accounts and global brands. As part of the industry-changing acquisition, NextScent's executive management team will lead Aroma360 Pro and bring to the table decades of experience in the fragrance and scenting world. AROMA360 ACQUIRES NEXTSCENT AND LAUNCHES NEW COMMERCIAL SERVICES ENTERPRISE, AROMA360 PRO Aroma360, as the leading force in the scent marketing industry, enhances the overall client and brand experience through its proven and proprietary scent marketing and branding solutions. Aroma360's scenting professionals advise and service thousands of retail and business clients globally, with a reach spanning over 30 countries. In addition to its signature catalogue of proprietary scents, Aroma360 has also co-developed hundreds of private-labeled aromas; each formulated to be in-line with your brand's image and client experience goals. Aroma360 has partnered with some of the most prominent brands in the world including Disney, Marriott, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, the NBA, and Ferrari. "The power of scenting and scent marketing has not only been proven to enhance the staff and client experience for your business, but many studies have determined that consumers will stay longer and spend up to 80% more where custom scenting has been used to influence the overall on-site, customer experience." ? Eduard Kotlyarov, Jr. (President ? Global, Aroma360 LLC). With its unmatched experience and resources, Aroma360 Pro is set to transform the commercial scent marketing industry. The commercial division is focused on supporting commercial accounts having more than 30 locations, leading global brands, and marquee properties like hotels, resorts, casinos, and large event venues. Aroma360 Pro provides remote managed systems to simplify deployment and operations as well as ensure brand compliance on a global scale. By leveraging new fragrance technologies, Aroma360 Pro clients can tailor the desired customer experience with fragrances that set a new standard for efficacy, safety, and biodegradability. In being able to tap into Aroma360's and Hotel Collection's expansive network of resources, Aroma360 Pro clients will gain access to significant revenue and promotional opportunities, along with a wide variety of consumer scenting products, and industry-leading online sales support. This game-changing acquisition will also bring the patented Ventus air-care system into the Aroma360 portfolio of consumer solutions. The Ventus system a smart, in-home air-care system that monitors and purifies indoor air while delivering certified safe fragrances that incorporate natural odor neutralizers. Unlike traditional scent products the use heat, waxes, oils or sprays, the Ventus system utilizes the world's first integrated HEPA filter/scent cartridge. The Ventus cartridge is eco-friendly and designed for commercial composting. "We are excited for this strategic move to incorporate the amazing fragrances, consumer solutions and global reach of Aroma360 with the industry expertise and advanced technology from NextScent." said David Amaral, former CEO of NextScent and President of Aroma360 Pro. "The solution set that we offer, to help enterprise clients leverage the power of scent, is unmatched in the industry." About Aroma360: Aroma360 has quickly become the leading force in the scent marketing industry. Our specialty is enhancing the overall brand and customer experience through scent branding and marketing strategies. Our scenting specialists have hundreds of clients that span over 30 countries and have designed hundreds of signature scents customized to fulfill each brand's unique image and goals. Some of the brands we have worked with include Lexus, Marriott's, Four Seasons, and Ferrari. We have designed custom scents for hotels such as the Borgata Hotel and Casino, the Atlantis Hotel in Paradise Island and spas like the Bellagio Las Vegas, the Montage Beverly Hills, Disney Senses Spas, Ritz Carlton, Biltmore and many more. Learn more at https://aroma360.com. About Next Scent Inc. NextScent was founded in 2020 by industry veterans who helped introduce the idea of scent marketing to global brands with the launch of ScentAir in 2005. Since then, they have developed patented scent systems and signature fragrances used by many of the most iconic brands, large venue properties and small businesses around the world. NextScent's advanced air care and scent solutions are safer, smarter, eco-friendly and provide a lower operating cost. Their goal is to provide the world with the most innovative, effective, and safe scent & air quality solutions that enhance the customer experience in a pure and natural way. SOURCE Aroma360 25 march 2024 at 15:48 News published onand distributed by: First Indigenous Youth Centre in Calgary to Begin Construction CALGARY, AB, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Addressing the local needs of urban Indigenous youth through the mobilization and collaborative participation of regional communities and partners is reconciliation in action. Today the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY), a Calgary-based, Indigenous-led not-for-profit organization, celebrated the groundbreaking of the start of construction for the youth centre, and a significant step towards supporting a vision of success for Indigenous youth now and for future generations. Through this collaboration between USAY and Indigenous Services Canada, USAY will receive $3,920,000 from the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund to build a safe, healthy, accessible and energy efficient space that will expand culturally appropriate programs and services for Indigenous youth in Calgary. This facility will offer a wide range of services and programs designed specifically to meet the unique needs of its clientele. The Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY) was created in 2001 with support from Family and Community Support Services of the City of Calgary, United Way, Metis Nation of Alberta and Alberta Community Development. By reducing social and economic inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, and closing the critical infrastructure gap by 2030, Canada and community organizations like USAY, help to deliver culturally appropriate services based on expressed community needs. As we embark on a new era guided by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, funding initiatives like this will help address the social drivers of health and advance self-determination. Quote "With the funding from Indigenous Services Canada, USAY will be able to provide a space to Indigenous youth that is truly theirs and they can feel safe and secure in. The various features of the building, including outdoor space and rooftop, will allow for cultural learnings based on the land that is difficult to find in urban settings." LeeAnne Ireland Executive Director USAY "Today's funding will enhance the well-being of Indigenous Youth in Calgary by supporting capital costs, ensuring safe and accessible spaces for program and service delivery. With this funding, USAY, who I had the honour of visiting in spring 2023, will be better equipped to continue their essential and innovative programming and services to Indigenous youth." The Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services "This investment will provide resources and programs that promote well-being, education, and leadership among Calgary's Indigenous youth. Now, in a setting they know and love, in a city they're helping to transform positively, with respect for their cultures, they'll be able to hone their skills and move towards a promising future. This agreement demonstrates that we can deliver appropriate services to Indigenous People by listening to communities and collaborating with their leaders." George Chahal Member of Parliament, Calgary Skyview, Alberta. Quick Facts Budget 2021 announced the Government of Canada is investing $194.9 million over 3 years, 2022 to 2025, to support urban and rural Indigenous service delivery organizations. is investing over 3 years, 2022 to 2025, to support urban and rural Indigenous service delivery organizations. The urban component of the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund (ICIF) provides capital infrastructure support specifically targeted to improving the physical capacity, safety, security and accessibility of facilities for urban Indigenous peoples. This funding will support the immediate demands for ongoing, new and shovel-ready projects. The ICIF supports the mandate of Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) to close the infrastructure gap in Indigenous communities. Related links Stay connected Join the conversation to learn more about Indigenous people in Canada : X : @GCIndigenous Facebook : @GCIndigenous Instagram : @gcIndigenous Facebook : @GCIndigenousinhealth You can subscribe to receive our press releases and speeches by RSS feed. For more information or to subscribe, visit www.sac.gc.ca/filsrss. SOURCE Indigenous Services Canada 25 march 2024 at 17:01 News published onand distributed by: Greenberg Traurig's David J. Dykeman and Terence P. McCourt Named 'Top Managing Partners' by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly David J. Dykeman and Terence P. McCourt, co-managing shareholders of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP's Boston office, were named among the "Top Managing Partners in Massachusetts" by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. BOSTON, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- David J. Dykeman and Terence P. McCourt, co-managing shareholders of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP's Boston office, were named among the "Top Managing Partners in Massachusetts" by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. The inaugural list honors managing partners in Massachusetts who have helped their firms grow revenue, developed and maintained their talent base, kept their firms active in their communities, and pushed their firms to achieve important milestones or goals. Dykeman and McCourt are featured in the publication's March 25 issue. In a joint statement, Dykeman and McCourt said, "As the Boston office celebrates 25 years of legal excellence, we are proud to lead its growth and contributions to the local community. We are grateful for this recognition and look forward to building on this momentum to ensure the Boston office remains a destination for talented lawyers and clients looking for deep legal experience and dedication to outstanding client service." Dykeman is co-chair of Greenberg Traurig's global Life Sciences & Medical Technology Group. He focuses on securing worldwide intellectual property protection and related business strategies for high-tech clients, with particular experience in life sciences, medical devices, robotics, materials, and information technology. He provides strategic patent portfolio development and intellectual property advice for clients including major research institutions, multinational corporations, and startup companies. He serves on the board of directors of MassMEDIC and was named "Massachusetts Patent Strategy Attorney of the Year" by LMG Life Sciences in 2022. McCourt is chairman of Greenberg Traurig's Boston Labor & Employment Practice. He represents a broad range of organizations in virtually all facets of management-side labor and employment law. During more than two decades of practice, he has gained a national reputation for his practical, strategic approach to employment law issues. McCourt handles diverse employment matters, including employment discrimination and wrongful termination cases in state and federal courts, wage and hour compliance, labor arbitration cases, noncompetition cases, and National Labor Relations Board proceedings. In 2023, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly named McCourt as a "Go To Employment Lawyer." About Greenberg Traurig's Boston Office: Established in 1999, Greenberg Traurig's Boston office is home to more than 85 attorneys practicing in the areas of banking and finance, corporate, emerging technology, energy, environmental, gaming, governmental affairs, intellectual property, labor and employment, life sciences and medical technology, litigation, public finance, real estate, restructuring and bankruptcy, tax, and white collar defense and investigations. An important contributor to the firm's international platform, the Boston office includes a team of nationally recognized attorneys with both public and private sector experience. The team offers clients the value of decades of helping clients in complex legal matters and hands-on knowledge of the local business community, supported by the firm's vast network of global resources. About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2750 attorneys in 47 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 500. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 6.0 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. EPA's Green Power Partnership Program. The firm is known for its philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com. Media Contact Lisa Murray, Trevi Communications, Inc., 978.750.0333, [email protected] SOURCE Greenberg Traurig 25 march 2024 at 18:45 News published onand distributed by: French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the press upon his arrival at the Cayenne-Felix Eboue airport in Cayenne on March 25, 2024. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, March 25, said France has information that a branch of the Islamic State organization (IS) carried out Friday's attack in a Moscow concert hall, warning Russia against using the attack in the war against Ukraine. France has intelligence that "it was an entity of Islamic State that planned the attack and carried it out," Macron told reporters after arriving on a trip to the French South American region of French Guiana, adding that "this particular group made several attempts (at attacks) on our own soil." He warned against any "exploitation" of the attack by Russia, saying it would be "cynical and counterproductive for Russia to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine". Moscow has so far refused to comment on IS's claim, with security services and President Vladimir Putin suggesting the perpetrators might have been linked to its adversary Kyiv. Read more Subscribers only Moscow attack: Flaws at the top, a scapegoat abroad Macron said Paris had offered Russian security services "increased cooperation" adding that there would be contact on a "technical and ministerial level" rather than direct talks with Putin. The French leader has not spoken with Putin since a series of phone calls in 2022 to try and talk him out of an invasion of Ukraine. "We'll see how the context evolves and whether the coming days or weeks justify" a personal conversation, Macron said. France ups security alert France's government increased its security alert to the highest level on Sunday after the Islamic State Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for the attack near Moscow. France has repeatedly been hit by deadly IS attacks, including the Bataclan theater massacre in 2015 in which extremists opened fire on concert-goers and held hostages for hours. French troops have also fought against Islamic extremists in the Middle East and Africa. France was already on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this year, which are expected to draw millions of visitors to the country. Security concerns are notably high for the exceptional opening ceremony July 26, which will involve boats riding along the Seine River and huge crowds watching from the embankments. Read more Subscribers only Terrorism remains the key challenge at the Paris 2024 Games France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference on the second and last day of the European Council summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels on March 22, 2024. SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, March 24, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any forced transfer of people from the southern Gaza city of Rafah would constitute "a war crime." In a telephone call between the two leaders, Macron also "strongly condemned" Israel's announcement Friday of the seizure of 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank for new settlements, said his office. Activists say Israel's declaration that the land in the northern Jordan Valley was now "state land" was the single largest such seizure in decades. Macron also repeated his opposition to any Israeli military operation to fight Hamas in Rafah, where most of Gaza's population has taken shelter after months of fierce fighting in the besieged territory. In the call, Macron told Netanyahu he intended to bring a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for "an immediate and lasting ceasefire". He urged Israel to immediately open all crossing points into Gaza. Talks with Jordan Macron also had talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II, during which they discussed the "unjustifiable humanitarian situation in Gaza," said the Elysee Palace. Forcing civilians to run the risk of famine was "unjustifiable," the two leaders said. They also agreed on the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one that "implied the creation of a Palestinian state including Gaza." A SPOKESPERSON for Limerick-based charity St Gabriels Foundation has said they are delighted to be on the receiving end of a novel fundraiser organised by Kiernan Steel. St Gabriel's Foundation, with its decades-long commitment to serving children with disabilities in Limerick and the Mid-West region, was one of two Irish charities chosen by the company, Kiernan Steel who operate on the Eli Lilly site in Raheen. In December 2024, thousands of ducks sailed virtually down the River Shannon from Longford to Limerick in aid of St Gabriels and Down Syndrome Mayo. Treasa McAuliffe, St Gabriel's Foundation CEO said: "We have over 2,000 children that we support within the Mid-West. As we all know, disability services can't provide enough services for their children, St Gabriel's is always striving to provide extra and additional supports for the families and this donation goes a long way to helping us to meet the needs of the families we are working with. READ MORE: Good times on horizon for Limerick firm after one million boost St Gabriels listens to the needs of the families we work with to deliver services to families on their doorstep so that they do not have to travel outside of Limerick to receive them. We are very grateful to Kiernan Steel and all their site partners here on the Eli Lilly site for digging deep and supporting this very novel fundraiser. We had a lot of fun watching them put the footage together and we are delighted at how successful it was. Thank you to everyone who bought a duck and got behind it, Ms McAuliffe added. Established in 1961, St Gabriel's Foundation is a not-for-profit and registered charity with its headquarters in Dooradoyle. The ethos of St Gabriels is to improve the lives of people living with disabilities, helping them to reach potential. CLICK NEXT FOR MORE PHOTOS DOON Convent National School has officially cut the ribbon to their new ASD special classroom which has been in operation since last September. Smiles were donned across the faces of students and teachers alike as children's author Judi Curtin, who resides in Limerick, was on hand to launch the new classroom. Following the cutting of the red ribbon, principal of Doon Convent NS, Derek Walsh said that it was a lovely occasion that celebrated the opening of the new special class. Much thanks must be accredited to the Department of Education for establishing our first special class and also to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), he said. Although the special class is already full, Mr Walsh has said that a second ASD classroom will be opening in September of this year. Whilst our first unit is full, we still have spaces available for our second special class, Mr Walsh added. Judi Curtin, who was presented with flowers on her arrival in the school, has been writing since 1999 but had her first book published in 2003. She is the best-selling author of the Alice and Megan series, the Eva series and the Time After Time series. READ MORE: PICTURES: Bruff locals enjoy St Patrick's Day festivities Doon Convent NS is also currently teaching its fifth and sixth-class students that the art of letter writing isnt dead. Students at the school were given the task of writing a letter to a notable person or celebrity of their choice in the hopes of getting a response. So far, the task has been a major success with students receiving replies from President of Ireland Michael D Higgins, Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal, and they even featured on Ray Darcys RTE Radio One show. Ms Curtin was also a person of choice for student Lucy Ryan who received a response from the author before her visit to the east Limerick school. Hong Kong: eHealth+ briefing held for care homes The Health Bureau today held a briefing session for representatives from residential care homes (RCHs) for the elderly and disabled, introducing them to the new functions of eHealth+ and encouraging them to join an eMedication project. At the session, an officer from the bureau introduced the nine core functions of eHealth+, and explained how the eMedication function can help to optimise the medication management system and protocol at RCHs. The eMedication function of eHealth+ enables RCHs to gain access to electronic prescription information about their residents, thereby minimising the reliance on manual copying procedures and providing convenience to RCHs to follow up on drug distribution and administration. This will improve not only efficiency but also drug monitoring within RCHs, thereby reducing the risk of medication incidents. For patients, eMedication can provide them with comprehensive prescription and dispensing records, ensuring that medication is handled in a safer and more convenient way for RCH residents. The eMedication (RCH) project supports participating RCHs and their electronic medication management system suppliers to implement system connections and improve information security. Interested RCHs may send an email for more details. The briefing session was co-organised by the Health Bureau in tandem with the Hospital Authority and the Logistics & Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre. More than 600 RCHs registered for the session. The Government is rolling out a five-year plan for eHealth+, as announced in the 2023 Policy Address, to transform eHealth from a health record-sharing system into a comprehensive healthcare information infrastructure that integrates functions of healthcare data sharing, service delivery and protocol management. Different features will be introduced progressively over the next five years. This story has been published on: 2024-03-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. TWO TEACHERS who have given over a half a century of dedicated service to the INTO and to education in Limerick were honoured by their colleagues at a special function in the Woodlands House Hotel, Adare. Ann McMahon and Catherine Walsh touched countless young lives in classrooms. Ms McMahon, a native of Castlemahon, served as branch secretary of Limerick City INTO for over twenty years - one of the largest and most active in the country with over 1,000 members. A graduate of Mary Immaculate College, Ms McMahon taught in Castleconnell NS before moving to St Augustines Special School, then based in Augustinian Lane in the city. Later, she worked with the visiting teacher service for Travellers before that was abolished as part of austerity cuts following the financial crash. Ms McMahon then took on the role of principal of St Josephs BNS in Rathkeale where she served as principal until retirement in 2020. Former Ballybrown NS principal and long-time Limerick INTO representative, Joe Lyons said Ms McMahon has been involved in many educational projects on a voluntary basis where her knowledge and wisdom are greatly valued. He recalled that she was secretary when Limerick hosted INTO Congress in 2002, the only time it has been held here. With approximately 800 delegates , plus guests, it was a huge undertaking, said Mr Lyons. Also honoured was Ms Walsh who spent her entire teaching career in the Salesian Primary school in Fernbank on the northside of Limerick city. READ MORE: Young Limerick change-makers awarded project funding In trade union circles, she was tasked with recruiting young teachers to the union and maintaining accurate records of membership. Her warm and welcoming personality ensured she was a great success in this role, said Mr Lyons. Branch chairperson Stephanie Collins made a presentation to both teachers while tributes were paid to them by a number of speakers. Among the guests in attendance were Tom OSullivan, former assistant general secretary of INTO; Ann Horan, Glin, incoming vice-president of the union; former members of the national executive Margaret Bernard, Adare and Seamus Long, Monaleen and incoming national executive member Tracie Tobin. CLICK NEXT FOR MORE PHOTOS KILMALLOCK GAA Club celebrated the 50th anniversary of their three-in- a-row of county senior hurling titles at Bulgaden Castle. This special event honoured the Kilmallock teams of 1973, 1974 and 1975 who famously won three senior hurling titles in a row. The club also won two minor titles and a juvenile cup during this hugely successful period. Event organisers invitied All-Ireland medal holders who played with Limerick, from the Kilmallock area between 1973 to 2018 to the event. During that time, the club has gathered nine members with 24 medals with the first of them, Mossie Dowling, winning his medal in 1973. READ MORE: PICTURES: Shamrocks all round for Kilfinane St Patrick's Day parade Kilmallock also invited the captains of the Killeedy team, who they beat 2-12 to 2-4 in 1973, as well as the Patrickswell captain from their 1974 and 1975 final wins over them. To add to the celebration, organisers invited all the winning captains from their 13 county final wins down through the years. Bulgaden Castle was filled with old pictures, newspaper articles, match reports and more from those historic years for the club between 1973 to 1975. The night was full of memories and reminiscing with Matt O'Callaghan, the MC for the occasion. Check out our gallery for more pictures from the event. THE POSTGRADUATE Students' Union at University of Limerick (ULPSU) has called an emergency meeting this Monday in relation to their stance regarding "no confidence" in the college's president. Limerick Live revealed on Sunday that 10 members of the colleges executive committee signed a letter calling on the president, Professor Kerstin Mey, to effectively resign. It is over the university paying significantly above market price for 20 properties in Rhebogue. Twenty homes in the city suburb were purchased for more than 11m - or around 550,000 each, on average, before any stamp duty. It has resulted in a financial loss to the university of 5.2m. READ MORE: University president asked to consider position in hard-hitting letter by staff ULPSU - the representative body for all postgraduate students on all postgraduate issues in UL - has called the online meeting for 1pm this Monday, March 25. The topic is "PSU stance regarding 'no confidence' in UL's president". "All UL postgrads, which number around 4,000, are welcome to attend," said a spokesperson. One former staff member told Limerick Live when 10 of the 13-strong UL executive committee (which includes President Mey) call for you to consider your position there is "something clearly wrong". "When the leadership of the university's president is built on sand the college can't focus on the student experience as it lurches from crisis to crisis," said the source. A UNION which represents some 4,000 postgraduate students in University of Limerick has called on UL president, Professor Kirsten Mey to resign this Monday afternoon. Their sentiments echo 10 members of the colleges executive committee who signed a letter on Thursday calling on Professor Mey to consider her position. It is over the university paying significantly above market price for 20 properties in Rhebogue. Twenty homes in the city suburb were purchased for more than 11m - or around 550,000 each, on average, before any stamp duty. It has resulted in a financial loss to the university of 5.2m. The Postgraduate Students' Union (PSU) at University of Limerick called an emergency meeting online this Monday at 1pm. The topic was "PSU stance regarding 'no confidence' in UL's president". PSU president, Roger Dsilva addressed the PSU executive, PSU council and members of the postgraduate community who were in attendance. There were two anonymous votes taken regarding the question asking if they should request the UL president to resign - one with all who were in attendance and a second in a closed meeting with only PSU council members. Both votes are understood to have been "overwhelmingly in favour of requesting her resignation". Following this meeting, a letter was sent to Professor Mey and the UL chancellor, Brigid Laffan. Excerpts from the letter include, "Following an emergency meeting today at 1pm on Teams with our constituents where we presented an urgent letter, we, the PSU council have been sanctioned by the postgraduate student body to inform you that collectively, we no longer believe that you hold the best interests of the university and should not continue in your role as the president". READ MORE: University president asked to consider position in hard-hitting letter by staff "Our concerns revolve around shortcomings in your leadership, decision-making, and preparedness for the role," they wrote. The letter continues: "We as a union urge you to recognise the gravity of this situation and to take decisive action in the best interests of our institution. It is imperative that UL continues to uphold its reputation for excellence and integrity, and we believe that a change in leadership is necessary to achieve this." The letter concludes with, "Be assured that we, the Postgraduate Students' Union, remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting the university and its community." Professor Mey addressed all staff in an email on Friday, March 22, in which she wrote that an issue has arisen in respect of the properties which were purchased on the universitys behalf in Rhebogue on the outskirts of the campus. New independent valuations have been received which confirm that the university paid significantly above market price for the Rhebogue properties. The university will have to absorb the resulting draft impairment, a sum in the region of 5.2m, in our financial accounts. This, coupled with the impairment arising from the purchase of the City Centre Campus, of which I have already advised you, will result in our financial year end position ending in deficit when a surplus had previously been anticipated. This outcome will be funded from the universitys financial reserves, said Professor Mey in the email. She said at Decembers meeting of the UL Governing Authority, a decision was approved to carry out a full review of the acquisition of the Rhebogue development. This fact-finding review was commissioned to examine compliance, process (including decision making) and the governance of the key aspects of the transaction. When the review is complete, the governing authority will determine the next steps which I will implement, said Professor Mey. She wrote that it was "a matter of regret for me as president and I am aware that there is frustration and anger among staff members that this has happened so soon after the issues that arose in relation to the City Centre Campus". This is an issue of major concern for the university in terms of management, governance and reputation. I am engaging with our stakeholders to chart the best way forward and there will be action taken as a result of the review that has been commissioned into the transaction, said Professor Mey. THE SOLE trade union at University of Limerick (UL) has said it no longer has any confidence in the college's president, Prof Kerstin Mey. Members of UL Unite, which represents almost 900 staff at the university, held their general meeting last Thursday and this Monday afternoon, in a statement, they expressed "despair and sadness as to the direction University of Limerick is taking" as well as "outrage" after it emerged the institution lost 5.2m after paying inflated prices for 20 homes in Rhebogue last year. And, also this Monday afternoon, a total of 73 professors at the college have called for the UL president to resign with immediate effect. In a letter, seen by Limerick Live, which was sent to the university chancellor, the university president, members of the governing authority and members of the university executive, the academics wrote there is a "crisis in leadership" at UL. "The recent revelations regarding UL's management of the Rhebogue development, must mark the end of the leadership of President Mey. For this reason, we are calling for President Mey to resign with immediate effect," it adds. The professors all signed the letter in a personal capacity. It has been confirmed that UL bosses will again appear before the Dail's Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, April 11 in relation to this latest overspend. In an email sent to staff and students last Friday, Prof Mey admitted the overspend is "an issue of major concern for the university in terms of management, governance and reputation". In a strongly-worded statement issued this Monday, UL Unite's convenor, Prof Eoin Devereux says members want an "investigation" to "identify those involved in this debacle". "The ways in which the University of Limerick is managed needs to be radically overhauled," adds the statement which was sent to the UL chancellor Prof Brigid Laffan. The intervention of UL Unite members comes a day after Limerick Live revealed that 10 members of the college's 13-strong executive committee have signed a letter calling on Prof Mey to effectively resign from the post. Elsewhere, crisis meetings were being held this Monday by the Deans of the various schools of the university, and the faculty heads, in response to the disclosures. On top of this, a union which represents some 4,000 postgraduate students at the college has called on UL president, Professor Kirsten Mey to resign. Twenty homes in the city suburb were purchased for more than 11m - or around 550,000 each, on average, before any stamp duty. It has resulted in a financial loss to the university of 5.2m. In the statement sent by Prof Devereux on behalf of UL Unite he pointed to the extra expenditure UL paid out on the former Dunnes Stores building at Sarsfield Street in the city centre. The college paid almost 3m over the market value of this prime site. "The Rhebogue write-down combined with the write-down on the Dunnes Stores building is more than 8m. This is a shameful waste of scarce resources which might have been used to better our university and the student experience." He wrote: "The mismanagement of University of Limerick cannot continue" and confirmed that its membership has no confidence in Prof Mey. Prior to the latest news emerging about the overspend in Rhebogue, UL Unite surveyed its membership at UL regarding its management culture, and discussed the results of this at the meeting on Thursday last. "The most striking feeling at our general meeting to discuss the survey results was one of despair and sadness as to the direction the University of Limerick is taking," he wrote. In another development this Monday, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley said he believes the final bill for the houses in Rhebogue will come to more than 12.5m, with each property costing 629,000. He said he had seen a property in the same estate on sale for just over a third of that - 250,000. READ MORE: Limerick Parochial house with rich history hits the market "This is incredible stuff. This is public money mainly, it's students money. We have a situation here where UL, who have been in before our committee on a number of occasions, not least in relation to a former Dunnes Stores site which was valued at 3m which finished up costing 8.3m. It's a case of here we go again," he told RTE Radio One's News at One. "I would have thought lessons were learnt following the Dunnes Stores site which was purchased at more than double the valuation at the time," he added. "Did they do comparisons with other homes in that area? Did they factor in the extra costs such as stamp duty, any adaptation works to be carried out? Why were the lessons of the Dunnes Stores site ignored?" News presenter Brian Dobson asked Mr Stanley whether he thought there was a valuation carried out of the properties. The Laois-Offaly TD said: "We had them in the past saying they'd always say they'd have professional assistance and professional advice and they'd have consultants buying for them, and they'd have internal heads of management or property management. What professional valuations did they get? If you went on Daft.ie, if you went on the internet for five minutes, they'd have seen what was available. Did they do comparisons with other homes in that area?" UL declined to comment. New Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has ruled out an early general election in Ireland, stating he wants the coalition Government to run its full term. Speaking to the media shortly after he was confirmed as party leader, Mr Harris also said that it had been an emotional day for him. His ascent to the leadership of the party was sparked by the shock resignation of Leo Varadkar. Mr Harris will replace Mr Varadkar as taoiseach when the Dail returns after Easter. However, opposition parties have used Mr Varadkars resignation as the opportunity to call for an early general election. If the coalition Government of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party runs its full term, an election must be held by March 22 next year. Mr Harris said: I want to get this government back to work, I want to deliver for people, I want to implement the programme for government and I want to renew my party right across the country. It is my view and my intention that this government should run full term. He added: We have a lot of work to do and I dont think there needs to be any mystique around my intention where you guys ask me every second day where my head is at. I am planning for this government, should I be lucky enough to form one and to become taoiseach, I would like to see this government run full term. Mr Harris said he was humbled by the responsibility of being confirmed as the new leader of Fine Gael. He became emotional while delivering his first speech as leader when he paid tribute to his family. Speaking later, he said: Today is an emotional day for me personally. It is a day I am greatly humbled by. Im absolutely honoured to have become this evening the leader of the Fine Gael party. This is a job I approach with determination, resolve, but a real sense of humility. The Wicklow TD refused to be drawn on any plans to reshuffle Government ministers within his party. He said instead his priority was to engage with his coalition partners. He said: I look forward to engaging with the Tanaiste Micheal Martin and the leader of the Green Party Eamon Ryan. Ive had a brief conversation by phone with both of them this evening. My priority right now is speaking to the Tanaiste and minister Ryan. I know that that relationship between the three leaders is really important to the success of this coalition, and I value that. As the days develop, we will begin to get closer in terms of cabinet decisions. House price increases in some of the more affordable counties in Ireland have jumped by up to three times above the national average in the first three months of the year. The details are revealed in the latest REA Average House Price Index which shows houses prices have jumped considerably in counties where better value is offered. House buyers are willing to move from Dublin and larger cities in search of affordability, with three-bed houses in Longford, selling at an average of 181,700 a rise of 7,700 (4.4pc) in just 12 weeks, or well over 1pc a month. This level of increase is more on a level which was encountered in during the Celtic Tiger boom years. The national average selling price of a three-bed, semi-detached house is now 308,235 which is up 1.3pc in the same three-month period. The REA Average House Price Index, a quarterly bulletin that analyses up-to-date sale prices of Irelands typical stock home, gives an accurate picture of the second-hand property market in towns and cities countrywide. Similar rises have been reported in other more affordable counties like Cavan and Tipperary, with prices up 17,500 (7pc) in Nenagh in the first quarter of this year being the highest recorded nationwide. Prices in Dublin city rose by 1.1pc in the last three months, meaning that the average three-bed semi in the capital is now selling at 517,333 an increase of 3.8pc in the last year. There continues to be strong demand throughout the country as buyers compete for the lowest supply of residential property in two decades despite the high level of values and interest rates, said REA spokesperson, Barry McDonald. On the positive side for potential homeowners, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant has finally kicked in, opening up a market for homes in need of improvement. These were the type of property previously really hard to sell with people afraid of refurbishment costs, limiting the market to builders and developers. If a home is declared vacant for two years or more, and it qualifies under the scheme, buyers know they can avail of a grant for refurbishment of up to 50,000 and up to 70,000 if there is a structural issue. Major cities outside the capital experienced the highest rise in the Q1 2024 survey up by an average of over 5,000 in the last three months. The 1.8pc increase is equivalent to an average selling price of 328,750 with the annual rate of increase at 6pc. Homes in commuter counties rose by 0.6pc over the past three months to an average of 321,667, with a 1.3pc rise in Kildare and prices relatively static in Meath, Louth and Wicklow. Longford experienced the highest rise per county in the survey, with average three bed semis now selling at 181,700 a 4.4pc increase in just 12 weeks. Local agent Joe Brady said that Longfords accessibility to Dublin is still a big draw for those who are hybrid working. We expect a rise in values by as much as 5% this spring, based on current sales. To date, there are no new homes on the market in County Longford and it may be late 2024 or into 2025 before we see more new supply, he said. Nenagh in Tipperary saw prices increase by 7pc to 265,000 in 12 weeks a rise of 17,500 as extreme shortages of supply saw intense competition for each house, according to REA agent Eoin Dillion. A popular baby product sold to hundreds of parents in Ireland is being recalled due to a major safety hazard. According to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), JoJo Mamam Bebe Ltd is carrying out a recall of the Silicone Soother Clip in pink, grey and blue to a risk of choking. The bead component of the soother holder reportedly has no ventilation holes; if this is caught in a childs airway there would not be enough air to pass around it, which could lead to choking. The model numbers of the affected products are E2048 (pink), E2049 (blue) and E2059 (grey), and the barcode is 5054298261983. Multiple batch numbers are affected: UKPO0001684 UKPO0009394 UKPO0009418 UKPO0013242 UKPO0022002 UKPO0030091 UKPO0031938 UKPO0001682 UKPO0001683 UKPO0009395 UKPO0009396 UKPO0009419 UKPO0009420 UKPO0009940 UKPO0013243 UKPO0015595 UKPO0022004 UKPO0030092 UKPO0031939 There are approximately 808 affected products in the Republic of Ireland. Customers should stop using the product and keep it out of the reach of children. To arrange a collection with JoJo Maman Bebe, please call +44 333 777 4584 (lines are open between 8am to 6pm Monday to Sunday) or, alternatively, you can return the item to a store (for a full refund). If you have given this item as a gift, please ask the recipient to contact JoJo Maman Bebe as soon as possible. Xiaomi's CEO revealed on Monday his ambitious vision for the company's inaugural electric vehicle, aiming for it to be the epitome of style, ease of handling, and intelligent features, all while maintaining an affordable price tag below 500,000 yuan ($69,424), reported Reuters. This announcement comes as Xiaomi prepares to kickstart orders for the vehicle, named the SU7, later this week. The highly anticipated car, also known as the Speed Ultra (SU), is set to make its official pricing range announcement on Thursday, with orders opening shortly afterward. Lei Jun, the CEO, shared his insights via his official Weibo account, marking the first public disclosure of the upper pricing limit for the SU7. Excitement has been brewing since Xiaomi unveiled the vehicle in December, along with its bold ambition to rank among the world's top five automakers. Lei Jun has been vocal about the SU7's advanced technology, boasting capabilities that rival Tesla and Porsche electric vehicles in terms of acceleration. In anticipation of the imminent launch, Xiaomi stores across China commenced displaying the SU7, drawing in eager prospective buyers and automotive enthusiasts to catch a glimpse of the "ocean blue" variant. Furthermore, the company rolled out its dedicated "Xiaomi Car" app on Chinese app platforms. The SU7 will be available in two variants, offering driving ranges of up to 668km (415 miles) and 800km on a single charge, respectively. This puts it ahead of Tesla's Model S, which boasts a range of up to 650km. Amidst a smartphone market slowdown, Xiaomi, China's fifth-largest smartphone manufacturer, is diversifying its portfolio into electric vehicles, a strategy first unveiled in 2021. Joining the ranks of other Chinese tech giants like Huawei and Baidu, Xiaomi aims to leverage its expertise in technology to make a mark in the EV industry. With a commitment of $10 billion investment over the next decade, Xiaomi is among the few newcomers in China's EV market to secure approval from authorities, who are cautious about exacerbating the existing supply glut. Production of Xiaomi's cars is underway in collaboration with a subsidiary of state-owned BAIC Group, utilizing a Beijing-based factory with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles. (With inputs from Reuters) Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Amul parent Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Monday announced the launch of its four variants of milk in the US market within a week, to cater to the Indian diaspora and Asian population in the country, news agency PTI reported. This will be the first time that the GCMMF will be exporting fresh milk outside the country. GCMMF MD Jayen Mehta told PTI, "We have been exporting dairy products for many decades. This is the first time we are launching fresh milk outside India." "The GCMMF has tied up with 108-year old cooperative organisation Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA) to launch fresh milk in the US market," he added. Last week Amul, the country's largest dairy products brand, announced its plans to launch its fresh milk range to the US consumers for the first time. The GCMMF said milk collection and processing will be done by its strategic partner MMPA, and marketing and branding of the Amul fresh milk will be done by the Indian firm. "Recipe will be ours. Within one week, Amul Taaza, Amul Gold, Amul Shakti and Amul Slim n Trim will be available in the US market," Mehta said. He further said fresh milk will be available in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Dallas and Texas among others. GCMMF will target non-resident Indians (NRIs) and the Asian population. When asked about the selling target, the GCMMF MD said the company will focus on branding and marketing for the next 3-4 months. "We are expecting a good response from customers," he added. Mehta said GCMMF would also launch fresh milk products like paneer, curd and buttermilk in the near future. It is important to note that GCMMF is already exporting dairy products in about 50 countries. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Hong Kong: Winnie Ho visits Huizhou Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho today visited Huizhou to inspect the production of Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) modules for Light Public Housing (LPH). In the morning, Ms Ho visited CSCEC Science & Industry Greentech Corporation Ltd to learn about the smart and automated manufacturing processes involved in producing the modules. She expressed appreciation of the project teams efforts to support LPH housing works by investing a large amount of manpower and resources, and applying advanced management and construction technologies. The team is exploring how to optimise applications of technologies such as Multi-trade Integrated Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing and MiC Lift, with the target of developing Hong Kongs first Steel Full MiC high-rise construction project. The corporation has been commissioned to produce about 9,300 MiC modules for several LPH projects, with the first batch of modules expected to arrive in the city next month at the earliest. Noting that construction work for the first four LPH projects has is progressing at full speed, the housing chief said intake for the Yau Pok Road project is tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of next year. She thanked the construction team for their hard work and encouraged them to deploy the best talent and most advanced construction technologies to expedite the construction of housing to improving the living conditions of people living in inadequate accommodation. In the afternoon, Ms Ho visited the factory of Hong Kong enterprise Yau Lee Wah Construction Materials (Huizhou) Company Ltd to learn about the innovative technologies and smart equipment adopted by Hong Kong contractors in manufacturing MiC modules. The factory has supplied over 90,000 units of precast elements, including MiC modules, for Housing Authority public housing projects in locations including Tung Chung and Anderson Road. This story has been published on: 2024-03-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. New Delhi: A strange sequence of events at small-cap companies Tourism Finance Corp. and Cupid Ltd, and the role of their biggest shareholder Aditya Halwasiyawhose elder brother's business partner Hari Shankar Tibrewala is under scrutinyhave puzzled investors and analysts. The Enforcement Directorate suspects Tibrewala is a hawala operator who has manipulated share prices of some companies. On Saturday, contraceptives maker Cupid Ltd informed stock exchanges that it has withdrawn its plan to invest in Tourism Finance Corp., a company which offers finance to hotels and tour operators. Halwasiya is the biggest shareholder of both companies. Interestingly, when Tourism Finance Corp. had put the fund-raising plan to vote, Oriental Insurance Company, one of its three promoters with a 0.97% stake, had rejected the plan in a rare dissent. Nonetheless, the resolution was approved by over 95% of shareholders, according to voting disclosures reviewed by Mint. The story begins in September 2023 when Aditya Halwasiya and Halwasiya group company Columbia Petro Chem acquired Cupid, buying a 42% promoter stake for 160 crore, and becoming its biggest shareholder. On 20 February, Aditya Halwasiya acquired 13.06% stake in Tourism Finance Corp. for 250 crore, becoming its single-largest shareholder. Within a week, Tourism Finance said it plans to raise 200 crore from three entitiesCupid, whose biggest shareholder is Halwasiya; Columbia Petro Chem Pvt. Ltd, and Halwasiya himself by issuing warrants. Halwasiya agreed to invest 50 crore, while Columbia Petro Chem Pvt. Ltd and Cupid would bring in 100 and 50 crore, respectively. After conversion of warrants, Halwasiya, Columbia Petro Chem and Cupid would have owned 14.13%, 4.48% and 2.24%, respectively. Put simply, Halwasiya and the companies where his family is the biggest shareholder, stood to own 20.85% of Tourism Finance Corp post-completion of warrants. While Cupid had a market capitalization of 2,867 crore as of Friday, Tourism Finance Corp. was valued at 1,563 crore. Columbia Petro Chem is the flagship company of Universal Halwasiya Group, a six-decade-old Kolkata-based business group founded by Madan Mohan Halwasiya. Madan Mohan Halwasiyas grandson, Ajay Halwasiya, is one of the shareholders of Three Musketeers Hospitality, a Dubai-based hospitality firm. The two other co-founders are Hari Tibrewala and Surendra Bagri; their companies Zenith Multi Trading DMCC and JE Impex DMCC, are among the 13 entities whose assets were seized by the Enforcement Directorate earlier this month. Emails and messages sent to Sethurathnam Ravi, chairman of Tourism Finance Corp. and who also served as the chair of BSE between November 2017 and February 2019, on why a promoter entity opposed the 200 crore preferential share issue and the road ahead, considering Cupid has walked away, went unanswered. Cupid walking out will have no bearing on our preferential share issue and well still go ahead with it," an executive of Tourism Finance Corp said on the condition of anonymity, adding the companys capital adequacy ratio of over 60% is very healthy. Every shareholder has the right to vote as it deems fit and we respect the shareholders decision," said the executive when asked why Oriental Insurance rejected Tourism Finance Corps decision to issue shares on a preferential basis. Aditya Halwasiya denied that Cupid was planning to invest any money it raised in a recent preferential issue in Tourism Finance Corp. The 385 crore preferential allotment at Cupid Ltd (of which over 96 crore has come as the first tranche from the Cupid allottees) is in no way linked to the preferential allotment of 50 crore at TFCIL," Aditya Halwasiya said in an email response. The 385 crore is to be utilized for core Cupid Ltd business development and expansion. 50 crore that were assigned for TFCIL was already available as cash/investments with Cupid." The change of mind has come about after a lot of deliberation and is a strategic decision to ensure we utilize capital where it is most value-accretive for Cupid," Halwasiya added. But some market experts remain unconvinced. One of the reasons why Cupid decided to walk away from the preferential share issue of Tourism Finance Corp., which was not a good decision because they were investing in unrelated business, could be that the spotlight is on them over the promoters ties with Hari Tibrewala," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern Research. Lack of clarity about the source of funds of some investors seems to have thrown the entire SME market into mayhem, Subramanian added. A promoter like Aditya Halwasiya investing money along with the money of his company, Cupid, to buy shares of a company in an unrelated business (Tourism Finance Corp) is poor corporate governance. Especially when Cupid itself raised money from investors," said Nitin Mangal, a Mumbai-based Sebi-registered independent analyst. Aditya Halwasiya, 29, became Cupid's managing director last year, while his elder brother Ajay Halwasiya joined as an additional director in February. Ajay Halwasiya is also managing director of Three Musketeers Hospitality. "I, Aditya my family and business entities have received no communication from any statutory or investigative body regarding their investigation into Hari Tibrewala," said Ajay Halwasiya in response to a questionnaire. I believe in the business potential of TFCIL and would like to see the business get to the next level. We will look at what is best for all stakeholders across the board and will take a focused decision on this front as well," said Aditya. Like Cupid Ltd, I see a great launchpad for TFCIL". New Delhi: Measures to boost sunrise sectors such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and ways of making life easier for citizens will get priority in the 100-day programme the government is currently working on for implementation after the national elections running from April to June, two persons aware of the discussions said. The 100-day programme will have policy steps needed for short-term and long-term growth. Secretaries of different departments have been asked by ministers to consult stakeholders over the next month to come up with fresh ideas. The proposals will be taken up in the first cabinet meeting after the polls, one of the persons quoted above said. Sunrise sectors are in focus as they see fast growth, innovation, and have the potential for creating well-paying jobs for the youth, while also helping the country turn self-sufficient. While presenting the interim budget for next fiscal, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a 1-trillion corpus for financing private sector research and innovation in sunrise sectors. The governments scheme for attracting investments into manufacturing through production-linked incentives, too, covers sectors like electronics, pharmaceuticals, telecom, medical devices and drones. The measures being worked on broadly follow the NDA governments approach of undertaking reforms that help the overall economy and strengthen the exchequer for social transfers rather than offering upfront tax cuts or subsidies. This approach was evident from the interim budget for FY25 presented on 1 February, which chose not to be populist despite the impending national polls. Besides, the initial months of the new government will be the opportune time to pursue reforms, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Experts said that one goal the government has to pull off would be to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio for raising resources for its programmes. Tax-to-GDP ratio has to be raised from about 18% (Centre and states combined) to about 25%, which will generate the necessary resources for the government to undertake both the physical and social infrastructure expansion projects. It is critical to chart out a path to reach that long term goal of tax-GDP ratio with medium term milestones," said EY chief policy advisor D.K. Srivastava, stressing the need for a wider tax base. Ease of living will be a key element of the 100-day agenda. One of the measures the government is working on is making it easier for citizens to engage with various financial institutions as well as other agencies catering to the public to avoid multiple know your customer (KYC) verifications. Towards that goal, the use of a central KYC (CKC) registry by institutions like banks, insurers and other entities will be encouraged and streamlined. This will improve customer experience while reducing the cost of KYC verification for the institutions, said the person, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking special interest in measures to improve ease of living. Emails sent on Friday to the finance ministry, Prime Ministers Office, Cabinet Secretariat and to NITI Aayog requesting comments for the story remained unanswered. CKC is maintained by the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest (CERSAI), to which entities coming under Sebi, RBI, IRDAI and PFRDA now report customer information. According to a note posted on the website of CERSAI, more than 820 million KYC records of individuals and about 10 million records of legal entities have been uploaded by institutions to CKC as of December 2023. The number of records in the registry as well as its downloads are growing by the day, but an analysis of its usage suggests that over 71% of the records being uploaded are of customers whose KYC identifier is already issued by the registry. Those entities that have digitized their customer onboarding and have integrated their business processes with the registry have benefited from lower cost of KYC verification, the note said. A second person, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that proposals will be finalized after the polls. AL-HOL, SyriaA recent security sweep inside a sprawling fenced refugee camp holding 44,000 people turned up a raft of weapons, dozens of Islamic State militants and a Yazidi woman who had been held by the group for nearly 10 years. For many, the horrors of Islamic State ended when a U.S.-led military campaign collapsed the groups self-styled caliphate in 2019. But five years later, tens of thousands of civilians are still being kept in camps including in Al-Hol, which are filled with the families of Islamic State militants and others inadvertently swept up in the chaos of northeast Syria. The camps are part of a bigger problem. Some 9,000 Islamic State fighters are being held separately in a network of detention centers in the same region. The camps and detention centers are guarded by the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish-led force that joined with the U.S. to fight Islamic State and is now supported by American troops. The immediate challenge for the U.S. and its international partners is to ease the humanitarian plight of the camps residents and combat Islamic States stubborn efforts to radicalize the population. But the more daunting question is how to ensure thousands of the camps residents and imprisoned fighters are repatriated to their home countries before the region is racked by further turmoil. If a future U.S. administration were to pull its support for the Syrian Democratic Forces, or withdraw American forces, security at the camps and detention centers could collapse, potentially sparking a revival of Islamic State. Concerns about an Islamic State resurgence extend beyond the Middle East. U.S. officials believe a terrorist attack Friday on a concert hall in a Moscow suburb that killed at least 133 people was carried out by a branch of Islamic State based in Afghanistan, known as ISIS-K. Absolutely Al-Hol is a ticking time bomb because it is one of the most miserable places on earth," said Dana Stroul, a former senior Pentagon official for the Middle East. The potential triggers for that time bomb could come in different forms. In October 2019, then-President Donald Trump called for the complete withdrawal of American forces from Syria, sending shudders through the U.S. military before he reversed course and opted to retain some 900 troops in the country. It is unclear what Trumps position on Syria would be if he returns to the White House next year. A potential threat to the security of the camps is the animosity between the Syrian Kurds and Turkey, which has repeatedly bombed their forces and mounted incursions into Syria. The Syrian Kurds have warned they may need to redirect their guards to other missions if they come under a sustained Turkish attack. Iraqs fraught politics is another wild card. A move by hard-line Shiite politicians in Baghdad to evict the 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq could undermine the Pentagons effort to logistically support its more modest effort in northeast Syria. Compounding the U.S. predicament is the absence of any fallback plan for housing the displaced civilians and detaining the fighters if the U.S. leaves Syria and its Syrian partner drops the mission. Neither the U.S. nor its international allies want to hand over the facilities to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has been accused of massive human-rights abuses. Nor have there been any discussions to transfer the facilities to the United Nations, which has no presence in what is effectively a semiautonomous region that is beyond the control of the Damascus authorities. We have literally been having this conversation since 2019," said Devorah Margolin of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Washington-based think tank. The pressing questions now are what can we do to make the international community understand that repatriation must happen more quickly and whats Plan B if the U.S. does leave?" The Al-Hol refugee camp dates back decades. But its populationtogether with the nearby Roj facilityswelled to more than 60,000 after Islamic States last stand at the Syrian town of Baghouz in the Euphrates River Valley. The total population of the two camps, now 46,500, includes women who married into Islamic State or were forced to have children with the groups fighters. More than half of the camps residents are under the age of 12. There is also a small population of men whose degree of affiliation with Islamic State isnt always known, according to State Department officials. Children are particularly vulnerable. Only a quarter of the children in camps receive regular educational instruction, State Department officials say. In the fall of 2022, camp guards made a horrific discovery, according to U.S. officials: the heads of two Egyptian girls, one 12, and another 13, in the camp sewer. Cassandra Bodart, a Belgian woman at the Roj camp, wants to return home but hasnt been able to. She lost her child in a bombing during the war, she said, and the whereabouts of her husband, an Islamic State fighter, are unknown. Belgium has thus far refused to take her back. She complains about the lack of electricity, but her biggest concern is security. I dont feel safe," she said. While the State Department says violent crime has since gone down over the past year, a report from a U.N. human-rights expert who visited Al-Hol in July 2023 described a perilous atmosphere. Insecurity pervades daily life in the camp, and incidents of violence, including murder, physical harm, intimidation and sexual assault occur with some regularly, with no investigation or measures in place to prevent recurrence," the U.N. report said. A persistent human-rights worry has been the separation of hundreds of preteen boys, who are brought to all-male facilities because of concerns they could become security risks or coerced into having sex with women to give birth to the next generation of Islamic State fighters, officials in Al-Hol said. The separations have stoked fears among families and prompted some mothers to try to hide their male children to keep them safe, the U.N. expert reported. A State Department official said the U.S. is urging that the boys only be taken away from their mothers after an exhaustive determination there is a security imperative for it." A parallel network of 22 detention centers for Islamic State fighters has its own challenges. Security has been improved at a major prison in Hasakah, Syria, where Islamic State militants, armed with car bombs, attempted to bust out in January 2022. The U.S. helped put down that prison break with airstrikes, but a Pentagon Inspector General report last year said that eight prison facilities required immediate improvements" and that programs to train Syrian guards for both the detention centers and camps were behind schedule. The longer-term solution is to winnow the populations in the camps and detention centers. But repatriations are painstakingly slow and many countries are reluctant to take back their citizens. Over the past three years, about 10,200 people at Al-Hol and Roj have been repatriated. State Department officials say they hope to repatriate several thousand more this year, including 600 to 700 who are non-Iraqi and non-Syrian. They have been far harder to repatriate. Nearly 800 fighters, mostly Iraqis, have been sent to their countries over the past three years, though some 9,000 fighters remain. They include 1,800 who came from outside Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State and who have proved to be most difficult to send home. Last year, the U.S. repatriated only 17 Saudi fighters of this group. This year it is trying to do much better, though State Department officials say much depends on efforts by the U.S.s Syrian-Kurdish partners to identify potential candidates for repatriation in a timely way in their sprawling network of prisons. More than 75 nations are represented in the camps, including about 100 Uyghur fighters and about 1,500 Uyghur civilians, who cant be returned to China because of human-rights concerns. About 40 Americans have been returned from the camps, including nearly a dozen who faced prosecution in the U.S. Ninety-nine Kyrgyz women and children were repatriated from the camps earlier this year. Russia has repatriated 448 individuals from Syria since 2019, the majority of whom were returned from northeast Syria, including the Al-Hol and the Roj camps, according to a database Margolin prepared. About 2,000 Russian citizens remain in the camps and detention centers, mainly women and children, according to U.S. officials. The U.S. isnt involved in Russian repatriations. The top U.S. military commander in the region, Gen. Erik Kurilla, who visited Al-Hol and Roj camps earlier this month, emphasized the need to shrink the camps. This requires the continued effort of the international community to return these families to their countries of origin," he said. That, however, would still leave the need for a long-term solution. The reality is that Al-Hol existed before 2019. Al-Hol will continue to exist," the State Department official said. We dont know exactly what the long-term numbers are going to look like, but there are going to be people in and around Al-Hol for a long period of time." Write to Gordon Lubold at gordon.lubold@wsj.com and Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com BEIJINGIn an annual rite of spring, China this week has been pitching American and other Western corporate executives on the countrys prospects. The difference this year: a franker-than-usual recognition of the mounting concerns around Chinas economy, from more senior-than-usual officials. On Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a keynote speech before the top executives of Apple, McKinsey, Qualcomm and other multinationals at the China Development Forum, a government-sponsored economic and business forum held each March in the Chinese capital. The presence this year of Li, Chinas No. 2 official and the highest-ranking leader to address the forum since it started in 2000, hinted at the elevated stakes for the worlds second-largest economy, which has seen growth slow, foreign investment decline and fears grow around the security environment. Li, as expected, touted the countrys massive market and its long-term growth prospects in his address. What was more surprising was his acknowledgment of many of the fears that have kept foreign executives on the sidelines: mounting risks that China faces in the real-estate sector and with local-government debt. The forum is set to be followed by an audience later this week with Xi Jinping, The Wall Street Journal has reporteda rare opportunity for top American executives to hear directly from Lis boss, the countrys most-powerful leader in a generation. The question now for many of the executives is whether these gestures will amount to much beyond keynote speeches in conference halls. Li, while directly addressing some of the items on the foreign business communitys mind, was quick to add that China would tackle the challenges, without offering many new details. He also didnt touch directly upon security concerns, or fears of Chinas overcapacity, both of which have become central preoccupations for many foreign businesses. Even so, the engagement reflects Chinas keen desire to snap foreign companies out of their investment deep freeze. Many American and other global companies have put new investments into China on hold after years of a U.S.-China trade war, three years of closed borders during the pandemic and a lackluster post-Covid reopening that raised questions about the countrys longer-term growth trajectory. Last year, Chinas gross domestic product grew 5.2%, one of the lowest levels in decades, as a prolonged property-sector slowdown wreaks havoc on consumer confidence. The ailing economy aside, Xis growing emphasis on national-security threats has led to a series of high-profile raids, detentions and other cases that have underscored worries among American firms as they face greater scrutiny at home over their footprint in China. The headwinds have resulted in a drop in foreign investment, which fell 8% in 2023 from the previous year in yuan terms. The decline has steepened in the first two months of this year, declining 20% in yuan terms from the same period in 2023. As fresh investment has dried up, Beijing has stepped up its efforts to reengage business leaders. Chinas Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met last week with roughly a dozen global CEOs, including Apples Tim Cook, Qualcomms Cristiano Amon and Microns Sanjay Mehrotra. It also follows the release of a new action plan last week by Chinas cabinet, known as the State Council, to attract foreign investment, as well as revised rules that would ease the overseas transfer of some trade, cross-border transportation and transnational manufacturing data from China, a long-anticipated move that has been high on many foreign companies wish lists. Foreign executives attending the forum said these steps have been encouraging, but that they are still hoping for further action. Denis Depoux, global managing director at Munich-based consulting company Roland Berger, praised Li for offering a candid assessment of Chinas economic problemsan important starting point for discussions. Now, he said, we can have a dialogue that is based on the actual situation." Still, executives are looking for a little bit more action on the reform front" before they modify any investment plans, said Sean Stein, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. They are sending the right signals," said Stein, who is also a senior adviser at Covington & Burlings Public Policy Practice, which advises companies on regulatory and legal risks, referring to Chinese officials. But those signals really arent enough to fundamentally change the attitude toward investment right now." Though Li didnt address foreign companies national-security concerns, Evan Greenberg, CEO of insurer Chubb and co-chairman of the China Development Forum, directly addressed the issue in his speech, which came immediately after Lis. Greenberg defended Chinese leaders prerogative to pursue their own vision of national security, but also emphasized the private sectors critical role in helping China realize its goals. China still needs capital, technology and know-how from the rest of the world," he said. Grace Zhu contributed to this article. Write to Yoko Kubota at yoko.kubota@wsj.com TEL AVIVIsraeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in Washington on Monday to discuss U.S. plans for how the war should move forward in Gaza, as talks on a temporary cease-fire stalled after negotiators failed to bridge key divides between Israel and Hamas, Arab mediators said. Top Israeli negotiators left Doha, Qatar, over the weekend as a stalemate with Hamas persisted over when civilians should be allowed to return to northern Gaza and the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for Israeli hostages. Hamas is pressing for the immediate return of civilians to northern Gaza, many of whom left following Israeli military requests for them to evacuate the area ahead of its invasion in October. Israel is insisting on a gradual flow of civilians northward, only starting two weeks after a deal is signed, according to Egyptian officials. Israel is also pushing back against exchanging 30 Palestinian prisoners convicted of serious crimes for each female Israeli soldier held hostage by Hamas. Failure to reach a deal could accelerate the timeline for Israel to move ahead with a planned operation in southern Gaza that is likely to strain relations with the U.S. It could also damp hopes for a major humanitarian relief effort in the enclave, where some areas are already facing the prospect of famine and shortages of medical supplies are widespread, international organizations say. The U.S. and international organizations have increased their calls for a cease-fire in recent days. The U.S. backed a failed U.N. resolution for a cease-fire involving the release of hostages. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, according to Palestinian health authorities, whose numbers dont distinguish between militants and noncombatants. Israel says 130 hostages are still being held in Gaza. They were taken when Hamas stormed across the border on Oct. 7 and killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities. Adding urgency, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would soon invade Rafah, a southern Gaza city where two-thirds of Gazas residents are now sheltering, alongside the majority of Hamass remaining fighting forces. In a sign of increasing friction between Israel and its greatest ally, Netanyahu said Israel would push ahead with the offensive regardless of U.S. opposition. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Netanyahu that Israels security could be achieved without the move, in a lightning trip to Tel Aviv last week. Gallant will meet with senior U.S. officials on Monday and Tuesday to discuss U.S. ideas for how to move forward in Rafah without a major operation. He said he would also discuss continued defense aid from the U.S. to ensure Israels military edge in the region, as well as efforts to restore calm on the Israel-Lebanon border. Meanwhile, international mediators in Doha, along with the families of hostages and former security officials, say Netanyahu is hampering Israels ability to reach an agreement, partly by limiting the mandate of the negotiating team headed by David Barnea, the head of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The team converged on the Qatari capital over the weekend alongside Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel. If the negotiators have to refer back to the war cabinet for everything that theyre offering, it makes it very difficult to negotiate," said Gershon Baskin, a former Israeli hostage negotiator who helped broker a 2011 hostage deal with Hamas. You cant negotiate in that way. Negotiations have a flow of their own." A senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations said that while Israels cabinet hadnt granted the negotiation team all it wanted, their mandate was enough to reach an agreement. A senior Israeli official involved in the talks said Netanyahu had agreed to an American compromise proposal put forward in Qatar that included raising the number of Palestinian prisoners that Israel would free in exchange for hostages. Israel is waiting for Hamass response, the official said. Israel still has working teams on the ground in Qatar hammering out details with the mediators, the official said. Arab mediators said the U.S. had made suggestions for bridging the gap between Israel and Hamas. They said Israel responded positively, but added that it wasnt a brand-new proposal from the U.S. Israeli officials said they expected the current round of talks could take weeks because each proposal would need the immediate response from Hamass leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, who Israel believes is hiding underground. The mediators hoped to broker an agreement quicker than a few weeks. Netanyahu says he is committed to getting a deal to release the hostages but faces record-low approval ratings and his delicate, far-right coalition may fray under the strain of hostage deal that includes significant Israeli concessions. Releasing Palestinian prisoners convicted of killing Israelis is a particularly sensitive issue and is likely to stir opposition among Netanyahus political base. Some analysts and former security officials say Netanyahu is more focused on his own political survival than reaching a deal. He wants a deal, but he doesnt want to pay the price of the deal and he wants to prolong the war," said Baskin. Israel has said that at least 33 of the hostages remaining in Gaza are dead. Families of the hostages and Israeli medical officials are concerned that the number will continue to rise without a deal. Representatives of the families sent a letter to President Biden last week, urging him to push Netanyahu toward a deal. As Israels closest ally, we seek your assistance in steering the Israeli Prime Minister towards the right course of actionWe are increasingly frustrated and worried about the lack of ongoing communication and commitment from the Israeli Prime Minister and the War Cabinet to the hostage release cause," read the letter. Dov Lieber contributed to this article. Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com Holi Bank Holiday on March 25, 2024: All banks public and private will be closed today on March 25 (Monday) on account of the Holi festival. Notably, this has been a long weekend off for banks with services being shut since March 23 for fourth Saturday and on March 24 for Sunday leaves. However, while Holi is being celebrated in most states on March 25, please note that some holiday dates will differ as per the local customs and among states. Also Read | Holi 2024: Is the Indian stock market closed? Public banks have a total of 14 listed non-working days in March 2024, including public holidays, state-specific holidays, the mandated second and fourth Saturdays and all Sundays, as determined by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the corresponding state governments. See | Maharashtra Bank Holidays in 2024 Below is the full list of other bank holidays in March 2024 National Holidays March 1: Chapchar Kut (Mizoram) March 8: Mahashivratri (except Tripura, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Itanagar, Rajasthan, Nagaland, West Bengal, New Delhi, Goa, Bihar, Meghalaya) March 25: Holi (except Karnataka, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Kerala, Nagaland, Bihar, Srinagar) March 29: Good Friday (except Tripura, Assam, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh) Also Read | Bank Holidays in 2024. Check the full list here State Holidays March 22: Bihar Diwas (Bihar) March 26: Yaosang second day/Holi (Odisha, Manipur, Bihar) March 27: Holi (Bihar) Regular Bank Closures Every Second Saturday (March 9) Every Fourth Saturday (March 23) Sundays: March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Customers Can Use Online Banking Facilities, ATMs Notably, regardless of a national or state holiday, online banking services continue as usual and customers can access their banks' websites, mobile apps or ATMs for urgent transactions. However, in case of work needing bank staff assistance, it becomes important that customers keep an eye out for the bank holiday schedule and note specific dates to plan their visits. While our list provides a general overview, it's important to note that regional variations might exist. To ensure you're fully prepared, double-check with your specific bank branch or their official website for the most up-to-date and accurate holiday schedule in your local area. Also Read | Are SBI branches near you open today? Here's when the bank will remain closed on Saturdays in 2024 Bank Holidays List for 2024 The RBI releases the full list of bank holidays for the year, based on factors such as national/state holidays, cultural or religious observance, operational requirements, government announcements, and coordination with other banks. It's important to note that the central bank communicates its holiday schedule through official channels, including its website and notifications to banks and financial institutions. Also See | Stock market holiday 2024: Check days, dates, and trading holidays in the new year Nationwide access to online banking services will persist despite the shutdown of either private or public sector banks. It becomes imperative for individuals to cultivate a heightened awareness of scheduled bank holidays, taking note of the specific dates, thereby enabling them to meticulously plan their visits to their nearby branches. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! In recent years, India has risen to a position where it boasts the world's largest overseas diaspora, comprising approximately 32 million NRIs and OCIs. Among the diverse Indian NRI community , the Gulf countries remain the most concentrated, followed by countries like Singapore, the US, Canada, and the UK. As a significant number of NRIs move abroad in pursuit of better job opportunities and education, it's crucial to understand that they are taxed in India based on income generated within the country. In response to the consistent increase of NRIs, a recent survey conducted by SBNRI, a comprehensive investment platform for NRIs and OCIs, highlighted the intricacies of tax navigation for NRIs and OCIs in 2024. Concurrently, the Indian government is striving to streamline the taxation process for NRIs. However, despite their diligent efforts, the tax landscape for NRIs remains fraught with various challenges. In the realm of taxation, 14.11% of NRIs from Australia, followed by 13.10% from the UK, and 8.06% from the US consider double taxation as the major challenge when filing taxes as an NRI or OCI. Meanwhile, 12.10% from the US, 9.05% from the UK, and 6.02% from Australia identified obtaining taxation documents from overseas as the most significant hurdle in filing taxes as NRIs. Amidst the rising challenges for filing taxes as NRIs, Mudit Vijayvergiya of SBNRI, commented, While, the process of filing taxes for NRIs has been subjected to multiple revisions, aimed at making it more streamlined and simpler, the proliferation of tax-related issues has only grown further. Having witnessed NRIs grapple with the complex nuances of the taxation process, it's paramount to partner with experts who can guide them through this journey, mitigating any sort of disparities." Amidst the complex taxation environment, the survey revealed that 10% of NRIs based in the US, followed by 7% from Australia, Canada, and Singapore, respectively, only report income earned in India to the Indian Tax Authorities. In contrast, 6% from Canada, 4% from the US and Singapore, and 3% from Australia disclosed that they report both their income earned in India and abroad to the Indian tax authorities. Filing taxes remains a challenging issue for NRIs and OCIs, but the rise of tax-saving options presents an attractive opportunity for them. About 7% of NRIs from the UK and Australia, as well as 5% from Canada and Singapore, take advantage of available tax-saving options. In contrast, only 2% from Australia, 4% from Canada and Singapore, and 6% from the UK are unaware of these tax-saving opportunities. Beyond the complex tax environment for NRIs, the survey also found that 5% of NRIs from Singapore, 4% from the UK, and 2% from the US do not file tax returns in India. Among those who do file, only a small fraction prefer to do it themselves by completing the forms. The majority, specifically 12% from the UK, along with 10% and 7% from the US and Singapore respectively, opt to hire a tax professional or advisor to handle it on their behalf. As the number of NRIs continues to rise, SBNRI's survey delved into the primary reasons for Indians living abroad. For 11% from the UK and 9% from Canada, among others, better employment opportunities were the main driving factor for living abroad. Additionally, pursuing higher education emerged as a primary reason, with 9%, 6%, and 5% from Singapore, Canada, and the UK respectively selecting this as their main motivation. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Google Doodle celebrates Greece National Day 2024. The doodle released today marks Greece Independence Day that is celebrated on March 25 every year. This doodle depicts waving national flag of Greece that will be visible across the country on this day. This day commemorates the beginning of the War of Greek Independence that began in 1821. History Since 1453, Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1821, the Greek people rose against the Ottoman Empire to reclaim their freedom on this day when Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the flag of revolution. The motto of the revolution was Freedom or death". The Greeks experienced early successes on the battlefield, including the capture of Athens in June 1822, but infighting ensued. By 1827 Athens and most of the Greek isles had been recaptured by the Turks. Great Britain, France, and Russia intervened in the conflict and supported the Greek revolution. Combined British, French, and Russian forces destroyed an Ottoman-Egyptian fleet at the naval Battle of Navarino. In 1829, the revolution came to an end when the Treaty of Edirne established an independent Greek state. Celebrations This day is observed as a national holiday in Greece. Towns and villages nationwide host parades to commemorate the holiday with the atmosphere filled with triumphant brass music and whistling crowds waving the national flag. Central Athens witnesses a huge gathering of people every year to watch military march. With marchers dressed in white pleated cotton skirts called fustanellas, red fez hats with black tassels and leather sandals decorated with pom-poms, this event in Athens is a sight to behold. Also read: Greece takes the helm in an EU naval mission in the Red Sea The country with the longest coastline in Europe marks the day's celebrations with get-togethers with loved ones. Greeks relish traditional delicacies as a tribute to the countrys coastal heritage. The traditional dishes consumed today include bakaliaros skordalia, a fried cod paired with creamy garlic sauce and many more. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media platform X to express his greetings on the occasion of the festival of colours, Holi that is being celebrated by Indians all over the world on Monday, March 25. PM Modi's post reads, Many happy Holi wishes to all family members of my country. May this traditional festival of colours filled with affection and harmony bring new energy and new enthusiasm in your lives." Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar also extended warm greetings on the occasion of Holi on Monday and in a message on X said, "Warm greetings on the joyous occasion of Holi, the festival of colours. Holi serves as a poignant juncture for us to rejuvenate our bonds and welcome the advent of spring. It embodies the celebration of life and the abundance of nature. May the colours of #Holi fill our lives with happiness, hope and harmony." Union Home Minister Amit Shah conveyed his greetings to the people on the festival of colours, Holi, wishing happiness, prosperity, harmony and new energy in everyone's life. "Best wishes to all the countrymen for the great festival of colours and joy, Holi. May this festival of happiness bring colours of prosperity and harmony into the lives of all of you and become a medium for the transmission of new energy," Amit Shah posted from his official X handle. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, too, extended his warm greetings to fellow countrymen on the occasion of Holi. "Best wishes to all of you on the festival of Holi. May this festival of colours infuse joy, enthusiasm and new energy into your life. Happy Holi!" Rajnath Singh posted from his handle on X. Earlier, on Sunday, the Defence Minister celebrated the festival of colours with soldiers in Leh. He was accompanied by Chief of the Army Staff, General Manoj Pande and General Officer Commanding, Fire and Fury Corps, Lt Gen Rashim Bali. He also spoke to the commanding officer deployed at Siachen over the phone and promised to visit them as soon as possible. Holi, a festival celebrated with as much fervour in the country as it is overseas, will be marked on March 25, Monday, this year. The festival is preceded by a ritual of lighting bonfires called Holika Dahan, signifying the burning of the demon Holika. The festival is dedicated to Lord Krishna, who is believed to have spent a considerable amount of time in a region called Braj in Uttar Pradesh. It not only replicates the spirit of Holi but also impersonates the timeless love of Radha and Krishna. Amidst the revelry, traditional sweets are shared, fostering a sense of amity and togetherness among the people, with revellers exuding the spirit of joy and love. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Holi, the festival of colours is being celebrated today on Monday, March 25 as people from all over the country participate in the festivities with enthusiasm, pomp and fervour. Let's take a look at how the festival is being celebrated across the country. Visuals of Holi celebrations from Radha Vallabh Temple in UP's Vrindavan shows large crowd flocking the streets and celebrating the day with colours. Visuals of Holi celebrations from Chennai's Sowcarpet show people taking to streets and celebrating the day with colours. In Rajasthan, Dhulandi festival is being celebrated on the occasion of Holi. It is organised by Tourism Department and is celebrated at Jaipur Khasa Kothi. In Punjab's Amritsar, BSF Jawans could be seen dancing and celebrating Holi at the Khasa Headquarters. In Assam's Dibrugarh, Shyam devotees played Holi with flowers in a special Prabhat Pheri. A devotee Mahavir Toshniwal told newswire ANI, I extend my best wishes to all the people of the country. This is the sixth year we have been organizing this. We play Holi with flowers and Itra." In West Bengal's Kolkata, visuals showed people applying colours to each other on the occasion of Holi. In Jadavpur, Trinamool Congress leader Sayoni Ghosh celebrated the festival with locals. In visuals from Haryana, Agricultural Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar could be seen celebrating the festival with locals in Yamunanagar. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath performed 'Rudrabhishek' at Gorakhnath Temple on the occasion of Holi. At Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar Temple in Madhya Pradesh, on the occasion of Holi 'Bhasma Aarti' took place. Meanwhile, actor Sanjay Mishra on Sunday participated in the 'Herbal Holi' celebration in Bhubaneswar. "Herbal Holi is a good thing, it is an organic future. We should avoid chemicals while playing Holi. So, it is a good practice in that direction," ANI quoted Sanjay Mishra as saying. In Maharashtra's Mumbai, visuals showed people celebrating the festival at Juhu beach. In Pune, children could be seen playing with colours as they celebrated the festival of Holi. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter Navya Nanda shared a number of pictures where the family was seen taking part in Holika Dahan celebrations. Navya Nanda's post read, "Holika Dahan." Abhishek Bachchan's post on Instagram with some pictures read, "May the Holika burn all evil away. Happy Holi!" In the National Capital, the Delhi Traffic Police is stationed with special teams across major road intersections to keep a check on drunk driving and red-light jumping on Holi. Deputy Commissioner of New Delhi Traffic Police, Prashant Gautam said the police made elaborate arrangements so that the festival of colours is celebrated safely and peacefully. In the New Delhi range, they have deployed around 400 traffic police personnel at 61 traffic points and around 40 joint pickets with local police. Besides regulating the traffic, the focus will be on drunken driving, triple riding, without helmet and without seat belt driving," PTI quoted Prashant Gautam as saying. (With agency inputs) Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Hong Kong: Appeal judge named Chief Executive John Lee has accepted the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission (JORC)s recommendation that James Leslie Bain Allsop be appointed as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal. Subject to the Legislative Councils endorsement, the Chief Executive will make the appointment under Article 88 of the Basic Law. Mr Lee said: "I am pleased to accept the JORC's recommendation on the appointment of Mr Allsop as a non-permanent judge from another common law jurisdiction of the Court of Final Appeal. Mr Allsop is a judge of eminent standing and reputation. I am confident he will greatly contribute to the Court of Final Appeal. Mr Lee noted that with Mr Allsops appointment, the panel of non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions will consist of 10 eminent judges from the UK, Australia and Canada. The presence of these esteemed jurists manifests the exercise of judicial power independently by the Judiciary in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as protected by the Basic Law. It also helps maintain a high degree of confidence in the Hong Kong SAR's judicial system, and enables Hong Kong to maintain strong links with other common law jurisdictions. The Chief Executive expressed confidence that having distinguished jurists from overseas with profound judicial experience will continue to be a unique strength of the city's judicial system. Article 90 of the Basic Law provides that the Chief Executive shall obtain the endorsement of the Legislative Council on the appointment of judges of the Court of Final Appeal. The Government will seek such an endorsement in due course. This story has been published on: 2024-03-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. (Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi an insider's guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise, delivered weekly. Indias Election Commission released new information Thursday showing the ruling partys biggest donors under a now-banned political financing tool. Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. was the largest donor to Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party over the past five years, purchasing about 6.7 billion rupees ($81 million) of electoral bonds, data from the commission showed. Qwik Supply Chain Pvt Ltd., Aditya Birla Group and Bharti Airtel Ltd. were close behind, based on Bloomberg calculations of the figures released. The BJPs top five donors, including subsidiaries, made contributions of a total of at least 19 billion rupees to the party through electoral bonds from March 2018 until January 2024. The party earned 60.6 billion rupees via the bonds over the period, almost half of all funding raised through the system. Indias main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, shared some of the same donors as the BJP, with Megha and Vedanta Ltd. donating 1.58 billion and 1.25 billion rupees respectively to them. Vedanta Ltd. contributed a little over 450 million rupees to regional parties, while the Aditya Birla Group almost evenly divided its contribution between the BJP and a regional party in the eastern state of Odisha. Founded in 1989, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure builds roads and dams and is involved in irrigation projects, power plants, transmission lines, communication equipment, renewable energy and media. The companys order book stood at more than 1.87 trillion rupees as of September 2023, according to a Jan. 10 note by Crisil Ratings. The group also owns a 50.2% stake in Olectra Greentech Ltd, an electric bus manufacturer with a long-term technology sourcing agreement with China-based Byd Co Ltd. More than 90% of donations made by two other top donors Qwik Supply Chain and Bharti Airtel went to the BJP, compared with about 60% of contributions by Megha and Vedanta Ltd., the sixth-biggest donor, the figures show. The Keventer Group, which also markets a popular milk-shake brand, donated 3.52 billion rupees to the BJP and another 1.61 billion rupees to the Congress. In a surprise decision last month, the Supreme Court banned electoral bonds, which had allowed political parties to anonymously receive campaign contributions from donors. The court said the system was unconstitutional and violated voters rights to information necessary for them to cast their ballots. The data released by the Election Commission on Thursday came from the State Bank of India, the only lender authorized to facilitate the buying and cashing of the electoral bonds. The Supreme Court directed the bank to release information that allowed donations to be matched to recipients, shedding light on political parties source of funding through the bonds for the first time. Opposition parties and critics have said the anonymity granted to donors under the electoral bonds scheme provided an unfair advantage to the ruling party. The Congress party collected only 14 billion rupees through electoral bonds over the past five years, or about 11% of the total bonds sold. The data comes weeks before Indias national elections kick off on April 19. Voting will take place over seven phases until June 1. The results are expected to be declared on June 4. (Updated with more detail on donors, context) More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) MP from North East Delhi, Manoj Tiwari, Monday took a veiled dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) custody. Kejriwal was arrested in the excise policy case on Thursday. "Koi khele rail mein, koi khele jail mein," news agency ANI quoted the North East Delhi MP as saying. The saffron party MP expressed strong confidence that the BJP and its NDA allies would again form the government in the Centre after securing 400 plus seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Also Read | Ujjain: 14 hurt as gulal triggers fire in Mahakal Temple amid Holi celebrations Meanwhile, the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party continued their protest against the arrest of the AAP national convenor, even as the party announced its resolved not to play with colours and celebrate Holi this year. Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi said on Monday that they have resolved not to play with colours and celebrate Holi this year and appealed to the countrymen to join them in the fight against cruelty and evil. Also Read | SRM Contractors IPO opens tomorrow: Here are 10 things to know about the issue "Holi is not just a festival, but a symbol of the victory of good over evil, a symbol of justice over cruelty. Today, every leader of the Aam Aadmi Party is fighting this evil, cruelty and injustice day and night. This year, Aam Aadmi Party has resolved that we will not play with colours, we will not celebrate Holi," the AAP leader posted on X in Hindi. Slamming the Modi government Atishi posted, "Because the cruel dictator has put the beloved Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi in jail. Today, they have left no stone unturned in their efforts to eliminate democracy from the country." I appeal to all of you on this Holi; Come join us in this fight against cruelty and evil. This is not just a fight for AAP, but for the entire Delhi and the country to save democracy," she added. The Delhi Minister further said ..Arvind Kejriwal is an idea. You can put one Arvind Kejriwal in jail but thousands of Arvind Kejriwal would emerge in the country after being inspired by him." The party also announced starting a DP campaign on social media today. All the leaders, MLAs and workers of the party will change their DPs protesting the arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Top Events on March 25: Amid Holi festivities today, India is all set to witness significant political events on Monday. These events include the BJP-IPFT meet in Tripura, Delhi metro services to begin after 2.30 pm and more. Stay tuned as we bring you comprehensive coverage of these unfolding events. - People across India will celebrate the festival of colors, Holi, today, March 25. It is one of the most popular and vibrant festivals celebrated in India and across the globe. - Delhi metro services are slated to commence after 2.30 pm on the occasion of Holi today. METRO TRAIN SERVICES TO START AT 2:30 PM ON HOLIOn the day of the Holi festival, i.e. 25th March, 2024 (Monday), Metro services will NOT be available till 2:30 PM on all Lines of the Delhi Metro including Rapid Metro/Airport Express Line," DMRC wrote on X. - All public and private banks will remain closed today, March 25, on the occasion of Holi. - The Indian stock market will remain closed for trading on Monday, March 25 due to the celebration of Holi. Trading at the country's largest non-agricultural commodity market, the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), will also be closed during the morning session from 9 am to 5 pm but will resume during the evening session from 5 pm to 9 pm. - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a key meeting with the Indigenous Front Of Tripura (IPFT) and Tipra Motha in Agartala on March 25 ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections that are scheduled to take place in seven phases beginning from April 19. - Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy will announce the party's candidate in Mandya for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on Monday evening. - Indian National Lok Dal's secretary general Abhay Singh Chautala stated that the party will start campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections on March 25. Chautala is contesting from the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. - Sri Lanka Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena will commence his six-day visit to China on March 25. This visit will strive for new progress in the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. - The Ram Mandir Rath Yatra will begin in Chicago in the United States on March 25. The Yatra will cover around 851 temples in 48 states, crossing over 8,000 miles in the next 60 days. - Mining baron and lone MLA of Karnataka Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) G Janardhana Reddy will rejoin the BJP on March 25 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Extending Holi wishes to everyone in India, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday announced his India visit later this week. Taking to microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter), the Ukrainian foreign minister said," Today, India celebrates Holi, the most beautiful and colourful spring holiday. I wish everyone a happy Holi!" He further said, Standing here in Kyiv, in front of Mahatma Gandhi's monument, I am also pleased to announce that this week I will pay my first-ever visit to India." This would be his first-ever visit to the world's most populous democracy. In his trip to New Delhiby any top Ukrainian minister since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022Kuleba aims to lobby for support for a peace summit, English daily Hindustan Times reported earlier citing sources. The report said the Ukrainian foreign ministeraccompanied by a high-level delegationis likely to co-chair a meeting of the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commission with his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar. It is important to note that the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commissionestablished in April 1994oversees all aspects of the bilateral relationship including trade, economic, scientific, technological, industrial and cultural cooperation. The report said a proposed peace summit by Switzerland is expected to be on top of the list of Kulebas agenda. The proposed peace summit is set to build on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys 10-point peace formula unveiled in 2022 and a series of meetings held in recent months. Kulebas first phone call in 2024 was with Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar on January 3 to discuss Ukraine-India relations. In a post on X at that time, Kuleba said he had discussed Russias escalation of attacks and further cooperation on Zelenskyys peace formula. In this regard, I informed my counterpart of Ukraines vision for the Global Peace Summit of leaders," Kuleba had said in the post. Kuleba also said both sides had agreed to hold a meeting of the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commission in the near future". He said the rejuvenation of this primary mechanism of our bilateral ties will allow us to jointly move forward in a comprehensive manner". Though India has refrained from publicly censuring Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. However, New Delhi has repeatedly said it supports all initiatives aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Todays era is not an era of war". Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Former Karnataka Minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy on Monday rejoined the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls . The Gangavati MLA, who is an accused in an illegal mining case, had formed the 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha' (KRPP) ahead of the state assembly polls last year, snapping his two-decade-old association with the BJP. Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list 2024 LIVE Reddy today merged his KRPP with the BJP as he, along with wife Aruna Lakshmi and some family members, joined the party in the presence of its veteran leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, state President B Y Vijayendra, and others. Former Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa said, Janardhana Reddy and others have rejoined the BJP. It is a very good decision that he has taken, it will strengthen our party." Reddy had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. However, in the recently held Rajya Sabha polls he had extended support to the Congress candidate. Also Read: INDIA is not visible in naked eye but: Assam CM Himanta on opposition bloc claiming to win 272 seats in Lok Sabha polls Before the assembly polls last year, Reddy had been largely politically inactive for nearly 12 years since his arrest by the CBI for an alleged role in a mining scam. During this period, he had a brief stint ahead of the 2018 assembly polls when he campaigned for his close friend and former Minister B Sriramulu in the Molakalmuru Assembly segment. In the run-up to the 2018 assembly polls, the then BJP national president Amit Shah, in response to a reporter's question, had distanced the party from him and stressed that the BJP has nothing to do with Janardhana Reddy." Accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, he has been out on bail since 2015. Several conditions were imposed by the apex court in its order which included prohibiting him from visiting Ballari in Karnataka and Ananthpur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. Because of these restrictions, he had to contest the 2023 Assembly polls from Gangavati in Koppal district. Also Read: Lok Sabha Election 2024: Who is K Surendran, BJP's pick against Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad? Expressing his displeasure about the way the BJP had ignored him, Reddy had announced a new party last year and also took a dig at his brothers -- Karunakara Reddy and Somashekar Reddy -- and Sriramulu, as they remained with the BJP. The three of them had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls, with Reddy's new party said to have impacted their performance in the election. Sriramulu, an ST community leader and former Minister is now the BJP's candidate from the Bellary (Ballari) Lok Sabha constituency. Reddy had played an instrumental role in strengthening the BJP in the Ballari district and is still believed to enjoy a considerable clout there as well as in adjoining districts like Chitradurga, Koppal and Raichur, which could be useful for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Also Read: Lok Sabha Election: BJP names 111 more candidates; Kangana Ranaut, Sita Soren among bold choices in 5th candidate list Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, managing director of Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011. The company is accused of changing mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Ballari Reserve Forest area, spread over Ballari in Karnataka and the Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh. Reddy first came to political limelight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, when he campaigned for BJP leader, the late Sushma Swaraj, who had contested against Congress' Sonia Gandhi from Ballari. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! The Indian Embassy in the United States has warmly extended its Holi greetings, wishing all a vibrant celebration filled with colours and music. In the heart of Washington, DC, Dupont Circle is alive with the festivities of the Holi festival. Holi in the heart of Washington DC @DuPont circle - a joyous celebration resplendent with the colours, music and culture of India! In India, Holi marks the arrival of spring - this year, it coincides with the cherry blossoms weekend in DC! We wish all of you a Happy Holi!," the Indian Embassy in the US said on X. In a video shared on X, the Indian Embassy in US captured the exuberant spirit of Holi celebrations. The video showcased a lively scene at DuPoint Circle, where people immersed themselves in the festivities, dancing joyously while playing with vibrant colours. Amid the colourful revelry, several cultural performances unfolded, adding to the jubilant atmosphere of the occasion. Also Read: Holi 2024: From Vrindavan to Juhu beach in Mumbai, find out how the festival is being celebrated across India | Watch Meanwhile, in his post, Garcetti emphasized the US-India friendship in the celebration and said, #HappyHoli, friends! Celebrating my first Holi in India with delicious gujiyas made of American nuts - a delightful fusion of traditions and a celebration of #USIndiaDosti! I've had vibrant Holi celebrations back in Los Angeles, but nothing beats being here in India for the festival of colors. #CelebrateWithUS." Amidst the kaleidoscope of colours and joyful celebrations, numerous cultural performances graced the scene, further enhancing the festive atmosphere. Furthermore, echoing the spirit of Holi, the Consulate General of India in New York extended heartfelt wishes for a 'happy Holi' from the iconic Times Square. Wishing everyone a colourful and joyous Holi from the heart of New York City. #TimesSquareMay the festival of color fill your life with happiness, love and peace," the consulate general of India in New York said on X. Meanwhile, Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, shared a delightful video on social media platforms, celebrating the joyous occasion of Holi. In another post, the Embassy of Japan posted with the caption, Rangon mein hai pyaar ki holi." Furthermore, the High Commission of Singapore in India tweets pictures of Braj Ki #Holi celebrations 2024 in Barsana, Uttar Pradesh, clicked by First Secretary Sean Lim and extends greetings on the occasion. Holi, a festival cherished with equal fervor both within the country and beyond its borders, will be celebrated on March 25th, Monday, this year. Preceding the festivities is the ritual of 'Holika Dahan', where bonfires are lit, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil, as depicted in the legend of the demoness Holika. Dedicated to Lord Krishna, whose legendary tales are deeply rooted in the Braj region of Uttar Pradesh, Holi not only embodies the exuberance of the festival but also encapsulates the eternal love shared between Radha and Krishna. In the midst of the jubilation, traditional sweets are exchanged, nurturing a sense of camaraderie and unity among people, as revelers immerse themselves in the essence of joy and affection. (With inputs from agencies) Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! During an address to the Indian Community in Singapore, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar emphasized the enduringly positive relationship between India and Russia, highlighting that both nations have consistently prioritized each other's interests. I will ask myself...Has Russia helped us or harmed us?... Are there gains to be made from Russia? or is it only damages that will come out of that?" Jaishankar said, adding, If I do my calculation from my perspective and my experiences, I will get the answer." EAM noted, And the answer in this case is that Russia is a country with which we have always had a positive relationship. Both India and Russia have taken that extra care to look after each other's interests." The External Affairs Minister further underscored the importance of moving forward with confidence in our relationship. So I think we should have that confidence as we go forward," he stated. Also Read: S Jaishankar on India's historical foreign policy: Patel warned Nehru against China, it was a 'bubble' Earlier on Sunday, S Jaishankar said he had spoken to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and conveyed India's deepest condolences on the loss of lives in the "horrific terrorist attack" in Moscow. Spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Conveyed our deepest condolences on the loss of lives in the horrific terrorist attack in Moscow," Jaishankar posted on X. Jaishankar, during his official visit to Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia from March 23rd to 27th, 2024, highlighted the significance of India's relationship with Singapore. He expressed gratitude for being personally engaged in this journey for at least fifteen years, emphasizing the privilege it has been. Jaishankar said, Today when we speak about India in the Indo-Pacific, the story in many ways actually began with Singapore." Also Read: Arunachal Pradesh is part of India .. we have been very clear on this: Jaishankar dismisses China's ludicrous claims As our connections grew closer, as the community has grown as india has become more globalized, the ties between India and Singapore have reflected that and it's been my privilege to be part of this journey atleast for a decade and a half personally," he added. His visit will further focus on enhancing bilateral relations with the three countries, and would provide an opportunity for engagement on regional issues of mutual concern, a Ministry of External Affairs release said earlier. (With inputs from ANI) Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! A summit meeting between North Korea's Kim Jong-un with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would only be possible if Tokyo make a political decision "in actuality," Yonhap News agency reported on Monday citing the influential sister of the North Korea's supreme leader. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has expressed his intention to hold a summit with Kim Jong-un, an English-language statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), quoted Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, Yonhap said. "Shortly ago, Kishida, through another channel, conveyed his intention to personally meet the President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as soon as possible," Kim Yo-jong said, according to the Seoul-based news agency which cited KCNA. Yonhap citing KCNA reported Kim as saying, "If Japan truly wants to improve the bilateral relations and contribute to ensuring regional peace and stability as a close neighbor of the DPRK, it is necessary for it to make a political decision for strategic option conformed to its overall interests." Meanwhile, Kishida said in parliament on Monday that his administration has lobbied for a possible meeting with the North Korean leader, though he is not aware of the report. The prime minister stressed the importance of summit talks to secure the return of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang in the past, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. In 2002, Kim's father, then-North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, met with then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Pyongyang and admitted that North Korean agents kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies in Japanese culture and language. North Korea then allowed five of those abducted to make a temporary visit to their homeland, saying eight others were dead. Japan refused to return the five and called on the North to repatriate their family members in the North. Japan has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea. Kim stressed that North Korea would not be a security threat to Japan in any case should Japan respect North Korea's sovereignty and security in a fair and equal manner, according to the KCNA. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Former Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has called upon current President Mohamed Muizzu to engage in dialogue with neighbouring countries to tackle the nation's financial challenges, PTI reported. Solih's remarks come in response to recent calls from President Muizzu, known for his pro-China stance, urging India to provide debt relief to the Maldives. Speaking at an event in Male', Solih emphasised the importance of dialogue and cooperation in overcoming the economic hurdles facing the nation. Solih highlighted the disparity in debt owed by the Maldives to China and India, stating that the nation owes MVR 18 billion to China compared to MVR 8 billion to India, with a repayment period of 25 years. Appeal for Flexibility "But the financial challenges are not caused by Indian loans. Maldives has a debt of MVR 18 billion owed to China compared to MVR 8 billion owed to India, Solih said, adding that the repayment period is 25 years. However, I am confident that our neighbours will help. We must stop being stubborn and seek dialogue. There are many parties that can help us. But he [Muizzu] doesn't want to compromise. I feel they [the government] are starting to understand the situation only now," Solih was quoted as saying by Adhadhu.com news portal. Expressing confidence in the willingness of neighbouring nations to assist, Solih urged the current government to abandon its stubborn stance and embrace dialogue. He criticised the government for its alleged deception and emphasised the need for transparency in handling ongoing projects. Relations between the Maldives and India have soured since Muizzu assumed office, with the president demanding the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the archipelago. Despite his conciliatory comments towards India, Muizzu has yet to visit the country, opting for a state visit to China instead. Parliamentary Elections Loom Muizzu's remarks come ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for April 21, amidst ongoing tensions with India and mounting financial pressures. In a recent interview with local media, Muizzu emphasised the need for continued support from India, particularly in addressing the Maldives' debt burden. "India will continue to remain the Maldives closest ally, there is no question about it," he told local Dhivehi language publication 'Mihaaru' in an interview his first one since assuming office last November. Excerpts of the interview were also carried in sister publication Edition.mv, as per PTI. Muizzu's reconciliatory stance follows a period of tension marked by demands for the repatriation of Indian military personnel from the island nation in December 2023 and a perceived tilt towards China since assuming office in November of that year. Acknowledging India's pivotal role in aiding the Maldives, Muizzu stressed the importance of ongoing projects facilitated by India and expressed gratitude for their contributions. Notably, he has yet to visit India, four months since forming the new government, but visited China in January. It was also his first state visit. Despite recent overtures towards India, Muizzu has pursued closer ties with China, evident in agreements signed during his visit to Beijing and subsequent statements regarding sovereignty in the Indian Ocean. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Raising suspicion about the US claim of possible hand of Islamic State-Khorasan behind the terror attack at Crocus Hall in Moscow killing nearly 140 people and injuring 182, Russia has questioned the Washington DC claim amid two of suspects pleading guilty, on Monday, to involvement in the worst atrocity in more than two decades. Earlier on Friday, four men--including a Tajik nationalstormed the concert hall armed with Kalashnikov and firing their automatic weapons point-blank in short bursts on spectators during a concert by the Soviet-era rock group Picnic. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the assault. The terror group on Telegram claimed that the attack was "carried out by four of its members armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and firebombs" as part of "the raging war" with "countries fighting Islam". Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, in an article for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, accused the US of evoking "bogeyman" of Islamic State to cover its "wards" in Kyiv, and reminded readers that Washington had supported the "mujahideen" fighters who fought Soviet forces in the 1980s. "Attention - a question to the White House: Are you sure it's ISIS? Might you think again about that?" Reuters quoted Zakharova as saying in the article. Contrary to popular claims of an ISIS-K role, Russian President Vladimir Putin too on Saturday pointed to the possible hand of Ukraine in the massacre without offering evidence, an allegation the government in Kyiv has flatly rejected. They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," the Russian leader had said. Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering a major European war after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces on one side and pro-Russian Ukrainians and Russian proxies on the other. Meanwhile, two of the accused on Monday pleaded guilty to involvement in the worst atrocity in the capital in more than two decades, the Moscow courts service said on its Telegram channel. All four are detained through May 22. It gave no information on pleas by the other two. Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron today joined the US in saying intelligence indicated that the Islamic State was responsible for the attack on the concert hall outside Moscow. "The information available to us ... as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State which instigated this attack," Reuters quoted Macron as saying, referring to Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan, which is known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K. "This group also tried to commit several actions on our own soil," he said during a visit to French Guiana. France raised its terror alert warning to its highest level on Sunday following the shootings in Moscow. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Hong Kong: Disease co-care scheme enhanced The Health Bureau has announced the soft launch of a new channel for the public to join the Chronic Disease Co-Care (CCDC) Pilot Scheme via direct enrolment at the clinics of some participating family doctors starting from today. The bureau said the arrangement aims to encourage and make it more convenient for members of the public to initiate early health management so that they can be aware of having, or being at high risk of having, diabetes mellitus (DM) or hypertension (HT). The new measure also encourages members of the public to maintain a long-term relationship with their family doctor. Besides enrolling in the scheme at district health centres (DHCs), eligible Hong Kong residents aged 45 or above can also register at some participating clinics to pair with a family doctor for screening. The CDCC pilot scheme has been well received since its rollout. As of March 21, various DHCs have assisted over 27,800 citizens to enrol in the scheme, with over half of these participants completing screening arranged by their family doctors. Of those who have completed screening, some 36% were diagnosed with prediabetes, DM or HT. They received follow-up care and treatment from participating family doctors. In searching the schemes dedicated website, citizens should look for the indication Accept CDCC Pilot Scheme enrolment at clinic next to doctors names. They can contact the clinics of such doctors and arrange to pair with them for screening. The family doctor will assist the participant to register for membership of a DHC simultaneously. Participants who are diagnosed with prediabetes, DM or HT will be taken care of by their family doctor long-term under government subsidy. They will not be required to pay any additional drug fees if they are prescribed drugs under the basic tier of the schemes drug list. Participants who are not diagnosed with DM or HT after screening will be aided by a DHC or DHC Express to set health management goals. Arrangements will also be made as are deemed necessary for them to undertake activities that help them to stay in shape and are commensurate with a healthier lifestyle. So far, 96 out of around 510 family doctors joining the scheme can offer direct matching services at their clinics, via 126 service points. Click here or call the hotline 2157 0500 for more details. This story has been published on: 2024-03-25. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Muhammad Ishaq Dar, has expressed a serious intent to reevaluate the suspended trade relations with India, which have been inactive since August 2019. This potential shift in diplomatic stance towards the neighboring nation was hinted at by Dar during a press conference in London, held after his participation in the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, as reported by Geo News. Dar made remarks during a press conference that Pakistan's financially strained business community to recommence trade operations with India. "Pakistani businessmen want trade with India to resume," the foreign minister said on Saturday. Pakistan will consider restoring trade ties with India, he said. "We will seriously look into matters of trade with India," Dar was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune newspaper. His remarks indicated a potential shift in diplomatic stance towards India. Pakistan reduced its diplomatic relations with New Delhi following India's decision to abolish Article 370 of its Constitution, which removed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divided the state into two Union Territories. Islamabad argued that this action hindered the prospects of bilateral talks. According to The Express Tribune newspaper, the prospect of trade between Pakistan and India remains uncertain due to a lack of consensus among stakeholders regarding the restoration of trade relations. Sources familiar with the matter stated that there is currently no definite proposal for resuming trade ties between the two countries. Reports suggest that there are conflicting opinions among stakeholders on this matter, including within the Foreign Office, which sources claim is not uncommon. Some advocate maintaining Pakistan's stance that without significant concessions from India, normalization should not occur. Yet, others adopt a more practical perspective, drawing parallels with China's approach. Despite uneasy ties and border disputes, China and India engage in trade, suggesting the possibility of a similar model for Pakistan. Former army chief Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed interest in improving ties with India, but his successor's stance remains unclear. Speculation exists that Dar's statement on resuming ties might be endorsed by influential figures. Proponents of trade resumption believe it could alleviate Pakistan's economic woes through regional trade. An international financial institution's study highlights the substantial trade potential between Pakistan and India, estimated at over $25 billion. Official sources remain skeptical, with the Foreign Office suggesting waiting until after the Indian elections scheduled for April and May. A clearer picture may emerge once a new government is in place in New Delhi. Pakistan insists that improving ties rests on India, urging it to reverse its "unilateral" actions in Kashmir as a precondition for talks. India rejects this, asserting Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as integral parts of the country, with internal matters. India desires neighborly relations with Pakistan but emphasizes Islamabad's responsibility to foster a terror-free environment for engagement. Despite strained relations, both countries agreed to renew the 2003 ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in February 2021. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended congratulations to Shehbaz Sharif via social media, raising hopes for diplomatic progress. Several days later, Sharif issued a brief response, acknowledging Modi's "felicitations." Following the February 8 elections, the coalition government led by Sharif assumed power. However, it commenced its tenure amidst a faltering economy that urgently requires improvement. (With inputs from PTI) Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! (Bloomberg) -- The Philippines on Saturday said a Filipino civilian boat was severely damaged and some of its crew members were injured when two China Coast Guard ships fired water cannons at it, in the latest confrontation between the two nations in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese ships deliberately" targeted Unaizah May 4, which was on its way to resupply Filipino troops stationed at an outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal, the Philippine military said in a statement that contained videos of the incident. Two Philippine Coast Guard vessels evaded Chinese boats blocking attempts and provided assistance to the disabled" supply boat and her crew, Manilas task force on the disputed sea said in a statement, which did not detail the extent of the damage to the Unaizah May 4. The injured crew members received medical attention aboard a Philippine Coast Guard ship, it said. The supply vessel could not continue its course due to direct blasting" of water cannons, while the Chinese Maritime Militia installed floating barriers to prevent boats from entering the shoal, the Philippine military said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Six Philippine navy personnel and essential cargoes were transferred from the supply boat and an accompanying Philippine Coast Guard vessel to the outpost using inflatable crafts, according to a separate post. Manilas task force declared the mission accomplished. The Philippines said Unaizah May 4 was on a mission to resupply and rotate troops on BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship that Manila deliberately grounded in 1999 to serve as its military outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal. Earlier this month, two China Coast Guard vessels fired water cannons at the Philippine boat, shattering its windshield, injuring four crew members and forcing it to back off. In the latest mission, the Philippine military also reported blocking and dangerous" maneuvers by the China Coast Guard against the supply vessel prior to the water cannon incident. The systematic and consistent manner in which the PRC continues to carry out these illegal and irresponsible actions belies its hollow claims to peace, dialogue, and adherence to international law," Manilas task force said, using the initials of Chinas formal name. Manilas efforts to maintain the BRP Sierra Madre have been opposed by China, which claims disputed areas of the South China Sea are its territory. China Coast Guard spokesperson Gan Yu said in a statement that the Philippine resupply vessel was attempting to transport construction materials and tried to forcefully intrude into the adjacent waters of Renai Jiao, Beijings name for Second Thomas Shoal. The China Coast Guard acted in a reasonable and professional manner," the spokesperson said. We warn the Philippines that playing with fire is an invitation of disgrace, and the China Coast Guard is ready at all times to defend the countrys territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," the spokesperson said. The ambassadors of US, Japan and the EU in Manila, in separate posts on X, expressed support for the Philippines. The missions aim was to rotate troops aboard BRP Sierra Madre after one of the personnel needed serious medical attention and was evacuated, the Philippine military said earlier. Personnel are being rotated in to ensure that BRP Sierra Madres mission posture remains uncompromised," it said. --With assistance from Jacob Gu. (Updates with Philippines and China officials comments from fourth paragraph.) More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! When the entire country is drenched in the colours of the Holi celebration, the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party continued their protest against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case. Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi said on Monday that they have resolved not to play with colours and celebrate Holi this year and appealed to the countrymen to join them in the fight against cruelty and evil. "Holi is not just a festival, but a symbol of the victory of good over evil, a symbol of justice over cruelty. Today, every leader of Aam Aadmi Party is fighting this evil, cruelty and injustice day and night. This year, Aam Aadmi Party has resolved that we will not play with colours, we will not celebrate Holi," the AAP leader posted on X. ARVIND More Information Launching a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi of eliminating democracy from the country, Atishi posted, "Because the cruel dictator has put the beloved Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi in jail. Today, they have left no stone unturned in their efforts to eliminate democracy from the country. I appeal to all of you on this Holi; Come join us in this fight against cruelty and evil. This is not just a fight for AAP, but for the entire Delhi and the country to save democracy." Earlier on Sunday, Atishi announced that a rally will be organised by the INDIA bloc on March 31 against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate. The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday remanded Kejriwal to six days of ED custody in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam case until March 28, following his arrest on March 21. Speaking to ANI, AAP minister Atishi said, INDIA alliance is organising a 'Maha Rally' in the Ramlila Maidan on March 31. This is not being organised to save Arvind Kejriwal but to save the democracy. The opposition leaders are being targeted, they are being put in jail. Sitting chief ministers are being sent to jail after the announcement of elections. The CM is being put in jail while bank accounts of opposition parties are being frozen," she said. "The constitution of India which guarantees democracy, today, is in danger. We are organizing a rally to save democracy," Atishi said. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge called Kejriwal's arrest, a step taken to weaken the opposition before the Lok Sabha election". (With inputs from ANI) Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday took a jibe at the INDI alliance saying that the bloc is intact, not on Earth, but in the Moon and Sun. His statement comes after the Congress party recently said that the INDIA bloc would cross the halfway mark of 272 in the coming Lok Sabha elections. "The INDI alliance is intact, not on Earth, but perhaps in the Moon and Sun. On Earth, we have not seen the presence of many parties, such as TMC and Janta Dal United. So, with our normal eyes, we cannot see the INDI alliance. However, it might exist in the Sun or the Moon, which we cannot see with our naked eyes," said the Assam Chief Minister. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that the Assamese and Indian people will fight the upcoming elections with confidence and a clear sense of identity. He emphasised that they will not be on the defensive but will participate freely and wholeheartedly. "Assamese and Indian people will not fight this election from a defensive position. We'll fight the election with a free mind that we have no crisis of identity as of now. Of course, after 20 years, it is a different matter. So this will be an election where Assamese people will join this election with a completely free mind," he said. Assam, a significant northeastern Indian state, is divided into 14 Lok Sabha constituencies. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Assam are scheduled to take place in three stages, with polling days set for April 19, April 26, and May 7. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 7 of the 14 seats in Assam. Both the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) claimed three seats each. During the 2019 elections, the BJP increased its seat count to 9, while the Congress maintained its three seats, and the AIUDF won a single seat. (ANI) Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released an additional 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. According to the list, union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and V K Singh, along with MP Varun Gandhi, were omitted from the list. Instead, the party nominated actors Kangana Ranaut and Arun Govil. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will vie for the Sambalpur seat, while the party's spokesperson, Sambit Patra, will make another attempt from Puri after narrowly missing out in 2019. Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list 2024 LIVE However, the BJP has decided not to field former Union minister Anantkumar Hegde, who has served six terms as a Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada, in the upcoming elections. Known for his staunch Hindutva stance, Hegde has frequently sparked controversies with his statements, including a recent remark advocating for a significant BJP mandate to amend the Constitution. In the latest list of candidates, the BJP has refrained from granting tickets to approximately 37 sitting Members of Parliament, with nine being from Uttar Pradesh, five from Gujarat, four from Odisha, and three each from Bihar, Karnataka, and Jharkhand. The tally of incumbent MPs not receiving tickets does not encompass individuals who have recently won assembly elections, such as Diya Kumari and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in Rajasthan, or those like Nayab Singh Saini, who assumed office as Haryana chief minister, and Brijendra Singh, who has already resigned from the party. Several leaders who switched from other parties to join the BJP have been nominated, including industrialist Naveen Jindal and Varaprasad Rao, who were formally inducted mere hours before the candidate list was unveiled. Additionally, figures like Sita Soren, Tapas Roy, and N Kiran Kumar Reddy have also been rewarded with tickets. Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list 2024: Will Varun Gandhi contest as independent after BJP drops him from Pilibhit? Kerala BJP president K Surendra has been selected as the candidate for the Wayanad constituency, where incumbent MP and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also contesting. In West Bengal's Basirhat constituency, the BJP has nominated Rekha Patra, reportedly one of the victims of the Sadeshkhali incident, as part of its strategy to challenge the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state. For the 17 seats it is contesting in Bihar, the BJP has announced its candidates, including the re-nomination of Union minister Giriraj Singh from Begusarai and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib. Union ministers R K Singh and Nityanand Rai have been nominated to contest from their respective current seats. Additionally, in Uttar Pradesh, the ruling party has announced the names of 13 more candidates. Varun Gandhi, a three-term Lok Sabha MP known for expressing views critical of his party's governments at the Centre and in the state, has been denied a ticket from Pilibhit. However, his mother, Maneka Gandhi, has been renominated from Sultanpur. Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list: Netizens cheer 'Sherni' Kangana Ranaut's candidature, say 'where are Thackerays, Sanjay Raut' Jitin Prasada, a minister in the state government, has been chosen as the party's candidate from Pilibhit, while Atul Garg will replace two-term MP V K Singh in Ghaziabad. Singh announced his decision to opt out of the polls in a post on X hours before the party released the list. The latest list includes three leaders who joined the BJP on Sunday: Naveen Jindal from Kurukshetra, Haryana government minister Ranjit Chautala from Hisar (both in Haryana), and Varaprasad Rao from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. With the addition of these 111 candidates, the ruling party has now named a total of 398 nominees for the elections to the 543-member Lok Sabha, excluding the four candidates who withdrew their names following controversies. Actress Kangana Ranaut, a vocal supporter of the BJP, will be contesting from Mandi in her home state of Himachal Pradesh. Meanwhile, veteran actor Arun Govil, renowned for his portrayal of Lord Ram in the popular TV serial "Ramayan", has been chosen over seasoned parliamentarian Rajendra Agrawal for the Meerut constituency by the ruling party. Also Read: BJP 5th candidate list 2024: Ex-Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay gets Lok Sabha poll ticket from Bengal's Tamluk Sita Soren, who is the sister-in-law of former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, has been nominated as the BJP's candidate from Dumka. She recently resigned from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who had briefly joined the Congress last year before returning to the BJP, will now contest from Belgaum. In West Bengal, the BJP has announced 19 more candidates, including former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay for Tamluk constituency. Dilip Ghosh, the sitting MP from Medinipur, has been moved to BardhamanDurgapur constituency, while the incumbent S S Ahluwalia has been dropped. The BJP has announced the names of seven candidates from Rajasthan, four each from Haryana, Karnataka, and Kerala, and 18 from Odisha, along with three each from Maharashtra and Jharkhand, among candidates from various states. In Andhra Pradesh, D Purandeswari, the state president of the BJP, will be contesting from Rajahmundry, while former chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will be contesting from Rajampet. The party has finalized its candidates for all six Lok Sabha seats in the state, where it is contesting in alliance with the TDP and the Jana Sena. BJP vice president Baijayant Panda will be contesting from Kendrapara, a constituency he has previously represented in the Lok Sabha twice as a BJD member. (With inputs from PTI) ATUL More Information Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Bharat Chandra Narah, the MLA of Nowboicha in Assam's Lakhimpur district, announced his resignation from the Congress with immediate effect after his wife was denied a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections. The resignation came after the party denied a ticket to his wife and former MP Ranee Narah for the Lakhimpur parliamentary constituency. The development comes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections starting next month on April 19. Narah sent his resignation letter to AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday evening. "I do, hereby resign from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect," Narah wrote in the one-line resignation letter sent to Kharge. Confirming his resignation, Debabrata Saikia, Leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Assam, told ANI over the phone, Yes, we have received his resignation letter." Earlier, four Congress MLAs extended their support to the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government, while one MLA, Sherman Ali Ahmad, was suspended for anti-party" activities. The legislators are Shashi Kanta Das, Siddique Ahmed, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha and Basanta Das. These MLAs have not resigned from the Congress party. Elections in the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam are scheduled to take place in three stages, with polling days set for April 19, April 26, and May 7. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 7 of the 14 seats in Assam. Both the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) claimed three seats each. During the 2019 elections, the BJP increased its seat count to 9, while the Congress maintained its three seats, and the AIUDF won a single seat. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, known for her statements on politics, has taken a U-turn on entering professional politics, contradicting her earlier statement where she dismissed such plans and emphasized her commitment to her film career. I don't have any plans to enter politics. I am busy with the shooting of my upcoming films. I do have an interest in politics but as an artist only. I am a successful artist," the actor had told media persons two years ago. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now fielded Kangana from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024 that are scheduled to take place in seven phases beginning from April 19. Hours after the announcement, Kangana's old tweet went viral on Reddit in which the actor had said that she wanted to contest elections from a state with complexities". I was given the option of Gwalior during 2019 Lok Sabha elections. HP (Himachal Pradesh) population is hardly 60/70 lakh, no poverty/crime. If I get into politics, I want a state with complexities I can work on and be the Queen I am in that field also. Small fry like you wont understand big talks," she tweeted in March 2021. The actor was replying to a post on X (formerly Twitter) that had said, "Mark my tweet! Kangana Ranaut will fight by-election from Mandi Lok Sabha Constituency..." Netizens reshared the older tweet and reacted to Kangana's candidature from Mandi Lok Sabha seat. Hypocrisy ki bhi seema hoti hai (There's a limit to hypocrisy)," one person commented. One thing you should know about actors and politicians they always do the exact opposite of what they say in public," another person wrote. Small fry like you wont wont understand big talks'. How does she come up with such good lines?" a third user reacted. The fourth person said, Just imagine the scenes in the Parliament now." Why so much hate? If she wants to do politics, it's her choice!" one more person commented. Milestone Alert! Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world Click here to know more. Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed it's all here, just a click away! Login Now! Johnson has signaled a willingness to turn the Ukraine aid into a loan for the country, an idea floated by former President Donald Trump that has prompted Democratic skepticism. Nearly a year after a shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville that left three adults and three children dead, students and their families have formed tight bonds out of their shared grief. Covenant School chaplain Matthew Sullivan says moms and dads have formed prayer groups that are an integral part of their week. The involvement of the dads now is especially noteworthy. Sullivan says they often stay for morning chapel, sitting in the back and singing the silly songs. Sullivan says he has amazing conversations with the children in the class that lost three students. They ask if there is baseball in heaven, because classmate William Kinney loved baseball. I say theres a lot of it, Sullivan says. A Kenagh hair salon won out in the prestigious Hi Style Passoa Hair and Beauty Awards 2024. The awards, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cork on Sunday (March 24), recognise excellence, innovation, and dedication across various categories, showcasing the best in the industry. David Keenan, the owner of The Hair Doc hair salon in Kenagh, was the recipient of an award for the Best Emerging New Business. This is the second time David has been recognised at the Hi Style awards, having clinched the Best New Business in 2022. David has been the recipient of a number of awards in the hairdressing industry since opening. Also read: Talented Longford hair stylist wins prestigious Hi Style award In their summation of the awards the organisers said: After careful consideration and deliberation by our esteemed panel of industry experts, we are excited to recognise and celebrate the outstanding talents within the hair and beauty community. The evening of glamour and celebration honoured the achievements of exceptional individuals and establishments who set standards of excellence in the world of hair and beauty. Hi Style.ie is a local Social Business & Wedding Diary that has expanded to cover the thirty-two counties on the island of Ireland. Longford County Council engineers have given commitments to examine a number of accident mitigation measures for the Ballymahon Municipal District area following a recent meeting of the authority. Councillor Paul Ross called on the local authority to apply for a low-cost safety scheme at the townland of Aghintemple/Killenastra, Ardagh on the R393 to install a crash barrier on the dangerous bend where there have been many crashes including a crash in which a vehicle hit a house and burned it down. In his reply to the motion, Senior Executive Engineer with the council's Road Design department, Con Diffley, said: Longford County Council will consider the appropriate measures for this location and will consider this location for future low cost safety scheme applications. Cllr Ross also raised the prospect of reinstating the timber post and rail fence at the Royal Canal, Terlicken, Ballymahon which was blown down in recent storms. Area Engineer Brian McNeela said the local authority have moved on the issue, saying: I have contacted Waterways Ireland and they have given a commitment to reinstate the timber post and rail fence. In a separate motion, Cllr Ross asked if a pedestrian crossing could be installed at the junction of The Park House Hotel and Kilbride Park. Senior Executive Engineer Con Diffley gave a commitment for an assessment of the proposal saying: The roads section will assess this location for traffic calming measures and measures to improve pedestrian safety. Once this assessment is carried out this location will be considered for low cost safety funding in 2025. An Garda Siochana Appeals for Information on the 31st Anniversary of the Murder and Disappearacne of Annie McCarrick 26th March 2024 The 26th March 2024 marks the 31st anniversary of the murder and disappearance of Annie McCarrick, a tragedy that continues to deeply affect her loved ones and the wider community. Born on March 21, 1967, Annie was 26 years old at the time of her disappearance. Originally from New York, Annie settled in Sandymount, Dublin 4, in January 1993, and worked as a waitress at the Courtyard Restaurant in Donnybrook and Cafe Java in Leeson Street. Annie's future was abruptly halted on March 26, 1993, when she vanished without a trace, leaving her family and friends devastated. Annie purchased groceries on the morning of Friday 26th March 1993, in Quinnsworth, Sandymount Road, which were found left unpacked in shopping bags in her apartment. A receipt in the bags confirms the date and time of purchase as 26/03/1993 11:02am. This is the last confirmed activity by Annie McCarrick. Annie is described as 5'8" in height, 10 stone, long brown hair. She spoke with a soft Irish-American accent. When Annie disappeared it is believed she was in possession of a large brown leather bag. As we commemorate the 31st anniversary of Annie's disappearance, An Garda Siochana remains committed to uncovering the truth and progressing this investigation. Gardai are renewing their appeal to the public for any information that may shed light on Annie's disappearance and murder. Individuals who may have interacted with Annie on or after March 26, 1993, are urged to come forward and assist in the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the investigation team at Irishtown Garda Station at 01 6669600, their local Garda Station, or the Garda Confidential line at 1800 666 111. Local News, Crime By Long Island Published: March 25 2024 Queens man arrested for a burglary in Valley Stream, accused of stealing key fobs and driving away in a 2024 Honda HR-V, facing multiple charges including Burglary and Grand Larceny. Fifth Squad Detectives report the arrest of a Queens man for a Burglary that occurred on Friday, March 22, 2024 at 10:35 pm in Valley Stream. According to detectives, an unknown male entered a side window of a building located at 704 W. Merrick Road. The subject removed multiple key fobs and exited the same window. The subject used a key fob to enter a 2024 Honda HR-V and drove it from the scene. A thorough investigation was conducted and Damien Davis, 29, of 109-53 173 rd Street, Jamaica, was arrested. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: March 25 2024 Nets players wore co-branded Liberty x LI Nets jerseys designed to resemble the Libertys Rebel Edition uniforms worn during the WNBA teams historic 2023 season. On Thursday, March 21, the Long Island Nets honored its WNBA sister team, the New York Liberty during the teams annual Womens Impact game at Nassau Coliseum. The Long Island Nets players wore co-branded Liberty x LI Nets jerseys designed to resemble the Libertys Rebel Edition uniforms worn during the WNBA teams historic 2023 season. The team hosted a pregame panel for ticketholders focused on womens empowerment and advocacy, featuring Sue Wicks, NY Liberty Legend; Renee Flagler, Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Long Island; Tammy Severino, President & CEO of Girl Scouts of Suffolk County; Morgan Taylor, Vice President of Business Operations for the Long Island Nets. The panel was moderated by Brooklyn and Long Island Nets in-arena host, Ally Melendez. Prior to tipoff, New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot participated in an autograph session. At halftime, the LI Nets honored Girls Inc. of Long Island as Community Hero of the Game. For the last three seasons, the two organizations have collaborated to expose girls to different career avenues in the sports industry. Two Suffolk County Men Sentenced to 40 Years to Life in Prison for 2020 Murder in Plainview Local News By Chris Boyle Published: March 25 2024 Douglas Coudrey and Kenneth Regan were convicted in February of shooting Justin Gottlieb twice outside his parents home; Four days later the pair allegedly shot and killed another motorist in New Jersey. Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that two Suffolk County men were sentenced today to 40 years to life in prison for the January 2020 murder of 27-year-old Justin Gottlieb. Douglas Coudrey, 26, from Eastport, and Kenneth Regan, 25, from Centereach, were convicted by a jury on February 6, 2024, of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony) and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony). The defendants were each sentenced today before Judge Robert A. Schwartz to 40 years to life in prison. Justin Gottlieb was coming home to his young family after a day at work when he was ambushed by Douglas Coudrey and Kenneth Regan and shot twice following an encounter with the pair during his drive, said DA Donnelly. Justin fought long enough to help identify the attackers before succumbing to his injuries. Just days after his murder, Coudrey and Regan were arrested for allegedly murdering another motorist in New Jersey. Justins daughter will never get to know the man that so many family members and friends loved because of the despicable violence of these two men. Our thoughts remain with Justins loved ones as they continue to grieve his loss. DA Donnelly said that on the evening of January 14, 2020, Justin Gottlieb, a 27-year-old electrical engineer at a lighting company in Jericho, was driving home from work to Plainview. As Gottlieb drove in his red Ford Explorer, he was followed by a white Ford Fusion operated by Coudrey and Regan. At approximately 5:32 p.m. Gottlieb pulled up in front of his parents home in Plainview, which was next door to his own home. Shortly thereafter, the Ford Fusion pulled up next to Gottliebs car and two shots were fired at the victim, striking him in the leg and chest. Gottlieb ran into his parents home where, fighting for his life, he told his family that the perpetrators were two kids in a white Ford Fusion. The victim was pronounced dead a short time later at Plainview Hospital. The victim was engaged and had an infant daughter with his fiance. On January 18, 2020, the defendants allegedly shot another motorist on Interstate 80 in Lodi, New Jersey. One occupant of the vehicle was killed while another was wounded. That case is being handled by the Bergen County Prosecutors Office. The .9mm shell casings from the New Jersey case and the Nassau County case were determined to have been fired from the same gun. The defendants were arrested on January 22, 2020, in Suffolk County by members of the Suffolk County Police Department and the New Jersey State Police. The defendants were arrested and charged with the Nassau murder on February 6, 2020, by members of the Nassau County Police Departments Homicide Squad. The NCDA thanks the Nassau County Police Department, the Suffolk County Police Department, the Bergen County Prosecutors Office, the New Jersey State Police and the Suffolk County Department of Social Services for their assistance in this investigation. Local News By Chris Boyle Published: March 25 2024 Application Period Closes April 1. Governor Kathy Hochul today encouraged New Yorkers interested in participating in the 2024 Empire State Fellows Program to apply before the April 1 deadline. The prestigious program attracts exceptional and diverse talent from New York State and across the country to serve in high-level positions in the administration. Since the program's inception 12 years ago, graduates of the Empire State Fellows program have gone on to senior roles, including Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Secretary and Chief of Staff positions throughout State agencies. The Empire State Fellows Program has brought some of New Yorks most exceptional talent to public service, serving as a catalyst for people to build careers where they can make a difference, Governor Hochul said. Anyone passionate about making positive impact in our great state should apply. New York State Department of Civil Service Commissioner Timothy R. Hogues said, New York State is seeking the best and brightest to continue the noble and rewarding legacy of public service. Under Governor Hochuls stewardship, state agencies are tackling the challenges of this decade head-on, and now is a great time to start your path as a future leader. Were looking for hard-workers and creative thinkers who will be inspired by gaining valuable experience across the highest levels of state government agencies, while learning from the many diverse faces, voices, backgrounds, ideas, and communities of those we serve in the Empire State. The Empire State Fellows Program is a full-time leadership training program that prepares the next generation of talented professionals for careers as New York State policymakers. The incoming class of Empire State Fellows will serve from September 12, and receive an annual salary of $85,000, plus a generous benefits package. At the end of the fellowship, the program will identify high-performing Empire State Fellows that will be given the opportunity to continue to serve as leaders in New York State government after completing the program. Engagement in the work of the New York State government lies at the heart of the Empire State Fellows Program. The Governor's Office will appoint each Empire State Fellow to work directly with a Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, or other high-level policymakers at a New York State agency or authority, or in the Executive Chamber. Work assignments offer Fellows unparalleled experience collaborating with senior officials and participating in the policy-making process. While taking part in the work of State government, Empire Fellows will participate in educational and professional development programs that will help them to serve as effective and ethical government leaders. The educational component of the Empire State Fellows Program kicks off with an orientation course in September. Educational coursework will continue on a semi-monthly basis. Meanwhile, professional development activities, including a mentoring program and regular meetings with Cabinet members and other government leaders, will enhance Empire Fellows' collaboration with policymakers. Applications opened on January 5 and will be accepted through April 1. More information on the program and instructions on how to apply are available here. According to the Wall Street Journal and others, shares of Baidu are up today on reports out of the Chinese media that Apple is in talks to license AI services from the Chinese tech giant. Baidu operates ERNIE Bot, a generative AI based on a large language model based AI similar in concept to ChatGPT or Googles Gemini. Apple was previously reported to be in talks with Google on licensing Gemini for use in iOS. Its not clear what the business arrangement looks like, or where or how exactly Baidus AI technology will appear in Apples products. Neither Apple nor Baidu have confirmed the reports, but thats par for the courseApple tends to keep such things secret until the products are announced. Googles Gemini and OpenAIs ChatGPT are not available in China at the moment, and may never be, so if Apple is licensing technology it will need to turn to a Chinese company. Its also not uncommon for Apple to find Chinese companies to flesh out its technology stack in China, where local regulations can get in the way of using the same partners it uses in the rest of the world, or even its own technology. For example, Apple uses Chinese company AutoNavi to provide mapping data in China. Its quite possiblelikely eventhat Apples AI plans involve using tech from Google or another company in most of the world and Baidu in China specifically. 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. Its Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! As I write, its currently the 15th anniversary of the 2009 stock market low. In March '09, US stocks were trading at levels not seen since 1996. Investors had suffered more than a lost decade. Fast-forward to today, and the S&P 500 has surged 650% off those generational lows. Its easy to look at the S&Ps 650% rise and scream bubble! But revenues and profits determine stock prices over the long term. Since '09, S&P 500 companies earnings have surged 1,200%. Lets get after it The perfect stock market indicator recently flashed red Ive warned a stock market correction is likely looming. No sign of one yet... but the latest cover of Barrons magazine makes me even more cautious: bull horns thrusting with the headline, Bet on the Bull. Source: Barrons For reasons I cover here, it usually pays to do the opposite of what financial magazine covers suggest . Look, these journalists are just doing their jobs. Theyre not investors. Theyre just trying to sell subscriptions. And the best way to do that is to write about whats hot. US stocks have surged 25% over the past six months. Thats double the annual returns of the S&P 500 over the past decade. It would be perfectly normaland healthyfor stocks to take a breather after this monster move. Dont be surprised if the S&P 500 trades sideways until the summer, or even until Novembers US presidential election. An urgent warning to all parents I believe smartphones and social media are harming our kids. Suicide attempts are up. Depression is way up. The number of teen girls taking antidepressants has surged 130% since 2016. My daughter is five. This makes me sick. Tons of research shows the more time kids spend on phones, the more depressed and likely to contemplate suicide they are. A new essay from top-notch research firm 13D Research & Strategy tells us why this is happening. How Does Technology Rewire the Intricate Circuitry of the Teenage Mind? is a must-read piece if you have kids or grandkids or even nieces and nephews. I encourage you to read the whole thing, but heres a quick summary. Checking your phone triggers the stress hormone cortisol. Being constantly exposed to this stress hormone at a young age rewires minds, making it difficult to control the emotion centers in your brain. This makes you far more likely to suffer from anxiety, feel unhappy, and want to harm yourself. What to do: #1: Do not buy a smartphone for your child. Giving your kid an iPhone is like handing them a pack of cigarettes. Its bad parenting. If they need a phone, buy a flip phone that only calls and texts. Youll be able to reach your kids, and their brains wont be melted by Instagram. Yes, this will make you an unpopular parent. Sometimes you have to choose between popularity and your kids well-being. Theyll probably resent you in the moment. But long term, theyll appreciate you did the right thing, even though it was harder. #2: Lead by example. Dont tell your kids to stay off social media when you scroll through Facebook. Show themwith your actionsto avoid this toxic stuff. Here are five practical ways to do so. Many people think government regulation is the solution. In Florida, a bill was sent to the senate recommending a ban on social media for kids under 16. I worry this will only make it cooler to have a phone for rebel kids. The change must come from the bottom upfrom parents. If you think Im being harsh youre right. We need to make it so socially unacceptable to hand teenagers iPhones that no parent would dare do it. Here in Ireland, drunk driving used to be the norm. Today, youd be ostracized and swiftly reported to child protection services for driving kids around with Guinness on your breath. We must do the same for smartphones. The good news is parents groups in America and the UK are already moving in this direction. Todays dose of optimism For decades, America was hooked on foreign energy to keep the lights on. In 2005 alone, the US imported 3.7 billion barrels of oil, plus tons of natural gas and coal. It seemed hopeless. Today, America produces more oil than any country in history. America (blue line) is the only major nation thats energy independent, as this chart shows: Source: JPMorgan Asset Management If Texas were a country, it would be the fourth-largest oil producer, eclipsing the whole of Europe. Its all thanks to the innovation of frackinga process that releases oil and gas trapped deep down inside previously inaccessible areas. Americas embrace of innovative new technologies is what keeps it #1. Never forget. Stephen McBride Chief Analyst, RiskHedge To get more ideas like this sent straight to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, make sure to sign up for The RiskHedge Report , a free investment letter focused on profiting from disruption. Expect smart insights and analysis on the latest breakthrough technologies, the big stories the mainstream media isn't reporting on, and much more... including actionable recommendations. Click here to sign up. 2024 Copyright Stephen McBride - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. A woman who won $25,000 a year for life had a dream that shed win the lottery about six months before winning her Lucky for Life prize. Patricia Harris, of Holliston, won $25,000 a year for life in the multi-state Lucky for Life lottery drawing game on Sept. 24, 2023. The first five numbers in the drawing matched the numbers on her Quic Pic ticket. Harris came forward on March 14 to claim her prize at Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester, and chose the cash option to receive a one-time payment of $390,000 before taxes. The Holliston woman told lottery officials shed had a dream she was going to win the lottery about six months prior to her win. She said she was going to use her winnings to invest and do some nice things for her family. Harris bought her winning ticket at Country Farm, located at 429 Washington St. in Holliston. The shop will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. This spring is going to be a big year for cicada lovers. Two groups or broods of periodical cicadas will emerge from underneath the Earths soil. An event rarer than Haleys Comet, the last time a cicada co-emergence took place was in 1803, according to Cicadamania, a website dedicated to tracking the insects. That was when the U.S. bought the Louisiana Territory from France. You cannot possibly be unaware that periodical cicadas are out, because theyre out by the millions and millions, and theyre noisy, charismatic, active insects that are just everywhere, John R. Cooley, an entomologist who studies cicadas at the University of Connecticut, told MassLive in January. Here are three things to know about the great cicada co-emergence. What happens after the cicadas emerge? By late April, trillions of cicadas from broods XIX (emerging every 13 years) and XIII (every 17 years) will crawl from underground simultaneously and fly across the south and Midwest looking to mate, according to Cicadamania. Male cicadas will make a high-pitched buzzing sound to attract female cicadas to mate. After the two lovers mate, the female cicada lays her eggs on the branches of trees. Six to 10 weeks later, the eggs hatch and the nymphs fall to the ground, burying themselves in the soil, according to National Geographic. Why do some cicadas emerge periodically? Scientists dont know for sure why some cicadas emerge periodically. Although there are theories that attempt to explain the insects behavior, many of them are flawed, according to Cooley. A common theory is that some cicadas emerge periodically to avoid predators and their infrequent appearance helps prevent enemies from synchronizing on their life cycle. However, Cooley is skeptical of this theory since all cicadas have predators, but less than 10 species are periodical. Some of the cicadas natural enemies include birds, moles and Cicada killer wasps, according to the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program. Will Massachusetts residents get to see cicadas? Unless Bay State residents are willing to drive down to the South or Midwest, they will not get to see the great cicada co-emergence. Instead, Massachusetts residents can wait until next year, when Brood XIV will emerge across the Northeast. Read More: Invasive spotted lanternfly identified in Holyoke The last time this brood emerged was in 2008, according to Cicadamania. This brood was the group of cicadas that European colonists first discovered in the late 15th century, according to Cooley. The early colonizers mistook the insects for a biblical plague. If you havent experienced one of these things, I do recommend it, Cooley said. Dozens jumped at the opportunity and hopped on over to an Acton fitness studio on Sunday afternoon to take part in a unique bunny yoga class benefitting a Massachusetts humane society. The 1-hour-long class took place at Revolution Community Yoga + Fitness (RCY) at the West Acton Villageworks plaza off Massachusetts Avenue, where roughly 30 attendees joined three foster care rabbits in an open studio space led by an instructor. Amy Steele, a 5-year volunteer with the Lowell Humane Society (LHS), helped to organize the yoga event with rabbits a first of its kind for the animal rescue organization based north of Boston, having previously done similar type fundraisers but with kittens and puppies. Steele, also a volunteer with RCY, brought her two volunteer opportunities together for a gentle yoga experience in which participants bended and stretched their bodies while the rabbits were free to roam the space and approach those exercising. In an effort to not be exploitative of the animals, the rabbits were not forced to interact with those taking the class, Steele said. However, time was given at the end of the class for attendees to get up close to the rabbits, allowing many to pet and take pictures of the bunnies. All the proceeds from the event go straight to LHS, Steele said, noting that both the instructor and the studio donated their time to allow for the event free of charge. Event participants were asked to give a suggested donation of at least $20 in support of the humane society. Steele said that money will help fund finding homes for other animals currently in the groups care, as well as pay for supplies to take care of them. Due to limited space and the attendance list quickly filling up, Steele said the event shifted from RCYs loft studio space in the Acton complex to a larger fitness room down the block to accommodate about twice as many people as originally planned for. Spread out on individual yoga mats, attendees curved their heads, limbs and torsos into various positions and poses, occasionally catching glimpses of the rabbits, which tended to stick to the perimeter of the space. One attendee even brought their own bunny, which sat in a clear pet carrier backpack. Steele indicated the event overall was a success and that she would consider organizing a similar event in the future, possibly with a different type of pet. The three female rabbits involved in the class came to the Lowell Humane Society in a group of seven combined males and females Steele said. The brown and white patterned bunnies are currently in foster care, but Steele indicated they will likely soon be adopted by their foster family and become therapy rabbits for Moonlight Ranch in Tyngsborough. Brenda Lusher, a yoga instructor with RCY, said it was her first time leading a class that involved animals, adding that It was a lot of fun, even if the bunnies were a little shy and unsure of the situation. Lusher incorporated many slow movements into the class, with yoga postures largely based on the ground. She also included a rabbit pose in the middle of the class for attendees, along with other aptly-named animal poses. Lusher added she was happy with the turn out for the event in support of the humane society and that she thought people enjoyed the occasion. Those interested in supporting or donating to the Lowell Humane Society can visit its website for more details. A federal judge has issued a prison sentence for a 23-year-old violent Boston gang member on racketeering charges related to a 2018 armed break-in, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorneys Office. Quincy resident Michael Nguyen, who also goes by Asian, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats or violence in December 2023, the U.S. Attorneys office said in a press release. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to nearly six years in prison and three years of supervised release. Nguyen is accused of being a member of the Dorchester-based Cameron Street gang, which uses violence to preserve, protect and expand its territory and generate income, according to the U.S. Attorneys office. Gang members have been accused of murder, attempted murder, carrying and using illegal guns, distributing drugs, committing armed robberies and engaging in human trafficking. They allegedly use social media to promote Cameron Street, celebrate murders and other violent crimes, and denigrate rival gangs, the U.S. Attorneys office wrote in the release. As part of his role in the Cameron Street gang, Nguyen often infiltrated rival gang territory to conduct surveillance on behalf of other members, the U.S. Attorneys office said. He and Cameron Street members Brendon Amado and Deronde Bethea are accused of committing a violent home invasion in July 2018. The three men entered through the back door of the home armed with guns and wearing masks, prompting one victim to call 911, the U.S. Attorneys office said. A second victim was brought into the living room and punched in the head before being threatened with a gun. Eventually, the gang members stole $2,000 in cash and a safe and then fled in a truck, the U.S. Attorneys office said. A car chase with law enforcement ensued until the truck collided with a police cruiser in Stoughton, allowing the three men to run away. Law enforcement eventually identified Nguyen through phone records and a shoe left behind at the scene, the U.S. Attorneys office said. Amado and Bethea were identified through security footage from a convenience store they visited prior to the break-in. Like Nguyen, Amado and Bethea have pleaded guilty to charges related to their gang activity and are scheduled to be sentenced on May 29 and May 16, respectively, the U.S. Attorneys office said. The Food and Drug Administration is taking aim at one Massachusetts facility that still uses electric shock devices on students with disabilities. On Monday, the FDA announced it proposed a banning of electrical stimulation devices (ESD) intended to reduce or stop self-injurious or aggressive behavior, the agency said in a statement. The FDA has information to indicate that only one facility is currently using these devices in the United States, which is the Judge Rotenberg Education Center in Canton, Massachusetts, the agency said. We estimate around 50 individuals currently have a treatment plan that includes the use, or potential use, of an ESD. It added that those exposed to the device might require time to gradually transition away from this device and adjust treatment plans, and the FDA plans to consider the needs of these patients should we finalize the proposed ban. A ban would stop the use of devices intended for self-injurious and aggressive behaviors, which present several psychological risks that include depression, anxiety, pain, burns and tissue damage, among others. In a statement, the center said it will continue to advocate for and, if necessary, litigate to preserve the court-approved, life-saving ESD treatment. [The] FDA has once again made a decision to move forward with a ban of this treatment based on politics, not facts, the statement. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a similar 2020 FDA rule banning the use of our treatment, and we are confident that we will prevail on behalf of our clients and their families once again. JRC has provided countless hours of testimony and volumes of information and made clinicians, other staff and family members of our clients, or clients themselves, available to the FDA over the past 13 years. The center credited a previous attempt to ban the devices without a fair hearing to JRC or the parents. The center added that it appealed the ban, which was attempted in 2020, according to the FDA. In moving toward a ban, the FDA is citing alleged risk of injury and PTSD, the center continued. However, after 44 days of testimony, a 2018 Massachusetts court decision found that: there was no evidence as to any psychological side effects experienced by JRC clients receiving ESD treatment. The Court also found that the GED devices effectively treat the severe problem behaviors of JRC clients, and that there is no evidence of physical or psychological side effects from ESD treatment when used according to JRCs policies and protocols. In 2023, The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a trial courts findings that the ESD treatment is safe and, for some clients, the only effective treatment for their life-threatening self-abuse and aggression, the center continued. JRC has exceeded all reporting requirements, and the school opted many years ago to install a 24-hour per day video monitoring system - offering unprecedented oversight of the clients and staff. The proposal will be open for comment until May 28, 2024, in which afterward the agency will review and consider comments before determining whether to issue a final rule. Boston police officers arrested a Mattapan man Thursday morning after he challenged a Dorchester Burger King customer to a fight while wielding a knife, according to the police department. Officers charged 50-year-old Pedro Carbuccia with assault with a dangerous weapon, Boston police said in a press release. Officers responded to the restaurant at 100 Washington St. around 10:20 a.m. on March 21 following reports of a person brandishing a knife, police said. The victim told them that while they were inside waiting to place an order, they noticed Carbuccia displaying disrespectful behavior towards another customer. The victim intervened and told Carbuccia to show more respect, leading to a heated exchange between two, police said. Carbuccia is accused of responding by coming out from behind a counter and challenging the victim to a fight while brandishing a knife. Burger King employees intervened and took Carbuccia outside in an effort to defuse the situation, police said. The victim called 911, and officers arrested Carbuccia at the scene without further incident. On Sunday, Boston police declined to tell MassLive whether Carbuccia was a Burger King employee. The fast-food chain did not respond to a request for comment Sunday afternoon. A man and woman were found guilty in Massachusetts court in connection with an intricate fraud scheme that resulted in the loss of someones inheritance, an engagement ring and money from a 13-year-old girls bank account, amongst other items. Robert Ross Reinhart and Clarissa Rodriguez committed their crimes across multiple states using different aliases between 2007 and 2013, and were convicted on Feb. 22, 2024 in Middlesex Superior Court. The duo stole more than $169,000 and other property over the course of those six years, the Middlesex District Attorneys Office said. Reinhart and Rodriguez posed as financially savvy, sophisticated, experienced and very successful people to give people investment advice and help with projects such as property redevelopment and marketing inventions, the office said. But in addition to not delivering on promises, they left the victims without their money and property, the office said. Read more: Stonehill College rallying around student hurt while studying abroad Law enforcement was tipped off in October 2013 of the scheme by the branch manger of the Wilmington Citizens Bank, after he called police to report he believed one of his customers was a scam victim, the office said. The manager said Reinhart had been at the bank trying to make sure that a deposit, which had been made by one of his investors into the account of a fake corporation Reinhart established, could be immediately wired from the account into another of Reinharts accounts. After local police said the transaction was suspicious and arrested the person Reinhart sent to the bank to withdraw the money, Reinhart went into hiding under aliases in New Hampshire. An investigation revealed several more fraudulent schemes Reinhart and Rodriguez performed over the six-year period, the office said, such as charging two inventors a total of $55,000 for marketing advice and product research for two separate products that were never delivered. Another intricate scam involved the duos fake organization called Missing Persons Bureau, Special Investigations Unit, falsely based out of Washington, D.C., the office said. The phony unit supposedly was aiming to solve the 1977 disappearance of a 14-year-old girl from Townsend, and Reinhart personally solicited a contribution from the missing girls mother and tried to get the town to pay more than $11,000 in fake expenses for the investigation, the office said. In another scam, Reinhart convinced a woman to drain the bank accounts she shared with her husband for their 13-year-old daughter so Reinhart could invest the cash. He also convinced the woman to obtain more cash for him to invest so he could refinance her paid-off car, the office said. Reinhart and Rodriguez also stole the womans engagement ring and told her theyd have the jewelry appraised, but pawned it instead for $125, the office said. The investigation into the duos crimes was led by the the Middlesex District Attorneys Office with assistance from the Wilmington and the Chelmsford Police Departments and the FBIs New England Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, and they were indicted in late 2014. Reinhart was sentenced to eight to ten years in state prison following three years of probation after his conviction on Feb. 22, in Middlesex Superior Court. He was convicted of 11 counts of larceny over $250, two counts of attempted larceny over $250 and one count of larceny under $250. He was also deemed common and notorious thief and ordered to repay his victims $169,000 in restitution, the office said. Read more: Boston gang member receives prison sentence for racketeering conspiracy Reinhart will serve his sentences consecutively with a one- to two-year state prison sentence he was already serving for trying to pay a witness $500 to influence his testimony, the office said; hed been found guilty of the offense in December 2023. Rodriguez was convicted by a Middlesex Superior Court jury of five counts of larceny over $250, and was also deemed a common and notorious thief, the office said. Rodriguez to four to five years in state prison. A Gardner man charged in connection with the 1993 shooting death of an Ayer teenager in Fitchburg pleaded not guilty in Worcester Superior Court. Lawrence Calafell, 51, was indicted on one count of murder, armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and two gun charges in connection with a shooting that resulted in the death Deondray Atwood, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.s office said in a Monday press release. Calafell, who Massachusetts State Police arrested on Friday in Fitchburg, appeared for his arraignment on Monday and was represented by lawyer Richard Farrell. Hidden behind a door, Calafell pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Before the court, Assistant District Attorney David Feraco explained what led to Calafells arraingment. Calafell and Robert DLucca, 49, are accused of shooting into a car parked on Daniels Street with three people inside on Nov. 25, 1993, Feraco said. Deondray Atwood, 15, received multiple gunshot wounds during the incident and died of his injuries. Another passenger in the car was shot multiple times, but she survived, Earlys office said in its statement. The driver of the car was uninjured. Feraco asked for Calafell to be held without bail without prejudice, which the judge accepted and ordered. Some of Atwoods family members were present in the courtroom for the arrangement. DLucca was also indicted Friday on all of the same charges, Earlys office said. While he was also charged, he was not tried due to a previous arrest in New York on separate murder charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He sits in Sing Sing Correctional Facility a maximum security prison but will be extradited to Massachusetts to be arraigned at a later date. Calafell will return to Worcester Superior Court on May 1. Anyone with information about this case or any unresolved homicides are asked to reach out to the Worcester County District Attorneys Unresolved Homicide Unit at 508-453-7589 or WorcesterDAunresolved@mass.gov. In the wake of a bicycle accident that left Stonehill College junior Lauren Rauseo with serious injuries, the college plans to raise money in her honor. Rauseo was studying abroad when she suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple fractures in a bicycle crash in Spain on March 17. She remains in critical condition and in a medically coma. Stonehills Student Government Association will sell bracelets at the schools Lower Commons during lunch and dinner, with the proceeds benefitting Rauseo, who remains hospitalized. Members of the school community can also write letters and make posters to show support for Rauseo. The Easton-based Catholic colleges campus ministry held a Mass to offer prayers to Rauseo in the wake of the accident. The Stonehill College community continues to pray for Laurens full recovery and offer support to her family, the school said in a statement. A pair of GoFundMe pages has been set up to help Rauseos family pay for the costs of her treatment, including bringing her back to Boston via Medflight to receive care at a specialized pediatric ICU trauma unit. The suddenness of this catastrophe has left Laurens family, and all of us who love her, grappling with the profound sense of helplessness, Helen DeCosta, the organizer of one of the fundraisers, wrote. Being thousands of miles away has only intensified our anxiety and desire to do something anything to aid in her recovery. Laurens parents have dropped everything to be by her side, their lives turned upside down as they navigate this nightmare. Rauseo received a $3,000 scholarship from the college to help pay for her study-abroad experience in Paris during the spring 2024 semester, the school said in a statement. She was living with a host family and another student from Tennessee. I believe studying abroad is helping me become a more worldly individual, Rauseo said in the statement. I am meeting a variety of people from different backgrounds and being exposed to new languages and cultures. I am also working hard to become more fluent in French. Ive dedicated eight years to learning the language and Im quite passionate about learning it. Rauseo is a double major in English and communication at Stonehill, according to the school. The fundraisers have a combined goal of $400,000 and have raised more than $200,000 from about 3,300 donations for Rauseos family thus far. The costs associated with Laurens medical care, including the intention to med flight her from Spain to Boston are staggering, Ryan Desmarais wrote on the GoFundMe page. Additionally, her parents are enduring expenses for accommodations near the hospital, meals, and other incidentals that are associated with being away from home. Every contribution, no matter how big or small, will make a difference in Laurens fight for survival, Desmarais continued. Your generosity will help alleviate the financial burden on her family, allowing them to focus on what truly matters. A grand jury has indicted two men on murder charges in the 1993 shooting death of an Ayer 15-year-old in Fitchburg, the Worcester County District Attorneys Office announced Monday. Robert DLucca, 49, and Gardner resident Lawrence Calafell, 51, were indicted Friday on one count each of murder, armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and two gun charges in connection with a shooting that resulted in the death Deondray Atwood, the district attorneys office said in a Monday press release. The two men are accused of shooting into a car parked on Daniels Street with three people inside on Nov. 25, 1993, according to the district attorneys office. Atwood received multiple gunshot wounds during the incident and died of his injuries. Another passenger in the car was shot multiple times, but she survived, the district attorneys office said. The driver of the car was uninjured. DLucca was charged in connection with the shooting in 1993, but wasnt tried because he was arrested in New York on separate murder charges, the district attorneys office said. He has been serving time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility a maximum security prison since then, and will now be brought back to Massachusetts to be arraigned at a later date. Following Fridays indictment, Massachusetts State Police arrested Calafell in Fitchburg without incident, the district attorneys office said. He is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Worcester Superior Court. Anyone with information about this case or any unresolved homicides are asked to reach out to the Worcester County District Attorneys Unresolved Homicide Unit at 508-453-7589 or WorcesterDAunresolved@mass.gov. A solar eclipse is set to arrive in two weeks, with the path of totality the area in which one can see the sun entirely covered by the moon passing near Massachusetts. But heres the problem: cloudy skies abound in early April, particularly in the Northeast. Historical records for the Northeast going back to 1979 compiled by the National Weather Service office in Albany, N.Y., showed that 70% to 80% of the days within a week of April 8, when the eclipse will take place, were cloudy. An anecdote from a solar eclipse in 1970, relayed at Space.com, talks through one guiding principle to give you the best chance of a clear sky. Stay mobile. In 1970, a group of scientists informed that Perry, Florida, would have a 70% chance of clear skies headed for that community, set up camp, and were thoroughly disappointed as the dank and cloudy skies ruined their view of the eclipse, the Space.com article reads. Meanwhile, three amateur scientists, who also were set to observe the eclipse in Perry, grabbed their equipment, stuck it in a rental car, and drove 350 miles north to Poston, South Carolina. They enjoyed a clear view of the eclipse, the article said. Many are currently making plans to view the eclipse in a specific area, based on weather models and forecasts. At the same time, accurate forecasts are not possible more than a week out from the event. Being up to date on local weather forecasts and an ability to be mobile will give eclipse viewers the greatest chance to view the eclipse. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Prediction Center is providing an increasingly accurate look at what conditions will be like on April 8, and local National Weather Service offices will be able to supplement this soon. The weather offices covering the path of the eclipse in the Northeast include the offices based in Albany, Burlington, Vt., and in Gray, Maine. The Weather.com outlook for Burlington, Vt., close to the center of the path of totality now calls for a 36% chance of rain, particularly on the morning of April 8. Boston police officers arrested two women Thursday morning after they assaulted an officer working a paid detail at the Starbucks at South Bay mall in Dorchester, according to the police department. Roxbury resident Amari Robinson, 30, and Dorchester resident April Payne, 52, are facing charges of assault and battery on a police officer and malicious destruction of property, Boston police said in a press release. Robinson faces an additional charge of larceny from a building in connection with stealing from the coffee shops tip jar. The incident unfolded on March 21 at the Starbucks at 36 District Ave. around 9:50 a.m., police said. The officer noticed Robinson and Payne exhibiting aggressive behavior towards store staff and vandalizing store property, and he decided to intervene. The two women responded by assaulting the officer and hitting him multiple times, police said. Robinson is also accused of throwing a cup of coffee at the officers face. Additional police officers rushed to the Starbucks, and the two women were promptly taken into custody, police said. The injured officer was treated at the scene before being taken to a hospital for further treatment. Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment Sunday afternoon. Two people were stabbed last Monday night during a brawl at a restaurant in downtown Plymouth, according to the towns police department. The fight broke out before 11 p.m. on March 18, the police department said. Two people were found stabbed after officers stopped multiple people fighting at the eatery, the department said. The officers gave first aid to the stabbing victims and started investigating the incident. Police did not name the restaurant, but said it was located downtown. Read more: Two men face murder charges in 1993 shooting of Ayer teen in Fitchburg After reviewing camera footage, officers arrested Richard Velez, 27, of Middleborough for stabbing one person and menacing another with a knife. Velez faces charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, carrying a dangerous weapon and the subsequent offense of disturbing the peace, police said. Read more: Stonehill student critically injured in bike crash while studying in Spain More people who were involved in the fight at the restaurant may be arrested, the department said, as the investigation is ongoing. The department did not immediately respond to MassLive for comment. If it did nothing else, last weeks heated public debate over Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healeys personal travel schedule prompted a badly needed conversation around what remains a glaring weakness in a state thats widely viewed as a bastion of progressivism. And thats a disconcerting lack of transparency at nearly every level of state government. From closed-door votes and a secretive legislative process to state officials who argue theyre exempt from the states open records law and the ongoing fight over whether the Legislature can be audited, it can be tough for the average citizen to keep tabs on what their elected officials are doing. There is no other state in the country that needs a greater reminder of the virtues of increased government transparency as much as Massachusetts, Paul D. Craney, a spokesperson for the business-friendly Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said in a statement earlier this month, as Sunshine Week kicked off across the commonwealth. To review, Healey, a Democrat who took office in 2023 vowing to be more transparent than her Republican predecessor, was forced to abruptly backpedal on her offices tight-lipped travel policy, saying shed provide information about her personal travel upon request and after the fact, WBUR and other outlets reported. The pivot came after the Democratic governor left the state for four days last month, with her office refusing to disclose where she went, according to the Boston Globe. And that was a pivot from an earlier pivot last November, when the administration announced it would stop providing advance notice on Healeys personal travel, WBUR reported. As it turns out, the long-weekend jaunt to Puerto Rico was a birthday gift from Healeys partner, Joanna Lydgate, the administration later said. The governors focus is on balancing the need to protect the privacy and security of her family while also providing information to the public, administration spokesperson Karissa Hand said in a statement. Now, you can argue that the taxpayers dont need to know where Healeys spending her downtime. But they do deserve some form of a heads-up, not only because theyre shouldering some portion of the cost, but also because there are succession concerns. Under state law. Lt. Gov Kim Driscoll assumes Healeys duties when shes out of state. If theyre both out of town, Secretary of State William L. Galvin steps in, as was the case during one weekend in February. The voters, at minimum, deserve to know whos flying the plane, even if they dont notice a difference in the quality of the flight. Then theres the majority-Democrat Legislature, which made news last week for announcing that a joint House-Senate conference committee would meet publicly to hash out the differences over a gun violence reform bill. In many states, such as Montana, for instance, thats norm and not the exception. But thats not the case in Massachusetts, where legislative leaders routinely meet behind closed doors to reconcile their differences, and only go public when they have a deal to announce. That tendency toward opacity also comes amid new reporting that the number of roll call votes in the state House has declined steadily over the last few years, depriving voters of the chance to know how their elected representatives are voting on critical issues. As of earlier this month, the House had held 81 roll call votes during the current, two-year legislative session, The Eagle-Tribune newspaper reported. Thats down from the 105 it held in the 2021-22 session, and less than the 313 held during the 2017-18 session, the newspaper reported. The same held true in the Senate, which also has had fewer recorded votes, the newspaper reported. While these numbers are outrageous, they are not entirely surprising; the sharp drop in roll call votes is part and parcel of a larger trend of concentrating power on Beacon Hill, Erin Leahy, executive director of the group Act on Mass., told the Eagle-Tribune. And all this matter because it comes at a time when the publics faith in institutions, across the spectrum, continues to take a historic beating. And for a state thats already gotten failing grades for its transparency, the commonwealth can scarcely afford any more own goals. They may disagree on the means and the mechanism for fixing it, but the three most powerful Democrats in Massachusetts politics agree on this much: The Bay States overstuffed and cash-strapped emergency shelter system is on the brink of collapse. And as they faced the press on Monday: State House Speaker Ron Mariano; Senate President Karen Spilka, and Gov. Maura Healey were running out of time to come up with a solution. I think all three of us understand that this program needs constraints; that it will sink under its own weight unless we begin to look at ways in which we can control it, Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, said. And I think we all arrived at different positions at different times. But it seems as if were all going in basically the same direction. The House, controlled by Mariano, and the Senate, run by Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, each have passed their own version of shelter funding bills that seek to limit shelter stays to nine months, with extensions under certain conditions. Each is an effort to to modify the states 1983 right-to-shelter law since the surge of new arrivals began in the fall of 2022. Now its up to negotiators in the two chambers to reconcile their differences between the two bills and send a final version to Healey for her signature. Time is of the essence: The state currently is spending $75 million a month on the system, and the money could run out by April unless a funding deal is in place, according to the Boston Herald. And on Monday, standing before reporters, Healey, Mariano, and Spilka were like a tableau from a Russian family novel each unhappy in their own way. Asked if she preferred the House or Senates proposed solution, the Democratic governor offered little in the way of specifics. ... We look forward to working through these issues; we look forward to the conversation, she said. Were in the process of reviewing these things now. Earlier in the day on Monday, Healeys office announced that it would require new arrivals and long-term residents of Massachusetts staying at state overflow shelters to prove they are working towards independence every month. The overflow shelter sites began opening in November as the states emergency shelter program reached its capacity of 7,500 families amid a scathing housing crisis, MassLive previously reported The overflow sites operate in buildings not typically used as shelters, such as the Registry of Deeds in East Cambridge, where cots are set up overnight as temporary sleeping situations for about 200 families. Other overflow shelters are located in Roxbury, Quincy, Revere and soon Chelsea. These overflow sites are exclusively for families eligible for the states emergency shelter program who have been waitlisted for traditional shelters and hotels or motels, MassLive reported. Read more: How migrants sleeping at Logan Airport spend their days and nights Speaking to reporters, Healey said the new requirement was a way of imposing accountability on benefit recipients as we look to manage this responsibly, and as we face the capacity constraints that we have talked about for a while now. Healey said the state would move deliberately in cases where benefit recipients are not recertified for services. But the message today is clear that for those who are coming into our overflow sites, our safety net sites, there are certain requirements that were imposing as a state, she said " ... Were providing services ... And those who want to participate in the program need to be ... seeking jobs, attending [English as Second Language] classes, [and] working with case management. The whole idea of this is to divert people from our emergency shelter system to get them on a different path. Spilka said her office was still reviewing the front offices newly announced policy. But, she added, it is somewhat consistent with what we did last week with the [shelter rules] and having every family [have] a plan. NORTHAMPTON North Commons at Village Hill, a complex of 53 mixed-income apartments on the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital, is a housing model, a state official said Monday. This is the kind of project that gives us hope, said Edward M. Augustus, the states secretary of housing and livable communities. Its the kind of thing we need to see more of. CHICOPEE In an open, grassy field at Westover Air Reserve Base, firefighting training took place several times a year from the mid-1960s through the 1980s. An estimated 4,800 gallons of a specialized suppressant was sprayed there. Decades later, these man-made chemicals still lurk in the soil and below it. Springfield police have arrested and charged a New Jersey man with child enticement in connection with an attempted meet-up with a local girl under the age of 16, according to police. Perth Amboy resident Brayan Torres-Tapia, 30, is accused of having conversations with the victim on Quora a website on which people post and answer questions and then trying to take her and a friend to a local hotel, police said in a Friday press release. On March 1, Springfield school resources officers informed detectives of online communications between the victim and a man who was later identified as Torres-Tapia that detailed the planned meet-up, police said. Around 12:30 p.m. that day, officers located a suspect matching the mans description and arrested Torres-Tapia on Main Street where the meet-up was supposed to happen. SPRINGFIELD The Police Department has met multiple milestones since signing a consent decree with the federal Department of Justice, but officials agreed it continues to struggle to reach out to the public. The team that is overseeing the decree, which includes members of the U.S. Attorneys Office and several retired law enforcement officials, including Kathleen OToole, the compliance evaluator and a retired Boston police commissioner, met with residents in a remote meeting last week. Two Western Massachusetts men are facing charges in connection with a bar fight in Connecticut over the weekend during which a woman stabbed two bouncers in the neck with a shank, according to police. Springfield resident Adrian Montes, 28, and Northampton resident Stuart Chase, 32, have both been charged with resisting arrest and breach of peace, according to police. Montes sister, 24-year-old Wallingford, Connecticut, resident Heidi Montes, has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree assault, resisting arrest and breach of peace. The charges stem from an incident at 75 Center a bar and grill in Southington, Connecticut that took place in the early hours of Saturday, March 23. Stuart Chase and Adrian Montes got into an argument with an unidentified man at the bar, and when bouncers tried to escort them to the door, Chase punched a bouncer in the face and started a fight, Southington police said in a press release. DLA Piper welcomed Kalidou Gadio as co-chair of the US-Africa Practice based out of the firms Washington, DC office. Gadios practice focuses on strategic and economic development projects involving energy, natural resources, and infrastructure. He represents developers, construction companies, financiers and sovereign states on financing structures, risk allocation, financing arrangements, and relevant security packages. Gadio also advises governments and corporations in Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), and in disputes involving foreign investments in the energy and natural resources sectors. Gadio brings deep knowledge of the Sub-Saharan Africa and MENA regions, having previously spent 27 years at the African Development Bank, including eight years as general counsel. During his tenure, he played a critical role in creating Africa50, an investment bank for continental Africa with a slated capital of US$3 billion, and setting up the African Legal Support Facility, which provides legal and capacity building services for African governments negotiating major commercial and infrastructure contracts. Gadios notable experience also includes restructuring Shelterafrique into a full DFI, counseling African governments in legislative reforms, institutional capacity building, and advising sovereign corporations, private enterprises and public-private partnerships on project finance transactions. We have a bold vision to be the preeminent provider of legal services supporting business between the United States and the African continent. Kalidou is a tremendous talent with a breadth of experience in Africa that is matched by few. Sought after by companies and governments alike for his counsel and insight on a range of issues impacting the continent, he will play a critical role in achieving our vision. We look forward to introducing him to our clients whilst also leveraging our firms unrivaled Africa footprint and reputation to support his practice, said Naana Frimpong, co-chair of DLA Pipers US-Africa Practice. Kalidou has accrued a wealth of experience over an illustrious career and has a deep knowledge of the ways in which we may more meaningfully support our clients with their Africa needs. He will be instrumental in further strengthening our work between the US and Africa, and we are thrilled to have him join us, said William Minor, DLA Pipers office managing partner of the Washington, DC office. Uisce Eireann and An Taisces 'Walks for Water' event succeeds in Mayo. As part of the Uisce Eireanns ongoing partnership with An Taisces Green-Schools programme, and to mark World Water Day, the 'Walks for Water' events took place nationwide. The initiative of the event is to raise awareness about the global water crisis affecting 2.2 billion people living without access to safe drinking water. Students and teachers from several schools, including Presentation College Headford, completed a six-kilometre walk around Cong whilst carrying recycled cartons filled with water on their backs, simulating the daily journey of women and children in developing countries. Senior Coordinator of the Green-schools Water Programme with An Taisce, Sabrina Moore, said each year the impact the walk has on its participants is seen by the organisation. They go home with a greater awareness of what water scarcity is, how important water conservation and sustainable development is, and of course, with a greater appreciation for the beautiful surrounds of places like Glendalough, Cong, and Gougane Barra in Cork, she said. Uisce Eireann has parterned with An Taisces Green-Schools programme for the eleventh consecutive year. The collaboration supports 519 schools across Ireland as they work towards achieving a Green Flag for water conservation. With 120,000 students actively participating, the grassroots sponsorship focuses on changing behaviours, enhancing education, and fostering an understanding of the vital role that water plays in our daily lives. Head of Customer Operations at Uisce Eireann, Geoffrey Bourke, explained how the partnership helps the next generation realise the importance of conserving and protecting water. We are delighted to be teaming up with An Taisce again this year for the Green-Schools Water Theme. There are so many small actions we can take to make a difference. We can change simple habits like fixing leaking or dripping taps, reducing shower time and not running the tap while brushing teeth, he concluded. More information as well as tips on how to reduce your water usage can be found on tips on Uisce Eireanns website. Castlebar man Daniel Conway will represent Mayo at the seventeenth annual Mr Personality Festival. The festival, which is being organised by Kilkenny county Macra na Feirme, will take place April 5 and 6 at The Talbot Hotel, Clonmel. Macra na Feirme is a voluntary organisation representing a thriving community of 10,000 young people from rural Ireland. Daniel is 26 years old, active member of Castlebar Macra na Feirme. The Castlebar native has listed his first county meeting as one of his most memorable Macra moments, where Northwest Macra Vice President Rob Lally had the whole room in stitches laughing at a story about a goose. His hobbies and interests include running, going to the gym, hiking, farming, following Mayo GAA, and listening to a range of music and podcasts. A man of many talents, Daniel believes he will make a good representative for Mayo because he is a positive, outgoing and approachable person. He contributes to his club where possible and is an advocate for the great work Macra do in encouraging personal development, making new friends and learning new skills, as he did through Macra. The weekend will be jam-packed for Daniel, with contestants arriving at The Talbot Hotel at on April 5 and heading out for their first group activity of the weekend shortly after. Upon their return to the hotel, they will face the on-stage interviews which will be conducted by MC Michelle Heffernan from Beat 102-103 and followed by music from the much-anticipated GAA band, and DJ. The next morning, contestants will engage in private interviews with the festivals judges. Following the interviews, contestants have jiving lessons with Niall Doorhy before heading for lunch. After lunch, the challenges will take place and contestants will be put through their paces. On Saturday evening, Daniel will be donning his suit and meeting with Kilkenny, Carlow and District Farm Relief Services to have their official photos taken. All this is then by the banquet, which is set to see a very special guest making an appearance. The Loose Canons will bring audiences and contestants alike to the dance floor playing hit after hit, until Mr Personality 2024 is announced at midnight. Tickets for the banquet can be booked by contacting Laura or Michael in The Talbot Hotel. Full details are available on the Mr Personality Festival Facebook and Instagram. Northwestern Computer Science continues to strengthen and expand research collaborations within Northwestern Engineering and across the University, welcoming its three newest affiliated faculty members Nivedita Arora, Matt Groh, and Ermin Wei to advance the departments multidisciplinary academic mission. Our department is delighted to welcome three new courtesy faculty members. Our courtesy faculty join the vibrant community that we have created around computing at Northwestern and participate in many department activities such as advising CS graduate students, said Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at the McCormick School of Engineering. We are proud that we have courtesy faculty from many departments and schools at Northwestern. We often see them at department talks and workshops and they are also engaging in a variety of research projects with CS faculty and students. Nivedita Arora Arora joined Northwestern Engineering in September 2023 as the Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Junior Professor of Design and assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. Working at the intersection of novel materials, low-power embedded systems, human-computer interaction, and design, Arora is passionate about designing sustainability-first computing systems and exploring their applications. Prior to joining Northwestern, Arora held a postdoctoral researcher position in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), advised by adjunct associate professor Josiah Hester. Arora earned a PhD in computer science and a masters degree in human-computer interaction (HCI), both from Georgia Tech, where she was advised by Gregory Abowd and Thad Starner. Aroras research has been published in the proceedings of top-tier ACM systems and HCI venues such as ACM Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies; ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology; and ACM International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services. Her work has been recognized in Communications of the ACM and SIGMOBILE's GetMobile Magazine, two best paper awards from ACM IMWUT and the ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems International Workshop on Energy Harvesting & Energy-Neutral Sensing Systems, and two best poster awards from MobiSys and UIST. Arora also received several awards at Georgia Tech, including the ACM UbiComp Gaetano Borriello Outstanding Student Award, GVU Foley Scholar, College of Computing Outstanding GRA Award, Rising Stars in EECS, and Faces of Inclusive Excellence. Matt Groh Groh joined Northwesterns Kellogg School of Management in July 2023 as a Donald P. Jacobs Scholar and assistant professor of management and organizations. He is also a core faculty member of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems. Groh examines the dynamics of human-AI collaboration with a focus on deepfake detection, medical diagnosis aided by computer vision, and empathic communication. His guiding research question is: How can we design AI systems to help people solve problems more effectively? Grohs work has recently appeared in Nature Medicine, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Computer Supported Collaborative Work, and Affective Computing and Intelligent Interactions. Lately, Groh has been collaborating with members of the Midwest Uncertainty Collective including Jessica Hullman, Ginni Rometty Professor and associate professor of computer science; computer science PhD student Negar Kamali; and postdoctoral scholar in computer science Angelos Chatzimparmpas to design and evaluate decision support tools to help people more effectively distinguish between AI-generated and authentically captured images. Prior to joining Northwestern, Groh cofounded a startup that developed tailored sensor analytics and sport-specific performance tracking smartwatch applications. He also held data scientist roles at cyber security startup Expanse, an education technology startup called RaiseMe, the non-profit organization Innovations for Poverty Action, the World Bank, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Groh earned an MA and PhD in media arts and sciences from MIT. He completed a bachelors degree in economics with minors in Arabic and mathematics from Middlebury College. I look forward to joining the CS seminars and participating in many interdisciplinary research collaborations. Groh said. Ermin Wei Wei is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and of industrial engineering and management sciences at Northwestern Engineering. Wei's research interests include distributed optimization methods, convex optimization and analysis, smart grid, communication systems and energy networks, and market economic analysis. My research interest lies at the intersection of network control, algorithm design, and economics. Our CS department has significant strengths in all these domains, Wei said. I'm excited to explore closer collaboration and interaction with CS colleagues and students, in both research and social aspects. In the short-term, Weis team is working on developing and analyzing distributed algorithms for networked systems with hardware constraints, including robotic networks, energy networks, and federated learning systems. Her lab is also building behavior-based economical models to study the interactions of bounded rational agents. In the long-term, Wei aims to design an efficient and robust system that includes both fully controllable and self-interested agents. Weis Team GO-SNIP which included faculty members, students, and alumni finished second place in Challenge 1 and seventh place in Challenge 2 of the Department of Energys (DOE) Grid Optimization (GO) Competition, a global contest that challenges teams to develop software management solutions for challenging power grid problems. Advised by Asu Ozdaglar, Wei earned a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science in 2014 at MIT, where she also obtained a masters degree. Wei received triple undergraduate degrees in computer engineering, finance, and mathematics with a minor in German, from the University of Maryland, College Park. by Ray Schultz , March 24, 2024 The Reddit IPO, which reportedly showered Conde Nast's owners with $2.1 billion due to an impressive opening day, has slowed slightly. The stock price on Friday was $46 per share at closing, versus the $50.44 it closed at on Thursday. Still, that is higher than the $34 per share price set by the company. Reddits market capitalization totaled $7.3 billion on Friday evening, a 14% decline from Thursday. Still, it was an impressive opening for the company that has not yet achieved a profit. The founding Newhouse family, which owns roughly a third of the outstanding shares through its Advance Publications, acquired Reddit for $11 million in 2006, and spun it off as a separate company in 2011. Last week, 35 Conde Union executives marched to protest layoffs at the company, and were threatened with additional firings during a labor negotiation, according to the Hollywood Reporter. For its part, Conde Nast filed an unfair labor practice charge against the the NewsGuild of New York, alleging bad-faith, surface bargaining, the reporter continues. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, March 25, 2024 A federal judge has thrown out X Corp.'s claims against the watchdog Center for Countering Digital hate, ruling that the tech company filed suit in order to penalize the watchdog for issuing critical reports. This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer wrote in an opinion issued Monday. The decision comes in a lawsuit brought by X last August over reports about offensive speech posted by users. One of those reports, issued several week before X sued, accused the company of failing to remove racist, homophobic and antisemitic comments posted by Twitter Blue subscribers. That report cited several examples, such as the posts Diversity is a codeword for White Genocide, and Trannies are pedophiles. X -- which has lost significant ad revenue since its 2022 acquisition by self-labeled free speech absolutist Elon Musk -- claimed that the anti-hate speech group's reports scared away advertisers. advertisement advertisement The company alleged in its lawsuit that the nonprofit violated the platform's terms of service by scraping the data that informed the reports. X also claimed that the watchdog violated an anti-hacking law. The nonprofit urged Breyer to throw out the lawsuit at an early stage for several reasons. The group argued that even if the allegations were true, they wouldn't give X grounds for a breach of contract suit or a suit over the anti-hacking law. What's more, the group argued that the allegations centered on quintessential newsgathering activity, and should therefore be thrown out under California's anti-SLAPP (strategic litigation against public participation) law. That statute entitles defendants to fast dismissals of claims based on statements about matters of public interest, and also allows defendants to recover attorneys' fees. Breyer agreed with the nonprofit's arguments and dismissed the suit under the anti-SLAPP law. X Corp.s motivation in bringing this case is evident, Breyer wrote in the 52-page opinion. X Corp. has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp. -- and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism. Breyer also noted that X is separately suing the watchdog Media Matters over its reports about content on the platform. If there is any question about the 'punishing part, X Corp. filed a similar suit ... in November of 2023 against Media Matters, another non-profit media watchdog, Breyer wrote. Prior to doing so, Musk threatened a 'thermonuclear lawsuit' against Media Matters, Breyer added, quoting from Musk's tweet about the suit. Musks post also claimed, remarkably, that the lawsuit was furthering X Corp.s efforts 'to protect[] free speech.' The ruling comes several weeks after Breyer suggested at a hearing that he was skeptical of X's claims. At that hearing, Breyer told X attorney Jon Hawk that the platform couldn't obtain damages for lost ad revenue, unless those damages were foreseeable when the Center for Countering Digital Hate agreed to X's terms of service. I think they weren't even remotely foreseeable, Breyer said at that hearing. The judge elaborated that the watchdog agreed to the terms of service before Musk purchased the platform and revised its approach to content moderation; among other moves, Musk reinstated accounts that had been banned. John Quinn, who represented the Center for Countering Digital Hate, denied that the organization scraped data from X. Instead, Quinn argued, the group only used a search function on Twitter.com to find public posts. Quinn also argued to Breyer that any loss of ad revenue was due to independent decisions by advertisers, and couldn't be attributed to the Center for Countering Digital Hate. by Steven Rosenbaum , Featured Contributor, March 25, 2024 The story of how Truth Social has arrived at a moment to become a public company seemingly overnight is a complicated financial journey -- but one worth unpacking. The public company that is merging with Truth Social was formed in 2019 in shell company known as a SPAC, a Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. You can read the SEC filings here. There are 283 pages of filings; see if you can find a clearer story than that one Im going to try and sort out. But the core question is this. Since a SPAC cant be formed or offered with a target acquisition in mind, and since Truth Social wasnt created by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), until October 2021 -- what was DWAC formed to do, and by whom? advertisement advertisement Patrick Orlando, CEO of DWAC, had been telling investors privately for months that hed been talking with Trump about a deal -- a violation of federal securities law. The Washington Post, trying to untangle the complicated financial wrangle, writes In June 2021, the court filings say, Orlando went to meet prospective investors at the Miami-area offices of Rocket One, led by Gerald Shvartsman. A 2022 Financial Times report said, Shvartsman, his brother Gerald, and Bruce Garelick, the investment chief of Shvartsmans private-equity firm Rocket One Capital, have been charged with conspiracy and securities fraud in the case. Today, Trump's Truth Social is losing money and has virtually no ad sales. Yet it could trade at a $5 billion value on the public markets. The current CEO of Trump Media is Devin Nunes, who served in U.S. House of Representatives for 19 years and has no previous experience in media. Seventeen hours ago, Donald Trump owned nearly 80 million 'DJT' shares After the merger Trump is expected to own 69.4% of the combined company, and the stock ticker will be "DJT," his initials. So who are the largest owners of DWAC? Well, number one on the list, according to the SEC is Susquehanna International Group, LLP, whose owner is Jeff Yass, an options trader who according to Forbes is worth over $27 billion. Yass is rumored to be the Major TikTok investor who singlehandedly convinced Trump to back off banning the Chinese-owned video app. Other top institutional shareholders of DWAC are Atika Capital Management, LLC, ATW Spac Management LLC, Sapient Capital LLC, Buckingham Strategic Wealth, LLC, LPL Financial LLC, Chickasaw Capital Management, LLC, Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC, Lincoln Capital Corp, Group One Trading, L.P. Quotes from a report in Politico: Its simply trading on Trumps name, said SPAC Insider founder Kristi Marvin. People arent buying this because they like the fundamentals theyre buying this because they like Trump. Donald Trump's history of bankruptcies and ongoing legal cases and the implications of his involvement with a publicly traded company like DWAC adds layers of complexity to assessing potential risks. Donald Trump and his businesses have been involved in over 4,000 legal cases in U.S. federal and state courts from the 1970s until he was elected president in 2016. This includes a wide range of disputes, from real estate lawsuits to personal defamation suits and over 100 business tax disputes. Since leaving office, Trump has continued to face multiple legal challenges, including criminal indictments and civil lawsuits. According to the Institute for Policy Integrity, the Trump administration lost nearly 93% of its court cases related to agency actions, which is a historically low win rate compared to most administrations that have around a 70% win rate. Advertisement MANILA Australia March 25, 2024 Manila Philippines Advertisement the Philippines the Philippines The Philippines Sandeep Juneja the Philippines Australia the Philippines the Philippines Indonesia Kyrgyzstan Myanmar Ukraine Uzbekistan Vietnam the Philippines the Philippines Irene Flores Jose B. Lingad the Philippines the Philippines Peru April 2024 Peru Peru August 2019 Australia's United Kingdom Germany's South Korea Irish Aid South Korea's www.tballiance.org Jessica Wiggs /PRNewswire/ -- TB Alliance's new Peer-to-Peer Learning for Innovative Cures (PeerLINC) Knowledge Hub launched today in, with funding from the Australian Government through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative. PeerLINC, operating in partnership between TB Alliance and the Tropical Disease Foundation, Inc. (TDF), and in close collaboration with the Department of Health,, will help countries implement best practices in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) to help speed the worldwide programmatic implementation of innovative, more effective treatments for the disease, starting with the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended six-month, all-oral BPaL/M regimens, composed of the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L), with or without moxifloxacin (M).PeerLINC will provide practical training and technical assistance to countries to support this objective, via experts fromand the Department of Health, including Lung Center ofand the National TB Reference Laboratory (NTRL).has successfully and rapidly deployed new treatments through participation in TB Alliance's Leveraging Innovation for Faster TB Treatment (LIFT-TB) initiative."TB Alliance works to minimize the gap between research and access, ensuring people anywhere in the world can have access to new treatments as soon as possible, maximizing the number of lives and livelihoods saved," said, Senior Vice President of Market Access at TB Alliance. "PeerLINC will make training and knowledge on new treatments available swiftly and efficiently to ensure their rapid adoption and roll out. We are proud to launch PeerLINC inwith DOH and TDF and establish the first Knowledge Hub on the introduction of new DR-TB regimens, and we are grateful for the support ofin helping make this a reality.""It is important forto share our knowledge and experience in using the BPaL/M regimens," said Dr. Mamel Quelapio, TDF Board of Trustees member and Programmatic Implementation Lead at PeerLINC. "DOH's leadership through the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau in partnership with TDF and TB Alliance in the LIFT-TB initiative has led to improved outcomes and treatment experiences for people. We are eager to help new treatments reach far and wide."The BPaL/M regimens combine the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), linezolid (L) with or without moxifloxacin (M). The BPaL regimen was first clinically studied by TB Alliance and the BPaL/M regimens are now recommended by WHO as the standard of care treatment for the vast majority of people with DR-TB. Prior to the initial study of the BPaL regimen, global treatment success rates for DR-TB were less than 50% and treatment options were limited, expensive, toxic, and lengthy requiring individuals to take more than 14,000 pills over the course of treatment, which could last from nine months to two years or longer. Data to date reveals treatment success rates of 90% or higher with BPaL/M, in addition to reduced treatment duration and approximately 95% lower pill burden.TB Alliance's LIFT-TB initiative, which is co-funded by GDEF/KOICA, the South Korean Development agency, helped accelerate implementation of the regimen in, and. Interim data from these countries shows an average success rate of 92.5%, withprogram reporting a 98% cure rate. Several key high-burden countries around the world, including the early adopting LIFT-TB countries, are now rolling out BPaL/M in their national programs. However, some countries have moved more slowly. Leveraging a group of experts and the experience garnered from those who have rapidly and successfully implemented the BPaL/M regimens, PeerLINC will focus on assisting other countries in doing the same."In, the new regimen exceeded all expectations," said Dr., Medical Officer of theMemorial Medical Center and Head of PeerLINC. "Every country with drug-resistant TB can benefit from widespread implementation of the best available TB treatment. With BPaL/M, we see a path toward transforming DR-TB treatment for everybody, anywhere in the world.""I tried everything before I was given BPaL as part of the research program," said Joegene Mangilaya, a participant fromwho was treated with the BPaL regimen. "I was losing hope that I'd be cured, but shortly after I started on this new regimen, my body felt stronger and I had a new hope for my health and future. It is important to speed the availability of life-saving new therapies everywhere they are needed the work of PeerLINC will help save lives."PeerLINC will offer support such as advice, assistance, training materials, tools, guides, and other materials to TB programs, clinicians, lab specialists, and community organizations, all delivered through peer-to-peer learning models. Trainings will be provided in-person inor in the beneficiary country or remotely through virtual meetings. The expert team from PeerLINC will continue to guide countries after trainings, as they work to implement the regimens. A delegation fromis scheduled to visit PeerLINC inand will be the first to receive training on BPaL/M from PeerLINC and its partners in the DOH."We are excited to visit the PeerLINC Knowledge Hub and work with experts from the early implementers of the short, highly effective treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis," said Dr. Valentina Alarcon, Executive Director at the Directorate of Tuberculosis Prevention and Control - MINSA Peru. "The communities affected by resistant tuberculosis indeserve the best possible experiences and treatment schemes and we are taking measures to access the BPaL and BPaL/M regimens and make them available to people throughoutin a timely and rapid manner. Our experience with PeerLINC will help us achieve those goals."TB is a difficult infection to cure, requiring patients to take a combination of medicines for at least four to six months. Even after symptoms disappear, medicines still need to be taken so that the disease can be fully eradicated. The scope and intensity of TB globally is in large part fueled by antiquated and inadequate TB drugs. Novel drug regimens are urgently needed to bring the TB pandemic under control.The BPaL regimenwhich combines the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L)was first designed and clinically studied by TB Alliance. Pretomanid, as part of the BPaL regimen, received its first regulatory approval infor use against highly drug-resistant strains of TB. Prior to the initial BPaL clinical trial, less than one-third of drug-resistant TB patients around the world were being successfully treated. Treatment options were limited, expensive, toxic, and lengthy requiring patients to take more than 20 pills per day for 9-20 months.TB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight TB. Through innovative science and with partners around the globe, we aim to ensure equitable access to faster, better TB cures that will advance global health and prosperity. TB Alliance operates with support fromDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Global Disease Eradication Fund (), Global Health Innovative Technology Fund,, Korea International Cooperation Agency, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Unitaid, and the United States Agency for International Development. For more information, please visit:Contact:, +1 (646) 616-8613 / [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/new-peerlinc-knowledge-hub-will-leverage-local-expertise-and-experience-to-accelerate-new-more-effective-tb-cures-around-the-world-302097658.html What is Raynauds? Raynauds (pronounced Ray-Nohz) is a rare disorder of the blood vessels making some parts of the body, especially the fingers and toes, to become numb and cold in response to cold temperature or stress. Raynauds is named after the French physician, Maurice Raynaud who first recognized this disease. In this condition, the small arteries supplying blood to the skin undergo spasm and restrict blood flow to the affected parts like the fingers, toes, nose or ears. During the spasm, the affected area turns white and then blue. The attack is usually painful and followed by some swelling and redness. Attacks usually last from a few minutes to a few hours. In severe cases, the attacks can lead to ulcerations and even gangrene. Primary Raynauds is not associated with any other disorder, and therefore has no underlying cause. Secondary Raynauds has close connections to autoimmune disorders such as: Scleroderma or systemic sclerosis which is an autoimmune connective tissue disorder causing hardening of the skin Lupus is also a chronic, autoimmune disease which attacks the connective tissues including the skin Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition where the joints are chronically inflamed. Advertisement Other conditions that may also be associated with secondary Raynauds include: Viral infections like hepatitis B and hepatitis C Blood cancers like lymphoma and multiple myeloma Intake of medications like sumatriptan and beta blockers, or illegal drugs like cocaine and amphetamine The use of vibrating tools, or injury to the hands or feet Smoking Diseases affecting arteries like atherosclerosis and Beugers disease Carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition that compresses the nerve supplying to the hand at the wrist. People with Raynauds usually experience attacks due to cold temperatures, anxiety or emotional stress. Raynauds affects fingers, toes, nose, ears and lips. An attack can last from a few minutes to a few hours. During the attack, the arteries narrow thereby reducing the blood flow to the affected areas. This leads to symptoms like: Numbness with acute pain or throbbing in the affected parts Change in color from pale to white to blue Redness, soreness, tingling and burning as the blood flow returns In the case of secondary Raynauds, there is a risk of skin sores which can consequently lead to ulcers or gangrene. These need to be watched and the sores should be covered with appropriate dressing. The patient may also need oral antibiotics for infection. Advertisement While there is no single blood test or diagnostic test to determine if one has Raynauds, doctors usually do a first-in-line clinical examination like examining the nail fold (skin at the base of the fingernail) under a microscope. If he/she finds blood vessels enlarged or deformed, this may be a sign of Raynauds. The doctor will also find clues in your medical history and other underlying diseases you might have had. If the doctor suspects that you have secondary Raynauds due to autoimmune or connective tissue disorders, he/she may recommend the following tests: ANA (Antinuclear antibodies test) The presence of antinuclear antibodies indicates that the person is suffering from an autoimmune or other connective tissue disorders. ESR (Erythrocyte sedimentation rate) ESR determines the rate at which the red blood cells settle at the bottom of the tube. An abnormal ESR could indicate the presence of an autoimmune disorder. CBC - A complete blood count helps to rule out underlying infections. Raynauds can be treated at home with a few simple precautions. In some cases, you might need certain medications. Treatment should be towards preventing repeated attacks and tissue damage. Advertisement Try the following tips to reduce the frequency of your attacks: Make sure you keep your whole body warm. Try using gloves for your hands and socks for your feet. Make sure to stop smoking and cut back on alcohol. Reduce your stress levels with proper relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation. Avoid stimulants like coffee, tea and colas. Get regular exercise to improve your overall blood circulation. Medications may be required in some cases. The usual medications prescribed are: Vasodilators relax blood vessels. These may be in the form of creams applied to the fingers and toes to heal the sores. Prostaglandins may also be helpful. relax blood vessels. These may be in the form of creams applied to the fingers and toes to heal the sores. Prostaglandins may also be helpful. Calcium channel blockers like nifedipine relax and dilate the blood vessels in the hands and feet. These usually reduce the frequency of attacks and also heal ulcers. like nifedipine relax and dilate the blood vessels in the hands and feet. These usually reduce the frequency of attacks and also heal ulcers. Alpha blockers Drugs like prazosin and doxazosin usually counter the action of norepinephrine, a chemical in the blood that which constricts (tightens) the blood vessels. If you have been diagnosed with Raynauds, your doctor may inform you to stay off certain drugs like over-the-counter cold medicines and beta blockers. The only way to prevent Raynauds is to avoid cold climes. If it is inevitable or you live in a cold climate, make sure you always keep warm. Try thermals to protect your hands and feet. Use a room heater if possible. Do not stay too long outdoors in the cold wind. Opt out of air conditioned spaces; Try an air cooler instead during summers. These simple measures can at least reduce the frequency of painful attacks. About Insurance may be described as a social device to reduce or eliminate risk of life and property. Under the plan of insurance, a large number of people associate themselves by sharing risk, attached to individual insurance plan that exclusively covers healthcare costs and is called Health Insurance. Since the past two decades, there has been a phenomenal surge in acceleration of healthcare costs. This has compelled individuals to have a re-look on their actual monthly expenditures, spending patterns and simultaneously allocate a proportion of their income towards personal healthcare. This has resulted in individuals availing healthcare insurance coverage not only for themselves but also for their family members including their dependants. In short, healthcare insurance provides a cushion against medical emergencies. The concept of insurance is closely concerned with security. Insurance acts as a shield against risks and unforeseen circumstances. In general, by and large, Indians are traditionally risk-averse rather than risk lovers by nature. Some major health insurance companies in India include National Insurance Company, New India Assurance, United India Insurance, ICICI Lombard, Tata AIG, Royal Sundaram, Star Allied Health Insurance, Cholamandalam DBS, Bajaj Allianz Apollo, AG Health Insurance Company among others. Categories Indian Health Insurance is primarily classified into 2 categories: Cashless Hospitalization Medical Reimbursement Advertisement a) Cashless Hospitalization Cashless hospitalization is a specialized service provided by an insurer wherein an individual is not required to pay the hospitalization expenses at the time of discharge from the concerned hospital. The settlement is done directly by the insurance company (or insurer). However, prior approval is a must from the TPA (Third Party Administrator) before availing the benefits under this option. Cashless hospitalization can be of two types: Planned hospitalization: This is a planned hospitalization wherein the insured is aware of the hospitalization in advance. This duration period may vary from case to case. Examples include: FTND (Full Term Normal Delivery), Chemotherapy treatment for carcinoma (cancer), for cataract surgery, tonsillectomy (removal of tonsils). This is a planned hospitalization wherein the insured is aware of the hospitalization in advance. This duration period may vary from case to case. Examples include: FTND (Full Term Normal Delivery), Chemotherapy treatment for carcinoma (cancer), for cataract surgery, tonsillectomy (removal of tonsils). Emergency hospitalization: It is a sudden hospitalization that may be either an emergency or due to unforeseen circumstances. In short, hospitalization is not anticipated in advance. Examples include RTA (Road Traffic Accident), Myocardial infarction (heart attack), Acute Appendicitis. b) Medical Reimbursement Re-imbursement means to repay or to compensate. Thus, Medical Re-imbursement means to repay the products/services availed during hospitalization and more importantly after the completion of the treatment. Advertisement Under this procedure, the insured has to bear the entire expenses incurred during hospitalization. After getting discharged from hospital, the insured/policy holder can claim medical reimbursement. For availing benefits under this option, the insured has to approach the concerned TPA under which he/she is covered, fill the requisite form and satisfy all the requirements as mentioned. This includes submission of TPA card, policy paper, discharge summary, prescriptions, diagnostic laboratory reports, OPD treatment details etc. A sum is granted as reimbursement for treatment expenses. A recent survey conducted in 2008 showed that only 3% of the entire Indian population has availed some sort of insurance policy and enjoys benefits included under its coverage. This miniscule percentage constitutes both PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) and Private insurance companies. Since, the general public are by and large ignorant about the benefits of availing healthcare insurance policies, there lies an urgent need to educate the masses regarding the importance of Healthcare Insurance and the benefits derived on account of it. There are numerous reasons for not availing health insurance. There is a lack of knowledge regarding the existing insurance products/services in the markets. On top of it, there are numerous misconceptions about Insurance prevalent in the Indian Markets. Also there are numerous fly-by-night agents out to fleece the gullible Indian public. In India, public funded healthcare is available only to a miniscule section of BPL (Below Poverty Line) groups, low-income groups and to government employees. The Indian Government has formulated Employee State Insurance Scheme (ESIS) that focuses on the public healthcare policy for low-income groups. The government employees can avail Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) that offers medical treatment at a subsidized cost. With the opening up of insurance sector for private participation, numerous players have entered the healthcare segment, but in spite of the entry of private sector, penetration of insurance coverage in India is abysmally low. Recently a legislature has been passed in the Indian Parliament allowing 49% of FDI in insurance industry. Advertisement Essential Guidelines for Availing individual Health Insurance Policy: The following points should be borne in mind while purchasing an individual health policy: Understanding the policy coverage: The policyholder should be able to clearly comprehend the extent of medical coverage being offered under the particular health insurance policy before opting for it. The individual should check whether pre-existing diseases and its resultant complications are covered or not, as well as the extent of the coverage under that particular policy. The policyholder should be able to clearly comprehend the extent of medical coverage being offered under the particular health insurance policy before opting for it. The individual should check whether pre-existing diseases and its resultant complications are covered or not, as well as the extent of the coverage under that particular policy. Keeping an eye for medical expenses that are not covered/re-imbursable under the policy: Before availing a particular health insurance policy, the prospective policyholder should note the medical expenses not covered under that Insurance policy. It is important to note that deductibles are a part and parcel of any insurance coverage and the expenses incurred as part of the medical treatment need to be borne by the individual. Generally this list includes aprons, sterilization charges, gloves, Dettol, gloves etc. Before availing a particular health insurance policy, the prospective policyholder should note the medical expenses not covered under that Insurance policy. It is important to note that deductibles are a part and parcel of any insurance coverage and the expenses incurred as part of the medical treatment need to be borne by the individual. Generally this list includes aprons, sterilization charges, gloves, Dettol, gloves etc. To understand whether it is a co-insurance policy: Before availing a health policy, the prospective customer should understand whether it is a co-insurance policy or not. It is advisable to get an individual health insurance policy with a co-insurance payment option. The maximum amount does not exceed 15% of the entire medical coverage for a particular disease. Before availing a health policy, the prospective customer should understand whether it is a co-insurance policy or not. It is advisable to get an individual health insurance policy with a co-insurance payment option. The maximum amount does not exceed 15% of the entire medical coverage for a particular disease. Understanding and updating oneself about expiry period regarding the policy cover: An individual health insurance cover entails regular premium payments on a monthly, half yearly or annual basis before the expiry of a particular policy. Non-payment of premium within the stipulated time results in the lapsing of the policy with subsequent break in the policy coverage of the concerned individual. Even though the concerned individual holds policy with an Insurance company for many years together, a break in the policy coverage (which generally does not exceed more than 15 days) is treated as a fresh policy cover. Importance of Health Insurance The importance of Health Insurance can never be undervalued for the following reasons: The Environmental Protection Agency is asking members of the Red Hill Community Representation Initiative to enter into mediation with the Navy as the military continues the shutdown process for its underground fuel storage facility. During the CRI's March meeting held Thursday night at 'Olelo in Mapunapuna, Amy Miller, director of EPA Region 9, said the agency has invited the Navy and CRI to enter into mediation with an "EPA arranged mediator " with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The CRI is made up of a mixture of local residents and activists along with people directly affected by the Red Hill water crisiswhich began in November 2021 when fuel from the Navy's bulk Red Hill fuel storage facility entered and contaminated the Navy's Oahu water system, which serves 93, 000 people. The CRI was created as part of a federal consent order regarding the closure of Red Hill among the EPA, state Department of Health and military. Its formation came out of requests for community involvement in the defueling and shutdown process. CRI Chair Marti Townsend told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser she believes "the EPA is appealing to the Navy's desire to lock down the conversation on Red Hill. What I think they don't realize is that the conversation is essential to healing the festering wounds of the lingering Red Hill water crisis." Meetings have often been contentious, with members of the CRI and from the community frequently accusing officials of withholding information and dodging questions. In January officials informed the CRI that they would not attend the January meeting because the December meeting "did not go well " and that they wanted to establish new "operating procedures and ground rules." Officials attended the February meeting, but in a media release Monday asserted that "following ( Navy ) and ( Defense Logistics Agency ) efforts to consult with the EPA and the elected community representatives throughout January and early February, the CRI meeting held on Feb. 15 did not live up to the ( Navy )'s and DLA's enduring commitment to interact with stakeholders in a safe and respectful information sharing forum." In a dueling statement released by the CRI, Townsend accused the Navy of attempting to "strong-arm the CRI, " calling it "a significant setback in the Navy's stated mission to rebuild trust with the people of O 'ahu." During the Thursday meeting Miller said that "the EPA expects the Navy to continue to participate in CRI meetings as required by the 2023 Consent Order ; it affirms CRI's role as the host of these meetings. ... However, we also recognize that the Navy is limited in what they're able or required to share in this forum under the terms of the order. It is imperative that the CRI and Navy agree to a mutually agreed-upon set of ground rules for conducting these meetings so that they can continue to be productive." Throughout the meeting Thursday night, the deep differences were evident. Among them were concerns that despite continued reports of illnesses from people on the Navy water system, there is no formal advisory on drinking water on the Navy system. Maj. Mandy Feidnt, an Army officer who lived on Ford Island with her family when the crisis began and sits on the CRI, told officials there needs to be a "drinking water advisory to protect human health right now until you all figure out what the heck's going on (with ) that drinking water system." The DOH issued an advisory in November 2021 when the crisis began. The Navy initially insisted the water was safe until eventually admitting the system was contaminated. The advisory was lifted in March 2022 when the Navy and state DOH deemed the system safe after months of pumping it. But many residents remained skeptical, and someincluding those who have arrived since March 2022have continued reporting symptoms and seeing oily sheens on their water from the faucet. Prompted by requests by the CRI, the EPA began testing homes of people reporting symptoms. In December the EPA released a report after testing four homes. Three of them had traces of petroleum in the water, and in each case previous Navy testing had shown no traces. In January an influx in complaints from residents on the Navy waterline prompted the Navy to extend its water monitoring programs for an additional year. The Navy has since assembled a "swarm team " of water experts to examine the water and committed to extending testing for an additional year. During a March 7 meeting of the Red Hill Fuel Tank Advisory Committee, a DOH initiative, a member of the swarm team said detections of total petroleum hydrocarbons, or TPH, found in test samples throughout the past two years didn't necessarily indicate the presence of petroleum. He asserted that nonpetroleum substanceslike chemicals found in plasticcould trigger a positive test for TPH, and that those substances could be introduced in the lab itself, saying, "In a sense you could call them false positives." During the Thursday CRI meeting, members grilled Navy officials on the comments. "I'm not sure why we're investing so much time investigating the lab when we should be finding the causewhy are people getting sick ?" said CRI Vice Chair Lacey Quintero. "That every time there's a positive detection, it's lab error, it just doesn't sit right. It doesn't make sense, and I don't understand why we're going down that route." "The laboratory method that is utilized, it's not a drinking water method, " said Capt. James Sullivan, commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Hawaii. "As we all know, there should not be fuel in drinking water. So therefore, there was not a method developed for that specifically." Sullivan explained that "since it's chlorinated water, it is causing these peaks to show up. And those peaks are due to a reaction in the lab and not due to the water. So that's, that's what the method and the hypothesis and all of the discussion is all centered around. How do you prove that all of those peaks that you're seeing are, in fact, reactions that are occurring in the lab, and not lab errors ? It's just this, this method is not and was not designed for drinking water." EPA and DOH officials said preliminary data they have reviewed suggests that the Navy's hypothesis is possible, but that they want to see more data to support it. The CRI also asked federal officials about testing for potential "forever chemicals " associated with firefighting foam that has been used at Red Hill. Rear Adm. Marc Williams, deputy commander of the Navy's Red Hill Closure Task Force, repeatedly answered questions about the chemicals with, "It's not part of the (Administrative Consent Order ); we will continue the discussions with EPA at the interagency level." After Williams answered five questions that way, David Henkin, a prominent local environmental attorney who represented the Sierra Club at the meeting, told the officer, "The Navy is trying to repair a relationship of trust with the public that you are duty-sworn to protect, and that relationship has been badly eroded. It doesn't help the Navy or the public that you are duty-sworn to protect (for ) you to stonewall and say that it is not within the scope." Henkin added, "If you have a commitment to be transparent, which is what you repeatedly say that you want to do, I hope that you can understand that if you're a resident of this island and you rely on this water supply, you are concerned about all the various forms of contamination that the Navy has posed as threats to that water supply. Because unlike you, we do not rotate off of this island. We live here, and we rely on that water supply." ___ (c)2024 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Yemen-based Houthi militants renewed their threats against Saudi Arabia, warning it not to support U.S. strikes against the group. We have sent a message to Saudi Arabia that it will be a target if it allows American fighter jets to use its territory or airspace in their aggression on Yemen, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis Supreme Political Council, said in an interview with Al-Masirah TV. U.S. and U.K. forces have been striking Houthi military facilities since the start of this year to stem the groups assault on ships in the Red Sea, a vital waterway for global commerce. Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, hasnt joined those air assaults or a U.S.-led naval operation meant to provide commercial ships safe passage through the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The kingdom is trying to reach a peace agreement with the Houthis to end Yemens civil war, a conflict thats raged for most of the past decade but with the sides in a fragile truce since 2022. The Saudi government led a U.S.-backed military campaign against the Houthis starting in 2015. But it now sees peace in Yemen as key to keeping the wider Gulf region stable and advancing its massive economic transformation plans. Before the truce, the Houthis regularly struck Saudi territory. In 2019, they claimed an assault that briefly knocked out about half the kingdoms oil production. The Houthis, an Islamist organization backed by Iran, have been undeterred by the U.S. and U.K. airstrikes and continue to attack warships and commercial ships with missiles and drones on a near-daily basis. They recently said they would expand their campaign to target ships avoiding the Red Sea and sailing around southern Africa instead. Al-Houthi signaled more tense relations between the Houthis and Saudis by saying the kingdom needed to take more serious steps toward a peace plan. He stressed negotiations cant progress until the kingdom agrees to resume the payment of some salaries, electricity and other services in Yemen. Al-Houthi also confirmed the group had given China and Russia assurances their ships wouldnt be targeted. Speaking to Al-Masirah TV, a channel run by the group, he didnt mention the Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker that was struck by a missile in the Red Sea on Saturday. The ship issued a distress call but suffered minimal damage and didnt need assistance, according to the U.S. military. The Houthis appear to have wrongly identified several ships with their previous assaults and its unclear if they did so again with the Huang Pu. ------- (With assistance from Rakteem Katakey and Sam Dagher.) ___ 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A Marine was arrested in connection to a shooting at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, over the weekend. No one was injured or killed, an official told Military.com on Saturday, the day of the shooting. The shooting resulted from what officials described as an altercation. It occurred near the French Creek Barracks part of the base in the early afternoon, according to a spokesperson for II Marine Expeditionary Force, or II MEF, which is located on Lejeune. This latest incident follows another shooting that occurred earlier this year in which a Marine was taken into custody in connection with a shooting death of a civilian on post. And in October 2023, a Marine died after being shot. Another Marine was arrested in connection to that shooting. Read Next: Did You Get a Toxic Exposure Screening at the VA? We Want to Hear from You. The Marine Corps confirmed to Military.com that the incident Saturday is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS. A spokesperson said that the weapon involved in the altercation was confiscated the day the shooting occurred and a suspect was taken into custody. "He's been apprehended," Lt. Col. Cassandra Stanton, a spokesperson for II MEF, told Military.com on Saturday, citing military police. "No one was injured. There [are] no casualties, and there's no longer any threat." The Marine Corps would not release the name of the suspect in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, Capt. Emma Thompson, a spokesperson for II MEF, told Military.com on Monday. It is unclear what specifically led to the altercation that resulted in shots being fired. The Marine killed in October was Lance Cpl. Austin B. Schwenk, 19, who was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, at Camp Lejeune. On Saturday evening, II MEF posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to confirm the incident. "On 23 March, there was an altercation on base in which shots were fired," II MEF said on the social media platform. "There are no reported injuries, and the suspect has been apprehended. There are no public safety concerns at this time." Camp Lejeune is located in Onslow County, North Carolina, and covers roughly 156,000 acres. The surrounding area is home to nearly 150,000 people, including veterans, dependents, retirees and civilians. It is also home to several units, including II MEF, one of the Corps' three expeditionary forces. Marines and sailors who are part of II MEF recently returned from Nordic Response 2024 after taking part in what was one of the largest NATO exercises in decades. Related: Some Marines Evacuated over Cockroach Infestation at Camp Lejeune Barracks Facility Megan Ernst and her two young children were eating dinner on Feb. 19, 2023, when four uniformed sailors and two Navy SEALs knocked on the front door of their Virginia Beach home. If they are at your door, there is no hope, Ernst said, shaking her head as tears trailed down her cheeks. Michael Ernst, chief special warfare operator, died in a training accident while performing a high-altitude, low-opening jump in Arizona. He was 36 and had been assigned to Naval Special Warfare Development Group, also known as SEAL Team 6, based at Virginia Beachs Dam Neck Annex to Naval Air Station Oceana. More than a year since her husbands death, Megan Ernst said her focus is on healing her family and remembering her husband for more than the uniform he wore. First and foremost, he was a dad. He was my husband, she said. And he was a good, kind person. The couple met while attending college from 2004-08 in Ohio. They reconnected years later at a friends wedding, and in February 2013, Megan Ernst found herself visiting Hampton Roads. At the time, Michael Ernst was assigned to Virginia Beach-based SEAL Team 10. The pair married in December 2014 at the chapel at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek. They welcomed a daughter, now 6, in 2017, and a son, now 4, in 2020. For the bulk of his Navy career, the family has lived in Virginia Beach near his East Coast-based assignments. Its funny to think about the perception of what being married to a SEAL is like versus the reality, Megan Ernst said with a laugh. It is not romantic in any way, shape or form. They are gone all the time. They are stressed out a lot. Throughout their relationship, Michael Ernst deployed for more than six months on three occasions. There were times they went weeks without communicating and, due to the nature of his job, she often was left in the dark about where he was and when he would return. When he was not deployed, Megan Ernst estimated training pulled him away for a cumulative six months per year. He kissed his family goodbye on Feb. 17, 2023, with the expectation that he would be home a week later to celebrate his birthday and settle into a slower-paced work schedule that revolved around his family. With 13 years of naval service, Michael Ernst was working toward becoming an instructor, she said. Then the worst. I was blindsided, Megan Ernst said. Never in a million years would I have thought that they would show up at my door on that training trip. Never. She said life was a blur in the weeks after his death. The machine that is the military starts, Ernst said. Its so sad but they know what to do and how to do it when this happens. Michael Ernsts unit, the Navy SEAL Foundation and the larger Hampton Roads military community swooped in to tend to the familys every need. A dignified transfer happened at sunset the day after his death. One week later, a memorial service was held at the Little Creek amphitheater, just down the road from the chapel where the couple had married. In late March, the family buried him at Arlington National Cemetery. That was my worst day, Ernst said through tears. It was so final. The image is burned into my head of them giving my son the flag his little baby hands reaching out for that flag. She said she hopes her husband will be remembered as a family man who prioritized his loved ones above all else and as a dedicated Navy SEAL who excelled in his professional endeavors. His accolades included three Combat Action Ribbons, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and a Silver Star, which was awarded in 2021 following a successful hostage rescue. But more than anything, she hopes he is remembered for his kindness. Thats what I keep telling my kids. You know why 1,700 people showed up at his memorial? It is because he was kind not because he was a Navy SEAL, she said. Its because he was kind and he was a good person. Ernst explained to her children, who were 5 and 2 at the time, that Daddy went to the stars. Daddy went to heaven. But my son didnt understand that that wasnt a location. It wasnt like Florida or Arizona or wherever, Ernst said. He didnt understand that Daddy was not coming back. The family began therapy to help cope with their loss, but helping her children understand their fathers death, Megan Ernst said, will be a lifelong process. It will be lifelong for me, too, she said. Grief is enduring For military families, the loss of a loved one because of service-related incident is like living their worst nightmare, said Andy McNiel, senior adviser for Tragedy Assistance Programs for Survivors. The national nonprofit, also known as TAPS, has provided resources for 30 years to families grieving the death of a military member or veteran. The loss of a loved one, McNiel said, is a major disruption that shakes the bedrock of families including their routines, rituals, responsibilities, values and faith. Unique to military families is that the death of service member often means the family loses connection to the military community, McNiel said. The concept that grief is a set of stages that are a minor disruption for a short period of time before someone finds their footing and moves on isnt reality, he said. Grief is enduring and just becomes a part of their life, McNiel said. We continue to love those people who died, so its really like a transition to that relationship. It doesnt end, it just shifts to something different one of remembrance. Her grief, Megan Ernst said, has been intense and constant. You are in the greatest pain of your life and trying to function, yet take care of these two little people and make them feel comfortable and safe when you dont even feel safe, Ernst said. But her responsibilities as a mother to two young children has taken precedence. I would give myself a certain amount of time to just be on the ground, she said. But after that time, you have got to get up and you have got to do laundry and go get groceries. Cheyenne Malmstrom, a fellow Navy SEAL spouse, stood by her friend through the past years darkness. Theyve grown close since 2018 experiencing pregnancy, deployments and life milestones together. A part of her died along with him that day, Malmstrom said. She hides it well, but she lost her person that day and no matter how much time goes on, that hole is always going to be there. Malmstrom said it was a delicate balance to give Ernst the space to grieve and also be there to lift her up when she needed it most. At times, that meant silently being there. And other times, it meant helping with tasks such as exterminating spiders or planting trees. The Ernst family suffered another loss last June when their 9-year-old dog, Gus, died from bone cancer. Gus was Ernsts companion while her husband was away. Losing him felt like losing a last connection to the life she knew before Mike died, Malmstrom said. Ten years is what I got The Ernsts cling tightly to their memory of their husband and father. They watch home videos of pillow fights, family outings at the park and the children playing in leaves stirred up by their dad. Each night, the kids gather at the kitchen island to play High, low, what the heck, and what would Daddy love, where they share details of their day. On a nearby counter, a digital photo frame flashes images of the life they shared with him. Across the kitchen, his espresso machine sits on the counter of his beloved coffee corner. Coffee, Megan Ernst said, was never her thing. But now she drinks one cup a day. She feels closest to her husband when she cuts the grass because he was meticulous in caring for the yard. She said she will probably never wash his clothes kept in a laundry basket in the bedroom although his scent will fade in time. Ten years is what I got with him, Ernst said, her voice cracking. But that has to last me a lifetime. In honor of her husbands 38th birthday, Ernst arranged a 3.6-mile community run with coffee and doughnuts in February at a local park. It coincided with the one-year anniversary of the last weekend she saw him. She invited members of their military family to participate and share memories of him. When she hears stories from people reevaluating their life because of her husbands impact, the loss hurts less. I think my worst fear is that hes going to be forgotten, she said. But I will never forget him. She loves them for me About a week after his death, Ernst said she watched a video of her husband giving a speech in April 2022 at MIT as part of the Sloan Fellows masters degree program. SEAL is what I do. It is not who I am, he said in the video. The 30-minute talk, which was shared with The Virginian-Pilot, summarized his life, including why he joined the Navy, his commitment to service and the kind of leader he strived to be. But through it all, he referenced his love for his family and the resilience of his wife. I am gone for about 150 days a year. That is 150 days that Meg is a single working mom, essentially. These kids love her, and she loves them, he said. And she loves them for me when I am not there. Megan Ernst has watched the video countless times, so much so that she has memorized her husbands closing remarks. The point that has stuck with her is when he spoke about what to do when faced with insurmountable odds. You can do nothing and let it consume you, or you can start to do something, even if you dont know what that something is, Michael Ernst said. It is a mantra, Megan Ernst said, that she uses to get through each day. The mother tells her children Daddy loves you every day as they learn to navigate life without him. Ice cream is not eaten, silly jokes are not made and laser tag is not played without someone saying, Daddy would love this. Do you think he is jealous? Probably, because he loved ice cream, Megan Ernst said with a laugh, recalling the previous conversation with the children. As she laughed, she subconsciously twirled her husbands gold wedding band dangling from a delicate chain around her neck. A framed display of his stars and achievements hung on a wall nearby while the trifold flag handed to their son rested on a mantle in the kitchen. I know there are more bad days to come, Ernst said. But the time in between when Im just on the floor crying is getting longer and longer. Where to find support Tragedy Assistance Programs for Survivors TAPS chapters across the country offer grief support, which nonprofit senior adviser Andy McNiel said focuses not on healing, but on adapting to the reality that a loved one has died and the grief that loss brings. The Virginia Beach chapter meets on the second Wednesday of each month. For emotional support or to connect with resources and programs, military or veteran survivors can call a 24/7 helpline at 800-959-TAPS (8277). For more information, visit taps.org. 2024 The Virginian-Pilot. Visit pilotonline.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The Army released a new guidance Friday specifying the military occupational specialties it needs soldiers to move into when reenlisting in order to meet the branch's retention and restructuring goals for 2024. Referred to as "precision retention," the program specifically highlights overcrowded occupational specialties, such as cavalry scouts and military police, as well as incentive bonuses and promotion opportunities if troops will consider reclassifying. "The main difference, and our approach this time is a little bit more succinct, is that we're trying to apply a level of precision and focus on particular critical [military occupational specialities] that the Army has identified," Sgt. Maj. Jonathan Uribe-Huitron, the senior enlisted soldier overseeing personnel policy, told reporters Thursday. "[We're] still having the same process as we do any other reclassification -- that is, creating the conversations that take place between the commander, the individual soldier, and a command career counselor." Read Next: Fired Navy SEAL Captain Was Arrested for Drunk Driving Months Before His Relief Throughout fiscal 2023, the Army reclassified about 3,000 soldiers, Uribe-Huitron said. As the branch continues to fight recruitment issues and seeks to restructure itself, however, the hope is this new focus on "precision retention" will keep troops not just in the Army, but in the right places. In February, the service announced that it would be slashing approximately 24,000 positions as it moves from specializing in counterinsurgency warfare into a more modern and versatile style of combat, with a focus on drones and cyber warfare. While the plan cuts about 3,000 jobs in the special operations community, it adds another 7,500 in specialties that can help provide air-defense and counter-drone capabilities. "We're moving away from counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. We want to be postured for large-scale combat operations," Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters in February. "So, we looked at where were there pieces of force structure that were probably more associated with counterinsurgency, for example, that we don't need anymore." Cavalry squadrons can expect about a 10,000-troop cut, reporters were told in February, which was reflected in this week's guidance. Troops with the 19D cavalry scout classification are considered to be part of an oversaturated field and therefore can expect to have the reclassification conversation when their reenlistment window opens. For example, airborne soldiers -- those who are non-promotable sergeants -- currently with the 19D classification stationed at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, will be allowed to move over to 11B, infantryman, with no additional training required. Cavalry scouts not stationed at Fort Liberty would instead be sent to an airborne position after being reclassified. But some other soldiers looking to take advantage of the new retention policies will have to go through the appropriate training pipelines. For example, while Chief of Armor Brig. Gen. Michael Simmering has waived the formal training requirement for cavalry scouts looking to move into the Bradley fighting crewman job, soldiers would still need to go through training to become electronic warfare specialists. Those not in their reenlistment window can also voluntarily request to be reclassified, the guidance said, but soldiers who choose new specialities that involve training may be told no if there are no training school spaces available. To sweeten the deal, the Army is offering reclassification bonuses that range based on a number of factors, including a soldier's years in service, rank and how many years they plan on reenlisting for. The bonus ranges are immense: A specialist, or E-4, cavalry scout could bank anywhere from $5,900 to $72,000 if they switched over to Patriot fire control operator, or 14E, according to the guidance. It will all come down to the individual soldier and the needs of the Army, a service official told Military.com, but "it is very likely" they are looking at the upper end of the more than a dozen offered bonuses and specialties. In addition to offering reclassification bonuses, some jobs were highlighted in the guidance as offering a greater chance of promotion to sergeant or staff sergeant. For corporals or specialists hoping to reenlist and be promoted to sergeant, options include High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, crewman; electronic warfare specialist; counterintelligence agent; and armor crewman. Soldiers looking for another way to reach staff sergeant sooner should look toward becoming HIMARS crew members or M1 armor crewmen, the guidance said. The question remains, however, as to whether soldiers in the cavalry scout and military police fields can expect to be forcibly reclassified when their time to reenlist comes. According to the guidance, "Soldiers serving in these [military occupational specialties] are restricted to reclassify to a new MOS and will not be approved to reenlist in current MOS without approval from [Army Human Resources Command]." Whether a soldier is chosen for reclassification will ultimately be decided based on "the needs of the Army," the guidance said. Despite the language in the regulation, Army officials denied they would be pursuing this aspect of the guidance. We are focused on voluntary reclassification and during FY24, no soldiers will be reclassified into an MOS they do not volunteer for, Maj. Shahin Uddin, a public affairs advisor to the deputy chief of staff for personnel, told Military.com in an email. At the end of the day, retention and reclassification are both normal processes, Sgt. Maj. Tobey Whitney, a senior Army career counselor, told reporters about the new guidance. "This time, it has a little bit more attention. Just because there's rumors and speculation, it's causing families to be concerned," Whitney said. "But I want to alleviate their concerns and let every soldier out there and their family know that the Army has a place for every single one of them." -- Rachel Nostrant is a Marine Corps veteran and freelance journalist, with work published in Reuters, New York Magazine, Military Times and more. Related: After Missing Recruiting Goals, Army Announces New Occupational Specialty to Increase the Ranks A Navy sailor who went overboard while on a destroyer in the Red Sea last week was declared lost on Saturday, the service said in a statement. Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola, who was aboard the USS Mason, went overboard on March 20, according to the Navy. Aregbesola was assigned to the "Swamp Foxes" of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 74, which was embarked on the Mason. The ship has been operating in the Red Sea alongside the Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group. Read Next: Did You Get a Toxic Exposure Screening at the VA? We Want to Hear from You. According to the Navy's statement, Aregbesola was a Florida native who joined the service in July 2020. He reported to his squadron in December 2020. An Instagram post from the squadron shows that he was promoted to petty officer second class last June. "Petty Officer Aregbesola fully embodied the selfless character and thoughtful warrior spirit of the United States Navy sailor," Cmdr. Eric Kohut, the squadron's commander, said in the Navy statement. "He will continue on in the heart of every Swamp Fox and our brothers and sisters in the Ike carrier strike group," Kohut added. A defense official told Military.com on Monday that the search for Aregbesola included not just the Mason but other elements from the carrier strike group, including the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The official wasn't able to offer any insight as to how Aregbesola went overboard and said that an investigation is ongoing. In its own statement, the Pentagon called the death "a result of a non-combat related incident." Without witnesses, it may be difficult for the Navy to definitively determine what led to Aregbesola falling into the water. The reasons behind most sailor overboard incidents, which unfortunately occur with some regularity, remain unknown. Aregbesola is not the first sailor to go overboard in the past several months, either. In January, two Navy SEALs went overboard and were later declared lost while attempting to board a ship that was discovered to be carrying Iranian missile components. The Mason is part of a large Navy presence off the coast of Yemen. They have been defending merchant shipping in the area from Houthi missiles and drones that the rebels say they have been launching in solidarity with Hamas and its conflict with Israel. Related: Navy SEALs Who Died in Mission Interdicting Weapons Headed to Houthis Are Identified A patient at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center is facing murder charges after a fellow veteran was found strangled to death in a bathroom at the hospital's inpatient psychiatric unit, according to court documents. Christopher Schweikart, 33, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder following the March 16 discovery of the body. The patient was later determined to have been strangled, according to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office. The victim, who has not been named, was described in court documents as being found with a Bible and handwritten inscription that said "God, I have lived a good life, take me home," a responding officer with the VA's Office of Inspector General said in an affidavit. Read Next: USS Mason Sailor Who Went Overboard in Red Sea Declared Lost by Navy But according to the officer, Special Agent Sara Medina with the VA inspector general's office, after investigators found a pen and a different Bible in Schweikart's possession that contained a note with similar handwriting, they decided to interview Schweikart. He allegedly confessed, saying the victim had startled him when he walked into the bathroom and he strangled him. "I can't lie," Schweikart said, according to court documents. According to the affidavit, Schweikart told a nurse that he "killed the guy" and put his hands around the victim's neck. "He wanted to die," Schweikart allegedly said. Schweikart also told a nurse that he had killed the victim after startling him from behind and strangling him. According to court documents, Schweikart said he went back to his room after the murder and "laid on his bed." Little is known about the victim, who has not been identified. According to the affidavit, Schweikart, who was his roommate, said the veteran was talking about Vietnam. A judge ruled March 22 that Schweikart should remain confined while he awaits trial as he poses "a serious risk of flight or nonappearance and is a danger to the community." An attempt to reach Schweikart's attorney was not successful. In a statement provided to Military.com, VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said the department is saddened by the death and is cooperating with the investigation. "Our thoughts and condolences are with the veteran's loved ones," Hayes said in an email Monday. "We immediately notified the Office of Inspector General of this tragic incident and are fully cooperating with the investigation. Because this investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment further at this time -- and we refer all questions to the authorities leading the investigation." The West Palm Beach VA Medical Center settled a $5.75 million lawsuit last year over the 2019 death of Brieux Dash, a former Army sergeant who died by suicide at the facility. A subsequent investigation found that the staff had failed to monitor him properly despite previous suicide attempts and the cameras in his room had not been operational for three years. His body was not found for more than two hours. The facility also is the target of an ongoing wrongful death suit involving Rico Marles, a 29-year-old former Marine who died by suicide at home after seeking help twice at the emergency department. The suit alleges that the hospital did not meet standards of care for a person experiencing a mental health crisis. Related: Former VA Hospital Employee Pleads Guilty to Murders of Seven Veterans There are many reasons to take pride in being a Marine, but getting the latest gear and gadgets is generally not one of them. On the rare occasion that Marines get to ride from Point A to Point B instead of walking, it means piling into a Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement, Cougar, or Humvee thats seen years (or even decades) of hard use. But a select few the Marines assigned to Marine Security Guard get access to a fleet of luxury SUVs built specifically for the U.S. Department of State. Traveling around foreign cities in a State Department vehicle is one of the perks of embassy duty, and its a big step up from getting rattled to pieces in a clapped-out, seven-ton truck. U.S. embassies have traditionally been home to tricked-out Toyotas, but General Motors won the contract in 2023. Whats coming next is a big departure from modified Land Cruisers, and we have all the details. Out with the Old State Department Vehicles The Marines with the Marine Security Guard Detachment at U.S. Embassy Quito, Ecuador, park their muddy cars after spending the day off-roading at the Rancho Espin on July 8, 2022. (2nd Lt. Anne Pentaleri/U.S. Marine Corps photo) The people who work at U.S. embassies perform a wide range of jobs, and the vehicles they require are just as varied. According to the State Departments archival website, three categories of vehicles are used by embassy staff: armored vehicles, passenger vehicles and functional vehicles. The armored SUVs that transport ambassadors are the most famous of the three, but there may only be one at some posts. These are reserved for ambassadors, mission chiefs and the posts Marine Security Guard. Passenger vehicles are far more common. Before purchasing fleet vehicles, the State Department considers factors such as local threats, driving conditions and availability of public transportation. Functional vehicles fill site-specific needs. These include water trucks, emergency vehicles and even scissor lifts. State Department records show that, in 2015, only 60 of 11,662 vehicles qualified as ambassador limousines. Another 4,691 were SUVs, 2,101 were vans and 2,032 were pickup trucks. The most specialized vehicles have always been assigned to the ambassador position (State Department vehicles belong to positions, not people). For decades, the Toyota Land Cruiser has been a popular choice because of its sterling reliability record, capable off-road performance, and luxurious interior. The State Department signed fleet contracts with Toyota as recently as 2021 when it purchased 229 armored Land Cruisers for overseas use. As good as these Toyotas are, there is one glaring problem: They were never intended to survive a gunfight. To solve this, the State Department worked with contractors such as Battelle to transform passenger vehicles into combat-ready trucks. They added armor and bulletproof glass to protect the people inside, which added huge amounts of weight. The suspension, engine and brakes of each vehicle had to be upgraded to handle the load, which was neither cheap nor easily done. Uncle Sams Land Cruisers performed admirably, but the cost of buying already expensive SUVs and immediately rebuilding them wasnt sustainable. There is a better way, and you only have to look to Detroit to find it. Meet the Next Generation of Armored SUVs General Motors' Heavy-Duty SUV. (Photo courtesy of GM) The State Department and GM Defense agreed to a contract for the specialized Heavy-Duty SUV (HD-SUV) in 2023. The initial task order is valued at $25 million, but the projects ceiling is $300 million. This is a very important program for GM Defense as it showcases our ability to leverage the proven commercial platforms and world-class engineering and manufacturing processes of GM to provide a first-of-its-kind vehicle for the Department of State, Steve duMont, the president of GM Defense, said in a statement. Instead of modifying existing vehicles, the defense branch of GM builds the HD-SUV as an armored truck from the ground up in collaboration with Jankel, a UK-based company that specializes in armored military and security vehicles. The HD-SUV is based on the Chevrolet Suburban. In addition to armor and bulletproof glass, its spec sheet lists mechanical upgrades pulled from the brands 2500 and 3500 trucks. These include a 6.2-liter V8 engine, heavy-duty suspension, heavy-duty power steering, a more powerful alternator and a heavy-duty air filter. Interestingly, many of Chevrolets safety features are not available on the HD-SUV. Automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, rear automatic braking, lane-change alert, lane-keeping assistance, rear cross-traffic alert and rear pedestrian alert are all disabled on the vehicle. That makes sense, given that drivers may need to force their way through barriers or hostile crowds. During product development and testing, the HD-SUV made a name for itself by outperforming up-armored passenger vehicles currently in use. The prototype vehicle had good acceleration, handled better in the turns, and the heavy-duty anti-lock braking system was far superior to our aftermarket vehicles, Gentry Smith, the State Departments assistant secretary for diplomatic security, said following a demonstration. You could really feel the stability and performance in the redesigned chassis. The HD-SUV represents a new cost-effective era in the design and building of these badly needed vehicles to help us carry out our mission to ensure the safe and secure conduct of foreign policy in some of our most challenging and dangerous posts, he added. (Photo courtesy of the State Department) Sound familiar? The HD-SUV is just now entering production, but this isnt GMs first foray into the world of armored vehicles. This is the same company that built the current presidential limousine. Cadillac 1, affectionately known as the Beast, is less of a limousine and more of a rolling vault. According to Business Insider, it has a heavy-duty truck chassis, a full suite of armor and bulletproof glass, night vision, tear gas cannons and an internal oxygen supply for the hermetically sealed cabin. If GM Defense is up to the task of protecting the president and a Secret Service detail, surely the same engineers can build an armored vehicle for embassy staff. Mission Briefing A U.S. Marine Security Guard (MSG) watch stander provides security while standing post on the roof of the U.S. Embassy, Bamako, Mali, Aug. 29, 2016. (Staff Sgt. Sarah R. Hickory/U.S. Marine Corps photo) The U.S. Department of State is one of the federal governments most influential and farthest-reaching departments, with its personnel conducting diplomacy, human rights initiatives and immigration services around the world. According to the immigration lawyers at VisaPlace, the U.S. operates 173 embassies and 88 consulates abroad. Posts range from the incredibly posh embassies in France and Casablanca to high-risk locations, such as the consulate in Libya whose 2012 attack inspired the movie 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. That kind of mission variation requires the best road-going vehicles available. The GM Defense HD-SUV is imposing but classy. The glossy black exterior is appropriate for a diplomat, but the hidden armor and truck components are ready for combat. Its just as suitable for cruising down the Autobahn as it is for shrugging off small-arms fire in a war zone. Can I Buy One of These? All gear eventually reaches the end of its serviceable life, and sometimes that means we can score a deal on retired equipment. Occasionally, the State Department hands off old vehicles as gifts to host nations. Thats how the Namibia Nature Foundation ended up with a pair of Land Cruisers straight out of the American embassys garage. Other vehicles end up on the auction block. You might get a screaming deal on a State Department 200-series Land Cruiser -- but only if youre willing to travel to Tajikistan to get it. The GM Defense contract is brand new, so it will be years before anyone gets a crack at purchasing one of the new armored Suburbans at auction. Youll be equipped with information when the time comes, though, and theres still time to join the Marine Corps, earn Marine Security Guard orders and test-drive one for yourself. Want to Know More About the Military? Be sure to get the latest news about the U.S. military, as well as critical info about how to join and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. ATLANTA, Georgia Chick-fil-A announced its changing its policy in regard to the use antibiotics in its chicken, raising the hackles of some fans of its signature sandwich and other food. The company released a statement saying its shifting from no antibiotics ever (NAE) to no antibiotics important to human medicine (NAIHM). NAE means no antibiotics of any kind were used in raising the animal, the statement says. NAIHM restricts the use of those antibiotics that are important to human medicine and commonly used to treat people and allows use of animal antibiotics only if the animal and those around it were to become sick. A company spokesman said the move reflects company concerns about its ability to acquire sufficient supplies of antibiotic-free chicken. Tyson Foods, one of the poultry industrys largest companies, said last year it was reintroducing some antibiotics to its chicken production. The policy change begins this spring. In 2014, the company pledged to sell only chicken raised without antibiotics, USA Today reports, and had completed the transition by 2019. As we looked to the future, the availability of high-quality chicken that meets our rigid standards became a concern. This change enables us to not only ensure we can continue to serve high-quality chicken, but also chicken that still meets the expectations our customers count on us to deliver, the company said in a statement to USA Today. Not all customers agree. Many on social media says the return to chicken with antibiotics is a deal-breaker. I do not need medicine in my food. This also messes with childrens hormones. NO THANKS, said a post on social media. Chick-Fil-As decision to reverse its policy on antibiotics has raised concerns among consumers and public health advocates. Many people are worried that this change could have negative implications for public health and the environment, says another post. It is important for consumers to be aware of where their food comes from and how it is produced. By supporting companies that prioritize sustainable and responsible practices, we can help promote a healthier and more sustainable food system. Chick-fil-A has more than 3,000 locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. A major cruise company has announced more cancellations for stops at its private resort in Haiti due to continued unrest and violence. Royal Caribbean had previously announced a temporary suspension of stops at its resort in Labadee, Haiti. Now, according to a report on RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com, itineraries will be changed through at least mid-April. Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, well now visit Perfect Day at CocoCay instead of Labadee, Haiti. Were terribly sorry for the last-minute change your safety is our top priority, Royal Caribbean Internationals Assistant Vice President of Guest Experiences wrote in the communication to guests sailing on the April 14 sailing of Explorer of the Seas, the website reported. Stops at Labadee have been replaced with visits to Perfect Day at CocoCay, another Royal Caribbean-operated resort. Other itineraries have been rerouted to Grand Cayman, Bimini, Grand Turk and St. Maarten. Royal Caribbean recently announced a temporary stop to calls on Labadee, located on the northern coast of Haiti. The U.S. State Department had previously issued an alert for Haiti, advising people not to visit the country due to the threat of kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and poor health care infrastructure. All family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency personnel have been ordered to leave the country. The resort in Labadee, first opened by Royal Caribbean in 1986, is located about 130 miles from the Haiti capital Port-au-Prince, the epi-center of gang violence. The U.S. State Department announced last week it had completed its first evacuation of American citizens from Port-au-Prince, transporting 15 people to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Others were later evacuated on a plane chartered by the Florida Department of Emergency Management. YPSILANTI, MI -- Now in her ninth year of teaching, Kate Moore is still finding new and exciting ways to relate to and inspire her young pupils. Moore, 34, is in her sixth year of teaching fifth graders at Childs Elementary School in the Lincoln Consolidated Schools. YPSILANTI, MI A nearly $500,000 plan to make Frog Island Park more accessible is underway. The plan was approved by Michigans Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on March 20, according to Ypsilanti Department of Public Services Director Bonnie Wessler. ANN ARBOR, MI Imagine the Michigan Theater when it was first built in 1928. The blue-and-gold seats and ornate architecture of the main screening room was first the setting for commercial vaudeville shows, silent movies and various national performances touring and local productions. Now fill that room with the music of Victor Herbert, the turn-of-the-century American composer whose Broadway operettas and musicals influenced later greats such as Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein. GRAND RAPIDS, MI CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will be the featured guest speaker at Davenport Universitys annual scholarship fundraiser this spring. Davenports 2024 Excellence in Business Gala will take place Friday, May 17, at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids. The spring gala is the private universitys largest fundraising event to support student scholarships. Rick Keyes, president and CEO of Meijer, Inc., will be honored at the event with the 2024 Peter C. Cook Excellence in Business Award, which recognizes the top business leader in West Michigan each year. During the gala, Davenport President Richard J. Pappas will interview Cooper on stage about his career as an American broadcast TV journalist, which has spanned over 30 years. Cooper anchors CNNs Anderson Cooper 360 and The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, and he is a regular correspondent for CBSs 60 Minutes. He has also authored four books that have topped the New York Times bestseller list. Cooper has played a pivotal role in CNNs political and election coverage, anchoring from conventions and moderating presidential primary debates and town halls, according to his CNN bio. He has also reported from around the globe, covering major news events in nearly 80 countries. His work has won numerous journalism awards, including CNNs Peabody Award-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina and duPont Award-winning coverage of the 2004 tsunami, his bio said. Hes also won 20 Emmy Awards, including two for his coverage of the earthquake in Haiti, and an Edward R. Murrow Award. This is the second time Cooper is headlining Davenports Excellence in Business Gala, after he last appeared as the galas featured guest in 2016, according to a university news release. Pappas said he is looking forward to sitting down and talking again to Cooper, who was an insightful and entertaining guest when he appeared at the gala eight years ago. Anderson Cooper is a person who is living a remarkable life, and he is reflective and open to exploring a variety of topics with an audience, Pappas said in a prepared statement. We had a great rapport when he joined us for our previous gala, and I know all who attend this years gala will be entertained as we learn from him. Also, during the gala, Keyes will receive the Peter C. Cook Excellence in Business Award and be recognized for his leadership at Meijer. Keyes became president of Meijer in 2015 after rising through the company ranks, first as a pharmacist and later as executive vice president of Supply Chain and Manufacturing, according to the Davenport new release. West Michigan benefits greatly from having Meijer headquartered in Grand Rapids, because we have the good fortune of learning from its leaders in our community, Pappas said. We want to recognize Keyes with the Cook award for his proven leadership at Meijer, his business acumen, his attention to Meijer team members and for the impact Meijer has on communities throughout the Midwest. We look forward to a wonderful evening. Davenport University is a non-profit, private university with about 5,000 students. Campuses are located across Michigan and online. Tickets to the Excellence in Business Gala are $300 a piece, or there are multiple sponsorship levels ranging from $1,200 to $50,000. For more information about the gala, visit www.davenport.edu/eib. PORTAGE, MI -- Fifty new single-family houses are coming to Portages Lake Center District. The Portage City Council approved a $3 million grant agreement for the construction of the 50 homes near 9617 Portage Road at a meeting earlier this month. The homes will be sold to buyers who earn 80 to 120% of the Area Median Income, according to city documents. Thats a range of $79,000 to $118,000 annually for a family of four in Portage. Chief Development Officer Peter Dame called it workforce housing, designed to give someone who earns the average teacher, police officer or city employee salary a chance to afford a home. Portage already owns the 14-acre parcel of land, per city documents. The $3 million grant comes from Kalamazoo Countys Housing for All millage, which provides money to developers, organizations and projects that address the countys housing crisis. RELATED: Kalamazoo County needs nearly 8,000 more homes by 2030 The Housing for All funding will help close the gap between construction costs and the amount that affordable rate homes will be sold for, Dame said. About $2.5 million in other grant funding, including city and county COVID-19 relief funds, will be used to help build the roads, water and sewer lines to service the development. With the scope of the use of the grant funds set, the city can now finalize a development agreement with previously selected developer, AVB. This agreement will come before the council at an upcoming meeting, per city documents. The city will spend the rest of the year designing the neighborhood, Dame said, and hold a meeting with neighbors before submitting their plans to the planning commission for approval. Construction is expected to begin in 2025, Dame said. RELATED: Multimillion-dollar plan to reimagine park on lake takes next step This is the citys latest iteration of a development for the property east of Portage Road and between Stanley and Woodbine avenues. Its just south of Lakeview Park and just feet from both Austin Lake and West Lake. In 2023, Grand Rapids architectural firm Nederveld proposed a 612-unit development just north of Austin Lake, dubbed Austin Landings. At the time, the city was also considering a 60 to 70 single-family home development near 9617 Portage Road. Austin Landing, proposed by Grand Rapids architectural firm Nederveld, would have brought 612 housing units to 126 acres of land north of Austin Lake in Portage, Michigan. (Rendering provided by City of Portage via Nederveld Architecture) In response to residents outcry, the city established a citizen taskforce to collect questions and concerns of residents directly affected by two proposed developments. The taskforce was disbanded in December 2023, after Austin Landings plans were withdrawn by the developer. The citys plans on Portage Road were temporarily put on pause. They eventually resurfaced as this 50-home plan, instead of the 60 to 70 originally planned. RELATED: Portage housing task force disbanded after developer withdraws plans At a future meeting, the council will consider establishing a community land trust to ensure the homes are resold at an affordable rate in the future, Dame said. Kalamazoo Gazette/MLive offers free email news alerts. Click here to sign up for alerts or for the daily 3@3 Kalamazoo news roundup. Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page here. KALAMAZOO, MI -- A hotel has been condemned after a fire tore through the building Sunday evening, forcing one occupant to escape from a second-story window, according to a public safety official. Some of the windows have been boarded up at the Days Inn, 2615 Airview Blvd., on the day after the Sunday, March 24, fire that drew firefighters from several area departments. One person self evacuated from a second-story window, making their way onto a roof, where they were helped down by firefighters, Public Information Officer Jay Shatara told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette. Firefighters evacuated other occupants from the halls inside the hotel, Shatara said. Ladder trucks were used to spray water down at the hotel from above. The hotel has been condemned and the fire is under investigation, Shatara said. Information about a possible cause was not available Monday morning, he said. The fire is considered suspicious, KDPS said in a news release, and members of the Fire Marshals office are investigating. Multiple search and rescue teams, accompanied by interior attack teams, ensured there were no injuries to people who were inside at the time of the fire, KDPS said. Firefighters worked to bring the massive blaze under control in a little over an hour, police said. KDPS was the commanding agency, officials said. Firefighters from Portage, Oshtemo and Comstock departments also responded to the fire that significantly damaged the hotel, he said. The blaze was seen from I-94 with a large column of dark smoke, indicated in witness posts on social media. Witness Melissa Stutt was in a vehicle that was passing by on I-94, near the Portage Road exit. She watched the hotel go up in flames. It was rolling pretty good, Stutt said. We beat most of the fire trucks there because we were passed by a Portage cop on 94. We saw the smoke, so we pulled off. Smoke could be seen from a distance as a fire erupted at a Portage, Michigan, hotel on Sunday, March 24. (Courtesy | Melissa Stuut)(Courtesy | Melissa Stuut) Two ladder trucks were pulling in as she left the area, Stutt said. She shared her photos with MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette, which show thick smoke and flames coming from the top part of the hotel. Smoke was seen at nearby businesses. The fire disrupted electrical power to nearby buildings and at least one business temporarily closed for the day on Sunday. The Days Inn was heavily damaged in a Sunday, March 24, fire. The building is shown the day after the fire. The hotel was condemned, police said. (Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com)(Brad Devereaux | bdeverea@mlive.com) Police ask anyone with information on the fire to call the Fire Marshals Office at 269-337-8260. Information can also be provided anonymously through the Kalamazoo Silent Observer tip line at 269-343-2100, the P3Tips app, or online at www.KalamazooSilentObserver.com. Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter. MIDLAND, MI The Midland Mall has announced another new tenant coming soon. Ross Dress for Less, a discount clothing retailer with stores throughout Michigan and across the country, is joining the mall at 6800 Eastman Ave. The nearest Ross Dress for Less store recently opened in Burton. Local entrepreneur Jordan Dice, who bought the Midland Mall last year with a vision to revive it, shared the news in a Facebook post: Im happy to welcome Ross Dress for Less to the Midland Mall. Its very exciting considering the many requests from the public for more clothing stores at the mall, Dices post read. This will be a significant size store at 32,000 square feet and such a great retailer that has a large national presence. The new store is expected to open in late summer or early fall. Related: Meet Neo, a Michigan Malls newest employee. Its a robot. Other recent and upcoming additions to the mall include Yogurt Loft, One Love Smoothie & Grilled Cheese, Mitten Cafe, Emily Mais and a St. Laurent Brothers kiosk. The mall has been hosting special events, too, including the recent Midland Mall Comic Con and upcoming April Antiques Affair to take place Friday, April 12, through Sunday, April 14. For more information, visit www.rossstores.com and find Midland Mall on Facebook. Want more Bay City- and Saginaw-area news? Bookmark the local Bay City and Saginaw news page or sign up for the free 3@3 daily newsletter for Bay City and Saginaw. Custos Family Office LLC decreased its holdings in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF (BATS:BBEU Free Report) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,539 shares of the companys stock after selling 582 shares during the quarter. Custos Family Office LLCs holdings in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in shares of JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF by 15.1% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 12,247 shares of the companys stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF by 54.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,621 shares of the companys stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF in the third quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF during the third quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF by 26.1% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 22,368 shares of the companys stock worth $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares during the period. Get JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF alerts: JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF Trading Down 0.3 % BBEU stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $59.06. The companys stock had a trading volume of 250,163 shares. The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.93. The companys 50-day moving average is $57.08 and its 200-day moving average is $54.34. JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF Profile The JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF (BBEU) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund tracks a market cap-weighted index of large- and mid-cap stocks in developed European countries. BBEU was launched on Jun 15, 2018 and is managed by JPMorgan Chase. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Custos Family Office LLC grew its position in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL Free Report) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,981 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 3,692 shares during the period. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF makes up approximately 4.3% of Custos Family Office LLCs holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Custos Family Office LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF were worth $8,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of QUAL. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 145.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,831,614 shares of the companys stock valued at $847,564,000 after purchasing an additional 4,051,296 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at about $337,131,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 252.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,913,485 shares of the companys stock valued at $361,461,000 after buying an additional 2,085,944 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 419.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,545,817 shares of the companys stock valued at $343,354,000 after buying an additional 2,055,458 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,616,008 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,926,244,000 after buying an additional 923,875 shares during the period. Get iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF alerts: iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Stock Performance Shares of BATS:QUAL traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.58. 920,229 shares of the company traded hands. The firm has a market cap of $37.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.03. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF has a 52-week low of $71.96 and a 52-week high of $88.63. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $157.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.27. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Profile The iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality index. The fund tracks an index of US large- and mid-cap stocks, selected and weighted by high ROE, stable earnings growth and low debt\u002Fequity, relative to peers in each sector. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding QUAL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF (BATS:BBJP Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,806 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the quarter. CVA Family Office LLCs holdings in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF were worth $1,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BBJP. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF by 129.8% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,011 shares of the companys stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF by 279.1% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,145 shares of the companys stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Get JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF alerts: JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF Stock Performance BBJP traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,517,742 shares. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.67. The companys 50-day moving average is $55.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.82. About JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF The JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF (BBJP) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund tracks a market cap-weighted index of Japanese large- and mid-cap stocks. BBJP was launched on Jun 15, 2018 and is managed by JPMorgan Chase. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for JPMorgan BetaBuilders Japan ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Raymond James & Associates lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Free Report) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,062,791 shares of the healthcare product makers stock after selling 9,843 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.18% of Abbott Laboratories worth $337,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 73.70% of the companys stock. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8 % Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, hitting $110.57. The companys stock had a trading volume of 5,387,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,953,289. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.23. The company has a market capitalization of $191.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement Abbott Laboratories ( NYSE:ABT Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratoriess revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess payout ratio is 67.48%. Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $120.00. Get Our Latest Stock Report on ABT Insider Buying and Selling In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders. Abbott Laboratories Company Profile (Free Report) Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon. Further Reading 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. Whitecap Resources Inc. (OTCMKTS:SPGYF Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Thursday, March 21st, investing.com reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of 0.045 per share on Monday, April 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Whitecap Resources Stock Down 1.9 % Shares of Whitecap Resources stock opened at $7.42 on Monday. Whitecap Resources has a 12 month low of $6.02 and a 12 month high of $8.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.22. Get Whitecap Resources alerts: Whitecap Resources Company Profile (Get Free Report) Featured Stories Whitecap Resources Inc, an oil and gas company, focuses on the acquisition, development, and production of oil and gas assets in Western Canada. The company's primary areas of focus of its development programs are in Northern Alberta and British Columbia, Central Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Whitecap Resources Inc was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Receive News & Ratings for Whitecap Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Whitecap Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. You are already a Moneycontrol Pro user. OK Ashwani Mahajan is a professor at PGDAV College, University of Delhi, and the national co-convener of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication. Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day Danish Khan is the editor of Technology and Telecom. He was previously with the Economic Times and has tracked the sector for 13 years. "I like hiking around. I took an amazing hike all the way up a mountaintop, I think it was called Eden - Mount Eden! I see why they call it that as it was quite heavenly. Tobias Le Compte, a 35-year-old Belgian musician widely known as Tobias or Gao Yue, has become a sensation on social media for his excellent grasp of the main Shanghai dialect. A multi-instrumentalist and the chief operating officer of Montreux Jazz Festival China, Le Compte has been sharing his everyday experiences, which he delivers in Shanghai dialect, on video-sharing and lifestyle platforms Douyin and Xiaohongshu, garnering thousands of followers and millions of likes. In the videos, he speaks fluent Shanghai dialect, which many non-locals believe is as difficult to learn and understand as a foreign language. He talks about walking on the city's streets, enjoying the food and music, and recording his daily life in the city. "I started shooting and posting these short videos for my own practice purposes. I didn't expect so many people would be watching them, following me and sending me comments and encouragement," said Le Compte. "For me, the tone of the Shanghai dialect sounds like music with fascinating waves," said the musician who enjoys learning languages and dialects. "I believe a dialect is the heart of a local culture." In 2008, Le Compte, who is a percussionist, guitarist, bassist and piano player, visited Shanghai for the first time as a member of a music and dance group that participated in an arts festival in Baoshan district. He was enchanted by the city right away, and returned the next year and enrolled as an undergraduate student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Like most expats in China, Le Compte first studied Mandarin and spent about half a year teaching himself the language. "At first, I had little contact with the Shanghai dialect. People around me in the city could all speak Mandarin and it was enough for daily life and communication, so I didn't feel it was necessary to learn the dialect," said Le Compte. It was not until 2021, when Le Compte was back in Belgium and confined to his home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that he started learning Shanghainese. "When I was back in Belgium, I realized that many of my Chinese friends were from Shanghai and they had been talking in the Shanghai dialect. I have always loved studying languages and dialects, so I chose to learn some Shanghai dialect to fill the boring days at home during the pandemic," Le Compte said. He was also motivated by the 2021 hit movie B for Busy, a tale set in Shanghai starring local stars who speak their lines in the city's dialect. "I was not thinking too much when I started learning the Shanghai dialect it was just for fun. I turned to my friends to speak and learn the dialect. I also watched TV series and movies in the Shanghai dialect, as well as Shanghai farces," he said. Listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2011, Shanghai farce, or huajixi, is a traditional opera and type of comedic performance that originated in the city in the early 20th century. Le Compte said when he uploaded the short Shanghainese videos it was simply to practice the dialect and he didn't think much about it. "Gradually, and unexpectedly, many people saw my posts and sent me positive and encouraging comments, which made me dive deeper into the dialect and local culture," Le Compte said. He settled back in Shanghai in January. Much to his surprise, when he arrived at the airport he was recognized by many people as "the foreigner who can speak fluent Shanghai dialect". "Since then, I have been frequently recognized on the city's streets. People keep telling me 'thank you for promoting our Shanghai dialect' and 'we support you', which makes me feel that I am doing something very meaningful. I feel a greater sense of responsibility," he added. 'Brave' mistakes Le Compte did not bury his nose in textbooks or undertake intensive study to learn Shanghainese. He said his learning methods involved getting immersed in a language environment, having a positive attitude, and speaking bravely "without being afraid to make mistakes". "Some people may worry too much about being looked down upon for their accent or using the wrong words, which I think is not the right approach. Although non-native speakers can't grasp a language 100 percent, the more words you say, the more accurately you will end up saying them," Le Compte said. However, he is worried that the dialect seems to be disappearing from common use. "It's such a pity to know that many residents in Shanghai can't speak the dialect. There are many traditional customs and local cultures that are hard to describe precisely in Mandarin. Some of them can only be expressed and understood in the dialect, such as nursery rhymes and slang," said Le Compte. Shanghai residents tend to be more welcoming to those who speak the dialect, he added. "I used to live in a shikumen (lane house) in Shanghai, where I got quite immersed in the city's authentic local life," he said. Le Compte has also posted videos of himself speaking the dialect with Shanghai natives who live overseas. "We share their stories and their life in another country, it's especially relevant to Shanghai people who have not been to these nations," Le Compte said. Many Shanghai people living overseas speak better Shanghainese than the locals, especially the younger generations, he added. Le Compte said he did not expect he would contribute to the promotion of the Shanghai dialect, but he hoped more people would end up speaking it. It would be an honor and pleasure if his posts encouraged his followers to learn and pass on the dialect, he said. Le Compte, who rates his dialect skills 70 out of 100, said he hopes to one day be able to understand subtle variations in the dialect and also be capable enough to write a Shanghai farce. Deeper look Argentine Federico Demarco, a postgraduate linguistics student at Shanghai University, is traveling even further along the path of understanding dialects in Shanghai. The first Argentine to pass HSK 6, the Chinese-language proficiency test's highest level, Demarco is researching a dialect spoken in Shanghai's Jinshan district. Married to a woman from Shanghai, Demarco became fluent in the main Shanghai dialect while living abroad with his wife. When he relocated to Shanghai in 2018, his curiosity and passion for Chinese dialects drove him to explore variants beyond the city's urban center. His enthusiasm led him to uncover the lesser-known dialect spoken in Jinshan, which is located an hour from downtown Shanghai. Partnering with Jinshan resident Feng Xuanxin four years ago, Demarco began documenting the dialect's nuances through field research in rural villages. The pair made audio recordings and notes of pronunciations of words, vocabulary and cultural traditions. "We want to preserve the dialect before local knowledge disappears," Demarco said. However, finding speakers of the dialect is becoming difficult as younger generations have shifted to speaking Mandarin, he said. With his South American looks, locals are always surprised when Demarco speaks near-perfect Jinshan dialect. He also posts videos on Douyin, which have attracted hundreds of thousands of views, explaining different aspects of the dialect. For the past four years, Demarco has taken long car trips to and from Jinshan on a regular basis to conduct interviews and make recordings. He is intrigued by the structure of the Jinshan dialect. For instance, dialects spoken in Zhujing, Fengjing, and Xingta towns have eight tones, while dialects spoken in other areas of Jinshan have seven, and Shanghainese has just five. "Languages are my passion. I hope that these unique dialects can be passed on," he said. The pair are planning to turn their research into a book on the Jinshan dialect. Demarco is also a co-founder of an online free dictionary for the Wu dialect, one of the main dialects spoken south of the Yangtze River. Conveyor of culture Ding Dimeng, a Shanghai dialect expert and a retired associate professor of Chinese at Shanghai University, has written several books on the Shanghai dialect. Some include fun features such as games, riddles, tongue-twisters and poems, which have helped make them bestsellers. Ding has been teaching Mandarin and the Shanghai dialect to Chinese and overseas students for three decades. "Over the past 20 years, we have seen an increasing number of foreigners becoming interested in learning the Shanghai dialect," Ding said. Compared with Mandarin, foreigners can usually acquire the Shanghai dialect faster, as the pronunciations are easier for them, she added. Foreigners are motivated by many reasons, including doing business locally, to learn Shanghainese. However, some of them are intrigued by the unique and pleasing tones of the dialect. It also helps them better fit into life in Shanghai, Ding said. Spaniard Mario Alonso, a pianist who has lived in Shanghai for seven years, said it would be a waste of time to live in China without immersing himself in the local culture. He taught himself Mandarin, and is reasonably fluent, and now hopes to pick up some Shanghainese colloquialisms. One expression he finds intriguing is "your forehead touches the ceiling", which is a way to describe a rare and lucky incident, such as winning the lottery. After the release in December of Blossoms Shanghai, the hit television series of Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, the Shanghai dialect has attracted even greater attention. Ding is pleased to see the positive reaction, as well as foreigners sharing their dialect skills on social media. "We used to have TV programs promoting the Shanghai dialect and even speech competitions in the dialect which were open to expats in the city. I think they (foreigners who speak the Shanghai dialect) are a positive influence on both domestic and overseas audiences," said Ding. She welcomed foreigners learning the dialect as well as Shanghai people, both at home and abroad, promoting it. "This is not only about the language, but also about Shanghai's culture and Chinese culture, as a dialect is the carrier of local cultures," Ding said. Zheng Zheng and Zhang Kun in Shanghai contributed to this story. wangxin2@chinadaily.com.cn Patricia Mafnas from the Department of Public Health and Social Services gives a presentation during an oversight hearing at the Guam Congress Building in Hagatna on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. A line of cars is seen at Astumbo Middle School in March 2021. North Korea says Japans prime minister offered to meet with leader Kim Jong Un soon View Photo SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea said Monday that Japans prime minister has offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but stressed that prospects for their countries first summit in about 20 years would depend on Tokyo tolerating the Norths weapons program and ignoring its past abductions of Japanese nationals. Japan acknowledged it has been trying to arrange a bilateral summit but dismissed North Koreas preconditions for such a meeting as unacceptable, dimming the prospects that Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would hold a summit any time soon. Observers say Kim wants improved ties with Japan as a way to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies, while Kishida wants to use possible progress in the abduction issue, a highly emotional issue for Japan, to boost his declining approval rating at home. After admitting in 2002 that it had abducted 13 Japanese nationals, North Korea allowed five to return home but said the others had died. Japan believes some were still alive. In a statement carried by state media, Kims sister, Kim Yo Jong, who also is a senior official, said that Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person as soon as possible. She said there would be no breakthrough in North Korea-Japan relations as long as Kishidas government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the Norths exercise of our sovereign right, apparently referring to the Norths weapons testing activities. Simply deciding to hold a summit is not enough to improve relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, she said. In February, Kim Yo Jong issued a similar statement, saying North Korea was open to inviting Kishida to Pyongyang but that it would only be possible if Tokyo stopped taking issue with North Koreas legitimate right to self-defense and the abduction issue. Kishida, speaking in a parliamentary session, said that a meeting with Kim is crucial to resolve the abduction issue and that his government has been using various channels to discuss the possible summit. Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters later Monday that dropping the abduction issue in talks with North Korea is not acceptable. North Korea and Japan dont have diplomatic ties, and their relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear program, the abduction issue and Japans 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Japans colonial wrongdoing is a source of on-again, off-again wrangling between Tokyo and Seoul, as well. After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in an unprecedented 2002 summit between Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped the 13 Japanese. Japan believes North Korea used them to train spies in Japanese language and culture. Koizumi made a second visit to North Korea and met Kim Jong Il again in 2004, the last summit between the two countries. Talk of a possible new summit comes amid concerns that North Korea could further intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year both in the U.S. and South Korea. Experts say North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the U.S., such as relief from sanctions imposed because of Pyongyangs nuclear program. While North Korea may be waiting out elections in South Korea and the United States before reengaging those countries in diplomacy, it probably wants to strengthen its hand by developing weapons and driving wedges between U.S. allies, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Kishida feels political urgency to address the abductions issue and is thus showing diplomatic effort. The impoverished North also likely thinks about possible Japanese economic assistance it could receive if the two countries normalized their ties, said analyst Moon Seong Mook with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea could seek the current value of the Japanese assistance that South Korea received when those two countries normalized their ties in 1965 $500 million or more. Moon said Kishida likely wont defy Japanese public opinion to make concessions on the abduction issue, or defy U.N. resolutions that ban North Koreas nuclear program. Easley said a Kim-Kishida summit is unlikely because Pyongyang appears unwilling to address its historical kidnapping of Japanese citizens and Tokyo is unable to relax sanctions on North Korea. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Monday it was closely communicating with Japan on Tokyo-Pyongyang contacts and the North Korean nuclear issue. It said that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are working closely together to return North Korea to a path of denuclearization. North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile arsenals pose a major security threat to Japan as well as South Korea and the United States. The three countries have expanded their trilateral training exercises in response to the Norths provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Japan and South Korea are two of Americas key allies in the region, together hosting about 80,000 U.S. troops in their territories. Earlier Monday, North Koreas state media reported that Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea. While most analysts doubt Kim is genuinely preparing for war, South Korean officials have raised the possibility of smaller provocations in border regions, including the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas that has been the site of bloody skirmishes in past years. ___ Associated Press journalist Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report. ___ Follow APs Asia-Pacific news at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press President Joe Biden View Photo President Biden proclaimed that today, Monday March 25th 2024, is Greek Independence Day. Biden was Mondays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here is his Proclamation: On this day more than 200 years ago, revolutionaries throughout Greece rose up for the cause of freedom and declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire. Today, we honor the legacy of these courageous Greek women and men and rededicate ourselves to the cause of liberty and democracy for all. Throughout our shared history, the people of Greece and the United States have been bound by this common belief the power to shape our destiny should rest in the hands of we the people. Generation after generation, Americans and Greeks have come together to make those words a reality. We saw it during World War II, when our nations both fought the forces of fascism. We saw it during the Cold War, when our people stood united to prevail against communism. We see it today, as Greece and America stand together alongside a coalition of more than 50 nations to support the brave people of Ukraine as they fight for the same values those Greek revolutionaries did more than 200 years ago: liberty, freedom, and sovereignty. Today, the partnership, alliance, and friendship shared by Greece and the United States is stronger than ever before due in large part to the culture, courage, and character of the Greek American community. From standing up for social justice and advancing civil rights to striving to make our Nation freer and fairer, Greek Americans have pushed our country forward, fanning the flame of liberty that first sparked in Athens thousands of years ago. Throughout my career, I have been lucky to see this heart, hope, and commitment up close, and I have drawn lifelong inspiration from Greek American friends, families, leaders, and political mentors. Today and every day, let us celebrate the unbreakable bonds of friendship shared by the United States and the Hellenic Republic. Let us continue to draw strength from the ideas put forth and the example set by our two countries. Guided by our highest hopes and ideals, let us recommit to preserving, defending, and protecting democracy together. NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 25, 2024, as Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. El Dorado County Sheriff's Office View Photo Georgetown, CA A mountain lion attack in the Sierra Foothills killed a 21-year-old who was hunting shed antlers over the weekend in El Dorado County. It happened near the town of Georgetown on Saturday afternoon in the remote area of Darling Ridge Road and Skid Road. The El Dorado County Sheriffs Office reports that the man who was killed was with his 18-year-old brother. The 18-year-old called authorities and reported that he suffered traumatic injuries to his face and became separated from his brother. The 21-year-old was soon located by deputies with the mountain lion nearby. Deputies shot their guns to scare the mountain lion away and began administering aid to the victim, who was later pronounced dead. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with the El Dorado County Trapper, responded and euthanized the mountain lion. The men were from El Dorado County and an investigation into the incident is ongoing. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reports that mountain lion attacks are rare. The last incident resulting in a fatality in California happened back in 2004 in Orange County when a 35-year-old man was killed. The most recent non-fatal attack was in September of 2022 when a seven-year-old boy was attacked in Los Angeles County. Maple syrup from New Jersey: You got a problem with that? Maple syrup from New Jersey: You got a problem with that? View Photo GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) Welcome to New Jersey, known around the world for Tony Soprano, Turnpike tolls, chemical plants, and maple syrup? If a university in the southern part of the state has its way, the sticky sweet brown stuff you put on your pancakes might one day come from New Jersey. Its part of an effort to use a species of maple tree common to southern New Jersey that has only half as much sugar as the maples of Vermont, the nations maple syrup capital. The idea is to see if a viable syrup industry can be created in a part of the state better known for casinos and its vast forest of pine trees. Backed by $1 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Stockton University is in its fourth year of producing syrup from the 300 acres (120 hectares) of maples surrounding it. You should never tell a New Jerseyan, It cant be done, because we live for the challenge, said Judith Vogel, a mathematics professor and director of the Stockton Maple Project. There were a lot of obstacles to be overcome in bringing maple syrup production to south Jersey, but the work has been fun, and the results have been very sweet. The key to the project is utilizing some underdog trees that are not in the same class as the sugar maples typical of Vermont. Although there are some sugar maples in the northern part of New Jersey, Stockton is located in southern New Jersey, about 16 miles (26 kilometers) northwest of Atlantic City, where red maples are more common. Although maple syrup has been made in New Jersey since the state was populated mainly by Native Americans, who shared their knowledge with settlers, no large-scale industry took hold, particularly in the states south. Red maples like those in Stockton are not highly sought-after because the sugar content is significantly lower, about 1% coming from a red maple versus about 2% for a sugar maple, said Ryan Hegarty, assistant director of the Maple Project. The general rule of thumb is that it takes about 40 gallons (150 liters) of sap from sugar maples of the Vermont variety to make one gallon (3.8 liters) of syrup, Hegarty said. For red maples, you need at least 60 gallons (more than 225 liters) of sap because more water needs to be removed in the process of making syrup. That is accomplished by using a high-pressure membrane to separate sugar and water molecules. That enables sap that came out of the tree at 1% sugar to enter the cooking process at 4%, an important efficiency if a new industry is to be established using sub-optimal trees. Charlize Katzenbach has been making maple syrup for 35 years at her Sweet Sourland Farms in Hopewell, New Jersey, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Stockton. When she first started making syrup in the 1980s, New Jersey was a hard sell. No one would buy it, said Katzenbach, who advised Stockton on setting up its program. Theyd say, I get my syrup from Vermont; this cant be any good at all. But years of perseverance, and a growing desire for locally produced food, helped carve out a small niche for New Jersey maple syrup. In 2022, New Jersey produced 1,817 gallons (6,878 liters) of it, worth $88,000, according to the state agriculture department. By contrast, Vermont produces half of the nearly 6 million gallons (22.7 million liters) of maple syrup sold each year in the United States, worth about $105 million, according to the federal agriculture department. Allison Hope, executive director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, said those federal figures are believed to be an undercount, with the real total somewhat higher. Another challenge is the climate in southern New Jersey, which tends to be warmer than that of New England. That affects when and how the sap flows. You need below-freezing nights, then you need above-freezing daytime temperatures to ensure a good flow of sap, Hegarty said. At Stockton, that usually begins around the second week of January, when participants use cordless drills to bore tiny holes into the trees and place metal taps into which the sap flows. A vacuum-powered hose system helps the sap along and carries the liquid to collection buckets at twice the rate of just letting it drip out without assistance. The trees are not harmed by the tapping. Hegarty likens the process to a human giving blood, which is replenished and the entry wound quickly heals. Coming straight out of the tree, the sap tastes like water. Only after it is cooked in a wood-fired device called an evaporator does the sugar content soar. Then the color turns brown, in the same way that a white marshmallow turns brown near the heat of a campfire. So far this year Stockton has collected over 4,000 gallons (15,000 liters) of sap from 400 trees, and expects to produce 55 gallons (200 liters) of syrup, which would be a great year for us down here in south Jersey, Hegarty said. Stocktons syrup is darker and richer than commercially sold syrup, and has an oh-so-slightly smoky taste from the cooking process. The university is already using the syrup in its food service program to create new flavors of salad dressing and barbecue sauce, and also sells it at farmers markets. In the projects next round of funding, Stockton will seek partnerships with the food industry and regional schools to introduce its syrup more widely. Our syrup in New Jersey is as good as anybodys anywhere in the world, Katzenbach said. Its good, its local and it tastes great. ___ Follow Wayne Parry on X, formerly Twitter. By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press US Jews upset with Trumps latest rhetoric say he doesnt get to tell them how to be Jewish US Jews upset with Trumps latest rhetoric say he doesnt get to tell them how to be Jewish View Photo Since the start of his political career, Donald Trump has played on stereotypes about Jews and politics. He told the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015 that you want to control your politicians and suggested the audience used money to exert control. In the White House, he said Jews who vote for Democrats are very disloyal to Israel. Two years ago, the former president hosted two dinner guests at his Florida residence who were known to make virulent antisemitic comments. And this week, Trump charged that Jewish Democrats were being disloyal to their faith and to Israel. That had many American Jews taking up positions behind now-familiar political lines. Trump opponents accused him of promoting antisemitic tropes while his defenders suggested he was making a fair political point in his own way. Jonathan Sarna, American Jewish history professor at Brandeis University, said Trump is capitalizing on tensions within the Jewish community. For people who hate Donald Trump in the Jewish community, certainly this statement will reinforce their sense that they dont want to have anything to do with him, he said. For people who like Donald Trump in the Jewish community, they probably nod in agreement. To many Jewish leaders in a demographic that has overwhelmingly identified as Democratic and supported President Joe Biden in 2020, Trumps latest comments promoted harmful antisemitic stereotypes, painting Jews as having divided loyalties and that theres only one right way to be Jewish religiously. That escalation of rhetoric is so dangerous, so divisive and so wrong, said Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest U.S. Jewish religious denomination. This is a moment when Israel needs there to be more bipartisan support. But Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said the former presidents comments must be heard in context of the Israel-Hamas war and Democratic criticisms of the state of Israel. What the president was saying in his own unique style was giving voice to things I get asked about multiple times a day, Brooks said. How can Jews remain Democrats in light of what is going on? He contended the Democratic Party is no longer the pro-Israel bastion it used to be. More than 31,800 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive that followed Hamas Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and took hostages. Much of northern Gaza has been leveled, and officials warned famine is imminent. Trumps comments followed a speech by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the countrys highest-ranking Jewish official. Schumer, a Democrat, last week sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s handling of the war in Gaza. Schumer called for new elections in Israel and warned the civilian toll was damaging Israels global standing. Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion, Trump retorted Monday on a talk show. They hate everything about Israel. A cascade of Jewish voices, from Schumer to the Anti-Defamation League to religious leaders, denounced Trumps statement. In a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday, the Trump campaign doubled down, criticizing Schumer, congressional Democrats support of Palestinians and the Biden administrations policies on Iran and on aid to Gaza. President Trump is right, said Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign. Jeffrey Herf, an antisemitism expert at the University of Maryland, disagrees with Schumers call for a cease-fire in Gaza, but believes most Democrats support Israel and he said a second Biden term would be better for it than a second Trump one. If (Trump) loses the 2024 election, his comments prepare the way for blaming the Jews for his defeat, Herf said. The clear result would be to fan the flames of antisemitism and assert that, yet again, the Jews are guilty. Sarna saw Trump as trying to appeal to politically conservative Jews, particularly the small but fast-growing Orthodox segment, who see Trump as a defender of Israel. Also, about 10% of U.S. Jews are immigrants, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center report. Sarna said significant numbers are conservative. At the same time, Democrats face the tension between their Jewish constituency, which is predominantly pro-Israel, and its progressive wing, which is more pro-Palestinian. Sarna said that while it may seem odd to focus so much attention on subsections of a minority population, elections in America are very close, and every vote counts. Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said Tuesday on his podcast that Trump was making a point that, frankly, I have made myself, which is that Jews who are voting Democrat do not understand the Democratic Party. Shapiro, who practices Orthodox Judaism, contended the party overlooks antisemitism within its ranks. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the CEO of Truah, a rabbinic human rights organization, said Trump has no business dictating whos a good Jew. By insinuating that good Jews will vote for the party that is best for Israel, Trump is evoking the age-old antisemitic trope of dual loyalty an accusation that Jews are more loyal to their religion than to their country, and therefore cant be trusted, she said. Historically, this accusation has fueled some of the worst antisemitic violence. In his own time in office, Trumps policy of supporting Prime Minister Netanyahu and the settler agenda only endangered Palestinians and Israelis and made peace more difficult to achieve, Jacobs said. Pittsburgh-based journalist Beth Kissileff whose husband, a rabbi in the Conservative denomination of Judaism, in 2018 survived the nations deadliest antisemitic attack said it was highly offensive for Trump to be a self-appointed arbiter of what it means to be Jewish. Chuck Schumer had every right to say what he said, Kissileff added. Just because were Jews, it doesnt mean we agree with everything the (Israeli) government is doing. We have compassion for innocent Palestinian lives. Brooks, of the Republican Jewish Coalition, defended the former president against antisemitism charges, pointing to his presidential record as an example of proof. Trump pursued policies that were popular among American Christian Zionists and Israeli religious-nationalists, including moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and supporting Jewish settlements in occupied territories. His daughter Ivanka is a convert to Orthodox Judaism, and her husband and their children are Jewish. The couple worked as high-profile surrogates to the Jewish community during Trumps administration. Trumps core supporters include white evangelicals, many of whom believe the modern state of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy. Prominent evangelicals who support Zionism have also been criticized for inflammatory statements about Jewish people. Sixty-nine percent of Jewish voters in 2020 supported Biden, while 30% supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the electorate conducted in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago. That made Jewish voters one of the religious groups where support for Biden was strongest. Also, 73% of Jewish voters in 2020 said that Trump was too tolerant of extremist groups. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson said Trumps comments are in a complex middle zone not explicitly antisemitic, but reliant on such tropes. American Jews base their votes on a complex mix of issues and values, among them inclusion, diversity, climate change, civil rights, said Artson, a leader within Conservative Judaism. While they love Israel diversely, many of us also care about the wellbeing and self-determination of Palestinians. ___ This story was first published on March 21, 2024. It was updated on March 25, 2024 to correct the spelling of Jeffrey Herfs last name. It also was updated on March 22, 2024, to correct Donald Trumps title in one instance. He is the former president, not the president ___ Associated Press reporters Mariam Fam and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux contributed to this report. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. By PETER SMITH and TIFFANY STANLEY Associated Press UN demand for Gaza cease-fire provokes strongest clash between US and Israel since war began UN demand for Gaza cease-fire provokes strongest clash between US and Israel since war began View Photo UNITED NATIONS (AP) The United Nations Security Council on Monday issued its first demand for a cease-fire in Gaza, with the U.S. angering Israel by abstaining from the vote. Israel responded by canceling a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation in the strongest public clash between the allies since the war began. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the U.S. of retreating from a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was kind of perplexed by Netanyahus decision. He said the Israelis were choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that. Kirby and the American ambassador to the U.N. said the U.S. abstained because the resolution did not condemn Hamas. U.S. officials chose to abstain rather than veto the proposal because it does fairly reflect our view that a cease-fire and the release of hostages come together, Kirby said. The 15-member council voted 14-0 to approve the resolution, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. The chamber broke into loud applause after the vote. The U.S. vetoed past Security Council cease-fire resolutions in large part because of the failure to tie them directly to the release of hostages, the failure to condemn Hamas attacks and the delicacy of ongoing negotiations. American officials have argued that the cease-fire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for a cease-fire. The resolution approved Monday demands the release of hostages but does not make it a condition for the cease-fire for the month of Ramadan, which ends in April. Hamas said it welcomed the U.N.s move but said the cease-fire needs to be permanent. We confirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides, the group said. For months, the militants have sought a deal that includes a complete end to the conflict. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted: This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable. The U.S. decision to abstain comes at a time of growing tensions between President Joe Bidens administration and Netanyahu over Israels prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amounts of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. The two countries have also clashed over Netanyahus rejection of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the expansion of settlements there. In addition, the well-known antagonism between Netanyahu and Biden which dates from Bidens tenure as vice president deepened after Biden questioned Israels strategy in combating Hamas. Then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Biden ally, suggested that Netanyahu was not operating in Israels best interests and called for Israel to hold new elections. Biden signaled his approval of Schumers remarks, prompting a rebuke from Netanyahu. During its U.S. visit, the Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with its plans for a possible ground invasion of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. Last week, Netanyahu rebuffed a U.S. request to halt the planned Rafah invasion vowing during a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to act alone if necessary. Blinken warned that Israel could soon face growing international isolation, while Vice President Kamala Harris said Israel could soon face unspecified consequences if it launches the ground assault. The Security Council vote came after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported an immediate and sustained cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. That resolution featured a weakened link between a cease-fire and the release of hostages, leaving it open to interpretation, and no time limit. The United States warned that the resolution approved Monday could hurt negotiations to halt the hostilities, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans. The talks involve the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Because Ramadan ends April 9, the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, though the draft says the pause in fighting should lead to a lasting sustainable cease-fire. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the resolution spoke out in support of the ongoing diplomatic efforts, adding that negotiators were getting closer to a deal for a cease-fire with the release of all hostages, but were not there yet. She urged the council and U.N. members across the world to speak out and demand unequivocally that Hamas accepts the deal on the table. Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. abstained because certain edits the U.S. requested were ignored, including a condemnation of Hamas. The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, was backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations. Under the United Nations Charter, Security Council resolutions are legally binding on its 193 member nations, though they are often flouted. Algerias U.N. ambassador, Amar Bendjama, the Arab representative on the council, thanked the council for finally demanding a cease-fire. We look forward to the commitment and the compliance of the Israeli occupying power with this resolution, for them to put an end to the bloodbath without any conditions, to end the suffering of the Palestinian people, he said. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the council that the vote must be a turning point that leads to saving lives in Gaza and ending the assault of atrocities against our people. Shortly before Mondays vote, the elected members changed the final draft resolution to drop the word permanent from its demand that a Ramadan cease-fire should lead to a sustainable halt in fighting apparently at the request of the United States. Russia complained that dropping the word could allow Israel to resume its military operation in the Gaza Strip at any moment after Ramadan and proposed an amendment to restore it. That amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum nine yes votes with three council members voting in favor, the United States voting against, and 11 countries abstaining. Since the start of the war, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire. More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The agency does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Gaza also faces a dire humanitarian emergency. A report from an international authority on hunger warned last week that famine is imminent in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territorys 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation. The United States has vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on Feb. 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire. Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in late October calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a cease-fire. They again vetoed a U.S. resolution Friday, calling it ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks. That vote became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the United States taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, even as tensions between the two countries rise. Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia and China on Monday of using the Gaza conflict as a political cudgel, to try to divide this council at a time when we need to come together. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Colleen Long in Washington and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed. By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press A Harare businessman, who was the target of an assassination plot by five hitmen based in South Africa, lured the assassins to Harare and into the hands of the police in an extraordinary turn of events. Oliver Tatenda Chipindu was the businessman who was the target of the hit squad and today we can show you the picture of the mastermind and the picture of the men who had been hired to kill him. They were hired by a conman, who duped Chipindu of US$800 000, and now wanted him killed for the debt to be written off. The five hitmen are Moses Monde of Johannesburg, Malvin Manzinde, Malvin Tatenda Nyamuranga, Norbert Muponda and Joshua Mapuranga, who are based in Cape Town. The conman who hired them, Obrian Obert Mapurisa, is on the run. The hitmen appeared in court at the weekend. Mapurisa entered into an agreement with Chipindu to purchase Liquified Petroleum gas tankers in Turkey. Chipindu gave Mapurisa cash amounting to US$800 000 for the purchase of seven Liquified Petroleum gas tankers. The cash was paid in varying sums on different dates. In January, Chipindu made numerous efforts to obtain paperwork pertaining to the purchased gas tankers but Mapurisa became evasive. Chipindu then contacted Mimak Company in Turkey, which had been contracted to supply the gas tankers, and was advised that they had not yet been paid the full purchase price. Only a deposit of US$132 000 had been paid. Chipindu then contacted Mapurisa, who confirmed that he had diverted the funds, but was going to pay for the tankers in full as planned. Chipindu demanded a refund of his money but Mapurisa became evasive. On February 28, Chipindu went to Turkey and tried to talk to Mimak Company so that he could get more time to pay for the tankers, as they were about to dispose them elsewhere. He was given time up to the end of this month to process the remainder of the payment. As a result of the pestering by Chipindu, Mapurisa hatched a plan to eliminate him. He hired the five hitmen who are all based in South Africa for the hit. He supplied them with Chipindus address and picture. The hitmen, armed with unidentified pistols, travelled to Zimbabwe and spent seven days in this country looking for Chipindu but couldnt locate him as he had travelled to Turkey. The hitmen later returned to South Africa where they wanted to re-strategise with their mastermind Mapurisa. Chipindu returned to Zimbabwe on March 11 and was advised by a friend that some hitmen had been hired from South Africa to kill him. He filed a police report. On Tuesday last week, Chipindu and his friend lured the hitmen to Zimbabwe and booked a lodge for them where they were arrested. The police recovered their phones, which contained their conversations with Mapurisa. The five are back in court today for bail proceedings. HMetro. Breaking News via Email By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Patient readers, I had to cope with Trumps latest escape. They really shouldnt break stories just as Im starting Water Cooler. More soon. lambert Bird Song of the Day Red-winged Blackbird, Southards Pond Park, Suffolk, New York, United States. Many songs and eight or so varieties of call notes in three cuts from the same bird. * * * In Case You Might Miss (1) Book collecting among the youth. (2) Boeing executives auto-defenestrate. Or so we are told. (3) History of blotter. (4) Where Starbucks is.. And where it isnt. Look for the Helpers Some young people have become Colorado book collectors without realizing it. Heres their chance to win $1,000. [Colorado Sun]. The deadline for the Kirkpatrick Prize for Colorado book collectors under the age of 30 is nearing. Wait. What? Are you serious? There are enough under 30 book collectors in Colorado to warrant a competition and $1,000 prize? Apparently. But heres the thing, the contestants generally dont realize theyve slipped into the world of book collecting. They, like many, tend to mistakenly believe that its the province of wealthy older men who wear jackets with patches on the elbows and perhaps berets on their heads you know, sort of professorial, sort of eccentric. And theyre called antiquarians, clearly a name that does not invoke under 30. That group certainly makes up a bit of the world of book collectors, Taylor Kirkpatrick said, but in the last decade hes noticed a growing interest among young people. He started the contest four years ago to encourage that interest. Theres an annual Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair and I would say 10 years ago when you went the population of attendees was in their 50s to 80s, he said. If you go now, I would tell you the demographic is that it does draw a younger crowd, especially for the ephemera and specialty items. He started the Kirkpatrick Prize to keep that interest growing and to encourage young collectors, who likely consider themselves book lovers, but not collectors. While there have been fewer than 15 entrants in each of the first three years, Kirkpatrick, who is 51, said he hopes to have more than 15 this year and for the number to keep growing. So good for Kirkpatrick. Theres a lot to be said for books, besides the fact you can drop them in the tub. They work when the Internet goes down. They dont cause the same eye-strain that screens can. Plus, you can own them. * * * My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of Helpers there. In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday normal incidents and stories of the communism of everyday life are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza). Politics So many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital. Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles * * * 2024 Less than a year to go! I had planned to post this chart every Friday. But this is Monday. In any case, the message is the same as last Friday. (If I were the Trump campaign, Id be worried about Pennsylvania, called the Keystone State for good reason. Fetterman showed how to win it: Every county, every vote. Does the Trump campaign think theyre going to win Pennsylvania with the air war?) * * * Trump (R): N.Y. appeals court reduces Trumps bond in his civil fraud case to $175 million, a victory for the former president [NBC]. A state appeals court ruled that Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the New York civil fraud case have 10 days to post a $175 million bond, down from the $464 million judgment that was originally due Monday. The 11th-hour ruling from a panel of state Appellate Division judges, all appointed by Democratic governors, is a major victory and relief for the former president, whose attorneys had said coming up with the larger bond was a practical impossibility. The ruling also means state Attorney General Letitia James office cannot yet begin collecting on the judgment. I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and Ill post the $175 million in cash or bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly within the 10 days, and I thank the appellate division for acting quickly, Trump said in front of cameras after he left a New York courtroom for a hearing in the hush money case. And: The decision Monday also puts a stay on the part of the original judgment that barred Trump from serving as a public officer of a company, as well as the prohibitions placed on Weisselberg, McConney, Donald Trump Jr. And Eric Trump. Hmm. Whats up with that? Trump (R): New York appeals court cuts Trumps bond to $175M [Axios]. Its a huge win for the former president, who was staring down the prospect of a devastating financial and personal blow if he was unable to post the nearly half-billion-dollar bond by the Monday deadline. A spokesperson for James in a statement on Monday said that Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud. The $464 million judgment plus interest against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.' Trump (R): Trump Bond Reduced to $175 Million as He Appeals NY Fine [Bloomberg]. The decision means Trump may be able to push ahead with his appeal without the risk of his assets being seized by New York Attorney General Letitia James for lack of payment. Trump (R): People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump et al. (PDF) [Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department]. In relevant part: It is ordered that the motion is granted to the extent of staying enforcement of those portions of the Judgment (1) ordering disgorgement to the Attorney General of $464,576,230.62, conditioned on defendants-appellants posting, within ten (10) days of the date of this order, an undertaking in the amount of $175 million dollars. No rationale given. Trump (R): Today Is the Day That 50 Years of Grifting Finally Comes to an End [David Cay Johnston, The New Republic]. Premature triumphalism, excusable in a writer, not in an editor. Trump (R): Eric Trump, in Brutal Self-Own, Says Insurance Companies Were Laughing as He Tried to Secure $464M Bond for Donald Trump [Mediaite]. Eric Trump: I went after the largest sureties in the world, the largest sureties in the country. They said, Eric, the last time weve seen a bond that size is when we did the Big Dig of Boston, which was a $25 billion construction project that lasted almost 25 years! Theyre trying to put my father out of business, theyre trying to take all his resources that hes trying to put into his own campaign for the presidency. Leticia James campaigned on this promise, and now theyre making him do something thats not physically possible! Putting up half-a-billion-dollar bond bonds that size dont exist in this country. A $10 million bond is a large bond. A $15 is million bond is an enormous bond. A half a billion dollar bond? Mariathis is lawfare..' The headline seems deceptive to me, when I look at the quote (assuming Trump Fils is telling the truth). * * * Trump (R): Trump to Israel Hayom: Only a fool would have not acted like Israel on Oct. 7 (interview) [Israel Hayom]: Q: I want to present you with a question I think every world leader has to answer. How would you react if your children or grandchildren were kidnapped by Hamas and underwent the same atrocities many Israelis have experienced since Oct. 7? [TRUMP:] I would say I would act very much the same way as you did. You would have to be crazy not to. Only a fool would not do that. That was a horrible attack. Q: If you were president again, how would you counter the wave of antisemitism in the wake of the wars outbreak? [TRUMP:] Well, thats because you fought back. And I think Israel made a very big mistake. I wanted to call [Israel] and say dont do it. These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, thats a terrible portrait. Its a very bad picture for the world. The world is seeing thisevery night, I would watch buildings pour down on people. It would say it was given by the Defense Ministry, and said whoevers providing that thats a bad image. Im too lazy to find the quote, but IIRC that was how Trump framed the pointlessness of the Iraq War, in 2016; the destruction of buildings genuinely seems to get to him. And on (per Mearsheimer) The Lobby: [TRUMP:] Some 15 years ago, Israel had the strongest lobby. If you were a politician, you couldnt say anything bad about Israel, that would be like the end of your political career. Today, its almost the opposite. Ive never seen you have AOC plus three, these lunatics, frankly. But you have AOC plus three plus plenty of others. And all they do is talk badly about Israel, and they hate Israel, and they hate the Jewish people. And they are open about it. Take a look at some of these, Rashida Tlaib, what she says the way she talks, and they truly hate the Jewish people. And 15 years ago, that would have been unthinkable to be doing that. So Israel has to get, Israel has to get better with the promotional and with the public relations, because right now theyre in ruin. Theyre being hurt very badly. I think in a public relations sense. * * * Biden (D): Bidens cash advantage over Trump cannot be overlooked [The Hill]. Bidens cash advantage over Trump currently sitting at roughly $40 million may prove decisive in a race largely hinging on turnout and whichever campaign can effectively reach and mobilize voters. On top of that, outside groups have pledged more than $1 billion to support Bidens reelection bid. It is easy to understand why donors are hesitant to give to the candidate or his committees. The bulk of Trumps spending is not going to the campaign but to his legal fees. In other words, Democrats believe that lawfare works (just like they believe the Pied Piper strategy works, despite 2016). So they will keep doing it. More: Bidens deep pockets mean the president can open many more campaign offices in the key swing states, ensuring a robust grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operation throughout the states that will decide the contest. Maybe. It may also be that, just as in 2016, a Trump dollar stretches farther than a Biden dollar (rather like the Big Mac index). Biden (D): How Biden can win in the swing states by learning from New York Citys subways [James Levine, The Hill]. Warning that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy is too abstract a message to sway many citizens to vote for President Biden. Instead, his campaign needs to show voters how the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will benefit them in the years ahead especially in the swing states. In its Heres whats coming campaign, the New Yorks Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is showing subway riders the future impact of their city and state tax dollars. Giant billboards along the walkway towards the shuttle train from Grand Central Station to Times Square make the coming improvements and benefits tangible: better lighting for safety, elevators to make access easier for all, and more. Biden is starting to do that with in-person visits, such as his Jan. 25 trip to Wisconsins Blatnik Bridge on the shores of a bay near Lake Superior. He told residents that without the infusion of $1 billion from the infrastructure funding the bridge was doomed to fail by 2030. But the Biden campaign needs to deliver its coming attractions via every available form of visual media in a sustained, overwhelming manner. In print that means billboards on highways and other roads, at train stations, airports and waterways. On social media, that means short video clips showing every possible area of impact. Concrete material benefits. What a concept. * * * Kennedy (I): What the Polls Say Today: RFK Jr. Now Hurting Biden, Helping Trump [Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine]. [M]ore recent polling has most often shown him helping Trump more than Biden, both nationally and in the battleground states. There are three big factors that may well affect the size and shape of Kennedys vote in the future. First, his veep reveal on March 26 could possibly better define his candidacy and its appeal. Second, and more importantly, he will almost certainly be the object of unfriendly attention from the camp of the major-party candidate (at the moment, Joe Biden) he seems to be hurting. This could come in the form of attacks on his credibility, his ideology (perhaps to make him more attractive to voters from the other major party), or his effect on the outcome (i.e., for Democrats, the benefit Trump might receive). Third and perhaps most important will be the extent to which RFK Jr. gains ballot access, a laborious and expensive process. Kennedy (I): RFK Jr. seeks major boost with VP announcement [The Hill]. Team Kennedys search for a No. 2 has gotten attention for the unconventional names its produced. While many believe Kennedy is likely to choose Nicole Shanahan, a lawyer and mega-donor, others have been privately mused about, with mixed reactions. Shannahan a West Coast lawyer, who has deep ties in Silicon Valley and is the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin would be, to say the least, a false note. Kennedy (I): My Uncle Jack in West Virginia in 1960 on his way to winning a state he was told he couldnt because of the strong anti-Catholic sentiment. pic.twitter.com/FLkd9Pn5Ck Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) March 25, 2024 First Presidential election I remember Kennedy (I): This nine-minute (!) video is getting some play: Kennedy (I): On BitCoin and CBDCs: Bitcoin Magazine asked me about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and I shared my primary concern: that the Feds proposed digital cash could be used as an instrument of control similar to Chinas oppressive social credit system rather than as a tool of empowerment. pic.twitter.com/qXzrpjmdy7 Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) March 24, 2024 * * * Newsom (D): Move to Protect Californias Indoor Workers From Heat Upended by Cost Questions [KFF Health News]. Gov. Gavin Newsoms administration unexpectedly yanked its support from a sweeping proposal that would have protected millions of Californias indoor workers from dangerous heat, saying it cant endorse it without knowing the projected costs to the state. But the board that oversees worker safety immediately defied the administration Thursday by unanimously approving new standards intended to protect people who work in poorly ventilated warehouses, steamy restaurant kitchens, and other indoor job sites. The showdown represents a setback to the states climate and labor policy goals, and throws the fate of the rules into unknown territory. They had been expected to take effect by summer. The move by the Democratic administration angered board members, who called it a last-minute stunt that undermines their regulatory process. It also sparked a protest by warehouse workers, who temporarily shut down the meeting as they waved signs declaring that Heat Kills! and loudly chanted, What do we want? Heat protection! When do we want it? Now!' Gavin Newsom, the workers friend. * * * Biden and the party of democracy are terrified of third-party candidates and voter choice [Jonathan Turley, New York Post]. [T]he DNC is seeking to block third-party candidates from ballots Robert Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein. All three are liberal and are considered a threat to Joe Biden. This effort will likely include any ticket put forward by the No Labels group, seeking a moderate alternative to the two parties. Mary Beth Cahill, the former interim DNC CEO, and DNC operative Ramsey Reid will lead this effort. According to media reports, former Buttigieg campaign aide Lis Smith will also join. This effort includes not just a public campaign against Kennedy and Stein as spoilers, but legal action to solve the problem by denying voters a choice. The contradiction is spellbinding. On the same sites promising to oppose the third-party candidates, the DNC and other groups push the narrative that only the Democrats are working to protect the right to vote. The DNC is reportedly to be joined in this effort by a well-financed array of groups including the liberal think tank Third Way (which has filed complaints with secretaries of states); American ridge (a Democratic opposition operation), and Clear Choice (a super PAC composed of allies of President Biden). You can hardly blame them. However, that restricting ballot access and lawfare are the highest and best uses for Democrat campaign dollars, as opposed to making the case for their candidate. Well, that says something. Our Famously Free Press Led by NBC, U.S. corporate media is learning to live with Trump [Semafor]. For weeks before NBC News journalists exploded into open revolt Sunday over the networks hire of a top Donald Trump supporter, the media company that controls three of the top U.S. news networks had been quietly rebuilding its ties to the former president. Network insiders noticed on March 5, when, during MSNBCs Super Tuesday broadcast of Trumps primary wins, host Rachel Maddow indicated to producers off-camera that viewers had heard enough from the former president. MSNBC president Rashida Jones told production staff that she wanted to stay with his speech. Maddow mused live about the challenges of taking Trumps comments on the fly and allowing somebody to knowingly lie on your air. Six days later, CNBC welcomed the former president back to Squawk Box for a phone-in interview primarily conducted by right-leaning host Joe Kernen. So presumably the Ronna McDaniel flap will die down, even if McDaniel herself turns out to be a sacrificial victim. Democrats en Deshabille James Carville, the Cajun Who Cant Stop Ragin' (interview) [Maureen Dowd, New York Times]. A suspicion of mine is that there are too many preachy females dominating the culture of his party [Carville says]. Dont drink beer. Dont watch football. Dont eat hamburgers. This is not good for you. The message is too feminine: Everything youre doing is destroying the planet. Youve got to eat your peas. If you listen to Democratic elites NPR is my go-to place for that the whole talk is about how women, and women of color, are going to decide this election. Im like: Well, 48 percent of the people that vote are males. Do you mind if they have some consideration?' Hmm. #COVID19 I am in earnest I will not equivocate I will not excuse I will not retreat a single inch AND I WILL BE HEARD. William Lloyd Garrison * * * Resources, United States (National): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; includes many counties; Wastewater Scan, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); Iowa COVID-19 Tracker (in IA, but national data). Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts (especially on hospitalization by city). Lambert here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To update any entry, do feel free to contact me at the address given with the plants. Please put COVID in the subject line. Thank you! ake effect by summer. The move by the Democratic administration angered board members, who called it a last-minute stunt that undermines their regulatory process. It also sparked a protest by warehouse workers, who temporarily shut down the meeting as they waved signs declaring that Heat Kills! and loudly chanted, What do we want? Heat protection! When do we want it? Now!' Gavin Newsom, the workers friend. Resources, United States (Local): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater reports); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur dAlene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard) ; NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard) ; PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (dashboard); VT (dashboard); WA (dashboard; dashboard); WI (wastewater); WV ( wastewater ); WY ( wastewater ). Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (Government of Canada). Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usees); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater). Hat tips to helpful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3). Stay safe out there! * * * Immune Dysregulation A prognostic model for SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection: Analyzing a prospective cellular immunity cohort [International Immunopharmacology]. Breakthrough infection of SARS-CoV-2 induces perturbations in cellular immunity . After breakthrough infection with SARS-CoV-2, there was a decrease in effector T cells and an increase in naive T cells. The assessment of cellular immunity prior to breakthrough infection can serve as a prognostic tool for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Hmm. As Princess of Wales reveals diagnosis, doctors warn of mysterious cancer epidemic' [Daily Mail]. There is significant confusion among researchers as to what might be causing the trend, although most agree it is unlikely to be down to a single factor. Researchers are also beginning to turn their sights on possible changes to the microbiome to explain the trend. However, despite growing theoretical enthusiasm, scientists are hindered by the difficulty in conducting the necessary long-term cause-and-effect studies needed to draw a link between what people eat and their risk of the disease. Models based on global data predict that the number of early-onset cancer cases will increase by around 30 per cent between 2019 and 2030, a markedly faster increase than the previous 30 years. Huh. Since 2019. Huh. Variants Life is too short to chase variants. But KP.2? KP.2 showing a very strong growth advantage of 14% per day over other BA.2.86.* (including JN.1.*) since February https://t.co/HKtGwZOOw1 CoronaHeadsUp (@CoronaHeadsUp) March 13, 2024 Lets see if it starts showing up. Elite Maleficence This seems odd: CDC removing all the COVID-19 treatment guidelines on Aug 16, 2024 at https://t.co/2UUVQ23hrT Removal of treatment guidelines in use by doctors and the public even as thousands are dying weekly from the disease. pic.twitter.com/mYZUkVBabD Lorri (@lorriberri) March 24, 2024 Does CDC remove treatment guidelines routinely? * * * TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts LEGEND 1) for charts new today; all others are not updated. 2) For a full-size/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and open image in new tab. NOTES [1] (Biobot) Our curve has now flattened out at the level of previous Trump peaks. Not a great victory. Note also the area under the curve, besides looking at peaks. That area is larger under Biden than under Trump, and it seems to be rising steadily if unevenly. [2] (Biobot) Backward revisions, I hate them. [3] (CDC Variants) As of May 11, genomic surveillance data will be reported biweekly, based on the availability of positive test specimens. Biweeekly: 1. occurring every two weeks. 2. occurring twice a week; semiweekly. Looks like CDC has chosen sense #1. In essence, theyre telling us variants are nothing to worry about. Time will tell. [4] (ER) Charts and data provided by CDC, updates Wednesday by 8am. For the past year, using a rolling 52-week period. [5] (Hospitalization: NY) Looks like a very gradual leveling off to a non-zero baseline, to me. [6] (Hospitalization: CDC) Still down. Maps, charts, and data provided by CDC, updates weekly for the previous MMWR week (Sunday-Saturday) on Thursdays (Deaths, Emergency Department Visits, Test Positivity) and weekly the following Mondays (Hospitalizations) by 8 pm ET. [7] (Walgreens) Leveling out. [8] (Cleveland) Flattening. [9] (Travelers: Posivitity) Now up, albeit in the rear view mirror. [10] (Travelers: Variants) JN.1 dominates utterly. Stats Watch The Economy: United States Chicago Fed National Activity Index [Trading Economics]. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index edged up to a three-month high of 0.05 in February 2024 from a downwardly revised -0.54 in January, signalling a slight increase in economic growth. Manufacturing: United States Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index [Trading Economics]. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas general business activity index for manufacturing in Texas decreased to -14.4 in March 2024, down 3.1 points from -11.3 in the previous month. * * * Finance: Is there wheel repo? Renting tires and wheels? Is this just an Atlanta thing? pic.twitter.com/63xa1yiIK0 Gas Biz Guy (@gas_biz) March 24, 2024 Manufacturing: Boeing CEO to Step Down in Overhaul Sparked by Safety Crisis [Bloomberg]. CEO Dave Calhoun will leave the company at the end of 2024, while Chairman Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election, Boeing said in a statement. Stan Deal, who leads Boeings commercial airplanes division, will also retire immediately. Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope [came up through finance] will take on Deals role, the company said. And the airlines havent even met with the Board yet! More: The changes come amid growing customer frustration with Calhoun and Deal as a crisis centering on the planemakers manufacturing quality and safety shows no signs of receding nearly three months after a fuselage panel blew out of an airborne 737 Max in January. Manufacturing: Boeing CEO, other executives stepping down amid safety crisis [NBC]. How many times can wont happen again happen again? Bank of America Corp. analyst Ronald Epstein wrote in a report in January. Both Boeing and [Boeing parts supplier] Spirit [AeroSystems] need a drastic cultural overhaul. This cultural change wont come from FAA mandates, congressional hearings, internal memos, or one-hour all hands meetings. For culture to move from corporate jargon to being embodied in the habits and minds of both workforces, we see it as necessary for Boeing and Spirit to drastically rethink the ways they have operated.' So, defenestration. Manufacturing: Boeing whistleblower John Barnett was spied on, harassed by managers, lawsuit claims [FOX]. The lawsuit, filed to the U.S. Department of Labor, says in January 2017, Barnett was notified that his name was 1 of 49 listed in an e-mail on a supervisors desk titled Quality Managers to get rid of .' Oh, right. Not that kind of hit list. Manufacturing: Blind Items Revealed #4 [Crazy Days and Nights]. A detective who thinks a very recent whistleblower death is not a suicide says someone tried to recently kill him. John Barnett/Boeing. This is a gossip site, so take with a truckload of salts. Nevertheless: Articles about the Boeing whistleblower's death are saying 'no one has suggested foul play by Boeing.' Really? Then I suggest there was foul play by Boeing. There, someone suggested it. pic.twitter.com/UkHjGpEmNR Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 19, 2024 * * * Manufacturing: Crapification: Ive been using electric toothbrushes for about a decade now. The first one I got lasted me 7 years. The second one 2 years. The third one 1.5 years. Same brand, same model. Bojan Tunguz (@tunguz) March 24, 2024 My father bought a Bakelite electric coffee grinder in 1964. Still going strong. I thought Id get something a little more up-date, bought a streamlined Braun coffee grinder at Macys, when we had Macys. It lasted a year. So it goes! * * * Todays Fear & Greed Index: 68 Greed (previous close: 71 Greed) [CNN]. One week ago: 69 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Mar 25 at 12:55:59 PM ET. Rapture Index: Closes up one on Food Supply. Many nations have a shortage of food [Rapture Ready]. Record High, October 10, 2016: 189. Current: 187. (Remember that bringing on the Rapture is good.) NOTE on #42 Plagues: The coronavirus pandemic has maxed out this category. More honest than most! Healthcare Landmark Study Confirms Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Unambiguously Biological' [ScienceAlert]. In 2016, years before long COVID was a thing, the US National Institutes of Health, the largest single public funder of medical research in the world, launched a study into a long-neglected and puzzling condition: chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME/CFS. Eight years later, the results of that study are finally out. In one of the most thorough investigations to date, researchers took a deep dive into a small group of 17 people who developed ME/CFS after an infection and found distinct biological differences compared to 21 healthy controls. Overall, what we show is that ME/CFS is unambiguously biological, with multiple organ systems affected, neurologist Avindra Nath, lead researcher of the study and clinical director of NIHs National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), said in an interview with JAMA. So that should stop the gaslighting [hollow laughter]. Now do Long Covid (and dont take eight years. Or blow another billion). The 420 For Brilliant Color: Packaging the First LSD Blotter [The MIT Press]. In contrast to today, when psychedelics are imagined to be medicines, party favors, or indigenous sacraments, many LSD users in the 1960s imagined their favorite substance as a kind of media. Like the increasingly technological media of the postwar world, LSD filters, transforms, and amplifies non-drug phenomena. Ghost played with this association by disguising his acid as film stock promising brilliant color. Each sheet was wrapped inside mylar, which not only protected the acid from damaging UV light, but also discouraged suspicious parties from opening the package on a whim, potentially destroying unexposed film. This medium is the message idea permeated acid discourse and marketing. Other examples include Window pane, Clearlist, and some of the first printed LSD blotters, which featured electric light bulbs. Like this: Class Warfare Playground bullies do prosper and go on to earn more in middle age [Guardian]. Children who displayed aggressive behaviour at school, such as bullying or temper outbursts, are likely to earn more money in middle age, according to a five-decade study that upends the maxim that bullies do not prosper. They are also more likely to have higher job satisfaction and be in more desirable jobs, say researchers from the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex. The paper, published today, used data about almost 7,000 people born in 1970 whose lives have been tracked by the British Cohort Study. The research team examined data from primary school teachers who assessed the childrens social and emotional skills when they were 10 years old in 1980, and matched it to their lives at the age of 46 in 2016. News of the Wired If youre considering internal exile, heres a handy map: There are some specific areas of the US remote enough to be very interesting. This Starbucks map humorously illustrates it. The "Big 6" regions of American remoteness are: Texas Big Bend, Great Basin, Idaho Rockies, Montana Hi-Line, Michigan UP, and N. Maine. pic.twitter.com/Sst98otyNH VB Knives (@Empty_America) March 23, 2024 * * * Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From SR: SR writes: Shot in Staunton River State Park in remote southern Virginia. Autumn leaves, but whats revealed after the snow melts, too. * * * Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldnt see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know Im on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals: Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated: If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you! By Brett Kelman, Correspondent, who joined KFF Health News after 15 years of beat reporting at three newspapers in the USA Today Network, and Samantha Liss, Midwest Correspondent, who is an award-winning journalist covering the business of health care for the past decade. Originally published at Kaiser Health News. In the small Appalachian city of Bristol, Virginia, City Council member Neal Osborne left a meeting on the morning of Jan. 3 and rushed himself to the hospital. Osborne, 36, has Type 1 diabetes. His insulin pump had malfunctioned, and without a steady supply of this essential hormone, Osbornes blood sugar skyrocketed and his body was shutting down. Osborne went to the nearest hospital, Bristol Regional Medical Center. He said he settled into a wheelchair in the emergency room waiting area, where over the next few hours he drifted in and out of consciousness and retched up vomit, then bile, then blood. After 12 hours in the waiting room, Osborne said, he was moved to an ER bed, where he stayed until he was sent to the intensive care unit the next day. In total, the council member was in the ER for about 30 hours, he said. Osborne said his ordeal echoes stories hes heard from constituents for years. In his next crisis, Osborne said, he plans to leave Bristol for an ER about two hours away. I want to go to Knoxville or I want to go to Roanoke, because I do not want to further risk my life and die at a Ballad hospital, he said. The wait times just to get in and see a doctor in the ER have grown exponentially. Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system in the Tri-Cities region of Tennessee and Virginia, benefits from the largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly in the United States. In the six years since lawmakers in both states waived anti-monopoly laws and Ballad was formed, ER visits for patients sick enough to be hospitalized grew more than three times as long and now far exceed the criteria set by state officials, according to Ballad reports released by the Tennessee Department of Health. Tennessee and Virginia have so far announced no steps to reduce time spent in Ballad ERs. The Tennessee health department, which has a more direct role in regulating Ballad, has each year issued a report saying the agreement that gave Ballad a monopoly continues to provide a Public Advantage. Department officials have twice declined to comment to KFF Health News on Ballads performance. According to Ballads latest annual report, which was released this month and spans from July 2022 to June 2023, the median time that patients spend in Ballad ERs before being admitted to the hospital is nearly 11 hours. This statistic includes both time spent waiting and time being treated in the ER and excludes patients who werent admitted or left the ER without receiving care. The federal government once tracked ER speed the same way. When compared against the latest corresponding federal data from 2019, which includes more than 4,000 hospitals but predates the covid-19 pandemic, Ballad ranks among the 100 hospitals with the slowest ERs. More current federal data is not available because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services retired this statistic in 2020 in favor of other measurements. Newer data tells a similar story. The Joint Commission, a nonprofit that accredits health care organizations, collected this same measurement for 2022 from about 250 hospitals that volunteered the data, finding a median ER speed of five hours and 41 minutes or about five hours faster than Ballads latest annual report. Ballad Health spokesperson Molly Luton said in an email statement that, by holding patients in the ER, where they are observed while waiting for a bed, Ballad avoids overwhelming its staff. Luton said ER delays are also caused by two nationwide crises: a nursing shortage and fewer admissions at nursing homes and similar facilities, which can create a backlog of patients awaiting discharge from the hospital. Luton added that Ballads ER time for admitted patients has dropped to about 7 hours in the months since the companys latest annual report. On those issues Ballad Health can directly control, our performance has rebounded from 2022, and is now among the best in the nation, Luton said. Luton also noted that Ballad performs better than or close to the national average on several other measurements of ER performance, including having fewer patients who leave without being treated. CMS data shows the national average is about 3%. Ballad reported 1.4% in its latest annual report. Osborne, the Bristol council member, attributed this statistic to Ballads monopoly. Just because they arent leaving the ER doesnt mean they are happy where they are, he said. It just means they dont have anywhere else they could be. Ballads Big Monopoly Ballad Health was formed in 2018 after state officials approved the nations biggest hospital merger based on a so-called Certificate of Public Advantage, or COPA, agreement. COPAs have been used in about 10 hospital mergers over the past three decades, but none has involved as many hospitals as Ballads. State lawmakers in Tennessee and Virginia waived federal anti-monopoly laws so rival hospital systems Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System could merge into a single company with no competition. Ballad is now the only option for hospital care for most of about 1.1 million residents in a 29-county region at the nexus of Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina. The Federal Trade Commission warns that hospital monopolies lead to increased prices and decreased quality of care. To offset the perils of Ballads monopoly, officials required the new company to commit to a long list of special conditions, including dozens of quality-care metrics spelled out with specific benchmarks. In its latest annual report, Ballad improved on many quality-of-care metrics over the prior year, including several that the company prioritized, but still fell short on 56 of 75 benchmarks. ER time for admitted patients is one of those. The benchmark was set at three hours and 47 minutes in the original COPA agreement. Ballad met or nearly met this goal for three years, according to its annual reports. Then the ERs slowed. In 2022, Ballad reported a median ER time for admitted patients of about six hours. In 2023, it reported the same statistic at seven hours and 40 minutes. In the latest report, ER time for admitted patients had reached 10 hours and 45 minutes. CMS, which grades thousands of hospitals nationwide, warns on its website that timely ER care is essential for good patient outcomes, and that more time spent in the ER has been linked to higher complication rates and delays in patients getting pain medication and antibiotics. Ben Harder, chief of health analysis for U.S. News & World Report, said extensive ER times can be a symptom of slowdowns throughout a hospital, including in the operating room. A long delay in getting patients admitted is both a risk in itself, in that a test may not get conducted as promptly, Harder said. But its also an indication that the hospital is backed up, and that there are problems getting patients moved from one unit to another. Bill Christian, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Health, said Ballads rising ER times had been noted but did not say if the agency had taken or was considering any action. Christian directed questions about Ballads latest stats to the company itself. A Nightmare for Community Members Ballad has also fallen short by about $191 million over the past five years of its obligation to Tennessee to provide charity care, which is free or discounted care for low-income patients, according to health department documents and Ballads latest report. The health department waived this obligation in each of the past four fiscal years. Ballad has said it would ask for another this year. In a two-hour interview last year, Ballad CEO Alan Levine defended his company and said that because the Tri-Cities region could not support two competing hospital companies, the COPA merger had likely prevented at least three hospital closures. Levine attributed Ballads failure to meet quality benchmarks to the pressure of the covid pandemic and said charity care shortfalls were partly caused by Medicaid changes beyond Ballads control. Our critics say, No Ballad. We dont want Ballad. Well, then what? Levine said. Because the hospitals were on their way to being closed. Some residents see Ballad as a savior. John King, who runs a physical therapy clinic in the core of Ballads region, said at a public hearing last June that in multiple visits to Ballad ERs, including one for a stroke, he found their care to be quick and compassionate. If it werent for Ballad Health, I literally would not be here today, King said, according to a hearing transcript. Ballads failures to live up to the terms of the COPA agreement were detailed in a KFF Health News investigation last September, and the company faced a new wave of criticism in the months that followed. Local leaders in Carter County, Tennessee, in October debated but did not pass a resolution calling for Ballad to be better regulated or broken up. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican, said in an interview with the Tennessee Lookout published in November that Ballad must be constantly monitored in light of community complaints. Earlier this month, Tennessee state Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville), who represents a region within Ballads monopoly, called for Levines resignation, according to wjhl.com. In response, Ballad Health said in a statement it has strong relationships with the majority of elected officials in Carter County and welcomed scrutiny from the Tennessee attorney general. Ballad said Hawks opinion certainly does not reflect our broader relationships within the area. Tennessee lawmakers are also considering legislation to forbid future COPA mergers in the state, which Ballad said risks putting more hospitals at risk for closure. The bill was introduced by state Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) and state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), who is running for the U.S. Senate. Johnson said the bill would end Ballads protection from antitrust laws. Its just been a nightmare for community members out there, Johnson said. And they have no other option. 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 While an in-depth update on the situation in Gaza and the broader Israel genocidal campaign against Palestinians seems overdue, any full-bore treatment would quickly become emotionally numbing due to extent and savagery of the killing, maiming, and torture of Palestinians. That is before getting to the destruction of Palestinian society by destroying its institutions: its mosques, universities, schools, and hospitals. As well also cover briefly, the Biden Administration is trying to have it both ways with voters, pretending to Do Something via verbal wet noodle-love-taps. The latest was a cynical resolution at the UN which pretended to be a ceasefire resolution but a reading of the details showed it to be anything but. However, the US got to play virtuous victim when China and Russia vetoed it. In the meantime, despite Israels continuing success in wiping out weak and defenseless Gazans, with a policy of starvation now doing most of the heavy lifting, the Israeli army continues to look like a paper tiger. As well discuss, it is short on material and is increasingly dependent on a US which has drained its reserves in the Ukraine war. That is separate from the points often made by Scott Ritter, that the IDF is also operationally third-rate, with its air force the one arguable exception. First, to the continuing horror on the ground. A solid, although therefore grim, sighting comes via the must-read Intercept story, MAN-MADE HELL ON EARTH: A CANADIAN DOCTOR ON HIS MEDICAL MISSION TO GAZA. The subject is Dr. Yasser Khan, an ophthalmologist specializing in eyelid and reconstructive facial surgery, who has taught and performed surgery in 45 countries in humanitarian settings. As many other doctors who have served in Gaza attest, he has never seen anything approaching the trauma and horror he witnessed there. A few snippets from Dr. Kahn: What wed been seeing livestreamed on Instagram, on social media or whatever, I actually saw myself and it was worse than I can imagine Doctors have been kidnapped, and, yes, they have been tortured. They dehumanize the doctors and health care workers when they capture them. Weve seen pictures of them, so we know this happens, and it does indeed happen. A few of the doctors went through torture, and one doctor that came back, hes a general surgeon, he came back, I was speaking to his wife, and hes not the same anymore. He was tortured and he still has torture marks over his body, and hes a general surgeon.These doctors when they come back, the few that are released, theres still a lot that are under custody with the Israeli forces, theyre not the same anymore.. Im an eye surgeon, an eye plastic surgeon, and so I saw the classic, what I penned the Gaza shrapnel face, because in an explosive scenario, you dont know whats coming. When theres an explosion, you dont go like this [cover your face], you kind of actually, in fact, open your eyes. And so shrapnels everywhere. Its a well-known fact that the Israeli forces are experimenting [with] weapons in Gaza to boost their weapon manufacturing industry. Because if a weapon is battle-tested, its more valuable, isnt it? Its got a higher value. So basically theyre using these weapons, these missiles that purposely, intently create these large shrapnel fragments that go everywhere. And they cause amputations that are unusual. Dr. Khan performed surgeries to remove eyes of multiple children wounded in Israeli strikes, calling the injuries the Gaza shrapnel face. Most amputations occur at the weak points, the elbow or the knee, and so theyre better tolerated. But these [shrapnel fragments] are causing mid-thigh, mid-arm amputations that are more difficult, more challenging, and also the rehabilitation afterward is also more challenging. Also these shrapnels [are] unlike a bullet wound. A bullet wound goes in and out; theres an entry and exit point. Shrapnel stays there. So you gotta take it out. So the injuries I saw were I mean, I saw people with their eyes blown apart. And when I was there, and this is my experience, I treated all children when I was there the first time. It was kids that [were aged] 2, 6, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 16, and 17 were the ones that I treated. And their eyes unfortunately had to be removed. They had shrapnel in their eye sockets that I had to remove and, of course, remove the eye. Theres many patients, many children who had shrapnel in both their eyes. And you can only do so much because right now, because of the aid blockade and because of the destruction of most of Gaza, theres no equipment available to take shrapnel thats in the eye out. And so we just leave them alone and they eventually go blind. And so I saw these facial injuries, I saw limbs of children just kind of hanging off, barely connected. I saw abdominal wounds where you had, of course, the intestines exposed He also describes how the child amputees, even when not subject to multiple amputations due to infection, cant be treated so as to be fitted for a prosthetic.charitably assuming they survive and there is money and for that: The thing is that in any normal amputation, in a normal circumstance, a child who gets amputated goes through about eight or nine operations until theyre adults, to revise the stump and fix the stump. Who is going to do that now? Not only have they lost their supports, their entire family structure, they dont have the family structure or the infrastructure to do that because its all been destroyed. We had pointed out early on, even while the IDF was bombing Gaza hard, that they had done enough damage to infrastructure, as in destroying shelter and cutting off the electricity for water transport and purification (at that point they had not struck treatment plantsI assume that has happened) that the IDF could let nature run its course and let disease, starvation, and dehydration finish off the Gaza population. Israel now appears to be relying primarily on that approach, even though it is still targeting key facilities like the last remaining pretty functional hospital and also noising up its plan to attack Rafah, as in kill more Palestinians by military means if Egypt, as expected, continues to refuse to enable the ethnic cleansing by letting them enter Egypt. To underscore that the starvation is intended, in case you harbored any doubt, see the Guardian in Israel will no longer approve Unrwa food aid to northern Gaza, agency says: The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, said on Sunday that Israel had definitively barred it from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest Last week a UN-backed food security assessment warned that famine was projected to hit the north of Gaza by May unless there was urgent intervention. Unrwa has not been able to deliver food to the north since 29 January, [Unrwa spokesperson, Juliette] Touma said. Some representative commentary: Obvious enough yet? Just as the IPC the global authoritative institution for hunger assessment determined that all of North Gaza is in "catastrophe" famine status (where "starvation, death, destitution and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident"), with pic.twitter.com/m5437lWiSX Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) March 25, 2024 And to fill out the picture of Zionist savagery: There is now overwhelming evidence of rape and sexual assault of Palestinians by Israeli forces in Gaza, and of sexual abuse of Palestinian kids in the West Bank. Notice the deafening silence on this. Why? Because they dont see Palestinian women and kids as humans. pic.twitter.com/X5yqelgqQm Owen Jones (@OwenJones84) March 24, 2024 The latest Judge Napolitano interview of former Colonel Larry Wilkerson prominently featured a fresh example of US cynicism, that of proposing a UN ceasefire resolution that was anything but. Starting at 1:15: Napolitano: This is quite a turnabout for the United StatesThe United States of course offered a resolution for an immediate and long-term ceasefire. It included a condemnation of HamasThe one this morning was vetoed by Russia and China.What kind of a sea-shift in thinking would there be toforJoe Biden and Tony Blinken to authorize this resolution in what must have been defiance of the Israeli donor clasa? Wilkerson: I think its a little more sophisticated than that. I dont mean that term in the positive sense. They didnt demand a cease fire. What they did was they demanded a determination of a process to get to a ceasefire. If you parse the language really closely, and what you see there, and this is why the Russians vetoed it, particularly the Russians but others too, and Im not talking about the current five but the big fifteen on the Security Council. What they did following that was define what [it] would mean to determine the process [interrupts self] this is pure Blinkenese, and to a certain extent Bidenese, determine the process to get there, and that process would be orchestrated and demanded and would confine itself to what had happened with the United States diplomatic process. Now thats a convoluted way of saying that Israel and the United States will determine the process that determines the ceasefire. Napolitano: Well, thats not a ceasefire! Wilkerson: No, absolutely not. And theres another aspect. They backed off their strong statement that they should not go into Rafah with major military force. Just completely nullified that. There is a wild card here, in that despite overwhelming sympathy among the Muslim street for the Palestinians, and frustration that governments have not acted, the reality, as many commentators have pointed out, is that none of these governments want to initiate a war, given that their countries, particularly the one most able to do so, Hezbollah as a part of the government in Lebanon, are in no position to endure the material and economic cost. But as Alastair Crooke has stressed, the Resistance actually is in a slow boil, attritional conflict, with the Houthis taking the most visible, frontal action and Hezbollah pressuring Israel with its cross-border strikes, imposing costs on Israel by preventing the return of families near the Lebanon border to their homes and communities. Crooke has argued that the Resistance members worked out some time ago that both the US and Israel had organized their affairs so as to conduct short, intense, air-attack driven conflicts, and not to endure a protracted grind. Weve featured occasional discussions of how the war is inflicting serious, and increasingly, lasting damage on Israels economy. Many businesses have shuttered or are operating at reduced levels. If that persists too long, they lose staffers and customers permanently. Similarly, a story last week reported that a large majority of the Israelis that decamped Israel shortly after October 7 planned not to return. That again is a permanent loss of productive and consumption capacity. But will uprisings force some countries to take a more frontal posture with Israel? If so, what form might that take? See for instance: BREAKING | Jordanian security forces deploy gas bombs to suppress protesters heading towards the Israeli embassy in condemnation of the kingdom's normalization and complicity in the war on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/v5KGnXrzHp The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) March 24, 2024 In the meantime, another way the attritional Resistance strategy is exposing Israeli weakness is on the military front. See this story from The New Arab, Israeli army forced to use 1970s munitions amid shortages at start of Gaza war. Keep in mind that even though the story presents itself as presenting conditions at the outset of the conflict, when Israel had limited and too often old armaments stocks. However, there is no good reason to think the situation has improved much. Even though Israels needs are presumably lower than those of Ukraine, we know Ukraine has come close to cleaning out the entire Collective West cupboard. Note further its mention of 155 mm missile shortages. The article does not mention a point sometimes made by Scott Ritter: the tubes wear out under high use and need to be replace. What are those inventories like? From The New Arab: Israels army was forced to use outdated weapons and arms equipment as the army found itself inadequately prepared at the start of the war in Gaza In the first months of the war, the army, ill-prepared to fight, faced a munitions shortage that forced units to deploy 1950s-era shells, causing an operational nightmare. Israeli daily Haaretz spoke to a reservist who described the chaos as Hamas incursion into southern Israel on October 7 took the military by surprise. There was a crazy shortage of equipment and the canons we had werent all in working order. Some worked, some were half dead, the reservist told the newspaper. The war has also seen Israel drop an unprecedented number of bombs on Gaza in just five months which has destroyed 35 percent of the territorys infrastructure and killed 32,000 Palestinians Though Israel has a sophisticated arms industry, it also relies on the United States for large portions of its weapons supplies.. Artillery units scrambling to defend themselves against attacks from Hamas battalions were left to use munitions dating back to the 1950s which were in poor condition and produced unusually high quantities of smoke that made it difficult for crews to fire for prolonged periods of time, the Haaretz article noted. In keeping with NATO standards, Israel uses one of the worlds most wanted 155mm artillery shells for its howitzer guns, a type of long-range artillery weapon which looks like a cannon. Some of the cannons being used in the war originate from deals made with the US army in the 1970s, according to the Haaretz article. These shells have seen huge price rises as demand has soared across the world in recent years, and Israels defence ministry signed a multi-million-dollar contract with Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems which has factories in Britain, to produce these shells Other soldiers interviewed by Haaretz spoke of shortages of munitions from overfiring, and instances whereby officers told troops to preserve shells in case of flare ups in different areas of Gaza. The soldier also mentioned that irregular shipments of munitions caused chaos, noting an occasion when a unit received munitions marked for training only on the shells We also have this interesting development, from Almayadeen Hezbollah drones deal precise hits to two Iron Dome launchers (hat tip Kevin W): The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon Hezbollah announced that its fighters launched two suicide drones at two Iron Dome launchers in the Israeli Kfar Blum military site at 12:20 pm (local time), dealing precise hits to the targets Earlier today, Hezbollah launched its operations at noon by engaging the Israeli Ramim barrack using artillery shells. The Resistance also targeted the Israeli espionage equipment at al-Radar site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms at 1:10 pm, using accurate weapons and dealing precise hits to the target. At 01:15 pm, Hezbollah further targeted the Israeli Bayad Blida post. In parallel, Israeli occupation forces continued to target villages in south Lebanon as they shelled an area between Alma al-Shaab and al-Dhayrah, in addition to the Wadi al-Saluki and the outskirts of Kfar Kila, Kfar Chouba, and Jabal al-Sadana, according to our correspondent Amid Hezbollahs strike on Kfar Blum, Israeli media expressed fear over the absence of deterrence against the operations launched by the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, stressing that the absence of any warning before these operations is a real problem Before the operation on Kfar Blum, the sirens were not activated, which led to a fire in the area as there was no chance to take appropriate emergency measures, Israeli media added. Israeli media also reported that Israeli circles view the attack on Kfar Blum with great seriousness and caution, explaining that its results cannot be published. Alastair Crooke has said that the Hebrew press has often had stories of unfavorable military deveopments, particularly IDF deaths, quickly yanked by the censors. So the lack of confirmation from the Israel side as to the effectiveness of the strikes on the Iron Dome platforms does not mean they did not draw some blood. But the fact that Hezbollah did appear to hit them is serious in and of itself. The further question is whether these strikes are the most that Hezbollah can do now, or a warning of what might be in store? Well stop here, since this is an overly dynamic situation and dwelling too much on current new information runs the risk of losing sight of bigger patterns. But in light of the above, Israels insistence on attacking Rafah and its increasing saber-rattling with Lebanon looks destructively reckless, or at best based on undue faith that the US can bail them out of whatever conflagration they set off. Riley Strain, a young tourist and college student who went missing in downtown Nashville two weeks ago after reportedly being "overserved," was finally fished from the Cumberland River on Friday. His poor parents had to come down here to help search for him, and now they go home with a dead child. That is one hell of a souvenir, Nashville. Just one hell of a souvenir. I dont know about yall, but Strain had come up in nearly every conversation Ive had in the past two weeks. We speculated about whether it looked like he was drugged as well as intoxicated. We wondered why he was alone in body-cam footage recently released by MNPD. We shared rumors of kidnapping and murder. And I think Strain stayed on our minds because that so easily could have been any of us. For as much as we locals complain about the swarm of humanity constantly clogging up downtown, who among us hasnt been in it? We go to the Ryman. We go watch the Preds at Bridgestone. We take our friends to Roberts, and we complain about how it wasnt always like this as we gesture to the bachelorettes and the pedal taverns and the throngs of people. Hell, many of us have been shitfaced downtown. He didnt do anything the rest of us havent done. He just ran out of luck. And, bless, as much as we bitch about tourists, no one wants them to die while theyre here. We dont need planes full of worried parents coming into town on Monday when the planes leaving town on Sunday failed to contain their children. +7 Honky-Tonk Blues: The Pandemic and the Changing Culture of Lower Broadway In July, as Nashville was hitting new highs for COVID-19 positivity rates and hospitalizations were surging across Tennessee, TMZ published a I got to thinking on Saturday as I was, yet again, talking with a friend about Strain about what might have prevented his death. Like, yes, one of his companions should have gone with him. Thats something they will have to live with forever. But obviously, people have shitty companions sometimes. And yes, Strain did run into people concerned about him, but other than checking on him, what could they do for him? Its not immediately apparent. He talked to a cop. If cops detained everyone who was drunk downtown, the jail would be overflowing. Last week, I went to see my new primary care physician for the first time. I went up to the Vanderbilt clinic in Pleasant View. (I dont know how everyone else keeps Fairview and Pleasant View straight in their minds, but I think "P for Pleasant View and Phillips," because thats the one near me, and "F for Fairview and far away," because its the one thats ... OK, you know, I bet you figured out the end of that sentence.) I had not been to this clinic before. On one side theres a walk-in clinic. On the other side is all the appointment stuff. I spoke to my primary care physician, and she asked me if Id had my yearly mammogram yet. I said no and she said, "OK, lets get it scheduled." And I assumed she meant like off in the future. No. Ten minutes after I got done with my appointment with her, I was standing in another room bare-chested getting images taken of my innards. It was so easy and smooth and just disconcertingly nice. And as I was recounting this to my friend on Saturday, I got to thinking about what if there was a way Riley Strain could have had that experience. Well, not that experience. But what if a competent team of people could have seen that he was not in his right mind, and they could have assessed him and, if he was drugged, brought him some place safe to deal with the effects of it? And if he was just exceedingly drunk, made sure he was safe and hydrated? And I got to thinking about the police presence downtown how Ive seen them down there on horses and bikes and on foot and in cars. Just tons of different ways for them to move through the crowds and be where the trouble is. And I had an idea. What if we had trained medics downtown to help deal with tourists? Imagine if, when that cop talked to Riley, he had said, Wait, let me just call for a medic to check you out? Theres not the pressure and expense of calling an ambulance. Its just going to be a person on a bike or whatever coming up to assess you and provide any basic medical care you might need. +3 Nashvilles Co-Response Programs Round Out REACH pilot program releases Q3 results, Partners in Care to expand to all police precincts How police are present downtown is much different than how theyre present, say, in my neighborhood both in terms of how many officers are present and, like I said, how theyre moving around. Why cant we make a similar change in how medical professionals are present downtown? So, OK then, we innovate and have patrolling medics. But say someone has been drugged or got in a fight. Theyre going to need more than a street medic handing them some aspirin and a bottle of water. And the medics will need a location to work out of. This brings me to the second part of my idea: a downtown walk-in emergency room that focuses on the kinds of medical issues that happen downtown overconsumption of alcohol, drug overdoses, being unwittingly drugged, assaults, etc. People with more serious issues could still be moved to hospital ERs, of course, but imagine how much more prepared everyone on down the line would be if the call for an ambulance came with actual medical information about the patient because a medical professional was right there either on foot dealing with problems at the bars or on the streets or at the downtown ER. Downtown tourism is an important part of the economic engine that powers the city, and for better or for worse, downtown tourism involves a lot of public drunkenness. What if we reimagined part of our role as host to these tourists as dealing with their drunken needs? We are already serving them oceans of alcohol, why not be honest with ourselves and be innovative with the ways we handle the problems that serving that alcohol brings? We kind of joke about how people are coming here to put their lives in danger with their drinking. What if we truly acknowledged thats what is indeed happening and then respond accordingly? Right now, for the majority of people downtown who are in a state where their life processes are impaired in some way, we do nothing for them. But we are a health care industry city! We can certainly at least make it more convenient for the people who have chosen to impair their life processes to seek help if they find themselves impaired beyond where theyre comfortable. As long as people downtown are getting shitfaced, some of them will need medical attention, and many more of them, while not in dire need, would benefit from it. Think of what a difference it would have made if anyone who saw Riley Strain staggering around might have stopped to talk to him if theyd been able to flag down a medic for him. Every other plan we have for dealing with downtown tourists involves curtailing something or other, and the state legislature never lets us do it. But this is different. This isnt curtailing business. This is expanding the safety net. Please, lets learn something from this needless tragedy. Lets do something to make sure no other family has to go through this. Lets not be unchanged by this. In a letter delivered to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier on Friday, Vanderbilt University faculty criticize school leaders for suppressing pro-Palestine student activism. They call on the university to reverse its recent decision to block a vote on a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resolution in the Vanderbilt Student Government. The statement includes signatures from 25 faculty members, including three full professors, 12 associate professors, six assistant professors, three post-doctoral fellows, one lecturer and one professor emerita. The letter also cites support from eight faculty members who chose to remain anonymous. Students Say Vanderbilt Is Keeping Pro-Palestine Activism Quiet Evidence shows administrators are putting Vanderbilt Divest Coalition's efforts through the bureaucratic spin cycle We, the undersigned faculty, are deeply troubled by the Vanderbilt administrations decision to suppress a referendum for the adoption of a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) amendment to Vanderbilt Student Governments constitution, the letter reads in part. The recent decision to remove the BDS referendum from the upcoming VSG ballot is a step in the wrong direction. We condemn this suppression of student democracy and demand that the ballot referendum be reinstated." In February, a coalition of student groups, led by campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine, gathered enough signatures to bring a BDS resolution to a vote under university rules. They have since endured several administrative obstacles in their effort to bring pro-Palestine perspectives to campus. Last week, Vanderbilt told students that a BDS vote could not move forward in the student government because support for the tactic a Palestinian-led global movement to financially isolate Israel could jeopardize university contracts under state and federal law. Lawyers consulted by student organizers dispute the universitys legal opinion. In the letter, faculty accuses the university of using "legality as a facade to quash student activism" and derides its stances on free speech as hypocritical. The faculty letter draws parallels between Vanderbilt suppressing pro-Palestinian student activism, expelling civil rights leader James Lawson in 1960, supporting apartheid South Africa in 1978, and partnering with private prison giant CoreCivic all instances in which the university stood in the way of student calls for justice. Read the letter in full below. Elon Musk releases Grok-1 LLM open source Mike Adams about to release Neo in early April at Brighteon.AI In a March 17, 2024, announcement , X.AI announced that it is doing an open-source release of Grok-1 LLM, described as Elon Musk's "314 billion parameter Mixture-of-Experts model trained from scratch by xAI." By releasing the base model weights and network architecture of Grok-1, Musk's large language model (LLM) is now available to anyone to utilize for building an application. In related news, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, will be releasing Neo (a 7 billion parameter open source LLM) in early April more on that at Brighteon.AI. "We are building and releasing non-commercial, free-to-use LLMs that are trained on an ever-expanding set of critical human knowledge about food, nutrition, farming, permaculture, herbs, indigenous medicine, alternative medicine, off-grid survival, sustainability and other critical knowledge areas that have kept human civilization alive," Adams says. (Related: We are building the infrastructure of human freedom Brighteon.AI is the next launch that will put life-altering LLM technology into your hands for free.) "Consider us to be a kind of 'Arctic seed bank' of human knowledge that the globalists are trying to eradicate from human history," the Health Ranger adds. "Brighteon.AI is one answer to coordinated censorship, and it allows users to stop relying on Google, pharma-funded corporate media or nefarious governments to provide you with (distorted) information." Brighteon.AI and freedom Concerning the Grok-1 release, it includes the raw base model checkpoint that concluded in October 2023, and is described as the "pre-training phase." Thanks to your generous support, we are building the infrastructure of human freedom and actively donating our technology to independent publishers, authors and home schooling organizations. Learn about our game-changing non-commercial AI project here. Support our ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance human knowledge by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com. "This means that the model is not fine-tuned for any specific application, such as dialogue," explains X.AI about how people can use it. "We are releasing the weights and the architecture under the Apache 2.0 license. To get started with using the model, follow the instructions at github.com/xai-org/grok." The implementation of Grok-1 into Brighteon.AI will help to fight back against the Orwellian rule that has swept the world, especially since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "pandemic." All independent information online is rapidly being "memory-holed" into the abyss, making it difficult, if not impossible, in some cases, for the public to access truthful information that has not been sanitized or altered in some way by those in power. Adams warns that there is "an active campaign underway to hunt down and exterminate fundamental human knowledge" in everything from science and medicine to physiology, history, nutrition, finance, geopolitics and so much more. "And the next step of these globalist, anti-human actors is to replace knowledge with 'anti-knowledge' ideas that are opposite of reality (such as the claims that men can have babies or that carbon dioxide is bad for plants)," Adams warns. Even before COVID, the establishment was trying to implement "fact-checking" and "misinformation" tools to deceive the public into believing that truthful information is false, and that their version of events is truth. Brighteon.AI will aim to combat this kind of authoritarian control over truth. In the interest of natural health, which is where this website began, Brighteon.AI will serve as a helpful tool for protecting truth about natural health and wellness, herbal remedies, science pre-"global warming," toxic vaccines, the pharmaceutical industry and so much more. "Here at the Consumer Wellness Center data science division, we believe that access to knowledge is a fundamental human right," explains Brighteon.AI. "And we aim to preserve human knowledge using the best technology available today." "Google, on the other hand, weaponizes its search engine and YouTube platform to squelch human knowledge in an effort to keep everyone functionally illiterate, ignorant and obedience to globalist agendas. We reject Google's agenda of forced human ignorance." If the powers that be can get away with it, they plan to control the entire world with AI. Learn more at Tyranny.news. Sources for this article include: X.AI Brighteon.AI GitHub.com NaturalNews.com EU member claims Putin using top-secret electronic weapon to jam GPS on flights, ships Estonian military chief Martin Harem claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using top secret electronic weapons to jam GPS signals on airplanes and shipping vessels, which he says could result in crashes. According to Harem, Putin is sparking chaos across the European Union (EU) by jamming GPS technology along the eastern flank of NATO. Most of the jamming appears to be centered in the northern half of Poland and into the waters between Poland and Sweden. Finland is also reporting problems with its GPS guiding system for air and sea traffic, along with isolated problems in Latvia and Lithuania. "What we have seen is a malfunctioning of GPS for ships and air travel," Harem said. "And we really do not know if they [Russia] want to achieve something or just practice and test their equipment." "But definitely, nobody should behave like this, especially when you're at war with a neighboring country." (Related: Russia is winning the war on Ukraine, and French President Emmanuel Macron is shaking in his boots.) Russia's Tobol systems are defensive, too Since the disruptions began, Estonia is the first NATO country to blame the Kremlin for it. The technology used for the disruptions is allegedly in Kaliningrad, the location where Putin recently visited to deliver his harrowing warning against the "vampire" elite throughout the West. Kaliningrad is a sliver of land located between Lithuania and Poland. Russia annexed it from Germany in 1945, and after that time it was a strategic location for the then-Soviet Union during the Cold War Era. Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions. It is feared that, should a war break out between Russia and NATO directly, Kaliningrad will be the location Putin chooses as ground zero. Western intelligence reports are describing the GPS jamming technology as Tobol, describing its appearance as a large dish with an antenna attached to it. There are said to be at least seven Tobol complexes located throughout Russia. How it works is a Tobol system will transmit a signal on the same frequency as a satellite that provides GPS connectivity. The satellite interprets the Tobol signal as the legitimate one, confusing the system and its data output to ships and planes. Dr. Thomas Withington, an electronic warfare expert, says the dish can be directed to disrupt GPS signals in many directions at one time. This, he says, is probably how Kaliningrad will protect itself from incoming missiles in the event war breaks out between Russia and NATO. In addition to jamming GPS signals as a defensive weapon, Tobol systems are also defensive in that they provide an "invisible" shield to protect against NATO's arsenal of satellite-guided missile systems. "This may surprise some people but I think, ostensibly, it's defensive," Withington is quoted as saying. "The Russian military is highly concerned by global navigation satellite system weapons." For the time being, Tobol seems to be primarily an offensive weapon, being used to damage the shipping industry. Withington says it is "deeply irresponsible" for Russia to be using the system for such purposes because "it's affecting the safety of navigation, degrading the safety of navigation." "The good news is that aircraft and ships have other means of navigation," Withington says. "It obviously is a cause of concern if those systems are not available ... so they're a very valid argument that what the Russians are doing is deeply irresponsible from a navigation point of view." Should World War III break out soon and by all appearances, this is a very strong possibility then full-scale use of Tobol systems as an offensive weapon as well as a defensive weapon would likely ensue. The latest news about the Russia-Ukraine war can be found at Chaos.news. Sources for this article include: TheSun.co.uk NaturalNews.com Globalists are constructing AI-powered control grid designed to end independent journalism and free speech on the internet Weve heard some disturbing reports out of Canada and the U.S. recently that shouldnt be viewed in a vacuum. A trend is developing. (Article republished from LeoHohmann.Substack.com) Last Friday, March 15, Rebel News reporter David Menzies was arrested while trying to interview attendees at a Pro-Hamas rally in Toronto. According to Rebel News, the arrest came just days after the announcement of Davids lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for a pattern of intimidation and exclusion following shocking displays of police brutality against David. Rebel News reports that what transpired was a blatant disregard for civil liberties. David was in full compliance with the law, Rebel News reported, noting that he presented his identification upon request. All of this was captured on camera. Yet, he was arrested and detained for exercising his right to document a public event. In the U.S., we have also seen reporters hauled off to jail recently for simply covering events that the government didnt want covered. Just two weeks ago the FBI arrested Steve Baker, a reporter for Blaze Media, for his coverage of the J6 event. Last year, the FBI arrested journalist Owen Shroyer of Infowars and he was convicted and sentenced to 60 days in prison for his coverage of J6 (he did not even enter the Capitol that day). NBC News, a key part of the state-run media in America, dutifully reported upon Shroyers conviction that he was not a journalist but a conspiracy theorist. For more than five years now, journalists and citizen journalists alike have seen Big Tech censor and bury their work behind unfavorable algorithms. Some have even been banned or suspended from social media platforms. But now the globalists are taking their war against the truth to a new level. They are going for the kill shots by having journalists and citizen truthtellers actually arrested and removed from society altogether. Globalist politicians and judges are colluding with big corporations throughout the formerly free Western world to remove certain bedrock rights and God-given freedoms and replace them with government-issued privileges. They will tell you that you still have a right to free speech and freedom of the press, until you do what journalists have always done in the past and challenge the government narrative. If you do this, you lose your status and free-speech protections as a journalist and the government rebrands you as a conspiracy theorist, making you vulnerable to arrest. In short, real journalists, people who question the facts and narratives provided by those in positions of power and authority, are being banned. This movement against real journalism is coming down from the United Nations and World Economic Forum, both of which have made the elimination of what they call disinformation a top priority for 2024 and beyond. Read more at: LeoHohmann.Substack.com Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr steps down in wake of companys disastrous bet on EVs Stephen Scherr, who ran rental car giant Hertz for over two years after three decades at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has decided to step down in the wake of a disastrous bet on electric vehicles (EVs) that the company began unwinding in recent months. Hertz will replace him with Gil West, the former chief operating officer of General Motors' Cruise robotaxi unit. West will also be joining the company's board of directors on April 1. "Gil is a fantastic operator. We worked side-by-side for a dozen years," Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview, noting West's previous role in Delta's integration with Northwest Airlines. "He's an innovator, he loves technology, hes meticulous, hes curious and he loves a challenge all great attributes." West was previously considered as a CEO candidate by eventual company owners Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management during bankruptcy proceedings in 2020 when the company was reeling from the economic downturn caused by lockdowns. Executives from both firms had previously approached West to leave Cruise, but GM had big plans for robotaxis at the time and did not want to let West go. So, in the interim, investors installed Mark Fields, who previously ran Ford Motor Company, before finally settling on Scherr in February 2022. GM eventually let go of West at the end of last year. Following Scherr's announcement of his resignation, Knighthead and Certares executives approached West again, saying they are confident that he'd be a better fit with Hertz by virtue of his firsthand experience with EVs. Thanks to your generous support, we are building the infrastructure of human freedom and actively donating our technology to independent publishers, authors and home schooling organizations. Learn about our game-changing non-commercial AI project here. Support our ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance human knowledge by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com. West will be the latest in a long line of Hertz CEOs tasked with making the company more profitable amid stiffer competition and a downturn in finances. Massive push for EVs and lackluster demand hurt Hertz Scherr, 59, joined Hertz several months after it emerged from bankruptcy and started making splashy wagers on EVs. Under new owners, Knighthead and Certares, the car rental company announced in October 2021 plans to order up to 100,000 EVs from Tesla, a decision that sent the automaker's market capitalization to soar past the $1 trillion mark at the time. (Related: EV COLLAPSE: Automakers are scaling back and delaying their EV plans as consumer demand wanes.) Hertz doubled down on its decision to invest in EVs when Scherr took over, placing orders for hundreds of thousands of EVs with electric carmaker Polestar, owned by Chinese giant Geely with Sweden's Volvo Car. The company only ended up buying a small number of EVs from the two companies. The company's bets on a big EV expansion went awry last year when Tesla slashed prices across its lineup to keep vehicle sales afloat. This hammered the resale value of used Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers just after Hertz added tens of thousands of them to its fleet of rental cars. By December, Hertz started selling off 20,000 EVs, or about a third of its EV fleet. Hertz announced its EV sell-down plans in January, citing lackluster demand, costly depreciation and expensive repairs. The Florida-based company took a $245 million charge and reported its biggest quarterly loss since the pandemic. Watch this video discussing why electric vehicles are a scam and why people should put their faith in traditional fossil fuel cars. This video is from the Luke 11:31 Queen channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: EV COLLAPSE: Car dealerships are now rejecting EV deliveries due to low sales. Bumpy road ahead: Rental giant Hertz dumps electric vehicles for gas-powered counterparts. Hertz to sell 20k EVs from rental fleet, says electric cars too expensive to repair. Automaker bigwigs admit EV sales are in jeopardy. Car rental company SIXT drops Tesla EVs from its fleet due to poor resale value, high repair costs. Sources include: WhatsUpWithThat.com Bloomberg.com Fortune.com Brighteon.com Roughly 200,000 immigration deportation court cases DISMISSED after DHS failed to file paperwork Since Joe Biden took office in January of 2021, immigration judges across America have thrown out some 200,000 deportation cases due to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failing to file the appropriate deportation paperwork. TRAC Immigration reported that DHS did not file the required Notice to Appear (NTA) with the court before the due date for each of the 200,000 deportation cases, meaning these individuals in question are unable to obtain a work permit and the sense of their legality in the country remains anomalous. "Without a proper filing, the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case and the immigrants, often asylum seekers, lack a way to move their case forward," TRAC Immigration explains. TRAC Immigration published a report that tracks DHS records on immigration using the latest data through February of 2024. That report examines whether DHS is improving its performance or getting worse at getting deportation paperwork filed on time. "Next, using Court records that had not previously been released, it then traces whether DHS officials issue and file new NTAs for these same individuals to rectify their original filing failures," the group explains. (Related: The Biden regime and Texas are currently at war with each other over border security who will win?) DHS dropping the ball DHS has an important job in the immigration enforcement process that, as it appears, is not getting done. When DHS issues an NTA to a noncitizen, including an asylum seeker, on time, the process then moves to the NTA being handed over to an immigration court. Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions. "The NTA alleges that the agency has reason to believe that the individual can and should be deported, lists these reasons, and asks an Immigration Judge to issue a removal order," TRAC Immigration says. "While Immigration Judges handle a variety of case types, not all of which require an NTA, removal cases account for the vast majority of cases. Fully 97 percent of the over 1 million Court cases already initiated this fiscal year (October 2023 February 2024) have been removal cases. Thus, almost all Immigration Court cases are removal cases for which DHS must file an NTA for the case to go forward." The only way the assigned immigration judge has jurisdiction to even hear the case is if DHS files the NTA with the court on time. Ten years ago, it was rare for DHS to miss the filing. Today, it is rare for DHS to complete it. One thing that has changed over the past 10 years to improve the process is that now Border Patrol agents and other DHS personnel have at their disposal access to the immigration court's Interactive Scheduling System (ISS), which makes it much easier to schedule the hearing so why is this not happening? Well, the primary reason is that the easier-to-use system has created a new administrative problem in that DHS employees are able to schedule immigration hearings before the agency itself is able to file the NTA. "Indeed, this is what happened," TRAC Immigration explains. "DHS has been able to block off the Court's valuable limited time by scheduling hearings for cases that do not legally exist, because DHS has not filed the required NTA before the hearing. With Immigration Judges staring down 3.5 million pending immigration cases, every wasted hearing is a hearing that could have moved another case forward or resolved it." In many cases, immigrants, usually asylum seekers, still go to the court as scheduled only to find out that they have no actual case with which to make an asylum claim. As such, they are then released back onto the streets in a state of legal limbo. Illegal immigration is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Learn more at InvasionUSA.news. Sources for this article include: Trac.Syr.edu NaturalNews.com Nvidia unleashes super computer AI robots that will learn how to navigate and control the physical world Nvidia, the tech company that is just about singlehandedly propping up the entire United States stock market, announced this week that it has the capacity to start building human-like robots to replace people. In a public release, Nvidia said it is planning to release a software and hardware platform that utilizes generative artificial intelligence to construct transhuman robots, complete with a suite of software tools like genAI. (Related: If it were not for Nvidia, the U.S. stock market would be in the toilet where it belongs.) During its annual developer conference, Nvidia bragged about the genAI component of the product, which will allow the company's AI-driven, human-like robots to take on heavy industry check out what they look like below: Today is the beginning of our moonshot to solve embodied AGI in the physical world. Im so excited to announce Project GR00T, our new initiative to create a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robot learning. The GR00T model will enable a robot to understand multimodal pic.twitter.com/EqN19Z3cXH Jim Fan (@DrJimFan) March 18, 2024 Jim Fan, an Nvidia research manager and lead of embodied AI at the company, explained that through something called "GR00T," Nvidia's human-like AI robots will be able to comprehend instructions given to them through language, video and demonstrations in order to perform various tasks. "The GR00T model will enable a robot to understand multimodal instructions, such as language, video and demonstration, and perform a variety of useful tasks," Fan said. "We are collaborating with many leading humanoid companies around the world, so that GR00T may transfer across embodiments and help the ecosystem thrive." Nvidia investors funding planned obsolescence of humans GR00T is a program that Fan says was "born on Nvidia's deep technology stack." There is an entire program around the technology called Project GR00T that Fan says is "a cornerstone for the 'Foundation Agent' roadmap of the newly founded GEAR Lab." Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Learn about our free, non-commercial AI / LLM project here. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions. "At GEAR, we are building generally capable agents that learn to act skillfully in many worlds, virtual and real," Fan explained on X. "Join us on the journey to land on the moon." In a statement to the media, Rev Lebaredian, vice president of omniverse and simulation technology at Nvidia, explained that the purpose of these AI robots is to take over human jobs, effectively making humans obsolete. "These smarter, faster, better robots will be deployed in the world's heavy industries," Lebaredian said. "We are working with the world's entire robot and simulation ecosystem to accelerate development and adoption." Nvidia's genAI software is powered by a computer the company calls "Jetson Thor," while the package software is called the "Isaac" platform. Jetson Thor, we are told, will have enough horsepower loaded into it that AI robots will be able to compute and perform complex tasks while still being able to interact with other machines and people. Isaac, meanwhile, will allow "any robot embodiment in any environment," meaning the AI robots will supposedly be able to do their programmed and learned tasks while operating around other humans, apparently without injuring or killing them. In as little as five years, according to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, these genAI-powered robots will be unleashed on the world. And every investor who is putting their money into Nvidia is funding this operation of planned human obsolescence. "This is going to be the biggest change in the workforce since the industrial revolution," one commenter warned about what Nvidia is doing. "The vast majority of both blue- and white-collar jobs could be handled by robots or AI." More related news about the AI takeover of the world can be found at Transhumanism.news. Sources for this article include: FoxBusiness.com NaturalNews.com Texas public schools fund pulls out $8.5 billion from BlackRock over ESG investing A school fund in Texas has pulled $8.5 billion of state money from BlackRock over accusations that the investment firm's alleged boycott of fossil fuel energy producers harms Texas' industries The move was conducted by the Texas Permanent School Fund (Texas PSF), a sovereign wealth fund and pension fund established in the 19th century to support the state's public schools. It highlights how many asset managers like BlackRock are continuing to attract controversy over their environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. (Related: World's largest asset manager BlackRock exits globalist climate investment group.) ESG investing refers to standards set by certain companies that allow "socially conscious" investors to screen where their investments go. In a statement, Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) chairman Aaron Kinsey said the $53 billion Texas PSF had delivered an official notice to BlackRock "terminating its financial management" of Texas PSF assets. Kinsey noted that the fund's leadership decided to do so to comply with a 2021 law that restricts state funds from going to companies that engage in boycotts of the fossil fuel industry. The Texas SBOE is in charge of directing where the Texas PSF's investments go. Texas Senate Bill 13, passed in 2021, required the state comptroller to list financial companies found to boycott fossil fuel companies. Comptroller Glenn Hegar updated the list last October and it listed BlackRock. Hegar has since called on the Texas PSF and five other state pension funds to sever ties with the asset manager. We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance. "Today represents a major step forward for the Texas PSF and our state as a whole. The PSF will not stand idle as our financial future is attacked by Wall Street," said Kinsey. "This bold action helps ensure our PSF remains in fact permanent and will continue to support bright futures and opportunities for generations of Texas students." BlackRock denies boycott claims, alleges it funds Texas' energy industry In its response, BlackRock denied that it was engaged in any type of boycott against fossil fuel energy producers. It further noted that the money pulled represents a sliver of the more than $10 trillion in assets it currently manages. Nevertheless, BlackRock in a statement did deny that it was boycotting energy companies, noting that it is pouring billions of dollars into Texas' energy industry. "BlackRock is helping millions of Texans invest and save for retirement," said a spokesperson. "On behalf of our clients, we've invested more than $300 billion in Texas-based companies, infrastructure and municipalities, including $125 billion invested in the energy sector, including a $550 million joint venture with [Houston-based Occidental Petroleum]. We recently hosted an energy summit in Houston designed to explore how to strengthen Texas' power grid." BlackRock's spokesperson further claimed that the SBOE and PSF's decision "jeopardizes Texas schools and the families who have benefited from BlackRock's consistent long-term outperformance for the Texas Permanent School Fund." "The decision ignores our $120 billion investment in Texas public energy companies and defies expert advice," concludes the statement. "As a fiduciary, politics should never outweigh performance, especially for taxpayers." Watch this episode of "Market Ultra" as hosts Pete Santilli and Craig Wenclewicz discuss how BlackRock is now responding to investor sentiment and turning on ESG. This video is from the channel The Resistance 1776 on Brighteon.com. More related stories: ESG investing in "net zero" climate agenda "must be stopped," say Republican agriculture commissioners, or food inflation and FAMINE will follow. BlackRock employee caught on undercover footage boasting about manipulating politics and profiting from war. BlackRock recruiter claims "war is good for business," says asset management giant "decides people's fate." BlackRock's Larry Fink defends ESG standards for corporate America, stresses the need to "force behaviors" in 2017 video. Meet BlackRock: The "architect of woke capitalism" destroying America from within. Sources include: YourNews.com Reuters.com FoxBusiness.com Investopedia.com Bloomberg.com Brighteon.com Hundreds of thousands of children in England are unable to access mental health services A recent report by the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England revealed that 270,300 children referred to youth mental health services were not given any support According to the report, written by Commissioner Rachel de Souza, eight percent 949,200 of the total 11.9 million children in England were referred to the National Health Service's (NHS) Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) program between 2022 and 2023. (Related: Signs of abnormal mental development and common disorders in children.) "This generation of children has experienced uniquely uncertain and challenging times," said Souza. "Some have spent some of their most formative years isolated and indoors, fearful they or their loved ones may catch a deadly virus. They have felt the squeeze of a cost-of-living crisis, and are keenly aware of the pressure their parents are under." Among the nearly 950,000 children, only 305,000 had received treatment. Another 372,800 had their referrals closed before they even received assistance. Alarmingly, 270,300 of the referred children were left waiting for support, with around 32,200 waiting for over two years now for their second contact from CYPMHS. The report also found disparities in wait times based on gender, ethnicity and age. Boys experienced longer wait times than girls, while White children waited longer compared to Asian and Black kids. Children aged 13 to 15 constituted the largest group entering treatment, despite representing only 17 percent of the child population in England. We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance. U.K. government pledges more funding for youth mental health access In response to the report, the British government has agreed to allocate an additional 8 million ($10.15 million) in funds to expand mental health intervention access for youth aged 11 to 25. According to the U.K. Department for Health and Social Care, the expansion will be used for the 24 early intervention hubs. Initially, the government only allocated 4.92 million ($6.3 million) to support 10 early intervention hubs in October 2023. To date, there are approximately 70 early intervention hubs across the U.K. that offer counseling, psychological therapies and group sessions. Young people can seek assistance at these centers even without a referral from a school or general practitioner. Moreover, these centers function as comprehensive resource centers, offering guidance and referrals for a spectrum of issues affecting youth mental health. The guidance and referrals range from sexual health to substance abuse, employment concerns, financial worries and academic stress. "This government is taking the long-term decisions needed to make our healthcare system faster, simpler and fairer. Mental health support for our young people is a key part of that," said Mental Health Minister Maria Caulfield. "No child or young person should suffer alone, and this additional funding for 24 mental health hubs will improve access and bring in more staff and experts who can help those who need it the most," she continued. "This will build on the brilliant work they already do, and supports our ongoing work to make sure every person has access the highest quality mental health services." Watch the video below to learn more about mental health, intrusive thoughts, depression and anxiety. This video is from the Pool Pharmacy channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: Study finds 141% rise in use of psychiatric drugs used to restrain children in mental health facilities. Study: RUNNING boosts mental health and helps treat depression. Study: 34% of children put on transgender puberty blockers end up becoming mental cases. Brain food: Nutrient therapy can help address mental health issues. Social media use linked to TEENAGE DEPRESSION, warn mental health experts. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com 1 TheEpochTimes.com 2 Brighteon.com Trudeaus EV mandate threatens to collapse Canadas power grid Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to ban the sale of new gasoline- and diesel-only powered cars after 2035, forcing everyone in the nation to purchase an electric vehicle (EV) instead. Doing this, though, will collapse Canada's power grid, warns the Fraser Institute , a fiscally conservative think tank. According to G. Cornelis van Kooten, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of "Failure to Change: A Critical Look at Canada's EV Policy," requiring all new vehicle sales in Canada to be electric in just 11 years "means the provinces need to substantially increase their power generation capabilities, and adding the equivalent of 10 new mega-dams or 13 new gas plants in such a short timeline isn't realistic or feasible." "Canadians need to know just how much additional electricity is going to be required in order to meet Ottawa's electric vehicle mandate, because its impact on the provinces and taxpayers and rate payers will be significant," Van Kooten added. (Related: Did you know that the Trudeau regime punished a Canadian detective for trying to get to the bottom of an apparent link between mRNA COVID "vaccines" and infant deaths?) EV mandates unrealistic Van Kooten conducted an in-depth analysis of Trudeau's impending EV mandate, released on March 14. It estimates that in just 11 short years, Canada's electric generation capacity will need to increase by 15.3 percent, which is a tall order. No less than 10 new mega hydro dams would need to be constructed nationwide, or at least 13 new large natural gas plants which, what is the point if natural gas is one of the "bad" earth-based fuels that the "green" cult says needs to go to protect the planet from global warming? Thanks to your generous support, we are building the infrastructure of human freedom and actively donating our technology to independent publishers, authors and home schooling organizations. Learn about our game-changing non-commercial AI project here. Support our ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance human knowledge by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com. Canada would also need another 5,000 new wind turbines to power all those vehicles, which also have to be backed up by natural gas generators during times when the wind is not blowing as desired. All of this is just about impossible. The construction of one new natural gas plant alone takes many years due to red tape, costs and various other factors, which Van Kooten says is too long, all else considered, to ever make this a reality by the deadline. "The major obstacle relates to the likelihood of constructing sufficient power generating capacity to meet the anticipated demand EVs would impose on electricity grids," Van Kooten says. "The real-world situation is not as easy as merely replacing current ICE vehicles with EVs, and there are many obstacles to be overcome on the path of electrifying the personal vehicle fleets within Canada." Considerations must also be made about the type of electricity that goes into the grid. Many jurisdictions throughout Canada would need to drastically increase their electricity production capacities to work with green sources that are capable of meeting the additional hourly load requirements. It is a complex matter, in other words, that the Trudeau regime has obviously not considered in its rush to go "green." Van Kooten says he considered what each Canadian province would specifically need to do to make this all work, and it is simply impossible by 2035 based on his assessment. "It took approximately 10 years to plan and pass environmental regulations, and an additional decade" to build British Columbia's new hydroelectric Site C dam, he warns. The European Union (EU), by the way, is aiming for the same deadline to completely phase out gas- and diesel-powered cars. "The reality is that electric cars cost thousands more to make and buy, are not suited to Canada's cold climate, offer poor range and long charging times (especially in cold weather), and have batteries that take tremendous resources to make and are hard to recycle," warns LifeSiteNews. Mandating EVs will destroy the power grid while making Elon Musk even richer. Find out more at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: LifeSiteNews.com NaturalNews.com FraserInstitute.org U.S. drone forced to make an emergency landing in Poland; Russian GPS jamming weapon blamed fAn MQ-9 Reaper drone owned by the United States made an emergency landing this week in Poland. Though no further details have been released, Poland's General Command of the Armed Forces tweeted that the piloted craft had to land suddenly after disconnecting from its command station. According to the Pentagon, the craft was "conducting routine training operations when it lost connection with the command station, affecting their ability to operate the aircraft." "Preparations for recovery are currently underway and investigation of the incident is in progress," said the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) in a statement to Newsweek. "We are thankful to our Polish partners for their assistance." The lost connection is believed by the West to be a result of Russian GPS-jamming technology that is said to be interfering with the Global Positioning System and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals throughout eastern Europe and in the greater Baltic region. "When an aircraft's GPS or GNSS is jammed, it can become confused as to where it's at," reported Knewz. "Many have pointed to the Russians as possible suspects for the alleged jamming. The area affected is between Russia and NATO members Poland and Lithuania around Kaliningrad." (Related: Putin just put the West on notice, warning that the "vampire ball is over.") WWIII brewing Kaliningrad serves as a strategic base for Russia's naval fleets. And Estonian Gen. Martin Herem, who heads up Estonia's Defense Forces, recently warned that Russia's ability to deploy electronic warfare against NATO from this particular spot is "quite strong." We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance. The drone incident in Poland marks the second time this past week that Russia was blamed for jamming GPS on a NATO aircraft. The first reportedly occurred when a Russian satellite signal is said to have interfered with an aircraft used by Britain Defense Minister Grant Shapps while he was traveling back home from Poland on March 13. "The aircraft's GPS signal was jammed for approximately 30 minutes as the plane flew near Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad," reports explain. Citing anonymous government sources and a handful of journalists, Reuters reported that mobile phones on the aircraft suddenly lost their internet connection, resulting in alternative means being used to determine the craft's location. "While travelling back from Poland yesterday, the plane carrying the Defense Secretary and his delegation temporarily experienced GPS jamming when they flew close to Kaliningrad," said a spokesperson for United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. "It didn't threaten the safety of the aircraft and it is not unusual for aircraft to experience GPS jamming near Kaliningrad, which is of course Russian territory," the spokesperson added, claiming that this type of incident is "not unusual." Back in early March, Knewz reported that Russia has been conducting these types of GPS jamming tests against NATO aircraft for two years. In early February, the same media outlet said Russia started testing out a satellite dish system called Tobol that has been jamming satellite position signals since April 2023. Several NATO countries say for sure the Kremlin is behind these GPS jamming incidents, which a Polish defense official added is meant to send a psychological message to the West. "Building an atmosphere of threat and a sense of helplessness in society is undoubtedly one of the goals that Russia is pursuing," the official is quoted as saying. As of March 6, there was reported to be a "high level" of GPS interference occurring between St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Estonian border. At least 10 percent of signals in the southeast of Finland are also seeing interference. Strangely, very little interference is occurring in Ukraine. The latest news about the West's war against Russia can be found at WWIII.news. Sources for this article include: Knewz.com Twitter.com NaturalNews.com GENOCIDE JOE: White House supported Israel despite knowing they were indiscriminately bombing civilians in Gaza State Department insiders have long been frustrated with President Joe Bidens support for Israel and its actions in Gaza following the Hamas massacre last October, and although the commander-in-chief has recently started to be more critical of Israel, a new report shows that Biden has known for a long time that they were bombing indiscriminately in Gaza. According to a report from the Washington Post, the White House has known since the end of October that Israel was regularly conducting bombing campaigns against civilian targets in Gaza, even as he publicly and quite steadfastly defended the Jewish states military actions. Multiple sources confirmed to the outlet that top foreign policy officials told the White House that Israel was regularly bombing buildings without solid intelligence that they were legitimate military targets in an Oct. 27 meeting. The day of the meeting, White House National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said the United States was not going to draw any red lines on Israels military response. Just two weeks earlier, Biden had visited Israel and said that they would not be alone as long as the United States stands. In the meeting, officials also cautioned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not have a clear plan for eradicating Hamas. One source told the Washington Post that they couldnt see how the Israelis would be able to pull off what they said they planned to do. Now that this meeting has come to light, it is even more difficult to understand why Biden was so eager to offer his unwavering support for Israel for so long. He has defended Israel at every opportunity, even as Netanyahu went against Americas wishes on issues ranging from letting aid into Gaza for civilians to accepting the possibility of a Palestinian state in the future. (Related: Netanyahu REJECTS call for creation of a Palestinian state, says Israel must control EVERYTHING "from the river to the sea.") We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Learn about our free, downloadable AI tools on nutrition, health and preparedness at this article link. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance. When Israel repeatedly bombed a Gaza refugee camp in November, the president did not criticize them, and their decision to bomb the biggest hospital in Gaza, Al Shifa, received public backing from the White House. At the time, Kirby told reporters: We have information that confirms that Hamas is using that particular hospital for a command-and-control mode. That is a war crime. The IDF raided Al Shifa a few hours later, causing the hospitals operations to collapse and leading to the death of more than 40 patients, including four premature babies. This drew condemnation from numerous human rights groups and the World Health Organization. On Jan. 14, Biden made himself look even worse by issuing a statement expressing his sorrow and sympathy on the 100th day of captivity for the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza while failing to mention the Palestinian death toll, which was upwards of 20,000 at the time. Bidens recent change of attitude toward Israel is too little, too late It is only recently that Biden has started to backtrack to some degree. One recent issue that is a big sticking point is Netanyahus declaration that Israel is planning to invade the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. With 1.5 million displaced Palestinians currently sheltering there, the stakes are extremely high. On Monday, March 18, Biden told Netanyahu over the phone that surging into Rafah would be a big mistake, while National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that Biden insisted that Israel send a team to Washington for consultations on more acceptable strategies. The Washington Post reported that many Biden allies have privately admitted the presidents stance on Israel has caused considerable harm to his reputation on a national and international scale and may prove to be one of the biggest foreign policy mistakes of his presidency. Sources for this article include: WashingtonPost.com RT.com At least 20 people died in Brazil, and thousands were evacuated due to threats of severe weather. bringing flooding, rainfall, and flash floods. As a result, residents in the mountainous areas of southeast Brazil should keep updated with the local weather forecasts, and wait until the weather conditions improve. Severe weather can result in flash flood threats. Deadly Flooding in Brazil: Latest Weather Reports Brazil residents braced for flooding and rainfall, according to the latest weather report. The forecast warned of a severe storm that also brought landslides to the region. Many residents were forced to evacuate to avoid the potential dangers. According to reports, the deadly flooding resulted in the following: At least 20 people were reported as casualties. 4,400 people were evacuated. 270 homes were affected. In the areas of Espirito Santo, residents struggled against the flooding. Rescuers helped the affected people. Search teams were also deployed to look for missing people. People are advised to check for road conditions and flooding risks before traveling In Rio de Janeiro, rescuers were deployed to assist with the flooded areas. Residents should be careful with falling debris and damaged homes. On the other hand, climate change could contribute to extreme weather events in Brazil, causing frequent rains and flooding. It can help exacerbate the impact of the weather, making it more challenging for vulnerable sectors and flood-prone areas. Brazil is no stranger to extreme weather events, from prolonged droughts to heavy rains, wildfires, and storms. In a Nature World News (NWN) report, the Amazon forests in the region could suffer from ecosystem collapse due to the increasing impacts of climate change-driven warming events. Also Read: Climate Change-Induced Drought Impacts Global Water Security, New Report Shows Flooding Preparedness and Safety The weather in Brazil brought significant rain concerns and risks due to a stormy outlook, according to recent forecasts. Here are essential precautions to keep safe from deadly flooding due to severe weather. Staying updated with local forecasts will keep people safe from floodwaters and challenging weather conditions. Having an emergency plan Residents in the affected areas should prepare emergency plans for troublesome weather conditions. The planning should include designating an emergency kit, and staying informed about evacuation areas. People should immediately keep away from flooded roads or areas, particularly low-lying communities. Emergency kits Evacuations are possible, and motorists are likely to become stranded due to stormy conditions. As a result, emergency kits will be helpful for homes and vehicles. Homeowners can prepare emergency supplies in advance in anticipation of strong storms. The recommended kits are the following: Battery-powered radio Flashlights Medicine supplies Bottled water Non-perishable food supplies Extra clothes Related Article: Amazon Extreme Drought Exposes Ancient Dozens of Rock Formations, Carvings For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News The United Nations reported that stress on water resources, which is exacerbated by the climate crisis as well as misuse and pollution of the world's freshwater systems, are major sources of local and regional conflict. Water Shortage And Conflict The 2024 edition of UN-Water's flagship annual report on water concerns discusses how establishing and preserving a secure and equitable water future supports prosperity and peace for all, as well as how poverty, inequality, social tensions, and war can exacerbate water insecurity. Access to water is critical in the confrontation between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Some observers have accused Israel of "weaponising" access to fresh water, citing Gaza's reliance on Israel for the majority of its water supply. In Gaza, hundreds of thousands of children are suffering from severe hunger or are on the verge of starvation, while a scarcity of potable water is increasing thirst and interfering with medical treatment and sanitation. According to the study's editor-in-chief, Rick Connor, water has frequently been used as a tool, target, or victim in battle, although it has rarely been the cause of war. "Disputes over water can arise when demand exceeds supply, availability is jeopardized by pollution, access to a water allotment is restricted, or water delivery and sanitation services are interrupted," he added. These challenges can range from legal challenges to violent altercations, and they frequently reflect event- and location-specific social, political, environmental, and demographic factors. Water shortages and tensions over water have led to forced migration, food insecurity, and other health hazards, with particular risks for women and girls, according to the report. International humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Convention, expressly prohibits the targeting of civilian water infrastructure. Read Also: US Facing Dire Water Scarcity on its Biggest Freshwater Reserves, Says New Study Women Suffers From Drought The report also says that 2.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and by 2022, over half of the world's population will have experienced at least temporarily severe water scarcity. As global temperatures rise, owing mostly to the use of fossil fuels, those figures are anticipated to worsen, as higher temperatures will bring more frequent and severe extreme weather events, including drought. Women and girls are the first to suffer when drought strikes impoverished and rural regions, and water strategies around the world need to reflect this. They are mostly responsible for water collection in poor and rural areas around the world, and a lack of proper sanitation contributes to girls dropping out of school and increases their vulnerability, as well as that of other women. According to the research, freshwater use has been increasing by less than 1% per year, with agriculture accounting for around 70% of freshwater withdrawals and industrial and home usage accounting for 20% and 10%, respectively. The United Nations has set a number of goals to guarantee that water, a critical source of life on Earth, stays available. These goals state that by 2030, there should be universal and equal access to clean and inexpensive drinking water, appropriate and equitable sanitation and hygiene, less water pollution, and increased water-use efficiency. Related Article: Water Crisis: UN Issues Warning Against 'Thirsty New Technologies' Disguising as Solutions to Depleting Water Resources According to information published by the EU on March 21, 2024, during its mission to safeguard merchant vessels in the South Red Sea, a French FREMM frigate from EUNAVFOR Aspides successfully intercepted and neutralized three ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link French FREMM frigate firing Aster missile. (Picture source: French MoD) The Aster missiles, however, are used in both naval and land-based air defense systems. For naval applications, the Aster missiles are part of the PAAMS (Principal Anti-Air Missile System), utilized on ships such as the Royal Navy's Type 45 destroyers and the Horizon-class frigates used by the French and Italian navies. The system onboard these ships is designed to track, target, and destroy incoming aerial threats using the Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. The process of intercepting a ballistic missile involves several critical steps. First, the threat is detected by the ship's or ground installation's radar systems, which track the missile's trajectory. The system then calculates an intercept course and launches an Aster missile to intercept the ballistic missile. The Aster missile's onboard guidance system adjusts its flight path as it receives updates from the radar system to ensure it remains on an intercept course with the incoming threat. Upon reaching the proximity of the ballistic missile, the Aster missile detonates its warhead, destroying the threat through a direct hit or blast fragmentation. Houthis arsenal The Houthi rebels in Yemen have assembled a arsenal of ballistic missiles and air defense systems through a combination of internal plunder, battlefield conquests, and external support, notably from Iran. This diverse cache not only originates from pre-existing Yemeni military supplies, including Soviet-era missiles, but has also been significantly bolstered by technological and material support from Tehran, marking a profound shift in the group's strategic capabilities. The Houthis have adeptly capitalized on Yemen's internal chaos, commandeering nearly 70% of the Yemeni government's military hardware, dating back to acquisitions from the Soviet Union. These stockpiles have been augmented through battlefield captures, notably weapons and equipment seized from Saudi forces and mistakenly dropped coalition supplies. Iran's contribution to the Houthi arsenal is undeniable, with tangible evidence linking Tehran to the supply of advanced missile technology. This includes an array of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and surface-to-air missiles, all bearing Iranian design and manufacturing hallmarks. Salman Khan arrives in his Pathani kurta at Baba Siddique's Iftar party Mumbai, March 24 S alman Khan made heads turn in his signature pathani kurta as he continued to follow the ritual of attending the annual iftaar party hosted by Baba Siddique and Zeeshan Siddique. Before heading to the red carpet, the 'Tiger 3' actor gave a hug to Baba Siddique. Salman wore a black and white chequered kurta that he paired with black pyjamas. Sporting a black and white chequered kurta set, the 'Dabangg' actor looked dapper in this traditional attire. Khan opted for a clean shaved look and just added his bracelet and a watch to make the fashion statement that overshadowed other celebrities present at the event. Salman's father Salim Khan also marked his presence and got clicked with the Siddique family. Like every year, this year too, a large number of film and television stars attended the party. Baba Siddiqui's annual Iftaar party is one of the most talked-about events in Bollywood. The party also holds a special space in SRK-Salman fans as this is where the two superstars buried their old rivalry by hugging each other in 2014. Meanwhile, Salman is currently basking in the success of his action thriller film 'Tiger 3'. Helmed by Maneesh Sharma, 'Tiger 3' was released in theatres on November 12, 2023. It is now streaming on Prime Video. The film also starred Katrina Kaif and Emraan Hashmi in the lead roles. Salman Khan is all set to join forces with AR Murugadoss and Sajid Nadiadwala for a very exciting film. Reportedly, he will be next seen in director Vishnuvardhan's upcoming film 'The Bull'. However, an official announcement of the film is still awaited. He also has 'Tiger vs Pathaan' in his kitty with superstar Shah Rukh Khan. Salman Khan arrives in his Pathani kurta at Baba Siddique's Iftar party Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Ahmedabad, March 25 I n a match of comebacks, Jasprit Bumrah made a sensational return to IPL action after a year, but his brilliant effort was overshadowed by two-wicket overs each by Spencer Johnson and Umesh Yadav off the last two overs as Gujarat Titans won a nerve-wrecking thriller by six runs to start their Indian Premier League 2024 campaign on a winning note at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday. The match looked going Mumbai Indians' way after Bumrah claimed 3-14 in a sensational display of pace bowling and David Coetzee took 2-27 to restrict Gujarat Titans to 168/6. With Rohit Sharma and Dewald Brevis hitting 43 and 46 respectively, Mumbai Indians looked cruising towards victory at the halfway stage after Hardik Pandya had won the toss and elected to field first. Despite dew making things difficult, Gujarat Titans fought back brilliantly, and Mohit Sharma, Spencer Johnson, and Umesh Yadav bowled brilliantly in the death overs to snatch an unlikely victory leaving Mumbai Indians thinktank tearing their hair as they failed to win their first match once again. Rohit and Brevis had taken Mumbai Indians from 30/2 to 107 when the former Mumbai Indians captain fell for 43 to Sai Kishore and when Brevis got out for 46 at 129/4, Mumbai needed 40-odd runs in 25 balls and looked on course to win their first match for the first time since 2012. But the first-match jinx continued as Gujarat Titans came back strongly at the death and secured a brilliant win. Playing in front of around 80,000-plus spectators cheering for the home team, Mumbai Indians lost control of the proceedings and could manage only 162/9 in their 20 overs, losing a last-over thriller. Spencer Johnson and Umesh Yadav claimed two wickets each in the 19th and 20th overs as Mumbai Indians failed to get 27 runs off 12 balls. With spinners Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan setting up a close finish with superb bowling, youngsters Tilak Verma and Tim David got bogged down and allowed some dot balls. With 27 needed off the last two overs, Verma hammered Spencer Johnson for a six over long-on but was out off the next ball, flicking it straight to the deep backward square where substitute fielder Abhinav Manohar took a good catch. David Coetzee and Hardik Pandya scored a single each before Coetzee was out off the last ball of the match, caught and bowled by Spencer, leaving Mumbai Indians in the lurch. With 19 needed from the last six balls Pandya struck a six and four off Umesh Yadav. But the experienced pacer had the last laugh as he sent back the Mumbai Indians skipper, caught near the boundary by Tewatia with a well-directed bouncer. Hardik got out for 11 off 4, leaving Mumbai Indians needing nine off 3 balls. Piyush Chawla shot it straight to Rashid Khan at mid-wicket off another short ball by Umesh Yadav off the next delivery and Mumbai Indians eventually fell short by six runs. Chasing a decent target of 169 with the dew expected to play a big role, Mumbai Indians lost Kishan Kishan (0) early but Rohit Sharma kept them in the hunt with a measured innings, mixing caution with some superb strokes. He and Brevis maintained the tempo as they raised 77 runs for the third wicket. Earlier, the focus was on two players -- both of whom were returning to Mumbai Indians after a long period. Hardik Pandya joined the five-time champions from Gujarat Titans, whom he led to the title in 2022, and was made the captain in place of Rohit Sharma while Bumrah missed the 2023 season because of an injury. Incidentally, both Pandya and Bumrah were born in Gujarat and are playing together for Mumbai Indians against a team from their home state. Bumrah provided Mumbai Indians the breakthrough by bowling Wriddhiman Saha for 19 off 15 balls (4x4) after he and Shubman Gill had added 31 runs for the first wicket. Bumrah then returned for his second spell and claimed the wickets of the dangerous David Miller (12) and top-scorer Sai Sudharsan in one over as he put the brakes on the Gujarat Titans innings. Bumrah bowled superbly, mixing things up as he conceded only one boundary and bowled 14 dot balls. Gerald Coetzee was the other Mumbai Indian bowler, of the seven that were used on the night, to get to bowl his quota of four overs, claiming 2-27 as he got crucial wickets at the end of the Gujarat innings. Veteran spinner Piyush Chawla was also in his element as he claimed the prized scalp of Shubman Gill, getting the Gujarat Titans skipper to hurry with a quick one and Rohit Sharma took a simple catch to make it 64/2. Gill was the top scorer for Gujarat Titans in the 2023 edition and has done well for the country too in the last 12 months. Gill's knock of 31 lasted 22 balls and was studded with three boundaries and one six. Sai Sudharsan kept Gujarat Titans afloat with a superb 39-ball 45 as Azmatullah Omarzai (17) and David Miller played alongside him to keep Gujarat Titans' scoring rate high. But Bumrah changed the complexion of the match with his superb over as he sent back both David Miller, foxed by a slower one and Pandya picked a good catch running back, and then hurt Titans by sending back Sai Sudharsan with a full delivery on middle stump -- Tilak Verma pouched it with a diving catch. Coetzee claimed Omarzai and Rahul Tewatia, who blasted a couple of big sixes in his 15-ball Tewatia to restrict Gujarat Titans to 168/6. However, in the end, the Mumbai Indians middle-order failed to capitalise on the platform provided by Rohit and Brevis as Gujarat Titans bowlers worked their magic. Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 168/6 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 45, Shubman Gill 31; Jasprit Bumrah 3-14, David Coetzee 2-27) beat Mumbai Indians 162/9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 43, Dewald Brevis 46, Tilak Verma 25; Spencer Johnson 2-25, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-26, Umesh Yasdav 2-31, Mohit Sharma 2-32) by six runs. IPL 2024: Spencer, Umesh, Mohit overshadow Bumrah as Gujarat Titans beat Mumbai Indians by six runs Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mark Wahlberg opens up on Scorsese, hair extensions and 'The Departed' Los Angeles, March 25 H ollywood star Mark Wahlberg has talked about Martin Scorseses 2006 film 'The Departed'. Appearing on the March 14 episode of Josh Horowitzs Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor said that he was a little upset about a couple things while filming the thriller. The film also features Leonardo DiCaprio, Vera Farmiga, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Alec Baldwin. But look, it all worked out in the end," Wahlberg said, adding he had another movie lined up after 'The Departed', reports deadline.com. "Originally, I was supposed to play another part. Originally, I was supposed to get paid. The actor added: I was going into 'Invincible' after. I was trying to grow my hair out, which is why I had that weird hair." The actor earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for 'The Departed'. But I completely understand where Marty was coming from," Wahlberg continued. "He had to deal with Jack, he had to deal with Matt and Leo and Alex and everything, the studio and everybody else who was in the cast. And then I was supposed to be in and out in five weeks." Wahlberg recalled how he went off to shoot Invincible, "got my hair extensions, came back and they're like, Oh, you gotta take out the extensions'." The actor wanted to avoid removing the extensions, as it took eight hours to put them on. So we had a couple issues But, you know, ultimately, I think when I read that particular role, I was like, OK, this is a good role. This is an opportunity for me to really go off and have some fun'," Wahlberg said. Mark Wahlberg opens up on Scorsese, hair extensions and 'The Departed' Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, March 25 A ctress Taapsee Pannu, who is known for 'Baby', 'Pink', 'Manmarziyaan' and others, has married her long-term boyfriend, Mathias Boe. The two reportedly tied the nuptial knot in Udaipur on Saturday. As per media reports, the ceremonies began on Wednesday. Their families and close friends attended the ceremony. Actor Pavail Gulati, who has worked with Taapsee in 'Thappad' and 'Dobaara' joined the wedding celebrations along with auteur Anurag Kashyap, who is also Taapsee's good friend. Screenwriting couple Kanika Dhillon and Himanshu Sharma were also at the event. However, her representatives didn't give any official confirmation when IANS reached out to them. Taapsee Pannu marries long-time beau Mathias Boe in intimate ceremony Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Mumbai, March 25 A ctor Preity Zinta celebrated the festival of colours 'Holi' with her husband Gene Goodenough. On Monday, the 'Veer-Zaara' actor took to Instagram and dropped pictures of the celebration. She wrote, "Happy Holi to all of you who celebrate. May this festival of colour bring joy, happiness & peace to you & your family. Love & light always #Happyholi #Throwback #Ting." https://www.instagram.com/p/C47UPxzuqoM/?img_index=4 The fans chimed in the comment section with sweet and heartfelt wishes. A user wrote, "HAPPY HOLI Dear." Another fan commented, "Wishing you and your family Very Happy Holi." On November 11, 2021, Preity and Gene welcomed their twins, a baby boy named Jai and a baby girl named Gia, via surrogacy. Meanwhile, on the work front, Preity will be seen sharing screen space with Sunny Deol in director Rajkumar Santoshi's film 'Lahore 1947'. The update was confirmed by Santoshi via his quote in a statement. "After a long time, Preity Zinta is again playing a very important role for the silver screen with Lahore 1947. She is indeed an extremely talented, finest, and most natural actress in our industry. Whichever character she plays she totally invests herself in it and makes the audience feel that she is made for that character. Interestingly, the audience will see her again with Sunny Deol. This on-screen pair has always been immensely loved by the audience. Above all, this film script demands a pair that is as accurate as Sunny and Preity," Santoshi shared. 'Lahore 1947' is produced under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions. This project marks the teaming up of Sunny Deol, Rajkumar Santoshi along with Aamir Khan. Interestingly, this film will also mark Aamir Khan Productions' (AKP) 17th production under their banner. The film also marks the reunion of Preity and Sunny after a long time. The duo has earlier featured together in a couple of films such as 'The Hero: Love Story of a Spy', 'Farz', and 'Bhaiaji Superhit'. Preity Zinta drops pictures from her Holi celebration Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! Coffee may help lower risk of Parkinsons disease: Study New Delhi, March 25 L ove your morning dose of coffee? Well, it may help you avoid the risk of Parkinsons disease, claims a study. The study, published online in the April issue of the journal Neurology, included 1,84,024 people aged 35-70 years, who were followed up for a median duration of 13.1 years. The findings showed that the highest coffee consumers had 37 per cent reduced risk of getting Parkinsons disease, compared to those who do not drink. "This study demonstrates that the neuroprotection of coffee on Parkinson's disease is attributed to caffeine and its metabolites by detailed quantification of plasma caffeine and its metabolites years before diagnosis," said the researchers from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Further, drinking caffeinated coffee lowered risk of the neurodegenerative disease by 43 per cent. The team, however, found no association with decaffeinated coffee. "Good news for coffee lovers. Caffeinated coffee consumption over a long-term has the potential to lower the risk of Parkinson's disease," Dr Sudhir Kumar, a neurologist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, wrote on X. "Neuroprotective effect leading to lower risk of Parkinsons Disease was attributed to caffeine and metabolites such as theophylline and paraxanthine," he explained. Coffee may help lower risk of Parkinsons disease: Study Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us! 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. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, researchers assessed the long-term psychiatric effects and vaccination's role on mental health in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors using United Kingdom (UK) Biobank data. Study: Long-term risk of psychiatric disorder and psychotropic prescription after SARS-CoV-2 infection among UK general population. Image Credit: DesignPrax / Shutterstock Background To date, the global health crisis caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2) has resulted in over 774 million cases and 7 million deaths. The virus affects the respiratory system and has significant implications for metabolic, renal, and cardiovascular health during and post-infection. Additionally, an increase in neurological and psychiatric disorders among both severe and mild COVID-19 cases has been documented. However, existing studies, mainly based on electronic health records (EHR), face limitations due to potential biases and the lack of comprehensive data on factors like vaccination. The effectiveness of vaccination in reducing long-term psychiatric complications remains unclear, highlighting the need for further research to understand COVID-19's extended mental health impacts and the protective benefits of vaccination. About the study The present study utilized data from the UK Biobank, with participants providing written informed consent. The UK Biobank recruited over 500,000 individuals aged 40-70 from the UK, gathering extensive baseline data and following participants through linkage to health records. SARS-CoV-2 infection data came from Public Health England's microbiology database, while information on psychiatric diagnoses and prescriptions was sourced from health statistics and prescription databases. Participants were categorized into different groups based on their SARS-CoV-2 infection status and test results. The infection group included those with a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2, while contemporary controls were individuals with no evidence of infection. A historical control group provided a pre-pandemic comparison, and an additional group included participants with negative SARS-CoV-2 tests. The study focused on psychiatric outcomes, identifying disorders and prescriptions for psychotropic medications. Mental health outcomes were analyzed both as new incidents and as part of ongoing or recurrent conditions, adjusting for a range of covariates to account for potential confounding factors. Statistical analyses employed propensity score weighting and matching to balance baseline characteristics across groups, using Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate risks and incidence rates of mental health conditions. Subgroup analyses explored the impact of demographic factors and COVID-19-related contextual factors, including vaccination status and testing settings, on psychiatric outcomes. Sensitivity analyses and the use of positive and negative outcome controls aimed to validate the study's design and findings, assessing the robustness of the results and the potential for bias. Study results In the study, researchers focused on 26,101 participants who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, compared against 380,337 contemporary controls and 390,621 historical controls. The study tracked the incidence of psychiatric diagnoses and psychotropic prescription usage over a median follow-up period of around a year. Initial analyses revealed significant demographic and health disparities between the COVID-19 group and the contemporary controls, which were later balanced through weighting techniques to ensure accurate comparisons. The study's findings were alarming, indicating a heightened risk of various psychiatric disorders among COVID-19 survivors, including psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders, with notable increases in prescriptions for antipsychotics, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, mood stabilizers, and opioids. Particularly, mood disorders such as depressive episodes and anxiety disorders like panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder were more prevalent among those who had contracted COVID-19. Substance use disorders showed a marginal increase, with a specific rise in alcohol use disorder, while the risk of sleep disorders also saw an uptick. These trends persisted across several subgroup analyses, affirming the consistency of the increased risk of psychiatric outcomes across different demographic segments. When delving into the details of infection settings and vaccination statuses, the research highlighted a complex picture where non-breakthrough infections (those occurring in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals) presented a higher risk for both new and recurring mental health issues. Interestingly, breakthrough infections did not significantly alter the risk profile for psychiatric diagnoses, although they did correlate with an increased likelihood of psychotropic medication prescriptions. Further comparisons with the historical control group reinforced the study's initial findings, showcasing a broad increase in mental health risks for COVID-19 survivors. However, when the infected cohort was matched against a test-negative control group, the results became more subtle, with no significant differences in the risk for psychotropic prescriptions, hinting at the complex interplay between COVID-19, mental health, and healthcare behaviors. The study's robust methodology extended to the application of positive and negative outcome controls, validating its findings against known long-COVID symptoms such as fatigue and dyspnoea and ensuring no significant associations were found with unrelated health outcomes like skin neoplasms and follicular cysts. Sensitivity analyses further solidified the primary conclusions, demonstrating the heightened risk of psychiatric disorders in COVID-19 survivors, particularly those diagnosed in a hospital setting, and underscored the urgent need for targeted mental health interventions for this vulnerable population. Scientists report they have extracted a compound with powerful antibacterial properties from the skin of farmed African catfish. Although additional testing is necessary to prove the compound is safe and effective for use as future antibiotic, the researchers say it could one day represent a potent new tool against antimicrobial-resistant bacteria such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli. Hedmon Okella is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, and led the project. The global public health threat due to antimicrobial resistance necessitates the search for safe and effective new antibacterial compounds. In this case, fish-derived antimicrobial peptides present a promising source of potential leads." Hedmon Okella, postdoctoral researcher, University of California, Davis Okella will present the new research at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which is being held March 2326 in San Antonio. For the study, the researchers extracted several peptides (short chains of amino acids) from African catfish skin mucus and used machine learning algorithms to screen them for potential antibacterial activity. They then chemically synthesized the most promising peptide, called NACAP-II, and tested its efficacy and safety on ESBL-E. coli and mammalian blood cells, respectively. These tests showed that NACAP-II caused the bacteria to break open, or lyse, without appearing to harm the mammalian blood cells. "Preliminary findings indicate that this promising peptide candidate potentially disrupts the bacterial cell envelope to cause lysis at a very low concentration," Okella said. The place where the peptide was found -; in the mucus on the skin of farmed African catfish -; is not as unlikely as it may seem. As anyone who has tried to hold one can attest, fish are enveloped in a slippery layer of mucus. This mucus is known to protect the fish against infections by physically carrying germs off of the skin and by producing antimicrobial compounds such as the one Okella's team isolated. Many existing medicines are based on compounds that were first found in nature, and scientists speculate that marine and aquatic organisms represent a particularly rich -; though largely untapped -; source of bioactive compounds. As a next step, the researchers plan to study the peptide's effects in animal models and explore strategies to produce it inexpensively. "We are currently utilizing chemical synthesis to upscale the production of this peptide that we believe will one day be of use as drug candidate in the battle against antimicrobial resistance," Okella said. A newly developed compound is showing promise in animal studies as a more effective treatment for human schistosomiasis, an understudied tropical disease caused by parasitic worms. The spread of schistosomiasis, a disease responsible for nearly 12,000 deaths globally each year, has been documented in 78 nations. Although schistosomiasis transmission tends to occur in tropical and subtropical areas, climate change could shift it into new areas such as southern Europe. There is currently no vaccine available for the disease, which comes with severe clinical symptoms. The drug praziquantel is used for treatment. However, resistant mutations are reducing praziquantel's efficacy, and the drug doesn't kill the larval-stage parasites. Sevan N. Alwan, an assistant professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, led the research team. The infection can become reactivated when the larva develop into adult parasites, which comes with more severe symptoms and higher transmission rates. The compound we developed overcomes the limitations of praziquantel by being effective against the larval stage and resistant strains." Sevan N. Alwan, Assistant Professor, The University of Texas Health Science Center Alwan will present the research at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which will be held March 2326 in San Antonio. "In recent reports, the cure rates for praziquantel were 60% in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease is highly endemic," said Alwan. "The drug limitations strongly warrant the need for new therapeutics with a distinctly different mechanism of action to reach a better cure rate." The new compound was developed as part of the research team's effort to design, synthesize and test reengineered derivatives of oxamniquine, which was previously used to treat patients with parasite but is no longer used due to drug resistance and limited effectiveness. The researchers developed and tested 350 compounds. Five of these killed human Schistosoma species as well as a praziquantel-resistant strain in animal models. One of these compounds, called CIDD-0149830, also killed larval parasites in experiments with cultured cells and a mouse model of the disease. In experimental groups of five female mice each, the number of larval worms was reduced by 71.7% with CIDD-0149830, while praziquantel reduced them by only 21.1%. The study also showed that CIDD-0149830 reduced the number of eggs more effectively. "In addition to being effective against the larval stage and resistant strains, CIDD-0149830 also overcomes the limitation of oxamniquine by being effective against two major species of the parasite in animal models and can effectively treat mixed infection by these two species," Alwan said. Although the new results are promising, the researchers caution that they must still determine dosing for humans and perform safety and toxicity studies to make sure the treatment is safe for human use. They also plan to conduct experiments with male and female mice to assess whether sex influences the outcome of worm burden and morbidity. A new study examining cholesteryl esters suggests that periods of prolonged inactivity may affect people differently depending on their age. Cholesteryl esters -; which consist of cholesterol molecules bonded with fatty acids -; store and transport cholesterol throughout the body. As people get older, their risk of being hospitalized or bedridden increases. These long periods of inactivity come with a host of negative health effects such as reduced insulin function and loss of lean muscle, bone mass and strength. Scientists are working to better understand the biology involved in these changes so that therapies can be developed that reduce the negative consequences of physical inactivity. Trevor Romsdahl, a research scientist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, led a recent study. We measured the cholesteryl esters from blood plasma collected during bed-rest studies focused on middle-aged and older adults. To our knowledge no study has measured the specific molecular species of cholesteryl esters during a bedrest study. Most other work has focused on measuring low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations." Trevor Romsdahl, research scientist, University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston Romsdahl will present the research at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which is being held March 2326 in San Antonio. Cholesteryl esters are important in key biological processes such as lipid metabolism, cellular function and overall maintenance of health. Dysregulation of cholesteryl ester metabolism can play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders. "There's very little information on the biological significance of cholesteryl esters with different fatty acids, which differ in terms of chain length and degrees of unsaturation," Romsdahl said. "Also, much of the research examining cholesterol changes and bed rest has been done in younger adults." For the new study, Romsdahl's team partnered with Emily J. ArentsonLantz, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, to analyze plasma samples she acquired in bed-rest studies that were focused on middle-aged and older adults. To measure specific molecular species of cholesteryl esters, the team developed a sensitive analysis method based on liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. It involved using a highly hydrophobic C30 liquid chromatography column to separate different cholesteryl ester species based on what fatty acid they contained. The analysis showed that during bed rest several cholesteryl esters tended to increase in middle-aged subjects but decrease in older adults. However, the researchers observed similar changes in middle-aged and older adults when post-recovery levels were compared with prebed-rest levels. "More research is needed to better understand the biological significance of these results and what effect they may have on health," Romsdahl said. "However, it is possible that altering or supplementing meals with certain fatty acids versus others could subtly shift the cholesteryl ester species to a healthier profile." As an investor myself, I understand the importance of diversification in investment portfolios. Diversification is the process of spreading investments across different asset classes, sectors, and geographies to minimise risk and maximise returns. It is a crucial strategy that helps investors achieve their long-term financial goals while mitigating the risks associated with short-term market fluctuations. Between April 2023 and January 2024, Indian investors put 17.66 lakh crore rupees in bank deposits, 3.96 lakh crore rupees in mutual funds, and 2.27 lakh crore rupees in small savings, totalling 23.89 lakh crore rupees. Also Read: 5 Key Real Estate Investment Tips For Women Strategies for a diverse portfolio Building wealth requires calculated risks, but spreading those risks across a diverse array of assets is paramount for a secure financial future. Over the years, Ive seen first-hand the power of diversification in helping Indian investors navigate the dynamic and often unpredictable financial landscape. Asset Allocation: This is the foundation of diversification. It involves dividing your investable corpus across different asset classes like equity (stocks), gold, fixed income (bonds), real estate, and commodities. The ideal allocation depends on your risk tolerance, investment horizon, and financial goals. A young investor with a high-risk tolerance might allocate a larger portion to equities, while someone nearing retirement might prioritise the stability of bonds Sector Selection: Spread your equity investments across various sectors like technology, healthcare, and financials. This ensures that your portfolio is not overly reliant on the performance of any single industry. Consider a systematic investment plan (SIP): Driven by the consistent growth of systematic investment plans (SIPs), the mutual fund industrys assets under management (AUM) reached an all-time high of Rs 50 trillion in December 2023. Notably, SIP-linked AUM accounted for Rs 10 trillion of the total AUM at the end of 2023. SIP allows you to invest a fixed amount in mutual funds at fixed intervals, making it ideal for those who cant invest a large sum at once. You can start with as little as Rs 500 and develop a disciplined investment strategy. Geographic Diversification: Investing in stocks from different geographies, such as the United States, Europe, Asia, and Emerging Markets, adds to your diversified investments. In 2021, Indian investment in the US experienced a significant surge, with a growth rate of over 200% compared to 2020. This increase was accompanied by a substantial rise in the number of transacting investors, which grew by over 250%. As a result, the total volume of investments doubled, reaching nearly $500 million in 2021 based on certain platforms that enable Indians to invest in US stocks. This provides exposure to different growth patterns and economic cycles, potentially mitigating the risks associated with solely domestic holdings. Commercial real estate: Commercial real estate delivers steady income (6-8% annual rent) with potential for capital appreciation in the value of the property. This combines bond-like income with stock-like appreciation. Consider adding high-quality properties to a well-rounded portfolio. Risk management: To manage risk, investors should assess their risk tolerance, which is their willingness and ability to withstand potential losses for higher returns. Risk tolerance is influenced by factors like financial situation, goals, and time horizon. Knowing ones risk tolerance helps investors create a portfolio that matches their comfort level and avoids excessive risk. Benefits of Rebalancing portfolio Rebalancing a portfolio periodically can help minimise risk and optimise returns. It helps maintain a well-balanced portfolio by preventing over-concentration in certain asset classes, which can increase the risk of loss. Rebalancing also allows investors to take advantage of market movements and enhance overall portfolio performance by selling assets that have performed well and buying assets that have underperformed. Additionally, rebalancing provides a disciplined approach to portfolio management, helping investors stay focused on their long-term investment goals and avoid emotional decision-making based on short-term market fluctuations. Diversifying Your Portfolio for a Vibrant Financial Future Just like during Holi, where colours are thrown to create a vibrant, balanced mixture, rebalancing your portfolio brings harmony to your investments. It ensures your assets are in the right proportions, like the perfect blend of reds, blues, and greens. So this Holi, celebrate not just with colours, but with a well-diversified investment portfolio that sets you on the path to achieving your long-term financial goals. -The author is the COO at Tradejini. Views expressed are personal. Analysts expect global cues and foreign investor activity to steer the stock market this week, which is shortened by a holiday. Key indexes could experience choppy trading due to the monthly derivatives expiry on Thursday. Holi Stock Market Holiday This week markets will have just three trading sessions. Equity markets will remain closed on Monday for Holi and on Friday for Good Friday. The Indian stock market will not be open on Monday, March 26th, 2024. The markets are closed in observance of Holi, a major holiday in India. They will resume trading on Tuesday, March 27th. Heres some additional information about the stock market closure: Reason for Closure: The closure is due to Holi, a widely celebrated festival in India. Duration of Closure: The stock market will be closed for the entire day on Monday, March 26th, 2024. Reopening: Trading will resume on Tuesday, March 27th, 2024, with regular hours (typically 9:15 am to 3:30 pm IST). Impacted Exchanges: This closure applies to major exchanges like the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India. Market Trends This week will be shorter due to market closure on both Monday for Holi and Friday for Good Friday. As a result, trading volumes may be lower with limited market cues. However, volatility remains a possibility as we approach the March F&O expiry and the financial year-end, Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart Ltd, said. Last week, the BSE benchmark climbed 188.51 points or 0.25 per cent, and the Nifty went up by 73.4 points or 0.33 per cent. This week being a truncated week and the derivatives monthly expiry, we might see some volatility while Nifty is likely to consolidate at higher levels. Also, the US GDP data and other key economic data would keep investors busy, Siddhartha Khemka, Head Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said. Movement in global oil benchmark Brent crude and rupee-dollar trend would also be watched by investors. The rupee depreciated 48 paise to settle at an all-time low of 83.61 against the American currency on Friday, tracking a surging greenback against major crosses in the overseas markets and weak Asian peers. The rupee had earlier recorded its lowest closing level of 83.40 on December 13, 2023. Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said foreign institutional investors offloading shares coupled with a sharp fall in the currency level has been indicating that the road ahead for equity markets could be bumpy. This week is a holiday-shortened one and we expect volatility to remain high due to the scheduled expiry of March month derivatives contracts. Besides, participants will continue to take cues from the global indices, especially the US markets, which are moving from strength to strength with every passing week, Ajit Mishra, SVP Technical Research at Religare Broking Ltd, said. (With PTI inputs) Board examinations 2024 are about to conclude across several state and central boards. The Bihar and UP board exams for 2024 are over. CBSE board exams will end in the first week of April. Uttarakhand and UP board candidates are now waiting for the results. Evaluation of copies of the UP Board exam has also started. However, due to Holi, the evaluation process of board exam copies will remain closed for three days and resume after March 26. Bihar Board 12th Result 2024 has also been declared. Bihar Board 12th Result 2024 was released on March 23. This year, the results were better compared to last year. Know when the UK, CBSE, UP, and Bihar Board 10th results 2024 will be released. Bihar Board: The 10th exam was held between February 15 to February 23, 2024. Every year, the Bihar Board first releases the 12th result and then the 10th. This year also, BSEB followed the same pattern. Information was given in the Bihar Board press conference that the matric result will be released after Holi, that is, by March 31, 2024. The latest updates can be checked on the official website of BSEB biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in. UP Board: The exam was held between February 22 and March 09, 2024. The evaluation of board exam copies has already begun and will continue till March 31. This year more than 55 lakh students appeared for the UP Board 10th and 12th exams. Only after this, will UPMSP release any update on the result time and date. To check UP Board Result 2024, students have to go to upmsp.edu.in. Last year, the UP Board declared the results of classes 10th and 12th on the same day. Uttarakhand board: The exam was held between February 27 and March 16, 2024. According to Uttarakhand Education Director Mahavir Singh Bisht, the evaluation of Uttarakhand Board exam copies will start on March 27, 2024, and will end on April 10, 2024. Uttarakhand Board Result will be released on April 30, 2024. Uttarakhand Board 10th and 12th results are expected to be released simultaneously, that is, on the same day. Once out, it will be available at ubse.uk.gov.in. ALSO READ | CBSE Releases Syllabus For Classes 10, 12 For Academic Year 2024-25 CBSE: The Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE 10th examination was held between February 15 and March 13, 2024. The evaluation process has also started. On the other hand, the CBSE Board 12th exams are still going on and will end on April 2, 2024. Only after that will the process of evaluation of copies begin. At present, there is no update regarding CBSE Board Result 2024 but it is believed that the board will release the results of both the classes in May. Students can visit cbse.gov.in for the latest updates on CBSE result time and date. The admit card for the BSEB Bihar D.El.Ed 2024 exam has been released by the Bihar School Examination Board. The Diploma in Elementary Education or (D.EI.Ed) entrance exam 2024 has been released on the official website at secondary.biharboardonline.com. Candidates must use their registration number and password to log in to the official website. The admit cards will contain all the important instructions for the exam day including the timings, things you should carry, and the dress code. The BSEB Bihar D.El.Ed 2024 exam has been scheduled from March 30 to April 28. The exam will be conducted in multiple centres across various cities including Patna, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Sara (Chapra), Siwan, Darbhanga, Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Purnia. The exam will take place in two shifts. The first shift will be held from 10 am to 12:30 pm whereas the second shift will be conducted from 3 pm to 5:30 pm. BSEB BIHAR D.El.Ed ADMIT CARD 2024: HOW TO DOWNLOAD? These are the steps that candidates must follow to download their Bihar D.El.Ed without any hassles Step 1: Firstly, candidates will have to visit the official BSEB website at secondary.biharboardonline.com. Step 2: Click on the link that reads Bihar D.El.Ed Admit Card 2024 on the homepage. Step 3: Now you will be asked by the website to enter your login details and then hit the submit button. Step 4: A new page should now open on your computer where you can check the admit card details. Step 5: Check for any inaccuracies in the details. Step 6: Once checked, download the card and save it as a PDF document on your computer. Step 7: Taking a printout is also advised you will have to carry it to the centre on exam day. BSEB BIHAR D.El.Ed 2024: EXAM PATTERN The BSEB Bihar D.El.Ed 2024 exam will be conducted in a computer-based test (CBT) mode. The exam will comprise 120 multiple-choice questions that carry one mark each. Candidates will be allotted a total time of 2 hours and 30 minutes to finish their papers. Candidates must note that there will be no negative marking for any question answered incorrectly in this test. Standing firm in its stronghold, the United Left bagged three major positions in the central panel in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union (JNUSU) polls, defeating the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), its major opponent, in a comfortable victory, results to which were announced late on Sunday evening. The fourth candidate from Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), who was elected to the post of general secretary, is also a Left-supported candidate. Re-establishing its dominance in the university, the Left alliance stomped on the hopes of the ABVP, which during the initial trends emerged as the leading party in all four seats, only to be later giving way to the Red flagbearers, as the counting progressed. The first few rounds of counting showing ABVP ahead of the Left alliance threw a surprise as well as speculations of a saffron sweep, which if it had been the case would have been the biggest development in several decades in a varsity where Left-leaning communist parties have been in the central panel for the longest time while the right wing has supposedly won only once since the polls are being contested. JNUSU polls were held after a gap of four years owing to the pandemic-induced lockdown, and later, the process of PhD admissions. The last student body election here was held in 2019 when it was a Left sweep on all four seats. The ABVP, which has had a higher vote share in the student body polls since 2015 had been hoping of bagging some of the major seats this time on the back of new voters. Post-2015, the Left parties such as the Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Association (AISA), Democratic Students Federation (DSF), and All India Students Federation (AISF), have been contesting the polls as one unit under the umbrella of United Left alliance. A Dalit president in 27 years According to JNUs Chairperson of the Election Committee (CEC), a total of 5,656 ballots were counted to the final tally. The United Lefts candidate Dhananjay, a Dalit, was elected as the president of the students union in at least 27 years, bagged a total of 2598 votes, defeating ABVPs Umesh Chandra Ajmeera by 922 votes. A PhD scholar from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, he hails from Bihar and is the son of a retired policeman. The vice-presidents post was also bagged by Left-SFIs Avijit Ghosh, gaining a total of 2409 votes, beating ABVPs Deepika Sharma by 927 votes. United left-supported BAPSA candidate Priyanshi Arya won by 926 votes while Left-AISAs Mohammad Sajid won the joint secretarys position by 508 votes. The United Left has had funds cut for infrastructural projects and rampant privatisation on its agenda. Dhananjay in his presidential speech ahead of the polls had spoken essentially about the livelihood crisis being faced by landless labourers in many rural parts of the country, including states like Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. However, the trailing ABVP emerged as the single largest party in the student body polls with a much higher vote share this time as compared to previous years. We believe in the fact that the three different manifestoes Women, Science and Combined released by us with real issues like women safety, timely release of fellowships and completion of hostel buildings, among others on agenda resonated largely with the students and our vote share has only increased. Even though we lost, we will keep working on the issues faced by students, as we have them on our agenda, said Ambuj Mishra, national media co-convener, ABVP, and a PhD scholar at JNU. This was the first time that the ABVP came out with three different manifestoes in JNU, something it had first experimented with in the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) polls in 2019. It had garnered good results for us in DU. We will keep working on the issues highlighted in our manifestos, Mishra added. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be leaving no stone unturned to silence one of its fiercest critics, Mahua Moitra. While Trinamool Congress candidate West Bengals Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat remains embroiled in controversy over the cash-for-query case, BJP has fielded a literal royal against her. In its fifth list of candidates comprising 111 names released on Sunday, BJP named Amrita Roy, the Rajmata of the Rajbari (Bengali term for royal palace) of Krishnanagar, as its candidate from the constituency. Roy, who belongs to the Nadia royal family, joined the party last week. Poll experts believe Roys candidature will help the BJP put up a strong fight against Moitra, as the Nadia royal family is cherished in the eastern state even today, thanks to the legacy of Maharaja Krishna Chandra Roys 55-year rule before British rule. For locals, Roy is a familiar yet influential face, which could help the BJP gain force in Krishnanagar. However, BJPs battle wont be easy as TMC has held the seat since 2009, when Tapas Paul took it off the CPIM, which ruled the state unchallenged from 1971 to 1999. Experts believe the Left and the Congress are unlikely to be a contender in this election too, leaving a straight fight between Moitra and the Rajmata. Moita, 49, won the Krishnanagar constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after Mamata Banerjees party denied ticket to Paul, who was in jail for 13 months in connection with the Rs 17,000-crore Rose Valley chit-fund scam. The former investment banker, in her maiden Lok Sabha election, defeated BJPs Kalyan Chaubey by a massive margin of 63,218. Since then, she has not looked by and emerged as one of the saffron partys staunchest critics, with impassioned speeches in Parliament and sharply worded jabs on social media. Moitra suffered a little setback when she was expelled from Lok Sabha on charges of corruption some four months back. However, her party has rallied firmly to her side, with Mamata Banerjee calling her sacking a murder of democracy Dempo Industries executive director Pallavi Dempo is the first woman candidate in BJPs poll history in Goa who will contest Lok Sabha elections on the party ticket. The BJP on Sunday declared Dempos candidature from South Goa in its latest list of 111 candidates for general elections. A Goan entrepreneur and educationist, Dempo holds a graduate degree in chemistry and a postgraduate degree in business management (MBA) from MIT, Pune. The 49-year-old entrepreneur oversees the media and real estate arm of Dempo Industries as its executive director. The South Goa seat is currently represented by Congress leader Francisco Sardinha. The BJP had won this constituency only twice since 1962. South Goa constituency, spread across 20 assembly segments, had changed hands among the Maharashtravadi Gomantak Party, United Goans Party, and Indian National Congress. The BJP won this seat in the 1999 and 2014 elections but couldnt retain it. Dempos husband Shrinivas Dempo is a noted industrialist who heads the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI). The Dempo family has adopted government high schools under the Rural School Adoption Programme to provide vocational training to girls. Pallavi Dempo is the president of the Indo-German Educational and Cultural Society which contributes to the cultural enrichment between Germany and Goa. She is the trustee of Moda Goa Foundation, a fashion and textile museum started by Wendell Rodricks. She served as a member of the academic council affiliated with Goa University from 2012 to 2016. Besides being a member of various other organisations, Pallavi Dempo is also part of the managing committee of the Goa Cancer Society and also serves on the core committee of All India Management Associations Womens Council- AIMA Aspire. In its latest list of candidates for Lok Sabha elections 2024, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped Ananth Kumar Hegde from the Uttara Kannada constituency in Karnataka, a seat he has represented six times, following repeated gaffes from the leader. The Uttara Kannada ticket has instead gone to Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, a non-controversial party loyalist and former Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly. Kageri had lost the Karnataka Assembly elections last year. Another leader who was defeated in the 2023 polls has been given a ticket for Lok Sabha elections Dr K Sudhakar, former minister in the Basavaraj Bommai government, who will be contesting from the Chikkaballapur seat. Kageri had contested from the Sirsi Assembly seat in Karnataka elections and lost to Bheemanna Naik of the Congress, while Sudhakar lost to Pradeep Eshwar, also from the Congress, in the Chikkaballapur Assembly segment. The latest list has dealt the biggest setback to Hegde, known to be controversys favourite child. The leader has often put the BJP in a spot with his controversial speeches, the latest being his statement that if the BJP wins more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha, the Indian Constitution will be rewritten to save the Hindus. The BJP was forced to clarify that the statement was Hegdes personal view and that the party would seek an explanation from the leader. It is not clear whether an explanation was eventually sought by the central leadership, but its evident the party is done putting up with Hegdes howlers. Another highlight of the BJP list for the last four seats in Karnataka is the nomination of former chief minister Jagdish Shettar who had left the party in May 2023, just before Assembly elections, only to return in January this year. Shettar was reportedly apprehensive about contesting from Belgavi since he does not belong to the Panchamsali sect, a predominant sect of the Lingayats in the Belgavi Lok Sabha constituency. However, veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa convinced him not to refuse the Belgavi nomination. A section of the BJP in Belgavi had threatened to work against the party if Shettar was given a ticket as they consider him to be an outsider. Posters saying Go Back Shettar had also surfaced in the constituency. In the 2023 Assembly elections, Shettar was asked to step aside by the BJP high command while selecting candidates for the Huballi-Dharwad seat. An upset Shettar then jumped ship to the Congress, which gave him a ticket from the seat. But Shettar lost the election. He now replaces Mangala Suresh Angadi, wife of former railway minister Suresh Angadi, who passed away mid-term. She was elected in a bypoll following his death. In the Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha constituency, the party has fielded Dr K Sudhakar, former Karnataka health minister in the Bommai cabinet. Sudhakar had also lost the election from the Chikkaballapur Assembly constituency. He was among the 17 MLAs from the Congress and JDS who shifted allegiance to the BJP in 2019. He attributed his defeat in the Assembly elections to last-minute political conspiracy hatched by the Congress and the JDS. Sudhakars nomination dashes the hopes of former Union minister and former chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda, who was assured of being given the Chikkaballapur ticket after he was dislodged from the Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency. The Bangalore North ticket was instead given to Shobha Karandlaje, who was shifted to the city from her earlier seat Udupi-Chikkamagalur. Gowda had earlier said he would quit the party if not given the ticket, but later said he would remain loyal to the party and will work towards purifying it. The BJP has also re-nominated Raja Amareshwara Naik from the Raichur (ST) constituency. A former Congressman, Naik had served as an MLA for over two terms between 1989 and 2004. However, in 2013, he joined the JDS, but a year later, decided to join the BJP. He had successfully contested from the Raichur constituency on a BJP ticket in 2019. The BJP has dropped as many as seven sitting Members of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh in its fifth list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, including Union minister VK Singh from Ghaziabad and former Union minister Santosh Gangwar from Bareilly. However, the absence of Varun Sanjay Gandhi from the names picked for the 2024 battle has stood out from the rest. Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has been fielded instead from Pilibhit a seat held between Varun and his mother Maneka Gandhi since 1996. A year before Narendra Modi burst onto the national scene, Varun Gandhi was made BJPs national general secretary and in-charge of West Bengal. However, he hardly ever showed interest in organisational work. It was Bengals co-incharge Siddharth Nath Singh who would function on his behalf. Though his constant diatribes against Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav ensured his slip-ups were not noticed in the run-up to the 2014 elections, soon, problems started brewing between him and the BJP. CM AMBITION IN 2016 One of the first instances that probably irked the BJP leadership was in 2016 when Sanjay Gandhis son declared a poster war within the party. Just ahead of BJPs crucial national executive meet in Prayagraj back then still called Allahabad massive hoardings with Varun Gandhis face along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shahs images were found plastered across the city. Some posters read Na apradh, na brashtachar, abki baar Bhajpa Sarkar (No crime, no corruption, this time it will be a BJP government). It was construed that Varun was projecting himself as the next chief ministerial face of the BJP in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh election. What shocked many was his overdrive despite the BJP leadership asking him to restrict his political activities to Sultanpur his then constituency. SOLO VENTURE: HOUSING The same year, Varun started a housing initiative under which he built many houses with MP-LAD (Member of Parliament Local Area Development) funds for the poor, Muslims and backward castes. He also used his personal funds for building houses. While delivering the houses, he reportedly said, Im an optimist and believe in doing things which can help people. They (people) are fed up with the old political ways. Todays youth believe in results rather than mere rhetoric. Many at that time saw it as a dig at his other colleagues and the party did not take too kindly to it. VARUN Vs BJP DURING COVID The first wave of Covid-19 was over and during the second wave, a night curfew was brought back in 2021 a move that did not sit well with Varun Gandhi. He questioned the decision of state governments, including that of Yogi Adityanaths, to impose a night curfew to curb Covid-19. In a seemingly direct attack on the BJP by its own party leader, Varun Gandhi said: Imposing curfew at night after assembling lakhs of people for rallies in the day defies the common mans wisdom. He also used a BJP-ruled Centres note to the Maharashtra government in March 2021 which said that measures such as night curfews and weekend lockdowns have a very limited impact on containing or suppressing the transmission. This ended up embarrassing the government as well as the party. VARUN Vs BJP ON LAKHIMPUR KHERI The same year, Varun Gandhi engaged in a war with his party once again when eight people, including four farmers, lost their lives in Lakhimpur Kheri as vehicles linked to Union minister Ajay Misra Teni rammed into a crowd of protesting farmers. Varun Gandhi took to social media, calling for accountability and bringing the culprits to justice in the case, even while the BJP leadership was defending Teni. Interestingly, that year in October, Varun Gandhi was dropped from the 80-member National Executive along with his mother Maneka Gandhi. It was widely seen as a rebuke to his anti-party stand. VARUN Vs YOGI ADITYANATH One of the most recent and serious war of words which may have proved to be the last nail in the coffin was when the BJP leader hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government in September last year, criticising the suspension of Sanjay Gandhi Hospitals licence in Amethi. He termed it resentment against a name (Naam). The hospital is named after Varun Gandhis father and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Trust, which runs the Amethi Hospital. It may be difficult to pinpoint when Varun Gandhi and the BJP reached a point of no return. The party gave him a re-nomination in the 2019 Lok Sabha, hoping that he would course-correct. But with the 2024 Lok Sabha election knocking at its doors, the BJP leadership seems to have had enough. Though, in the last few months, Varun Gandhi has been trying to make up by praising the Modi governments work, his long track record of embarrassing the party couldnt be compensated in a few months. While Varun Gandhi has been unceremoniously but predictably dropped, the BJP has sought to maintain a balance with the family by renominating his mother Maneka Gandhi from her seat Sultanpur. A minister in Vajpayees and Modis government (first term) alike, a ticket to Maneka Gandhi is a signal that BJP isnt averse to the family but her sons consistent anti-party diatribe that sees no end. This wedding season, voting pitches on invitation cards seem to be back in vogue. Nandikanti Narsimlu, a resident of Telanganas Sangareddy district, whose son is getting married on April 4, has asked the wedding guests to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Urging the guests to skip extravagant presents for the wedding, the family instead printed A vote for Narendra Modi will be the best gift you can give on the wedding invites with a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Your Vote for Modi is your marriage gift to meWriting this on the wedding invitation card shows the love and respect Indians have for Modi Ji. RahulGandhi yaa koi aur is level par kabhi pahoch he nahi sakte EVM hack ka rona ro rahe hain,.dil hack ho chuke vo nahi dekh rahe pic.twitter.com/qf5vg7IuAB (@KyaaBaatHai) March 23, 2024 Narsimlus only son, Sai Kumar, is getting married to Mahima Rani in Patancheru on April 4. Talking about the idea, Narsimlu, a wooden materials supplier for building construction, said he opted for the message of invitation card out of regard for PM Modi. My family found the idea good and asked me to go ahead, a report by Times of India quoted Narsimuuas saying. Narsimlu is not the first one to do so. The trend started before the 2019 general election when several news reports surfaced about PM Modis ardent supporters opting to urge their guests to skip extravagant presents for their wedding and instead vote for Modi in polls. The Election Commission even served a notice to a man in Uttarakhand who printed a message on his sons wedding invitation card appealing to the guests to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the time. The notice was served for allegedly violating the model code of conduct. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released its fifth list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 and fielded Pallavi Dempo from Goa. With this, the executive director of Dempo Industries, Pallavi Dempo became the first woman candidate in the BJPs Goa poll history. The coastal state of Goa has two Lok Sabha seats, North Goa and South Goa. The party has fielded 49-year-old Pallavi Dempo from South Goa, which Congress leader Francisco Sardinha currently holds. BJP has won this seat only twice since 1962. Voting for the two Lok Sabha seats in Goa will be held during the third phase of voting on May 7. Who is BJPs First Woman Candidate From Goa Pallavi Dempo? A Goan entrepreneur and educationist, Pallavi holds a graduate degree in chemistry and a postgraduate degree in business management (MBA) from MIT, Pune. She oversees the media and real estate arm of Dempo Industries as its executive director. She also serves as the president of the Indo-German Educational and Cultural Society which contributes to the cultural enrichment between Germany and Goa. Pallavi Dempo is also part of the managing committee of the Goa Cancer Society and serves on the core committee of the All India Management Associations Womens Council AIMA Aspire. Her husband Shrinivas Dempo is a renowned industrialist who heads the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI). Pallavi expressed gratitude on being given the Lok Sabha ticket from South Goa and said, We will try our level best to win this seat. She also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his vision inspires every individual. I am grateful to the BJP for this nomination and I accept this in deep humility We will try our level best to win this seat. Ive always believed in Narendra Modis vision of leadership overall and Im so sure his vision actually empowers every individual, especially equal opportunities which are given to every section of the society. We will try our level best and thank you so much once again for this nomination.. Pallavi Dempo said. Four prominent members of the Indian-American diaspora hailing from Bihar were honoured here on the occasion of Bihar Diwas for their outstanding achievements and contributions. Founder and CEO of Holtec International Dr Kris Singh, Wipros Chief Operating Officer Amit Choudhary, founder of PRAN Medical Group Dr Dinesh Ranjan, and Director at Nutrivet Farmcare Abhinave Atul were honoured with the Bihar Vishwa Gaurav Samman at a special event hosted by the Consulate General of India in New York in partnership with the Bihar Foundation USA, East Coast Chapter and the Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America (BJANA). Singh, who was recognised for his contributions to the field of nuclear waste management, is a prolific inventor and has 170 patents granted in the US as well as a large number overseas, with many patents pending. Singh, who came to America from India almost 55 years ago, established Holtec International in 1986 and built it into a multi-national company that has a business footprint globally on five continents. @IndiainNewYork celebrated #BiharDiwas in partnership with @Biharusa and @BJANAUSShowcased Bihars tourism destinations, cultural heritage, Madhubani paintings and culinary delights. Recognized the outstanding achievements & contributions of Dr. K.P. Singh, Founder & CEO pic.twitter.com/aMlVe6zSQC India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) March 23, 2024 A press release issued here by Bihar Foundation said that Singh underscored his commitment to bringing more green energy to Bihar and noted that he has already signed a Rs 3,000 crore deal in green energy. Choudhary underscored the collective spirit of Bihar and its potential for growth. Bihar badalega, Bihar badal raha hai (Bihar will change, Bihar is changing), Choudhary said. Ranjan highlighted the growing healthcare needs of underprivileged people in Bihar and the importance of addressing the situation urgently, the release added. Atul was acknowledged for his mission to provide medication to pet animals at a reasonable cost, it added. Consul General of India in New York Binaya Pradhan lauded Bihars diaspora for its achievements and, also, highlighted contributions by the states illustrious leadership including from the legendary Aryabhata to Indias first President Dr Rajendra Prasad. For several centuries, Bihar remained a leader in India in the political, cultural, intellectual, and spiritual landscape. We all know Bihar is the land of Kautilya, Bihar is the land of Aryabhata, Pradhan said. Bihar Foundation US East Coast chairman Alok Kumar highlighted the growing economic and investment opportunities in Bihar, especially in the field of information technology, as he particularly mentioned companies such as Tiger Analytics and HCL Technology expanding in Bihar. He emphasised the need for the diaspora from Bihar to contribute to the states economic growth and development and urged people to visit their home state and witness its potential in tourism and industries. Kumar called on the people of Bihar to work together for the states growth. Bharat Badal Raha Hai, Bihar Bhi Badalega (India is changing, Bihar will also change), Kumar said. The event on Friday included messages from Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as well as from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and was attended by several members of the diaspora hailing from Bihar and the region. It highlighted the states development, tourism, cultural heritage, the famed Madhubani art form and popular culinary delights. President of the diaspora organisation Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) Dr Avinash Gupta spoke about improvements in the states healthcare sector, including AIIMS Patna. BJANA president Sanjeev Singh highlighted infrastructure development and investment opportunities in Bihar. The outgoing British High Commissioner has expressed hope over the early conclusion of the free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the United Kingdom but quipped that negotiations abhi baki hai mere dost. Ambassador Alex Ellis, who is set to depart India after three years, in a wide-ranging interview with The Indian Express, said leaders of both countries made it clear that they want an FTA. Yes, were most definitely closer. Both Prime Ministers made it clear that they want a FTA. And they spoke only last week to reaffirm that desire for it. Its not a straightforward negotiation because you have two similarly sized economies, but very differently shaped. The Indian economy is much more agriculture-based, obviously much poorer in terms of GDP per capita, he answered when asked if the two nations were anywhere closer to reaching a trade deal. The UK economy is much more integrated in its manufacturing and its goods, with the rest of Europe because of the legacy of being a member of the European Union. People on both sides want to have real new market access. The UK-India trade has doubled since 2020. So actually, its grown a lot, but we can see economic advantage in having a trade deal, he said. When asked about FTAs conclusion in the wake of talks on crucial issues of mobility and visa, Ellis said, Aasaan nahi hai, negotiations abhi baki hai, mere dost. The India-UK FTA negotiations, which opened in January 2022, began with the aim of securing an ambitious outcome for bilateral trade. The 14th round of the FTA negotiations was concluded earlier this month with formal negotiations being put on hold as India heads into election campaign mode. This pause was attributed to the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the general elections currently underway in India. Several reports said negotiations are anticipated to recommence in June. In a March 12 phone call, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British counterpart Rishi Sunak reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic partnership. They had expressed satisfaction with the progress made under the Roadmap 2030 in diverse areas including trade, investment, defence and security. They also assessed positively the progress made towards the early conclusion of a mutually beneficial FTA. Earlier, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, in an interview, said that long-term benefits for the economy were the key to such FTA negotiations and that India was seeking a balanced, fair and equitable deal. At least 14 priests were injured after a massive fire broke out in Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain Mahakal Temple on Monday. Officials said that the fire occurred during the early morning bhasma aarti inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on the occasion of Holi. The blaze took place in the garba griha (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said. Fourteen priests suffered burn injuries. Some are being treated in the district hospital here, while eight have sought treatment in Indore. A magisterial probe has been ordered. It will be conducted by Zila Panchayat CEO Mrinal Meena and Additional Collector Anukool Jain and a report will be submitted in three days, he said. The fire started as gulal (coloured powder used during rituals) fell on the puja thali that contained burning kapoor (camphor). It later spread on the floor and turned into a blaze, he said. The incident has been captured by CCTV cameras installed in the temple, an official said. Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out while gulal (coloured powder used during rituals and Holi) was being thrown as part of a religious ceremony. PM Modi, Amit Shaha React to Ujjain Mahakal Temple Fire Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he hopes for a speedy recovery and added that the state administration will provide all possible assistance to the victims. : PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 25, 2024 The accident that happened in Mahakal temple of Ujjain is very painful. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the devotees injured in this accident. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in every possible help to the victims, PM Modi said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he got a briefing about the situation from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and said the local administration would provide all the possible assistance to the injured. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also expressed grief over the incident and prayed for the safety and recovery of the victims. The fire accident in Shri Mahakal Temple of Ujjain is very sad. Prayers for the speedy recovery of all the priests injured in this accident, Birla wrote on X. MP CM Mohan Yadav Meets Victims in Indore Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya reached Indore District Hospital to meet the victims of the Ujjain Mahakaleshwar temple victims and Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya. The chief minister also ordered a magisterial probe into the matter. #WATCH | Bhopal: On the fire in the 'garbhagriha' of Mahakal Temple during Bhasma Aarti, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav says, "A few priests have been injured and they have been admitted to hospitals in Indore and Ujjain. I am going there. It is all the blessing of god that it pic.twitter.com/0VVivwTiHZ ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 It is all the blessing of god that it didnt turn out in a major incident but whatever has happened, I have ordered a magisterial investigation and will ensure that these things wont repeat. Action will be taken against those at fault, Yadav said. Yadav also announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 lakh each for the victims. Earlier, the chief minister expressed grief about the accident that happened this morning during Bhasma Aarti in the sanctum sanctorum of Baba Mahakal temple. I have been in touch with the administration since morning. Everything is under control. It is a prayer to Baba Mahakal that all the injured get complete recovery soon, he wrote on X. Hello, readers! In todays afternoon digest, News18 brings to you the latest updates on BJPs final candidate list, massive fire at Ujjain temple and other stories. Battle-Ready With 402 Candidates, Star Power in Kangana & Arun Govil, Big Names Dropped | Messages in BJPs Fifth List Showing battle-readiness for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP declared its fifth candidate list on Sunday, taking its number of declared candidates to 402.The party made some big moves like declaring 64 of the 74 seats it plans to contest in the biggest state of Uttar Pradesh, putting up star names like Kangana Ranaut from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Lord Rams on-screen avatar Arun Govil from Meerut, UP. READ MORE Arun Govil BREAKS Silence on Contesting in Lok Sabha Elections For BJP: Such a Big Responsibility Arun Govil will be contesting in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced on Sunday. The Ramayan actor will be fighting from Meerut, his hometown. Following the news, the actor took to X and expressed his gratitude towards BJP and the partys Central Election Committee (CEC) for giving him this opportunity. The actor also assured he would put in his best. READ MORE 14 Injured in Massive Fire at Ujjain Mahakal Temple; CM Yadav Orders Special Probe, Meets Victims At least 14 priests were injured after a massive fire broke out in Madhya Pradeshs Ujjain Mahakal Temple on Monday. The fire occurred during the early mornings bhasma aarti inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple on the occasion of Holi, officials said. READ MORE Indian PHD Student, 33, Killed In Bicycle Accident In London An Indian student pursuing her PhD at the London School of Economics was killed in a bicycle accident on March 19. Cheistha Kochhar, 33, who hailed from Gurgaon, died after being hit by a lorry while returning to her home in the English capital. READ MORE Taapsee Pannu, Mathias Boe Are Married; Anurag Kashyap, Kanika Dhillon Attend Ceremony? | Exclusive Taapsee Pannu has married her long-term boyfriend, Mathias Boe, sources told News18 Showsha exclusively. The actor and the former Olympic medallist tied the knot on March 23. Their families and closest friends attended the ceremony. A source revealed, The wedding took place in Udaipur and was an extremely intimate affair. The pre-wedding festivities kick-started on March 20. The couple was very sure that they didnt want any media attention on their big day. Both of them are known to be very private and reserved people and they wouldnt have had it any other way. READ MORE Watch: Rohit Sharma Advising Mumbai Indians Captain Hardik Pandya Delights Fans Five-time champions Mumbai Indians started their IPL 2024 campaign with a close defeat to Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Sunday night. MI were in a strong position chasing 169 but the dismissal of senior batter and opener Rohit Sharma triggered a slide and the team eventually fell short of the target by seven runs. READ MORE Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday announced his maiden visit to India this week. Wishing the country on the occasion of Holi, Kuleba calls the festival the most beautiful and colorful spring holiday. Kulebas visit comes at the invitation of his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, after a telephone called between the leaders of the two nations at the beginning of the year, said one of the officials. Sharing the update on the microblogging site, X he said, Today, India celebrates Holi, the most beautiful and colorful spring holiday. I wish everyone a happy Holi! Standing here in Kyiv, in front of Mahatma Gandhis monument, I am also pleased to announce that this week I will pay my first ever visit to India. Today, India celebrates Holi, the most beautiful and colorful spring holiday. I wish everyone a happy Holi! Standing here in Kyiv, in front of Mahatma Gandhis monument, I am also pleased to announce that this week I will pay my first ever visit to India. pic.twitter.com/j38tNyGvUw Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 25, 2024 In a two-minute video message, Kuleba said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an aim to strenghten the relations between two big democracies. Comparing the ideals of freedom and independence in India which are driven by Mahatma Gandhi, the foreign minister said, This is exactly what Ukrainians are fighting for today freedom and independence. When Mahatma began his struggle, there were very few optimists who believed him, but he persisted and achieved his goals. Calling Gandhi an inspiration for whole world, he said that supporting Ukraine today means supporting freedom and independence and supporting the legacy of the great Mahatma Gandhi. He concluded with a firm belief that the two countries can lay a solid foundation for the future for mutual benefits. Apart from talks with Indian officials, Kuleba is also set to review the India-Ukraine inter-governmental commission, one of the officials said, referring to a panel charged with keeping up the two nations economic, cultural and technological ties. Ukraine has also pitched for New Delhi to help rebuild its war-ravaged economy, inviting investment from Indian companies at a January business summit in India. (with inputs from Reuters) The most vibrant time of the year has finally arrived. The festival of colours has painted Instagram in innumerable hues, thanks to B-town stars. Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan is also celebrating the festival of colours with his loved ones. Earlier in the day, his grand daughter Navya Nanda shared a bundle of photos from their celebration. Navya took to her Instagram handle and shared a photo of herself dressed in a white kurta, surrounded by colours. She then gave a glimpse of the Holi colour packets. In the third photo, she posed with her grandparents. While Jaya Bachchan held her and Amitabh with all the love and affection, the trio donned their brightest smiles. In the fourth pictures, young starkid sat on her mom Shweta Nandas lap. She then gave a glimpse of the scrumptious spread made on the festive day. Sharing the photos, she wrote, Rang Barse . Have a look at the photos: Meanwhile, earlier this year Navya Nanda made her runway debut at LOreal Paris show during the Paris Fashion Week. Talking to India Today, Navya said, People usually keep talking about my last name and legacy and I love reminding people that everyone has a last name. It is not just my responsibility to live up to mine but everyone has a last name that means something that demands value and respect. Navya Naveli Nanda, like her mother Shweta Bachchan has stayed away from the Bollywood dream of becoming an actor. Instead, Navya is an entrepreneur and a podcaster. She often addresses social issues like womens education through her initiative Project Naveli. Meanwhile, Amitabh Bachchan was recently seen in a cameo appearance for Abhishek Bachchans Ghoomer. He will next be seen in 2898 AD with Deepika Padukone, Prabhas and Disha Patani. Helmed by Nag Ashwin, the movie is most likely to be released this year. Ankita Lokhande and Vicky Jain are hosting a mega Holi party on Monday, March 25 in Mumbai. While the Holi bash will be attended by several of their industry friends, a video has surfaced on social media in which the Bigg Boss 17 couple can be seen entering the venue. In the clip, Ankita and Vicky can be seen twinning in white as they pose for the paparazzi. While Vicky looked dapper in a white kurta, Ankita sported a suit with a multicoloured dupatta. Needless to say, she looked prettiest of all. In the video that one of the paparazzi accounts shared on its Instagram handle, Vicky and Ankita can also be seen applying colours to each other. Ankita and Vickys Holi party is titled AnVi Ki Raas-Leela. Reportedly, several of their Bigg Boss 17 co-contestants including Isha Malviya, Ayesha Khan and Abhishek Kumar will be attending the celebration. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani) Ankita Lokhande and Vicky Jain have been ruling headlines for one reason or another ever since they participated in Bigg Boss 17 earlier this year. During the show, the two were often seen fighting with each other, which left everyone wondering if they would soon part ways. However, soon after her exit from Bigg Boss 17, Ankita clarified that she and Vicky are very much together. In an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Ankita slammed those who judged her relationship with Vicky and urged everyone to let them live their life the way they want. Once I came out, there was media, questions. There was a pressure. Nobody is putting that pressure on you but you feel pressured. People are judging your relationship. We know what kind of relationship we share. We know our bond very well. There (Bigg Boss 17 house) I said certain things, he (Vicky Jain) said certain things. I dont want people to judge us on that because I am not judging any relationship, she said. Meanwhile, on the work front, Ankita Lokhande was recently seen in Swatantra Veer Savarkar. The film, which also starred Randeep Hooda in the lead, has earned close to Rs 6 crore as of now. Days after getting bail in the Noida Snake Venom Case, Elvish Yadav shared his first vlog on his YouTube channel and recalled the time he spent in jail. In his 14-minute-long video, Elvish called the time in prison as a very bad phase of his life and expressed his gratitude towards those who supported him. The one week that went by, no doubt, was a very bad phase of life. What to talk about the time I was inside (jail). Lets start a new chapter on a positive note. All those who supported me didnt support me, talked badly or well about me, thanks to all. I can only thank everyone. I am back to my work, Elvish said in his recent vlog. The Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner also expressed his confidence in the Indian judiciary and added, Na hum kuch galat kehte hai, na kuch galat karte hai (Neither do I do nor speak anything wrong). The YouTuber further asked his fans not to worry and assured that he will deal with this phase of his life as well. Ill face this too. God forbid anyone should face such problems the way I had to. But its ok, part of life. Ill tackle this too, he said. For the unversed, Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner and YouTuber Elvish Yadav was arrested by Noida Police in a snake poisoning case earlier this month. The case was lodged under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and for criminal conspiracy under section 120B of the Indian Penal Code, they said. A day after his arrest, NDTV claimed Elvish had admitted to his crimes. However, no official statement was released. A week later, Yadav was granted bail, on a 50,000 bail bond. Talking about the same, his lawyer Prashant Rathi told the media, Our arguments in this case was that he was falsely accused and no substance was obtained from him or his friends that violated the NDPS act. The court has granted bail to him (Elvish Yadav) as well as his two friends on two sureties of Rs 50,000 each. Since welcoming their daughter Raha in November 2022, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor have been reveling in the joys of becoming parents. Their decision to share her face with the public during the last Christmas season resulted in Raha instantly winning over the online community. Recently, the internet was treated to a charming video of the family joining their neighbors for Holi celebrations. Amidst the vibrant festivities, Rahas adorable hesitation to engage with the gulaal became the highlight. On March 25, a lovely video emerged, showing Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and their adorable daughter Raha Kapoor stepping out of their apartment to celebrate Holi with their neighbors. The video captured a neighbor playfully smearing gulaal on Ranbirs face, who in turn, responded with joy and conveyed his Holi wishes with enthusiasm. When it was Alia and Rahas turn, the pair had a sweet interaction, cautiously stepping back from the approaching colored powder. Alia, looking effortlessly stylish, gracefully took some of the color on her face, subsequently sharing a tender smile with Raha, making for a heartwarming moment amidst the festivities. Ranbir and Alia had decided to wait a while before they introduced Raha to the world. Explaining her reason at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit earlier this year, Alia said, I dont want it to seem like I am hiding my daughter. I am proud of her. If the cameras were not rolling right now, I would put a giant image of her on the screen. I love her. I am proud of our baby. But we are new parents. We dont know how we feel about her face splashed out all over the internet; shes barely a year old. Although they chose to keep her away from the limelight, Ranbir has often spoken about her. In the past, the actor said he doesnt shy away from showing pictures of Raha to people he meets frequently. Ranbir also recently revealed that he has his daughter Rahas name inked on his collar bone. Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar added a Bade Miyan Chote Miyan twist to their Holi celebrations. The actor, who will be seen in the Eid release next month, shared a video on Instagram to reveal what unfolded during their Holi celebrations. The video opened with Akshay walking out of his house and marching towards the gate. We soon see Tiger waiting with a bucket of water filled with pink colour. After learning about Tigers plans, Akshay threatened him to throw away the water or else he will hit him with a coconut. Tiger eventually emptied the bucket on himself. Sharing the video, Akshay shared, Bura na mano, Holi hai #HappyHoli everyone. Fans took to the comments section and shared their reactions. Ye nariyal wala idea acha lagashom shom, a fan commented. Bande Ko Khiladi Bolte Hai , a second fan wrote. Bade miyan chote miyan ke ustad he, a third fan wrote. Meanwhile, the Bade Miyan Chote Miyan trailer will drop on March 26. Akshay Kumar took to his Instagram handle today and shared a new poster of the film along with the trailer date announcement. He wrote, REAL ACTION ka ek bada dose lekar aa rahe hain #BadeMiyanChoteMiyan! #BadeMiyanChoteMiyanTrailer out on March 26! The teaser was released a few weeks ago. The teaser began with a glimpse of a terrorist attack on Indias military personnel. It then showed Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff in their soldier avatar as they fought terrorism and sent out a stern warning saying, Bachke rehna, Hindustan hai hum. It also featured a glimpse of Prithviraj Sukumaran. He was seen sporting long hair in his black leather outfit and face covered with a mask. Bade Miyan Chote Miyan will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The film is scheduled to be released in theatres on April 10 this year. The film also stars Manushi Chhillar and Alaya F in key roles. Thailands capital city of Bangkok has an appeal that is hard to ignore. For decades now, this cosmopolitan tourism and commercial hub of South-East Asia has been welcoming visitors from across the globe. Modern-day Bangkok is synonymous with many things exceptional, including unbelievable spas, easy availability of a whole rainbow of international and traditional cuisine, an uncompromising attitude towards hygiene, and a welcoming attitude to please and greet all that pass through. The sum of these has created an ecosystem that has placed Bangkok at the very pinnacle of travel and tourism destinations, especially in the Asian circuit. Swasdi is Thai for hello the greeting you hear everywhere in this land. Tourism is among the biggest industries and the Thai government has enabled special privileges for tourists to come and enjoy themselves in the country. Indian tourists comprise the bulk of the arrivals and because of this, the Royal Thai government has waived visa fees for Indian tourists for a stay of thirty days or less till May 2024. Bangkok has always been a favourite destination of mine and the location of many stopovers while on international trips. Of the many places I have had the privilege of experiencing, I have no hesitation in stating that Bangkok stands apart in luxury hospitality. I always stay at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, which is probably the last word for relaxation for both business and leisure travellers. There are many dining options there, each of which creates a wonderful and satisfying experience. Theres the Erawan Tea Room for Thai food and The Dining Room with its grand buffet, the Italian restaurant Salvia and Gaston, the French bistro. During a recent short work visit to the city, I added two new locations to my gastronomic exploration. Both additions were conveniently near my hotel. The first was the Jharokha by Indus, headed by the amazing Sid Sehgal. The decor is a throwback to the legendary polo clubs of the princely states of Rajasthan, with elegant archways and eye-catching mahogany wood furniture and plush leather upholstery. Theres an unforgettable view of the city made possible by the tall and unobstructed glass windows. A jharokha is a palace window through which the royals would gaze upon those below, so the name is fitting. The food is curated by Chef Sanket Hoskote. The use of charcoal ovens alongside traditional spices, imported from India, leads to exceptional results. Chef Hoskote has brought in the full gamut of the experience that hes gathered from his stint in Dubai and created a spread that caters to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The kurkure paratha and kadhi pakoda are served in a unique Jharokha style. The ice creams, Keshar Falooda Kulfis and extremely satisfying sorbets are no less than works of art. A special dish that caught my attention but could not savour being a vegetarian was the Crab Pani Puri. However, upon my request, they were very kind to prepare vegetarian pani puri for me, even though it wasnt on the menu. Other recommendations for non-vegetarians are the buttercream king oyster mushrooms with morel mushroom gravy and Kashmiri-inspired stuffing and their Batak Seekh Kebab, an all-time Delhi classic, with spiced Korat duck mince thats grilled on a charcoal tandoor, served with delectable smoked flatbreads and a pineapple chutney. My other great experience was at Louis Vuitton Le Cafe situated next to the Grand Hyatt Erawan. The Louis Vuitton Cafes are present in cities such as Paris and Tokyo, but the one in Bangkok is unique in that it offers four different components, namely a cafe, store, exhibition space and restaurant overseen by none other than Gagan Anand. When I walked past the cafe opened just a week before my arrival, I saw long queues of people and I learnt that tables are fully booked two months in advance and only six slots are available per day. Theres hardly any luck for walk-ins; you can leave your name and number, but when I attempted to reserve a table they categorically stated that there would be no chance. Later, I got a call saying there was a table available at the cafe, that was also at my convenient time and I agreed instantly. I often have doubts when I hear restaurants are fully booked months ahead, claims I have encountered at prestigious establishments in New York, London and Geneva. It always makes me wonder whether this is a fact or a well-executed publicity exercise that serves to heighten the demand and hype. Anyhow, I arrived at my table to find Le Cafe Louis Vuittons interiors sport a botanical theme adorned with the brands iconic motifs. The items on offer, such as the Mango Sticky Rice Fizz, Mango Tart, cookies and cakes are not just delicious but are also objects that are a joy to behold. Most of their offering runs out in no time and this is something I experienced first-hand as I had wanted to take back some mango tarts for my hotel concierge, who had recommended the cafe in the first place, but could not as they were sold out. However, there were pastries and cookies on display, but when I inquired, I was informed that they were only available for display purposes as all of them had been sold. For sure this cafe added a new attraction to this tourist capital. The author is a social activist working for over two-and-a-half decades in the field of welfare, international cultural cooperation and the promotion and preservation of Indian arts. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views Its not just Kautilyas Mandala theory that makes Pakistan and China eternal enemies of Bharat. For the uninitiated, it must be reiterated that the Mandala theory, as explained in Arthashastra, makes it categorically clear that an immediate neighbour cannot be ones natural friend or ally. They would be naturally susceptible to being upset and agitated, prone to gratuitous rivalry and one-upmanship, and bugged by an innate sense of jealousy even while sharing a similar ideological worldview. What further goes against Pakistan and China, in particular, is while the very raison detre of Islamabads existence is anti-India-ismyou remove it and the very rationale of that countrys very presence goes awaythe latter is a pale shadow of its old, civilisational self, especially since 1949. To confuse todays China with the historic, civilisational China would be a blunder of epic proportionssomething Jawaharlal Nehru compulsively committed during his 17 years as Prime Minister. The old China shared with Bharat a guru-shishya relationship, and not that of a geostrategic rivalas has been the case today. The difference between the two Chinas is so glaring that while the old one would fight battles with its neighbours to acquire knowledgein fact, one Chinese ruler chose to invade a neighbouring state simply because the latter refused to part ways with a Sanskrit scholarthe post-1949 China has been obsessively fighting for land and resources. While the old China was hungry for knowledge, todays China has had an insatiable appetite for power. When one adds this genetic reorientation of China with communist doublespeak, the result is outright dangerous, to say the least. In 2012, Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary and one of the best minds on China in current times, narrated a story during a public lecture. Referring to a conversation between former Secretary-General, Ministry of External Affairs, RK Nehru, and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai in 1962, just before the big war, Saran said, RK Nehru drew attention to reports that China was leaning towards the Pakistani position that Jammu & Kashmir was a disputed territory. He recalled to Chou an earlier conversation, where when asked whether China accepted Indian sovereignty over J&K, he had said rhetorically has China ever said that it does not accept Indian sovereignty over J&K, or words to that effect. At this latest encounter, Chou turned the same formulation on its head, to ask: Has China ever said that India has sovereignty over J&K? This is todays China, hegemonic, imperialistic and hypocritical. Seeing Nehru deal with this China as if he were dealing with a civilisational one, one realises how naive and imprudent the first prime minister was in his dealing with Mao Zedong and his men, especially Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. One is well aware of Nehrus Tibetan folly (forget about rallying the world against Chinas invasion of Tibet, about which the US was extensively worried and agitated in the 1950s, Nehrus India actually helped the PLA take over the Roof of the World by providing them with rice when they faced food scarcity up there). So has been the case with the Nehruvian rebuffing of the UN Security Council seat, saying China should get it first. Former foreign secretary MK Rasgotra in his 2016 book, A Life in Diplomacy, too exposed how Nehru refused then President JF Kennedys offer to take the American help to nuclearise India. Kennedy wanted democratic India to become the first nuclear power in Asia, beating communist China, but Nehru the idealist had other plans. Now Vijay Gokhale has come up with a new book, Crosswinds, which provides another aspect of Nehruvian folly vis-a-vis China. Among other things, the book brings out quite eloquently the undue haste on the part of the Nehru dispensation to grant official recognition to Maos China, at Britains behest, and against the wishes of the United States. The book, in that way, can be said to be an extension of Gokhales previous work, The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India, which cites the hurried recognition of the communist state as one of the major diplomatic failures of the Nehruvian State. While the previous book confines itself to explaining how Nehruvian Indias haste in recognising Maos China was a diplomatic naivete, Crosswinds takes the narrative forward to let the readers know about the conniving role played by Britain in pushing Nehru towards recognising communist China at the earliest. This was against the American thinking which didnt want India to recognise in a hurry. The feeling in the UK in the late 1940s grew that, writes Gokhale, far from trying to create a joint Anglo-American policy on China, the US was paying scant attention to British interests when crafting its China policy. To add to it, Britain had by then realised that the US would not be able to stem the communist rise in China. Also, it could see the Chinese not joining the Soviet forces, thus the British dispensation, unlike its American counterpart, wasnt particularly alarmed by Maos rise. Writes Gokhale, In May 1949, the British government advised other Commonwealth governments, including the Government of India, that while they watched and waited for the communists to make the first move, any appearance of ganging up against them should be avoided. In the case of India, however, this was not a major concern for the British. Noel-Baker had reported to the cabinet that Nehrus tendency was to write down the menace from that direction (communists). Britain played both ways: To the Americans, it said that Nehru was too tied up internally to play any role in China. And to the Indians, it said that China was largely an American problem with which India should not get involved. To quote Gokhale again, Britain understood well that if the US got Indias support for its China policy (which was to delay recognising the new communist regime), Nehrus stature and capacity to influence other Asian states and the Commonwealth members could potentially jeopardise British interests in the Far East. Just before Nehrus official US visit in 1949, the US Ambassador to India categorically told the Ministry of External Affairs that there should be no haste in recognition (of the) regime. Among the four reasons, one categorically asked New Delhi to seek convincing evidence from Beijing that such recognition would result in marked improvement in Indias ability to protect its interests. Interestingly, even when Nehru was on his official visit to the US, Britain left no stone unturned to convince India of the correctness of the British position and to persuade India to follow suit. Britain, thus, played a sinister role in not just encouraging India to officially recognise Maos China in haste, but also created a deep wedge between New Delhi and Washington DC. One wonders how the Chinese saga would have unfolded had India not pursued the Nehruvian self-goal. Interestingly, as one ponders over this, a news report appears saying the Biden Administration has backed New Delhi on Arunachal Pradesh, calling the Northeastern state an integral part of India. Winds are blowing again in Bharats favour. Its leadership must take advantage of this situation and let the country sail fast in the sea of development, strength and prosperity. Above all, new India must correct its notion of the enemy (shatru bhava). Even if the West may not have enough prerequisites to be Bharats ally, it is in the latters interest to create an honourable space for itself in the Western global order. As for the enemies, remember Chanakyas Mandala theory and be wary of Pakistan and China: One is born out of anti-India-ism, while the other just cannot see itself excelling in a world order where Bharat is thriving. And, yes, the country must keep a healthy scepticism for anything coming out of the British island. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. Lalu Yadav recently garnered attention for questioning Narendra Modis stance on political families despite Modi himself not having one. Many people criticised Yadav for trying to divert attention from more important matters. But most people in the country supported Narendra Modi. They pointed out that Modi came from a simple background and worked his way up to become the prime minister. They believe Modis success shows that he earned his position through hard work, and they trust him to lead the country well and for him, his country is his family. This support for the prime minister was evident on social media, where the nation showed its backing by using the hashtag #ModiKaParivar. In addition to the discourse surrounding Lalu Yadavs remarks, PM Narendra Modi previously addressed the issue in Parliament. He clarified that he is not opposed to individuals from the same family entering politics based on merit. However, he emphasised his opposition to the dominance of one family within a political party, defining this as the essence of dynasty politics. Modi highlighted the importance of meritocracy and fair competition within parties, suggesting that a singular familys perpetual control undermines democratic principles. This distinction provided further context to the ongoing debate, with many citizens resonating with Modis stance on breaking the trend of dynastic rule in Indian politics. In the Indian political landscape, several parties are known for being governed by families, both at the national and regional levels, spanning from the northern to the southern regions of the country. At the national level, the Indian National Congress (INC) has been historically associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family, with prominent leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi all belonging to this political dynasty. Moving to regional parties, in the northern region, the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh has been led by the Yadav family, with Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav playing prominent roles. Similarly, in Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has been dominated by the Yadav family, with Lalu Prasad Yadav and his children Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti being key figures. In the western region, the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra has seen the rise of leaders from the Thackeray family, including Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav Thackeray. Moving to the southern region, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu has been led by the Karunanidhi family, with M. Karunanidhi and his son MK Stalin being prominent figures. Similarly, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu has been influenced by the leadership of the Jayalalithaa and Sasikala families. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has been associated with the Nandamuri and Nara families, with leaders such as NT Rama Rao, Chandrababu Naidu, and Nara Lokesh being key figures. These examples showcase the prevalence of family-dominated politics across various regions and parties in Indias diverse political landscape. In contrast to the prevalent dynastic patterns in various regional and national parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stands out for its distinctive organisational approach. The BJP emphasises a meritocratic system where opportunities are extended to individuals based on their capabilities and dedication to the partys principles. Unlike parties where leadership positions are often predetermined by familial ties, the BJP fosters an environment of unpredictability and inclusivity. Within the BJP, the selection of party leaders, including the president, is not bound by familial relationships, providing a stark departure from the dynastic norm seen in other political entities. The BJPs organisational structure promotes a culture where aspiring leaders rise through the ranks based on their merit, dedication, and grassroots connect rather than familial lineage. This approach aligns with the broader philosophy of the party, emphasising individual capabilities and contributions over hereditary entitlements. The contrast in organisational ethos raises important questions about the dynamics of political leadership in India. As the BJP continues to challenge the conventional narrative of dynastic politics, it prompts a re-evaluation of the criteria for leadership roles within political parties. The emphasis on providing opportunities to a diverse range of individuals within the BJP contributes to a more dynamic and unpredictable political landscape, where leadership is earned rather than inherited. As discussions continue, the nation awaits further developments on how these perspectives will shape the future political landscape. Adv. Ashutosh Mishra is Managing Partner, Nyaayam Associates. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. For the longest time, bringing a politician to heel became synonymous with inviting grievous consequences. The full panoply of what these consequences could look like were often caricatured in Bollywood when a virtuous protagonist, lets name him Vijay, would brush up against the untrammeled power drunk hubris of a politician. Very few dared to test the thesis. Until one man did. On June 12, 1975, Justice Sinha of the Allahabad High Court deigned to bring the metaphorical gavel down on an electoral misdemeanor committed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Suitably chastised, Gandhi, who was to haughtily dismiss Justice Sinha as a petty judge, knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court. But there Justice VR Krishna Iyer also dared to remind the brazen Gandhi that executive discretion cannot run riot. In a significant victory for judicial independence Justice Iyer slammed the door shut on the Prime Ministers plaint. Indira Gandhi stood disqualified from contesting an election for six years. Bollywood didnt get it wrong. There was hell to pay. Within hours of the apex courts verdict, the Constitution, the interpretation of which very literally disenfranchised Mrs G, was suspended and with that the civil liberty of every single living Indian. The scale of the retribution was perversely in consonance with the Prime Ministers status. At the time, Gandhi was deified as an avatar of Durga. Her vengeance had, after all, broken arch nemesis Pakistan, and her cult had cast a spell of despondency over her opponents and turned voters into devotees Indira was India. The body politic stood warned against messing with elected patricians and it would be decades before the criminal justice system again passed strictures against a politician in high office. But even when Bihars Chief Minister Lalu Yadav was arrested in the mid-1990s, no one really believed he was going to face the full weight of justice. They werent wrong. Lalus proxy CM (his wife) ensured that his word was still the law. This state of impunity began unravelling only in the early 2000s and it wasnt surprising that the first blow came from within the charmed circle. Two heavyweights of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi began to settle political scores by filing corruption cases against each other as and when they seized office. Their alternating stabs at vendetta played out in unedifying fashion in full public glare. It may have had more to do with serendipity, but the slugfest between Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi gave the public a rare insight into the extent of the rot that had set into democratic governance. The silent public disapproval against corruption in high places erupted in the outpouring of support for the movement against graft led by Anna Hazare. This rustic from Maharashtra and his cohorts, like Arvind Kejriwal, made it difficult for politicians to avoid accountability. And in the ensuing UPA era, the floodgates opened. Holding high office no longer guaranteed immunity from the law. The Hazare movement brought down the UPA government. The criminal justice system was praised for finally ridding itself of its Janus face. Democracy, it was observed, was now thriving on its most desirable virtue: accountability. Today, in an incredible demonstration of fates fickle ways, Arvind Kejriwal has allegedly fallen short of the standards of rectitude he himself set for those in political life. The Enforcement Directorate has taken him into custody and he faces an inquisition on corruption charges. But that is the least of the irony. Kejriwals arrest, which ought to have been celebrated as the cementing of equity in the eyes of the law, is being described as a matter of deep disquiet. The arrest is being linked to the alleged deepening of tyranny under Modis regime. A slow, but inexorable slide into a political culture, where the government of the day does not allow the Opposition to mobilize, organise and govern through the arbitrary application of the law. There are many criticisms to be made of the EDs actions, but linking Kejriwals arrest to democratic back-sliding isnt one of them. First, Kejriwals party has itself championed the EDs crackdown against graft in states such as Punjab and West Bengal, where it fancies its chances against non-NDA rivals like the Congress and TMC, respectively. Second, Kejriwal has built a long list of critics who deride him on the integrity parameter. In fact, many of those today attributing his arrest to Modis authoritarianism had themselves parted ways with Kejriwal for eschewing probity in political life. We have to ask were the Prashant Bhushans and Yogendra Yadavs playing parlour games then or are they playing them now? Third, is the vendetta charge being applied selectively to Modi? Why were the incumbent opposition Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Punjab not accused of tyranny when they prosecute the likes of Chandrababu Naidu and Sukhpal Khaira? Fourth, hadnt Kejriwal dodged nine summons from the ED? And didnt the High Court deny him interim protection from EDs coercive action, setting the stage for his arrest? Is the High Court also now presumed to be part of the Prime Ministers alleged campaign to subvert democracy? Indeed, the judiciary is increasingly becoming the victim of a schizoid iconoclasm. It is hailed by a section of self-styled civil society activists, when the outcomes are in line with their expectations and slandered if the verdict doesnt suit their interests. Fifth, truth be told trouble has been brewing for AAP ever since it introduced a new liquor policy in 2021. Its sudden withdrawal in 2022, when its implementation was linked to back-handers, dented AAPs credibility and underlined the need for CBI and ED investigations. The fact that the courts have not granted any relief to Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair is being increasingly seen as a sign of AAPs culpability. Only the most partisan would deny that Kejriwals was not an arrest foretold. Sixth, democracies are best nurtured by clean politicians. Those today siding with Kejriwal are the first to point out that laws need to be strengthened, so they can prevent the corrupt from being elected to office. Surely, then Kejriwals arrest is serving the public interest by informing voters about his eligibility or lack thereof. And it is here, in serving the public interest, that the Modi government must be impeccably impartial. Unfortunately, it is on this score that the governments crackdown on corruption doesnt always pass the smell test. Leaders with blots on their character, but who join the BJP suddenly become white washed. Hypocrisy is an all too common affliction of electoral politics. Populists routinely become prisoners of their own public persona. To link the NDAs selectivity on graft to the death of democracy is to misread the symptoms of what is afflicting the NDA. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. More than 50 years ago, when Pakistan was divided into its West and East wing (now Bangladesh), the country conducted its first general election after independence in 1970. Despite the common unifying factor of religion, the ethnic complexities between West and East Pakistan paved the way for political marginalisation and economic disparity of the latter at the hands of the former. The military establishment that ruled the country was dominated by Punjabis and was responsible for the discrimination and exploitation of ethnic Bengalis who constituted the majority. The discriminatory practices laid the ground for the rise of Bengali nationalism in the East. Nationalistic fervour reached an all-time high when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman-led Awami League, the main political party of the East, contested the 1970 general election and won it convincingly. Of the 300 constituencies (162 in East Pakistan and 138 in West Pakistan), the decisive win of the Awami League was sealed as it won 160 seats (all from East). Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won 86 seats (all from West). This incident historically changed the political landscape of the country. Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman contested the election with an aim to implement his Six-Point charter for larger autonomy to the East. This charter was presented earlier by Rahman in Lahore in 1966. Mujibur Rahmans election plank was to transform East Pakistan into a Golden Bengal through establishing a democratic constitution. His election campaign received an overwhelming response across all strata of Bengalis, especially the youth. The emphasis on election mandate as the only way out to free Bengal from all crises and suffering further resonated in Bengalis. The election results, however, were not accepted by military dictator Yahya Khan and PPPs Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. They refused to let Bengalis of the East head the countrys federal government and to frame the new constitution based on the Six-Point charter. The inauguration of the National Assembly was deliberately delayed by General Yahya Khan, while the Pakistan Army was heavily deployed in the East to suppress the Bengali aspirations. Mujibur Rahman demanded a peaceful transfer of power to the Awami League, which was vehemently denied. The Pakistani Army launched Operation Searchlight on March 25, 1971, in East Pakistan, targeting all Bengali activists, intellectuals and civilians to suppress the Bengali nationalist movement. A Liberation War erupted in the region as a consequence of the delay in the assemblys inauguration. Shortly before Mujibur Rahmans arrest, he called for resistance and sought independence for East Pakistan. What followed was a large-scale massacre and systemic ethnic cleansing of about one million Bengalis by the Pakistan Army. In December 1971, when the Liberation War was coming towards its end, the anti-liberation forces such as Razakars, al-Badr, al-Shams, factions of the Jamaat-e-Islami that collaborated with the Pakistan Army, launched another series of massacres, sensing the imminent defeat of the Pakistan Army. Pakistan Major General Rao Forman Ali, the mastermind behind this massacre, aimed to eradicate all Bengali intellectuals from the region so that after gaining independence, Bangladesh would remain devoid of its talent pool which would make the country crippled in future. The political scenario in present-day Pakistan reflects a similar picture. Popular leader Imran Khan, who founded the Tehreek-e-Insaf Party (PTI), appealed to the masses, especially the youth, with his slogan Naya Pakistan i.e. a new Pakistan which would be devoid of corruption and militancy that had crippled the countrys economy for decades. A leader with no prior experience in politics, unlike the political dynasts from PPP and PML-N, Imran Khan emerged as the new hope for Pakistan. However, he has been put behind bars and denied a legitimate victory in the 2024 general elections. Even though the military regime in Pakistan officially ended 15 years ago, the country is still struggling to function as a democratic nation. The Pakistan military continues to have de facto control over the countrys decision-making. The power enterprise that the Pakistan military is can be deciphered from the no-confidence motion passed against Imran Khan in 2022. This was the result of his fallout with the military over the appointment of head of military intelligence in 2021 and the disagreements with the military over foreign policy. Khans ousting led to massive protests and rallies joined by thousands across the nation. The massive rallies were hailed as the start of a freedom struggle in protecting the countrys sovereignty and democracy. The arrest of Imran Khan in May 2023 on multiple charges from corruption to sedition and sentencing to three years in jail on charges of illegal sale of state gifts, also barred Khan from contesting the 2024 general election, a consequence of his fallout with the military. The news of the arrest further shocked the country and enraged his supporters. Khans arrest and subsequent call for a peaceful protest against the courts decision was swiftly responded to, as the unrest spread across the region whereby crowds, mostly youth, were witnessed breaking into military properties and setting them ablaze. This added fire to the fuel and the military accused Khan and his supporters of systemic attack and raising anti-army slogans, and warned of retaliation. Just weeks before the general election this February, the Election Commission of Pakistan banned PTI as a political party. Khan received fresh convictions over three trials, barring him from holding public office for 10 years. Despite the pre-poll rigging and election irregularities favouring PML-N, as observed by rights watch organisations, the independent candidates loyal to PTI won 93 out of the 265 seats. Thus, they secured more seats than any party, reflecting popular sentiment against the series of systemic attacks by the military on Imran Khan. The election result triggered a fresh round of protests by loyalists of Imran Khan. The military establishment had displayed its dominance in the decision-making process during the 1970 general election. The same template continues even today in Pakistan. The establishments attack on popular leader Mujibur Rahman in 1971 and Imran Khan presentlywho challenged the militarys controlis a reflection of the militarys continued dominance in Pakistans politics. The continued onslaught of the Pakistan Army on popular leaders who challenge the establishments iron grip indicates that the proverb history repeats itself is true as far as Pakistan is concerned. Considering the ongoing developments that Pakistan is witnessing, the nation seems to be heading towards another 1971-like situation. The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views. The AAP will hold the Main Bhi Kejriwal campaign and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not resign from his post, the party decided in a meeting held on Sunday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held the meeting to decide its future course of action in the aftermath of party national convenor Kejriwals arrest in the excise policy case. This was the partys first major meeting after Kejriwals arrest. It was presided over by Aam Aadmi Party national general secretary (organisation) Dr Sandeep Pathak. It was decided at the meeting that Kejriwal will not resign from the CMs post and the ministers, MLAs and the party will continue to take his orders from jail, the party said in a statement. Pathak said that the Main Bhi Kejriwal campaign will start soon under which stickers will be pasted outside houses and on auto-rickshaws and hoarding will also be put up. Those attending the March 31 INDIA bloc rally should come with Main Bhi Kejriwal stickers pasted on their vehicles, he added. The opposition INDIA bloc will hold a maha rally at Delhis Ramlila Maidan on March 31, with AAP and Congress leaders participating. Pathak said he has received an order from Kejriwal to hold a rally on March 31 and that the party will ensure that it is successful. On March 26, meetings on preparations will be held in all assembly constituencies with all councillors to make the March 31 protest rally a huge success, he said. He urged the party leaders to organise zonal level meetings with MLAs and councillors on March 27-28 to target 10 people from each booth to ensure they reach Ramlila Maidan on March 31. There are nearly 14,000 booths. With 10 people from each booth, the number of people reaching Ramlila Maidan will be 1.5 lakh, he said. Pathak also urged the party leaders and volunteers to tie a black ribbon on their arm to the March 31 rally as a mark of protest. On behalf of all volunteers, I request Arvind Kejriwal not to resign. The government will run from jail, Pathak said. The AAP leader alleged it was the BJPs conspiracy to arrest Kejriwal and then break the party. Pathak added that nobody is going to break away from the party. Kejriwal in jail is more dangerous than when he was outside the jail because you (BJP) do not know him, he said. Now there will be no pleading, there will be war, Pathak added. Earlier, we would get orders from Civil Lines, now we will get orders from jail, and we will follow them. Earlier, Kejriwal was busy with governance, and he had made their life difficult. Now, he will have pen and paper with him all the time, just think what will happen to them, the AAP leader said. Kejriwal (55) was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday from his official residence in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case. A court on Friday sent the AAP national convenor to the central agencys custody till March 28. Assam minister Pijush Hazarika on Monday addressed the state of the Congress party amidst a series of defections to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by its leaders in recent weeks, just ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Hazarika, who previously served as president of Assam Youth Congress, recalled the conflict within the party in 2011 when then Assam CM Tarun Gogoi introduced his son Gaurav Gogoi to state politics. This decision was opposed by powerful minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, leading to a split that saw over 40 Congress MLAs joining Sarma. Reflecting on his time in the Congress, Hazarika stated that his departure from the party was triggered by the forceful entry of Gaurav Gogoi into state politics. Only because of Gaurav Gogois Para suit Landing by his father, then Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, Himanta Biswa Sarma felt compelled to leave Congress. The Congress High Command did not understand our problem, as a result of which we had to leave Congress, he explained. Hazarika officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in November 2015, following the path of Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. Now a member of the BJP and holding portfolios in water resources and information, Hazarika added, Our fault was we opposed Congress blanket politics, we opposed vogue appeasement that is why the Congress leaders did not like us.. Had Gaurav Gogoi not forcefully entered state politics, Assam Congress would not have faced such a crisis. Similarly, former Congress state working president Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, who joined the BJP in February, blamed the central leadership of Congress for failing to understand the states issues. Purkayastha commented, Today, there is no one to campaign for Congress. No leaders, no workers at the Mandal level to assist the partys candidate in campaigning; the candidates are campaigning on their own. This is the result of the Congress leaderships blunders in past years. The decisions made by the Congress leadership have caused the people of Assam to lose faith in the party. Assam Congress Chief to Join BJP Soon: Himanta Meanwhile, Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed confidence that Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah might soon join the BJP, following the resignation of veteran Assam Congress leader and MLA Bharat Chandra Narah. Mark my words; Bhupen Borah will soon join the BJP. I dont make baseless claims, he stated. Narah resigned on Monday after his wife, Ranee Narah, was denied a Congress ticket for the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha constituency. Sarma said, Till now, Bharat Narah has taken half steps. If he makes up his mind properly and is completely ready, he will be welcomed into the BJP. The latest list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), released on Sunday, includes Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former judge from Calcutta High Court who recently joined the party. He is set to contest from the Tamluk parliamentary seat in West Bengal. Challenging him is Debangshu Bhattacharya, 27, who leads the social media team of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). He is also known for composing the Khela Hobe campaign song, which gained popularity during the 2021 West Bengal elections. Gangopadhyay made headlines in 2021 for his firm stance on the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). As a sitting judge, he directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the matter. Critics have questioned Gangopadhyays transition from the judiciary to politics, with the Trinamool Congress accusing him of having political motives behind his rulings on the teacher recruitment scandal. At a recent Trinamool Congress rally, party chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee referred to Gangopadhyay as a BJP babu who was sitting on the bench and vowed to defeat him if he ran for election. With Gangopadhyays candidacy confirmed in the BJPs latest list, the stage is now set for a showdown. Meanwhile, TMCs candidate Bhattacharya has been actively involved in student politics and has managed the partys social media presence since 2022. The Tamluk constituency, once a stronghold of the Left, has been held by the Trinamool Congress since 2009. However, the dynamics have shifted with Suvendu Adhikaris defection to the BJP. Despite TMCs long hold on the seat, it remains a challenge for them to retain it this time, given Adhikaris influence in the region. On Sunday, BJP announced 19 additional candidates from West Bengal for the upcoming general elections. The saffron party has relocated Dilip Ghosh, the current MP from Medinipur, to BardhamanDurgapur, replacing the incumbent S S Ahluwalia. Bengal is set to vote in all seven phases of the Lok Sabha Polls, commencing on 19 April, with the election results scheduled to be announced on 4 June. A concert marking the 50th anniversary of China-Brazil diplomatic relations took place at the Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 21. The outdoor event attracted over 300 audience members and featured Chinese musicians, including the music ensemble of traditional Chinese music of the Central Conservatory of Music, bringing Chinese music pieces that showcase the versatility of traditional Chinese musical instruments, such as the famous suona (a woodwind Chinese instrument) piece "Hundreds of Birds Paying Homage to Phoenix" and the classic pipa (a four-stringed Chinese lute) piece "Ambush on All Sides". Ancient Chinese musical instruments, such as guzheng (a plucked-string musical instrument), xiao (Chinese vertical flute) and banhu (bowed Chinese fiddle) were also played during the concert. The Chinese musicians also used their instruments to play folk songs of Brazil, which received warm feedback from the local audience. The concert also featured musicians from Brazil playing Chinese songs and Brazilian folk songs. The concert, co-initiated by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and co-organized by Chinese Musicians' Association and Brazil China Friendship Association, invited veteran conductor Chen Bing as well as the winners and judges of the Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music a top Chinese music award to join in the performances. The event was part of 2024 "Today China" Arts Week, which was first launched in 2004 by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. During the past two decades, the art festival has toured around the world by visiting 23 countries and regions. This has been the first time that it came to Brazil. This year, the 2024 "Today China" Arts Week will also make its debut in Colombia. Cultural exchange programs such as film festival, concerts and photo exhibitions, will be held. Karnataka Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi landed in hot waters over his students who chant Modi, Modi should be slapped remark. The BJP has lodged a complaint against the Congress leader over the comment made during an election rally in Koppal on Sunday. Shivaraj Tangadagi, while addressing the public, accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of not honouring its promise to create two crore jobs per year and said they should be ashamed to ask for votes in the coming Lok Sabha elections. They (BJP) should be ashamed, with what face are they coming to seek votes. They are incompetent to do even a single development work. They had promised to give two crore jobs. Did they give jobs to anyone? When asked for jobs they say sell pakoras. They should be ashamed, Tangadagi said, adding, Even then, if students say Modi Modi, they must be slapped. Senior BJP leader C T Ravi slammed the Congress over the Ministers comments. Realising that Congress is going to lose the upcoming Lok Sabha elections very badly, CONgis are stooping to new lows. And they call PM Modi a dictator! CT Ravi said in an X post. BJP leader Amit Malviya also reacted to the Karnataka Ministers remark saying that political parties that have targeted the youth have not survived. Congress minister Shivaraj Tangadagi, who is the Minister of Culture in the Karnataka government, asks students, who chant slogans in favour of PM Modi, to be slappeda Just because Young India has rejected Rahul Gandhi, again and again, and wants PM Modi to lead the country, Congress will assault them? This is shameful. The contrast cant be more obvious, with Prime Minister Modi investing in Young India and Rahul Gandhis Congress wanting to slap them, Amit Malviya was quoted by India Today. According to a PTI report, the BJP has filed a petition with the Election Commission seeking strict action against the Minister. He should be barred from the election and campaigning, the BJP said, calling it a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Karnataka MLA and mining baron Janardhana Reddy merged his Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) party with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday. Describing it as a homecoming, Reddy said that the merger aimed to strengthen Narendra Modis leadership and support his third term as Prime Minister. Accompanied by his wife, Aruna Lakshmi, Reddy joined the saffron party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, in the presence of BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, along with his son, the state unit chief BY Vijayendra. Reddy had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. BJP was always there in my blood, but due to some reasons I had gone out, but today I feel I have come back to my mothers lap. Looking at my brothers here, I dont feel like Im coming back to the BJP office after 13 years, he expressed. Probe into illegal mining and corruption The Gangavathi MLA, caught in several investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into illegal mining and corruption, founded the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha in 2022, severing ties with the BJP after a two-decade association. Despite facing legal challenges, Reddy triumphed in the Gangavathi Assembly constituency during the 2023 Karnataka elections, emerging as the sole leader from his party to secure a seat in the Assembly. However, his brothers, G Karunakara Reddy and G Somashekara Reddy, who also contested the polls as BJP candidates, were defeated. This merger with the BJP marks Reddys return to the Hindutva party for the second time. He previously served as a state minister in Yediyurappas cabinet in 2008 before facing imprisonment in 2011 on charges of illegal mining. He was granted bail in 2015. In the lead-up to the 2018 assembly polls, the then BJP national president Amit Shah, in response to a reporters query, had distanced the party from Reddy, asserting that the BJP has no association with Janardhana Reddy. Reddy remained politically inactive for nearly 12 years after his arrest by the CBI in connection with a mining scandal. However, he briefly re-entered the political scene ahead of the 2018 assembly polls, campaigning for his close ally and former Minister B Sriramulu in the Molakalmuru Assembly segment. Facing charges in a multi-crore illegal mining case, the apex court imposed several restrictions, including a ban on his visits to Ballari in Karnataka and Ananthpur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, which compelled him to contest the 2023 Assembly polls from Gangavathi in Koppal district. Ties with Congress Although there have been speculations about Reddys support for the Congress in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, he has denied any such claims, attributing them to media speculation. According to BJP insiders, Reddys KRPP may not secure victories in the elections but could influence the Opposition partys prospects in the Ballari, Bagalkot, and Koppal regions, reported The Indian Express. In the 2023 Assembly elections, the Congress secured victories in five out of the seven seats in Bagalkot district, all five in Ballari district, and three out of the five seats in Koppal district. BJP analysts believe that the KRPPs presence divided votes, aiding the Congress in its wins. Apple confirms the reports that the company wanted its Apple Watch to work with Android phones but then decided against making it official. The company is facing a major lawsuit from the US government, accusing Apple of its anti-competitive nature, and now were hearing more unheard stuff from the horses mouth. Apple has admitted in its response to the Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that it had tried to make Apple Watch work with Android phones, but for multiple reasons, that never happened. In fact, a report by Bloomberg recently suggested the same, claiming that Apple had pulled the plug on this support at the last minute. Bringing Apple Watch to Android would have opened up a whole new market for the company where you have billions of smartphones. Apple has more or less confirmed those rumours, which has got people thinking about what could have been. So, why did Apple cancel this development? The response talks about Apples concerns with the technological limitations and possibly the security risks that Apple Watch could have entertained if it was opened up to Android. Like we have said umpteen times before, Apple might have dreaded the experience that the user would have got on the Apple Watch because Apple didnt have as much control with Android as it has with iOS. History doesnt repeat itself and we are now left to wonder about what Apple could have gained by allowing Apple Watch to work on non-iPhones. Having said that, it is quite obvious now that Apple faces these tough questions from regulators across the globe, and it should be ready for more of the same. In today's digital landscape, accessibility is key, with many apps continuously updating their features to enhance user experience. Telegram, a widely-used messaging platform, has a migration feature, allowing users to seamlessly export their chats from one app to another. Make sure you've updated Telegram to version 7.4, as this update includes the chat migration feature. Here's a simple guide for users to transfer a chat from WhatsApp to Telegram on both iOS and Android phones. Transfer WhatsApp Chats to Telegram On iPhone To transfer WhatsApp chats to Telegram on your iOS device, follow these steps: Open WhatsApp and navigate to the Contact Info page of the chat you want to export. Swipe from left to right, then tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner. Now you will be prompted to choose whether to restore the chat with or without media. Make your selection based on your preference. After making your choice, tap on 'Export Chat'. Then, select 'Telegram' from the options available in the Share menu. This will initiate the process of exporting the chat to Telegram. Transfer WhatsApp Chats to Telegram on Android To transfer WhatsApp chats to Telegram on your Android device, here's a detailed guide: Open a chat in WhatsApp, then tap on the area right beside the profile picture of the contact at the top of the screen. This will open the Contact Info page. Next, tap on 'More', typically represented by three vertical dots or an ellipsis. From the menu that appears, select 'Export Chat'. You will then be prompted to choose whether to include media or export without media. Make your selection based on your preference. After selecting your preferred option, tap on 'Telegram' from the Share menu. This will initiate the process of importing the chat to Telegram. After following these steps, you'll find the specific WhatsApp chat available on Telegram. Furthermore, the messages imported will retain their original timestamps and will be marked with a flag at the bottom indicating 'Imported'. Currently, you can only transfer chats individually, there's no bulk transfer option. This method also works for exporting group chats. Additionally, it's important to note that messages and media transferred to Telegram won't consume additional space on your smartphone. Users can optimise storage usage and control cache size by accessing the Data and Storage Usage tab within the Settings menu. Holi is undoubtedly one of the most prominent Hindu festivals. It is celebrated with much pomp and show in many parts of Northern India. However, under the guise of festivities, many people put colour or throw water balloons over strangers who are unwilling to participate. For a long time now, womens rights groups have highlighted how harassment is sanctioned during Holi by using the old saying Bura na mano Holi hai". The culture of drinking bhang, an edible preparation made from cannabis leaves, leads to intoxication-induced accidents, fights, and hooliganism. Such things tarnish the festivities for those who celebrate Holi responsibly. Here are five instances where Holi celebrations crossed a line in India: 1- A video went viral on X that showed two men standing through the sunroof of a Kia car, and throwing water balloons at unsuspecting pedestrians. This video was taken by someone who was driving behind this car. When the miscreants noticed that they were being recorded they tried to aim a water balloon at the person recording them. An X user named Sneha Singh shared this video and tagged Delhi police and traffic police in the post. The video was taken in Vasant Kunj in Delhi on March 16, 2024. Yesterday afternoon 16.03.24 in vasant kunj New Delhi, these two boys throwing random water balloons on people and ladies too in the street. This is extremely dangerous and could have injured someone badly. @DelhiPolice @dtptraffic @ndtv @ZeeNews @aajtak @DelhiPoliceCom1 pic.twitter.com/GnMEhjV9Zw sneha singh (@snehasi78473513) March 17, 2024 2- A video from Dhampur in Uttar Pradesh went viral that showed a group of men following two burkha-clad women and continuously pelting them with colour-filled water balloons. The older woman takes off her chappal so that she can move faster and escape the hooligans. One of these hooligans shot this video and uploaded it on his social media. " " , () ! pic.twitter.com/i2Kw6i2Zco Zakir Ali Tyagi (@ZakirAliTyagi) March 9, 2023 3- A video tarnished Indias image as a global tourist destination after it showed a group of men cornering a Japanese woman, forcefully putting colour on her and groping her in Delhis Paharganj area. One man smashes an egg over her head. This video prompted much outrage. Swati Maliwal, the former chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice to Delhi Police to examine the video and arrest the perpetrators. Delhi Police arrested three boys, including a juvenile, for groping and harassing the woman. 4- In 2020, a travel vlogger named Skye shared a video on YouTube that was titled Sexually Assaulted During Holi Festival In Varanasi. In the video, she shared how men forcefully put colour on her and touched her inappropriately. In the videos caption, she wrote that she was advised to not venture outside during Holi but she disregarded this advice and went out only to regret the decision. Skye wrote, After 2 minutes outside I was sexually assaulted." She added, In India, the pictures you see of foreigners enjoying Holi festival are usually taken inside the hostel grounds, where they throw a party for their guests." 5- In March 2022, a 22-year-old man was stabbed to death and his 20-year-old brother was injured by a group of men after a fight broke out over playing loud music during Holi celebrations at East Punjabi Bagh in Delhi. Six men were arrested and booked for murder and voluntarily causing hurt, the police said. With the return of the Holi fever, India is currently preparing to celebrate one of the biggest festivals in the nation. Amid the preparations, a video from last year has resurfaced on social media showcasing how Virat Kohli and the company celebrated the Festival of Colours back in 2023. In the clip, Kohli can be seen rocking a peach-coloured sleeveless T-shirt while being completely covered in colours as he approaches Shubman Gill. Next, the ever-enthusiastic ace batter started grooving beside Gill while singing the lyrics Baby Calm Down from a song that had gone viral last year. The duo were then joined by a joyous Rohit Sharma who tossed some colours towards Kohlis direction. This energetic and jolly side of the ace Indian batter has won the hearts of Indian fans once again. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bollywood Paparazzi (@bollywoodpaparazzii) Virat Kohli, alongside his compatriots, is currently competing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. Representing the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kohli played the tournament opener against Chennai Super Kings yesterday, March 22, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk. The former RCB skipper had a rather underwhelming start to the 17th edition of IPL having scored just 21 runs in 20 balls. As a result, RCB were able to put up only 173 runs on the board while losing six wickets. In the second half, a debuting Rachin Ravindra spearheaded CSKs chase by smashing 37 runs in just 15 deliveries. This enabled the defending champions to pick up the win by six wickets and eight balls left. RCB will be playing their next fixture against the Punjab Kings on Monday, March 25. It is the same day when the festival of Holi will be celebrated across the country. Given RCBs poor start to their campaign, it remains to be seen if Kohli will produce a special Holi bash against his opponents next week. As for Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, the duo are yet to play their opening game of the IPL 2024 season. Gill and Rohit will clash tomorrow, March 24, as the Gujarat Titans prepare to take on the Mumbai Indians. Gill has assumed the role of captain this season with his former skipper Hardik Pandyas departure to MI. In Rohits case, the six-time IPL winner was succeeded as captain of the MI squad for the 2024 season by Pandya. It remains to be seen if this shift in captaincy will turn out to be a good decision for the Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise. China said Monday it supported a new draft resolution at the UN Security Council on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after it and Russia vetoed an earlier text proposed by the United States. China supports this draft resolution and commends Algeria and other Arab countries for their hard work in this regard, foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. We hope the Security Council will pass it as soon as possible and send a strong signal for the cessation of hostilities, he said. The war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel has vowed to destroy the militants, who also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday put the total death toll in the territory at 32,226, most of them women and children. The Council has been divided over the Israel-Hamas war since the October 7 attacks, approving only two of eight resolutions, with both dealing mainly with humanitarian aid to the devastated Gaza Strip. Permanent Council member and key Israel backer the United States has unequivocally supported Israels right to defend itself following Hamass unprecedented attacks. Last Friday, the Security Council voted on a draft submitted by the United States that called for an immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed the resolution, criticizing it for stopping short of explicitly demanding Israel halt its campaign. The new text, according to the version seen by AFP on Sunday, demands an immediate ceasefire for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire. It also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages as well as the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale. The text is being put forward by non-permanent members of the Security Council, which worked with the United States over the weekend to avoid a veto, according to diplomats speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity. Beijing, which is a permanent Council member and holds veto power, said Monday it supported the resolution. This draft takes a clear stand in demanding a ceasefire and expanding humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and thereby accord with the correct orientation of the Security Councils actions, Lin said. At present, the conflict in Gaza is dragging on, causing a humanitarian crisis, he said. The international community expects the Security Council to practically and comprehensively fulfill its duties, he added. The Princess of Wales last week disclosed her battle with cancer in an emotional video message, putting to rest a storm of speculation ignited by her prolonged absence. Kates statement via a video message triggered an outpouring of support from well-wishers. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who were reportedly kept in the dark about Kates condition, also reached out. The show of support left many wondering why the estranged Royal pair were not informed earlier. According to a report by The Sun newspaper, the decision to withhold information from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stemmed from a lack of trust. Theres a deep rift between the brothers theyve caused endless problems to the royal family and so they cant be trusted, Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams asserted. This rift, Fitzwilliams suggested, was exacerbated by Harry and Meghans recent ventures, including lucrative deals with Netflix and Oprah Winfrey, which raised questions about their commitment to royal concerns. Phil Dampier a royal author, echoed this sentiment, noting that Harry and Meghan were not high on William and Kates list of priorities. The Sussexes werent told about it because the relationship between William and Harry is at an all-time low, he was quoted as saying by The Sun. Read More: Harry-Meghan Cheerleader Targets Kate Middleton Moments After Cancer Diagnosis: UK Media The revelation comes amid a flurry of social media activity, with individuals connected to Harry and Meghan casting doubt on the authenticity of Kates diagnosis. Christopher Bouzy, known for his association with the Sussexes and their Netflix show, sparked controversy by suggesting Kates illness was staged, akin to North Korean propaganda. Omid Scobie, another ally of the Sussexes, faced backlash for a tasteless post related to the timing of Kates announcement. Meanwhile, Kate stressed the importance of privacy and family support during her treatment. In her video message, she expressed gratitude for the outpouring of well-wishes and reassured her children, George, Charlotte, and Louis, that she is on the path to recovery. I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body, and spirits, Kate declared, reflecting on her journey towards recovery. From the heart of the national capital to the bustling streets of Washington DC, the festival of Holi brought communities together in a riot of vibrant colours. Embassies from Delhi to Washington DC embraced the spirit of Holi, marking the arrival of spring with festivities that echoed the cultural richness of India. In a video post on social media X, the US Embassy in India captured the essence of the celebration, describing the event as a fusion of vibrant colours and expressing American commitment to fostering greater friendship between the two countries. From vibrant colours to infectious laughter echoing through the grounds, the Holi celebration at our Embassy was quite some fun! But the fun doesnt stop here! Lets keep the Holi spirit alive all year round. Heres to greater friendship, and more unforgettable moments together in #USIndiaDosti! #HappyHoli, the US embassy in India said. ! From vibrant colors to infectious laughter echoing through the grounds, the Holi celebration at our Embassy was quite some fun! But the fun doesnt stop here! Lets keep the Holi spirit alive all year round. Heres to greater friendship, and more unforgettable moments pic.twitter.com/zCLTtuqRVo U.S. Embassy India (@USAndIndia) March 25, 2024 Gujiyas made of American nuts US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti marked his first Holi in India with an array of traditional gujiyas. Expressing his joy on social media, he stressed the importance of Holi as a symbol of the enduring India-US friendship. Despite having experienced lively Holi festivities in Los Angeles, he expressed that nothing compares to the vibrant atmosphere here in India. #HappyHoli, friends! Celebrating my first Holi in India with delicious gujiyas made of American nuts a delightful fusion of traditions and a celebration of #USIndiaDosti! Ive had vibrant Holi celebrations back in Los Angeles, but nothing beats being here in India for the festival of colours, Garcetti said. #HappyHoli, friends! Celebrating my first Holi in India with delicious gujiyas made of American nuts a delightful fusion of traditions and a celebration of #USIndiaDosti! Ive had vibrant Holi celebrations back in Los Angeles, but nothing beats being here in India for the pic.twitter.com/LgtfkgpEUi U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti (@USAmbIndia) March 25, 2024 Holi in the heart of Washington DC Meanwhile, the Dupont Circle in Washington DC was turned into a kaleidoscope of hues, music, and Indian culture, bringing the joyous energy of Holi to the heart of the American capital. The Indian mission in the country shared a message on X that highlighted the significance of Holi as a harbinger of spring, coinciding with the cherry blossoms weekend in DC. Holi in the heart of Washington DC @DuPont circle a joyous celebration resplendent with the colours, music and culture of India! In India, Holi marks the arrival of spring this year, it coincides with the cherry blossoms weekend in DC! We wish all of you a Happy Holi, the Indian embassy in Washington wrote on X. Holi in the heart of Washington DC @DuPont circle a joyous celebration resplendent with the colours, music and culture of India! In India, Holi marks the arrival of spring this year, it coincides with the cherry blossoms weekend in DC! We wish all of you a Happy Holi! pic.twitter.com/2nRDV3matY India in USA (@IndianEmbassyUS) March 24, 2024 Holi is a joyful celebration Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also wished everyone a happy Holi on his social media accounts. In an official statement, he said, Holi is a joyful celebration of colour, love and new life. The message of renewal through the triumph of good over evil is an inspiration for all Australians. For many Australians of South Asian heritage, Holis cultural and religious significance brings people together in celebration of their shared faith, history and heritage. I was honoured to celebrate Holi in Ahmedabad, India, last year, and to experience the spectacular display of music, colour, and traditional dancing that define this lively tradition. However you mark the occasion this year whether you gather with family and friends, eat, sing, dance or play with gulaal-I trust you will have a wonderful time, he added. Israel said Monday the US abstention on a Gaza ceasefire call at the United Nations would hurt its fight against Hamas and the effort to release hostages held by militants. After more than five months of war, the UN Security Council for the first time demanded an immediate ceasefire after the United States, Israels ally which vetoed previous drafts, abstained. This is a clear retreat from the consistent position of the United States at the Security Council since the beginning of the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said. It added that Netanyahu had cancelled the planned departure of a delegation which was set to leave for consultations in Washington over future military operations in the Gaza Strip. The UN vote hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees, Netanyahus office said in a statement. It gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees. Netanyahu made it clear last night that if the US withdraws from its principled position, he will not send the Israeli delegation to the US, the statement noted. In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation would not leave, it said. The UN resolution calls for an immediate truce that would lead to a lasting, sustainable ceasefire and demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized in their October 7 attack that triggered the war. US President Joe Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a team for consultations over Israels plans to launch a full-scale assault on Gazas Rafah, which Washington opposes. International fears have grown that a ground offensive in the southernmost tip of Gaza would drastically worsen a heavy civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Monday met with his Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan and two other senior ministers and discussed ways to further enhance bilateral ties, and the situation in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia regions. Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Singapore and reached here on Saturday. He addressed the Indian diaspora on Sunday and met with investors on Saturday. Apart from Balakrishnan, Jaishankar held separate meetings with Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong and Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Delighted to meet Singapore FM @VivianBala. Reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation. Spoke about preparations for the next ISMR meeting. Discussed marking 60 years of our diplomatic ties, Jaishankar posted on X. Delighted to meet Singapore FM @VivianBala. Reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation. Spoke about preparations for the next ISMR meeting. Discussed marking 60 years of our diplomatic ties. Exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and West Asia. pic.twitter.com/6M586H7fbI Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) March 25, 2024 Exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and West Asia, he wrote. Jaishankar, whose day started by meeting Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, posted on X after the meeting along with a photo: Discussed trade, semiconductors, space, green energy, supply chains, and defence. Hope to take these forward in the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable. His next meeting was with Teo Chee Hean. Good to meet with Singapore Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean. Discussed the transformational changes in India and the opportunities they offer for our partnership. Also exchanged perspectives on regional and global issues, he posted on X after the meeting. From Singapore, the EAM is scheduled to visit the Philippines and Malaysia. The March 23-27 visit will focus on enhancing bilateral relations with the three countries, and would provide an opportunity for engagement on regional issues of mutual concern, the Ministry of External Affairs had said before Jaishankars departure. Four men accused of involvement in a massacre at a Russian concert hall that killed 137 people were remanded in custody Sunday, as the country observed a day of mourning following the attack claimed by the Islamic State. All four suspects have been charged with terrorism, according to Moscows Basmanny district court, and face life imprisonment. Their detention is set until May 22 but may be extended depending on the date of their trial. The court said two of the defendants had pleaded guilty, and one of them, from Tajikistan, had entirely acknowledged his guilt. Barbaric attack President Vladimir Putin has promised to punish those behind the barbaric terrorist attack, and on Saturday said the four gunmen had been arrested while trying to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has strongly denied any connection to the attack. At least 137 people, including three children, were killed Friday evening when gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall in Moscows northern suburb of Krasnogorsk then set fire to the building. It is the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by IS. Russias Investigative Committee posted a video of the four suspects being dragged into its headquarters in Moscow. There was no statement on the other seven suspects arrested in connection with the attack. Officials have said the gunmen were all foreign nationals. Machine guns, knives, firebombs The Islamic State group posted Saturday on Telegram that the attack was carried out by four IS fighters armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and firebombs as part of the raging war with countries fighting Islam. A video lasting about a minute and half, apparently filmed by the gunmen, has been posted on social media accounts typically used by IS, according to the SITE intelligence group. The video which appears to have been filmed from the lobby of the concert venue shows several individuals firing assault rifles with inert bodies strewn on the floor and a fire starting in the background. Russian investigators said that after walking through the theatre shooting spectators, the gunmen set fire to the building, trapping many inside. Health officials said the number of casualties had risen to 182, with 101 people still in hospital, of whom 40 were in critical or extremely critical condition. The attack was the deadliest in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004. The emergency situations ministry has so far named 29 of the victims, but the blaze has complicated the process of identification. The ministry on Sunday posted a video of heavy equipment arriving at the venue to dismantle damaged structures and clear debris. Day of Mourning Mourners continued to stream to the concert hall in northwest Moscow to lay flowers as a tribute to the victims. More than 5,000 people donated blood following the attack, officials said, with many standing in long queues outside clinics. Abroad, people left floral tributes outside Russian embassies in sympathy. Putin on Saturday vowed retribution and oblivion to the terrorists, murderers and non-humans who carried out the barbaric terrorist attack. Several of his allies have called for the country to lift a moratorium on the death penalty, sparking concern among Kremlin critics. Putins statement Saturday suggested a Ukraine connection. They tried to escape and were travelling towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border, Putin said of the attackers in his televised address. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his own evening address Saturday, rejected any suggestion that Kyiv had been involved. In Moscow, some doubted also Putins claims. Washington also dismissed any suggestion that Kyiv had been involved. ISIS (Islamic State group) bears sole responsibility for this attack, said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson. Late on Sunday, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the country was returning to its top security alert status in the wake of the attack and given the threats weighing on our country. (With agency inputs) Asking Pakistan to stop its terror factories that launch countless cross-border attacks, India has slammed its neighbouring country for raking of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir on an international platform meant to discuss the issue of Parliamentary diplomacy. Representing India at the 148th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, said Lectures from a country with an abysmal record of democracy are laughable. I take the floor to reject the preposterous comments made by Pakistan against my country. India is the largest democracy in the world, and its my privilege that many consider India a model to be emulated. Lectures from a country with an abysmal record of democracy are laughable, he said in Indias right-to-reply. Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha @harivansh1956 delivered Right of Reply against Pakistan at the 148th Session of the @IPUparliament Assembly in Geneva pic.twitter.com/pNKI2PsBah India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) March 24, 2024 Absurd and false allegations This response came as Pakistan continued to engage in hostile and fabricated propaganda to vilify India and to divert attention from its domestic political and economic failures. The Central government has completely and unequivocally rejected all actions and statements by Pakistan on matters that are completely internal to India. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is an international organisation that brings together national parliaments. At the IPU, Pakistan brought up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. In response, the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman said, It would be better if Pakistan did not undermine the importance of a platform like IPU with such absurd and false allegations, he said. Regarding the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Harivansh stated that it would always be an integral and inalienable part of India, and no amount of propaganda can override this fact. Stop terror factories Harivansh asserted that Pakistan would be well-advised to stop its terror factories that continue to launch countless cross-border terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir while farcically claiming to champion the cause of human rights. He also reminded the council that Pakistan has a well-established history of harbouring, aiding, and actively supporting terrorists. Let me remind you that the face of global terrorism, Osama Bin Laden, was found in Pakistan. The country Pakistan holds the ignoble record of hosting one of the largest numbers of terrorist groups proscribed by the UN Security Council. I trust that Pakistan will draw the lessons for the good of its own people, he added. In 2021, Chinese hackers penetrated the core of British democracy, accessing the personal details of 40 million voters. After over two years of probe, Britain is now set to formally accuse China of a cyberattack on the countrys Electoral Commission, responsible for overseeing nationwide elections. Britains Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will caution numerous officials about being targeted by Chinese hackers. The UK Foreign Office will blacklist several Chinese suspects involved in the breach, The Sun newspaper said, which first broke the news. The United States government is also expected to attribute cyber attacks on America to Beijing on Monday. Last year in August, the top poll body in the country admitted that its systems had been accessed by hostile actors for 14 months. UK media reports said the hackers were able to view and change electoral registers showing the names and addresses of people registered to vote between 2014 and 2022. They also accessed the commissions file sharing and emailing system, compromising the email address of anybody who messaged its staff, reports added. With the govt setting out new measures on China tomorrow following a new string of cyberattacks on MPs, our piece on what threat the nation poses to the UK, and how ministers have previously been too soft on the issue.With @JonCraig, produced by myself. pic.twitter.com/XiEbQogy0n Josh Gafson (@JoshGafson1) March 24, 2024 Expected government statement Following todays Sunday Times story in relation to China and parliament, in which myself and 3 other parliamentarians are named, a number of other news outlets have covered the story and are seeking comment and further information. We intend do so tomorrow after an expected government statement, at which point we will have a short press conference. We wont be offering any comment until then, UK MP Stewart McDonald said in a post on X. Despite speculations of a delay, UK Foreign Office sources told UK newspaper that attributing the attack to China took months of deliberation. Shaun McNally, the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission, expressed regret over the breach, acknowledging the lack of adequate protections in place. We know which systems were accessible to the hostile actors, but are not able to know conclusively what files may or may not have been accessed, McNally said. A group of China critics, including former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and SNP MP Stewart McDonald, have been briefed about cyberattacks on their computers by Parliaments director of security Alison Giles. Luke de Pulford, head of the anti-China alliance IPAC group, stressed Chinas aggressive stance, saying, Beijing has made no secret of their desire to attack foreign politicians who dare to stand up to them. Avian influenza is killing tens of thousands of seals and sea lions in different corners of the world, disrupting ecosystems and flummoxing scientists who don't see a clear way to slow the devastating virus. The worldwide bird flu outbreak that began in 2020 has led to the deaths of millions of domesticated birds and spread to wildlife all over the globe, per the AP. This virus isn't thought to be a major threat to humans, but its spread in farming operations and wild ecosystems has caused widespread economic turmoil and environmental disruptions. The virus was detected in mainland Antarctica for the first time in February. Where: Seals and sea lions, in places as far apart as Maine and Chile, appear to be especially vulnerable, scientists said. The virus has been detected in seals on the east and west coasts of the US, leading to deaths of more than 300 seals in New England and a handful more in Puget Sound in Washington. The situation is even more dire in South America, where more than 20,000 sea lions have died in Chile and Peru and thousands of elephant seals have died in Argentina. Seals and sea lions, in places as far apart as Maine and Chile, appear to be especially vulnerable, scientists said. The virus has been detected in seals on the east and west coasts of the US, leading to deaths of more than 300 seals in New England and a handful more in Puget Sound in Washington. The situation is even more dire in South America, where more than 20,000 sea lions have died in Chile and Peru and thousands of elephant seals have died in Argentina. Ecosystem chaos: The deaths of seals and sea lions disrupt ecosystems where the marine mammals serve as key predators near the top of the food chain. Seals help keep the ocean in balance by preventing overpopulation of the fish species they feed on. The deaths of seals and sea lions disrupt ecosystems where the marine mammals serve as key predators near the top of the food chain. Seals help keep the ocean in balance by preventing overpopulation of the fish species they feed on. Cause: Scientists are still researching how the seals contracted bird flu, but it's most likely from contact with infected seabirds, says Marcela Uhart of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at UC Davis. Some scientists and environmental advocates say there could be a link between the outbreaks and warming oceans from climate change. Warmer sea temperatures off northern Chile decrease the population of forage fish, and that makes sea lions weaker and more susceptible to disease, says Liesbeth van der Meer of the environmental group Oceana. Scientists are still researching how the seals contracted bird flu, but it's most likely from contact with infected seabirds, says Marcela Uhart of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at UC Davis. Some scientists and environmental advocates say there could be a link between the outbreaks and warming oceans from climate change. Warmer sea temperatures off northern Chile decrease the population of forage fish, and that makes sea lions weaker and more susceptible to disease, says Liesbeth van der Meer of the environmental group Oceana. More worries: Many species affected, such as South American sea lions and Southern elephant seals, have relatively stable populations, but scientists worry about the possibility of the virus jumping to more jeopardized animals. Scientists have said bird flu might have played a role in the deaths of hundreds of endangered Caspian seals in Russia last year. More here . (More seals stories.) Two crew members on a Holland America cruise ship died during an "incident" in the ship's engineering space, the cruise line said. The unidentified crew members died Friday while the Florida-based Nieuw Amsterdam was at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, Holland America said in a statement. Authorities were notified and the cause of the accident is being investigated, the cruise line said. Crew members were being offered counseling, the AP reports. Per NBC News , an "accidental steam release" led to the deaths of the crew members. "All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with our team members' families at this difficult time," the cruise line's statement said. "The safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew are the company's absolute priority." The cruise line did not offer any further details about the crew members. It later said the Bahamas Maritime Authority was leading the investigation into the incident. The ship set sail out of Fort Lauderdale on March 16 for a seven-night trip. A passenger tells NBC the captain announced the crew members' deaths over the PA system. "He broke down crying," she says. "There was a moment of silence that the captain requested." (More Holland America stories.) A theme in coverage has emerged about Vladimir Putin in the wake of Friday's concert hall massacre. The attack "threatens Putin's strongman image," per the headline at the Wall Street Journal, while one at AP says it "dents Putin's tough image," and others at the Washington Post and Axios says the attack exposes the Russian leader's "vulnerabilities" and "weaknesses," respectively. The question is whether Putin will turn things around to his advantage, as he has a long history of doing. Details: Security concerns: The attack, less than a week after Putin's choreographed landslide reelection and amid an entrenched Ukraine war, raises questions on whether he'll be able to deliver on promises of security for Russia's citizenry, per the Journal. "This is perceived as Putin's failure to deliverhe had come with promises of peace and stability, and where is that peace and stability now?" asks speechwriter-turned-critic Abbas Gallyamov. "If it's indeed Islamic State, then your entire foreign policy is worthlesswhich is why they are trying so hard to pin blame on Ukraine." It's Waffle Day on Monday, at least in certain parts of Scandinavia. The National Day Calendar notes that Norway and Denmark celebrate the scrumptious-sounding celebration, but it's "especially popular" in Sweden, where March 25 also marks the Feast of the Annunciation, or "Our Lady's Day." More on the dual-holiday festivities: Religious overtones: The latter Christian commemoration marks the day when the angel Gabriel was said to have told the Virgin Mary that she was going to give birth to Jesus Christ exactly nine months later. The latter Christian commemoration marks the day when the angel Gabriel was said to have told the Virgin Mary that she was going to give birth to Jesus Christ exactly nine months later. Where waffles come in: Waffle Day came about thanks to, of all things, a mispronunciation: "Varfrudagen" is the Swedish word for "Lady's Day," which is very close to "Vaffeldagen," the Swedish word for "Waffle Day." The Local notes that the Swedes just "went with it." The tradition has spread as far as Australia, India, and even the United States, per UPI. Waffle Day came about thanks to, of all things, a mispronunciation: "Varfrudagen" is the Swedish word for "Lady's Day," which is very close to "Vaffeldagen," the Swedish word for "Waffle Day." The Local notes that the Swedes just "went with it." The tradition has spread as far as Australia, India, and even the United States, per UPI. More Swedish fun: Kids in Sweden have other things besides yummy breakfast fare to look forward to during "stilla veckan," or Holy Week, the week before Easter. The Local notes that on the upcoming Maundy Thursday, children will dress up as witches. More on that tradition here. Kids in Sweden have other things besides yummy breakfast fare to look forward to during "stilla veckan," or Holy Week, the week before Easter. The Local notes that on the upcoming Maundy Thursday, children will dress up as witches. More on that tradition here. Other things to celebrate Monday: If you're more of a pancake or French toast person but still want something to fete, you can throw a mini party on Monday for National Lobster Newburg Day or Tolkien Reading Day instead, UPI helpfully notes. (More Sweden stories.) By Maia Ingoe for RNZ A group of prominent Aucklanders has signed a letter opposing a 35-year lease of Auckland's downtown port. The letter, sent to Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown, says the lease of the city centre port location locks in unsustainable industrial activity until at least 2060. Brown introduced the proposal for a 35-year lease of the port in Auckland's draft Long Term Plan. The letter calls on councillors to vote against the proposal, and to transform the port location into a public waterfront, akin to the Viaduct and Wynard Quarter. It has been signed by 30 people, including Sir Stephen Tindall, Lady Pippa Blake, Sir Ralph Norris, and Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick. Titled 'Stop Stealing Our Harbour', the letter argues the lease would ignore the findings of the last three studies on the port's location, which conclude that its position in the CBD was unsustainable. "As the recent Viaduct Harbour and Wynyard Quarter waterfront developments show, we can create enormous social, economic, and environmental value by transforming industrial port zones into thriving urban environments," the letter reads. "Locking the port into its current location until at least 2060 removes any possibility of replicating these rewards at the eastern end of our waterfront within our lifetimes." The PRCS said Sunday that Al-Amal Hospital and Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza were both encircled. "All our teams are in extreme danger at the moment and are unable to move at all. They are also unable to bury the body of our colleague Amir Abu Aisha inside the hospital courtyard." CNN has reached out to hospital authorities for more detail and to the Israel Defense Forces for a response. Both hospitals were surrounded by Israeli forces for prolonged spells earlier this year. The Israeli military is still operating at Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza's largest, after raiding it earlier in the week. IDF troops "apprehended approximately 480 terrorists affiliated with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations, and have located weapons and terrorist infrastructure in the hospital," the IDF said in an update Sunday. The IDF also announced that one a soldier had been killed in a battle in northern Gaza, bringing the death toll among soldiers since the ground operation began is 252. At least 32,226 people in Gaza have died since the October 7 attacks, with almost 75,000 injured, the Gaza Ministry of health said. In January, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the most intensive phase of operations in northern Gaza was complete, but in recent weeks the IDF has returned in force to the area around Al-Shifa as Hamas appears to have built up its presence and operations in the area. On Monday, the IDF launched a fresh operation at Al Shifa after claiming that "senior Hamas terrorists" were using the facility. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said about 3,000 people were seeking refuge and that those attempting to leave were being targeted by snipers and fire from helicopters. Hamas accused Israel of striking targets "without regard" to the patients or medical staff inside - a claim echoed by people at the complex. Hospitals have been battlegrounds throughout the conflict. Israel has accused Gazan medical facilities of harbouring Hamas fighters and weapons, something denied by doctors and the militant group. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile warned that "horror and starvation" was stalking Gaza, calling for a ceasefire and the immediate release of hostages. Guterres, who visited the Egyptian border on Saturday, has also called the relief trucks mounting there "a moral outrage," urging Israel to allow "total, unfettered access for humanitarian goods throughout Gaza." His remarks sparked anger from Israel, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz saying that the UN had become "an antisemitic and anti-Israeli body that shelters and emboldens terror" under Guterres' leadership. Katz, in a statement on X, accused Guterres of criticizing Israel without condemning "in any way" the Hamas "terrorists who plunder humanitarian aid, without condemning UNRWA that cooperates with terrorists - and without calling for the immediate, unconditional release of all Israeli hostages." Israel and the UN's relations are poor. The UN has been a strong critic of Israel's campaign in Gaza, while Israel has accused some UN staffers of involvement in the October 7 attacks. CNN A short time later, sheriff's deputies searching for the older brother found the mountain lion crouched near his body on the ground and fired shots to frighten the animal away. State and county game wardens and trappers summoned to the area tracked down the lion later in the day and killed it, the sheriff's office said in a statement issued on Saturday. The lion's remains were sent to a forensic laboratory to obtain DNA and other information about the animal. In an update on Sunday, the sheriff's office said the younger brother had undergone multiple surgeries for his injuries and was expected to make a full recovery. But the names of the two victims were being kept confidential. Mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, are largely solitary predators that range widely across the Western United States and Canada, feeding mainly on deer and rodents. They mostly avoid humans, and attacks on people are relatively rare, though interactions have grown more frequent as urban sprawl increasingly encroaches on their natural habitat. Saturday's incident marked the first fatal encounter between a mountain lion and a human in California since January 2004, when a man was attacked in the foothills of Orange County, south of Los Angeles, while riding a bicycle through a park, according to state Fish and Wildlife Department statistics. Fairbanks, AK (99701) Today Variable clouds with snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 50%.. Tonight Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Low 22F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 50%. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Shura Council approved on its session yesterday Decree Law No. 15 of 2023, which amends some provisions of Decree Law No. 32 of 2020 concerning registration, safety and monitoring rules for small vessels. The approval came after the Public Utilities and Environment Committee discussed a report on the amendments. The Committee rapporteur Redah Ebrahim Monfaredi affirmed the decree aims to unify provisions related to small vessel maritime navigation in accordance with existing maritime law. He further added: It also seeks to reduce incidents resulting from lack of regulatory oversight and ineffective penalties. He noted the decree law provides urgent legislative intervention by establishing effective oversight mechanisms for all maritime activities. He pointed out that it also expands the authorities of Coast Guard Command under the Interior Ministry and implements comprehensive licensing and navigation regulations while imposing deterrent penalties to uphold security and safety. The changes are expected to standardise the sector and enhance regulatory enforcement to protect lives and property at sea in line with international standards. The new decree has now been sent to the Speaker of the Parliament to notify the government about it. Moreover, the Shura Council also discussed proposed amendments to the fisheries law. The amendments aim to increase fish production, encourage fish farms and provide support to fishermen. Legislative gaps They also seek to address legislative gaps regarding when Bahraini fishing vessels can enter restricted waters in emergencies. The proposals prohibit leasing of fishing licenses and foreign vessels fishing in Bahraini waters. The rules would allow transferring a fishing license to a deceased license holders wife and minor children if fishing is their sole income, on condition it is used by a Bahraini fisherman. The amendments also permit anchoring in restricted areas during weather, security or vessel emergencies, or for rescue operations. The Shura Council approved allowing consideration of the bill and referred it to the government to draft it as new legislation. This aims to further regulate the fisheries sector and boost productivity in line with Saudi vision. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Nawaf bin Mohammed Al-Maawda, Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, praised the honorable and proud achievements of Bahraini competitors in international Quranic forums, and the advanced levels they demonstrate, under the high royal patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. This came during his honouring of the contestant, Nour Abdul Razzaq Shakib, who won first place in the Dubai International Holy Quran Competition in its twelfth session, in the category of memorizing the entire Holy Quran. She also won the award for the best recitation with perfect rulings, which was held in the United Arab Emirates recently, with the participation of 548 contestants from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The Minister also praised the efforts of Professor Suhaila Rajab to prepare and qualify the contestant, Nour Shakib, in the presence of Judge Issa Sami Al Mannai, Undersecretary for Justice and Islamic Affairs, Abdullah Qahtan Al Amri, Director of the Holy Quran Affairs Department, a number of officials, and the contestants father. He noted the existing partnership between the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, and the Holy Quran memorization centres, in the field of teaching the holy book, memorizing it and mastering its recitation, and preparing qualification programs for contestants participating in Quranic competitions. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Al Baraka Group (ABG) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 20 March 2024 via the e-AGM audiovisual communication platform. A quorum of 85.2% was achieved for the meeting which was chaired by Mohamed Alshroogi, Vice Chairman of the Groups Board of Directors. The meeting was held in the presence of Members of the Board of Directors, including the Group Chief Executive Officer, Houssem Ben Haj Amor, and the Executive Management team. Representatives from regulatory bodies including the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC), and the Bahrain Bourse were also in attendance. The Groups report on activities for the financial year ended 31 December 2023 was presented, discussed, and subsequently approved. As per the approvals, 10% of the net income attributable to shareholders equity of the parent company, amounting to US$ 14,350,885, will be transferred to the statutory reserve. A cash dividend of 1% of the par value per share will be distributed to the registered shareholders on the record date, excluding treasury shares with an amount equals to US$ 12,357,047. The remaining US$ 116,800,916 will be transferred to the retained earnings. Shareholders also approved the Boards recommendation for the remuneration payment of US$ 1.5 million to the members of the Board of Directors for the financial year ended 31 December 2023. Authorized the Groups management to disburse US$ 576,295 at a rate of 0.05 cents as Zakat on behalf of all shareholders. Additionally, approval was received on the aggregate benefits and remuneration of US$ 105,000 to the members of the Unified Shariah Supervisory Board for the financial year ended 31 December 2023. Finally, the shareholders ratified the Board of Directors recommendation to re-appoint Messrs. PricewaterhouseCoopers as External Auditors for Al Baraka Group for the financial year ending on 31 December 2024. AFP | Jerusalem The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Heavy fighting raged yesterday in the Israel-Hamas war as UN chief Antonio Guterres called for a surge of aid into the besieged territory he said was stalked by horror and starvation. Talks have been held in Qatar towards a truce and hostage release deal but the heads of the CIA and Mossad have left Doha for consultations with their governments, an informed source told AFP. Air and artillery strikes again rained down on Gaza where Israel has vowed to launch its planned ground offensive against Hamas fighters in the crowded far southern city of Rafah, despite rising global concern and objections from the United States. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said yesterday that another 84 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours, raising the total death toll in the territory during nearly six months of war to 32,226. Palestinian children badly wounded in the latest bombardment were rescued from the rubble of collapsed buildings and rushed for urgent medical care to Al-Najjar hospital in Rafah. Guterres, on a visit to Egypt, urged an end to the non-stop nightmare endured by Gazas 2.4 million people since Hamas sparked the territorys worst ever war with its October 7 attack on Israel. Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it, the United Nations secretary-general said. The whole world recognises that its past time to silence the guns and ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Threat of famine As UN and other aid agencies have warned of the threat of famine in Gaza, Guterres urged Israel to allow in more humanitarian aid via the Rafah border crossing where trucks were queued up. Israels military blasted back on social media, saying the UN should scale up its logistics and stop blaming Israel for its own failures. Combat has flared for almost a week in and around Gazas biggest hospital complex, Gaza Citys Al-Shifa, which has been a refuge for displaced people and where Israel says Palestinian militants have been hiding out. The Hamas government media office said 190 people had been killed in the Al-Shifa operation, and 30 nearby buildings destroyed. AFP | Cairo The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Sunday in Cairo that delivering the necessary aid to famine-threatened Gaza requires Israel removing the remaining obstacles and chokepoints to relief. Guterres repeated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to alleviate the plight of Palestinian children, women and men struggling to survive the nightmare in Gaza, during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. He had visited on Saturday the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, where nearly six months of war and siege have displaced the vast majority of the territorys 2.4 million people and destroyed its civilian infrastructure. Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it, the UN chief said. The whole world recognises that its past time to silence the guns and ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, he continued. The war was sparked on October 7 by Hamass unprecedented attack on Israel, which resulted in about 1,160 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. Israel has vowed to pursue its retaliatory military campaign all the way to Gazas southernmost city of Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter, penned in by the Egyptian border. Guterres, who also met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, called the Rafah border crossing and Egypts El-Arish airport where assistance is sent essential arteries for life-saving aid into Gaza. But those arteries are clogged, he said, with massive lines of trucks piled up on the Egyptian side, only trickling in as the humanitarian situation worsens. Calls have mounted for Israel to ease its restrictions on aid and open more crossings into Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza desperately need what has been promised -- a flood of aid. Not trickles. Not drops, Guterres said. The UN has repeatedly warned of famine in the Palestinian territory, particularly in the north, which has been largely cut off from aid deliveries. When NATO went to war with Yugoslavia When NATO went to war with Yugoslavia AFP | Paris The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Twenty-five years ago, on March 24, 1999 NATO launched 11 weeks of air strikes on Yugoslavia to force it to end its bloody crackdown on separatists in Kosovo. It was the first time NATO had attacked a sovereign state in its 50-year history and remains a source of deep resentment both in Serbia, home of the former Yugoslav capital Belgrade, as well as in fellow Slavic ally Russia. Here's what you need to know about the US-led campaign: - Why did NATO bomb Serbia? Europe was still reeling from the brutal conflicts that had engulfed the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia and Croatia from 1991 to 1995 when Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic sent troops into Kosovo, a Serbian province with an ethnic Albanian majority, to crush pro-independence guerrillas, in early 1998. Milosevic portrayed the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) as a terrorist organisation bent on driving ethnic Serbs out of a province cherished by Serbs as a cradle of their Orthodox Christian faith. His campaign against them left some 13,000 people dead, mostly ethnic Albanians, and drove hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, leading NATO to accuse him of ethnic cleansing. After failed peace talks, NATO Secretary General Javier Solana announced on March 23, 1999 that the alliance had "no alternative... but to take military action". - How did the world react? - Serbia's allies Russia and China, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, strongly rejected the military intervention, which went ahead without the UN's authorisation. "Morally, we are on higher ground right now than America," Russian President Boris Yeltsin said of the airstrikes. In Serbia and fellow Yugoslav republic Montenegro, which was also targeted by the airstrikes, even those who were opposed to Milosevic saw NATO as the chief aggressor. Across Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East critics of European imperialism and American interventionism took a similar view, leading to mass anti-NATO demonstrations. "Is NATO's work to prevent war or to fuel one?" asked India's prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. - What did NATO target? - The strikes on the Serbian capital Belgrade, Kosovo's capital Pristina and other cities and towns began on the evening of March 24. Over the 11-week "Allied Force" campaign, NATO carried out 38,000 sorties and 10,000 bombardments. After running out of military and regime targets, NATO's focus shifted to infrastructure such as petroleum and power plants, roads and railways. One of its most controversial strikes targeted Serbian state-run broadcaster RTS. Sixteen employees were killed in that bombing, which NATO justified on the grounds that the broadcaster was part of Milosevic's propaganda machine. - How did Milosevic react? - NATO was hoping that a few days of strikes would bring Milosevic back to the negotiating table. Instead, he stepped up his brutal campaign against Kosovo's Albanians, exacerbating the refugee crisis. NATO blunders such as the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade due to a CIA mapping error that left three dead, and an attack on an Albanian refugee convoy that left scores dead, increased global opposition to the campaign. - How did the war end? - After 78 days of airstrikes, Milosevic suddenly capitulated. On June 10, 1999, he ordered his forces to withdraw from Kosovo, which was effectively taken over by the international community. The toll of the bombing campaign is disputed to this day. Serbian authorities say 2,500 civilians were killed. A report by Human Rights Watch in 2000 put the figure at around 500. After the war, many Kosovo Serbs were pressured to either flee or sequester themselves in enclaves. Milosevic was ousted in an uprising in 2000 and later sent to the Hague where he was put on trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Balkans wars. He died in his cell in 2006, aged 64. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move Serbia, China and Russia still refuse to recognise. Montenegro, which became independent in 2006, joined NATO in 2017. Most Serbians remain bitterly opposed to the alliance. The prompt and data engineering platform has been recognized at Enterprise Connect for excellence in enterprise communications and CX. ORLANDO, Fla., March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - HumanFirst , a prompt and data engineering platform for Generative AI (GenAI), today announced their expansion into the Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) market to accelerate time to GenAI value for CPaaS providers and customers alike. Real-time communications capabilitiesvoice, video, instant messagingare pillars of every customer journey, and valuable data floods into CPaaS platforms daily through every channel. Hidden in that data are rich, real-time customer insights that power business intelligence, automation opportunities, and CX transformations. But according to Omdia's " The State of Digital CX 2023 " survey, most organizations aren't equipped to manage complex text data from diverse sources at scale; 47% of organizations surveyed find their data inaccessible or lack transparency, and 44% find querying data time-consuming. "Real customer interactions are highly complex, deeply personal, and incredibly valuable," says Gregory Whiteside , CEO of HumanFirst. "Rigid, rules-based programming and one-dimensional prompt interfaces prevent teams from analyzing them with specificity and scale. Once teams can query, organize, and monitor that data, their customer engagement will fundamentally change." At Enterprise Connect , the largest enterprise communications event in North America, HumanFirst was selected for the Innovation Showcase, demonstrating excellence in enterprise communications and customer experience. Judges and industry experts Dave Michels, Maribel Lopez, Dominic Kent, and David Myron selected HumanFirst among four other solutions providers to feature in the showcase, held in Orlando, Florida on March 25th, 2024. "This year's showcase had the potential to be flooded with "me too" AI applications," said Dominic Kent. "It was refreshing to see the unique, innovative, and enterprise-ready ways communications tech can make agents more efficient while improving customer experiences." In a low-code platform, HumanFirst combines prompt and data engineering capabilities to help teams analyze raw, unstructured data from diverse sources. Companies can extract custom insights from customer support tickets, emails, texts, and call transcripts to identify recurring contact reasons, find product gaps, or analyze sentiment. Further, companies can maximize the impact of their omnichannel outreach, analyzing the sell-readiness of leads, optimizing human agent training, and automating personalized customer engagement at scale. "HumanFirst revolutionizes the interaction between companies and their customers through Generative AI," shares Veselin Vukovic, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Infobip , a global leader in cloud communications. "We see a lot of applications for Infobip AI Conversational stack, from contact center intelligence to conversational AI." In the past six months, HumanFirst has: Partnerships: Launched a channel distribution partnership with Google Cloud to bring GenAI to GCP customers, and partnered with Deloitte to accelerate client projects with intuitive AI workflows. Launched a channel distribution partnership with to bring GenAI to GCP customers, and partnered with Deloitte to accelerate client projects with intuitive AI workflows. Market Expansion: Engaged customers across international markets including the United States , Australia , and Europe . Engaged customers across international markets including , , and . Team: Grown the team with top talent, including the addition of Maeghan Smulders as COO . "We're excited to be working with CPaaS providers to help them build business value from the libraries of data they already have," says Whiteside, "and do the same for their customers." HumanFirst will be on-site at Enterprise Connect through March 28th, and presenting at Google Next on April 11th, 2024. About HumanFirst HumanFirst is a low-code prompt and data engineering platform for Generative AI. With enterprise-ready security and easy integrations, HumanFirst is the end-to-end tool teams need to experiment with prompts and data, surface insights, and build reliable, customer-ready solutions with speed, accuracy, and trust. Learn more at www.humanfirst.ai . SOURCE HumanFirst For further information: Media Contact: [email protected] The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar, has called for an overhaul of the countrys security architecture to counter the insecurity ravaging the country. Atiku was reacting to the release of students kidnapped from Kuriga in Kaduna State. Commending those responsible for releasing the students, Atiku harped on strengthening the Safe School Initiative. Posting on X, Atiku called for the overhaul of the security architecture to meet the demands of the threats facing Nigerians. He wrote: I am elated at the news of the release of the 287 abducted schoolchildren in Kaduna after 16 days in captivity. I commend all those who worked tirelessly to make their release a reality. As we celebrate with their families and friends, lets be mindful that, like stage four cancer, this state of insecurity that has befallen our nation is metastasising and needs proactive measures to stem it. I can only imagine the trauma that these vulnerable children have suffered. It is recommended that the children receive psychotherapeutic care from professionals. We also do not need to wait for the next incident before putting mechanisms in place to forestall it. To this end, I recommend the strengthening of the Safe School Initiative that prioritises the protection of schools, especially in the areas that are most vulnerable to mass kidnapping of schoolchildren. But above all, there should be an overhaul of the security architecture to meet the demands of the threats facing us. No fewer than seven people have now died from a stampede during an almsgiving exercise at Shafa Holdings Company Plc on Jos Road in Bauchi State on Sunday. The stampede occurred at the Shafa Holdings Company Plc headquarters along Jos Road at about 10 a.m. when the company was holding its annual Zakat exercise, otherwise known as almsgiving, to help the less privileged in the state. Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakili, said the situation has been stabilised. Wakili said, The command received a distress call at about 10.20am from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital Bauchi, indicating that five people were brought to the hospital unconscious due to the stampede, a call we received from a Good Samaritan. Upon receiving the call, the Commissioner of Police, Musa Mohammed, directed the area commander to the scene of the crime. We have cordoned off the place and evacuated those injured to the hospital. In the process, five people were in the hospital, but four were confirmed dead by medical doctors. The exercise is a Zakat exercise that was given to the less privileged by Shafa Holding Company along Jos Road; that is the major cause of the stampede. However, giving an update on the incident on Monday, Wakili stated that three other women have lost their lives. The police boss noted that two women died at the Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, and the third woman died at home. The deceased are Aisha Usman, aged 13; Sahura Abubakar, aged 55; Aisha Ibrahim Abubakar, aged 43; Kobi Street Bauchi; and Khadija Isah, aged 8; Karofi Bauchi. Others are Maryam Suleiman, aged 20, of Kandahar Bauchi; Maryam Shuibu, aged 16, of Gwang Gwan Gwan Bauchi; and Hassana Saidu, aged 53, of Dutsen Tanshi Bauchi. Suspected Boko Haram terrorists about midnight of Saturday attacked a military base in Gujba town, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State, killing a soldier. The Yobe State Police Command spokesman, DSP Dungus Abdulkarim, who confirmed the attack to newsmen said a military patrol vehicle was also torched by the suspected terrorists. Reliable local sources revealed that the suspected insurgents, who stormed the town by 12 midnight, shooting sporadically and subsequently attacking the military base, were later repelled by troops who chased them out to the surrounding bush. A resident of Gujba, Modu Bahna, while narrating his ordeal, said, They (suspected terrorists) stormed the town some minutes after midnight, shooting sporadically and the majority of us took to our heels into the surrounding bushes for dear lives. Another source at Gujba, Dala Bukar, said, The attackers did not kill any civilian or looted food or other essential commodities stores. They only attacked the two patrol vehicles in the military base where a soldier was killed. Confirming the attack, the police spokesman, Abdulkarim, said, The only thing I can confirm to you now is the attack, a soldier was killed and troops and CJTF engaged the suspected terrorists. Godswill Akpabio, senate president, has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Akpabio spoke at the 148th general assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, Switzerland. The IPU is the global organisation of national parliaments. Founded in 1889, it is dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue. The organisation has over 179 countries as members. This years IPU general assembly, themed Parliamentary Diplomacy: Building Bridges for Peace and Understanding, addresses various issues, including the Israeli-Hamas war in the Middle East. Akpabio told the assembly that collective action must be taken to end the war, in order to prevent further deaths of children. Akpabio, who is a member of the IPU executive committee, harped on the need to set aside ego for peace, insisting that the assembly session must not conclude without taking action to achieve a ceasefire. This is a lone voice from Nigeria. We tried our best in Angola and we failed to lend a collective voice towards what is happening in Gaza. Today, the world is very expectant, Akpabio said, referring to the IPUs 147th general assembly held in October in Luanda, Angola. We must drop [our] ego. It has nothing to do with which country brings a proposal. The basic tenets of humanity demand that we leave here with resolutions for the rest of the world: to show that we have humane feelings in us. The issues are very clear. South Africa has a right to be emotional, but we have children who are dying, even as we are talking now. We have people who cannot see water to drink. Those who are going to suffer from infections due to gunshots. CEASFIRE MUST BE PART OF RESOLUTIONS Akpabio suggested that a three-member committee from the assembly should be set up and tasked with formulating resolutions for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict. We have to show the world that we are human beings. Cessation of hostilities must be part of our resolutions. Access to humanitarian aid must be part of our resolutions. At the same time, release some hostages and even those who are possibly prisoners of war, Akpabio said. If both sides take these steps, it means that they agree that the international community can go to the next stage which is negotiation for sustainable peace. If they cannot agree, I urge that we can now have a small 3-man drafting committee to come up with those resolutions which must be made before we leave here. We can no longer allow a child to die tonight without presenting our voice. It doesnt matter which side. We are all parents. If we come here to look for ego then its not affecting them. Theres nothing affecting Denmark here, South Africa. The people affected are over there. And then, of course, nobody will agree to the lone resolution from Israel. It must be all-encompassing so that we stand up from here as human beings. That will be my plea. Let them go aside, meet and remove those vexatious items. In the course of discussions, we can have amendments and add items we feel should be added but we must discuss the Gaza issue in this 148th IPU Assembly. Thats my position. In December, South Africa filed an application against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the country of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. About 32,000 people have been reported to have been killed in the war, which began after Hamas invaded Israeli territory on October 7, 2023. The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has revealed how terrorist groups in the country are funded. The NFIU, in a newsletter, said terrorist groups receive funds through crowdfunding, online transactions, and betting platforms. The financial intelligence unit said it has identified a network of affiliates of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) across 22 countries through a report it received. Nigeria, Africas most populous country, has faced significant challenges related to terrorism financing, particularly due to the activities of Boko Haram and other extremist groups operating within its borders, the newsletter reads. These groups have been involved in various forms of illicit financing to fund their operations, including attacks, recruitment, and procurement of weapons. The strategies employed by terrorist groups to generate and move funds within Nigerias financial landscape include, crowdfunding, the use of online platforms and the use of betting platforms amongst others. The diaspora affiliates of the IPOB group have spread over 22 (twenty-two) countries across the globe. Further analysis exposed 27 entities across the globe registered in the name of the group, the US and the UK had the highest number of registrations, having 7 and 6 registered entities respectively. The NFIU said it was confirmed that one of the major sources of revenue for the group is crowdfunding by several individuals abroad, mostly Nigerians. The analysis further indicates that the group has several bank accounts in different countries where funds are being received from various contributors with the narrations Monthly Dues, Services, and for ESN among others, then later disbursed, the newsletter further reads. It was observed that over $160,000 (One hundred and sixty thousand Dollars) was disbursed to Transmission, Media, and Broadcasting companies in Bulgaria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The Analysis profiled the leader of the group, his addresses, and mobile numbers abroad with other 53 individuals associated with the dissident group. The NFIU said it has forwarded the report to law enforcement agencies for further investigation. Last week, the federal government released a list of 15 entities, including nine individuals and six Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and firms suspected to be invloved in terrorism financing in the country. On March 23, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) declared 97 suspected terrorists wanted. Former Kaduna State Governor and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nasir El-Rufai, has again met with another chieftain of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, further fueling speculation about his future political plans. Daily Trust reports that El-Rufai was pictured at the Abuja residence of Senator Abubakar Gada, along with SDP chairman Shehu Musa Gabam and other party leaders. Also reported to be present were Senator Teslim Folarin, APC gubernatorial candidate for Oyo State in 2023, and Senator Nazif Suleiman, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from Bauchi State. The meeting at Gadas home in Abuja on Sunday night comes after El-Rufai hosted a gathering at his Abuja residence, which included the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam (a chieftain of the APC), Shehu Musa Gabam, and others, for a Ramadan iftar. El-Rufai also visited Gabam at the SDP secretariat. The photos from these visits had sparked various reactions on social media, with many speculating El-Rufais potential presidential bid in 2027. However, Muyiwa Adekeye, a media adviser to El Rufai, denied any political motives behind the visits. Adekeye stated that the speculations were merely an unhealthy obsession with politics, emphasizing that personal relationships can exist independently of political affiliations. The Federal Government has initiated criminal proceedings against Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange platform over alleged tax evasion. The charges, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, were announced on Monday by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS. The lawsuit, designated as suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, implicates Binance with a four-count tax evasion accusation. FIRS, in a statement issued and made available to newsmen on Monday by Dare Adekanmbi, Special Adviser, Media to the Executive Chairman of the service, said the move was aimed at upholding fiscal responsibility and safeguarding the economic integrity of Nigeria. Joined with the crypto company as second and third defendants in the suit are Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, both senior executives of Binance currently under the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The charges levied against Binance include non-payment of Value-Added Tax, VAT, Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform. In the suit, the FG also accused Binance of failure to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravening existing tax regulations within the country. According to the statement, one of the counts in the lawsuit pertains to Binances alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation as stipulated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007 as amended. Section 40 of the Act explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities. The charges further detailed specific instances where Binance purportedly violated tax laws, such as failing to issue invoices for VAT purposes, thus obstructing the determination and payment of taxes by subscribers. Any company that transacts business in excess of N25 million annually is deemed by the Finance Act to be present in Nigeria. According to this rule, Binance falls into that category. So, it has to pay taxes like Company Income Tax, CIT and also collect and pay Value Added Tax, VAT. But Binance did not do this properly. So, the company broke Nigerian laws and could be investigated and taken to court for this infraction, Adekanmbi said. The chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Cross River State, Barrister Alphonsus Eba, has disclosed that the immediate past governor of the state, Prof. Ben Ayade, had sacrificed much towards the gubernatorial victory of his successor, Senator Bassey Otu, such that the latter cannot in any way witchhunt him. He seriously cautioned, saying, nobody should say that the present governor is witch-hunting the former governor. The APC chairman made this caution in an interview with journalists in Calabar on the heels of the ongoing recovery of alleged stolen government properties by the state House of Assembly. Some of the properties reportedly recovered by the leadership of the assembly include heavy-duty tractors said to have been carted away by Ayades former officials, a 100-bed hotel in Abuja dubiously sold for six million naira to an unknown person, as well as the stoppage of the private renovation of the Cross River Liaison House also in Abuja. Eba said: The former governors number one man is Governor Bassey Otu. And for a man who sacrificed so much to bring Governor Otu to power, he is a man with a good heart. Governor Otu appreciates Ayade and will not allow anybody, not even the devil, to come between them. The party under my leadership also will not. Eba seriously frowned at the words witch-hunting, stressing that nobody would be allowed to come between the governor and his predecessor. There is no witchhunt by anybody, he said. Regarding the recovery of properties, government equipment are found at governments construction site. The word is recovery but that it was stolen is completely out of place and whoever uses it should withdraw it completely. Eba alluded to the fact that the Cross River State Assembly has its powers to do whatever they are doing and maintained that nobody will defend fraud. Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has distanced controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi from the release of the schoolchildren abducted in Kuriga area of the state. Sani said Gumi had offered to negotiate with the bandits for the release of the student but was not involved. He disclosed this on Channels Televisions programme, Sunday Politics. Bandits had abducted 137 schoolchildren on March 7, 2024, from Chikun Local Government Area of the state. In the wee hours of Sunday, the governor announced the release of the abducted pupils. Confirming the report, the Nigerian Military said the pupils were rescued from Zamfara State. However, Sani dismissed claims that ransom was paid to effect the release of the pupils. Sani said, All those speculations you are hearing today are figment of some peoples imagination. I can tell you that without any fear of contradiction. There was nothing like Gumi in this operation. I can tell you. I wont undermine the efforts of our Armed Forces. Olawale Rasheed, spokesperson to Ademola Adeleke, governor of Osun, has filed a case against the Department of State Services (DSS) over an alleged threat to his fundamental human rights. The DSS; director-general of the DSS; the Osun state director of the DSS and Femi Oyetola, son of Adegboyega Oyetola, former Osun governor, are listed as the respondents in the suit numbered FHC/OS/CS/89/2024. Rasheed is asking the court to restrain the security operatives, either personally or through any of their agents or representatives, from inviting him, arresting him or threatening his rights to liberty, freedom of movement, freedom of expression and freedom of association in any manner on the malicious instigation of Oyetola. He deposed that he is not a threat to the internal peace and security of Nigeria or any part thereof, to warrant security agents to invite him. The media aide to the governor is alleging that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is using Oyetolas son to hatch malicious plans against him. said the APC is in active collaboration with security agents to trample upon his fundamental rights. Rasheed alleged that the APC is planning to arrest and detain him unlawfully and undermine his fundamental human rights. He submitted in the court documents that by section 46 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, he could not wait until his rights were trampled upon before approaching the court. He said members of the opposition APC have already bombarded the media with the news of his invitation/arrest by the DSS. This is a pointed indication that the invitation is tainted with malice and witch hunt of the opposition APC with the sole goal of settling political scores with prominent aides and members of Governor Adelekes Team, Rasheed said. He asked the court to stop the respondents from trampling upon his rights or getting at him unjustifiably. The Nigerian Government has invited controversial Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, for questioning. Gumi was invited for questioning over his comments on the activities of bandits in the country. The minister of Information and Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed while addressing journalists at the State House, Abuja, on Monday. The minister said the Islamic cleric was not above the law, adding that the government has deemed it necessary to invite him for questioning. A few weeks ago, Gumi had urged the Tinubu-led government to join him in negotiating with bandits. Gumi urged Tinubu not to repeat what he described as the mistake made by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who refused to dialogue with bandits. He also that terrorism in Nigeria was not financed by Nigerians but by the terrorists who kidnap people for ransom. A Nigerian journalist, Jaafar Jaafar, has alleged that the Nigerian government paid through the nose to secure the release of abducted Kaduna pupils. In a post on his X handle on Sunday, the journalist claimed that no lobbying, persuasion, flattery, charm or conning will convince the ruthlessly avaricious bandits to release hostages without payment of ransom. Earlier reported that Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani had announced the release of the over 100 Kuriga schoolchildren who were kidnapped by suspected bandits. The Governor gave the news on Saturday night, confirming the freedom of the schoolchildren. Although the abductors had demanded N1 billion as ransom as the only condition for their release, it was unclear if the children were rescued by security operatives or if ransom was paid. However, Jaafar claimed that President Bola Tinubu and Governor Uba Sanis choice of words after the rescue of the Kuriga schoolchildren, suggested that the government paid through the nose. He said: The reality is that no lobbying, persuasion, flattery, charm or conning will convince the ruthlessly avaricious bandits to release hostages without payment of ransom. From President Tinubu to Governor Uba Sanis choice of words after the rescue of the Kuriga schoolchildren, you know the government paid through the nose to simply rescue its image, held hostage by the worsening insecurity. Our leaders hardly bother taking proactive measures to stop these abductions. In hindsight, the money the government paid the bandits should have been used to resettle villages that were prone to attack. Government is more concerned about its image than the security of lives and property. Whenever you see a government in turbo action, its political image is concerned. The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has confirmed the escape of Nadeem Anjarwalla, the Binance regional manager for Africa. A statement by Zakari Mijinyawa, head of strategic communication at ONSA, said preliminary investigation shows that Mr Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport. The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention, the statement reads. On Monday, a report by Premium Times said the Binance executive escaped from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained, on March 22. Anjarwalla was said to have escaped after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast. He is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle Eastern airliner but how he got on an international flight despite his British passport, was unknown. ONSA said upon receiving this report, this office took immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well as the international community, to apprehend the suspect. Security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on the suspect, the statement added. Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria, like other governments around the world, has been investigating money laundering and terrorism financing transactions perpetrated on the Binance currency exchange platform. Until his escape, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serving as Binances Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts. The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court in Nigeria. He was scheduled to appear before the court again on 4 April 2024. We urge the Nigerian public and the international community to provide whatever information they have that can assist law enforcement agencies to apprehend the suspect. BACKGROUND On February 28, two of Binances top executives Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binances regional manager for Africa; and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen and Binances head of financial crime compliance, were detained by the Nigerian authorities for weeks. Anjarwalla and Gambaryan had flown into Nigeria but had their passports seized by ONSA. On March 12, Anjarwalla was transferred to a local hospital after he fell ill while in detention in Nigeria. Following the arrest of the two executives as part of a broader clampdown on crypto platforms, a federal high court in Abuja ordered Binance Holdings Limited to provide the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with the comprehensive data or information of all persons from Nigeria trading on its platform. Binance has also been accused of evading tax, failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and currency speculation. The federal government had requested at least $10 billion as retribution from Binance for profiting from its illegal transactions in Nigeria. Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, who had disclosed this in an interview with the BBC, said the cryptocurrency platform was causing massive losses for fixing exchange rates. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, has asked Christians to use the last lap of the Lenten season to pray for divine intervention in Nigeria. Obi urged Christians to present Nigeria to God for healing and restoration during the holy week. In a message shared on his X handle on Sunday, Obi said the period presents another moment of reflection on the challenges that Nigeria is facing. Even as we make our human efforts, as a people, to move our nation forward, we must leverage the solemnity of this season to pray for divine intervention in our nation, Obi wrote. The hearts of many are heavy with pain, grieving the loss of their dear ones due to the high level of insecurity in the nation. Families are hungry, not knowing where their next meal will come from because they can no longer afford the basic necessity of food. Many of our fellow Nigerians have died in their struggle to find food to eat. The unity and love in diversity, for which our dear nation was known, have been sacrificed on the altar of tribal and religious division. Let us, therefore, present our nation to God for healing and restoration, in this Holy Week, so that as we labour, as humans, for the New Nigeria, it will become even more possible. Holy week is the period between Palm Sunday and Easter, which is from Sunday, 24 March 2024 to Saturday, 30 March 2024. The federal government says no ransom was paid to secure the release of 137 schoolchildren abducted from the Kuriga community, Chikun LGA in Kaduna state. Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, told State House correspondents in Abuja on Monday, that the federal government had vowed not to pay ransom to secure the release of abducted victims. The minister commended the national security adviser (NSA) and service chiefs for the role they played in securing the release of the schoolchildren. He said President Bola Tinubu has asked security agencies to intensify efforts to stop the menace of kidnapping across the country. As promised by Mr. President, they have been rescued. No ransom was paid, Idris said. The president has also charged security agencies to make sure kidnappings are brought to a halt, and all the perpetrators of kidnapping will be fished out and punished. On March 7, students were kidnapped after bandits attacked the Kuriga community, Chikun LGA and invaded the primary and secondary schools. Sani Abdullahi, a teacher at Government Secondary School Kuriga, had said 287 students were missing after the attack. In the early hours of Sunday, Uba Sani, governor of Kaduna, announced the release of the abducted schoolchildren. Sani said all the 137 abducted students have been freed except the teacher who died in captivity. The Kaduna governor said only 137 students were kidnapped in the school and not 287 as widely reported A 31-year-old Bergen County man has been charged with sexually assaulting a child in Palisades Park, authorities said Monday. Jorge Orrego-Garcia, of Palisades Park, was charged on Friday with three counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Bergen County Prosecutors Office. The Palisades Park Police Department contacted county officials about the alleged sexual assault on Friday, authorities said. Officials said the child is under the age of 13. Orrego-Garcia is being held in the Bergen County Jail until his first court appearance. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Deion Johnson may be reached at djohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Instagram at @DeionRJohnson or X @DeionRJohhnson A Bergen County man was charged Saturday with attacking a man during a dispute by striking him several times with a USB flash drive, authorities said. Camwren Cole, 25, of Teaneck, was charged with second-degree aggravated assault and weapons offenses and taken to an area hospital for observation, police said. Teaneck police were called shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday to a home on Kipp Street to investigate a report of two men fighting, police said. An on-scene investigation, which included an interview of a witness, determined that Mr. Cole struck the victim with a small metal object, determined to be a USB flash drive, causing lacerations to the victims neck and arm, Teaneck Police Chief Andrew R. McGurr said in a statement. The Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Squad treated the victim at the scene, but he refused further medical attention. Cole was taken to New Bridge Medical Center for a psychological evaluation, McGurr said. Attorney information for Cole was not immediately available in online court records Monday morning. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. A Hudson County man faces several charges in a wrong-way crash over the weekend in Paramus that sent five people to area hospitals, authorities said. The 56-year-old man was driving east in the westbound lanes of Route 4 and collided head-on with another vehicle, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella. The crash occurred about 2:30 a.m. near the intersection with Paramus Road. As a result of the collision, five victims were transported to area hospitals with various degrees of injuries, including one victim with serious injuries, Musella said in a statement. The accused wrong-way driver was arrested and charged with third-degree assault by auto and four counts of fourth-degree assault by auto, and given several motor vehicle summonses, Musella said. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. The family of cheerleader at Newark Arts High School plans to sue the citys board of education and others for $150 million after the student was critically hurt by a hit-and-run driver when she stepped off a school bus last month. Chiara Jones, 18, was hit about 10:15 p.m. Feb. 4 on Martin Luther King Boulevard North near the intersection with Mercer Street in Newark, according to a notice of claim filed by the familys attorney, James S. Lynch of Hasbrouck Heights. The school bus driver did not employ any lights, stop sign, or other safety mechanisms to protect its exiting passengers, Lynch wrote in a notice on Thursday that was sent to the district and bus company, Best Choice Transportation of West Orange. A spokeswoman for Newark schools said Monday the district does not comment on legal matters. A representative of the bus company did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. The entire school bus drop-off procedure at this school invites danger, let alone the failure of the bus driver to engage appropriate safety measures when dropping off students, Lynch said in a statement announcing the notice of claim. This tragedy was certainly avoidable, and we vow to hold those involved fully responsible for this horrific event that has left a wonderful senior in high school in such a precarious state and has Chiaras loved ones gripping onto their faith for her recovery and the delivery of justice, Lynch said. The claim states Chiara sustained traumatic brain injury, multiple fractures, loss of teeth, was in a coma and remains in a persistent vegetative state. Affectionately known as Barbie and CiCi to her friends, Chiara was taken to University Hospital in Newark and transferred last week to Kessler Rehabilitation Center in West Orange, where she remains. The claim states Chaira is likely permanently disabled and that she and her family have incurred medical bills and economic losses. Chiara Jones suffered severe injuries on Feb. 4 after she was hit by a car after stepping off a school bus in Newark.Lynch Law Firm The driver, later identified as a Newark woman, was charged with third-degree leaving the scene of a crash with an injury, third-degree endangering an injured victim and third-degree hindering. She was also charged with fourth-degree assault by auto and false report to law enforcement. The woman, who is not named as a defendant in the notice of claim, remains in the Essex County Jail pending court hearings. Lynch also filed notices of claim against the district and bus company on behalf of Chiaras parents, who have lost, and will lose wages, render extraordinary medical services and other services, and who have lost the advice and companionship of the beloved daughter, Chiara, the notices state. This is an absolutely senseless tragedy of a young woman with such a bright and successful future ahead, Lynch said. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. As support fell statewide for Senate candidate and New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy, Hudson Countys Democratic organization remained one of the most unwavering in its loyalty to the family in the governors mansion. Then, suddenly, the candidate it had remained loyal to disappeared from the race. A New Jersey corrections officer shot a 21-year-old woman in Trenton last weekend after the rear window of his vehicle was shattered on Bellevue Avenue, the city police department and Mercer County Prosecutors Office said. The officer believed he was being shot at, but what broke his window turned out to be a thrown paint can, a prosecutors office spokeswoman said Monday. The March 18 incident remains under investigation, and no charges have been filed, officials said. The injured woman remains in a city hospital. The incident occurred on the 500 block of Bellevue Avenue at about 12:20 a.m. Spokespersons for the Trenton police and Mercer County Prosecutors Office gave this account: The corrections officer told investigators he was sitting in his vehicle with his girlfriend after picking up food when the back window of his vehicle was shattered by suspected gunfire. The officer told his girlfriend to stay put, exited the vehicle and returned fire in the direction of a person who was running back to a another vehicle that appeared to be involved. The offending car then left the scene, but a woman a passenger in that vehicle arrived at a city hospital a short time later with multiple gunshot wounds. The state corrections officer swiftly identified himself to responding officers. Investigators on scene then found a paint can had caused the rear window damage. The Trenton police departments Shooting Response Team is investigating along with the county prosecutors office. The New Jersey Department of Corrections deferred comment to the prosecutors office. Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com Three Paterson police officers were arrested Monday on charges they covered up an alleged domestic violence and kidnapping incident involving a New York City Police Department captain in 2022, investigators said. Giuseppe Ciarla, 42, of Paterson, Juan Cruz-Fernandez, 29, of Paterson, and Jason Schmid, 34, of Vernon, were charged with conspiracy to commit official misconduct and hindering the apprehension of another, according to the Passaic County Prosecutors Office. Cruz-Fernandez was also charged with tampering with public records or information. The three officers responded to a report of a domestic assault shortly after 2 a.m. on Dec. 10, 2022 and found a woman with visible injuries to her face, authorities said. Mike Pence announced last week that he would not endorse Donald Trump for president, which is probably not a surprise, because even the most cloying devotion tends to ebb when somebody sends an armed mob to your office to hang you. The reasons he stated were sound: The former Vice President said that the Republican Partys nominee is a traitor to the Constitution and a danger to America itself, which are immutable facts that need to be acknowledged and discussed repeatedly until November. But while the medias reaction was a collective yawn imagine if Kamala Harris were to say the same about Joe Biden? its a timely reminder that a head-snapping number of former Trump employees are making the same points, as they affirm with terrifying candor that Trump is a clear and present danger to our democracy. They need to be heard. Just consider the lasting impressions from this unholy trio of Trumpian quislings: His former Attorney General, Bill Barr, called him the consummate narcissist who constantly engages in reckless conduct. And, overstating the obvious, he said Trump is a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the countrys. . . .But our country cant be a therapy session for a troubled man like this. His former chief of staff, John Kelly, called Trump a person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law. His former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, pointed out that its not the personality thats the problem. He doesnt understand the job, particularly in the national security space. And he predicted that if Trump were elected, There will be celebrations in the Kremlin, theres no doubt about it, because Putin thinks that he is an easy mark. The list goes on. Former Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley, whom Trump said should be put to death for treason, called his former Commander in Chief a wannabe dictator. Defense Secretary Mark Esper revealed Trumps philosophy about demonstrations and crowd control, noting that he wanted to deploy active-duty troops on the street of Washington, D.C., and suggested actually that we shoot Americans in the street, and warned that this is more of what youll see in a second Trump Administration. These are not hysterical Democrats, or people protesting policy differences. These are people from the highest echelons of power, declaring that Trump is manifestly unfit for service and a threat to democracy -- which should be a dealbreaker for any American, even those special MAGA patriots who have chugged Trumps screwy sauce. As for Pence, his mike drop represents an extraordinary break with tradition, and while many are surprised that he didnt cave like Mitch McConnell and many other Republican poltroons, he has been consistent in his message since last June. Even as he announced his own candidacy last June, Pence immediately destroyed it by suggesting, Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States. And anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again. Sure, it took him more than five years to shake off his MAGA shackles. Or maybe Jimmy Kimmel was right last week, when he said, I guess the Stockholm Syndrome finally wore off. But at least Pence kept his word, as did many others who worked under the disgraced former president. For the sake of our democracy, they should keep repeating those words for the next eight months. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. Can Americans still have a sensible and friendly political discussion across the partisan divide? The answer is yes, and we prove it every week. Julie Roginsky, a Democrat, and Mike DuHaime, a Republican, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends. Here, they discuss the weeks events with editorial page editor Tom Moran. Q. What your best guess on the true reasons Tammy Murphy quit the race? Was it a simple matter of facing the reality that she would lose? Or were the county chairs worried that if she were near the top of the ticket, she could drag down their candidates for county and local offices? Julie: I suspect that it was a combination of several different things. First, the Murphys have a tremendous glass jaw and are incapable of taking sustained (or even mild) criticism. They have been surrounded by sycophants all these years, so discovering that they are not only not beloved but actually quite disliked by their own base is a shock to the system. Second, if Judge Quraishi rules against the line this week, Tammy likely would have had to drop out anyway because her only viable path was through backroom deals with a few select party leaders. Dropping out now was a preemptive face-saving measure. Third, it was becoming apparent to these party leaders that an off-the-line Andy Kim candidacy was going to potentially drag down their county commissioners and others whom they prioritize a hell of a lot more than they do a Senate seat. But mostly, I just dont think that Tammy was ever cut out to take the slings and arrows of a rough and tumble political campaign, which is what this race would have been. Mike: I still think Tammy Murphy could have, with the county lines in key counties, powered through and won, had she been willing to run a very tough, negative and expensive campaign. No one hands over a US Senate seat without a fight, and this was going to be a brutal and expensive fight. A Message from Tammy pic.twitter.com/dfl7kPUUej Tammy Murphy (@TammyMurphyNJ) March 24, 2024 Q. How does this episode affect Gov. Phil Murphy in his final two years? Does he lose credibility? Does he lose influence in the Legislature? Standing in the public? Julie: Phil Murphy is now the lamest of lame ducks. He can spend the next twenty months retaliating against everyone he thinks wronged him and his wife or he can finally take stock of why so many people who previously supported him no longer do. He can clean house, vow to do better and actually do better. He can begin by apologizing. But if past is predicate, I suspect that we are in for two years of public virtue signaling and private score-evening. Mike: This political loss seems at first blush to look like it accelerated the governors lame duck status. However, I am still certain of one thing. New Jersey has, constitutionally, the most powerful governorship in the country. The governor will be able to remind everyone of that whenever he chooses. No other governor in the country appoints just about everything in the state Attorney General, Supreme Court, Lt. Governor, county prosecutors, judges, all cabinet level commissioners, authority board positions, and plenty more. The governor still has more levers of power at his disposal than anyone in the state. A richly deserved humiliation for an arrogant governor and his arrogant wife.https://t.co/LFHKzc06Dk tom moran (@tomamoran) March 25, 2024 Q. On Sunday, Rep. Kim talked to the county bosses who had endorsed Tammy Murphy and agreed to accept the line on their ballots. Kim says hes still pressing his lawsuit to abolish the line, but will play to win by the rules in place now. Ive heard some of Tammy Murphys supporters called that hypocritical. Whats your take? Julie: The last person anyone should blame for the predicament in which these party leaders find themselves is Andy Kim. I have said repeatedly that Phil Murphy was the pied piper leading them all off a cliff. Now, we are at the point where a federal judge may strip them of all their power and for what? So they could curry favor with a lame duck governor to get a few goodies in the FY 2025 budget or an appointment to some lucrative job or board? Even if the federal case goes their way, the grassroots now have a scalp, and they wont stop. What a completely unforced error. Mike: Which Andy Kim are we talking about? The status quo incumbent who gladly accepted the county lines every time he was up for re-election and the eager politician who quickly said yes to a deal to run on the county lines this weekend because both were in his interest? Or the media darling who was a champion of abolishing the county lines when that was in his interest? How about the centrist moderate Andy Kim when he had a competitive district and Donald Trump was president? Or the progressive champion Andy Kim, when he got a gerrymandered safe Democratic district? I give Andy Kim a ton of credit for having the courage to jump in the race against Sen. Menendez immediately, and even more credit to face down the first family of the state, but please give me a break on everything else. The rest of this episode and his time Congress show he is pretty much like too many other politicians simply doing whats in his best interest to win the next election. Q. Legislative leaders in both parties have promised to consider reform of ballot design in New Jersey, but made no mention of the line. Am I right to think its highly unlikely party leaders will give up this power and eliminate the line? Julie: There is no chance that legislators will meaningfully reform the line. It is up to the courts. Mike: The legislators shouldnt abolish the county line. Party leaders, elected officials and county committee members should have a right to support candidates they think have the best chance to win and would serve the county and state well. They have earned the right to vet and support candidates. The voters still decide who wins. Campaign finance reform was another do-gooder idea that sounded great to the editorial boards and reformers, but has had a disastrous impact on politics, empowering big dark money and taking accountability away from candidates and political parties. Dont throw out the party process because of one bad campaign. Taking away the line will empower the wealthiest self-funding candidates at every level. Tammy Murphys exit will not slow N.J. ballot reform, expert says https://t.co/D4Et2apwzf njdotcom (@njdotcom) March 25, 2024 Q. Kim told me the surge of grassroots activism after Donald Trumps election in 2016 helped him, by bringing new voices into the party with no allegiance to the bosses. Is he right? Has that changed the Democratic Party in New Jersey? Julie: 2016 and, more relevantly, 2018 was a watershed year in New Jersey politics. For the power structure in New Jersey, it is akin to when Eric Cantor lost his House primary because he and other establishment Republicans missed the Tea Party wave. Similarly, party leaders, in their zeal to score goodies for themselves, missed the grassroots tidal wave that Tammy Murphys candidacy unintentionally unleashed. The system may limp on for a few more years if the courts allow the line to stand but I dont think it is long for the world. In Nov 2013, I walked into the Ritz to meet Phil and Tammy Murphy. To my eternal regret, I agreed to get him the Dem nomination for gov. That decision was the worst of my life, bar none. Today, the long nightmare for me and other women the Murphys targeted is finally over. Julie Roginsky (@julieroginsky) March 24, 2024 Mike: It goes back farther than that. Both parties have changed dramatically, and the evolution continues. This goes back to the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. Many Americans lost half the value of their most important assets their homes and their kids college funds - because of Wall Street games. No one on Wall Street was punished. In fact, they were bailed out and giving each other bonuses, while everyday Americans struggled. The country has been ticked off ever since. Control of Congress had flipped just three times in seven decades from the Depression until 2006. But now, voters are constantly flipping Congress to put checks on whoever is in charge. In 2006, a Democratic Congress was elected to check Bush. In 2010, a GOP congress was elected to check Obama. In 2018, a Democratic congress was elected to check Trump. In 2022, a GOP Congress was elected to check Biden. This isnt rocket science. The voters dont trust anyone anymore. Neither party is allowed to have full control. As soon as we put you in, we will throw you out. Congrats today to @AndyKimNJ and the grassroots leaders of New Jersey! Our mission, of course, remains the same - elect Andy as our next Senator in June & November AND return democracy to the people of our state by Abolishing The Line. Let's go! James Solomon (@SolomonforJC) March 24, 2024 Q. Finally, given that New Jersey has not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate for more than half a century, is it fair to say Kim is the overwhelming favorite to win Sen. Bob Menendezs seat in the fall? If Menendez runs as an independent, could he tip it to Republicans by drawing a portion of the Democratic vote? Julie: I do not think Menendez runs, but I will entertain your hypothetical: there is no way that New Jersey will send a Republican to the senate in order to help pass Trumps agenda. Ive gotten to know Kim over the past several months and he is a deeply qualified senate candidate and uniquely talented politician. The party will coalesce around him in a way it would never have coalesced around either Tammy Murphy or Bob Menendez. Mike: Democrats are right that Kim lacks the flaws in the candidacies of Menendez and Murphy. He is a relatively unknown (and therefore not-disliked) Democrat in a state with 1,000,000 more Democrats than Republicans. Easy math for Democrats. But Republicans will not give up on the seat. If Republicans wanted to win easy elections in the New Jersey they would be Democrats. Perhaps due to Murphy dropping out, I feel Republicans are about to coalesce around a uniquely good candidate that can actually win in November. First Lady Tammy Murphy made no objection when Camden's Democratic machine barred her competitors from speaking to delegates before they cast their votes for Murphy. https://t.co/MVeYPqI1p9 NJ_Opinion (@NJ_Opinion) March 24, 2024 Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. A note to readers: Mike and Julie are deeply engaged in politics and commercial advocacy in New Jersey, so both have connections to many players discussed in this column. DuHaime, the founder of MAD Global, has worked for Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and President George W. Bush. Roginsky, a principal of Comprehensive Communications Group, has served as senior advisor to campaigns of Cory Booker, Frank Lautenberg, and Phil Murphy. We will disclose specific connections only when readers might otherwise be misled. Some things have been conflated from time to time over whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conceded in the 2016 presidential race to former President Donald Trump. It goes something like this: After Clinton lost to Trump she said in an interview she would not rule out questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 election if Russian interference is deeper than currently known. That has occasionally opened to door to claims Clinton didnt concede to Trump. More recently, Tom Bevan, the co-founder and president of RealClearPolitics faced blowback online after he posted this to X, formerly Twitter: Where we're headed: if it's close, whoever loses the election will claim it was stolen. Trump did it in '20. Clinton did it in '16. There will be huge legal fights, massive political division and, in a worst-case scenario, rioting and/or violence. The only way to avoid that Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) March 25, 2024 Where were headed: if its close, whoever loses the election will claim it was stolen. Trump did it in 20. Clinton did it in 16. There will be huge legal fights, massive political division and, in a worst-case scenario, rioting and/or violence. The only way to avoid that future is a landslide win for one side or the other. People accused Bevan of saying Clinton didnt concede. Its not what he wrote. But things got loss in the online chatter nonetheless. Ok, so did Clinton concede? Yes. Unequivocally. No question about it. Clinton called Trump to concede around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday after polling returns continued to trickle in after midnight, though it was clear Trump had won. She later described being numb as she called him. Clinton then gave a public speech later in the day Wednesday to publicly concede. Bevan, for his part, made things clearer for folks who piled on. I see the left-wing mob is accusing me of lying, normalizing Trump, etc, and suggesting that Hillary Clintons concession speech proves she didnt claim the election was stolen, he wrote. I suppose what I should have written is that Trump claimed that about 2020. Clinton claimed it about 2016. Because it is indisputably true that Clinton has said repeatedly, publicly, that she believes the 2016 election was stolen and that Donald Trump was an illegitimate president. I see the left-wing mob is accusing me of lying, "normalizing" Trump, etc, and suggesting that Hillary Clinton's concession speech proves she didn't claim the election was stolen. I suppose what I should have written is that "Trump claimed that about 2020. Clinton claimed it pic.twitter.com/k8Y2kNFgI0 Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) March 25, 2024 Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco. Embattled Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso will seek reelection this year despite criminal charges alleging he abused his office and a racism scandal in which he was caught on tape using slurs that included the n-word. For nearly a quarter century, Bonaccorso has been the public face of Clark, the longest-serving mayor in the Union County towns history. But the Republicans bid for a seventh term will test how far that popularity extends, as he battles accusations of public corruption that could send him to prison. According to the Clark Clerks Office on Monday, Bonaccorso and three of his allies on township council filed petitions to run for reelection in the deep-red community that has long been dominated by the GOP. Theyll be facing a slate of Democratic challengers that includes mayoral candidate Michael Shulman, a vocal critic of Bonaccorso who calls him unfit to serve. Though municipal elections are rarely competitive in Clark, the Democrats hope voter anger will propel them to office despite the headwinds. Our issues are not national, said Shulman, 37, an attorney. This town has to evaluate who they want being in charge of the town for the next four years. Bonaccorso acts as if nothing was done wrong, and as long as I give you fireworks and Breakfast with Santa, dont worry about what we do behind closed doors, Shulman added. Democrat Michael Shulman, a vocal critic of Clark Township Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, is running against him in this year's election. Shulman is shown here at a council meeting on April 18, 2022.John Jones | For NJ Advance Media Bonaccorso did not respond Monday to requests for comment. In November, the Attorney Generals Office charged Bonaccorso, 63, with using township employees and equipment to benefit his private landscaping business and forging permitting applications for work his company performed. Authorities did so as they released a scathing report that excoriated township officials for trying to cover up the secret recordings, in which Bonaccorso, the towns police chief and an internal affairs sergeant denigrated Black people as well as women in law enforcement. In the criminal case, Bonaccorso has denied the allegations, with his attorney calling them faulty and incorrect. Bonaccorso has publicly apologized for the racist language but has resisted widespread calls for him to resign. At a public meeting last week, Bonaccorso was critical of the attorney generals investigation and defended the police officers, who are suing to keep their jobs after spending more than 3 years on paid leave as the long-delayed probe unfolded. You have no idea who those cops are. You dont know the body of work they did here, Bonaccorso said. Yes, they did something that was inappropriate, like I have done. The tapes provoked a firestorm in 2022 after NJ Advance Media published portions of them and detailed a $400,000 hush-money settlement that the township paid a whistleblower who threatened to expose them. Attorney General Matthew Platkin said his office seriously considered bringing charges against township officials in the cover-up but concluded they werent warranted. Bonaccorsos running mates are council members Angel Albanese, Jimmy Minniti and Bill Smith, who have all backed him in the controversies. Albanese and Smith voted for the 2020 settlement, which was approved before Minniti joined the board. Albanese, the council president, did not return a request for comment Monday. At last weeks meeting, she also voiced support for the suspended officers and criticized authorities probe. It makes me reflect upon the citizens of this township, their rights being violated by the case dragging on and on for years, not being handled properly, Albanese said. Clark Council President Angel Albanese is seeking reelection alongside embattled Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, who faces criminal charges filed by the Attorney General's Office. She is shown here at a municipal meeting on Nov. 6, 2023.Julian Leshay | For NJ Advance Media Beyond Shulman, this years Democratic slate features three candidates for council: William Grzyb Jr., John Greaves and Mary Semler. The election represents the second time voters will weigh in since the recordings were publicly revealed. In 2022, four other Bonaccorso allies on the council easily won new terms on the seven-member board. Among the candidates they defeated were Shulman and Grzyb, who also ran at that time. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Riley Yates may be reached at ryates@njadvancemedia.com. There is little reason to believe that Juan Soto wont thrive with the New York Yankees in 2024, furthering his cause to receive one of the biggest contracts in MLB history next offseason. Thus, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner will have to step up and essentially open the checkbook to keep Soto in the Bronx for the rest of his career. While there is some doubt within the fanbase that Steinbrenner would pay Soto what he commands, there is at least one analyst who thinks it will happen. SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE YANKEES NEWSLETTER: RESTORING THE GLORY The Athletics Jim Bowden, a former general manager, wrote Monday that the Yankees will extend Soto for 14 years at $501 million as they outbid the Mets by a million to keep him. Imagine? The rivalry between the two New York teams has been tepid at best in recent seasons because the Mets havent exactly been a juggernaut, reaching the playoffs once in the past seven seasons. But if Steinbrenner beats Mets owner Steve Cohen for Soto? The juice will be back. In all likelihood, the Yankees and Mets will be contenders for Soto next offseason the Mets operating with a cleaner payroll and aiming to restart a contention window and the Yankees wanting to team Soto and Aaron Judge through 2031, the last year of Judges nine-year, $360 million deal. Steinbrenner would have to pay a lot more for Soto than he did for Judge, and MLB sources told NJ Advance Medias Randy Miller they thought it was doubtful to happen. But NJAMs Bob Klapisch wrote this offseason that he saw Judge sending a signal that hed be OK with Soto earning the bigger salary because it would mean a better chance at winning. While Soto has not disclosed his long-term preference, its clear that he will seek the biggest deal; the outfielders agent is Scott Boras, the games toughest negotiator, and Soto rejected a 15-year, $440 million offer from the Nationals in 2022, according to reports. Before that, though, lets watch what the Yankees and their fans hope is more than 162 games of Soto in pinstripes this season. Maybe his performance will make it impossible to let him go. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost. If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below. Name: Lawrence Hecker Age: 86 or 87 Position: Diocesan priest in Archdiocese of New Orleans Served where: St. Mary in New Roads; Christ the King in Terrytown; Holy Family in Luling; Holy Rosary in New Orleans ; Our Lady of Lourdes in New Orleans; St. Anthony in Luling; St. Bernadette in Houma; St. Charles Borromeo (in residence); St. Frances Cabrini; St. Francis Xavier in Metairie; St. Joseph in Gretna; St. Louise de Marillac in Arabi; St. Theresa of Child Jesus Ordained: 1958 Estimated time of abuse: Late 1960s, 1970s Allegation received: 1996 Lawsuits filed/previous known allegations: Name included on list that Archdiocese of New Orleans released in late 2018 Removed from ministry: 2002 Current status: Public records say he still lives in Louisiana Details: The archdiocese of New Orleans said a credible accusation of abuse led to Hecker's removal from ministry in 2002. Further details are unknown. An exhibition with more than 30 photographs highlighting the achievements of China-Africa cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative was inaugurated Fridayin Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and will be availableat the Nairobi terminus of the Chinese-funded Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) for a month. NAIROBI, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A photography exhibition highlighting the achievements of China-Africa cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was inaugurated Friday in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Organized by the China Economic Information Service, Xinhua News Agency African Regional Bureau, Belt and Road Portal and China Communications Construction Company Limited, the exhibition will take place at the Nairobi terminus of the Chinese-funded Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) for a month, featuring more than 30 photographs showcasing outcomes of China-Africa cooperation. Themed "Even mountains and oceans cannot distance people with common aspirations," the exhibition aims to showcase the benefits of China-Africa cooperation across various sectors. It vividly depicts the positive impact of this collaboration within the BRI framework on the lives of local citizens. Dignitaries attending the exhibition launch included Xu Jianping, director-general of the Department of Regional Opening-up at the National Development and Reform Commission of China, senior Kenyan officials, scholars and executives from the SGR operator. Xu praised the practical cooperation between China and Africa, particularly in infrastructure construction, talent development and the health sector. The cooperation has played a significant role in fostering people-to-people exchanges, promoting enterprise growth and contributing to the economies of both China and African countries, he said. Noting that the successful cooperation under the BRI has become a model for South-South cooperation, Xu said China is willing to work with countries in Africa to gradually turn the needs of countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative into reality through the joint efforts of governments, enterprises and people from all walks of life. Philip Mainga, managing director of Kenya Railways Corporation, said the photo exhibition will showcase China's contribution to Kenya's economic modernization. "The BRI has transformed Kenya and the African continent," Mainga said, pointing to Chinese-built infrastructure projects that have enhanced connectivity and injected vitality into the local economy. "The BRI has been a successful project in Kenya. We have witnessed great improvement in our infrastructure through the BRI, boosting connectivity in our towns and villages." Wang Lijun, president of the China Road and Bridge Corporation, said that investments in modern infrastructure projects in Africa have revitalized Sino-African friendship and sustainable development on the continent. Lorrie Moore won the prize for fiction on Thursday, while Judy Blume and her longtime ally in the fight against book bans, the American Library Association were given honorary prizes by the National Book Critics Circle. Moore, best known as a short-story writer, won the fiction prize for her novel, I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home." Committee chair David Varno said in a statement that the book is a heartbreaking and hilarious ghost story about a man who considers what it means to be human in a world infected by, as Moore puts it, voluntary insanity. Its an unforgettable achievement from a landmark American author. Blume was the recipient of the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award. The committee cited the way her novels including Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret have inspired generations of young readers by tackling the emotional turbulence of girlhood and adolescence with authenticity, candor and courage. It also praised her role as "a relentless opponent of censorship and an iconic champion of literary freedom. The American Library Association was given the Toni Morrison Achievement Award, established to honor institutions for their contributions to book culture. The committee said the group had a longstanding commitment to equity, including its 20th century campaigns against library segregation and for LGBT+ literature, and its perennial stance as a bulwark against those regressive and illiberal supporters of book bans. Blume, who accepted her award remotely from a bookstore she runs in Key West, Florida, thanked the ALA for their tireless work in protecting our intellectual freedoms." The awards were handed out at a Thursday night ceremony at the New School in New York. Other winners included poet Safiya Sinclair, who took the autobiography prize for her acclaimed memoir How to Say Babylon, about her Jamaican childhood and strict Rastafarian upbringing. Jonny Steinberg won the biography award for his Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage, about Nelson and Winnie Mandela. Kim Hyesoon of South Korea won for poetry for her Phantom Pain Wings. For translation, an award that honors both translator and book, the winner was Maureen Freely for her translation from the Turkish of the late Tezer Ozlu's Cold Nights of Childhood." Tahir Hamut Izgil won the John Leonard Prize for Best First Book for his Waiting to Be Arrested at Night: : A Uyghur Poets Memoir of Chinas Genocide." The prize for criticism went to Tina Post for Deadpan: The Aesthetics of Black Inexpression, and Roxanna Asgarian won the nonfiction award for We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America. Besides Blume and the library association, honorary awards were presented to Washington Post critic Becca Rothfield for excellence in reviewing and to Marion Winik of NPR's All Things Considered for service to the literary community. The book critics circle, founded in 1974, consists of hundreds of reviewers and editors from around the country. PORTAGE Police say a 52-year-old man, who resisted arrest after being spotted stumbling intoxicated in a roadway, did not give up his fight even after being taken to jail. A Portage police officer reported spotting Gary Shadley shortly before 2:45 a.m. Saturday stumbling while walking southbound in the roadway of Dombey Road. Shadley, who is listed as being from Munster and Illinois, became irate when confronted by police and attempted to walk away, the report says. As police backup was called, Shadley "stopped and began screaming and cursing at me," the officer said. When Shadley began walking away again, the officer drew his stun gun and could smell alcohol coming from Shadley, according to the report. Shadley was taken to the Porter County jail. As another officer went to leave, Shadley allegedly began banging on the jail cell door and said, "I'll see where you're at. I'll find you." Shadley faces a felony count of intimidation, and misdemeanor charges of resisting law enforcement, public intoxication and disorderly conduct, police said. HAMMOND Police are looking for the public's assistance following a fatal stabbing early Saturday morning. According to Hammond police, officers were called to a domestic disturbance in the 2300 block of 169th Street at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Saturday. During an altercation, a male individual suffered a fatal stab wound to the chest with the victim being pronounced dead at the scene, according Hammond police Lt. Steven Kellogg. No one is in custody yet, Kellogg said. Further details of the incident are unknown. Police are working to uncover the circumstances surrounding the stabbing and gather all pertinent information and evidence. Once the investigation is completed, all findings will be presented to the Lake County Prosecutor's Office for further action, Kellogg said. Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Marcus Roberson Brittany Smith Davion Stephenson Tyler Sweet Ezekiel Nettles Wayne Rivera Kurt McCammon Jr. Molly McIntosh Shauntrelle Lockhart Dalvin Kimmons Sr. Linda Lear Antoine Hull Jr. Jakobie Jackson Perry Jackson II Chance Jamerson Andrew Jones Miguel Gonzalez Lori Dennis Herbert Foust Salvador Arevalo Chagoya Stephen Bonner Lardarius Thomas Bernard Scott Juan Padilla Fernando Rosas Ricky Jackson Taurice Lancaster Toni Lindsey Malachi McClendon Jesse McGarr Justin Heinzel Maurice Dickey Jr. Troy Crosby Andrew Caradonna Larry Crocker III Bridgette Bailey Robertson Lindsey Spangenberg Jennifer Spisak Marian Zak Olorunleke Oshiga Jason Neal Aaliyah Boyce Emanuel Echavarria Garcia Marcus Hartman Augustine Karikari Michael Bass WHITING One person is dead following a shooting in Whiting over the weekend, police said. According to Whiting police Detective Capt. Brad Stelow, a juvenile male was shot in the 1600 block of LaPorte Avenue at around 5 p.m. on Saturday. The victim was later pronounced dead at St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, Stelow said. The identity of the juvenile male has not yet been released. Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to email Stelow at bstelow@whitingindiana.com. Gallery: Recent arrests booked into Lake County Jail Marcus Roberson Brittany Smith Davion Stephenson Tyler Sweet Ezekiel Nettles Wayne Rivera Kurt McCammon Jr. Molly McIntosh Shauntrelle Lockhart Dalvin Kimmons Sr. Linda Lear Antoine Hull Jr. Jakobie Jackson Perry Jackson II Chance Jamerson Andrew Jones Miguel Gonzalez Lori Dennis Herbert Foust Salvador Arevalo Chagoya Stephen Bonner Lardarius Thomas Bernard Scott Juan Padilla Fernando Rosas Ricky Jackson Taurice Lancaster Toni Lindsey Malachi McClendon Jesse McGarr Justin Heinzel Maurice Dickey Jr. Troy Crosby Andrew Caradonna Larry Crocker III Bridgette Bailey Robertson Lindsey Spangenberg Jennifer Spisak Marian Zak Olorunleke Oshiga Jason Neal Aaliyah Boyce Emanuel Echavarria Garcia Marcus Hartman Augustine Karikari Michael Bass In three weeks, students in significant parts of 13 states will experience day turn into night, as a total solar eclipse will pass through on April 8. The rare phenomenon will be the first to be visible in the contiguous United States since 2017, and won't happen again until 2044. The 115-mile-wide path of total darkness will stretch from Mexico to Eastern Canada, with the eclipse passing through Indianapolis and much of central and southern Indiana along the way. While Northwest Indiana is not in the path of totality, the eclipse will have about 95% coverage across the Region, meaning a sliver of the sun will be visible. It will begin at approximately 12:51 p.m. and end at 3:22 p.m. Since students in the area will be able to experience the eclipse, many local school districts are encouraging teachers to plan activities and lessons coinciding with the eclipse. Many educators will be utilizing resources from the Indiana Department of Education for their lesson plans relating to the eclipse. These resources from IDOE are in collaboration with NASA. These resources include math activities that involve calculating the duration of the eclipse, science experiments simulating the eclipse, as well as writing activities where students will journal their observations during the eclipse. A full list of activities and resources for educators is available on IDOE's website. Additionally, many schools are allowing students to go outside during the eclipse to observe it with special glasses to safely view the sun as it's being covered by the moon. Several Northwest Indiana school districts, including School City of Hammond, Duneland School Corp. and Valparaiso Community Schools will be purchasing eclipse glasses for all their students. While most local districts will be having a regular school day on April 8, at least one, Lake Central School Corp., will be dismissing high school students early to avoid the peak eclipse time, which will be around 2:07 p.m. The district will also order eclipse glasses for all elementary students as a precautionary measure since they will be dismissed during the eclipse window. And at least one other local school district, LaPorte Community School Corp., is switching to a virtual learning day on April 8. According to a message sent to families, the decision was made as a preventive measure to mitigate any potential risks relating to the eclipse. Lake Central and LaPorte schools will also be pushing back after-school activities until after the eclipse finishes. Total solar eclipses through the decades Valparaiso Community Schools is dedicating a position to take up the "monumental task" of supporting students with their vocational interests and abilities, as enrollment in career technical education courses has grown. During a school board meeting on Thursday, the district's assistant superintendent for secondary education, Nick Allison, presented information that included details on high school graduation requirements, and legislative updates impacting those requirements and college and career readiness. According to Allison, participation in CTE courses increased from around 250 to 330 students between 2023 and 2024, with over 400 students expected to be enrolled in CTE classes next year. He also detailed state legislation that is changing or adding new requirements. These include House Enrolled Act 1002 (2023), which instructs the state Board of Education to work with the Indiana Department of Education to establish new high school diploma requirements by the end of this year. The bill also requires high schoolers to take college and career readiness, and personal finance courses. House Enrolled Act 1243, passed this year, added compute science to the list of required classes. Therefore, in order to support the growing interest in CTE courses and manage the changing state requirements, Allison said VCS would be hiring a K-12 career development coordinator to follow up with students and work with local businesses and organizations to coordinate field trips and career fairs, as well as internships and apprenticeships for students. Additionally, Allison told the board that beginning next school year, all high schools across the state will have to offer the Indiana College Core, a set of college-level general education courses worth 30 credit hours. It is meant to allow high school students to earn a year of college education before they graduate. While VCS has the courses to offer the Indiana College Core, several courses will have to be converted to dual credit by certifying certain educators to teach dual credit, Allison said. The assistant superintendent also updated the school board on upcoming changes to the state's standardized exam, also known as ILEARN. Beginning the 2025-26 school year, the math and English language arts portions of the test will be administered in through-year assessments and a shorter summative test. The changes are meant to provide more flexible scheduling, reduce overall testing and provide real-time data for teachers and parents. VCS will be participating in the piloting process of the new ILEARN exam next school year, according to Allison. In other business, the school board approved $2.7 million for asphalt and roof work at three elementary schools and Benjamin Franklin Middle School. The board also approved a three-year contract worth nearly $120,000 for technology equipment. As fewer students seek teaching degrees, universities close undergraduate programs As fewer students seek teaching degrees, universities close undergraduate programs Education degrees make up a small share of all bachelor's degrees Wintrust Bank has opened a branch in Crown Point, expanding its footprint further into Lake County. The Rosemont-based bank, one of the largest in Chicagoland, opened at 1420 E. Summit St. in Crown Point. Wintrust, which operates branches in Dyer, Lansing and the south suburbs, is calling the new Crown Point branch Wintrust Indiana. Crown Point Mayor Pete Land welcomed the bank as "another great addition to the Crown Point business community." "This is exciting," he said. "Everybody knows the name Wintrust. This is going to be the first Wintrust Bank in the city of Crown Point. It brings not only a great facility but the type of reputation Crown Point has." Ed Wehmer, now chairman, founded Wintrust with a single branch in a storefront in Lake Forest, Illinois in 1991. "Now 33 years later, we are a $55 billion organization with 175 banks," Wintrust Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending Michael Schneider said. "People ask when you say $55 billion, 'is that a big bank,' 'is that a small bank?' I would say we're a perfect sized bank for everybody. We are a full-service bank for retail, commercial and many other lines of business." MICHIGAN CITY Two Washington state residents who police believe are affiliated with a nationwide financial fraud ring were nabbed Saturday after the city's license plate scanner system alerted officers a vehicle linked to the duo was in town. According to police, Florin Vaduva, 32, and Loredana Vaduva, 26, allegedly are part of a network that attaches "skimmers" to automatic teller machines to illegally record card holders' names, bank card numbers, expiration dates and security codes. Altogether, they're suspected of using that information and other means to defraud financial institutions across the country of more than $500,000, police said. Following a traffic stop, police said Loredana Vaduva was arrested on 9 felony theft warrants from Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Florin Vaduva was arrested for possession of a false identification card. Florin Vaduva has since posted $1,500 bond to be released from the LaPorte County Jail, while Loredana Vaduva remains incarcerated awaiting extradition, according to police. Gallery: Recent arrests booked into LaPorte County Jail Kody Lowery Lorriel Smith Carlos Gipson Scott Fletcher Kenneth Fly Jr. William Carmichael Zackary Riley Garrick Doty Robert Reed Kathryn Kniola Sadiq Heyward Ashley McMillan Chelsea Hahn Leonard Frierson Kiera White Christine Lewis DeSean Tucker Michael Crump Quinton Dixon Joseph Swanson Ronald Blake Jr. Jose Rivera Jr. Cody Davis Robert Taylor Stephanie Pahl Kendrick Portis Sarah Williams Macy Blake Jeffery Lowry Debra Williams Timothy Armstrong Vincent Norwood Joseph Mourning Ronald Mashburn Joseph Swanson The South Shore Line plans to have trains running the full length of the railroad on April 9, ending the busing of passengers between Gary Metro Center and Dune Park Station as its Double Track project nears completion. Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District President Michael Noland announced the plan at a Monday meeting of the district's board, calling it "a really, really exciting time on the Double Track project." In a statement issued Monday afternoon, Noland thanked passengers for their "patience and cooperation" during the project. Our commitment to convenient and reliable service for our riders has never wavered, and we invite everyone to participate in the grand opening of Double Track service in less than two months, he said. The busing, originally between Gary Metro Center and Michigan City, began periodically in 2021 and was extended in 2022 until completion of the $650 million Double Track NWI project, now just weeks away. Contractors are currently working on final construction tasks, while the Positive Train Control safety system is being set up and employees are training on the new infrastructure. "It's a brand new railroad for them," Noland noted at Monday's meeting. For passengers, the schedule implemented in October 2023 will remain in effect at first. But passengers at Portage/Ogden Dunes and Miller stations will being using the new permanent locations for departures and arrivals. The railroad plans to put the full benefits of the Double Track project, including additional trains, into action five weeks after it reopens the full railroad. "On May 14 we will flip the switch," Noland said. When the new service begins, the South Shore will offer 11 morning "rush hour" trains arriving in Chicago between 5:40 and 8:40 a.m. and nine evening "rush hour" trains leaving Chicago between 4 and 6:30 p.m. "Off peak" westbound trains will run hourly through 7 p.m., with two extra evening Chicago arrivals. "Off peak" eastbound trains will also run hourly, with three new trains leaving Chicago between 6 and 8 a.m. The new schedule will be released soon, railroad officials said. Noland noted the South Shore will be open to schedule adjustments as passengers adapt to the new schedule. South Shore managers at Monday's meeting said the staff eagerly anticipates the first step in the process the end of busing. And "our riders, I know, can't wait," Noland said. The Double Track project extends along a 26-mile corridor between Gary and Michigan City and includes 18 miles of new tracks, four new bridges, grade crossing upgrades, five new high-level platforms, seven high-speed crossovers, five parking lots, and new train stations in Miller and Michigan City. Construction of the Michigan City 11th Street Station only began recently. Among the Board of Trustees' official actions Monday, an additional $1.15 million was approved in change orders for the main Double Track contract. The 110 items in the change order resolve nearly all outstanding issues regarding construction, Noland said. It takes the main construction contract, which started at about $375 million, to approximately $382 million, a rise of just under 2%. The four board members present, St. Joseph County Commissioner Carl Baxmeyer, LaPorte School Board member Jim Arnold, Gary Mayor Eddie Melton and Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas, said they were impressed with the cost-control efforts. Noland also reported on other capital projects, including the West Lake Corridor, the $950 million project to extend commuter rail service south from Hammond to the Munster/Dyer town line. That project is slated for completion in May 2025. It's about 70% complete now, railroad officials said. Noland said one outstanding issue is approval by the CSX freight railroad of plans to construct a vehicle underpass that would extend Main Street at the Munster/Dyer station underneath the tracks to access parking on the west side of them. The West Lake tracks will run parallel to the CSX tracks along the southern stretch. Significant upcoming work includes installation of a bridge over 45th Street in Munster in early April. That bridge will extend over CN freight tracks just north of 45th, at the Maynard Junction where the CSX and CN tracks join. The first element of the West Lake project that will come into use will be the platforms at the new Hammond Gateway Station. Work is planned for this summer to shift passenger access from the current Hammond Station the several blocks west to the Gateway Station. That will allow contractors to begin work to realign South Shore tracks through the area, flattening a curve to meet West Lake at the Gateway Station. Work is also underway on the $200 million Metra Track 4 project that will add a fourth track into the commuter railroads' terminals at Millennium Station in Chicago. NICTD is financing about 90% of that project, which will aid train traffic flow into the station and include new platforms at Van Buren Street and Millennium stations. NICTD officials also said progress is being made on an agreement with South Bend International Airport to move the South Shore station there from the east side of the airport to the west side. Baxmeyer and Arnold, both involved in the negotiations, said significant progress has been made recently on that potential project, which officials hope to get funded under the current five-year federal infrastructure program. If Northwest Indiana wants to be a leading region in the Midwest and beyond it must invest in its people. Its as simple as that. Any population that is given the ability to make the most of its talent and opportunities is going to win every time, and in that the people of Northwest Indiana have a secret weapon: Unions! I call it a secret weapon because unions, and particularly the building trades, have remained strong in our region despite membership challenges in a lot of other unions and places around the country. Why? Well, part of the reason is simply the kind of work we do here, like maintenance and capital upgrades at the regions steel mills and the BP refinery in Whiting and all down the lake front. Northwest Indiana does the most industrial manhours in the country. Danger is inherent on any job site, but a heavy industrial setting multiplies those dangers many times over. And its not just the obvious safety issues, but also just the necessity of getting the job done right the first time. Working together with our contractors we are a team hard to beat, providing the most highly trained and safest workforce in the country. The logistics and infrastructure are already in place to achieve this greatness. So, for the Northwest Indiana building trades, training and education are where it all begins. We now invest upward of $60 million a year in our apprenticeship training programs, ensuring that our members are the most capable, knowledgeable and effective workers available. That pays off not only for local businesses, but also creates demand for our trained tradespeople around the state and the country. In fact, we are currently expanding our training programs by more than 25%, so we have enough people to cover all the work we are getting. This expansion is being paired with increased outreach to vocational schools and high schools. We know that not every graduate is college bound. We are also proud that our women, minority, disparaged-area-code and veterans in the trades numbers are at the highest levels ever. Through the use of Building Trade started programs like Helmets to Hardhats and Indiana Plan. As a fresh U.S. Treasury report noted last August, union jobs are a great alternative path to the middle class. This country needs the middle class to move forward and make sure all get a shot at the American Dream. According to that report, unionized workers earn 10 to 15% more than nonunionized workers in similar jobs. Building Trade union workers have retirement benefits, medical benefits and life insurance. We are even starting conversations on uncommon benefits like childcare. We could go on, but you get the point: union membership brings real, tangible benefits monetary and otherwise to members, and to the communities in which they live and work. It is in part thanks to The Regions strong building trades that Northwest Indiana was selected as one of seven initial sites for Regional Hydrogen Hubs. The $9 billion total investment, Midwest Hydrogen Hub will create more than 16,000 construction/maintenance jobs that will switch our heavy industries to clean power and slash our carbon footprint. That in turn will keep those facilities competitive moving forward, preserving the jobs and economic development they bring for future generations. Even as we train for that future, some of it is arriving right now as the largest commuter rail project in Indiana history accelerates to its conclusion. The Double Track project will finish up later this year, providing commuters with better, faster and more convenient service to and from Chicago, and the new West Lake line will be completed in 2025, providing new direct rail service to southern Hammond, Muster and Dyer. More than half a billion dollars of transit-oriented development projects that are looking to take advantage of the new service is already underway, with billions more to come over the next 20 years. Overall, its a potent combination. Major infrastructure projects that will keep Northwest Indianas industrial employers on the cutting edge and give its residents first-class access to the Chicago jobs market, combined with good-paying union jobs to grow the middle class as part of a booming regional economy. Thats the future for Northwest Indiana if we commit to investing in our greatest resource, our people. Judy Bornstein is the most joyful person Ive ever met despite the sad fact she was profoundly unhappy, lonely and abused for the first 68 years of her life. I love being old! she exclaimed at the dining room table of her Valparaiso home. And now that you know my backstory, you know why I feel this way. Her troublesome backstory is what gives meaning to her current life at 87 years old. After an oppressive childhood and then two marriages filled with abuse, victimization and five decades of manipulative brainwashing, Bornstein finally found her way in life and her purpose at 70. Ive had two lives, she said. I didnt begin to live until I was 70 years old. Her life dramatically changed during a devastating strike of four separate hurricanes in 2004. While living in a little town in Florida, the 170-miles-per-hour ferocity of Hurricane Charley forced Bornstein into her bathroom, where she oddly experienced the eye of serenity. God didnt take my life. He gave me my soul, she recalled. After I survived that hurricane, I found the courage to tell my second husband that he had to leave. She had no money, no car, no plans and no experience at making decisions of any kind. She had lived in survival mode for nearly seven decades, victimized by two men who were drunken on the power of controlling her every move. On the night before I was married to my first husband, who was a minister, my grandmother who raised me said, Judy, there is only one thing you have to remember after the wedding. Your main purpose is to please Jack in whatever room he wants. You should be so grateful that you are marrying a man of God. He ended up manipulating and controlling her, to the point she wasnt allowed to leave home without his permission, she said. Her second husband turned out to be just as abusive as her first. I didnt know that men could be , Bornstein said, pausing to find the right word. Kind? I asked. Yes, kind, she replied. I had no idea until I was 70 that men could be kind. It took a natural catastrophe to unearth her natural disposition. Life was sucked out of me like what that hurricane did to my home, Bornstein said with a sigh. Her life dramatically changed two years later after moving back to Northwest Indiana to be closer to one of her children. The moment occurred while singing the gospel hymn, Amazing Grace to a dying woman named Mary in a nursing home. Amaaaaaaaazing Graaaaaaace, Bornstein began singing. How sweet the sound The old woman cut off Bornstein just seconds into singing that old hymn. No! the woman barked in a gruff voice. Bornstein apologized and suggested she could sing another hymn. The woman mustered every ounce of energy in her frail body to say in a whisper, How sweet He is. Bornstein sang the hymn again, this time with the altered lyric. The woman nodded in peaceful contentment. Bornstein experienced a spiritual epiphany while singing it that new way. In that singular moment, she found her salvation and her purpose in life, at 70. She softly held the womans hand and thanked her for sharing those powerful new lyrics. The woman quietly smiled and gently squeezed Bornsteins hand. Five minutes after returning home, Bornstein got a call from the nursing home. The woman had died. Her last words were to Bornstein, How sweet He is. Marys life was ending. Mine was just beginning, Bornstein wrote in her 2017 book, Hold My Hand: All About the Blessings of Volunteering. Its introduction is titled, How sweet He is. (For more info, email her at jbornstein36@gmail.com.) Since that day, Bornstein began a life of volunteering, providing a cushion of calmness to patients in hospitals, residents in nursing homes, and dying people in hospice situations. I met her at the annual meeting and dinner for VNA Hospice Northwest Indiana, which depends on volunteers. Most people think of hospice as the end of life. But, to me, hospice was the beginning of my life, she told me. I am so blessed to have been a VNA hospice volunteer for the past 16 years. Bornstein has sung dozens of old hymnals to hundreds of patients who clung to her joyful kindness as they clung to their last gasps of life. Shes held the hands of strangers who desperately yearn for human contact. She has touched the lives of people in their most fragile or vulnerable moments. Its been a true blessing for me, Bornstein said as she looked through her old book of gospel hymns, its pages tabbed with current patients' favorite hymnals. To see her exuberance in action, watch my videos at NWI.com or on my Facebook page @JerDavich. More photos also are shared at both websites. After her new life started, Bornstein also began painting and creating artwork that adorns her home's walls. She also creates greeting cards based on her artwork that she sells to cover the expenses of driving to nursing homes and the hospice center. You see, youre never too old to start again in life, she said as I left her home. Im living proof. GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week Shani Mott, a scholar of Black studies at Johns Hopkins University whose examinations of race and power in America extended beyond the classroom to her employer, her city and even her own home, has died in Baltimore. She was 47. She died of adrenal cancer on March 12, said her husband, Nathan Connolly, a professor of history at Johns Hopkins. Though Dr. Mott spent her career in some of academias elite spaces, she was committed to the idea that scholarship should be grounded and tangible, and not succumb to ivory tower abstraction. She encouraged students to turn a critical eye to their own backgrounds and to the realities of the world around them. In a city like Baltimore, with its complicated and often cruel racial history, there was plenty to scrutinize. How do we think about what were doing and how it relates to a city like Baltimore? is how Minkah Makalani, the director of the universitys Center for Africana Studies, described some of the questions that drove Dr. Motts work. There was this kind of demanding intellectual curiosity that she had that she brought to everything that really pushed the conversation and required that people think about what were doing in more tangible ways. Women who cut sugar cane in the Indian state of Maharashtra are getting unnecessary hysterectomies, often as a way to keep working, undistracted by periods, pregnancies or gynecological checkups. My colleagues and I traveled across the impoverished district of Beed, which is home to many migrant sugar-cane workers. We visited tiny villages and met laborers in their homes. We talked to their employers, visited sugar mills, interviewed doctors and reviewed medical records. What we found was a brutal system of labor that exploits children, encourages child marriage, keeps families in debt to their employers and culminates with women feeling they have no choice but to get hysterectomies. We interviewed women who cut sugar cane for companies that supply household brands including Coca-Cola and a major franchisee of PepsiCo, which have helped make the state a powerhouse for sugar, one of Indias most important industries. Bodies were recovered, flowers were laid and fingers were pointed on Sunday as competing narratives took shape over who was behind the terrorist attack on a Russian concert hall where at least 137 people out to enjoy an evening of music were killed. President Vladimir V. Putin has hinted that Ukraine was behind the Friday night attack. He stopped short of accusing Kyiv directly, but on Sunday, some of his allies showed no such compunction. American officials have said that the attack appeared to be the work of an offshoot of the Islamic State, and that there is no evidence connecting Kyiv to it. But many Russian nationalist commentators and ultraconservative hawks are pushing the idea that Ukraine is the obvious culprit. A pro-Kremlin analyst who is a regular on Russian state television, Sergei A. Markov, wrote in a post on Telegram that the Kremlin must work at isolating the Ukrainian leadership by connecting the terrorist act not with ISIS but with the Ukrainian government as much as possible. How safe is it to take abortion pills? The F.D.A., the nations authority on drug regulation, says that its very safe. But the agencys judgment is the topic of a sweeping challenge that the Supreme Court will hear tomorrow. The case could curtail Americans access to mifepristone, the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for a medication abortion. Pills now account for most abortions in the United States. Increasingly, people take the medications at home. About 14,000 medication abortions per month are now prescribed online, with pills sent through the mail. In todays newsletter, Ill explain how the suit against the F.D.A. seeks to shut down this form of access and impose other restrictions. A decision in the plaintiffs favor would change the landscape of abortion not state by state, like the effects of the 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, but across the country. Post-Roe America The abortion opponents who sued the government in tomorrows case, F.D.A. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, are frustrated by how common abortion has remained. Since the high court struck down Roe, 16 states have banned or severely restricted the procedure. In those places, some women who would have ended their pregnancies are carrying them to term, as my colleagues Margot Sanger-Katz and Claire Cain Miller have explained. But the total number of abortions across the country has not fallen. It may actually have increased. Donald Trump was handed a lifeline today when a panel of judges in New York ruled that he no longer had to post a nearly half-billion-dollar bond in order to appeal his civil fraud case. The judges gave Trump 10 days to secure a much smaller $175 million bond. The ruling was a victory for the former president, who had been just hours away from a deadline after which he could have begun losing control of his bank accounts and even some of his marquee properties. Instead, his payment of the smaller bond will prevent the New York attorney general from seizing his assets while his appeal is heard, which could take months. Two people with knowledge of Trumps finances said that he should be able to post a $175 million bond, but it would drain much of his cash. He would have to pay a bond company about $200 million as collateral. It may help that Trumps social media company will begin publicly trading tomorrow, effectively boosting his net worth by billions. The former president was not as fortunate at a hearing regarding his Manhattan criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to hide a potential sex scandal. A judge denied his lawyers attempts to continue delaying the proceedings, and officially scheduled the trial to begin on April 15. The U.N. passed a cease-fire resolution for Gaza The U.N. Security Council yesterday passed a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the month of Ramadan, which has two weeks remaining. The vote broke a five-month impasse during which the U.S. vetoed several calls for ending the war, while the humanitarian toll of Israels military offensive climbed higher. The resolution passed with 14 votes in favor. The U.S. abstained, which allowed it to pass. The resolution demands the unconditional and immediate release of all hostages but it does not make the demands for a cease-fire conditional on hostage release one of Israels stated objections to the measure. It remained unclear whether Israel or Hamas would heed the resolutions call for a halt in hostilities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the U.S. for allowing the resolution to pass, saying that the abstention harms the war effort as well as the effort to liberate the hostages. The Israeli leader said he would cancel a planned high-level delegation to Washington. President Biden had requested the meeting to discuss alternatives to a planned Israeli offensive into Rafah, which American officials have said would create a humanitarian disaster. On the ground, the Israeli military said its forces had surrounded a hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza while continuing a raid on Al-Shifa Hospital in the north for an eighth day. When Boeing named Dave Calhoun its chief executive in 2019, his mandate was clear: to navigate the company out of a reputational crisis after a pair of deadly crashes of its planes. But on Monday, Boeing announced that Mr. Calhoun would depart at the end of 2024 as the company tries to manage another safety crisis. Here are some of the most notable episodes from Mr. Calhouns tenure, including the grounding of 737 Max jets, supply disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Jan. 5 incident this year in which a door panel blew off a Max jet at 16,000 feet. December 2019 He takes over as planes sit idle. Mr. Calhoun, who had been on Boeings board of directors since 2009, is named chief executive after the ouster of Dennis A. Muilenburg, the embattled leader who had been criticized for his handling of two crashes on Boeing Max 8 planes that killed nearly 350 people in 2018 and 2019. Max planes were grounded after those crashes. A week before the company announces Mr. Calhouns new role, Boeing says that it is suspending global production of the Max. It had already cut production to 42 planes per month from 52. Boeing abruptly said on Monday that it was overhauling its leadership amid its most significant safety crisis in years, announcing sweeping changes that included the departure of its chief executive, Dave Calhoun, at the end of the year. The aircraft maker has been under mounting pressure from regulators, airlines and passengers as the company struggled to respond to the fallout from an incident in early January in which a panel blew off a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane midair during an Alaska Airlines flight. The incident has roiled the company, considered by many to be a prized American institution, and renewed concerns about its commitment to safety and quality five years after two crashes of 737 Max 8 planes killed a total of nearly 350 people. In addition to Mr. Calhouns departure, Boeing announced that Stan Deal, the head of the division that makes planes for airlines and other commercial customers, would retire immediately. He will be replaced by Stephanie Pope, Boeings chief operating officer, the company said in a statement. Once upon a time, the British monarchy exerted a unique hold over the imaginations of millions of Americans, an interest that elevated its crown-bearing figureheads above the average A-lister or Hollywood elite. Lately, however, a succession of births, deaths and marriages in the royal family, and several high-profile scandals, have collided with the rise of an internet culture evermore obsessed with celebrity. The monthslong frenzy over the whereabouts of Catherine, Princess of Wales culminating in a televised statement on Friday in which she revealed she was battling cancer reflects a fundamental shift in the sentiment of a growing faction of the public: that the Windsors are like any other celebrity family in the public eye, and that they deserve to be treated as such. The online maelstrom that fueled KateGate came largely from outside Britain and especially from across the Atlantic. It exploded thanks to a 24-hour news cycle, a boom in conspiracy theories and rabid social media punditry, as millions of users sought clicks and a boost in followers with increasingly provocative posts. A study, published on Monday in the medical journal JAMA, found that the number of abortions using pills obtained outside the formal health system soared in the six months after the national right to abortion was overturned. Another report, published last week by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights, found that medication abortions now account for nearly two-thirds of all abortions provided by the countrys formal health system, which includes clinics and telemedicine abortion services. The JAMA study evaluated data from overseas telemedicine organizations, online vendors and networks of community volunteers that generally obtain pills from outside the United States. Before Roe was overturned, these avenues provided abortion pills to about 1,400 women per month, but in the six months afterward, the average jumped to 5,900 per month, the study reported. Overall, the study found that while abortions in the formal health care system declined by about 32,000 from July through December 2022, much of that decline was offset by about 26,000 medication abortions from pills provided by sources outside the formal health system. We see what we see elsewhere in the world in the U.S. that when anti-abortion laws go into effect, oftentimes outside of the formal health care setting is where people look, and the locus of care gets shifted, said Dr. Abigail Aiken, who is an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the lead author of the JAMA study. The co-authors were a statistics professor at the university; the founder of Aid Access, a Europe-based organization that helped pioneer telemedicine abortion in the United States; and a leader of Plan C, an organization that provides consumers with information about medication abortion. Before publication, the study went through the rigorous peer review process required by a major medical journal. The telemedicine organizations in the study evaluated prospective patients using written medical questionnaires, issued prescriptions from doctors who were typically in Europe and had pills shipped from pharmacies in India, generally charging about $100. Community networks typically asked for some information about the pregnancy and either delivered or mailed pills with detailed instructions, often for free. Online vendors, which supplied a small percentage of the pills in the study and charged between $39 and $470, generally did not ask for womens medical history and shipped the pills with the least detailed instructions. Vendors in the study were vetted by Plan C and found to be providing genuine abortion pills, Dr. Aiken said. A minute or so after 6 p.m., after what television people call the opening tease, he will say five words that he said on his first night on the job, 50 years ago: Good evening, Im Chuck Scarborough. Scarborough has done that thousands of times, anchoring, by his count, 3,000 hours of local news on WNBC a staggering total that stretches from the citys financial crisis of the 1970s to the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 to the coronavirus pandemic. Eight governors have taken up residence in Albany and seven mayors have presided from City Hall while he has been at the anchor desk. Even the citys central governing body has changed, with a City Council replacing the old Board of Estimate. When Todd Blanche, Donald Trumps pugnacious defense attorney, arrived in state court on Monday morning, he was smiling and seemingly confident. When he left a little over an hour later, that smile was gone. During the first hour of a hearing on a possible delay or even a dismissal of the criminal trial facing his client, Mr. Blanche faced withering questioning from the trials judge. Mr. Blanche experienced the type of morning that lawyers dread, as Justice Juan M. Merchan seemed simultaneously dismissive of his legal claims and suspicious of his motives. At one point, the judge wondered aloud why an experienced litigator and former federal prosecutor had waited to inform the court about a cache of documents it was seeking, and was now asking for a monthslong delay to process them. Justice Merchan had a generally cool demeanor at the hearings outset. But he became animated when saying that the defense had accused the Manhattan district attorneys office of incredibly serious, unbelievably serious misconduct in claiming that it had attempted to conceal the records. Mr. Blanche, he added, had offered little supporting evidence. Donald J. Trump is all but certain to become the first former American president to stand trial on criminal charges after a judge on Monday denied his effort to delay the proceeding and confirmed it would begin next month. The trial, in which Mr. Trump will be accused of orchestrating the cover-up of a simmering sex scandal surrounding his 2016 presidential campaign, had originally been scheduled to start this week. But the judge, Juan M. Merchan, had pushed the start date to April 15 to allow Mr. Trumps lawyers to review newly disclosed documents from a related federal investigation. Mr. Trumps lawyers had pushed for an even longer delay of 90 days and sought to have the case thrown out altogether. But in an hourlong hearing Monday, Justice Merchan slammed their arguments, rejecting them all. In a particularly low moment for the defense team, the judge questioned the claims and eventually, the resume of one of Mr. Trumps lawyers as the former president looked on. On July 9, 1998, a small house in Anata, a village northeast of Jerusalem, was destroyed for the first time. Home to the Shawamrehs, a Palestinian family of nine, the house was built four years earlier in a part of the West Bank over which Israel has military control. House demolitions occur routinely in this territory, where Palestinians like Arabiya and Salim Shawamreh are denied building permits on land that they have purchased and rightfully own. This house became a target for repeated demolitions because the family refused to leave. Each time Israeli authorities razed it, the family rebuilt it, alongside volunteers from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Now known as Beit Arabiya, the house has become a symbol of resilience. This familys story exemplifies the precarious nature of life as a Palestinian, whether residing in the homeland or abroad in the diaspora. When I visited Beit Arabiya in 2012 to celebrate its fifth reconstruction, I was fully aware that yet another destruction could be around the corner. As history repeats itself yet again when it comes to displacing Palestinians from their homes en masse, one thing remains clear to me: Although a house can be temporary, the home is permanent. My definition of home is a complex one. Despite the nostalgia I feel whenever I visit my birthplace Reston, Va., a suburb of Washington or any of the American cities I have lived in as an adult, they are not places I ever called home. When someone asks me where I am from, I say I am from Jerusalem. I was in London last week when the febrile madness of Where Is Kate? was blowing up social media, and the Curious Mystery of the Doctored Mothers Day Photograph consumed every news outlet and dinner table conversation. After The Associated Press issued a kill notification on the botched photoshopped image of a suspiciously glossy Princess of Wales surrounded by her beaming progeny, there was a typical outburst of tabloid pomposity questioning whether Kensington Palace could ever be considered a trusted source of news. Huh? When was the last time any tabloid considered the palace a trusted source of news? As the editor of Vanity Fair in 1985, I wrote a piece revealing that Prince Charles and Princess Diana were having awful marital fights. The palace roundly denied it, and the royal couple denied it in a television interview, confirming in my mind correctly, as it turned out that it was all true. But this time, the volume and tenor of the gossip was off the charts. In all the raucous, salacious and often cruel rumormongering about Catherine, almost no one considered that behind the scenes something tragic was unfolding. When social media shrieked that there would be a very somber press announcement on Friday, royal-watchers assumed it would be from King Charles, who is battling an unspecified cancer. In recent months, Donald Trump has been trying out a new routine. At rallies and town halls across the country, he compares himself to Al Capone. He was seriously tough, right? Mr. Trump told a rally in Iowa in October, in an early rendition of the act. But he was only indicted one time; Ive been indicted four times. (Capone was, in fact, indicted at least six times.) The implication is not just that Mr. Trump is being unfairly persecuted but also that he is four times as tough as Capone. If you looked at him in the wrong way, Mr. Trump explained, he blew your brains out." Mr. Trumps eagerness to invoke Capone reflects an important shift in the image he wants to project to the world. In 2016, Mr. Trump played the reality TV star and businessman who would shake up politics, shock and entertain. In 2020, Mr. Trump was the strongman, desperately trying to hold on to power by whatever means possible. In 2024, Mr. Trump is in his third act: the American gangster, heir to Al Capone besieged by the authorities, charged with countless egregious felonies but surviving and thriving nonetheless, with an air of macho invincibility. The evidence of Mr. Trumps mobster pivot is everywhere. He rants endlessly about his legal cases in his stump speeches. On Truth Social, he boasts about having a bigger team of lawyers than any human being in the history of our Country, including even the late great gangster, Alphonse Capone! His team has used his mug shot taken after he was indicted on a charge of racketeering in August on T-shirts, mugs, Christmas wrapping, bumper stickers, beer coolers and even NFTs. Theyve sold off parts of the blue suit he was wearing in that now-infamous photo for more than $4,000 a piece (it came with a dinner with Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort). Commentators have long pointed out that Mr. Trump behaves like a mob boss: The way he demands loyalty from his followers, lashes out at rivals, bullies authorities and flaunts his impunity are all reminiscent of the wiseguys Americans know so well from movies and television. As a real-estate mogul in New York, he seems to have relished working with mobsters and learned their vernacular before bringing their methods into the White House: telling James Comey, I expect loyalty; imploring Volodymyr Zelensky, Do us a favor; and pressuring Georgias secretary of state, Fellas, I need 11,000 votes. But before, he downplayed the mobster act in public. Now he actively courts the comparison. To the Editor: Re American Jews in the Age of Palestine, by Peter Beinart (Opinion guest essay, March 24): There is a fundamental flaw in the article. Zionism does not require backing the Israeli government; it does assume backing for the State of Israel. The nation is and has been divided, and choosing to support the liberal elements of Israeli society, during a period when the ultra right controls the government, is not a rupture. It is a choice to support what many of us believe to be Jewish values, with the domination of the Palestinians being un-Jewish. Yes, there is a rupture between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Jewish diaspora, but that does not translate to a rupture with Israel, at least not yet. Steven Goldberg Brooklyn To the Editor: Peter Beinart claims that the Anti-Defamation League is aligning itself with Republicans who want to silence woke activists on campus. Thats a distortion of our record. Since 1913, the ADL has hewed to a strictly nonpartisan strategy in calling out antisemitism whether it emanates from the far left or the extreme right, or anywhere in between. As a Tunisian human rights activist in the 2000s, Amira Yahyaoui staged protests and blogged about government corruption. In interviews, she described being beaten by the police. When she was 18, she said, she was kidnapped from the street, dropped off at the Algerian border and placed in exile for several years. Ms. Yahyaouis compelling background helped her stand out among entrepreneurs when she moved in 2018 to San Francisco, where she founded a student aid start-up called Mos. The app hit the top of Apples App Store, and Ms. Yahyaoui raised $56 million from high-profile investors, including Sequoia Capital, John Doerr and Steph Curry, according to PitchBook, which tracks start-ups. Mos was valued at $400 million. In podcasts, TV interviews and other media, Ms. Yahyaoui, 39, frequently discussed Moss success. Among other things, she said the start-up had helped 400,000 students get financial aid. But internal company data viewed by The New York Times showed that as of early last year, only about 30,000 customers had paid for Moss student aid services. The rest of the 400,000 users included anyone who had signed up for a free account and may have gotten an email about applying for student aid, two people familiar with the situation said. After Mos expanded into online banking in September 2021, Ms. Yahyaoui told publications such as TechCrunch that the company had more than 100,000 bank accounts. But those accounts had very small amounts of money in them, according to the internal data. Less than 10 percent of Moss roughly 153,000 bank users had put their own money into their accounts, the data showed. A federal judge in California on Monday dismissed Xs lawsuit against a nonprofit organization that studies hate speech online, ruling that the social media companys case was designed to punish researchers for speaking freely about the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. X sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate in July in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California after the organization published several articles that claimed its researchers had discovered a rise in hate speech on the platform following Elon Musks takeover. X said that the groups research was harming its business by scaring away advertisers, costing it millions of dollars. But the court ruled that Xs lawsuit was an attempt to penalize the group for speaking negatively about the company, and that its work was protected under the law. Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiffs true purpose, Judge Charles R. Breyer wrote in a ruling on Monday. Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. He added, This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech. In a Georgia cemetery, surrounded by tombstones cracked and worn by decades of rain and sun, Pvt. Albert Kings gleams new and bright. The Army unveiled it Sunday in a full military funeral, 83 years late. Since 1941 his body has rested in an unmarked grave near the military base where a white military police officer shot and killed him. Though Private King enlisted to fight in World War II, it was a fight with white bus drivers and soldiers on a segregated bus that cost him his life. After he escaped the bus and ran, the police officer found him, killed him and was exonerated in a sham military trial the same day. An Army investigation initially found that Private King had died in the line of duty. But, under pressure from the commanding general at the base, Fort Benning, the investigators reversed their decision and determined that his death was a result of his own misconduct making him ineligible for a military funeral. That was the official story, until three years ago. Over the final four months of 2021, Olga, a Honduran immigrant in Hollywood, Fla., grew increasingly panicked. She could not find her 5-year-old son, Ricardo. After shed fled her homeland to escape her abusive husband, the man also migrated, disappeared with the boy and broke off contact. By day, Olga lived her life. She cut, colored and styled hair at a Miami salon, chatting with clients as if she hadnt a care in the world. She mothered her 7-year-old daughter, Dariela, straining to distract her from the fact that her little brother was missing. But the nights were tough. I cried into my pillow, Olga said. Where was my sweet little boy? Was he, at least, safe? He was not. By the time Olga, then 28, tracked her son to Massachusetts, he had been removed from his father over allegations of physical abuse. Calling office after office of the Department of Children and Families, she finally reached a woman who turned out to be Ricardos caseworker. Who are you? the woman said. Yo soy la mama, Olga replied, bursting into tears. In early January 2022, Olga, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her children, flew to Boston. It would only be a matter of presenting evidence Ricardos birth certificate, videos of him on her phone, DNA if necessary before she could take him home, she thought. Five Black Democrats in the House of Representatives have endorsed Angela Alsobrooks in the partys Senate primary in Maryland after her main opponent, Representative David Trone, used a racial slur in a House hearing. The five representatives, all members of the Congressional Black Caucus, did not mention Mr. Trones use of the slur in their endorsements of Ms. Alsobrooks. But their support for Ms. Alsobrooks, first reported by Axios, over one of their House colleagues is notable, particularly given that the Democrats House leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar have endorsed Mr. Trone. Mr. Trone, a third-term representative from western Maryland, apologized on Friday after saying, in a House Budget Committee hearing, This Republican jigaboo that its the tax rate thats stopping business investment, its just completely faulty by people who have never run a business. He said in his apology that he had meant to say bugaboo, and added: As an elected official, I have a responsibility for the words I use. Regardless of what I meant to say, I shouldnt have used that language. Five years ago this month, an American-backed Kurdish and Arab militia ousted Islamic State fighters from a village in eastern Syria, the groups last sliver of territory. Since then, the organization that once staked out a self-proclaimed caliphate across Iraq and Syria has metastasized into a more traditional terrorist group a clandestine network of cells from West Africa to Southeast Asia engaged in guerrilla attacks, bombings and targeted assassinations. None of the groups affiliates have been as relentless as the Islamic State in Khorasan, which is active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and has set its sights on attacking Europe and beyond. U.S. officials say the group carried out the attack near Moscow on Friday, killing scores of people and wounding many others. In January, Islamic State Khorasan, or ISIS-K, carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed scores and wounded hundreds of others at a memorial service for Irans former top general, Qassim Suleimani, who was targeted in a U.S. drone strike four years earlier. With the concession of his main rival, a young political outsider backed by a powerful opposition figure has won a surprise outright victory in Senegals presidential election only 10 days after being released from jail. Bassirou Diomaye Faye is the anointed candidate of Senegals popular and controversial opposition politician Ousmane Sonko. Mr. Fayes main rival, the governing party candidate Amadou Ba, conceded in a statement congratulating his rival on Monday for winning in the first round. Mr. Faye, who celebrated his 44th birthday on Monday, will become the West African countrys youngest ever president, and the youngest elected president currently serving in Africa. (There are younger leaders, but they came to power by force.) He had been jailed on charges of defamation and contempt of court, and was awaiting trial. I wish him a lot of success, for the well-being of the Senegalese people, Mr. Ba said in a statement released Monday afternoon that addressed Mr. Faye as president. Dr. Longo, who is also a professor of gerontology and director of the U.S.C. Longevity Institute in California, has long advocated longer and better living through eating Lite Italian, one of a global explosion of Road to Perpetual Wellville theories about how to stay young in a field that is itself still in its adolescence. In addition to identifying genes that regulate aging, he has created a plant- and nut-based diet with supplements and kale crackers that mimics fasting to, he argues, allow cells to shed harmful baggage and rejuvenate, without the down side of actually starving. He has patented and sold his ProLon diet kits; published best-selling books (The Longevity Diet); and been called an influential Fasting Evangelist by Time magazine. When four men were detained by the Russian authorities in connection with the massacre at a concert hall outside Moscow last week, they were dressed in the same attire as the assailants seen in videos of the attack, according to a New York Times analysis of footage from the hall, social media profiles and images leaked or released by Russia. The identical clothing and other corresponding details suggest they carried out the attack. A video of one of the suspects being detained, for instance, shows him wearing a light brown T-shirt with a distinctive logo on the left breast and pants with a Boss label: Those details match the clothes worn by a gunman in propaganda footage of the attack released by the Islamic State, a.k.a. ISIS. In addition, the Times analysis shows, the car that the suspects were driving when they were apprehended is the same color and type as one seen in footage from outside the concert hall during the attack. President Vladimir V. Putin on Monday acknowledged for the first time that the bloody assault on a concert hall near Moscow was executed by radical Islamists, but he insisted that Ukraine could still have played a role despite the Islamic States claim of responsibility. As Russians grieved, bringing flowers and candles to makeshift memorials across the country, Mr. Putin said that the tragedy was likely ordered by Ukraine, a statement that shifted attention from his governments security failure and could also help his war effort. The question is: Who benefited from it? Mr. Putin said, referring to the worst attack in the capital in two decades, during a publicly broadcast meeting with government officials. This atrocity can be just an element in a series of attempts of those who have been at war with our country since 2014, he said, referring to the Ukrainian government. The British government on Monday accused China of cyberattacks that compromised the voting records of tens of millions of people, a sharp rebuke that underlined the hardening of Britains stance toward China since its leaders heralded a golden era in British-Chinese relations nearly a decade ago. The deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden announced sanctions against two individuals and one company linked to a state-affiliated group implicated in the attacks, which he said targeted both an elections watchdog and lawmakers. The Foreign Office summoned Chinas ambassador to Britain for a formal diplomatic dressing down. This is the latest in a clear pattern of hostile activity originating in China, Mr. Dowden said in Parliament. Part of our defense is calling out this behavior. The government disclosed the attack on the Electoral Commission, which oversees elections in the United Kingdom, last year but did not identify those behind it. It is believed to have begun in 2021 and lasted several months, with the personal details of 40 million voters being hacked. For the increasingly tense U.S.-Israel relationship, the fallout from passage of the U.N. cease-fire resolution was immediate, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he would not send a planned high-level delegation to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials. President Biden had requested the meetings to discuss alternatives to a planned Israeli offensive into Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than a million people have sought refuge, an offensive that American officials have said would create an humanitarian disaster. The United States had vetoed three previous U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for an end to the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, agreeing with Israels argument that it would leave Hamas intact and in control of the enclave after it carried out the Oct. 7 assault on Israel. But on Monday, when the Security Council took up a less strongly worded resolution, calling for a cease-fire for the holy month of Ramadan, the U.S. representative abstained, allowing the measure to pass. Mr. Netanyahu, in a statement, denounced the abstention as a retreat from the consistent American position since the beginning of the war, one which gives Hamas hope that international pressure will enable them to achieve a cease-fire without freeing the hostages. In response, he said, the Israeli delegation that was to discuss Rafah would not go to Washington. The practical impact of his decision may be limited Mr. Netanyahu has said repeatedly that although he would hear out the White House position, the offensive would proceed but it is still a sharp, public rebuke of Israels closest and most powerful ally. Just a few hours before sunset in mid-March, World Central Kitchen workers scrambled to put the final touches on a makeshift jetty built out of rubble, as the ship carrying the first aid to reach the Gaza Strip by sea in nearly two decades backed toward the shore. The crew from World Central Kitchen, the disaster relief nonprofit, still had to cover the jettys sharp edges and poking rebar, reminders that the rubble used to build the structure in northern Gaza had come from bombed buildings. Using square pieces of debris, they created a vertical concrete wall to meet the ship. Running any sort of construction project in Gaza at this current time has got a ridiculous amount of challenges, said Sam Bloch, the director of emergency response for World Central Kitchen, which was founded by the renowned Spanish chef Jose Andres. Mr. Bloch, who oversaw the building of the jetty and the arrival of the shipment, described the scene by phone from Oakland, Calif., after leaving Gaza. The arrival of the ship, which had sailed from Cyprus after the aid was inspected there, was a milestone in a venture that Western officials hope will play a part in easing the enclaves food deprivation. The operation has been described as a pilot project for the broader opening of a maritime corridor to supply the territory. The First Flight of Their Lives: An Airlift After Agony in Gaza Nariman El-Mofty and Each of the children survived horrors. Each lost relatives in the strikes that injured them. All have struggled with the emotions of what they went through and what they face ahead. The evacuees make up only a tiny fraction of the thousands of civilians, including many children, who have suffered grievous injuries over the course of Israels monthslong campaign against Hamas and its bombardment of Gaza. Health officials in the territory say that more than 31,000 Gazans have been killed since the war began on Oct. 7, in response to the attack that Hamas led against Israel. Experts say that children are particularly vulnerable to burns and serious injuries from high-intensity attacks, especially in a crowded, urban environment like Gaza. The explosion that injured Shaymaa, 5, in the southern Gazan village of Al Mawasi in January, killed her grandmother, badly injured her grandfather and mangled the girls foot, according to Lina Gamal, Shaymaas aunt. Shaymaa was rushed to Nasser Hospital, where doctors quickly decided to amputate. They no longer had anesthesia, alcohol or other means to clean the wound, forcing the doctors to rinse it with murky water. They performed a rapid surgery and hurried to help other wounded people crowding the halls, Ms. Gamal said. LONDON The Moscow Radio quoted the Soviet Army newspaper Red Star today as blaming the Labour government for high taxes in Britain. It is a known fact that 75 percent of indirect taxes are paid by the working class of Britain, the paper was quoted, and since the Labour party came to power, indirect taxes have increased by millions. Red Star was commenting on British defense estimates. It said that Britain had spent 60,000,000 ($240,000,000) to back the Greek government and is putting out 31,500 ($126,000) a day in Malaya. It declared British foreign policy leads to increasing exploitation of the working people for the sake of the selfish interests of home and trans-Atlantic monopolists, and to a higher cost of living. The New York Herald, European Edition, Mar. 22, 1949 Maps of the April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse On April 8, the moon will slip between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow across a swath of North America: a total solar eclipse. By cosmic coincidence, the moon and the sun appear roughly the same size in the sky. When the moon blocks the glare of the sun, the suns outer atmosphere, or corona, will be briefly visible. Below are several maps of the eclipses path as well as images of what you might experience during the event. Where Can I See the Total Eclipse? The eclipse will begin at sunrise over the Pacific Ocean, then cut through Mexico and cross the United States from Texas to Maine. Most of North America will see a partial eclipse, but viewers within the deepest shadow a band sliding from Mazatlan, Mexico, to the Newfoundland coast near Gander, Canada will experience a total solar eclipse. 10% Percentage of the sun obscured during the eclipse 30% 50% 70% 100% Gander CANADA 70% 50% Montreal Buffalo 30% UNITED STATES Cleveland 10% Atlantic Ocean Indianapolis Dallas Little Rock Austin San Antonio Pacific Ocean Mazatlan MEXICO Percentage of the sun obscured during the eclipse 10% 30% 50% 70% 100% Gander CANADA 70% 50% Montreal 30% Buffalo UNITED STATES Cleveland 10% Indianapolis Atlantic Ocean Dallas Little Rock San Antonio Pacific Ocean Mazatlan MEXICO Gander CANADA Montreal Buffalo UNITED STATES Cleveland Indianapolis Atlantic Ocean Dallas Little Rock San Antonio Pacific Ocean Mazatlan MEXICO Viewers inside the path of the total eclipse may notice a drop in temperature, a lull or shift in the wind, the appearance of bright planets in the sky, and the quieting of birds and other wildlife. Many cities lie inside the path of the total eclipse, as shown below, the width of which varies from 108 miles to 122 miles. Gander BRITISH COLUMBIA 20% partial eclipse NEWFOUNDLAND ALBERTA SASKATCHEWAN MANITOBA QUEBEC ONTARIO NEW BRUNSWICK P.E.I. 30% WASH. Fredericton Halifax 40% Portland NOVA SCOTIA Montreal MAINE N.D. MONT. Ottawa MINN. VT. 50% ORE. N.H. IDAHO Toronto Minneapolis Rochester MICH. MASS. Syracuse S.D. 60% WIS. N.Y. CONN. Buffalo WYO. Detroit 70% Cleveland New York Toledo IOWA CALIF. PA. Chicago OHIO IND. N.J. ILL. NEB. 80% NEV. Columbus San Francisco 90% partial eclipse D.C. Indianapolis Denver UTAH MD. Cincinnati COLO. W.VA. St. Louis VA. KAN. MO. KY. Atlantic Ocean N.C. Los Angeles TENN. ARIZ. Little Rock OKLA. 90% N.M. S.C. Phoenix Atlanta ARK. 80% GA. ALA. TEX. Dallas MISS. LA. 70% Austin 60% Houston San Antonio FLA. 50% Miami Gulf of Mexico Torreon BAHAMAS Durango CUBA Mazatlan DOM. REP. HAITI MEXICO Mexico City JAMAICA BELIZE GUATEMALA HONDURAS EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA VENEZUELA Pacific Ocean PANAMA COSTA RICA COLOMBIA 20% partial eclipse BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA SASKATCHEWAN MANITOBA ONTARIO 30% QUEBEC NEW BRUNSWICK WASH. 40% Portland MAINE Montreal N.D. MONT. Ottawa MINN. VT. 50% ORE. N.H. IDAHO Toronto Minneapolis Rochester MICH. MASS. Syracuse S.D. 60% WIS. N.Y. CONN. Buffalo WYO. Detroit 70% Cleveland New York Toledo CALIF. PA. Chicago IOWA OHIO IND. N.J. ILL. NEB. 80% NEV. Columbus San Francisco 90% partial eclipse D.C. Indianapolis Denver UTAH MD. Cincinnati COLO. St. Louis W.VA. VA. KAN. MO. KY. Atlantic Ocean N.C. Los Angeles TENN. ARIZ. Little Rock OKLA. 90% N.M. S.C. Phoenix Atlanta ARK. 80% GA. ALA. TEX. Dallas MISS. LA. 70% Austin 60% Houston San Antonio FLA. 50% Miami Gulf of Mexico Torreon Durango CUBA Mazatlan MEXICO Mexico City JAMAICA BELIZE GUATEMALA HONDURAS EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA Pacific Ocean PANAMA COSTA RICA 20% partial eclipse BRITISH COLUMBIA ALBERTA SASKATCHEWAN MANITOBA ONTARIO 30% QUEBEC WASH. 40% Portland Montreal MAINE N.D. MONT. Ottawa MINN. VT. 50% ORE. N.H. IDAHO Minneapolis Rochester MICH. MASS. 60% S.D. N.Y. WIS. CONN. Buffalo WYO. Detroit 70% Cleveland New York Toledo IOWA CALIF. Chicago PA. OHIO IND. N.J. ILL. 80% NEB. 90% partial eclipse NEV. Columbus San Francisco D.C. Indianapolis Denver UTAH MD. Cincinnati COLO. St. Louis W.VA. VA. KAN. MO. KY. Atlantic Ocean N.C. Los Angeles TENN. ARIZ. Little Rock OKLA. 90% N.M. S.C. Phoenix Atlanta ARK. 80% GA. MISS. ALA. TEX. Dallas 70% LA. 60% Austin Houston San Antonio FLA. 50% Miami Gulf of Mexico Torreon Durango CUBA Mazatlan MEXICO Mexico City JAMAICA BELIZE GUATEMALA HONDURAS EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA Pacific Ocean PANAMA COSTA RICA Pacific Ocean N Mazatlan MEXICO Durango Mexico City Torreon Phoenix Monclova ARIZ. N.M. San Antonio TEX. Gulf of Mexico Austin COLO. Houston Dallas Denver 70% 90% partial eclipse OKLA. LA. 80% ARK. KAN. MISS. NEB. 90% partial eclipse Little Rock ALA. MO. S.D. 80% Paducah 70% St. Louis IOWA 60% TENN. FLA. Evansville Atlanta ILL. MINN. GA. Indianapolis KY. Chicago S.C. WIS. IND. Dayton Columbus Toledo MICH. W.VA. OHIO N.C. Detroit VA. Cleveland Buffalo MD. PA. Toronto Rochester ONTARIO N.J. Syracuse New York N.Y. CONN. Montreal R.I. VT. MASS. N.H. Sherbrooke Atlantic Ocean MAINE QUEBEC Fredericton NEW BRUNSWICK P.E.I. NOVA SCOTIA N NEWFOUNDLAND Gander Pacific Ocean N Mazatlan MEXICO Durango Mexico City Torreon Monclova N.M. San Antonio TEX. Gulf of Mexico Austin Houston Dallas 90% partial eclipse OKLA. LA. 80% ARK. KAN. MISS. 90% partial eclipse Little Rock ALA. MO. 80% Paducah 70% St. Louis IOWA TENN. Evansville Atlanta ILL. GA. Indianapolis KY. Chicago S.C. WIS. IND. Dayton Columbus Toledo MICH. W.VA. OHIO N.C. Detroit VA. Cleveland Buffalo MD. PA. Toronto Rochester ONTARIO N.J. Syracuse New York N.Y. CONN. Montreal R.I. VT. MASS. N.H. Sherbrooke Atlantic Ocean MAINE QUEBEC Fredericton NEW BRUNSWICK P.E.I. NOVA SCOTIA N NEWFOUNDLAND Gander Pacific Ocean N Mazatlan MEXICO Durango Torreon Monclova San Antonio TEX. Gulf of Mexico Austin Houston Dallas 90% partial eclipse OKLA. LA. ARK. KAN. MISS. 90% partial eclipse Little Rock ALA. MO. 80% Paducah St. Louis TENN. Evansville Atlanta ILL. GA. Indianapolis KY. Chicago S.C. IND. Dayton Columbus Toledo MICH. W.VA. OHIO N.C. Detroit VA. Cleveland Buffalo MD. PA. Toronto Rochester ONTARIO N.J. Syracuse New York N.Y. CONN. Montreal R.I. VT. MASS. N.H. Sherbrooke Atlantic Ocean MAINE QUEBEC Fredericton NEW BRUNSWICK P.E.I. NOVA SCOTIA N NEWFOUNDLAND Gander Explore our interactive cloud outlook for eclipse viewing times and average cloud data at your location. What Will I See? A composite image of the 2017 solar eclipse over Madras, Ore. Aubrey Gemignani/NASA If the sky is clear, viewers in the path of the total eclipse should see a diamond ring effect a few seconds before and after the total eclipse, as the edge of the sun slips in and out of view. The diamond ring effect during the 2017 solar eclipse. Rami Daud/NASA, Alcyon Technical Services The suns outer atmosphere, or corona, is normally hidden by the suns glare. These tendrils and sheets of gas, heated to a million degrees Fahrenheit or more, are in constant motion and shaped by the suns swirling magnetic field. The suns corona during the 2017 solar eclipse. Aubrey Gemignani/NASA The sun is relatively active this year and is nearing the expected peak of its 11-year solar cycle. Researchers at Predictive Science are using data about the suns magnetic field to predict and model a dramatic corona for the April eclipse. A prediction of how the suns corona might appear during the April 8 total eclipse. Predictive Science What Colors Should I Wear? As the sky darkens, light-sensitive cells in human eyes become more sensitive to blue and green hues than to reds and oranges. This shift in color perception is known as the Purkinje effect, after a 19th-century Czech scientist, and is typically seen at twilight. Watching the 2017 total eclipse at Southern Illinois University. Andrea Morales for The New York Times To take advantage of the Purkinje effect, wear green clothes or a contrasting combination of greens and reds. Blue-green colors (shorter wavelengths) will appear brighter, while red colors (longer wavelengths) will appear to recede into the darkness. What If I Miss It? The next two total solar eclipses in the United States wont occur until 2044 and 2045. But eclipse chasers might catch one in 2026 in Greenland, Iceland and Spain; 2027 along the coast of Northern Africa; 2028 in Australia and New Zealand; or 2030 across Southern Africa and Australia. A Tennessee man has been diagnosed with prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO, an extremely rare neurological disorder that makes other peoples faces appear severely distorted. Imagine waking up one day and looking at the faces of your loved one only to discover that their ears, noses, and mouths are stretched back and deep grooves have appeared on their foreheads, cheeks, and chins. Then you go outside and see that everyone has this goblin-like look on their faces and you start to freak out. It sounds like a nightmare, but its one that 59-year-old Victor Sharrah has been experiencing since one November morning in 2020. He was only recently diagnosed with prosopometamorphopsia, or PMO, an extremely rare disorder that causes faces to appear distorted in shape, size and color. Photo: Marvin Zi/Unsplash The middle-aged truck driver had always had sharp eyesight, so he knew something was wrong on that fateful day in 2020 when he noticed a disfigured-looking man in his apartment. It turned out to be his roommate, but as he went outside, Sharrah realized everyone he looked at had this stretched, almost demonic look on their faces. My first thought was I woke up in a demon world, Sharrah recalled about the day he started seeing demonic faces everywhere. You cant imagine how scary it was. I was really freaking out at that point. I was going to go have myself committed. A patient with an unusual variation of the condition helped researchers visualize the demonic distortions he sees when looking at human faces. https://t.co/PSLEFnZOY5 Science News (@ScienceNews) March 25, 2024 PMO is an ultra-rare disorder only 75 cases have been recorded so doctors dont really know much about it. They know that it is frequently misdiagnosed as a psychiatric condition, but unlike schizophrenia, the facial distortion is not accompanied by delusional beliefs about the identities of the people the patient encounters. Victor Sharrah says he always recognizes the people he interacts with, despite their distorted faces, and he has learned to live with his rare condition. In order to learn more about prosopometamorphopsia, scientists at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire worked with Sharrah to recreate the facial distortions he perceives, effectively allowing everyone to see the world through his eyes. They were able to do this because Victor only sees peoples faces distorted when he meets them in person, but not in photos or on TV. So the scientists showed him photos of various people while they were also there in real-time, so he could point out the differences to them. PMO symptoms can last for days, weeks, even years, and unfortunately, in Victors case, he has been living with them for almost four years now. He still hopes that they will go away on their own in time, but he has also learned to live with them. No one knows what causes PMO, but researchers believe that in Sharrahs case, the visual distortions may be caused by a serious head injury he sustained when he was 43, or by the carbon monoxide poisoning he suffered four months before he started seeing demonic faces around him. Tod Donhauser Tod Donhauser, a nine-year veteran of Edelman, has joined H/Advisors Abernathy as managing director and head of its San Francisco office. He served as Edelmans head of client strategy & deputy general manager for the Bay Area after stints as CEO of the Middle East region, and managing director of South Africa. Donhauser exited Edelman for the global marketing director for trust at Google Search, and then ran his own firm for five years. He has worked with clients in the technology, healthcare, consumer and financial services sectors. Tom Johnson, H/Advisors Abernathy CEO, said Donhausers track record counseling clients on complex reputation matters and devising communications strategies to navigate a highly dynamic regulatory environment will be an asset to our firm and to our clients on the West Coast and beyond. H/Advisors Abernathy also named managing director Sheila Ennis to the newly created head of investor relations position. She joined the firm in 2016 from ICR Inc., where she was senior VP. H/Advisors Abernathy is part of Frances Havas. The Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which is composed of 16 two-year colleges with 70+ campuses and more than 80K students, wants to enroll a PR firm to enhance its reputation via a strategic communications campaign. Ukrainians now living in the Tullamore area having fled their own country following the Russian invasion two years ago hosted a Solidarity Banquet recently to thank the people of Offaly for welcoming them into the community. Ukrainian families were joined by people from across the community in Tullamore and Offaly in the Charleville Centre for what proved to be an emotional and moving ceremony. Among those in attendance was the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko and members of Sonyashnyk Offaly, a support and assistance HUB for people people who were displaced from Ukraine. Members of the Sonyashnyk Offaly group spoke at the event as did representatives of Offaly County Council, Offaly Volunteer Centre, the Health Service Executive and the Tullamore Community Training Centre. Two moving films one chronicling the story of Ukrainians fleeing the war who settled in Ireland and the other charting the destruction of the beautiful city of Mariupol were shown to a captivated audience. Local Rector, Can Isaac Delamere, noted the event was taking place on the eve of St Patrick's Day, one of so many symbols of Irishness. Canon Delamere stressed that Patrick came to Ireland as a stranger, bringing the gift of faith, and he said this was a timely reminder to us all to welcome the stranger. He said he hoped the Irish people would never lose their sense of welcoming and would always remain hospitable. Ukrainian Ambassador Laryso Gerasko said the Ukrainian people were still defending their country and fighting for democracy two years after the Russian invasion of 2022. We have paid a huge price in human life, she outlined and added that the Russians continue to bombard us every single day. People have fled the country in order to save their lives and the lives of the children, outlined Ms Gerasko who stressed the young generation were the future of her country. She continued; I want to thank the people of Tullamore for helping us and for opening your homes and hearts to us. The ambassador said Ireland had not only helped Ukrainians who had fled here but was also providing support to the country in its ongoing struggle. Thank you for supplying machines that help locate mines as over 25 per cent of our country an area twice the size of Ireland is mined. She said that Irish people had a big heart: Irish people and Ukrainian people have something common in our DNA . . maybe that's why we get on so well together. She said both nations had fought for their independence and both had suffered terrible famines in their past. She extended thanks to the Charleville Centre for hosting the event and to Charleville NS where so many Ukrainian children were now enrolled as pupils. Ms Gerasko also thanked representatives of public bodies in attendance, Deirdre Fox, Manager of the Offaly Volunteer Centre, and the local politicians present Cllr Delan Harvey, Cllr Sean O'Brien and Cllr Mark Hackett. Cllr Harvey, who is Cathaoirleach of Tullamore Municipal District, extended a welcome to all in attendance in the Ukrainian language which was greeted with applause by the large number of Ukrainians present. In a breif address he wished all a happy St Patrick's Day and said the Ukrainian people were very welcome to Tullamore and to Offaly. Canon Isaac Delamere said Charleville NS the smallest school in Tullamore was very proud to host the largest number of Ukrainian pupils. He said the school had been enriched by the presence of the pupils and said it had been lovely to see at first hand the joy of those children when they attended a lego day held on the previous Friday at the Charleville Centre. Lynsey McCabe, Manager of Tullamore Community Training Centre, said the Ukrainians had brought so much to Tullamore and the centre since they first attended classes back in May 2022. Initially she admitted to being worried about how the language barrier would be overcome but this had proven to be no issue over the past two years. Young film maker, Vladyslav Biadil Bomrmrmnko, who spent months hiding in a basement after the Russians attacked his home city, Mariupol, before coming to Ireland, said the city had now been destroyed and lay in ruins with the loss of much life. His film, showing the beauty of the city before the invasion and its current ruined state, was shown to stunned silence in the packed audience. After the formalities the attendance enjoyed a delicious spread of Ukrainian meats, sweets, confectionery and other delicacies. As the attendance enjoyed the refreshments they admired the drawings painted by Ukrainiain children, displayed on the walls of the Charleville Centre, which were adorned with slogans such as I love Ireland, Ireland Helps and Ireland My Family is my Life Ukraine. A man appeared before Portlaoise District Court accused of rape, assault and coercive control. The man, who is 40, is accused of assaulting a woman causing harm on a date between January 1 and April 30, 2010, and between April 1 and April 30, 2010 and between July 1 and July 31, 2010. He is accused of assault causing harm to the woman on May 23, 2010. He is charged with assault causing harm between February 14 and 28, 2011 and between June 1 and June 30, 2013. He is further accused of assault on June 12, 2016 and on October 24, 2020. He is also charged with criminal damage between February 14 and June 30, 2011. He is charged with rape on April 30, 2016 and on a date between February 1 and March 31, 2015 and on a date between July 1 and December 31, 2016. He is also charged with coercive control between January 1 and January 30, 2019. The offences are alleged to have occurred in Laois. A detective said the defendant made no reply when the 12 charges were put to him. The DPP has directed to prosecute on indictment to the Central Criminal Court, she said. There was no objection to bail subject to a number of conditions which included that the defendant reside at a specified address, have no contact directly or indirectly with the alleged injured party, provide a mobile number where he can be contacted, be of good behaviour, sign on once a week at a garda station and surrender his passport. Judge Nicola Andrews remanded the defendant on bail subject to the conditions to appear again at Portlaoise District Court for service of the book of evidence on April 22. There is bad news on the weather front for Irish holidaymakers heading to Spain or Portugal for their Easter holidays. Most schools are off next week as we lead in to the Easter Bank Holiday and many families take the opportunity to escape the Irish weather for a bit of sun abroad. That may not work out for some heading to Spain or Portugal, according to weather expert Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather. He posted a rather wet-looking weather model for both countries with the ominous caption: "Heading to Spain or Portugal this week in search of some sun and a break from the rain? Im afraid it is looking as wet if not wetter for many parts of both." The models show some widespread rain in both countries while other Carlow Weather followers posted pictures from the continent. One man shared a very overcast picture from Portugal where he is attending the Moto GP event. He described it as "incredibly muggy and warm but since Friday a Calima sort of cloud as been around. Seen local news warning of a lot of rain this week. Thankfully I go home tonight." A nurse who altered prescriptions as she didn't think her doctor would give her any more of a certain drug because she was addicted to it, appeared at last week's district court. Barrister Suzanne Dooner said her client Deirdre Payne (54) of Riverdale, Clonmore Edenderry, was pleading guilty to the offences and had been fully cooperative. Ms Payne was charged with entering four pharmacies on different dates with duly issued prescriptions which had been altered with intent to deceive. The incidents took place at Ryan's Chemist on Main Street in Daingean, on November 22, 2022. Medical Hall, JKL Street, Edenderry on September 23, 2022. Tedders Chemist, JKL Street, Edenderry on September 8, 2022 and Quinn's Pharmacy, Granary Court, Edenderry on September 7, 2022. In her evidence, Sergeant Justine Reilly said two of the prescriptions were copied and the other two had been altered. Barrister Suzanne Dooner said her client was very ashamed and embarrassed and it was having a significant impact on her. She had an alcohol addiction and had attended the Rutland Centre. She also attended St John of God and is doing well. In addition she attends AA and completed a course in Cuan Mhuire in 2023. Deirdre Payne is currently suspended from her work and this will have a significant impact on her life going forward. Ms Dooner said she was supported by her husband who accompanied her in court. She said she had allowed her mental health condition to get the better of her. Ms Dooner asked if the court would consider a probation report. Judge Cody said there was a very high bar for a nurse working in a hospital with prescriptions. He said it was not the case at the moment that she was fully recovered. He adjourned the case for 12 weeks to June 26, 2024 for a probation and welfare report. ''I won't make any promises''. He said, when a nurse forges a prescription it is not conducive to doing so. An application for legal aid was granted by Judge Cody. Male: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu must stop being "stubborn" and seek dialogue with neighbours to overcome the financial challenges, his predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said. Solih made these remarks days after Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, urged India to provide debt relief to the archipelago nation. Muizzu, 45, defeated Solih, 62, in the presidential election held in September last year. Speaking at an event in Male' to rally support for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary candidates contesting four constituencies in Maafannu, Solih said he had seen media reports that suggest Muizzu wants to talk to India for debt restructuring. But the financial challenges are not caused by Indian loans, Solih was quoted as saying by Adhadhu.com news portal. Maldives has a debt of MVR 18 billion owed to China compared to MVR 8 billion owed to India, Solih said, adding that the repayment period is 25 years. "However, I am confident that our neighbours will help. We must stop being stubborn and seek dialogue. There are many parties that can help us. But he (Muizzu) doesn't want to compromise. I feel they [the government] are starting to understand the situation only now," Solih said. The former president said the government was deceiving the public and relaunching projects initiated by the MDP government. He said ministers are now lying to cover up those lies. Muizzu criticised India during and after the presidential election campaign and relations between the two countries have deteriorated since he assumed office in November. He has demanded the complete withdrawal of 88 Indian military personnel manning three aviation platforms used for humanitarian and medical evacuations in the Maldives by May 10. The first batch of 26 Indian military personnel have already left the island nation and were replaced by civilians. In his first media interview, Muizzu claimed that he has not taken any action or made any statements that may strain the relationship between the two countries. India will continue to remain the Maldives' closest ally, he said and emphasised that there was no question about it, Maldives news portal Edition.mv said in a report on Thursday. Muizzu's conciliatory comments towards India came ahead of Parliament elections in Maldives slated to be held on April 21. He is yet to visit India although it has been four months since the new government took over. The first overseas trip by Maldivian presidents had always been to India, the report noted. However, Muizzu visited China in January, making his first state visit. So a port is now open to bring aid to the Gaza Palestinians. It should be an event for rejoicing but no evidence of it from the locals. Perhaps they realize a port can off-load and on-load. Are the hapless Palestinians escorted by Israeli soldiers to be the ones off-loaded in the near future? Some have already been trying the Egyptian border but the cost is exorbitant. It is only natural to try to escape the Gaza hell and that is exactly what Israel has desired all along -- a vacated Gaza ready to be filled by some of its intrepid settlers, whose behavior often makes them indistinguishable from soldiers. Was this the smiling Netanyahu's plan all along? Has he not been blocking aid convoys and hindering UNRWA staff in their efforts to help? If it happens, Biden will have been party to ethnic cleansing. Watch out, Mr. Biden, it will be quite a legacy for an American president. As Edmund Burke is thought to have said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Good men, it seems, have their own problems at least in the U.S. where the Happiness Index shows the country sliding down the scale below the top 20, down to 23 for the first time. Grouped by age, the over 60s are among the top 20, it is the young, in their twenties, who are the most dissatisfied. Do they represent the future of happiness in their country? That would be a sad commentary on our leaders if they are so patently unable to develop an amenable and purposeful environment for the young. Life without purpose contributes to malaise, sapping a society's strength and dynamism. Not to use hyperbole but was that what led to Adolf Hitler in Germany between the wars? When will the US take on a leadership role in the world again? Not of course by telling people what to do but by example. For example, it could take the lead in reducing post-industrial temperature rise. As one of the largest industrial economies (the largest by certain measures) it could play a substantial role in tackling climate change. We have heard much talk about it by the president but not much in the way of concrete steps. Limiting the use of coal, eating less beef as cows in chewing the cud emit vast amounts of methane which is more potent than carbon dioxide. Do we have to eat that much beef? Where are the public campaigns to educate people both with regards to their own health and the health of the planet. The window for action is closing. If nothing serious is done, one can expect a cascading effect in a decade and a half. A new report disclosed that the Greenland ice sheet has lost a fifth more mass than previously estimated causing a 0.531-inch increase in global mean sea levels between 1992 and 2020. The figure might not appear to be much but it sure makes a difference to coastal residents who suffer more high tide flood days, particularly the "king tide" days when the moon is at its perigee, i.e. closest to earth -- usually a new or full moon. Individual behavior helps. Walking instead of the car for short trips gives exercise and cuts pollution. Cutting down on beef and replacing it with healthier fish or chicken; even pork is better for the environment. And why not a vegetarian day once a week. It is just a matter of habit, folks. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. A Slow-Motion World War III? Imperial Decline (Up Close and Personal) in the Age of Climate Change By Tom Engelhardt I've been describing this world of ours, such as it is, for almost 23 years at TomDispatch. I've written my way through three-and-a-half presidencies -- god save us, it could be four in November! I've viewed from a grave (and I mean that word!) distance America's endlessly disastrous wars of this century. I've watched the latest military budget hit almost $900 billion, undoubtedly on its way toward a cool trillion in the years to come, while years ago the whole "national security" budget (though "insecurity" would be a better word) soared to well over the trillion-dollar mark. I've lived my whole life in an imperial power. Once, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was even "the lone superpower," the last great power on planet Earth, or so its leaders believed. I then watched how, in a world without great-power dangers, it continued to invest ever more of our tax dollars in our military. A "peace dividend"? Who needed that? And yet, in the decades that followed, by far the most expensive military on planet Earth couldn't manage to win a single war, no less its Global War on Terror. In fact, in this century, while fighting vain or losing conflicts across significant parts of the planet, it slowly but all too obviously began to go down the tubes, or perhaps I mean (if you don't mind a few mixed metaphors) come apart at the seams? And it never seems to end, does it? Imagine that 32 years after the U.S. became the last superpower on Planet Earth, in a devastating kind of political chaos, this country might indeed reelect a man who imagines himself running a future American "dictatorship" -- his very word for it! -- even if, publicly at least, just for a single day. And yes, in 2024, as chaos blooms on the American political scene, the world itself continues to be remarkably at war -- think of "war," in fact, as humanity's middle name -- in both Ukraine and Gaza (with offshoots in Lebanon and Yemen). Meanwhile, this country's now 22-year-old war on terror straggles on in its own devastating fashion, with threats of worse to come in plain sight. After all, 88 years after two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, nukes seem to be making a comeback (not that they were ever truly gone, of course). Thank you, Kim and Vlad! I'm thinking of how North Korean leader Kim Jong-un implicitly threatened to nuke his nonnuclear southern neighbor recently. But also, far more significantly how, in his own version of a State of the Union address to his people, Russian President Vladimir Putin very publicly threatened to employ nukes from his country's vast arsenal (assumedly "tactical" ones, some of which are more powerful than the atomic bombs that ended World War II), should any European countries -- think France -- send their troops into Ukraine. And don't forget that, amid all of this, my own country's military, eternally hiking its "defense" budget, continues to prepare in a big-time fashion for a future war with -- yes -- China! Of course, that country is, in turn, rushing to upgrade its own nuclear arsenal and the rest of its military machine as well. Only recently, for instance, the U.S. and Japan held joint military maneuvers that, as they openly indicated for the first time, were aimed at preparing for just such a future conflict with China and you can't get much more obvious than that. Another World War? Oh, and when it comes to war, I haven't even mentioned, for instance, the devastating civil war in Sudan that has nothing to do with any of the major powers. Yes, we humans just can't seem to stop making war while, to the tune of untold trillions of dollars globally, preparing for ever more of it. And the truly strange thing is this: it seems to matter not at all that the very world on which humanity has done so forever and a day is now itself being unsettled in a devastating way that no military of any sort, armed in any fashion, will ever be able to deal with. Let's admit it: we humans have always had a deep urge to make war. Of course, logically speaking, we shouldn't continue to do so, and not just for all the obvious reasons but because we're on a planet that can't take it anymore. (Yes, making war or simply preparing for it means putting staggering amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and so, quite literally, making war on the planet itself.) But -- as both history and the present moment seem to indicate all too decisively -- we just can't stop ourselves. In the process, while hardly noticing, it seems as if we've become ever more intent on conducting a global war on this planet itself. Our weapons in that war -- and in their own long-term fashion, they're likely to prove no less devastating than nuclear arms -- have been fossil fuels. I'm thinking, of course, of coal, oil, and natural gas and the greenhouse gases that drilling for them and the use of them emit in staggering quantities even in what passes for peacetime. In the previous century, of course, there were two devastating "world" wars, World War I and World War II. They were global events that, in total, killed more than a hundred million of us and devastated parts of the planet. But here's the truly strange thing: while local and regional wars continue in this century in a striking fashion, few consider the way we're loading the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and methane while, in the process, heating this planet disastrously as a new kind of world war. Think of climate change, in fact, as a kind of slow-motion World War III. After all, it couldn't be more global or, in the end, more destructive than a world war of the worst sort. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). SSLInsights.com (https://sslinsights.com/), a leading online authority in digital security and encryption technologies, has officially announced the launch of an innovative SSL comparison tool. This state-of-the-art platform is designed to significantly simplify the process of selecting and purchasing SSL certificates from the world's most trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs). The tool is now live and accessible to users seeking robust security solutions for their websites at SSL Compare. In the digital age, where [Tampa, FL] - In a heartwarming tale of resilience and creativity, one woman's journey from the depths of despair to the heights of success is capturing hearts and minds across the internet. Meet Tru Trotter, an inspirational figure who has triumphed over domestic violence, depression, and unimaginable loss to emerge as a rising TikTok influencer and self-published author. "I never thought I could come this far after everything I've been through," noax Technologies impresses with its outstanding innovative strength and has just been awarded the TOP 100 seal 2024. The well-known, independent Top 100 innovation competition honors particularly innovative medium-sized companies every year. Science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar will personally congratulate noax on this success at the award ceremony on June 28 in Weimar as part of the German SME Summit. In a scientific selection process, the innovative strength of all participants in WASHINGTON The IRS on Monday warned that roughly 940,000 U.S. taxpayers are in danger of leaving more than $1 billion on the table unless they act quickly. The people are those the Internal Revenue Service believes are eligible for tax refunds from tax year 2020 who did not file a return in 2021 to claim their money. If youre eligible, you must file your return for that year by May 17 to claim a refund. Theres money remaining on the table for hundreds of thousands of people who havent filed 2020 tax returns, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. We want taxpayers to claim these refunds, but time is running out for people who may have overlooked or forgotten about these refunds. The median refund is $932 for 2020, the IRS said. The Top 10 for non-filers eligible for refunds among the states and the District of Columbia, according to the IRS, are Texas (93,400), California (88,200), Florida (53,200), New York (51,400), Pennsylvania (38,600), Georgia (36,400), Illinois (36,200), Michigan (34,900), Ohio (31,400) and North Carolina (27,500. Typically, the IRS allows filers up to three years to claim their refunds, with the deadline usually falling on April 15, the normal deadline for filing returns. Any remaining unclaimed money goes into the U.S. Treasury. The deadline for 2020 was extended because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. People faced extremely unusual situations during the pandemic, which may have led some people to forget about a potential refund on their 2020 tax returns, Werfel said. People may have just overlooked these, including students, part-time workers and others. Some people may not realize they may be owed a refund. We encourage people to review their files and start gathering records now, so they dont run the risk of missing the May deadline. Many people who havent filed could have much more to lose than just their refund on withheld taxes. Many low- and moderate-income workers may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit. For 2020, the EITC was worth as much as $6,660 for taxpayers with qualifying children. The amount of the credit varies based on household income and the number of children in the household. But the credit is refundable, so any left over after all tax obligations are met is pure refund. For people who need to file a return, the IRS advises taxpayers to request their W-2, 1098, 1099 or 5498 from their employer or bank or order a free wage and income transcript from the IRS using the Get Transcript Online tool. Taxpayers typically have three years to file and claim tax refunds, otherwise the money becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury. Werfel said some people may not realize they may be owed a refund. We encourage people to review their files and start gathering records now, so they dont run the risk of missing the May deadline. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has asked a judge to force Providence Health & Services to turn over documents in an investigation of the health systems charity care program. Filings from the state Department of Justice allege Providence enacted policies meant to minimize free medical care to low-income patients, sending some to collections when they couldnt pay. The department said its investigating the practice as a potential violation of the states Unlawful Trade Practices Act, a consumer protection law, as well as charity care laws that require the nonprofit health system to provide free care to low-income patients in exchange for its various tax exemptions. It has not yet filed a complaint in the case, which its pursuing as a civil matter, not a criminal one. The Justice Department attorneys say Providence has declined to search through and turn over some documents sought by investigators from 10 managers, each of them involved in billing or patients access to health care services. Investigators sought documents that match certain search parameters, including key words like bad debt and charity that appear near each other. Providence said it has cooperated fully in the investigation by producing 100,000 documents, responding to questions and making 10 witnesses available for lengthy interviews. The health system, though, argued the Justice Departments later document requests were overly broad. It said it estimated the departments requests cover another 200,000 documents, which it said would take its attorneys 3,500 hours to review at a cost of about $675,000. Providence said it has already spent $2.4 million responding to the DOJ investigation. In a statement, Providence said it simply asked the Justice Department to narrow its requests for records. We intend to defend our position in court and look forward to reaching a resolution that is satisfactory to all parties, Providence said in the statement. Providence earlier this year settled a lawsuit brought by Washington states attorney general over charity-care claims. The health system, which has its headquarters in Renton, Washington, agreed to refund $21 million paid by low-income patients in Washington who were eligible for charity care and erase $137 million in outstanding debt. Central to both cases is a Providence initiative to increase its cash collections that began in 2018. In its filings, the Oregon Justice Department disclosed documents obtained from Providence that it says suggest the program was designed to squeeze patients for payments, then send them to collections if they couldnt pay. An email and training materials, for example, outlined policies that encouraged employees to seek up-front payments even partial payments during meetings with patients in their hospital rooms and to bring up the possibility of financial assistance only as a last resort. It called the program RevUp. Providence has said the program was short-lived and primarily aimed at commercially insured patients with the ability to pay, but it also has acknowledged the program was not consistent with its values. Other documents, the Justice Department said, suggest Providence sent patients enrolled in Medicaid to collections in violation of state law. Providence had systems to identify patients eligible for charity care, according to Justice Department filings. But state attorneys say the health system delayed notifying those patients of their eligibility and took payments from them regardless, then made them apply for refunds, in some cases under a 30-day deadline. Oregons Justice Department began its probe in 2022, acknowledging its consumer protection unit was pursuing a civil investigation but saying little more at the time about the subject matter. It followed the Washington state investigation, as well as a New York Times investigation of the RevUp program that included examples of Oregonians who qualified for charity care but were charged anyway, then hounded by collections agencies. Providence operates in six western states. It has eight hospitals in Oregon and more than 200 clinics and other offices. -- Elliot Njus edits business news. Contact him at enjus@oregonian.com. -- Jeff Manning covers business news. Reach him at jmanning@oregonian.com. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today. Authorities say they believe the deaths of an 83-year-old man who was walking his dogs and a 72-year-old man who lived in a remote cabin are connected to the escape of an Idaho white supremacist prison gang member and an accomplice after a Boise hospital ambush. The escaped prisoner, Skylar Meade, and the accomplice, a recently released inmate named Nicholas Umphenour both members of the Aryan Knights gang were arrested in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Thursday afternoon. Their arrests came 36 hours after Umphenour shot and wounded two Idaho corrections officers while they were preparing to return Meade to prison from a hospital, police said. Investigators said that while on the run, Meade and Umphenour may have been responsible for the deaths of two men, one in Nez Perce County and the other in Clearwater County, both in northern Idaho, about seven hours away from where they were arrested. Coroners on Friday identified the victim in Nez Perce County as James L. Mauney, 83, of Juliaetta, who was reported missing on Wednesday when he left home in his silver Chrysler Pacifica minivan to take his two dogs a white Jack Russell terrier and a brown Chesapeake Bay retriever to a walking path. Hes my everything, said his wife, Liliia Mauney, her voice cracking. Idaho State Police returned the dogs to the family. One, Leo, really misses him, he cries and goes out looking in the yard, looking for him, Liliia Mauney said. The victim in Clearwater County was Gerald Don Henderson, 72, who was found dead outside his remote cabin near Orofino. I cant understand the senseless murder of this beautiful man, Hendersons partner, Ron Thompson, told The Associated Press on Friday. Such a senseless, senseless thing to do. Thompson said he and Henderson met Umphenour about a decade ago through another neighbor kid they had taken in. Umphenour, who was then in his late teens, was not getting along with his father, Thompson said, and he stayed at the cabin with Henderson and Thompson for about a month. Living with Umphenour was frightening, Thompson said, because he would always talk about shooting people. The couple eventually kicked him out. Thompson and Henderson met through a dating site in 2006 and had been life partners since, though Thompson moved out of the cabin in 2015 and resettled in Seattle because he grew tired of the isolated area. Henderson, who was 17 years older than Thompson, had difficulty sharing publicly that they were a couple in conservative Idaho, and the two never married. It was not unknown that we were a couple, but we just never talked about it, he said. They dreamed of moving back in together, he said. About a month ago, Umphenour fresh out of prison, where he served time on theft and gun convictions trudged through deep snow to spend an hour at the cabin with Henderson, drinking coffee and talking. Henderson felt uneasy about the visit and wasnt sure why Umphenour had come, Thompson said. On Wednesday, when Thompson learned that Umphenour had been linked to Meades escape from the hospital, he grew worried and called the sheriffs office to request that deputies check in on Henderson. Police found him dead outside his home, where they also found what may have been the escaped prisoners shackles, Clearwater County Coroner Dennis Fuller said Friday. Fuller described Thompson as a kindly old man who took in some neer-do-well guys and tried to help them. Mauneys stolen minivan was found at a home in Twin Falls on Thursday, and as police secured the area, Meade and Umphenour tried to flee in different vehicles but were arrested, Idaho State Police said. They made initial court appearances Friday, along with a woman who drove one of the two vehicles they were traveling in when they were arrested. Meade and Umphenour were being held on $2 million bond. The woman, identified as Tonia Huber, was charged with harboring a fugitive, eluding police and drug possession. Idaho Fifth Judicial District Judge Ben Harmer set her bail at $500,000 after a prosecutor said she had driven 100 mph (161 kmh) through neighborhoods as she tried to evade police. None of the three entered pleas. Meade, 31, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017 for shooting at a sheriffs sergeant during a high-speed chase. Umphenour was released from the same prison the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, south of Boise in January. The two had at times been housed together and had mutual friends in and out of prison, officials said. The attack on the corrections officers came just after 2 a.m. Wednesday in the ambulance bay of Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, as they were preparing to return Meade to the prison. He had been brought to the hospital earlier in the night because he injured himself, officials said. After the ambush, one officer shot by Umphenour was in critical but stable condition, police said, while the second wounded officer had serious but non-life-threatening injuries. A third corrections officer also sustained non-life-threatening injuries when a responding police officer mistakenly believing the shooter was still in the emergency room and seeing an armed person near the entrance opened fire. Correction Director Josh Tewalt said Thursday one guard had been released from the hospital, and the conditions of the other two are stable and improving. The department is reviewing its policies and practices in light of the escape, he said. The attack came amid a wave of gun violence at hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the rise of threats. Were channeling every resource we have to trying to understand exactly how they went about planning it, Tewalt said. Recently, Meade had been held in solitary confinement because officials deemed him a security risk. The Aryan Knights prison gang formed in the mid-1990s in Idaho. In court documents federal prosecutors described it as a scourge within the states prison system. The hate-fueled gang engages in many types of criminal activity and casts shadows of intimidation, addiction, and violence over prison life, prosecutors wrote. An 18-year-old Northern California man who survived a mountain lion attack that killed his older brother is expected to recover, authorities said Sunday. The 21-year-olds death on Saturday in a remote area northeast of Sacramento was the first fatal encounter with a cougar in the state in two decades. The younger man called the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office, reporting that he and his brother had been attacked while hunting for shed antlers near Georgetown, the office said in a statement Saturday. Deputies arrived around 1:30 p.m. to find the younger man with facial injuries. Minutes later, they saw a crouched mountain lion next to the older brother on the ground, according to the statement. The deputies fired their guns and scared off the big cat. The older brother died at the scene. The surviving brother has undergone multiple surgeries for his injuries and is expected to make a full recovery, the sheriffs office said Sunday. The family is grateful for the prayers and condolences from the community however wishes for privacy in order to process this tragic event. Californias Department of Fish and Wildlife said its wardens found the cougar and euthanized it. The mountain lion has been sent to the CDFW forensics laboratory to obtain DNA information and general health of the lion, the department said on X. Georgetown is a small, historic town about 50 miles northeast of the state capital. Mountain lions have attacked humans previously, but the last fatal encounter was in 2004 in Orange County, according to a verified list kept by the Fish and Wildlife Department. The Associated Press I was pleased to learn that the important work of creating an effective climate policy for our state is being pursued again, (Oregon relaunches effort to revive signature Climate Protection Program, March 11). No time can be wasted in adopting meaningful policy to reduce carbon emissions. I call on Gov. Tina Kotek to make climate action a top priority. Climate change affects our youths future, our economy, our health, our jobs and the environment in which we live, play and work. Thank you for reporting on this key program that aims to help mitigate the climate crisis. Oregons largest corporate employer has been one of the biggest boosters calling for an infusion of taxpayer dollars into U.S. manufacturing of computer chips. Last week, Intel got its wish: an $8.5 billion check from the federal government. Mike Rogoway, who covers the chip industry for The Oregonian/OregonLive, spoke with business editor Elliot Njus about what this award means for Intel in Oregon and around the world. He also discussed his reporting on the Oregon Employment Department, which launched long-awaited upgrade to its computer system that handles unemployment claims but the transition doesnt seem to have ended difficulties for Oregonians seeking jobless benefits. Read more: Subscribe to Beat Check anywhere you listen to podcasts to get new episodes each week. You can support local journalism by becoming a subscriber to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Explore more of our podcasts and sign up to get newsletters for the latest news and top stories. Sign up for The Meltdown, a weekly newsletter highlighting the latest apocalyptic dramas, debunking climate myths, and sharing sustainability hacks, all while arming you with information to hold polluters and the government accountable. Enter your email to subscribe. Over the last two years, Americans have witnessed a series of record-shattering and destructive climate and weather phenomena. From unprecedented and deadly heatwaves on land and sea to devastating wildfires, relentless droughts, and storms that brought deadly rain and flooding, communities have been tested. Last year, the U.S. experienced 28 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, a record in the 44 years such data has been collected. The ripple effects of these disasters and climate extremes that caused them go beyond scientific study, permeating every aspect of American life. Including politics. President Donald Trump took the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement within months of his inauguration. By contrast, President Joe Biden rejoined the agreement on his first day in office, signaling the dawn of an administration that many view as the most environmentally forward in history. Once a politically bipartisan issue, climate change and the environment have become polarizing, significant enough to sway election outcomes. We project that climate change opinion probably cost Republicans the 2020 presidential election, all else being equal, noted a 2024 University of Colorado study. It will play a role again. With tiny majorities in the GOP-controlled House and the Democrat-run Senate, many of the remaining primaries and the upcoming general election will see dozens of eco-friendly candidates attempt to tip the scales in Congress. Here are eight pro-environment incumbents and political newcomers to look out for in upcoming primaries and Novembers election. U.S. Senate: Arizona: Current U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) hopes to take the hotly challenged U.S. Senate seat that Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Krysten Sinema will vacate. The Democratic state primary takes place on July 30. Rep. Gallego has a 97% lifetime environmental voting record, according to the League of Conservation Voters, a Washington D.C.-based environmental advocacy group. The former U.S. Marine has made the environment one of his top priorities, promising to deal with the states bad pollution problem and work with Tribal governments to preserve natural resources. Florida: Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D) is challenging incumbent Sen. Rick Scott (R) for his U.S. Senate seat. She must first navigate the Democratic primary on Aug. 20. Her lifetime environmental voting score is 98%. As a U.S. House Rep., Mucarsel-Powell secured $200 million to help protect the states environment, including the Everglades. She has promised to help build climate-resilient infrastructure in Florida, one of the states most impacted by climate change. Montana: U.S. Sen. Jon Testers seat is threatened as he prepares for the states June 4 primary and November general election. The 67-year-old is aiming for a fourth term and is the only Democrat who holds statewide office in Montana. The League of Conservation Voters gave him a 75% environmental voting score for 2023; his lifetime score is 89%. His environmental rhetoric is moderate, noting that he wants to tap into Montanas energy resources, including renewable energy and coal. He also supported the Keystone XL Pipeline project and has sponsored bipartisan legislation that would reverse President Bidens decision to cancel the permit. He wants to build on Montanas energy economy, which secures high-paying jobs and addresses the threat of climate change. Texas: U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D) will face incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in the general election on Nov. 5. Allred, a Texas native, has a strong environmental record since becoming a U.S. House Representative in 2019. The League of Conservation Voters scores his lifetime environmental voting record at 98%. He has promised to protect the environment, combat climate change, and lower energy costs while continuing to support responsible oil and gas production. U.S. House: Arizona 1st Congressional District: Challenger Andrei Cherny is not quite a political newcomer. He was chair of the Arizona Democratic Party from 2011 to 2012 before co-founding an eco-friendly financial firm in California. The first-generation American hopes to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. David Schweikert (R) is one of the nations most competitive districts. Cherny will first have to win the states Democratic primary on July 30. Rep. Schweikert narrowly won the seat in 2022 by less than 1%. Cherny said his alternative bank, Aspiration, promises not to invest deposits in fossil fuels and plant trees to offset carbon emissions. Arizona 6th Congressional District: Kirsten Engel is an environmental lawyer and former member of the Arizona Senate. She hopes to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R), a repeat of the close 2022 race for the district seat, which her rival won by slightly more than 1%. The Democratic primary is on July 30. Engel said she would tackle the water and climate crisis that threatens southern Arizona. While serving in the Arizona legislature, she was part of the Colorado Drought Contingency Plan. She supports clean energy and lowering utility bills. California 41st Congressional District: In Californias nonpartisan primary, incumbent U.S. House Rep. Ken Calvert (R) finished above political newcomer Will Rollins, allowing them both to advance to Novembers election. Rollins is a former federal prosecutor in Southern California. He said he wants to take decisive action on climate change to protect the states tourism, construction, and agriculture businesses and communities and create a clean energy economy. New York 3rd Congressional District: U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D) is the incumbent after winning a special election on Feb. 13 to take over from disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos. The primary takes place on June 25. Rep. Suozzi received over $700,000 from the League of Conservative Voters Victory Fund and has helped clean up superfund sites on Long Island and secured federal funds for water quality infrastructure projects. Its the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is back on AppleTV+ and available to watch just in time for the Easter holiday this weekend, Sunday, March 31. Ready to celebrate early? You can watch right now! For a sneak peek of what you can expect, check out an excerpt from the beloved animated series provided in the video below. You can watch Its the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! for FREE with Apple TV+ (free trial). After your free trial, you can sign up for only $6.99/month. What is Its the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! about? Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the whole Peanuts gang gather together to celebrate the Easter holiday and wonder whether there really is, or isnt, an Easter Beagle. Which characters will be in the show? Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Woodstock, Linus, Sally, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, and Pig-Pen are said to make an appearance. HOW TO WATCH What: Its the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! When: Now thru Easter Sunday, March 31 TV channel: Apple TV+ Watch online: You can watch Its the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! for FREE with Apple TV+ (free trial). After your free trial, you can sign up for only $6.99/month. When I visited Guiyang, Guizhou province, to cover the China International Big Data Industry Expo last year, I was astonished by the sight of numerous data centers in Gui'an New Area, about an hour's drive from downtown. The mountainous Guizhou is famous for its vast karst landscapes. It is also China's first national big data comprehensive pilot zone. It has become a key computing hub for the country's megaproject of channeling more computing resources from eastern regions to its less developed yet resource-rich western regions. I saw Chinese tech heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd's Gui'an Qixing data center that is shaped like mountain caves. The center covers about 470,000 square meters with over 30,000 sq m inside tunnel caves. Seen from a distance, the data center appears to be surrounded by green vegetation, no different from natural mountain caves. Guizhou has pioneered China's big data industry thanks to its cool climate and sufficient power supply. Tech companies from home and abroad, such as China's three telecom giants China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom Apple, Huawei and Alibaba have all established their data centers in Gui'an New Area. These data centers store companies' crucial data resources and provide stable computing power support. The demand for computing power, which is regarded as a key part of developing new quality productive forces, has been surging ever since the US-based OpenAI unveiled in February its sensational Sora, a new text-to-video generator. Computing power, which refers to capacity of a computer or computer system to execute complex computations and data processing tasks, is key to activating the new quality productive forces in this era of the digital economy. It will also unleash China's new growth momentum, experts said. "Along with rapid development and application of AI-powered large language models in a wide range of fields, the demand for computation and data processing has grown exponentially, which has driven the construction of data centers," said Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, a telecom industry association. "The establishment of data centers will improve efficiency in the use of computing resources and accelerate enterprises' digitalization push," Xiang said. The scale of China's core computing power industry reached 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion) in 2022, said the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a think tank. Every yuan invested in computing power will drive economic growth of 3 to 4 yuan in GDP. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in August that the number of standard racks in use in China's data centers had exceeded 7.6 million units, and the country's computing power had reached 197 EFLOPS, ranking second in the world. EFLOPS is a unit of the speed of computer systems. Zou Debao, deputy general manager of AI and big data research at market research firm CCID Consulting, said more efforts are needed to promote infrastructure construction, enhance independent innovation capabilities in areas like computing algorithms, and step up the research and development in graphics processing units and servers. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Libyan House of Representatives has expressed its deep regrets at the failure of the UN Security Council to adopt a draft ceasefire in Gaza in Palestine, saying that this was one in a series of international disappointments for the inhabitants of this Palestinian enclave Photo: (Photo : JASPER JACOBS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images ) Law enforcement authorities disclosed on Sunday afternoon that the search for a 6-year-old girl who fell into Pennsylvania's Chester Creek on Saturday night has been suspended. The continuing attempts are now classified as a recovery mission. Rescue Operation Now Transitioned to Recovery Chester Mayor Stefan Roots expressed sorrow for the city's tragic loss and emphasized the community's support for those affected. Crews continue searching for the girl at 8 a.m. on Sunday, following her fall into the creek around 7 p.m. on Saturday. The search was first suspended after 10 p.m. on Saturday, despite the Coast Guard ongoing attempts overnight. However, survivability estimates in water are restricted to about three hours. By 2 p.m., officials confirmed that the operation had shifted from rescue to recovery. The identity of the girl has not been disclosed by police officials, but her grandmother, Kimberly Richardson, shared her anguish and readiness for the worst. According to reports, the incident unfolded as three girls were playing near Chester Creek when two slipped into the water due to mud. While one girl managed to escape, the 6-year-old was unable to reach safety. 6-Year-Old Girl Falls Into Pennsylvania Creek The girl's aunt, Tyeesha Reynolds, recounted how her daughter attempted to hold onto the girl's jacket but couldn't prevent her from being swept away. Additionally, family members initiated their search efforts before emergency crews arrived. During a press briefing, Chester Fire Commissioner John-Paul Shirley stated that teams will continue searching for the girl, identified as Lin'Ajah Brooker by her family, until dusk. At that point, due to safety concerns for the crews, all search activities will be halted. Read Also: Blanket Linked to Missing Toddler Elijah Vue Found, Search Intensifies Shirley mentioned that from the outset, there was a realization that the mission might turn into a recovery effort after approximately three hours. However, he emphasized that hope persisted for a miraculous outcome. With daylight aiding in a more comprehensive search, it became evident that the operation would transition from a rescue to a recovery mission. Earlier in the day, Mayor Stefan Roots of Chester affirmed that the search for Brooker remained intensive, with local rescue teams and the U.S. Coast Guard deploying all available resources. The incident occurred on Saturday evening when a 911 call reported that Brooker fell into the water while playing near the creek with another girl. Despite the exhaustive search efforts, only one child, Brooker, remains missing. Family Holds Onto Hope to Safely Bring Her Back Family members, including Brooker's aunt Tyeesha Reynolds, expressed their anguish and hope for her safe return, underscoring the distressing nature of the situation. The family is hopeful for Lin'Ajah's safe return. Tyeesha Reynolds, Lin'Ajah's aunt, expresses her prayers for her niece to be found alive. "They were playing down there, and she wandered a bit too far with the other kids. My 7-year-old daughter tried to hold onto her. Lin'Ajah was gripping onto my daughter's coat, and I suppose the wind swept her away," Reynolds recounted. "It's a terrifying thought for me at 40; she's only 6, so I can only imagine how scared she must be." Related Article: Search for Missing 17-Year-Old Teen Intensifies as Car Emerges from Illinois Pond Photo: (Photo : JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) Pharmaceutical industry experts advise that if the Supreme Court supports a challenge to the abortion pill Mifepristone, it could lead to legal arguments including vaccines, birth control pills, hormone therapies, and fertility drugs. Supreme Court Endorses a Challenge to the Abortion Pill Mifepristone When the Court acknowledges whether to revisit the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decisions that made Mifepristone more available, the suggestion goes further for this specific drug, which is largely used for abortions nationwide. The pharmaceutical industry has raised concern, warning that granting people federal judges the authority to ignore the FDA's scientific findings on health and safety could build chaos within the sector, possibly resulting in disputes over other drugs, both existing and those awaiting approval. If anti-abortion groups prevail, it could open the door for challenges to the FDA's authority by anyone with ideological disagreements, potentially leading to litigation over various medications. Concerns also arise from activists who oppose certain vaccines, express skepticism about vaccine safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, or hold objections to contraceptives and gender-affirming treatments. Moreover, business leaders fear that a ruling against the government could hinder innovation by dissuading investors, impacting an industry heavily reliant on significant upfront research and development investments to bring drugs to market. They affirm the FDA's role as the global gold standard for drug regulation and worry that raised disputes could avert investment in drug growth. The legal question before the Court centers on whether the FDA followed appropriate procedures in easing limits on Mifepristone. The plaintiffs, including doctors and health professionals opposing abortion, disagree that the FDA did not sufficiently consider safety concerns when lifting constraints on the drug. Read Also: Online Retailing Starts for the First OTC Birth Control Pill in the US Outcome of Abortion Pill Case Carry Significant Implications for Drug Regulation While conservative groups downplay the case's probable indication, the Supreme Court's conservative majority, known for its stance on abortion rights, adds complication to the circumstances. The verdict of this case could hold essential suggestions for drug regulation, pharmaceutical innovation, and reproductive rights within the United States. Concerns have been raised by numerous groups, such as anti-abortion activists opposing contraceptives like the morning-after pill and LGBTQ activists advocating for hormone therapies for gender-affirming medications. Additionally, there are concerns that drugs developed using embryonic stem cells, HIV/AIDS medication, and fertility drugs used in in vitro fertilization could face difficulties. While opponents of abortion contend that the FDA's easing of the limit on Mifepristone failed to sufficiently address safety considerations, others disagree that the case's expansive ramifications are overstated. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court's conservative majority, displayed by the latest decisions on abortion rights, adds complication to the legal landscape environment in this case. The case, starting in Texas, has seen a conservative judge nullify the FDA's approval of the drug, a ruling for a time suspended by the Supreme Court. Ultimately, the result of this case could have important consequences for drug regulation, pharmaceutical innovation, and reproductive rights in the United States. Related Article: CVS, Walgreens Revolutionize Reproductive Health: Abortion Pill Mifepristone Dispensation Begins Following FDA Rule Change Photo: (Photo : Ian Forsyth/Getty Images ) Earlier this week in Augusta, Georgia, two teens managed to flee from police supervision while being transferred from a court undertaking to a youthful detention center. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has since due them with aggravated attack. Two Juveniles Face Felony Counts, Aggravated Assault The two teens, aged 14 and 15, are facing two offense counts of aggravated attack on a police officer with a handgun. They are being considered as adults in the legal undertakings. The charges stem from circumstances on March 21, during which the teens overpowered a Jenkins County Deputy and eluded into the neighboring woods. They took the deputy's .45-caliber weapon and shot three rounds in the officer's way, causing him to lose awareness. Luckily, the deputy is now in stable circumstances, according to Sheriff Alfonzo Williams of the Burke County Sheriff's Office. Police authorities, including the Burke County Sheriff's Office deputies and the Georgia State Patrol, work together in the quest for the fled teens. Eventually, they were found in a storage container at the edge of Ponderosa Road. Following their arrest, the teens were processed at the Burke County Jail before being transferred back to the Augusta Regional Youth Detention Center. Sheriff Williams conveyed appreciation to al,l including police force agencies and the public, for their support in safeguarding the security of the area. He affirms the successful collaboration among police force resources across the state. The inspection into the incident remains active, and once completed, the case will be investigated by the Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office. Read Also: Accused Teen's Family Denies Charges in Kaylee Gain Assault, Launches Legal Support Efforts Georgia Teens Escape En Route to Youth Detention Center The two underage detainees who fled custody while being transported from a court proceeding and attacked a Jenkins County deputy have been charged as adults, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). In an official statement, the GBI announced that Brandon Davis, 14, and Corinthian Newton, both residents of Millen, Georgia, have been apprehended and charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer with a Firearm. As per investigators, Davis and Newton escaped from Deputy Milo Perry of the Jenkins County Sheriff's Office on Georgia Highway 56 in Waynesboro while en route to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Augusta, Georgia. Following an extensive search involving multiple law enforcement agencies, they were eventually discovered in a storage container at the end of Ponderosa Road. The owner of the storage container, who was present at the time of their discovery, reported that they had caused damage inside and were found concealed within a Christmas tree box. After processing at the Burke County Jail, they were transferred to the Augusta Regional Youth Detention Center for detention. Colonel Jimmy Wylds of the Burke County Sheriff's Office credited Georgia Department of Corrections Agent Anna Stinson and bloodhound JoJo for their role in locating the escapees. Special Agent in Charge Pat Morgan of the GBI clarified that although both teens fired shots at two deputies, neither deputy was struck. However, Deputy Milo Perry was rendered unconscious during the altercation but is expected to fully recover. The GBI urges anyone with relevant information to come forward, emphasizing the ongoing nature of the investigation. Once concluded, the case will be forwarded to the district attorney's office. Related Article: 13-Year Old Teen Allegedly Shot a Man on a Denver Bus After an Argument The Other Paul is an Australian Anglican in his 20s. He runs a ministry with the same name (see his YouTube channel and website). Pauls particular areas of interest are biblical exegesis and the first few centuries of early Church history, but he also addresses just about any other topic pertaining to Scripture or history. He also frequently engages in ecumenical dialogue and debate with other Christian traditions, especially Catholics and Orthodox, and is working towards becoming an Anglican clergyman. I use RSV for Bible verses unless otherwise indicated. Pauls words will be in blue. ***** Please Hit Subscribe! If youve received benefit from this or any of my 4,500+ articles, please follow this blog by signing up (email address) on the sidebar to the right, above the icon bar, Sign Me Up!: to receive notice when I post a new blog article. This is the equivalent of subscribing to a YouTube channel. Please also consider following me on Twitter / X and purchasing one or more of my 55 books. All of this helps me get more exposure and concretely supports my full-time apologetics work. Thanks so much and happy reading! ***** I am responding to the first portion of Pauls video, Ecclesialism A Critique (7-14-22). 3:21 With ecclesialism the definition is Scripture, sacred tradition, and the magisterium of the Church . . . [as] the sole infallible rules of faith. This is correct. We like to call this the three-legged-stool concept of the rule of faith, and we submit that this is the view that the Bible teaches. In other words, in following it, we are being quite biblical. 3:47 The aim of it is that you can apply any argument of sola Scriptura to ecclesialism in order to see if the one making the argument for ecclesialism is actually being consistent. Sounds fun! Im game. Protestants need to get all the help they can get in defending the unbiblical tradition of men known as sola Scriptura, so if Paul has a new approach, more power to him, but Im pretty sure that itll fail, alongside all of the other many failed and futile attempts to bolster up a falsehood. Well see! Dialogue and debate are what demonstrate if a position can hold up under scrutiny and close (or cross-) examination. By the way, I call folks by the name that they wish to be known by, just as we do with personal names. The larger term is Protestant or one of its sub-groups (which for Paul is Anglicanism). So I call him by his own chosen name. Romanist or papist is not what any Catholic I know of wishes to be called, or has ever called themselves (other than in a sarcastic manner). We call ourselves Catholics. Roman Catholicism is tolerable (thats a separate issue which can be discussed), but the Catholic Church is not only Roman. It also includes Eastern Catholics. What would they be called by someone like Paul? Easternists? 4:41 The point of it is simply to say, look, you have not thought through your objection because it applies to you as well, so now that we have demonstrated that it does apply to your system, given how devoted you are to your system, maybe you will be compelled to exercise some more intellectual humility and charity in analyzing the argument before you apply it to another system. So thats the whole point of it: to basically force some introspection on critics from Rome and the East. Im willing to listen to any argument. This sounds interesting. If an argument overcomes my own, I grant its superiority, forfeit the argument, and change my mind (as I did in 1990, moving from Arminian evangelicalism to Catholicism). But if I determine that it fails in critiquing my view and establishing itself as superior, then I show why it does (heres where apologetics comes in), and urge followers of it to adopt the Catholic view, until a better one is proven. And I do all that through use of the Bible, reason, and (if applicable) Church history. As for intellectual humility and charity, well, that works both ways. Protestants have no monopoly on those characteristics. But its always charitable to show someone the error of their ways, in cases where they are in fact, in error. Falsehood never did anyone any good. So to persuade someone that they have been sold a bill of goods, or have false premises, leading to false conclusions, is always an act of charity and love. The person will be better off after realizing they have been in error, and having been shown a better way. By the same token, if I am wrong and am shown that through reason and Scripture and historical argumentation, and have no refutation to offer, then I will change my mind (because I always want to follow truth, to the best of my abilities, with the illumination of Gods grace), as I did in 1990, and in 1977, when I went from practical atheist / occultic practitioner, to evangelical Christian. Ive also changed my mind on many other social, moral, and political issues through the years. My most recent major change of mind was on the death penalty (in Dec. 2017): Im now opposed to it. 5:21 So many people accept the same scriptures and yet they disagree on all manner of important things regarding Scripture. Very true. Its a shame. 7:15 This is a new argument. I do believe Im genuinely breaking some new ground in this issue Well see. I am answering as I read, as I always do with this sort of thing, and at this point I think I know the line of argument he will attempt to make. If Im correct, I have already answered it many times, over some 28 years. 15:49 The disunity argument [is that] people who accept sola Scriptura disagree, therefore Scripture alone is insufficient as the sole infallible rule of faith. Its only one problem of many (I wrote a book called, 100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura), but we dont even have to frame this objection in that way. We can simply say, the Protestant system by its very nature produces hundreds of competing sects. There is no such thing as denominationalism in the Bible; nor is there an acceptance of the hundreds of falsehoods necessarily present in Protestantism (contrary to the biblical notion of one truth), based on the law of contradiction. Its the denominationalism that is the unbiblical scandal; however it came about. Again, falsehood never helped anyone. It is massively present in Protestantism (wherever one may locate it), by virtue of the laws of contradictions and of logic. This is not a good thing. And its not a biblical thing. See my latest article on the topic. 16:45 you can point to any number of sedevacantists and the anti-pope sects in Roman Catholicism. Its clear to one and all that Catholicism is a system that has a pope and that he is the leader of the Church, who should be granted extraordinary reverence as such. That is the official teaching of the Catholic Church. The sedevacantists and the pope-bashers, therefore, are plainly not in line with the teachings of their own professed Church. They have rejected it, which is possible for anyone in any group: to be dissidents or heterodox (rebels or radicals), as defined by their own professed tradition. With Protestantism its entirely different. Contradictions and differences of opinion are institutionalized. A Zwinglian who denies the Real Presence in the Eucharist is neither dissenting against his own Protestant sub-tradition, nor against Protestantism-at-large. He or she is allowed indeed, encouraged! to have this opinion, and its perfectly fine! Thats what they find in the Bible. But Lutherans or High Church Anglicans, who believe in the Real Presence, are perfectly in accord with Protestant principles, too. Thats what they find in the Bible. This is how the very core principles of Protestantism lead to ecclesial chaos and theological relativism. Someone is necessarily wrong here: either the Zwinglian or the Lutherans + Anglicans. Either one is wrong or both are, but they cant both be right, because the views cant be harmonized. This is the fundamental difference. Everyone knows that the extremists on the far left and far right of the Catholic Church (i.e., individual Catholics) are out-of-sync with their own Church, and everyone knows what the Catholic Church teaches (a pope, who is to be reverenced). Its not a one-to-one straight comparison. 18:44 So now since that is a comparable system to sola Scriptura, we can therefore see that there are numerous groups that accept ecclesialism as a system and yet they disagree on a lot, and therefore ecclesialism by the same token of the argument against unity, against sola Scriptura . . . is insufficient as a rule of faith. Its not at all. There is no equivalence, I I just showed. There is an essential difference. We can only go by what any given Christian group officially teaches: in the books. We cant go by every wacko extremist who was once part of a group and left it; if not formally, then in spirit. And, sure enough, I did know where Paul was going with this. I have exposed its fallacies since at least 1996: Dissident Catholics: Disproof of Catholic Doctrinal Unity? [6-3-96] Have Heterodox Catholics Overthrown Official Doctrine? (vs. Eric Svendsen, James White, Phillip Johnson, & Andrew Webb) [6-3-96] Dialogue on the Logic of Catholic Infallible Authority [6-4-96] Economists and politicians love to talk about the free market as some kind of capitalist ideal. But when countries start duking it out with policy instead of bombs, trade restrictions are often their first weapon of choice. Responding to heavy chip import restrictions from the US, China has now banned purchases of Intel, AMD, and Microsoft products for use in government computers. Under the guise of transitioning to safe and reliable hardware and software, the CCPs Information Technology Security Evaluation Center has created a list of companies that government agencies are allowed to purchase from. This list notably excludes the biggest PC chipmakers in the world, Intel and AMD, and the creator of the leading operating system, Microsoft. All three companies are based in the US. you can get win11 pro cheap, though! Windows 11 Pro Naturally, the list of safe and reliable vendors includes Chinese competitors like Huawei. The Financial Times reports that the guidelines were unveiled in December of last year, but have finally begun to be enforced as policy this week. All government agencies above the township level will be held to this standard, but the ban does not apply to consumers or corporations. Microsoft is predicted to see a minimal hit in response to this news (the Chinese government unveiled an official home-grown Linux variant last year), but China drives tens of billions in sales for both AMD and Intel. While it will be a big adjustment for both companies, its hardly surprising given recent political trends. The United States has attempted to cripple Chinese competition to the emerging American AI market by banning sales of some of the most powerful CPU and GPU chips to the country, including some consumer-grade alternatives like high-powered graphics cards. The US is also bolstering investment in domestic chip production with the CHIPS Act, hoping to reduce reliance on production out of Taiwan. The stock prices of Intel, AMD, and Nvidia all fell slightly following the news. Leading communications and broadcasting company, Global Media Alliance, successfully hosted a thought-provoking thought leadership event for the women in the organization as part of the International Women's Month activities. The event, centered on the theme Inspire Inclusion held on 20th March, 2024 at Silverbird Cinemas, featured esteemed panellists who shared valuable insights and experiences to empower women and promote diversity and inclusion. The panelists included: Dr. Irene Stella Agyenim-Boateng, Vice Chairperson of the Public Services Commission, Adelaide Abbiw-William, CEO of SES HD Plus Ghana and Fafa Gbeho, Group Head of Human Resource, Global Media Alliance. The discussion moderated by Eunice Tornyi, focused on strategies and best practices for fostering inclusion and empowering women in leadership roles across various sectors. The panelists shared their personal journeys, challenges faced, and lessons learned, inspiring the audience with their stories of resilience and success. They also urged women to make their voices count wherever they find themselves. According to Dr. Mrs. Irene Stella Agyenim-Boateng, Vice Chairman of the Public Services Commission, women leaders should be mentors for all women. Women leaders need to be able to tell their stories so that other women can be inspired by these stories and know that it is possible to get to the top and you can do that without using unorthodox means but can actually get there on merit, she said. She encouraged women not to be afraid to take up leadership positions but to believe in their abilities and train themselves to excel in roles they take up. The CEO of SES HD PLUS Ghana, Adelaide Abbiw-Williams advised women not to be afraid to take up leadership roles in the technology space and also should avail themselves of learning opportunities to grow and develop themselves. Fafa Gbeho, the Group Head of HR at Global Media Alliance advised women to be apprised of the labour laws that protect them in the workplace to ensure that they are not discriminated against because of their gender. On her part, the Chief Director of Global Media Alliance, Emma Wenani remarked, "We are honored to have had such a meaningful and impactful event that celebrates the achievements of women and promotes a culture of inclusion. Through the insightful discussions and shared experiences, we are happy to contribute to the growth of the women at GMA and in driving positive change and empowering women to reach their full potential." Global Media Alliance Thought Leadership event was sponsored by Ghandour Cosmetics and Flow Wellness. International Womens Day is celebrated every year in the month of March and this year, the focus was on the importance of including women in the development agenda to accelerate progress in society. 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 Nigerian pupils taken by gunmen in a mass abduction in the north-western town of Kuriga earlier this month have been freed "unharmed", officials say. Kaduna state governor Uba Sani said they had been rescued thanks to the courage of the security forces. The school authorities had said more than 280 children were taken, but the army said 137 hostages had been freed. It said the operation took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, days before a ransom deadline. Officials have not yet commented on the discrepancy in numbers. In previous cases, hostages have been able to flee from their captors as they trek for days to forest hideouts. A top government official, who asked not to be named, has told BBC Hausa that one of the teachers taken from Kuriga died in captivity. The group was held for 17 days in total. Kidnap gangs, known as bandits, have seized thousands of people in recent years, especially in the north-west. Six mass abductions this month have rocked parts of northern Nigeria, despite an overall fall in the number of such attacks over the past year. Those kidnapped are usually freed after a ransom is paid. The kidnappers had demanded $690,000 (548,000) for the release of the Kuriga children aged between eight and 15. The government had said it would not pay any ransom. "This is indeed a day of joy," Governor Sani said in a statement in which he praised Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu for ensuring that the abducted schoolchildren had been "released unharmed". Military spokesman Maj Gen Edward Buba said 76 girls and 61 boys had been rescued from Zamfara state, which borders Kaduna to the north-west. The military has also released photos of some of the children, showing them sitting in buses looking dusty and exhausted. A security source told Reuters news agency the students had been freed in a forest and were being taken to Kaduna for medical tests before being allowed to see their families. The mass abduction occurred on the morning of 7 March during assembly in a compound housing a junior and senior school. According to witnesses, the pupils were in the assembly ground around 08:30 (07:30 GMT) when dozens of gunmen on motorcycles rode in, eventually taking away 187 students from a secondary school and 125 from the local primary school. It is not clear how many teachers were abducted. Twenty-five students later returned. One pupil believed to be 14 years old, died after being shot by the gunmen. Most of the kidnaps in north-west Nigeria are believed to be the work of criminal gangs trying to make money from ransoms. In an attempt to curb Nigeria's spiralling and lucrative kidnapping industry, a controversial law that made it a crime to make ransom payments was passed in 2022. It carries a jail sentence of at least 15 years, however no one has ever been arrested. Earlier this year, the family of a group of sisters kidnapped in the capital, Abuja, denied a police statement that the security forces had rescued the girls, saying that they had no choice but to pay the ransom. There was global outrage when Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group seized nearly 300 girls in Nigeria's north-eastern town of Chibok in 2014. Most of the victims have either been freed or escaped since then, but dozens remain unaccounted for. On Saturday, the army said it had rescued 17 students and a woman kidnapped just days after the Kuriga attack from a school in Sokoto, also in the north-west. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A former Minister of Information, John Akologu Tia, who served during the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration under late President John Evans Atta-Mills, has passed away. Mr. Tia, who also served as a Member of Parliament for the Talensi Constituency in the Upper East Region for five consecutive terms from 1993 to 2012, died in the early hours of Sunday, March 24, 2024, at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital after a brief illness. Born on September 23, 1954, Mr. Tia's death was confirmed by reliable sources. In 2012, he lost the parliamentary election to Robert Nachinaab Doameng Mosore of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Following his defeat, he was appointed Ghanas Ambassador to Cuba during former President John Dramani Mahamas administration. 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 Government has committed to fast-track the completion of Ghanas sea defence projects following a two-day tour by the Minister for Works and Housing Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah. Most of the projects commenced in 2018 are near completion but slowed down owing to financial constraints. The slowdown reversed some of the progress made on the projects and further denied beneficiary communities the full expected use of the projects. But following a tour of the projects last week the new Minister for the sector announced that the President has instructed the prioritizing of payments to contractors to enable them to complete the projects. Courtesy Call The Minister began his tour first by paying a courtesy call on the Anomabo Paramount Chief, Nana Kantamanto Amonu XI, the Omanhen of the Oguaa Traditional Area, Osabariba Kwesi Atta II, and Komenda Paramount Chief, Nana Kojo Kru under whose jurisdiction the Anomabo, Cape Coast and the Komenda Sea Defence are being constructed. Touring the Anomabo, Cape Coast and New Takoradi Emergency Sea Defence Project (Phase III) at Elmina, where there is the construction of armour rock revetment with granular filter layers, armour rock groynes and land reclamation with lateritic backfilling to protect 5,000 metres of coastal stretch, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah expressed satisfaction with the level of work done by the contractors and said the project will help protect lives and properties in the communities. Were doing about 8 coastal protection projects across the country since 2017 and a good number of them have been completed, some have delayed as well. What myself, the Ministry and the Hydro Authority is doing is to tour these projects to understand the challenges, why some of them havent been completed, and for those that are near completion to be able to fast-track the work. I think the contractors have done very well. The Hydro Authority too has done very well, he said. He said the timely intervention of the projects has restored fishing and other businesses which hitherto, were collapsing due to the devastating effect of the coastal waves. Engage local communities Engagement with local communities emerged as a pivotal aspect of the Minister's directive to contractors when he took some time to talk to them. Minister Oppong Nkrumah stressed the importance of soliciting input from locals to tailor engineering solutions effectively, thereby enhancing the resilience of coastal infrastructure. In Takoradi, he inspected the Shama, Aboadze, Axim and Dixcove sea defence projects. Protect key government installations and local communities The urgency of a sea defence was palpable, particularly in areas like Aboadze and Upper Dixcove. In Aboadze especially, the raging tidal waves is increasingly becoming a threat to the three key power installations; the Takoradi (TICO) Thermal Power Plant, the Takoradi (TAPCO) 1 Thermal Power Plant, and the Takoradi (TAPCO) 3 Thermal Power Plant. The potential of the damage prompted the Minister to ask the contractor, Messrs Xara Developers Limited to hasten construction works which stands at 66% completion. He instructed the quick execution of the capping of revetment and breakwater protection structures to the crest level of the coastline so as to protect these installations. During the Minister's visit to Dixcove, the Paramount Chief of Upper Dixcove Traditional Area, Obrempong Hema Dekyi bemoaned how the slow pace of construction works put the community at the mercy of tidal waves. Though the contractor has mobilized and is on site, construction works only stands at 36% completion. He said this is becoming a threat to life and property in the communities, and also affecting the activities of fishermen. Thus, Mr Oppong Nkrumah tasked the contractor to hasten construction works to bring relief to the local community. Assurance The implementation of the Coastal Protection Project is aimed at protecting beaches and their environs against encroachment by the sea, arresting environmental deterioration, as well as mitigating the negative social and economic consequences of beach erosion. About two-thirds of Ghana's 550-kilometre coastal line needed some form of protection against the sea hence, the government in 2017 started its Coastal Protection Programme to protect coastal towns. In his assurance to Chiefs and the local communities, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said the government would work to ensure that all coastal communities were protected and reiterated its commitment to making funds available to support the execution of projects in all communities that were in urgent need of protective infrastructure. The Chiefs and their people thanked the Minister for his visit and called for further developmental projects in their respective communities. The Minister was accompanied by some officials from the Ministry. 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 At least four women were killed in Nigeria in a stampede as a crowd rushed to get cash handouts from a businessman, police say. A 17-year-old girl was also injured in the incident, which happened in the north-eastern Bauchi state on Sunday. Some reports put the death toll much higher. The businessman was issuing 5,000 naira ($3; 2.74) to each person in an effort to help them buy food during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the AFP news agency reported. For months, Nigerians have been grappling with severe economic challenges, including soaring food prices. Two students from Nasarawa State University near the capital city, Abuja, died on Friday during a separate stampede for free rice. And at least seven deaths were reported in the commercial hub Lagos last month after a struggle for cheap rice sold by the Nigeria Customs Service, a government body. Police have warned against holding such events without proper crowd control mechanisms from the authorities. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video 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. Renowned Nigerian pastor, Chris Oyakhilome, founder of Christ Embassy Church, says his ministry has resurrected over 50 people in the past year. Pastor Chris made the statement during a three-day livestream event on his church's network, LoveWorld USA. In the last year, we have had more than 50 people raised from the dead, more than 50 people," Oyakhilome said. How do you explain such things? Both old and young, in various countries, how do you explain? What will you use to explain this? Including the ones that happened inside the hospital to the amazement of doctors and nurses; how do you explain this?" He, however, offered no verifiable evidence to support his claim. Pastor Chris further alleged that the pharmaceutical industry has pressured governments in certain countries to restrict his faith-based healing programmes on television. Years ago, those particularly from the pharmaceutical industry put pressure on the government of certain countries to stop ministers who prayed for the sick on television. They put pressure on regulatory bodies in various countries to outlaw miracle programmes and healing programmes on television. They came up with stupid things like spurious claims and so on, and even today, several of those countries still have some of those things in their regulatory laws, but you know, God is greater and wiser than men. We couldn't be stopped; all those challenges, he said. VIDEO- 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 Tullow Ghana and its Joint Venture Partners (Kosmos Energy, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Petro SA and GNPC Explorco) have added another dimension to their support for the people and communities in the Western region. The companys key operations are located offshore in the region. As part of a strong commitment to community and national development, the partners have been assisting the various localities surrounding the seven coastal areas in different ways. From educational interventions, infrastructure provision, livelihood support and loans for small scale businesses, they have shown leadership in changing the economic fortunes in that part of the country. Recently, the partners, operators of both the Jubilee and TEN fields, commissioned 26 newly built and refurbished community sheds to support the activities of the fisherfolk in the Western Region. These sheds, locally known as, "Oman Pata" dot the coastline, offering cover from the rains, when mending fishing nets or conducting communal meetings. Beyond the refurbishments, the partners have also provided 100 plastic chairs each and Rechargeable Public Address (PA) systems for all the 26 community sheds, to support their engagements. At a special commissioning event in Brawire Akyinim in the Upper Axim area, Tullows Deputy Managing Director, Cynthia Lumor, on behalf of the partners said: "We have committed with our partners, to continue building a better future for Ghana - both for today and tomorrow. A future where our resources become the means to total development and transformation for the country. We cannot go it alone and we are happy to have you as a strong support system and partner. What we have delivered to you today will not only help advance your livelihoods, it will also give us a convenient platform to strengthen our engagements and keep you safe as well." So far, Tullow Ghana and partners, have transformed a lot of lives and communities in key regions of the country, especially the Western region. Under its social investment programme the Fishermans Anchor Project," it has provided over $770,000 in small-scale loans to more than 2,400 small businesses (over 90% of the businesses are owned by women and nearly 90% are fish processing businesses) in the Western region. Tullow, as the leading operator, has also invested US$10 million over five years to build classroom and dormitory blocks in 15 senior high schools in Ghana. A total of nine senior high schools have benefited from the initiative so far. 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 President Nana Akufo-Addo has revealed that the well-received phrase Fellow Ghanaians, a term coined by him during his regular COVID-19 updates from 2020 to 2022, embodied the Ghanaian spirit of unity and solidarity. According to President Akufo-Addo, the phrase became the rallying call of all Ghanaians during the nations battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. President Akufo-Addo made this assertion during the launch of Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye's Book, titled ''Fellow Ghanaians, Telling Ghana's COVID-19 Story: A Journey of Fear, Facts, Faith and Fortune". The ''Fellow Ghanaians'' book records Ghanas story from 12 March 2020 when the first case of the COVID-19 virus was recorded in Ghana to 2022 when President Akufo-Addo declared the pandemic over in Ghana. Addressing the guests at the launch, President Akufo expressed excitement saying, I stand before you today with a profound feeling of gratitude and humility as we gather to celebrate the launch of the book titled Fellow Ghanaians. This title holds a special place in my heart not only because it resonates deeply with the words, I authored during some of our nations most challenging moments but also because it embodies the spirit of unity and solidarity that defines us as Ghanaians''. Fellow Ghanaians is not just a title, it is a powerful reminder of the bond that unites us as a people, transcending tribe, religion, or political affiliation. It was a call to action, urging us to stand together in the face of the adversity of COVID-19 and to work tirelessly to win the fight against the pandemic. When I first used the phrase Fellow Ghanaians, during my national broadcast, I did so with a sense of responsibility and fellow feeling. As President, I saw it as my duty to provide Ghanaians with regulator updates on the situation and the measures the government was taking, and to seek their support and cooperation." He further remarked, That is why I was a constant feature on your screens from 2020 to 2022, in the addresses that became popularly referred to as Fellow Ghanaians and I thank you for welcoming me so warmly into your homes. You listened to me, you cooperated with the government and with the health experts. You adhered to the enhanced hygiene and mask-wearing protocols and a considerable number of you took the vaccines. He continued by adding that it is a testament to the resilience and strength of the Ghanaian spirit even in the face of unprecedented challenges and a tribute to the countless acts of kindness, courage, and sacrifice that defined our response to the pandemic. But beyond its significance to me personally, Fellow Ghanaians represents something much greater, it is a symbol of hope and inspiration for future generations, a reminder that even in our darkest hours, we can find light and strength in our unity. As we reflect on the pages of this book, and the account it contains, let us remember the lessons we have learned and the progress we have made. Let us recommit ourselves to the values that bind us together as Ghanaians; compassion, resilience, and solidarity, Akufo-Addo said. President Akufo-Addo praised the handwork and dedication of the Minister of Health designate and former Chief executive officer of the national Health Insurance Scheme stating that the Dr. Okoe Boye has ensured that the stories of our nations journey through the COVID-19 pandemic will be preserved for future generations to come. Dr. Bernard Okoe Boye said the book, Fellow Ghanaians, Telling Ghana's COVID-19 Story: A Journey of Fear, Facts, Faith and Fortune", captures the fears, battles, tears, and triumphs of Ghanaians during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that he took up the challenge of documenting the countrys COVID-19 fight because it was an experience worth telling. Through all the bad times and the good times, I heard a voice saying this too shall pass. It was a confident voice, sometimes firm in tone, at other times mixed in pitch, especially those times when reports of hospital admission overflow and rumors of death permeated our homes and offices. One thing however remained, that voice kept on and on bringing with it hope, guidelines, restrictions, lockdowns, social protection, and at a point in time, vaccines. That same voice finally brought the goodness of the pandemic really coming to pass. It was that voice that gave all of us, myself in particular, the inspiration to put together our COVID-19 story in a way that is honest, factual, enduring, and honourable to the memory of all those loved ones we lost through COVID, Dr Okoe Boye added. Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has reiterated his commitment to legalizing the operations of okada riders if he emerges victorious in the upcoming December polls. Mr. Mahama also unveiled plans to introduce electric motorbikes for commercial use, alongside providing training programs for riders to ensure proper regulation of the business. Currently illegal, motorbikes and tricycles are widely utilized for commercial activities across the nation, particularly in rural areas where they serve as the primary mode of transportation. During a dialogue with residents of Worawora in the Biakoye Constituency of the Oti Region, Mr. Mahama declared, If we come into power, we will legalize okada business. We will train you on how to operate within the business, emphasizing that merely being able to ride motorbikes does not automatically qualify one as a commercial rider. We will register all operators to ensure regulated operations. Mr. Mahama further revealed plans for the introduction of electric motorbikes, running on electricity and promising reduced energy consumption in comparison to fuel-based vehicles. He emphasized the environmental benefits of electric bikes, stating that once charged at night, they are ready for use. In September 2020, Mr. Mahama had announced intentions to procure motorcycles to bolster the commercial transport sector if elected in the December elections. He assured that riders would receive support through flexible payment schemes aimed at facilitating individual ownership of the vehicles, consequently boosting employment opportunities in the country. This vision aligns with the NDC partys manifesto, which includes the legalization of the Okada business. However, Mr. Mahamas proposals to formalize the Okada business faced resistance from the NPP government, underscoring a divergence in policy approaches toward the sector. 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 Minister of Communication, Ursula Owusu Ekuful has denied plagiarizing a statement from the Nigerian Communication Commission. The Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, accused Ursula of plagiarism after she gave a briefing on the country's network challenges in Parliament. According to Murtala, Parliament is a house of records and when Ministers are to appear before Parliament to provide information of a very important issue like the internet interruption we are facing, the least we expect from the Minister is to tell us something that is not original. When the minister was making the statement, I went to the Nigerian Communication Commission website, and I realized that many of the things the minister said were taken directly from a statement which was issued by the Nigerian Communication Commission word to word and I really think it is just unacceptable. But some of us are not surprised, H.E. the president in his first inaugural address, plagiarized four American presidents. However, responding to this during a discussion on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', the Communication Minister gave a response saying: "I just realized he didn't know what he was talking about so there was no need for me to give him a response in Parliament. Sometimes you have to overlook some of these things; probably he said it in jest. I didn't think it was something that needed to be given oxygen of publicity so I ignored him...I didn't plagiarize" Listen to her in the video below Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) diaspora branches to unite and rally behind the party to clinch victory in this year's December presidential and parliamentary elections. Speaking at the NPP International Conference in Johannesburg on Saturday March 23, 2024, Dr. Bawumia, the flagbearer of the NPP, said to the diaspora branches that they play a crucial role in the party and charged them to do their uttermost to ensure the NPP emerges victorious in the general elections. "The diaspora branches of the NPP have been very key to the fortunes of the party and for the 2024 elections, you have major roles to play", Dr. Bawumia said, adding that in recognition of their key roles, his campaign has set up has a special structure for diaspora affairs. "Dear Patriots, many of you in the diaspora have asked about your role in the campaign. The national campaign team comprises the diaspora coordination team made up Dr. Akwasi Acheampong, Amponsah Stonash, Obaa Yaa Frimpong, Richard Gyamfi, Emmanuel Attafuah and Kingsley Agyemang", he disclosed. He also stated; "The purpose of this team is to bring to bear the exceptional talents in the diaspora, coordinate plans and ideas from diaspora, among other resources, to infuse them into the broader national campaign strategy and execution. I have no doubt that the team we have assembled will work extremely hard to make all diaspora feel a part of the campaign." Dr. Bawumia assured them of his openness to embrace all the members, stressing "unity is not something we must take for granted. We must work vigorously at it. As your flagbearer, I stand before you, as an inclusive and a unifying person, with a deep-seated conviction to embrace all of you to my team and campaign. I pledge not to alienate any of you. I stand with you, whether you campaigned for me or not". The NPP International Conference was attended by representatives of the party's external branches across the world. 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 The Paramount Chief of Goaso Traditional Area in the Ahafo region, Nana Akwasi Bosompra I, has encouraged business mogul and politician Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Freedom Jacob Caesar, to continue his quest to become President of Ghana. Nana Akwasi Bosompra I expressed confidence in him, although he admitted that the task ahead of Mr. Bediako in the general elections is a daunting one. Nana Bosompra I said this when Mr. Bediako paid a courtesy call on him as part of his Ahafo regional tour. During the interaction, Nana Kwame Bediako said, There were several factories established in Ghana and in Goaso after our independence, but these factories arent working anymore. I am pleading with you to vote for me to correct things in our society to benefit our children and unborn ones. In response to him, the Paramount chief said, Ghana belongs to all of us; continue with your zeal and determination; it will be a tough fight, but I know you can deliver. Nana Kwame Bediako, popularly known as Freedom Jacob Caesar or Cheddar, describes himself as a visionary leader who has what it takes to turn the fortunes of Ghana around. Mr. Bediako, also the leader of the New Force Movement, says he intends to share his experience in helping develop the country. He also described himself as an industrialist, ready to grow the economy of the country if elected president in the upcoming December elections. I am a developer, I am an industrialist, I am a visionary, I am a humanitarian philanthropist, and I am an entrepreneur. Go and bring someone who has all these credentials and credibility; I have all these, and I want to share because the value of the knowledge is to be shared, he told journalists in Kumasi. He had also indicated that Im that man with a good purpose and a great vision. I have a plan, and I have a vision for this nation. And not only for this nation; I have it for Africa too." But I know Africa is the next biggest thing because, out of all the continents that have been developed in this world, there is only one continent that is not developed and I am sent to do that. Source: Kobina Darlington/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 A senior member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kwesi Ahwoi, has been criticised for suggesting that the partys flagbearer, ex-President John Dramani Mahama, may die for his running mate to take over if NDC wins this years election. Mr. Ahwoi, while proposing a toast at a ceremony honouring Mr. Mahamas running mate, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, advised her to hold herself in readiness to become President of Ghana, stating that anything can happen. According to him, John Dramani Mahama may face the same fate as the late President John Evans Atta Mills, who died in office in 2012, allowing his vice to succeed him. John Mahama was not prepared to be president at the time, but nature schemed things in such a way that President Mills had to give way to John Mahama. Anything can happen, so, Naana, be ever prepared like your motto says. Be ready! Anything can happen and you can become the President of the Republic of Ghana, Kwesi Ahwoi asserted in a video which has gone viral. In line with Ghanas constitution, Mr. Mahama became President of Ghana on July 24, 2012 on the death of his predecessor, Prof. Atta Mills. The late President had returned from medical checkups in the United States a few weeks prior, but complained of pains on Monday evening and died early Tuesday afternoon as his condition deteriorated. The suggestion by Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi, 77, at his office on Church Street, Labone in Accra, that the NDC flagbearer could suffer the same fate has angered pro-Mahama fans in the NDC, who have called it an act of great malevolence. According to reports, the remarks by Mr. Ahwoi, an influential personality in the NDC, shocked several attendees of the event, and some of them unceremoniously left the scene in protest. In the video, a female voice can be heard shouting, No, no, dont pray for death! in response to Kwesi Ahwois statements. Kwesi Ahwoi is said to have sponsored the candidacy of Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang as running mate to John Mahama against all odds. He and his brothers, Ato and Kwamina Ahwoi were reportedly instrumental in the choice of Mr. Mahama as running mate of the late President Atta Mills. On March 7, 2024, the NDC confirmed Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang as former President John Dramani Mahamas running mate. According to a statement issued by its General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, the NDC said it was happy to present a formidable team of John and Jane for the 2024 presidential election. It added that the choice of Prof. Jane Opoku-Agyemang, a former Minister of Education with years of experience, demonstrated the partys commitment to empowering women, noting that Naana is a distinguished academic and leader known for her dedication to education and public service. Her nomination underscores the NDCs unwavering commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and the empowerment of women in leadership roles, the party 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 Presidential Candidate of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Percival Kofi Akpaloo has promised to pay every Ghanaian child a monthly allowance when elected President. According to the presidential aspirant, Ghana will witness a massive transformation in the economy if Ghana wins. In the first place, if elected as President as revealed to me by God, I will pay every Ghanaian child monthly allowance as my six children are benefiting elsewhere in the diaspora. Every child will be paid monthly, and this will make the economy stable so that businesses can flourish because once there is money for every citizen they can as equally patronize goods and items from traders, he told Kwadwo Oppong Kyeremeh. He believes implementing the initiative will help support the welfare of children in the country across all spheres of social life for a better future. The LPG flagbearer said his initiative would not be beneficial to children alone but also to unemployed people until they get jobs to sustain them. Again, as done in abroad, I will pay every Ghanaian who is unemployed and is 18 years and above including the aged who cannot work in their capacity will be paid monthly, he added. Kofi Akpaloo reiterated what has become a long-standing promise to Ghanaians on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, when speaking on the Angel Morning Show (AMS) about his vision for Ghana as President. He added that the Liberal Party of Ghana will ensure this and many more are executed accordingly when given the mandate to complement its manifesto dubbed A Better Tomorrow, A New Plan for Jobs and Wealth Creation. Source: angel online 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 African Legends Night is marking this years Heritage Month, celebrating African music in a special campaign dedicated to honoring the unforgettable celebration of African music. The African Legends Night Heritage Month campaign will showcase some of the continent's most illustrious musical talents, paying homage to the diverse traditions and legacies that have shaped the continents music. From the infectious rhythms of Afro-music, highlife to the soul-stirring melodies of traditional folk songs and Afrobeats, the campaign offers a mesmerizing journey through the vibrant tapestry of African music. The campaign serves as a tribute to the cultural heritage and musical prowess that have long defined Africa's identity. As part of the campaign, a specially curated daily music playlist segment has been created on YFM and Happy FM to play songs by African music legends for listeners to enjoy. "The African Legends Night Heritage Month is not only a tribute to the legendary artists who have shaped African music but also a celebration of the cultural diversity and creativity that define our continent. We invite music lovers to join us in celebrating unforgettable rhythms, melodies, and the enduring legacy of our African legendary artistes," said Jerry Ofori, Head of Events at Global Media Alliance. Powered by Global Media Alliance, African Legends Night is a concert held annually to recognize and celebrate African musicians who are considered living legends. African Legends Night has become synonymous with celebrating the musical excellence and contributions of African legends. These legends, each with their unique style and musical influence, captivate the audience in an unforgettable night of music and celebration The event has over the years celebrated living legends such as Hugh Masekela of South Africa, Femi Kuti of Nigeria, Freddy Meiway, and Ghanaian legends like Amakye Dede, George Darko, Ofie Cudjoe, Gyedu Blay Ambulley, Ben Brako, Kojo Antwi, Samini, Rex Omar, Nat Brew, Akosua Agyapong, Nana Tuffuor, Ofori Amponsah and Daddy Lumba 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 Candidates participating in this years general election were invited to submit information to the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, which partnered with PennLive to create this voters guide. The candidates below are running for the office of Attorney General in Pennsylvania and are in the order provided by the Pa. Dept. of State website. Attorney General - Democrat Keir Bradford-Grey Keir Bradford-Grey poses for a photograph in Philadelphia, Friday, June 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)AP County: Philadelphia Occupation: Attorney Education: BA- Albany State University; JD- Ohio Northern University Pettit School of Law Qualifications: As both a federal and Chief Defender, Ive pioneered legal theories for equal protection, transforming the states largest public defender association into a community defender. I also bring effective administrative skills and unmatched expertise in improving systems and delivering just outcomes. Contact: keirforag.com | instagram.com/keirforpa | facebook.com/keirforpa What are your top three priorities to address as Attorney General? Throughout my career, I have pushed the envelope to advance the principles of the law so that they are applicable to our current societal norms and needs. As Attorney General, Ill challenge powerful interests, from corporate polluters to predatory lenders. My top priorities will include protecting access to vital services like healthcare and housing, ensuring financial stability by holding accountable those engaging in predatory practices, and tackling crimes committed in boardrooms, such as illegal gun distribution and pharmaceutical companies false advertising. I am committed to being the peoples lawyer, advocating for fairness, justice, and the well-being of all. What specific challenges does the Pennsylvania criminal justice system face, and how would you address them? Addressing the challenges within the Pennsylvania criminal justice system requires a comprehensive and collaborative approach. As Attorney General, I will actively combat racial disparities, advocating for equitable law enforcement practices and enhanced legal representation, drawing from my experience as a public defender. Improving post-conviction review processes and advancements in forensic science standards to mitigate the risk of wrongful convictions. Tackling inadequate legal representation involves bolstering public defender resources and exploring innovative approaches. Comprehensive reform for overcrowded prisons, enhancing reentry programs, and fostering positive community-police relations through transparency and accountability. What do you see as the primary challenges to achieving equality under the law? One fundamental challenge is systemic discrimination, deeply rooted in various institutions. Overcoming this requires comprehensive reforms, including in education, employment, and housing, to dismantle discriminatory practices. Additionally, disparities in economic opportunities and healthcare also contribute to unequal outcomes, highlighting the need for policies addressing these socio-economic factors. As Attorney General, my commitment is to address these challenges holistically, advocating for policies that promote economic justice, combat systemic racism, and ensure equitable access to education and healthcare-this includes reproductive health and abortion access. Joseph Khan Joseph Khan is running for Pennsylvania Attorney General.Provided by the League of Women Voters County: Bucks Occupation: Attorney Education: Im a proud graduate of Philadelphia public schools (and now a proud Central Bucks School District dad). I earned my undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College before attending the University of Chicago School of Law, where Professor Barack Obama helped guide me on a path of public service. Qualifications: I am the most experienced prosecutor running, having served 10 years in the U.S. Attorneys Office and 6 years in the Philadelphia DAs Office. I also have the strongest record on civil justice and won statewide recognition for defending our rights and battling corruption as Bucks County Solicitor. Contact: joekhan.com | instagram.com/joekhan252 | facebook.com/JoeKhanforPA What are your top three priorities to address as Attorney General? My top priorities are protecting our democracy, defending reproductive freedom, and protecting against corporate greed. Protecting our Democracy is the greatest task and potential crisis we face - which the Attorney General will be front and center on. Reproductive freedoms are under attack across the country. From when to choose not to have a family through abortion to when to choose to have a family through IVF treatments, I believe Pennsylvanians should have the freedom to make those decisions for themselves. As Attorney General, I will be your legal advocate against corporate greed. I will crack down on businesses and CEOs taking advantage of consumers and help defend workers from wage theft, stop price gouging, and close tax loopholes. What specific challenges does the Pennsylvania criminal justice system face, and how would you address them? As Attorney General, I will work with law enforcement to protect our communities by investing in prevention tactics and holding those who threaten our safety accountable. I will work to restore trust between residents and local law enforcement to ensure our police can best serve and protect the Commonwealth. What do you see as the primary challenges to achieving equality under the law? There are so many places that we have challenges achieving equality under the law, including LGBTQ protections, the criminalization of addiction, and disparities in how the law treats people of different races and ethnicities. As Attorney General, I would enforce the law equally, but also advocate for changes in the law that gave Pennsylvanians greater protections from these inequalities. Eugene DePasquale Eugene DePasquale speaks at a news conference Dec. 4, 2019, in Harrisburg.Commonwealth Media Services County: Allegheny Occupation: Attorney / Adjunct Professor Education: BA from The College of Wooster (OH), an MPA from the University of Pittsburgh and a JD from Widener University School of Law. Qualifications: Eugene DePasquale is the former two-term Auditor General of Pennsylvania. Prior to his tenure as Auditor General , Mr. DePasquale was a three-term member of the state General Assembly representing the 95th District. Contact: depasqualeforag.com | facebook.com/DePasqualePA What are your top three priorities to address as Attorney General? My top priorities are protecting our democracy, defending reproductive freedom, and protecting against corporate greed. Protecting our Democracy is the greatest task and potential crisis we face - which the Attorney General will be front and center on. Reproductive freedoms are under attack across the country. From when to choose not to have a family through abortion to when to choose to have a family through IVF treatments, I believe Pennsylvanians should have the freedom to make those decisions for themselves. As Attorney General, I will be your legal advocate against corporate greed. I will crack down on businesses and CEOs taking advantage of consumers and help defend workers from wage theft, stop price gouging, and close tax loopholes. What specific challenges does the Pennsylvania criminal justice system face, and how would you address them? As Attorney General, I will work with law enforcement to protect our communities by investing in prevention tactics and holding those who threaten our safety accountable. I will work to restore trust between residents and local law enforcement to ensure our police can best serve and protect the Commonwealth. What do you see as the primary challenges to achieving equality under the law? There are so many places that we have challenges achieving equality under the law, including LGBTQ protections, the criminalization of addiction, and disparities in how the law treats people of different races and ethnicities. As Attorney General, I would enforce the law equally, but also advocate for changes in the law that gave Pennsylvanians greater protections from these inequalities. Jack Stollsteimer Jack Stollsteimer looks on during a news conference outside Academy Park High School, April 26, 2022, in Sharon Hill, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)AP County: Delaware Occupation: District Attorney Education: Temple UniversityAos Beasley School of Law Qualifications: District Attorney Delaware County Contact: Campaign website | Facebook What are your top three priorities to address as Attorney General? 1) Reducing gun violence in every community 2) Prosecuting wage theft and protect the right to collectively bargain 3) Protecting our environment and womens reproductive rights. What specific challenges does the Pennsylvania criminal justice system face, and how would you address them? As District Attorney, I see everyday people in our criminal justice system who are suffering from mental health challenges and substance use disorders. We need more resources to divert these people into programs that offer hope. What do you see as the primary challenges to achieving equality under the law? Inequality of resources will always be the primary challenge to ensuring equality under our laws. Jared Solomon Jared Solomon is running for Pennsylvania Attorney General.Provided by the League of Women Voters County: Philadelphia Occupation: State Representative and JAG Attorney in PA National Guard Education: Swarthmore College and Villanova Law Qualifications: Securities and Antitrust Attorney, Community Organizer, State Representative, Chair of Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, lifetime 100% voting scorecard from Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates. Contact: jaredsolomon.com | www.instagram.com/jaredgsolomon/ | facebook.com/JaredSolomonPA What are your top three priorities to address as Attorney General? 1. Abortion and personal health care decisions are between a woman and her doctor, not politicians. As Attorney General, Jared will always protect and defend womens access to abortion in PA. 2. The right to vote is the fundamental right from which all other rights flow. As Attorney General, Jared will work tirelessly to ensure that all Pennsylvanians can exercise their Constitutional right to the ballot box in free and fair elections. 3. As AG, Jared would work with the legislature to finally bring commonsense gun reforms to PA, including stronger red-flag laws, a ban on assault weapons, expanded background checks, and shutting the ghost gun loophole. Jared will take on the gun lobby, reckless gun retailers, and ghost gun manufacturers. What specific challenges does the Pennsylvania criminal justice system face, and how would you address them? As Attorney General, Jared would support investment in training and a return of policing in our cities to pre-pandemic engagement with communities so that officers have sectional integrity in all they do and get to know the schools, churches, and businesses within their sector. Each officer needs to build connections within the community they are policing, helping with investigative work and doing preventive policing instead of reactive policing. Similarly, we must rebrand what it means to be a member of the police force in PA with a massive public-service campaign that resonates with the best and brightest of this next generation to uplift our communities from within our communities. What do you see as the primary challenges to achieving equality under the law? The primary challenge to achieving equality under the law is the outsized influence of special interests who put padding their pocket above protecting Pennsylvanians. These special interests are at every turn: out-of-state landlords who dont care about the communities their properties are in, reckless gun retailers and ghost gun manufacturers, corporate polluters and frackers to name a few. We need an Attorney General who will take on special interests, political power-brokers, and corporate cheats so that regular hard-working Pennsylvanians have a government that works for them. Thats why we need an AG with Jareds record of taking on corporate greed as an antitrust and securities attorney, and of taking on Harrisburg as a State Rep. Attorney General - Republican David Sunday This candidate has not completed the 2024 primary election voters guide. Craig Williams This candidate has not completed the 2024 primary election voters guide. Candidates participating in this years general election were invited to submit information to the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, which partnered with PennLive to create this voters guide. The candidates below are running to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate and are in the order provided by the Pa. Dept. of State website. The candidate is running for a six-year term in office. U.S. Senator - Democrat Bob Casey Jr. Senator Bob Casey meets with PennLives Editorial Board. March 14, 2024. Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com County: Lackawanna Occupation: U.S. Senator Education: B.A. College of the Holy Cross and J.D. Catholic University of America Qualifications: Senator Bob Casey is one of Pennsylvanias two sitting senators and has a record of delivering for Pennsylvanians. He has helped create thousands of good-paying jobs in the Commonwealth, lowered costs for families and seniors, secured our rights, and fought for Pennsylvanias most vulnerable. Contact: Campaign Website | Instagram | Facebook | What do you see as the most pressing issues facing the country, and how would you address them? Im fighting for our rights, lower costs for working families, economic freedom for workers, and our countrys children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities. I see each of these fights as critical for our country. Ive supported legislation to defend democracy, protect a womans right to choose, and a workers right to organize. Im holding big corporations accountable for greedflation and raising prices on working people while they rake in record profits. Ive helped pass legislation that will create tens of thousands of new jobs in Pennsylvania and saved pensions for tens of thousands of workers. I also helped pass the PACT to provide care to veterans who have suffered aftering being exposed to toxic burn pits. What changes, if any, would you support that would help Congress function more efficiently and effectively? I support increasing ethical standards in Washington and reducing conflicts of interest to hold government officials to the high standards that Americans expect of them. I'm an original co-sponsor of the For The People Act, which would increase restrictions on coordination between Super PACs and candidates. I also co-sponsored and helped pass the Stock Act, which banned members of Congress from trading stocks based on non-public information and I back efforts to stop members from trading stocks entirely. I believe all of these steps aimed at increasing transparency and accountability will help make our Congress work better for Americans. I will continue to fight for greater transparency in politics. What legislation would you support to protect voting rights and safeguard access to free and fair elections? I am working hard to protect the fundamental right to vote from extreme MAGA Republicans across the country who are trying to erect new barriers to voting. I co-sponsored the Freedom to Vote Act to ensure every American can access the ballot box on an equal basis, including by setting minimum standards for early and mail voting, modernizing voter registration, and ending partisan gerrymandering. I am also an original co-sponsor of the John Lewis Votings Rights Advancement Act, which would ensure that voters in states with a history of voting rights violations have equal access to voting as all other Americans. In addition, I sponsored the Accessible Voting Act of 2021 to make it easier for seniors and those living with a disability to vote. How do you view the role of the US in responding to challenges facing the international community? I believe we must protect our interests abroad with diplomatic engagement, working with allies, and foreign assistance, coupled with our national security apparatus. Our Nation is currently facing immense national security challenges, including competing with China, combating climate change alongside global allies, fighting terrorism, countering Russia's aggression, supporting our ally in Israel and providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, and combating the threat of nuclear terrorism. I have worked to address these challenges as a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, where I have pursued a national security strategy that protects our interests, promotes human rights throughout the world, and supports those who serve our country. U.S. Senator - Republican David McCormick This candidate has not completed the 2024 primary election voters guide. By Mary Ellen Wright, LNP, Lancaster, Pa. (TNS) Bird-in-Hand Stage will face some logistical challenges as it opens its musical The Confession in its temporary digs at the former Revere Tavern in Paradise, while the theater and restaurant building on Old Philadelphia Pike is being repaired after a fire. The dinner theater is moving to the tavern building while its regular space at the Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant & Smorgasbord on Old Philadelphia Pike, is being rebuilt after a Jan. 30 fire. But the challenges of the temporary move are nothing the team cant handle, says Melissa Brown, Bird-in-Hand stage manager. At this point, the plan is to be at Revere until at least June, Brown says. Everything thats gone into moving over there, so far, we prefer to see it as a challenge rather than a problem. The size will actually be about the same for the theater, Brown says. We have the same number of seats (145) and a very similar layout. One of the challenges that came with that is that we still have to completely redesign our seating chart, Brown says. Usually we have everyone greeted individually and we walk them to their seats, which wont be possible at the Revere. Plus, there are different levels of seating in the Bird-in-Hand venue. At the Revere, however, theyre all going to be on the same level, but the stage will be higher. So the audience, instead of looking down on the stage, will be looking up at it. The stage is actually carpet rather than a wood floor like most stages, Brown says. Thats one of the curve balls were working with. Its a little tricky to move sets around when theyre on wheels and youre trying to wheel it through carpet. In addition, she says, were losing about 4 feet of width on the stage, so its a little bit smaller than ours at Bird-in-Hand, and our wing space is significantly smaller. So weve had to redesign our set completely. And some of the blocking ... will have to change, as well. The Confession director Monica DePaul adds that we dont have a lot of backstage space at the Revere Tavern, so that prevents the shows creative team from using the backdrops and flats they would normally use to suggest the interiors of buildings. Brown says the menu at the Revere will be the same as that at Bird-in-Hand. Its three separate rooms rather than one large room, but the food will be the same, Brown says. Were keeping a very very similar menu to our traditional menu. The Revere Tavern building has so much history to it, just like ours does, she says. We think our guests will really like the historic feel of the tavern, and I think it will help elevate the theme of the show as well, having them sitting in a historic building. Brown says the owners of the Revere Tavern building had first offered the building to the Bird-in-Hand staff after an unrelated Dec. 18 explosion that damaged part of the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn. They reached out again after (the fire) to offer the space again, Brown says. Im just grateful that we have that space and people can stay employed, DePaul says. Its a real blessing to find someplace thats just sitting there, waiting to be inhabited. Five-time Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste says that playing the piano for him is like breathing. Batiste will perform four STREAMS: Jon Batiste At The Piano exclusive shows in May and one of those is at Hershey Theatre. He will perform at Hershey at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2024. Tickets go on sale on Friday, March 29. He also will perform: Thursday, May 9 - Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, New York Friday, May 10 - Mainstage Theatre at UB Center for the Arts, Buffalo, New York Sunday, May 12 - Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center, Red Bank, New Jersey I am at home on the piano. STREAMS is a stream-of-consciousness music that comes to me in the moment without rehearsal or preparation. Playing piano for me is like breathing. Its prayer, its dreaming, its conversation. I want to be in the conversation with the audience and share this intimate creative space. Its a one-of-a-kind experience each time, a spontaneous flow state, completely improvised, Batiste said in a news release. Batiste is currently touring in support of his latest Grammy-nominated album, World Music Radio. The sold-out Uneasy Tour: Purifying the Airwaves for the People has earned rave reviews from critics. Batiste also has won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Movie star Kevin Bacon is getting ready to cut loose once again and go back to high school. According to the Los Angeles Times, Bacon will be headed to Payson High School in Utah, the primary shooting location for the 1984 film Footloose, in which Bacon starred. He will be accepting an invitation to appear at this years prom, which will be the final one held in the building before it will be torn down for renovation due to aging infrastructure. Bacons appearance is just one of many Footloose-themed events that have been held at Payson High School to mark the films 40th anniversary, and celebrate before the renovations begin. Basically this whole year has been the Footloose year, said Payson High School student Rubie Raff in an interview on Today. Among those events were a Footloose movie night, a production of the Footloose stage musical and the renaming of their Mr. Payson pageant as Mr. Bacon. The Washington Post reports that one English teacher even assigned her students to write a persuasive argument paper with the subject of convince Kevin Bacon to come to the school. The schools collective efforts paid off, and Bacon confirmed hell be attending in a live broadcast with Today to a school assembly at Payson. He also thanked I have been so impressed with everything thats been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back, Bacon said. So thank you, thank you, and Im gonna come. I gotta come. Bacon also thanked the students for their work in fundraising for his nonprofit group SixDegrees. The students will be donating 5,000 resource kits, which will be part of 40,000 that SixDegrees will be distributing to communities across the country. HUNTINGTOWN, Md. (AP) Three middle schoolers from southern Maryland have been charged with hate crimes after they displayed swastikas, performed Nazi salutes and made derogatory remarks about a classmates religion, according to county prosecutors. Officials with the Calvert County States Attorneys Office said the harassment began in December and the students refused to stop despite repeated requests. The victim ultimately reported the behavior to Maryland State Police, which investigated and filed charges against the students. The defendants, all 13, are students at Plum Point Middle School in Calvert County, which serves students in sixth through eighth grades and is about 50 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. Their names are being withheld because theyre underage. Officials said the charges will be forwarded to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services for appropriate action. Prosecutors announced the charges in a news release last week. They didnt elaborate on the alleged derogatory remarks. Maryland was founded on the principle of religious toleration, States Attorney Robert Harvey said in a statement. It is frankly astonishing that nearly 400 years later some people continue to persecute others based upon their religion. Calvert County Public Schools officials didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday. The school systems website includes a statement on how it handles allegations of racism and other forms of discrimination. Calvert County Public Schools explicitly denounces racism, bullying, discrimination, white supremacy, hate, and racial inequity in any form within our school community, the statement says. A report released in March 2023 by the Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitic incidents in Maryland had nearly doubled over the past year. Similar instances of antisemitism also have increased nationally in recent years. More: Gov. Shapiro talks about being Pa.s leading cheerleader, sports fan, family man When is criticism of Israel antisemitic? A scholar of modern Jewish history explains | The Conversation Lawsuit accuses MIT of allowing antisemitism on campus By David Matthews, New York Daily News (TNS) A 34-year-old U.S. Navy sailor died last week after falling overboard while on deployment in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, the Department of Defense said. Aviation Machinists Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesol fell from the destroyer USS Mason on March 20, the military branch said in a statement. Search and recovery operations were conducted but unsuccessful and Aregbesol was declared lost on Saturday. Further information about the incident was not released. He died as a result of a non-combat-related incident, the Pentagon said in a statement. An investigation is ongoing. Petty Officer Aregbesola fully embodied the selfless character and thoughtful warrior spirit of the United States Navy Sailor, Cmdr. Eric Kohut, HSM-74 commanding officer, said. His outstanding performance prior to and during deployment went well beyond aircraft maintenance; he truly saw and valued every member of the ship/air team. He will continue on in the heart of every Swamp Fox and our brothers and sisters in the IKE Carrier Strike Group. Our deepest thoughts and prayers are with his family. Aregbesola, of Florida, joined the Navy in July 2020. In January 2024, two Navy SEALs went missing after falling from a ship into the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. The SEALs were part of a team that had intercepted the ship, which was reportedly headed to Yemen with Iranian weapons. They were declared dead after a 10-day search mission. An embryologist uses a microscope to view an embryo, visible on a monitor. AP Photo/Richard Drew, File In the weeks since the Alabama Supreme Court held that embryos are unborn children under one state law, most attention has been focused on in vitro fertilization whether the decision imperils parents attempts to create a family. On March 6, 2024, Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation to shield IVF providers from legal liability, though the new law does not address frozen embryos legal status. As a health law professor, I believe its also important to understand the laws that shaped the courts decision: not only Alabamas laws about unborn children, but wrongful death laws. This is a legal claim where family members can bring a civil lawsuit against a person who intentionally or carelessly caused the family members death, which is different from any criminal charges. Over the past 100 years, laws have evolved to reflect a wider sense of what it means to lose a loved one, and how to compensate their family. Courts have been asked to interpret how wrongful death laws should apply to situations before a child is born. What happened in the clinic? The Alabama case, LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine, was brought by three couples who had used IVF at a fertility clinic. They sued the clinic after a patient who wandered into the cryogenic nursery, where frozen embryos are stored, picked some up and accidentally dropped them on the floor, destroying them. In the language of the court, this killed the embryos, since they might have developed into a healthy fetus if implanted in the uterus. The three sets of parents filed a lawsuit based on a claim for wrongful death. Like about 40 other states, Alabama allows parents to bring a claim for wrongful death of an unborn child. The court said the question in this case centered around whether the term unborn child in state laws only refers to an embryo or fetus in utero, or whether there is an unwritten exception for embryos that have not yet been transferred to the womb. The courts decision Alabama Supreme Court cases in 2011 and 2012 had already held that the states wrongful death law allows expectant parents to bring a claim following a death at any stage of the embryos or fetuss development. In addition, Alabama amended its state constitution in 2018 to affirm that public policy of the state should protect the rights of the unborn child. Combining the previous cases, the state constitution and even dictionary definitions, the court said nothing in the current wrongful death law would exempt extrauterine children that is, unborn children who are located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed. This ruling does not mean that the parents won a wrongful death lawsuit, but that a court will be able to hear the parents claim for wrongful death. The legal value of an embryo This is significant because in other cases where embryos were destroyed, the law generally has treated embryos as parents property, or allege negligence by the clinic. Only a handful of other states including Illinois, Missouri and Georgia allow wrongful death lawsuits for embryos. IVF is a significant investment of time and money, and involves a variety of medical risks. In a case where fertility treatment goes wrong, couples could try to recoup those costs through civil lawsuits that sometimes treat frozen embryos as property. However, that does not account for each embryos biological and emotional uniqueness. Before the Alabama ruling, other cases had tried to classify embryos as living people to signify their irreplaceable value. Some legal experts assert that embryos only have subjective and relational value. In other words, only parents can decide whether or not they are important and have meaning. Other experts suggest that embryos have inherent value because they are each genetically distinct, unique human life at the earliest stage. They argue that allowing protection for some stages of human development but not others violates human rights principles. How wrongful death laws work How the value of an embryo is defined also shapes whether wrongful death laws would apply. Wrongful death laws were originally designed to compensate family members for the loss of that persons services and contributions. Damages from a lawsuit could pay medical bills, funeral expenses and lost earnings from that persons job, for example. Each state has its own wrongful death law. Since the 1850s, these laws have allowed parents to bring claims to recover damages from a person who causes their childs death. Initially, these laws were designed as an economic tool because parents expected their children to work. Now, according to some legal scholars, many states recognize that losing a child means much more: a moral injury, pain and the anguish from losing the childs company and affection. Some states allow the family to recover damages for suffering and grief recognizing a persons inherent value, not only their economic value. Awarding damages to a grieving family is meant to deter risky actions that could result in loss of life. By the mid-1900s, courts began to allow wrongful death claims for children that died before birth as a result of another persons negligence or carelessness. Some states specify that this includes at any stage of gestation. Some laws, including in Nebraska and Texas, prevent families from suing the pregnant woman, or from suing her medical provider, if she opts to have a medical procedure that results in unintended fetal loss. Others specify that the law does not apply in cases of abortion. What the case means moving forward Some policymakers have expressed concern that Alabamas decision criminalizes parents from trying to grow their family, or that they would face prosecution. However, this is not accurate, since this case only relates to civil lawsuits, not criminal law. Nor does the decision prohibit using IVF. The Alabama attorney general has stated that he does not intend to use this decision to prosecute either parents or IVF providers. However, several fertility clinics announced that they would pause their IVF services while assessing the law. Based on the U.S. Constitution, courts can only interpret what the law is, not decide what they think it should be. In response, state legislators rapidly proposed a variety of bills aimed at preserving IVF. The bill signed into law on March 6, 2024 gives broad immunity to IVF clinics, shielding providers from prosecution and lawsuits for the damage to or death of an embryo. However, it provides more protection than is standard, which may create unintended consequences for example, potentially making it more difficult to sue for negligence or breach of contract. As Alabama legislators discuss next steps, they need to incorporate the state constitution while considering how to reflect the will of their voters. Katherine Drabiak, Professor of Health Law, Public Health Law and Medical Ethics, University of South Florida This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel made her first paid appearance on NBC on Sundays Meet the Press, and, as anticipated, it did not go well. When pressed by host Kristen Welker, McDaniel said she disagreed with Donald Trumps plans to free any insurrectionist who has been convicted and is serving time, because if you attacked our capitol and you have been convicted, then that should stay. Trump, however, has said for weeks that he will open the jail cells on Day One if returned to the White House. But when asked why she hasnt spoken out sooner, given that Trump was talking about his plan while she was still working for the GOP, McDaniel said being a good Trump soldier was more important than defending the rule of law. When youre the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team, right? she said. Now, I get to be a little bit more myself, right? Former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, whose investigation laid bare the multi-level coup scheme and led to criminal indictments, isnt buying it. The author of the book Oath and Honor pointed out that, as GOP Committee Chair, McDaniel had called the insurrection legitimate political discourse. Ronna facilitated Trumps corrupt fake elector plot and his effort to pressure [Michigan] officials not to certify the legitimate election outcome, Cheney tweeted. She spread his lies and called 1/6 legitimate political discourse. Thats not taking one for the team. Its enabling criminality & depravity. McDaniel also has been caught on tape urging Michigan officials not to certify the 2020 Michigan presidential results while promising to get them lawyers. Former Meet the Press host Chuck Todd appeared on the show minutes later after Welker told viewers, I was not involved in her hiring to throw their employer under the bus. Its looking more unlikely McDaniel will keep the gig. I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation, because I dont know what to believe, Todd said. She is now a paid contributor by NBC News. I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didnt want to mess up her contract. She wants us to believe that she was speaking for the RNC when the RNC was paying her. So she has she has credibility issues that she still has to deal with. Theres a reason why theres a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this, because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination. McDaniel also told Welker that she had to remain neutral during the GOP primaries when she actually called for Nikki Haley to get out of the race. Olivia Troye, former member of former Vice President Mike Pences staff, tweeted, While [McDaniel] now states that she doesnt condone violence and attacks on law enforcement ... would love to hear her explanation regarding the fundraising text messages she authorized that went out from the RNC attacking the FBI for doing their jobs. She owes the national security and law enforcement community an apology. After announcing when she was hired that McDaniel would contribute across all NBC News platforms, NBC network executives backed down following backlash and threats of a boycott from viewers and employees, decreeing that McDaniel will not appear on MSNBC. In a hastily drafted memo, Rashida Jones, the cable networks president, told employees the cable network has no plans to have McDaniel on MSNBC, according to people familiar with the conversations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. A number of MSNBC anchors and producers have objected to McDaniels hiring because of her ties to former President Donald Trump, her reluctance to say the 2020 presidential election results were accurate, and her alleged role in the scheme to nominate fake Electoral College electors and the RNCs efforts to challenge the results. Steve Schmidt, former Republican consultant, tweeted: The journalism disgrace at NBC/MSNBC is historic. Do not doubt that. The hiring of a fascist, Ronna McDaniel, who is an election denier and serial liar who conspired to overthrow democracy in America is as cynical and corrupt as it gets. Former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger Cheneys GOP partner on the January 6 Committee joined Cheney in his withering criticism of McDaniels first appearance. Putting Ronna Romney on NBC News is one of the most head scratching things, he tweeted. She led the censure for Liz Cheney and I (which we could care less about), and empowered Trump and neutered everyone else in the primary. Insane choice. Lies lies lies for NBC viewers. Others pointed out that McDaniel as RNC Chairman led that team in raising millions of dollars by duping Americans into believing the election was stolen. Added Victor Shi, a former Democratic delegate who is appealing to young voters: NBC knew exactly what they were doing when they hired Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor. No amount of rehabilitation will change their hiring. Her interview this morning, full of lies & gaslighting, was expected and its why I didnt watch and never will watch her. Shameful. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription. A New York Times essayist is calling out presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump for making a mobster pivot and campaigning as an American gangster. Is it the latest evidence of so-called Trump Derangement Syndrome TDS? Or does the Times guest essayist and author Samuel Earle have a point? Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones makes an announcement at Sunnybrook Hospital, in Toronto Thursday, August 18, 2022. Hospitals and long-term care homes spent nearly $1 billion last year to fill shifts with nurses and personal support workers from private staffing agencies, a Ministry of Health document estimates. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young When the final day of the 888poker LIVE Bucharest festival began, Razvan Morar was among the short stacks coming back for Day 3 of the 560 Main Event. The Romanian returned to action with just 12 big blinds, and that number fell below five at one point during play at the final two tables. As he watched others head to the payout desk, Morar found a pair of key doubles that propelled him to the final table. With his father watching on the rail at 888poker Room Bucharest, Morar continued to chip up until reaching heads-up play against Florin Elisei. Despite starting at an almost three-to-one disadvantage, Morar overcame the odds and locked up an emotional win in his home country. The Main Event produced a strong field of 406 entries, with the top 51 players earning a cash of at least 1,000. The final 17 players that returned for the final day had all locked up a minimum of 2,275, with Morar earning the 37,000 first-place prize and the shiny 888poker LIVE trophy. Razvan Morar 560 Main Event Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize (EUR) 1 Razvan Morar Romania 37,000 2 Florin Elisei Romania 24,000 3 Andrei Miron Romania 18,400 4 Alexandru Lupuleac Romania 15,000 5 Alexandru Varninschi Romania 12,000 6 Konstantinos Vatseris Greece 9,000 7 Dan Galinschi Romania 6,500 8 Corneliu Popescu Romania 4,900 9 Alexandru Brumaru Romania 4,200 Final Day Action The day began with Morar joined by plenty of other short stacks, as eight of the remaining 17 players entered play with less than 20 big blinds. Adrian Ionescu was among the early exits on Day 3 after running into the pocket aces of Alexandru Brumaru. It was about this time that Morar began making his move up the leaderboard, doubling up twice while more players hit the rail. As the final two tables began short-handed play, Dumitru Barta was knocked out by Morar after missing his draw. One of the more entertaining hands of the day came when Corneliu Popescu was down to a river card, needing to find a seven to stay alive. With seven fingers held up in the air, Popescu celebrated as the dealer flipped over the 7 to earn the double. After doubling up Morar earlier in the day, Alexandru Mitracu was eliminated on the final table bubble. That bubble lasted almost two hours, as the remaining players battled for a spot under the lights of the feature table. Main Event Final Table Final Table Story Brumaru and Popescu were the first to fall after taking photos for the official 888poker LIVE Bucharest final table. Day 1c chip leader Dan Galinschi then fell in seventh place after his pocket kings were cracked by Elisei. The chip leader entering the final day was Konstantinos Vatseris, who was looking to improve on a seventh-place finish at this event last August. It was not to be this time, as Vatseris also fell to Elisei to exit in sixth position. Alexandru Varninschi was next to fall when he ran into pocket jacks, before Alexandru Lupuleac became Morars first victim of the day to finish fourth. Andrei Miron was the short stack entering three-handed play, and could not improve that position as he was knocked out by Elisei. Razvan Morar & Florin Elisei Heads-Up Comeback That left Elisei and Morar to battle for the trophy, with Morar facing a familiar storyline as heads-up play began. Elisei carried a sizeable chip advantage, but a combination of timely plays and timely cards allowed Morar to chip away at the deficit. After about an hour, Morar clawed his way into the lead and never looked back. The final hand saw Elisei shove a flush draw on the flop, which Morar called with top pair. As the river card hit the felt, Morar raised his fist and looked at his dad on the rail, who was already celebrating and clapping for his sons victory. Despite facing long odds all day long, Morar found a way to get the job done and now gets to enjoy the spoils of the top prize and the 888poker LIVE trophy. Thats a wrap from 888poker LIVE Bucharest, but be sure to check out the PokerNews live reporting hub for coverage of events around the globe! Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) went to embarrassing lengths to try to impress Trump on ABCs This Week. Transcript via ABCs This Week: RUBIO: Look at the world, every single day we wake up to a new crisis, to a new conflict. Everything has gone on fire since the time Joe Biden took over. Afghanistans gone down. Ukraine has been invaded. Now, the Philippines and the Chinese are on the verge of something bad happening every single day. Not to mention the threats to Taiwan. And we have this blowup in Haiti going on in our very own hemisphere. We take up every single day, terrorist attacks, 9 million people across the border. Thats what matters to me. To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily. KARL: But but but youre but I mean I mean youre not suggesting thats all happening because of Biden and everything? RUBIO: Absolutely I am. KARL: But well, let me RUBIO: Absolutely Im suggesting its happening because of Biden. Hes president and his weakness and his KARL: Just because of Biden that that Russia invaded Ukraine? RUBIO: Absolutely. Video: What a humiliating performance the United States Senator. Sen. Rubio (R-FL) knows better than to blame Biden for everything that has happened. Rubio knows that any president doesnt control world events. Despite Rubios claims that he hasnt talked to Trump or his team about joining the ticket, the senator from Florida was auditioning for the job on ABC. Marco Rubio hates the Senate. He has hated being a senator for years, which is why he keeps running for or floating a presidential bid. Getting on the Trump ticket would finally be a path to the White House for him, so Rubio apparently attempted to outdo Tim Scott in the race to the Republican senator who is the most willing to humiliate himself to be Trumps running mate. Trump doesnt have a magic appeal to these senators. The allure is the ability to get to the White House and be the first person in line to replace Trump in 2028. Marco Rubio wants to be sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office and it looks like he is willing to do anything to get there. A Special Message From PoliticusUSA If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here. We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value. Michigan Sec. of State Jocelyn Benson said that Ronna McDaniel endangered the states election workers by pushing Trumps lies. McDaniel defended participating in Trumps attempted coup on Meet The Press: New NBC News hire Ronna McDaniel goes on Meet The Press and defends helping Trump with his coup, "I regret the fact that people are being threatened for doing their job in this country. I think it's wrong to say I want a simple audit and to have your family be threatened." pic.twitter.com/eytRmigRY7 Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 24, 2024 To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily. McDaniel said: I regret the fact that people are being threatened for doing their job in this country. I think its wrong to say, I want a simple audit, and to have your family be threatened, your daughter be threatened, your livelihood be threatened, being called racist. Go look at the transcripts. And this is the one thing: We cant have one standard for Democrat election workers and not Republican. Michigan Sec. of State Benson responded: Hi @RonnaMcDaniel I also regret the fact that people are being threatened for doing their job. For the last 3+ years professional election workers have been threatened because of yours & others lies. No amount of memory lapses changes that reality. Ronna McDaniel and the candidate whose criminality she enabled are a big reason why election workers were and are still being threatened. For McDaniel to pretend like it is somehow Democrats who are threatening election workers, is borderline delusional. The reason why election workers are being threatened is because Donald Trump lied about them to tell his false tales of rigged and stolen elections. NBC News gave Ronna McDaniel the platform to spread these lies and now public officials are taking to social media to correct the record, and stop the spread of false information. A Special Message From PoliticusUSA If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here. We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski announced that Ronna McDaniel will not be appearing on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid NBC News contributor. Joe Scarborough said, I know you wont be surprised to know that weve been inundated with calls this weekend, as have most people connected with this network, about NBCs decision to hire her. We learned about the hiring when we read about it in the press on Friday. We werent asked our opinion of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons. Iing but not limited to, as lawyers might say Ms. McDaniels role in Donald Trumps fake elector scheme and her pressuring election officials to not certify election results while Donald Trump was on the phone. Mika Brzezinski continued, To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, but it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier. We hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor. Video: To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily. The two most powerful on-air talents at MSNBC are Joe Scarborough and Rachel Maddow. A look at the programming schedule of the network reveals that most of the talent that have shows have some connection to Maddow or Morning Joe. Those two programs are ratings drivers and a big part of MSNBCs brand. So for Scarborough and Brzezinski to announce on the air their opposition to the McDaniel hiring, and that she wont be appearing on their program is a very big deal. The fact that they were not asked about the hiring in advance matches what Chuck Todd said on Meet The Press on Sunday. It appears that the corporate bosses at NBC decided to hire McDaniel without asking or talking to any of the talent about it. The hiring and platforming of McDaniel has been criticized by everyone from Liz Cheney to the Michigan Secretary of State. NBC News made a big mistake and they need to get out of the Ronna McDaniel business today. make their move or pack up and end this investigation. A Special Message From PoliticusUSA If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here. We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value. Trumps election interference/hush money trial in Manhattan is very likely to start in less than a month, but the defendant is refusing to accept reality. The New York Times reported, The ruling almost exactly a year after the Manhattan district attorneys office won an indictment of Mr. Trump makes it all but certain the former president will go on trial next month. If he does, he will be the first former American president to face a trial on criminal charges, even as three other cases against him remain mired in appeals and delays. It sounds like Donald Trump is about to become a criminal defendant Trump, but this is how he reacted when asked at a press conference if he would testify, I dont know youre going to have a trial. I dont know how you can have a trial like this in the middle of an election, a presidential election. Again, this is a Biden trial. These are all Biden trials because Colangelo works for Biden. Can you imagine they take a guy out of DOJ and put him into the attorney generals office and then into the Manhattan DAs office to go after Trump? These are all Biden trials. I dont know if youre going to have it. I think well get some court rulings. Video: To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily. Trump is in complete denial. He is almost certainly going to trial, and this trial has the sensationalism that will grab the country. The case has sex, money, a crime, and a cover-up. The hush money case gets scoffed at because it has the least serious implications for the country. It doesnt involve a coup or a plot to overturn an election, or the attack on the Capitol. There are no classified documents in this case. The hush money case is also the easiest to follow and understand. Voters continue to express that if Trump is convicted of a felony, it will pretty much doom his campaign. It is the case that everyone has overlooked that might make Donald Trump a convicted felon. A Special Message From PoliticusUSA If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here. We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value. An Aiken author recently released his fifth book. R. George "Bob" Clark's "Sweet-Tango Terror" was published in December and like his other books also features private detective Marc LaRose. Clark, a retired New York state trooper who moved to Aiken around 17 years ago, said LaRose is his alter-ego. In Clark's fourth book, "Masters of Terror," LaRose travels to an Aiken-like area. In the "Sweet-Tango Terror," LaRose returns to upstate New York to investigate a murder in Plattsburgh. "He's investigating the death of a young girl who was found in an apple bin," Clark said Thursday morning. Upstate New York is home to more than 700 apple orchards and grows more apples than any other state according to Sun Orchard Apples. The murdered girl is a student at the University of Vermont, Clark continued. The University of Vermont is located in Burlington, across Lake Champlain from Plattsburgh. Iowa and LSU would rather not be playing each other on Monday night. LSU coach Kim Mulkey says the Elite Eight game would have been better as a Final Four matchup. The storylines are plentiful. Its not just a rematch, its last years champion against a No. 1 seed. And its two of the games biggest and most competitive stars in Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark going head to head again. The Tigers won 102-85 last year and have added transfers Aneesah Morrow and Hailey Van Lith to those back from that team. Clark says she plans to be more aggressive this time around after settling for 19 3-point attempts on 22 shots last year. Read moreIowa and LSU are ready to meet again in a rematch of the 2023 national championship game Two people are wanted on murder charges after a shooting that occurred Wednesday evening near North Augusta. Aiken County Sheriff's investigators are looking for information on the whereabouts of Shirlette Danielle Hayes, 29, and Stephon Xzavier Dunbar, 23, Capt. Eric Abdullah said in a news release. Read moreAiken County Sheriff's deputies searching for two people after North Augusta shooting Also, the owner of the Mount Holly aluminum smelter near Goose Creek plans to open the first new U.S. metal-making plant in nearly 45 years. Read moreSC ports paving higher ground to protect BMWs from Charleston flooding "I'm not going to be able to open that warehouse up and just let people come in and back up a truck and start picking things up without a court order," she said. Nicholas Wood, who paid nearly $6,500 to On The Level to remodel the kitchen at his Goose Creek home, said Kaufman's company ordered the wrong kitchen cabinets and then put them in the warehouse after retrieving them. "So, you picked the cabinets up from my house and now I don't have my cabinets or my $6,500, and I've been without a kitchen since October," Wood said during the hearing. Kaufman and his wife, Amanda, who was an employee of the company, sold their Dorchester County home for $440,000 a few weeks before the bankruptcy filing, according to public property records, and they now live in Greer. Wood accused Kaufman during the hearing of continuing to take payments from clients even as he knew we was getting ready to put On The Level into bankruptcy. "You continuously did work for me and some of the other creditors and it seems to me you had this planned the whole time," said Wood, who obtained a financial judgment this month against Kaufman and On The Level in Charleston County magistrate's court. "You knew you were filing bankruptcy in January so throughout the last quarter of 2023 you did business and kept our money and didn't care because you knew what the plan was." Kaufman did not respond to Wood but, under questioning from Vieira, he said that his business started experiencing financial problems during the second quarter of 2023 and operated at a loss the rest of the year. When Vieira asked Kaufman if he ever diverted company money to personal bank accounts for him or his wife, Kaufman answered, "Nope." He added that if money had been diverted, it would have been done without his knowledge. Hal Cobb, an attorney representing Charissa DeBow, said he plans to ask for an examination similar to a deposition to question Kaufman about On The Level's financial dealings. DeBow paid nearly $92,000 to the firm during the last half of 2023 for kitchen, bathroom and other remodeling work that was never completed. Although the interior of most of her Charleston home's first floor has been demolished, the materials she paid for are in the Remount Road warehouse. Members of the Charleston County School District teacher compensation task force plan to rally for higher wages at the March 25 school board meeting. The task forces main request is that the board incorporate last years $5,000 one-time bonus into teachers pay scales, and increase pay and benefits for school-based classified employees. Its ultimate goal is that the board raise teachers starting salaries to $58,000, which would trigger a pay increase for teachers across-the-board. The starting salary for first-year teachers is currently $48,146 per year. Patrick Martin, CCSD teacher and member of the task force, called for those attending the March 25 meeting to wear red, the traditional color to advocate for educators and schools. Were encouraging everyone to break out their red to show their support for public education and teacher compensation, he said. Martin said more than 30 teachers confirmed they will attend the meeting and 10 plan to speak in front of the board. But some teachers who plan to speak are facing challenges since CCSD no longer allows members of the public to sign up electronically to speak at board meetings and must register in person. A lot of us are interested in at least voicing our opinion that the system of having people show up at 4:15 and sign up for the 5:15 meeting is not the most conducive thing for a teacher, he said. So a lot of us are taking personal time to get there earlier to sign up. Still, Martin said that teachers are excited for the opportunity to speak to the board about how investing in teachers and school-based classified employees is paramount for the success of schools in the current budget cycle. The role of the task force in obtaining these raises becomes crucial for CCSD educators amid a teacher shortage and retention crisis in South Carolina, and nationwide. The South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement reported in November that districts reported more than 1,600 teacher vacancies at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, compared to around 1,400 for the previous year. The report also stated that, on average, more than 7,000 educators in South Carolina public school districts leave the profession each year. As Nancy Morrow drove to teach in Beaufort during one 1980s winter cold-snap, she noticed a student trekking along in a tattered shirt and no jacket. She offered the shivering student a ride to school. When he hopped into her backseat, she looked down to see his toes peeking through too-small sneakers. She took a ruler to his feet and the student received new shoes and a warm jacket by the end of the day. She wasnt satisfied just knowing he had new soles for his steps and warmth around his arms. That Christmas, she brought her husband and their two young children to deliver presents to the boys entire family. It was their first time receiving gifts for the holiday, husband David Morrow recalled his wifes kindness through tears, his voice shaking with emotion. They didnt know, really, what it was all about. Its just one example of how his wife cared for students outside her designated duties as a high school English teacher. She was tough and wouldnt give grades away. But she pushed her kids to excel during her 17 years in the profession. She was the force several former students credited for changing their trajectories. She took care of people, David said. But everything came to a grinding halt on Dec. 17, 2023, when heavy rains from a Noreaster storm coupled with high tide inundated the Charleston area with the highest non-tropical tide on record . The Morrows home is perched on slightly higher ground than several lakes that surround the impressive property in a gated Mount Pleasant community off Omni Boulevard. As the couple attempted to move two cars onto an elevated portion of their driveway, a gust of wind and floodwater forced Nancys vehicle into the nearby pond. The car locked up, trapping her inside. David was unable to save her before she drowned. She was 72. Now, just three months after her sudden passing, David has found a way to preserve her legacy as a teacher. ANDERSON The family of a man who died from his injuries after a 2020 incident at the Anderson County Detention Center that led to the arrest of his jailers has been awarded a $1.25 million settlement. Robert Dale Robertson died Oct. 24, 2020 from injuries sustained after detention officers a week earlier used force against him while he was handcuffed. The South Carolina Insurance Reserve Fund issued a $1 million payment to Robertsons family on behalf of the county after the lawsuit was settled in August 2023. Anderson County agreed to pay $250,000. Detention center officers Milton Brady Wilson and Chancelor Stephen Lee Saxton were each charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of misconduct in office in the death. The pair performed a leg sweep maneuver on Robertson while his hands were cuffed behind his back, causing him to fall, hit his head and sustain a cervical spine fracture that ultimately caused his death, according to South Carolina Law Enforcement Division arrest warrants. Saxton and Wilson were arrested in May 2021 and held at the Abbeville County Detention Center before posting bond. The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney Generals Office, according to SLED. Wilson and Anderson County settled another lawsuit in January 2023 after a former inmate claimed Wilson assaulted him in the detention center in September 2020. Frank Waddell, 74, thought it was a nice photo of him performing at a music festival, so he sent it to his daughter. But she focused in on one thing: his ankles appeared swollen. That small detail betrayed heart problems Waddell was developing due to atrial fibrillation, the most common rhythm problem with the heart. It launched him on a sometimes voyage that curtailed his active life and forced him to miss his daughter graduating from nursing school. But with new technology at Roper St. Francis Healthcare, he is feeling better and regaining his stride. Waddell had atrial fibrillation, also known as A-fib, which affects as many as 2 million people in the U.S., according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The heart has a continuous electrical signal to keep its upper and lower chambers pumping in efficient rhythm, but sometimes changes to heart tissue can throw off that cycle, causing the heart to beat faster and less effectively. In Waddell's case, it didn't happen all of the time, usually just two or three days each month, but it was enough to disrupt his health and his life. "You feel tired," he said. "When you stand up, you feel lightheaded. You can always tell." Living on St. Helena Island, he enjoyed walking the 1.6 miles from his house down to the waterfront, but that became too much. He eventually was too fatigued to go out to some events. Even a graduation. Then there was the aftermath of those days. "Theres an effect afterward because you kind of go into a couple of days of depression," Waddell said. While the health effects of A-fib can be apparent, what is less appreciated are those other impacts, said Dr. Michael Field of Roper St. Francis Physician Partners Carolina Arrhythmia, who treated Waddell earlier this month. Summerville, SC (29483) Today Partly to mostly cloudy. Low around 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Low around 60F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Most humanistic settings require a certain posture from the participants. A boxer enters the ring with his fist clinched and somewhere near his chin. A baseball player places a glove on the non-throwing hand and leaves the dominant hand free to throw the baseball once caught. The guitar play Read moreOur posture tells the story Williamsburg County Sheriffs Office responded to a report of a shooting at 1832 Cow Head Road in Hemingway on Saturday, March 23. When deputies arrived, they found three people who had been shot while attending a family gathering. Two victims were transported to the hospital. Vantrell Hanna Read moreHomicide leaves one dead, two injured The Medal of Honor is the highest tribute the American military can give to armed forces personnel and national guardsmen who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. The recipients actions must occur while fighting enemies of the United States, and there must be two sworn eyewitnesses to their heroism. But that set of criteria doesnt really capture how stratospherically high the bar for heroism is set. March 25 marks National Medal of Honor Day. For the observance, Medal of Honor recipients gathered aboard the destroyer Laffey for a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate those who served. Patriots Point is home to The Medal of Honor Museum, a congressionally recognized Medal of Honor Memorial site since 1999. The waterfront site also houses the Laffey and aircraft carrier Yorktown, both designated as U.S. National Historic Landmarks. The March 25 event coincided with the 80th anniversary of the commissioning of the Laffey, named after Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Bartlett Laffey. Born in Galway, Ireland, Laffey enlisted in the U.S. Navy and assigned to a gunboat. Confederate forces attacked the gunboat on March 5, 1864, near Yazoo City, Miss. Laffey never left his gun despite explosions and rifle fire all around him. He and two shipmates were credited with forcing the Confederates to withdraw. All three received medals. Sign up for our SC Military Digest newsletter Get exclusive military reporting, updates from Palmetto State bases, headlines from around the globe and more delivered to your inbox each Tuesday. Email Sign up! The destroyer Laffey was nicknamed The Ship That Wouldnt Die for its World War II role in the D-Day invasions and the Battle of Okinawa when it survived kamikaze attacks by two planes that smashed into the Laffey, igniting fuel and causing explosions. Thirty-two Laffey crew members died. Laura Jowdy, director of archives, collections and museum with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, said guest of honor Michael E. Thornton is a Greenville native who traveled from his Texas home to attend the days celebration. Earl Bridges of The Good Road entertained listeners with real-life stories of his journeys into far-away lands in the interest of making a positive impact. Mount Pleasant, SC (29464) Today Some clouds. Low 61F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 61F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. NORTH CHARLESTON Charleston Southern University inaugurated its fourth president during a universitywide ceremony on March 25. Keith Faulkner, an alumnus of the Baptist university, has over 20 years of higher-education experience, including working as president and dean of Appalachian School of Law in Virginia, and dean of Liberty University School of Law and the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University in North Carolina. Faulkner, who has been working in this role since last fall, sat down with The Post and Courier to answer a handful of questions about his goals for students and faculty, and about challenges facing the university. Q: Since youve been serving in this role since last fall, can you share specific goals you have for the university? A: As I went through the fall, I really started to crystallize around a theme of investment in our human capital, in our people. As youll recall, I am an alumnus and the people are what made the difference to me. That remains true today and thats been very gratifying for me. My immediate goals are to really come alongside our faculty and staff and figure out how to reward them appropriately, retain them, invest in them. Our students: How to provide the resources to make this an exceptional experience for them here. We have some pretty significant capital projects that were going to be leaning into strongly. One is a convocation center that will be located on (U.S.) Highway 78. We hope its going to be an economic engine and economic driver, not just for the university, but certainly for the North Charleston area and even reaching into Summerville, Hanahan, Goose Creek and other areas. We need some new dormitories and were going to be looking at some creative ways to build them. Q: What are some immediate challenges the university is facing and how do you seek to address those? A: The challenges that Charleston Southern faces are very similar to the challenges that that other schools face: the looming and frightening specter of the enrollment cliff. We are working diligently on coming up with strategies and implementing strategies that weve already developed to try to address that. MONCKS CORNER As the fate of the father and stepmother accused of sexually assaulting and strangling their 5-year-old son remains to be decided, a law professor studying a serial killer insists he could be behind the brutal murder that grasped Berkeley County in 1989. Law enforcement officials, however, disagree. The case against Victor and Megan Turner was already hanging in question after the lead detective admitted last week that no new evidence, only new theories, brought charges against the elderly couple after a 35-year delay their lawyer claims is unconstitutional. Then, that same defense attorney dropped a bombshell, alleging the Berkeley County Sheriffs Office developed tunnel vision in the case. They declined to investigate other suspects for Justin Turners murder, even after the FBI in 2007 asked multiple law enforcement agencies to investigate ALL unsolved abductions, sexual assaults, and/or murders in case they could be linked to serial killer Richard Marc Evonitz, he alleged. Evonitz was in the Navy, and his ship docked in Charleston the same day the boy, Justin Turner, went missing. He was known to prefer rural and country settings and to drive upward of 50 miles to abduct his victims, according to University of Virginia law professor Deirdre Enright. She contends a trove of evidence her team has analyzed since 2022 points toward the possibility that Turner is one of numerous victims Evonitz could have gotten away with killing. Definitive evidence the FBI has uncovered that links Evonitz to one abduction in Columbia and three homicides in Virginia is only the tip of the iceberg, according to Enrights studies. She feels almost certain her team at UVAs Project for Informed Reform will link him to other crimes in South Carolina, the state where Evonitz resided when an abduction backfired on him and caused him to end his life while being encircled by law enforcement. South Carolinas billion-dollar registry of unclaimed funds includes untold millions owed to local governments, school districts, fire departments and even the state itself. The money sits waiting to be claimed by the rightful owners, whose names and addresses are known in most cases. Meanwhile, the state invests the funds and keeps millions in earnings. Most of the money is owed to residents and businesses, but The Post and Courier found nearly 1,000 listings for money owed to local governments in the public online database maintained by the state Treasurers Office. Rock Hill Chief Financial Officer Anne Harty searched the states Uniform Unclaimed Property database after learning from a reporter that the city in York County had more listings for unclaimed funds than any other in the state. Certainly if theres money to be claimed, Im all about claiming it, she said. Harty said she had to submit notarized documents, proof she was representing Rock Hill, proof of several of the city governments street addresses, and the citys federal tax identification, but eventually she was able to claim 28 listings worth $22,520.90. The funds came from misdirected or uncashed checks, business account credits that werent redeemed and payments that didnt go where they were intended for various reasons. Some of the money had been in the states possession for years, benefiting the state financially. The funds are invested, said Deputy State Treasurer Cynthia Dannels. Investment earnings go to the general fund, she said. South Carolinas current state budget includes $15 million transferred from the UPP fund the acronym for the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, a repository created in law by the state Legislature in 1981. That $15 million was more money than South Carolina recorded in the state budget from motor vehicle licenses. Its more than triple the amount the state collected from circuit and family court fines, and nearly five times the amount received from nursing home licenses and fees. I just put the Stars and Stripes back up outside my house. Though hard winds keep blowing it down, I put it up again. Having it regularly knocked down has me reflecting on what it means to be American in 2024. Read moreCommentary: Why I put my US flag back up again even as the hard winds blow Youd think we would have talked enough about masks back during the COVID wars, when some people were triggered by the mere sight of other people wearing masks, and a certain sort of parents and the politicians who cater to them insisted on protecting their God-given right to send their potentially infected children to school unmasked to infect other parents children. Yet somehow we avoided a discussion about a 1951 South Carolina law that makes it a crime to wear a mask in public. (Although the law doesnt specifically exempt masks worn to protect the wearer or others from infection, its exemptions were interpreted as allowing such masks during the pandemic, and since.) Theres a good deal of logic to the old law, as masks long have been used by criminals to conceal their identity from police and fellow citizens alike. Think of the Wild West bank robbers with their bandanas fashioned to cover the same parts of the face as our modern anti-virus masks. As The Post and Couriers Jocelyn Grzeszczak reports, South Carolina was one of at least 18 states that passed similar laws between the 1920s and 1950s, aimed less at deterring bank robberies than at preventing Ku Klux Klan members from disguising themselves in white hoods while they terrorized black people. But our anti-mask law has a significant flaw: Unlike other states, South Carolina has no requirement that police show or even suggest that the masked men and women are intentionally trying to intimidate anyone or hide their identify for criminal purposes. As such, it's not really a law against trying to conceal your identity for criminal reasons. GREENVILLE For a while earlier this month on conservative social media, it felt like you couldn't scroll 10 minutes without seeing Adam Morgan's face somewhere on your feed. It wasn't always like that. The Greenville-area state representative is the Republican primary candidate for Congress against 4th District U.S. Rep. William Timmons. But prior to this month, he was a fairly obscure figure outside of the Palmetto State. As chair of the hardline South Carolina House Freedom Caucus, Morgan was known more for his caustic demeanor toward more mainstream Republican colleagues in the Statehouse. And there was arguably little reason for anyone inside the D.C. Beltway to pay attention to a Republican primary race in a district that has not seen a serious Democratic challenger in more than 30 years. Then, congressman Matt Gaetz a bombastic and controversial Florida Republican known for his own combative approach to politics reposted a speech Morgan had made via the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The video was an old one, dating back to a March 2023 debate over the Legislature's approval of a massive $1.3 billion economic development package to attract the Scout Motors plant to the Midlands. The video also depicted a common scene in Columbia where state lawmakers deliver emotional, hyperbolic speeches from the microphone, oftentimes to chop and edit into video clips to play for their constituents back home. Morgan's speech resonated with Gaetz. It was an impassioned monologue about how Morgan believed dark money groups were pressuring him to either vote for the project or to not vote at all, despite the fact he believed his constituents opposed the project. He described the concept of economic development and business recruitment as "socialism," and traded barbs with House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, about whether he believed the opinions of people on the street should usurp the bureaucrats who work in the state Department of Commerce. SPARTANBURG The Spartanburg County Sheriffs Office agreed last month to start releasing certain public incident reports after it was sued for failing to provide them in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Its unclear when theyll start sending the records. The sheriffs office declined to comment, citing pending litigation. The saga started when Adrianne Wilson of Travelers Rest filed a FOIA request in May 2023 for incident reports generated from the sheriffs offices 2022 Rolling Thunder operation. During the weeklong effort, deputies and other law enforcement agencies from around the state pull over drivers on Interstates 26 and 85 ostensibly for traffic violations and, if possible, find probable cause to search the vehicles in hopes of finding illegal contraband. The operation certainly nets drugs and guns, but also cash and other valuable items seized through civil forfeiture. Most of the proceeds from forfeiture boost the budgets of the law enforcement agency involved in the seizure. Assets can be taken from people on suspicion of crime. A conviction isnt necessary for forfeiture. Critics say asset forfeiture and the Rolling Thunder operation itself disproportionately affects Black people, a claim that Spartanburg Sheriff Chuck Wright has denied. The sheriffs office in years past has released a summary of stops, arrests, seizures and demographic data from each Rolling Thunder operation. It hasnt provided any incident reports to back up the data or show the probable cause for each stop and search. POLICING: Police stand on empty lanes as they respond to protestors who shut down the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, on Nov. 16, 2023. Jason Henry/AFP PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 19:15:43 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 298 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / A celebration was held in our London office last week to congratulate the 44 Northern Trust employees who have successfully completed their Achieving Corporate Excellence (ACE) apprenticeship programmes within the past year.Employees from all levels of the Northern Trust organization participate in programmes, from early career to senior Northern Trust management. Examples of these qualifications obtained under ACE include Chartered Management Institute (CMI), Project Management Institute (PMI), Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and Business Computing Society (BCS).In attendance on the day and to celebrate everyone's achievements we had Teresa Parker, EMEA President, and Mark Lacey, Head of International & Shared Services HR, who both acknowledged the efforts and hard work of all involved.Teresa Parker commented, "It is fantastic to celebrate with the group who have worked so hard to achieve their ACE apprenticeship qualifications. I know from speaking to them this requires a lot of time and commitment and I commend them all for continuing to learn and grow to benefit both themselves, and Northern Trust. Apprenticeships are a worthwhile investment combining practical training with study and all graduates, including ones who couldn't make the celebration today, should be very proud of all they have achieved." In total, 117 Northern Trust employees have successfully passed their programmes to date.Jennifer Cook, manager of apprenticeships at Northern Trust, reflected on the feedback from learners, stating "apprenticeships are a brilliant opportunity to enhance skills, knowledge and behaviors and build confidence. Partners have emphasized how impactful their learning has been to performing their roles more effectively and also gaining world class qualifications." View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Northern Trust on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: Northern TrustWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/northern-trustEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Northern Trust PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 14:01:17 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 421 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Hail, Caesar! and Zing N' Zen join three premium salad kits on-shelfHAMILTON, OH / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Today, 80 Acres Farms, an Ohio-based vertical farming company, is announcing two new additions to its line of clean, pesticide-free premium salad kits -- Hail, Caesar! and Zing N' Zen. The kits launched at approximately 200 Kroger stores in Cincinnati and Columbus earlier this month. This summer, they will join the company's other grab-and-go meals at retail locations across the eastern United States.80 Acres Farms salad kits, including new releases Hail, Caesar! and Zing N' Zen Hail, Caesar! is the 80 Acres Farms version of a consumer favorite, with romaine lettuce, shaved parmesan cheese, herbed croutons, and Mother Raw brand roasted garlic Caesar dressing, plus chickpeas and hearts of palm for added flavor and protein. Zing N' Zen, the company's first vegan salad kit, is a punchy blend of crisp green lettuce, cashews, sesame sticks, gingered carrots, and marinated cabbage, with Mother Raw brand sesame ginger dressing."Since we introduced salad kits last year, retailers have been expanding the category, because consumers are looking for healthy, portable, on-the-go options that fit their busy lifestyles," says Grant Rice, the company's Vice President of Sales. "With a cleaned-up Caesar and a vegan option, we are responding to that demand and reaching more people." The company released its first three grab-and-go meals in September 2023. Supported by a tremendous consumer response to product benefits, including pesticide-free lettuce and ingredients with "no artificial anything," they have quickly expanded to more than 1,000 retail locations. Last week, the company announced that it had purchased the Mother Raw premium salad dressing brand, which will increase efficiency and support product development and store expansion.About 80 Acres Farms 80 Acres Farms, a vertical farming leader based in Hamilton, Ohio, operates indoor farms built with world-class technology and analytics by the Company's tech-focused subsidiary, Infinite Acres. 80 Acres Farms provides consumers with a range of pesticide-free harvests that last longer at home, reducing food waste and exceeding the highest standards in food safety. Consumers can find the Company's branded salads, salad kits, herbs, and tomatoes at retailers, including Kroger, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, Fresh Thyme, Meijer, Dorothy Lane Markets, and multiple food service distributors.Contact InformationJed PortmanCommunications Managerjed.portman@eafarms.com 8434122863Related Images80 Acres Farms salad kits, including new releases Hail, Caesar! and Zing N' ZenThe Hail, Caesar! salad kit, now in storesThe Zing N' Zen salad kit, now in storesSOURCE: 80 Acres FarmsView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 14:01:04 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 494 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Kearns Rotolo Law's Anthony P. Kearns and Victor A. Rotolo named to NJ Super Lawyers List for 2024; Charles Rifici and Christopher Vaccaro included on 2024 NJ Rising Stars list.LEBANON, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Kearns Rotolo Law proudly announces that partners Anthony P. Kearns, III and Victor A. Rotolo were named to the list of NJ Super Lawyers for 2024, and Charles Rifici and Christopher Vaccaro were named to the 2024 NJ Rising Stars list.Selection is conducted by Thomson Reuters according to the Super Lawyers Selection Methodology.Anthony P. Kearns, Former Two-Term Hunterdon County ProsecutorThis marks the first year of inclusion for Mr. Kearns, who was also named to the list of National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers for 2024.Prior to joining the Firm in 2022, Mr. Kearns served as Hunterdon County Prosecutor for two terms, making him the County's longest serving Prosecutor to date. In that role, he oversaw a team of assistant prosecutors and detectives in their efforts to detect, prosecute and prevent criminal activities within the County. Today, Mr. Kearns, a skilled courtroom advocate, focuses oncriminal defense , domestic violence, family law, municipal violations, and personal injury cases."I am humbled by this selection," stated Mr. Kearns, "and offer my congratulations to Victor, Charles and Christopher on their well-deserved recognition." Victor A. Rotolo, Experienced Trial AttorneyThis is Mr. Rotolo's 19th year of inclusion, having been named to the NJ Super Lawyers list each year since 2006. An accomplished trial attorney, he has more than four decades of experience in divorce andfamily law , personal injury, and criminal defense and is certified by the Supreme Court of NJ as a Civil Trial Attorney."I'm honored to have once again been selected," said Mr. Rotolo, "and pleased my colleagues have also been recognized for their dedication and service to our communities." Charles Rifici and Christopher VaccaroMr. Rifici, also a partner in the Firm, has been included on the NJ Rising Stars list for eight consecutive years. Having joined the Firm in 2014, he focuses on divorce and family law matters, and in 2022 was included on the list of Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch.This is Mr. Vaccaro's second year of being named to the NJ Rising Stars list. He was also named to the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 list for 2024. Having joined the Firm in 2022, Mr. Vaccaro focuses on criminal defense, DUI, domestic violence, juvenile matters, municipal court and motor vehicle violation cases.About the FirmKearns Rotolo Law provides legal counsel on matters pertaining to divorce and family law, criminal defense, domestic violence,personal injury , and municipal violations. The Firm is located in Hunterdon County and serves clients throughout the state of New Jersey. For a consultation or additional information, call 908-534-7900.No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court.Contact InformationPatricia BirchenoughMarketing Managerpatricia@ hunterdonbiz.com 908-200-7766SOURCE: Kearns Rotolo LawView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 11:00:35 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1015 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:ARK) ("Arras" or "the Company") is pleased to introduce the results of its soil sampling program over the Aimandai Target, located within its Elemes Project ("Elemes" or the "Project") in northeastern Kazakhstan. The Elemes project is composed of several mineral licences that are 100% owned by Arras and not included in the Teck-Arras Strategic Exploration Alliance announced on December 7, 2023.Highlights from the Soil Sampling programIdentified a second, unexplored 14 km x 3.2 km NE-SW trending coherent copper ("Cu") anomaly (>100ppm) called the "Aimandai Target" located within the Elemes Project. Large, overlapping Arsenic ("As") anomaly interpreted to be associated with an intermediate - to high sulphidation epithermal system indicating a preserved porphyry system. Field mapping and sampling has identified coincident altered rocks typical of a porphyry alteration system that has never been drill tested. The Aimandai Target is a parallel copper anomaly to the "Berezski Target," which Arras announced on February 22, 2024. The Berezski Target is an 8.8-kilometer-long copper anomaly with historical drilling that has yielded notable results such as 132 meters at 0.80% CuEq and 108 meters at 0.94% CuEq from surface. Both the Berezski Target and the Aimandai Target are located within the Elemes Project.Tim Barry, CEO of Arras Minerals stated, "Our Elemes Project is starting to yield some very exciting potential. Recently we announced the "Berezski Target", an 8.8-kilometer-long copper-in-soil anomaly with historical drill holes spread over a 5-kilometer strike of this anomaly, which intercepted 132.6m @ 0.80% CuEq and 108m @ 0.94% CuEq from surface. In this news release we are now announcing a second parallel copper-in-soil anomaly called the "Aimandai Target", that stretches over a remarkable 14-kilometer strike and is associated with "at surface" porphyry-style alteration that has never been drilled. The large alteration zone and associated arsenic anomaly suggests preservation of the upper and generally higher-grade parts of a porphyry system. In summary, we have now defined what appears to be two parallel, multi-kilometer porphyry-epithermal targets (the Aimandai and Berezski targets) on the Elemes Project, which we intend to develop further in 2024."Figure 1. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8-kilometer long Berezski Copper Targets are shown as NE-SW trending copper soil anomalies. The location of historical drill holes is also shown on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly.Figure 2. Soil sampling alteration map on the Elemes project. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8 kilometer long Berezski Targets are shown as NE-SW trending zones which correspond to the mapped alteration. Also shown is the location of historical drill holes on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly.Figure 3. Soil anomaly maps showing copper (Cu), and arsenic (As) for the Berezski and Aimandai Targets located within the Elemes Project. The new Aimandai Target copper soil anomaly highlights a second, 14-kilometer-long parallel porphyry system to the Berezski Target that has never been drill tested.The Soil Sampling Program: In 2023, a comprehensive soil sampling program was undertaken across the Elemes License area. This program specifically targeted the well-developed "B soil horizon" utilizing a 50-meter sample interval and 200-meter line spacing grid.This press release announces the analysis results from the final 14,000 samples from this program. The 2023 program collected approximately 31,000 samples were collected and covered an area of 328.5 square kilometers and was completed in November 2023.The soil analysis was conducted utilizing a Portable X-ray fluorescence device ("pXRF"), a widely employed instrument for determining the elemental composition of samples. Due to the limited sampling area of the pXRF, the results presented in this release are considered "indicative" rather than fully quantitative regarding mineralization.Despite this limitation, the results have revealed a substantial and coherent copper-in-soil anomaly, with copper concentrations exceeding 100 ppm. Background copper in the area is less than 20 ppm. This anomaly stretches over a remarkable distance of more than 14 kilometers in a northeast to southwest direction and extends to approximately 3.2 kilometers in width from east to west. Limited historic drilling has occurred to the south of this new anomaly exploring a series of outcropping low-sulphidation Au-bearing quartz veins.The Berezski and Aimandai Targets: are located within the 531 square kilometer Elemes Project. The Project benefits from excellent modern infrastructure and ease of accessibility, being located only 20 kilometers from Arras' operational base in the city of Ekibastuz, northeastern Kazakhstan. A paved highway runs through the license, and within 5 km of the two targets. 1100 KVA power lines and heavy rail all lie within a 15-kilometer radius of the project.The Elemes Project is located within the Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt that also hosts the Beskauga porphyry copper-gold-silver project approximately 80 km to the east, and KAZ Minerals' Bozshakol porphyry copper-gold mine approximately 60 km to the northwest.Figure 4. Arras's License Package showing Arras-Teck Strategic Alliance Areas as "Package A" and "Package B" as well as the Elemes and Beskauga Projects and the Tay license which are 100% owned by Arras.Sampling MethodologySamples were collected on a 50m (East-west) by 200m (north-south) grid spacings. Samples were collected from hand-dug pits, trying to consistently sample the B horizon. Approximately 500 grams of material was collected and sieved (5mm mesh size) to review larger particles and organic matter. Following collection, the samples were bagged, dried, and analyzed by the company with a Portable Niton XL5 X-ray fluorescence analyzer at the company's core storage facility in Ekibastuz.Assay, QAQC ProceduresAnalysis was conducted using the company's two Niton XL5 portable XRF units. Units were calibrated at the start and end of each work shift as well as after every 100 samples to verify accuracy. In addition, a measurement from a certified reference material was taken every 20 measurements to ensure accuracy and repeatability of data. In addition, prior to commencement of the measurements, 100 duplicate samples were analyzed using both units to confirm that both units were producing accurate results and that no bias was present in either of the units.All soil material is stored at Arras' warehouse in Eki PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 11:02:00 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1028 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Aurwest Resources Corporation ("Aurwest" or the "Company") (CSE:AWR) is pleased to announce that it plans to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") to raise up to CAD$1,250,068 through the issuance of up to 15,429,993 Flow-Through Shares (FT Shares") at a price of $0.03 per share and up to 39,358,402 Units ("Units") at a price of $0.02 per Ordinary Unit (the "Offering").Each FT Share will consist of one flow-through share at a price of $0.03 per common share (the "FT Share") for aggregate proceeds of approximately $462,900.Proceeds from the sale of FT Shares will be used to incur "Canadian exploration expenses" as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and "flow through critical mineral mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Qualifying Expenditures"). Such proceeds will be renounced to the subscribers of FT Shares and Qualifying Expenditures with an effective date no later than December 31, 2024.Each Unit will consist of one common share ("Common Share") at a price of $0.02 and one half of one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant") for aggregate proceeds of up to approximately $787,168. Each Warrant will entitle the subscriber to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of $0.05 for 24 months from the date of issuance. The Company has the right to force conversion of the Warrants, if at any time from and after the date of issuance, the daily volume-weighted average trading price of the Company's common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE"), equals or exceeds $0.10 for ten (10) consecutive trading days.The net proceeds of the Offering are intended to fund planned 2024 exploration work on the Company's mineral properties, including incurring Qualifying Expenditures, as applicable, and for general corporate working capital purposes. This includes programs and expenditures to advance the exploration activities towards defining a mineral resource on the Stars property. The Company plans include an expansion-focused targeted Phase 2 diamond drilling campaign to identify potential Copper-Molybdenum on the 100% owned Stars property. In order to achieve these business objectives, the Company will identify drill targets using historical drilling and data from its ground and airborne surveys, and plan and permit a drill program.The Offering will take place by way of: (i) a private placement pursuant to National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions under Part 5A thereof (the "LIFE Exemption") to qualified investors in all the provinces of Canada, except Quebec, and the securities issued pursuant to the LIFE Exemption are not subject to resale restrictions in Canada in accordance with Canadian securities laws and the policies of the CSE; and (ii) otherwise in those jurisdictions where the Offering can lawfully be made including the United States and other international jurisdictions under applicable private placement exemptions. Such sales to investors outside of Canada will be subject to applicable securities laws and restrictions on securities purchased. There is an offering document related to the Offering that can be accessed on SEDAR+ ( www.sedarplus.com) under the Company's issuer profile and on the Company's website ( www.aurwestresources.com) . Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision. The Offering remains subject to final acceptance of the CSE.The Company reserves the right to pay a fee in cash, to eligible finders pursuant to the Offering, in the amount of an 8% cash commission (paid on the aggregate amount of a completed subscription).Aurwest anticipates that certain directors, officers and other insiders of the Company will acquire FT Shares and/or Units under the Offering. Such participation will be considered to be "related party transactions" within the meaning of CSE Policies (the "Policy") and Multilateral Instrument 61-101-Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") adopted in the Policy. The Company intends to rely on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of related party participation in the Offering as neither the fair market value (as determined under MI 61-101) of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the transaction, insofar as it involves interested parties, is expected to exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization (as determined under MI 61-101).The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy securities in the United States, nor in any other jurisdiction.On Behalf Of Aurwest resources Corporation"Cameron MacDonald" Interim President and Chief Executive OfficerFor additional information please contact:Cameron MacDonaldInterim President & Chief Executive Officer and DirectorTelephone: (403) 585-9875Email: cmacdonald@ aurwestresources.com Website: www.aurwestresources.com About Aurwest Resources CorporationAurwest is a Canadian-based junior resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold properties in Canada. The Company currently holds a 100% interest in the Stellar copper/gold project totaling 2,617 hectares plus an additional 3,762 hectares of contiguous claims at the Stars projects located approximately 65 kilometers southwest of Houston British Columbia.Forward-Looking InformationStatements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as "forward-looking statements". Forward looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's proposed private placement, future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and u PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 11:23:39 Press Information Published by ACN Newswire +65 6304 8926 e-mail https://www.acnnewswire.com/ # 531 Words ACN Newswire+65 6304 8926 SYDNEY, AU, Mar 25, 2024 - (ACN Newswire) - ABC News and David Swan, technology editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have walked away with the "Gold Lizzies", taking the top honours at the 22nd Annual Samsung IT Journalism Awards.Produced by media intelligence platform Influencing, the Awards recognise the most outstanding journalists and outlets covering technology in Australia each year.This year our event's new home at Doltone House in Jones Bay Wharf played host to around 300 guests and sponsors, with the harbour providing a stunning backdrop for red carpet arrivals & cocktails from 6.30pm.Below - Marc Fennell of the ABC with Graeme Philipson Best Columnist winner Jackson Ryan on the red carpet.Free to enter, and predominantly peer-judged, these awards are only possible thanks to our Name Sponsor Samsung Australia, our lifelong event partners at Watterson, our partners Amazon Web Services, Optus, Cisco, NetApp, the Australian Computer Society, Meta, our design & print partners Canva and our Official Gin Sponsor Aussie Broadband.With 23 categories contested by 140 entrants, the awards were as closely fought as they have ever been. This year The Age and Sydney Morning Herald's David Swan and ABC News have taken home the top awards known as the gold Lizzies, taking home Best Journalist and Best Title respectively.This was the third win for both parties. David Swan also scored the trophy for Best Technology Journalist and Best Telecommunications Journalist with a highly commended in the Best Technology Issues category.Meanwhile ABC News also took home Best Gaming Coverage and Best News Coverage in addition to their Best Title win. The ABC team is pictured below with our Naming Rights sponsor Samsung Australia.Left to to right: Julian Fell (ABC); Ben Spraggon (ABC); Matea Rojas, Head of Corporate Communications at Samsung Australia; Gianfranco Di Giovanni (ABC) and Jackson Ryan."Once again, the Samsung Australian IT Journalism Awards proved what a special event it is - it is remarkable that even after 22 years it continues to grow in importance and stature," said Influencing CEO and show host / MC Phil Sim (Pictured below presenting this year's Pioneer of IT Media to industry veteran Len Rust)."Our 2024 awards once again served their mission. Primarily, that is to recognise excellence in technology media and journalism, with the ambition that it inspires journalists to rigorously investigate and report on critical technology-related issues faced by the world today." "However, it is also about bonding the community - it is the one event that brings together technology journalists, and the people they work with, to renew friendships and build new ones, and with more than 280 people in attendance, it certainly achieved that again." We would like to once again thank all our sponsors for their support; the community of media communications professionals who choose to join in support of the event each year, and of course all our entrants, finalists and winners at this year's Samsung Australian IT Journalism Awards.The complete list of winners and highly-commendeds is below. Thank you everyone for making the event special, we look forward to bring this event to you again in 2025.Click here https://www.acnnewswire.com/press-release/english/89771/ PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 05:00:36 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 719 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 New Home for Several Local ArtisansCHANDLER, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / The grand opening of the Painted Tree Boutique this April marks a new era for Phoenix-area artisans. For the first time, several local creators like Paintpourium, previously seen at temporary events, will now have a permanent place to showcase their work. This move not only celebrates Arizona's rich artisanal culture but also supports small local businesses, fostering community growth.Featured Artisan Product Highlight Featuring a variety of merchandise. Permanent Home for Phoenix CreativesThe Painted Tree Boutique in Chandler offers a unique platform for artisans who have captivated audiences at short-term markets and fairs. This transition to a more stable location allows them to connect with the community on a deeper level, showcasing their art and products year-round.Support Local, Discover UniqueThe Painted Tree Boutique is a haven for artisans to deepen connections with the community, featuring handcrafted jewelry, art, home decor, and more. It champions local economy and showcases the unique talents of Phoenix's artisans.Featured Artisans:The boutique will feature a diverse group of artisans, each bringing their own unique flavor to the collective. Below is a snapshot of the talent you can expect to find:Lash Me Flawless Boutique (Space D28): Creators of high-quality lashes, accessories, and apparel, brings a touch of glamour to the Painted Tree Boutique. Specializing in enhancing beauty and confidence, they offer a curated selection of products designed to make anyone feel flawless. "Excited to be part of the Painted Tree family!" they share, highlighting their enthusiasm for joining this vibrant community of creatives and artisans. Lash Me Flawless Boutique is poised to introduce Painted Tree shoppers to their world of beauty, where every item is carefully crafted to add a sparkle of elegance and style.Paintpourium (Space W6): Founded by Mesa-based artist Kristin Dragos, offers whimsical and engaging Arizona-inspired digital and acrylic artwork. Kristin aims to connect with both the community and fellow artisans. She states, "Joining the Painted Tree Boutique opens a vibrant new chapter for Paintpourium, broadening our reach and deepening community connections. It's more than a new home for art-it's an opportunity to unite collectors and local creators, turning art into a bridge that connects and inspires." Paintpourium is dedicated to offering collectors a glimpse into the vibrant landscapes and cultures of Arizona through art.Sonoran Beauty Designs (Space T9): Founded by Vince and Amanda Wolpert in April 2023, offers unique full-wrap engravings on name brand tumblers, transforming everyday items into art. Born from Amanda's desire to see her art on a Stanley cup and Vince's engraving skills, this Goodyear-based business blossomed into a creative partnership. They express their excitement about the Painted Tree Boutique, stating, "Being so close to home in a beloved area and sharing our work consistently thanks to Painted Tree's unique model is thrilling." Sonoran Beauty Designs embodies a fusion of art and function, celebrating a fun, artistic collaboration between husband and wife.ThelmaLou Creations, LLC (Space F16): Founded on a mission to provide vocational training and employment opportunities for adults with special needs, ThelmaLou Creations specializes in personalized gifts, apparel, and signage. With their involvement in the Painted Tree Boutique, they aim to showcase their Empowered Prints Special Needs Job Skills Internship Program, enhancing job skill opportunities for progress, independence, and financial freedom for their participants. They share, "The Painted Tree Boutique offers us a valuable platform to promote our Empowered Prints , advaprogramncing job skills, independence, and financial freedom for our employees." At the heart of ThelmaLou Creations is the goal to utilize business as a means for social change-creating a stable learning environment that spans graphic design, marketing, e-commerce, and more, all while fostering confidence and independence through their innovative internship program.Join the Grand Opening CelebrationThe community is invited on April 13th, 2024, to explore the stories and creations of these talented artisans.About Painted Tree BoutiqueOffering a diverse shopping experience, the Painted Tree Boutique unites local artisans and small businesses, fostering a thriving local economy.Grand Opening Event Details:Location: Painted Tree Boutique, 2640 W. Chandler Blvd., Chandler, AZDate: April 13, 2024Time: 10 am - 8 pm Contact InformationKristin DragosVisual Artist, Ownerkristin@ paintpourium.com (480)295-9530Amanda WolpertFoundersonoranbeautydesigns@ gmail.com 4803191796Irma Angelicalashmeflawless@ gmail.com SOURCE: PaintpouriumView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 16:01:20 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 505 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Heatseeker is a platform challenging the expensive market research industry with real-time insights into customer needs.SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 /Heatseeker, an Australia-based startup democratizing access to market data, today announced the global launch of its alpha release. Heatseeker simplifies the process of business idea validation and market research by running social media tests that check how many people engage with a specific value proposition.Heatseeker co-founders Fiona Triaca and Kate O'Keeffe Heatseeker was born from the co-founders' experience looking for quick market feedback while building companies. Pictured L to R: Fiona Triaca and Kate O'KeeffeSocial media tests have become a popular strategy for business validation in recent years, but it is a manual process that requires an understanding of data science, test creation, and results analysis. In addition, current strategies either rely on an organization's in-house data science team or individuals with large social media followings to test an idea with their audience, locking out new founders.The growth engine for businesses that need a self-serve way to run data experiments"Our mission is to help founders stop guessing and start testing," explains co-founder and CEO Kate O'Keeffe. "But traditional market research is expensive and often doesn't reflect actual customer behavior. The Internet provides access to real thoughts, opinions, and behaviors. We want to give founders the equivalent of access to real customer insights on speed dial." Heatseeker works by first asking for a few company details, then scanning competitors' websites as well as incorporating sentiment analysis from online review sites to get a holistic real-time understanding of the market."Heatseeker's purpose is to serve founders and their teams," says Fiona Triaca, co-founder and CPO. "We want to be the growth engine for your business, so you can back up your product decisions with data." Alpha release focused on gathering feedback, future releases to include innovative AI User featureDuring this release, the company will be focused on gathering feedback from its users and ensure it is as easy as possible to both generate their insights and understand them. Down the road, the goal is to open access to their AI User, a feature that makes use of synthetic data generated from real market data."It's a really exciting time to be an entrepreneur," says O'Keeffe. "The amount of data being shared now makes it easier than ever to figure out how your product or service fits into an existing need." Currently in its pre-seed round, the company has raised $450,000 from angel investors and venture capital firm Euphemia."By reducing startup failure rates and expediting product iterations, Heatseeker not only propels company success stories but also enhances the overall resilience and dynamism of the startup ecosystem," says Dom Pym, co-founder of Euphemia.To use Heatseeker in its alpha form, sign up for access at Heatseeker.ai Contact Information:Neya AbdiContentneya@ heatseeker.ai 416-427-3807Kate O'KeeffeCEO and Co-Founderkate@ heatseeker.ai 61 429 530 746SOURCE: HeatseekerView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 14:01:27 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 506 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 /Faro Health Inc., the emerging leader in clinical trial development using AI to optimize protocol design and outcomes, is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Leung as Chief Technology Officer.This appointment comes at a time of significant momentum for Faro Health as it continues to evolve its AI-based platform for optimal clinical trial design and document generation. Patrick is a native of New Zealand with degrees in Computer Science and Finance. Early in his career, he was a founding employee at one of the first e-commerce software vendors where he helped lead the company from pre-seed stage to IPO.Later in his career, Patrick spent over a decade at Google leading Engineering teams in many groups, culminating in the launch of Google Duplex - a then-state-of-the-art AI system for conducting natural conversations to carry out real-world tasks over the phone. After Google, Patrick became CTO of Two Sigma Investments, one of the world's leading algorithmic hedge funds, where he pioneered the application of AI and alternative data to the private equity markets. Patrick's leadership in the development of such major advances in the application of AI to real-world problems makes him the ideal choice to lead Faro Health's technology and product efforts. In 2020, Patrick's passion for service led him to co-found Earthshot Labs, an NSF-funded AI platform for tropical reforestation and conservation. At Faro, he continues this mission-driven theme by following the example of his father, a leading cardiothoracic surgeon, in assisting the lives of those in need by applying cutting-edge technology to clinical treatment."I am thrilled to join Faro on their mission to optimize clinical trials and to accelerate to market lifesaving care for patients," said Patrick of his new role. "I am proud to be a part of a world-class team enabling the delivery of cutting-edge medication sooner and at lower prices to ensure access for all patients with chronic illnesses." About Faro HealthFaro Health redefines how clinical protocols are developed by connecting all the stakeholders in the clinical trials ecosystem, including sponsor and CRO ClinOps teams, research sites, vendors, patients, and laboratories through a single software platform. The Faro platform provides a best-in-class standardized library of study activities that has been augmented with performance-related real world data to provide intuitive insights during protocol development. Faro brings balance, centricity and flexibility to protocol development through detailed analysis of the impact of each study activity, ensuring teams have the optimum protocol design for operationally complex trials. As a result, clinical protocols developed using Faro's Smart Designer platform are operationally efficient in answering the right questions in the least burdensome way for patients, payers, and regulators. Sponsors, CROs, and researchers can learn more by visiting www.farohealth.com and requesting a consultation with a Faro solutions expert.Media Contact Kimberly PospahalaVice President of CommercialFaro Health, Inc.kimberly.pospahala@farohealth.com or sales@ farohealth.com Contact InformationKimberly PospahalaVP Commercialinfo@ farohealth.com SOURCE: Faro Health Inc.View the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 22:16:15 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 395 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Delve into the bittersweet realities of the chocolate industry, from global markets to corporate responsibilityHOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / In time for the Easter holiday, Fox Chronicle today announced the launch of its sweet feature series, "The Economics of Chocolate," slated to captivate readers with a comprehensive exploration of the $120 billion global chocolate industry. The global chocolate market size was estimated at USD 119.39 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1% from 2024 to 2030."The Economics of Chocolate" series promises to offer readers an in-depth analysis of the chocolate industry's economic significance, its contribution to global and local economies, and the critical ethical challenges it faces. It will provide a comprehensive look into how the industry's pursuit of profit impacts economies, environments, and, most importantly, human lives. By examining the intricate connections between consumer demand for chocolate and the conditions of those who produce cacao, Fox Chronicle aims to shed light on the ethical considerations that consumers, companies, and regulators must confront."The chocolate industry is a global powerhouse," stated Mac Venucci, "Be ready for an enlightening exploration of the chocolate world, from its sweetest triumphs to its most bitter truths." The feature series will be broken into 6 segments:1. The Economics of Chocolate: Bean to Bar Journey2. Luxury Chocolate: The Rise of Artisan and Single-Origin Bars3. The Bittersweet Reality of Chocolate Labor4. The Flavors of Innovation: Emerging Trends in Chocolate Production5. The Chocolate Market Meltdown: Analyzing Price Volatility6. Cacao Conservation: Preserving Biodiversity in Chocolate's HomelandRecent News: Fox Chronicle analysts have initiated or continued coverage of the following sectors: personal loans, mortgage, debt settlement, semiconductor, and GPUs.About Fox ChronicleFox Chronicle stands at the forefront of investigative news and reviews, covering a wide array of topics from global economics to personal finance. Renowned for its comprehensive coverage and investigative reporting, Fox Chronicle continues to engage readers worldwide with compelling content. Fox Chronicle is a global news organization providing original online reporting and video programming across the internet's biggest platforms. Our mission is to report to you: We cover what you care about, break big stories that hold major institutions accountable for their actions, and expose injustices that change people's lives.Contact InformationMac VenucciAssistant Editormac@ foxchronicle.com 808-556-5504SOURCE: Fox ChronicleView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 23:21:19 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1064 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATESVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Gold Mountain Mining Corp. ("Gold Mountain" or the "Company") (TSX:GMTN)(OTCQB:GMTNF)(FRA:5XFA) announces that it has reached agreements with two secured creditors for the settlement and postponement of certain secured debts (the "Debt Settlements"). The secured creditors are Nhwelmen Construction LP Ltd. ("Nhwelmen") who is currently owed $7,784,850.71 (the "Nhwelmen Secured Debt") and Hedge Minerals Corp.("Hedge") who is currently owed $1,241,669.18 (the "Hedge Secured Debt").Nhwelmen is the contract miner at the Company's Elk Gold Mine, and Hedge is an arms-length lender to the Company pursuant to a loan arrangement entered into effective September 13, 2023. Nhwelmen has agreed to accept common shares of the Company in payment of $1,250,000 of the Nhwelmen Secured Debt at an issuance price of $0.0075 per share (the "Issue Price"), which pricing is at a discount to market price (for a maximum of 166,666,667 common shares being issued to Nhwelmen), and the remaining amount of the Nhwelmen Secured Debt will be repaid in equal cash payments over 24 months commencing in April, 2024 and including interest at a rate of 18% per annum. The entire Hedge Secured Debt will be repaid through the issuance of common shares of the Company at the Issue Price (for a maximum of 165,555,891 common shares being issued to Hedge).The Company has also approached certain unsecured vendors who provide critical services to the Company for the conversion of up to $1.5 million of unsecured debt for settlement of such debts in payment of common shares of the Company at the Issue Price for a maximum issuance of 200,000,000 common shares.Further, the Company is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") of up to 100,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company at the Issue Price for gross proceeds to the Company of up to $750,000, which would represent a maximum of up to 14.28% of the Company's issued and outstanding common shares following the issuance of common shares with respect to the Debt Settlements. The common shares issued are subject to applicable resale restrictions, including a hold period of four months and one day from the closing of the Private Placement under Canadian securities rules. The Private Placement is subject to customary closing conditions including final Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") approval. Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to ramp up operations at the Elk Gold Mine and for working capital and general corporate purposes. No insiders of the Company will be participating in the Private Placement.Insider ParticipationNone of the creditors currently own (directly or indirectly) any securities of the Company. Upon completion of the Debt Settlements (assuming no settlement of unsecured debts and prior to closing of the Private Placement) Hedge would own 39.38% of the Company's common shares (non-diluted) and Nhwelmen would own 39.65% of the Company's common shares (non-diluted). Assuming settlement of all $1.5 million of the unsecured debt and closing of the Private Placement of $750,000 in gross proceeds, Hedge would own 23.64%, Nhwelmen would own 23.80% and the unsecured creditors would own 28.60% the Company's common shares, all on a non-diluted basis. As a result of such ownership, Nhwelmen and Hedge will become "insiders" of the Company for purposes of the TSX Company Manual and a "related party" of the Company pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Depending on the participation of the unsecured creditors, such unsecured creditors may also become "insiders" and "related parties" and the Company will make such disclosure in future press releases once determined. The Debt Settlements will result in a change of control of the Company as both Nhwelmen and Hedge will become control persons in the Company, owning more than 20% of the current issued and outstanding. The Company does not anticipate that any of subscribers pursuant to the Private Placement will become "insiders" or "related parties" of the Company.The Debt Settlement is a "related party transaction" within the meaning of MI 61-101. However, in light of the fact that the Board and Special Committee have determined that the Company is in serious financial difficulty and that the Debt Settlement is designed to improve the Company's financial situation, the Company is relying on the exemption from the formal valuation and minority approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in Section 5.5(g) and Section 5.7(1)(e) of MI 61-101, respectively, on the basis of the "financial hardship" exemption therein.Special CommitteeA special committee of the board of directors of the Company (the "Special Committee") was constituted and considered the fairness of the Debt Settlements and related matters. The Special Committee is comprised of two independent directors. The Special Committee has determined that the Debt Settlements are reasonable for the Company in the circumstances and recommends that the Company proceed with the Debt Settlement.The Special Committee carefully considered management's efforts in recent years in exploring various alternatives to improve the financial situation of the Company and considered whether other alternatives may be available (e.g., various corporate transactions, M&A transaction with third parties, accessing public or private debt or equity markets). The Special Committee has concluded that the Company is in serious financial difficulty and there are no viable alternatives available on commercially reasonable terms that would be more likely to improve the financial situation of the Company compared to the Debt Settlement (and related transactions).Financial Hardship ExemptionAs the Debt Settlement will: (i) result in the issuance of shares to Hedge and Nhwelmen in an amount greater than 25% of the number of common shares outstanding and materially effect control of the Company (section 604(a)(i) of the TSX Company Manual); (ii) dilute the Company's market capitalization by more than 25% (section 607(g)(i) of the TSX Company Manual); and (iii) the issuance of common shares in the Debt Transactions and Private Placement are being priced lower than market price less the maximum applicable discount (section 607(e) of the TSX Company Manual), disinterested shareholder approval and an independent report regarding the value of the transaction consideration is required. However, the Company has applied to the TSX for a "financial hardship" exemption PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 13:01:16 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 694 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Meetings are now available to book in advance of the tentpole annual event for the licensing industry. Discover new IP and search for the latest and greatest brands that will be at the show.LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Licensing Expo, the world's leading event dedicated to licensing, brand extension and collaborations, today opens its new and enhanced Meetings Platform for the upcoming annual event taking place May 21-23 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The Meetings Platform, first launched in 2016, is a critical part of the Licensing Expo experience, facilitating connections ahead of the event and helping visitors and exhibitors to maximize time and productivity while at the show. Sponsored by The Brand Liaison, the platform boasts significant upgrades for 2024 making it easier than ever for customers to search for specific brands and intellectual property (IP), find companies and individuals, and book meetings."Licensing Expo is the premier meeting place for the entire industry, and it is with no surprise that last year there were over 250,000 searches and more than 6,800 meetings booked via the Meetings Platform, the highest to date," shares Anna Knight, Senior Vice President of the Global Licensing Group. "This year's enriched platform further deepens the pre-show experience, guiding meetings and connections with ease. The platform is also the best discovery tool to find unique and emerging IP from all over the world, so you are not just relying on the brands you already know. Over 5,000 brands will be showcased at this year's event, providing something truly for every product and retail space." Once registered, visitors and exhibitors gain immediate access to the platform and can start booking meetings before schedules fill up. Augmentations this year include new search capabilities by geographic location and IP category; session filters for first time attendees and new exhibitors; calendar syncing; ability to view contact information of company representatives prior to the start of the Expo and so much more. Licensing Expo participants may also purchase opening night party tickets directly through the platform and add seminars and keynotes to their calendar, making it the ultimate planning tool for a valuable visit."Finally, all in one place show planning! No more multiple calendars for all our meetings - navigating personal inboxes, company schedules, appointments, seminars, matchmaking and managing different time zonesthe new Licensing Expo Meeting Platform solves all of this and more," exclaims Steve Heller, President, The Brand Liaison. "Thank you, Licensing Expo team!"Over 300 exhibiting companies including Paramount, LEGO, Warner Bros. Discovery, Coca-Cola, The Walt Disney Company, BBC Studios, Beanstalk, Mattel, Crunchyroll, Minecraft, Air Force, Amazon MGM Studios, CD Projekt Red, Airstream, Laika Studios, NASCAR and Nintendo will all be exhibiting, and are actively looking for new connections to advance business.Visitors are strongly encouraged to register early and leverage the platform in advance of the show with regular weekly updates.To gain access to the Meetings Platform, you must be registered for Licensing Expo. Visitwww.licensingexpo.comto sign-up and access the most up to date list.About Licensing ExpoLaunched in 1980,Licensing Expois the world's largest and most influential annual tradeshow dedicated to licensing and brand extension. Every year, more than 5,000 brands and 16,000 retailers, licensees, manufacturers, distributors, and licensing agents attend Licensing Expo from more than 70 countries. Licensing Expo is a part of the Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets, the licensing industry's leading tradeshow organizer and media partner. Its mission is to provide licensing opportunities around the world by bringing brands and products together. Connect with Licensing Expo and join the conversation onLinkedIn ,YouTube ,TwitterandInstagram .About Global Licensing GroupTheGlobal Licensing Group at Informa Markets,a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), is the licensing industry's leading tradeshow organizer and media partner. Its mission is to provide licensing opportunities around the world by bringing brands and products together. The following events and information products are produced for the licensing industry by the Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets: Licensing Expo,Brand Licensing Europe ,Licensing Expo ShanghaiandLicense Global . Global Licensing Group events are sponsored by Licensing International.Media Contact:Informa Markets Licensing PR LicensingPR@ informa.com SOURCE: INFORMA MARKETS - GLOBAL LICENSING GROUP PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 20:45:52 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1044 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Bambuser AB (STO:BUSER)(FRA:5JL) The shareholders of Bambuser AB, reg.no . 556731-3126, ("Bambuser" or the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries the "Group") are hereby given notice of the annual general meeting on Friday, 26 April 2024 at 3:00 p.m. at Advokatfirman Delphi at Master Samuelsgatan 17 in Stockholm, Sweden. Registration for the annual general meeting will commence at 2:30 p.m.Participation at the meetingShareholders who wish to participate at the meeting must:both be listed as shareholder in the presentation of the register of shareholders prepared by Euroclear Sweden AB concerning the circumstances on Thursday, 18 April 2024, and no later than Monday, 22 April 2024 have notified their attendance to the Company.Notification shall be made in writing to the Company at the address Bambuser AB, "AGM", Regeringsgatan 55, SE-111 56 Stockholm, Sweden or via e-mail to generalmeeting@ bambuser.com . Notification of attendance must include name, personal or corporate identification number, number of shares, address, telephone number and information about deputies, proxies and advisors. The maximum number of advisors is two.Nominee registered sharesShareholders who have their shares registered in the name of a nominee must, in order to exercise their voting rights at the meeting, register their shares in their own name through the nominee, so that the shareholder is registered in the register of shareholders kept by Euroclear Sweden AB on the record date on Thursday, 18 April 2024. Such registration may be temporary (so-called voting rights registration). Shareholders who wish to register shares in their own name must, in accordance with the procedures of the respective nominee, request the nominee to carry out such voting rights registration. Voting rights registration requested by the shareholder in such time that the registration has been made by the nominee no later than Monday, 22 April 2024 will be taken into account in the presentation of the register of shareholders.ProxiesShareholders represented by proxy shall issue a power of attorney in writing, signed and dated by the shareholder, for the proxy. If issued by a legal entity, the power of attorney shall be accompanied by a certificate of registration, or if such document does not exist, other corresponding documents attesting to the authority of the signatory. In order to facilitate the entry to the general meeting a copy of the power of attorney form (with documents attesting the authority of the signatory) should be sent via e-mail to generalmeeting@ bambuser.com , together with the notice of attendance. The power of attorney may not be issued earlier than five years before the meeting. A power of attorney form is available at the Company and on the Company's website, https://ir.bambuser.com/corporate-governance/general-meeting , and will be sent to shareholders who so requests and provide their postal or e-mail address.Proposed agendaOpening of the meeting and election of the chairman of the meeting Preparation and approval of the voting list Approval of the agenda Election of one or two persons to check the minutes Determination of whether the meeting has been duly convened Submission of the annual report and auditor's report and consolidated accounts and the auditor's report on the consolidated accounts Resolution ona) adoption of the income statement and balance sheet and the consolidated income statement and consolidated balance sheet,b) allocation of the Company's result in accordance with the adopted balance sheet, andc) discharge from liability for members of the board of directors and the CEODetermination of the number of board members and auditors Determination of remuneration to the board of directors and the auditor Election of board members and chairman of the board Election of auditor Resolution on issue of warrants and implementation of long-term incentive program 2024 Resolution on authorization for the board of directors to resolve on issue of shares, warrants and/or convertibles Closing of the meeting Resolutions proposed by the nomination committee (item 1 and 8-11)The nomination committee, consisting of the chairman of the nomination committee Tomas Meerits (representing Vitruvian Partners (Pyramid Holdco S.A.R.L)), Frank Larsson (representing Handelsbanken Fonder AB) and Cecilia Lager (representing Joel Citron and TAH Core Master Fund) has presented the following proposals for resolutions in relation to item 1 and 8-11 of the above proposed agenda.Item 1 - Election of the chairman of the meetingThe nomination committee proposes that advokat Mats Dahlberg from Advokatfirman Delphi is elected as chairman of the meeting or, in his absence, the person appointed by the nomination committee.Item 8 - Determination of the number of board members and auditorsThe board currently consists of seven (7) ordinary members without deputies. The nomination committee proposes that the board of directors, for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting, shall consist of six (6) ordinary members without deputies.The company currently has one (1) registered auditing firm as auditor. The nomination committee proposes that the company shall have one (1) registered auditing firm as auditor for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting.Item 9 - Determination of remuneration to the board of directors and the auditorThe nomination committee proposes that the remuneration to the board of directors shall be paid with a total of SEK 750,000 to be distributed as follows: SEK 250,000 each to the board members Iris Epple-Righi, Carl Kinell and Cecilia Lager.Remuneration for work in the audit committee shall be SEK 75,000 to the chairman and SEK 50,000 to each of the other members of the committee. Remuneration for work in the remuneration committee shall be SEK 50,000 to the chairman and SEK 25,000 to each of the other members of the committee.The nomination committee proposes that remuneration to the company's auditor shall be paid in accordance with approved invoice.Item 10 - Election of board members and chairman of the boardThe nomination committee proposes that the annual general meeting, for the period until the end of the next annual general meeting, shall re-elect the board members Joel Citron, Carl Kinell, Niclas Lindlof, Mark Lotke, Cecilia Lager and Iris Epple-Righi. Sonia Lasry (Gardner) has declined re-election.The nomination committee proposes re-election of Joel Citron as chairman of the board.For a presentation of the members proposed for re-election, please refer to the Company's website ir.bambuser.com Item 11 - Election of auditorThe nomination committee pr PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 13:10:51 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 562 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Enhancements deliver significant automation and efficiency gains across all facets of truckload operations from tender acceptance, bid analysis, and dispatchingNEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 /Optimal Dynamics, the pioneer in artificial decision intelligence (ADI) for trucking companies, today announced the availability of new innovative solutions designed to propel fast and confident decision-making across all facets of truckload operations. These new features not only redefine the possibilities within ADI but also signify a commitment to elevating the operational efficiency and financial success of Optimal Dynamics customers. Leveraging the company's uniquely powerful optimization engine, these new solutions empower trucking companies with optimal recommendations that reach further throughout the complex workflows inherent in modern logistics.The New Features from Optimal Dynamics Include:Optimized EDI Tender Acceptance RecommendationsWith the myriad of decisions dispatchers and planners face, increasing efficiency and automation at each stage is crucial. For years, Execute by Optimal Dynamics has provided optimized recommendations on whether to assign loads to either asset or brokerage to best balance truckload networks. Today, the company is applying its decision intelligence to the question of whether to accept or reject a tendered load, and seamlessly action the decision via 2-way integration. The solution provides recommendations that assess unique business rules and factors such as available capacity, existing commitments, driver coverage, profitability, and more, so teams can confidently and efficiently make the best tender acceptance decisions.Optimized Bidding WorkflowFinding the optimal rate to bid requires analyzing numerous pricing options. This process can often be tedious and time-consuming, leading to slower RFP responses at sub-optimal rates. The new Bid Rate Analysis tool streamlines the experience for bulk lane rate adjustments and analysis directly from uploaded bid files. Now, users can effortlessly run multiple bid analyses at different rates after applying bulk rate changes ensuring a more efficient, informed, and responsive bidding workflow.Furthermore, analysts will have greater insight into how bid lanes impact their complete shipper network. The Network Impact Analysis provides a comprehensive list of incumbent customers that would be impacted in the future, assuming all Optimal Dynamics recommended lanes are won. This unmatched level of impact analysis empowers users to confidently optimize operations for enhanced performance and profitability.Dispatch Outcome ExplainabilityJust as important as knowing what decisions to make is understanding why those are the best decisions to make. With embedded KPIs providing clear visibility into the most impactful metrics, including revenue per driver, empty mileage percentage, and current availability, fleet managers can quickly gain a detailed view of future business performance based on Optimal Dynamics recommendations and, therefore, confidently act on those recommendations."Our commitment to building the most complete and powerful truckload optimization platform is the heartbeat of Optimal Dynamics - even after four decades of solving the intricate challenges of logistics," said Daniel Powell, CEO and Co-founder of Optimal Dynamics. "We are focused on tackling the unknown for our customers and they trust in us to further drive automation, efficiency, and profitability throughout their trucking operations. We are driven by the real-world results we continue to deliver." Optimal Dynamics will showcase the latest innovations in Artificial Decision Intelligence at the TCA Truckload conference in Nashville March 24-26. If you will be in attendance, visit Booth #900 to learn more.Contact InformationErica FrankVP of Marketingefrank@ optimaldynamics.com 917-382-4431SOURCE: Optimal DynamicsView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 08:00:32 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 991 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LOI signed as first step in Orosur reassuming 100% ownership of Anza Project Targeting completion of transaction by end of April 2024 Planning for reassuming ownership, operatorship and recommencement of drilling is underwayLONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Orosur Mining Inc. ("Orosur" or the "Company") (TSXV:OMI)(AIM:OMI), is pleased to announce an update on the status of the Company's flagship Anza Project ("Project") in Colombia.The Project is the subject of an Exploration Agreement with Venture Option ("Exploration Agreement") with Colombian company Minera Monte Aguila ("MMA"). MMA is itself a 50/50 joint venture between Newmont Corporation ("Newmont") and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico") and is the Colombian vehicle by which these two companies jointly exercise their rights and obligations with respect to the Exploration Agreement over the Project. MMA is the current operator of the Project.The Exploration Agreement came into effect in September 2018, with the first phase lasting four years and being successfully completed in September 2022, such that MMA earned a 51% interest in the Project. The Company and MMA then began the process of moving toward Phase 2 of the Exploration Agreement, which included a US$2 million option payment being made to Orosur in early March 2023.Subsequent to this, as announced on May 4, 2023, the Company was informed that MMA was reviewing its alternatives in respect of the Project and may not proceed to Phase 2 of the Exploration Agreement.The Company is pleased to announce that on March 22, 2023 it entered into a non-binding letter of intent with MMA, that provides for a transaction pursuant to which Orosur would repurchase, directly or indirectly, MMA's interest in the Project, resulting in Orosur having a 100% ownership of the Project ("Transaction"). The proposed consideration set out in the letter of intent is a net smelter return royalty of 1.5% and cash payments of up to US$15 million payable upon meeting certain agreed production thresholds.Subject to several conditions, including but not limited to, the negotiation of definitive documentation and the completion of due diligence, the Company expects that the Transaction can be completed as early as the end of April 2024.Further details of the Transaction remain commercially confidential and will be disclosed if and when the Transaction is completed.PreparationsConcurrently with negotiation of the Transaction, the Company has begun the process of preparing to reassume ownership and operatorship of the Project. This involves, among other things, the recruitment of staff, liaising with the local community, discussions with relevant contractors and suppliers and the obtaining of various permits required for field operations.Should the Transaction be completed, the Company hopes to be able to recommence drilling operations as quickly as possible after reassuming operatorship.Orosur CEO Brad George commented:"After such a long period in abeyance, we are excited at the prospect of reassuming ownership and control of Anza at this time of buoyant gold prices and heightened market interest in precious metals. Most importantly, the structure of the Transaction whereby all consideration is deferred and contingent upon production allows us to immediately direct our resources into the ground." For further information, visit www.orosur.ca , follow on X @orosurm or please contact:Orosur Mining IncLouis Castro, ChairmanBrad George, CEO info@ orosur.ca Tel: +1 (778) 373-0100SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP - Nomad & BrokerJeff Keating / Caroline Rowe / Kasia BrzozowskaTel: +44 (0) 20 3 470 0470Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd - Joint BrokerAndy Thacker/James PopeTel: +44 (0)20 3657 0050Flagstaff CommunicationsTim ThompsonMark EdwardsFergus Mellon orosur@ flagstaffcomms.com Tel: +44 (0)207 129 1474The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ('MAR') which has been incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ('RIS'), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.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.About the Anza ProjectAnza is a gold exploration project, comprising three exploration licences, four exploration licence applications, and a small exploitation permit, totalling in aggregate 207.5km2 in the prolific Mid-Cauca belt of Colombia.Orosur's interest in the Anza Project is currently held via its subsidiary, Minera Anza S.A.The project is located 50km west of Medellin and is easily accessible by all-weather roads and boasts excellent infrastructure including water, power, communications and large exploration camp.The Anza Project is subject to an Exploration Agreement with Venture Option dated September 7th, 2018, as announced on September 10th, 2018, between Orosur's 100% subsidiary Minera Anza S.A ("Minera Anza") and Minera Monte Aguila SAS ("Monte Aguila"), a 50/50 joint venture between Newmont Corporation ("Newmont") and Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico").Forward Looking StatementsAll statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including but not limited to the "safe harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on expectations estimates and projections as of the date of this news release.Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the exploration plans in Colombia and the funding of those plans, completion of the Transaction to re-assume 100% of the Anza Project, and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. The Company's continuance as a going concern is dependent upon its ability to obtain adequate financing, to reach profitable levels of operations and to reach a satisfactory implementation of the Creditors Agreement in Uruguay. These material uncertainties may cast significant doubt upon the Company's ability to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business and accordingly the appropriateness of the use of accounting principles applicable to a going concern. There can be no assurance that su PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 14:25:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 414 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Pepco:Pepco's investment in diverse suppliers promotes economic inclusivity and has a positive impact on the communities we serveOriginally published by PepcoPepco purchased $387 million in goods and services from diversity-certified suppliers in 2023, accounting for 44 percent of the company's total purchases for the year. This expenditure, a $35 million increase from 2022, is the most spent with diverse suppliers in the company's nearly 130-year history and reflects Pepco's ongoing efforts to support local and diverse communities."Supplier diversity is just one of the ways we support our customers and local communities with more than energy," said Rodney Oddoye, senior vice president of Government, Regulatory and External Affairs at Pepco Holdings. "Our continued increase in investments with these valuable partners reinforces our commitment to the local communities that we proudly serve and supports local business growth, helping our communities thrive." In line with Pepco's dedication to enhancing procurement efforts with local diversity-certified suppliers, the Empowerment Academy, formerly known as Target 25, offers prospective suppliers a chance to gain insights into Pepco's procurement procedures and those of its parent company, Exelon. This initiative contributes to the growth and development of each vendor's relationship with the energy company. Since the establishment of the Empowerment Academy, Pepco has graduated 17 diversity-certified suppliers and is eager to broaden this opportunity to additional local, diverse suppliers.Pepco, Exelon and the Exelon Foundation-funded Community Impact Capital Fund (CICF; formerly known as the Racial Equity Capital Fund) also invested nearly $3 million in four local businesses working in the energy, IT, workforce development and real estate fields. The fund, launched in partnership with RockCreek - one of the world's largest diverse-owned global investment firms, expands capital to businesses that have traditionally been challenged in accessing and securing funding so they can create more jobs, grow their companies and reinvest in their neighborhoods and communities.. Learn more about the funded companies onThe Source .Companies interested in working with Pepco and other Exelon companies can register and provide pertinent information, including their diversity status, at exeloncorp.com/Suppliers To learn more about Pepco, visit The Source, our online newsroom. Find additional information by visiting pepco.com , on Facebook at facebook.com/PepcoConnect and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at twitter.com/PepcoConnect . Pepco's mobile app is available at pepco.com/MobileApp View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Pepco on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: PepcoWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/pepco Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Pepco PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 05:00:25 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 311 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 DUBAI, UAE / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Propchain, a leading player in the real estate sector, has announced the introduction of digital asset payments on its property investment platform, Prop.com . This key development highlights Propchain's commitment to simplifying user interactions and democratizing real estate investing on a global scale, thereby bridging the gap between the traditional world and Web 3.0.Propchain's latest initiative is fueled by a vision to build a brand identity synonymous with trust and innovation in the market. Their goal is to ease the real estate investment process and boost accessibility for retail investors globally. Currently, the platform integrates crypto payments through Binance Pay, facilitating swift transactions with minimal fees, all powered by blockchain technology.Envisioning A Digitally Empowered Real Estate Value ChainPropchainhas achieved numerous milestones, positioning itself as a leader in the Real-World Assets (RWA) space. The company's wide array of real estate strategies addresses the needs of investors, providing exclusive opportunities for diversification and expansion.Initially focusing on the global real estate market, the property investment platform of Propchain has strategically pivoted to concentrate on the Dubai real estate market, driven by increasing interest from global investors in the city's rapidly-growing real estate sector.Propchain's innovative approach to real estate investing extends beyond traditional boundaries. By recognizing the challenges and opportunities in European markets, the company is strategically positioned to identify attractive investment opportunities and navigate market dynamics effectively.The RWA Era AheadIn conclusion, Propchain's journey is marked by significant milestones, strategic focus, and innovative real estate strategies. With its commitment to digitally empowering the real estate value chain through investing and strategic positioning in the global market, Propchain is geared to redefine the real estate investment landscape and continue its trajectory of success.Media ContactOrganization: Prop ChainContact Person: Roger JalkhWebsite: https://propchain.com Email: info@ propchain.com City: DubaiCountry: United Arab EmiratesSOURCE: Prop Chain PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 11:31:38 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 986 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Relevant Gold Corp. (TSXV:RGC)(OTCQB:RGCCF) (the "Company" or "Relevant Gold") is pleased to report release of data from the 2023 airborne magnetics geophysical survey flown by the Wyoming Geological Survey (WSGS) and US Geological Survey (USGS). The regional survey covered the Company's entire 16,000-hectare portfolio of projects and reveals structural and geological detail far surpassing existing mapping (figure 1). Importantly, some of the most prominent anomalies highlighted by the survey are major structures at South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (Figure 2). The survey shows patterns very similar to those of Canada's Abitibi Gold Province and provides strong support for the Company's exploration thesis that Wyoming has Abitibi-style geology and gold potential.Key takeaways from the magnetic data (see geophysics presentation):The magnetic data provides far more detail than existing regional geologic maps (figure 1). The overall results show strong similarities to the Abitibi Gold Province, especially the Red Lake, Hemlo, and Canadian Malartic districts. The magnetic data highlight the major Archean orogenic structures of Wyoming that coincide with historical mining districts. The magnetic data agree very well with the Company's detailed mapping. The two most prominent structural/magnetic anomalies are at Relevant Gold's South Pass and Bradley Peak camps. South Pass and Bradley Peak are clearly connected along a regional primary structure (figure 2). Secondary structures revealed at both South Pass & Bradley Peak camps coincide with known high-grade gold occurrences. The magnetics support Relevant Gold's target concepts and show where to tighten targets at South Pass (figure 4). The strength of the 100 km2 Bradley Peak anomaly strongly encourages expediting drill permitting (figure 3)."The superb detail revealed by this government-sponsored survey is a huge step forward in understanding Wyoming's Archean geology, mirroring what's seen in Canada's prolific Abitibi Gold Province. A big thank you to the State of Wyoming and USGS for investing in mineral resource development in the state," said Brian Lentz, Relevant Gold's Chief Exploration Officer. "These initial processed results really strengthen Wyoming's connections to the Abitibi while showing that South Pass and Bradley Peak lie on Wyoming's structural Main Street - giving us some of the best discovery opportunities in the state. We look forward to more detailed processing of the data to see what else it can show us, but Bradley Peak appears to be a monster 100 km2 structural trap which coincides closely with high-grade targets we recently generated; we look forward to accelerating exploration there!"Figure 1. Modified Geologic map of Wyoming (Love and Christiansen, 1985) with the vertical derivative of the 2023 airborne magnetics survey overlain (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024).Figure 2. Regional airborne magnetic vertical derivative interpolation map (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024) with major structural features, high-grade targets, and the Company's two primary gold camps highlighted.About the Survey This survey was funded jointly by the State of Wyoming and the US Geological Survey as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (aka Earth MRI) and is the first of three regional aerial geophysical surveys being conducted in Wyoming (figure 1).Magnetic and radiometric data was collected over approximately 3,300 square miles (~854,000 hectares) in central Wyoming using 200m spaced flight lines-it includes Relevant Gold's entire ~16,000 ha landholdings (Press Release - May 24, 2023). Airborne geophysical surveys are commonly employed in gold-bearing Archean terranes like the Abitibi of Canada. The technique can "see" through extensive cover and reveal remarkable details of the major geology and structural trends that control gold mineralization. Data produced from the Wyoming survey provides a much clearer picture of the geology and highlights targets within both the South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (figures 1 and 2).The magnetic survey data provides clear resolution on the nature and extent of major Archean crustal-scale structures and highlights important related secondary structures. Understanding these structural features is critical in gold exploration as they are the primary controls for orogenic gold emplacement. Some of the most notable geophysical signatures within the survey highlight the South Pass and Bradley Peak areas (figure 2). This high-resolution geophysical data ties very well to the detailed mapping completed by the Company in both gold camps where regional geologic data is limited.In 2023, the company completed an initial mapping and rock chip sampling program at Bradley Peak identifying 3 new district-scale targets. The rock chip sampling returned high-grade results, highlighted by 5.3 g/t Au, 107 g/t Ag, and 6.25% Cu (see full Press Release - Nov 7, 2023). The geophysical survey outlines the structural trap for these targets in the center of a major 100 km2 anomaly (figure 3). The survey illustrates a very large (100 km2) fold hinge structure developed off the crustal-scale Oregon Trail Structural Belt affecting Archean rocks including, iron formation, mafic greenstones, mafic intrusives, felsic intrusives, komatiites, and others. This rock assemblage and type of structure is known as the primary host for numerous gold deposits in the Abitibi, with strong similarities to the Red Lake district and Hemlo districts.Over South Pass the magnetic data illustrates numerous major structures cutting Relevant Gold's property and agrees closely to the Company's detailed mapping and high-grade gold targets (figure 4). Importantly, this data confirms the Company's model for South Pass and continues to tighten targets throughout the camp. The geophysical signatures, geology, and mineralization at South Pass display strong similarities to the Canadian Malartic region along the Cadillac-Larder Lake deformation zone in the southern Abitibi gold belts (geophysics presentation). The Company will begin more detailed processing of the data for each property area, with ground truthing based on mapped geology to tease out key details and connections between the geology and gold.Figure 3. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of Bradley Peak Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted.Figure 4. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of South Pass Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted.Qualified Person All technical information has been reviewed by Mr. Brian Lentz, CPG, who i PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 23:00:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 500 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Alignable's Annual Contest Reveals North America's Best, Most-Supportive Business OwnersBOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Alignable's 2024 Local Business Person Of The Year Contest reached unparalleled participation levels this year, logging a whopping 309,000+ votes, 64,000+ recommendations, and 5,171 local winners across the U.S. and Canada.Alignable's 2024 Local Business Person Of The Year Contest This image promotes Alignable's 2024 Local Business Person Of The Year Contest, which awarded 5,171 local titles.The largest online networking platform for business owners, Alignable.com invited its 8.7 million+ members to shout-out local leaders who've gone above and beyond guiding peers and supporting entire communities.Conducted from 1/8/23 to 2/23/24, the 2024 contest is the most popular competition Alignable has hosted in over five years, marking a 40% jump in participation over 2023, and a 30% increase in the number of winners.Among these local winners, 50+ North American networking superstars emerged based on the overwhelming support they received during this contest.Here's a preview of the list. Go here to see the rest of the Top 50.JB Beckett, W. Columbia, SC Brian Gregory, Phoenix, AZ Kimberly Wallace, Cornelius, NC Michael Keller, Boca Raton, FL Helena Smolock, Blaine, WA Jill Cone, Mesa, AZ Shane Hicks, New Braunfels, TX Paul L. Odendahl, Port St. Lucie, FL & Tony Ransdell, Elgin, IL Anton Burnette, Cleveland, TN Steve Levinson, Boynton Beach, FL LaToya Germaine, New City, NY Cherri Pedrioli, Santa Rosa, CA & Dr. Mary Welsh, Warren, MI Dr. Karen Fiorillo, Collegeville, PA Amberly Shreve, Clarksville, MD Paul Finkelstein, Delray Beach, FL James Clemens, Panama Beach City, FL& Maria Wirth, Allentown, PA Jason Integrity, Charlotte, NC Lesly Jean-Baptiste, Lawrenceville, GA Dr. Thomas Hill, Naperville, IL Sam Rafoss, Calgary, AB (No. 1 in Canada)These leaders were commended for helping peers grow their networks and expand their businesses during a year with many economic challenges.All local champions received special badges on their Alignable profiles, recognizing their wins. The awareness generated through similar contests has spurred expanded connections, referrals, and new business for many winners."Our members can't stop raving about how this contest supercharged the relationships within their networks, which have sparked referrals, ignited fresh business opportunities, and fueled a massive wave of mutual support," said Alignable's CEO Eric Groves. "Business owners are the vibrant heartbeat of their communities, and it's high time they got the recognition they deserve. With over 64,000 recommendations pouring in from this year's contest, it's crystal clear: when small business owners unite, they become an unstoppable force." Contact chuck@ alignable.com to find your local winners and arrange interviews.About Alignable Alignable.com is the largest online business networking platform for business owners in the U.S. and Canada. With 8.7 million members across 35,000+ communities, Alignable is the network where business owners come together. Whether you're connecting locally, meeting peers in your industry, or finding a catalyst who will introduce you to their network, Alignable is where businesses connect and change their business trajectory.Contact Information:Chuck CastoHead Of PR, News & Research, Alignablechuck@ alignable.com 508-314-3284SOURCE: AlignableView the original press release on newswire.com PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 16:16:03 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 700 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Evolution AB ("Evolution" or the "Company") (OTC:EVVTY). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@ pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.The class action concerns whether Evolution and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.You have until March 25, 2024, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class if you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Evolution securities during the Class Period. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com [Click here for information about joining the class action]On January 24, 2022, Analyst Alpha Generation Limited released a report on Evolution (the "Report") to certain institutional investors. According to subsequent media coverage, the Report stated that (i) a significant portion of Evolution's revenue "could be at risk due to future regulatory clampdowns," and (ii) Evolution was "exposed to revenues from what we [the authors of the Report] believe to be illegal gambling activities." On this news, Evolution's American Depositary Share ("ADS") price fell $19.78 per ADS, or 14.68%, over the following three trading sessions, to close at $115.00 per ADS on January 27, 2022.On April 26, 2022 (that is, on April 25, 2022 in the United States), Australia's gambling regulator announced that it had requested that Australian internet service provides block six online gambling sites, the operators of at least five of which were direct or indirect customers of Evolution's, alleging that the sites were engaged in illegal gambling.On this news, Evolution's ADS price fell $6.02 per ADS, or 6.22%, over the following two trading sessions, to close at $96.73 per ADS on April 27, 2022.On May 4, 2022, industry press reported that the Swedish Administrative Court had upheld most of the record Swedish fines of 175 million Swedish Krona (approximately $17.8 million) that had been imposed on brands operated by ComeOn Group, a subsidiary of Cherry AB (publ), a customer of Evolution's, in relation to breaches of Swedish online gambling regulations.On this news, Evolution's ADS price fell $12.34 per ADS, or 10.88%, to close at $101.09 per ADS on May 5, 2022.On May 7, 2022, media outlets reported that industry participants had lobbied the UK government against an overhaul of gambling laws in the UK.On this news, Evolution's ADS price fell $14.84 per ADS, or 14.54%, over the following three trading sessions, to close at $87.25 per ADS on May 11, 2022.On April 27, 2023, Evolution released its financial and operating results for the first quarter of 2023. Among other items, the Company disclosed that Evolution's revenue from the RNG segment of its business did not grow, and that its North American business segment had experienced a low growth rate.On this news, Evolution's ADS price fell $11.24 per ADS, or 8.23%, over the following four trading sessions, to close at $125.26 per ADS on May 2, 2023.Finally, on October 26, 2023, Evolution released its financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2023 and held an analyst call to discuss the results. In its quarterly report and on the analyst call, Evolution disclosed that the Company faced delays in opening new studios and that revenues for its RNG and North American business segments did not grow.On this news, Evolution's ADS price fell $7.15 per ADS, or 7.61%, over the following two trading sessions, to close at $86.80 per ADS on October 27, 2023.Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered billions of dollars in damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 21:30:46 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 964 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATESVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 /South Star Battery Metals Corp.("South Star" or the "Company") (TSXV:STS) (OTCQB:STSBF), is pleased to announce that it has awarded contracts for the National Instrument 43-101 ("NI43-101") Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA" or the "Study") for the BamaStar Graphite Project ("BamaStar"). The interdisciplinary team of consultants, engineers and scientists is co-led by Dorfner ANZAPLAN GmbH and Lycopodium Limited. The PEA is anticipated to be completed and published in July 2024. With the recent mineral lease and surface rights extensions, South Star has successfully completed all the other requirements for BamaStar's option agreement, and preparing the PEA is the final milestone that will give the Company the right to acquire an undivided 75% legal and beneficial interest in and to the minerals, mining rights and the underlying agreements for the mine.The PEA will incorporate the Company's 2023 drill-program results, providing an update to the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the BamaStar project. The Study's techno-economic analysis will present a scenario with concentrates from both BamaStar and Santa Cruz providing feedstocks for the secondary processed, specialty-graphite products. The Study will outline the strategic production/commercial plan for South Star's planned downstream transformation plant for the manufacturing of battery-graphite and other specialty-graphite commercial products, in the southeastern USA.Additionally, senior representatives of the Company have engaged and met with numerous senior economic-development representatives for states in the region, including Alabama and Louisiana. The team has commenced a site-selection process to determine the most advantageous location for siting South Star's planned downstream transformation plant to produce coated spherical purified graphite ("CSPG") for lithium-ion ("Li-ion") battery applications, in addition to conductivity-enhancement products suited for numerous battery chemistries, and other unique and innovative products.Richard Pearce, CEO of South Star, commented, "We are pleased to kickoff the PEA for BamaStar and to advance the project together with our partners. The PEA is expected to take approximately three to four months to complete, and we believe it will present a robust scenario with two scalable mines producing high-quality concentrates and a value-add plant in the middle of one of the most critical EV, defense, and energy storage corridors in the U.S. At a time of increasing geopolitical risks and supply-chain concerns regarding critical metals and the energy transition, it's great to be one of the first movers advancing a phased, vertically integrated graphite supply chain with near-term production and high-quality assets in Tier 1 jurisdictions in the Americas." In addition, 10 kg of Santa Cruz material is being tested as part of ongoing characterization and optimization of the Santa Cruz graphite concentrates for battery applications for the Company's US downstream transformational technologies technical program. Currently, Santa Cruz graphite concentrate is being analyzed, purified, transformed and upgraded to produce a variety of different products, including CSPG.As part of that ongoing characterization, the as-received Santa Cruz graphite concentrate was recently imaged using scanning electron microscop ("SEM"), as shown in the Figure 1 below.Figure 1: The SEM image on the above left is of South Star's >96% Cg graphite concentrate from the Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Brazil. The SEM image on the above right is of the EXACT same material as in the image on the left, imaged concurrently, but utilizing a SEM backscattered electron detector. Backscattered electron imaging is used to differentiate between materials of different compositions. Phases heavier than carbon will look bright (meaning, impurities will luminesce), and pure carbon will look matte black, as seen here. The even coloration demonstrates the >96% C purity of the Santa Cruz graphite concentrate.ABOUT DORFNER ANZAPLAN GmbHDorfner is a leading European specialty minerals producer delivering high-quality mineral products to different industries. ANZAPLAN was founded in 1985 to become the most independent venture within the Dorfner group of companies while concentrating the group's analytical and engineering know-how to serve external customers. Extensive know-how in specialty minerals processing, including liberation of fine-grained minerals, separation, flotation, and mechanical, chemical, and thermal modification derived from more than a century of day-to-day processing experience at Dorfner, has been successfully applied in the processing of various graphite raw materials. Furthermore, ANZAPLAN has detailed expertise in advanced chemical and thermal purification, upgrading graphite concentrates to >99.9% purity levels. Today ANZAPLAN is a specialist with a strong focus on specialty minerals and metals businesses (e.g. graphite, lithium minerals, rare-earth elements, high purity quartz), providing a one-stop-shop solution across all phases of the economic evaluation and process development -- with technological expertise from its laboratories, test-center and pilot-plant processing facilities including basic and advanced engineering services.Purification processes including mechanical, chemical, and thermal-refinement technologies are key elements in ANZAPLAN's and Dorfner's daily business to efficiently remove impurities by targeting high-value products. ANZAPLAN's experience in the processing of graphite includes extensive test work carried out for several different projects including flake and hydrothermal vein graphite deposits as well as processing of synthetic graphite.LYCOPODIUM LIMITEDLycopodium is a leader in its field, working with clients globally to provide integrated engineering, construction and asset management solutions. The company has the expertise to deliver complex, multidisciplinary projects, through to the provision of feasibility studies and advisory services.Operating across the resources, infrastructure and industrial-processes sectors, Lycopodium offers a diverse team of industry experts to deliver bespoke and innovative solutions across all commodity types. With the capability to deliver projects around the world, the company has offices in Australia, South Africa, Canada, Ghana and the Philippines.About South Star Battery Metals CorpSouth Star Battery Metals Corp. is a Canadian battery metals project developer focused on the selective acquisition and development of near-term production PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 14:02:40 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 682 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Torq Resources Inc. (TSX-V:TORQ)(OTCQX:TRBMF) ("Torq" or the "Company") announces that effective immediately the Company has implemented cash preservation measures including an immediate 50% pay cut for all salaried North American senior executives, a deferral of those reduced salaries until a financing permits payment and a deferral of all directors cash compensation. The Company will also effect reductions of all non-essential employees and contractors and intends to consolidate its Vancouver office operations into a combination of remote working and relocation to the Santiago offices, where the Company's technical team, physical assets and exploration activities are centered.The Company also announces that director, Jeffrey Mason, and Chief Geological Officer (CGO), Michael Henrichsen, have resigned their respective positions with the Company, effective immediately, to pursue other business interests. The Board would like to thank Michael and Jeffrey for their contributions over the years and wishes them success in their future endeavors. The Company will not in the near term appoint a replacement CGO given the strength of the Chilean technical team.The Company has also decided to drop its option on the Andrea project in order to focus and prioritize its capital allocation to its more advanced Margarita and the Santa Cecilia projects, where the latter is currently wrapping up its second exploration focused drill program.Shawn Wallace, Chair and CEO, commented, "we are undertaking these cash preservation measures, including reduction and/or deferral of executive and board compensation, while we explore financing options. The Board is grateful for the support from executives and fellow Board members, who are all committed to ensuring continued solid technical performance and value creation for shareholders. Mr. Wallace added, "I would like to thank Jeffrey and Michael, both personally and on behalf of the Board, for their many contributions to the Company over the last several years. Management and the Board are working with the Company's stakeholders, as well as financial and other advisors, and are considering which financing options may be the most accretive. We believe the exploration results achieved at both Margarita and Santa Cecilia are currently under-appreciated and that financing will be obtainable in due course".ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,Shawn WallaceCEO & ChairFor further information on Torq Resources, please visit www.torqresources.com or contact Natasha Frakes, Vice President of Communications, at (778) 729-0500 or info@ torqresources.com About Torq ResourcesTorq is a Vancouver-based copper and gold exploration company with a portfolio of premium holdings in Chile. The Company is establishing itself as a leader of new exploration in prominent mining belts, guided by responsible, respectful and sustainable practices. The Company was built by a management team with prior success in monetizing exploration assets and its specialized technical team is recognized for their extensive experience working with major mining companies, supported by robust safety standards and technical proficiency. The technical team includes Chile-based geologists with invaluable local expertise and a noteworthy track record for major discovery in the country. Torq is committed to operating at the highest standards of applicable environmental, social and governance practices in the pursuit of a landmark discovery. For more information, visit www.torqresources.com Forward Looking InformationThis release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to, or associated with cost reductions, potential future financings and exploration and or development of mineral properties. These statements or graphical information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. See Torq's public filings at www.sedar.com for disclosure of the risks and uncertainties faced in this business.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: Torq Resources Inc. PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 15:48:30 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 375 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 OTTAWA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Trellis Corporation, a leading eCommerce Merchandising company, is excited to announce the appointment of Luke McGinnis as its new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). In this role, Luke will spearhead the company's revenue generation efforts and drive strategic initiatives to fuel growth and expansion.With over 10 years of experience in eCommerce Marketplaces, Luke brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Trellis team. Prior to joining Trellis, Luke held the position of Vice-President of Sales at Pacvue, where he was instrumental in the growth of Pacvue and their ultimate exit to Assembly."We are thrilled to welcome Luke to our executive leadership team," said Fahim Sheikh, CEO at Trellis. "His proven track record of driving revenue growth and building high-performing teams will be instrumental as we continue to scale our business and deliver value to our customers." In his role as Chief Revenue Officer, Luke will oversee all aspects of revenue generation, including sales, marketing, and partnerships. He will work closely with the executive team to develop and execute strategies that align with Trellis' vision and objectives."I am honored to join the Trellis team and contribute to its continued success," said Luke. "The Trellis eCommerce merchandising platform goes beyond the typical advertising platforms out there by combining Advertising, Dynamic Pricing, Product Content, and Promotions all in one platform. This is a true game changer for brands selling on marketplaces. I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the talented team and drive innovation, revenue growth, and maximize value for our customers." Please join us in welcoming Luke McGinnis to the Trellis family. For media inquiries or interviews, please contact Lobban Erwin, Media Relations Specialist at seoplus+ ( Lobban.erwin@seoplus.com) For further information on Trellis, please visit gotrellis.com About TrellisTrellis is a merchandising software platform designed for brands selling on e-commerce marketplaces. The software platform combines Placement, Pricing, Product Content and Promotions all together and was built on the deepest knowledge and latest advances in artificial intelligence and digital automation.Media ContactLobban ErwinMedia Relations Specialistseoplus+Local: +1 866-980-7587 lobban.erwin@seoplus.com Trellis Corporation515 Legget Drive, Suite 900Kanata, ON, CANADAK2K 3G4 www.gotrellis.com SOURCE: Trellis Corporation PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 22:42:24 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 506 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 DUBLIN, IRELAND / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Welcome to TrustGuardianGroup, the premier consortium of leading law firms in the European Union dedicated to providing comprehensive legal and compliance solutions for investment companies. With over 35 years of collective experience, our team stands as a pillar of expertise, integrity, and trust in the financial industry.Our Commitment to ExcellenceAtTrustGuardianGroup , we are committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in everything we do. Our team comprises top-tier legal professionals, compliance specialists, and industry veterans who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to every client engagement. With a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape and a proactive approach to compliance, we empower our clients to navigate complex challenges with confidence.Building Trust through TransparencyTransparency is at the core of our business philosophy. We believe in fostering open and honest communication with our clients, ensuring that they are fully informed and empowered to make sound decisions. From the initial consultation to ongoing support, we prioritize transparency in all our interactions, providing clear explanations of processes, potential risks, and regulatory requirements.Empowering Investors through Due DiligenceInvesting in today's dynamic financial markets requires thorough due diligence and risk assessment. TrustGuardianGroup specializes in providing comprehensive due diligence services, including Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures, director background checks, shareholder verification, and auditing services. By conducting meticulous investigations and assessments, we help our clients mitigate risks, safeguard their investments, and protect their interests.Our Client-Centric ApproachAt TrustGuardianGroup, our clients are at the heart of everything we do. We take the time to understand their unique needs, challenges, and goals, allowing us to tailor our services to meet their specific requirements effectively. Whether it's assisting with regulatory compliance, resolving legal issues, or providing strategic guidance, we are dedicated to delivering personalized solutions that drive success and foster long-term partnerships.TrustGuardianGroup's ValuesIntegrity: We uphold the highest ethical standards and integrity in all our dealings, earning the trust and confidence of our clients and partners.Excellence: We strive for excellence in everything we do, continuously seeking innovative solutions and delivering superior results.Collaboration: We believe in the power of collaboration and teamwork, leveraging the diverse expertise of our team to achieve optimal outcomes for our clients.Client Focus: We are committed to understanding and exceeding our clients' expectations, ensuring their satisfaction and success are our top priorities.Partner with TrustGuardianGroupWhether you are an individual investor seeking to protect your assets or a financial institution looking to enhance your compliance practices, TrustGuardianGroup is here to help. With our unwavering commitment to excellence, transparency, and client satisfaction, we are your trusted partner in navigating the complexities of the financial world. Contact us today to learn more about how TrustGuardianGroup can support your investment objectives and help you achieve peace of mind in an ever-changing market landscape.For more information visit at https://www.trustguardiangroup.com/ Media contacts:Company name: TrustGuardianGroup LLPName: Jessi BrownAddress: Riverside One, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2, D02 X576, IrelandEmail:support@ trustguardiangroup.comWebsite:https://www.trustguardiangroup.com/ SOURCE: TrustGuardianGroup PR-Inside.com: 2024-03-25 18:16:08 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 471 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / FedEx CorporationIn Philadelphia, a small business is brewing a revolution in the coffee industry. Win Win Coffee, owned by Nikisha Bailey and Matt Nam, is more than just a local roaster and distributor. It's a mission-driven enterprise focused on amplifying the opportunities for Black and Brown communities across the coffee supply chain.Nikisha and Matt entered the coffee industry in 2019, noticing a significant disparity: while coffee stands as the world's second most traded commodity, Black and Brown coffee producers are noticeably absent from ownership within its supply chain.Determined to address this inequality, Nikisha and Matt started Win Win Coffee to reshape the industry by providing traceability from coffee bean to mouth. "We visit the farms, intentionally getting to know the farmers and their challenges," Matt explained, reflecting on their journey to a remote coffee bean farmer in Colombia.Win Win Coffee's journey did start with some barriers, though, as they opened their doors just six months before the pandemic started. Due to mandates, they closed their doors at a time when their business was successfully growing. Nikisha describes how initially, they viewed it as a "curse," yet unexpectedly, it turned into a "blessing" when they started to create and ship their own coffee.In the face of initial challenges from the pandemic forcing them to pivot from their physical storefront, Win Win Coffee found an opportunity to further expand their reach through the FedEx E-commerce Learning Lab. In collaboration with Accion Opportunity Fund, FedEx offers this program to empower women and minority-owned small businesses, providing them with hands-on learning, mentorship, and networking opportunities to enhance their online presence."I applied for it because we were shipping out a lot of coffee," Nikisha recalled. "We had developed this e-commerce platform, and so I thought it'd be a great opportunity to learn more about the different distribution options." Recognizing the need for knowledge about shipping processes, Win Win Coffee utilized the program's learning opportunities to enhance their understanding. Matt expressed sincere gratitude for FedEx and Accion Opportunity Fund's proactive support by identifying it as "another example of voice amplification." Armed with the support and education received through the FedEx E-Commerce Learning Lab, Win Win Coffee has continued to amplify its online presence and has become Philadelphia's pioneering black woman-led roaster and distributor. Nikisha and her team are reaching a broader audience and furthering their mission of equity and inclusion within the coffee industry. The name 'Win Win' embodies their philosophy - as Nikisha summarized, "Everyone wins along the supply chain with us." View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from FedEx Corporation on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: FedEx CorporationWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/fedex-corporation Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: FedEx Corporation On Monday, the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) Chairperson, Enugu Chapter, Ene Brown, described the death of veteran Nollywood actor Amechi Muonagor, 62, as unfortunate. The talented actor died on Sunday. Mr Brown also shared details of the late actors health condition in the last decade. He said: Mounago battled with diabetes for over ten years and has been managing it. Only in these past six months did he start appealing to the public for assistance. Just like John Okafor, it is not their fault that they developed diabetes. We did our best in supporting him with the little we can as an organisation and individuals, but death is inevitable. Uncle, as he was fondly called, was energetic, friendly and acrobatic; we enjoyed him while he was alive. We miss him so much, he said. He said the deceased battled with different ailments for a very long time; It became worse in 2024 when he came down with stroke, diabetes and kidney failure. On why the industry was recording deaths, Mr Brown said that death is inevitable for everyone, adding that the only difference was that their members were famous as actors and actresses. We are not God and cannot change nature. People got to know about their death and are reacting, he said. Mr Brown said that the organisation was working to ensure that their members attend to their health by going for regular check-ups. The organisation has initiated a health insurance scheme for members to curtail their health expenses. The industry is doing its best to ensure that actors/actresses sign to Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO), which allows them access to 600 hospitals in Nigeria, he said. NAN reports that the talented Nollywood actor Muonagor, a native of Idemili in Anambra, was born on 20 August 1962. He was an actor and producer whose presence on the screen was truly memorable. He was nominated for AMVCA 2017 Best Actor in a Comedy in 2016. In 1989, after his youth service, Muonagor worked for NAN for a few years before he ventured into acting in his first movie, Akunatakasi, in Taboo 1, a Nigerian film. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Street celebrations have greeted opposition candidate Bassirou Fayes strong showing in Sundays presidential election. Results of many polling stations across the country which have been released so far show that the candidate of PASTEF who was only released some ten days before the election is leading, prompting analysts to dismiss fears that a run-off is in the offing. There has, however, been no official announcement of collated results. The elections were initially thought to be too close to call but as Mr Faye continues to rack up an impressive lead from polling units, the possibility that he may end up with at least 50 per cent of the votes cast seems reasonable. Over 70 million registered voters were expected to cast their votes on Sunday in a crowded field of candidates that included the former prime minister and anointed candidate of incumbent president Macky Sall, Amadou Ba, and 16 others, but the figure of those who turned out to vote was decidedly less. In most polling stations, less than half of the registered voters turned out to vote. Part of the reason included the fact that elections were happening in the holy month of Ramadan in this mostly Muslim country and the idea of rowdy campaigns was not palatable to clerics whose objections were vetoed by the nations Constitutional Council. The confusion over the date of the election, which was supposed to happen on 25 February until President Sall postponed it, also led to a precipitous arrangement which cut down time on campaigns and other activities. In all the polling booths, the voter education materials posted on walls, including the original statement by President Sall on the election, bore the 25 February date. Mr Faye has benefited immensely from the support of the nations most popular opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, who was banned from participating in the elections over charges of molestation, rape and public incitement which he had always insisted were politically motivated. Mr Sonko did the next best thing by giving his full support to the former Secretary General and co-founder of his party, PASTEF. In a campaign that has proved quite successful, the opposition has told its supporters that a vote for Diomaye Faye was a vote for their beloved Sonko, simplified as Diomaye = Sonko. It was the first time that an incumbent was not on the ballot in Senegals history and the fact that the main opposition leader was also not a contestant helped to ease the process along. The elections have been peaceful and fair and the head of the ECOWAS 130-member election observation mission to the presidential election in Senegal, Ibrahim Gambari, has praised the conduct of the polls. The former Nigerian foreign minister led the delegation to observe the electoral processes at some polling units in the capital Dakar as well as the suburbs as polling opened across the country. The elections took place in 15,633 polling units across the country. This is the fifth presidential election in Senegals history and arguably the most controversial as the opposition had a running battle with the ruling party leading to violent protests that have claimed lives and property. President Salls administration has been notably investor-friendly but has not been able to tame the rising poverty that has pushed many jobless youth to undertake the dangerous journey across the Atlantic through the Mediterranean on dodgy boats. Mr Faye has promised more jobs and other radical changes that included a change from the use of a currency tied to France and the investigation of previous contracts signed by the ruling party. Although the results shown on television showed the opposition party leading in the polls, it was not clear how many of the 15,633 polling stations had finished counting. Final provisional results are expected to be announced officially on Tuesday, and a second round of voting will only be necessary if no candidate secures more than 50 per cent of the votes. Faye has urged fellow contenders to be magnanimous and accept any winner declared by the nations electoral body. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The former Prime Minister of Senegal and candidate of the ruling party, Amadou Ba, has conceded defeat in the presidential election held on Sunday and has congratulated the main opposition candidate, Bassirou Faye, who is expected to be declared the winner. Although the official collation of results is still ongoing, results so far announced at polling units across the country show Mr Faye, 42, will win the election in the first round. Mr Ba, 62, had initially said celebrations by Mr Fayes supporters were premature but on Monday, he called and wrote to congratulate him. In light of presidential election result trends and while we await the official proclamation, I congratulate Faye for his victory in the first round, Mr Ba wrote in a statement, according to Al-Jazeera. Mr Ba enjoyed the support of the outgoing president Macky Sall who had initially tried to postpone the election while he held on to power. PREMIUM TIMES reported how weeks of street protests in Senegal and the insistence of the international community including ECOWAS forced Mr Sall to agree to the election being held on Sunday, weeks after it should have been held. The final results of the election are expected to be announced on Friday. Like Mr Ba, some of the other 15 presidential candidates have also congratulated Mr Faye including Anta Ngom, the only woman running in the race. Successful elections in Senegal could serve as a beacon of hope in West Africa where there has been a coup resurgence with at least eight coups since 2020. Some West African countries such as Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea are currently led by putschists. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Tinubus Requests: Again, lawmakers sacrificing due diligence for speed There is an emerging trend in the National Assembly. It has been noticed that once a bill or request emanates from the president, the lawmakers pass or approve it at the speed of light. During the past week, the lawmakers approved four requests from the president. The lawmakers passed the Student Loan Bill (Repeal and Enactment Bill), N1.2 trillion budget of the FCT, amendments to the 2023 Appropriation Act and 2023 Supplementary Budget, and the request to increase the salaries of the judicial officers. President Tinubu sent the Student Loan Bill to the House on 14 March, citing the inability to implement the law in its extant form. The president proposed some amendments to the Act, and the lawmakers gave the bill an expedited passage on Wednesday. The majority of the recommendations in the proposed amendments by the president are not controversial. In fact, many of the recommendations are popular and may explain the rush by the lawmakers. Similarly, the bill to increase the wages and allowances of the judiciary did not generate any controversy. Hence, the lawmakers did not debate the presidents proposed increments. Almost two years later, Reps still investigating Kuje prison attack On Wednesday, an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives held a one-day hearing into the 2022 attack on the Kuje correctional facility. One of the reasons the National Assembly has been seriously criticised is the poor handling of probes and resolutions. Often, the House does not have a good record-keeping system and institutional memory to prevent duplications. This matter was probed by a committee of the last Assembly with a report submitted to the House for consideration. But with the last assembly adjourned sine die, the lawmakers are conducting a fresh probe into the same matter. In November last year, a member of the House, Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo, moved a motion for a probe of the attack. However, Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno) raised an objection and informed the House that an investigation was done on the same subject matter. Consequently, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas directed relevant committees to review the report submitted by the ad hoc committee. Even so, the lawmakers still went ahead with a fresh investigation. Wikes unusual request and the debt-ridden budget While appearing before the House Committee on FCT on Monday to defend the N1.1 trillion budget of his ministry, the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, said he needs security votes to tackle the insecurity currently ravaging the Nigerian capital. The security vote is a controversial and corruption-ridden scheme often used by state governors arbitrarily without any form of transparency. Anti-corruption advocates have long argued that the security vote is a conduit for siphoning funds. As a governor, my director of SSS can meet me and say We need to carry out an operation this night. We need N30 million to carry out that operation. I dont need to meet the accountant. All I need to say is go and take money there, the minister told the lawmakers. Mr Wike, who earned the reputation of being a hardliner during his tenure as governor of Rivers, lamented the bureaucratic hurdles he has to contend with as FCT minister. However, the lawmakers did not give the minister any commitment. Mr Wike is proposing a N1.14 trillion budget, but N500 billion is expected to be sourced from commercial banks, while total internally generated revenue is projected to be N637 billion. The lawmakers approved this budget despite the huge debt burden its going to bring to the FCT. Good deed for widows and widowers The lawmakers also considered a bill to give widows and widowers enough time to mourn their deceased spouses. This bill, sponsored by Saidu Abdullahi (APC, Niger), scaled second reading without any opposition from any of the members. The bill, if passed into law, would grant a widow five months paid leave to mourn her deceased spouse, while a widower is entitled to one months paid leave. Early, long holidays for lawmakers Last week, the House shut down early on Wednesday to embark on about one month holiday after they hurriedly passed some of the bills. It is not clear why the lawmakers decided to embark on the Easter and Eid Fitri holidays very early, though, it was speculated that some of the Muslim lawmakers may want to attend the lesser hajj (Umrah) in Saudi Arabia. Hence, they will be resuming after the Eid festival on 16 April. READ ALSO: Why were yet to launch Nigerias students loan scheme Official Nigerian workers across the country are expected to get four days of holidays for the two festivities and will even have to wait for the interior ministry to declare the holidays. The lawmakers chose not to wait for the ministry, perhaps in obedience to their legislative calendar. They declared their own holidays and will be away for 27 days. However, some of the lawmakers may continue to work at the committee level during the break. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ekiti Operations Office, Kofoworola Soleye, on Monday, solicited the assistance of the Ekiti State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) towards securing its warehouse from looters who may want to invade the property. Mr Soleye solicited the support when he paid a courtesy visit to the State Command of NSCDC in Ado Ekiti. Recall that a warehouse belonging to the Federal Capital Territorys Department of Agriculture was looted recently by hoodlums in Bwari Area Council. Also, trucks conveying food items were looted by some residents in Niger State. The Police Command in Lagos State and the NEMA have also placed their operatives on red alert against any attack on warehouses. Against the backdrop of these recent developments, Mr Soleye noted that there was a need for proactive measures to avoid the recurrence of those incidents in the state. Mr Soleye, who called for collaboration of the NSCDC in the area of disaster management, especially timely disaster response, added that such mutual partnership was inevitable in mitigating the effect of disasters. I have come to seek your collaboration and support toward managing responses to disasters that may happen in the state from time to time. I believe that timely response to disasters can mitigate their effect on the people. I also seek your support in securing our property in the state, particularly our warehouse. We think that we have to be proactive in this regard to prevent a repeat of what has happened in some states, he said. READ ALSO: NSCDC arrests four suspects with vandalised railway slippers in Kaduna In his response, the Commandant, Ekiti State Command, NSCDC, Sunday Agboola, expressed the readiness of the men of the corps to provide adequate security to all the facilities of NEMA in the state. Mr Agboola noted that both NEMA and NSCDC had existing mutual partnerships in the area of disaster management, adding that the partnership would be further strengthened under his leadership. He expressed his desire to further consolidate the existing working relationship between NEMA Ekiti Operations Office and NSCDC Ekiti State in all areas of collaboration. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Many people have been reported killed and property destroyed in a dispute over land in Ponglong in Lalin district of Mikang Local Government Area of Plateau State. Locals said the violence began on Saturday night and continued until Sunday morning before security agents restored order. The chairperson of the transition committee of Mikang LGA, Daniel Kunmi, confirmed the incident to journalists in Jos on Sunday. Mr Kunmi said: Within a short time, the situation degenerated, leading to the burning down of houses and barns. Several criminal elements took advantage of the unfortunate incident and rustled cattle as well as other valuables. He said the local authorities reported the violence to security operatives who moved swiftly to the affected community to restore law and order. I just returned from the affected community and the situation is under control, but for now, we cannot ascertain the number of persons killed in the clash. I am also in touch with the Langtang North Local Government Council Transition Chairman, Hon Nanmwa Kumzhi, and we will be holding a critical stakeholder meeting soon as this clash affects people of his council too, he said. He added that the Commissioner of Police in the state was expected to visit the affected community. The states Commissioner for Information, Musa Ashoms, said the clash was over a contested piece of land. He said: I have just called the Mikang Local Government chairman over the issue. He told me that it is something that could have been avoided and not allowed to escalate to the point that people lost their lives. It started as a result of a land dispute. The land in question cannot even produce six bags of rice, and you know when people are attached to their land, they can go the extra mile. It is something they could have controlled, but somehow, it got to a point where others too joined them and houses were burnt down and people were maimed. The spokesperson of the police in the state, Alabo Alfred,said the security personnel in the area were also investigating the development after restoring peace. Inter-communal clash in Plateau There have been recent violent communal disputes in Wase, Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Quaan Pan, Shendam, Mikang, and Langtang North and South of Plateau State. Human Rights Watch said between 2,000 and 3,000 people have been killed in violent crises in the state from September 2001. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages. He also called for access to humanitarian aid for victims of the war conflict zone. Mr Akpabio made the call in his address at the ongoing 148th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday. The senate president urged members of the IPU not to conclude the general assembly without adopting his demands as part of the resolutions that will be announced after the assembly. Madam President, this is a lone voice from Nigeria. We tried our best in Angola, and we failed to lend a collective voice towards what is happening in Gaza. Today, the world is very expectant. We must drop [our] ego. It has nothing to do with which country brings a proposal. The basic tenets of humanity demand that we leave here with resolutions for the rest of the world to show that we have human feelings in us. The issues are very clear. South Africa has a right to be emotional, but we have children who are dying even as we are talking now. We have people who cannot see water to drink. Those who are going to suffer from infections due to gunshots. We have to show the world that we are human beings. Cessation of hostilities must be part of our resolutions. Access to humanitarian aid must be part of our resolutions. At the same time, release some hostages and even those who are possibly prisoners of war. If both sides take these steps, it means that they agree that the International Community can go to the next stage, which is negotiation for sustainable peace. If they cannot agree, I urge that we can now have a small three-Man Drafting Committee to come up with those resolutions that must be made before we leave here. We can no longer allow a child to die tonight without presenting our voice. It doesnt matter which side. We are all parents. If we come here to look for ego and then its not affecting them. Theres nothing affecting Denmark here, South Africa. The people affected are over there. And then, of course, nobody will agree to the lone resolution from Israel. It must be all-encompassing so that we stand up from here as human beings. That will be my plea. Let them go aside, meet, and remove those vexatious items. In the course of discussions, we can have amendments and add items we feel should be added, but we must discuss the Gaza issue in this 148th IPU Assembly. That is my position the senate president said. Mr Akpabios demands are not different from the position already taken by the Nigerian government and the countrys National Assembly. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Nigerian Senate called for an end to hostiles between Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, last November. Nigeria also joined 119 other countries at the UN General Assembly last year to vote in support of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have killed over 10,000 people, including over 3,000 children. Israel commenced the attack on Gaza after Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October, leading to the death of 1,400 Israelis. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Senate Committee on the Nigerian Army has pledged to enhance legislative measures aimed at improving the welfare and well-being of the military personnel in the country. The Chairperson of the committee, Abdulaziz Yaradua, disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday to commend the Nigerian Army and other security agencies for rescuing the kidnapped students of LEA School Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had said a total of 137 students comprising 76 females and 61 males were rescued in the early hours of Sunday in Zamfara State through coordinated search and rescue operation in collaboration with local authorities and government agencies. Mr Yaradua, who represents Katsina Central, commended the military and other security agencies involved in the rescue operation. The senator promised that his committee would liaise with other lawmakers to propose an improving welfare package for the military officers as a gesture to show appreciation for their efforts in securing the country. While we celebrate these victories, it is crucial to recognise the challenges faced by our military personnel, who are often overstretched in their duty to safeguard our nation. As a gesture of our utmost appreciation and support, we pledge to enhance legislative measures aimed at improving the welfare and well-being of our brave soldiers, as well as streamlining their operations for greater efficiency Mr Yaradua said. The senator assured that the National Assembly will continue to support the Nigerian military and other security agencies. The relentless dedication and sacrifices of our armed forces in the face of adversity are a testament to their unwavering commitment to our collective security and national well-being. We stand united in solidarity with our military and other security agencies in their noble mission to protect our beloved country and ensure a safe and secure future for all Nigerians, he said. Mr Yaradua noted that the freed students have been handed over to the Kaduna State Government for them to reunite with their families. It is heartening to note that these rescued individuals have since been conveyed and handed over to the Kaduna State Government for further care and necessary action, bringing hope and relief to their families and loved ones, he stated. Sokoto kidnapped students Mr Yaradua also acknowledged the rescue of 16 pupils and a woman who were kidnapped in Gada Local Government Area of Sokoto State. Furthermore, we must also acknowledge the recent rescue operation in Gada LGA of Sokoto State, where 16 pupils (Almajiris) and a woman were freed from captivity and handed over to the Sokoto State Government. These combined efforts underscore the unwavering resolve of our armed forces to locate and rescue all hostages, as well as bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice, the senator said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Adamawa State Government has released N2.4 billion for payment of WAEC and NECO registration fees for candidates in the state. The Press Secretary to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, Humwashi Wonisikou, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yola on Monday. He said the amount would cover the examination registration fees for the current academic year, assuring that the tempo would be sustained. Our administration is fully committed and determined to ease the burden of the payment of the fees on parents, he said. Mr Wonisikou said the government had also released over N500 million for the payment of scholarship allowance to indigenes of the state studying in tertiary institutions. He said that the Governor Fintiri-led administration would continue to accord priority to education, saying: Education is the bedrock of development. Mr Wonisikou said the state government had also disbursed N50,000 each to 10,000 women and youth to be able to engage in small-scale businesses and farming. He said that the measure was aimed at cushioning the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy. The press secretary said the grant would be done in phases, adding that another 10,000 youth would also benefit from the scheme in the next three months. He noted that the government was not unmindful of the effects of the current economic realities on the citizens. We want to encourage our people to partake in farming while we sponsor the education of their children and wards, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The federal government has opened the trial of a blogger, Victor Ibezim, who alleged that former Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Fashola, authored the judgments of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that dismissed the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)s petitions. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PEPC, which dismissed the petitions of Peter Obi of LP and Atiku Abubakar of PDP, affirmed the election victory of President Bola Tinubu. NAN reports that Mr Ibezim, who was alleged to be one of the three persons linked to the publications, was arraigned before Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of a Federal High Court, Abuja, on a six-count charge. The amended charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023 and dated 17 October 2023, was filed on 18 October 2023 by the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police. Mr Ibezim, who is the sole defendant, is charged with criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others. Justice Olajuwon fixed 15 April for the continuation of the trial. In the charge, Mr Ibezim with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Reportera.ng, now at large, on or about 5 August 2023 in Abuja, were alleged to have committed the offence. They were alleged to have criminally conspired and jointly agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in their online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification. The offence is said to be punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015, among other counts. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested four suspects with a heavy-duty open truck laden with vandalised railway slippers at Jere, Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The Corps Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja. He gave the names of the suspects currently in custody as Haruna Ahmed (M) 46years, Umar Usman Aliyu (M) 30 years, Yau Dahiru (M) 35years, Ahmadu Mohammed (M) 24years. Mr Afolabi said they were arrested by the Special Intelligence Squad (SIS) of the Corps based on credible intelligence that they were attempting to move the government properties away. Based on an intelligence tip-off that some unscrupulous elements who have decided to remain as saboteurs against governments efforts to revamp the Rail sector; the CGs SIS impounded a heavy-duty truck and arrested four suspects. The preliminary report shows that the suspects disconnected and damaged the railroad and further converted the Railway slippers to their personal property by loading large quantities from Kachia town in Kaduna to supply their business partners in Ilorin, Kwara State. We further gathered that the truck driver was contracted and told he would be conveying items belonging to the Nigerian Army at Kachia; the driver was authorized by one Mr Danladi from Potiskum while the vandalised railway slippers belong to one Alhaji Ali Bashir. Although both of them are currently at large efforts are heightened to track them and bring them to book, the statement said. Mr Afolabi said the suspects would be charged to court after a thorough investigation. Read the full statement below: PRESS RELEASE In Response, kindly quote: AAA.03/CPRU/NHQ/ABJ/VOL.11/03 Date: 25/03/2024 Head of News *CG NSCDC DECRIES ACTS OF VANDALISM AND DESTRUCTION OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMENDS SPECIAL INTELLIGENCE SQUAD FOR ARRESTS OF PERPETRATORS.* The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi mni, OFR has decried the spate of Vandalism of Critical Assets and Infrastructure noting that the Corps with renewed vigour is all out to arrest and prosecute criminal elements sabotaging the efforts of the Federal Government to revamp the Railway and Oil Sectors amongst others. Dr Audi lamented that despite the numerous arrests made across the country for vandalism, destruction of government property, crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering and illegal mining activities the saboteurs have remained unrepentant. The Commandant General lauded the Special Intelligence Squad who have continued to make laudable achievements in the numerous arrests made across States of the federation. The CG charged the SIS with the need to intensify efforts and bring to book all unscrupulous individuals frustrating the effects of the government through acts of vandalism and other miscellaneous offences which automatically have a debilitating effect on the economy of the nation. Parading the 4 Suspects arrested by the CGs SIS at Jere, Kagarko Local Government Area in Kaduna State; The National Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent Babawale Afolabi said the arrests were made successful through an Intelligence tip-off and the CGs Squad launched into action to effect the arrest of 4 Suspects with a heavy-duty open Truck laden with vandalized Railway Slippers. Based on an intelligence tip-off that some unscrupulous elements who have decided to remain as saboteurs against governments efforts to revamp the Rail sector; the CGs SIS impounded a heavy-duty truck and arrested 4 suspects. The preliminary report shows that the suspects disconnected and damaged the railroad and further converted the Railway slippers to their personal property by loading large quantities from Kachia town in Kaduna to supply their business partners in Ilorin, Kwara State. We further gathered that the truck driver was contracted and told he would be conveying items belonging to the Nigerian Army at Kachia; the driver was authorized by one Mr Danladi from Potiskum while the vandalised railway slippers belong to one Alhaji Ali Bashir. Although both of them are currently at large efforts are heightened to track them and bring them to book. The names of the suspects currently in custody are: Haruna Ahmed (M) 46years, Umar Usman Aliyu (M) 30 years, Yau Dahiru (M) 35years, Ahmadu Mohammed (M) 24years, They were arrested with 1 DAF heavy-duty truck laden with railway slippers. The suspects would be charged to Court after a thorough investigation because all perpetrators would be trailed and made to face the full wrath of the law. SIGNED: CSC BABAWALE AFOLABI NATIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER NSCDC NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS ABUJA. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print President Bola Tinubu has felicitated with Adetokunbo Abiru, who turned 60 on 25 March 2024. Mr Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District at the National Assembly, was managing director/CEO of Skye Bank, which later became Polaris Bank. The President extols the fine leadership qualities of the Distinguished Senator, referencing his service as Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, where he enabled the floating of an N80 billion bond, earning the State the EMEA Finances Best Local Currency Bond Award for 2012, the Special Adviser to President on Media & Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said in a statement Monday. President Tinubu commends Senator Abiru for his high sense of responsibility, character, and dedication to service, which culminated in his emergence as the Chairman, Southern Senators Forum. As the Senator marks his 60th birthday, the President wishes him many more years of good health and strength in his service to Lagos State and the nation. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Chief Judge of Edo, Daniel Okungbowa, has changed the composition of the panel set up to investigate the allegations against the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, as a part of the impeachment process by the House of Assembly. The Chief Registrar of the state High Court, Benson Osawaru, disclosed this in a statement on Monday, in Benin, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. In the new list, two members of the panel, Violet Aigbokhaebo and Boniface Edegbai, both professors, were dropped. Their replacements are President Aigbokhian and Mariam Ilavbare. Mr Osawaru did not say why those two were dropped from the panel. The list of members was earlier released on Friday. Other members are Theresa Akpoghome, Oghogho Oviasu, Andrew Oliha, Idris Abdulkareen, A retired judge, Steve Omonua is the chairperson of the panel. As part of an impeachment process against a governor or his deputy, the Nigerian constitution empowers the chief judge of a state to set up an independent panel to investigate the allegations against the official who is facing impeachment. PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday reported that the Edo State Assembly passed a resolution, asking the chief judge to set up the committee to probe the allegations against Mr Shaibu. The Assembly Speaker, Blessing Agbebaku, during the plenary, notified the lawmakers that the seven-day ultimatum given to Mr Shaibu to respond to the impeachment notice served on him had expired. The speaker reminded his colleagues that an impeachment notice was served on the deputy governor on 6 March through a substituted service, published in the Nigerian Observer and Vanguard newspaper on 12 March. The house, according to the speaker, resorted to substituted service because of the deputy governors alleged evasion of service. The assembly on 6 March commenced impeachment moves against Mr Shaibu, whose political ambition has soured his relationship with Governor Godwin Obaseki. The Majority Leader of the Assembly, Charity Aiguobarueghian, said the lawmakers were acting on a petition dated 5 March against Mr Shaibu. The petition, according to the house leader, was signed by 21 out of 24 lawmakers in the assembly. READ ALSO: Catholic priest cautions Obaseki over moves to impeach Philip Shaibu The petition, according to the majority leader of the house, was based on perjury and the disclosure of government secrets. Mr Shaibu wants to succeed Mr Obaseki as governor of the state in the forthcoming 21 September election but Mr Obaseki, who prefers another person, Asue Ighodalo as his successor, described his deputy as being overambitious. Mr Ighodalo, a former banker, recently won the Peoples Democratic Party governorship primary in the state, while Mr Shaibu emerged winner of a parallel primary in which he was the only aspirant. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A group, the Independent Hajj Reporters (IHR), has called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in Nigerias preparation for the 2024 Hajj by subsidising the fare for pilgrims. The group made the call, in a statement by Ibrahim Mohammed, on Monday, following the increment in the fare to the holy land. It said Nigeria risks failing to fill its 95,000 slots if the president fails to act. The call for intervention is coming on the heels of the announced increment in the 2024 hajj fare by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON). On Sunday, NAHCON announced an increase in the pilgrimage rate, attributing it to the depreciation of the Naira against the US dollar. The commission instructed intending pilgrims who had already paid N4.9 million to pay an additional N1.9 million. It also increased the fare to N8.5 million for fresh registration. IHR urged President Tinubu to subsidise those who have paid the N4.6 million deposit. We are, therefore, appealing on behalf of all Nigerian Muslims that emergency interventions are provided so that pilgrims who have at least paid the initial deposit of N4.9 million are not denied the chance to fulfil this all-important religious obligation, the group said. It noted that many pilgrims may not be able to afford the additional N1.9 million just as it raised concerns about the window for the payment. We are sure that over 90 per cent of those who paid the initial deposit of N4.9 million cannot afford to raise an additional N1.9 million within four days. It has, therefore, become imperative for us to call on the state governors and the federal government to come in and provide immediate succour to the pilgrims by providing additional payments as a form of subsidy, the statement reads in part. Speaking further on the 27 March deadline set by NAHCON, the group said the window for the additional payment is unattainable. It will take states Muslim pilgrims welfare boards a minimum of one week to make announcements in their various states for pilgrims to be aware of the new increase. Over 65 per cent of those who have registered for the 2024 hajj are farmers and it will take an additional one week for those who have the means to be able to raise the N1.9 million increase announced by NAHCON. If the pilgrims were able to pay the additional increase, then States Muslims Pilgrims boards will need a few days to transmit the collection to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the apex bank to begin the process of transferring the said sum to NAHCONs International Bank Account Number (IBAN) in Saudi Arabia. It is only after this that payments can be made to Saudi-based service providers, IHR said. Religious pilgrimage is a very divisive issue in Nigeria as many believe that government should not be involved in the process. Some also say that religion is a private matter hence governments involvement is needless. Meanwhile, the Oronsaye report recommended the scrapping of NAHCON and the National Christian Pilgrimage Commission (NCPC). Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State has applauded the Abia House of Assembly and Governor Alex Otti of Abia State for revoking the pension for former governors and deputies, describing it as a step in the right direction. The PDP chairperson in the state, Philip Aivoji, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Monday, urged the Lagos State Government to emulate Abia in the best interest of the state. The Abia Assembly on Tuesday passed a bill to stop payment of pensions to former governors and their deputies in the state. Mr Otti on Thursday signed the bill into law, describing the new law as part of the administrations effort to promote good governance in the state Reacting, Mr Aivoji, said while few states had made moves to repeal such a law which provides for pension for former governors and their deputies, many states had continued to be nonchalant about it. He said: To me, I have served before, it was not like that: After you have had the opportunity of serving the people for some time and when you leave you continue to enjoy the benefits of the office. This (giving pension to former governors and deputies) is wrong, especially at this time when people are suffering and going through economic hardship. Repealing the law in Abia is a welcome development, I really support it. I think that other state assemblies should follow suit. Lagos should do the same. The chairperson while commending Mr Otti for signing the bill into law, said only state governments that love the people would take such a step. He said if other states could emulate the Abia State Government, the cost of governance would be reduced and there would be more money for citizens welfare and infrastructural development. Mr Aivoji said all former governors and their deputies should no longer enjoy pension benefits after the expiration of their tenure. NAN recalls that the Lagos House Assembly, on 25 May 2021, passed into second reading a bill seeking to repeal the law which provides for pension and other emoluments for former governors and deputies. The House Committee on Establishment, Training and Pension, in the amendment bill on the state Pension Law for former governors and other political office holders, recommended a reduction of their benefits and emoluments by 50 per cent. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Edo State Government said it has set up a firm, the Edo Green Energy Ltd to be run as a private sector-facing entity which will engage in the sale of gas in the state. The Commissioner of Mining and Energy in the state, Enaholo Ojiefoh, disclosed this on Monday while speaking with reporters in Benin. The extract of the media briefing was forwarded on Monday to PREMIUM TIMES by the office of the Special Assistant, Media Projects, Edo State Government. The commissioner for mining, Mr Ojiefoh said Edo Green Energy Ltd will lead in the extraction, processing, storage and sale of gas in Edo. According to him, The Company will sell gas as Liquefied Natural Gas or we convert and sell it as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Already we have a group of investors. Our plan is to convert 60% of vehicles in Edo to run on CNG. The idea is to significantly reduce the cost of transportation in the state. NIPCO is already working on this. But the new company is coming to work with existing filling stations to do conversions. This will be done by working with an existing Independent Petroleum Marketing Association of Nigeria team. They already have fuel stations across the State. We will then have CNG stations across the senatorial districts of the state. We are not stopping at vehicles; we want to ensure that we convert all commercial tricycles operating in the state. Instead of buying fuel for N20,000, you will have to buy N5,000 worth of fuel. The commissioner said the CNG innovation runs on an automated system, which ensures that once the fuel is finished, it automatically switches to gas. We also want to ensure that we also convert generators to CNG. We want everyone in Edo to use clean energy, added. The price of petrol has continued to increase in Nigeria after the removal of petroleum subsidy by President Bola Tinubus administration, forcing prices of goods and services in the country to rise astronomically. The situation has led to severe economic hardship among the people, with the federal and state governments struggling to address the hardship through palliatives and other means. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to validate Labour Partys scheduled national convention in Abia State. It is a statutory requirement for a political partys national convention to be supervised by the electoral commission. In a letter to the INEC chairman, Yakubu Mahmood, the NLC through its lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, said the convention scheduled for 27 March is illegal. The NLC, in a separate letter to LPs national legal adviser, Kehinde Edun, threatened that contempt proceedings would be instituted against the party should it go ahead with the convention in disobedience to pending legal disputes. Julius Abure, the LP national chairman, has been in a supremacy battle with the leadership of the NLC led by Joe Ajaero. The labour union accused Mr Abure and a few of his supporters of planning to hold a national convention in Abia State with the support of some staff members of the electoral commission. The letters referenced the two court decisions in 2024, which, it said, nullified the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. The order was issued at the instance of the NLC and others who accused Mr Abure of illegally emerging as the leader of the party. The plaintiffs who filed the suit are the NLC, the Labour Party, Salihu Mohammed, Lawson Osagie, Baba Aye, Ikpe Etokudo, Sylvester Ejiofor, Lucy Ofion, and Salamatu Aliyu. The defendants are Mr Abure and INEC. In view of the foregoing, we are compelled to urge you to refrain yourself and properly advise your clients to desist from proceeding with the illegal national convention of the labour party scheduled for March 27, 2024. Upon failing, we shall institute contempt proceedings against you and the other defendants and report you to the disciplinary committee of the NBA, the NLC threatened in the letter to the LP legal adviser. Drawing the attention of the INEC chairman to the issue, the NLC advised the electoral umpire to restrain its officials from undermining the due administration of justice and respect for rule of law by attending the illegal convention. unless you comply with the foregoing request forthwith, we shall approach the Federal High Court and institute contempt proceedings against you. Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal in Abuja on 6 March affirmed Mr Abure as the national chairman of the party. The appellate court in the judgment also voided the judgment of an FCT High Court which restrained Mr Abure and two others from parading themselves as national officers of the party. On Tuesday, the NLC picketted the national headquarters of the LP in Abuja. It was part of the move by the labour union to stop the proposed convention. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate crimes committed in the country. The call came during a meeting between the CSOs and ICC Deputy Prosecutor, Mame Niang, on 18 March in Nigeria. A statement released by the CSO Steering Committee Chair, Chino Obiagwu, on Sunday, said the plea for ICC intervention underscores the failure of Nigerian authorities to effectively address the escalating violence. We urge ICC Prosecutor, Mr Karim Khan, to open full investigations into allegations of massive atrocity crimes perpetrated by criminal gangs, terrorists, and law enforcement and military operatives in Nigeria, he said. Crimes against humanity Mr Obiagwu stated that the appeal arises amidst persistent security challenges in Nigeria, dating back to 2009, with terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings on the rise. He explained that the Boko Haram insurgency has ravaged the North-eastern region, resulting in mass displacement and loss of lives. He further stated that events such as the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014 highlight the severity of the situation. Since 2009, terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, killings and other violent crimes have been on a steady rise in almost all parts of the country. In April 2014, hundreds of school girls were abducted from their hostels in Chibok in North-east Nigeria. Since then, violent attacks on schools and mass kidnapping of students and teachers have been on a steady increase. The failure of the Nigerian government to resolve the Chibok abduction and to return all the girls to their families has been the main impetus for widespread criminal attacks on schools, especially in North-east and North-west Nigeria. Insecurity and banditry have also extended to nearly all parts of the country. On March 20, 2024, following the unlawful killings of several soldiers in a riverine community in Delta state by criminal bandits, the entire communities where the crimes were committed were attacked and many people were displaced. Several similar violence occurs regularly across the country, he explained. Mr Obiagwu lamented that these incidents have left communities traumatised and perpetuated fear and instability. As a result, many victims and communities affected by violent crimes such as terrorism, banditry and insurgency across the country had their hopes for justice dashed, as Nigerias law enforcement and justice systems remain unable to deal with the situation, he lamented. Failure of Nigerian government Mr Obiagwu said both the military forces and insurgents are responsible for crimes against Nigerians. He said despite evidence of such atrocities, the Nigerian government has faced criticism for its inadequate response. According to him, the criticism was echoed in a report by former ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, in 2021, which highlighted credible evidence of widespread and systematic atrocity crimes. By 2021, the then ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, issued a report indicating that credible evidence existed to support the allegations that massive and systematic atrocity crimes were being committed by both the military and the insurgents and that the Nigerian government had not demonstrated its ability to prosecute most of the crimes to bring the perpetrators to justice and give redress to victims, he said ICCs intervention can curtail atrocities The statement said during the recent meeting between Nigerian CSOs and Mr Niang in Abuja, evidence of alleged atrocities was presented, signalling a concerted effort to seek accountability and justice. However, significant challenges remain, including Nigerias complex security landscape and the reluctance of some government officials to cooperate with international bodies like the ICC. Mr Obiagwu said there is optimism that ICC intervention could help curtail the atrocities plaguing Nigeria. He said the CSOs express hope that the ICCs involvement would contribute to reducing impunity and deterring further violations. He added that Nigerian NGOs have pledged their commitment to supporting the ICC in its quest for justice and the fight against impunity. He said the organisations are under the banner of the Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court (NCICC), and they stand ready to collaborate in the pursuit of accountability and redress for victims of atrocity crimes in Nigeria. CSOs expressed their hope to the ICC Deputy Prosecutor that the intervention of the ICC into the Nigerian situation and the commencement of its investigations into the numerous allegations of atrocity crimes will contribute to reducing the impunity and deter further violations. Nigerian NGOs further expressed their commitment to support and work with the ICC in the quest for justice and the fight against impunity in Nigeria under the platform of the Nigerian Coalition for the International Criminal Court (NCICC), he added. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of the two Binance executives detained in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion and other offences, has escaped from lawful custody, those familiar with the matter have told PREMIUM TIMES. Our sources said Mr Anjarwalla, 38, escaped on Friday, 22 March, from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast. The Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle East airliner. It remains unclear how Mr Anjarwalla got on an international flight despite his British passport, with which he entered Nigeria, remaining in the custody of the Nigerian authorities. Authorities are also said to be working to unravel his intended destination in a bid to get him back into custody. An Immigration official said the Binance executive fled Nigeria on a Kenyan passport. He, however, said authorities were trying to determine how he obtained the passport, given that he had no other travel document (apart from the British passport) on him when he was taken into custody. Another source said the two officials were held at a comfortable guest house and allowed many rights, including the use of telephones, a privilege Mr Anjarwalla is believed to have exploited to plot an escape. When contacted Sunday night on the escape of the Binance executive from detention, the Head of Strategic Communication at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, said he would enquire and revert. He has yet to do so as of the time of filing this report. Mr Anjarwalla, Binances Africa regional manager, and Tigran Gambaryan, a US citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform, were detained upon their arrival in Nigeria on 26 February 2024. A criminal charge was filed against the two executives before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. On 28 February 2024, the court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) an order to remand the duo for 14 days. The court also ordered Binance to provide the Nigerian government with the data/information of Nigerians trading on its platform. Following Binances refusal to comply with the order, the court extended the remand of the officials for an additional 14 days to prevent them from tampering with evidence. The court then adjourned the case till 4 April 2024. Also on 22 March, the Nigerian government approached the Federal High Court in Abuja and slammed another four-count charge on Binance Holdings Limited, Mr Anjarwalla and Mr Gambaryan, accusing them of offering services to subscribers on their platform while failing to register with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to pay all relevant taxes administered by the Service and in so doing, committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 8 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as Amended). The defendants were also accused of offering taxable services to subscribers on their trading platform while failing to issue invoices to those subscribers to determine and pay their value-added taxes and, in so doing, committed an offence contrary to and punishable under S.29 of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993 (as amended). Count Three of the charges accused the three defendants of offering services to subscribers on their Binance trading platform for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies and the remittance and transfer of those assets while failing to deduct the necessary Value Added Taxes arising from their operations and thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 40 of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act 2007 (as amended). The last count of the charges wants the defendants punished for allegedly aiding and abetting subscribers on their Binance trading platform to unlawfully refuse to pay taxes or neglect to pay those taxes and, in so doing, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under the provisions of S.94 of the Companies Income Tax Act (as amended). The Nigerian government had, in the past three months, been cracking down on suspected money launderers and terrorism financiers, some of whom it alleged are using the Binance platform for criminal activities The Nigerian government said over $21.6 billion was traded by Nigerians whose identities were concealed by Binance. The government also claimed its investigations revealed that unscrupulous elements were using Binance for money laundering, terrorist financing, currency speculation and market manipulation, distorting the Nigerian economy and weakening the Naira against other currencies The detention of Binance officials in Nigeria began months after the crypto exchange platform pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle criminal money laundering charges levied by the US Department of Justice. Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, pleaded guilty and agreed to resign. His criminal trial has been postponed to 30 April by a US court. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike should the government fail to meet its demands. This is as the union alongside the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) ended a one week warning strike on Sunday. Both SSANU and NASU through their Joint Action Committee (JAC) had embarked on a seven-day warning strike to protest what they described as a selective payment of withheld salaries to their academic counterparts. A statement jointly signed by the SSANU President, Mohammed Ibrahim, and NASU Secretary General, Peters Adeyemi, commended members for the massive and comprehensive strike. After evaluating the 7-day warning strike that commenced on Monday, 18th March, the JAC confirmed that the tempo of the warning strike has been massive, comprehensive and total in most of our universities and inter-university centres. It therefore salutes the dedication, resoluteness and loyalty of members to the cause of the unions struggle for the payment of 4 months withheld salaries. We are proud of your concerted efforts, the statement reads in part. Possible showdown Meanwhile, Mr Ibrahim has said the union will meet with its members to decide on the next line of action, which he said could result in a total shutdown of the universities. Speaking on Sunday during a conversation organised by the Education Writers Association of Nigeria (EWAN), the SSANU president said the unions are yet to get any positive responses from the government regarding their demands. We will go back to our members, we will meet, we will discuss, I assure you, we will get back as soon as possible. We will not leave this matter, he said. I hate to say and with a very heavy heart, if it means shutting down the system again, once our organs sanctions it, we will do it. This time around, it will be like never before. Meeting with ministers Both Mr Ibrahim and the President of NAAT, Ibeji Nwokema, during the stakeholders forum of Sunday, said though they met with the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, a professor, and the Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, among other government officials, there were no resolutions reached. According to them, the minister simply pleaded with the union to suspend the strike, promising them a swift response to their demands. If we took to the bank what they gave us a collateral that something wouldve happened that day or the following day, and we suspended the strike, we wouldve been stoned today by our members, the SSANU president said. Mr Ibrahim said his union insisted during the meeting that the minister must give a specific timeline for the demands to be met if they must suspend the strike. Nothing has been achieved at that meeting except the optimism that something will be done. But as far as we are concerned, we have not seen the money, payments have not been made, he added. Our strike is ending tonight and we will meet at the different organs to strategise and then come back to tell the world the next line of action. How NAAT strike went Speaking on its unions three-day warning strike, the NAAT President, Mr Nwokema, said his union members had opted for a peace protest and a three-day warning strike, hoping that the government would have done the needful. Mr Nwokema, a staffer of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), said his union is disappointed by the selective decision of the government in the release of the part-payment of the withheld salaries. He said his members high hope in the President Bola Tinubus pledge to pay four months of the withheld salaries was dashed by the decision to neglect them by the government. We had a stakeholders meeting. The minister of education was present, the acting executive secretary of NUC was present, all the Vice Chancellors of Universities and Inter Universities centres were present and all the unions were present and I quote the minister of education. He said clearly in that meeting that the payment will cut across the board. That the payment was meant for everybody, Mr Nwokema said during the EWAN virtual conversation on Sunday. Mr Nwokema alleged that there are saboteurs in the administration of Mr Tinubu, saying the selective payment must have been deliberate to cause disharmony and destabilise the university system. House of Reps wades in Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on University Education has called for a stakeholders meeting with the aggrieved unions, the ministry of education and the National Universities Commission (NUC). The committee said it is worried by the negative consequences of the strike, according to a copy of an invitation letter seen by this newspaper. In view of this unhealthy development and in order to amicably resolve this matter, the committee hereby, invites you and your members to an urgent meeting along with the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission, the letter which is signed by the Chairman of the committee, Hassan Fulata, and dated 21 March, reads in part. Background The Nigerian government had withheld the salaries of both academic and non academic staff in Nigerian universities for taking part in an industrial action that lasted eight months in 2022. But the new administration of President Bola Tinubu ordered the payment of parts of the salaries for the academic staff, leaving out the non-teaching staff. This development resulted in a renewed rift between the non academic staff union and the government. The unions include SSANU, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT). Shortly after the presidents directive, NAAT President, Ibeji Nwokema, said the education minister assured the unions that the payment will be for all and not just for the academic staff. However, only the academic staff received the four months salaries last month when the government made the payment. JAC said it wrote the education minister, Mr Mamman, and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, but never received a response, prompting it to decide on a one week warning strike. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the strike disrupted activities across Nigerian universities last week. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has once again increased the rate for the 2024 Hajj citing foreign exchange rate adjustment. About 49,000 pilgrims who had earlier paid the old fees of N4.9 million each to the commission are to pay an additional N1.9 million each on or before 28 March, while new registration has been fixed at N8.5 million. This rate adjustment was contained in a statement issued by the spokesperson of the commission, Fatima Sanda-Usara, on Sunday. Explaining the reason for the hike, the commission stated that the current rate of N1,474.00 to a dollar makes it imperative to make the adjustment. According to the statement, about 49,000 intending pilgrims under the public quota paid N4.9 million to the commission when the naira was still at N897 to a dollar at the banks. The commission stated that all efforts to maintain the existing fare have been futile, hence the decision to announce a new rate. With naira having appreciated to N1,474.00 to a dollar over the preceding week and after due consultation with stakeholders, coupled with NAHCONs desire to ensure equitable spread of the Federal Governments intervention to all the already registered pilgrims whose payments have been received, the Commission resolved that each pilgrim would now have to pay a balance of N1,918,032.91 in accordance with the current foreign exchange rate. Intending pilgrims that still wish to participate in the 2024 Hajj are by this release advised to proceed and pay a balance of N1,918,032.91 latest by 11:59 p.m. of 28th March 2024. The Commission will shut down its system by 29th March and no other payment would be accommodated after, the statement reads in part. For new registration for the 2024 Hajj, NAHCON said intending pilgrims from northern states are to pay N8.2 million, while those from the south are to pay N8.4 million. This is the third increment by NAHCON in the past couple of months. Initially, the fare was fixed at N4.5 million against the N2.9 million pilgrims paid in 2023. Recently, it was increased to N4.9 million and finally to N8.5 million for fresh registration and N6.8 million for pilgrims with deposit. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The federal government of Nigeria on Monday initiated criminal proceedings against Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange platform. The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Monday announced the charges filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja. In a statement signed by Dare Adekanmbi, the special adviser on media to the executive chairman of the FIRS, the charges accused Binance of four counts of tax evasion. Joining Binance in the lawsuit, with number FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024, are Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, both senior executives of the exchange. Among the charges levelled against Binance are allegations of non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform. The Federal Government also alleged that Binance failed to register with FIRS for tax purposes and contravened existing tax regulations within the country. A particular concern highlighted in the charges is Binances alleged failure to collect and remit various categories of taxes to the federation, as mandated by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007. Section 40 of the Act explicitly addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, prescribing penalties, and potential imprisonment for defaulting entities. The charges detailed specific instances where Binance purportedly violated tax laws, such as failing to issue invoices for VAT purposes, thus obstructing the determination and payment of taxes by subscribers. Any company that transacts business in excess of N25 million annually is deemed by the Finance Act to be present in Nigeria. According to this rule, Binance falls into that category. So, it has to pay taxes like Company Income Tax (CIT) and also collect and pay Value Added Tax (VAT). But Binance did not do this properly. So, the company broke Nigerian laws and could be investigated and taken to court for this infraction, Mr Adekanmbi said. He said the governments commitment to enforcing tax regulations and combating financial impropriety in the cryptocurrency sector remains steadfast. FIRS, empowered to assess, collect, and account for revenue accruing to the Federation, said it is determined to administer relevant tax laws effectively. Background In February, two of Binances executives arrived in Nigeria to negotiate with the Nigerian authorities amid a crackdown on the crypto platform after the Nigerian government blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to halt what it described as continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds. The two executives, Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan, were afterward detained by the Nigerian authorities with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) confirming that the crypto exchange platform, Binance, was being investigated. They were subsequently charged before a Magistrate Court in Abuja. On 28 February, the court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) a 14-day remand order for the duo. Additionally, Binance was directed by the court to provide the Nigerian government with data regarding Nigerian users trading on its platform. Due to Binances non-compliance with the directive, the court extended the officials remand for another 14 days to prevent potential evidence tampering. The case has been adjourned until 4 April. On Monday, PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported that Mr Anjarwalla, a Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, escaped custody on Friday from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast. The detention of Binance officials in Nigeria commenced several months after the cryptocurrency exchange platform admitted guilt and consented to a $4.3 billion settlement for criminal money laundering accusations brought forth by the US Department of Justice. Changpeng Zhao, also recognised as CZ and the founder and CEO of Binance, pleaded guilty and committed to stepping down. His criminal trial in the United States has been deferred to 30 April. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Travellers in and outside Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, were held down for several hours on Monday as staff and students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, as well as residents of Odo Ado staged a peaceful protest to call the attention of the federal government to the poor state of Poly road. Poly road, Ado-Ekiti is a federal government road linking both federal and state institutions such as the Federal Polytechnic, Afe Babalola University, Ekiti Knowledge Zone, Air Force Base, and Ekiti International Cargo Airport, among others. The road is also a major route for travellers going to Abuja, Lagos and Ondo states, among others. Due to the state of the road, workers, including Federal Polytechnic staff, spend several hours daily to go to work and return from work because of the traffic congestion. As part of measures to show their grievances and press home their demands, the protesters in large numbers barricaded the road, thus causing heavy traffic congestion, which held activities to a standstill for several hours. Some of the placards displayed by the protesters read: We deserve better treatment with our taxes, Save our Souls FG, and FG fix Ado Poly, ABUAD Road, among others Addressing the protesters, the chairperson, Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics, Sunday Akomolafe; the Chairperson, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Adebayo Daramola; and Chairperson, Non-Academic Staff Union, Adebayo Abubakar, said the protest became necessary after government turned deaf ears to their plea over the years regarding the road. According to them, the road has become a death trap for motorists. They alleged that more than five persons have died within this year as a result of accidents occasioned by the poor state of the road. The staff noted that they have, on several occasions, contributed personal income to repair the road but its condition was beyond patching. The road needs total reconstruction, they added. They vowed to continue to barricade the road unless the federal government takes the necessary action. Some of the motorists and commuters stranded in the traffic commended the Polytechnic staff for the courage to call out the government. The motorists affirmed that they spent all their earnings maintaining their vehicles as a result of the damages caused by the road. As of the time of filling this report, the road was still being barricaded by the protesters and no government officials, whether at the state or federal level were on hand to address them. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command said it has raided a kidnappers den in Jibi forest bordering the Dei-dei area of Abuja on Saturday. It, however, said, that the bandits, fled their hideouts to escape arrest. The commands spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, a superintendent of police, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja. She said the operation was carried out following credible intelligence that one Mallam Danyaboi and his gang members who were colleagues to one Nasiru Mohammed, earlier arrested, had planned a reprisal attack in Zuba and its environs. She said Mr Mohammed, who is also called Danger was arrested and paraded on 11 March. The operatives of the FCT Police Command, in a continued fight against banditry in FCT, stormed a kidnappers den in Jibi forest bordering Dei-dei Abuja on March 23, 2024, at about 06:00 AM. On sighting police operatives, the bandits fled from their hideouts to escape arrest. The crime prevention operation was carried out on the heels of a credible intelligence that one Mallam Danyaboi and Ilu, gang members and colleagues to one Nasiru Mohammed A.K.A. Danger, who was earlier arrested and paraded by the Police Command on March 11, 2024, in connection with series of kidnappings in FCT, had planned a reprisal kidnapping attack in Zuba and its environs for the arrest of their members. Exhibits such as firearms and cows were recovered from the camp, the statement said. Read the full statement FCT POLICE RAIDS BANDITS HIDEOUT, RECOVERS EXHIBITS. The operatives of the FCT Police Command, in a continued fight against banditry in FCT, stormed a kidnappers den in Jibi forest bordering Dei-dei Abuja on March 23, 2024, at about 06:00 AM. On sighting police operatives, the bandits fled from their hideouts to escape arrest. The crime prevention operation was carried out on the heels of a credible intelligence that one Mallam Danyaboi and Ilu, gang members and colleagues to one Nasiru Mohammed A.K.A. Danger, who was earlier arrested and paraded by the Police Command on March 11, 2024, in connection with series of kidnappings in FCT, had planned a reprisal kidnapping attack in Zuba and its environs for the arrest of their members. Exhibits such as firearms and cows were recovered from the camp. While intensive crime prevention patrols are already in place to forestall any intended kidnapping in the area, the Commissioner of Police FCT, CP Benneth C. Igweh, psc, mni, wishes to reassure residents of his commitment to ensuring the safety of all and sundry. He urges residents to report suspicious activities through the following emergency lines: 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653, and 08028940883; CRU: 09022222352. SP Josephine Adeh Anipr, Police Public Relations Officer, For: The Commissioner of Police, FCT Command March 25th 2024 Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The African Technology Policy Network (ATPN) has announced a collaboration with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and some Nigerian universities to establish a research and innovation funding body in Nigeria. The Executive Director of the ATPN, Nicholas Ozor, said the establishment of a research and innovation funding organisation would enable Nigerian tertiary institutions to attract innovation funding from international donors. He said the collaboration is with the African University of Science, Technology and Innovation, the University of Nigeria, and TETFund. Mr Ozor, who spoke during a workshop at the TETFund headquarters on Monday, noted that other African countries with functioning research agencies have been able to receive funding from organisations such as Royal Crown Canada, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), German Foundation, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and British Council, among others. Nigeria currently has issues because they do not have a well-recognised national research and innovation funding agency which is part of why we are here to work with appropriate agencies and stakeholders within the science and technology ecosystem to see how we can establish a functional research and innovation funding agency in Nigeria, he said. He said the workshop aimed at strengthening research and innovation funding agencies in West Africa targets six countries in the region, with a particular focus on Nigeria. He said: Our responsibility is to support the West African region with technical training and capacity support to establish councils and the support from our agency is to enable Nigeria to catch up with their contemporaries of eastern and south African countries. What absence of research funding agency causes While acknowledging the strides made by several sub-Saharan African countries in establishing functional funding agencies, Mr Ozor pointed out some of Nigerias current challenges which are due to the absence of a well-recognised national research and innovation funding agency. He noted that the void hampers Nigerias ability to tap into international funding opportunities and impedes the countrys innovation ecosystem. Mr Ozor also spoke on the need to identify appropriate institutional frameworks for housing Nigerias national research and innovation funding agency. He added that while TETFund has been representing Nigeria in certain capacities, it is important to collaborate with relevant ministries and agencies, particularly the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, to ensure the effective functioning of the funding agency. We are here to talk to critical stakeholders to understand the need and what should be done to have the council well situated in an appreciative ministry. We want to work together to see how we can situate the National Research and Innovation Funding agency appropriately so that it can function effectively and support grantmaking effectively like the other countries, he added. TETFunds ES speaks In his address, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, said about 912 research projects have been sponsored, adding that the experience has given the agency an insight into the need for the workshop. The TETFund boss, who was represented by an official of the agency, Hadiza Ismail, said: With that huge amount of investments, it is expected to see that we have projects that have been skilled up to commercialisation. Also, having a good research framework and a functional and effective one will help not only Nigeria but also the funding in particular in managing the research projects and other interventions. She added that the Fund is committed to establishing the council, especially the science granting council so that Nigeria can participate fully in it. READ ALSO: TETFund to help Kwara on conversion of colleges of education to varsity Speaking on the sidelines of the event, the President of the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Peter Azikwe, said Nigeria needs the results of science and technology, which he noted will translate into innovation and produce goods and services to make sure that Nigerias economy runs well. He said: We need to have a good institutional framework for doing research in Nigeria. That is what the project is all about and we are partnering with an agency with the belief that the outcome of this workshop will end up making Nigeria have a functional science granting council that can finance and fund research in all sectors of the economy like the universities, polytechnics, research centres, private sector organisations, SMEs and the informal sector. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print 2. The Money Factor Money is another big factor of motivation in all generations of human history. In fact many would argue that money is the number one motivating factor for human endeavours. The grip of money over the souls of men is so undeniable that even the Lord Jesus Christ gave it recognition through his teaching. According to Jesus everyone either worships God almighty or the god of mammon which is the god of money. Jesus therefore elevates the role and the influence of money to equal that of deity. The influence and power that money exacts over people is almost as strong as religious deity. Just like with God, money demands obedience. Just as with God, money demands worship. Just as with God, money demands supremacy. All these reasons contribute to why Jesus equates the power of money to that of deity. You can be motivated by fear, and you can be motivated reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation. Homer Rice Money and the desire to possess it, drives people to do and undo. Money causes people to give themselves up to an eight hour of daily labor just to be able to take something home at the end of the day. People basically sell themselves into temporary slavery just to be able to take something home. Money is a powerful force of motivation. For money, men and women agree to abandon their families if they would be sure to come up with an amount of money that satisfies their desires. Money and the desire to make it, compels people to abandon their children in the pursuit of financial gains. Money is so powerful that generations after generations of people, have abandoned their native countries and family linages just to be able to gain some more money in other lands. On daily basis, people lose their lives in pursuit of money. We read stories constantly of drug pushers who are on a regular basis sentenced to death in some countries. Yet, people keep on practicing drug pushing, in spite of the threat of death. What is the motivation? MONEY! Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You dont want to run out of gas on your trip, but youre not doing a tour of gas stations. Tim OReilly What this tells us is that even the fear of death retreats where there is motivation for money. The motivation of money in this case, supersedes the fear of death. There is nothing people dont do for money. People have the motivation to do the most unconceivable things, if they know there is a possibility of receiving monetary rewards, at the end of the day. The motivation of money is so strong that some people are willing to go take the lives of other men just for the reward of money. So, money is one of the most powerful motivating factors on the earth. Life however keeps on proving to us that after money is gained, it is still possible to remain unsatisfied. Leading to another quest and other means of motivation. The disillusionment of money tells us that there is a need to look for other means of self-motivation other than money. Today individuals have more money than ever before in history, yet we have not being happier and we have not being less depressed. So apart from money, we still need to teach people how to be self-motivate. 3. The Love Factor Love, oh sweet love! Love has always been a magical word. This word had led people to go to war. Love has inspired people so strongly to risk their lives. The ancient practice of duelling was born out of the uncontrollable passion of love. Love had inspired people to build nations. Cities have been built because of love. Oceans have been tamed because of the power of love. The force of nature has been subdued, thanks to the passion of love. Enemies have become friends, thanks to love. Wars have been made to cease because of love. Kingdoms and empires have collapsed just because of the power of love. That magical word has turned friends into enemies. It has caused nations to rise against nations. Love has raised up armies in their millions against each other all for one cause to prove love. It is the love for her race that caused Nazi Germany to want to annihilate all other races. On the other hand, love makes millions of husbands to wake up in the morning to pursue the good of their families. Most men will tell you that the reason why they are doing most of the things they do is to prove love, to their spouses or to their children. Love is a powerful force of motivation. As a matter of fact, there are people who would think this is the greatest motivating factor in life. The power of love causes generational reproduction that leads to the preservation of the human race. Love compelled the Son of God to leave heaven to come to the earth. Love made him to take on the nature of man. For love, he gave his life and died for humanity. Love is an incredibly strong motivating factor. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jn. 3:16 As powerful as the factor of love is, it is sad to say that it is becoming more and more difficult to come across a true expression of love in our technological advanced modern world. There are so many artificial solutions to love, that steal from men the real energy that true love offers. So unfortunately, it is becoming more and more difficult for people to experience true love. Too much deception, too much games, pornography, etc. When there is no genuine experience of love, people are depressed, disillusioned, disappointed and desperate for more motivation. Sunday Adelaja is a Nigerian born leader, transformation strategist, pastor and innovator. He was based in Ukraine. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print In November 2021, Yahaya had given a similar order. Then, the state government issued a deadline for farmers to harvest their crop produce for the same reason above. Despite the forced directive, herders continued to attack farmers in the state. Section 17(2)(e) of the Nigerian Constitution provides citizens equal rights, obligations, and opportunities before the law. Therefore, the governor needs to reverse his forced directives. The farmer-herder crisis is a recurring issue in many parts of Nigeria. According to the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, these conflicts displaced over 300,000 and killed more than 1,868 people between 2018 and 2021. Apart from the loss of lives, the periodic clashes between nomadic herders and farmers are responsible for the lose of farm produce worth millions annually. Gombe State recorded several casualties during the farmer-herder crises in the past few years. In 2021, herders killed eight people in Billiri and burnt their houses and farmlands. In January 2022, suspected herders killed thirteen people in the southern parts of Gombe. About eight months after that incident, some herders also killed three persons and burnt eleven houses. In January, Muhammad Yahaya, the Gombe State governor, ordered farmers to hasten their harvests to allow cows graze on their farmlands. He also prohibited farmers from burning their farm residues. While his intention to assuage the age-long conflict is commendable, the approach violates the farmers freedom and does not produce the desired results. Issuing a directive in favour of one party at the expense of the other is discriminatory and does not solve the problem sustainably. To solve the farmer-herder crisis, the Gombe State government must introduce ranching as an alternative to open grazing. Ranching is the practice of raising grazing livestock on large tracts of land. Ranching is a proven model for achieving the peaceful coexistence of pastoralists and farmers. In November 2021, Yahaya had given a similar order. Then, the state government issued a deadline for farmers to harvest their crop produce for the same reason above. Despite the forced directive, herders continued to attack farmers in the state. Section 17(2)(e) of the Nigerian Constitution provides citizens equal rights, obligations, and opportunities before the law. Therefore, the governor needs to reverse his forced directives. A 2021 study by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies discovered that the destruction of farm produce by moving cattle is the prime cause of farmer-herder conflicts. Pastoralists move around in search of green pastures for their livestock. As long as this grazing style continues, clashes are inevitable. To solve the farmer-herder crisis, the Gombe State government must introduce ranching as an alternative to open grazing. Ranching is the practice of raising grazing livestock on large tracts of land. Ranching is a proven model for achieving the peaceful coexistence of pastoralists and farmers. The Nigerian Federal Government approved the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) in 2019. The initiative aims to modernise livestock and create about 119 national ranches in ten years. Unfortunately, like several other policies, the Federal Government is far from fully implementing the plan. Five years after the approval for its take-off, the governments commitment to the NLTP remains minimal. In 2022, the pilot implementation of the NLTP began in four states, and the Federal Government promised to extend the project to more states. The delay in implementing the NLTP is partly due to the governments refusal to release funds, coupled with the herders disposition towards ranching. Open grazing instigates clashes between farmers and herders, degrades the land, and negatively affects farm productivity. Hence, the state government should enact a law that prohibits the act. Muhammad Yahaya must desist from such an oppressive approach to solving issues among farmers and herders. An order like that would only set a terrible precedent for other states to embrace. To begin with, the Nigerian Federal Government should partner with livestock farmers and investors to fund the establishment of the proposed one hundred ranches as contained in the NLTP. Such partnerships could offer investors tax incentives and land areas for a specific tenure, in exchange for funding to build the ranches across states. That would encourage states like Gombe to embrace the ranching policy. Gombe State government should also lobby the Federal Government to include the state in its priority list of the next NLTP project beneficiaries. Many herders do not know about ranching and its benefits. According to the Cattle Breeder Association, ranching is strange; herders are used to walking around with their cattle. Through the federal and state ministries of agriculture, the government should educate cattle breeders on how ranching would increase their cattles productivity in milk and meat production. The government should also train them on the operational procedures of ranching through periodic workshops and seminars. Herders will likely embrace the idea when they understand how ranching works and its potential benefits. Gombe State government also needs to state its stance against open grazing. As obtainable in several other states, Gombe is yet to establish legislation addressing open grazing. The state governor has, on numerous occasions, opposed anti-open grazing legislation in Nigeria. The lack of an anti-open grazing law shows the state is not committed to ending the farmers-herders crisis. Open grazing instigates clashes between farmers and herders, degrades the land, and negatively affects farm productivity. Hence, the state government should enact a law that prohibits the act. Muhammad Yahaya must desist from such an oppressive approach to solving issues among farmers and herders. An order like that would only set a terrible precedent for other states to embrace. Olajide Oladokun is a writing fellow at African Liberty. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print A lack of quality, people-oriented leadership has been the single most identified challenge to development in Nigeria. Over the years, since its independence from Britain in 1960, the quest for good (dedicated) leadership has seen Nigeria(ns) suffer through a series of upheavals including several (sometimes brutal) military coups, a civil war, and decades of political suppression and other developmental setbacks. Consequently, when, in 1999, the country was returned to democratic rule, which was celebrated as an ideal government model capable of delivering public goods to the masses, many were optimistic for a new dawn. True to the hopes and aspirations of Nigerians, the first few years following the countrys return to democratic rule rekindled belief in the citizenry that leadership had, indeed, taken a turn for the better. Beyond the upward review of the national minimum wage, there were also substantial debt pardons and other economic indices, which signaled a positive start to a bright future. Such beliefs were to be further encouraged by the dedication displayed by government officials like the late Professor Dora Akunyili (as director general, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC)) and Mal. Nuhu Ribadu (as pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)), whose achievements contributed, in no little measure, to reassuring Nigerians that their interests were well looked after. This was an era when Nigerians witnessed, perhaps for the first time, the wealthy, powerful, and politically well-connected being subject to the superior arm of the lawas seen in the sanitization of Nigerias manufacture and importation industries, the sack of a federal minister, impeachment of three state governors, and the imprisonment of then Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, after a refund of 150 million under a plea bargain. Unfortunately for Nigeria(ns), however, the apparent transformations/reforms that followed the countrys return to democracy were to be short-lived. One occasion which revealed perceptible cracks in Nigerias rejuvenated democratic project was the 2003 presidential elections, which was marred by allegations, both locally and internationally, of electoral malpractices in favour of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its leader, president Olusegun Obasanjo. This was followed by another controversial presidential election in 2007, which expelled all hopes that the 2003 incident would be an isolated one. This question mark, placed on the electoral integrity of Nigerias reemergent and rejuvenated democracy, became a critical step in her gradual descent into political impunity. Upon assumption of office in 2007, then-president Umaru Musa YarAdua, compelled by the brazenness of the electoral heist which aided his emergence, confirmed that the elections which brought him to office had shortcomings, to which he promised electoral reforms. But, as fate would have it, he did not live long enough to deliver on this promise. The task then fell to his vice president and successor, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who managed to deliver, in 2015, what is today considered Nigerias freest and fairest elections after the 12 June, 1993, annulled votes. However, if President Jonathans ability to deliver free, fair and credible elections so dubbed for his uncharacteristic (by African standards) readiness to concede defeat in 2015 was construed by Nigerians as a watershed moment for leadership in the country, what transpired during President Muhammadu Buharis eight-year stint as president would make an absolute mockery of any such optimism. To many, his administration took Nigeria back many decades. Under the leadership of former president Buhari, Nigeria perceptibly sank deeper into the murky waters of political highhandedness and impunity. His was a government which favoured propaganda over actual service as evidenced by how busy the trio of the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, media adviser Garba Shehu, and the information minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, were while it lasted. Returning after many months abroad in medical tourism, Buhari initiated a lacklustre performance, which characterised most of his eight years in office. In fact, the only instances of administrative vigour were to be recorded in areas of self-preservation and perpetuation. To this end, the government became notorious for defying court orders. It also showed contempt for the rule of law both in Zaria (in 2015) and Lekki (in 2020), where the army was used to disperse protesters, leading to many casualties. In the economy, the administration, in connivance with a cowed/subservient senate, plunged Nigeria(ns) into devastating debt after having depleted the national reserves without any evidence of economic development. As a self-appointed petroleum minister, Buhari oversaw the investment of billions of dollars into the maintenance and refurbishment of Nigerias three refineries, which remained unproductive and cost the country trillions in fuel subsidies. To wrap it all up, the administration conducted an election (in 2023) which was rife with electoral violence and malpractice: vote buying, ballot snatching, result tempering, and voter intimidation. As has been the unspoken/unwritten constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, especially since its democratic revival in 1999, exiting presidents are never held accountable by their successors, notwithstanding the extent of corruption and highhandedness observed during the formers tenure. This political arrangement, which is even more assured when both exiting and incoming presidents belong to the same political party, however, does little in the way of protecting lieutenants who perhaps having incurred the ire of some party heavyweight(s) become scapegoats paraded by the nations anti-corruption/graft agencies to enhance the credibility image of the newly inaugurated governments. Hence, outside the occasional political witch-hunting, such publicly advertised trials have become the only sign of accountability in government in Nigeria. After all, as serving senator Adams Oshiomole, the former national chairman of the ruling party (APC), once declared during a presidential rally in 2019, Once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven. However, if those entrusted with managing the affairs of Nigeria are so disposed to forgiving the catastrophic sins of their counterparts who have enriched themselves at the expense of their fellow countrymen in exchange for political support, the suffering citizenry has displayed no such magnanimous inclinations. In a social media video which went viral catching the attention of Nigerian government officials recently (17 February 2024), a pupil was captured in debate, denigrating Nigerias leadership, whom he described as a bunch of thieves, gold-diggers, betrayers, hungry lions. Even for one so small, his energetic vituperations, which were rounded off by an invocation of thunder and doom on Nigerian leaders, raised different reactions, ranging from approval to disapproval and outright condemnation. While the majority of Nigerians, angered and frustrated by the increasing and unending hardship in the country, viewed the young pupil as speaking their minds, a moral few emphasised the moral and ethical implications of such display. They faulted the childs teachers for their unprofessional conduct while also suggesting that there were better avenues to convey grievances. On its part, the Niger State government, where the concerned school is domiciled, took great offence at the development and promised to discipline the teachers. Once responding to a question on the prevalence of corruption in Nigeria, former vice-president Yemi Osinbajo alluded that corruption thrived in Nigeria not because there was something wrong with Nigerians but because there was an absence of consequence. This begs the question, what is the consequence of corruption in Nigeria? Corruption, the irrational desire to become wealthy at the expense of others, has been the major bane of leadership in Nigeria. In fact, if a book were to be written about government corruption in Nigeria today, the volumes would fill many rooms. Curiously, however, while some people have spent years in prison and even paid the ultimate price for corruption and other acts that contravene the law, others have thrived because of it. It has also been the experience that anytime the subject of the consequence of corruption for public office holders comes up; citizens have been required to consider the reputation/rank of the office of the offending party when demanding justice. But, speaking both ethically and morally, should anyone who abused an office they were entrusted with enjoy the respect and privilege it carries? Is this not how sacred cows are created? As we speak, a controversy is brewing in the national assembly over an alleged budget padding to the tune of N3.7 trillion. Although such behaviour has, over time, been forced on Nigerians as the standard practice amongst her lawmakers, the amount of money allegedly involved in this case has elicited much outcry from the masses who are suffering the pains of the biting policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Nevertheless, more recent information, as contained in a PUNCH online publication dated 17 March, shows embattled Senator Abdul Ningi settling for a lesser N53 billion figure as against his original N3.7 trillion claim. Of this amount not captured in the proposal submitted by President Tinubu the paper, through its investigations, confirms that hundreds of millions have been earmarked for vague projects with equally vague locations. More so, other public investigations into the amounts earmarked for the construction of boreholes, streetlights and other constituency projects reveal that they have been grossly inflated, sometimes over a hundred per cent more than the actual costs for the best options. This, coming from a group that enjoys the best remuneration and welfare packages obtained anywhere in the world, is the worst example of stewardship that anyone can imagine. In the face of such conduct, from a group whose concepts of ethics, values and morals apparently hold no meaning, is it any surprise that the citizenry entertains only disdain for their leaders? If all attempts at expressing a grievance, either through public protests or electoral decisions, have either been met with brutal force or systemic manipulations, what is the next recourse? Perhaps the Nigerian leadership should be thankful that the disgruntled masses appear to be satisfied with verbal options for expressing their dissatisfaction. They should consider using this period of grace, which is fast running out, to turn a new leaf instead of plotting ways to shortchange and vex the same people on whose backs they have reaped their many luxuries. In desperation, my people alter a curse-prayer: a fa yin si koto Olorun! Who is to lift this curse? Toyin Falola, a professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin, is the Bobapitan of Ibadanland. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Evidence has continued to emerge by the day that insecurity in the country has gone haywire, which the gruesome massacre of 17 soldiers by hoodlums in Okuama community in Delta State on 14 March is an irrefutable corroboration. The deceased were not only killed; 14 of them were beheaded and had their internal organs, such as hearts, and private parts gouged out. This is a heinous, inhuman and most wicked act of savagery. As the tragedy coincided with the kidnapping, by bandits and Boko Haram, of over 500 pupils and citizens in schools and in Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) camps, in Kaduna and Borno states, clearly, the countrys security apparatchiks have their work well cut out. As expected, the grotesque incident in Okuama has awoken national consciousness and outpouring of grief and empathy for our military personnel. But the inherent lesson is not lost on anyone: that nobody is safe. The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Bola Tinubu, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) and the Chief of Army Staff, alongside all well-meaning Nigerians are united in their denunciation of the act and resolve that the masterminds of this dastardly act must be made to face the consequences of their action. This is the best honour Nigeria owes the late soldiers and the families they left behind. Among the 17 victims were Lt. Col A.H Ali, Commanding Officer, 181 Amphibious Battalion, Nigerian Army; two Majors and a Captain. Unlike in a similar recent massacre in Shiroro, Niger State, in August 2023, during which 22 soldiers were ambushed and slaughtered by bandits, while conducting an offensive operation, the victims of the Okuama ambush were there to maintain peace, following a land dispute between the Okuama and Okolaba communities. Regrettably, the involved felons have shattered the peace of Okuama, the residents have fled to neighbouring villages, while others are hibernating in forests, not knowing when the storm will be over. Apparently, this is not likely to be soon. There is the disturbing report that a section of that community has been razed and is littered with cadavers in a purported reprisal by aggrieved soldiers. This is further accentuated by Joint Task Force operatives denial of journalists access to the area. The same happened to part of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori team, when he visited the place four days later, to assess the situation. However, military authorities have vehemently denied involvement in any illegality in the area, describing such allegation as pure propaganda. Yet, the response of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, that the murder of the troops was a community orchestrated attack against legitimate forces is dreadful in the assumption of a premeditated act. This necessarily insinuates the basis for collective punishment as it has been claimed, leaving its wake, those who knew next-to-nothing about the atrocity as casualties. Nevertheless, such criminality anywhere, in our view, is always carried out by a limited conspiratorial cohort. As a result, the army should be painstaking in its intelligence gathering and operations, so as to nab only the culprits and spare the innocent, in tandem with the DHQs assurance that the military would not be led by emotions, but must be guided by the laws of armed conflict. It is only in this regard that we will appreciate their declaration of measured responses and injurious consequences for the perpetrators of this dastardly act. There is also disquiet in Bayelsa State, with the spread of the manhunt for the perpetrators of this evil to the place, where some of them have allegedly fled to. Purported reprisal killings in Igbomotoru provoked a former governor of the state, Seriake Dickson, now a senator, to call for caution and adherence to the rules of engagement in such operations during a Senate session on the Okuama tragedy. Our concern in all of this stems from precedents such as the Odi massacre in 1999, and Zaki Ibiam in 2002, after policemen and soldiers had been given the Okuama treatment and the military then responded in more than equal measures. The reprisals almost entirely wiped out the affected communities. President Tinubu, in a strongly worded statement, which he personally signed, in reaction to the tragedy, talked tough. But one paragraph stood out in our opinion: Members of our armed forces are at the heart and core of our nationhood. Any attack on them is a direct attack on our nation. We will not accept this wicked act. He couldnt be more correct. The insanity that led to this national grief should be thoroughly dealt with. Ironically, it is the Nigerian state that fostered it through its acts of omission or commission. It still has no answer to the proliferation of armies of non-state actors and their tools of violence arms and ammunition they brazenly wield to assault, kill and question the integrity of the nation. With Nigerias loss of the monopoly of the use of coercive force or violence, in Max Webers conceptual framework of a state, or control of it, as others add, the country in this context can rightly be said to have failed as a state. The anomie has been on for far too long. Sergeant AM Linus and his wife, both soldiers, in Imo State in 2022, were killed by unknown gunmen and decapitated. Policemen are easy preys to gunmen in the South-east. The story is not different particularly in the North-east, North-west, and South-south, where the military are in operations against jihadists, bandits and oil thieves. The Okuama massacre can only become the end of this sadism and depravity, by not allowing these merchants of egregious deaths to escape justice. The message is very clear: government has nobody to blame but itself. Certainly, the police authorities in Abuja and their State Security Service (SSS) counterparts did a lot of harm to national security when they unwittingly allowed the impunity of the Ombatse cult members that ambushed and annihilated 63 police officers and 10 SSS operatives in Nasarawa State to escape from punishment, during the strife between Eggon and Alago communities in 2013. The then Director-General of the SSS, Ita Ekpenyong, curiously said, We have forgiven them during obsequies for the 10 deceased officials. But most unbelievable was the police failure to fish out the fifth columnists in their midst, who passed information to the cultists of the planned raid on them, which led to the bloodbath. Across the federation, Okuama and Okolaba communities might not be the only ones with land disputes on the brink of snowballing. The notorious conflict of the Umuleri-Aguleri communities in Anambra State, also over land ownership, which lingered for years and claimed many scalps, are instructive for the governors to act fast when such matters rear their ugly heads. The past is very critical in governance, as Wilson Churchill instructively put it, In history lies all the secrets of statecraft. Again, the poignant security system that has encumbered the military with police duties all over the country must be fixed through the creation of a more comprehensive and effective model, for the nation to extricate itself from this vice-like grip of outlaws and recurrent moments of grief. Enough is enough! Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print From Nnamdi Kanus startling comment on insecurity to the killing of two police operatives in Imo State, top stories from Nigerias South-east within the past week focused more on insecurity in the region. I havent received salary as governor, my wife has no official car Nigerian governor The week began with a shocking remark by Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State that he has not taken any salary from the state government since assuming office as governor two years ago. Mr Soludo, who came into power as governor on 17 March 2022, also said his wife, Nonye, does not have an official car as the first lady of Anambra State. The governor explained that the decision was part of his efforts to cut the cost of governance in the state. Mr Soludos claim that he has not taken salaries is strange given that the Nigerian law supports salaries for governors. However, PREMIUM TIMES reports that the Office of the First Lady of a state is unknown to law although some state governments in Nigeria appear to be allocating funds to such offices. The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), for instance, did not make any provision for the Office of First Lady of a state. What Ngige, Emeka Offor told Soludo on his second anniversary as governor On Sunday, a former minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and renowned entrepreneur, Emeka Offor, hailed Governor Soludo for his achievements as governor of the Anambra State since 2022. Messrs Ngige and Offor spoke separately during the celebration of Mr Soludos second anniversary as governor of the state at the International Convention Center, Awka. While Mr Ngige, who governed the state between 2003 and 2006, commended Mr Soludo for managing the states resources prudently, Mr Offor told the governor that the dream of a new Anambra State has been realised under his administration. Mr Soludo, a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was sworn in as governor of the state on 17 March 2022. His four-year tenure will end by March 2026. Mr Offor, who is the chairperson, the board of directors of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), would later sound political, saying with Mr Soludos performances in the state, there was nobody who could challenge the governor in the next election which is expected to be held in November 2025. As the board of directors of the EEDC, a power distribution company covering South-east Nigerian, including Anambra State, Mr Offors praise of Mr Soludo has been described by some observers as a way of seeking business favour from the state government. However, the support for Mr Soludo by Mr Ngige, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is interesting, given that the governor is a member of the APGA and appears ready to battle Ifeanyi Ubah, a senator and member of the APC. Mr Ubah, who recently defected to the APC from the YPP, has since declared interest to contest in the next governorship election in the state. It is unclear, for now, if Mr Ngige would support Mr Soludo in the next governorship election in the state against his party man, Mr Ubah. Anambra govt uncovers 210 ghost workers, sacks six directors On Monday, we reported that the Anambra State Local Government Service Commission sacked six deputy directors for possessing fake certificates. The Chairperson of the commission, Vincent Ezeaka, said the commission also uncovered 210 suspected ghost workers in the system. Police operative allegedly refuses to pay medical bill, arrests doctor We also reported, on Tuesday, that a police operative, Stephen Okona, allegedly refused to pay his medical bills to a medical doctor, Ofodile Ekweogwu, after being treated, according to a statement by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Anambra State. The NMA accused the operative of illegal arrest, torture and detention of the medical doctor for asking to be paid for treating the operative. The group also accused the operative of kidnap, attempted extortion, and mental assault and threat to the life of Mr Ekweogwu. The police said they have directed that Mr Ekweogwu should make a statement based on a petition before them and be granted bail while they continued with the investigation into the incident. Nnamdi Kanus boast to end South-east insecurity within two minutes On Tuesday, Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), stirred controversy when he boasted that he can end insecurity in South-east and South-south Nigeria within two minutes if he is released from detention. Mr Kanu has been in detention at the facility of the State Security Service (SSS) since he was rearrested and brought back to Nigeria from Kenya in June 2021 under controversial circumstances. He is facing terrorism charges at a Federal High Court, Abuja. The IPOB leader said the insecurity in the two regions has been going on because of his incarceration at the SSS facility. Mr Kanu claimed that nobody can disobey his order in the South-east and South-south when he is out of detention. The comment by the IPOB leader has elicited several reactions, with many people saying the comment appeared to suggest that he knows the identities of the people responsible for the attacks in the two regions. Meanwhile, several orders issued by Mr Kanu from the detention have been ignored by factional members of IPOB. For instance, Mr Kanu, in late July 2023, through Aloy Ejimakor, his special counsel, had ordered Simon Ekpa, a pro-Biafra agitator, to stop issuing sit-at-home orders in the region. But Mr Ekpa, who leads Autopilot, a faction of IPOB, refused to obey the order by the IPOB leader and maintained that the illegal order would go on until Mr Kanu spoke to him directly in Finland, a North European country, where he (Ekpa) resides. Abia States repeal of pension law for governors, deputies On Tuesday, the Abia State Assembly made history when it passed a bill to repeal the then-2001 law which made provision for pension for former governors and deputy governors in the state. Governor Alex Otti of Abia signed the bill into law on Thursday. At least two former governors of the state have said they did not receive the pensions despite the existence of the law. The passage of the bill by the state assembly and its consequent signing into law by Mr Otti has drawn commendations from different quarters. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was among the people who praised the Abia governor for the courage to sign the bill into law. Mr Obasanjo also asked other state governors to emulate Mr Otti in repealing laws supporting the payment of pensions to former governors and deputies in their states. While the applause is still loud, there has been concern over the failure of the state government to provide details of the beneficiaries of the pension law so far and how much has been spent on the former officials. Analysts, for instance, say that while the governors action is commendable, it appears the repealed law was never implemented in the state given the state governments failure to name those who benefitted from it. Police contradict army on figure of slain IPOB members during joint operation There was confusion on Friday when the police in Ebonyi State, contradicted a report by the Nigerian army that a suspected IPOB member was killed during a joint operation. The Nigeria army, in a statement on Thursday, said its troops and personnel of other security agencies, including the police, in Ebonyi, killed the suspected IPOB member during a raid on a camp belonging to the separatist group in Mgbalukwu, Inyimagu, a community in the Izzi Local Government Area of the state. But in a separate statement on Friday, the police spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Joshua Ukandu, said three IPOB members, not one, were killed during the operation. Apart from the casualty figure, the security agencies also disagreed on the arrest of suspects, the identity of the community where the operation was conducted and items recovered during the joint operation. When confronted with the conflicting statements, the authorities of the two security agencies could not explain it, even as they maintained their different positions. The development highlights a lack of cooperation and intelligence-sharing among security agencies in Nigeria which is grappling with growing insecurity. Killing of police operatives in Imo It was a bloody day on Saturday in Imo State when gunmen ambushed and killed two police operatives in the state. The police spokesperson in the state, Henry Okoye, said the hoodlums attacked some operatives while they were on patrol duty in the early hours of Saturday, killing two of them on the spot. Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said the gunmen threw dynamite at the police patrol vehicle and subsequently engaged them in a shootout, resulting in the death of the operatives. The unfortunate incident is another painful reminder that insecurity and attacks against security operatives in the South-east are yet to slow down. Gov Mbah resolve to generate electricity, extend wage award payments Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, On Saturday, promised continuous payment of wage awards to state workers until the committee on new minimum wage concludes its work. The governor began the payments of the wage award of between N10,000 and N25,000 to state workers last December to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal. At the Town Hall meeting with Enugu people, Mr Mbah, said his government would prioritise workers welfare, adding that he would create values that would help workers to thrive. The governor also said his administration will begin the generation and distribution of electricity in the state by the end of 2026. He said the state government will soon inaugurate Enugu State Electricity Regulatory Commission to drive the initiative to completion. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said it has impounded over 44,948 kilograms of illicit drugs, about 44.9 tonnes in Ondo, Lagos and Edo states. The Director, Media and Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure on Sunday in Abuja. He said eight suspects have been arrested while 11 vehicles were seized from the drug barons during the operation. Mr Babafemi said 7,687.8kg of cannabis were destroyed in a warehouse in Ala forest, Akure, Ondo state with another 670kg evacuated, last Saturday. He said in Lagos, a well-coordinated operation on 20 March, led to the seizure of 10,534 kilogrammes (10.534 tonnes) of Ghanaian Loud. The strain of cannabis was intercepted in the Ajah area of the state where 11 vehicles were seized from the drug cartel, the NDLEA spokesman said. He added that in another raid on Friday at Ago Palace Way area of Lagos, a suspect, Miracle Obi, was arrested with 1,006 pentazocine injections, 50 tablets of tramadol, 89 bottles of codeine syrup, and 2,360 ampoules of Diazepam injection. He further said another suspect, Kareem Mustapha, was nabbed on 19 March, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway with 25,000 pills of tramadol and 5,900 ampoules of pentazocine injection. He said 14,310.86kg of the same substance grown on 5.7 hectares of farms was destroyed in Ohosu-Ugbogui forest, Ovia South West Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo state on Tuesday. Mr Babafemi also noted that NDLEA operatives evacuated 670kg of cannabis on Saturday, while five suspects were arrested. The suspects include 67-year-old Sunday Otulugbu, Agbayeogor Joshua, 39; Kelvin Ofuasia, 45; Williams Peter, 37; and Kamaru Onimisi, 44. Mr Babafemi disclosed that in another operation in the Uzebba-Avbiosi forest on Thursday, over 6,500kg of marijuana grown on a 2.6-hectare farm was uncovered and destroyed. Three suspects: Kabiru Idris, 36; Alaba Jimoh, 40; and Lekan Asobere, 35, were arrested. He also said another operation conducted with the support of the military led to the burning down of 5,000kg of the substance in a warehouse in Okpuje forest, Owan West LGA on Friday. The Ondo NDLEA Commander, Mumuni Raji, while speaking on the development, said that during the exercise in the state, 632 bags of Cannabis, weighing 670kg, were destroyed at Ago-Igbo area of Oke Ala in Akure South LGA of the state. According to him, nobody was arrested as the suspects escaped after sighting the operatives from a distance. We brought 56 bags and destroyed 555 bags in the forest, weighing 670 kg. We crossed many rivers and hills before we were able to get to the location. These people are properly armed and ready for anything. They saw us from the top of the hill and ran away before we got to the location, Mr Raji said. The Commander advised those indulging in illicit activities in the state to abstain from such criminal acts, saying the command would not rest until criminals were brought to book. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp Telegram LinkedIn Email Print Investors offered innovative recourse for AT1 losses by bringing investment treaty claims Claims could be launched on behalf of investors in China , Hong Kong , Japan , Korea, Singapore , and the UAE LONDON, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Credit Suisse's Additional Tier 1 ("AT1") bondholders can now take action against Switzerland for expropriation by bringing investment treaty claims, holding the Swiss state accountable for breaching its international investment agreements when it wrote the bonds down to zero as part of the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS. Unlike other claims challenging the decision to write down the bonds which are being brought before Swiss courts and will be determined according to Swiss national law these claims, which are being launched by global law firm Clyde & Co, will use an international arbitration mechanism and will be decided on the basis of International Investment Agreements. These include Bilateral Investment Treaties or Free Trade Agreements, which classify the action of writing down the bonds as expropriation. The outcome of these arbitration claims will be determined by an independent arbitration tribunal rather than by Swiss judges. The Swiss government-mandated distressed sale of Credit Suisse to UBS in March 2023 sent shockwaves in the financial markets. This takeover particularly affected AT1 bondholders who held $17.6 billion of AT1 bonds, the value of which was written down to zero by the Swiss financial regulators at no notice, ranking these bondholders behind Credit Suisse shareholders, upending the rules and conventions of capital structure. One year on, Clyde & Co has prepared a legal opinion on the viability of investment treaty claims in international arbitration proceedings. This opinion is also supported by an expert financial report provided by Charles River Associates. Clyde & Co is now planning to launch a series of investment arbitration claims which will apply international law and investor protection provisions to bring effective international remedy to investors. The claims will be launched on behalf of Credit Suisse AT1 investors from a series of jurisdictions, including but not limited to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the UAE. These claims will be unique (but are not unprecedented) in combining international arbitration and public international law with collective redress techniques to provide justice to investors. Clyde & Co is in advanced discussion with third party funders who have expressed their willingness to fund these cases. Loukas Mistelis, Partner in Clyde & Co's International Arbitration group and acknowledged authority on international dispute resolution and investment treaty law, commented: "It is clear to us that de-localised and depoliticised proceedings against Switzerland on the basis of international investment agreements are the most likely route to a favourable outcome for AT1 bondholders, who were treated outrageously as Credit Suisse collapsed and had their investments unlawfully expropriated. We now intend in the coming months to bring a series of international arbitration claims against Switzerland on behalf of groups of affected investors in a range of countries, in particular in Asia and the Middle East." Clyde & Co is working with Byfield Consultancy to publicise the claims and launch the proceedings. Credit Suisse AT1 bondholders who would like to know more and express their interest in pursuing their claims in investment arbitration are invited to write to csat1@byfieldconsultancy.com or Loukas.Mistelis@clydeco.com and to provide some basic non-confidential information. Interested investors can also submit information via this form. No lawyer-client relationship is formed between Clyde & Co and interested investors unless and until an engagement agreement is signed. About Clyde & Co Clyde & Co is a leading global law firm, helping organisations navigate risk and maximise opportunity in the sectors that underpin global trade and commercial activity, namely: insurance, aviation, marine, construction, energy, trade and natural resources. Globally integrated, the firm has 490 partners, 2400 lawyers, 3200 legal professionals and 5500 people overall in nearly 70 offices and associated offices worldwide. For more information please visit www.clydeco.com. New research insights from Info-Tech Research Group explain the critical shortfall in government IT leaders' understanding of AI's potential and the challenges faced in effectively leveraging it. With a practical framework and real-world use cases, the firm aims to empower IT leaders in the public sector to overcome obstacles and strategically implement AI solutions for the digital era. TORONTO, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - In the face of rapidly evolving citizen needs and the quest for improved operational efficiency, federal agencies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI). However, effectively integrating AI within the federal framework poses distinct challenges, including data privacy, security concerns, and the complexities of modernizing legacy systems. Moreover, the absence of robust strategies for AI implementation further complicates this endeavor. Recognizing the critical need for practical guidance in this transformative journey, Info-Tech Research Group has published its latest research, AI Use Case Library for Federal Government. The comprehensive blueprint includes use cases and is tailored to assist public sector IT leaders in navigating the complexities of AI adoption, fostering innovation, and ultimately achieving mission success. Info-Tech Research Group's "AI Use Case Library for Federal Government" blueprint outlines how AI streamlines government processes and optimizes workflows for a more efficient and effective future. (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group) "Artificial intelligence (AI) is not new to government use. In fact, data scientists and engineers have been using machine learning (ML) models on behalf of some governments to assist in system planning for decades," says Vishal Monga, research director at Info-Tech Research Group. "One unfortunate reality is that data scientists and engineers spend weeks and months wrangling data before they can get to the mathematical modeling and AI part of problem-solving. Solving these fundamental data challenges can accelerate the deployment of AI use cases at scale." Info-Tech's research highlights a critical shortfall in the understanding of AI's potential use cases among governmental IT leaders. This gap hinders their ability to strategically harness AI to meet organizational goals. Moreover, the vast volumes of data generated pose a significant challenge for government entities, particularly regarding its quality and accessibility. The firm advises governments to approach AI adoption strategically and responsibly, emphasizing the need for a clear understanding of the specific use cases and benefits and a plan for addressing the challenges associated with implementation and ongoing use. "In the generative AI (Gen AI) era, AI adoption has recently returned to the spotlight. All levels of government are cautiously optimistic about AI's potential use cases, yet concerns remain about its limitations and risks," explains Monga. "Regarding emerging technologies, the public sector has always been a follower. Unless the potential disruptions are imminent and the benefits are clear, all levels of government will stay patient, learn from others' lessons, and reap the benefits of others' proven use cases." To effectively implement AI, Info-Tech recommends government IT leaders adopt a risk-based approach, leveraging sophisticated AI technology and readily available solutions to balance opportunities and risks. The firm's newly published research outlines several use cases where AI has the potential to optimize federal government processes and includes the following opportunities for the federal government and associated activities for IT leaders to take advantage of AI: 1. Policy decision support Analyze the impact of immigration policies on the economy, helping to inform future employment policy decisions. Predict the effects of proposed employment policies on various outcomes, helping to guide employment policy making. Assess the impact of healthcare policies on public health outcomes, helping to inform future healthcare policy decisions. 2. Preventive public service Predict areas at risk of economic downturn, allowing preventive measures to be taken. Identify citizens at risk of poverty, allowing for early intervention. Predict public health risks, such as outbreaks of infectious diseases, allowing preventive measures to be taken. 3. Crime prediction Analyze crime data to predict crime hotspots, helping to inform policing strategies. Predict the impact of various interventions on crime rates, helping to inform crime prevention strategies. Use patterns and data to forecast the likelihood of reoffending, helping to inform sentencing decisions. 4. Emergency response optimization Optimize emergency response routes, reducing response times and improving outcomes. Predict emergency service demand, helping to inform staffing and resource allocation decisions. Automate emergency call handling, improving efficiency and effectiveness. 5. Community policing Analyze community feedback, helping to inform policing strategies. Predict the impact of community policing initiatives on crime rates, helping to improve community policing strategies. Facilitate communication between police and the community, making community relations better. 6. Immigration processing Automate the processing of immigration applications, improving efficiency and fairness. Analyze immigration data to identify trends and patterns, helping to inform immigration policy. Forecast the impact of immigration policy changes on immigration patterns, helping to guide policy decisions. The firm's resource stresses that by adopting a strategic framework focused on AI, emphasizing data quality and accessibility, government organizations can harness AI's transformative power to achieve their mission-critical objectives. This approach promises not just to fulfill current operational needs but to set the foundation for future advancements, enabling agencies to deliver on their commitments with greater efficiency and precision. For exclusive and timely commentary from Vishal Monga, an expert in the public sector consulting domain, and access to the complete AI Use Case Library for Federal Government blueprint, please contact [email protected]. About Info-Tech Research Group Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For more than 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations. Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected]. For information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and X. SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group BEIJING, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tong Ren Tang Technologies Co. Ltd. ("Tong Ren Tang Technologies" or the "Group", 1666.HK) is pleased to announce the audited consolidated results of the Group for the year ended 31 December 2023. In 2023, the Group's revenue amounted to RMB6.77 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 13.04%; net profit attributable to the parent company amounted to RMB0.59 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.25%. In terms of products, there were 62 products of the Group achieving a sales amount of more than RMB5 million, and 9 products achieving a sales amount of more than RMB100 million. At the same time, the Group had cash and cash equivalents of RMB2.75 billion. Trade and bills receivables decreased significantly by RMB0.61 billion, representing a year-on-year decrease of 40.67%. The Group maintained a sound financial position. The Board of Directors believes that the main reasons for the steady growth of the Group's business in FY2023 include: At the macro level: Balanced and coordinated development between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine were maintained, and there was huge potential for healthcare demand; At the Group level: The Group adapted to the new normal of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, maintained its focus on core competitive advantages and built a diversified marketing development model; At the operation level: During the year, the Group effectively coped with the risks and challenges brought about by multiple pressures such as the economic downturn and rising raw material prices, and maintained a healthy and steady financial condition. In 2024, the Group will endeavor to enhance its ability in product control, channel expansion and marketing services, explore its development potential and actively cultivate new growth points to ensure the objectives and tasks in the "14th Five-Year Plan" are completed satisfactorily, and continue to promote the Group's high-quality development. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements or uses certain forward-looking terminologies which are based on the current expectations, estimates, and assumptions of Tong Ren Tang Technologies about the businesses and the markets in which the Group operates and reflect Tong Ren Tang Technologies' views as of the date of this announcement. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to market risk, uncertainties and factors beyond the control of Tong Ren Tang Technologies. Therefore, actual outcomes may differ materially from the assumptions made and the statements contained in this announcement. Shareholders of the Group and potential investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and should exercise caution when dealing in the Group's securities. About Tong Ren Tang Technologies "Tong Ren Tang" is a long-established brand in China's traditional Chinese medicine industry. It is founded in 1669 and has a history of more than 350 years since then. In March 2000, China Beijing Tong Ren Tang Group Co., Ltd. injected some of its excellent assets to form Tong Ren Tang Technologies, which integrates production, supply and marketing. As a high-tech modern traditional Chinese medicine enterprise, it leverages modern pharmaceutical technology, takes up the mission of "Cultivating Kind-heartedness and Benefiting Mankind and Preserving Health", and insists on the pharmaceutical characteristics of "unique prescription, superior materials, superb technique and obvious effects". Tong Ren Tang Technologies was listed on the GEM of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2003 and transferred to the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July 2010. The products of the Group are available in more than 20 dosage forms, such as pills, tablets and granules, and include more than a hundred varieties, such as Liuwei Dihuang Pills, Ejiao, Angong Niuhuang Pills, Niuhuang Jiedu Tablets, Shengmai Liquor and Ganmao Qingre Granules. SOURCE Tong Ren Tang Technologies MADISON, Wis., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today DeWitt LLP announced that one of its partners, Jeff A. Goldman, is included in the Power List, a new feature from the Wisconsin Law Journal that "examines the power brokers who lead and influence various parts of the Wisconsin Legal Community." According to the Wisconsin Law Journal, inclusion on the list signifies "those whose mere presence on a case signifies the stakes, who have influenced the direction of the law, whose leadership in the community is pervasive and whose respect within the bar is undeniable." Jeff A. Goldman, one of the partners at DeWitt LLP, was recently included on the Wisconsin Law Journal's Power List for Estate Planning. Goldman is a member of DeWitt's Executive Committee, is the Chair of DeWitt's Estate and Trust practice group and focuses his practice on trusts, estates, fiduciary litigation and administration, estate planning, and probate. He is also experienced in commercial litigation, charitable entities, and taxation. Goldman works with individuals of all walks of life to ensure what they have worked so hard for is passed on to the appropriate beneficiaries. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estates Council (ACTEC), a Fellow of the Wisconsin Law Foundation, and a former member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Wisconsin, and is Chair of the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Section of the Wisconsin State Bar. He has served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he taught estate and trust administration and dispute resolution. Goldman earned his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin Law School and his B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington. Goldman is a resident of Sun Prairie. About DeWitt Founded in 1903, DeWitt LLP is one of the ten largest law firms based in Wisconsin, with an additional presence in Minnesota. It has more than 130 attorneys practicing in Green Bay, Madison and Greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota and has the experience to service clients of all scopes and sizes. DeWitt is known for its work in a variety of legal areas including family law, background screening, business law, employee stock ownership plans, employee benefits, intellectual property, patents, trademarks and copyright law, construction litigation, employment relations, environmental, estate planning, family business, litigation, real estate, tax law, and more. SOURCE DeWitt LLP AUD 17 Million Grant over 5 Years Will Fund Next-Generation TB Cures CANBERRA, Australia, March 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Australian Government, through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative, has announced a new AUD 17 million grant to support work with TB Alliance through its Product Development and Access Partnerships program. The funding will contribute toward the completion of the NC-009 Pan-Phase 2 clinical trial and also help establish and sustain the Peer-to-Peer Learning for Innovative Cures (PeerLINC) Knowledge Hub in Manila, which will disseminate best practices to help speed the programmatic implementation of innovative, effective tuberculosis treatments, including the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended six-month, all-oral BPaL/M regimens for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). "Drug-resistant TB is an increasing threat to the health and well-being both in Australia and in our neighbouring countries, and in many low- and middle-income countries around the world," said the Hon. Pat Conroy, Minister for International Development and the Pacific. "We are proud of our continued support of the work of TB Alliance, and to help in the rollout of the BPaL/M regimens and to support the development of the next generation of new TB treatments. These are important steps in the effort to end TB as a major health threat by 2030." PeerLINC, which will operate in partnership between TB Alliance and the Tropical Disease Foundation, Inc., will provide practical training, guidance, technical support, field experience, tools, and materials to national TB programs covering a wide range of topics including clinical management, diagnostics, drug safety monitoring, programmatic management, community engagement, and health economics. PeerLINC will continue to guide countries after completion of initial training, as countries work to implement and integrate the BPaL/M regimens into their national tuberculosis programs. The NC-009 trial, which launched in November 2023, will evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combination of a new experimental compound, TBAJ-876, with pretomanid and linezolid, components of the BPaL regimen. This new combination has the potential to shorten and improve treatment for both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Results from preclinical and Phase 1 studies presented at the Union Conference showed that TBAJ-876, when compared to bedaquiline (an approved TB medicine in the same drug class), eliminated TB bacteria faster and had a potentially improved safety profile. "Australia has long been a leader in the global health community, and we greatly appreciate their unwavering support in the battle to end TB," said Dr. Mel Spigelman, President and CEO of TB Alliance. "This funding will contribute both to rapidly expanding access to improved treatments, and also to developing the next generation of even more effective TB cures. This award exemplifies the sort of global commitment and political will needed if we hope to, one day, end the TB pandemic." About TB TB is a difficult infection to cure, requiring patients to take a combination of medicines for at least four to six months. Even after symptoms disappear, medicines still need to be taken so that the disease can be fully eradicated. The scope and intensity of TB globally is in large part fueled by antiquated and inadequate TB drugs. Novel drug regimens are urgently needed to bring the TB pandemic under control. About BPaL The BPaL regimenwhich combines the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L)was first designed and clinically studied by TB Alliance. Pretomanid, as part of the BPaL regimen, received its first regulatory approval in August 2019 for use against highly drug-resistant strains of TB. Prior to the initial BPaL clinical trial, less than one -third of drug-resistant TB patients around the world were being successfully treated. Treatment options were limited, expensive, toxic, and lengthy requiring patients to take more than 20 pills per day for 9-20 months. About TB Alliance TB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight TB. Through innovative science and with partners around the globe, we aim to ensure equitable access to faster, better TB cures that will advance global health and prosperity. TB Alliance operates with support from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (United Kingdom), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Global Disease Eradication Fund (South Korea), Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Irish Aid, Korea International Cooperation Agency, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Unitaid, and the United States Agency for International Development. For more information, please visit: www.tballiance.org. Contact: Jessica Wiggs, +1 (646) 616-8613 / [email protected] SOURCE TB Alliance SYDNEY and SINGAPORE, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Weel, Australia's leading spend management platform, and Nium, the leader in real-time cross-border payments, today announced a new strategic partnership to help finance teams better manage their corporate spend. Nium will serve as Weel's preferred financial services provider, offering a comprehensive suite of products that will enable Weel to accelerate its global growth and customer offering. A cornerstone of this is Weel's partnership with Visa to introduce Visa Business Debit Cards across the program. Weel is the fastest growing spend management platform in Australia, processing over $500m of payments each year for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) and is used by global industry leaders such as Canva and Eucalyptus. Weel enables its customers to quickly issue Visa-backed digital cards to their employees for business purchases. These cards are fully integrated with a web and mobile platform that allows finance teams to control spending, manage receipts and synchronise transactions with their accounting platform. Weel's partnerships with Nium and Visa provides a strong foundation for Weel to take its highly successful product offering to overseas markets. Nium's end-to-end solution and licensing in over 40 markets, coupled with Visa's acceptance in over 200 markets, will enable Weel to pursue a faster go-to-market strategy as it enters new countries. Nium's infrastructure and capabilities will also play a key role in helping Weel expand its payment offerings. Weel currently supports bill and reimbursement payments to recipients in Australia and with this partnership, customers will be able to make payments globally and in real-time (depending on the market they are sending to), as well as convert currencies and hold balances in multi-currency wallets. This new functionality will empower Weel customers to better engage with international suppliers and to foster stronger global trade relationships. Anupam Pahuja, EVP of APAC and Middle East at Nium, said, "Our collaboration with Weel underscores our commitment to empowering global platforms through best-in-class payment infrastructure. At Nium, our foundational payments framework provides Weel with advanced solutions to simplify financial management for SMEs navigating a swiftly changing market landscape." The Nium partnership immediately unlocks multiple benefits for Weel customers, particularly those with international needs, including highly competitive FX rates and widely accepted Visa Business Debit Cards. In the coming months, customers will also be able to access physical cards, which are more widely accepted by merchants. Weel's CEO, Daniel Kniaz, added, "This partnership with Nium is an important milestone for Weel, enabling us grow in alignment with our customer needs. It means we can now deliver even more value to our customers, helping them navigate the complexities of spend management effortlessly." Andrew Buchanan, Head of Digital Partnerships, Visa Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific said: "We are thrilled by this partnership as it demonstrates how innovative payment solutions can improve user experiences all over the world. Instant issuance of digital cards is an exciting step forward, as it means employees can use their cards right away. Being able to use Visa Business Debit cards in a digital or physical format opens more possibilities for businesses to modernise their payments processes. The partnership is fully operational today and available to new customers at https://letsweel.com About Nium Nium, the leader in real-time, cross-border payments, was founded on the mission to deliver the global payments infrastructure of tomorrow, today. With the onset of the global economy, its payments infrastructure is shaping how banks, fintechs, and businesses everywhere collect, convert, and disburse funds instantly across borders. Its payout network supports 100 currencies and spans 190+ countries, 100 of which in real-time. Funds can be disbursed to accounts, wallets, and cards and collected locally in 35 markets. Nium's growing card issuance business is already available in 34 countries. Nium holds regulatory licences and authorizations in more than 40 countries, enabling seamless onboarding, rapid integration, and compliance independent of geography. The company is co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore. About Weel Weel (formerly DiviPay) is Australia's leading spend management platform. Weel provides an all-in-one virtual business card and spend management platform that enables finance teams to better manage, control and streamline spending across their organisation. Weel's easy-to-use web and mobile app includes digital cards, bill payments, card controls and budgeting, a real-time transaction feed, automated spend reports, powerful accounting integrations, subscription spending management and reimbursements. Weel is based in Sydney and was founded in 2016. The company most recently raised a $20 million Series A funding round in 2021 from a number of global fintech investors. Customers have used the Weel platform to process over $1 billion in business payments. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1678669/4545285/Nium_Logo.jpg SOURCE Nium NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greatest Extreme Savings Experience on Earth announces the reveal of its innovative "Store of the Future" remodels, designed to take the thrill of mega savings to the next level. Bargain Hunt has long been a favorite among savvy shoppers, known for offering crazy savings on amazing brand name items. Now, with remodeled stores in Antioch and White House, TN it's become even easier to save big on brand name grocery must-haves, apparel for the family, and all the things that make your place a home. Bargain Hunt's Stores of the Future offer a more convenient and intuitive shopping experience that makes it easier to find the things you want including: Expanded selection of amazing brand name grocery must-haves and everyday essentials including even more food, drinks, personal care, baby, pet, and cleaning items than before. New "Style & Save" section that expands our apparel offering and makes it even easier to shop for that perfect look with crazy savings on shoes and accessories. New "As Seen Nowhere" section that showcases an ever-changing assortment of mega savings on surprising finds that will be here today and could be gone tomorrow. New "Going, Going, Gone!" section that brings together one-of-a-kind, fast-moving items in our Color Tag, Clearance, and Bin Sales that are some of the biggest savings in store. "Customers love the thrill of discovering incredible deals on the brands they love, and our Store of the Future remodels take that excitement to a whole new level," said Geoff Lysaught, Chief Customer Officer at Bargain Hunt. "We're excited to provide an even more amazing shopping experience where savings meet convenience." Visit Bargain Hunt's remodeled Stores of the Future at 5305 Hickory Hollow Parkway in Antioch, TN or at 2910 A US-31W in White House, TN. Members of Bargain Hunt's loyalty program, The Crazy Clover Club, will earn triple points on all grocery must-havesincluding food, personal care items, cleaning products, and morepurchased at a Store of the Future through Sunday, June 9th. In the coming months, Bargain Hunt will open additional remodeled Stores of the Future in Tennessee (Nashville, Memphis, Athens) and Kentucky (Louisville, Campbellsville.) About Bargain Hunt Bargain Hunt (https://www.bargainhunt.com) is a Nashville-based, extreme value experience with online auctions and 91 retail stores across 10 states. With a team of buyers skilled in acquiring high-quality closeouts, buyouts, overstocks and returns, Bargain Hunt can provide customers savings of 30-70% off other retailers every-day prices on great brand-name items. Bargain Hunt offers crazy savings on an ever-changing assortment of amazing brand-name items across food, beverage, personal care, cleaning, pet, baby, bed, bath, kitchen, home decor, mattresses, apparel, shoes, accessories, toys, electronics, sports and outdoors, lawn and garden, and seasonal categories. By making great closeout, buyout, overstock, and return items available for sale in Bargain Hunt stores and in online auctions, we help to keep high-quality merchandise that customers need and want out of landfills. That's why at Bargain Hunt, customers can be a little green while they save a lot of green. Bargain Hunt, It's the Greatest Extreme Savings Experience on Earth! SOURCE Bargain Hunt BEIJING, March 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, which falls on March 24 every year, is designed to build public awareness that TB today remains a global public health problem that seriously endangers people's health. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Tuberculosis Report 2023, in 2022, there were more than 10.6 million cases of active TB globally, with 1.3 million deaths. Ahead of this year's World TB Day, Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping and WHO goodwill ambassador for TB and HIV/AIDS, paid a visit to a local community in Changsha, the capital city of central China's Hunan Province, to research the country's TB prevention and treatment work at the grassroots level. She first visited the Yuhua District Health Education Center to learn about the institution's efforts to strengthen health education on TB as well as build TB disease prevention and treatment mechanisms. Peng called on everyone to work together as advocates and volunteers to better popularize knowledge on TB prevention and treatment among community residents and the young generation. In addition, Peng also had a friendly meeting with medical personnel who serve the local community, from whom she learned about the management of TB diagnosis and treatment services at the grassroots level. After chatting with recovered TB patients, children waiting for vaccination and their parents, Peng expressed the hope that all parties will continue to work hand in hand towards ending the spread of TB disease. China's action The Chinese government attaches great importance to TB prevention and treatment and has incorporated it into the Healthy China strategy. Speaking to China Media Group, Zhao Yanlin, director of the Center for Tuberculosis Prevention and Control of the Chinese CDC, pointed out that over the past decade, China's TB morbidity has declined by 25 percent, which is more than twice the global average decline rate. According to Zhao, as of 2023, total national funding for TB prevention and control is nearly 20 times higher than in 2001. China has been constantly improving the support capacity, carrying out multi-sector cooperation, engaging the participation of the whole society and actively promoting new diagnostic techniques, therapeutic solutions and management tools. As a result, the tuberculosis cure rate in the country stays above 90 percent. The WHO and the United Nations (UN) both harbor great expectations for youth participation in the prevention of TB as well as for their engagement in promoting health care for all of humanity. China also attaches great importance to the development of young volunteers and actively encourages public voluntary actions for TB prevention and control. Over the past 10 years, the number of volunteers in China has increased to over 1 million, more than half of whom are young people. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-03-24/China-advances-battle-against-tuberculosis-1seyW34OSXe/p.html Cyera joins the ranks of Nvidia, YouTube, Taco Bell, and more NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyera has been named to Fast Company's prestigious list of the World's Most Innovative Companies of 2024. This year's list spotlights businesses shaping industry and culture through their innovations. These organizations are setting new standards and achieving remarkable milestones in all sectors of the economy. Alongside the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies, Fast Company recognizes 606 organizations across 58 sectors and regions. "We have an incredibly talented and dedicated team here at Cyera. It's humbling that Fast Company recognized our innovations in Data Security. Data Security has always been critical and has become paramount due to AI. It requires dedicated solutions that solve a huge and sprawling problem concisely and simply. The fundamental difference with Cyera is that our platform was purpose-built to leverage cloud-scale AI and machine learning to dynamically discover, classify, and understand an enterprise's unique data. Cyera is making a difference because security teams using it know where their organization's sensitive data is and can assure its security. This value is magnified due to the pace of data proliferation and growth as well as the business value AI has emphasized data has." said Yotam Segev, co-founder and CEO at Cyera. Cyera's cloud-native, AI-powered, agentless data security platform combines sensitive data discovery and classification, data security posture management (DSPM), real-time data detection and response, data access governance, and data privacy. Cyera safeguards data across a company's hybrid cloud, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Snowflake, and Office365, and is the first solution to provide holistic data security coverage across on-prem, SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS environments. Cyera continuously discovers, classifies, and provides context on a company's data, who can access it, where it goes, and how it is secured. "Our list of the Most Innovative Companies is both a comprehensive look at the innovation economy and a snapshot of the business trends that defined the year," said Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. "We saw extraordinary innovation across the board in 2023, but we also saw a handful of clear patterns: the growing footprint and impact of AI, the triumphant return of live events, and great leaps forward in climate tech. We face daunting challenges on many fronts, but the solutions we celebrate in MIC give me plenty of hope about the future." About Cyera Cyera is the data security company that gives businesses deep context on their data, applying proper, continuous controls to assure cyber-resilience and compliance. Cyera takes a data-centric approach to security across the data landscape, empowering security teams to know where their data is and what exposes it to risk so they can take immediate action to remediate exposures. Backed by leading investors, including Sequoia, Accel, Cyberstarts, and Redpoint Ventures, Cyera is redefining how companies secure data in the cloud. To learn more, visit www.cyera.io . ABOUT FAST COMPANY Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com. Contact: Guyer Group Kevin Whalen [email protected] SOURCE Cyera BRUSSELS, and PARIS, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Euroclear and IZNES today announce that Euroclear will acquire a stake in IZNES, a pan-European funds marketplace based on blockchain technology. The transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Financial terms will not be disclosed. Established in 2017, IZNES is a regulated company operating an international platform for subscriptions and redemptions of shares of European funds, compatible with various distribution channels. IZNES simplifies and harmonises the subscription processes, brings more transparency and provides an improved customer experience both for management companies and institutional investors. Building on the acquisitions of MFEX in 2021 and Goji in 2023, Euroclear continues to enhance its Euroclear FundsPlace offering, the end-to-end funds platform solution across mutual and money market funds, alternatives funds and ETFs. Through this strategic partnership with IZNES, Euroclear will complement its funds services on the French market and beyond and continue the delivery of its funds strategy by playing an active role in the development of innovative funds distribution models. Philippe Laurensy, Head of Product, Strategy and Innovation at Euroclear, said: "Our partnership with IZNES fits with Euroclear's ambition to innovate and bring efficiency to the financial markets. We are convinced that the mutualisation of data and further automation of processes, supported by digital technologies, have a real potential to reduce the overall cost of funds distribution. IZNES' solution has already delivered benefits to its users and our partnership is a natural step to broaden its usage at a larger scale." Christophe Lepitre, Chief Executive Officer of IZNES: "This operation with Euroclear marks a key milestone in the development of IZNES. We are convinced that together we must continue to build innovative solutions that make the most of blockchain technology for the greater benefit of our customers. IZNES and its shareholders are delighted at this prospect." About Euroclear Euroclear group is the financial industry's trusted provider of post trade services. Guided by its purpose, Euroclear innovates to bring safety, efficiency and connections to financial markets for sustainable economic growth. Euroclear provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross-border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives, and investment funds. As a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure, Euroclear is committed to delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global client franchise. The Euroclear group comprises Euroclear Bank, the International CSD, as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden, Euroclear UK & International. Press contacts: Pascal Brabant: [email protected] (+32 475 78 36 62) Craig MacDonald: [email protected] (+44 7471 148 319) Jorgen Muylaert: [email protected] (+32 479 77 14 80) About IZNES IZNES is the first European blockchain-based fund marketplace. IZNES offers a disruptive alternative to traditional fund distribution channels and allows asset owners to subscribe directly to all types of funds from asset managers. The use of IZNES's blockchain technology improves operational efficiency and offers to institutional investors and asset managers an optimal level of security and IT resilience. IZNES is a regulated investment firm authorized by the ACPR and supervised by the AMF. Its services are passported in Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Belgium. Press contact: Valerie Gilles: [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2064818/Euroclear_logo.jpg SOURCE Euroclear Expedient to Help Customers Modernize Infrastructure, Accelerate Innovation, and Improve Business Resiliency with Managed VMware Cloud Foundation Services PITTSBURGH, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Expedient , a leading provider of secure and scalable cloud infrastructure solutions, is proud to announce that the company is now a VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) Pinnacle tier partner in the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program for North America. This underscores the company's commitment to delivering innovative hybrid cloud solutions and managed services. "Expedient has been delivering infrastructure solutions that leverage VMware for more than 17 years. As a result, we've accumulated expertise and achieved a track record of success helping our clients optimize their workloads," says Jonathan Rosenson, Expedient President and Chief Operating Officer. "This recognition not only validates our history as a leading VMware solutions provider but also empowers us to provide unmatched value and support to our clients as they navigate the complexities of today's hybrid cloud landscape." Expedient VMware Cloud Service Provider Offerings as a Pinnacle Partner As a Pinnacle partner, Expedient is helping customers navigate the proliferation of options and complexity within a hybrid cloud environment. Through the years, Expedient has helped influence the VMware roadmap for cloud service provider partners through tight collaboration with VMware engineering teams, helping to keep clients at the forefront of technological innovation. Expedient leverages VMware as a foundational building block to provide a seamless and secure hybrid cloud experience. Expedient offers a comprehensive suite of VMware cloud solutions to alleviate infrastructure management burdens for businesses. This encompasses delivering VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) capabilities, granting clients full control over their cloud environments, spanning CPU, GPU, memory, and storage resources. Expedient's VCSP Pinnacle partner status also grants access to senior VMware engineers, reinforcing the company's commitment and reputation as experts in cloud migration. Additionally, Expedient is integrating the latest full stack VCF platform into its service portfolio to facilitate infrastructure modernization with an optimal total cost of ownership (TCO). This integration aims to leverage VCF's new license portability feature, establishing a flexible hybrid cloud experience for clients. With 15 strategically positioned data centers offering colocation, Expedient guarantees reliable, secure, and low-latency connectivity. Through its unique Cloud Different methodology, the company equips organizations with flexibility to navigate inevitable shifts in technology and business trends. "As a Pinnacle partner, Expedient's expertise, experience and influence in the industry will play a crucial role in helping to lead our customers on their cloud journey," says Ahmar Mohamed, Vice President, Partners, Managed Services, and Solutions GTM, VMware Cloud Foundation Division at Broadcom. "The VCSP Pinnacle tier is designed to build stronger relationships with our most valued VCSP partners to help customers implement a highly efficient cloud operating model that combines public cloud scale and agility with private cloud security and performance." Pinnacle is the highest program level in the Broadcom Advantage Partner program. Pinnacle partners are Broadcom's most invested and strategic partners, boasting extensive certifications, a track record of significant sales and service achievements, and broad international coverage. Holding Pinnacle status signifies a partner's deep technological know-how and proficiency in addressing the most intricate client issues. Broadcom works in close partnership with Pinnacle partners, including co-selling to mutual clients, to provide the foundational technology that drives the digital landscape. To learn more about what Expedient is doing to support VMware clients through this transition, visit our blog . About Expedient Expedient is a Full-Stack Cloud Service Provider, helping companies transform their IT operations through award-winning hybrid cloud solutions and managed infrastructure services. These services range from cloud migration, disaster recovery, virtual desktop infrastructure, data center colocation, to edge computing, as well as enterprise AI, security, and compliance, among others. The company's Cloud Different approach provides clients with best of breed solutions backed by "white glove" services and support. Previously named VMware's Americas Cloud Partner of the Year and acknowledged in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Disaster Recovery as a Service, Expedient gives clients a flexible on-ramp to the cloud, supporting the optimization and delivery of all applications (both core essential and cloud native). Also, the company's data centers comply with various regulatory mandates, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) service. For more information, visit expedient.com . Media Contact Andre Fuochi [email protected] +1-469-394-7274 SOURCE Expedient MELBOURNE, Australia, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, Telix, the Company) today announces that the first patient has been dosed in its named patient program in Italy for TLX250-CDx (89Zr-DFO-girentuximab, Zircaix[1]). TLX250-CDx is the Company's investigational non-invasive carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) targeting positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agent for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the most common and aggressive form of kidney cancer. The first patient was dosed at IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele in Milan, Italy. Through this program ('accesso allargato'), physicians may seek individual patient access to TLX250-CDx for use in PET characterisation of renal masses as ccRCC. This follows the completion of Telix's successful global Phase III ZIRCON study ( Zi rconium in R enal C ancer On cology, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03849118), which reported positive results in November 2022, meeting all co-primary and secondary endpoints.[2] Arturo Chiti, Professor in Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy at IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele commented, "Continued access in Europe to TLX250-CDx is vitally important to enable early detection of ccRCC, which can often be challenging and reliant on invasive biopsy and nephrectomy (kidney removal). In TLX250-CDx, I am extremely pleased to be able to offer a non-invasive 'Molecular Biopsy' to address unmet need in my patients in Italy." Frederic Fantino, Telix Medical Director for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region continued, "We are pleased to support unmet patient need by adding a second European country to Telix's global expanded access program for TLX250-CDx. Through the ZIRCON study, this investigational agent has demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity in the detection of ccRCC with potential to change standard of care in the diagnosis and management of this most aggressive form of kidney cancer." In Italy, the use of a medicinal product in an individual patient prior to marketing authorisation and outside the context of a clinical trial is permitted in exceptional circumstances and regulated by the Ministry of Health. Italy becomes the third active country in Telix's global expanded access program, where first patients were dosed in the Netherlands[3] and the United States (U.S.)[4] in December 2023. Telix has commenced the regulatory filing for TLX250-CDx (Zircaix[1]) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under a Biologics License Application (BLA) rolling submission[5] and is progressing other equivalent applications with regulatory agencies in key commercial jurisdictions. Physicians in Europe who may have eligible patients can email [email protected] for further information about TLX250-CDx named patient access. For more information about ongoing clinical trials of TLX250-CDx, please visit https://telixpharma.com/our-portfolio/clinical-trials/ Telix's Policy on Offering Compassionate Use to Investigational Medicines can be downloaded at the following link. About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited Telix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialisation of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals and associated medical devices. Telix is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with international operations in the United States, Europe (Belgium and Switzerland), and Japan. Telix is developing a portfolio of clinical and commercial stage products that aims to address significant unmet medical needs in oncology and rare diseases. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: TLX). Visit www.telixpharma.com for further information about Telix, including details of the latest share price, announcements made to the ASX, investor and analyst presentations, news releases, event details and other publications that may be of interest. You can also follow Telix on X and LinkedIn. TLX250-CDx has not received a marketing authorisation in any jurisdiction. Telix's lead imaging product, gallium-68 (68Ga) gozetotide (also known as 68Ga PSMA-11) injection, has been approved by the FDA,[6] by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA),[7] and by Health Canada.[8] Telix Investor Relations Ms. Kyahn Williamson Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited SVP Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Legal Notices The information contained in this announcement is not intended to be an offer for subscription, invitation or recommendation with respect to shares of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (Telix) in any jurisdiction, including the United States. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained or opinions expressed in the course of this announcement. The information contained in this announcement is subject to change without notification. This announcement may contain forward-looking statements that relate to anticipated future events, financial performance, plans, strategies or business developments. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as "may", "expect", "intend", "plan", "estimate", "anticipate", "outlook", "forecast" and "guidance", or other similar words. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's good-faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other risks and considerations that exist and affect the Company's business and operations in the future and there can be no assurance that any of the assumptions will prove to be correct. In the context of Telix's business, forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about: the initiation, timing, progress and results of Telix's preclinical and clinical studies, and Telix's research and development programs; Telix's ability to advance product candidates into, enrol and successfully complete, clinical studies, including multi-national clinical trials; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, manufacturing activities and product marketing activities; the commercialisation of Telix's product candidates, if or when they have been approved; estimates of Telix's expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; Telix's financial performance; developments relating to Telix's competitors and industry; and the pricing and reimbursement of Telix's product candidates, if and after they have been approved. Telix's actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements, and the differences may be adverse. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. You should read this announcement together with our risk factors, as disclosed in our most recently filed reports with the ASX or on our website. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Telix disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or a change in expectations or assumptions. 2024 Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited. The Telix Pharmaceuticals, Illuccix and Zircaix[1] names and logos are trademarks of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited and its affiliates all rights reserved. [1] Trade name subject to final regulatory approval. [2] Telix ASX disclosure 7 November 2022. [3] Telix media release 4 December 2023. [4] Telix media release 11 December 2023. [5] Telix ASX disclosure 19 December 2023. [6] Telix ASX disclosure 20 December 2021. [7] Telix ASX disclosure 2 November 2021. [8] Telix ASX disclosure 14 October 2022. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1920208/4609020/Telix_Main_Logo_Logo.jpg NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Generative AI market size is forecast to increase by USD 34.70 billion at a CAGR of 32.65% between 2022 and 2027. North America is estimated to contribute 66% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. The growth of the market will be driven by the Increasing demand for AI-generated content, Increasing adoption of generative AI in various industries, and Emergence of fully autonomous generative AI solutions. Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Generative AI Market 2023-2027 Charts & data tables about market and segment sizes for a historic period of five (2017-2021) years have been covered in this report. Download The Sample Report Report Coverage Details Page number 155 Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 32.65% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 34.70 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023(%) 31.65 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 66% Key countries US, China, Germany, UK, and France Technavio has extensively analyzed 15 major vendors, including Accenture Plc, Adobe Inc., Alphabet Inc., Altair Engineering Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Autodesk Inc., DataRobot Inc., De Identification Ltd., Diabatix NV, Genie AI Ltd., Hexagon AB, International Business Machines Corp., LeewayHertz, Microsoft Corp., MOSTLY AI Solutions MP GmbH, nTopology Inc., NVIDIA Corp., OpenAI L.L.C., Rephrase Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Synthesia Ltd. Vendor Offering - Accenture Plc: The company offers services such as Accenture , which is a suite of tools that help businesses build and deploy applications. The company offers services such as Accenture , which is a suite of tools that help businesses build and deploy applications. Adobe Inc: The company offers such as Adobe Sensei, which is a suite of AI-powered tools that help users create, edit, and deliver content more efficiently. The company offers such as Adobe Sensei, which is a suite of AI-powered tools that help users create, edit, and deliver content more efficiently. Alphabet Inc: The company offers Google Cloud AutoML, which is a suite of tools that help developers build custom machine learning models without having to write any code. Key Benefits for Industry Players & Stakeholders The report offers information on the criticality of vendor inputs, including R&D, CAPEX, and technology. It also provides detailed analyses of the market's competitive landscape and vendors' product offerings. The report also provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of vendors to help clients understand the wider business environment as well as the strengths and weaknesses of key market players. Data is qualitatively analyzed to categorize vendors as pure play, category-focused, industry-focused, and diversified; it is quantitatively analyzed to categorize vendors as dominant, leading, strong, tentative, and weak. Expand operations in the future - To get requisite details Ask for a custom report Customer Landscape - Analysis of Price Sensitivity, Adoption Lifecycle, Customer Purchase Basket, Adoption Rates, and Purchase Criteria by Technavio One of the core components of the customer landscape is price sensitivity, an analysis of which will help companies refine marketing strategies to gain a competitive advantage. Another key aspect is price sensitivity drivers (purchases are undifferentiated, the purchase is a key cost to buyers, and quality is not important), which range between LOW and HIGH. Furthermore, market adoption rates for all regions have been covered. Get a holistic overview of the endoscopic closure devices market by industry experts to evaluate and develop growth strategies. Download the Sample Segmentation Assessment The market is segmented by Component (Software and Services), Technology (Transformers, Generative adversarial networks (GANs), Variational autoencoder (VAE), and Diffusion networks ), and Geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The software segment undergoes significant change with growing demand for data analysis and unique outputs across enterprises. Leading examples like GPT-4 and StyleGAN utilize deep learning and machine learning techniques, catering to applications such as content creation, customer service automation, and virtual modeling in fashion. This trend propels market growth. The transformer segment is poised for growth, driven by its ability to produce high-quality datasets and content effortlessly. Offering robust solutions for ML tasks handling large and complex data volumes, transformers ensure accurate and realistic outputs, especially in natural language processing. This versatility fuels its adoption across enterprises, propelling market expansion. To get detailed insights about inclusions and exclusions Buy the report Regional Analysis: North America is estimated to contribute 66% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. Technavio's analysts have elaborately explained the regional trends and drivers that shape the market during the forecast period. One of the main factors for the significant growth of the global market in North America is factors such as advancements in machine learning and natural language processing that led to the development of innovative solutions that have transformed several industries in the region. Some of the key industries that are transformed due to the development of the market include the health sector and financial sector. For instance, AI-powered tools are widely utilized across companies to give personalized investment expertise advice to clients. Hence, such wide applications of AI-based tools across enterprises are expected to drive global market growth during the forecast period. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform What are the key data covered in this Generative AI Market report? CAGR of the market during the forecast period Detailed information on factors that will drive the growth of the Generative AI Market between 2023 and 2027 Precise estimation of the size of the Generative AI Market size and its contribution to the market in focus on the parent market Accurate predictions about upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior Growth of the Generative AI Market industry across North America , APAC, Europe , South America , and Middle East and Africa , APAC, , , and and A thorough analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information about vendors Comprehensive analysis of factors that will challenge the growth of Generative AI Market vendors Analyst Review: The Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market is witnessing exponential growth, driven by advancements in machine learning algorithms, deep learning technology, and neural network models. These developments have fueled the proliferation of AI-powered solutions across various industries, enabling automated data analysis, predictive modeling, and intelligent automation. AI-driven applications leverage natural language processing, cognitive computing systems, and algorithmic innovation to facilitate data-driven decision-making and autonomous systems. With the rise of AI software development, organizations are adopting smart algorithms and advanced analytics to harness machine-generated content and self-learning systems for cognitive computing. Generative algorithms play a crucial role in enabling AI-driven creativity, automated pattern recognition, and intelligent data processing. Neural network architecture and deep learning algorithms contribute to the development of self-improving systems and intelligent predictive analytics. Market growth analysis indicates a promising outlook for the generative AI market, with significant opportunities for startups and established players to innovate and integrate AI-driven solutions across various sectors, including healthcare, design, and audio. As organizations increasingly embrace AI applications such as chatbots and AI-driven responses, the competition in the artificial intelligence market intensifies, driving further innovation and integration of generative artificial intelligence technologies. Market research and growth forecasts underscore the immense potential of AI-driven capabilities in revolutionizing industries and shaping the future of intelligent automation. Market Overview: The Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market is driven by advancements in machine learning, deep learning, and neural network technologies. AI-powered solutions enable automated data analysis, predictive modeling, and intelligent automation, revolutionizing various industries. With cognitive computing systems and natural language processing capabilities, AI applications facilitate complex problem-solving and decision-making processes. Innovative generative algorithms drive creativity and innovation, generating machine-generated content and insights. Market growth analysis and forecasting play crucial roles in guiding organizations and startups in leveraging AI capabilities effectively. As AI continues to evolve, businesses integrate smart automation and predictive analytics to gain a competitive edge. From chatbots to healthcare solutions, the Generative AI market presents vast opportunities for innovation and disruption across diverse sectors. The market offers products like ChatGPT, enhancing music and activities through neural networks. With increasing demand and supply for AI-powered activities, the market shows promising growth prospects. Related Reports: The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22.26% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 125.3 billion. size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 22.26% between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 125.3 billion. The Mobile Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market size is projected to increase by USD 39.91 billion, at a CAGR of 26.78% between 2023 and 2028. About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses 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 NEW YORK, March 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent forecast spanning 2023 to 2027 predicts a staggering increase in the LiDAR market size by USD 4,289.97 million, with a remarkable Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 24.45%. This growth trajectory is fueled by a convergence of factors, including advancements in Continuous-wave Frequency Modulation (CWFM) technology and the advent of Single-Photon LiDAR (SPL), alongside a flurry of new product launches and collaborative ventures among industry players. To understand more about this market- Request a sample report Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global LiDAR Market 2023-2027 Driving Forces of Market Growth The LiDAR market is propelled by a myriad of factors, chief among them being the expanding application landscape. From construction and engineering to public safety, agriculture, utilities, and mining, LiDAR's versatility knows no bounds. Its integration into various sectors not only enhances productivity and cost estimates but also fosters safety standards, making it a cornerstone of modern industry. Revolutionary Technological Trends Continuous-wave frequency modulation (CWFM) technology stands at the forefront of LiDAR innovation, revolutionizing the market landscape. Unlike traditional time-of-flight LiDAR sensors, CWFM LiDAR offers superior resistance to background light interference, enabling precise detection of an object's speed and distance. This game-changing approach is poised to drive market growth exponentially in the forecast period, with next-generation sensor manufacturers embracing CWFM to bolster performance and broaden application horizons. To understand more about this market- Request a sample report Market Dynamics and Regional Insights North America is anticipated to spearhead the global market growth, contributing a substantial 39% during the forecast period. The region's dominance is underscored by a myriad of factors, including the expanding application domains, particularly in mapping applications and disaster management. LiDAR technology finds extensive use in various sectors throughout North America, from automotive safety applications to geological surveys and archaeological endeavors. Challenges and Opportunities While the LiDAR market surges ahead with boundless potential, it grapples with significant challenges, chief among them being the high cost of sensors. Despite recent reductions in costs, mass adoption across industries remains a challenge, necessitating further strides in mass production to drive prices down. However, the market's trajectory remains buoyant, propelled by a slew of opportunities in burgeoning sectors and untapped applications. To understand more about this market- Request a sample report Key Market Players The LiDAR market boasts a diverse array of players, each vying for supremacy through strategic alliances, partnerships, and product innovations. Notable companies such as GEOKNO, DENSO Corp., FARO Technologies Inc., Hexagon AB, and Luminar Technologies Inc., among others, are at the forefront of this technological revolution, driving innovation and shaping market dynamics. Market Segment Overview The market report offers a comprehensive overview of various segments, forecasting growth by revenue at global, regional, and country levels. From airborne LiDAR to terrestrial LiDAR, the market spans a broad spectrum of applications, including corridor mapping, engineering, ADAS and driverless cars, environmental monitoring, and more. With an in-depth analysis spanning from 2017 to 2027, the report provides invaluable insights into market trends and opportunities. To understand more about this market- Request a sample report Analyst Review The Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) market is experiencing dynamic growth fueled by a diverse range of applications across various industries. One significant area where LiDAR technology is making an impact is in environmental monitoring, particularly in regions with challenging terrain such as water runoff-prone mining sites and hilly landscapes. In Europe, the LiDAR market size is expanding rapidly, driven by the demand for efficient topographical surveys, civil engineering projects, and enhanced safety features in both military and defense applications and civilian sectors like self-driving cars. LiDAR's ability to generate high-resolution 3D imagery and digital elevation models is revolutionizing the way data is collected and analyzed. This technology plays a crucial role in monitoring weather conditions, detecting tropospheric pollution, and even forecasting volcanic eruptions, thereby ensuring the safety of air travel and supporting oil sand monitoring systems. However, despite its potential, the LiDAR market faces challenges such as the lack of educated customers and the need for extensive customer education regarding its capabilities and benefits. To address this, companies are investing in the development of user-friendly products and actively promoting the adoption of aerial mapping devices, including both mobile and stationary LiDAR systems. Leading players in the LiDAR market, such as RIEGL Laser Measurement Systems GmbH and YellowScan, offer cutting-edge solutions in the form of advanced laser scanners capable of capturing intensity values to distinguish objects and generate accurate 2D point cloud data for localization and object/environment modeling. Moreover, the integration of LiDAR technology with GPS and navigation applications further enhances its utility in various sectors, including corridor mapping and agricultural management. Terrestrial LiDAR systems are increasingly deployed for mapping hillsides and monitoring environmental changes with high spatial resolution. In the automotive industry, LiDAR is an essential component of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), enabling features such as low-speed collision avoidance, lane departure warning, and map-enabled navigation. Companies like Tower Semiconductor, an Israel-based manufacturer of integrated circuits, are driving innovation in LiDAR-enabled ADAS systems, while California-based Lidar technology firms like Mapper.ai, Inc. specialize in localization and mapping software for ADAS system production. Overall, the LiDAR market continues to evolve, with advancements in technology and the expansion of applications driving its growth across diverse industries, from environmental monitoring to automotive safety applications. To understand more about this market- Request a sample report Market Overview The LiDAR market in Europe is experiencing robust growth driven by diverse applications such as mining site monitoring, topographical surveys, and inland waterway mapping. Automation enhances efficiency in these sectors, reducing reliance on human efforts while ensuring safety features are prioritized, critical for civil engineering and military defense applications. LiDAR's 3D imagery capabilities provide invaluable insights for infrastructure development and self-driving car navigation systems, enhancing overall efficiency and safety. With advancements in GPS integration, LiDAR technology offers unparalleled precision in tracking water runoff, optimizing resource management and environmental conservation efforts. As a result, the Europe LiDAR market continues to expand across various product types, catering to the evolving needs of industries seeking accurate spatial data. To understand more about this market- Request a sample report Related Reports: The light vehicle batteries market size is expected to increase by USD 34.06 billion from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 12.72%. The ground penetrating radar market size is expected to increase to USD 171.52 million from 2021 to 2026, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 6.63%. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation by Product 7 Market Segmentation by Application 8 Customer Landscape 9 Geographic Landscape 10 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 11 Company Landscape 12 Company Analysis 13 Appendix About US Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses 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 PHOENIX, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Moon Valley Nurseries, the nation's largest fully-integrated nursery, announced today the appointment of Michael Minnaugh to General Counsel, effective Monday, March 18, 2024. Minnaugh will lead all aspects of the legal function for the Phoenix-based nursery, including corporate governance, compliance, and risk management. Minnaugh will be based at Moon Valley Nurseries' Scottsdale corporate headquarters and report to CEO Brian Flood. Moon Valley Nurseries "Michael brings a proven track record of executive leadership and strategic thinking that will be essential to help further advance our success and continued growth," said Brian Flood, CEO of Moon Valley Nurseries. "Michael's expertise and sophisticated in-house legal experience, combined with a passion for people and culture in leading high-performance teams, makes him a natural fit for our organization." Minnaugh joins Moon Valley Nurseries after an impressive 22-year legal career spanning diverse industry experience in clean energy, technology, construction and transportation. He has previously been recognized by the Arizona State Bar as Arizona's General Counsel of the year. "As Moon Valley Nurseries continues on its path of tremendous growth and expansion, I could not be more excited to join the team," said Michael Minnaugh, general counsel at Moon Valley Nurseries. "I look forward to partnering with executive leadership to further propel the brand forward." Michael comes to Moon Valley Nurseries with deep experience in enterprise risk management, corporate governance, human resources, commercial transactions, fundraising, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, litigation, government relations and regulatory affairs, and technology licensing agreements. Michael holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Michael is licensed in multiple jurisdictions. ABOUT MOON VALLEY NURSERIES Founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 1995, Moon Valley Nurseries is the largest box tree grower in the United States, now operating 19 farms and over 40 retail locations across Arizona, California, Nevada, Florida, Tennessee and Texas, with more than 2,100 acres of nursery property. While leading the industry in professional landscape design, expert planting services, and cutting-edge nutrients and fertilizers, Moon Valley Nurseries is home to the world's best trees and plants. For more information, visit www.moonvalleynurseries.com . SOURCE Moon Valley Nurseries WASHINGTON, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, praised Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon for signing the NSSF-supported Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, Senate File 105. This law protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms, firearm parts and ammunition in Wyoming. The law prohibits credit card processors from using firearm or firearm-related Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) when citizens make lawful retail purchases of firearms, firearm parts or ammunition with credit cards. The law also prohibits government or private entities from keeping any registry of privately-owned firearms or the owners of those firearms created or maintained through the use of a firearm-retailer specific MCC. "Wyoming is showing, again, that 'woke' Wall Street gun control ideas won't infringe on the rights of its citizens. Free exercise of Second Amendment rights can only be assured when leaders step in to guarantee those lawfully purchasing firearms and ammunition can do so without interference from financial institutions colluding with government agencies," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. "NSSF thanks Governor Gordon for signing the Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act to protect the rights and privacy of Wyoming citizens. No American should fear being placed on a government watchlist simply for exercise their Constitutionally-protected rights to keep and bear arms." NSSF worked closely with Wyoming legislators to protect private and legal firearm and ammunition purchases from political exploitation. The Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act is designed to protect the privacy of lawful and private firearm and ammunition purchases from being abused for political purposes by corporate financial service providers and unlawful government search and seizure of legal and private financial transactions. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) admitted to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in a letter that it violated the Fourth Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens that protect against illegal search and seizure when it collected the credit card purchase history from banks and credit card companies of individuals who purchased firearms and ammunition in the days surrounding Jan. 6, 2020. Treasury's FinCEN had no cause, and sought the information without a warrant, to place these law-abiding citizens on a government watchlist only because they exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase firearms and ammunition. The idea of a firearm-retailer specific MCC was borne from antigun New York Times' columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Amalgamated Bank, which has been called "The Left's Private Banker" and bankrolls the Democratic National Committee and several antigun politicians. Amalgamated Bank lobbied the Swiss-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the code's creation. NSSF has called on Congress to investigate Amalgamated Bank's role in manipulating the ISO standard setting process. Sorkin admitted creating a firearm-retailer specific MCC would be a first step to creating a national firearm registry, which is forbidden by federal law. Wyoming joins Indiana, Utah, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia with laws protecting citizens' Second Amendment privacy. Several other states are considering similar legislation. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik introduced H.R. 7450, the NSSF-supported Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. California's Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring the use of a firearm-retailer specific MCC and Colorado is considering similar legislation. About NSSF NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has over 10,0000 members including manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen's organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org . SOURCE NATIONAL SHOOTING SPORTS FOUNDATION Customers can now pre-order Nucleus' clinical-grade whole-genome sequencing test NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucleus Genomics , the next-generation genetic testing and analysis company, today announced the launch of its DNA analysis product to bring the benefits of personalized medicine to everyone. DNA and health are inextricably linked, but profound insights into how DNA can shape health are missing from healthcare. Customers who've previously done microarray genetic testing with older testing companies can upload their DNA data onto Nucleus' platform to receive greater insights into their genetic risk for diseases like type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and many more. Nucleus further personalizes these risk assessments by integrating personal and lifestyle factors into their analysis such as age, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and BMI. Nucleus will also offer pre-orders for its premium clinical-grade whole-genome sequencing (WGS) service, in which a customer's entire set of DNA will be read and analyzed. These more comprehensive WGS results will start to become available in the summer. For a yearly membership fee of $39, members will receive access to new features on Nucleus' platform, as well as new disease reports and, eventually, reports for traits like height and muscle strength. The 30x WGS kit costs $399. "Nucleus is combining the power of whole-genome sequencing with our innovative genomic analyses ushering in a new era of personalized medicine to the public," says founder and CEO Kian Sadeghi. "DNA insights will become a commonplace tool that everyone uses to make important decisions about their health and lifestyle." Nucleus is proud to sequence all customer samples in the U.S. on Illumina's NovaSeq X Plus, the sequencing company's newest and most innovative high-throughput sequencing instrument. Working with Illumina, Nucleus is leveraging this latest sequencing technology to make WGS broadly accessible to power personalized healthcare. Nucleus has also been awarded CLIA certification and CAP accreditation for its WGS informatics laboratory in North Carolina. This ensures customer whole-genome sequencing results are always of the highest, clinical-grade quality. The company also offers its WGS members access to SteadyMD, an independent network of doctors and board-certified genetic counselors, who can help customers better understand the implications of their WGS results, for themselves and their families. Personalized insights, always meaningful The company which raised a total of $18 million in seed funding in 2022 from venture capital firms such as Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund aims to use the power of genomics to help people live longer and healthier by providing insights into the genetics underpinning their health and well-being. Nucleus will provide polygenic risk scores (PRS), an innovative analysis that calculates the combined impact of common DNA variants on a person's disease risks and trait dispositions. The analysis also integrates an individual's environmental and lifestyle information for a more comprehensive picture of their overall or absolute risk for complex, common diseases. As people change over their lifetimes and as new scientific discoveries are made, Nucleus members' disease risk scores will automatically update evolving with them to stay relevant and meaningful. By adding WGS to the analysis, Nucleus can also identify rare, high-impact variants. These variants exist across both common and rare disorders, like those found in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that significantly increase the risk for breast and other cancers. "Nucleus is the all-in-one genetic test," says Sadeghi. "The promise of the Human Genome Project has finally arrived." About Nucleus Genomics Nucleus is redefining next-generation genetic testing and analysis. By combining polygenic scores with traditional rare variant DNA analysis, the company provides comprehensive assessments of genetic disposition across a myriad of diseases and traits. Nucleus' mission is to empower people to take agency over their health so no one dies from preventable disease that's why the company is building a platform based on cutting-edge science, where everyone has their genome at their fingertips, complete clarity on their risks, and are empowered by personalized health measures. Nucleus is also bridging the gap between people, doctors, and scientists helping discoveries, therapies, and cures find their way to individuals faster. Learn more at mynuclefus.com. SOURCE Nucleus Genomics HONG KONG, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- OneOdio, a leading manufacturer in the audio industry for more than a decade, brings special offers of its fusion A70 series to audiophiles and music lovers alike for the coming Easter holidays. (OneOdio unveils Easter Sales showcasing the OneOdio Fusion A70 series) "Easter holidays provide an opportunity for people to celebrate and enjoy time with family and friends," said Sookie Lau, OneOdio's Marketing Manager. "So, we're gearing up for the Easter season with a special sale on Fusion A70 headphones. It's the perfect time for music enthusiasts to snag a pair and share their favorite tunes with friends and family, all while enjoying professional audio quality at an affordable price." Being one of the best-selling models in the OneOdio Fusion series, the A70 headphones have garnered immense popularity among customers due to their versatile usage scenarios, Hi-Res sound quality, and share-port technology. Holiday Trips: As Easter coincides with the arrival of spring, it's a popular time for holiday trips. The A70 headphones, known for their versatility, make an ideal travel companion. With their foldable design and portability, they save space and weight in your luggage. And the 72-hour playtime and comfortable earcups ensure uninterrupted music on long journeys. Featuring stylish color designs, like sky blue, rose gold, silver, etc., they offer options to match your spring outfits. Easter Parties: Parties will not be absent during this festive season. With powerful 40mm neodymium drivers, the A70 headphones capture every nuance of the music, delivering punchy bass and dynamic stereo sound that's crystal clear for you and your friends to enjoy. Family Gatherings: With features like share-port technology, these headphones enable you to share your tunes with your family using a 6.35mm to 3.5mm cable, fostering a sense of closeness and enjoyment among family members. In addition, using the A70 series as a surprise gift for your family will make Easter celebrations even more memorable. The Easter Sale of A70s reflects OneOdio's decade-long commitment to providing premium headphones that offer exceptional value for audiophiles and music enthusiasts, all while maintaining uncompromising quality. To expand savings opportunities, OneOdio extends the Amazon promotion for many hot-sale models, including the A70s, from March 25th to April 7th (the A70s' promotion ends on March 31st in Spain and Germany and starts on April 1st and ends on April 7th in American, Italian, and British stores). For the latest updates on the hottest discounts available in their Amazon stores and other channels, join the OneOdio Facebook Group, where weekly posts will help you save both money and time! About OneOdio Established in 2013, OneOdio stands as a premier manufacturer of headphones and audio gear. Devoted to delivering superior sound experiences to music enthusiasts globally, OneOdio consistently introduces innovative audio products across its Studio Pro, Monitor, HiFi, Fusion, and Focus series. With a pervasive global presence, OneOdio's over-ear headphones consistently secure positions in the top three within Amazon's competitive headphone category. SOURCE OneOdio PARIS, March 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VAPORESSO, the leading brand in the vaping industry, takes center stage at Vapexpo Paris 2024, presenting four of its latest vaping marvels: XROS, LUXE, ECO, and ARMOUR. These new innovative products garnered widespread acclaim from customers again, becoming the focal point of the event and further reinforcing VAPORESSO's leadership in the vaping market. Revolutionary XROS 4 & XROS 4 MINI Vaping Devices Unveiled by VAPORESSO at VAPEXPO Paris 2024 Renowned as one of Europe's premier Vape Events, Vapexpo attracts enthusiasts, professionals, and industry leaders worldwide. Among all products on display, the spotlight gleams on the newly launched XROS 4 & XROS 4 MINI which feature enhanced flavor profiles and extended pod life with upgraded COREX 2.0 technology, aiming to provide users with the best vaping experience. COREX 2.0 technology has been meticulously refined from its first generation by optimizing morph mesh sizes for ideal temperature matching. This results in faster heating and explosively rich flavors. Additionally, upgraded cotton material efficiently supplies e-liquid, preventing burnt tastes and extending usage life. The Pulse mode ensures robust output support, maintaining consistent performance regardless of battery life. The XROS series also stands out for its customization capabilities. XROS 4 and XROS 4 MINI are all equipped with a 0.4 pod cartridge. The XROS 4 offers three output modes along with a display screen for enhanced user interaction, the XROS 4 Mini adds an airflow adjustment feature allowing users to tailor their vaping experience further. Both devices are compatible with the universal XROS pod platform. Moreover, these new offerings boast an all-aluminum unibody design that not only enhances durability but also provides a more comfortable grip. By focusing on technological and design innovations based on consumer feedback, VAPORESSO always aims to provide an unparalleled product experience. "Innovation is key to delivering superior user experiences," emphasized Jimmy Hu, Vice President of VAPORESSO, highlighting the brand's commitment to setting new standards in vaping and meeting consumer needs through continual improvement. About VAPORESSO VAPORESSO was created in 2015 and is dedicated to establishing a smoke-free world while raising the quality of life for its users. Based on its continuous innovation, strict quality control, and substantial commitment, VAPORESSO creates products that can fit all levels and styles of vapers. Experience the future of vaping with VAPORESSO, please visit: https://www.vaporesso.com/. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2370240/Revolutionary_XROS_4___XROS_4_MINI_Vaping_Devices_Unveiled.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2370241/logo_02_Logo.jpg Newest version adds Drift Detection, Password Auditing, Enhanced Container Security, and SSH Key Tracking, providing customers with unmatched protection for their Linux systems CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sandfly Security, the agentless Linux Security Company, celebrates securing seed funding from Gula Tech Adventures and Sorenson Capital to meet growing market demand for its comprehensive Linux security solution. Industries that power the world's infrastructure, including telecommunication services, manufacturing, and networking companies, rely on Sandfly to secure their Linux environments. Sandfly will use the additional funds to expand product capabilities and accelerate the company's go-to-market strategy. Sandfly Security goes beyond traditional endpoint detection capabilities to secure Linux boxes without latency issues or cumbersome deployments. Post this Sandfly Security Secures Funding from Gula Tech Adventures & Sorenson Capital for its First-of-a-Kind Agentless Linux Security Solution Linux: The OS that Powers our World, Yet Comprehensive Protection Is Hard to Achieve Nearly all critical infrastructure runs on Linux, yet, to date, no security solution is compatible with the hundreds of versions of the popular operating system. Traditional approaches that use an agent to secure Linux systems face compatibility, performance, and stability hurdles. These solutions often cause excessive CPU usage, stability, and performance impacts, leading to productivity losses and vulnerable critical systems to attack. Sandfly's agentless approach solves these issues, giving customers the widest compatibility, performance, and safety for securing Linux. "Linux runs the internet95% of cloud workloads run on Linux. Industrial apps in robotics, edge devices, networking gear, and most critical infrastructure run on Linux. Yet, there are no good tools available to secure it that do not impact stability and performance," said Craig Rowland, CEO and Founder of Sandfly Security. "Linux security is hard to achieveit's highly distributed, fragmented, and protection tools cannot disrupt mission-critical applications. This is why agent-based systems often won't work, and we're seeing strong demand for our approach as we eliminate the biggest problem: loading an agent." A seasoned founder with deep roots in network intrusion software Craig Rowland, CEO and Founder, is a seasoned entrepreneur with past successes building intrusion detection technologies. One of these technologies reduced false alarms by up to 95 percent and was successfully acquired by Cisco. Before moving into the private sector, Craig spent years working for the Chief of Naval OperationsU.S. Pentagon. Seeing how incidents happen and how security teams struggle to protect their critical assets, Craig saw first-hand how challenging it was to secure Linux via the traditional agent-based approach. "Craig is one of the rare entrepreneurs who has repeatedly proven he can build lasting companies that solve tough problems," said Ron Gula, co-founder of Tenable Network Security and founder of Gula Tech Adventures. "The world relies on Linux, and we know how important it is to secure ityet organizations don'tleaving critical systems vulnerable. Existing agent-based solutions have compatibility and performance impacts, are hard to deploy, and likely break things. The market is desperate for a solution that works reliably, is easy to deploy, and is effective with what it promises to do. That's Sandfly Security." Visit Sandfly Security to learn more about securing your Linux environments. About Sandfly Security Agentless, compatible, and fast to deploy, Sandfly Security goes beyond traditional endpoint detection capabilities to secure Linux boxes without latency issues or cumbersome deployments. Sandfly protects virtually any Linux system, from modern cloud deployments to decade-old devices, regardless of distribution or CPU architecture. Sandfly hunts for signs of compromise, tracks SSH credentials, audits for weak passwords, detects unauthorized changes with drift detection, and allows custom modules to find new and emerging threats. Sandfly does this with the utmost safety, performance, and compatibility on Linux. We do it without loading agents on your endpoints. Investors include Gula Tech Adventures, Sorenson Capital, and Alt Ventures New Zealand. SOURCE Sandfly Security, Ltd. NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global smartphone market in japan size is estimated to grow by USD 2.79 bn from 2024 to 2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.85% during the forecast period. APAC held the largest share of the global market in 2023, and the market in the region is estimated to witness an incremental growth of 100%. To understand more about this market- Download a FREE Sample Report in minutes! Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Smartphone Market in Japan 2024-2028 Major Players in the Market Numerous companies are capitalizing on this growing trend by implementing strategic measures such as alliances, partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions. Among the notable players in the cheese based snacks market are: Acer Inc., Alphabet Inc., Apple Inc., ASUSTeK Computer Inc., BBK Electronics Corp. Ltd., BlackBerry Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., HTC Corp., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., KYOCERA Corp., Lenovo Group Ltd., Nokia Corp., Panasonic Holdings Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sony Group Corp., TCL Electronics Holdings Ltd., Xiaomi Communications Co. Ltd., ZTE Corp. Analyst Review In Japan's dynamic smartphone market, mobile payments, shopping, and banking have gained significant traction, fueled by contactless payment systems and advanced camera technology. The implementation of 5G network technology and telecommunications infrastructure enhances the user experience, enabling high-speed live-streaming, mobile gaming, and AI-powered assistant integration. Rakuten Mobile, a leading player in 5G services, offers mobile wallet features, making transactions more convenient. Smartphones, also known as cellular phones or handheld computers, have evolved to support voice calls, text messaging, Internet browsing, email, and touchscreens. Cellular networks and Wi-Fi ensure seamless connectivity, while mobile payment integration further enhances the smartphone's utility. To understand more about this market overivew- Download a FREE Sample Report Key Market Drivers The smartphone market in Japan is thriving, fueled by a commitment to cutting-edge technology and advanced network infrastructure. With a focus on high-speed connections and seamless communication, Japan has consistently invested in modernizing its telecommunications sector. The introduction of 5G networks has been a game-changer, delivering faster data speeds and reduced latency, enhancing the overall mobile experience. Japan's dedication to staying at the forefront of technological advancements continues to drive the robust growth trajectory of its smartphone industry. Challenges and Opportunities The smartphone market in Japan faces growing competition from alternative devices, particularly smartwatches. These gadgets, including those from Apple and Samsung, offer communication features such as calling and texting, making them attractive to consumers seeking convenience and portability. With cellular connectivity, smartwatches enable users to make calls and send messages independently of their smartphones. This shift in consumer behavior poses a significant threat to the dominance of traditional smartphones in Japan. The Smartphone Market in Japan has experienced a significant shift in recent years, with foldable phones gaining immense popularity. Innovation, consumer demand, and space-saving capabilities are driving this trend. Japanese city life, characterized by limited space, has fueled the appeal of foldable devices that seamlessly transform between a smartphone and a tablet. Samsung's Galaxy Z foldable series leads this market, offering a dual purpose solution for communication on the go and multimedia consumption at home. This fusion of functionality and flexibility continues to captivate Japanese consumers. To understand more about driver, trend and challenegs of this market- Download a FREE Sample Report in minutes! Market Overview In the Japanese smartphone market, Android and iOS dominate, with Windows phones and other operating systems holding smaller shares. Shops sell mobile phones in various locations, including tech-focused retailers and telecommunication stores. Payments can be made through various methods, such as cash, credit cards, or mobile payments. Consumers often purchase contracts that include phone plans and subsidies. Cameras, banks, and tech companies offer mobile services, with tech companies providing technical support and updates. The tech-savvy population in Japan seeks the latest technology, leading to high sales of new models. Telecommunication companies offer various plans with different features and costs, catering to diverse consumer needs. The market is competitive, with frequent releases of new models and updates, making it an exciting space for consumers and businesses alike. To understand more about this market- Download a FREE Sample Report in minutes! Research Analyst Overview In the Japanese smartphone market, Android and iOS dominate, with Windows phones and other operating systems holding smaller shares. Shops sell mobile phones in various locations, including tech-focused retailers and telecommunication stores. Payments can be made through various methods, such as cash, credit cards, or mobile payments. Consumers often purchase contracts that include phone plans and subsidies. Cameras, banks, and tech companies offer mobile services, with tech companies providing technical support and updates. The tech-savvy population in Japan seeks the latest technology, leading to high sales of new models. Telecommunication companies offer various plans with different features and costs, catering to diverse consumer needs. The market is competitive, with frequent releases of new models and updates, making it an exciting space for consumers and businesses alike. Table of Contents: 1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation 7 Customer Landscape 8 Geographic Landscape 9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 10 Venodr Landscape 11 Vendor Analysis 12 Appendix About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses 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. Contacts 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 Global Coffee and Tea Leader Debuts a Reduced Footprint Model as it Continues to Grow; Grand Opening Celebration to Take Place on March 30 LOS ANGELES, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A new drive-thru only concept has arrived at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brand, the iconic Southern California favorite, serving premium coffee and tea for the past 60 years. The iconic cafe has opened its new drive-thru only location in Rialto, California at 1508 South Riverside Ave., Rialto, CA 92376. The grand opening celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony with the mayor is set for March 30 from 11am 1pm. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brand opens first drive-thru only location in Rialto, CA. The drive-thru only model with a pick-up window is designed to integrate with The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's app for order-ahead and serves to provide its guests with a more efficient and convenient experience. As part of the grand opening, a block party will take place with a special appearance by KOLA FM, a special giveaway for the first 100 people with purchase, and BOGOs with other various giveaways. Also, to celebrate the opening, local residents who download the Coffee Bean Rewards app and enter promo code RIALTOVILLAGE will receive a free drink of choice***. "At The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, we are always looking for new ways to enhance our guests' experience, and this new drive-thru only location provides a more streamlined, convenient and faster way for them to enjoy our iconic high-quality coffee and teas from around the world, while not having to get out of their cars," said Sanjiv Razdan, President of Americas and India, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brand. "This is the second location that we've opened in Rialto, which also underscores our commitment to future growth in the area." As in all its locations, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Rialto store offers a variety of the finest grades of Arabica coffee from specially selected estates around the world that are custom roasted, in small batches, at its roasting facility in Camarillo, California. The store also offers a wide variety of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf whole leaf teas as well as fresh baked goods that include an array of muffins, cakes, specialty croissants, and oven-toasted breakfast items such as the Beyond Breakfast Sausage Sandwich and the Chorizo Breakfast Burrito. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is widely credited for driving innovation to the coffee and tea industry with the invention of the iconic The Original Ice Blended drink. They are also the first global coffee and tea retailer to offer cold brew tea. From its hero Brewed Coffee to its Lattes and Ice Blended drinks, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf offers the craveable light and sweet taste profiles that loyal guests around the world love and demand. New store openings represent a key growth initiative for The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf brand's parent company Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), who aim to be one of the top five restaurant brands in the world. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's new store in Rialto will be open for drive-thru, carry-out and delivery from 5am to 10pm every day. For more information, please visit www.coffeebean.com. About The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Founded in Southern California in 1963, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is a modern, global specialty coffee and tea house that inspires new experiences through our flavors from around the world. We source the finest coffees and teas from local communities and then handcraft every beverage to bring out the freshest flavors. As the creator of The Original Ice Blended, we continue to innovate to enable people everywhere to enjoy the classics as well as new flavors both in our cafes and at home. Headquartered in Asia and a business of the Jollibee Group of Companies, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf passionately operates in more than 1,000 locations, across over 20 countries. For more information, visit www.coffeebean.com. Media Contacts Tracy Rubin JCUTLER media group [email protected] ****Offer valid exclusively at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf retail locations in Rialto, CA. Offer for one (1) complimentary handcrafted coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or Ice Blended beverage with a maximum of two (2) paid modifiers. Must enter promo code RIALTO VILLAGE in The Coffee Bean Rewards app. Offer expires March 31, 2024. Limit one (1) offer per customer. Excludes ready to drink bottled beverages. Offers do not apply to any applicable sales tax or for sign-ups on coffeebean.olo.com, or on store.coffeebean.com. Limit one (1) offer per customer, per device. Promotional offers must be presented at time of purchase. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, promotion, or discount. Not valid on previous purchases. No cash value, except where required by law. No substitutions. No rainchecks. Company reserves the right to withdraw, or change, the offer's terms, and conditions at any time, at Company's discretion, and without notice. While supplies last. SOURCE The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf LOS ANGELES, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- VacLife, a brand on Amazon in the United States, has faced a sudden and forceful removal of all product detail pages from the Amazon platform on March 11, 2024. Despite this unexpected setback, VacLife remains committed to its customers and vows to uphold its standards of quality and service. VacLife Handheld Vacuum VacLife Tire Inflator Since its brand registration on the Amazon platform in 2018, VacLife has prioritized customer satisfaction, offering high-quality products and top-notch service. For over five years, VacLife has diligently listened to customer feedback and iterated its products 37 times, constantly improving quality while optimizing production costs. This dedication has enabled VacLife to provide customers with superior handheld vacuums at competitive prices. In addition to product excellence, VacLife has consistently prioritized customer convenience. For customers dissatisfied with their purchases, VacLife has offered hassle-free refunds, eliminating the inconvenience of returns. Although customers can no longer purchase VacLife products on the Amazon platform, VacLife reassures all previous Amazon customers that it will address any outstanding order issues promptly. VacLife extends sincere gratitude to its supporters over the past five years. With their unwavering support, VacLife has grown from a startup brand to one trusted by 2.5 million customers. In the face of adversity, VacLife is actively exploring alternative channels to manage its inventory originally slated for sale on the Amazon platform over the next three months. VacLife invites its supporters to visit its official website to purchase Handheld Vacuums and Tire Inflators. Product purchase links are provided below: Handheld Vacuums: https://www.vaclife.com/collections/handheld-vacuum Tire Inflators: https://www.vaclife.com/collections/tire-inflator To express gratitude to those who have stood by VacLife during this challenging time, all prices on the official website have been lowered to historic lows. VacLife reaffirms its commitment to providing exceptional service to all customers. For more inquiries, please contact [email protected]. About VacLife: VacLife is a leading brand in Handheld Vacuums and Tire Inflators, which is committed to providing high-quality products and exceptional service to its customers. With a focus on innovation and customer satisfaction, VacLife has become a trusted name in handheld vacuums and tire inflators. For more information, visit www.vaclife.com Contact: VacLife Email: [email protected] SOURCE VacLife Company Founder David Siegel to Become Executive Chairman and Continue to Lead Companywide Strategic Direction ORLANDO, Fla., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Westgate Resorts, one of the largest resort developers in the United States, has appointed longtime company executive Jim Gissy as Chief Executive Officer, effective March 5, 2024. Westgate Resorts Founder David Siegel will remain Executive Chairman of the Board & President and will continue to lead all major decision-making of the company. Westgate Resorts Names Longtime Executive Jim Gissy as Chief Executive Officer As Westgate's Chief Executive Officer Gissy is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company's operations, sales and marketing. "It's an honor to help lead this incredible organization and work side by side with the most talented group of Team Members in the industry. I am humbled to take on this responsibility from my mentor and friend for over forty years, David Siegel." Gissy joined Westgate Resorts in 1984 and immediately began setting sales records throughout the company and the industry. Over the next several years, he significantly expanded his management responsibilities, culminating in his appointment as Senior Executive Vice President. In 1996, Gissy was the recipient of the exclusive ARDY Award from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) as the Top Sales Executive and has received numerous other industry accolades and awards over his forty-year career. Siegel, Westgate Resorts' Founder, will continue to play an instrumental role in maintaining the company's vision of providing exceptional vacation experiences and will remain involved in all major company decisions. As he has done for the past decade, Siegel is primarily focused on finding ways to solve the ongoing opioid epidemic through the Victoria's Voice Foundation, named in honor of his beloved daughter. "Jim has been my right hand and friend going back forty years," Siegel said. "Jim is an exceptional leader and I could not be happier to have him assume this role at my company. The future for Westgate is very bright!" ABOUT WESTGATE RESORTS Westgate Resorts is the largest privately held timeshare company in the world and one of the largest resort developers in the United States. Founded in 1982 by David Siegel, the company is headquartered in Orlando with seven Orlando hotel resorts, and 22 themed destination resorts nationwide, featuring more than 14,000 luxury villas and hotel rooms in popular vacation destinations throughout the United States such as Orlando, and Cocoa Beach, Florida; New York City, New York; Park City, Utah; Las Vegas, Nevada; Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Williamsburg, Virginia; Branson, Missouri; and Mesa, Arizona. In 2022, the company launched the cutting-edge World of Westgate (WOW) Loyalty Program, an exclusive program that rewards Westgate Owners and Hotel Guests with prestigious perks and privileges at no added cost. The company has garnered many distinct accolades, including the 2022 ACE Project of Excellence Award from the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) for Westgate River Ranch Resort & Rodeo, recognition from Forbes Travel Advisor ranking Westgate Park City Resort & Spa as a recommended resort in its 2022 Star Awards and 73 Best of State Awards for Westgate Park City Resort & Spa after winning ten years in a row. Westgate Resorts locations are known to feature a variety of unique restaurant, retail, and spa concepts, including Los Amigos Mexican Grill & Tequila Bar, Villa Italiano Chophouse, Drafts Burger Bar, Edge Steakhouse, Westgate Marketplace & Deli, and Serenity Spa by Westgate. For more information about Westgate Resorts, visit WestgateResorts.com. Find Westgate Resorts on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. MEDIA CONTACT: The Zimmerman Agency [email protected] 850-668-2222 SOURCE Westgate Resorts The company is significantly expanding its presence in Oklahoma with multiple new store openings slated this year, and new market concepts debuting in Texas FORT WORTH, Texas, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesway , one of the country's fastest growing convenience store chains, is significantly expanding its presence in Oklahoma, with its portfolio of stores in the state expected to stand at 15 locations by the end of 2024. In addition to its five existing Oklahoma-based Allsup's stores in Altus at 1711 North Main Street and 1419 South Main Street, Frederick at 301 North Main Street, Guymon at 1107 NE Highway 54, and Madill at 607 South 1st Street, the company recently celebrated the grand openings of its newest stores in Broken Bow at 1400 South Park Drive and Thackerville at 1173 Hide-A-Way Road, with two more locations slated to open in the first quarter of the year in Davis at Highway 7 & Hanover Road and Tushka at 416 N Jefferson Highway. The Thackerville Allsup's location represents the company's first "true" interstate store, with the majority of the anticipated traffic coming off of Interstate 35, given its proximity to the WinStar World Casino, as well as being supported by the local community. The company is slated to soon begin construction on three additional Allsup's locations, in Elk City, Blanchard and Kiowa so that by early summer the Allsup's presence in Oklahoma should be 12 stores strong. These are just the latest of the new large-format stores Yesway has developed and is bringing to market. The 6,277 square-foot stores are open 24 hours per day and customers will be pleased to find their favorite Allsup's world-famous burritos; a full array of Yesway and Allsup's private label snacks; high-quality fresh Allsup's bread, milk, and eggs; and a beer cave; along with amenities including Western Union service, ATM availability, and more. "We are looking to further expand in the state and are in search of additional sites," said Thomas Brown, President, Yesway. "With land we have under contract in Ardmore, Atoka and Okarche, and additional sites under consideration in Eufaula and McAllister, we expect to have a minimum of 15 stores in Oklahoma open and operating by the end of 2024." Brown continued, "In Oklahoma, we realized that many of its towns were underserved with a good convenience store operator that is focused on customer service and providing quality product with a strong value proposition; customers have long requested Allsup's in those communities, and we are excited to bring our new stores there." In addition to making moves in Oklahoma, Yesway has also opened a new Allsup's Express concept store in Denton, Texas, at 1320 W. Hickory Street, located next to the University of North Texas (UNT) campus. The Allsup's Express store, a 3,000 square foot bodega-style store open 24 hours per day, is focused on serving the UNT community and students with an assortment of merchandise offerings tailored to meet their needs including energy drinks, bottled waters, and teas, to hot coffee, cold fountain sodas, and F'Real shakes, tasty snacks, delicious hot to go and fresh meals, beer and wine, and the World Famous Allsup's Burrito and Taco Sauce too. Allsup's fans on campus will also enjoy friendly, fun service including the award-winning Allsup's Rewards program that will offer students a personalized digital engagement experience, and more. It's all the things customers love about Allsup's, right across from campus. Yesway looks forward to serving its newest customers in Oklahoma, Texas, and within the UNT area. In addition, the company will host Grand Opening celebrations of the new Allsup's stores located in Cloudcroft and Taos, New Mexico, and Granbury and Denton, Texas, in April and May. To find the Yesway or Allsup's store closest to you, and for more details on its Grand Opening celebrations, please visit Yesway.com/locations or Allsups.com/allsups-locations/ . Editor note: Contact Erin Vadala, Warner Communications; 617.669.1560; [email protected] to arrange interviews. High-resolution images and graphics are available upon request. About Yesway Yesway is one of the fastest-growing convenience store operators in the United States. Established in 2015, Yesway is a multi-branded platform headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, which operates 435 stores located in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Yesway operates its portfolio primarily under two successful brands, Yesway and Allsup's, with sites that are differentiated through a leading food service offering, featuring Allsup's famous deep-fried burrito, and a wide variety of high-quality grocery items and private-label products. Yesway's geographic footprint consists of stores located in attractive rural and suburban markets across the Midwest and Southwest, where it is often the convenience retail destination of choice and effectively the local grocer. The Yesway team has a successful track record of growing through acquisitions and believes it is well positioned to continue to solidify its market position and grow its store count. Yesway has received numerous industry awards for its growth initiatives, management team, loyalty program, and employees' contributions to the industry. yesway.com SOURCE Yesway London, March 25 : Simon Harris is set to become Ireland's new Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, after he was confirmed as the new leader of the governing Fine Gael party. He is to replace Leo Varadkar, who unexpectedly announced his resignation on Wednesday as party leader and Taoiseach, citing "both personal and political" reasons. "It's the absolute honour of my life... to accept the leadership of this great party," Harris said in his first speech as the party leader on Sunday, according to Sky News. Harris, who has been the minister for further and higher education, was the only candidate to seek the party leadership after other potential competitors ruled themselves out, Xinhua news agency reported. Harris thanked those who elected him, saying that he will "repay that trust in hard work". "With blood, sweat and tears -- day in and day out -- with responsibility, with humility and with civility," he added. "Challenges never go away -- they just change," said Harris. "But they can always be met if we cleave to those fundamental values which have served this nation well -- hope, enterprise, equality of opportunity, integrity, security," he added. He also urged the party to "fight against populism and deliberate polarization." "We must and we will do this with civility, with honesty, with a determination to debate without rancour and personal demonisation," he said. Harris, 37, will become Ireland's youngest Prime Minister in April when the Irish parliament, or the Dail, resumes after its Easter break. He will lead the coalition government in Dublin along with Fianna Fail and the Green Party. Ramallah, March 25 : The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) has said that the Gaza Strip is experiencing a cash liquidity crisis due to the disruption of banking operations caused by the ongoing Israeli attacks. Many banks have been destroyed amid the conflict, and it has become impossible to open the remaining bank branches in the entire region due to bombings, power outages, and security concerns, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the PMA. The liquidity crunch has intensified as the majority of ATMs have gone out of service, the PMA said in a statement on Sunday. The authority is monitoring "complaints from residents of the Gaza Strip about extortion operations carried out by people, traders, and some unlicensed currency exchange shop owners, using point-of-sale deduction devices or financial transfers on banking applications", said the statement. These individuals exploited the residents' need for cash, charging up to 15 per cent on any amount withdrawn from citizens' accounts via plastic cards or transfers, in return for providing the remaining amount in cash, said the PMA, noting that immediate deterrent measures will be taken against those who engage in such behaviour. Seoul :This file graphic shows the flags of North Korea (L) and China.(Photo:Yonhap/IANS). Image Source: IANS News Seoul, March 25 : A senior North Korean official has called for further strengthening ties with China, state media said on Monday. Kim Song-nam, director of the international department at the Workers' Party, made the comments in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Saturday, noting this year marks the year of the North Korea-China friendship, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between North Korea and China, the North's longtime ally and largest economic benefactor, Yonhap news agency reported. In response, Wang said he is certain their friendly ties will advance under the strategic leadership of their leaders and said Beijing will bolster communication and cooperation with Pyongyang to guard their common interests, the KCNA said. Kim also met with Wang Huning, a member of the standing committee of the political bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, and Liu Jianchao, the minister of the party's international liaison department Thursday. Kim was in Beijing for the first leg of his three-nation trip, which will also take him to Vietnam and Laos. The trip came as North Korea appears to be resuming diplomatic activity with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following years of Pyongyang's Covid-19 border shutdowns. Laos plans to host the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and other ASEAN-related meetings as this year's chair country. The annual ARF is the sole regional forum joined by North Korea. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Ahmedabad, March 25 : In a match of comebacks, Jasprit Bumrah made a sensational return to IPL action after a year, but his brilliant effort was overshadowed by two-wicket overs each by Spencer Johnson and Umesh Yadav off the last two overs as Gujarat Titans won a nerve-wrecking thriller by six runs to start their Indian Premier League 2024 campaign on a winning note at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday. The match looked going Mumbai Indians' way after Bumrah claimed 3-14 in a sensational display of pace bowling and David Coetzee took 2-27 to restrict Gujarat Titans to 168/6. With Rohit Sharma and Dewald Brevis hitting 43 and 46 respectively, Mumbai Indians looked cruising towards victory at the halfway stage after Hardik Pandya had won the toss and elected to field first. Despite dew making things difficult, Gujarat Titans fought back brilliantly, and Mohit Sharma, Spencer Johnson, and Umesh Yadav bowled brilliantly in the death overs to snatch an unlikely victory leaving Mumbai Indians thinktank tearing their hair as they failed to win their first match once again. Rohit and Brevis had taken Mumbai Indians from 30/2 to 107 when the former Mumbai Indians captain fell for 43 to Sai Kishore and when Brevis got out for 46 at 129/4, Mumbai needed 40-odd runs in 25 balls and looked on course to win their first match for the first time since 2012. But the first-match jinx continued as Gujarat Titans came back strongly at the death and secured a brilliant win. Playing in front of around 80,000-plus spectators cheering for the home team, Mumbai Indians lost control of the proceedings and could manage only 162/9 in their 20 overs, losing a last-over thriller. Spencer Johnson and Umesh Yadav claimed two wickets each in the 19th and 20th overs as Mumbai Indians failed to get 27 runs off 12 balls. With spinners Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan setting up a close finish with superb bowling, youngsters Tilak Verma and Tim David got bogged down and allowed some dot balls. With 27 needed off the last two overs, Verma hammered Spencer Johnson for a six over long-on but was out off the next ball, flicking it straight to the deep backward square where substitute fielder Abhinav Manohar took a good catch. David Coetzee and Hardik Pandya scored a single each before Coetzee was out off the last ball of the match, caught and bowled by Spencer, leaving Mumbai Indians in the lurch. With 19 needed from the last six balls Pandya struck a six and four off Umesh Yadav. But the experienced pacer had the last laugh as he sent back the Mumbai Indians skipper, caught near the boundary by Tewatia with a well-directed bouncer. Hardik got out for 11 off 4, leaving Mumbai Indians needing nine off 3 balls. Piyush Chawla shot it straight to Rashid Khan at mid-wicket off another short ball by Umesh Yadav off the next delivery and Mumbai Indians eventually fell short by six runs. Chasing a decent target of 169 with the dew expected to play a big role, Mumbai Indians lost Kishan Kishan (0) early but Rohit Sharma kept them in the hunt with a measured innings, mixing caution with some superb strokes. He and Brevis maintained the tempo as they raised 77 runs for the third wicket. Earlier, the focus was on two players -- both of whom were returning to Mumbai Indians after a long period. Hardik Pandya joined the five-time champions from Gujarat Titans, whom he led to the title in 2022, and was made the captain in place of Rohit Sharma while Bumrah missed the 2023 season because of an injury. Incidentally, both Pandya and Bumrah were born in Gujarat and are playing together for Mumbai Indians against a team from their home state. Bumrah provided Mumbai Indians the breakthrough by bowling Wriddhiman Saha for 19 off 15 balls (4x4) after he and Shubman Gill had added 31 runs for the first wicket. Bumrah then returned for his second spell and claimed the wickets of the dangerous David Miller (12) and top-scorer Sai Sudharsan in one over as he put the brakes on the Gujarat Titans innings. Bumrah bowled superbly, mixing things up as he conceded only one boundary and bowled 14 dot balls. Gerald Coetzee was the other Mumbai Indian bowler, of the seven that were used on the night, to get to bowl his quota of four overs, claiming 2-27 as he got crucial wickets at the end of the Gujarat innings. Veteran spinner Piyush Chawla was also in his element as he claimed the prized scalp of Shubman Gill, getting the Gujarat Titans skipper to hurry with a quick one and Rohit Sharma took a simple catch to make it 64/2. Gill was the top scorer for Gujarat Titans in the 2023 edition and has done well for the country too in the last 12 months. Gill's knock of 31 lasted 22 balls and was studded with three boundaries and one six. Sai Sudharsan kept Gujarat Titans afloat with a superb 39-ball 45 as Azmatullah Omarzai (17) and David Miller played alongside him to keep Gujarat Titans' scoring rate high. But Bumrah changed the complexion of the match with his superb over as he sent back both David Miller, foxed by a slower one and Pandya picked a good catch running back, and then hurt Titans by sending back Sai Sudharsan with a full delivery on middle stump -- Tilak Verma pouched it with a diving catch. Coetzee claimed Omarzai and Rahul Tewatia, who blasted a couple of big sixes in his 15-ball Tewatia to restrict Gujarat Titans to 168/6. However, in the end, the Mumbai Indians middle-order failed to capitalise on the platform provided by Rohit and Brevis as Gujarat Titans bowlers worked their magic. Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 168/6 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 45, Shubman Gill 31; Jasprit Bumrah 3-14, David Coetzee 2-27) beat Mumbai Indians 162/9 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 43, Dewald Brevis 46, Tilak Verma 25; Spencer Johnson 2-25, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-26, Umesh Yasdav 2-31, Mohit Sharma 2-32) by six runs. New Delhi, March 25 : A massive fire broke out at a godown in outer Delhi's Alipur area on Monday, a fire department official said, adding that so far no casualty has been reported. According to Director of Delhi Fire Service (DFS) Atul Garg, a call regarding a blaze at a godown was received at 6:15 a.m. in Budhpur, Alipur area . "A total of 34 fire tenders have been rushed to the site. Fire is in the oil godown and the whirlpool company's godown. The area is very large," said Garg. "So far no causality/injuries have been reported and operation is going on," the Director added. More details were awaited. Sayantani Ghosh misses her husband on Holi; says 'Happy Holi pati'. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, March 25 : Television actress Sayantani Ghosh seems to be celebrating Holi sans her husband Anugrah Tiwari, going by her post on social media. Sayantani took to her Instagram stories, and posted a picture hugging her husband. The two can be seen covered with a little Holi colours. The actress captioned it: "Happy Holi pati @anugrah0070. I miss you." She did not reveal details about where he was during this festive occasion. Sayantani married her long-time boyfriend Anugrah in December 2021. On the work front, she is now seen on the show 'Dahej Daasi', which revolves around a girl named Chunari, who is trapped by an age-old social practice and ends up becoming a 'Dahej Dasi' of a rich Rajawat family. Mumbai, March 25 : For the third consecutive year, Ankita Lokhande and her husband Vicky Jain, whom we last saw together in 'Bigg Boss 17', hosted their famous Holi party on Monday, March 25, in Mumbai. This year, it was christened #AnVikiRasLeela3.0. Fresh off the release of 'Swatantriya Veer Savarkar', where she plays the freedom fighter's wife Jamuna Bai, Ankita had told IANS that the party will be for her family and friends. As expected, people familiar to reality TV viewers were the first to show up, starting with Isha Malviya, Rajiv Adatiya and Archana Gautam. Ankita and Vicky were busy receiving the guests on a sunny day, as dhols struck up an energetic beat in the background. Both were dressed in white, as is expected on Holi. Ankita's plain-white Anarkali salwar suit was offset by a dupatta with rainbow-hued blocks, dangling earrings and dark sunglasses. Vicky paired his white ensemble with sneakers and of course the de rigueur sunglasses. On Holi eve, incidentally, an old, unseen video started doing the rounds, showing her playing Holi with her late former boyfriend, Sushant Singh Rajput, with whom she had a seven-year-long relationship. She's dancing to Amitabh Bachchan's groovy 'Silsila' number, 'Rang Barse'. Mumbai, March 25 : Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said on Monday the party will announce the names of its Lok Sabha candidates for Maharashtra on March 26 after a final round of discussions with other Maha Vikas Aghadi allies. He said that the party would declare its first list of around 14-15 LS nominees on Tuesday, but did not specify the constituencies it would contest, and whether smaller allies would be accommodated. This will be the second MVA allyas list after the Congress named 12 candidates last week, the SS (UBT) will announce its candidates Tuesday and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) is likely to follow suit. However, the SS (UBT) has unofficially announced its prospective candidates for certain seats, irking the other allies who pointed out that the seat-sharing talks are still in progress. Referring to the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA)as unilateral move to snap ties with MVA, Raut said that the opposition had offered Prakash Ambedkar four seats from the list he had submitted, but it was not acceptable to him. Ambedkar also suo motu announced that he would file his nomination papers this week from the Akola Lok Sabha seat though keeping the door ajar for the MVA to take its final decision. On March 15, the SS (UBT) had made a atake it, or leave ita type of offer for the four seats which was spurned by Ambedkar, who later (March 19) declared open, unconditional support to seven Congress candidates in the state. The Congress has not yet reacted to the olive branch. Against the backdrop, Raut said that while the alliance can win even without the VBA, said that the MVA is fervently hoping that Ambedkar will accept the offer and fight along with SS (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party. Lucknow, March 25 : Uttar Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer, Navdeep Rinwa, said that Voter Information Slip will be issued to all voters registered in the electoral roll of Lok Sabha General Election-2024. Lucknow, March 25 (IANS) Uttar Pradeshas Chief Electoral Officer, Navdeep Rinwa, said that Voter Information Slip will be issued to all voters registered in the electoral roll of Lok Sabha General Election-2024. He said that on the front part of this slip, the part number and name in the electoral roll, serial number, name of the polling station and date of voting, QR code etc. will be mentioned. On the reverse side of the slip, the map of the polling station and the name of the Booth Level Officer (BLO), the contact number of the BLO, details of the alternative document prescribed by the Commission for voting and other important instructions will be mentioned. Along with the voter information slip, each family will also be given a colourful Voter Guide in Hindi. The voter guide explains how voters can cast their vote through EVM through pictures and the facilities provided by the Election Commission of India (ECI) through apps like Saksham-ECI, Voter Helpline App, Know Your Candidate App and C-Vigil App. Requisite information has been given. Along with this, information has been given about the facility of registration, voting, voting from home for disabled people and senior citizens, and postal ballot facility. Ranwa further said that as per the instructions of the ECI, distribution of voter information slips to all the registered voters will be made available to all the voters from nine days before the date of voting to five days before the date of polling. The voter information slip will be given by the BLO to the registered voter or any adult member of his family after getting the register signed. Islamabad, March 25 : An Afghan Taliban commander, Yahya, has delivered an inciteful speech against Pakistan's security forces in which he calls on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cadre to "infiltrate Pakistan and take revenge", media reports said. Islamabad, March 25 (IANS) An Afghan Taliban commander, Yahya, has delivered an inciteful speech against Pakistan's security forces in which he calls on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cadre to "infiltrate Pakistan and take revenge", media reports said. In a leaked video, Yahya is seen addressing a gathering full of terrorists of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant group -- a faction of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Geo News reported. Yahya asserts that "all Mujahideen are prepared to follow the orders of Amir al-Mu'minin" and are committed to combating Pakistan. He provides instructions on how the militants "should infiltrate Pakistan and emphasises not leaving any wounded individuals behind," Express Tribune reported. In the leaked video, which is said to have emerged from the Dangar Algad area in Afghanistan, the terrorists are seen gathered around the commander who talks about planning an attack directed towards the security forces of Pakistan at the Pak-Afghan border, Geo News reported. Yayha is seen giving instructions to the militants, emphasising being ready to take revenge on Pakistan. In the video, the terrorists were also seen agreeing to fight against Pakistan, the report said. In the video, Yahya can be heard addressing the armed men, including a suicide bomber, in Pashto. Discussing the details of an impending attack, he informs the militants that "there will be six rocket launchers and six assistants, along with two laser operators and their assistants, as well as a sniper," Express Tribune reported. Agartala, March 25 : The body of the fourth missing fisherman found on Monday, 24-hours after the recovery of three bodies as four fishermen died when their makeshift 'Mancha' (platform) collapsed due to a Norwester wind at Dumboor Lake in Tripura's Dhalai district on Saturday, officials said. Officials said that three of the four bodies of fishermen were recovered on Sunday and the fourth body was recovered by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel. The fishermen often stay in the makeshift 'Mancha' inside the lake to carry out fishing in the giant Dumboor Lake, a famous fishing water body, an official of Dhalai District administration said. "Due to the Norwester wind and rain, the makeshift 'Mancha' collapsed and the four fishermen fell into the deep water of the lake late on Saturday. The state disaster management personnel recovered the three bodies on Sunday. The NDRF personnel joined the search operation on Sunday and recovered the fourth body on Monday," the official told IANS. The mishap area is 120 km south of Agartala. The bodies found have been identified as Haridas Das (46), Jyotish Mallik (50), Pradip Das (45) and Sanjit Nandi (55). Chief Minister Manik Saha in a social media post expressed his grief and condolences over the death of the fishermen and said that the state government would remain behind the families of victims. Tripura's lone hydel power project is situated near the Dumboor Lake from where the state's main River Gomati originates. Mumbai, March 25 : The Holi bash that lyricist Javed Akhtar and his actress-activist wife Shabana Azmi threw at their Juhu home, Janki Kutir, last year had its own tragic after story when it turned out that actor-director Satish Kaushik's last Instagram post before his unexpected death was a picture of his from the party. The picture showed him, with Holi colours on his cheeks, posing with Javed Sahab, who had an arm wrapped around the shoulders of his guest. This year, the party is happening again and Shabana, dressed in white with a multi-hued safa tied on her head, set the mood for it when she entered the venue doing a little dance. Later, Javed Sahab and Shabana posed for the paparazzi. The early guests included the poet's filmmaker-actor son Farhan Akhtar and his wife Shibani Dandekar; Dia Mirza, the actress who's now better known for her espousal of green causes; and Jyothika Saravanan, the multi-award-winning Tamil actress and producer. Thiruvananthapuram, March 25 : Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan on Monday wrote to External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar seeking his intervention in repatriation of three Kerala men, who were forced to fight for the Russian Army in Ukraine, and also initiate a probe against the recruitment agencies involved in illegal trafficking. "It is disturbing to learn that three young men from Kerala are among those stranded in war-torn Ukraine after being lured with the promise of a lucrative employment in Russia, only to be forced to engage in the continuing conflict," said Satheesan. Satheesan pointed out that according to the relatives of the three men, they were taken to Russia by a recruitment agency with the promise of a salary of Rs 2.5 lakh. "But when they arrived, their passports and mobile phones were confiscated and were then forced to fight for Russia against Ukraine. It is learned that some of them are injured and their families back home have raised serious apprehension on the safety of the youths stranded in Ukraine," said Satheesan. "I believe that this is part of a trafficking network that entice young men to work in Russia and send them for the war.I urge your good self to make every effort to bring back all of those who are stuck in the combat zone and to initiate a comprehensive investigation against these recruitment agencies that form part of a large illegal trafficking network," added Satheesan. Guwahati, March 25 : Assam minister, Pijush Hazarika, on Monday asserted that the Congress party was in a very bad situation in the state and several party leaders have been rallying behind the BJP to switch sides. While attending a BJP joining event where Congress party workers were inducted, the minister said, "Daily people from the Congress are calling us with a request to join our party. I have been travelling across the state for the last one week and I have attended a few political programmes where at least 10,000 leaders and workers from the Congress have joined the BJP." He also claimed that after the Lok Sabha polls get over, the fate of the Congress party would be uncertain. "Once the Lok Sabha elections are over in the country, the situation of the Congress will worsen," Hazarika alleged. Notably, in a setback to the Congress party in Assam, six-time MLA and former minister Bharat Chandra Narah resigned from the party on Monday after his wife Ranee Narah was denied a ticket for the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. The Naoboicha MLA sent his resignation letter to Congress President, Mallikarjun Kharge. Narah wrote: "I do hereby resign from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect." Bharat Narah was elected to the state Assembly six times on a Congress ticket. He consecutively won Dhakuakhana constituency from 1985 to 2011, and was also a Cabinet Minister in the state. In 2021, he moved to Naoboicha seat in Lakhimpur District, and was again elected on a Congress ticket. Meanwhile, Ranee Narah was a strong contender for the ticket in Lakhimpur seat in Assam this time. She won this Lok Sabha constituency thrice and was once elected to Rajya Sabha as well. The Congress leader also served as a Union Minister in the Manmohan Singh-led government at the Centre. However, the Congress this time picked Uday Shankar Hazarika instead of Ranee Narah to contest from the Lakhimpur seat. He switched from the BJP in December last year. Kolkata, March 25 : Three school-going children got severely injured on Monday afternoon, following an explosion at Gangarampur in Dakshin Dinajpur district in the northern outskirts of Kolkata. The reason for the explosion is yet to be confirmed by the police. However, local police sources said that from the nature of injuries of the three children, it seems that the mishap was caused by explosion of battery or crude bombs. The three children were first admitted at Gangarampur Super Specialty Hospital. However, one of them had to be shifted to Malda Medical College & Hospital as his condition deteriorated. The other two are undergoing treatment at the hospital at Gangarampur. The local Lok Sabha member and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar said that the police should investigate impartially and unearth the reason behind the explosion. "I was told that the kids sustained injury as an explosion took place at the spot they were playing. However, it is up to the police to reveal the truth behind the explosion," Majumdar said. Eyewitnesses have told local cops that they spotted the children playing with an item which apparently looked like a battery. Investigation in the matter is underway. Seoul, March 25 : Medical professors in South Korea have started submitting their resignations and reducing their work hours on Monday in support of a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, despite the government's attempt for talks over a reform plan that increased the number of medical students, according to a doctors' group. Professors from 19 out of 40 medical schools signed a joint statement, saying they will "submit their resignations today," according to the group of medical professors nationwide, Yonhap news agency reported. Medical professors, who are senior doctors at major university hospitals, had threatened to quit this week, but they pledged to remain at work. More than 90 per cent of the country's 13,000 trainee doctors have been on strike in the form of mass resignations since February 20 to protest the government's decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 seats. Meanwhile, President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday instructed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to communicate more closely with the medical community regarding the government's medical reform plans, his spokesperson said. "Please communicate more closely with all sectors of society, including the medical community," he was quoted as saying by his spokesperson, Kim Soo-kyung, Yonhap reported. A day earlier, Yoon had asked the prime minister to look for "flexible" ways to handle the suspension of medical licences, which the government was expected to enforce against protesting doctors starting Tuesday. However, another group of medical professors demanded the government scrap the reform plan that increased medical school admission seats, saying it would sit down for talks with the government only if the plan was abolished. The demand by the Medical Professors Association of Korea is expected to complicate an attempt by the government to hold talks with the medical community. "Unless the government scraps the plan to increase the number of medical school freshmen and withdraws the allocation of seats, the ongoing crisis cannot be settled," the association said. "If the government is willing to withdraw (the plan), we are ready to discuss all the pending issues in front of the people," it said. Medical professors will also go ahead with their plan to reduce their weekly work hours to 52 hours by adjusting surgeries and other medical treatments, according to the association. Varanasi : , March 25 (IANS) Ask anyone in Varanasi about UP Congress President Ajay Rai contesting opposite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third consecutive time in a row, and the counter-question is "Aap ki kya rai hai?" Varanasi (UP), March 25 (IANS) Ask anyone in Varanasi about UP Congress President Ajay Rai contesting opposite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third consecutive time in a row, and the counter-question is "Aap ki kya rai hai?" The pun is intentional. Everyone agrees that there is no contest in Varanasi where the Prime Minister's popularity has been soaring with every election. "The Samajwadi Party cleverly gave the seat to the Congress which is now trying to prove a point by improving its previous performances and Ajay Rai was the best it could get as a candidate," says Narendra Tiwari, a local journalist. Incidentally, Ajay Rai (54), began his political journey with the BJP's students' wing and won three UP assembly terms between 1996 and 2007 on a BJP ticket. However, in 2009, when he was denied a Lok Sabha ticket by the BJP, he switched to the Samajwadi Party but lost the elections. Three years later, he joined the Congress. In 2014, when he was pitted against Narendra Modi, he managed to get around 75,000 votes while Modi won with over 56 per cent vote share. Arvind Kejriwal had come in second with a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes. In 2019, the battle for Varanasi was a three-way contest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shalini Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, and Ajay Rai of the Congress. The Prime Minister won again with a vote share of over 63 per cent while SP's Shalini Yadav got the second spot with around 18 per cent vote share and Ajay Rai managed to get around 14 per cent votes. He finished in the third slot both times, losing to the Prime Minister. A supporter of Ajay Rai, who did not wish to be identified, says: "What is the point in even contesting against the Prime Minister? It would have been more graceful if the opposition had let him get elected unopposed after all, what can we prove by taking away a few thousand votes?" Rakesh Banarasi, a local poet, agrees and says that there is no election here but an 'utsav', a celebration and we all revel in the process. "Everyone from the opposition candidate to its workers are aware of the result and yet they campaign albeit, half-heartedly. It would have been better if Ajay Rai had used his time to campaign in neighbouring constituencies and help his party put up a decent fight," the poet said. The Congress, incidentally, suffered a massive jolt in Varanasi when its former MP Rajesh Mishra joined the BJP on March 5. R K Shukla, a political analyst, said that at best, Rai contesting in Varanasi can be seen as a move to boost the morale of party cadres but Varanasi has traditionally been a BJP stronghold. "BJP has been winning every election in Varanasi since 1991, except in 2004 when Rajesh Kumar Mishra of the Congress won. Besides, the result is already well known to everyone. So it does not actually serve any purpose," Shukla said. Singapore, March 25 : External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday met top leaders of Singapore and valued their support for the strategic partnership as he conveyed personal greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to them. On a three-day visit to Singapore to cement close ties between both nations, he also met leading corporate figures, who spoke of India's growth story, based on investment experiences. Dr Jaishankar praised Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's "positive sentiments" on the India-Singapore relationship, which he said, "have always been a source of strength for our ties". "Honoured to call on Prime Minister @leehsienloong at The Istana. Conveyed the personal greetings of PM @narendramodi. Valued his perspectives on the current state of the world," the EAM wrote on X. He also called on Singapore's Indian-origin Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan with whom he "exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific and West Asia". "Reviewed the progress of our bilateral cooperation. Spoke about preparations for the next ISMR (India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable) meeting. Discussed marking 60 years of our diplomatic ties," Dr Jaishankar said. Envisioned by Prime Minister Modi, the first ISMR between the two nations, seeking to "deepen existing cooperation and identifying opportunities for collaboration in new and emerging areas", was held in 2022. Following the inaugural meeting, PM Modi conveyed his appreciation and hoped that initiatives like ISMR would help further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. Dr Jaishankar also met Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, where perspectives on advancing bilateral ties, especially on new-age technologies, were shared, in addition to views on the evolving global economic situation. He wrapped up his visit to the Southeast Asian nation after meeting Home Affairs & Law Minister, K Shanmugam, and said that he values the Indian-origin minister's "consistent support for our strategic partnership". The EAM last visited Singapore in October 2023 to deepen the Strategic Partnership between the two countries, where he met President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Foreign Minister Balakrishnan. After concluding the Singapore visit, EAM Jaishankar will be travelling to Malaysia and The Philippines to engage with them on regional issues of mutual concern. Islamabad, March 25 : Pakistan has started preparations to launch the second phase of its repatriation drive to send nearly one million Afghans back to their homeland, the media reported. Instructions had been issued to district administrations and police to expedite the mapping of Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders, Dawn reported. No date has yet been announced but the campaign to repatriate hundreds of thousands of ACC holders could begin in early to mid-summer. According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, there are 2.18 million documented Afghan refugees in Pakistan. This includes the 1.3 million refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards as per the census carried in 2006-07, as well as an additional 880,000 refugees granted ACCs following a registration drive in 2017. The return of Taliban to power in August 2021 saw another influx of worried Afghans into Pakistan. Officials put their numbers anywhere between 6,00,000 and 8,00,000, some with valid travel documents, but an uncertain future. Pakistan launched the first round of repatriation of what it called "undocumented aliens" in November last year, Dawn reported. No official data has been released as to how many of the estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghans have left for their country since November 2023, though the figure likely fell hugely short of what is now being considered a grossly exaggerated number, the report said. According to sources, the total number of undocumented Afghans who have returned to Afghanistan via Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in the first round stands at around the half million-mark, Dawn reported. Chennai, Mar 25 : The Nilgiris police resorted to baton charge on Monday after BJP and AIADMK workers clashed near the district collectorate. The workers clashed when the BJP candidate and Union Minister of State for Fisheries, L. Murugan, and AIADMK candidate D. Lokesh Tamilselvan reached the collectorate to file nomination papers. Both the candidates reached the spot with a large number of workers. The workers started sloganeering which led to a mild scuffle, and later turned into major fight between the two groups. Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai was also with L. Murugan to file the nomination papers. A few workers from both the sides were hurt and Annamalai visited the Nilgiris hospital where the injured workers were treated. Annamalai told media persons that the party would protest until the Nilgiris Superintendent of Police was transferred for unnecessarily ordering for baton charge. Meanwhile, both the leaders filed their nomination papers. DMK Deputy General Secretary and former Union Minister, A. Raja is the INDIA candidate for the Nilgiris Lok Sabha seat. Former CM Jagadish Shettar, two others, take oath as Cong MLCs in Ktaka. Image Source: IANS News Bengaluru, March 25 : Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP Belagavi candidate, Jagadish Shettar, said on Monday that a victory won't be difficult for the BJP in the Belagavi constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "The victory won't be difficult for us. When the Late MP Suresh Angadi was the district president and I was the Leader of the Opposition, we had taken up the party's organisational work in the constituency," Shettar told media persons. He said that the experience of working as the district in-charge minister for two times in Belagavi will also come in handy during the election. Shettar said that the sitting MP, his relative Mangala Angadi, has promised to work for him in the election as well. "The caste calculations won't work in this election. Though I hail from Hubballi, I have grown as a state-level leader. If Hubballi is my 'Janma Bhoomi', then Belagavi is my 'Karma Bhoomi," he said. "I have a close relationship with the voters and people of the district. The youth are more in numbers and they will not be taken for granted. We will win the confidence of all sections and win in the election," he said. --IANS mka/dan Kolkata, March 25 : The contest in the Kolkata-Uttar Lok Sabha constituency which came into existence in 2009 after the orders of the Delimitation Commission will be interesting during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The sitting Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member, Sudip Bandopadhyay, is facing a tough challenge from one of his old party loyalists and six-time MLA Tapas Roy, who is contesting on behalf of the BJP. Also in the fray is the former Congress Rajya Sabha member and veteran party leader Pradip Bhattacharya, who is contesting as the Left Front-supported Congress candidate. The contest could have been another cakewalk for Bandopadhyay this time as well had Tapas Roy not filed his papers. However, the BJP fielding Roy against him had made things complicated for Bandopadhyay. First, since the time tension between Bandopadhyay and Roy (then within Trinamool Congress) started surfacing, a number of ruling party leaders from Kolkata-Uttar publicly sympathised with Roy. The outspoken Trinamool Congress General Secretary, Kunal Ghosh even then publicly accused Bandopadhyay of encouraging and nurturing factionalism within the party in Kolkata-Uttar. After Roy resigned from his membership of the Assembly and joined the BJP, Ghosh observed that had the leadership been serious the exit of Roy could have been prevented. What made Roy's joining BJP different from many others is that he had set a precedent of first resigning as a member of the Legislative Assembly as well as the general member of Trinamool Congress before officially joining the BJP even though his current term as an MLA was till 2026. Roy had for quite some time been appealing to his own party leader not to neglect the issue of corruption and take disciplinary action against those indulging in corruption. Second, barring a single-day ED operation at his residence in connection with the municipalities' recruitment case, never ever has there been a single allegation of involvement in corruption in his long political career. Roy, who is always known for his humble lifestyle and amicable behaviour has claimed that the single-day ED operation at his residence was orchestrated by the leader of Trinamool Congress in Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandopadhyay. While resigning from Trinamool Congress, Roy's main grievance was that while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had been so vocal in supporting the accused mastermind, Sheikh Shahjahan, in the attack on ED and CAPF personnel in Sandeshkhali, she had never raised her voice over the ED operations at his residence. Following the ED raids at his residence, several leaders from the opposition camps, including BJP, Congress and CPI(M) said that corruption links with him are simply not true. As Roy still has major followers within the Trinamool Congress, a silent revolt within the ruling party in favour of Roy can go against Bandopadhyay. After being nominated, Roy said that his joining the BJP was not with any expectation but with a case which is to fight against corruption which he was unable to do while being in Trinamool Congress. "There is no doubt that BJP is coming to power again in the country with Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive term. If I am elected, I will raise the issues of grievances of the people of West Bengal on the floor of the Parliament," Roy said. On the other hand, Bandopadhyay has hinted that this will be the last electoral battle that he is fighting. "I want to quit electoral politics like Lionel Messi after winning," Bandopadhyay has said. Another advantage for Roy is that he is much younger than both Bandyopadhyay and Congress candidate, Pradip Bhattacharya. While Roy is 67, Bandopadhyay is 75 and Bhattacharya is nearing his eighties. Mumbai, March 25 : The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is likely to drop Krupal Tumane, its sitting MP from Ramtek Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra's Vidarbha, and field Congress MLA Raju Purwe, who joined the party on Sunday, instead. The change stems from opposition from ally BJP to Tumaneas renomination, as well as an internal survey, which also cites his bleak prospects due to a lack of connection with the voters and among the allies. The announcement is expected soon as the last date for filing the nomination is March 27 and the polling is on April 19 in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Incidentally, the Congress has already fielded Rashmi Barve from Ramtek. Parwe, who quit as the Congress legislator from the Umred (SC) constituency and joined the Sena in the presence of CM Shinde, is likely to get the ticket. The party believes that Parwe will be in a position to woo the traditional voters of the Congress. Of the six Assembly segments in Ramtek, which include Umred, Karol is held by the NCP's Sharad Pawar faction, Savner by the Congress, Hingana and Kamthi are with the BJP, and Ramtek is held by an independent. The Sena is confident that the BJP and independent legislator Ashish Jaiswal will work for Parwe to ensure his victory. "Partyas internal survey has been quite negative for Tumane if he is re-nominated. Recently, he had also told the senior leaders in the party that he may have to struggle to retain the seat. On top of it, the BJP has indicated its strong reservations over Tumaneas renomination. However, there is unanimity between the BJP, our party and the NCP of Ajit Pawar to make all efforts to win 45 plus seats in Maharashtra. Therefore, Tumane will have to be replaced," a Sena leader said. The leader added that Parwe is being considered for the Ramtek seat. Another leader said that the BJP had staked claim over the Ramtek seat, citing Tumaneas poor track record as the MP in the last five years. "The BJP had argued that the party with its strong organisational base is in a comfortable situation to win Ramtek. State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule had sought that CM Eknath Shinde be generous over its claim for Ramtek seat. Moreover, its proximity to Nagpur where party veteran Nitin Gadkari is contesting for the third time in a row will be another advantage for the cadre and RSS workers to work in Ramtek also," the leader said. Shinde faction argued that by nominating Parwe, the party, along with the BJP and Ajit Pawar's NCP, will be able to get support from Scheduled Castes which constitute 17.5 per cent of the electorate, followed by 11 per cent of Scheduled Tribes and over 65 per cent rural voters. During the 2019 elections, Tumane won with 594,827 votes defeating his Congress rival Kishor Gajbhiye who got 468,738. In 2014, Tumane defeated Congress candidate Mukul Wasnik from the same constituency, bagging 519,892 votes against Wasnik's 344,101. Pune, March 25 : As the contest for the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra gets more intense, the rivals -- Nationalist Congress Party (SP) and Nationalist Congress Party, have been making desperate attempts to woo the voters. Hoping to defend the seat held by NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule, a 3-time MP, the entire Sharad Pawar clan has jumped into the grit and grime of the poll campaign, braving the blazing summer sun. The 'target' is none other than ruling ally NCP President Ajit A. Pawar's wife Sunetra A. Pawar, who is likely to be nominated for the seat to wrest it from her 'nanad' Supriya Sule. Giving a tough challenge, Ajit A. Pawar's 'bhabhi' -- Sharmila, the wife of his elder brother Shriniwas A. Pawar -- has been addressing small meetings and gatherings to boost Supriya Sule, and popularise the NCP (SP)'s new poll symbol, 'Trumpeter' among the masses. At one such meeting on Monday with many women and young girls, Sharmila S. Pawar said that "soon, there will be many mouth-watering allurements coming your way from them (the other contender)", but cautioned people against the entrapment to grab their valuable votes. "There will be many forms of enticementsa all kinds of promises will be made to seek your votes. You can feast on all their chicken-mutton, but press only the 'Trumpeter' button," Sharmila A. Pawar exhorted the villagers in a rustic lingo that was apparently easily digested by the prospective voters. Reiterating the need to elect Supriya Sule, Sharmila A. Pawar warned that in case the masses unwittingly fell for the lures, "then you will get to enjoy one bowl of mutton-chicken now, but later you would lament at them for the next five years" a" reminiscent of a similar campaign style of jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Targeting the NCP-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without taking any names, she pointed out that the people are intelligent and well aware of the current situation all around, plus it was their right to decide whom to elect. "However, we are seeing that they are mouthing the name of Lord Ram, but in every home, there is a Mahabharat raging (discords). In such circumstances, it would be better to consider a 'known person' (Supriya Sule) rather than some utter stranger (Sunetra A. Pawar). It's imperative to re-elect the daughter of Baramati, Supriya Sule," she exhorted amid cheers and claps. Rooting strongly for Supriya Sule, she said that "casting a vote for her is equal to supporting Sharad Pawar Saheb" and empowering her to raise the voice of the people of Baramati in the Parliament. "Supriya Sule has never used the name of her illustrious father, and the Pawar family has never lost any election in this regiona should we commit the sin of making Sharad Pawar Saheb's daughter lose the elections when she is doing an excellent job in the Parliament?" she gently questioned, as some people were seen shaking their heads and concurring. Ahead of her likely nomination, Sunetra A. Pawar is diligently doing the rounds of the constituency daily, visiting remote hamlets, villages, towns, meeting people with folded hands, accepting their welcome 'aartis', offering prayers at temples, mosques or 'dargahs', and occasionally sharing a bite with the locals. From Sharad Pawar's family, Karjat-Jamkhed MLA Rohit R. Pawar, his cousin Yugendra A. Pawar (son of Sharmila and Shriniwas A. Pawar), their party activists and thousands of supporters are moving around to ensure Supriya Sule's victory. Even as the Pawar 'bhabhi-nanad' (Sunetra A. Pawar-Supriya Sule) campaign becomes shrill, speculation emerged that the ruling MahaYuti of Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP may give a new twist ahead of the last date for nominations (April 19). Political circles were agog with the possibility of dropping Sunetra A. Pawar from Baramati and instead fielding the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha (RSP) leader Mahadev J. Jankar a" a prominent Dhangar caste leader a" from Baramati to lock horns with Supriya Sule. The entry of Jankar would kill several birds with one stone -- ensure a one-on-one contest with Supriya Sule, demolish all groupism among various MahaYuti groups in Baramati hostile to Sunetra A. Pawar, deflate the ambitions of people like Shiv Sena leader Vijay Shivtare who has vowed to stand as Independent with the sole aim to defeat Ajit A. Pawar's spouse, etc. However, on Monday evening, NCP leader Amol Mitkari dismissed the speculation as 'rumours designed to misguide the people' and reiterated that Sunetra A. Pawar would be the official candidate from Baramati. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in) New Delhi, March 25 : A day after Kangana Ranaut was named the BJP candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, a major controversy erupted on Monday as an objectionable post with "sexual innuendos and abuses" on the Bollywood actor was shared on the Instagram account of Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate. The post showed a photo of scantily-clad Kangana Ranaut, with an offensive and derogatory caption. In a message posted on X, Ranaut hit back at Shrinate, saying that people should "refrain from using sex workersa challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur". While the post triggered a massive uproar on social media, Shrinate issued a clarification, saying that the post had been taken down. She wrote on X: "Someone who had access to my meta accounts (FB and Insta) posted an absolutely disgusting and objectionable post, which has been taken down. Anyone who knows me will know I would never say that for a woman. However, a parody account that I have just discovered misusing my name is being run on Twitter (@Supriyaparody) which started the whole mischief, and is being reported." The post of Shrinate on Instagram which has now been deleted, asked: "Kya bhav chal raha hai Mandi me koi batayega? (Will someone tell me what the rate system in Mandi is?)", along with the image of Ranaut. The post drew a sharp response from the BJP and Ranaut. The Bollywood actor shared her response on X, saying that "every woman deserves her dignity". aDear Supriya ji, In the last 20 years of my career as an artist I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii," Ranaut said. "We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudices, we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts and above all we must refrain from using sex workers challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur... every woman deserves her dignity...," she added. Meanwhile, BJP leader Amit Malviya urged Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to sack Shrinate. "Congressas Supriya Shrinate makes an obnoxious comment on Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post. It is so disgusting that one canat help, but ask - how does Congress collect so much filth in one place? If Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has any say in the party, he must sack her immediately or else resign," Malviya said. Responding to the post, which has been deleted now, journalist Mrinal Pande wrote: "Yes, I am a housewife. By reading Hindi newspapers, I keep myself informed daily about the wholesale and retail rates of commodities available in the market. You may be interested in other types of markets, not me!" Her response came after her social media post targeting Ranaut came under sharp criticism from X users. The netizens, at the same time, refused to buy the clarification made by Shrinate. The reprehensible post targeting Kangana Ranaut has already done the damage, there is no point offering such clarification now, say many social media users. According to some, political leaders who troll any eminent figure are in the habit of resorting to such justification and clarification after they find themselves in an embarrassing situation over improper social media practices. Amid the raging outrage, Shrinate deleted the post from her official Instagram account and tried washing her hands of the incident by claiming that her Meta accounts were hacked. After the post went viral, the BJP launched a scathing attack on Shrinate, accusing her of circulating screenshots of the post which she claimed to have deleted. Patna, March 25 : A male tiger was found dead in the Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve (VTR) in Bihar's West Champaran district, an official said on Monday. The carcasse was spotted by a patrol team on Sunday evening. "When we were patrolling the Maguraga forest area in Bettiah division on Sunday, we found a male dead tiger near Thori Barbal village. We have immediately informed senior officers of the VTR," an official said. Following the incident, VTR Director-cum-Conservator of Forests, Dr Neshamani K, Divisional Forest Officer cum Deputy Director Pradyuman Gaurav and other officials reached the spot and inspected the dead tiger and surrounding areas. "Under the standard operating procedures of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, we have taken the body of the dead tiger and conducted the post-mortem examination in the presence of officials on Monday," Dr Neshamani K said. "Preliminary investigation reveals the death of the tiger happened due to a fight with another male tiger," he added. Hyderabad, March 25 : Former united Andhra Pradesh minister and actor P. Babu Mohan on Monday joined Praja Shanti Party of evangelist K.A. Paul. Paul announced the appointment of Babu Mohan as the president of the Telangana unit of the party. He told mediapersons that Praja Shanti will contest all Lok Sabha seats in the state and that Babu Mohan will be the candidate from the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana. Paul claimed that BJP has no vote bank in Telangana. He also remarked that "the ruling Congress in the state has four Eknath Shindes". He said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, ministers P. Srinivasa Reddy and Komatireddy Venkat Reddy are three of them. He, however, did not name the fourth. The Praja Shanti founder said in 100 days of Congress rule, problems have started for people in the state. He claimed that people were facing drinking water problems while power supply was also getting disrupted. The evangelist wondered how the Congress government will fulfill its promises when the state is neck deep in debts. He claimed that if his party's MPs are elected in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, they can ensure the development of both the Telugu states. Babu Mohan had last month resigned from the BJP. He alleged that he was being sidelined in the party. The actor had earlier threatened to quit the BJP before Assembly elections but the party tried to mollify him by giving ticket once again from Andole. He, however, badly lost the election, polling only 5,524 votes. In 2018, Babu Mohan had quit TRS (now BRS) after he was denied a ticket to contest Assembly elections. The BJP fielded him from Andole constituency in Sangareddy but he suffered a humiliating defeat, finishing a distant third with just 2,404 votes. In 2014, Babu Mohan was elected on TRS ticket from Andole. The veteran actor, known for comedy roles in Telugu films, entered politics by joining Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the 1990s. He was first elected from Andole in 1998 by-elections and retained the seat in 1999. He served as Minister for Labour in N. Chandrababu Naidu's cabinet in the then united Andhra Pradesh. He lost the election from the same constituency in 2004 and 2009. In 2014, he quit TDP to join TRS. Hyderabad, March 25 : The Telangana Police have intensified a probe into the sensational phone tapping case in which three police officials have already been arrested. The investigating team has recovered, from the Musi river, parts of hard disks destroyed by the accused police officers to wipe out evidence of phone tapping by the Special Intelligence Branch (SIB) under the previous government of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). The damaged hard disks were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis. The police will move a petition in a city court on Tuesday, seeking custody of two police officers arrested on Saturday. Additional Superintendent of Police, Bhupalpally, N. Bhujanga Rao, and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, City Security Wing, Hyderabad City Police, Tirupathanna, were produced before a magistrate on Sunday and both were sent to judicial custody for 14 days. The duo had reportedly admitted to destroying evidence of phone tapping. Both were booked under the Indian Penal Code's Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant) and Section 70 of the Information Technology Act. They had earlier served in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) as Deputy Superintendents of Police. Their questioning is likely to bring out more facts in the case. Police have already issued a lookout notice for former SIB chief Prabhakar Rao, former additional DCP, City Task Force, P. Radha Kishan Rao, and iNews TV channel MD Shravan Rao. The SIT is also mulling summoning some key BRS leaders for questioning in the phone tapping case, as it was at their direction that the accused allegedly tapped the phones of leaders of opposition parties. The matter came to light with the arrest of DSP, SIB, D. Praneeth Rao. He was suspended and arrested on March 13 for destroying evidence. He had allegedly erased data by destroying 50 hard disks after the defeat of the BRS in the Assembly elections. During his questioning by the SIT, names of other officers allegedly involved in the case surfaced. The arrest was made after a complaint by Additional Superintendent of Police, SIB, D. Ramesh, on March 10, alleging clandestine monitoring of individuals, unauthorised access to official records, and misuse of intelligence information. After the election results were declared on December 3, 2023, Praneeth Rao allegedly disconnected CCTVs, erased data, and destroyed electronic devices. The SIB is an anti-Maoist intelligence unit but Praneeth Rao was tasked with the job of gathering political intelligence along with a 10-member team. He was allegedly keeping tabs on the opposition leaders and directly reporting to Prabhakar Rao. Prabhakar Rao, considered close to then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, resigned as SIB chief after the Congress came to power. Kolkata, March 25 : A bizarre poll promise made by Rachana Banerjee, Trinamool Congress celebrity candidate from Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, has been drawing criticism. On Sunday, during a rally, she made a promise that the women from Hooghly LS seat will get preference in getting featured in "Didi No. 1", a reality show in which she is the anchor. "If I win, my first task will be to have a meeting with the channel authorities which host the show. I will tell them to give first preference to the women of Hooghly. I will tell them that first the women from Hooghly will be featured in the show and then only others will be featured," she said. Reacting to this, BJP's sitting Lok Sabha member and actress-turned-politician, Locket Chatterjee, who has been re-nominated by her party this time as well, said the remarks hint at the lack of her competitor's knowledge about the aspirations of the common people. "People do not want to go to reality shows. They want industry. They want work. What will people gain by participating in 'Didi No. 1.? People do not want corruption and extortion. I am surprised that Trinamool Congress has fielded such a candidate who does not have the minimum knowledge of politics or public aspirations. Does she think the people of Hooghly are illiterate?" Chatterjee questioned. Ever since Rachana Banerjee was nominated, she has been getting attention for making weird remarks. Previously, after her nomination was announced by the Trinamool Congress, she expressed doubts about the "real identity" of the women at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, protesting against alleged sexual harassment by a section of the local Trinamool Congress leadership there. Another remark that triggered the row was about Singur -- once a pick for the small car project (Nano) of Tata Motors. The issue hogged the national limelight when the Tata Group withdrew its project from Singur after a movement against the land acquisition. While campaigning, Rachana Banerjee referred to the role of the Singur movement in ending the 34-year Left Front-led rule in West Bengal in 2011, adding that "the rich history" of the movement inspires her. Banerjee's other remark that was coldly received was "I am sure that the people of Hooghly are proud to have me among them". Kolkata, March 25 : A bizarre poll promise made by Rachana Banerjee, Trinamool Congress' celebrity candidate from Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency in West Bengal, has been drawing criticism. On Sunday, during a rally, she made a promise that the women from Hooghly LS seat will get preference in getting featured in "Didi No. 1", a reality show in which she is the anchor. "If I win, my first task will be to have a meeting with the channel authorities which host the show. I will tell them to give first preference to the women of Hooghly. I will tell them that first the women from Hooghly will be featured in the show and then only others will be featured," she said. Reacting to this, BJP's sitting Lok Sabha member and actress-turned-politician, Locket Chatterjee, who has been re-nominated by her party this time as well, said the remarks hint at the lack of her competitor's knowledge about the aspirations of the common people. "People do not want to go to reality shows. They want industry. They want work. What will people gain by participating in 'Didi No. 1.? People do not want corruption and extortion. I am surprised that Trinamool Congress has fielded such a candidate who does not have the minimum knowledge of politics or public aspirations. Does she think the people of Hooghly are illiterate?" Chatterjee questioned. Ever since Rachana Banerjee was nominated, she has been getting attention for making weird remarks. Previously, after her nomination was announced by the Trinamool Congress, she expressed doubts about the "real identity" of the women at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, protesting against alleged sexual harassment by a section of the local Trinamool Congress leadership there. Another remark that triggered the row was about Singur -- once a pick for the small car project (Nano) of Tata Motors. The issue hogged the national limelight when the Tata Group withdrew its project from Singur after a movement against the land acquisition. While campaigning, Rachana Banerjee referred to the role of the Singur movement in ending the 34-year Left Front-led rule in West Bengal in 2011, adding that "the rich history" of the movement inspires her. Banerjee's other remark that was coldly received was "I am sure that the people of Hooghly are proud to have me among them". Agartala, March 25 : A teenage girl was rescued by Tripura Police from Gujarat's Ahmedabad, over three months after she was kidnapped from the state by a youth, a police official said. Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Kailashahar (in Unakoti district), Jayanta Karmakar said that the police, based on a specific complaint, started an investigation using various technologies, including cyber technology, to trace the girl and the 16-year-old was spotted recently somewhere in Ahmedabad. Accordingly, a Tripura Police team, led by the Investigating Officer, Sub Inspector Pompi Nath, went to Ahmedabad to rescue the girl, who was abducted on December 18 last year. aWith the help of Gujarat Police, the Tripura Police team rescued the girl from a locality in Ahmedabad on Saturday and also arrested the accused, who kidnapped the girl, from the same locality. Both are brought back to Kailashahar on Sunday night," Karmakar told the media. The girl was handed over to her family on Monday after necessary medical treatment. The accused youth was produced before a local court on Monday and charged with kidnapping and other offences. Guwahati, March 25 : Bharat Chandra Narah, a six-time MLA and former Assam minister who resigned from the Congress on Monday after his wife Ranee Narah was denied a ticket, is not in touch with the BJP, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said. "The resignation of Bharat Narah is an internal matter of the Congress as he had not approached the BJP before quitting the party. He was not in touch with me or my other colleagues," CM Sarma said. However, he also asserted that, barring one or two -- the rest of the party leaders from Congress would eventually join the BJP. The Chief Minister said: "All will come to the BJP and that is why we have never closed our doors. Even Assam unit Congress president Bhupen Borah will also switch sides." Earlier on Monday, six-time MLA and former Assam minister Bharat Chandra Narah resigned from the party on Monday after his wife Ranee Narah was denied a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The Naoboicha MLA sent his resignation letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. He wrote: "I do, hereby, resign from the Indian National Congress with immediate effect." Bharat Chandra Narah also quit from his post of chairman of the Congress' media cell in Assam. He was elected to the state Assembly six times on a Congress ticket. He consecutively won Dhakuakhana constituency from 1985 to 2011, and was also a state Cabinet minister. In 2021, he contested for Naoboicha seat in Lakhimpur district, and was again elected on a Congress ticket. Ranee Narah was being considered a strong contender for the ticket in Lakhimpur Lok Sabha seat in Assam. She won this Lok Sabha constituency thrice and was once elected to Rajya Sabha as well. However, the Congress picked Uday Shankar Hazarika instead of Ranee Narah to contest for Lakhimpur seat. He switched from BJP in December last year. Bhubaneswar, March 26 : Two members of a family died in Odisha on Monday after a dilapidated wall collapsed and fell on them. The incident happened at Paschimabada village in Balasore district. The police have identified the deceased as Seikh Samiruddin, 53, and his 24-year-old son Seikh Arif. "Samiruddin along with wife Asima Biwi and son Arif were collecting crushed stone chips kept near the brick wall of an old house. Meanwhile, the wall suddenly collapsed on them and they sustained severe injuries. "The locals rescued the injured trapped under the debris and rushed them to Balasore District Headquarters Hospital. The doctors declared Arif 'brought dead' while Samiruddin succumbed a few hours later. Asima, who received serious injuries, is currently undergoing treatment at the hospital," a police officer said. The police said that financial assistance had been provided to the deceased's family by the district administration. New Delhi, March 26 : Union Minister for Women and Child Development (WCD), Smriti Irani, on Monday hit out at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh for making allegations that the BJP government's slogans of 'Nari Shakti' "remain words without real action". Rebutting Congress' criticism of the Central government over the issues related to women, Union Minister Smriti Irani lashed out at the Gandhi family, saying that "for far too long, the dynastic rulers masquerading as the rightful heirs of India have plundered its wealth. Even after their downfall, their courtiers continue to distort facts, manipulating figures to undermine the BJP government's efforts for women's welfare". She addressed Jairam Ramesh as the "courtier" of the Gandhis in her post on social media platform X. Earlier, the Congress on Monday listed "massive failures" of the WCD Ministry in the last 10 years. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the formation of a Congress-led government in June 2024 will end the "10 years of anyaay-kaal for women". For 10 years, the WCD Ministry has seen only "incompetence, apathy, and an anti-women mindset", he alleged. On this, Union Minister Smriti Irani posted a long message thread on X, stating "In a blatant and somewhat pitiful attempt to curry favour with the perpetual heir apparent, a certain courtier has unwittingly exposed his own glaring incompetence. His misguided endeavours, under the guise of intellectualism, have resulted in an embarrassing misinterpretation of the role and mandate of the Ministry of Women and Child Development." "Nevertheless, here's a thread addressing his oversight and highlighting his ignorance, especially in the context of significant work done for the Nari Shakti by the BJP government." She said that "the inept courtier glosses over NCRB data, blatantly ignoring the initiatives of the Modi government, which have emboldened women to boldly report crimes, while simultaneously spearheading vigorous efforts to combat crime against women". "In a brazen display of selective amnesia, he acknowledges the UPA's establishment of the NIRBHAYA Fund, yet conveniently omits the glaring fact that not a single rupee was deployed from this fund until the watershed year of 2014," she said, adding, "Post-2014, under the Modi regime, a total of 40 projects have been rolled out across the nation through the NIRBHAYA Fund. As of FY 2023-24, a total sum of Rs 7212.85 crore has been allocated, of which 75 per cent has already been utilised on initiatives implemented by the Central & State Governments." The Union Minister said that the "courtier (read Jairam Ramesh) might also be glad to learn that an even basic measure, like the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), was put in place solely by the Modi regime". "With the 112-ERSS number now active in all 36 states/UTs, it has efficiently managed over 30.34 crore calls. Additionally, since 2015, the Women Helpline (WHL) has been operational under the NIRBHAYA fund. The 181-WHL has supported over 71.31 lakh women, handling more than 1.39 crore calls. The list of projects under the NIRBHAYA Fund is extensive, including One Stop Centres, Women Helpdesks at every police station, and the establishment of Fast-Track Courts for women and children," she said. "The BJP governmentas track record stands in stark contrast to the UPA administrationas inaction, showcasing not just numbers, but proactive governance and tangible change under Modias regime," Smriti Irani added. Coming heavily down on Jairam Ramesh for what she called distorting the facts, Smriti Irani said that "the truth, however, contradicts baseless accusations. The heir apparent would be disconcerted to learn that funding for women and girls has skyrocketed, tripling since 2014-15. The 2024-25 budget lays bare their lies, with gender-specific allocations soaring to over Rs. 3.09 lakh crore - a monumental 215 per cent increase from 2014-15." "Furthermore, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has seen its flagship programs flourish. The evidence is clear: the BJP Government is making unprecedented strides in championing the rights and welfare of women, in stark contrast to the lip service and mismanagement of the UPA regime," she said. The Union Minister further said that the "national looters, alongside their blind followers, have conveniently discovered a newfound affection for Anganwadi workers, blatantly ignoring the undeniable fact that courtiers' 'concern' is nothing but a sham". "Oblivious to or deliberately ignoring reality, they fail to acknowledge the substantial and tangible actions already undertaken by the BJP Government. The Modi regime, far from being indifferent, has enhanced their honorarium by Rs 1500. Beyond this pay increase, an additional Rs 2000 has been allocated for mobile data. "Moreover, this regime has gone beyond mere monetary aid. It has conscientiously woven a safety net for these workers by enrolling them in flagship welfare programs like Ayushman Bharat and various insurance schemes such as PM Jeevan Jyoti and Suraksha Bima Yojana," she said. "Furthermore, under the PM Garib Kalyan Package, Anganwadi Workers and Helpers were granted substantial benefits, including a vital Rs 50 lakh COVID insurance cover. In stark contrast to the shallow rhetoric, the BJP government has resolutely shown its unwavering dedication to genuinely empowering Anganwadi workers," the Union Minister added in the post. Smriti Irani also said that after enduring significant time "correcting the courtier and his master's erroneous beliefs, it's time to shatter their final, misguided notion about women in the labour force. The 2022-23 PLFS Report is not just a statistic; it's a testament to the relentless ascent of Indian women, marking a 4.2 per cent surge in the Female Labour Force Participation Rate to a significant 37 per cent in 2023". "Let's speak plain truths: 69 per cent of MUDRA loan recipients are women, not mere beneficiaries, but architects of their own enterprises. The figures are similar for Stand-Up India, where a whopping 84 per cent are women, underscoring their unyielding entrepreneurial spirit. Under PM Modi's visionary leadership, financial empowerment of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) isn't just a policy; it's a revolution, propelling a monumental upliftment. The stark reality? Women-led Development is the bedrock of Viksit Bharat," she asserted. She added that the 'Nari Shakti' is not just aware but at the "forefront of this transformation". "The courtier, blinded by his allegiance to the so-called heir apparent and his Nari Nyay gimmick, has lost touch with reality. The BJP government, helmed by PM Modi, recognizes women not as mere vote bank but as the torchbearers of India's progress and pledges to uphold this vision unflinchingly," Smriti Irani said. Earlier listing the five alleged "massive failures" of the WCD ministry, Jairam Ramesh said: "Crimes against women and children have doubled; shrinking budget & underutilisation of funds; low pay and ill-treatment of ASHA and Anganwadi workers; rise in anaemia among women and children; unemployment & lost income among women." "While minister Smriti Irani herself remains silent as women across India are assaulted, waking up only for crimes in Opposition-ruled states, her ministry diverts funds away from necessary schemes and hardworking women," the Congress leader claimed. How does one celebrate the beginning of spring? With new books, of course. While enjoying pockets of sunshine, readers can enjoy a picture book full of promises, a middle grade tale featuring a chaotic family, a YA fantasy reuniting magical warriors for an epic battle, and more. Picture Books Animal Albums from A to Z Cece Bell. Walker US, $19.99 (64p) ISBN 978-1-5362-2624-9. Ages 48. Newbery Honoree Bell creates an entire high-fidelity world with an abecedarian that features album cover art and one songs worth of liner-note lyrics from 26 invented animal recording artists. See our q&a with Bell. The book received a starred review from PW. Bunny Should Be Sleeping Amy Hest, illus. by Renata Liwska. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8234-5341-2. Ages 48. When a nighttime routine for Bunny is broken, he takes it upon himself to ensure that bedtime goes as usual. The book received a starred review from PW. Brave Baby Hummingbird Sy Montgomery, illus. by Tiffany Bozic. S&S/Wiseman, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-66591-849-7. Ages 48. Two baby Allens hummingbirds, alone in a coin-size nest, thrive with human assistance in an informational rescue story that hints at fledglings fortitude. The book received a starred review from PW. Everyone Gets a Turn Marianne Dubuc. Princeton Architectural Press, $18.99 (60p) ISBN 978-1-79722-729-0. Ages 36. Four friends who find an egg in the forest initially squabble over who gets to take it home, but learn the virtue of sharing. The book received a starred review from PW. The Last Zookeeper Aaron Becker. Candlewick, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-5362-2768-0. Ages 59. This wordless picture follows a robot zookeeper who must rescue the animals when sea levels rise and threaten their survival. See our q&a with Becker. The book received a starred review from PW. A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse Charlotte Zolotow, illus. by Julie Morstad. Cameron, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-951836-74-0. Ages 57. A girl makes a string of extravagant promises to her mother in this newly illustrated work from late author Zolotow. Something About the Sky Rachel Carson, illus. by Nikki McClure. Candlewick Studio, $19.99 (56p) ISBN 978-1-5362-2870-0. Ages 58. This picture book adapts biologist, conservationist, and Silent Spring author Carsons script from an educational TV program. The book received a starred review from PW. The Walk of the Field Mouse Nadine Robert, illus. by Valerio Vidali. Milky Way, $20.99 (64p) ISBN 978-1-990252-32-7. Ages 48. When a robins egg falls down from its nest, an unexpected hero works tirelessly to return it to its perch. The book received a starred review from PW. Middle Grade The Color of Sound Emily Barth Isler. Carolrhoda, $19.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-7284-8777-9. Ages 812. Golden, a talented tween with synesthesia, probes her Jewish familys history when she magically meets a younger version of her mother. See our q&a with Isler on authentic representations of neurodiversity. The book received a starred review from PW. Ferris Kate DiCamillo. Candlewick, $18.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-536231-05-2. Ages 812. The summer before fifth grade, 10-year-old Emma Phineas Wilkey deals with unfamiliar emotional terrain brought on by her familys antics. The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry Anna Rose Johnson. Holiday House, $18.99 (192p) ISBN 978-0-8234-5363-4. Ages 812. After her guardian dies, Selena Lucy Landry is taken in by the Martins, a large Ojibwe family. In hopes of gaining the acceptance of the Martin children, Lucy sets out in search of long-lost treasure. The book received a starred review from PW. Maya Plays the Part Calyssa Erb. Annick, $19.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-77321-851-9. Ages 812. Autistic 11-year-old musical theater enthusiast Maya Robertson attends theater summer camp and is disappointed when shes assigned assistant director instead of actor, and aims to show her peers that she is meant to be onstage. The book received a starred review from PW. Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem (The Blue Stars #1) Kekla Magoon and Cynthia Leitich Smith, illus. by Molly Murakami. Candlewick, $22.99 (176p) ISBN 978-1-5362-0499-5. Ages 812. Estranged cousins Riley and Maya come together after uncovering a sinister plot with their vice principal at the reins. Read about Magoons busy year in our profile. The book received a starred review from PW. Louder Than Hunger John Schu. Candlewick, $18.99 (528p) ISBN 978-1-5362-2909-7. Ages 1014. In 1996, tween Jake is diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and admitted to an inpatient treatment facility where he explores his relationship with food. See Schus essay for PW on the personal experiences that inspired his novel in verse. The book received a starred review from PW. The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines Mo Netz. Clarion, $18.99 (208p) ISBN 978-0-0632-6653-7. Ages 812. Disabled 11-year-old Jerry Blum and her mother settle at the Slumbering Giant Motel where Jerry grows suspicious of her mothers new job. When her mother vanishes, Jerry ventures into the woods where creatures are rumored to live. The book received a starred review from PW. Olivetti Allie Millington. Feiwel and Friends, $17.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250326-93-5. Ages 812. Olivettia polite and observant dark green typewriterand Ernest, the introverted 12-year-old son to Olivettis owner, Beatrice, both grow worried when Beatrice suddenly disappears. See Millingtons essay for PW on the old-fashioned charm of typewriters. Poetry Comics Grant Snider. Chronicle, $18.99 (96p) ISBN 978-1-79721-965-3. Ages 812. The friendship between two children offers opportunity for self-reflection and curiosity via poetry. The book received a starred review from PW. Unicorn Boy (Unicorn Boy #1) Dave Roman. First Second, $22.99 (208p) ISBN 978-1-250-83027-2. Ages 812. Brian Reyes finds his world turned upside down when, one day, a mysterious bump on his head morphs into a sparkling, singing unicorn horn. The graphic novel received a starred review from PW. The Wild River and The Great Dam: The Construction of Hoover Dam and the Vanishing Colorado River Simon Boughton. Little, Brown/Ottaviano, $19.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-316-38074-4. Ages 914. Boughton chronicles the construction of the Hoover Damwhose purpose was to stop the floods and droughts that plagued the southwestern United Statesand how it would become the largest feat of engineering ever seen in America. See our q&a with publishing veteran Boughton on his childrens debut. The book received a starred review from PW. Young Adult Ariel Crashes a Train Olivia A. Cole. Labyrinth Road, $19.99 (464p) ISBN 978-0-593-64466-9. Ages 14 and up. Queer 17-year-old Ariel Burns begins to fear her own mind when intrusive thoughts about harming others intensify during a pivotal summer. The book received a starred review from PW. The Boy Lost in the Maze Joseph Coelho, illus. by Kate Milner. Candlewick, $19.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-5362-3641-5. Ages 12 and up. Previous collaborators Coelho and Milner offer a nuanced look at masculinity via a teenagers search for his father paralleled with the Greek myth of Theseus. The book received a starred review from PW. Chronically Dolores Maya Van Wagenen. Dutton, $18.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-525-42682-0. Ages 12 and up. Van Wagenen draws on her experiences managing interstitial cystitisa chronic bladder conditionin this middle grade novel centering tween Dolores, who navigates tension at school following a bladder-related incident at school. The book received a starred review from PW. The Encantos Daughter (The Encantos Daughter #1) Melissa de la Cruz. Putnam, $19.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-593-53308-6. Ages 12 and up. Teenage MJ Rodriguez knows that she must conceal from other humans her identity as a half human, half Encanto being from a magical world. When her father, the Encanto King, dies, MJ returns to the world of the Encantos, but she has much to learn of the beguiling fairies ways. See our q&a with de la Cruz on her Filipino-inspired fantasy. Icarus K. Ancrum. HarperTeen, $19.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-06328-578-1. Ages 13 and up. Seventeen-year-old art thief Icarus Gallagher must choose between loyalty to his family or to a new friend when he uncovers a secret that could take down his rivals. The book received a starred review from PW. In the Orbit of You Ashley Schumacher. Wednesday, $20 (320p) ISBN 978-1-2508-8604-0. Ages 13 and up. Childhood best friends Sam and Nova reunite in high school, calling into question all of their carefully laid plans for the future, and the promises they made as children. The book received a starred review from PW. Just Another Epic Love Poem Parisa Akhbari. Dial, $19.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-593-53049-8. Ages 14 and up. Iranian American Mitra Esfahani struggles with changes in her relationships as she and her best friend shift from something platonic to romantic, and her drug-dependent mother makes a reappearance. See our q&a with Akhbari. Kindling Traci Chee. HarperCollins, $19.99 (432p) ISBN 978-0-06326-9354. Ages 14 and up. To help protect her community from raiders, a youth from the small farming village of Camas sets out in search of kindlings, magical soldiers who were conscripted as children into a centuries-long war between opposing nations. The book received a starred review from PW. The Last Bloodcarver Vanessa Le. Roaring Brook, $19.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-250-88152-6. Ages 12 and up. After being outed as a feared bloodcarver, Nhika is bought by the scions of a wealthy industrialist family who seek her bloodcarving to heal the comatose last witness to their patriarchs suspicious death. See our q&a with Le on how she combined her heritage and medical background to craft her debut. The book received a starred review from PW. The No-Girlfriend Rule Christen Randall. Atheneum, $19.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-6659-3981-2. Ages 14 and up. After being kicked out of her boyfriends gaming campaign, Hollis Beckwith finds a girl-friendly, queer-inclusive crowd that helps her find her confidence. The book received a starred review from PW. Six Truths and a Lie Ream Shukairy. Little, Brown, $18.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-316564-59-5. Ages 12 and up. A group of Muslim teenagers suspected of a terrorist attack face pressure from the press, the police, and their own families to turn against one another. See our interview with Shukairy. The book received a starred review from PW. The Summer She Went Missing Chelsea Ichaso. Sourcebooks Fire, $11.99 paper (384p) ISBN 978-1-728251-09-7. Ages 14 and up. Unable to accept her best friends disappearance, Paige begins her own inquiry and delves into a world of shadowy townies and even more sinister dealings among the areas upper crust populace. The book received a starred review from PW. Under This Red Rock Mindy McGinnis. HarperCollins/Tegen, $19.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-0632-3041-5. Ages 14 and up. Neely Hawtrey grapples with the loss of her family and her three secret monsters when a terrible crime occurs, destroying her carefully constructed reality. The book received a starred review from PW. What Monstrous Gods Rosamund Hodge. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $19.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-06-286913-5. Ages 13 and up. Seveteen-year-old Lia Kurinava is intent on killing Ruven and freeing the royal family from the curse of eternal sleep thats been cast on them. The book received a starred review from PW. Where Sleeping Girls Lie Faridah Abike-Iyimide. Feiwel and Friends, $19.99 (416p) ISBN 978-1-250-80084-8. Ages 14 and up. Recently orphaned Sade Hussein begins attending Alfred Nobel Academy, and when her new roommate disappears, Sade launches an investigation that leads to revelations about a culture of patriarchal violence terrorizing female students at the academy. The book received a starred review from PW. Community health worker Lindsay Bechtel Kari Gushow A community health worker connects Vantage's employees with resources in the community. Steve Hall The Left is running a full-scale effort to reshape consumers lives using every tool at their disposal, be that through regulations, product bans, or ideological lawsuits. A key part of this campaign is public nuisance lawsuits that seek to impose billions of dollars in liability on disfavored industries for causing amorphous, nationwide (or worldwide) problems like climate change, gun violence, or drug addiction. The climate change public nuisance lawsuits are a particularly deep well of opportunity for leftwing activists and officials. Cant stop people from buying meat through traditional regulations and legislation? Dont worry, just say that meat companies have contributed to climate change and sue them for billions in an effort to all but stop them selling meat. Cant stop people from buying gasoline? Dont worry, just sue oil companies, car companies, or anyone else who sold a gas-powered product, citing climate change. Just think of the possibilities for the Left. If climate change is a public nuisance under state common law, then basically any local government can sue the maker of a common consumer product, demanding money to abate the nuisance of climate change, which is to say demanding that somehow these companies stop the effects of worldwide climate change with their checkbook. It is hard to imagine a better path to reshaping large parts of our economy and society and all without having to bother with details like public policy debates, the legislative process, or votes at the ballot box. Luckily for consumers, there is a way to defenestrate the lefts climate change public nuisance effort, and the ticket to that brighter future comes in the form of a climate change public nuisance case from HawaiiSunoco v. Honoluluthat just came up for potential review before the United States Supreme Court. A long line of climate change cases have come calling for the Supreme Courts attention in recent years, many of which involved complex procedural questions that tantalized those of a more academic persuasion but disclaimed any desire to define the bottom-line conclusion for how these cases should end. This case is different. It comes as the most complete package to the Court, arising from the Hawaii Supreme Court and squarely presenting core questions about whether state public nuisance law can properly be deployed to address global problems and change how whole industries operate across the country. The lawsuit is a classic of the genre, alleging that a list of oil companies like Sunoco and Exxon are responsible for contributing to climate change and should pay an untold fortune to help abate the harms of climate change to the City and County of Honolulu. It is currently sitting on a conclusive decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court that state public nuisance law applies and Honolulu can go to trial. Make no mistake, this Honolulu case offers a potential endgame. The case squarely asks whether one municipal plaintiff can cite an international problem like climate change and in turn use a single states public nuisance laws to steer policy for the entire country in multiple industries. The decision below features a state supreme court analyzing the federal law of nuisance and determining what is left for the states. And it reaches the opposite conclusion of at least one federal court of appeals (that barred a similar New York City lawsuit). It is important for the Supreme Court to take up this Honolulu case, make strong, clear statements about the contours of state public nuisance in this context, and resolve the novel legal questions that are driving forward dozens of lawsuits like this one with billions at stake in state courts across the country. Consumers deserve strong protection from the Supreme Court in connection with these climate change public nuisance cases. It is one thing for coastal enclaves in places like Hawaii, California, or New York to pass draconian measures limiting what their consumers can buy and how they must live. But it is entirely different (and far worse) when Honolulu or Oakland looks to the courtroom in an effort to impose its preferred lifestyle choices on consumers in the rest of the country. State public nuisance law has a place. But it shouldnt be a way for a handful of progressive enclaves to effectively obtain national regulatory authority over countless industries in the name of climate change. And time is of the essence if consumers are going to be saved from these cases. The list of targets for these public nuisance cases keeps growing (New Yorks Attorney General targeted the meat industry just last month for its role as a leading contributor to climate change). And not every industry will play its hand in litigation and fight for years up to the Supreme Court with billions on the line. The Supreme Court finally has a golden opportunity to take on the merits of the modern public nuisance movement and limit the near-limitless reach of the current wave of climate change public nuisance cases. They should take it. O.H. Skinner is executive director of Alliance for Consumers and the former solicitor general of Arizona. 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Nearby Indiana Chris Conran / Instagram By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/25/2024 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. alums Chris Conran and Alana Milne have announced they're engaged after more than two years of dating."My dream girl said yes to forever," Chris, 31, captioned photos of his marriage proposal via Instagram on Sunday, March 24.The photos show that Chris popped the question by the ocean. He got down on one knee while surrounded by candles and rose petals in Bali, Indonesia.The engagement comes well over two years after the pair had moved in together in Salt Lake City, UT, in Fall 2021.Chris had announced via Instagram in November 2021 that he was finally living with his Canadian love, and then they celebrated their first anniversary in July 2022.Chris and Alana both left 's seventh season in 2021 single.Following the October 2021 finale of 7, Alana and Chris went Instagram official At the time, Alana posted a photo of herself kissing Chris on her Instagram Stories at a party and wrote, "Paradise is wherever I'm with you."Chris shared Alana's post on his own Instagram Stories and proudly revealed at the time, "3 months of no cameras or producers," before noting how the couple was "waiting for a double date" with their co-stars Noah Erb and Abigail Heringer On how the couple got together after leaving Mexico separately, Chris previously told BachelorNation.com, "After Paradise, I was completely mind f'ed. I have this great connection with someone and watched it slip away in the same day.""I downplay it all the time," he noted, "but it ate away at my heart.""What we have is real real, and I've never felt anything stronger," Chris insisted of Alana. "I had to talk to her and see her, but right after the show I felt like she didn't want to talk to me."Chris, however, apparently reached out to Alana anyway and "sent her flowers and booked a flight" to visit her."[The] rest is history," Chris said.Alana added how "things have a way of working themselves out" and she and Chris certainly didn't regret appearing on ."Had I never gone on the show, Chris and I never would have had that first date. Had we stayed on the show, something or someone may have come between us. It all happened the way it was supposed to," Alana shared."The show brought us together and then we were able to create a relationship on our own."The pair agreed it would be "silly to regret anything."But was a very rocky and dramatic experience for the soon-to-be spouses.During a September 2021 episode of , Chris and Jessenia Cruz had become one of the strongest couples on the beach in Mexico, but once Alana showed up to an invite-only VIP party hosted by Tituss Burgess , Chris kissed her right away and proceeded to make out with her on the dance floor right in front of Jessenia.After Jessenia left the VIP party early, alone and brokenhearted, Alana joined the Paradise cast the next day and asked Chris out on a date, and he said "yes" without hesitation.From there on out, Chris and Alana were inseparable and all about each other, and so the couple was accused of having had a pre-show relationship and strategy for the Paradise process, similar to how Brendan Morais had dated Natasha Parker until his genuine romantic interest, Pieper James , arrived.Jessenia told the cameras Alana had once "thrown herself" on Chris at a friendly gathering in San Diego, CA, which "wasn't a good look" and it appeared Chris had been waiting for her to enter Paradise the entire time.Once Chris and Alana coupled up in Paradise, Joe Amabile and Riley Christian rushed to Jessenia's defense and led an attack on Chris in which they scolded him for wanting "clout" and being "dishonorable."Chris was essentially forced out of Paradise, with Jessenia telling Chris to f-ck himself, follow his heart, and "get the f-ck out of Paradise." And Riley and Joe agreed that was the right decision to make.When Alana asked the group if anyone wanted to know what she thought of the situation, Jessenia, Joe and Riley clapped back, "No!"Alana therefore left the show on her on accord since the environment had become a toxic place for her as well.Alana, however, decided not to leave with Chris since they had no time to really get to know each other and build a solid foundation.Chris apologized for hurting Jessenia in a lengthy Instagram apology after the unflattering footage aired, but he also felt wronged by his Season 7 co-stars."I take complete accountability for my blatant disrespect towards Jessenia, and handling the situation poorly," Chris wrote that same month, adding, "My past behavior is not a reflection of who I am or who I want to be, and it was never my intention to maliciously or purposefully hurt anyone on the show."After pointing out how he had been working on his relationship and communication skills, Chris confirmed he was "by no means in a relationship" with Alana prior to filming the show."I hung out with both Alana and Jessenia in a group setting," Chris explained at the time. "I met both of them, and had the same preshow relationship prior to Paradise. Flirty, and excited to potentially see them on Paradise."Chris asked people to stop attacking and harassing Alana, and despite having made some mistakes, he went on to stand up for himself."The hateful messages I'm receiving aren't fun, and the way I was attacked and pushed out of Paradise sucked. It reminded me of getting ganged up on in high school by the 'cook kids,'" Chris wrote."I understand I was low hanging fruit since I'm not a fan favorite, but it also takes a huge level of disrespect for grown men to shut a woman down when she's trying to use her voice. You two know she deserves an apology. We cannot have a culture where we silence women on this show.""All in all, I was not in a relationship prior to the show. I arrived single, and left single. Don't compare me to Brendan and Pieper, because it is not the same. I was disrespectful to Jessenia, and should have carried myself better," he added.Chris said "sorry" again for his actions but admitted, "I do not regret following my heart" on -- and his heart clearly led him to Alana once he returned home.Prior to their time on , Alana had competed on Season 25 of The Bachelor starring Matt James , which aired in 2021, and Chris had appeared on Clare Crawley and Tayshia Adams ' season of The Bachelorette in 2020.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! Lace Morris / Instagram By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/25/2024 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. The Bachelor alum Lace Morris has given birth to her first child with her now ex-boyfriend Ryan John Nelson.Lace, 34, recently took to Instagram and unveiled pictures of her baby boy, Liam Lee."Meet Liam Lee," Lace captioned the carousel of pictures. "This little champ is already aiming for the stars from day one."Lace welcomed her son on March 16 at 3:43AM at a hospital in Denver, CO, and Liam weighed seven pounds and seven ounces at the time of his birth.Lace first shared the news of Liam's birth via Instagram Stories on March 16."Holy sh-t, I'm a mom," Lace wrote, according to Us Weekly. "That was one of the most special/craziest experiences ever."On Sunday, March 24, Lace opened up to her followers about what her life has been like as a single mom in a Q&A session.Lace confirmed of Ryan, "He's fully present for Liam, just absent from my social media as we are not together."Lace admitted via Instagram Stories that postpartum is "a lot" for her to handle because of her recovery plus "the pain that comes with breastfeeding" and the "intense" emotions she's been dealing with. Lace also said that adding "a crying newborn" to the mix has made things more difficult."There [were] a few days of me just crying [with] him," Lace confessed. "But we are getting in the swing of things & a lot better."Lace insisted that loving her son is something she has "truly never before." She also joked about how she never realized she's so "controlling."When a fan asked how she's feeling physically, Lace replied, "I luckily only had a small tear but [am] still in some pain down there. Energy is pretty good too! [Eight] days [postpartum], nursing helps."Lace shared how she's learned to be very patient because it's hard to tell what's wrong with a newborn sometimes.Lace noted that has "no doubt" she and Ryan will "figure it out" but she's been experiencing "a lot of emotions" in the meantime. Luckily, Lace has her mother helping her with the baby, and her family and friends have apparently been "top notch" in the last week or so.Lace first revealed that she was going to become a mother in late August 2023."Baby has entered the chat. What a beautiful surprise," Lace captioned an image of her dog, Lola, wearing a bandana that read "baby security," sitting alongside a onesie that read "protected by Lola" and an ultrasound photo."Baby Nelson due in March #babyannouncement #babycomingsoon," she added.Lace did not reveal any additional details about the nature of her relationship with Ryan in her social-media posting.But Lace shared on social media in February that her romance with Ryan was "messy" and she wasn't ready to talk about it yet."I guess technically no we're not [dating]. We're living together, but you gotta understand, we made a baby right as we started dating. You don't really know a person and that changes a lot," Lace said at the time, according to BachelorNation.com."We've tried to make it work. We just don't know where it's going to go, but right now, our focus is being here for Liam obviously... You guys know I like to keep it real, but this one is just still kind of messy and we're trying to figure it out. Unfortunately right now, it's not working though."Lace found fame when she competed for Ben Higgins ' heart on The Bachelor's 20th season. She then got engaged to Grant Kemp on 's third season in Summer 2016.Lace, who was a real estate agent at the time of her first Paradise stint, and Grant "mutually" split in November 2016, only two months after their engagement aired on television.Shortly after their breakup, Grant was spotted out with another woman and Lace confessed she was "shocked" he had moved on so quickly, adding that there was no chance of a reconciliation.Several months later, Grant told Us that his relationship with Lace was "very volatile."Lace admitted during a June 2017 episode of "The Ben & Ashley I: Almost Famous Podcast" that it was "definitely lust" with Grant and not genuine love."I think lust is like sexual and you kind of have this fantasy of what you want. You want it to work, you think this guy is attractive, you think you're in love. It's almost forced," Lace said on the podcast.Lace claimed at the time she had found true love with a man named Russell, but they broke up and then Lace returned to for the show's eighth season in 2022.Lace dated Rodney Mathews during her 2022 appearance on Paradise and she seemed happier than ever with the sweet and funny bachelor by her side.However, the show's "The Split" twist forced Lace and Rodney to different resorts, and then Rodney fell hard and fast for Eliza Isichei "Lace is a very, very emotional person," Brandon Jones told the cameras."I think as soon as Rodney has this conversation, Lace is going to turn into 'Laceifer.' Just don't give this girl gasoline or a match, please, because she's going to light this boy up."Rodney ultimately dumped Lace, who was completely crushed and left bawling her eyes out."I trusted your words and now I just feel -- you left me with be secure in what we have and not to worry," Lace cried to Rodney. "It was eating me alive... I'm going home. This all sucks so bad. I'm just exhausted."The Bachelor alum lamented in her final words, "I should've saw this coming. I should've expected it.""This is why I hate it," she continued."I can't find love and I'm sick of it; it's so hard. I'm so humiliated. I've worked so hard just to put myself out there, only to get hurt again. I don't know what to do at this point. I don't get it."Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group Disney/John Fleenor By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/25/2024 ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. 's Maria Georgas has revealed if she's really squashed her beef with Sydney Gordon Lea Cayanan and Jess Edwards after it it appeared the women had made up and hugged it out on The Women Tell All.Maria, Lea and Sydney had a few heated exchanges on : The Women Tell All for Joey Graziadei 's season.For instance, Sydney announced how she and Maria just communicated differently, and Maria fired back, "You're right. I speak the truth and you make up lies... We do speak different languages."But by the end of the broadcast, both Sydney and Lea apologized to Maria.Sydney admitted her behavior on the show was, in fact, "annoying" and she had said things she didn't mean, and Lea told Maria, "I don't think I ever got the opportunity to know you for you outside of the conflict. And for that, I am so sorry. I think you're a wonderful woman."After taping The Women Tell All , Maria assured People that her beef with Sydney and Lea is "finished and squashed.""We actually made up and I respect those girls," Maria shared earlier this month."I said this to Sydney, because she said to me, 'I don't think you were this, that, and the other thing. I don't believe that anymore. I'm sorry that I said those things.a And I was like, 'You know what? I believe you didn't think those things of me. I think that you were just trying to go to bat for someone.'"Maria was referring to Madina Alam , whom Sydney thought she was supporting by taking jabs at Maria.Maria had made a comment about Madina being the oldest woman in the cast, but her intention wasn't to cause harm or be catty. Sydney, however, interpreted the comment differently and went on to call Maria a manipulative bully."I don't know what she was trying to do. But I do believe that she didn't mean those things," Maria added of Sydney.Once Joey sent Sydney home during a two-on-one date against Maria, Lea took up arms to defend her bestie in the house, Sydney.Lea observed Madina calling Maria beautiful after the two-on-one date, and so Lea took it upon herself to check Madina and let her know that her behavior wasn't indicative of how a good friend of Sydney's would act.Madina was offended by the confrontation, but Lea -- a self-declared girls' girl -- thought she was having her friend's back and doing the right thing.Lea then called Maria "a drama queen baby" in a confessional and admitted to Joey that many of the girls were shocked by his decision to keep Maria on the show.For Jess' part, she got angry at Maria for stealing time with Joey during a cocktail party when she had already secured a rose. Jess thought Maria's actions were "rude" and "disrespectful."Maria told People that Jess' reaction to her at The Women Tell All "kind of surprised me."Maria elaborated, "I don't know where she's at. She apologized to me after calling me a b-tch. And we were good since then."But Maria revealed, "And then she tried to come at me and I was like, 'Listen, I thought I was going to tell the world that we were good and then you're trying to play me.' So Jess, I don't know yet. To be continued."It therefore appears there is still tension between Maria and Jess.However, Maria previously confessed that she was "not innocent" in all the drama that took place while filming ."I'm not innocent in this," Maria conceded."I like to say that I am a woman who speaks her mind and will defend herself at all costs, that's just how I was raised. But if I could go back, I would do things differently... Next time I'm gonna just zip it."Maria, however, insisted to People that she felt "great" overall about how things played out on The Women Tell All, which aired Monday, March 18 on ABC."A weight has been lifted," Maria noted. "I feel like now I can go out into the world and just be myself and not have to be asked many questions. I feel good."Maria also assured fans that she received the closure she needed from Joey, who made a brief appearance on The Women Tell All to confront his exes and answer their questions."Being able to see his thoughts and he's saying what he's saying, just all together seeing him with the other women as well. It just all came together the way it needed to be. That gave me closure," Maria shared.Maria recently admitted she'd be "stupid to say no" to starring on ette's next season, but if that doesn't work out for her, she'd apparently be open to a stint on Bachelor in Paradise.Maria confirmed that she wouldn't give the spinoff an immediate "no" if she's asked to make an appearance and look for love on the beach in Mexico."I know a lot of people would love to see me on the beach," Maria acknowledged."It's funny because before going on the show, my dad was like, 'Okay, I'm accepting Bachelor. Definitely not Bachelor in Paradise.' But I'm open. Bachelor's hard . But Bachelor in Paradise is kind of fun," Maria told the magazine.Maria also previously mentioned how she wouldn't even immediately turn down another stint on a future season. Click here to learn more about Joey's bachelorettes or click here to read spoilers that reveal how Joey's season ends and who he picked as his winner.Interested in more news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group Thousands of hardy souls across New England spent Sunday digging out after a major weekend storm dumped more than two feet of snow in some areas, caused multiple road accidents, downed power lines and left hundreds of thousands across the Northeast in the dark, some perhaps for days In this week's UGA blotter, meth-related objects are found in a UGA visitors car, $2,500 in attempted fraudulent purchases are made on a students card and two shirtless men appear to be arguing after one is forcibly removed from a car. The voter registration deadline for the May General Primary and Local Nonpartisan Election in Athens-Clarke county is set for Monday, April 22, according to the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government website. The General Primary and Nonpartisan Election will be held on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. The Constitution's Preamble says that we Indians have resolved to secure for Indians 'fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual'. Fraternity can come only when we stand up for each other. The desis of the Boston South Asian Coalition actually attempt to do that, points out Aakar Patel. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi inaugurates multiple infrastructure projects in Yavatmal, Maharashtra, February 28, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo I am writing this from the United States, where I attended an interesting solidarity meeting that I thought I should write about. It was interesting because it combined two struggles -- that for secularism in democratic India and against imperialism in occupied Palestine. Hosted by the Boston South Asian Coalition it featured two speakers. One was our Teesta Setalvad, heroine of the struggle for justice in Gujarat. The other was a young man from South Lebanon named Saleem Hallal. In the audience were a few dozen people including several desis and to my mind this was what made this gathering especially interesting and I will write about why that is later. The talks by the two speakers were focussed on the facts. About communal crimes in one place condoned by the state (some would say encouraged by it) and in the other a national struggle for the liberation. There was also a common thread and that was historical revisionism and the rewriting of things. The idea in both Palestine and 'New India' that something else used to be here on the ground and in this land a thousand years ago or two thousand years ago. And that idea and that notion therefore justifies violence against people and against structures and monuments in the present. A lot of people in the audience including myself found themselves nodding at the parallels. Setalvad, who has been a friend for a few decades, was precise and deliberate in what she communicated to the gathering, most of whom may not have known of what had transpired in and after 2002 in Gujarat. She spoke of the 174 individuals who had been convicted because of the courage and persistence of the survivors and activists. Of these 124 were given life. These were convictions that came often in the face of resistance from the state to the idea of justice. To understand what sort of effort that took, consider only how rapist-murderer convicts are today mollycoddled by the government in India which wants to release them for no reason other than bigotry. Many might not know now and many who knew will have forgotten that the Supreme Court had moved trials out of Gujarat, something that to the best of my knowledge has not happened since or before. Hallal spoke directly and with passion about how unjust was both the reality on the ground and the falsity of the narrative constructed to sustain it. That early settlers into Israel survived because of the aid of Palestinians he said, just as the early settlers into America had. What was happening in Palestine was not a religious conflict but one of the occupied against the occupier. He exposed how hollow it was to describe the settler colonialism as the coming together of a 'land without people for a people without a land'. He explained how the narrative that the Israel Palestine issue was 'complicated' was merely something used to complicate a more simple reality. That of occupation and colonialism and the rewriting history with a particular agenda. The talk is on the Boston South Asian Coalition YouTube page and I would encourage all to see it. Why I said I found this gathering interesting was that it is not uncommon for Indian groups in the US to be shown as backing the government in India. Particularly on such issues as what the government does to minority Indians and in events that are organised by the State ('Howdy Modi'). This is especially and unfortunately true of my own Gujarati community, who are often shown as being at the forefront of this defence of state communalism. But there is another side to this and there are other Indians, many of them, who are opposed to the path we have taken in recent years. It is those who I joined on that day. At the gathering I spoke briefly on what it was that Indians abroad could do. This was that they should use the democratic process in their country to engage with what was happening in India. The main reason that a discriminatory citizenship law was passed in India in 2019 but not implemented yet was the protest against it. But another reason was the condemnatory position taken against it by the European parliament. One wonders why it was that MPs in far off lands would be interested in what we might think of as being as our 'internal affairs' but it is clear that this was likely because Indians abroad were concerned enough to raise the law with their local legislator. India is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. There is no reason why our friends cannot remind us of this fact. And this in turn is more likely to happen if desis abroad engage more robustly with what is going on in India. Solidarity is important not only because as humans we should understand the suffering of others but because such participation is our duty. The Constitution's Preamble says that we Indians have resolved to secure for Indians 'fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual'. Fraternity can come only when we stand up for each other. The desis of the Boston South Asian Coalition actually attempt to do that. Aakar Patel is a columnist and writer and you can read Aakar's earlier columns here. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy. IMAGE: Former President Ram Nath Kovind, who headed the high-level committee on 'One Nation, One Election', along with committee member Union Home Minister Amit A Shah, presents the report on simultaneous elections to President Droupadi Murmu. All photographs: ANI Photo Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge may have over-shot the target when he said the electoral scheme proposed by the Ramnath Kovind Committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind meant 'one-nation-no-election' instead. Patently deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time. Alternatively, he or she could also lose what all Modi has gained for the party, all across. Yes, all-across is the phrase that is the spirit of the Kovind report, which seems to have adopted one-party-one-leader governance, bottom-up, from the panchayat-level to Parliament and prime minister, through state legislatures. All of it will be done in the name of democracy that too, the existing scheme of multi-party democracy. IMAGE: Former President Ram Nath Kovind chairs the first high level committee meeting on One Nation One Election at Jodhpur House in New Delhi. Given that 'ideology, whatever it be and whether you like it or not, is at the core of the social reach, political existence and even the scheme of governance all across for the ruling party, the Kovind Report, if implemented, say, may help the Sangh Parivar to institutionalise their ideology-orientation through a systematic intrusion, which anyway they do not need just now. If the BJP clears the required numbers -- say, the 400-seat target for the party-led NDA, as Modi has been playing a poll-eve psy-war on the nation's voters -- then, the Kovind scheme could become what the abolition of Article 370 was at the end of elections 2019 -- fast and furious before the nation could even recover from poll fatigue to grasp the nuances of it all! The reasons are not far to seek. Across most states in the country, the BJP has been in charge of elected bodies, again from panchayats upwards. What they seem needing urgently at present is two or three terms of five years at a stretch to create an 'Opposition-mukt' nation all across, not stopping with a 'Congress mukt' Bharat or a 'DMK mukt' Tamil Nadu. It is the BJP's conviction that the Congress has been destroyed beyond redemption to its past existence and the realisation that they could make it an one-party State without saying it, but doing it only if they also destroyed all regional parties. The list is long, and their grassroots-level reach is also deep. From Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress to Akhilesh Yadav's Sanajwadi Party to Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal to the Shiv Senas and Akali Dals, not to leave out allies like the Janata Dal-United and the Janata Dal-Secular, the Telugu Desam Party and the Jana Sena, there is an impressive list, still. This is not to forget the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the rival All India Dravida Munnetra Kazagham in Tamil Nadu, and the eternal cat-on-the-wall in Odisha's Biju Janata Dal and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party in UP. However weak they may have become over the past decade of the Modi regime -- and more so, the 'Modi magic' to be precise -- it still takes time to root them all out, just out of recognition and even basic existence. You still may not say so, but if that happens, a one-party government, if not one-party State, as in China or elsewhere, would have been achieved without changing the much-hyped 'basic atructure' and character of the nation's Constitution, one way or the other. IMAGE: Former President Ram Nath Kovind, Home Minister Amit A Shah, Democratic Progressive Azad Party chief Ghulam Nabi Azad and Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal with President Droupadi Murmu. What if the basic premise of the BJP does not work, if not now, but on a later day? And what is this basic premise? It is built on the strongest of beliefs and convictions that Modi is the most charismatic leader in the country with no one, inside the party and more so outside coming anywhere close to him -- and thus his natural ability to attract voters and their votes in volumes that the party or the nation had not seen, at least since the turn of the century. The idea, as indicated by the Kovind report, is for the BJP to sweep all elections across the board in one great sweep. If so, it could commence with the next round of Lok Sabha polls, due in 2029. By then, much-delayed new Census figures and delimitation of Lok Sabha and state assembly constituencies too would have been completed, as per current schedule. There is already talk of increasing the number of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats. It was said to be among the reasons for the hurried construction of a new Parliament complex, which is already in full use. Of course, there is the huge possibility of 'developed States' across south and west India, losing the existing number of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats, owing to their successful implementation of family planning schemes over the past decades. The question is how effective would be their protests and protestations, both inside and outside the Supreme Court, as they would have lost their voice(s) inside Parliament even if they monopolised regional politics, on this one issue. The BJP, to be fair to the party, might have been encouraged by the electoral successes in Karnataka, which is also a fast-developing state, like Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra. It would still be interesting to note if Modi's native state of Gujarat, which is among the most developed states, would lose parliamentary seats, post-delimitation. Rather, the question translates into one on the success of family planning in the state, thus leading to lower population growth-rate, as in the 'developed and enlightened' South. Present projections show a falling population growth rate, however. That said, there is still nothing to suggest that Modi could become as unpopular as he is now popular. But a future leader or a series of leaders who may end up stepping into his shoes over time need not be as popular as he is at present. The possibilities are immense and can cut both ways. The BJP-RSS strategists, whether sitting in Nagpur or working their computers as NRI ideologues overseas, on all kinds of projections, may suffer from the same kind of self-indulgence that their one-time Communist rivals got accustomed to. Their kind of 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' approach led to a situation in which the Communists won't listen to what the world, from grassroots upwards, had to tell them on how outdated their policies and mass programmes were. Today, the multiple Communist parties in the country are worse than in their death beds. Barring Kerala, where the world's first democratically-elected government happened in 1957, there is no Communist party worth the name elsewhere. That includes West Bengal and Tripura, where they had controlled elected governments for decades without end -- but not any more, now or later. IMAGE: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin moves a resolution against the 'One Nation One Election' policy in the state assembly in Chennai. All told, the BJP's current exercise is only a take-off from their earlier attempt at trying out the presidential form of government, where they thought the greater popularity of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee would help sweep the nation. That itself was only an adaptation from a similar provision in the anonymous draft of the '42nd Constitution Amendment' that was doing selective rounds during the Emergency. However, a second draft, whose parentage too no one claimed, had dropped this provision -- as it did not reportedly find favour even within then prime minister Indira Gandhi's inner circle. Though not anticipated, the complete rout of the Congress party in the post-Emergency parliamentary polls of 1977 -- when Indira Gandhi too lost her Rai Bareli seat by a 55,000 vote margin. Incidentally, it was the complete rout of the Congress in the Hindi belt that reportedly gave the Vajpayee-L K Advani duo the idea that with a charismatic leader sweeping the Hindi belt, they could win a presidential election more comfortably than a parliamentary polls, which was a more elaborate affair. The reversals that the BJP suffered in assembly elections in some north Indian states convinced the party enough that the Vajpayee Centre tasked the Justice Venkatachellaiah Commission to 'review the working of the Constitution' in general terms, without considering the presidential form. Today, the one-nation-one-vote proposition too aims at betting on Modi's greater popularity and inherent charisma, but in more systematic bottom-up approach, where the party hopes to capitalise on the same even at the panchayat level. Given two, or even one set of elections under given circumstances, the BJP would have perpetuated what would then tantamount to one-party rule across the board. Only that as long as electoral democracy prevails in the same form as it exists now, there is always the flips side, as happened to Indira Gandhi, post-Emergency (1977) Rajiv Gandhi, post-Bofors (1989) and also Vajpayee in elections 2004, where the BJP's 'India Shining' campaign proved to be a dud. Thus, Mallikarjun Kharge's prediction of 'one-nation-no-election' may not happen, as the perpetrators seem wanting Constitutional legitimacy, without which they could end up crossing swords with the higher judiciary. Such a course will be bad publicity, which the leadership does not desire more outside the country under the given circumstances than even inside. Of course, it has nothing to do with the likes of the Supreme Court's verdict in the Electoral Bonds case. Maybe, the government had thought that by side-stepping the Supreme Court's direction to include the Chief Justice of India in the three-member panel to select election commissioners would give them absolute authority over the nation's poll process -- which is the world's largest democratic drama in action. But the government seems to have forgotten how Indira Gandhi's dispensation that won the historic 1971 War lost the immediate next general elections, post-Emergency, 1977, on issues that the leadership had not anticipated -- and hence caught unawares. If nothing else, for the ruling Congress of the time, Indira Gandhi's popularity in 1971 became a burden in 1977 -- and cut both ways, after all! N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and author, is a Chennai-based policy analyst and political commentator. Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. IMAGE: Narendra Modi holds a roadshow in Coimbatore, March 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo Narendra Modi has audaciously set his eyes on a target of 370 Lok Sabha seats for his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and at a 400-plus tally for the National Democratic Alliance. This would not be possible unless it is successful in securing a significant number of seats from the five southern states and the lone Union Territory in the region, which collectively account for 130 seats. For the BJP to win 370 seats out of the 413 seats from other regions in India, it would require a mammoth strike rate of more than 89.5 percent. But this is easier said than done given the fact that the BJP, in its basic instinct remains an overzealous Hindi heartland plus western-India party. Despite being a significant political force in the country for the past three-and-a-half decades, the concept of Bharat in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, still remains essentially north, central and western India. For instance, when the India Navy chose a new ensign two years ago, it incorporated elements from Shivaji's Rajmudra and not from the Chola maritime heritage. While the former was known from a defensive naval operation which was strictly brown water, the Chola navy was noted for being both imperial and blue water. Further, when the saffron clan contends that the last millennium was one of slavery, they disregard the fact that Islam made its advent in India first by the sea route peacefully in today's Kerala, several centuries prior to its arrival in north India. The BJP's inability to 'think with' southern India and conceptualise a vision for India that addresses the region's sensitivities, is also partly reflected in the party's consistent southern shortfall. The failure to make inroads into the region is paradoxical given that the BJP 'opened its account' in south India as back as 1991. Back then, in the Lok Sabha polls, it bagged four seats in Karnataka with an impressive vote share of 28.78 percent. While the party secured political power in the state in later years, the regimes were rarely secure and political instability and turbulence remained their principal characteristic. In 2019, driven on the strength of the Modi/hyper-nationalistic juggernaut the party won 25 (plus one bagged by an independent candidate backed by the BJP) out of 28 seats in the state. The party's performance in Karnataka, either for Lok Sabha or assembly polls, never influenced the party's showing in other southern states where they remained laggard. In 2019, Telangana was the only other southern state, besides Karnataka, from where the party won any seat -- four, making it a tally of 29 out of 130 seats in the southern region, or a strike rate of just 22.3 percent. Modi declared his intention to aim for 370 Lok Sabha seats, significantly more than the number required to give the BJP a two-third majority in the House, in February, but he had clearly made up his mind earlier. This was evident in the manner on which he travelled through Tamil Nadu and other southern states in the run up the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. Prior to reaching the temple town in Uttar Pradesh, Modi spent three days in Tamil Nadu where he did not try to push through the over-zealous character of Hindutva and instead presented its 'benign' or 'soft' face. The most surprising feature of his visit was a two-night halt at a math in Rameswaram, renowned for being a noted Hindu pilgrimage destination. IMAGE: Modi being felicitated by Kerala BJP Chief K Surendran in Thiruvananthapuram. Photograph: ANI Photo Modi's entire 11-day long pilgrimage-hopping voyage prior to reaching Ayodhya for the consecration ceremony, during which performed rituals and prayed -- often conveying that he was seeking the blessings of the gods for the welfare of the nation, people and self, was aimed at projecting a compassionate face of Hindutva, as against its standard image of being representative of an aggressive ideology. Although Modi embarked on this packed ritual-performing journey on January 12 from Nashik Dham in Maharashtra, he visited the Veerbhadra temple at Lepakshi in Andhra Pradesh. That this was a southern reach out became evident when he sat in the audience to listen to Ranganatha Ramayanamu in Telugu besides watching the story of Jatayu performed by a shadow puppet team. Modi also visited temples in Kerala before heading into Tamil Nadu. Not just sleeping on the floor and having only coconut water for the 11-day trip, but his image managers also ensured that this was duly projected by the media. It enabled projecting the benign image of Modi as the country's chief priest who was also the premier, besides being a leader of a nationalist and unifying clan of political organisations. The primary purpose of the visit was to underscore that all the sites that he visited on this trip were undeniably an integral part of the Ram legend. It was communicated that these were religious places from where the epic hero now considered god, drew his divine powers and they were as important for Hindus in other parts of the country. The underlying political message was that despite the BJP's failure in securing support of an often stubborn electorate, the people in the southern states were no different from the Hindutva-endorsing several hundred millions in north, central and western India. The trip also established the Ramayan connect throughout the country. The route was packed with destinations that were named in the epic, as important halts for the characters and/or important events and episodes. Although no political messaging was done, it was implicit and the point conveyed was obvious -- if the people of these states are connected by religion and epics featuring common gods, then, why should they not share the same political culture? IMAGE: Modi offers prayers at Sri Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, January 20, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo The religio-cultural connection established, the Modi-BJP combine went about sewing up alliances in various states: With H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-S in Karnataka, with Nara Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party in Andhra Pradesh and Anbumani Ramadoss' Pattali Makkal Katchi and at least another four other smaller parties in Tamil Nadu. Yet, barring Karnataka, the BJP challenge in these states does not look formidable at this stage of the campaign. In Tamil Nadu, the BJP is clearly trying to emerge as a third force as after the ties with the AIADMK ended a few months ago, the BJP had little option but to team up with smaller players. Barring a few seats in the state, the BJP will hope to improve its prospects in the state only in the long run, that too, if its allies decided to stick with it. Likewise in Andhra Pradesh, its allies, the TDP and JSP, are going to be locked in a triangular contest with the incumbent, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR. The present ruling party will have to weather the challenge from the TDP-led NDA as well as from the Congress. The big worry for the BJP and its allies is that there is likelihood of the anti-incumbent sentiment getting vertically divided between the two challengers. IMAGE: BJP supporters at an election meeting addressed by Modi in Shivamogga, Karnataka, March 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo The BJP also faces the challenge in Telangana of retaining the four seats it won in 2019. These elections are being held barely months after the electoral sweep by a resurgent Congress in last year's assembly elections and it is not going to easily let its stranglehold in the state get weakened. The BJP will hope that the Modi factor will negate its other shortcomings. But, the moot question is whether the BJP's markedly pro-Hindi and aggressive Hindutva politics will find favour with voters south of the Vindhyas. It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region. The Madrasis, as the majority in north India still refer to its citizens south of the Vindhyas, remain, for the BJP, a tough nut to crack. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is an author and journalist based in Delhi-NCR. His latest book is The Demolition, The Verdict and The Temple: The Definitive Book on the Ram Mandir Project. He is also the author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com If Indira Gandhi hadn't targeted the RSS, Narendra Modi wouldn't be sitting pretty with his second majority and looking at a third, asserts Shekhar Gupta. IMAGE: Narendra Modi at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Shri Kalki Dham temple in Sambhal district, Uttar Pradesh, February 19, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo In his replies during the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address in both Houses of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took us back seven decades to count what he sees as the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty's errors across our independent history. This gives us the cue for another question: What is the biggest, the most consequential political blunder made by any party or leader in independent India? It is challenging to name just one, so we will list three. We are also confining our search to the past 50 years. As we go along, I will also put them in my order of significance or consequentiality. We need to clarify, however, how we define such a blunder. First, it has to be purely related to our politics. Any policy errors -- economic, foreign, or social -- are excluded. Second, morality or propriety is no criterion for judging what was worse or the worst. And third, a big qualification to be really bad and feature among the three, and then top this list, a blunder must have consequences that altered the course of politics for decades. The longer the impact is felt, the worse the error. At this point, I shall name my choices for the three worst. I am only listing them chronologically yet: Indira Gandhi targeting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during the Emergency and jailing thousands of its workers, mostly anonymous people. This is distinct from the Jana Sangh leaders she jailed. Rajiv Gandhi deciding to sit out and not stake a claim to form a government despite winning 197 seats in the Lok Sabha in 1989. The mandate was against him, and he respected it, he said. Never mind his party was the largest by far. The mandate was against him, and he respected it, he said. Never mind his party was the largest by far. In 2004, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani advancing the general elections by nearly six months, buoyed by their sweep in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The first question you are likely to ask me might be: Why aren't you counting the imposition of the Emergency among the biggest political blunders? Why just the targeting and jailing of the RSS cadres? The answer is simple. Mrs Gandhi got away with the Emergency; her 1977 defeat was a mere rap on the knuckles. In under three years, she was back in power. If in the 46 years after the Emergency, her party was in power for 25 years, it can only mean that the people forgave her for it. It was her somewhat targeting of the RSS that endured. First, it legitimised the RSS as a political force, elevating it to be her party's main ideological adversary. Until then, her party's strength was that it never needed to fight one ideology. It was never the Congress ideology versus another. She brought this upon her party. Mass arrests of mostly unknown and relatively common folk of the RSS brought it wide respect and some awe. In the course of time, the Jana Sangh was reborn as the Bharatiya Janata Party, emerging as the only ideological counter to the Congress as it weakened in the following decades. If she hadn't targeted the RSS, Narendra Modi wouldn't be sitting pretty with his second majority and looking at a third. IMAGE: Indira Gandhi with her son Sanjay Gandhi in Delhi. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images from the Rediff Archives The 1989 poll reduced Rajiv Gandhi's Congress to 197 from 414 of 1984-1985. The next largest party, Janata Dal, of which V P Singh was the biggest leader and the obvious choice for prime minister, had only 143 seats. The Congress staying out enabled an unlikely alliance of the sharpest ideological enemies, the BJP and the Left, to install V P Singh with outside support. Rajiv Gandhi had obviously thought that such a contradiction will be short-lived and he will be back in a fresh election. He miscalculated on several things. The biggest was not understanding the risk of opening the door for L K Advani to package the BJP as a national alternative to the Congress. Mr Advani's party soon hit three figures and, with the Congress declining, was able to shed its untouchability for enough regional parties to form a coalition in 1998. The key to ridding itself of this chronic untouchability was the acceptance of an alliance with its ideological opposites, the Mandal parties and the Left. This was the 1989 gift from Rajiv. His party might have got power for 15 years subsequently, but continued to weaken. This one miscalculation ended the Congress epoch in Indian politics and in 2014, began the BJP's. IMAGE: Rajiv Gandhi during an election campaign. Photograph: Reuters Think about it. The Congress gave up power with 197 MPs while all coalitions for the next 20 years (1996, 1998, 1999, 2004) were led by a party with fewer. The number was crossed by the Congress itself in 2009, and only marginally (206 seats). We are only talking of coalitions, excluding the Congress's minority government under Narasimha Rao, 1991-1996. Rajiv's inability to see the inevitability of coalitions, and ceding power lazily to his most vicious adversaries changed the course of Indian politics. By January 2004, the BJP leadership was on a high, having swept the three Hindi heartland states. What happened here, they presumed, was going to happen in the rest of their catchment as well. Their think-tank, led by Pramod Mahajan, and the usual hangers-on around Mr Advani concluded it was time to advance elections and ride the tide. The only one sceptic, Vajpayee, was outnumbered. There was also a barely concealed motive driving the Advani group: The assumption that Vajpayee's health won't last five years, giving Mr Advani a smooth succession. For three quarters, India had averaged 8 per cent growth. This was reason enough to launch the India Shining campaign. In that heady mood, the BJP forgot to do the one thing that had brought them power: Keeping their coalition allies together. The result was a spectacular loss of power, with the BJP reduced to 138, seven below the Congress. For some key regional parties and likely coalition allies, the old untouchability was back after the Gujarat riots. Not only did this bring the Congress to power for a decade, it also ended the careers of Mr Advani and all his peers. The intervening period gave Mr Modi the time to prepare and rise. IMAGE: Then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, left, with then deputy prime minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, in New Delhi, February 6, 2004. Then President A P J Abdul Kalam formally dissolved Parliament eight months ahead of schedule, to make way for early elections. Photograph: B Mathur/Reuters Now, let's consider the rankings. I would put Rajiv Gandhi's at the top as its impact on India's future politics has been the greatest. The reason I'd rank it ahead of his mother's legitimisation of the RSS is simply because she had been able to still keep it marginalised until 1984. Even after her death, Rajiv reduced the BJP to just two seats in December 1984. If he hadn't given up power so easily in 1989, the politics of the subsequent decades would have played out very differently. To that extent, he compounded his mother's blunder. She gave the RSS a national political profile and respect. Mr Advani's blunder lies essentially in the fact that it destroyed his own ambition. Of course, it paved the road for Mr Modi, who just thanked him with the Bharat Ratna. By special arrangement with The Print Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com At least 14 priests including 'sevaks' were injured in a fire that broke out in the sanctum sanctorum of the Mahakal temple in Ujjain early Monday during the famous 'bhasma aarti' ritual, an official said. IMAGE: People rush towards safety after fire breaks out in the Mahakal temple in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh . Photograph: ANI Photo The blaze started at 5:50 am as 'gulal' or coloured powder fell on the puja thali that contained burning camphor, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said. Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said the fire may have been caused by chemicals in 'gulal'. "Fourteen priests including sevaks (servitors) suffered burn injuries. The fire started as 'gulal' (coloured powder used during rituals) fell on the puja thali that contained burning 'kapoor' (camphor). It later spread on the floor and turned into a blaze," the collector said. He said some of the injured are being treated in the district hospital here, while eight others have sought treatment in Indore. Singh further said a magisterial probe has been ordered which will be conducted by Zila Panchayat CEO Mrinal Meena and Additional Collector Anukool Jain, and a report will be submitted in three days. The incident has been captured on CCTV cameras installed in the temple, an official said. In a post on social media platform X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the incident "very painful". "The incident that happened in Mahakal temple of Ujjain is very painful. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the devotees injured in this incident. The local administration is engaged in every possible help to the victims under the supervision of the state government," Modi said. The prime minister also spoke to MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav over the phone and sought information about the incident, an official said. Several people, including some VVIPs, were present in the Nandi Hall in front of the sanctum sanctorum when the fire incident occurred, but fortunately, devotees were not injured, according to officials. In view of the incident, the chief minister, 59, cancelled celebrations for Holi as well as his birthday at his official residence and rushed to Ujjain via Indore to meet the victims. Besides meeting victims at Indore and Ujjain, Yadav also visited the Mahakal Temple and reviewed the situation with priests and officials. He performed puja in front of the sanctum sanctorum. Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Yadav said clothes were put on the silver walls of the garbha griha to protect them from Holi colours. "It is not known whether the fire started after the 'aarti thali' fell when 'gulal' was thrown on it or whether the 'gulal' reacted to some chemical," he said. In Ujjain, he announced financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh for each injured person and free medical treatment. The injured persons will be provided with the best available treatment for free. The administration will make all efforts to ensure such incidents do not recur, the CM added. "Our priority is to provide the best treatment to the injured. There is no casualty by the grace of Mahakal," he said. According to Yadav, doctors are facing a problem in locating burn injuries on the skin of the injured due to Holi colour. "The fire started after gulal was thrown as part of a ritual on the occasion of Holi. It caused burn injuries to priests, who were rushed to the district hospital," priest Ashish told reporters. Dr Vinod Bhandari, president of Indore-based Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS), told PTI that eight of the injured have been admitted at this facility. "The eight persons have suffered 35 to 40 per cent burn injuries, and the condition of one of them is serious," he said. State Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya reached SAIMS and enquired about the condition of the injured persons. "It seems all the injured at SAIMS are out of danger, But they will be under observation for the next 24 hours," Vijayvargiya told reporters after visiting the health facility. "Every year, Holi is celebrated in Mahakaleshwar Temple by throwing gulal. Maybe, some chemical in the gulal caused the fire. However, we are not going to stop the tradition of playing Holi with Lord Bholenath in Mahakaleshwar Temple," he said. In a post on X, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he had spoken to the MP CM over the incident and the local administration was ensuring all relief to the injured. The Aam Aadmi Party will hold the 'Main Bhi Kejriwal' campaign and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not resign from his post, the party decided in a meeting held on Sunday. IMAGE: Delhi minister Atishi along with AAP supporters, take out a candlelight march against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged Excise Policy scam, at Govindpuri area, in New Delhi on Sunday, March 24, 2024. Photograph: Ishant/ANI Photo The AAP held the meeting to decide its future course of action in the aftermath of party national convenor Kejriwal's arrest in the excise policy case. This was the party's first major meeting after Kejriwal's arrest. It was presided over by Aam Aadmi Party national general secretary (organisation) Dr Sandeep Pathak. It was decided at the meeting that Kejriwal will not resign from the CM's post and the ministers, MLAs and the party will continue to take his orders from jail, the party said in a statement. Pathak said that the 'Main Bhi Kejriwal' campaign will start soon under which stickers will be pasted outside houses and on auto-rickshaws and hoarding will also be put up. Those attending the March 31 Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) rally should come with 'Main Bhi Kejriwal' stickers pasted on their vehicles, he added. The opposition INDIA will hold a 'maha rally' at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on March 31, with AAP and Congress leaders participating. Pathak said he has received an order from Kejriwal to hold a rally on March 31 and that the party will ensure that it is successful. On March 26, meetings on preparations will be held in all assembly constituencies with all councillors to make the March 31 protest rally a huge success, he said. He urged the party leaders to organise zonal level meetings with MLAs and councillors on March 27-28 to target 10 people from each booth to ensure they reach Ramlila Maidan on March 31. "There are nearly 14,000 booths. With 10 people from each booth, the number of people reaching Ramlila Maidan will be 1.5 lakh," he said. Pathak also urged the party leaders and volunteers to tie a black ribbon on their arm to the March 31 rally as a mark of protest. "On behalf of all volunteers, I request Arvind Kejriwal not to resign. The government will run from jail," Pathak said. The AAP leader alleged it was the BJP's conspiracy to arrest Kejriwal and then break the party. Pathak added that 'nobody is going to break away' from the party. "Kejriwal in jail is more dangerous than when he was outside the jail because you (Bharatiya Janata Party) do not know him," he said. "Now there will be no pleading, there will be war," Pathak added. "Earlier, we would get orders from Civil Lines, now we will get orders from jail, and we will follow them. Earlier, Kejriwal was busy with governance, and he had made their life difficult. Now, he will have pen and paper with him all the time, just think what will happen to them," the AAP leader said. Kejriwal (55) was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday from his official residence in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case. A court on Friday sent the AAP national convenor to the central agency's custody till March 28. Announcing candidates for the remaining four seats in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded its state chief K Surendran in the high-profile Wayanad constituency against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. IMAGE: BJP Kerala president K Surendran. Photograph: ANI Photo Scholar and former vice-chancellor of Sree Sankara Sanskrit University, K S Radhakrishnan, and actor-turned-politician G Krishnakumar will contest from the Ernakulam and Kollam constituencies respectively, the party announced on Sunday. T N Sarasu, former government college principal, would seek electoral luck from Alathur in the northern Palakkad district. The BJP is striving to break the decades-old bipolar politics dominated by the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala. The party had earlier announced the candidates for 12 seats. Its ally Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) will contest four seats in the state. With the surprise candidature of Surendran in Wayanad, a traditional Congress bastion, the BJP is trying to give a fitting reply to its opponents by fielding a strong candidate against Rahul Gandhi. Communist Party of India's Annie Raja is the candidate of the state's ruling Left in the constituency. Surendran, the face of the saffron party's fierce agitations against the entry of young women into Sabarimala years ago, has been serving as the president of the state unit of the BJP since 2020. Hailing from Ulleyeri in Kozhikode district, Kunnummel Surendran, who began his career as Wayanad district president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, had unsuccessfully contested from Pathanamthitta in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Though he was fielded from Konni in the assembly bypoll in the same year, he couldn't make it. Known as a close confidant of Union Minister V Muraleedharan, Surendran lost the Manjeswaram constituency by a mere 89 votes in the 2016 Assembly polls. A well-known scholar, writer, orator, and academician, K S Radhakrishnan joined the BJP in 2019. He served as the vice-chancellor of Sree Sankara Sanskrit University in Kalady and the chairman of the state Public Service Commission during the tenures of the Congress-led UDF governments in the state before beginning his political career. He unsuccessfully contested from the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Fifty-five-year-old G Krishnakumar is an actor-turned-politician and is currently a national council member of the BJP. In 2021, Krishnakumar contested on the BJP ticket to the state assembly from Thiruvananthapuram. T N Sarasu, a former government college principal who hit headlines over her confrontations with the Left student union, will contest from Alathur to take on sitting MP and Congress leader Remya Haridas and State Devaswom Minister and senior CPI-M leader K Radhakrishnan. Kerala's 20 Lok Sabha constituencies will go to polls on April 26. Trinamool Congress is the second highest recipient of political donations through electoral bonds. IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Trinamool Congress's Jonogorjon Sabha at the Brigade Ground, in Kolkata. Photograph: ANI Photo At least four companies headquartered in Kolkata -- Haldia Energy Limited, Essel Mining and Industry Limited, Keventer Foodpark Infra Limited, and Madanlal Limited -- feature in the list of top 10 electoral bond donors. After the Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress is the second highest recipient of political donations through electoral bonds, according to the data released by the Election Commission of India. It is also not just headline businesses, but plenty of smaller, relatively lesser known entities in the city are major buyers of corporate bonds, data shows. Company information accessed through the Registrar of Companies and private corporate information portals, such as Zaubacorp, show many don't even have a clear listing of businesses. Industry majors lead the chart With receipts worth Rs 377 crore (Rs 3.77 billion), Haldia Energy Limited is the fourth-largest buyer of corporate bonds in India. Part of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, the power company operates two 300 megawatt (coal-based thermal power plants at Haldia and supplies its power to CESC Limited, the distribution licensee for the city of Kolkata. The company consistently bought bonds since May 2019, on at least 15 different occasions, data shows. Sixth in the national list, Kolkata-based Essel Mining and Industries Limited, part of the $60 billion global conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, meanwhile, bought bonds worth Rs 224.5 crore (Rs 2.245 billion) on five different occasions since April 2019. Lesser known big spenders Apart from leading business groups, there is a variety of small businesses that have shelled out hundreds of crores for electoral bonds. A certain Madanlal Limited spent Rs 185.5 crore (Rs 1.855 billion) on bonds. The company is engaged in purchase and sale of securities and the real estate sector, its Web site says. It has cross ownership with the MKJ Group of Companies and another major spender on this list, the Keventer group. Including Madanlal Limited, four different entities linked to the Keventer group, which calls itself the largest FMCG company in Eastern India, spent a total of more than Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion). MKJ Group, which has cross ownership with the above mentioned corporations, has itself bought Rs 128 crore (Rs 1.28 billion) worth of bonds. The company's Web site said: 'It has been trading in stainless steel for over a decade having handled substantial domestic business.' Myriad financial agencies that have no clear business description and an online presence have participated in political donations. Merchandising firms, export-import trading, financing and investing agencies all headquartered in Kolkata have picked electoral bonds, though largely in small quantities. Transways Exim Private Limited, a company involved in manufacturing of alcoholic beverages and restaurant operations, bought bonds worth Rs 47 crore (Rs 470 million). According to the company's Linkedin profile, its liquor brand portfolio includes local favourites Calcutta Gin, Emboss whiskey, and rock rum, alongside other brands. It is also the franchise partner for restaurant brands, such as PAPAYA and Modern Asian Bistro in the city. Based in the city, 10-year old Westwell Gasses Private Limited bought bonds worth Rs 28.5 crore (Rs 285 million). The company is involved in the production, processing and preservation of meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, oils, and fats, according to Zaubacorp. Also headquartered in the city, bulk commodities handler Ripley Stevedoring and Handling Pvt Ltd had purchased Rs 11.5 crore (Rs 115 million) of electoral bonds. According to the company's Web site, it handles and transports about 25 million tonnes of various commodities (steel, iron-ore, coal, coke, limestone, fertiliser) annually at Haldia, Paradip, and Vizag ports. In July, MV Ripley Pride, a bulk carrier, became the first ship to be leased from Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). ABC India Ltd, one of the oldest road logistics companies in the country, purchased bonds worth Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million). An equal amount of funds was spent on bonds by VPL Oil Marketing Pvt Ltd, incorporated in 2004. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Former Karnataka Minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy on Monday rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. IMAGE: Mining baron G Janardhana Reddy with Union Hoem Minister Amit Shah. Photograph: @GaliJanardhanar/X The Gangavati MLA, who is an accused in an illegal mining case, had formed the 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha' (KRPP) ahead of the state assembly polls last year, snapping his two-decade-old association with the BJP. Reddy today merged his KRPP with the BJP as he, along with wife Aruna Lakshmi and some family members, joined the party in the presence of its veteran leader and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, state President B Y Vijayendra, and others. Reddy had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. However, in the February 27 Rajya Sabha polls he had extended support to the Congress candidate. Calling it a "home coming", Reddy explained that the move to merge KRPP with the BJP is to "strengthen Narendra Modi's hands and make him the Prime Minister third time". "Amit Shah had invited me to Delhi and told me that -- there is no question of extending outside support (KRPP supporting BJP in LS polls) and instead I should join the BJP and work for it, as I took my political birth in the party. Accepting it, I'm joining the party," he said. Praising Yediyurappa and the leader's contribution in his political growth, Reddy said he is happy that he will be working in the party now with the veteran leader's son Vijayendra. "I will work as a common party worker along with other leaders under the leadership of Vijayendra. I have not come with any conditions or expectations. Whatever responsibility the party gives me, I will honestly work. "BJP was always there in my blood, but due to some reasons I had gone out, but today I feel I have come back to my mother's lap. Looking at my brothers here, I don't feel like I'm coming back to the BJP office after 13 years," he added. Welcoming Reddy back into the party, Vijayendra said his joining will strengthen BJP in the Kalyana Karnataka region. "Liking Narendra Modi's leadership and accepting BJP's ideology, Reddy has rejoined the party. Reddy has said that Karnataka should have a larger contribution in making Modi PM once again -- to ensure that BJP and JD(S) alliance win all the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, he is merging his KRPP with BJP and is joining the party," he said. Before the assembly polls last year, Reddy had been largely politically inactive for nearly 12 years since his arrest by the CBI for an alleged role in a mining scam. During this period, he had a brief stint ahead of the 2018 assembly polls when he campaigned for his close friend and former Minister B Sriramulu in Molakalmuru Assembly segment. In the run up to the 2018 assembly polls, the then BJP national president Amit Shah, in response to a reporter's question, had distanced the party from him and stressed that "the BJP has nothing to do with Janardhana Reddy." Accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, he has been out on bail since 2015. Several conditions were imposed by the apex court in its order which includes prohibiting him from visiting Ballari in Karnataka and Ananthpur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. Because of these restrictions, he had to contest the 2023 Assembly polls from Gangavati in Koppal district. Expressing his displeasure about the way BJP had ignored him, Reddy had announced a new party last year and also took a dig at his brothers -- Karunakara Reddy and Somashekar Reddy -- and Sriramulu, as they remained with the BJP. The three of them had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly polls, with Reddy's new party said to have impacted their performance in the election. Sriramulu, a ST community leader and former Minister is now the BJP's candidate from the Bellary (Ballari) Lok Sabha constituency. Reddy had played an instrumental role in strengthening the BJP in the Ballari district and is still believed to enjoy a considerable clout there as well as in adjoining districts like Chitradurga, Koppal and Raichur, which could be useful for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, managing director of Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011. The company is accused of changing mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Ballari Reserve Forest area, spread over Ballari in Karnataka and the Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh. Reddy first came to political limelight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, when he campaigned for BJP leader, the late Sushma Swaraj, who had contested against Congress' Sonia Gandhi from Ballari. Former Congress Minister T John's son Thomas John also joined the BJP today. Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu must stop being "stubborn" and seek dialogue with neighbours to overcome the financial challenges, his predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said. IMAGE: Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu. Photograph: Maldivian President's Office on Facebook Solih made these remarks days after Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, urged India to provide debt relief to the archipelago nation. Muizzu, 45, defeated Solih, 62, in the presidential election held in September last year. Speaking at an event in Male' to rally support for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary candidates contesting four constituencies in Maafannu, Solih said he had seen media reports that suggest Muizzu wants to talk to India for debt restructuring. But the financial challenges are not caused by Indian loans, Solih was quoted as saying by Adhadhu.com news portal. Maldives has a debt of MVR 18 billion owed to China compared to MVR 8 billion owed to India, Solih said, adding that the repayment period is 25 years. "However, I am confident that our neighbours will help. We must stop being stubborn and seek dialogue. There are many parties that can help us. But he [Muizzu] doesn't want to compromise. I feel they [the government] are starting to understand the situation only now," Solih said. The former president said the government was deceiving the public and relaunching projects initiated by the MDP government. He said ministers are now lying to cover up those lies. Muizzu criticised India during and after the presidential election campaign and relations between the two countries have deteriorated since he assumed office in November. He has demanded the complete withdrawal of 88 Indian military personnel manning three aviation platforms used for humanitarian and medical evacuations in the Maldives by May 10. The first batch of 26 Indian military personnel have already left the island nation and were replaced by civilians. In his first media interview, Muizzu claimed that he has not taken any action or made any statements that may strain the relationship between the two countries. India will continue to remain the Maldives' closest ally, he said and emphasised that there was no question about it, Maldives news portal Edition.mv said in a report on Thursday. Muizzu's conciliatory comments towards India came ahead of Parliament elections in Maldives slated to be held on April 21. He is yet to visit India although it has been four months since the new government took over. The first overseas trip by Maldivian presidents had always been to India, the report noted. However, Muizzu visited China in January, making his first state visit. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said the slogans 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Jai Hind' were first raised by two Muslims and asked whether the Sangh Parivar would be ready to abandon them. IMAGE: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Photograph: @pinarayivijayan/X Reaching out to the minority community in this Muslim-dominated north Kerala district, the veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said Muslim rulers, cultural icons and officials had played a significant role in the country's history and independence movement. Drawing examples from history to prove his point, Vijayan said a Muslim man named Azimullah Khan had coined the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. "Some Sangh Parivar leaders who came here have asked those who sat in front of them to chant the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. Who coined the slogan? I don't know whether the Sangh Parivar knows that his name is Azimullah Khan," the CM said. He remarked that he didn't know whether they would stop using the slogan as it was a Muslim who came up with it. Vijayan was addressing the fourth consecutive rally organised by the CPI(M) in the state against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). He said an old diplomat named Abid Hasan had first raised the slogan 'Jai Hind'. The translations of over 50 Upanishads into Persian from its original Sanskrit text by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan's son Dara Shikoh had helped the Indian texts reach across the world, Vijayan further said. He said that Sangh Parivar leaders and activists advocating for the extradition of Muslims from India to Pakistan ought to be acquainted with this historical context. Along with others, Muslims also played a crucial role in the country's freedom movement, the chief minister pointed out. While talking about the Citizenship Amendment Act, Vijayan alleged that the "RSS-led BJP government at the Centre" is trying to turn Muslims into second-grade citizens in the country through the implementation of the CAA. The democratically conscious people of Kerala won't accept this move at any cost, he said. He said that while the Centre claimed that the CAA was to give citizenship to refugees migrated from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who seek asylum in the country, its real objective is to make the citizenship of migrated Muslim refugees illegal, the CM charged. No country in the world has ever divided refugees on the lines of religion except the Indian government led by the BJP leadership, the CM further said. Despite widespread protests across the country and the opposition raised by various countries, "the Sangh Parivar-led union government went ahead, overlooking all such objections, and it was similar to the stand taken by fascist ruler Adolf Hitler," he said. The Left government in the state was the first to register a loud protest against this in the country. Though the LDF government tried to bring everyone across politics to protest against the CAA, the opposition Congress backed out of it later. Criticising the grand old party, Vijayan further said the experience showed that they didn't have sincerity in the anti-CAA protest. He alleged that at a time when the whole country has been protesting against the controversial law, the Congress MPs were participating in a feast organised by the party president. "During the protests, none of the Congress leaders were present. Rahul Gandhi was abroad. It was the Left leaders who were arrested by the Delhi Police," Vijayan said. He accused the Centre of giving silent permission to the rioters when Sangh Parivar unleashed violence upon the anti-CAA protestors in Delhi. Vijayan further attacked the RSS and said that the ideology and structure of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were adopted from Adolf Hitler's fascist ideologies. Vijayan also referred to RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar's quote in one of his books that termed Christians, Muslims and Communists as internal enemies of the country. "Its (RSS') ideology was not from any ancient texts, myths, or Vedas or from the Manusmriti but was taken from Hitler," the chief minister charged. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today A few passing clouds. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low 32F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. PAWLET A relative calm seemed to settle on the small town of Pawlet the day after one of their most infamous neighbors was safely locked behind bars after years of litigation, threats, harassment, and bad feelings on both sides. Im feeling very relieved right now, said Mandy Hulette, Deer Flats Farm owner in West Pawlet, on whose original farmland Daniel Banyais Slate Ridge property now sits. We were starting to think this would never be resolved. Daniel Banyai, 50, was in the passenger seat of a 2022 Dodge Ram pickup truck pulled over Wednesday afternoon on Route 133 outside the Town of Pawlet by Constable Thomas Covino for a speeding violation. Covino immediately recognized Banyai sitting in the passenger seat and attempted to arrest him on an outstanding warrant stemming from a years-long legal battle with the Town over an illegal military-style firearms training facility. Banyai arraigned on aggravated assault after arrest scuffle in Pawlet Banyai resisted, scuffled with Covino, was pepper-sprayed, and put in handcuffs nearly three months after his arrest warrant on contempt of court was issued. Banyai, who was considered on the lam from authorities, came back to Vermont in an attempt to visit the property on Briar Hill Road. He was arrested Wednesday and arraigned Thursday on an aggravated assault charge stemming from the scuffle with Covino. Banyai is currently held without bail on his previously issued outstanding warrant. A $15,000 bail was set in the separate assault case. Hulette, whose family farm dates back over two generations, spoke with the Banner about the long, rocky road theyve been on ever since Banyai created the shooting facility on former farm property and the hope that life gets back to the peaceful way it was before 2016 when all this began. This has been a nightmare headache for our family, Hulette said. We are hoping its finally over. A group of West Pawlet neighbors, including the Hulette family, have objected to Banyai running an unpermitted shooting range and firearm training facility. Vermont Supreme Court upholds contempt sanctions against Banyai The neighbors, some of whom have spoken on the record and others only on background, said they feared for their safety. They also said they lost the peaceful nature of their neighborhood that, at the height of the shooting facility, sounded like a war zone on weekends. Many of the neighbors claimed that they were threatened by Banyai and had to endure Banyai posting personal information on the Internet in retaliation for their efforts to fight Slate Ridge through the towns zoning procedures and courts. Many said they kept firearms handy at all times and were no longer convinced that calling the police could help. The Hulette family filed for orders of protection against Banyai, with Banyai filing orders of protection against them. Accusations and rumors flew on both sides, including a conspiracy view that Slate Ridge was a fringe, right-wing white nationalist training facility. In response to the rumors, the Vermont Legislature passed a bill signed by Gov. Phil Scott banning military-type training facilities statewide. Legal action in the Banyai case went back and forth, with Banyai appearing at town meetings and aggressively confronting town officials and neighbors. After years of litigation, an Environmental Court judge decided the case in favor of the town. After several attempts to bring the property into compliance with town zoning regulations, an inspection was conducted in late 2023, seemingly without any conclusion. An arrest warrant was issued to Banyai for contempt of court after failure to comply with court orders to remove facilities on his property not in compliance and pay over $100,000 in accumulated fines. Two Vermont Supreme Court decisions later, Banyai went on the run. He was finally arrested on Wednesday. Merrill Bent, Pawlet town attorney, updated Pawlets immediate plans. The Town is finalizing plans to complete the work necessary to bring the property back into compliance with zoning regulations, after which the Town will promptly notify the Court that the work is completed. Im happy our town constable made the arrest, Hulette said. The State Police have said they were up there, but I never saw them make a real attempt to make an arrest. Tom (Covino) is our hero. He got the job done. Its actually been really nice lately, Hulette added. He (Banyai) was very obnoxious when he was here, so its been nice and quiet, peaceful here like it had been before. Im glad hes finally behind bars. Hes skirted the system for so long. Hes a loose cannon. The time that weve spent thinking about him, talking about him, and concerned about not ever knowing what hes going to do, its been a big waste of our life. "I finally feel like we are on the right track and that theres some light at the end of this tunnel. Im feeling really good todayall of us are. Others indeed shared that feeling in town. It appears that this is coming to an end, and rightly so, said Steve Fuentes, as he walked his dogs outside Machs Market in the center of Pawlet. I understand his case for using his land as he wishes, but clearly, you have to work with your community to determine what is and is not appropriate. Having a militia-style gun range is not compatible with people who live nearby. It seems part of that right-wing methodology that push, push, push. The only thing that matters is your individual rights. This is a community and I think the community is now a better place. I still think hes a threat if he gets out, and Im not sure if this is the end, but clearly, hes been held accountable by the law. Thats the right thing. Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. James Lyall is executive director of the ACLU of Vermont. Opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of Vermont News & Media. A change of government has sown doubt around the future of one of the the public services largest transformation programmes. The Ministry of Social Development won initial funding of $183 million last year for the first horizon of the programme it calls Te Pae Tawhiti. The overall project, however, includes two more planned horizons, is expected to run for eight more years and to cost around $2.6 billion. The major member of the government coalition, the National Party, refused to commit to the programme in mid-2023. The government has also cancelled two other major transformations: the Three Waters Enablement Programme at a potential cost of more than $2 billion, and the support project for the previous governments Te Pukenga skills education consolidation, for a much smaller sum. Horizon One of the programme was to deliver foundations for the project, MSD CEO Debbie Power told Parliaments Social Services and Community Committee in early March. Some was new money, some was money that we reprioritised from within, and we're in-flight with doing that, and we're in conversations as we've had a change of government with the new government about what this programme means and the kind of progress that we will need to make, she said. A photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping with his eyes closed and frowning has been published by a number of media reports, sparking skepticism among Chinese-speaking social media users regarding its authenticity. Some claim that the photo has been digitally doctored. But AFCL found the photo to be genuine. It was taken at two sessions in Beijing in early March by the Associated Press. The claim was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, on March 13, 2024. This should be a fake picture made by foreign forces using AI, the claim reads. The claim was shared alongside a photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping with his eyes closed and frowning. Screenshot of the Reddit post where its user questions whether the photo of Xi Jinping is genuine or not. (Reddit) The photo was taken from a report published by the British tabloid Daily Mail Online on March 11. He [Xi] was spotted seemingly wincing after taking a sip of his brew while attending the closing session of the annual parliamentary meeting, the caption of the photo reads. The photo has triggered doubts among Chinese-speaking social media users about whether it is authentic. Can anyone tell me if this photo is real and not? one user asked in the comment section of Reddit. But AFCL found the photo to be genuine. Photo by AP In the report by the Daily Mail, the publication attributed the photo to the Associated Press, or AP. Keyword searches on APs archives found the corresponding photo published on March 11. Chinese President Xi Jinping, rear, reacts after drinking from a cup at the closing session of the National Peoples Congress held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo), the caption of the photo reads. Screenshot of AP archives. (AP) The photo was also featured in APs Pictures of the Week Asia Photo Gallery on March 15. Rules in China Radio Free Asia reported in 2011 that journalists in China have rules to follow when they report the activities of the countrys leaders. According to the rules, seen by RFA at that time, the images of the leaders must be clean, and that no one can be filmed sitting in an indecent position, smoking, playing with a pen, talking on the phone, or eating. Other rules include not taking photos of fruits or people who are reading while holding umbrellas. A former journalist Liu Yiming told RFA at that time that although these rules had always been unwritten at Chinas state media, the media would definitely be held accountable by the authorities once violated. These regulations inevitably restrict press freedom. He said, adding that: This definitely constitutes a restriction on press freedom. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster. Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in todays complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X. 7 Chinese have been charged with hacking offenses tied to Chinas Ministry of State Security. Seven suspects are charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They are, from top left, Ni Gaobin, Weng Ming, Cheng Feng, Peng Yaowen. From left, second row, Sun Xiaohui, Xiong Wang, and Zhao Guangzong. U.S. Attorney-General Merrick Garland on Monday accused the Chinese government of an effort to intimidate Americans and silence dissidents abroad by using a massive state-run hacking program. The Chinese Embassy denied the claims as groundless and said they were part of an ongoing smear campaign by the United States. Garlands comment came as the U.S. Justice Department unsealed charges against seven Chinese nationals it says are part of a hacking program run by Chinas Ministry of State Security, or MSS, and has targeted the White House, Congress and critics of Beijing. The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses, Garland said after the charges were announced. This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, he said. A Justice Department statement named the seven accused as Ni Gaobin, Weng Ming, Cheng Feng, Peng Yaowen, Sun Xiaohui, Xiong Wang and Zhao Guangzong. It said they were charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Their vast illegal hacking operation was aimed at both economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives and targeted American private companies, journalists, elected officials, academics and Chinese dissidents living in the United States, it said. Matthew Olsen, assistant U.S. attorney general in charge of national security matters, said that the seven indictments helped to shed further light on the Ministry of State Securitys aggressive cyber espionage and transnational repression activities worldwide. Assistant Attorney General Justice Department's National Security Division Matthew Olsen speaks at a news conference, March 4, 2024, in Boston. (Steven Senne/AP) The U.S. State Department said it was offering rewards for any information leading to the arrest of the seven accused hackers. The U.S. Treasury, meanwhile, issued a spate of related sanctions against hackers it said were also tied to the Ministry of State Security. Hacking program Known to cyber security experts as Advanced Persistent Threat 31, or APT31, the group was allegedly part of a cyberespionage program run by the MSSs Hubei State Security Department in Wuhan. The alleged hackers stand accused of both testing and exploiting the malware used to target people in the United States and of conducting surveillance and intrusions against specific people and companies. Targeted American officials included individuals working in the White House, at the Departments of Justice, Commerce, Treasury and State, and U.S. Senators and Representatives of both political parties. Other prominent targets included Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, a defense contractor and an American opinion polling company. The hackers sent out more than 10,000 emails since 2010, the Justice Department said, which had at times resulted in successful compromises of the targets networks, email accounts, cloud storage accounts, and telephone call records that lasted for years. The emails often appeared to be from prominent news outlets or journalists and appeared to contain legitimate news articles, it said. However, they in fact contained hidden tracking links, such that if the recipient simply opened the email, information about the recipient was sent back to servers in China, including about their other devices. They then used this information to enable more direct and sophisticated targeted hacking of their targets, including taking control of their home internet routers and devices, it said, enabling them often unfettered access to the professional and personal information. The hackers typically used zero-day exploits, which refers to how long security vulnerabilities have been known to the wider community meaning, essentially, that the holes had yet to be discovered. Chinese denial The charges follow FBI Director Christopher Wrays recent warning that Chinese state-backed hackers were waiting to wreak havoc on critical infrastructure in the United States if ordered to do so by Beijing. Chinese officials have denied those claims. On Monday, they continued to paint the accusations as being part of a smear campaign. Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Radio Free Asia that China is in fact a major victim of cyberattacks and accused the United States of being the origin and the biggest perpetrator of cyberattacks worldwide. He in turn accused American state-backed hackers of targeting Chinese critical infrastructure, a claim U.S. officials have denied. China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with law, Liu said, calling on U.S. officials to stop smearing other countries under the excuse of cyber security. Without valid evidence, the U.S. jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations against China, he added. It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts. But the denials are unlikely to sway officials in Washington. The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday said it had also issued sanctions against the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, which it called a front company of the Ministry of State Security responsible for multiple malicious cyber operations. A statement from the Treasury Department said that more Chinese nationals Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin were sanctioned for their role in the front company, which it said specifically targeted critical infrastructure companies and was linked to APT31. The provincial offices of the Ministry of State Security and Ministry of Public Security located in Hubei Province. (Vmenkov via Wikimedia) Zhao and Ni are specifically accused of targeting the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Naval War Colleges China Maritime Studies Institute in a spear-phishing attack that took place in 2010. The sanctions ban American citizens and companies from doing business with those targeted, including providing any banking and financial services, and bans those targeted from U.S. soil. Similar sanctions were also issued by the United Kingdom, with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron calling the alleged hacking program completely unacceptable and a threat to freedoms worldwide. One of the reasons that it is important to make this statement is that other countries should see the detail of threats that our systems and democracies face, Cameron said, adding that he had already raised his concerns directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Edited by Malcolm Foster Demonstrators and governments alike warn of higher risk of detention under the Article 23 legislation. Protestors rally against Hong Kongs Article 23 security law at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London March 23, 2024. Hong Kongers took to the streets of cities around the world over the weekend to protest a second national security law known as Article 23 that critics say violates rights to freedom of expression and association, as governments updated travel advisories to warn citizens of an increased risk of detention. In London, around 400 protesters holding banners that read "Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now!" -- a slogan of the 2019 pro-democracy movement that has been banned in the city -- rallied outside the British government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to protest the Safeguarding National Security Law, which took effect on Saturday. They chanted, "Say no to dictatorship!" and "Hong Kong independence is the only solution!" as they marched through Chinatown en route to the rally, where some trampled the official flag of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in protest. Rallies also took place in Sydney, Vancouver, Taipei and elsewhere. The law is the second national security law to be passed since 2020, and will plug "loopholes" left by the 2020 National Security Law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in the wake of 2019 protests, according to the government. But critics say Article 23 will likely extend the existing use of "national security" charges to prosecute peaceful dissent and political opposition, striking a further blow at human rights protections in the city. The British government on March 22 updated its travel advice for Hong Kong to warn citizens that they could be detained or removed to mainland China for some offenses or prosecuted for "supporting individuals who are considered to be breaking the national security laws," which includes statements critical of the authorities, including online. Australia updated its advice on the same day to warn its citizens of an increased risk of detention if they travel to Hong Kong. "Hong Kong has strict laws on national security that can be interpreted broadly," the advice now reads. "You could break the laws without intending to and be detained without charge and denied access to a lawyer. We continue to advise a high degree of caution." A Hong Kong government spokesman on Friday condemned the advice as scaremongering, saying such warnings were tactics aimed at destabilizing Hong Kong. Avoiding political topics Protests against the new law also took place in several Canadian cities including Vancouver, where around 300 protesters formed a human chain and sang the protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong," which has been banned from public performance or dissemination in Hong Kong. Others carried placards calling for independence for the city, which has seen a sharp deterioration in its promised rights and freedoms since the 1997 handover to Chinese rule. A protester holds up a sign protesting the Article 23 national security legislation in London, March 23, 2024. RFA/Cheryl Tung. Some wore masks, reflecting recent reprisals by authorities in Hong Kong against overseas activists and their families back home. Two protesters who gave only the nicknames Amy and Candy told RFA that they came to Canada through the lifeboat visa scheme, but they are careful to avoid mentioning politics when speaking with their families back home. "You have to think carefully before you say anything, because if someone hears you, they could report you and get you arrested," Candy said. Amy added: "They want to find an excuse to target anyone they don't like." A spokeswoman for protest organizers Vancouver Brothers who gave only the nickname Christine for fear of reprisals said the definitions of the "crimes" in Article 23 are very broad, and anyone could be targeted regardless of nationality. She cited the arrests of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in China on "espionage" charges as retaliation for the Vancouver arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in 2018. "We want to call on the international community to please help save Hong Kong, and to impose sanctions on Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kong officials because they have taken away freedom and democracy in Hong Kong," Christine told RFA. Last nail In Sydney, dozens of protesters sang "Glory to Hong Kong" and watched performance artist Pamela Leung stage a work titled "The Last Nail," depicting the Article 23 legislation as the "last nail" in the coffin of Hong Kong's rights and freedoms. Protesters also carried placards pointing to more than 1,700 political prisoners since the first round of national security legislation was imposed on the city, and draped chains around the protest site. "The chains are just a reference to political prisoners in Hong Kong -- they actually reach much further than that," a protester who gave only the name Ivan for fear of reprisals told RFA at the scene. "If governments don't move to prevent it, they will extend and trap the whole world." Protesters including one dressed up as Winnie-the-Pooh, prepared to represent Xi Jinping, perform during a protest against Hong Kong's new national security law recently approved by Hong Kong lawmakers, in Taipei, Taiwan, Saturday, March 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying) In democratic Taiwan, former political prisoner Lee Ming-cheh told a rally organized by the Hong Kong Outlanders campaign group that if Taiwan didn't pay close attention to China's handling of Hong Kong, then its 23 million people could be next. "China has never followed the law, doesn't abide by its own commitments, and has ignored international law, so China will consider Taiwan, which it has never ruled, its territory," Lee said. "Taiwanese should stand in solidarity with Hong Kong. If there is no way to curb China's destruction of the rule of law in Hong Kong ... the next victim will definitely be Taiwan," said Lee, who served a five-year sentence for "subversion" in a Chinese jail. Harder for journalists Former CNN China correspondent Mike Chinoy said the National Security Law and the Article 23 legislation will make it harder for foreign journalists to work in the city. "The National Security Law and Article 23 are going to make people reluctant to talk to journalists," Chinoy said, adding that the 2019 protest movement had likely "terrified" Chinese President Xi Jinping. "There was always a lot of suspicion about Hong Kong because it was so Westernized and it was so separate, Chinoy said in a recent interview with RFA. My sense is that they saw in Hong Kong a rebellious peripheral area heavily influenced by foreigners that was challenging the central government, and I think that must have absolutely terrified them." In a March 19 statement, former colonial governor Chris Patten said the law was "another large nail in the coffin of human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong." "Governments and parliaments around the world will take note and so will international investors," he said. Chris Smith, chairman of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China warned on March 22 that the new law could target employees of U.S. companies in Hong Kong and called on the business community to carefully assess the risks posed by the legislation. Hong Kong Watch CEO Benedict Rogers addresses a protest rally against the Article 23 national security legislation in London, March 23, 2024. RFA/Cheryl Tung. Meanwhile, 88 parliamentarians from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, EU and other countries said the law was a "flagrant breach" of China's obligations under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, a U.N.-registered treaty governing the handover of Hong Kong to China. Benedict Rogers, CEO of the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch, said the Article 23 legislation was a "death knell" for Hong Kong's remaining freedoms. "We urge the international community to address the new threats posed by Article 23 legislation by imposing targeted sanctions, broadening lifeboat schemes for Hong Kongers, ensuring that the law is not applicable overseas and used for transnational repression," Rogers said, calling for a review of Hong Kong's special status, including the citys separate Trade and Economic Offices in foreign countries. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. Even though schools and daycares were shut down for 10 days, a disease believed to be COVID-19 continues to spread. Pyongyang residents are checked to prevent the spread of COVID-19, May 17, 2022. A return to a Coronavirus Emergency Quarantine posture is underway in North Koreas Ryanggang province as cases of a respiratory disease with symptoms similar to COVID-19 increase, and at least one more child has died, residents told Radio Free Asia. RFA previously reported that at least five children in the central northern province died after developing symptoms, causing the local government to shut down schools and daycares for 10 days. Sources said that the 10 days have passed and only high schools have reopened. Closing the schools did not stop the spread of the disease, and now authorities are restarting the provinces Coronavirus Emergency Quarantine Command, a system which the country relied on to get through the maximum emergency that started in May 2022, which it declared victory over in August of that year. These days, the authorities have reactivated the Coronavirus Emergency Quarantine Command, a resident of the province told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The head of the neighborhood watch unit went from house to house and announced an inspection from the Coronavirus Emergency Quarantine Command. As part of the emergency procedures, doctors are visiting each house to measure residents temperatures twice a day, providing care for those with high fevers, he said. A worker disinfects a dining room at a Pyongyang factory on May 16, 2022. (Kyodo via Reuters) Reports of deaths due to spreading disease are shocking to residents, causing anxiety, the resident said, referring to the case of a recently deceased 10-year-old elementary school student. Some residents say the twice-daily temperature checks are an invasion of privacy, and believe that restarting the emergency is excessive and amounts to propaganda, because the government offers very little help to sick people, the source said. Quarantine propaganda Another resident from the province, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said quarantine officials were active in the city of Hyesan since reactivating the emergency command, and they are carrying out what she termed as quarantine propaganda. Wouldn't it be more effective to treat infected patients by giving them antibiotics rather than reactivating the Emergency Quarantine Command? she said. Antibiotics are however useless against COVID-19, which is a viral, not bacterial illness, though respiratory illnesses like mycoplasma pneumonia can be caused by bacteria. North Koreas state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper published hygiene information related to that disease on March 11, warning that the disease can be severe in frail people and children, even leading to death. But such information is useless, according to the first resident. In reality, infected patients have no choice but to treat themselves, he said. If they don't have money, they have no choice but to die. Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. Kim Yo Jongs remarks came a month after she said North Korea was open to enhancing ties with Tokyo. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (L) delivering a speech at the Ministry of National Defence in Pyongyang on the occasion of the 76th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Army on Feb. 8, 2024, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivering a speech during the graduation ceremony of the National Defence Academy in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture on March 23, 2024. UPDATED on March, 25, 2024 at 1:16 p.m. ET North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said on Monday that Pyongyang has received a summit proposal from Japan. Her comments came a month after she said the hermit state was open to enhancing its ties with Tokyo. However, Kim said that improving bilateral relations between the two countries will depend on whether Japan can make practical political decisions. Recently, Prime Minister [Fumio] Kishida conveyed to us through another channel his desire to meet directly with the chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea at the earliest possible time, Kim Yo Jong said, cited by the Norths state-run Korean Central News Agency. Kim Jong Un is chairman or president of the State Affairs Commission. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea is the North's official name. As I have said before, it is Japans actual political determination that is crucial to opening a new avenue for improving bilateral relations, Kims powerful sister said, adding that mere willingness to engage in head-to-head talks is not enough to resolve the mistrust and misunderstanding between our two countries. If Japan continues to interfere in the exercise of our sovereign rights, as it is doing now, and continues to focus on the abduction issue, which it has no ability to resolve or even understand, the Prime Ministers initiatives will inevitably be viewed as little more than popularity stunts. Kim Yo Jongs remarks came about a month after she said North Korea was open to enhancing its ties with Japan, even suggesting the possibility of inviting the Japanese prime minister to Pyongyang. At that time, however, Kim Yo Jong stressed that the visit might come if Japan drops its bad habit, calling the abduction issue already settled. Abduction obstacle The issue of abductions remains a significant obstacle to diplomatic normalization between North Korea and Japan. Tokyo claims it has confirmed the abductions of 17 Japanese citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s for language education for North Korean spies, and 12 are still in the North. Pyongyang contends that of the 12, eight have already died, and four never entered North Korea, asserting that there is no issue to be resolved. In February, Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said claims that the abduction issue has already been resolved were completely unacceptable. He noted that Japan has not changed its policy of comprehensively resolving issues such as abduction and nuclear and missile programs on the basis of the Japan-North Korea Pyongyang Declaration. The declaration was signed in 2002 after former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Pyongyang. It contained four sections: promoting talks on normalization of diplomatic relations, compensation based on reflection on past history, preventing the recurrence of regrettable issues, such as abductions, and establishing cooperation to resolve nuclear and missile issues. Summit unlikely During a parliamentary committee meeting on Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Kishida said that a summit would be important to resolve many pending issues between the two countries, including the abductee issue. A South Korean foreign ministry official said that Seoul is "closely communicating with Japan" regarding the North's purported proposal, stressing that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo are in "close coordination" to bring Pyongyang back to the path toward denuclearization. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State told RFA that Washington has been "very clear" about the importance of diplomacy with North Korea, and suggested contacting the Japanese government for inquiries about a potential summit between Tokyo and Pyongyang. The abductee issue remains an important topic to Japanese citizens, and the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was more devoted to the issue Bruce Klingner, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute said. But now the responsibility is Kishida's. "While some conjecture that Kishida is striving for a North Korean summit to improve his sagging popularity polls, it seems unlikely that a meeting would have much of a positive effect nor is a breakthrough likely," said Klingner. "While resumption of any dialogue with Pyongyang would be beneficial to discuss ways to reduce ongoing tensions, Kishida runs the risk of looking too desperate for a meeting." Japanese intelligence officials have proposed dialogue with North Korea several times in the past, and North Korea does not expect that a summit will come under the Kishida administration because it has a low approval rating, Yoshihiro Makino of Hiroshima University told RFA on Monday. The efforts by Pyongyang to engage in dialogue with Tokyo are an attempt to undermine cooperation between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan, he said, adding that until the abductee issue can be resolved to Japan's satisfaction, a summit is unlikely. Edited by Mike Firn. Update adds reactions from diplomats and experts. Authorities have warned the public to keep from touching dead livestock to avoid transmission. A man shows the sores he developed after being infected with anthrax, in this undated photo. The number of people infected with anthrax in southern Laos Champassak province has more than tripled over the course of a week to 54, according to authorities, who have warned the public to refrain from touching sick or dead livestock. The Department of Communicable Disease Control, under the Lao Ministry of Health, announced on March 20 that the number of infections in Champassak soared from 14 cases a week earlier to 54 as a result of contact with dead cattle. No human deaths have been reported. Anthrax is a disease caused by bacterial infection from spores commonly found in infectious animal products. Transmission can occur by breathing in the spores, eating contaminated meat, or bacterial contact through an area of broken skin. Symptoms include blisters, fever, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea and abdominal pain. The proliferation of vaccines means that anthrax infections are not typically fatal. Slightly more than 2,000 people die from the disease annually worldwide. An official from Champassak province, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak with the media, told RFA Lao that the infections are being investigated by authorities, who are also raising awareness of the disease in Soukhuma and Champassak the two affected districts. Our team from the provincial health department has traveled to the two infected districts campaigned against the disease and explained to the public not to have any contact with sick animals, he said. He noted that last week, cows in Vientiane and Borikhamxay provinces had died of an unknown disease, and said tissue from the animals is being tested to determine the cause of death. While the distribution of cases in the two Champassak districts was not immediately clear, a worker at the Soukhuma District Hospital told RFA that his facility has a few patients who are infected with anthrax. Residents told RFA they are working with authorities to curb the spread of the disease. I know that anthrax is spreading, said the owner of a restaurant. Our restaurant is complying with the order of the authorities. Were serving only fish, not meat. Nanthasane Vannavong, the deputy head of the Health Department of Champassak Province, urged the public to seek immediate diagnosis and treatment at a hospital or medical center if they suspect they may have been infected. Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. The migrant workers were let go after protesting for better working conditions. Some 200 Myanmar migrant workers were fired from their garment factory jobs in Chinas Yunnan province and forced to leave the country after they protested for better pay and working conditions, a labor union leader told Radio Free Asia. More than 1,000 workers from two garment factories in Yunnans Yingjiang city demonstrated on March 17, according to Tin Tin Wai, the co-chairwoman of the New Light Federation of Labor Unions Myanmar. We were threatened through interpreters with police arrest if we didnt stop the protest, said a worker who identified himself as Super. The police officers looked like they were about to beat us, but they ended up not hitting any protesters. The next day, factory officials demanded that some of the protesters undergo a medical exam, Tin Tin Wai said. The 200 workers who were fired from the Shangcheng and Xinjiahao factories were told they had failed the exam, she said. More than 200 Burmese workers from a garment factory in Yunnan province, China, protest for labor rights on March 17, 2024. (Provided by New Light Federation of Labor Unions Myanmar) They were then immediately driven out of the factory gates to a police station, where they were told to sign a document that said they werent fired for protesting, according to one of the workers, Ma Jue. They didnt allow us to take our belongings out of our rooms, she told RFA. We were forced to sign a paper that we were voluntarily returning home. The workers were then driven back to Myanmars Kayin state, Tin Tin Wai said. No legal recourse Protesters had demanded that their usual 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. working schedule be scaled back, that they be paid extra for overtime and that they receive a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan (US$208) with an attendance bonus, she said. They also asked for reasonable output goals and to have Sundays off, she said. There are more than 1,000 Myanmar migrant workers at the Shangcheng factory and about 300 workers from Myanmar at the Xinjiahao factory. Because there is no memorandum of understanding between the two governments, Myanmar migrant workers at Chinese garment factories dont have legal recourse and can be sent home at any time, according to observers of Myanmar labor issues at the Chinese border. At the Shangcheng and Xinjiahao factories, employment agents who arranged for the workers to come from Myanmar never get involved or take any responsibility when there are disputes between the workers and factory owners, Tin Tin Wai said. Super told RFA that some Myanmar workers were promised higher salaries than the ones they now receive. The Chinese employers offered salaries of 900,000 to 1,000,000 kyats (US$425 to US$475), plus overall expenses for accommodation, said the worker, who identified himself as Super. However, the workers did not even get 800,000 kyats (US$380). Super said he watched some workers quit because they couldnt handle all the overtime work and didnt have access to painkillers or other medicine. RFA contacted the Chinese Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Consulate in Yunnan about last weeks protest, but there was no response. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. Peace and stability are still needed in order for any poll to take place, he told Russian media. Members of Myanmar's Union Election Commission give a demonstration on voting machines to be used in future elections in Yangon on Sept. 5, 2023. Updated on March 25, at 10:51 am ET. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing says Myanmar will hold elections for the first time since the military seized power in 2021 if the junta can bring peace and stability to the country, Russian media reported. But in an interview with the ITAR-TASS news agency, republished by pro-junta media, Min Aung Hlaing admitted that nationwide elections may not be possible, presumably due to the intensifying civil war. If the State is peaceful and stable, we have a plan to hold the election in relevant sections as much as we can even if the election is not held nationwide under the law, Min Aung Hlaing said during the interview in Yangon on March 18. Myanmars military overthrew the civilian-led government in a February 2021 coup detat, on the pretext of voter fraud and incorrect voter registration lists in the November 2020 elections. That vote was swept by the National League for Democracy party, led by Aung Sang Suu Kyi, whom the junta has since imprisoned. The coup has sparked a civil war as ordinary citizens have taken up arms to fight the junta, forming guerilla bands of Peoples Defense Forces, or PDF. They have been joined by ethnic armies in the northern and western parts of the country that have inflicted a series of battlefield defeats on the military since late last year. Deteriorating security The military has said it plans to hold elections, but has failed to do so amid deteriorating security across the country. In the interview with ITAR-TASS, Min Aung Hlaing said we have an ultimatum aim to hold a free and fair election, but said that may be possible only in relevant sections and not across the country, implying that nationwide elections may not be possible for the foreseeable future. On Feb. 1, the junta extended a state of emergency for another six months, but achieving the peace and stability needed to end it appears to be a distant goal following intensified fighting. Calling themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, three ethnic armies in the northern and western parts of the country launched a campaign against the military on Oct. 27 dubbed Operation 1027, which was followed by a similar campaign the following month by a Karenni rebel group. They have overrun dozens of military camps and made significant territorial gains, leading the the surrender of hundreds of junta soldiers, which has put the military on its heels. Myanmar Democratic Party chairwoman Than Than Nu told Radio Free Asia that even holding an election in more peaceful parts of the country may be challenging. One thing that needs to be emphasized is the security situation in places where the election would be held," she said. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan, Mike Firn and Malcolm Foster. Updates to add background and explanation about the 2020 election and rebel advances. A convoy of trucks waits at the Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge No. 2 to deliver aid to three villages in Myanmars Kayin state, on March 25, 2024. Updated March 25, 2024, 09:08 a.m. ET. Thailand's government started aid deliveries to Myanmar on Monday along a newly developed humanitarian corridor to assist civilians affected by fighting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Thai and Myanmar Red Cross Societies, sent aid in an eight-truck convoy across Mae Sot-Myawaddy Friendship Bridge No. 2. Four thousand packages were delivered to three villages in Kayin state, namely Na Bu in Kawkareik district, and Thar Ma Nya and Paingkyon in Hpa-An district. The aid will benefit around 20,000 people in towns selected in the pilot project for their acute need, according to Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. We hope very much to see peace in Myanmar, internal issues certainly will be resolved by Myanmar themselves, Sihasak said at the aid ceremony in Mae Sot. We want every side, all sides, to overcome their differences so that we can be led to reconciliation and peace in the near future. Members of the Thai Red Cross pose with Thailands Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow (L) outside the Mae Sot Customs House by Friendship Bridge No. 2 on March 25, 2024. (Kiana Duncan/RFA) Sihasak previously expressed hope that the aid initiative could help open the way for dialogue between the civilian National Unity Government, ethnic armed organizations and the junta, which seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup d'etat. However, he declined to comment Monday on which groups controlled the territory to which aid would be delivered. I dont want to look at the issue as to which area is controlled by which side, lets talk about the people who are affected. If there is an area where there is a need, then we have to take a look. he said. We are ready to work with everyone, as long as the focus is the people receiving the humanitarian aid. Renewed fighting fuels need Some non-junta stakeholders have criticized the limited scope of the assistance. However, a resurgence in fighting has increased the number of people in need of aid, whatever the amount. After the anti-junta Karen National Liberation Army launched an assault on military camps in Myanmars Myawaddy township on March 7, civilians were left displaced and in need of both food and medicine, according to a spokesperson for the Karen Department of Health and Welfare, declining to be named for security reasons. As many as 30 people were critically injured during battles, and at least three have died from serious injuries in southern Myawaddy and Kawkareik townships. Nearly 3,000 new internally displaced people have been identified since March 7, but the number is likely higher, the spokesperson said. She added that many of them are suffering from diarrhea and fever because they are drinking river water due to the heat. Skirmishes and humanitarian issues are also increasingly affecting Thailands border. Large numbers of migrants fleeing conscription laws enacted by the junta fled through Thai borders, the largest number being arrested in Tak province in February. On Tuesday, 40 junta soldiers fled into Thailands Umphang district, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of Mae Sot, according to the Karen Information Center. The week-long battle with the Karen National Liberation Army caused Thailand to close its border crossing near Paing Ka Hlaing village in Kayin state. Engaging all parties? Despite the foreign affairs ministrys claims to engage all parties, some stakeholders dont feel an adequate effort has been made. Aid would be handed off to community leaders and the district authority in recipient villages, Sihasak said. Drivers in a truck marked for Paingkyon village begin their journey outside Thailand's Customs House on March 25, 2024. (Kiana Duncan/RFA) But the National Unity Governments Ministry of Humanitarian Assistance, along with ethnic armed groups, has drafted an alternative proposal that it said would make Thailands aid delivery plan more effective. It proposed instead to work with local organizations to reach areas controlled by ethnic armed groups. However, the National Unity Government a shadow government formed by members of the civil administration ousted in the coup says there has been no direct communication from Thailands Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the plan, proposed ahead of a seminar in Bangkok earlier this month on the situation in Myanmar. For effective delivery of such aid to the most needy people, close cooperation with EROs [ethnic resistance organizations] and NUG [National Unity Government] will be of paramount importance, said Win Myat Aye, the minister of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management. Given Thailand's status as a pivotal neighboring country to Myanmar, coordinated and collaborative efforts with NUG and EROs are imperative to resolve the ongoing crisis through diplomatic channels. Thai authorities have reached out to one or two ethnic armed groups, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the situation. He declined to name them. The Karen National Union, running parts of Kayin state, declined to comment on whether Thailand had discussed the delivery with them. Lalita Hanwong, a historian at Kasetsart University and advisor to the Thai government on national security issues, said the humanitarian corridor was a positive development. I believe that the security sector and the Thai government have thoroughly considered this matter, she told BenarNews. What Thailand should do next is to initiate negotiations with minorities, especially those in areas bordering Thailand, to ensure sustainable assistance. Thailand's long-term plan should prepare for various scenarios that could arise with Myanmar, such as fragmentation into multiple groups like the Shan, Karen, and Mon. Updated to include comment from a Thai government advisor. BenarNews reporter Ruj Chuenban contributed to this story from Bangkok. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang. The move comes amid rumors of a crackdown on gangs in towns along the Thai border. Chinese fraud gangs in eastern Myanmars Kayin state are moving the foreign trafficking victims they use to run their operations away from a town on the Thai border to a casino in an ethnic rebel-controlled enclave amid rumors of a coming crackdown by authorities, according to casino workers. Scam centers have plagued the border areas of Thailand, Myanmar and China as nationals from all three countries are tricked into and subsequently enslaved in online fraud. The businesses typically force trafficked workers to call people across Asia and convince them to deposit money in fake or fraudulent investments. Tens of thousands involved in the criminal schemes were deported from Myanmar in 2023 by both junta and rebel army officials. Many are linked to forced labor, human trafficking and money laundering, which proliferated after COVID-19 shut down casinos across Southeast Asia. In January, following arrests and raids of money-laundering gangs in Shan states town of Laukkai along the border with China, rumors swirled of a possible crackdown by joint forces of Myanmars junta and Thai authorities on casinos along the Thai border. Earlier this month, more than 800 Chinese nationals were deported from Myawaddy townships infamous gambling and scam center, Shwe Kokko, in Myanmars Kayin state, in relation to online fraud. Casino workers told RFA Burmese that Chinese fraud gangs are now moving the captive foreign workers who they rely on to run their operations from Shwe Koko to the Kyaukkhet Casino known locally as the Ko Sai Casino in a Democratic Karen Benevolent Army-controlled territory south of Myawaddy, locking them up, and demanding exorbitant ransom payments to release them. If you want to be released, if you want to go back home, they will threaten and demand 200,000-300,000 baht (US$5,500-8,250), said one worker who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. They have to work and pay it back that's the only way, he said. An investigation by RFA found that up to 3,000 foreign nationals are being held at the casino, including people from Thailand, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Ethiopia and Uganda. Escapees tortured Another casino worker told RFA that anyone who is captured while trying to escape the scamming gangs are subjected to savage beatings in front of their fellow captives. "Last month, there were people who ran away but were caught, he said. It was too much for me to bear to see what they did to them. They tortured them with electric tasers and made them crawl upside down like scorpions. People even died from it. The casino worker said that most of the people who punished captives were Chinese supervisors who also speak Burmese. Arrested Chinese nationals are transferred to Chinese authorities by Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army forces on Feb. 5, 2024. (Kokang News) Another source at the casino told RFA Lao that the 16 Lao trafficking victims in captivity urged authorities to help us escape from the hellhole as soon as possible, because if we fail to earn money for our Chinese captors, well be tortured again. The parent of a Lao victim held at the facility told RFA that their son had told them that he and others would be freed on March 3, but the day came and went with no news. A representative of the Lao Embassy in Myanmar told RFA that junta officials are working on the case and called on anyone with information about the victims identities and locations to come forward. Attempts by RFA to reach the owners of the Kyaukkhet Casino went unanswered. No knowledge Col. Saw Sein Win, a spokesman for the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, or DKBA, told RFA his group was unaware of the scam gangs operating in the casino. Saw Sein Win said that while the Kyaukkhet Casino is in DKBA-controlled territory, its owners have to pay fees to other armed groups around here, otherwise they will be in trouble. He said that the previously junta-allied Border Guard Force, the military, and the ethnic Karen National Union, or KNU the largest rebel group in the area all have ties to the casino. According to Saw Sein Win, the DKBA also had no knowledge that people had been trafficked to and enslaved in the casino. We had several cases brought to us by foreign embassies of people who were human trafficked and sold there, he said. In those cases, we tried to verify the names and look for and rescue them. As far as I know, we only leased the land, so we are not that deeply involved in their [casino] operations." Saw Sein Win said the DKBA has never entered the casino or required anything of its owners, including the payment of taxes or any share of the revenue they earn. He said the casino owners are doing their own thing with their own [security]. Although publicly these properties are in the DKBA area, as far as I know, [the Chinese casino owners] made deals with other groups, he said. If the junta's army wants money, they go there. So do the other armed groups. All of them ask for money from the Chinese owners. While fighting between Myanmars military and the KNUs armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, has raged in the vicinity of Myawaddy on a near daily basis since February, residents say no clashes, airstrikes or raids have occurred in the area where the Kyaukkhet Casino is located. Translated by Kyaw Min Htun and Phouvong. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. Naomi Kikoler (L) leads a panel discuss during an event on China's mass atrocities against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., March 22, 2024. On March 22, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum hosted an event on human rights violations in Xinjiang, titled We Dont Even Know If They're Alive: Chinas Mass Atrocities against the Uyghurs. At the event, Naomi Kikoler, director of the museums Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, discussed the urgent need for international attention and action regarding the crisis facing Muslim Uyghurs in northwestern China. Afterwards, RFA Uyghur reporter Shahrezad Ghayrat interviewed Kikoler, who has extensive experience in human rights advocacy, about the significance of the museums platform in raising awareness about atrocities committed against the Uyghurs based on their religious and ethnic identity. Kikoler also talked about the immediate need for protective measures for Uyghurs within and outside China, including asylum provisions and support for organizations documenting the crimes, and what role the international community should play to address the Uyghur issue. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. RFA: What is the significance of the museum hosting events like this? Kikoler: For the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, it is so critically important that we lend our voice to communities that are experiencing some of the most horrific atrocities that can be perpetrated. And for us, the plight of the Uyghur community is something that has been front and center for us for a number of years. There are few communities where there is such direct targeting purely on the basis of the Uyghur community's religious and ethnic identity, where we see persecution at this level, and where we see crimes that really defy what we could even comprehend as being possible in terms of how people can treat each other. So for us, it was really an opportunity to show support and solidarity and use our platform to hopefully help compel much needed conversations, especially among policymakers. RFA: What are some key takeaways from today's discussion, and what steps should be taken to address the Uyghur crisis moving forward? Kikoler: There are so many things that we need to take away. First and foremost is that there needs to be immediate efforts to try to protect the Uyghur community that is facing threats in China. There were a number of different strategies that were talked about that could possibly help provide relief. One of the things that really struck me are the threats facing the Uyghur community outside China, the fact that people face incredible risks coming forward and sharing their experiences the fact that individuals may have family members detained in China [and] the fact that China threatens people who are living in the United States. There are efforts that local police enforcement can take and that the U.S. government can take to try to provide protection to the Uyghur community. The U.S., Canada [and] a few other governments have been taking important steps towards providing asylum for Uyghurs. But we have to be talking with many more countries about how to provide safe haven for Uyghurs who are able to get out of China and who need to be protected. Naomi Kikoler gives opening remarks at an event on China's mass atrocities against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., March 22, 2024. And we need to be thinking about what other types of assistance and security can be provided when there are such high levels of intimidation [and] online threats. So for me, in a very practical sense, that's important. Another component is just really doubling down and providing as much assistance as possible to Uyghur organizations that are trying to document the crimes that are being committed. That type of support is not just financial support and technical support, but it's also looking at what information exists, even classified information, satellite information, [or] other information that the intelligence community has that can be released [and made public to show the true nature of the Chinese government's crimes. In doing so, that may help not just in the long-term efforts to advance justice, but it will also help get other governments aligned and hopefully work together to stop these crimes from happening. RFA: How should the international community address human rights abuses committed against Uyghurs in Xinjiang? Kikoler: The international community is absolutely essential in trying to come up with solutions and strategies that can help protect the Uyghur community. What I think is unfortunate is that China has been so deft at building relationships with key governments that they de facto silence governments from doing the right thing when it comes to protecting the Uyghur community. That's true, tragically, for many countries that we would have thought would be natural allies. [There are] a lot of countries that now have business deals with China through the Belt and Road Initiative. Tragically, [there are] also a lot of countries that are part of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, where you would hope there would be a natural affinity. You have a group of people who are being targeted not just [because of] their Uyghur identity, but also [because of] their Muslim identity. And in that regard, we need to see a much more, coordinated outcry and effort to [apply] pressure to protect the Uyghur community. RFA: What are the most effective strategies for advocating for Uyghurs? Kikoler: I'm in awe of the efforts that are taken by the Uyghur community. The courageous journalists [who] are trying to shed light on what is happening is an incredibly important aspect of Uyghur advocacy. The tribunals that have been created, notably the tribunal in the U.K. to shed light on what is happening to the Uyghur community, helps to galvanize public attention and draw attention to it. I have just been astounded by how effective the Uyghur community has been in navigating the halls of Congress and parliaments around the world, but especially in Congress, finding allies in the Senate and in the House to come up with comprehensive legislation that actually reverses the onus and puts the onus on U.S. businesses to show they're not using Uyghur forced labor. That's absolutely brilliant! We've never seen anything like that in any other instance where these types of crimes are happening. It is putting more pressure on U.S. businesses to account for how they're doing their work. The Chinese government is finding creative ways to get around that, and we have to be even more dogged then in the supply chain investigations and in putting a really big spotlight on U.S. businesses and what they're doing. I'm hopeful that they'll continue to be more legislation, including looking at dual-use technology and other forms of emerging technology, where research and design is being undertaken by American, Canadian and European businesses, and then being used to actually create conditions by which the Uyghur community is being surveilled, targeted and persecuted. There have been so many effective strategies already used by the Uyghur community. In a way, the responsibility now is not on the Uyghur community's shoulders. The responsibility is on everyone else to actually listen and do something about it. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. Russia has charged four Tajiks in connection with the deadly terrorist attack on a concert venue near Moscow on March 22 that left at least 137 people dead. Russian media identified the men as Saidakram Rajabalizoda, Dalerjon Mirzoev, Muhammadsobir Faizov, and Faridun Shamsiddin and said they are Tajik citizens. The court said three of the four men had pleaded guilty to all charges during the closed-door hearing. The announcement followed Russian media reports that several Tajik citizens were involved in the deadly attack, while unverified videos purportedly showed several suspects -- Tajik citizens -- being interrogated. Earlier, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said the 11 suspects arrested in connection with the deadly attack at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk were foreigners but did not announce their identities. The Tajik government, a close ally of Moscow, insists it has not received any "official information" from Russian authorities about Tajiks allegedly involved in the attack. But Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the opposition Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), says the opposition has information that several Tajik nationals and Tajik-Russian citizens took part in the massacre. Kabiri blamed the Tajik government's authoritarian policies and crackdown on Islam for "radicalizing" some of its citizens. The IRPT -- which served in the government -- is banned in Tajikistan. Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Khinshtein wrote on Telegram that Tajik passports were found inside the car the suspects allegedly used to flee before being caught by Russian police in the Bryansk region, about 340 kilometers southwest of Moscow. Harsh Interrogation Rajabalizoda, the man who was later charged with terrorism, appeared in two separate, unverified videos that show him confessing to have taken part in the Moscow attack. In graphic footage, Russian security officials are shown cutting off the man's ear. He is also shown with his head wrapped in a bandage and his face and T-shirt covered in blood. The man says he and other accomplices left their weapons "somewhere on the road" as they fled the scene of the attack. RFE/RL cannot verify the authenticity of the footage. Another unverified video shows a handcuffed young man telling his interrogator that he was hired by unknown people via Telegram to "shoot at people" for money. Speaking Russian with a Tajik accent, the man identified himself as Faridun Shamsiddin and said he was born in September 1998. He said he had been contacted by the "assistant of an [Islamic] preacher" whose lectures he had been listening to on Telegram. According to Shamsiddin, the assistant offered him about 1 million rubles ($10,800) to kill people with provided weapons and told him the site of the attack. The assistant gave no information about himself: "no name, no surname, nor anything else" he claimed, adding that "half of the money" had been transferred to him before the attack. The face of the Russian-speaking interrogator and other men holding the suspect were not shown in the footage, which was widely circulated on Russian websites and social media on March 23 before appearing on state media outlets. The authenticity of the video cannot be independently verified. Shamsiddin and other suspects detained and shown in videos made no mention of the extremist Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for the mass killings, or the Islamic State-Khorasan offshoot that has also been mentioned as possibly carrying out the attack. Another short video shows a third suspect -- an unidentified man speaking Tajik -- telling interrogators through a translator that he had been unemployed and looking for job when he befriended a man called Abdullo via Telegram "about 10 days ago." The man said Abdullo offered to buy a car together with him so they could work as taxi drivers. Abdullo "was among us," the man said, though it's unclear if he was referring to the attack. According to Russian media reports, the suspects detained in Bryansk also include Muhammadsobir Faizov, 19, who hails from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. Faizov was reportedly wounded before his arrest and was treated at a Bryansk hospital before being taken by Russian law enforcement. Two accounts on the Russian social media platform VKontake were linked to Faizov, showing that he had worked at a barber shop in the Russian city of Ivanovo until November. It also showed that he subscribed to the social media accounts Islam My Life and I Love Islam and that he had shared posts about his religious beliefs. PRAGUE -- Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called on her compatriots to stand up and defend their country's independence in the face of what she said was "Russian aggression and imperialism" as Belarusians marked Freedom Day (Dzen Voli) to honor the anniversary of the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic, which existed for less than a year in 1918. "We're confronted with Russian aggression and imperialism, and we must stand firm in defense of our nation's independence," Tsikhanouskaya told RFE/RL's Belarus Service on March 25 in Prague, where she was visiting to mark Freedom Day. "We must uphold with integrity and dignity the work initiated by our forefathers. It's imperative that this struggle doesn't protract indefinitely, allowing our generation to safeguard our independence and sovereignty," she said. Belarus's authoritarian ruler, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has been in power since 1994, is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has allowed the use of the Belarusian territory and military installations in Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia and Belarus in 1999 also created a so-called Union State, a supranational body consisting of the two countries, with the declared intention of eventually merging. However, Lukashenka has been procrastinating on the full implementation of the agreement. Lukashenka claimed to have won a sixth term in office in an election in August 2020. While the official results handed Lukashenka victory, the opposition and many Western governments and organizations said the poll was rigged and that Tsikhanouskaya, who stepped in as a candidate in her husband's place after his arrest, actually won. Her husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, was detained before the election to prevent him from registering in as a candidate and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2021 for fomenting mass disorder, inciting social hatred, impeding the activities of the Central Election Commission, and organizing activities that disrupt social order, charges that he and his supporters have rejected as politically motivated. After the election, Lukashenka cracked down hard on dissent and civil society, jailing hundreds of people and forcing most of the country's opposition figures, including Tsikhanouskaya, to flee in fear of their safety and freedom. Tsikhanouskaya now works out of Vilnius and keeps a busy schedule to promote Belarusian democracy. She said earlier this month that she has received no information on her husband for one year and called on UN chief Antonio Guterres to intervene on behalf of all political prisoners held in Belarus. Tsikhanouskaya noted in the interview that Belarus's next presidential election is scheduled to take place in 2025 and predicted it would be an "illegal farce" preceded by more "big purges" because Lukashenka "is afraid of Belarusians." The opposition will mobilize people and conduct campaigns despite laws that have been passed to squelch the opposition. "We have to be strong.... We have to strengthen the networks of people inside and outside the country to act together," she said. Tsikhanouskaya also expressed her strong support for Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, who died on February 16 in a Russian Arctic prison under suspicious circumstances. Navalnaya has vowed to continue her husband's struggle. "I understand that we share many similarities. My husband is a political prisoner, and Yulia experienced a tragedy," Tsikhanouskaya said. "She is an incredibly strong woman, and I hope she can unite people, particularly the opposition, around her cause so that she will not lose contact with the Russians and will be able to show that she works for them first," Tsikhanouskaya told RFE/RL. She said it would be vital for the Russian opposition to clarify they will "relinquish their imperialist ambitions, respect our borders, and support our European aspirations," adding that she believes Navalnaya has the potential to achieve this, supported by a formidable team, but it's essential for her to establish a connection with the people." Tsikhanouskaya, who has met with diplomats and heads of state across Europe and also traveled to the United States for meetings with top officials to help maintain the cause of Belarusian democracy, said she endures the demands of her role knowing that she has the support of Belarusians. "These are not trivial words.... I understand I am not alone," she said, adding that any pain turns to energy as she thinks of the prisoners who are locked up in Belarus in difficult conditions waiting for action. "That we will not give up and will continue to work...this is the biggest motivator," she said. In the winter of 1924, inhabitants of a small village near Tehran looked up as a metal-bodied airplane swooped in to land, bumped along a field, then collapsed in a cloud of dust after its landing gear broke. The pilot of the plane was Swiss aviator Walter Mittelholzer, who had received an invitation from the Persian government to deliver a new Junkers aircraft to the country, which would be renamed Iran in 1935. Kaspar Surber, a Swiss journalist who wrote a book on Mittelholzer, told RFE/RL the aviator was chosen for the flight to Persia in part to "popularize flying" through aerial images he would take there. Mittelholzer was famous at the time for becoming the first person to extensively photograph Switzerland's mountains from an airplane. In the 1920s, Surber says there was something of a "race" between German and British aviation companies to begin air services in Persia, making Mittelholzer's photography skills a key promotional advantage. A Swiss newspaper wrote of the aviator, "The Swiss people know what to expect from their Mr. Mittelholzer, who can not only pilot a plane across unknown countries but also photograph and film in flight." After their ignominious landing 40 kilometers outside of Tehran, Mittelholzer and mechanic Ernst Bissegger had a tense confrontation with villagers before help eventually arrived from the Persian capital and their aircraft was repaired. Mittelholzer and Bissegger's flight of more than 3,000 kilometers from Switzerland to Persia included a standoff with Turkish authorities who confiscated their plane, troubles with poor-quality gasoline purchased in Baghdad, and erroneous maps that forced them into the ill-fated landing during which their plane's landing gear collapsed. Mittelholzers initial impressions of the territory of Persia from above were of "areas that lie desolate and empty and wander past the observing eye for hours. Huge alluvial fans, piles of rubble, and deltas of saline rivers [that] characterize the country." Isolated settlements occasionally came into view as the pair flew over Persian territory. "Here and there a green patch shines," Mittelholzer wrote, "a space in the center of which features residents' mud huts rising on narrow and winding streets. Silver bands mark the irrigation channels at the edges of the gardens." Mittelholzer seized the opportunity to photograph Persia extensively from above in photographs that are now held by the ETH Zurich library. The Swiss aviator and photographer also made use of his camera on the ground to capture a country on the cusp of dramatic change under Reza Shah Pahlavi, a ruler who would become known as Persia's "modernizing strongman." At the time of Mittelholzer's visit to Persia, the country was without major rail or road networks, and camel caravans were still in use as a means of foreign trade, making air transport an enticing possibility for the country's rulers. With the aviation industry still in its infancy in Persia, Mittelholzer and Bissegger had the sky virtually to themselves as they swept low over urban centers to snap images that would soon stun European audiences. Mittelholzer predicted that aerial photography would play a significant role in documentary imagery of the future. "Another hitherto unseen world opens up before us. It is as if the Earth has thereby gained a new face, and man a new, unflawed eye," he wrote in 1928. After spending several weeks inside Iran, the two Swiss aviators eventually made the long trek back to Central Europe by car. Mittelholzer would later co-found a company that became Swissair, Switzerland's national carrier until 2002. He died in a mountaineering accident in 1937 aged 43. In a newspaper obituary, a friend noted that Mittelholzer's death in the mountains that he loved, and that had sparked his extraordinary career, had a certain tragic poetry: "They have embraced him 0n his last wanderings and claimed him, and perhaps he would not have wished for a better end, but alas it came all too soon, there was so much more for him to do." Moscows Basmanny District Court on March 24 formally charged Dalerjon Mirzoev, Saidakram Rajabalizoda, Muhammadsobir Faizov, and Faridun Shamsiddin with committing the mass shooting at the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow on March 22 that killed more than 130 people. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The suspects appeared in court heavily bruised with swollen faces amid reports that they were tortured during interrogation by the security services. The attack, which has been claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group, is the deadliest on Russian soil in years. The court ruled that the men -- all Tajik citizens -- be held in pretrial custody until May 22. A year after the arrest of Evan Gershkovich in Russia, the Wall Street Journal reporters family pledged to continue to fight for release from a Moscow prison where he is being held on espionage charges the White House and his employer say are fabricated. Gershkovich became the first U.S. journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War when he was detained on March 29, 2023, by the Federal Security Service (FSB), which said he had been trying to obtain military secrets. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government have vehemently rejected the espionage charges, saying he was merely doing his job as an accredited reporter when he was arrested. Gershkovich saw his detention extended to June 30 earlier this week by the Moscow City Court. The Kremlin said on March 29 it had no information on when the 32-year-olds trial will begin. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in jail. "We never anticipated this situation happening to our son and brother, let alone a full year with no certainty or clear path forward," his family said in a letter published by the Wall Street Journal on March 29 to mark the anniversary. "But despite this long battle, we are still standing strong." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on March 29 that "to date, Russia has provided no evidence of wrongdoing for a simple reason: Evan did nothing wrong. Journalism is not a crime." Born in the United States to Soviet emigres, Gershkovich reported from Russia for six years before being detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg. Leon Panetta, former director of the CIA, said the United States must play a "tough game" with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to get Gershkovich released. "We have got to play a tough game with Putin to make sure hes not going to get away with this kind of game." Panetta said on Fox News. Gershkovich will ultimately be released through a prisoner swap, Panetta predicted, saying the United States could "develop some leverage" for such a deal by arresting Russian spies in the United States "so that [Putin] has a reason to come to the bargaining table." State Department spokesman Vedant Patel, also speaking on Fox News, said the United States engages daily with the "highest levels of the Russian government" in its effort to win Gershkovich's release, but he said it was "important not to talk about the deliberations in public." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also stressed the importance of silence about any negotiations, but Wall Street Journal Associate Editor Paul Beckett, who is leading the newspapers efforts to free Gershkovich, said talks involving Gershkovich on any level keep his supporters optimistic that something can be done. Russian authorities accuse Gershkovich of collecting state secrets about the military industrial complex at the behest of the U.S. government. Wall Street Journal Associate Editor Paul Beckett, who is leading the newspapers efforts to free Gershkovich, told Current Time in an interview broadcast on March 29 that the reporter is holding up OK under very difficult circumstances. He's in his cell for 23 hours a day. He has an hour outside in the courtyard, which is about the same size as his cell. So we've just been very grateful that he's been able to maintain his equilibrium, Beckett said of Gershkovichs incarceration in Moscows Lefortovo prison. Beckett said that besides one hour of courtyard time per day, Gershkovich has been in constant correspondence with his family, including swapping lines from shows that they enjoyed together, and weekly meetings with his lawyers. Earlier on March 28 in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about reports of a possible prisoner exchange involving Gershkovich, and he stressed the importance of silence about any negotiations. But Beckett said talks involving Gershkovich on any level keep his supporters "optimistic that something can be done." Gershkovich is one of two American reporters currently being held by Russian authorities. The other is Alsu Kurmasheva, an RFE/RL journalist who holds dual Russian-American citizenship. Kurmasheva, 47, was arrested in Kazan last October and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent under a punitive Russian law that targets journalists, civil society activists, and others. Shes also been charged with spreading falsehoods about the Russian military and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. RFE/RL and the U.S. government say the charges are reprisals for her work as a journalist for RFE/RL in Prague. She had traveled to Russia to visit and care for her elderly mother and was initially detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2 at Kazan airport, where her U.S. and Russian passports were confiscated. Gershkovich has been designated as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government. Kurmasheva, however, has not despite pleas from RFE/RL and Kurmashevas family. The Wall Street Journal on March 28 published a story about her detention and the difficulties her husband, Pavel Butorin, who also works for RFE/RL in Prague, and their two daughters, aged 12 and 15, have had without her and their efforts to have her designated as wrongfully detained. The designation would mean her case would be assigned to the office of the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs in the State Department, raising the political profile of her situation and allowing the Biden administration to allocate more resources to securing her release. The designation currently applies only to Gershkovich and another American held in Russia, Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine and corporate security executive who is serving a 16-year prison sentence on espionage charges. Other events being held to mark the one-year anniversary of Gershkovichs detention include a 24-hour read-a-thon of his work by his Wall Street Journal colleagues at the newspapers headquarters in New York and swimming events at Brighton Beaches in New Zealand, South African, Canada, the United States and Britain. The beaches were chosen in recognition of his familys connection to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York, which is home to a large Russian immigrant community. Gershkovich's parents emigrated from the Soviet Union, separately, in 1979. Gunmen killed at least 137 people at a concert hall outside Moscow in the deadliest terror attack in Russia in 20 years. Why did this happen now, what does it mean, and how will the Russian state respond? Author and analyst Mark Galeotti, an honorary professor at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London, joins host Steve Gutterman to discuss. RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government. If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us. To find out more, click here. Russian authorities have charged four Tajik suspects over the deadly mass shooting on March 22 at a Moscow concert hall. News of the arrests appears to have fueled a spike in xenophobic incidents targeting Tajiks and other migrants in Russia, ranging from attacks and arson to sweeping detentions of new arrivals at a Moscow airport. The Taliban-led government is pushing forward with the ambitious Qosh Tepa canal project despite concerns over its impact. The waterway taps the Amu Darya River, a key water source that runs through Afghanistan and Central Asia. While Afghan farmers await a potential agricultural boon, neighboring states Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have expressed concern over possible damage to water security and farming in the area. Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya has expressed her strong support for Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, who died on February 16 in a Russian Arctic prison under suspicious circumstances. Speaking on March 25 to RFE/RL's Belarus Service in Prague, she said it would be vital for the Russian opposition to clarify they will "relinquish their imperialist ambitions, respect our borders, and support our European aspirations," adding that she believes Navalnaya "has the potential to achieve this, supported by a formidable team, but it's essential for her to establish a connection with the people." Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL's new newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe's Eastern neighborhoods. I'm RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I'm drilling down on two big issues: Ukraine and Moldova's negotiation framework and the European Commission's view on pre-enlargement reforms. Brief #1: The Next Steps For Ukraine And Moldova What You Need To Know: Earlier in March, the European Commission sent over the so-called "negotiation framework" for Ukraine and Moldova to European Union member states for approval. The 19-page-document, seen by RFE/RL, covers both countries as they so far are paired in the EU enlargement process and outlines the basic principles of European Union accession talks. One Ukrainian official described it to me as "very broad," adding that "as of now, it causes no concerns to us as there is nothing particularly good or bad in it." That appears to be a fair description as it is essentially a copy-and-paste of the negotiation framework that the European Commission wrote up for Albania and North Macedonia in 2020. The big issue now is when the 27 EU member states, via unanimity, will approve the framework. Here Albania and North Macedonia offer a sobering tale. For Tirana and Skopje, it took two years to get the approval, largely as Bulgaria was raising bilateral historic and linguistic disputes with the latter that in fact still aren't fully resolved. So, while the frameworks were amended by EU member states to reflect Sofia's worries and then passed in 2022 as accession negotiations were officially launched, neither North Macedonia nor Albania have to date opened any of the 33 negotiation chapters. Skopje's inability to include references to Bulgarians as a founding people in its constitution, coupled with a bilateral Greek-Albanian spat over the imprisonment of an ethnic Greek mayor in the southern Albanian town of Himare, has prompted a double veto that so far has meant that neither of the Western Balkan couple has advanced on their respective EU path. Deep Background: For Ukraine and Moldova, the hope among diplomats in Brussels I have spoken to is that EU member states will give a green light at the end of June. The draft right now doesn't offer any concrete hints of what member states might object to, if anything, but it does give plenty of indications that the enlargement process will be far from smooth sailing. The paper immediately points out that "by their very nature, the negotiations are an open-ended process whose outcome cannot be guaranteed beforehand" and adds that "the pace of accessions must take into account the union's capacity to absorb new members" -- a perennial discussion that the bloc first must look after its own functioning, especially regarding decision-making in various institutions before additional countries can join. There are also no surprises in terms of the demand that a new member state must adopt the euro as its national currency but that the decision when that will happen depends on the country fulfilling all necessary economic criteria. As an example, look at Croatia joining the EU in 2013 but only adopting the currency a decade later. Or take membership into the passport-free Schengen Area. It is clearly stated Ukraine and Moldova will have to adopt all relevant EU laws in the field of home affairs in order to become EU members, but other member states and the European Commission will decide when they are ready for Schengen. Here, you can take Bulgaria and Romania as examples, both having joined the EU in 2007 but only partially joining Schengen at the end of March this year. Drilling Down So, what are the problems that tend to slow down the negotiation process? The EU's Copenhagen criteria, which sets down key requirements for membership, states that any new member state must guarantee "respect for and protection of minorities." For many years now, Budapest has been vocal about what it sees as reduced rights for the ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine. That is likely to continue. In a debate held last week in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, Hungarian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Peter Sztaray hammered home that the issue of Ukraine's Hungarian minority is not a bilateral issue but "an issue of human rights and security." In a Hungarian government discussion paper -- seen by RFE/RL and circulated to fellow EU member states at the same time the European Commission was distributing the negotiating framework -- Budapest made clear that it will continue to press the minority issue. "Since 2015 there has been a shift in the policy of Ukraine regarding the rights of national minorities that resulted in narrowing, or in some cases even annulling the rights of national minorities previously guaranteed in the Ukrainian national legislation or in Ukraine's international obligations. We expect the national minority rights of the Hungarian community in Ukraine to be restored to the same level as they were before 2015." The ethnic Hungarians in Ukraine are essentially demanding three things: restoring the status of the national minority school system; restoring some language rights when dealing with state authorities; and restoring the right for political representation on a regional as well as national level. Broadly speaking, Budapest fears that more than four subjects in schools could become obligatory in the Ukrainian language. Another concern is the reshaping of administrative units in Ukraine that has reduced the number of Hungarians below the 10 percent threshold to claim language rights. Hungarian officials also want to secure an automatic delegate in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament. The issue of minority rights is one of the four remaining conditions set out by the European Commission for Ukraine to complete before proper accession talks can be launched. The main demand was that all of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission recommendations on Ukraine's law on national minorities and on media and education be addressed. Several EU member states, as well as Ukraine, believe this has already happened. But the European Commission -- and notably the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, who is Hungarian -- noted in a speech to EU member states earlier in March that these steps haven't yet been fully completed. According to several Brussels sources I spoke to on background, the European Commission will still monitor implementation of the Ukrainian laws. Another report on these matters by the Venice Commission is due in June. Regardless of what it says, it is to be expected that Budapest will want the negotiation framework to reflect these minority rights concerns. Brief #2: European Commission: This Is What's Needed For A Bigger EU What You Need To Know: Without much fanfare, the European Commission on March 20 published its ideas on what reforms the bloc needs to undertake in order to take in more members. Numbering only some 22 pages, it is far from comprehensive. Rather, it gathers some initial thoughts ahead of several upcoming reviews in various policy fields that the commission will undertake later in 2024 and in 2025. Once again, EU enlargement appears to be enjoying some momentum as EU leaders in recent months have decided that membership talks should commence with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Moldova, and Ukraine. Deep Background: The document starts by tackling the perennial question for Brussels officials and wonks: whether to first add new countries to the club or to start by changing internal EU rules. "The EU must deepen as it widens. We must start preparing today for the union of tomorrow and use enlargement as a catalyst for progress," the paper states. Perhaps the most interesting chapter in the text concerns the commission's thoughts on EU governance going forward. Debates have raged for years as to whether the EU needs a treaty to change to accept more members or not. Here, the document appears to come down in favor of the latter by noting that "while the commission has indicated its support [for] treaty change, "if and where it is needed," it believes that the "EU's governance can be swiftly improved by using to the full the potential of the current Treaties." This is the view held by most EU member states as well, no doubt shaped by the trauma from when Dutch and French voters rejected a new EU constitution in referendums held in 2005, and then Irish voters did the same for a revised treaty a few years later. It's a Pandora's box few want to open again. The main issue, as always when it comes to the running of the EU, is the question of unanimity. Most decisions are these days taken by a qualified majority (55 percent of member states representing 65 percent of the total EU population), but unanimity remains in crucial areas such as foreign policy, taxation, and, notably, enlargement policy. The paper notes that "in a larger union, unanimity will be even more difficult to reach, with increased risks of decisions being blocked by a single member state." Drilling Down So, what can be done without actually rewriting the entire EU rulebook? The European Commission notes that so-called passerelle clauses in the current EU treaty would allow for the shift from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) in all sorts of fields. But for that shift to happen, you need to have unanimity. In other words, a vote of unanimity to end unanimity. This is a circle that will be hard to square as it is precisely the veto that makes smaller member states as relevant as the bigger ones in practice. And it's via the threat of vetoes that EU member states can "bargain" to get something in other policy fields. Hungary angling for more EU money withheld from it due to rule-of-law concerns while blocking decisions in other fields is a prime example. Why would Budapest -- or anyone else for that matter -- give up such a powerful tool? The document doesn't quite answer that, although it tries. One is the use of "constructive abstentions" -- meaning that a country doesn't actively say "no" or "yes" but lets the decision pass. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban simply leaving the room at a recent EU summit when leaders decided to open accession talks with Ukraine is a good example. But can that happen on a more regular basis? Another idea floated is to provide for the possibility for one or several member states to invoke exceptional national interest grounds to continue discussions in order to reach a satisfactory solution on an issue. Yet, this raises the question of how long this could go on and if this really would make the bloc move faster on crucial policy files. There are also some ideas on how to speed up the enlargement process as well -- perhaps the most cumbersome of all EU policies and beset with veto opportunities. Every time one of the 33 policy chapters -- the bones of the accession process -- is opened, unanimity is required from the 27 EU member states. And so does their closing, as well as interim benchmarks in some of the chapters. That means that for each country's accession process, there are well over 70 opportunities to block the whole process. Albania and especially North Macedonia are perfect examples of EU hopefuls seemingly stuck forever in the waiting room, simply due to various single-country vetoes. The European Commission proposes doing away with unanimity for opening chapters as well as interim benchmarks but keeping them for closing chapters and for the final decision on the actual accession of a new member to the European Union. So, this would reduce the veto opportunities by more than half. The bigger question, however, remain if member states wanting to slow down the enlargement process -- either due to bilateral spats with a candidate country or just to squeeze out a more favorable deal in a completely unrelated policy field -- will continue to take advantage of the remaining veto opportunities. In short, reforming the EU and letting new countries join is no cakewalk. Looking Ahead Look out for the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Brussels on March 26. Several EU member states have been rocked by farmers' protests in recent months over rising production costs in the bloc and the influx of cheaper agricultural products from abroad. The ministers will look into ways to channel more EU funds to farmers and cut red tape. This issue is also high on the agenda as the Polish and Ukrainian governments meet in Warsaw two days later. Polish farmers have for months blocked Ukrainian farm produce from entering the country, and it will be a hot button issue when Poles vote in local elections on April 7. That's all for this week. I'll be taking a break next week, so the next issue will come out on April 8. Feel free to reach out to me on any of these issues on Twitter @RikardJozwiak, or on e-mail at jozwiakr@rferl.org. Until next time, Rikard Jozwiak If you enjoyed this briefing, please subscribe here. Holi, the festival of colors is here! Nation celebrates Holi 2024 Holi is considered to be the liveliest and most joyful festival in the country. Holi 2024: Holi is a festival of colors that marks the end of winter and symbolizes the victory of good over evil, and is celebrated in different countries every year. Holi is considered to be the liveliest and most joyful festival in the country. This tradition begins on the eve of the Hindu holiday and usually, it lasts for two days, but it is the most anticipated as the actual day of Holi is the most looked forward to. Advertisement During celebrations, it is very important to play with bonfires and bright colors. On the day of Holika Dahan, singing and dancing are performed around a bonfire called Holika, which symbolizes the burning out of evil spirits. Various objects are often thrown into the flames: wood, dead leaves, twigs, etc. It marks an occasion to let go and celebrate life. Families and friends gather together to playfully toss colorful paint and glitter powder at each other and into the air, soaking them head to toe in paint. Although the origins of Holi can be traced back to South Asia, Holi is popular all over the world. Advertisement Wishing the countrymen on the occasion of Holi 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Happy Holi wishes to all my family members of the country. May this traditional festival decorated with colors of affection and harmony bring new energy and new enthusiasm into the lives of all of you." Hong Kong will on Tuesday release February numbers for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In January, imports jumped 21.7 percent on month and exports surged 33.6 percent for a trade surplus of HKD3.6 billion. Singapore will provide February data for industrial production, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 4.5 percent on month and 0.2 percent on year following the 5.7 percent monthly decline and the 1.1 percent yearly increase in January. Australia will see March results for the consumer sentiment index from Westpac Bank; in February, the index climbed 6.2 percent. Japan will release February numbers for producer prices, with forecasts calling for an increase of 2.0 percent on year, easing from 2.1 percent in the previous month. Thailand is scheduled to see February figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 2.65 percent on year after adding 2.60 percent in January. Exports are called higher by an annual 3.45 percent, moderating from 10.0 percent. The trade deficit is pegged at $800 million following the $2.760 billion shortfall a month earlier. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Economic News What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more. After being in the lead role during the tumultus years of Boeing Co., Dave Calhoun announced his intention to step down as the Chief Executive Officer of the aerospace and defence major. The company further announced a new Board Chair as well as a new CEO for its major division, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Following the news, Boeing shares were gaining around 1.3 percent on the NYSE to trade at $191.37. The shares gained around 4 percent in pre-marke activity. Boeing, which has been facing headwinds especially after the January 5 incident involving a new, Boeing 737-9 MAX aircraft, issued Monday a statement, announcing the major changes to its Board and Management. Calling the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident a watershed moment for Boeing, Calhoun, in a letter to employees, said, "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company. We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do." Calhoun, Boeing's CEO since January 13, 2020, announced his decision to step down from the role at the end of 2024. He will continue to lead the firm through the year to complete the critical work underway to stabilize the firm. The company also appointed Steve Mollenkopf as its new independent board chair, succeeding Larry Kellner, who announced his decision not to stand for re-election at annual meeting. In this role, Mollenkopf will lead the board's process of selecting Boeing's next CEO. Kellner has served on the Boeing Board for 13 years and served as its chair since late 2019. In addition, the firm named Stephanie Pope Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO, effective immediately. She succeeds Stan Deal, who will retire from his role and the company. Pope has been serving as chief operating officer of Boeing since January of this year, prior to which she was president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services. Boeing, with its 108-year history and a strong 170,000 employee count, has been offering commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. In his address to the employees, Calhoun acknowledged that they have been working together for the last five years to address some of the most significant challenges the firm and the industry have ever faced. Boeing' latest issues started in March 2019 when 737 MAX, which was then the world's biggest-selling aircraft, was grounded worldwide following two accidents within just six months, which together claimed 346 lives. However, the Federal Aviation Administration lifted its 20-month safety ban on the 737 Max aircraft in mid November 2020. The company had also halted deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner during this time due to manufacturing defects. Then came the global pandemic which halted the international traffic, and with it, the demand for airplanes. In 2020, Boeing reported a sharp drop in deliveries across its commercial and defense operations, the lowest since 1978. It also recorded weak orders for the year. Amid the slow recovery over the next years, the company had to face the grounding of its 737 MAX 9 airplanes in January this year by the FAA after a mid-cabin door plug from Alaska Airlines' Boeing 737-9 MAX airplane blew out in the middle of the flight. The federal regulator had also started a probe into Boeing's manufacturing practices and production lines, including those involving subcontractor Spirit AeroSystems. In early March, the FAA announced that its production audit of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems identified multiple quality control lapses, and halted production expansion of the Boeing 737 MAX. Calhoun now said he became CEO in 2020, stepping down as board chair in the process, because of the unprecedented circumstances the company was facing at that time. "I am confident that the way we have confronted these challenges, and how we are responding to this specific moment, is establishing standards for future generations of employees and will be woven into the fabric of how we operate for decades to come..... As we begin this period of transition, I want to assure you, we will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do," Calhoun said. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allergies affect a significant 31.8% of adults in the United States. Among these allergies, pollen allergies are the most prevalent, affecting 25.7% of the population. Pollen is a common airborne allergen released by plants, trees, grass, and weeds, and is more abundant during warmer months. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America releases an annual list of cities that are the most challenging to live in for allergy sufferers. Factors such as over-the-counter medicine sales, pollen levels, and the availability of allergy specialists are considered when ranking cities. This year, the top five cities included Wichita, Kansas; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Greenville, South Carolina; Dallas; and Oklahoma City. According to Dr. Gailen Marshall, chair of the allergy and immunology department at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, allergy seasons have extended over the years. In the past, allergy seasons were limited to around eight weeks each, with tree pollen in spring, grass pollen in spring and summer, and ragweed pollen in late summer and early fall. However, now allergy seasons tend to last longer. The most common symptoms of pollen allergies include a runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing, itchy nose, eyes, ears, and mouth, red and watery eyes, and swelling around the eyes. Joy Hsu, Senior Medical Officer of the Asthma and Air Quality Branch at the CDC, advises checking pollen forecasts and planning to spend less time outdoors when pollen levels are high to limit pollen exposure. Hsu also recommends taking allergy or asthma medication as prescribed by your healthcare provider. You can limit your exposure to pollen by avoiding touching your eyes while outside and washing them when you get back indoors. Additionally, shutting your windows can help prevent pollen from entering your home, and adding filters to your house's ventilation and air conditioning system or HVAC system can keep pesky particles at bay. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, so far a total of 64 measles cases have been registered nationwide, more than a total of 58 cases reported for all of last year. The CDC describes measles as a "highly contagious viral illness" that "can cause severe complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis or inflammation of the brain, and death, especially in unvaccinated persons." Measles is spread through air or contact and can cause symptoms like mild to moderate fever, runny nose, cough, and red and watery eyes. As of March 12, Florida has reported a total of 10 cases, whereas Illinois has reported 12 cases in Chicago as of March 14, mainly from the migrant shelter in the city's Pilsen neighborhood. Arizona and California have reported four cases, Washington reported six cases, Michigan and Minnesota reported three cases, and Louisiana and New York reported two cases. Earlier, Pennsylvania reported nine cases in January, but after February no new cases were reported. Meanwhile, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia have reported one case each. Speaking about the spread of measles, Jesse Ehrenfeld, the president of the American Medical Association, said that, "the rate of vaccinations against measles in the U.S. has declined since 2019 putting more people at risk of illness, disability and death." Ehrenfeld noted that a lower vaccination rate in the 2022-2023 school year had put approximately 250,000 kindergartners at risk for measles infection. The health regulator urged the healthcare providers and early childhood education providers to make sure that students receive measles, mumps and rubella or MMR vaccines. Children are advised to receive two doses of the MMR vaccine, with the first administered between 12 and 15 months of age, and the second between 4 and 6 years old. According to CDC, a full two-dose MMR vaccination proves to be 97 percent effective against measles. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Health News Ambassador Masekela will receive her honorary doctorate on 03 April 2024 during the 09:30 Rhodes University graduation ceremony By The Division of Communication and Advancement In a distinguished ceremony, Rhodes University will confer upon Ambassador Barbara Masekela the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD). This accolade is in tribute to her exceptional, enduring contributions as a cultural activist, literary scholar, and an unwavering advocate for social justice, human rights, and dignity. Barbara Masekela, born and raised in Witbank and Alexandra Township in Johannesburg, is a figure of substantial influence and accomplishment. Her journey from a politically aware household, where discussions on South Africa's political climate were commonplace, to becoming a vanguard of the African National Congresss Arts and Culture Department, sketches a narrative of dedication, resilience, and passion. Educated across continents, from the University of Lesotho, Fordham University, the University of Zambia and finally, Ohio University in the United States, Masekela's academic path was as diverse as it was challenging. Despite facing racism, a 27-year rupture from South Africa and overcoming tuberculosis, her spirit remained undeterred, propelling her towards significant achievements in education and activism. Masekela taught in the English Department of Livingstone College, Rutgers University, from 1972. In 1982, she returned to Zambia to join the ANC full-time. She was appointed administrative secretary in the newly established Department of Arts and Culture in Lusaka, which was to play a significant role in the international boycott of the apartheid regime and the promotion of South African Arts and Culture. After the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990, she was in the team arranging his first visit to the United States and he subsequently appointed her Head of Staff in his office. Her ambassadorial appointments in France, UNESCO, and the United States, alongside her leadership roles in public and corporate affairs, are an example of the growing influence of women as equal partners in our society. Masekelas poetry has been published in Confrontation: A Journal of Third World Literature (1971), Edited by Quincy Troupe, and Somehow They Survive: An Anthology of South African Writing, Thunder Mouth Press 1982. In 2021 her childhood memoir Poli Poli (Jonathan Ball Publishers), was released. It offers insights into the interplay of art, culture and society. These works not only celebrate her personal journey but also underscore the collective memory and struggles of South Africa. In 2022, she was selected to become a Writing Fellow at the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Studies (JIAS). The Johannesburg Festival of Women Writers, founded by Masekela and supported by the University of Johannesburg, had its second iteration this year and further attests to her commitment to literature and societal progress Rhodes University's decision to honour Masekela is underpinned by her invaluable role in using the arts as a cornerstone of the national liberation struggle. As one of the first female ambassadors of the new South Africa, her pathbreaking endeavours have paved the way for future generations. Her leadership and vision have fundamentally shifted the landscape, ensuring that South African women's roles in leadership and global governance are not only acknowledged but celebrated. The honorary degree also acknowledges Masekela's significant contributions beyond the public eye, including her meticulous care for Nelson Mandela during South Africa's transformative years and her influential positions in both governmental and non-governmental organisations. Masekela's receipt of the Order of Luthuli in Silver for her "excellent contribution to the eradication of apartheid and contributing to the development of the new South African values" is a testament to her life's work. Ambassador Masekela will receive her honorary doctorate on 03 April 2024 during the 09:30 Rhodes University graduation ceremony. World Bank head: China's sustainable growth a lesson for globe 09:13, March 25, 2024 By Ouyang Shijia ( Chinadaily.com.cn World Bank President Ajay Banga talks to the media on March 23, 2024 in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. [Photo by Ouyang Shijia/chinadaily.com.cn] World Bank President Ajay Banga emphasized the pivotal role of China in fostering the world's sustainable growth, saying the World Bank is taking the things it has learned from China to other countries. China is absolutely a key contributor to the sustainable global growth, Banga said Saturday in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, during his first official visit to China since assuming the position in June. Speaking highly of China's achievement in fighting air pollution, Banga said that is the lesson he would like to take elsewhere. "I think that's the role China can play in many countries to show that you can do both development and cleaner (air) at the same time," he said. "So, citizens can have (not only) economic growth but also quality of life. And I think that's a very important lesson." In 2016, the World Bank approved a $500 million loan to support the implementation of measures to help control air pollution in Hebei province, adopting the Program-for-Results lending tool, which links loan disbursements to tangible results on the ground. "The best thing about China is they will try something in one place. They will learn, they will make whatever mistakes have to be made and learn. Once they learn, nobody is better at duplicating and replicating at scale," Banga said. He said China is learning from its past and trying to get ahead of this, creating a better environment for its people and yet keep developing. "I think that's the learning we can take elsewhere." Banga called on more efforts to work together to take knowledge from China and use China's examples elsewhere to promote green and sustainable growth. "I think climate change is a crisis that does not stop at the border, we have to work together," he added. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) This entry in the Nonprofit Journal Project is part of a series of articles about how Michigan health care professionals are responding to the state's health care workforce shortage. It is made possible with funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund. A 2023 National Council of State Boards of Nursing study reported that 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce during the past two years due to stress, burnout, and retirements. Another 610,388 reported an intent to leave by 2027. And, according to a University of Michigan study released in April 2023, about 39% of Michigans nurses intended to leave their jobs in the next year. By November 2023, Brian Peters of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association reported that 8,500 open positions for nurses existed. He said, The reality is we are in the midst of not just a Michigan nursing shortage but a national nursing shortage.That shortage is not only impacting hospitals. The states Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), which cater to low-income, rural, and other underserved populations, are also feeling the sting. To address this shortage and encourage more new nurses to pursue work at FQHCs and RHCs, the Michigan Primary Care Association (MPCA) is collaborating with nine of Michigans state universities to provide nursing students with opportunities to train in such clinics.Organizers aim to launch the program this fall and recruit students who will find the experience rewarding and decide to start their careers at one of Michigans FQHCs or RHCs. We recently spoke with Amber Desgranges, MPCAs key partnerships and initiatives officer, and Rachel Ruddock, MPCA's director of workforce and health professions training, about the program.Q: How will the new project facilitate partnerships between universities, FQHCs, and RHCs?Ruddock: This project is designed to bring together state universities, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and Rural Health Clinics to provide clinical experiences and internships for undergraduate nursing students. We know that undergraduate nursing students are not typically offered much exposure in the outpatient ambulatory primary care environment. This is an opportunity to give these nursing students exposure to a nursing work environment that they would not receive otherwise. Thats what's bringing all of the universities, the FQHCs, the RHCs, as well as MPCA and other partner organizations, together.Q: What kinds of training opportunities will nursing students have in underserved areas?Ruddock: That's still being developed in collaboration with the universities. The universities are guiding what opportunities the students will have because we have to work within the lines of accreditation. The universities are determining what opportunities they are able to do and what responsibilities they're able to have. Also, these are undergraduate nursing students, so these students do not yet have nursing licenses. So we do have to work within the confines of accreditation, licensing, et cetera. It is going to be designed to be a community clinical rotation. The students are going to be exposed to the inner workings of a Federally Qualified Health Center and the services that are provided to patients and to the community in that outpatient primary care setting.Q: How does this experience differ from the hospital rotations undergraduate nurses usually take part in?Ruddock: All nursing students are given the opportunity to have clinical experiences in hospitals. That acute-care experience is built into their curriculum and built into their rotations. But not all nursing students are given the opportunity to have clinical experiences at Federally Qualified Health Centers or Rural Health Clinics. The experience itself is very different. Federally Qualified Health Centers are typically open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Some do have evening hours or weekend hours. Its typically a very different schedule than, say, the 12-hour shifts working in a hospital. The type of care that is provided is different. FQHCs are focused on primary care, mental behavioral health care, and oral health care. Some health centers have specialty services like podiatry and optometry. That is exposure that the students might typically not receive within a hospital setting.Desgranges: One of the recruitment points that Federally Qualified Health Centers have is that there is a greater opportunity for work-life balance. Not to say that there aren't stressful moments at health centers. In the industry as a whole, there's stress. However, this does lend itself to greater work-life balance just by the pure schedule, hours, and work that is done.Q: Sixty clinical and 30 internship opportunities will be made available. Which universities will the students come from? What areas of the state are the FQHCs and RHCs located in?Ruddock: There are 15 state universities in Michigan. Nine out of those 15 indicated interest in participating in this opportunity. These are geographically located all throughout the state, from the Upper Peninsula to Detroit and everything in between. Participating universities include Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Ferris State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan Technical University, Saginaw Valley State University, University of Michigan Flint, Wayne State University, and Michigan State University.Q: How are nursing workforce shortages currently impacting Michigans FQHCs and RHCs?Ruddock: The nursing workforce shortage is well documented. It certainly is challenging for our health centers in the areas of workload and burnout. When there's not enough nurses to do the work, that is obviously going to spill over to others, the ones who are there. That can lead to stress over workload that can lead to burnout. This solution will be recruiting and bringing in newer nurses, giving them an exposure to Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics so they may want to go and work there one day and be part of that nursing workforce. Opportunities at health centers and Rural Health Clinics do exist, and they are great opportunities. I don't think many students know about the opportunities in these as they do about hospitals. This is that opportunity not just to get them there working with the community, but also helping them expand their scope of what nursing could be outside of a hospital system.Desgranges: The nursing opportunities that we have available at these health centers are very different from the nursing opportunities that are available within a hospital. We have lots of nurses that work as care managers, working with patients with very high needs in terms of social determinants of health. They are practicing nursing in a different way.Ruddock: Federally Qualified Health Centers have been around since the civil rights movement, but they are often the best kept secret. [We are] letting students know that this is a great career opportunity. Working at a Federally Qualified Health Center or Rural Health Clinic can be a really fulfilling, great career. On the flip side of that, the program will certainly help the health centers that are experiencing shortages, need help with recruiting, and need help with retaining nurses. This exposure will help them bring in more nurses and grow their nursing workforce. Abingdon Health updated the market on the development of self-tests for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) on Monday, announcing the completion of the 'design freeze' stage for four key tests in collaboration with Devyn. The AIM-traded firm said the tests, covering HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis, were developed under a CDMO contract with Devyns subsidiary Find Out From Home. It said the development was part of a broader strategic partnership between Abingdon Health and Find Out, formalised through a service for equity agreement. Under the agreement, Abingdon would continue to offer regulatory and technical transfer services, and also take a significant minority equity stake in Find Out. As the exclusive manufacturer and regulatory partner for the products, Abingdon Health said it would lead distribution in the UK and Europe. The initiative could tap into a growing demand for STD testing, with the global market expected to reach $145bn by 2035, driven by increasing STD cases among young adults and a lack of awareness about safe sex practices. Abingdon said its chief executive officer Chris Yates would join the board of Find Out, further cementing the strategic alignment between the two entities. We are delighted to announce the strategic partnership with Find Out From Home, said chief executive officer Chris Yates. We have been working with the team at Find Out for the past year and are pleased that the initial set of four STD lateral flow tests have now reached design freeze. Yates said the company was looking forward to deepening its partnership with Find Out, and ultimately launching the rapid STD tests into the European market. We believe there is a significant unmet need for accurate, user-friendly STD lateral flow tests and this partnership underlines our approach in supporting customers on bringing innovative lateral flow tests from "idea to commercial success. At 1500 GMT, shares in Abingdon Health were up 8.11% at 10p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. The European Union said it had started investigations into Google owner Alphabet , Apple and Meta over potentially uncompetitive practices. The trio are being probed for possible breaches of the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) and come three weeks after the bloc fined Apple 1.8bn (1.5bn) for breaking competition laws over music streaming. EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager and industry head Thierry Breton announced the ned investigations on Monday. Apple also faces a major lawsuit in the US after the government accused it of monopolising the smartphone market. The first two probes focus on Alphabet and Apple and relate to anti-steering rules" where firms are not allowed to block businesses from telling their users about cheaper options for their products or about subscriptions outside of an app store. The way that Apple and Alphabets implemented the DMA rules on anti-steering seems to be at odds with the letter of the law. Apple and Alphabet will still charge various recurring fees, and still limit steering, EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager told reporters. Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Shrecast.com Boeing announced a series of changes within its board and management on Monday, with Dave Calhoun announcing his resignation, as the aerospace giant navigated turbulence around its 737 MAX product. The companys president and CEO said he would resign from his role by the end of 2024, but would remain at the helm through the year to oversee Boeing's ongoing efforts to stabilise. It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing, Calhoun said in a letter to employees. The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company. We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do. Independent board chair Larry Kellner had also decided not to seek re-election at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting, marking the end of his 13-year tenure on the Boeing board. Steve Mollenkopf, a board member since 2020 and former CEO of Qualcomm, had been appointed as the new chair, and would lead the search for Calhoun's successor. I am honoured and humbled to step into this new role," said Mollenkopf. I am fully confident in this company and its leadership - and together we are committed to taking the right actions to strengthen safety and quality, and to meet the needs of our customers. I also want to thank both Larry and Dave for their exceptional stewardship of Boeing during a challenging and consequential time for Boeing and the aerospace industry. The company also announced the retirement of Stan Deal, the president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, with Stephanie Pope, previously chief operating officer of Boeing, stepping into the role immediately. It said Pope would bring a wealth of experience from positions across the company. The changes came at a crucial time for Boeing, which had faced a series of challenges in recent years. Two fatal crashes involving its 737 MAX led to a worldwide grounding and significant scrutiny of its safety practices and culture. The 737 MAX returned to the skies nearly two years out of operation, but the 737 MAX-10 variant was recently grounded after a door plug panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines jet in January. Early investigations suggested a lack of quality control in the manufacture of the panel was behind the incident. At 0835 EDT (1235 GMT), shares in the Boeing Company were up 3.1% in premarket trading in New York, at $194.71. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Ferrexpo updated the market on the proceedings involving its subsidiary Ferrexpo Poltava Mining (FPM) on Monday. The FTSE 250 company said that despite ongoing legal matters, operations at FPM remained robust, with production and sales unaffected. It said February saw the highest production volumes since the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in two years earlier. Regarding the anticipated preparatory hearing at the Commercial Court in Poltava Oblast, scheduled for 12 March to address an application from Kysen, Ferrexpo said the hearing was postponed. The rescheduled hearing was now set for 9 April, with Kysen claiming a debt increase to UAH 4.5m ($0.12m) under supply agreements. While FPM continued to contest a separate sureties claim, the company said it had adequate financial resources to sustain operations and settle the debt claimed by Kysen. Despite restrictions on FPM's bank accounts in Ukraine, the company said it could manage essential payments such as salaries, taxes, and energy suppliers. However, payment to other suppliers was restricted. FPM had entered separate arrangements with most key creditors and suppliers to meet payment obligations, ensuring continuity in business operations. Additionally, two court hearings scheduled for 20 March did not proceed as planned. A hearing regarding a claim against FPM was postponed due to the presiding judge's recusal, with a new court date pending. Another hearing related to the FPM general director's bail in a royalties case was postponed due to technical issues with recording equipment, rescheduled for 2 April. Art 1009 GMT, shares in Ferrexpo were up 3.89% at 44.9p. Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Londons FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,925.35 in afternoon trade on Monday. B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher was the top gainer, having slumped earlier after saying it expected lower annual profits in the current year as the home improvement market continued to lag behind demand for housing. The company, which also owns the Brico depot chain in France, said it expects adjusted pre-tax profit of 490m to 550m compared with the 568m it reported for last year, down 25% on 2022/23. Experian was also in the black after JPMorgan Cazenove said it was its top pick in the European business services sector, along with Bureau Veritas, both of which it rates at overweight. "Experian remains our most-preferred long-term pick in European business services, and a top pick for the rest of 2024," it said. "We have confidence the company will grow at least high single digit percentage organically in the medium term supported by its high-quality portfolio of new products at different stages of development. "For FY Mar-25, we forecast 8%. Experian has a strong balance sheet and opportunities for value-add acquisitions, on top of continued organic investments." Ocado fell following a report over the weekend suggesting the company is under pressure over executive pay after an influential proxy adviser urged shareholders to vote against a new bonus scheme that could see its boss Tim Steiner paid as much as 14.8m. According to The Times, Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that investors vote against the online grocers new remuneration policy and performance share plan at its annual meeting on April 29, citing "material concerns" over the sum of money executives could receive. According to The Times, ISS said the potential amount on offer was "materially above market norms" and "not in line with UK market standards and investor expectations". FTSE 100 - Risers Kingfisher (KGF) 240.40p 2.91% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,209.00p 2.15% Airtel Africa (AAF) 102.00p 2.10% St James's Place (STJ) 467.90p 2.03% Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,097.00p 1.70% Anglo American (AAL) 1,957.60p 1.46% BP (BP.) 505.00p 1.23% 3i Group (III) 2,795.00p 1.23% Fresnillo (FRES) 459.70p 1.03% Experian (EXPN) 3,519.00p 0.95% FTSE 100 - Fallers Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,150.00p -4.20% Rightmove (RMV) 553.80p -3.05% Croda International (CRDA) 4,944.00p -2.91% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,295.00p -2.52% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 743.60p -2.47% Ocado Group (OCDO) 457.40p -2.33% Persimmon (PSN) 1,309.50p -1.98% easyJet (EZJ) 537.60p -1.57% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,980.50p -1.32% Diploma (DPLM) 3,408.00p -1.27% President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended warm greetings to the nation on the eve of Holi, emphasizing the festival's significance in fostering love, unity, and brotherhood among people. President Murmu conveyed her wishes to all Indians, both within the country and abroad, highlighting Holi's vibrancy and joy. She underscored how the festival's myriad colors symbolize India's rich diversity, promoting a sense of togetherness and cultural heritage. The President expressed hope that Holi would bring happiness and inspire collective efforts towards nation-building. Similarly, Prime Minister Modi took to social media to extend his Holi wishes to fellow citizens, emphasizing the festival's tradition of fostering affection and harmony. He wished for renewed energy and enthusiasm in everyone's lives, echoing the sentiments of unity and joy associated with Holi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also joined in extending greetings, wishing happiness, prosperity, and harmony to all on the occasion of Holi . He expressed his hopes for the festival to bring prosperity and serve as a source of renewed vigor for all. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh conveyed his warm wishes to the nation, emphasizing the festival's role in infusing joy, enthusiasm, and new energy into people's lives. He echoed sentiments of celebration and happiness associated with Holi, urging everyone to embrace the spirit of the festival. Holi, celebrated with fervor both in India and overseas, is preceded by the ritual of 'Holika Dahan', symbolizing the victory of good over evil. The festival holds special significance in Braj, Uttar Pradesh, where it honors the timeless love of Radha and Krishna. Overall, the messages from the President, Prime Minister, and other government officials reflect the spirit of Holi as a festival of joy, unity, and cultural heritage. Their greetings resonate with the traditional values of love and harmony that Holi embodies, encouraging all citizens to celebrate the occasion with enthusiasm and positivity. The Indian government has granted Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) permission to export crude oil from its underground strategic storages in Mangalore, according to an order from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This decision aims to provide operational flexibility to Adnoc. Currently, crude oil exports are restricted to the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). However, Adnoc's subsidiary, Adnoc Marketing International (India) RSC Limited India (AMI), has been exempted from these restrictions. AMI is permitted to re-export crude oil from its commercial stockpile at the Mangalore strategic petroleum reserve, at its own expense. India, as the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, relies on imports for over 85% of its oil needs. To safeguard against supply disruptions, the country has established strategic storages at three locations with a total capacity of up to 5.33 million tonnes. These facilities, located in Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, and Padur, can meet approximately 9 days of national oil demand. Half of the 1.5 million tonne capacity at the Mangalore storage facility has been leased to Adnoc by the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd , while the remaining capacity is retained by ISPRL. Initially, foreign companies were allowed to lease storage for the purpose of selling oil to domestic refiners, with India retaining the first right on oil usage during emergencies. Adnoc had requested permission to export oil from the Mangalore storage in cases where buyers couldn't be found among Indian refiners. Following the ministry's notification, Adnoc is now permitted to export oil from the Mangalore storage, providing it with additional flexibility in its operations. This move signifies a strategic adjustment in India's oil export policies, potentially opening up avenues for further collaboration with foreign oil companies. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A massive electromagnetic storm blasted through northern America in the last day, spurring Gov. Kathy Hochul and government agencies to keep a weathered eye on the situation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sent out an alert yesterday afternoon that an intense G4 geomagnetic storm was hitting the planet. While it might sound scary, citizens cant really do much to prepare for it other than monitor the situation. After all, the storm is described as a major disturbance in Earths magnetic field, according to NOAAs post. While there have been no reported disruptions to the electrical grid or radio communication, State personnel are actively monitoring and coordinating with industry stakeholders and the federal government, Hochul said in a press release. A G4 classification comes out of five possibility severities, with G5 being the highest. The storms power fluctuated as a coronal mass ejection (CME) travelled from the sun to Earth. CMEs, as stated on NASAs website, are huge bubbles of coronal plasma threaded by intense magnetic field lines that are ejected from the sun over the course of several hours. Essentially, it looks like the sun is producing a rope. This particular CME left the sun the evening of March 22, according to NOAAs post, and arrived at Earths door yesterday morning. Hochuls statement estimated that the storm would last until 2 a.m. this morning in New York. With such a powerful storm and CME present, the chances of seeing an aurora in unlikely places rises. NOAA said that should the G4 strength continue through last night, as the storm moved through the first four levels, the aurora may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. New York City schools will disband a division tasked to help reimagine how students learn, according to a recent report by Chalkbeat. The report stated that Chancellor David Banks announced that the division of teaching and learning will be dissolved In a letter sent to city Department of Education staff. The deputy chancellor who leads that department, Carolyne Quintana, will leave at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, according to Chalkbeat. Quintana has been focused on the chancellors priority of reimagine how public school students learn, including through a new literacy initiative, an overhaul to high school algebra and new, diverse curricula. The work of the teaching and learning division will be integrated into the division of school leadership, under the direction of deputy chancellor Dr. Danika Rux, according to Banks letter, as reported by Chalkbeat. The teaching and learning division is staffed by 2,000 people. According to the media outlet, the move was designed to put resources closer to schools suggesting some staff could be placed under the supervision of local superintendents, who directly supervise principals. Hundreds of staff who oversee supports for special education and multilingual learners will not move to superintendents offices and will instead report to Rux, according to Chalkbeat. The move comes during a major New York City campaign to strengthen literacy in public schools. Last year, the city launched New York City Reads (NYC Reads), a campaign to declare literacy and reading instruction as the core focus and overriding priority of public schools. The multi-pronged, long-range campaign aims to ensure students become confident readers and can learn basic algebra. The campaign comes at a time when half of New York City students arent reading proficiently. It was first launched at the start of the 2023-2024 school year in several districts across the city. Starting in September, Staten Island students will begin to learn the new curriculum, the Advance/SILive.com learned. Support the Peninsulas only locally-owned newspaper. Subscribe! Subscribing annually brings you big savings. We also offer monthly and weekly subscriptions. Premium Subscription As low as $8.25 per month Premium Includes: -- Access to the Daily Journals e-Edition: a digital replica of our daily newspaper including crossword puzzles, games, comics, classifieds and ads. You can download a digital replica of the Daily Journal for offline reading. You can also clip & download articles or images from the e-edition to share with others The most recent 90 issues are available at any given time. -- Unlimited access to our award-winning online content -- Commenting access on all stories as a valued member of the DJ community -- NEW! Access to our online-only digital crossword puzzle. A new puzzle every day, seven days a week! NAB chief executive Ross McEwan has warned Australias housing shortage could hamper economic growth and slow the inflow of migrants, calling it a critical issue in his final week at the helm of the countrys second-largest bank. On Monday evening, in an address reflecting on his global career spanning 40 years including five years at NAB McEwan said a shortfall in housing was one of the biggest problems facing both Australia and New Zealand. NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said fixing Australias housing shortage would support economic growth and productivity. Credit: Louie Douvis We just dont have enough of it, he said. That will slow down the growth of this economy because if you dont have houses for migrants to come in to, well soon be cutting off the migration levels coming into the country. Migration added a record net annual increase of nearly 550,000 people to the countrys population in September 2023, following a period of low migration due to border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday, shareholders in a US cashbox company finally approved a merger with Trump Media and Technology Group. At face value, that will give Donald Trump access to shares valued at almost $US3 billion ($4.6 billion). Not surprisingly, the mergers clearance has sparked a lot of conjecture that the shares Trump will hold in the expanded Trump Media and Technology group (TMTG) might provide a timely solution to a daunting financial issue. Trump has to find $US454 million, plus interest that has been accruing at about $US100,000 a day, to meet the fine imposed by the court or risk seizure of his assets. Credit: Bloomberg Overnight Monday in the US Trump faces a deadline imposed by the judge in the case brought by New York Attorney-General Letitia James. Justice Arthur Engoron found Trump had illegally inflated the value of his assets to get loans and insurance on more favourable terms. He has to find $US454 million ($695 million), plus interest that has been accruing at about $US100,000 a day, to meet the fine imposed by the court or risk seizure of his assets. Remember David Bradbury? No, not the legendary Olympic ice skater he was Steven but the former Labor MP for the western Sydney seat of Lindsay who had a little stint as assistant treasurer, and, in one for the trivia buffs, once declared himself willing to have his loyalty to his leader Julia Gillard tattooed on his body. Were so glad he didnt do that before switching allegiance to Kevin Rudd. Heading back to Australia: David Bradbury. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen We could reminisce all day about those happy times in the Labor family, but we must crack on. After being turfed out by the voters of Lindsay in Tony Abbotts 2013 landslide, Bradbury scored a nice little change of scenery from Penrith to Paris, working at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Radiating restless energy, Gordon Ramsay seems to function on a higher frequency than most humans and generate more static. The 57-year-old father-of-six started training for triathlons when he turned 40 to escape. He also tried goat yoga a couple of years ago in California but says: That was a disaster. It shat all over my back. In a little over a month in Melbourne last year, he visited the gym 18 times, at 6am before a full day on set shooting his new reality-TV series, Gordon Ramsays Food Stars. The place soon opened for him at 5am, so he could get through his regimen undisturbed. Janine Allis and Gordon Ramsay co-host the new competition show Gordon Ramsays Food Stars. The Scottish chef and entrepreneur talks fast, every second word is f--- and, as anyone whos seen even five minutes of any of his shows will be aware, he doesnt suffer those he deems to be fools without fully, frankly and often loudly voicing his views. Hes impatient, profane and sometimes abusive, but hes also probably right when it comes to opinions about food and business, which have formed the foundation of a global empire hes built, comprising restaurants, books, kitchenware and TV shows. Driven by irrepressible energy and fierce competitive spirit, hes made his name on TV over decades as a towering, volcanic kitchen dynamo and tough taskmaster in a succession of shows. If youve spent enough time on #hairtok, chances are youve heard influencers spruiking the necessity and wonders of bond repair, a type of hair technology designed to bring damaged, chemical-treated hair back to life. And while these products arent new, they are having a bit of a moment right now. But what do they actually do? Can you really fix damaged hair and split ends, or is a good haircut the only solution? Bond repair products are rising in popularity. But what do they actually do? Credit: iStock What is bond repair, and how does it work? There are three main types of bonds in our hair, explains Chelcey Salinger, consultant trichologist at the Australian Trichology Centre in Sydney and Adelaide. The strongest are disulphide bonds, which cannot be broken by water. The other two salt bonds and hydrogen bonds are weaker and break when hair is wet or subjected to heat, and reform once hair dries. Traditional owners have described Labors approach to offshore gas development as a betrayal that breaches international law. A group of First Nations people, including Josie Alec from the Australian Conservation Foundation and Raelene Cooper from Save our Songlines, have written and published a letter to Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, Assistant Minister Malarndirri McCarthy and Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour. Josie Alec from the Australian Conservation Foundation during a press conference at Parliament House. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The letter calls on the federal government to listen to Indigenous voices and claims an amendment to offshore gas legislation is intended to remove their consultation rights to be heard on developments in sea country that affect cultural heritage and songlines. Flanked by Greens and independent politicians in Parliament House today, Alec said First Nations people have an obligation to protect land and sea. Our law was given to us in the ground and it was given to us for the sustainability and the longevity of all life on earth, she said. That means my children and your children and all of our future children to come, with these projects going ahead ... our children and their lives are at stake here. These bills that are being put through are trying to silence our voices as First Nations people. The government has added an environmental safeguard to the proposed legislation, requiring both the environment and resources ministers to approve changes to consultation processes. But independent Senator Lidia Thorpe accused Labor of being hypocritical and looking after their mates in the mining industry. This is an absolute disgrace that flies in the face of free, prior and informed consent, she said. AAP Statistics could give a false impression, however. The high murder rate in the Middle Ages was due in part to the fact that without the benefits of modern medicine, victims of violence were more likely to die; and the superficially significant nearly fourfold increase in serial killings between 1960 and 2006 was entirely due to the activities of one man: Harold Shipman. Nevertheless, Sharpe observed some interesting trends. In the 19th century, for example, the expansion of the life insurance industry led to a rise in murder for profit. In a disturbing number of cases, parents took out insurance on their children and then killed them; 20 per cent of victims of homicide in the Victorian period were aged under 12 months. Sharpes study went up to the wave of rioting that broke out in English cities in 2011, sparked by the shooting and killing by police of Mark Duggan, who was being investigated for involvement in gangland crime. Given the historical background, Sharpe observed drily, the fact that the riots seemed so shocking tells us something about the sheer orderliness of English life today. James Anthony Sharpe was born on October 9, 1946 in Lewisham, to James, a labourer, and Margaret, a cleaner. From Colfes School in Blackheath he read history at Oxford, staying on to take a doctorate under Keith Thomas, author of Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971), a landmark study that set the agenda for decades of scholarship on the history of popular religion and supernatural beliefs. In 1973 he was appointed lecturer at the University of York, which he helped to turn into a leading centre for social history. He retired as professor in 2016. Former commando Heston Russell says he has learnt personal lessons after he was cleared of assaulting a man who had accused him of forcing himself on a guest at a boozy inner-Sydney pool party. Russell had admitted he said words to the effect of if you keep coming at me, Im going to throw you over the balcony to Steven Pate at the event at a Woolloomooloo apartment block, after a day spent swimming and drinking at the Yacht Social Club flotilla on Sydney Harbour. Former commando Heston Russell leaves Downing Centre Local Court on Monday after being found not guilty of an assault charge. Credit: Kate Geraghty However, the 38-year-old said the comment on January 2, 2022, was in jest, not a death threat, and denied punching Pate. Russell pleaded not guilty to common assault and faced a hearing in Downing Centre Local Court. On Monday, magistrate Margaret Quinn found Russell not guilty of the charge due to inconsistencies in the evidence of others in the party group that night. A frail grandfather was captured on CCTV footage hobbling down a Bankstown street at 1.38am, dressed in a hooded tracksuit and holding a bottle. It was a revenge mission: Bourhan Hraichie was angry with his daughter, Carol, for allegedly stealing $145,000 from him, Downing Centre District Court has heard. She was in Lebanon when her Ogmore Court house was attacked on September 23, 2022. Judge Penelope Hock found Hraichie was reckless as to whether any other family members were inside when he set fire to a mobility scooter parked at the homes garage. Flames quickly moved to a second-level bedroom and caused $173,000 worth of damage. A jury has found a Perth man guilty of accessing his girlfriends phone and making himself the beneficiary of her superannuation fund just six hours after her unexpected death. Kim Heptinstall died in July 2019, two days after she had been released from hospital after undergoing gastric sleeve surgery. The 32-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest. Travis Barnard, right, was found guilty on Monday of accessing Kim Heptinstalls super and listing himself as a beneficiary hours after her death. Credit: 9News Perth Just six hours later, Heptinstalls on/off boyfriend logged into her phone and into her superannuation app to change her beneficiary details and direct hundreds of thousands of dollars his way. Travis Barnard, 32, denied the allegations but state prosecutors told a jury last week he pretended to be Heptinstall when he changed the name of the beneficiary of the fund, which he knew he had no right to do. The federal government will scale back a contentious plan to mandate lower carbon emissions for about 1.2 million new vehicles sold each year, as voters express doubts about forcing car makers to meet the targets. The revised plan will ease the impact on some of the nations top-selling sports utility vehicles and set a smoother trajectory to cut carbon emissions over the next five years, in line with changes last week to a similar plan in the United States. The ministers agreed to reclassify models such as the Toyota LandCruiser as light commercial vehicles. But an exclusive survey highlights the challenge for the federal government in winning voter support for the reform, with 31 per cent of voters saying authorities should leave it to car makers to produce cleaner cars over time. The Resolve Political Monitor shows 43 per cent of voters opposed the vehicle emission plan when asked about the policy in its original form, while 22 per cent supported the plan and 35 per cent were unsure. People who refuse to return to their birth country because they fear persecution will be jailed for up to five years if they do not co-operate with moves to deport them under Labors accelerated plans to head off a wave of legal challenges to immigration detention. Crossbenchers in the lower house warned that Australia would send people to their deaths under Immigration Minister Andrew Giles latest bill, which also denies visas to people from nations that dont accept unwilling deportees and allows the Immigration Department to reverse protection findings after they are granted. Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan (left) and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles discuss the bill with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (facing away from camera) on Tuesday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen In the third tranche of legislation sped through federal parliament in response to Novembers High Court ruling that released 152 immigration detainees, Labor bowed to Coalition demands in order to pass the bill, agreeing to an 11th-hour inquiry for senators to grill top officials. Late last year the government and opposition united to pass laws requiring former detainees to wear electronic tracking anklets and allowing judges to re-detain the worst offenders. Former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach has taken a swipe at ex-political staffer Bruce Lehrmann over the murky circumstances leading to an infamous 2023 television interview. In a bizarre two-minute press conference on Monday, Auerbach also complained that he had featured in numerous adverse stories about the controversial appointment of his former colleague and one-time close friend, Steve Jackson, to run media affairs for NSW Police and its embattled commissioner, Karen Webb. Former Sky News producer Taylor Auerbach leaves his Elizabeth Bay home before giving a press conference. Credit: James Brickwood With a stained shirt and shaking hands, Auerbach called the media to a park near his harbourside apartment in the affluent Elizabeth Bay on Monday afternoon. He had been an investigations producer at Sky News Australia until Friday, when he was dismissed by the News Corp-owned broadcaster. The Herald agrees it is time for the error-prone Catley to be shown the door. Having mishandled the fallout over the police Tasering of great-grandmother Clare Nowland and the nasty protest outside the Sydney Opera House following the October 7 massacre in Israel, Catley has now turned her trademark incompetence to the staffing arrangements inside the office of embattled NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb. Chris Minns has a number of problems, hes got a number of ministers who should be moved on and Yasmin Catley heads that list, Hadley said. She is not up to the ministerial role she has been given. He went further on Monday, saying Catley was well ahead in a race for the title of NSWs worst police minister. Hadley, who holds plenty of sway on Macquarie Street and within the NSW Police Force itself, summed up the situation well when he recently made the case for why the former librarian, councillor and political staffer should be axed from cabinet. It is not often the Herald finds itself in agreement with 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley, but the performance of Police Minister Yasmin Catley is so bad that it has united strange bedfellows around a clear conclusion: that the minister is not up to the job. It was Catleys chief-of-staff, Ross Neilson, who recommended veteran journalist Steve Jackson as a candidate to lead the influential police media unit a controversial appointment that has gone down like a lead balloon within the force and most Sydney media outlets. Jackson was hired for a six-month contract and no other people were interviewed for the role. One of the many reasons the appointment has raised eyebrows is because Neilson is a personal acquaintance of Jackson. This is, at the very least, not a great look for a government that has spent much of its first year in office fending off claims of jobs for the boys appointments. Following a series of scandals and self-inflicted damage, the commissioner needed a circuit breaker and sacked her media chief, Liz Deegan, earlier this month. For Webb, selecting a new senior executive to help restore her reputation and with it the publics confidence in NSW Police top brass required an appointment that was nothing short of a masterstroke. The decision to hire Jackson falls far short of that benchmark. He was a senior producer on one of Australian journalisms grubbiest products, Sevens Spotlight, and was intimately involved in the programs interview with former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann. The program repeatedly claimed Lehrmann was not paid for the interview, but it later emerged in court that Seven was paying his rent for a year at a total value of more than $100,000. It also emerged last week that nearly $3000 was charged to a Seven corporate card for the services of two Thai masseuses as Spotlight attempted to secure the exclusive interview with Lehrmann. Lehrmann has denied using the services. Jackson, who was not present on the night, reportedly suggested the employee who incurred the charges, who has since left Seven, ask the masseuse to reverse the transactions and take cash instead. Karen Webb at the 2GB studios on Monday morning. Credit: Nick Moir Jacksons NSW Police appointment has also triggered the distribution of photographs of him with a naked woman he had just interviewed. The photographs were taken at the womans apartment on December 24, 2019. Its hard to believe such a peaceful place exists within one of the worlds largest cities. But here is Meiji-Jingu, the Shinto shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of two of the most important figures in Japans recent history, Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shoken, and its just a short walk from Harajuku station. There are several ways to enter the grounds (split into two major sections, Naien, the inner precinct, and Gaien, the outer), though Harajuku is the best, as the pathway into the forest leads visitors to a huge torii gate. These archways are the symbol of Japan, and rarely will you find one more majestic. Autumn turns the leaves gold in the forest of the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. Credit: Getty Images The Meiji shrine is impressive, but its also very popular, with more than 3 million visitors a year, so its worth getting off the beaten paths and exploring the 70 hectares of forestland its set in. Those forests are made of 120,000 trees that were donated from all corners of Japan. Enjoy the chance to experience nature in the middle of such a large city, but also take time to visit the Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery, which houses 80 large murals depicting the life of the Emperor. Dont barrel past the sake barrels Sake barrels donated as a show of respect to Emperor Meiji. Pass the torii gate near Harajuku station and the path will lead you to a huge wall of more than 200 sake barrels. These traditional straw barrels were donated to the shrine by the most important sake breweries across Japan, as a show of respect to Emperor Meiji. Just around the corner, too, youll find a large collection of wine barrels from France, a sign of Emperor Meijis lasting legacy: the opening of Japan to the world. Sundays episode of 60 Minutes revealed a fascinating tension within the Fijian government about whether to embrace a 2011 agreement signed with the Chinese government that allows Fijian police officers to receive training in China and Chinese officers to be deployed to Fiji. Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka last year suggested he wanted to scrap the memorandum of understanding, which was signed when the Fijian government was under military rule, due to differing values with the Chinese government and his desire for closer ties with the US, Australia and New Zealand. However, Fijian Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua wants to maintain the agreement. Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. Credit: 60 Minutes The reflexive question that arises in Canberra over this tension within the Fijian governments highest ranks is: what should Australia do? Quite simply, we should do nothing. To even offer an opinion on what Fiji ought to do would be unhelpful. This has nothing to do with Australia or our sovereignty. Federal Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said the motivation for the crime was complex because that group [the brothers] has multiple interests. He said investigations suggested Chiquinho was especially upset about a bill that his then-colleague Franco sponsored about regulation of land to build public housing in Rio. At this moment we have it very clear who are the perpetrators of this hateful, heinous crime of political nature, said the minister, who added that four other people had documents seized. Among them, he said, is a police detective who also investigated the case, Giniton Lages. Lewandowski also said the men jailed earlier would be transferred from Rio to the capital Brasilia. People carry posters with images of slain Brazilian councilwoman Marielle Franco during a demonstration against racism in Lisbon, Portugal, last month. Credit: AP The arrests of the men who allegedly ordered Francos killing came four days after Brazils Supreme Court validated a plea bargain for the shooter, who was arrested along with the getaway driver in 2019. The investigation into Francos murder had been troubled for years. Rios state civil police couldnt break the case after the arrest and indictment of the shooter and getaway driver. The lead detectives were changed four times before February 2023. Federal authorities then attempted to take control of the case, but were not allowed to, which also increased suspicions of obstruction, according to Lewandowski. Loading The getaway driver admitted to the double murder. The shooter, disgraced former police officer Ronnie Lessa, signed a plea bargain deal with authorities in January and his admission led to Sundays arrests. Earlier, Francos widow, Monica Benicio, said Barbosa offered her his sympathies after the slaying, promising to be tough in his efforts to find the killers. Performers celebrate slain councilwoman Marielle Franco during the Mangueira samba school Carnival performance in Rio de Janeiro this year. Mangueira went on to win the competition with the tribute. Credit: AP Franco worked as an assistant to then-state MP Marcelo Freixo in 2008 as he presided over a special committee investigating militias in Rios state assembly. Freixos final report indicted 226 suspected militia members and politicians and government employees, including Domingos Brazao. While Brazao was mentioned in the report, he wasnt indicted. Political violence isnt uncommon in Rio, and such killings are often linked to territorial and political disputes. But they typically go unsolved and never elicit the same level of outcry as Francos death did. She had been a rising political star, making her name by exposing police abuse and violence against residents of working-class neighbourhoods known as favelas. Loading Known universally by her first name, Franco grew up in a favela herself the Mare neighborhood near Rios international airport. She became a human rights activist there after her friend was killed by a stray bullet in a shootout between police and drug traffickers. She worked for Freixo investigating organised crime then went on to win a seat on Rios city council in 2016. She kept receiving and sharing complaints of police abuse until just days before she was killed. While her assertiveness and mere presence ruffled some, she remained unbowed. On the evening of March 14, 2018, she left an event to empower young black women when a car pulled up alongside hers and opened fire. Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, were killed on the spot. Why did they choose Marielle? No doubt it was because she is a black woman, they were sure they would go unpunished, Freixo said on X, formerly Twitter. He wrote that crowds gathered a day after her murder to mourn her and those who killed her were not able to see the greatness of what Marielle stood for. The brutality of the slaying and the political hope she had embodied transformed Franco into a symbol of left-wing resistance in Brazil and abroad. People staged massive protests to channel their outrage; her silhouette was painted on walls across Brazil and printed on T-shirts; her name figures on a street sign in front of Rios city council; and her sister, Anielle Franco, has been appointed Brazils minister of racial equality. Brazils Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco, the sister of slain councilwoman Marielle Franco, flashes an L finger sign as she poses for a photo with Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva las week. Credit: AP The Brazao brothers political clan is associated with an area of the city historically dominated by militias groups initially made up mainly of former policemen and off-duty officers who wanted to combat lawlessness in their neighbourhoods with armed force. They began to extort shop owners and charge for services such as internet, cooking gas and cable TV. More recently, they have expanded their illicit businesses into land grabbing and real estate development. PHILIPSBURG:--- The Inspectorate of Taxes reminds the general public that the deadline for submitting their 2023 Income Tax Return Form is Friday, May 31, 2024. Submissions must be made at the Tax Administration Office in the Vineyard Building during office hours, Monday through Friday, between 8 AM and 2 PM. It is recommended that you submit your income tax return form well before the deadline to prevent overcrowding and minimize wait times. To access the 2023 Income Tax Return Forms A & B and view the list of required documents, please visit www.tax.sx under the Documents tab. The forms are also available on the Government of Sint Maarten website and via the government's online services at onlineservices.sintmaartengov.org. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Community Development, Family, and Humanitarian Affairs (CDFHA) Department, the Sint Maarten Tax Administration offers free assistance for seniors and pensioners with filing their 2023 Income Tax Return Form. For more information, please visit or contact your nearest Community Help Desk. Taxpayers are reminded that the 2023 Income Tax Return cannot be submitted online or via email. Tax Return Forms must be submitted in person at the front office of the Tax Administration, located in the Vineyard Building. Upon submission, kindly bring a copy of the form for stamping as a receipt. Requests for extensions must be submitted before the deadline date of Friday, May 31, 2024, accompanied by a valid reason. Additionally, spouses are reminded to submit one tax form jointly. For questions or requests, please email the Sint Maarten Tax Administration at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Tech lobby slams EU 'rush' to probe Apple, Google and Meta Brussels, Belgium, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 The EU probes launched Monday into Apple, Google and Meta send a "worrying signal", one of the main tech lobbying groups said after the European Commission announced the first ever investigations under a new digital law. "The timing of these announcements, while the DMA compliance workshops are still ongoing, makes it look like the Commission could be jumping the gun," said the head of CCIA Europe, Daniel Friedlaender. "As we all know, data takes time to collect. What we see now, however, sends a worrying signal that the EU might rush into investigations without knowing what they're investigating," Friedlaender added. CCIA's members include Apple, Google and Meta. The EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, pushed back at the CCIA's claim. "We take stakeholder input as an important input. But of course it is up to us to take the decision about opening cases. It's for us to prove that something is wrong here," she told reporters in Brussels. "I definitely do not think that this is rushed. I think it is very timely, reflecting the promises that have been given and the law that has been passed," she added. EU probes Apple, Google, Meta under new digital law Brussels, Belgium, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 The EU on Monday hit Apple, Google parent Alphabet and Meta with the first ever probes under a mammoth digital law, which could lead to big fines against the US giants. Among six firms named as market "gatekeepers" under the EU's landmark Digital Markets Act -- along with Amazon, TikTok owner ByteDance and Microsoft -- the companies have been obliged to comply with the new law since March 7. "We are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses," said the EU's internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton. In a statement announcing the probes, the European Commission, the EU's antitrust regulator, said it suspects the measures the firms have put in place so far "fall short of effective compliance." One of the main tech lobbying groups, CCIA, whose members include the three giants targeted, lambasted the probes, accusing the EU of "jumping the gun" and acting too hastily. The EU's competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, insisted regulators had "definitely" not rushed to probe the companies. Senior officials have acknowledged that changes are already taking place, but suggest they do not go far enough. Under the new rules, the commission can impose fines of up to 10 percent of a company's total global turnover. This can rise to up to 20 percent for repeat offenders. In extreme circumstances, the EU can order the break up of companies. Unlike the traditional rules that saw probes last for years, the DMA demands regulators complete any investigation within 12 months of its start. - Restriction fears - Monday's probes are focused on whether Alphabet's Google Play and Apple's App Store are allowing app developers to show consumers offers, free of charge, outside of those app marketplaces. The commission fears that the measures the two companies have taken may not be fully compliant since they impose "various restrictions and limitations". Alphabet is also under suspicion over whether Google search results favour its own services -- for example, Google Shopping or Google Flights -- over rivals. The EU slapped a whopping 2.4-billion-euro ($2.6 billion) fine on Google in 2017 over similar claims of self-preferencing. Google's director of competition, Oliver Bethell, said Google had made "significant changes to the way our services operate in Europe", adding: "We will continue to defend our approach in the coming months." Apple said it was "confident" its plan complied with the DMA. - Concerns over consent - Apple is also under the spotlight over whether it allows users to easily uninstall apps on its iOS operating system, and the design of the web browser choice screen. Under the DMA, the gatekeepers must offer choice screens for web browsers and search engines to ensure users have more options. Meta also faces problems over its ad-free subscriptions model, which has already been targeted by three complaints since it launched in November. European users can pay to avoid being tracked for advertising but officials were not convinced. "We have serious doubts that this consent is really free when you are confronted with a binary choice," Breton told reporters. Meta has faced an avalanche of legal problems in the EU over its data processing, including a 1.2 billion-euro fine last year for data privacy breaches. Meta defended its scheme. "We designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA," a spokesperson said. - Turning sour on Apple - In an additional move, EU regulators will also explore whether Amazon may be favouring its own brand products on the Amazon Store and whether Apple's new fee structure for alternative app stores "may be defeating the purpose" of its DMA obligations. An Amazon spokesperson said it was "compliant" with the DMA. Monday's announcement is one more problem for Apple, which faces a glut of legal challenges on both sides of the Atlantic. Last week, the US Department of Justice sued Apple, accusing the company of operating a monopoly in the smartphone market. That was just weeks after the EU slapped a 1.8-billion-euro fine on the iPhone maker for preventing consumers from accessing cheaper music streaming subscriptions. Apple said it would appeal the EU fine. raz/ec/rl Apple Alphabet Inc. Bankrupt FTX sells stake in hot AI startup Anthropic Washington, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 FTX, the bankrupt company once run by disgraced crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried, will sell two-thirds of its shares in hot AI startup Anthropic for $880 million, a court filing said on Monday. The shares in Anthropic were considered plum assets in the remains of the FTX empire that collapsed in late 2022, when revelations showed occurrences of massive fraud by Bankman-Fried and his close associates. Bankman-Fried, 32, was found guilty in November 2023 on a raft of charges and is set to be sentenced at a federal court in New York on Thursday, with prosecutors seeking a 40 to 50 years in prison. The biggest chunk of the Anthropic shares will go to ATIC Third International Investment Company, which is affiliated to the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates, the court filing said. ATIC will pay $500 million for its stake in Anthropic, the document showed, while about 20 other buyers, including Bankman-Fried's former employer Jane Street Global Trading, will make out the rest. The move will make a tidy profit for FTX, which invested $500 million in generative AI startup Anthropic in 2021, at the height of the company's stature as a cryptocurrency giant. Founded that year, Anthropic was created by former employees of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. The company is best known for its chatbot Claude and has made waves for its mission to release AI models with stricter guardrails than those from ChatGPT and other chatbot rivals. The bankruptcy proceedings for FTX have been complex and contentious with court-appointed CEO, John J. Ray III, tasked with recovering assets for creditors. FTX has said it expects to repay customers in full and reported it had $6.4 billion in cash as of late February, according to the Wall Street Journal. Philippines says Chinese envoy summoned over 'aggressive actions' off reef Manila, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 The Philippines said Monday it had summoned a Chinese envoy over "aggressive actions" by the China Coast Guard and other vessels near a reef off the Southeast Asian country's coast, while Beijing lodged its own complaint. Beijing and Manila have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and there have been repeated confrontations between their vessels near disputed reefs in recent months. The latest incident took place Saturday near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands during a regular Philippine mission to resupply Filipino troops garrisoned on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded navy ship. The Philippines said the China Coast Guard blocked its supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon, injuring three soldiers. The China Coast Guard has defended its actions, describing them as "lawful regulation, interception and expulsion" of a foreign vessel that "tried to forcefully intrude" into Chinese waters. On Monday, China's embassy in the Philippines said it had complained to Manila over what it called the "illegal intrusion" of the Southeast Asian country's ships into its waters. Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island. Manila conveyed its "strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal," the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, using the Filipino name for Second Thomas Shoal. It said the Philippine embassy in Beijing also lodged a similar protest with the Chinese foreign ministry. "In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal," the foreign affairs department said. "The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately." It is the same location where there have been recent collisions between vessels belonging to both countries, as well as water cannoning by the China Coast Guard. - Cooling diplomatic relations - China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries including the Philippines and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The United States, which has a mutual defence pact with Manila, has denounced the attack. It came days after visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its "ironclad" commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Monday challenged Beijing to seek arbitration, which he said was the "best way of solving a legal dispute sustainably". "That's why they don't like that," Teodoro told reporters. Relations between Manila and Beijing have cooled under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos as he seeks to deepen cooperation with the United States and regional neighbours, while standing up to Chinese aggression towards Philippine vessels. Chinese and Philippine officials agreed in January on the need for closer dialogue to deal with "maritime emergencies" in the South China Sea, including Second Thomas Shoal. But Manila said Monday that China's "aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea." Despite the attack, Philippine officials said the damaged vessel and a coast guard escort ship that came to its aid later deployed rigid-hull inflatable boats to deliver its cargo and personnel to the Filipino outpost. Filipino soldiers stationed on the shoal live on the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre and require frequent resupplies for food, water and other necessities as well as transport for personnel rotations. Apart from supplies and equipment, the Philippine military said six navy personnel were delivered to the BRP Sierra Madre on Saturday, replacing one soldier who was recently evacuated on medical grounds. The damaged supply boat and its escorts sailed back to port after completing their mission, the task force said. Israel says fighting Hamas around two Gaza hospitals Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 Israel's army said it was battling Hamas militants Monday around two Gaza hospitals, reporting some 20 fighters killed in the past day in close-quarters combat and air strikes. Israel has launched raids on and near several Gaza hospitals since the war erupted in October, claiming that fighters have used them as bases -- charges denied by the Palestinian militants. Palestinians living near Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, have reported hellish conditions, including corpses in the streets, constant bombardment and the rounding up of men, who are stripped to their underwear and questioned. Israel labelled the raids underway Monday around Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, and in the Khan Yunis neighbourhood surrounding Al-Amal hospital, "precise operational activities". But the raids have sparked major fears for the patients and displaced people who are inside the facilities, which in some cases Israel has raided or cordoned off on more than one occasion. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Al-Amal had all of its entrances surrounded by military vehicles and that hospital staff were prohibited from leaving. The military said its operation in the Al-Amal neighbourhood included "raids on several terrorist infrastructure sites in the area and located explosive devices, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and military equipment". "Over 20 terrorists were eliminated in the Al-Amal area over the past day in close-quarters combat and aerial strikes," the army added. The raid at Al-Shifa is now in its eighth day and the military reported detaining some "500 terrorists affiliated with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations" and locating weapons in the area. Israel has said that the operation will continue until the last militant is "in their hands", signalling an extended presence at Al-Shifa, which troops also raided in November. The Red Crescent on Sunday said military vehicles had also surrounded Nasser hospital, about a one-kilometre (half mile) drive from the Al-Amal medical centre, but the situation at Nasser on Monday was unclear. 13 Indonesian soldiers held over alleged torture of Papuan Jakarta, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 Thirteen Indonesian soldiers have been detained for their alleged role in the torture of a Papuan man, the military said Monday, after a viral video showed him being beaten by a group, some in military fatigues. The graphic footage that circulated on Indonesian social media in recent days, showed several people assaulting a man in the eastern region, with his hands tied in a water-filled steel drum. The eastern region is where separatists have waged a decades-long insurgency against Indonesian forces. Another video showed the same man shivering in the drum while a man in fatigues slashes his back with a combat knife. The military opened a probe into the incident after the footage spread and detained 13 soldiers out of more than 40 questioned, military spokesman Kristomei Sianturi told a press conference. "Out of those 42 soldiers, indications were found that 13 soldiers committed the violent act," Kristomei said. The soldiers will soon be named as suspects, he added. The attack allegedly occurred last month but the video went viral last week. Izak Pangemanan, a senior Indonesian military official in Papua, said the actions of the alleged perpetrators "tarnished efforts to handle conflict in Papua" and apologised for the incident. "I apologise to all Papuan people. And we will continue to work so that these kinds of events will not be repeated in the future," he said. Military officials said the man was accused of planning to burn down a health clinic and was a member of an armed criminal group, an Indonesian army term for describing Papuan rebel groups. Papua's main rebel group has claimed responsibility for attacks against soldiers and civilians in recent years. Indonesian security forces have for years been dogged by allegations of rights abuses against Papua's ethnic Melanesian population including extrajudicial killings of activists and peaceful protestors in their efforts to crush the rebel groups. Papua is the Indonesian region that shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia. The former Dutch colony declared independence in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control two years later, promising a referendum. In 1969, a thousand Papuans voted to integrate into Indonesia in a United Nations-backed vote. Papuan independence activists regularly criticise the vote and call for fresh polls, but Jakarta says its sovereignty over Papua is supported by the UN. US disappointed by cancelation of Israeli visit: White House Washington, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 The United States is "very disappointed" by the cancelation of an Israeli delegation's planned visit to discuss concerns over a possible offensive in southern Gaza, the White House said Monday. "We're very disappointed that they won't be coming to Washington, DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists. Israel scrapped the visit after the United States abstained from a UN Security Council vote demanding a ceasefire in Gaza -- a move that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said hurt Israel's fight against Hamas. Kirby however insisted that the vote "does not represent a shift in our policy," and said the United States abstained because the text did not condemn Hamas. "We've been consistent in our support (for) a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal," he said, referring to efforts to free the roughly 130 people who are still believed to be held in Gaza after they were seized in a shock Hamas attack in October. That attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures. Israel's military campaign in response to eliminate Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The United States has backed Israel with both military and diplomatic support, but has voiced frustration with Netanyahu as the civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip mounts. While the delegation's trip has been canceled, a separate visit by Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is proceeding, the Pentagon said. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "is still planning to meet with Minister Gallant" on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told journalists. The Austin-Gallant talks will cover "efforts to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas" and "the need for more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians," Ryder said. They will also discuss "plans to ensure the safety of the more than one million people sheltering in Rafah while also ensuring Hamas can no longer pose a threat to Israel," he added. UN Security Council for first time demands Gaza ceasefire as US abstains United Nations, United States, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 After more than five months of war, the UN Security Council for the first time Monday demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States, Israel's ally which vetoed previous drafts, abstained. Drawing unusual applause in the normally staid Security Council, all 14 other members voted in favor of the resolution which "demands an immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a "lasting, sustainable ceasefire" and demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized in their October 7 attack that triggered the massive Israeli military campaign. "The bloodbath has continued for far too long," said Amar Bendjama, the representative of Algeria, the Arab bloc's current member of the Security Council and a sponsor of the resolution alongside a diverse group that included Slovenia, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea. "Finally, the Security Council is shouldering its responsibility," he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that the resolution be implemented. "Failure would be unforgivable," Guterres wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour fought back tears as he said that the resolution should be a "turning point" in ending the war. "Apologies to those who the world has failed, to those that could have been saved but were not," he said. - 'No moral right to stop the war' - The United States had repeatedly blocked Security Council resolutions that put pressure on Israel but has increasingly shown frustration with its ally as the United Nations warns of impending famine in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week vowed to defy US appeals and expand Israel's military campaign to Rafah, the southern Gaza city where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken shelter. Moments after the United States declined to veto the latest resolution, Netanyahu announced that he would no longer send to Washington a delegation requested by President Joe Biden to discuss Rafah. The resolution "gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees," Netanyahu said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was already in Washington on a separate trip, said his country will not end the war until the hostages are freed. "We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza," he said outside the White House. Hamas welcomed the resolution and said it would engage in talks on a prisoner exchange brokered by Qatar, after repeated delays in securing a deal. - US says onus still on Hamas - The White House insisted that its abstention did not signal a policy shift. US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who had previously warned that pressure on Israel would jeopardize ongoing talks, said that Hamas must now accept the deal to free hostages. "A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage," Thomas-Greenfield said. "This is the only path to securing a ceasefire." She called on all nations to "speak out and demand unequivocally" that Hamas accept the deal and again accused Russia and China of failing to offer more than "rhetoric" to address the crisis. The United States on Friday put forward a resolution that would have included a call for an immediate ceasefire but linked it more explicitly to the hostage release. Russia and China vetoed it, calling the language too vague. On Monday, Russia introduced an amendment to add a call for a "permanent" rather than "lasting" ceasefire but the vote failed and Moscow still voted for the resolution. "The word 'lasting' could be interpreted in various different ways, and that is very telling. Those who are providing cover for Israel still want to give it a free hand," said Russia's ambassador, Vasily Nebenzia. France said that the resolution ended the "deafening silence" by the Security Council on Gaza but called for work on a permanent ceasefire once Ramadan ends in around two weeks. "This crisis is not over," said France's UN representative, Nicolas de Riviere. The October 7 attack by Hamas, the deadliest in Israel's history, resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures. The militants also seized 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead. Israel responded by vowing to eliminate Hamas. Its Gaza campaign has killed more than 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Situation near Chasiv Yar tense, Ukrainian army says Kyiv, Ukraine, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 Ukrainian forces face a "difficult" situation around the eastern city of Chasiv Yar as Russia focuses its offensive there, a Ukrainian army official said Monday. Moscow has made a number of gains on the frontline in recent months, pressing their advantage as Kyiv struggles with shortages of vital munitions from its Western allies. "The situation with regard to Chasiv Yar has been difficult and tense, not for the first day," said Oleg Kalashnikov, press officer for Ukraine's 26th Artillery Brigade. "Today it is the main focus for the enemy in its assault operations. It is trying to push through our defenses in order to reach Chasiv Yar," he said. He also said Russia had increased its use of powerful guided bombs in the area, and was "dropping them on populated areas and on our fortified positions." Ukraine has been forced onto the defensive in the past few months as it struggles with ammunition shortages and a hold up to a $60 billion aid package from Washington. Its ground forces commander warned last week Russia was building a group of over 100,000 soldiers in advance of what may be a major offensive this summer. A mother with a 15-year-old daughter said in an interview with Internet Matters that sexually explicit images from men are "so standard it's not noteworthy and they just block it and move on". It is a grisly reminder that the Islamist threat to Europe hasnt gone away. While our attention was elsewhere, this IS franchise, which a Royal United Services Institute specialist, Dr Antonio Giustozzi, describes as one of the most resilient terrorist organisations on the planet, has been seeing off attempts by the Taliban yes, them to suppress it. IS-K has reportedly been planning attacks in Turkey and Europe and earlier carried out an attack in Iran. Interestingly, it makes use of women. Those migrating out of London tend to journey along its traditional corridors, often moving out in the same direction as they currently live, in search of more space, often following friends or family, said Frances McDonald, director of residential research at Savills. We typically see those living in South West London move into Surrey, for example, while those based in East London make the move to Essex, McDonald added. A spokesman for the university said: "The next chancellor will be elected by convocation the body of university members and alumni using an online platform. Eligibility will first be checked by the chancellors election committee against criteria agreed by council. The committee will be made up of representatives from across the collegiate university and its council. Jorge Marino, a 63-year-old farmer in the Siberia township, said: If there is a day that we dont produce any more coffee, we will suffer in our spirits because that is what we know how to do, what we learned from our parents, our grandparents and its our way of living. For example, they are carrying out analysis of their Ethiopian mountain adders to see if the patterns on the snakes are stable, and if so could be used as identifiers of individual snakes which would support monitoring and conservation in the wild. TfL have said between Good Friday and Saturday, a reduced service will operate between Paddington and Maidenhead / Heathrow. All trains will start and terminate at Paddington National Rail station. Heathrow Terminal 4, West Drayton, Langley, Slough, Burnham and Maidenhead will be served by two trains an hour. West Ealing will be served by four trains an hour. Ealing Broadway, Southall and Hayes & Harlington will be served by six trains per hour. From Good Friday until Easter Monday, no service will operate between Abbey Wood / Stratford and Paddington. Trains will operate between Shenfield and Liverpool Street National Rail station (not serving Whitechapel) and between Paddington National Rail station and Heathrow / Reading. On a visit to Barrow on Monday morning, the Prime Minister repeated the language used in the Governments integrated review of defence and foreign policy: Weve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. Speaking on a visit to Barrow, in the North West, Mr Sunak said: Weve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. Challenged over whether the UN vote would make any difference, the spokesman said: Weve obviously seen a number of talks in recent weeks and we believe and have previously said that we hope negotiators can reach an agreement on a temporary ceasefire as soon as possible. Above all, I want to explore the Scottish Highlands. For me, the lush green fields of Wales are also very, very appealing. But the main thing is its to the United Kingdom that I am headed. In 325 AD, the First Council of Nicea (a gathering of Christian bishops) met to agree on a unified date for Easter. Although no specific details on how the date would be mathematically calculated were stipulated, thereafter Easter took place on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. "We believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages," she told the council after the vote. "A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage and so we must put pressure on Hamas to do just that." AGERPRES National News Agency is organizing on Wednesday, on the occasion of its 135th anniversary, the conference titled "AGERPRES 135: The AI era, innovations and digital challenges in contemporary journalism", in partnership with Carol I Central University Library of Bucharest (BCU). The conference will be complemented by a photo exhibition with images from the most important events AGERPRES has broadcast, archival photos with real historical value.With the support of Romfilatelia, a philatelic product dedicated to the anniversary of AGERPRES will also be presented.The conference will take place in the hall of the Carol I Central University Library of Bucharest, starting at 10.00 am.At 11.30, the photo exhibition and the presentation of the philatelic product are scheduled to take place in the foyer of the BCU hall.The conference will be opened by AGERPRES National News Agency director general Claudia Nicolae.Keynote speakers in the event will be the BCU director general, Professor PhD Mireille Radoi, co-organizer, Prince Radu, US Ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Kavalec, Italian Ambassador to Romania, Alfredo Maria Durante Mangoni, Israeli Ambassador, Reuven Azar, Father Costel Burlacu - eparchial vicar in the Archdiocese of Bucharest, director of Romfilatelia Cristina Popescu, secretary general of the European News Agencies Alliance (EANA), Alexandru Ion Giboi, president-director general of Romanian National Television Corporation (SRTv), Dan Turturica, president-director general of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company (SRR), Razvan-Ioan Dinca, vice-president of the Academy of Romanian Scientists, Professor Doina Banciu, Dean of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences, Professor Romina Surugiu, Dean of the of the College of Communication and Public Relations, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Professor Alina Bargaoanu, director of the National Directorate for Cyber Security, Dan Cimpean. Credit Europe Bank Romania has reported a 2023 net profit of RON 66.8 million, more than twice as much as in 2022, despite a modest reduction in assets, the bank announced on Monday. In addition, the revenues of Credit Europe Bank Romania's credit card division - which has contributed to the transformation of the local banking industry over the years through CardAvantaj - amounted to RON 1.6 billion, an increase by 13.5% over 2022. "Credit Europe Bank Romania made investments in 2023 as well. Our top goal continues to be digitisation. We have released new products on the market, like our digital banking app monet, and we have given merchants in Romania the first opportunity to accept payments in instalments using the Avantaj SoftPOS application. In 2024, we'll keep launching new products and services for our clients, and expanding our retail operations," says Credit Europe Bank Romania CEO, Yakup Cil. In Romania, Credit Europe Bank provides a wide range of products and services to individuals, SMEs and corporations. Credit Europe Bank has opened a new chapter in digitalization and technology, introducing Apple Pay and Google Pay, launching monet, the new mobile banking app for all clients, as well as the Avantaj SoftPOS application, for merchants. At the same time, the institution's website was relaunched, a new version of the AVANTAJ2go mobile app was released and a new interface of the Internet Banking platform was presented. A member of the Dutch financial group Credit Europe Bank NV, the Bank has been active since 1993, when it operated as the Industrial and Commercial Credit Bank, becoming Finansbank (in 2000) and then, in 2007, following a rebranding process, receiving the name of Credit Europe Bank Romania. Patria Bank is launching a special package for women entrepreneurs, which includes a series of tailored financial benefits to support women-led businesses, according to a bank release. The initiative to launch the "Patria Package for Women Entrepreneurs" complements Patria Bank's approach and reaffirms the bank's commitment to promote and support entrepreneurship in Romania and, in particular, businesses run or owned by women. "Romania needs female entrepreneurs, and they need partners who understand them and support their activity. Patria Bank supports the potential of women to start and develop successful businesses. Through the 'Patria Package for Women Entrepreneurs' we want to offer women entrepreneurs financial solutions that will help them develop their business in a sustainable way. We believe that female entrepreneurship has a great potential for development, and Patria Bank contributes proactively in this endeavour through lending solutions, but also through diversified financial services adapted to the market requirements," said bank deputy director general Georgiana Stanciulescu. The main advantages of the "Patria Package for Women Entrepreneurs" are: free opening, zero lei monthly account management fee, free withdrawals in lei and euro, interbank and intrabank, made through current accounts, 50% reduction of the monthly debit card management fee, zero lei fee for the use of own ATM terminals and from the Euronet network for cash. The financing granted by Patria Bank for the development of female entrepreneurship is one of Patria Bank's initiatives, which is also supported by one of Patria Group's strategic partners, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), through a financing programme granted to the Bank, a programme that aims to allocate 50% of the funds to women entrepreneurs in Romania. The share of loans granted to women entrepreneurs in Romania by Patria Bank is 21% of the total financing granted to companies in 2023. Patria Bank is a Romanian bank dedicated to increasing the level of banking in Romania and supporting entrepreneurs and local businesses. Listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, Patria Bank has a nationwide physical presence and offers 100% online banking products and services to all customers, wherever they are. The Patria Bank Group is majority owned by the Emerging Europe Accession Fund (EEAF), a private equity fund whose main investors are the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), EIF (European Investment Fund, part of the European Investment Bank Group), DEG (Development Bank, part of the KFW banking group) and BSTDB (Black Sea Trade and Development Bank). Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) MP George Simion claimed on Monday that Florin Barbu has no qualifications to be minister of Agriculture, adding that, during the protests, he "lied" to farmers that he would fight for them. According to the AUR leader, minister Florin Barbu, who "should" be in charge of subsidies for farmers, "lied to farmers in Romania, during the protests, that he would fight for them and, in fact, he is fighting for Paul Stanescu (Social Democratic Party senator, ed. n.).""I propose that we have an hour of odes on TV for comrade Marcel Ciolacu and for the achievements during the Ciolacu government. Shut down Facebook, shut down TikTok, leave an hour on television to applaud him and the merged single party for really defending Romanian agriculture," George Simion said.Florin Barbu was appointed by PSD as minister of Agriculture "to help the Paul Stanescu family", the Save Romania Union (USR) MP Diana Buzoianu said on Monday in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, at the debate on the simple motion against minister Barbu.According to her, minister Barbu should "apologize to farmers for whom he failed to pass the necessary legislation", respectively help them obtain the subsidy.The Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) finds with astonishment that the Ministry of Agriculture is unable to hold the reins of institutional mechanisms, MP Konczei Csaba said on Monday, adding that he considers that pragmatic medium and long-term approaches are needed, meaning an efficient management of the entire system.According to the UDMR MP, "consultations and dialogue must be second nature" and advocated several directions of action until the market of Ukrainian agricultural products is rebalanced, pointing out that "the most common sense would have been a control by the book at the borders regarding transport on the territory of the country and their quality control". The UDMR MP drew attention to the need for pragmatic approaches on medium and long-term.The Social Democratic Party (PSD) MP Adrian Chesnoiu said, in turn, that Romanians "will have bread" because in the social-democratic governments and in the Marcel Ciolacu government "we are dealing with the largest allocation granted to agriculture".He added that, probably, "there will still be a circus" in Parliament, but neither the social-democrats, nor the liberals, nor those from UDMR are responsible for this, but "accountable are those who showed us how it cannot be done when they were in government"."I have carefully read the lines of this simple motion, which is, in fact, a collection of slogans, propaganda and many untruths, typical of USR. That it is a totally frivolous motion we can tell from the title. To talk about Ceausescu the exponents of the new-rite security guards is embarrassing, to say the least. But the signatories of this motion can take advantage of the moment to explain to Romanians where the money from Romania's accounts went. (...) In an election year, the gentlemen and ladies from USR took over "caring for the destinies of agriculture". It was precisely them, those who stood out as the "zero government". Also zero is the number of legislative projects for farmers and agriculture submitted by the signatories of the motion in the current legislature. Zero euros were allocated to agriculture also through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan made by Ghinea from USR," minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Florin Barbu said on Monday in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies.Companies that do not meet the legal conditions do not receive European money, minister Florin Barbu said, referring to subsidies for reed in the Danube Delta.Barbu went on saying that regarding the launch of anti-hail missiles, he will have a meeting with all associative forms in the field and with farmers who are not part of these structures, and the decision will be made together, depending on the procedures that will be approved by the ministry, by joint order.Then, on the closure of large stores on weekends, that Romanians cannot be forced to go shopping at the hours indicated by the state, he said that an attempt is being made to make a study "on certain focuses of people" and, depending on the result, the decision that is required will be made in the governing coalition.Finally, his statement about Nicolae Ceausescu was an irony, said minister Barbu, and those who did not understand the joke can consider it as an uninspired statement, adding that he does not regret anything in his life.The simple motion was initiated by USR deputies and is dubbed "Odes to Ceausescu do not save Romanian agriculture".In the simple motion, USR deputies demand that prime minister Marcel Ciolacu dismiss Agriculture minister Florin Barbu, arguing that he should leave his position "for someone more skilled and less nostalgic for communism.""Florin Barbu should leave this position for someone more skilled and less nostalgic for communism. He reports figures that are too "rigged" and yearns for the Golden Age. The signatories of this motion urge prime minister Marcel Ciolacu to dismiss the minister of Agriculture and, thus, to make farmers happy before the Easter holidays," the document reads. ST. LOUIS A historic north St. Louis church is set to be demolished after it caught fire last week for the third time in two years. The 126-year-old St. Augustine Church is owned by the citys land bank and was assessed after last weeks fire, said Sara Freetly, spokesperson for the Land Reutilization Authority. The post-fire inspection led to the decision to demolish the historic building, and current efforts are underway to eliminate hazards and ensure the site is safe for the public, Freetly said. The building, at 3114 Lismore Street, most recently caught fire about 8:45 p.m. on March 18. The cause of the fire is undetermined, but St. Louis fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson told the Post-Dispatch there are a couple of possibilities: Homeless people often take shelter in vacant buildings during chilly nights and may try to light a fire to keep warm. There is a chance the fire was intentionally set. Another fire scorched the building in December 2022, leading to the collapse of some walls and thwarting a nonprofits effort to build a community center there. The citys land bank took ownership of the building. Then, in January this year, the building caught fire again. The Gothic Revival-style church is in the Hyde Park neighborhood and in 2020 was put on the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservations Places in Peril list, which named 11 buildings across Missouri that were in danger of being demolished. It was built in 1896 and served as a Catholic church until the 1970s, when it was taken over by other, smaller congregations from other denominations, according to historic preservation nonprofit Missouri Preservation. Over time, the structure fell into disrepair. Vandals had stripped the structure of its copper, the upper balconies and archways fell, half of the windows were gone, and water damaged the roof. Freetly, the land bank spokesperson, told the Post-Dispatch that the St. Louis Development Corp. has committed several million dollars to securing and stabilizing buildings in the banks inventory. LRA continues to look at ways to use more modern approaches to secure vacant buildings in its stewardship and is in active conversations with developers and community organizations to engage in the revisioning and reuse of these assets while accelerating the process of transforming vacant properties into productive uses, she wrote in an email. The St. Louis Land Reutilization Authority, the nations first municipal land bank, was established in 1971 to take title to the properties piling up in the city during an exodus of hundreds of thousands of people to the suburbs. Once it takes title to the land, it can sell it for less than the amount of back taxes free and clear of liens. Last weeks fire at the church marked the latest incident of old church buildings across the city being destroyed by flames in recent years. In 2021, a bell tower at a century-old church in the Central West End went up in flames. Last year, a fire damaged a prominent old church building in Soulard, and another destroyed the north city St. Liborious church that had been transformed into a skate park. Photos: Another fire adds to the long, slow decline of former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Late night fire rips through former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Late night fire rips through former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Late night fire rips through former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Late night fire rips through former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Late night fire rips through former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Damage seen after three-alarm fire at former St. Augustine Catholic church March 2024: Fire destroys roof of former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Fire destroys roof of former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2024: Damage seen after three-alarm fire at former St. Augustine Catholic church March 2024: Damage seen after three-alarm fire at former St. Augustine Catholic church January 2024: Another fire at vacant former St. Augustine church in St. Louis January 2024: Another fire at vacant former St. Augustine church in St. Louis January 2024: Another fire at vacant former St. Augustine church in St. Louis Video: December 2022 fire damages historic, but vacant, St. Augustine Church December 2022: Fire causes further damage to former St. Augustine Catholic Churchn fire December 2022: Fire causes further damage to former St. Augustine Catholic Church December 2022: Fire causes further damage to former St. Augustine Catholic Church December 2022: Fire causes further damage to former St. Augustine Catholic Church December 2022: Fire guts former St. Augustine Catholic Church March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans March 2020: New owners of former St. Augustine Catholic Church have big plans ST. LOUIS The company that operates buses for St. Louis Public Schools has notified state officials its terminating its contract with the district this summer. The move comes after about a month of turmoil in the companys St. Louis operations, including driver walkouts, that began when a mechanic said he found a noose near his workstation. In a letter to the state warning of impending layoffs, Missouri Central Bus Co. said contract negotiations with SLPS broke down and the decision was mutual. Company Vice President Keith Lane said in the letter that good faith efforts were made by both sides, but they could not negotiate mutually agreeable terms. But in a statement Monday evening, SLPS blamed Missouri Central. Missouri Centrals inability to maintain enough drivers to transport the students of St. Louis Public Schools has been well-documented, the district said. They report that the driver shortage makes it economically unviable for them to honor their agreement to support the children of St. Louis Public Schools. SLPS officials said the districts contract with Missouri Central was slated to run through the end of the 2024-25 school year, but the company is exercising a clause to terminate the contract early. School officials said they had no warning about the letter to state officials. The letter comes about a month after the employee who said he found a noose kicked off weeks of allegations against the company, including discrimination, toxic work environments and unsafe practices. Drivers called out of work in protest, and mechanics claimed school buses had been sent out on the streets despite needing safety repairs. SLPS detailed Missouri Centrals worsening situation over the past several months, including a demand the company made for more money in December after failing to deliver students to school on time for three straight semesters. This month, SLPS said, Missouri Central claimed the noose incident did irreparable harm to the companys reputation, and the company could no longer work with SLPS. Missouri Central plans to close two of its stations as a direct result of the contract termination, according to the companys letter sent to state officials. Closing those locations would result in the layoff of about 332 employees, according to the letter. George Sells, a spokesperson for SLPS, said any new vendor will likely hire the same drivers laid off by Missouri Central. The district will begin looking for a new contractor this week, and district officials said they hope to provide a stable and equitable work environment for drivers. In a statement Tuesday, Scott Allen, Regional Operations Manager for Missouri Central, said the company will help SLPS make a smooth transition into the fall. "For the past two years, Missouri Central School Bus has been proud to provide service to the St. Louis Public Schools community," Allen said. "Amid an unprecedented national driver shortage, our 300-plus employees have worked tirelessly every day to safely transport the children of St. Louis. We are proud of the work our drivers, monitors, technicians and staff delivered in a very difficult post-COVID environment." This story has been updated to include comment from Scott Allen. JEFFERSON CITY A former GOP congressional staffer who launched an ill-fated campaign to overturn Missouris near-total abortion ban filed Monday to run for secretary of state. Jamie Corley, 37, of University City, joined a field of four other Republican candidates seeking to become the states next chief elections officer. The surprise announcement came on the penultimate day of candidate filing for the Aug. 6 primary. Corley had led a moderate initiative petition effort to overturn Missouris near-total abortion ban one that wouldve been more limited than a competing campaign that is still collecting signatures for the ballot this year. Corley ended that effort in February after the competing effort, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, announced it was moving forward with a signature-gathering campaign. She said Monday there was more to me than just my abortion work and said after Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said last week he wouldnt run, I became interested in who was running, and it became pretty obvious to me that theres a lane for a Republican like me. Corley said she is conservative and that Im a workhorse, not a showhorse. So I want to spend more time doing the work that the job requires than ... getting a viral tweet. Corleys candidacy could offer a contrast with someone like Valentina Gomez, one of the five Republicans running for secretary of state, who generated national headlines after she burned books in a viral video. Corley said Monday she had worked as national press secretary for former Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and worked as communications director for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. Republicans who have already filed include Gomez, of St. Louis; Greene County Clerk Shane Schoeller of Willard; state Sen. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg; and state Rep. Adam Schwadron of St. Charles. House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, was said to be considering ditching his lieutenant governor bid to switch to the secretary of state race. State Rep. Barbara Phifer, D-Kirkwood, Monique Williams of St. Louis and Haley Jacobson of St. Louis are the three Democrats running. Jacobson also filed Monday. Carl Herman Freese of Foristell is running as a Libertarian. Missouris open-primary system allows any registered voter to participate in the GOP primary on Aug. 6. Also Monday, businessman Michael Hamra filed to run as a Democrat for governor, making his challenge to House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and three other Democrats official. Hamra had said last year he would run for governor. Another candidate to file for statewide office on Monday included Democrat Mita Biswas of St. Louis, who joined Lucas Kunce, December Harmon and state Sen. Karla May in the Democratic primary for Senate. Amber Thomsen of Hollister became the ninth Republican to run for governor. Better-known candidates include Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and state Sen. Bill Eigel. The state Republican Party has filed a lawsuit to remove another gubernatorial candidate with ties to the Ku Klux Klan, Darrell McClanahan, from the ballot. Ken Iverson of Lake Saint Louis filed to run for lieutenant governor as a Libertarian. John A. Hartwig Jr., filed to run for state treasurer as a Libertarian. He ran for state auditor two years ago. No Democrats had filed for treasurer as of Monday afternoon. Editors note: This story has been updated with additional candidate filings. JEFFERSON CITY A Kansas man on Monday filed a lawsuit against a Tennessee congressman who falsely claimed on social media that he was in the United States illegally and a shooter in the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally shooting. Denton Loudermill, a Johnson County resident, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, who last month shared a photo of Loudermill and erroneously wrote that one of the Kansas City shooters had been identified as an illegal alien. Burchetts false post caused Loudermill to receive death threats, incur damages totaling more than $75,000, anxiety and loss of sleep, according to the lawsuit, which accuses Burchett of false light invasion of privacy. The lawsuit asks a judge to issue damages to punish Burchett or deter him and others from similar conduct in the future. The false light claim alleged in Loudermills lawsuit is different from a defamation claim and requires a higher standard of proof. A false light claim has to be made to a large group of people while a defamatory statement only has to be made to one other person. A spokesperson for Burchett did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Loudermills lead attorney in the case is Arthur Benson, a longtime Kansas City civil rights attorney. With this Complaint we are beginning the process to obtain full redress for Mr. Loudermill for the damages he has suffered, Benson said in a statement. Mondays lawsuit comes after Burchetts false post sparked a social media firestorm in the wake of the Feb. 14 mass shooting in Kansas City that injured more than 20 people and killed 43-year-old Lisa Lopez-Galvan. A group of Missouri lawmakers including Republican Sens. Nick Schroer, Rick Brattin and Denny Hoskins also shared similar posts and have refused to apologize. BREAKING: I am filing suit against Media Matters to force them to turn over documents regarding their solicitation of donations to bully advertisers into pulling out of X, the last platform dedicated to free speech in America. THREAD: pic.twitter.com/tSRXIpyJ1h Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) March 25, 2024 Loudermill told The Star last month that everybody that put my name through the mud, everybody needs to be held accountable. He said police detained him because he wasnt leaving the area of the shooting quick enough but that he was released after about 30 to 45 minutes. He has not been charged with any crime stemming from the events of Feb. 14. On the day after the shooting, Burchett was in Washington, D.C., when his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared the photo of Loudermill writing that one of the shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien, according to the lawsuit. Burchett republished the false claim in another post three days later. Burchett knew or should have known that his inflammatory post on social media would be seen and read nationwide, including in Kansas where the subject of his post was a resident, the lawsuit alleges. The post was quickly seen by more than one million viewers. The lawsuit makes clear that Loudermill, of Olathe, is not in the United States illegally and was not involved in last months mass shooting. Earlier this month, a 20-year-old Kansas City man became the third adult to be charged with murder in the mass shooting. A third teen was also charged. The shooting stemmed from a dispute between two groups that erupted into gunfire. The Stars Sarah Ritter contributed to this report. CLAYTON Fontbonne University students can finish their academic degrees at Webster University, according to an agreement between the two private colleges. Webster is one of nearly a dozen Midwestern universities that have signed agreements with Fontbonne in whats known as a teach-out arrangement. The designation allows students attending a college that is slated to close the opportunity to complete their programs with minimal interruption. We understand this is a challenging and uncertain time for Fontbonne students as you navigate how and where to continue your education, Webster said on its website. Webster University is here to help. Webster spokesman Patrick Giblin said several students have already committed to transferring to Webster. Fontbonne announced March 12 that it will shutter in 2025 after years of declining enrollment and budget deficits. Its neighbor, Washington University, agreed to buy its 16-acre campus on Big Bend and Wydown boulevards for an undisclosed price. Sign up for the Brick City newsletter Steph Kukuljan and other business reporters bring you insights into St. Louis-area real estate and development. Webster is facing its own financial crisis. Over the past decade, Webster has lost more than $160 million, including a $37 million deficit at the end of the 2022-23 school year. Yet its board of trustees continually awarded raises to Chancellor Beth Stroble and President Julian Schuster that made the two among the highest-paid university leaders in the St. Louis region. Stroble and other top administrators have agreed to resign. A judge recently allowed Webster to use restricted donors funds, which are typically used for research, scholarships and professorships, to meet a loan obligation. The college hired a consultant to find recommendations to improve its financial stature, though the report was not publicly released. All completed undergraduate credits from Fontbonne will be accepted at Webster. Graduate degree credits will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, according to a webpage Fontbonne built to help its students find a new college. Webster said students will pay a similar tuition to what they paid at Fontbonne. Gary Stocker, a St. Louis-based higher education analyst, said closing universities typically will ask other colleges to agree to a teach-out arrangement, though they often dont consider the financial stability of those institutions. And increasingly, some opportunistic colleges will reach out on their own in a bid to supplement their tuition revenue. Closing colleges have no incentive to send their students to a financially healthy college, he said. In too many cases, colleges selected for teach-out agreements have their own financial survival challenges. He said Notre Dame College in Ohio recently closed, and of its seven teach-out schools, five were at risk of closing. Other colleges accepting Fontbonne students include Maryville University in Town and Country; Missouri Baptist University in Creve Coeur; University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis; Culver-Stockton College in Canton, about 145 miles north of the St. Louis region; Illinois College in Jacksonville; Quincy University in Illinois; Buena Vista University in Iowa; and The University of Olivet in Michigan. Blythe Bernhard of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. March 25, 2024: In Ukraine Russian armored vehicles, including tanks, are increasingly under attack by cheap FPV armed UAVs. Swarms of these UAVs are an omnipresent aerial threat to Russian armored vehicles and infantry on foot. Each FPV UAV costs less than a thousand dollars. The Ukrainian operators use the video camera on the UAV to see what is below and find targets. The FPV operators are several kilometers away to decide when the quadcopter FPV UAV will drop explosives on an armored vehicle, which has thinner armor on top, or infantry in the open or in trenches. To do so the UAV operators often operate in pairs with one flying behind the other and concentrating on the big picture while seeking a likely target. When such a target is found by the big picture UAV, the armed UAV is directed to the target. The two FPV UAV operators are usually in the same room or tent and can take control of new UAVs, which are lined up and brought outside for launch when needed. The big picture UAVs are often unarmed so they can spend more time in the air looking for targets. The Ukrainians developed the FPV UAV in 2022 when only a few FPV UAV attacks were recorded. The Ukrainian Army was the first to appreciate the potential of FPV UAVs. By the summer of 2023 the Russian Army also began to use FPV drones in greater numbers. Since then the number of FPV UAV attacks have grown exponentially on both sides. As of early 2024, there were 3,917 Russian FPV UAV attacks and the Russians kept video records of each one. Only twelve percent of those attacks led to the destruction of the target, which could be a vehicle or group of infantry or even a sniper who was firing through a window from inside a building. In this case the armed FPV UAV would fly through the window and explode in the room the sniper was in. The only defense from this was having a nearby open door the sniper could run to or dive through as the FPV UAV approached. Sometimes that isnt possible because the armed FPV UAV is coming down from above the window and then in. You dont see those coming until it is too late. Many FPV UAV attacks miss completely or barely and inflict no injuries. All the FPV UAV activity does make sounds and troops in the vicinity fear the sounds and often feel quite anxious when those are around. While only twelve percent of FPV UAV attacks caused fatalities or serious injuries, another fifteen percent did some damage. Another twenty percent missed, or it was not possible to prove what happened. Both sides now use the FPV UAVs but there are substantial differences on how the FPV UAVs are put to work in combat. The Ukrainians seek out high-value targets like armored vehicles, Electronic Warfare equipment, anti-aircraft systems and storage sites for munitions or other supplies. Russian trucks carrying supplies are another prime target. In Russia the government sets up factories to build FPV UAVs. In Ukraine there are over 200 private companies, many of them small, producing UAVs of all types. So far Ukrainians have developed over 60 different types of UAVs that have been built and sent to the troops. Ukrainians have used crowdfunding to raise money for more UAVs and this has encouraged many skilled Ukrainians to build UAVs at home. Materials and components are widely available, and it doesnt take long to learn how to assemble UAVs if you are eager to do it. Individuals and larger firms have developed and built UAVs with more capabilities. Ukraine encourages citizens to develop and build UAVs. These homemade UAVs work and are sold cheaply or sent to the troops by friends and family at no cost to the soldiers. NATO armed forces have noticed the extensive use of FPV UAVs by both sides and large cumulative damage done and casualties caused by the UAVs. Warfare will never be the same. March 25, 2024: The Indian Navy took 35 Somali pirates back to India for prosecution. The Somalis were captured in the Red Sea and face long prison terms if convicted. Pirates can also be given a life sentence or death sentence if their piracy activities included murder, rape or a pattern of depraved activity. Somali pirates returned at the end of 2023 and captured Almeraj 1, an Iranian ocean going fishing ship that was headed back to Iran. The pirates were unable to get the $400,000 ransom they demanded. The pirates then said they would use the Iranian ship to go after other ships. Two days after Almeraj 1 was seized, pirates boarded and captured a tanker. The tanker crew issued a distress call and a nearby American warship soon arrived and arrested the Somali pirates. The Somali pirates persisted and at the end of 2023 seized the MV Ruen. The crew of this ship was forced to operate the ship for the pirates who used the Ruen to find and attack other ships. An Indian warship began following the Ruen, waiting for an opportunity to take the Ruen back from the pirates before the pirates could kill any of the Ruen crew they were holding as hostages. There were several groups of Somali pirates operating in the area, using small speedboats to catch ships unaware, usually at night, climb aboard and capture the crew and ship. This worked against a Bangladesh cargo ship on March 12, 2024, but a European warship was assigned to follow the cargo ship and act against the pirates when they had an opportunity to do so without the pirates killing any hostages they held. The 2023-2024 pirates are facing a lot more resistance from European warships who were in the area to deal with Yemeni Houthi rebels. Yemen is in the Arabian Peninsula while Somalia is on the other side of the Red Sea in Africa. At the northern end of the Red Sea is Egypt and the Suez Canal, which has lost a lot of business because of missile attacks on ships by the Yemeni rebels and renewed efforts by Somali pirates to seize ships and hold them in pirate-friendly Somali port towns until a ransom could be collected to free the ships and their crews. The pirates threatened to kill the crews of captured ships if other nations sent in warships to retrieve the ships by force. Between the rebel Shia missiles from Yemen and the renewed activity of Somali pirates, more shipping companies are ordering their cargo ships to avoid the Red Sea and the Suez Canal and take the long route to Europe by going around the southern tip of Africa. This adds weeks of travel time and delays cargoes headed for Europe and North America. This disrupts trade and increases costs for firms expecting shipments by sea. At times like this, people realize how important ocean going shipping is. That has prompted India, European countries, and the United States to send warships and aircraft to deal with the situation quickly and use forces against the pirates. This is similar to the situation back in 2013 when foreign warships arrived off the Somali coast and within a year pirate attacks were down 70 percent, and the pirates were no longer able to capture large commercial ships that they could get several million dollars ransom for. Better security measures on the large merchant ships and more effective patrolling by the international anti-piracy task force operating off Somalia halted the piracy. But theres an even more important reason that gets little mention: math, data mining, and predictive analysis. These items resulted in PARS (Piracy Attack Risk Surface), a statistical model of pirate behavior as modified by weather, shipping traffic patterns, and whatever inexplicable things the pirates have been doing lately. This showed the anti-piracy task force which areas to watch most carefully and warned merchant ships what areas they should be most alert in. As a result, pirate attacks dropped from a peak of 181 in 2009 to 32 in 2013. Thats an 83 percent drop and that trend continued. Most importantly, it became extremely difficult for the pirates to get close to a likely target without the ship they were after spotting them and speeding away. Worse, an anti-piracy task force aircraft or ship, often both, tended to show up at the same time. Some Somali pirate gangs went bankrupt, and others just shut down because the prospects of taking any high-value ships had evaporated. The Somali and Arab businessmen who provided negotiation and other services told the pirates about these new tools the anti-piracy task force was using. Some of the more educated pirate leaders (especially those who were businessmen) understood what was going on and none of them could come up with some way to defeat tools like PARS and several similar techniques created to defeat the pirates. The most effective tool was predictive analysis, which collected huge quantities of information and used data mining and other tools to analyze it for patterns, which reveal things the enemy is trying to hide. When it came to the pirates, the naval intelligence analysts quickly found that weather was a major factor in where and when the pirates could go. Data could be collected from fishermen and foreign fishing fleets that operated off Somalia to find out the conditions that made pirate operations impractical. Weather satellites and easily available sensors made it possible to create a real-time map of what areas off the Somali coast were hospitable to pirate operations and when. This enabled anti-piracy ships and aircraft to narrow their patrol and search areas. Over a two year period the pirates got the impression there were a lot more warships and aircraft watching when, in fact, the number of ships and aircraft did not change that much. The same thing happened in early 2024, after a few months of pirate activity. Few of the current Somali pirates remember what happened over a decade ago. The shipping companies and navies of the countries where the shipping operates remembered and acted quickly to suppress the new piracy threat. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:ARK) ("Arras" or "the Company") is pleased to introduce the results of its soil sampling program over the Aimandai Target, located within its Elemes Project ("Elemes" or the "Project") in northeastern Kazakhstan. The Elemes project is composed of several mineral licences that are 100% owned by Arras and not included in the Teck-Arras Strategic Exploration Alliance announced on December 7, 2023. https://youtu.be/GQVP7B4Xd14 Highlights from the Soil Sampling program Identified a second, unexplored 14 km x 3.2 km NE-SW trending coherent copper ("Cu") anomaly (>100ppm) called the "Aimandai Target" located within the Elemes Project. Large, overlapping Arsenic ("As") anomaly interpreted to be associated with an intermediate - to high sulphidation epithermal system indicating a preserved porphyry system. Field mapping and sampling has identified coincident altered rocks typical of a porphyry alteration system that has never been drill tested. The Aimandai Target is a parallel copper anomaly to the "Berezski Target," which Arras announced on February 22, 2024. The Berezski Target is an 8.8-kilometer-long copper anomaly with historical drilling that has yielded notable results such as 132 meters at 0.80% CuEq and 108 meters at 0.94% CuEq from surface. Both the Berezski Target and the Aimandai Target are located within the Elemes Project. Tim Barry, CEO of Arras Minerals stated, "Our Elemes Project is starting to yield some very exciting potential. Recently we announced the "Berezski Target", an 8.8-kilometer-long copper-in-soil anomaly with historical drill holes spread over a 5-kilometer strike of this anomaly, which intercepted 132.6m @ 0.80% CuEq and 108m @ 0.94% CuEq from surface. In this news release we are now announcing a second parallel copper-in-soil anomaly called the "Aimandai Target", that stretches over a remarkable 14-kilometer strike and is associated with "at surface" porphyry-style alteration that has never been drilled. The large alteration zone and associated arsenic anomaly suggests preservation of the upper and generally higher-grade parts of a porphyry system. In summary, we have now defined what appears to be two parallel, multi-kilometer porphyry-epithermal targets (the Aimandai and Berezski targets) on the Elemes Project, which we intend to develop further in 2024." Figure 1. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8-kilometer long Berezski Copper Targets are shown as NE-SW trending copper soil anomalies. The location of historical drill holes is also shown on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly. Figure 2. Soil sampling alteration map on the Elemes project. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8 kilometer long Berezski Targets are shown as NE-SW trending zones which correspond to the mapped alteration. Also shown is the location of historical drill holes on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly. Figure 3. Soil anomaly maps showing copper (Cu), and arsenic (As) for the Berezski and Aimandai Targets located within the Elemes Project. The new Aimandai Target copper soil anomaly highlights a second, 14-kilometer-long parallel porphyry system to the Berezski Target that has never been drill tested. The Soil Sampling Program: In 2023, a comprehensive soil sampling program was undertaken across the Elemes License area. This program specifically targeted the well-developed "B soil horizon" utilizing a 50-meter sample interval and 200-meter line spacing grid. This press release announces the analysis results from the final 14,000 samples from this program. The 2023 program collected approximately 31,000 samples were collected and covered an area of 328.5 square kilometers and was completed in November 2023. The soil analysis was conducted utilizing a Portable X-ray fluorescence device ("pXRF"), a widely employed instrument for determining the elemental composition of samples. Due to the limited sampling area of the pXRF, the results presented in this release are considered "indicative" rather than fully quantitative regarding mineralization. Despite this limitation, the results have revealed a substantial and coherent copper-in-soil anomaly, with copper concentrations exceeding 100 ppm. Background copper in the area is less than 20 ppm. This anomaly stretches over a remarkable distance of more than 14 kilometers in a northeast to southwest direction and extends to approximately 3.2 kilometers in width from east to west. Limited historic drilling has occurred to the south of this new anomaly exploring a series of outcropping low-sulphidation Au-bearing quartz veins. The Berezski and Aimandai Targets: are located within the 531 square kilometer Elemes Project. The Project benefits from excellent modern infrastructure and ease of accessibility, being located only 20 kilometers from Arras' operational base in the city of Ekibastuz, northeastern Kazakhstan. A paved highway runs through the license, and within 5 km of the two targets. 1100 KVA power lines and heavy rail all lie within a 15-kilometer radius of the project. The Elemes Project is located within the Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt that also hosts the Beskauga porphyry copper-gold-silver project approximately 80 km to the east, and KAZ Minerals' Bozshakol porphyry copper-gold mine approximately 60 km to the northwest. Figure 4. Arras's License Package showing Arras-Teck Strategic Alliance Areas as "Package A" and "Package B" as well as the Elemes and Beskauga Projects and the Tay license which are 100% owned by Arras. Sampling Methodology Samples were collected on a 50m (East-west) by 200m (north-south) grid spacings. Samples were collected from hand-dug pits, trying to consistently sample the B horizon. Approximately 500 grams of material was collected and sieved (5mm mesh size) to review larger particles and organic matter. Following collection, the samples were bagged, dried, and analyzed by the company with a Portable Niton XL5 X-ray fluorescence analyzer at the company's core storage facility in Ekibastuz. Assay, QAQC Procedures Analysis was conducted using the company's two Niton XL5 portable XRF units. Units were calibrated at the start and end of each work shift as well as after every 100 samples to verify accuracy. In addition, a measurement from a certified reference material was taken every 20 measurements to ensure accuracy and repeatability of data. In addition, prior to commencement of the measurements, 100 duplicate samples were analyzed using both units to confirm that both units were producing accurate results and that no bias was present in either of the units. All soil material is stored at Arras' warehouse in Ekibastuz, and the company plans to send a proportion of these samples to ALS Chemex in Karaganda, Kazakhstan for reanalysis with a 4-acid digest ICP-MS61 analysis and for trace gold analysis (using Au-ST43). Qualified Person: The scientific and technical disclosure for this news release has been prepared under supervision of and approved by Matthew Booth, Vice President of Exploration, of Arras Minerals Corp., a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101. Mr. Booth has over 19 years of mineral exploration experience and is a Qualified Person member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG 12044). On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim Barry" Tim Barry, MAusIMM CP(Geo) Chief Executive Officer and Director INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800 [email protected] Further information can be found on: the Company's website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals or follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/arrasminerals About Arras Minerals Corp. Arras is a Canadian exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project. The Company has established the third-largest license package in the country prospective for copper and gold (behind Rio Tinto and Fortescue). In December 2023, the Company entered into a strategic alliance with Teck Resources ("Teck") in which Teck will sole fund a US$5 million generative exploration program over a portion of the Arras license package in 2024-2025 focusing on critical minerals. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX-V under the trading symbol "ARK". Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This press release uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources", and "inferred resources" which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. The Company advises U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically minable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Arras' future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding plans and expectations of the exploration program Arras is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Arras' exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras' management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "may," variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond management's control, including undertaking further exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities and that such results support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Management Discussion and Analysis filed on the Company's profile on SEDAR on February 28, 2024 and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2023 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 28, 2024 available on www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. SOURCE: Arras Minerals Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Aurwest Resources Corporation ("Aurwest" or the "Company") (CSE:AWR) is pleased to announce that it plans to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") to raise up to CAD$1,250,068 through the issuance of up to 15,429,993 Flow-Through Shares (FT Shares") at a price of $0.03 per share and up to 39,358,402 Units ("Units") at a price of $0.02 per Ordinary Unit (the "Offering"). Each FT Share will consist of one flow-through share at a price of $0.03 per common share (the "FT Share") for aggregate proceeds of approximately $462,900. Proceeds from the sale of FT Shares will be used to incur "Canadian exploration expenses" as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and "flow through critical mineral mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Qualifying Expenditures"). Such proceeds will be renounced to the subscribers of FT Shares and Qualifying Expenditures with an effective date no later than December 31, 2024. Each Unit will consist of one common share ("Common Share") at a price of $0.02 and one half of one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant") for aggregate proceeds of up to approximately $787,168. Each Warrant will entitle the subscriber to purchase one additional Common Share at a price of $0.05 for 24 months from the date of issuance. The Company has the right to force conversion of the Warrants, if at any time from and after the date of issuance, the daily volume-weighted average trading price of the Company's common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE"), equals or exceeds $0.10 for ten (10) consecutive trading days. The net proceeds of the Offering are intended to fund planned 2024 exploration work on the Company's mineral properties, including incurring Qualifying Expenditures, as applicable, and for general corporate working capital purposes. This includes programs and expenditures to advance the exploration activities towards defining a mineral resource on the Stars property. The Company plans include an expansion-focused targeted Phase 2 diamond drilling campaign to identify potential Copper-Molybdenum on the 100% owned Stars property. In order to achieve these business objectives, the Company will identify drill targets using historical drilling and data from its ground and airborne surveys, and plan and permit a drill program. The Offering will take place by way of: (i) a private placement pursuant to National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions under Part 5A thereof (the "LIFE Exemption") to qualified investors in all the provinces of Canada, except Qubec, and the securities issued pursuant to the LIFE Exemption are not subject to resale restrictions in Canada in accordance with Canadian securities laws and the policies of the CSE; and (ii) otherwise in those jurisdictions where the Offering can lawfully be made including the United States and other international jurisdictions under applicable private placement exemptions. Such sales to investors outside of Canada will be subject to applicable securities laws and restrictions on securities purchased. There is an offering document related to the Offering that can be accessed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.com) under the Company's issuer profile and on the Company's website (www.aurwestresources.com). Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision. The Offering remains subject to final acceptance of the CSE. The Company reserves the right to pay a fee in cash, to eligible finders pursuant to the Offering, in the amount of an 8% cash commission (paid on the aggregate amount of a completed subscription). Aurwest anticipates that certain directors, officers and other insiders of the Company will acquire FT Shares and/or Units under the Offering. Such participation will be considered to be "related party transactions" within the meaning of CSE Policies (the "Policy") and Multilateral Instrument 61-101-Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") adopted in the Policy. The Company intends to rely on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of related party participation in the Offering as neither the fair market value (as determined under MI 61-101) of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the transaction, insofar as it involves interested parties, is expected to exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization (as determined under MI 61-101). The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy securities in the United States, nor in any other jurisdiction. On Behalf Of Aurwest resources Corporation "Cameron MacDonald" Interim President and Chief Executive Officer For additional information please contact: Cameron MacDonald Interim President & Chief Executive Officer and Director Telephone: (403) 585-9875 Email: [email protected] Website: www.aurwestresources.com About Aurwest Resources Corporation Aurwest is a Canadian-based junior resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold properties in Canada. The Company currently holds a 100% interest in the Stellar copper/gold project totaling 2,617 hectares plus an additional 3,762 hectares of contiguous claims at the Stars projects located approximately 65 kilometers southwest of Houston British Columbia. Forward-Looking Information Statements included in this announcement, including statements concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as "forward-looking statements". Forward looking statements may be identified by words including "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "expects" and similar expressions. The Company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's proposed private placement, future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, except in accordance with the applicable laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Aurwest Resources Corporation View the original press release on accesswire.com SEONGNAM-SI, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AriBio Co., Ltd. (AriBio), announces signing of exclusive marketing rights for AR1001, an investigational drug for early Alzheimers disease, in China for up to $770 million USD. The term consists of a non-refundable upfront payment of 120 billion KRW (approximately 90 million USD), with the total deal summing up to 5.59 billion RMB (approximately 770 million USD) inclusive of milestone payments with additional royalties. The upfront payment will be paid starting from mid-2024. In response to the increasing Alzheimers disease population in China, prominent pharmaceutical companies have sought to develop safe and effective oral treatments for Alzheimers disease. To date, AriBio has partnered for exclusive marketing rights in South Korea with Samjin Pharmaceutical for 100 billion KRW. And now, the partnership has expanded to China, cumulating to 1.12 trillion KRW (approximately 840 million USD). Considering the market competition for Alzheimers drugs in China and the sales strategy, the licensee requested not to be disclosed until an agreed upon time. The global Phase 3 clinical trial for AR1001 in early Alzheimers disease patients (Polaris-AD) is on-going in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Korea. Furthermore, the clinical trial is awaiting regulatory approval in China and the European Union. This study will be conducted across 180 global sites. The first patient enrollment began in the United States in December 2022, and the rest of the regions are actively enrolling. Matthew (Jai Jun) Choung, CEO and Chairman of AriBio, stated, This deal demonstrates our unwavering commitment to developing meaningful treatments for Alzheimers disease, and our partners will help position AR1001 for success in the major Asian territories. We are building momentum in our AR1001 program, as we continue to discuss with other potential partners in Asian countries, the Middle East, South America, as well as Europe and the United States. About AR1001 AR1001 is a PDE5 inhibitor being developed as an investigational oral agent for the treatment of Alzheimers disease. Pre-clinical studies have confirmed neuroprotective effects of AR1001 via inhibiting neuron apoptosis and restoring synaptic plasticity. AR1001 has also demonstrated robust reduction of hyperphosphorylated tau proteins in pre-clinical models as well as in a Phase 2 trial. About AR1001-ADP3-US01 AR1001-ADP3-US01 (NCT05531526) is a Phase 3 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AR1001 over 52 weeks in participants with early Alzheimers disease. The study aims to assess the efficacy and safety of AR1001 in slowing the progression of Alzheimers disease through various cognitive and functional assessments. The details of the clinical trial are available at ClinicalTrials.gov. About AriBio AriBio Co., Ltd. is a biopharmaceutical company based in South Korea with offices in both South Korea and the United States. The company focuses on the development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company continues to expand its partnerships to accelerate the development of meaningful treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240324642699/en/ Fred Kim [email protected] Source: AriBio Co., Ltd. LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KBRA UK (KBRA) releases a recap of the IMN's Significant Risk Transfer (SRT) Symposium, held on 21 March in London. The well-attended event highlighted the strong interest in the SRT market this year. Panellists such as investors, issuers, and other interested market participants covered a broad range of topics, highlighting some of the tailwinds supporting the market, as well as challenges to maintaining this growth. Click here to view the report. About KBRA KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered in the U.S., the EU, and the UK, and is designated to provide structured finance ratings in Canada. KBRAs ratings can be used by investors for regulatory capital purposes in multiple jurisdictions. Doc ID: 1003680 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325235134/en/ Gordon Kerr, Managing Director, Head of European Research +44 20 8148 1020 [email protected] Yee Cent Wong, Co-Head of Europe +353 1 588 1260 [email protected] Media Contact Adam Tempkin, Director of Communications +1 646-731-1347 [email protected] Business Development Contacts Mauricio Noe, Co-Head of Europe +44 20 8148 1010 [email protected] Miten Amin, Managing Director +44 20 8148 1002 [email protected] Source: Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MFS Investment Management (MFS) released today the distribution income sources for six of its closed-end funds for March 2024: MFS Charter Income Trust (NYSE: MCR), MFS Government Markets Income Trust (NYSE: MGF), MFS Intermediate High-Income Fund (NYSE: CIF), MFS Intermediate Income Trust (NYSE: MIN), MFS Multimarket Income Trust (NYSE: MMT) and MFS Special Value Trust (NYSE: MFV). This information also can be obtained by visiting MFS.com by clicking on Products & Strategies > Closed End Funds > Dividend Source Information. MFS Charter Income Trust Distribution period: March 2024 Distribution amount per share: $ 0.04567 The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each December 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share. Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.03151 69% $ 0.13601 75% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.01416 31% 0.04534 25% Total (per common share) $ 0.04567 100% $ 0.18135 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 2-29-2024 3.75% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 2-29-2024 8.00% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 2-29-2024 4.41% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 2-29-2024 2.65% MFS Government Markets Income Trust Distribution period: March 2024 Distribution amount per share: $ 0.02006 The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each December 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share. Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.00722 36% $ 0.03540 44% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.01284 64% 0.04506 56% Total (per common share) $ 0.02006 100% $ 0.08046 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 2-29-2024 0.62% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 2-29-2024 7.27% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 2-29-2024 2.23% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 2-29-2024 2.43% MFS Intermediate High-Income Fund Distribution period: March 2024 Distribution amount per share: $ 0.01476 The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each December 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share. Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.00753 51% $ 0.02923 50% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.00723 49% 0.02923 50% Total (per common share) $ 0.01476 100% $ 0.05846 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 2-29-2024 3.35% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 2-29-2024 9.52% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 2-29-2024 4.81% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 2-29-2024 3.14% MFS Intermediate Income Trust Distribution period: March 2024 Distribution amount per share: $ 0.02031 The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each November 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share. Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.00751 37% $ 0.03861 38% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.01280 63% 0.06300 62% Total (per common share) $ 0.02031 100% $ 0.10161 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 2-29-2024 2.14% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 2-29-2024 8.52% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 2-29-2024 4.84% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 2-29-2024 3.55% MFS Multimarket Income Trust Distribution period: March 2024 Distribution amount per share: $ 0.03365 The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each November 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share. Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.02423 72% $ 0.06242 38% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.00942 28% 0.10184 62% Total (per common share) $ 0.03365 100% $ 0.16426 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 2-29-2024 4.59% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 2-29-2024 8.00% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 2-29-2024 11.49% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 2-29-2024 3.25% MFS Special Value Trust Distribution period: March 2024 Distribution amount per share: $ 0.03673 The following table sets forth the estimated amounts of the current distribution and the cumulative distributions paid this fiscal year to date from the following sources: net investment income, net realized short-term capital gains, net realized long-term capital gains and return of capital or other capital source. The funds fiscal year begins each November 1st. All amounts are expressed per common share. Current distribution % Breakdown of current distribution Total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date % Breakdown of the total cumulative distributions for the fiscal year to date Net Investment Income $ 0.00882 24% $ 0.06304 35% Net Realized ST Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Net Realized LT Cap Gains 0.00000 0% 0.00000 0% Return of Capital or Other Capital Source 0.02791 76% 0.11707 65% Total (per common share) $ 0.03673 100% $ 0.18011 100% Average annual total return (in relation to NAV) for the five years ended 2-29-2024 5.66% Annualized current distribution rate expressed as a percentage of month end NAV as of 2-29-2024 9.97% Cumulative total return (in relation to NAV) for the fiscal year through 2-29-2024 10.76% Cumulative fiscal year distributions as a percentage of NAV as of 2-29-2024 4.07% The above funds have adopted a managed distribution plan. Under a managed distribution plan, to the extent that sufficient investment income is not available monthly, the fund will distribute long-term capital gains and/or return of capital to maintain its managed distribution level. Investors should not draw any conclusions about the funds investment performance from the amount of the funds distributions or from the terms of the funds managed distribution plan. The Board of the fund may amend the terms of the plan or terminate the plan at any time without prior notice to the fund's shareholders. The amendment or termination of a plan could have an adverse effect on the market price of the funds common shares. The plan will be subject to periodic review by the Board. With each distribution that does not consist solely of net investment income, the fund will issue a notice to shareholders and an accompanying press release which will provide detailed information regarding the amount and estimated composition of the distribution and other related information. The amounts and sources of distributions reported above are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the funds investment experience during its full fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The fund will send shareholders a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell them how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes. The fund may at times distribute more than its net investment income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of the distribution may result in a return of capital. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all the money that shareholders invested in the fund is paid back to them. A return of capital does not necessarily reflect a funds investment performance and should not be confused with yield or income. Any such returns of capital will decrease the fund's total assets and, therefore, could have the effect of increasing the fund's expense ratio. In addition, to make the level of distributions called for under its plan, the fund may have to sell portfolio securities at a less than opportune time. About MFS Investment Management In 1924, MFS launched the first US open-end mutual fund, opening the door to the markets for millions of everyday investors. Today, as a full-service global investment manager serving financial advisors, intermediaries and institutional clients, MFS still serves a single purpose: to create long-term value for clients by allocating capital responsibly. That takes our powerful investment approach combining collective expertise, thoughtful risk management and long-term discipline. Supported by our culture of shared values and collaboration, our teams of diverse thinkers actively debate ideas and assess material risks to uncover what we believe are the best investment opportunities in the market. As of February 29, 2024, MFS manages US$615.1 billion in assets on behalf of individual and institutional investors worldwide. Please visit mfs.com for more information. The Funds are closed-end Funds. Common shares of the Funds are only available for purchase/sale on the NYSE at the current market price. Shares may trade at a discount to NAV. MFS Investment Management 111 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02199 15668.174 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325055839/en/ Computershare Shareholders Services: Shareholders (account information, quotes): 800-637-2304 MFS Investment Management: Shareholders or Advisors (investment product information): Jeffrey Schwarz, 800-343-2829, ext. 55872 Media Only: Dan Flaherty, 617-954-4256 Source: MFS Investment Management SASKATOON, Saskatchewan--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nutrien Ltd. (TSX and NYSE: NTR) announced today it is hosting an Investor Day in New York on June 12, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ET. Nutriens Executive Leadership team will provide an update on the companys outlook, strategic plans and capital allocation priorities. In-person attendance is reserved for institutional shareholders and sell-side analysts. The meeting will be webcast and a replay made available following the event. Registration is available on Nutriens website at nutrien.com/events. About Nutrien Nutrien is a leading provider of crop inputs and services, helping to safely and sustainably feed a growing world. We operate a world-class network of production, distribution and ag retail facilities that positions us to efficiently serve the needs of growers. We focus on creating long-term value by prioritizing investments that strengthen the advantages of our integrated business and by maintaining access to the resources and the relationships with stakeholders needed to achieve our goals. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240322743361/en/ Investor Relations Jeff Holzman Vice President, Investor Relations (306) 933-8545 Media Relations Megan Fielding Vice President, Brand & Culture Communications (403) 797-3015 Contact us at: www.nutrien.com Source: Nutrien Ltd. Acquisition transforms Nuvation Bio into late-stage global oncology company with potential to become a commercial organization by the end of 2025 Acquisition adds taletrectinib, a next-generation, potentially best-in-class ROS1 inhibitor with Breakthrough Therapy Designations currently completing two pivotal studies for the treatment of patients with ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) Acquisition also adds safusidenib, a potentially best-in-class mutant IDH1 inhibitor currently being evaluated in a global Phase 2 study of patients with grades 2 and 3 IDH1-mutant glioma All-stock transaction preserves Nuvation Bios robust cash balance and enables development of both new assets and current pipeline without a need to raise capital in the near term NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nuvation Bio Inc. (NYSE: NUVB), a biopharmaceutical company tackling some of the greatest unmet needs in oncology by developing differentiated and novel therapeutic candidates, and AnHeart Therapeutics Ltd. (AnHeart), a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel precision therapies for people with cancer, today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement for Nuvation Bio to acquire AnHeart in an all-stock transaction (the Acquisition). Immediately following the closing of the Acquisition, the former shareholders of AnHeart will own approximately 33% and the current stockholders of Nuvation Bio will own approximately 67% of Nuvation Bio on a fully diluted basis. The Acquisition, which has been approved by the board of directors of each company and is subject to approval by AnHearts shareholders and other customary closing conditions, will position Nuvation Bio as a late-stage global oncology company with multiple programs in clinical development. The Acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024. This transaction represents a significant milestone for our company and reflects Nuvation Bios continued commitment to developing therapies for patients with the most difficult-to-treat cancers, said David Hung, M.D., Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Nuvation Bio. AnHearts lead asset, taletrectinib, which will become our lead asset as it completes two pivotal studies, is a differentiated, next-generation ROS1 inhibitor with a potentially best-in-class profile that may overcome the significant limitations of existing therapies. We are impressed by what the AnHeart team has done to develop this asset and intend to build on the progress made to date. Dr. Hung added, Nuvation Bio is well capitalized, and this all-stock transaction maintains our robust cash balance and removes any need for near-term financing to develop both new assets and our current pipeline. With our combined talented teams and resources, we will continue to focus on executing the development strategy for our differentiated pipeline. We expect this deal will bring Nuvation Bio much closer to realizing our goal of delivering novel cancer therapies to patients, and we look forward to this exciting next chapter together with the AnHeart team. AnHeart, named for our deep sense of service to patients, has worked tirelessly over the past five years to advance our pipeline of next-generation precision oncology medicines. We are excited to continue our mission as part of Nuvation Bio given their shared vision to improve the lives of people with cancer, said Junyuan Jerry Wang, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AnHeart. We believe the pipeline and financial strength of the combined company have the potential to create a market leader, and we look forward to working with David and the Nuvation Bio team to bring new cancer therapies to patients in need of better options. Management and Organization Nuvation Bio will continue to be led by its current management team, including David Hung, M.D., its Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and President, and expects AnHearts employees in China and the United States to join the Nuvation Bio team. Following the closing of the Acquisition, Min Cui, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Director of Decheng Capital, an investor in AnHeart, and Junyuan Jerry Wang, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AnHeart, will join the Nuvation Bio board of directors. Transaction Details At the closing of the Acquisition, Nuvation Bio will issue to the AnHeart securityholders, in exchange for all outstanding AnHeart shares, options, and other securities, approximately 43,590,197 shares of Nuvation Bios Class A common stock (inclusive of the shares of Class A common stock underlying the AnHeart equity awards to be assumed by Nuvation Bio), 851,212 shares of Nuvation Bios Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock, and warrants collectively exercisable for 2,893,731 shares of Nuvation Bios Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. Subject to approval by the Nuvation Bio stockholders (the Nuvation Bio Stockholder Approval), each share of Series A Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Stock issued by Nuvation Bio in the Acquisition will initially be convertible into 100 shares of Class A common stock. Additionally, the warrants issued in the Acquisition will be restricted until receipt of the Nuvation Bio Stockholder Approval. Any shareholders of AnHeart who are not accredited investors will receive cash for their AnHeart shares in lieu of receiving Nuvation Bio securities. The holders of approximately 90% of AnHearts outstanding shares have entered into voting agreements, pursuant to which they have agreed to, among other matters, vote in favor of the Acquisition. In connection with the execution of the definitive merger agreement, Dr. Hung entered into a voting agreement, pursuant to which he agreed to vote his shares of Nuvation Bio stock, representing approximately 27% of Nuvation Bios outstanding shares, for the Nuvation Bio Stockholder Approval. The closing of the Acquisition does not require the approval of the Nuvation Bio stockholders. Nuvation Bio and AnHeart intend that the Acquisition will qualify as a tax-free reorganization. As AnHearts parent company after the Acquisition, Nuvation Bio will own all of AnHearts assets, including AnHearts intellectual property. For further information regarding the terms and conditions contained in the definitive transaction agreement, please see Nuvation Bios current report on Form 8-K, which will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) in connection with the Acquisition. Pipeline Updates Taletrectinib is being evaluated for the treatment of patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC in two pivotal Phase 2 studies, TRUST-I (NCT04395677) in China and TRUST-II (NCT04919811), a global pivotal study. Nuvation Bio will continue to advance both studies. Taletrectinib has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Chinas National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the treatment of advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC. The NMPA has accepted and granted Priority Review Designation to New Drug Applications for taletrectinib for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC who either have or have not previously been treated with ROS1 TKIs. Nuvation Bio will continue to develop safusidenib, a novel, selective, potent, oral mIDH1 inhibitor being evaluated by AnHeart in a global Phase 2 study (NCT05303519) in patients with grades 2 and 3 IDH1-mutant glioma. Nuvation Bio will continue to advance all clinical studies for its internally discovered pipeline candidates, including the Phase 1b studies of NUV-868 and the recently initiated Phase 1/2 study of NUV-1511. Conference Call Nuvation Bio will schedule a conference call to discuss the acquisition after it has closed. Advisors Evercore is acting as Nuvation Bios exclusive financial advisor and Cooley LLP is acting as legal counsel, alongside Morrison & Foerster LLP as intellectual property counsel, Haiwen & Partners as Chinese legal counsel, and Conyers as Cayman Islands legal counsel. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as legal counsel for AnHeart, alongside Fangda Partners as Chinese legal counsel and Walkers (Cayman) LLP as Cayman Islands legal counsel. About Nuvation Bio Nuvation Bio is a biopharmaceutical company tackling some of the greatest unmet needs in oncology by developing differentiated and novel therapeutic candidates. Nuvation Bios proprietary portfolio includes mechanistically distinct oncology therapeutic product candidates, each targeting some of the most difficult-to-treat types of cancer. Nuvation Bio was founded in 2018 by biopharma industry veteran David Hung, M.D., who previously founded Medivation, Inc., which brought to patients one of the worlds leading prostate cancer medicines. Nuvation Bio has offices in New York and San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.nuvationbio.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/nuvationbio/. About AnHeart Therapeutics AnHeart Therapeutics is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel precision therapies for people with cancer. AnHearts lead investigational therapy, taletrectinib, is a next-generation ROS1-inhibitor currently in pivotal Phase 2 trials for ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Taletrectinib has been granted Breakthrough Therapy Designations by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). Chinas NMPA has accepted and granted Priority Review Designations to New Drug Applications for taletrectinib for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic ROS1-positive NSCLC who either have or have not previously been treated with ROS1 TKIs. AnHearts second investigational therapy, safusidenib, is a mIDH1-inhibitor being evaluated in a Phase 2 trial for IDH1-mutant glioma. AnHeart owns global rights to taletrectinib, except in Greater China, Japan, and Korea where AnHeart licensed commercial rights to Innovent Biologics, Nippon Kayaku and NewG Lab, respectively. AnHeart owns global rights to safusidenib excluding Japan, where Daiichi Sankyo retains development and commercial rights. AnHearts mission is to improve the lives of people with cancer. AnHeart is supported by leading life sciences investors and has built an organization with deep oncology drug discovery and development expertise, with offices in New York and Shanghai. For more information, visit https://www.anhearttherapeutics.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/anheart-therapeutics-official/. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements included in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are sometimes accompanied by words such as believe, may, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, expect, should, would, plan, predict, potential, seem, seek, future, outlook and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those under the captions Management and Organization and Transaction Details above and statements regarding the anticipated closing of the Acquisition, expected timing of establishing a commercial organization, potential therapeutic benefit of Nuvation Bio and AnHearts product candidates, advancement of clinical studies for such product candidates, and the sufficiency of Nuvation Bios current cash balance to fund ongoing activities. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of the management team of Nuvation Bio and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the risk that the Acquisition may not close due to the failure of closing conditions to be satisfied or other reasons and the challenges associated with conducting drug discovery and initiating or conducting clinical trials due to, among other things, difficulties or delays in the regulatory process, enrolling subjects or manufacturing or acquiring necessary products; the emergence or worsening of adverse events or other undesirable side effects; risks associated with preliminary and interim data, which may not be representative of more mature data; and competitive developments. Risks and uncertainties facing Nuvation Bio are described more fully in its Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024, under the heading Risk Factors, and other documents that Nuvation Bio has filed or will file with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Nuvation Bio disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, supplement or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this press release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325982081/en/ Nuvation Bio Investor Contact: [email protected] Nuvation Bio Media Contact: [email protected] Source: Nuvation Bio Inc. TOKYO & NEW YORK & DUSSELDORF, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Senseair, a subsidiary of Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation (AKM), has announced the launch of the Senseair S88. The S88 is an accurate, compact, and maintenance-free CO2 sensing module that is ideal for indoor air quality monitoring and building automation control across a variety of environments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325700235/en/ Senseairs S88 CO2 sensing module. (Photo: Business Wire) The S88 uses non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) technology for CO2 detection and features Senseairs proprietary Automatic Baseline Correction (ABC). The ABC algorithm constantly tracks measurement deviations, enhancing long-term accuracy and reliability without the need for 3rd party interaction with the sensor. The S88s compact form factor (8.7 x 33.9 x 19.8mm), 15+ year life expectancy, and maintenance-free approach make it a good fit for industrial environments where space and accessibility can present a challenge. Similarly, the S88 is pin-compatible with other popular Senseair products and some competing solutions, eliminating the need for costly re-design efforts. The S88 has high precision across a wide measurement range (400 ppm to 10,000 ppm), making it suitable for various applications. It also features an operating temperature range of Senseair will begin mass production of the S88 in April of 2024. To learn more about the S88, visit https://senseair.com/product/s88 About Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) AKM, a Japan-based company, operates an electronic components business as a member of the Asahi Kasei Group's Material sector. AKM provides customers with unique products by combining the compound semiconductor technology used in magnetic sensors with the ASIC/analog circuit technology used in silicon semiconductors. AKM's unique products and solutions are featured across a wide range of markets, including mobile communication devices and consumer products, as well as automotive electronics devices, household equipment, and industrial equipment. Additional information is available on https://www.akm.com/global/en/. About Senseair Senseair is a gas sensor manufacturer specializing in CO2, alcohol, and refrigerants. With over 30 years of experience of NDIR technology, Senseair has become a market leader within the field. Headquartered in Delsbo, Sweden, Senseair has been part of the Asahi Kasei group since 2018. About Asahi Kasei The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber businesses, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 48,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to a sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Health Care. Its Material sector, comprised of Environmental Solutions, Mobility & Industrial, and Life Innovation, includes a wide array of products from battery separators and biodegradable textiles to engineering plastics and sound solutions. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com. Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325700235/en/ North America Contact: Asahi Kasei America Inc. Christian OKeefe [email protected] Europe Contact: Asahi Kasei Europe GmbH Sebastian Schmidt [email protected] Source: Asahi Kasei Collaborative experiments with 38 global institutions demonstrate new use cases for Swift solution across digital trade, securities and foreign exchange Swift solution could enable financial institutions to easily incorporate CBDCs and other digital assets into common business practices Connector can interlink multiple networks and could lead to automated trade flows and unlock growth in tokenisation BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Swift today announced the findings of the second phase of industry-wide sandbox testing on its central bank digital currency (CBDC) interlinking solution, with the results showing that its connector can enable financial institutions to carry out a wide range of financial transactions using CBDCs and other forms of digital tokens, easily incorporating them into their business practices. In one of the largest known collaborations on CBDCs, 38 institutions - including central and commercial banks as well as market infrastructures - took part in experiments which found that Swifts solution has the potential to simplify and speed up trade flows, unlock growth in tokenised securities markets, and enable efficient FX settlement all while allowing financial institutions to continue to make use of their existing infrastructure. Interoperability is critical to Swifts strategy for instant and frictionless transactions. The cooperative has focused its innovation agenda on interoperability between digital currencies and tokenised assets to overcome the potential risk of fragmentation, caused by the development of digital currencies on different technologies and with different standards and protocols. Swifts solution has already been shown to enable cross-border transfers and connect CBDCs on different networks with each other, as well as with fiat currencies. The second phase of sandbox testing went further, exploring more complex use cases, using Swifts solution to connect and orchestrate transactions across simulated digital trade and tokenised asset and FX networks, alongside CBDCs for payments. More than 750 transactions were carried out over the course of the experiments. In digital trade, the collaborative experiments successfully demonstrated interoperability between different digital networks and trade platforms, with Swifts solution facilitating atomic trade payments payments that are completed simultaneously, alongside the transfer of assets, rather than sequentially. Smart contracts and event-driven programming enabled the automation of payments only once certain conditions had been met, meaning trade flows could potentially become automated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Participants also highlighted the solutions potential to reduce delays in global trade, enhance trust among parties, and significantly lower transaction costs. In securities, the lack of interoperability between tokenisation platforms is a barrier to the growth of tokenisation. The experiments showed that Swifts solution was able to interlink multiple asset and cash networks and could facilitate atomic delivery versus payment across those platforms. Tokenisation is a new market which is attracting widespread industry interest due to its potential to improve liquidity, lower transaction costs, and enhance transparency and security. Finally, the experiments showed that the connector could play a role in foreign exchange. Working closely with CLS, the connector was shown to be interoperable with the existing market infrastructure, facilitating FX netting and settlement via CBDCs. Tom Zschach, Chief Innovation Officer at Swift, said: Swift is a community a convener of and for our industry and Im delighted that weve been able to facilitate these critical innovation experiments and show that institutions can continue to use much of their existing infrastructure alongside new, innovative technologies. Fragmentation is a challenge for the entire industry, and ensuring interoperability between networks is vital to addressing this while also enabling new technologies to scale and reach their full potential. The full results report is available here. Swift now plans to extend its solution to support a wider range of emerging digital networks in addition to CBDCs, such as platforms for tokenised deposits. Participants in the sandbox came from around the world and across the industry, including central banks and monetary authorities from Australia, Czechia, France, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, among others. Commercial bank and market infrastructure participants included ANZ; Citibank; CLS Group; DBS; Deutsche Bank; DTCC; HSBC; Hua Nan Commercial Bank; Intesa Sanpaolo; NatWest Group; Santander; Societe Generale; Standard Chartered; Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; The Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank, Ltd; The Standard Bank of South Africa; United Overseas Bank; and Westpac Banking Corporation. Sabib Behzad, Head of Digital Assets & Currencies Transformation at Deutsche Bank, said: Interoperability between DLT networks is an important piece of the puzzle to enable efficient connectivity between CBDC and other networks and to avoid silos. Testing Swifts solution for different use cases such as DvP and FX with 38 commercial and central banks is a significant step to overcoming fragmentation and ensuring frictionless transactions. Lewis Sun, Global Head of Domestic and Emerging Payments, Global Payments Solutions at HSBC, said: The ability to interlink emerging and existing market infrastructures is essential to realizing the potential benefits brought on by tokenization and CBDCs. HSBC is excited to continue the collaboration with Swift and other industry peers to incubate an open, inclusive and technology-agnostic model that allows for more efficient payment-versus-payment, delivery-versus-payment, and trade settlement across different networks. Stefano Favale, Global Head of Global Transaction Banking at Intesa Sanpaolo, said: The Swift connector will help interlinking different technologies behind CBDCs and digital asset platforms, reducing the risk of fragmentation and preparing the innovative market to grow. Carmen Rey, Head of Swift and CIB Payments at Santander, said: This initiative solves the need to ensure interoperability in the future CBDC ecosystem by leveraging on existing connections. This will help to facilitate access and usage of CBDCs in the new complex world of digital payments. It also resolves the need to have some standardization and common rules which is another key success factor to expand the use of CBDCs. Dirk Bullmann, Global Head of Public Policy at CLS, said: Our collaboration with Swift and other key industry players demonstrates our commitment to exploring innovative technologies that reduce risk and increase efficiency while also meeting high standards of resilience. As the leading provider of FX settlement services, CLSs participation in the Swift sandbox allowed us to jointly gain a better understanding of how netting and settlement of cross-currency payments could be designed in a CBDC world. About the experiments: The six-month experiment was divided into two streams of work a series of working group sessions and hands-on exploration in a sandbox environment. Swift ran 20 working group sessions with an average of 60 participants in each session. The sandbox infrastructure was provisioned for 38 organisations for a period of four months. 125 users were onboarded from across these organisations for testing purposes in the sandbox. Participants met regularly to discuss use cases and potential solutions in dedicated working group sessions, which were divided into business and technical sessions for each use case. These sessions were attended by representatives from all institutions across different departments. During the sessions, participants reviewed key design decisions, roles and responsibilities, and implementation considerations for each of the use cases. They also reviewed the key elements of the interlinking solution, the Swift connector. Once a use case had been locked in with an approved design, the Swift team implemented the solution in the sandbox for the participants to test, validate and provide feedback for future consideration. The working groups included a diverse range of institutions from across the globe, representing a variety of policies, regulatory frameworks, AML standards and counter-terrorism requirements. They also included a strong mix of central banks, commercial and regional banks, and market infrastructures. The working groups played a critical role in exploring and discussing the implementation of potential solutions in a collaborative manner, while also taking into considerations the differences between participants, while the show-and-tell approach with the hands-on testing in the sandbox provided realism to the solution. During testing, 750+ transactions were completed in the sandbox environment across use cases. About Swift Swift is a global member owned cooperative and the worlds leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and regulatory compliance. Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,500 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories. While Swift does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable our global community of users to communicate securely, exchanging standardised financial messages in a reliable way, thereby supporting global and local financial flows, as well as trade and commerce all around the world. As their trusted provider, we relentlessly pursue operational excellence; we support our community in addressing cyber threats; and we continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Our products and services support our communitys access and integration, business intelligence, reference data and financial crime compliance needs. Swift also brings the financial community together at global, regional and local levels to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest or concern. Headquartered in Belgium, Swifts international governance and oversight reinforces the globally inclusive character of its cooperative structure. Swifts global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240322063793/en/ Press: FGS Global +32 (0)2655 3377 [email protected] Source: Swift Highly respected business and civic leader embarks on two-year term HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On Friday, March 22, 2024, Houston Mayor John Whitmire administered the oath of office to Thomas Jones, Jr., to serve a two-year term as a Port Commissioner of the Port of Houston Authority. Commissioner Jones will attend his first Port Commission meeting in this capacity on Tuesday, March 26. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325448393/en/ Houston Mayor John Whitmire (at podium) administers the Oath of Administration to Thomas Jones, Jr. to serve as Port Commissioner of the Port of Houston Authority. Commissioner Jones is flanked on stage by his wife, K'Netha Jones (center), and their daughter, Jessica. (Photo: Business Wire) Port Houston is the busiest waterway in the nation, and I am confident that my new appointment will improve City and Port working relations and help bolster Port Houstons legacy as an economic hub and innovative waterway, said Houston Mayor John Whitmire. A host of local, state, and federal officials and business and community leaders were in attendance, showing their support for Commissioner Jones. State Senator Carol Alvarado delivered greetings, emphasizing the importance of the Houston Ship Channel to the state, and remarked to Mayor Whitmire that Commissioner Jones was a smart appointment. Commissioner Jones is a highly respected business and civic leader who leads and champions the causes of community development, higher education, and the arts. He is a founding partner of McConnellJones, LLP, believed to be the largest African American public accounting firm in the United States, and recognized as one of the largest CPA practices in the Southwestern U.S. Now retired, Commissioner Jones continues to serve the firm as a consultant. I am blessed and honored to have this opportunity to serve the people of Houston. The port is a critically important business and economic engine for Houston, Texas, and the nation, Commissioner Jones said. I am excited to help lead and guide Port Houstons current and future plans for growth and expansion. Commissioner Jones has served as chairman, president, and director on many community boards, including among many others the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors board (past Chairman), Greater Houston Partnership, co-founder and Board President of Dominion Community Development Corporation (a church-based CDC), Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity (HEF), the Florida A&M University (FAMU) Foundation board, Jazz Houston, and Trees for Houston. As Mayor Pro Tem and chair of the City of Houston Economic Development committee, we must recognize the Port of Houston as the vital gateway for trade and commerce in our city and region, said Houston Mayor Pro Tem Martha Tatum-Castex. I look forward to collaborating with Commissioner Jones as we continue to invest in this critical asset while also fostering inclusivity and empowering women in our maritime economy. Commissioner Jones fills the seat of former Port Commissioner Cheryl Creuzot, who chose not to seek a third term. We welcome Mr. Jones to the Port Commission and look forward to the perspective he brings, says Ric Campo, Chairman of the Port Commission. His strong background in finance coupled with his long history of commitment to philanthropic endeavors makes him well-prepared to help guide Port Houston to serve our region. The City of Houston-appointed Port Commissioners, as all others, serve for two-year terms without pay, and may serve a maximum of 12 years. About Port Houston For more than 100 years, Port Houston has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals along the Houston Ship Channel, including the areas largest breakbulk facility and two of the most efficient container terminals in the country. Port Houston is the advocate and a strategic leader for the Channel. The Houston Ship Channel complex and its more than 200 private and eight public terminals is the nations largest port for waterborne tonnage and an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas and the U.S. The Port of Houston supports the creation of nearly 1.5 million jobs in Texas and 3.37 million jobs nationwide, and economic activity totaling $439 billion in Texas and $906 billion in economic impact across the nation. For more information, visit the website at PortHouston.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325448393/en/ Lisa Ashley-Daniels, Director, Public Relations, Office: 713-670-2644; Mobile: 832-247-8179; E-mail: [email protected] Source: Port Houston Associate Dean for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Franzi Walsh, presented on skills-mapped courses in higher education PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- University of Phoenix is pleased to share that Associate Dean of the Criminal Justice, Public Administration and Security programs in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Franzi Walsh, joined the proceedings of the 2024 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Conference held March 19-23 in Chicago, IL. The theme of the event, Pursuing Equitable Justice, invited an examination of equitable justice for communities, families, schools and marginalized populations. It is an honor to highlight the work we are doing at University of Phoenix to ensure our students are receiving a quality, career-relevant education, shares Dr. Walsh. The field of criminal justice requires dedication, determination, and a profound commitment to equity, and I'm proud of the fact that our teaching philosophy centers on fostering a learning environment that blends course content and theory with real-world practical applications and skills." Walshs presentation, titled, Curriculum to Careers: Program Design, Mapping and Assessment, highlighted the ways in which University of Phoenix uses assessment and program review to develop relevant, skills-mapped courses. The session also underscored the Universitys commitment to student support and industry relevance through its innovative curriculum design. The University's innovative skills-mapped curriculum, focused on the working adult learner, has culminated in 100 percent of associate, bachelor and masters degree programs open for new enrollment now being fully skills-mapped. University of Phoenix, through Credly, has issued over 450,000 badges since September 2021, for skills obtained in undergraduate, graduate, and professional development courses. The Universitys adoption of a skills-mapped curriculum helps ensure that students are identifying and acquiring skills in weeks, rather than years, yielding value from their education as they progress through courses rather than just at the point of graduation. Dr. Walshs participation in the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Conference underscores the Universitys dedication to engaging in meaningful dialogue and shaping the discourse surrounding curriculum development in higher education, states Dr. Christine Neider, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. "By actively contributing to academic conferences like this one, we reinforce our commitment to staying abreast of emerging trends and advancing the field of criminal justice education." Walsh is the Associate Dean of the Criminal Justice, Public Administration and Security programs in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. With 20 years in her current role, she applies her passion for student support throughout their journey through program operations and curriculum development ensuring programs stay relevant for tomorrow's leaders. Further supporting academic excellence and professional development, Dr. Walsh serves as faculty advisor of Alpha Phi Sigma, Eta Theta Chapter and Order of the Sword and Shield honor societies. Prior to joining the University, Walsh enjoyed a rewarding career in law enforcement. As a patrol officer with the Honolulu Police Department, she experienced various assignments with the Alternative Call Services Unit, the Bicycle Unit, and the All-Terrain Vehicle Unit (ATV) on Waikiki Beach and surrounding parks. After moving to Arizona, she began working with the Arizona Department of Corrections as a Correctional Officer in a maximum-security institution. Each assignment embraced leadership, community outreach and advocacy, and a passion for making a positive difference in the community. Walsh earned her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Western International University, a Master of Arts in Organizational Management (MAOM) and a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Phoenix. Having a passion for lifelong learning, she is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education (EdD) with Northern Arizona University. Learn more here about the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at University of Phoenix. About University of Phoenix University of Phoenix innovates to help working adults enhance their careers and develop skills in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, skills-mapped curriculum for our bachelors and masters degree programs, and a Career Services for Life commitment help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325202271/en/ Michele Mitchum University of Phoenix [email protected] Source: University of Phoenix The ViewSonic TRS10 and TRS10-UB are Certified Solutions Designed for Easy and Intuitive Collaboration and Enhanced Communications BREA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, announced the launch of its Microsoft Teams Rooms Meeting Space Solutions. The ViewSonic Meeting Space Solutions integrate hardware and software features, and are designed to optimize collaboration, video conferencing, improve productivity, and streamline communications. The ViewSonic TeamJoin TRS10 bundle includes a computing engine mini-PC and touch console, while the TeamJoin Plus TRS-10-UB bundle adds a 4K conference camera. These Microsoft Teams Rooms certified bundles from ViewSonic offer a complete, singular solution that can be easily scaled based on needs and meeting space requirements. Microsoft Teams Rooms [MTR] is a set of certified devices and software that allows users to connect in-person and remote participants with high-quality audio, video, and content sharing. Both ViewSonic MTR bundles come with enterprise-grade security with an integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 that ensures safe and secure computing with hardware-based authentication and tamper detection. Intuitive controls allow users to start meetings instantly, while integration with productivity tools can streamline workflow. Were excited to bring Microsoft Teams Rooms certified bundles from ViewSonic to the market and offering our customers and partners a comprehensive meeting solution, said Jeff Muto, Business Line Director at ViewSonic. Microsoft Teams Rooms supports a variety of different meeting situations, and I believe that ViewSonic will deliver the experience of easy deployment, integration, and management from these certified products. Were currently offering two options that include a computing engine, touch console, and one with a conference camera, to match up with any meeting space. ViewSonic TeamJoin TRS10 Bundle MPC310-W31-TU computing engine mini-PC with an Intel 12th generation Core processor Runs on licensed Windows 11 IoT Enterprise edition Lock slot and I/O port access security measures prevent unauthorized access and tampering Connectivity includes: USB-C, USB 3.0 Type-A, HDMI, RJ45, and Audio-Out MRC1010-TN 10-inch touch console Single-touch, Full HD touch display with intuitive controls that allows users to start, join, or end a meeting with one touch Versatile design allows for wall mounting or placement on a stand Motion sensor detects movement and initiates the MTR solution kit Connectivity options include: USB-C, USB 3.0 Type-A, HDMI, and Audio-out Available in May 2024 for an estimated street price of $999.00 [USD] ViewSonic TeamJoin Plus TRS10-UB Bundle MPC310-W31-TU computing engine mini-PC with an Intel 12th generation Core processor Runs on licensed Windows 11 IoT Enterprise edition Lock slot and I/O port access security measures prevent unauthorized access and tampering Connectivity includes: USB-C, USB 3.0 Type-A, HDMI, RJ45, and Audio-Out MRC1010-TN 10-inch touch console Single-touch, Full HD touch display with intuitive controls that allows users to start, join, or end a meeting with one touch Versatile design allows for wall mounting or placement on a stand Motion sensor detects movement and initiates the MTR solution kit Connectivity options include: USB-C, USB 3.0 Type-A, HDMI, Audio-out UBM202 Video Conferencing Camera A 3-in-1 4K Ultra HD camera with a 120-degree wide angle lens 12MP, 5x digital zoom with voice and camera tracking, allows users to switch between wide-angle, full room views, and individual speaker tracking Integrated 8W speaker and 3W subwoofer; beamforming 6-microphone array with noise and echo cancellation technologies Connectivity options include: USB- C and Audio-out Available in May 2024 for an estimated street price of $1,599.00 [USD] To find out more about ViewSonic, visit ViewSonic.com and follow on Facebook, YouTube, X and Instagram. About ViewSonic Founded in California, ViewSonic is a leading global provider of visual solutions and conducts business in over 100 countries worldwide. As an innovator and visionary, ViewSonic is committed to providing comprehensive hardware and software solutions that include monitors, projectors, digital signage, ViewBoard interactive displays, and myViewBoard software ecosystem. With over 35 years of expertise in visual displays, ViewSonic has established a strong position for delivering innovative and reliable solutions for education, enterprise, consumer, and professional markets and helping customers See the Difference. To find out more about ViewSonic, please visit www.viewsonic.com. This news release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Companys expectations with regard to future events. Actual events could differ significantly from those anticipated in this document. Trademark footnote: ViewSonic and the ViewSonic trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of ViewSonic Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other corporate names and trademarks stated herein are the property of their respective companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325263162/en/ Joey Lee JSL Marketing for ViewSonic [U.S.] E: [email protected] Nury Lavandier ViewSonic [Latin America] E: [email protected] Caroline McGrath CMM Communications for ViewSonic [Canada] E: [email protected] Source: ViewSonic FILE PHOTO: A United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 jetliner is grounded, as passengers try to rebook their tickets from cancelled United Airlines flights after U.S. air safety regulator the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 Boeing 737 MAX 9 j By David Shepardson and Allison Lampert WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Shares of United Airlines closed down 3.4% on Monday after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said over the weekend it was increasing its oversight of the carrier following a series of recent safety incidents. On Saturday, the FAA said it would initiate a formal evaluation to ensure the Chicago-based airline was complying with safety regulations and said the FAA may delay future United certification projects "based on findings from oversight." Reuters reported Saturday the FAA could potentially not approve allowing customers on United's new planes or new routes. The FAA and United declined to comment. The formal evaluation, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) the union representing United pilots said Monday, is an type of audit that U.S. carriers undergo every few years and United most recently had one in 2018. "This is an opportunity to identify the opportunities for improvement within our operation, identify changes to mitigate operational risk, and poise our airline for success by managing those changes effectively," ALPA said Monday. ALPA said it is unclear if the FAA will pause any United certification activities. "What we do know is that Boeing delivery delays could have an impact, just as any softening of the economy or any temporary pause in certification activities," ALPA said. United has experienced several safety incidents in the past two weeks. On March 15, an external panel was found missing from a United aircraft when it landed in Oregon, prompting an FAA investigation. Before that incident, a United Airlines-operated Boeing 737 MAX rolled onto the grass in Houston. A United-operated Boeing 777-200 bound for Japan also lost a tire after takeoff from San Francisco and was diverted to Los Angeles, where it landed safely. United said Friday that over the next several weeks employees will see more of a presence by the FAA "in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities." Earlier this month, United also said that its Boeing deliveries were going to be "way behind this year," adding that it was "impossible to say when MAX 10 is going to get certified." (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Allison Lampert in Montreal and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Maju Samuel and Aurora Ellis) VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Birchtree Investments Ltd. (Birchtree or the Company) (CSE: BRCH), an investment company with the long-term goal of divesting its investment assets at a profit, today announces a new investment into Valkyrie Specialty Corporation (Valkyrie Specialty), a Texas based provider of well remediation and restimulation services to help oil and gas companies recover remaining assets, remove previously deployed toxic chemistries, and remediate fields for future use. Valkyrie Specialtys treatments and services improve oil and gas production quality and volume in underperforming wells and return nonproductive wells to service by removing obstacles to extraction. Pursuant to a share exchange agreement dated March 23, 2024 (the SEA), Birchtree has agreed to issue the parent company of Valkyrie Specialty, a private British Columbia company (Valkyrie Holdco), 5,000,000 common shares of Birchtree at a deemed price of $0.115 per share, in exchange for 425,926 common shares of Valkyrie Holdco at a deemed price of $1.35 per share. As conditions to closing, scheduled for March 29, 2024, (i) Birchtree will subscribe for an additional 370,000 common shares of Valkyrie Holdco at a price of $1.35 per share for gross proceeds of $499,500, and (ii) Valkyrie Holdco will grant Birchtree the right to appoint a director of Valkyrie Holdco for as long as Birchtree owns or controls at least 500,000 of the issued and outstanding shares of Valkyrie Holdco (subject to adjustment pursuant to customary corporate actions, if applicable). Subsequent to the transactions contemplated by the SEA, Birchtree will hold, on a non-diluted basis, 30.6% of the issued and outstanding shares of Valkyrie Holdco, and Valkyrie Holdco will hold, on a non-diluted basis, 6.0% of the issued and outstanding shares of Birchtree. About Birchtree Birchtree is an investment company with the long-term goal of divesting its investment assets at a profit. For more information, please see Birchtrees continuous disclosure documents available under the Companys SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.com. For more information, please contact: Vitali SavitskiChief Executive OfficerBirchtree Investments Ltd.Tel: (416) 300-0625Email: [email protected] Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contain herein. This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information relates to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. There can be no assurance that any new investment by the Company will be completed or the timing of any new investment. Completion of any transaction will be subject to, amongst other things, negotiation and execution of definitive agreements, applicable director, shareholder and regulatory approvals. Unless otherwise specified, all dollar amounts in this press release are expressed in Canadian dollars. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as intends, expects or anticipates, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should, would or will potentially or likely occur. This information and these statements, referred to herein as forward-looking statements, are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to managements expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things: statements with respect to the closing of the transactions contemplated by the SEA. These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks related to the failure of the Company to receive the required corporate and regulatory approvals, and all conditions to closing being satisfied or waived, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in the Companys disclosure documents filed with the securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Any such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements included in this news release is made as of the date of this news release. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement referred to herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Source: Birchtree Investments Ltd. OTTAWA, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CCC is proud to announce the signing of a government to government (G2G) contract with the Ministry of the Interior of Croatia for the sale of two (2) DHC-515 FIREFIGHTER aircraft manufactured by De Havilland Canada (DHC). Through CCCs G2G contract, DHC will provide the DHC-515 aircraft to Croatia, along with spare parts, training, and maintenance support. The contract is the result of ongoing cooperation between CCC, DHC, the European Unions Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU) and its Member States to supply the EU with Canadian-made firefighting aircraft. Building on the foundation of the iconic Canadair CL-215 and CL-415 aircraft, the DHC-515 FIREFIGHTER is a new purpose-built aerial firefighting aircraft. It matches the other aircraft in the De Havilland fleet in terms of lifespan, ruggedness, and Canadian aerospace engineering quality. Croatia, like the rest of Europe and Canada, continues to face significant wildfire seasons as our summers become both longer and hotter. Currently, Croatia currently operates six CL-415 aircraft and will increase its aerial firefighting program by one-third with the acquisition of these two new DHC-515 aircraft. The Croatian Government and European Union are making this significant investment to augment Croatias emergency response capacity through the purchase of these Canadian-made waterbombers. CCC, Canadas G2G contracting agency, and Export Development Canada, Canadas export credit agency, are part of Canadas overall support for the DHC-515 FIREFIGHTER program. For over 75 years, CCC has been helping Canadian companies to establish successful commercial relationships with foreign governments. Every G2G contract signed with CCC has the legal effect of being signed in the name of the Government of Canada and comes with an assurance of contract performance. To learn about how Canadas G2G contracts support Canadian exports, contact CCC. Quotes Canada is proud to facilitate the purchase of De Havilland Canadas next generation aerial firefighting aircraft by Croatia and to help the Ministry of the Interior to combat wildfires. We are committed to providing practical tools to address the wildfires that threaten the security of Croatias citizens and historical sites. Diane Montambault, Vice-President, Contract Management and Operations, CCC The activities undertaken over the past few years by the Croatian Government with its partners from Canada and with the support and assistance of the European Commission, have enabled Croatia to be among the first EU Member States to sign the Purchase Agreement for two new DHC-515 aircraft, thereby contributing to the establishment of permanent firefighting capacities at the EU level. This is a major common achievement, which also proves that only by joining our forces at national, European and global levels, we can efficiently respond to the devastating consequences of climate change, such as wildfires, all with a view to ensuring the safety of our citizens. Davor Bozinovic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of Croatia. The EU and Croatia are our strategic partners and close allies. We are pleased that during the most recent Canada-EU Summit, Canada confirmed our commitment to our partners to help mitigate the devastating effects of climate change, including by facilitating the acquisition of these mission-critical De Havilland aircraft. I commend Croatia for the leadership role it is playing in the region in combatting wildfires. - Jessica Blitt, Canadian Ambassador to Croatia It has been a couple of years since the European Commission has initiated the process to scale up aerial firefighting capacities in Europe. I congratulate Croatia to sign into reality the first planes of what will form a new generation of European firefighting aerial capacity. And I thank Canada for facilitating these agreements with the company concerned resuming production of these very much needed specialised planes. This is an important step to acquiring the aircraft which will help protect citizens not just in Croatia but across Europe. It will be 100% paid for by the European Commission as part of our strengthened rescEU firefighting capacity ready to fight ever more intense wildfires in Europe. Janez Lenarcic, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management De Havilland Canada is proud to support the Croatian Ministry of Interior and Air Force as they protect the communities and natural resources of Croatia. The purchase of these new DHC-515 aircraft will provide additional assets to the Croatian Air Force as they continue to battle wildfires in Croatia. Neil Sweeney, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, De Havilland Canada Quick facts Increased wildfire risks due to climate change has generated a demand for additional aircraft within the EU and globally. The Member States of the European Union (EU) currently operate over 50% of the global fleet of previous iterations of the DHC-515 FIREFIGHTER aircraft. The DHC-515 FIREFIGHTER aircraft delivers the highest quantity of water into the fire-zone per day (nearly 700,000 L), more than twice as much as its nearest competitor. Refills its tanks in 12 seconds, from nearby fresh or saltwater sources including rivers, small lakes, and oceans, while land-based aircraft must return to airport after each drop. Related Contact For media enquiries please contact [email protected]. About CCC CCC is Canadas government to government contracting agency. We help build successful commercial relationships between Canadian businesses and governments around the world through our government to government contracting approach. We are also the Government of Canadas designated contracting authority for U.S. Department of Defense requirements from Canada. To learn more about how we have facilitated billions in trade between Canadian businesses and governments around the world, visit ccc.ca. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6f6df4f7-3cea-42ab-8ffa-7e62ca067ef0 CHALK RIVER, Ontario, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canadas premier nuclear science and technology laboratory, is pleased to announce that it has established an ambitious target to achieve carbon neutral operations at the Chalk River Laboratories campus by 2040. The target is outlined in CNLs newly-released 2023 ESG Report, A CNL Sustainability Performance Update, an annual document that tracks the companys progress towards sustainable operations, and among other goals, was established to support the Government of Canada in its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The new carbon emission reduction plan was put in place to fulfill environmental objectives set out by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) in its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy. CNL is operating the Chalk River Laboratories on behalf of AECL, who owns the site, under a Government-owned, Company-operated (GoCo) management model. Together, the organizations will work together over the next two decades to reduce emissions by approximately 90% to near zero, and then balance out any remaining emissions with strategic carbon offsets. At CNL, we understand that the actions we take today will have an impact on future generations, so we must make responsible decisions in the modernization and operation of the Chalk River Laboratories site, commented Joe McBrearty, CNLs President and CEO. And that starts with reducing our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. CNL has already reduced our GHG emissions by approximately 30% relative to 2005 levels, and we are poised to achieve a 40% reduction by 2025. To meet our net-zero by 2040 targets, we have developed a Consolidated Carbon Neutral Strategy which will guide our ongoing business activities, ensuring that GHG emissions are factored into all our operational decisions, big and small. As a federal Crown corporation and the owner of the Chalk River Laboratories, AECL has set ambitious targets within our ESG strategy to meet the Government of Canadas net zero goals by 2050, commented AECLs President and CEO Fred Dermarkar. With the unique opportunity to leverage our nuclear science and technology capabilities, AECL has accelerated the target to meet carbon neutrality at the Chalk River site by 2040. We are encouraged by CNLs work in Chalk River to implement their carbon neutral strategy, which includes plans to implement significant conservation measures, require net-zero design for new construction and major retrofits, and decommission inefficient facilities. CNL has already taken a number of actions to make progress towards a more sustainable campus.Among the organizational changes identified in its Carbon Neutral Strategy are: Updated engineering standards and climate resilience planning requirements for all new construction projects and retrofits; Energy performance improvements through the adoption of electric heating and conservation measures; the decommissioning and removal of outdated, inefficient buildings; and the electrification of CNLs vehicle fleet. CNL has also developed a detailed forest management plan which ensures continued stewardship and renewal of the forests surrounding the site, while maximizing the forests natural ability to capture and store carbon from the atmosphere. CNL is even exploring the potential to connect to a SMR proposed for construction at the Chalk River site, leveraging the clean energy from the reactor to further offset the carbon footprint of CNLs operations. Sustainability is far more than sound environmental stewardship. The ambitious emissions target is part of a much broader, comprehensive plan to fulfill the delivery of sustainability-related objectives at Canadas national nuclear laboratory. As part of this plan, CNL completed an ESG materiality assessment in 2023 that will guide improvement efforts across seven major focus areas, including waste management, climate resilience, ecosystem services, community relationships, employee engagement and well-being, effective leadership and responsible supply chain. This assessment was the product of a thorough stakeholder engagement exercise, which included a survey of over 700 stakeholders and in-depth interviews to gather feedback and refine the companys ESG priorities. Whether it was the development of our new forest management plan, the creation of an Indigenous procurement strategy, or the launch of our new education programming, CNL has had an exceptional year in our pursuit of more sustainable operations, added Mr. McBrearty. However, I think the completion of our ESG materiality assessment will have the greatest impact on our operations, because it allows CNL to look inward at our operations through the eyes of our stakeholders and identify the issues and opportunities that we must prioritize as a company. If youd like to learn more about CNL, or to view the companys 2023 Sustainability Report, please visit www.cnl.ca. About CNL As Canadas premier nuclear science and technology laboratory, and working under the direction of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), CNL is a world leader in the development of innovative nuclear science and technology products and services. Guided by an ambitious corporate strategy known as Vision 2030, CNL fulfills three strategic priorities of national importance restoring and protecting the environment, advancing clean energy technologies, and contributing to the health of Canadians. By leveraging the assets owned by AECL, CNL also serves as the nexus between government, the nuclear industry, the broader private sector and the academic community. CNL works in collaboration with these sectors to advance innovative Canadian products and services towards real-world use, including carbon-free energy, cancer treatments and other therapies, non-proliferation technologies and waste management solutions. To learn more about CNL, please visit www.cnl.ca. CNL Contact:Philip KompassDirector, Corporate Communications1-866-886-2325[email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ccc3dcdf-34ba-4dbb-845c-2f3f15caad25 CNL TARGETS CARBON NEUTRAL OPERATIONS AT CHALK RIVER LABORATORIES BY 2040 In its newly-released annual sustainability report, Canadas national nuclear laboratory outlines aggressive strategy to reduce emissions in pursuit of carbon neutral operations Source: Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) ThreatLocker Expands Endpoint Security Services and Data Infrastructure to Australia Sydney, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading cybersecurity solution provider, ThreatLocker, proudly announces the launch of its advanced data centre in Sydney, Australia, just over a year after the grand opening of its second headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. This strategic move aims to enhance cybersecurity capabilities across various sectors in Australia, including the private sector, commonwealth, state, territory, and local governments. The expansion of ThreatLocker will assist Australian entities in complying with the urgently recommended Australian Cyber Security Strategy implemented by the Australian Government. Additionally, ThreatLocker offers Zero Trust Application Controls and Ringfencing capabilities that align almost any organization with requirements presented by the Australian Cyber Security Centres Essential Eight Maturity Model. Commenting on the extension of their security footprint, ThreatLocker Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Danny Jenkins said, "Zero Trust is a mindset, and I admire the Australian government's holistic approach, involving the wider community to tackle a modern-day threat." Jenkins continued, "As one of the top vendors assisting businesses with Essential Eight guidelines, we are thrilled to strengthen our collaboration with Australia through this centre, bolstering their data protection and compliance initiatives." ThreatLocker, founded in 2017 by CEO Danny Jenkins, COO Sami Jenkins, and VP of Quality Assurance John Carolan, protects over 2 million endpoints across more than 40,000 organizations globally. The company provides 24/7/365 support with an average response time of 60 seconds or less. ThreatLocker offers a powerful Zero Trust endpoint protection platform that enables organizations to stop ransomware and other cyberattacks by controlling what software can run in their environments. The combined solutions of ThreatLocker, including Application Allowlisting, Ringfencing, Storage Control, Elevation Control, and Endpoint Network Control, lead the cybersecurity market toward a more secure approach by blocking the exploits of unknown application vulnerabilities. Attachment CHICAGO, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Granite Creek Capital Partners, L.L.C., a private investment firm based in Chicago, today announced a debt and equity investment in Sayres Defense (Sayres), a provider of defense support, engineering, and technical assistance services to U.S. government agencies worldwide, in support of its acquisition of Global Systems Technologies, Inc. (GST). The acquisition was led by Sayres private equity sponsor, Broadtree Partners LLC (Broadtree), and was also completed in partnership with JP Morgan Chase and Muzinich BDC, Inc. Sayres acquisition of GST, a provider of technical support and engineering services to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other federal agencies, comes as the Company's second add-on acquisition. In June 2023, Sayres acquired Joint Research and Development (JRAD), a provider of test and evaluation, acquisition analysis, and science and technology support services. The acquisition of GST broadens JRADs existing systems engineering and technical assistance capabilities and customer base. This acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for Sayres, said Brad Batten, Managing Partner at Broadtree. GST is a fantastic complement to JRAD and will provide the companies the opportunity to expand their market reach and better serve their customers, through enhanced mission-focused capabilities and a broader suite of service offerings. Andrew Kearney, Director at Granite Creek, added, We are thrilled to support Broadtree and Sayres acquisition of GST. The Companys industry-leading management team, Broadtrees proven stewardship, and the combined Companys broad and unique service offerings position Sayres to continue providing customers with world-class support and execute on its mission to become the next great middle-market government contractor. About Sayres DefenseSayres is a leader in defense mission support services to the U.S., Navy, Department of Defense, and broader National Security community. With decades of experience and proven results, Sayres mission-focused capabilities include strategy, planning, systems engineering, test and evaluation, modeling and simulation, logistics, research and development, acquisition support, full-cycle fleet operations, personnel training, and intelligence and security. About Global Systems TechnologiesHeadquartered in Yardley, PA, with additional offices in Virginia and New Jersey, GST is a provider of test and evaluation services, model-based systems engineering, logistics, and research and development to Defense and Homeland Security customers. About Broadtree PartnersBroadtree Partners, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a lower-middle market Private Equity firm with a specific focus on aerospace, defense, intelligence, and federal civilian government services businesses. Broadtree seeks to partner with business owners and entrepreneurs to provide operational resources and institutional capital to transform and grow founder-owned businesses in the lower-middle market. Broadtrees goal is to fuel stable, long-term growth while preserving the companys core values. By leading with its high caliber operating talent, Broadtree provides owners with the flexibility to preserve their legacy via a smooth leadership transition, or by partnering with Broadtrees operational and financial resources to further accelerate growth. About Granite Creek Capital Partners, L.L.C.Founded in 2005, Granite Creek Capital Partners, L.L.C. is a Chicago-based private investment firm focused on providing capital and operational resources to lower middle market companies engaged in manufacturing, business services, healthcare, and agribusiness. With an experienced team of investment professionals bringing expertise in private equity, banking, operations, and business development, Granite Creek has a successful track record of investing in and supporting its portfolio companies. In 2023, Granite Creek was named to Inc.s Founder-Friendly Investors list for the fourth year in a row, honoring the private equity and venture capital firms with the best track record of success backing entrepreneurs. For more information on Granite Creek, visit www.granitecreek.com or call 312-895-4500. For more media information, contact:Lisa Hendrickson, LCH Communications for Granite Creek516-643-1642[email protected] Source: Granite Creek Capital Partners NEW YORK, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN) resulting from allegations that Santander may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public. SO WHAT: If you purchased Santander securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=22671 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On February 5, 2024, the Financial Times published an article entitled Iran used Lloyds and Santander accounts to evade sanctions. This article stated, in part that Santander UK provided accounts to British front companies secretly owned by a sanctioned Iranian petrochemicals company based near Buckingham Palace, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. On this news, Santanders American Depositary Shares (ADSs) fell $0.24 per ADS, or 5.7%, to close at $3.94 per ADS on February 5, 2024. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs Bar. Many of the firms attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. ------------------------------- Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] www.rosenlegal.com SAN DIEGO, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers of Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) Class A common stock between September 16, 2020 and March 2, 2022, inclusive (the Class Period), have until April 29, 2024 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Snowflake class action lawsuit. Captioned Flannery v. Snowflake Inc., No. 24-cv-01234 (N.D. Cal.), the Snowflake class action lawsuit charges Snowflake as well as certain of its top executive officers with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you suffered substantial losses and wish to serve as lead plaintiff of the Snowflake class action lawsuit, please provide your information here: https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-snowflake-inc-class-action-lawsuit-snow.html You can also contact attorneys J.C. Sanchez or Jennifer N. Caringal of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Lead plaintiff motions for the Snowflake class action lawsuit must be filed with the court no later than April 29, 2024. CASE ALLEGATIONS: Snowflake is a cloud data platform that enables its enterprise customers to consolidate data into a single source to build data-driven applications and share data. The Snowflake class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Snowflake had systematically oversold capacity to customers which created a misleading appearance of the demand for Snowflakes products and services; (ii) Snowflake had provided significant discounts to its customers prior to its initial public offering (IPO) that temporarily boosted sales but would not be sustainable after the IPO and/or necessitate platform efficiency adjustments that negatively impacted client consumption and Snowflakes revenue and profit margins; (iii) as a result, Snowflakes customers were poised to roll over a material amount of unused credits (and thereby cannibalize future sales) at the end of their contracts terms or to refuse to renew their contracts at prior consumption levels or at all; and (iv) consequently, Snowflakes product revenue and remaining performance obligations had been artificially inflated leading up to and during the Class Period. On March 2, 2022, Snowflake revealed that its product revenue growth rate for fiscal 2023 was projected to be slashed to a range of 65% to 67%, far below the triple-digit growth and purportedly ongoing favorable business trends highlighted by defendants during the Class Period. On a related earnings call also held on March 2, 2022, Snowflake CFO, defendant Michael P. Scarpelli, further revealed that Snowflake customers were consuming at a reduced rate, which he blamed on platform enhancements . . . which lowered credit consumption. On this news, the price of Snowflake Class A common stock fell nearly 28% over several trading sessions, damaging investors. The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud. You can view a copy of the complaint by clicking here. THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased Snowflake Class A common stock during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff in the Snowflake class action lawsuit. A lead plaintiff is generally the movant with the greatest financial interest in the relief sought by the putative class who is also typical and adequate of the putative class. A lead plaintiff acts on behalf of all other class members in directing the Snowflake class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Snowflake class action lawsuit. An investors ability to share in any potential future recovery of the Snowflake class action lawsuit is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller is one of the worlds leading complex class action firms representing plaintiffs in securities fraud cases. The Firm is ranked #1 on the most recent ISS Securities Class Action Services Top 50 Report for recovering more than $1.75 billion for investors in 2022 the third year in a row Robbins Geller tops the list. And in those three years alone, Robbins Geller recovered nearly $5.3 billion for investors, more than double the amount recovered by any other plaintiffs firm. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller is one of the largest plaintiffs firms in the world and the Firms attorneys have obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history, including the largest securities class action recovery ever $7.2 billion in In re Enron Corp. Sec. Litig. Please visit the following page for more information: https://www.rgrdlaw.com/services-litigation-securities-fraud.html Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices. Contact: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP J.C. Sanchez, Jennifer N. Caringal 655 W. Broadway, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101 800-449-4900 [email protected] TORONTO, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Think On, Inc. today announced the company is now a VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) Pinnacle tier partner in the Broadcom Advantage Partner Program. Headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, ThinkOn Cloud Services are available to our Partner network in the North America, United Kingdom, and Australia markets, helping mutual enterprise customers to innovate by adopting VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as their private cloud infrastructure. ThinkOn will deliver new managed VMware Cloud Foundation private cloud services, including sovereign cloud services that support data residency and other jurisdictional controls. ThinkOn will add the new VMware Cloud Foundation to their portfolio of services, helping organizations modernize infrastructure with the best possible TCO, deliver a frictionless self-service experience for developers with consolidated VM and container-based workload support on a single platform, and provide enterprise-grade resiliency and security. ThinkOn intends to support the new license portability feature of VCF in ThinkOn's Cornerstone Service Delivery Infrastructure supporting Hybrid, Multi-tenant and Dedicated/Private Cloud services models which will put into place a flexible hybrid cloud experience. As a Pinnacle partner, ThinkOns expertise, experience and influence in the industry will play a crucial role in helping to lead our customers on their cloud journey, said Ahmar Mohamed, vice president, partners, managed services, and solutions GTM, VMware Cloud Foundation Division at Broadcom. The VCSP Pinnacle tier is designed to build stronger relationships with our most valued VCSP partners to help customers implement a highly efficient cloud operating model that combines public cloud scale and agility with private cloud security and performance. In Broadcoms expanded program, ThinkOn will support the VCSP White Label model to deliver VMware Cloud Foundation entitlements to other VCSP partners in a non-branded manner. ThinkOn can help partners confidently navigate their transition to this new model by streamlining the migration of their customer data to ThinkOn cloud services. As a white label provider in the Broadcom Advantage Program, ThinkOns partners retain ownership of their relationships with their customers, keeping them free from channel conflicts with other Pinnacle partners. We are proud to achieve Pinnacle Partner status in the Broadcom Advantage program, solidifying our commitment to VCF platform services, says Dan Timko, Chief Strategy Officer. At ThinkOn, we prioritize vendor-channel integrity and through our longstanding partnership with VMware, we are uniquely positioned to support organizations in modernizing their infrastructure, fostering innovation, and enhancing business resilience through managed VMware Cloud Foundation services. Now through the Broadcom Advantage program, we empower partners to thrive within Broadcom's vision and are excited to continue this path of success together. ThinkOn enables partners to serve their customers more effectively and expand their business opportunities with transparent pricing structure, a subscription-based model, and value-added services. ThinkOns VMware Sovereign Cloud status, combined with trusted IaaS, BaaS, data archiving, DRaaS, and object storage solutions, optimizes account management and drives sales growth in a secure cloud environment. Pinnacle is the highest program level in the Broadcom Advantage Partner program. Pinnacle partners are Broadcoms most invested and strategic partners, boasting extensive certifications, a track record of significant sales and service achievements, and broad international coverage. Holding Pinnacle status signifies a partner's deep technological know-how and proficiency in addressing the most intricate customer issues. Broadcom works in close partnership with Pinnacle partners, including co-selling to mutual customers, to provide the foundational technology that drives the digital landscape. About Think On, Inc. Think On, Inc. is a cloud service, channel-only provider with a global data center footprint dedicated to solving complex data problems through a portfolio of creative, turnkey infrastructure and data management solutions that are fast, flexible, scalable, highly secure, and cost-effective with predictable pricing and no hidden fees. ThinkOns channel-only distribution model empowers value-add resellers and managed service providers to service the data needs of businesses in commercial enterprise and public sectors across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. ThinkOn builds its solutions on industry-leading technology platforms engineered to make your data more resilient, secure, actionable, and searchable. www.thinkon.com ThinkOn Contact: Vanessa GrantcharovaBrand Marketing Manager | ThinkOn[email protected] Source: Think On Inc. TORONTO, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Top researchers in the field of type 1 diabetes (T1D) signed an open letter in support of renewed funding for the JDRF-CIHR Partnership to Defeat diabetes through Federal Budget 2024. The letter details the importance of funding research in the field of islet replacement therapy, of which Canada is a global leader. There is currently no cure for T1D, but this is considered a highly promising approach, and requires further investment to get from clinical trials to the people who need it most. The full text of the letter can be found below and at https://jdrf.ca/news/open-letter-to-ministers-freeland-and-holland/ Support for JDRFs 2024 Budget Ask for type 1 diabetes research As Canadian researchers working in the field of islet replacement therapy for diabetes, we write this letter in support of renewed funding for the JDRF-CIHR Partnership to Defeat diabetes through Federal Budget 2024. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune condition resulting in absolute insulin deficiency, for which there is no available cure. A highly promising approach to cure the condition i an islet replacement product. Canada has been a world leader in the field of islet replacement therapy for T1D over 20 years and remains at the cutting edge today, in terms of both clinical practice and research productivity. Many global breakthroughs and much of the momentum largely led by Canadian researchers and clinical trials taking place in Canada have been enabled through funding of research grants by JDRF and CIHR. Past and ongoing projects supported by these funders include research that aims to: optimize islet replacement products to treat T1D from a renewable source of stem cells; test the safety and efficacy of manufactured islet products in animal models of T1D in preparation for clinical trials; scale-up manufacturing of a high-quality islet replacement product to treat unlimited numbers of patients with T1D; advance innovative approaches to reduce or eliminate immunosuppression required with transplant of an islet replacement therapy; and leverage gene-editing technology to produce next-generation islet replacement products. Sustained investment in Canadian research on islet replacement therapy is imperative to capitalize on investments to date for the benefit of the 300,000 Canadians living with T1D, whose lives could be transformed with the delivery of a cell-based cure for their condition. With sufficient funding, Canada will lead the global effort required to translate current research momentum into new treatments and cures for T1D. An investment of $50 million from the federal government (with a $25 million match from JDRF Canada) will accelerate science at a monumental speed. Without an injection of funding, the immense progress that has been made in Canada towards cell therapy cures for T1D will largely dwindle. The momentum that we have gained through the strong JDRF-CIHR Partnership to Defeat Diabetes has brought us to the brink of breakthroughs it is time to push forward this exceptional science and solidify Canadas position as a powerhouse in the race to cure T1D. Sincerely, Dr. James Johnson, ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia Dr. Timothy Kieffer, ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia Dr. Gregory Korbutt, ProfessorUniversity of Alberta Dr. Megan Levings, ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia Dr. Dan Luciani, Associate ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia Dr. Francis Lynn, Associate ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia Dr. Hongshen Ma, Associate ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia Dr. Andras Nagy, Senior InvestigatorMount Sinai Hospital Dr. Cristina Nostro, Senior ScientistUniversity Health Network Dr. Amanda Oakie, Postdoctoral FellowUniversity Health Network Dr. Andrew Pepper, Assistant ProfessorUniversity of Alberta Dr. Remi Rabasa-Lhoret, Professor and Endocrinologist, Universite de Montreal, IRCM Dr. Michael Sefton, ProfessorUniversity of Toronto Dr. Peter Senior, Professor and Endocrinologist, University of Alberta; Director, Alberta Diabetes Inst. Dr. James Shapiro,Professor and Transplant SurgeonUniversity of Alberta Dr. Bruce Verchere, ProfessorUniversity of British Columbia About JDRF JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Our mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat T1D and its complications. We are an organization built on a grassroots model of people connecting in their local communities, collaborating regionally for efficiency and broader fundraising impact, and uniting on a national stage to pool resources, passion, and energy. JDRF partners across the full T1D development pipeline including academic institutions, governments and corporations to fund research and advocate for the delivery of innovative therapies to people living with T1D. Our staff and volunteers throughout Canada and five international affiliates are dedicated to advocacy, community engagement and our vision of a world without T1D. For more information, please visit jdrf.ca. For media inquiries or further information, please contact: Ruth KapelusNational Content & Media Relations Manager, JDRF CanadaT. 647.789.2322 E. [email protected] Source: JDRF Oslo, March 25, 2024, the Board of Directors hereby calls for the Annual General Meeting of Ultimovacs ASA (the "Company") at 14:00 CET on April 18, 2024. The General Meeting will be held electronically. For participation, please log in at https://dnb.lumiagm.com/137559337. All documents regarding the Annual General Meeting are available at the Companys website: www.ultimovacs.com For further information, please see www.ultimovacs.com or contact: Jonas Einarsson, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ultimovacs ASA Email: [email protected] Phone: +47 480 96355 Carlos de Sousa, CEO Email: [email protected] Phone: +47 908 92507 Anne Worse, Head of Investor Relations and ESG Email: [email protected] Phone: +47 906 86815 Attachments Earlier this week, Texas announced that it would be pulling the plug on its multibillion-dollar investment with BlackRock. This comes after the state determined that BlackRock was boycotting energy companies. BlackRock is a multinational investment company and the biggest asset manager globally with trillions in assets Read More >> NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Prospera Energy Inc. (TSX.V: PEI) (OTC: GXRFF) (FRA: OF6B) are available in the companys newsroom at https://ibn.fm/GXRFF About ESGWireNews ESGWireNews (ESG) is a specialized communications platform with a focus on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) sector and public companies committed to sustainable corporate practices. ESGWireNews is one of 60+ brands within the Dynamic Brand Portfolio @ IBN that delivers: (1) access to a vast network of wire solutions via InvestorWire to efficiently and effectively reach a myriad of target markets, demographics and diverse industries; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ outlets; (3) enhanced press release enhancement to ensure maximum impact; (4) social media distribution via IBN to millions of social media followers; and (5) a full array of tailored corporate communications solutions. With broad reach and a seasoned team of contributing journalists and writers, ESG is uniquely positioned to best serve private and public companies that want to reach a wide audience of investors, influencers, consumers, journalists and the general public. By cutting through the overload of information in todays market, ESG brings its clients unparalleled recognition and brand awareness. ESG is where breaking news, insightful content and actionable information converge. To receive SMS alerts from ESGWireNews, text ESG to 888-902-4192 (U.S. Mobile Phones Only) For more information, please visit https://www.ESGWireNews.com Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the ESGWireNews website applicable to all content provided by ESG, wherever published or re-published: https://www.ESGWireNews.com/Disclaimer ESGWireNews Los Angeles, CA www.ESGWireNews.com 310.299.1717 Office [email protected] ESGWireNews is powered by IBN The Personal Branding Masterclass Led by Miss World Cayman Islands Jaci Patrick and Qamar Zaman Opens New Opportunities for Caymanians. George Town, Cayman Islands--(Newsfile Corp. - March 24, 2024) - CaymanStory, a digital marketing, brand consulting, and training firm based in the Cayman Islands and led by former Miss World, is offering free training for entrepreneurs and small business owners across the Cayman Islands. A newPersonal Branding Master Class has been announced, providing participants with a unique opportunity to enhance their market presence and elevate their professional image. Conducted over Zoom, this comprehensive 90-day course is designed to equip individuals with the knowledge and tools necessary to build a powerful personal brand. Personal Branding Masterclass 2024 Batch 2 - 2024 Course Highlights: Expert Instruction: Led by renowned Forbes Council member, CEO, and founder of Storytellers, INC, a Cayman Islands company in the Cayman Enterprise City, Qamar Zaman, this master class promises to deliver actionable insights and strategies drawn from years of successful industry experience. In partnership with the local digital marketing company Cayman Story, led by Caymanian Jaci Patrick, a former Miss World Cayman Islands 2019, the course is poised to offer unparalleled expertise. Flexible Learning: With each 90-minute session available on both weekdays and weekends, the course offers flexibility to accommodate the busy schedules of professionals and entrepreneurs alike. Engagement and Interaction: Participants are encouraged to engage fully by sharing their wins on social media, fostering a supportive community of like-minded individuals. Comprehensive Curriculum: From discovering one's unique value proposition to leveraging digital tools for brand enhancement, the course covers a wide range of topics essential for building and maintaining a strong personal brand. Participation Guidelines: No Cost: The master class is offered completely free, providing unparalleled access to premium personal branding education. Commitment to Growth: Attendance is key to gaining the full benefits of the course. Participants missing more than two sessions will be subject to removal to ensure a dedicated learning environment. Active Participation Required: A commitment to active involvement, including camera presence during Zoom calls and completion of weekly interactive homework, is essential for personal and professional development. Enrollment Now Open: Spaces for the Personal Branding Master Class are limited to ensure a quality learning experience for all participants. Interested individuals are encouraged to secure their spot promptly to take advantage of this unique opportunity to transform their personal and professional branding strategies. For More Information and Registration: Visit https://www.caymanstory.com/personal-branding-class to learn more about the course details and to register. About the Instructor: Qamar Zaman, a globally recognized leader in digital marketing and public relations, brings his wealth of knowledge to the forefront of this master class. His expertise has helped numerous individuals and businesses achieve remarkable success, and his approachable teaching style makes complex concepts accessible to all. About Cayman Story: Cayman Story is a leading digital marketing, brand consulting, and training firm based in the Cayman Islands. Headed by former Miss World Cayman Islands 2019, Jaci Patrick, the company specializes in helping businesses and individuals enhance their online presence, develop strong personal brands, and achieve their marketing goals. With a focus on storytelling and strategic brand development, Cayman Story offers a range of services including social media management, content creation, SEO optimization, and personalized training programs. Our mission is to empower our clients to tell their unique stories, connect with their target audience, and drive success in the digital landscape. Explore services by Cayman Story here: https://www.caymanstory.com/services Contact: Jaci Patrick CaymanStory.com [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/202963 Cannes, France--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2024) - Magnum Estate is thrilled to announce an exclusive showcase of its Indonesia Investment Vision, which took place during the Magnum Estate & Congress AWARDS Press Conference at the JW Marriott Cannes. This prestigious event, was held on March 14, 2024, presenting an immersive journey into the heart of Indonesian culture and the enchanting beauty of Bali. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_001full.jpg In collaboration with esteemed visionaries Andres Senkovs, Anna Stukkert, and Natalia Kamyshan, Magnum Estate (the sponsor of the event) aimed to highlight the vibrant investment landscape and opportunities in Bali for 2024. The gala featured a press conference followed by a networking cocktail event, offering premium caviar and d'Or champagne to attendees. Andres Senkovs with Anna Stukkert To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_002full.jpg Distinguished Speakers and Global Ambitions The event hosted a notable roster of speakers including H.E. Ngurah Swajaya, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Swiss Confederation and Principality of Liechtenstein, and Andres Senkovs, Co-partner at Magnum Estate Bali, renowned for his expertise in international market development. Alina Kremss was the Moderator and representing manager of the 1st President of Ukraine, Mr. Kravchuk. H.E. Ngurah Swajaya, the Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_003full.jpg H.E. Ngurah Swajaya with Anna Stukkert, Founder and CEO of Real Estate Investment Congress To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_004full.jpg Andres Senkovs, Co-Partner at Magnum Real Estate To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_005full.jpg Derry Putera Iskandar serves as the Consul for Economics Affairs (Investment) at the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Marseille. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_006full.jpg Rusmin Lawin, serving as both Expert Advisor to the Minister and Chairman of the Nusantara Capital City Authority, brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his role within the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Task Force Committee. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_007full.jpg HRSM Queen Prof. Dr. Ayla Aldjufrie To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_008full.jpg At the helm of Ayla Associates Group Companies, a distinguished figure takes center stage in the realms of Real Estate Advisory Services and Women Empowerment: HRSM Queen Prof. Dr. Ayla Aldjufrie, a luminary hailing from the Mataram Salakanagara Dynasty within the Salakanagara Tirtawangsa5maja Empire. With a resolute focus on her major in Real Estate Advisory Services, coupled with a fervent dedication to advancing Women Empowerment, Queen Prof. Dr. Aldjufrie embodies a leadership that seamlessly blends expertise and advocacy. Ayla Aldjufrie was an event ambassador and supporter. Natalia Kamyshan, PR Global at Magnum Estate, emerges as a strategic market analyst, bringing a wealth of experience to the partnership. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_009full.jpg Alina Kremss (on the right): Communication Expert, Moderator, Represent Manager of the 1st President of Ukraine, Mr. Kravchuk @alina_kremss To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7633/202984_e2c19caab4847a58_010full.jpg Unveiling Magnum Estate's Strategic Vision Magnum Estate Indonesia, a leader in real estate innovation, revealed its ambitious plans for Bali, including the aim to design, build, and operate 500 high-end hotel-style real estate projects over the next five years. With a focus on the Asian and Central Asian regions, Magnum Estate is poised to redefine luxury living and investment in Bali. A Tribute to Bali's Cultural Heritage and Future Prospects Natalia Kamyshan, PR Global at Magnum Estate, highlighted the company's dedication to respecting Indonesian culture and Bali's unique heritage. This included commitments to infrastructure development and the preservation of local architectural styles, underscoring Bali's status as a modern international hub. Exclusive Insights and Future Directions Anna Stukkert, President of the International Investment Congress Awards at MIPIM 2024, shared insights into the evolving investment landscape and the strategic collaborations shaping the future of the Indonesian and global real estate markets. An Evening of Celebration and Insight The Official Cocktail at Annex Beach, Cannes, offered guests a memorable evening with unlimited champagne, Bali-style snacks, and music by a DJ. This event marks the culmination of Magnum Estate's commitment to bridging cultures and creating unparalleled investment opportunities. About Magnum Estate Magnum Estate is at the forefront of developing luxurious European-style resorts in Bali, offering a blend of breathtaking natural beauty, year-round seasonal appeal, and sophisticated infrastructure. As the largest builder on Bali Island, Indonesia, Magnum Estate's participation in MIPIM 2024 highlights its role as a key player in the global real estate market. Contact Anna Stukkert Company Name: Stukkert&Co https://congress-realty.com/ PR Contact: Stankevicius MGM Email: [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/202984 NICE Rapid works exclusively with liquid silicone rubber molding as a premier injection molding firm. New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2024) - NICE Rapid, a leading provider of innovative manufacturing solutions, is excited to announce its commitment to empowering creativity through the use of liquid silicone for resin jewelry making. With the growing popularity of resin jewelry among artisans and crafters, NICE Rapid aims to provide high-quality liquid silicone molds that enable artists to unleash their creativity and produce stunning, one-of-a-kind pieces. NICE Rapid To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/202977_cc9040ee741c7bdd_001full.jpg With so many options for creativity and self-expression, resin jewelry production has become a popular hobby for both jewelry designers and do-it-yourselfers. NICE Rapid is aware of how crucial high-quality moulds are to producing outcomes that seem polished. Its liquid silicone moulds are expertly made to guarantee accuracy and detail, making it simple for artists to produce complex patterns. As a company dedicated to innovation and creativity, NICE Rapid is thrilled to support the vibrant community of resin jewelry makers with liquid silicone rubber molding. The business is proud to introduce molds designed to provide artists with the tools they need to bring their unique vision to life and create beautiful, personalized pieces that reflect their individual style. Especially, NICE Rapid has a large selection of liquid silicone moulds designed especially for creating resin jewelry, such as moulds for pendants, rings, earrings, and more. Every mould is meticulously designed to endure the rigorous processes involved in resin casting, guaranteeing robustness and lifespan for frequent usage. Because NICE Rapid's liquid silicone moulds are flexible and simple to demold, artists can easily take their works out of the moulds without causing any damage to the final product. In addition to the variety of resin jewelry molds, the business also proves its products to be biocompatible. It's also odorless and tasteless which means that it can be easily formulated with the strict FDA guidelines and policies. These resultant materials can also be sterilized with a wide variety of methods such as e-beam, ethylene oxide (ETO), gamma, and steam autoclaving just to mention a few. Besides offering high-quality liquid silicone molds, NICE Rapid provides a wealth of resources and expert tips to help artisans hone their craft and achieve stunning results. From step-by-step tutorials to expert insights, NICE Rapid is committed to supporting the success and growth of the resin jewelry-making community. For more information, please visit: https://www.nicerapid.com/liquid-silicone-rubber-molding-t-166.html. About NICE Rapid NICE Rapid is an expert in the field in selecting reliable and cost-effective injection moulding, silicone moulding, and rapid tooling specialists. The company has a fully experienced engineering team offering first-rate customer service and quality. The company takes the products' quality with high importance and ensures all of them are ISO certified to ensure the best for the customers. Contact Info: Name: Steven Zhang Email: [email protected] Organization: NICE Rapid Limited Address: No. 26, Haotou Ave, Torch Development Zone, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, 528451, China Phone: +86 760 8996 7810 Website: https://www.nicerapid.com/ To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/202977 Everything you need to know for a spud-tastic family activity DENVER , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Last year, families embraced a new craze, scrambling up their Easter traditions and painting Easter potatoes. This breakout trend had everyone hopping onboard, with media outlets from CNN to "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon " getting in on the fun. This year, Potatoes USA is providing an Easter how-to guide for families interested in taking part in this new twist on a classic tradition. This Easter, Potatoes USA is providing a how-to guide for families to try the new trend of painting potatoes. Painting Easter potatoes is the perfect spring craft. Potatoes are an affordable pantry staple. Because they last a long time, potatoes are a perfect showcase for artistic creations. The potato is also a durable canvas for younger (and more mess-prone) artists. Parents interested in trying the activity can choose to paint with either food dye or real paint. "Easter potatoes are an awesome spring activity, and if you use food coloring, you can even eat the potatoes when you're finished decorating," said Marisa Stein , director of marketing at Potatoes USA. "Plus, a medium-sized, skin-on potato has 620 g of potassium, which is more than a medium-sized banana! nearly one-third of the vitamin C we need each day and 3 grams of plant-based protein" So, grab your paintbrush, your spud, your Easter bunny costume (that last one's optional) and celebrate the holiday with your family, friends, and America's favorite vegetable. How to Paint Easter Potatoes Whether you use food dye or paint, it helps to: Cover your workspace with newspapers or plastic tablecloths to enjoy the activity with minimal cleanup. Consider using gloves to keep little hands clean from food dye or paint. If you use food coloring, painting the food coloring directly onto the potato will result in the most vibrant color. Plus, you can cook your creations talk about having your cake and eating it too! If you don't want the color to rub off, and you're happy keeping the potatoes purely decorative, a coat of hairspray can seal the color and keep the dye from bleeding. For paint-based potato projects: A white primer coat will make the colors pop! Avoid watercolor paints, which won't show up as well. "Acrylic" or "Tempera" paints will show up better on your tater canvas. Look for non-toxic, washable paints. Additional Easter Potato Activities For more seasonal fun, parents can cut potatoes in half to create Easter stamps! Once halved, children can use a pen or marker to draw a shape or design on the potato's flat edge. Adults can carefully cut around the drawing using a carving knife, leaving the raised shape on the potato. After the adults have finished carving, the little Picassos can paint the potato stamps and use their creations to make Easter-themed paintings on paper. Potatoes are also a great option for scavenger hunts. The Easter Bunny doesn't have to worry about hiding their spuds a little too well, since anything the tater hunters miss is biodegradable. (Just be sure to keep dogs away, as raw potatoes aren't good for pups.) Be sure to visit PotatoGoodness.com to learn more about the many health benefits of potatoes and find some delicious spring recipes. If your Easter bunny hops on the #easterpotatoes trend this year, send us your photos! Tag @PotatoGoodness on Facebook or Instagram. About Potatoes USA Potatoes USA is the national marketing and promotion board representing U.S. growers and importers. Potatoes USA, the largest vegetable commodity board, was established in 1971 by potato farmers to promote the benefits of eating potatoes. For more information on Potatoes USA's mission to "Strengthen Demand for Potatoes," visit PotatoesUSA.com. Contacts Erin Bracken [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/a-fun-twist-on-a-classic-tradition-painting-easter-potatoes-302098432.html SOURCE Potatoes USA CERTIFICATION INCLUDES NEW PACKAGING SEAL FOR PRODUCTS MADE WITH INGREDIENTS GROWN BY AMERICAN FARMERS JONESBORO, Ark. , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch recently announced the national rollout of its newly-adopted U.S. Farmed certification and seal for several of its industry-leading beer brands, showing support for farmers in the U.S. , including Arkansas , where the state's farmers sold $13.9B worth of agricultural products in 20221. Developed and verified by the American Farmland Trust (AFT) , a national nonprofit that helps to keep American farmers on their land, the U.S. Farmed certification and packaging seal helps shoppers choose products that derive at least 95 percent of their agricultural ingredients from farms in the United States . Anheuser-Busch is a proud supporter of American farmers, including the 70 direct rice grower partners across Arkansas from whom the brewer purchases 48% percent of its rice for Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch has a local agriculture facility in Jonesboro , the Anheuser-Busch Rice Mill , and spends over $161 million purchasing rice from Arkansas farmers each year. Consumers in Arkansas are empowered to purchase U.S. Farmed certified products to benefit U.S. farmers and invest in the future of domestic ingredient sourcing, helping to ensure a vibrant and thriving agricultural sector in America for generations to come. Companies across the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry are encouraged to join the effort by obtaining U.S. Farmed certification for their domestically-sourced products. AFT will use funds raised through those certifications to expand programs and provide U.S. farmers across all 50 states with free resources and expert advisory services to help them access, protect, and maintain American farmland. By harnessing the potential of U.S. sourced goods across the entire CPG industry, the U.S. Farmed certification aims to create a far greater impact for American agriculture than any one company could alone. This industry-wide effort will be supported by an Anheuser-Busch led campaign, " Choose Beer Grown Here ," to encourage consumers to seek the U.S. Farmed certification and seal when shopping for products. "American farmers are the backbone of this country, and Anheuser-Busch has been deeply connected to the U.S. agricultural community and committed to sourcing high-quality ingredients from U.S. farmers for more than 165 years that's who we are," said Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth . "We source nearly all the ingredients in our iconic American beers from hard-working U.S. farmers many of whom we have worked with for generations. The U.S. Farmed certification takes our commitment to the next level, and we are proud to lead the industry in rallying behind American farmers to ensure the future of U.S. agriculture, which is crucial to our country's economy. We look forward to other companies joining us in seeking U.S. Farmed certification for their products so that together we can make an even greater impact and show our support for American farmers." The U.S. Farmed certification comes at a critical moment for American agriculture. According to AFT, within the next 15 years, ownership of over 30 percent of our nation's agricultural land could be in transition as the current generation of farmers prepares to retire. At the same time, farmland loss threatens the very foundation of our agricultural capacity, and new and beginning farmers are often challenged to secure the capital needed to enter agriculture. The U.S. Farmed certification will address this challenge head on by providing growers in Arkansas and across the country with access to the direct support needed to pursue their options for maintaining and protecting their farmland, as well as innovative strategies for transitioning their land to the next generation of farmers. "For over four decades, American Farmland Trust has worked tirelessly to ensure the land that sustains us remains in farming and its soils stay healthy and productive. Now, with the launch of the U.S. Farmed certification, we're taking a bold step to help secure the future of American agriculture and create both a movement and a market niche that celebrates and supports our nation's farmers," said Beth Sauerhaft , PhD, AFT Acting President and CEO. "Each U.S. Farmed certification has the potential to open new opportunities for farmers to receive assistance with succession planning, farmland protection tools for their operations, and other useful tactics to safeguard their land our nation's food systems. We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's leadership in bringing the U.S. Farmed certification to some of the country's most iconic brands, while also making tangible impact for American farmers." "I'm grateful to see Anheuser-Busch and American Farmland Trust introducing the U.S. Farmed certification in support of American farmers," said Eric Vaught , farmer at E & K Rice Farms. "Here in Arkansas , we take great pride in growing rice and other raw commodities that go into America's finest brews and foods, so it's rewarding to see this push towards recognizing and supporting our nation's hard-working farmers." "Crops grown in Arkansas are key ingredients in products Americans see on store shelves every day," said Arkansas State Representative Jeff Wardlaw (R). "Now, thanks to the American Farmland Trust's new U.S. Farmed program, consumers will know that their choice in products supports farmers in Arkansas and across the United States , and I'm excited that Anheuser-Busch will lead the way by being first with the U.S. Farmed label on its products." For more information on the U.S. Farmed certification and seal, including resources for American Farmers and product certification, please visit http://www.farmland.org/us-farmed. Learn more about Anheuser-Busch's commitment to U.S. farmers here http://www.anheuser-busch.com/USFarmed . ABOUT AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 7.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families. Learn more at www.farmland.org . ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 18,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer and beyond beer brands, including Michelob ULTRA, Cutwater Spirits, Stella Artois, Budweiser and Bud Light as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook, and Instagram. 1 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services (2022). Census of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/index.php. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-farmland-trust-and-anheuser-busch-support-arkansas-farmers-through-new-us-farmed-certification-302098009.html SOURCE Anheuser-Busch The strategic collaboration aims to effectively improve knowledge of the need of vulnerable schools to promote innovative practices and strengthen their digital educational transformation in the coming years. The joint project will begin with a first phase focused on strengthening education with technology in 44 schools in Africa and Latin America , where ProFuturo and American Tower are active. It is expected to have a positive impact on the lives of more than 4,500 students and 475 teachers. BOSTON , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- American Tower and ProFuturo, the technology-enabled education innovation program of Fundacion Telefonica and Fundacion "la Caixa", announced their partnership to continue transforming children's education through technology. The program will first be deployed in 44 schools in Kenya , Africa , and Chile and Colombia , in Latin America . ProFuturo and American Tower seek to support underserved communities with educational innovation and technology, enabling social programs to improve quality of life and ensure equitable participation in the digital world. American Tower's Digital Communities are digitally connected, technology-equipped spaces that offer digital literacy and education for youth, financial education and vocational training for adults, or healthcare services. The joint project is expected to positively impact the lives of more than 4,500 students and 475 teachers in the three countries where it will first be implemented. The program is planned to expand to more schools and countries on both continents. Mneesha Nahata, Senior Vice President Legal & Chief Sustainability Officer at American Tower, said, "There is no alternative to the necessary digital transformation and drive for digital education. With digital communities deployed across several continents, we now take a giant step forward through the partnership with ProFuturo to continue supporting underprivileged communities with connectivity and technology, enabling social programs to improve quality of life and ensure equitable participation in the digital world." Magdalena Brier , Managing Director of ProFuturo, celebrated this agreement that "reinforces the commitment of the two organizations against the digital divide and the education gap. The alliance between ProFuturo and American Tower is a big step, she adds, to improve educational opportunities for the most vulnerable. We are very honored with their support for what we have been doing since 2016 and I can't stop thinking about each of the teachers, boys and girls who will benefit, because together we are going to contribute to transform their lives." Rodrigo Jimenez , Senior Vice President Global Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability for EMEA & Latin America, said that he was "very proud of our strategic partnership with ProFuturo, and we hope to achieve significant advances that will improve and promote innovation in digital education. At American Tower we want to support growth in Africa and Latin America with our Digital Communities program so that, together, we continue to build a more connected world." Following the principles established by the United Nations Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals, American Tower and ProFuturo share the vision that access to quality education in complex environments is essential to reducing poverty and inequality in the region. Through this strategic collaboration, they hope to foster increased knowledge, promote innovative practices and strengthen the digital transformation of education in the coming years. About American Tower American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities. About ProFuturo ProFuturo is a program of educational innovation with technology launched by Fundacion Telefonica and "la Caixa" Foundation to reduce the educational gap in the world by providing quality education to children in vulnerable environments in Latin America , the Caribbean , Africa and Asia . Its intervention model is based on the evidence of impact provided by continuous monitoring processes, studies and evaluations. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-tower-and-profuturo-join-forces-to-bring-educational-innovation-with-technology-to-vulnerable-schools-302097562.html SOURCE American Tower HANGZHOU, China , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 18th , a delegation of Masdar, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), and India's largest EPC company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) paid a visit to Astronergy Haining Manufacturing Base, where they further discussed details of the collaboration on the 1,800MW solar power project in Dubai . During their visit, they toured Astronergy's TOPCon production workshop and gained insight into every stage of the PV module and PV cell production process, from manufacturing to assembly. On October 16 th, 2023, Astronergy was awarded the supply contract for the DEWA VI project, a joint development between Masdar and DEWA. Astronergy will supply 1,800 MW of ASTRO N5 n-type TOPCon PV modules for the sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park , one of the largest single-site solar parks in the world. After operation, the sixth phase project will increase the total power production capacity of the huge solar park to 4,660 MW. The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park , constructed by Masdar with investments totaling AED 50 billion ( $136.13 billion ), is an important milestone in the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 initiative. Clean energy constitutes approximately 16.3% of Dubai 's energy mix in 2023 and this percentage will rise to 24% in 2026 upon completion of all the phases projects of the solar park. As the only module supplier for the sixth phase of the solar park, Astronergy is committed to advancing the efficiency and sustainability of the solar park. When connecting to the grid in the second quarter of 2026, the sixth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park will contribute to reducing over 6.5 million tons of carbon emissions annually. "Pioneer in n-type TOPCon PV modules, Astronergy has always been taking high standards in product manufacturing and improving our TOPCon tech, which enables our products' fabulous performances to satisfy Masdar's strict construction standards", said Dr. Chuan Lu , Chairman and CEO at Astronergy, "and I'm eager to see the grid connection of the project for sustainable energy for local use". With continuously upgrading TOPCon tech and potential new techs, Astronergy aims to provide PV products for sustainable energy generation while practicing firm actions to lower production carbon emissions and to achieve its Sustainability Strategy of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/astronergy-to-supply-topcon-pv-modules-for-one-of-the-worlds-largest-solar-projects-in-the-uae-302096886.html SOURCE Astronergy Louie from Miami, FL is the first-ever raccoon rescue to be crowned the CADBURY Bunny HERSHEY, Pa. , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of pet lovers across the country have spoken and Louie the Raccoon is officially the winner of the sixth annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts. As the grand prize winner, Louie will not only have a starring role in the 2025 Cadbury Bunny Tryouts commercial but will also take home $7,000 in prize money. Louie is a two-year-old raccoon from Miami, FL who was rescued by his owner Jaime in 2021 after he had been deemed unfit to live in the wild. When he isn't lounging in his favorite tree, he's busy fundraising for wildlife rescue & rehabilitation centers by creating art using his toe-painting skills! This year's Cadbury Bunny Tryouts featured a bracket-style elimination tournament on Instagram a first for the storied annual competition. Pet-owners nationwide submitted their pets for consideration through Instagram posts explaining why their beloved furry (or scaly) friend should be the next Cadbury Bunny. Throughout the month of March, pet lovers and Cadbury fans voted for their favorite contestants as finalists were narrowed down from Thirty-Cute to the Final Bunny. "Each year we look forward to crowning a new Cadbury Bunny, especially this year where we engaged fans in a new way through our bracket-style competition. It was incredible to see pet lovers getting in on the fun," said Natalie Shuntich , senior associate marketing manager at The Hershey Company. "Witnessing how fans participated in each wave of voting, and the loving support for our thirty-cute finalists from Cadbury fans across the U.S. is a testament to the love for the Cadbury brand." Louie joins fan-favorite past winners in the Cadbury Bunny Tryouts Hall of Fame, Crash the Rescue Cat (2023), Annie Rose the Therapy Dog (2022), Betty the Frog (2021), Lieutenant Dan the Treeing Walker Coonhound (2020), Henri the English Bulldog (2019). "We're thrilled that Louie has been chosen as the winner of this year's Cadbury Bunny Tryouts we are longtime fans of the Cadbury brand and are honored to see Louie join the long legacy of incredible Cadbury Bunnies," said Jaime Arslan , Louie's owner. "Louie's TV debut in Cadbury's 2025 commercial can't come soon enough!" Keep an eye out for Louie's starring role in Cadbury's iconic Cadbury Bunny Tryouts commercial in 2025 and for the next chance to submit your own pet for the coveted title! About The Hershey Company The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania and is an industry-leading snacks company known for making more moments of goodness through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to doing the right thing for its people, planet and communities. Hershey has nearly 20,000 employees in the U.S. and around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, high-quality products. The company has more than 100 brand names in approximately 80 countries worldwide that drive more than $10.4 billion in annual revenues, including Hershey's , Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers, and fast-growing salty snacks including SkinnyPop, Pirate's Booty and Dot's Homestyle Pretzels. For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. The candy and snack maker's founder, Milton Hershey, created Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed through equitable access to education. To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com . Follow: http://www.twitter.com/hersheycompany https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hershey-company http://www.facebook.com/hersheycompany http://www.youtube.com/hersheycompany http://www.instagram.com/hersheycompany View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cadbury-announces-2024-cadbury-bunny-tryouts-winner--louie-the-raccoon-302098437.html SOURCE The Hershey Company HOUSTON , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Core Laboratories (NYSE: "CLB") will broadcast its first quarter 2024 conference call over the Internet at 7:30 a.m. CDT / 8:30 a.m. EDT on April 25, 2024 . Larry Bruno , Chairman and CEO, Chris Hill , CFO, and Gwen Gresham , SVP Corporate Development and Investor Relations, will discuss financial and operational results. An earnings press release will be issued after market close on April 24 th and may be accessed through the Company's website at www.corelab.com. To participate in the live webcast, simply log on to www.corelab.com at least fifteen minutes prior to the start of the call. For those who are not available to listen to the live webcast, a Podcast will be available immediately following the conference call and a replay will be available on Core's website shortly after the call which will remain on the site for 10 days. To listen to the conference call via telephone, please contact Lena Brennan at [email protected] for the dial-in number. Core Laboratories Inc. (www.corelab.com) is a leading provider of proprietary and patented reservoir description and production enhancement services and products used to optimize petroleum reservoir performance. The Company has over 70 offices in more than 50 countries and is located in every major oil-producing province in the world. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/core-laboratories-first-quarter-2024-webcast-at-730-am-cdt--830-am-edt-on-april-25-2024-302098606.html SOURCE Core Laboratories Inc BOGOTA, Colombia , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ecopetrol S.A. (BVC: ECOPETROL; NYSE: EC) informs that its shareholders, during the General Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting, held on March 22, 2024 , approved the distribution of dividends as follows: an ordinary dividend of two hundred and seventy-eight pesos (COP $278 ) per share and an extraordinary dividend of thirty-four pesos (COP $34 ) per share, for a total dividend distribution of three hundred and twelve pesos (COP $312 ) per share. The payment of the ordinary and extraordinary dividend to minority shareholders will be made in two installments of equal value, on the following dates: April 3, 2024 and June 26, 2024 . The payment to the majority shareholder will be made during the course of the year and in any case before December 31, 2024 , taking into account the payment schedule of the balance of the debt of the Fuel Price Stabilization Fund (FEPC) accrued during 2023, which is owed by the majority shareholder to Ecopetrol. ----------------------------------------- Ecopetrol is the largest company in Colombia and one of the main integrated energy companies in the American continent with more than 18,000 employees. In Colombia , it is responsible for more than 60% of the hydrocarbon production of most transportation, logistics, and hydrocarbon refining systems, and it holds leading positions in the petrochemicals and gas distribution segments. With the acquisition of 51.4% of ISA's shares, the company participates in energy transmission, the management of real-time systems (XM), and the Barranquilla - Cartagena coastal highway concession. At the international level, Ecopetrol has a stake in strategic basins in the American continent, with Drilling and Exploration operations in the United States (Permian basin and the Gulf of Mexico ), Brazil , and Mexico , and, through ISA and its subsidiaries, Ecopetrol holds leading positions in the power transmission business in Brazil , Chile , Peru , and Bolivia, road concessions in Chile , and the telecommunications sector. This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations and assumptions about future events and which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend", "continue", or "believe" or other words of similar import, and which forward-looking statements also include certain projections, forecasts, budgets and other estimates. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Ecopetrol's control. Ecopetrol does not undertake any obligation to provide any additional information or to update this press release or to correct any inaccuracies that may become apparent, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. For more information, please contact: Head of Capital Markets Carolina Tovar Aragon Email: [email protected] Head of Corporate Communications ( Colombia ) Marcela Ulloa Email: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/distribution-of-dividends-corresponding-to-fiscal-year-2023-302098143.html SOURCE Ecopetrol S.A. Offering Hope for Enhanced Early Detection and Patient Care in the Battle Against Cancer YONGIN, South Korea , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- GC Genome Corporation, a leading diagnostics company, today announced that the company will present two poster presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2024 in San Diego, California , from April 510, 2024. During the event, GC Genome will showcase the innovative performance of its liquid biopsy technology for early cancer detection using cfDNA, highlighting its effectiveness across diverse ethnic groups. Poster Presentation Details: Title: A deep learning-based multimodal ensemble algorithm for lung cancer early detection with cross-ethnic generalizability Date and Time: Monday, April 8, 2024 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM PT Location: Poster Section 40 Poster Board Number: 7 Abstract Number: 2411 Title: Analysis of analytical variables in the cancer detection assay utilizing cfDNA fragmentomics Date and Time: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM PT Location: Poster Section 40 Poster Board Number: 19 Abstract Number: 5032 [About GC Genome] GC Genome is a leading diagnostics company that aims to connect the care and cure to the world by offering genetic diagnosis services for Oncology, Pre&Neonatal, Rare Diseases, and Health Check-ups and suggesting personalized treatment for longer and healthier lives. Established in 2013 as a GC company, GC Genome operates a CAP-accredited laboratory and places the utmost emphasis on R&D. With steadfast partnerships established worldwide, GC Genome has shown impressive growth momentum, continually expanding our testing capacities. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gc-genome-to-present-new-data-at-aacr-2024-302097968.html SOURCE GC Genome NEW YORK and BOSTON and SYRACUSE , Ind. , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- An investor group led by Arsenal Capital Partners ("Arsenal"), a private equity firm that specializes in building technology-rich, market leading industrial growth and healthcare companies, in partnership with BayPine LP ("BayPine"), a private investment firm that drives digital transformation in market-leading businesses, announced that it has acquired Poly-Wood, LLC ("POLYWOOD") from Mayfair Capital Partners ("Mayfair"), a private investment division of Oxford Financial Group, Ltd ("Oxford"). POLYWOOD is a vertically integrated manufacturer of recycled, high-density polyethylene ("HDPE") outdoor living products and a leading brand in this fast-growing, structurally advantaged material category. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Syracuse, Indiana , POLYWOOD is the category creator and a leader of the HDPE outdoor living products market, which is in the early stages of a secular growth trend driven by the material's superior durability, minimal maintenance, and infinite recyclability. POLYWOOD's relentless focus on product design, innovation, and best-in-class production practices has been a long-standing brand promise and is deeply rooted in the company's DNA. POLYWOOD is made of recycled and reusable plastics in a circular, 99% waste-free process that was invented by founder and CEO, Doug Rassi in 1990. Since the company's founding, POLYWOOD has deployed an effective omnichannel go-to-market strategy that leverages a differentiated, build-to-order production model, minimizing inventory risk for all partners, while quickly delivering over 25,000 unique product options to the consumer. Doug Rassi stated, "We are thrilled about the opportunity to work alongside Arsenal and BayPine in the next phase of our company's growth. Arsenal's deep domain expertise in the polymer processing market and its understanding of our unique manufacturing processes, coupled with BayPine's technology know-how and sharp focus on further developing our digital capabilities, gives us confidence in our go-forward partnership and unique ability to build a strategically important business." George Abd , an Operating Partner of Arsenal, said, "POLYWOOD's longstanding track record of growth and industry-leading position are a testament to the differentiated business model and brand the team has built over the past three decades. Given its vertical integration and eye toward innovation, the company's ability to serve its retail partners and consumers is unmatched in the market. We are excited to work with Doug and his leadership team to continue building on the business' momentum." Matthew Teller , a Principal of Arsenal, commented, "We see meaningful opportunity ahead for POLYWOOD and significant whitespace in the HDPE market. We look forward to investing behind the company to achieve both key organic and inorganic initiatives and to further drive long-term strategic value." Steve Ko , a Founding Partner of BayPine, added, "POLYWOOD has distinguished itself through its pioneering brand and sustainable manufacturing processes, unwavering commitment to operational excellence, and focus on fostering a highly collaborative and collegial culture. We see a significant opportunity to further build lasting value at POLYWOOD by leveraging our differentiated digital and technology expertise in partnership with management." Piper Sandler & Co. acted as lead financial advisor to POLYWOOD with Moelis & Company LLC also acting as financial advisor to the company and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP serving as legal counsel. Baird acted as financial advisor to Arsenal and BayPine and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel. About POLYWOOD Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Syracuse, Indiana , POLYWOOD is a vertically integrated manufacturer of recycled HDPE outdoor living products. POLYWOOD is a leading brand in this fast-growing, structurally advantaged material category which benefits from the material's superior durability, minimal maintenance, and infinite recyclability. More than 30 years ago, POLYWOOD was the first to create all-weather outdoor living products using recycled plastics. The company's mission remains the same today POLYWOOD is forever products, designed to be loved through countless seasons and proudly crafted in America with industry-leading sustainability practices. The company's manufacturing operations are located in Syracuse, Indiana and Roxboro, North Carolina. POLYWOOD currently employs approximately 1,650 people. For more information, visit www.polywood.com . About Arsenal Capital Partners Arsenal Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm that specializes in investments in industrial growth and healthcare companies. Since its inception in 2000, Arsenal has raised institutional equity investment funds totaling over $10 billion , completed more than 290 platform and add-on acquisitions, and achieved more than 35 realizations. The firm works with management teams to build strategically important companies with leading market positions, high growth, and high value-add. For more information, visit www.arsenalcapital.com . About BayPine BayPine is a private investment firm that seeks to create lasting value for the firm's investors, portfolio companies, and communities in which they operate by driving innovation, digital transformation, and sustainable growth in market-leading businesses across core sectors of the economy. Headquartered in Boston , BayPine was founded by a team of accomplished investors and senior executives who have a shared passion for building enduring companies. For more information, visit www.baypine.com . Contact for POLYWOOD: Julia Blanter POLYWOOD [email protected] Contact for Arsenal: Jackie Schofield Prosek Partners [email protected] Contact for BayPine: Nathaniel Garnick / Sam Fisher Gasthalter & Co. [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investor-group-led-by-arsenal-in-partnership-with-baypine-acquires-polywood-302098352.html SOURCE Arsenal Capital Partners Leading pre-settlement funding firm says negligent company continues to use delay tactics to stall payments and final settlement amounts on open cases. SAN FRANCISCO , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Legal-Bay Presettlement Lawsuit Funding reports that settlements are yet again delayed in the numerous weed killer lawsuits that have dragged on for years. To round up, nearly 30,000 plaintiffs have outstanding suits against a well-known chemicals manufacturer, claiming their product is directly responsible for making them sick. Certain cancers are alleged to have been caused by the glyphosate-based herbicide including non-Hodgkin lymphoma. They defendant maintains that decades of studies have shown their product to be safe for human use, yet proposed a settlement that would have paid out $2 billion in compensation. However, it has already taken over $9 billion to settle over 100,000 existing claimsfour claims alone ate up over $2 billion of that initial amountand 30,000 of the most egregious cases still need to be resolved. The defendant continues to make delays in payments by initiating audits of certain cases, of which no major issues have emerged. Although the defendant and its parent company has some rights to investigate each claim, sources close to the litigation have said this is being done deliberately to stall payments. They are looking to roundup cases that aren't already settled and encourage them to settle for less than fair value. Despite the large $10 billion allocated for settlement, many plaintiffs are receiving values of only $50,000 through the claims process. Worse, the payments are taking years to be paid out. The overall settlement amount for these weedkiller lawsuits is still undetermined as of this writing. Nevertheless, Legal-Bay is actively looking to round up plaintiffs who would like funding for these cases. Chris Janish , CEO of Legal Bay , had this to say. "The whole point of the settlement with this unscrupulous company was for payments to be made to these long-suffering plaintiffs with speed and efficiency. The cold reality is that both the settlement amounts and values of these cases is less than expected, and now victims who went forward with accepting lower amounts just to be paid quickly are also seeing their funds delayed for several years now. We do not see this situation getting any better unless there is some sort of court intervention to compel the defendants to move in good faith and faster." If you are involved in an active weed killer lawsuit and need an immediate cash advance against your pending settlement, you can apply HERE or call: 877.571.0405. Please have your case manager email address on hand to expedite your funding request. Legal-Bay continues to be a leader in all weed killer cases throughout the country, and an advocate for funding clients with all sorts of other lawsuits, including personal injury, slip and falls, car accidents, medical malpractice, CPAP Recalls, e-cigarettes, vape lawsuits, hip and knee implant or replacement, hernia mesh, talc baby powder cases, and more. Their loan for settlement funding programs are designed to provide immediate cash in advance of a plaintiff's anticipated monetary award. While it's common to refer to these legal funding requests as settlement loans, loans for settlements, law suit loans, loans for lawsuits, etc., the "lawsuit loan" funds are, in fact, non-recourse. That means there's no risk when it comes to loans in lawsuit settlements because there is no obligation to repay the money if the recipient loses their case. Therefore, terms like settlement loan, loans for lawsuit, loans on settlement, or lawsuit loan funds don't necessarily apply, as the "loan on lawsuit" isn't really a loan at all, but rather a stress-free cash advance. Legal-Bay is known to many as the best lawsuit funding provider in the industry for their helpful and knowledgeable staff, and one of the best lawsuit loan companies overall for their low rates and quick turnaround, sometimes within 24-48 hours once all documents have been received. To apply right now for a loan settlement program, please visit the company's website HERE or call toll-free at: 877.571.0405 where agents are standing by to answer any questions. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/legal-bay-lawsuit-funding-provides-update-to-recent-weedkiller-lawsuit-settlement-news-302096596.html SOURCE Legal-Bay, LLC German federal states have voted to decriminalize the personal cultivation and use of cannabis. The new legislation that takes effect April 1, 2024 , also removes medical cannabis from the German narcotic list, removing access barriers for patients. TORONTO , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - MediPharm Labs Corp. (TSX: LABS) (OTCQB: MEDIF) (FSE: MLZ) ("MediPharm", "MediPharm Labs" or the "Company") a pharmaceutical company specialized in precision-based cannabinoids, is pleased to provide an update on German cannabis legalization. Germany 's upper house, the Bundesrat (made up of federal state delegates), passed legislation to partially legalize cannabis starting April 1, 2024 . The new law will allow adults to cultivate, possess and store cannabis for their personal consumption. The law also removes medical cannabis from Germany 's narcotic list, a change that is expected to remove barriers to patient access. This historic change is a significant positive step in removing the stigma related to medical cannabis. The removal of cannabis from narcotic status will open the opportunity for more physicians, pharmacies, and patients to participate in the current German medical cannabis market. MediPharm sees this having a positive impact on its already robust German business. Summary of MediPharm Labs Business Operations in Germany Beacon Medical GMBH Beacon Medical is a wholly owned subsidiary of MediPharm Labs. Located in Potsdam, the business holds a suite of German GMP medical cannabis licenses to import, wholesale and distribute GMP cannabis products. Beacon Medical is a medical product brand with distribution via German partners Adrex Pharma, Cansativa and Medical Pharma Resource. Thus far in 2024, MediPharm has increased the German product approvals under the Beacon Medical brand from 5 to 14. Turnkey Medical Cannabis Supply Partnered with STADA, a large global consumer health and pharmaceutical company, as their exclusive medical cannabis supplier. MediPharm manufactures and distributes medical cannabis products to STADA customer pharmacies. manufactures and distributes medical cannabis products to customer pharmacies. STADA currently holds the number two market share in medical cannabis oil sales. Business to Business Supply Starting with our first contract in 2019 with long-term partner Adrex Pharma, MediPharm supplies API and end products to various German-based companies. supplies API and end products to various German-based companies. This business line also includes GMP services, where MPL assists domestic and international companies in making their products compliant in our GMP facilities for the German export market. The recent launch of our D9 THC isolate supply business (a monographed pharmaceutical commonly referred to as Dronabinol) has expanded 2024 sales, unlocking new distribution channels in Germany . All of these German medical cannabis activities are supported by the Company's manufacturing sites in Barrie and Napanee, Ontario , which each maintain GMP licensing permitting export to Germany and other international jurisdictions. Thank you to the cannabis advocates and Federal Government in Germany for leading this triumphant charge. Herzlichen Gluckwunsch. About MediPharm Labs Founded in 2015, MediPharm Labs specializes in the development and manufacture of purified, pharmaceutical-quality cannabis concentrates, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and advanced derivative products utilizing a Good Manufacturing Practices certified facility with ISO standard-built clean rooms. MediPharm Labs has invested in an expert, research driven team, state-of-the-art technology, downstream purification methodologies and purpose-built facilities for delivery of pure, trusted and precision-dosed cannabis products for its customers. MediPharm Labs develops, formulates, processes, packages and distributes cannabis and advanced cannabinoid-based products to domestic and international medical markets. In 2021, MediPharm Labs received a Pharmaceutical Drug Establishment License from Health Canada, becoming the only company in North America to hold a commercial-scale domestic Good Manufacturing Practices License for the extraction of multiple natural cannabinoids. This GMP license was the first step in the Company's current foreign drug manufacturing site registration with the US FDA. In 2023, MediPharm acquired VIVO Cannabis Inc. which expanded MediPharm's reach to medical patients in Canada via Canna Farms medical ecommerce platform, and in Australia and Germany through Beacon Medical PTY and Beacon Medical GMBH. This acquisition also included Harvest Medical Clinics in Canada which provides medical cannabis patients with Physician consultations for medical cannabis education and prescriptions. The Company carries out its operations in compliance with all applicable laws in the countries in which it operates. Website: www.medipharmlabs.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, MediPharm's access to and unique position in the international medical markets, future revenue growth in Germany and internationally, customer product authorizations, German cannabis market growth, margin related to international product and MediPharm's unique pharma expertise. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the inability of MediPharm Labs to obtain adequate financing; the delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals; and other factors discussed in MediPharm Labs' filings, available on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com . There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, MediPharm Labs assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/medipharm-labs-provides-update-on-german-cannabis-legalization-302097935.html SOURCE MediPharm Labs Corp. HIGHLIGHTS: Constant Tia was formerly regional Chief Financial Officer at Kinross Gold, overseeing several regions including Africa He has a strong track record of establishing and leading the finance function across several operations He has strong experience in managing large capital projects as he played a key role in the execution of a +$4 billion capital projects at the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania As an Ivorian national, he has a profound understanding of the West African region and a strong local network He will be based in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, and will play a key role in overseeing the finance function and engaging with both local stakeholders and West-African lending banks ABIDJAN , Cote d'Ivoire, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - March 25, 2024 Montage Gold Corp. ("Montage" or the "Company") (TSXV: MAU) (OTCQX: MAUTF) is pleased to announce the strengthening of its leadership team with the appointment of Constant Tia to the position of Chief Financial Officer, effective July 1, 2024 . Constant will succeed Glenn Kondo , current CFO of Montage, who as announced on November 28, 2023 , accepted the role of CFO of Lucara Diamond Corp., also within the Lundin Group of Companies. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Glenn has agreed to support Constant over the next few months. Constant will be based in Abidjan , Cote d'Ivoire, and will lead the finance function while playing a key role in engaging with both local stakeholder and West African lending banks. Constant Tia has over 18 years of experience in the mining industry with a strong track record of establishing and leading the finance function across various operations and overseeing major capital projects, notably in West Africa . Prior to joining Montage, Constant held the position of regional Chief Financial Officer for Kinross Gold Corporation, responsible for overseeing the Africa and Chile regions, and previously also the Russian region. His 14-year tenure at Kinross Gold Corporation, which commenced in 2010, was marked by a progression of senior leadership roles at mine sites, regional offices, and at the corporate office. Martino De Ciccio , CEO of Montage, commented, "Following the recent appointments of Peder Olsen as Chief Development Officer and Silvia Bottero as Executive Vice President of Exploration, we're thrilled to complete Montage's senior executive team by welcoming Constant as Chief Financial Officer. His experience in establishing a best-in-class finance function and executing large capital projects will be invaluable as we progress our Kone project. Furthermore, aligning with our commitment to local content, we're extremely pleased to establish a strong presence in Cote d'Ivoire. Constant and other members of the management team will be based there, ensuring close proximity to our business and our local stakeholders, as we progress our strategy of creating a premier African gold producer. Finally, I would like to thank Glenn Kondo for his ongoing commitment to Montage while he continues in the role of CFO during this transition phase." Constant Tia , incoming Chief Financial Officer of Montage, commented: "I am thrilled to join Montage at such an exciting time as it embarks to create a premier African gold producer, with the high quality Kone project at the forefront. Personally, I'm proud to contribute to such an important project in my home country as it will provide significant social and economic benefits. Given that the value chain commences at the financing stage, I will prioritize securing a significant portion of the Kone project financing from African regional banks, leveraging the strong financial capacity of the region to self-fund its economic growth and development." About Constant Tia : Incoming Chief Financial Officer Constant Tia has over 18 years of experience in the mining industry with a strong track record of establishing and leading the finance function across various operations and overseeing major capital projects, notably in West Africa . He has strong expertise across financial reporting, treasury, tax, audit, budgeting, capital management, and financial systems. Prior to joining Montage, Constant held the position of regional Chief Financial Officer for Kinross Gold Corporation and was responsible for overseeing the Africa and Chile regions, and previously also the Russian region. His 14-year tenure at Kinross, which commenced in 2010, was marked by a progression of senior leadership roles at mine sites, regional offices, and at the corporate office. Constant played a key role in establishing and leading the finance function at the Tasiast gold mine in Mauritania , initially while at Red Back Mining and thereafter with Kinross. Constant notably had oversight of the execution of a +$4 billion expansion projects at Tasiast which transformed the mine into a top tier operation. Before joining Kinross, Constant served as Financial Controller for Endeavour Mining in Burkina Faso in 2010 and Audit Supervisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Cote d'Ivoire between 2005 and 2010, where he audited and consulted for numerous clients in the mining industry across West Africa (such as Barrick Exploration, Newcrest, First Quantum, Nordgold, and the Ivorian State mining company SODEMI). Constant holds a Master of Science in Commerce from ESCA Business School (National Polytechnic Institute of Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire), and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in New Hampshire, USA . His credentials include certifications as an Internal Auditor (CIA), Fraud Examiner (CFE), and Project Management Professional (PMP). He is fluent in French, English, Spanish, and several Ivorian dialects. Stock-Based Compensation Grants The Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate 1,000,000 incentive stock options to certain officers, directors and other eligible persons of the Company. The options are exercisable, subject to vesting provisions, over a period of five years at a price of C$1.17 per share. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. ABOUT MONTAGE GOLD CORP. Montage Gold Corp. (TSXV: MAU) is a Canadian-listed company focused on becoming a premier multi-asset African gold producer, with its flagship Kone project, located in Cote d'Ivoire, at the forefront. Based on the Feasibility Study published in 2024, the Kone project ranks as one of the highest quality gold projects in Africa with a long 16-year mine life, low AISC of $998 /oz over its life of mine, and sizeable annual production of +300koz of gold over the first 8 years. Over the course of 2024, the Montage management team will be leveraging their extensive track record in developing projects in Africa to progress the Kone project towards an investment decision, thereby unlocking significant value for all its stakeholders. TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE The Kone and Gbongogo Main Mineral Resource Estimates were carried out by Mr. Jonathon Abbott of Matrix Resource Consultants of Perth, Western Australia , who is considered to be independent of Montage Gold. Mr. Abbott is a member in good standing of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralization under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI 43101. The Mineral Reserve Estimate was carried out by Ms. Joeline McGrath of Carci Mining Consultants Ltd., who is considered to be independent of Montage Gold. Ms. McGrath is a member in good standing of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the work which she is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under NI 43101. For further details of the data verification undertaken, exploration undertaken and associated QA/QC programs, and the interpretation thereof, and the assumptions, parameters and methods used to develop the Mineral Reserve Estimate for the Kone Gold Project, please see the UFS, entitled "Kone Gold Project, Cote d'Ivoire Updated Feasibility Study National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report" and filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Readers are encouraged to read the UFS in its entirety, including all qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that relate to the details summarized in this news release. The UFS is intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. QUALIFIED PERSONS STATEMENT The scientific and technical contents of this press release have been approved by Hugh Stuart, BSc , MSc, a Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101. Mr. Stuart is the President and a Director of the Company, a Chartered Geologist and a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "Forward-looking Statements"). All statements, other than statements of historical fact, constitute Forward-looking Statements. Words such as "will", "intends", "proposed" and "expects" or similar expressions are intended to identify Forward-looking Statements. Forward looking Statements in this press release include statements related to the use of proceeds from the Offering; the final acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange; the Company's mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates; the timing and amount of future production from the Kone Gold Project; expectations with respect AISC of the Kone Gold Project; anticipated mine life of the Kone Gold Project; and expected recoveries and grades of the Kone Gold Project. 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 the Company's expectations include uncertainties inherent in the preparation of mineral reserve and resource estimates and definitive feasibility studies such as the Mineral Reserve Estimate and the UFS, including but not limited to, assumptions underlying the production estimates not being realized, incorrect cost assumptions, unexpected variations in quantity of mineralized material, grade or recovery rates, unexpected changes to geotechnical or hydrogeological considerations, unexpected failures of plant, equipment or processes, unexpected changes to availability of power or the power rates, failure to maintain permits and licenses, higher than expected interest or tax rates, adverse changes in project parameters, unanticipated delays and costs of consulting and accommodating rights of local communities, environmental risks inherent in the Cote d'Ivoire, title risks, including failure to renew concessions, unanticipated commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, risks relating to COVID-19, delays in or failure to receive access agreements or amended permits, and other risk factors set forth in the Company's 2022 AIF under the heading "Risk Factors". The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any Forward-looking Statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Montage to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any Forward-looking Statement. Any Forward-looking Statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. NON-GAAP MEASURES This press release includes certain terms or performance measures commonly used in the mining industry that are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), including cash costs and AISC (or "all-in sustaining costs") per payable ounce of gold sold and per tonne processed and mining, processing and operating costs reported on a unit basis. Non-GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and, therefore, they may not be comparable to similar measures employed by other companies. The Company discloses "cash costs" and "all-in sustaining costs" and other unit costs because it understands that certain investors use this information to determine the Company's ability to generate earnings and cash flows for use in investing and other activities. The Company believes that conventional measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS, do not fully illustrate the ability of mines to generate cash flows. The measures, as determined under IFRS, are not necessarily indicative of operating profit or cash flows from operating activities. The measures cash costs and all-in sustaining costs and unit costs are considered to be key indicators of a project's ability to generate operating earnings and cash flows. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS and are not necessarily indicative of operating costs, operating profit or cash flows presented under IFRS. Readers should also refer to our management's discussion and analysis, available under our corporate profile at www.sedarplus.ca for a more detailed discussion of how we calculate such measures. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/montage-gold-announces-appointment-of-constant-tia-as-chief-financial-officer-302098165.html SOURCE Montage Gold Corp PHOENIX , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Moon Valley Nurseries, the nation's largest fully-integrated nursery, announced today the appointment of Michael Minnaugh to General Counsel, effective Monday, March 18, 2024 . Minnaugh will lead all aspects of the legal function for the Phoenix -based nursery, including corporate governance, compliance, and risk management. Minnaugh will be based at Moon Valley Nurseries' Scottsdale corporate headquarters and report to CEO Brian Flood . "Michael brings a proven track record of executive leadership and strategic thinking that will be essential to help further advance our success and continued growth," said Brian Flood , CEO of Moon Valley Nurseries. "Michael's expertise and sophisticated in-house legal experience, combined with a passion for people and culture in leading high-performance teams, makes him a natural fit for our organization." Minnaugh joins Moon Valley Nurseries after an impressive 22-year legal career spanning diverse industry experience in clean energy, technology, construction and transportation. He has previously been recognized by the Arizona State Bar as Arizona's General Counsel of the year. "As Moon Valley Nurseries continues on its path of tremendous growth and expansion, I could not be more excited to join the team," said Michael Minnaugh , general counsel at Moon Valley Nurseries. "I look forward to partnering with executive leadership to further propel the brand forward." Michael comes to Moon Valley Nurseries with deep experience in enterprise risk management, corporate governance, human resources, commercial transactions, fundraising, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, litigation, government relations and regulatory affairs, and technology licensing agreements. Michael holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Michael is licensed in multiple jurisdictions. ABOUT MOON VALLEY NURSERIES Founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 1995, Moon Valley Nurseries is the largest box tree grower in the United States , now operating 19 farms and over 40 retail locations across Arizona , California , Nevada , Florida , Tennessee and Texas , with more than 2,100 acres of nursery property. While leading the industry in professional landscape design, expert planting services, and cutting-edge nutrients and fertilizers, Moon Valley Nurseries is home to the world's best trees and plants. For more information, visit www.moonvalleynurseries.com . View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moon-valley-nurseries-names-michael-minnaugh-general-counsel-302098548.html SOURCE Moon Valley Nurseries Hub will focus on supporting global use of new treatments that effectively treated drug-resistant TB in 98% of Filipino participants MANILA , Australia , March 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TB Alliance's new Peer-to- Peer Learning for Innovative Cures (PeerLINC) Knowledge Hub launched today in Manila , with funding from the Australian Government through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region initiative. PeerLINC, operating in partnership between TB Alliance and the Tropical Disease Foundation, Inc. (TDF), and in close collaboration with the Department of Health, Philippines , will help countries implement best practices in the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) to help speed the worldwide programmatic implementation of innovative, more effective treatments for the disease, starting with the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended six-month, all-oral BPaL/M regimens, composed of the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L), with or without moxifloxacin (M). PeerLINC will provide practical training and technical assistance to countries to support this objective, via experts from the Philippines and the Department of Health, including Lung Center of the Philippines and the National TB Reference Laboratory (NTRL). The Philippines has successfully and rapidly deployed new treatments through participation in TB Alliance's Leveraging Innovation for Faster TB Treatment (LIFT-TB) initiative. "TB Alliance works to minimize the gap between research and access, ensuring people anywhere in the world can have access to new treatments as soon as possible, maximizing the number of lives and livelihoods saved," said Sandeep Juneja , Senior Vice President of Market Access at TB Alliance. "PeerLINC will make training and knowledge on new treatments available swiftly and efficiently to ensure their rapid adoption and roll out. We are proud to launch PeerLINC in the Philippines with DOH and TDF and establish the first Knowledge Hub on the introduction of new DR-TB regimens, and we are grateful for the support of Australia in helping make this a reality." "It is important for the Philippines to share our knowledge and experience in using the BPaL/M regimens," said Dr. Mamel Quelapio, TDF Board of Trustees member and Programmatic Implementation Lead at PeerLINC. "DOH's leadership through the Disease Prevention and Control Bureau in partnership with TDF and TB Alliance in the LIFT-TB initiative has led to improved outcomes and treatment experiences for people. We are eager to help new treatments reach far and wide." The BPaL/M regimens combine the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), linezolid (L) with or without moxifloxacin (M). The BPaL regimen was first clinically studied by TB Alliance and the BPaL/M regimens are now recommended by WHO as the standard of care treatment for the vast majority of people with DR-TB. Prior to the initial study of the BPaL regimen, global treatment success rates for DR-TB were less than 50% and treatment options were limited, expensive, toxic, and lengthy requiring individuals to take more than 14,000 pills over the course of treatment, which could last from nine months to two years or longer. Data to date reveals treatment success rates of 90% or higher with BPaL/M, in addition to reduced treatment duration and approximately 95% lower pill burden. TB Alliance's LIFT-TB initiative, which is co-funded by GDEF/KOICA, the South Korean Development agency, helped accelerate implementation of the regimen in the Philippines , Indonesia , Kyrgyzstan , Myanmar , Ukraine , Uzbekistan , and Vietnam . Interim data from these countries shows an average success rate of 92.5%, with the Philippines program reporting a 98% cure rate. Several key high-burden countries around the world, including the early adopting LIFT-TB countries, are now rolling out BPaL/M in their national programs. However, some countries have moved more slowly. Leveraging a group of experts and the experience garnered from those who have rapidly and successfully implemented the BPaL/M regimens, PeerLINC will focus on assisting other countries in doing the same. "In the Philippines , the new regimen exceeded all expectations," said Dr. Irene Flores , Medical Officer of the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Medical Center and Head of PeerLINC. "Every country with drug-resistant TB can benefit from widespread implementation of the best available TB treatment. With BPaL/M, we see a path toward transforming DR-TB treatment for everybody, anywhere in the world." "I tried everything before I was given BPaL as part of the research program," said Joegene Mangilaya, a participant from the Philippines who was treated with the BPaL regimen. "I was losing hope that I'd be cured, but shortly after I started on this new regimen, my body felt stronger and I had a new hope for my health and future. It is important to speed the availability of life-saving new therapies everywhere they are needed the work of PeerLINC will help save lives." PeerLINC will offer support such as advice, assistance, training materials, tools, guides, and other materials to TB programs, clinicians, lab specialists, and community organizations, all delivered through peer-to-peer learning models. Trainings will be provided in-person in the Philippines or in the beneficiary country or remotely through virtual meetings. The expert team from PeerLINC will continue to guide countries after trainings, as they work to implement the regimens. A delegation from Peru is scheduled to visit PeerLINC in April 2024 and will be the first to receive training on BPaL/M from PeerLINC and its partners in the DOH. "We are excited to visit the PeerLINC Knowledge Hub and work with experts from the early implementers of the short, highly effective treatments for drug-resistant tuberculosis," said Dr. Valentina Alarcon, Executive Director at the Directorate of Tuberculosis Prevention and Control - MINSA Peru. "The communities affected by resistant tuberculosis in Peru deserve the best possible experiences and treatment schemes and we are taking measures to access the BPaL and BPaL/M regimens and make them available to people throughout Peru in a timely and rapid manner. Our experience with PeerLINC will help us achieve those goals." About TB TB is a difficult infection to cure, requiring patients to take a combination of medicines for at least four to six months. Even after symptoms disappear, medicines still need to be taken so that the disease can be fully eradicated. The scope and intensity of TB globally is in large part fueled by antiquated and inadequate TB drugs. Novel drug regimens are urgently needed to bring the TB pandemic under control. About BPaL The BPaL regimenwhich combines the antibiotics bedaquiline (B), pretomanid (Pa), and linezolid (L)was first designed and clinically studied by TB Alliance. Pretomanid, as part of the BPaL regimen, received its first regulatory approval in August 2019 for use against highly drug-resistant strains of TB. Prior to the initial BPaL clinical trial, less than one-third of drug-resistant TB patients around the world were being successfully treated. Treatment options were limited, expensive, toxic, and lengthy requiring patients to take more than 20 pills per day for 9-20 months. About TB Alliance TB Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding faster-acting and affordable drug regimens to fight TB. Through innovative science and with partners around the globe, we aim to ensure equitable access to faster, better TB cures that will advance global health and prosperity. TB Alliance operates with support from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ( United Kingdom ), Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research through KfW, Global Disease Eradication Fund ( South Korea ), Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Irish Aid , Korea International Cooperation Agency, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Unitaid, and the United States Agency for International Development. For more information, please visit: www.tballiance.org . Contact: Jessica Wiggs , +1 (646) 616-8613 / [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-peerlinc-knowledge-hub-will-leverage-local-expertise-and-experience-to-accelerate-new-more-effective-tb-cures-around-the-world-302097627.html SOURCE TB Alliance The Vilcek Foundation will accept applications for the 2025 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science through June 10, 2024 . NEW YORK , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Vilcek Foundation has announced an open call for applications for the 2025 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Science . Three prizes of $50,000 each will be awarded to young immigrant scientists in the United States whose early career work represents a significant contribution to their field. Applications will be accepted through June 10, 2024 , at 5:00pm ET . The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise are awarded to immigrant professionals living and working in the United States . The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise are a part of the Vilcek Foundation Prizes program. Since 2006, the prizes have been given each year in two primary categories: in biomedical science, and in an area of the arts and humanities. The Vilcek Foundation Prizes celebrate the importance of immigration for a robust society, and recognize the profound impact that immigrant professionals have on arts and culture, and on biomedical research and development in the United States . The Vilcek Foundation Prizes in Biomedical Science are a tribute to Vilcek Foundation Chairman and CEO Jan Vilcek , an immunologist and biomedical research scientist who immigrated to the United States in 1965 from the former Czechosolavakia. Immigrating to the United States enabled Vilcek to freely pursue the research he was passionate about and led to his work on the development of Infliximab, an important biologic anti-inflammatory drug used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune disorders. "More than 40% of all United Statesbased Nobel Prize winners are immigrants," says Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel . "From breakthroughs on the development of mRNA therapeutics to the development of CRISPR technologies for gene editing, foreign-born scientists are leading the way in research and development in the United States . By recognizing young immigrant scientists with the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise, we provide meaningful support to researchers, and we help to raise awareness of the value of immigration for science, medicine, and society more broadly." To be eligible for a Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, applicants must have been born outside the United States to non-American parents, and must have lived and worked in the United States for at least four years. Applicants must hold a doctoral degree and must currently be employed as a principal investigator with an academic institution or an accredited scientific research organization. Candidates must be 38 years old or younger at the time of application; exceptions will be made for candidates up to the age of 40 who have taken time off work for family, medical, or military leave. All applications received will be reviewed after the close of the open call on June 10, 2024 . Prizewinners will be selected by a jury of biomedical science experts appointed by the Vilcek Foundation. Prizewinners are selected for the rigor and impact of their work in scientific research and in biomedical applications. The 2025 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science will be announced in early 2025. Recipients will each receive an unrestricted cash award of $50,000 and a commemorative trophy. Prize recipients will also be celebrated in a media campaign published by the Vilcek Foundation highlighting their scientific accomplishments and life experiences. Full application details and eligibility requirements are available at the Vilcek Foundation website at https://vilcek.co/2025cpp-biomed-prn . Please direct any questions about the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise or the application process to Program Officer Zahra Banyamerian at [email protected] . The Vilcek Foundation The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation for the arts and sciences. The foundation was established in 2000 by Jan and Marica Vilcek , immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the foundation was inspired by the couple's respective careers in biomedical science and art history. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded over $7 million in prizes to foreign-born individuals and has supported organizations with over $6 million in grants. The Vilcek Foundation is a private operating foundation, a federally tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Section 501(c)(3). To learn more, please visit vilcek.org . Contact Elizabeth Boylan The Vilcek Foundation 212-472-2500 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/open-call-vilcek-foundation-to-award-150-000-in-prizes-to-immigrant-scientists-in-2025--302098681.html SOURCE The Vilcek Foundation Origis Energy announces the promotion of Vikas Anand to Chief Executive Officer. Founder, CEO and President, Guy Vanderhaegen moves into the new role of Executive Chairman. MIAMI , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Origis Energy, one of America's leading renewable energy and decarbonization solution platforms, today announced the promotion of Vikas Anand to Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Anand joined the firm in August 2023 as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Company founder Guy Vanderhaegen , who has served as Chief Executive Officer and President to date, moves into the new role of Executive Chairman. The leadership changes are effective immediately. "We are proud to have Vikas move into the CEO role," said Executive Chairman, Guy Vanderhaegen . "In this relatively short time, he has made a significant contribution to our ability to scale for efficient growth and generate investor value." Vanderhaegen continued, "Last year we celebrated our 15th anniversary. As we move into the next great growth phase, our mission unites us in support of our customers and the world's work toward net-zero. This purpose requires the deep industry and operational experience Vikas brings to the table." "I am humbled by the trust placed in me by Guy and Antin Infrastructure Partners," said CEO, Vikas Anand . "I look forward to leading the terrific Origis Energy team to continued growth, and to deliver for our customers and investors." Antin Infrastructure Partners, one of the world's leading infrastructure investment firms, is a majority shareholder in Origis. Antin's investment strategy to accelerate growth and drive value creation through additional capital investments, streamlined operational efficiency and enhanced service quality is supporting Origis' strong growth and the addition of new decarbonization solution offerings. "This is an appropriate time to honor Guy for his leadership and vision. In this new role as executive chairman his strategic guidance, invaluable to date, will continue to steer the future of the company," said Kevin Genieser , Managing Partner and Head of the New York Office, Antin Infrastructure Partners. "Vikas has moved swiftly to refine the Origis strategy and add operational capabilities, while strengthening relationships with investors and financing partners. His promotion to CEO provides a strong foundation for the company's growth and operational execution. We congratulate Guy and Vikas on their collaboration and new roles moving forward." Origis was ranked in the Top 10 U.S. clean energy developers in the American Clean Power Annual Market Report 2023. Since inception, Origis has developed more than 250 projects. In the U.S. the company's current operating, contracted and mature development project portfolio stands at over 12 gigawatts (GW), with an additional 13 GW in the pipeline. About Vikas Anand Vikas Anand serves as Chief Executive Officer for Origis Energy, one of America's leading renewable energy and decarbonization solution platforms. He joined the company in 2023 fulfilling the roles of Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer. Anand brings extensive strategic, operational and financial skills to the role, in addition to a nearly decade-long track record in the renewable energy industry. 20 years in successively larger roles with General Electric culminated with leadership in the company's renewable energy business units. As Chief Executive Officer of GE Renewable Energy Onshore Wind Americas, he led the business to deliver $7.5B in revenues in 2020, nearly doubling its market share to 53% and restoring GE to the No. 1 position in the highly competitive U.S. market, while improving its profitability and cash-flows. Prior to that, as the Chief Financial Officer of GE Onshore Wind, and as Chief Financial Officer and Investment Committee member of GE Capital's Energy Financial Services, Anand led the efforts to build financing and project development capabilities to match GE's renewable technology offerings. Before joining Origis, he served as the Co-founder and Sponsor at GoGreen Investments, which successfully completed a merger with Lifezone Metals, a clean battery metals company, and was an advisor to Brookfield Asset Management and New Mountain Capital in the renewable power sector. Anand has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of American Clean Power Association (ACPA) and was a founding member of its Diversity & Inclusion Industry Task Force. He was also the executive sponsor of the GE Renewable Energy Junior Officer Leadership Program, a hiring and development program for U.S. military veterans. His educational credentials include a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School New York and Chartered Accountancy Certification in India. About Origis Energy Origis Energy is accelerating the transition to a carbon-free future by Reimagining ZeroSM. As one of America's leading renewable energy and decarbonization solution platforms, the company continues to expand and reimagine its contribution to the world's net-zero goals. Origis Energy puts customers first to deploy a wide range of sustainable solutions for grid and distributed power generation, clean hydrogen and long-term operation of solar, energy storage and clean hydrogen plants across the U.S. Founded in 2008, Origis Energy is headquartered in Miami, FL. Learn more at Origis Energy. About Antin Infrastructure Partners Antin Infrastructure Partners is a leading private equity firm focused on infrastructure. With over 30 billion in assets under management across its Flagship, Mid Cap and NextGen investment strategies, Antin targets investments in the energy and environment, digital, transport and social infrastructure sectors. With offices in Paris , London , New York , Singapore , Seoul and Luxembourg, Antin employs over 220 professionals dedicated to growing, improving and transforming infrastructure businesses while delivering long-term value to portfolio companies and investors. Majority owned by its partners, Antin is listed on Euronext Paris (Ticker: ANTIN ISIN: FR0014005AL0). View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/origis-energy-names-vikas-anand-ceo-302098166.html SOURCE Origis Energy The Stowers Graduate School Board of Directors names Matt Gibson , Ph.D., as President KANSAS CITY, Mo. , March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research has named Matt Gibson , Ph.D., current Dean of the Graduate School and Investigator at the Stowers Institute, as its third president. Gibson, who has served as dean since 2019, was approved unanimously by the Board of Directors and will officially begin his new role July 1, 2024 . " Dr. Gibson is a proven leader with creative vision and a passion for education," said Caroline Kane , Ph.D., Chair of the Board for the Stowers Graduate School. "We are thrilled to have his continued leadership and look forward to seeing him build upon the past success of the school." Gibson was chosen after an extensive nationwide search and will succeed Betty M. Drees , M.D., current President of the Graduate School since 2018, who announced her retirement in October of 2023. " Dr. Gibson is a skilled and thoughtful leader who is dedicated to excellence in graduate science education, as well as the learning experience at the school," said Drees. Gibson joined the Stowers Institute in 2006. A developmental cell biologist, he received an undergraduate degree in Biology from Yale University in 1994 and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle in 2001. Upon completing his Ph.D., he was awarded a Jane Coffin Child's postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. As an Investigator at the Stowers Institute, Gibson's lab investigates evolutionarily ancient mechanisms of development and regeneration using both sea anemones and corals as model organisms. "When I first came to the Stowers Institute, we did not have a graduate school," said Gibson. "With the founding and growth of our PhD program, we are now an institution dedicated to creating not only exceptional science and but also exceptional scientists. In the work they do here and in their careers beyond our labs, each of our predoctoral researchers represent the pursuit of our founders' vision of excellence in basic biological science for the betterment of all." The Graduate School at the Stowers Institute is located on the 10-acre life science campus of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Mo. The school is an integral component of the complex of scientific organizations created by the generosity of Jim and Virginia Stowers in the establishment of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City , enabling it to receive its financial support from those generous philanthropic decisions by Mr. and Mrs. Stowers in the late 1990's. Predoctoral researchers come from across the world to conduct curiosity-driven research and pursue a PhD in biology alongside 31 faculty members who are investigators and scientists at the Stowers Institute. The Graduate School currently has 48 predoctoral researchers enrolled in the PhD program. They participate in module courses, lab rotations and thesis labs, which require them to accomplish a significant body of work in their field of research. To receive their doctoral degree, Graduate School predoctoral researchers must demonstrate competency in each of the following six areas upon completion of the degree program: research leadership, critical thinking, scientific knowledge, experimental skills, scientific communication, and professional and ethical behavior. Predoctoral researchers contribute to scientific journals and regularly attend scientific meetings and talks. "I am both honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve the entire Stowers Institute community as President of the Graduate School," said Gibson. "I am particularly excited about the prospect of further enhancing an environment where fundamental and curiosity-driven research can flourish as we train the next generation of scientists." About the Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research The mission of the Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research is to prepare a superb cadre of predoctoral researchers from around the world for the pursuit of innovative and creative investigations in the biological sciences. The Graduate School educational program stresses critical thinking and the rapid development of experimental prowess. The program also focuses on in-depth understanding of the latest methodologies and approaches. The Graduate School is designed to provide predoctoral researchers with mentorship and hands-on experience to refine their abilities to carry out independent biological research. The Graduate School welcomed its first class in the fall of 2012, and in 2017 the first predoctoral researcher completed the PhD program. The Graduate School is certified by the State of Missouri as an institution of higher education and has institutional accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission. Learn more about this unique program at stowers.edu. Contact: Joe Chiodo 724-462-8529 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-graduate-school-of-the-stowers-institute-names-new-president-302098692.html SOURCE Stowers Institute for Medical Research FILE PHOTO: The logo of the ANZ Banking Group is displayed in the window of a newly opened branch in central Sydney, Australia, April 30, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo (Reuters) - Australia's ANZ Group said on Monday it had agreed to settle a class action suit related to interest charged on personal credit cards for A$57.5 million ($37.44 million). The settlement is without admission of liability and remains subject to court approval, ANZ said in a statement. The class action was brought against the lender by law firm Phi Finney McDonald in 2021. The lawsuit alleged "unfair contract terms and unconscionable conduct" by the bank in charging interest between July 2010 and January 2019 on credit card purchases that should have been interest free. ($1 = 1.5356 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler and Marguerita Choy) People attend a job fair following the Lunar New Year holiday, in Beijing, China, February 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ellen Zhang/File Photo By Bernard Orr BEIJING (Reuters) -A job advert from a Chinese grocery store seeking cashiers aged 18 to 30 has triggered a flood of anguished social media posts from older people scrambling to find work in a sluggish economy. Some said the ad highlighted the plight of a huge middle-aged section of the population as the government focuses on fighting high youth unemployment and finding positions for another record year of college graduates. "It's not easy," a commenter in the city of Ningbo in the eastern province of Zhejiang, posted on the Weibo social media platform. The user posted a picture of the ad seeking cashiers, prompting more than 140 million views and 41,000 comments - many of them emotional. "Do you think it is easy to find a job now?" the Weibo netizen wrote. "I am 33 this year and have been looking for a job for three years," another Weibo user said. There is no specific law against age discrimination, though state media last year criticised employers for "discriminatory" hiring practices, including seeking younger and cheaper workers, in what became widely referred to as the "Curse of 35". "I'm 29," one commenter wrote on Weibo. "I've been laid off three times since I graduated. Now, no one has replied to my resume even if I (write) I am unmarried and do not have a child." "Was it difficult to find a job when you were over 35 before?" another Weibo user asked, with an accompanying emoji icon representing bitterness. "Now it's 30 years old." "At the same time, the retirement age has to be delayed. So what are you going to do in between?" the user added. China is planning to raise the retirement age in phases as the population ages, state media has reported, though no specific plans have been announced. The retirement age currently stands at 60 for men, and younger still for women, who may retire at 55 from white-collar jobs, but 50 if working in factories. Another recent job ad for the upscale supermarket chain Pangdonglai also set 30 as the maximum age for the positions it was trying to fill. When contacted by Reuters, the supermarket declined to comment. The Workers Daily newspaper last year published an editorial saying job seekers should not face discrimination based on age, gender or marital status but that it would take time to change companies' attitudes. (Reporting by Bernard Orr, and Shanghai and Beijing newsrooms; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) (Reuters) -Engineers worked round the clock to restore power on Monday to households in two Ukrainian cities -- Kharkiv and Odesa -- and officials warned that damage caused by repeated Russian strikes on energy infrastructure could take years to repair. In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city and a frequent target of Russian strikes, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said air defence units had downed at least eight drones in an evening attack. Earlier, Synehubov told residents after a meeting of municipal and energy officials that repairs "were not a task of just a few weeks, or even months". "The enemy has caused significant damage ad the restoration process may take quite some time," Synehubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "Specialists are working on sites around the clock. We are bringing in experts from other regions." Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper reported an evening missile attack on his Black Sea port city, with casualties confined to three injured. Kiper said more than 300,000 residents were without power in the early evening. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address that there had been strikes on energy infrastructure in Odesa and in Mykolaiv to the northeast and urged residents of Kharkiv to look after themselves and their neighbours. Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, head of Ukrenergo, which operates Ukraine's transmission lines, said efforts were being made to eliminate energy shortfalls in the southern region. But the situation, he said, was the most critical in Kharkiv "where the enemy with ballistic missiles has been trying to destroy all sites of trunk lines supplying the city". Some 275,000 residents were without power, he said. Ukraine's top private energy provider DTEK said earlier that emergency power cuts were introduced in Odesa after a Russian air attack damaged a high-voltage facility. Four drones were shot down in the earlier attack on Odesa and Mykolaiv, local officials said. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Ron Popeski; Editing by Stephen Coates, Toby Chopra and Michael Perry) Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou speaks to the media at Taoyuan international airport after concluding his 12-day trip to China in Taoyuan, Taiwan April 7, 2023. REUTERS/I-Hwa Cheng/ File Photo TAIPEI (Reuters) - Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou will make his second trip to China next month, leading a group of students on an 11-day journey to visit locations including Beijing, his office said on Monday, at a time of continued tension across the Taiwan Strait. Ma, president from 2008 to 2016, last year became the first former Taiwanese leader to visit China. Since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, no serving Taiwanese leader has visited China. China considers democratically-governed Taiwan its own territory, and has ramped up military and political pressure to assert those claims. Apart from Beijing, Ma will also visit the southern province of Guangdong and the northwestern province of Shaanxi, going to historic sites, visiting companies and leading student exchanges at Beijing's elite Peking University and Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, his office said in a statement. Asked by reporters about arrangements for who Ma would meet while there, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen said they would be "at our hosts' disposal". Ma met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in late 2015 shortly before the current Taiwan president, Tsai Ing-wen, won an election. China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which referred to him as "Mr. Ma Ying-jeou" rather than former president given neither the Chinese nor Taiwanese government recognise each other, said it welcomed his visit. Ma remains a senior member of Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), which in January lost for the third time in a row the presidential election. The KMT advocates close ties with China and dialogue, but strongly denies being pro-Beijing. Tsai and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party have repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed, as Beijing views them as dangerous separatists. Tsai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future. Her government strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard;Editing by Michael Perry) FILE PHOTO: People walk around the Financial District near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., December 29, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo By Carolina Mandl NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global hedge funds have been adding European stocks to their portfolios this year while trimming their exposure to North America amid an ongoing debate over how expensive U.S. equities are, Morgan Stanley's proprietary data showed. Europe's STOXX 600 is up 6.5% this year, still lagging the S&P 500, which rose 9.6%. Last year, the S&P rallied 24%, posting the double of the STOXX performance. The S&P 500 trades at 21 times forward earnings estimates, while European equities are trading at 14 times, BofA Securities showed. Hedge funds "have bought EU equities in nearly 70% of the trading sessions since the Euro STOXX 600 began its rally in mid-January," Morgan Stanley said. Following the acquisitions, hedge funds portfolio exposure to Europe has grown from below 17% at the end of 2023 to roughly 19%. Morgan Stanley said investors are mostly adding long positions to Europe, betting shares will rise. Their favorite sectors in the continent are information technology services, industrial conglomerates, semi-conductors, electrical equipment and life science tools and services. As one of the biggest global prime brokerages providing services to hedge funds, Morgan Stanley tracks its clients' money flow to show trends. Many market participants believe that U.S. stocks are trading at hefty valuation premiums over global equities. Michael Wilson, Morgan Stanley's equity strategist, said further multiple expansions in U.S. equities depends on better earnings outlooks for this and next year. "We think this rally has been mostly about looser financial conditions and falling cost of capital as a result of the Fed's 4Q dovish shift," he wrote. BofA Securities' strategists do not think U.S. stocks are necessarily expensive compared to European peers. Most of the premium, they said in a note, is related to the composition of the S&P 500, which is more reliant on the buoyant tech sector. Lower volatility in U.S. earnings also explains stocks higher multiples, as well the economic outlook for both regions, BofA added. Goldman Sachs' portfolio strategy team believes "Europe has room to catch up with the U.S.," as the discount between both is the deepest historically, according to a note. (Reporting by Carolina Mandl, additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, in New York; editing by Costas Pitas) JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel told four European countries on Monday that their plan to work toward recognition of a Palestinian state constituted a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict between the neighbours. Spain said on Friday that, in the name of Middle East peace, it had agreed with Ireland, Malta and Slovenia to take first steps toward recognising statehood declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Gaza has long been under the rule of the Islamist group Hamas, which rejects peace with Israel and attacked it on Oct 7, triggering a devastating war that has stoked violence in the West Bank, where Israel has extensive Jewish settlements. "Recognition of a Palestinian state following the October 7 massacre sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians," Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X. "A resolution of the conflict will only be possible through direct negotiations between the parties. Any engagement in the recognition of a Palestinian state only distances reaching a resolution and increases regional instability." He did not specify what kind of resolution he had in mind. Israel, whose governing coalition includes pro-settlement far-rightists, has long ruled out Palestinian statehood. That has put it at loggerheads with Western powers which support its goal of defeating Hamas but want a post-war diplomatic blueprint. (Writing by Dan Williams, Editing by William Maclean) FILE PHOTO: Ambulances and vehicles of Russian emergency services are parked outside the burning Crocus City Hall concert venue following a shooting incident, outside Moscow, Russia, March 22, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) -Russia's security state has been ruthlessly effective at detaining Vladimir Putin's opponents but was caught off guard by a mass shooting near Moscow, raising questions about its priorities, resources and intelligence gathering. Charged with hunting down Ukrainian saboteurs inside Russia, with keeping anti-Kremlin activists in check, and with disrupting the operations of hostile foreign intelligence agencies, the FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, has its hands full. That, say former U.S. intelligence officials and Western security analysts, helps explain why it may have overlooked other threats, including that posed by Islamist militants, such as ISIS-K, which claimed responsibility for the attack. You cant do everything, Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA operations officer who served as the agencys Moscow station chief, told Reuters. You dial up the pressure on the locals and sometimes you dont get the intelligence you need on a potential terrorist attack. Thats where they failed. "Its possible theyre overextended dealing with the war in Ukraine and dealing with political opposition. This one slipped through the cracks. The FSB has said Friday's concert hall attack was "painstakingly" planned and that the gunmen had carefully hidden their weapons. Putin on Monday said that radical Islamists were the ones who had carried out the attack, but said that Russia still wanted to understand who had ordered it and said there were many questions for Ukraine to answer. Ukraine denies any involvement. When asked on Monday if the assault represented an intelligence service failure, the Kremlin said that Russia's standoff with the West meant intelligence-sharing was not happening in the way it used to. "Unfortunately, our world shows that no city, no country can be completely immune from the threat of terrorism," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia's intelligence services worked tirelessly to defend the country, he added. Still, Friday's shooting, in which at least 139 people were killed and 180 injured, has undermined one of Putin's longstanding pledges to the Russian people: to ensure stability and security. It has also shaken some residents of the Russian capital who have largely been insulated from the violence of the Ukraine war despite occasional drone strikes. Putin, a former KGB officer who won another six years in power earlier this month, has weathered similar crises before and there is no visible threat to his grip on power now. His response, judging from his previous behaviour and a statement on Saturday, will be to meet force with greater force. Four of 11 men detained in connection with the attack have been charged with terrorism and appeared in court after being interrogated: one apparently with his ear missing and one in a wheelchair amid calls from some lawmakers for the death penalty to be re-introduced. Peskov declined to answer a journalist's question about whether they had been tortured. MISSED WARNINGS? Whether the men were tasked by Islamic State as the militant group and the West asserts, or whether there may have been some kind of Ukrainian connection as Putin has hinted - and Kyiv has flatly denied - there were warning signs which do not appear to have been heeded. Security analysts said the manner in which the attack and escape were carried out was evidence of extensive reconnaissance of the venue beforehand and Russian media published CCTV footage of one of the gunmen visiting at an earlier date. On March 7, the U.S. embassy in Moscow issued a security alert to Americans, telling them it was "monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts". On March 19, three days before the killing spree, Putin delivered a speech to FSB chiefs in which he dismissed what he said were "provocative" Western warnings about a terrorist act. "All these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilise our society," said Putin. Nina Krushcheva, a professor of international affairs at The New School in New York, said the FSB appeared to have had Islamic State on its radar. But she said Putin's view that Russia was locked in an existential struggle with a U.S-led West would have made it difficult for Moscow to take at face value a security warning from the United States. "There's a lot of mistrust. It's not like America isn't involved in misinformation," she said. "In Putin's world, where it is an existential battle between Russia and the West that wants to undermine Russia and demolish it, of course he wouldn't believe it because how does he know from his own KGB background that America is not creating its own false flag (operation)." A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the source of responsibility to pin blame on another party. ISLAMIC STATE John Sipher, who served a stint in Russia during his career in the CIAs National Clandestine Service, said he believed the FSB may have dropped the ball because it was too busy focusing on political and other threats to Putin and his government. The (security services) are more about protecting the Kremlin than they are about protecting the people, said Sipher, who predicted that Putin would now use the attack to justify some new action or against the West and Ukraine. Another warning came on March 2 in southern Russia when FSB special forces killed six gunmen whom they identified as members of Islamic State. Three of the men were on a federal wanted list and the militants had killed three policemen the previous year. The FSB found a weapons stash. On March 7, the FSB said it had prevented an attack on a synagogue in Moscow that had been plotted by an Islamic State cell and that the attackers had been killed in a shootout. Riccardo Valle, a researcher on jihadist movements, said the March 2 incident should have set off warning lights. "I think the fact the security forces discovered that there is a network of Islamic State in Russia, and a strong one capable of acquiring weapons and putting up strong resistance against special forces - this should have raised the alarm in Moscow security agencies," Valle said in a phone interview. "Maybe it did but they were not able to prevent the attack in time," said Valle, director of research at the Islamabad-based research and news platform The Khorasan Diary. He said it was also clear from previous statements and attacks by ISIS-K, including on the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022, that the group had Russia in its sights. (Editing by Alison Williams) The Securities and Exchange Commission has not necessarily reviewed the information in this filing and has not determined if it is accurate and complete. 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Yes X No Other Banking & Financial Services Business Services Energy Coal Mining Electric Utilities Energy Conservation Environmental Services Oil & Gas Other Energy Health Care Biotechnology Health Insurance Hospitals & Physicians Pharmaceuticals Other Health Care Manufacturing Real Estate Commercial Construction REITS & Finance Residential Other Real Estate Retailing Restaurants Technology Computers Telecommunications Other Technology Travel Airlines & Airports Lodging & Conventions Tourism & Travel Services Other Travel Other 5. Issuer Size Revenue Range OR Aggregate Net Asset Value Range No Revenues No Aggregate Net Asset Value $1 - $1,000,000 $1 - $5,000,000 $1,000,001 - $5,000,000 $5,000,001 - $25,000,000 $5,000,001 - $25,000,000 $25,000,001 - $50,000,000 $25,000,001 - $100,000,000 $50,000,001 - $100,000,000 Over $100,000,000 Over $100,000,000 Decline to Disclose X Decline to Disclose Not Applicable Not Applicable 6. Federal Exemption(s) and Exclusion(s) Claimed (select all that apply) Rule 504(b)(1) (not (i), (ii) or (iii)) X Investment Company Act Section 3(c) X Section 3(c)(1) Section 3(c)(9) Section 3(c)(2) Section 3(c)(10) Section 3(c)(3) Section 3(c)(11) Section 3(c)(4) Section 3(c)(12) Section 3(c)(5) Section 3(c)(13) Section 3(c)(6) Section 3(c)(14) Section 3(c)(7) Rule 504 (b)(1)(i) Rule 504 (b)(1)(ii) Rule 504 (b)(1)(iii) Rule 505 X Rule 506(b) Rule 506(c) Securities Act Section 4(a)(5) 7. Type of Filing New Notice Date of First Sale 2004-01-01 First Sale Yet to Occur X Amendment 8. Duration of Offering Does the Issuer intend this offering to last more than one year? X Yes No 9. Type(s) of Securities Offered (select all that apply) Equity X Pooled Investment Fund Interests Debt Tenant-in-Common Securities Option, Warrant or Other Right to Acquire Another Security Mineral Property Securities Security to be Acquired Upon Exercise of Option, Warrant or Other Right to Acquire Security Other (describe) 10. Business Combination Transaction Is this offering being made in connection with a business combination transaction, such as a merger, acquisition or exchange offer? Yes X No Clarification of Response (if Necessary): 11. Minimum Investment Minimum investment accepted from any outside investor $ 0 USD 12. Sales Compensation Recipient Recipient CRD Number X None (Associated) Broker or Dealer X None (Associated) Broker or Dealer CRD Number X None Street Address 1 Street Address 2 City State/Province/Country ZIP/Postal Code State(s) of Solicitation (select all that apply) Check All States or check individual States All States Foreign/non-US 13. Offering and Sales Amounts Total Offering Amount $ USD or X Indefinite Total Amount Sold $ 44,968,945 USD Total Remaining to be Sold $ USD or X Indefinite Clarification of Response (if Necessary): 14. Investors Select if securities in the offering have been or may be sold to persons who do not qualify as accredited investors, and enter the number of such non-accredited investors who already have invested in the offering. Regardless of whether securities in the offering have been or may be sold to persons who do not qualify as accredited investors, enter the total number of investors who already have invested in the offering: 76 15. Sales Commissions & Finder's Fees Expenses Provide separately the amounts of sales commissions and finders fees expenses, if any. If the amount of an expenditure is not known, provide an estimate and check the box next to the amount. Sales Commissions $ 0 USD Estimate Finders' Fees $ 0 USD Estimate Clarification of Response (if Necessary): 16. Use of Proceeds Provide the amount of the gross proceeds of the offering that has been or is proposed to be used for payments to any of the persons required to be named as executive officers, directors or promoters in response to Item 3 above. If the amount is unknown, provide an estimate and check the box next to the amount. $ 0 USD X Estimate Clarification of Response (if Necessary): The Investment Manager and General Partner will receive a management fee as more fully set forth in the offering materials. Signature and Submission Please verify the information you have entered and review the Terms of Submission below before signing and clicking SUBMIT below to file this notice. Terms of Submission In submitting this notice, each issuer named above is: Notifying the SEC and/or each State in which this notice is filed of the offering of securities described and undertaking to furnish them, upon written request, in the accordance with applicable law, the information furnished to offerees.* Irrevocably appointing each of the Secretary of the SEC and, the Securities Administrator or other legally designated officer of the State in which the issuer maintains its principal place of business and any State in which this notice is filed, as its agents for service of process, and agreeing that these persons may accept service on its behalf, of any notice, process or pleading, and further agreeing that such service may be made by registered or certified mail, in any Federal or state action, administrative proceeding, or arbitration brought against it in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, if the action, proceeding or arbitration (a) arises out of any activity in connection with the offering of securities that is the subject of this notice, and (b) is founded, directly or indirectly, upon the provisions of: (i) the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, the Investment Company Act of 1940, or the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, or any rule or regulation under any of these statutes, or (ii) the laws of the State in which the issuer maintains its principal place of business or any State in which this notice is filed. Certifying that, if the issuer is claiming a Rule 505 exemption, the issuer is not disqualified from relying on Rule 505 for one of the reasons stated in Rule 505(b)(2)(iii) or Rule 506(d). Each Issuer identified above has read this notice, knows the contents to be true, and has duly caused this notice to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned duly authorized person. For signature, type in the signer's name or other letters or characters adopted or authorized as the signer's signature. Issuer Signature Name of Signer Title Date SANDALWOOD DEBT TRADERS FUND, L.P. /s/ Thomas Oswald Thomas Oswald Compliance Officer 2024-03-25 Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB number. * This undertaking does not affect any limits Section 102(a) of the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 ("NSMIA") [Pub. L. No. 104-290, 110 Stat. 3416 (Oct. 11, 1996)] imposes on the ability of States to require information. As a result, if the securities that are the subject of this Form D are "covered securities" for purposes of NSMIA, whether in all instances or due to the nature of the offering that is the subject of this Form D, States cannot routinely require offering materials under this undertaking or otherwise and can require offering materials only to the extent NSMIA permits them to do so under NSMIA's preservation of their anti-fraud authority. In a statement, Adrianzen said the ministerial Cabinet works with total transparency and has zero tolerance for corruption. "It is up to us to continue moving forward. We will not allow ourselves to be distracted by political noise, which must stop to give way to unity and trust to reactivate the economy, bring citizen security, and shorten structural gaps," he remarked. Moreover, the Cabinet chief stressed that the will that drives the Government headed by President Dina Boluarte and the Ministerial Cabinet reflects full transparency and absolute collaboration with justice administration entities. In this regard, he stressed that the President of the Republic has expressed, at all times, her willingness to collaborate with jurisdictional authorities in each of the investigations in which she is involved. With regard to the Peru Libre partys accounts, he underscored that President Boluarte has already appeared before the Attorney General's Office to give her statement and has also submitted an expert opinion showing that there is no asset imbalance between expenses and revenues. As for the vehicle referred to in a journalistic article, he indicated that it was acquired in 2019 when the President was a citizen who did not exercise any representation function. "Although said vehicle was purchased using cash, it is easy to verify that, given the amount, it was purchased entirely with the family savings of the time. In this regard, let me inform you that the verification processes carried out by the Comptroller's Office have ruled out any possibility of the existence of a possible asset imbalance," he stated. In addition, Adrianzen explained the reasons why a State Security's personal guard vehicle assigned to the Head of State was located in Asia district, south of Lima. "The President is the only public official who is obliged, as Head of State and for her safety, to travel in official vehicles to perform all of her activities, whether official or personal," he explained. Regarding the Apurimac Regional Club accounts, he noted that the fact that it is a joint account should not be surprising, since it is a common practice among this type of associations and is done for administrative and security reasons. (END) JCR/RMB Veterans, parents, students and staff celebrate Veterans Day at Ben Eielson Junior/Senior High School on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Nov. 10, 2023. (Julie Avey/U.S. Air Force) The local school district decided last week to close Ben Eielson Junior-Senior High School on Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska at the end of the school year due to budget shortfalls. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, which administers the Ben Eielson school, decided March 19 to close the school when classes end in May. I recognize the closing of Ben Eielson Jr/Sr High is incredibly hard news for impacted students, families, and staff, Luke Meinert, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District superintendent, said in a news release Wednesday. This wasnt an easy choice for the school board and I know the deep sense of loss and uncertainty it may cause families and staff. Eielson Air Force Base commander Col. Paul Townsend expressed disappointment over the school boards decision in a statement Thursday. I share your disappointment with the decision to close our school, Townsend said in a news release. We did our best as a community to influence the final decision but the inability of the district to find a solution to the budget shortfalls ultimately drove the closure decision. Ben Eielson is the second base school to close recently. The school district in 2022 shuttered Anderson Elementary School and moved its kindergarten and first grade to another base school, Crawford Elementary. The schools on Eielson Air Force Base are administered by the local school district, not the Department of Defense Education Activity. The high school has 365 students and employs 44 faculty and staff, Ben Eielsons school liaison program manager, Earnest Kincade, told Stars and Stripes by email March 8. Ben Eielson students would transfer to North Pole Middle School and High School. Closing junior-senior high school, which includes grades six through 12, would save the school district $2 million a year and $13.9 million in needed facility repairs, according to an Alaska Public Media report last month. The district is facing a budget deficit of between $16 million and $29 million, depending on how much funding it receives from the state and borough, Meinert said in a Feb. 7 news release. The school district receives approximately 60% of its funding from the state through a per student allocation that has not seen a meaningful increase since 2017, Meinert said. Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed Senate Bill 140, which would have raised the base student allocation by 11.5%, or $680 per student, but would have left the school district with a $21 million deficit. After a thorough analysis and careful consideration, I have decided to veto Senate Bill 140, Dunleavy said in a March 15 post on X, formerly Twitter. Although I SUPPORT an increase to the BSA there were no new approaches, other than enhanced funding, to increase educational outcomes. People line up inside the belly of a C-17 cargo plane on display at the 2018 AirFest at MacDill Air Force Base. There will be loads of vintage and new aircraft to tour and see when the AirFest returns Friday and Saturday, March 29-30, 2024. (Luis Santana, Tampa Bay Times/TNS) (Tribune News Service) The Tampa Bay AirFest returns to MacDill Air Force Base this weekend with the Air Forces Thunderbirds in the sky and tours of vintage and spanking new aircraft on the ground. Pay attention this year, because it will be a couple more years before another AirFest flies over Tampa. Because of construction needed to expand its hangars for the new KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft coming to MacDill Air Force Base, there wont be another AirFest until 2027 at the earliest, said Lt. Laura Anderson, a public affairs officer for MacDill. We almost canceled AirFest, but decided to squeeze one more in before construction starts, Anderson said. To replace its aging tanker fleet, the Pentagon has ordered 24 new KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft to be placed at MacDill. You can see them up close since the KC-46 will be on display at the AirFest. They are among the many vintage and new aircraft that will be available for tours and up-close encounters. MacDill is home to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command and it plays a critical role in national security. So the base itself is an attraction. And since this is a free day of fun, more than 150,000 people typically show up for the two-day AirFest. Here are some tips to make the day easier to navigate. Getting there The entrance to MacDill for the public can be found at the Dale Mabry, MacDill Avenue and Tanker Way gates. Department of Defense ID cardholders should enter through the Bayshore Gate only. For the first time ever, the 2024 AirFest will be a Friday and Saturday show, so that you can enjoy AirFest, and keep your Easter Sunday, its Facebook event page states. Getting there early, when the gates open at 8 a.m., is the best way to avoid the usual traffic bottleneck getting into a base that has a limit on parking. Pro tip: There are several public parks not far from the base such as Gadsden Park on MacDill Avenue and Ballast Point Park on Interbay. Park your car there and then hop on your bike and you can cruise right past all those idling cars. But wear your helmet because the base requires all bicyclists to have them. Unless you want to leave your bike at the gate and hike into the event, wear your helmet and cruise over to the festivities. When the day is done you can breeze past the many cars waiting an hour or more to get out of the parking lot. Another alternative is to watch the air shows from the water. There are some limits to getting too close to the base, but boaters are welcome to drop anchor and watch from the water. Tips for the day Dress like you are going to the beach because there is little shade. Youll need sunscreen, hats and water bottles. (There will be refill stations set up throughout.) You can bring chairs to watch the air shows, but no umbrellas. Hearing protection is recommended, especially for little ones. Have snacks, toys and things to do for the kids while you are stuck waiting in the car to get in or out of the event. It may be a while. Service dogs are allowed, but no emotional support animals. Schedule Gates open at 8 a.m., opening ceremonies are at 11:30 a.m. and flying starts around noon. Pilots and crew will be on hand to chat, and you can take pictures in the pilots seat. Displays that are free to tour throughout the day include: A-10, F-16 and F-35 aircraft Tankers C-17, KC-10 and KC-46 Strategic transport aircraft C-5 and C-130J Vintage and civilian aircraft such as the iconic AT-6 Texan World War II aircraft seen in the Pat Benatar music video for Shadows of the Night and the light Army aircraft known as the Grasshopper used in the 1940s. Performers You can see a full list and background history of aerial performers at tampabayairfest.com. Among those in the sky this weekend: Para-commandos from the U.S. Special Operations Commands aerial parachute demonstration team. Warbird Thunder Airshows, with a 12-minute airshow performance featuring the North American SNJ Texan, a former WWII Navy advanced training aircraft. Michael Goulian and Melissa Burns, two of North Americas most decorated aerobatic pilots. Firewalkers International, an air show pyrotechnics team with a loud, hot and safe pyrotechnic that performs worldwide. The Air Force Thunderbirds close out the day at 3 p.m. both days before the festival ends at 5 p.m. If you go to Tampa Bay AirFest The airshow and display of aircraft at MacDill Air Force Base is free and for the first time is being held on Friday and Saturday because of Easter weekend. Gates open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Flying begins at noon Friday and Saturday. 2024 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Sailors work on an F/A-18 Super Hornet in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 20, 2024. About 5,000 sailors are assigned to the deployed ship. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) ABOARD THE USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER A chocolate chip cookie is helping the U.S. Navy sustain 5,000 sailors aboard this aircraft carrier as they work to stem Iranian-backed Houthi militants determined to disrupt shipping in the Red Sea. That now-famous cookie is bestowed daily by Capt. Chris Hill, the ships commanding officer, to unsuspecting sailors and chronicled on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the world to see. It isnt just a treat. Its sweet recognition, tangible evidence that Hill and other commanding officers across 20 departments on the Eisenhower value and appreciate the sailors individual contributions, no matter their rank or rate. I want the world to see what these young folks are doing, said Hill, whose X account, @ChowdahHill, has more than 66,200 followers. Its amazing. In other words, their jobs, no matter how seemingly unrelated to the F/A-18 Super Hornets and other aircraft that take off from the carrier day and night, are vital to the mission. Capt. Chris Hill, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, regularly lauds sailors for their accomplishments in posts on the social media platform X. Hill's account, @ChowdahHill, has more than 66,200 followers. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower eat lunch in one of the ship's messes March 20, 2024. The sailors, who deployed from Norfolk, Va., in October, have been at sea for nearly five months without a port call. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) If Im going to create morale, I need to make sure that everyone feels loved and valued, Hill said. I need to make sure everybody has a mission of purpose. I need to create winning environments. This creates morale; morale leads to success. Building and maintaining that esprit de corps isnt easy for any manager, military or otherwise, even in the best of circumstances. But the job is made harder by an unrelenting operational tempo, which has kept the Eisenhower at sea for nearly five months without a port call. Thats not normal. Typically, carriers make port calls every 30 to 45 days to give sailors needed stress relief from their jobs. But since Dec. 31, Eisenhower has launched about 100 flights daily, six to seven days a week for a variety of missions, such as intercepting Houthi missiles and drones, destroying the groups military sites in Yemen or defending the ship. The carrier, along with accompanying destroyers and other units, also is under threat of near-daily Houthi attacks. For example, the destroyer USS Laboon was targeted by a close-range ballistic missile attack on March 12. There were no injuries, and the ship wasnt damaged, U.S. Central Command said at the time. While the Navy is built for this type of combat, sustaining those operations for months without a port call is unusual and grueling, officials said. Flight deck crew members ready an EA-18G Growler electronic warfare plane for launch from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 19, 2024. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Absent the diversion, Eisenhower officials have worked to improve the quality of sailors lives in other ways, notably with the addition of onboard Wi-Fi. The capability allows the crew to talk more regularly with family and friends via WhatsApp or Facetime while allowing other internet access. While many Navy ships offer internet, access can be limited. Outside a port call, sailors can find it challenging to send emails, post on social media or make a phone call to stay in touch with family and friends. For Hill, the addition of Wi-Fi was a game changer. It offered an opportunity not only to shout out sailors for their accomplishments but also to connect with their families. It also was a way to showcase to a wider audience the capabilities of crew members, many tasked with significant responsibilities, such as running a nuclear power plant on an aircraft carrier in a combat zone, Hill said. Careful attention also is paid to ensuring that sailors are scheduled to get about eight hours of sleep daily. Emergencies, alert launches and other problems can sometimes interfere with that goal, Hill noted. Getting adequate rest is important because if you dont get good sleep your response time decreases, your mood decreases; it affects relationships; it starts to break down unit cohesion, Hill said. He added that a better strategy is to take away the enemys sleep, not our own sleep. Sailors man the bridge on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 20, 2024. Most of the ship's sailors are 18 to 24 years old and have jobs with significant responsibilities, such as driving the ship or maintaining its nuclear power system. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Servicewide, shipboard sailors on average get about 5.25 hours of sleep, well below the minimum 7.5 hours required by policy, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in October. The report found that the Navy still hadnt remedied high workloads caused by undercrewing and poor-quality mattresses, two of the biggest causes of sailor fatigue, Stars and Stripes reported at the time. In addition to Wi-Fi, the ship holds hundreds of events, such as art sessions, bingo and a singing competition. The ship also tries to set aside a day each week or every two weeks to allow sailors access to the deck so they can exercise or relax in the sun. Some crew members dont see the sun for weeks, he said. Those efforts are winning the confidence of sailors, who say they respect Hills leadership style. Navy officials asked reporters aboard the ship not to name the sailors other than senior leaders, because of concerns that they could be targeted by terrorist groups. In a pamphlet handed out to crew members and others who come aboard Eisenhower, Hill outlines his command philosophy. Toxicity leads to sailor attrition and weakens us in battle, Hill wrote. I cannot afford to lose a single sailor every one of them matters to the mission. Gen. George C. Marshall was a dedicated public servant. As chief of staff of the U.S. Army, he did essential work to get a dangerously unprepared America at least partially ready for World War II, and then led the mammoth organizational effort required for victory. He later served as secretary of state and secretary of defense during the trying postwar years, when the Cold War and Korean War both began. (U.S. Army) One antidote to our poisonous, nasty political atmosphere is to consider especially significant positive leaders of our past. Author, educator and soldier Josiah Bunting III has done just that for us in producing a new biography of Gen. George C. Marshall. Marshall, one of the greatest soldiers produced by our or any other nation, is what we used to refer to as a dedicated public servant. As chief of staff of the U.S. Army, he did essential work to get a dangerously unprepared America at least partially ready for World War II, and then led the mammoth organizational effort required for victory. He later served as secretary of state and secretary of defense during the trying postwar years, when the Cold War and Korean War both began. Marshall wanted very much to lead the Normandy invasion but that mission went to his protege, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered Marshall indispensable in his wartime role and stated he would not be able to sleep at night if the general were out of the country. Ever the good soldier, Marshall apparently never directly discussed his very intense personal desire with the president. He did his duty with dedication, consistently putting the national interest above his own. Along with remarkable administrative ability, Marshall demonstrated exceptional diplomatic and political skill. Following Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Imperial Army surrounded American forces in the Philippines under the command of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, a man widely disliked and mistrusted among fellow officers and more generally in Washington. Roosevelt nevertheless did not want the American commander to become a Japanese prisoner and ordered an evacuation to Australia. Marshall followed up thoroughly to ensure that media and public, at home and abroad, knew that this was not MacArthurs decision, and that the government of Australia provided a positive and supportive welcome. The ultimate professional, he never let personal opinion of MacArthur interfere. The ultimate staffer, he devoted the time necessary for operational success. Buntings book focuses primarily on Marshalls earlier years, before his central and instrumental roles in planning and command during World War II. As a boy, he was extremely shy and reticent, apparently very much in the shadow of an accomplished businessman father and an older brother already headed to the Virginia Military Institute. Marshall followed in his brothers footsteps by going to VMI, a respected educational institution but not the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Then, as before and since, West Point was the professional training ground for future top leaders of the Army. Over time, he surpassed the West Pointers. Bunting emphasizes this was the result not of genius, but extraordinary focus, discipline and sheer hard work. Marshall maintained that pace and discipline throughout his long career. Bunting near the end of the book compares this leader to Alfred Sloane, the genius builder of General Motors Corp. Influential management expert Peter Drucker described both as examples of the most successful practices of leadership. This extraordinary man is rarely discussed today. He put little personal information in the public record, and never wrote memoirs, likely in part because he feared inadvertently revealing details about the war and aftermath that were best kept private. Also, at least in part incredibly from a contemporary perspective he felt strongly that patriotic citizens should not benefit financially from government office. For him, public service was literally just that, a privilege. Fortunately, Forrest Pogue authored a masterful comprehensive biography of this great leader. Josiah Bunting has done a fine job of supplementing and enriching that mammoth work. Learn more: Josiah Bunting III, The Making of a Leader The Formative Years of George C. Marshall, Knopf. Arthur I. Cyr is author of After the Cold War American Foreign Policy, Europe and Asia. Freed students of the LEA Primary and Secondary School Kuriga, upon arrival at the government house in Kaduna, Nigeria, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Chinedu Asadu/AP) KADUNA, Nigeria More than 130 Nigerian schoolchildren rescued after more than two weeks in captivity arrived Monday in their home state in northwestern Nigeria ahead of their anticipated reunions with families, following the latest in a series of mass school abductions in the West African nation. Six of the 137 students remain in hospital, and one staff member who was abducted along with the children died in captivity, military officials said. The children were seized by motorcycle-riding gunmen at their school in the remote Kaduna state town of Kuriga on March 7, triggering a wide-ranging rescue operation. They were rescued Sunday by the military in a forest about 200 kilometers (more than 120 miles) to the north in neighboring Zamfara state, though authorities have provided no details of the rescue or said whether any suspected kidnappers were arrested. The students, many of them below the age of 10, were brought Monday to the Kaduna State Government House with fresh haircuts and newly sewn clothes and footwear their first change of clothing since their abduction. Some of them had sore feet suggesting they might have trekked long distances in the forests where they were held hostage. The six children still in hospital will be made available as soon as the doctors have certified them fit enough, Maj. Gen. Mayirenso Saraso, a military chief in Kaduna, said while handing them over to the government. Information Minister Mohammed Idris told reporters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, that no ransom was paid for the childrens freedom and that their kidnappers will be fished out by the security agencies and will never go unpunished. Arrests are rare in Nigerias kidnapping crisis as most victims are released only after ransom payments by their families or through deals that sometimes involve the release of their gang members. The Nigerian government, however, does not admit to such deals. School authorities originally had told the state government that a total of 287 students were kidnapped during the attack. However, Kaduna Gov. Uba Sani said only 137 are confirmed to have been seized. We are here today happily and celebrating the safe return of our children. They will soon be with their family and their parents, Gov. Sani said. Their parents were not available to receive them and authorities did not allow the schoolchildren to speak to reporters. The Associated Press could not reach families in Kuriga town, which does not have cellphone service. But one parent on Sunday spoke of their sleepless nights as they waited for the return of the children. We were traumatized throughout the absence of our children. Our children were away in the bush, with no food, and no good water, said Jubril Kuriga, whose 9-year-old daughter was among the children kidnapped. At least 1,400 students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since the 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants in Borno states Chibok village shocked the world. In recent years, abductions have been concentrated in the countrys conflict-battered northwestern and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travelers for ransom. Medical professors queue to submit their resignations during a meeting at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Yoon Dong-jin, Yonhap via AP) SEOUL, South Korea Senior doctors at major hospitals in South Korea began submitting their resignations en masse on Monday in support of medical interns and residents who have been on strike for five weeks over the governments push to sharply increase medical school admissions. The senior doctors action isnt likely to cause an immediate worsening of hospital operations in South Korea because they have said they would continue to work even after submitting their resignations. But prospects for an early end to the medical impasse were dim, as the doctors resignation submissions came after President Yoon Suk Yeol called for talks with doctors while suggesting a possible softening of punitive steps against the striking junior doctors. About 12,000 interns and medical residents have faced impending suspensions of their licenses over their refusal to end their strikes, which have caused hundreds of canceled surgeries and other treatments at their hospitals. They oppose the governments plan to increase the countrys medical school admission cap by two-thirds, saying schools cant handle such a steep increase in students and that it would eventually hurt South Koreas medical services. But officials say more doctors are urgently needed because South Korea has a rapidly aging population and its doctor-to-population ratio is one of the lowest in the developed world. In a meeting with governing party leader Han Dong-hoon on Sunday, representatives of medical professors and doctors at some 40 university hospitals where the junior doctors worked while training expressed support for the striking doctors, saying the governments recruitment plan would collapse our countrys medical system, Kim Chang-soo, head of the emergency committee at those universities, said Monday. Kim called Yoons overture a positive step but said the current standoff between doctors and the government wont be resolved unless the government rolls back its recruitment plan. He said doctors at the universities were expected to stick to earlier plans to submit resignations voluntarily and cut back their working hours to 52 hours per week the maximum weekly number of legal working hours. Observers say senior doctors have been grappling with excessive workloads after their juniors left their hospitals. If the government has an intention of withdrawing its plan or has an intention of considering it, were ready to discuss all pending issues with the government before the public, Kim said. Later Monday, an unspecified number of senior doctors went ahead and handed in their resignations, according to doctors involved in the protests. They said some doctors had already submitted resignations last week. After Sundays meeting, Han asked Yoons office to flexibly handle the issue of planned license suspensions for the striking doctors. Yoon then asked his prime minister to pursue a flexible measure to resolve the dispute and seek constructive consultations with doctors, according to Yoons office. Its unclear whether and how soon the government and doctors would sit down for talks and reach a breakthrough. Some observers say the governments likely softening of punishments for the striking doctors and its pursuit of dialogue with doctors were likely related to next months parliamentary elections as further disruptions of hospital operations would be unhelpful for ruling party candidates. The striking junior doctors represent less than 10% of South Koreas 140,000 doctors. But in some major hospitals, they account for about 30% to 40% of the doctors, assisting senior doctors during surgeries and dealing with inpatients while training. Public surveys show that a majority of South Koreans support the governments push to create more doctors, and critics say that doctors, one of the highest-paid professions in South Korea, worry about lower incomes due to a rise in the number of doctors. Officials say more doctors are required to address a long-standing shortage of physicians in rural areas and in essential but low-paying specialties. But doctors say newly recruited students would also try to work in the capital region and in high-paying fields like plastic surgery and dermatology. They say the government plan would also likely result in doctors performing unnecessary treatments due to increased competition. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a parliamentary session of House of Councilors in Tokyo, Monday, March 18, 2024. North Korea said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kims sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, made the comments in a state media dispatch Monday, March 25, 2024. (Kyodo News/AP) SEOUL, South Korea North Korea said Monday that Japans prime minister has offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but stressed that prospects for their countries first summit in about 20 years would depend on Tokyo tolerating the Norths weapons program and ignoring its past abductions of Japanese nationals. Japan acknowledged it has been trying to arrange a bilateral summit but dismissed North Koreas preconditions for such a meeting as unacceptable, dimming the prospects that Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would hold a summit any time soon. Observers say Kim wants improved ties with Japan as a way to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies, while Kishida wants to use possible progress in the abduction issue, a highly emotional issue for Japan, to boost his declining approval rating at home. After admitting in 2002 that it had abducted 13 Japanese nationals, North Korea allowed five to return home but said the others had died. Japan believes some were still alive. In a statement carried by state media, Kims sister, Kim Yo Jong, who also is a senior official, said that Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person as soon as possible. She said there would be no breakthrough in North Korea-Japan relations as long as Kishidas government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the Norths exercise of our sovereign right, apparently referring to the Norths weapons testing activities. Simply deciding to hold a summit is not enough to improve relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, she said. In February, Kim Yo Jong issued a similar statement, saying North Korea was open to inviting Kishida to Pyongyang but that it would only be possible if Tokyo stopped taking issue with North Koreas legitimate right to self-defense and the abduction issue. Kishida, speaking in a parliamentary session, said that a meeting with Kim is crucial to resolve the abduction issue and that his government has been using various channels to discuss the possible summit. Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters later Monday that dropping the abduction issue in talks with North Korea is not acceptable. North Korea and Japan dont have diplomatic ties, and their relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear program, the abduction issue and Japans 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Japans colonial wrongdoing is a source of on-again, off-again wrangling between Tokyo and Seoul, as well. After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in an unprecedented 2002 summit between Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped the 13 Japanese. Japan believes North Korea used them to train spies in Japanese language and culture. Koizumi made a second visit to North Korea and met Kim Jong Il again in 2004, the last summit between the two countries. Talk of a possible new summit comes amid concerns that North Korea could further intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year both in the U.S. and South Korea. Experts say North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the U.S., such as relief from sanctions imposed because of Pyongyangs nuclear program. While North Korea may be waiting out elections in South Korea and the United States before reengaging those countries in diplomacy, it probably wants to strengthen its hand by developing weapons and driving wedges between U.S. allies, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Kishida feels political urgency to address the abductions issue and is thus showing diplomatic effort. The impoverished North also likely thinks about possible Japanese economic assistance it could receive if the two countries normalized their ties, said analyst Moon Seong Mook with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea could seek the current value of the Japanese assistance that South Korea received when those two countries normalized their ties in 1965 $500 million or more. Moon said Kishida likely wont defy Japanese public opinion to make concessions on the abduction issue, or defy U.N. resolutions that ban North Koreas nuclear program. Easley said a Kim-Kishida summit is unlikely because Pyongyang appears unwilling to address its historical kidnapping of Japanese citizens and Tokyo is unable to relax sanctions on North Korea. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Monday it was closely communicating with Japan on Tokyo-Pyongyang contacts and the North Korean nuclear issue. It said that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are working closely together to return North Korea to a path of denuclearization. North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile arsenals pose a major security threat to Japan as well as South Korea and the United States. The three countries have expanded their trilateral training exercises in response to the Norths provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Japan and South Korea are two of Americas key allies in the region, together hosting about 80,000 U.S. troops in their territories. Earlier Monday, North Koreas state media reported that Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea. While most analysts doubt Kim is genuinely preparing for war, South Korean officials have raised the possibility of smaller provocations in border regions, including the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas that has been the site of bloody skirmishes in past years. Associated Press journalist Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report. In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is surrounded by soldiers during his visit to his top tank group, the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division, in North Korea on March 24, 2024. (Korean Central News Agency, Korea News Service/AP) SEOUL, South Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea, the Norths state media said Monday. Kim made those comments Sunday while visiting his top tank group, the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division. The units name marks how it was the first North Korean military unit to reach the South Korean capital in 1950 when a North Korean surprise attack triggered a war that dragged on for almost four years. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have heightened after Kim in past months dialed up his military demonstrations, including tests of nuclear-capable missiles designed to target South Korea, the United States and Japan, while issuing threats of nuclear conflict against its rivals. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have responded by strengthening their combined military exercises and updating their deterrence plans built around strategic U.S. assets. Photos published by North Korean state media showed Kim talking with military officers at an observation post and tanks with North Korean flags rolling through dirt, with at least one of the vehicles carrying a sign that read: Annihilate U.S. invaders who are staunch enemies of the Korean people! The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim praised the 105th Division as a model for his entire army in the ongoing struggle for finishing war preparations. He also issued instructions to improve the units combat preparations and upgrade its equipment, the report said. Jeon Ha Gyu, spokesperson of South Koreas Defense Ministry, said the South Korean and U.S. militaries were closely monitoring North Korean military activities but did not provide a specific assessment of the details reported by North Korean state media. Kim earlier this month supervised a training competition between his militarys tank units, which was won by the 105th Division. The event on March 13 also featured a new North Korean battle tank meant to underscore Kims efforts to strengthen his conventional military capabilities along with his arsenal of missiles. Last week, North Korea conducted a live-fire drill of large-size multiple rocket launchers designed to target Seoul and also claimed a successful engine test in its efforts to build a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile, which would be aimed at remote U.S. targets in the Pacific, including the military hub of Guam. There are concerns North Korea could further dial up pressure in what is an election year in both the United States and South Korea. While most analysts doubt Kim is genuinely preparing for war, South Korean officials have raised the possibility of smaller provocations in border regions, including the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas that has been the site of bloody skirmishes in past years. In a fiery speech to Pyongyangs rubber-stamp parliament in January, Kim declared that he was abandoning North Koreas long-standing goal of reconciliation with the South and ordered the rewriting of the Norths constitution to cement its war-divided rival as its most hostile adversary. He said the new charter must specify North Korea would annex and subjugate the South if another war broke out. Chinese coast guard vessels fired water cannons on the Unaizah May 4, seen here preparing for departure from Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, on March 22, 2024, during a confrontation near Second Thomas Shoal on March 23, 2024. (Armed Forces of the Philippines) At least a dozen embassies voiced support of the Philippines over the weekend after Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at Philippine vessels near a contested maritime feature in the South China Sea. The incident Saturday took place near Second Thomas Shoal and resulted in significant damage to a Philippine supply ship and injuries to Filipino personnel, according to a Saturday statement from the Philippines National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea. Afterward, ambassadors from Europe and North America called for a peaceful resolution and restraint in a flurry of posts to X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday and Sunday. Dangerous maneuvers and the repeated use of water cannons by Chinese vessels against Philippines vessels today endangered lives and pose a serious threat to regional peace and stability, wrote David Hartman, Canadas ambassador to the Philippines, in a Saturday post to X. We urge the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law. The U.S. also condemned Chinas actions as destabilizing to the region and which shows a clear disregard for international law, according to a statement Saturday from the State Department. U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, in a post Saturday on X, said Beijing has repeatedly used similar actions to disrupt the Philippines lawful activities in the region. Second Thomas Shoal, known in the Philippines as Ayungin Shoal and in China as Renai Reef, is a flashpoint between the two countries since the Philippines intentionally grounded the World War II-era ship BRP Sierra Madre on the feature in 1999. Similar incidents have taken place over the past decade, with recent episodes on March 5 and Aug. 5. The U.S. is bound by treaty to defend the Philippines in the case of armed conflict, but the use of less lethal weapons like water cannons is likely to keep the issue short of conflict, according to Ja Ian Chong, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. China is aware of U.S. treaty obligations and is likely to avoid escalation and a major confrontation with the United States if it can help it, he told Stars and Stripes by email Monday. If deaths occur because of Chinese actions, however, then all bets are off, and Philippine public sentiment and pressure may demand greater resolve from the administration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Chong said. In 2016, an international tribunal determined the shoal is part of the Philippines exclusive economic zone, but China continues to dispute the ruling. On Saturday, numerous ambassadors to the Philippines, including German Ambassador Andreas Pfaffernoschke, Dutch Ambassador Marielle Geraedts and French Ambassador Marie Fontanel called on Beijing to respect that ruling. We oppose any threat or use of force contrary to international law and recall the importance of resolving disputes through dialogue. We also recall the decision rendered by the Arbitral Court on July 12, 2016, Fontanel said in a Saturday post to X. Beijing defended its actions. Wu Qian, spokesman for Chinas Defense Ministry, said Chinas response was reasonable, lawful, professional and standard, and that the incident was entirely provoked by the Philippines, the Chinese state-sponsored news agency China Military Online said Sunday. A Myanmars truck driver is reflected on a mirror as his truck carrying aid leaves at a customs checkpoint near the border with Myanmar, in Mae Sot, Tak province Thailand on March 25, 2024. (Sakchai Lalit/AP) MAE SOT, Thailand Thailand delivered its first batch of humanitarian aid to war-torn Myanmar on Monday, in what officials hope will be a continuing effort to ease the plight of millions of people displaced by fighting. But critics charge that the aid will benefit only people in areas under the Myanmar militarys control, providing it with a propaganda boost while leaving the vast majority of displaced people in contested areas without access to assistance. Myanmar is wracked by a nationwide armed conflict that began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule. The fighting has displaced millions of people and battered the economy. Thailand sent ten trucks over the border from the northern province of Tak, carrying some 4,000 packages of aid to three towns in Kayin State, also known as Karen State, where it will be distributed to approximately 20,000 displaced people. The parcels contained aid worth around $138,000, mostly food, instant beverages and other basic items such as toiletries. More than 2.8 million people in Myanmar are displaced, according to U.N. agencies, most by fighting that arose after the armys takeover. They say 18.6 million people, including 6 million children, require humanitarian aid. Carl Skau, Chief Operating Officer of the U.N.s World Food Programme, said earlier this month that one in four of the displaced is at risk of acute food insecurity. The initiative for what has been called a humanitarian corridor is being carried out by the Thai Red Cross, with funding from Thailands Foreign Ministry and logistical support from the army, which traditionally has played a major role in border activities. Officials from Thailand and Myanmars Kayin State attended a send-off ceremony, which was presided over by Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. Myanmars Red Cross will handle distribution of the aid. Drivers from Myanmar took the trucks across the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, which crosses the Moei River on the border. That corridor puts humanitarian aid into the hands of the junta because it goes into the hands of the junta-controlled Myanmar Red Cross, Tom Andrews, the U.N. independent human rights expert on Myanmar, said last week. So we know that the junta takes these resources, including humanitarian, and weaponizes them, uses them for their own military strategic advantage. The fact of the matter is, is that the reason that humanitarian aid is in such desperate need is precisely because of the junta. Andrews said the areas in desperate need are conflict areas in which the junta has absolutely no influence or control whatsoever. So those are the areas we need to focus on. Large areas of the country, especially frontier areas, are now contested or controlled by anti-military resistance forces, including pro-democracy fighters allied with armed ethnic minority organizations that have been fighting for greater autonomy for decades. Thai officials say the process of distribution will be monitored by the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management to ensure it reaches people fairly and equally. Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak said after the ceremony that the aid is expected to be delivered to the three towns the same day, and that Myanmar will send photos as proof it has been delivered. I would like to emphasize that this is truly humanitarian aid and not related to the politics or conflicts in Myanmar. I think, now, people should think about the interests of the Myanmar people as a priority, he said. Of course, if the initiative today is carried out smoothly, and meets the objectives that we set, Thailand as a neighbor will see how we can expand the help to other areas. The humanitarian corridor project was initiated by Thailand with support from Myanmar and other fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during an ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Laos in January. Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara had said ASEAN needs to actively push to implement what it calls the Five-Points Consensus, which it agreed to just a few months after the armys 2021 takeover. The agreement called for an immediate end to violence, dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties. But Myanmars generals, despite initially assenting to the consensus, failed to act on it, leaving ASEAN looking powerless. Dulyapak Preecharush, a professor of Southeast Asia Studies at Bangkoks Thammasat University, said the aid initiative is a good start for Thailand, which has been quiet and inactive about Myanmar. The readiness of Thailand to deliver the aid is not an issue, but when the aid is delivered to Myanmar, it will face obstacles from violent fighting and different stakeholders who will have their gains and losses. Sihasak said Thailand hopes the aid will be distributed equally and transparently, and that the delivery of the aid will help create a good atmosphere that will contribute to the peace process in Myanmar. YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. Israel has agreed to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage exchange that would release around 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravids reporting on the recent round of talks in Doha, Qatar. According to the report, 100 of the 700 Palestinian prisoners are serving life sentences for killing Israeli nationals. Hamas response could take one to three days, according to Ravid, who said he has spoken to Israeli officials. Israel agreed to the proposal put forth by CIA Director Bill Burns, according to Ravid. Burns was in Doha, where Hamas and Israel are engaged in talks through mediators. Hamas latest proposal this month demanded that some 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners be released. According to CNN, Israel at the time described the demands as ridiculous and absurd. Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and taking 253 others hostage. Health authorities in Gaza say more than 32,200 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its retaliatory offensive to eliminate Hamas. Japanese troops from 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment secure a space for a U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey to land during a combined exercise in Japan on March 15, 2022. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will reveal a plan to restructure the U.S. military command in Japan next month in light of concerns over China, The Financial Times reported Sunday. The aim is to boost military planning and drills involving the allies, according to the newspaper, which did not reveal its sources. The two leaders will announce the plan during a meeting April 10 at the White House, the newspaper said. U.S. Forces Japan, headquartered at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, referred queries Monday to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A spokesman for the office, John Supple, by email to Stars and Stripes declined to comment on the newspapers report. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi during a Monday news conference said he is aware of the reports but declined to comment. Discussions are underway between Japan and the United States about strengthening cooperation on command and control to improve their militaries readiness, training methods and ability to use each others equipment, Hayashi said. Japan is working to create its own unified command capable of central, operational control over the three Self-Defense Forces air, maritime and ground - by March 2025. I understand that nothing has been decided at this point regarding the structure of the U.S. side, including strengthening the functions of the U.S. Forces Japan Headquarters, Hayashi said. Japan has ramped up its military spending in recent years in response to a Chinese military build-up and a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping to reunify the democratic, self-governing island of Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary. Restructuring the U.S. military command in Japan could result in a combined U.S.-Japanese headquarters, according to security experts. That would put U.S. and Japanese officers together coordinating training, drills, patrols and plans related to Japans defense, Grant Newsham, a retired Marine colonel and senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo, said by email Monday. One wonders if the two sides will come up with an interim - and more immediate response - say, combining naval forces to a greater degree, he said. Alternatively, the two sides could try to perfect the concept before moving, which could mean a delay of five to 10 years, he said. One doesnt really get a sense of urgency on either side -- and especially from the Pentagon, he said. Meanwhile, the PRC (China) and PLA (Chinese military) arent standing still. There has been talk for years about improving the U.S.-Japan alliance, Brad Glosserman, deputy director and visiting professor at the Center for Rule-Making Strategies at Tama University in Tokyo, said by email Monday. He said the Combined Forces Command, the command that unifies U.S. Forces Korea with the South Korean armed forces, is one model. The Combined Forces Command is led by USFK commander Gen. Paul LaCamera, with a South Korean deputy commander, and would serve as the operational headquarters for all U.S. and South Korean forces in a conflict. The push for a combined headquarters in Japan is shaped by concerns about the defense of Taiwan, added James Brown, an international affairs expert at Temple Universitys Japan campus. The two allies dont need to amend their mutual defense treaty in order to restructure the U.S. command, he said by email the same day. An important change in that regard has already occurred with the reinterpretation of the (Japanese) constitution to permit collective self-defense, he said. Rather, this is about making organizational changes to enable the alliance to function more effectively in a crisis. Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gives a speech during the West Sea Defense Day memorial service at the 2nd Fleet Command headquarters in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, March 22, 2024. (South Korea Presidential Office) CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea South Koreas government honored the 55 sailors and marines killed since 2002 in combat against North Korean troops for the countrys ninth annual West Sea Defense Day held recently. The government observes West Sea Defense Day on the fourth Friday of March to memorialize the 55 South Korean troops who were killed between 2002 and 2010 in the West Sea, also known as the Yellow Sea, near the Northern Limit Line, the unofficial maritime border dividing the Korean Peninsula. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs marked the occasion by commissioning a display of 55 lights shining skyward to honor the service members at the Daejeon National Cemetery in Daejeon city, roughly 80 miles south of Seoul. Speaking at South Koreas 2nd Fleet Command headquarters in Pyeongtaek city Friday, President Yoon Suk Yeoul said he expressed his deepest sympathy to the families and comrades of the sailors and marines who were killed in the Yellow Sea by North Korean forces. My government and I will remember and never forget the heroes of the West Sea, Yoon said in a televised speech. We once again commemorate the 55 proud heroes who defended the West Sea, who deeply engraved the spirit of freedom and patriotism in the hearts of the people. The first skirmish took place on June 29, 2002, when two North Korean patrol boats crossed the maritime border and opened fire on pursuing South Korean patrol boats. Six South Korean sailors and an estimated 30 North Koreans were killed in the fight, according to the Souths navy. Fifty-five sailors and marines killed in combat are memorialized by lights beamed skyward at Daejeon National Cemetery, South Korea, March 21, 2024. (South Korea Ministry of Patriots) The second incident occurred on March 26, 2010, when the Pohang-class corvette Cheonan was hit and sunk by a North Korean torpedo, killing 46 sailors, according to an international investigation. A South Korean navy diver later drowned while searching for missing sailors from the Cheonan. Eight months after the Cheonans sinking, North Korean forces fired roughly 170 artillery rounds at the Souths Yeonpyeong Island, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians on Nov. 23, 2010. Yoon described the incidents as a cruel provocation by the North and called for the Souths people to unite their hearts to encourage and support our military. Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs vice minister Lee Hee-wan, a retired navy captain, was aboard a South Korean patrol boat during the naval battle in June 2002. He was shot in both legs during the fight and his right leg was amputated. [West Sea Defense Day] is a day for the entire nation to cherish the noble sacrifices of the soldiers who defended the territorial waters of [South Korea], making it an exceptionally monumental day in the history of national defense, Lee said in a written interview with Stars and Stripes on Friday. Lee said he believed North Korea will not abandon its provocations but added there was a clear answer on how the South should respond. By standing united as a nation and showing a consistent front, we can demonstrate that we are neither intimidated nor shaken, thereby weakening the motivation behind North Koreas provocations, Lee said. Lee said he often thinks about the South Korean sailors and marines killed in the last two decades and that it was his duty to support their surviving family members. When I think of the bereaved families of my comrades, my heart always aches, he said. The grief of losing a beloved son, husband, father may never fade no matter how much time passes but I want to say, We, the surviving brothers and sisters in arms, will be here to support you. U.S. soldiers conduct a foot patrol in Babush, an ethnic Serbian enclave in Ferizaj, Kosovo, Feb. 22, 2024. A quarter-century after NATO launched a bombing campaign to stop the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo, international peacekeeping troops remain on the ground and the security situation remains fragile. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes) PRISTINA, Kosovo This week marks 25 years since NATO launched an air campaign in the Balkans that pushed the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo and prompted the Western alliance to establish a peacekeeping force in the region. U.S. troops have been on the ground supporting the Kosovo Force, or KFOR, ever since. And while the overall security situation has improved greatly over the years, there are concerns that renewed unrest could make it more dangerous for those deployed here. Late last month, Texas Army National Guard soldiers handed over leadership of Regional Command Easts headquarters at Camp Bondsteel to the Georgia Army National Guards 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Outgoing commander Col. Ross Walker of the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team told Stars and Stripes that the command is postured to handle anything right now. When asked whether he thought Kosovo had become a more dangerous deployment for troops, he said, the short answer would be no, adding that most Kosovars, regardless of their ethnicity, respect the peacekeepers presence. Col. Ross Walker, commander of the Texas Army National Guards 56th Infantry Brigade, commanded KFORs Regional Command East from June 2023 to February 2024. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes) Nevertheless, analysts and others in Kosovo are concerned that ongoing tensions could lead to further clashes and possibly spiral into a larger armed conflict, which peacekeepers could get dragged into. Kosovo for many Serbians remains a part of their national identity, and a 1389 Serbian victory over the Ottoman Empire in Kosovo is a prominent part of nationalist folklore. Most ethnic Serbs in Kosovo dont accept Pristinas 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia and still see Belgrade as their capital. Theyve been calling for more autonomy. Last April, they refused to participate in local elections, and ethnic Albanians, who make up more than 90% of Kosovos population, won seats in several Serb-majority municipalities. The results led to protests at government buildings. In May, ethnic Serbs attacked and injured dozens of KFOR soldiers protecting the buildings. No American soldiers were hurt, but three Hungarian troops were shot and one had his leg amputated. Months later, a shootout in September between dozens of heavily armed Serbian nationalist militants and Kosovo special forces in the northern village of Banjska left an officer and three gunmen dead, in whats been described as one of the most significant security incidents in the western Balkans in more than a decade. Kosovos interior minister Xhelal Svecla told The Associated Press at the time that a large cache of weapons had been found and that the gunmen had planned to arm hundreds of people, with the intention of seceding. Svecla accused Serbia of direct involvement, a claim Belgrade denied. There is still a lot thats unclear about what exactly was happening there, Marko Prelec, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said in a telephone interview. And its still too soon to say that its over. Prelec believes there will be a plausible threat to safety and security in Kosovo for at least another year. KFOR is the third security responder in Kosovo after the Kosovo Police and the EU Rule of Law mission, respectively. Kosovars generally respect NATO peacekeepers, as they dont take a position on Kosovos independence, Prelec said, echoing Walkers assessment. A handful of countries supporting KFOR, including Greece and Romania, dont recognize Kosovos sovereignty. While ethnic Serbs may not be pro-NATO, many appear to see the international peacekeepers as filling a trust gap between their communities and Kosovo government forces. Novica Jovanovic welcomes U.S. soldiers in Babush, an ethnic Serbian enclave in Ferizaj, Kosovo, Feb. 22, 2024. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes) On a patrol in late February, U.S. soldiers were warmly welcomed by people in Babush, an ethnic-Serbian enclave in Ferizaj municipality. The soldiers were part of a liaison monitoring team. They go out, listen to residents concerns and try to help find solutions to problems. These problems are often non-political, like figuring out how to fix a building at risk of collapsing. The monitoring teams complement KFOR squads that are focused on reacting quickly to potential violence. First Lt. Joseph Mabry, who led the liaison team in Ferizaj, said community engagement can go a long way in maintaining peace. The ability for us to support the people here is what builds that sense of community and stability that will build a better future, Mabry said. But at the moment, Kosovos future looks uncertain. On Thursday, Prime Minister Albin Kurti posted a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, which he said showed Serbian troops near a Kosovo border area and accused Belgrade of waiting for the best possible opportunity to invade. Serbias Defense Ministry rejected the claim as disinformation. The situation nearly a year after the KFOR troops were injured remains fragile, according to NATO, which says it will keep about 1,000 more peacekeepers in Kosovo indefinitely as a result. The additional personnel quadrupled KFORs presence in northern Kosovo and tripled the number of patrols, NATO said in a statement following a Stars and Stripes query. U.S. Army Sgt. Russ Carr walks among a group of Serbians in June 1999, in downtown Ferizaj, Kosovo. The Serbs, fearing retribution from Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers, were waiting for a bus to pick them up and take them away from the town. This week marks 25 years since NATO launched an air campaign that pushed the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo and prompted the Western alliance to establish a peacekeeping force in the region. (Stars and Stripes) But after a quarter-century, some critics question whether peacekeeping is the most effective use of U.S. troops. Its not a very good use of American taxpayers money, or the forces they raise, to have them sitting there doing community tasks, said Doug Bandow, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. We need a military to do military things, not pretend that they are the Peace Corps. Today, the number of KFOR troops sits at a little over 4,600, including about 600 Americans. Bandow believes European allies could cover the relatively modest number of U.S. troops and that now would be an appropriate time for NATO to hand over its longest-standing mission to the European Union. But Marta Kepe, a senior defense analyst at Rand Corp., says the U.S. military has a strong symbolic value for Kosovo that shouldnt be overlooked. Opinion polls show the U.S. is the most trusted international actor in Kosovo, and Americans on the ground, including soldiers, have a unique position of trust, which could be useful as security concerns start to grow again 25 years into the mission. We have a high respect for KFOR, teacher Ismet Balaj said during a visit by soldiers to his school in an ethnic Albanian village in Ferizaj. Especially for American KFOR. Poland Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski talks about regional security and continuing support for Ukraine at the Foreign Ministry in Warsaw, Poland, Feb. 14, 2024. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP) WARSAW, Poland The Russian ambassador to Poland did not show up Monday for a meeting at the Polish Foreign Ministry where he had been summoned because of a Russian cruise missile that violated Polish airspace during the weekend, the Poland ministrys spokesman said. Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev was to be given a note of protest after the Russian missile entered the airspace of the NATO member for 39 seconds early Sunday amid a Russian attack targeting western Ukraine. Pawe Wronski, the Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters in a brief statement outside the ministry that Andreev did not come to the meeting, and that his failure to appear has led the Warsaw government to wonder whether he is able to properly represent the interests of the Russian Federation in Warsaw. Wronski said the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations clearly defines the duties of an ambassador in a host state. The Polish Foreign Ministry had said it would demand explanations from Russia over the violation of its airspace the latest of several incidents since Moscow launched its war against Ukraine more than two years ago. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of details of the incident by phone on Monday, the ministry said in a statement. Sikorski stressed that Russias war against Ukraine also threatens the security of NATO member states, the statement said. Britains Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attends a visit to an engineering firm in Barrow-in-Furness, England, Monday, March 25, 2024. (Danny Lawson, PA via AP) WASHINGTON Hackers linked to the Chinese government launched a sweeping, state-backed operation that targeted U.S. officials, journalists, corporations, pro-democracy activists and the U.K.s election watchdog, American and British authorities said Monday in announcing a set of criminal charges and sanctions. The intention of the campaign, which officials say began in 2010, was to harass critics of the Chinese government, steal trade secrets of American corporations and to spy on and track high-level political figures. Western officials disclosed the operation, carried out by a hacking group known as APT31, while sounding a fresh, election-year alarm about a country long seen as having advanced espionage capabilities. The U.S. Justice Department charged seven hackers, all believed to be living in China. The British government, in a related announcement, imposed sanctions on a front company and two of the defendants in connection with a breach that may have given the Chinese access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission. The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, adding that the case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics. As part of the cyber-intrusion campaign, prosecutors said, the hackers sent more than 10,000 emails to targets all over the world that purported to be from prominent journalists but that actually contained malicious code. Once opened, the emails installed tracking software that allowed the hackers to know the victims location, IP addresses and even the devices they used to get email. The hackers further leveraged that tracking to target home routers and other devices, including those of high-ranking U.S. government officials and politicians and election campaign staff from both major U.S. political parties, the indictment says. Targets included officials at the White House and multiple government agencies, including the Treasury and Commerce departments, senators from both parties, the spouse of a senior Justice Department official, political strategists, and political figures from around the world who were critical of the Chinese government, including members of a pro-democracy advocacy group. The Justice Department said the hackers also began targeting email accounts belonging to senior staffers of a presidential campaign in May 2020, several months before the general election. Also, the cybersecurity firm Proofpoint later noted in a blog that the hackers heavily focused their phishing on Washington-based journalists, including White House correspondents, just prior to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Britains sanctions follow an announcement last August that hostile actors had gained access to its servers from around 2021 to 2022. At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said much of the information was already in the public domain. The Foreign Office said Monday the hack of the election registers has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration. British cybersecurity officials also said that APT31 hackers conducted reconnaissance activity against British parliamentarians who were critical of Beijing in 2021. They said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised. Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time. Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts. APT31 has previously been accused of targeting U.S. presidential campaigns and the information systems of Finlands parliament, among others. Britains Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said his government will summon Chinas ambassador to account for its actions. Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said before the announcement that countries should base their claims on evidence rather than smear others without factual basis. Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude, and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace. The Chinese embassy also accused the U.S. of jumping to an unwarranted conclusion and making groundless accusation against China without valid evidence. It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts, the embassy said in a statement. China firmly opposes this. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad and is the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. Its right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing, he said, without providing details. U.S. officials over the years have brought a broad array of criminal cases against hackers affiliated with the Chinese government. They have also expressed concern about Chinese government influence operations and the potential that Beijing could meddle in presidential politics. A 2021 intelligence assessment found that China ultimately did not interfere on either side during the 2020 election and that the country had considered but did not deploy influence operations intended to affect the outcome. U.S. officials say they believe Beijing prioritized a stable relationship with the U.S. and did not consider either election outcome as advantageous enough for it to risk the blowback that would ensue if it got caught with interfering. The Justice Department said the indictment unsealed Monday does not alter that conclusion, noting that theres no allegation that the hacking was designed to further a Chinese government influence operation against the U.S. Even so, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, the Justice Departments top national security official, said in a statement that, Todays announcements underscore the need to remain vigilant to cybersecurity threats and the potential for cyber-enabled foreign malign influence efforts, especially as we approach the 2024 election cycle. Hui reported from London. Associated Press writers Frank Bajak in Boston, Didi Tang in Washington and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report. Members of Houthi security forces stand guard during a march in Yemens capital Sanaa on March 15, 2024, in support of Palestinians amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip. (Mohammed Huwais, AFP via Getty Images/TNS) (Tribune News Service) The Yemen-based Houthi militants renewed their threats against Saudi Arabia, warning it not to support U.S. strikes against the group. We have sent a message to Saudi Arabia that it will be a target if it allows American fighter jets to use its territory or airspace in their aggression on Yemen, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis Supreme Political Council, said in an interview with Al-Masirah TV. U.S. and U.K. forces have been striking Houthi military facilities since the start of this year to stem the groups assault on ships in the Red Sea, a vital waterway for global commerce. Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, hasnt joined those air assaults or a U.S.-led naval operation meant to provide commercial ships safe passage through the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The kingdom is trying to reach a peace agreement with the Houthis to end Yemens civil war, a conflict thats raged for most of the past decade but with the sides in a fragile truce since 2022. The Saudi government led a U.S.-backed military campaign against the Houthis starting in 2015. But it now sees peace in Yemen as key to keeping the wider Gulf region stable and advancing its massive economic transformation plans. Before the truce, the Houthis regularly struck Saudi territory. In 2019, they claimed an assault that briefly knocked out about half the kingdoms oil production. The Houthis, an Islamist organization backed by Iran, have been undeterred by the U.S. and U.K. airstrikes and continue to attack warships and commercial ships with missiles and drones on a near-daily basis. They recently said they would expand their campaign to target ships avoiding the Red Sea and sailing around southern Africa instead. Al-Houthi signaled more tense relations between the Houthis and Saudis by saying the kingdom needed to take more serious steps toward a peace plan. He stressed negotiations cant progress until the kingdom agrees to resume the payment of some salaries, electricity and other services in Yemen. Al-Houthi also confirmed the group had given China and Russia assurances their ships wouldnt be targeted. Speaking to Al-Masirah TV, a channel run by the group, he didnt mention the Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker that was struck by a missile in the Red Sea on Saturday. The ship issued a distress call but suffered minimal damage and didnt need assistance, according to the U.S. military. The Houthis appear to have wrongly identified several ships with their previous assaults and its unclear if they did so again with the Huang Pu. With assistance from Rakteem Katakey and Sam Dagher. 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, abstains her vote as the U.N. Security Council passes a cease-fire resolution in Gaza on March 25, 2024. (Craig Ruttle/AP) UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Security Council on Monday issued its first demand for a cease-fire in Gaza, with the U.S. angering Israel by abstaining from the vote. Israel responded by canceling a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation in the strongest public clash between the allies since the war began. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the U.S. of retreating from a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was kind of perplexed by Netanyahus decision. He said the Israelis were choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that. Kirby and the American ambassador to the U.N. said the U.S. abstained because the resolution did not condemn Hamas. U.S. officials chose to abstain rather than veto the proposal because it does fairly reflect our view that a cease-fire and the release of hostages come together, Kirby said. The 15-member council voted 14-0 to approve the resolution, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. The chamber broke into loud applause after the vote. The U.S. vetoed past Security Council cease-fire resolutions in large part because of the failure to tie them directly to the release of hostages, the failure to condemn Hamas attacks and the delicacy of ongoing negotiations. American officials have argued that the cease-fire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for a cease-fire. The resolution approved Monday demands the release of hostages but does not make it a condition for the cease-fire for the month of Ramadan, which ends in April. Hamas said it welcomed the U.N.s move but said the cease-fire needs to be permanent. We confirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides, the group said. For months, the militants have sought a deal that includes a complete end to the conflict. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted: This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable. The U.S. decision to abstain comes at a time of growing tensions between President Joe Bidens administration and Netanyahu over Israels prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amounts of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. The two countries have also clashed over Netanyahus rejection of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the expansion of settlements there. In addition, the well-known antagonism between Netanyahu and Biden which dates from Bidens tenure as vice president deepened after Biden questioned Israels strategy in combating Hamas. Then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Biden ally, suggested that Netanyahu was not operating in Israels best interests and called for Israel to hold new elections. Biden signaled his approval of Schumers remarks, prompting a rebuke from Netanyahu. During its U.S. visit, the Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with its plans for a possible ground invasion of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. Last week, Netanyahu rebuffed a U.S. request to halt the planned Rafah invasion vowing during a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to act alone if necessary. Blinken warned that Israel could soon face growing international isolation, while Vice President Kamala Harris said Israel could soon face unspecified consequences if it launches the ground assault. The Security Council vote came after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported an immediate and sustained cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. That resolution featured a weakened link between a cease-fire and the release of hostages, leaving it open to interpretation, and no time limit. The United States warned that the resolution approved Monday could hurt negotiations to halt the hostilities, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans. The talks involve the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Because Ramadan ends April 9, the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, though the draft says the pause in fighting should lead to a lasting sustainable cease-fire. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the resolution spoke out in support of the ongoing diplomatic efforts, adding that negotiators were getting closer to a deal for a cease-fire with the release of all hostages, but were not there yet. She urged the council and U.N. members across the world to speak out and demand unequivocally that Hamas accepts the deal on the table. Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. abstained because certain edits the U.S. requested were ignored, including a condemnation of Hamas. The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, was backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations. Under the United Nations Charter, Security Council resolutions are legally binding on its 193 member nations, though they are often flouted. Algerias U.N. ambassador, Amar Bendjama, the Arab representative on the council, thanked the council for finally demanding a cease-fire. We look forward to the commitment and the compliance of the Israeli occupying power with this resolution, for them to put an end to the bloodbath without any conditions, to end the suffering of the Palestinian people, he said. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the council that the vote must be a turning point that leads to saving lives in Gaza and ending the assault of atrocities against our people. Shortly before Mondays vote, the elected members changed the final draft resolution to drop the word permanent from its demand that a Ramadan cease-fire should lead to a sustainable halt in fighting, apparently at the request of the United States. Russia complained that dropping the word could allow Israel to resume its military operation in the Gaza Strip at any moment after Ramadan and proposed an amendment to restore it. That amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum nine yes votes with three council members voting in favor, the United States voting against, and 11 countries abstaining. Since the start of the war, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire. More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The agency does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Gaza also faces a dire humanitarian emergency. A report from an international authority on hunger warned last week that famine is imminent in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territorys 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation. The United States has vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on Feb. 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire. Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in late October calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a cease-fire. They again vetoed a U.S. resolution Friday, calling it ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks. That vote became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the United States taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, even as tensions between the two countries rise. Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia and China on Monday of using the Gaza conflict as a political cudgel, to try to divide this council at a time when we need to come together. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Colleen Long in Washington and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III greets Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 18, 2023. Gallant was on is way to Washington on Sunday, March 24, 2024, to meet with Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior officials. (Chad J. McNeeley/Department of Defense) WASHINGTON Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is heading to Washington on Sunday, at a time of increasingly strained relations with his countrys main military backer and ally, as Israel continues to defy U.S. calls to reduce the suffering in Gaza. He is set to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior officials, the Israeli government said in a statement. Gallants visit, which the Israeli government said was at Austins invitation, comes after Blinken and Israeli leaders confronted one another over the trajectory of the war on Friday. On a trip to Tel Aviv, the top U.S. diplomat called on Israel not to invade the crowded city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, where nearly 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, warning that it risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardizing its long-term security. A separate Israeli delegation including Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and the head of the National Security Council, Tzachi Hanegbi, will also leave for Washington on Sunday, an Israeli official told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the schedule has not been made public. The visit was requested by President Biden so officials could hear U.S. concerns about Israels current Rafah planning and to lay out an alternative approach, Sullivan told reporters last week. On Sunday, Vice President Harris told ABCs This Week that any military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake, adding that the Biden administration had made that point clear in multiple conversations and in every way. Israel has proposed moving displaced families in Rafah to humanitarian islands in other parts of the enclave. Harris said she had studied the maps and there is nowhere for those people to go. Asked whether there would be consequences from the United States for an Israeli operation in Rafah, she said, I am ruling out nothing. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the nation late Sunday on the Jewish holiday of Purim, said: It is impossible to defeat the sheer evil [of Hamas] by leaving it intact in Rafah. We will enter Rafah and achieve total victory. Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued in other parts of southern Gaza on Sunday. The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet, Israels military intelligence agency, launched an operation in the al-Amal neighborhood in Khan Younis, the IDF said in a statement. The operation involved airstrikes on about 40 targets, including military compounds and underground tunnels, the statement said. The IDF said its troops were encircling the area and continuing to eliminate militants. Israeli forces were also operating in northern Khan Younis, in the al-Qarara area, the IDF said, saying troops killed militants with tanks and conducted airstrikes targeting facilities that it said were used by Hamas for weapons storage. The Post could not independently verify the reports. Fighting was also reported near health facilities in Khan Younis. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Sunday that Israeli forces were besieging al-Amal Hospital. The organization said Israeli forces were using bulldozers and smoke bombs around the hospital while demanding via drones that everyone inside evacuate. Earlier, the PRCS said one of its emergency services volunteers was killed at dawn by Israeli gunfire; before his death, the group said, the volunteer had reported intense and continuous shelling around the facility, as well as continuous gunfire. The Post could not independently verify the claims. The IDF said it was not currently operating in hospitals in the al-Amal area and called on Hamas to cease using hospitals and other civilian infrastructure as shields. Gazas Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In Gaza City, Israel said its raid of al-Shifa Hospital continued Sunday. The nearly week-long military operation has prompted alarm from global health officials and increasingly desperate appeals from patients and displaced residents trapped in the medical complex. Health services at al-Shifa, once Gazas largest and best-equipped hospital, were only recently restored to minimal levels, the World Health Organization said, after an Israeli attack on the facility in November. The Israeli military said its forces have apprehended 480 suspects in the latest raid and have located weapons and stockpiles of cash in the hospital. Heres what to know Israel told the United Nations it will no longer approve U.N. Relief and Works Agency food convoys to the north, said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA. This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine, he wrote on X. Israel has denied restricting aid to Gaza. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the decision amounted to denying starving people the ability to survive, and called on it to be urgently reversed amid warnings the enclave faces an imminent famine. More than a dozen Democratic senators are calling on the Biden administration to reject Israels claim that it has not been violating international law by restricting humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel sent assurances last week that its usage of U.S.-supplied weapons employed in Gaza had not violated international or U.S. laws. The State Department is working to assess whether Israels assurances are credible and reliable. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated pleas for a cease-fire during a visit to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Saturday. I want Palestinians in Gaza to know: You are not alone, Guterres told reporters. On Friday, Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution at the U.N. Security Council that set out the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza. At least 32,226 people have been killed and 74,518 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamass Oct. 7 attack and says 252 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza. Lior Soroka and Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to this report. Kari Lake, a close ally of former president Donald Trump who is seeking the Senate seat in Arizona, was the target of a deepfake ad created by an online news site. (Thomas Simonetti for The Washington Post) Hank Stephenson has a finely tuned B.S. detector. The longtime journalist has made a living sussing out lies and political spin. But even he was fooled at first when he watched the video of one of his home states most prominent congressional candidates. There was Kari Lake, the Republican Senate hopeful from Arizona, on his phone screen, speaking words written by a software engineer. Stephenson was watching a deepfake an artificial-intelligence-generated video produced by his news organization, Arizona Agenda, to underscore the dangers of AI misinformation in a pivotal election year. When we started doing this, I thought it was going to be so bad it wouldnt trick anyone, but I was blown away, Stephenson, who co-founded the site in 2021, said in an interview. And we are unsophisticated. If we can do this, then anyone with a real budget can do a good enough job that itll trick you, itll trick me, and that is scary. As a tight 2024 presidential election draws ever nearer, experts and officials are increasingly sounding the alarm about the potentially devastating power of AI deepfakes, which they fear could further corrode the countrys sense of truth and destabilize the electorate. There are signs that AI and the fear surrounding it is already having an impact on the race. Late last year, former president Donald Trump falsely accused the producers of an ad, which showed his well-documented public gaffes, of trafficking in AI-generated content. Meanwhile, actual fake images of Trump and other political figures, designed both to boost and to bruise, have gone viral again and again, sowing chaos at a crucial point in the election cycle. Now some officials are rushing to respond. In recent months, the New Hampshire Justice Department announced it was investigating a spoofed robocall featuring an AI-generated voice of President Biden; Washington state warned its voters to be on the lookout for deepfakes; and lawmakers from Oregon to Florida passed bills restricting the use of such technology in campaign communications. And in Arizona, a key swing state in the 2024 contest, the top elections official used deepfakes of himself in a training exercise to prepare staff for the onslaught of falsehoods to come. The exercise inspired Stephenson and his colleagues at the Arizona Agenda, whose daily newsletter seeks to explain complex political stories to an audience of some 10,000 subscribers. They brainstormed ideas for about a week and enlisted the help of a tech-savvy friend. On Friday, Stephenson published the piece, which included three deepfake clips of Lake. It begins with a ploy, telling readers that Lake a hard-right candidate whom the Arizona Agenda has pilloried in the past had decided to record a testimonial about how much she enjoys the outlet. But the video quickly pivots to the giveaway punchline. Subscribe to the Arizona Agenda for hard-hitting real news, the fake Lake says to the camera, before adding: And a preview of the terrifying artificial intelligence coming your way in the next election, like this video, which is an AI deepfake the Arizona Agenda made to show you just how good this technology is getting. By Saturday, the videos had generated tens of thousands of views and one very unhappy response from the real Lake, whose campaign attorneys sent the Arizona Agenda a cease-and-desist letter. The letter demanded the immediate removal of the aforementioned deep fake videos from all platforms where they have been shared or disseminated. If the outlet refuses to comply, the letter said, Lakes campaign would pursue all available legal remedies. A spokesperson for the campaign declined to comment when contacted on Saturday. Stephenson said he was consulting with lawyers about how to respond, but as of Saturday afternoon, he was not planning to remove the videos. The deepfakes, he said, are good learning devices, and he wants to arm readers with the tools to detect such forgeries before theyre bombarded with them as the election season heats up. Fighting this new wave of technological disinformation this election cycle is on all of us, Stephenson wrote in the article accompanying the clips. Your best defense is knowing whats out there and using your critical thinking. Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who studies digital propaganda and misinformation, said the Arizona Agenda videos were useful public service announcements that appeared carefully crafted to limit unintended consequences. Even so, he said, outlets should be wary of how they frame their deepfake reportage. Im supportive of the PSAs, but theres a balance, Farid said. You dont want your readers and viewers to look at everything that doesnt conform to their worldview as fake. Deepfakes present two distinct threat vectors, Farid said. First, bad actors can generate false videos of people saying things they never actually said; and second, people can more credibly dismiss any real embarrassing or incriminating footage as fake. This dynamic, Farid said, has been especially apparent during Russias invasion of Ukraine, a conflict rife with misinformation. Early in the war, Ukraine promoted a deepfake showing Paris under attack, urging world leaders to react to the Kremlins aggression with as much urgency as they might show if the Eiffel Tower had been targeted. It was a potent message, Farid said, but it opened the door for Russias baseless claims that subsequent videos from Ukraine, which showed evidence of Kremlin war crimes, were similarly feigned. I am worried that everything is becoming suspect, he said. Stephenson, whose backyard is a political battleground that lately has become a crucible of conspiracy theories and false claims, has a similar fear. For many years now weve been battling over whats real, he said. Objective facts can be written off as fake news, and now objective videos will be written off as deep fakes, and deep fakes will be treated as reality. Researchers like Farid are feverishly working on software that would allow journalists and others to more easily detect deepfakes. Farid said the suite of tools he currently uses easily classified the Arizona Agenda video as bogus, a hopeful sign for the coming flood of fakes. However, deepfake technology is improving at a rapid rate, and future phonies could be much harder to spot. And even Stephensons admittedly sub-par deepfake managed to dupe a few people: After blasting out Fridays newsletter with the headline Kari Lake does us a solid, a handful of paying readers unsubscribed. Most likely, Stephenson suspects, they thought Lakes endorsement was real. Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant during a meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, in October 2023. (Chad J. McNeeley/Defense Department) Tensions rose sharply between the United States and Israel on Monday, as Tel Aviv abruptly canceled a high-level visit to Washington after the Biden administrations decision to permit passage of a United Nations resolution demanding an unconditional halt to fighting in Gaza. The administration, facing mounting global pressure over U.S. support for Israels military operation against Hamas militants, abstained in a vote on a U.N. Security Council measure calling for an immediate cease-fire, the first of its kind that Washington has not vetoed. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by calling off this weeks planned visit by a senior delegation whom U.S. officials had invited to discuss plans for an expected operation into the southern city of Rafah. Israeli officials have described it as a necessary final step in disabling Hamas, but critics have warned that such a push would be a perilous blow to civilians trapped amid the fighting and beset by hunger and disease. Mondays episode underscores the extent to which Israels campaign against Hamas has plunged historic allies into crisis and worsened underlying divisions between President Joe Biden and Netanyahus far-right government, which has rejected with increasing defiance the long-standing U.S. goal of a securing a two-state solution to the long-running Palestinian conflict. The U.S. abstention on the resolution, which also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza, marked a significant shift for the administration. Since the beginning of hostilities last fall, the United States has repeatedly provided diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations, where Israeli officials have argued that a cease-fire would allow Hamas time to regroup. Conditions in the Palestinian enclave have become catastrophic a crisis aid officials describe as unparalleled in decades. As the United Nations warns of imminent famine, local health authorities say that more than 30,000 people have died since Israel began its military response to Hamass cross-border attack Oct. 7 that killed at least 1,200 and resulted in the taking of 253 hostages. Aaron David Miller, a veteran U.S. diplomat who is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the U.S. abstention would diminish Washingtons leverage over Israel and make it harder to secure its goals of enabling greater entry of aid and protections for civilians. Analysts say Netanyahus bellicose rhetoric regarding a potential Rafah operation and now, potentially, his decision to lash out at Washington is aimed in large part at his domestic constituency. Biden has his own political concerns as he accelerates his campaign to secure a second term and attempts to manage growing dissatisfaction among Democrats with his handling of the war. Its part of a new sort of dance routine, perhaps by both sides, Miller said. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the decision to cancel the Israeli delegations visit had perplexed top U.S. officials. He also downplayed the significance of Mondays vote at the U.N. Security Council, where the new measure passed 14-0. There is no reason for this to be seen as some sort of escalation, Kirby told reporters. Nothing has changed about our policy. We still want to see a cease-fire. We still want to get all hostages out. And we still want to see more humanitarian assistance get in to the people of Gaza. In a March 18 call, Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a senior interagency team that could listen to U.S. concerns about Israels planned push into Rafah, where nearly 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. Despite the delegations cancellation, previously scheduled talks went ahead Monday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. A meeting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected Tuesday. The State Department said that Blinken, in his meeting with Gallant, emphasized that alternatives exist to a major ground invasion that would both better ensure Israels security and protect Palestinian civilians. Sullivan said he conveyed to Gallant Bidens ironclad support for Israels right to defend itself against Hamas and other threats, including Iran. In a social media post, Sullivan said that Gallant committed to taking additional steps to mitigate the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Israeli government said the discussion with Sullivan was focused on efforts to free Israeli hostages and to defeat Hamas. We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza, Gallant said before those talks, according to an Israeli government statement. The Gaza crisis has left the United States, which has sent more than 100 weapons deliveries to Israel since the war began, increasingly isolated on the world stage. That has been particularly apparent at the United Nations, where the United States has vetoed three previous cease-fire resolutions and failed to secure passage of its own that tied a stop to the fighting to the release of hostages. Mondays measure, supported by Russia and China, separated the two provisions as independent demands. The resolution says the cease-fire should start immediately and last throughout Ramadan, Islams holy month of fasting, which began earlier this month, and lay the groundwork for a sustainable end to the war. In explaining the abstention, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States did not agree with everything in the resolution. While we fully support some of the objectives, she said, we believe it was important to speak out and make clear that any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages. On Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris told ABC Newss This Week that any military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Asked whether there would be consequences from the United States for an Israeli operation in Rafah, she said, I am ruling out nothing. Netanyahu, addressing the nation late Sunday on the Jewish holiday of Purim, said that it is impossible to defeat the sheer evil [of Hamas] by leaving it intact in Rafah. We will enter Rafah and achieve total victory. Despite mounting public criticism from U.S. leaders, Biden administration officials so far appear unwilling to use the most direct leverage they have, which would involve imposing conditions on the supply of U.S. military equipment to Israel. During a visit to Tel Aviv on Friday, Blinken was asked repeatedly whether the United States might halt or slow aid to Israel if it invades Rafah or if the conflict continues, and each time he said he would not speculate about hypotheticals. While U.S. officials acknowledge that Israel has taken some steps to better facilitate the entry of aid into Gaza, they say much more must be done and add that Israel has not yet presented a concrete plan for its Rafah operation. The administration had intended to discuss the operation this week during the Israeli delegations planned visit and share advice from top U.S. counterterrorism experts based on experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the campaign against the Islamic State. Its now unclear how and when that guidance will be communicated. Fighting raged for a seventh day on Monday in northern Gaza, where the hunger crisis is most acute, as the Israel Defense Forces said it was continuing operations in the area of al-Shifa Hospital. The IDF has cast that mission as advancing its goal of destroying Hamas, reporting that more than 150 people the IDF said were terrorists have been killed and that hundreds of suspects have been detained since the operation began. In a statement, the IDF said that fighting was taking place within the hospital buildings and that many weapons had been discovered inside the maternity ward. The claims could not immediately be verified. But global health officials have voiced horror at the conditions faced by medics and patients trapped inside the facility. Citing an unidentified doctor, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, said Friday that 50 health-care workers and 143 patients were trapped in one building with extremely limited food and water and a single nonfunctional toilet. He reported that many of the patients were in critical condition and lying on the floor. Hossam, a 28-year-old man trapped with dozens of relatives inside an apartment building near the hospital, said the sounds of fighting were constant. He asked that his surname be withheld citing concerns for his safety. From their building high above the hospital, Hossam reported seeing tanks in the courtyard of the medical complex, while the bulldozers carry out continuous sweeping operations of the streets and neighboring houses. While Israel has proposed moving displaced families in the southern city of Rafah to humanitarian islands in other parts of the enclave, it is unclear how that would work in practice. Fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas militants has continued to rage in areas that were once designated as safe zones. Civilians, most of them displaced multiple times, say there is no place left in Gaza that is truly safe. Loveluck and Birnbaum reported from London. Shane Harris and John Hudson in Washington, Hajar Harb and Annabelle Timsit in London, Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv, Rachel Pannett in Sydney, and Sarah Dadouch in Beirut contributed to this report. YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. The visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan to Latin America continues. On March 25-26, Minister Mirzoyan is paying an official visit to the Republic of Argentina, according to the Spokesperson of MFA of Armenia. Within the framework of the visit, Minister Mirzoyan will have a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship of Argentina Diana Mondino. Meetings with other high-ranking officials are also scheduled. Discussions with representatives of think tanks and leading media are also included in the agenda. Devotees of TikTok, Mona Swain, center, and her sister, Rachel Swain, right, both of Atlanta, pose with a sign at the Capitol in Washington, March 13, 2024. TikTok's extensive lobbying campaign is the latest tech industry push since the House passed legislation that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn't sell its stake. TikTok has been urging its users to call their representatives. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP) WASHINGTON The young voices in the messages left for North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis were laughing, but the words were ominous. OK, listen, if you ban TikTok I will find you and shoot you, one said, giggling and talking over other young voices in the background. Ill shoot you and find you and cut you into pieces. Another threatened to kill Tillis, and then take their own life. Tilliss office says it has received around 1,000 calls about TikTok since the House passed legislation this month that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesnt sell its stake. TikTok has been urging its users many of whom are young to call their representatives, even providing an easy link to the phone numbers. The government will take away the community that you and millions of other Americans love, read one pop-up message from the company when users opened the app. Tillis, who supports the House bill, reported the call to the police. What I hated about that was it demonstrates the enormous influence social media platforms have on young people, he said in an interview. While more aggressive than most, TikToks extensive lobbying campaign is the latest attempt by the tech industry to head off any new legislation and its a fight the industry usually wins. For years Congress has failed to act on bills that would protect users privacy, protect children from online threats, make companies more liable for their content and put loose guardrails around artificial intelligence, among other things. I mean, its almost embarrassing, says Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., a former tech executive who is also supporting the TikTok bill and has long tried to push his colleagues to regulate the industry. I would hate for us to maintain our perfect zero batting average on tech legislation. Some see the TikTok bill as the best chance for now to regulate the tech industry and set a precedent, if a narrow one focused on just one company. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the House bill, which overwhelmingly passed 362-65 this month after a rare 50-0 committee vote moving it to the floor. But its already running into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on the best approach to ensure that China doesnt access private data from the apps 170 million U.S. users or influence them through its algorithms. Other factors are holding the Senate back. The tech industry is broad and falls under the jurisdiction of several different committees. Plus, the issues at play dont fall cleanly on partisan lines, making it harder for lawmakers to agree on priorities and how legislation should be written. Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has so far been reluctant to embrace the TikTok bill, for example, calling for hearings first and suggesting that the Senate may want to rewrite it. Were going through a process, Cantwell said. Its important to get it right. Warner, on the other hand, says the House bill is the best chance to get something done after years of inaction. And he says that the threatening calls from young people are a good example of why the legislation is needed: It makes the point, do we really want that kind of messaging being able to be manipulated by the Communist Party of China? Some lawmakers are worried that blocking TikTok could anger millions of young people who use the app, a crucial segment of voters in Novembers election. But Warner says the debate has shifted from talk of an outright ban a year ago to the House bill which would force TikTok, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., to sell its stake for the app to continue operating. Vice President Kamala Harris, in a television interview that aired Sunday, acknowledged the popularity of the app and that it has become an income stream for many people. She said the administration does not intend to ban TikTok but instead deal with its ownership. We understand its purpose and its utility and the enjoyment that it gives a lot of folks, Harris told ABCs This Week. Republicans are divided. While most of them support the TikTok legislation, others are wary of overregulation and the government targeting one specific entity. The passage of the House TikTok ban is not just a misguided overreach; its a draconian measure that stifles free expression, tramples constitutional rights, and disrupts the economic pursuits of millions of Americans, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul posted on X, formerly Twitter. Hoping to persuade their colleagues to support the bill, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have called for intelligence agencies to declassify information about TikTok and Chinas ownership that has been provided to senators in classified briefings. It is critically important that the American people, especially TikTok users, understand the national security issues at stake, the senators said in a joint statement. Blumenthal and Blackburn have separate legislation they have been working on for several years aimed at protecting childrens online safety, but the Senate has yet to vote on it. Efforts to regulate online privacy have also stalled, as has legislation to make technology companies more liable for the content they publish. And an effort by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to quickly move legislation that would regulate the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry has yet to show any results. Schumer has said very little about the TikTok bill or whether he might put it on the Senate floor. The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House, was all he would say after the House passed the bill. South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican who has worked with Schumer on the artificial intelligence effort, says he thinks the Senate can eventually pass a TikTok bill, even if its a different version. He says the classified briefings convinced the vast majority of members that they have to address the collection of data from the app and TikToks ability to push out misinformation to users. I think its a clear danger to our country if we dont act, he said. It does not have to be done in two weeks, but it does have to be done. Rounds says he and Schumer are still holding regular meetings on artificial intelligence, as well, and will soon release some of their ideas publicly. He says hes optimistic that the Senate will eventually act to regulate the tech industry. There will be some areas that we will not try to get into, but there are some areas that we have very broad consensus on, Rounds says. Tillis says senators may have to continue laying the groundwork for a while and educating colleagues on why some regulation is needed, with an eye toward passing legislation in the next Congress. It cant be the wild, wild west, Tillis said. Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report. Islamabad has decided to approach Washington to seek a waiver on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said on Monday. Pakistan will vigorously present its case and will try to seek exemption from US sanctions by presenting technical and political arguments, he said in an informal conversation with the media. In February this year, the caretaker government had decided to complete the gas line project in its territory under two phases and carved out a plan to first lay the 81km part of the pipeline from Gwadar, a point where Iran has already laid its part of the pipeline from the gas field. Iran has already extended the 180-day deadline till September 2024 to Pakistan. If Islamabad authorities fail to positively respond, Tehran will move Paris-based International Arbitration seeking a penalty of $18 billion. In todays media interaction, the petroleum minister said Pakistan will also engage in lobbying to obtain the US waiver to complete the much-delayed gas line project in its territory. Malik said the country will start construction on the gas pipeline project soon. The previous caretaker set-up decided against filing the application to obtain US waiver in view of the geopolitical situation, sources said. A ministerial oversight committee made decisions related to the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project, they added. The Biden administration has set a goal to prevent the construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline while also communicating to Islamabad about its red lines on Tehrans nuclear proliferation ambitions. We have warned them about our red lines, legislative, but also in terms of how we cooperate with Pakistan, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu told the Congressional panel during the Congressional hearing on Pakistan. If they get in bed with Iran, it will be very serious for our relationship, Lu said when Congressman Brad Schneider asked about the US messaging about Pakistans engagement with Tehran on security matters, especially in the context of mutual concerns of nuclear proliferation in Irans nuclear program. Iran and its relations with Pakistan, especially in terms of the planned gas-pipeline, remained a subject of interest for many members of the congressional panel at the hearing. The project has been facing delays since 2014. In January, Iran issued a third notice to Islamabad, renewing its intention to move the arbitration court for not laying the pipeline as part of the IP gas line project. He also hit out at what he said was a feminist agenda before saying some other taxi drivers were sick and he wouldnt trust them with young women in their vehicles. Lucas Bittencourt admits there could be an issue when he applies for a renewal Althought still on the road Lucas Bittencourt admits there could be an issue when he applies for a renewal A taxi man who told a female passenger she looked sexy before asking if she lived alone insists he is not a creep but says he wouldnt trust some other cab drivers with young women in their vehicles. Lucas Bittencourt (37), from Dominick Street in Dublin, was ordered to pay 1,600 to a female passenger as redress after Dublin District Court heard he subjected her to interrogation by repeatedly asking if she was single or lived alone and saying, You look sexy. Bittencourt pleaded guilty to using obscene and offensive language toward a passenger in Dublin on May 14 last year. Lucas Bittencourt The National Transport Authority prosecuted the case and withdrew a second count for acting in an offensive manner towards the woman on the same date. Bittencourt told the Sunday World this week that he has no recollection of making the comments but that he no longer speaks to women alone in his cab. Do I look like a creep to you? This is the most bizarre thing, he said. He also hit out at what he said was a feminist agenda before saying some other taxi drivers were sick and he wouldnt trust them with young women in their vehicles. He said: From what I see in [taxi] WhatsApp groups, some people are sick. They post murder videos and things like that. You wouldnt want your daughter to be in their cab. Lucas Bittencourt admits there could be an issue when he applies for a renewal Bittencourt said he pleaded guilty as he was advised he was going to lose the case and was told the second count would be withdrawn if he did. His barrister also sought to have the Probation Act applied, which would leave Bittencourt without a conviction. I was like yeah [Ill plead guilty], I just dont want to lose my licence. He told the Sunday World that he no recollection of dropping the woman from Rathmines to Northwood in Santry in the early hours of May 14 last year. I dont remember the girl. He said he cant imagine himself saying you look sexy to any passenger. Our reporter Alan speaks to Bittencourt It was a rugby night [Leinster v Munster] as well and as a taxi man its like driving through zombie land and you are trying to figure out who is not going to s**t on your taxi. Who is going to be sexy at 3am after a rugby night? There is no sexiness about anything driving a taxi at night. He later added: Its the whole feminist agenda thats whats going on here. Its OK, were trying to progress and I respect that, but at what cost? He said other taxi drivers have been mocking him in WhatsApp driver groups since the case was heard earlier this month. Some taxi men were laughing at me in WhatsApp groups and all that. I didnt even respond, but my rationale is that dont be laughing too ahead of time because it could happen [to you]. He then said he was on his way to install a camera in his vehicle in case any allegations are made against him in the future. Im late now for an appointment to put a camera in the taxi right now. I dont think I can legally record them talking but I probably still will so I can show it to the garda. Bittencourt said he usually likes to talk to passengers and feels he can help them with problems. Bittencourt in his taxi This is one of the last places where people can open up. Its really therapy for them and I feel the need to help people and I do it out of good heart and faith. A lot of people are depressed about issues. Everybody leaves the taxi happy and I think thats my duty. However, he said he has now changed how he behaves. Im extra careful now. It takes the joy out of my job. Every time youre just talking s**t but if its a girl by herself I just keep to myself [but think] maybe she needed to chat to somebody, maybe she is going through a lot of s**t in her life and maybe I could have been helpful but now I cant and I dont. Now on a busy night like Paddys Day, rather than saving the girl that was by herself and taking her home safely Im skipping her and Im getting the young lad and Im bringing him home instead. It takes the naturality away from the conversation. He said he is still currently allowed to drive a taxi. There could be an issue on the renewal. Its up in the air. I dont know. I dont think it will happen but if it does happen Ill have to fight it in court. At the hearing in Dublin District Court earlier this month, prosecutor Jason Teahan said the woman reported that she flagged down the taxi in the city centre and asked to be brought to Northwood. She had been in the back seat, and they chatted generally. Bittencourt said he was Brazilian, but the conversation became a bit more personal, and he started asking her, Do you live alone? before they arrived. When he reached her destination, he unbuckled his seat, turned and said: I thought you were single. Do you live alone? He repeated it a few times, and the woman was taken aback and felt a bit uncomfortable. Mr Teahan told the judge that Bittencourt, who has no previous convictions, then said, I didnt get a good look at you. He put the light on in the vehicle and told her, You look good; you look sexy. At this stage, she felt very uncomfortable and asked to pay the fare, and there was a little delay in that. Ultimately the fare was paid, and she got out of the taxi. She complained to NTA officer Anthony Carey, and he questioned Bittencourt, who made a general denial. He told the NTA he was sorry for any offence caused, although he could not recall the specifics of the trip. In court, his barrister said he was instructed to fully apologise on his clients behalf for the language used and any inappropriateness. He said he had a previously unblemished record. To consider the Probation Offenders Act, Judge Anthony Halpin said he required a 400 contribution toward the NTAs cost and 1,600 for the victim as redress for the harm she experienced, and he added: This court takes that very seriously. The defence said the driver agreed to pay but needed time. Judge Halpin said if Bittencourt had been convicted following a contested hearing, it could have been more severe for him, and he may have lost the right to drive a taxi. The case was adjourned to December to allow the driver time to raise the money. Holly Lane (34) sent the photo to the garda group with the message baby, got you this with a few other bits A GARDA who stole a cannabis exhibit from a colleagues locker and posted a picture of it on a Whatsapp group has been jailed for six months for drug supply and theft. Holly Lane (34) sent the photo to the garda group with the message baby, got you this with a few other bits after she took the cannabis while drunk and on duty at a city station, a court heard. Garda Lane had claimed she found the 70 exhibit on a desk where she was working, sent the picture as a bad taste joke and had no criminal intentions. Finding her guilty and sentencing her to nine months in prison with three months suspended, Judge John Hughes said Lane had been in a significant position of trust and power. She had denied theft, unlawful possession of the cannabis and having it for sale or supply at Dublin's Store Street garda station on December 12, 2021. A related charge of damaging another locker was dismissed. Garda Sergeant Colleen Doherty told Dublin District Court on the night, she became concerned when she was told Lane had been seen very unsteady on her feet. When found in the female changing rooms, Lane was quite dishevelled looking and her tie and shoes were wet. Sgt Doherty had no doubt Lane was intoxicated although she initially denied it. It was a delicate situation and the accused was removed to another room and the sergeant went to get her keys so she could not drive home. The sgt found a half bottle of vodka in Lanes bag in the changing room and a quarter bottle in her locker. Lane then said she had taken a sip of vodka but insisted she was not intoxicated. Sgt Doherty continued looking for the car keys and went to the community policing room where Lane said they might be in her folder. In the bag, the sergeant found a white plastic bag with a strong smell of cannabis and asked another garda is that what I think it is? Lane was not allowed to drive and was brought home. Sergeant Niall Godfrey said it was quite clear to him that Gda Lane was very intoxicated; he could smell alcohol from her and her speech was slurred. When walking in the corridor, she was so intoxicated she was banging off the wall, he said. Garda Philip Walsh said he had seized the cannabis exhibit from someone on the boardwalk around December 3 and put it into his files locker because there was an issue with the barcode printer for the drugs safe. On December 12, his locker appeared to have been rummaged through, files had been moved around and he noticed the cannabis was missing. In a statement, Lane said she had gone into the community policing office to work on files for her own drugs prosecutions. She said she took a spare evidence bag from an open locker because she did not have one. During the two hours she was there, she went to the female changing rooms and consumed vodka, she admitted. She said she had developed severe addiction issues due to stress and was completely overwhelmed with stress at the time. It was the second time she had consumed alcohol while on duty, she said. She was also taking prescribed anti-anxiety medication which exacerbated the effects of the alcohol. When she returned to the room, there was a white bag on the table which appeared to contain cannabis, she said. She took a photo of this and posted it to a garda Whatsapp "banter" group with the message got you this with a few other bits," she said. I was not in my right state of mind, she said, and the message was "ill-judged and in bad taste." She said she never removed the cannabis from the locker and it was not her intention to remove it from the station. I had no intention of engaging in any form of criminal activity, she said. In a follow-up interview, she said when she had her hand in the locker getting an evidence bag earlier, a number of items fell out. She said she had drunk a quarter of a shoulder of vodka and recalled being slightly intoxicated. When she returned, the bag of cannabis was on the table where she had been working, she said. She said after she picked it up she put it back on the desk and did not conceal it. Garda Peter Byrne said when he spoke to her in the community policing room, Lane was slurring her speech, somewhat incoherent and unable to support herself on the desk. She told him other members had been slagging her as she had sent a photo of cannabis to a Whatsapp group with a caption. She produced the item from a folder and told Gda Byrne she had meant to send the message to her girlfriend but sent it to the group in error. The court heard in subsequent replies, a colleague said thanks hun, itll go well with the rest of my products and Lane said calm down, its a joke. After she was found guilty, the court heard Lane had no previous convictions and came from a good family. She was addicted to alcohol and extremely stressed at the time but had got treatment and had been sober for a year, her barrister David Staunton said. Testimonials that speak well of her were presented to the court. Mr Staunton said there was no doubt Lane, who was already suspended from the gardai, would lose her career as a result of the conviction. Judge Hughes said Lane had been in a "significant position of trust, power and responsibility. He did not accept the proposition that the drugs were simply lying around in some slipshod fashion in the office. The judge suspended the final three months for two years, with conditional probation supervision and evidence of addiction counselling and treatment. Recognisances were set in the event of an appeal. Diarmuid Hayes (34) from Dublin admitted to a Belgian court last month that he hacked Mr Flanagans account. A former European parliamentary assistant has been handed 150 hours of community service after admitting to hacking Luke Ming Flanagans Twitter account. Diarmuid Hayes (34) from Dublin admitted to a Belgian court last month that he hacked Mr Flanagans account and posted a tweet referring to Irish Green Party candidate Saoirse McHugh skinny dipping. The tweet, posted on September 28, 2020, was shared from a third-party app known as TweetDeck without Mr Flanagans knowledge. According to RTE, Hayes told the court that he was upset with the MEP for not renewing his contract and published the controversial post as a joke after smoking cannabis. However, the court heard that the social media post had led to Luke Ming Flanagans family being put through hell and the MEP was forced to seek therapy due to the online backlash. According to the prosecutor, the post had been published in the early hours of the morning with a deliberate spelling mistake to make it look like the MEP had been drunkenly searching for photos. The court heard that it was a calculated act of revenge and that Diarmuid Hayes had knowingly thrown the MEPs honour to the dogs. Flanagan said that he did not accept Mr Hayes' apology, saying: Sorry doesnt add up. This was a cold, calculated and skilfully carried out attempt to destroy me. Hayes was charged with fraudulently intending to damage the reputation of Mr Flanagan and was this morning sentenced to 150 hours of community service at a hearing in the Palace of Justice in Brussels, The Irish Times reports. Judge Isabelle Jacquemin also handed him a fine of 5,000 and warned that he would face a 15-month prison sentence if he didnt comply with the community service order. You realised it would damage his reputation, you published it with the intention to damage his reputation and honour, she told Hayes at todays sentencing. You knew it would have very clear consequences. Ahead of the hearing, Flanagan posted on X, formerly Twitter, and said he was looking forward to getting the sentencing "over and done with. Afterwards, he wrote: Done and dusted. Destroyed his life. My family and I are now heading off to have pancakes and enjoy the sun. Intellexa Limited lists its Irish headquarters as operating out of the third floor of Ulysses House on Foley Street, Dublin 1. An international spyware firm sanctioned by the US government after its Predator software was allegedly used to spy on the phones of top officials has never had a physical presence in the building it claims as its Dublin headquarters. According to documents filed with the Companies Registry Office, Intellexa Limited lists its Irish headquarters as operating out of the third floor of Ulysses House on Foley Street, Dublin 1. It lists its sole company director as Sara Hamou, who gave an address at 19 Psaron Street in Limassol, Cyprus, and describes its principal as agents specialised in the sale of other particular products. Now, according to US Department of Treasury sanctions, similar to those imposed on the Kinahan cartel two years ago, it appears those products were, in fact, spyware software used in an attempt to hijack the phones of top US officials. Under the sanctions, the companys directors Tal Dalian and Sara Hamou have also been targeted. But when the Sunday World called to Ulysses House on Friday and spoke with building officials, the fact the building had been registered as Intellexas Irish headquarters was met with incredulity. A company of that name has never operated out of the third floor of this building, one worker said after we showed him the company documents. Ive worked here over 20 years and I see the post coming in every day. I dont recognise that company name at all. We also spoke to a staff member in the buildings management who repeated the assertion that neither Intellexa or Sara Hamou have any connection with the building. The sanctions announced on Tuesday last week accused Intellexa of the proliferation of commercial spyware and surveillance technologies around the world, including to authoritarian regimes. Intellexas spyware, known as Predator, has been used to covertly surveil US officials, journalists, and policy experts, Treasury said. The Predator spyware enables access to personal data stored on or transmitted through a phone, such as text messages or photos. Predator is the predecessor of the formidable Pegasus spyware, and has been found in at least 25 countries. Potential impacts include localised flooding, poor visibility and difficult travelling conditions. Five counties remain under a Status Yellow rain warning this morning as Met Eireann forecasts both sunny spells and scattered heavy showers. The alert remains in place for Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Galway until midday today. The national forecaster said: Heavy rain at times today for all of Kerry and for western parts of Cork, Limerick, Clare and Galway. Potential impacts include localised flooding, poor visibility and difficult travelling conditions. It will be mostly cloudy to begin today, with outbreaks of rain and drizzle becoming lighter and patchier through the day. Bright or sunny spells developing in the south, this afternoon but scattered showers too, some possibly heavy. Highest temperatures of seven to 10 degrees with mostly light to moderate variable winds, but with occasionally fresh easterly winds near eastern and northern coasts. Tonight will see some clearer breaks in west and southwest for a time, but becoming mostly cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle extending to most parts overnight. Areas of mist and fog too. Rain will become persistent and possibly heavy at times in southern and south-eastern counties towards dawn. Temperatures will dip to chilly lows of zero to five degrees, coldest where clear breaks occur. Winds becoming light to moderate northerly overnight. Cloudy with outbreaks of rain and drizzle to begin tomorrow. Some brighter breaks will develop in the south and east through the afternoon as the rain gives way to showers, some heavy with a chance of hail and thunder. Highest temperatures of six to nine degrees in light to moderate east to northeast breezes. Tuesday night will bring a mix of cloud and clear spells with showers or longer spells of rain. Some of the showers will be heavy and of hail. It will be another cold night with lows of zero to four degrees. Light to moderate easterly or variable winds, increasing fresh and gusty near coasts. Wednesday will be cold and blustery with widespread showers occasionally merging to longer spells of rain. Many of the showers will be heavy with hail and thunder possible, potentially falling as sleet on hills and mountains. Daytime temperatures will remain in single figures, ranging from four to eight degrees. Moderate to fresh and gusty south to southeast winds. Showers will become increasingly confined to coasts on Wednesday night with clear breaks developing. Blustery south-easterly winds will ease inland overnight. Lowest temperatures of zero to four degrees with a touch of frost possible. Thursday will be slightly warmer with highs of eight to 11 degrees with a mix of sunny spells and showers. Some of the showers could still be heavy with an ongoing chance of hail and thunder. Moderate to fresh and gusty south-westerly winds. Showers becoming isolated on Thursday night with clear breaks developing. The mercury will dip as low as two degrees overnight. Gusty south-westerly winds moderating inland, but continuing fresh to strong and gusty near coasts. Good Friday will see a mix of sunshine and showers again. Some of the showers could still be heavy with a continuing possibility of hail and thunder. Daytime temperatures will be slightly warmer with highs of nine to 12 degrees. Moderate to fresh and gusty southerly winds, strong on southern and western coasts. Met Eireann has said Easter weekend will be remaining unsettled but becoming milder. Evidence at her hearing alleged Marina Sologub had been spying for Russia in Ireland years before moving to Australia in 2020 An Irish citizen accused by Australian intelligence of being a Russian spy is fighting to prevent her deportation from the country. Last year Marina Sologub was declared a potential national security threat by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation because of her alleged Russian links. But this week it emerged she has sought to have the declaration reviewed in a tribunal hearing, according The Daily Telegraph in Australia. They reported that it was revealed in a closed hearing she tried to make friends with submarine workers in Adelaide while working in the space industry. Evidence at her hearing alleged she had been spying for Russia in Ireland years before moving to Australia in 2020. An ASIO officer told the tribunal that after Ms Sologub arrived in Australia she passed on information about her work to Russian officials via WhatsApp. She also had made friends with a submarine worker around the time of a major defence deal with the UK was announced. The officer told the hearing, that Ms Sologub remained a security threat because she could still act as a "talent scout" for Russia - despite her cover being blown, according the Telegraph. The assessment by the ASIO resulted in the cancellation of her visa and she now awaits deportation in an immigration detention centre, it was added. She was born in Kazakhstan and raised in Westmeath and Cork, where she studied at University College Cork. Ms Sologub worked at Irelands National Space Centre (NSC) in Cork as a business manager and travelled frequently to Russia. She completed work placements with former TDs, Bernard Allen and Willie Penrose and also worked for Irish Water and Bord Gais. In 2020 she moved to Australia on a distinguished talent visa, working for Deloitte consultants, then for a private space company and at the City of Marion Council in Adelaide. The Soviet-born, Cork-raised Irish citizen declared her innocence in a TV interview last year from a Melbourne detention centre. Ms Sologub repeatedly denied being involved in any foreign intelligence or espionage. "I'm not guilty of anything," she said. "I never worked for any spy and I never was a spy." Ms Sologub told Channel 9 she would prove her innocence even if she had to return to Ireland and get assistance from a human rights group. She has not been charged with any criminal offence but her visa allowing her to stay in the country was cancelled as a result of the ASIO assessment. Yulia Senyuk, known as her stage name Josephine Jackson, is an ambassador for Tytanovi Rehab. A Ukrainian porn star is fundraising for soldiers who have lost limbs in the war against Russia. Yulia Senyuk, known as her stage name Josephine Jackson, is an ambassador for Tytanovi Rehab, a Kyiv-based project aimed towards rehabilitating more than 30 amputees in the military. The 29-year-old, from Lviv in western Ukraine, participated in two photoshoots with Ukrainian soldiers in need of prosthetics earlier this year. The snaps will be included in a charity calendar, with proceeds going towards military amputee rehabilitation at the clinic. Senyuk said that she wanted to draw attention to the problem of rehabilitation after injuries because people forget about prosthetics when it comes to the war effort. Porn actress rehabilitates the military. Wow! she told Politico. I think I managed to attract attention because more people started collecting donations for prosthetics. She agreed to take part in the campaign after her friend suggested using her celebrity to platform the rehabilitation centre, posing for photos with the soldiers in a swimming pool. At first I did not know how to talk to them. But then I just decided to act normal and not focus unnecessary attention on their lost limbs, she said. I am in no way a professional rehab specialist, I just come and talk to them, distract them, tell anecdotes about my profession, that is so interesting to them. Senyuk, who works abroad, was criticised online for the immorality of her profession as making pornography is illegal in Ukraine. But veteran Anton Ivantsiv, who lost both hands and a leg in the battle for Bakhmut, defended her after taking part in the shoot. He told Politico: Thanks to her media persona, Yulia helped to draw attention to the problems of seriously injured people. She organised a donation campaign. Unfortunately, state programs cannot provide good prosthetics," adding that he doesnt care about her profession. "Yulia is Ukrainian and a patriot of her country, he added. President Vladimir Putin declared a national day of mourning after pledging to punish all those behind the attack Russia has swiftly charged two suspects after gunmen killed more than 130 people at a concert outside Moscow in the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades. President Vladimir Putin declared a national day of mourning after pledging to punish all those behind the attack on Friday evening, in which 137 people were killed, including three children, and 182 were injured. More than 100 people remain in hospital, some of them in a serious condition. Video footage showed a sombre-looking Putin lighting a candle at a church at his residence outside Moscow yesterday evening to honour those who died. Some survivors claimed emergency exits at Crocus City Hall, the 6,200-seat concert venue, were locked and that this prevented escape. Russian media have reported that more people may have died from smoke inhalation than gunshot wounds during the attack on Friday. A suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting is escorted by police officers into the Basmanny District Court in Moscow (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP) Some 28 bodies are thought to have been found in a toilet and another 14 in the stairwell of an emergency exit. Trapped people hiding from the gunmen reportedly called emergency services pleading to be rescued as thick smoke filled the building. A video shot by a survivor on his mobile phone showed people desperately rattling the handles of closed emergency exits as they tried to flee. This is a locked door, the survivor is heard telling his companion. In what appears to be a well-planned attack, the gunmen set fire to the building. Baza, a Telegram channel linked to the Russian security services, said that bodies piled up next to emergency exits that may have been blocked shut. In an interview with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, an unnamed survivor said that he had been forced to dash through the main entrance of the concert hall, where the gunmen had started their attack, because the fire exits would not open. We tried the fire escape ladder, but it was closed. People climbed the ladder, descended the ladder, all closed, he said. The issue of blocked or locked fire exits is sensitive in Russia. In 2018, more than 60 people died in a shopping mall fire in Siberia because the alarms had been turned off and the escape exits had been locked. The attack, responsibility for which has been claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group, is the deadliest on Russian soil in years. Some families still dont know whether relatives who went to the event attacked by gunmen on Friday are alive. Moscows department of health said yesterday that it has begun identifying the bodies of those killed via DNA testing, which will take at least two weeks. The Moscow regions ministry of emergency situations posted a video yesterday showing workers dismantling the damaged music venue to give rescuers access. Earlier yesterday, people laid flowers at Crocus City Hall, days after four armed men burst in just before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was to perform its hit Afraid of Nothing. The men fired their automatic weapons in short bursts at civilians who fell screaming. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Putin, who has yet to name those he thinks are responsible, has not publicly mentioned the Islamist militant group in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. He said that some on the Ukrainian side had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack. Moscows Basmanny district court has charged two suspects with acts of terrorism in connection with the attack, naming them as Dalerdzhon Barotovich Mirzoyev and Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, according to Moscow courts official Telegram channel. It said Mr Mirzoyev, a Tajik national, pleaded guilty to all charges and the court remanded him in pre-trial custody until May 22. Fridays attack was the deadliest on Russian territory since the 2004 Beslan school siege, when Islamist militants took hostage more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children. Across Moscow, billboards carried a picture of a single candle, the date of the attack and the words We mourn. In other cities, people laid flowers. Countries around the world have expressed horror at the attack and sent their condolences to the Russian people. Putin said 11 people had been detained, including the four suspected gunmen, who fled the concert hall and made their way to the Bryansk region, about 340km southwest of Moscow. They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border, Putin said. Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) said the gunmen had contacts in Ukraine and were captured near the border. Flowers are laid at the site of the killings Blindfolded and with their hands cuffed behind their backs, the suspects were taken to the Moscow headquarters of the Investigative Committee yesterday. Islamic State, the Islamist group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack in a Telegram statement from the groups Amaq agency. On Saturday night, Islamic State released on its Telegram channels what it said was footage of the attack. In video published by Russian media and Telegram channels with close ties to the Kremlin, one of the suspects said he was offered money to carry out the attack. I shot people, the suspect, his hands tied and his hair held by an interrogator, a black boot beneath his chin, said in poor and heavily accented Russian. When asked why, he said: For money. The man said he had been promised half a million roubles (almost 5,000). One was shown answering questions through a Tajik translator. Unverified footage posted to Russian Telegram channels appeared to show one of the suspects being tortured with electric shocks in detention. YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. With the declaration on the establishment of the strategic partnership signed between Armenia and Georgia, both countries have enhanced bilateral relations to a higher level, said the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze during a joint briefing with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held on Monday in Yerevan. ''The goal is to deepen cooperation, support peace and stability, and this declaration is based on our common principles and value systems, expressing our support for those values," Kobakhidze stated. He added that Armenia and Georgia have cooperated and maintained fraternal relations for centuries. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze added that during the discussions, they also addressed the existing cooperation between the two countries in political, transport, economy, tourism, and other fields, in various formats. The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced on Sunday. This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women dont have to miss out on school because of something as simple as having access to period products," says Stanford. The University of Otago has estimated that up to 95,000 young New Zealand women could be missing school because of a lack of access to period products. Young women deserve equal opportunities in education, which is why continuing this initiative is so important. All intermediate, kura and secondary schools will continue to be able opt-in to the scheme, which will continue to benefit around 200,000 students, says Stanford. Acting Minister for Women, Louise Upston, says this is a positive step in addressing period poverty. A lack of access to period products can be extremely stressful, disruptive and can impact students confidence while learning. For too long, periods have not been discussed openly. Its important conversations around our bodies are normalised, and part of this means ensuring young women can access the products they need, without feeling embarrassed, says Upston. Funding of $2.9 million is from within Ministry of Education baselines and provides certainty to schools and the young women who rely on the products being available. Chris Robinson needs our help. In June, 2023, he was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer, and he needs funds to get to the UK for lifesaving treatment. New Zealand offers treatment but it comes at a heavy price because it is not funded here. It would be more affordable to go to the UK as these treatments are funded there, says Chris. My father is a British national and Im able to get my citizenship. Chriss good friend Austin suggested creating a GiveaLittle page to raise funds to enable Chris to get lifesaving treatment. Chris says the money will go towards treatment and other amenities including airfares, transport and medical costs. Chris is a well-known Tauranga musician, playing on the scene since 2013. His father is a talented guitarist and inspired Chris to follow in his footsteps and become a musician too. I've done lots of local gigs in Tauranga including festivals like Loserpalooza and Woodcock. Even branched out to Auckland and Wellington with all my bands which also included Hard Throb and Slob. My greatest achievement is possibly the Tauranga Music Sux show which I conceived with my friend Austin Cunningham and were doing regular YouTube shows documenting the Tauranga punk scene." Chris says he started getting into music from a young age. "My mother bought me a guitar and that sparked my interest in learning more about playing. When I was a teenager I picked it up again as I got heavily inspired by classic rock. I have been playing in bands since my early 20s in both Wellington and Tauranga. I've been in the Tauranga music scene since 2013. I studied for my music diploma at the Bay Of Plenty Polytech and there I met my future bandmates for a variety of projects including The Flaming Tea Bags with local producer Evan Pope and my most well-known project the Diehards of Deep Dish which was a band that sung exclusively about the merits of pizza. I would even dress up as a slice of Margherita for these shows. Chris makes music from a large variety of genres. I love anything guitar-centred but have dabbled in electronic music. From classic rock to grunge and punk. I like music that has a message. Even if that message is just Im just here to have some fun' I'm a part of a band with my fiance called 'Chokeflower". Chris says his aspiration for the future is to lift Chokeflower off the ground by moving to the UK. Help Chris Robinson with his treatment for stage 3 Colorectal Cancer to prevent it from spreading further. To find out more and support Chris visit his GiveaLittle page here: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-chris-robinson-get-to-the-uk-to-find Calls are being put out to real-life superheroes to donate blood at one of the upcoming blood drives in the Bay of Plenty There are nine upcoming blood drives across the Bay of Plenty, from Katikati to Rotorua. Todays medical care depends on a steady supply of blood. As there is no substitute, we rely on the generosity of our volunteer donors, says Waikato and Bay of Plenty donor relations team leader Rachel Bowman. When you donate blood you could be saving a child with cancer, a pregnant women, an accident victim or someone going through surgery. There are nine upcoming blood drives across the Bay of Plenty. Photo supplied. Donating blood takes 5-10 minutes on the donor bed, but the whole process, including registration, a confidential interview and post-donation recovery, will take around 30-45 minutes. Rachel says when you donate, you will be giving 470ml of blood and you can donate every three months. When donating blood please avoid heavy exercise and hydrate prior to and post donation. It is our job to make sure hospitals have the right blood or blood product for any patient in need. To achieve this, we need to make sure we have good ethnic diversity amongst our donors, she says. Upcoming Bay of Plenty blood drives. Photo supplied. There are several misconceptions when it comes to being able to donate blood. Sexuality A persons sexual orientation does not affect their ability to donate. Deferrals for sexual behaviour are based on what a person does or has done, not their sexual orientation. Medication Medications do not affect your eligibility to donate, it is the underlying condition to why the medication has been prescribed that may. Pregnant women Blood donations are not collected from a pregnant woman to avoid any stresses on the mother's or baby's circulation, or on the mother's iron levels Following a full-term pregnancy, youll have to wait 9 months after giving birth before you may be eligible to donate blood or plasma. People with disabilities New Zealand Blood Service also known as NZBS has launched a new booking feature for deaf and hard-of-hearing New Zealanders donating at a fixed site donor centre. Blood and plasma donors will now be able to request a NZ Sign Language also known as NZSL interpreter to join them for future appointments. We welcome those donors who are vision impaired to bring along a support person. Vaccines The NZBS website provide a tool that donors can check www.nzblood.co.nz/become-a-donor/am-i-eligible/donating-after-travelling Inactivated vaccines (those which are not live) generally do not affect eligibility. These can include diphtheria, influenza (flu), hepatitis A, meningococcal, pertussis (whooping cough), pneumococcus, Q (query) fever, tetanus, human papillomavirus (also known as Gardasil) and others. Covid vaccine is a 24 hour stand down prior to donating. Medical conditions If you have mild asthma and require only occasional use of inhalers, or you are on a regular preventative treatment programme with inhalers and do not have active symptoms at the time, you can donate. If you have active symptoms, you will need to wait 28 days before donating. If you have severe asthma, it will not be possible for you to donate. Further information If a donor feels fatigued after donating blood, they may be a great candidate for donating plasma as the red cells are returned as part of the plasma donation process. If you are AB or B blood type, then we recommend plasma donations if you are near one of our donor centres. If you are A or O blood groups then we appreciate you donating blood as they are commonly in high demand, however if you are near a donor centre and can donate more frequently - then we'd love to see you donating plasma. Reports are coming in about a driver fleeing the scene after crashing into a lamp post. A police spokesperson says "police were advised at 12.50pm that a car had collided with a lamp post at the intersection of Taipari Street and Te Mutu Crescent. "The driver drove away immediately following the crash and Police will be making enquiries with the registered owner. "It looks like the lamp post was knocked down and is blocking a driveway. "The Council has been notified of that and should be arranging for its removal." At the scene? Phone 0800SUNLIVE or email newsroom@thesun.co.nz In a bid to bolster marine mammal rescue efforts, a freshly trained group of volunteers are now equipped with the vital skills needed to save stranded whales and dolphins. Project Jonah ran Marine Mammal Medic training sessions over the weekend at Sulphur Point, Tauranga, with around 35 people being trained across the two classes on Saturday and Sunday. Utilising life-size, life-weight inflatable models, participants were immersed in hands-on scenarios, preparing them to respond effectively to real-life emergencies along NZs coastal regions. Project Jonah marine mammal medic training session at Sulphur Point, Tauranga. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford. This innovative approach not only enhances preparedness but also underscores the organisations commitment to safeguarding these majestic creatures and their ocean habitats. The Project Jonah team has been traveling around the country to host these trainings for local volunteers, with the goal to increase the number of volunteers who can respond to strandings. We come to Tauranga once a year, says Project Jonah General Manager Daren Grover. The more people we train, the more people can be available. Project Jonah marine mammal medic training session at Sulphur Point, Tauranga. Photo: Project Jonah. The Project Jonah national office is in Nelson, with six trainers in Tauranga across three days of training. Three of the trainers came from Nelson, and one each from Wellington, Auckland and Northland. The trainers ran a class with marine students from Toi Ohomai on Thursday, followed by the two sessions for the public at Sulphur Point on Saturday and Sunday. We're always looking to get more people from the community involved and we usually catch some spectators taking photos mistaking them for real marine mammals from afar." Returning whales to the water isn't as simple as it sounds and a successful rescue often depends on properly trained volunteers. Project Jonah has pioneered whale rescue techniques, and have shared this technology and expertise with the rest of the world. Project Jonah marine mammal medic training session at Sulphur Point, Tauranga. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford. The whale and dolphin models used are life-size and life-weight giving the soon-to-be medics an important lesson. We fill them with water to give people as real experience as possible when responding in the future, says Daren. My dream goal is for every kiwi to know what to do if they find a stranded whale or dolphin on the beach. He says there are around 300 stranding incidents each year across New Zealand. These include single animal strandings, and dead whales when they come ashore. Currently Project Jonah has over 5000 people in their database they can call on, spread up and down the country, but Daren is keen for every Kiwi to learn the skills required to help. When there is a stranding we can reach out to our marine mammal medics, and they are first responders on site, and can work while we mobilise a full response. He says Golden Bay, Farewell Spit is a global hot spot for whale strandings. With a low human population in the area, and the isolated location, it can take at least two hours to drive to where the whales may be stranded. In the North Island, Mahia peninsula between Gisborne and Napier, and coastal locations in Northland have both had a higher frequency of strandings than other North Island places. Project Jonah marine mammal medic training session at Sulphur Point, Tauranga. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford. The Project Jonah team travels around New Zealand through the summer months, from late September through to April. Their next training sessions will be at Tutukaka Coast (Ngunguru) on Saturday, April 13, and Kerikeri on Sunday, April 14. These training sessions expand our roster of volunteer Marine Mammal Medics to respond to whale and dolphin strandings in their area, or to call on during the crisis of a mass stranding incident. The next training session in Tauranga is scheduled for March, 2025. Daren says anyone can become part of Project Jonah, or follow them on Facebook. If you have any concerns for whales or dolphins, immediately phone for help. We operate a 24-hour hotline. Project Jonah 24 Hour Stranding Hotline - 0800 4 WHALE (0800 4 94253) DOC Stranding Hotline - 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468) Daren says many phone calls are from people confusing seals with whales and dolphins. For more about Project Jonah, their mission and the one-day medic training course to go www.projectjonah.org.nz/medic/ To help with fundraising to support whale stranding response and rescue efforts click here Project Jonah marine mammal medic training session at Sulphur Point, Tauranga. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford. Police have now identified more than 40 witnesses who were at the scene of Sundays double-homicide in Gisborne. "We know there were about 100 people at this 21st birthday party when the altercation broke out, and were undertaking a thorough process to identify others who may be able to help," says Detective Inspector Dave de Lange. "There are still many people who were there on the night who will have seen or heard something." Detective Inspector Dave de Lange says if witnesses haven't yet spoken to Police, to please get in touch. "You might think you didnt see anything important, but even small details could be crucial to the investigation," says Detective Inspector de Lange. "Were also aware that videos were taken of the altercation and ask anyone with photos or footage to contact us as soon as possible." A scene examination at the address has been completed on Monday. The bodies of both victims were recovered from the scene on Sunday night and post-mortems will be carried out to establish cause of death. "We are working with the pathologist to ensure whanau are reunited with their loved ones as soon as possible. "Police liaison officers are supporting the victims whanau and making sure they are part of the process at this incredibly difficult time." A 29-year-old Gisborne man has appeared in the Gisborne District Court on Monday afternoon on a charge of injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Hes been remanded in custody and will reappear in April. Police continue to have a scaled-down presence at Gisborne Hospital to provide reassurance given the nature of these events. Three people remain in hospital, two are stable and one is in a critical condition. Police from across New Zealand are in Gisborne to support this investigation. "This is a very complex investigation, with dozens of witnesses to interview, but everyone involved remains committed to getting answers for the grieving whanau and their community," says Detective Inspector Dave de Lange. "Again, if you were at the address on the night, or have information that could assist, please get in touch with us as soon as possible." The inspector says reassurance patrols in the community are ongoing. "We know how difficult these events are for our community and how important it is for them to see us on the streets. "We do want to stress that this is not an incident involving rival gang factions." The inspector says that nevertheless, Gisborne Police continue to have a highly visible presence across the city, supported by their colleagues from other districts. "We would also like to thank our partner agencies, including Victim Support and the Council, for their support and assistance." If you have information, please get in touch with Police via 105, by phone or online at 105.police.govt.nz, clicking Update Report. Please reference the file number 240324/0768. Information can also be provided anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Half a century may have gone by, but a Christchurch memory lives on for a group of ex-Tauranga Boys' College students who found themselves cheering on a fellow Kiwi in an electrifying Commonwealth Games race in 1974. On Sunday, 50 years later, they finally got to meet their Timaru-based sporting hero, Dick Tayler, when they invited him to a lunch in his honour at Tauranga's Harbourside Restaurant. It was Tom [Roper]s idea to have a reunion whether Dick could come or not, says Bruce Simister. Getting Dick was a bonus. Sunday was the first time Richard John Tayler, now aged 75, had met his mostly Tauranga-based fans. We didnt think he would be able to make it. We insisted that he come and he says he was happy that he did, says Bruce. Tayler, Tayler, Tayler the Tauranga lads, sideburns and statutory red hats, willing our man home in the 10,000 metres in 1974. From left: Adrian Brady, Bruce Simister, Gordon Yates, Wayne Ruegg, Don Hall, Ross Percy, Brian Hamill. Tom Roper was the photographer. The group of seven was once a group of ten mates who had gone to the 10th Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, finding themselves mesmerised by the sight of Dick striding around the track. We were at QE11 Park that first day of competition and the atmosphere was absolutely electric, says Tom. We never met him in 74, says Bruce. But we did egg him on during the race calling Tayler Tayler Tayler. He says he remembers hearing us. Bruce says there were seven of the original 10 at the lunch with Dick on Sunday. The 10,000 metres took 27 minutes 46.4 seconds in 1974 a new New Zealand record. Dick Tayler, in the black singlet, going for glory working his way through the field in the 1974 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres event. Bruce says Sundays lunch was nearly four hours of laughing and joking. Dicks an incredible guy the way he can talk. And the stories. He had us laughing all the time. Wed heard he was a good story teller but we were astonished by his storytelling. There were stories and jokes he was world class. Dick kept talking and everyone had a magnificent day. Getting him here was a privilege for all of us, says Bruce. Regina Sotorrio Monday, 25 March 2024, 18:57 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram They are 157 kilometres apart and it would take over two hours by car to get from one to another. Although on opposite sides of Malaga province, more things unite them than separate them: these two projects have turned contemporary art into a driving force for change in the rural environment. One is in Genalguacil, the other in Villanueva del Rosario. Both villages are now building a connection through 'Rara, un Paseo Por lo Rural' (Rara, a Walk Through the Rural Environment), an exhibition in Genalguacil - the Ronda village known for its street art - containing a few of the cultural offers produced in Rara Art Residency, an initiative established four years ago by Veronica Ruth Frias and Cyro Garcia in the northeast of Malaga province. Alliance is a natural step. "It would be foolish not to join forces. If we don't look at each other and work together, we would be doing the same thing that big cities do to us: leave us out," says Cyro Garcia. Both projects have shown that placing contemporary art in the centre combats depopulation, revives town life and inspires creativity. While Genalguacil prepares the 30th anniversary of its Encounters with Art festival in August (when invited artists work in the village streets and leave their pieces on display), Rara Art Residency moves to the Genal valley with a selection of works based on its village, Villanueva del Rosario, and its residents. To begin with, the exhibition space in Genalguacil recreates the atmosphere of Rara Art Residency, where artists go to live and work. One work features the blue Elizabethan sofa, which has become an icon of Rara, as well as a mural of pink clouds, created just for this exhibition. The over 30 exhibitions that have taken place in this space are also on display, shown on more than 30 magazine covers. The first part includes a piece by Encarna Cortes, who made one of Rara's magazines using a 3D pencil technique; and, Vanessa Morata's painting, which combines elements of the house in her millennial universe. Moreover, some rooms take the form of mockups by Isabel Rosado: structures that she photographed as her final work, but which here are shown to be part of the artist's creative process. Villanueva's landscape is represented by the ecoprints of Pilar Bandres, Rara's first member. The artist uses natural pigments from local plants to create enigmatic images on overlapping fabrics. And the most unique corners of the town appear in Sara Gema's installation, a sort of scrapbook about her honeymoon in Villanueva del Rosario: she married art there. There is the work of Alejando Benito, now a resident of Villanueva del Rosario and a creator of sculptures using objects, ceramics and other materials collected from bins or donated by residents. The exhibition also features the art of Judas Arrieta, who left his mark on the Sierra Norte district of Malaga province in the form of a mural, painted in a children's park with the collaboration of the locals, the style of which is tied to the iconography of manga and Japanese anime. An explosion of colour that it shares with the exhibition's wildest project yet: a video of Villanueva del Rosario's first fashion week, made by Aleksandar Todorovic, exploring a mix of aesthetics from the bullfighter and the gym, with fluorescent colours and reminiscences of kitsch, which took over the town hall square. Judith Borobio contributes a piece to the Genalguacil exhibition which is similar to the one she created for the market in Villanueva; it is a mural that appeals to collective memory through the imprint of textures and shapes that residents themselves have made along with the artist. These same residents will also be able to leave their most intimate secrets in writing in Violeta Niebla's letterbox, the same one in which the poet collected the confessions of the people of Villanueva del Rosario. As a testament to the visit of creator and activist Quan Zhou, her last graphic essay 'La agriDolce vita' is on display, a work she began writing during her time at Rara. A multidisciplinary centre where all art has its place, live art included. The exhibition opened with a performance by Niche Ramirez. Ignacio Lillo Malaga Monday, 25 March 2024, 23:17 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram If more hybrid and electric cars are being sold, it would make sense that fuel consumption and sales should fall. But that is not the case, as ever since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, spending on fuels has been increasing steadily throughout Malaga province. Last year marked a decade high, second only to the year before the coronavirus health crisis, in 2019. According to data from the latest report by the Corporacion De Reservas Estrategicas De Productos Petroliferos (CORES), from last year until March 2024, 803,496 tonnes of the two products most in demand by the automotive industry were sold: 95-octane unleaded petrol and diesel A. This is just 13,000 tonnes fewer than in 2019 (816,637). But the report draws more conclusions. In the case of 95-octane petrol, last year the record was beaten, with 219,148 tonnes consumed, surpassing the previous record set in 2005. Despite a decline in the sale of diesel cars, the vehicle fleet is still the most popular when filling up across Malaga province service stations. Diesel downwards On the other side of the scale, data shows the consumption trend is headed downwards, especially in the case of diesel, but much slower than expected amid growing demands to decarbonise. As a result, 13,877 fewer tonnes of diesel fuel were sold in 2023 than in the previous year. In addition, January 2024 has started with a decrease: 8% less than in the same month of 2019. It is also true that the figures are much lower than in the record year, which was 2007: the province has stopped burning 97,174 tonnes in these 16 years. 219,148 tonnes of 95-octane petrol fuel were sold in 2023, the all-time record since 2005. "Consumption is at the same level as before the pandemic, although business sales are not", said Alvaro Fontes, president of the Andalusian Association of Fuel Retailers. This is explained by the competition from low-cost service stations, which have increased in recent years. "It is true that in general the market has recovered quite a lot, although not as much as before the pandemic," he pointed out. For Fontes, "consumption is increasing due to the growth of the economy, but in the future, due to energy diversification with electric cars, hydrogen and synthetic fuels, and due to increased competition in the sector, our business will have a long decline". "The arrival of energy alternatives is going to be slower and more complex than what is politically intended," he added. The increase in internet shopping has multiplied the number of delivery van fleets, most of which use diesel For this reason, the president of Agavecar downplayed the decline in sales as a result of the emergence of electric and hybrid vehicles. "We are more affected by internal competition in the sector than by energy alternatives, which have more to do with media and political repercussions than with reality," Fontes said. Agavecar manager Ignacio Fernandez said: "Consumption has increased, but it is not enough to recover the pre-pandemic level, losses are at just over 8%. The feeling is that it will never recover due to the entry of new energies and the change in consumer habits, many consumers no longer take the car," he said. Older vehicles Despite the boom in public transport (which beat a record of almost 100 million passengers last year) and the arrival on the market of more "ecological" alternatives, Malaga province's vehicle fleet is one of the oldest in Spain, with an average of 15 years and seven months old, according to DGT data. These have a much higher fuel consumption than newer cars. There are 1,407,209 vehicles registered in the province, mostly petrol (695,428) and diesel (688,303), while only 3% are hybrids and electric vehicles. 13,877 tonnes less diesel were sold in 2023, marking a downward trend. "The first lever to decarbonise the fleet, which we need as a society and which the EU obliges us to do, is to remove older vehicles from circulation. A fleet that is more than 14 years old, as is already the case in our country, is incompatible with reducing CO2 emissions," warned Jose Ignacio Moya, director general of Faconauto. Low sales This is compounded by high prices and uncertainty about the future of the engines. Dual engines (petrol and electric) are becoming more accepted as they are considered practical and their prices more moderate. But pure electrics are not getting off the ground, because of how expensive they are, widespread mistrust about their range and a scarcity of charging points. The sale of eco cars is hardly noticeable for the moment in the accounts of Malaga's petrol stations The balance of registrations last year in Malaga province makes this clear. By fuel type, while hybrids and electrics are growing, pure petrol and diesel still account for slightly more than half (50.7% compared to 49.3%). Last year, 9,847 petrol vehicles were registered (-5.5% less than in 2022); 1,787 diesel (-36.4%), and 11,309 of the so-called "ecological" cars (+30.4%), according to data from Malaga Automotive Association (AMA). When there is a trade-in, many of them do not go out of date, but change hands: the second-hand market is three times the size of the new market and vehicles that are passed on are on average 13.4 years old. Logistics make the difference Antonio Ruiz, an entrepreneur in the fuel sector with businesses in Malaga and Seville, focuses on an activity that is booming and highly dependent on oil: "There is a phenomenon that we observe, and that is that the business that has grown the most in Spain is logistics, due to online purchases". "These vans are almost all diesel. Parcel delivery companies spend a lot on diesel because more and more people are buying online," he added. Other factors Ruiz pointed to is a general trend towards more luxurious, SUV-type cars, which consume more; and the increase in tourism. "On the Costa del Sol there are many petrol stations and they are usually full: not only the 'low-cost' ones, they are all selling as they did 20 years ago," he said. An example of the situation experienced in Malaga city and along the Costa del Sol is the Coloso group, which last year opened two new petrol stations. Its owner, Antonio Velarde, said consumption remains "stable". "There is more movement and a good Easter week is expected, but the figures are the same as always," he said. In his opinion, the impact of hybrids and electric cars is not yet being felt: "If they account for 8% of the total market, sales are down by around 7%, but it is not a very noticeable drop". "It is hardly noticeable, it could be attributed to any other factor, not just the electric car," Velarde added. He said the weather has the greatest influence on fuel consumption in Malaga province. "The better the weather on the Costa del Sol, the more we move, we depend a lot on that," he said. Population in greater Malaga Strong population growth in the municipalities of greater Malaga is another factor. In the decade from 2012 to 2022 there has been a boom, both in the Axarquia towns closest to Malaga city (mainly Rincon de la Victoria, Velez-Malaga and Torre del Mar), and in the Guadalhorce valley. Figures from Spain's INE national statistics institute shows in the eastern area almost 15,000 new residents have been registered in ten years, of which Rincon has gained 9,353 (up to 50,569); and Velez, 5,432 (83,899) - that's 11% more. And the trend is set to continue. The INE's demographic forecasts indicate Malaga will be the second fastest growing province in the country, only behind Madrid. What's worse: for these residents there are no public transport alternatives, and they depend on cars to get to and from work, almost always in Malaga city, which ends up being many kilometres a day. Pilar Martinez Malaga Monday, 25 March 2024, 15:07 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Finnair is strengthening its commitment to the Costa del Sol by adding two flights a day between Malaga and Helsinki in July and August. It opens up even more destinations in addition to the Finnish capital, with Helsinki Airport a hub that connects to many of the Asian capitals, such as Delhi, Tokyo, Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul, as well as New York and Los Angeles, among other destinations in the United States. For the rest of the high season, which will start on 31 March, there will be just one daily flight between Malaga and Helsinki. "Finnair is reinforcing its operations in Spain, with more frequencies and routes connecting Spanish airports with Helsinki, the capital of Finland and the airline's hub," it said. It will maintain its daily operations from Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga where there will be a double daily flight in the weeks of greatest demand in July and August, it added. The airline will also operate three flights a week between Alicante and Helsinki and a weekly flight between Palma and the Finnish capital, Finnair announced. For yet another summer, the airline, which began operating in 1964 at the Costa del Sol airport, has made Malaga the destination with the most scheduled flights in Spain. The first Finnair flight landed in Barcelona in 1964 as a stopover on a flight between Helsinki and Malaga, carrying Finns eager to lap up the Andalusian sun. "Today, of the 57 European destinations served by this centenary airline, nine are in Spain," the airline said. Finnair currently operates more than 90 routes around the world, making Helsinki a key stopover as a gateway to Asia. "In Europe, Finnair flights are a perfect option from Spain to Nordic holiday destinations such as Oslo, Bergen, Tromso and Trondheim in Norway, and Tallinn and Tartu, the European Capital of Culture 2024 in Estonia," it said. Finnair is also the only airline that flies regularly all year round to Finnish Lapland, a top tourist destination even in summer to enjoy the midnight sun experience. YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, hosted the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze, who arrived in Armenia on an official visit. First, an official welcoming ceremony was held, followed by a private conversation between the Prime Ministers of the two countries. Subsequently, discussions continued in an expanded format. Prime Ministers of Armenia and Georgia Nikol Pashinyan and Irakli Kobakhidze made statements to media representatives after the meeting, Armenian PM's office said in a readout. Prime Minister Pashinyan noted in his speech. "Dear Prime Minister Kobakhidze, Ladies and gentlemen, Dear attendees, I am glad to host the newly appointed Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze and his delegation in Armenia for the first time. I would like to congratulate my colleague once again, already in person, on the occasion of assuming the responsible position of the Prime Minister of Georgia. I am sure that Mr. Kobakhidze will make a serious contribution to the deepening of relations between Armenia and Georgia with his careful consistency. You know that this year on January 26, the 13th session of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and Georgia was held in Tbilisi, during which the joint declaration on strategic partnership was signed between Armenia and Georgia, which outlines an ambitious perspective for further development of our bilateral relations covering all fields. Today, my colleague and I had the opportunity to discuss possible and necessary steps towards the practical implementation of this joint declaration. I want to emphasize that unconditional recognition of each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty is a core element in that declaration. Today we also discussed the possibilities of activation of the demarcation process between Armenia and Georgia. The continuous deepening and expansion of cooperation with Georgia is of strategic importance not only from the point of view of bilateral relations between our countries, but also from the point of view of ensuring stability and mutually beneficial cooperation in the region. As you know, at the end of last year, Georgia acquired the status of a candidate country for EU membership. I would like to emphasize that Armenia reacted enthusiastically to the news, considering what happened as an important event that will have a direct impact not only on our region, but also on Armenia-Georgia bilateral relations. The Republic of Armenia supported and continues to support Georgia's aspirations to join the European Union. During today's meeting, I also presented to my colleague our perceptions regarding regional processes and the developments and current state of the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I reaffirmed that Armenia assumes its share of responsibility for establishing peace and stability in the region. We expect that other actors will show a similar approach. I have emphasized that Armenia is ready to move forward in the process of normalization of relations with Azerbaijan based on the 3 principles already known and agreed at the highest level between Armenia and Azerbaijan, namely: mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty based on the Alma-Ata Declaration, implementation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process based on the same Alma-Ata Declaration, as well as unblocking the economic infrastructure of the region based on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and jurisdiction of countries, ensuring equality and reciprocity. Regarding the latter, we believe that the "Crossroads of Peace" project put forward by the Armenian government will become one of the future topics of the strategic partnership between our countries. We know and see that Georgia is not only interested in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but is also actively trying to contribute to that process, for which I would like to thank our Georgian partners. Dear Prime Minister Kobakhidze, Summarizing, I would like to report with satisfaction that the relations between Armenia and Georgia are developing dynamically. I assure you that the Armenian government will continue to make efforts, not being satisfied with what has been achieved, to open new horizons in the relations between the two countries. Once again, I welcome you to Yerevan and thank you for today's productive discussions." In turn, Irakli Kobakhidze noted. "Dear Mr. Prime Minister, I welcome the representatives of the governments of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Georgia, as well as the mass media. Following my appointment as Prime Minister, I was quick to visit the Republic of Armenia. Thank you for the warm welcome and friendship. I must also note that we have cooperated and had brotherly relations for centuries, signed the Declaration of Cooperation and raised our relations to an even higher level. The goal is to deepen cooperation, support peace and stability, and this declaration is based on our shared principles and values, and expresses our support for those values. Of course, I have expressed my gratitude to my colleague, Mr. Prime Minister Pashinyan, who supports the territorial integrity of Georgia. I also unreservedly support the territorial integrity of Armenia and share the opinion of my colleague that our relations are developing dynamically. Of course, we talked about cooperation in different fields in different formats. At the policy level: transport, economy, tourism, our partnership in all these directions will be further deepened and developed, it is very important. We also talked about regional developments, I emphasized the importance of our joint efforts to be able to fight the current challenges of the region. Georgia supports the efforts of stability, peace and coexistence in the South Caucasus, and we really hope that the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed and be a tangible agreement. Georgia is ready to support this process and contribute to the establishment of peace and stability in the region. Mr. Prime Minister, let me once again thank you for your warm hospitality and I am glad for the opportunity to invite you to Georgia. We already talked about this during our meeting. We have high-level bilateral visits, this is very important, and we must maintain this approach, trend, in order to strengthen our partnership at a high level. Our goal is to develop and strengthen our countries, the cooperation between our countries, and this cooperation is very important. Thank you." There was a lot of disappointent and many tears shed at the start of Holy Week in Malaga province on Palm Sunday. The muddy mix of rain accompanied by red Sahara desert sand dust in suspension in the atmosphere was a particularly damaging duo for the brotherhoods and their treasured floats - and as a result many of the big processions were cancelled at the last minute. In Malaga city, Pollinica was the only brotherhood to brave the weather and pass along the official route, while the Senor del Huerto was forced to turn back at the Congregacion de Mena brotherhood house due to the rain, which caught out the Prendimiento in Calle Ollerias. Lagrimas, Dulce Nombre, Salutacion, Humildad y Paciencia, Humildad y Salud decided to suspend their processions. The Malaga brotherhoods had been nervously waiting to see the weather forecast since the afternoon of Passion Saturday, when the predictions from Spain's state weather agency (Aemet) began to worsen. After two meetings, one on Saturday and another early on the morning of Palm Sunday, a few brotherhoods decided to stick to their schedules, with others leaving a final decision until closer to the planned departure time. Visits to churches and brotherhood houses were constant throughout the afternoon From midday onwards, some brotherhoods decided not to proceed through the streets and instead opened their churches, where there were many people who came to visit their patron saints. Liturgical events were also organised, such as the Eucharist celebrated by the Brotherhood of Humility and Patience - a substitute for its penitential station at the cathedral. The Cofradia del Dulce Nombre, moved its titular figures from the tinglao in the Plaza de Capuchinos to its canonical seat in the church of the Divina Pastora. The Cofradia de la Pollinica exited out on time and although a few drops fell on its way through the Alameda Principal, the procession completed its route. Another Capuchin brotherhood, that of the Prendimiento, also decided to go out, although with a shortened itinerary through Molinillo, Ollerias and Dos Aceras towards its neighbourhood and without taking the official path. The route had to be shortened even further when rain fell from 7.20pm onwards. The image of Jesus del Prendimiento and the cloak of the Virgen del Gran Perdon were covered with plastic sheeting as the rain came down harder. The same happened with the carvings of Jesus del Huerto and the Angel, when rain started to fall and they returned to their brotherhood house. The Virgen de la Concepcion did not even manage to cross the threshold of her home. Inside, the representation of the Infantry Academy of Toledo honoured the Dolorosa with a bugle call. Chus Heredia Malaga Monday, 25 March 2024 | Updated 26/03/2024 09:57h. Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Drought levels have three thresholds: moderate, severe and crisis. Malaga province is in the latter, the most alarming. These levels are carefully assessed and set out in the Junta's 2021 drought plan. But recently, the reservoirs that supply Malaga city have exceeded 71.4 cubic hectometres, which means they have risen above the red drought alert level and into the amber zone. The situation is looking slightly better, but people are still being urged to be cautious. It comes ahead of Holy Week when Malaga city could almost triple its water consumption, however the weather forecasts predict several days of rain. Rising reservoir reserves must continue for a month before the level is officially raised, which the Junta de Andlaucia will decide on in April. Its drought committee wants to re-evaluate the entire restrictive framework once it has more data on reservoir water and rainfall, given that the passage of storm Monica, which occurred over the weekend of 9-10 March, had a significant effect on the reservoirs. The early-morning report on Saturday showed a gain of 16 cubic hectometres in all the reservoirs in Malaga province. But only the reservoirs supplying Malaga city are close to rising to a more secure level. Between them, they have more than 113 hectometres and are at 18.5% of their capacity, with much more needed before the drought crisis can officially end. Sum of four reservoirs Which reservoirs are included? The Junta's drought plan includes the Guadalhorce, Guadalteba, Conde de Guadalhorce and Casasola reservoirs, although Casasola doesn't add much to the equation with a mere 0.3 hectometres added between October and February. In the run-up to Palm Sunday, the four reservoirs totalled 72.5 cubic hectometres. This is enough water for more than a year under normal conditions, but it must be remembered that Malaga contributes 270 litres per second to the Axarquia, more or less a fifth of what the city has circulating through its network of pipes. Guadalteba exceeds 32 cubic hectometres. It has gained 1hm with the latest rain; Conde, which reached a minimum of 11hm a few months ago is now at 16 (gaining 3hm with the latest rain); Guadalhorce exceeds 18 (adding 3hm), and Casasola, almost 6hm (has barely gained anything). El Limonero does not really count and supplies barely 0.9hm per year. It is, in any case, below 5hm. What is the plan? So what is the city's roadmap? The battle against drought is being fought on several fronts. Firstly, by the end of April, public water company Emasa wants to lower the pressure throughout the city. This is in addition to restrictions on public and private irrigation or washing streets with potable water, as well as awareness campaigns, better control of water leaks, and turning off supplies to beach showers, drinking fountains and foot baths. In terms of works, new wells will be operational next month in Aljaima and Fahala with which they hope to supply up to 400 litres per second. In this area, where the Grande has just flowed into the Guadalhorce, is the weir that serves to harness the water flowing down the river in real time. During the storm and the days that followed, it reached the 1,500 litres per second consumed by Malaga city. However, it has since gone down. This whole river-well system is a great help for the city to conserve reservoir water. In the autumn, 18 wells in the Bajo Guadalhorce (San Isidro, Amoniaco...) are expected to function and could provide, pending confirmation, 25 cubic hectometres a year. Their quality is low and they are probably salinised, but it will be treated at the water treatment plant at El Atabal, which will be connected to the boreholes with a pipeline. Also in April, the Junta will have to decide whether or not to bring water in ships to the ports of Malaga, Algeciras and Carboneras from Escombreras desalination plant (Cartagena). Costa del Sol and Axarquia, far from leaving the threshold And what about the rest of Malaga province? La Concepcion, which supplies the Costa del Sol, has exceeded 20 cubic hectometres. It gained 5hm with storm Monica and 7hm if previous dates are taken into account. The area will continue with cuts to water pressure at night (except on Saturdays) for the time being, and this summer it will have an additional 1hm a month as a result of the first improvement works at the Marbella desalination plant. However, it is still a long way from coming out of the crisis drought level, set at 28.7 hectometres in March and 31.4 in April. Meanwhile, in the Axarquia, it is a similar story. La Vinuela reached 16.38hm this Saturday, gaining 3hm with the storm. But the reservoir is a long way from the 41.5hm that marks the exit of the crisis drought level. The unknown of the rains Rain is forecast for this Holy Week, although it is unsure where it will fall in Malaga province and how much - but it was forecast from Palm Sunday afternoon until at least Holy Thursday. Chus Heredia Malaga Monday, 25 March 2024, 15:47 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Serious incidents always trigger concern about the same thing happening again. And the latest alarm in Spain comes after the deadly fire in the Campanar neighbourhood in Valencia, which spread with unprecedented force and killed 10 people. It's sparked interest among residents' associations in reviewing or updating security measures. The Malaga Association of Property Administrators and companies such as Goextin and Incontex confirmed to SUR this has been a growing concern since the Valencia fire happened on 22 February. Goextin is a part of the Servihogar Group. Mario Martin said enquiries for safety checks have multiplied, including one enquiry about a garage inspection even though one was not compulsory due to the year it was built. "People are worried, he said. Some without fire extinguishers, oddly enough "The most basic thing is that there are communities that, believe it or not, do not have fire extinguishers, because until 1996 it was not compulsory. And there is also a growing interest in fire detection systems," Martin pointed out. Javier Fernandez Arce, deputy director of Incotex, a Malaga-based company specialising in fire protection systems, said: "Since Valencia happened, we have noticed a lot more interest. It is something that is required by law but nobody wants to use it. There is also a lack of knowledge about the regulations," he said. "There is rarely a call with community administrators in which the subject of fires doesn't come up," he added. Many security alarm companies also offer deals to install fire alarm systems. "We are overwhelmed," said one Securitas technician. The main request: overall safety check Fernandez Arce said although it may come as a surprise, there are no regulations that make it compulsory to have an alarm, except in garage areas: "It seems like it will never happen to us and we don't want to spend money, but when these things happen, the need is triggered," he added. However, he pointed out many residential communities are already going beyond the legal requirement for extinguishers and are incorporating, for example, fire hoses. "The main request we are getting is to check the state of everything," Fernandez Arce said. Quarterly checks of fire extinguishers are simple and can be carried out by the community itself. Annual inspections must be carried out by a specialised company SUR He reminded people the importance of checking fire extinguishers. They have to have quarterly inspections, which can be carried out by the community itself with the aid of a manual, or they can be outsourced. Then, there are other annual mandatory checks which must be carried out by specialised companies. "Few communities bother with quarterly inspections. More than 90% do not," he said. 'What happened in Valencia was out of the ordinary' In any case, Fernandez Arce urged people to remain calm: "What happened in Valencia was out of the ordinary". Incotex pointed out that, in conversations with firefighters across different areas, they have expressed concerns about tall, old buildings. It opens up a new avenue to which, in their opinion, attention should be paid to garages where electric and hybrid vehicles and their chargers increasingly coexist with other fossil fuel vehicles. "If electric scooter batteries are exploding and have been banned in some forms of public transport, imagine what could happen in the case of cars," Fernandez Arce said. Measures and budgets Since 1996 it has been mandatory for all residential buildings to have one fire extinguisher per floor. "One measure I would welcome is the installation of detectors in dwellings. In the UK, for example, this is already compulsory," Fernandez Arce added. A technician checks an alarm system. SUR The central unit for a basic system with a fire control panel for five floors, would cost about 400 euros, add on 80 for each detector, that's about 1,000 euros for a building with five floors and five detectors. The annual maintenance fee is around 50 or 60 euros. The four steps of fire safety First, the fire extinguishers. The second, garage areas with smoke and fire alarms. The third, fire hoses. The fourth, sprinkler systems, just as you see in commercial buildings and in other countries. Training is also important: "We are trying to reach out to people. Do I know how to use what I have? We are going to propose that communities set up basic training sessions," Fernandez Arce said. And remember that using a fire extinguisher requires a certain level of physical capacity. It weighs around nine kilos and has a recoil when you activate it. "I always say, before you grab the fire extinguisher, get to safety. Starting with you. It's the basic rule in any fire. You get out of the way and call the fire brigade. But, if you can see that there is no danger, then yes, use the equipment," he pointed out. Call for calm The Malaga and Melilla Association of Property Administrators repeats its call for calm in the face of a possible repeat of the deadly Valencia fire. All communities must comply with fire protection installation regulations, which have been in force since 2017. Properties built after 6 May 2000 have a building book in which all the technical characteristics and use of the fire protection installations are detailed. In addition, to access financial grants such as through the Next Generation funds, it is necessary to have a building book, which is why many communities are requesting them. In addition, Malaga city hall obliges buildings that are more than 50 years old to carry out an ITE, an inspection which helps detect faults that could contribute to the spread of fire in the event of one breaking out. Ignacio Lillo Malaga Monday, 25 March 2024, 17:38 | Updated 17:49h. Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Spain's state weather (Aemet) is forecasting widespread rainfall for most of the remainder of Holy Week in Malaga province. So much for the headline in a broad stroke. However, we will have to delve down into the details and take it day by day, because there will also be some large clearings that will last for several hours and will allow the departure of some of the large-scale Semana Santa processions. To start with, the head of Aemet in Malaga, Jesus Riesco, warned that it is necessary to differentiate between the province and the city, as the presence of rain will be less in the city and on the coast than in inland areas. With this is mind, the passage of successive storms will mean that it will rain almost every day in the province, while on the coast it is likely to fall almost every day, but with the proviso that the skies will clear for long period, offering windows of opportunity for numerous processions, especially in the afternoons, which is when most of them are scheduled to take place. This Holy Monday the 'Dana' (high altitude depression) will depart, although a cold front will arrive just behind it, with a change of air mass and a westerly wind. With this, the 'calima' Sahara dust haze will be replaced by a notable drop in temperatures, which will reach 20C today and only 16 degrees on Holy Tuesday in Malaga city and around 12C in Antequera and Ronda. In addition, the westerly wind will be noticeable, and will blow strongly, especially tomorrow. The Aemet forecast for this Monday is that from early evening (around 6pm) clearings will open up. "There will still be some showers, but they will tend to decrease considerably once this first front has passed", explained Riesco. Therefore, although with some timetable adjustments, most of the processions in the city could go out this Easter Monday, pending the latest weather forecasts. Some light rainfall is not ruled out, less likely from 7 to 8 in the evening. Inland, on the other hand, the front will bring downpours throughout most of the day, and in fact in Antequera the showers will not end until midnight," said Riesgo Will Holy Tuesday be saved? On Tuesday there will again be showers in the province, although they will be less likely in Malaga city due to the westerly trend. In fact, it may not rain at all in the city, or only in the first half of the day, but not in the second part. From Holy Wednesday onwards the scenario will be similar, although there is still uncertainty as to the timings, so we will have to wait for the last minute. Fronts will continue to arrive in Spain but some days it may not rain in the afternoon, so there is hope for the processions. "It's not clear yet, we have to take it one day at a time," said the meteorologist. In this case, the problem is the entry of a different storm, which will move in between Wednesday and Thursday and it remains to be seen how it will affect the second half of the week in the province. Initially, it could leave showers every day, but it remains to be seen how often. In addition to all this, for Tuesday and Wednesday, Aemet is maintaining a yellow 'risk' warning for coastal phenomena with westerly winds of 50 to 60 km/h (force 7) and waves of two to three metres. Raquel Merino Malaga Monday, 25 March 2024, 10:20 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram The Spanish consumer rights group Facua has criticised the easyJet and Transavia airlines for asking passengers to pay a new fee if they book a flight ticket involving one or more connections. The fee goes towards paying for a new service called Dohop, which is a kind of insurance and guarantees the connection between the different stopovers, so that if a flight is cancelled or delayed, the passenger is offered an alternate flight. However, Facua said this is an allegedly undue charge as European legislation already obliges airlines to offer this cover to travellers for free. "Passenger rights legislation already provides for the airline's obligation to assist users in case their flight is delayed or cancelled," Facua pointed out. It also said neither easyJet nor Transavia offer the user the possibility of choosing whether or not to contract this service and criticised how "this Dohop service is not even provided by the airlines themselves, but by another entity totally unrelated to them". Facua also pointed out the consumer is not provided with any information about the provider of this service or the general conditions of the service. "This behaviour of easyJet and Transavia is totally and utterly lacking in transparency, as they do not clearly inform the user during the booking process of the inclusion of an ancillary service contracted from a third party," it added. Abusive clause? Facua said European law establishes common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of cancellation or delays, and already stipulates passengers have the right to receive assistance from airlines such as offers for alternative flights. Several articles of Royal Decree-Law 1/2007 contain the reasons why the Dohop service of Easyjet and Transavia can be considered abusive, according to the consumer rights organisation. Article 82 identifies as unfair terms "all stipulations not individually negotiated and all practices not expressly consented to which, contrary to the requirements of good faith, cause, to the detriment of the consumer and user, a significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of the parties arising from the contract". Meanwhile, article 89 also considers abusive "the imposition on the consumer and user of unsolicited complementary or ancillary goods and services" and "price increases for ancillary services, financing, deferrals, surcharges, compensation or penalties that do not correspond to additional services that can be accepted or rejected in each case expressed with due clarity or separation". Article 47 of the royal decree establishes infringements in the area of consumer and user protection include "non-compliance with the rules governing prices, the unjustified imposition of conditions on unsolicited services or minimum quantities, or any other type of illegal intervention or action that leads to an increase in prices or commercial margins". For these reasons, Facua asked the Directorate General for Consumer Affairs to urge easyJet and Transavia to immediately eliminate the automatic activation of the Dohop service and for the airlines to reimburse the money to users who have had to pay for this service. Carmen Barreiro Madrid Monday, 25 March 2024, 22:31 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Young children and restaurants are a tricky combination. For kids, they get bored and can't sit still for so long; and for the parents, they often don't know what to do and have to face the not-so-sympathetic stares of other diners; and even for restaurant staff themselves who are sometimes forced to mediate between the two. The solution is not simple, to the point that one American restaurant, Toccoa Riverside in Georgia, has taken the high road in this controversy and set a surcharge of up to 50 dollars "for adults who are incapable of fulfilling their parental duties" inside its premises. In other words, if your kids are a nuisance, you pay. A few days ago, a reader asked the food critic of The Washington Post how she could teach her child to eat out without making a fuss, a plan that is becoming increasingly common among families with young children. The expert encouraged the mother to start by taking their child to more informal places, before moving on to sophisticated restaurants where a child's tantrum could attract much more attention. "Explain the basic rules before you go and, in case a distraction is needed, rely on colouring books or small games. Never rely on screens," the expert recommended. "Restaurants with open kitchens, where you can watch the cooks, offer extra fun, which children often enjoy. And if the child won't listen to reason or is too restless, it's best to go outside," pointed out Tom Sietsema. However, the critic warns parents to be careful what they wish for "because if all this works, a foodie child can cost you dearly". "When they are babies it is easier to take them out to eat because they sleep for a long time, but as they get older it becomes more complicated because they demand constant activity," said Silvia Guijarro, a primary education teacher and collaborator of the Spanish platform Criar con sentido comun (Raising with respect). The expert offers a series of guidelines so going out for lunch or dinner with children does not become a saga. Choose the right venue It may seem a truism, but "it's the best advice. It is sad to see that in many places it is still frowned upon to bring your children with you. Yes, sometimes they can be a bit 'annoying', but that's not their fault. They are children and they behave as such. And, of course, there is also a lack of patience and empathy in many adults," said the expert, who advises going to "family friendly" restaurants. "These types of restaurants usually have safe play areas for children, as well as menus adapted to their needs. Whenever possible, it is also advisable to sit outside, as this way the noise dissipates and it is easier to get up from the table." Respect their needs for hunger and sleep Although it is sometimes complicated and impossible, it is advisable to take into account their sleep schedules. "If the child has had a bad night, it is possible that at midday he or she will be more irritable, so it would be good to assess whether it is convenient to eat outside or whether it is better to leave it for another day. "The same goes for hunger," Guijarro added. "Adults can keep calm when they are hungry, but children find it difficult to understand that they have to wait to eat and this will make them more nervous. If we are going to be late, we can bring some snacks so that they don't have to wait so long." Anticipate possible tantrums and don't ignore them Before leaving, it is advisable to explain the plan and remind them of the rules they must follow. It is also important to listen to them. "You will probably go to the restaurant with other adults and it is normal that you want to chat with them, but you cannot forget that you are also with children and you cannot ignore them," the expert said. Take everything from home that you might need The idea is to make the experience as pleasant as possible. They are children and to expect them not to move for three hours is unrealistic. It is not a question of education, the little ones get tired and protest, so it is not a bad idea to take a colouring book with two or three pencils, a sticker book, a doll, cards... Have realistic expectations We can't go out to eat with children and expect to have a quiet, perfect evening. "We often expect too much of them and that frustrates us. They need to move, laugh and play," Guijarro said. Edurne Martinez Madrid Monday, 25 March 2024, 22:20 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Spain's transport minister Oscar Puente has told Congress he is uneasy about the introduction into the Spanish market of new high-speed rail operators, Ouigo and Iryo, which are reducing prices on the main routes where state rail operator Renfe previously had no competition. It triggered Alain Krakovitch, president of Ouigo Spain, to hit back at the minister: "We do not have public subsidies". General manager of Ouigo in Spain, Helene Valenzuela, said the operator "has made the market grow" as it has considerably increased the demand for trains and reduced the number of people travelling by air. On routes such as Madrid-Barcelona, the share of trains compared to air travel has grown from 65% to 78% in the past year, according to data from the CNMC. Krakovitch said demand for Ouigo, Iryo and Renfe services have grown on all their routes, with the great beneficiaries being state rail infrastructure company Adif - to whom they will pay 1billion euros in the ten years of the framework contract - and the public "who previously could not afford an elitist product". "This is the first time we have been criticised for having low prices," Ouigo said. The director of Ouigo in Spain during the press conference. E. M. Ouigo, which has operated for almost three years in Spain, said it will achieve financial equilibrium in 2024 and will leave behind losses, with a business model based on high-capacity double-decker trains carrying 509 passengers per journey. The French company pointed out the average occupancy rate of its trains is 90% and they find it "strange" the transport minister talks about the sector suffering when the frequency on major routes has increased by 60%, according to CNMC data. In response to the controversy over Renfe's problems in entering the French market, the operator's president said the only issue is that Renfe and Talgo want to approve trains that are technically different from the French ones, which means the process will be "inevitably longer". "We have invested five years in technical procedures until we can reach Seville in 2024," he said. About to mark three years since its first Madrid-Barcelona service on 10 May 2021, Ouigo has counted almost 10 million passengers, with a fleet that in summer will reach 16 trains in Spain and promised to continue to invest in the country with future new routes, such as the Mediterranean arc and the Basque region. Alvaro Soto Madrid Monday, 25 March 2024, 22:48 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Medicine is the only profession in which an employee in Spain can legally remain at work for 24 hours at a time with the approval of the administration. Full-day on-call duty was introduced into the Spanish healthcare system 50 years ago and has since become normalised, despite the obvious detriment that such long working hours cause to professionals and patients. Health minister Monica Garcia announced last week a reform of the statute for health professionals to reduce 24-hour medical shifts to 17 hours, but the plan has been met with scepticism by medical groups and trade unions in the sector, who believe that the lack of financial and human resources could make it unfeasible. The model, one of the causes of the huge spike in burnt-out worker syndrome among healthcare workers, has once again become the subject of debate after critical care doctor Tamara Contreras collected 120,000 signatures via Change.org to put an end to the 24-hour shifts. Contreras was received last Wednesday by the minister, who is an anaesthesiologist by training, and shared the petition with her. These full-day shifts are "physically and mentally exhausting" and are leading healthcare workers to "want to leave the profession, change specialities or escape the system for something as basic as quality of life", she said. In her post on Change.org, Contreras detailed real situations that occur in health centres every day and appeals to patients to understand. "You arrive at accident and emergency department. You are in a very serious condition and are admitted to the intensive care unit. A doctor has to make a life or death decision. Do you prefer a doctor who is clear-headed or one who hasn't slept for 20 hours?" Her appeal goes on to say, "This is the reality of our current healthcare system, which forces doctors to work 24-hour days, putting the lives of our patients at risk." After meeting with Contreras, Monica Garcia showed her full support for the petition. "When we tell the outside world about it, people don't believe it. We have to put an end to this," said the minister, who pledged to reform the statute. Complexity "The ministry is fully committed to this, knowing that it is complex and that it requires a restructuring of our health system and a restructuring of our working hours," said Garcia, who cited countries such as Sweden, which have already done away with the model. She added that it is about "reorganising, restructuring and better management of working and rest hours". Garcia also advocated "flexibility", favoured a "service by service" variation and acknowledged that "it will be difficult to change" the system after half a century. In principle health workers agree with the proposal. "The ultimate goal of reducing on-call duty is clinical safety, i.e. that the doctor is in the best physical and psychological condition to attend to a patient. It is a measure that will also allow for a better work-life balance," argues the president of the General Council of Medical Associations (CGCOM). However, the head of finance and services of the State Confederation of Medical Unions (CESM), Maria Jose Campillo, pointed out that there are at least two factors that complicate the ministry's plans. The first is the lack of professionals, especially in small and medium-sized hospitals. "Who is going to do the shifts that are going to be left without doctors?" she asked. And the second is that on-call shifts represent "up to 50 per cent of many doctors' salaries". She went on to say that the proposal was "pie in the sky" and that a "serious proposal" was needed. For now, Garcia points to the possibility of giving doctors working on temporary contracts permanent ones and "progressively" studying the changes. Antonio and Begona on the day of her communion many years ago and then just a few days ago when they were reunited. Ana del Castillo Santander Monday, 25 March 2024, 16:58 Compartir Copiar enlace WhatsApp Facebook X LinkedIn Telegram Begona Moncayo last Thursday (21 March) finally received the phone call she had been dreaming of for the past two decades. On the other end of the phone, a National Police officer informed the 37-year-old resident of Reinosa in Cantabria that her father, who was last seen on 17 April 2004 in Bilbao after attending the funeral of his best friend, had been located. Begona has been searching tirelessly for her father, Antonio, during this whole period. "Every month I wrote him a message and posted it on Facebook to see if it could somehow reach him," said the Cantabrian woman who works as a social worker at the San Francisco residence foundation. "I took a DNA test recently and I thought they were going to tell me that my father was dead," Begona said. But instead, the policeman gave her the address that led to the house where her father lived, in Caparroso, a village of 2,000 inhabitants in Navarre. After processing what she had just heard and controlling her emotions, Begona got into the car - together with her mother and her partner - input the address in her GPS and drove towards it. Once she arrived at the destination and rang the doorbell, a woman appeared and told Begona her father had gone out for coffee and would return shortly. Too nervous to wait, she started walking and spotted him walking towards her. "I saw him head-on and he recognised me instantly. He shouted 'My beautiful daughter!', we hugged each other and started crying," Begona said, still with a lump in her throat. "I never expected to see my father again," she said. "We were very nervous, we didn't know what to say to each other after so long, but I didn't care, I just wanted to hug him. I told him that he is the grandfather of two beautiful children and he apologised to me. He told me he knew I would find him," she added. Family photograph of Antonio and Begona, when she was a child DM 17 April 2004 Antonio Moncayo, with three children, worked for more than a decade in a factory in Lutxana (Barakaldo). The divorce and the loss of his best friend plunged him into a deep depression that made him disappear. Antonio ended up on the street, sleeping among cardboard boxes, without any documents and absolutely lost. The last time they saw him, as the poster made by SOS Desaparecidos three years ago showed, was on 17 April 2004, the day he went to his best friend's funeral. "Begona contacted us to tell us about the case and all the obstacles she was encountering to find her father's whereabouts. She told us that her mother and aunt had filed a missing person report (because she was a minor at the time), that she was still looking for him and that they were not collecting DNA samples," pointed out Nerea Cachorro, head of SOS Desaparecidos in Cantabria, who passed the story on to her superiors so the president Joaquin Amills could ask the National Centre for Missing Persons to check the genetic profile. "We are all very excited about the news. He didn't know they were looking for him and Begona was messaging us on her way to Navarre, telling us that she was close to seeing her father again," Cachorro said. Mourning process When a family member disappears there is a mourning process that goes through different phases such as grief, anger at feeling abandoned, sadness, hope or resignation. When Antonio disappeared, his children were very young. "My siblings have almost no memories of him," said Begona, the eldest daughter - but she was 17 years old at the time and had been left without a father figure. "I could have been angry, because he abandoned me, but after knowing everything he went through I am incapable of judging him." In his first conversation after two decades of silence, last Thursday, Antonio told SUR, without going into painful details, that he had been living rough in Navarre, and did not know how to get back on his feet. "That was until a family took him in 15 years ago. They found him on a bench in a very bad state. He hadn't eaten for a long time. Now he lives with them and they give him work," his daughter said, who added that the same day they met she wanted to take her father back to Cantabria. While he couldn't make the journey that day, he will visit Reinosa soon to meet his grandchildren. YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. A roundtable discussion titled The Geopolitical Developments in the South Caucasus: Focus on Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh took place at the Belgian Senate on March 25. The purpose of the conference was a comprehensive analysis of geopolitical developments in the South Caucasus region since September 2020, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the challenges facing the Republic of Armenia. The keynote speakers of the roundtable discussion were Els Van Hoof, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Belgian Federal Parliament; Paul Meerts, International negotiation analyst and co-founder of Clingendael Institute; Benyamin Poghosyan, Senior Research Fellow at the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia; Gegham Stepanyan, Ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh. Other Belgian politicians and public figures, representatives of the Belgian Armenian community, as well as representatives of other minorities, participated in the round table discussion. The round table discussion was led by Belgian Senator Mark Demesmaeker. In his opening speech, Senator Demesmaeker mentioned that it is important for him, both as a politician and personally, to keep the events of Nagorno-Karabakh and Karabakh Armenians on the agenda. "Historical injustice does not leave Armenians. When I visited Artsakh, I saw people with values of freedom and peace, who, despite being isolated, tried to maintain an independent economy and resist challenges, with democratically elected authorities. For me, the right to self-determination is a key issue, and I am convinced that democracies should unite around it," the Senator noted, adding that Artsakh Armenians want to return to their homeland in a dignified manner, and ignoring this desire is unacceptable. Vardan Sargsyan, Deputy Head of the Armenian Mission to the EU, noted in his speech that although the war is over, Azerbaijan's aggressive rhetoric and unilateral demands continue. "Armenia itself is facing serious challenges today in order to preserve its sovereignty and independence," Sargsyan said. The President of the EAFJD, Kaspar Karapetian mentioned that the current situation is the most difficult period for the Armenian people since the Armenian Genocide, but the struggle will continue. "Azerbaijan is cynically demolishing the building of the Nagorno-Karabakh National Assembly and attempting to erase every Armenian trace, trying to conduct unbalanced peace negotiations. This behavior is not surprising at all. The EU should reevaluate its relations with Azerbaijan and exert diplomatic pressure on Baku. Ultimately, in order to end the injustice and impunity, sanctions should be applied against the regime in Baku," stated Els Van Hoof, who had long been blacklisted by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan suddenly attempted to contact and invite Els Van Hoof to Baku, but was declined. Gegham Stepanyan stressed the importance of holding such discussions on the European platform, stressing with regret that the issue of the return of Karabakh Armenians is not on the agenda as it should have been, and there is a need for the help of the international community in this matter. "Our rights do not only have a financial aspect, it is important for us to return to our homes with dignity and preserve our identity," Stepanyan added. According to political scientist Benyamin Poghosyan, the long-standing dream of Turkey and Azerbaijan is to have a common land border, which they can only achieve in the region at the expense of Armenia. Poghosyan also notes that there are obligations that Azerbaijan must undertake, but unfortunately, there is no effective mechanism that will compel President Aliyev to fulfill them. Furthermore, the political scientist states that the EU cannot ensure Armenia's security due to its lack of an army. However, it is essential to encourage European partners to invest in Armenia and establish a presence to enhance security. During the question and answer session, it was emphasized that in the current geopolitical context, it is necessary at all costs to prevent Azerbaijan's "salami tactics" and strengthen the Armenian army. Syracuse, N.Y. -- A 29-year-old woman allegedly hid her 5-year-old daughters body after she killed her three months ago, authorities said. The childs body has not been located. Police Monday were searching a city park in Eastwood and a field on the citys East Side. The woman, Latasha Mott, of Syracuse, is charged with first-degree manslaughter and disposal of a corpse, a felony, according to court papers filed in Syracuse City Court. On Jan. 6, Mott hit her daughter Nefertiti Harris with a belt multiple times while she was in the shower at 127 W. Beard Ave., police said. The beating led to her death, they said. Police said Mott hid Nefertitis body in a wooded area. Police were searching Cummings Field in Eastwood and a field off Gorland Avenue in Syracuse Monday. A police drone was being used midday off Gorland Avenue. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said concerned family members worried about Nefertitis welfare contacted Syracuse police Sunday. The investigation started as a missing persons case, he said. Mott and her boyfriend came back to Syracuse Sunday after being out of town, Fitzpatrick said. Mott was contacted and asked to come to the Public Safety Building at 511 S State St where police questioned her, he said. Mott admitted Nefertitis body was hidden in a wooded area, Fitzpatrick said. Motts boyfriend was also questioned, but was uncooperative with police and later released, according to the DA. Mott was arraigned this morning and is currently being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center on no bail. At the end of Mondays Syracuse Common Council meeting, Council Amir Gethers spoke briefly about Nefertitis death and the March 7 death of 11-year-old Ashton DeGonzaque on the citys North Side from what was believed to be drug overdose. I would like to ask everyone if you could please stand with me in a moment of silence just to deal with all the tragic families that weve been having over these last few weeks, he said before everyone in the council chambers stood and bowed their heads. Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at dstevenson@syracuse.com My Morning Jacket and Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats are coming to Central New York. The two rock groups will perform at the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview in Syracuse on Sept. 24 on their co-headlining Eye to Eye tour dates. Both artists will play equal-length sets and swap their performance order on the tour. A total solar eclipse is just two weeks away, with the path of totality set to pass over Upstate New York for the first time in 99 years, and the region is abuzz with activity as communities plan for a huge influx of sky-gazers on Monday, April 8, 2024. Officials in the Buffalo area are preparing for as many as one million tourists in the region, and thats just one of the dozens of cities and towns that will be in the path of totality, including Alexandria Bay, Batavia, Cheektowaga, Rochester and Saranac Lake. BOOK: Buffalo, NY, hotels on Hotels.com Reservations at hotels in the region began filling up months ago, but for travelers planning to visit Upstate New York to see the eclipse last-minute, theres good news. A handful of rooms are still available at hotels across the state, including in some of the best places to view the eclipse like Buffalo and Lake Placid. But spur-of-the-moment travelers should be prepared to shell out big bucks for their stay, as the eclipse is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Weve combed through Hotels.com to find rooms that are still available in some of the hottest 2024 solar eclipse destinations in Upstate New York. Find the best place to stay near you, below. Albion, New York (3:41 totality) Batavia, New York (3:42 totality) Blasdell, New York (3:45 totality) Brockport, New York (3:43 totality) Buffalo, New York (3:45 totality) Cheektowaga, New York (3:45 totality) East Aurora, New York (3:41 totality) Room rates are noted at time of publishing, and are subjected to changes and additional fees. See our complete roundup of 80 eclipse viewing events all across the Upstate NY region, and check the path of totality chart below to find other communities in the path of the 2024 solar eclipse. By Rick Karlin | Times Union, Albany Albany, N.Y. As lawmakers work toward finalizing a state budget by their April 1 deadline, the so-called 100-foot rule is emerging as a key issue when it comes to New Yorks decarbonization push. The rule, which is decades old, says that gas companies must provide free hookups to customers who are 100 feet or less from a gas main. Decarbonization advocates argue that the rule serves as a de facto subsidy for the gas industry. Gas companies, though, say ending the rule would pose burdens on homeowners who want to heat their homes economically. Either way, the change may become law. The state Senate has passed a sweeping decarbonization bill that includes voiding the rule, and the Assembly has an end to the rule in their state budget proposal. Gov. Kathy Hochul also has called for ending the rule. Environmentalists, who want to quicken the speed with which New York weans itself off fossil fuels including natural gas, believe ending the 100-foot rule will hasten the switch to using electric heat sources such as air exchangers or geothermal systems. They also say the rule amounts to a subsidy to gas companies because the cost of installing such lines is calculated as part of a utilitys overall rate base and therefore shows up on the bills of all customers. Its worked into the rates, said Patrick Stella, spokesman for National Grid. The company gets paid to deliver the gas via its service lines. The rule also applies to manufacturers and commercial customers. That was created to expand gas infrastructure, decades ago, before the passage of the (Community Leadership and Climate Protection Act), said Michael Hernandez, N.Y. policy director for Rewiring America, which supports electrification of buildings. The CLCPA, passed in 2019, mandates sharp reductions in the use of fossil fuels for heating, power generation and other functions in order to limit greenhouse gas emissions. New York and other states instituted 100-foot rules, also known as an obligation to serve, some four decades ago when policymakers wanted to move away from dirtier heat and energy sources such as coal or oil to cleaner gas. And while that shift has reduced CO2 emissions, natural gas includes methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas that can block escaping heat and therefore, contribute to global warming, according to scientists. Hernandez noted a recent study from the Rocky Mountain Institute that estimated New York gas consumers paid an additional $200 million annually due to the 100-foot rule, between 2017 and 2021. He and Hochuls office also stressed that voiding the rule doesnt mean that people or businesses couldnt get natural gas hookups. But they would have to bear the costs of new hookups themselves, which can easily run into thousands of dollars for residential homes and more for businesses. Home builders could adapt, they said, by adding electric-powered heat exchangers rather than gas furnaces or boilers. There are opponents, though, including politically powerful labor unions such as Operating Engineers Local 825, who want the 100-foot rule to remain in effect. Gas companies and utilities tend to be more unionized than individual contractors installing the actual heating devices. They admit that the move could cost jobs, but they also stress that natural gas is one of the least expensive ways for people to heat their homes. Natural gas is a lot cheaper than the other sources of energy, said Daniel Ortega, executive director of New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, which is affiliated with unions working in a wide range of energy sectors as well as gas companies. Others point to the pace at which gas would be phased out. Were the 100-foot rule to go away as soon as 2026, they say there wouldnt be enough electric grid capacity to offset the loss of gas that is used for home heating. While not outright opposing a ban on the rule, National Grids Stella said the current electric grid would have to be two to three times bigger to accommodate a massive switch from gas to electric. We cant have full electrification happen next week. he said. As of late last week, the fate of the 100-foot rule remained unclear. Typically, the state budget is made up of multiple trade-offs in which any particular issue can be a bargaining chip. Its very much an open issue and we are certainly trying to get as much as possible across the finish line, said Albany Democratic Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, who supports the change. ___ (c)2024 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com If you dont want to vote for President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, you could vote for Literally Anybody Else. And then we might have a President Literally Anybody Else. WFAA reports a Texas man has legally changed his name to Literally Anybody Else and hes challenging Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, for the White House in November. This isnt about me Literally Anybody Else more so as it is an idea. We can do better out of 300 million people for president, Else told the Dallas TV station. According to WFAA, Else whose name was previously Dustin Ebey is a 35-year-old Army veteran and 7th grade math teacher in Haltom Citys Birdville Independent School District. A Tarrant County judge signed off on the name change, which appears on his drivers license. For too long have Americans been a victim of its political parties putting party loyalty over governance, his campaign website says. Together lets send the message to Washington and say, You will represent or be replaced. America should not be stuck choosing between the King of Debt (his self-declaration) and an 81-year old. Literally Anybody Else isnt a person, its a rally cry... Let this campaign be a beacon of hope and innovation. FILE - This combo image shows presidential candidates former President Donald Trump, left, March 9, 2024 and President Joe Biden, right, Jan. 27, 2024. (AP Photo, File)AP Else has already filed with the Federal Election Commission to run as an independent candidate, according to WFAA. He can apply as a write-in candidate for Texas and other states, but to appear on the ballot he will need to submit a petition with 113,151 signatures from registered voters who did not vote in the presidential primary of either major party in Texas by May 13. Im not delusional. This will be very hard to do, but its not impossible. My hope is to have Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and then Literally Anybody Else right underneath, Else told the outlet. I really want there to be an outlet for folks like me who are just so fed up with this constant power grab between two parties that has no benefit for the common person. Else may be able to appeal to undecided voters. An AP-NORC poll last month found more than half of all American voters are not very or not at all confident in the mental capacity of both Trump and Biden, who were the same candidates in 2020. Among independents, 80% of voters are not confident in Biden and 56% are not confident in Trump. See all Onondaga County Republican candidates for 2024 elections See all Onondaga County Democratic candidates for 2024 elections New York presidential primary spans 9 costly days for a race thats already decided A popular cruise line has stopped visiting a private Caribbean resort due to concerns about violence and unrest in the area. AL.com reports Royal Caribbean has suspended calls at Labadee, its resort on the northern coast of Haiti, after the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert urging tourists not to visit the country. Haiti is at a Level Four travel advisory, alongside countries such as Russia, Syria and Burkina Faso. Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, and in an abundance of caution, were temporally suspending our visits to Labadee for our entire fleet, the company said in a statement. We continue to monitor and assess the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence Team. According to the RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com, Royal Caribbean has extended its itinerary change through at least mid-April. The cruise line will instead visit Perfect Day at CocoCay instead of Labadee, Haiti. Were terribly sorry for the last-minute change your safety is our top priority, Royal Caribbean Internationals Assistant Vice President of Guest Experiences wrote to guests sailing on the April 14 sailing of Explorer of the Seas, according to the blog. The company said none of its passengers or crew have faced violence or threats. According to the Associated Press, a do-not-travel alert was issued for Haiti in July 2023 after U.S. officials raised concerns about for kidnapping, crime, civil unrest and poor health care infrastructure. Later that month, the U.S. ordered all family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency personnel to leave the country. American government personnel have been limited to only confined areas around the Embassy and are not allowed to walk in Port-au-Prince, use any public transportation, visit banks or ATMs, drive at night or travel between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Haiti is located on the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic sharing the island to the east. According to AL.com, the Dominican Republic is under a level 2 advisory with visitors urged to exercise increased caution. US issues warning for spring break travel to popular Mexico destinations YEREVAN, MARCH 25, ARMENPRESS. A meeting between Armenia's President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze was held at the residence of the President of the Republic of Armenia. According to the presidential office, Vahagn Khachaturyan noted that Armenia highly values friendly relations with Georgia. "Such high-ranking visits once again emphasize the importance of these relations between our countries and our peoples. In fact, our relations are of strategic importance, which is also recorded in the government program of the Republic of Armenia for 2021-2026. "I believe we are simply documenting the reality of our centuries-old historical relationship, which has always been of strategic importance. I am sure that your visit will be useful for the development and strengthening of relations between our countries," the president said. Expressing gratitude for the reception, the Prime Minister of Georgia added: "It is a great honor for me to be here in Armenia today. My visit shows that we attach special importance to our relationship and friendship. We always emphasize that the friendship formed between our peoples and countries is historical. Our relations are expressed not only by the good cooperation of the governments of the two countries but it is also based on the historical friendship of our peoples. Of course, it is our duty to ensure further good cooperation based on this strong friendship. Recently, we have signed a declaration on the establishment of a strategic partnership, which means that we have been able to elevate our relations to a higher level. Today, it is important to implement all the goals that were included in that declaration. We are satisfied with the current state of our relations; the dynamics are very positive. It is in our interest to have a strong partnership in all possible areas, especially in political, economic, cultural, educational, and other fields, where there is untapped potential and opportunities for expansion. We are interested in having a very strong partnership with Armenia.'' During the meeting, the parties discussed issues related to further expanding cooperation in the political, economic, and cultural spheres. Both sides emphasized the importance of mutual visits at different levels and the ongoing deepening of cooperation, which gives a positive impetus to further expanding partnership between the countries in economic and other fields. During the conversation, regional realities and the general situation were discussed. In this context, the President of the Republic reaffirmed Armenia's sincere aspiration to achieve full and lasting peace in the region. Ideas were exchanged at the meeting regarding the reforms made in the direction of promoting democratic values and establishing and strengthening democratic institutions. The parties also highly appreciated Armenia and Georgia's close and mutually beneficial cooperation in various international platforms and organizations. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,809 Thanked: 45,335 Times View My Garage Re: Jobs, Attrition & Layoffs in IT companies https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/te...-12475711.html Quote: Protesters demanded the state government to end the exemption given to the IT/ITeS sector from the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act. When my dad was working the bank, he didn't fear about losing the job. If the bank tried anything funny, the officer's union would jump in and fight on his behalf. So why is this not possible in IT jobs? Look at the cost of employee benefits in an industry like manufacturing or banking, it never really exceeds 10% of the total expenses. Also, those industries don't see wild fluctuation in human resource requirement and attrition. That means they can hire at a slow rate and don't really have to resort to layoffs. Retirements will take care of it. Therefore, the companies can afford to provide job security. For example, Maruti's employee cost is around 5% of their total expenses. A 10% increase in employees is not a great burden, it adds 0.5% more. Both these factors don't hold good for IT industry. The employee cost of Infosys (a famously low paymaster) is around 65% of their total cost. And that's low. It can be as high as 75%-80% in smaller high paying companies. Next, IT HR requirements has wild fluctuation. One may have to ramp up 10%-20% based on a new project. Once that project is complete, it would barely need 10% of the original number to maintain it. Can an IT company afford to keep the 10%-20% additional staff, when the payroll is 3/4 of the total cost? It really can't. Yes, there are deep pocketed big tech companies that were doing exactly that, but it was by choice. These days shareholders don't approve of that at all. That's a discussion we already had few pages ago. If that becomes mandated, most companies don't have the deep pocket for that. That is why job security in IT industry is not a really possible. Unless... we bring the wage cost below 10% of the total cost. Is anyone willing to work in IT for auto industry employee's salary? You can either ask for high salaries or job security. If you ask for both, companies will be forced to simply shut shop and move to another state or country. I saw this news item, and I couldn't believe the height of ignorance behind this demand.I am not against job security or employee benefits like severance or pension. In fact, my 87 year old widowed mom just received a hike in her family pension. My dad retired from the bank in 1992 and his former employer is still paying pension, even after his death 9 years ago. She makes nearly as much as entry level WITCH employee. The retired officer's union manages to get them a hike every few years. In fact, my mom now makes more than my dad ever did in service or after.When my dad was working the bank, he didn't fear about losing the job. If the bank tried anything funny, the officer's union would jump in and fight on his behalf.So why is this not possible in IT jobs?Look at the cost of employee benefits in an industry like manufacturing or banking, it never really exceeds 10% of the total expenses. Also, those industries don't see wild fluctuation in human resource requirement and attrition. That means they can hire at a slow rate and don't really have to resort to layoffs. Retirements will take care of it. Therefore, the companies can afford to provide job security. For example, Maruti's employee cost is around 5% of their total expenses. A 10% increase in employees is not a great burden, it adds 0.5% more.Both these factors don't hold good for IT industry. The employee cost of Infosys (a famously low paymaster) is around 65% of their total cost. And that's low. It can be as high as 75%-80% in smaller high paying companies. Next, IT HR requirements has wild fluctuation. One may have to ramp up 10%-20% based on a new project. Once that project is complete, it would barely need 10% of the original number to maintain it. Can an IT company afford to keep the 10%-20% additional staff, when the payroll is 3/4 of the total cost? It really can't. Yes, there are deep pocketed big tech companies that were doing exactly that, but it was by choice. These days shareholders don't approve of that at all. That's a discussion we already had few pages ago. If that becomes mandated, most companies don't have the deep pocket for that.That is why job security in IT industry is not a really possible. Unless... we bring the wage cost below 10% of the total cost. Is anyone willing to work in IT for auto industry employee's salary?You can either ask for high salaries or job security. If you ask for both, companies will be forced to simply shut shop and move to another state or country. AbhiBelgaumPune Newbie Join Date: Mar 2024 Location: Pune Posts: 1 Thanked: 40 Times South Konkan Road-Trip in a Tata Nexon I am a newly joined member on TeamBhp and This is my first ever travelogue written on an online community platform like TeamBhp. I have been a long-time reader and follower of TeamBhp community. I am an avid traveler since my college days and have done many bike trips on my Honda Unicorn. I have been reading travelogues from TeamBhp since many years. It is from such posts; I got a basic idea that people do undertake such long Road trips and make memorable holidays. Later, I learned car driving in Oct 2021 and finally we bought TATA Nexon XZ+, (Petrol, Manual ) as our first ever car in Dec 2021. Soon after that, did many short trips to various places near Pune. As I was already encouraged by Long Journey Travelogues by folks on TeamBhp, I also planned and did a 11 day Long Grand South India RoadTrip covering most of TamilNadu and some places in Kerala. (I was the only driver throughout the journey and did some personal achievements like driving 830+ Kms in a single day. ) Introduction about this trip: South Konkan was a place that I was planning to visit since many years. Finally got chance a to plan a long road trip covering main tourist places of south konkan. Viz: Vijaydurg, Kunkeshwar, Sindhudurg, Tarkarli, Malvan, and Goa. Trip Plan: Pune>Rajapur>Vijaydurg>Kunkeshwar>Sindhudurg>Tarka rli>Malvan>Calangute, Goa>Bondla wildlife sanctuary, Goa. And then return (via same route) Date : 2,3,4,5,6 February 2024.( Fri half, Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues) Day 1: Friday 2nd Feb 2024: Pune to Rajapur The Road from Karad to Oni via kokrud>malkapur>Anuskura is in absolutely fantastic condition. Though Malkapur to Anuskura via Manjare village seems a very small route in google map(road shown by a thin line), But actually it is a very good 2 lane newly built road with proper markings. Reached Rajapur at around 8 30 pm. Stayed there at a lodge. Day 2: Friday 3rd Feb 2024: Rajapur to Vijaydurg: Got up early in the morning and headed towards Vijaydurg. The road is nice with beautiful scenic views. About Vijaydurg Fort: Vijaydurg Fort was called the Eastern Gibraltar, as it was virtually impregnable. Its locational advantages include the 40 km long Waghotan/Kharepatan creek. Large vessels cannot enter the shallow water of this creek. It has a large protective wall built under sea to prevent large ships coming near it. Fort is in good condition. It takes around 2 hours to see it. Left from the place at around 11:30 AM and headed towards Kunakeshwar. Route Map: From Devgad to kunkeshwar, there is a very scenic route right along the beach. If you take it, you directly reach near the Kunakeshwar temple. Kunkeshwar temple Kunkeshwar to Sindhudurg: Here, though google map shows a route which includes a ride through a ferry, it is misleading!. Instead its better to take the suggested route as shown below. Reached Sindhudurg town. There had lunch at Rajbhog hotel. It was a one of the few Veg restaurant options available there. Nevertheless, it was good. Then went at the jetty location at around 3:15 PM. Took the boat ride (100 rupees per person, free for kids.) Boat takes around 20-30 mins to reach the fort. Sindhudurg Fort: A roaring testament of the Maratha empire's legacy, Sindhudurg Fort narrates a captivating tale of Maharashtra's history. Constructed ages ago, Sindhudurg Fort is an engineering marvel with strategic brilliance. A visionary piece of work, its often referred to as the "Fort of the Sea" and is a haven for history and nature lovers. The fort looks great from outside. It is built on an Island. However, internally the island is not maintained properly. Fort walls are strong and good. But the internal landscape within the fort is not at all well maintained. Because of lot of snacks, cold drinks shops etc, the place has become dirty. In contrast, Vijaydurg feels much better. It has no food stalls inside the fort. (which is good in my opinion ) Completed the Sindhudurg fort visit by 5 pm. Returned to jetty point at around 5:30 pm. Stayed at Ashish resort. Sunday 4th Feb 2024: Todays plan was to visit the devbag beach then the Lakshmi Narayan temple in Walawal and then reaching goa at the end of the day. Started early morning at 6:00 AM. Tarkarli town is a very densely populated town with only 1 major road connecting to the dead end point which is devbag beach. Its a very narrow road with very tightly packed roadside resorts and hotels. The road is so narrow that only a single bus can pass at any time. There is absolutely no space for even 2 cars to pass. If a big vehicle comes ( tempo traveler/big tourist bus etc. ) then opposite vehicle has to return several hundred meters. Hence it is my suggestion to avoid taking car( own or hired) on this route at any cost. If you get stuck somewhere, then it will waste a lot of your time. Realized this quickly and started looking for a car parking. At one point, found some non-private empty space and decided to park the car there. From there, went to devbag beach and walked all the way towards the end of devbag beach. (~1.5 kms). Took a boat ride (Rs: 2200 for 2Adults+Kid mainly because of off season). Saw dolphins! From Devbag, wanted to visit the Lakshmi Narayan temple in walawal. A good route was suggested by the boat ride guy; which is as below Though google shows the highlighted section as a very thin line (= small, narrow remote road), IT IS NOT actually like that. In-fact road is a regular common 2 lane road and is in good condition. The temple is a very serene and calm. You can relax for long time here. Such a beautiful and peaceful place! Walawal temple to Mochemad beach : From there (walawal), even the continuing road towards Humarmala village is good. From Humarmala, we took below route to reach Mochemad. Google shows a different route to reach the beach. But that is non existent! Hence after asking the locals, we took the below route. Mochemad Beach: Mochemad is a nice very remote, less crowded beach. Watching evening sunset was a dream come true! From Mochemad, towards Anjuna, Goa: From Mochemad, we left at around 5 oclock. And then headed towards Anjuna, Goa. Reached goa at around 7 PM. We had not booked any hotel thinking it was off season. After 10-15 mins of search and enquiry, finalized Poonam resort for the stay. Monday 5th Feb: Todays plan was to Visit Calangute beach, then Aguada fort, then visit one of my cousins home. And stay in Ponda Goa. Calangute Beach: This place needs no introduction! After this Aguada Fort. Finished sightseeing by 11:30 AM Then we headed towards velage to meet my cousin brother(aka=velguem, near Valpoi) Left there at around 3:30 PM. Then went to Mangeshi temple. and the Shantadurga temple at Kavale. For the night stay, Finalized a room at: Gaudapadacharya math, Kavale math management( near the shantadurga Temple kawavle math.) Tuesday 6th Feb 2024: As per plan, reached Bondla Wildlife sanctuary/zoo ( keep in mind that : this sanctuary, is closed on Mondays). It opens at 9 AM. We had already reached there before 9 AM. Bondla Wildlife sanctuary/zoo: This is comparatively lesser known place in GOA. But it is a good place to visit. They have many wild animals like Leopard, Python, Bison, Snakes, Birds, Emu, Ostrich etc. It takes around 2 hours to complete the zoo sightseeing. Porcupines in the zoo Return Journey: Bondla Wildlife sanctuary>> Mapusa>> Oni>>Karad>>Pune. Left Bondla at around 10:45 AM. Reached the Goa-Mumbai Highway intersection near Mapusa at around 12:20 PM. From there, the 4-lane highway is awesome. Covered the distance at good speed. En-route, had lunch at Madhurya Bhojanalay. Pure veg simple home like food. Highly recommended. ) Crossed Anuskura ghat at around 3:30PM. Road is really excellent. (All the way till Karad cross on Belgavi-Pune Highway). Crossed Karad at around 6PM. Finally reached the home in Pune at around 9 PM. -Thanks Hope you like it. Hi Friends,I am a newly joined member on TeamBhp and This is my first ever travelogue written on an online community platform like TeamBhp. I have been a long-time reader and follower of TeamBhp community. I am an avid traveler since my college days and have done many bike trips on my Honda Unicorn. I have been reading travelogues from TeamBhp since many years. It is from such posts; I got a basic idea that people do undertake such long Road trips and make memorable holidays.Later, I learned car driving in Oct 2021 and finally we bought TATA Nexon XZ+, (Petrol, Manual ) as our first ever car in Dec 2021. Soon after that, did many short trips to various places near Pune. As I was already encouraged by Long Journey Travelogues by folks on TeamBhp, I also planned and did a 11 day Long Grand South India RoadTrip covering most of TamilNadu and some places in Kerala. (I was the only driver throughout the journey and did some personal achievements like driving 830+ Kms in a single day.South Konkan was a place that I was planning to visit since many years. Finally got chance a to plan a long road trip covering main tourist places of south konkan. Viz: Vijaydurg, Kunkeshwar, Sindhudurg, Tarkarli, Malvan, and Goa.Pune>Rajapur>Vijaydurg>Kunkeshwar>Sindhudurg>Tarka rli>Malvan>Calangute, Goa>Bondla wildlife sanctuary, Goa. And then return (via same route)2,3,4,5,6 February 2024.( Fri half, Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues)The Road from Karad to Oni via kokrud>malkapur>Anuskura is in absolutely fantastic condition. Though Malkapur to Anuskura via Manjare village seems a very small route in google map(road shown by a thin line), But actually it is a very good 2 lane newly built road with proper markings.Reached Rajapur at around 8 30 pm. Stayed there at a lodge.Got up early in the morning and headed towards Vijaydurg. The road is nice with beautiful scenic views.Vijaydurg Fort was called the Eastern Gibraltar, as it was virtually impregnable. Its locational advantages include the 40 km long Waghotan/Kharepatan creek. Large vessels cannot enter the shallow water of this creek. It has a large protective wall built under sea to prevent large ships coming near it. Fort is in good condition. It takes around 2 hours to see it.Left from the place at around 11:30 AM and headed towards Kunakeshwar.Route Map:there is a very scenic route right along the beach. If you take it, you directly reach near the Kunakeshwar temple.Kunkeshwar templeHere, though google map shows a route which includes a ride through a ferry, it is misleading!. Instead its better to take the suggested route as shown below.Reached Sindhudurg town. There had lunch at Rajbhog hotel. It was a one of the few Veg restaurant options available there. Nevertheless, it was good. Then went at the jetty location at around 3:15 PM. Took the boat ride (100 rupees per person, free for kids.) Boat takes around 20-30 mins to reach the fort.A roaring testament of the Maratha empire's legacy, Sindhudurg Fort narrates a captivating tale of Maharashtra's history. Constructed ages ago, Sindhudurg Fort is an engineering marvel with strategic brilliance. A visionary piece of work, its often referred to as the "Fort of the Sea" and is a haven for history and nature lovers.The fort looks great from outside. It is built on an Island. However, internally the island is not maintained properly. Fort walls are strong and good. But the internal landscape within the fort is not at all well maintained. Because of lot of snacks, cold drinks shops etc, the place has become dirty. In contrast, Vijaydurg feels much better. It has no food stalls inside the fort. (which is good in my opinion )Completed the Sindhudurg fort visit by 5 pm. Returned to jetty point at around 5:30 pm. Stayed at Ashish resort.Todays plan was to visit the devbag beach then the Lakshmi Narayan temple in Walawal and then reaching goa at the end of the day.Started early morning at 6:00 AM. Tarkarli town is a very densely populated town with only 1 major road connecting to the dead end point which is devbag beach. Its a very narrow road with very tightly packed roadside resorts and hotels. The road is so narrow that only a single bus can pass at any time. There is absolutely no space for even 2 cars to pass. If a big vehicle comes ( tempo traveler/big tourist bus etc. ) then opposite vehicle has to return several hundred meters. Hence it is my suggestion to avoid taking car( own or hired) on this route at any cost. If you get stuck somewhere, then it will waste a lot of your time. Realized this quickly and started looking for a car parking. At one point, found some non-private empty space and decided to park the car there. From there, went to devbag beach and walked all the way towards the end of devbag beach. (~1.5 kms).Took a boat ride (Rs: 2200 for 2Adults+Kid mainly because of off season). Saw dolphins!From Devbag, wanted to visit the Lakshmi Narayan temple in walawal. A good route was suggested by the boat ride guy; which is as belowThough google shows the highlighted section as a very thin line (= small, narrow remote road), IT IS NOT actually like that. In-fact road is a regular common 2 lane road and is in good condition.The temple is a very serene and calm. You can relax for long time here. Such a beautiful and peaceful place!From there (walawal), even the continuing road towards Humarmala village is good. From Humarmala, we took below route to reach Mochemad. Google shows a different route to reach the beach. But that is non existent! Hence after asking the locals, we took the below route.Mochemad Beach: Mochemad is a nice very remote, less crowded beach. Watching evening sunset was a dream come true!From Mochemad, we left at around 5 oclock. And then headed towards Anjuna, Goa.Reached goa at around 7 PM. We had not booked any hotel thinking it was off season. After 10-15 mins of search and enquiry, finalized Poonam resort for the stay.Monday 5th Feb: Todays plan was to Visit Calangute beach, then Aguada fort, then visit one of my cousins home. And stay in Ponda Goa.Calangute Beach: This place needs no introduction! After this Aguada Fort. Finished sightseeing by 11:30 AMThen we headed towards velage to meet my cousin brother(aka=velguem, near Valpoi)Left there at around 3:30 PM. Then went to Mangeshi temple. and the Shantadurga temple at Kavale. For the night stay, Finalized a room at: Gaudapadacharya math, Kavale math management( near the shantadurga Temple kawavle math.)As per plan, reached Bondla Wildlife sanctuary/zoo ( keep in mind that : this sanctuary, is closed on Mondays). It opens at 9 AM. We had already reached there before 9 AM.This is comparatively lesser known place in GOA. But it is a good place to visit. They have many wild animals like Leopard, Python, Bison, Snakes, Birds, Emu, Ostrich etc. It takes around 2 hours to complete the zoo sightseeing.Porcupines in the zooBondla Wildlife sanctuary>> Mapusa>> Oni>>Karad>>Pune.Left Bondla at around 10:45 AM. Reached the Goa-Mumbai Highway intersection near Mapusa at around 12:20 PM. From there, the 4-lane highway is awesome. Covered the distance at good speed. En-route, had lunch at Madhurya Bhojanalay. Pure veg simple home like food. Highly recommended. )Crossed Anuskura ghat at around 3:30PM. Road is really excellent. (All the way till Karad cross on Belgavi-Pune Highway). Crossed Karad at around 6PM.Finally reached the home in Pune at around 9 PM.-ThanksHope you like it. Last edited by GTO : 24th March 2024 at 19:17 . Reason: Spacing, thanks for sharing! After spending more than 25 years in the technology space including 17 years in San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley few things flabbergast me. But then came Thursdays announcement from the Department of Justice with its antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Im still reeling from it. The lack of logic astounds me. The DOJs expansive nature of this antitrust complaint is based on archaic data as if Ma Bell still operated as it did up to the early 1980s. If the Justice Department uses these primarily false arguments at face value, its hard for me to believe it can prevail against Apple. Let me opine. Who Are the Victims? If you look at the lawsuit from a top-level view, Apples biggest alleged victims are IT and banking giants. The suit clearly aims to force antitrust legislation reforms Congress hasnt authorized. Moreover, harm to the consumer is incredibly unclear in this lawsuit. The DOJ claims Apple uses a smartphone monopoly to lock people into its closed system and undercut competitors a credible theory that discernibly deserves inspection. Apple controls 55% of the U.S. smartphone market, giving it colossal app ecosystem power. No one doubts that. But given that the DOJ claims Apples monopoly stifles tech innovation, how does the DOJ explain that paid developers on the companys app store have increased 374% to 5.2 million in the past decade? Apple released AirPods, Vision Pro headsets, and Apple Watch health features like an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor and fall detector. However, numerous examples of non-Apple industry innovation have occurred over the past few years despite Apples closed ecosystem. Apple Responds Not surprisingly, Apple responded vigorously to the lawsuit and addressed much of the complaint immediately after the DOJ announced the lawsuit. Attorney General Merrick Garland remarked that Apples iMessages restrictive nature is responsible for the often terrible image quality of messages that frequently appear on Android smartphones when sent from an iPhone. Apparently, hes unaware of the news or whos accountable for the low quality of SMS/MMS between Android and iPhone users. Its not Apple. This point also seems to ignore the fact that Apple has already publicly announced that it will embrace the RCS format to improve the messaging experience with non-iPhone users. So, wheres the damage? The DOJ seems obtuse about this consideration. Instead, it blasts messaging apps. The DOJ asserted that Apple generally makes third-party messaging apps on the iPhone worse. Relative to Apple Messages, the DOJ states that Apples messaging app prohibits third-party apps from sending or receiving carrier-based messages, knowingly and deliberately degrading quality, privacy, and security for its users and others who do not have iPhones. The statement is crazy and without logic. No messaging service has an Apple-limited user base, and most include iPhone apps. In most respects, its almost the opposite. WhatsApp dominates worldwide messaging, and its user base would be much smaller without Apple and the iPhone. Moreover, Apple isnt responsible for poor-quality Android-to-iPhone photos and videos. SMS/MMS is a dated and primitive format that Apple has tried to correct with its Messages app. Apples Ecosystem Is Terrible for Consumers From a DOJ perspective, Apple violates section two of the Sherman Antitrust Act by restricting third-party access to hardware and software characteristics it exploits. The DOJ is concerned about digital wallets and Apples claimed denial of competing firms access to the iPhones NFC chip. Since its inception two years ago, companies worldwide have switched to it instead of maintaining their own hardware. According to the DOJ, there are similar issues with Apple Watchs preferential treatment of iPhone. The suit claims rival smartwatches have limited software and hardware features. Android watches operate well with Android phones, making this assertion more challenging. Conversely, Android Watches often cannot work (partially or not at all) with iPhones. Regardless, Apple opened up GymKit so the Apple Watchs health functions could interact with Peloton exercise equipment. To be clear, no law requires Apple to build apps for third-party smartwatch connections. Integrators decide. Google and Samsung, the leading integrators, declined for unknown reasons. From that standpoint, the DOJs language in the lawsuit looks biased and non-factual. The Apple Watch is the most popular smartwatch for reasons other than Apple depriving users of the ability to use an Android watch with an iPhone. The iPhone held half of the U.S. smartphone market in 2022 and 62% now. Apple decided not to make the Apple Watch Android-compatible, as was its prerogative. There have been multiple media reports that Apple worked for years to fix issues without compromising the product. The DOJs specific assertion about the smartphone business meets the legal criterion of 70% and up, implying monopoly. According to a reasonable market definition of smartphone users, nearly as many Android users can enjoy a non-Apple smartphone experience. Consumer Choice at Risk? Its hard to react to a federal lawsuit that includes the language without scoffing: To protect its smartphone monopoly and the extraordinary profits that monopoly generates Apple repeatedly chooses to make its products worse for consumers to prevent competition from emerging. I suspect it would be impossible for me to round up three consumers in a 50-mile radius of my home in Silicon Valley who would assert that Apples ecosystem approach prevents them from considering non-Apple solutions. However, one of the DOJs primary Apple objections may be debatable. Apple may restrict super applications, which the DOJ describes as providing a user with broad functionality in a single app. Chinese super app WeChat is best known. Its Chinas most popular social media, payment, sales, and chat app. But Its best known because its on the iPhone and other devices. Apple has a WeChat store instead of blocking it. Another example: Facebook/Metas iPhone app is great as its a single place for social media, payment, sales, and communications. This point confuses me as no one bans super apps (a term I find quite meaningless). Legal Challenge of Proving Harm To be sure, this antitrust madness began in the late Trump administration, not Bidens. But it has quickly become the cornerstone of the Biden administrations initial Big Tech promises. Now that the Pandoras box has been opened, like all antitrust lawsuits, it will take years, and political winds may change. It may fail under Trump and may survive a second Biden term. A few Silicon Valley attorneys familiar with the matter told me that the DOJ must prove customer injury, which is difficult. Other smartphone suppliers have raised hardware and service prices due to supply chain concerns over the last four years, so theres no genuine justification. When Android vendors have devices costing far more, proving customer harm from a $1,500 iPhone may be a legal achievement better suited for David Copperfield than Clarence Darrow. Furthermore, the DOJ must reconsider its belief that developers have a right to be unrestrained on Apple platforms. Does Costco have a right to offer its products on Walmart shelves? Can Toyota demand that its products be offered at Chrysler dealerships? The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that corporations can choose their partners, prices, terms, and conditions. Does the DOJ recognize that? Chilling Effect on Innovation Indeed, the fear of DOJ investigations may have prompted Apples improvements or changes. Most importantly, the inquiry has made Apple a better company. However, this lawsuit has tremendous destructive potential. Discouragement of companies from making product improvements that benefit consumers will harm competitors who prefer the status quo. Im also astonished that a few industry observers are rooting publicly for the DOJ to prevail against Apple, regardless of the actual or lack of case from a merits standpoint, as it could dull the companys competitiveness. Nothing could be more dangerous should this happen if we truly believe that only the most winning and innovative solutions should prevail in any market. Sadly, the DOJ will likely appeal and waste more taxpayer money when it loses face and, most probably, in my view, the case. As countless internal emails will be disclosed due to the lawsuit, which might be embarrassing, though not illegal, Apple could take a non-trivial PR hit. Additionally, the expansive nature of the lawsuit appears to be a strategic tactic by the DOJ to force Apple to accept some type of settlement, which the company will not do. Not Perfect, Not Illegal Apple is not perfect, and angels do not adorn the companys executive ranks. The company makes some product decisions mainly from an end-user upgrade standpoint that annoy me and force me to pay higher prices. I also dont like that I cant access my iMessages on a Windows PC in a robust manner. However, these are not monopolistic actions, and I cant fault Apple. I might do the same if I were making those decisions to optimize the power of its ecosystem and product margins. Yes, Apple is enormously successful, but it has stumbled. Its efforts in electric and automated vehicles failed famously, and it lags in AI. Artificial intelligences rapid and unpredictable growth may upend IT businesses and markets. If Apple has actively participated in premeditated and nefarious anti-competitive actions that have harmed the consumer, the DOJ will need to produce stronger evidence than what weve seen thus far. By the end of this suit, Apples dominance may look as outdated as IBMs did after the company dominated the PC business during the 1980s and 1990s, only to jettison it to Lenovo in 2005. The DOJ would be well advised to remember those lessons. What just happened? China has introduced new guidelines that will phase out US processors and software from its government computers and servers. The rules mean that CPUs from Intel and AMD, along with Microsoft Windows and foreign-made database software, will be replaced with homegrown alternatives. The guidelines, unveiled on December 26, are now being enforced, writes the Financial Times. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring "safe and reliable" processors and operating systems when making purchases. The China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center published a list of these safe and reliable products. The CPUs all come from Chinese companies, including Huawei and Phytium, and cover a mixture of x86, Arm, and homegrown architectures. China has spent years trying to move away from its reliance on overseas technologies in favor of domestic products. Its Made in China 2025 policy goals include dropping its image as the world's factory and becoming a global technology powerhouse in its own right. China was Intel's largest market last year, accounting for 27% of Team Blue's $54 billion in sales. The Asian nation also generated $23 billion for AMD, representing 15% of its sales. The restrictions will have less of an impact on Microsoft, which counts on China for about 1.5% of its revenues. The move to prohibit US CPUs in government agencies comes amid increasing tensions between Beijing and Washington. The American government has been restricting China's ability to produce its own advanced chips for years. More recently, advanced AI products from Nvidia have been banned from export to China, leading to the company creating less powerful, China-specific alternatives. In some ways, the US is mirroring China by lessening its reliance on the country and Taiwan for its semiconductors through the CHIPS Act, which provides $52 billion in subsidies for companies to move manufacturing back to the US. Intel was recently awarded the CHIPS Act's largest sum to date: $8.5 billion in funding, along with $11 billion in loans and a 25% investment tax credit on up to $100 billion of capital investments. It's not just foreign CPUs and software China wants out of its government buildings. In September, Apple's shares fell 9% following news that China was expanding its ban on the use of iPhones in certain government offices. What just happened? It's been 20 years since the last supersonic commercial aircraft, Concorde, was retired. But if startup Boom Supersonic's plan works out, a new jet flying faster than the speed of sound will take to the skies in the next six years. That dream has taken another step toward reality after a successful test flight of its prototype aircraft. Boom Supersonic on Friday announced that its XB-1 prototype jet had completed a successful mission over the Mojave Desert. The subsonic test flight began at 7:28 am on Thursday. The 62-foot jet reached a maximum altitude of 7,120 feet and a top speed of 246 knots (283 mph) before landing 12 minutes later. Boom Supersonic writes that XB-1, which uses three 1950s-era J85 turbojet engines, is a demonstrator aircraft featuring several state-of-the-art technologies that will be used in Overture, the commercial supersonic aircraft that the company is working on. This includes carbon fiber composites, advanced avionics, digitally-optimized aerodynamics, and an advanced supersonic propulsion system. "Today, XB-1 took flight in the same hallowed airspace where the Bell X-1 first broke the sound barrier in 1947," said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. "I've been looking forward to this flight since founding Boom in 2014, and it marks the most significant milestone yet on our path to bring supersonic travel to passengers worldwide." Back in 2022, American Airlines announced that it placed an order for up to 20 Overture aircraft, with an option for an additional 40. United Airlines is also buying 15 Overture jets, and Boom Supersonic has manufacturing partnerships with Florida Turbine Technologies and GE Additive. However, The Verge points out that Boom Supersonic was dealt a blow in 2022 when British manufacturing giant Rolls Royce pulled out of its partnership with the company, leaving Boom to develop its own engines. Boom Supersonic wants Overture's first test flight to take place before 2030. Three times larger than XB-1, the jet will carry 64 to 80 passengers at Mach 1.7, about twice the speed of today's subsonic airliners. It's also designed to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and will be powered by four of Boom's own engines, called Symphony, each delivering around three times the combined output of the XB-1's three J85 engines. There are some major obstacles Boom needs to address before Overture becomes a reality. The first is money: Scholl says the company has raised $700 million, but completing the supersonic jet could cost $8 billion. There's also the fact that regulations against sonic booms mean that Overture might have its full speed limited to times when it travels over water, though technologies could turn the booms into "thumps." There's also the sustainability question; 64 passengers isn't a lot compared to what today's large aircraft can carry, and flying at those speeds will eat up a lot of fuel. However, SAF could help mitigate the environmental impact. "We're still targeting being in the air around the end of the decade on Overture. There's a lot of work to do between now and then on that airplane, and our goal is to do it safely but also with a sense of urgency because we want this airplane for ourselves, our friends, our family, and our customers," said Scholl. A beachfront hotel has abandoned plans to cull a flock of protected native birds that took up residence in its underground car park, after furious locals fought back and rallied around the colony, pleading to management to relocate them safely. The Cumberland Resort in Lorne, on Victoria's surf coast, had earlier announced it would cull 50 welcome swallows that inhabited its car park using a licensed contractor at 8pm on Monday. The hotel stated that "over the past few years, several alternative methods have been attempted to remove the population of swallows", but had failed. It said a cull was "a last resort" and management had long worked with wildlife agencies to have the birds removed without harming them. Speaking to Yahoo News, a spokesperson for the Cumberland Resort said in the wake of the announcement to kill the flock, staff had been inundated with abuse. The Cumberland Resort in Lorne has abandoned plans to cull a flock of birds which occupy its car park and will instead work with wildlife agencies to safely relocate them. Source: Booking.com The hotel had an authorised permit to cull a total of 50 welcome swallows from its underground car park. Source: Australia Museum Wildlife advocates want change to 'convenience killing permits' But environment agencies say the saga highlights the broader issue, which is the handing down of what they describe as "convenience killing permits", that allow people to cull wildlife that have been deemed a "nuisance". A spokeswoman for Animals Australia said the cull rightly outraged the Lorne community and there "are a lot of non-lethal ways" that the hotel could "encourage them not to enter or nest on the walls of underground car parks". "The problem is that commercial and private land managers use the Victorian Government's Authority to Control Wildlife system as a way to say 'what we're doing is legal, so it's OK' and while yes, it's true that it's legal, that system is very dated," the spokeswoman told Yahoo News Australia. "It's archaic thinking they're what we call 'convenience killing' permits. "If you've got native, protected or threatened animals and yes, the department will still issue them for threatened species hanging around, that are trying to coexist in your space, and you don't want them there, the Victorian Government has carved out a process whereby you can just apply to have them killed. Story continues "And this is a fundamental flaw with the policy, it's shocking." Victoria's Conservation Regulator told Yahoo that it "issued an Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) to lethally control welcome swallows at a site in Lorne. The Conservation Regulator undertakes a rigorous assessment of all ATCW applications to ensure they meet the requirements of the Wildlife Act 1975. An applicant for an ATCW must demonstrate all practical non-lethal wildlife control methods have been explored and must carefully consider animal welfare and human safety. It is understood while all wildlife in Victoria is protected under the Wildlife Act 1975, land managers in the state can apply for an ATCW if wildlife is negatively impacting crops, pasture or infrastructure. Hotel says plan to cull birds was a last resort In the instance of the Cumberland Resort, management say they'd received "emails and phone calls of abuse" in the wake of plans to kill the birds although such a move was never their preferred course of action. "We issued a statement saying that we've cancelled the plans, we're happy to look at alternative solutions, we're happy to work with wildlife people, we've been down this track before," a spokesperson told Yahoo News. "This was always considered a last resort, we understand the concerns of the people, I issued a notice on Facebook and I'm still getting abused. We went through processes and we tried multiple different things, but nevertheless I've now reached back out to the contractor and said 'we need to come up with more alternatives' so that we don't harm the birds. After community backlash, the birds will be spared, with plans to remove them the "ultimate goal" of the hotel. Source: Australia Museum "But ultimately our goal and what our goal will always be is to remove the birds from the car park. We understand the sentiment of the residents and the community and we will work toward finding an amicable, alternative solution." The resort earlier said in an email to residents that they had obtained approval for the permit from DEECA last year. "It is important to remember that this is a health and safety issue and that all authorised approvals have been received from the relevant government bodies and the Owners Corporation Committee have been notified and approved the plans," the hotel said. The Animals Australia spokesperson said she was working with the resort to ensure an amicable solution. "We work with a lot of local wildlife rehabbers in the area, there's a lot of licensed wildlife carers around who would be very happy to help find alternative solutions and chat with them," she said. "So that's something that we're really happy to do." Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories. Size Matters: The secret to better hardware acceleration for AI algorithms seems to be related to the size of actual number-crunching microchips. Broadcom's latest custom "XPU" could be the largest of these AI accelerators shown so far. Broadcom recently hosted an "AI investor day" to showcase its latest market solutions. The networking giant introduced a series of innovations specifically designed to accelerate and manage artificial intelligence algorithms. One of the innovations was a large "XPU," which, according to Broadcom, was built on world-class foundational technologies such as SerDes and DSP. Intel defines an XPU as any compute architecture that best fits the needs of a company's application. Whether it is a CPU, GPU, FPGA, or ASIC with custom silicon design, an XPU can theoretically provide a seamless experience across PCs, cars, robotic arms, or any other "intelligent" piece of hardware. Tech analyst Patrick Moorhead attended the Broadcom event and was able to obtain some interesting visual documentation about the company's latest products. In one of the photos shared on Twitter, Moorhead was holding a very large piece of silicon with an "XPU" label on it. According to Frank Ostojic, head of Broadcom's custom silicon group, the XPU in question has been specifically designed for a large "consumer AI company." The XPU is equipped with two compute units at the center, while high-bandwidth memory (HBM) populates the left and right sides of the chip. Some fun pics from the @Broadcom AI investor day today. This is obviously a wafer in its protective case. This "XPU" (AI accelerator) chip uses a 3D package. The top die is a 700mm2 accelerator on top of an 800m2 SRAM. Yes I'm surprised as: A/ I don't know $AVGO had 3D chops. (It pic.twitter.com/SjoVY90yiq Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) March 21, 2024 Moorhead speculates that Broadcom's XPU packs "lots and lots" of computing power, very high-speed intra-chip connectivity, and the "highest performance" for external networking communications. Nvidia's recently introduced Blackwell AI accelerator also employs two compute units embedded in the same chip, but Broadcom's XPU is as large or even larger than that. So far, no information has been provided about the third-party "AI company" for which Broadcom designed its supposedly powerful XPU. The corporation is mostly known for its networking gear and services, but it also provides custom chips for prominent consumer organizations like Google. Like many other fabless chip designers, Broadcom will use the foundry services of Taiwanese giant TSMC to manufacture the XPU. Custom AI accelerators are part of Broadcom's strategy to sell data center solutions that are performant, efficient, and scalable. Consumer AI applications are driving the need for innovative custom AI silicon, the company said, while a proper "AI infrastructure" would require an entire portfolio of network-related products that can move all that data as fast as possible. And Broadcom is, of course, more than willing to sell its AI portfolio to AI-focused tech companies in the future. In brief: Apple's Vision Pro headset seems to have divided opinion between those who love it and those who think it's a waste of $3,500. One major problem with the device for anyone living outside of the US is that Apple still isn't selling it overseas, but CEO Tim Cook has just confirmed that the Vision Pro will be coming to China this year, suggesting a wider global release will happen in 2024. Cook is currently in China at a time when the once-strong link between Apple and the country is under strain. The Apple boss has been touring a new Apple store in Shanghai and attending the China Development Forum in Beijing. It was at the latter event where he was asked if the Vision Pro would launch in China this year. One of CCTV's accounts on social media site Weibo show Cook answering "yes" to the question. China isn't the only country outside the US that will see a Vision Pro release in 2024. MacRumors recently spotted job listings for so-called "Briefing Experience Specialists" in Australia and Japan (and China). The sales position involves demonstrating the Vision Pro's capabilities to business and enterprise customers. Apple posted the same listing in the UK last year, though the headset still isn't available in the United Kingdom. Apple does say on its website that the Vision Pro will launch internationally this year. There are no mentions of dates and which locations will get the headset initially, making Cook's statement that it'll land in China the first official confirmation of a specific country. Apple's relationship with China isn't what it used to be. iPhone sales in the Asian nation were down 24% during the first six weeks of 2024 as local giant Huawei made massive gains. China has also banned iPhones from more government offices and sensitive departments, and there were reports of iPhone 15 sales in China not living up to those of the iPhone 14. Despite the strain, Cook emphasized that Apple's commitment to China, a relationship he once called "symbiotic," remains strong. "I am very confident in it (China)," Cook said. "I love China, I love being here, I love the people and the culture. Every time I come here, I am reminded that anything is possible here." Why it matters: There is nothing more enduring than a "temporary" code patchwork for a vast software project. Former Microsoft employee Dave Plummer provides yet another demonstration of this golden rule in software development. Windows is well known for its almost eerie ability to host a multitude of conflicting GUI paradigms within the same graphical shell. This trend has persisted for decades and is likely to continue with whatever future Windows edition Microsoft is currently developing. However, a specific aspect of the user interface was hastily assembled as a temporary measure until a more refined version could be implemented. According to well-known Microsoft developer Dave Plummer, the "Format" dialog box was quickly put together in late 1994. At that time, Redmond was busy porting the "bajillion lines of code" from the Windows 95 user interface to Windows NT, as Plummer recently explained on X. The Format GUI was one area where Windows 95 and NT differed enough to warrant a new, custom UI. The programmer sketched the options for the dialog box on a piece of paper and then created a "simple vertical stack" of all the choices he had prepared (capacity, file system, label, cluster size, etc.) in VC++2.0. Plummer admits that the UI "wasn't elegant," but it would at least provide functional capability until the "elegant UI" could be implemented. I wrote this Format dialog back on a rainy Thursday morning at Microsoft in late 1994, I think it was. We were porting the bajillion lines of code from the Windows95 user interface over to NT, and Format was just one of those areas where WindowsNT was different enough from pic.twitter.com/PbrhQe0n3K Dave W Plummer (@davepl1968) March 24, 2024 Thirty years later, consumer Win32 operating systems and the NT technology have been fused together, yet the format dialog box of Windows 11 remains the "temporary" solution Plummer sketched on a piece of paper. Programmers should always be careful when implementing a temporary solution in a much larger software project, the coder says. Plummer also made some arbitrary choices about the largest possible size of a FAT-based volume. The FAT32 file system introduced with Windows 95 uses a 32-bit field to count sectors, thus providing a maximum size of 2 terabytes for a single FAT32 volume. The disk format tool integrated into Windows NT only supports volume sizes up to 32 gigabytes, a value Plummer chose all by himself to try to avoid wasting too much storage space with larger cluster sizes. Microsoft clearly decided to embed the original Format UI in the final version of Windows NT 4.0, and the arbitrary choices made by a single developer "on a rainy Thursday" are still with us after all these years. In 2022, Americans allocated over $144.8 billion toward fishing and hunting activities. Despite the significant contribution of guided hunting and fishing trips to this industry, the booking process has predominantly remained offline, involving phone calls and payments via physical checks or cash. Mallard Bay: A Startup's Path to Changing Outdoor Adventures Seeking to revolutionize this sector is Mallard Bay, a Houston-based startup aiming to streamline the booking experience for hunting and fishing excursions. As a marketplace for consumers, Mallard Bay enables users to book guided tours online, akin to reserving accommodations. Moreover, Mallard Bay operates as a vertical Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, empowering outfitters to digitize their operations and offer supplementary services such as marketing through an online interface. At the time, Meaux was working for his dad's startup Waitr, which raised $24 million in venture capital before exiting in 2018, and thought he could launch a company of his own. In 2019, he and two other co-founders got to work. Simplifying Hunting and Fishing Trip Bookings The original idea was just to create a marketplace like Airbnb for people to book these guided hunts. Once the company started asking outfitters and guides what they thought of the idea, they realized that they would need to bring more to the table to get guides to sign on. That led them to start building out Guidetech, Mallard Bay's back-office solution for outfitters. During that period, Meaux was employed at his father's startup, Waitr, which successfully secured $24 million in venture capital funding before its exit in 2018, as reported by TechCrunch. Inspired by this entrepreneurial environment, Meaux envisioned launching his venture. In 2019, together with two fellow co-founders, they embarked on this new endeavor. The team soon recognized the need to offer additional value propositions to entice guides and outfitters to participate. Consequently, they initiated the development of Guidetech, Mallard Bay's proprietary back-office solution tailored for outfitters. He expressed that outfitters were receptive to the idea, acknowledging the need to stay current but emphasizing that their primary focus is on guiding rather than running a business. Also read: Florida Man Mike Walton, Who Was Pricked By Fish Hook, Nearly Loses Hand To Flesh-Eating Bacteria Meaux noted that many outfitters started their ventures with a passion for the outdoors rather than a business mindset. Recognizing this, the team at Mallard Bay offered their expertise in both outdoor activities and software development to assist outfitters in making the transition. Mallard Bay's growth trajectory since its inception in 2021 is particularly remarkable. The platform has experienced a staggering 600% increase in bookings year over year, a notable feat in an industry as specialized as hunting and fishing. This success underscores the potential of niche markets, demonstrating that what may appear niche at first glance can yield substantial opportunities for growth and development. They assured outfitters that they were well-suited to support them in this process of evolution. Related Article: Airbnb Implements New Privacy Regulations, Banning Indoor Cameras to Protect Guests' Privacy 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Vans' parent company, VF Corporation, has officially disclosed that a December-detected data breach impacted 35.5 million of its customers. The breach leaked email addresses, complete names, phone numbers, billing addresses, and shipping addresses. In other instances, the compromised data also revealed details about the payment method used for the purchases, order history, and total order value. (Photo: THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images) An agent of the operational center of the French National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI) checks datas on a computer in Paris on November 24, 2022. The parent company of Vans and North Face assured customers, however, via email that fraudsters did not steal their bank account information or credit card information. Furthermore, it stated that there is "no evidence" that any compromised personal information, such as phone numbers, emails, addresses, or names, has been utilized for illicit activities. VF asserts, however, that it is not ruled out that identity theft, phishing, and maybe general fraud efforts could arise from the incident, depending on the precise personal data disclosed for a particular customer. Read Also: Mintlify Reveals Customer GitHub Tokens Compromised by Data Breach Vans' December Data Breach On December 13, VF revealed a digital breach in which records were seized or accessed. The data breach hampered the cloth maker's business and capacity to keep people dressed in posh apparel. The language VF used to describe the hack in a regulatory filing reportedly made it sound a lot like a ransomware infestation with an extortion demand, even though the company did not refer to the cybersecurity event as ransomware at the time. By deliberately encrypting particular IT systems and stealing data, including personal information clear signs of a ransomware attack hackers interrupted VF Corporation's business activities. The clothing company disclosed that the IT security breach affected 35.5 million of its customers a month after the data breach was detected, but it remained evasive about what information the hackers most likely took during the intrusion. Vans disclosed their data leak concurrently with the U.S. Fresh suggestions about data breach disclosure for the Securities and Exchange Commission. Organizations must notify the federal government's securities regulator of cybersecurity issues, including data breaches, within four working days after the incident, according to these regulations. Laws Against Data Breach Research indicates that the United States still lacks rules to prevent data breaches. Researchers from George Mason University and the University of Minnesota conducted the investigation. It asserts that the US cybersecurity rules on breach notifications are ineffective at all at reducing the number of data breaches that occur there. After comparing data on data breach incidents before and after the enactment of the laws, the study reportedly found that the breach notification laws (BNLs), which require businesses to notify customers if their data has been compromised, are ineffective. The governments of all 50 states passed the laws. The study's results also demonstrate that there is no longer-term decline in data misuse after breaches. These non-effects are precisely estimated for a wide range of durations, BNL kinds, types of data breaches, and companies. Related Article: Fujitsu Confirms Hackers Stole Customer Data (Photo: Tech Times) 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Artificial intelligence and journalism prove to be stepping forward together, as a former Filipino journalist and Nieman fellow at Harvard has reportedly created a new AI tool that helps journalists quickly summarize audit reports using booming technology. Former GMA News Online editor-in-chief and Harvard University Nieman Fellow Jaemark Tordecilla recently developed an AI program, built on top of OpenAI's ChatGPT, that is specifically designed to summarize audit reports of Philippine government agencies for journalists. According to Tordecilla, while reports from the Philippines' Commission on Audit (COA) likely contain evidence of corruption, government agency documents can be dense and difficult to read and understand. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A new survey has revealed that many news organizations globally are using generative AI in their works. Reporters in newsrooms all over the world, not just in the Philippines, are frequently overworked and compelled to multitask and cover a variety of topics at once. Tordecilla wanted to find a way to help reporters maximize their efficiency and reduce the amount of time spent poring over these reports. His application, called COA Beat Assistant, was created with the help of features included in ChatGPT's premium edition, which let users modify the AI model without knowing any code. Tordecilla set it up to summarize content from the lengthy executive summaries of the COA, which can run up to 50 pages. The outcomes seem encouraging. According to Tordecilla's February essay for the Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford, a writer who frequently covers corruption stories based on state audit reports calculated that COA Beat Assistant helped reduce the research time by as much as 80%. Tordecilla's AI-powered tool comes as fears of AI replacing jobs, including journalists, only continue to rise. While studies suggest that people still prefer news content from humans, AI journalism only continues to gain traction. Read Also: AI or Human? Viral Video of Student Newscaster Confuses People Online Journalism-Powered AI Axel Springer and OpenAI announced a "first of its kind" partnership last December that integrates recent articles into ChatGPT and trains its generative AI models on the publisher's content, the Berlin-based publisher of magazines like Politico and Business Insider. Through the partnership, ChatGPT users worldwide will receive summaries of carefully chosen international news items, including otherwise paid content, from Axel Springer's media brands, which include POLITICO, BUSINESS INSIDER, and the European domains BILD and WELT. In response to user inquiries, ChatGPT will provide attribution and links to the entire post for transparency and more information, according to OpenAI. While the partnership can be viewed in a positive light, journalism has long been threatened by AI and digital media. Since the emergence of digital platforms more than ten years ago, there has reportedly been a struggle between tech businesses and the news industry, which has led to tech platforms making money while many news organizations have gone out of business. Journalism's Woes According to TIME, research conducted by Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications, the United States has lost nearly two-thirds of its newspaper journalists and nearly a third of its newspapers since 2005. Nations all over the world are beginning to take action to compel big digital companies to help their regional media sectors. In Canada, a rule forcing digital corporations to compensate news outlets for any content posted on their platforms was passed in June 2023. A similar bill was already approved in Australia in 2021. Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, and John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, who serve on the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, have both suggested legislation that is similar in the United States. Related Article: News Organizations Globally Believe Generative AI Presents New Opportunities for Journalism, Survey Reveals (Photo: Tech Times) 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Local newsletter Arizona Agenda has reportedly leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) and the likeness of Republican senate hopeful Kari Lake to create a fake video and help warn viewers and voters of how easy it is to fool someone using deepfakes. The AI deepfake starts as a ruse, informing readers that Lake, a hard-right politician that the Arizona Agenda has previously attacked, has chosen to record a commendation about how much she loves the publication. The film closes by warning viewers that they witnessed a sneak peek of AI in the upcoming elections. The newsletter cautioned that since AI technology has become incredibly powerful and accessible, this fall's election will mark the first time anyone with a computer can produce convincing films. Read Also: Tennessee Enacts 'ELVIS Act,' First Law Against Unauthorized AI Imitations of Musicians, Artists Kari Lake Responds Tens of thousands of people had watched the deepfake by Saturday. The real Lake, whose campaign lawyers had issued the Arizona Agenda a cease-and-desist letter, was none too pleased. The aforementioned deepfake videos were ordered to be taken down immediately from all platforms on which they had been shared or distributed. The letter threatened to utilize all legal means at Lake's campaign's disposal if the media did not cooperate. Agenda writer Hank Stephenson reportedly stated that it is "terrifyingly difficult" to identify bogus political content and "terrifyingly easy" to construct an AI-generated video of a politician. In October, former TV anchor Lake-who had previously run for governor of Arizona-announced her Senate candidacy. One of the party's most well-known members, Lake, is supported by former President Trump. For the past few years, she has been suing the state over multiple election-related issues, refusing to acknowledge her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial contest. AI Deepfake Ban According to the Washington Post, there are indications that AI and the anxiety surrounding it are already impacting the elections. The makers of an advertisement featuring former President Donald Trump's well-known public faux pas were wrongly accused of trafficking in AI content late last year. Meanwhile, real-life manipulated photos of Trump and other politicians, intended to both flatter and embarrass, have repeatedly gone viral, causing havoc during a pivotal moment in the election campaign. With the rise of deepfakes and the upcoming elections, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently proposed changes to its deepfake ban. This amendment is meant to protect all customers against AI-generated impersonation, as opposed to just companies and governmental organizations, as it does now. The suggested changes are a reaction to growing public uproar about the negative effects of deepfake deception and worries about impersonation fraud. The proposed modifications by the FTC also consider outlawing businesses from intentionally providing goods or services that enable customers to deceive others by impersonating them, which would increase the extent of liability. Related Article: Deepfakes are Getting Harder to Identify But Scientists Suggest Using AI to Detect Real Signs of Life - Why? (Photo: Tech Times) 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Recent archeological finds reveal that the Greek mythological Amazons, ferocious woman warriors, may have been real. Legends have described the Amazons as horseback-riding, bow-wielding nomads from the outskirts of the known world. According to Greek mythology, Amazons were ferocious warrior women who fought Hercules, lived in lesbian matriarchies, and had their breasts removed to improve their archery. Homer immortalized these heroines in "The Iliad," and Wonder Woman comics included them, according to a Washington Post article. However, recent archeological evidence suggests that the Amazon female warriors existed. A bronze age necropolis at Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, revealed razor-sharp arrowheads, a bronze knife, and a mace, together with jewelry, suggesting a warrior culture 4,000 years old, per The Guardian. These finds may prove the Amazons' existence, famed for their male-free society and combat skills, particularly in archery. (Photo : YANICK FOLLY/AFP via Getty Images) A giant 30-metre high bronze statue representing an Amazon is seen in central Cotonou on September 17, 2022 as a symbol of national identity and key part of its rich history to showcase in a bid to attract tourists to the country. Women Buried Alongside Weapons These findings were significant, according to historian Bettany Hughes, who noted their link with prior discoveries. Previous discoveries in Russia and Armenia found female soldiers buried with weapons, indicating a larger cultural phenomenon. Hughes stressed that Amazonian cultures' existence requires numerous finds and a thorough archeological record. Bone evidence reveals these Amazon warrior women used bows and arrows extensively, demonstrating skill and experience. Carnelian necklaces, worn by high priestesses and deities, indicate social prestige. A Channel 4 series called "Bettany Hughes' Treasures of the World." will highlight these archeological discoveries. The Silk Roads and Caucasus series examines the historical relevance of cultural interactions and economic routes between Asia and Europe. Bettany Hughes also visited Khinalig, a highland town in the Greater Caucasus, where oral legends suggest women fought like men. Ancient reports of Amazon warriors hiding their identities in combat support such legends. (Photo : Victoria Jones - WPA Pool/Getty Images) Historian, Author and Broadcaster, Professor Bettany Hughes poses with her OBE award following an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on October 31, 2019 in London, England Read Also: Biden Administration Unveils $6 Billion Plan to Slash Industrial Sector Emissions The Long Debates Over Amazons' Existence According to Smithsonian Magazine, some academics have long debated the Amazons' or any matriarchal society's existence. Johann Jakob Bachofen, a Swiss law professor and classical historian, boldly claimed that the Amazons were real in 1861, sparking this dispute. At the birth of civilization, Bachofen said, patriarchy replaced women's rule. Bachofen admired earth-mother figures, but he felt that male supremacy was important for social development since women could only grasp physical existence while men could free the soul from nature. The similarity of Brunnhilde and the Valkyries to flying Amazons shows Bachofen's influence on Richard Wagner. Bachofen inspired generations of Marxist and feminist thinkers after Wagner. Friedrich Engels, like Bachofen, lamented mother-right's fall and men's slavery of women. The dearth of proof plagued Bachofen's matriarchy idea. Alternative hypotheses arose in the 20th century. Some believed the true Amazons were beardless "bow-toting Mongoloids" mistaken for women by the Greeks, while others believed they were Athenian propaganda amid political instability. Meanwhile, Freudian thinkers considered Amazons more fascinating psychologically than historically. Whether myth, truth, symbol, or neurosis, none of these hypotheses explained the Amazon's origins. Even if they were merely the products of Greek imagination, the question of what motivated such intricate fiction remained unanswered. The boundary between fiction and fact surrounding the Amazons seems to erode as archeological evidence emerges, revealing intriguing glimpses into ancient history and society giving clues that Amazon warriors may be real. Related Article: Saudi Arabia's First Humanoid Robot 'Sara' Embodies Nation's Values in Design 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Archaeologists in Pompeii have uncovered an ancient construction site shedding light on Roman building methods reminiscent of iconic structures such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon, announced Italy's culture ministry on Monday. Reuters reports that the site, believed to have been active until the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, yielded significant findings, including tools, stacked roof tiles, tuff bricks, and piles of lime and stones used in wall construction. (Photo : TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images) People (Rear L) visit the archeological site of Pompeii on May 26, 2020, as the country eases its lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. Roman Construction Method According to the ministry, the Romans employed an innovative cement-making process, involving "hot mixing" of quicklime with dry pozzolana, with water added shortly before erecting walls. Collaboration with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) contributed to these discoveries. According to experts, the mixture of lime, pozzolana, and stones was still hot due to a thermal reaction, which aided in its rapid drying and reduced the structure's building time. Archaeologists also discovered other tools such as lead weights used to create a perfectly vertical wall and iron hoes used to make mortar and work lime. The Pompeii site, rediscovered in the 16th century, has undergone extensive archaeological activity in recent years to combat decay and neglect. Read Also: Neolithic Boats with Advanced Nautical Tech Unearthed in the Depths of Mediterranean New Frescoes Unearthed in Pompeii In related news from Pompeii, archeologists made more discoveries earlier this month including lavishly painted frescoes portraying mythological scenes and portraits of women, remarkably preserved even after 2,000 years, CBS News reports. These recent discoveries also highlighted efforts to decipher the 2,000-year-old scorched scroll from the Vesuvius eruption, offering insights into ancient philosophies and lifestyles. One of the frescoes depicts a scenario from the Greek myth where Phrixus and his twin sister Helle flee their stepmother Ino on a magical ram carrying the Golden Fleece. This discovery comes barely a month after scholars successfully decoded a famous Pompeii papyrus using artificial intelligence. The Herculaneum papyri, which consists of over 800 carbonized Greek scrolls, were discovered in a villa supposed to have belonged to Julius Caesar's father-in-law, potentially rewriting significant periods of ancient history. Pompeii, presently in southern Italy, was a thriving metropolis nearly 2,000 years ago. But in the summer of AD. In 1979, a nearby Mount Vesuvius volcano erupted. It sent smoke and toxic gases 20 miles into the atmosphere, which quickly spread to the town. Pompeii fell under a blanket of ash almost overnight, along with much of its 10,000 citizens, literature, and architecture, only to be discovered in the 16th century. Pompeii, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Italy's second most visited tourist attraction after the Colosseum in Rome, continues to fascinate researchers and visitors alike with its rich history and astonishing preservation. Stay posted here at Tech Times. Related Article: Archaeological Breakthrough: Iran Discovers World's Oldest Lipstick, Revealing Ancient Beauty Secrets 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Nissan plans to update its lineup and enhance earnings. The Japanese automaker plans to debut 30 new models in three years and sell 1 million cars globally and seeks to streamline its operations to save costs and increase revenues. Nissan's medium-term business plan update calls for an operating profit margin of over 6% by March 2027. Also, the Japanese corporation wants shareholder returns above 30%, according to The Japan Times. Nissan has experienced severe competition from Tesla in the EV industry, notably in China, the world's biggest auto market, despite its early leadership with models like the Leaf. Nissan President and CEO Makoto Uchida admitted to sales volume issues in China. He expressed optimism about recent advancements and planned to optimize manufacturing and work with joint venture partners to satisfy Chinese customers' changing wants. (Photo : PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images) Makoto Uchida, president and CEO of Nissan, attends a joint press conference with Toshihiro Mibe (not pictured), Honda director, president and representative executive officer in Tokyo on March 15, 2024. Establishing Strategic Partnerships Makoto Uchida believes that working with partners in China, Nissan will "continue to optimize our production levels and work with products that allow us to grow in the market." The car manufacturer, headquartered in Kanagawa, aims to sell 60% of electric cars, including hybrids, worlwide, up from 55% in February 2023. Moreover, Nissan has announced plans for new models and electrification in the U.S., Canada, China, Europe, and beyond. Nissan plans to launch seven new models and revamp 78% of its passenger car portfolio in North America. To capitalize on China's booming demand for EVs and hybrid cars, Nissan aims to launch eight new-energy vehicles, four of which will be Nissan-branded. In Europe, the car manufacturer will launch six new models to expand its product offering. Nissan noted that will pursue new collaborations in the U.S. and Japan and use its alliances with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors in Europe, India, and Latin America to assist its development. Nissan also seeks to improve its position in the competitive automobile industry and innovate in electrification and beyond via strategic partnerships and global network use. Read Also: BMW Challenges Tesla Dominance with New Concept Electric SUV In a recent TechTimes report, Nissan and Honda, two major Japanese automobile manufacturers, formed a partnership to advance EVs and auto intelligence. The CEOs of both firms announced their desire to collaborate during a Tokyo news conference. Nissan and Honda are still negotiating their agreement, but both firms say they will develop fundamental technology together while keeping distinct product lines. While no mutual capital ownership is involved, both major car makers remain open to exploring possibilities, with Uchida reaffirming their commitment to enhancing competitiveness. Cutting Down Costs as Market Demand for EV Slows Down Nissan's latest actions comes as electric vehicle demand is cooling, with several major manufacturers pulling down or postponing their EV ambitions. China is also challenging traditional automakers in electrification. In response to the EV industry challenges, Nissan will develop EVs in "families," combine powertrains and concentrate on battery advancements to cut costs by 30% for its next-generation fleet in response to the changing scenario. To scale and overcome market risks, the firm emphasizes supplier alliances, according to CNBC. Nissan's Arc plan uses a regional approach to boost volume and prepare for a quicker EV transition while preserving financial discipline. Nissan expects 2.5 trillion yen ($16 billion) in new business revenues by fiscal 2030 with this holistic strategy. "Faced with extreme market volatility, Nissan is taking decisive actions guided by the new plan to ensure sustainable growth and profitability," Uchida noted in a statement. Related Article: Tesla Cuts China Plant Output Amid EV Market Challenges 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The first ministerial discussion on a 2040 emissions reduction target was overshadowed by the intensifying row over the blocked Nature Restoration Law, with the European Commission and some governments warning it called into question the very credibility of the EU decision making process. The text of the law was agreed in back-room trilogue talks in November, and adopted by the parliament last month. But the EU Council presidency holder Belgium, which is itself abstaining, has been unable to muster the necessary majority among governments to give the law the final rubber stamp, with half a dozen governments refusing to endorse the agreement. "The current deadlock raises serious questions about the consistency and stability of the EU decision-making process, especially if we consider that member states after the conclusive trilogue in November had already endorsed the deal, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius told ministers at a public discussion during an EU Environment Council in Brussels. Belgium added the debate to the agenda after having to cancel a planned vote last week, when diplomatic talks made it clear that a further six countries intended to block the adoption of the law by either voting against it or abstaining. Let me be very clear, in light of this deadlock, the EU's and its member states international reputation is at stake, Sinkevicius said, observing that EU negotiators had been instrumental in achieving a UN deal to protect 30% of the world's land and sea under the UN Convention of Biological Diversity, but were now at risk of failing to follow through. We inspired others, yet now we risk arriving empty handed at COP16, he said, referring to the upcoming first conference of parties to the convention since the signing of the landmark Montreal-Kunming global framework in 2022. Backtracking now isvery difficult for me to accept, he said. Germany was very concerned about the turn the legislative process had taken, deputy permanent representative to Brussels Helen Winter said, and urged the governments blocking the law Sweden, Italy, Finland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium to reconsider, suggesting they could follow her country's example by putting their concerns and support for farmers on the record of the summit. Story continues Slovenia, Ireland, Czechia, Spain. France, Denmark, Luxembourg and others endorsed the Commissioners words and expressed degrees of surprise and frustration at the impasse. To let this go now means we go into European elections saying the European system is not working, we do not protect nature, we do not take climate seriously, said Irish minister Eamon Ryan, having raised the issue during a debate on climate action earlier in the day. That would be an absolute shame. Spanish minister Teresa Ribera added that she was very concerned about obstructionism that was becoming customary in the EU Council. Legislation on car CO2 emissions standards and a law on corporate due diligence over environmental impacts were similarly held up due to backtracking by governments, though eventually adopted. To let the nature law drop, Denmark said, would set an extremely bad precedent. Austrian minister Leonore Gewessler spoke of the importance of the Nature Restoration Law, blaming as the Belgian presidency has her countrys federal structure and regional opposition for the inability of her government to support the legislation. Italy said it supports the objectives, but that the final agreement was not satisfactory, citing concerns over its impact of farmers. Hungary, which had earlier supported the law, said its opposition, which tipped the balance against a qualified majority support last week, was over concerns about subsidiarity and a lack of leeway to pursue national policies. Finland said it had no intention of reversing its position Several ministers had used the mornings exchange of views on the Commissions recommendation for a 2040 emissions reduction target of 90% to stress that climate mitigation cannot be separated from nature protection and the renewal of ecosystems that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. On emissions reduction, climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra noted that the implementation of existing climate law would need to be stepped up, with draft national plans suggesting the EU would fall short of its 2030 target of a 55% emissions reduction by four percentage points. Governments needed to do their homework before submitting final plans by the end of June, but Hoekstra was confident the goal would be achieved. Irish Green Ryan was vehement, slamming the EU political class for creating doubt and uncertainty that he argued prevented businesses from making the necessary investment in clean energy. Ryan pointed the finger at colleagues he said were in retreat from climate action commitments and buckling before protesting farmers ahead of elections. The biggest risk is the collapse of political ambition and will, Ryan said. Alain Maron, climate and environment minister for the Brussels region, who chaired the meeting, said his government still planned to see the nature law adopted during its presidency, which ends on 30 June. An Aussie father killed in a horror truck crash involving multiple vehicles, that claimed a total of three lives, has been remembered as a "tough solider" and "the rock of the family that always showed up". Daniel Stuart, 50, was driving a semi-trailer carrying lithium batteries on the Bruce Highway in Maryborough in Queensland on Friday night when his truck was hit by another carrying watermelons just before 10pm, according to police. A 53-year-old, who has since been identified as local man Sidney Marstella, was also killed in the collision. He was driving an SUV that had attempted to turn right onto the highway when he collided head-on with Stuart's semi-trailer heading south, forcing him to swerve right into oncoming traffic. Stuart's truck collided with another semi-trailer travelling north through Maryborough West. A ute and a caravan trailer were also caught up in the crash. The driver of the SUV and the two truck drivers died, while three others were hospitalised with minor injuries. Queensland man Daniel Stuart has been identified as one of three killed during a fiery collision on the Bruce Highway on Friday. Source: Facebook Daniel Stuart remembered as 'our rock' All vehicles "instantaneously" combusted on impact with the ensuing inferno engulfing all three trucks. That's making it extremely difficult for investigators to formally identify the drivers, a process that could take weeks to complete, police said. In the days after the crash Stuart's family took to social media to remember the beloved father and grandfather, and husband to Betty. It's the second time recently the family has been rocked by tragedy, after the father of Betty's son also died. "This is a truly sad time, the last two days for the Adams and Martin families, [we've] been hit again, this time with a tragic truck accident on Bruce Highway. One of our very close family members uncle Daniel Stuart went to work and passed away, never coming home again, so many tears for our rock of the family a tough soldier that always showed up to care for us," a family member wrote on social media. Story continues The crash killed three people on Friday night just before 10pm in Maryborough. Source: 9News "Aunty Betty loves you and needs you to hug her one last time as we feel you were stolen. We all miss you so much uncle, love you forever RIP." Another wrote of her heartbreak. "Our Koko, our light, our hearts, broken forever. We love you Daniel Stuart gone but never forgotten and always loved!" she said. The Karalee Tornadoes Rugby League also wrote of their loss. "Tornadoes has lost one of our own. Betty, our canteen conveyor, lost her husband Daniel in a truck accident. If you can help, please do. We are heartbroken. Our love goes out to Betty and her family," the club said in a statement. Family beg for body to be returned Stuarts family, some of whom are originally from New Zealand, have since made an emotional plea to fasten the identification process so they can grieve. They said it's culturally important for them to bring loved ones home to say goodbye. Police say due to the fact flames engulfed all three vehicles, the identification process of the drivers may take some time. Source: 9News "All Ive got of him is his dirty shirt that I can smell his aftershave, and hes not here," Betty said. "He needs to be here ... so our grandchildren can sit around his coffin." Betty said she's now lost her main source of income and, as a result, will need to find a new rental property in the next six weeks. A fundraiser has been started to support Stuarts family. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. Disappearance of little Emile: the child's bones have been discovered, announces the prosecution Initial research, role play, discovery of bones... The key dates of the disappearance of little Emile Medical innovation: New tests make it possible to detect cancer long before symptoms appear The week of God Twitter: from the tragedy on the Baltimore bridge to Holy Week that looks like the Flood Death of little Emile: how to explain the discovery of his bones near Haut-Vernet? Israeli bombing of displaced people and journalists in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah The revolution of the hungry is coming... even if it is delayed Pension payments will be reduced in real terms, and changes to the social security system for the new fiscal year will be The employment rate of people with disabilities required by companies will be raised to 2.5% or more. Journal de l'Afrique - Second reading of the New Constitution in Togo, a setback in the face of opposition pressure? The execution of young Palestinian men in Khan Yunis...a crime filmed by the killer who failed to bury the evidence Tour of Flanders: Mathieu van der Poel wins for the third time in his career Loudly slamming the door: Shevchenko won the mass start at the Chechen Biathlon Championships, and Garanichevs team won the relay Premier League: City and Arsenal pave the way for Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool to the top of the table A curious own goal by Suleymanov and a saving strike by Glushenkov: Krasnodar missed out on victory over Lokomotiv in the RPL match Tennis: Sinner triumphs at the Masters 1000 in Miami by crushing Dimitrov in the final Lebanon: Easter celebrations tarnished by the situation in Gaza and the south of the country New employees take on the challenge of shearing sheep at a unique joining ceremony Shizuoka Fujinomiya Ten years at the helm of the "Yixin-Europe" China-Europe freight train: from a line to a network Hebei Chongli received more than 4.4 million tourists in the first full snow season after the Winter Olympics Chicken and egg or egg? The industry is hotly discussing in Shanghai how the domestic computing power industry will rise. China Eastern Airlines will add new and expanded routes to many airports in Guangdong during the 2024 summer and autumn flight season The price of electricity will remain negative for several hours this Monday In response to the 2024 issue, the maximum speed for large trucks on expressways will be increased to 90km/h The most prominent developments on the 177th day of the Israeli war on Gaza Israeli magazine: We are faced with two options, the better of which is bitter The State Duma proposed checking the legality of passports issued over the last 10 years Sonko and the Senegalese... How did they make change despite the obstacles? A rule so that appearances do not deceive: the EU legislates against 'greenwashing' Britain probably couldn't fight Russia alone for more than two months Until May 22: a court in Moscow arrested four accused of the terrorist attack in Crocus Algorithmic video surveillance at the Olympics: what are we talking about, and why is it worrying? Bandidos: a series so tacky that it seems taken from the Disney Channel of the 90s The Russian Embassy in Seoul condemned the cartoon of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall Antibes: an orca dies at Marineland park, the second death in five months The captain of the expedition that crossed the Atlantic under sail as in the 17th century to make a documentary dies at the age of 75 on the high seas Daily Shincho: Mariupol residents do not feel the impact of the conflict on the life of the city Two Israelis were injured in a stabbing attack in Beersheba and the perpetrator was martyred Will Haniyeh and Nakhla's visit to Iran affect the course of the negotiations? 8 new massacres in Gaza and fierce battles between the resistance and the occupation forces 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. Five dead, 1,000 homes destroyed in PNG earthquake Port Moresby, March 25 (AFP) Mar 25, 2024 At least five people were killed and an estimated 1,000 homes destroyed when a magnitude 6.9 earthquake rocked Papua New Guinea, officials said Monday as disaster crews poured into the region. Dozens of villages nestled on the banks of the country's famed Sepik River were already battling soaking floods when the quake struck early Sunday morning. "So far, around 1,000 homes have been lost," said East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, adding that emergency crews were "still assessing the impact" from a tremor that "damaged most parts of the province". Provincial police commander Christopher Tamari told AFP that authorities had so far recorded five deaths in the wake of the disaster. Tamari cautioned that, with emergency crews still venturing into the remote and jungle-clad region, the number of fatalities "could be more". Photos showed damaged wooden houses with thatched roofs collapsing into the surrounding knee-high floodwaters, while an ageing bridge in the provincial capital of Wewak buckled under the strain. Regional governor Bird said there was a pressing need to get medical supplies, clean drinking water, and temporary shelter into the disaster zone. Prime Minister James Marape has approved a US$130 million emergency funding package to help recovery efforts following "a spate of natural disasters" across the country. "Papua New Guinea has been recently hit hard by (the) earthquake, flooding caused by heavy rain and ensuing landslips, king tides, strong winds, and others," he said in a statement Sunday evening following the quake. Flooding, landslides and torrential rains earlier this month killed at least 23 people in Papua New Guinea's interior Highlands region. - Climate risks - The Sepik River twists for hundreds of kilometres through Papua New Guinea's East Sepik province, flowing down from the jungle highlands and out towards the tropical coast. Largely untouched by urban development and industry, it is one of the nation's last pristine waterways -- and is the longest river on the island. Teeming with native species and rare plants, it has in the past been dubbed the planet's "second Amazon". Earthquakes are common in Papua New Guinea, which sits on top of the seismic "Ring of Fire" -- an arc of intense tectonic activity that stretches through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. Although they seldom cause widespread damage in the sparsely populated jungle highlands, they can trigger destructive landslides. Many of the island nation's nine million citizens live outside major towns and cities, where the difficult terrain and lack of sealed roads can seriously hamstring search-and-rescue efforts. Papua New Guinea is ranked as the world's 16th most at-risk country to climate change and natural hazards, according to the 2022 World Risk Index. The announcement of Steve Adams' death on March 14 is an appropriate time for Auburnians to remember what Steve Adams did for Auburn's musical environment for upwards of 14 years through the auspices of the Adams Foundation's Piano Recital Series. The idea grew out of an encounter that took place at a 45th reunion at Yale, after Auburnians and Yale graduates Richard and John Contiguglia had performed for their classmates. Following their performance Steve, whom Richard and John did not know at the time, came to where John was seated with other classmates for dinner, got on his knees, and told him that the only topic of conversation at his table was his and Richard's concert. Afterwards, Steve asked the Contiguglias how a businessman like him could help people like us. Out of this encounter grew the idea of the Adams Foundation's subsidy of piano recitals throughout the U.S. Adams pianists soon began to appear in small venues, from the governor's mansion in Oregon to a university in Mississippi and, of course, Auburn. The opportunity for Auburnians to hear a roster of some of America's most acclaimed pianists in intimate settings including three first prize winners in international piano competitions in John Nakamatsu (Cliburn Competition), Ian Hobson (Leeds International Piano Competition) and Joseph Kalichstein (Leventritt Piano Competition) was an experience that most attendees will never forget. It was akin to hearing pianists like Ruth Laredo, Steven Mayer, Simone Dinnerstein, Jeanne Stark, Ann Schein and Ursula Oppens in one's own living room. My brother and I had the good fortune to perform two works that were highlights of our career Liszt's transcription for two pianos of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion in our hometown and, consequently, for many of our neighbors, thanks to the Adams Foundation Piano Series in Auburn. The Adams series in Auburn started at Emerson Auditorium in the former East High School. It found its perfect home, however, in Westminster Presbyterian Church. Pianists referred to the acoustics there as "perfect," and many people from central New York told us that they came to hear piano recitals as they had never sounded locally. A woman wrote John, "How very fortunate we Auburnians are to have these concerts. I left the church with chills on my body." Yes, we mourn the loss of Steve Adams, but we also thank him for what he did for our community. There wasn't much opposition to a bill to uphold the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnian War in the 1990s, but U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney was among the House members who voted against the legislation. U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, a Missouri Republican who serves as vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the bill that would require sanctions to be imposed on foreign individuals who threaten the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wagner noted the peace accords, which were signed in Dayton, Ohio, are "a symbol of American leadership and commitment." "If we let them collapse, then we risk seeing violence return to Bosnia," she said. "Adversaries like Russia and China would welcome these upheavals and solidify a stronger economic and security foothold." Specifically, the bill targets Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska within Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dodik has threatened that Bosnian Serbs would declare their independence a move that would divide Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wagner's legislation passed 365-30. The supporters included U.S. Rep. Brandon Williams, who represents Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties. Tenney, R-Cleveland, explained her opposition to the bill in a statement published on her website. While she supports stabilizing the western Balkans, she says the bill is "duplicative of existing authority to sanction those who seek to destabilize foreign countries." She also criticized the Biden administration's policies in the western Balkans, which she said are "one-sided and disastrous." "The administration must seek to work with all parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the larger western Balkans, to promote peace, economic cooperation and stability," Tenney added. "As co-chair of the Congressional Serbia Caucus, I understand the importance of regional stability in this area of the world. However, this bill is unlikely to achieve this goal and will only make conflict more likely." After the House's passage, the bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It's unknown whether the Senate will act on the bill. The Biden administration hasn't signaled whether the president would sign it if it reaches his desk. The Treasury Department under Biden has already sanctioned three individuals linked to Dodik who are accused of undermining the stability of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Other votes in the House last week: The House passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill to fund several agencies, including the Department of Defense, through September. Tenney and Williams, R-Sennett, also split on this bill. The final vote was 286-134. Williams, R-Sennett, joined a bipartisan majority in voting for its passage. Tenney opposed the bill because she felt it did not do enough to rein in spending. Tenney and Williams were among 390 members who voted for a resolution condemning Russia for abducting children from Ukraine during the two-year invasion. Nine House members, all Republicans, opposed the resolution. By a 414-0 vote, the House passed the Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act. Tenney and Williams voted for the bill. According to the legislative summary, the measure would make it illegal for a broker to sell Americans' data to China, Iran, North Korea or Russia. The legislation would also prohibit the selling of information to entities in or controlled by those countries. The Protecting American Energy Production Act passed 229-188. Tenney and Williams voted for the bill, which was supported by 214 Republicans and 15 Democrats. Most Democrats opposed its passage. The legislation would prohibit the president from instituting a hydraulic fracturing moratorium unless it is approved by Congress. Hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, is a method of natural gas drilling that is banned in New York. The Restoring American Energy Dominance Act passed 216-200. The bill was supported by 213 Republicans, including Tenney and Williams, and three Democrats. A vast majority of Democrats voted against the legislation. The bill would force the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw a rule that would make changes to oil and gas leasing on federal lands. A resolution blasting the Biden administration's energy policies passed 217-200. Tenney and Williams joined the Republican majority in passing the resolution. Four Democrats also voted for the measure. By a 222-196 vote, the House passed a resolution panning a proposed carbon tax as "detrimental to the United States economy." Tenney and Williams voted for the resolution. There have been proposals to tax carbon as a way of reducing emissions. But many Republicans oppose that approach. The Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act passed 393-24. Tenney and Williams voted for the bill, which expands the Federal Maritime Commission's authority to "regulate technology and anticompetitive practices within the international ocean transportation system," according to a summary of the legislation. The commission is chaired by Dan Maffei, a former Syracuse-area congressman. The Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act passed 213-205. Tenney and Williams supported the legislation to tweak certain requirements under the Clean Water Act, including the criteria for water quality. A bill to repeal the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which supports state-level efforts to help low-income communities reduce emissions, passed 209-204. Tenney and Williams voted for the legislation. Businessman and advertising legend John Singleton has sold his former head office in Sydneys trendy Paddington to Annie Cannon-Brookes, the estranged wife of Mike Cannon-Brookes, the billionaire co-founder of tech giant Atlassian. The agent to the deal, Ben Vaughan from Ray White Commercial, confirmed the sale late on Friday, and said the price was north of $30 million. The Bonython office precinct has been sold for more than $30 million. Annie, who separated from Cannon-Brookes last year, will add the asset to her impressive property portfolio, which includes Dunk Island, on Queenslands Great Barrier Reef, which she bought for about $24 million in 2022. The Australian Financial Review reported that Cannon-Brookes plans to have a family office on the Paddington site, which carries the name The Bonython. An Atlassian spokesperson said there was nothing to share at this time. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size On the rocky road into Bruce Pascoes remote property near Mallacoota in Victorias far-eastern corner, near the NSW border, the lyrebirds are feeling frisky. Sweeping, dodging and weaving in front of our car, they flit towards the acclaimed authors farm where hes already bracing for another culture war. Pascoes Dark Emu, published in 2014, urged modern Australia to rethink what it knows about First Nations history. He argued traditional Aboriginal culture was largely defined by structured agricultural and aquacultural practices, and not only by hunting and gathering. Further, Pascoe argued, the depiction of Aboriginal people as nomadic hunters and gatherers was a convenient lie used to justify dispossessing them from their lands. Bruce Pascoe and Lyn Harwood at Yumburra. Credit: Justin McManus Dark Emu was a bestseller, but it also sparked a blistering backlash including from critics who questioned not only his arguments, but also Pascoes Aboriginality itself. Pascoe grew up unaware of any Indigenous heritage and did not identify as Aboriginal until he was 32, researching his heritage after a conversation with his uncle. Advertisement The widely accepted definition of Indigenous heritage in Australia comprises three parts: self-identification, evidence of descent and community recognition. In Black Duck, Pascoe outlines his role in the Yuin Gurandgi cultural lore group established by elder Uncle Max Harrison, tracing his connections with, and learnings from, a range of elders. After Dark Emu was published, Indigenous businesswoman Josephine Cashman, Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania chairman Michael Mansell and others questioned Pascoes connections to the Yuin and Boonwurrung peoples. While leading Indigenous academic Marcia Langton described Dark Emu as the most important book in Australia, the central theses of the book were also contested. Two of Australias most prominent academics, anthropologist Peter Sutton and archaeologist Kerry Walshe, published a rejoinder, Farmers or Hunter-gatherers? The Dark Emu Debate, in which they argued Pascoe had massaged his evidence and misled readers. The stress of it all was so great Pascoe and his long-term partner, Lyn Harwood, separated for three years. Even now, the scars are clearly visible. Harwood is reluctant to speak of it. Its inevitable, Pascoe says of a backlash to Black Duck he knows will come from certain quarters. I am prepared for it. I tend to ignore it I went off all social media [after Dark Emu was published] its really hurtful and painful, but Im so busy the community work alone keeps us busy, and I get the support of the community. Advertisement Black Duck, co-written with Harwood and released this week, is a very different bird to its predecessor. Conceived as a year in the life at Yumburra, the couples 140-hectare Indigenous food-producing farm, Black Duck is also a meandering musing on the large and small questions of life itself. The book is structured along the six Indigenous seasons loosely, late summer, autumn, winter, early spring, spring and early summer but as each season unfolds, the storyline jumps forward and backwards in time to reveal the inner workings of Pascoe, his people and his land. Reading Black Duck named for the totem animal of the Yuin nation of the NSW South Coast is like listening to an uncle telling fireside stories of times gone by, and how they relate to life today. It started out as a diary, Pascoe says, clad in a Black Duck Foods work shirt on the farm. And I did want it to be in, you know, the Aboriginal seasons ... he trails off, as a plover starts shrieking in alarm in the field below. The plovers screech warns of a wedge-tailed eagle, Bunjil, circling overhead. Thats Birran Durran Durran, the plover, Pascoe says. And when that calls, we look at whats going on, on the farm. Advertisement For a year, Pascoe and Harwood documented their lives on the farm; the fall-out from the 2019-20 Black Summer fires that ripped through the east coast of Australia (Mallacoota and its surrounds were particularly hard hit), their efforts to establish a viable Indigenous food business, their ever-growing Aboriginal community, and the rhythms of rural life. In fact, we miss it, Harwood says of the writing process. We did it every day, and you have to look for something special every day ... it is a really good way of imprinting it in your mind and helping you, when you look back, to see the patterns. Its a lovely process. Inside a grain storage container at Yumburra. Credit: Justin McManus These days, the couple is passionately preoccupied with the opportunities Indigenous people can find in an emerging Australia. Pascoe says hes clear-eyed about the cost that colonisation has wrought on Country, but wants Australians to embrace the potential offered by our unique local food products. Inside a watertight and rodent-proof shed at Yumburra is a collection of threshing and grain-harvesting machines. Here, kangaroo grass, black wattle, spear grass and microlaena (weeping grass) among others are processed. The grains and seeds are milled, with some turned into a fine flour thats popular with local bakers. Yumburra also sends Indigenous grains to Sailors Grave, a microbrewery in Orbost, which uses them to make a distinctively aromatic dark ale called Dark Emu. We just have to rethink our agriculture because Aboriginal people were harvesting and processing those grains for 100,000 years, Pascoe says. Advertisement And theyre perennial. They sequester carbon; they dont need any fertilising superphosphate kills these grasses no poison, no extra water. Environmentally, theyre just a boon ... not every farmer is gonna [farm them] ... but if 10 per cent or 5 per cent did, wed meet our Tokyo [climate] commitments easily. Pascoe in a forested area of Yumburra that has been thinned. Credit: Justin McManus Having lived through the Black Summer fires of 2019-2020, which are visible in the blackened trees throughout the region, Pascoe and Harwood are alarmed at the prospect of future fires of increased frequency and ferocity. On Yumburra, the pair has spent the years since the fires thinning the forested areas of the farm, and conducting cool burns to reduce undergrowth. Since the fires of 2019, the bush is dominated by black wattle and hop goodenia so thick that if you surprise a lyrebird or wallaby on the track, they have to run in a mad scamper ahead of you because it is simply impossible to penetrate this regrowth, they write. The flammability of this stage of regrowth is of great concern to us. It will generate a fire far hotter and more dangerous than the 2019 fire. Advertisement Advertisement FoodEating out Why you should think twice before ordering flake at the fish and chip shop tonight It is hard to buy seafood in an environmentally responsible way even chefs require help. Heres what you need to know before you hit the fish and chip shop. Lee Tran Lam March 26, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share Buying seafood in an environmentally responsible way can be so confusing that even top chefs require help. I actually couldnt work out the sustainability of anything, so I took finned fish off the menu completely for two years, Ben Shewry says. The award-winning chef behind Melbournes Attica essentially stuck to mussels and oysters filter feeders that clean our waterways until he was certain of what to use. Nowadays, he can confidently cite the environmental credentials of the seafood on Atticas menu, right down to the fish sauce used. But his initial confusion shows why guidance is needed, and its inspired this article. Chef Jacqui Challinor says it can be hard to understand which fish are the most sustainable to target. Petrina Tinslay Advertisement Its so difficult to get right, Jacqui Challinor tells Good Food. The executive chef, who works across Melbourne and Sydney (Nomad, Beau, Reine & La Rue), recalls curing ocean trout at Nomad. That was before she realised it was red-listed on the Australian Marine Conservation Societys GoodFish guide (goodfish.org.au) for its serious negative environmental impacts on Tasmanias Macquarie Harbour, the remaining habitat of the endangered Maugean skate. So she switched to Ora King salmon from New Zealand a product recommended by Seafood Watch and Ocean Wise. Recipe collection From fish pie to salmon en croute: 20 classic seafood dishes for Good Friday Theres a lot of complex information out there; no ones going to be reading government reports that doesnt have to, Australian Marine Conservation Societys Stephanie McGee says. Its why the charitys science-based GoodFish app and website exists. Launched in 2004 as the first fully independent reference for consumers, GoodFish now features over 90 per cent of the seafood available on the Australian market. The guide uses various criteria (capture and management methods, stock health, environmental impact) to generate its traffic-stop ratings for seafood: red (say no), amber (eat less) and green (better choice). Ill always tend to jump on the website and just double-check what the right move is, says Challinor, who uses it across her restaurants. Ora King salmon from New Zealand is more sustainable than other farmed salmon. Edwina Pickles Advertisement Its handy because hard and fast rules dont always apply. Sometimes an overseas product (such as salmon from New Zealand) has a better environmental impact than a local one; sometimes farmed species can be greener than wild-caught fish (see barramundi). Trawling can be detrimental to habitats and other species, but there are exceptions: see Spencer Gulf prawn fisherys lower-impact approach. And the greener option can also depend on where you are. Take Spanish mackerel: GoodFish warns theyre overfished or in unsustainable decline around Queensland and the Torres Strait, while NT or WA-managed fisheries are worth buying from. Its a much healthier stock, says McGee. This science-driven approach contrasts to the prevalence of greenwashing (environmental claims that dont stack up), which makes ethical shopping a brain-warping conundrum. For instance, more than 80 organisations (including SeaChoice and Bob Brown Foundation) have called for sustainability certifications to be withdrawn from trout and salmon products farmed in Macquarie Harbour, and environmental groups have sent a complaint to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), arguing it is misleading for supermarkets to sell Tasmanian farmed salmon with responsibly sourced claims. Richard Flanagans book Toxic. Adam Gibson Richard Flanagan chronicles the devastating impact of this salmon production in his book Toxic, where he criticises animal welfare organisations (RSPCA, WWF) for their historical endorsement of the industrys biggest players. A criminology paper by Paul Bleakley, of the University of New Haven, Connecticut, even questioned the financial connections between the farmed salmon trade and the certification bodies declaring their products sustainable. Advertisement GoodFishs independence is why Shewry is the official ambassador for the app and guide. Its not backed by government or by big industry, and it doesnt have any vested interests other than care for the planet thats what I love about it, he explained on my Should You Really Eat That? podcast for SBS. Ben Devlin, chef at Pipit Restaurant, is passionate about serving sustainable seafood. Supplied Chef Ben Devlin who is so dedicated to sustainability that he turns fish bones into tableware and oyster shells into ceramic glazes with artist Leia Sherblom shares this sentiment and pledges to only serve seafood recommended by the guide at his Pipit restaurant in Pottsville, northern NSW (he also avoids fish given the red light, so stocks can recover). Itd be annoying if my daughter or hypothetical grandchildren did not get the chance to eat them because we ate them all, he says. Avoid ordering flake at the fish and chip shop. Rob Palmer What to consider at the fish and chip shop Advertisement When people bite into flake at the fish and chip shop, they could be snacking on endangered shark. A University of Adelaide study revealed four kinds of threatened species (smooth hammerhead, shortfin mako, narrownose smooth-hound and school shark) could be served to customers requesting battered fish with chips. Poor labelling laws mean protected species are turning up on plates and in takeaway orders across the country. The problem is, you buy flake at the risk of eating hammerhead, grey nurse or [other species that should be protected], says Lachlan Williams. As a scuba diver who has gone eye to eye with a gummy shark at the bottom of the sea floor, hes especially passionate about this issue. On becoming head chef at Melbournes Cerberus Beach House last year, Williams removed flake and farmed Tasmanian salmon from the menu replacing them with more sustainable choices such as barramundi from Infinity Blue, grown in thermal ponds across the bay. Despite the eco-friendly selection, kiosk staff still get shouted at, on the daily by customers who demand flake. But he believes its worth persisting with greener choices. What to order: McGee recommends silver trevally from Victoria, calamari from jigged fisheries that target onlysquid (from Victoria, Western Australia or South Australia); Devlin recommends sand whiting from NSW, while Williams champions pink snapper from Port Phillip Bay, Portarlington mussels, Infinity Blue barramundi and rock flathead from Corner Inlet. They only bring up rock flathead and if they bring up something else, then it goes back into water, he says. In place of flake, Williams suggests trying line-caught mulloway from South Australia. Mulloway is an excellent substitution for shark. Its the same density and meatiness of fish that people expect. What to avoid: Flake and frozen/imported foods (65 per cent of our seafood comes from overseas, with little transparency about its origin). Devlin is sceptical of frozen calamari rings and prawn cutlets. Theyre imported from somewhere else, which means theyre probably not following particularly stringent sustainability guidelines. He also suggests skipping basa, which is red-listed by GoodFish: its typically sourced from Vietnamese fisheries that are highly unsustainable, the guide warns. Seafood to target and to avoid at your local fishmonger. Chris Hopkins Advertisement What to consider at the fishmonger McGee is a fan of farmed barramundi (its a better product than the gill-net-caught barramundi), as is Sashim Bhetwal, a Nepalese-born chef about to open Sita by Sashim in Melbourne. Its controlled environment ensures freshness and supports responsible farming, he says. The fishs mild taste complements the Nepalese flavours he works with. Using it on my menu balances taste, quality and environmental consciousness, he says. You can try making his spiced barramundi with no wastage broth and karkalla from GoodFishs free cookbook (alongside recipes from Shewry and other chefs, available from GoodFishs site). What to buy: McGee suggests Australian herring, King George whiting (always a safe bet), snapper in certain regions (check GoodFish for details), and Spencer Gulf prawns. Challinor looks out for local, line-caught fish and recommends buying whole fish instead of fillets, to save money and reduce waste. Devlin says Ora King salmon from New Zealand is widely recommended as a sustainable pick if available. What to avoid: Orange roughy (which can live for an astonishing 250 years), bluefin tuna (which is still endangered, despite increased stocks), and farmed Tasmanian salmon. Among other well-documented issues, the salmon industry is reportedly having a huge impact on a local skate species that has existed in Tasmanian waters since dinosaurs ruled the planet. No industrial seafood that is about to drive a unique species such as the Maugean skate to extinction is in any sense of the word sustainable, says Flanagan. Advertisement Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Menu items named after K-pop groups bring the fun, and premium Japanese beef brings the luxe. Welcome to the new breed of shopping centre restaurant. As featured in the Melbourne hit list April 2024. See all stories . Korean barbecue is one of the most recognisable styles of Korean food in Australia. Thats partly because it was one of the countrys early cultural exports (along with fried chicken), leading to an explosion in the number of K-BBQ places to choose from in Melbourne. But K-Pop BBQ and Bar in Glen Waverley stands out from the pack. Its from the team behind Marble Yakiniku, which specialises in premium Japanese barbecue but excels at so much more, winning a hat in both the 2023 and 2024 editions of The Age Good Food Guide. K Pop BBQ and Bar is all about neon lights and pop music, despite its shopping centre setting. Supplied K-Pop BBQ, at The Glen shopping centre, has plucked chef Hwancheol Seung from Marble Yakiniku. Seung has 20 years of experience, including many years as a sushi chef at spots including city institution Shoya. So, somewhat unusually for a K-barbecue spot, hes added sashimi, including kingfish in a gochugaru (Korean chilli powder) sauce and hae muchim, a spicy salad of thin slices of raw fish. Hot dishes, such as soups and stews, are also available. CBD is raising a lonely voice in defence of the political advancer the staffer who goes on ahead, usually of the party leader, to scan press conference locations for anything embarrassing or untoward. Its a thankless task, only ever noticed when you get it wrong Tony Abbotts epic Reject Shop fail is probably the all-time classic of the genre. Premier Jacinta Allan at the completed level crossing removal project in Ringwood on Monday. Credit: Chris Hopkins So, with that acknowledged, what about this effort from Premier Jacinta Allans office at a Monday morning job to promote the state governments 75th level crossing removal? Placing Allan in front of the GONE slogan gave our sharp-eyed snappers an opportunity that was too good to pass up and on the very day when polling emerged suggesting the opposition might have a political pulse after all. Its hoped the test will accelerate the time to a primary cancer diagnosis from months to weeks, sparing patients the anguish of ongoing uncertainty. We want to make things better for these patients, said Tothill. Associate Professor Richard Tothill, Professor Sarah-Jane Dawson (centre) and Professor Linda Mileshkin are working to improve the lives of patients with mystery cancers. Credit: Wayne Taylor Solving the mystery of unknown cancers currently involves invasive and time-consuming genomic testing of tumour tissue. But around one in three of these tests are unsuccessful because patients tumour tissues have degraded to a point where it does not contain enough DNA for testing. The grant will fund the development of a genomic blood test that will predict a patients cancer type when no suitable tissue is available. Doctors hope a DNA-based blood test will provide answers. Credit: Tamara Voninski Professor Sarah-Jane Dawson, a clinician-scientist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research, said blood samples were much easier to collect. She said they allowed doctors to predict where a patients cancer originated by detecting flecks of cancer-specific DNA that are released into the bloodstream from tumours. This DNA is then matched against information from known cancers. That allows patients to receive a timely diagnosis and the most appropriate treatment for their cancer, Dawson explained. Cancer Council NSW says there are several reasons why a primary cancer might be difficult to detect. These include the primary cancer being too small to be easily picked up or a persons immune system wiping out a primary cancer but not the secondary cancer. Professor Sue Evans, director of the Victorian Cancer Registry said CUP was one of the worst possible cancer diagnoses. While better imaging has led to a decline in cases, the five-year survival rate in Victoria has increased only marginally over the past 40 years from 10 to 17 per cent. Over the same period, the five-year survival rate for oesophageal cancer had increased from 12 to 26 per cent and the five-year survival rate for lung cancer has increased from 11 to 29 per cent. Professor Linda Mileshkin, who runs the CUP clinic at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, said patients with a CUP diagnosis were often traumatised by the uncertainty of their condition. They also fell through the cracks in our health system, she said. A lot of cancer care is tumour streamed, so you will go to the breast or lung clinic. But until this clinic was set up, it was not clear where to send them. She said some patients were so unwell when they received a CUP diagnosis that the only option was to link them to palliative care. Mileshkin said a primary cancer diagnosis made a world of difference to patients by boosting their confidence in doctors, helping them access the best treatment and linking them to support groups. Theyre usually much happier when they know that the doctor actually knows whats going on, she said. A disability pensioner and farm worker secretly dumped more than 100,000 old tyres on a womans rural property near Mildura, leaving her family with a clean-up bill of almost $1 million after she died and his enormous stockpile was discovered. Red Cliffs man Colin John Thomson, 65, was convicted and fined $20,000 in the Mildura Magistrates Court this month and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid community service. One of dozens of piles of waste tyres Colin Thomson hid among the scrub. Thomson, who was paid $266,120 by local businesses over 10 years to take the waste tyres, was also ordered to repay almost $900,000 that the deceased farm owners family has spent in clean-up costs. Executor of the estate Maureen Engledow said the family had sold two properties and exhausted family savings to pay the cost of removing 108,956 tyres dumped on her late sisters farm, mostly behind trees and among mallee scrub, where they had not been seen by her sister. Nuclear waste Ted OBrien joins 11 Coalition MPs to say no thanks to nuclear in his electorate despite being an architect of the Coalitions nuclear policy (Dozen Coalition MPs want nuclear, just not in their backyard, 25/3). One suspects that OBriens third criteria for nuclear site selection acceptance from the community drives this NIMBYism. Yet, Alan Finkels conclusions, that nuclear will not meet our energy needs in a timely or cost-effective manner (Making sense of the nuclear option, 25/3) must surely inform OBriens remaining criteria of technical and financial feasibility as well. Given it is likely that all nuclear site selection criteria will fall short, one wonders if the Coalitions push to nuclear is simply a waste of energy? Karen Campbell, Geelong Tired arguments Anti-nuclear advocates continue to wheel out the examples of Chernobyl and Fukushima to support their arguments (Letters, 25/3). Chernobyl was constructed with classic 1970s Soviet-era technology, shoddy building and safety practices that would never be tolerated now, even in Russia. The Fukushima plant was built in a seismically active country and, even with superior Japanese technology and knowhow, would not be built today. Even nuclear waste is not a major problem for many countries, including geologically stable Australia, once rigorous disposal protocols are in place. Build lead times and cost, both construction and operating, should be the only considerations when considering whether nuclear should be added to Australias energy mix, and the jury is still out on both. Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully A NIMBY build As a proud NIMBY in Kew, I read with interest a proposal for yet another high-rise development in my suburb (Social housing urged for prime Kew site, 25/3). I am against the densification of Melbournes established suburbs. It is leading to further loss of our backyards and leafy, low-rise streetscapes. It is increasing noise, traffic congestion and competition for services and open space. We should instead be questioning the projected growth in population, which is forcing this dystopian future upon us. But I support this proposed development. The number of homeless people in our wealthy city is a disgrace. Providing them with shelter should be a human right, and the proposed site is ideal. But lets ensure the development fits within the existing building envelope, is entirely for social housing, is well serviced with green areas, parking, etc, and meets the highest environment standards. It could be a showcase of how we overcome the homelessness crisis. Ian Penrose, Kew Think laterally Monique Ryan is absolutely correct in calling for the former VicRoads buildings in Kew to be redeveloped for housing rather than torn down. There is a precedent: the former VicRoads building in Princes Street, Carlton, was turned into residential accommodation more than 20 years ago. The office block was reconfigured rather than demolished and rebuilt, a significant saving in time and resources. We need to be proactive and think laterally to ameliorate the housing crisis, and reworking empty office space for housing is one part of the solution. Louise Kloot, Doncaster Acknowledge the gap The imminent shortfall in the domestic housing targets in Australia are a slow-motion train wreck due to short-term politics aimed at winning votes. The overdue infrastructure build cannot be compromised, it is sorely needed and an integral part of our aim to lift productivity across the economy. Yet there remains the simplistic idea that we could pause this infrastructure build and transfer our commercial construction workforce into the domestic market. The skills, though allied, are not the same and the pay gap is vast. You would be asking workers to take a pay cut in the tens of thousands of dollars in a time of rising cost-of-living pressures. Also, the idea that we can train our emerging workforce to tackle this conundrum is not achievable in a realistic time frame. Since the 2012 Baillieu government decimation of this sector, the TAFEs have never recovered. Add to that the widespread disruption caused by COVID, an ageing workforce and a massive deficit of teaching staff. Nor could we just import a skilled workforce to do this for us. These workers will need up-skilling into one of the worlds most highly regulated construction sectors. We need to rethink housing as a basic human right and should adjust our taxation system, government interventions, industry and innovations to reflect the seriousness of the problem. We need bold governments looking at long-term decisions so Australia remains a great place to live. Duncan McKimm, Croydon North Twelve opposition MPs have publicly backed lifting the moratorium on nuclear power in Australia but will not commit to hosting a nuclear power plant in their own electorate. The Coalition is expected to release key details of its nuclear power policy before the federal budget in May. It supports lifting the moratorium implemented by the Howard government in 1998 and the introduction of small modular reactors and large-scale nuclear reactors. Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese sparred over nuclear power in question time last week. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen It has not yet announced potential locations for nuclear sites but has signalled its intention to place them near existing retired coal power stations so they could be more easily plugged into the grid. Nationals leader David Littleproud has already said he would welcome a nuclear power plant in his south-west Queensland seat of Maranoa. His predecessor, Barnaby Joyce, said he would do the same in his northern NSW electorate of New England. But another dozen Coalition MPs approached by this masthead on Sunday were unwilling to publicly welcome a nuclear power plant in their own electorate, though all said they supported their partys position. New York is applying the lessons from the 2017 total solar eclipse to prepare for its brush with totality on April 8. Gov. Kathy Hochul and top state officials detailed the state's plans for the upcoming total solar eclipse. Parts of western, central and northern New York are in the path of totality. The total eclipse will begin at 3:17 p.m. in Jamestown and conclude at 3:29 p.m. in Plattsburgh. Kathryn Garcia, the state operations director, said Monday that the Hochul administration launched an interagency task force 18 months ago to prepare for the total solar eclipse. More than 20 agencies are part of the task force. One of the main concerns is traffic. In 2017, a total solar eclipse occurred in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the U.S. There were multiple reports of traffic jams and an increased number of motor vehicle accidents. According to a report in TR News, the trip from Denver, Colorado, to Casper, Wyoming took more than 10 hours on the day of the eclipse, up from the usual four-hour-long drive. The Citizen's April 8 total solar eclipse guide: More than 20 local events The first total solar eclipse to touch Cayuga County in 99 years is less than a month away, Garcia urged New Yorkers and visitors who are planning to travel for the eclipse to allow plenty of time for the drive. The state is expecting hundreds of thousands of visitors on April 8. "The timing of the eclipse in the late afternoon overlaps with our everyday rush hour," Garcia said. "This is a recipe for severe congestion." Traffic control is a major focus for local officials, too. Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck previously told The Citizen/auburnpub.com that his agency will work to ensure there aren't traffic jams on main thoroughfares. Signs will be installed to limit parking along some roads. Jackie Bray, commissioner of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said the state's public safety preparations include activating the emergency operations center in Albany and two regional centers in Buffalo and Lake Placid. Traffic will be monitored and additional staff will be mobilized. Fuel at Thruway rest stops will be topped off before April 8, Bray said, and she encouraged private gas stations to do the same. Motorists should make sure they have enough fuel for travel and congestion that day. She recommended using 511 for real-time traffic information. "Pack your patience," Bray added. State parks Select state parks, including Fair Haven Beach State Park in northern Cayuga County, are opening for the weekend leading up to the total solar eclipse on April 8. So far, the state parks are sold out for Sunday, April 7, and 93% of sites are booked for Monday, April 8. Garcia encouraged visitors to spend time at state parks or visit other local sites to avoid traffic congestion. Eyewear Garcia reminded the public to not look at the sun without proper eye protection. The state is giving away eclipse-viewing glasses at its welcome centers and Thruway rest stops, among other locations. A full list of locations where glasses can be picked is posted at iloveny.com/eclipse. If you are buying eclipse glasses online, Garcia said you should make sure they are from a trustworthy source. With eclipse glasses, you should not be able to see your hand in front of your face. Playlist There is some fun injected into the total solar eclipse plans. Garcia highlighted the Spotify playlist that was created with eclipse teams. The songs include Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." Schools Garcia confirmed they have been coordinating with local school districts, many of which have canceled classes on April 8. There is no state directive for schools to close for the eclipse. Garcia said it's a local decision for the school districts. After an arduous 18 months, its time to farewell Wanda. This is the nickname for the lightweight wheelchair that ferried me around while living with a dynamic disability as part of long COVID. While I was grateful for the mobility, this experience revealed glaring problems with accessibility in Australia. Sydney Airport is trialling a new system for improving access for disabled passengers and has purchased additional wheelchairs. Credit: Kate Geraghty To be frank, travelling by air was a nightmare. In October 2022, a hire car driver threatened to abandon me outside the Virgin Australia terminal at Sydney Airport. Youll just have to get out and stay here on the footpath, the driver said, despite an earlier assurance hed push me inside the terminal. Moscow: Russia has charged four men it accuses of gunning down scores of people at a concert outside Moscow in the countrys deadliest attack for two decades. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a national day of mourning after pledging to punish all those behind the attack, in which 137 people were killed, including three children, and 182 were injured. More than 100 people remained in hospital on Monday (AEDT), some of them in a serious condition. Earlier, people laid flowers at Crocus City Hall, the 6200-seat concert hall outside Moscow where four armed men burst in just before Soviet-era rock group Picnic was to perform its hit Afraid of Nothing. The men fired their automatic weapons in short bursts at civilians who fell screaming. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Putin has not publicly mentioned the Islamist militant group in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. He said that some on the Ukrainian side had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. For many, the threat from Islamic State ended in the dusty Syrian town of Baghuz in 2019 when the remnants of the organisation finally succumbed to the campaign waged against them by the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces. But the attack on the Crocus City Hall in Moscow and Islamic States subsequent claim of responsibility is a reminder that the group continues to have strategic reach and has retained the ability to conduct mass casualty attacks against targets outside their countries of origin. Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the Moscow attack in which 130 people were killed, appeared in court with facial injuries and a large bandage on his ear. Credit: AP Islamic State wasnt eradicated in Baghuz even if their pretend caliphate was. The organisation has, little by little, partially recovered and in its atomised form has become increasingly active. It has significant territorial control and hence freedom of action in Africa. But for the West, what goes on in Africa is generally of little interest, so Islamic States role there has gone largely unnoticed. Islamic States west African campaign is a success story even if it remains peripheral to the groups main focus: which is consolidating its remaining foothold in the Middle East, as well as conducting attacks against foreign powers with whom it is in conflict. But as famine looms in Gaza and amid growing global pressure for a truce in the war that Palestinian health authorities say has killed some 32,000 people, the US abstained on Tuesday (AEDT) to allow the Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks. Loading It was the Hamas massacre that started this war, Israels UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said. The resolution just voted upon makes it seem as if the war started by itself ... Israel did not start this war, nor did Israel want this war. Hamas welcomed the Security Council resolution, saying in a statement that it affirms readiness to engage in immediate prisoner swaps on both sides. Hamas said it has informed mediators that it will stick to its original proposal on reaching a comprehensive ceasefire, which includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a return of displaced Palestinians and a real exchange of prisoners. Hamas presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the United States in mid-March that included the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to a proposal seen by Reuters. US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US fully supported some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution, but added that Washington did not agree with everything in the text, which also did not condemn Hamas. Chinas UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said Security Council resolutions are binding. For the millions of people in Gaza, who remain mired in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, this resolution if fully and effectively implemented could still bring long-awaited hope, he told the council. Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said Security Council resolutions are international law, so to that extent they are as binding as international law is. However, ultimately if there is no ceasefire in Gaza, it is unlikely the Security Council will take any further action. The resolution also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Israel says Hamas took 253 hostages during its October 7 attack. We believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages, Thomas-Greenfield told the council. A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage and so we must put pressure on Hamas to do just that. The resolution also emphasises the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale. Guterres urged Israel to lift all obstacles to aid into Gaza and allow convoys of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA into the north of the coastal enclave. Famine is imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July, according to a UN-backed report by a global authority on food security released last week. Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Credit: AP Displaced Palestinians in Rafah hoped a ceasefire would be implemented. We hope that this time there will be a ceasefire so that things will calm down and people can go back to their homes enough bloodshed, destruction, martyrs, and death, Wafaa Al-Deais told Reuters as he made tea on a fire outside a tent. Loading The US has vetoed three draft council resolutions on the war in Gaza. It has also previously abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting. Russia and China have also vetoed two US drafted resolutions on the conflict in October and on Friday. This must be a turning point, an emotional Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the Security Council after the vote. This must lead to saving lives on the ground. Reuters if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi... Audi is planning to launch an all-new entry-level electric car that is slated to launch in 2027. Upon launch, the new electric car will be positioned below the Audi Q4 E-Tron in the brand's product lineup and could be christened A2 or Q2, revealed the company's CEO Gernot Dollner to British automotive publication Autocar UK. However, the German luxury car marquee is reluctant to reveal additional details about the upcoming electric car. The OEM will reportedly produce its entry-level electric car in Ingolstadt, Germany. The company has reportedly reserved even numbers for its electric cars and odd ones for internal combustion engine-powered models. The upcoming entry-level electric car could come in the guise of a small sedan or a compact SUV. Considering the high demand for high-riding SUVs, Q2 seems highly potential nomenclature for the upcoming EV. Also check these Vehicles Find more Cars UPCOMING Audi Q8 2024 2995 cc 2995 cc Petrol Petrol 1.17 Cr View Details Audi Q8 2995 cc 2995 cc Petrol Petrol 98.98 Lakhs - 1.36 Cr Compare View Offers Audi RS5 2894.0 cc 2894.0 cc Petrol Petrol 1.04 Cr Compare View Offers Audi A4 1984.0 cc 1984.0 cc Petrol Petrol 42.34 - 46.67 Lakhs Compare View Offers Audi Q5 1984 cc 1984 cc Petrol Petrol 65.18 - 70.45 Lakhs Compare View Offers Audi Q3 1984.0 cc 1984.0 cc Petrol Petrol 44.89 - 50.39 Lakhs Compare View Offers Watch: Audi Q8 etron: First drive review In an interaction, Dollner reportedly said the upcoming Audi entry-level electric car will come as a wonderful and unique independent vehicle concept. The new EV may ride on the Volkswagen Group's MEB platform, but Audi CEO stated that the automaker is yet to decide on the architecture. Expect more details like the battery size and chemistry, range and power output of the upcoming EV to be revealed in the near future. The upcoming Audi electric car comes as a key part of the brand's strategy to counter the rapidly emerging Chinese EV offensive. Audi is among many automakers who are worried about cheap Chinese electric vehicles and responding accordingly. It comes in line with Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume's comment in June last year when he said that Audi lagged behind its rivals owing to software issues. He also stated that Audi would speed up the development of electric vehicles. Audi introduced the new Q6 E-Tron just a few days ago, which joined the models like E-Tron GT, Q4 E-Tron, and Q8 E-Tron. An entry-level EV would further help the brand to grab a larger chunk of the bulging luxury electric car market globally. Since, the trend of rising sales for high-end luxury electric cars is on in India as well, we ca expect Audi to bring the new entry-level EV here. First Published Date: The 2024 Budget Session of the Wyoming Legislature has concluded. Now that Gov. Mark Gordon has taken final action on the budget and other legislation, heres a report on issues affecting the University of Wyoming. All in all, it was a successful session for UW, with the Legislature and the governor continuing their strong support for the states university. The newly adopted state budget includes these additional provisions beyond our $338 million block grant for the coming biennium, which spans July 1, 2024-June 30, 2026: $1.8 million to help us improve mental health services for our students, faculty and staff. $2.5 million in matching funds to develop artificial intelligence expertise. $5 million to upgrade classroom technology. $3 million to increase stipends for graduate assistants. $10 million for the University Endowment Challenge Program and $2 million expendable match for priorities identified and approved by the Board of Trustees (which occurred at the recently completed March board meeting). $1 million for library collections. $1 million for our new Neltje Center for Excellence in Creativity and the Arts. $60.9 million for major maintenance. $2.5 million in endowment matching dollars for research, education and extension in ranch and rangeland management, agronomy and soil science. Additionally, the budget bill includes a $25 million appropriation for the second phase of the Wyoming Gas Injection Initiative and $40 million in matching funds for research, services, software acquisition and technological capabilities. These projects are led by our Center of Innovation for Flow Through Porous Media. And there are several provisions adding over $20 million to the School of Energy Resources for building nuclear energy capacity, matching programs, and research and programming. While legislators and the governor continue their generous support for UW on multiple university priorities, other action will require us to rethink or change the way we do things. Most notably, the Legislature reduced our block grant by $1.73 million, the budgeted biennial amount for our Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and directed through a budget footnote that no state dollars be spent on the DEI office, effective July 1, 2024. They also directed that no state funding be spent on DEI activities, functions or programs, but the governor used his line-item veto on that second piece of the budget footnote. We are now considering how to manage this situation. There are some student success, access and community engagement functions we will need to continue, so as to not jeopardize federal funding for research and other programs. We certainly will continue to value and serve students, employees and community members of all genders, ethnicities and backgrounds, and work to make everyone feel welcome. But the message from lawmakers, regardless of the welcomed line-item veto from the Governor, is that our DEI efforts must change, and discussions are underway to determine the best path forward. This will include appointment of a working group that includes faculty, staff and students to look closely at all of UWs programs and activities in this area; consider which can and should be continued; and explore how funding sources other than state appropriations can potentially be deployed to support some essential functions. We will be in touch with more details as we determine how to comply with and respond to this legislative action. In the meantime, we express appreciation to those who worked tirelessly to represent the university during the legislative session. Our role as Wyomings land-grant and flagship university is paramount, and we are committed to serving the state to the best of our ability. Sincerely, Ed Seidel, President The Wyoming Governors Big Game License Coalition finalized its 2024 project funding and will allocate $1.8 million for Wyoming wildlife conservation projects. A total of 78 projects that benefit the committees five priorities were funded. Funds were generated through the sale of the Wyoming Governor's complimentary big game licenses in 2023. The coalition allocates funds for various wildlife conservation projects through committees that focus on wildlife species-specific initiatives: elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, moose and an all-wildlife committee. Projects are diverse and range from habitat improvements, conservation easements, research and efforts to facilitate wildlife movements across roadways. The Wyoming Governor's Big Game License Coalition puts forth incredible effort to raise money that goes directly on-the-ground for conservation projects. The Coalition is judicious and generous with their allocations to better the landscape for a variety of species. Thank you to hunters for investing in these licenses to support responsible stewardship of our state's natural resources, Gov. Mark Gordon said. Each year the coalition, comprised of Wyoming-based wildlife conservation organizations, as well as the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, is tasked with marketing and selling the Governors complimentary big game licenses, as authorized by state statute. These include five bighorn sheep, five moose, 10 deer/elk/antelope and five wild bison licenses. Participating conservation organizations include the Mule Deer Foundation, Muley Fanatics Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation. When licenses are sold the revenue is solely dedicated to wildlife conservation, with 90% of the proceeds going back to the coalition and the remaining 10% staying within the selling organization. The Wyoming Governors Big Game License Coalition stands out for its ability to rally significant financial support and garner widespread participation from top-notch conservation groups in Wyoming, said Tim Thomas, Game and Fish Sheridan Region wildlife management coordinator and coalition chair. This collaborative funding model founded under Gov. Freudenthal and continued by Govs. Mead and Gordon deserves recognition for its ability to leverage funds to support conservation in Wyoming. Since the group formed in 2003, the coalition has funded more than $13 million in conservation projects. Cheyenne, WY (82003) Today Showers early, then cloudy overnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low near 30F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Showers early, then cloudy overnight. A few flurries or snow showers possible. Low near 30F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%. 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. BYD Yuan UP to hit market on March 26 The BYD Yuan UP, the brand's all-new SUV model, is set to hit the market on March 26, with an expected price range of 100,000 yuan to 120,000 yuan. The BYD Yuan UP is the first A0-segment SUV from BYD to ride on the e-Platform 3.0, boasting core technologies such as an integrated eight-in-one electric powertrain, a wide-temperature range efficient heat pump system, direct cooling and heating technology for the battery, and a highly safe Blade Battery. Photo credit: BYD XPeng P7i 702 Max Wing Edition hits market XPeng announced on March 25 the XPeng P7i 702 Max Wing Edition has already gone on sale, with an official guidance price of 289,900 yuan. The company is offering a limited-time discount of 40,000 yuan, bringing the price down to 249,900 yuan. The promotional offer is valid from March 25, 2024, to March 31, 2024. Baidu partners with Dongguan city to speed up AI applications in comprehensive scenarios On March 22, the Municipal Government of Dongguan city and Baidu signed a strategic cooperation agreement, according to Baidus press release. The partnership will focus on the development of the AI industry, leveraging Baidu's strengths in AI algorithms, cloud computing, big data, and autonomous driving technologies to promote the comprehensive application of AI across various scenarios. XPENG AEROHT's 'Land Aircraft Carrier' flying car enters airworthiness certification phase On March 25, XPENG AEROHT, the urban air mobility company affiliated with XPeng Inc., officially announced that the application for the Type Certificate (TC) of its "Land Aircraft Carrier" flying car's airframe (codenamed: X3-F) had recently been accepted by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) South Central Regional Administration, indicating that the model is poised to enter the airworthiness certification phase. BYD Auto hits production milestone of 7 millionth new energy vehicle On March 25, a momentous occasion was marked in the automotive industry as BYD Auto celebrated the roll-off of its 7 millionth new energy vehicle, a new DENZA N7. This achievement not only signifies BYD Auto's significant production milestone but also sets the stage for the official market launch of the DENZA N7 on April 1. Autonomous driving tech firm UISEE to build R&D center in Hong Kong On March 20, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China's Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises held the "OASES Partnership Signing Ceremony," welcoming a new batch of key enterprises to Hong Kong or expanding their operations in the city. UISEE, a Chinese autonomous driving technology company, was among the 25 key enterprises participating in this signing. IM Motors' L6 model to be deployed with ultra-fast-charging solid-state battery On March 25, IM Motors announced that its upcoming model, the IM L6, will be the first to feature the industry's first mass-produced "ultra-fast-charging solid-state battery," heralding the era of solid-state batteries in the new energy vehicle sector. ARCFOX inks deal for exporting 200 vehicles with Spain's 3B95, S.L On March 21, 2024, BAIC BJEV and a Spanish business delegation engaged in extensive discussions regarding the automakers high-end new energy vehicle brand ARCFOX's entry into the Spanish market. JAC Motors forays into Australian market with JAC T9 diesel-powered pickup On March 20, JAC Motors announced its entry into the Australian pickup market with the debut of the right-hand drive JAC T9 diesel-powered pickup, tailored specifically for the local market. SAIC-CATL, UL Solutions ink MoU to enhance safety of power batteries, EV charging systems On March 20, SAIC-CATL, the joint venture between SAIC Motor and CATL, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the global safety science leader UL Solutions. The partnership aims to address the evolving needs of the electric vehicle (EV) industry by concentrating on battery systems and component testing and certification. A significant portion of their cooperative efforts will revolve around the standards, technical specifications, and compliance in the development related to such areas as wireless charging system and the secondary use and safety of batteries. BYD Seal BEV model's Honor Edition hits market, starting at 179,800 yuan On March 25, the all-electric BYD Seal model's Honor Edition hit the market, with an official price range of 179,800 yuan to 249,800 yuan. This latest addition to BYD's lineup is available in three range options, four power solutions, and five distinct trim levels, catering to a wide array of customer preferences and driving needs. NETA Auto rolls off 400,000th mass-produced vehicle On March 25, Chinese new energy vehicle maker NETA Auto marked a significant milestone in its journey by rolling off its 400,000th mass-produced vehicle, which also coincides with the production of the company's first mass-produced units of the NETA L model. Whisky Magazine Awards 2024 winners revealed Last week saw the announcement of the winners of the Whisky Magazine Awards 2024. The ceremony, held in Londons Merchant Taylors Hall on 20 March, celebrated the winners of Worlds Best in the World Whiskies Awards. Also announced were the Icons of Whisky global winners, and three new entrants into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame Whisky Magazine has been running the World Whiskies Awards since 2001, where it began as the Whisky Magazine Best of the Best competition. The announcement comes after blind tastings held worldwide by expert judges. This years, judges tasted more than 1,500 different whiskies, representing more than 40 countries. The 23 categories into which whiskies were entered include single malt, bourbon, blended, rye, pot still, and design. Winners in the 2024 awards include The English Sherry Cask for Worlds Best Single Malt, 1792 12 Years Old for Worlds Best Bourbon, and Ballantines 30 Years Old for Worlds Best Blended. Anita Ujszaszi, awards director, said of the World Whiskies Awards: It has been another fantastic year for the World Whiskies Awards as well as the Icons of Whisky. From the incredible and ever-diversifying range of products entered to the fantastic people we get to work with on our judging panels, it is a privilege to be part of this most amazing industry. This was another incredibly strong year in all the categories and there were worthy winners across the globe, showcasing that this is more than just making a product it is people dedicating their lives to making something extraordinary. Also awarded last week were the Icons of Whisky global winners, following the announcements of the regional winners earlier this year. The Icons of Whisky recognises the people and places of the whisky industry, including brand ambassadors, distillers, visitor attraction teams, and PR agencies. Among this years winners was Glen Morays Stephen Woodcock, who was named Master Blender/Master Distiller of the Year. Bethany Brown, editor of Whisky Magazine and chair of judges for the Icons of Whisky awards, said: We had an outstanding crop of entries to all our regional Icons of Whisky competitions this year, making the selection of our global winners a difficult process. However, for us as judges, this is the best kind of challenge; it goes to prove the seemingly inexhaustible innovation, strength, and ingenuity to be found within the global whisky industry. I would like to congratulate our winners, but also thank them and all our Icons of Whisky 2024 entrants for the work they do each and every day to help the whisky industry thrive. The event also announced the three new inductees of the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame: Russell Anderson of the Macallan Distillery; Ichiro Akuto, founder of Venture Whisky and Chichibu Distillery; and Canadian whisky writer and consultant Davin de Kergommeaux. The full list of winners can be found via the World Whiskies Awards website 25 March 2024 - Lucy Schofield An exceptional leader: Bhutanese King heaps praise on PM Modi THIMPHU, AFTER Prime Minister Narendra Modis State visit, the Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck heaped praise on the former calling him an exceptional leader and adding that countries require such leaders to advance and flourish. King Wangchuk, in a video message, underlined that India has paved the way for a promising and prosperous future, adding that Bhutan applauds and rejoices in Indias accomplishments. Under Prime Minister Modis leadership, India has not only achieved remarkable success in the past decade, but also paved the way for a promising and prosperous future. We applaud and rejoice in Indias accomplishments. Countries require exceptional leaders to advance and flourish, yet such leaders are rare. To find an exceptional leader must possess compassion, a deep dedication to the country, and a willingness to devote themselves entirely to the service of the country, he said. A leader wields power not for his own sake, but to affect substantial change with the unwavering support of the people. In my perspective, Prime Minister Modi embodies these qualities. The conferral of the order of Druk Galpo, Bhutans highest award to Prime Minister Modi, symbolises our deep appreciation towards the Government of India, the people of India, and to Prime Minister Modi for always being there for Bhutan, he added. City Police clamps down on late night music events Staff Reporter To tackle the problem of noisy late-night parties in Nagpur, Commissioner of Police Dr Ravinder Singal has issued a new order under Section 144 (1) (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure with instruction that all musical events, even ones with DJs, must end by 10 pm. This rule comes under Section 144 (1) (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It aims to reduce disturbances caused by loud music late at night. The order specifically addresses the issue of noise pollution and disturbances caused by concerts, DJs, and parties held in various establishments across the city. It stressed the need for stringent measures to ensure the safety and well-being of residents, particularly women, who have reported feeling threatened by the presence of strangers in these late-night gatherings. According to the directive, organisers of concerts, parties, and similar events at venues such as hotels, bars, restaurants, banquet halls, lawns, and open fields must obtain prior permission from the Police Commissioners office. All musical events, including those featuring DJs, must conclude by 10 pm at lawns, open grounds, and other outdoor venues. Hotel, bar, restaurant, and banquet hall owners are instructed to quickly report any suspicious persons or altercations to the police, either at the station or by dialing emergency number 112. Mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in these establishments is must, with recordings to be retained for a minimum of 15 days. Ensuring smooth traffic flow and adherence to traffic regulations around these premises. Sale of narcotics or substances affecting human consciousness within the premises of any establishment is prohibited. Delayed supplies lift soyabean oil prices Business Reporter The soyabean oil prices have been rising from the past 15 to 20 days due to delay in supplies to the markets. The soyabean oil prices in retail market have surged to Rs 110 per 1 litre pouch, as compared to Rs 104 per 1 litre pouch about 15 to 20 days ago. The edible oilpriceshave flaredupdue to late arrival of soyabean oil in the country, said Rajesh Thakkar, President of Oil Merchants Association and owner of Shantilal Oils Private Limited while speaking to The Hitavada. Thakkar further said that India imports about 60 percent of its soyabean oil from countries like Brazil, Argentina and US to meet domestic consumption requirements. Because ofthisheavy dependence on imports, any disruption in supplies affects the prices of soyabean oil in the country. The edible oil prices have increased on account of pirate attacks on cargo ships passing through the Red Sea towardsIndia. Therefore,shipping traffic is being diverted from the Suez Canal and Red Seatoward salonger route from the southern tip of Africa. The crisis has also resulted in hike in shipping and insurance charges. This has affected the soyabean oil prices in the domestic wholesale market. The soyabean oil which is largely imported in the country has increased due to delay in its supplies amid the Red Sea crisis, he said. Also, there has been a rise in shipping and insurance charges which is putting pressure on shipments. The soyabeanandsunflower oilprices have escalated by 5 per cent within the past 15 to 20 days in the wholesale market due to the Red Sea crisis, he said. The crisis has also resulted in hike in shipping and insurance charges. This has affected the soyabean and sunflower oil prices in the domestic wholesale market. Inthe Itwari wholesalemarket, soyabean oil prices are being quoted at Rs 1,700 per 15 kg tin. Similarly, the sunflower oil which is mostly imported from Russia and Ukraine has also increased within the same period. Sunflower oil prices are being quoted at Rs 1,600 per 15 litre tin. Accordingly, palm oil is being quoted at Rs 1,600 per 15 kg tin, rice bran at Rs 1,600 per15kgtinandgroundnutoil at Rs 2,500 per 15 litre tin, he pointed out. Thakkarfeels that the situation would normalise within 8 to10days as supplies are coming to the ports. The soyabean oil prices are likely to drop from the month of April as supplies normalise. At present, the demand in the markets for edible oils is sluggish, he added. MSRTC serves notice to e-bus company for delay in supply By Kaushik Bhattacharya Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) served notice to Olectra e-Bus Company, which is supposed to supply 5,000 Shivai electric busses to Maharashtra, for delay in supply of e-buses recently. The State transport company awarded a contract of supplying 5,000 e-buses, including 228 for Nagpur division, and also to establish charging station in all state depots. However, the company has failed to supply e-buses to MSRTC. We have served a notice to the company for delay in supply. So far, the company gave us just 20 Shivai e-buses which are now plying on Nashik and Boriwali route, Chetan Hasabnis, Deputy General Manager (Operation), MSRTC told The Hitavada. We entered into a contract with the company to provide the fleet of 5,000 e-buses and install charging stations in all depots. The company had two years to deliver the buses. But, the company delayed the supply due to which we are unable to start Shivai services in all districts, said the DGM. MSRTC has intentions to launch these buses with eye-catching colours and opulent interiors in its Platinum Jubilee year in an effort to compete with private operators. Although 228 electric buses were promised for Nagpur division by MSRTC, it is still unknown if all of the buses will fall into the Shivai category. According to a senior official of MSRTC, The delay in supply has affected bus service on different routs from Nagpur. The company is currently working on installation of the charging station at Imambada Bus Depot, which was also a part of the contract. To reduce the impact of air pollution, the State Government has plans to transform its fleet from diesel buses to electric buses in near future. Including 5,000 electric buses is also a part of the same project. The first Shivai electric bus on the Pune-Ahmednagar route was inaugurated by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on the occasion of the MSRTCs 75th foundation day programme in June 2022. Since then, only 20 buses are plying on Pune-Ahmednagar and Nashik-Boriwali routes whereas Nagpur division is still awaits its electric bus fleet. Policy Changes make India attractive investment destination: WEF official NEW DELHI, A COMBINATION of policy changes such as bankruptcy law and taxation code and the enabling environment created by the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has made India an attractive investment destination for the financial technology sector, a senior World Economic Forum (WEF) official said. In a video interview with PTI, Matthew Blake, Head of the Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems at the WEF said India has been one of the best-performing markets in the world and investors have made money here. Blake also struck a word of caution saying that since markets do not move in a purely linear fashion and were prone to ups and downs, there was a need to educate investors. So this idea of being an informed investor, a diversified investor, and having access to educational resources to do that is really fundamental artificial intelligence (AI), he said. I think a combination of different policy choices that have been made make India quite an attractive investment destination. In addition to the digital public infrastructure that creates an enabling environment from a technological standpoint, you also have changes in the bankruptcy law and taxation code adding clarity, he said. Blake said a survey of fintech CEOs by the WEF and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance had revealed that 70 per cent of the firms considered AI as a major force and could be deployed for personalisation and customisation of products and services. Blake said for sectoral regulators, AI could be helpful in the context of risk management and there was a need for them to adapt to the rapid changes in technology. The sophistication level of the regulatory authorities will also need to increase commensurate with the business sector and talent. Technology, and technologically savvy talent, will be at a premium. And thats true in the private sector, and thats true in the public sector, he said. Blake said in the Asia-Pacific region, the regulatory agencies were generally viewed as being quite skillful. When you look globally, obviously there are varying levels of sophistication of markets. This brings an opportunity globally to share best practices and competencies, he said. One of the things that were looking at is how do you bring the most sophisticated actors in the financial services space from the private sector together in a knowledge exchange with some of the key supervisory bodies, Blake said. It is absolutely in the best interests of the business sector that their corresponding regulator understands as closely as they do their activities and the technologies theyre using to conduct those activities. So, it is in the mutual best interest to share that information and to try and level set. That is a rather large challenge, but its something that we as a team are looking at currently and trying to devote some time to, Blake said. The WEF-Cambridge report on The Future of Global Fintech: Towards Resilient and Inclusive Growth, released in January, found that the majority of financial technology companies hold a positive view of their regulatory environment, with 63 per cent rating it as adequate. Additionally, 38 per cent of surveyed fintechs cited the regulatory environment as a major supporting factor for their operations and growth. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On March 20, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of Chinas Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises held the "OASES Partnership Signing Ceremony," welcoming a new batch of key enterprises to Hong Kong or expanding their operations in the city. UISEE, a Chinese autonomous driving technology company, was among the 25 key enterprises participating in this signing. Signing ceremony; photo credit: UISEE In February of this year, UISEE, in collaboration with the Hong Kong SAR Government's InvestHK department, announced the establishment of its global headquarters in Hong Kong. Leveraging Hong Kong as a springboard, UISEE aims to expand its business worldwide and intends to establish an R&D center in Hong Kong, focusing on providing technical support for overseas development. Through this signing, UISEE becomes an OASES partner of the Hong Kong SAR Government, actively driving upstream, midstream, and downstream enterprises to settle in Hong Kong while promoting the more robust development of Hong Kong's innovation and technology ecosystem. UISEE's collaborative innovation with Hong Kong began in 2017. Today, passengers waiting at Hong Kong International Airport can witness the bustling operation of UISEE's unmanned vehicle fleet from the terminal windows. With over 50 UISEE autonomous vehicles, the airport has achieved over 1,000 days of fully autonomous operational service, providing round-the-clock unmanned logistics and shuttle services, positioning Hong Kong International Airport as a global leader in multi-scenario, multi-vehicle unmanned vehicle operations. Positive Relationship India and Russia have taken extra care to look after each others interests: Jaishankar SINGAPORE : RUSSIA is a country with which India has always had a positive relationship and both countries have taken extra care to look after each others interests, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday, as he dismissed the notion that Moscow is drifting towards China. Interacting with the Indian community in Singapore, Jaishankar said India should look at its relationship with Russia or any other country from its perspective. So, tell me has Russia helped us or harmed us? Has Russia at crucial moments contributed or obstructed? Going ahead, are there gains to be made from Russia or is it only damages which will come out? he asked. So, if I do my calculations from my perspective and my experiences, I will get the answer. And the answer in this case is that Russia is a country with which we have always had a positive relationship, he said. Both India and Russia have taken that extra care to look after each others interests. So, I think we should have that confidence as we go forward, he said while answering a question. The ties between India and Russia remained strong notwithstanding Moscows invasion of Ukraine. India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it has been maintaining that the crisis must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue. On a question on the US presidential election in November and Indias equation with the country after that, Jaishankar said: I prefer to be patient. Jaishankar said he is confident that India can get along with whoever is President of the US. Jaishankar is in Singapore on a three-day visit from Saturday. A terrorist is a terrorist' in any language: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday that a terrorist is a terrorist in any language and one should not allow terrorism to be excused or defended because of a different explanation of it. Jaishankar's remarks came during his interaction with the Indian community members in Singapore. Responding to a question on how Indian officials approach sensitive and linguistically different topics with their global counterparts, the minister said that in diplomacy, different countries bring their own cultures, traditions and sometimes their language or concepts to debate. "It's also natural that there will be different viewpoints. And what diplomacy is about is to find a way of reconciling it and coming to some kind of agreement," he said. Jaishankar said however there are some issues when there is clarity and no confusion. Giving the example of terrorism, he said: "You can take it in any language, but a terrorist is a terrorist in any language." "Never allow something like terrorism to be excused or defended because they're using a different language or a different explanation," he said, without referring to any country. He said there can be issues where two nations genuinely can have different viewpoints and there "will be issues when they are used as a cover as an excuse as a justification." He said one should be able to spot the difference and figure out a way how to deal with it. In his address, Jaishankar recapped India-Singapore relations dating back to the independence struggling days when Subhas Chandra Bose established the Indian National Army and made the Delhi Chalo' call. He (Neta ji) remains a visible inspiration for our entire nation, Jaishankar said as he joined some 1,500 Indian diaspora members at the screening of the Singapore-made short film on Netaji. As India has globalized, the two countries' relations that began as Look East policy and then on Act East policy has gone on to India being in the Indo-Pacific the story in many ways actually began in Singapore, Jaishankar shared with the business-focused Indian community here. The more India globalizes, every aspect of that will be reflected in the intensity and quality of relationships with Singapore, Jaishankar underscored. Singapore has been our partner in the globalization of India and that role and companionship is something that we value, said Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to the Asian financial hub. Jaishankar also updated the Singapore-based Indian community on the accelerated pace of infrastructure development in India and highlighted Bharat being a global friend. This is India which will not be pressured, which will state its mind. If it has to make a choice, we will make a choice for the welfare of our citizens So, the idea is of much stronger, more capable India and willing to take the tough course, he said. Jaishankar assured that this is an India which looks after its citizens and people of Indian origins. As more and more Indians settle in different parts of the world, it is our responsibility to secure them, to ensure their wellbeing if they are in a difficult stage, to bring them home, he said. Ukraine and Sudan were cited as examples of where Indians were caught between the wars among others. The capable India, the diplomatic India, the reformed India, the protective India in many ways the innovative India, he stressed, pointing to the global respect won by the Chandrayan landing on the Moon. There is also India, which is a friend of the world. Friendships begets more friendship, he said, pointing to the supply of vaccines to nearly 100 countries during Covid-19. And we step forward at times of difficulties, said Jaishankar, adding that India gave a package of USD 4.5 billion to Sri Lanka during the island state's economic crisis. Across the Indian Ocean today, if there is a problem, and the very difficult situation in the Red Sea, we have 21 ships fighting piracy and boarding and searching vessels. We have done in the last three months more than 1,000 search missions, Jaishankar told Non-resident Indians on the level of global service being provided by India. These are examples of responsible India. Nimit Shedh, from the Singapore Gujarati Society, said, It was very insightful (address). The Minister has shared with us how India has come a very long way, it makes us very proud, said Puneet Pushkarna, a Singapore-based businessman at the Jaishankar interaction here. Putin claims Moscow attackers captured while fleeing to Ukraine MOSCOW : THE suburban Moscow music hall where gunmen opened fire on concertgoers was a blackened, smoldering ruin Saturday as the death toll in the attack surpassed 140 and Russian authorities arrested four suspects. President Vladimir Putin claimed they were captured while fleeing to Ukraine. Kyiv strongly denied any involvement in Fridays assault on the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, and the Islamic State groups Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility. Putin did not mention IS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russias war in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year. US Intelligence officials confirmed the claim by the IS affiliate. ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. The US shared information with Russia in early March about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow and issued a public warning to Americans in Russia. , Watson said. Putin said authorities detained a total of 11 people in the attack, which also wounded more than 100. He called it a bloody, barbaric terrorist act and said Russian authorities captured the four suspects as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a window prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border. Russian media broadcast videos that apparently showed the detention and interrogation of the suspects, including one who told the cameras he was approached by an unidentified assistant to an Islamic preacher via a messaging app and paid to take part in the raid. Russian news reports identified the gunmen as citizens of Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia that is predominantly Muslim and borders Afghanistan. Up to 1.5 million Tajiks have worked in Russia and many have Russian citizenship. Tajikistans foreign ministry, which denied initial Russian media reports that mentioned several other Tajiks allegedly involved in the raid, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the arrests. Many Russian hard-liners called for a crackdown on Tajik migrants, but Putin appeared to reject the idea, saying no force will be able to sow the poisonous seeds of discord, panic or disunity in our multi-ethnic society. He declared Sunday a day of mourning and said additional security measures were imposed throughout Russia. The number of dead stood at 133, making the attack the deadliest in Russia in years. Authorities said the toll could still rise. The raid was a major embarrassment for the Russian leader and happened just days after he cemented his grip on the country for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since the Soviet times. Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who have relentlessly suppressed any opposition activities and muzzled independent media, failed to prevent the attack despite the US warnings. The assault came two weeks after the US Embassy in Moscow issued a notice urging Americans to avoid crowded places in view of imminent plans by extremists to target large Moscow gatherings, including concerts. Several other Western embassies repeated the warning. Earlier this week, Putin denounced the warning as an attempt to intimidate Russians. Investigators on Saturday combed through the charred wreckage of the hall for more victims. Hundreds of people stood in line in Moscow to donate blood and plasma, Russias health ministry said. Putins claim that the attackers tried to flee to Ukraine followed comments by Russian lawmakers who pointed the finger at Ukraine immediately after the attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy angrily rejected Moscows accusations as an attempt by Putin and his lieutenants to shift the blame to Ukraine while treating their own people as expendables. They are burning our cities and they are trying to blame Ukraine, he said in a statement on his messaging app channel. They torture and rape our people and they blame them. They drove hundreds of thousands of their terrorists here to fight us on our Ukrainian soil, and they dont care what happens inside their own country. Images shared by Russian state media showed emergency vehicles still gathered outside the ruins of the concert hall, which could hold more than 6,000 people and hosted many big events, including the 2013 Miss Universe beauty pageant that featured Donald Trump. On Friday, crowds were at the venue for a concert by the Russian rock band Picnic. Videos posted online showed gunmen in the venue shooting civilians at point-blank range. Russian news reports cited authorities and witnesses as saying the attackers threw explosive devices that started the fire, which eventually consumed the building and caused its roof to collapse. Dave Primov, who survived the attack, told the AP that the gunmen were shooting directly into the crowd in the front rows. He described the chaos in the hall as concertgoers raced to escape: People began to panic, started to run and collided with each other. Some fell down and others trampled on them. After he and others crawled out of the hall into nearby utility rooms, he said he heard pops from small explosives and smelled burning as the attackers set the building ablaze. By the time they got out of the massive building 25 minutes later, it was engulfed in flames. Had it been just a little longer, we could simply get stuck there in the fire, Primov said. Messages of outrage, shock and support for the victims and their families streamed in from around the world. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the US condemned the attack and noted that the Islamic State group is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere. IS, which lost much of its ground after Russias military action in Syria, has long targeted Russia. In a statement posted by the groups Aamaq news agency, ISs Afghanistan affiliate said it had attacked a large gathering of Christians in Krasnogorsk. The group issued a new statement on Saturday on Aamaq saying the attack was carried out by four men who used automatic rifles, a pistol, knives and firebombs. It said the assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers, casting the raid as part of ISs ongoing war with countries that it says are fighting Islam. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacation-goers returning from Egypt. The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed several attacks in Russias volatile Caucasus and other regions in the past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. The groups Afghanistan affiliate is known variously as ISIS-K or IS-K, taking its name from Khorasan Province, a region that covered much of Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia in the Middle Ages. The affiliate has thousands of fighters who have repeatedly carried out attacks in Afghanistan since the country was seized in 2021 by the Taliban, a group with which they are at bitter odds. ISIS-K was behind the August 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport that left 13 American troops and about 170 Afghans dead during the chaotic US withdrawal. They also claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in Kerman, Iran, in January that killed 95 people at a memorial procession. On March 7, just hours before the US Embassy warned about imminent attacks, Russias top security agency said it had thwarted an attack on a synagogue in Moscow by an IS cell and killed several of its members in the Kaluga region near the Russian capital. A few days before that, Russian authorities said six alleged IS members were killed in a shootout in Ingushetia, in Russias Caucasus region. Rajnath Singh celebrates with soldiers in Leh LEH, DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday celebrated Holi with Army jawans in Leh and lauded them for protecting the country from enemies while braving extreme weather conditions. Singh was earlier supposed to celebrate Holi with soldiers in Siachen, the worlds highest battlefield, but his visit was cancelled due to inclement weather. The minister was accompanied by Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Pande and General Officer Commanding, Fire and Fury Corps, Lt Gen Rashim Bali. The Defence Minister applied tilak with gulal on soldiers foreheads. He also laid a wreath at the War Memorial here to pay tributes to soldiers who laid down their lives in the line of duty. Addressing the soldiers after celebrating the festival of colours, Singh said Ladakh is the national capital of courage and bravery. Like we have the national capital in Delhi, the economic capital in Mumbai, and the technological capital in Bengaluru, Ladakh is Indias capital of courage and bravery. When everyone wants to hide in their homes due to extreme weather conditions, you stand up to protect the country from its enemies with unwavering willpower, he said. The country will always be indebted to the soldiers for their devotion and service. The commitment of the soldiers posted in high altitudes is much stronger than the sub-zero temperatures, the minister said. You are doing divine work. You are ready to fire at the enemy and take a bullet to your chest and it is due to this that the people of the country can celebrate Holi peacefully, he said. I feel that all of you, while protecting us from the enemies, are no less than protector gods for us, he told the soldiers. Singh reiterated the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central Governments commitment to the welfare of the armed forces and their families. It is our duty to take care of you, your children and parents. Our Government is always working for the forces of the country with the same zeal with which you are working for this country, he said. When he took over as the defence minister five years ago, Singh said, he visited Siachen first. Today, it was not possible to go to Siachen due to bad weather. Therefore, I wish a happy Holi to all soldiers deployed there, he said, adding that playing Holi with jawans is one of the happiest moments for him. US Presidential elections By John Bachtell Once upon a time, if a presidential candidate predicted a bloodbath if they lost, called for terminating the Constitution, or was a serial rapist, insurrectionist, liar, and fraudster, they would have been termed a dangerous crook.. But when Donald Trump says such things, the mainstream corporate media, more interested in profiting from the ads they take in as a result of the crisis, merely shrugs and turns to questions about President Bidens age. Meanwhile, the MAGA fascist threat to U.S. democracy grows, raising the stakes in the 2024 election outcome. That threat grew when the MAGA-dominated U.S. Supreme Court continued its Constitutional Coup in real-time by negating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. The Court majority refused to bar Trump, the ringleader of the Jan. 6 insurrection, from the November ballot. Days later, the Supreme Courts Federal Society Six postponed Trumps Jan. 6 insurrection trial date, ensuring he wont face justice before Election Day. Other lower-court Federalist Society justices in Florida and Georgia are thwarting efforts to bring Trump to account and delay his trials until after the election. The latest in a string of rulings penned by the Federalist Society Six blatantly undermines the rule of law and is a sign the plutocrats and Christian Nationalists behind the justices fully expect him to win. Its also a fresh reminder Americans cant count on the corrupt and illegitimate GOP- dominated High Court to protect the guardrails of democracy but instead is actively dismantling it. Trump, the MAGA fascists, and white supremacist Christian Nationalists have already organized one coup to reverse an election outcome, and they will stop at nothing to steal another, having learned from their failed coup. They are applying those lessons so that they dont fail again in their already-underway second coup attempt. Trump and MAGA have relentlessly battered the Constitution, breached every democratic norm, and undermined the rule of law. At a campaign rally in Ohio, people stood at attention while Jan. 6 insurrectionists sang the Star-Spangled Banner as they listened to a chorus of prisoners who invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6 sing their rendition of it. Then Trump, who hailed the insurrectionists as patriots, declared the country would face a bloodbath if he werent elected. Like the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s who elevated a fascist thug, Horst Wessel, to the status of hero, Trump is describing the thugs who killed Capitol police as people to emulate, promising to let them out of jail if he is elected. Anyone old enough to have heard the Nazi anthem in memory of Horst Wessel sung by the fascists at that time would shudder at how similar Trumps use of the national anthem was last week. He, after all, has said Hitler did many good things. Given the corruption of the Supreme Court and the ambivalence of the corporate media, the anti-MAGA and pro-democracy majority is the only force capable of stopping this mass fascist movement from seizing power. Therefore, we must work tirelessly to mobilize, broaden, and unite it as never before. Many Americans are not aware of Trumps anti-democratic rants, including his vow to be dictator for a day, his terrifying 2025 project, and the 47 Agenda. Voters must be alert to the danger and turn out in massive numbers to deliver a crushing defeat to Trump and his MAGA minions. MAGA knows most Americans hate Trump and so the fascists are already operating a scheme that will let them win the 2024 election even if they actually lose it. Even before we consider these special efforts already underway we must keep in mind that the popular vote winner can lose the presidency by losing the Electoral College, as occurred in 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. Therefore, the victory must be overwhelming, especially in battleground states and Congressional Districts, to leave no doubt of the outcome and prevent MAGA from stealing the election. The American people need to be fully informed about the threat, including every new plot to steal the election, plots that go beyond reliance on the Electoral College.. And as sure as the sun rises, that new fascist coup plot is already underway, one which would work even in a scenario in which Biden wins the popular vote, and the Electoral College and Democrats win majorities in the House and Senate. Mark Medish and Joel McCleary detailed a terrifying scenario in the Washington Spectator. Under it, the MAGA GOP would brazenly ignore the majority will to install Trump as president and maintain their House majority. Once in power, Trump and the GOP would unleash the coercive power of the state to implement their terrifying Project 2025 agenda and impose an authoritarian fascist regime. (IPA/Peoples World) Beijing (Gasgoo)- On March 21, 2024, BAIC BJEV and a Spanish business delegation engaged in extensive discussions regarding the automakers high-end new energy vehicle brand ARCFOX's entry into the Spanish market. Photo credit: ARCFOX Key topics included port logistics, bonded warehouses, and taxi associations, resulting in mutual agreements. Simultaneously, BAIC BJEV inked an order for the first batch of 200 ARCFOX vehicles with 3B95, S.L, signaling ARCFOX's strong debut in the European market and securing its first export order to Europe. This move signifies ARCFOX's official entry into the European new energy vehicle market, heralding a new chapter in the brand's globalization journey. 3B95, S.L, a subsidiary of the renowned Spanish automotive dealer group Mebauto, operates over 100 local automotive dealerships covering the central and southern European markets. The company plans to establish a distribution network for ARCFOX in Spain, promoting and selling ARCFOX vehicles, with future expansion into more markets across Europe. As 2024 unfolds, ARCFOX continues its global expansion efforts. With ventures into multiple countries underway, including Japan and the Dominican Republic, ARCFOX aims to accelerate the establishment of overseas sales and service networks this year. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after selling 427 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in the third quarter worth $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.41% of the companys stock. Get Bristol-Myers Squibb alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of analysts recently commented on BMY shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $58.00 to $51.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Societe Generale cut shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $61.12. Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 0.3 % Shares of NYSE BMY traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $52.11. The companys stock had a trading volume of 5,573,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,980,088. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $47.58 and a fifty-two week high of $71.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.15. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 50.95%. The business had revenue of $11.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year. Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.18%. Bristol-Myers Squibb declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the biopharmaceutical company to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued. About Bristol-Myers Squibb (Free Report) Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in non-valvular atrial fibrillation, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for various anti-cancer indications, including bladder, blood, CRC, head and neck, RCC, HCC, lung, melanoma, MPM, stomach and esophageal cancer; Pomalyst/Imnovid for multiple myeloma; Orencia for active rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia. 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. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Free Report) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock. Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price target on General Mills from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup started coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $73.50. Get General Mills alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on GIS General Mills Stock Up 0.5 % Shares of General Mills stock opened at $69.10 on Thursday. The stocks fifty day moving average is $64.78 and its 200-day moving average is $64.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. General Mills has a 12-month low of $60.33 and a 12-month high of $90.89. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. General Millss revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year. General Mills Announces Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. General Millss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.13%. Insider Transactions at General Mills In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 67,782 shares of company stock worth $4,365,720. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Trading of General Mills A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,713,936 shares of the companys stock worth $4,196,559,000 after acquiring an additional 279,268 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,076,744 shares of the companys stock worth $2,536,986,000 after buying an additional 216,622 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,594,011 shares of the companys stock worth $887,334,000 after buying an additional 257,174 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 123,599.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,076,005 shares of the companys stock worth $928,723,000 after buying an additional 11,067,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the companys stock worth $734,907,000 after buying an additional 75,902 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.31% of the companys stock. General Mills Company Profile (Get Free Report) General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. See Also 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. DALLASFemDom and January LoyalFans Creator of the Month Violet Voss has announced a partnership with IronTech Dolls. Following a successful appearance at the 2024 AVN Expo in Las Vegas, Voss has signed a deal to create the first-ever full-sized, replica sex doll modeled after her persona. Following her recent achievements and representation of the online content platform at the convention, Voss connected with Scott, a representative from IronTech Doll, during the AVN Expo. Their discussions quickly led to an opportunity to bring a hyper-realistic aspect of Vosss allure to her fans in a way never done before. "IronTech Doll is at the forefront of innovation within the adult industry," proclaimed Voss. "After meeting with numerous manufacturers, it was clear that IronTech had the highest quality and most realistic products on the market. This collaboration allows me not only to ensure an authentic physical likeness, including makeup stylings and intimate details but also to infuse the doll with my personality, creating an unparalleled Violet Voss experience." What sets the Violet Voss sex doll apart is the level of creative control Voss has over its creation, guaranteeing an exact replication of her figure, down to the most intimate details. Many dolls currently offer basic artificial intelligence (AI) such as realistic touch sensors and interactive features that enable responsive movements, sounds, and other functions. Plans are underway for future models to adopt Voss' unique personality traits through advanced AI. Voss is confident this partnership with IronTech will strengthen her brand and continue to delight fans of I Need Violet, and her newest production company, Authority Angels. Anticipation is already in the air for the doll's official launch, targeted for Fetcon in August 2024. The exquisite product will be an exclusive offering from IronTech Dolls, purchasable solely through its direct channels. For more information on Voss, visit violetvossxo.com. For inquiries, email [email protected]. Follow Voss on Twitter/X @xoVioletVoss. For more information on IronTech Doll, visit irontechdoll.com. For inquiries, [email protected]. Follow IronTech Doll on Twitter/X @SIrontech. Shares of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA Get Free Report) shot up 0.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $196.18 and last traded at $190.54. 6,785,547 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 10,485,919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.85. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have weighed in on BA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Boeing from $270.00 to $230.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday. UBS Group lowered their target price on Boeing from $275.00 to $250.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Boeing from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Boeing from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, December 6th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded Boeing from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $242.19. Get Boeing alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on Boeing Boeing Stock Up 0.9 % The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.30. The firm has a market cap of $116.24 billion, a PE ratio of -51.83, a PEG ratio of 24.80 and a beta of 1.52. Boeing (NYSE:BA Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The aircraft producer reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.25. The business had revenue of $22.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $21.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.75) EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Boeing Company will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Boeing by 109,667.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,055,730 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $3,058,456,000 after purchasing an additional 16,041,103 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Boeing by 35.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,880,647 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $4,400,109,000 after purchasing an additional 4,425,964 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boeing during the 4th quarter valued at $960,397,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Boeing by 563.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,439,093 shares of the aircraft producers stock valued at $896,434,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921,043 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Boeing by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,823,006 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $2,560,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.33% of the companys stock. Boeing Company Profile (Get Free Report) The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services worldwide. The company operates through Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; and Global Services segments. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Boeing Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Boeing and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL Get Free Report) shot up 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $114.65 and last traded at $114.53. 2,077,641 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 6,770,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.24. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DELL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Dell Technologies from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Dell Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. They set a buy rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Dell Technologies from $85.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Dell Technologies from $100.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Dell Technologies from $99.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $102.88. Get Dell Technologies alerts: View Our Latest Research Report on Dell Technologies Dell Technologies Price Performance The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.91. Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The technology company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $22.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $22.17 billion. Dell Technologies had a negative return on equity of 165.52% and a net margin of 3.63%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Dell Technologies Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year. Dell Technologies Increases Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a boost from Dell Technologiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 22nd. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Dell Technologiess dividend payout ratio is currently 33.87%. Insider Activity In related news, Director V (Gp) L.L.C. Slta sold 373,375 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total value of $47,164,730.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 408,694 shares of the companys stock, valued at $51,626,226.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Dell Technologies news, CEO Michael S. Dell sold 1,944,641 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.79, for a total transaction of $211,557,494.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 33,412,241 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,634,917,698.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director V (Gp) L.L.C. Slta sold 373,375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.32, for a total value of $47,164,730.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 408,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,626,226.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,558,306 shares of company stock valued at $956,098,061. 48.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Institutional Trading of Dell Technologies Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dell Technologies by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 357 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Dell Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dell Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Dell Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dell Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.10% of the companys stock. About Dell Technologies (Get Free Report) Dell Technologies Inc designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports various comprehensive and integrated solutions, products, and services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) and Client Solutions Group (CSG). Recommended Stories 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. Embraer (NYSE:ERJ Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $21.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the aerospace companys stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s price target suggests a potential upside of 48.64% from the stocks previous close. Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Embraer from $21.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. HSBC downgraded shares of Embraer from a buy rating to a hold rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Embraer from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Embraer from $19.50 to $40.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Two 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $29.00. Get Embraer alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on ERJ Embraer Price Performance Institutional Investors Weigh In On Embraer Embraer stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.91. The companys stock had a trading volume of 2,744,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,554,728. The firms fifty day moving average price is $19.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Embraer has a 12-month low of $12.48 and a 12-month high of $27.12. Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ERJ. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Embraer by 10.5% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,106 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Embraer by 255.2% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 187,140 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 134,452 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Embraer by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 33,650 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 12,750 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Embraer by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 143,472 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $1,809,000 after acquiring an additional 26,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Embraer by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 75,872 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 34.65% of the companys stock. About Embraer (Get Free Report) Embraer SA designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense & Security; Executive Aviation; Services & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells commercial jets, as well as leases aircraft. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Embraer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Embraer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy by the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.80. A number of brokerages have weighed in on ERJ. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Embraer from $21.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. HSBC downgraded Embraer from a buy rating to a hold rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Embraer from $19.50 to $40.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Embraer from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Get Embraer alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on Embraer Embraer Stock Up 8.1 % Institutional Investors Weigh In On Embraer Shares of ERJ opened at $26.73 on Monday. Embraer has a 1 year low of $12.48 and a 1 year high of $26.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.60 and a 200-day moving average of $17.24. Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ERJ. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Embraer by 10.5% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,106 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Embraer by 255.2% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 187,140 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $2,360,000 after buying an additional 134,452 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Embraer by 61.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 33,650 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $424,000 after buying an additional 12,750 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Embraer by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 143,472 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 26,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Embraer by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 75,872 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 34.65% of the companys stock. About Embraer (Get Free Report Embraer SA designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense & Security; Executive Aviation; Services & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells commercial jets, as well as leases aircraft. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Embraer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Embraer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Pyxus International (OTCMKTS:PYYX Get Free Report) and Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Free Report) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk and analyst recommendations. Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of recent recommendations for Pyxus International and Altria Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com. Get Pyxus International alerts: Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Pyxus International 0 0 0 0 N/A Altria Group 1 1 2 0 2.25 Altria Group has a consensus target price of $46.82, indicating a potential upside of 8.23%. Given Altria Groups higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Altria Group is more favorable than Pyxus International. Earnings and Valuation Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Pyxus International N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Altria Group $24.48 billion 3.11 $8.13 billion $4.57 9.46 This table compares Pyxus International and Altria Groups top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Altria Group has higher revenue and earnings than Pyxus International. Institutional & Insider Ownership 64.3% of Pyxus International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.4% of Altria Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 10.1% of Pyxus International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Altria Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Profitability This table compares Pyxus International and Altria Groups net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Pyxus International N/A N/A N/A Altria Group 33.21% -244.55% 23.71% Summary Altria Group beats Pyxus International on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks. About Pyxus International (Get Free Report) Pyxus International, Inc., an agricultural company, offers value-added products and services to businesses and customers. It also involved in the purchasing, processing, packing, storing, and shipping tobacco to manufacturers of cigarettes and other consumer tobacco products. The company offers its products in China, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Russia, Northern Africa, and internationally. The company was formerly known as Old Holdco, Inc. Pyxus International, Inc. was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina. About Altria Group (Get Free Report) Altria Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand. It sells its products to distributors, as well as large retail organizations, such as chain stores. The company was founded in 1822 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Receive News & Ratings for Pyxus International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pyxus International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. First Financial Corp IN lowered its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,737 shares of the companys stock after selling 43 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for approximately 1.4% of First Financial Corp INs holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. First Financial Corp INs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $2,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LLY. Thompson Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Retirement Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 159.1% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 57 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new position in Eli Lilly and Company during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of research firms have commented on LLY. Truist Financial restated a buy rating and set a $850.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $805.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $700.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $815.00 price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $689.52. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 78,573 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $648.07, for a total transaction of $50,920,804.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,333,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,375,262,246.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 195,055 shares of company stock valued at $125,254,657. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock. Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance Shares of NYSE LLY traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $770.61. 1,981,019 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,066,750. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The companys 50 day moving average is $722.56 and its 200 day moving average is $632.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $732.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.34. Eli Lilly and Company has a one year low of $323.26 and a one year high of $800.78. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $9.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.95 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 51.22%. Eli Lilly and Companys quarterly revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 12.42 EPS for the current year. Eli Lilly and Company Profile (Free Report) Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; Jardiance, Mounjaro, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes; and Zepbound for obesity. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LLY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Eli Lilly and Company Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eli Lilly and Company and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ford Motor (NYSE:F Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $12.74 and last traded at $12.85. Approximately 14,087,306 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 53,907,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.91. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Monday, December 4th. They set a hold rating and a $11.30 price objective for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a sell rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ford Motor presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $13.75. Get Ford Motor alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Ford Motor Ford Motor Trading Up 0.1 % The stock has a market capitalization of $51.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.63. The companys 50 day moving average is $12.11 and its 200 day moving average is $11.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.20. Ford Motor (NYSE:F Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The auto manufacturer reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.17. Ford Motor had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 18.95%. The company had revenue of $43.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $43.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ford Motor will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year. Ford Motor Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $0.33 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Ford Motors dividend payout ratio is 55.56%. Insider Transactions at Ford Motor In other news, CAO Mark Kosman sold 26,898 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.53, for a total value of $337,031.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,102 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $88,988.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ford Motor A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ford Motor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Ford Motor by 349.4% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,000 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Ford Motor by 835.9% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,059 shares of the auto manufacturers stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ford Motor in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 58.74% of the companys stock. About Ford Motor (Get Free Report) Ford Motor Company develops, delivers, and services a range of Ford trucks, commercial cars and vans, sport utility vehicles, and Lincoln luxury vehicles worldwide. It operates through Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro; Ford Next; and Ford Credit segments. The company sells Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories through distributors and dealers, as well as through dealerships to commercial fleet customers, daily rental car companies, and governments. Read More 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. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Mizuho from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup initiated coverage on General Mills in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a neutral rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on General Mills from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on General Mills from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on General Mills from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $73.50. Get General Mills alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on General Mills General Mills Trading Up 0.5 % Shares of GIS stock opened at $69.10 on Thursday. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89. The stock has a market cap of $39.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.12. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The business had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. General Mills Dividend Announcement The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. General Millss dividend payout ratio is presently 54.13%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the companys stock, valued at $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,782 shares of company stock worth $4,365,720 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,278 shares of the companys stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Adviser Investments LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 3rd quarter worth $323,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in General Mills by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 342,794 shares of the companys stock worth $21,935,000 after acquiring an additional 19,209 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its position in General Mills by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 12,261 shares of the companys stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.31% of the companys stock. About General Mills (Get Free Report) General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. 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. Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (CBOE:AAAU Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.59 and last traded at $21.49, with a volume of 2324484 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.43. Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF Trading Up 0.3 % The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.47 and a 200-day moving average of $19.86. Get Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 108,087 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,057,000 after buying an additional 9,529 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF in the first quarter worth about $962,000. Momentum Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Momentum Advisors LLC now owns 45,607 shares of the companys stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 3,237 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF by 298.6% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 25,288 shares of the companys stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 18,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF in the 1st quarter worth approximately $442,000. About Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF The Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF (AAAU) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the LBMA Gold Price index. The fund tracks the gold spot price, less expenses and liabilities, using gold bars held in a vault in Perth, Australia. Investors can redeem their shares for gold coins and small bars. AAAU was launched on Jul 26, 2018 and is managed by Goldman Sachs. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Goldman Sachs Physical Gold ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Grupo Simec, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSEAMERICAN:SIM Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,145 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the previous sessions volume of 1,002 shares.The stock last traded at $32.25 and had previously closed at $32.81. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, StockNews.com raised Grupo Simec from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Get Grupo Simec alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on SIM Grupo Simec Stock Down 1.7 % The firm has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 0.35. Grupo Simec (NYSEAMERICAN:SIM Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter. Grupo Simec had a net margin of 12.72% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $502.89 million during the quarter. About Grupo Simec (Get Free Report) Grupo Simec, SAB. de C.V. manufactures, processes, and distributes special bar quality (SBQ) steel and steel alloys products in Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, and internationally. The company produces I-beams, channels, structural and commercial angles, hot rolled bars, flat bars, rebars, cold-finished bars, electro-welded wire mesh and mesh panels, and wire rods, as well as semi-finished tube rounds and other semi-finished trade products. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Grupo Simec Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Grupo Simec and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA Get Free Report) Director International S.C.A. Artal sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.25, for a total value of $132,500,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,507,990 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,756,154,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. CAVA Group Stock Up 0.4 % Shares of CAVA traded up $0.29 on Monday, hitting $68.25. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,278,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,230,176. CAVA Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.05 and a fifty-two week high of $69.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $54.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.16. Get CAVA Group alerts: CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $175.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.03 million. CAVA Group had a return on equity of 4.28% and a net margin of 1.82%. CAVA Groups revenue was up 52.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CAVA Group, Inc. will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several research firms have weighed in on CAVA. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of CAVA Group in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Argus assumed coverage on CAVA Group in a research report on Monday, January 29th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on CAVA Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued an outperform rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on CAVA Group from $46.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CAVA Group from $49.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CAVA Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $56.50. Get Our Latest Report on CAVA Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAVA. Revolution Growth Management Company Inc. acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter worth $265,169,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of CAVA Group by 249.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 4,369,281 shares of the companys stock valued at $187,792,000 after acquiring an additional 3,119,281 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of CAVA Group by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,248,400 shares of the companys stock valued at $96,636,000 after acquiring an additional 995,800 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. bought a new stake in shares of CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,364,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of CAVA Group by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,138,113 shares of the companys stock valued at $34,860,000 after acquiring an additional 545,799 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.15% of the companys stock. CAVA Group Company Profile (Get Free Report) CAVA Group, Inc owns and operates a chain of restaurants under the CAVA brand in the United States. The company also offers dips, spreads, and dressings through grocery stores. In addition, the company provides online and mobile ordering platforms. Cava Group, Inc was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia. Read More Receive News & Ratings for CAVA Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CAVA Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI Chile ETF (BATS:ECH Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $26.02 and last traded at $26.14, with a volume of 143442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.21. iShares MSCI Chile ETF Price Performance The stock has a market cap of $573.77 million, a P/E ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.91. The firms 50 day moving average price is $25.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.03. Get iShares MSCI Chile ETF alerts: Institutional Inflows and Outflows Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Simplex Trading LLC grew its stake in iShares MSCI Chile ETF by 1,595.7% during the third quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 6,359 shares of the companys stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 5,984 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $331,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,416 shares of the companys stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 7,650 shares during the last quarter. Rock Creek Group LP bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group bought a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI Chile ETF in the 3rd quarter worth about $270,000. iShares MSCI Chile ETF Company Profile iShares MSCI Chile Capped ETF, formerly iShares MSCI Chile Capped Investable Market 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 of the MSCI Chile Investable Market Index (the Index). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure broad based equity market performance in Chile. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Chile ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Chile ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KB Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:KB Get Free Report)s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $55.54, but opened at $54.00. KB Financial Group shares last traded at $53.92, with a volume of 24,928 shares. Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of KB Financial Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Get KB Financial Group alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on KB KB Financial Group Stock Performance The stocks 50-day moving average price is $48.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $21.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.02. KB Financial Group (NYSE:KB Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The bank reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.21). KB Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 12.94%. The business had revenue of $3.54 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that KB Financial Group Inc. will post 9.87 EPS for the current year. Institutional Trading of KB Financial Group Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in KB Financial Group by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 391,861 shares of the banks stock worth $16,109,000 after buying an additional 33,884 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in KB Financial Group by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 65,235 shares of the banks stock valued at $2,682,000 after buying an additional 23,016 shares in the last quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in KB Financial Group by 46.9% during the third quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 111,820 shares of the banks stock worth $4,597,000 after acquiring an additional 35,692 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in KB Financial Group by 66.0% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 137,942 shares of the banks stock worth $5,670,000 after purchasing an additional 54,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of KB Financial Group by 27.0% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 272,730 shares of the banks stock valued at $11,212,000 after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.30% of the companys stock. KB Financial Group Company Profile (Get Free Report) KB Financial Group Inc provides a range of banking and related financial services to consumers and corporations in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through seven segments: Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Other Banking, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, and Non-Life Insurance. See Also 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. KB Home (NYSE:KBH Free Report) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the construction companys stock. Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of KB Home from $63.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on KB Home from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on KB Home from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays raised their price target on KB Home from $57.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on KB Home from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $63.46. Get KB Home alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on KB Home KB Home Stock Performance Shares of NYSE KBH opened at $68.40 on Thursday. KB Home has a fifty-two week low of $38.26 and a fifty-two week high of $72.00. The stock has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.61 and a 200-day moving average of $56.11. KB Home (NYSE:KBH Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The construction company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.19. KB Home had a return on equity of 15.78% and a net margin of 9.29%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that KB Home will post 7.79 EPS for the current year. KB Home Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. KB Homes payout ratio is 10.88%. Insider Activity In related news, CAO William R. Hollinger sold 45,471 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.47, for a total transaction of $2,749,631.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 109,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,650,551.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey T. Mezger sold 165,307 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.40, for a total transaction of $9,819,235.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,491,298 shares in the company, valued at $88,583,101.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO William R. Hollinger sold 45,471 shares of KB Home stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.47, for a total value of $2,749,631.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 109,981 shares in the company, valued at $6,650,551.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 373,635 shares of company stock valued at $22,400,005. Insiders own 4.44% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On KB Home Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in KB Home by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 109,019 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $3,530,000 after acquiring an additional 18,818 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in KB Home by 35.5% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the construction companys stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in KB Home by 39.7% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 96,105 shares of the construction companys stock worth $3,112,000 after purchasing an additional 27,327 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in KB Home by 10.5% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 31,411 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 2,995 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in shares of KB Home by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 47,231 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 3,140 shares in the last quarter. 91.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About KB Home (Get Free Report) KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for KB Home Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for KB Home and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $243.07. Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays initiated coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an equal weight rating and a $222.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Friday, February 9th. They set an in-line rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an outperform rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Get Laboratory Co. of America alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on LH Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance Shares of LH opened at $213.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $219.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.93. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $174.20 and a one year high of $234.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.02. Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.02 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 3.24%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.77 EPS for the current year. Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 26th. Laboratory Co. of Americas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.67%. Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total value of $53,668.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,812.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total value of $53,668.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,775 shares of company stock valued at $8,823,080 in the last three months. 0.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 6.2% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 12,703,935 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $3,065,841,000 after acquiring an additional 743,824 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,859,128 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $2,863,118,000 after acquiring an additional 106,063 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $500,033,000 after acquiring an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $446,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $444,821,000 after acquiring an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.37% of the companys stock. About Laboratory Co. of America (Get Free Report Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS). Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Laboratory Co. of America Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Laboratory Co. of America and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $199.30 and last traded at $195.19, with a volume of 6806 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $194.18. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades PIPR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Piper Sandler Companies from $171.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Northland Securities cut shares of Piper Sandler Companies from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Piper Sandler Companies from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Piper Sandler Companies in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Get Piper Sandler Companies alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Piper Sandler Companies Piper Sandler Companies Stock Up 1.0 % The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 39.72 and a beta of 1.41. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $190.05. Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE:PIPR Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The financial services provider reported $4.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.61 by $1.42. Piper Sandler Companies had a net margin of 6.33% and a return on equity of 13.27%. The company had revenue of $457.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $370.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.33 EPS. Piper Sandler Companiess quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Piper Sandler Companies will post 11.17 EPS for the current year. Piper Sandler Companies Dividend Announcement The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Piper Sandler Companiess dividend payout ratio is 48.58%. Insider Activity In other news, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 6,662 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.03, for a total transaction of $1,232,669.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 36,454 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,745,083.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Piper Sandler Companies news, President Debbra L. Schoneman sold 4,795 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.72, for a total value of $914,502.40. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 12,140 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,315,340.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Chad R. Abraham sold 6,662 shares of Piper Sandler Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.03, for a total value of $1,232,669.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 36,454 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,745,083.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,524 shares of company stock worth $9,838,711. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of Piper Sandler Companies Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Piper Sandler Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 62.1% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 167 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Piper Sandler Companies by 328.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 227 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 72.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Piper Sandler Companies (Get Free Report) Piper Sandler Companies operates as an investment bank and institutional securities firm that serves corporations, private equity groups, public entities, non-profit entities, and institutional investors in the United States and internationally. It offers investment banking services and institutional sales, trading, and research services for various equity and fixed income products; advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt private placements, and debt and restructuring advisory; raises capital through equity and debt financings; underwrites municipal issuances; and municipal financial advisory and loan placement services, as well as various over-the-counter derivative products. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Piper Sandler Companies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Piper Sandler Companies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $47.97, but opened at $46.98. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile shares last traded at $47.31, with a volume of 141,853 shares. Analyst Ratings Changes A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SQM shares. TheStreet downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $54.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $67.00. Get Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile alerts: Get Our Latest Report on Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Trading Down 2.3 % The company has a market cap of $13.38 billion, a PE ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.69 and a 200 day moving average of $51.19. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.51). Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile had a net margin of 26.95% and a return on equity of 37.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.03 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the first quarter valued at about $184,773,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 688.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,006,607 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $60,618,000 after purchasing an additional 878,933 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 29.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,642,918 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $264,549,000 after purchasing an additional 831,423 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 44.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,445,971 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $177,626,000 after purchasing an additional 747,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 373.7% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 926,507 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $77,391,000 after purchasing an additional 730,931 shares during the last quarter. 12.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (Get Free Report) Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (NYSE:TPX Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $56.50 and last traded at $56.25, with a volume of 317453 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.89. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In TPX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Tempur Sealy International from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Tempur Sealy International from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Tempur Sealy International from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Tempur Sealy International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price target for the company from $41.00 to $61.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Tempur Sealy International from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tempur Sealy International has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $60.57. Get Tempur Sealy International alerts: Read Our Latest Report on TPX Tempur Sealy International Stock Up 2.5 % The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.16 and a 200 day moving average of $46.59. The company has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.81. Tempur Sealy International (NYSE:TPX Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.18 billion. Tempur Sealy International had a return on equity of 239.67% and a net margin of 7.47%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Tempur Sealy International, Inc. will post 2.75 EPS for the current year. Tempur Sealy International Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. This is an increase from Tempur Sealy Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Tempur Sealy Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.12%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tempur Sealy International Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TPX. London Co. of Virginia lifted its stake in Tempur Sealy International by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,129,161 shares of the companys stock valued at $48,938,000 after buying an additional 16,087 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Tempur Sealy International by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 26,935 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 7,590 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Tempur Sealy International by 78.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 954,306 shares of the companys stock worth $41,359,000 after acquiring an additional 419,638 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Tempur Sealy International by 61.9% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 292,507 shares of the companys stock worth $12,677,000 after acquiring an additional 111,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Tempur Sealy International by 17.8% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 133,936 shares of the companys stock worth $5,805,000 after acquiring an additional 20,251 shares in the last quarter. 99.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Tempur Sealy International (Get Free Report) Tempur Sealy International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails bedding products in the United States and internationally. It provides mattresses, foundations and adjustable foundations, and adjustable bases, as well as other products comprising pillows, mattress covers, sheets, cushions, and various other accessories and comfort products under the Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, Stearns & Foster, Sealy, and Cocoon by Sealy brand names. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Tempur Sealy International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tempur Sealy International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.72. A number of research firms have recently commented on AZEK. TheStreet raised shares of AZEK from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of AZEK from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of AZEK from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of AZEK in a research report on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AZEK from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Get AZEK alerts: Read Our Latest Report on AZEK Insiders Place Their Bets Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZEK In other AZEK news, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total transaction of $483,990.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,227,444 shares of the companys stock, valued at $45,697,740.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website . In other news, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 13,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total transaction of $483,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,227,444 shares in the company, valued at $45,697,740.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . Also, insider Michelle A. Kasson sold 94,431 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total transaction of $4,671,501.57. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 23,544 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,164,721.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last three months, insiders have sold 130,431 shares of company stock valued at $6,212,712. Company insiders own 3.10% of the companys stock. A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in AZEK by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the companys stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its position in AZEK by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 13,044 shares of the companys stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its position in AZEK by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 10,050 shares of the companys stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in AZEK by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,417 shares of the companys stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of AZEK by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 58,496 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. AZEK Price Performance AZEK stock opened at $49.48 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.19. The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.99. AZEK has a 1 year low of $21.34 and a 1 year high of $50.54. AZEK (NYSE:AZEK Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.05. AZEK had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $240.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.12 million. On average, equities analysts predict that AZEK will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About AZEK (Get Free Report The AZEK Company Inc engages in the design, manufacturing, and selling of building products for residential, commercial, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: Residential and Commercial. The Residential segment designs and manufactures engineered outdoor living products, such as decking, railing, trim and molding, siding and cladding, pergolas and cabanas, and accessories under the TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, ULTRALOX, StruXure, and INTEX brands. Read More Receive News & Ratings for AZEK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AZEK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE:TNP Free Report) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $28.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the shipping companys stock. Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, January 13th. Get Tsakos Energy Navigation alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on TNP Tsakos Energy Navigation Trading Up 1.9 % Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tsakos Energy Navigation Shares of TNP opened at $25.73 on Thursday. Tsakos Energy Navigation has a 1-year low of $15.50 and a 1-year high of $26.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.24 and a 200 day moving average of $22.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $759.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.27 and a beta of -0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 4,000 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 11,615 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. bought a new position in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation by 100.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,182 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,046 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,531 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 21.18% of the companys stock. Tsakos Energy Navigation Company Profile (Get Free Report) Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited provides seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services worldwide. The company offers marine transportation services for national, major, and other independent oil companies and refiners under long, medium, and short-term charters. It also operates a fleet of double-hull vessels, comprising of conventional tankers, LNG carriers, and suezmax DP2 shuttle tankers. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Tsakos Energy Navigation Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Tsakos Energy Navigation and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Xem them ... Tin bai cuoi cung Khong con du lieu e load Bill Few Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,648 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc.s holdings in Waste Management were worth $474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Waste Management in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Waste Management during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new position in Waste Management during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.40% of the companys stock. Get Waste Management alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Waste Management from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Waste Management in a research report on Monday, November 27th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $175.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Waste Management from $188.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Waste Management from $230.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Waste Management from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $201.47. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,217,331.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Charles C. Boettcher sold 2,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.50, for a total transaction of $523,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,677 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,217,331.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John C. Pope sold 185 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $33,485.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,461 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,219,441. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,242 shares of company stock valued at $5,929,355 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock. Waste Management Price Performance NYSE WM opened at $211.53 on Monday. Waste Management, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $149.71 and a fifty-two week high of $213.00. The stocks 50-day moving average is $198.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.10. The firm has a market cap of $84.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.30, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Waste Management (NYSE:WM Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Waste Management had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 36.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Waste Management Increases Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Waste Managements previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Waste Managements payout ratio is presently 53.00%. About Waste Management (Free Report) Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM Free Report). 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. Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSE:ATD Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from C$88.00 to C$86.00 in a report issued on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock. A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard from C$88.00 to C$94.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard from C$87.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard from C$80.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard from C$88.00 to C$84.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their target price on shares of Alimentation Couche-Tard from C$87.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$86.77. Get Alimentation Couche-Tard alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on ATD Alimentation Couche-Tard Stock Down 0.2 % Alimentation Couche-Tard Dividend Announcement Shares of ATD opened at C$77.90 on Friday. Alimentation Couche-Tard has a 52 week low of C$63.15 and a 52 week high of C$87.27. The firm has a market cap of C$75.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.87. The firms 50-day simple moving average is C$81.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$77.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 79.27, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Alimentation Couche-Tards dividend payout ratio is 14.29%. About Alimentation Couche-Tard (Get Free Report) Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc operates and licenses convenience stores in North America, Europe, and Asia. Its convenience stores sell tobacco products and alternative tobacco products, grocery items, candies and snacks, beer, wine, beverages, and fresh food offerings; road transportation fuels and electric vehicle charging solutions; and aviation fuels, as well as energy for stationary engines. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Alimentation Couche-Tard Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alimentation Couche-Tard and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $20.75 and last traded at $20.60, with a volume of 261215 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.26. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several research firms have commented on YPF. Morgan Stanley raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $10.50 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $8.50 to $17.10 in a research note on Monday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the stock from $8.50 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, YPF Sociedad Anonima presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $19.43. Get YPF Sociedad Anonima alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on YPF YPF Sociedad Anonima Trading Up 2.5 % The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.95 by ($0.95). YPF Sociedad Anonima had a negative net margin of 7.58% and a positive return on equity of 17.33%. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. Research analysts expect that YPF Sociedad Anonima will post 6.14 EPS for the current year. Institutional Trading of YPF Sociedad Anonima A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YPF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 260.4% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 313,202 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 226,287 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 31.0% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 55,621 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 13,170 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 40.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,841 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 359.9% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 79,111 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 61,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in YPF Sociedad Anonima during the first quarter worth approximately $1,543,000. 10.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. YPF Sociedad Anonima Company Profile (Get Free Report) YPF Sociedad Anonima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs. The company's downstream operations include the refining, marketing, and distribution of oil and petroleum products, as well as petroleum derivatives, such as petrochemicals, hydrocarbons, non-fossil fuels, biofuels, and related components; and production of hydrocarbons electric power. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for YPF Sociedad Anonima Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for YPF Sociedad Anonima and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK Free Report) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,882 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $166,000. Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Adviser Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $304,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $698,923,000 after purchasing an additional 144,612 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Duke Energy alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Duke Energy from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Duke Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six 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 $100.00. Duke Energy Stock Up 0.0 % DUK opened at $94.62 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $94.18 and a 200-day moving average of $92.82. Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energys revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year. Duke Energy Announces Dividend The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. Duke Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.49%. Insider Transactions at Duke Energy In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Duke Energy Company Profile (Free Report) Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DUK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Duke Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Duke Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. According to Tourism Minister Chester Cooper, the cruise lines warnings to their guests to avoid certain areas and avoid carrying cash are counterintuitive to the hundreds of millions of investment dollars they are putting into The Bahamas. A Billings man pleaded not guilty to felony assault with a weapon Monday after allegedly pulling a loaded handgun on a man and threatening him. The victim was dropped home afterward by a colleague when he allegedly found Jordan Lee Schwindt, 23, and two women in his front yard. The victim believed Schwindt was looking inside his vehicle and asked him what he was doing, according to charging documents. Schwindt responded what you gonna do [slur] and revealed a handgun in his waistline. The victim went inside and called 911. Schwindt then fled the scene, ditching the gun while being pursued by the police. The 9mm pistol had a magazine with six rounds, including one in the chamber, was found in an alley on the 900 block of Terry Avenue, next door to where the homicide of Andy Bear Tusk-Martinez is being investigated. Schwindt ended up in the yard next to the homicide investigation. Officers and detectives working on the investigation yelled at him to stop, but he did not comply. An officer deployed his K-9, who brought Schwindt to the ground. He was transported to Billings Clinic before he was brought to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility. Schwindt was on parole after being sentenced for theft of a vehicle and criminal possession of dangerous drugs on Feb. 29. Yellowstone County District Judge Mary Jane Knisley set Schwindts bond at $50,000. The incident is the latest in a string of crimes involving young people and firearms. Pretty soon, high school students in Billings will have the chance to gain hands-on experience and accreditation in culinary and business education by running and maintaining a coffee shop located in the St. John's United Gainan Commons, in downtown Billings. The program is part of an effort to expand Billings School District 2's longtime partnership with St. John's Lutheran Ministries. SD2 trustees approved the endeavor during their board meeting Monday. "We're looking at getting students into the St. John's facility to have experiences similar to the greenhouse partnership," BPS Career Outreach Director Bo Bruinsma said. St. John's United's Gainan Commons houses a greenhouse in which a variety of greens are gown and harvested for consumption for SJU's residents. As part of the partnership between BPS and SJU, BPS students have the opportunity to assist in the workings of the greenhouse throughout the growing process, from seedling to harvest. St. Johns United acquired the former Gainans property in downtown Billings in 2020. The downtown building was built by the Gainans in 1988, where it sold fresh flowers and home decor. The coffee shop will work in a similar way to the greenhouse, with students working under a direct supervisor who overseas the project. The coffee shop program in particular will be an advanced opportunity for students to grow their business and entrepreneurial skills. "This partnership will allow students to take a degree of ownership of the coffee shop and develop real entrepreneurial and employability skills that will benefit them no matter what they decide to do after graduation," Bruinsma said. Students will be involved in the day-to-day and behind-the-scenes operation of the coffee shop. "These are skills that are desperately needed in our business community and best developed in a real-life extension of our classrooms such as this student-run coffee shop endeavor," Bruinsma said. Students will not only familiarize themselves with everything running a coffee shop entails, but will be able to work the shifts as well, for semester credit. "These are the types of opportunities to learn and develop skills our students are asking for and our business partners are willing to help to create the skilled workforce our community needs to be successful," he said. Bruinsma said the formation of this advanced opportunity for BPS high school students has been in the works for about a year now. Construction of the coffee shop will begin now that BPS trustees have given commitment to the partnership and forward momentum of the project. Bruinsma said they hope to launch the coffee shop in time for the upcoming fall semester of the 2024-2025 school year. The student-lead coffee shop in the St John's Gainan Commons will be an extension of their "Common Grounds" coffee shops and bistros located in various buildings throughout the SJU campuses. SJU reached out to BPS with the idea of the extended partnership when they were contemplating construction of a new Common Grounds coffee shop on the Gainans premises at 502 N. 30th St. According to the agreement, SD2 will provide $37,500 in grant funding a year, during the first two years of the project, in order to help offset SJU's expense of hiring the individual responsible for overseeing the project. SD2 is specifically not required to provide any additional funding unless agreed to after the two-year term expressed within the agreement. Bruinsma said the school district is able to provide unique opportunities for students like these, through the "Advanced Opportunities" grant provided by the state of Montana's legislature via the office of public instruction, which BPS applies for annually. "It's a pretty big game changer for us. This new legislation allows for these types of student opportunities," he said. "We are very excited about this opportunity to partner with St. Johns United to create more diverse learning opportunities for our students," Bruinsma said. "Billings Public Schools has a lot of great opportunities for students such as CTE classes, the Career Center, AP classes, and dual credit already, and is another wonderful opportunity to be able to offer students." As Commissioners of Custer County, we call on Montana Legislators to act promptly in overriding Gov. Greg Gianforte's veto on Senate Bill 442. This bipartisan initiative, supported by a decisive majority (130-18) during the last legislative session, can now be enacted due to a recent court decision reaffirming the Legislatures authority to override the veto. This bill is a significant investment, using marijuana excise tax revenues to counter the impacts of increased recreational use on the infrastructure of our county roads. Custer County is home to over 700 miles of county roads. We are the center of the Yellowstone Valley of Eastern Montana. Blessed with the Tongue, Powder, and Yellowstone rivers, the County attracts an increasing number of recreationalists and sportsmen year-round, especially during the hunting season in the fall. Were noticing a considerable increase in road usage. This increase isn't limited to recreationalists but also includes local producers hauling feed and hay, as well as families making frequent trips to town. The size, weight, and speed of traffic have all increased, further straining our infrastructure. The winter season poses additional challenges. Heavy snowfall and drifting snow require multiple road-clearing efforts to keep the routes passable, adding to our maintenance costs. Unfortunately, our current road tax assessments barely cover the wages for our maintenance crew, leaving gas tax revenues and any other existing county revenue to handle the remaining overhead. These roads, funded and maintained by taxpayers, are seeing usage that extends well beyond local property owners and exceeding the funding permitted by Montana statutes. SB 442 could provide relief to this situation as well as offer property tax relief for disabled veterans and additional funding for addiction treatment services. This bill has garnered support from a broad spectrum of Montana citizens, all united to support our rural communities, disabled veterans, ranchers, farmers, and sportsmen. It serves as an example of fiscal responsibility and collaboration, addressing the diverse needs of our state. We urge Montana Legislators to recognize the importance of this matter. The Secretary of State has issued veto override ballots, with a 30-day window for voting and returning them. Remain steadfast in your original intent and override the governor's veto of SB 442. Act swiftly and cast your vote one last time before 5 p.m. on April 18th, ensuring the spirit of bipartisan compromise and the needs of our communities aren't overlooked. The annual Bighorn River update headlights the Tuesday, April 2, meeting of the Magic City Fly Fishers at the Billings Rod and Gun Club. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' fisheries biologist Demi Blythe will talk about the latest data including analysis and fish numbers, species, their location in the river, and what to expect from this spring and summer's fishing season. In addition, Emma Berry plans to demonstrate how to tie and use her favorite flies for the Bighorn River and other area rivers. Fly tying starts at 6:30 p.m. with Blythe's presentation starting around 7:15 p.m. The meeting is free and open to the public. The Trinamul Congress is going all out against the BJP seeking to expose its indifference and hatred towards Bengal since its poll debacle in the 2021 Assembly election. Trinamul Congreess in it X handle wrote today: Vote milne par ye khaas, fir gayab purey saal. Its election season in Bengal, time for the migratory birds of @BJP4India to show their faces. Calling the saffron party leaders migratory birds, Trinamul Congress leaders said: They come like daily passengers before the election and just vanish after the polls are over. The people in Bengal are silently watching it and will take revenge in the ballot box. The BJP has not replied to the open challenge of Mr Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of Trinamul Congress that the Centre had not given a single penny for MGNREGA workers and Awas Yojna from 2021-22,2022-23 and 2023-24. He called for an open debate on the issue which the BJP leaders have not accepted. Trinamul Congreess leaders alleged that the saffron party leaders will come and make all sorts of fake promises before the polls and once the results are announced they will never show up again. The allegation of Trinamul Congress is not without basis. In the 2021 Assembly election, BJP had said it would win more than 200 seats. When the result was announced and the party got 77 seats, all the senior BJP leaders including Swapan Dasgupta, Amit Malviya who had gathered at the Hastings office of thee party caught the evening flight and never came back again. Before the 2021 Assembly election Narendra Modi had come more than two dozen times and Amit Shah was seen distributing voters slips in Bhowanipore which is Mamata Banerjees constituency. In 2024, BJP has not announced the names of 23 candidates. Its organisation in Bengal has reached the rock bottom level and the party has failed to get booth level workers. T Advertisement he infighting has reached all-time high. Trinamul Congress leaders alleged that after facing a sound defeat in 2021, the BJP is in vendetta mode. It has sent central law enforcement agencies to the houses of Trinamul leaders. Recently, ED or CBI officials raided the homes and premises of Chandranath Sinha, state minister, former MP Mohua Moitra and Swarup Biswas, brother of minister Aroop Biswas. Despite repeated requests by Mamata Banerjee, the dues of MGNREGA workers were not released and the state government cleared the dues of 69 lakh job card holders. Miss Banerjee has further said that if the Centre does not clear the money for construction of houses of rural poor, the state government will set up their homes in batches. Trinamul Congress is holding Press conferences every day to expose the lies of BJP and public meetings to expose the double standards of the saffron party. Dolyatra, or Holi, is one of the biggest Hindu festivals in Bengal. The festival is not only a mere religious festival but also an event that influenced Bengals social, cultural, and political chronology. Here are some little-known anecdotes about Bengal during this time. Eminent historian and specialist on Calcutta, Dr Atul Sur once got to see an old holiday circular of East India Company dating back to 1787, when his jaws almost fell. Dr Sur observed that the document contained a list of holidays sanctioned by the East India Company for its native employees in the Bengal Presidency on account of various Hindu festivals. The common Hindu festivals like Basant Panchami, Ganesh puja, Laxmi puja, Ram Navami, Rathayatra, Charak puja, etc. were featured. For Durga Puja, only two days were approved under the names Budh Navami and Navratri. Apart from Durga Puja, the only other Hindu festival for which the Company had approved a holiday was Shiva Ratri. Advertisement The next longest holiday was given on Basanti Puja, when all offices used to be closed for four days. In that list, there was another long holiday of five days, and that was for Holi or Dolyatra. Imagine a 5-day break for a Hindu festival in the era of Raj, and that was not its biggest festival, Durga Puja! Dr Sur commented that this proves that in 18th-century Bengal, Holi was indeed a much bigger festival than Durga Puja in Bengal. Calcuttas oldest square has a Holi connection Calcuttas oldest urban square was developed around a water body in the central part of the city in the middle of the 18th century, when the British East India Company established its fort named Fort William on the banks of the Hooghly. Just opposite their fort, there was a 5.7-acre rectangular water body, once owned by Sabarna Chowdhurys family of Barisha. East India Company, after acquiring it, named the tank Lal Dighi, and after the death of Lord Dalhousie, named the square around it Dalhousie. Surprisingly, the water body of Dalhousie Square got a local name, and it was called Lal Dighi, or Red Lake, by the locals. Though there are several stories to justify why the water tank was thus named, the most famous among these says that, after Dol, the whole of Calcuttas population bathed in this water tank for the next few days. The predominantly red colour of abeer blends with the water to turn it almost crimson for the next few weeks, hence the name. It must be mentioned that this tank was dug by one Lalchand Basak, after whom, perhaps, it is also named. Netaji Bose argued with the British to win his right to play Holi in jail Subhash Chandra Bose was sent to Mandalay jail for six years of imprisonment in the mid-1920s. In his prison, Bose, an ardent Hindu with high spiritual leanings, demanded the right to celebrate the Holi festival for Hindu prisoners, along with Durga puja and Saraswati puja. Bose wrote a series of letters in 1926 to the Inspector General of the Prison of Mandalaya and also to the Chief Secretary of Burma. In his letter written on 2 February 1926, Bose mentioned the demand to celebrate three Hindu festivals inside the jail among the Hindu prisoners. Bose stated in that letter that on 26 February, there would be the festival of Holi, which would be celebrated for three days. He demanded expenses for that festival from the jail authority and had given an anticipated budget of Rs 100 for the same. In the same letter, he also demanded funds for Saraswati puja. To justify his stand, Bose mentioned that in Alipur Central Jail of Calcutta, Rs 1200 was sanctioned to European criminals to celebrate Christian festivals, while highly educated and cultured Hindu political prisoners were deprived of any such benefit. Needless to say, the British Government bowed before Netaji, and funds were allocated to celebrate all three Hindu festivals. A Bengali dolyatra candy has a Portuguese origin During dolyatra, a special sugary and syrupy candy was sold in rural Bengal. It was called math candy, much similar in taste to batasa. It was shaped like a church tower. Citizen historian Debasis Mukhopadhay wrote in a recent article that this miniature church-shaped sugar candy has its origins in Hooghlys Bandel church, where a similar kind of sugar candy used to be distributed by the Portuguese during Christmas to whoever visited the church. As per Debasis Mukhopadhay, Bengali sweetmakers were soon to copy its shape, and a replica emerged. The meaning of the word math comes close to a place of worship. It is interesting to note the Portuguese influences on Bengals culture. The writer is a freelance contributor BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Monday celebrated Holi with his supporters at his residence in Delhi. During the celebrations, Tiwari took an apparent dig at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with a Bura na mano Holi hai song. Koi khele rail mein, koi khele jail mein (some plays in railway, some in jail), BJP MP Manoj Tiwari sung amid loud cheers. Tiwari has come down heavily on the AAP chief ever since the latters arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy. Advertisement #WATCH | Delhi | Koi khele rail mein, koi khele jail mein, sings BJP MP Manoj Tiwari as he sings folk songs during #Holi celebrations at his residence. pic.twitter.com/OYkGBtXDPG ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 Earlier last week, the BJP MP had slammed Kejriwal after his party announced that he will not resign and run the government from inside the prison. Those who are repeatedly saying they will run the government from jail, remember we have seen gangs being run from jail and not the government, BJP Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari said. Tiwari accused Kejriwal of looting Delhi and claimed people of the national capital distributed sweets after his arrest. He has given his life to bring Delhi to the brink of misery. The people of Delhi are very angry with him and thats why sweets were distributed after his arrest. His government has done no work in Delhi and they have only looted and filled their pockets. Kejriwal has looted Delhi, he said. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on last Thursday night in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The AAP national convenor has been sent to ED custody till March 28 after the probe agency accused him of being the kingpin behind the alleged scam. President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other politicians conveyed their greetings to citizens on the ocassion of Holi. President Murmu said the festival promotes a feeling of love, unity and brotherhood among people. On the auspicious occasion of Holi, I extend my greetings and best wishes to all Indians living in India and abroad, the President said in a message on on the eve of the Holi. Holi is a vibrant and joyous festival, which infuses hope and enthusiasm into our lives. Various colours of Holi symbolise the diversity of our country. This festival promotes feelings of love, unity and brotherhood among the people. This festival also inspires us to strengthen our cultural heritage, Murmu said. Advertisement May this festival of colours bring happiness into everyones life and motivate all of us to work towards nation-building with new zeal, she added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended greetings to the people on the eve of Holi. In a social media post on X, PM Modi said, I extend my Holi wishes to all my fellow citizens of the country. Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah conveyed his greetings to the people on the festival of colours, Holi, wishing happiness, prosperity, harmony and new energy in everyones life. Best wishes to all the countrymen for the great festival of colours and joy, Holi. May this festival of happiness bring colours of prosperity and harmony into the lives of all of you and become a medium for the transmission of new energy, Amit Shah posted from his official X handle. NCP (SCP) president Sharad Pawar visited the residence of Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to attend a meeting of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. According to sources, at the meeting that is being held at Matoshree, discussion on seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls can take place. There are 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. The elections will be held in five phases. 5 seats in Phase 1 (April 19), 8 seats in Phase 2 (April 26), and 11 seats each in Phase 3 (May 7) and 4 (May 13). The remaining 13 seats will go to the polls in Phase 5 (May 20). Advertisement Amid the swiftly changing allegiances among political leaders in Maharashtra, Bajrang Sonawane, previously aligned with Ajit Pawars faction within the NCP, made a significant move by joining Sharad Pawars Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday. Bajrang Sonwane, who hails from Beed district, Maharashtra, is considered to be the loyalist of Ajit Pawar and Dhananjay Munde after the split in the NCP last year. When Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Grand Alliance government, Bajarang Sonwane came along with Ajit Pawar while he was the president of the NCP from Beed district. Bajrang Sonawane had also contested against Pritam Munde in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Beed seat and had given a strong fight in the election. The BJP has already announced the candidature of Pankaja Munde for the Beed Lok Sabha seat, replacing her younger sister, MP Pritam Munde, who won the seat in 2019. The six-member committee tasked with oversight of the Burleigh Morton Detention Center has sued the facility's builder over persistent problems with paint. The committee on Thursday voted unanimously to file a civil lawsuit against Comstock Construction of Wahpeton, the Sherwin-Williams Paint company, Venture Architects of Milwaukee, and Oxentenko Inc., of Bismarck. Comstock served as the project's general contractor, while Sherwin-Williams provided the paint and Oxentenko, a commercial and industrial painting firm, served as a subcontractor applying paint products. Venture served as project architects. The suit was filed Friday, alleging the defendants breached their respective contracts. Among specific allegations, the suit claims the defendants failed to provide proper quality assurance to plans and specifications provided in the project contracts, as well as failed to insure compatibility of products and improperly applied those products. Those allegations come following an inspection conducted by an outside party in June 2019, which was followed by a November 2019 inspection by representatives and experts from Sherwin-Williams, Oxentenko and the detention center, according to the lawsuit. The suit seeks unspecified damages to be awarded by a jury following a trial. The defendants did not immediately file a response, nor did they immediately reply to a Tribune request for comment on Monday. Committee members are Burleigh County Commissioners Wayne Munson and Jerry Woodcox, Morton County Commissioners Ron Leingang and Raymond Morrell, Burleigh County Sheriff Kelly Leben and Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier. Morrell, Munson, Leben and Kirchmeier will serve as a subcommittee to work with Bismarck attorney Lawrence King as litigation proceeds, according to Leben. "We owe it to the taxpayers," the sheriff said. The Burleigh County Commission authorized the filing of a lawsuit a year ago, and a notice of intent to sue was sent to Comstock. The notice did not prove effective, and it is "time to turn the heat up," Munson said Thursday. 'It's everywhere' Paint problems inside the $69 million jail surfaced even before the building's official opening in June 2017. Problems have been been noticed throughout the building, according to Burleigh County Sheriff's Maj. Trent Wangen, assistant administrator at the jail. He conducted a tour of the facility's intake area following Thursday's meeting. Problem areas were visible on metal railings, and on the walls. "You could peel it off in sheets," Tangen said about paint on vertical surfaces. "High-touch areas, low-touch areas, it's everywhere -- bunks, doors, just all over the place." There have been issues with coatings inside the showers, too. Leben said the polyurea coating has been repaired in some showers now for the third time since the building's opening. Repairing the paint issues will be a "logistical nightmare," regardless of the outcome of any lawsuit, as work crews, their tools and materials can't be in the same places as inmates housed in the 550-bed facility, according to the sheriff. The detention center houses people charged with crimes in Bismarck, Mandan, and Burleigh and Morton counties, as well as inmates contracted for housing by other counties, the state of North Dakota and the federal government. Maintenance, budget issues Separately, committee members on Thursday decided to redirect funds already budgeted for a new industrial lawnmower as well as other funds from the capital improvement budget toward repairs necessary to the facility's cooling tower and also to replace some safety glass that's showing cracks. The cracking could be due to portions of the building settling over the nearly eight years it's been in operation, or possibly caused by inmate vandalism, according to Leben. In either case, repairs need to be made, he said. "This is a 24-hour facility; there's a difference in the wear and tear on this place than a regular office," Leben said. That difference sometimes leads to maintenance costs that have a profound impact on the detention center's budget and are something Leben said he "often has no control over." "It's frustrating. So far this we're we're at almost $14,000 for safety glass out of the maintenance budget," Leben said. "It's frustrating, this safety glass. They tell you it's indestructible. It's destructible on the wallet." Leben told committee members that more than half of the facility's 2024 maintenance budget has been spent. Fortunately the capital improvement budget is largely intact, he said. Burleigh and Morton counties have combined to contribute $300,000 a year for capital improvements since 2018. The current balance of roughly $2.1 million appears healthy, Leben said, but Wangen predicted a future electronics upgrade to the jail's control and lock systems could exhaust a good portion of those funds. Looking after the entire budget "is nearly a full-time job," Leben said. He briefed committee members on a number of topics including wages, overtime, utilities and even food costs as being areas where budget buffers from previous years no longer exist. Jail staffing The jail is four positions below full-staffing, and looking to hire. Leben pointed to a previously undertaken review of standards for new correctional officers as a factor in attracting candidates who might not otherwise have qualified in the past. "This is the best we've been in a year, easily," Leben said. "There is a strong indication we're going to be fully staffed." Wangen said eight of the 67 corrections officers currently on staff are below 21 years of age. "We literally waited for some of them to graduate high school to bring them on," Leben explained. "When we changed out hiring requirements for detention, at the time the sale was 'We're not lowering our standards,' which I really believe we didn't. We just increased the pool size of applicants, and I think we have seen the benefit of that." The standard Leben mentioned referred to educational requirements necessary to be hired, Wangen explained. Prior to 2021, applicants for detention officer positions were required to have a certain number of college credits, but that requirement was revamped to extend eligibility to high school graduates and those with GED diplomas. The cumulative age and experience level of corrections staff is a factor on the budget, as it relates to workers' compensation insurance. While the 2024 budget had estimated premiums for that insurance at $100,000, the actual bill exceeded $150,000. Some of that increased premium will be reimbursed as corrections officers receive extra training throughout the rest of the year, according to Leben. Inmate meals are another impact to the budget. While the vendor signed a one-year contract with no cost increase over 2023, higher inmate populations means more meals served daily, which means higher daily costs, according to Wangen. Fortunately, daily rates for inmate housing paid by municipalities, the state and federal government help offset the higher cost for meals and provide a portion of the money needed to fund jail operations, Leben said. When the entire country is drenched in the colours of the Holi celebration, the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party continued their protest against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case. Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi said on Monday that they have resolved not to play with colours and celebrate Holi this year and appealed to the countrymen to join them in the fight against cruelty and evil. Holi is not just a festival, but a symbol of the victory of good over evil, a symbol of justice over cruelty. Today, every leader of Aam Aadmi Party is fighting this evil, cruelty and injustice day and night. This year, Aam Aadmi Party has resolved that we will not play with colours, we will not celebrate Holi, the AAP leader posted on X. Launching a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi of eliminating democracy from the country, Atishi posted, Because the cruel dictator has put the beloved Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi in jail. Today, they have left no stone unturned in their efforts to eliminate democracy from the country. I appeal to all of you on this Holi; Come join us in this fight against cruelty and evil. This is not just a fight for AAP, but for the entire Delhi and the country to save democracy. Earlier on Sunday, Atishi announced that a rally will be organised by the INDIA bloc on March 31 against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate. The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday remanded Kejriwal to six days of ED custody in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam case until March 28, following his arrest on March 21. Advertisement Speaking to ANI, AAP minister Atishi said, INDIA alliance is organising a Maha Rally in the Ramlila Maidan on March 31. This is not being organised to save Arvind Kejriwal but to save the democracy. The opposition leaders are being targeted, they are being put in jail. Sitting chief ministers are being sent to jail after the announcement of elections. The CM is being put in jail while bank accounts of opposition parties are being frozen, she said. The constitution of India which guarantees democracy, today, is in danger. We are organizing a rally to save democracy, Atishi said. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge called Kejriwals arrest, a step taken to weaken the opposition before the Lok Sabha election. The arrogant BJP, which makes false claims of victory every day, is trying to weaken the opposition by all means and illegal means before the elections. If there was real confidence in victory, then the accounts of the main opposition party the Congress Party, would not have been frozen by misusing the constitutional institutions; leaders of opposition parties would not have been targeted right before the elections, Kharge posted from his X handle. A former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) had described elections as the dance of democracy, but unfortunately, according to the present CEC, four Ms money, muscle power, misinformation and Model Code of Conduct violations, threaten to spoil the tone of the coming elections. Alarming statistics of seizure of cash and liquor during earlier elections show that this is not an idle apprehension; according to estimates, about Rs.12,000 crore to Rs.15,000 crore cash was given to voters directly during the 2019 General Elections, which pales into comparison with the black money unearthed in subsequent Assembly elections. Also, despite the presence of Expenditure Observers, almost all candidates spent far beyond the limits laid down by the Election Commission. Taxpayers, too, pay a heavy price for the privilege of voting; the Election Commission spent more than Rs.10,000 crore for conducting the last General Election. Bringing governance to a halt, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) operates for long periods, which is more than two and a half months for the present elections. Yet, the MCC does not deter wrongdoers, because most election-related FIRs are withdrawn as soon as elections conclude. The role of media during elections is not above reproach. A large section of the media views elections as manna from heaven, which increases ad revenue, readership and TRPs, not counting illicit earnings through paid and fake news. Election Surveys aired on many prominent TV channels are a case in point. After elections, many such Surveys are found to be far off the mark, with a suspicion of having been commissioned to spread misinformation by particular political parties. Advertisement Additionally, even in the third decade of the twenty-first century, the spectre of caste continues to haunt Indian polity. One would have thought that with increasing literacy and awareness, the influence of caste would wane, what with educated voters resenting compartmentalisation on the basis of caste. But the genie of caste mysteriously comes out of the bottle the moment an election is announced. The importance of caste in elections becomes apparent when one reads local newspapers carrying leading articles that give the caste composition of electoral constituencies, along with detailed analyses of the percentage of a particular caste that would vote for a certain candidate. Such mumbojumbo could have been dismissed as a journalistic innovation, because caste-based enumeration was last done in 1931, and moreover, it is almost impossible to decipher the composition of the votes polled by a candidate. However, political parties rely on caste considerations, right from the selection of candidates. Later on, most party manifestos promise reservation on caste basis. Finally, ministries are often allotted on caste basis. All kinds of fraudsters thrive during election time; some float bogus political parties, to launder black money through political donations. Some others supply muscle power to capture booths, others supply audiences for speeches and participants for processions. Suppliers of paper, tents, crockery, broken down jeeps etc., hike charges sky high for their wares, but issue bills for smaller amounts to fool tax inspectors and election observers. After results are declared, middlemen come into operation, enticing legislators with offers they cannot refuse. In this win at any cost scenario, none of the major parties seriously bat for good governance. Rather, if earlier manifestos are any indication, parties will promise targeted sops, and freebies, ranging from free laptops, free electricity to construction of temples and free teerth yatras. Competitive populism, hyper-nationalism, hyper-religiosity and a vote-gathering appeal to regional pride has been the mainstay of recent election campaigns, with political parties shamelessly trying to create a we versus they binary ~ blind to the dangers of unleashing fissiparous tendencies. Canvassing is often marred by personal attacks and threats by leaders of political parties, who shamelessly call each other extortionists, mafia and Pak agents; such acrimony guarantees that democracy and the public would lose, regardless of whoever wins at the hustings. This low level of electoral discourse is fuelled by provocative posts in social media, which are almost impossible to monitor. Even otherwise, the Election Commission has a poor record of dealing with purveyors of hate speech. The pitch of political parties for the present elections has been queered by two judgements of the Supreme Court; firstly, by the Sita Soren case, in which the Court held that legislators could be prosecuted should they vote for money. Thus, Aya Rams and Gaya Rams, who survive nay, thrive on the mercy of benevolent Speakers, may sometimes, find the police on their trail. Then, the judgement in the Electoral Bonds case threatens to expose political and corporate corruption of humongous dimensions. To recapitulate, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) filed a petition in the Supreme Court in 2017, soon after the Electoral Bonds (EB) scheme was announced in Parliament. The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to declare the EB scheme unconstitutional, and to nullify the corresponding amendments to various laws. The Supreme Court allowed the petition on 11 February 2024, and probably, to make up for lost time, directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to supply details of donations received through EBs to the Election Commission (EC) by 12 March 2024, and directed EC to publish such details by 15 March 2024. Barely a week before the Supreme Court deadline, SBI filed a petition asking for time till 30 June 2024. In a rare display of firmness, the Supreme Court gave SBI a dressing down, and exactly 30 hours to comply with its orders. Thereafter, things moved like lightening; the EC published details of purchasers and acceptors of EBs a day before the deadline. However, the crucial unique identifier which could enable one to connect donees and donors, was missing from both the donors and donees lists. The Supreme Court again hauled up SBI, and directed it to submit missing details by 21 March. Even without a definitive link between donors and donees, it appears that some companies have donated money after the visit of enforcement agencies. Others have donated money, before or after award of lucrative government contracts. Surprisingly, some companies seem to have donated money many times in excess of their net worth, pointing to them being fronts for others, indicating violation of both taxation and electoral laws. The unique identifier may conclusively link donors to political parties, and if the quid pro quo is established, may result in penal action against a large number of corporates and political parties. Ruling party politicians, including the Finance Minister and Home Minister, have defended the EB Scheme, denying any quid pro quo. Tacitly supporting the Ministers stand, the CEC has harped on evolving a mechanism to protect donors privacy so that they were not harassed, not considering that such an arrangement would be against the transparency in election funding, which everyone ostensibly wants to promote. Also, if Electoral Bonds were all that was promised, then why were so many instances of involvement of black money noticed in elections conducted after 2017? One reason for the rot in the political system is that financial accounts of political parties are never audited by independent auditors, and all parties want the flawed status quo to continue. In a telling instance, after the Delhi High Court found that both the BJP and the Congress had illegally accepted foreign donations, both parties co-operated in nullifying the High Court judgement by retrospectively amending the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Looking to the ever-increasing size of electorates, politicians defend the use of money and muscle power by pointing to their need to contact a large number of voters spread over a vast geographical area, in limited time. Voters say that they sell their votes, because candidates do not entertain them after elections get over. Obviously, for a personal connect between the electors and the elected, constituencies need to be smaller. To reduce the importance of money power, the amount spent by a political party could be added to the candidates expenditure. Concomitantly, electoral spending limits should be reduced, to the level that only door-to-door canvassing is possible within the limited budget. Also, legislators changing parties should immediately lose their membership, and CAG should audit the accounts of all political parties. Limiting the role of big money in elections will definitely lessen corruption in public life. As Steven Magee, author and environmentalist, had observed: Most politicians are corrupt as they do not represent the masses that voted for them, but rather they choose to return numerous favours to the corporations that funded their election campaigns. (The writer is a retired Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax) The third Summit for Democracy was held in Seoul for three days from March 18. The event was significant because foreign ministers of major countries gathered to discuss Democracy for future generations and the sensitive problems from cutting-edge technologies, including Artificial Intelligence. In particular, Korea, one of the poorest countries and one of the military dictatorships 50 years ago, is proud to have become a prosperous country and hold a democracy summit. However, according to the Democracy Report 2024 released by V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, on March 7, we cannot avoid being embarrassed that South Korea is facing a dramatically ironic situation. First, it is surprising that the Republic of Koreas democracy ranking is 47th out of 179 countries surveyed. Korea was ranked 13th in the 2019 report, meaning it fell 34 steps in five years. Most worrisome is that Korea was included in the bellturn states flagged by the report. The institute refers to a country that has made progress in democratization but then deteriorated before a few years has elapsed as a Bell-turn state because it shows a bell-shaped graph. On the other hand, if the situation temporarily worsens and then improves in terms of Democracy, it is described as a U-turn state. South Korea ranked around 30th before 2018, rose to 13th in the world in the 2019 report, and remained around 17th until 2022. However, in the 2023 report, South Korea plunged to 28th place, and this time, it was introduced as a typical Bell-turn state as it fell 19 places to 47th place. Korea was fortunately still included in the top tier group of liberal democracies. However, it was classified for the first time as one of the states in the group that could be demoted to the second tier of democracy states, the electoral democracies. This means that South Korea was included in the list of 42 countries that were transitioning to autocracy. South Korea has been praised as an attractive country because it entered a miraculous economic growth path around the 1970s, succeeded in political democratization around the 1980s, and succeeded in cultural abundance after the 2000s. If severe problems arise in its political democratization, which is one of the reasons for receiving applause from people around the world, it hurts national pride. Advertisement It is a severe setback in managing the Korean national brand and will hurt the Korean economic outlook in the long run. From the world community perspective, it is an aching loss that the best example of the transition from a poor dictatorship to a prosperous and democratic state is broken. Therefore, the warning that South Korea is about to transition to autocracy should be taken seriously and earnestly. Changing the Bell-turn to a U-turn is a big task for South Korea. We need to know the cause to solve the problem. We need to know why South Koreas democracy index fell and why it was classified as an autocratizing state. The V-dem report points out the cause of the problem in an indisputable manner. The report criticized President Yoon Seok Yeol for abuse of power before he was inaugurated. It also points to coercive measures against former government officials and attacks on the gender equality campaign. The report also argues that the phenomenon of damaging freedom of expression and freedom of the press is not exclusive to countries that convert to dictatorships, presenting South Korea and Greece as stark examples. This sentence is humiliating for me as one of the Korean people who is proud to have achieved both economic and democratic development at the same time. If one agrees with the cause of the problem pointed out by the report, they can automatically extract countermeasures. First of all, high-level government officials, including President Yoon Suk Yeol, should refrain from doing anything that could lead to criticism of abuse of power. They should refrain from saying or doing anything that could be interpreted as political oppression against those in the previous administration. They should refrain from making aggressive remarks and actions on pending issues related to gender equality. The issue of gender equality is associated with the protection system for minorities. Therefore, concrete measures should be taken to prohibit the aggressive attitude of establishment groups toward the socially underprivileged. They should also refrain from saying or doing anything that infringes on freedom of expression and speech. For example, the presidential bodyguards should never again kick out protestors while covering their mouths carrying them by all four limbs simply because they are yelling at the presidents speech. This fatally tarnished the presidents image and seriously undermined domestic and international evaluations of him as a national leader. When the presidents highest-ranking aide mentions kitchen knife terror attacks on journalists in the past against a journalist from a critical media company, it is a fatal case of infringement of press freedom, regardless of their intention. Given that President Yoon Suk Yeol frequently emphasizes Liberal Democracy and that the Republic of Korea is also holding a democracy summit, the Yoon government will find it challenging to accept warnings from Sweden. However, the survey must be seriously addressed as the institute explains that they used reliable methodologies and hundreds of variables. Tere is naturally still the possibility that the country will change from a bell-turn state to a U-turn state if South Korea listens thoughtfully even now to the observations of a third party and obeys the basic principles of liberal democracy, including freedom of the press. Naturally, there is still a chance that President Yoon will be remembered as a leader who contributed to the development of the Democracy of the Republic of Korea, not as one who was involved in its autocratization. That might be the one big job for the generations to come as we held a summit for democracy. The Korea Herald/ANN. As we all get ready to smear each other in this festive of colours of Holi, nature has also undergone a colourful transition; from the dreary look and mood of winter, it is now rollicking spring, accompanied by the merry chirping of birds and the bright hues of Mother Nature manifest in trees and flowers of the vernal season. Holi is not merely a festival of colours but also a celebration of freedom. You are no longer hemmed in by the cold, and you dont feel the urge to tuck yourself inside a furry pullover. A mellow, warm weather envelops you that has neither the chill of the previous months nor the scorching bite of the coming ones. If you wake up early, you might hear a lone, joyful cry, Holi hai. But by ten in the morning, there are hordes out on the streets, spilling out of houses, riding atop trucks, crowded into cars, to visit friends with faces made anonymous through colour. Advertisement Thereby creating the magic of camaraderie by drawing even strangers into their orbit of their celebration. Holi hai, Holi hai, they scream, laugh, and shout, and it is only the stuffy ones who can take umbrage. There is so much spontaneity and abandon in celebrating Holi that it becomes a cathartic experience. And there are places where the scales of justice are evened out! In village Barsana, in Rajasthan, for instance, Holi cuts across the sexual divide, and, like everywhere else, the male-female interaction is spontaneous. But here, the women are enjoined to take revenge for all the years of suffering at the hands of the men. They not only smear the menfolk with colour but chase them in a circle of dance, lashing at them with their broomsticks, or jharoos. And the men have to take it in a show of submission. All the while, there are special songs of Holi with sexual innuendos galore sung in teasing rhythms. These enchanting folk tunes have even been inducted into the Indian classical musical repertoire. There is one such song composed by the eminent exponent of what is known as the Rampur-Sahwan style by the late Ustad Mustaq Hussain Khan and which he used to sing with matching allure: Maarat more nainan mein pitchkari / daiyan main to aise khilari se haari. / Garho rang lage chattiyan par, / khari lage pitchkari. / Javo balam mora ajura phatak hai / tum jeete, hum haari, balamva. Though quite known, it is pertinent to revisit the myth associated with this colour festival. The celebration of Holi centred around Lord Krishna and the gopis, the lovelorn maidens, who are basically a romantic guise for the devoted worshippersthe emotional and highly charged believers of the bhakti cult. Though Holi, a festival of irresistible bonhomie and camaraderie, has acquired quite secular tones, its origin can be traced to Hindu mythological lore. It signifies yet again the triumph of good over evil in the form of a story centering around a demon king, Hiranyakashipu. This demon king worshipped Shiva and was frantically opposed to Vishnu. His son, Prahlad, on the other hand, was an ardent devotee of Vishnu, the Creator. The father tried to destroy his son but failed. Hiranyakashipus sister, Holika, was immune to fire. He employed Holika to sit with Prahlad on a burning pyre and let him go up in flames. But it happened the other way around. Holika got burnt to death, and Prahlad emerged unscathed. So the worshippers of Vishnu celebrated the occasion by burning the effigy of Holika. They celebrate the event with phag or powder on Phalguni Purnima Day. Regarding dolotsav, the Vaishnav cult found expression in Radha and Krishna, as dol refers to Krishnas dol or swing. According to Srimadbhagvata, Putana, a female demon, tried to kill Krishna, who was the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. When Krishna was a baby, his uncle, King Kansa, ordered a general massacre of all babies. Putana, in the disguise of a woman, suckled infants to death. Krishna, knowing her for what she was, sucked her lifeblood and destroyed her. In Mathura and Vrindavan, where the Krishna cult flourishes, the effigy of Putana is burnt. Holi is celebrated here with traditional songs, dances, and the spraying of colours. Yet another legend associated with Holi is the destruction of Kamadeva, the god of love, by Shiva. Parvati, the daughter of Menaka and Himalaya, was deeply in love with Shiva. At that time, Shiva was immersed in deep meditation and took no notice of her. Kama, in order to help Parvati, disturbed Shivas meditation. The enraged god, with the power of his third eye, reduced Kama to ashes. Later, he was restored to life at the behest of Parvati. The meditation period of Shiva is considered to be the winter. The interruption leading to his marriage with Parvati signifies new life and fulfilment expressed through the festivities of spring and Holi. The precursor to the joyful celebration of Holi is lighting the symbolic pyre on the eve of the festival to celebrate the destruction of evil epitomised by Holika: bonfires, crackers, a sense of triumph, and then the revelry. As the flames leap up, all the revellers release shouts of joy, and more dry leaves and pieces of timber are thrown into the burning structure to keep the joy fire raging as long as possible. As a festival, Holi is quite old and has taken different forms in different cultures. Both the Aryans and the non-Aryans adopted this festival, and one of the reasons for this festivals wide acceptability is that it is traditionally associated with the new year. It is a farewell to decadence and degeneration (which is ritualised in the Holika Dahan ceremony the previous evening) and a greeting to the new beginning. The predominant colours of Holi are red and green; red is a symbol of desire, and green stands for youth and vigour. In Orissa, this festival is celebrated as Dol Jatra. In western India, in Goa, and in the Konkan, it is called Simagh, which is a celebration of youth and vitality. It is Madan Daman or Kamayan in south India. Kamayan represents the fulfilment of desire. North India calls this festival just Holi or Hori. In many parts of north India, especially in Mathura, Vrindavan, and Oudh, the Holi celebration lasts for a fortnight and is marked by the preparation of many delicious dishes and the strolling of revellers in colourful processions. The writer is a freelance writer and teaches English at Sailendra Sircar Vidyalaya, Shyambazar, Kolkata The French government has decided to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Fridays deadly terrorist attack in Russias capital Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron convened a defence and security meeting Sunday night at the Elysee Palace in the wake of the attack in Moscow, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on his X account. In light of ISISs alleged attack and the threat to our country, we have decided to elevate the Vigipirate status to the highest level: attack emergency, Attal added. Advertisement At least 137 people were killed in the terrorist attack at a concert hall in Moscow on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared March 24 a day of national mourning in a televised national address on Saturday. A senior North Korean official has called for further strengthening ties with China, state media said on Monday. Kim Song-nam, director of the international department at the Workers Party, made the comments in a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Saturday, noting this year marks the year of the North Korea-China friendship, according to the Norths official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between North Korea and China, the Norths longtime ally and largest economic benefactor, Yonhap news agency reported. Advertisement In response, Wang said he is certain their friendly ties will advance under the strategic leadership of their leaders and said Beijing will bolster communication and cooperation with Pyongyang to guard their common interests, the KCNA said. Kim also met with Wang Huning, a member of the standing committee of the political bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, and Liu Jianchao, the minister of the partys international liaison department Thursday. Kim was in Beijing for the first leg of his three-nation trip, which will also take him to Vietnam and Laos. The trip came as North Korea appears to be resuming diplomatic activity with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), following years of Pyongyangs Covid-19 border shutdowns. Laos plans to host the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and other ASEAN-related meetings as this years chair country. The annual ARF is the sole regional forum joined by North Korea. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar will be killed at any cost. The Israeli Prime Minister was speaking to mediapersons on Sunday night and said that just as Haman was killed in the ancient city of Purim, Sinwar would also be killed. He said, We will unite, fight and win just as we did in ancient times, Netanyahu said. Advertisement The Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, has also earlier said that Israel has vowed to kill Yahya Sinwar, who is widely believed to be the brain behind the October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel. The Israeli PM also met the border guards of the Military Police Corps. He said, We will enter Rafah and ensure total victory. 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. Voters in North Dakota's South Central Judicial District in November won't see Bruce Romanick's name on the ballot for the first time in 24 years. Romanick announced in January that he won't run for reelection this year. "If you look on the Supreme Court website there's only one judge who's been on the bench longer," Romanick, now 63, said during a recent interview with the Tribune. "I was 40 and I think I was the youngest one (judge) at the time." First elected in 2000, Romanick won reelection to six-year terms of office in 2006, 2012 and 2018. "It seems like a good breaking point," he said of his decision. School and Reserve The Washburn native literally grew up in the law. His father served as McLean County state's attorney, and Romanick recalls that law enforcement officers were frequent visitors to the family home. He graduated from the University of North Dakota with a bachelor of science degree in 1982 and earned his law degree from UND four years later. That led to stints in private practice in both Washburn and Bismarck, followed by 3 years of active duty service in the U.S. Army as a member of the Judge Advocate General's Corps. After active duty, Romanick joined the U.S. Army Reserve while transitioning back into private practice, then joined the Burleigh County State's Attorney's Office before running for and winning his judgeship in 2000. While in the Reserve, Romanick left his elected judgeship for a year in 2007 when he was deployed. "With the war on terror, they deployed a lot of judge advocates," he said. Deployed in Romanick's case meant Fort Sam Houston near San Antonio, Texas. His tour was spent dealing with medical issues involving service members. "Whether it was folks from overseas or even local, they were backlogged," Romanick said of the work. "You can imagine there was a ton of medical problems." With another possible deployment looming and a young family, Romanick decided to leave the Reserve in 2009, but hinted he might be willing to "help them out a little bit" once his term ends. "I'll find something to do, I imagine," he said with a grin. He spoke of being able to spend more time at the family's lake cottage and visit a son who runs a ranch. "Its very quiet," he said of the ranch. "Nobodys there but animals." Explosion of work, technology Caseloads have increased dramatically since Romanick's early days in the Burleigh County State's Attorney's Office. When he was there the office had four assistants. Now, he said, "there's 12 or 13, and the office is shorthanded." "On the bench there were eight judges and a part-time judicial referee. Now there are 10 judges and two full-time referees," Romanick said. Burleigh County cases make up about 77% of the matters coming before the judges in the South Central District, according to Romanick. Morton County cases run about 21%, and the remainder comes from cases in Emmons, Grant, McLean, Mercer, Oliver, Sheridan and Sioux counties. While the U.S. judicial system was designed so all parties in a matter came together at the courthouse, Romanick said that's not always possible these days, especially during winter months. More and more, he said, many proceedings are handled remotely, with parties getting together via electronic means such as Zoom meetings. "That's really a benefit," Romanick said. "We struggle with that though. There's good and bad things; it's better to be in person." Under certain circumstances, a remote appearance by an attorney or suspect at a court proceeding is not only more efficient but saves taxpayers money, "by not having the Sheriff's Department pushing people back and forth from the detention center, which is 5 or 7 miles from the courthouse," he said. These days remote appearances are routine for attorneys who might have multiple appearances in multiple courts in different counties. "If a person wants to appear and they're willing to appear by Zoom, we make it happen," Romanick said. One place interactive video isn't used, he said, is in criminal trials. Constitutional guarantees require a person charged with a crime having the right to face his or her accuser and to be able to have an attorney question witnesses in person. Digital technology has also had a big effect on document management. Instead of having individual case documents stored in manila folders in file cabinets, they're stored digitally, and available to multiple parties simultaneously. On the downside, Romanick said, failures in that system can render the court system virtually "blind" until repairs are made. "It's a lot easier here (Burleigh County) because the people who do that work are here, but it can really slow things down in the other counties because of travel," Romanick said. "Proceedings get delayed sometimes." Finding balance Romanick said the most difficult cases he's handled involved families and divorce proceedings. "If anybody's ever been in divorce court they know that," he said. "Nobody's happy. One side leaves unhappy. Always." On the upside, Romanick has enjoyed adoptions because those were "happy times." He said part of the difficulty of being a judge is having to make decisions based solely on court appearances and documents relating to matters that might have taken place over years. Romanick said it also can be difficult in criminal matters to find balance between punishing a suspect and correcting behaviors. Correcting might mean sentencing someone to prison, but he said it might also mean putting a person on probation and allowing them access to tools such as treatment programs under the court's supervision while remaining free. "There's failures there too, but there's a lot of successes where those people come in and we're keeping them out of the penitentiary," he said. Romanick said he and the other district judges are not hesitant to send offenders to prison, but that in reality there's a kind of balancing act. "I think it's easy to say 'everyone should be locked up' -- until the Legislature meets, and they don't give DOCR (Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation) the funding to lock everybody up," Romanick said. Looking back Serving as a district court judge has had its share of ups and downs, as any profession does, Romanick said while reflecting on his time on the bench. "There's been trials that are just horrendous, but then there's cases that aren't so serious where something humorous happens and you have to laugh and you do, otherwise you lose your sanity to some extent," he said. Above all, Romanick said, a judge has to remain neutral. "I hope I've done what I was supposed to do," he said with a laugh. "It's been a good run as far as I'm concerned." Over 130 abducted schoolchildren in Nigeria's northwest are rescued after weeks in captivity Officials in Nigeria say 137 schoolchildren have been rescued more than two weeks after they were seized in the northwestern state of Kaduna and marched into the forest Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. William Francis, a Norton resident and U.S. Army veteran, is the newest addition to the team of Sun Chronicle columnists. His essays will run twice a month. Reach him at wmfrancis40@gmail.com . Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath said Bengaluru has the largest paper wealth, giving only an apperance of wealth, and those who became rich through paper wealth earned money from cash-strapped tech companies. "It's not real money. Bengaluru has the most paper wealth and very little expendable wealth," Kamath said in an interview with The Print's Editor-In-Chief Shekhar Gupta. "The paper rich from here made money in tech companies and tech companies have no cash. Paper money gives you the appearance of wealth." Talking about being a school dropout after Class 10, he admitted to being insecure" when he saw his friends go to college. "My friends didn't drop out and I felt insecure about them going to college." His first salary was Rs 8,000 from his job at a Bengaluru call centre at the age of 17. "...So at the age of 17, I was feeling really good about myself as I could earn a bit of money. You start feeling unnerved when your friends graduate from college and get their first job," Kamath told the outlet. "There is a societal stigma for a job and it could be any job. So when my friends graduated and became doctors or engineers, then it impacted me in a certain way," he added. Anantkumar Hegde, who has been representing the BJP in Karnataka's Uttara Kannada for four consecutive terms, has been denied a candidature this time after he triggered a controversy. Embarrassing his party leadership, Hegde said BJP's 400-seat target is aimed at changing the Indian Constitution. He alleged that the Congress changed the Constitution to "opress Hindus", adding that winning 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections will help BJP rewrite the Constitution. Amid uproar, BJP distanced itself from the issue, saying Hegde's remarks are personal. The party went on damage control mode, replacing the controversial six-time MP with Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, former Karnataka Speaker, in Uttara Kannada. Hegde is not the only BJP leader to lose his seat over controversial remarks. Sitting MP Pragya Thakur from Madhya Pradesh and Ramesh Bidhuri from Delhi were also omitted from BJP's candidate lists. BJP has also nominated former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar from Belagavi. Shettar who had joined the Congress in May 2023 returned to BJP in January. However, local BJP leaders in Belagavi have reportedly expressed discontent in fielding an outsider in the constituency. As many as 14 persons including priests suffered injuries after a fire broke out in the sanctum sanctorum of Ujjains Mahakal temple during the early hours of Monday. The health condition of nine persons are reportedly critical and the injured have been rushed to the district hospital and Aurobindo Hospital in Indore for treatment. According to authorities, the incident happened around 5.50am, while bhasma aarti was being performed at the temple. Authorities said the fire broke out after gulaal (coloured powder), thrown inside the sanctum sanctorum fell over burning camphor in puja thali and chemicals present in gulaal are believed to have caused the blaze. Ujjain District Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said the situation was brought under control immediately and the injured were rushed to hospital. The blaze took place in the 'garbha griha' (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple at around 5.50am. Fourteen priests suffered burn injuries. Some are being treated in the Ujjain district hospital, while eight have sought treatment in Indore, Singh said. He added a magisterial probe has been ordered and it will be conducted by Zila Panchayat CEO Mrinal Meena and Additional Collector Anukool Jain. The inquiry report will be submitted in three days, Singh said. He added situation was under control and darshan has resumed at the temple. Mahakal temple priest Ashish Sharma told ANI, "The traditional Holi celebrations were being held in Mahakal Temple. The fire spread in 'garbhagriha' due to 'gulaal'. Priests of the temple got injured. We have rushed them to the hospital." Ujjain Superintendent of Police Pradeep Sharma told Hindustan Times, One of the injured informed said that someone threw gulaal on priest Sanjeev from behind while he was performing the aarti. The gulaal fell on the lamp. It is believed that there was some chemical in the gulaal which caused the fire. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister tweeted, The fire incident at the 'garbhagriha' of Mahakal Temple during bhasma aarti is unfortunate. I have been in touch with the administration since morning. Everything is under control. I pray to Baba Mahakal for the quick recovery of all injured." Home Minister Amit Shah spoke with the chief minister regarding the fire. "I spoke with CM Mohan Yadav and collected information regarding the fire incident. The local administration is making all help and treatment available to the injured. -with agency inputs. The Madhya Pradesh government has announced a solatium of Rs 1 lakh to each person who suffered injuries in the fire at Mahakal temple in Ujjain on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the incident and wished for speedy recovery of the injured persons. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav along with Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya visited the injured persons at hospitals in Indore and Ujjain and said free treatment would be provided to all victims. Talking to presspersons, Yadav said, It is an alarming call. A major tragedy was averted today. We will take steps to ensure that such incidents don't happen again. I have ordered a magisterial probe. The chief minister also offered prayers at the temple. Yadav said both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu contacted him over the phone and enquired about the health of the victims. As many as 14 persons including priests suffered injuries after a fire broke out in the sanctum sanctorum of Ujjains Mahakal temple during the early hours of Monday. According to authorities, the incident happened around 5.50am, while bhasma aarti was being performed at the temple. Authorities said the fire broke out after gulaal (coloured powder), thrown inside the sanctum sanctorum fell over burning camphor in puja thali and chemicals present in gulaal are believed to have caused the blaze. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the incident. The incident that happened in Mahakal temple of Ujjain is very painful. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the devotees injured in this incident. The local administration is engaged in every possible help to the victims under the supervision of the state government, Modi tweeted. North Dakota lawmakers may double the amount of staff available to assist legislators by the end of the 2027 session. During a meeting of the Legislative Procedure and Arrangements Committee last week, lawmakers heard a presentation from the Legislative Council outlining their five-year plan to bolster their staffing numbers to bring the state more in line with legislative staffs in comparable states. Emily Thompson, director of the legal division of the Legislative Council, said Montanas Legislature is the closest apples-to-apples comparison to North Dakotas legislative branch, the North Dakota Monitor reported. Montanas Legislature meets every two years, has 150 state legislators, and employs a permanent legislative staff of 152. Montana also has a similar population, gross domestic product and state budget size to North Dakota. By comparison, North Dakota has 141 legislators and a permanent staff of 45, which, Thompson said, forces employees to work in many different areas of service specialties all at once. The strain is being felt, trying to juggle all of those hats, Thompson said. Under the Legislative Councils proposal, 25 new staff positions would be added during the 2025 session and 25 more during the 2027 session; bringing the total staffing to 95. New positions would include: web, information technology and cybersecurity staff, a policy analyst team, extra administrative staff, accounting specialists and a program evaluation team, among others. Thompson said one thing that stands out about Montanas legislative website is the robust amount of documents, information and research on multiple topics of concern for citizens and lawmakers to click on. Its something the legal division has wanted to get onto (our) website for years, but, with the turnover, with all the hats, it just has never been able to rise to the top of the priority list, she said. Thompson also said, for the Legislative Councils Legal Division, there are 66 titles in the Century Code that are distributed among eight attorneys, which amounts to eight different job titles per attorney. More counsel to have less areas to be an expert in would be extremely helpful, she said. Senate Majority Leader Sen. David Hogue, R-Minot, said that while new legislative term limits may not be the reason for having extra legislative staff, it certainly was the catalyst for looking into the staffing issue as more lawmakers exit the Legislature when their second terms expire. He also said seeing the legislative comparison side-by-side with Montana was eye-opening, and while he doesnt think North Dakota should model itself after Montana, he thinks change is needed. Theres a huge gap between our council and the other states, Hogue said. What you are proposing, I support. I think it represents significant change, but I think its long overdue though. He also said the lack of legislative staff at the Capitol makes it difficult to look back at the effect of the policies they pass as legislators. We spent $65 million for the first time to get into child care and the purpose for us doing that was to enhance workforce development, he said. When are we going to have someone that tells us ... is this $65 million well spent? Are people going into the workforce now because they can afford child care? Are there more child care providers? More child care capacity? We dont get answers to those questions ever. Hogue also suggested the states executive branch might be able to share some of its research and policy staff to lighten the load for the Legislative Council to evaluate the consequences of legislation. Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, chair of the committee, said the presentation provided a needed starting point. Theres always pushback when we talk (full-time employees), but I think, carefully placed, theyd be very helpful and there would be a lot of information that we dont get now, Klein said. House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Lefor, R-Dickinson, said he thinks the next steps in the process will be gathering more detailed job descriptions for the proposed positions, pay and benefits outlooks, and space and equipment needs for the proposal so the committee may begin work on preparing a draft bill for the 2025 session. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said while the prime minister wanted a Congress-mukt Bharat, he has made Congress corrupt-mukt. He took the dig after Congress leader Naveen Jindal joined the BJP on Sunday. Jairam Ramesh tweeted, The PM wanted a Congress-mukt Bharat. Instead he has made a corrupt-mukt Congress by deploying so many washing machines along with the ED and the CBI to force corrupt Congressmen to flee to his embrace! Slamming Jindal for joining the BJP, Ramesh tweeted, When you need a giant-size washing machine, this had to happen. And after making ZERO contributions to the party in the last ten years, saying I am resigning from it is a big joke. Jindal, who represented Kurukshetra constituency in the Lok Sabha from 2004-14 as a Congress MP, announced his resignation on X just before he joined the BJP. "I represented the Congress Party in the Parliament as an MP from Kurukshetra for 10 years. I thank the Congress leadership and the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Today, I am resigning from the primary membership of the Congress Party," he said, tagging Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. -with PTI inputs. Congress leader Supriya Shrinate courted controversy on Monday after an alleged objectionable post on actor Kangana Ranaut appeared on her social media account. The post, which has now been deleted, sparked off a political storm, with the BJP demanding immediate action against Shrinate. Ranaut, who has been fielded by the BJP from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, also hit out at the Congress leader, saying every woman deserves dignity. "Dear Supriya ji In the last 20 years of my career as an artist, I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii," she said in a post on X. "We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudice; we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts; and above all, we must refrain from using sex workers challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur. Every woman deserves her dignity," the actor further said. The National Commission for Women (NCW) also stepped in, saying it will write to the Election Commission over the issue. "You are a fighter and a shining star @KanganaTeam. People who are insecure acts low. Keep shining and all the best. @TajinderBagga writing to @ECISVEEP," NCW chief Rekha Sharma said in a post on X. As the controversy raged, Shrinate clarified that she could never make such personal and indecent comments about any woman. "Many people have access to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Someone from them made an extremely inappropriate post today. As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened," she said. Shrinate also claimed that some parody accounts on social media have made this "objectionable post" and that she has reported the same on X. "I came to know that my name is being misused on Twitter and a parody account is being operated, named Supriya parody. They made this objectionable post. Someone copied it from there and posted it on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. I am trying to know who has done this among those who have access. I have also reported this parody," she said. Earlier, the BJP urged Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to take stern action against Shrinate for the post on Ranaut. "Congress's Supriya Shrinate makes an obnoxious comment on Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post. It is so disgusting that one can't help but ask - how does Congress collect so much filth in one place? If Kharge has any say in the party, he must sack her immediately or else resign," Amit Malviya, who is in-charge of BJP's national information and technology department, said. Another BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that the comments allegedly made by Shrinate about Ranaut were despicable. "From Sanatana Shakti to Desh Shakti to Sanya Shakti to Yuva to Nari Shakti, abusing all of them just because they are not able to counter the BJP," he said. Upset over being denied a ticket to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Erode sitting MP A. Ganeshamoorthy attempted suicide on Sunday by consuming poison. Ganeshamoorthy, who had consumed Sulfate, an insecticide, was rushed to the hospital in Erode by his family members. Later, he was moved to a private hospital in Coimbatore. His condition is said to be critical. He had started vomiting on Sunday after consuming Sulfate mixed with water after which he was rushed to the hospital. Ganeshamoorthy, who won from the Erode constituency on DMKs rising sun symbol, was denied a ticket by the MDMK leadership. Vaikos MDMK which was allotted one Lok Sabha constituency in the DMK-led INDIA bloc, chose to contest from Tiruchirappalli constituency. Vaikos son Durai Vaiko is contesting from Trichy. 76-year-old Ganeshamoorthy, who is known to be one of the loyalists of Vaiko, is a veteran of the Dravidian movement. Hailing from West Tamil Nadu, Ganeshamoorthy is a law graduate. Drawn towards the DMK during his school days, he was the joint organiser of DMKs student's wing in Erode. In 1984 he was appointed as the Erode district secretary of the DMK student wing. In 1989 he won on a DMK ticket from the Modakurichi assembly constituency. Later, when Vaiko split the party and walked out to launch his own Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) in 1996, Ganeshamoorthy joined him. Later, in 1998 and in 2009, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Erode on an MDMK ticket. In 2014 he lost the Erode constituency to AIADMK. In 2019, he won from Erode on a DMK ticket as he contested in the rising sun symbol. When the seat-sharing talks were underway, sources in MDMK said that Ganeshamoorthy was renominated. Though it is rumoured that Ganeshmoorthy took the extreme step because he wasnt renominated, sources in the MDMK say that he consumed poison due to family issues. While his wife Balamani passed away earlier, sources say the issues in the extended family led to his untoward decision. The Hyderabad police has named former state intelligence bureau chief T. Prabhakar Rao as the prime accused in the illegal phone tapping case. A lookout notice has been issued in the name of Rao, who is believed to have absconded to the United States. Rao, who was the Special Intelligence Bureau chief during K. Chandrashekar Rao's regime, has reportedly absconded to the United States. The former intelligence chief allegedly ordered the illegal tapping of phones during previous regime. Besides Rao, police have also issued notice against then deputy commissioner of police of Commissioner's Task Force (a wing of Hyderabad Police) P. Radhakrishna and a senior executive of a Telugu TV channel. Two additional superintendents of police were arrested by Hyderabad Police in connection with the case and for destroying certain computer systems and official data on Saturday. The police officials--Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Thirupathanna and Additional Superintendent of Police N. Bhujanga Rao--who had earlier worked as additional superintendents of police in the Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) and Intelligence Department respectively, were on Sunday remanded to judicial custody. The two additional superintendents of police were accused of colluding with suspended DSP of the SIB, D. Praneeth Rao, who was earlier arrested by Hyderabad police for allegedly erasing the intelligence information from various electronic gadgets as well as for alleged phone tapping during the previous BRS government. "During questioning, the two police officials confessed to their involvement in the reported crimes, including conspiracy to monitor private persons illegally by developing their profiles, abusing their official positions; to cause disappearance of evidence by destroying public property to conceal their involvement in collusion with the already arrested D. Praneeth Kumar alias Praneeth Rao, DSP (under suspension), and some other persons," the release said. Further investigation is under progress, they said. On March 13, Praneeth Rao, who is accused of developing profiles of unknown persons and monitoring them clandestinely, without authorisation and illegally, besides destroying certain computer systems and official data, was arrested, police earlier said. Praneeth Rao was recently suspended by the Telangana government. He was a DSP during the previous BRS dispensation and was subsequently working in the office of the Director General of Police (DGP). He was earlier accused of tapping the phones of opposition party leaders. The United Left parties swept the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU) elections on Sunday, an event which also saw the university electing its first Dalit president from the Left-backed groups after nearly three decades. The United Left panel defeated its nearest rival the RSS-affiliated ABVP. The polls happened after a break of four years. The United Left panel comprises AISA, the Democratic Students' Federation (DSF), the Students' Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students' Federation (AISF). Dhananjay from the Left was chosen as the President, beating ABVP's Umesh Chandra Ajmeera. "For the post of President, the names of the candidates are Dhananjay (Left)- 2598 votes, Umesh Chandra Ajmeera (ABVP)- 1676 votes. I declare Dhananjay (Left) elected," JNU election committee chairperson Shailendra Kumar said. While Avijit Ghosh, also from the Left, won the Vice President's seat with 2,409 votes, defeating ABVP's Deepika Sharma, Priyanshi Arya, supported by the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), became the general secretary after getting 2,887 votes. The Left's Mohammad Sajid won the joint secretary's post by defeating ABVP's Govind Dangi by 508 votes. His was the lowest victory among all the four winners. The campus erupted in celebration as the results were announced. Winners and supporters chanted 'Lal Salaam' and 'Jai Bhim as red, white and blue flags were waved by the students to celebrate the victory of the candidates. Who is Dhananjay? Hailing from Gaya in Bihar, Dhananjay became the first Dalit president from the Left after Batti Lal Bairwa, who was elected in 1996-97. "This victory is a referendum by the students of JNU that they reject the politics of hate and violence. The students have once again shown their trust in us. We will continue to fight for their rights and work on issues that concern students," he told PTI. #WATCH | Newly elected JNU President Dhananjay says, "...If there is anyone who has fought against fee hike it is the Left. It is the Left that has ensured a hostel for all and for that, the students have shown their trust in us..." pic.twitter.com/pelTVCeKeZ ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 "The safety of women on campus, fund cuts, scholarship hike, infrastructural and water crisis are among the top priorities of the students union to begin with," Dhananjay added. During his campaign, Dhananjay spoke about the increased fees due to Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) loans taken by universities. He also promised to tackle water, health, and infrastructure-related issues on campus and demanded the release of student leaders detained under sedition charges. Amid cries of 'Lal Salaam' and 'Jai Bhim', the winning students were hailed by their supporters. Red, white and blue flags were waved by the students to celebrate the victory of the candidates. With the Left panel sweeping the polls, the JNU lived up to its reputation of being a Left bastion. The ABVP gave a neck-and-neck fight and was leading on all four central panel posts in the initial trends. The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union polls on Friday witnessed a voter turnout of 73 per cent, highest in the last 12 years. Soon after Kate Middleton opened up about her cancer diagnosis, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reached out to wish "health and healing" for the Princess of Wales. "We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace," a message from the couple stated. Kate, in a short video, said she was "getting stronger every day" though it had been an "incredibly tough couple of months". This of course came as a huge shock and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family, she added. Though many feel that the positive gesture from couple could help mend their rift with the royal family, some wondered why they were kept in the dark about Kate's cancer until the news was made public. Several sources confirm that there were no such conversations and it is thought Harry found out about Kates diagnosis from television, at the same time as the public, a source told The Times. One royal expert told The Sun that the information might have been withheld from Harry and Meghan due to "trust" issues. "Theres a deep rift between the brothers... We also know that they havent apparently spoken in many months, and the reason, of course, is that for some four years they've caused endless problems to the royal family and so they cant be trusted," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said. Royal author Phil Dampier had a similar opinion, saying, "The Sussexes werent told about it because the relationship between William and Harry is at an all-time low." Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior royals more than four years ago and have been living in California ever since. They have a son, Archie, and daughter, Lilibet, who was named after her late great grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Russian President Vladimir Putin critic Alexei Navalnys death has sent waves of fear among Putins dissidents. Be it activists in prison or outside, fear of death looms over them. The wife of jailed Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday expressed fear and concern for the lives of many political prisoners in Russia, including her husband's, after Navalny died in an Arctic prison last month. Earlier, Kara-Murza had warned that the Russian hit squad is 'physically eliminating' Putin's critics. Kara-Murza had condemned Russia's war in Ukraine and also lobbied for Western sanctions against Moscow. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison over treason and other charges last April. It was the harshest sentence imposed on an opposition politician since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "I understand that lives of many people who ended up behind bars today because of their opposition to the regime, many lives are in danger," Evgenia Kara-Murza, advocacy director at the Free Russia Foundation, a civil society organisation, was quoted by Reuters. "That is not just my husband's life who is indeed a years-long opponent of the regime, but also the lives of strong and vocal opponents of Vladimir Putin," she added. She also urged for prisoner swaps. Kara-Murza said that the lives of other activists, including Alexandra Skochilenko and Alexei Gorinov, a Moscow district councillor jailed for criticising Russia's invasion, were also at risk. His wife claimed that Kara-Murza, suffering from a neurological condition after surviving two poison attempts, was transferred to a new Siberian penal colony in January and placed in solitary confinement. He was not allowed to receive phone calls or visits Now he's being held by basically the same people who tried to kill him twice in the past," Evgenia Kara-Murza said. Navalny had died in a prison camp on February 16. However, the Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death. As the Russia concert hall attack death toll is nearing 140, many are questioning the countrys intelligence failure. While speaking to the media, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said not a single country can be completely immune to the threat of terrorism. However, Peskov did not elaborate on the question. There is currently a lot of emotional, hysterical, provocative content online. Clearly, this monstrous tragedy evokes a lot of emotions, but unfortunately, our world shows that not a single city or country can be completely immune to the threat of terrorism," said Peskov. "The intelligence services work tirelessly. They are dealing with all the threats, all the challenges that our country faces," he added. Meanwhile, all four suspects in the Crocus concert hall attack case have been remanded into pre-trial detention until May 22. All four suspects were brought to the court individually. Reportedly, three of them pleaded guilty. They were charged with committing a terrorist act. The suspects were accused of committing a crime under part 3, provision b of article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorist act), which the Russian Criminal Code states is punishable with up to life imprisonment. (Clockwise from top L) Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda, Dalerdjon (alternatively spelled Dalerdzhon) Barotovich Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov and Shamsidin Fariduni suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall, sitting inside the defendant cage for the pre-trial detention hearing at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow | AFP The accused were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni, and Muhammadsober Faizov. All of them were from Tajikistan and had been in Russia on either temporary or expired visas. Mirzoyev (32) had a temporary registration for three months in the southern Russian city of Novosibirsk in Siberia, according to RIA Novosti, a local news outlet. Rachabalizoda, born in 1994, told the court that he had Russian registration documents, but was not able to remember where the documents were. The third defendant Fariduni was born in 1998 and is a citizen of the Central Asian country. Fariduni was officially employed at a factory in the Russian city of Podolsk. While Faizov, reportedly born in 2004, Faizov was temporarily unemployed, before which he worked in a barber shop in Ivanovo, a city northeast of Moscow. The Basmanny District Court of Moscow granted the investigators' motion for detention, as a preventive measure, for all four defendants. Under the Russian Criminal Code, committing a terrorist act is punishable by up to life imprisonment. Reportedly, Friday's attack killed at least 137 people so far. The authorities continue to work to identify the victims. The Russian Investigate Committee said around 62 bodies had been identified so far. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a resolution on Monday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States abstained from the voting. During the holy month of Ramzan, it was the first time the UNSC demanded a ceasefire in Gaza. On previous occasions, the ceasefire resolution put forward in the UNSC was vetoed by the US. Meanwhile, following a change in the US's stance, Israel cancelled its planned visit to Washington. The resolution that passed was written by the 10 elected members of the council and proposed in the chamber by Mozambiques representative. Russia attempted to amend the text by restoring it to an earlier draft which included the word permanent, but the bid failed. 14 members of the UN Security Council voted for the resolution, while the US abstained. "We have been clear, and weve been consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal. Thats how the hostage deal is structured. We wanted to get to a place where we could support that resolution, but because the final text does not have key language that we think is essential like a condemnation of Hamas, we could not support it," White House spokesperson, John Kirby said. Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant and other top officials were set to meet the US officials to hold talks on hostages, humanitarian aid and protecting civilians in Rafah. Despite criticism from many nations, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was fixated on moving forward with the Rafah offensive. The White House said that it was "very disappointed" that Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled the high-level Israeli delegation's planned visit. "Its disappointing. Were very disappointed that they wont be coming to Washington DC...to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah," said Kirby. However, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin is likely to hold a separate meeting with Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant--who is already in the US. Ahead of the meetings, Gallant said that Israel cannot stop its war on Hamas while there are still hostages in Gaza. "We will operate against Hamas everywhere - including in places where we have not yet been. We will identify an alternative to Hamas, so that the IDF may complete its mission...We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza," Gallant said in a statement. Since the start of the war after the October 7 Hamas attack, two resolutions were adopted by the UNSC on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A statement issued by the Arab Group on Friday appealed to all 15 council members to act with unity and urgency and vote for the resolution to halt the bloodshed. It is long past time for a ceasefire, the Arab Group said. Because Ramzan ends next month, the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, though the draft says the pause in fighting should lead to a permanent sustainable cease-fire. Over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed so far since the Israel-Hamas war. Gaza is reeling under a severe humanitarian crisis, with reports warning famine is imminent in northern Gaza. Around 2.3 million people are on the brink of starvation, according to reports. With the death toll rising to 137, the terror attack on a Moscow concert hall is one of the deadliest massacres in recent Russian history. President Vladimir Putin was quick to blame Ukraine for the attack, even after ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the attack. "They tried to escape and were travelling towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," he said in an address to the nation. Russian intelligence agency Federal Security Service (FSB) on Saturday said the Moscow attackers had contacts on the Ukrainian side and were heading to Russia's Ukrainian border. Moscow has also accused Washington of withholding information about the involvement of Kyiv in the attack. Moscow is yet to make public any evidence of a Kyic connection in the attack. Slamming Putin's claims, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video said, "It's obvious that Putin is trying to shift responsibility onto someones else. Instead of addressing concerns of Russian citizens, Putin was silent for the whole day, thinking about how to link the events to Ukraine. Everything he does is so predictable." The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week is holding public meetings on Missouri River management. The agency holds such meetings each spring and fall. The spring meetings provide a status of mountain snowpack, a runoff forecast for the year, and a discussion of how operations during the runoff year will meet the authorized purposes for the Missouri River system. The authorized purposes are flood control, navigation, water supply, irrigation, hydropower, recreation, water quality control, and fish and wildlife. Meetings are: Tuesday, 10 a.m. Central time, Prairie Knights Casino & Resort, north of Fort Yates Wednesday, 10 a.m. CT, Casey Tibbs Conference Center, 210 Verendrye Drive, Fort Pierre, S.D. Thursday, 1 p.m. Mountain time, Fort Peck Community College, 605 Indian Ave., Poplar, Montana The Corps in early March said in its monthly Missouri River update that mountain snowpack in the upper basin was accumulating at below-average rates. The March 3 mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck reach was 73% of average, while the mountain snowpack in the Fort Peck-to-Garrison reach was 78% of average. The plains snowpack was "almost nonexistent," according to the report issued before the recent wintry weather. February runoff in the basin above Sioux City, Iowa, was 1.8 million acre-feet, 161% of average due to warm weather during the month. However, the updated 2024 calendar year runoff forecast for the basin continues to be below average. Despite the increased runoff in the month of February, and improved soil moisture conditions, we expect 2024 runoff to remain below average, said John Remus, chief of the Corps' Missouri River Basin Water Management Division. The much warmer-than-normal temperatures led to an early melt of the lower-than-average plains snow. In addition, mountain snowpack is lower than average, resulting in the low annual runoff forecast. Westerly, RI (02891) Today Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 37F. N winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Low 37F. N winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. New York Citys mayor nixed a planned Sunday trip to the U.S.-Mexico border over security concerns. Mayor Eric Adams was slated to depart Saturday night to visit Brownsville and McAllen, Texas. The Democrat was expected to meet with U.S. immigration leaders as his city struggles to house new migrants seeking asylum. But Adams spokesperson Amaris Cockfield said Sunday that the U.S. State Department flagged safety concerns at one of the mayors planned stops in Mexico, prompting his office to postpone the trip. Adams had been invited to the southern border by Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande, she said. As Lent draws to a close, our team was excited to stand with faith and humanitarian leaders who have dedicated their lives to serving the most needy among us and we were eager to discuss our work in New York City and explore new ways to collaborate with leaders in cities across the country, Cockfield said in an emailed statement. We hope to continue our partnership with these nationally-recognized Latino leaders and organizations as we look for concrete solutions to resolve the crisis at the border. In a visit to El Paso, Texas in January, Adams offered up a blistering criticism of the federal governments response to the increase of immigrants into U.S. cities far from the border. The former New York Police Department officer also took a four-day tour through Latin America in October in which he made stops in Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia and implored people to stop making the dangerous journey to the U.S. More than 180,000 migrants have come to New York City since the spring of 2022, according to the mayors office. More than 64,000 are in the citys care through its more than 200 emergency shelter sites. Last week, city officials and human rights advocates reached an agreement on Adams bid to suspend the citys right to shelter policy. The agreement essentially ends the citys blanket requirement to provide shelter for adult immigrants without any time limits. Now, officials can decide whether to allow a migrant to stay in a shelter beyond 30 days on a case-by-case basis. Additional time will be granted if a person shows significant efforts to resettle, which can include making an appointment with an immigration lawyer, applying for a resettlement program or proof that theyre searching for housing. (AP) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have backtracked on parts of his proposed Charedi enlistment law. According to Hebrew-language news reports, the government has decided to remove a clause raising the exemption age for yeshiva students to 35. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had warned that she would be unable to defend the proposed bill, while Finance Ministry figures showed the economy taking a hit of over NIS 100 billion ($27.5 billion) over the next decade if the army extended the time recruits must serve rather than draft Charedim into the military. A new version of the proposal containing provisions for financial sanctions and possibly specific annual enlistment goals is expected to be distributed to cabinet members on Monday. Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has accused the government of engaging in fraud and hiding the fact that the law includes no conscription obligation or financial sanctions, and that not a single Charedi person will enlist. Lapid has called on War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz to pull his National Unity party out of the government if the draft law is approved by the cabinet this week, while Gantz has threatened to bolt the coalition if the legislation becomes law, calling it a red line and a threat to national cohesion. If the conscription law passes [in the cabinet] on Tuesday, Gantz and [minister Gadi] Eisenkot should leave the government, Lapid told the Kan public broadcaster. Theyre playing with Israels security. Its not just an ideological discussion anymoreIts a security disaster. There are not enough soldiers, the army is stretched to the limit. There are more soldiers in the West Bank than in Gaza at the moment, the actual war is not going on right now. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary pleaded not guilty Monday in a London courtroom to two terrorism-related charges. Choudary, 57, pleaded not guilty to membership in a banned organization, the radical Muslim group al-Muhajiroun, and addressing meetings to encourage support for the group. The British government outlawed Al-Muhajiroun in 2010 as a group involved in committing, preparing for or promoting terrorism. The group has since operated under many names, including the Islamic Thinkers Society, which Choudary has spoken to, prosecutors said. Choudary, a high-profile Islamist preacher, faces trial June 4 in Kingston Crown Court along with Khaled Hussein. The trial is expected to last up to two months. Hussein, 29, of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada, pleaded not guilty to membership in al-Muhajiroun. Both appeared in Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, by video link from separate jails. They were arrested June 17 after Hussein landed at Heathrow Airport. (AP) The IDF says that the number of confirmed members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups captured at Gaza Citys Shifa Hospital has risen to 500, as the raid at the medical center continues. In addition, the IDF says that troops killed 20 gunmen during an ongoing and new offensive against Hamas in Khan Younis Al-Amal neighborhood, led by the 98th Division. The military also reports that dozens of suspects were questioned by field interrogators of the Shin Bet security agency and the Military Intelligence Directorates Unit 504, as the IDF enabled hundreds of Palestinian civilians to evacuate the Al-Amal area. In central Gaza, the IDF says the Nahal Brigade killed several terror operatives, including one who was targeted in an airstrike after being spotted entering and exiting a tunnel. Over the past day, Israeli Air Force fighter jets targeted 50 sites across the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF. Attack helicopters and drones struck several more targets and killed 10 gunmen, the IDF adds. (YWN World Headquarters NYC) The following is a statement from Prime Minister Netanyahu following the passing of a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire with demanding release of hostage, which the United States abstained on voting: The United States has abandoned its policy in the UN today. Just a few days ago, it supported a Security Council resolution that linked a call for a ceasefire to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed that resolution partly because they opposed a ceasefire that was linked to the release of hostages. Yet today, Russia and China joined Algeria and others in supporting the new resolution precisely because it had no such linkage. Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages. This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. Todays resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages. Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear last night that should the US depart from its principled policy and not veto this harmful resolution, he will cancel the Israeli delegations visit to the United States. In light of the change in the US position, PM Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel. National Insurance number: Can I still get one though I'm 84? I have read, with interest, your column regarding state pensions for the over 80s, even if they have not paid National Insurance subscriptions. I am in a very strange position in that I do not possess a National Insurance number. I am a British subject having been born of English parents, in 1939, in West Sussex. I was educated in Brighton, until the age of 18, when I went to a teacher training college. Whilst there I married and, straightway after finishing my course, went to the Far East with my husband, an army officer. I had two children whilst there and returned to UK in 1961. I was a stay at home mother and thus, as I had never worked, I was ineligible for an NI number. In my ignorance, I did not think I would need one! After 10 years of marriage, I divorced my husband and went to live in Italy. I married an Italian and, once again, did not go out to work. We moved to the UK in 1990 and have lived here ever since. My Italian husband pays UK as well as Italian taxes, but does not have an NI number either. I have tried many avenues to try to get an NI number but each time am told that if I am not looking to get a job, I cannot be given one! My husband is now 91, and receives his Italian pension. I am 84 years old and find it unjust that I seem to be ineligible to claim even the basic pension. Does the 10 years spent with my first husband not count towards anything? I wonder if you can help. SCROLL DOWN TO FIND OUT HOW TO ASK STEVE YOUR PENSION QUESTION Got a question for Steve Webb? Scroll down to find out how to contact him Steve Webb replies: The special pension arrangements for the over 80s are a little-known corner of the UK state pension system, and I am convinced that many thousands of people, such as yourself, are missing out on what they are entitled to. Whereas most types of state pension depend on the National Insurance contributions that you have made (or in some cases the contributions of a spouse, late spouse or ex spouse), the rules for the over 80s are different. Once you reach 80, and provided you satisfy some basic residency rules, you can claim a 'non-contributory' state pension, currently worth 93.60 per week (plus 25p for being over 80!). This is known in the jargon as a 'Category D' pension. You can read the rules on who is eligible here: Over 80 pension: Eligibility. Note that whilst the over 80s state pension is available to those who reached state pension age before 6 April 2016, it is not part of the new state pension system for those who have reached pension age since April 2016. The problem you have encountered however is that even though you are not being paid on the basis of your National Insurance record (because this is a 'non-contributory' pension), you still need a National Insurance number in order to receive a pension. Normally you would simply go online to apply for an NI number via the gov.uk website: Apply for a National Insurance number. However, you have told me that you had great difficulties applying for a NI number, at one stage being told that you could only have a number if you were looking for work, and on another occasion being put through to a department that dealt with students. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have heard of people aged 80-plus having difficulty getting an NI number. As you know, I have contacted the Department for Work Pensions on your behalf and, after a few false starts, we have now sorted out the issue relating to your NI number and you have put in a claim for your pension. When DWP looked into your case, they said: 'Our priority is ensuring everyone receives the financial support to which they are entitled. 'We have contacted [name redacted] to begin the process of a state pension claim and allocate a National Insurance Number. We are sorry for the delay.' I'm pleased to say that you have now been awarded a weekly pension in line with the rules and that this has been backdated by the maximum 12 months, giving you a lump sum of over 4,500 in state pension arrears I'm pleased to say that you have now been awarded a weekly pension in line with the rules and that this has been backdated by the maximum 12 months, giving you a lump sum of over 4,500 in state pension arrears. I would encourage anyone aged 80+ who is not getting a pension, or is getting less than the figure I have quoted, to make sure that they apply for a Category D pension. Frustratingly, it is not possible to download a claim form for the over 80s pension, so you have to contact the DWP's Pension Service in order to obtain a form which you then post back. For anyone who is already over 80 and does not have an NI number, DWP's advice is not to wait but to get on with applying for the pension. Provided that you satisfy the other rules (regarding age and residency) DWP will then initiate the process of obtaining an NI number for you. Because brand new claims can only be backdated a maximum of 12 months, it is important to lodge a claim as soon as you can. North Dakota's State Board of Animal Health has officially recognized states that are deemed free of bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis under federal guidelines. That means North Dakota producers can buy and import beef cattle and bison from those states with reduced vaccination and testing requirements for the two diseases. Michigan remains the lone state not recognized to be free of tuberculosis due to infections in some deer populations in the northern part of the state. The board's move was made with the support of North Dakota's cattle and bison industry associations, according to the Agriculture Department. The free status recognition will allow North Dakota beef cattle and bison producers to have reciprocity with other free status states, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. U.S. producers and veterinarians have spent millions of dollars and several decades testing, monitoring and tracing to achieve this goal. State Veterinarian Dr. Ethan Andress added that Brucellosis will continue to be a focus of our office with our close proximity to Yellowstone National Park. Elk and bison herds in the park continue to be infected with brucellosis, and elk moving out of the park are a risk to cattle herds in that area. The three states around the park -- Idaho, Wyoming and Montana -- have aggressive surveillance programs to catch any infection that may spread to cattle near the park, Andress said. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,178 shares of the credit-card processors stock, valued at approximately $307,000. Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of V. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Visa by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 126,912,205 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $30,139,110,000 after purchasing an additional 3,070,682 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Visa by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 74,133,003 shares of the credit-card processors stock worth $17,605,106,000 after buying an additional 1,235,891 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Visa by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 51,122,866 shares of the credit-card processors stock worth $10,621,287,000 after buying an additional 5,864,340 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Visa by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 50,357,747 shares of the credit-card processors stock worth $11,582,785,000 after acquiring an additional 2,257,605 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Visa by 116,608.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,504,130 shares of the credit-card processors stock worth $5,090,978,000 after acquiring an additional 24,483,134 shares during the period. 81.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Visa alerts: Visa Stock Down 2.4 % Shares of V traded down $7.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $283.26. 8,744,121 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,495,454. The company has a market cap of $520.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.96. The firms 50 day moving average is $278.20 and its 200-day moving average is $257.86. Visa Inc. has a 52 week low of $216.14 and a 52 week high of $290.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. Visa Dividend Announcement Visa ( NYSE:V Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.55 billion. Visa had a return on equity of 50.02% and a net margin of 53.92%. The firms revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Visas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.94%. Insider Activity at Visa In related news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 36,546 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.20, for a total transaction of $9,874,729.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,716,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 36,546 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.20, for a total transaction of $9,874,729.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,716,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter M. Andreski sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.88, for a total value of $729,271.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,898 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,365,954.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,311 shares of company stock worth $12,832,129 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several analysts have recently weighed in on V shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Visa in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. They issued an outperform rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their target price on Visa from $304.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Visa in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wedbush upped their price target on Visa from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Visa from $290.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $293.30. Read Our Latest Analysis on V Visa Company Profile (Free Report) Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V Free Report). 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. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd reduced its holdings in Visa Inc. (NYSE:V Free Report) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,700 shares of the credit-card processors stock after selling 367 shares during the period. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltds holdings in Visa were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BCK Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Visa during the first quarter worth $2,717,000. Markel Corp grew its position in Visa by 0.3% in the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 961,105 shares of the credit-card processors stock valued at $213,144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,065 shares in the last quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Visa during the 1st quarter worth about $2,323,000. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in shares of Visa in the 1st quarter valued at about $538,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Visa during the first quarter worth about $1,496,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.35% of the companys stock. Get Visa alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Visa from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their target price on Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Visa from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Visa from $304.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Visa from $296.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $293.30. Insider Activity at Visa In related news, insider Rajat Taneja sold 36,546 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.20, for a total transaction of $9,874,729.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at $62,716,662.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ryan Mcinerney sold 8,150 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.39, for a total value of $2,228,128.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Rajat Taneja sold 36,546 shares of Visa stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.20, for a total value of $9,874,729.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 232,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,716,662.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,311 shares of company stock valued at $12,832,129 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the companys stock. Visa Trading Down 2.4 % Shares of V stock traded down $7.11 on Friday, hitting $283.26. 8,744,121 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,495,454. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $520.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.96. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $278.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $257.86. Visa Inc. has a one year low of $216.14 and a one year high of $290.96. Visa (NYSE:V Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The credit-card processor reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.55 billion. Visa had a net margin of 53.92% and a return on equity of 50.02%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Visa Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current year. Visa Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Visas payout ratio is 23.94%. About Visa (Free Report) Visa Inc operates as a payment technology company in the United States and internationally. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, and click to pay services; Visa Direct, a solution that facilitates the delivery of funds to eligible cards, deposit accounts, and digital wallets; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral business-to-business cross-border payments network; Visa Cross-Border Solution, a cross-border consumer payments solution; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value-added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding V? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Visa Inc. (NYSE:V Free Report). 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vale (NYSE:VALE Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the basic materials companys stock. A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Vale in a research report on Monday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Vale from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Vale from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $16.98. Get Vale alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on Vale Vale Stock Down 1.6 % Shares of NYSE:VALE opened at $12.18 on Thursday. Vale has a 52-week low of $11.88 and a 52-week high of $16.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.28. Vale (NYSE:VALE Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.48). Vale had a return on equity of 20.00% and a net margin of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $13.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vale will post 2.6 EPS for the current fiscal year. Vale Cuts Dividend The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th will be paid a $0.3182 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 9.7%. Vales dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.03%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vale A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VALE. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 125.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 24,417 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 13,600 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,446 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 2,899 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Vale by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 30,966 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 6,829 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Vale by 55.5% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 151,722 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $3,033,000 after purchasing an additional 54,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Vale during the first quarter valued at $277,000. 16.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Vale (Get Free Report) Vale SA, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Iron Solutions and Energy Transition Materials segments. The Iron Solutions segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Vale Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Vale and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning. Separately, HSBC cut Banco Santander-Chile from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $19.97. Get Banco Santander-Chile alerts: View Our Latest Report on Banco Santander-Chile Banco Santander-Chile Trading Down 0.7 % NYSE:BSAC opened at $19.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Banco Santander-Chile has a fifty-two week low of $16.52 and a fifty-two week high of $21.81. The stocks 50-day moving average is $19.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.77. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.82. Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The bank reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $621.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $609.98 million. Banco Santander-Chile had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 9.99%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Banco Santander-Chile will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BSAC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Banco Santander-Chile by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 32,084 shares of the banks stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,280 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter worth approximately $423,000. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter worth approximately $936,000. Thomas White International Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 14.9% during the first quarter. Thomas White International Ltd. now owns 150,003 shares of the banks stock worth $3,389,000 after buying an additional 19,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter worth approximately $7,510,000. 8.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Banco Santander-Chile Company Profile (Get Free Report) Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Banco Santander-Chile Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Santander-Chile and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG Free Report) had its target price boosted by Wedbush from $2,400.00 to $2,850.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the restaurant operators stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Chipotle Mexican Grills Q3 2024 earnings at $13.61 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $15.31 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $17.98 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $16.84 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $16.60 EPS. Several other brokerages have also commented on CMG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,600.00 to $2,800.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,284.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $3,100.00 to $3,300.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,650.00 to $2,900.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,700.00 to $2,920.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Chipotle Mexican Grill currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $2,522.77. Get Chipotle Mexican Grill alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on Chipotle Mexican Grill Chipotle Mexican Grill Trading Down 0.8 % CMG stock opened at $2,882.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2,579.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2,248.74. The company has a market cap of $79.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.98, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.29. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a 12 month low of $1,609.13 and a 12 month high of $3,023.98. Chipotle Mexican Grill shares are going to split before the market opens on Wednesday, June 26th. The 50-1 split was announced on Tuesday, March 19th. The newly minted shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Tuesday, June 25th. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The restaurant operator reported $10.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.73 by $0.63. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a net margin of 12.45% and a return on equity of 44.41%. The company had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.29 EPS. The firms revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill will post 53.12 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Buying and Selling at Chipotle Mexican Grill In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total value of $9,219,768.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,563 shares in the company, valued at $25,071,093.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Albert S. Baldocchi sold 750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,608.51, for a total value of $1,956,382.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 37,271 shares in the company, valued at $97,221,776.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher W. Brandt sold 3,149 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,927.84, for a total transaction of $9,219,768.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,563 shares of the companys stock, valued at $25,071,093.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,893 shares of company stock worth $20,827,447 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Institutional Trading of Chipotle Mexican Grill A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMG. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. IMA Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 185.7% during the 1st quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 20 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 91.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About Chipotle Mexican Grill (Get Free Report) Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It sells food and beverages through offering burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company also provides delivery and related services its app and website. It has operations in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Further Reading 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 upgraded shares of Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday. Separately, Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Diebold Nixdorf in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Get Diebold Nixdorf alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on Diebold Nixdorf Diebold Nixdorf Stock Down 1.4 % Diebold Nixdorf stock opened at $34.80 on Friday. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $32.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Diebold Nixdorf has a fifty-two week low of $16.50 and a fifty-two week high of $35.94. Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE:DBD Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The technology company reported $3.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.39 by $1.63. The company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.02 billion. Analysts anticipate that Diebold Nixdorf will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, major shareholder Millstreet Capital Management sold 457,715 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.95, for a total value of $15,539,424.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,477,361 shares in the company, valued at $219,906,405.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, major shareholder Millstreet Capital Management sold 457,715 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.95, for a total value of $15,539,424.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,477,361 shares in the company, valued at $219,906,405.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Marjorie L. Bowen acquired 2,290 shares of Diebold Nixdorf stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $33.98 per share, with a total value of $77,814.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,290 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,437,014.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 458,015 shares of company stock valued at $15,549,499 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the companys stock. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Diebold Nixdorf Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC bought a new stake in Diebold Nixdorf in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in Diebold Nixdorf in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Diebold Nixdorf in the 3rd quarter valued at $79,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Diebold Nixdorf in the 3rd quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. bought a new stake in Diebold Nixdorf in the 3rd quarter valued at $135,000. Diebold Nixdorf Company Profile (Get Free Report) Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated engages in the automating, digitizing, and transforming the way people bank and shop worldwide. It operates through two segments, Banking and Retail. The company offers cash recyclers and dispensers, intelligent deposit terminals, teller automation tools, and kiosk technologies, as well as physical security solutions; and front-end applications for consumer connection points and back-end platforms that manage channel transactions, operations and integration, and facilitate omnichannel transactions, endpoint monitoring, remote asset management, customer marketing, merchandise management, and analytics. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Diebold Nixdorf Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Diebold Nixdorf and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Free Report) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $68.00 to $77.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock. Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of General Mills from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $77.00 to $76.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of General Mills from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $73.50. Get General Mills alerts: Check Out Our Latest Report on General Mills General Mills Stock Performance GIS stock opened at $69.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.74. General Mills has a fifty-two week low of $60.33 and a fifty-two week high of $90.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills (NYSE:GIS Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 26.84%. General Millss revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. Analysts forecast that General Mills will post 4.5 EPS for the current year. General Mills Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. General Millss payout ratio is presently 54.13%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total value of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Mills news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total transaction of $3,870,008.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at $6,602,574.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,782 shares of company stock valued at $4,365,720. Company insiders own 0.24% of the companys stock. Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Mills A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GIS. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,026 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,867 shares of the companys stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,176 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 279,604 shares of the companys stock valued at $18,935,000 after purchasing an additional 6,176 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of General Mills by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,834 shares of the companys stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. 75.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. General Mills Company Profile (Get Free Report) General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. 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 began coverage on shares of New Concept Energy (NYSE:GBR Free Report) in a research note published on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the stock. New Concept Energy Stock Up 0.9 % NYSE GBR opened at $1.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.08. New Concept Energy has a 1-year low of $0.91 and a 1-year high of $1.40. Get New Concept Energy alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On New Concept Energy Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Concept Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of New Concept Energy by 129.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 24,068 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 13,576 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of New Concept Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $95,000. New Concept Energy Company Profile New Concept Energy, Inc engages in real estate rental business. The company owns approximately 190 acres of land located in Parkersburg West Virginia. It also provides advisory and management services for an independent oil and gas company. The company was formerly known as CabelTel International Corporation and changed its name to New Concept Energy, Inc in May 2008. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for New Concept Energy Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for New Concept Energy and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. GAP (NYSE:GPS Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Evercore ISI from $22.00 to $24.00 in a research report released on Friday morning. They currently have an outperform rating on the apparel retailers stock. A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GPS. KGI Securities boosted their target price on GAP from $9.10 to $25.20 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on GAP from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on GAP from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. StockNews.com raised GAP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on GAP to $23.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, GAP currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $18.89. Get GAP alerts: Read Our Latest Report on GPS GAP Stock Down 1.4 % NYSE GPS opened at $28.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stocks 50 day moving average is $20.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.41. The company has a market capitalization of $10.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 2.24. GAP has a 1-year low of $7.22 and a 1-year high of $28.59. GAP (NYSE:GPS Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The apparel retailer reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $4.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. GAP had a return on equity of 22.56% and a net margin of 3.37%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.75) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that GAP will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. GAP Dividend Announcement The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. GAPs payout ratio is 44.78%. Insider Buying and Selling at GAP In other GAP news, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $556,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,832. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Katrina Oconnell sold 45,266 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.58, for a total value of $1,022,106.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,057.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Julie Gruber sold 24,180 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.00, for a total transaction of $556,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,384 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $31,832. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 126,460 shares of company stock worth $2,942,522. Insiders own 30.81% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of GAP A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of GAP by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 81,384 shares of the apparel retailers stock valued at $1,702,000 after buying an additional 2,223 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in shares of GAP by 148.6% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 67,756 shares of the apparel retailers stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 40,503 shares in the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new position in GAP in the 4th quarter worth $197,000. State of Tennessee Treasury Department acquired a new position in GAP in the 4th quarter worth $2,363,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in GAP in the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Institutional investors own 61.71% of the companys stock. About GAP (Get Free Report) The Gap, Inc operates as an apparel retail company. The company offers apparel, accessories, and personal care products for men, women, and children under the Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands. Its products include denim and khakis; eyewear, jewelry, shoes, handbags, and fragrances; and fitness and lifestyle products for use in yoga, training, sports, travel, and everyday activities for women and girls. See Also Receive News & Ratings for GAP Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for GAP and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FLT Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $299.67. Several analysts have recently commented on the company. TheStreet upgraded FLEETCOR Technologies from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on FLEETCOR Technologies from $270.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on FLEETCOR Technologies from $285.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on FLEETCOR Technologies from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on FLEETCOR Technologies from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Get FLEETCOR Technologies alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on FLT Insider Buying and Selling at FLEETCOR Technologies Institutional Investors Weigh In On FLEETCOR Technologies In other news, CEO Ronald Clarke sold 118,428 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.84, for a total transaction of $33,377,747.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,023,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $570,300,703.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . In other news, CAO Alissa B. Vickery sold 2,794 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.31, for a total transaction of $811,126.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $547,234.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink . Also, CEO Ronald Clarke sold 118,428 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.84, for a total value of $33,377,747.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,023,491 shares in the company, valued at $570,300,703.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Company insiders own 6.50% of the companys stock. Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLT. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in FLEETCOR Technologies by 208.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 105 shares of the business services providers stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in FLEETCOR Technologies by 253.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 113 shares of the business services providers stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in FLEETCOR Technologies in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in FLEETCOR Technologies by 102.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 170 shares of the business services providers stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its holdings in FLEETCOR Technologies by 93.3% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 145 shares of the business services providers stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 94.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. FLEETCOR Technologies Stock Performance Shares of FLT opened at $303.26 on Wednesday. FLEETCOR Technologies has a 12 month low of $194.60 and a 12 month high of $309.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $285.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market cap of $21.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.22. FLEETCOR Technologies (NYSE:FLT Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The business services provider reported $4.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.04). FLEETCOR Technologies had a net margin of 26.13% and a return on equity of 37.56%. The business had revenue of $937.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $967.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that FLEETCOR Technologies will post 18.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. FLEETCOR Technologies Company Profile (Get Free Report FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc operates as a payments company that helps businesses and consumers manage vehicle-related expenses, lodging expenses, and corporate payments in the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Vehicle Payments, Corporate Payments, Lodging Payments, and Other segments. Read More Receive News & Ratings for FLEETCOR Technologies Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for FLEETCOR Technologies and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up or thumbs down on the issues from the past week. Up Two area organizations that do good work are recipients of a large influx of money, thanks to billionaire philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott. Both Youthworks and the SAGE Development Authority are getting $1 million through Scotts Yield Giving organization. Youthworks provides services to at-risk youth and their families; it has offices in Bismarck and other large cities in North Dakota. The nonprofit works with homeless, runaway and trafficked youth, among others. SAGE Development Authority is the community development organization for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. It has done a lot of work in the area of renewable energy. Scott began giving away billions in 2019, and she and her team carefully research and select organizations to help with large, unrestricted gifts. Nearly 6,400 nonprofits applied this year, and only 361 were granted money. Youthworks and SAGE are good choices and worthy recipients. Down Bitter cold during North Dakota winters can put a damper on a lot of things. That includes energy production. State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms says severe cold caused large drops in oil and gas production in January -- 13.5% for oil and 15% for gas. Another negative for the industry is that natural gas prices as measured at Watford City were as low as they were in the early 1990s. Helms attributes this to the Biden administration's decision to temporarily pause pending decisions for liquified natural gas exports amid climate concerns. On the positive side, Helms says energy production has picked up speed since January. And North Dakota Pipeline Authority Executive Director Justin Kringstad says recent forecasts by the federal Energy Information Administration show oil prices continuing to rise through the rest of the year. Up It's hard enough to win the North Dakota Spelling Bee, much less become a repeat champion. Fargo eighth grader Luna Gasevic has topped even that. She correctly spelled the word "ethical" last week to win the event for the third year in a row. It's a remarkable achievement when one thinks about the high chances of getting an odd or tricky word to spell at any given point during the competition. But Gasevic handled them all to rise above her competition, three consecutive years. Good luck to her at the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in late May. Down Free tuition programs being implemented by North Dakota schools in response to a Minnesota program could have an unintended consequence -- furthering competition among the North Dakota schools. That's what some leaders in the state University System are telling lawmakers. So far, there has been no coordinated statewide response to Minnesota's North Star Promise, a scholarship program passed by the Minnesota Legislature that covers the tuition and fees for any state resident whose family has an income below $80,000. Some North Dakota schools that fear losing Minnesota students are offering their own versions of a free tuition program. But that means the competition is no longer just with the Minnesota program, but with other North Dakota programs as well. The state Legislature has opted to wait to better understand the potential impact of the Minnesota program before taking any sort of action. Lawmakers should consider addressing the matter sooner rather than later. Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of Hold from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $180.00. Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MTH shares. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Get Meritage Homes alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MTH Meritage Homes Stock Down 0.2 % Shares of MTH stock opened at $165.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 1.76. Meritage Homes has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $179.68. The companys fifty day moving average price is $159.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. Sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes will post 17.72 EPS for the current fiscal year. Meritage Homes Increases Dividend The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Meritage Homess previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Meritage Homess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.06%. Insider Activity at Meritage Homes In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total value of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 231 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.99, for a total transaction of $35,340.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,859 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $284,408.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meritage Homes Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,329,321 shares of the construction companys stock worth $900,473,000 after acquiring an additional 77,344 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,216,167 shares of the construction companys stock worth $334,047,000 after acquiring an additional 23,652 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,382,555 shares of the construction companys stock worth $127,472,000 after acquiring an additional 96,567 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,320,818 shares of the construction companys stock worth $92,814,000 after acquiring an additional 4,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 826,791 shares of the construction companys stock worth $144,027,000 after acquiring an additional 12,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.48% of the companys stock. Meritage Homes Company Profile (Get Free Report Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Meritage Homes Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Meritage Homes and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Invitae (NYSE:NVTA Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the medical research companys stock. Invitae Price Performance NYSE NVTA opened at $0.02 on Friday. Invitae has a 1 year low of $0.02 and a 1 year high of $0.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 0.00 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $0.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $0.45. Get Invitae alerts: Hedge Funds Weigh In On Invitae Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Veritable L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Invitae in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Invitae during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Invitae by 114.1% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 25,012 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 13,330 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Invitae by 501.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,396 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 12,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Invitae by 113.2% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 26,626 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 14,137 shares during the last quarter. 61.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Invitae Company Profile Invitae Corporation, a medical genetics company, that provides genetic information to improve healthcare of people in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company offers genetic tests in various clinical areas, including hereditary cancer, precision oncology, women's health, rare diseases, and pharmacogenomics; digital health solutions; and health data services. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Invitae Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Invitae and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Similarweb Ltd. (NYSE:SMWB Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of Buy from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.60. SMWB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. William Blair restated an outperform rating on shares of Similarweb in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup upgraded Similarweb from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Similarweb in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Similarweb in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Similarweb from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Get Similarweb alerts: Read Our Latest Report on SMWB Institutional Investors Weigh In On Similarweb Similarweb Trading Up 0.1 % A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMWB. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Similarweb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,960,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Similarweb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Swiss National Bank purchased a new position in Similarweb during the 3rd quarter valued at about $391,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Similarweb by 737.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,966 shares of the companys stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares during the period. Finally, Ulysses Management LLC lifted its position in Similarweb by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ulysses Management LLC now owns 2,283,228 shares of the companys stock valued at $14,978,000 after acquiring an additional 15,961 shares during the period. Shares of SMWB stock opened at $9.09 on Monday. Similarweb has a 1 year low of $4.58 and a 1 year high of $9.76. The firms 50 day moving average is $7.58 and its 200-day moving average is $6.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $714.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.57 and a beta of 0.68. Similarweb (NYSE:SMWB Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. Similarweb had a negative net margin of 13.47% and a negative return on equity of 203.38%. The company had revenue of $56.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.90 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Similarweb will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Similarweb Company Profile (Get Free Report Similarweb Ltd. provides cloud-based digital intelligence solutions in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the United Kingdom, Israel, and internationally. The company offers digital research intelligence solutions for its customers to benchmark performance against competitors and market leaders, analyze trends in the market, conduct deeper research into specific companies, and analyze audience behavior; and digital marketing intelligence solutions for its customers to understand their competitors' online acquisition strategies in each marketing channel, and optimize their own strategies. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Similarweb Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Similarweb and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of Hold from the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.43. Several research firms have recently weighed in on YPF. The Goldman Sachs Group raised YPF Sociedad Anonima from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $8.50 to $17.10 in a research note on Monday, November 27th. UBS Group raised YPF Sociedad Anonima from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised YPF Sociedad Anonima from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their target price for the stock from $10.50 to $22.00 in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised YPF Sociedad Anonima from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised YPF Sociedad Anonima from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the stock from $8.50 to $16.00 in a research report on Monday, December 4th. Get YPF Sociedad Anonima alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on YPF Institutional Trading of YPF Sociedad Anonima YPF Sociedad Anonima Stock Performance Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of YPF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 260.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 313,202 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 226,287 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 31.0% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 55,621 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 13,170 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 40.1% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,841 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 13,400 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima by 359.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 79,111 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 61,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of YPF Sociedad Anonima during the first quarter worth $1,543,000. 10.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. YPF opened at $20.26 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a PE ratio of -6.05 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.11. YPF Sociedad Anonima has a fifty-two week low of $9.33 and a fifty-two week high of $20.41. YPF Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:YPF Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.95 by ($0.95). The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. YPF Sociedad Anonima had a positive return on equity of 17.33% and a negative net margin of 7.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict that YPF Sociedad Anonima will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year. YPF Sociedad Anonima Company Profile (Get Free Report YPF Sociedad Anonima, an energy company, engages in the oil and gas upstream and downstream activities in Argentina. Its upstream operations include the exploration, exploitation, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs. The company's downstream operations include the refining, marketing, and distribution of oil and petroleum products, as well as petroleum derivatives, such as petrochemicals, hydrocarbons, non-fossil fuels, biofuels, and related components; and production of hydrocarbons electric power. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for YPF Sociedad Anonima Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for YPF Sociedad Anonima and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Smith Douglas Homes (NYSE:SDHC Get Free Report) and KB Home (NYSE:KBH Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk. Earnings and Valuation This table compares Smith Douglas Homes and KB Homes gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Get Smith Douglas Homes alerts: Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Smith Douglas Homes $925.89 million N/A N/A N/A N/A KB Home $6.41 billion 0.81 $590.18 million $7.35 9.31 KB Home has higher revenue and earnings than Smith Douglas Homes. Analyst Ratings Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Smith Douglas Homes 0 5 1 0 2.17 KB Home 1 5 5 0 2.36 This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Smith Douglas Homes and KB Home, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Smith Douglas Homes currently has a consensus price target of $27.70, indicating a potential downside of 9.92%. KB Home has a consensus price target of $63.46, indicating a potential downside of 7.22%. Given KB Homes stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe KB Home is more favorable than Smith Douglas Homes. Insider and Institutional Ownership 91.3% of KB Home shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of KB Home shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Profitability This table compares Smith Douglas Homes and KB Homes net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Smith Douglas Homes N/A N/A N/A KB Home 9.29% 15.78% 9.14% Summary KB Home beats Smith Douglas Homes on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks. About Smith Douglas Homes (Get Free Report) Smith Douglas Homes Corp. engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family homes in the southeastern United States. The company operates in metropolitan Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Huntsville, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham, and Houston. It also provides closing, escrow, and title insurance services. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Woodstock, Georgia. About KB Home (Get Free Report) KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers. The company also provides financial services, such as insurance products and title services, as well as mortgage banking services, including residential consumer mortgage loans to homebuyers. It has operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington. The company was formerly known as Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation and changed its name to KB Home in January 2001. KB Home was founded in 1957 and is based in Los Angeles, California. Receive News & Ratings for Smith Douglas Homes Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Smith Douglas Homes and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Invera Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF (BATS:NOBL Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,316 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $601,000. Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,524,703 shares of the companys stock worth $135,013,000 after acquiring an additional 34,122 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 128,468 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,376,000 after purchasing an additional 35,757 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF by 354.2% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 704 shares of the companys stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Get ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF alerts: ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF Trading Down 0.5 % Shares of NOBL stock traded down $0.47 on Monday, reaching $99.64. 460,099 shares of the stock were exchanged. The company has a market capitalization of $12.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.89. ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF has a twelve month low of $55.69 and a twelve month high of $67.97. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $96.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.58. About ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF The ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. The fund tracks an equal-weighted index of S&P 500 constituents that have increased dividend payments annually for at least 25 years. NOBL was launched on Oct 9, 2013 and is managed by ProShares. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NOBL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF (BATS:NOBL Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Taseko Mines Limited (NYSE:TGB Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $2.12 and last traded at $2.08, with a volume of 1046573 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $1.99. Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, TheStreet upgraded Taseko Mines from a d rating to a c rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Get Taseko Mines alerts: Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Taseko Mines Taseko Mines Trading Up 6.5 % The stock has a market cap of $615.82 million, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.37. Taseko Mines (NYSE:TGB Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.01). Taseko Mines had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 15.66%. The company had revenue of $112.90 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Taseko Mines Limited will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Taseko Mines Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Taseko Mines by 10.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 376,136 shares of the companys stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 34,100 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 305.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 309,635 shares of the companys stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 233,235 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 148.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 36,450 shares of the companys stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 21,790 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 14.9% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 77,196 shares of the companys stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Taseko Mines by 663.0% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 819,644 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 712,220 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 17.94% of the companys stock. Taseko Mines Company Profile (Get Free Report) Taseko Mines Limited, a mining company, acquires, develops, and operates mineral properties. It explores for copper, molybdenum, gold, niobium, and silver deposits. The company's principal asset comprises 87.5% interest owned the Gibraltar mine located in British Columbia. It also holds interest in the Yellowhead copper project, the Aley niobium project, and the New Prosperity gold and copper project located in British Columbia; and the Florence copper project located in Arizona. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Taseko Mines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Taseko Mines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Connective Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSEARCA:KRE Free Report) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 50,000 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $2,622,000. SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF comprises approximately 5.3% of Connective Portfolio Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF by 457.7% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,511,408 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $143,371,000 after purchasing an additional 2,881,772 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF by 4.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,609,153 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $108,984,000 after purchasing an additional 105,704 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF by 86.6% in the third quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 1,548,840 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $64,695,000 after purchasing an additional 718,735 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,522,647 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $62,011,000 after acquiring an additional 703,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF by 12.2% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,339,950 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $55,970,000 after acquiring an additional 145,395 shares during the last quarter. Get SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF alerts: SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF Trading Up 0.8 % Shares of SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $48.84. 2,309,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,776,127. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.47. SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF has a 1-year low of $34.52 and a 1-year high of $54.47. About SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF SPDR KBW Regional Banking ETF, formerly SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF, seeks to closely match the returns and characteristics of the S&P Regional Banks Select Industry Index. Its approach is designed to provide portfolios with low portfolio turnover, tracking, and lower costs. As of October 27, 2011, the Companys holding included Privatebancorp Inc, Webster Finl Corp Conn, Umpqua Hldgs Corp, Firstmerit Corp, East West Bancorp Inc, Fifth Third Bancorp, Fnb Corp Pa, Susquehanna Bancshares Inc and Keycorp New and First Rep Bk San Fran Cali. Further Reading Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KRE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (NYSEARCA:KRE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $28.69 and last traded at $28.59, with a volume of 296819 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.22. Analyst Ratings Changes GPK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a strong-buy rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $28.22. Get Graphic Packaging alerts: Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Graphic Packaging Graphic Packaging Trading Up 2.0 % The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.83. The companys fifty day moving average is $25.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.10. Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 35.66%. The businesss revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.71 EPS for the current year. Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Graphic Packagings payout ratio is 17.02%. Insider Activity In other news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,420 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,391 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 33,310 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $821,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the companys stock. Graphic Packaging Company Profile (Get Free Report) Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides paperboard packaging solutions to food, beverage, foodservice, and other consumer products companies. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Graphic Packaging Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Graphic Packaging and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Free Report)s stock had its buy rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.71% from the stocks current price. A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on MO. UBS Group restated a sell rating and issued a $36.10 price target on shares of Altria Group in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Altria Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Altria Group presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.82. Get Altria Group alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on Altria Group Altria Group Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:MO traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $43.21. 3,676,194 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,625,663. The firm has a market cap of $76.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.65. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $41.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.54. Altria Group has a 52-week low of $39.06 and a 52-week high of $48.04. Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.06 billion. Altria Group had a net margin of 33.21% and a negative return on equity of 244.55%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Altria Group will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year. Altria Group announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the companys leadership believes its shares are undervalued. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Altria Group Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in Altria Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Altria Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 636 shares of the companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Altria Group during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Altria Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Altria Group Company Profile (Get Free Report) Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand. Featured Stories 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. In this weeks Computer Weekly, we reveal the findings of our annual survey into the technologies that IT buyers are spending their money on this year. The European CIO at PepsiCo explains how to make digital transformation go with a pop. And we look at the growing importance of cloud-to-cloud backup for data protection and resilience. Read the issue now. Vendor: TechTarget ComputerWeekly.com Posted: Mar 25, 2024 Published: Mar 26, 2024 Format: PDF Type: Ezine B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management increased its position in Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,559 shares of the insurance providers stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Managements holdings in Humana were worth $3,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HUM. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Humana by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,937 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $105,047,000 after buying an additional 32,273 shares in the last quarter. Natixis increased its holdings in Humana by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis now owns 38,653 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $17,283,000 after acquiring an additional 8,835 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Humana by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 14,119 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $6,869,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Humana by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,943 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $13,595,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverarc Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Humana in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the companys stock. Get Humana alerts: Humana Price Performance Shares of HUM stock traded down $1.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $346.59. The stock had a trading volume of 266,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,021,580. Humana Inc. has a 12-month low of $334.54 and a 12-month high of $541.21. The company has a market cap of $41.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $368.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $445.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Humana Dividend Announcement Humana ( NYSE:HUM Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.87). Humana had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 19.44%. The firm had revenue of $26.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Humana Inc. will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a $0.885 dividend. This represents a $3.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Humanas payout ratio is 17.86%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other Humana news, Director Jorge S. Mesquita purchased 545 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $367.09 per share, with a total value of $200,064.05. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,578 shares in the company, valued at $946,358.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens decreased their price objective on Humana from $550.00 to $430.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $630.00 price target on shares of Humana in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Humana from $550.00 to $400.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut Humana from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Humana from $515.00 to $450.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Humana presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $494.00. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on HUM Humana Company Profile (Free Report) Humana Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides medical and specialty insurance products in the United States. It operates through two segments, Insurance and CenterWell. The company offers medical and supplemental benefit plans to individuals. It has a contract with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer the Limited Income Newly Eligible Transition prescription drug plan program; and contracts with various states to provide Medicaid, dual eligible, and long-term support services benefits. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Humana Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Humana and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management grew its position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 62,857 shares of the insurance providers stock after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Managements holdings in First American Financial were worth $4,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,031,143 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $779,858,000 after purchasing an additional 245,974 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,889,562 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $550,453,000 after purchasing an additional 329,543 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 2.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,193,170 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $206,981,000 after purchasing an additional 90,276 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 17.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,169,320 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $178,994,000 after purchasing an additional 473,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,671,456 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $150,911,000 after purchasing an additional 72,860 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the companys stock. Get First American Financial alerts: First American Financial Stock Performance First American Financial stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.02. 183,089 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 706,144. First American Financial Co. has a one year low of $49.55 and a one year high of $65.54. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.25. First American Financial Dividend Announcement First American Financial ( NYSE:FAF Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.06). First American Financial had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year. The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. First American Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.92%. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts recently issued reports on FAF shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of First American Financial from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First American Financial from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a buy rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First American Financial presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $68.00. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on First American Financial First American Financial Profile (Free Report) First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally. Recommended Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FAF? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for First American Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First American Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Allstate (NYSE:ALL Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $164.00 to $195.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the insurance providers stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups price target suggests a potential upside of 16.20% from the stocks current price. Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Allstate from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Allstate from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $171.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Allstate from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $171.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $112.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $162.75. Get Allstate alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Allstate Allstate Stock Up 1.6 % Shares of NYSE:ALL traded up $2.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $167.82. 912,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,752,319. The stock has a market cap of $44.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -135.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $158.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.29. Allstate has a 52-week low of $100.57 and a 52-week high of $168.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. Allstate (NYSE:ALL Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The business had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.36) earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Allstate will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Insider Transactions at Allstate In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALL. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,389,000. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Allstate by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 141,550 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $15,770,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in Allstate by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 12,795 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 3,828 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Allstate by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,261,274 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $140,519,000 after buying an additional 104,758 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 540,851 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $60,257,000 after purchasing an additional 22,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the companys stock. About Allstate (Get Free Report) The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Allstate Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Allstate and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Central Asia Metals plc (LON:CAML Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Monday, March 25th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of GBX 9 ($0.11) per share by the mining company on Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. The official announcement can be seen at this link. Central Asia Metals Stock Performance Shares of LON CAML traded down GBX 4.80 ($0.06) during midday trading on Monday, reaching GBX 186 ($2.37). The companys stock had a trading volume of 489,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 377,075. Central Asia Metals has a 12-month low of GBX 150.60 ($1.92) and a 12-month high of GBX 256.57 ($3.27). The firm has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 164.66 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 171.55. The stock has a market capitalization of 338.33 million, a P/E ratio of 1,373.33 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 5.05 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Get Central Asia Metals alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Separately, Berenberg Bank reiterated a buy rating and issued a GBX 220 ($2.80) price objective on shares of Central Asia Metals in a research note on Friday, March 8th. About Central Asia Metals (Get Free Report) Central Asia Metals plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a base metals producer. The company produces copper, zinc, silver, and lead. It owns a 100% interest in the Kounrad solvent extraction- electrowinning operation located near the city of Balkhash in central Kazakhstan; and a 100% interest in the Sasa mine located in north Macedonia. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Central Asia Metals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Central Asia Metals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Lavras Gold Corp. (CVE:LGC Get Free Report) Director Rowland Wallace Uloth bought 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$1.35 per share, with a total value of C$30,375.00. Rowland Wallace Uloth also recently made the following trade(s): Get Lavras Gold alerts: On Tuesday, March 19th, Rowland Wallace Uloth acquired 15,000 shares of Lavras Gold stock. The stock was bought at an average price of C$1.21 per share, with a total value of C$18,150.00. On Friday, March 15th, Rowland Wallace Uloth bought 2,800 shares of Lavras Gold stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$1.25 per share, with a total value of C$3,500.00. On Friday, March 8th, Rowland Wallace Uloth bought 49,300 shares of Lavras Gold stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$1.10 per share, with a total value of C$54,230.00. On Tuesday, January 23rd, Rowland Wallace Uloth purchased 8,500 shares of Lavras Gold stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$1.12 per share, with a total value of C$9,520.00. Lavras Gold Stock Performance CVE LGC traded up C$0.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting C$1.46. 64,646 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 74,068. The company has a market cap of C$74.97 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.80. Lavras Gold Corp. has a 12-month low of C$0.21 and a 12-month high of C$1.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$1.06 and a 200 day moving average of C$1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 11.12, a current ratio of 18.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Lavras Gold Company Profile Lavras Gold Corp. operates as a junior exploration company in southern Brazil. It engages in the exploration and development of the Lavras do Sul gold project covering an area of approximately 22,000 hectares located in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Lavras Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lavras Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Centrica plc (LON:CNA Get Free Report) insider Amber Rudd bought 1,720 shares of Centrica stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 127 ($1.62) per share, with a total value of 2,184.40 ($2,780.90). Amber Rudd also recently made the following trade(s): Get Centrica alerts: On Monday, February 26th, Amber Rudd purchased 1,711 shares of Centrica stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 127 ($1.62) per share, with a total value of 2,172.97 ($2,766.35). On Thursday, January 25th, Amber Rudd bought 1,580 shares of Centrica stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 144 ($1.83) per share, with a total value of 2,275.20 ($2,896.50). On Wednesday, December 27th, Amber Rudd acquired 1,558 shares of Centrica stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 141 ($1.80) per share, with a total value of 2,196.78 ($2,796.66). Centrica Price Performance Shares of Centrica stock traded up GBX 0.36 ($0.00) on Monday, hitting GBX 126.86 ($1.62). 26,563,779 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,332,688. Centrica plc has a 1-year low of GBX 101 ($1.29) and a 1-year high of GBX 173.70 ($2.21). The stock has a market capitalization of 6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 133.57 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 146.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 96.93. Centrica Increases Dividend Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a GBX 2.67 ($0.03) dividend. This is a positive change from Centricas previous dividend of $1.33. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 1.99%. Centricas payout ratio is presently 579.71%. A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CNA shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Centrica from GBX 200 ($2.55) to GBX 205 ($2.61) and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup restated a buy rating on shares of Centrica in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Centrica in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of GBX 156.25 ($1.99). Get Our Latest Report on CNA About Centrica (Get Free Report) Centrica plc operates as an integrated energy company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, North America, and internationally. The company operates through British Gas Services & Solutions, British Gas Energy, Centrica Business Solutions, Bord Gais Energy, Energy Marketing & Trading, and Upstream segments. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Centrica Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Centrica and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB Get Free Report) had its price target raised by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $100.00 to $105.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals companys stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 4.25% from the stocks previous close. LYB has been the subject of several other reports. Vertical Research upgraded LyondellBasell Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut LyondellBasell Industries from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $107.00 price objective on shares of LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Monday, February 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on LyondellBasell Industries in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an underperform rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on LyondellBasell Industries from $102.00 to $98.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $101.33. Get LyondellBasell Industries alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on LYB LyondellBasell Industries Stock Performance LYB stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $100.72. The stock had a trading volume of 456,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,193. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.46. LyondellBasell Industries has a 52 week low of $84.80 and a 52 week high of $102.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. LyondellBasell Industries (NYSE:LYB Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.33 by ($0.07). LyondellBasell Industries had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 21.89%. The company had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The firms revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LyondellBasell Industries will post 8.86 earnings per share for the current year. Insider Activity In other news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan sold 18,111 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total value of $1,819,431.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,276 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,233,246.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other LyondellBasell Industries news, Director Robin W.T. Buchanan sold 18,111 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.46, for a total transaction of $1,819,431.06. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,246.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Chukwuemeka A. Oyolu sold 7,084 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.47, for a total value of $711,729.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,575 shares in the company, valued at $2,770,460.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,853 shares of company stock valued at $8,077,267 in the last ninety days. 0.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Trading of LyondellBasell Industries Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in LyondellBasell Industries by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,223,459 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $2,968,726,000 after acquiring an additional 290,401 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,322,280 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $1,266,977,000 after acquiring an additional 348,169 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,408,551 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $796,290,000 after acquiring an additional 787,221 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of LyondellBasell Industries by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,305,596 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $597,140,000 after acquiring an additional 569,887 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in LyondellBasell Industries by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,683,892 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $540,424,000 after buying an additional 33,212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.20% of the companys stock. LyondellBasell Industries Company Profile (Get Free Report) LyondellBasell Industries N.V. operates as a chemical company in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Poland, France, Japan, China, the Netherlands, and internationally. The company operates in six segments: Olefins and PolyolefinsAmericas; Olefins and PolyolefinsEurope, Asia, International; Intermediates and Derivatives; Advanced Polymer Solutions; Refining; and Technology. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for LyondellBasell Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for LyondellBasell Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,712,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after acquiring an additional 21,857 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in Pfizer were worth $49,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in Pfizer by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 287,201,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $10,534,558,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,611 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 89,592.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 161,143,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $8,257,000,000 after acquiring an additional 160,963,976 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 95,772,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $3,161,261,000 after acquiring an additional 9,393,992 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 84,927,802 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $2,817,055,000 after acquiring an additional 348,628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Pfizer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,150,472,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.36% of the companys stock. Get Pfizer alerts: Pfizer Stock Up 0.1 % Shares of PFE stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $27.38. 17,832,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 43,919,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.91. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.61 and a one year high of $42.22. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $27.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.61. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Pfizer ( NYSE:PFE Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.29. Pfizer had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Pfizers revenue was down 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current fiscal year. A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PFE shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Pfizer from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Pfizer in a research note on Friday, March 1st. TD Cowen downgraded Pfizer from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Argus downgraded Pfizer from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Pfizer from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.88. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on PFE About Pfizer (Free Report) Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,414,649 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 44,834 shares during the period. Delta Air Lines makes up approximately 1.5% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLCs holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLCs holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $97,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Delta Air Lines by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,329 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 5,091,528 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $188,514,000 after acquiring an additional 743,882 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 150.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 178,080 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $6,589,000 after acquiring an additional 106,940 shares during the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,297,000. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Delta Air Lines by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC now owns 289,425 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $10,709,000 after acquiring an additional 32,700 shares during the last quarter. 69.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Delta Air Lines alerts: Delta Air Lines Trading Down 0.6 % NYSE:DAL traded down $0.28 on Monday, reaching $45.31. The companys stock had a trading volume of 6,450,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,201,521. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a PE ratio of 6.38, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.42. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $40.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.57. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.60 and a 1-year high of $49.81. Delta Air Lines Announces Dividend Delta Air Lines ( NYSE:DAL Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The transportation company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $14.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.55 billion. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 46.35% and a net margin of 7.94%. Delta Air Liness revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Delta Air Liness dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.59%. Insider Buying and Selling In other Delta Air Lines news, CEO Edward H. Bastian sold 71,840 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.20, for a total value of $2,816,128.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 428,768 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $16,807,705.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of brokerages recently commented on DAL. UBS Group began coverage on Delta Air Lines in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set a buy rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Delta Air Lines from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Delta Air Lines from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $55.79. Get Our Latest Report on Delta Air Lines About Delta Air Lines (Free Report) Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DAL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Delta Air Lines Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Delta Air Lines and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Free Report) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,250 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 85 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up about 4.1% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $10,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 82.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 91 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 94 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth GS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $421.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $382.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $406.87. The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.4 % Shares of NYSE:GS traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $405.13. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,072,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,344,852. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $386.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $355.97. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $416.76. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The investment management company reported $5.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.62 by $1.86. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $11.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.32 EPS. The firms revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 32.6 earnings per share for the current year. The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 48.20%. Insiders Place Their Bets In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total transaction of $1,129,170.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,121 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,809,443.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,947.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total value of $1,129,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,443.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,907 shares of company stock valued at $15,080,021. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock. The Goldman Sachs Group Profile (Free Report) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. This is a follow-up of The Black Book. Detective Harney came back after recovery from a gunshot wound in the head and was promoted to the elite SOS squad, the newest initiative of the city to combat crimes in Chicago's south and west. He soon found out what appeared to be a turf war between two Black gangs and the death of a white teenage girl thought as a collateral damage in a shoot-out, was really human-traffickers and pimps executing a runaway victim. Meanwhile, clearing stuff out of his childhood home after dad, the former Chief of Detectives, was put behind bars, Harney came across a little red book, a ledger of payoffs from crooks for police protection. He fought through personal traumas, internecine warfare, and enemy lines to bring down a major international human-trafficking outfit. To me, The Red Book, finished in two sittings, felt even more like MacDonald's in eating, pop in music, or action pictures in movies. The page-turner doled out suspense and gratification at a good pace all the way to the end. I was happy to meet another truckload of new words and expressions in context. But I have to say I enjoyed the previous book more as I don't find the dialogues as engaging. The ledger, despite of the title, only appeared twice. Also, it was repetitive to find the same villain, dad. Meyer Handelman Co. trimmed its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW Free Report) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 152,086 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Illinois Tool Works comprises about 1.6% of Meyer Handelman Co.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Meyer Handelman Co. owned approximately 0.05% of Illinois Tool Works worth $39,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works by 106,553.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185,211 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,582,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,178,474 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at $708,259,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 59.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,591,278 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,011,459,000 after buying an additional 1,707,780 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Illinois Tool Works by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,205,082 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $6,035,292,000 after buying an additional 1,238,239 shares during the period. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt grew its position in Illinois Tool Works by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,125,000 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $294,671,000 after acquiring an additional 675,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Illinois Tool Works alerts: Illinois Tool Works Trading Down 1.0 % Shares of Illinois Tool Works stock traded down $2.80 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $265.86. The companys stock had a trading volume of 969,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,312,928. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $259.35 and a 200 day moving average of $247.50. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.06 and a 12 month high of $271.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $79.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 1.13. Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement Illinois Tool Works ( NYSE:ITW Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 96.60%. The firms revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current year. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Illinois Tool Workss dividend payout ratio is presently 57.49%. Insider Activity In other news, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.83, for a total value of $12,741,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,321,252.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Sharon Szafranski sold 801 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.42, for a total value of $205,392.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,505,185.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Ernest Scott Santi sold 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.83, for a total value of $12,741,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 221,015 shares of the companys stock, valued at $56,321,252.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 189,471 shares of company stock valued at $48,712,316. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In ITW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $238.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Illinois Tool Works from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $240.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial began coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They set a buy rating and a $301.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America downgraded Illinois Tool Works from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and lowered their target price for the company from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $244.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Illinois Tool Works currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $245.50. View Our Latest Analysis on ITW Illinois Tool Works Company Profile (Free Report) Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment in the United States and internationally. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ITW? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Illinois Tool Works Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Illinois Tool Works and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Meyer Handelman Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,498 shares of the companys stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.s holdings in Philip Morris International were worth $5,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 950.0% in the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 420 shares of the companys stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.63% of the companys stock. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of brokerages have weighed in on PM. UBS Group cut Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their price target for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Societe Generale upgraded Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $105.40. Insider Buying and Selling In other Philip Morris International news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total transaction of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total value of $457,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,918 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128 over the last ninety days. 0.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Philip Morris International Stock Up 0.3 % Shares of NYSE:PM traded up $0.27 on Monday, reaching $91.15. 8,008,281 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,321,384. Philip Morris International Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.23 and a fifty-two week high of $101.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. The businesss 50-day moving average is $91.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.51. Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 116.29%. The company had revenue of $9.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Philip Morris Internationals revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Philip Morris International Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.59%. Philip Morris International Profile (Free Report) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. Further Reading 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. BQE Water Inc. (CVE:BQE Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$40.95 and last traded at C$40.95, with a volume of 975 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$40.75. BQE Water Trading Up 0.6 % The firm has a market capitalization of C$51.66 million, a P/E ratio of 24.11 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.18, a quick ratio of 3.70 and a current ratio of 4.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$34.35 and a 200-day moving average of C$30.60. Get BQE Water alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at BQE Water In other news, insider Robert Stein bought 8,880 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$36.00 per share, with a total value of C$319,680.00. Insiders own 53.42% of the companys stock. About BQE Water BQE Water Inc, a water treatment company, provides wastewater management and treatment solutions to the mining and metallurgical industry in Canada, the United States, Latin America, China, and internationally. It offers water treatment solutions for mine drainage, run-off, waste rock seepage, tailings water, groundwater, and lime plant influent and/or effluent streams for treating metals, sulphate, selenium, nitrate, ammonia, and cyanide in the mining sector; smelting and refining services for treating metals and sulphate; and hydrometallurgy services for the treatment of metals, cyanide, and acids. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for BQE Water Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BQE Water and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. (NYSE:REPX Get Free Report) were up 5.1% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $32.32 and last traded at $32.30. Approximately 54,983 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 84,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.72. Riley Exploration Permian Stock Performance The companys fifty day moving average is $24.34 and its 200 day moving average is $27.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $657.08 million, a P/E ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 1.22. Get Riley Exploration Permian alerts: Riley Exploration Permian (NYSE:REPX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.91). Riley Exploration Permian had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 25.08%. The company had revenue of $99.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.77 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year. Riley Exploration Permian Announces Dividend Insider Activity The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 25th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 24th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. Riley Exploration Permians dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%. In other news, CEO Bobby Riley sold 7,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.41, for a total transaction of $205,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 379,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,393,817.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Riley Exploration Group, Llc sold 18,315 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.26, for a total transaction of $426,006.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,214,565 shares of the companys stock, valued at $51,510,781.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Bobby Riley sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.41, for a total value of $205,575.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 379,198 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,393,817.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,748 shares of company stock worth $2,545,988. 4.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. Hedge Funds Weigh In On Riley Exploration Permian A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of REPX. Yorktown Energy Partners VIII L.P. bought a new stake in Riley Exploration Permian in the second quarter valued at $38,408,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Riley Exploration Permian by 248.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 531,585 shares of the companys stock worth $13,332,000 after acquiring an additional 379,047 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Riley Exploration Permian by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 449,925 shares of the companys stock worth $12,256,000 after acquiring an additional 66,621 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Riley Exploration Permian by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 388,570 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,585,000 after purchasing an additional 80,379 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Riley Exploration Permian by 3.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,616 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.91% of the companys stock. Riley Exploration Permian Company Profile (Get Free Report) Riley Exploration Permian, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Texas and New Mexico. The company's activities are primarily focused on the Northwest Shelf and Yeso trend of the Permian Basin. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Riley Exploration Permian Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Riley Exploration Permian and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Vert Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE Free Report) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,188 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 595 shares during the quarter. Alexandria Real Estate Equities comprises about 3.6% of Vert Asset Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Vert Asset Management LLCs holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities were worth $8,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARE. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 4th quarter worth $2,277,135,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,138,718 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,152,452,000 after buying an additional 1,338,634 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 188.7% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,341,308 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $269,938,000 after buying an additional 876,725 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the 2nd quarter worth about $61,470,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,640,279 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,348,934,000 after buying an additional 424,932 shares in the last quarter. 86.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get Alexandria Real Estate Equities alerts: Insiders Place Their Bets In other Alexandria Real Estate Equities news, Chairman Joel S. Marcus sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.92, for a total value of $891,900.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 429,538 shares of the companys stock, valued at $51,080,658.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Peter M. Moglia sold 3,200 shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.90, for a total transaction of $393,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 249,683 shares of the companys stock, valued at $30,686,040.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Joel S. Marcus sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.92, for a total value of $891,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 429,538 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $51,080,658.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Analysts Set New Price Targets ARE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $145.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a buy rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alexandria Real Estate Equities currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $137.13. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Alexandria Real Estate Equities Alexandria Real Estate Equities Stock Performance ARE traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $126.46. 1,235,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,074,989. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.28. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.73 and a 12 month high of $135.45. The stock has a market cap of $22.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 234.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.29 by ($2.83). Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a return on equity of 0.46% and a net margin of 3.59%. The firm had revenue of $757.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $740.16 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Dividend Announcement The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Alexandria Real Estate Equitiess dividend payout ratio is presently 940.74%. About Alexandria Real Estate Equities (Free Report) Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc (NYSE: ARE), an S&P 500 company, is a best-in-class, mission-driven life science REIT making a positive and lasting impact on the world. As the pioneer of the life science real estate niche since our founding in 1994, Alexandria is the preeminent and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ARE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alexandria Real Estate Equities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF (BATS:PICK Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $41.63 and last traded at $41.16, with a volume of 143931 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.08. iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Stock Up 0.2 % The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $40.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 1.18. Get iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF alerts: Institutional Investors Weigh In On iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 385,764 shares of the companys stock valued at $15,360,000 after buying an additional 62,611 shares during the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its position in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 121,053 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,207,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,462,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 60,292 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,597,000 after acquiring an additional 9,856 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,984,000. iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Company Profile The iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF (PICK) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in materials equity. The fund tracks a market-cap-weighted index of global metals mining, extraction or production firms, excluding gold and silver mining firms. PICK was launched on Jan 31, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Global Metals & Mining Producers ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Stellantis (NYSE:STLA Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $29.51 and last traded at $29.40, with a volume of 2690766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.18. Analyst Ratings Changes Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STLA. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Stellantis in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a buy rating for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Stellantis in a research report on Friday, March 15th. They issued an overweight rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Stellantis from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Stellantis in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set an outperform rating for the company. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Stellantis from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $30.23. Get Stellantis alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on STLA Stellantis Stock Up 0.8 % Insiders Place Their Bets The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firms 50 day moving average is $24.97 and its 200-day moving average is $22.13. In other Stellantis news, major shareholder N.V. Stellantis purchased 800,000 shares of Stellantis stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.60 per share, with a total value of $3,680,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,451,720 shares of the companys stock, valued at $163,077,912. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders purchased a total of 3,150,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,724,500 over the last 90 days. Institutional Trading of Stellantis Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Stellantis in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stellantis by 307.4% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,707 shares of the companys stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Stellantis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Stellantis by 953.6% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the companys stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098 shares during the period. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new position in Stellantis in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.48% of the companys stock. Stellantis Company Profile (Get Free Report) Stellantis N.V. engages in the design, engineering, manufacturing, distribution, and sale of automobiles and light commercial vehicles, engines, transmission systems, metallurgical products, mobility services, and production systems worldwide. It provides luxury and premium vehicles; sport utility vehicles; American and European brand vehicles; and parts and services, as well as retail and dealer financing, leasing, and rental services. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Stellantis Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stellantis and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Movies set in late 70s and early 80s New York City are my weakness. I have a fondness for the drab, urban decay and the various people who navigate it, trying to cut out their own piece of life in this neverending city, stretching out, and high, as the eye can see. While Claudia Weills Girlfriends is more of the Woody Allen variety than of Martin Scorsese, Weills background in documentary filmmaking brings a naturalism to the performances and dialogue that makes me think of it as a kinder, gentler Mean Streetsalthough these streets arent without their complications. Susan Weinblatt (Melanie Mayron) is a struggling photographer living with her good friend and roommate Anne (Anita Skinner). Susan mostly photographs bar mitzvahs and weddings, but her big break (a couple of hundred bucks to help keep the electricity on) comes when she sells some of her photos to a magazine. Anne has her own exciting adventure on the way: shes getting married, and quick. Anne moves out and Susan finds herself without her best friend, living on her own, as nothing goes her way. The magazine sale that should have been her big break isnt the amazing opportunity she thought it was, her love life is complicated, and she and Anne grow further and further apart each passing day. Girlfriends couldnt be further away from my own experience growing up. Susan Weinblatt is a Jewish woman living in NYC, struggling to find legitimacy as an artist. I grew up as a Catholic boy in a small, desert town with a population of about 7,000. But the empathetic power of film is that Susans story is incredibly relatable because the struggle is a universal experience: Making that first step toward adulthood in your early 20s and all the failures and complications that come with it. Its a fantastic film, with a real lived-in quality that doesnt feel derivative slog to power through. Its endlessly watchable, with fantastic performances (including early roles from Christopher Guest and Bob Balaban). Girlfriends is among the best NYC slice-of-life films from the era, earning a deserved recognition amongst other titans of the time like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Sydney Lumet. Its not populated with violence or urban decay, but its just as real. Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray Criterions Blu-ray release of Girlfriends is presented on a single disc sourced from a restored 4K digital transfer supervised by director Claudia Weill and supervised by the films cinematographer, Fred Murphy. The film is pretended here in its original monaural soundtrack format, remastered for this release. Inside the packaging is a booklet containing two essays, one by Molly Haskell and the other by In a Different Voice author Carol Gilligan. Secondary school principals have warned that they may not be able to facilitate the free school book scheme in time for this coming September, when it is due to be rolled out. Some parents of students in Junior Cycle will not have to buy or rent any school books for the 2024/25 school year under the new scheme which was announced recently by Minister for Education, Norma Foley. More than 212,000 students enrolled in approximately 670 secondary schools will benefit from this new Free Education Scheme. However, some principals in these participating schools have expressed concerns about finance and time consumption in relation to the rollout of the scheme. There is an expectation that principals will be able to navigate a complex e-tenders process, which takes a significant amount of time, said Paul Crone of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD). School principals dont have that expertise and might struggle to learn that in time to roll it out for September. Participating schools will see post-primary students in first, second and third year given free school books and core classroom resources such as journals, copybooks, dictionaries and calculators. As well as this, the Department of Education says that guidance has been issued to post-primary schools ahead of the rollout of the scheme and a support grant to pay for overtime for people who might need to work additional hours to get the paperwork completed will be given. Despite these obvious, positive indicators of the scheme, some negatives have been pointed out. Questions about whether the necessary processes will be completed in an acceptable and expected timeframe are arising among those on the ground. For example, in layman's terms, school books for each subject would have to be purchased on behalf of first, second and third year secondary students by each participating school by September. This means thousands of books, costing thousands of euros, would have to be signed off on and accounted for by post-primary schools around the country in order for parents to not have to purchase such supplies ahead of the coming school year. Inevitably, issues are beginning to arise as school principals around the country scramble to get their business in order. There is no margin for error, especially in terms of finance, Mr Clone said, and it is where the crux of an issue lies within the implementation of the scheme. The e-tenders process is a lot more complicated than just being computer literate - we need to resource the schools adequately to deal with this, Mr Clone concluded. / /: : (jpg, jpeg, png). (25 MB). 5 . . US President Joe Biden held a phone call with outgoing Irish premier Leo Varadkar on Monday, one week after the two leaders had a bilateral meeting in Washington. The White House said Mr Biden spoke with Mr Varadkar to recognise his seven years of service as premier and deputy premier in Ireland. A statement added: Having recently celebrated St Patricks Day at the White House, they reflected on their cooperation over the years on shared priorities, particularly deepening US-Ireland ties between our people and our economies. They noted recent progress in Northern Ireland with the restoration of its Executive and Assembly, reaffirming the critical role these institutions play in preserving the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said Mr Biden had wished the Taoiseach well in whatever lies ahead. A statement said Mr Varadkar thanked the US president for good wishes and also paid tribute to Mr Bidens role in advancing US-Ireland relations. It added: The Taoiseach also took the opportunity to brief him on the upcoming meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council, which will take place on 8 April, and which will mark another important step forward in restoring the institutions under the Good Friday Agreement. He also wished Mr Biden the best of luck in the US elections in November. Last week, Mr Varadkar made the shock announcement he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach once a successor had been appointed. It came days after he returned home from the US following a week of engagements marking St Patricks Day which involved two visits to the White House. Further education minister Simon Harris has since been appointed as leader of Fine Gael and is expected to be formally appointed as taoiseach after the parliaments Easter recess. A statement from the Irish Government added: The Taoiseach told the President that, all going well, his successor will be appointed on 9 April and looks forward to continuing to work with the US on global affairs, including Ukraine and the Middle East, and to continuing to strengthen ties between Ireland and the US. The White House said the US President conveyed that he looks forward to continuing to build a vibrant future for US-Irish relations with the new taoiseach, once elected by parliament. A few things for close readers to consider tonight as we share local headlines, community notes and a look at next week's weather. Check www.TonysKansasCity.com news gathering . . . Local Emergency Tech Improves KCPD's 911 automated abandoned callback feature launches this week The system will automatically call people who hang up after dialing 911. Local Crime Cripples Family Family stranded in Kansas City after car, child's medical equipment is stolen A family from Southwest Kansas is stranded in Kansas City after they claim their car was stolen over Friday night. Road Work Redux I-435 SB at Gregory back open after multi-vehicle crash at 87th Kansas City, Missouri, police are shutting down Interstate 435 southbound past East Gregory Boulevard after a multi-vehicle crash near 87th Street. Golden Ghetto Sunday Salvation Overland Park fire displaces family, 2 dogs from home A family and two dogs were displaced from their home after a fire in Overland Park Sunday evening. Building Community Solutions How tiny houses built with dirt 'Legos' hope to help narrow KC's home ownership gap "The future of affordable housing is underneath our feet." Drive Carefully In JoCo Man on scooter struck by vehicle, killed in Overland Park on Sunday night A Lenexa man was hit and killed while riding a scooter Sunday night, as a vehicle was turning into a parking lot. Baller Well-Remembered It's time for the Royals to honor George Spriggs Our only alumni More Deets On Enduring Legacy Erin's House ready to open doors for new residents after vandalism in August Healing House, or Erin's House, held its grand opening and ceremonial "breaking the chain of addiction" ahead of new residents moving in after vandalism in August pushed back its opening. Cowtown Newsie Contemplation Local news is too important for our democracy. We need a 'Marshall Plan' for public media * Missouri Independent America's media institutions have had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad start to 2024. The Messenger, a well-funded, high-profile news site, dissolved after less than a year. Big newspapers from the Los Angeles Times to the IndyStar saw major layoffs. Comfort Food Amid Closing Buffalo State Pizza expands to Kauffman Stadium, announces 'The Royal Q' pizza Buffalo State Pizza announced Sunday it is expanding to Kauffman Stadium at the start of the Kansas City Royals' 2024 season. Rock Chalk Give & Take KU Hoops fans sad to see men's team lose, but happy to see women's team advance What started as a fun, exciting day in Lawrence quickly turned into a sad Saturday. Preview For This Week . . . FIRST WARN FORECAST: MUCH colder Tuesday Showers are expected at times into Sunday night. And this is the OPEN THREAD for right now. Apropos for just a bit of Sunday contemplation . . . Don't get it twisted, we're not trying to be pious given that we'll spend this week running back & forth to the gas station & grocery store . . . And not in church . . . Nevertheless . . . APROPOS FOR HOLY WEEK . . . KANSAS CITY POLITICOS, ACTIVISTS & DEVELOPERS WILL BE FIGHTING OVER MONEY & POWER!!! From our taxpayer subsidized newsie better who had derided our snarky bloggy training and journalism skillz or lack thereof . . . Here's an EXCEPTIONAL calendar post offering a sneak peek . . . "Both sides will also be sprinting to get their respective messages out to the public before next week's vote. "The Save The Crossroads organization has a free concert at The Brick downtown on Monday at 6:00 p.m. "A vote NO defends small businesses, and promotes alternate plans for a new Royals Stadium that are more beneficial to the community as a whole," the group wrote on its website. "KC Tenants is also organizing against the tax and is recruiting people to canvass ahead of the April 2 election. "Royals owner John Sherman will be at Johnny's Tavern in the Power & Light District Wednesday at 5:00 p.m., according to a post on X by the restaurant. Sherman will "discuss the Royals vision for the Downtown Stadium and surrounding development," according to the post." Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . More deets emerge as this tragedy unfolds . . . Here's a recent passage that captured our attention: In the investigative demand, Attorney General Bailey notes: I am disturbed that it appears Hazelwood School District (HSD) has ignored long-standing Missouri law and elevated political narrative above student safety. In 2020, the HSD Board of Education adopted a Statement of Solidarity compelling the district to, among other things: categorize and treat students differently based on race; recruit, hire and promote staff based on race; and reevaluate the districts relationship with local police. Beginning with the 2021 school year, after unsuccessfully trying to subject its school resource officers (SROs) to the districts diversity, equity, and inclusion programming, Hazelwood removed uniformed police officers from its schools. To date, SROs are still not present in Hazelwood East schools. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Missouri AG sends Hazelwood School District notice of investigation after viral fight near campus leaves teenager hospitalized, another charged Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced Friday he has launched an investigation into the Hazelwood School District following a viral fight. Kaylee Gain's Family Says She's 'Breathing on Her Own' and Was 'Moved Out of the ICU' After Brain Injury The teen suffered traumatic brain injuries after a fight near her Missouri high school Developing . . . Never Miss the News with the CCN TV6 App! Here's what you can get with the CCN TV6 App: Watch the TV6 Livestream anywhere, anytime Get updates on our top news stories Get notifications about breaking news and live press conferences Get alerts for new uploads to chosen categories (e.g. 7PMNews, Morning Edition, etc.) Watch 7PM News clips, and past episodes of TV6 Originals like Morning Edition and Beyond The Tape Find what youre looking for with the fast and easy search feature Favourite articles for later viewing Share articles from within the app to your desired social platforms Read articles at varying text sizes, for improved visibility/accessibility Listen to articles with the text-to-speech function Watch past episodes of TV6 Originals like Morning Edition and Beyond The Tape Participate in the latest TV6 Promotions Browse the app in light or dark mode, or depending on your system preferences Download the FREE CCNTV6 App today! Frequently Asked Questions 1. Do you have to pay a fee to use the CCN TV6 App? The CCN TV6 App is a FREE downloadable news app. We do not charge to download or to use the CCNTV6 App. 2. Where is the CCN TV6 App available? The CCN TV6 App is available to download in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. 3. How do I start using the CCN TV6 App? Simply download the app from the recommend App Stores. 4. Is there a threat of malware or viruses to my mobile device? The official CCN TV6 App is malware-free. When downloading any mobile app, take these precautions to protect your mobile device: Only use recommend App Store (Apple App Store or Google Play Store) to download new apps Keep the apps on your phone up to date. Pay attention to notifications from publishers about updates. Need support with our CCN TV6 mobile app? Write to us here. Poe on 3 sailors injured from China water cannon We deplore the latest water cannon attack by China on a Philippine supply vessel that injured our three Navy personnel. This uncivilized action should stop. We must hold the Chinese vessel responsible for the injury inflicted on our troops. From shadowing our vessels to collisions and water cannon assaults, incidents in the West Philippine Sea have been escalating. China's actions appear geared to heighten the already tensed situation. While the Philippines continues to deal with the attacks in legal, legitimate and calm manner, we must also seek accountability. What to know about the week ahead The Buffalo Planning Board on Monday will review a special-use permit for TKO Installations to put in a full-service, single-lane drive-thru ATM for JP Morgan Chase Bank in the existing parking lot of the American Legion Niagara Frontier Post 1041 at 533 Amherst St. The bank's adjacent branch is located at 572 Amherst. Also on Monday, the panel will consider other special-use permit applications for: April Thompson , to operate her new 300 Bar & Lounge in a vacant space at 300 Detroit St ., with a capacity of 50 to 75 people. "The space will be used as a tavern bar and grill offering a diverse menu featuring sandwiches, pizza and snacks, as well as a selection of beer and liquor," she wrote in her application. , to operate her new 300 Bar & Lounge in a vacant space at ., with a capacity of 50 to 75 people. "The space will be used as a tavern bar and grill offering a diverse menu featuring sandwiches, pizza and snacks, as well as a selection of beer and liquor," she wrote in her application. Jeffrey Cox , to operate a sidewalk cafe for outdoor dining at Owl Eyes Cafe at 162 Allen St ., with eight stools and a counter. "Buffalo is renowned for its diverse food culture and this allows our restaurant/cafe to extend its services to utilize outdoor space," Cox wrote. "A vibrant patio scene is indicative of a healthy city." , to operate a sidewalk cafe for outdoor dining at Owl Eyes Cafe at ., with eight stools and a counter. "Buffalo is renowned for its diverse food culture and this allows our restaurant/cafe to extend its services to utilize outdoor space," Cox wrote. "A vibrant patio scene is indicative of a healthy city." Keith M. Carlino, to take over operation of Roselands Atlas as a "restaurant and tavern" with an outdoor dining patio, at the former Providence Social at 492 Rhode Island St. The state Labor Department will issue its monthly unemployment report for February on Tuesday afternoon. The report will be the first since the department revised its jobless numbers earlier this month, showing that the Buffalo Niagara region's unemployment rate has been steadily increasing to its highest level since the summer of 2022. The state Labor Department will host a job fair from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Chautauqua Works, 407 Central Ave. in Dunkirk. Attendees are asked to wear professional attire and bring several copies of their resume. Welcome to Buffalo Next. The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com. THE LATEST Personal seat licenses at the new Buffalo Bills stadium will cost a bundle. It's steady as she goes for the Buffalo Niagara job market. Valentino Dixon was wrongfully convicted. Now he's opening a cannabis business. Why the Buffalo Niagara housing market this spring looks a lot like it did last year. A new medical building is coming to Kensington-Bailey. More apartments have been added to a Buffalo firehouse project. What does Doug Jemal have in mind for The Buffalo News complex he acquired? What local colleges and universities are doing for the eclipse. National Grid is planning some upgrades to its local power transmission system. What the new Buffalo Bills and Sabres COO has to say about his plans. There are signs the massive Amazon project in the Town of Niagara is starting to move forward. What's new at the ballpark this season? The Buffalo News complex downtown is set to have a new owner. Buffalo Bills season ticket holders will have to wait to learn how much personal seat licenses will cost. A Hamburg manufacturer plans to expand. A developer revised a controversial Hamburg housing project to include commercial space. A coffee shop and possibly apartments could be coming to a busy Amherst intersection. ICYMI Five reads from Buffalo Next: 1. From the assembly line to the front office at the GM engine plant. 2. Why the Buffalo Black Billion has struggled to gain traction. 3. Why shoppers prefer power centers over the mall. 4. The office market still is changing, four years after Covid-19. 5. What could the future hold for the site of Erie Community College's South Campus? The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Defense Procurement Agency and the Danish Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) have signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in defense procurement. That's according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's press service, Ukrinform reports. "We are sincerely grateful to our partners from Denmark for their continuous support for Ukraine. This event is another important step in deepening our cooperation in supplying the Ukrainian Armed Forces with modern weapons and military equipment," said Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klimenkov. As part of the memorandum, the two countries' defense procurement agencies agreed on the exchange of experience and cooperation in the field of arms procurement on foreign markets. Maryna Bezrukova, director of the Defense Procurement Agency, said that procurement of modern weapons in cooperation with international partners was one of the agency's key issues. "We are convinced that strengthening cooperation with the Danish Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization will contribute to the conclusion of new contracts and the modernization of our Armed Forces," she said. According to the press service, the event was attended by Klimenkov, Bezrukova and DALO Commander, Lieutenant General Kim Jorgensen. Photos: mil.gov.ua OLAF FUB SEZ: According to author and activist Gloria Steinem, born on this date in 1934, The first resistance to social change is to say its not necessary. . . . SPEAKING FREELY Wilmer Jimenez, regional coordinator with the Rural Migrant Ministry, talks about his organizations efforts on behalf of farm workers at 7 p.m. tonight in the Canisius University Science Hall, Main Street and Delavan Avenue. Its free and open to the public. Holly A. Schreiber, chief scientist at the Buffalo Museum of Science, discusses the upcoming total solar eclipse in the free online IMAGINE lecture series at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. Zoom link is us02web.zoom.us/j/88561947406. Susan Buttaccio, librarian in the Buffalo Central Librarys Grosvenor Room and Rare Book Collection, talks about the history of Erie County libraries and the resources they offer at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Orchard Park Library, 4570 S. Buffalo St., Orchard Park. All are welcome. The Orange and the Green is the topic as Thomas Tee Caulfield explores Irelands politics at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Tewksbury Lodge, 249 Ohio St. $10 donation encouraged. Dennis Upton goes back 200 years to bring pioneering Western New York surveyor Joseph Ellicott to life at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Lewiston Church of the Messiahs Fellowship Hall, 915 Oneida St., Lewiston. The program, sponsored by the Historical Association of Lewiston, is free. Curator Tyler Angora recalls bridal fashions from the 19th century in the free Java with Joe E. coffee series at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Holland Land Office Museum, 131 W. Main St., Batavia. Reservations required. Call 585-343-4727 or email hollandlandoffice@gmail.com. . . . LIFE SAVERS Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls USA, 1900 Military Road, hosts a Red Cross blood drive from 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesday. Free, hands-only CPR training sessions will be offered at noon and 12:30 p.m. Registration required. Visit fashionoutletsniagara.com. Blood donors will receive a $10 Dunkin gift card, a pair of eclipse glasses and a T-shirt. . . . CHURCH NOTE An ecumenical Taize Service of prayer, meditation and song will be offered at 6 p.m. Wednesday in St. Stanislaus Church, 389 Peckham St. Musical numbers will feature Melanie Bebak, assistant director of the Chopin Singing Society, and Mary Lou Wyrobek, chair of Polish culture at Canisius University. . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY Joleen Dimitroff, Eugene Przybyl, Sharon Benz, Nicole Fieramusca, Don Vidler, Bobby Militello, Sandy Rifkin, Dr. David Dougherty, Glenn Gronkowski, Ellen E. Grant, Larry Chirico, Cindy Smith, Jeanne Binner, James Ehde, Vivian E. Miller, Steve Pawlak, Mary Jurek, Emma Hawthorn, Erin Willard, Kali Yeates, Adele Hoerner, Madelyn Bosworth, Mia Rose Christiano, Chris LaGrow, Gianluca Pasquarello, Fred Fabiniak and Jeffrey Cervoni. AND TUESDAY Letizia Tagliafierro, Shirley Cassety, Deidre Williams, Rolene Pozarny, Michael Foglia, Angelo LaDuca, Ryan Kagels, Cindi Thomason, Carrie Meidenbauer, Tammy Mauerman, Holly Susan Kolb, Daniel L. Smolarek, Chuck Basil, Elaine Kloc, Ariana France, Andreya France, Dale Bosworth, Jamie Brown, Michael Vitrano and Jamie Krieger. To submit birthdays and other items of interest to Reporters Notebook, please email olaffub@buffnews.com or send a letter to Reporters Notebook, Buffalo News, Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14240. Buffalo police charge teen with making threats to city schools on social media Buffalo police on Sunday charged a 15-year-old who was accused of making threats to various city schools on social media, the Police Department said Sunday night. Police dont believe the threats were credible, the department said. Police did not say if any schools were specified or on what platform the threats were made. The teen, whose name was withheld, was charged with multiple misdemeanors by the departments Threats Management Unit. Buffalo Public Schools issued a statement Sunday night, saying the district was aware of a teen being taken into custody in connection with threats made towards several BPS schools. Police dont believe the teen had the intent to follow through on the threats, the district said. However, out of an abundance of caution, there will be increased security and law enforcement presence in and around BPS schools Monday, the district said. Crisis team counselors will be available for students who wish to speak with someone about the threats, in addition to the full-time student support team members in schools, the district said. - Aaron Besecker The University of South Florida (USF) has announced its plans to establish a new college dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), marking a significant step in Florida's higher education landscape. Addressing the Growing Demand for AI Education The College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing is set to open its doors in the fall of 2025, making it the first AI-centric college within a university in Florida. According to Prasant Mohapatra, the provost and president of academic affairs for USF, the timing for this initiative is crucial. He emphasized the need for proactive measures, stating, "This is the right time; either we do it now or, 10 years from now, we chase after other entities who have done it." While AI-focused colleges within universities are relatively rare, the demand for AI education and expertise continues to grow nationwide. Institutions have been introducing AI-related degree programs, and some have made broader commitments to integrate AI into their academic offerings, exemplified by initiatives like the "AI plus initiative" at the University at Albany. Mohapatra envisions the new college as a catalyst for advancing Florida's position in the AI landscape. He stated, "This will help Florida catch up to the top level in meeting the ongoing demand in AI areas." USF plans to collaborate not only with other Florida universities but also with institutions outside the state through federal agency grants. READ ALSO: Top 10 Universities for B College Students in the US Building a Hub for AI Innovation While USF works on creating a physical space for the College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing, the college will initially operate within the university's computer science programming department. Significant investments are planned for faculty recruitment, with a focus on hiring 15 to 20 professors initially. USF's initiative adds to a growing momentum across Florida's higher education institutions towards enhancing AI education and research. The University of Florida recently established the Artificial Intelligence Academic Initiative Center, reflecting the statewide recognition of AI's importance. Additionally, Miami Dade College and other universities in Florida have also launched AI-focused initiatives and labs to keep pace with the evolving demands of the industry. Paving the Way for AI Advancement The launch of the College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Computing at the University of South Florida underscores the university's commitment to innovation and technology-driven education. By providing specialized training and resources in AI, USF aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in an increasingly AI-driven world. As Florida seeks to position itself as a leader in AI research and education, initiatives like this are instrumental in shaping the future of the state's workforce and economy. Through strategic partnerships, cutting-edge research, and innovative curriculum development, USF is set to make a lasting impact in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence. With the rapid growth of AI technologies and their impact on various sectors, including healthcare, finance, and transportation, there is a pressing need for skilled professionals in AI-related fields. USF's new college will play a vital role in meeting this demand by producing graduates equipped to tackle the complex challenges and opportunities presented by AI. Additionally, the college's focus on cybersecurity will address critical concerns surrounding data privacy and digital security, ensuring that AI advancements are leveraged responsibly and ethically. RELATED ARTICLE: Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation Posing Funding and Existential Risks to Public Sector Unions The final federal spending package for the 202324 fiscal year, released Thursday, brings a mix of relief and concern for higher education institutions across the United States. While the bill provides mostly level funding for higher education, it also introduces some changes that have left university administrators and educators contemplating their implications. The stability in funding offers a degree of reassurance to universities grappling with financial uncertainties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, concerns linger regarding the adequacy of the allocated funds to address the evolving needs of students and researchers. Flat Funding and Its Ramifications Total federal student aid assistance remains flat at $24.6 billion, disappointing many who had hoped for increased support, particularly in the wake of economic challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to maintain the maximum yearly Pell Grant award per student at $7,395 reflects a missed opportunity to address the rising costs of education and the financial strain on students from low-income backgrounds. Advocates for equity in education express disappointment, emphasizing the importance of increased investments to support underprivileged students. On the research front, agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) face cuts in funding, hindering crucial scientific endeavors and biomedical research. Despite calls for continued investments in these areas, the allocated budgets fall short of what experts deem necessary to drive meaningful progress and innovation. The impact of flat funding extends beyond student aid and research, affecting various programs and initiatives aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education. With limited resources, institutions may struggle to address systemic barriers and support marginalized student populations effectively. READ ALSO: Biden's Ambitious Higher Education Budget for 2025: Free Community College and Pell Grant Increases An End to a Chaotic Budget Cycle The passing of the spending bill brings an end to a tumultuous budget cycle marked by uncertainty and contention. The prolonged negotiations and delays have left higher education stakeholders on edge, uncertain about the future of funding and support for their institutions. The bill's release is met with a sigh of relief as it averts the deep cuts and shutdown threats that loomed over the sector. However, the overall sentiment remains mixed, with many expressing disappointment over the missed opportunities for significant investments in education and research. While the stability in funding is welcomed, there is a recognition that more needs to be done to address the pressing challenges facing higher education in the United States. In response to the bill, university leaders emphasize the importance of continued advocacy and collaboration to ensure that the needs of students and researchers are met. They call for a renewed commitment to prioritizing education and innovation, emphasizing the pivotal role that universities play in driving societal progress and economic growth. Moving forward, educators, administrators, and policymakers will need to work together to navigate the evolving landscape of higher education funding and support. Despite the challenges posed by budget constraints and competing priorities, there is optimism that by working together, they can overcome obstacles and chart a course towards a brighter future for higher education in the United States. RELATED ARTICLE: FAFSA Fiasco: Education Department Admits Another Calculation Error, Affecting Aid Estimates for Thousands Colorado lawmakers have reached a significant milestone by approving a state budget plan for the next fiscal year. The plan, approved by the state budget panel early Friday morning, focuses on bolstering crucial sectors such as K-12 education, higher education, and health care. Despite facing financial challenges, legislators have managed to prioritize essential services while navigating a complex budgetary landscape. Key Budgetary Measures The approved spending plan allocates substantial resources to address longstanding issues in education and health care. Notable highlights include a $132 million increase in funding for higher education, aimed at limiting tuition increases to 3% for in-state students and 4% for out-of-state students. Additionally, health care providers will receive a 2% increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates, albeit lower than the initially proposed 2.5% raise. State workers are set to benefit from 3% across-the-board raises, alongside additional pay bumps as part of a new pay plan under the state's collective bargaining agreement. However, achieving these investments required significant budgetary adjustments, including dipping into various state cash funds and rejecting certain proposals from Governor Jared Polis. Lawmakers redirected funds to prioritize areas they deemed underfunded, such as Medicaid providers and higher education institutions. While these decisions ensure critical sectors receive much-needed support, they also underscore the tough choices legislators had to make to balance competing priorities within a limited budget. READ ALSO: New Mexico's $959M Higher Ed Fund Paves Way for Tuition-Free College Tuition Budgetary Constraints and Trade-offs The budgetary process was marked by challenges stemming from a potential $170 million shortfall at the beginning of the week. To bridge this gap, lawmakers utilized creative accounting maneuvers and tapped into state cash funds. While these measures enabled the balancing of the budget without depleting the state's general fund reserve, they necessitated trade-offs and compromises. Despite the comprehensive nature of the proposed spending plan, it remains subject to change as it moves through the legislative process. The budget must pass through the Colorado House and Senate before Governor Polis can sign it into law. While the approved plan addresses many pressing needs, there are areas where funding fell short of expectations, such as workforce housing and autism treatment coverage. Challenges and Future Outlook Moving forward, Colorado faces ongoing fiscal challenges and uncertainties, particularly as federal stimulus funding dwindles and economic growth slows. State revenue forecasts have been less optimistic than anticipated, requiring careful budgetary management to ensure fiscal stability. Lawmakers must remain vigilant in monitoring revenue trends and adjusting spending priorities accordingly to meet the evolving needs of Colorado residents. Colorado's finalized state budget plan reflects a delicate balance between addressing immediate priorities and navigating fiscal constraints. By making strategic investments in education and health care, lawmakers aim to foster long-term prosperity and well-being for the state's residents. As the budget progresses through the legislative chambers, stakeholders will closely monitor its implementation and potential amendments to ensure alignment with the state's evolving needs and priorities. RELATED ARTICLE: Texas Higher Education Funding Surges to $4.3 Billion As the implications of HB261, a contentious piece of legislation, continue to unfold, Utah's public universities are tasked with adjusting their diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to comply with the new law. The Utah Board of Higher Education has initiated discussions on the matter, appointing Geoffrey Landward, commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education, to oversee the process. Navigating Compliance Challenges Landward and legal teams from the affected universities are working to develop draft guidelines in line with the requirements outlined in HB261. The law introduces a slew of mandates and restrictions, necessitating careful consideration to ensure compliance. The focus is on aligning university practices with the letter and spirit of HB261 to avoid potential legislative scrutiny in future sessions. University officials are grappling with the multifaceted nature of the changes mandated by HB261. While the legislation aims to broaden the scope of diversity initiatives to encompass all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, or other personal identity characteristics, it also imposes restrictions on certain practices, such as the collection of "diversity statements" from job applicants or prospective students. READ ALSO: Utah Enacts Legislation Against DEI Initiatives: Balance Between Policy Concerns and Academic Freedom Impacts and Concerns While specifics of the changes remain undisclosed, university officials acknowledge the complexity of the transition. They affirm their commitment to maintaining an inclusive environment for all students, irrespective of the adjustments mandated by HB261. However, concerns linger regarding potential ripple effects, including impacts on academic freedom, student groups, and campus culture. Some stakeholders worry that the implementation of HB261 could lead to unintended consequences, such as the termination of employees involved in diversity initiatives or a reduction in resources allocated to support historically marginalized student groups. There are also concerns that the legislation may deter prospective students from underrepresented backgrounds, thereby undermining efforts to promote diversity and equity in higher education. University representatives emphasize the importance of engaging in dialogue with lawmakers and stakeholders to address these concerns and ensure that the implementation of HB261 aligns with the overarching goals of diversity and inclusion in higher education. They stress the need for transparency and collaboration in the process to mitigate potential negative impacts and foster a supportive environment for all members of the university community. Legislative Response and Future Outlook HB261 emerged as a contentious issue during the 2024 legislative session, sparking debates over diversity initiatives and their perceived implications. While Republican lawmakers assert the need for a broader focus on diversity programming, critics argue that the law undermines efforts to support marginalized communities. Despite the challenges, Utah legislators express willingness to address concerns and collaborate on potential revisions to HB261 if necessary. Utah's public universities face a significant task in adapting to the requirements of HB261 while upholding their commitment to diversity and inclusion. The ongoing dialogue between university officials and lawmakers underscores the complexities of navigating legislative mandates within the higher education landscape. As the implementation process unfolds, stakeholders remain vigilant in advocating for policies that promote equity, inclusivity, and academic excellence across Utah's public university system. RELATED ARTICLE: Utah Governor Cox Discourages College Presidents from Political Statements Turkmen Central Authority were introduced to EU Standards in Criminal Cooperation On 12-13 March 2024, UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (UNODC ROCA) jointly with Global Programme on Criminal Network Disruption conducted the National Workshop on EU Standards for international cooperation in criminal matters for the Turkmen Central Authority with financial support by INL. The capacity-building event was organized within the framework the Judicial Cooperation Network for Central Asia and Southern Caucasus (CASC Network) supporting strengthening of central authorities to engage in international cooperation in criminal matters. Having differences in laws and legal standards, amongst others, makes international cooperation in criminal matters for mutual legal assistance and extradition too complex and cumbersome process. In line with the United Nations Conventions, the European Union (EU) has set out standards for its member states which also guide third countries in their relationship with European Estates when requiring Mutual legal Assistance. The EU's cooperation efforts are guided by the principles outlined in the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and these principles encompass areas such as police cooperation, prosecutorial cooperation, judicial cooperation and policy formulation. The EU aims to promote cooperation among member states and/or third countries to effectively combat transnational organized crime and protect the rights of victims, suspects, prisoners and other actors of the criminal proceedings. In this regard, the National workshop aimed to improve the knowledge and practical skills of the representatives of the central authorities of Turkmenistan in application of EU standards, including human rights, in day-to-day work to implement international cooperation in criminal matters with the EU Member States. The Turkmen central authority representatives advanced the awareness about available EU initiatives, instruments and standards aimed and practical skills in application tips and recommendations on human rights and other EU standards in international cooperation in criminal matters to promote a more effective and rights-based approach. Moreover, the event encouraged Turkmenistan central authority to a closer collaboration with EU member states in combating transnational organized crime. The workshop became a platform for sharing relevant information on legal and practical aspects within investigation of cross-border criminal cases. The National workshop contributed to more effective international cooperation in detection, investigation and prosecution of transboundary cases and overcoming current challenges, thereby addressing existing challenges more effectively by Turkmen central authorities. Richard Metcalf Sr. and his son, Richard Jr., were closer than a typical father and child. They had to be. Doctors told the father that his sons life would depend on it. Richard Metcalf Jr., the Depew man who died 12 years ago after a little more than a day of incarceration at the Erie County Holding Center, was born with a liver condition that required surgery. The doctors said the stronger the bond developed with his son, the better his chance of surviving the needed procedure. When he was born, Metcalf Sr. told a jury last week, we became a lot closer than you normally would because we were constantly holding him and encouraged to make a strong bond with him to give him the best opportunity to not only get better, but survive the operation he had. Metcalf Sr.s testimony came in the civil trial against Erie County and five current and former county Holding Center deputies in connection with his sons death. Holding Center sergeant testifies spit mask was applied properly in Metcalf case Former jail Sgt. Robert M. Dee, the supervisor who oversaw what happened to Metcalf that night more than 13 years ago, became the latest defendant to take the witness stand in the civil trial. The state Commission of Correction concluded in 2016 that Metcalf Jr., 35, was asphyxiated by jail deputies who tied a spit mask around his neck and a pillowcase over his head. Deputies removed Metcalf from his cell after he was injuring himself, including raking his head against his cells bars. Metcalf Sr., who has attended the majority of the trial, filed a lawsuit in 2013. A jury will decide whether the county and deputies are guilty of excessive force, negligence and deprivation of medical care. Testimony in the trial began Feb. 5 and the plaintiffs case was close to wrapping up at the end of last week. A couple of times during his testimony, Metcalf Sr. admitted he got confused about the order of some events from the days before Richard Jr. died. For the last 12 years Ive done everything I can to forget those days, Metcalf Sr. said. You never forget what happened, but you try to put them in a place where theyre not there all the time. First signs of mental illness For about the first 12 years of Richard Jr.s life, the Metcalf family lived in Massachusetts. The first several years of Richard Jr.s life involved a lot of time in the hospital. But as he got healthy and blossomed, he was a happy kid, his father told the jury. Everybody that knew him knew him for his smile. Six months before he died, his health had improved to the point that his doctors took him off the liver transplant list. At the time of his death, he was living with his girlfriend and working third shift at Walmart. The first time Metcalf Sr. said he became aware of possible mental health issues with his son was two days after Thanksgiving in 2012, less than a week before his sons death. About 3 a.m. Nov. 24, 2012, Richard Metcalf Sr. heard glass breaking in his Lancaster home. He got up and ran into the living room. A window adjacent to his homes picture window was broken. I saw hands coming through the blinds, Metcalf Sr. said. Prominent forensic pathologist testifies inmate was asphyxiated by deputies An Erie County Holding Center inmate died in 2012 because jail deputies asphyxiated him with their restraint methods, a prominent forensic pathologist told a State Supreme Court jury this week. Ready to defend his home from a potential burglar, his son poked his head through the broken window. He said, Dad, dont. Its me, Metcalf Sr. said. After he helped his son inside through the broken window, his son told him what was wrong: Somebody was after him. Richard Jr. told his parents they needed to get down and hide. They tried reassuring their son, but he kept getting agitated, his father said. Richard Jr. went to work the next night and called his father from work, again reporting that he felt someone was out to get him. The next morning, Nov. 26, 2012, the father and son went to Buffalo General Medical Center. Metcalf Jr. said he wanted help. Metcalf Sr. said he wasnt allowed to go with his son when he was taken back to speak with medical staff. He said he tried to, but was told he wasnt able because his son was of age. He said he wanted to make sure medical staff were told everything about his sons recent experiences. As they left the hospital with a prescription for anxiety medication, his son appeared relieved that he was on his way to getting the help he wanted, Metcalf Sr. said. Early the next morning, around 2:30 a.m. Nov. 27, 2012, Metcalf Jr. ran out of his home in shorts and no shoes. He said he needed to cool down and wasnt able to. He was arrested by Depew police inside a nearby banquet center after with a large wrench over his head he charged at an officer who had drawn his weapon. The officer deployed a Taser to take him into custody. Metcalf Sr. saw his son during his arraignment in Depew Village Court later that morning. The judge ordered a mental health evaluation. After the court appearance, Metcalf Sr. said he had difficulties getting information about where his son was, but believed his son would be taken to Erie County Medical Center for that evaluation. Depew police did take Metcalf to ECMC, but that was for an evaluation due to him being stunned twice with a Taser. Like a nightmare The next time Metcalf Sr. heard anything about his son was when Depew police knocked on his door in the early morning hours of Nov. 28, 2012. The police were doing a courtesy call and told him his son was involved in a catastrophic medical event. He should get to Buffalo General right away, the police told him. That was where his son, unbeknownst to him at the time, had been taken by ambulance after being removed from his cell in the Holding Center and restrained in a jail infirmary. Erie County Sheriff's Office says file on inmate death that was presumed destroyed has been found The confirmation came less than an hour after the judge in the case described in open court a phone call about the file his staff received earlier in the day. When he and his wife got to the hospital, two sheriffs deputies were outside the sheet surrounding their sons hospital bed. They walked past the sheet and saw their son on his back, hooked up to various machines and tubes. It was the last thing that we expected to see, Metcalf Sr. told jurors. One of Richard Jr.s eyes was swollen shut and way puffed out. That injury would have taken a lot of force to inflict, he said. He had never seen anything like it. It looked like he was in a bad car accident, he said. Due to the severe trauma he suffered, Metcalf Jr. would be transferred shortly thereafter to ECMC. After going through a security screening required because their son was still in the custody of the Sheriffs Office they were allowed to enter his hospital room. I dont even know if I have the words, he said. Its like a nightmare. Anybody thats a parent, thats your worst fear seeing your child helpless and you cant do a freaking thing about it. Jane Metcalf, Richard Jr.s mother, began rubbing her sons arm. Thats when the parents noticed bruises all over his arm. From there, they discovered bruises all over their sons body including on his shoulder, stomach, back and legs. Thats something I dont want in my head anymore, he said. ECMC doctors later told the parents their sons organs were shutting down. He had a severe infection and a severe fever. No medical interventions they tried were working. After talking it over, they made the decision to remove their son from life support. Before that happened, they were able to speak with him for the final time. This time, they were allowed to bypass the security screening. Richard Jr.s girlfriend and one of his friends joined the parents in the room. His brother, Jeff, joined them. Jeff took his own life in October 2016. Andrea Conjerti, one of the attorneys from the Brown Chiari firm representing Richard Sr., asked him to tell the jury about the last time he talked to his son. You talk to your child like you know its the end, but I dont really know if he knew it was the end. And youre making a decision based on medical things and what they can no longer do. They cant keep him alive anymore, the tearful father said. Remarks: Notification of change of GSO position of Inmarsat-4 F1 (international designator 2005-009A). (@FahadShabbir) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2024) Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday received a telephone call from Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs Lord David Cameron, and expressed resolve to enhance bilateral relations in diverse areas. "Today, I received a telephone call from Lord David Cameron, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of Great Britain", Ishaq Dar wrote on X (formerly Twitter). During the conversation, they discussed bilateral relations and regional issues. They also resolved to continue working closely to further enhance strong bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, education, climate change & people-to-people contacts. Meanwhile, according to a press release issued by the Foreign Office spokesperson, the Foreign Minister, reiterating the importance of Pakistan-UK relationship said that Pakistan and the UK had longstanding, historic relations with multifaceted cooperation. The Foreign Minister emphasized the early conclusion of the Enhanced Strategic Partnership (ESP) agreement to take relations to the next level. The foreign minister stressed on the need to enhance bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, people to people contacts and climate. He stressed on the need for early resumption of PIA flights between Pakistan and the UK which would further bolster linkages, particularly in view of the large Pakistani diaspora in the UK. The two ministers also discussed important regional issues including Afghanistan and the situation in Gaza. The foreign minister invited Lord Cameron to visit Pakistan on mutually convenient dates. (@FahadShabbir) New York, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Mar, 2024) US aviation giant Boeing has grappled with high-profile production problems and incidents involving its aircraft for more than a year -- leading up to Monday's announcement that CEO Dave Calhoun would step down at the end of 2024. These are the issues that his successor, who has yet to be named, will be dealing with: - Production issues - Throughout 2023, the aircraft maker was hit by production and delivery delays on its flagship 737 vessel due to manufacturing problems. In April last year, Boeing reported issues with a supplier part on the 737 MAX that was expected to slow deliveries of the jets. A few months later, Boeing noted a problem with the aircraft's rear bulkhead, describing the issue as the result of misshapen holes drilled in a part of the fuselage that helps maintain plane pressure. And in December, Boeing urged customers to inspect for loose hardware on plane rudder control systems after an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance. - Safety incidents - By early 2024, Boeing's production issues spilled into other parts of its operations. On January 5, a panel known as a "door plug" blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines mid-flight, leaving a gaping hole in the cabin. The affected door plug panel is used to fill an unneeded emergency exit in planes. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded 171 MAX 9 planes and launched an audit into the company's quality control. A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety board (NTSB) published in February found that four bolts securing the panel that blew off were missing. Boeing employees removed the bolts during an inspection at the Renton plant in Washington state prior to delivery of the aircraft last October. But Boeing has been unable to produce key information about work performed on the plane before the mid-air scare, according to the NTSB. Boeing has itself launched an internal investigation and taken steps to improve its safety and quality procedures. - Control failures - The FAA's audit identified "non-compliance issues in Boeing's manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control" at Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems. In a statement dated March 4, the FAA gave Boeing 90 days to outline its action plan to address findings, including from an expert review panel's report examining the company's safety culture. In 2018 and 2019, two accidents -- off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia -- involving Boeing 737 MAX aircraft claimed 346 lives. After the latest incident with Alaska Airlines, the FAA halted production expansion of the Boeing 737 MAX as well. - Investigations - According to US media, in addition to investigations by regulators, the US Department of Justice has also opened a criminal investigation into the January 5 incident. Last week, the Seattle Times said passengers had received letters notifying them that they had been identified as possible victims of a crime. Meanwhile, an investigation has been launched in New Zealand after a LATAM 787 Dreamliner dropped violently mid-flight, injuring dozens of travelers. - Heightened scrutiny - Against this backdrop, incidents involving Boeing aircraft have come under extra scrutiny -- attracting regulators' probes in some cases. Boeing has noted that several of these other incidents occurred on older aircraft, whose maintenance would be an airline's responsibility. In mid-January, an Atlas Air Boeing 747 cargo plane made an emergency return to Miami International Airport following an engine problem. In late February, United Airlines pilots reported that the rudder pedals of the 737 MAX they were flying were stuck after landing in Newark, New Jersey. Other recent episodes include one in which a United flight headed for Florida returned to the airport it departed from, in Houston, after experiencing an engine fire due to plastic bubble wrap ingested from the airfield. Another United plane bound for Japan lost a tire after taking off from San Francisco. An EU law banning deforestation-derived products comes into effect at the end of 2024, but for Brazilian Indigenous people it contains an unbearable loophole: the Cerrado, Brazil's vast wooded savanna, is excluded from its scope Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2024) An EU law banning deforestation-derived products comes into effect at the end of 2024, but for Brazilian Indigenous people it contains an unbearable loophole: the Cerrado, Brazil's vast wooded savanna, is excluded from its scope. An Indigenous delegation taking up the issue during a visit to Brussels said that the oversight -- for a region that supplies Europe with soy -- is "a question of survival" for them. "The Cerrado is my home," declared Eliane Xunakalo, her feathered headdress waving in Belgium's spring weather. The president of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Mato Grosso, one of the big Brazilian states across which the savanna extends, she visited Brussels last week with other activists to press the European Union to "improve" its anti-deforestation law. Adopted last year, the legislation requires importers to show their products come from "deforestation-free supply chains" and not from land deforested after 2020. Its scope covers palm oil, beef, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber and rubber as well as derived products such as furniture and chocolate. It comes into force at the end of December this year. However the definition of "forest" in the text does not extend to wooded ecosystems such as the Cerrado, which extends through central Brazil and into neighbouring Paraguay and Bolivia. Much of the soy imported into Europe comes from that zone, and deforestation within it jumped 43 percent last year. The attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130 people has raised fresh security fears for the Paris Olympics, leading France's interior minister to promise Monday that police and intelligence services would be "ready" Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2024) The attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 130 people has raised fresh security fears for the Paris Olympics, leading France's interior minister to promise Monday that police and intelligence services would be "ready". The government upgraded the country's terror threat level to its maximum on Sunday, with France a frequent target of the Islamic State (IS) group which has claimed responsibility for Friday's bloodshed in the Russian capital. President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the IS entity believed to be behind the killings -- known as Khorasan, which is a branch in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- had also sought to attack France. "This particular group made several attempts (at attacks) on our own soil," Macron told reporters after arriving on a trip to the French South American region of French Guiana. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the Paris Olympics, which begin on July 26, were an obvious future target. "France, because we defend universal values, and are for secularism... is particularly threatened, notably during extraordinary events such as the Olympics," he told reporters. "The French police, gendarmes, prefects, intelligence services, will be ready," he added, saying that "we have a very effective intelligence system. We stop plots developing almost every month." The heads of intelligence services would hold a meeting on Thursday "to discuss all the conclusions of the attack on Moscow," he added. French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said that 4,000 extra soldiers would be deployed nationwide in the days to come. "The terrorist threat is real, it's strong," he told reporters, adding that two plots had been thwarted already this year. Nine people including a teenage girl were wounded Monday after Ukrainian air defence systems downed two Russian missiles over the capital, sending metal debris crashing to the ground Kyiv, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2024) Nine people including a teenage girl were wounded Monday after Ukrainian air defence systems downed two Russian missiles over the capital, sending metal debris crashing to the ground. AFP journalists saw emergency workers in hard helmets clearing concrete and bent metal from one building ripped open during the attack, the third aerial bombardment of the capital in just five days. Moscow has escalated its aerial attacks on Kyiv, targeting key infrastructure in the wake of fatal Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions. AFP reporters heard several explosions and air raid sirens in Kyiv almost simultaneously at around 10:30 am (0830 GMT) as officials urged residents to take shelter. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack showed again that Ukraine needed better air defence systems from its allies. "It means safety for our cities and saved human lives. All of us in the world who respect and protect life need to stop this terror," he wrote on social media. Emergency services said nine people were wounded, while Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the teenager was among those hospitalised, and two pregnant women had suffered acute stress reactions. Oksana, a Kyiv resident, was at work when she first heard the air raid sirens and then a blast. "Before I could do anything, the first explosion hit," she told AFP. "There was a cloud of dust, smashed cars, windows, everything." The head of Kyiv's military administration, Sergiy Popko, said Russia had attacked with two ballistic missiles launched from the annexed Crimean peninsula. Annual Pitch Event to Showcase Mississippi-based Entrepreneurs Mon, 03/25/2024 - 07:11am | By: Van Arnold Mississippi-based entrepreneurs are encouraged to sign up for an opportunity to pitch their business initiatives at the 3rd annual Mississippi Polymer Institute (MPI) Business Pitch Event from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17 at The Accelerator, located in The University of Southern Mississippis (USM) Innovation and Commercialization Park. The pitch event is a part of Innovate Mississippis CoBuilders program, where seven partners around the state host pitch events as prerequisites for the chance to qualify for the CoBuilders 12-week business accelerator program. The program includes coursework, mentorship, funding, and a final pitch to angel investors for successful finalists. Caitlyne Shirley, MPI Business Development Manager, emphasizes that these types of events support and catalyze local business innovation. As a research university, entrepreneurial development is vital to bringing research and products to the public, said Shirley. Not only is the Pitch Event a great conduit for USM activities, but it aligns perfectly with MPIs mission to help foster the growth of technology and innovation-focused businesses within the state with the aim to bring better products and higher-paying jobs to Mississippians. Shirley notes that last years event featured nine participants, and they will be expanding the field this year. The quality of the business pitches gets better every year, and we cant wait to see what this year brings. We are expanding the lineup so that earlier-stage companies can get more experience pitching and to grow our entrepreneur community. All start-ups are encouraged to submit proposals; however biotech and material-based startups are particularly encouraged because of the large presence of medical and material know-how in the southern region. Cash prizes will also be awarded in addition to the chance entry to the Cobuilder cohort. The deadline to apply for the MPI pitch event is April 17th. To sign up, visit the registration website. About the Mississippi Polymer Institute MPI is a non-profit industrial outreach arm of The University of Southern Mississippi that serves to foster technically-oriented business and job growth by providing technical services. MPI serves companies, start-ups, inventors, economic development agencies, schools, and communities through product development, product testing, manufacturing troubleshooting, third party evaluations, training, and outreach. USMs Veterans Center Offers Educational Resources on the Gulf Coast Mon, 03/25/2024 - 09:17am | By: Gabriela Shinskie Less than one percent of Americans currently serve in the military, enabling the rest to enjoy freedoms often taken for granted. The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Center for Military Veterans, Service Members, and Families is committed to helping those who sacrificed so much with a wide range of benefits. True Southern Miss grit is radiated through Stacy Henley, Veterans Affairs (VA) Benefits Coordinator at the Gulf Park campus in Long Beach. Her familys military history has inspired her to give back to those who have worn the uniform. Shes proud to provide a space at Gulf Park to offer educational help for students. We assist the students with their educational benefits and in doing so we help them complete their educational goals. We try to bring the military community together at USM in providing access to benefits that can help them be successful, said Henley. Henley expressed the importance of providing educational resources along the coast for USM military veterans. Providing a sense of comradery and unity on campus is a way to help transitioning service members and their families find a place they can call home. It gives USM military veterans a place to come together and provide a time to ask questions. They feel more comfortable knowing that someone has been through what they have been through. It makes it easier for them to sit down and talk to you, states Henley. Originally from Bay Saint Louis, Miss, Henley calls McHenry, Miss home. Her love for the Gulf Coast has placed her at Gulf Park for 25 years starting in Financial Aid and Veterans Affairs, then later transitioning to VA Educational Benefits for Gulf Park students. She points out that having resources available to many military veterans along the Mississippi Gulf Coast is vital. Its easier for them to come here if they live on the coast, said Henley. Its a good thing to have a presence here. Major Gen. Jeff Hammond, Director of Veterans and Military Affairs at USM, is retired from service but dedicates his life to helping those military veterans and students on the Hattiesburg and Gulf Park campuses. The USM Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families fully incorporates all the support services for military connected students on both our Hattiesburg and Long Beach campus locations, said Hammond. This includes a VA Benefits Coordinator Veteran Services Official operating from offices located in Hardy Hall. Misty Manning, USM marine biologist student, expresses her gratitude to Stacy and the Veterans Center. My husband is a veteran. Just knowing the service exists is great because not many people know the services exist, said Manning. As one of the Top-10 Military Friendly schools across the United States, we consider it an honor to care for all our South Mississippi military connected students and their families, said Maj. Gen. Hammond. Learn more about USMs Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families. Woman charged with weapons possession after gun is found in diaper bag at arena A Rochester woman faces an illegal weapons possession charge after an incident Saturday evening at the KeyBank Center during the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show, the Erie County Sheriffs Office reported. According to the report, a Sheriffs Office patrol that had been detailed to work the event was called for assistance at about 7:10 p.m. by KeyBank Center security, who informed deputies that an X-ray baggage scanner had picked up the presence of a handgun inside a diaper bag carried by Tenita R. Cullum, 32. The weapon inside the bag was later confirmed to be a .22 caliber handgun that was loaded with a round in the chamber and six rounds in the magazine. A subsequent investigation determined that Cullum did not possess a pistol permit. Cullum was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. She was taken to the Erie County Holding Center, where she was being held Sunday pending her arraignment in Buffalo City Court. - Harold McNeil The University of Wyomings Service, Leadership and Community Engagement (SLCE) office will host an accidental activist panel Wednesday, March 27, at 6 p.m. in the Wyoming Union Family Room. The event is free and open to the public. In a world where change often begins with a single, unexpected catalyst, this panel brings together individuals who never set out to be activists but found themselves in the midst of movements, organizers say. These accidental activists have remarkable stories to share that show the power of personal conviction, courage and determination to make a difference. To attend this event, fill out the registration form here. Those who need accommodations to attend this event should call the SLCE office at 766-3117. Ohios attorney general has ordered public colleges and universities to end merit scholarships that incorporate race-based criteria, saying they are unconstitutional. The attorney general advised education officials that compliance with a 2023 Supreme Court decision on race-based admissions extends to scholarships, according to the Columbus Dispatch. (March 2024) When lawyers for Peter Gerace Jr. last summer listed two relatives of U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. among the defense witnesses, the judge said he was duty-bound to recuse himself from the high-profile bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case. Including the two on the witness list appears to be gamesmanship, Sinatra said when he recused himself June 21. Federal prosecutors now see a corrupt motive behind adding the two names. Prosecutors said they obtained a recording from an investigator during the governments investigation into the July death of Crystal Quinn, a witness in the Gerace case. The recording, they say, reveals a disingenuous motive for adding the relatives names an orchestrated recusal. The constellation of available facts goes to corrupt motive, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey L. Chalbeck at a recent court proceeding. Chalbecks assertion is the latest development in the governments case against Gerace, who owns Pharaohs Gentlemens Club. Indicted three years ago, Gerace is awaiting trial on charges of bribing a DEA agent and operating the Cheektowaga strip club as a drug-involved premises where drugs were sold and young women were exploited through their drug addictions and coerced into sex acts. A January indictment named Gerace as part of a conspiracy targeting Quinn for retaliation. Gerace attorney Eric Soehnlein, who with then-co-counsel Steven Cohen put the names on the defense witness list, told Sinatra in June adding the names wasnt taken lightly. Geraces lawyers said both of the relatives names had been included among the pretrial information the government turned over to them about witnesses and evidence. Since November, prosecutors have sought to remove Soehnlein as one of Geraces defense lawyers. Court filings have been sealed from public view. Lawyers involved in the case have declined to comment and have been vague about the facts in court proceedings. So theres no public explanation from prosecutors detailing what they believe Soehnlein did that justifies trying to oust him. At a recent hearing, Rodney O. Personius, ethics counsel for Soehnlein, denied any corrupt intent to force Sinatra off the case by submitting his relatives as potential witnesses. I can make a representation to you that Mr. Soehnlein absolutely, unqualifiedly its not even close did not have a corrupt intent, Personius told U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo, who inherited the case from Sinatra. Vilardo held the proceeding to hear arguments on the governments request to disqualify Soehnlein. Personius said a transcript from a proceeding held in front of Sinatra on May 17, a month before his recusal, just categorically, categorically establishes that there was zero possibility that Mr. Soehnlein was involved in any type of obstruction, that he had any type of corrupt intent. Three different times in this transcript when it was represented to him who the witnesses would be, and what they would testify to, this same judge said, I dont have a problem with that, I dont have a problem with it. The government had no problem with that. So, if nothing else, based on this transcript of these proceedings four weeks before this witness list was prepared, there was no reason to think that it was inappropriate. But clues emerged during the recent proceeding before Vilardo about why prosecutors are pressing to remove Soehnlein as Geraces lawyer. Prosecutors mentioned a recording. That recording suggests that the recusal was an end looking for a means, Chalbeck told Vilardo. And the means was discovered maybe in part by tasking someone to research a federal judges family members through Ancestry.com in concert with somebody who has been convicted of murder, and in concert with looking at Jencks trying to find a name that could be put on the witness list. Her reference to Jencks pertains to the Jencks Act, a law requiring the government to produce to the defense prior statements of prosecution witnesses as part of discovery. Chalbeck did not identify who she meant by somebody who has been convicted of murder. Late last hear, however, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch notified the court that the government uncovered a conspiracy, which the investigative team believes involves Gerace and Roderick Arrington, who beat a murder charge and was sentenced in January to narcotics racketeering conspiracy. Other names in Lynchs letter to Arringtons attorney were blacked out in his redacted letter that was placed on the public record. Gerace and Arrington were in custody at the Niagara County jail at the same time as their cases proceeded through the court system. Three pages of Lynchs five-page letter to Arringtons lawyer dealt with Sinatras recusal in the Gerace case. The calculus changed Prosecutors were irked when Soehnlein and Cohen put the relatives names on the defense witness list. Did we think it was shady and a little suspicious? Sure, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told Vilardo at the recent hearing. But nobody was jumping to conclusions asking to disqualify Mr. Soehnlein, Tripi said. Then Quinn died of an overdose in July under suspicious circumstances. The former exotic dancer had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their case against Gerace. Stung by the death of a witness, prosecutors and the FBI ratcheted up their investigation over the summer and fall in what had already been an intense Pharaohs Gentlemens Club criminal case targeting Gerace and retired DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni. I think we need to just remember when the calculus changed. Now were ramping up our investigation into the death of a witness, Judge, Tripi told Vilardo. And in that context, we came across the recording. We didnt expect to hear what we heard, Tripi said. But once we heard the things, and I wont repeat them, thats where we were left, Judge. When weighing what the counsels told the court last summer leading up to the defense witness list being filed, the recording that the government obtained afterward indicated that was a bad-faith decision made to commit a fraud upon the court, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cooper, who has partnered with Tripi and Chalbeck to prosecute Gerace. Personius, Soehnleins lawyer, said the recording made by an investigator ambiguously refers to them and they. It makes zero reference to Mr. Soehnlein, Personius said. Whats more, the lawyer for the investigator has indicated that the investigator, if interviewed about the recording, would say that nothing on the recording has anything to do with Soehnlein, Personius said. So thats why I say, there is no case here, Judge, Personius said. The governments request to disqualify Soehnlein has disrupted Geraces legal team. Cohen withdrew from the team in September, telling Vilardo that Gerace fired him because of disagreements over legal strategy. Attorney Mark Foti, who replaced Cohen, in November said the governments bid to oust Soehnlein would eviscerate any hope that the defense has of being ready for trial. Indeed, Vilardo postponed Geraces trial and, reversing Sinatras previous order for a joint trial for Gerace and Bongiovanni, allowed Bongiovanni to stand trial separately. Bongiovannis trial began five weeks ago. If not for evidence from the investigation into Quinns death, were having a joint trial right now, Tripi said. Once prosecutors obtained the recording, thats when were duty-bound to bring the motion, he said. Downright scary Gerace faces multiple felony charges, including drug trafficking, sex trafficking, bribing a federal drug agent, witness tampering and obstruction of justice. He has pleaded not guilty. Before withdrawing from Geraces Pharaohs case, Cohen had made public remarks critical of Sinatra over some of his rulings. Last June, when Sinatra ordered Gerace to remain in pretrial custody, Cohen said, This judge continues to be particularly harsh to Mr. Gerace, and we see no legitimate basis for that. The month before, when Sinatra ruled he would not suppress evidence seized during the 2019 searches of Geraces home and his Pharaohs Gentlemens Club, Cohen said, The government is doing everything in its power to prevent Geraces defense from preparing our client for trial. Regrettably, they have found a sympathetic judge who has ordered all these restrictions. If Cohen had a legitimate reason to add the judges relatives to the defense list, but also had an ulterior motive to get a different judge, Vilardo asked the prosecutors if that would still be considered a crime. Suppose I have two witnesses that are identical in every way, Vilardo said to Cooper. One of them is going to get the judge who I dont like recused, and I put that witness on the witness list not the other one. Thats clearly a mixed motive. I want to get the judge recused, Im putting that witness on. Have I committed a crime? Cooper replied, Judge, I think its a question of fact that ultimately would be up for a grand jury to decide. The law says yes. Do you have any idea the chill that just went up Mr. Personius back, and Mr. Fotis back, and Mr. Soehnleins back ... that if they do something to get rid of a judge, that has a legitimate other purpose, that they are committing a crime? Vilardo said. In an exchange with Vilardo, Chalbeck said the facts of this case were the evidence of corrupt motive (that) came to the government. Vilardo said a witness might give testimony thats good for a defense lawyers client, but the real reason for adding the witness is to get the judge recused. And youre telling me thats a crime, and Im telling you thats downright scary, Vilardo said. We cant get into the lawyers head because that would do exactly what Im saying you folks are doing here, that is sending a chill up the back of every defense attorney in the country for doing something that they have a mixed motive for, Vilardo said. Vilardo has yet to rule on whether to remove Soehnlein. At one point, Vilardo said he agreed with Personius description of the case as being extraordinarily weak. But the judge also called it a thorny issue. Vilardo also raised a concern about Geraces right to a speedy trial, saying that if he concludes the governments disqualification motion is an extraordinarily flimsy case that you are simply pursuing because you can pursue it, and perhaps to get an excellent lawyer like Mr. Soehnlein off the case, I think Mr. Gerace has a pretty strong speedy trial motion that he can make. Hardy souls across New England were spending their Sunday shoveling out after a major storm dumped more than 60 centimeters of snow in some areas, causing multiple road accidents, downing power lines and leaving hundreds of thousands across the Northeast without electricity. Road conditions were dangerous Saturday night for crews seeking to restore power, according to Central Maine Power, the state's largest utility, which said the companys focus overnight was responding to emergency calls and making downed power lines safe. As of daylight Sunday, crews began assessing and clearing damage to begin widespread power restoration efforts. The company said it expected a multiday effort in areas hardest hit by the storm. Damage to trees, poles and wires was significant overnight on Saturday, and our assessors are taking stock of the damage today so we can begin restoring power to our customers as quickly and as safely as possible, said Jon Breed of Central Maine Power. Police across the Northeast reported hundreds of traffic accidents as cars spun out and drivers grappled with icy road conditions. As the storm was winding down, about 200,000 customers were without power in Maine and another 80,000 or so without power in New Hampshire. Breed said that ahead of the storm, the company pre-staged 150 crews across its service area and another 200 crews were arriving Sunday. Versant, Maine's second-largest utility, reported about 15,000 outages Sunday morning, compared with 188,000 reported by Central Maine. Zack Taylor, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said heavy snowfall from the storm stretched across the region, including upstate and northern New York through Vermont, New Hampshire, and most of Maine. Many areas saw totals of 20 to 30 centimeters of snow, but there was a localized area that saw more than 60 centimeters. Some of the highest totals exceeded 76 centimeters in south central Vermont. So overall, it was a pretty significant winter storm and for some areas that was some of the most snow theyve seen all winter with a single storm, Taylor said. Major cities from Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, to Philadelphia, New York and Boston saw heavy rain and flooding. In New York, more than 90,000 customers were without power Sunday morning. Areas north of New York City were among the hardest hit, according to online maps from National Grid and PowerOutage.us, a power outage tracking website. The combination of sleet, freezing rain and heavy, wet snow that took down trees and power lines was also blamed for hundreds of delayed and canceled flights at area airports. In New York City, a flood watch and wind advisory were in place until 2 a.m. Sunday, and flooding affected subway service. Rainwater also closed part of the Cross Island Parkway in Queens as police warned motorists about standing water on roadways throughout the city. In Lodi, New Jersey, flooding from the Saddle River inundated nearby roads. Taylor said another significant winter storm is evolving in the West and will continue through Monday across much of the Rockies, Plains and in the upper Midwest. That system is expected to bring heavy snowfall across portions of Wisconsin, Minnesota, much of the Dakotas and even down into Nebraska and western Kansas with the potential of 20 to 30 centimeters of snow, with higher amounts across the eastern Dakotas and portions of central Minnesota, he added. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down from the embattled plane maker at the end of the year after a series of mishaps at one of America's most storied manufacturers. Board Chair Larry Kellner has also told the company he doesn't plan to stand for re-election. Boeing also said Monday that Stan Deal, president and CEO of its commercial airplanes unit, will retire from the company. Stephanie Pope will now lead the division. The Federal Aviation Administration has put the company under intense scrutiny and recently ordered an audit of assembly lines at a Boeing factory near Seattle, where the company builds planes like the Alaska Airlines 737 Max that suffered a door-panel blowout on Jan. 5. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory. The incident has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. Shares rose more than 2% before the market open. China said it may propose talks on maritime issues with Australia amid ongoing tensions in the South China Sea. Following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yis trip to Australia last week during which he exchanged views on trade, consular affairs, and regional security with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on March 21 that Beijing is actively considering launching a dialogue on maritime affairs with Australia. In response to Beijings proposal, Australias Foreign Affairs and Trade Department told VOA in a written response that Wang and Wong exchanged views on maritime safety and security during their meeting on March 20, adding that Canberra will consider the most practical and useful format for dialogue on maritime issues. The announcement comes amid efforts from Beijing and Canberra to improve bilateral relations after China imposed sanctions worth $12.7 billion on Australian products, most of which have been lifted in recent months. While China and Australia have agreed on stabilizing trade relations, regional security remains a sensitive issue between the two countries. Following her meeting with Wang, Australias Wong told journalists that she reiterated Canberras serious concern about unsafe conduct at sea. I reflected the view of our region as outlined again and underscored again at the recent ASEAN summit about the importance of the South China Sea being governed by international law, particularly UNCLOS [the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea], she said during a press conference on March 20. Some analysts say Australia and China could both benefit from a bilateral dialogue over maritime issues. While Australia needs to avoid being viewed as endorsing Chinas approach in the South China Sea, the way to work on de-escalating incidents in the maritime domain is to have open communication, Jennifer Parker, an expert associate at the Australian National University, told VOA by phone. Other experts say Australia should handle Beijings proposal with caution. Beijings motive is to include the maritime affairs dialogue on the bilateral track with Canberra, and China is likely hoping to move Australian public discussion of the South China Sea and other maritime issues as far as possible, Euan Graham, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told VOA by phone. Since the Albanese administration has been heavily invested in improving ties with China, Graham thinks Canberra will find it hard to decline Beijings proposal. Instead of keeping the dialogue in a bilateral format, some analysts say Australia will try to multi-lateralize the format and involve other countries. Once [Australia] multi-lateralizes the format, they move [the dialogue] away from the asymmetry thats inherent in the Australia-China relationship, and they create more breaks on what the Chinese can do, Stephen Nagy, a regional security expert at the International Christian University in Japan, told VOA by phone. Despite Chinas willingness to discuss maritime issues with Australia, Graham said its unlikely Beijing will change its posture in the South China Sea, where Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly engaged in confrontation with Philippine vessels. Beijing is not going to change its positions [in the South China Sea] because it has been trying to get broader regional acceptance of its version of the law of the sea and maritime claims, he told VOA. Parker said that a maritime affairs dialogue between China and Australia could at least help de-escalate regional tensions. I think a dialogue between Australia and China on maritime affairs may assist in a mechanism to de-escalate incidents once they occur, she told VOA. Rising tension Tension flared up again between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea over the weekend. The Philippine government said Chinese coast guard ships sprayed a Philippine vessel conducting a resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal with water cannons on Saturday. The incident is the latest episode in the ongoing confrontation between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the region. Beijing has urged Manila to stop its infringement and confrontation in the disputed waters, while the Philippine government vowed to exercise its legal rights over its maritime zones. In response to the heightened tensions, Australia has strengthened partnerships with Southeast Asian countries in recent months, conducting patrols with the Philippines in the region last year and upgrading bilateral relations with Vietnam earlier this month. As Beijing maintains its aggressive posture in the South China Sea, some experts say it will be difficult for China to convince Australia to change its stance on regional maritime security issues. Beijing has increased its aggression and thats not going to make it easy for Australia to take a neutral stance, Ray Powell, director of Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center, told VOA by phone. While Australia doesnt have enough capacity to independently influence the South China Sea dynamics, Graham said Canberra could be an effective balancer in the region. Australia can shift the dial over the long-term struggle with Beijing by developing a sophisticated division of labor with other countries in the region, including the U.S., Japan, India, and Southeast Asian countries that are willing to work with Canberra, he told VOA. A joint investigation by three environmental groups has documented six potentially illegal large-scale deforestation cases in Australia. Greenpeace Australia Pacific, the Queensland Conservation Council and the Wilderness Society published their findings Monday. The groups have provided their allegations of unauthorized land clearing to the federal government in Canberra for assessment. The alliance has said that in each case, habitat for threatened and endangered species, including the koala, were bulldozed without official permission. The report says Australia's national environment law is ineffective and the Canberra government is neglecting the problem. Campaigners have argued that Australia ranks second in the world for biodiversity loss, leads the world in mammal extinctions and has been named as the only developed nation on a global deforestation hotspot list. Glenn Walker, who heads the nature program at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Monday that deforestation in Australia has reached crisis levels. The figures are really alarming. Theres a lot of wildlife being killed one native animal every single second because of this destruction happening right across Australia, and it is the responsibility of the federal government to step in," he said. "This should be an issue of national environmental leadership, particularly as the government is reforming our national environment law, and we can fix this problem. Australia's national environment law, the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, is currently being reviewed by the Labor government. A spokesperson for Tanya Plibersek, the federal minister for the Environment and Water, has said the Canberra government was undertaking broad consultation on what would be strong new environment laws. Draft sections of the new conservation laws, which are scheduled to be introduced to Parliament this year, have been shared with conservation, business and other organizations. The minister has, so far, not responded to allegations of widespread illegal land clearing. The Canberra government previously declared that Australia supports up to 700,000 native species. A very high proportion of these are found nowhere else in the world. For example, about 85% of Australias plant species are endemic to the continent, and Australia is home to half of the planets marsupial species. Officials also have estimated that Australias biodiversity is far greater than is currently categorized. They say about 70 percent or 400,000 of the continents species of animals, plants, fungi and other organisms have not yet been discovered, documented, named and officially classified. On March 15, Iceland announced it would train Ukrainian naval cadets in practical seamanship including navigation, maritime surveillance, and operations, including search and rescue. This Nordic island nation has less than 400,000 citizens, and is unique among North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies, as it does not have a standing military or military supplies. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called out Iceland for announcing what she called its long-term plan to increase assistance to the Kyiv regime, which she said included financing the purchase of weapons and the training of Ukrainian armed forces fighters. Iceland is among the countries whose mercenaries have travelled to Ukraine. It also trains Ukrainian military sailors on its territory, Zakharova said. The oh-so 'peaceful' Iceland is thus trying to keep up with its senior allies in sponsoring Ukrainian Nazis. These claims are misleading. First, Iceland has no navy. The Icelandic Coast Guard (ICG) will be training the Ukrainian sailors. The ICG is a law enforcement agency responsible for search and rescue, maritime safety, security surveillance, and law enforcement in Icelandic waters. The training will for the most part take place aboard Coast Guard vessels where smaller groups of cadets will receive several weeks of training, a government press release read. Second, there is no evidence of Icelanders joining the Ukrainian army to fight Russian aggression. Iceland has advised its citizens not to fight in Ukraine. Icelands government has no knowledge on any Icelandic citizens fighting or who have fought for the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the International Legion, a spokesperson at the Icelandic Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Polygraph.info. Russia has repeatedly called foreign volunteers fighting on behalf of Ukraine "mercenaries," even when those individuals have joined the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, which was incorporated into Ukraines armed forces. As Polygraph.info previously reported, the International Committee of the Red Cross, in its guidance on legal protections for combatants in a war, defines a mercenary as "a person who takes a direct part in hostilities motivated essentially by the desire for private gain. According to the Red Cross, "a national of a neutral State who enlists in the armed forces of a party to the conflict is not a mercenary. Foreign volunteers fighting in Ukraine, apart from being incorporated into Ukraines armed forces, also receive a salary in line with that of Ukrainian nationals. Polygraph.info reached out to Ukraines Ministry of Defense to determine whether any Icelandic citizens were serving in the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine or the Ukrainian army but had not heard back by the time of publication. Third, while Zakharova suggested that Iceland was not taking an independent foreign policy position on Ukraine but was being influenced by a very aggressive Western community, an annual survey released last October found that 82% of polled Icelanders favored Iceland supporting Ukraine in the war with Russia. Whats more, 83.8% of the Icelanders surveyed oppose any international cooperation between Iceland and Russia. Reflecting that majority view, Icelands government has strongly condemned Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and expressed full solidarity with Ukraine and its people. Yet only 35.8% of respondents favored giving Ukraine direct military support, including by training soldiers, providing munitions, or transporting munitions, while 38.9% were opposed. However, in the same annual survey released a year earlier, in 2022, 52% of respondents opposed direct military support to Ukraine, while only 21.3% were in favor, indicating support for such assistance is growing. Iceland has provided logistical support to Ukraine, including chartering cargo planes to transport military supplies and equipment from other NATO members to Ukraine. Iceland has donated a fully equipped mobile field hospital to Ukraine, provided winter gear to Ukrainian servicemen, and financed and delivered ten fuel trucks for the Ukrainian military, as well as helped purchase fuel. Iceland participated in a U.K.-led training project for Ukrainian field medics and led an explosive ordnance disposal training program in Lithuania for the Ukrainian military. Iceland also participates in the IT Coalition of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, providing Ukraine telecommunications and cyber security support. Fourth, to justify the invasion, Russian propaganda has fabricated and propagated the false narrative that Ukraines government is ruled by Nazis. Polygraph.info and others repeatedly exposed those falsehoods. Hundreds of scholars of war, genocide, Nazism, and World War II condemned Russias cynical abuse of the term genocide, the memory of World War II and the Holocaust, and the equation of the Ukrainian state with the Nazi regime to justify its unprovoked aggression. Fifth, Russia has reportedly recruited and even tricked foreign nationals from Cuba, Nepal, India, and African countries to fight in Ukraine. Reports indicate that many of the foreign men who signed up to fight for Russia were motivated by economic hardship at home. For example, for many of the thousands of Nepalese fighters believed to have been recruited to fight on Russias side in the war, money and fast-tracked Russian citizenship were the primary motivators. One recruit told CNN that he did not actually support Russias invasion of Ukraine. In some instances, those men were deployed with the Wagner Group, a Russian state-funded private military company that has employed thousands of mercenaries to fight in Ukraine. In Ukraine and elsewhere, Wagner mercenaries have allegedly engaged in systematic human rights violations, including mass killings. A fresh pledge by Beijing to treat foreign companies like domestic rivals drew a cool response from one of its biggest trading partners, Germany, where industries called for concrete actions rather than words to create a true level-playing field. Germany's engagement in the world's No.2 economy has been in focus, partly because China remains its biggest trading partner but also because Berlin has asked companies to diversify away from what it calls "partner, competitor and systemic rival." Beijing's efforts to make sure international companies stay engaged come as inbound foreign direct investment shrank by 8% in 2023, partly a result of broader anti-espionage laws, exit bans and raids on consultancies and due diligence firms. German direct investment in China, however, rose to a record high of 11.9 billion euros ($12.9 billion) last year, underscoring how relevant the market remains despite efforts to reduce exposure. In a bid to attract more foreign money, Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Guo Tingting told the China Development Forum in Beijing that the country would "fully guarantee national treatment for foreign companies," without elaborating further. "We are seeing more and more of what I'll call friendly signals," said Oliver Wack, Asia expert at German engineering association VDMA, which represents heavyweights including Siemens and Thyssenkrupp. "But in terms of content, this is not exactly earth-shattering." More than words? Wack said efforts by Beijing included a Dec. 12 meeting with the head of economics at China's consulate general in Frankfurt who asked what had to be done to encourage more of the VDMA's members to invest in China. As part of a series of events this week in the Chinese capital with foreign companies, the Ministry of Commerce will hold the Invest in China Summit 2024 on Tuesday, where Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot are due to speak, according to a schedule. AstraZeneca declined to comment, and Pfizer confirmed Bourla is attending the China Development Forum and speaking on a panel at the Invest in China Summit but declined to comment further. The Wall Street Journal separately reported that Chinese leader Xi Jinping plans to meet a group of U.S. business leaders this week after the forum as Beijing steps up efforts to woo American firms amid an exodus of foreign capital. VDMA's Wack said to make effective changes China should join the World Trade Organization's Government Procurement Agreement and the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). Both would be tangible steps to create equality among companies. Dirk Jandura, president of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services, also poured cold water on hopes that the latest Chinese push would really change things. "We are familiar with these kind of promises. Unfortunately, in the past, it has often remained just words, or changes have been made in small steps ... The extent to which foreign entrepreneurs can make a contribution here remains unclear." The Islamic State-Khorasan terrorist group released a statement in Pashto on Monday glorifying Fridays attack on a concert in Moscow and scolding the ruling Afghan Taliban for seeking relations with the United States, Russia, China and other countries. The 30-page statement was published on social media platforms and sent to journalists on Monday, but it did not take responsibility for the Moscow attack. Instead, it focused on criticizing and mocking the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has long been an enemy of the IS-K group. Islamic State-Khorasan, sometimes also called IS-Khorasan, or ISKP, is the regional affiliate of the larger Islamic State militant group, which took credit for Fridays attack that killed 137 people. Mondays statement was titled, After Moscows Attack: The Sorrow and Fear of Militias. The militias is apparently referring to the Afghan Taliban. The text of the statement is a fierce polemic against the Afghan Taliban. It also labels the Taliban as allies of the United States, Russia, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan. The Taliban condemned the attack in the hours after it happened on Friday, calling it a terrorist attack and a violation of human standards. IS-Ks statement accuses the Taliban of embracing the values of infidel countries. Talib militias are now part of the infidel nation. It is, therefore, natural that they will sympathize with them and will share sorrows with the infidels, the statement says, while referring to the Afghan Talibans condemnation of the Moscow attack. The 30 pages of the text are embedded with pictures of the alleged attackers of the concert, IS-Ks other attacks in Afghanistan, and photos of Taliban leaders and ministers standing with U.S., Chinese, Iranian and Pakistani officials. The polemic against the Taliban also references Russian attacks on Islamic State targets in Syria, asking why the Taliban expressed sympathy for Moscow. Has Russia this right to destroy our Umma [Muslims] mosques, seminaries, homes and towns with blind bombardment? the statement asks. ISKP was formed in 2015 by the disgruntled Pakistani Taliban in a region close to Afghanistan. The United Nations has said that as of June 2023, IS-K fighters and family members numbered between 4,000 to 6,000. An attack by the Islamic State group (IS) killed at least 11 people hunting desert truffles in northern Syria on Sunday, a war monitor said, after the latest such incident. Between February and April each year, hundreds of impoverished Syrians risk their lives to forage for the delicacy in the vast Syrian desert a known hideout for jihadists that is also littered with mines. Desert truffles can fetch high prices in a country battered by 13 years of war and a crushing economic crisis. "At least 11 people collecting truffles were killed when IS fighters detonated a bomb as their car passed in the desert of Raqa province in northern Syria," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. After the blast, the attackers opened fire, the Observatory added. Residents were still searching for missing persons, said the Britain-based monitoring group with a network of sources inside Syria, noting that the jihadists kidnapped three other hunters. IS took control of large swathes of Syria in 2014. A military campaign backed by a United States-led coalition led to the group's territorial defeat in March 2019, but remnants continue to hide in the desert and launch deadly attacks. The global jihadist group's reach spans beyond Syria, with IS claiming an attack Friday on a concert hall in the Russian capital, Moscow, that left 137 dead. Earlier in March, 19 truffle collectors were killed in an area of Syria's Raqa, where IS extremists are present, when their vehicle hit a mine, the Observatory said at the time. The southern African nation of Malawi has declared a state of disaster over drought in 23 of its 28 districts and the president says it urgently needs more than $200 million in humanitarian assistance, less than a month after neighboring Zambia also appealed for help. Malawi is the latest country in the region to have its food supply crippled by a severe dry spell that's been linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon. A third country, Zimbabwe, has also seen much of its crops decimated and is considering following suit, underlining concerns raised by the U.N. World Food Program late last year that numerous nations in southern Africa were on the brink of a hunger crisis because of the impact of El Nino. The WFP said there were already nearly 50 million people in southern and parts of central Africa facing food insecurity even before one of the driest spells in decades hit. USAID, the U.S. government's aid agency, said that more than 20 million people in southern Africa would urgently need food aid in early 2024, partly due to the El Nino effect. Last month was the driest February in 40 years for Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to the WFP's seasonal monitor, while Malawi, Mozambique and parts of Angola had "severe rainfall deficits." Millions in southern Africa rely on the food they grow to survive. Corn, the region's staple food, has been badly affected by the drought. El Nino is a natural, recurring weather phenomenon involving the warming of the sea surface in parts of the Pacific Ocean. It has impacts on global weather, including causing below-average rainfall in southern Africa. Some scientists say that climate change is making El Ninos stronger and their impacts more extreme. The 2015-2016 El Nino also brought a severe drought for southern Africa, the region's worst in 35 years, according to the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs. Humans aren't the only ones affected, with conservation officials in Zimbabwe reporting the rare occurrence of at least 100 elephants dying in a national park late last year because of waterholes drying up in the drought. Before the national disaster announcements by Malawi and Zambia, the WFP and USAID had already launched a program to feed 2.7 million people in rural Zimbabwe facing food shortages nearly 20% of that country's population. British charity Oxfam said this month that more than 6 million people in Zambia 30% of its population are now facing acute food shortages and malnutrition, with the next crop growing season a year away. Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said he had been on a tour of his country to discover the extent of its drought crisis, and a preliminary assessment by the government found about 44% of Malawi's corn crop had failed or been affected, and 2 million households were directly impacted. He said the country of 20 million people needed around 600,000 metric tons of food aid and called on the international community for help. Malawi has been repeatedly hit by weather extremes in recent years, emphasizing how some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable countries are feeling the worst effects of climate change even as they contribute the least to global emissions. Cyclone Freddy killed hundreds in Malawi last year, one of a succession of strong cyclones that have ripped through various parts of southern Africa in the last five years. In early 2022, tropical storms and floods contributed to Malawi's worst outbreak of the water-borne disease, cholera. More than 1,200 people died in the outbreak that lasted for months, according to the World Health Organization. Zambia is also currently experiencing a major cholera outbreak. New Zealand said on Monday it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month, where relations with China will be a key issue. The deployment is part of a $6.48 million support program for the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission announced in January and that will help transport election officers and materials around Pacific Island nations. New Zealand's foreign ministry said the vessel HMNZS Canterbury will leave Auckland on Tuesday to transport two helicopters and crew, along with command and maintenance personnel to the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara. "New Zealand's overall contribution will support the Commission to lead the delivery of a safe and successful election," Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement. "It demonstrates New Zealand's commitment to a resilient democracy in Solomon Islands and the wider Pacific region." The Solomon Islands is a key ally of China, and closer ties with Beijing following the election of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in 2019 have alarmed the United States and Australia and set off a race for influence in the strategically located Pacific Islands. At least one opposition politician, however, has called for a security pact with China to be reviewed and has said that he would seek to re-establish diplomatic ties with Taiwan, according to media reports. Another politician has said he would ask the people to decide on the Solomon Islands' relations with China via a referendum. The country said in September a contingent of Australian police first deployed in 2021 to quell anti-government riots would stay on in the country until after the election. The fate of this years Canal Fest remains up in the air after the Tonawanda Common Council put off a vote on a contract with festival organizers. Almost canceled, Canal Fest comes back strong: 'Streets were just wall-to-wall people' It almost didn't happen, but this summer's Canal Fest of the Tonawandas was by most accounts a success. Still, there is uncertainty about next year. Some officials on both sides of the bridge favor a shorter time frame. The Council on Tuesday did not approve the agreement because of concerns over the burden the festival places on Tonawandas police force. To address the problem, Mayor John White said he plans to seek support from the Erie County Sheriffs Office and State Police to back up city police during the festival. Financial issues almost led to the cancellation of last years festival before Gov. Kathy Hochul intervened with a promise of state aid. And officials in the Twin Cities have urged organizers to consider shrinking the eight-day festival because of the strain on public resources. Its a good event. I think its a fun event. I think its needed for the communities. I just dont think its an eight-day event anymore, White said in an interview. Its done. I think four or five days is better. Still, North Tonawanda already has approved its contract with Canal Fest and organizers are optimistic the festival will take place at its full length one way or another this year. I feel pretty confident well be able to make something go, Canal Fest Vice President Rick Maier said. Canal Fest draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually and is a major fundraiser for nonprofit organizations that make money from sales of food and other items at festival stands. The pandemic forced its cancellation in 2020 and 2021. Canal Fest returned in 2022 but without its signature parade. Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the festival, but it almost didnt happen. Organizers in March 2023 announced the festival was off, saying it had gotten too difficult to raise enough money to put on the event. We actually started last year wiped out. We started with $2,000 in the bank, Maier told The Buffalo News. However, by April word came the festival was back on. That was around the time the governor expressed interest in keeping Canal Fest going. Instead of the festival organization reimbursing the host cities for their expenses primarily overtime for police officers and other city employees the state agreed to make those payments last year. Each city is seeking about $50,000 but they havent received the promised aid yet. Tonawanda has submitted the required paperwork and North Tonawanda expects to do so shortly, officials said. Canal Fest went on last year but not without questions about the festivals length. 'Bigger and better than last year': Canal Fest of the Tonawandas returns Canal Fest of the Tonawandas is back in full force for its 40th anniversary. This year's festivities come after the reversal of a March announcement by Canal Fest board members to cancel the festival this summer to rebrand and reconstruct the event. Canal Fest runs from one Sunday to the next. Some Twin Cities officials say nearly all other major summer festivals in the area last for a weekend, or a long weekend, with the notable exception of the Erie County Fair. This puts a strain on police staffing over the run of the event, particularly in the City of Tonawanda, which has historically hosted all the amusement rides and games of chance, White said. Our police chief expressed that we dont have the manpower to be comfortable being safe, he said. Festival organizers have agreed to changes for this years festival, set to run July 14-21. For example, North Tonawanda will host some rides, primarily those that cater to older children, and crews wont set up any rides until the Tuesday of the festival week, two days later than normal. Vendors will still open on the festivals first day. And, instead of closing off the Renaissance Bridge between the two cities on the Friday before the festival begins the bridge wont shut down until the morning of the first day. As for the length, Maier said nonprofit groups that operate stands at the fair wouldnt make as much money with a shorter event. Many have said they wouldnt bother taking part if it ran for four or five days, he said. Canal Fest last year changed its rules to let nonprofits set up for fewer than eight days. Only one organization took advantage of that. And they said theyd never do it again, Maier said. Too much work for two days or three days. So theyre coming back full time. The City of North Tonawanda, which typically hosts the beer tent and classic car cruise among other activities, late last year approved a three-year agreement with Canal Fest. The organization will pay that city $35,000 this year, $37,000 in 2025 and $39,000 in 2026, according to the contract. So we didnt have to keep having these extensive conversations each year, North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec said, and it more or less gives a little security to Canal Fest so they could go out and get sponsorships. People know that if theyre locking in for this year, they can probably lock in again for the next two years. The Tonawanda Common Council last week considered a one-year agreement with Canal Fest organizers, who would reimburse the city $37,000 with $2,000 earmarked for improvements to the Canal Street Pavilion. The Council did not approve the agreement following a lengthy discussion in open- and closed-door sessions. Council Member Sean Rautenstrauch, who voted against the 2023 contract, said he still has concerns about the toll the festival takes on the city. He said its not just about financial costs related to employees overtime. Canal Fest essentially shuts down much of Tonawandas downtown for eight days and, Rautenstrauch said, some business owners have told him they dont see a boost from festival attendees. It holds my city hostage, he said, noting the chaos that busy festival evenings can bring and the declining participation from community volunteers. Three of the Councils five members must approve the Canal Fest contract. White said he thinks concerns about the stress on Tonawandas police can be addressed if the city can bring in sheriffs deputies and state troopers to provide assistance. He said hes talking to city unions to get their support for the proposal. A special meeting to reconsider the Canal Fest agreement is set for Tuesday. North Korea said Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Kims sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, made the comments in a state media dispatch. She said Kishida used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person at an early date. Kim Yo Jong said whether to improve bilateral ties hinges on Japan. She said if Kishida sticks to his push to resolve the alleged past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, he cannot avoid criticism that he would only pursue talks to boost his popularity. Some experts say North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken a trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington security partnership, while Kishida also wants better ties with North Korea to increase his declining approval rating at home. The U.S. and South Korea have been expanding their military drills and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Korea's provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Earlier Monday, North Korea's state media that Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea. Russian airstrikes pummeled Kyiv for the third time in five days Monday, as Moscow intensified its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said falling debris from destroyed missiles demolished a non-residential building and damaged windows at nearby residential buildings. At least 10 people were injured across the city. The side of the demolished building, which held an art academy's gym and exhibition hall, was reduced to rubble in an area packed with high-rise apartment blocks. Schoolchildren had to run for cover during the assault, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink reported loud explosions in the Ukrainian capital. Over the last 5 days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country, Brink posted on social media. Ukraine needs our assistance now. There is not a moment to lose. The Ukrainian air force said Monday it shot down two ballistic missiles fired from the occupied Crimean Peninsula, more than 500 km (310 miles) away. After Mondays attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Ukraine's State Emergency Service rescuers, police, utility workers, and all other services involved in rescue and recovery of civilians. He also renewed his appeal for Western partners to provide more air defense systems to protect against Russias unrelenting attacks. We reiterate that Ukraine requires more air defense systems, which provide safety for our cities and save lives. All of us who respect and protect life must put an end to this terror, Zelenskyy wrote on a post on the social platform X formerly Twitter. The bombardment of Kyiv came three days after a terrorist attack on a concert hall outside Moscow that killed more than 130 people. Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to link the attack on Crocus Concert Hall to Ukraine, even though an affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility and Ukraine has denied having anything to do with the attack. In a statement Sunday, leaders of Catholic religious organizations in the United States denounced Russias attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure calling them war crimes. We beseech the religious leaders of Russia, especially Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, to stop supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to urge President Putin to halt terror attacks aimed at innocent civilians. We likewise urge our government and civic authorities to utilize all available just means to protect Ukraine and its people from this brutal aggression, the statement read. Since last Monday, Russia has used nearly 190 missiles of various types, almost 140 Shahed drones and almost 700 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine, according to Zelenskyy in his Sunday video address. There has not been a single week in the more than two years of this war when Russia refrained from terror, he said. On Friday, Russia unleashed a massive attack against Ukraines energy sector, describing the assault as retaliation for Ukraines recent strikes on Russian soil. Ukraines continuous shelling on the Russian border region of Belgorod have forced Russia to plan evacuating about 9,000 children from the border region, the regions governor Vyacheslev Gladkov said Tuesday. The children will be moved farther east of Belgorod, away from the Ukraine border, Gladkov said. His announcement came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin wants to create a buffer zone to help protect border regions from long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids more than two years into the war. Russia also said Monday it thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack in the Rostov area of southwestern Russia, while a fire at a power plant in the region disrupted service. The Russian defense ministry said its air defenses shot down all 11 Ukrainian drones involved in the attack. Vasily Golubev, the regional governor in Rostov, said on Telegram there was a fire at the Novocherkassk power plant, causing two of its power units to be temporarily taken out of operation. Russian ambassador - Poland The Russian ambassador did not come to the foreign ministry in Warsaw despite being summoned to do so, a Polish spokesperson said on Monday, after a Russian missile flew into Poland's airspace. Russia violated Poland's airspace early on Sunday with a cruise missile launched at targets in western Ukraine, Poland's armed forces said. "The ambassador of the Russian Federation... did not attend the foreign ministry today to explain the incident concerning the Russian cruise missile that violated Polish airspace on March 24," foreign ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski told reporters. Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, told state-run RIA Novosti that he did not visit the foreign ministry, where he had been invited to discuss the "missile incident," because the Polish side did not provide evidence of any airspace violation. Poland's army said its military radar systems recorded the missile entering the country's airspace for 39 seconds on Sunday, encroaching 2 kilometers into Polish territory before returning to Ukraine. Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. Russian activists are warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin will use the deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall outside Moscow to tighten his grip on power and further repress society. It truly scares me how this regime uses terrorism, said Evgenia Kara-Murza, a human rights activist and wife of political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza. Addressing reporters at a press conference in Geneva, she warned that Putin would likely use Fridays horrific event to start new aggressions against our neighbors. And, of course, the fact that the terrorists were caught near the Ukrainian border raises many questions as to whether it is a provocation or whether the terrorist attack is being used as such, she said. Though the militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 137 people and injured some 182 others, the Kremlin has been trying, without any evidence, to link the attack to Ukraine. Kara-Murza said she doubts that Putin will even investigate the attack, noting that there were no investigations into previous attacks that occurred after the Chechen war in 1999 and the Beslan school massacre in 2004. In a report on the Beslan attack for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Leonid Velekhov, a former aide to Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, reported that the official investigation ignored any question of responsibility on the part of federal authorities or the local command center for the high price paid for the liberation of Beslans surviving hostages. Kara-Murza also said she was scared by calls by members of Putins regime to bring back the death penalty following Fridays attack on the concert hall. If the death penalty were reinstated, it would first be used against those people who were being accused of terrorism. People accused of terrorism in todays Russia include activists or just regular citizens who were trying to set conscription centers on fire, she said, referring to 28 arson attempts on Russian military enlistment offices in Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea between July 29 and August 2. Kara-Murza said the lives of political prisoners are at risk, and that she fears for her husband, who is serving a 25-year sentence for treason, charges he denies. Sergei Davidis, head of the political prisoners support program at the Memorial human rights center, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, said that pictures of the four men accused of the concert hall terror attack showed signs of severe beating, indicating that they had been tortured. He observed that mass torture of those charged with terrorism and other crimes has been a common occurrence in Russia. However, what is different this time is that for the first time, this practice of torture was made public, he said. They think, I am sure, that they will be supported by the people. They decided now that there is no reason to conceal their methods. They are not limited by the European Court of Human Rights now. They just were honest this time because they decided it was possible, he said. Unfortunately, it is rather a bad sign. Davidis expressed concern that a more emboldened Russia would likely increase the hardships and levels of cruelty and brutality to which political prisoners are exposed daily. According to Memorial, around 700 people are imprisoned in Russia for exercising their human rights and freedoms; among them are at least 250 people imprisoned because of their anti-war stance. Those people who support Ukraine are actively aggressed by the authorities, he said. Any expression of opposition, any statement that contradicts official propaganda narratives, are ground for the deprivation of liberty. OVD-Info, another human rights project, provides data on 3,679 people subjected to politically motivated criminal prosecution in Russia. Violetta Fitsner, a lawyer with OVD-Info, said, All these people are in danger, especially those who have poor health and are punished for their activities. Citing Navalny, who died in prison February 16, Fitsner said, About 70% of prisoners deprived of liberty on political grounds, who have poor health, are denied medical care, adding that many have serious physical and mental issues. We demand the immediate release of political prisoners whose health and lives are in danger, she said. Davidis said Russian prisons are teeming with prisoners of conscience, including people trying to evade conscription into the army and thousands of religious minorities who are deprived of their liberty for practicing their faith. The prosecution and deprivation of liberty is the foundation of Putins regime, he said. The release of Russian political prisoners must become a condition of any easing of sanctions against Russia, and of any peace settlement for Ukraine. The four men charged with the massacre at a Moscow theater have been identified by authorities as citizens of Tajikistan, some of the thousands who migrate to Russia each year from the poorest of the former Soviet republics to scrape out marginal existences. Along with grinding poverty, Tajikistan is rife with religious tensions. Hard-line Islamists were one of the main forces opposing the government in a 1990s civil war that devastated the country. The militants claiming responsibility for the Moscow massacre that killed 139 people a branch of the Islamic State group in neighboring Afghanistan reportedly recruit heavily from Tajikistan. The four suspects who were arraigned in a Moscow court late Sunday on terrorism charges appeared to have been beaten or injured during their detention. One was wheeled in on a gurney clad only in a hospital gown. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday described the suspects as radical Islamists, and he repeated his accusation that Ukraine might have played a role despite its strong denials. Here is a look at the people, militant groups and political history connected to the Moscow attack: The suspects The eldest defendant is Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, who may have been living in Russia illegally. He was shown sitting in a glass cage in the courtroom with a black eye and bruised face. Mirzoyev reportedly had obtained a three-month residency permit in the city of Novosibirsk, but it had expired. In video of his interrogation shared on Russian social media, he reportedly says he recently was living in a Moscow hostel with another of the suspects. The court said he is married and has four children, but it was unclear if he was employed. Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, 30, is apparently unemployed. Registered as a resident in Russia, he could not remember in what city, according to Russian news reports. When he appeared in court, his head was awkwardly bandaged after Russian officers reportedly sawed off one of his ears. Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, apparently had the most stable life of the four suspects. He was registered in Krasnogorsk, the Moscow suburb where the killings took place, and worked in a flooring factory. He reportedly told interrogators that he was offered 500,000 rubles (about $5,425) to carry out the attack the equivalent of about 2.5 years of the average wage in Tajikistan. Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, was brought into the courtroom on a gurney, with a catheter attached and one eye injured or missing, and he appeared to fade in and out of consciousness. He had worked as an apprentice in a barbershop in the declining textile-mill city of Ivanovo, but reports said he left that job in November. Islamic tensions in Tajikistan As many as 1.5 million Tajik migrants are estimated to be in Russia after fleeing the poverty and unemployment that plague their landlocked, mountainous country. An array of mineral resources are present in Tajikistan, but the industry has been slow to develop because of belated foreign investment and poor geological data, among other factors. Although its nearly 10 million people are overwhelmingly Muslim, tensions connected to Islam are common. Islamists were a key opponent during a 1992-97 civil war in which the government killed as many as 150,000 people and devastated the economy. When the war ended, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon took steps to sharply curtail religious freedoms. The government limited how many mosques could be built, prohibited women and children under 18 from attending mosques at all, and banned religious instruction outside the home for children. Critics say the limits encouraged people to turn to underground and radical Muslim factions via the internet. Tajikistan has not made any official statement about the arrest of the four men suspected in the attack. But Rahmon was quoted by his government's press service as telling Putin in a phone call that terrorists have neither nationality, nor a homeland, nor religion. Islamic State vs. Russia Most attacks tied to Islamic extremists that afflicted Russia in the past quarter century were committed by Chechen separatists, such as the 2004 Beslan school seizure that killed more than 300 people or were blamed on them, as in the 1999 apartment bombings that triggered the second Russia-Chechnya war. But attacks that began in 2015 were claimed by or attributed to the Islamic State group. The group opposed Russias intervention in Syria, where Moscow sought to tip the balance in favor of President Bashar al-Assads forces. The U.S. government has said it had intelligence confirming IS was responsible for the weekend attack in Moscow. After IS declared a caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq in June 2014, thousands of men and women from around the world came to join the extremist group. Those included thousands from the former Soviet Union, among them hundreds from Tajikistan. One of the most prominent figures to join IS was Gulmurod Khalimov, who was an officer with Tajikistans special forces before defecting and joining IS in Syria in 2015. In 2017, the Russian military said Khalimov was killed in a Russian airstrike in Syria. IS claimed responsibility for the 2015 bombing of a Russian airliner that was bringing tourists home from the Egyptian resort Sharm al-Sheik. Two years later, it claimed to be behind the suicide bombing of a subway train in St. Petersburg that killed 15 people. Two weeks before the Moscow theater massacre, Russian officials said they had wiped out members of an IS cell that was planning to attack a synagogue. Earlier in the month, it reported killing six IS fighters in the Ingushetia region adjacent to Chechnya. Thousands of cherry blossoms began blooming earlier this month in Washington, bringing scores of tourists from around the world to see them at the Tidal Basin. But this year many tourists are coming to see one tree in particular: Stumpy. Stumpy, a short cherry tree in poor condition, looks like it shouldn't be in any shape to grow blossoms particularly as floods routinely soak the tree's roots. Every year, however, it blooms, giving the tree a reputation as a symbol of hope, resilience and relatability among its fans. This year's cherry blossom season will be the last for Stumpy, along with more than 150 other cherry trees. The removal is part of a $113 million project announced earlier this month by the National Park Service to rebuild and raise the seawalls around the Tidal Basin and along part of the Potomac River. Spurred by climate change, floods have worsened along the basin, now occurring twice a day, soaking the roots of many cherry trees and posing a risk to their health. As a measure to preserve the thousands of cherry trees along the basin, 158 of them will need to be removed to make space for the project. On Sunday, thousands of visitors arrived at the basin to say goodbye to Stumpy, which was fenced off. Visitors crowded around the fence to take photos of the tree. Some had put up signs on the fence reading "Save Stumpy." The movement to save Stumpy has gained traction among those who would like to see the tree transplanted. An online petition to save the tree, calling Stumpy "our local cherry blossom hero" collected more than 600 signatures as of Monday. The Park Service has announced that while it is unfortunate that the cherry trees need to be removed, there is no way around their removal because the agency needs to make space for the project. According to NBC News, there is no way to save Stumpy either, as it likely wouldn't survive the transplanting process. Mike Litterst, spokesperson for the Park Service, said, "There is so little of that tree left to transplant," adding that even if it could be taken out of the ground, it could die of transplant shock. A group of tourists visiting Stumpy from Massachusetts and Maryland agreed that although the removal of Stumpy and the other cherry trees will be sad, it's a necessary measure to stem the impacts climate change has had on the basin. One tourist, who preferred not to give their name, said, "we understand the necessity" of the project, saying "We were here yesterday, and the wind was so strong that it was blowing the waves over the bank, so all of this area [around Stumpy] was flooded." Another, who also preferred to remain anonymous, said, "It's unfortunate that they're going to lose [the] trees, especially since some of them are heritage trees but this isn't the only place where this kind of climate change induced incursion of water is happening." The Park Service, in a statement released earlier this month, said, "Age, rising sea levels and poor drainage have taken a toll on the Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park seawalls." It added: "As a result of the settling and sea level rise, water flows over portions of the seawalls twice a day during normal tidal conditions," necessitating the project. Upon completion of the project, set for 2027, 455 trees will be planted, 274 of which will be cherry trees. The Park Service will also partner with the U.S. National Arboretum to collect clippings and create genetic matches of Stumpy. The cherry trees were a gift from Japan in 1912 as a symbol of friendship between the U.S. and Japan. Staff at the Japanese Embassy visited the tidal basin last week to honor Stumpy. The embassy in a post on the X platform thanked the Park Service for caring for the trees over the years, saying that Stumpy is "one of our most beloved symbols of [Japanese-American] friendship." The post added that Stumpy's "legacy will live on, nurturing future generations of friendship." The young voices in the messages left for North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis were laughing, but the words were ominous. OK, listen, if you ban TikTok I will find you and shoot you, one said, giggling and talking over other young voices in the background. Ill shoot you and find you and cut you into pieces. Another threatened to kill Tillis, and then take their own life. Tilliss office says it has received around 1,000 calls about TikTok since the House passed legislation this month that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesnt sell its stake. TikTok has been urging its users many of whom are young to call their representatives, even providing an easy link to the phone numbers. The government will take away the community that you and millions of other Americans love, read one pop-up message from the company when users opened the app. Tillis, who supports the House bill, reported the call to the police. What I hated about that was it demonstrates the enormous influence social media platforms have on young people, he said in an interview. While more aggressive than most, TikToks extensive lobbying campaign is the latest attempt by the tech industry to head off any new legislation and it's a fight the industry usually wins. For years Congress has failed to act on bills that would protect users privacy, protect children from online threats, make companies more liable for their content and put loose guardrails around artificial intelligence, among other things. I mean, its almost embarrassing, says Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., a former tech executive who is also supporting the TikTok bill and has long tried to push his colleagues to regulate the industry. I would hate for us to maintain our perfect zero batting average on tech legislation. Some see the TikTok bill as the best chance for now to regulate the tech industry and set a precedent, if a narrow one focused on just one company. President Joe Biden has said he would sign the House bill, which overwhelmingly passed 362-65 this month after a rare 50-0 committee vote moving it to the floor. But its already running into roadblocks in the Senate, where there is little unanimity on the best approach to ensure that China doesnt access private data from the apps 170 million U.S. users or influence them through its algorithms. Other factors are holding the Senate back. The tech industry is broad and falls under the jurisdiction of several different committees. Plus, the issues at play don't fall cleanly on partisan lines, making it harder for lawmakers to agree on priorities and how legislation should be written. Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has so far been reluctant to embrace the TikTok bill, for example, calling for hearings first and suggesting that the Senate may want to rewrite it. Were going through a process, Cantwell said. Its important to get it right. Warner, on the other hand, says the House bill is the best chance to get something done after years of inaction. And he says that the threatening calls from young people are a good example of why the legislation is needed: It makes the point, do we really want that kind of messaging being able to be manipulated by the Communist Party of China? Some lawmakers are worried that blocking TikTok could anger millions of young people who use the app, a crucial segment of voters in November's election. But Warner says "the debate has shifted from talk of an outright ban a year ago to the House bill which would force TikTok, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd., to sell its stake for the app to continue operating. Vice President Kamala Harris, in a television interview that aired Sunday, acknowledged the popularity of the app and that it has become an income stream for many people. She said the administration does not intend to ban TikTok but instead deal with its ownership. We understand its purpose and its utility and the enjoyment that it gives a lot of folks, Harris told ABC's This Week." Republicans are divided. While most of them support the TikTok legislation, others are wary of overregulation and the government targeting one specific entity. The passage of the House TikTok ban is not just a misguided overreach; its a draconian measure that stifles free expression, tramples constitutional rights, and disrupts the economic pursuits of millions of Americans, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul posted on X, formerly Twitter. Hoping to persuade their colleagues to support the bill, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee have called for intelligence agencies to declassify information about TikTok and Chinas ownership that has been provided to senators in classified briefings. It is critically important that the American people, especially TikTok users, understand the national security issues at stake, the senators said in a joint statement. Blumenthal and Blackburn have separate legislation they have been working on for several years aimed at protecting childrens online safety, but the Senate has yet to vote on it. Efforts to regulate online privacy have also stalled, as has legislation to make technology companies more liable for the content they publish. And an effort by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to quickly move legislation that would regulate the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry has yet to show any results. Schumer has said very little about the TikTok bill or whether he might put it on the Senate floor. The Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the House, was all he would say after the House passed the bill. South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican who has worked with Schumer on the artificial intelligence effort, says he thinks the Senate can eventually pass a TikTok bill, even if it's a different version. He says the classified briefings convinced the vast majority of members that they have to address the collection of data from the app and TikTok's ability to push out misinformation to users. I think its a clear danger to our country if we dont act, he said. It does not have to be done in two weeks, but it does have to be done. Rounds says he and Schumer are still holding regular meetings on artificial intelligence, as well, and will soon release some of their ideas publicly. He says hes optimistic that the Senate will eventually act to regulate the tech industry. There will be some areas that we will not try to get into, but there are some areas that we have very broad consensus on, Rounds says. Tillis says senators may have to continue laying the groundwork for a while and educating colleagues on why some regulation is needed, with an eye toward passing legislation in the next Congress. It cant be the wild, wild west, Tillis said. Turkey says it is preparing to launch a major military operation into Iraq against Kurdish rebels operating from there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vows to end what he says is the threat posed by the Kurdish rebel group, PKK, which has been fighting Turkey for decades. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, Ankara is looking to Baghdad and Tehran for support. Farmers in a convoy of tractors drove outside Britain's Parliament on Monday, protesting post-Brexit trade deals that have brought about what they view as substandard food imports and unfair trade practices. Since its exit from the European Union in 2020, the U.K. has signed several trade deals that, according to British farmers, lack import checks and are allowing poorer quality food to come into Britain from countries with less stringent regulations. British farmers contend that the cheaper agricultural imports undercut Britains domestic produce. They also say they are suffering from rising costs and a shortage of seasonal workers, many of whom are foreign and whose recruitment is more difficult since Brexit because U.K. agriculture is no longer protected by the EUs free-trade zone and the blocs farming rules. Many British farmers backed Brexit out of opposition to the EU's much-criticized Common Agricultural Policy. But now many say post-Brexit trade deals between the U.K. and countries including Australia and New Zealand have opened the door to cheap imports. Organizers also criticize labeling that allows products to bear a Union Jack when they have not been grown or harvested in Britain. The U.K. has also delayed checks on imports that were supposed to begin after the country's final break with the EU at the end of 2020, a move farmers say threatens biosecurity. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to support U.K. farmers when he told the National Farming Union conference last month that the nation's food security was a "vital part of our national security." Approximately 100 tractors from around the U.K converged in Westminster, horns blaring, with farmers displaying slogans such as "Support British farmers" and "Brexit is a disaster." Protesters also say that the policy in England of paying farmers to create habitats for environmental reasons was taking land out of food production. Liz Webster, a cattle and crop producer from western England and an organizer of the group Save British Farming, said the government had "totally betrayed us all." "We've had enough," she told AFP, denouncing "substandard" imports that were undercutting" British products. "Polling shows that the public back British farming and food and want to maintain our high food standards and support local producers," she said. "We need a radical change of policy and an urgent exit from these appalling trade deals which will decimate British food." British agriculture provides about 60% of the food consumed in the U.K., but farmers fear this share is falling. Several demonstrations have taken place sporadically in recent months against the post-Brexit agricultural policy of the Conservative government, which has been in power for 14 years. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. The U.N. Security Council broke months of deadlock Monday and adopted a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. This must be a turning point. This must lead to saving lives on the ground, an emotional Palestinian U.N. envoy, Riyad Mansour, told the council. This must signal the end of this assault of atrocities against our people. The resolution demands an immediate cease-fire for the month of Ramadan, which is half over, leading to a lasting sustainable cease-fire. It also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, the lifting of all barriers to the provision of more humanitarian aid, and the protection of civilians in Gaza. The text, put forward by the 10 elected members of the 15-nation council, was adopted in a vote of 14 in favor with the United States abstaining, allowing the measure to pass. This was the eighth time the council attempted to agree on a cease-fire resolution, and it was greeted with applause in the packed council chamber. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington abstained because, while some of their proposals were taken into account, the text did not include a condemnation of Hamas a major U.S. demand throughout months of negotiations on previous failed cease-fire resolution attempts. However, as I said before, we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution. And we believe it was important for the Council to speak out and make clear that any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages, she said. U.N. Security Council resolutions are international law, so it was not immediately clear why she believes it is not binding. Other council members reiterated that council decisions are binding and mandatory. In Washington, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that "nothing, nothing has changed about our policy. Nothing." Israels envoy said the resolution is shameful because it does not condition the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. It should be very clear that as long as Hamas refuses to release the hostages in the diplomatic channels, there is no other way to secure their return than through a military operation, Gilad Erdan, Israels U.N. representative, said. The 10 elected council members said in a joint statement to reporters after the vote that they hope it will be implemented by all parties and will help ease the suffering of the population in Gaza. Mondays adoption comes after Russia and China vetoed the councils last effort at a cease-fire Friday, which the United States drafted, and amid relentless calls for one from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who says starvation is bearing down on Palestinians. In a post on social media platform X, Guterres said the resolution must be implemented, Failure would be unforgivable. Speaking during a visit to Jordan on Monday, Guterres said the United Nations will keep pushing for more humanitarian access and entry points for aid, and he called for Israel not to institute any limitations or obstacles to aid deliveries. International humanitarian groups have complained of a lack of access to get aid to Palestinian civilians, citing materials being rejected by Israeli inspectors, convoys being held up by Israel and a lack of access inside of Gaza because of the ongoing fighting. Speaking specifically about the situation in northern Gaza, Guterres said, it is absolutely essential to have a massive supply of humanitarian aid now. On Sunday, the head of the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said he had been informed by Israeli authorities that they would no longer allow UNRWA food convoys to northern Gaza, where famine is looming. On X, COGAT, the Israeli agency that oversees aid to Gaza, said, We will continue working with agencies and organizations that are not involved in terror to facilitate humanitarian aid to the people who need it. Israel has officially accused a dozen UNRWA staff members of involvement in the October 7 terror attacks inside Israel. In the media, they have accused scores more. The U.N. fired the staffers and has launched two investigations. Guterres spokesperson told reporters Monday that the secretary-general calls for the decision against UNRWA to be revoked immediately, noting Israel is obligated to facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of aid into and across Gaza. Military talks in Washington Meanwhile, there was no halt in the fighting. Israels military reported conducting more operations around the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, as well as ground fighting and airstrikes in central Gaza. This week also brings talks in Washington, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant expected for meetings at the Pentagon on Tuesday. Other senior Israeli officials were set for separate meetings at the White House, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled their trip after the U.S. did not block the Gaza cease-fire proposal. We are very disappointed that they will not be coming to Washington, D.C. to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah," Kirby told reporters at the White House. The United States has made it clear it will not support an Israeli attack on Rafah, near the Gaza-Egypt border, without a plan to protect civilians there. Israel has said it has a plan but has not publicly said where the Palestinians sheltering there would be relocated. More than 1.2 million Palestinians have fled there on orders from Israeli forces who told them to leave their homes in northern Gaza as Israeli troops advanced there in the earlier stages of the war. Prime Minister Netanyahu has contended that "we have no way to defeat Hamas without getting into Rafah and eliminating the battalions that are left there." The Israeli leader told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Friday meeting in Israel, I hope to do that with the support of the United States, but if we need to, we will do it alone. The war started with the October 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages. More than 100 were released in November during a temporary cease-fire. About 100 are still believed to be alive, another 30 are believed dead but still held in Gaza. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says more than 32,200 people have been killed during Israels counteroffensive. The total includes Hamas fighters and civilians, with the ministry saying two-thirds of the dead are women and children. VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer and White House Correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report. Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. The UN Security Council passes a ceasefire resolution as the Israeli defense minister arrives in Washington. Russia is still reeling from an attack at a concert hall that left 137 dead. Kyiv is again struck by Russian missiles, and a look at the Senegalese elections. A settlement has been reached in a Child Victims Act lawsuit against a former Buffalo Public Schools teacher accused of having sexual contact with a preteen student. The case against retired teacher Mary Boblak was settled before a trial that was scheduled to begin March 14 in State Supreme Court. Lawsuit: BPS allowed teacher accused of sexual abuse to retire instead of investigating A former Buffalo Public Schools student accused a teacher of sexually molesting her at least 120 times over a period of 2 years, beginning when she was The lawsuit accused Boblak of sexually abusing the student when she was 11 in 1973 and having sex with her dozens of times over the next two years. The accuser said her parents trusted Boblak and allowed her to travel with Boblak and stay overnight as a guest in the teachers home on many occasions. We have settled out of court, but both sides have agreed not to disclose financial terms, said attorney Chris OBrien, who represents the former student. Buffalo schools to pay $1.3 million to settle 12 sex abuse lawsuits The settlements with former students who accused the district of failing decades ago to prevent teachers or school staff from sexually abusing them ranged in size from $33,000 to $305,000. My client is satisfied that the school district has been made aware of this problem, and that she has shown younger women that is OK to call out someone who abuses you, OBrien said on Friday. Boblaks attorney, Tony Rupp, did not respond to messages seeking comment from The Buffalo News. The former student filed the lawsuit using a pseudonym. In an interview with The Buffalo News in 2019, the woman said she never reported the abuse until 1993, when she filed a complaint with Buffalo Schools officials. As a result of her complaint, the accuser said Boblak was allowed to quietly retire and collect her pension in 1994. The lawsuit accused school officials of a cover-up. This teacher was allowed to retire with full pension benefits and with her teachers certification intact, OBrien said. Buffalo School District officials settled the former students lawsuit against them for $70,000, according to district records obtained by The News last year under the state Freedom of Information law. Now living in Florida, the accuser is now in her early 60s. She said the molestation caused her trauma for years, but added that she later had a successful career as a social worker, helping people with emotional difficulties. U.S. lawmakers included in the $1.2 trillion package of spending bills an additional 12,000 Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) for Afghans who supported the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and extended the program through the end of 2025. While advocates welcomed the news, they said it is still 20,000 short of what they requested. President Joe Biden signed the much-awaited spending bills into law Saturday, hours after Congress approved them, avoiding the possibility of a partial government shutdown. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, a refugee resettlement agency, wrote in a statement that it is "encouraging" to see congressional bipartisanship. "But it's still deeply concerning that it took the Biden administration and Congress being on the brink of a government shutdown to take action." The SIV program is a congressionally authorized program with a limit of 38,500 SIVs available. It offers a path to permanent residence that can eventually lead to U.S. citizenship. The application process for SIVs, including decision-making and approval, takes an average of three years, while resettlement through the refugee program can take up to five years. Applications to either program begin outside the United States. Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the 12,000 extra SIVs is a "great response" to the promise of evacuating Afghans who worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan. "Well, we promised them, we will get them out. The Afghan partners, the interpreters, we left them behind, McCaul told the CBS news show "Face the Nation" in an interview broadcast Sunday. And that's the biggest sin of the Afghan evacuation. I think the 12,000 SIVs is a great response and a great start to that. The Biden administration and Senate Republican lawmakers had asked for 20,000 SIVs. "These visas are essential to enable our wartime allies to receive the opportunity they earned to resettle in the United States, and will ensure the SIV program remains viable," Shawn VanDiver, president of the U.S.-based NGO #AfghanEvac, wrote in a statement. The United States and its allies left Afghanistan in August 2021 after nearly 20 years of war, evacuating nearly 130,000 people in the chaotic last weeks in Kabul. Through Operation Allies Welcome, about 88,500 Afghan nationals arrived in the U.S. and resettled in communities across the country. VanDiver said there is still work to be done, including passing the remaining provisions in the Afghan Allies Protection Act (AAPA) of 2023 and the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would allow a pathway to permanent residency for tens of thousands of Afghans admitted to the U.S. in 2021 and 2022 for humanitarian reasons. "While this won't be enough visas to help all our Afghan allies, this gives us some breathing room and will show our partners in America's longest war that we won't leave them behind," VanDiver wrote. Vignarajah said if the remaining provisions of the AAPA and the Afghan Adjustment Act were in place, it would reduce the demand for Special Immigrant Visas from Afghan evacuees seeking long-term stability in this country. "The additional Afghan visas are a welcome stopgap measure, but since the budget negotiations are already underway for fiscal year 2025, we call on Congress to continue working to secure protections for vulnerable Afghans who need to seek refuge in the U.S. so that they aren't living in legal limbo," she added. The U.S. and British governments on Monday announced sanctions against a company and two people linked to the Chinese government over a string of malicious cyberactivity targeting the U.K.'s election watchdog and lawmakers in both countries. Officials said those sanctioned are responsible for a hack that may have gained access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China. The Foreign Office said the hack of the election registers "has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration." The Electoral Commission said in August that it identified a breach of its system in October 2022, though it added that "hostile actors" had first been able to access its servers in 2021. At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain. In Washington, the Treasury Department said it sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., which it calls a Chinese Ministry of State Security front company that has "served as cover for multiple malicious cyberoperations." It named two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, affiliated with the Wuhan company, for cyberoperations that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure sectors including defense, aerospace and energy. The U.S. Justice Department charged Zhao, Ni, and five other hackers with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud. It said they were part of a 14-year long cyber operation "targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses and political officials." "Today's announcements underscore the need to remain vigilant to cybersecurity threats and the potential for cyber-enabled foreign malign influence efforts, especially as we approach the 2024 election cycle," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said. British authorities did not name the company or the two individuals. But they said the two sanctioned individuals were involved in the operations of the Chinese cyber group APT31 an abbreviation for "advanced persistent threat." The group is also known as Zirconium or Hurricane Panda. APT31 has previously been accused of targeting U.S. presidential campaigns and the information systems of Finland's parliament, among others. British cybersecurity officials said that Chinese government-affiliated hackers "conducted reconnaissance activity" against British parliamentarians who were critical of Beijing in 2021. They said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised. Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been "subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time." Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts. The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijing's growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government. Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said his government will summon China's ambassador to account for its actions. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said ahead of the announcement that countries should base their claims on evidence rather than "smear" others without factual basis. "Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized," ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. "We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace." British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is "behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad" and is "the greatest state-based threat to our economic security." "It's right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing," he said, without providing details. China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat rather than a "challenge" to the U.K., but the government has refrained from using such critical language. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said the Biden administration has no intention to ban TikTok, the popular short video application from Chinese company ByteDance. Harris told ABCs This Week program on Sunday that a ban was not at all the goal or the purpose of this conversation. The White House urged the Senate last week to swiftly advance a bill that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok over privacy and national security concerns within six months or face a ban. U.S. officials and lawmakers worry that the Chinese government could access American consumers data on the platform, which could also be used to push a pro-Beijing agenda. ByteDance denies it would provide such private data to the Chinese government, despite reports indicating it could be at risk. The bill passed in the House on March 13 with overwhelming bipartisan support but has yet to advance in the Senate. China has firmly opposed any forced sale of TikTok. TikTok has urged its American users to call their representatives and tell them not to support the bill, leading to hundreds of phone calls to some senators, including a few death threats, according to The Associated Press. Despite the security and privacy concerns, many Americans are still enthusiastic about the app. An American social media influencer, who cannot reveal her real name due to her contract with a talent agency, has been on TikTok since 2021 and saw the popularity of her hairdressing videos explode to hundreds of thousands of views. She had no idea TikTok was owned by a Chinese company until it gave her a notification telling her to call her congressional representative, and then she read the news reports. "I am worried that I won't be able to use TikTok," she told VOA. "I think the communities on TikTok are great. You feel like you are part of a super large community when you watch a video. There are so many comments, [and] you can connect to so many more people." TikTok has about 170 million users in the U.S., though its growth rate among youth last year hit a snag, The Wall Street Journal reported. Citing analytics company Data.ai., the Journal reported the average monthly users between 18 and 24 dropped nearly 9% from 2022 to 2023. But the report said the drop probably has more to do with young people being too busy after the COVID-19 pandemic, when TikTok users skyrocketed, than with concerns over what the Chinese government may access. Texas-based cereal maker Greg Bastin started using TikTok during the pandemic. "I plan to use influencers on TikTok to help market my products, as I know it can be a powerful way to increase sales and create entertaining content at an affordable price," he told VOA. But Bastin admits the security and privacy concerns mean he would not post personal content on TikTok. "Giving up basic data rights is the price of admission for using social media platforms today, he said. The Financial Times this month reported that TikTok generated a record $16 billion in revenue in the U.S. last year, and ByteDance could soon overtake Facebook and Instagrams parent company Meta in global sales, though most of ByteDances income comes from China. James Lewis, senior vice president of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA that if there are disruptions to TikTok, other short video platforms like Instagram will certainly benefit. But he said most American TikTok users are not going to quickly jump ship. "People use TikTok for a reason. They are not going to switch. he said. So, I think that it's wishful thinking to say that if you close TikTok down, everyone will move to another platform." A number of governments and institutions have banned TikTok on employee and contractor devices since 2022 over security concerns, including in Australia, Britain, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States. India has banned TikTok and several other Chinese applications since 2020 after a deadly border clash with Chinese troops. In 2020, then-President Donald Trump issued a presidential order banning TikTok and Chinese messaging app WeChat in the U.S. and required ByteDance to either divest TikTok or cease business. Court orders stopped the move, and President Joe Biden revoked and replaced the order with a fresh investigation. Bidens administration is supporting the legislation for TikTok to be divested or face a ban, while Trump this month appeared to walk back on his previous aim to ban the app. The former president said in a call-in interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he believed TikTok still posed a threat to national security but banning it would help Facebook, which he has attacked since his 2020 election loss. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report. The alleged perpetrators of the attack on a Moscow music venue appeared in court as the nation mourned the loss of more than 130. Craig Albert, political science professor and graduate director of the Master of Arts in Intelligence and Security Studies at Augusta University in Georgia, shares takeaways from whats known. Russia carried out attacks on Ukraines infrastructure, while Kyiv says it destroyed a pair of Russian naval vessels docked in Crimea. Israeli forces continue their operations around two hospitals in Gaza. Senegalese officials begin counting votes from Sundays election. One on One with Joe Korkowski, is heard Saturdays on KXRA-1490AM / 100.3fm/105.7fm (@7:40am) and KXRA-92.3FM (@7:00am), as well as each Sunday morning on KXRZ Z99.3fm (@10:15am). The interview is also re-broadcast on Monday mornings on KX92 at 10:00am and on Z99 at 9:10am. Venezuelan opposition figure Manuel Rosales registered to challenge President Nicolas Maduro in July's elections, after the main opposition coalition said it was prevented from nominating its candidate by the midnight deadline. Opposition party Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) registered Rosales "by automated means," the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced early Tuesday, just after the nomination window closed. A former exile, mayor and ex-presidential candidate who lost to Hugo Chavez in 2006, Rosales is the current governor of the northwestern Venezuelan state of Zulia. Moments before his registration was announced, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) said it had been unable to officially register its own candidate after it could not access the web platform. "We have been working all day ... trying to exercise our constitutional right to nominate our candidate. This was not possible," coalition official Omar Barboza said in a video released by PUD early Tuesday. Maduro, 61, meanwhile formalized his own run for the presidency with great fanfare on Monday, with thousands turning out to rally behind him and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela. "I was moved by so much generosity and recognition on the part of the people for this humble man from the neighborhoods of Caracas, this humble worker," said Maduro, carrying an illustration of his mentor, revolutionary leader Chavez. The former bus driver is seeking to extend his turbulent time in power with a third six-year term, amid rising concerns over his slide into authoritarianism and crackdown on the opposition. Wearing a jacket in the red, yellow and blue of the Venezuelan flag, he called on his supporters to rally behind him, as the crowd chanted his name. "Nicolas is the hope, he is the continuity of a project that Commander Hugo Chavez started," Pedro Mata, 52, told AFP at the rally. However, opinion surveys show Maduro is not the favorite at the July 28 polls. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, 56, overwhelmingly won an opposition primary vote last year, and some surveys put her support at about 72 percent. She was declared ineligible however, and banned from public office for 15 years by courts loyal to Maduro on charges of corruption widely dismissed as spurious, and for supporting Western sanctions against the government. In her place, the opposition coalition had been trying to nominate 80-year-old university professor Corina Yoris. - Proxy blocked - Just before the registration clock ran out, PUD said Monday night it had not yet received the necessary access codes to nominate Yoris on the CNE website. "The system is completely closed," Yoris told a press conference. "My rights as a Venezuelan citizen are being violated," she said. She said that her team had gone in person to the CNE to deliver a letter requesting a three-day extension to the period to nominate candidates, but had been unable to do so. In a joint statement, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay expressed concern over Yoris's inability to register. Just as the nomination window was due to close, former opposition vice-president of the National Assembly Enrique Marquez announced his candidacy as an independent. He said his bid had nothing to do with the opposition coalition. "This is autonomous, I am an independent politician," he said. Several other candidates presenting themselves as opposition figures also registered, but most were considered aligned with Maduro's government. The final list of presidential candidates will be published at the end of April. UN chief Antonio Guterres last week warned against interference in the election. Seven of Machado's party and campaign officials have been arrested, and warrants have been issued for several more, all accused of seeking to destabilize the country. Many countries refused to recognize the results of Maduro's last election in 2018, citing fraud and a lack of transparency, and instead recognized parliamentary president Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate leader. Six years later Maduro is still firmly in charge of the oil-rich nation after his rival's government collapsed and the war in Ukraine choked energy supplies and shifted global priorities. jt-pgf/lb/mtp Photo: Netflix Hard science fiction only rarely rouses the mainstream. Thats understandable. Such books are intimidating. With their quarks and parsecs and quantum theories, theyre a literary world away from the human-scale struggles of most general fiction. Chinese hard science fiction would seem to face an even steeper road to readership. Add stark cultural and political differences to an already forbidding genre, and popular wisdom would suggest the writer has no chance of success in the West. Step forward, Liu Cixin. His trilogy, Remembrance of Earths Past, has shattered this paradigm. Together, the three books have sold over nine million copies worldwide. Champions include Barack Obama and George R.R. Martin, and the first volume, The Three-Body Problem, was the first Asian novel to win a Hugo Award. Now, its made the final jump into mass popularity with a prestige Netflix adaptation, reconfigured numerically as 3 Body Problem. Reviews, including Vultures own, reflect how the show reaches for the grandiose scope of the book but also works to make Cixins multimillenia, dozen-dimensional saga more snappy and digestible. DB Weiss and David Benioff have created a true, unapologetic adaptation, broadening and condensing the story in turn, just as they did with Game of Thrones. And just like Thrones, theyve picked source material that sits right at the heart of its respective genre, both influenced by the classics and influencing newer authors in turn. In light of the shows moment in its three suns, now seems the perfect time to offer a curated reading list for the curious. Whether youre after more hard sci-fi to stretch the whorls of your brain, or looking for a less taxing entrance to the genre, this list contains multiple universes, each home to crazy theories, mad logic, and that endlessly searching question What if? Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang $8 $18 now 56% off $8 Many science-fiction stories are thought experiments taken to the extreme. What if someone proved that the rules of math are not constant? What if angels and demons were proved to exist? What if the entire universe existed within a constructed tower? These are some of the ideas that make up Ted Chiangs groundbreaking first collection, and boy does he commit to them. To write the novella Story of Your Life (which you may know better as the Denis Villeneuve adaptation, Arrival), Chiang immersed himself in years of linguistic research to fully authenticate the problem of interstellar communication. But, crucially, Chiang rarely uncouples scientific quandary from humanity. Unlike The Three-Body Problem, in which human struggle often feels like a framework around which Cixin can drape his ideas, Chiangs puzzle-box stories center on the emotional and philosophical impact of great discovery: the despair, the horror, the hope. $8 at Amazon Buy $8 at Amazon Buy Foundation, by Isaac Asimov $27 $51 now 47% off $27 Im loath to include too many classics on this list. Id rather tell you about books you may not be aware of. But Foundation is so integral to the hard sci-fi tradition, and such an influence upon The Three-Body Problem, that its only right to point new readers toward its vastness. A novel in five parts, it relates the future history of Galactic Empire and the attempt to preserve human knowledge and civilization during an approaching Dark Ages. The scale of Asimovs vision, in terms of both time and space, broadened the canvas for so much science fiction to come. Its stately and talky and more inclined toward grand ideas than gripping action, but its safe to say that without Foundation, there would be no Three-Body Problem. In fact, there may not be any of the other books on this list either. $27 at Amazon Buy $27 at Amazon Buy Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction, edited by Xueting Christine Ni $10 $15 now 33% off $10 The Three-Body Problem may have rocketed the profile of Chinese science fiction, but its far from the only game in town. Sinopticon presents some of the biggest names in the genre who arent Liu Cixin. The 13 stories showcase the breadth of the Chinese perspective, ranging from humor to cold, bitter despair. Whats notable is how many of the stories share conceits familiar from western sci-fi. A Ques Flower of the Other Shore is a funny zombie story that riffs on Hollywood cliche; Gu Shis The Last Save features a piece of tech ripped straight from Black Mirror; Hao Jingfangs Qiankun and Alex is focused on the relationship between a young child and the generative AI trying to learn from him. The trick is in Xueting Christine Nis translation, which contextualizes cultural differences while allowing something of the original tonality to remain. The result is a set of stories that feel familiar yet have an off-kilter quality that keeps them fresh. Its a wonderful introduction to a rich alternative viewpoint. $10 at Amazon Buy $10 at Amazon Buy Jumpnauts, by Hao Jingfang $19 $19 Hao Jingfangs 2020 novel, Vagabonds, was rapturously received, marking her out as perhaps the potential inheritor of Liu Cixins crown. However, its the just-released Jumpnauts that may well consolidate her position. Its a gorgeous book, treading similar ground to The Three-Body Problem but with a jaunty, almost cheerful outlook. In key ways, its a reversal of Cixins trilogy. Rather than humanity working together to face alien adversaries, Jumpnauts has its cast of characters navigate a terrestrial geopolitical crisis, while communicating with benevolent visitors from the afar. Jingfang melds scientific futurism with age-old mythology in the most satisfying of ways, suggesting that human history is not at all what we think and holding out the trembling hope, that maybe just maybe our future is one of peace. $19 at Amazon Buy $19 at Amazon Buy The Terraformers, by Annalee Newitz $18 $20 now 10% off $18 Many sci-fi authors strive for the epic longevity of Remembrance of Earths Past or Foundation; Annalee Newitz is one of relatively few who truly succeed. The Terraformers tells a millennia-long story, beginning 60,000 years in the future, concerning the vast transformation of a planet from hostile wilderness to habitable cradle of humanitys future. And she does all of that in less than 400 pages. Each of the three linked novellas that make up this prospective history is brimming with enough ideas and social commentary to support a much longer novel. Granted, Newitz is palpably more interested in the workings of her blank-canvas stage than she is in the human drama playing out upon it. Yes, there is love and war, but the books joyfully geeky attention is focused more on the rigors of a global transport system, or solving the universes biggest housing crisis. Dont be dissuaded, though: Newitzs world-building is more thrilling than many a laser battle. $18 at Amazon Buy $18 at Amazon Buy Dawn, by Octavia E. Butler $12 $19 now 37% off $12 Octavia Butler is best known by sci-fi fans for the near-future hellscape of The Parable of the Sower. Her trilogy, Liliths Brood, pushes much further, taking place in the aftermath of Earths nuclear devastation. In the first book, Dawn, Lilith awakens on a ship in the care of an alien race, the Oankali, who tell her they have spent the centuries of her hibernation cleansing our planet for humanitys return. However, the price they demand for their benevolence is laced with the racial allegory key to so much of Butlers speculative fiction. The series later developments never quite live up to its initial moral enquiry critics point to an overcluttering of ideas but Dawn excels in its marriage of hard and soft sci-fi. It also stands as an alarming and offbeat marker of the last time that the threat of nuclear holocaust tinged the edges of our lives. $12 at Amazon Buy $12 at Amazon Buy The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, by Ken Liu $12 $19 now 37% off $12 Though the stories in Lius first collection are, on the whole, very different from The Three-Body Problem, there are two very good reasons for reading it. First, Liu translated Cixins novel into English, being a major part of its cross-cultural success. Second, the contents of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories are so laden with awards as to make them utterly essential reading for any fan of sci-fi or speculative fiction. The title story, about a boy entranced by the magical properties of origami, goes much deeper, into the cultural schism between his mothers Chinese identity and the American side of his family. It was the first work of fiction to sweep the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards. Other stories weld the magical and the scientific. Liu gives us a camera that creates holograms of people captured in specific moments; he ties time travel into the worst of Japanese war crimes. A brief highlight, The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species, presents an alien culture via the entries in their encyclopedias. The many, many awards and nominations are well earned. In a just world, he would be as celebrated and widely read as the writer he helped introduce. $12 at Amazon Buy $12 at Amazon Buy Hyperion, by Dan Simmons $15 $19 now 21% off $15 What if The Canterbury Tales were set in space? Depending on your perspective, and what you were forced to endure in English class, that pitch has either turned you on or really off the idea of Hyperion. Dan Simmonss Hugo-winning space opera is unashamedly stuffed with literary references, but its also arguably the most readable novel on this list. Structurally, its broken into six sections, each featuring a different pilgrim sharing a journey to a distant world to worship at the feet (tentacles?) of a godlike creature, the Shrike. There are no weak links in this chain of stories. They roam across space and time, featuring archaeologists and ancient cultures, reverse aging and time-manipulated warfare. The scope is majestic, the characters are compelling, and Simmonss flourishes of imagination can be grand or quietly fascinating (a house linked by teleports with each room on a different planet). Chaucer would have been delighted to inspire such fun. $15 at Amazon Buy $15 at Amazon Buy The Doors of Eden, by Adrian Tchaikovsky $11 $18 now 39% off $11 Science fiction is full of multiverses. Many stories follow along the branching paths of the Many Worlds theory, in which a butterfly flapping its wings causes an electro-quake in Orions Belt or the death of a god on Proxima Centauri. (Great idea actually, noted down!) The Doors of Eden is a different take on the conceit. Rather than positing the various forked futures ahead, Tchaikovsky peers into the deep past, examining all the potential routes of planetary evolution, had conditions differed just slightly. These musings are presented as interstitial chapters in between the central thrust of the plot, which concerns strange creatures on the English moors and a shadowy governmental conspiracy. Its all great rollocking stuff, but those evolutionary thought experiments are where the authors imagination really takes flight. Most fans would recommend Tchaikovskys lauded Children of Time trilogy, but The Doors of Eden shares more of the niche scientific enthusiasm of The Three-Body Problem. $11 at Amazon Buy $11 at Amazon Buy Rosewater, by Tade Thompson $10 $18 now 44% off $10 Asian writers arent the only demographic making waves in contemporary sci-fi. An Afrofuturist revolution is also gathering pace in the work of authors such as Nnedi Okorafor, Temi Oh, and Tade Thompson. Thompsons Wormwood trilogy is dense and challenging, and, like The Three-Body Problem, it presents a perspective on human community and our place in the cosmos thats at odds with the prevailing American mind-set. The first novel, Rosewater, establishes an alien presence on Earth before leaping forward several decades to assess its impact on our world. The Nigerian town of Rosewater has grown around a huge alien dome, which releases a mind-altering fungus that allows humans to access a network of psychic connection. The setup may sound like a brain-melter, but providing you have a little patience for a raft of new terminology, Rosewater soon settles into one of the most thrilling, satisfying, and grimly imaginative science-fiction novels of the last decade. $10 at Amazon Buy $10 at Amazon Buy Im Waiting For You and Other Stories, by Kim Bo-Young $15 $17 now 12% off $15 Who says that you cant use hard science in a love story? In Interstellar, Christopher Nolan made love the furthest-reaching natural law, and in Kim Bo-Youngs debut, its the single constant point in the relativistic geometry of the universe. Through a pair of twinned novellas, Bo-Young tells the story of a couple bonded in love but separated by space-time. As millennia pass on Earth, they long for each other in the cosmos, hope of reunion sustained by ongoing technological advances. Their dual story is accompanied by two briefer tales themselves linked which ponder the relationship between godlike beings and the humans they observe. These are fine sci-fi, but in a list of high concepts, cold science, and macro-scale storytelling, its the tale of thwarted, persistent love that shines from the empty reaches of space. $15 at Amazon Buy $15 at Amazon Buy Photo: Sundance/WireImage There is a secret film hidden within the shadowy sapphic corners of Letterboxd. Some call it escapist trash, some call it an underrated cult classic, fools call it a male fantasy. It calls itself D.E.B.S. As other early-2000s chick flicks like Charlies Angels and St. Trinians have been reevaluated and embraced for their candy-floss aesthetics and campy wit over the years, the lesbian community was quietly reclaiming its own equivalent with 2004s D.E.B.S. The precursor to contemporary high-concept lesbian films like Bottoms, the spy flick is filled with something that queer female moviegoers still often yearn for: fun. That includes Jordana Brewster and her era-defying eyebrows as the impeccably named supervillain Lucy Diamond, John Woostyle fight scenes that parody the action genre in the same way as Charlies Angels, and a cheerfully cheap aesthetic where spies run around in plaid schoolgirl skirts. D.E.B.S. was written, directed, and edited by filmmaker Angela Robinson. While unapologetically queer might be an overused phrase, it does apply neatly to Robinson. The Chicago-born directors first project was a short film called Chickula: Teenage Vampire, calling on the long history of vampiric queer women that began with 1872s Carmilla. Her love of playing with genre led her to later put a lesbian spin on the movie musical by writing the underappreciated Girltrash: All Night Long and exploring polyamory in a period biopic about the creators of Wonder Woman, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. On the small screen, she also burnished her lesbian credentials by working on several episodes of The L Word. When D.E.B.S. started life as a short film, Robinson described it as a story about a trio of superspies who are all chicks. I love all the comic-book characters: Charlies Angels, Batman, Josie & the Pussycats But I always wanted them to be gay and they never were, so I wrote my own. Success at Sundance led to Sony snatching the short up and deciding that D.E.B.S. should be a full-length feature. Two decades later, the joy of this movie lies in the details. The tone is immediately set by a gravelly voice-over telling us that there is a secret test hidden within the SAT to recruit young female superspies (and establishing that, like Bottoms, this is a film aware of genre archetypes and willing to push believability). Our main character Amy (Sara Foster) is an academic overachiever like many lesbians overcompensating for their perceived failure to live up to social norms. Her perfect score on the secret SAT test makes it even more scandalous when she falls for the aforementioned supervillain Lucy Diamond. Queer friend groups may delight over the nostalgic frosty eye shadow and lip gloss worn by the D.E.B.S. (which stands for discipline, energy, beauty, strength, naturally) at all times. Flip phones, CGI holographic screens, and Goldfrapps appearance on the soundtrack will also remind you that youre watching a film made in the early 2000s. And many will squeal when they spot Holland Taylor, over a decade before she came out, as the academys head. Admittedly, the special effects are goofy enough to cross over into comedy, especially when our girls are abseiling into a restaurant or climbing walls with plungers, and the lighting could be charitably described as resembling teen soap operas of that era. But the chemistry between Amy and Lucy is crackling enough that YouTube compilations of their scenes have racked up hundreds of thousands of views online. Their fun enemies-to-lovers plotline begins with the pair pointing guns at each other and quickly progresses to a whirlwind romance (the other D.E.B.S. think Amys been kidnapped and launch a national manhunt, just as many friend groups have had to organize rescue missions for lesbians on weeklong first dates). You could argue that espionage serves as a metaphor for the closet and that Amy is such an effective spy because shes used to lying to herself about her sexuality. But that almost seems like too much weight to put on this meringue confection of a genre spoof: Its campiness liberates the characters to inhabit a fun, exaggerated universe with no serious homophobia or consequences. Guns are used, but the so-called superspies have such consistently terrible aim that there are no real casualties. And Lucy Diamonds supposedly nefarious crimes are all reversible the murders pinned on her are revealed to be misunderstandings, and she returns all of her stolen goods in order to win Amy back. When this live-action Totally Spies with a lesbian twist debuted, it only made $97,000 and was dismissed by critics. But there were enough moviegoing gays impressed by its snappy dialogue, fun romance, and stunning supporting cast (including Meagan Good, Jimmi Simpson, and Devon Aoki with a French accent) for its reputation to grow online over time. In forums and YouTube comment sections, young girls were asking, Are there any lesbian films where they just fall in love and have fun and dont die at the end? Their answer was D.E.B.S. Diddy. Photo: Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images Diddys residences in Los Angeles and Miami have been raided by federal agents, outlets reported on March 25. Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners, HSI said in a statement, according to FOX11 Los Angeles. We will provide further information as it becomes available. Sources tell the broadcaster that the raids are in connection with an alleged sex-trafficking investigation. Diddys lawyer, Aaron Dyer, confirmed in a March 26 statement to Deadline that search warrants had been executed at Diddys residences. According to Dyers statement, Diddy was never detained but spoke to and cooperated with authorities. However, Dyer alleged that there was a gross overuse of military-level force, adding, There is no excuse for the excessive show of force and hostility exhibited by authorities or the way his children and employees were treated. OX11 footage depicts what appears to be Diddys sons, King and Justin Combs, walking away in handcuffs from Diddys L.A. home. (Dyer denied that Diddy or any of his family members have been arrested or had their ability to travel restricted in any way.) Images from TMZ show Homeland Security Investigations officers and police outside of his reportedly cordoned-off home with at least two helicopters above the L.A.-area property. At his Miami waterfront residence, law enforcement arrived via boat, according to images shared by TMZ. #Diddy is in the crosshairs of law enforcement on both coasts of America -- and #TMZ has video from the ground. Full, updating story here: https://t.co/cIMY4yy03N pic.twitter.com/OCu87GeJbu TMZ (@TMZ) March 25, 2024 This unprecedented ambush paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr. Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits, Dyers statement said. There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name. The news comes amid multiple lawsuits that accuse Diddy, real name Sean Combs, of sex trafficking, battery, and rape. The flood of allegations began after Cassie filed a disturbing lawsuit against Diddy in November 2023, settling with him one day after filing. Since then, five additional victims stepped forward in legal complaints, including producer Lil Rod. This is a developing story. This post has been updated. NEW YORK (AP) The first of Donald Trumps four criminal trials will begin April 15, a Manhattan judge ruled Monday after tearing into the former presidents lawyers for what he said were unfounded claims that the hush-money case had been tainted by prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Juan M. Merchan scoffed at the defenses calls to delay the case longer or throw it out entirely because of a last-minute document dump that had bumped the first-ever trial of a former president from its scheduled Monday start. Trump vowed to appeal the ruling. Barring another delay, the presumptive Republican nominee will be on trial as a criminal defendant in just three weeks an inauspicious homecoming in the city where he grew up, built a real estate empire and gained wealth and celebrity that propelled him to the White House. The trial, involving allegations related to hush money paid during Trumps 2016 campaign to cover up marital infidelity claims, had been in limbo after his lawyers complained about a recent deluge of nearly 200,000 pages of evidence from a previous federal investigation into the matter. Trumps lawyers accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs office of intentionally failing to pursue evidence from the 2018 federal investigation, which sent Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen to prison. They contended prosecutors working under Bragg, a Democrat, did so to gain an unfair advantage in the case and harm Trumps election chances. Cohen, now a vocal Trump critic, is poised to be a key prosecution witness against his ex-boss. Merchan bristled at the defenses claims at a hearing Monday, saying the DA's office had no duty to collect evidence from the federal investigation, nor was the U.S. attorneys office required to volunteer the documents. What transpired was a far cry from Manhattan prosecutors "injecting themselves in the process and vehemently and aggressively trying to obstruct your ability to get documentation, the judge said. Its just not what happened, Merchan said. Merchan grew impatient, pressing Trump lawyer Todd Blanche to cite even a single legal precedent for his argument. When the lawyer couldn't, the judge laid into him, saying: Youre literally accusing the Manhattan DA's office and the people assigned to this case of engaging in prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it. And you dont have a single cite to support that position. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said the number of relevant, usable, new documents in the recently provided evidence is quite small around 300 records or fewer. Trumps lawyers contend thousands of pages are potentially important and require painstaking review. They argued the delayed disclosures warranted dismissing the case or at least pushing it off three months. We are not doing our jobs if we dont independently look at the new material, Blanche told the judge. Every document is important. The DA's office denied wrongdoing and blamed Trumps lawyers for bringing the time crunch upon themselves by waiting until Jan. 18 to subpoena the records from the U.S. attorneys office a mere nine weeks before the trial was originally supposed to start. Merchan, who earlier this month postponed the trial until at least mid-April to deal with the evidence issue, told defense lawyers that they should have acted sooner if they believed they didnt have all the records they wanted. Trump complained about the ruling outside court, renewing his complaint that the case is election interference." This is a case that could have been brought three and a half years ago. And now theyre fighting over days because they want to try and do it during the election. This is election interference. Thats all it is. Election interference and its a disgrace, the former president said. The hearing took place the same day a New York appeals court granted Trump a dose of good news by agreeing to hold off collection of his $454 million civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175 million within 10 days. The dueling developments underscored New York's place as an epicenter of Trumps legal peril. Though the hush money case is seen as less consequential than his other prosecutions which charge him with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally retaining classified documents it has taken on added importance given that its the only one that appears likely for trial in the coming months. The trial will begin with jury selection, a potentially arduous task given the publicity surrounding the case and Trumps wild unpopularity in heavily Democratic Manhattan. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though there is no guarantee a conviction would result in jail time. Manhattan prosecutors say Trump did it as part of an effort to protect his 2016 campaign by burying what he says were false stories of extramarital sex. Trump on Monday repeated to reporters his claims that the case is a witch hunt and hoax. Prosecutors allege that Trump falsely logged payments to Cohen, then his personal lawyer, as legal fees in his companys books when they were for his work covering up stories that might embarrass Trump. That included $130,000 hed paid porn actor Stormy Daniels on Trumps behalf, so she wouldnt publicize her claim of a sexual encounter with him years earlier. Trumps lawyers say the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses, not cover-up checks. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payoff. He said Trump directed him to arrange it, and federal prosecutors indicated they believed him, but Trump was never charged. Trumps lawyers said Braggs office turned over just a fraction of materials from that investigation last June. The material hasnt been made public. But Trumps lawyers said in a court filing that some of it is exculpatory and favorable to the defense. The sharing of evidence, called discovery, is routine in criminal cases and is intended to help ensure a fair trial. Braggs deputies have insisted they engaged in good-faith and diligent efforts to obtain relevant information from the federal probe. They argued in court filings that Trumps lawyers should have spoken up earlier if they believed those efforts were lacking. Prosecutors maintain that, in any event, the vast majority of what ultimately came is irrelevant, duplicative or backs up existing evidence about Cohens well-known federal conviction. Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Philip Marcelo and Jill Colvin contributed to this report. Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images It is correct to say that Kevin Hart was honored on March 24 with the Mark Twain Prize, an award given annually by the Kennedy Center to a comedian who has made a large and lasting impact on American culture. It is also correct perhaps even more correct to say that on Sunday night in Washington, D.C., inside the Kennedy Centers Concert Hall and in front of over 2,000 people, Hart got his ass roasted. Repeatedly. Okay, yes: His ass was roasted with love by fellow comedians who know and/or have worked with him, including Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Tiffany Haddish, and his frequent co-star Regina Hall. All of them were clearly happy to pay tribute to a stand-up comic who sells out arenas and stars in popular movies yet somehow has time for an infinite number of side hustles, including but not limited to producing television shows, popping up in a seemingly infinite number of Capital One commercials, and starting a chain of plant-based fast-casual restaurants. (Its true! See?) But his friends and colleagues also seemed plenty eager to keep cranking up the flames on the grill. They gave Hart shit on a number of fronts, starting right out of the gate with Seinfeld, who invited the audience to wonder why he even bothered to show up at this thing. Do you think Im doing this because I owe Kevin Hart a favor? asked the man who has frequently driven in cars with comedians, including Hart, while getting coffee. Or maybe I like the idea of Kevin Hart owing me a favor? Im not gonna tell you. Then he added, I cant think of much that Kevin Hart can do for me. Can you? I dont want to be in Jumanji. Some went the obvious route by making jokes about Harts height. Jimmy Fallon, channeling Johnny Cash, sang an entire song about how short Hart is. Hes got a certain flair, buys his clothes at Build-A-Bear, Fallon twanged while strumming an acoustic guitar and wearing a black cowboy hat. Hes so humble and down-to-earth, but his feet dont touch the ground in a chair. In a similar vein, J.B. Smoove remembered meeting Hart when he was a young, aspiring comedian hanging out at the Laff House in Philadelphia, Harts hometown. Id be like, Man, if someone doesnt come over here and get their damn child out of this club, Smoove recalled. They serve alcohol in here. Who brings an adolescent to a damn comedy club? But it wasnt an adolescent at all. Little boy had peach fuzz a little bit. It was Kevin! Smoove, a.k.a. Leon from Curb Your Enthusiasm, also devoted a huge chunk of his nine-and-a-half-minute remarks to calling out Hart for stealing his jokes. I also remember how, after I would leave the club to head back to New York City, I wouldnt even make it over the Ben Franklin Bridge before I would get a page causing me to pull over and find a damn pay phone and call my answering service so the operator could relay the message that Kevin was onstage stealing my shit again! Smoove later added that he could have handled the matter one of two ways: by going on Club Shay Shay, a reference to Katt Williamss January appearance on Shannon Sharpes podcast when he accused Hart of being an industry plant, or by airing his grievances right here at the Kennedy Center at the Mark Twain Prize. And Im glad it was here! The hits kept on coming. Hall called out Hart for his love of cash: Kevin really cares about the quality of the check, not the project. Some of that shit is pretty bad, but you know what? This man makes a lot of money. So did Lil Dicky: Every year, this guy comes out with like 40 different projects, and for at least half of them, you watch it and you think, Oh, he must only be doing this for the money. So did Rock: Kevins a smart businessman. Hes the first person who ever got paid to get the Mark Twain Prize. Thats right, hes getting $100K tonight, aint you, Kev? (A Kennedy Center rep confirmed that this was a joke and that Hart was not paid to be a recipient.) Hall, Haddish, and Chelsea Handler all noted Harts habit of making social plans or other commitments and then bailing on them. After explaining how Hart had promised to help her cross the border into Canada during COVID by giving her a job on a film he was shooting, Handler dryly said, Thats when I learned that if you ask Kevin for a favor, you can always count on hearing these three words: Ive got you. And then you can count on never hearing from him again. At this point, you may be feeling a little bad for Hart. Dont. He was having the time of his life Sunday night, sitting in a box with his wife, Eniko Hart, and all four of his kids and dying laughing at every jab, including a practical joke played by Nick Cannon. After the announcer led the crowd to believe that surprise guest Eddie Murphy was about to appear, Cannon, looking very much not like Axel Foley, strolled onto the stage. Eddie Murphy aint comin to see your little ass, Cannon shouted. Gotcha, bitch! The language during the Mark Twain Prize ceremony was a bit saltier than usual, perhaps in part because Netflix will stream it for the first time this year after decades of its airing on PBS. By design or by accident, the vibe was a little looser, and the F-bombs were detonated with greater frequency by the comics onstage and in the montages of highlights from Harts career. But there were heartfelt moments, too, most notably in the speech by Chappelle, who made the final tribute of the night. I love you so much, he told Hart. And never forget that I said it, because we only get to talk on podcasts. Chris Rock and I would never play an arena before I saw you do it, he continued. You made me dream bigger when you were younger than me. Its humiliating. But its inspiring, man. When Hart finally took the stage to accept his award, he got emotional, particularly while thanking his children There is no life in me without you, he told them through tears and all the people who supported him, both throughout his career and by showing up at the Kennedy Center. Although this award means so much and I will never take it for granted, it does not mean more than looking over there and going, Wow, I got Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle to come out, he said, looking at the box where the three stand-ups were seated side by side like a Mount Rushmore of comedy titans. There is nothing that can mean more than that. Of course, when Hart failed to thank Cannon and Smoove by name, both of them stood up and started yelling at him. He had an immediate response: You think it was an accident? Fuck you, Nick. Okay? I really thought Eddie Murphy was here. J.B., you told everybody I stole my style from you? Fuck you, J.B.! If you want to find out how many of those fuck-yous made the final edit of the ceremony, you can watch it on Netflix starting May 11. Photo: Mark Seliger for New York Magazine As a social-climbing hustler trying to gain access to an exclusive country club, Kristen Wiig plays Palm Royales Maxine like a steamroller. Spouting torrents of nonsense in a Tennessee accent, she hides her ever-present terror of being exposed behind sunglasses and an enormous smile. Its the sort of character Carol Burnett, who plays Maxines comatose aunt Norma, mightve embodied on her classic CBS variety series The Carol Burnett Show one of the many eccentrics and neurotics who would influence Wiigs run on Saturday Night Live nearly four decades later. In the Apple TV+ series, Burnetts ability to unleash an electric performance charges the screen, even when playing mute and immobile, and watching the pair perform together makes you wonder why they werent united sooner. Both throw themselves into their characters with a laser-focused intensity thats funny in part because its so unnerving. Acting opposite Burnett never struck Wiig, who used to watch The Carol Burnett Show in reruns as a child, as a possibility, though she credits the series with inspiring her to audition for The Groundlings, and thus, a career in sketch comedy. It had a huge impact on me, Wiig says, sitting opposite Burnett on the patio of the Four Seasons Hotel restaurant in Los Angeles. Not even just the work and the characters, which I fell in love with, but to have your own show as a woman was unheard of. Shes unlike anybody in the history of comedy. Carol, I used to watch your variety show with my mother and grandmother, and they used to nearly asphyxiate from laughter at the sketches, particularly the ones where Tim Conway played Mr. Tudball and you were his secretary, Mrs. Wiggins. Carol Burnett: Tim wrote those characters. Originally, he wrote Mrs. Wiggins to be this doting old lady. I went into the costume fitting that way, and Bob Mackie, a genius, said, Weve been doing a lot of old ladies lately. Lets make her into this bimbo with a push-up rump, somebody the IQ fairy never visited. Bob put me in this funny little blouse and added this old black skirt that was kind of bald and tight at the knees and baggy in the behind, plus stiletto heels. I said, Bob, Im flat back there. Youre going to have to take that in. And he said, No stick your butt into it. And that gave me Mrs. Wigginss walk. It was the only way I could walk because the skirt was tied at the knees! What was the writing process on your show? How much time did you have to do an episode? CB: Say I wanted to do Mildred Pierce, because I remembered seeing all these movies with my grandmother and loving them. Id go to the writer, they would write the sketch, and wed do it three weeks later. I would help write because I remembered the movie. Lots of times when wed be rehearsing with Harvey and Vicki or Lyle and we had a line we wanted to change, Id call the writers to come down. And they just said, Listen, if you can make it funnier, do it. Nobody was like, No, you cant change my line! Kristen, does this remind you of SNL? KW: When you said three weeks, I was like, Thats so long! At SNL, you write it on a Tuesday night, you read it on Wednesday, and the rewrite happens Thursday. CB: Well, three weeks when I would suggest something. Tim didnt take three weeks. He just had the idea, wrote it, and we read it and did it. KW: Sometimes I would go to a writer and say, I have a character. Sometimes a writer would come to me. Most of the time, you make an appointment with a writer and you hang out in their office. You dont have an idea, and an hour later youre laughing about something like, Lets write that. Your brain is always trying to think of new characters. Youre watching people on the subway, trying to get ideas. Its a nonstop machine. Kristen, how do you work out a character physically? KW: Sometimes its a voice. Sometimes its the way you stand. Sometimes its a catchphrase or even a look. There was a character I did just a couple of times, a woman at a party that kept saying, Dont make me sing! James Anderson and I wrote most of my stuff together. That character started out being hunched over. The body language came first, then we just kept saying, Dont make me sing. Carol, how did you get a producer credit in the 60s, when there were no major women TV producers except Lucy? CB: I signed a contract with CBS when I was on The Garry Moore Show requiring me to do one special a year plus two guest shots. Within the first five years, my agent got me a deal where if I wanted to do an hour-long comedy variety series, all I had to do was push the button and CBS would have to put it on for 31 hours, whether they wanted to or not. KW: Did they think thats what you wanted at the time? CB: No. I wanted to be on Broadway. Then the fifth year rolled around, the last week between Christmas and New Years, and my husband and I just moved from New York to California. We put a down payment on a house. I already had one baby. And we looked at the contract and said, Maybe we should push that button. Did either of you reach a point with a popular character where youre like, This is starting to run my life. I dont want to do this character anymore? KW: They have a shelf life, for sure. I feel it more the minute after I do it for the last time, like, I think that was it, shes going to retire. CB: There was one character I stopped doing after a while. Zelda was an awful wife of Harveys. He would have these fantasies that he could kill her, but then she would show up in his fantasies. Sometimes he was a toreador and I was the bull. After a while, she was so annoying, I said, She makes me angry. I dont want to do her anymore. Does drama exercise different acting muscles from sketch comedy? KW: Theres something to creating characters that have a little bit of I dont want to say sadness, but a yearning, I guess. Not to sound too deep about it, because you are trying to make people laugh, but to have the drama makes the comedy more funny, and vice versa. You need to find that weird balance. CB: Thats what I love. When we did the family Eunice and Mama and Ed that could get pretty heavy. They originally wrote it for me to be Mama and we were going to have a guest star play the daughter, Eunice. But Eunice spoke to me because my mother wanted her dreams and they never happened. She was always angry, but underneath, pitiful. So I said, I want to play Eunice. We were going to hire an older actress to do Mama. We only thought we were going to do this one time, and because we couldnt think of who to get, Bob Banner said, Ill put Vicky in a wig and a fat suit and take off her eyelashes She was 24 years old, but she became Mama and it grew from there. She was fabulous. I loved those sketches because there wasnt a joke in them. It was all character-driven. One of the really heavy ones was when Eunice got to perform on The Gong Show. It was very funny up until she was gonged, and you see the camera on her face [Burnett frames her face with her hands, with a stricken expression] and then they did a freeze-frame and she got smaller and smaller in the frame until she disappeared. Eunice thought she was going to be a movie star. When the sketch ended, people cried. Kristen, whats your favorite Carol Burnett Show sketch? KW: I do love Mrs. Wiggins. I love when you did the movie parodies. CB: The one everyone talks about the most is Gone With the Wind. Went With the Wind, we called it. That was about 25 minutes long. KW: What? Does that exist somewhere, the 25-minute version? You never got to that length at Saturday Night Live, did you? KW: No, it was three or four minutes. Five minutes would have been a long time. CB: One of the writers was a guy who did a thesis on Gone With the Wind, so he knew every bit of dialogue. Theyd written that I would come down the staircase with just the draperies hanging on me. Bob Mackie said, Thats not that funny. What can I do to improve that? KW: I love that he had so much input! CB: We had 65 to 70 costumes a week because we had 12 dancers, the rep company, two guest stars, and different sketches. In 11 years, Bob designed 17,000 costumes. When I went into the fitting for Went With the Wind, the dress was on the curtain rod. I fell on the floor. I said to Bob, This is going to be one of the greatest sight gags in the history of television. The laughter in the audience was so much that we had to cut it down. People were screaming. Kristen, did a character or sketch ever snap into place for you because of a piece of wardrobe? KW: All of them find a new angle in wardrobe. At SNL specifically, you do the readthrough, like where I described the hunch to you you have the physicality and describe what the character looks like but then you get the wig on and the wardrobe and sometimes you move in a way you werent expecting. Sue always had that turtleneck that came over her face [mimes pulling the neck up over her mouth] so she wouldnt say the surprise. Carol, where did the Charwoman come from? You played her many times in solo sketches, and she became the emblem for the series and your career. CB: I was doing a special with Robert Preston. At the time, David Rose had a top record called The Stripper, and this jockey, when he introduced it, said, This is a housewifes favorite song. I pictured a housewife ironing or sweeping while listening to that on the radio. I thought, What if its a charwoman? She works in a burlesque house, and she goes in to clean up after everybodys gone home. Theres a single lightbulb over her head. In her mind, she hears The Stripper, so she becomes Gypsy Rose Lee in a sweater and army boots. The only thing she takes off is a sweater, but she does a whole striptease thing. Has either of you based a character on somebody you knew? CB: My mom. The writers were from the Midwest and they all hated their mothers. When I read Eunice for the first time, I started [exaggerated drawl] tawkin lahk THEE-us. I put that spin on it to say, Theyre from the Southwest: Texas, Arkansas. Then Vicky picked up on it, and Harvey. When we did a run-through for the first time, the writers were so angry. You cant do this. Thats not the way we wrote it. Youll alienate the entire South. But we did it and people took to it. KW: Target Lady kind of sounded a little bit like someone that worked at Target. I just completely exaggerated it. I also did a character named Penelope who was a one-upper. That was definitely based on someone, but the character is a very familiar type in life. Photo: Mark Seliger for New York Magazine Can you tell me about Maxines accent on Palm Royale? KW: Well, she is from Chattanooga, so I just did my best Chattanoogan accent. It also helps with Maxine being an outsider in this group it gives a little extra separation from the other women. CB: It was not only the accent, but the way you moved. It took over your character. You were always pushing for something, and you walked quickly. You were going somewhere. You could have played her as overtly manipulative. You could have played her as a bull in a china shop type. Instead you went with, I guess, a polite relentlessness? KW: Shes doing these somewhat despicable things, and its confusing to watch her because shes so positive! Shes always in a good mood, and shes stealing, and youre kind of like, Maybe thats okay then. Right? Lying about herself, writing bad checks, pawning Aunt Normas jewelry. KW: Yes, she wants to be friends with these women and be a part of this group, but that unnatural, sunny disposition lends to the question, Why? What is she missing? Shes always going. Those are the kinds of people where its like, When you stop, whats going to come up? Kristen, what was it like shooting all the scenes where the two of you are together but Carols not speaking? KW: Funnier than youd think? CB: I love when you slap yourself, saying, Stop! KW: It felt very surreal for me to go from watching Carols show before I even knew what I wanted to do with my life to being in a scene with her. CB: I had trouble when we were shooting when I was in the coma and shes doing all these monologues and slapping herself in the face to keep it together. I was biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing, thinking, I cant spoil this take. I want to go on record about something. This lady sitting across from me, the final scene of the whole show I dont want to give it away, but she has a moment where, if this were a movie, she would win an Oscar. Its a master class of acting. KW: Thank you for saying that, Carol. It means a lot. CB: Its the truth. Everybody there was just crying. We were all gobsmacked. Kristen, knowing the career path youve traveled, and having experienced Carols work when you were younger, I would imagine its validating to hear something like that. KW: Thats a good word. Because it really gets into who I was as a kid and what I gravitated towards when I came to L.A. I didnt have experience acting. I didnt know how I was going to do anything. I saw a show at the Groundlings, and obviously I was obsessed with watching Carol and Saturday Night Live. And to now work with Carol, and to have been on Saturday Night Live, I feel really lucky. Paul Thomas Anderson has never won an Oscar, but Robert Altman chose him as his replacement in the event he died while filming his final movie, A Prairie Home Companion. If you have an honor bestowed on you like that or like doing a show with one of your heroes I feel like thats more meaningful, ultimately. CB: I knew Paulie when he was a kid. His father was Ernie Anderson, who was a partner at one time in Cleveland with Tim Conway. They came out to Hollywood together. Ernie became the voice of ABC. Remember? [In deep voice] The Loooove Boat. Thats Paul Thomas Andersons father. When Lyle left our show, Ernie became our announcer. So I knew Ernie and Edwina, his wife. Ernie gave Paulie an 8-mm. camera when he was about 4 or 5 or 6, and he started doing movies even then. Anderson is probably the closest thing to an Altman that American cinema has. CB: When I did A Wedding with Bob, there were 25 of us in the same scene, and he got us all together beforehand and told us what he wanted. Then he said, If any of you have a scene or a line or something about your character that you come to me with, Ill use it if I like it. Some of the best scenes in my movies have been written by the actors. Have you ever heard of another director saying that? It was wild. It was like experimental theater. KW: I love doing this with you, Carol, because I get to hear new stories all the time. I could just listen to you all day. Kristen, when are you going to direct? KW: I really want to. Ive half-started writing a few things, and I really want to direct them. Once this is all done, Ill have a little more space in my brain. Related The Regime Midnight Feast Season 1 Episode 4 Editors Rating 3 stars * * * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Photo: Miya Mizuno/HBO In Alexander Paynes excellent 1996 debut feature Citizen Ruth, Laura Dern plays a poor, wildly irresponsible drug addict from Nebraska whos had four children and lost custody of all of them largely because the state reasonably concluded that a woman given to huffing wood sealant at hardware stores is unfit for motherhood. But her fifth pregnancy lands her smack in the middle of a political fight over abortion, with both sides seeing her as a potent symbol for the cause, especially when the press catches wind of her story. Theres money for her to cancel a planned abortion, and theres money for her to go through with it, but ultimately, nobody actually cares about her as a person. They just want to weaponize her. And though you could accuse Paynes satire of both-sidesism, its a comedy about a woman who finds her power and reclaims her right to choose. Tonights episode of The Regime follows Citizen Ruths satirical strategy closely, with Matthias Schoenaertss Zubak as the simpleton whose symbolic value puts him in the middle of a battle between left and right. As I wrote last week, the powers-that-be in the palace made a mistake in elevating Zubak to a folk hero in an attempt to put a wedge between him and Elena. His arrest for trying to strangle her may have seemed like the payoff for that effort, but now The Foundling is a martyr for the underclass and a crucial piece in swaying agitated sugar beet farmers to either rebel against Elena for selling them out or shore up their support. That was part of Elenas original motive for bringing him on in the first place: He may be the butcher who put down protesters, but he could support her strongwoman bona fides and win over the great unwashed. To the shows credit, Zubak isnt as reducible as his minders believe, which is true of Dern in Citizen Ruth, who also finds her way through a political mess. However, the main thrust of Midnight Feast is the effort to draw Zubak into a potential fight to topple the regime and what it reveals about the cynicism of players on each side of the ideological divide. As with the Payne film, the show is not engaging in both-sidesism per se, but it does have a good feeling for political calculation and the relationship between the arrogant elite and the hoi polloi they seek to claim as their own. Left and right may not see eye to eye on much, but theyre together in looking down at the rubes. Opening four months after the last episode, Midnight Feast finds the country in economic turmoil and civil unrest, as Elenas decision to sever ties with her American partner has led to an alignment with China, who has also made her promises in exchange for a cut of the cobalt business. In the meantime, as construction of a new cobalt refinery has hit a snag, the Chinese have utterly decimated the nations sugar beet industry through a free trade agreement that allows them to undercut the local market with cheap sugar. That led to the closure of multiple sugar beet factories in the Westgate region and a rash of angry, violent protests. Conditions are worsened by Elenas decision to seize the Faban Corridor, which has led to American sanctions that have torpedoed the countrys Gross Domestic Product. (Elena, in one of her mandated radio addresses, tells people not to worry: The American beast and its client states try to strangle us, but petty sanctions will always fail because our love cannot be sanctioned.) Enter Hugh Grant, ideally cast as the sort of fake leftist rabble-rouser who writes books about revolution but has the snooty patrician air of well Hugh Grant. Grants Edward Keplinger, the author of the surely unreadable book Radical Democracy and its Dialectics, was ousted as chancellor when Elena rose to power and now resides in the well-appointed purgatory of a luxury prison cell. With Elena losing control over the Westgaters, Keplinger sees the opportunity to take advantage of the shift in political headwinds and catapult himself back into office. To that end, he seeks the support of Zubak, his fellow inmate, whose love/hate relationship with Elena has brought him to the brink of madness. With Elenas regime teetering, Zubak could be just the right brute to tip it over. For her part, Elena has a PR crisis to manage, and the solution is about as appealing to her as The Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns runs for governor and has to eat a three-eyed fish borne of his plants toxic waste. When word comes down that a horse-carrying mounted security officer has kicked a pregnant woman in Westgate, killing her and her unborn child an unscheduled abortion, one of the cronies quips it adds a splash of gasoline to the fires of discontent that are already raging in Westgate. The whole affair disgusts her, but she agrees to a live event with Westgate children to answer their presumably adorable questions, provided that she doesnt play nursemaid of their big, messy feelings. The event goes hilariously amiss, with Elena so annoyed by the grade-schoolers not-so-adorable queries that she snaps, rolling her eyes over the horsey and blasting the mother, saying that if youre a giant pregnant tuna, dont attend a government protest. This leads to the even more unpleasant prospect of leaving the palace for an appearance in Westgate itself, which has the piquant dog-poop smell of processed sugar beet to add to the roiling social unrest. She even uses the unctuous political phrase listening tour to describe her efforts to understand what the people are feeling. Of course, the better solution for her is to plant guns and U.S. currency in the office of the sugar beet union chief to show that hes in cahoots with the Americans, which she can do without leaving the office. She can also revive her psychosexual relationship with Zubak, which has a much stronger grip over his emotions than the cheese and sausage and nominal respect that Keplinger offers in his cell. The episode ends with Keplinger strangled and a political union between Elena and Zubak thats consummated in her office, with her cuckolded husband pleading weakly on his way out the door. Zubak might liberate himself from Elenas grip one day, but its not today. Spores A terrific (and true) line from Elena about the advantages of Westgate protesters getting violent as they get angrier: Attacking peaceful protesters makes me a monster. Fighting off armed insurgents makes me a protector. Elenas various health maladies have been a running joke in the series, but this weeks perimenopausal crisis doesnt yield much comic fruit other than a few colorful descriptions of the heat. (Its like lying awake in a camels asshole.) When youre not normal, youre telling me that Im not normal, which is a bad flavor for this room. Elena, doing the extremely normal thing of speaking from an ice bath on a video conference screen that descends like a Jumbotron into a chamber that resembles the war room in Dr. Strangelove. Its a situation with a horse. Im eager to hear the next sentence. A big TBD on Agness apparent contact with Americans who are promising a home and health services for her son in exchange for help in organizing a move against the palace. Funny that Elena and Nickys staged date night is over fondue, which makes them look like the perfect couple from the 1970s. Disagreement between Buffalos longtime hostel and the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, which owns the century-old hostel building at 667 Main St., is concerning. It is difficult to imagine a thriving city without this hostel drawing international visitors and acting as a de facto welcoming center with activities and regular art exhibitions at its well-curated BOX Gallery. Unless BURA can give a specific start date for stabilization activities, the hostel should receive another few weeks to get its house in order and be provided a clear path back into the building. The hostel is the nexus when the curtain is down in the Theater District. The place resonates with the kind of vibrancy urban centers desire. So why the fuss? There is enough responsibility to be shared, but, in the end, more patience will be required on the part of the city so that the hostel can thrive. The latest kerfuffle involves city officials order for Hostel Buffalo-Niagara to vacate by today in preparation for expected critical structural repairs. City officials say they have given several months notice and plan to spend up to $2 million to stabilize and repair the rear structure, vacant for decades, at 667 Washington St. Health and safety concerns that city building inspectors have cited demand action in order to preserve the property instead of demolishing it. The city originally wanted the hostel out by March 1. Hold on. Hostel officials say the meeting at which the repairs and need to vacate were discussed carried no specific date. BURA agreed to give the hostel until March 25. It is still not enough time, and the hostel is booked solid for the solar eclipse on April 8. The city has spent years supporting the hostel. BURA has said it will give the hostel the right-of-first-refusal to purchase the property at the appraised value. Meanwhile, the $2 million being poured into the building is coming from infill money for neighborhoods on the East Side, which now must be delayed because BURA has to stabilize the building. BURAs mission is the stabilization of neighborhoods to assist low- to moderate-income individuals and that is not what is happening with the hostel, city officials said. The hostel hasnt lived up to its obligations for over a decade, they claim, and the hostel has past due rent and insurance payments to the tune of $110,000 that hostel representatives have said they know nothing about. The rent is set using a formula based on the hostels revenues. The back-and-forth between the city and hostel is nothing new. Some agency employees and hostel board members recently met. (There had been complaints on the part of hostel members that BURA was not communicating, to which BURA says, hogwash). However, most of the hostel boards questions remain unanswered, said Alexander Burgos, president of the hostels board. Specifically, around vacating and returning and what the terms of the right-of-refusal are, for example. There is still no timeline and the only item BURA hierarchy committed to was setting up a meeting between the attorneys. Burgos owns a construction company and believes the part of the building housing the hostel would not be at risk during construction. The nonprofit hostel has assembled a team of financial consultants, board members and nonprofit community partners in an attempt to acquire and develop the building. The hostel, which has occupied the building since 1996, and the only one operating in New York State outside of New York City, is situated in prime downtown real estate. While it lacks parking, it could still be an attractive location to some private developers. The timing of this project is terrible and so is its potential consequence. Start again. Tibetan bridge located midway between cties of Foligno and Spoleto. A new Tibetan bridge, billed as the highest in Europe, was inaugurated on Saturday over the Vigi valley in the central Italian region of Umbria. The structure, which is suspended 175 metres above the valley floor, is more than 517 metres long with 1,023 steps. It takes the intrepid visitor between half an hour and 45 minutes to walk across the suspension bridge which links the villages of Sellano and Montesanto. In Umbria inaugurato il ponte tibetano piu alto d'Europa. A Sellano, nel cuore della Valnerina. Sale a 175 metri, si sviluppa per una lunghezza di 517,5 metri e per raggiungerlo bisogna salire 1.023 scalini #ANSA https://t.co/iJjC4nHqjW pic.twitter.com/aZreMFcvLa Agenzia ANSA (@Agenzia_Ansa) March 24, 2024 The website points out that the ponte tibetano has a gap between each step, "which increases the adrenaline rush", and that crossing the stucture requires "a great deal of courage and sense of adventure". Those brave enough are equipped with a safety harness which is attached to the Tibetan bridge as they walk across. Visitors must be at least 120 cm tall, the website says, as well as being "in good mental and physical health and not suffer from altitude sickness." The bridge will be open continuously in both the summer and winter seasons. Tickets cost 25 and can be bought online by selecting a time slot. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a high-level delegations planned visit to Washington after the U.S. decided not to use its veto power on Mondays U.N. Security Council resolution for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. After vetoing three previous resolutions calling for a cease-fire, the U.S. decision to abstain Monday comes at a time of growing tensions between President Joe Bidens administration and Netanyahu over Israels prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amount of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. There are reasonable grounds to believe Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, an independent expert working with the U.N.s top human rights body said Monday. International aid officials say the entire population of the Gaza Strip 2.3 million people is suffering from food insecurity and that famine is imminent in the hard-hit north. Advertisement More than 32,000 people have been killed in the besieged territory and more than 74,000 wounded, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which doesnt differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally. It says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Some 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 when Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack out of Gaza, triggering the war, and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 Israelis hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others. Currently: U.N. passes resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza during ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Palestinians describe bodies and ambulances crushed in Israels ongoing raid at Gazas main hospital. Jerusalem marks festive holiday of Purim. Thousands of Christians attend Palm Sunday celebrations in Jerusalem against a backdrop of war. Advertisement Israeli airstrike in northeastern Lebanon wounds three people, local official says. Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war. Heres the latest: MILITANTS FIRE ROCKETS FROM CENTRAL GAZA, AND ISRAEL SAYS IT STRUCK THE LAUNCH SITE JERUSALEM Israels military says militants in central Gaza fired rockets toward the southern Israel city of Ashdod on Monday. The military said its jets bombed the site where the rockets were fired in Deir al-Balah, which the army described as a humanitarian area, without elaborating. The military said some of the rockets were intercepted by Israels missile defense systems. The pace and intensity of Palestinian rocket barrages from Gaza has fallen but not entirely stopped throughout the war, now well into its fifth month. Israels military has continued to battle militants in areas it earlier said it had taken control of, including central and northern Gaza. Advertisement This was the first time in two months rockets have been launched toward Ashdod, which is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Deir al-Balah and roughly halfway to Tel Aviv. ISRAELI POLITICIAN RESIGNS FROM EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT, SAYING HE DIDN'T GET ENOUGH INFLUENCE JERUSALEM -- A veteran Israeli politician has withdrawn from Israels emergency government, saying he was not given the influence he had expected. Gideon Saars departure on Monday has no immediate effect on the government, which still holds a strong parliamentary majority. But it reflected his unhappiness with the handling of the war by Israels three-man War Cabinet. Saar had been in an alliance with one of the war cabinet members, Benny Gantz, and had sought to join the small decision-making body. We didnt come to the government to warm seats . We came to help Israel during a difficult time, Saar told a news conference. Advertisement Saar is a former member of Netanyahus Likud party and has held a number of senior Cabinet posts. He is to remain in parliament as head of a small faction. SAUDI ARABIA EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR GAZA CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION RIYADH, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has expressed support for the recent U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip during the holy month Ramadan, In a short statement released by the Saudi Press Agency, the kingdom reiterated its call to the international community to take decisive action to address the situation and protect civilians in Gaza from all forms of violence. It emphasized the importance of alleviating Palestinian suffering and fostering hope for a future free from conflict. Saudi officials have previously said the kingdom is still interested in normalizing relations with Israel in a potentially historic deal, but only if there is a credible plan to create a Palestinian state, something Israel adamantly opposes. WHITE HOUSE SURPRISED BY ISRAEL'S RESPONSE TO U.N. VOTE WASHINGTON White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the response by Israel to the U.N. resolution was surprising. Were kind of perplexed by this, he said. Advertisement He said the Israelis were choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that. According to a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the talks, American officials were in touch with Israel throughout the weekend to make the U.S. position known on the Security Council resolution, and to articulate that it was not a change in policy or in support for Israel. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions. Netanyahu did not talk to Biden before he canceled the delegations trip, and Biden doesnt have any immediate plans to phone Netanyahu, the official said. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was set to meet with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and others Monday in Washington where discussions would continue. The U.S. official said the plan by Israel to enter Rafah was not imminent and there would still be time for ongoing talks despite the canceled trip. Advertisement Eytan Gilboa, an expert on U.S.-Israel relations at Bar Ilan University, said Netanyahus decision to cancel the diplomatic delegation to the United States was a mistake and demonstrates the tension between the US and Israel at this moment. Gilboa said Biden is trying to placate voices within the Democratic party that oppose his support of Israel, while Netanyahu is trying to show his ability to stand up to American policies he considers anti-Israel. If domestic considerations are dominating decision making in the war, you have very harsh exchanges of rhetoric, he said. ___ Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed. 'REASONABLE GROUNDS' TO BELIEVE ISRAEL IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE IN GAZA, INDEPENDENT U.N. EXPERT SAYS GENEVA An independent expert working with the U.N.s top human rights body says there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel has been carrying out genocide in Gaza. Advertisement Israels government quickly rejected the report. The report from Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, cited Israeli polices and the patterns of violence during Israels military operation in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7. It accused Israeli military forces and government leaders of having intentionally violated the laws of war and protections that they confer, in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people. By analyzing the patterns of violence and Israels policies in its onslaught o Gaza, this report concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicating Israels commission of genocide is met, said the report, entitled Anatomy of a Genocide. The report was drawn up under a mandate from the Human Rights Council., the U.N.s top human rights body. It lays out some of the most methodical reasoning yet into claims of genocide against Palestinians that have been raised by critics of Israel and others. Advertisement The Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva, where the council is based and is currently in session, said the report brings shame on the 47-country rights body and blasted Albanese for a campaign of delegitimizing the very creation and existence of the State of Israel. Since the war, she has continued this campaign unabated, excusing and legitimizing the attacks of Oct. 7, dismissing their antisemitic nature and dismissing any concrete evidence of acts of savagery that were perpetrated on that day, the mission said. It is clear from the report that the Special Rapporteur began with the conclusion that Israel is committing genocide, and then tried to prove her distorted and politically-driven views with weak arguments and justifications, it added. U.N. human rights officials have been careful to say that only a competent court can make the final determination about genocide, and that is especially hard during ongoing conflict like the one in Gaza. Albanese is an outside expert and does not speak for the United Nations. JORDAN AND TURKEY PRAISE U.N. CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION ANKARA, Turkey Jordan and Turkey have welcomed the U.N. Security Councils resolution on Gaza, with both countries saying Israel must comply with the resolutions demands. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said in a statement that the resolution was a positive step. We call on the international community to take a united stand against Israel to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the spokesman said. Jordans Foreign Ministry spokesman Sufyan Al-Qudah noted the resolution emphasizes protecting civilians and allowing the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid. HAMAS WELCOMES U.N. CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION BUT WANTS TRUCE TO BE PERMANENT CAIRO Hamas said it welcomed the decision by the United Nations to call for a cease-fire but said the truce needs to permanent. We confirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides, the Palestinian militant group said Monday. Israel is seeking the release of the more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, while Hamas wants an end not a temporary pause to the war along with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Hamas also wants Israel to release large numbers of Palestinian prisoners. International mediators, led by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt, have been working on a cease-fire to pause or end the war in Gaza. WHITE HOUSE SAYS U.S. POLICY HAS NOT CHANGED, AFTER ABSTAINING ON U.N. CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION WASHINGTON White House national security spokesman John Kirby insisted the the U.S. abstaining from a U.N. resolution on Gaza cease-fire, allowing the resolution to pass, was not a change in American policy. There is no reason for this to be seen as an escalation. Nothing has changed about our policy, he said. Kirby said the resolution called for both a cease-fire and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. And that is, broadly speaking, in keeping with what has been our policy. Kirby said the U.S. was disappointed in Israels decision to cancel this weeks diplomatic delegation to Washington, but said the discussions with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant would likely include some of what the U.S. had hoped to discuss with the delegation on Israels planned ground assault on the Gaza city of Rafah. Share this article Share He said he would not discuss whether the U.S. would consider withholding support if the Israelis were to proceed. The White House was aiming to talk to the Israelis about possible alternatives to a ground invasion of Rafah, but Kirby would not get into specifics. NETANYAHU CANCELS ISRAELI DELEGATION'S TRIP TO WASHINGTON IN PROTEST OF U.N. CEASE-FIRE VOTE JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled a planned visit to Washington by a high-level delegation to protest Mondays U.N. Security Council decision calling for an immediate cease-fire. The resolution passed 14-0 on Monday after the U.S. decided not to use its veto power and instead abstained. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of retreating from what he said had been a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. The Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with plans for an expected ground invasion of the strategic Gaza town of Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. U.N. DEMANDS CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA DURING RAMADAN, ITS FIRST DEMAND TO HALT FIGHTING UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Security Council has demanded a cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, its first demand to halt fighting. The United States abstained on the resolution, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. However, the measure does not link that demand to the cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends April 9. Because Ramadan ends next month, the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, although the draft says the pause in fighting should lead to a permanent sustainable cease-fire. Since the start of the war, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire. The United States has previously vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on Feb. 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire. Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in late October calling for pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a cease-fire. They again vetoed the U.S. resolution Friday, calling it ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks. HAMAS ACCUSES U.S. OF DISRUPTING ITS TALKS WITH ISRAEL CAIRO -- Hamas has accused the United States on Monday of disrupting cease-fire talks the militant group has been holding with the Israeli government. In a statement, Hamas said the U.S. should not be a mediator due to its support of Israel. The American administration is the main reason for stalling any agreement, senior Hamas official Husam Badran said in a statement. He also described Washington as military partner of Israel, making it unfit to play the role of mediator. The criticism comes days after a fresh round of cease-fire talks concluded in Doha, Qatar, which included the CIA chief, William Burns. The U.S. has provided Israel with key diplomatic and military support throughout the war. It has worked with Qatar and Egypt in mediation attempts to broker a deal that would include a pause in fighting and the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Hamas has demanded guarantees for an end to the war, the release of Palestinian prisoners and a plan for reconstruction of war-battered Gaza. During a previous one-week cease-fire in November, around 100 hostages, mostly Israelis, were released in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners. Badran also claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not interested in a deal and is deceiving hostages families. Israeli media have reported that Israel has accepted a formula that would release hundreds of prisoners for the hostages and was waiting for a response from Hamas. The issue is not related to the prisoners and their numbers, Badran said. The problem is that the occupation refuses to give any guarantees to the mediators on the basic issues in the lives of people in Gaza. Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Hamas of making unrealistic demands. U.N. CHIEF SAYS AN INVASION OF RAFAH WOULD BE CATASTROPHIC AMMAN, Jordan The U.N. secretary-general says there is a growing consensus that an Israeli ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah would be a catastrophic humanitarian disaster. Antonio Guterres, speaking to reporters during a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan on Monday, reiterated his call for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas. He noted that the United States, European and Muslim countries have urged Israel not to expand its ground offensive to Rafah. Some 1.4 million Palestinians, most of whom have fled fighting elsewhere in Gaza, have packed into the southern city on the border with Egypt. Israel and Egypt refuse to accept refugees, and its unclear where civilians could flee within the war-ravaged territory. Israel says Hamas maintains four battalions with thousands of fighters in Rafah, and that it cannot defeat the militant group without crushing them. I strongly hope that this consensus that is emerging in the whole of the international community will make Israel reflect and avoid what would be a dramatic threshold, Guterres said. ISRAELIS IN JERUSALEM CELEBRATE PURIM IN THE SHADOW OF WAR JERUSALEM -- Tens of thousands of Israelis are celebrating the Purim holiday in Jerusalem in the shadow of the war in Gaza. The festival of Purim marks the victory of Jews over a tyrant in ancient Persia and is celebrated with costumes, drinking and parties. Although many cities across Israel decided to cancel the celebrations due to the ongoing war, Jerusalem celebrates Purim one day later than the rest of the country held a traditional Purim parade for the first time in 42 years. It featured large floats of beloved childrens characters and DJs dressed up as characters from the story of Purim. About two dozen family members and supporters of the approximately 100 hostages being held in Gaza protested the parade. I know its tradition to be happy on Purim, but this year I think its tactless to do these carnivals, said David Heyd. Other family members of the hostages kicked off the parade, marching silently at the front with a giant yellow ribbon. My daughter, she needs to be here, she was supposed to be here. I am wearing a shirt she was supposed to wear, and Im waiting for her, said Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi has been held hostage in Gaza for 170 days. As the parade wound its way through the streets of Jerusalem, children in colorful costumes packed the streets eating sweets and cookies, waiting for the floats to pass. Were showing the whole world and our enemies that were continuing to live, continuing to celebrate, said Shabi Levy, a Jerusalem resident who was watching the parade with his three children. ISRAELI STRIKES KILL AT LEAST 30 PALESTINIANS IN RAFAH IN PAST 24 HOURS, PALESTINIAN HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY RAFAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least 30 Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah over the past 24 hours. The Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, which received the bodies, said Monday that 10 children and 11 women were among those killed. Israel has vowed to expand its ground offensive to Rafah, which is now housing some 1.4 million people more than half of Gazas population. Most have fled fighting elsewhere. Israel ordered Palestinians to move south in the opening months of the war but has continued to carry out strikes in all parts of the territory, including Rafah. The United States, Israels closest ally, has urged Israel against launching a major operation in Rafah, warning of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel says it cannot defeat Hamas without going into Rafah, where it says the group has four battalions composed of thousands of fighters. Israels offensive has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and driven a third of Gazas population to the brink of starvation. It was launched in response to Hamas Oct. 7 attack into Israel, which killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Hamas-led militants also took around 250 people hostage. It is still holding around 100 hostages, and the remains of around 30 others, after most of the rest were freed during a cease-fire last year in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS AT LEAST 21 IN CENTRAL GAZA, PALESTINIAN HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian health officials say an Israeli airstrike on an apartment block in central Gaza killed at least 21 Palestinians from two extended families. The strike late Sunday killed 10 members of the Salman family and 11 members of the Buhesi family, according to hospital records. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies at the hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. The Israeli military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential neighborhoods. But the military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children. The war broke out on Oct. 7. when militants from Gaza stormed into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking another 250 hostage. In response, Israel launched one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history. Gazas Health Ministry says over 32,000 Palestinians have been killed. It does not differentiate between civilian and combatant casualties but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed. AID GROUPS DESCRIBE 'UNIMAGINABLE' SITUATION IN GAZA HOSPITAL RAFAH, Gaza Strip Aid groups that visited a packed Gaza hospital described an unimaginable situation in which large open wounds were left untreated. An emergency medical team organized by three aid groups spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis. The southern city has seen heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since the start of the year. The hospital has expanded to 1,000 beds from its original capacity of 200 to accommodate patients from Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in Khan Younis, which Israeli forces raided last month. There are also an estimated 22,000 people sheltering at the European Gaza Hospital. The visiting surgeons reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardizing patient treatment. In a statement released Monday, the team said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital. It said Israeli restrictions had led to shortages of medical supplies, including basics like gauze and plates and screws used to stabilize broken bones. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to shield its fighters and has raided a number of medical facilities since the start of the war. Most of Gazas hospitals have been forced to shut down, even as scores are killed and wounded each day in Israeli strikes. Israels offensive has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, and experts warn that even more are at risk of dying from disease and starvation. The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 people. The emergency medical team was organized by Medical Aid for Palestinians, the International Rescue Committee and the Palestine Childrens Relief Fund. UN SET TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION DEMANDING IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE UNITED NATIONS The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Monday on a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The vote comes after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported an immediate and sustained cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. The United States warned that the resolution to be voted on Monday morning could hurt negotiations to halt hostilities by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans. The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, is backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations. THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS MARK PALM SUNDAY IN JERUSALEM JERUSALEM Thousands of Christian faithful attended Palm Sunday celebrations at Jerusalems sacred Mount of Olives, marking the first day of Holy Week as conflict surges across the region. Pilgrims waved branches and fronds in the air, items that were placed before Jesus feet as he was greeted by cheering crowds during his entrance into Jerusalem, according to the Bible. Earlier Sunday, Jerusalems Church of the Holy Sepulchre revered as the site of Jesuss crucifixion also held a service. The annual celebration came as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in Gaza. However, the conflict appeared to have had little effect on the procession, which swelled to a similar size as last year. The celebration marks the beginning of the most somber week in the Christian calendar, which marks Jesus crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE HITS LEBANON, WOUNDING AT LEAST 3 PEOPLE BEIRUT An Israeli airstrike deep in northeastern Lebanon early Sunday wounded at least three people, a local official said. The airstrike near the city of Baalbek, a stronghold of Lebanons militant Hezbollah group, was the latest to hit the area in recent weeks. The strike occurred a few minutes after midnight and wounded three people according to Baalbeks mayor, Bachir Khodr, who posted the news on X. It was not immediately clear what was struck. The strike came hours after Hezbollah said it used two drones carrying explosives to attack an Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system in the northern Israeli town of Kfar Blum. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Investigative journalist Louise Milligan is slightly distracted when we meet, apologising for checking messages each time her phone pings. A week later, the reason is revealed: she was finalising the Four Corners episode about Sydneys prestigious Cranbrook School that eventually led to the resignation of its principal and prompted the federal government to announce an investigation into the school. Milligan has spent much of her career covering such stories, holding power to account. After finishing an arts/law degree at Monash University, she studied a graduate diploma of journalism at RMIT, then took a cadetship at The Australian. Later, she switched from print to television, moving to Seven News, then the ABCs 7.30 and Four Corners. The Irish-born, Melbourne-raised reporters first foray into fiction is released this week. Pheasants Nest is a gripping crime thriller that tells the story of journalist Kate Delaney, who ends up in a living nightmare when she is abducted. Along the way, it provides an insight into the media, policing and crime, informed by the authors knowledge of how things work in real life. It is deliberately written from Delaneys perspective. I didnt want her to be just this sort of object, that whole idea of the oval [picture] in the frame, the pretty victim, Milligan says, alluding to how parts of the media cover such crimes. I wanted to be inside her mind, [to show] what she was thinking about, but from a knowing perspective because shes someone whos covered these crimes. She knows that instead of them being done by psychological masterminds, the perpetrator is usually a bit of an idiot. Various real-life cases resonate throughout the novel. Melbourne woman Jill Meagher, who was raped and murdered not far from her home in Brunswick, is one. When her killer, who had committed violent crimes against women many times, was sentenced, Milligan interviewed Meaghers husband, Tom. His experience stuck in her mind; like Kates boyfriend in the novel, Tom Meagher was initially suspected by police, adding to his trauma. One element of the novel came from covering a coronial inquest for The Australian in the early 2000s, when someone had ended their life by jumping off Pheasants Nest Bridge in the NSW Southern Highlands. Local police gave heartrending accounts of post-traumatic stress disorder from picking up the bodies of the jumpers, she says. Later, at the ABCs 7.30, she conducted a series of interviews with police about the trauma that goes hand in hand with their work. Cops get a really bad run a lot of the time, they have to see things that the rest of us cant even imagine and have to somehow process [them]. A lot of the time, like the character, DAmbrosio, in the novel, when they fall apart, theyre treated like theyre diseased, like its catching, Milligan says. That bridge setting on and around the Hume Highway was another inspiration. I was always really struck by that stretch of road, how Gothic that section is, and knowing all the backstories about the kids [who had died in 1990] in the pylons, about Ivan Milat. And it just started coming to me in the car, she says, recalling the initial inspiration for what would become Pheasants Nest in the summer of 2015. I got home and I wrote three chapters just like that. Advertisement Fast-forward to 2021, when Milligan revisited the fledgling manuscript, and sent it to her friend, former publisher Louise Adler, who encouraged her to finish it. While away from home for work, she got stuck into writing in unusual circumstances. Pheasants Nest is the first novel by investigative reporter Louise Milligan. I had had this quite weirdly creatively inspiring COVID, where I was having fever dreams. My mind was really alive. I know it sounds crazy, but I wrote six chapters in a week. I was just in the zone. And that was it, then I couldnt get these people out of my head, she says. You hear that whole cliche about characters living in peoples heads and whatever, but it was like they were literally telling me what to do. Writing the book at a difficult time in her life, she says, was almost a kind of therapy. [Someone] I was talking to a lot during that period said to me, Every time you talk about your book, your whole face changes, it just lights up. Milligan has found herself in the headlines in the past decade. In 2018, she was a high-profile witness in the committal hearing for George Pell, cross-examined about what one of the complainants had told her about his alleged assault in the mid-1990s. More recently, she was sued for defamation by the then federal attorney-general, Christian Porter, who dropped the legal action when the ABC agreed to pay mediation costs, while the story in question (which alleged that as a teenager, he raped a girl) remained unaltered on the national broadcasters website, albeit with an editors note. Porter has denied the allegations. In 2021, federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming sued the reporter for defamation over a series of tweets that alleged he upskirted a woman. Laming has denied the allegations. Though several other journalists and politicians had made the same allegations, Milligan was the only one taken to court; as part of a settlement, she agreed to pay Laming $79,000 in damages plus legal costs, which the ABC paid on her behalf. Recently, she was embroiled in Antoinette Lattoufs Fair Work case against the ABC, after the sacked radio presenter claimed the broadcaster paid for Milligans defamation fees because she is white. Parallels between the main character in Pheasants Nest and its author are inevitable: both are high achievers and journalists, both came to Australia from Ireland as children. Advertisement Kate is not her, Milligan says, but there are definitely synergies. Certainly, the Irish-Australian thing is one of them, and the Child of Prague. I did leave a Child of Prague statue in the bin [in Ireland], which was given to me by my maternal great aunt. That aunt is the only character in the book who is pretty much exactly the same [as in real life]. Between working full time and having two children, I wonder how she made time to write. I just basically stopped watching TV, she says with a laugh. I had a sort of rule for myself: just write a paragraph a day. And you always end up writing more. But at least every single day, I had that discipline. Having written two acclaimed non-fiction books, Milligan has form on this front. Cardinal, about the late Pell, the Ballarat boy who became one of the highest-ranking officials in the Catholic Church and was found guilty of sexual crimes against children and jailed, won the Walkley Book Award in 2020. The High Court eventually quashed Pells convictions on appeal and he was released from prison. TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO LOUISE MILLIGAN Worst habit? I seem absolutely incapable of keeping my bedroom tidy. Greatest fear? Spiders. Im from the old country. Were afraid of beasties. The line that stayed with you? Ive always loved Dickens and I keep returning to that quote from the character, Steerforth, (in David Copperfield) who is quite a repugnant bully: Ride on! Roughshod if need be, smooth-shod if that will do, but ride on! Ride over all obstacles and win the race! It is by no means an inspirational quote (I hate inspirational quotes), its a type of person and institution I have repeatedly seen in my work. Biggest regret? Not continuing with a second or third language. I had a natural flair for language but gave it up in the latter part of school because, being a terrible girly swot, I wanted to get the highest possible marks to get into a law degree and worried a language might drag me down. Its not a great insight into what we value in schools. Favourite room? The Long Room in the Old Library of Trinity College in Dublin. Its such a beautiful space, with the barrel-vaulted wooden roof, the floor-to-ceiling books. The reason the roof looks like it does is they actually raised it in 1860 because they had run out of room for all the books and they had to increase the space to fit more. I love that. The artwork/song you wish was yours? Its really hard to narrow it down, so Ill go with a song I have been thinking of lately Under The Milky Way by The Church. It reminds me of going on long car trips as a teenager and pressing my face against the cold glass of the car window and staring up at the stars. If you could solve one thing... Well of course, poverty. I find the saying, money cant buy you happiness, kind of irritating. It cant. But if buying the basics in life is a constant struggle, it is pretty hard to be happy. To write Cardinal, Milligan drew on the experiences of many people who spoke to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse. She also drew the ire of high-profile figures across the country who counted Pell as a friend, including former prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard. Her second book, 2021s Witness, is a harrowing, forensic account of how victims of sexual abuse are treated in the Australian legal system. Years of reporting on crime and interviewing victims hundreds over the course of the royal commission alone takes its toll, and Milligan has been diagnosed with secondary PTSD, although she is loath to talk about it. Nothing that I have ever experienced even holds a candle to what the people whose stories I tell have experienced. I could never know how bad it is to go through what they have gone through, she says. I want to be honest about the impact doing this work has, and on the other hand, I fall back into that thing that women often do, that I dont want to make this all about me. Advertisement On March 24, the 32nd conference of judges was held. The assembled judges supported the statement presented by the Supreme Court, expressing concern about the integrity check of judges, known as vetting. According to the statement, vetting unequivocally, essentially, and fundamentally undermines the independence of the court and individual judges.According to the Supreme Council of Justice, 295 judges attended the conference."Today was very important. In whatever conference I have participated, there has never been an occasion where so many judges have participated. Today's conference was the most crowded I can remember in the history of conferences. As for the topic of vetting, the judges were unanimous that it does not serve to check good faith and is actually aimed at undermining the authority of the court," said US sanctioned judge Levan Murusidze after the end of the conference.According to Murusidze, at the conference of judges, Vasil Mshvenieradze and Levan Tevzadze were elected as members of the Supreme Council of Justice, and they supported the candidacy of Nikoloz Marsagishvili for the position of secretary. According to Murusidze, they were elected with an absolute majority of votes. Levan Murusidze, Vasil Mshvenieradze, Levan Tevzadze, and Nikoloz Marsagishvili are all regarded as members of the 'clan of judges'.Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the opposition's agenda revolves around attempting to discredit the Central Election Commission (CEC). He added that this endeavor will fail due to the opposition's lack of credible evidence.As Irakli Kobakhidze pointed out, the opposition knows that it will lose the elections until the end, and most of the parties know that they have no chance to overcome the barrier."The only one is the National Movement, which has reached 15% and has a chance to overcome the threshold. In such conditions, all their activities are aimed at discrediting. They have nothing more to do, therefore, they will try their best, however, due to the fact that the Central Election Commission has been working properly and conducting elections properly for all these years, they have no reason to discredit the Central Election Commission.Do you remember how much they campaigned in 2020 and still they didn't succeed because the elections were not rigged. The results of the then parallel vote counting were falsified. All this was forged by one of the non-governmental organizations, on the order of the radical opposition," said Kobakhidze. News / National by Staff reporter Former opposition politician Eddie Cross has defended Zanu-PF-affiliated business magnate Kudakwashe Tagwirei, asserting that the billionaire's wealth was accumulated through lawful means.Tagwirei's financial success was primarily driven by investments in Zimbabwe's fuel sector and various mining ventures. Despite being ousted from fuel company Sakunda Holdings by global conglomerate Trafigura in a reported multibillion-dollar deal, Tagwirei's investments continued to flourish.His association with the ruling Zanu-PF party led to his inclusion on America's sanctions list. However, Cross, formerly part of the leadership structure in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) under the late Morgan Tsvangirai, emphasized that Tagwirei's prosperity was not solely dependent on political connections."Tagwirei is no longer referred to as Queen B. His wealth did not solely stem from political affiliations. Before Trafigura's acquisition, he already owned one of Zimbabwe's largest companies. His subsequent partnership with Trafigura exponentially expanded his business, making it one of the world's top trading companies," Cross stated.Reports indicate that Tagwirei has been divesting shares in several of his enterprises, with government assuming control of his stake in the mining giant Kuvimba, engaged in platinum, lithium, and gold mining. The move was purportedly aimed at clarifying the ownership of Kuvimba by placing it under the State Sovereign Wealth Fund."He is a self-made billionaire, utilizing his personal funds. These success stories are emblematic of Zimbabwe's potential," Cross added.Cross, a former member of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Monetary Policy Committee, has been critical of Tagwirei's initiatives, notably opposing the construction of a second fuel pipeline from Beira.Tagwirei, previously associated with wielding significant influence over President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration, has been colloquially referred to as Queen B. Unconfirmed reports have linked him to the government's Command Agriculture scheme, which provided agricultural inputs to farmers in exchange for a portion of their produce. Two men who argued they should be freed from immigration detention because they are owed protection have been released before their challenges were heard in court, fuelling accusations the government is sidestepping cases that risk the mass release of detainees. The men, a Somali and an Iranian, had their visas revoked because of their violent criminal pasts. They were released into the community this month after lodging Federal Court action against their continued custody following last years landmark High Court decision outlawing indefinite detention. Two men in immigration detention have been freed ahead of their court hearings challenging their continued custody. Credit: Marija Ercegovac The office of Immigration Minister Andrew Giles declined to comment on the circumstances of both men. The government cannot comment on matters before the court, a spokesperson said. Before a fresh High Court challenge next month over whether people who dont co-operate with efforts to remove them from the country can continue to be lawfully held, lawyers for another cohort have opened up a new front by arguing people with protection findings should be freed because they cannot be practically deported to their country of origin or any other. The West over the past four decades developed a Pavlovian response to any hint of economic slowdown in China. Just as Ivan Pavlovs dogs would start salivating when he rang the bell to indicate feeding time, Western investors and analysts would react to news of an imminent Chinese slowdown by excitedly preparing for massive government stimulus. Alas, their conditioning did not prepare them for Chinas new reality. Theyve been left salivating but disappointed time and again over the past couple of years. Illustration: Dionne Gain Credit: Most recently at this months National Peoples Congress, as investors watched breathlessly as Premier Li Qiang read out his annual government work report. But he announced no major new economic stimulus, so prices on the Hong Kong sharemarket dropped by 2.6 per cent. Rather than the powerful post-COVID rebound the world had hoped for, the benchmark sharemarket indices in Hong Kong and Shanghai both lost more than 30 per cent of their value in 2021-23. News / National by Staff reporter Wickell Chivayo strongly criticized journalist Hopewell Chin'ono in response to his remarks following musician Thomas Mapfumo's refusal of a contentious businessperson's car and home gifts.In an interview with Nehanda Radio last Monday, Mapfumo emphatically refuted allegations that he had accepted an alluring offer from Chivayo, asserting, "I'm not the kind of person to be swayed by bribes."Mapfumo expressed surprise at receiving a phone call from Chivayo just before retiring for the night the previous.Chin'ono observed that Mapfumo's refusal of Chivayo's gifts demonstrated his unwavering principles.Chin'ono's comments, however, did not go down well with Chivayo, who described him as a "half-witted and failed pseudo-journalist". Chivayo posted on social media:SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT..I normally prefer not to respond to comments, especially from a HALF-WITTED and FAILED pseudo journalist like Hopewell, but let me spare some time during my busy schedule in the USA to address this issue concerning our CHIMURENGA music icon, Thomas "Mukanya" Mapfumo.It's an OPEN SECRET that I offered Mukanya a small token of US$700,000 in recognition of his REMARKABLE contribution during the liberation struggle.His music was an inspiration to the SECOND CHIMURENGA which ushered political and economic independence that we all celebrate today.In good faith, I offered to buy him a fully furnished house of his choice in the low-density suburbs of Harare, a brand new 2024 TOYOTA LANDCRUISER VXR or equivalent worth 200 thousand dollars and US$100,000 pocket money to make his twilight retirement in Zimbabwe more comfortable as an 81-year-old celebrated music icon.Chivayo said Mapfumo is living in poverty in the United States of America and that he desires the Chimurenga maestro to return home and enjoy his retirement. He said:My gesture was not on account of any political consideration but an olive branch being extended to an aged man who has been living in abjection and self-imposed exile from a country whose independence he contributed towards.It is highly REGRETTABLE that opportunistic and rent-seeking POLITICAL STOOGES like Hopewell thrive on peddling FALSEHOODS that my generosity is an attempt to bribe' Mukanya. What a SHAME!He also mocked Chin'ono over his arrest in June 2020 on allegations of incitement to public violence. Said Chivayo:No HOPE comes from a bitter person who languished in remand PRISON alone after being deserted by the so-called opposition. I remember on TV I could see the cold sores all over his face dripping puss during his incarceration .Chakanzwa buttercup uko kunoda vane mapepa akachena cheteThey only posted "FREE HOPEWELL" with the hope of getting some more followers on social media.Very sad and his concubines and his family must have suffered in his absenceQuite a HOPELESS group with no political philosophy, identity or direction!These opposition sympathisers and "SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISTS" thrive on DECEPTION and have nothing but BITTERNESS towards young successful businessmen like myself because their FALLACY of being in power never materialized.Chivayo also made fun of Job Sikhala, who was also arrested for inciting public violence in June 2022 following the murder of Moreblessing Ali in Nyatsime. He said:The same is true with Job Sikhala who wallowed in solitary confinement whilst ana HOPEWERO drank donated whiskey and spent the few pounds begged from their Western handlers.Dumbu rakazopera JOBHO asara ega mujeri with no HOPE, no respected lawyer to represent him, no money only time to practice Mandela's voice. That's CCC for you, unokwidzwa ndege yemashanga asi unodonha wega. Do not be misguided Mukanya.Chivayo pleaded with Mapfumo to accept his gifts, saying the offer would be "life changing for him", warning him against being "deceived" by "hopeless online sycophants". He said:Whether MUKANYA accepts my offer or not does not change my handsome bank balance or will it deter my PHILANTHROPIC work? ITS HIS LOSSMunongoramba muri BUTSU MUTHANDARIKA muri ikoko ku AmericaYou must never be deceived by these hopeless online sycophants that rejecting this LIFE-CHANGING offer will make you an overnight hero.He, however, criticised Mukanya for saying the likes of Jah Prayzah and Alick Macheso accepted car gifts because they were poor. Said Chivayo:I also find Mukanya's description and comments of fellow musicians Jah Prayzer and Macheso as poor' to be DISGRACEFUL, especially considering his destitution in a foreign land.The last time he was in Zimbabwe he had nowhere to stay and eventually slept in Phillip Chiyangwa's garage This should make everyone understand the GOLDEN opportunity for Mukanya to be a homeowner and retire HONOURABLY.I come in PEACE, with the genuine intention to assist and uplift the heroes still living amongst us. There is NO political mileage to be gained from this gesture just as i have done since joining my wonderful church in 2008, i've spent huge amounts of money whole heartedly buying my fellow JOHANNE MASOWE followers houses, cars and paying for their children's university fees local and overseas amongst other things.Looking in retrospect in the same way i donated US$1 Million to ZIFA in 2016 and just like i paid air tickets and assisted in the repatriation of Zimbabwean girls who had been trafficked to Kuwait, I have now extended my benevolence to MUKANYA for no political reason, but just out of kindness and compassion.Assisting the less privileged is my calling which i will always answer to. The inference that my generosity is motivated by any other reason is DELUSIONAL and ILL-CONCEIVED in epic proportions.My offer still stands Mukanya, make the right choice. Come and enjoy the fruits of your selfless sacrifice and we will certainly welcome you with OPEN ARMS.Come back home and join the REVOLUTIONARY PARTY which you tirelessly supported in hard times. The WCO organized, in partnership with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) a one-week gender equality and diversity (GED) mission from 18 to 22 March 2024 in Ghana. This mission included a two-day stakeholder engagement meeting targeting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and small-scale traders, including many women traders. This engagement forms part of the West Africa Security Project (WASP) component on gender equality, a partnership between WCO and the German Central Customs Authority funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany. During the week, the WCO team, including an expert from the Botswana United Revenue Services (BURS), held meetings with different GRA units to discuss the advancement of the GRA GED action plan, developed as a result of previous capacity-building support under the framework of this project. One of the key activities identified in the action plan was to reinforce the collaboration with external stakeholders to advance GED, including collaboration with Other Government Agencies and international development partners, and to disseminate simplified information translated into local languages to stakeholders. In this regard, a first stakeholder engagement meeting was held, with the Sub-Committee on Gender of the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Ghana also participating. The meeting served to sensitize stakeholders on the linkages between trade facilitation and gender, the opportunities generated by the World Trade Organizations (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), as well as Customs import and export procedures. The meetings gathered more than 60 stakeholders and provided an opportunity for Customs to listen to the stakeholders needs and concerns. As an outcome of the discussions, recommendations were identified to reinforce the collaboration between the GRA and these stakeholder groups going forward. The WCO looks forward to continuing working with the GRA to implement the recommendations from the GED mission. For more information, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org. Under the framework of the EU-WCO Rules of Origin Africa Programme, funded by the European Union (EU), the World Customs Organization (WCO), in collaboration with GIZ and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), conducted a national advanced training workshop on rules of origin in Machakos, Kenya, from 11-15 March 2024. The workshop saw the participation of Customs officials from various units and border stations within the Customs and Border Control Department, alongside representatives from other government agencies and private sector stakeholders. The advanced workshop was proceeded by an intermediate workshop in June 2023 and aims to enhance the knowledge and application of preferential rules of origin among KRA and stakeholders, thereby contributing to the seamless implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and relevant free trade agreements. During the opening remarks, Ms Brenda Nyambura, representing GIZ, emphasized the steadfast commitment of the Federal Republic of Germany, facilitated through GIZ, in supporting Kenya's governmental endeavors, especially through the AfCFTA Support Programme. Participants were encouraged to use the advanced training to prepare for forthcoming Training of Trainers sessions aimed at enhancing knowledge dissemination among colleagues across various workstations. Ms. Nyambura expressed gratitude to the EU and WCO for their invaluable partnership in supporting competency development on rules of origin. In her official address, Ms Josephine Makhoha, speaking on behalf of the Commissioner of Customs and Border Control, Kenya Revenue Authority, underscored the critical importance of mastering rules of origin in facilitating intra-Africa trade. Encouraging an open-minded approach towards learning and active participation in discussions, she reiterated her appreciation for the collaborative support extended by the EU, GIZ, and WCO. The workshop encompassed critical aspects such as proper origin determination, operational and procedural issues, and the establishment of efficient origin implementation of rules of origin. The WCO team presented comprehensive core origin provisions, including Origin Certification and Preferential Origin Verification, aimed at assisting KRA and stakeholders in applying provisions in Free Trade Agreements. Practical exercises and case studies were conducted, allowing participants to apply learned origin concepts using regional agreements, including the AfCFTA. Participants engaged in fieldwork at a manufacturing company in a hands-on demonstration, gaining insights into manufacturing processes, raw material utilization, and product origin status identification. During the workshop, participants completed sample EU EPAs -EUR 1, AfCFTA, and EAC certificates of origin, thus preparing them to assist the business community during the implementation of trade agreements. The EU-WCO Rules of Origin Africa programme will continue collaborating with GIZ and KRA. The next phase involves preparing for the Train the Trainer (ToT) session, which will build knowledge and equip participants with the necessary training skills to provide ongoing training for relevant stakeholders for the implementation of AfCFTA. What does Putins farcical re-election mean for the EU? Vladimir Putin now adds another six years to his reign in the Kremlin after "winning" a fraudulent election on 17 March with 88 % of the vote. Now he may feel inclined to become even more aggressive towards Ukraine and the rest of Europe. The risks for the EU and its civilization are now truly existential. If we rule out appeasement, a counter-offensive must now be developed. Putin began his reign as president in 2000 with the ruthless suppression of Chechen separatists and the total destruction of the Chechen capital Grozny, causing around 60,000 casualties methods he later employed on a much larger scale in Syria. His support to Syria has now overlapped with both his first aggressive acts against Ukraine in 2014, and his full-scale invasion of the country that continues to rage on. Putins regime has also famously engaged in political assassinations: Anna Politkovskaya, shot dead in 2006, Boris Nemtsov in 2015, and now Alexei Navalny, who died in a gulag on 16 February. And dont forget Yevgeny Prigozhin, former commander of the Wagner militia, who met a sticky end in an unexplained plane crash after his attempted coup in June 2023. Creating chaos, wreaking havoc, and believing in nothing Putins overriding obsession is to restore Russia as a great power, based on his historic mission to lead a Russian world that includes Ukraine and Belarus as one people. Externally he sees Russia as a crusader (alongside China) to overthrow the Wests global hegemony. This year, Putin could seek some new version of the post-2014 Minsk agreements that had implicitly endorsed the then-territorial status quo, which left the door open for the 2022 invasion. Putin aims to take Odesa next and the whole of the Ukrainian coast down to Moldova, allowing him to re-establish Transnistria as an effective Russian military base and overthrow Chisinau's current pro-European leadership, thus ending Moldovas EU membership bid. With Putin in place for at least another six years, the EU has a choice between appeasement or developing a tangible counter-strategy. Story continues A mother and her child play around a WWII memorial tank in Tiraspol, in Transnistria, November 2008 - Bela Szandelszky/AP In Europe, Putin will continue trying to undermine the EU, with disinformation and the cultivation of allies such as Victor Orban and various far-right parties. If Trump is re-elected as US president, Putin will absolutely relish the prospect of him taking a wrecking ball to NATO (although Trump seems to be already back-peddling on this). In the wider world, he will keep working to build anti-Western alliances (with China) and will seek to deepen cooperation with India and the other BRIC states. At the lowest level, his semi-private militias will support any local African autocrat keen on booting out the West. So with Putin in place for at least another six years, the EU has a choice between appeasement or developing a tangible counter-strategy. Rejecting appeasement outright, a counter-strategy should have three pillars. It's time to play hardball First, no more Minsk agreements. France and Germany have seen their illusions shattered. The EU has for Ukraine impressively moved on with agreeing to open accession negotiations and its civilian 50 billion aid package. It has innovated in procuring weapons and ammunition for Ukraine but will have to do much more if the US Congress does not agree to President Bidens $60bn package. In short, the EU must do what it takes to help Ukraine triumph. Russias pretensions of being a leader of the Global South have to be undermined by exposing its hypocrisy and lack of any normative legitimacy. Russia's President Vladimir Putin listens during a BRICS meeting in Brasilia, November 2019 - AP Photo/Eraldo Peres Second, Russias pretensions of being a leader of the Global South have to be undermined by exposing its hypocrisy and lack of any normative legitimacy. In an under-reported session of the UN Security Council on 12 March, the EUs High Representative Josep Borrell gave a good account of what the EU was doing on the world stage. Especially interesting was the contrasting speeches that followed from the Russian and Chinese ambassadors. The Russian rep indulged in a long and violent diatribe against the EU, accusing it of acting in an aggressive and expansionist manner in the worst of colonial traditions. The Chinese ambassador, for his part, welcomed the EU for its multilateralism and efforts in favour of peace. The Russian speech was ridiculous and exemplifies how Putins global standing can and should be degraded. Consequently, the EU should intensify its cooperation with the major democracies of the Global South Brazil, India and Indonesia. We no longer have a choice Third, at home the EU has to consolidate its own civilizational appeal among its citizens in a straightforward democratic manner the upcoming European elections will be a major test for this. The ideas of the Russia-leaning extremist parties must be out-competed by those representing core European values. Finally, the EUs enlargement policies need to be improved, made credible and translated into real advances for all parties involved. Many heads will have to come together to realise such a three-pronged strategy. But with Putins election "victory", theres now no other choice. Appeasement is off the table Europe needs to unite and get serious about the truly existential threat that Putins brutal regime poses. Michael Emerson is Associate Senior Research Fellow at CEPS, a Brussels-based independent think tank. He also served as the European Union's first Ambassador to the USSR and then Russia, from 1991 to 1995. At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at view@euronews.com to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation. Shigmo Shigmo is a social festival with a religious core. It is the Goan counterpart of the Holi in the rest of India. On the Holi day, Puja is performed of the stems of the teflam fruits or betel nut, struck on the ground before the temple and a little grass put at their feet is then burnt. There are a number of dances which burst forth on this occasion in the spirit of plenty that marks the harvesting season when the barns are full and a sense of satisfaction and mirth is bubbling all around GokulashtamiMahashivratri and Brahmotsava are celebrated at the temples of Goa with great splendour, when thousands of devotees from all over Goa gather to pay homage to the deity. A famous fair known as Jatra festival is held in the temple of goddess Lairai, situated in the village of Sirigao in Bicholim taluka where thousands of people from all over Goa come to pay their homage to the goddess. A special feature of this Jatra is walking on burning coals by certain devotees of the goddess popularly known as Dhonds. Jonathan McCambridge, PA The relationship between Ireland and the UK has improved over the past year, new Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has said. However, the Minister for Higher and Further Education acknowledged there were challenges in the relationship and said he was proud of the stance the Government had taken over the UKs controversial Legacy Bill. Speaking shortly after being confirmed as party leader, which will see him succeed Leo Varadkar as taoiseach, Mr Harris said he looked forward to engaging with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak as well as the recently restored powersharing Executive in Northern Ireland. Mr Varadkar previously had differences with the UK government over Brexit, and relations were also strained at the Governments decision to launch a legal interstate case against the UKs new laws to deal with the legacy of the Troubles. Mr Harris said he had recently hosted a reception in London and met with a number of MPs. He said: And I did say to them I do think Irish-British relations are in a much better place this March than they were last March. We have seen real progress around the Windsor Framework, we have seen real progress in relation to the Northern Ireland institutions back up and running. That is really important. I am determined to work with the Northern Ireland Executive. I look forward to the first North-South Ministerial Council taking place. Mr Harris continued: I welcome, should I be given the honour of serving in the office of taoiseach, an opportunity to engage early with the British prime minister. This country remains strongly pro-European, our home in the European Union is crucial to who we are, to our identity and to our economic success. But good strong economic, social, personal and interpersonal relations with our nearest neighbour in the United Kingdom is always going to be a major, major part of Irelands diplomatic policy. Simon Harris said he was proud of the stance Ireland had taken over the Legacy Bill (Eamon Ward/PA) Mr Harris said issues over truth and justice for victims in Northern Ireland still had to be worked through between the two governments. He said: There are challenges in the relationship, like there are in any. We are all aware of the Legacy Bill and the recent court rulings in Northern Ireland. Those matters need to be worked through. I am proud of the position adopted by the Irish Government. One that wasnt done lightly at all, but that we will stand by victims and survivors and make sure they have an opportunity for truth and justice. Shrule's Maria Walsh MEP has been selected by Fine Gael members in Midlands-North West to represent the party at Junes European Elections. She will run alongside well-known former jockey Nina Carberry. The selection convention took place at Sheraton Athlone Hotel in Co Westmeath with hundreds in attendance. Ms Walsh, who was first elected in 2019, said she delighted to have been chosen to run again. I am proud to stand as a progressive candidate, with a proven track record over the past five years. I hope to continue my work in progressing healthcare, rural development, the economy and equality into a second term in Brussels. In particular, I hope to deliver the first ever EU Mental Health Action Plan if re-elected - a much needed strategy given that death by suicide is the second leading cause of death for our young people in the EU, Ms Walsh said. Now more than ever, we need competent and transparent politicians representing our nation on the European stage. I look forward to meeting constituents across all 15 counties between now and the election, and asking for their vote to allow me to continue my work as a strong and impactful voice for them at the EU decision-making table. Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney with candidates Maria Walsh (left) and Nina Carberry and delegates at the Fine Gael selection convention for the Midlands-North West constituency for the European Parliament, at the Sheraton Hotel, Athlone. I would like to extend a warm welcome to my running mate, Nina Carberry - a fantastic candidate whom I look forward to working with over the coming months to secure two seats for Fine Gael in the Midlands-North West. Fine Gaels European Director of Elections Minister Simon Coveney, who chaired the convention, said: Over the last five years, Maria Walsh has shown herself to be a dedicated and skilled representative of the people of Midlands North West in the European Parliament. Im particularly proud of the work she did protecting Ireland during Brexit and the Covid pandemic. Politics needs new faces and new voices and Im delighted Nina Carberry is entering the fray. Nina is a champion in sport but shes also at the heart of her community and family and ready to work for them in Brussels. Ive gotten to know Nina in recent weeks and Im excited that such a dynamic and intelligent person is entering politics for Fine Gael. Allentown, PA (18103) Today The nicest day of the forecast, with an egg-cellent Easter Sunday expected with partly sunny skies and mild highs near the 60-degree mark. . Tonight Clouding up with a bit of rain arriving late...after midnight. The four men suspected of carrying out the deadly terrorist attack in Moscow have appeared in court bearing the marks of torture. The suspects, identified by Russian authorities as being from Tajikistan, a Central Asian nation bordering Afghanistan, were allegedly picked up in the Bryansk region about 210 miles southwest of Moscow hours after the attack. Without providing any evidence, Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed they were heading for Ukraine. Both Ukraine and its western allies, including the US, have denied any involvement in the attack. A man identified as Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the Crocus City Hall shooting on Friday, sits in a glass cage in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow (AP) Russias security service (FSB) said the four men who appeared in court on Sunday evening killed more than 130 people in the Crocus City Hall last Friday, but they added that they have also detained an additional seven people allegedly involved in the attack. The oldest of the four suspects, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, is 32 years old while the youngest, Mukhammadsobir Faizov, is 19, according to Russian authorities. The other two suspects have been identified as 30-year-old Saidakrami Rachabalizoda and 25-year-old Shamsidin Fariduni. Their identities have not been confirmed and multiple Russian analysts have warned against taking the word of the Kremlin authorities as fact. But footage posted of the attack appears to match with subsequent footage of those detained, suggesting at least some of those arrested were directly involved. Two of the four have pleaded guilty. This combination of pictures created on March 24, 2024 shows (from L) Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda, Dalerdjon (alternatively spelled Dalerdzhon) Barotovich Mirzoyev, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov suspected of taking part in the attack of a concert hall that killed 137 people, the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in decades (AFP via Getty Images) The Tajik government, a close ally of Moscow, insists it has not received any official information from Russian authorities about Tajiks allegedly involved in the attack. But counterintelligence analysts have said that Isis-K, an offshoot of the terrorist group Isis, has a strong presence in Tajikistan. It is believed the four carried out the attack on behalf of Isis-K. Saidakrami Murodali was pictured in court on Sunday evening with his right ear covered in bandages. Over the weekend, footage circulated by Russian bloggers appeared to show security services cutting his ear off. Story continues Teenage Mukhammadsobir Faizov, sitting in hospital robes, was shown sitting in a wheelchair, half conscious, during his court appearance. Russian media reported that he is from the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. Two accounts on Russian social media platform VKontake that are believed to be linked to Faizov suggest that he worked at a barber shop in the Russian city of Ivanovo, a five-hour drive northeast of Moscow, until November. The two other suspects, Shamsiddin Fariduni and Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, were shown with bruised faces when they appeared in court. The names of several other alleged Tajik nationals and their photos appeared on Russian websites as suspects in the attack. However, Tajikistans Interior Ministry quickly rejected reports about three of the alleged suspects. They said that two of the men were at home in Tajikistan at the time of the attack and a third was at work in the Russian city of Samara, more than 600 miles from Moscow. Today The nicest day of the forecast, with an egg-cellent Easter Sunday expected with partly sunny skies and mild highs near the 60-degree mark. Tonight Clouding up with a bit of rain arriving late...after midnight. Tomorrow Mainly cloudy with a few showers or some drizzle, especially the first half of the day. WEST READING, Pa. - Berks County District Attorney John Adams is providing an update about a brutal killing from 2012 in West Reading. Investigators arrested Vallis Slaughter, 39, in Jersey City, New Jersey on Wednesday, nearly 12 years after they say he shot and killed Julio "Tito" Torres, 34, in the parking lot of what was then the West Reading Diner. Julio Torres, 34, of Reading was shot in the head while sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of the West Reading Diner on Penn Avenue early on the morning of March 24, 2012. He died a week later. Surveillance footage helped in the arrest of Jomaine Case, police reported back in 2012. While Case was not believed to be the shooter, authorities said he did play a key role in the killing. Case was eventually convicted of assault. "This investigation showed that just prior to the shooting, Case and an unknown shooter became involved in a verbal dispute with the victim," says Berks County District Attorney, John Adams. The person responsible for pulling the trigger and shooting the bullet that killed Torres was not identified until now. Surveillance video shown during the press conference on Monday showed that Torres did know Case and the accused shooter. The video shows the involved people holding styrofoam cups that were sent for DNA testing. The DNA from the cups could not be identified for the third participant. DNA for both Torres and Case were identified, DA Adams says. The 2023 Cold Case Initiative called for the reevaluation of the shooting of Torres that led to the new arrest of Slaughter. A 2012 photo of the suspect was used in new identification practices to identify him by facial-recognition software, Adams said. "In 2012 a photograph of the alleged shooter was taken with a cellular phone by an alleged associate at a party sometime before this homicide," says Adams. "This photograph was extracted from the cellular phone and retained by investigators." Investigators determined that Slaughter, originally of Brooklyn, New York, was the person likely depicted in this photograph. He was found to be living with family in Jersey City, New Jersey. Adams says during the investigation, once Slaughter was identified as a suspect, he was observed in Jersey City on February 9, 2024, smoking a cigarette that police were able to obtain the butt of and send for DNA testing. Adams continued to say that in March of 2024, the DA's received confirmation that the DNA from the cigarette butt matched the DNA from the third styrofoam cup obtained from the 2012 crime scene. An arrest warrant was obtained on March 18. Slaughter was taken in police custody on March 20. No motive was determined for the shooting, Adams says. Slaughter will be extricated from Jersey City. He is being held without bail at the Hudson County Correctional Facility. Vallis is charged with murder of the first degree, murder of the third degree, criminal conspiracy - criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy - murder of the third degree, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy - aggravated assault, and possessing instruments of crime. He is also a suspect in a homicide in Brooklyn, Adams confirms. Stick with 69 News for updates about this developing story. You can watch the press conference from the Berks County District Attorney's Office in its entirely here: SALISBURY TWP., Pa. - Salisbury Township Police closed part of Seidersville Road near Fire Lane after an accident early Sunday morning. According to police, a car hit a patch of ice and multiple telephone poles just after 5 a.m. When police arrived on the scene, there were active wires on the ground. PPL and Verizon were notified to shut down services, and PennDOT then treated the road. PPL said that approximately 2,191 customers in Salisbury Township experienced an outage due to the accident. However, power was restored to more than 2,000 of these customers within five minutes. The remaining 155 customers had their power restored by Sunday afternoon. A UGI crew was on the site to assist in restoration efforts, but a UGI spokesperson says there was no damage to that company's equipment. Five High School Jazz ensembles battled it out for band supremacy in Bethlehem. ArtsQuest hosted the SteelStacks High School Showcase Finals on Sunday at Musikfest Cafe. The finalists were chosen last month from a jazz competition featuring Groups from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. All of the winners will perform at Musikfest this August. UPDATE: Here are the final results Winner (1st place): North Penn Navy Jazz Band Section awards: Best Reed Section: Easton Area HS Jazz Band Best Trumpet Section: North Penn HS Navy Jazz Band Best Trombone Section: Quakertown Community HS Jazz Band Best Rhythm Section: Upper Moreland HS Jazz Band Solo Awards: Best Jazz Saxophone/Woodwind: Jesse Hasting (alto sax) Kutztown Best Jazz Trumpet: Logan Bigelow North Penn Best Jazz Trombone: Richard Strader Quakertown Best Jazz Rhythm Soloist: Akshay Krishnan (guitar) North Penn Navy Best Overall Jazz Soloist: Carter Stein (tenor sax) Easton A procession in Bethlehem re-enacts the first Palm Sunday. Worshippers dressed up as Jesus and his disciples walked along Stefko Boulevard and Broad Street this morning. Christians receive palms because the belief is that people laid palms along Jesus' path when he arrived in Jerusalem the week before he was crucified. Palm branches were handed out during the walk, which was organized by The Center Lehigh Valley. Pottstown celebration In Pottstown, Montgomery County.. worshippers celebrate Palm Sunday inside Saint Aloysius Roman Catholic Church. This is video of a Spanish Mass the parish held this morning. Parishioners held palms in the shape of crosses as they took part in the service. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea said Monday that Japan's prime minister has offered to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but stressed that prospects for their countries first summit in about 20 years would depend on Tokyo tolerating the North's weapons program and ignoring its past abductions of Japanese nationals. Japan acknowledged it has been trying to arrange a bilateral summit but dismissed North Korea's preconditions for such a meeting as unacceptable, dimming the prospects that Kim and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would hold a summit any time soon. Observers say Kim wants improved ties with Japan as a way to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its allies, while Kishida wants to use possible progress in the abduction issue, a highly emotional issue for Japan, to boost his declining approval rating at home. After admitting in 2002 that it had abducted 13 Japanese nationals, North Korea allowed five to return home but said the others had died. Japan believes some were still alive. In a statement carried by state media, Kims sister, Kim Yo Jong, who also is a senior official, said that Kishida recently used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person as soon as possible. She said there would be no breakthrough in North Korea-Japan relations as long as Kishidas government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the Norths exercise of our sovereign right, apparently referring to the Norths weapons testing activities. Simply deciding to hold a summit is not enough to improve relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, she said. In February, Kim Yo Jong issued a similar statement, saying North Korea was open to inviting Kishida to Pyongyang but that it would only be possible if Tokyo stopped taking issue with North Koreas legitimate right to self-defense and the abduction issue. Kishida, speaking in a parliamentary session, said that a meeting with Kim is crucial to resolve the abduction issue and that his government has been using various channels to discuss the possible summit. Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters later Monday that dropping the abduction issue in talks with North Korea is not acceptable. North Korea and Japan dont have diplomatic ties, and their relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear program, the abduction issue and Japans 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Japans colonial wrongdoing is a source of on-again, off-again wrangling between Tokyo and Seoul, as well. After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in an unprecedented 2002 summit between Kim Jong Il, the late father of Kim Jong Un, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped the 13 Japanese. Japan believes North Korea used them to train spies in Japanese language and culture. Koizumi made a second visit to North Korea and met Kim Jong Il again in 2004, the last summit between the two countries. Talk of a possible new summit comes amid concerns that North Korea could further intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year both in the U.S. and South Korea. Experts say North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the U.S., such as relief from sanctions imposed because of Pyongyang's nuclear program. While North Korea may be waiting out elections in South Korea and the United States before reengaging those countries in diplomacy, it probably wants to strengthen its hand by developing weapons and driving wedges between U.S. allies, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Kishida feels political urgency to address the abductions issue and is thus showing diplomatic effort. The impoverished North also likely thinks about possible Japanese economic assistance it could receive if the two countries normalized their ties, said analyst Moon Seong Mook with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea could seek the current value of the Japanese assistance that South Korea received when those two countries normalized their ties in 1965 $500 million or more. Moon said Kishida likely won't defy Japanese public opinion to make concessions on the abduction issue, or defy U.N. resolutions that ban North Korea's nuclear program. Easley said a Kim-Kishida summit is unlikely because Pyongyang appears unwilling to address its historical kidnapping of Japanese citizens and Tokyo is unable to relax sanctions on North Korea. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Monday it was closely communicating with Japan on Tokyo-Pyongyang contacts and the North Korean nuclear issue. It said that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are working closely together to return North Korea to a path of denuclearization. North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile arsenals pose a major security threat to Japan as well as South Korea and the United States. The three countries have expanded their trilateral training exercises in response to the Norths provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Japan and South Korea are two of Americas key allies in the region, together hosting about 80,000 U.S. troops in their territories. Earlier Monday, North Koreas state media reported that Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea. While most analysts doubt Kim is genuinely preparing for war, South Korean officials have raised the possibility of smaller provocations in border regions, including the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas that has been the site of bloody skirmishes in past years. Associated Press journalist Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report. Follow APs Asia-Pacific news at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific WARSAW, Poland (AP) Two Polish military engineers died on Monday following the detonation of TNT during a training exercise at a military facility in southern Poland, the defense minister said. Defense Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that two sappers with a chemical regiment died in Solarnia in the southern region of Silesia. In these tragic moments, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the soldiers, he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. The deaths follow another training tragedy among Polish soldiers earlier this month. In that case, a military tracked vehicle ran over two soldiers during a drill at a test range in the northwestern town of Drawsko Pomorskie. Both soldiers died. UNITED NATIONS (AP) The United Nations Security Council on Monday issued its first demand for a cease-fire in Gaza, with the U.S. angering Israel by abstaining from the vote. Israel responded by canceling a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation in the strongest public clash between the allies since the war began. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the U.S. of retreating from a principled position by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of hostages held by Hamas. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the administration was kind of perplexed by Netanyahus decision. He said the Israelis were choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that. Kirby and the American ambassador to the U.N. said the U.S. abstained because the resolution did not condemn Hamas. U.S. officials chose to abstain rather than veto the proposal "because it does fairly reflect our view that a cease-fire and the release of hostages come together, Kirby said. The 15-member council voted 14-0 to approve the resolution, which also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. The chamber broke into loud applause after the vote. The U.S. vetoed past Security Council cease-fire resolutions in large part because of the failure to tie them directly to the release of hostages, the failure to condemn Hamas' attacks and the delicacy of ongoing negotiations. American officials have argued that the cease-fire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for a cease-fire. The resolution approved Monday demands the release of hostages but does not make it a condition for the cease-fire for the month of Ramadan, which ends in April. Hamas said it welcomed the U.N.'s move but said the cease-fire needs to be permanent. We confirm our readiness to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides, the group said. For months, the militants have sought a deal that includes a complete end to the conflict. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tweeted: This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable. The U.S. decision to abstain comes at a time of growing tensions between President Joe Biden's administration and Netanyahu over Israels prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amounts of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. The two countries have also clashed over Netanyahus rejection of a Palestinian state, Jewish settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the expansion of settlements there. In addition, the well-known antagonism between Netanyahu and Biden which dates from Bidens tenure as vice president deepened after Biden questioned Israels strategy in combating Hamas. Then Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Biden ally, suggested that Netanyahu was not operating in Israels best interests and called for Israel to hold new elections. Biden signaled his approval of Schumers remarks, prompting a rebuke from Netanyahu. During its U.S. visit, the Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with its plans for a possible ground invasion of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. Last week, Netanyahu rebuffed a U.S. request to halt the planned Rafah invasion - vowing during a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to act alone if necessary. Blinken warned that Israel could soon face growing international isolation, while Vice President Kamala Harris said Israel could soon face unspecified consequences if it launches the ground assault. The Security Council vote came after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported an immediate and sustained cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. That resolution featured a weakened link between a cease-fire and the release of hostages, leaving it open to interpretation, and no time limit. The United States warned that the resolution approved Monday could hurt negotiations to halt the hostilities, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans. The talks involve the U.S., Egypt and Qatar. Because Ramadan ends April 9, the cease-fire demand would last for just two weeks, though the draft says the pause in fighting should lead to "a lasting sustainable cease-fire. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the resolution spoke out in support of the ongoing diplomatic efforts, adding that negotiators were getting closer to a deal for a cease-fire with the release of all hostages, "but were not there yet. She urged the council and U.N. members across the world to speak out and demand unequivocally that Hamas accepts the deal on the table. Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. abstained because certain edits the U.S. requested were ignored, including a condemnation of Hamas. The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, was backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations. Under the United Nations Charter, Security Council resolutions are legally binding on its 193 member nations, though they are often flouted. Algerias U.N. ambassador, Amar Bendjama, the Arab representative on the council, thanked the council for finally" demanding a cease-fire. We look forward to the commitment and the compliance of the Israeli occupying power with this resolution, for them to put an end to the bloodbath without any conditions, to end the suffering of the Palestinian people, he said. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, told the council that the vote must be a turning point that leads to saving lives in Gaza and ending the assault of atrocities against our people. Shortly before Mondays vote, the elected members changed the final draft resolution to drop the word permanent from its demand that a Ramadan cease-fire should lead to a sustainable" halt in fighting apparently at the request of the United States. Russia complained that dropping the word could allow Israel to resume its military operation in the Gaza Strip at any moment" after Ramadan and proposed an amendment to restore it. That amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum nine yes votes with three council members voting in favor, the United States voting against, and 11 countries abstaining. Since the start of the war, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire. More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The agency does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. Gaza also faces a dire humanitarian emergency. A report from an international authority on hunger warned last week that famine is imminent in northern Gaza and that escalation of the war could push half of the territorys 2.3 million people to the brink of starvation. The United States has vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on Feb. 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire. Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution in late October calling for humanitarian pauses in the fighting to deliver aid, the protection of civilians and a halt to arming Hamas. They said it did not reflect global calls for a cease-fire. They again vetoed a U.S. resolution Friday, calling it ambiguous and saying it was not the direct demand to end the fighting that much of the world seeks. That vote became another showdown involving world powers that are locked in tense disputes elsewhere, with the United States taking criticism for not being tough enough against its ally Israel, even as tensions between the two countries rise. Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia and China on Monday of using the Gaza conflict "as a political cudgel, to try to divide this council at a time when we need to come together. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Colleen Long in Washington and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed. (PA) When Princess Diana died, I was abroad, as I was on Friday evening when Kensington Palace made the shocking announcement that the Princess of Wales had been treated for cancer. While the global media has been as fascinated by Kates illness as the British press, when the news broke there was no one in my hotel who wasnt full of worry and compassion. In a world where Caribbean countries seem over-eager to renounce the crown, a world where Australia appears desperate to become a republic, Friday night certainly reminded me that globally our royal family still commands an extraordinary amount of fondness and respect. As Anthony Holden wrote at the time: Dianas death shook the royal family, shook the country, and brought us all together in the process, in grief. In a decade of convening, of togetherness, of coming together in fields, in clubs, in stadia, in galleries, in magazines, books and films, here we all were, coming together in sorrow. I had been told that Sunday morning in August 1997 by the agent who had come to supervise the switchover in the house I was renting with friends in Auch, south-west France. We briefly tried to find some news on the radio, and then resigned ourselves to picking up details as we made our way to the airport. When we got there, we gleaned more, and swapped information on the plane. I was with people from the US, from India, Switzerland, the UAE, Sweden, Hong Kong and each was full of concern Arriving at Heathrow, there were no newspapers anywhere. None in the newsagents, none left discarded on the plastic chairs. It was the biggest news story of the decade and it was impossible to read about it. When we eventually got into town, I spent an hour scouring the West End for a paper, but there was nothing until I found one last copy of the Sunday Express in a convenience store near Marble Arch. 6AM NEWS SPECIAL, it screamed on the front: DIANA IS DEAD. Princess and Dodi killed in car smash. The radio and TV were full of little else, but reading the newspaper somehow made it real. The detail was still scant, although what was obvious from the tone of the media coverage was that we were about to enter a period of such intense grieving that it would obviously swamp the partisan nature of the coverage before her death. Before August 31, the nation had been divided into opposing camps Team Diana and Team Charles but after the fatal Paris crash, Fleet Street succumbed to melancholia, and if you were a heretic, you kept your head down and your powder dry. Mourning and melancholia, that was the order of the day, and an understanding that empathy and compassion might not be quite so old-fashioned after all, nor indeed a restored sense of social solidarity. Story continues But the thing I will remember more than anything was the look on the agents face when she saw us on the Sunday morning. She wasnt just concerned for Diana (was it really true?), she wasnt just concerned for Charles, or for William and Harry, or indeed for everyone else who knew her well; she was also concerned for us. How were we feeling? How were the Brits abroad faring? Like everyone else in the world, she knew how divisive Diana had been, and yet she appeared to be as popular outside the UK as she was inside the M25. On Friday in Thailand, and more specifically on Saturday, when the news had really sunk in, everyone in my hotel was aghast at the announcement from Kensington Palace. I was with a bunch of people from the United States, from India, Switzerland, the UAE, Sweden, Hong Kong, all over, and each and every one of them was full of concern. They knew, like most people who care knew, that the royal family has an umbilical link with the British public. Yes, the world is full of republicans, and a fair few of them live in Britain (as well as inside the M25), but I doubt theres anyone who didnt immediately give a thought to George, Charlotte and Louis. They certainly did in Bangkok. Dylan Jones is the Evening Standards editor-in-chief Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $120.00. ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Get Abbott Laboratories alerts: Get Our Latest Research Report on Abbott Laboratories Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders. Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 73.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8 % ABT opened at $110.57 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $115.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $191.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year. Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratoriess payout ratio is currently 67.48%. About Abbott Laboratories (Get Free Report Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Meniere's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Abbott Laboratories Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Abbott Laboratories and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $79.58 and last traded at $79.50, with a volume of 159286 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.03. Analysts Set New Price Targets A number of brokerages have recently commented on ALSN. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Allison Transmission from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Allison Transmission in a report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $62.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Allison Transmission from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Allison Transmission from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $61.00. Get Allison Transmission alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on Allison Transmission Allison Transmission Stock Up 0.1 % The stock has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.15 and a 200 day moving average of $60.67. Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The auto parts company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.49. The business had revenue of $775.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.00 million. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 60.35% and a net margin of 22.17%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year. Allison Transmission Increases Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Allison Transmissions previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Allison Transmissions payout ratio is presently 13.44%. Insider Activity at Allison Transmission In related news, CEO David S. Graziosi sold 76,318 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $5,385,761.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 125,479 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,855,053.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David S. Graziosi sold 76,318 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.57, for a total transaction of $5,385,761.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 125,479 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,855,053.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Dana Jh Pittard sold 2,686 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.84, for a total transaction of $195,648.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,143 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $374,616.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,843 shares of company stock worth $6,244,562. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Institutional Inflows and Outflows A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 0.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,928,508 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $402,707,000 after purchasing an additional 39,841 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Allison Transmission by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,116,493 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $186,230,000 after purchasing an additional 21,742 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 1.1% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,517,819 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $159,146,000 after buying an additional 38,500 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia increased its position in Allison Transmission by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 2,414,094 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $142,576,000 after acquiring an additional 26,316 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,244,170 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $92,639,000 after purchasing an additional 357,322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the companys stock. Allison Transmission Company Profile (Get Free Report) Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells commercial and defense fully automatic transmissions for medium-and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, and medium-and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles worldwide. The company offers transmissions for various applications, including distribution, refuse, construction, fire, and emergency on-highway trucks; school and transit buses; motor homes; energy, mining, and construction off-highway vehicles and equipment; and wheeled and tracked defense vehicles. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for Allison Transmission Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Allison Transmission and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. PHX Minerals Inc. (NYSE:PHX Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of Buy from the four brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.20. Several analysts recently commented on the company. Northland Securities dropped their price target on PHX Minerals from $5.00 to $4.30 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on PHX Minerals from $5.70 to $5.50 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Get PHX Minerals alerts: Check Out Our Latest Analysis on PHX Hedge Funds Weigh In On PHX Minerals PHX Minerals Trading Up 2.9 % Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PHX. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in PHX Minerals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in PHX Minerals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in PHX Minerals by 129.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,327 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 6,387 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in PHX Minerals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in PHX Minerals by 900.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 10,000 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.17% of the companys stock. Shares of NYSE:PHX opened at $3.15 on Monday. PHX Minerals has a 12-month low of $2.41 and a 12-month high of $3.89. The company has a market capitalization of $117.94 million, a PE ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.32. The company has a current ratio of 5.05, a quick ratio of 5.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. PHX Minerals (NYSE:PHX Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 12th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. PHX Minerals had a return on equity of 6.78% and a net margin of 31.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.40 million. As a group, analysts forecast that PHX Minerals will post 0.22 EPS for the current year. PHX Minerals Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 18th will be paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 15th. PHX Mineralss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.77%. About PHX Minerals (Get Free Report PHX Minerals Inc operates as a natural gas and oil mineral company in the United States. The company produces and sells natural gas, crude oil, and natural gas liquids. Its principal properties are located in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Arkansas. The company sells its products to various purchasers, including pipeline and marketing companies. Read More Receive News & Ratings for PHX Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for PHX Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. KISS University Granted 'A' Grade Accreditation by NAAC in First Cycle Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) [India] Published : March 23, 2024 The KISS Deemed-to-be-University has been awarded the prestigious 'A' grade accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in its first cycle of accreditation. The university is the first institution in the country to achieve this feat in its first attempt at accreditation by NAAC. The recognition by NAAC as an 'A' grade institution is a testament to the quality of education and the dedication to academic excellence at KISS University. The Ministry of Education granted deemed-to-be-university status to KISS in 2017, acknowledging its significant contributions to the field of education. "Happy to announce KISS Deemed to be University got NAAC A grade in its first cycle since 2017 recognition of DU status. A unique feat, adding to accolades like the UNESCO Literacy Prize 2022. This marks an academic pinnacle for our fully free, residential school for tribal children", declared the Founder of KIIT and KISS Dr. Achyuta Samanta. Educational stakeholders and the academic community have expressed their happiness and pride in achieving this milestone, giving the credit for the recognition to Dr Samanta, his dedication and perseverance. KISS is the only university in the world that offers education to tribal students free of cost. The accreditation underscores the university's commitment to providing quality education. The timely application and successful accreditation by NAAC as an 'A' grade institution are considered a major achievement for KISS University. Dr Samanta extended his heartfelt thanks to the teachers, staff, students, and supporters of KISS University for their hard work and dedication, which played a crucial role in achieving this accolade. This success has sparked a wave of happiness among the students, faculty, staff, and the tribal communities associated with the university. Find it Useful ? Help Others by Sharing Online Comments and Discussions Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH Free Report) by 32.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,936 shares of the construction companys stock after purchasing an additional 56,965 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned 0.64% of Meritage Homes worth $40,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MTH. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 79,051 shares of the construction companys stock worth $11,246,000 after acquiring an additional 17,752 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 388.4% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 42,000 shares of the construction companys stock worth $5,140,000 after acquiring an additional 33,400 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 449,233 shares of the construction companys stock worth $54,982,000 after acquiring an additional 118,818 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 52,029 shares of the construction companys stock worth $6,368,000 after acquiring an additional 14,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth $18,336,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the companys stock. Get Meritage Homes alerts: Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.5 % NYSE MTH traded up $2.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $168.43. The companys stock had a trading volume of 101,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,211. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $159.55 and a 200 day moving average of $146.88. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $179.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Meritage Homes Increases Dividend Meritage Homes ( NYSE:MTH Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The construction company reported $5.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.18 by $0.20. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 17.03%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meritage Homess previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homess dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%. Analysts Set New Price Targets Several research firms have recently issued reports on MTH. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $180.00. Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Meritage Homes Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the companys stock, valued at $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock valued at $635,171. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the companys stock. Meritage Homes Company Profile (Free Report) Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Meritage Homes Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Meritage Homes and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports. Banco Santander Stock Up 2.6 % Shares of SAN traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $4.79. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,455,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,009,865. Banco Santander has a 52-week low of $3.20 and a 52-week high of $4.79. The companys 50-day moving average is $4.12 and its 200-day moving average is $3.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.20. Get Banco Santander alerts: Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.18. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 19.29%. The business had revenue of $15.67 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Banco Santander will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year. Institutional Trading of Banco Santander About Banco Santander A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Banco Santander by 236.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 223,407 shares of the banks stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 157,003 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Banco Santander by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 210,073 shares of the banks stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 9,342 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Banco Santander by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 240,518 shares of the banks stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 50,817 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Banco Santander by 163.6% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 129,832 shares of the banks stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 80,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Banco Santander by 60.4% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 714,160 shares of the banks stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 269,055 shares during the last quarter. 9.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. (Get Free Report) Banco Santander, SA provides various financial services worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments. It offers demand and time deposits, mutual funds, and current and savings accounts; mortgages, consumer finance, loans, and various financing solutions; and corporate finance, global debt financing and market, global transaction banking, and private debt mobilization solutions. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for Banco Santander Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Banco Santander and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 15th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 102.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Blackstone Mortgage Trust to earn $2.31 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 107.4%. Get Blackstone Mortgage Trust alerts: Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance Shares of NYSE:BXMT traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $20.66. The company had a trading volume of 694,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,170,727. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $23.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.12. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.50 to $21.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $21.67. Check Out Our Latest Report on Blackstone Mortgage Trust Insiders Place Their Bets In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total transaction of $46,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares in the company, valued at $3,888,465.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,274 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $46,435.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,298 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,967,565.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $46,068.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,023 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,888,465.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,540 shares of company stock valued at $112,642. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 60,571 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,926,000 after buying an additional 7,506 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,508 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 12,607 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,802 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 50.6% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 82,945 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,637,000 after buying an additional 27,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the companys stock. About Blackstone Mortgage Trust (Get Free Report) Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Blackstone Mortgage Trust Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Blackstone Mortgage Trust and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Central Asia Metals plc (LON:CAML Get Free Report) declared a dividend on Monday, March 25th, Upcoming.Co.Uk reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of GBX 9 ($0.11) per share by the mining company on Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. The official announcement can be viewed at this link. Central Asia Metals Trading Down 2.5 % LON:CAML traded down GBX 4.80 ($0.06) during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching GBX 186 ($2.37). 489,482 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 377,075. Central Asia Metals has a 12-month low of GBX 150.60 ($1.92) and a 12-month high of GBX 256.57 ($3.27). The firm has a market capitalization of 338.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,373.33 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 5.05 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 164.66 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 171.55. Get Central Asia Metals alerts: Analyst Ratings Changes Separately, Berenberg Bank reiterated a buy rating and set a GBX 220 ($2.80) target price on shares of Central Asia Metals in a report on Friday, March 8th. About Central Asia Metals (Get Free Report) Central Asia Metals plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a base metals producer. The company produces copper, zinc, silver, and lead. It owns a 100% interest in the Kounrad solvent extraction- electrowinning operation located near the city of Balkhash in central Kazakhstan; and a 100% interest in the Sasa mine located in north Macedonia. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Central Asia Metals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Central Asia Metals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC trimmed its position in Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL Free Report) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 983,204 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 56,989 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLCs holdings in Air Lease were worth $41,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 2.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,709,215 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $301,082,000 after buying an additional 194,211 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 48.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,722,960 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $281,356,000 after buying an additional 2,180,549 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 1.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,763,177 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $257,324,000 after buying an additional 90,225 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 36.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,446,382 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $243,180,000 after buying an additional 1,460,769 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Air Lease by 141.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,714,362 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $165,846,000 after buying an additional 2,175,100 shares during the period. 94.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Air Lease alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts recently issued reports on AL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Air Lease from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Air Lease from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Air Lease from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday. One investment 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 has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $51.50. Air Lease Stock Up 1.9 % Shares of AL stock traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $49.20. 1,211,201 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,437,837. The stocks 50 day moving average is $42.50 and its 200-day moving average is $39.93. The company has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Air Lease Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.33 and a fifty-two week high of $49.66. Air Lease (NYSE:AL Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The transportation company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.79. Air Lease had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 22.89%. The firm had revenue of $716.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $672.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The firms revenue was up 19.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Air Lease Co. will post 5.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. Air Lease Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Air Leases payout ratio is 16.31%. Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease In other news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 16,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.70, for a total transaction of $658,742.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 112,375 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,461,287.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Air Lease news, EVP Kishore Korde sold 16,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.70, for a total value of $658,742.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,461,287.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carol Hyland Forsyte sold 3,046 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $121,900.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 72,073 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,884,361.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 89,646 shares of company stock valued at $3,705,152. 6.64% of the stock is owned by insiders. About Air Lease (Free Report) Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet aircraft to airlines worldwide. It sells aircraft from its fleet to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, airlines, and other investors. The company provides fleet management services to investors and owners of aircraft portfolios. See Also Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Air Lease Co. (NYSE:AL Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Air Lease Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Air Lease and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Eldorado Gold Co. (NYSE:EGO Get Free Report) (TSE:ELD)s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $13.91 and last traded at $13.90, with a volume of 350208 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.41. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC boosted their price objective on Eldorado Gold from $16.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Eldorado Gold from $14.50 to $13.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a hold rating on shares of Eldorado Gold in a research report on Friday, January 26th. National Bank Financial reiterated an outperform spec overweight rating on shares of Eldorado Gold in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Canada lowered shares of Eldorado Gold from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $14.00. Get Eldorado Gold alerts: Get Our Latest Stock Report on Eldorado Gold Eldorado Gold Stock Up 2.5 % The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 2.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30 and a beta of 1.07. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $12.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.41. Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO Get Free Report) (TSE:ELD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $306.90 million for the quarter. Eldorado Gold had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 3.56%. As a group, research analysts expect that Eldorado Gold Co. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Eldorado Gold by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,774,270 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $87,862,000 after buying an additional 79,670 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of Eldorado Gold by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 29,000 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Eldorado Gold by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 186,628 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 23,581 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eldorado Gold by 349.3% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 212,713 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 165,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eldorado Gold by 134.9% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 345,759 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $4,484,000 after purchasing an additional 198,580 shares during the last quarter. 69.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Eldorado Gold (Get Free Report) Eldorado Gold Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, development, and sale of mineral products primarily in Turkey, Canada, Greece, and Romania. The company primarily produces gold, as well as silver, lead, and zinc. It holds a 100% interest in the Kisladag and Efemcukuru mines located in Turkey; Lamaque complex located in Canada; and Olympias, Stratoni, Skouries, Perama Hill, and Sapes gold mines located in Greece, as well as the 80.5% interest in Certej development projects located in Romania. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Eldorado Gold Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Eldorado Gold and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fidelis Insurance (NYSE:FIHL Get Free Report) is one of 95 public companies in the Fire, marine, & casualty insurance industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Fidelis Insurance to similar companies based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and earnings. Dividends Fidelis Insurance pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Fidelis Insurance pays out 2.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies pay a dividend yield of 1.1% and pay out 13.3% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Fidelis Insurance is clearly a better dividend stock than its rivals, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Get Fidelis Insurance alerts: Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of current recommendations for Fidelis Insurance and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Fidelis Insurance 0 4 4 0 2.50 Fidelis Insurance Competitors 667 3314 3028 208 2.38 Profitability Fidelis Insurance currently has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.59%. As a group, Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies have a potential upside of 0.25%. Given Fidelis Insurances rivals higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Fidelis Insurance has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals. This table compares Fidelis Insurance and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Fidelis Insurance 59.30% 20.23% 4.22% Fidelis Insurance Competitors 3.20% -12.06% 0.75% Valuation & Earnings This table compares Fidelis Insurance and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation. Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Fidelis Insurance $3.60 billion $2.13 billion 0.98 Fidelis Insurance Competitors $17.95 billion $2.98 billion 73.08 Fidelis Insurances rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Fidelis Insurance. Fidelis Insurance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry. Institutional and Insider Ownership 82.0% of Fidelis Insurance shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.5% of shares of all Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies are held by institutional investors. 14.6% of shares of all Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Summary Fidelis Insurance beats its rivals on 8 of the 14 factors compared. Fidelis Insurance Company Profile (Get Free Report) Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and reinsurance products in Bermuda, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It operates in three segments: Specialty, Reinsurance, and Bespoke segments. The Specialty segment offers aviation and aerospace, energy, marine, property direct and facultative, and other specialty risk solutions. The Reinsurance segment provides property, retrocession, and whole account reinsurance solutions. The Bespoke segment offers customized risk solutions for clients that include credit and political risk, and other risk transfer opportunities. The company is also involved in specialty treaty reinsurance, and surety bonds and guarantees activities; and upstream energy, energy liability, and marine businesses; and provision of product recall and contamination, and marketing services. Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2014 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda. Receive News & Ratings for Fidelis Insurance Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Fidelis Insurance and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in shares of Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,932,123 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 37,109 shares during the period. Philip Morris International accounts for approximately 1.3% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.12% of Philip Morris International worth $181,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Philip Morris International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Philip Morris International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Philip Morris International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Philip Morris International by 950.0% during the 2nd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 420 shares of the companys stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. 78.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Philip Morris International alerts: Philip Morris International Price Performance Shares of Philip Morris International stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $91.31. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,123,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,235,173. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.51. Philip Morris International Inc. has a one year low of $87.23 and a one year high of $101.92. The stock has a market cap of $141.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.61. Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement Philip Morris International ( NYSE:PM Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.08). Philip Morris International had a negative return on equity of 116.29% and a net margin of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $9.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 EPS. Philip Morris Internationals revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Philip Morris International Inc. will post 6.39 EPS for the current fiscal year. The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is presently 103.59%. Insider Buying and Selling at Philip Morris International In other news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,726 shares of the companys stock, valued at $882,050.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Reginaldo Dobrowolski sold 2,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.69, for a total value of $181,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,726 shares in the company, valued at $882,050.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.46, for a total transaction of $457,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,918 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,412,880.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,250 shares of company stock valued at $1,411,128 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.15% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Philip Morris International in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group cut shares of Philip Morris International from a buy rating to a sell rating and lowered their target price for the company from $105.00 to $86.50 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Societe Generale upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $87.50 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Philip Morris International from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $105.40. Read Our Latest Analysis on PM Philip Morris International Profile (Free Report) Philip Morris International Inc operates as a tobacco company working to delivers a smoke-free future and evolving portfolio for the long-term to include products outside of the tobacco and nicotine sector. The company's product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products, including heat-not-burn, vapor, and oral nicotine products primarily under the IQOS and ZYN brands; and consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches. Read More 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 Free Report). 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. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,401,538 shares of the financial services providers stock after acquiring an additional 19,705 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OHs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $68,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Wells Fargo & Company by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 7,248 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 410.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 67,480 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 54,262 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,967,000. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Wells Fargo & Company by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 97,906 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $4,000,000 after buying an additional 11,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 61.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 121,937 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $4,983,000 after purchasing an additional 46,525 shares in the last quarter. 75.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. Get Wells Fargo & Company alerts: Analysts Set New Price Targets Several brokerages have recently commented on WFC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a hold rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Odeon Capital Group downgraded Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $48.80 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $53.37. Wells Fargo & Company Price Performance WFC stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $56.74. 6,658,305 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,300,150. The company has a market cap of $200.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The stocks 50 day moving average is $52.40 and its 200 day moving average is $46.71. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $36.27 and a 12-month high of $58.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.30). Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.40% and a net margin of 16.60%. The business had revenue of $20.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. Wells Fargo & Companys revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.72 EPS for the current year. Wells Fargo & Company Announces Dividend The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.05%. Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile (Free Report) Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. Featured Stories 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. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $46.49 and last traded at $45.92, with a volume of 1516065 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.10. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Freeport-McMoRan from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Freeport-McMoRan from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $48.50 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Freeport-McMoRan in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Freeport-McMoRan from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $44.95. Get Freeport-McMoRan alerts: Get Our Latest Analysis on FCX Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.0 % The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.32 billion, a PE ratio of 35.51 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.42. Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The natural resource company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.85 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 8.41% and a net margin of 8.09%. The companys revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Freeport-McMoRan Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year. Institutional Trading of Freeport-McMoRan A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FCX. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Freeport-McMoRan in the first quarter valued at $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Freeport-McMoRan by 97.1% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 670 shares of the natural resource companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Freeport-McMoRan during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.77% of the companys stock. About Freeport-McMoRan (Get Free Report) Freeport-McMoRan Inc engages in the mining of mineral properties in North America, South America, and Indonesia. It primarily explores for copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, and other metals. The company's assets include the Grasberg minerals district in Indonesia; Morenci, Bagdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona; Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico; and Henderson and Climax in Colorado, North America, as well as Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Freeport-McMoRan Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Freeport-McMoRan and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Alight (NYSE:ALIT Get Free Report) and American Well (NYSE:AMWL Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk. Institutional & Insider Ownership 96.7% of Alight shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.1% of American Well shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Alight shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.9% of American Well shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. Get Alight alerts: Analyst Ratings This is a summary of current ratings for Alight and American Well, as provided by MarketBeat.com. Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Alight 0 0 7 0 3.00 American Well 0 1 0 0 2.00 Valuation & Earnings Alight presently has a consensus price target of $12.71, indicating a potential upside of 28.56%. American Well has a consensus price target of $1.75, indicating a potential upside of 104.32%. Given American Wells higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Well is more favorable than Alight. This table compares Alight and American Wells revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation. Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Alight $3.41 billion 1.63 -$345.00 million ($0.55) -17.96 American Well $259.05 million 0.94 -$675.16 million ($2.40) -0.35 Alight has higher revenue and earnings than American Well. Alight is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Well, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. Risk & Volatility Alight has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Well has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Profitability This table compares Alight and American Wells net margins, return on equity and return on assets. Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Alight -7.80% 5.09% 2.30% American Well -260.63% -40.19% -33.28% Summary Alight beats American Well on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks. About Alight (Get Free Report) Alight, Inc. provides cloud-based integrated digital human capital and business solutions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Employer Solutions and Professional Services. The Employer Solutions segment offers employee wellbeing, integrated benefits administration, healthcare navigation, financial wellbeing, leave of absence management, retiree healthcare and payroll; and operates AI-led capabilities software. The Professional Services segment offers consulting offerings, such as cloud advisory, deployment, and optimization services for cloud platforms. The company provides Alight Worklife, an intuitive, cloud-based employee engagement platform. Its solutions enable employees to enrich their health, wealth, and wellbeing that helps organizations achieve a high-performance culture. Alight, Inc. was founded in 2020 and is based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. About American Well (Get Free Report) American Well Corporation, an enterprise platform and software company, delivers digitally enabling hybrid care in the United States and internationally. The company offers Converge, a cloud-based platform that enables health providers, payers, and innovators to provide in-person, virtual and automated care; and delivers virtual primary care, post-discharge follow-up, chronic condition management, virtual nursing, e-sitting, on-demand and scheduled virtual visits, specialty consults, automated care, and behavioral health, as well as specialty care programs, including dermatology, musculoskeletal care, second opinion, and cardiometabolic care to patients and members. It provides Carepoint devices comprising carts, peripherals, tablets, and TVs, which serve as digital access points in clinical settings. In addition, the company offers Amwell Medical Group network services consisting of primary and urgent care, behavioral health therapy, acute psychiatry, lactation counseling, and nutrition services. Further, it provides professional services to facilitate implementation, workflow design, systems integration, and service expansion for its products, as well as patient and provider engagement services. The company sells its products through field sales professionals, channel partners, and value-added resellers. American Well Corporation was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Receive News & Ratings for Alight Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Alight and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII Free Report) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $288.00 to $295.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the aerospace companys stock. A number of other research firms also recently commented on HII. StockNews.com upgraded Huntington Ingalls Industries from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on Huntington Ingalls Industries from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Get Huntington Ingalls Industries alerts: Read Our Latest Report on HII Huntington Ingalls Industries Stock Down 0.5 % HII opened at $292.55 on Thursday. The businesss fifty day moving average is $277.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.60. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a one year low of $188.51 and a one year high of $299.50. Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The aerospace company reported $6.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.27 by $2.63. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.78 billion. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a return on equity of 18.12% and a net margin of 5.95%. Huntington Ingalls Industriess quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.07 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 16.36 EPS for the current fiscal year. Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Huntington Ingalls Industriess dividend payout ratio is currently 30.41%. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 1,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.28, for a total transaction of $376,625.04. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $655,380. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Nicolas G. Schuck sold 1,293 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.28, for a total value of $376,625.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $655,380. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Jennifer R. Boykin sold 2,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.31, for a total value of $592,546.56. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,877 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,872,675.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,472 shares of company stock worth $2,398,345. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Huntington Ingalls Industries A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,393 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,279 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $228,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $424,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries during the 4th quarter worth approximately $181,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.18% of the companys stock. About Huntington Ingalls Industries (Get Free Report) Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Huntington Ingalls Industries Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Huntington Ingalls Industries and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX Get Free Report) CFO Raj Kumar sold 2,228 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $204,976.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,719 shares of the companys stock, valued at $158,148. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Raj Kumar also recently made the following trade(s): Get Kirby alerts: On Tuesday, March 5th, Raj Kumar sold 1,670 shares of Kirby stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $150,300.00. On Friday, February 23rd, Raj Kumar sold 1,670 shares of Kirby stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.00, for a total value of $146,960.00. Kirby Stock Down 0.5 % NYSE KEX traded down $0.42 during trading on Monday, hitting $92.47. The companys stock had a trading volume of 549,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,567. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.20. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $84.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.17. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.42 and a fifty-two week high of $94.37. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Kirby ( NYSE:KEX Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $799.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $778.70 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 7.12% and a net margin of 7.21%. Kirbys quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 4.94 EPS for the current fiscal year. Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a report on Monday, February 5th. View Our Latest Stock Report on Kirby Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kirby Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kirby by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,015,915 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $498,118,000 after purchasing an additional 64,420 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 714,337 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $59,147,000 after purchasing an additional 16,685 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 6,828 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,191,000. Finally, EAM Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,621,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the companys stock. About Kirby (Get Free Report) Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii. See Also Receive News & Ratings for Kirby Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kirby and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI India ETF (BATS:INDA Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $50.60 and last traded at $50.57, with a volume of 1710154 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.49. iShares MSCI India ETF Stock Up 0.2 % The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.64 and a 200 day moving average of $47.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 0.68. Get iShares MSCI India ETF alerts: Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI India ETF Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $608,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 87,259 shares of the companys stock worth $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 22,601 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI India ETF by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,288,215 shares of the companys stock worth $101,185,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares in the last quarter. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in iShares MSCI India ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,604,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in iShares MSCI India ETF by 10.4% in the third quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 5,855 shares of the companys stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. iShares MSCI India ETF Company Profile The iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI India index, a market-cap-weighted index of the top 85% of firms in the Indian securities market. INDA was launched on Feb 2, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock. Read More Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI India ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI India ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (NYSEARCA:EIDO Get Free Report) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 234,009 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the previous sessions volume of 476,622 shares.The stock last traded at $22.91 and had previously closed at $22.63. iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF Stock Performance The stocks 50-day moving average price is $22.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.04. The company has a market capitalization of $519.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 0.80. Get iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF alerts: Institutional Trading of iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF in the 3rd quarter worth $3,001,000. Rice Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 120,064 shares of the companys stock worth $2,674,000 after buying an additional 12,032 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 448,159 shares of the companys stock worth $9,980,000 after buying an additional 33,054 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF in the 3rd quarter worth $1,552,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,480 shares of the companys stock worth $567,000 after buying an additional 1,994 shares in the last quarter. About iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF The iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (EIDO) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI Indonesia IMI 25-50 index, a market-cap-weighted index of large-, mid and small-cap Indonesian companies. EIDO was launched on May 5, 2010 and is managed by BlackRock. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mason & Associates Inc grew its stake in Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT Free Report) by 12.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,285 shares of the aerospace companys stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Mason & Associates Incs holdings in Lockheed Martin were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in shares of Lockheed Martin by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 64 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Lockheed Martin during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in Lockheed Martin during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Lockheed Martin during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lockheed Martin in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.19% of the companys stock. Get Lockheed Martin alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of analysts recently commented on LMT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $438.00 to $472.00 in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $475.00 to $470.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Lockheed Martin from $540.00 to $508.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Lockheed Martin from $550.00 to $540.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Lockheed Martin from $488.00 to $475.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $491.92. Insider Activity at Lockheed Martin In related news, COO John Frank A. St sold 6,648 shares of Lockheed Martin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.35, for a total value of $2,827,726.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Lockheed Martin news, COO John Frank A. St sold 6,648 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.35, for a total transaction of $2,827,726.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Maryanne Lavan sold 4,022 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $434.39, for a total transaction of $1,747,116.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,874 shares of company stock valued at $7,249,946 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders. Lockheed Martin Stock Performance NYSE:LMT traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $445.42. The stock had a trading volume of 489,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,176,424. Lockheed Martin Co. has a twelve month low of $393.77 and a twelve month high of $508.10. The stock has a market cap of $107.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.48. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $434.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $438.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.21. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The aerospace company reported $7.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.26 by $0.64. Lockheed Martin had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 79.91%. The firm had revenue of $18.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.79 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lockheed Martin Co. will post 26.13 earnings per share for the current year. Lockheed Martin Dividend Announcement The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a $3.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $12.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Lockheed Martins payout ratio is 45.74%. Lockheed Martin Company Profile (Free Report) Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Lockheed Martin Co. (NYSE:LMT Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Lockheed Martin Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lockheed Martin and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSE:CP Get Free Report) (NYSE:CP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report released on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a C$126.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of C$120.00. Scotiabanks price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.38% from the stocks current price. CP has been the topic of several other reports. ATB Capital lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$117.00 to C$120.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$116.00 to C$120.00 in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$108.00 to C$118.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$126.00 to C$124.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$128.00 to C$127.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Pacific Kansas City has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$116.38. Get Canadian Pacific Kansas City alerts: Read Our Latest Stock Report on CP Canadian Pacific Kansas City Stock Down 1.6 % Shares of CP traded down C$1.95 during trading hours on Monday, hitting C$119.57. 801,907 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,163,999. The company has a market cap of C$111.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.77. The firms 50 day moving average is C$114.07 and its 200-day moving average is C$105.68. Canadian Pacific Kansas City has a 52 week low of C$94.45 and a 52 week high of C$123.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.85, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.53. Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSE:CP Get Free Report) (NYSE:CP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported C$1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of C$1.12 by C$0.06. The company had revenue of C$3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$3.66 billion. Canadian Pacific Kansas City had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 31.28%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian Pacific Kansas City will post 4.25132 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insider Activity In related news, Senior Officer James Dominic Luther Clements sold 7,828 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$118.91, for a total transaction of C$930,859.57. In other news, Senior Officer James Dominic Luther Clements sold 7,828 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$118.91, for a total transaction of C$930,859.57. Also, Senior Officer Nadeem Velani sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$123.30, for a total value of C$123,300.00. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,833 shares of company stock valued at $3,612,023. Insiders own 0.03% of the companys stock. About Canadian Pacific Kansas City (Get Free Report) Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a transcontinental freight railway in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The company transports bulk commodities, including grain, coal, potash, fertilizers, and sulphur; merchandise freight, such as forest products, energy, chemicals and plastics, metals, minerals, consumer products, and automotive; and intermodal traffic comprising retail goods in overseas containers. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Canadian Pacific Kansas City and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BJ Free Report) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,299 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLCs holdings in BJs Wholesale Club were worth $820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of BJs Wholesale Club by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,013,702 shares of the companys stock worth $1,142,898,000 after purchasing an additional 4,548,963 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of BJs Wholesale Club by 180.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,615,939 shares of the companys stock worth $173,071,000 after purchasing an additional 1,684,174 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BJs Wholesale Club by 145.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,422,594 shares of the companys stock worth $163,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,785 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BJs Wholesale Club in the 4th quarter worth approximately $89,816,000. Finally, Eaton Vance Management lifted its stake in shares of BJs Wholesale Club by 323.5% in the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 1,719,134 shares of the companys stock worth $116,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,206 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.60% of the companys stock. Get BJ's Wholesale Club alerts: Insider Activity at BJs Wholesale Club In related news, Director Christopher J. Baldwin sold 73,062 shares of BJs Wholesale Club stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.95, for a total value of $5,402,934.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 173,294 shares in the company, valued at $12,815,091.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. BJs Wholesale Club Trading Down 2.4 % Shares of NYSE:BJ traded down $1.85 on Monday, hitting $75.50. 938,491 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,331,103. BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $60.33 and a 12 month high of $78.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.26. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $69.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.14. BJs Wholesale Club (NYSE:BJ Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion. BJs Wholesale Club had a return on equity of 40.84% and a net margin of 2.64%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year. Analysts Set New Price Targets BJ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of BJs Wholesale Club from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $70.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of BJs Wholesale Club in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BJs Wholesale Club from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $72.53. Read Our Latest Report on BJ BJs Wholesale Club Profile (Free Report) BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the eastern half of the United States. It provides perishable, general merchandise, gasoline, coupon books, promotions, and other ancillary services. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app. Read More Receive News & Ratings for BJ's Wholesale Club Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BJ's Wholesale Club and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $130.00 target price on the basic materials companys stock, up from their previous target price of $91.00. Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SCCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Southern Copper from $63.50 to $61.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Southern Copper from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Southern Copper from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and decreased their price target for the company from $83.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, November 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $76.83. Get Southern Copper alerts: View Our Latest Stock Report on SCCO Southern Copper Stock Performance NYSE:SCCO opened at $104.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 3.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.55. Southern Copper has a fifty-two week low of $64.66 and a fifty-two week high of $105.26. Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.37 billion. Southern Copper had a return on equity of 30.85% and a net margin of 24.51%. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Copper will post 3.5 EPS for the current year. Southern Copper Cuts Dividend The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Southern Coppers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.91%. Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Copper Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern Copper by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,797,970 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $594,595,000 after purchasing an additional 756,555 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Southern Copper by 200.6% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,179,899 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $208,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789,376 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Southern Copper by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,349,984 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $288,333,000 after acquiring an additional 39,422 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc raised its stake in Southern Copper by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 3,041,233 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $261,759,000 after acquiring an additional 67,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern Copper by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,763,612 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $209,759,000 after acquiring an additional 835,044 shares in the last quarter. 7.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. About Southern Copper (Get Free Report) Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead. Recommended Stories Receive News & Ratings for Southern Copper Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern Copper and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Shares of Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp. (CVE:PGE Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as C$0.13 and last traded at C$0.13, with a volume of 143250 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$0.14. Stillwater Critical Minerals Trading Down 3.7 % The company has a market capitalization of C$25.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.75 and a beta of 1.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$0.15 and a 200-day moving average price of C$0.16. The company has a current ratio of 6.63, a quick ratio of 5.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. About Stillwater Critical Minerals (Get Free Report) Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp., a mineral exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Canada and the United States. The company explores for gold, palladium, nickel, cobalt, and copper deposits, as well as platinum group metals. Its flagship project is the Stillwater West project, which comprises 763 claims covering an area of approximately 61 square kilometers located in Stillwater District, Montana. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Stillwater Critical Minerals Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Stillwater Critical Minerals and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Mitch Landrieu, the co-chair of President Joe Bidens reelection campaign who spearheaded the White Houses $1 trillion infrastructure plan, plans to crisscross Wisconsin this week as part of a multicity tour to highlight the administrations economic investments. Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans who left his post as the White Houses infrastructure coordinator earlier this year to help lead Bidens bid for a second term, will meet with mayors of Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, La Crosse, Sheboygan and Wausau over the two-day tour across the battleground state. With Wisconsin once again expected to play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the upcoming presidential election, Landrieus visit to the state is the latest of several this year by Biden and his surrogates as the president gears up for an expected rematch with former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, this November. Landrieu said in a statement he is thrilled to hear from Wisconsin mayors, workers, and small business leaders statewide about how the Biden-Harris Administrations investments are benefiting local communities where Trump failed. President Biden is rebuilding America and funding projects that are being felt everyday in communities across Wisconsin, creating jobs and boosting the local economy, and we cant let Donald Trump threaten this progress by returning to the White House, Landrieu continued. Landrieu will meet Tuesday morning with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson and union leaders and workers. Later that day hell tour Racines fleet of electric vehicles, which were funded through the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, with Racine Mayor Cory Mason. Lastly, Landrieu will meet with Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and small-business leaders with Centro Hispano, a local nonprofit that serves Dane Countys Latino community. Centro received funding through the American Rescue Plan to build Calli, the organizations new building. On Wednesday, Landrieu will tour La Crosses Municipal Transit Utility facility with Mayor Mitch Reynolds before visiting the Wausau Water Treatment Plant with Mayor Katie Rosenberg and holding a roundtable discussion with workers and families in need of lead pipe replacement. Landrieu previously visited Wisconsin last April to announce the allocation of $15.1 million in federal funds to help cover Madisons $30 million replacement of the gateway John Nolen Drive causeway that connects Downtown and the South Side No one knows more about the Biden-Harris administrations investments in local communities than Mitch Landrieu, and were excited to welcome him to Wisconsin and highlight the contrast between Trumps failed promises and President Bidens record of accomplishments, Bidens Wisconsin deputy campaign manager Iris Riis said in a statement. Under Landrieus watch, 6,100 federal employees have been hired to help distribute infrastructure funds. Hes expressed some worry about the fate of projects that can take a decade or more to complete if a Republican administration takes power and wants to cut spending. At the same time, Landrieu has faced some GOP criticism over how the federal money was dispensed. In 2022, 16 Republican governors sent a letter to Biden objecting to how the infrastructure law was being implemented, citing excessive consideration of social equity, climate change and union workers. Biden and Trump remain deadlocked in Wisconsin, according to a Marquette Law School Poll released in February, although the poll was taken when GOP challenger Nikki Haley was still a candidate for the Republican nomination. The poll found both Trump and Biden receiving support from 49% of registered voters, with 2% saying they had not yet decided. The results marked a slight shift from Marquettes November poll, which found Biden holding 50% support among registered Wisconsin voters to Trumps 48%, well within that polls margin of error. Of February respondents who are very enthusiastic to vote, Trump holds a 19-point lead over Biden. However, Biden has more support among respondents who said they were somewhat enthusiastic, as well as those who are not very and not at all enthusiastic to vote. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of Moderate Buy by the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.75. Several research firms have recently weighed in on STM. HSBC began coverage on STMicroelectronics in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a buy rating for the company. UBS Group raised STMicroelectronics from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com downgraded STMicroelectronics from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Craig Hallum decreased their price objective on STMicroelectronics from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Get STMicroelectronics alerts: View Our Latest Stock Analysis on STM STMicroelectronics Stock Performance Shares of STMicroelectronics stock opened at $43.30 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.69. STMicroelectronics has a 52 week low of $37.21 and a 52 week high of $55.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.44, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firms 50 day moving average is $45.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.86. STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The semiconductor producer reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. STMicroelectronics had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 27.70%. The firms revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that STMicroelectronics will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year. STMicroelectronics Increases Dividend The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 25th. This is an increase from STMicroelectronicss previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. STMicroelectronicss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.48%. Institutional Inflows and Outflows Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STM. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in STMicroelectronics by 448.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,214,361 shares of the semiconductor producers stock worth $118,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810,709 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in STMicroelectronics by 92.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,830,732 shares of the semiconductor producers stock worth $97,926,000 after acquiring an additional 879,856 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in STMicroelectronics in the first quarter worth $46,169,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in STMicroelectronics by 36.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,005,136 shares of the semiconductor producers stock worth $129,702,000 after acquiring an additional 805,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in STMicroelectronics by 209.4% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 789,204 shares of the semiconductor producers stock worth $39,453,000 after acquiring an additional 534,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.05% of the companys stock. About STMicroelectronics (Get Free Report STMicroelectronics N.V., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through Automotive and Discrete Group; Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group; and Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group segments. Read More Receive News & Ratings for STMicroelectronics Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for STMicroelectronics and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Strathcona Resources Ltd. (TSE:SCR Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$29.80 and last traded at C$29.65, with a volume of 21188 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$29.16. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several brokerages recently issued reports on SCR. ATB Capital set a C$31.00 target price on shares of Strathcona Resources and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Strathcona Resources from C$40.00 to C$32.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group set a C$26.00 target price on shares of Strathcona Resources and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Strathcona Resources from C$28.00 to C$25.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of C$31.29. Get Strathcona Resources alerts: Read Our Latest Research Report on SCR Strathcona Resources Stock Up 2.5 % Insider Buying and Selling at Strathcona Resources The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 67.47, a quick ratio of 11.09 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stocks 50-day moving average price is C$24.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$27.74. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.40 billion and a PE ratio of -13.62. In related news, Director Connie De Ciancio acquired 3,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$22.53 per share, for a total transaction of C$81,243.18. 8.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders. About Strathcona Resources (Get Free Report) Strathcona Resources Ltd. acquires, explores for, develops, and produces petroleum and natural gas reserves in western Canada. It operates through three segments: Cold Lake Thermal, Lloydminster Heavy Oil, and Montney. The Cold Lake Thermal segment includes three producing assets in the Cold Lake region of Northern Alberta; and Lindbergh, Orion, and Tucker. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Strathcona Resources Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Strathcona Resources and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Ternium (NYSE:TX Free Report) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $48.00 to $51.50 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials companys stock. Separately, TheStreet raised Ternium from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Friday, January 12th. Get Ternium alerts: View Our Latest Report on Ternium Ternium Price Performance NYSE TX opened at $40.88 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.21. Ternium has a 52 week low of $35.22 and a 52 week high of $45.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.69. Ternium (NYSE:TX Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.94 billion. Ternium had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 10.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ternium will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current year. Ternium Increases Dividend The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $2.20 per share. This is an increase from Terniums previous Semi-Annual dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Terniums dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.91%. Institutional Trading of Ternium Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Ternium by 42.6% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 131,260 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $5,237,000 after buying an additional 39,200 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Ternium by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 142,325 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $5,679,000 after purchasing an additional 14,811 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ternium by 4.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,570 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Ternium by 40,884.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,656 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 10,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in Ternium by 148.4% in the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 18,870 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 11,274 shares in the last quarter. 12.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors. About Ternium (Get Free Report) Ternium SA, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes steel products in Mexico, Southern Region, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel, Mining, and Usiminas. The Steel segment offers slabs, hot and cold rolled products, coated products, roll formed and tubular products, bars, billets, and other products. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for Ternium Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ternium and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Free Report) had its price objective lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $421.00 to $424.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the investment management companys stock. GS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $357.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $382.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $406.87. Get The Goldman Sachs Group alerts: Read Our Latest Analysis on The Goldman Sachs Group The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.7 % NYSE GS opened at $406.82 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $386.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $355.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $416.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.42. The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The investment management company reported $5.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $1.86. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.03% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $10.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.32 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 32.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The Goldman Sachs Groups payout ratio is currently 48.20%. Insiders Place Their Bets In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total value of $1,129,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,121 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,809,443.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total value of $1,129,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,121 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,809,443.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,190,901.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,907 shares of company stock worth $15,080,021. Company insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock. Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 82.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 91 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 94 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 69.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. About The Goldman Sachs Group (Get Free Report) The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements. Read More Receive News & Ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $18.50 target price on the real estate investment trusts stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for UMH Properties FY2025 earnings at $1.09 EPS. Separately, StockNews.com upgraded UMH Properties from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $20.00. Get UMH Properties alerts: View Our Latest Analysis on UMH Properties UMH Properties Stock Performance UMH Properties Announces Dividend NYSE:UMH opened at $16.02 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 6.52, a quick ratio of 6.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.80, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.24. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $15.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.77. UMH Properties has a twelve month low of $13.26 and a twelve month high of $16.85. The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. UMH Propertiess dividend payout ratio is currently -546.67%. Hedge Funds Weigh In On UMH Properties A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UMH. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in UMH Properties by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 58,369 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 5.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 373,985 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $9,197,000 after buying an additional 18,507 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 7.7% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 12,773 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 55.2% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 23,163 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $570,000 after buying an additional 8,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in UMH Properties by 1.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 53,796 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,323,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. 71.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. UMH Properties Company Profile (Get Free Report) UMH Properties, Inc, which was organized in 1968, is a public equity REIT that owns and operates 135 manufactured home communities containing approximately 25,800 developed homesites. These communities are located in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia. Featured Articles Receive News & Ratings for UMH Properties Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UMH Properties and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,807 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Cambridge Advisors Inc.s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $1,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 66 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Get UnitedHealth Group alerts: Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and set a $610.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Erste Group Bank restated a hold rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, February 8th. HSBC restated a reduce rating and set a $480.00 target price (down previously from $550.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Monday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America restated a buy rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $579.33. UnitedHealth Group Price Performance UNH opened at $489.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $451.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.54. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $445.68 and a fifty-two week high of $554.70. The companys 50-day moving average price is $504.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $518.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 12th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.98 by $0.18. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 26.39%. The company had revenue of $94.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.34 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Groups revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 27.82 earnings per share for the current year. UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $1.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Groups payout ratio is currently 31.54%. Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,236 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.48, for a total transaction of $597,581.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,527,306.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 858 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $525.79, for a total transaction of $451,127.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,289 shares of the companys stock, valued at $16,977,233.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.35% of the companys stock. UnitedHealth Group Profile (Free Report) UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for UnitedHealth Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for UnitedHealth Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Vert Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,284 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 846 shares during the period. Essex Property Trust makes up about 2.7% of Vert Asset Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Vert Asset Management LLCs holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $6,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 7.6% during the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 635 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 25.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,405 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 89.4% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 125 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Get Essex Property Trust alerts: Essex Property Trust Stock Down 1.0 % ESS stock traded down $2.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $239.53. 310,124 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 424,868. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a current ratio of 3.26. The firm has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.79. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $236.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.11. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $198.29 and a 1-year high of $252.85. Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend Wall Street Analyst Weigh In The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is an increase from Essex Property Trusts previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 146.43%. ESS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a hold rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Mizuho raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $281.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $243.58. Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Essex Property Trust Essex Property Trust Company Profile (Free Report) Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ESS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS Free Report). 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. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its position in The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 89,682 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Macerich accounts for approximately 0.6% of Vert Asset Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Vert Asset Management LLCs holdings in Macerich were worth $1,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Macerich by 0.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,989,432 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $246,057,000 after acquiring an additional 136,337 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 30,909,711 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $327,643,000 after buying an additional 224,394 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 193.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 19,709,004 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $222,120,000 after buying an additional 12,992,543 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,327,975 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $161,476,000 after buying an additional 855,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Macerich by 867.8% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,732,108 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $98,411,000 after buying an additional 7,829,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.38% of the companys stock. Get Macerich alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at Macerich In other Macerich news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total transaction of $130,529.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 197,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,243,581. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 95,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.94, for a total transaction of $1,609,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 102,900 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,743,126. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hern Thomas E. O sold 7,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.39, for a total value of $130,529.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 197,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,243,581. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,964 shares of company stock worth $2,599,830 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MAC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Macerich from $9.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Macerich from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Macerich from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Macerich from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company from $8.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial restated a hold rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Macerich in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.40. Check Out Our Latest Report on MAC Macerich Stock Down 1.8 % Shares of NYSE:MAC traded down $0.30 on Monday, hitting $16.70. 979,698 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,054,691. The Macerich Company has a 52 week low of $9.05 and a 52 week high of $17.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.73. The company has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of -13.29, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 2.33. Macerich (NYSE:MAC Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.26). Macerich had a negative return on equity of 10.26% and a negative net margin of 31.00%. The business had revenue of $238.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Macerichs quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Macerich Company will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year. Macerich Announces Dividend The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Macerichs dividend payout ratio is currently -53.54%. Macerich Profile (Free Report) Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich's portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, DC corridor. Read More Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MAC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Macerich Company (NYSE:MAC Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Macerich Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Macerich and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,979 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock, valued at approximately $683,000. A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,723,924 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,976,067,000 after buying an additional 69,187 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,147,624 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,937,005,000 after acquiring an additional 60,027 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,001,550,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,863,429 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $817,348,000 after purchasing an additional 759,388 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,833,571 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $812,332,000 after purchasing an additional 106,604 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the companys stock. Get AvalonBay Communities alerts: Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities In related news, CFO Kevin P. Oshea sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total transaction of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,330.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. Oshea sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,812,330.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,907 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,054,985.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.42% of the companys stock. Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades AVB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $191.00 price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $194.00 to $204.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $185.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $196.22. Check Out Our Latest Report on AVB AvalonBay Communities Price Performance Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $183.17 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $178.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The company has a market capitalization of $26.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.92. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.07 and a 1-year high of $198.65. AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($1.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $704.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $701.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.81 EPS for the current fiscal year. AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communitiess previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. AvalonBay Communitiess payout ratio is 100.76%. AvalonBay Communities Company Profile (Free Report) As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AVB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for AvalonBay Communities Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AvalonBay Communities and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. ZRC Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report) by 164.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 4,266 shares during the quarter. ZRC Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Pfizer were worth $198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Front Street Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pfizer by 4.3% in the first quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,168 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Pfizer by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Graves Light Lenhart Wealth Inc. now owns 19,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Pfizer by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Pfizer by 2.4% during the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 12,207 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank raised its stake in Pfizer by 0.6% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 46,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 68.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Get Pfizer alerts: Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PFE shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Pfizer from $34.00 to $27.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Argus cut shares of Pfizer from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial cut their target price on Pfizer from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Barclays decreased their target price on Pfizer from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Pfizer from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $32.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pfizer currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.88. Pfizer Price Performance Pfizer stock opened at $27.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.91. Pfizer Inc. has a one year low of $25.61 and a one year high of $42.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.57. The company has a market cap of $154.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.61. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.37 billion. Pfizer had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 3.62%. Pfizers revenue was down 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Pfizer Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year. About Pfizer (Free Report) Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, Zavzpret, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Abrysvo, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands. Featured Articles Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE Free Report). Receive News & Ratings for Pfizer Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pfizer and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter. Wisconsinites have long complained that the state's late-in-the-season presidential primary dilutes voters' say in who gets the nomination. But this year's primary is in its own class of irrelevance, with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump having already secured enough delegates to become their parties' nominees. That may curb turnout for the April 2 election, which meaningless presidential primary aside remains consequential for Wisconsin residents, who will be voting in hundreds of nonpartisan county, city, village and school board races as well as deciding a pair of proposed amendments to the state Constitution. Without a competitive Republican primary spurring conservative voters to the polls, "turnout will be lower and more balanced between the parties," predicted UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden. "Often the primaries are kind of winding down by the time we get to Wisconsin in April, and it becomes clear what's going to happen, but it isn't completely resolved," Burden said. "But we haven't seen an April election like this in a presidential year in a long time." By the time Wisconsin held its last presidential primary in April 2020, Biden had already emerged as Democrats' likely nominee, but U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, was still in the running and got over 30% of the vote. Sanders dropped out following the vote in Wisconsin, and Biden formally clinched the Democratic nomination in June. In 2016, the nomination was still in play when the state primary was held, although its impact was minimal: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, beat Trump in the Republican primary, and Sanders beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Neither would go on to win their respective party's nomination, which Trump won that May and Clinton won in June. In 2012, the April GOP presidential primary was competitive, with U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, beating former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania, by 7 points. Romney wouldn't secure enough delegates to become the GOP nominee until late that May. And in 2008, when Wisconsin had a February presidential primary, both eventual nominees former President Barack Obama and former U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. won their statewide contests here when the nationwide primary races were still up in the air. Obama wouldn't seal the nomination until June, and McCain didn't secure it until March. Local races less flashy, more immediate While this year's primary has already been decided, some people will still be motivated to vote in the presidential race as a show of opposition to Biden or Trump, said Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin. But Franklin expected turnout to be muted. "It's one of the paradoxes, I think, of American elections, that in terms of people's day-to-day circumstances, elections for mayors and city councils and county boards and schools, and referenda whether for the city or for school things those things have more direct impact on people than the much more distant presidential elections or statewide elections," he said. "But the capacity for local affairs to really drive high turnout is pretty limited, except in very rare circumstances." Teachers' unions and other groups will often rally local voters to support school referendums, and in recent years conservative groups have tried to drum up support for their favored school board candidates, Franklin said. "But it's not with multimillion-dollar TV ads, or, you know, constant mailers and phone calls," he said. "It's a much lower level of effort and expenditure. And the result is, I'm confident that most people don't know specifically what's on their ballot in April." Unlike last spring's hotly contested state Supreme Court election, there are no statewide offices on the ballot this year. And while many municipalities, including several in Dane County, will see contested races, most local elections remain uncontested. Local races that could drive turnout include mayoral elections in Wausau, Wisconsin Rapids and Milwaukee, while 91 school referendum questions will be put to voters around the state. But overall, don't expect this April 2 election to break any voter turnout records. "The top of the ticket has some reasons (for voters) to come out and vote and express yourself, and that will mean we don't see tiny, tiny turnout," Franklin said. "But ... there are an awful lot of ballot initiatives and local elections that have impact on people's lives that don't stir the passion and the turnout that we get for these national races." 2 referendum questions on the ballot There are two statewide referendums on the ballot. The first would bar the use of private funds in administering elections, while the second would prohibit anyone other than election officials from performing election-related tasks. Both are in response to the 2020 election, when Republicans objected to municipalities using grants from the Chicago-based Center for Tech & Civic Life to help administer the election just as the COVID-19 pandemic was getting underway. Although about 214 municipalities took advantage of the free money, Republicans argued it unfairly helped increase turnout in the Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine. Republicans also accused Green Bay election officials of inviting an election adviser with close ties to CTCL to help run that city's election. City officials insist he merely offered advice and at no point was involved in the actual administration of the election. State law currently defines an election official as an individual who is charged with any duties relating to the conduct of an election. That typically includes the municipal and county clerks and their authorized representatives, such as clerks office employees, poll workers and special voting deputies, who provide voting assistance to nursing home residents, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. If the constitutional amendment goes into effect, existing statutes would still allow clerks to hire individuals as election officials designated by law. Groups supporting the amendments include Election Integrity for Wisconsin, Opportunity Solutions Project, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and the Wisconsin Voter Alliance. Those opposed include the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, the ACLU of Wisconsin, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Conservation Voters, All Voting is Local Action Wisconsin and Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Proponents say the measures are needed to further restore faith in the electoral process and prevent partisan-based groups from influencing elections. Opponents say the Legislature has failed to properly fund election administration in the state and the proposals could further strain local officials ability to conduct elections. Franklin said there has been little messaging about the proposed changes, lowering the likelihood they'll drive turnout for many people. "I think they have the appeal to a certain type of voter skeptical of the 2020 outcome," he said. "I'm not sure that folks on the other side are particularly aware or likely to be mobilized by those proposals." The "Heart-to-Heart, Word-of-Mouth" limited gift box launched by L'Oreal Paris in collaboration with China's Jingdezhen Longzhuge. [Source: L'Oreal official Weibo account] L'Oreal Paris collaborated with China's Jingdezhen Longzhuge, a century-old porcelain brand, to launch the "Heart-to-Heart, Word-of-Mouth" 60th Anniversary Limited Gift Box, which includes a French red lipstick and a pair of porcelain cups. PARIS/NANCHANG, March 21 (Xinhua) Fine lines of blue and red shaped an Eiffel Tower on the surface of a pure and thin porcelain cup, integrating elements with distinctive features from both China and France. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, these types of cups were packaged into exquisite gift boxes with French cosmetics. This gift box recently attracted the attention of Europe as soon as it was unveiled at an exhibition of porcelain artworks from Jingdezhen, east China's Jiangxi Province, at the China Cultural Center in Paris. As a witness and promoter of the friendship between France and China, L'Oreal Paris collaborated with Jingdezhen Longzhuge, a century-old porcelain brand, to launch the "Heart-to-Heart, Word-of-Mouth" 60th Anniversary Limited Gift Box, which includes a French red lipstick and a pair of porcelain cups. Alexis Perakis-Valat, president of the L'Oreal Consumer Products Division, told Xinhua that this collaboration embodies the diverse cultural craftsmanship of both nations, transcending borders, cultures and time. The collision of traditional Chinese art and French fashion colors reveals to the public the beauty of cultural diversity. In the Yishan Industrial Zone in Jingdezhen, white porcelain cups with the Longzhuge pattern on the bottom were produced on the production lines. This historically significant pattern has new connotations and has become an essential symbol of Jingdezhen's cultural and creative products. In history, Longzhuge was one of the important back stamps for Jingdezhen's exports. Emblazoned with the logos of European royal families or social groups, etc., various types of armorial porcelain were made by craftsmen in Jingdezhen during the Ming and Qing dynasties to meet the requirements of overseas clients, including the French royal courts. "Jingdezhen has long played the role of 'cultural exchange envoy' between China and France," said Weng Yanjun, director of Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum. Exquisite blue and white porcelain was transported thousands of miles across the sea along the Maritime Silk Road, enriching European cultural life. The living room of the House of Victor Hugo in Paris is decorated with a "Chinese porcelain wall," an example of the common pursuit of beauty between China and France. Jingdezhen is home to an extensive network of supply chains and state-of-the-art facilities. Today, it pays more attention to creative design and innovation, said Gang Hao, general manager of Jingdezhen Towyi Cultural Development Co., Ltd. "The dreamy linkage between the two brands of Longzhuge and L'Oreal Paris represents the integration of international aesthetics, creating a unique aesthetic identity," said Gang. "Beauty is a heritage that transcends different cultures. We firmly believe that beauty has the power to preserve cultural heritage, stimulate innovation, foster social and economic growth, promote diversity and inclusiveness, and contribute to harmony with life," said Fabrice Megarbane, Chief Global Growth Officer of L'Oreal Group. "Our goal is to continue being a friendly ambassador in all fields of Sino-French exchange," said Megarbane, "especially in the cultural and economic areas." (Source: Xinhua) A group wedding [Liu Junxi/Xinhua] There was a sizable uptick in the number of new marriages registered last year in China after nine straight years of decline, amid concerns about falling birthrates and a growing aging population. Demographers said the rebound was due to a mix of factors, including the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and a culture-driven desire to tie the knot in an auspicious year. Last year, 7.68 million couples registered their marriages in China, up 845,000 or more than 12 percent year-on-year, according to a closely watched quarterly report published by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday on its website. New marriage registrations had been falling nationwide since it peaked at 13.47 million in 2013, according to official figures. The number dipped below 10 million in 2019 and started decreasing by about 1 million each year, reaching just 6.83 million by the end of 2022. The latest figure has surpassed the 7.64 million registrations in 2021 and has struck many as unexpected. The hashtag "Marriage registrations have picked up for the first time in a decade" has been viewed more than 150 million times on the microblogging site Sina Weibo as of Monday, and amassed thousands of comments. Dong Yuzheng, a demographer from Guangdong province, said the surge is attributable to the delays caused by COVID-19 disruptions, which gradually eased early last year. During the worst of the outbreaks, gatherings like those for wedding celebrations were discouraged to curb the spread of the highly contagious disease. The researcher said that pandemic-induced disruptions had also affected in-person dating before marriages, and caused inordinate delays. A couple with visual impairments was offered Braille and large-print versions of marriage registration notices when they registered for marriage in Beijing in March. [Cai Yang/Xinhua] Despite the surging numbers recorded last year, Dong said he believed the resurgence would not last. "The increase is a temporary phenomenon," he said in an interview with the financial news magazine Yicai. The upsurge in the number of people getting married is reflected in the sale of precious metals. A white paper published this month by China Wedding Expo showed that wedding-related spending on gold and jewelry remained strong, though spending on wedding banquets dropped by 10 to 15 percent last year. Yang Yifan, a professor at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, told China Daily that the available data needs to be broken down. Details about the number of marriages taking place in rural and urban areas and in regions at various levels of development are needed for demographers to determine what had caused the latest uptick and whether the trend will last. However, with more data yet to be released, Yang said he believes that traditional culture had played a major part in decisions to rush into marriage last year just in time to have babies in the auspicious Year of the Dragon, which largely overlaps with the year 2024. Besides, this lunar year is said to be unlucky for marriages as it does not contain the traditional start of spring day, known as Lichun, which is enough to keep the superstitious away from the altar and prompting many love birds to get married before the Chinese New Year, which fell on Feb 10. "More factors, such as more legal hurdles in getting divorced and shifting views about marriage need to be taken into consideration to tell whether the marriage rate will continue to move downward," Yang said. The latest surge in the number of marriages coincided with rising divorce rates. The Ministry of Civil Affairs data showed that 2.59 million couples registered for uncontested divorces in 2023, up from 2.1 million in the previous year. Those who are getting married are doing so at a later stage in life. In 2010, the average age for men to marry for the first time was 25.75 years, while for women, it was 24. By 2020, these had increased to 29.38 years for men and 27.95 for women. (Source: chinadaily.com.cn) 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. Health Ministers response on metastatic breast cancer nurses in Wrexham No decision has yet been made says the Health Minister over a possible cut to a metastatic breast cancer nurse position in Wrexham. Carolyn Thomas MS asked the Health Minister, What discussions has the Minister had with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board regarding the number of metastatic breast cancer nurses in North Wales? The Minister said, Before I answer your question, I would like to pay tribute once again to the incredible campaigner Tassia Haines, who sadly passed away last week. I know the Dirprwy Lywydd gave a very warm tribute to her last week. She was a campaigner like no other Ive ever mether power of persuasion, her energy, her determination to make a difference when she knew the difficult life that she was facing, but she was absolutely determined to make a difference to other women who were suffering like her. And it really is an incredible legacy that she leaves behind, and Id like to pay tribute to her and send my warmest wishes to her family. I understand very clearly the issues associated with metastatic breast cancer; Ive talked about my own personal family experience with metastatic breast cancer. I discussed the issue with the chair of the health board during his last review. I know it has been a top priority for NHS planning and we are investing millions of pounds in cancer services. I know, in relation to the situation in Betsi, that the board is looking. I think they had three metastatic cancer nurses in place; my understanding is that one of those has gone and they are having a review at the moment of the situation in relation to that. Echoing the sympathies to Tassia Hainess family, Carolyn Thomas MS said, Ive been contacted by a group of patients treated at Wrexham Maelor. As you said, they are concerned about the provision of nurses at the hospital, and the health board has indicated that a metastatic breast cancer nurse position has been vacant since last summer and the role is now under review due to financial constraints. So, how does the Minister work with health boards to ensure equity of service provision such as specialist cancer nurses within health boards right across Wales? The Minister replied, Thanks very much, Carolyn, and thanks for everything you do on behalf of your constituents in North Wales. As you say, Betsi Cadwaladr health board currently has three specialist nurse positions that support patients with metastatic breast or colorectal cancer. One of those three positions is currently vacant. And although the health board is giving careful consideration to its future, no decision has yet been made. [email protected] Increase in TB cases in Wales, but longer-term trend is decreasing new report The number of newly diagnosed TB cases in Wales increased from 71 in 2022 to 84 in 2023, but the longer-term trend is decreasing, according to a new report being published on World TB Day, which is today, 24 March. The report, Tuberculosis in Wales, also finds that the infection is more frequently reported in those living in more disadvantaged areas. While the increase in 2023 is 18 per cent on the previous year, the numbers are low, and Wales remains a low incidence country for TB. Individuals from countries with a high incidence of TB, those with social risk factors such as drug or alcohol use or homelessness, or those with health conditions like diabetes or immunosuppression, are also more at risk of infection. Over the longer term, Wales has seen a decrease in incidence of TB since a peak of 3.7 cases per 100,000 of population in 2014. Whilst overall Wales remains within the WHO definition of a low incidence country (less than 10 cases per 100,000 population per year) there is substantial geographic variation, with higher incidence found in Southeast Wales Josie Smith, Senior Epidemiologist for Public Health Wales, said: The increase in TB cases in Wales is consistent with similar trends being seen in other parts of the UK, and what we know about the impact of the disease on more disadvantaged communities. While the longer-term trend in Wales is of declining rates, we must not be complacent evidence of a slowdown in the reduction in TB rates should be a concern. Public Health Wales will continue working in close partnership with the Welsh Government and other partners to work towards the elimination of TB, including via the Welsh Government led TB Elimination Oversight Group. Ending the global TB epidemic by 2030 is among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. TB is an infection that usually affects the lungs with symptoms including a persistent cough with mucus or blood in it, feeling tired or exhausted, a high temperature or night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss, generally feeling unwell, among other possible symptoms. However, rates of pulmonary TB in Wales have decreased significantly in the last five years, and a greater proportion of TB diagnoses are now due to TB in other parts of the body, with the lymph nodes, kidneys and GI tract being the most common sites of extra-pulmonary infection. Sometimes a person can have TB in their body but experience no symptoms. This is called latent TB. More than half of all newly diagnosed TB cases (60 per cent) in Wales in 2023 were in people born outside of the United Kingdom. It is not known what proportion of these cases are the result of reactivation of latent disease acquired prior to arrival in the UK. In most cases TB is a treatable infection with treatment in the form of antibiotics, usually taken for a period of four to six months. [email protected] You can see why Freuds Last Session worked on stage. Basically a debate between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis, it challenged audiences to think about the existence of God. No doubt it was electric. In the film version, Freud (Anthony Hopkins) and Lewis (Matthew Goode) contend with background stories before they can go back and forth with their theories. Director Matthew Brown fills his film with context scenes of air raids in London, a subplot with J.R.R. Tolkien and leans into a story about Freuds relationship with his daughter Anna (Liv Lisa Fries), which only delays the inevitable. That the two never had the tete-a-tete only adds to the confusion. Based on Mark St. Germains play, the film still has strong performances (Goode is up to Hopkins challenge) and the hint of a better biopic. Looking into Lewis past (and detailing how some of his hits landed) might have made a better journey than this one. Goode is the right man. He just wouldnt have had to battle others for attention. Here, its almost a done deal that Freud will dominate and he does. Hopkins has been able to make several films work just because he knows how to deliver a line with dramatic pause. When he erupts, its electric. The daughter subplot would have given a Freud-only drama its heft. But this hybrid makes you wonder how much freedom has been taken with every aspect. The sets and costumes have an attractive look; the photography is appropriately moody. When the two actors are in the house together, visions of other, better debates come to mind. Browns direction doesnt have the sense of purpose Christopher Nolans did in Oppenheimer. Its just a way to tell a story that, supposedly, will intrigue while he delays the inevitable. Drawing from countless writings, the mens stances are valid even praiseworthy. But some of the admissions (including Freuds claim that he psychoanalyzed his daughter) raise other flags and questions. Edit Freuds Last Session to the plays essence and its powerful. Leave it with the side dishes and this is like a Thanksgiving meal you realize you didnt need. Since French President Emmanuel Macron first proposed last month sending European ground troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, Spains Socialist Party (PSOE)-Sumar coalition government has escalated its war propaganda against Russia. Spain's PSOE Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Economy Minister and first Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calvino and Sumars Labor Minister and Second Deputy Yolanda Diaz at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. [AP Photo/Bernat Armangue] In a belligerent interview last week in the Barcelona daily La Vanguardia, Defense Minister Margarita Robles insisted that Russia poses an existential threat to all of Europe. She claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin is an enormous threat to neighboring countries, but also to the international community as a whole. She added, Today, a ballistic missile can perfectly reach Spain from Russia. The EU and NATO, Robles insisted, must be aware of the need to keep supporting Ukraine. The threat is total and absolute, she asserted, adding that Europes reason for being is at stake. This follows a month of hysterical anti-Russian war propaganda by the main pro-PSOE Madrid daily, El Pais. On March 3, it posted the article Europe is already preparing for a war scenario and an editorial titled Europe on the warpath. On the same day, Maria Martinez-Bascunan, the director of the newspapers Opinion section, wrote: We know that if we dont send troops and weapons, we are abandoning them [Ukraine] to their fate. Another El Pais editorial called on the European powers to launch an intense labor of political pedagogy to convince the people to support their war plans. Spanish media are now debating the reintroduction of conscriptions. It is the NATO imperialist powers, including Spain, and not Russia that created the Ukraine crisis, that now threatens to spark a nuclear Third World War. Washington and its European allies, including Spain, that have created this situation, which threatens to spark a nuclear Third World War. In 2014, they helped a far-right, virulently anti-Russian regime come to power in Kiev and then systematically rearmed the Ukrainian army. They thereby deliberately provoked a military attack by Russia, which had tried to strike a peace deal with NATO. They hoped to bleed Russia dry economically and militarily, carve it up, and bring the vast country with its natural resources under their control, to prepare for war against China. Now, as Ukraines army goes down to defeat after hundreds of thousands of deaths, leaving Ukraine shattered, NATOs European member states are planning a further escalation. They are increasingly concerned over whether Washington is ready to wage war against Russia, and that their plans could be shipwrecked if Donald Trump were elected president this November. Asked about Macrons calls to send European troops to Ukraine, Robles claimed to be opposed: Sending troops would mean a very important escalation and even the possibility of the war escalating. Robles said Spanish troops are not and will not be in Ukraine. In fact, Spanish troops are already training for war with Russia. During NATO military exercises, Madrids Defence Staff X account tweeted: If we want to be prepared to fight in Eastern Europe, instruction and training in crossing water courses is essential. It added several photos of Spanish soldiers of the Armored Tactical Group Malaga at the Bemowo Piskie training area, in Poland. The reality is that all the NATO powers including Spain are plotting how to continue the escalation behind the backs of the people, who are deeply opposed. According to a NATO survey, 56 percent of Spaniards are not in favour of increasing defence spending. This figure would no doubt be far higher, if those polled were asked about waging war on Russia. To the extent that the PSOE-Sumar criticize Macrons nakedly warmongering line, it is to explain that they want to market the escalation with other languagethat is, to lull workers to sleep while they prepare for war. Sanchez made this clear at last Thursdays European Union war summit on boosting European armaments production. Sanchez warned, You cannot talk happily about third world wars or convey messages that worry citizens. Calling to sell Europes military build-up less provocatively, Sanchez added, Citizens want us to continue supporting Ukraine, but we have to use other language. I do not feel recognised when people talk about turning Europe into a war economy or with expressions like third world war. Stopping the war requires mobilizing working class opposition through an uncompromising struggle against the PSOE-Sumar government and those, such as the pseudo-left Podemos party, who work to tie workers to the bankrupt perspective of launching moral appeals to the ruling parties. In this, Podemos plays a particularly cynical role. From 2020 until the end of last year, Podemos was in power with the PSOE, slavishly backing the PSOEs arming of Ukrainian militias, including neo-Nazi units like the Azov Battalion. Last year, however, Podemos split in two. One faction, named Sumar, remained in government. Another, which kept the original name of Podemos, left the government: it was afraid its utterly reactionary policies would be exposed by Madrids decision to continue arming the Israeli regime amid genocide in Gaza. Neither faction is mobilizing opposition to the danger of nuclear war and to the European military build-up; instead, they call on Sanchez to market this policy more skillfully. Sumars deputy spokesperson in parliament, Aina Vidal, said of Robles interview: I think it would be good if the Minister of Defense, although this may appear to be an oxymoron, spoke more about peace and diplomacy. The PSOE is using Sumar to pose as an opposition to war within the government. As Vidal spoke, Sanchez and Robles met with 24 representatives of the Spanish defense contractors at the Moncloa palace hailing them as key to meeting urgent needs of the Ukrainian Arms. Madrid is preparing to send 19 Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Podemos co-spokesman Javier Sanchez Serna criticised Robles irresponsible and regrettable statements. Serna said the PSOE has definitely abandoned the No to war position and now embraces the drums of war. While the PSOE intervened in the mass 2002-2003 No to war protests against the illegal US-led invasion of Iraq, the PSOE has never been an anti-war party. For decades, it has been the Spanish bourgeoisies preferred party of rule. Under its rule, Spain participated in the First Iraq War (1990-1991), the Balkan Wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo (1992-1999) and Somalia (1993-1995). The PSOE then supported US-led wars in Afghanistan, Libya and now the genocide in Gaza. Serna cynically added, We want to warn the Government of Pedro Sanchez that it will not be able to count on our votes to enroll Spain in any war mission, nor to multiply the military budget at the expense of social expenses and the rights to public services of all Spaniards. Podemos leader Ione Belarra tweeted: We will tell the warlords where necessary and as many times as necessary: no to war. What a fraud! Podemos will support whatever Spanish imperialism tells it to support. In power, Podemos enrolled Spain in 17 military imperialist missions across the globe, increased military spending to a record 27 billion, and imposed austerity, including labor reforms and pension cuts. Workers and youth must be mobilised against the imminent danger of total war in Europe. Neither the union bureaucracies tied to the PSOE, Sumar and Podemos, nor the smaller pseudo-left groups in Podemos periphery will mobilize the working class against this. This growing danger must be met with the development of a mass anti-war movement in the European, American and international working class, combining the fight against imperialist war with the socialist struggle against social inequality and its root cause, capitalism. Over 25,000 Bosch employees protested across Germany last week against the planned massive job cuts at the company. More than 10,000 gathered outside the company headquarters in Gerlingen near Stuttgart. Workers from the neighbouring Mercedes-Benz plants in Unterturkheim and Sindelfingen as well as from Mahle and other companies also soldarized with their colleagues at Bosch and joined the protest. 10,000 demonstrate in front of Bosch headquarters in Gerlingen near Stuttgart It was the largest protest at Bosch in thirty years and is an expression of the growing anger of hundreds of thousands of workers in the automotive and supplier industry who fear for their jobs. Further protests with some 15,000 total participants took place in Ansbach, Blaichach, Bamberg, Eisenach, Hildesheim, Homburg, Nuremberg and Salzgitter. The World Socialist Web Site spoke to several workers who are worried about their jobs, their families, and their future. They were thoughtful and angry and had come to the rally to express their opposition. But the IG Metall trade union, as usual, used whistles and flags to ensure the protest remained loud and superficial. Frank Sell, Chairman of the General Works Council of the Mobility business sector and Deputy Chairman of the Bosch Supervisory Board, claimed that management were refusing to even talk to the union. We are still at the very beginning of the transformation [to EVs]. If this is the direction we are heading in, things look bleak for the next few years, he said. The protests were triggered by the drip feed of announcements from Bosch management that more than 3,500 workers would be made redundant at several plants across the country. In recent years, 4,000 employees across the group had already lost their jobs. IG-Metall, which has already agreed to the redundancies, had called for a protest in order to defuse the growing resistance in the plants. In the automotive and supplier industry, IG-Metall plays a leading role in implementing the transformation process from internal combustion engines to EVs in the interests of the corporations. It helps to organise the destruction of jobs in order to maximise company profits. In July 2023, IG-Metall announced that following difficult negotiations, it had agreed a collective agreement that excluded compulsory redundancies for 80,000 employees in the mobility sector until the end of 2027. Employees are helping to shape the future at Bosch Mobility, rejoiced the union at the time. The agreement was reached after long protests by workers against the reorganisation plans drawn up by management and IG-Metall. Although the details of the agreed concessions were kept secret by the union, it laid the foundation for the announcement of a new wave of redundancies in January 2024. The formula no compulsory redundancies is always used as a fig leaf to mislead workers and implement managements hidden plans with the help of the trade unions. Christoph Geismar, from broadcaster SWR, commented on the future collective agreement at the time with the words: Its actually quite simple, they want to bring calm to the workforce. I think that without the agreements that have now been reached, there would have been more and more protests and resentment among employees. And Bosch cannot afford that in the companys most important division. Works Council Chairman Frank Sell announced that the future collective agreement not only guarantees jobs: More importantly, the works council representatives will now also be involved in strategic and economic planning at an early stage, for example with regard to the location of future products and the development of objectives. In this way, we are shaping the future of the German mobility production locations beyond 2027. The global market for EVs is not developing as expected. With the exception of luxury models at exorbitant prices, the automotive industry continues to mainly produce vehicles with combustion engines. Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung recently said that the company would continue to manufacture products for combustion engines until at least 2060. Despite the companys commitment to electromobility, we must continue to provide combustion engine technology in Germany, otherwise the world will not be able to cope with it. The automotive and supplier industry sees the move to EVs as an opportunity for mass redundancies and the dismantling of gains for which workers have fought for generations. The Bosch Group employs 133,800 people in Germany and 427,600 worldwide. As one of the leading international technology companies, Bosch has 468 production facilities and offices in 60 countries. For the 2023 financial year, the company has increased its sales by 8 percent to 91.6 billion and thus increased its operating profit from 3.8 billion to 4.6 billion. Chief Financial Officer Markus Forschner reacted to the results with the words: The headwind remains, which is why we will only achieve our target return with a delay. The target return is 7 percent. In an interview with the Stuttgarter Zeitung, Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung made clear that the company was planning further mass redundancies. As the company was pursuing a long-term perspective, it would take years to adapt to developments, he said. It may not be possible to achieve this goal with the announced staff reductions, in which case a solution would be found with the employee representatives, he added. Hartung went on, These are not final figures, but rather the orders of magnitude that we consider necessary in order to close the competitive gap. At the end of the day, its about permanent cost reduction and increasing competitiveness and not about headcounts. Banners were carried at the demonstration, recalling the social commitments of company founder Robert Bosch. One banner read: Robert come back! We need you now! Such a demand is either naive or fuels illusions. In the midst of the global capitalist crisis, in which the imperialist powers are risking a nuclear world war to secure raw materials and markets, workers cannot expect social commitments from the employers. Despite his social commitments, Bosch was a right-wing social democrat and capitalist. In response to a strike at the Bosch metalworks in Feuerbach, he closed the plant in March 1913 and sacked 3,700 workers. Todays Bosch CEO Stefan Hartung also refers to the company founder: No sacrifice should be spared for a powerful development of the company into the future; the founder gave us this conviction in addition to his social convictions. What the workers at Bosch and elsewhere need is to break out of the trade union straitjacket and form independent rank-and-file action committees to fight for their demands. If IG Metall and the works council now claim they were surprised by the new cutback plans, they are lying. Bosch Labour Director Stefan Grosch confirmed to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that they were in close contact with the management: We have been in constant talks since the summer and are adhering to all agreements. The union and works council representatives are not concerned with the fate of the workers and their families. They want the company to involve them even more in the planning and implementation of the transformation. At the rally, they literally begged company management to rely on them. Barbara Resch, District Manager of IG Metall Baden-Wurttemberg, called on the Bosch Executive Board to talk to us about the future of the German sites. We expect joint answers and efforts to shape the future together. The IG Metall website states that the transformation to EV production must be shaped together with the employees [meaning the union], not against them according to the guiding principle: You dont build the future alone, you shape it together. In interviews with the WSWS, workers expressed scepticism about the future development of the company. Teresa and Tim, who are in their second year of training as mechatronics engineers, said they would not be taken on after their apprenticeship. Fifty-five others with a similar apprenticeship would not be taken on either. When they started as apprentices at Bosch, they were enthusiastic and hopeful. Now it was uncertain how their professional lives would develop, they said. They found out only in July 2023, after signing the future collective agreement, that they would not be offered a job, said Tim. He believes they are the first victims of this agreement, which was trumpeted as a success for the employees. Yasar, who works at Mercedes Benz in Unterturkheim, said he had come for two reasons. Firstly, his mother had worked at Bosch for 40 years, so it was also a part of his life. Secondly, the situation for workers at Bosch was very difficult, as far as he knew from the media, and he wanted to express his solidarity: We are all facing similar difficulties and uncertainties. In the industry, it is unpredictable what will happen next month. There is always a tense atmosphere in the department where I work. Thomas, who works as an engineer at Bosch Abstatt, reported that he initially thought things were different at Bosch because it was a foundation and not a public limited company. He said he knew that industry and companies were profit-orientated, but in recent years the profit motive seems to have gained the upper hand at Bosch. Many of his fellow workers had lost or would lose their jobs. Concerns are high among the 6,000-strong workforce and nobody knew what will happen, he said. Oliver has worked at Bosch Waiblingen for more than 35 years. He was a member of IG Metall in the early years but was not attending the protest as a representative of union. He said he did not want to talk about IG Metall. Although no redundancies were currently planned in his company, his presence here was necessary to support his colleagues. He had taken leave and organised his own travel. In his opinion, his colleagues should be more active. This is the fifth and final part of a series on the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival. Part 1 was posted on February 21, Part 2 on March 3, Part 3 on March 7 and Part 4 on March 10. The recent Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) presented a series of German films from the postwar period as part of its annual Retrospective with the title: An Alternate CinemaFrom the Archives of the German Cinematheque. One of those, Herzsprung (1992) by Helke Misselwitz (born 1947), contradicts the official image of German reunification, according to which a peaceful revolution overthrew a Stalinist dictatorship in former East Germany (the German Democratic Republic, GDR) to achieve genuine democracy. Nino Sandow and Claudia Geisler in Herzsprung (DEFA-Stiftung / Helga Paris) Born in the GDR, Misselwitz reached an international audience with her documentary film Winter ade, involving interviews with East German women, which featured at the DOK film festival in Leipzig in 1988. At the height of the Western campaign in favour of the Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev and his policy of perestroika, the film was seen as a harbinger of a genuinely democratic GDR. The premiere of her first feature film Herzsprung in 1992 coincided with a series of xenophobic attacks in a now reunified Germany. In the East German village of Herzsprung, near the Polish border, almost everyone is made unemployed after the introduction of the capitalist free-market economy in 1989-90. The female cooks pluck geese in the company kitchen of the state-owned agricultural co-operative (LPG) in order to sell feathers and meat. The LPGs former retail trade has collapsed. One of the cooks, Johanna (Claudia Geisler), has lost her job. In despair at the situation, her husband Jan killed himself. He had tried to save the LPGs cattle farm and run it independently. He failed and became addicted to alcohol. During the day, Johannas old schoolmates drive around in improvised uniforms, cynically jeering: Socialism wins!mocking the slogan of the former Stalinist leadership of the GDR. Among the group is the young man Soljanka, who is in love with Johanna. Shortly after Jans death, Johanna gives a lift to a young Afro-German, simply listed in the credits as The Stranger (Nino Sandow), who has just traded for a warm coat from soldiers of the departing Soviet army. He stays in the village and starts working in a new snack bar on the motorway, nicknamed Uncle Toms Cabin after the colour of his skin. The shop is a success. The stranger (who remains unnamed throughout the film) looks for Johanna. By chance, he meets her father Jakob (Gunter Lamprecht) in front of a memorial plaque commemorating the herding of concentration camp prisoners through the village shortly before the end of the Second World War. Now, graffiti daubed on the memorial calls for foreigners to be sent to concentration camps. Are you a Communist, the stranger asks Jakob, who is standing silently in front of the memorial. No, Jakob replies, there werent just Communists at that time. He was one of the prisoners, a 15-year-old Pole, bravely taken in by Johannas mother. He stayed with her and they got married. She died, however, giving birth to Johanna. The graffiti was done by a youthful gang in the village. Where did it come from, we went to school together? Johanna asks her father, perplexed. Jakob warns Johanna against a relationship with the stranger, whose restlessness recalls his own. He also wants to protect her from the growing mood of hostility. As a former stranger himself in the village, he has a keen sense of the changes taking place. He has not forgotten that, at first, only Anuschka, Johannas mother, stood by him. Johanna, however, is in love with the young man. She knows he is also eyeing other women and will probably leave her at some point. You can comfort me when the time comes, she says. Johanna is as straightforward as her mother, and will not comply with the villages backward pressures. Johanna doesnt care that she fails to get the kitchen job in a monastery when it is suddenly discovered she is leading an immoral life as a young widow in a relationship with a half-black man. She also turns down the owner of the local chocolate factory (Hanns Zischler), who considers himself irresistible as an entrepreneur and imagines he can get her into bed with a vague job offer. The centre of attraction in the village is the hairdressing salon run by the attractive Lisa (Tatjana Besson). Old Jakob observes her beautiful legs from his window. Johanna admires Lisas self-confidence and worldliness, and has her hair coloured just like the other woman. One day, Lisa realises her longtime dream and travels south to the sea, never to return. Claudia Geisler in Herzsprung (DEFA-Stiftung / Helga Paris) The images of railway tracks and the sound of the sea on the video cassette that Lisa sends to the village recall Misselwitzs film Winter ade, where they stood for the longing to escape the stifling confines of the GDR. The cold winter has not passed for the farm labourers in Herzsprung after Germanys reunification. They are trying to make the best of it. Music plays a key role in the film as a projection screen for suppressed longings: the cook Elsa (Eva-Maria Hagen) sings I dreamt all night, which reappears later in the form of an international swing tune a la Fats Waller, combining ecstatic Eastern European sounds with English-language lyrics. The departing Soviet army orchestra plays a wistful old tango instead of the expected hackneyed official repertoire of German-Soviet Friendship songs. The film ends with an arson attack on the strangers snack bar by the village gang responsible for the graffiti. At the end of the film, Johanna, fleeing her burning car, is accidentally killed by a knife that Soljanka blindly throws towards the tree where the gang has tied up the stranger. While far-right radicalism was present in the former GDR, it was by no means a mass phenomenon. The film clearly shows this, thereby refuting official Western propaganda which maintains that racism and the influence of the far right were exclusively products of the Stalinist East. Alongside petty village gossip, backward prejudices, personal weaknesses and jealousy were no doubt present, but were not so prominent as long as everyone had a job and a livelihood. Even the social catastrophe following the reintroduction of capitalism in 1989-90 was not followed by generalised growth of extreme right radicalism in former East Germany. The young people in the village gang in Herzsprung, with their ridiculous military garb and camouflage-coloured Trabant auto, are the caricature of a vigilante group from the past. Their incitement against cheap Polish labourers and formerly privileged Soviet officers wives, who are now taking away our jobs, resound hollow. The same people also respect the Polish Jew Jakob, Johannas father, who has established himself over time in the village. Misselwitzs film, which premiered in October 1992, not long after a vicious racist attack on a hostel for foreigners in the town of Rostock, provides no explanation for the aggressive behaviour of the village gang. First and foremost, it reveals the huge shock for young people robbed of their futuresthe sort of young people featured in Winter ade. The films title, Herzsprung (the name of a town, but also literally leap of the heart) makes this point too. Both Soljanka and Johannas husband Jan, who not only shoots himself but also all of his cows, are played by the same actor, Ben Becker, thereby emphasising their joint lack of prospects. The film suggests that their generation was doubly lied to at school: first, about the character of the Stalinist GDR, which was portrayed as the embodiment of victorious socialism, and then later about the unlimited opportunities allegedly available under the capitalist free market. The xenophobic attacks in the East, which also increased in West Germany after reunification, were linked to these lies and the associated disorientation. The West German government headed by the Christian Democratic Union chancellor Helmut Kohl did all it could to promote the slogan Germany, a united fatherland! prior to reunification, all with full support of the last premier of the GDR, Hans Modrow and the GDR Stalinist regime. Jan and Soljanka had somewhat naively believed the promises of genuine economic aid for the East from their brothers and sisters in the Westin fact the reintroduction of capitalism has brought with it a revival of German great power politics, now manifesting itself so alarmingly in the form of warmongering and the promotion of fascist forces. In contrast to a number of films that depict the collapse of the GDR in a theatrical, self-pitying manner (one example is Last out of the GDRJorg Foth, 1990), Herzsprung presents a sober picture of the prevailing mood in the East, a feeling of confusion and growing helplessness. On the morning after the fire, the snack bar is still burning as lines of cars drive past. Concluded Last Saturdays election in the Australian island state of Tasmania produced further evidence of a long-developing political crisis across the country. The results are a disaster for both the main post-World War II parties of rule: Labor and Liberal. Tasmanian Labor Party leader Rebecca White and Liberal state Premier Jeremy Rockcliff [Photo: www.becwhite.com/Facebook: Jeremy Rockcliff] While the exact seat count may take several weeks to finalise, it is already clear that the outcome is a highly volatile hung parliament, with both Liberal and Labor falling far short of a majority of 18 in the 35-seat Legislative Assembly. The collapse of support for both Labor and Liberal means that the Liberals are likely to have just 15 seats out of 35, with Labor on 10 or 11, the Greens 5, and the right-wing populist Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) 2 or 3, plus two independents. In a staggering rebuff, the Tasmanian Liberal government lost a quarter of its primary votes from the previous state election in 2021, plunging by 12 percentage points from about 48 percent to about 36 percent. Yet, despite this implosion, Labor gained only 1 percentage point, taking its primary vote to about 29 percent from a near-record low of 28 percent in 2021. The Greens vote rose marginally from about 12.5 percent in 2021 to 14 percent, while Senator Lambies JLN, running for the first time, picked up around 7.5 percent. The rest of the 35 percent vote against Labor and Liberal went to a large assortment of various independents who tried to capitalise on the disaffection. This trend is not confined to Tasmania, raising the spectre of similar parliamentary turmoil at the national level after the next federal election, which is due by May 2025. There were reports yesterday from within the Labor Party that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is now considering calling the election before the end of this year in the hope of averting a loss. Todays Newspoll in the Australian points to a parallel process to that displayed in Tasmania. It showed Labors primary vote nationally falling to 32 percent, down from the near record low of 32.5 percent it received at the May 2022 federal election, with the Liberal-National Coalition remaining on 36 percent. Giving voice to the concerns in the ruling capitalist class, the Murdoch media newspaper warned that federal Labor was drifting toward minority government at the next election. A state by-election in South Australia on Saturday also saw a precipitous decline in Labor and Liberal votesthey lost 10 percentage points between them. The state Labor government there may win the seat of Dunstan, an inner Adelaide electorate, thanks to second preferences from the Greens, whose vote rose to 22 percent from 13.7 percent in 2022. In Tasmania, Liberal state Premier Jeremy Rockcliff is trying to cling to office by negotiating deals with the JLN and the independents, despite them having campaigned as opponents of his government. If no deals are possible, the Liberals would depend on these elements providing assurances of not denying financial supply to the government. Even if the Liberals survive an initial vote of confidence in the assembly, they would need to rely on a potentially hostile parliament to pass every piece of legislation and for the governments ongoing existence. Rockcliff, the leader of the last remaining non-Labor government at the federal, state or territory level, called the snap election a year early after two parliamentary defections effectively blew his government apart, reducing it to a minority. He appealed to voters to endorse his pleas for stability, only to end up with an even worse outcome. Significantly, the broadly-detested federal Liberal-National Coalition leader Peter Dutton stayed out of Tasmania throughout the election campaign for fear of triggering a greater collapse in the Liberal vote. The result was more calamitous for Labor. That was despite its state leader, Rebecca White, seeking to distance herself at the last minute from the Albanese governments widely-opposed escalating commitment to the AUKUS war plans against China, which has been reinforced by its backing for the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza. A week before polling day, White said a state Labor government would not permit nuclear-powered AUKUS submarines to dock in Tasmanian ports. At the same time, however, she defended the Albanese governments alignment behind AUKUS. On Saturday night, White left open the hope of forming a minority government with the support of the Greens, who were themselves anxious to form a coalition with Labor, but Labors state administrative committee ruled out such a prospect on Sunday on the basis that trying to form government with only 10 seats in parliament would be unviable. An editorial in the Murdoch medias Australian today backed the decision to overrule White, declaring that trying to form a grand coalition of Labor, the Greens, JLN and independents would have been a blueprint for instability. It proclaimed that avoiding such a potpourri was in the nations best interests. Having lost three state elections in a row since 2014, White is now set to be deposed as Labor leader, yet Rockcliff may not last either. He could face removal as well amid Liberal factional infighting over the destabilising outcome. Tasmania, Australias smallest state, has become an acute example of the deteriorating social conditions facing the working class nationally, which have only intensified over the past 22 months since the Albanese government barely scraped into office. None of the parties or independents contesting the election, including the Greens, had any real solutions to the cost-of-living, housing and public health crisis that has produced shocking levels of homelessness, rental and mortgage stress, and public hospital patient deaths. Labors claims to address the social blight had no more credibility than they had in 2021. That was partly because of its own record in inflicting deep cuts to schools and public services while in office from 2010 to 2014 in partnership with the Greens, matching the similar role of the federal Greens-backed Labor governments under Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd. Labors political disease goes far deeper. It reflects decades of enforcing the dictates of the corporate elite in collaboration with the trade union bureaucrats, especially since the Hawke and Keating federal Labor governments of 1983 to 1996 and their corporatist Accords with the unions that led to the widespread destruction of workers jobs and conditions. Tasmanian Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff yesterday indicated that her party would do its best to shore up the political establishment. She claimed that whoever formed government would need to heed her partys policy positions. The Greens will have a big say in the next parliament, she said. While posturing as a progressive third party, raising concerns about global warming and the social crisis, the Greens claim that these disasters can be resolved by the private profit system and they back the militarist offensive against China. The Greens have a long record of propping up capitalist governments in Tasmania, as in Germany. They joined their first de facto coalition with a Tasmanian Labor government from 1989 to 1992, and later helped maintain a minority Liberal government from 1996 to 1998. Following the 2008 global financial crisis, the Labor-Greens government of 2010 to 2014 closed many schools and destroyed some 1,000 public sector jobs. The protracted decomposition of the existing political order underscores the necessity to transform the deepening social, political and anti-war discontent into a conscious movement of the working class against the capitalist system itself and the building of the only party, the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), that will lead that struggle. As long as the hostility to the open parties of big business and war remains dissipated and diverted into the hands of so-called independents, Greens and other third party formations, the ruling class retains power. It will only turn ever-more in the direction of war, austerity and dictatorial forms of rule. The SEP has launched a campaign throughout the working class to regain our official party registration, which was anti-democratically stripped from us in 2022. We must have the right to have the SEPs name on ballot papers alongside our election candidates to give voters the basic right to express their support for the only party fighting for the socialist alternative to capitalist barbarism, war, inequality and dictatorship. We urge all our readers and supporters to join the SEP as electoral members using the form below, and to seriously consider applying to become full members of the party. Voters pass a sign outside a polling site in Warwick, Rhode Island on November 7, 2022. [AP Photo/David Goldman] Over the past week, the World Socialist Web Site has published a series of articles exposing the moves by the Democratic Party to set up a unit to wage all-out war against third parties in the 2024 US elections. In response to the hemorrhaging of support for Joe Biden due to his blatant role in facilitating Israels genocide of the Palestinians, the Democrats are seeking to suppress all political parties outside the framework of the corporate-controlled two-party system. The WSWS coverage of the Democrats attacks on democratic rights has received a powerful response from workers and young people internationally. Multiple posts of a Perspective and news article on this topic by WSWS writer Jacob Crosse have been widely shared on social media, in particular on Twitter/X. The most circulated post, from an author in Arizona, has been viewed nearly 30,000 times as of this writing, with dozens of supportive comments. Another post by Berniegirl No More, viewed nearly 10,000 times, commented, These psychos think if we dont have 3rd party or indys on the ballot that wed vote for them. A post of the WSWS perspective by Compton Jay, a co-founder of Revolutionary Blackout Network, has been viewed over 5,000 times as of this writing. Justin Paglino, a field director for the Jill Stein presidential campaign in Connecticut, also shared the WSWS article, noting, The Democratic Party putting their donors money to work. In a written comment to the WSWS last week, Steins campaign manager Jason Call stated: Rather than try to take away ballot options that would better represent the interests of the American public, perhaps the Democratic Party should focus on passing legislation that would actually help struggling people such as a universal single payer healthcare program or guaranteed housing. Sadly, both major political parties in America are fully beholden to the corporate interests which fund the political system. The WSWS also reached out to the campaign of Cornel West. Edwin DeJesus, co-manager and director of ballot access for the West campaign, responded with a statement that read in part: The irony of a party, self-proclaimed guardians of democracy, working to eliminate third-party participation in the electoral process cannot be overstated. This pattern of behavior is not new but a continuation of a disconcerting trend aimed at consolidating power by any means necessary, reminiscent of past actions to manipulate the electoral process against candidates like Bernie Sanders. Such actions are not only anti-democratic but also indicative of a deeper systemic issue within the current political system, where the interests of the few are prioritized over the fundamental rights of the many. Our campaign believes in the sanctity of the electoral process and the right of every citizen to have their voice heard through a fair election. The effort to limit ballot access, under whatever pretext, is a direct assault on these principles, more damaging to the fabric of our democracy than any alleged external threats. The suppression of voter choice, especially under the guise of legal challenges, reveals a troubling inclination towards authoritarianism that we vehemently oppose. Socialist Equality Party candidate Joseph Kishore published a video on Sunday, followed by a text statement denouncing the Democrats campaign against the right to vote. Referring to the previous statements from the Green Party candidate, Kishore wrote, Despite our political differences, the Socialist Equality Party welcomes the statements of the Jill Stein campaign and others. We support the right of all independent and third party candidates to get on the ballot. Kishore added: The Democrats attack on the most basic right, the right to vote, exposes the fraud that they are a democratic alternative to the fascistic Trump. The Democrats and Republicans represent two factions of the corporate and financial oligarchy. As they go to war on the right to vote, the Democrats joined hands with the Republicans to pass a record military spending bill, $825 billion. The war abroad is at the same time a war on democratic and social rights at home. In our campaign, [SEP vice presidential candidate Jerry White] and I will connect the defense of democratic rights with the fight against both parties, the corporate-financial oligarchy they represent, the war they are waging, and the capitalist system that is responsible. At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte will pay a working visit to China from March 26 to 27. On March 28, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress Zhao Leji will attend upon invitation the opening plenary of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2024 in Hainan and deliver a keynote speech. CCTV: The China Development Forum 2024 opened in Beijing yesterday. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chubb Group Evan G. Greenberg noted in the letter from the Co-Chair that a strong and prosperous China that supports and invests in the international system is a force for good in the world and this years forum will focus on The Continuous Development of China. Amid the rhetoric of China peak and cutting China out advocated by individual Western politicians and media outlets, how do you view the message from the Forum? Lin Jian: The China Development Forum 2024 was held in Beijing from March 24 to 25. Premier Li Qiang attended the opening plenary and delivered a keynote speech. President of the World Bank Ajay Banga, Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva, and about 400 guests, including Chinese and foreign scholars, entrepreneurs, government officials and representatives from international organizations, attended the opening plenary. This years Forum sent out several strong and positive messages. Number one, the momentum of Chinas economic rebound continues to strengthen. New industries, new models and new driving forces are growing at a faster pace. The fundamentals of Chinas long-term economic growth, namely strong resilience, vast potential and ample vitality, remain unchanged. Number two, the Chinese government has always been an advocate and a good companion on the development and growth path of enterprises, and worked to bring efforts together for shared success. Number three, China will take practical and effective actions to promote high-quality development, expand domestic demand, build a modern industrial structure at a faster pace, push forward green transformation and inject more certainty and positive energy into the recovery and stable development of the world economy. Number four, China will continue to foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, steadily advance institutional opening up and link with the world at a higher level of openness. I would like to stress that no matter how the international landscape evolves, China will always seek development by engaging the world and staying connected, and keep generating new opportunities for the world through our development. Opening up will always remain our basic national policy and we will continue to follow the opening-up strategy of win-win cooperation. The global business community is more than welcome to keep investing in China and explore the Chinese market. We look forward to working with all friends from the business community to write a new chapter of open cooperation and mutual benefit. CCTV: The Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said yesterday in an interview that the resupply on March 23 is just an ordinary rotation and resupply or provision operation, but China Coast Guard launched water cannon attack to drive away the Filipino resupply vessels. He said the Philippines will not be deterred or intimidated. The Philippine National Task Force West Philippine Sea spokesperson denied that there is an agreement between China and the Philippines on resupply to Renai Jiao. On March 23, the US State Department Spokesperson condemned the dangerous actions by China against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea and said that Chinas actions obstruct the freedom of navigation, destabilize the region and show clear disregard for international law. The US calls upon China to abide by the ruling of the South China Sea arbitration. The US reaffirms that the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks, including those on Philippine Coast Guard. Whats Chinas comment? Lin Jian: Renai Jiao is part of Chinas Nansha Qundao and has always been part of Chinas territory. On March 23, the Philippines once again broke its promise by sending a supply vessel and two Coast Guard vessels to illegally intrude into the adjacent waters of Renai Jiao in the name of resupply of necessities. In fact, this Philippine resupply mission is not to send necessities, but to bring construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded at Renai Jiao for its repair and reinforcement in an attempt to build a permanent outpost on Chinas uninhabited reef so as to permanently and illegally occupy Renai Jiao. The Philippines has repeatedly gone back on its own words, refused to fulfill its commitment, seriously violated its promise to China and violated Article 5 of the DOC. In the face of the intrusion by the Philippine vessels, China Coast Guard had to take necessary law enforcement measures. The actions taken on the scene were justified, lawful, professional, restrained, and beyond reproach. China urges the Philippines to immediately stop infringing on Chinas sovereignty and rights and stop the provocations. If the Philippines does not change course, China will continue to take resolute steps to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. The relevant US statement is a clear misrepresentation of facts. The US is not a party to the South China Sea issue, yet it keeps meddling in the issue, sowing discord concerning maritime issues between China and the Philippines and falsely accusing China, causing instability in the region. The US has arbitrarily threatened to resort to the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty and endorsed the Philippines acts of infringing on Chinas sovereignty. Such moves seriously violate the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and jeopardize regional peace and stability. The South China Sea Arbitration violated the basic principle of state consent in international law. The award is illegal, null and void, and has no binding effect whatsoever. Any attempt of citing the illegal award of the South China Sea Arbitration to undermine Chinas territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests will not succeed. There has never been any problem with the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Over 100,000 merchant vessels now travel in the region annually and not a single ship has ever encountered hurdles. However, the US and certain countries made infringements and provocations in the South China Sea in the name of freedom of navigation, undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea. This is sheer gangster logic. China is committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and at the same time working with regional countries to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable. We hope that relevant parties will see the facts and truth, uphold objectiveness, and fully respect Chinas rights and interests and the efforts made by regional countries for a peaceful and stable South China Sea. Phoenix TV: We noted recent media reports that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will visit China in April. Can you confirm this? Lin Jian: China and the US have maintained communication on economic and trade issues. On your specific question, Id refer you to competent authorities. I want to stress that sound and steady China-US economic and trade ties would be beneficial for the two countries and the world at large. The US needs to work with China to create favorable conditions for the bilateral economic and trade ties, and provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies. ITV: The British government is thought to be preparing sanctions and a government policy response to cyberattacks against the electoral commission in the UK and more than 40 British members of parliament, which it believes were conducted by what it says are state-sponsored Chinese hackers. What is your response? Lin Jian: Cybersecurity is a global challenge. China is a major victim of cyberattacks. We have firmly fought and stopped all kinds of malicious cyber activities in accordance with the law, and advocated joint response from all countries through dialogue and cooperation. The origin-tracing of cyberattacks is highly complex and sensitive. When investigating and determining the nature of cyber cases, one needs to have adequate and objective evidence, instead of smearing other countries when facts do not exist, still less politicize cybersecurity issues. We hope relevant parties will stop spreading disinformation, take a responsible attitude and jointly safeguard peace and security in the cyberspace. China opposes illegal and unilateral sanctions and will firmly safeguard its lawful rights and interests. Beijing Youth Daily: The Third International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values was recently held in Beijing. Democratic Practices and Modernization in China Global Survey 2023 released at the forum mentioned that among respondents from 23 countries in the five continents, 95.7 percent on average agreed that all countries need to choose the democracy and modernization approach that fits their national conditions, and over 90 percent recognized the common values of humanity advocated by Chinese modernization on average in three years straight. Whats your comment? Lin Jian: We noted relevant reports. China always believes that democracy is a common value of humanity. As a Chinese saying goes, language dialects change every ten miles, and folk customs differ every 100 miles. The ways that countries practice democracy are rooted in their history, culture, tradition and practices, and are thus supposed to be diverse. True democracy means respecting each countrys path of democracy commensurate with its own national conditions. China is committed to whole-process peoples democracy. We have developed it by integrating all elements of democracyprocess and outcome, procedural and substantive, direct and indirect, and upheld peoples democracy that also reflects the will of the state. It is a model of socialist democracy that covers all aspects of the democratic process and all sectors of society. It is a true democracy that works. During the two sessions held earlier this month, close to 5,000 deputies and members from all walks of life across China gathered in Beijing to incorporate peoples ideas and aspirations into the top-level design of national development. The 2024 Report on the Work of the Government pooled wisdom and around 10,000 people directly participated in the report revision. From the deliberation of the work report to discussions through neighborhood committees on carrying out garbage sorting, and to having doorstep consultation to resolve disputes in communities, these examples show that whole-process peoples democracy is vibrant and widely applied across China and has become part and parcel of state governance. China has explored a democracy path that fits the national conditions and has Chinese characteristics, and greatly enriched humanitys political civilization. China fully respects the right of people in other countries to independently choose their development paths and opposes stoking division and confrontation in the international community in the name of democracy. We stand ready to work with other countries to advocate the common values of humanity featuring peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, and further advance humanitys democracy in the spirit of mutual respect and seeking common ground while shelving differences. AFP: Id like to ask about the Friday attack at a concert hall in Moscow in which at least 137 people were killed. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the gunmen had attempted to escape to Ukraine, which he claimed had prepared a window for them at the border. But many officials in the United States say that there is no evidence of Ukrainian involvement, instead saying that the Islamic State also known as ISIS is solely responsible. So my question is, who does the Chinese government believe is responsible for this attack? Lin Jian: China is deeply shocked at the deadly terrorist attack in Moscow region, Russia, which resulted in numerous fatalities. We express our deep condolences over the deceased and sincere sympathies to the injured and those who lost their loved ones. China opposes all forms of terrorism, strongly condemns terrorist attacks and firmly supports all parties efforts to safeguard national security and stability. China Daily: It was reported that Russia and China vetoed on March 22 a draft resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli situation proposed by the US at the UN Security Council. Algeria also voted against it. Can you elaborate on Chinas position? Lin Jian: Chinas Permanent Representative to the UN has fully elaborated on Chinas position in his remarks after the vote at the Security Council. The draft proposed by the US has undergone several iterations, but it has always evaded and dodged the most essential issue, that is, a ceasefire. The final text does not call for an immediate ceasefire. This falls far short of the expectations of the international community. With a responsible attitude of safeguarding fairness and justice, the UN Charter, and the dignity of the Council, and also based on the concerns and strong opposition from the Arab states regarding this draft resolution, China has voted against the draft resolution. The raging conflict in Gaza has caused a grave humanitarian crisis. There is an urgent need for the Security Council to promote the immediate realization of a ceasefire that is unconditional and durable. This is a prevailing aspiration of the international community. Any action taken by the Security Council should stand the test of history and the questioning of morality and conscience. China will continue supporting the Security Council in taking further actions that are responsible and meaningful as soon as possible and making relentless effort for an early ceasefire in Gaza, alleviation of the humanitarian situation and realization of the two-State solution. Bloomberg: What is the assessment of the Chinese government on the origins of the terrorist attack in Moscow? You just said now that you condemn all terrorist attacks. So obviously you considered it as a terrorist attack. Is this a terrorist attack from a non-state actor? Would you see this state-sponsored terrorism? Lin Jian: I stated Chinas position just now. China opposes all forms of terrorism and strongly condemns terrorist attacks. Hubei Media Group: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement, saying that Hong Kongs Safeguarding National Security Ordinance will have broad implications for the people in Hong Kong as well as US citizens and companies operating there and threatens to further undermine the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong; It includes vaguely defined provisions regarding sedition, state secrets, and interactions with foreign entities that could be used to curb dissent; Implementing the new law could further violate the PRCs international commitment to maintain Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy, undermine the One Country, Two Systems framework, and damage the citys reputation as an international business hub. What is Chinas comment on this? Lin Jian: China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the US once and again discrediting and smearing Hong Kongs Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. The publication in the gazette and coming into force of the Ordinance marks that the Hong Kong SAR has effectively fulfilled its constitutional responsibility stipulated in Article 23 of the Basic Law. It will further consolidate the security foundation for Hong Kongs development, and enable Hong Kong to achieve stability and prosperity at a faster pace. All sectors of Hong Kong have lent high support to this Ordinance. The Ordinance strikes a balance between safeguarding national security and ensuring rights, freedoms and economic growth, fully made reference to the legislation experience of other countries, especially common law jurisdictions, fully respects and protects human rights, clearly defines elements of crime, and clearly distinguishes between crime and non-crime. It provides effective protection for the normal business activities of foreign institutions, organizations and personnel in Hong Kong and their need for international exchanges. It does not at all undermine the high degree of autonomy in Hong Kong, nor does it change the current capitalist system and way of life in Hong Kong. It will enable Hong Kong to better leverage its unique status and strengths, better deepen exchanges and cooperation with various countries and regions, and better consolidate its status as an international financial, shipping and trade center. The US itself has an airtight national security system, with a large number of laws and unparalleled extraterritoriality. However, it keeps pointing fingers at Hong Kongs Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. This is sheer political manipulation and hypocritical double standards. I would like to stress that Hong Kong affairs are purely Chinas internal affairs, on which no foreign country has the right to make irresponsible remarks. The Chinese government remains unwavering in its determination to safeguard the nations sovereignty, security and development interests and to implement One Country, Two Systems. We urge the US to earnestly respect Chinas sovereignty and rule of law in Hong Kong, adhere to the principles of international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and immediately stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, which are Chinas internal affairs. CRI: Following the violence that has erupted across the capital of Haiti, some countries and international organizations have evacuated local nationals and staff. Is China planning such evacuation or is it already underway? Lin Jian: With ongoing tensions in Haiti, local Chinese nationals and institutions are facing threat to their safety and security. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs activated the emergency consular protection mechanism and is working closely with other government agencies and relevant local governments in China. We have instructed our missions overseas to closely follow the situation on the ground, keep issuing security alerts and do everything possible to protect the safety of Chinese personnel in Haiti and help them safely relocate or evacuate. With concerted, relentless efforts, the 24 Chinese nationals who are willing to leave Haiti have been safely evacuated to the Dominican Republic. We would like to thank the government of the Dominican Republic, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti and relevant parties in Haiti for their valuable assistance in this process. Associated Press of Pakistan: On March 23, a contingent of Chinese Peoples Liberation Army participated in Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad. Do you have any comment on that? Lin Jian: Chinas Ministry of National Defense has released relevant information. At the invitation of the Pakistani military, the Guard of Honor delegation of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army participated in a military parade in Pakistans capital Islamabad on March 23 in celebration of the 84th Pakistan Day. This fully demonstrates the unique and profound friendship between China and Pakistan, and adds a new story to the reservoir of interactions between the two countries and two militaries. As an all-weather strategic cooperative partner and iron-clad friend, China sincerely wishes that Pakistan will make new, greater achievements in the cause of national development and progress. China News Service: Its reported that in response to Chinas recent statement on Arunachal Pradesh (Zangnan of China), Indias External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said at an academic research activity on March 23 that Arunachal Pradesh is a natural part of India and that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place between China and India. Whats your comments? Lin Jian: The China-India boundary has never been delimited and is divided into the eastern sector, the middle sector, the western sector, and Sikkim sector. Zangnan in the eastern sector has always been Chinas territory. China had all along exercised effective administrative jurisdiction over Zangnan until Indias illegal occupation. This is a basic fact that cannot be denied. In 1987, India formed the so-called Arunachal Pradesh on Chinas territory under Indias illegal occupation. China issued a statement right then to firmly oppose it and stress that Indias move was illegal and null and void. Chinas position remains unchanged. AFP: Over the weekend, there was an attack on a Chinese vessel in the Red Sea. The Huang Pu oil tanker was fired by the Houthis and was damaged by a missile. There were no casualties, but does the Chinese government have any comment on this, especially considering the reports of an agreement last week between China and the Houthis not to attack Chinese-flagged vessels and will the PLA in the region be escorting Chinese vessels in the future? Lin Jian: China always opposes harassment against civilian ships and stands for keeping the shipping lanes in the Red Sea safe in accordance with international law. Meanwhile, China believes that the international community needs to work for an early end to the fighting in Gaza and create necessary conditions for the deescalation of the situation in the Red Sea. China will continue to play a constructive role and strive for the early restoration of peace and tranquility in the Red Sea. Dragon TV: It was reported that there is new development in the case in which US accused the Indian side for suspicion of orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme to assassin a US Sikh leader. The Indian side found after investigation that at least one Indian agent was suspected of involving in the case but the suspect was no longer working for Indias intelligence agency at that time. US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu recently noted that the US government takes this incredibly seriously and has raised it at the highest levels with India, and the US encourages India to hold accountable those responsible for this terrible crime. Some reports questioned why the suspect carried out the operation without government authorization. What is Chinas comment? Lin Jian: China noted the reports. We hope relevant countries will earnestly observe international law and the basic norms governing international relations. AFP: I believe you just spoke about the resolution submitted to the United Nations Security Council by the United States calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. This resolution was vetoed by China and Russia on Friday. But today there will be another vote on a new ceasefire proposal that is being put forward by non-permanent members of the UN Security Council. So Id like to ask specifically what is Chinas view of todays proposal and how does it intend to vote? Lin Jian: The raging conflict in Gaza inflicted a severe humanitarian crisis. The international community expects the Council to fulfill its mandate. Weve learned that Algeria and other non-permanent members of the Council put forward the relevant draft resolution. The draft unequivocally calls for a ceasefire and an increase in humanitarian assistance in Gaza. This is the right direction for the Council to take action. China supports the draft resolution and commends the efforts made by Algeria and other Arab countries. We hope that the Council will adopt it as soon as possible to send a strong call for ceasefire. Reuters: The Philippine foreign ministry said on Monday that China had no right to be in Renai Jiao and its moves to interfere with routine resupply missions there were unacceptable. Has China exhausted its diplomatic efforts in trying to resolve the situation? What is in Chinas toolbox that can fix this? Lin Jian: We have made our solemn position clear on the Philippines March 23 resupply mission to Renai Jiao. Chinas position on the Renai Jiao issue is consistent and clear. Renai Jiao is part of Nansha Qundao and is Chinas territory. We stay committed to handling disputes through dialogue and consultation and our door to dialogue and contact is always open to the Philippines. We urge the Philippines to immediately stop hyping up the bilateral maritime disputes, stop infringing on Chinas sovereignty and rights, stop making provocations, start honoring its promise, and refrain from any move that may complicate the situation at sea. The Philippines needs to return to the right track of properly handling maritime disputes through negotiation and consultation as soon as possible and work with China to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable. China will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. Bloomberg: Just now you said you urge the Philippines to work in the same direction as China and you urge the Philippines to honor its word. I presume your statement that they should honor their word is in reference to the promise that China says that the Philippines has made on the situation in the Renai Shoal. Can you release the details of this promise? China has repeatedly said that the Philippines has promised certain things on this, but neither side has ever released the details of that promise and the current Philippine government says it doesnt exist. So it would be very useful for us trying to understand the situation if you would actually tell us what was promised and when. Lin Jian: The Philippines illegally grounded a warship at Renai Jiao in grave violation of Chinas territorial sovereignty. In May 1999, the Philippines illegally grounded a tank landing ship, Sierra Madre (LT-57), at Renai Jiao. China made stern representations at once and asked the Philippines to immediately tow away the warship. The Philippines promised several times to tow it away as soon as possible, but over 20 years have passed and the Philippines warship is still sitting there. The two sides reached understandings several times on managing the situation at Renai Jiao. The Philippines has gone back on its own words, refused to fulfill its commitment, repeatedly broken its promise made to China and severely violated Article 5 of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. AFP: The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka has arrived in China today. Can the spokesperson provide any further details on this visit, including whether the issue of Sri Lankan debt will be discussed? Lin Jian: We will release relevant information on Sri Lankas Prime Ministers visit to China. Please check back for updates. Shenzhen TV: Its reported that on March 23, Paraguays President Santiago Pena wrote on Platform X that the 66-year diplomatic ties between Paraguay and Taiwan run deep, which does not affect Paraguays trade with China. Paraguay continues to export soybeans to China. Both Taiwan and Paraguay are surrounded by major powers. Whats Chinas comment? Lin Jian: There is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory. The government of the Peoples Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. The one-China principle is a universally recognized norm in international relations and a prevailing consensus among the international community. Standing up for the one-China principle is the right thing to do and is where global opinion trends and the arc of history bends. Despite the fact that China is the worlds top importer of soybean, our official data shows that Chinas soybean imports from Paraguay have been zero in recent years. If the government of Paraguay truly puts national development and its peoples wellbeing close to its heart, the desirable thing to do is to see the prevailing trend and stand on the right side of history, instead of relying on petty tricks and looking for chances to exploit. Binance Faces Tax Evasion Charges in Nigeria, Executives Detained Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, is facing tax evasion charges in Nigeria, as the dispute between the exchange and Nigerian authorities escalates. The countrys tax watchdog, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), announced the charges against Binance and revealed that two Binance executives have been detained by the government, local media outlets reported Monday. The charges were filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja and include four counts of tax evasion, encompassing allegations of non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through the Binance platform. Binance Executives Detained by Authorities in Nigeria The two detained executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, both senior officials at Binance, are currently in custody under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Nigerian government accuses Binance of neglecting to register with the FIRS for tax purposes and violating tax regulations within the country. One of the charges focuses on Binances alleged failure to collect and remit various types of taxes as required by Section 40 of the FIRS Establishment Act 2007. This section specifically addresses the non-deduction and non-remittance of taxes, outlining penalties and potential imprisonment for entities found in violation. After these binance guys already pleaded guilty for evading tax, why the guy come elope? It is very sad sha. However, the tax must be paid! . The federal government must not let this go Same you who paid $4.3 billion in the US, must pay in Nigeria for too. Lobatan Queen of the West (@TheAbisolaa) March 25, 2024 The charges detail specific instances where Binance is accused of violating tax laws, such as the failure to issue VAT invoices, hindering the determination and payment of taxes by its subscribers. According to the FIRS, any company conducting business exceeding N25 million annually is obligated under the Finance Act to pay taxes like Company Income Tax (CIT) and collect and remit Value Added Tax (VAT). Any company that conducts business exceeding N25 million annually is deemed, by the Finance Act, to be present in Nigeria, the FIRS noted in a statement. According to this rule, Binance falls into that category. So, it is obligated to pay taxes like Company Income Tax (CIT) and also collect and remit Value Added Tax (VAT). However, Binance did not adhere to these requirements, thus violating Nigerian laws and potentially facing investigation and legal action for this infraction. US Pressured to Assist Detained Binance Executives There has been mounting pressure on the Biden administration to intervene and secure the release of the detained Binance executives. The administration is facing increasing calls to take swift action in securing the release of Gambaryan and Anjarwalla, who have been detained by the Nigerian government since February 26, 2024. The U.S. Chamber of Digital Commerce made an appeal through a blog post on its website on March 15, leading the charge for urgent diplomatic intervention to address what it deems a grave injustice. As reported, Binance recently had to discontinue all services involving Nigerian local fiat currency, the Nigerian naira (NGN), after regulatory scrutiny. The worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange said it would suspend NGN withdrawals after March 8. Earlier, the Nigerian government imposed a staggering $10 billion fine on Binance as part of a crackdown on the platform in an effort to stabilize the nations local currency. After a bipartisan vote in the House Friday, and then again in the Senate on Saturday, US President Joe Biden signed a series of spending bills that included the largest appropriation for the military in US history. The centerpiece of the $1.2 trillion budget bill signed into law by the war criminal president is the massive $825 billion earmarked for the Department of Defense. President Joe Biden Wednesday, February 28, 2024, in Bethesda, Maryland. [AP Photo/Evan Vucci] This figure represents the largest ever military budget in US history, topping last years record by $27 billion, and $100 billion more than in fiscal year 2022. The passage of the bills, demanded by Biden before he signed it Saturday, underscores that the central priority of the Biden administration and the US ruling class as a whole is imperialist war. Out of the $1.2 trillion appropriated by Congress and signed into law by Biden, the vast majority of it, over 70 percent, is earmarked for military spending. Minutes after signing the spending bill, Biden demanded that the House take up the National Security Supplemental bill previously passed by the Senate, which includes over $60 billion for the Ukrainian military, over $14 billion for Israel and billions more for Taiwan and future conflict with China. But I want to be clear, wrote Biden on Saturday. Congresss work isnt finished. The House must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental to advance our national security interests. Biden also demanded passage of the bipartisan border security agreement, which he called the toughest and fairest reforms in decades to ensure we have the policies and funding needed to secure the border. The far-right border bill would virtually eliminate the right to asylum, greatly expand the border police, enlarge the border wall, and grant the president new executive powers to shut down ports of entry if certain low thresholds of migrants seeking asylum are met. The spending bills signed on Saturday which are almost six months late, reflecting the ongoing political crisis in the heart of global imperialism, also provide funding for the rest of the year for the departments of Homeland Security, Labor and Health and Human Services, as well as other agencies. Included is funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand its facilities to 42,000 detention beds, an increase of about 8,000. The bill also provides funding for 2,000 more Border Patrol agents, bringing the total number to some 22,000. While increasing the repressive state apparatus, the bill cuts funding by 20 percent to nongovernmental organizations that provide social services for immigrants. In a statement released following the passage of the package in the House, Republicans boasted that the spending bills represented the first overall cut to non-defense, non-VA spending in almost a decade. In their statement, Republicans on the Appropriations Committee emphasized that countering the Peoples Republic of China was a top priority. To this end, the bill doubles military financing to Taiwan, from $150 to $300 million. It provides another $400 million for the Countering the [Peoples Republic of China] Influence Fund. Defense News reported the bill includes $33.5 billion to build eight ships, while allocating billions more towards the construction of 86 F-35 and 24 F-15EX fighter jets, as well as 15KC-46A tankers. Another $2.1 billion is earmarked for the Armys Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Navys Conventional Prompt Strike Hypersonic Weapon System. Defense News noted the bill also provides multiyear contracts for six advanced missile systems: the Naval Strike Missile, the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3, the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, the Joint Air-to Surface Standoff Missile and the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile. Breaking Defense reported that in addition to multi-year contracts for advanced missile systems, the bill provides Department of Defense officials latitude to negotiate multi-year contracts for the Columbia- and Virginia-class submarines. While the Virginia-class is focused on anti-ship/anti-submarine warfare, the Columbia-class is slated to replace the Ohio-class nuclear strike platform and will be equipped with 16 missile tubes for launching Trident II D5 ballistic missiles. In addition to preparing for war with China, the bipartisan bill fully funds our annual security commitment to the Israeli government. This includes $3.3 billion through the State Department, while another $500 million is earmarked for Israel through the Pentagon budget. At the same time, the law prohibits any taxpayer funding from going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and eliminates funding for the United Nations Commission of Inquiry against Israel. This includes barring funding for the United Nations Human Rights Council until the Council takes significant steps to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item. It also blocks funding for the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. While the bill places no restrictions on the US money to Israel, more than 160 days and over 40,000 bodies into the US/Israeli genocide, it does require the secretary of state to submit a report within 90 days detailing steps taken by the Palestinian Authority to counter incitement of violence against Israelis and to promote peace and coexistence with Israel. The legislation also compels the Palestinian Authority not to initiate or support any International Criminal Court inquiry against Israeli nationals for alleged crimes against Palestinians if it wants any economic support from the United States. Support for this genocidal war bill among both big business parties was overwhelming. Both the House and the Senate votes were bipartisan affairs, with the House voting 286134 on Friday, followed by the Senate voting 7524 in favor early Saturday morning. In both chambers, the Democratic Party provided the bulk of the votes, with all but 22 Democrats in the House voting in favor, with only two senators who caucus with the Democrats voting against the war bill. The vast majority of the 112 House Republicans and 22 Senate Republicans who voted against the bill did so on the grounds that it did not include sufficient cuts in social spending or provide enough money for the military. The only Democratic senator who voted against the bill was Michael Bennet of Colorado. In a statement released after the vote, Bennet explained that he objected on the grounds that it did not provide enough funding for the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine. Bennet claimed, incorrectly, that the bill did not provide any financial support for Ukraine, adding that they are running out of bullets and artillery. In fact, in order to facilitate fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian, the bill earmarks $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which, according to Defense News, allows the Pentagon to place contracts for new equipment to send to Kiev. In a statement posted on Twitter/X, Socialist Equality Party presidential candidate Joseph Kishore denounced the genocide package, writing: Both the Democrats and Republicans are committed to providing unlimited resources to fund an escalating global war that risks nuclear annihilation, while there is supposedly no money for basic social services. The vote, Kishore added, expresses the essential class interests defended by the two parties. The ruling class is waging war abroad and it is waging war at home. These are two sides of the same war, the war of the capitalist ruling elite to defend its profits and wealth. As the Israeli military is poised to escalate its genocide in Gaza with a long-planned offensive in the southern city of Rafah, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has left for talks in Washington with top US officials. Last Friday, Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that the barbaric operation into the city crammed with 1.5 million Palestinian refugees will proceed. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, Nov. 30, 2023. [AP Photo/Saul Loeb] Amid ongoing international outrage and protests against the Israeli genocide, the Biden administration has expressed concerns about the Rafah offensive. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Netanyahu in Israel last Friday and warned that the operation risks further isolating Israel around the world and jeopardising its long-term security. Vice President Kamila Harris told ABCs This Week on Sunday that any military operation into Rafah would be a huge mistake and dropped a hint that there would be consequences for Israel. These meaningless expressions of concern are simply window dressing for behind-the-scenes talks that will focus on how, not if, the Israeli war in Gaza is going to reach a bloody climax in Rafah. The Biden administration, which regards the conflict as part of a wider war in the Middle East targeting Iran, has backed Israel to the hiltpolitically, financially and militarily with the supply of huge quantities of arms. Gallants comments prior to his departure only underscored the character of the upcoming talks with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. During my visit, I will focus on preserving Israels qualitative military edge and on ways to achieve our common goals: victory over Hamas and returning the hostages home, he said in a statement issued by his office. As well as focussing on Israels ability to obtain platforms and munitions, Gallant signalled that he and US top officials would discuss the opening of a new military front in southern Lebanon against Iranian-backed Hezbollah. The conflict has been underway and escalating since the Israeli war in Gaza began, involving Israeli strikes deep inside Lebanon as well as in the border area with Israel. Tens of thousands have been displaced. The top figures in the Zionist regime in Israel have been pressing for a military offensive against Hezbollah to drive its militia forces back from the border. We will also discuss the need to return Israels northern communities to their homes, whether this is achieved via military action or via agreement, Gallant said. Given that Israel knows that its demands for Hezbollah to pull back some 30 kilometres from the border are completely unacceptable, what will be discussed involves a dramatic escalation of the conflict into Lebanon. The desperate situation for the Palestinians in Gaza only intensified on Sunday as the Israeli military stepped up its onslaught and Israeli authorities told the UN that the UN refugee agency, UNRWA, would no longer be allowed to send food convoys into northern Gaza. As of today, UNRWA, the main lifeline for Palestine refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a post on Twitter/X. Lazzarini demanded that the restrictions be lifted, declaring: This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine By preventing UNRWA to fulfill its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine & many more will die of hunger, dehydration + lack of shelter. This cannot happen, it would only stain our collective humanity. The cynicism of the Biden administrations expressions of concern for the plight of Palestinian refugees was underscored by its lack of funding for the UNRWA. The newly passed US foreign aid spending bills puts severe limits on funding for the UN agency until at least March 2025. Lazzarini emphasised the urgency for assistance declaring that humanitarian agencies were in a race against time to avoid famine. Any gap in funding would undermine access to food, shelter, primary health care and education at an extremely difficult time. After visiting Egypts border with Gaza at the Rafah crossing on Saturday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated his call for a ceasefire. Looking at Gaza, it almost appears that the four horsemen of war, famine, conquest and death are galloping across it, he said, adding that nothing justifies the collective punishment of Palestinians. Having been at the border where some 7,000 aid trucks are waiting for Israeli approval to enter Gaza, Guterres declared that the starvation being inflicted on Palestinians was a moral outrage. He called on Israel to remove the obstacles and chokepoints to relief, saying: Palestinians in Gaza desperately need what has been promised: a flood of aid not trickles, not drops. Even before Gallants talks in Washington begin, the Israeli military is intensifying its assault in southern Gaza. The Israeli military carried out around 40 strikes in the al-Amal neighbourhood in Khan Younis to the north of Rafah while its troops were encircling the area and continuing to eliminate alleged Hamas militants. It also sent tanks into the al-Qarara area in northern Khan Younis, backed by airstrikes. The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported on Sunday that Israeli forces were besieging al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. It stated that the military was using bulldozers and smoke bombs around the hospital and demanding that everyone inside evacuate. A PRCS emergency services volunteer in the facility reported intense and continuous shelling, as well as continuous gunfire. He was later killed by Israeli gunfire. In Gaza City, the Israeli siege of the al-Shifa Hospital continued on Sunday despite calls by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, on Thursday to halt the attacks that have cut off access to the facility. We repeat once again: hospitals are not battlegrounds. They must be protected in line with international humanitarian law. The Israeli military declared that it has detained 480 suspects for interrogation including health workers. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 32,226 people have been killed and 74,518 injured in Gaza since the war began. That figure will only increase dramatically as Israeli forces mount their offensive into Rafah. Anger erupted at a local school board meeting in suburban Detroit last week when teachers, school bus drivers and other educational staff challenged the attempts of the Wayne-Westland Community Schools District school board to slash jobs and impose deep budget cuts. Protesting educators at the March 21 meeting forced the school board to postpone a vote to adopt its budget, which it attempted to rush through with as little public discussion as possible. Jerry White speaking to a packed room at the Wayne-Westland school board meeting on Thursday, March 21 In January, 39 full-time and part-time school employees were laid off in the first of as many as 100 job cuts after the district suddenly announced a $17.6 million budget deficit last December. School Superintendent John Dignan said the cuts were necessary to right-size the district and prevent it from being taken over by the state of Michigan. In December, district officials announced they would investigate the privatization of student transportation services. Dignan later claimed the district had walked back from those plans after Michigan Education Association (MEA) Local 4 officials expressed a desire to collaborate with the district to identify ways to control costs and increase consistency. For four months, the district has also postponed any talks with the MEA about a new contract for teachers to replace the one expiring in August. Teachers denounced this as a threat to blackmail them into similar wage and benefit concessions. Like districts across Michigan and the US, the 9,800-student school district, located 30 miles west of Detroit, has lost students and state and local revenue due to the expansion of for-profit charter schools and the increasing number of missing students due to the impact of job cuts, poverty and homelessness. As a result, Flint, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Detroit and other Michigan school districts are implementing deep cuts. This is part of a national wave of austerity measures involving New York City, San Diego, Minneapolis, Seattle and many other school districts, which is provoking growing opposition by educators, parents and students. The school crisis has been worsened by the Biden administrations decision to end the Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) program, which has provided nearly $190 billion to US schools to assist with pandemic-related learning loss. While ESSER funds will run out this September, Biden just signed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan government funding bill, which includes $825 billion for the US military. The White House is seeking even more money to back Israels genocide in Gaza and to escalate the military confrontation with Russia and China. Educators went into the March 21 school board meeting demanding answers about the budget shortfall and cuts. Several accused the district of mismanaging more than $25 million in federal COVID relief money and wasting money on several new highly paid administrative positions. In a letter to Dignan posted on the WWSCD Community Connection-Unofficial Facebook page, one educator said: Youre looking at getting rid of support staff. The bus drivers, custodians, kitchen aides, maintenance staff, theres so many more to name. These people LIVE, WORK AND HAVE CHILDREN/GRANDCHILDREN in the community. THEY help provide the per pupil state funding, and you want to take food and shelter away from them? YOU mishandled the funds, not the employees of Wayne-Westland. It is noteworthy the district has retained the Detroit law firm, Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone as consultants on bond sales and other financial matters. The firm was deeply involved and cashed in from the Detroit bankruptcywhere public assets were sold off and city employees robbed of pensions to pay wealthy bondholdersalong with the investment scheme that led to the Flint water crisis. As the public comment period of the meeting began, one community member called out the school board for trying to adopt the budget before anyone could study the details. None of the public will have had time to digest the information. Do not consider adoption today, so that it can be thoroughly looked at before you make any rash decisions, she said to applause. Also addressing the meeting was Jerry White, the Socialist Equality Partys candidate for US Vice President. White said he was at the meeting to support all of you who are taking a stand against layoffs, school privatization and overcrowded classrooms. He said he was in Flint the day before, where teachers conducted a sickout strike on March 13 against the school board, which had reneged on promises to give them their first raise in 12 years. Teachers across the country and the world, he said, were facing the same conditions. The issue is not that there is no money, White said. The politicians in Lansing can find billions of dollars to give tax cuts to Ford and General Motors. When it comes to war, there is unlimited resources, including for the horrors that are going on in Gaza now. White added, Biden and the Republicans are allowing COVID relief money to run out. There is plenty of money. The budget crisis facing cities like Flint, Wayne-Westland and thousands of school districts across the US is the product of capitalism, a system that subordinates everything from public health to public education to profit. Backroom talks between the MEA and the school board, White declared, will not resolve anything. Everything depends on rank-and-file educators taking the initiative, uniting with teachers in Flint, Detroit and all over, and defending the right to high quality public education. The Socialist Equality Party insists that the needs of the working class must come first, White concluded to the applause of educators. After a short presentation by the districts chief financial officer, several board members tried to rush through the adoption of the budget while others, fully aware that they were facing deep public opposition, called for a postponement. Board Trustee Mark Neal, who said he had once been a union negotiator before negotiating for management, was particularly provocative, demanding that there be no delay in implementing the cuts. Later in the meeting, several other educators spoke to denounce the layoffs, the cutting of vital programs and the dragging out of negotiations for a new teachers contract. White addressed the meeting again, stating that there are hundreds of school board meetings going on in America where workers were being presented similar charts and numbers claiming there is no money for public education and workers jobs. He warned that the cutting off ESSER funds meant there were even deeper cuts coming, while stressing that the $1 trillion being spent on war is not an outside issue; these are your children. Why is there money for war, for tax cuts and bank bailouts? Why is it that the working class always has to pay when we live in a society where 84 billionaires have more wealth than half of the worlds population? White urged educators in Wayne-Westland to unite with their class brothers and sisters in Flint, Detroit and other cities to draw the line and fight for the next generation. The mood of the audience grew more militant and determined after Board Trustee David Cox said it was not true that the board had rejected the layoff of school bus drivers and the outsourcing of student transportation. While claiming he supported good wages and benefits for teachers, Cox denounced school bus drivers for allegedly not showing up and leaving children behind. After White declared, Stop pitting teachers against school bus drivers, several other workers denounced Coxs statements, saying he had no clue what we do, that drivers often double up on their runs to pick up children and that teachers and bus drivers were united against the budget cutting. Unable to conceal his contempt for the workers interfering with the boards budget cutting demands, Cox declared This forum is not an effective way to do business and disdainfully asked, Is this what you teach your students? After that, the meeting erupted in anger and workers stormed out, with one declaring, Dont poke the bear! The school board meeting in Wayne-Westland last week was a microcosm of what is now taking place across the US, as all funding is going to the military while critical social institutions like public education are starved of resources. Educators, parents and students must take their broadening anger and channel this in a revolutionary direction through the building of a socialist movement to unite workers internationally to put an end to war and rebuild society on the basis of social equality. On Wednesday, CNN reported that Israels Supreme Court had temporarily suspended the government plan to return a group of 22 Gazan Palestinians being treated in hospitals in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv that include five newborn babies, their mothers, and cancer patients deemed in remission, including their companions, back to Gaza amidst the ongoing genocidal campaign that has seen 32,000 people killed, nearly 75,000 injured and hundreds of thousands on the brink of starvation. The patients and their families were to board buses on Thursday headed for the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Rafah had it not been for the petition to the courts written by the Israeli non-profit organization, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI). In what amounts to a stay of execution, the spokesman for PHRI said, Returning residents to Gaza during a military conflict and a humanitarian crisis is against international law and poses a deliberate risk to innocent lives. All the more so when it concerns patients who may face a death sentence due to insanitary conditions and hunger, along with the unlikely availability of medical care. According to the Israeli defense ministry, COGAT [Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories], they have been attempting to obtain from the hospitals a list of patient names who are deemed as no longer requiring in-patient medical treatment and to be returned to Gaza. This does not take into account that every one of these patients needs comprehensive outpatient follow-up care and complex treatments and resources that are no longer existent, as the entire infrastructure to support the 2 million-plus population has essentially been razed to the ground. Dr. Fadi Atrash, who heads the Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, which treats Gazan cancer patients, told CNN on the COGAT policies, Its not our call, at the end of the day. And this is really frustrating. We have not been able to help people in Gaza since the beginning of the war. As doctors, this is our daily feeling, that we are not able to do anything. In the context of nearly six months of continuous shelling, sniper attacks, summary executions, wholesale destruction of the healthcare apparatus, the bureaucratic decree for these two dozen or so frail and doubly traumatized people to vacate their sanctuary and return to their war torn non-existent homes speaks to the complete depravity and inhumanity of Israels genocidal policies against a people that have been occupied for more than 75 years under the most onerous conditions. Such moments provide a social microscope into the inner workings of fascisms hypocrisy and cruel banalities. Speaking with a CNN journalist, a tearful Nima Abu Garrara, who was transported to Jerusalem for a high-risk complicated twin pregnancy (she gave birth on October 5), said, If I go back with the twins where do I go with them? Where would I get diapers and milk? Gaza is not the same anymore. Of the impending invasion, she added, I might go back and then they invade Rafah. Ill be the one responsible for anything that harms them. I was dying when I came here and stayed with them here to protect them. Indeed, this week, news outlets confirmed that several children have already perished from starvation as famine lays siege across Northern Gaza and threatens areas in the South. The Gaza Ministry of Health said that as of March 19, 2024, at least 27 children had died from malnutrition and dehydration. These are clearly gross underestimates. Contextualizing this impending famine, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation report remarked on the plight of two-year-old Watin al-Aswad who, since Israels onslaught in October, has lost half her body weight, at seven kilograms (15.4 pounds). With protruding eyes and gaunt face, the once boisterous toddler is confined to her hospital bed unable to sit or walk, let alone lift her arms. A healthy weight for such an age is around 15 to 18 kilograms (33 to 40 pounds). In North Gaza, about 210,000 people were in phase five, which refers to catastrophic hunger. UNICEF also remarked that 335,000 children under the age of five in the Gaza strip are at high risk of severe malnutrition. One in four households is facing famine. Cases of respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases are in the hundreds of thousands. The internal food supply is utterly depleted, and the entire population remains reliant on the supply trucks that Israel allows in, a fraction of what is required to sustain the population. UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell recently told reporters, The speed at which this catastrophic child malnutrition crisis in Gaza has unfolded is shocking, especially when desperately needed assistance has been at the ready just a few miles away. We have repeatedly attempted to deliver additional aid and we have repeatedly called for the access challenges we have faced for months to be addressed. Instead, the situation for children is getting worse with each passing day. Our efforts in providing life-saving aid are being hampered by unnecessary restrictions, and those are costing children their lives. Even the World Bank has admitted that without urgent action widespread deaths from starvation would be imminent over the next two months. According to their analysis, of the 2.3 million Gazans, 1.1 million people were in the highest risk category and a further 854,000 in the preceding lower level, people in emergency. Should the call for a ceasefire materialize and the Rafah invasion be postponed, the famine will continue to prosecute Israels war on the population. As for those requiring cancer treatment, with the scant resources that include healthcare workers being solely directed at treating the most urgent of trauma cases that pour into the remaining but barely functioning hospitals, such matters assume a hopeless irrelevance regardless of the fate that awaits the untreated. Indeed, the social capacity that requires the screening, diagnosing, and then treating of malignancies also means the existence of a social infrastructure that has attained the ability to function in a deeply organized concert manner that prioritizes life as an objective goal. It is the end product of the highest social achievements and, therefore, the first casualty when inequity, mass poverty and war consume the entire social infrastructure, especially for the working class, who rely on these services that provide them with a sense that their well-being is a social priority. In a November 2023 report published in Cureus titled, A double battlefighting cancer in the shadows of conflict in Gaza, the authors wrote, The situation for patients with cancer in the Gaza Strip is deeply concerning. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the cancer incidence rate in the region was 91.3 cases per 100,000 people in 2021. In the same year, there were 1,952 new cancer diagnoses and 610 deaths attributed to the disease. This adds to the cumulative burden of cancer in the area, with a five-year prevalence of cases reaching 10,566 by 2020. These statistics are set against a backdrop of significant challenges for cancer care in the Gaza Strip, where the ongoing conflict and displacement have led to catastrophic health conditions for patients with cancer. The attack on October 30, 2023 by Israeli airstrikes on the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza, the largest in Palestine and the only specialized cancer center in Gaza, meant the ability to provide essential medical supplies such as chemotherapy and vital treatments like radiation were severely impacted. On November 1, 2023, the hospital became non-operational after the fuel ran out and heavy damage made the premises non-functional. The situation for Gazans with cancers was already harrowing, with almost 40 percent of applicants for permission to travel for treatment being denied even before the beginning of large-scale conflicts in October 2023. Despite 1,800 new cancer cases each year, the health system in Gaza lacked 60 percent of the appropriate pharmaceuticals and treatments necessary to offer the standard of care. Unsurprisingly, cancer survival has fallen by 50 percent in a decades time (2008 to 2017), according to the World Health Organization. However, these statistics belie the realities, as a real comparison would require a comparison to other countries. For instance, while breast cancer impacts 20 percent of all cancer cases in Palestine, these patients have a five-year survival of 65 percent compared to wealthier regions where rates stand at approximately 90 percent. Even these horrific issues have become moot in the face of Israels fascist policies. And the fate of the 22 people waiting a decision by the Supreme Court of Israel is assuredly sealed. School districts across the US face an unprecedented fiscal cliff for the approaching 2024-2025 school year. Preliminary budget proposals have been announced by districts throughout the nation this month and outline a clear jobs bloodbath and massive cuts to resources and programs in K-12 education. Various factors have been cited in the mainstream media as contributors to the ongoing financial crisis for K-12 schools, which include the ending of COVID-19 relief funding, overall decline in enrollment, declines in birth rates. Numerous other factors, including increased homelessness, the growth of enrollment in charter schools and homeschooling as the result of decades-long budget cuts to public schools largely go unreported in corporate news outlets. The final installment of Federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds, will expire in September 2024. The COVID-19 relief money, which has totaled roughly $190 billion, was meant to help schools address needs arising from the pandemic, including making up for learning loss during the pandemic, but many districts have used it for one-time staffing costs to keep districts budgets afloat. Much of state and federal funding for public education is tied to district enrollment figures. US public schools have seen a significant decline in enrollment over the past few years while the number of students in charter and private schools has increased. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reported a 2 percent increase in charter school enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year. Figures from the Washington Post indicate that the number of homeschooled children in America has almost doubled from 1.5 million children in 2019 to 2.7 million in 2023. It is also worth noting the 2023 study by Stanford University and the Associated Press which found over 240,000 missing students who were no longer attending public schools between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years but not accounted for. Numerous factors play a role, including the significant impact of Long COVID, the growth of homelessness, parents being forced to work more than one job and other forms of social and economic distress that cause students to drop out of school. In addition to the approaching end of federal COVID-19 relief funding this September, Congress approved early Saturday morning the second half of resolutions for the 2024 federal budget. According to a recent report by K-12 Dive, the federal budget includes $500 million less for the Department of Education as compared to the 2023 fiscal year and represents the first major cut to education since 2015. The federal cuts to public education come as Congress and the Biden administration have allocated vast sums for war and expansion of the military. More than half of domestic discretionary spending, $886.3 billion, will go to the Department of Defense. Biden is also calling for more military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to ramp up Americas wars for global conquest. Less than half of the remaining discretionary funds are to be divided up among various agencies, including public education, healthcare and others. While several compounding factors have contributed to the attacks on public education, all of them emerge from the prioritization of Wall Street profit-taking and US imperialist wars over the lives of children or the jobs of school workers. Mass opposition is mounting throughout the country to the slashing of budgets and their impact on public education. In every district where cuts have been announced, students, parents, teachers and school staff have spoken out. School board meetings have seen hundreds of people lining up to call for revoking the cuts that would all greatly impact the quality of education in their respective districts. In multiple cases, students, parents and teachers have organized walkouts, protests and sickouts in support of their teachers and schools. West Coast San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), the second largest district in California, recently announced over 400 preliminary layoff notices to teachers and school staff to close a $94 million budget deficit. Teachers have organized a rally this next week in opposition to the cuts. In the Los Angeles regions Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD), students and parents protested a school board decision to gut 10 percent from the school budget, including the layoff of an estimated 120 teachers. Eighth grade student Hailey Sotelo helped organize the protest in support of her teachers and school staff. Speaking to local news media at the protest, Sotelo said, Were concerned about how big class sizes are going to be. Class size does determine how well a teacher can teach. A petition is circulating online among students and community members opposed to the cuts which has received over 3,000 signatures. One AUHSD student, Carol Huang, wrote, Teachers arent just numbers; they are the people who help students grow and learn, the ones that are guiding our futures. Think about all the people aspiring to be teachers too. All this does is disappoint and discourage future teachers and educators. Can I really say Im proud of my school district if the teachers are not even protected? If some of the most important influences on my life can just be erased after all their hard work? On Friday, teachers in Salem-Keizer School District in Oregon voted by 94 percent to authorize a strike amid contract negotiations with the district. While calling for major cuts due to an estimated $60 million budget deficit, district officials have claimed there is no money for teachers demands to lower heavy workloads, decrease large class sizes and for pay raises. According to Tyler Scialo-Lakeberg, the president of the Salem-Keizer teachers union, cuts might include reducing many full-time positions to part-time work. The school board in Vancouver, Washington, recently voted to slash $35 million from the budget resulting in over 260 layoffs of teachers, counselors, librarians and other school staff. Walkouts at multiple high schools were carried out by students throughout last week in opposition to the cuts and layoffs. A flyer circulating among students and staff at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA) stated, VSAA is ultimately getting gutted as an art school so please walk out, email the superintendent and talk to everyone you know about this. Transparency and visibility are so important right now! Students carried signs including, Fund our Future and Fund School Not War. Also in Washington, the Seattle Public Schools faces a massive $105 million deficit for the coming 2024-2025 school year, and officials have announced initial plans for sweeping cuts to the district which include the closure or consolidation of dozens of schools in the district. The cuts for the next school year come in addition to $100 million in cuts that have already been carried out for the 2023-2024 school year. Midwest Last week, teachers in Flint Public Schools (FPS) in Michigan carried out a powerful one-day sickout and unanimous vote to strike. Teachers in the district face untenable conditions, with many working multiple jobs to make ends meet. In January, the district rescinded a contract agreement made with the United Teachers of Flint (UTF), citing a $14 million budget deficit. Teachers are outraged over the rejection of the agreement by the district. For its role, the UTF had failed to call a strike vote until after teachers carried out a sickout. Teacher wages have been frozen since 2012. Sweeping budget cuts are also being carried out throughout the Detroit region. On Thursday, the Ann Arbor school district announced mass layoffs of school staff to cut $25 million from the 2024-2025 budget. Wayne-Westland School District had planned to pass a multimillion-dollar budget cut plan at Thursdays board meeting but voted to delay the decision after the meeting erupted in opposition from teachers, bus drivers and other school workers. According to the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, more than 70 percent of Minnesotas metro school districts expect deficits this next school year. Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) teachers have been fighting the Democratic Partys funding reductions since July. MPS announced a $90 million budget deficit and an initial proposal for major cuts for the upcoming school year which include cuts to over 200 full-time positions in the district. Having recently averted a strike with the help of the Saint Paul Federation of Educators union, Saint Paul Public Schools recently announced its preliminary plans to close its own $100 million budget deficit, which will include cuts to afterschool programs, teacher prep time, food service and custodial staff funding. The South The Houston Independent School District, the largest district in Texas, recently announced punitive budget cuts to schools. Superintendent Mike Miles has required dozens of schools in the district to cut up to 12 percent from their sites for the upcoming school year, resulting in part of his plan to cut $15 million from an over $250 million deficit. The cuts will target 140 schools in the district that have not yet implemented the superintendents reform program, the New Education System (NES). Twenty-five schools will be required to cut the full 12 percent. A major decrease in enrollmentby over 32,000 students since the 2016-2017 school yearis being used as the justification to drastically reduce state funding. Kanawha County Schools in West Virginia is facing multiple school closures and job cuts for the upcoming school year. Fifty-two school staff face potential layoffs, and the district has announced the closure of three schools in the county where the state capital of Charleston is located. This occurs as state educators mark the sixth anniversary of the wildcat strikes in 2018 that sparked a national wave of educators walkouts against bipartisan austerity and school privatization. In Arkansas, school districts in financial distress can be taken over by charter school companies. Little Rock School District (LRSD) announced its plans to cut $16 million from the budget to avoid privatized takeover. Cuts include rearranging of middle school schedules in such a way that would necessitate cutting 11 positions and save close to $1 million. Further cuts include laying off support staff, leadership and office jobs. New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) in Alabama has a $20 million shortfall and has proposed slashing 224 school staff positions and 56 school office staff positions. East Coast New York City Public Schools face an ongoing massive budget crisis. In January, $100 million in cuts were announced by the Democratic administration of Mayor Eric Adams for the upcoming school year in the face of a $700 million shortfall. The district is planning over $100 million in cuts to Pre-K services, which has received enormous opposition from parents. Also in New York state, middle and high school students at Hamburg Central School District just south of Buffalo, New York, walked out of classrooms over the layoff of 27 teachers and school staff. At last weeks school board meeting, hundreds of teachers, parents and students opposed the cuts. Brockton Public Schools (BPS) in Massachusetts faces a shortfall of up to $25 million for the 2023-2024 school year. The district is carrying out significant cuts to cover the deficit and avoid a state takeover. Schools have reported a major staffing crisis, and students are being left unattended in the cafeteria for hours. In February, several members of the Brockton school committee requested that the Massachusetts National Guard be deployed to manage safety concerns in the high school. D.C. Public Schools officials anticipate an estimated 200-450 positions will be eliminated from the district. Given the drying up of COVID-19 relief funds, many of the layoffs will be of support staff, who have provided critical services for students. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently stated that individual school sites will have to decide which positions are cut. On Wednesday, elementary students and parents protested budget cuts in Howard County, Maryland. Howard County Public Schools (HCPS) recently announced cuts to important student programs for the 2025 school budget. Programs are being slashed for gifted and talented students, and the entire third grade strings program is being gutted. The latter program is an integral part of the districts beloved and revered instrumental music program. Layoffs have been announced, as well as the increasing of class sizes by two students. A petition to restore third-grade strings has more than 5,700 signatures, and a petition to restore elementary gifted and talented programs has over 1,700 signatures. During last weeks protest outside one of the Howard County government buildings, multiple elementary school students played their violins and cellos to demonstrate their opposition to the cuts to their music education. The current growing opposition among teachers and school workers to decades of austerity in public schools comes after the wave of teacher rebellions in 2018-2019 and has continued throughout the ongoing pandemic. Since 2022, teachers and school workers have carried out strikes and sickout actions in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Minneapolis, New Haven, Durham, Flint, Seattle and elsewhere. Even further, tens of thousands of educators demanded strike action over the deepening assault on public education as funds are drained from social programs to pay for war. With each struggle the treachery of the trade union bureaucracies led by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have resulted in concessionary contracts, no guarantees of staffing, and enshrined cuts to real wages, lack of resources and now massive budget cuts. The union bureaucracies also enforced Bidens back-to-school orders despite the ongoing pandemic and the lack of elemental ventilation systems in decaying school systems. Above all, the AFT and NEA bureaucracies are deeply entrenched in the Democratic Party and its reckless military confrontations with Russia and China, which threaten the nuclear annihilation of civilization. This is why it is so urgent to build independent rank-and-file committees of educators that will break the grip of the pro-capitalist and pro-war union bureaucracies, unite educators across all state and national boundaries and develop an industrial and political counter-offensive of the whole working class against Biden and Trump, both corporate-controlled parties and the capitalist system they defend. Last week Socialist Equality Party (SEP) vice presidential candidate Jerry White spoke to teachers and community members at multiple school board meetings in Flint and Wayne-Westland, Michigan. He made a powerful call for the unity of educators across districts throughout the US and internationally who are facing similar conditions of austerity. Speaking at the Wayne-Westland school board meeting, he said: The budget crises facing Flint and Wayne-Westland and thousands of districts across the US is the product of capitalism. That is a system that subordinates everything from public health to public education to profits. Over the past four years the billionaires in this country saw their private fortunes almost double, while more than a million people died from COVID. Billionaires have a total wealth of $5.5 trillionseven times more than whats spent every year on K-12 education. Everything depends on rank-and-file educators like yourselves taking the initiative, uniting with Flint teachers, uniting with Detroit teachers and organizing a fight to defend the right to high quality public education not private profit. Berlin State Senator for Education Ina Czyborra (Social Democrats, SPD) announced in mid-February that the state government, known as the Senate, would strengthen the Higher Education Act in order to reintroduce the possibility of exmatriculation of students, i.e., expelling them from the university. A leaked draft of the law has since made clear how far-reaching the crackdown is. The strengthening of the Higher Education Act is an attempt to whip the universities into line and reintroduce the principle of thought crimes. The faculty of justice of the Humboldt University is pictured in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) [AP Photo] While the public discussions so far have only discussed a possible exmatriculation after committing a crime, the leaked bill, which has been published by the Student Coalition Berlin and others, shows that the Senate is making even more far-reaching plans behind the scenes. The draft law already allows for regulatory measures such as exmatriculation of students who use or attempt to use university facilities for criminal offences. This extremely imprecise formulation criminalizes any form of protest. From lecture hall occupations to From the river to the sea slogans, any protest can be interpreted as a criminal offence and lead to exmatriculation. The draft law also provides that regulatory measures such as exmatriculation and exclusion from the use of university facilities can be imposed merely if a student violates the dignity of a member of the university for reasons of racist attribution or because of ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual identity, and the study or other activity of this member is threatened by the violation of dignity or the environment it creates. This prosecution of ideas means the states co-option of the universities. Virtually any criticism of the Israeli armys actions against the Palestinians is defamed as antisemitic and could therefore serve as a pretext for disciplinary measures. The same applies to the widespread opposition among students to right-wing and militarist professors. The imposition of disciplinary measures, such as exmatriculation, is decided by a regulatory committee, the composition of which is determined by the universities in their statutes. Even the president of the Technical University of Berlin, Geraldine Rauch, explained: It is to be expected that in the current highly charged atmosphere in society, a kind of laymans court such as the regulatory committee will not be able to make objective and legally valid decisions. She warned against the introduction of university justice, which has no legal legitimacy. The new university law intensifies the censorship of opponents of war, which has been taking place for years. As early as 2014, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) was denounced by the Humboldt University administration, the media and politicians from all parties for criticising the right-wing extremist historian Jorg Baberowski. He declared in Der Spiegel that Hitler was not vicious and that the Nazi war of extermination was only a reaction to the Red Armys warfare. Student initiatives such as the blog Munkler-Watch, which uncovered and documented the militarist lectures of Humboldt Professor Herfried Munkler, were also met with a smear campaign by the media, the federal government and the university administration. Under conditions of the genocide in Gaza and Germanys aggressive war policy, the censorship of opponents has reached a new climax. In November 2023, the university prohibited the IYSSE from holding an event against the genocide in Gaza at Humboldt University. All other student organizations speaking out against the genocide were also censored. This criminalization is now being cast into law. The aim is to get rid of all those from the university who speak out against the militarization of universities and against Israels genocide and its support by Germany. As before the First and Second World Wars, the universities are to be co-opted by the state and transformed into militarised camps to train the cadre for German imperialism. In reality, widespread opposition exists among students to the return of German militarism. Hundreds of students participated in rallies against the genocide in Gaza organized by the IYSSE alongside other groups at the Ruhr University in Bochum and Berlins Humboldt University. The Student Coalition Berlin and numerous student organizations have held several protests against the genocide in recent months. In order to prevent protests against this authoritarian law as much as possible, the Berlin Senate is trying to push it through during the semester break. The state association of student councils was also given only four working days during the review stage to take a position on the draft law. Nevertheless, numerous student representatives have already published statements against the Senates plans. The student council at Humboldt University warned in an earlier statement that by strengthening the law, the necessary protection of Jewish students from antisemitism would be misused as a pretext for enforcing repressive and authoritarian policies. In its latest newsletter, the council described it as a challenge to political organisation at Berlins universities and to any politicisation at the universities. Student councils at the Free University and Technical University Berlin have also published similar statements. In its press statement, the state association of student councils spoke of the most serious and repressive intervention in the political participation of students for over 50 years, and a gateway to the right to adjudicate on ideas. It further explained: Regulatory measuresin particular compulsory exmatriculationconstitute a serious interference into basic rights. This is especially the case as the facts presented goes so far as to potentially affect any political actions by studentsfrom disrupting events to putting up posters and public statements about lecturers. Everything could be covered. A petition started by the group Students for Palestine at FU (Free University), which has already been signed over 3,800 times, states: If tougher action is possible at universities than elsewhere, then this is an attack on dissenters and thus on academic freedom. And if measures are permitted at universities that particularly affect international students, this is an attack on marginalized groups and the diversity of institutions Considering the infamous history of exmatriculation as a regulatory measure, a tool of reactionary forces against dissenters, it is not surprising that the AfD [Alternative for Germany] has exhumed this toolkit again and that the conservative camp in particular is pushing for its reintroduction. The IYSSE welcomes this opposition. The struggle against dictatorship means a struggle against war and its root, capitalism. Millions of workers around the world are outraged by Israels genocide against the Palestinians and the German governments war policy, and are themselves facing wage cuts and the suppression of democratic rights. In recent months, workers in the transport sector have repeatedly paralyzed the country with their strikes. The fight against war, genocide and fascism must rely on the tremendous social force represented by the working class. Fridays terror attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, which killed at least 137 people and wounded over 180, is a dangerous new stage in the imperialist war against Russia. People lay flowers at a spontaneous memorial in memory of the victims of Moscow attack in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, March 24, 2024. [AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky] According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the perpetrators were captured on their way to the Ukrainian border, where a window had been prepared for them to cross into Ukraine. The four main suspects were identified as immigrants from Tajikistan, a desperately impoverished former Soviet republic in Central Asia. They have pleaded guilty and claim to have acted on behalf of as yet unidentified intermediaries for money. The Afghan-based Islamist terrorist group ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack. The principal mouthpieces of US imperialism, the New York Times and the Washington Post, have promptly initiated a campaign to deny the involvement of the US and Ukraine in this attack. Both outlets immediately dismissed Putins statement about a connection to Ukraine, citing unnamed US security officials. Without providing any evidence, they simply echoed the claims of the White House and Kiev, made almost as soon as the attack occurred, that neither the US nor Ukraine were involved. How is it possible for the major US media outlets to immediately exclude any connection between this attack and a war raging between Russia and Ukraine, with significant US involvement? In fact, their claims have no more credibility than their earlier denials of US and Ukrainian involvement in the bombing of the German-Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline. There have been many instances where US denials of culpability later proved to be false. This places the burden of proof on the US to prove its innocence. The attack has the mark of the CIA and its proxies in Kiev all over it. The war propaganda in the media about the terrorist attack reveals its political purpose. The Times wrote, with barely concealed glee, that the attack was a blow to Mr. Putins aura as a leader for whom national security is paramount. Now, the Times surmised, Russians might ask whether Mr. Putin, with the invasion and his conflict with the West, truly has the countrys security interests at heartor whether he is woefully forsaking them, as many of his opponents say he is. Taking an almost identical line, the Washington Post published a piece under the headline, Terrorist attack in Russia exposes vulnerabilities of Putins regime. It gloated that the attack smashed through Putins efforts to present Russia as strong, united and resilient, and quoted a Moscow businessman as criticizing the lack of responsibility for security at large public events under Putin. The same line was taken by the Financial Times, which declared that Russian allegations of Ukrainian responsibility serve to deflect attention from gaps in Moscows security system, which have widened since Putins full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. The claim that Putin was distracted by the Ukraine war does not refute US-Ukrainian involvement in the attack. Rather, it might have been a factor that led NATO plotters to believe that an attack had a high probability of success. Central to the imperialist propaganda about the supposed non-involvement of the US and Ukraine is the fact that ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the involvement of ISIS-K would not disprove Ukrainian and US involvement. On the contrary. ISIS-K is largely a creation of US imperialism and its decades-long wars in the Middle East and Central Asia. In 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported that US-trained intelligence agents and elite counterinsurgency troops were joining ISIS-K in Afghanistan. Tajikistan, from where the suspected terrorists hail, has long been entangled in the armed conflicts in Afghanistan, going back to the 1980s, when the US trained and funded Islamist fundamentalists in its war against the Soviet Union. In this context, the March 7 warning by the US embassy in Moscow of an impending major terrorist attack in Russia can only be interpreted as an attempt to create an alibi for the US in the lead-up to the operation by its proxies. The involvement of Ukrainian intelligence, which coordinates its day-to-day operations closely with NATO and the US, is also all but evident. In January 2023, the Times reported that nationalist and far-right elements from across the former Soviet Union, including Russias North Caucasus and Central Asia, had flocked to Ukraine to fight in NATOs war against Russia. As the Times wrote, most of them harbor long-term political ambitions to return home and overthrow the Russian and Belarusian governments. The volunteers themselves say that they are acting with the full knowledge and under the orders of the Ukrainian Army and intelligence services. Many of their operations are covert, including dangerous reconnaissance or sabotage missions behind Russian lines. And just days before the Moscow terror attack, the Times hailed Russian neo-Nazis who were openly backed by Ukraines military intelligence agency and who carried out an incursion into Russia during the presidential elections. The Times called them rebellious Russians. Their daring attacks, the Times wrote, could help undermine the sense of stability in Russia and divert the countrys military resources from Ukraine. The line of argument developed by the Times and rebroadcast in the world press reveals the political purpose of the terrorist operation. With NATOs proxy forces in Ukraine facing a military debacle, the terror attack in Moscow was part of the efforts to open up a second front in the war, within Russia itself. The aim is three-fold: First, to embolden opposition to the Putin regime within the oligarchy and state apparatus; second, to provoke a military response by the Kremlin that can serve as the pretext for a further escalation of the war by NATO; and third, to foster ethnic and religious tensions within Russia that would destabilize the regime and facilitate the carve-up of the entire region by the imperialist powers. This strategy stands in a long and sinister tradition. The Nazis mobilized nationalist and far-right forces of the so-called Intermarium alliance throughout Eastern Europe and the Caucasus when they invaded the Soviet Union in World War II. During the Cold War, the US deployed these fascist networks in its covert warfare against the Soviet Union. The Stalinist destruction of the Soviet Union and the restoration of capitalism enabled the imperialist powers to pursue this reactionary strategy on a hitherto unprecedented scale. This goes not least for Russia itself. For over a decade, the imperialist powers have systematically built up an anti-Putin faction in the Russian oligarchy and state around the late Alexei Navalny. While glorified by the Times as a democrat, Navalny for years co-organized Russias largest annual fascist event, the Russian March, denounced immigrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia as cockroaches and maintained close ties to separatist tendencies throughout the country. Other prominent opposition leaders, the ex-oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Ilya Ponomaryov, openly advocate the break-up of the Russian Federation into a series of separate statelets. While over 70 percent of Russias population of about 140 million are ethnic Russians, the country is home to over 190 ethnic groups. Muslims comprise at least a tenth of the population. Many of them live in a few largely Muslim republics as well as the North Caucasus, where the Kremlin waged two brutal wars against Chechen separatists between 1994 and 2009. In addition, there are some 17 million immigrants living in Russia who mostly come from former Soviet republics such as Tajikistan and belong to the most exploited sections of the working class. The social basis and politics of the oligarchic Putin regime make it highly vulnerable to the machinations of the imperialist powers. Its invocation of Great Russian chauvinism and nationalism serves to disorient, divide and demobilize the working class, and, ultimately, aids the imperialist war aims. There is a real danger that the Putin regime and other right-wing forces will try to direct popular shock over the terror attack toward the targeting of different national and ethnic communities, while stepping up state repression. Already, on Saturday, Moscow police launched raids on immigrant living quarters, and social media reports indicated a developing boycott of predominantly Tajik cab drivers. The Moscow terrorist attack is a dangerous and criminal escalation of a war that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The recklessness of the imperialist powers is staggering. While backing the cold-blooded genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, they are encouraging violent national and ethnic conflicts in Russia and risk the deployment of nuclear weapons by the Putin regime. The only viable path for the working class out of this dangerous situation lies in the development of a powerful, socialist anti-war movement, which must be rooted in the traditions of revolutionary Marxism and its fight for the international unification of the working class. Senator Elizabeth Warren Criticizes Crypto, Claims It Threatens U.S. Security and Helps Terrorists Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) criticized North Koreas crypto usage and the rise of crypto pig butchering scams at a Thursday hearing of the Senate of Armed Services, claiming that cryptocurrency as a whole poses a threat to our national security. Senator Elizabeth Warren Blasts Crypto, Calls Out North Korea Questioning Admiral John C. Aquilino of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, Warren alleged that North Korea could pay for over 56 intercontinental ballistic missiles with the $1.7 billion worth of crypto the country stole in 2022. When asked by Warren if the number surprised him, Aquilino confessed it did not. North Korea has long been known for its crypto malware groups, with state-sponsored hacking collective the Lazarus Group and crypto mixer Sinbad sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in November 2023 for illicit activities. (Crypto) is helping rogue states, said Warren. Its helping terrorists. Its helping criminal organizations fund their operations on a scale like we have never seen before. However, blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis 2024 Crypto Crime Report found that funds sent to crypto mixers from illicit addresses decreased by nearly half a billion dollars last year likely due to law enforcement and regulatory efforts. Senate Hearing Address Pig Butchering Scams And More Warrens criticism of crypto did not stop with North Korea, however. In her testimony Thursday, the senator claimed that more than 40,000 people in the United States lost more than $3.5 billion dollars in pig butchering crypto scams that we know of in last year alone. Common across southeast Asia, pig butchering involves perpetrators exploiting a victims trust in order to increase the amount of funds a given victim will send to them. Now, pig butchering is just one scam, Warren continued. There are many more. A recent study found that these criminal gangs have stolen and laundered more than $75 billion dollars in crypto in just the last four years. As Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizes crypto, not everyone may agree with her, but she paints a vivid picture of the far-reaching consequences of crypto-related crimes. Warren Pushes DAAMLA Yet Again Additionally, Senator Elizabeth Warren used the hearing to push her bipartisan bill known as the Digital Assets Anti-Money Laundering Act (DAAMLA), which seeks to close loopholes in anti-terrorist funding while subjecting key players in the digital asset industry to tougher regulations. Ive got a bipartisan bill, Republicans and Democrats, with 20 senators that would put a stop to it, she said. I think it is time to pass this bill. The senators comments come amidst increased conversations about cryptocurrency regulation in light of last Octobers terrorist attack in Israel that saw Hamas claim the lives of over 1200 Israelis. As Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizes crypto and pushes for stronger oversight, she faces a formidable challenger in her upcoming senate race: pro-crypto Republican candidate John Deaton. Binance Faces Regulatory Hurdles as Philippine SECs Ban on Binance Takes Effect The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed its plan to block local access to Binance, effectively implementing the Philippine SECs ban on Binance. This was contained in a notice published by the financial regulator on March 25. This decision follows the SECs accusation of the exchanges continuous offering of various investment and trading opportunities to Filipinos without obtaining the necessary license from the commission. Philippine SECs Ban on Binance Urges Google & Meta to Restrict Binance-related Adverts According to the published media briefing, the Philippine SEC had previously filed a formal request to the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) on March 12, 2024, to block access to the Binance website, applications, and other web pages used by the exchange. JUST IN : The Philippine SEC stated that it will continue to block Binance and block citizens access to Binances main website and related platforms, saying that Binance is a threat to the security of the Philippines. Crypto News Updates (@CryptoNewsUpd8s) March 25, 2024 The commission has now deepened its ban on Binance by requesting Google and Meta to block all marketing campaigns related to the crypto exchange in the Philippines. As stated by the SEC, all previous campaigns and trade offerings were done illegally as the exchange is yet to secure a license from its agency to solicit investment or create/operate an exchange as required by Republic Act No. 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code (SRC). The regulatory agency had, however, informed residents that the crypto exchange is not authorized to sell or offer securities in the Philippines while also stating that Binances continuous crypto promotions may have criminal liability. The notice read, Those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents, representatives, promoters, recruiters, influencers, endorsers, and enablers of Binance in selling or convincing people to invest in its platform within the Philippines, even through online means, may be held criminally liable under Section 28 of the SRC. This ban is expected to be effective within a three-month period providing ample time for Filipino traders to close their investment positions held on Binance. Meanwhile, the SEC Chair Emilio B. Aquino has reiterated that the regulatory body believes that Filipinos continuous access to Binance websites and associated mobile applications poses a threat to the security of the funds of investing Filipinos. It should be noted this latest move by the Philippine SEC came after issuing a warning notice to Binance on November 28, 2023. The Philippine SECs ban on Binance serves as a clear warning to other unregulated exchanges operating within the country, underlining the importance of compliance with local securities laws. Binance Regulatory Blows Continue The Philippine SECs ban on Binance is not an isolated incident, as the exchange has faced increasing regulatory scrutiny worldwide. In 2023, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed charges against Binance for allegedly operating an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange and evading federal laws. Similarly, the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged Binance Holdings LTD and ex-CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for allegedly operating unregistered exchanges, broker exchanges, clearing houses, and the unregistered offer and sale of securities. However, Binance and CZ pleaded guilty to a range of federal charges, including anti-money laundering violations and unlicensed money transmission, on November 21, 2023. This was after a series of investigations by the SEC, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), and the CFTC. CZ later resigned as the CEO of Binance, which was part of the agreement with the DOJ. #Binance CEO CZ Steps Down as CEO As Part Of $4 Billion Settlement With US pic.twitter.com/63nqhU1dPh Ahmed CEO (@Ahmedxmtj) November 21, 2023 CFTC announced on December 18, 2023, that the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ordered CZ to pay $150 million, and the exchange ruled to pay $2.7 billion to conclude enforcement action. At press time, CZ is free on a $175 million release bond but awaits court sentence in reaction to his role in Binance money laundering charges. Immediately upon Mahmoud landing in America, Nicole was disappointed he was "tired" and wasnt "more excited" to see her TLC Nicole and Mahmoud on 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After. Nicole and Mahmoud Sherbinys love story is off to a rough start. The married 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After couple is starting over again as Mahmoud leaves life in Egypt behind for Nicoles American culture. The decision comes after countless clashes and arguments over standards of womanhood in both countries, and after both Nicole and Mahmoud made it clear that this was their last attempt to save their marriage. In the teaser for the upcoming episode, Nicole is seen telling Mahmoud he can get out of the country and find someone more his type. Related: 90 Day Fiance's Mahmoud Officially Joins Nicole in America with Intention to 'Keep Our Marriage Together' TLC Nicole and Mahmoud have previously argued about their own opinions on modesty. My husband is stopping dead in his tracks to stare at this woman, Nicole says to cameras in the clip. It makes me feel like Im not Muslim enough for him. Nicole then tells Mahmoud how the moment impacted her, telling him, If you want an Arab woman, you can go back to f---ing Egypt." Mahmoud took it to heart, however, and responded, Okay, I will. Im done," before walking away with his hands up. Earlier in Sundays episode, Nicole and Mahmoud went at it after he arrived at the airport, tired from his flight from Egypt to America. Nicole took it personally that Mahmoud was tired and told him, You should have slept on the plane. I know youre just tired, but I was definitely hoping youd be a lot more excited happy to see me, she said, adding, But I told you, it irritates me that you didnt sleep on the plane, actually. Mahmoud also took issue with a few things in Nicoles home a nude painting she made in art school, and her mannequin used for her fashion career. She lived here before he did, Nicole joked to cameras about the art piece. 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. 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on TLC. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. 90 Day Fiance began as a wholesome show chronicling international couples love stories. Then it turned into one of the most dramatic reality shows on TV. Not only do the couples have to focus on making love work from long distances, they also have to grapple with cultural differences. Frequently, these differences include pressure from their families. Often, the families have varying expectations for their offsprings relationship and partner because of differing cultural norms. The latter has led to some of the biggest feuds in 90 Day Fiance history. Grab your popcorn and lets take a trip down 90 Day Feud-ance Memory Lane! Jenny Slatten vs Kimberly Rochelle Photo credit: TLC/YouTube You might think that 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way co-stars Kimberly Rochelle and Jenny Slatten would get along since they both moved to India for their partner without knowing anyone else. It turns out Jenny had been watching Kimberlys journey in India and felt that Kimberly didnt appreciate the country or the opportunities she had been given. On the Tell-All for TOW season 5, Jenny finally had a chance to tell Kimberly that she thinks shes entitled. Kimberly didnt appreciate this and called Jenny a c***, which nobody expected. Jenny retorted that Kimberly should meet up with her, in what sounded like a threat of a physical altercation. Fans werent shocked when Kimberly said Ill give you my address. This wouldnt be the first instance of physical violence and similar threats in the series. Kalani Faagata and Asuelu Pulaa vs. Asuelus Mother and Sister Photo credit: TLC/YouTube In 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? Season 5, Kalani Faagata and Asuelu Pulaa had an infamous struggle with Asuelus mom and sister over money. Asuelus family alleged that back home in Samoa, it was normal for the offspring to send money to their family once they got married. Kalani resisted, as she had two children to raise with Asuelu. This prompted Asuelus sister to try to physically fight Kalani, to which Kalani famously said If your sister would have touched my f****ing body, I would have dropped her. Andrei Castravet vs. The Potthast Family Photo Credit: TLC/YouTube From the moment Elizabeth Potthast Castravets family met her partner Andrei Castravet, they famously did not get along. Libbys family thought Andrei was controlling, and Andrei seemed to think Libbys dad should pay for everything (like a fancy wedding in Andreis home country of Moldova) despite Andrei himself not working. Libbys dad tried to give Andrei a job at his construction company, with disastrous results. The Potthast family grew even more suspicious of Andrei when they visited Moldova. Andrei had met Libby in Dublin, and the family found out he left Moldova because of complications with his job in security. This did not make things any better. The feud came to a head with physical fights between Andrei and the family. Talk about drama! The Everett Family vs. The Jimeno Family Photo credit: TLC/YouTube Of course, we would be remiss to write an article about 90 Day Fiance feuds and not discuss the feuding families of Pedro Jimeno and Chantel Everett. Between Chantels family accusing Pedro and his family of harvesting the American dollar, Chantels family thinking Pedros family was feeding them chicken feet to be disrespectful, or the table flipping during what was supposed to be a nice dinner, these two families just never could seem to get along. Of course, the families inability to get along started from one singular mistake: Chantel lied to her family when Pedro first came to the US. She did not tell them that she was in a relationship with the Dominican Republic man, and said he was in the States on a student visa. This caused her family to mistrust Pedro from the get-go. The drama eventually led to both families starring on their spin-off show, The Family Chantel. Fans are relieved that these two finally got divorced! Viewers can see Chantel living her best single life on the aptly-named 90 Day: The Single Life. Larissa Lima vs Colt and Debbie Johnson Photo credit: TLC/YouTube Larissa Dos Santos Lima is notorious for her fiery personality and her many feuds with her then-partner Colt Johnson. The Brazilian beauty got in many screaming matches with Colt and his mother Debbie Johnson because Larissa felt that Colt wasnt giving her enough attention and support against his mother. Debbie thought Larissa was rude and spoiled, but fans noticed that Debbie was rude to Larissa as well. The feud peaked when Larissa famously stood at the top of the stairs and yelled Who is against the Queen will die! This was in response to Debbie referring to her as the queen in a rude manner. Larissa has been fired from the franchise, but Colts true colors have been revealed in consequent relationships, so fans are no longer Team Larissa. Apparently, Debbie and Larissa now get along. Who knew? TELL US WHICH 90 DAY FIANCE FEUD DID WE MISS? The post The Biggest 90 Day Fiance Feuds Ever appeared first on Reality Tea. An Orlando-based restaurant known for its freshly made-to-order fare is preparing to open its fifth Jacksonville-area breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant. Keke's Breakfast Cafe plans to open March 27 at 9570 Crosshill Blvd., Suite 106, in Oakleaf Town Center, a restaurant representative confirmed to the Times-Union. The new restaurant is in the storefront previously used by Panera Bread Co., which relocated to 9725 Applecross Road, also in Oakleaf Town Center. Keke's is best known for its large breakfast menu of waffles, pancakes, French toasts and more as well as a lunch menu of paninis, sandwiches, burgers, wraps and salads. The Cheese Steak Omelet with steak, green pepper, onion, and white American cheese is a customer favorite at Keke's Breakfast Cafe. The Oakleaf restaurant's opening comes a little more than five weeks after Keke's opened at 12959 Atlantic Blvd., Suite 101, near Lowe's in East Arlington, in the space that previously housed Sugarfire Smoke House and before that, Panera. Other area Keke's locations include 4906 Town Center Parkway, Unit 104, at The Strand at Town Center in Jacksonville; 450 Durbin Pavilion Drive, Suite E106, in Saint Johns; and 135 Jenkins St. Unit 106 in St. Augustine. Keke's tagline is "mornings from scratch." The restaurant chain also promises "no microwaves ever." The Florida pancakes with fresh strawberries, banana, blueberries and powdered sugar are a customer favorite at Keke's Breakfast Cafe. The restaurant offers breakfasts, sandwiches, burgers, and salads from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. When the East Arlington location opened, Steven Decker, area operations leader for Keke's, told the Times-Union that the restaurant chain has "some deep-seated roots in Florida" given its founding in Orlando and ongoing expansion. "Coupled with the fact that Florida will be home for us, as well with the quality of ingredients that we can get inside of Florida and that is one of our cornerstones is having those fresh, quality ingredients," he said at the time. Although nothing is concrete yet, Decker noted that Keke's is looking to continue growing in the Jacksonville area. Scrambled or over easy?: 5 best restaurants in the Jacksonville area for a great breakfast All Keke's restaurants are open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. Teresa Stepzinski is the dining reporter for the Times-Union. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @TeresaStepz or reach her via email at tstepzinski@jacksonville.com. If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest dining coverage This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Keke's Breakfast Cafe opening fifth Jacksonville-area restaurant Its going to make a very good speech at the wedding, bride Lindel Cain joked of the dress blunder Getty; 7 News Australia Stock photo of wedding dress split with Getty image An Australian bride-to-be is searching for her wedding dress after her fiance accidentally left it on the roof of his car. Lindel Cain of Adelaide told local outlet 7 News that she and her fiance, Tom Mitton, had been picking up some items from a storage facility at the time, and Mitton placed a box containing her $2,000 dress on the roof of his car. She said he was worried that the box and its delicate contents would be crushed or damaged by the other items. Little did Mitton know, his careful safeguarding of the wedding dress would backfire. The pair later got into the car and drove off, with the box still on the vehicle's roof. It wasn't long before they realized their mistake. We were pulling into Burnside Village [a local shopping center] when the penny dropped for him, and we quickly turned around and tried to retrace our steps, Cain told 7 News. We parked the car and walked along Port Wakefield Road with trucks going 90 kilometers per hour past us, trying to find the box somewhere on the side of the road," she continued. Sadly, the couple had no luck, and now Cain has put forth a $500 reward for anyone who finds the box and the dress, which she said is labeled with her name. If the dress doesn't turn up in the end, Cain still has plenty of time to get a replacement, as her wedding isn't taking place until February 2025. In the meantime, she is choosing to see the humor in the unfortunate bridal blunder. Its going to make a very good speech at the wedding, she told 7 News. For a man who isnt very emotional, there were lots of emotions yesterday, lots of tears on his behalf because he could see how upset I was," she added of Mitton. 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. In a similar story back in 2020, a bride named Narolin Cepeda and her family were traveling to Ohio for the wedding when the bride's mother accidentally left behind a roller bag containing her daughter's wedding dress after the group went through security. Related: TSA Employee Rescues Bride's Wedding Dress Left at Airport Security: She 'Saved' the Wedding Cepeda's brother, Christopher Cepeda, contacted the TSAs Lost and Found Office but wasn't all that optimistic about recovering Narolin's dress. "As soon as I submitted the request, we lost hope of retrieving the luggage in time for the wedding," he told the Asbury Park Press. To his surprise, he quickly got a phone call from TSA administrative assistant Loletta Nathan-Gordon. She explained that she received Christopher's email at 11:54 a.m. and by noon she was able to locate the roller bag, which was still sitting at the security checkpoint. Nathan-Gordon arranged for the bag to be shipped overnight to Narolin, and it arrived at 8:55 a.m. the next morning just in time for the bride's walk down the aisle. She literally saved my sisters wedding, Christopher said of Nathan-Gordon. If it wasnt for her, everything would have been a disaster. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Trial Against Terraform Labs And Do Kwon Begins In NYC Following Prison Release The United States Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) trial against Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon is set to begin in Manhattan federal court Monday, though the former crypto tycoon will not be present. Jury Selection Underway For Kwons SEC Trial In NYC The landmark civil trial stems from the SECs original complaint against Kwon in February 2023 over the dramatic May 2022 collapse of Terraform Labs TerraUSD stablecoin, which led to the loss of over $40 billion in market value. As alleged in our complaint, the Terraform ecosystem was neither decentralized, nor finance, Director of the SECs Division of Enforcement, Gurbir S. Grewal, said in a statement at the time. It was simply a fraud propped up by a so-called algorithmic stablecoin the price of which was controlled by the defendants, not any code. Kwon stands accused of violating the registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. Despite the high-profile nature of the crime, civil trials typically result in hefty monetary fees or injunctions as opposed to actual prison time for convicted defendants. U.S. And South Korea Locked Into Legal Battle For Kwon The start of Mondays trial comes on the heels of Kwons Saturday release from a Montenegrin prison as the Balkan countrys Supreme Court debates his extradition location. DO KWON PLACED IN "RECEPTION CENTER" IN MONTENEGRO AFTER PRISON RELEASE Kwon was reportedly interrogated by a local inspector for five hours before being moved to the camp. He is expected to remain guarded in the facility until the local court makes a new decision on his pic.twitter.com/c921NzFrMl Mario Nawfals Roundtable (@RoundtableSpace) March 25, 2024 Both the U.S. and Kwons native South Korea have been battling for his extradition, causing numerous international legal hurdles regarding the crypto fugitives fate. South Korea originally issued an arrest warrant for Kwon in September 2022 for violating the countrys national markets law, prompting a nearly year-long manhunt for the founder of Terraform Labs across Europe and Asia. Kwon was finally detained in Montenegro in March 2023 for attempting to use a fake Costa Rican passport to fly to Dubai following multiple attempts to track him down, including an Interpol red notice for his arrest. He was ordered to serve four months in Montenegros Spuz Prison on document forgery charges. Following his release over the weekend, officials barred Kwons passport from being used in hopes of preventing him from fleeing the country. Terra Collapse Was A Tipping Point For Crypto The collapse of Terra is regarded by many to have caused major damage to the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with blockchain analytics firm Nansen alleging the collapse set off crypto exchange FTXs ultimate demise. GM CryptoX 2 x important dates for the bad boys of crypto Today is the start of Do Kwons US #SEC trial Thursday sees the sentencing of former #FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried #SBF pic.twitter.com/XhJ0Mv3Rvb RR2Capital (@RR2Capital) March 25, 2024 FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is expected back in Manhattan federal court later this week to be sentenced following his November 2023 crypto fraud conviction. It is currently unclear when Kwons extradition will be, much less where. Liam Jones, 23, was last seen on March 16 as his cruise ship headed for Germany, and Hampshire police are now investigating Getty A stock image of a cruise ship A British man who has gone missing from a cruise ship in Europe texted his wife just moments before falling overboard, she said. Liam Jones, 23, of Scotland, was on a weeklong Northern European cruise with his family aboard the MSC Euribia when he fell overboard on March 16, MSC Cruises told Metro. According to Jones' wife, 20-year-old Sophia Mcphee, the social work student had just texted her that he was feeling seasick prior to his disappearance. "He's just gone. I'm never going to see him again," Mcphee told the Daily Record. "I'm devastated. I have so many questions, and I'm not getting any answers to what's happened." Mcphee said that Jones' sister who called her to break the news of her husband's disappearance told her that security camera footage showed Jones falling overboard, However, McPhee said she hadn't been updated on the investigation since. 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. "[Jones' sister] said there had been an accident, and Liam 'wasn't coming back,' " Mcphee told the Daily Record. "She then said she had seen CCTV and he'd gone overboard." Mcphee had last seen her husband on March 14, when he departed their Dundee, Scotland, home to meet his family in Glasgow before they boarded the cruise in Southampton the following day, she said. The family was taking the cruise to celebrate Jones' mother's birthday. "I've been trying to get in contact with the MSC since Monday, but it's been a headache," Mcphee told the Daily Record. "They're not getting back to me." Related: Cruise Ship Worker Reveals What It's Like to be in 'Isolation' at Sea Amid Coronavirus The MSC Euribia was set to travel from Southampton to Amsterdam over the course of several days, with stops in Denmark, Norway and Germany, according to the ship's itinerary. The international cruise line said the ship was headed to Germany at the time Jones fell overboard. "A passenger on board MSC Euribia went overboard on March 16 as the ship was sailing to Hamburg. This was reported to the authorities," a spokesperson from MSC Cruises told The Telegraph. "The police in Southampton boarded the vessel today and investigated on behalf of the coroner," the statement continued, per the outlet. "We are deeply saddened by this news and our thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time. Out of respect for the familys privacy, we will refrain from disclosing any additional information." Related: Cruise Ship Rescues 14 People Stranded at Sea for 8 Days as Passengers Look on in 'Shock': WATCH The incident prompted a response from the Hampshire Constabulary, the outlet reported, and a spokesperson confirmed that investigators have begun looking into Jones' case. "Officers boarded the vessel today following a report that a man had gone overboard," a Constabulary spokesperson told The Telegraph. "The mans family are aware, and police are investigating this on behalf of the coroner." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Revolucion to Roxy the wildly entertaining new memoir from Roxy Musics lead guitarist, Phil Manzanera is out now in the U.S., and as befits an art-rock pioneer of his caliber, its far from your typical rock n roll autobiography. From rubbing elbows with musical deities to surviving tumultuous moments in political history, the 73-year-old musicians life recalls the groundbreaking guitar work he delivered as a member of Roxy: Loaded with left-field twists, out-of-the-blue delights and the occasional hint of danger. In this book (and while speaking to Billboard from his spacious, bright recording studio in England), Manzanera likens himself to Forrest Gump and hes not just referring to the pinch-me musical moments hes been party to. Born to a Colombian mother and English father in London, Manzanera was just six years old when his family moved to Cuba for his fathers job; less than two years later, they were dodging bullets on New Years Eve 1958 as the Cuban Revolution reached their doorstep. More from Billboard Escaping Cuba brought him from New York to Hawaii to Venezuela and back to London, where he befriended David Gilmour during the Syd Barrett era of Pink Floyd. While his first band, Quiet Sun, failed to rise, he soon became part of the British rock vanguard as a member of Roxy Music the stylish, influential and experimental band who clinched a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2019. Along the way, hes had hairy run-ins with Columbian cartels and baffling moments with Bob Dylan, and he cashed in big time when Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled one of his guitar licks for their 2012 single No Church in the Wild. Oh, and later in life, he found out that his father was the product of a secret love affair his grandmother had with a touring Italian musician while estranged from her abusive husband (the two eventually reconciled, so he grew up knowing a non-biological grandfather). One of the things about writing the book is trying to make sense of what happened, Manzanera says, sounding a bit incredulous about his own life even now. While thinking of the night his family hid in a bathroom while a gun battle raged outside during the Cuban Revolution, he says, You do start to think, Oh, did I have they hadnt invented post-traumatic stress. Im trying to go back there and think, St, I must be really scared and my mothers screaming and all this. I seem to have just refocused maybe its the music that took me away. Thank you, music. Music arrived in Manzaneras life in a way that marks another curious coincidence. As a child in Havana before Castros takeover, his mothers friend an Italian woman named Franca began playing guitar at their house, piquing his interest in playing the instrument. When its pointed out that it was an Italian woman who got him started on the guitar decades before he learned the truth about his biological grandfather being Italian, he rubs his forehead. Ive never made that connection until you mentioned it, Manzanera says. Im going to have to try and process it. Learning Spanish songs in Havana as a kid certainly paid off for Manzanera. A 1972 audition in front of Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Andy MacKay and Paul Thompson turned him into a full-time member of Roxy Music, where hes remained a constant through the bands on-and-off half-century. The bands first period resulted in five classic albums (Manzanera cites their second, For Your Pleasure, as his favorite), numerous top 10 U.K. hits and an eventual American breakthrough when Love Is the Drug hit the Billboard Hot 100 top 30. Roxy Musics 1979 return, Manifesto, became their highest charting American LP (No. 23 on the Billboard 200), while their studio swan song, 1982s Avalon a lush, atmospheric piece of sophisticated pop is frequently listed as one of the greatest albums of all time. Even so, Avalon isnt exactly Manzaneras favorite he prefers the weirder side of Roxy, and was delighted when they performed an ode to a blow-up sex doll, In Every Dream Home a Heartache, at their Rock Hall induction. While Eno, who left Roxy after its first two albums, wasnt present for the induction, he and Manzanera have continued to keep in touch and work together over the years. The ambient godfather contributed vocals and instruments to Manzaneras solo debut, 1975s Diamond Head, a knockout album that found Manzanera imbuing his heady, playful art rock with his Latin roots for the first time on wax. The following year, Manzanera brought together a group of profession and non-professional musicians for a project called 801, which produced the cult classic LP 801 Live. While Manzanera says that Eno prided himself on being a non-musician in the 801 equation, he admits that his bandmate is fudging it a little bit with that self-assessment. Lets face it: He writes songs, he sings songs, he does lovely melodies. Well, what else do you have to do to qualify as a musician? Manzaneras memoir offers plenty of beautifully written insights about his music with Roxy, 801, Quiet Sun and more, but Manzanera really soars when sharing some of the madcap anecdotes that a globe-trotting life has afforded him. Theres his story of playing a charity gig in Colombia alongside lifelong pal David Gilmour and Roger Daltrey only to be accused of being entangled in a drug cartels alleged money-laundering (cousins in Colombia helped him navigate that one). Plus, theres an amazing Bob Dylan story. When he met the notoriously inscrutable icon at a 1991 festival in Seville, Spain, Dylan asked him to identify a Tex-Mex song from 1947 that he wanted to play onstage with Manzanera and then proceeded to play five wildly different songs in succession. Let me just start by saying I love Bob Dylan, Manzanera says. He can do anything he likes. But it was baffling and confused. And Ive often thought about it. Did he think that I was Mexican? Long after the gig, Manzanera asked Phil Ramone, the legendary producer of Blood on the Tracks, about Dylans modus operandi. He said, Well, you just patiently let him come and he does whatever he wants to do. And then he goes, and then you get whatever you can. As for his Dylan encounter, Manzanera concludes that he was probably too British and too polite to wrangle the iconoclast at that concert, but says the experience had one lasting benefit: I wasnt intimated working with anyone else ever again. Ive been there, done that and bring it on. Two decades later, another confounding musical artist came into his orbit when Kanye West, via producer 88-Keys, decided he needed to sample a guitar lick from Manzaneras K-Scope, the title track to his 1978 solo album. Manzanera gave it his blessing, and the song morphed into No Church in the Wild, a Hot 100 hit from the acclaimed Kanye West & Jay-Z collab album Watch the Throne. It was huge, says Manzanera, who opines he probably made more money off that sample than he ever did as a member of Roxy Music. It was the first proper album that Jay-Z and Kanye had done together; it was No. 1; it won a Grammy; it was used in The Great Gatsby trailer as well as the film; in the Denzel Washington film Safe House; and in a Super Bowl commercial. And if you get played in a trailer, its much more (money) than just being in the film. Manzanera sees song synchs as something everybody is chasing in the industry right now. Its just like, oh, so thats where the money is, he says. Synchs, synchronization rights, are worth a fortune. Beyond his brush with a smashing sync success, its clear that Manzanera is keeping tabs on the ever-shifting music industry. The whole paradigm has changed over the years. Forget about looking at streaming we know all the problems with that. Its a changing world and particularly difficult for young artists. Thats why (I support) what Taylor Swift and RAYE, who just won a load of Brit Awards, are doing: independent, keeping their rights, doing it for themselves. Im right there. Just as the No Church In the Wild windfall fell into his lap, Forrest Gump-esque opportunities continue to come his way. Not long ago, he was asked to produce some big band-styled sessions for Rod Stewart and Jools Holland. The resulting album, Swing Fever, features seven songs he produced and recently topped the U.K. album chart. And Manzanera continues to make his own music; his memoir comes with a musical component (including a track dedicated to his mother), and when we speak, hes about to start rehearsals for AM/PM concerts with Roxy bandmates MacKay and Thompson. Its going to be experimental I hope in a good way, he adds with a chuckle. You dont expect to be able to do this 50 years after you start, Manzanera muses. But rock n roll has grown up, and theres a lot of us still here. Music is what we do. We just want to be happy. And we want to be free. Best of Billboard Fremantle has completed the acquisition of Asacha Media Group, the private-equity-backed operation that owns eight TV and film production companies across France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Asachas subsidiaries include Death in Paradise producers Red Planet Pictures; Italian scripted groups Picomedia (Beyond the Sea, La Storia) and Stand by Me (Diaries); and Frances Srab Films (Saint Omer, Happening) and Mintee Studios (Cimetiere Indien). On the non-scripted and factual side, Asacha controls Frances Kabo Family (Scenes de Menages) and Wag (Dont Pick Up the Phone) and Arrow Media (See no Evil) in the U.K.. More from The Hollywood Reporter The deal sees Fremantle acquire the Asacha from the founding partners, managers and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. Headquartered in Paris, Asacha will continue to be run by co-founder and group CEO Gaspard de Chavagnac who will report to Andrea Scrosati, Fremantles Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, who spearheaded the acquisition. Also staying on are Marina Williams, as Asacha CCO. The deal is the latest in Fremantles global buying spree, which has seen the super indie, owned by European broadcasting group RTL, gobble up some of the most prestigious independent production companies worldwide, including Irelands Element Pictures, producers of Oscar-winning feature Poor Things, Italian group Lux Vide (Devils), and U.K.-based Dancing Ledge Productions (The Responder), among many others. Last month, Fremantle also took a majority stake in Singapore-based Beach House Pictures, producers of Netflixs Mind Your Manners and Mr. Midnight. Together, Fremantle has valued the Asacha and Beach House Deals at $217 million. Lazard, Mayer Brown, Duroc partners and Arsene advised on the deal for Asacha Media Group and Oaktree, with CMS advising fro Fremantle. Best of The Hollywood Reporter If you were waiting to hear the naturally Scottish-brogued Ewan McGregor take on a Russian accent, youll instantly be disappointed by A Gentleman In Moscow, the miniseries debuting March 31 on Paramount+ with Showtime. Despite its backdrop of post-revolutionary Russia, the adaptation of Amor Towless bestselling 2016 novel does like many other Slavic period piecesHBOs Chernobyl, Hulus The Great, Netflixs The Last Czarsand adorns its characters with upper-crust English accents, the screens simplest way of signifying something is both old and fancy. When we meet him, McGregors Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is not yet old, though he will age several decades over the course of eight episodes, but he is fancyat least, he was. Theres no place for the aristocratic old guard in Russias socialist new orderthe formerly fancy folks who havent already been executed by the Bolsheviks have been banished from the Motherland or relegated to scrubbing the floors of sanatoriums. By comparison, Count Rostovs sentence initially seems lenient; hes spared death by a Soviet tribunal and is instead ordered to live out the rest of his days under house arrest in Moscows Hotel Metropol. Sure, hell be shot and killed if he ever sets foot outside and hes been forced to trade his sprawling suite for a spare attic room, but the hotels opulent furnishings, silver-service dining rooms, and extensive wine cellar should make the years fly, no? After all, its kind of hard to feel sorry for a rich white guy no matter what decade were dealing with. A Gentleman In Moscow B+ B+ A Gentleman In Moscow Its smart casting, then, that showrunner Ben Vanstone (All Creatures Great And Small) and the powers that be chose McGregor as the eponymous gentleman, replacing the originally cast Kenneth Branagh. McGregors Rostov has elements of Branaghian campinessthat twirled mustache looks plucked straight off Poirots face and is complemented by a similarly over-the-top permed dobut all that initial extravagance and exaggeration is softened by the actors sincere eyes and easy charm. The Count briefly grieves the loss of his former freedoms and fineries, even contemplating suicide at one point, but he largely adopts an air of graceful, good-natured defiance in response to his glum predicament. (Its the business of time to change...and gentlemen to change with them, he declares in one episode.) Alexander finds surprising camaraderie in confinement: the thoughtful staffers of the Metropol, the Soviet film siren with whom he enjoys an on-and-off romance (played by McGregors real-life wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead, doing her best Carrie Coon impression), and the Eloise-esque nine-year-old Nina Kulikova (Alexa Goodall) who ends up changing Rostovs life forever. (The actors own girl-dad energy is sweetly felt in Rostovs tender connection to both the young Nina andspoiler alert!her daughter decades later.) Over the years, the tumult of the politics, poverty, and warfare of 20th-century Russia roars through the rotating doors of the Hotel Metropol, temporarily disrupting the whimsy and wonder of its sumptuous ballrooms and lovingly detailed lounges via a sobering character. Among them are Rostovs old college comrade Mishka Mindich (Fehinti Balogun) and Osip Glebnikov (Johnny Harris), the party officer tasked with keeping an eye on the Count. Its tricky choreography, attempting an intentionally light soft-shoe to the growing thrum of dread that creeps into the Counts daily routine: propaganda posters of Stalin erected in the hotel lobby, the labels peeled off those beautiful bottles of wine in communist fealty, a man shot dead mere feet from the Metropols entrance. The show sometimes stumbles through these tonal shiftswith directing duties shared by Sam Miller (I May Destroy You, Surface) and Sarah OGorman (The Witcher, Cursed), the camera often flits between shaky realism and soft-focus dreaminessbut its McGregors sentimental yet sophisticated turn that ultimately keeps the dance going. Sure, as on page, some of the dramatic impact of A Gentleman In Moscow is subdued in knowing that no matter what happens to the Countwhether he becomes a waiter or a parent or a spyhes going to face said adversity with affability and well-born aplomb. And though the TV adaptation heartily fleshes out some of the novels side characters, particularly Baloguns Mishka and Winsteads Anna Urbanova, this is still Rostovs story through and through. McGregor delicately guides the Count through the countrys many political changes and the characters own internal revolutions, from entitled dandy to devoted dad, and in the process conceives a fine Russian gentleman indeedaccent or not. A Gentleman In Moscow premieres March 31 on Paramount+ with Showtime Last March, Netflix announced that the hit thriller would be returning for its final season Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Penn Badgley films 'You' in New York City Penn Badgley and his serial killer persona have begun filming season 5 of You! In photos obtained by PEOPLE, the actor, 37, was spotted on set and in wardrobe in New York City. Badgley, who stars in the series as Joe Goldberg, was seen in character confidently striding down the street while wearing a black peacoat, a maroon shirt and navy blue slacks. He accessorized his look with matching shoes and a gold band on his finger. In another photo, the actor was fashioned in a red puffer jacket with a logo that read "Rab" and khaki colored pants. Christopher Peterson/SplashNews Penn Badgley films 'You' season 5 in New York City Related: 'You' 's Penn Badgley Says He Would 'Hold' and 'Hug' Murderous Stalker Joe Goldberg: 'He Needs Love' Netflix also confirmed in a press release on Monday that the series had begun production on the fifth season, which promises "more thrilling twists and turns." In the first official image, Joe is pictured walking down the streets of New York City in his black peacoat. As he crosses the street outside of Bleecker St. subway station, Joe keeps his hands in his pocket and offers a smirk. Netflix Penn Badgley on 'You' Last March, Netflix announced that the hit thriller would be returning for its fifth and final season. "Will Joe Goldberg finally get his judgment day? Fans of the beloved thriller will soon know more about Joe's fate when YOU returns for a fifth and final season," the streamer teased in a press release at the time. News of You's renewal came shortly after part 2 of its fourth season aired with one incredible fakeout. The last installment followed Goldberg under the pseudonym Professor Jonathan Moore in a new, academic career abroad. As he stepped into a circle of London elites, a murderer dubbed the Eat the Rich Killer began taking the lives of Goldberg's new friends. But he was committed to remaining celibate from his murderous tendencies, leaving his violent ways behind with his life in America. Related: 'You' 's Tati Gabrielle Says Penn Badgley Morphed into 'a Whole New Person' on Set During Tense Marienne Scenes Part 2 focused on Goldberg's unlikely friendship with another man who had a similar taste for blood. But the show asked, How sustainable is a friendship between two killers? And, If Joe continues to fall for the beautiful women around him, will he ever be able to stop killing for good? Badgley explained the surprising twists in season 4 to British GQ. "It has to go to this place for five episodes where it's like, 'Is he going to become a hero as we've all wanted him to?' It doesn't make any sense when Joe becomes a hero," he admitted. "This is the only place the show could have ever gone and remain relevant, remain responsible, remain intelligent, remain sensitive, but true." The actor also shared why he believed season 5 could be the last saga inside killer Joe's head. "I know what [showrunner] Greg [Berlanti] pitched me a few years back as what he thought was the right way to end," Badgley said. "If there's another one, it's going to be, I think, a grand finale." 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. A release date for You season 5 has yet to be announced. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The Queen of Pop will play in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 4 at Copacabana Beach Ricardo Gomes Madonna Madonna knows "the power of good-bye." On Monday, the Queen of Pop, 65, announced that she will perform a historic free concert in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 4 at Copacabana Beach for her final Celebration Tour show. Sponsored by Itau Apresenta, the concert "will be free of charge as a thank you to her fans for celebration more than four decades of her music over the course of the epic global run of the tour" and will be broadcast live on TV Globo, per a press release. The show will be her first in Brazil since 2012. Ricardo Gomes Madonna Related: See Cardi B Join Madonna on Stage at Final Los Angeles Celebration Tour Show There are no tickets required for the event, which will take place in front of the Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel, and entry will be available on a first-come first-serve basis. Before heading to Brazil, Madonna is set to perform in Dallas before making stops in Houston, Atlanta, Austin and more. She will also take the stage in Miami for three nights in Miami at the Kaseya Center (April 6-9) and will play at Palacio De Los Deportes in Mexico City for five nights. The Material Girl kicked off her long-awaited Celebration Tour at London's O2 Arena in October with an electrifying two-hour set where she opened up about her road back to the stage after her hospitalization last year following a serious bacterial infection. Kevin Mazur/WireImage Madonna performs during opening night of the Celebration Tour at the O2 Arena on Oct. 14, 2023 in London "I didn't think I was gonna make it. Neither did my doctors. That's why I woke up with all of my children sitting around me," Madonna said of her kids Lourdes, 27, Rocco, 23, David, 18, Mercy, 18, and twins Stella and Estere, 11. "But the angels were protecting me, and my children were there. And my children always save me every time." Earlier this month, she opened up about the toll the tour was taking on her. "This show every night is not really so hard on me physically. It's hard on me emotionally because I'm really telling you the story of my life. My heart is on my sleeve," Madonna said. "I've fallen off a lot of horses and broken a lot of bones ... but nothing can stop me." The "Ray of Light" artist referenced her health scare last summer, calling it a "near-death experience" and revealed that the "first word" she said was "No" when she woke up from an induced coma after four days. 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. Ricardo Gomes Madonna Related: Madonna Says 'Sorry' After Mistakenly Calling Out Wheelchair User for Sitting Down at L.A. Celebration Tour "I'm pretty sure that was God saying to me, 'Do you want to come? Want to come up with me? No,'" Madonna continued, drawing laughs from the audience. Later, she recalled a conversation she had with her longtime manager, Guy Oseary, while she was in the hospital. "He said, 'Well, when do you think you want to go back on tour?' I took the oxygen out of my nose. I looked at him, and I said, 'in two f---ing months!" Madonna said. "I just said it. Sometimes you just have to say s--- [and] put it out in the universe. And it happens." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Madonna performs during The Celebration Tour at The O2 Arena on October 15, 2023 in London, England. - Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Live Nation Madonna will play for the biggest crowd of her career in May. On Monday, the pop legend announced that shell conclude her Celebration Tour with a free show at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on May 4. More from Rolling Stone The performance marks her first time performing in Brazil since 2012, and is set to be a thank you to her fans for celebrating more than four decades of her music over the course of the epic global run of the tour, according to a press release. The show will take place in front of the Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel, with Brazils TV Globo broadcasting the concert live. Fans will not need to acquire tickets. Copacabana Beach has been the site of several major concerts over the years: Rod Stewart brought out more than 4 million attendees to his show there in 1994; Lenny Kravitz performed for 300,000 in 2005; and the Rolling Stones reportedly drew 1.5 million fans in 2006. Madonna last visited Brazil in December 2012 for her The MDNA Tour, stopping at venues such as Rios Parque dos Atletas, Sao Paulos Estadio do Morumbi, and Porto Alegres Estadio Olimpico Monumental. Madonna opened her Celebration Tour at Londons O2 Arena in London back in October 2023, touring across Europe through December. She kicked off the U.S. leg of her tour in New York City on Dec. 13, with shows scheduled through April 26 including a five-show run at Mexico Citys Palacio de los Deportes. Her voice is still as strong as ever, and she wont be able to make out with dozens of dancers onstage forever, so now is the perfect time for her celebration, read a Rolling Stone review of her show in New York. The tour has had several major guests along the way: In Los Angeles, Kylie Minogue and Cardi B joined her on stage on separate occasions. Madonna performs numerous hits such as Like a Prayer, Hung Up, Vogue, and Like a Virgin during the Celebration Tour. Best of Rolling Stone The 18-year-old brother has undergone several surgeries and is expected to make a full recovery, according to a report Getty A stock photo of a mountain lion. A 21-year-old man was killed and his 18-year-old brother was injured in a mountain lion attack in California on Saturday, the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office said "The reporting party suffered traumatic injuries to his face and was separated from his brother during the attack," authorities said The mountain lion was killed and is being examined to figure out why the attack occurred," an official said A man was killed and his brother was injured on Saturday in what officials say is the first fatal mountain lion attack in California in 20 years. The El Dorado County Sheriffs Office said in a Facebook post that their agency received a 911 call around 1:13 p.m. local time from an 18-year-old man who reported that he and his 21-year-old brother were attacked by a mountain lion in Georgetown. "The reporting party suffered traumatic injuries to his face and was separated from his brother during the attack," authorities said in the release. El Dorado County Sheriffs Office deputies and paramedics responded to the area and began to render aid to the 18-year-old victim. Related: Hiker Injured After Mountain Lion Tries to Attack His Dog in California Canyon "Additional Deputies began the search for the unaccounted brother," the sheriffs office said. "At around 1:46pm Deputies observed a crouched mountain lion next to a subject on the ground. The mountain lion was between the Deputies and the subject on the ground." 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. Deputies discharged their firearms, scaring the mountain lion off so they could render aid, but the 21-year-old was dead. Related: Calif. Boy, 5, Survives Attack by Mountain Lion: 'His Spirit Is Intact' Sgt. Kyle Parker with the department told the Los Angeles Times that two game wardens with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and an El Dorado County trapper shot and killed the mountain lion. Parker said the animal's body was examined to figure out why the attack occurred." The 18-year-old man has undergone several surgeries and is expected to make a full recovery, according to the newspaper. The victims' identities have not been released at this time. PEOPLE has reached out to the sheriffs office for comment. Related: Rafters Use Paddles to Fight Off Mountain Lion That Attacked Man in Remote Area in Arizona Beth Pratt, the head of the nonprofit National Wildlife Federations #SaveLACougars campaign, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that mountain lion attacks are "extremely rare." "Mountain lions have killed four people since 1986, in a state with a population of 40 million, Pratt wrote. "These statistics dont diminish the tragedy when a person is killed or injured by a lion, but it puts the risk in perspective." A 35-year-old man was the last victim of a fatal mountain lion attack in 2004, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlifes list of verified mountain lion-human attacks. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Imprint Films has announced its June releases, which include United States of Leland, Secretary, a Neo-Noir cinema collection, and Martin Scorcese Films of Faith limited edition collection. The June Imprint lineup features six physical releases with thirteen slices of cinema on them. The official details on each are below. Imprint Films June 2024: Martin Scorsese Films of Faith and More You can pre-order all these films at the Imprint Films site. Dive into three critically acclaimed epics from the worlds greatest living director MARTIN SCORSESE: FILMS OF FAITH a Limited Edition 4-disc Hardbox packed with brand NEW special features plus an exclusive hardcover booklet. Willem Dafoe stars in the controversial picture THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988), a visually breathtaking re-imagining of faith and sacrifice, guilt and redemption, sin and atonement. KUNDUN (1997) delves into the incredible true story of one of the worlds most fascinating leaders Tibets Dalai Lama and his daring struggle to rule a nation at one of the most challenging times in its history. With superb direction from Martin Scorsese, jaw-dropping cinematography by Roger Deakins, and a mesmerizing original score by Phillip Glass, this surreal, long-buried, critically praised epic is ripe for rediscovery in this 2-Disc special presentation. The Academy Award-nominated religious epic SILENCE (2016) completes the set, starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as two 17th-century missionaries undertaking a perilous journey to search for their missing mentor. All three films are accompanied by brand NEW and archival special features. This is one not to miss. The long-awaited third collection of AFTER DARK: NEO-NOIR CINEMA is on its way, with six dark modern noirs lurking in the shadows: David Mamets HOMICIDE (1991), on Blu-ray for the first time worldwide, the star-studded WHITE SANDS (1992) with remarkable performances by Willem Dafoe, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Samuel L. Jackson and Mickey Rourke directed by Roger Donaldson (The Bounty) who has contributed to a brand NEW Audio Commentary for this release. Oscar-winner Sean Penn (newly interviewed for this release) produced, wrote and directed the neo-noir classic THE CROSSING GUARD (1995) starring Jack Nicholson alongside female juggernauts Robin Wright, Anjelica Houston, and Piper Laurie. HEAVENS PRISONERS (1996) also comes to Blu-ray for the first time worldwide, starring Alec Baldwin as a once-tough New Orleans cop, unwillingly thrust back into a world of murder and deception. UNDER SUSPICION (2000) stars Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, and Monica Bellucci, and finally DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2002) was nominated for two Academy Awards, starring the great Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou. This 6-Disc Limited Edition Hardbox includes an exclusive 80-page booklet packed with essays. Now onto our final four new releases: critically acclaimed erotic drama SECRETARY (2002) starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader; gritty crime drama FRESH (1994), widely regarded as one of the best films of 1994, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Giancarlo Esposito, NBushe Wright, and Sean Nelson in an acclaimed, award-winning performance; the shocking and disturbing indie drama THE UNITED STATES OF LELAND (2003) with remarkable performances from an all-star cast including Ryan Gosling & Don Cheadle; and finally RAMBLING ROSE (1991) makes its worldwide debut on Blu-ray, an Academy Award-nominated period drama from the director of Valley Girl, Martha Coolidge, starring Laura Dern, Dianne Ladd, and Robert Duvall. The post Martin Scorcese Films of Faith Collection Heads Imprint Films June Lineup appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. Lauren Rauseo, a junior at Stonehill College, was in a bicycle accident in Spain while studying abroad on March 17, the university said Helen DeCosta/GoFundMe Lauren Rauseo, the Stonehill College student injured in a bike crash on March 17 Lauren Rauseo, a college student from Londonderry, N.H., sustained "severe injuries" on March 17 when she was involved in a bike crash in Spain, according to loved ones The young woman is an English and communication double major at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. Lauren's father said his daughter was visiting Spain with a group of friends while studying abroad in Paris A Massachusetts college student has been hospitalized overseas after she was seriously injured in a biking accident while studying abroad. Stonehill College has confirmed that junior Lauren Rauseo, of Londonderry, N.H., was in a bicycle accident in Spain while studying abroad on March 17. The young woman is currently being treated at a Spanish hospital for several injuries she sustained in the crash on the island of Mallorca, according to FOX affiliate WFXT and ABC affiliate WCVB-TV. Rauseo sustained severe injuries in the crash and was initially placed in a medically induced coma, according to Helen DeCosta, who organized a GoFundMe campaign for the young womans family. Related: Mass. Students Rescued from Tipping School Bus That Got Stuck in Mud Among her injuries are a traumatic brain injury, broken clavicle, broken hip, punctured lung, said Dave Rauseo, Laurens father, according to WFXT. Shes pretty banged up, he added. Lydia Chmielowiec, Lauren's friend at Stonehill, told the outlet that learning of the crash was "just horrible," adding, "She is the last person on earth to ever deserve something like that." 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. Rauseo's father told NBC affiliate WJAR-TV that his daughter and her friends traveled to Spain while she was studying in Paris this semester. He told WJAR-TV that there are various reports about what may have happened that day. He believes his daughter was moving at a high rate of speed when she turned while trying to avoid the car. Related: 5 University of Georgia Sorority Sisters Save Mom and Kids from Sinking Car: 'Absolutely Admirable' She is now alert and talking, her parents told WCVB-TV. She does not remember the crash but does remember being on her bike that day, they added. Now, the Rauseo family is hoping to bring her back to the United States. As of Monday morning, more than $178,000 has been raised via the GoFundMe campaign to help Lauren return home. The goal, DeCosta said, is to get Rauseo back to Boston where she can receive the best possible care and embark on the long road to recovery. Related: College Student Goes Missing While Studying Abroad in France, Family Says They 'Fear the Worst' The costs associated with Lauren's medical care, including the necessary medi-flight back to the U.S., are staggering, DeCosta wrote in the description of the online fundraiser. Rauseo is an English and communication double major at Stonehill College, according to Stonehill College. Lauren received a $3,000 grant through the U.S. Department of States competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program to support her study abroad experience in Paris this spring. At the time, the junior said the scholarship would allow her to fully enjoy this opportunity without having to worry about finances. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. This week is the last week for Downtown Carlisle's 2nd Annual Peep Show, where locals can visit downtown businesses for a scavenger hunt and special Peeps-related offers. For a full list of the 22 participating locations for visitors to locate Peeps bunnies as part of the scavenger hunt, visit the DCA's website. Here is a look at some of the "Peeptacular" deals and specials as part of the DCA's annual Easter event: Peeps Back Porch Brewing Inc., 133 N. Hanover St. The brewery will serve a Banana Cream Martini, complete with a Peep, for $8.50 during the Downtown Peep Show. Eclipse Gaming Cafe, 57 W. Pomfret St. For those who are a little more adventurous, the cafe will offer a Nutella-based Fluffernutter grilled sandwich with melted Peeps. Exquisite Chocolates of Carlisle, 35 S. Hanover St. The Belgian chocolate shop will offer chocolate-dipped Peeps and hot cocoa bombs where Peeps pop out. Grand Illusion Hard Cider, 26 W. High St. Grand Illusion will offer a "Marshtini" cocktail, complete with Peep, as well as carrot cake dessert. Hook & Flask Still Works, 137 N. Hanover St. Hook & Flask will serve up special Peeps-infused drinks for the downtown event, complete with Peeps and Peep bunnies. North Hanover Grille, 37 N. Hanover St. The restaurant will have six Peep cocktails to pick from through the end of the month. They are Tipsy Bunny (Cruzan coconut rum with strawberry syrup and lemonade), Drunken Peep (Pinnacle whipped vodka with limoncello and lemonade), Peep Show (Pinnacle citrus vodka with strawberry syrup and lemon juice), Naughty Peep (Cruzan mango rum with Blue Curacao, pineapple juice and club soda), Peepsicle Martini (Effen blood orange vodka and Pinnacle vanilla vodka with orange juice and lemon lime soda) and Peeptini Martini (strawberry vodka and Pinnacle vodka with chocolate liqueur). Other Food Central Wedge Cheese Shop, 25 W. High St. The cheese shop will offer a "self-guided" Girl Scout cookie, candy and cheese pairing, which can be enjoyed in the shop or for take-out. Designed to serve two people, the cheese board is available for $15 and is available through April 6. Specials Anahata Yoga Studio & Boutique, 2 E. Liberty Ave. The boutique will sell its special line of soy candles where 50% of the purchase will go toward the Homeward Bound Animal Rescue. Ten percent of other candle purchases will also be donated to the rescue. The boutique will also have a raffle for a spot in Beginning Aerial Yoga class, as well as clearance items. Create-A-Palooza, 11 E. High St. The art studio will host Paint with your Peeps with $10 Peep bunnies until March 30. Earth Artisan & Outfitter at the Carriage House, 37 W. Chapel Ave. On April 5-6, the business will have a sidewalk sale on the porch, weather permitting, with season goods, as well as new spring arrivals, including eco-friendly art supplies, sling packs and backpacks, heirloom organic art seeds packs and picnic kits. The business is open an extra weekend because it will be closed March 29-30 for an out-of-town event. Marjorie's Gems, 44 S. Hanover St. During the Peep Show, the business will offer 10% off anything yellow. The Downtown Carlisle Association is also hosting a competition to see how many marshmallow chicks people can fit in their mouth. There will be four opportunities this week to win $25 in LoveBucks, or money that can be spent at participating downtown businesses. The events will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Playa Bowls, 32 N. Hanover St.; 7 p.m. Wednesday at Gather Your Party Games, 219 N. Hanover St.; 5 p.m. Thursday at Eclipse Gaming Cafe; and 7 p.m. Thursday at Hook & Flask. The contest is free to enter, and all contestants must sign a waiver, with those younger than 18 needing signed consent from a guardian or parent. Mick Mars and Seraina Schonenberger met at a Motley Crue concert in 2007 Rachel Murray/Getty Seraina Schonenberger and Mick Mars attend the premiere of Netflix's 'The Dirt" on March 18, 2019 in Hollywood, California. Former Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars has been married to wife Seraina Mars (nee Schonenberger) for nearly a decade, but the couple has been in a relationship for even longer. The model first met Mick in 2007 at a Motley Crue concert. According to Seraina, who spoke to Blick magazine about her relationship, the couple experienced what she described as love at first sight. "I am totally in love, she told the outlet in 2008, adding, [He is] the man of my life. We are the perfect couple. The pair dated for six years before tying the knot on Dec. 13, 2013. While they have largely kept their relationship under wraps, making only a few public appearances together over the years, Seraina has occasionally updated fans about their love via her social media accounts. In December 2020, she honored her husband with a sweet anniversary post on Instagram, writing, I know it has been a difficult year for all of us, but having your soulmate by your side makes you feel like you can conquer anything together. Keep reading to find out everything there is to know about Seraina Mars and her relationship with the musician. She has a cameo in a Motley Crue music video Kevin Winter/Getty Mick Mars One year into dating Mick, Seraina made a brief cameo alongside Mick in Motley Crues music video for "Saints of Los Angeles." She can be seen standing alongside the guitarist around the 2:20 mark. She is 33 years younger than Mick Seraina was reportedly born on Oct. 4, 1984 33 years after Mick, born Robert Alan Deal, whose birthday is May 4, 1951. She shared her and Micks birthday ritual with fans in 2020, writing, We always do a toast and cake at midnight. She married Mick on Friday the 13th Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Seraina Schonenberger and Mick Mars attend the premiere of Netflix's 'The Dirt" on March 18, 2019 in Los Angeles While the couples wedding ceremony was kept tightly under wraps, Seraina later shared the date of their nuptials with fans on Twitter in 2020 with an anniversary tribute to the rock star. My marsman and I got married on Friday the 13th (of December) in 2013, she wrote. Seven years married and a total of 13 together. Shes a photographer The model, who has been known to share jaw-dropping photos of Mick on tour, announced on her Instagram page in December 2020 that she was making a separate account for her photography endeavors. Hey yall. Decided to make a secondary profile where I post some film photography of mine, she wrote. For those who are interested in that kind of stuff. @serainamars_onfilm. (Dont blame ya if youre not). The account features landscape shots of trees, nature trails and old buildings. She has a matching tattoo with Mick and so does her family Kevin Mazur/WireImage Mick Mars In 2016, Seraina posted a collage of photos on Twitter of herself, her mom, her dad and her sister getting matching tattoos. At the center of the collage was a photo of Micks hand covering the groups arms, which showed off his own matching tattoo. Mars family!! Seraina captioned the post. She plays guitar Mick isnt the only musician in the Mars household: Seraina revealed in a 2013 tweet that she also plays guitar. When a fan asked if she had taken lessons or was self-taught, she replied, Never had a real teacher until I studied guitar performance. Her famous husband helps her keep her instrument in tip-top shape, as Seraina shared in a 2018 Facebook post. This guy comes in pretty handy when you bust a string, she captioned a shot of him fixing it up. Mick even grabbed his wifes guitar by mistake once on the way to a video shoot. A throwback to the time the marsman accidentally grabbed the wrong guitar case and my Strat made it into a music video, she tweeted in July 2022. She cooks meals from scratch for her and Mick While showing off an artisan knife set on Instagram that she and Mick bought her sister Lina Layne for her birthday in May 2021, Seraina revealed that she does most of the cooking for the Mars household. My sister @lina_layne cooks most of her meals from scratch, just like I do for us, she wrote. The proud chef previously gave fans a glimpse of one of her homemade creations a pizza. The marsman doesnt mind this little weekend baking tradition one single bit, she said. She customized Micks stage outfits Kevin Mazur/Getty Mick Mars performs onstage during the Stadium Tour at Nationals Park on June 22, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Prior to Micks decision to retire from touring with Motley Crue in September 2022, he wore creations by his wife onstage. After a fan asked on Instagram whether Seraina would customize his stage outfits, she replied, I sometimes do like patches that I make, add studs or customize a guitar strap or something. According to Seraina, theres one element Mars isnt fond of, however chains. He doesnt want the possibility of getting tangled up while playing, she explained. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Amid the allegations made against Nickelodeon in 'Quiet On Set', a video of Miley Cyrus revealing what her schedule was like during her 'Hannah Montana' days is resurfacing. As you know, the 'Wrecking Ball' singer rose to fame thanks to her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel series 'Hannah Montana', which aired from 2006 to 2011. In addition to her Disney days, Miley Cyrus has pursued a successful music career, releasing numerous albums and singles. Last year, Cyrus brought fans into what her life was like when she was a pre-teen. Miley Cyrus Reveals Her Schedule Her During Disney Days MEGA In a TikTok video last year, the former 'Hannah Montana' star told her fans just how hectic her schedule was at the young age of 12. We get picked up. 7:15 Im on the news. 7:45 I have another live interview. 8:15 another interview. 8:45 another interview. 9:30 to 11 a.m. meeting with editors, back to the hotel," she said in the video, adding, "OK, I have to do an interview, but the reporters are all fifth-grade students. 1 to 2:30 me and my dad have a lunch interview. 2:40 we have to go to the Life magazine photoshoot. 3 to 5 interview and photoshoot for the Fathers Day issue." She continued, "Arrive at 6 p.m. for kids online interview, then at 6:15, we have another interview. Then the next day starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m. when I fly home to probably go to 'Hannah' [Montana] thats on a Saturday and then Monday be back at work in the morning... Im a lot of things, but lazy aint one of them. So I do think this girl deserves a little endless summer vacation, Cyrus concluded the video with a laugh. Fans React To Miley Cyrus's Revelation MEGA After revealing her work schedule during her 'Hannah Montana' days, fans took to the comments section of the video to share their thoughts on what Disney put her through. "That schedule was INSANE for anyone, [especially] for a kid," one of her followers wrote. "People wonder why she was so wild in her early 20s, its because she missed out on being a real teenager," another expressed. One user said, "How was this allowed??? This is only in a day. Imagine years on this + doing 71 shows tours + recording albums + doing shows + school everyday + family." Miley Cyrus Receives Support Amid Her Revelation MEGA Other users commented on Cyrus's video, with one claiming, "The people who put these schedules together for her are prob the same people who were sooo shocked when she went through her rebel phase, like." "Thats SOOOO much for a kid/teenager. Honestly- ALOT for anyone, but a kid cant really understand what they are getting into v an adult consenting," another said. One of her followers expressed, "Her schedule really is insane. Just search her tour dates for the Best of Both world tour. She is doing concert almost every day & filming too." This video is resurfacing after the 'Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV' aired, which made several allegations against Nickelodeon, including a toxic work environment at the hands of former producer Dan Schneider. Christy Carlson Romano Demands Change For Child Actors MEGA Christy Carlson Romano recently spoke out advocating for a change in the industry after her time with Disney. Im so angry, Romano said in an interview with Fox News Digital, per The New York Times. I felt very triggered, I felt very helpless and hopeless in some ways because I was like, This just keeps happening. These are people I consider my community. The former Disney star added, We may not know each other, and at times a lot of us are isolated from our own experience, because how are we ever going to come together and know, Oh did you actually start at four years old? Oh yeah. Did you have a stage parent? Oh yeah. Its like, theres no, theres no meeting rooms for recovered child actors. Christy Carlson Romano On How Kids Are Being Treated MEGA When asked if she thinks there are any changes being made, she responded, I dont think things are changing in that. I think until theres any kind of changing of the fundamental infrastructure, things cant change. Because were working on outdated information on how kids are being treated on sets." She also hosts a podcast called 'Vulnerable with Christy Carlson Romano,' where she opens up about her life and her experiences. Caroline Meister, 30, was discovered after an extensive search and rescue operation Caroline Meister went missing while hiking in California A woman who went missing during a hike in Northern California has been found dead at the base of a waterfall. The body of Caroline Meister, 30, was discovered on Friday by a search and rescue team, Monterey County Sheriffs Office said in a press release. No signs of foul play are suspected. Meister was found during an extensive search operation after being reported missing on March 18 when she didnt return from her hike. Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said that search and rescue personnel were performing a high angle search off of the [Tassajara] 'Cut-Off' trail where a waterfall drops off of the trail," when they found her. "Search and rescue personnel rappelled down the steep drop-off and located Caroline Meisters body at the base of the waterfall," he added about the 150-foot drop. Monterey County Sheriff's Office Caroline Meister went missing while hiking in California Related: Missing California Hiker Was Only Carrying Snacks for the Day When She Left Mountain Center Nieto added in a news conference on Friday that the death was deemed accidental and that Meister's injuries were consistent with falling down a cliff. Deputy Carlos Pina also explained that the search and rescue team was able to determine Meisters probable location after local residents reported that she had made a comment of the horse pasture trail prior to heading off on her hike. Caroline Meister went missing while hiking in California The coroner is now set to determine the official cause of death. On March 18, Meister departed for a hike at around 10 a.m. from Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Carmel Valley. Monterey County Sheriff's Office Monterey County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that Caroline Meister body has been located Related: Body of Missing Hiker, 61, Found at Bottom of Oregon Cliff After Not Returning from Solo Trip She had reportedly shared her plans to take a trail that looped back to the Zen Center and hike the Windcave Trail, authorities shared on Facebook, adding, She was only carrying snacks for the day and was not dressed or equipped for an overnight stay. Meister worked at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Ventura Wilderness along the Central Coast of California where she also lived, CBS News reported. She left for her hike last week wearing teal boots and carrying a blue bag. "She's very familiar with the area, she's also an avid hiker," her father told local news station KSBW prior to her being found last week. 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. Director of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, Heather Ianrusso told CBS News, "Many of us have lived here for a while, and we're familiar with these trials. She was not out there doing anything risky." Speaking of Meister, she added, "She's just a lovely human being, and we all we already miss her deeply. She was an amazingly sweet, bright spirit very gentle and kind and helpful." For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Shawn Cranston has been charged with homicide in connection with the brutal killing of Rebekah Byler, per authorities Crawford County Correctional Facility Shawn Cranston Police say Shawn Cranston was seen near Rebekah Byler's house on several occasions prior to her slaying The victim's husband Andy Byler told police he once "confronted" a man resembling Cranston when he was allegedly lingering around the Byler home late one evening, per an affidavit Neighbors of the victim say Cranston exhibited "odd behavior" that made them "uneasy," the affidavit claims Authorities say the Pennsylvania man suspected of killing Rebekah Byler, 23, in her own home in February was well-known in the area for his allegedly odd behavior and suspicious activities, including a possible late-night confrontation with Byler's husband. Byler, who was six-months pregnant at the time of her death, was found by her husband Andy Byler and the familys driver Julie Warner on Feb. 26, according to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by PEOPLE. (Members of the Amish community have drivers as they dont drive themselves). Shawn Cranston, 52, was arrested on March 2, in connection with the Sparta Township, Penn., slaying, PEOPLE reported at the time, citing a criminal complaint. He was charged with several offenses, including criminal homicide. Following several interviews with neighbors and Andy, police learned about Cranstons frequent presence in the largely Amish neighborhood and about his odd behavior, according to the probable cause affidavit released on Saturday. Related: Slain Pregnant Amish Woman Was Found with 'Scalping Type Wound' and Throat Cut: Police Andy told authorities that about two weeks before the killing, he confronted a man with features resembling Cranston who was allegedly lingering around their residence late in the evening, per the affidavit. Cranston allegedly expressed interest in buying the house. Andy was not able to positively identify this "suspicious person" as Cranston, though at least one neighbor who noted similar behavior from a man with similar features eventually identified him by his first name, per the affidavit. About 10 days before the killing, another woman named Rebecca Byler who lived about a minute's walk from Rebekah and Andy's residence noticed a vehicle and a man with features similar to the ones described by other neighbors, per the affidavit. The man then pulled out of the driveway and headed in the direction of Rebekah and Andy's residence, the affidavit alleges. TIM HAHN/ERIE TIMES-NEWS/USA TODAY NETWORK Pennsylvania State Police troopers searched a residence on Fish Flats Road in Sparta Township, Crawford County. Cranston is not from the Amish community himself, authorities previously told PEOPLE. He was reportedly filling in for his son who worked as a driver for a family nearby, the affidavit states. According to the affidavit, Cranston worked one day for William Byler, who lived in the area and told police that following Cranston's work with him, the man would allegedly randomly show up at their residence. William said he had an uneasy feeling about him, the affidavit states. (It's unclear if William or Rebecca has any relation to Rebekah and Andy.) On one occasion, Cranston allegedly showed up at his residence and parked in the driveway, dressed in all black-clothing and carrying a pistol, per the affidavit. He was walking around their property looking aimlessly into their fields and his speech made no sense, the affidavit states. Cranston also allegedly expressed interest in attending church with them. Related: Pennsylvania Man Charged with the Murder of Pregnant Amish Woman, 23, Who Was Found Dead in Her Home William's separated wife Katie Byler and neighbors Clara Wengerd and Chester Wengerd expressed similar feelings about Cranston because of their interactions with him. Clara was subsequently shown a photo of Cranston and his vehicle, which had been noted by several witnesses. She identified his vehicle as the one shed seen in the neighborhood and identified Cranston by his first name, the affidavit states. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Police have not yet disclosed a motive. It's not immediately clear if Cranston has retained an attorney or entered a plea. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. The cast of "The Poisoner" during rehearsal. A play written by a Port Huron Northern alumna invites audiences to question if we are ever safe. Maura McCarthy-Haney graduated from Port Huron Northern in 1997. Her play, "The Poisoner" will be making its off off-Broadway debut the first weekend of April at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, which is one of the feeder theatres for Broadway. "The Poisoner" will be performed a decade after the beginning of the Flint water crisis, the play's inspiration. "I think it's a bigger story about American infrastructure and I hope that it resonates with a lot of people beyond Michigan," McCarthy-Haney said. "The Poisoner" will have its opening performance at 8 p.m. on April 6 in La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, located at 66 East Fourth St. in New York. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at www.lamama.org. McCarthy-Haney said it feels amazing to have her play go to the off-Broadway stage. McCarthy-Haney describes the play as a neo-noir thriller. Per the play's synopsis, "The Poisoner" is an unravelling of the deception, abuse of power and negligence of early 2000s Michigan water politics. Driven by a journalist who returns to his hometown and uncovers more than he bargained for, "The Poisoner" invites people to question, are we ever safe? "The Poisoner" is being directed by multi-Obie Award winner Lee Sunday Evans. Director Lee Sunday Evans at rehearsal for "The Poisoner." The play was written by a Port Huron Northern alumna and is set to open on April 6. McCarthy-Haney said she sees the Flint water crisis as a turning point in national views on infrastructure and water quality. She said her interest in the policies behind these events were what inspired the play. Off-Broadway theatres and productions are a part of the Broadway network. McCarthy-Haney said La Mama Experimental Theatre Club is one of multiple off-Broadway theatres. She said these theatres are sort of like a training ground for Broadway productions. Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com. Subscribe: Follow more stories in the Blue Water Area. Subscribe to the Port Huron Times Herald. This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Port Huron Northern alum play 'The Poisoner' now performing Ryan Coogler has been tapped to produce Universal Pictures jukebox musical featuring Princes hit songs. According to The InSneider, the acclaimed director has been attached to the project, which has been in development since 2018. The Hollywood Reporter states that the musical is a project from Proximity Media with a script penned by Bryan Edward Hill. Hill is known for his work on HBOs Titans, Power Rangers, and his work on various Marvel and DC Comics, like the critically acclaimed American Carnage. Hill took to Instagram to detail his involvement in the film. I did a thing with Ryan Coogler and Universal. Some inaccuracies in the article but its close enough, hahaha, he typed. Ryan Jones at Universal is also producing and he was really the driving force of bringing me onto this. I think Im the current draft? Not sure. But I did some drafts, lol. Got to meet the estate and his relatives. That was cool. Proximitys Rebecca Cho has been linked to the project as an executive producer. Additional producers on the project include Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Jody Gerson, the chair of Universal Music Publishing Group. The soundtrack for the film hasnt been confirmed as of this articles publish date, but they will have a ton of music to choose from. Zinzi Evans and Ryan Coogler attend the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. The Billboard charts state that the Purple One finished his musical journey with 47 entries on the Hot 100, 19 of which landed in the top 10. Of those 47 songs, 5 of them landed at the coveted No. 1 spot. These hit singles include When Doves Cry, Lets Go Crazy, Kiss, Cream, and Batdance. And thats just talking about the hits. Dont get us started on the fan favorites and deep cuts that Prince fans would love to see immortalized by Universals upcoming jukebox. As for Ryan Coogler, hes been hard at work on a secret movie starring Michael B. Jordan. THR previously reported that Warner Bros. purchased the rights to the movie. The company outbid other studios, including Sony and Universal, to snag rights to the mysterious work. Ryan Coogler penned the confidential flicks script and will produce the project. Cooglers wife, Zinzi, and Ohanian will also produce the film through Proximity Media. Cho is also attached as an executive producer. Jordan will play the leading man in the film, which has been described as an original genre film. THRs Borys Kit also reports that Coogler and Jordans joint flick will be an original concept based around vampires and the undead + 1930s setting + anime influences. The outlet reports that Coogler and Jordan intend to begin shooting the project in April in New Orleans. However, no other details surrounding the film are known. Prince performs onstage during the HitnRun tour at The Fox Theatre on April 9, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. More from VIBE.com Homes belonging to Sean Diddy Combs in Los Angeles, New York and Miami were raided by federal agents on Monday, a month after the music mogul was sued for sex trafficking, among other allegations. A representative for Homeland Security Investigations New York said in a statement that the raids were executed as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami and our local law enforcement partners. They added that we will provide further information as it becomes available. More from The Hollywood Reporter Representatives for Combs did not respond to requests for comment. The events come about one month after Combs was served a sexual assault lawsuit from producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones, who accused the music mogul of harassing and trafficking him. The complaint was the fifth suit filed against the rapper since his former longtime partner Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, sued him in November for sexual assault. In a statement Monday, Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Ventura, said that we will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct. Ventura, who accused Combs of repeatedly raping and physically abusing her for nearly a decade, later reached a settlement with Combs. In a statement at the time, Combs lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, clarified that the decision to settle was in no way an admission of wrongdoing. Subsequent suits against Combs include accusations from a woman who was a minor at the time of the alleged assault and a claim that Combs forced Jones to solicit sex workers for the Bad Boy Records founder. Multiple suits also alleged that Combs drugged his victims, and one included a claim that he choked a woman until she passed out, later urging her not to report the incident. Combs has consistently denied all allegations, saying in a statement last December that I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. In a statement this February, Combss lawyer Shawn Holley said Jones claims of assault and trafficking were pure fiction. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'Arthur the King' star Simu Liu had to convince his parents that he could make it as an actor Emma McIntyre/Getty ; Google Left: Simu Liu attends the 94th Annual Academy Awards on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. ; Simu Liu's parents Zhenning and Zheng in the Google Pixel 6 'For All You Are' ad. Simu Lius parents, Zhenning and Zheng Liu, have come to appreciate his passion for acting. Born in Harbin, China, to dad Zhenning and mom Zheng, the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star spent the first four years of his life with his paternal grandparents in his hometown while his parents pursued graduate degrees in Canada. As Simu grew up, he struggled with his parents over their high expectations for him. After graduating from college and landing a job as an accountant, he was laid off. With that, Simu began pursuing acting, which caused friction with Zhenning and Zheng, but things have become easier over the years. "I try to keep them close and make sure they have enough of a taste of what I do so it's not so foreign to them," the Marvel actor told PEOPLE in 2022. He added, "As I've gotten older, I've found empathy as to what they were going through at the time. We've come so far. When we're young, we think of parents as just monolithic, all-powerful beings that don't change." Related: Who Is Simu Liu's Girlfriend? All About Allison Hsu "It's such an incredible thing watching our parents change and grow and mature in their own way," the Yappie star concluded. Here is everything to know about Simu Lius parents, Zhenning and Zheng Liu. They met in college Neil Mockford/FilmMagic Simu Liu attends the "Barbie" European premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on July 12, 2023 in London, England. Zhenning and Zheng were born in China in the late '50s and early '60s and were teenagers in the time that the cultural revolution was in full effect, Simu said in an interview on NPRs Here & Now. Many universities were closed by the government at this time, so students from high school would instead go into the fields to basically learn the value of hard labor, Simu explained. After Chairman Mao Zedong died in 1976 and his successor reopened schools, Chinese citizens had a new shot at higher education. Zhenning and Zheng were accepted by the same university, where they eventually met. The national acceptance rate was something in the single digits, Simu said. And it was those odds that my parents were able to overcome just to be able to get that education. Simu moved to Canada when he was 4 to be with his parents Simu Liu X Simu Liu as a child. Until he was 4, Simu was raised in Harbin, China, by his fathers parents. "With my grandparents, I felt completely safe. To me that's what home is," Simu told PEOPLE. During this time, Zhenning and Zheng were in grad school in Canada, and after becoming engineers, he joined them, but there was an adjustment period. Though his parents were excited to reunite with their son, "it was very clear to me early on that [they] wouldn't be able to provide that environment." He added, "It was a shock." Simu had a tough conversation with his mom and dad when he got laid off After graduating in 2011 from Western University's Ivey Business School in Canada, Simu began working as an accountant for Deloitte. "My parents were like, 'Great, my job is done, all the money and the time that we spent on this kid is finally worth it,' " Simu recalled on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, adding that his parents were ecstatic." Unfortunately, Simu was laid off from the consulting firm shortly after being hired. Instead of telling Zhenning and Zheng right away that he was out of work, the aspiring actor headed to Craigslist to "find [his] way back onto a movie set" and "caught the bug." Simu continued, "I definitely took the requisite amount of time to be like, 'Okay, I think I wanna try something I actually like to do now.' " After landing a national commercial that they were bound to see, he had to have a tough conversation with his parents. "And no, it did not go over well," he added. Simu wrote Zheng a "heartfelt" letter that started a new chapter for all of them Simu Liu X Simu Liu's mom Zheng poses infront of his memoir 'We Were Dreamers'. After landing his first main role as Jung on CBCs Kims Convenience in 2016, his relationship with Zhenning and Zheng began to improve. "We weren't fighting, but at the same time we hadn't collectively chosen to dive back into our trauma and how we were all individually affected by it," he told PEOPLE. When Zheng turned 60, Simu wrote out his feelings in a heartfelt letter and presented it to her on her birthday. "It was eight pages, and I remember being so nervous as I was handing it to her," he recounted. "I said, 'I want you to know it comes from a place of love.' " Zheng was moved to tears by Simu's letter and called him to discuss their relationship. "It was the first time we really talked about those issues. We both acknowledged that we were flawed human beings trying to do our best," he shared. They appeared in a commercial with Simu Although Zhenning and Zheng are not usually in the spotlight with their son, they made a cameo in a Google commercial starring Simu in January 2022. In the ad spot centered around the Google Pixel 6, the actor speaks Mandarin to highlight the phones Live Translate feature. I was able to involve my parents in the commercial to highlight the Live Translate function, which allows you to translate between over 46 different languages, the Pixel ambassador told Google Canada. I think its a great tool for immigrant families to communicate with people. In addition to highlighting the phone, the commercial poked fun at his parents expectations of him. Instead of getting a job at Google like my parents wanted, Im in a Google ad for the Pixel 6. So thats gotta count for something, right? he says in the clip. The camera pans to his parents standing on the set, who shake their heads. Simu continues highlighting the phone before his mother is shown again, telling him to sit up straight in Mandarin. Simu bought them a Tesla As a tiny token of gratitude for his parents, Simu purchased them a Tesla in 2022. In a since-deleted Instagram post, the actor shared a sweet message dedicated to them. Bought my mama and papa a brand new Tessie!! My parents continue to surprise me everyday with their capacity for growth and empathy, he wrote. Simu added, This is but a tiny token of gratitude. Your boy might be 33 and a Marvel superhero, but he needs his mama to set him straight every once in a while. Thanks ma. I know what I have to do. Zhenning enjoys photography Simu Liu X Simu Liu's dad Zhenning Liu taking a photo, Zhenning picked up photography as a hobby later in life after Simu purchased him a camera. Bought my dad a mirrorless camera a couple years back and just... holy s---, the Marvel star wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in 2022, accompanied by several images. This is from our trip to San Diego in December, he continued. Shoutout to all the retired Asian dads out there working on their hobbies! Several months later, Simu shared another series of images on X taken by his dad along with a behind-the-scenes shot of Zhenning capturing the photos. My dad's new photography obsession is capturing hummingbirds in his backyard and honestly at this point NatGeo just needs to hire him, he quipped. They had an incident while house-sitting for Simu Kevin Mazur/Getty Simu Liu attends the 96th Annual Academy Awards on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California. Simu invited his parents to housesit for him when he was away, but things quickly went awry after they accidentally consumed some of his hallucinogenic drugs. Despite leaving money for dinner, his parents who he described as "frugal" and never having used food delivery apps before had difficulty finding something to eat. My mom starts foraging around the house for things to eat, the Barbie actor explained during an October 2023 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. She found her way into a walk-in closet and finds what she believes are gummy bears and trail mix with dried mushrooms inside," assuming they were snacks. Zheng presented the treats to Zhenning, and they started popping them like Skittles but became even hungrier after eating them and headed out to the grocery store. "They get into my car, immediately crash it. They crash it in my driveway into the shrubs and things," he recalled. "They're so high at this point. They're freaking out, they don't know what else to do." A neighbor was able to help them drive the car back to the house, but Simu decided his parents wouldnt be housesitting for him again anytime soon. "So, I get home many days later, and the car is totaled, my shrubs are wrecked, and my drugs are gone," he said. "And I looked at my parents and I'm like, 'Okay, first of all, I am never leaving you unsupervised in my house ever.' " For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. Steven Spielberg denounced the rise of extremist views on Monday and called for people to use the power of empathy against antisemitism or anti-Muslim hate. He also spoke out on behalf of both those killed by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and innocent women and children killed in Gaza. We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of Oct. 7 and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza, the filmmaker and Shoah Foundation founder said as he accepted the University of Southern Californias highest honor, the University Medallion. This makes us a unique force for good in the world. And heres why we are here today to celebrate the work of the Shoah Foundation, which is more crucial now than it even was in 1994. He continued, The echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate. In the face of brutality, and persecution, we have always been resilient and compassionate people who all understand the power of empathy. The Schinders List director said that the rise in extremist views has created a dangerous environment, which leads to radical intolerance and demonizing those who are different. We see every day how the machinery of extremism has been used on college campuses, where fully 50% of students say they have experienced some discrimination because they are Jewish. This is also happening alongside anti-Muslim, Arab and Sikh discrimination, Spielberg continued. The foundation of fascism has been dusted off and is being widely distributed today. Im increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history to once again to fight for the very right to be Jewish. Stopping the rise of antisemitism and hate of any kind is critical to the health of our democratic republic and the future of democracy all over the civilized world. Spielberg called himself incredibly fortunate to spend his life just telling stories, adding that stories are one of our strongest weapons in the fight against antisemitism and racial and religious hatred. After the Oct. 7 attacks, Spielberg issued a statement on Dec. 1 in which he said, I never imagined I would see such unspeakable barbarity against Jews in my lifetime. At the time, the Shoah Foundation launched the Countering Antisemitism Through Testimony Collection initiative to collect testimony from those who survived the attacks. The University Medallion was also awarded on Monday to Board of Councilors Chair Joel Citron, who is the son of Holocaust survivors, and Celina Biniaz, one of the last living Holocaust survivors from Schindlers List. Biniaz said, Oskar Schindler gave me my life, but Spielberg gave me my voice. This is just the fourth time in the universitys history that USC has awarded the University Medallion. Mondays event, held at USCs Town and Gown building, was attended by 265 people, including more than 30 Holocaust survivors and their families. The last time the award was bestowed was in 2017 to philanthropist Wallis Annenberg. The USC Shoah Foundation has archived more than 56,000 testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other historical events of genocide and crimes against humanity. This year marks the organizations 30th anniversary. It was founded by Spielberg following his Oscar-winning 1993 film, Schindlers List. The post Steven Spielberg Blasts Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Hate, Says Hes Increasingly Alarmed by Rise in Extremist Views appeared first on TheWrap. Police arrested Anthony Harris in connection with the death of Melody Gooch, whose headless body was found at a truck stop in South Dakota, per authorities Courtesy of South Dakota Attorney General's Office Melody Gooch Melody Gooch was found with her head severed and "skinned" at a truck stop in South Dakota, police say Her family told authorities that she was last seen with Anthony Harris, who has been arrested in connection with her death, according to an affidavit Gooch's injuries indicate that she was "struck by a vehicle" and then dragged away, according to an arrest affidavit A Michigan truck driver has been arrested in connection with the death of a woman, whose headless body was found in South Dakota, according to an arrest affidavit. Police found the body of 57-year-old Melody Gooch with gruesome injuries near a travel center in Mitchell, S.D., on March 11, per the affidavit, which was shared by KELO and reviewed by PEOPLE. Anthony Harris, 60, was arrested in Washington state on March 14 on charges of second-degree murder and burying a body without legal authority, per the affidavit. Goochs remains were found by a person who called Mitchell police on the evening of March 11. The caller reported finding a body covered by a stack of pallets at the truck stop, per the affidavit. A responding officer determined that the victim had seemingly been struck by a vehicle and that her wounds indicated she may have been dragged away from the initial impact point, authorities said in the affidavit. Gooch's body was found without her head, according to an autopsy cited in in the affidavit, and with a portion of her spine missing. When police carried out a search at the site where her remains had been found, they located a "skinned" and severed head and a bloodied sneaker in a bag inside a dumpster on the property of the travel stop, per the affidavit. The autopsy found that the woman could not have died from "any other trauma other than being hit, struck or run over by a vehicle," the affidavit states. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Authorities watched several security videos nearby the site, which allegedly showed a semi-truck engaging in "suspicious" activities at the spots where Gooch's remains were found, according to the affidavit. They saw the truck allegedly back up more than five times on the spot where Gooch's body was later found, police said. The video also allegedly showed the driver picking up an object from that area, then driving toward the dumpster where he briefly stopped, police said. Subsequently, upon interviewing Gooch's family, police learned that she was last seen with Harris, authorities noted in the affidavit. Harris allegedly denied knowing where Gooch was. Police also interviewed Harris' employer and, using his work log hours and cell phone records, they placed him near both scenes where Gooch's body was found, with timing that was consistent with the activities of the semi-truck they saw in the security footage, per the affidavit. When he was arrested in Yakima, Wash., Harris was reportedly in the same semi-truck as the one seen in the security footage, police alleged in the affidavit. Gooch's cause of death has not been determined. It wasnt immediately clear if Harris has entered a plea to the charges or retained an attorney. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on People. While Michael Baltimore Jr. awaits a homicide trial stemming from the 2021 Carlisle barbershop shooting, an assault trial for which he was found guilty in February was recently vacated because of the Cumberland County District Attorneys office failure to notify the court of contact between a witness and a juror. The DAs office reported late last week that Baltimore, 45, had been charged with aggravated assault, strangulation, fleeing police, simple assault and harassment following a January 2021 incident in Upper Allen Township, before the shooting in Carlisle. In a jury trial Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, an expert on domestic violence testified in court, explaining how it affects victims. The DA said that after the trial was recessed for the day, the witness went out for a dinner at a local restaurant and was approached by a juror who thanked her for the testimony. According to the DA, the expert told the juror they werent allowed to speak, and she called the assistant district attorney in the case to tell her about the conversation. However, that conversation was never reported to the court. The assistant district attorney in the case, whom District Attorney Sean McCormack didnt name in his news release, brought it to his attention the day after the guilty verdict on Feb. 2. Baltimore had been found guilty of all charges except for strangulation and harassment. Because the defense was denied the opportunity to have another juror seated, which denies a fair trial, the DA said the guilty verdict was vacated. And by Pennsylvanias double jeopardy caselaw, there can be no retrial in the case. The integrity of our judicial system is of paramount importance, and when a prosecutor makes a wrong decision in trial that imperils the defendants ability to receive a fair trial, as prosecutors we must do what is right to correct that mistake, McCormack said in a news release. In this case the prosecutors mistaken belief that the juror contact did not need to be reported to the court, although said mistake was unintentional and not designed to prejudice the defendant, the result of the mistake did result in the defendant being prejudiced. We could not in good conscious argue otherwise to the court and therefore we agreed with defense counsel that the verdict should be vacated, and charges dismissed. I informed the victim of this situation, he said. She is understandably upset by this result. I know it is of no comfort to her, but we very much respect her courage to come forward and testify under very trying circumstances. Though the guilty verdict was vacated in this case, Baltimore remains in Cumberland County Prison as he awaits the homicide trial, in which he faces homicide, attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges. The next court date in that case is a hearing scheduled in front of President Judge Edward Guido on June 11. Unsplash The most difficult leg of a tripespecially on long international journeysis making that last flight connection or lengthy ground transfer to your final destination. Those final couple hours in transit, when the effects of jet lag are rearing up and patience is running thin, can be laborious and time-consuming, but are often necessary in order to reach some of the world's most remote destinations. Now, a new crop of well-located airports seek to make some of these historically out-of-the-way regions more accessible to international travel. Forget about the shuttle bus or puddle-jumper flight: these eight new airportswhich have either just opened or are currently under constructionwill make it that much easier than ever to reach bucket-list destinations around the world. Aerial view of the Akumal Bay in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Caribbean Sea, coral reef, top view. Beautiful tropical paradise beach /Getty Tulum, Mexico Thanks to the new Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport, it is easier than ever for international travelers to reach the seaside escape of Tulum, one of Mexico's most popular tourist hubs. The airport officially opened to domestic flights in December 2023 and will welcome international airlines beginning March 28, 2024. Multiple routes from American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue, and Spirit will launch throughout the year. Previously, travelers would typically need to fly into Cancun and drive about 80 miles south to access Tulum, a two-hour road trip that the new facility will mercifully eliminate for many passengers. Siem Reap, Cambodia In November 2023, Cambodia inaugurated a brand new airport in Siem Reap, the gateway city to Angkor Wat, the UNESCO-listed ancient temple complex thats one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The new airport, which replaces an older Siem Reap facility built in the 1930s, is about 25 miles east of the Angkor Wat temple complex. Thats further away from the archeological site than the original airport, which sat just over three miles away, but the new airport will make it easier for more tourists to access Angkor Wat. Thanks to its size, it can handle larger planes used on nonstop international flights and accommodate up to seven million passengers annually, with plans to grow that capacity to a whopping 40 million people per year by 2040. Pier and cityscape in Amalfi, Campania, Italy Marco Bottigelli/Getty Amalfi Coast, Italy Starting this summer, visiting the candy-colored buildings perched high above the azure waters of the Amalfi Coast will be less of a headache for travelers. That's because the popular tourist spot in Southern Italy is finally getting its own commercial airport. The town is converting what used to be a military airport, and later a private airport, to a facility to be used by everyday travelers. The first flights are set to take off on July 11 and will be operated by Spanish airline Volotea, with routes from Nantes, France, and Cagliri, Sardinia, according to CNN. However, the complete renovation is not scheduled to be complete until 2026, and other airlines and routes will be added along the way. Nuuk, Greenland In one of the countrys most significant moves to enhance tourism, Greenland is debuting a major expansion of the airport in its capital city, Nuuk. The new airports runway will be double the size of the old onebig enough to handle nonstop flights from destinations in North America and Europe. That means much more simplified travel for international visitors, who would previously have to transit through the small town of Kangerlussuaq. The new terminal building is expected to be operational by May 2024, with the full facility up and running by the end of November. Dominica, Caribbean, Freshwater Lake in Morne Trois Pitons National Park listed as World Heritage by UNESCO Reinhard Dirscherl/Getty Dominica The Nature Island of the CaribbeanDominicastarted construction on its first international airport in late 2023. Its set to be one of the islands largest construction projects ever. When its completed by 2026, the new airport will replace the current regional facility that has just three gates. By contrast, the international airport is slated to serve more than 20 airlines from the Caribbean, Europe, and North America, each of which will be able to fly directly to Dominica, the countrys prime minister said in 2022, making it easier for far-flung tourists to access the island without needing to make a connection. Dominica is one of our Best Places to Go in North America & the Caribbean in 2024, part of our global guide to the Best Places to Go in 2024find more travel inspiration here. Western Sydney, Australia A second airport in Australias capital is set to bring a host of advantages when it starts operations in 2026. The Western Sydney airport, also called Nancy-Bird Walton airport, is currently being constructed further inland from Sydney's current airport. For locals who live farther on the outskirts, that means not having to trek all the way into eastern Sydney to catch your flight. For visitors, the airports location on the western edge of the city will be an ideal gateway for travelers wanting to explore the nearby Blue Mountains National Park, known for its striking cliffs, waterfalls, and unique sandstone formations. Plus, it could mean less crowded airport spaces, too. The facility on the opposite side of the city will also take some capacity pressure off of the current Sydney airport: Western Sydney airport will be able to handle 10 million passengers a year when it launches. Machu Picchu Inca ruins in the Andes Mountains Getty Peru's Sacred Valley For the more than 1.5 million travelers who visit Machu Picchu every year, a simpler transit option will be available starting in 2026: Chinchero airport, located smack dab in Perus Sacred Valley. Currently, international visitors to Machu Picchu usually must fly into Lima and connect to Cusco, which doesnt accommodate many international flights and sits about 46 miles away from the archaeological site. They then must take a train the rest of the way. Chinchero airport will be able to serve nonstop flights from North America and major cities throughout South America and act as a direct gateway to Machu Picchu. The project is not without its controversies, however. Critics of the Chinchero airport say its construction is endangering ancient Incan archaeological sites, as activists voice concerns that the noise pollution from the planes and subsequent traffic will cause irreparable damage to the fragile environment. Gelephu Mindfulness City, Bhutan The Himalayan Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan has announced its building a second international airport as part of an ambitious project to create a brand new modern city from scratch. The sustainable community, called Gelephu Mindfulness City, will see the construction of a new 1,000-square-kilometer economic and tourist hub near the current town of Gelephu, which sits on the countrys southwestern border with India. In addition to the new international airport, the large city will feature a new university, spiritual and cultural centers, and healthcare facilities. Although there is not yet a set date for the completion of the airport, when it opens it will be an important new option for tourists wishing to explore the southern and western regions of Bhutan, home to attractions like Royal Manas National Park and Phrumsengla National Park. Originally Appeared on Conde Nast Traveler While Cadbury sells candy year-round, it's known for its creme-filled chocolate eggs that have become an Easter icon. One way the company celebrates its special connection to the holiday is by holding Cadbury Bunny Tryouts each year. If you're unfamiliar, Cadbury takes a democratic approach to its "bunny" selection and opens the contest to all types of animals, not just rabbits. This year's contest, which took place as a bracket-style challenge held on Instagram, consisted of 32 entrants, among them cats, dogs, horses, a donkey, and a goat. None of these were the winner, however. Instead, that honor goes to a raccoon named Louie. Louie, who lives in Miami, is 2 years old, per information shared with Mashed. As a wee young kit (yes, that's what baby raccoons are called), he encountered trouble in the wild but was ultimately saved. At some point, it was determined that he was unfit to return to life as a feral raccoon, so his now-owner, Jaime, adopted him as a pet. As his prize, Louie will star in next year's Cadbury Bunny Tryouts commercial. He also gets to take home $7,000 to spend on gourmet garbage (or whatever it is that raccoons are into). Read more: US Foods You Surprisingly Can't Find In Canada Louie Isn't The First Underdog To Be A Cadbury Bunny Cadbury Creme Eggs in dish - Rachel Laughman Art / Shutterstock The Cadbury contest has taken place every year since 2019, and Louie isn't just the sixth Bunny, he's also the sixth winner to be, well, not a bunny. Of the other five victors, three have been dogs, one has been a cat, and one has been a frog. While all of the nominees every year are cute who doesn't love some adorable pets in bunny ears? one thing that really tugs on voters' heartstrings is a tragic (but ultimately triumphant) backstory. Poor Louie, denied the opportunity to grow up and lead a regular raccoon lifestyle, nonetheless found a second chance as a pampered house pet. Last year's winner, Crash the cat, was also a rescue. The Cadbury Bunny of 2022, an English Goldendoodle named Annie Rose, doesn't have a sad backstory of her own, but she does help humans by visiting nursing homes as a therapy dog. The real underdog, however, may be the 2020 winner, a two-legged Treeing Walker Coonhound named Lieutenant Dan. This canine rolled into our hearts during the early stages of the pandemic lockdown and made us feel like life was worth living again. Read the original article on Mashed. "Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." A published study claiming the Indonesian pyramid Gunung Padang was crafted by humans 27,000 years ago was retracted by publishers. The studys authors fight the retraction, but the archeological community backs it. Radiocarbon dating has proved the key sticking point. The fight over the science of an ancient Indonesian landmark has taken another turn in the archeological communitya controversial October 2023 study claiming that Gunung Padang is a pyramid created by humans 27,000 years ago was recently fully retracted from Wiley, the publishers of the journal Archaeological Prospection. On one side, a robust range of leading archeologists seem perplexed on how the study ever made it past peer review and into print in the first place. On the other side, the team of authors call the retraction unjust and based on unfounded claims raised by third parties who hold differing opinions and disbelieve in the evidence, analysis, and conclusions. Lets go back to the science. The Gunung Padang site in West Java, Indonesia, includes a raised earth site. The papers authorsled by Danny Natawidjajaclaim that it is the remnants of a prehistoric pyramid from up to 27,000 years ago, far surpassing the oldest known pyramid in the world at a mere 4,700 years old. The team based much of their findings on radiocarbon dating from core drilling. But the retraction says that the dating has no tie to human interaction, especially in a place not believed to have been inhabited at the time the papers authors say humans were hand-forming the pyramid. It all adds up to an article with a major error, the publishers write in the retraction. This error, they say, which was not identified during peer review, is that the radiocarbon dating was applied to soil samples that were not associated with any artifacts or features that could be readily interpreted as anthropogenic or man-made. Therefore, the interpretation that the site is an ancient pyramid built 9,000 or more years ago is incorrect, and the article must be retracted. Natawidjaja took the lead for the authors, arguing against the retraction, suggesting it represents a severe form of censorship. Shortly after the publication of the paper, questions about the research came aplenty. Im surprised [the paper] was published as is, Flint Dibble, archaeologist at Cardiff University, told Nature, upon the first report of an investigation into the paper. The authors claim they have compelling evidence that the complex site features hidden cavities showing multi-layer construction, and that the rocks in the volcanic site were meticulously sculpted to be exact and arranged in a planned way. By drilling into the soil, they date layers of what they believe are constructed rooms. There may be other explanations. Dibble, according to Nature, claims that the natural movement and weathering of rocks can sculpt stone, and rocks can roll down hills to make them appear planned. Plus, theres no evidence that the rocks were shaped by humans. Even haphazard, natural stone movements will create voids and spaces that could appear as purposeful rooms. Add in the fact that theres been no evidence of an advanced civilization at that site since the last ice age. While the soil samples may well be from 27,000 years ago, without the telltale signs of human activitythink charcoal or bone fragmentsthose skeptical of the study say theres no reason to believe there was any sort of large settlement in the area during that time. Natawidjaja and his team arent budging. They claim the soil samples have been unequivocally established as man-made constructions that feature three distinct phases of construction. They claim the shapes, composition, and arrangement of the stone bolsters the argument. The presence of humans in the area seems to be a sticking point. Experts can agree that ceramics recovered from the dormant volcano show humans have been there at least a few hundred years, but nothing in the range of thousands of years, let alone 27,000 years. To complicate the skirmish a bit more, politics comes into play. The Gunung Padang hilltop site is a travel destination for those practicing Islamic and Hindu rituals, and more than a decade agoaccording to The New York Timesthe Indonesian government was funding the narrative that the site was an ancient pyramid. Graham Hancock interviewed Natawidjaja during a Netflix documentary, Ancient Apocalypse, that aired in 2002, and he promoted the site then as an ancient pyramid. Hancock now supports Natawidjaja and denounced the retraction, but the Society for American Archaeology wrote an open letter arguing that Hancocks documentary devalues the archaeological profession on the basis of false claims and disinformation. The fight over Gunung Padang seemingly predates the controversial study. Camps on both sides feel strongly about their position, and the middle ground of archeologists simply dont believe the studys evidence supports the conclusions. It was unfortunate that the paper had to get to this stage, Noel Tan, a Bangkok archaeologist who had concerns about the study, told The New York Times. But it was better to be retracted than to have nothing said about it at all. You Might Also Like A family in Benton County, Washington, is demanding answers after Benton County Sheriffs deputies killed their two family dogs earlier this month. Reports say three Rottweilers belonging to the Swanson family had escaped from home, only for deputies to later shoot two of them to death on claims that the dogs were being aggressive. However, after obtaining police body cam footage of the incident, the Swansons believe the deputies purely discriminated their canines based on breed. At the time of the shooting, the dogs were in a field more than 50 yards away from the officers. The upsetting footage of the deputies killing the dogs has since triggered uproar online. Benton County deputies kill Rottweilers On Mar. 2, Benton County Sheriffs deputies responded to reports of three allegedly dangerous Rottweilers on the loose, according to Tri-City Herald News. As per the news outlet, a resident called the Benton County Canine Shelter, reporting he had encountered three Rottweilers barking at his dogs through a fence. Suspecting the canines were aggressive, the Benton County Canine Shelter reached out to the sheriffs office for intervention. A thorough search of the dogs eventually led deputies to a grassy field in an incorporated neighborhood, where the canines were. Body cam footage shows two deputies aiming at the dogs, who are several meters away. The officers then shoot at the canines, killing two on the spot. The third one managed to escape and has since returned home. Watch the footage below: The bad stigma around Rottweilers needs to be erased, Nicole Hammond, a family friend to the Swansons, told the news outlet. These are now family dogs. Yes, they are big dogs, but this gives no reason to be shot and killed with zero attempt to be captured safely first. The Swansons maintain their dogs had no history of aggression, as per NBC Right Now reporting. Following the fatal shooting, the distraught family is now pursuing justice for the death of their cherished family pets. Why dogs may act aggressively Its worth noting that dogs are not inherently aggressive towards people or other pets. More often than not, a dog develops aggression due to factors that are beyond their control. For instance, a lack of proper training, lack of socialization, or poor discipline practices, i.e., using punishment instead of positive reinforcement, can lead to a canines becoming aggressive. The post Deputies Kill 2 Aggressive Dogs in Washington, Footage Sparks Outrage appeared first on DogTime. Food delivery has really taken off in recent yearssometimes literally. DoorDash has announced that its testing a new drone delivery partnership in a single U.S. test market, starting specifically with one fast food brand: Wendys. If all goes well, maybe well all get our fries from the sky someday soon. DoorDash is testing drone delivery in Virginia Christianburg, Virginia, a town of approximately 22,600, will be the first to experience DoorDashs foray into drone delivery. DoorDash has partnered with tech company Wing to work on the test run. None of this is new for Wing: The Google-owned company is one of Walmarts drone delivery partners, currently making customer drop-offs in the DallasFort Worth area. But the fine people of Christianburg wont be able to get just any fast food delivered this way just yet. The only food that will potentially arrive via drone service is from one single Wendys location, and youll only get your food that way if you select the drone delivery method at checkout within the DoorDash app. All Wendys drone deliveries from that test site aim to be dropped off in 30 minutes or less. DoorDash already delivers fast food by drone in Australia DoorDash implemented drone delivery service in Australia in 2022, and the program has now expanded to three areas in Queensland. Over 60 merchants participate in this method of delivery there, which would indicate that under certain circumstances, taking to the skies is a viable option for shuttling food to customers. Expanding our partnership with DoorDash and launching in the U.S. is a direct result of the success weve seen from our initial collaboration in Australia, where Wing has served tens of thousands of customers via the DoorDash app for over a year now, said Cosimo Leipold, Head of Partnerships at Wing. As a concept, the idea of having a drone drop-off something as innocuous as a late-night burger doesnt sound so bad, but one thing its proponents might not have considered is the potential noise pollution. Drones can be pretty nimble devices, but they do generate a lot of sound; in fact, theres been enough commotion to annoy some residents of an Australian suburb, as reported by A Current Affair. One man in the segment likens the noise to a swarm of mosquitoes, while another neighbor says, [Its like] when you get a fly stuck in your room when youre trying to fall asleep. There are, of course, fans of the delivery method, tooone resident being interviewed said hed already received six drone orders that day alone. But if these machines have the capacity to divide the public, itll be interesting to see how the Wendys/DoorDash pilot program will fare here. Is that Daves Double really worth the ire youll face from your neighbors? For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Oxygen? Check. Crampons? Check. Poop bags? Check. Those hoping to climb Everest this year will have to make some slight adjustments to their packing list, as new rules now mandate that climbers bring their excrement down with them from the worlds highest peak, in a bid to tackle pollution. Most people who attempt to climb the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) Mount Everest do so via Nepal, paying $11,000 apiece just for the climbing permit. Mountaineers' tents at Camp 2 of Everest on May 8, 2021 - Pemba Dorje Sherpa/AFP/Getty Images With gear, food, supplemental oxygen, Sherpa guides and more, it costs upward of $35,000 to take on the mountain. But the worlds highest peak has a poop problem, driven by the number of visitors, and the harsh conditions on the mountain, which interfere with the degradation process. The problem of human waste on Everest was very bad, Diwas Pokhrel, first vice president of Everest Summiteers Association, told CNN, adding that at the mountains highest points, it was polluting the mountain environment. Without the new rules, the poo problem was highly likely to get worse: Last year, Nepal gave out a record 478 climbing permits to climb the peak. Twelve climbers were confirmed to have died on the mountain, while another five remain officially missing. Jinesh Sindurakar of the Nepal Mountaineering Association told CNN that an estimated 1,200 people will be on Everest this season. Each person produces 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of excrement a day and they will spend 2 weeks on the higher camps for the summit push, Sindurakar explained, adding that each climber will be given two poop bags, which can each be used six times. The bags contain chemicals to solidify the human waste and make it odorless, Sindurakar said, and Nepals Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality will issue some 8,000 bags this season. Efforts to reduce the impact of tourism on the Himalayas have stepped up, with 35,708 kilograms of waste and plastics removed from peaks including Everest, Lhotse, Annapurna and Baruntse through an initiative led by the Nepali Army, according to the Himalayan Times. CNNs Lilit Marcus contributed reporting For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Japan has the cultural market cornered when it comes to eating on the go. There are many Japanese convenience store foods that we wish we had in America, like bento boxes, onigiri, and seriously good instant ramen, and Japanese bakeries are a wonderland for anyone with an adventurous sweet tooth. The selection on offer may look familiar at first sight, including colorful slices of cakes, various single-serving soft buns, and delicate pastries filled with impossibly fluffy cream. However, on closer inspection, the flavors may not be what you are used to enjoying in a sweet application. Matcha, red bean, and even curry get their moment in the land of the rising sun. One bakery offering is particularly popular, dubbed "melon pan" or "melon bread." Melon bread has two distinct layers -- a crunchy top layer and a soft, almost squishy base layer. Is any part of it melon-flavored? Contrary to its name, it is not, at least not by default. Melon bread gets its name from its craggy, biscuit-like surface which resembles the skin of cantaloupes, known as rockmelon or muskmelon in other parts of the world. Flavor-wise, it has a neutral sweet sugary taste from its crunchy topping, with a hint of milk from the soft bun base. That said, many melon breads come in additional flavors like chocolate, strawberry, and yes, matcha. Read more: 8 Chocolate Bars That Are Totally Different Outside The US Possible Origins Of Melon Bread hand holding Melon bread - Nanachan/Shutterstock One possible origin for melon bread dates back to the early 1900s when it was rumored that a Japanese businessman brought an Armenian baker to Japan, and this baker created the original melon pan to resemble a French galette (likely the celebratory version called galette des rois if looks are anything to go by). Even though that story may not be confirmed, what is true is that there are other, similarly structured sweet buns prevalent in different parts of the world. In nearby Hong Kong, the bolo bao, or "pineapple bun" is made in a similar way unsurprisingly, not containing any pineapple either. Eagle-eyed folks would recognize its visual similarity to Mexican conchas, which some say came via French immigrants in 19th century Mexico. The trail leads from there to Asia, where Chinese-Mexicans returned to in the early 20th century, which coincides with the timing of the Armenian baker story. While its origin story is convoluted, traversing continents and centuries, there is no doubt that these different buns are at least visually and texturally similar. Now in the 21st century, melon breads, along with its cousins, are still enjoyed as portable sweet snacks in different parts of the world. Achieving The Texture Of Melon Bread Melon bread on display - Cheezie Chicky Chick/Shutterstock Let's talk a little bit more about the construction of melon bread. If you have ever made Mexican conchas or even a St. Louis gooey butter cake, the process is very similar. The bread is made in two parts, with the bottom layer made out of a soft, yeasted dough, while the top layer is where much of the sugar resides. When baked together, the two layers meld, though maintaining their separate textures, and the top layer turns into a crackly, biscuity topping much like a streusel but much more adherent. There are subtle differences in the textures and flavors between melon bread and its counterparts, as well. The soft base is said to be firmer than a pineapple bun's, though softer than a concha. The topping of melon bread however tends to be much crispier than other similar treats, giving a pleasant textural contrast. Even if for that sweet and addictively crunchy topping alone, melon pan deserves a place on the to-eat list of any traveler venturing to Japan. Read the original article on Daily Meal. Airlander 10 could be in the skies in just four years A new fleet of airships will hit the skies by 2028, with UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) revealing plans for a major new manufacturing facility in South Yorkshire. The production centre in Doncaster is where the Airlander 10, described by HAV as the worlds most efficient large aircraft, will be developed (subject to planning permission). HAV will have the capability to produce up to 24 of the aircraft per year. Ed Miliband, the MP for Doncaster North, said: This is absolutely fantastic news. This new production site will create over 1,200 much-needed highly-skilled jobs as well as bring green air travel a step closer. Despite appearances, the Airlander 10 is not a traditional airship but rather a hybrid aircraft reliant on buoyant lift from helium, aerodynamic lift from its shape, and vectoring engine power for take-off and landing. The Airlander 10 will have the capacity to carry 100 passengers (an average Boeing 737-800 carries 189) or 10 tonnes of payload, and the value of its order book currently stands in excess of 1 billion. The Spanish regional carrier Air Nostrum will be the first airline to put it into service, with a scheduled launch date of 2028 two years later than originally planned. When The Telegraph visited HAVs Bedfordshire headquarters in 2023, the chief executive Tom Grundy said: Were working with Air Nostrum to create a network of city-to-city connections, much faster than a car, with 10 per cent of the carbon footprint of a flight, and affordable to the customer. Greg Dickinson onboard the Airlander vessel - John Nguyen/JNVisuals Air Nostrum recently doubled its order to 20 ships, in a bid to expand its network from Spain into the Mediterranean and Malta. Potential routes include Malta to Gozo and Malta to Sicily. Other links to Italy and to Tunisia are in discussion. The Airlander 10 will have a top speed of around 100mph, closer to a car or train than a plane, meaning it is restricted in terms of how far it can travel without stopping. But reduced security protocols should speed up the boarding process. HAV has also been in talks with the Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Loganair to discuss developing A to B connections between Scottish islands. Possible destinations that could benefit from Airlander 10 services (both for passengers and freight) include Kirkwall, Papa Westray, Stornoway, Barra, Inverness, Sumburgh and Scapa Bay; viability surveys have been conducted in each of these locations The interior is set to offer a luxurious travel experience HAV has also had discussions with luxury tour operators to discuss the potential for safaris in the sky, or Northern Lights viewing experiences. One such company is Grands Espaces, an eco-tourism company which intends to use the Airlander for trips to the Arctic. For 25 years, the firm has operated polar exploration tours on small boats, and now plans to take passengers to the skies. Christian Kempf, the founder of Grands Espaces, said: We have worked for four years with HAV to prepare for this project and partnership. The signing of this reservation agreement is a significant step forward. We find in HAV the pioneering and innovative spirit that resonates with us, and we are confident that we will achieve great things together. The Airlander 10 is a 'hybrid aircraft' reliant on buoyant lift from helium, aerodynamic lift from its shape, and vectoring engine power for take-off and landing - AFP/Getty While things are in motion now, the Airlander project got off to a rocky start. In 2016, the first prototype Airlander nosedived at low speed during a test flight from Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire, damaging part of the flight deck. This, and the fact that some said it resembled a flying bum, made national news, while the subsequent successful test flights did not attract as much attention. In 2017, after a successful test flight, the Airlander broke free from its mooring mast, triggering a safety system which ripped open and deflated the hull. As a result of the two accidents, HAV introduced new improvements to the design, including an air cushion landing system which allows the aircraft to land on any reasonably flat surface via six inflatable studs. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Last week, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales returned to the spotlight after spending months recovering from surgery. The royal revealed that she has been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Its unclear whether Middleton will attend Easter services this year along with the rest of the royal family, a long-standing tradition enjoyed by the late Queen Elizabeth II. Since marrying into the high-profile brood, the Princess of Wales has traveled to Windsor for church services at St. Georges Chapel. More from WWD As the holiday approaches, WWD looks back at all of Middletons Easter ensembles. 2014 The Princess of Wales attends an Easter church service in Sydney in 2014. When they were still known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate embarked on a three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand with their first son, Prince George. While attending a church service in Sydney, the Princess of Wales wore a pale blue funnel neck coat by Alexander McQueen, adding on a taupe suede clutch from the British label and matching L.K. Bennett pumps. She topped off her look with a ribbon-embellished headpiece. 2017 The Princess of Wales attends an Easter church service at St. Georges Chapel in 2017. In 2017, Middleton sported a cream coat that was custom-made by Catherine Walker, one of her late mother-in-law, Princess Dianas favorite designers. Underneath, Middleton wore a pleated Whistles skirt, accessorizing with an Etui Bags envelope clutch and nude leather pumps by Rupert Sanderson. The Princess completed her ensemble with a satin pillbox hat from Lock & Co. and a pair of pearl earrings loaned from Queen Elizabeth II. 2018 The Prince and Princess of Wales depart St. Georges Chapel after attending an Easter church service in 2018. While pregnant with her third child, Prince Louis, Middleton sported a chocolate brown maternity coat by Catherine Walker, which she originally wore in 2015. The Princess of Wales added on a velour felt hat by Lock & Co., as well as a pair of suede Gianvito Rossi pumps. Her other accessories included a Loeffler Randall lizard print clutch and Balenciaga pearl earrings. 2019 The Prince and Princess of Wales attend an Easter church service at St. Georges Chapel in 2019. Middleton re-wore her 2014 Easter look while attending services at St. Georges Chapel in 2019, swapping out her accessories for a pair of gray suede heels and a matching envelope clutch, both by Emmy London. 2022 The Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte attend an Easter church service at St. Georges Chapel in 2022. The Princess of Wales coordinated with Princess Charlotte on Easter in 2022. Both opted for powder blue shades, with Middleton donning a custom Emilia Wickstead coat dress and a matching Emmy London suede clutch. She accentuated her look with slightly darker blue hues, wearing a crepe pleated headband by Jane Taylor and suede pumps, also from Emmy London. For jewelry, the royal wore pearl Cassandra Goad studs. SANDRINGHAM, NORFOLK - DECEMBER 25: Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince Louis of Wales attend the Christmas Morning Service at Sandringham Church on December 25, 2023 in Sandringham, Norfolk. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage) LEEDS, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 26: Catherine, Princess of Wales smiles as she arrives for her visit to AW Hainsworth on September 26, 2023 in Leeds, England. The Princess of Wales is visiting Leeds and Lancaster to learn more about the textile industry's heritage, sustainable practices and work educating and upskilling young people. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 16: Catherine, Princess of Wales on Centre Court to present Carlos Alcaraz with the Wimbledon gentlemen's singles trophy during day fourteen of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 16, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) View Gallery 2023 The Princess of Wales and Princess Louis attend an Easter church service at St. Georges Chapel in 2023. For her most recent Easter appearance, the Princess of Wales matched with her youngest son, Prince Louis, in a cobalt Catherine Walker coat featuring velvet lapels. Middleton added on a velour felt pillbox hat by Lock & Co., a suede Emmy London clutch, lapis and moonstone earrings from Carousel Jewels and suede Gianvito Rossi pumps. Launch Gallery: Kate Middleton's Style Through the Years: Catherine Walker Coat Dresses, Jenny Packham Gowns & More Best of WWD When Vianey Souquette and Ross Lonsdof arrived in Tulum, Mexico, they were thrilled to be spending three weeks in paradise. The Texas couple had booked an Airbnb near the beach, for $441 a night, in a spot described in the listing as a safe and central area. They felt secure knowing the property owner was a superhost, and visitors to the tourist-heavy destination were known to be well-protected by authorities. However, the dream getaway quickly turned into a terrifying nightmare, when Souquette and Lonsdof were attacked by machete-wielding intruders who slipped in through an unsecured rear entrance. In a new lawsuit they filed over the hellish 2021 ordeal, the two say they have since been diagnosed with PTSD, severe depression, and anxiety, and claim the incident has put a severe strain on their decade-long relationship. Tulum is among the trendiest eco-chic spots along the Riviera Maya, a sun-drenched stretch of coastline in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It was once a sleepy fishing village so far off the beaten trail that infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar maintained a bolthole therenow refashioned as a glossy hotel with rooms going for $1,000 a night. In recent years, Tulum has become the Williamsburg of Mexico, according to The Cut. Its now a destination so popular with the fashion crowd that it almost feels like Fashion Week, The New York Times reported in 2012. While Teva-wearing backpackers look for sea turtles and New Age naifs look for nirvana, the fashion obsessed dont have to look at all to find one another. They are everywhere, artfully dressed down in high-peasant style. Vianey Souquette (l) and Ross Lonsdof (r). Courtesy Vianey Souquette Once they arrived at their rental, Souquette told The Daily Beast she and Lonsdof noticed the back fence didnt close properly, and the locks on the back door and sliding door were broken. So, as required by Airbnb policy, they called and left a message for Airbnb's Neighborhood Support Team, and reported the issues. Souquette and Lonsdof also contacted the host himself, who promised to take care of things right away. The male voices Souquette said she heard coming from the small fenced-in courtyard behind the house were the hosts workers, who maintained all of his properties in the area, he explained. He says, Dont worry. Theyre not going to bother you, Souquette told The Daily Beast. Theyre just back there to get supplies And I said, Well, I dont feel comfortable with it. I dont know who they are. Especially because that sliding door didnt seem very secure. But he assured me we had nothing to worry about; that he would make sure that they didnt come and go while we were there. On July 20, 2021, about 10 days into their stay, the couple woke up in the morning with plans for a lazy day, Souquette said. She took a shower and came out, wrapped in a towel, to make the two of them some breakfast while Lonsdof washed up. As Souquette finished cooking eggs, she said she heardto her annoyancethe courtyard gate swing open. That kind of got me upset, because I thought he wasnt going to let anybody in here anymore, she said. I dont know why I did it, but I put my head to the door, like, What was that noise? And the moment I did that, the door swung open. A man with a knife grabbed Souquette as a second man entered behind him, shoving Souquette deeper inside the residence, she said. I just thought I saw my life passing me by, an emotional Souquette recalled. And I said to myself, If Im gonna die, Im gonna die fighting. Souquette was too shaken up to recount specific details, but their federal lawsuit, filed March 15, fills in some of the blanks. On security camera footage, which Souquettes attorney Tyrone Blackburn shared with The Daily Beast, a pair of masked men can be seen bypassing the broken back fence while a third man disables a second camera with a length of pipe and remains outside as a lookout. The two attackers then enter the Airbnb by easily opening an unlockable back door and sliding door, both of which Plaintiffs had reported to Airbnb several days earlier, the complaint states. An unknown man seen on security video approaching the Airbnb where Vianey Souquette and Ross Lonsdof were staying in Tulum. Courtesy Vianey Souquette Souquette let out a bloodcurdling scream, heard clearly in the security footage, as the intruders made their way inside, ripped off her towel, and assaulted her, according to the complaint. Lonsdof heard Souquettes cries and rushed out of the shower, naked and covered in soap, the complaint continues. The startled duo tried to tackle Lonsdof, one of them getting him in a bear hug while the other took whacks at him with a machete, the filing states. It says Lonsdof attempted to wrestle the machete away from the men, causing all of them to fall to the floor. During the struggle, one of the assailants began grabbing Mr. Lonsdof's penis and genitals, according to the complaint, which says this move was presumably [meant] to stop him from fighting back. When this tactic failed, they began striking and jabbing him in the groin and anus with the object used to disable the surveillance camera. Mr. Lonsdof recalls feeling immense pressure near his rectum. Eventually, Mr. Lonsdof was able to wrestle the machete away from one of the assailants and chased them out of the Airbnb rental. Souquette, who is Mexican-American, told The Daily Beast that Lonsdof started to chase the attackers as they bolted out the back door, but that she shouted for him to let them go. They called the police to report the attack, which, according to Souquette, only made her more nervous about potential retaliation. The couple packed up and evacuated inside of three hours, driving straight to Cancun and checking into a pricey gated resort on which Souquette said she insisted, for securitys sake. And thats when Airbnb finally called Souquette back about the broken gate and locks at the house in Tulum, she said. The local police didnt inspire much confidence in Vianey Souquette after she and her partner were attacked at their Airbnb (r), she said. Courtesy Vianey Souquette She and Lonsdof managed to get flights back home to Texas shortly after midnight the next day, costing ridiculous amounts, according to Souquette, who suffered cuts, bruises, and a tooth chipped badly enough to require cosmetic dentistry. Lonsdof received lacerations resulting in significant scarring to his chest, arms, and legs, the complaint states. The same property where the attack took place was made available for rent immediately after Lonsdof and Souquette left town, she said. Im just livid, Souquette said. How would you like to know, maybe a group of women, or two or three young girls rent it, not knowing that a woman and her boyfriend had been assaulted days before? In the lawsuit Blackburn filed on behalf of Souquette and Lonsdof, he notes that Airbnb does not conduct formal inspections of all listings as a standard practice. By failing to vet each property prior to it being rented, the company exposes renters like Ms. Souquette and Mr. Lonsdof to foreseeable risks of harm, the lawsuit states. The thing is, Airbnb is reactive, not proactive, Blackburn told The Daily Beast. Airbnb declined to comment. Like I said, its like our lives just flashed in front of us, Souquette said, and the negligence between the owner and Airbnb is so outrageous to me. And Im furious. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. The Albemarle County teen who sent at least one police officer diving for her life as he drunkenly sped through a convenience store parking lot last summer appears to be dodging both jail time and felony convictions so long as he abides by certain rules. While 19-year-old Kian Emanuel Goldstein did get a misdemeanor conviction and lost his driving privileges for 12 months, the officer he nearly hit was sufficiently unhappy about the felony-free resolution that she came to court March 18 to hear for herself what the court had decided. She objects? asked presiding Judge Claude Worrell. She does, answered prosecutor Susan Baumgartner. Officer Amanda Conner had to leap out of the way to avoid being hit. Sitting near the front row of the gallery in Albemarle County Circuit Court, Conner was a silent presence for the duration of the hearing and said afterward that she didnt believe she was at liberty to comment. Little was said in court about what misfortune Conner suffered, but Goldsteins attorney said that nobody was injured in the Aug. 30 incident. There was braking and swerving, said defense lawyer Heather Carlton, adding that her client was extremely apologetic upon his arrest. Carlton said that another mitigating factor is that her client has a disruptive behavior disorder diagnosis. That disorder, which is recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, resulted in Goldsteins temporary removal from regular classes when he was in high school, Carlton said. When combined with alcohol, Carlton told the court, his disorder literally causes seizure. Although below the legal drinking age of 21, Goldstein was found to be driving that evening with an open container of Twisted Tea, a brand of hard iced tea. His brain, the lawyer said, is in a constant fight or flight mode. That evening, according to arresting officers, Goldstein took flight. Approached by police, he fled the Wawa parking lot at the corner of U.S. 29 and Proffit Road and, officers alleged, would momentarily turn off the vehicles lights to avoid his pursuers. A couple of new details that the prosecutor added to the record March 18 were that Goldstein struck a deer and got trapped by making a turn onto a tree-lined drive. When he subsequently took off on foot, Baumgartner said, he left the vehicle in gear and running. Police initially lodged eight charges including abduction for allegedly refusing, during the chase, to discharge a passenger. While a judge subsequently dropped the abduction charge, an Albemarle County grand jury certified six others, including felony eluding, assault and battery of a law enforcement officer and driving while intoxicated. The plea agreement found that there was sufficient evidence for a pair of felony convictions, but the deal gives Goldstein a two-year deferral. During that time, he must refrain from further law-breaking, perform 100 hours of community service and abstain from illegal drugs and alcohol. If he complies, he gets to plead guilty in 2026 to three misdemeanors: assault and battery, eluding police and aggressive driving. He has to do a lot to earn a misdemeanor, said the prosecutor. The one charge Goldstein was sentenced for on March 18 was driving while intoxicated, a conviction that brought him a $250 fine and requires him to wear a SCRAM-brand alcohol monitor on his ankle until four months elapse with no detection of alcohol. While a charge of attempted malicious wounding of an officer and refusal to take an alcohol test were both dropped, his lawyer contended that the two-year deferral period is so stringent that any infraction, even vehicular, can undo the deal. Kian welcomes the opportunity to prove to the court and the community that his actions on the night of Aug. 30 were an aberration and that he is a responsible young man with a bright future, Carlton told The Daily Progress. Kian made a mistake at 19 years old that will impact the rest of his life. Reiterating something she said in court, she said that Goldstein has repeatedly apologized and has actively sought to accept responsibility. Instead, the commonwealth has treated Kian like a violent felon although he has no criminal record, no one was injured and the entire incident lasted a handful of minutes, she said. The Albemarle County Police Department did not go into specific details when contacted by The Daily Progress. Decisions regarding prosecution and the best course of action fall under the purview of the Commonwealths Attorneys Office, county spokeswoman Logan Bogert told The Daily Progress in an email. While we cannot comment on specific case outcomes, we respect this process and will continue to do our due diligence in our community. Appearing in a navy blue sportcoat in court on March 18, Goldstein said nothing other than his soft-spoken affirmative answers when the judge asked him if he approved various aspects of the deal. Ill see you in two years, Mr. Goldstein, said Worrell. Good luck to you. Belize is known for its beautiful beaches, laid-back vibe and plenty of things to do. A unique Belizean experience is taking the Viper Shot. The Viper Shot is a staple at one of the most popular beach clubs at on Ambergris Caye, a small island not far from Belize City. Maruba Beach Klub offers its signature Viper Shot exclusively at its location on Secret Beach, a not-so-secret beach with in-water dining, various beach clubs, music, food, drinks, and more. The beach club is famous for its menu, Caribbean-favorite cocktails, and water activities like jetskis, a boat ride, and more. The Viper Shot The Viper Shot is a strong house specialty white rum that features one unique ingredient: a 15-year-old aged snake. Though the snake is dead, one taste of Marubas more-than-100-proof rum feels quite alive. But the Viper Shot is more than just a gulp of a really strong Belizean-made white rum. Its an experience. The Maruba Experience When visiting Maruba Beach Klub, one mention of the famous Viper Shot will yield lots of smiles and encouragement from the friendly staff. The shot is typically taken near the bar, on a live edge counter which some consider to be an area only the bravest go. The staff will then bring out four key items for the experience: a glass bottle with a clearly visible snake inside, a plate with raw cane sugar, a few slices of pineapple, a lighter, and four large shot glasses filled with ice. Whichever staff member is leading the Viper Shot that day will announce whats about to happen, often referred to as an initiation into the Maruba Beach Klub family. Participants are asked to first sniff the bottles cap because even the scent is strong, and its an accurate indicator that the shot wont be a weak one. Next, the bartender dumps out the ice, leaving the cold shot glasses behind, and fills them with the rum while the dead snake, whose eyes are still open, seems to watch. Fire, Sugar, Celebration One by one, shot takers are asked to quickly dip the very tip of their index finger into the shot, have their finger lit on fire, and then immediately into their mouths. However, the fire aspect of the shot if for show, and it doesnt seem to damage or harm any shot takers. After the fiery finger, the shot takers drink the rum, then taste the sugar and bite into their pineapple slice. Once its over, the staff cheer and celebrate, and shot-takers are invited to sign their name in permanent marker on the bar, signaling another successful round of Maruba Beach Klubs Viper Shot. The Monday, March 25 episode of Days of Our Lives accomplished a couple of things: Theresas jealousy kicked in after she saw Alex and Kristen kissing. The major accomplishment: Marlena, Steve, Maggie, and even Konstantin talked John out of flying to Greece to turn himself in for killing Konstantins daughter, something he allegedly did as The Pawn. Maybe John should rethink his decision. Forgiveness Out of the Goodness of Konstantins Heart John Black (Drake Hogestyn) continued to angst and punish himself for killing Konstantins daughter. He headed to Maggies to tell Victors friend that he knows he can never forgive John. As it was, John could never forgive himself. He could go to Greece and turn himself into the authorities. The police in Aria would have to kickstart an investigation and they would find out what would happen once and for all. For John, there was no other option. It was this or nothing. (Check out our Weekly DAYS Spoilers here) Meanwhile, Maggie (Suzanne Rogers) finally learned the whole entirety of the details regarding the death of Konstantins daughter. The man left out a lot when he told her, after all. She became emotional when she thought Victor (John Aniston) had something to do with this. She knew it was possible for him to do it but she had difficulty lining up the man from back in the day with the man she married. But she knew that Victor would never have sanctioned the death of somebodys daughter. Marlena (Deidre Hall) and Steve (Stephen Nichols who talks about a moment he shared with Mary Beth Evans here) tried to be Johns rock throughout this exchange. At the same time, they really didnt want him to get on a plane to Greece. Not for a crime that may not have happened. And if it did happen, was beyond his control, especially since he had no choice in the matter due to the mind-control of it all. Finally, Konstantin (John Kapelos), out of the goodness of the heart, sounded like a changed man. Suddenly, he let all of the pain and his need for revenge over his daughters death go. Yes, just like that he decided to let go of his hatred. He had incentive to do this hed found a better life with much more to offer (AKA Maggie). He lamented the fact he challenged Victors rule. That reckless behavior he exhibited decades ago? He was to blame for losing his daughter. It was all so clear now. What Should Happen Now After the accomplishments and epiphanies and forgiveness, Maggie questioned Konstantin. She mentally started to poke holes in his story. Seemed like she was on to Konstantin from Aria, Greece. He claimed to be Victors friend when he first came to town, but that wasnt true. He tried to cover for that lie but didnt do a good job. Because Maggie may be on to Konstantin, John (whos been a man in crisis as of late), Marlena, and Steve may not have much time. When John said he wanted to hop on a plane to Greece and turn himself in to authorities, Konstantin became generous and decided to let everything go. Sure, he wanted to bilk Maggie of her fortune and that whole plan he had going on with Theresa. But what if he doesnt want John and everyone to find out what really happened that allegedly fateful night? What if he was the one who accidentally caused his daughters death or someone else did? What if hes trying to run a con of all Kons? So, do you know what John, Marlena, and Steve must do right after Judes christening? Go to Greece. Get on the first plane, train, and then automobile that gets them to Aria. They need to dig deep and discover the definitive story of that night. And then see how Konstantin reacts. Theyll have to be careful because the man knows how to turn John into The Pawn. But this could be a way to get this conman out of Salem for good. The best place for true soap fans to be is our Facebook groups. Have you joined? If you love soap spoilers, gossip, and fans as dedicated as yourself, check out Days of Our Lives Fans, General Hospital Exclusive, The Young and the Restless Fans, and The Bold and the Beautiful Fans. The post The Next Thing DAYSs John, Marlena, and Steve Need to Do Go to Greece appeared first on Soap Hub Southwest would first plan to pilot the overnight flights from both Las Vegas and Hawaii in their introduction of red-eyes. Getty Images Southwest Airlines is hoping to start red-eye flights sometime in the next two years after first floating the possibility of the overnight routes a few months ago. As part of the timeline, which was detailed by the airlines Chief Commercial Officer Ryan Green during a travel conference last week, Southwest would plan to pilot the overnight flights from both Las Vegas and Hawaii, according to The Washington Post. He added in order to start the flights, Southwest would need to work out some technical and labor details first. Green said the airline could fly about 50 red-eye flights per day when they launch. We have to be maniacally focused on being efficient, Green told The Washington Post, adding Southwest wants to grow without adding to the cost structure. A representative for Southwest did not respond to a request for comment from Travel + Leisure on Monday. The timeline for red-eyes comes after Southwests CEO Bob Jordan called overnight flights in November a logical evolution for the airline. We have the aircraft, its a great way to use an asset that you already have and use it more productively which means more hours in the day, he told The Dallas Morning News at the time. So, we will be doing red-eyes. Red-eye flights are popular, especially when traveling from west to east either across the country or even across the ocean to Europe. To ace these time zone-jumping routes, travelers should make sure they pack the right gear to put them to sleep, pick the perfect relaxing seat, and swear off the alcohol (at least for the time being) since it can lead to low-quality sleep. The decision to add red-eye flights comes as Southwest is in the process of redesigning its cabins for 2025 complete with slimmer new seats, adjustable headrests, and larger under-seat space. While the new seats will come with personal USB-A and USB-C outlets, they have sparked some online controversy for their svelte design. For more Travel & Leisure news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Travel & Leisure. Climate change is disrupting the production of some of our favorite foods, like chocolate and coffee, due to shifts in weather that change average temperatures. According to the Forest Data Network, even maple syrup, our favorite breakfast syrup and cocktail sweetener, has been under pressure due to colder winters in Canada and the northern U.S. Production plummeted by 15% in the United States in 2023. But despite the dire news, high-end whiskey distiller WhistlePig in Vermont hopes to raise our spirits (literally) with a new campaign for their whiskey-barrel-aged local maple syrup. In collaboration with the fictional maple syrup-chugging Vermont State Troopers from the 2001 cult comedy classic, "Super Troopers," WhistlePig has released a limited-edition bottle of its popular syrup featuring a signature trooper mustache and sunglass design. The Broken Lizard comedy group whose members portray the troopers and WhistlePig celebrated the film with a tongue-in-cheek PSA based on the idea that the Super Troopers had taken over WhistlePig's syrup production to ensure there would be no shortage of syrup for their chugging antics in future sequels. Read more: The 27 Best Bourbon Brands, Ranked Vermont's Finest Collaboration WhistlePig maple syrup - WhistlePig We're rooting for the maple industry - millions of maple trees grown for syrup production capture a large amount of carbon. Without them, the climate impact could be more dire. And although the troopers might argue among themselves about who most deserves the tag "Vermont's Finest," WhistlePig's Green Mountain State mash-up of local Runamok organic maple syrup has us hoping the syrup shortage won't worsen. The partnership includes the featured barrel-aged maple syrup and a version containing orange essence and maple syrup with sparkles. All of them could be used to make a maple Old Fashioned or poured on top of brunch chicken and waffles. Or, people could just take a chug from the bottle, like the Super Troopers. This whimsical campaign is not an unusual style for the distiller. Founded in 2007, WhistlePig already has a history of unique promotions, such as its unusual PiggyBank Rye glass bottle that "pours from the rear" and special releases featuring collectible bottles that can fetch thousands of dollars at auction. Read the original article on Tasting Table. A volley of legislation is heading for the fashion industry, yet many brands and retailers are still struggling to raise the infrastructure that could shield them from the slings and arrows of scrutiny. Its this almost wilful indolence that contributed to the demise of Renewcell, said Christina Iskov, head of innovation and development at Global Fashion Agenda. In a matter of months, the Swedish textile recycler devolved from success story to cautionary tale. More from Sourcing Journal I think theres a disconnect between the regulatory alignment and brand commitment, Iskov told Sourcing Journal. Its the industrys fault that [the bankruptcy] happened because we didnt make sure the investment was there to support it. To put it another way, while the initial spark of interest can be invigorating, its what happens afterward that decides whether an innovation sinks or swims. It was this latter piece, the Copenhagen-based industry convener realized, that was missing from the curated array of supply solutions it has presented alongside its biannual Global Fashion Summit since 2018. Even the short-lived juried program it ran with Fashion for Good and H&M Foundation ended with the finalists pitching to potential clients. There was no prize; there was no real follow-up, Iskov said. And we saw that all the brands and retailers were super inspired and wanted to do something but then when it became Monday and they [were back at work], they were like, I dont know how to start, what do I do? Early-stage and seed innovations were also being shut out, she said. And though the Copenhagen Edition of this years Global Fashion Summit will have a small area dedicated to more nascent companies, not all of them can afford the trek to Denmark, personnel, samples and signage in tow. Then they also need the investment, Iskov added. Otherwise, theyll either end up like Renewcell or, in a more likely scenario, theyll be dead in the water from the get-go. So Global Fashion Agenda turned to longtime partner PDS Ventures, which, as the investment arm of Mumbai-headquartered manufacturing giant PDS Limited, has amassed a sizable portfolio featuring the likes of recycled-textile producer Evrnu, bio-based pigment maker Nature Coatings and future-proof cotton platform Materra. The result is the Trailblazer Programme, an innovation talent search that will award the winner with up to $200,000 in cash, plus commercial and operational backing from Positive Materials, a Portugal-based R&D hub that operates under the aegis of PDS Group. From now through the end of the month, the program is seeking solution providers tackling different challenges across apparel and footwear production. Representatives from Global Fashion Agenda, PDS Ventures, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ralph Lauren, Fashion for Good and H&M Group will review and shortlist eight applicants for enrollment in the initiative, through which they will receive feedback, investment pitch training and other guidance from PDS and other industry vets. There has never been a more urgent time than now for true industry support for climate-first innovators with, not only financial investment but most crucially, mentoring and support to unlock the scaling potential of early-stage innovators, said Pallak Seth, founder and executive vice chairman at PDS Limited. Iskov said that much of the program stemmed from the theme of last years summits, From Ambition to Action. Ambition is cheap and plentiful. Action? Not so much. The Trailblazer Program isnt a flash-in-the-pan project, she said. Global Fashion Agenda and PDS Ventures hope to do this year after year. There isnt an expiration date on the mentorship, per se, either. We want to create an alumni [group] of solutions, Iskov said. We already have a really big community through our Innovation Forum with those solutions: we have quarterly meetings with them; we keep in dialogue with them all the time. We also bring them into the GFA ecosystem with brands and retailers. We want to do this with these GFA trailblazers so they become a new target group for GFA. Iskov doesnt have a wishlist, as such. Already, she said, the program is getting applications that cover a slew of concepts, from new materials to AI-based solutions. The biggest thing for me would be a solution thats really impact-driven, she said. And that can actually change something with numbers in the end for the production [of] materials. I think if we keep doing this initiative, it would also be different solutions that would be the winner, so it would not be only a material, for instance. Thats really important. Why just one winner? There are two reasons: This is the first time Global Fashion Agenda is doing something like this so it wants to start small. Divvying up the prize pot among multiple winners also diminishes the amount each receives. Since the whole point of the scheme is to disburse enough funding for a solution to scale, keeping the sum intact made the most sense. Back to Renewcell. If brands and retailers dont put their money where their mouths are, these innovations wont be there when they need them, Iskov said. And the way that legislation is progressing, they will need them sooner than they think. This is not just a pilot project, she said. This is something were going to do going forward to really make sure that that the needle is [being moved] and we reach a net-positive future. More than 1m has been secured to help young people in Derby who are rough sleeping or at risk of it. Derby City Council said the bid will be match-funded by Derby Homes to buy 10 properties with one or two bedrooms. The cash will also fund a programme to help the young people, including paying for two full-time support workers and social workers, for three years. City Councillor Shiraz Kahn said: "No one, especially children, should have to worry about becoming homeless." The council said 48 vulnerable young people in Derby have been found to need accommodation with support, including care leavers, young people not ready for independent living, and those at risk of rough sleeping or who are already homeless. The 1.1m has been secured through the Single Homeless Accommodation Programme, introduced by the Government's Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It will be match-funded by Derby Homes. Mr Kahn said: "By providing vulnerable young people with not only a safe place to live but the skills and tools to live independently, we can hopefully stop homelessness from becoming a reality for many." The council said the properties will be managed by Derby Homes, have affordable rents and energy efficiency ratings of at least a band C, to help make household bills more affordable. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. A new $1.2 million building is rising on Ribaut Road at Casablanca Circle in Port Royal. The 4,500-square foot facility will better position a long-standing Lowcountry Good Samaritan group in serving a growing number of residents who need food and clothing and financial help. In this difficult economy, even those who are working are not insulated from hard times, according to Lori Opozda. Opozda is the executive director of HELP of Beaufort, a not-for-profit thats been providing food, clothing and household items and financial assistance to hundreds of working families, hungry children and seniors for more than half a century. Delivering food to those who cant make it to its pantry is also key part of the work. The organization is constructing its first ever permanent food pantry at 1600 Ribaut Road. Besides a pick-up and drop-off food pantry, the 4,500-square-foot facility will have a 2,200-square-foot produce garden, walk-in freezer for cold storage and a private office for client intake. Cooking and gardening classes also are planned. The bigger and better facility, which is expected to be running by early summer, will arrive at a time when the need is growing. We are finding more working families coming in needing assistance whether it be food and clothing or financial assistance, Opozda said. That used to be a small percentage of people walking through the door. Over the past six to eight months, Opozda says, HELP of Beaufort has seen a 25% to 30% increase in the number of people requesting assistance. And in an indication of the difficult economic times, she adds, a larger percentage of those people already are working full-time jobs. HELP of Beaufort, which has been providing food, clothing and short-term assistance to those in need for 50 years, is getting its first permanent building, which is under construction on Ribaut Road. While construction continues, HELP of Beaufort is making due operating a small pantry at 502 Charles Street in Beaufort, behind the Grace Chapel AME Church. The Beaufort and Port Royal communities have stepped forward to finance the new headquarters. Over $1 million in money, labor and materials already has been donated for the project. Now the organization is on the last leg of the fundraising, needing $150,000 in donations to finish the job. A few weeks ago, the organization was thrilled to learn it would receive an anonymous $50,000 but only if it matches it with $50,000 raised from other sources. So far, the group has raised $22,000 of the $50,000. Before the project was launched, Opozda went door to door talking with electricians, plumbers, lumber yards and paint supply stores asking for help. Just doing a lot of leg work for a small amount of time really paid off, said Opozda, noting a number of companies agreed to help with materials and labor. As a result of the generosity, HELP of Beaufort will own the building outright, instead of being saddled with debt. Opozda said. That, in turn, will allow the group to funnel very cent of future donations toward helping people. In 1973, the women of the First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort started making and delivering meals to seniors and other residents. HELP of Beaufort came along in 1987 and a pantry and free clothing were added. Today, not-for-profit, which relies primarily on volunteers to keep overhead low, works hand-in-hand with local churches and other groups and also provides financial assistance. Opozda estimates the group helps about 1,200 people a month, which includes those who walk through the doors and their families. The new Ribaut Road building will be the first permanent location for the organization, which has bounced around through the years. Its taken 51 years, says Opozda says, but we finally got there. Last week, the roof was finished. Siding is expected to be installed this week. Then, after that, work can begin on the plumbing and interior. For those that wish to learn more about the project go to helpofbeaufort.org HELP of Beauforts site plan for its new facility on Ribaut Road. JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) A 25-year-old woman is dead, and two people were seriously injured after an overnight crash in James City County, according to Virginia State Police. Courtesy of Virginia State Police Courtesy of Virginia State Police Courtesy of Virginia State Police On Sunday, March 24 just before 3 a.m., state police received several calls about an older model Toyota sedan driving the wrong way on I-64. When troopers arrived on the scene, they discovered the vehicle had driven off the roadway and into a guardrail. Police also said the driver was intoxicated. As crews worked to clear the scene, fire and rescue had the right lane blocked, with the assistance of a VDOT Safety Service Patroller. Cones were in place and the safety patroller vehicles arrow board was illuminated, directing traffic to the left lane. A short time later, a 2017 Toyota Corolla drove into the back of the VDOT truck. The driver, 25-year-old Ayanna E. Coan, of Newport News, died upon impact and the two passengers suffered serious life threatening injuries. The female passenger was taken to Riverside Regional Hospital and the male passenger was flown to VCU, Richmond. The VDOT patroller was not injured in the crash. At this time, police have not determined whether alcohol was a contributing factor in the fatal crash. However, troopers did say the occupants of the vehicle were wearing seatbelts. Police said the crash is still under investigation and the Commonwealth Attorney has been contacted. Check with WAVY.com for more updates. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. The Ropucha-class large landing ship Yamal suffered serious damage and is forced to continuously pump water from the ship after being targeting in temporarily occupied Sevastopol, Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) reported on March 25. Ukraines Defense Forces hit the Black Sea Fleets 13th shipyard, where the large landing ship Yamal was moored. Read also: Expert assesses impact of Ukrainian forces' strike on Russian logistics in Crimea "Ukrainian military intelligence assesses Yamals damage as critical: a hole in the upper deck caused it to roll to the starboard side," the report said. The Yamal ship took part in the annexation of Crimea (in 2014), HUR added, and from 2017 to 2023 it underwent repairs. Other Russian losses in the Sevastopol strike are still being clarified. Strikes on the Russian Black Sea Fleets Yamal and Azov ships in Sevastopol - What is Known? A series of explosions occurred in Crimea overnight on March 23-24. At least three Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missiles hit a major communications hub of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, an OSINT technical investigator reported. Read also: Russian Black Sea naval fleet shrinking but still dangerous: over 30 ships, including submarines, active UA Navy Drones reportedly hit an oil depot near the village of Hvardiyske. The Ukrainian Armed Forces hit the large landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications center, and several Russian Black Sea Fleet infrastructure facilities, Ukrainian Armed Forces StratCom confirmed on Telegram on March 24. Should both ships turn out to be critically damaged, it would mark a huge loss for Russia as the enemy would have only three of 13 ships left in the Black Sea Fleet, said Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk. NV Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine For many Americans, Memorial Day marks a fun-filled long weekend and the unofficial start of summer. However, the holiday was created for a much more solemn purpose: commemorating the U.S. military personnel who died serving our country. In light of this meaningful history, it's important to remember the real reason for the holiday rather than simply celebrating the extra day off work. As the story goes, in 1996, a group of children were asked what Memorial Day meant and responded, Thats the day the pools open! As a result, the Clinton administration created the National Moment of Remembrance in an effort to remind Americans of Memorial Day's significance. In honor of the holiday, learn more about Memorial Day with these important facts. The first Memorial Day took place on May 30, 1868. Memorial Day in Virginia (Celal Gunes / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) James A. Garfield, an Ohio congressman who would later become the 20th American president, gave a speech honoring fallen Civil War soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. Afterwards, thousands of people decorated the graves of the fallen. The date was selected so that the spring flowers would be in full bloom. John A. Logan is considered the founder of Memorial Day John A. Logan (Universal History Images / Getty Images) Logan served as a Union Army general during the Civil War and later resumed a career in politics. As head of the Grand Army of the Republic, a volunteer organization for Civil War veterans, Logan called for a national day of remembrance for fallen Civil War soldiers in 1968. This occasion became the basis for Memorial Day. American flags should be flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon on Memorial Day. Flags (Luiz C. Ribeiro / NY Daily News via Getty Images) According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, the flag should be flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon only, then raised briskly to the top of the staff until sunset, in honor of the nations battle heroes on Memorial Day. Memorial Day was officially recognized as a federal holiday in 1971. Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971, which established Memorial Day as a federal holiday on the last Monday of May. Every Memorial Day, there is a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. President Biden Visits Arlington National Cemetery On Veterans Day (Bonnie Cash / Bloomberg via Getty Images) The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery is a symbolic grave for fallen soldiers whose remains were not found or identified. Memorial Day was originally created to honor fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Since then, the holiday has expanded to honor all U.S. military personnel who died while serving the country. Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. American flags and flowers seen at a veterans cemetery (Ty O'Neill / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images) The name stemmed from the practice of decorating soldiers graves to honor their memory. Waterloo, New York is the official birthplace of Memorial Day. President Lyndon B. Johnson named Waterloo, New York as the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1961. However, several other towns have also claimed to be the holiday's birthplace. Many people wear poppies on the Friday before Memorial Day poppy flower (Getty Images) May 24 is National Poppy Day. Since World War I, poppies have been commonly worn to honor fallen soldiers, largely due to John McCraes popular poem "In Flanders Fields." There is a national moment of silence at 3 p.m. Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act in 2000. The act designates 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day as a time for prayer and reflection. As stated by the Clinton administration, the purpose of the National Moment of Remembrance is to honor fallen soldiers and remind citizens of the true meaning of Memorial Day. This article was originally published on TODAY.com Albemarle County could be just one vote shy of establishing a $10 million program that advocates believe would be a big step toward fighting the areas affordable housing crisis. Roughly 1,000 people packed the performing arts center at Charlottesville High School on the night of March 18, rallying for their elected officials to create whats known as an affordable housing trust fund, a pool of money used solely to finance affordable housing projects. Three county supervisors Ann Mallek, Ned Gallaway and Mike Pruitt sat before the crowd, listening to testimony from community members struggling to find housing. All three agreed to vote in favor of the trust fund, but theyll need one more vote on the six-member Board of Supervisors for it to become a reality. They already have the backing of the March 18 audience, many of whom are members of IMPACT, or Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together, a collection of 26 congregations that have united to solve community problems. March 18 was one of many similarly large events IMPACT has organized since 2007. As is customary at IMPACT events, each elected official was asked to stand before the audience and answer whether they would agree to make certain commitments. But just before, Vikki Bravo of Congregation Beth Israel, Charlottesvilles oldest and only synagogue, addressed the crowd. To the people here tonight, if youre willing to be behind the supervisors and support them on this, please stand, Bravo said on stage as the supervisors sat to her right. Virtually every person in the audience rose to their feet. Bravo told the supervisors that was just a sampling of the people favoring a trust fund. There are many more in IMPACTs 26 congregations, she said. In recent years, IMPACT has made housing its key focus. It often cites a 2017 study which found that nearly 7,000 people in Albemarle County are severely rent burdened, a term used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to describe people who spend at least 50% of their income on housing. A more recent study conducted in 2020 found that number has eclipsed 10,000. IMPACT members said they believe an affordable housing trust fund is a realistic method to help alleviate the crisis. Since 2017, the group has posited that the county should follow in the city of Charlottesvilles footsteps and create such a fund. Alexandria, Richmond, Fairfax and others have similar funds. Affordable Housing Trust Funds are a national best practice utilized in over 850 communities across the nation. They work by providing gap funding to affordable housing developments, enabling the money going into the fund to be leveraged several times over, reads IMPACT literature on the subject. Albemarle already has a fund it has used to finance affordable housing projects. According to the county, since 2022 it has doled out $13 million for affordable housing projects and programs, serving more than 3,000 low- to moderate-income households. Bravo alluded to that fund while on stage. To be clear, they have definitely funded some very important things with that money, she said. But its not strategic or targeted. IMPACT is proposing something different. Instead of a general fund that the county currently uses, the group wants a fund that is solely used to finance affordable housing projects. More specifically, it wants the fund to prioritize projects designed for people making less than 60% of area median income, roughly $75,000 a year. And while the amount of money currently put into the fund fluctuates from one year to the next, IMPACT is asking for the county to inject $10 million into the proposed trust fund annually. When the group first brought this to the countys attention in 2017, it asked for a $5 million annual contribution; that ask has since doubled as development costs have increased. An independent governing body would be created to watch over the fund, ensuring that the money is used appropriately. Setting up a trust fund with consistent annual funding ensures that housing becomes a priority that can be planned around for the long term instead of scrambling to find funding when opportunities pop up, Bravo said. Building affordable housing requires an amalgamation of federal, state and local monies. Without multiple funding sources, developers would be unable to construct buildings and sell them below market-rate value without taking a significant financial hit. Making money available incentivizes developers to build affordable units they likely wouldnt otherwise construct. And once a developer can secure money from one source, it becomes easier for them to convince other sources to chip in. IMPACT estimates that for every dollar put into a trust fund, developers get $8 from other sources. A trust fund could entice a developer to build affordable units in Albemarle; in addition to knowing theyd get that local funding, theyd be able to leverage that money to collect funding from state, federal and other programs. Sunshine Mathon is the executive director at the Piedmont Housing Alliance, a nonprofit developer that builds affordable units across the Charlottesville area. He says that while in the past Albemarle County has stepped up whenever the alliance asks for funding, the irregular nature of the current system makes it difficult for developers to plan projects. Charlottesville has pledged $10 million annually for affordable housing programs over the next 10 years. When we consider doing a project in the city versus the county, the city has made an explicit commitment to spending on affordable housing annually, Mathon said. Thats a critical distinction. Not knowing what county money will be available constrains how we view or where we pursue projects, because that funding is crucial to making a project possible, Mathon said. All three supervisors attending IMPACTs event March 18 answered yes to all three requests posed to them: to push for a fund to be voted on by the end of the year, to push for a prioritization of housing at or below 60% area median income and to push for an annual allocation of at least $10 million. I think these are abundantly reasonable sets of requests, Pruitt told the crowd after pledging his support. I think $10 million is a very sensible starting point. Charlottesville has a third of the people of Albemarle and about half the budget, and theyre doing $10 million. So I dont see why we cant at least match what a much poorer community is doing. Gallaway said he had been attending IMPACT meetings for several years, regularly supporting its trust fund proposals. I dont mean for this to come across the wrong way, but Im really hoping next year I have a different question to answer, Gallaway said to laughs and cheers. Mallek said she wants to create the fund so that the county can have specific goals and methods of making housing more affordable. Thats what this work has to be clarifying this year: How it will work, and what the criteria will be to make sure that the investments are going to benefit the people who need it most, she said. Pastor Liz Emrey of New Beginning Christian Community called the event wonderfully successful, noting that often the elected officials do not answer yes to the questions asked of them. Not only is it great that we got yeses, but its great that we got yeses to such specific asks that we can clearly follow up on, Nava Khurgel of Congregation Beth Israel told The Daily Progress. But even with the commitments made, the board is still one vote short of actual action. If the trust fund has any shot, Gallaway, Mallek and Pruitt will need to be joined by at least one of their colleagues. Three empty chairs were placed by the supervisors on stage, one of many ways in which IMPACT organizers reminded their audience that county supervisors Diantha McKeel, Jim Andrews and Bea LaPisto-Kirtley were not in attendance. While LaPisto-Kirtley is currently out of the country, Andrews said he had a previously scheduled meeting with the Agriculture-Forestry District Committee, a body on which he is the sole board representative. If the trust fund supporters are going to get a majority, they will likely have to sway LaPisto-Kirtley or Andrews. McKeel does not appear to support the proposal, instead advocating for the current funding system. At this time, I prefer flexibility within our budget that allows us to respond based on the communitys needs, circumstances, and available financial resources which can change dramatically from year to year, McKeel told The Daily Progress in an email. I will continue to work with the developers in support of affordable housing proposals and with the neighborhoods to accept the density those proposals require. Andrews is open to the idea but not yet committing one way or another. He told The Daily Progress he believes the county must do more to promote affordable housing and that any further commitments should be data driven and a prudent use of taxpayer dollars. He wants more details on how the proposed fund would operate before making a decision. I dont know enough about that independent governing body and other terms of the trust to make a commitment as to when that concept could be realized, he wrote in an email. That is not a no vote. Its an I dont know enough yet about the specifics. Raising much larger amounts for an affordable housing trust fund must be balanced against other essential needs, including basic fire and safety and other essential government functions, Andrews continued. The large turnout on March 18 was impressive, but Pruitt would like to see similar engagement at county board meetings. I often get concerned that, especially in Albemarle, we dont have nearly as much public pressure put on at a steady pace, and it makes me worry that were not always responsive enough to what I see as urgent public demands, Pruitt told The Daily Progress. He gets a dozen or so emails or phone calls from constituents daily, and they rarely concern housing affordability. If voters regularly put as much pressure on their representatives as they did at the IMPACT event last week, Pruitt suspects action would have been taken years ago. I feel its very easy to forget what the needs of the poor are in our community because theyre not the people who we hear from as much because theyre not the people who can come out to a 1 p.m. board meeting to speak, he said. Supervisors will be hosting town halls to discuss the upcoming budget this coming Thursday as well as April 8 and 10. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt found the perfect way to irritate the British public on Friday afternoon when he wrote that 100,000 a year is not a huge salary on social media platform X. His message, following a call with a mother in Surrey, who cannot claim free childcare, angered social media users who called the comment crass. But hell be hoping a suggestion that support should be allowed higher up the income scale will turn into votes. Its not his worst idea. A quick glance at Mumsnet, long regarded as a bellwether of opinion, shows how many wealthy parents are on a mission to earn less. As things now stand, if the highest earner in your household is paid 99,999 a year then you can be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week a lifeline worth thousands of pounds a year given nursery fees. Earn 100,001 and this benefit disappears completely. In fact, the hit is so great that the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says a parent earning 134,000 with two kids could be worse off than someone on 99,000. With free childcare hours being extended to younger children next week, working parents on 100,000 a year have been combing the internet for advice on how to bring their numbers down. A working mother who says her income crosses the 100,000 threshold by just 25 is told to donate to charity or ask for an unpaid day off in order to be eligible for 30 hours of free childcare a week, while another questions what to do as her bonus lifts her income to 110,000. I know I can pay into my pension. But at what point does that not become worthwhile? she asks. A Mumsnetter kicked off a debate last year when she confessed that she and her high-earning husband were dropping their days in order to deliberately reduce wages and cash in on free childcare. Didnt want to drop wages but now in that squeezed middle where actually if [we] earned less [we] would pay less tax and get more benefits, her post read. Im sure we are not the only ones. Her hunch is right. After all, Mumsnet is not a small fringe community. The NHS has turned to the site in the past to tackle staff shortages, while politicians of all parties have taken part in Mumsnet webchats in an attempt to win over Britains women, tackling subjects such as Brexit, schooling and their favourite biscuits. David Camerons is oatcakes with butter and cheese, Ed Miliband a Jaffa Cake, Nicola Sturgeon a Tunnocks Caramel Wafer and Gordon Brown anything with a bit of chocolate on. Jeremy Corbyn is anti-sugar, although if forced hed take a shortbread. Thats the most miserable response to the biscuit question Ive ever read, sighed a Mumsnet user during the 2016 Labour leadership contest. The conversations in these threads shouldnt be dismissed as tittle-tattle. The posts about pay are all part of a wider conversation taking place across the country amid concerns over a tax trap that Stuart Adam of the IFS described last week as absolutely insane. At 100,000, families do not only lose their entitlement to free childcare worth up to 14,500 a year for someone with two children outside of London, and 20,000 in the capital. They are also hit with a marginal rate of 60pc tax, because after reaching six figures staff start to lose the personal allowance, the sum you can earn each year without paying any income tax, at a rate of 1 for every 2 of pay until it disappears at 125,140. In an attempt to beat the system some staff are shortening their working weeks, realising they would keep more of their pay by earning 92,000 as opposed to 115,000. Others are shunning promotions or turning down work. Given that the median salary for full-time employees in the UK was 34,963 last year, few will have much sympathy. Theres an argument that well-paid employees shouldnt be able to game the system in order to still access taxpayer-funded childcare perks. Couples who are both earning 99,000 a year will be laughing. In the current tax set up we will have a much nicer family life and general existence by both working and earning less, writes the Mumsnetter who said her and her husband are cutting their work week. Recommended Can you afford to have children? Try our calculator Theres also an argument that wealthy families will feel pinched no matter what their salaries are because theyll get hooked into a certain lifestyle, with psychotherapists often making the point that income has little to do with feeling rich the more we have the more we feel we need. But that doesnt mean the tax man can never go too far. What it means to be rich has changed as money no longer stretches in the way it once did. More than a quarter of employees earning over 100,000 last year said they had no money left at the end of the month, according to a survey by wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin, with those aged under 40 the most likely to struggle amid soaring mortgage and childcare costs. In London, young workers in high-paying industries are complaining to older peers that they have no option but to leave the capital if they want to start a family. A father-of-two who was earning more than 100,000 had hoped to start his own business, but now feels that his financial situation is too precarious after his wife lost her job. Britains middle and high income households are on course to face the worst hit to living standards since the 1960s under the Conservatives, the IFS has warned. By the end of this parliament, this group is on course to have experienced the largest setback to living standards since records began in 1961. Punishing tax rates means that many ambitious workers might soon conclude theres no point working hard to get ahead. If enough high-earners reach that verdict and act accordingly, opting for an early retirement, a three-day working week or snubbing promotions in order to access tax perks, then the consequences for productivity and the economy could be huge Faced with a reduction in spending power, some talented workers may eye a move abroad. High earners who once dreamt of a 100,000 salary are finding that the streets are not paved with gold after all. Recommended Why it only pays to work four days a week in high-tax Tory Britain Read more Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) and Currey Ingram Academy, two private schools in Middle Tennessee, canceled classes on Monday after threats were reportedly made against one of the schools. According to a school spokesperson for CPA, the schools received a message from an individual who used disconcerting language towards the safety of our campus, on Sunday, March 24. Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts The school said a police report was immediately filed with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) after the threat was made. Out of an abundance of caution, Currey Ingram school officials decided to cancel school due to its proximity to CPA. The threat against CPA remains under investigation. In an email sent to CPA parents, school officials referenced to the Covenant School shooting, stating they understand the incident brings up difficult emotions. In fact, Wednesday, March 27 will mark a year since three students and three staff members were killed in the school shooting. Read todays top stories on wkrn.com In a statement to News 2, CPA officials said the safety of our students, faculty, and families remains our top priority. It remains unclear what the threat contained and if the schools will reopen on Tuesday. Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee. This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2. In Reality Check stories, Star-Telegram journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@star-telegram.com. After receiving warning letters saying their election systems may violate federal voting rights laws, school board members in two Tarrant County districts are left to decide what to do next. The Arlington Independent School District and the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District both elect their board members at large, meaning every voter in the school district votes for candidates for every seat. A Dallas law firm says those election systems violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But is that the case? Maybe, said Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. It could be true, but its not necessarily true. Its not inherently true, Levitt said. Law firm: districts dont represent community diversity The Dallas law firm Brewer Storefront sent warning letters to the Arlington and Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school districts in Tarrant County, and 11 districts across Texas, saying their at-large school board seats and off-cycle elections deny diverse representation on their school boards and limit voting by people of color. The law firm sent the letters on March 6 stating neither district represents the diversity of their communities. Neither district commented on the letters before publication time. Arlington ISDs board discussed pending litigation in a closed session during a meeting Thursday, and Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISDs board is scheduled to do the same Monday. Its not clear if those conversations were prompted by the law firms letter. William Brewer III, founding partner of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, and its pro bono arm, Brewer Storefront, has been involved in voting rights litigation with local school boards and city councils for the last decade. The firm has worked with experts like demographers, statisticians and historians to map old school districts across Texas to strategize what school districts are violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and where they had an opportunity for quick, effective change that would have a positive impact on the education of children. The law firm ties the issue to other problems in schools: A lack of diversity and equitable geographic representation on school boards often leads to underfunded schools, school and student achievement gaps, and disenfranchised voters, it says in a news release. Lawyers from Brewer Storefront have used the firms voting rights initiative to challenge school districts in Irving, Frisco, Grand Prairie and Carrollton-Farmers Branch. The letters sent to the 11 school districts will continue the law firms mission to advocate for these school districts to have single-member districts to ensure minority voters have a fair opportunity and can participate in the electoral process, Brewer said. We represent parents who live in the areas where we believe change is demanded by the statute, Brewer told the Star Telegram. Whose children will be the beneficiaries of a different system. At-large voting dilutes Black and Hispanic vote Scott Hofer, a professor of political science at St. Francis College in New York, said at-large elections can dilute the power of voters of color in communities that have large Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. In many cities across the South, where housing patterns are still affected by discriminatory policies from decades ago, Black residents might make up the overwhelming majority of certain neighborhoods, but a much smaller share of the city overall. In a single-member district voting model, voters in predominantly Black neighborhoods elect school board and city council members from within their own communities, Hofer said, and those representatives usually look like the communities they serve. But under at-large voting models, those voters generally find their voices drowned out, he said. Hofer, who previously taught political science at the University of Houston, was one of three researchers who released a white paper in 2018 looking at the trade-offs between at-large voting systems and single-member districts. Theres a certain amount of consensus among scholars that city and school leaders who established at-large voting systems a century or more ago largely did so with the intent of limiting the power of non-white voters, he said. Decades later, those voting systems are still entrenched in many communities, he said. In some cases, those systems persist because of simple inertia, he said. In others, he said, its because the people who have the most power to change the systems are also the candidates who get elected under them. Voting Rights Act combats discriminatory election laws Levitt, the Loyola Law School professor, said at-large elections for seats on school boards or city councils could be a part of a system that violates the Voting Rights Act. But at-large voting models arent necessarily illegal in and of themselves, he said. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was put into place at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, to, among other things, combat local policies that intentionally diluted the power of non-white voters, Levitt said policies like at-large elections for school boards or city councils. Voting rights advocates say at-large elections are discriminatory because they allow the majority of a community to dominate every board seat, effectively denying minority voters a voice on those boards. But the Voting Rights Act is relentlessly context-specific, Levitt said, meaning it demands that specific details about each case be taken into account. Although its safe to expect attorneys to emphasize racial and ethnic mismatches in any lawsuits they eventually file, Levitt said it isnt enough to show that an elected body doesnt look like the jurisdiction it serves. Attorneys need to be able to show that a large demographic group cant get its preferred candidates elected. Generally, that means attorneys have to look at voting patterns in past elections, he said. For example, if a large community of Black voters tends to support Democratic candidates, but the elected body is made up entirely of Republicans, those voters might be able to make a successful case under the Voting Rights Act. But the issue doesnt always fall along party lines, he said for example, if a community generally favors one brand of Republican candidate, but candidates from another wing of the GOP dominate, a Voting Rights Act claim could still be possible. Attorneys making a Voting Rights Act claim also often look at whether a state or local jurisdiction has a history of discrimination in how it conducts its elections, Levitt said. Texas has a pronounced history of racial discrimination against Black and Latino would-be voters dating back to the 1840s. If attorneys can show that election policies and systems put into place decades ago put non-white voters at an unfair disadvantage today, they may succeed in having those policies overturned. Most districts across the country that have been ordered to change their school board election systems have adopted a single-member district model, in which voters elect candidates to represent their geographic areas, Levitt said. But that isnt the only solution, he said. In the mid-1990s, about three dozen school districts, city councils and community college districts shifted to a cumulative voting model after settling Voting Rights Act claims. In 1995, then-Gov. George W. Bush signed a bill into law allowing school boards and other elected bodies to shift to a cumulative voting model. Under that system, elections remain at large, but voters get a number of votes that corresponds with the number of candidates on the ballot. Voters can distribute those votes any way they choose. For example, in a five-person race, a voter could give five votes to a single candidate, one vote to all five candidates or two votes to one candidate and three to another. Carrollton-Farmers Branch offers possible preview One district that shifted to cumulative voting more recently was the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. The district adopted that model in 2016, after settling a Voting Rights Act lawsuit. Randy Schackmann, a current board member in the district, served on the board at the time the district made the change. After the lawsuit was filed, school leaders began working with demographers to try to find an equitable way to divide the district into single-member voting districts, he said. At the same time, board members met with mediators to try to work out a settlement. The idea of cumulative voting came up during mediation, Schackmann said. At the time, he said, no board members had heard of the idea. But several school trustees found the idea appealing, he said, mostly because it offered a way to resolve the lawsuit quickly. The board voted 5-2 to adopt the model and settle the suit, with Schackmann as one of the two votes against. Schackmann said most of his initial concerns about the settlement had to do with a provision that was unrelated to the voting plan. But years after the change, he still has concerns about how Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD elects its school boards. Schackmann said his biggest concern about the model is that voters largely dont understand it. In each election, large percentages of voters dont cast every vote theyre allowed, he said. During his re-election campaign, he tried to explain to voters that, because there were three candidates on the ballot, they could vote for him as many as three times. Some reacted with incredulity or outright suspicion, he said. For others, his explanation seemed to go over their heads. Part of the reason for that misunderstanding could be the large number of people who move into the Dallas-Fort Worth area every year, Schackmann said. Most new voters who arrive in the district havent heard of cumulative voting before, he said, so they assume they can only cast one vote in each race. But Schackmann said he also thinks most voters just dont pay close attention to local races like school board elections until the last minute and walk into the voting booth without understanding how the system works. A voting system that most voters cant understand doesnt create a framework for fair elections, he said. People do not understand cumulative voting. I dont care how much weve tried to educate them and we have, a number of ways, he said. ... I believe that cumulative voting has disenfranchised more voters than it enfranchised. Two teenagers were among three New Yorkers gunned down across the Big Apple Sunday night in a pair of deadly shootings, according to authorities. Two victims, including an 18-year-old woman, were fatally struck by gunfire in Harlem before a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in Brooklyn about 20 minutes later, police said. When cops reached the scene of the first shooting around 7:27 p.m., they found Ashley Ballard, 18, with gunshot wounds to the back and head, and 25-year-old Harry Mendoza shot in the head near East 128th Street and Lexington Avenue, the NYPD said. Police say two people were shot and killed in Harlem over the weekend. G.N.Miller/NYPost Both were rushed to Harlem Hospital where Ballard, of East Harlem, was pronounced dead shortly after 8 p.m. Mendoza, of Upper Manhattan, was initially listed in critical condition, but later died of his wounds at around 10 p.m., cops said. Its unclear what the relationship was between the two Manhattan victims and whether they were intended targets. Police are spotted at the scene following a fatal shooting on 256 east 37th street in Brooklyn, New York. Wayne Carrington Gunshots then struck 17-year-old Bryan Henriquez in the neck and torso near 256 East 37th St. in Brooklyn at around 7:45 p.m., the NYPD said. The Flatbush resident was taken by EMS to Kings County Hospital where he was pronounced dead. No motive was immediately known in either shooting as the investigations were ongoing. No arrests have been made. Additional reporting by Steven Vago and Larry Celona. Amid early criticism and fears of whitewashing, the cast of the highly anticipated sci-fi series 3 Body Problem says it does justice to the original Chinese novels. The Netflix series, developed by writer Alexander Woo and Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss, follows a group of London-based scientists and authorities who band together to fight a seemingly all-powerful extraterrestrial threat after a slew of suicides alarms the scientific community. When the Netflix series was announced, many fans voiced concerns that the novels would be culturally and thematically diluted in the adaptation. Based on Liu Cixins acclaimed Remembrance of Earths Past trilogy, the eight-episode show is a departure from the source novels, which set the time-spanning story in China beginning during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, a time of violent upheaval. On Reddit, one user noted that separating the setting from the cultural context seemed unnecessary and flagrant. Another commented they had doubts about the adaptation being led by non-Asian creators who were rightfully criticized for their treatment of both women and [people of color] on Game of Thrones. But actor Benedict Wong, who plays Detective Da Shi in the Netflix adaptation, told NBC News the creators got the go-ahead from the author. Cixin gave Dan, Dave and Alex the blessing to move this story into a global story, Wong said. My characters from Manchester, Jess Hongs [is] from New Zealand, and we have Ye Wenjie [played by] Rosalind Chao and Zine Tseng, just to kind of show how global we all are telling this world story. Yu Guming, left, and Zine Tseng in The series, like the book, starts from the point of view of astrophysicist Ye Wenjie, who witnesses her fathers murder by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. The incident gives rise to her disdain for humanity and her subsequent decision to invite an alien civilization to conquer Earth. Hong, who plays physicist Jin Cheng, said the show leaves the beginning intact while the changes broaden the storys focus. Everything in the books that was referencing the Cultural Revolution has been essentially untouched, Hong said. But the rest of it is a way to globalize a story that was very heavily Eastern-focused into a Western perspective, a global perspective. Because were all from different countries, for the actors, you get to pull in all of these different storylines into one emotional core, which I think is quite brilliant. Chao, who portrays the older version of Ye, says the show doesnt shy away from the lingering trauma of the Cultural Revolution. The seed is still that time period. Its a period of trauma, emptying out of all hope, and great division. I do think they honored it, Chao said. My parents are immigrants. Ive heard about it since growing up. And somehow the way they imparted that in this series made it more, you know, I could understand the trauma. Tseng, who plays the younger Ye, recalled remarks from the series Hong Kong director Derek Tsang, who gathered every single one of us, saying, It would be so great if we can do this and bring the honesty to the audience, to the story. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com A 19-year-old is behind bars after he was accused of having a gun on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. PREVIOUS: 2 charged with having guns at UNC Charlotte University police arrested Brian Wise on Saturday after they say he had a pistol. New: Third person in a matter of weeks arrested for allegedly having a gun on UNC Charlotte campus. Brian Wise now faces multiple charges. https://t.co/m7hS3UGbMc pic.twitter.com/pxs3KGRimR Hunter Saenz (@Hunt_Saenz) March 25, 2024 A spokesperson for the university said Wises arrest came after a traffic stop on Saturday evening. UNC Charlotte police found drugs along with the gun in the cars center console, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said Wise is not affiliated with the university was trespassing. Wise was arrested and charged with felony possession of a firearm on educational property, possession of marijuana, and a traffic-related offense. Wise is the third person arrested for having a gun on UNC Charlottes campus in the past two weeks. Police arrested Ryan Briones last Tuesday for trespassing on campus. When officers searched him, they said they found a gun. On March 15, Destiny Carr had a gun out while she chased after someone driving away from her in a campus parking deck. She was later arrested. Those two incidents were not connected and no injuries were reported. UNC Charlotte junior Hunter Chapman said she and her boyfriend are frustrated by the lack of communication from school administrators about recent gun incidents. At the East Deck, when someone was chasing a car with a gun or knife, we dont get Niner Alerts from that, Chapman said. Back in February when we had the active shooter thing, it ended up being false, but there (were) no alerts for that either. In early February, someone reported shots were fired near the education building, which caused a massive police response and lockdown on campus. Students said there was no Niner Alert sent during that incident. Well, we did, it was just a lot after the fact, said student Liesl Kendall. So, as it was happening, we didnt really know. And the alert was that there was a police presence. It didnt even say what the actual scare was. It just said police are in the area. Kendall remembers the mass shooting on UNC Charlottes campus in 2019 when two students were killed and four more were hurt. Going into college is stressful enough, and then going to a place where that already happened is kind of scary, Kendall said. But also, hopefully, because that happened, theyd make adjustments and be better prepared in the future. Niner Alerts are sent using a variety of methods based on the nature of the threat, according to UNC Charlotte Emergency Management. A spokesperson said in a statement that a Niner Alert was not issued for these recent gun incidents because There was no threat to campus safety in these situations because we either had the suspect in custody or knew with certainty they were no longer on our campus. Freshman Matthew Kingsley said he learned through his participation in student government that campus police are working on better notification. The chief of police came and talked to us, he said. So, they have installed an immediate alert that in the future will send out a message saying that there is an immediate police presence on campus, please avoid this area. So, they are currently working on that. Channel 9 reached out to UNC Charlotte to ask about that type of notification and to see if we can speak with someone from the university about the recent gun incidents. (WATCH BELOW: Student caught with gun at a Mint Hill high school, principal says) A Russian court charged four men with terrorism on Monday after an attack on a Russian concert hall on Friday night killed at least 137 people, making it the deadliest terror attack in the country in two decades. Over 100 people remained in hospital, some of them in a serious condition. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. Three of the four suspectsDalerjon Mirzoev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, and Shamsidin Faridunipleaded guilty to all charges, according to Moscow courts official Telegram channel. The men are citizens of Tajikistan and will be placed in pre-trial detention facilities until May 22, according to Russian courts. After unverified videos of their interrogations circulated on social media, courtroom images published by Russian media showed one suspect brought in by wheelchair with a missing eye, another with a bandage where his right ear should be, another with a black eye, and a fourth with a swollen face, Reuters reported. Here is what to know about the attack. Who is responsible for the Moscow attack? A U.S. official who spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity said there was no reason to doubt Islamic States claim of responsibility for the attack. While Islamic State has not said which of its branches is responsible, U.S. officials believe ISIS-K, a branch based in the Khorasan Province of South-Central Asia and is active in Russia, is behind the attack. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for previous attacks on Russian civilians, including the bombing of a commercial airplane flying from Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt to St. Petersburg in 2015 that killed 224 people. How has Russia responded? The attack came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in the countrys presidential election, which was called preordained by the Associated Press. Putin vowed to punish those responsible. The criminals in cold blood, purposefully went to kill and shoot at point-blank range our citizens and our children, as the Nazis did who committed massacres in the occupied territories. They planned to stage a demonstrative execution, a bloody act of intimidation, he said in a televised speech after the attack. All perpetrators, organizers, and sponsors of this crime will be fairly and unavoidably punished, whoever they are or whoever directs them. Putin did not refer to the Islamic State in his public address following the attack and said the accused were moving toward Ukraine before being caught and that a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. Ukraine has strongly denied any involvement in the attack. Ukraine certainly has nothing to do with the shooting/explosions in the Crocus City Hall (Moscow Region, Russia). It makes no sense whatsoever, wrote Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on X shortly after the attack. Russia held a day of mourning on Sunday with a memorial outside the concert hall. Multiple Russian lawmakers have called for reinstating the death penalty in the country for the attackers. A moratorium on the death penalty was established by former President Boris Yeltsin in 1996, and Russia has not carried out executions since then. Missed warnings from the U.S. Earlier this month, the U.S. government issued an advisory to American citizens in Russia warning of a planned terror attack in Moscow that would target large gatherings like concerts. The warning was based on intelligence suggesting that ISIS-K was engaging in activity inside Russia. The U.S. shared this information with the Russian government as part of its duty to warn policy, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement on X. The Kremlin dismissed the warnings as American propaganda and said that they were an attempt to meddle in the Russian election, according to the BBC. Contact us at letters@time.com. Within the last 24 hours, 45 combat clashes occurred in the combat zone. In total, the Russians launched 4 missile attacks and 56 airstrikes, as well as 43 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems. Source: evening report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 25 March Quote: "Over the past day the aircraft of the Defence Forces of Ukraine launched attacks on nine areas where manpower, armament and military equipment of the enemy were concentrated. Units of Rocket Forces struck an air defence system, an artillery system, a radio-electronic warfare station, a cluster of manpower and a drone control station of the Russians." Details: On the Kupiansk front the Russians did not conduct offensive (assault) actions. On the Lyman front Ukraines troops repelled 13 Russian attacks near the settlements of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast; Terny, Yampolivka, Rozdolivka and to the north from Vesele in Donetsk Oblast where the Russians supported by aircraft tried to breach the defence of the Ukrainian forces. On the Bakhmut front the Ukrainian forces repelled two Russian attacks near the settlement of Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast. On the Avdiivka front the Ukrainian forces repelled three Russian attacks near the settlements of Berdychi and Pervomaiske in Donetsk Oblast. On the Novopavlivka front the Defence Forces continue to deter the Russians near the settlement of Novomykhailivka where the Russians supported by aircraft tried to breach the Ukrainian defence 15 times. On the Orikhiv front the Russians supported by aircraft attacked the Ukrainian positions three times near the settlements of Staromaiorske in Donetsk Oblast; to the south-west from Bilohiria and to the north-west from Verbove in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. On the Kherson front the Russians did not conduct offensive (assault) actions during the day. Support UP or become our patron! A cement truck struck a school bus carrying 44 students and 11 staff on their way back from the zoo, resulting in the death of a 5-year-old student, Texas officials said. The victim has been identified as Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, a preschool student at Tom Green Elementary School, according to a March 25 news release from the Hays Consolidated Independent School District. Montoya loved his family, dinosaurs, the color green, and going to school, district officials said. He could almost completely spell the word dinosaur, which demonstrates how smart he was, said Naira (Dina) Solis Shears, Montoyas preschool teacher. He always had a dinosaur drawn on all of the assignments he turned in. He liked to tell stories and shared many with his friends and family, Shears said. Above all he was a loving child. The school bus, returning from Bastrop Zoo on March 22, was struck head-on by a cement truck that veered into its lane on State Highway 21, causing the bus to roll over, according to school officials and authorities with the Texas Department of Public Safety. The district said the bus involved in the accident a 2011 model was not equipped with seat belts. As of March 24, three staff members and two students remained in the hospital, according to Tom Green Elementary School Principal Jennifer Hanna. The driver of a vehicle behind the school bus identified by the Austin American-Statesman as 33-year-old Ryan Wallace of Bastrop also died in the accident. No charges have been filed against the driver of the cement truck, and so far no explanation of why the driver veered out of their lane has been released. The investigation is ongoing, officials say. Bastrop is about a 30-mile-drive southeast from Austin. Missing 8-year-old girl found dead in hotel swimming pool, Texas police say Kids, 7 and 12, stab woman and run off, leaving her seriously injured, Texas cops say 14-year-old loses leg after school bus flips, family says. Bus driver charged with DUI Officials are searching for a girl who fell into a creek while playing over the weekend in Pennsylvania. Six-year-old Linajah Brooker was playing with two other children Saturday, March 23, when she fell into a creek that leads to the Delaware River in Chester, authorities told WTXF. My emotions are all off hinge. I havent had sleep. I cant eat. The only thing Im thinking about is finding her, Linajahs grandmother, Kimberly Richardson, told WPVI. Linajah fell into the creek around 7 p.m., and fire crews searched for her until it got dark, then the Coast Guard used a helicopter and boat to search through the night, officials said during a March 24 news conference streamed by LiveNOW from Fox. On Sunday afternoon, officials shifted the efforts from a search and rescue to a recovery search. We were always hopeful that we could find something, but now theres just without a doubt, once we had the sunlight on our side, and were able to do a much more thorough search, that it wasnt going to be a rescue, it was going to be a recovery, Chester Fire Commissioner John-Paul Shirley said during the news conference. Linajahs aunt, Tyeesha Reynolds, told WPVI other kids tried to save Linajah when she went into the water. My 7-year-old daughter tried to hold her and she was holding onto my daughters coat and I guess the wind took her, Reynolds told the outlet. My nephew, hes 19, he jumped in the water. My 12-year-old nephew jumped into the water. The search continued into Monday, March 25, according to WTXF. Chester is about a 15-mile mile drive southwest of Philadelphia. Family of hikers stranded in woods spends 24 hours in cold, Oregon rescuers say Men fall in freezing waterfall and go missing for a day, WA cops say. Now bodies found Woman vanishes after being swept away while crossing river, California cops say CHESTER, Pa. Teams are searching for a young girl who went missing after she fell into a rushing Pennsylvania creek during a storm that pounded the Northeast this weekend. Authorities in Chester, a town on the banks of the Delaware River about 20 miles southwest of Philadelphia, said they received a call about 7 p.m. ET Saturday regarding a 6-year-old girl who had fallen into a swollen Chester Creek. Nearly 3 inches of rain was reported in the area Saturday as a storm moved across the Northeast, dumping heavy rain and snow on the region. The rain rushed into the creek, where a U.S. Geological Survey gauge showed water levels reached a peak of about 10 feet Saturday afternoon before beginning a slow slide back to a normal of about 3 feet by Sunday afternoon. 'TURN AROUND, DONT DROWN': FLOOD FATALITIES IN US HIT 5-YEAR HIGH IN 2021 A chart showing water levels in Chester Creek between March 22 and March 24, 2024. J.P. Shirley of the Chester Fire Department said at a news conference covered by FOX 29 Philadelphia on Sunday that dozens of people have been searching the banks and waters of not only Chester Creek but also the nearby Delaware River, into which the creek drains. "Last night, when we were doing some of our initial assessments, we timed it; from the time that the young girl fell into the creek, she probably wouldve been at the mouth of the Delaware River within 9 minutes," Shirley said. Shirley said the operation has shifted to recovery rather than rescue, noting that trees and debris in the water are complicating efforts to find the missing girl. He said the size of the area being searched has also proved challenging. PEAK FLASH FLOOD SEASON IN US BEGINS IN JUNE "This community is one that will wrap its arms around those that are hurt and in need," Chester Mayor Stefan Roots said during Sundays news conference. Cold nights and cool days are expected in Chester until Tuesday night, when the next chance for rain arrives. Original article source: 6-year-old girl missing after falling into rushing Pennsylvania creek during Northeast storm MANHATTAN (KSNT) Firefighters in Manhattan were called in the early morning hours on Monday to put out a local house fire that caused $45,000 in damage. The Manhattan Fire Department (MFD) said in a press release that firefighters were mobilized around 1:15 a.m. on March 25 to the 700 block of Pottawatomie Avenue. Fire crews found a single-story home with flames coming from its rear upon arrival. This embedded content is not available in your region. Seven people inside the home were able to exit before the MFDs arrival. The fire was extinguished in less than 10 minutes. One firefighter was injured and sent to a local hospital but was later released. The MFD says $15,000 in damage was done to contents while another $30,000 in damage was done to the structure of the home. The occupants got help from the American Red Cross and are displaced by the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Kansas cop joins To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen in Florida human trafficking operation For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A man was arrested Sunday night after causing a crash in Tampa that sent both drivers to the hospital, according to the Hillsborough County Sherriffs Office (HCSO). Deputies responded to a crash at 9:25 p.m. near Columbus Drive and Regional Water Lane. Feds approve $20 million grant to make Tampa streets safer The sheriffs office said Linton Robertson, 73, was drunk when he drove the wrong way and collided with another car head-on. Both drivers were transported to Tampa General Hospital with injuries. Robertson showed signs of impairment at the hospital, according to HCSO. Hes previously been charged with DUI multiple times. He hasnt been charged with DUI in Sundays incident. The sheriffs office is waiting for a sample of his blood to be analyzed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. There is no excuse for driving under the influence and putting others lives at risk, Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. The consequences of impaired driving can be life-altering, and we will not tolerate anyone who threatens the safety of our residents. HCSO reported arresting 31 more DUI drivers that weekend. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KETK) A man is dead after an overnight shooting in Smith County. Police: Man arrested for fatal convenience store shooting in Longview The sheriffs office said they received a call around 12:30 a.m. on Monday and responded to the scene in the 14600 block of Park Hill where the caller allegedly told them her father had been shot by her brother. Picture of the scene in the 14600 block of Park Hill. Picture of the scene in the 14600 block of Park Hill. Life-saving measures were started on the victim, who was identified as 79-year-old Dell Howard Tilley, of Tyler, and authorities said a man was immediately detained. Tilley was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later, according to officials, and an autopsy has been ordered. Investigators completed an arrest affidavit and received a warrant for murder for the suspect identified as Christopher Tilley. According to Sergeant Larry Christian, Tilley was taken to the Smith County Jail and booked for the warrant with a bond set at $750,000. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) The medication mifepristone, used in over 60% of all abortions in 2023, may become more difficult to obtain going forward. The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine about whether the Food and Drug Administration had followed federal law when they loosened restrictions on the drug in 2016 and 2021. We must hold FDA accountable for endangering the lives of women and girls across the United States, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mo.) said at a press conference Thursday. The FDAs disregard for federal law and patient safeguards is appalling, and its unacceptable, Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) added. The FDA made extensive arguments in their reply brief that the abortion opponents lack the legal standing to bring the case and cite studies about the safety of the changes used when loosening restrictions. If the court were to agree with FDA, it would preserve access for mifepristone without touching on the more politically sensitive issues in the dispute. The Associated Press contributed to this report. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. If the US Supreme Court, which on Tuesday hears a sensitive case on the availability of abortion pills, ultimately decides to restrict their access, it will impinge on the scientific authority of the federal Food and Drug Administration in unprecedented and consequential ways. While the case specifically deals with access to mifepristone -- the first of two pills taken in medication abortions -- a broad ruling could threaten access to a number of other drugs used for a wide variety of conditions, experts tell AFP. The mifepristone pill, first authorized by the FDA in 2000, is now used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States. It has been deemed safe and legal in dozens of other countries. In 2016, the FDA eased some restrictions on the drug's distribution, allowing it to be prescribed through the first 10 weeks of pregnancy (up from seven); permitting health professionals including nurses, and not just doctors, to prescribe it; and requiring only one consultation, down from the previous three. Then, when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the FDA allowed the pills to be sent by mail, following a single online medical visit. But after a group of anti-abortion doctors and organizations brought suit, claiming the drug is unsafe and the approval process flawed, an appeals court last year ordered the FDA to return to its pre-2016 standards. The Supreme Court will take up the case on Tuesday. "For a judge to second-guess FDA's expert determination is inappropriate, it is unprecedented, and it's also extremely dangerous," Liz Borkowski, a public and women's health expert at George Washington University, told AFP. "We could see frivolous litigation against all kinds of drugs that people have been using safely for years" -- potentially involving contraception, vaccines or hormonal therapy -- simply because some organization opposes them, she said. - Black robes v. white lab coats - From its creation, the FDA, whose decisions are often followed by other countries, has been charged with determining the effectiveness and safety of new medications. It regularly calls on independent experts as part of a carefully regulated review process. Courts have questioned certain FDA decisions, notably over the interpretation of patents, said Lewis Grossman, a lawyer who has filed a brief in the case with the Supreme Court. But "imposing restrictions on the availability of a drug based on a disagreement with the scientific experts at FDA," he told AFP, would be "very unprecedented." "Interpreting science," he added, "is not a legal task." The anti-abortion plaintiffs argue that when the FDA was reviewing its rules in 2016, it should have studied the impact of all the changes taken together -- an approach that Grossman called "just a made-up requirement by the plaintiffs." Added Borkowski: "We have decades of evidence about the safety and efficacy of mifepristone. "If mifepristone cannot stay on the market, as it is, with all these mountains of evidence that we have, then no drug is safe." - Drugmakers worried - The pharmaceutical industry strongly opposes a judicial intervention in the matter. If the appeals court decision is confirmed, it would "inject an intolerable level of uncertainty into the drug approval process," according to a brief filed jointly by dozens of pharmaceutical companies and executives. And that, the brief argues, would have the effect of "undercutting drug development and investment, and chilling innovation." Experts said the court's ruling could even open the door for drugmakers to sue the FDA to block rivals from marketing competing medications. The high court's involvement in rule setting could also place a huge array of agency decisions -- regarding scientific assessments of the environment, workplace safety or many other issues -- at risk of being overturned, according to Grossman. Borkowski believes the court should take a firm position in the opposite direction, stating clearly that "it's never okay for judges to insert themselves in the science." She admitted, however, that she worries about the outcome, given some of the conservative court's recent decisions. Notably, the court in 2022 overturned the long-standing federal protection for abortion rights, leaving it up to each of the country's 50 states to pass its own laws on the matter. Since then, some 15 Republican-led states have banned abortion -- including through the use of abortion pills. For now, though, women in those states can still receive them -- by mail. A ruling is expected by summer. la/bbk/nro FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media, March 7, 2023, at the state Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed bills Friday, March 15, 2024 that increase the prison and jail sentences for immigrants who are living in the United States illegally if they are convicted of driving without a license or committing felonies. (AP Photo/Phil Sears, File) MIAMI (AP) Two graduate students from China whose studies were put on hold, and a professor who says he is unable to recruit research assistants, sued Florida education officials on Monday, trying to stop enforcement of a new state law which limits research exchanges between state universities and academics from seven prohibited countries. The law passed last year by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis was designed to stop the Chinese Communist government and others from influencing the states public colleges and universities. The countries on the prohibited list are China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, and Venezuela. The law is discriminatory, unconstitutional and reminiscent of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which instituted a 10-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating to the United States, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami. The new law also usurps the power of the federal government, which has exclusive authority over immigration, national security and foreign affairs, the lawsuit said. The law has forced two of the plaintiffs who are from China to put their graduate studies at Florida International University on hold and denied them entry into their research labs. The University of Florida professor who also is originally from China said the law has stopped him from recruiting the most qualified postdoctoral candidates to assist with his research, which has slowed his publishing productivity and research projects, according to the lawsuit. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs said they aren't members of the Chinese government nor the Communist Party. According to the law, international students from the prohibited countries can be hired on a case-by-case basis with approval from the Board of Governors which oversees state universities or the state Board of Education, but the lawsuit said the law's vagueness and lack of adequate guidance empowers and encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement across Florida. The law is having and will have far-reaching stigmatizing effects against individuals from China and of Asian descent who are seeking academic employment in Florida public universities and colleges, including plaintiffs, as Florida law now presumptively deems them a danger to the United States, the lawsuit said. The governor's office and the state Department of Education didn't respond to emails seeking comment. MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) Mobile County is one of four Alabama counties to receive a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for domestic violence response units. ADECA awarded six grants totaling more than $346,000 for domestic violence response units in Elmore, Chilton, Montgomery and Mobile counties. Pensacola mom remembers her son: A smile and laugh that would light up a whole room These units will investigate and prosecute domestic violence cases and provide support for victims. Victims of abuse need and deserve justice for the crimes committed against them, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said. I commend the work of these dedicated professionals for striving to make their communities safer by holding abusers accountable and by assisting victims. The Mobile County Commission received two grants that total $80,827 for protection, monitoring and training related to domestic violence cases in Mobile County. The Elmore County Commission received two grants that total $152,477 to support the 19th Circuit Domestic Violence Unit, which brings together prosecutors, victim service officers and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute domestic violence cases in Autauga, Chilton and Elmore counties. 1 dead, 1 in jail in fatal Foley stabbing The Chilton County Commission got $60,000 for hiring a victim advocate to train deputies, support victims and collect data on domestic violence cases in the county. ADECA sent $70,730 to the Montgomery County Commission for the Violence Against Women Prosecution Unit, which along with prosecution of cases provides victim services and advocacy in domestic violence cases in Montgomery County. The United States Department of Justice provided the funds for the grants. These funds will help ensure that these units continue to serve as resources to serve victims and make communities safer, ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said. ADECA joins Gov. Ivey in support of these vital services. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5. Salt bricks and sweeping mud walls - as recently showcased by some African architects - may be the building blocks for innovative designs of the future. Such ideas were explored by Nigerian architect Tosin Oshinowo in a major exhibition she recently curated in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She wanted to look at how regions such as Africa are able to function with scarce resources. "I think ultimately the big elephant in the room for most of us is climate change," Ms Oshinowo told the BBC about the show The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability. Designers from 26 countries were invited to Sharjah to come up with works to address the issue of scarcity. For Ethiopian designer Miriam Hillawi Abraham, this meant building what looked like a church out of salt. She called the work Museum of Artifice - and it was a nod to Ethiopia's famous rock-hewn churches in Lalibela as well as the remote northern village of Dallol. This is in the Danakil Depression, more than 330ft (100m) below sea level, and arguably the hottest place on Earth. The Museum of Artifice, built in a derelict arcade in Sharjah, uses bricks made of pink Himalayan salt [Danko Stjepanovic] Largely abandoned now, Dallol still has single-storey buildings made out of blocks cut from the nearby salt lakes. Ms Miriam's structure, made from pink Himalayan salt, will erode without regular maintenance. "It does raise the question: 'What can we learn from these locations?'" Ms Oshinowo said. Another work at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial was by Hive Earth Studio, a Ghanaian architecture firm that specialises in compressing locally sourced earth to form walls. It was called Eta'dan, meaning "mud wall" in Ghana's Fante language - and the soil was sourced in the UAE to reduce the environmental impact of transporting materials. Eta'dan by Hive Earth Studio is a modern take on a mud wall [Danko Stjepanovic] Hive Earth's ethos is to learn from the past to create buildings for the present, seeking sustainability and a pleasing aesthetic. Ms Oshinowo said the design team, who had been at the forefront of exploring the technology of rammed earth in West Africa, used rocks from the UAE to achieve the layering and strength required for the walls. "Through material exploration they were able to transfer the skills of rammed earth," she said. "There was a lot of testing to see how it would work in this environment, especially where you have a lot of sand. "It just shows you what the possibilities are. If we think of things differently, we really can change the way we build and the way we design our buildings." Super Limbo transforms a derelict shopping centre in Sharjah [Danko Stjepanovic] Ghana-based design duo Dominique Petit-Frere and Emil Grip tackled the potential of unfinished building projects - prevalent in West Africa. Known as Limbo Accra, the pair transformed a derelict shopping mall into an inviting space. They worked in collaboration with Ivorian fashion label Super Yaya to artfully drape strips of white calico cotton fabric across the entrance. The work, Super Limbo, was also a nod to Bedouin culture and their desert tents. Middle Eastern culture is also referenced in Super Limbo [Danko Stjepanovic] "We were inspired to connect our experiences of navigating the remains of unfinished architecture in West Africa with a Middle Eastern setting," Ms Petit-Frere told the BBC. Architects Papa Omotayo and Eve Nnaji, based in the Nigerian city of Lagos, took inspiration from the potted plants and bird cages they spotted being tended by mechanics in an industrial area of Sharjah. Papa Omotayo and Eve Nnaji's work uses 2,000 biodegradable cardboard nests [Danko Stjepanovic] Their three-storey structure We Rest at the Birds Nest was made from scaffolding and organic waste, providing a sanctuary for both birds and workers. Metal steps led up to platforms decorated with vegetation, while rows of 2,000 biodegradable cardboard nests lined an atrium that descended from the open rooftop to the ground. Passageway windows allowed a view into the birds' haven. "As architects we tend to stay focused on people, but we share this planet," Ms Oshinowo said. "When we start to think about accommodating other species, it's also a very powerful narrative." We Rest at the Birds Nest was made from scaffolding and organic waste [Danko Stjepanovic] Ms Oshinowo hopes the exhibition gave those attending an opportunity to pause and reflect on sustainability and design. And the exhibits from Africa, a continent disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, showed how designers were starting to work in "better balance with ecology". Images subject to copyright. You may also be interested in: Hemp being grown indoors for flower to produce CBD oil. Credit: Florida A&M University hemp pilot project report to Florida Senate Agriculture Committee. Quality Journalism for Critical Times A bipartisan group of 20 state attorneys general and the AG of the District of Columbia sent a letter to congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. last week, calling on them to address the glaring vagueness created in the 2018 farm bill that they say has led to the proliferation of intoxicating hemp products across the nation. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody was not among those signing the letter, but perhaps she didnt think she needed to be, given that the Florida Legislature passed a bill earlier this month (SB 1698) that does much of what the attorneys general across the country are asking for. The Florida bill creates a new definition of lawful hemp that outlaws many current legal cannabinoids and imposes new THC caps on hemp-derived products. THC is the main component in cannabis that provides the psychoactive or high effect. Meanwhile, Congress still hasnt addressed the farm bill when it comes to redefining hemp, which is what prompted the state attorneys general from blue and red states alike to ask the chairs and vice chairs of the agriculture committees in the U.S. Senate and House to address the issue soon. This years anticipated reauthorization of the Farm Bill and the need for this reauthorization to make much-needed improvements to the statute established in 2018 comes at a critical time, as our states are being tested in our efforts to regulate these potentially dangerous products, the AGs wrote. These intoxicating hemp products, by virtue of their potential hazard to consumers, must be regulated by each state. The definition of hemp should be amended to clarify that there is no federal hemp intoxicants loophole, and the 2023 reauthorization should reaffirm that members of Congress do not intend to limit states in restrictions or regulations related to cannabinoids or any other derivatives of hemp which are deemed intoxicating. The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, an organization that represents the hemp industry, is telling its members to call on Congress to protect the current definition of hemp under federal law. [B]y suggesting that Congress change the definition of hemp without specifying how mischief could ensure which could likely result in the federal criminalization of currently-legal and popular hemp products. As we have seen in some states, efforts like this have even resulted in bans of non-intoxicating full-spectrum CBD products. While Moody did not respond to the Phoenixs request for comment about the letter, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson did. I think it is appropriate for Congress to address hemp nationally, Simpson told the Phoenix on Monday. Florida, like many other states, is seeing too many consequences of the hemp loophole. We acted based on the advice of law enforcement and health care professionals. This commonsense law will save lives. The Florida bill would ban not only delta-8 THC, but also delta-10 THC and other compounds. It also puts a cap on the amount of THC in hemp-derived products to 5 milligrams per individual servings, and 50 milligrams per container, leading to criticism from members of the hemp industry that those caps are so low that it will reduce demand for the items and could drive them out of business. But Manatee County Republican Tommy Gregory, who sponsored the bill on the House, said on the floor earlier this month that if it were up to him, there would be zero milligrams per serving. I wish we could go to zero, but we dont have the votes here today to do that. And some of my colleagues agree with me that we should just ban them all right now, he said. Since its passage by the Legislature earlier this month, opponents of the bill have been calling on the governor to veto it. By classifying products like CBD, including well-known strains such as Charlottes Web, as controlled substances, SB 1698 will shut down over 5,000 licensed local businesses, and the livelihoods of over 64,000 employees earning $7.3 billion in wages, reads a form letter that the Florida Healthy Alternatives Association is asking their members to send to DeSantis. This will be a devastating loss of jobs and economic stability for countless families. Many of these businesses moved to the Free State of Florida to escape rampant government over control in states like California and this bill will pull the rug out from under their feet. The Legislature has yet to send the bill to the governor. Once received, hell have 15 days to sign the measure, veto it, or do nothing and allow it to become law. The post AGs from 20 states call on Congress to change hemp definition; FLs Ashley Moody isnt among them appeared first on Florida Phoenix. NEW YORK Listing your home in the spring used to be a no-brainer. But a major real estate shakeup is complicating the equation. That shakeup is coming from a $418 million settlement the National Association of Realtors announced last week with groups of homesellers that could go into effect as early as July. The settlement will eliminate the long-standing standard 6% commission paid by the seller, which could ultimately make it cheaper to sell your home post-settlement. But is it worth waiting to list your home and potentially risking a sale? Whys spring such a popular time to buy a home, anyway? Would you rather be unloading boxes from a moving truck in a potential snowstorm or heatwave as opposed to when its a pleasant 60-degree day? Thats one of the main reasons spring has been the most popular season to buy a home. For families with children, its also an ideal time to close on home because it would allow them to stay in the same school. By springtime, people are also more likely to have paid off any debt they took on over the holidays, said Phil Crescenzo Jr., the southeast division vice president at Nation One Mortgage Corporation. The case for getting in on spring homebuying season The settlement could present a major downside to homebuyers. Under the current system, the buyers agents commission is baked into the total they pay for a home. That meant buyers could pay that added cost over the entire length of their mortgage. But after the settlement is finalized, many may have to pay flat fees upfront to agents. That would add to the financial burden for homebuyers especially first-timers. And thats on top of coming up with all the money they need for a home downpayment, closing costs, a lawyer and all the other fees associated with buying a home. Buyers, therefore, may have more of an incentive to close on a home sooner rather than later. Theres also no guarantee a federal court will sign off on the settlement as is. The unknowns associated with that are enough of a reason not to wait to list your home, said Crescenzo. From conversations hes had with real estate agents, he said hes not seeing any signs that the NAR settlement is delaying listing activity. There is no reason to wait, Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. The seller does not currently need to provide any compensation to the buyers agent. The case for waiting until the summer The biggest advantage of waiting to list your home until the settlement is finalized is being able to negotiate an agents commission down more than they otherwise wouldve been able to. On top of that, they may be able to avoid having to pay the buyers agents commission. That could allow them to pocket thousands of dollars more on the sale of their home. If selling your home boiled down to a business decision, Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida, said hed try to list it as soon as possible. If I am trying to test the market, there would be no need to list it [now], he added. But in his view, the NAR settlement shouldnt be a major consideration when it comes to timing. An agent who provides value will always be worth more than an agent who does not provide value, because they can help you net more money for the sale of your home, he said. Best and worst metro areas for first-time homebuyers in 2024 Best and worst metro areas for first-time homebuyers in 2024 Best metro areas for first-time buyers Worst metro areas for first-time buyers U.S. Cities With the Most Single-Family Homes U.S. Cities With the Most Single-Family Homes Trends in Single-Family Residential Construction Owned vs. Rented Single-Family Housing Single-Family Housing by Location Large Cities With the Most Single-Family Homes Midsize Cities With the Most Single-Family Homes Small Cities With the Most Single-Family Homes States With the Most Single-Family Homes Methodology Gov. Kay Ivey and legislative leadership unveiled a slate of seven bipartisan bills Thursday called the "Working for Alabama" package that aims to support and increase workforce development throughout the state. "When a challenge faces Alabama, we need to look at it head on and make an opportunity of it," said Ivey. "While we have record low unemployment, our labor force participation rate is one of the lowest in the nation, and y'all that's not low in a good way. Today, all together we are bringing forward our different ideas to move the needle, once again, on another important issue. So y'all, let's get working for Alabama." Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth said high school graduates who choose not to pursue higher education are an important target of the package. Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth gavels in the Alabama Senate during the first day of the legislative session at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday February 6, 2024. By eliminating barriers to entry into the workforce, and by making our states workforce development efforts more intentional, targeted and efficient, we can create an environment where more Alabamians are working, providing for their families, building careers and contributing to our economy," he said, "For high school students who dont plan to attend college, we need to give them the tools and opportunities to be successful without a four-year degree. In 2021, Alabama high schools graduated 49,615 students. 45 percent of those graduates did not enroll in a post-secondary program after high school. The package contains a childcare credit with the purpose of making childcare more available and affordable. "When you got families with single moms, that's got two kids and are paying $30,000 a year for childcare, there's a problem," said Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter. "The childcare tax credit legislation has the power to give parents choices and help them provide better lives for their children. Alabama is not only the most pro-business state in the nation but also the most pro-family state." Senate Minority Leader Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said that the Innovative District Act will grant special tax implications and exemptions to help bring in industry. Sen. Bobby Singleton in the senate chamber at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday March 6, 2024. "This is not just a large city tool, but it can definitely be used in the rural areas," he said, referring to his town of Greensboro. Working for Alabama will provide much-needed resources for Alabama communities, with an emphasis on rural Alabama, through key resources such as expanded broadband access and other areas needed for success. A big part of this package will include deliberate and targeted funding for key resources that local communities need to compete for business investment and job recruitment," said House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville. He said the package will help communities attract new employers and support the expanding of existing businesses. By investing in our industrial sites, funding workforce training and building out key infrastructure, we can give communities the tools they need to be successful, Daniels said. Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com or on X @TheVictorHagan. To support his work, subscribe to the Advertiser. This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama legislative leaders unveil workforce development package For more than a year, a central question swirled around the fatal shootings of the wife and son of disgraced South Carolina personal injury attorney Alex Murdaugh: Who killed them? The unsolved slayings of Margaret, 52, and the couple's younger son, Paul, 22, in June 2021 shattered the immaculate image of the well-connected legal family in South Carolina's Lowcountry. Murdaugh, whose father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather were each elected as top prosecutors in the region in roles collectively spanning almost 90 years, immediately denied culpability in the deaths. Still, the slayings set off a bizarre chain of events that officials say included Murdaugh hiring a man to kill him so his older son could collect on his life insurance policy, and dozens of charges against Murdaugh accusing him of financial crimes. From left, Paul, Margaret and Alex Murdaugh. (via Facebook) Investigators shared few details and named no suspects or persons of interest in the slayings. But then in July 2022, a grand jury indicted Murdaugh on double murder charges in connection with the deaths of Margaret and Paul, authorities said, capping a long-winding mystery marked by conflicting narratives and a web of other questionable deaths that has yet to be fully untangled. The double murder trial began in January and after about six weeks of testimony, Murdaugh was found guilty of murder in the deaths of his wife and son. Here's a timeline of key moments in the case. June 7, 2021 Murdaugh calls 911 at 10:07 p.m. to say he has found the lifeless bodies of Margaret and Paul near the family's dog kennels on their hunting lodge estate in rural Colleton County. "I've been gone," Murdaugh, his voice quivering, tells a dispatcher. "I just came back." Authorities arrive on scene. (Lawyers for Murdaugh later provided an alibi, telling news outlets that he had been spending time with his mother, who has Alzheimer's disease, and her caregiver that day.) An entrance gate to the estate in Islandton, S.C., where Alex Murdaugh's wife and son were found shot to death. (Travis Dove/The New York Times) (Travis Dove / The New York Times / Redux) June 10, 2021 Murdaugh's father, Randolph Murdaugh III, dies at his home in Hampton County, South Carolina, at age 81 following various health ailments. His death, while not directly connected to the slayings, adds to the growing intrigue in the case. June 14, 2021 A coroner reveals Margaret and Paul both suffered multiple gunshot wounds, with the estimated time of death between 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Sept. 4, 2021 Murdaugh is injured in a roadside shooting in Hampton County, authorities say. His lawyer and friend, Jim Griffin, tells news outlets that Murdaugh's black Mercedes-Benz SUV had a flat tire and he pulled his vehicle over when a pickup truck passed by, turned around and a person inside opened fire. A stretch of Old Salkehatchie Highway in Varnville, S.C., on Sept. 26, 2021, not far from the spot where Alex Murdaugh was shot. (Travis Dove/The New York Times) (Travis Dove / The New York Times / Redux) Sept. 5, 2021 Authorities say Murdaugh's injury is a "superficial" head wound and he had been flown to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia, for treatment. Sept. 6, 2021 Murdaugh releases a public statement saying he has resigned from his family's law firm to enter rehab and that he "made a lot of decisions that I truly regret." Hours later, his firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrickhe releases its own statement alleging Murdaugh had misappropriated company funds. Sept. 8, 2021 The South Carolina Supreme Court indefinitely suspends Murdaugh's law license. Sept. 14, 2021 Authorities provide new details in the roadside shooting. They allege that Murdaugh arranged for a man to kill him so that his older son, Buster, could collect on a $10 million life insurance policy. The man identified as Curtis Edward Smith, 61 is arrested on charges of assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Sept. 15, 2021 An attorney for Murdaugh, Richard Harpootlian, tells NBC's "TODAY" show that his client was depressed and attempting to get off an opioid addiction that continued to consume him in the wake of his wife and son's death. Believing his insurance policy had a suicide clause, Harpootlian says Murdaugh enlisted a man to kill him during a "fake car breakdown." Meanwhile, state investigators announce the opening of a criminal investigation into the death of a longtime Murdaugh housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield. She died in 2018 following what has been described as a "trip and fall accident" at the family home. The decision is based on a request from the Hampton County coroner and on "information gathered" during a separate investigation involving Murdaugh. Sept. 16, 2021 Murdaugh surrenders to authorities after he is charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report. He is granted bond and a judge orders him to surrender his passport but permits him to return to a drug rehabilitation center. Image: Alex Murdaugh Hampton County (Mic Smith / AP file) Oct. 14, 2021 Murdaugh is arrested in Florida upon his release from a drug rehab facility. Authorities charge him with two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses after an investigation into millions of dollars that went missing from a settlement involving the death of Satterfield. According to her heirs, they received none of the proceeds from a $4.3 million settlement they said was orchestrated in secret by Murdaugh. Meanwhile, Smith appears on NBC's "TODAY" show to dispute that he was a willing accomplice in the September roadside shooting of Murdaugh. In his version of events, he says Murdaugh had a gun and it appeared he was going to shoot himself, which is when Smith says he intervened. The gun fired. Once Smith realized Murdaugh was OK, he said he drove off. Oct. 19, 2021 A South Carolina judge denies Murdaugh bond and orders him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Nov. 19, 2021 The state's investigation into Murdaugh's business dealings leads to new indictments announced against him totaling 27 counts, including breach of trust with fraudulent intent, obtaining signature or property by false pretenses, money laundering, computer crimes and forgery. "Altogether, Murdaugh is charged with respect to alleged schemes to defraud victims and thereafter launder" nearly $4.9 million, the state attorney general's office said. Dec. 9, 2021 The attorney general announces more charges, including nine counts of breach of trust with fraudulent intent, seven counts of computer crimes, four counts of money laundering and one count of forgery. In total, Murdaugh faces 48 separate charges. The victims include family friends, an undocumented immigrant and a man in a car wreck, prosecutors say. Dec. 13, 2021 A judge sets Murdaugh's bond at $7 million. Murdaugh, who is being held in Richland County jail, also speaks publicly for the first time in months, telling the court that he had been going through opiate withdrawal in September when he sought to have himself killed. "My head is on straighter, I'm thinking clearer than I have in a long, long time," Murdaugh says. "I want to deal with these charges appropriately and head-on." (Murdaugh does not make bail.) Jan. 21, 2022 A grand jury indicts Murdaugh on 23 new charges, including breach of trust with fraudulent intent and computer crimes. Collectively, he faces 71 charges involving the theft of about $8.5 million over the course of 11 years. Jan. 24, 2022 A legal claim is filed against the estates of Margaret and Paul Murdaugh by the mother of Mallory Beach, 19, who was killed in a boat crash in 2019. The boat was owned by Murdaugh and investigators have said Paul had been steering at some point during the night of underage drinking involving six people on board. The boat slammed into a piling below a bridge, and the passengers, ages 18 to 20, were ejected. Two survivors also join the Beach family's legal claim in an attempt to get money they believe they are owed as a result of the accident. Other related lawsuits are pending. March 16, 2022 A grand jury indicts Murdaugh on four new charges related to a scheme to defraud multiple insurance companies and others involving his friend and another attorney, Cory Fleming. Fleming's lawyer says in a statement that he is "yet another casualty of the host of crimes perpetrated by Alex Murdaugh." May 4, 2022 Prosecutors announce that Murdaugh is facing four new charges related to financial crimes also involving Fleming and others. June 3, 2022 State authorities say they have received permission from Satterfield's family to exhume her body as part of an investigation into her death. That investigation was the result of questions surrounding why her death certificate noted that the manner of death was ruled "natural," which a coroner has said was inconsistent with injuries sustained in a "trip and fall accident." June 24, 2022 Smith is taken into custody on new charges, including four counts of money laundering, three counts of forgery and criminal conspiracy. June 28, 2022 A grand jury indicts Murdaugh and Smith with criminal conspiracy and narcotics offenses. Smith is also indicted on other drug charges. The men are accused of conspiring to purchase and distribute oxycodone in Colleton County from Oct. 7, 2013, to Sept. 7, 2021. Image: (Tracy Glantz / The State via AP) July 13, 2022 The South Carolina Supreme Court formally disbars Murdaugh, who is facing 84 criminal charges and 11 lawsuits. July 14, 2022 A grand jury announces an indictment against Murdaugh on double murder charges in the deaths of Margaret and Paul. Two sources close to the investigation say that authorities have cellphone video that they believe not only puts Murdaugh at the scene of the slayings shortly before they took place, but also contradicts a previous timeline of events provided on the day of the killings. "It was very clear from day one that law enforcement and the Attorney General prematurely concluded that Alex was responsible for the murder of his wife and son," Murdaugh's lawyers say in a statement. "But we know that Alex did not have any motive whatsoever to murder them." July 20, 2022 Murdaugh pleads not guilty to the murder charges. Aug. 19, 2022 A grand jury indicts Murdaugh on nine more criminal counts related to money laundering and computer crimes. The indictment alleges Murdaugh stole money from his firm in late 2020 and 2021 and that in 2017-18, he took advantage of an error by the firm's accounting office, which sent $121,358 to him for a loan repayment when that money should have gone to his brother. Murdaugh's brother, Randy, is also a partner in the firm; he has not been implicated in any of the alleged schemes. Oct. 13, 2022 The state Attorney General's Office sets Murdaugh's trial date on the murder charges for Jan. 23 at the Colleton County Courthouse. The trial is expected to last almost three weeks. Dec. 9, 2022 During a pretrial hearing, state prosecutors claim Murdaugh killed his wife and son to gain sympathy and "escape the accountability" for his string of financial crimes. Murdaugh's lawyers reject the state's motive and questioned why he would "shift a financial investigation away from himself in order to avoid scrutiny" only to put himself "in the middle of a murder investigation." Dec. 16, 2022 A grand jury indicts Murdaugh on nine counts of tax evasion, alleging he failed to pay almost $487,000 in state income taxes while making nearly $14 million over nine years. With the latest indictment, the total financial-related charges against Murdaugh are more than 100. Dec. 20, 2022 State prosecutors announce they will seek life in prison without parole in Murdaugh's double murder trial, allowing him to avoid the death penalty if convicted. Jan. 23, 2023 The double murder trial against Murdaugh opens at the Colleton County Courthouse with jury selection. Jan. 25, 2023 In an opening statement, state prosecutors contend Murdaugh killed his wife and son at close range with a shotgun and an AR-style rifle, and that forensic evidence would show his culpability. The defense in its opening statement insists there are numerous holes in the prosecution's case, claiming it is built on "theories" and "conjectures." Feb. 1, 2023 Prosecutors play a previously unseen video taken from the phone of Paul Murdaugh in which three voices can be heard in the background shortly before the murders occur. Witnesses testify the voices are of Alex, Paul and Margaret, which places the patriarch at the scene of the crime and undermines his alibi that he had not seen his wife and son in the moments before their deaths. Feb. 23, 2023 During the fifth week of the trial, Murdaugh takes the stand in his own defense. He testifies, "I didn't shoot my wife or son," and breaks down multiple times as his attorney asks him to describe the murder scene. Feb. 24, 2023 Murdaugh is on the stand again. During cross-examination, the prosecution grills him on his "new story," arguing that his earlier testimony was fabricated to align with their video evidence that he saw his wife and son minutes before they were found dead. Murdaugh contends he lied to law enforcement officers about his location before the murders due to his addiction to prescription pain pills and his general paranoia. March 2, 2023 The jury begins deliberations after the prosecution and defense wrap up closing arguments. A verdict is returned three hours later, and Murdaugh is found guilty of murder in the deaths of Margaret and Paul. The jury also convicted him of two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, which carries five more years in prison. Lead prosecutor Creighton Waters says at a news conference to "let this be a warning: No matter who you are, if you break the law, the truth will come out and you will be brought to justice." March 3, 2023 Murdaugh is punished with the maximum two consecutive life sentences for the killings. At his hearing, Judge Clifton Newman admonishes him for his apparent lack of awareness and "duplicitous conduct here in the courtroom." Murdaugh continues to proclaim his innocence. His defense lawyers say they will appeal the conviction. March 8, 2023 A lawyer for the Beach family says a wrongful death lawsuit against Murdaugh will go to trial Aug. 14. The family previously reached a settlement with Margaret's estate and surviving son Buster. March 9, 2023 Murdaugh files a notice to appeal his double murder convictions. The notice does not include arguments offered by his legal team, who raised several issues at trial, including the admission of Murdaugh's financial misconduct into evidence. March 31, 2023 Murdaugh has been moved into protective custody in a maximum-security prison after completing an initial evaluation, South Carolina corrections officials announce. His unit is in an undisclosed location and is separated from the general population for safety reasons. Murdaugh's single 8-by-10 cell includes a bed, toilet and sink, and he is provided "all privileges afforded those in the general population inside this self-contained unit," according to the state. May 1, 2023 Murdaugh's lawyers reveal as part of a lawsuit accusing him of life insurance fraud in the death of Satterfield that he "invented the critical facts" surrounding her initial "trip and fall accident" in 2018 in order to receive millions of dollars in a settlement. Nautilus Insurance Co. had filed a suit alleging it was defrauded. "No dogs were involved in the fall of Gloria Satterfield on February 2, 2018," Murdaugh's lawyers said in a legal filing, and that Murdaugh "invented Ms. Satterfield's purported statement that dogs caused her to fall to force his insurers to make a settlement payment." May 24, 2023 The Justice Department announces a 22-count indictment against Murdaugh on financial fraud and money laundering charges. The charges include allegations that he defrauded Satterfield's estate and homeowner's insurance carriers by directing settlement claims into a fake bank account and using the funds "for his own personal enrichment." His lawyers say he is cooperating with the investigation and "anticipate that the charges brought today will be quickly resolved without a trial." July 16, 2023 Lawsuits over the 2019 boat crash that killed Beach are settled ahead of a wrongful death trial involving Murdaugh. NBC affiliate WSAV reports the settlement cash amounts to $15 million, with most of it going to the Beach family. Aug. 15, 2023 A federal judge sentences Fleming, one of Murdaugh's alleged co-conspirators, to 46 months and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in May to conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with the Satterfield theft. Fleming still faces a slate of state charges, including breach of trust, money laundering and computer crimes. Aug. 30, 2023 Murdaugh loses his prison phone and canteen privileges after the South Carolina Department of Corrections says he broke rules about engaging with the media after an investigation found he read his journal entries to his lawyer in a recorded phone call. An incident report says the recording was for an upcoming Fox Nation documentary, "The Fall of the House of Murdaugh." Sept. 5, 2023 Murdaugh's lawyers file a motion seeking a new trial after allegedly uncovering evidence of jury tampering. The motion accuses Rebecca Hill, the Colleton County clerk of court, with tampering with the jury by "advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense." Sept. 14, 2023 Murdaugh appears in court for the first time since his murder trial. Judge Newman sets a Nov. 27 trial date on the state financial fraud charges. Sept. 21, 2023 Murdaugh pleads guilty to 22 counts of federal financial fraud and money laundering as part of a plea deal. He will be sentenced at a later date. Nov. 7, 2023 Hill denies the jury tampering allegations, according to a filing by state prosecutors. Nov. 16, 2023 A court order reveals that Newman has asked to be removed from any further proceedings related to the murder case following the defense's request for a new judge. Nov. 17, 2023 Murdaugh reaches a plea deal on state charges of dozens of financial crimes. Nov. 28, 2023 Newman accepts Murdaugh's guilty plea and sentences him to 27 years in state prison, which must run concurrently with a federal sentence. Murdaugh apologizes to the victims of his financial crimes after they address the court. Jan. 29 A judge denies Murdaugh a new trial after a daylong evidentiary hearing centering on the jury tampering allegations against Hill. His lawyers say they will appeal. March 25 Hill resigns from her post as clerk of court effective immediately. Her attorney says it is unrelated to the ongoing investigations or developments in the Murdaugh case. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Power lines (Photo by Oran Viriyincy via Flickr | CC-BY-SA 2.0) If the thousands of proposed solar, wind and battery energy projects got built, they would more than double the amount of electricity that is currently produced nationwide and get the U.S. much closer to its clean energy targets. But theres one big problem: Americas power lines cant carry that much juice. The countrys limited transmission infrastructure is causing a huge backlog: Wait times for regulators to approve grid connections now last about five years on average, a figure that stood at less than two years in 2008. We have a ton of resources sitting in (backlogs) that cant get connected to the system, said Byron Corum, technical adviser to Commissioner Allison Clements, who serves on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. One of the big reasons is were running out of space on the transmission grid. Building new transmission lines to swoop across the nations landscape can cost billions of dollars and require decades of permitting and construction. As that work continues, some policymakers are pushing an interim solution: squeezing more capacity out of existing power lines. Grid-enhancing technologies, or GETs, are low-cost, quick-to-deploy devices that can help existing infrastructure carry up to 40% more electricity. Backers say these upgrades could bring a surge of clean energy projects online, even as future transmission lines remain under construction. Congestion on the grid cost consumers more than $20 billion in 2022, one analysis found, a massive spike from just a few years before. Some lawmakers think technology upgrades could significantly lower utility bills in addition to their climate benefits. They are very cheap in terms of how much money they save for the grid when compared to creating new lines, which can be billions of dollars, said Ava Gallo, climate and energy program manager with the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. But many utilities have been slow to deploy GETs. In most states, utilities can charge higher rates based on investments theyve made to improve infrastructure. That means expensive projects such as building new power lines deliver a much higher profit return than low-cost upgrades. Utilities are definitely biased toward building big, expensive projects where they get a solid return and make a bunch of money, said Utah state Sen. Nate Blouin, a Democrat. Thats not what GETs is. In eight states, legislators have put forward bills that would force utilities to evaluate grid-enhancing technologies in the planning documents they are required to submit to state regulators. Backers believe those reports will demonstrate that GETs can meet capacity needs at the lowest cost to ratepayers, which would force utilities to adopt them under their regulatory mandates. Some proponents believe further changes to utilities incentive structure may be needed to ensure widespread use. While GETs-related bills have not drawn specific pushback along partisan lines or from industry groups, backers acknowledge that challenges remain. Technology solutions Grid-enhancing technologies come in several forms. One technology uses real-time temperature and wind measurements to determine how much power can pass through lines without overheating, enabling more electricity to flow when its safe. Such dynamic line ratings would replace static systems that limit electricity flow based on conservative estimates of potential high temperatures. New system controls can redirect power from congested lines to corridors that are less crowded. And software technology can evenly distribute electricity over a transmission network, preventing overloads and increasing capacity. Taken together, these tools can dramatically increase the carrying capacity of existing power lines under certain conditions. They also can make the grid more resilient and less vulnerable to overloads and outages. It allows (renewable electricity) to get to the market more efficiently, and that helps with more affordability, said Sandra Jenkins, director of grid controls with the U.S. Department of Energys Office of Electricity. The department has spent more than $8 million on grid-enhancing research and demonstration projects across four regions. Jenkins said one ongoing challenge is that grid operators will need to adopt a standardized system of collecting data, since the analytics-heavy technology could create accessibility headaches without a single set of guidelines. Several state lawmakers said they were encouraged by a report published earlier this year by the climate-focused nonprofit RMI. Looking at a grid sector covering parts of the eastern United States, the authors found that GETs could allow an additional 6.6 gigawatts of clean energy to come online by 2027. That added capacity could power about 5 million homes while yielding $1 billion each year in production cost savings, with an installation cost of $100 million. GETs are incredibly fast and cost-effective, said Katie Siegner, a manager focused on grid policy within RMIs Carbon-Free Electricity practice. They can be deployed in months, compared to the decades it might take to site a new transmission line. Colorado leads the way Last year, Colorado became the first state to enact a law advancing grid-enhancing technologies. The measure, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Chris Hansen, requires utilities to study the potential of GETs before breaking ground on a new transmission line. Forcing utilities to consider those upgrades, Hansen said, should allow the states fast-growing renewable energy sector to bring more power online. Weve got to play catch-up, he said. Weve got to make the investments now to get the system where it needs to be in the next decade. In Virginia, state lawmakers passed a bill late last month requiring utilities to study grid-enhancing technologies in their planning documents. The measure is awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Were making them take a close look and see if it makes sense, said state Del. Phil Hernandez, the bills Democratic sponsor. Knowing the promise they hold, we hope well be able to nudge them in that direction. Hernandez said the bill did not face pushback from the states utilities. While some lawmakers voted against the bill, they did not explain their objections during a Senate hearing on the proposal. Republican state Sen. Mark Obenshain, who also serves on the General Assemblys Commission on Electric Utility Regulation, did not respond to an inquiry about voting against the bill in committee or on its final passage. Minnesota lawmakers are considering a similar bill this session. The measure, sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Larry Kraft, would direct utilities to evaluate congestion on their networks by 2025 and determine how GETs could be used to address it. Like many of the states pursuing GETs legislation, Minnesota has a law requiring a shift to clean electricity in the coming years. Coupled with a growing demand for electric cars and heating systems, legislators expect the states transmission needs to increase. This makes so much sense, Kraft said. We are expecting a lot more renewables on the grid, and GETs could be really helpful in certain cases. Kraft said the measure will likely be included in an omnibus bill at the end of the legislative session. In a letter to Minnesota lawmakers, the regional utility Xcel Energy expressed its support for GETs and credited the bill with jump-starting a conversation. However, the utility noted that its infrastructure in Minnesota connects to a multistate grid. The full benefits of GETs, Xcel wrote, depend on a collaborative multistate process rather than a utility-by-utility plan. The letter noted other examples in which the larger regional transmission organization that Xcel is part of would need to be considered in plans to use such upgrades. In Utah, Blouins bill passed the Senate without objection, but did not get a vote on the House floor before the end of the legislative session. An earlier version of the measure would have allowed utilities to retain a portion of the savings generated by the deployment of GETs. Blouin and some advocates said that might incentivize utilities to pursue such upgrades, even as the new transmission lines that deliver larger profits remain under development. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners did not respond to an interview request. Neither Dominion Energy, which supplies electricity in Virginia and other states, nor the Edison Electric Institute, an association the represents electric companies, responded to interview requests by publication time. Lawmakers in other states including California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and South Carolina have proposed similar bills, mostly focused on requiring their utilities to study GETs and provide reports on how they could benefit their systems. Though many of the measures have drawn bipartisan support, all but South Carolinas are sponsored by Democrats. South Carolina Republican state Sen. Tom Davis, who drafted that bill, did not respond to an interview request. This story was originally produced by Stateline which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The post Allowing more juice to flow through power lines could hasten clean energy projects appeared first on Daily Montanan. Amazon, SpaceX, Starbucks and Trader Joes have all responded to allegations that they have violated labor laws with the same bold argument. The National Labor Relations Board, they assert in several ongoing legal proceedings, is unconstitutional. SpaceX, for example, says that the NLRB is engaging in an unlawful attempt to subject Space X to an administrative proceeding whose structure violates Article II, the Fifth Amendment, and the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. If these companies prevail, the entire process for holding union elections and for prosecuting employers who break labor laws in place since the days of the New Deal could collapse. That would leave U.S. workers more vulnerable to exploitation. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the board nearly a century ago, soon after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the law that created the NLRB and made clear that workers have the right to organize and bargain collectively. Justices have also rejected similar arguments in cases involving other agencies. As a law professor who researches labor law and constitutional law and a former labor organizer, I am deeply concerned, but not surprised, by these attacks on the federal agency that has protected U.S. workers right to organize unions and bargain collectively with their employers since the 1930s. These corporations seem to believe they will find a sympathetic audience before the conservative justices that occupy six of the Supreme Courts nine seats. In a series of prior cases, the conservative justices have already weakened administrative agencies and cut back on workers rights. Growing support for unions The corporate attack on the NLRB also seems to be a response to growing support for unions among Americans. Workers at the companies that are challenging the NLRBs constitutionality have all begun to organize unions in recent years, with numerous, high-profile, union-organizing wins. Workers across numerous sectors, including auto, education, health care and Hollywood, have recently held successful strikes. Whats more, the NLRB has been more assertive in prosecuting employers for violating workers rights, and it has been revising rules in ways that make it easier for workers to organize. For example, it has made it possible for the unionization process to move faster and has sought to quickly reinstate workers who are illegally fired for organizing unions, rather than waiting years for litigation to play out. In 2021, these Buffalo, N.Y., Starbucks employees were the first to win a union election at one of the chains stores. AP Photo/Joshua Bessex The Supreme Court and big business This is not the first time that big business has tried to use constitutional law arguments in an effort to stop union organizing and limit workers rights. From the 1890s to the 1930s, during what is known as the Lochner era, corporations argued that laws protecting workers rights, including the right to organize unions or be paid a minimum wage, violated their freedom to contract and exceeded Congress power under the Constitution. Back then, the Supreme Court routinely sided with business. It struck down hundreds of laws, including minimum wage laws, overtime laws and laws prohibiting child labor. It prohibited strikes, including in the railroad and mining industries. It allowed labor leaders to be jailed. These rulings helped corporations grow wealthier and more powerful. Only after mass uprisings by over 1 million workers, economic distress wrought by the Great Depression and overwhelming popular support for the New Deal did the Supreme Court finally change course, recognizing that it had made a mistake. During the New Deal, the justices ruled that Congress has the power under the Constitution to pass minimum labor standards and to create agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board, to protect workers and consumers. Six of the the Supreme Courts nine members are conservatives, leading to many pro-business rulings. Alex Wong/Getty Images Letting agencies make decisions Now, nearly 100 years later, the NLRBs foes contend that the labor board violates the separation of powers the constitutional principle that the judicial, legislative and executive branches of government have distinct powers because it mixes executive and judicial functions. They also argue that the board is unconstitutional because presidents cannot fire the NLRBs members or administrative law judges whenever they want. And opponents of the NLRB claim that the use of administrative law judges jurists who preside over and adjudicate cases regarding alleged violations of the law violates the constitutional right to a jury trial. But the Supreme Court has long permitted all of these features, not only for the NLRB but for other government agencies as well. And for good reason. No provision of the Constitution prohibits Congress from designing government agencies in this way. And Congress believed that these design choices would help the agency function well. For example, by prohibiting presidents from replacing all of the NLRBs administrative law judges for any reason or no reason at all, Congress sought to ensure independence of those judges. Having each violation of law litigated before a federal jury, rather than administrative law judges deciding cases, could take a lot longer to resolve cases. Assessing whats at stake If these corporations prevail with their constitutional challenges, the NLRB will no longer be able to function. Currently, it can be very difficult for workers to organize unions, partly because of insufficient penalties and protections in labor law. But if the corporations win, there will no longer be an agency in place to safeguard workers rights to organize unions and to negotiate fair contracts with their employers. Indeed, this threat goes beyond labor rights. If the NLRB is found to violate the Constitution, other government agencies could be at risk as well, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. In my view, that would endanger investors, voters and consumers all Americans. There is reason to believe the Supreme Court could side with big business if a lawsuit challenging the boards constitutionality reaches it. The Supreme Court in its current configuration is more pro-business than it has been in a century. The justices who make up its conservative majority have shown that they are willing to overrule long-standing labor precedents through decisions that have reduced union funding and restricted workers access to unions. The conservative justices have also indicated that they may limit the powers of administrative agencies beyond the NLRB. Most notably, the conservative majority on the court recently crafted a rule known as the major questions doctrine, which says Congress must set particularly clear rules when it authorizes agencies to regulate on matters of political or economic significance. Using this doctrine, the court has overturned a Biden administration regulation designed to protect the environment and has rejected its initial student loan forgiveness program. The Supreme Court is hearing several other cases this year that threaten administrative agencies, including one that would allow courts to give less deference to reasonable agency rules and one that challenges the use of administrative law judges by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Seeing room for optimism There is no way to know for certain how the Supreme Court will rule on a case concerning the constitutionality of the NLRB or other federal agencies. There may not be enough votes to overturn years of well-established precedent, even among the conservative justices. And on labor rights more generally, there is reason for optimism. Workers are organizing in greater numbers than they have in decades. History teaches that when there is sufficient popular support for unions and workers rights, and sufficient mobilization among workers, the Supreme Court sometimes backs off and corporations give up their fight against workers rights. Indeed, even Starbucks recently agreed to begin negotiating with its workers after years of illegally according to the NLRB refusing to bargain with them. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Kate Andrias, Columbia University Read more: Earlier in her career, Kate Andrias served as a law clerk to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as Associate Counsel to President Barack Obama, and as an organizer with the Service Employees International Union. She frequently provides advice on policy initiatives to legislators and workers rights organizations and works on related litigation. Demonstrators attend a KC Tenants rally outside the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City, Mo., in 2020. Credit - Chase CastorBloomberg via Getty Images The U.S. has a housing crisis one only growing more serious with each day. In the District of Columbia, a recent report by the Urban Institute found that 12% of the citys population of more than 82,000 residents does not have stable housing. The majority of D.C. residents navigating housing insecurity are people of color, a reality reflected across the country. The Biden Administration has recognized that housing insecurity is a problem that it cant ignore, in part because it affects the confidence Americans have about the economy. On Thursday, the Administration announced a bold series of policy proposals, which deployed a public-private approach focused on changing exclusionary zoning, expanding the financing options for affordable housing, and promoting the conversion of empty office space into apartments. These followed up on ideas Biden had proposed in the State of the Union address. While it is important that the Administration is taking the affordable housing crisis seriously, the long history of attempts to address housing problems in the U.S. reveals these types of public-private initiatives have repeatedly enriched the private sector and done little to help those who need government action the most. This history suggests that it's time for the federal government to follow the lead of local and state housing activists and create programs that recognize housing is a right not a commodity. This means reconsidering an idea that is barely mentioned in the Administrations 45-page proposal: public housing. In fact, on Thursday, the same day the Biden Administration announced its proposal, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders released their own plans to advocate for Green New Deal for Public Housing legislation a sign that some legislators are starting to recognize the essential role that public housing will play if the Administration is to solve the housing crisis. Public housing in the U.S had its origins in the New Deal. It began as an effort by Franklin D. Roosevelt's Administration to boost the construction industry and provide temporary housing support for struggling Americans. Until World War II, it remained a very small and highly segregated program that primarily benefited working-class whites. Read More: Read President Joe Bidens 2024 State of the Union Address After the war, that changed. The federal government allocated funds for a substantial increase in public housing units to address a national housing shortage and advance urban redevelopment. These funds fueled the construction of large-scale modernist developments like Chicagos Robert Taylor Homes, which was the largest public housing project in the U.S. with over 4,000 units in 28 identical 16-story buildings. Initially touted by city planners as palaces for the poor, these projects experienced problems of segregation and discrimination almost from the outset and increasingly fell into disrepair due to the limited funds allocated for their initial construction and ongoing maintenance. In the 1960s, many city housing agencies exacerbated the pre-existing problems. They changed their policies to allow occupancy by single-parent households and welfare recipients. Meanwhile, Congress passed a law raising the cap on rents to 30% of a households income, which substantially increased the rent for people who worked and drove many them into the private market. This exodus transformed public housing into the option of last resort, inhabited exclusively by the poorest of the poor. Instead of trying to improve the situation in the 1970s, the federal government turned away from constructing, owning, and managing public housing, and instead adopted private market tools such as vouchers and subsidies in an effort to make housing affordable. They also contracted with private management companies to run preexisting public housing, while greatly reducing the capacity and power of public housing agencies. By the 1980s developments like the Robert Taylor Homes became the sites of major drug and gang activity, turning them into proxies for the problems of public housing and the inner city. In response, Bill Clinton promised to end public housing as we know it and introduced the HOPE VI program. HOPE VI became a hallmark of the Clinton years and largely amounted to privatization of public services. The initiative encouraged tearing down many existing federal projects like the Robert Taylor Homes and replacing them with lower-density townhouse style developments that combined market rate housing designed to appeal to the middle class with subsidized units for poor families. To qualify for the houses, poor families had to meet a stringent set of requirements, including having no criminal record and having a job or being enrolled in an employment training program. These projects benefited the private developers, who built the new housing and surrounding businesses, but only compounded the problems for tenants. The vast majority of former public housing residents found themselves displaced from their longtime homes. While many received Section 8 vouchers to rent homes, they confronted a highly discriminatory private rental market that left many former public housing residents with few options, most of them in racially-segregated, high-poverty areas. The end result was the exacerbation of housing segregation and economic inequality in many cities, while gentrification spread. Despite this mixed record, in the early 21st century, public-private projects like HOPE VI remained virtually the only housing initiatives that seemed viable. Thats changed in recent years. Policymakers from Los Angeles to Rhode Island have launched a range of innovative campaigns to consider alternative ways to increase affordable housing that go beyond simply changing single-family zoning laws and allowing for the construction of Auxiliary Dwelling Units (ADUs). Many of these projects have taken inspiration from longstanding social housing programs in Western Europe, most notably Vienna, where more than half a million residents, both low-income and middle class, live in well-constructed social housing units, spending less than 10% of their incomes on rent. Read More: How More Cities Worldwide Can Attract Remote Workers The shape of new programs vary significantly. On one end of the spectrum, Montgomery County, Md., has broken ground on several new mixed-income, government-owned projects. But the projects still rely on a public-private model and contain many echoes of HOPE VI, making them unlikely to eliminate fully the problems of the past. On the other end of the spectrum, is the work being done by housing groups like Kansas City-based KC Tenants. The group has adopted a definition of social housing which points to a way of imagining housing outside the scope of the private market and unavailable for profit or speculation. In using the term social, KC Tenants seek to avoid the indelible stigma associated with public housing and to highlight that they envision something very different from the post-World War II massive housing projects or even the HOPE VI townhomes. They are crusading for construction of well-designed housing in desirable parts of the city that serves everyone but the most wealthy. KC Tenants co-founder Tara Raghuveer has deemed this form of true public housing the organizations north star. The group is helping push Kansas City closer to that goal. In 2022, by a wide margin, the city passed a $50 million bond for long-term affordable housing. Read more: Renters Are in Revolt. This Tenant Union Plans to Get Them Organized This vision of social housing has a chance to undo the mistakes of the postwar era, which stigmatized public housing, and produced substandard and segregated residences for only the poorest of Americans. But for such programs to truly solve the affordable housing crisis, the federal government needs to be involved. The scope of the problem is simply too large for states and localities to tackle. Imaging and designing a federal initiative will take policymakers who can think big, while learning from the mistakes of the post-WWII housing projects. Crucially, they should follow the lead of local housing activists who see housing as a right, not a commodity. To do so, officials must abandon the narrative that public housing has been a failed social experiment. Instead, they need to sell the public on viewing it as a critical way for the federal government to serve the public good and build a better functioning system of social welfare. This approach will promote a just policy one that addresses a problem that has festered for 75 years and it could also provide a political boost for the Democrats in November and beyond. The poor, working, and middle-class Americans who would benefit most from this vision of public housing are some of the people most dissatisfied with the Biden Administration. Fixing the housing crisis and creating a broad scale public housing program that makes these groups lives better promises to give these crucial constituencies a reason to turn out to vote. Lily Geismer is a professor of history at Claremont McKenna College where she focuses on political and urban history. She is the author of Left Behind: The Democrats Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality. Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors. Write to Made by History at madebyhistory@time.com. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Full rail service has resumed between Oceanside and Irvine following an effort to shore up a stretch of the San Clemente coast that has seen multiple landslides over the last year, causing headaches for train travelers. The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) announced the return to full service for Amtraks Pacific Surfliner and the Metrolink last week as construction work to erect a 200-foot catchment wall along the rail line at Mariposa Point neared its end. The wall, in combination with other infrastructure improvements made over the last few months, will help with drainage issues that can lead to landslides, according to transit officials. Limited service resumed through the area in early March the dumping of more debris in landslides on the track while strong storms swept through the area in January, making it unsafe for passenger travel. Starting on Monday, Pacific Surfliner trains will run to and from San Diego without a bus connection between Irvine and Oceanside. There will be 10 daily round trips between Los Angeles and San Diego. View full travel advisories on Amtrak.com. However, Amtrak says one of its scheduled trips on Monday, Train 761, will begin in Los Angeles instead of San Diego as they move equipment in place to resume the full schedule. Stretch of I-5 in Carlsbad to close Monday night The Metrolink will also run all of its scheduled trains as normal between San Clemente and Oceanside beginning on Monday. More details on any impacts to rail service can be found at Metrolink.com. The project completed on Monday is one of several in the works for the coastal rail corridor between San Diego and Los Angeles, known as LOSSAN. Earlier this year, lawmakers announced millions of dollars in funding towards efforts aimed at dealing with coastal erosions impact on the tracks. San Diego Countys transit planning board is also still exploring the possibility of moving the rail lines in Del Mar away from the coastal bluffs. Passengers boarding trains in Oceanside on Monday told FOX 5/KUSI that they are excited to be able to take the train without the bus connection again. Now that I am more aware of the system and where it goes, so there are plans in the future to take it for fun. said one train traveler, Kristina Driskill. I really just like the convenience and I dont have to deal with (I-5) freeway, Driskill continued. I just get in the zone and the way the train runs south. Its really close to the ocean and you get to see those nice ocean views at the beginning and at the end of the day. FOX 5/KUSIs Christy Simeral and Elizabeth Alvarez contributed to this report. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Democratic Rep. Andy Kim said Sunday night that he plans to take the favorable position on Senate primary ballots in parts of the state that he had criticized first lady Tammy Murphy for during the Democratic primary. But if he has his way in court, that benefit would go away. In an online press conference after Murphy ended her Senate bid, Kim said he intends to keep pushing to abolish what's known in New Jersey as "the line," in which candidates backed by county party organizations appear on a row or column, giving them a large advantage. This is not a system I want to participate in, he told reporters. I think its unfair. That's why I'm trying to change it." However, Kim confirmed that he met with Democratic county chairs in the state that initially backed Murphy and said that he would accept the so-called county lines there. They did ask if I would sub in if Tammy Murphy were to make that decision not to run, so I agreed to do so, he said. Murphy's exit Sunday makes Kim the favorite to win the Democratic nomination for Senate in New Jersey. He is seeking to replace indicted Sen. Bob Menendez. Should Kim win the nomination, he would be heavily favored to win the general election since New Jersey hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate in 50 years. Murphy entered the race in November with the backing of a handful Democratic party leaders, which meant that she would have had the favorable ballot placement in a majority of the state. Accepting the county lines across the state puts Kim in a politically awkward position since a cornerstone of his campaign was seeking to abolish the states unique primary ballot design. He filed a lawsuit in February seeking a preliminary injunction to eliminate the controversial ballot design in the June primary. Kim said that he still supports those legal efforts, even as he stands to benefit from the county line. He will not give up the favorable ballot positioning as he faces two other opponents in the Democratic primary, Patricia Campos-Medina and Lawrence Hamm. Kim is instead seeking an office block ballot for the June primary, where candidates are grouped together by the office they are seeking rather than by who is backed by political parties. It is unclear how Murphy dropping out of the Senate race will impact the legal challenge, although there are also two co-plaintiffs who are seeking House seats. Regardless, I will just continue to be an advocate for us to be able to change the system and be able to have the office block ballot that I believe are necessary for us to have the kind of fair system that we need and we move away front his unfair, unconstitutional system that weve had in the state for too long, Kim said. Attorneys for Kim and the two other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the county line House candidates Sarah Schoengood and Carolyn Rush said in a statement Sunday that the preliminary injunction request would move forward. Kim is suing 19 county clerks in the state that use the county line ballot design (two counties in the state do not use it). "The clerks' county line primary ballots continue to violate constitutional rights of all three candidates who are suing, as well as the voters' rights," attorneys Brett Pugach, Flavio L. Komuves and Yael Bromberg said in a joint statement. "New Jersey cannot tolerate one more unconstitutional election." A judges ruling could come as soon as this week. Kim said he briefly spoke with Murphy on Sunday. He also said that he was not asked about his lawsuit and that there was nothing asked of him in exchange for getting the support that would have gone to Murphy. It was very quick but no other exchange, no other talks about anything, Kim said. Much of the conversation around the Democratic Senate primary had been focused on the county line and its impact on primary elections in New Jersey. Every county party in the state differs in how the favorable ballot positioning is awarded. In some counties a single party boss can deliver the favored ballot positioning while in others hundreds of low-level party officials gather for secret ballot votes to decide on who to endorse. Murphy's support from party bosses who were able to award the line in a majority of the state made her the favored candidate by conventional thinking. However, Kim was able to win most county endorsements that were awarded by secret ballot. Murphy said in a video on social media Sunday that continuing her Senate big would create a divisive and negative campaign, which I am not willing to do. The filing deadline for other candidates to enter the Democratic primary for Senate in New Jersey is Monday. A student visits the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa in February 2023. An Andy Warhol art piece depicting Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong was stolen from the campus. (Scott Smeltzer / Times Community News) "Mao" is missing. Orange Coast College is asking for the public's help in locating an Andy Warhol art piece depicting Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong that was stolen from campus. Orange Coast College authorities were notified last week of a missing Andy Warhol screen print from the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion. Warhol's 1972 screen print titled "Mao" was last seen in the vault of the Arts Pavilion, said Juan Gutierrez, director of marketing and public relations for the college. The print was inspired by U.S. President Nixon's trip to China to meet Chairman Mao, ending years of diplomatic isolation between the U.S. and China, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Warhol created 199 silkscreen paintings of Mao in five scales between 1972 and 1973. Read more: A British painting stolen by mobsters is returned to the owner's son 54 years later The print that was in Orange Coast College's possession was donated to the school in September 2020, Gutierrez said. In 2015, the original Warhol painting sold for $47.5 million. Gutierrez said the stolen print is appraised at $50,000. Campus police, in partnership with the Costa Mesa Police Department, are investigating the incident. Orange Coast College authorities ask that anyone with information on the whereabouts of the print call the school's campus safety department at (714) 432-5017 or the Costa Mesa Police Department at (714) 754-5252. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Of all of the animals worth observing during a total solar eclipse, some of the most intriguing are humans. They stop what theyre doing; they stare skyward; they lower their voices to a hush. Some may gather their young close. Some may even shed tears. If youve ever witnessed a solar eclipse yourself, none of this comes as a surprise; indeed, youve surely exhibited some of these behaviors too. Other species of animals display other kinds of behavioral changes, as the weather and lighting and nature itself seem to turn on their axes. So what should you expect to experience on April 8, as a total eclipse crosses the U.S. from the southwestern edge of Texas to the northern tip of New England? Some of the greatest changes will occur far above us, in the ionosphere, the band of atmosphere that ranges from an altitude of 60 to 300 km (37 to 190 mi.). Defined by the abundant presence of electrically charged particles, or ions, the ionosphere is denser during the day, turbocharged by incoming radiation from the sun. As NASA explains, that means that during an eclipse, the overall concentration of ions in the ionosphere falls. This reduction can lead to a cooling of the upper atmosphere, which in turn can cause local depletions known as ionospheric holes. That has an impact on populations on the ground as those cavities may disrupt the transmission of radio signals and lead to anomalies in GPS navigation systems. As researchers at Embry-Riddle University and Clemson University determined after the 2017 total eclipse, however, in most cases the GPS disruption is transitory and too mild for users to notice. Read More: How Cities Around the U.S. Are Celebrating the Eclipse Other natural changes are more universally detectable, not least the steady dimming of sunlight. The arc of totality across North America measures just 185-km (115 mi.) wide. In this band, a sort of deep dusk descends, with a much subtler darkening the farther you move from that central point. In 2017, a team from TIME traveled to Casper, Wyo. to record and report that years eclipse from a hillside overlooking the bowl of the city. Streetlights and headlights flicked on as the sunlight rapidly retreated. If youre outside during totality, it may pay to have a sweater or a jacket with you. Temperatures can drop by anywhere from 2.8C to 8.4C (5F to 15 F) as the sunlight retreats, according to the Weather Channel. Falling temperatures near the earths surface also may cause whats known as an eclipse wind, or a slowing of the winds. Thats the result of low-level air becoming cooler than the higher level air above itwhats known as a temperature inversionwhich makes it harder for that more-elevated atmosphere to mix with the air closer to the ground, eliminating the temperature and density differences that lead to breezes and gusts. As totality ends, the winds pick back up. Another effect falling temperatures may have will be the appearance of a fleeting thunderstorm, as cooler air closer to the ground pushes warmer more humid air upward, where moisture then condenses and rains out. The process is similar to the way ocean breezes can cause brief storms in the summer. Read More: The Devil Comet Will Be a Heavenly Co-Star During the Eclipse. Heres What to Know All of this affects non-human animals in multiple ways. Insects, bats, and birds that feed at night emerge as the sky darkens, sometimes in sufficient numbers to be detectable on radar, says the Weather Channel. Birdsong tends to grow quieter as darkness descends, rising back up as the light reappears. Crows, gulls, and sparrows that are in flight have been observed alighting on trees or on the ground and silencing any chirps, calls, or caws. Dogs may cower or exhibit other fearful behavior. Bees may return to their hives and domestic horses and cows may move to their stables, reports Liz Aguilar, a PhD candidate in biology in the University of Indiana's evolution, ecology, and behavior program. In wild herds or in distant paddocks away from their barns, horses may also cluster and begin shaking their heads and tailsthough its not entirely clear why they engage in these movements. Head-shaking and tail-swishing are far more common as an agitated response to flies, or to resistance to or discomfort from being ridden. So-called photic head-shaking actually occurs when horses are exposed to bright sunlightprecisely the opposite to what happens during an eclipse. In a 2020 paper in the journal Animals, researchers observed both domesticated and zoo animals and recorded a range of eclipse-related behaviors. The cowering and other expressions of anxiety seen in dogs were also observed in baboons, gorillas, giraffes, and flamingos, as well as in parrots and other species of lorikeets. Tortoises, Komodo dragons, and other forms of reptiles, which already may be lying largely unmoving in the sun, grow more stationary still. Perhaps most striking though, was the behavior of a captive troop of chimpanzees at the Yerkes Primate Research Center on the campus of Emory University in Georgia, during an annular eclipse on May 30, 1984. As researchers reported in the American Journal of Primatology, the animals moved to the highest point of a climbing structure in their enclosure and turned their faces upward in the direction of the sun and the moon. One juvenile gestured toward the slowly vanishing sun. The chimps remained that way until the skies began to brighten, when they descended from the structure. No one can ever say with certainty how they were experiencing what they were seeingwhether they felt their own form of curiosity or wonder or even reverence. Clearly, though, they were captivated by it all. It is a reaction that is very much of a piece with what humans feelone we may share with untold numbers of other species as the great solar sky show unfolds. Write to Jeffrey Kluger at jeffrey.kluger@time.com. Anne Hathaway credits Christopher Nolan for maintaining her career's momentum when he cast her in Interstellar - Vanity Fair Anne Hathaway has said that the toxic online reaction to her natural sincerity has lost her acting roles. The American actress, 41, explained that even though she won an Oscar for her role in Les Miserables in 2013, she was not being cast after public opinion turned against her. Speaking to Vanity Fair as the magazines April cover star, she said: A lot of people wouldnt give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online. The 2013 viral phenomenon dubbed Hathahate had no actual cause, other than the actress enjoying a surge in exposure following the Best Supporting Actress victory she received and an online backlash that branded her annoying. However, The Devil Wears Prada star explained that Christopher Nolans decision to cast her in the science fiction epic Interstellar despite this meant that her career did not lose momentum. I had an angel in Christopher Nolan, who did not care about that and gave me one of the most beautiful roles Ive had in one of the best films that Ive been a part of, she said. As a result of the two-time Academy Award-winning director hiring her, she added that my career did not lose momentum the way it could have if he hadnt backed me. Hathaway is the April cover star of Vanity Fair - Vanity Fair She told Vanity Fair that humiliation is such a rough thing to go through but that the key to managing it is to not let it close you down. You have to stay bold, she added. In 2022, during a speech at Elles Women in Hollywood event, Hathaway said that the backlash against her felt so personal in many ways because it mirrored her own negative self-talk. This was a language I had employed with myself since I was seven, she said at the time, adding: And when your self-inflicted pain is suddenly somehow amplified back at you at, say, the full volume of the internet. Its a thing. Hathaway said that this period in her life marks the first time Ive known myself this well. She added: I dont live in what others think of me. I know my own mind and I am connected to my own feelings. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Monday, March 25, 2024 at 6:00PM by Claudio Alves One way or another, artists can't help but put some part of themselves into their work. It might not be obvious or a direct expression of character. It might not even be conscious on their part. However, it's there for those willing to see, from works by the most self-effacing hacks to world-renowned auteurs. Hayao Miyazaki is no different, though he's sometimes prone to underselling just how personal some of his pictures can be. Of course, there's no denying the introspection happening in his most recent "last films," and not even the director has tried to distance The Wind Rises or The Boy and the Heron from such interpretations. But there's more self-portraiture in his filmography than just those late-career triumphs. I'd say there's a lot of Miyazaki in a little witch who loved to fly 06. KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989) Directing Kiki's Delivery Service wasn't in Hayao Miyazaki's plans. By the time Studio Ghibli got the rights to Eiko Kadono's novel about a young witch, both its animator co-founders were busy with other features 1988's Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbor Totoro so neither Takahata nor Miyazaki could take charge. The adaptation, sponsored by Group Fudosha and the cat-loving Yamato Transport Inc., was then conceived as an opportunity to let the younger artists at the studio shine, the beginning of a new generation of animators. It was to be a one-hour special of modest ambition, with Miyazaki supervising in the role of producer. As we all know, this state of things would fall apart. In a move that would repeat time and time again over Ghibli's history, the master grew dissatisfied with the work. At first, he only took over script-writing duties, completely re-imagining what had been done till then. Afterward, he'd take the crew on a Grand Tour of Europe, shaping their conception of the film's fictional setting as an amalgamation of various cities and cultures. By mid-1988, his influence over the project was so overwhelming that the Studio officially announced Miyazaki as its director. The original author was not happy with this revised interpretation of her work, mind you. The filmmaker had focused much of his story on the witch's failures, struggles, and ever-encroaching unhappiness, going against the book's sunnier outlook. This could result in a sour film and spoil its lasting impact, but, funnily enough, that hint of gloom is precisely what makes the picture so powerful. You see, in its tale of a kid witch striving to live in the big city and stride into adult responsibilities, Kiki's Delivery Service became a powerful reflection of its makers' particularities as artists. And as we all should know, the path to universality is paved with hyper-specificity. To this day, I've never encountered another film that so effectively illustrates the perils of burnout, of making your passion into a job and the deadening toll of it all. As time passes and I grow up, grow older, the film's reflection becomes more crystal clear, both daunting and a comfort. There's great wisdom in its implications that adulthood is learning to deal with disappointment, accepting what is inevitable. Or how hurtful it can be when you put your heart and soul into something only to be met with the ungratefulness of a girl who doesn't appreciate her grandmother's herring pie. Loss is inevitable, and sometimes you lose the thing that gives you purpose and makes you feel like you are worth anything. Look past the froth, and Kiki's Delivery Service has as much to say about the human condition as Miyazaki's more outwardly epic projects. It's also an intimate self-reflection for its auteur, whether he admits it or not. Consider that Kiki's vocation is flying and how, throughout his entire life, the director has associated flight with a sense of cosmical freedom, the highest form of personal expression and liberation. When she finds herself in a depression episode and can't fly, it's hard not to think back to all that Miyazaki has shared in interviews and documentaries over the years - his assessment of himself as a depression-prone personality and the foundational importance of working in his conception of self. In Kiki, we can see why those exhausted retirements keep popping up but also why they never last. Through Kiki, Miyazaki stumbles, but ultimately, he soars. 05. THE WIND RISES (2013) In the Kingdom of Madness and Dreams documentary, the cameras capture some of The Wind Rises' production, offering insight into the process and the film's behind-the-scenes' particularities. In a revealing tidbit, an animator expresses frustration over Miyazaki's notes about the airplanes' flight. For the junior artist, his director talks about capturing the machine's movements as they are, but, in truth, what the master envisions is something altogether different from reality. On-screen, Miyazaki wants to see the planes as they exist in his imagination, with their oneiric qualities, engineering spectacle, and overwhelming beauty projected straight from his dreams. The Wind Rises isn't so much about the History it depicts, the mechanics that allow planes to rise above the clouds. Instead, it's about the artist's dream and what a curse it can be. It's about Miyazaki's eternal contradiction. He loves military aircraft with all his heart as it's befitting the scion of the erstwhile Miyazaki Airplane company. But he also loathes their deadly purpose. Those beautiful creations wouldn't exist without war, yet he hates that consequence of mankind's violence and has dedicated much of his career to spreading messages against it. How does one sing a song of passion while acknowledging an inherent evil to that most beloved thing? Is it possible to compartmentalize? Is it right? While telling the life of Jiro Horikoshi, Miyazaki is telling his own story, revealing and reveling on the paradoxes that make him the person and artist he is today. Relationships depicted in the film echo with the sound of auto-fiction, as do the dreams and delusions of its characters. But it's not merely a work of inward meditations with an aggrandizing twist. Miyazaki is critical of Jiro and himself, complicating some people's assertions that The Wind Rises is an apologia for a man whose contributions to Japan's military machine caused countless deaths. The film stares straight at the void while trying to explain why someone would willingly dive into it. Without losing its Humanistic ethos, The Wind Rises considers the best and worst of us. Every gesture of overt romanticism is undercut and imbued with a sinister edge. Even the love story between Jiro and his wife becomes tainted by neglect in a time of need, by the terrible mission that entrances the man. There's a strain of naivete throughout The Wind Rises that eventually emerges as lies one tells to themselves, a pitiless conclusion that corrodes the miracle of flight without denying its wonder. And then there's the animation, the precise cutting, and luxurious symphonies all combined to make this one of the director's most mature masterpieces, as gorgeous as it is uncomfortable, every delight lined with sorrow. 04. THE BOY AND THE HERON (2023) Covering a film festival often leads to writing down immediate reactions with little time to ponder and reflect on a picture. There's no time to let it age in your memory and see what most resonates even after more granular details have faded. All this is to say: While I stand by my ecstatic TIFF review of Miyazaki's latest, there's a lot I didn't articulate back then that now feels crucial to my understanding of the film. Moreover, seeing numerous friends and acquaintances struggle to engage with it revealed how insular the story's solipsism can often be. It doesn't make me appreciate the film any less, but provides a necessary contrast. Simply put, The Boy and the Heron is Hayao Miyazaki's most personal work, so achingly intimate it can become alienating if one isn't aware enough or willing to peruse its mysteries through a prism of autobiography. I'd argue that the emotions are strong enough to sustain the confused viewer, though one can't deny how convoluted its dream logic can sometimes become. It's the story of a boy who watches his innocence go up in flames during the war, who lives with the loss of his mother and the gradual of another maternal influence. It's the story of someone who hates himself and the confrontation with an internal storm through fantasy beyond time and space. It's also the story of Ghibli, Miyazaki's past and present, and all the fallen stars along the way. Over its long production, the aging director saw two of his most essential collaborators die, their absence later manifest in the fabric of the narrative. Colorist Michiyo Yasuda lives in the young mother that will guide her future progeny through the unknown. Isao Takahata looms over the Granduncle figure whose centrality in the original plot was too painful to maintain after the real man's demise. But Miyazaki is also in all of them, in the bird king who terrorizes his army (of animators), the boy struggling, and the older figure who watches all he created bound to ruin. "I trained successors but I couldn't let go. I devoured them. I devoured their talent. There was no one left to take over," is something the director said in documentary profiles, but it could as easily be a line roaring over the picture's last act. The master's forgiveness of the boy who doesn't want to perpetuate what the older generation created is the director and his son, dragged into the animating business against his will and lambasted for failing to reach his ancestor's success. And it's so much more, a plurality of readings, all valid and true. All of them aching with raw insight that only the most surreal of fiction can hope to translate. It's insular if you approach it through intellect alone. Surrender to the visceral feeling, and it might start to make sense. Takahata, Miyazaki, the Granduncle they all want copies of themselves, while knowing such demands are impossible. Learning to forgive those who can't make it possible is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't erase the hurt. Their towers of fantasy will crumble in death, and that's alright. The grief of friends and collaborators, of partners in crime and art, of sons without mothers, is a song sung throughout The Boy and the Heron for death is what unites everything in the end of all ends. As morbid as it may seem, there's comfort in the picture's confrontation with mortality. In its embrace, we might know peace, and even if we leave no lasting mark behind, the love and exhilaration still make life worthwhile. The Boy and the Heron is as tragic as it is hopeful. It's as bruising as magical, so full of invention from a litany of animators who returned to Ghibli after building their careers beyond its limiting structure. They all came back to help Miyazaki complete this opus at an age when his physical ability was starting to wane. Such contribution helps the film look like nothing else in the director's filmography as if the screen were shapeshifting along with the narrative, always in flux. Naysayers will conclude it's chaotic, but I choose to see a miracle within. Even thinking about it makes me tear up, and listening to Hisaishi's score is enough to draw those tears down my face. Maybe I'm an easy mark... and I wouldn't have it any other way. I've written about all of today's films before. So, while I tried not to be too repetitive, some redundancy was bound to occur. You can check out those past posts if you're interested. There was a meditation on Jiji's role in Kiki's Delivery Service for National Pet Week, a How Had I Never Seen entry on The Wind Rises, and my TIFF review of The Boy and The Heron. The 1989 and 2013 films are both streaming on Max. You can find The Boy and the Heron in theaters for a short re-release to celebrate its Oscar win. Aftermath of the missile attack on Kryvyi Rih on 12 March. Photo: Oleksandr Vilkul The death toll from the missile attack on Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has risen to six, with a man dying in hospital from his injuries. Source: Oleksandr Vilkul, Head of Kryvyi Rih Defence Council Quote: "A 59-year-old man has died in hospital from his injuries." Details: Vilkul notes that doctors fought for the man's life for almost two weeks, but his injuries were fatal. Background: On 12 March, the Russians fired a Kh-59 air-launched missile on Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Missile debris landed on a high-rise building, causing a fire. Initial reports indicated that three people had been killed and over 40 injured. Later, it was reported that a wounded woman had died in hospital, bringing the death toll from the Russian missile strike to four people. Ukraine's National Police released a video showing the first minutes of rescue efforts after a Russian strike on the town of Kryvyi Rih. On 13 March, the death toll following the Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on 12 March rose to five, as the body of a man was found under the rubble. Support UP or become our patron! Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) defended her use of the term genocide to describe the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians could soon face famine, according to a recent U.N.-backed report. On Sunday, CNNs Jake Tapper asked Ocasio-Cortez about her comments made on the House floor Friday, in which she urged the U.S. to deny additional aid to Israel. Tapper noted the word genocide comes with specific connotations, highlighting that it is distinguished by an intent to destroy a group of people. I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent, Ocasio-Cortez said, mentioning that she knows using the word genocide is extremely serious. The New York representative justified her use of the term by saying foreign governments, NGOs, and U.S. State Department officials have also described it as such, and that the forced famine residents face in Northern Gaza due to Israels blockade is evidence. If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes, Ocasio-Cortez said Friday during her House floor speech. It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. I believe we have crossed the threshold of intent. On @CNNSOTU, Democratic Rep. @AOC defends her speech on the House floor saying the humanitarian crisis in Gaza constitutes a "genocide" for the first time. pic.twitter.com/nQZlbPddEt State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) March 24, 2024 Tapper pushed back, offering feedback hed received from Israeli officials about the claim of genocide, who told him that there are hundreds of aid trucks entering Gaza every day, and that Israel would end its attack in Gaza if Hamas released the hostages and laid down their weapons. When we are talking about famine, the actions of Hamas should not be tied to whether a three-year-old can eat, she responded. Ocasio-Cortez had previously come under fire for declining to use the term genocide while describing the situation in Gaza, culminating with a group of activists heckling her while she was out and about with her partner. The use of the term genocide to describe Israels actions in Gaza has generated heated debate. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has consistently supported pro-Israel perspectives, criticized Ocasio-Cortezs use of the word Sunday. Starving a million innocent people to death by halting and slowing US humanitarian assistance is massive, deliberate choice. Not only is it irrelevant to those objectives, it brings them further out of reach and endangers hostages. There is no defense for forced famine. https://t.co/WevYNNw8df Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 24, 2024 Genocide requires intent. And Israel has been patently clear with its objectives: To cripple Hamas terrorists & release the hostages, the organization said on X, formerly Twitter. @AOCs accusation lacks proper factual or legal foundation. Such statements merely perpetuate false claims & foster hate. AOC quoted the ADL on the same platform and responded: There is no defense for forced famine. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone An appeals court on Monday gave Donald Trump a lifeline, cutting his bond down to $175 million. He had previously told the court he could not secure a $454 million bond in his fraud case. Trump will have 10 days to pay up. A New York appeals court gave Donald Trump a break on Monday, allowing him to post a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case instead of requiring him to cover the entire $467 million he and his company now owe. Trump will have 10 days to come up with the $175 million bond, which is required to stop the New York Attorney General's assets to seize his assets to enforce the New York civil fraud judgment against him. Following a three-month trial, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron found Trump and other Trump Organization executives liable for the nearly half-a-billion dollar penalty last month, finding they had conspired to inflate the value of their real estate assets to dupe lenders. Trump is on the hook for the bulk of the giant judgment. As of Monday, he personally owes the state of New York $457 million. New York Attorney General Letitia James initially gave the former president 30 days from the February 23 judgment to pay up or secure an appeal bond to cover the cost of the penalty while he fought the ruling in court. Monday's decision gives Trump a lifeline as he appeals the ruling. It requires him to file a full appeal in time for the September 2024 court term, giving Trump yet another court deadline in the lead-up to this year's presidential election, where he's expected to be the Republican nominee. In addition to pausing the monetary penalty, Monday's decision also blocks parts of Engoron's judgment that make it harder for the former president and other Trump Organization executives to do business in New York by restricting their abilities to lead corporations and get loans. Former president Donald Trump speaks to the media during a break in a pre-trial hearing at Criminal Court on March 25, 2024 in New York City. Justin Lane-Pool/Getty Images The Appellate Division's decision, however, allowed other parts of Engoron's judgment to go through, including his requirements for increased monitoring and compliance for the Trump Organization's finances. Speaking to journalists Monday in Manhattan criminal court, after a hearing for his upcoming hush-money trial, Trump applauded the appeal court decision. He said he would post the bond with "cash" within the 10-day limit. "It will be my honor to post," Trump said. "And we'll post whatever's necessary, whether it be security or bond." In an emailed statement, Alina Habba, one of Trump's attorneys in the civil fraud trial, called Engoron's judgment "an affront to all Americans" and claimed James's investigation into her client was "a targeted witch hunt." "Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud," James said in her own statement. "The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization. The $464 million judgment plus interest against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands." Trump had previously argued that securing a bond for the entire amount would have required he provide $1 billion in cash reserves. He said he was spurned by 30 companies that provide appeal bonds. Trump continues to accrue $112,000 in interest each day he delays payment of the full judgment, meaning his debt to the state rises about another $1 million every nine days. If he loses all appeals, he will owe the state the entire amount, which is currently at nearly half a billion dollars. This story has been updated. Read the original article on Business Insider Energy secretary Claire Coutinho is due to make a final decision on the 1.2bn electricity link The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has "serious national security concerns" over a proposed electricity link between England and France. Aquind Ltd wants to lay cables through Portsmouth, Hampshire, to Normandy. The MoD submitted a letter to the planning inspectorate after a delay in the project's planning decision was announced in January. An Aquind spokesperson said the company was "keen" to address the concerns "in good faith". The verdict now rests with Claire Coutinho, the secretary of state of energy security and net zero. In its letter, the MoD stressed the need for further collaboration with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to address its concerns in a manner consistent with their "sensitive nature". It asked the government department to clarify the proposed process and allow both the MoD and Aquind to provide feedback, along with a six-week extension to prepare representations. The MoD expressed reluctance to engage with Aquind recently due to the absence of an agreed process "which affords appropriate protection to MoD's concerns". It added that it would keep this situation "under review" as it develops its evidence. In October 2021, the BBC's Panorama programme revealed that Aquind was part-owned by Russian-born former oil executive Victor Fedotov. The company has donated more than 700,000 to 34 Conservative MPs since the Aquind project began. In 2023, the government's decision to refuse permission for the 1.2bn link was overturned in the High Court. Aquind spokesperson Ben Iorio said it was disappointing that the "alleged concerns" were not outlined. He said: "The manner of the MoD's last-minute interference will have negative impacts on all proposed developments and marine users in and around Portsmouth, including renewable energy, interconnectors, fisheries and many others." He added that the company "remain ready and willing" to address the MoD's planning-related questions. Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2240. Archbishop Eamon Martin stressed the need to address "the legacy of our troubled past" The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland has called for a trusted "investigation and information recovery process" following the publication of the Kenova report. Archbishop Eamon Martin was speaking at the annual Mass for the families of the Disappeared in Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, on Sunday. He stressed the need to address "the legacy of our troubled past". The interim Kenova report was published earlier this month. It examined the activities of the Army spy known as Stakeknife, who operated at the heart of the IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The report found that Stakeknife probably cost more lives than he saved. It also found that the security forces failed to prevent some murders to try to protect their agents in the IRA. It pointed out that it was the IRA leadership that had "commissioned and sanctioned" the actions of its so-called internal security unit - of which Stakeknife was a member - and "committed brutal acts of torture and murder". 'The pursuit of justice' Archbishop Martin, who is the Catholic Primate of All Ireland, said "we cannot accept the simplistic idea of 'drawing the line' under our past'". He added: "We must continue to seek an investigation and information recovery process which can be fully trusted by victims and survivors and which at least keeps the door open to accountability and the pursuit of justice." To date, the remains of 13 of the 17 Disappeared - those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles - have been recovered. Archbishop Martin said that the fact that the Kenova report's author, now PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, acknowledged that "information about legacy cases has too often been withheld and suppressed" draws attention to families' "long and painful pursuit of information" about where their loved ones were buried. Addressing families attending the Mass, Archbishop Martin said: "Jon Boutcher makes it clear that families like yours and others who are coping with the legacy of our conflict simply cannot find peace or trust until the truth emerges, and your loss is properly acknowledged." PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, author of the Kenova report He said the Kenova report highlights a "failure to properly acknowledge the hurt inflicted on families during the Troubles" and a "lack of disclosure about murder which wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else". "Thankfully, many of you have been able to recover the bodies of your loved ones and give them a Christian burial, but even then it took far too long for that to happen, and indeed some of you still endure the agonising suffering of not having answers," he said. "If reconciliation is to happen then all families of our victims need to continue to be recognised, loved ones appropriately memorialised, and the truth - however unpalatable - of what happened needs to continue to be unearthed." Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin signed on to an amicus brief Wednesday in support of a Texas law which would make it a state crime, enforceable by state authorities, to cross the US-Mexico border without authorization. He is joined by officials from 21 other states who are not directly involved in the court case but who are lobbying the appeals court to overturn a previous ruling which had struck down the law. Texas Senate Bill 4 was challenged by the U.S. Justice Department on the grounds that it would intrude on the federal governments exclusive authority to regulate the entry and removal of noncitizens. Texas cannot run its own immigration system, the Department of Justice wrote in a January complaint against the State of Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety and its director. The law was rolled back in the Western District of Texas and is now on appeal before the 5th Circuit Court in New Orleans. The national immigration crisis has rendered every state [] a border state, the amicus, or friend of the court brief begins. "Amici States bear the brunt of the significant economic, health, and public safety issues generated by this mass migration crisis and the federal governments failure to adequately enforce national immigration laws." Arkansas joins the other states in lobbying the appeals court to overturn the district courts decision and reinstate the Texas law. Among them are Ohio, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. A group of migrants from Venezuela walks along the banks of the Rio Grande to surrender to the U.S. Border Patrol after they entered Texas at Eagle Pass on Jan. 8, 2024. A representative for the Arkansas attorney general declined to comment on the brief but Griffin responded to written questions in a statement on Friday. "More than 9 million illegal immigrants have entered the countrymaking every state, including Arkansas, a border state," Griffin said. "States have the power to enact legislation to protect the safety of their citizens and the ability to make unlawful under state law that which is already unlawful under federal law," he continued. He did not address questions about the specific nature of Arkansas' immigration crisis. The amicus brief came just a day after Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders deployed 40 Arkansas National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border for surveillance and reconnaissance of unauthorized crossings. This is not the first time that Texas has come up against the federal government over its border control policies. In the summer of 2023, Abbott installed a floating barrier made out of buoys, intended to stop migrants from crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas, a move also challenged by the federal government. In January, the Biden administration took legal action against Texas in order to stop the state from installing razor wire along the border. Both of these border measures were justified by way of a disaster proclamation that Abbott originally made in 2021 and renewed, saying in a release of the proclamation that "the surge of individuals unlawfully crossing the Texas Mexico border posed an ongoing and imminent threat of disaster," the Associated Press reported. Litigation in both cases is ongoing. The think tank Migration Policy Institutes most recent available data, from 2022, shows that 0.3% of all foreign-born people in the United States, including those without authorization to be in the country, lived in Arkansas. For context, 11% lived in Texas, 10% each in New York and Florida and 23% in California. Wyoming, with the fewest immigrants of any state, had less that 0.1% of the countrys foreign-born residents. West Virginia, Montana and South Dakota each had 0.1%. All of the states to sign on to the amicus brief except for Ohio, Georgia and Virginia had less than 1%. More than a fifth of all immigrants in the U.S. live in the New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles metro areas. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Arkansas Attorney General Griffin joins 21 states in supporting Texas LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The Arkansas Childrens Hospital Auxiliary hosts their annual A la Carte event. Event chair CeCe Martindale, Megan Flores with ACH Foundation, along with Diana Allen and Marissa Thames with Bloody Darn Good stopped by Arkansas Today to talk about the April 4 event that starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Angel One Transport Hanger. The annual event features food and beverage tastings from dozens of Arkansas restaurants and caterers. All proceeds will go toward ACH to provide even more children with the expert pediatric care they need. The online silent auction opens on Wednesday, March 27. For information on tickets and the online auction, visit ACHalaCarte.com. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK. After a series of potable water pump failures impacted approximately 14,000 residents of the Armys largest Hawaii installations last week, service officials said they anticipate the affected bases will fully restore the water system in the coming days. Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, who serves as both the 25th Infantry Division commander and the senior commander of all Hawaii-located Army installations, praised local civilian officials and community members for their assistance in avoiding a total system failure. The tremendous work and partnership by the [state] Board of Water Supply and the community of Wahiawa was instrumental in ensuring that our community never lost potable water during this period, Evans said in a statement to Army Times. The issue began March 19, when three of the five potable water pumps serving Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield malfunctioned, said 25th Infantry Division spokesperson Maj. Jeff Tolbert. A fourth pump went offline at the central Oahu installations March 21, despite conservation measures adopted across the post after the first malfunctions. The Army is still assessing the exact cause of the malfunctions, said Tolbert. He added that only a handful of homes at Wheeler Army Airfield lost water, and that was a deliberate shutoff of less than 30 minutes on March 23 for critical system maintenance. The conservation efforts, which Evans detailed in a recent town hall address, included prohibiting the use of water for non-essential tasks like lawn care or washing cars, Tolbert said. The measures will remain in place until the pumps are restored via around the clock emergency repairs. To reduce stress on the remaining pump, garrison officials established water distribution points throughout the installation, the spokesperson noted. The garrison also quickly obtained additional potable water from a neighboring down and rented a portable water pump. The situation is slowly returning to normal, according to Tolbert and official social media announcements. We are expecting a return to normal operating capacity within the next 24-36 hours, the spokesperson said in a Sunday evening statement. The water pump failures are the latest in a series of utility failures that have impacted soldiers and families assigned to installations on the Hawaiian Islands. An hours-long power outage hit Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield on March 21 amid the water problems, and smaller outages have occurred on numerous occasions this year despite maintenance efforts from both Army and civilian utility crews. Fort Shafter, an installation in south Oahu near the city of Honolulu, also experienced unscheduled power outages on March 5 and March 1. AUSTIN (KXAN) A Travis County judge made a decision Monday to keep blocking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from investigating an LGBTQ+ nonprofit that provides support to families with transgender children. Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary injunction saying PFLAG Inc. would suffer immediate and irreparable injury if the organization had to hand over information with potentially sensitive information that identified its members to Paxtons office. She also set a trial date for the case on June 10, signaling Monday that PFLAG would likely prevail at that time. PFLAG received two civil investigative demands on Feb. 9 from the Attorney Generals Office to turn over documents, communications and information related to its work helping families in Texas with transgender children. Attorneys from the state said in court Monday these requests are related to an insurance fraud investigation theyre conducting into medical providers offering transition-related health care to minors despite Senate Bill 14, which banned it last year as an option in the state. Another judge previously issued a temporary restraining order related to this matter. The lawyers representing PFLAG argued in court they believed these investigative demands are retaliation for the organization being involved in two other lawsuits against the state, which are both currently on hold. Those are over Gov. Greg Abbotts order for the state to investigate families with transgender kids for child abuse and the law that bans gender-affirming care for minors. Attorneys from Paxtons office said these civil demands are not end-runs to get information for these two other lawsuits. They even said theyre modifying their requests to specify their office does not want any membership lists or membership information from PFLAG. However, Judge Meachum still granted the temporary injunction. The PFLAG lawyers said in court Monday these requests, though, had a chilling effect on how it operates in Texas. Aaron Ridings, an executive vice president for PFLAG, testified that the nonprofit already suffered a loss in volunteers and experienced a decrease in in-person meetings for its support groups throughout the state. They are concerned about being on the attorney generals radar, Ridings told Paxtons lawyers during cross-examination. After the hearing Monday, Lynley Egyes, the legal director for the Transgender Law Center, added, This fear is having a real impact on peoples lives. People are scared to show up to meetings. People are scared to sign in and have their name in front of the Attorney Generals office, but luckily today we dont have to worry about that, thankfully, with the temporary injunction that was granted. KXAN reached out Monday to Paxtons office seeking further comment about the judges decision to block his investigation, and so far no response has been shared. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Augustana College will host a free screening on April 4 of Moved by Waters, a documentary focused on the network of people and organizations in Iowa and Illinois working toward improved water quality. The QC documentary Moved By Waters will be shown for free at Augustana Colleges Olin Auditorium on April 4. The screening and following panel discussion are sponsored by Augustanas Upper Mississippi Center. The public event will be held at 7 p.m. in the Olin Auditorium, 820 38th St., Rock Island. Parking is available in Lot H off of 7th Avenue. Created by Emmy award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Moline-based Fourth Wall Films, Moved by Waters depicts collaborative projects involving organizations and diverse groups of students, teachers, artists, farmers and volunteers of all ages working toward improving the quality of water in the Quad-Cities region and the Upper Mississippi Watershed. River Action director Kathy Wine speaks in the Moved By Waters documentary. According to Fourth Wall Films, the film was made possible by a grant from Roger Ross Gipple. The Moved by Waters story is the opposite of the national narrative, director-writer Kelly Rundle said on the Fourth Wall Films website. The national narrative tells us that Americans are too divided politically to work together on anything. The people we met and talked to while making this film showed us the opposite. Representatives of Partners of Scott County Watersheds, volunteers and Miss Scott Countys Brittany Costello pose with trash they picked-up near the Fairmount Wetlands in Davenport. The panel discussion on April 4 will feature: Steve Gustafson , representing Partners of Scott County Watersheds Dr. Brittany McCall, Augustana professor of biology who specializes in studying fish in freshwater systems Amy Kay, City of Davenport clean water manager Dr. Michael Reisner, director of Augustanas Upper Mississippi Center, said Augustana is proud to gather the community to learn from this film and engage in this important environmental discussion. Film director Kelly Rundle, left, with Michael Reisner, director of Augustanas Upper Mississippi Center. This film is important because it shows the importance of engaging a diverse array of stakeholders, many with different values and sometimes even conflicting interests, he said in an Augustana release. It is the only way to make real progress on conserving and restoring the watersheds of the Midwest. Founded in 2013, the Upper Mississippi Center mobilizes Augustanas faculty and students to help communities solve social, economic and environmental challenges. Recent projects have included the water line inventory project assisting the city of Rock Islands response to the states Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act; and the multi-year Sustainable Urban Watersheds research project. Communities sometimes lack the resources to develop and implement innovative solutions to sustainability challenges, according to Augustanas website. The college students and faculty have the skills and knowledge but often lack real-world settings to put their expertise to work. These sustainability challenges create opportunities for students to learn how to tackle and solve complex, controversial 21st-century problems. The UMC brings these groups together. For more information on the UMC, click HERE. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. Becky Hill, the beleaguered Colleton County clerk of court who became a celebrity in the aftermath of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial last year, is resigning, according to a source. Hill, accused by Murdaughs attorneys of improperly trying to sway jurors to find their client guilty, is expected to announce her resignation during a news conference Monday morning at the Colleton County courthouse. Check thestate.com for coverage of the news conference. Hills resignation comes nearly three months after she admitted she plagiarized sections of an insider book she published about being clerk of court during the Murdaugh trial. The book, Behind the Doors of Justice, was withdrawn from publication. And it came nearly four months after her son, Jeff Hill, was arrested by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on wiretapping charges and fired from his $90,537-a-year job as Colleton County technology director. The wiretapping charges involve allegations he eavesdropped on other people and used county equipment to do so. In the aftermath of the Murdaugh murder trial in March 2023, Hill flew to New York with several jurors from the trial and was interviewed on national television. She also was one of the first to publish a book about the trial, using her perch as a court official with access to the jury and behind-the-scenes goings-on to spin a narrative of one of Americas most-watched criminal trials in years. Hill also appeared as a witness in a nationally-televised Court TV airing of a hearing in January in a bid by Murdaugh to win a new trial. The jury tampering allegatons were the main focus of the hearing. Presiding Judge Jean Toal rejected Murdaughs bid, although Toal indicated that she did not believe portions of Hills testimony. Murdaughs lawyers, Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian, had claimed Hill tampered with the Murdaugh jury in order to get them to deliver a quick guilty verdict to hype sales of her book, then a work in progress. Chinas involvement in state-sponsored cyber espionage is hardly a revelation. Only a few months ago, Ken McCallum, the director general of MI5, said Beijing was engaged in spying on an epic scale and the FBI has more than 2,000 current investigations into Chinese snooping. The Chinese Communist Partys tentacles are everywhere, seeking to siphon up cutting-edge technology and interfering in the democratic political processes of dozens of countries. Here, the personal details of millions of voters were accessed through a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission in August 2021, now confirmed as of Chinese origin. In the Commons, deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said a second attack on British parliamentarians has also been identified in what he called the latest in a clear and consistent pattern of hostile activity. Since all this has been known for some time, why have Western countries collectively decided only now to call Beijing out? More to the point, having done so, what do they intend to do about it? Mr Dowden said that while the attacks had not affected the democratic process, the Government nonetheless proposed to impose sanctions against two Chinese individuals and an entity alleged to be involved in the espionage. The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office for an explanation. For all the outrage, this response is surprisingly mild. One reason for this circumspection is that however insidious the activities of the Chinese state, its economy is deeply intertwined with our own. It is the biggest importer to the UK and it was reported at the weekend that EVE Energy, a Chinese manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries, is in talks to invest more than 1 billion to build a giant new factory on the outskirts of Coventry, creating 6,000 jobs. China is now one of the worlds leading suppliers of electric vehicles, all fitted with smart data-collecting technology. A single compromised device somewhere in the wider network could be used for cyber attacks. Policymakers here are in a bind: we do not have the clout of the Americans to engage in an all-out trade war, yet cannot let the Chinese get away with a flagrant disregard for the norms of international relations. However, Beijing is unlikely to be cowed by this modest response. We need to make sure that whatever China or anyone else tries, our data systems are resilient enough to see off the threat. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Mr Justice Humphreys made the ruling at the High Court in Belfast on Monday The PSNI and UK government have lost a High Court battle to stop sensitive information from being disclosed at a loyalist paramilitary murder inquest. Liam Paul Thompson, 25, was shot dead in a taxi by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) in west Belfast in 1994. A coroner decided a limited summary of some material in a police file could be provided to Mr Thompson's next of kin. But lawyers for the NI secretary and the chief constable said it breached a Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) policy. They added it could be done in a way which could go against national security interests. However, addressing the court in Belfast, Mr Justice Humphreys rejected claims that the coroner's decision was unlawful and irrational. He said: "She took into account all material considerations, including the need to have proper regard to assertions of risks of damage to national security contained in ministerial certificates and the limited circumstances in which a judge or coroner may depart from such an assertion." Disclosure 'serious harm' to public interest Mr Thompson was shot at Springfield Park in April 1994 while being given a lift in a taxi. Amid allegations that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), precursor of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), was aware of a credible threat against the cab firm, members of the local community suspect police were also complicit by failing to provide a warning. At an inquest into Mr Thompson's killing, the PSNI and Ministry of Defence (MoD) requested public interest immunity (PII) for documents which would be disclosed to interested parties in proceedings. These applications were based on certificates issued by Northern Ireland Office minister Steve Baker. He said any disclosure would cause a real risk of serious harm to the public interest. The coroner granted PII for nearly all of the material but said some information contained in one of seven police folders was relevant and should be provided. She determined the risk to national security was not at the level asserted but also ruled that names, dates and intelligence were to be redacted to mitigate against any real risk of serious harm. However, in a challenge held partly in private, both the PSNI and the Northern Ireland Secretary said the coroner incorrectly applied the legal test, and also disputed her reasons for allowing some of the material. Inconsistency claims 'untenable' On Monday Mr Justice Humphreys denied this claim, adding that the coroner's articulation was "unimpeachable". "I am satisfied that the coroner correctly directed herself on the law and was fully sighted on the authorities in relation to PII and the NCND policy," he said. "There is no basis to assert that there was any misdirection as to the law." The judge also described inconsistency claims as untenable, adding that it is "perfectly proper" for a PII to be upheld in part. He dismissed the applications. Gemma McKeown, the solicitor for Mr Thompson's relatives, welcomed the judgement, describing it as a "significant ruling". "It upholds the vital and independent role of the coroner in carrying out the balancing exercise of the competing public interests of national security and open justice," she said. She said Mr Thompson's family now looked forward to "getting this delayed inquest back on track so that it can conclude before 1 May". The Legacy and Reconciliation Act states inquests that have not concluded by that date will close. A man accused of phoning the emergency 999 system more than 40 times in a five-day period has been remanded in custody. Peter O'Toole is accused of repeatedly having paramedics dispatched to his home in Belfast last week but then refusing to accompany them to hospital. The 59-year-old, of Dunluce Avenue, appeared at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Monday. The court heard he phoned 999 44 times between 18 and 22 March. He is charged with obstructing the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) from responding to emergency circumstances and persistent improper use of a public communications network. Police said that at one stage the ambulance service was operating at a level classed as "severely under pressure" but had to deal with Mr O'Toole's persistent calls. Every time an ambulance crew went to his home he declined to travel to hospital. "Once they left he proceeded to call the 999 system (again)," a PSNI officer said. 'A state of loneliness' Mr O'Toole told police his actions were due to anxiety aggravated by alcoholism. "He stated that the paramedics had put him at ease, once he spoke to them he didn't feel the need to go to hospital," the officer added. The judge was told that Mr O'Toole has 26 previous offences for similar behaviour. A defence barrister said his client's actions were due to a "vicious cycle" of alcohol misuse. "He goes into a state of loneliness," he added. Bail was refused, however, based on the risk of further offences. Remanding Mr O'Toole in custody until 9 April, the judge said: "The priority of the court has to be with hard-pressed emergency services." Seafood processing company Bornstein Seafoods is closing its Bellingham headquarters, laying off about 70 local workers in the process. The company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification to the Washington State Employment Security Department on March 22, announcing the facility closure and approximately 72 layoffs in Bellingham. The company is also closing a facility in Newport, Ore. The Bellingham and Newport facilities are being consolidated into two other facilities we have in Oregon, President and CEO Colin Bornstein stated in an email to The Bellingham Herald. In terms of people, I dont think we know exactly the count at this point, but roughly 70 from Bellingham and 28 from Newport. In terms of officially its last day, we are shooting for end of June, but there may be additional issues we will have to work through. The company will move operations from the Bellingham and Newport facilities to Astoria, Ore. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the communities of Bellingham and Newport for their support over the years and remain committed to honoring our legacy while forging ahead towards a future of continued success and positive impact, Vice President Andrew Bornstein said in a company news release. The companys headquarters in Bellingham also include a high-capacity fresh and frozen processing facility that processes halibut, salmon, Dungeness crab, albacore tuna and ground fish, according to the companys website. Bellingham is also home to the majority of our custom processing, value-added production programs, and a custom smokehouse dedicated to the traditions of the artisanal Northwest style of high-quality smoked seafood products, the website states. While this decision represents a significant step forward for our company, we are also mindful of its impact on our valued employees. We assure our workforce that we are dedicated to supporting them during this transition period, providing job fair opportunities and access to other resources to assist them in finding alternative employment opportunities. Our commitment to our employees remains unwavering as we navigate this change together, the news release stated. The City of Berkeley has settled a lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association to repeal that citys first-in-the-nation ban on gas hookups in new construction, dealing a final blow to more than a hundred similar measures in California cities including Sacramento. Berkeleys 2019 gas ban became a cornerstone in a national battle over the future of fossil gas in buildings as dozens of other municipal and county governments followed suit including Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles. The Friday announcement comes after a federal appeals court declined to rehear the case on Berkeleys ordinance that a panel of judges struck down last year for preempting federal energy law. In a press release, the Sacramento-based California Restaurant Association said Berkeley will take steps to formally repeal the ordinance as part of the settlement. Until the city repeals the measure in its legislative process, it will not enforce the measure. We are encouraged that the City of Berkeley has agreed to take steps to repeal the ordinance, said Jot Condie, the associations president and CEO in a statement. Every city and county in California that has passed a similar ordinance should follow their lead. The City of Berkeley did not respond to requests for comment before publication. In a statement, City of Sacramento spokesperson Kelli Trapani said The City has not been enforcing the electrification ordinance since August 2023 and will look into next steps that best fit the Citys needs and sustainability goals. When Berkeley passed its first-in-the-nation ban on gas hookups for most new buildings in July 2019, dozens of cities followed. At least 76 California cities passed similar ordinances by the start of 2023. Pollution from heating, cooling and cooking in buildings make up Californias third-largest source of carbon emissions. Despite successful efforts to slash emissions in other sectors, pollution in residential buildings have largely stagnated and emissions in commercial buildings have actually increased. Research also suggests that cooking with gas stoves emits detectable levels of cancer-causing benzene, sometimes exceeding concentrations found in secondhand tobacco smoke in poorly ventilated homes. Following Berkeleys pioneering ban on gas hookups in most new buildings, the CRA sued, arguing the ordinance overstepped federal energy law. Judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed last April, striking down the ban. The April ruling had a widespread chilling effect, and no new cities issued gas bans thereafter. Several communities, including San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz, suspended their rules in fear of legal action. Other cities such as Sacramento simply didnt enforce theirs. A Sacramento Bee investigation uncovered a growing connection between CRA and SoCalGas, the nations largest gas utility. Between 2019 and 2022, the utilitys donations to the trade group and its philanthropic arm grew tenfold. Financial records also showed that SoCalGas funded legal research on the Berkeley case conducted by Reichman Jorgensen, the law firm used by the CRA in the suit. SoCalGas has consistently denied that it funded the lawsuit against Berkeleys gas ban. In Sacramento, individuals connected with the CRA emerged as key defenders of gas stoves as the city passed an ordinance for all-electric new buildings in 2020. Like many other cities, Sacramentos rule included carve outs for restaurants and commercial kitchens. Much of that debate centered around historic use of gas flames for cooking. Many professional chefs and restaurant owners have an economic and even emotional attachment to gas, which both CRA and SoCalGas made central to their political lobbying. The utility sought to recruit both Asian and Latino-owned restaurateurs and community leaders as spokespeople to advocate against electrification through a front group called Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions, the Sacramento Bee also found. With outright municipal gas hookup bans stifled, some cities are pushing for an alternative approach to cut out gas from buildings: fuel-neutral energy performance ordinances. Instead of forbidding gas in new or existing construction, local governments in California are electing to set energy efficiency standards for buildings. Because gas is less efficient, the policies ultimately favor renewable or cleaner produced electricity. San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz and Piedmont are some of the cities that have adopted an energy performance requirement, according to a group backed by major electricity providers, including Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison. Matt Vespa, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, said California is still on track to cleaner, healthier homes. The state, he noted, recently committed to ensuring that heat pumps make up 65% of residential heating and cooling sales by 2030. The City of Berkeley deserves a lot of credit for acting quickly in 2019 to protect its residents from health-harming air pollution from gas appliances, Vespa said. While its disappointing to see todays news, it should always be remembered that SoCalGas helped bankroll the law firm representing the California Restaurant Association in this fight. In August, CRA representatives told The Bee that more than half of the SoCalGas contributions to its organization went to its foundation for business grants and scholarships. A spokesperson for the utility, Alice Walton, also denied that it funded the Berkeley lawsuit at the time, saying It is bogus to claim that SoCalGas is funding other parties litigation just because we use the same law firms. The Colorado Supreme Court agreed on Monday that Denver Public Schools personnel acted constitutionally when they searched a student's backpack without a warrant or suspicion of wrongdoing, but instead pursuant to a "safety plan" created after his prior criminal conduct. The case appeared to be the first to address how the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures applies to students when school officials' actions are based on an agreed-upon, but open-ended framework subjecting a student to searches. Without saying how long a safety plan could remain in effect before it became unreasonable, Justice Melissa Hart concluded in the March 25 opinion that a safety plan in existence for one year gave reasonable grounds for administrators to search a student identified as J.G. "A search carried out in accordance with a previously established safety plan is reasonable at its inception because the plan diminishes the students expectation of privacy," she wrote. "Additional individualized suspicion stemming from the students behavior is not required. Therefore, the search of J.G.s backpack was justified at its inception." While J.G.'s appeal to the state Supreme Court was pending, safety plans came under scrutiny after East High School student reportedly shot two administrators during a routine search pursuant to his own safety plan. "The result of the case is unsurprising, given the need for school safety. One good question suggested by the case is just how long an individualized school safety plan could be used to justify the search of a student such as J.G.," said Timothy R. Bussey, a criminal defense attorney. "To be reasonable, a continuing safety plan should be subject to periodic review, and the student should have an opportunity to be heard." J.G. was a ninth-grade student John F. Kennedy High School who was adjudicated delinquent the juvenile equivalent of being found guilty of two gun-related offenses. In response, school officials developed a safety plan for him in early 2019. Among other protocols, J.G. was not allowed access to backpacks or lockers and would need to be searched daily. J.G.'s mother attempted to enroll him at a different school for the 2019-2020 school year, but she ended up hastily re-enrolling him at Kennedy the week before school started. A "re-entry meeting" was supposed to happen with J.G., but it never did. Instead, J.G. attended school for two days without being searched. On the third day, the school resource officer and an administrator took J.G. aside and demanded to search his backpack. J.G. resisted, prompting the officer to restrain J.G. while another security official examined the backpack. A loaded handgun was inside. The officer placed J.G. under arrest and a judge again adjudicated J.G. delinquent for the offense. On appeal, J.G. challenged the constitutionality of the school officials' search. A Court of Appeals panel, following the U.S. Supreme Court's precedent, determined reasonable suspicion was not necessary. Instead, if J.G.'s safety plan was still in effect, it was reasonable for J.G. to expect daily searches. "We note that the Safety Plan doesnt specify a timeframe and that it also doesnt include an expiration date. Thus, we construe the Safety Plan as remaining effective as long as J.G. attended the same high school," wrote Judge Craig R. Welling. Featured Local Savings At the state Supreme Court, the parties disputed whether J.G. actually had notice his safety plan was in effect for at least the following school year and possibly indefinitely. "What evidence is there that he stopped having notice?" wondered Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright during oral arguments. "He assumed its a new school year, therefore, Im free?" In the court's opinion, Hart acknowledged the circumstances of J.G.'s reentry to Kennedy may have contributed to confusion about the safety plan's continued existence. "Summer vacation and the start of a new school year are transitional stages when circumstances and expectations may change for teenagers," she wrote. But ultimately, "J.G. had sufficient notice of the search requirement to diminish his expectation of privacy in his backpack." In examining whether the search was reasonable, Hart cited two types of U.S. Supreme Court cases interpreting the Fourth Amendment's applicability to schools. One category of cases encompassed officials' reasonable suspicion that a specific student had broken a rule which the Court of Appeals applied when deciding J.G.'s case. The other category addressed "special needs" searches against groups of students. Drug testing student athletes, for example, need not be rooted in suspicion of any particular student. "The school administrations search of J.G. on August 29, 2019, does not fit neatly into either of the two types of school searches," Hart conceded. Although she explained J.G.'s backpack search more closely resembled the first category, Hart wrote that the administrators' search cleared the constitutional threshold in either type of case when factoring in schools' need to balance students' rights with broader safety. "This responsibility can sometimes justify suspicionless searches," she concluded. The Supreme Court noted its holding applied to an "individualized, weapons-related safety plan," but it did not suggest when such plans for students might reasonably expire. After the Court of Appeals' decision, Stan Garnett, a former Boulder County district attorney and school board member, said he worried about the potential for safety plans to be overly punitive. "It's very important that our schools become environments where young people can mature, be silly, use bad judgment in a proportionate way," he said at the time. "What really concerned me was that the schools, in an effort to make sure they have a safe environment, have overreacted and become very strict." The case is People in the Interest of J.G. CHICAGO A woman accused of fatally shooting a man on the citys West Side is now facing felony charges. According to Chicago police, 46-year-old Rosie Chavez, a Berwyn resident, has been charged with one felony count of first-degree murder and one felony count of kidnapping with force or the threat of force. CPD: Man sexually assaulted, robbed at knifepoint in River North Officers say the charges stem from Chavezs role in the fatal shooting of a 35-year-old man in Little Village on Saturday, February 10. 46-year-old Rosie Chavez has been charged with one felony count of first-degree murder and one felony count of kidnapping with force or the threat of force in connection with a deadly shooting on the citys West Side in February. Police say Chavez allegedly opened fire on the man in the 3600 block of West 26th Street, leaving him fatally wounded. Authorities eventually caught up with Chavez on Friday morning and took her into custody near her home in Berwyn. Juvenile killed in shooting in Whiting According to police, Chavez appeared in court on Sunday for a detention hearing. Currently, it is unclear what led to the shooting and authorities did not provide details on the identity of the victim killed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. (NewsNation) Police are warning the public about bank jugging this tax season. Jugging is a crime of opportunity where thieves look for people leaving banks or ATMs with large sums of cash and then follow them, hoping to find an opening to steal that money, the Arlington, Texas, Police Department wrote in a Facebook post on March 20. Even though jugging isnt a new crime, authorities are reminding people to remain alert especially when cashing their refund checks, since criminals in these cases want to walk away with significant amounts of money. As we move into the heart of tax season and folks start cashing their refund checks or withdrawing refund money from their bank accounts, we want to remind the public to stay vigilant! the Arlington Police Departments Facebook post stated. Little Rascals ages 11, 12, 16, arrested after Texas bank robbery Jugging is a crime thats happening from coast to coast. There have been dozens of cases from Texas to California to Virginia. Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, for instance, said they have been investigating at least 10 incidents that theyve recorded since last April. These crimes can be very lucrative for those who pursue them. Thieves allegedly made off with $20,000 from one woman in Riverside, California, late last year, Inside Edition reported. In a separate but similar incident in Virginia Beach, a Wells Fargo customer said she was swindled out of $33,000 moments after withdrawing the cash. These are dangerous crimes, Lt. Derek Green with the Burbank, California, Police Department previously told Nexstars KTLA. You usually have somebody driving a vehicle. Oftentimes, you have somebody thats actually inside the bank posing as a customer themselves, and theyre in communication with each other, so theyre keeping close eyes on their victims. Migrant influencer urges TikTok followers to invade US homes Police say its up to you to stay vigilant. Financial institutions have also posted strategies to help you avoid becoming a jugging victim. These are among the top tips: Take note of anyone who is suspiciously hanging around in the bank lobby or parking lot. Try not to be distracted. Avoid being on your phone or wearing earbuds. Before leaving the ATM, conceal your cash in a different bag like a briefcase or purse. If youre withdrawing a lot of cash, bring someone along with you. Immediately lock your car doors when you get into your vehicle. Dont leave large amounts of money inside your vehicle. Notice if any vehicles follow you out of the parking lot. If you believe you are being followed, call 911 or drive to the nearest police station or fire/EMS station. NewsNations Evan Lambert and Zaid Jilani contributed to this report. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration is "perplexed" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus decision to cancel a high-level delegations planned visit to Washington after the U.S. decided not to veto a U.N. Security Council vote demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. Mondays resolution, which passed 14-0, called for an immediate cease-fire during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It also demanded the release of all hostages taken captive during Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel. However, the measure does not link that demand to its call for a cease-fire. Rather than use its veto power, the U.S. abstained from voting. The U.S. has previously vetoed three resolutions calling for a Gaza cease-fire. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks at the White House Press Briefing in Washington DC., United States on March 25, 2024. Kirby noted that the resolution is "nonbinding," meaning that there will be no impact on Israel or its ability to continue waging war on Hamas. Kirby said the abstention did not represent a change in U.S. policy despite public statements from the prime ministers office. "We get to decide what our policy is. It seems like the Prime Ministers office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that," Kirby said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP HOUSE DEMS URGE BIDEN TO TARGET ISRAEL MILITARY AID OVER GAZA HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS Kirby said the U.S. had vetoed other resolutions in the past, and chose not to support this one, because it did not condemn Hamas. "We didnt veto [Mondays resolution] because, in general, unlike previous resolutions, this one did fairly capture what has been our consistent policy, which is linking a hostage deal and the release of those men and women with a temporary ceasefire," Kirby said. Mondays resolution demands the release of hostages but does not make it a condition for the cease-fire for the month of Ramadan, which ends in April. Hamas welcomed the U.N.s move but said the cease-fire needed to be permanent. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of "retreating" from a "principled position" by allowing the vote to pass without conditioning the cease-fire on the release of the hostages held by Hamas. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was set to meet with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and others Monday in Washington where discussions would continue. AOC DOUBLES DOWN ON CLAIMS ISRAEL CARRYING OUT GENOCIDE WITH MASS FAMINE IN GAZA: CROSSED THE THRESHOLD The U.S. abstention comes amid growing tensions between President Joe Biden's administration and Netanyahu over Israel's prosecution of the war, the high number of civilian casualties and the limited amounts of humanitarian assistance reaching Gaza. In addition, the well-known antagonism between Netanyahu and Biden deepened after Biden questioned Israel's strategy in combating Hamas. The situation was made worse after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Biden ally, suggested in a speech last week that Netanyahu was not operating in Israel's best interests and called for Israel to hold new elections. Biden signaled his approval of Schumer's remarks, prompting a rebuke from Netanyahu. During its U.S. visit, the Israeli delegation was to present White House officials with its plans for a possible ground invasion of Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in southern Gaza where over 1 million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from the war. Since the start of the war, the Security Council has adopted two resolutions on the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, but none has called for a cease-fire. Israeli Energy Minister said Israel "will continue to fight until the safe return of the hostages and the eradication of Hamas." "Any proposal for a ceasefire lacking these stipulations serves as a propellant for terrorist organizations around the world, inevitably ushering terrorism into the West," he said. Anne Bayefsky, Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices said the Biden administrations "failure to veto this resolution should send shock waves around the United States." "Last week they "demanded" the UN Security Council finally condemn Hamas for the October 7th atrocities - which the Council has never done. The Arab group of states, the Russians and Chinese said no. Two days later the moral backbone of the administration collapses and it allows the third Council resolution since October 7th that fails to condemn its perpetrators," Bayefsky said. She argued that U.S. "strength and credibility has taken a tremendous hit to the detriment of Israel, the Jewish people and America." More than 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed during the fighting, according to Gazas Hamas-run Health Ministry, though Israel has disputed these figures. The agency does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead. The United States has vetoed three resolutions demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, the most recent an Arab-backed measure on Feb. 20. That resolution was supported by 13 council members with one abstention, reflecting the overwhelming support for a cease-fire. Original article source: Biden admin 'perplexed' by Netanyahu decision to cancel Israeli delegation RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris appeared together in Raleigh Tuesday to talk about healthcare, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that could impact access to a commonly used abortion medication. The visit also coincided with the recent anniversary of passage of the Affordable Care Act, as former President Donald Trump has said he wants to try again to repeal it if he wins the November election. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) recently spoke with other Democrats, noting that North Carolina just began to implement expanded Medicaid coverage in December after years of political battles. That dream come true could turn into a nightmare if Trump wins, said Cooper. When he was president, Donald Trump came within one vote, one vote of repealing this monumentally important law. Trump has called the ACA a disaster and said last year hes seriously looking at alternatives. Biden and Harris also spoke a few hours after the Supreme Court hears arguments regarding the FDAs handling of the drug mifepristone, which is used for abortions. As the Hill reports, the case could have sweeping consequences. The FDA made changes in the last several years, including allowing mifepristone to be used up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. The lawsuit centers on whether the FDA overstepped its authority in making those changes. Theres a question about whether the FDA used the right protocol. They didnt follow their own rules when they approved the drugs for use, said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition, who filed an amicus brief in the case. We need protections for women and girls in place, and the FDA has been negligent. Jenny Black, the CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said millions of people have used the drug safely and effectively since it was first introduced. The baseless arguments being made by the anti-abortion extremists who brought this case highlight their blatant agenda to ban abortion outright, using whatever means necessary. This case threatens to set a dangerous legal precedent that would undermine the FDAs authority and upend our public health system for years to come, she said. David McLennan, an expert on state politics at Meredith College, has been polling voters to gauge attitudes about North Carolinas new abortion law. It restricts abortion after 12 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest, protecting the mothers life and life-limiting fetal abnormalities. It also puts requirements in place before 12 weeks, including requiring in-person medical visits to obtain abortion medication. People are pretty split in North Carolina about the 12-week ban, the new law in North Carolina. But, any threat to access to abortion, I think, could work out to the Democrats advantage, he said. McLennan said the decision to have Biden and Harris appear together in Raleigh is significant. I think it sends a message that a lot of people talk about should Biden replace Harris or not. This just sends a message that thats not even on the table anymore. Theyre going to be a team during the entire fall campaign season, he said. Theyre doing lots of events, crisscrossing the country, going from Arizona to North Carolina, places like that. So, I think its in part also addressing the concerns about Bidens age. If he can maintain a healthy, very active campaign style, then that may blunt some of those questions. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com. Former US President Barack Obama and US President Joe Biden participate in a rally in support of Democratic US Senate candidate John Fetterman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 2022. (SAUL LOEB) When Joe Biden takes the stage with Barack Obama at an election fundraiser in New York this week, it will be all smiles for a duo who collectively have spent nearly a dozen years in the White House. But while Biden, 81, will be glad to have the star power of Obama and also former Democratic president Bill Clinton at the event on Thursday, there will also be tensions with his former boss, whom he served as vice president for two terms. Obama, 62, will be there to support Biden's reelection. But he reportedly expressed concerns about Biden's bid during two lunches in recent months, saying the campaign must do more to prevent a Donald Trump comeback in November. The White House point blank denies any friction. "They're close. They're like family. They speak regularly," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. But there's no disputing an intriguing dynamic between the cool, cerebral Obama and the older, more folksy Biden who served as vice president to America's first black commander-in-chief from 2009 to 2017. The ambiguity in their relationship stems partly from the difficulty many vice presidents face in a poorly defined job whose main requirement is arguably just being on hand to replace the president in case the worst happens. "Presidents and vice presidents from the very beginning have had a fraught relationship," Thomas Whalen, associate professor of social sciences at Boston University, told AFP. Any strains between Biden and Obama were in any case "small potatoes" compared to some previous mismatched pairings in the long history of US "veeps." These range from the odd couple of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon to Nixon, on becoming president, thinking his own VP Spiro Agnew was a "complete moron." In the 2000 election, vice president Al Gore froze out Clinton during his tilt at the White House because of the scandal over Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. By contrast "I think there's a respect there" between Obama and Biden, Whalen said. - 'My brother' - The star-studded fundraiser at New York's Radio City Music Hall on Thursday is the first event of its kind to feature the three Democratic presidents. Biden, Obama and Clinton will be interviewed by late-night TV comic Stephen Colbert and guests can pay $100,000 for a photo with the trio. For Biden and Obama, it will be a chance to riff on a relationship that saw the odd couple become "such good friends," as Biden put it in a 2017 memoir. Obama picked Biden because of his long Senate and foreign policy experience. They shared weekly lunches and Biden wrote that Obama "treated me as much as an equal as a president is able to." Obama famously surprised a tearful Biden with the US presidential medal of freedom in 2017 -- saying it "gives the internet one last chance to talk about our bromance." On a personal level, Obama delivered a moving eulogy for Biden's eldest son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015 aged 46, describing his vice president as "my brother." But there were tensions too. For years, Biden has smarted over the fact that Obama was "not encouraging" when he was considering a run for the 2016 Democratic nomination eventually won by Hillary Clinton, who despite being heavily favored went on to lose against Trump. Those hard feelings came up when Biden was interviewed last October by a special counsel investigating whether he had mishandled secret documents. "Not a mean thing to say. He just thought that she had a better shot of winning the presidency than I did," he said, according to a transcript. Some in Team Biden now think Team Obama downplays Biden's subsequent achievements -- and that they know better when it comes to winning elections. Reports that Obama late last year urged Biden to speed up the rollout of the campaign and make it less centrally controlled by the White House fueled those tensions. But those close to Biden say that he welcomes the advice and realizes that he will need the full backing of his Democratic predecessors. Clinton, 77, who was president from 1993 to 2001, and Biden also frequently speak, they say. In fact, Obama's concerns were a well-needed "smack on the side of the head," said Whalen. "Biden is a pro, and I don't think he's going to take it personally. I think some of his staff probably resent it, obviously -- but that's to be expected," he said. Obama also had an eye on history, added Whalen. "Obama knows the fate politically of Joe Biden is also the historic fate of his administration," he said. dk-aue/sms A city code inspector issues citations for over-occupancy under the U+2 law at a home in this file photo. Fort Collins' U+2 residential occupancy ordinance that limits the number of roommates who can live together would become moot under a bill that has won support from both the Colorado House and the Senate. House Bill 24-1007 would end residential occupancy limits like Fort Collins' U+2 rule. The bill says occupancy limits cannot be based on family relationships, but they can be based on health and safety standards or affordable housing program guidelines. The sponsors of the bill say it is meant to increase more affordable housing options and encourage denser living. The bill targets local ordinances that bill sponsors say are arbitrary and discriminatory. But before the bill can go to Gov. Jared Polis, who indicated his support for such a move at the start of the 2024 legislative session, the House will have to consider the Senate's amendments. Track the bills: Will Colorado end occupancy limits and legalize more ADUs? Track top housing bills at Capitol Those amendments added the exemption for affordable housing program guidelines and removed legislative declarations that state the purpose and goal of the bill. Health and safety standards named in the bill include international building code standards, fire code regulations, and Colorado health department wastewater and water-quality standards. What is Fort Collins' U+2? Fort Collins has an occupancy ordinance that limits the number of unrelated people who can be roommates to no more than three people. While the rule has been in effect for decades, it was changed in 2005, making enforcement easier. Fort Collins City Council is in the midst of evaluating whether to make changes to the ordinance, and it's on council's work session agenda for Tuesday, March 26. In light of the state bill, the city could consider occupancy based on square footage and/or the International Property Maintenance Code and address behaviors through the public nuisance ordinance, meeting agenda documents provided by city staff advise. Fort Collins lawmakers were split in their votes The Senate passed the bill 20-14, and the House passed it by a margin of 40-20. Fort Collins Sen. Joann Ginal voted no. In the House, Fort Collins Reps. Cathy Kipp and Andrew Boesenecker voted yes. Kipp and Boesenecker also signed on as co-sponsors endorsing the bill. On the Senate floor ahead of the body's approval of the amended bill on March 18, Ginal said the bill takes away home rule and property rights. She contends the enforcement of Fort Collins' U+2 ordinance has led to more families in neighborhoods and improved neighborhood quality. Ginal also argued that eliminating occupancy rules won't cause rents to go down but will have the opposite effect, saying single-family homes will become less accessible to families because property owners can make more money charging by the tenant. The bill won't help neighborhood quality, either, she said, reading statements from two Fort Collins residents. One resident said prior to the 2005 changes, their Avery Park neighborhood had to constantly deal with problems around trash, homes in disrepair and high noise levels. "Occupancy limits in Fort Collins brought back green lawns, fixed front doors, picture windows, baby carriages (and) provides a supply of housing stock in our neighborhood that is nearly perfect for first-time homebuyers," she read. In a second account, a resident described a neighboring home where up to 10 students were living, and all had their own vehicles. The place was "party central," and its residents had set up makeshift bedrooms in a sunroom and on a screened porch, which was being heated by a space heater. When that homeowner sold her own home, it wasn't sold to a family but to an investor, Ginal said. Ginal alluded to City Council's examination of its occupancy ordinance, saying "local government is waiting on this to pass because then they won't have to deal with it anymore. It'll be the state. And then people will not have a voice anymore because they're taking away local control." Bill supporters argue that the change would increase housing supply, thereby decreasing demand and resulting in lower costs. They say any unwanted behaviors and unsafe practices can be dealt with using public nuisance ordinances and safety standards. Supporters also contend the bill doesn't outlaw all occupancy rules and say that basing them on health and safety requirements is more equitable. Many people who testified at a January hearing before a House committee said Black and Latino individuals are more likely to be harmed by limited housing stock and that people of color, students and LGBTQ residents are disproportionately affected by family-definition ordinances. Proponents speaking in favor of the bill also said allowing more people to live in a home reduces the stress on commuter roads, reduces emissions and takes pressure off of building new construction, which leads to sprawl. Kimberly Carracedo, the NoCo regional lead organizer for New Era Colorado, shared her fears about finding housing when she was a student at Colorado State University and said she sees the same fear in students today when she registers them to vote. "All people should be able to live with their families of choice," she said. "Although occupancy limits aren't an issue that exclusively impact students, it burdens students who are just starting to manage their finances and begin their adult lives." "How does three young adults splitting the rent of a five-bedroom home ensure health and safety when that home is safely coded to house five people?" she said. Back in his January State of the State address, Polis specifically called out his desire to end certain occupancy limits. "Ending discriminatory occupancy limits that especially hurt renters is another important way that we can break down harmful barriers to housing and create more equity," he said. This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado bill to end family definitions for occupancy limits advances A recent Facebook post with more than 13,000 shares claims that billionaires pay a tax rate of only 8.2 percent. Billionaire tax rate: 8.2%, Ours: 14.9%, it reads. We really, really need a billionaires income tax. The post was made by Americans for Tax Fairness, a campaign of hundreds of local, state, and national organizations united in support of a fair tax system that works for all Americans. This 8.2 percent tax figure is based on a misleading definition of income, as The Dispatch Fact Check addressed when President Joe Biden shared an identical figure during the 2024 State of the Union address. As we wrote then: The assertion that billionaires pay an average tax rate of only 8.2 percent does not align with most conventional economic analysis. No, billionaires do not pay an average tax rate of 8 percent. This has been repeatedly debunked, Brian Riedl, an economist at the Manhattan Institute, told The Dispatch Fact Check. The presidents math invents its own definition of income, and then calculates their taxes as a percentage of this fake income number. Bidens 8.2 percent figure comes from an estimate made in September 2021 by Greg Leiserson, a senior economist in the Council of Economic Affairs, and Danny Yagan, chief economist of the Office of Management and Budget. Leiserson and Yagan measured income by looking at changes in estimated net worth among those listed in the Forbes 400a ranking of the 400 richest Americans. They then compare these changes to IRS data on total income taxes paid by those on the Forbes list to calculate an effective average federal tax rate. This calculation, however, includes unrealized capital gains (i.e., the change in the value of an asset such as a stock or bond that has not yet been sold) as part of a persons income. Capital gainswhich are not included in conventional measures of incomeare typically taxed only after an asset is sold and are generally subjected to a 20 percent rate for high earners, not standard income tax rates. Estimates by the Treasury Department and the Tax Policy Center in 2020 and 2021, respectively, which dont include unrealized capital gains, estimated that the average federal income tax for the highest-income families in America was 23 and 25 percent. The inclusion of unrealized capital gains when assessing income ignores that capital gains are taxed both separately from and differently from traditional income. These important differences were explained in a recent fact check regarding different tax rates in the U.S. and Europe. Although American billionaires have high net worths based on the value of their assets, many of the countys wealthiest individuals do not necessarily have high wage incomesmeaning the salary they are paid as part of a job. For example, Jeff Bezosthe founder and executive chairman of Amazonhas taken a yearly base salary of only $81,840 since 1998 despite having an estimated net worth of almost $200 billion. The vast majority of Bezos wealth instead derives from his approximately 10 percent ownership of Amazon, which has a total market capitalization of $1.83 trillion. Mark Zuckerberg takes an even lower salaryonly $1 per yearas the chief executive officer of Meta. Like Bezos, Zuckerbergs $177 billion net worth comes primarily from his 13.5 percent ownership stake in the company he helped create. In most countries, incomes are taxed differently than wealth gained through the appreciation of assetssuch as stock owned in a company. Taxes are typically not levied on capital gains until the asset is actually sold. In the U.S., capital gains, once realized, are taxed at a rate of 20 percent for most high earners. So, even if a billionaire sees their net worth grow by hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year, if that growth is in the value of unrealized assets, it will not be taxed as a capital gain until those assets are sold. Billionaires are fully subject to both federal and state income taxes when applicable. In 2023, the top marginal income tax rate in the U.S. was 37 percent for individuals with an income above $578,125, and state income taxes can add anywhere from an additional 2.5 percent to 13.3 percent, depending on where an individual files. Most states also levy their own tax on capital gains, either as a part of a persons broader income or at a separate capital gains rate. While many of Americas wealthiest families and individuals do leverage strategies such as tax loss harvesting or borrowing against investments to minimize their tax liabilities, they are still generally subject to higher levels of taxation than average Americans. The claim that billionaires pay only 8.2 percent on average in taxes relies on a misleading income calculation and is not representative of the actual tax burdens imposed on the wealthiest Americans. If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. A biodiesel producer has proposed closing its Scottish plant, placing dozens of jobs at risk. Argent Energy will open consultation with affected employees at its Newarthill plant imminently, having cited "market pressures" as the reason for the possible closure. Local MP Marion Fellows described the news as a "devastating blow" to North Lanarkshire. Argent, which uses waste fats and oils to decarbonise transport, said that it had faced "severe economic pressures" since 2022. Workers are believed to have been told of the news earlier this month. The site, near Motherwell, was the company's first location in 2005, before it later expanded to Cheshire and Amsterdam. The Glasgow Times reported around 75 roles are under threat, but the company declined to confirm if this figure was correct. Louise Calviou, Argent's chief executive officer, said: "This has been the hardest decision for us to make and is one we have not taken lightly. "After careful consideration of market conditions and our strategic goals for global decarbonisation efforts, we believe it is a necessary step we need to take." The company said the environment for biodiesal production had been weakened by greater competition from imported Chinese biodiesel and post-Brexit difficulties in importing feedstock. 'Huge knock-on effects' Marion Fellows, the SNP MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, told BBC Scotland News that she was "shocked by what appears to be a very sudden reversal in fortune". She said: "If this goes ahead it will be a devastating blow to the whole of North Lanarkshire. "It will come as no consolation to this excellent workforce that the company is blaming external market forces. "These are jobs that North Lanarkshire and Scotland does not want to lose". Ms Fellows added that there would be "huge knock-on effects" for the local economy if the closure went ahead. Argent Energy said it was "too early to say" how many employees would be affected by the closure due as the consultation process had not yet started. A Scottish government spokesman described the news as "very disappointing". He added: "This will be a concerning time for the staff and their families and supporting affected staff members must be the immediate priority." The Newarthill plant has the capacity to produce up to 50 million litres of biodiesel a year. The company was founded in 2001 and began production in Lanarkshire four years later. Boston, MA - March 23: The Rev. Kevin Peterson called on white churches in Boston to support reparations for slavery during a news conference at the Resurrection Lutheran Church. - Photo: Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe (Getty Images) Boston has unexpectedly become a hotbed for national conversation centered on reparations. But now, some Black pastors are asking white churches in Boston to enter the conversation and atone for their role in the slave trade. At a press conference in Resurrection Lutheran Church in Roxbury, Rev. Kevin Peterson urged white churches to commit to reparations. We call sincerely and with a heart filled with faith and Christian love for our white churches to join us and not be silent around this issue of racism and slavery and commit to reparations, said Rev. Peterson, who runs the Boston Peoples Reparations Commission. Rev. Peterson noted the complicity of some white churches in the slave trade. According to a report from the Boston Globe, clergy at Kings Chapel church in Boston enslaved at least 219 people over the years. We point to them in Christian love to publicly atone for the sins of slavery, said Rev. Peterson. And we ask them to publicly commit to a process of reparations where they will extend their great wealth, tens of millions of dollars among some of those churches into the Black community. Sixteen clergy members signed a letter calling for reparations from the churches involved in the slave trade in the form of cash payments, creating affordable housing, and other financial acts of restitution. This is hardly the beginning of the reparations conversation in Boston. In 2022, the City Council established The Task Force on Reparations after the city issued a formal apology for its role in the slave trade. Boston continues to have one of the biggest racial wealth gaps in the nation which many have argued is a part of the legacy of slavery and racially discriminatory policies. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. A four-day search has come to an end for an experienced and avid hiker in California after her body was discovered over a steep drop-off at the base of a waterfall. The body of 30-year-old Caroline Meister was discovered by search and rescue personnel on Friday, after she went missing on 18 March after she left on a hike and never returned, the Monterey County Sheriffs Office announced on Friday. Along with several search and rescue teams and assistance from other counties, a drone team, a K9 unit and a heat-sensing aircraft, all helped in the search for the missing woman in the Ventana Wilderness. Search and rescue teams were carrying out a high angle search off the Cut Off trail, where a waterfall drops off of the trail, when they discovered Meisters body on Friday. The rescuers rappelled down the steep drop-off at around 10.45am, where they found Meisters body at the base of the waterfall. Meister worked and lived at the Tassajara Zen Center, which she left to embark on a solo day hike on 18 March (Monterey County Sheriffs Office) The sheriffs office said that her injuries were consistent with falling down a cliff, and there were no signs of foul play. The search for Meister began after the sheriffs office received a report on 18 March that Meister did not return from a hike. She left the Zen Center, where she has worked and lived for over a year and a half, at Tassajara in the Ventana Wilderness at 10am that day to embark on a day hike. Meister went prepared with food for the day and the clothing she was wearing but did not carry items for an overnight hike. She planned to hike a trail that loops back around to the Zen Center, according to the sheriffs office. She also mentioned hiking the Windcave Trail, which is not an official trail but likely refers to an area known to the hiking community, Andy Rosas, a spokesperson from the Monterey County Sheriffs Office told SFGATE. Meisters body was found at the bottom of a Waterfall near the Cut Off trail by search and rescue (Monterey County Sheriffs Office) When she did not return, concerned staff and friends at the Zen Center began a search for the hiker and then contacted the sheriffs office. The search for Meister continued for four days across a wide area until the discovery of her body on Friday. Before Meisters discovery, her parents spoke with KSBW and said their daughter was an avid hiker and was very familiar with the area as she had been working at the centre in the Los Padres National Forest for a while. After news of Meisters death, her parents expressed their gratitude to all those who searched for their daughter. Heather Iarusso, director of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where Meister resided, told CBS that hiking in the nearby trails alone was not uncommon. Many of us have lived here for a while, and were familiar with these trials. She was not out there doing anything risky," Ms Ianrusso said. "Shes just a lovely human being, and we all we already miss her deeply. She was an amazingly sweet, bright spirit, very gentle and kind and helpful, she added. NEC Indonesia says it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Telkom Indonesia to collaborate in developing smart cities in the upcoming new capital city of Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN), as well as other Indonesian cities. Under the MoU, which was announced on Friday, Telkom Indonesia and NEC will formulate a strategy, roadmap, design, architecture and implementation plan for smart city projects in Nusantara. The smart city projects will aim to adopt digital technologies in city operations to create a more sustainable and livable environment for citizens. NEC will also work with Telkom Indonesia to develop smart city architecture and recommend roadmaps for other cities in the country. "We understand that each city has a different approach to creating a livable and sustainable space for citizens, said Joji Yamamoto, president director of NEC Indonesia. Telkom Indonesia signed a similar deal with South Korean telco KT Corp in November 2023, when both companies signed an MoU to collaborate on a smart city project in Nusantara. Under that agreement, KT is contributing ICT technologies including quantum cryptography, cybersecurity and smart city solutions. The US$30 billion Nusantara project to move Indonesias capital from Jakarta to Nusantara on the island of Borneo has been under construction since July 2022. While the overall goal is to relocate up to 1.9 million people in Jakarta to Nusantara by 2045, the Indonesian government plans to start moving some key functions from Jakarta to Nusantara in August this year. Silvia Halim, deputy of facilities and infrastructure for the Nusantara Capital Authority (OIKN), said in January that the shared telecoms infrastructure for Nusantara will be operational by then. Last year, OIKN appointed Telkom Indonesia and PLN Icon Plus to provide joint telecoms infrastructure, including fibre optic networks and cellular base stations. Telkom Indonesia is currently building a Telkom Smart Office in Nusantara that it says will strengthen IKN development with complete digital infrastructure, including digital connectivity, digital platform, and digital services. "Telkom Indonesia is strongly committed to accelerating digitalization throughout Indonesia through connectivity, platforms, and digital services, especially in building IKN into a smart city," said Ermono Liman Prabowo, Telkom Indonesias VP of Network/IT Strategy, Technology and Architecture, and force leader of ICT Service Preparation for IKN. By David Shepardson and Allison Lampert (Reuters) - Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down by year-end in a broad management shakeup brought on by the planemaker's sprawling safety crisis exacerbated by a January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane. In addition, board chair Larry Kellner and Stan Deal, head of the company's commercial planes business, are also leaving as Boeing's board tries to get control of the myriad issues that have shaken confidence in the iconic planemaker over several weeks. The January incident was the most recent in a series of safety crises that have shaken the industry's confidence in the planemaker and hampered its ability to increase production. Calhoun, 66, was brought in as CEO following a pair of crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed nearly 350 people. Immediately after the Jan. 5 panel blowout, airline executives expressed support for Calhoun, but those good feelings ebbed after additional production delays and as regulators detailed quality problems at its key manufacturing hub outside Seattle. Some investors said the shake-up would not be enough to address these persistent issues. Boeing shares have lost roughly a quarter of their value since the incident. They closed up 1.4% Monday, off highs hit earlier in the day. "They need more than just a shakeup at the CEO and the chairman of the board level... they're just paralyzed from making decisions," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth. "It's going to take a little bit more time for Boeing to get it straightened out." The company is in the midst of federal investigations and U.S. authorities curbed production while Boeing attempts to fix safety and quality problems. It is in talks to buy former subsidiary Spirit AeroSystems to try to get more control over its supply chain. Michael O'Leary, head of Ireland's Ryanair, a top Boeing customer, said Monday the airline welcomed the "much-needed" management changes at Boeing, calling the shakeup good for the planemaker's customers. Calhoun said he made the decision to step down. "It was me giving them notice that at the end of this year I plan to retire," Calhoun told CNBC. He said he wanted to stay to the end of the year to address quality issues. COO Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead Boeing Commercial Airplanes, effective Monday. Steve Mollenkopf, former CEO of tech company Qualcomm, has been appointed new chair of the board and is leading the search for the next CEO. A source told Reuters Mollenkopf will join Kellner on planned meetings with major U.S. and foreign airline CEOs. QUESTIONS ABOUT MANAGEMENT Regulatory scrutiny illuminated troubling issues that caused investors and customers to lose confidence in the iconic manufacturer. A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board report of the Alaska Air incident found that the panel blowout was caused in part because several bolts meant to hold the plug in place were removed and not replaced - and there was no paperwork detailing what happened to those bolts. The head of the NTSB told lawmakers in early March that the company had not provided records the agency had requested. Following the incident, the FAA curbed Boeing production to 38 jets per month, but CFO Brian West said last week it had not reached that figure. He added the planemaker was burning more cash than expected this quarter. Last week, a group of U.S. airline CEOs sought meetings with Boeing directors without Calhoun to express frustration over the Alaska Airlines accident and management. Analysts and investors called the shakeup positive for Boeing, but stressed that much depends on Calhouns successor and changing the companys culture from the top. Workers' representatives echoed that sentiment, pressing for a greater voice in management as one key union enters contract negotiations. "Our livelihoods are at stake, and that's precisely why we are seeking a seat on the board," said Jon Holden, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751, which represents Seattle-area workers. "We firmly believe our voice and the voice of the engineers must be heard at the highest level of the company's decision-making process." United said it continues to root for Boeings success and we look forward to working with them during their leadership transition. Delta said it "will remain closely engaged with Boeing." Some suggested Spirit AeroSystems CEO Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive and U.S. government official, now tasked with a complex tie-up deal with the U.S. planemaker, was a possible successor to Calhoun. Shanahan's "sole priority remains building a culture of safety" at Spirit, spokesperson Joe Buccino said Monday. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington, David Shepardson and Allison Lampert; additional reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram, Manya Saini and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; writing by Nick Zieminski, Editing by David Gaffen, Anil D'Silva, Sriraj Kalluvila and Deepa Babington) Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun announced on Monday morning that he is stepping down as CEO at the end of the year. Calhoun also shared a letter with employees. "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing," said Calhoun in a letter to employees. "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company. We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do." In addition to Calhoun's departure, the company also announced that Board Chair Larry Kellner does not intend to stand for re-election at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting. The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Kellner as independent board chair and in this role, Mollenkopf will lead the board's process of selecting Boeing's next CEO. Dave Calhoun, chief executive officer of Boeing Co., speaks during a panel session at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. The third Qatar Economic Forum will shine a light on the rising south-to-south economy and the new growth opportunities it presents to the global business community. Photographer: (Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images) Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Stan Deal will retire from the company and Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead BCA, effective Monday. Boeing has been under intense pressure since early January, when a panel blew off a brand-new Alaska Airlines 737 Max. Investigators say bolts that help keep the panel in place were missing after repair work at the Boeing factory. The Federal Aviation Administration has stepped up its scrutiny of the company, including putting a limit on production of 737s. An FAA audit of Boeing's 737 factory near Seattle gave the company failing grades on nearly three dozen aspects of production. Airline executives have expressed their frustration with the company, and even seemingly minor incidents involving Boeing jets have attracted extra attention. Fallout from the Jan. 5 blowout has raised scrutiny of Boeing to its highest level since two Boeing 737 Max jets crashed in 2018 in Indonesia and 2019 in Ethiopia. In all, the crashes killed 346 people. In a note Monday to employees, Calhoun, 67, called the accident "a watershed moment for Boeing." that requires "a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company." "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years," he said. Calhoun indicated that the decision to leave was his. The company said its board has picked former Qualcomm CEO Steven Mollenkopf to become the new chairman and lead the search for Calhoun's replacement. Calhoun was a Boeing director when he became CEO in January 2020, replacing Dennis Muilenburg, who was fired in the aftermath of the Max crashes. Shares of The Boeing Co. rose 2% at the opening bell. Experts and employees want CEO replacement to know planes FOX 13 News spoke to several people close to the industry about who they want to fill the CEO vacancy. "Its going to be very interesting to see who comes in to replace Dave Calhoun, and if hes going to be another [General Electric] Jack Welch disciple, or whether he is going to be an MBA finance disciple, or if he is going to be an aerospace professional who knows how to build airplanes," said Scott Hamilton. Hamilton is an aviation industry consultant for the Leeham Company. He says the person that Boeing needs to fill the role is an aerospace professional. He is not the only one who feels this way. On Monday, SPEEA IFPTE LOCAL 2001, the union that represents thousands of Boeing engineers, released a statement saying the same thing that the next CEO should be an aerospace engineer. "The problems in Boeings executive suite are systemic. Nothing, really, is going to change for the better without company leadership acknowledging their failures and thoroughly committing to fixing them," reads a statement from the union. MORE BOEING NEWS FBI emails passengers of Alaska Airlines blowout, saying they may be victims of crime Boeing lawsuit: Seat belt saved passenger sitting next to door plug blowout Boeing security footage related to 737-9 MAX investigation was overwritten, NTSB says DOJ opens criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines 737 plane blowout, report says Tire falls off Boeing plane, hits car below To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX 13 Seattle newsletter. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down by year-end in a broad management shakeup triggered by the planemaker's sprawling safety crisis, which stemmed from a January mid-air panel blowout on a 737 MAX plane. The planemaker also said that Stan Deal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO, would retire, and Stephanie Pope would lead that business. Steve Mollenkopf has been appointed the new chair of the board. Calhoun has been under pressure ever since the Jan. 5 incident, when a door plug ripped off an Alaska Airlines flight about 16,000 feet above the ground. The company is facing heavy regulatory scrutiny and U.S. authorities curbed production while it attempts to fix safety and quality issues. Experts say you should feel safe flying: I would happily fly any Boeing aircraft David Calhoun, president and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company, following a visit to the office of Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in the Hart Senate Office Building on Jan. 24, 2024. "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing," Calhoun said in a letter to Boeing employees. "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company. We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do." Last week, a group of U.S. airline CEOs sought meetings with Boeing directors to express concern over the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 accident. They said it was an unusual sign of frustration with the manufacturer's problems and Calhoun. The company is in talks to buy its former subsidiary Spirit AeroSystems, which manufactured the door plug involved in the Alaska Airlines incident. The company's crisis has frustrated airlines already struggling with delivery delays from Boeing and its rival Airbus, and the planemaker has been burning more cash than expected in this quarter than expected. "For years, we prioritized the movement of the airplane through the factory over getting it done right, and that's got to change," Boeing CFO Brian West said last week. The company's main rival, Airbus, recently clinched orders for 65 jets from two of Boeing's key Asian customers, which some saw as a sign of executives' concerns about Boeing. Boeing shares were up 2.2% in premarket trading on the news. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dave Calhoun to step down as Boeing CEO in 2024 Golden Parachute The New York Times reports that David Calhoun, the CEO of the deeply embattled aerospace giant Boeing, is set to resign later this year. Calhoun's promised departure was declared this morning in a memo to company staffers and comes amid the aerospace company's latest aircraft safety crisis, kicked off by a terrifying moment in early January in which a door of a brand-new Boeing 737 Max was ripped out of an Alaskan Airlines plane mid-flight. In the months since that incident, an alarmingly long list of Boeing quality lapses cracks in cockpit windshields, tires falling off planes mid-air, passengers spotting missing wing parts, and more has emerged. As a result, Boeing has been accused of cutting manufacturing costs by outsourcing parts of its assembly process to questionable contractors, a practice that arguably placed stockholder value above aircraft quality, and thus passenger safety. Now, as public and federal scrutiny only continues to mount, it seems that the pressure was too much for Calhoun. "The eyes of the world are on us," Calhoun told Boeing employees in the Monday memo, according to the NYT, "and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years." See Ya In Calhoun's memo, he reportedly noted that the Alaskan Airlines scandal was a "watershed moment for Boeing." Which, in the court of public opinion, feels true. But Boeing's safety issues aren't new. Calhoun himself was elevated to the CEO role in 2020 following the departure of former CEO Dennis Muilenburg, whose tenure oversaw devastating Boeing crashes in 2018 and 2019 that collectively took the lives of 346 people. And in 2017, before either of these horrifying crashes, a whistleblower who, in a bizarre and gruesome turn, was earlier this month found dead in his vehicle due to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound came forward to sound the alarm bells about Boeing's allegedly negligent manufacturing process. Speaking of alleged corporate negligence: Calhoun's departure comes just a few short weeks after the NYT reported that the federal government was launching a criminal investigation into the Alaskan Airlines incident. Anyway. Considering Boeing's oligopolistic chokehold on the aviation market, let's hope that new leadership might this time actually lead to a culture change. In the meantime, though, it's safe to say that the public likely won't be on Calhoun's side as he makes his slow exit. "Don't let the door hit ya on the never mind," netizen Chris Stellar wrote in a Bluesky post earlier today, "there's no door." More on Boeing: Pilot Lost Control of Boeing Jet Because Gauges went Blank," Causing Nosedive Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down from his role at the end of this year as the plane manufacturing company faces increased scrutiny following a series of high-profile accidents, the company announced Monday. Calhoun, in a letter to employees Monday, announced his plans to step down and revealed he had been considering for some time the appropriate point for a CEO transition at the company. The letter opened with a nod to the Alaska Airlines midair blowout in January, when a fuselage panel on a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew off and left a gaping hole while the aircraft was 16,000 feet above Oregon. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing, and though no serious injuries were reported, the incident prompted a series of investigations into Boeings production and safety compliance measures. As you all know, the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 accident was a watershed moment for Boeing. We must continue to respond to this accident with humility and complete transparency. We also must inculcate a total commitment to safety and quality at every level of our company, Calhoun wrote in his letter. The eyes of the world are on us, and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years. Calhoun, 66, told employees he initially agreed to the role of CEO at the request of Boeings board and said it has been the greatest privilege of his life. He began serving in the role in 2020. A series of other staff and board changes will also take place at the company, including the immediate departure of Stan Deal, the president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He was replaced Monday by Stephanie Pope, who recently became Boeings chief operating officer and has nearly 30 years of experience at the company, Calhoun said. Board Chair Larry Kellner will step down from his post later this year and will not stand for reelection at Boeings annual meeting in May, Boeing added. Steve Mollenkopf, who has served on the board of directors since 2020, will succeed Kellner as chair and will lead the board process in selecting Boeings next CEO. Boeing is facing multiple probes into its production and manufacturing process in the wake of the January blowout. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) which is investigating both the blowout and the changes made after two fatal Boeing crashes in 2018 and 2019 called the companys safety culture inadequate and confusing in a report last month. The crashes in 2018 and 2019 involved Boeing 737 Max jetliners and killed 346 people. The Justice Department also launched a criminal investigation into Boeing earlier this month after the company admitted it could not find records sought by the National Transportation Safety Board regarding the work performed on the blown-off panel. Three lawsuits were filed earlier this year over the blowout, including two separate cases involving a group of passengers and a third from shareholders over serious safety lapses. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Boeing boss Dave Calhoun will leave at the end of this year amid a deepening crisis over the firm's safety record. Boeing also said that the head of its commercial airlines division will retire immediately while its chairman will not stand for re-election. The firm is under pressure after an unused door blew out of a Boeing 737 Max in January shortly after take-off. No-one was injured but the firm's safety and quality control standards came under renewed scrutiny. Mr Calhoun took on the chief executive role in early 2020 after the previous boss, Dennis Muilenburg, was ousted in the aftermath of one of the biggest scandals in Boeing's history. Within the space of five months, two brand new 737 Max planes had been lost in almost identical accidents that claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew. A board member at the time, after being made boss Mr Calhoun promised to strengthen Boeing's "safety culture" and "rebuild trust". However, in January this year a disused emergency exit door blew off a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International Airport. An initial report from the US National Transportation Safety Board concluded that four bolts meant to attach the door securely to the aircraft had not been fitted. Boeing is facing a criminal investigation into the incident itself, as well as legal action from passengers aboard the plane. Many analysts said a change in Boeing's leadership was overdue. "A shake-up at the top is necessary," said Stewart Glickman, equity analyst at CFRA Research, adding that he believed the current crisis stemmed from problems in the firm's corporate culture that only fresh insight would be able to fix. "I don't think you can change the culture with internal voices because I think this has been modus operandi for this company for too long." In a letter to staff on Monday, Mr Calhoun described the Alaska Airlines incident as a "watershed moment" for Boeing and said it had to respond with "humility and complete transparency". "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company," he said. Air safety campaigner Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing's 737 factory in Renton, Washington, said Mr Calhoun had had years to try to boost safety at the company. "It's been one failure after the other," said Mr Pierson, who is now executive director at The Foundation for Aviation Safety. "The company deserves much better leadership and the people who get on these airplanes deserve much better leadership." The blowout had tested Boeing's relationships with its airline customers and regulators in Washington, reviving concerns that the company's corporate culture had focused on speed of production ahead of safety. The Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month that a six-week audit of the 737 Max production process at Boeing and its supplier Spirit Aerosystems had found "multiple instances where the companies failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements". Another report into Boeing's safety culture by an expert panel found a "disconnect" between senior management and regular staff, as well as signs that staff were hesitant about reporting problems for fear of retaliation. After the two plane crashes in October 2018 and 2019, it was discovered that flawed flight control software caused the incidents - details of which Boeing was accused of deliberately concealing from regulators. The company agreed to pay $2.5bn (1.8bn) to settle fraud charges and admitted deception, though in later court hearings it formally pleaded not guilty. It subsequently faced widespread accusations that it had put profits ahead of passengers' lives. Mark Pegram, whose 25-year-old son Sam died when Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed in 2019, said Mr Calhoun had appeared to have been brought in to say what investors wanted to hear and "not fix the cause of the problems that were making planes fall out of the sky". He said he was pleased by the change but disappointed it had taken so long. "It's something we've been calling for for quite some time now," he said. The crisis at Boeing has caused wider disruption in the travel industry as the company, one of the world's two major jet-makers, slows its manufacturing lines to try to get a grip on the problems. Airlines, including Ryanair, have warned of higher ticket prices and more limited flight schedules as they face delayed aircraft deliveries. On Monday, Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary said that the company "welcomed" Boeing's management changes, specifically the departure of Stan Deal will is leaving his role as head of the commercial airlines division immediately. Mr O'Leary said: "Stan Deal has done a great sales job for Boeing for many years but he is not the person to turnaround the operation in Seattle and that's where most of the problems have been in recent years." Scott Hamilton, managing director of Seattle-based aircraft and economics research firm Leeham Company, told the BBC's Today programme: "I've never quite understood O'Leary's defence of Calhoun. "I certainly understand his criticism of Stan Deal, now the former chief executive of Boeing commercial airplanes. but I've never understood his defence of Calhoun quite frankly." Mr Hamilton added: "I think the rank and file [at Boeing] are happy to see the changes. The unknown, of course, is who is going to come in to replace Calhoun." Speculation has already started on who that might be but the pool of people with qualifications for such a job is small. Air transport consultant John Strickland of JLS Consulting warned that the hard work for the company was still ahead. "It's all very well to get rid of people but what are you going to do to keep steering the business," Mr Strickland said. "This is much easier said than done." Shares in the company rose more than 1% after the changes were announced. Mr Deal will will be replaced as head of Boeing's commercial airlines division by Stephanie Pope who has spent the past three months working as Boeing's chief operating officer. Larry Kellner, the firm's chair will also leave and be replaced by Steve Mollenkopf, the former boss of Qualcomm, the chip-maker, who has been a board member at Boeing since 2020. He will lead the search for a new chief executive. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of 2024, the company said Monday. Calhoun has faced huge scrutiny over an Alaska Airlines 737 Max door blowout in January. Boeing's chair, Larry Kellner, and its commercial-planes head, Stan Deal, are also leaving. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun announced Monday he would resign at the end of the year. It's part of an overhaul of Boeing's top management that extends to its chair, Larry Kellner, and the CEO of its commercial-airplanes division, Stan Deal. Deal will retire from the company effective Monday, the company said in a news release. He's set to be replaced by Stephanie Pope, the chief operating officer. Kellner, the chair of the board since 2019, won't stand for reelection at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting. In a letter to employees, Calhoun said: "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing." Earlier in the letter, he said: "The eyes of the world are on us, and I know that we will come through this moment a better company." He ended the letter by saying: "We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years, with safety and quality at the forefront of everything that we do." You can read Calhoun's full memo to Boeing staff here. John Lovell, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator in charge, examines the fuselage-plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. NTSB via Reuters The planemaker has faced increased scrutiny since an Alaska Airlines blowout on January 5. A door plug, which covers a deactivated emergency exit, came off in midair. In its preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board said the 737 Max 9 left Boeing's factory missing key bolts designed to secure the door plug. Last week, passengers on the flight were sent letters by the FBI saying they may be victims of a crime. Bloomberg reported Thursday that airline bosses would meet with Boeing executives to express their frustrations about the saga. Calhoun was not set to participate in the meetings, the report said. It's the second crisis related to the 737 Max, Boeing's flagship narrowbody jet. Dennis Muilenburg, Calhoun's predecessor, was fired after 346 people died in two 737 Max 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019. Read the original article on Business Insider SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) Boichik Bagels now has a San Francisco location, which opened on Saturday. On Saturday, owner Emily Winston popped a bottle of champagne with a sword to celebrate the grand opening. The staff shared the bubbly with the dozens of customers lined up to get a lox, garlic, or pumpernickel bagel. Sign on facade at Boichik Bagels in Berkeley, California, August 12, 2022. Photo courtesy Sftm. (Photo by Gado/Getty Images) Popular Jewish-owned bagel shop targeted with graffiti From bialy to cinnamon raisin, Boichik has a myriad of bagels with an assortment of cream cheeses. Big thanks to my staff, to our new staff. Weve taken over the whole Bay Area at this point, said Winston in a Facebook video. This new bagel shop marks Boichik Bagels sixth location: two shops in Berkeley, Larkspur, Palo Alto, and Santa Clara. The location of the new store is 3665 Sacramento Street in Presidio Heights. Boichik Bagels is LGBTQ+ and women-owned. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. Photo by adamkaz | iStock / Getty Images Plus With less than six months before voting begins, the legal jousting over the rules for the 2024 election is already underway. And former President Donald Trumps campaign is getting support from allies who have stayed mostly under the national radar: red-state attorneys general. In court filings made in recent months, these chief state legal officers have advanced a string of arguments some strikingly far-reaching that appear designed to lay the groundwork for Republican legal victories in the event of a contested presidential vote, or to otherwise boost Trump and the GOP. Often led by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a loose coalition of Republican-led states has submitted briefs urging judges to: Throw out certain mail ballots, Weaken long-standing protections against racial discrimination in voting, Green-light gerrymandered district maps, And empower partisan state legislatures, rather than courts, to set election rules. These are all setting up an argument, potentially, to say that the 2024 election was flawed because of all these state practices that are questionable, said Paul Nolette, a political science professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee who has written in depth on the role of state AGs. The AGs just have been critical in pushing these arguments. Marshalls office did not respond to a request to comment for this story. But last month Marshall also led a coalition of red states in submitting an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to pause Trumps election subversion trial tied to the events of Jan. 6, 2021 a stance that aligned the group perfectly with the interests of the Trump campaign. And in 2020, many of these same state AGs, including Marshall, sought to have the courts overturn Trumps election loss. An election decided in the courts? The danger of outright election subversion this year appears to have receded somewhat, election law experts have said, thanks to important federal legislation and the results of the last midterms. But the chances that the election will be contested, and ultimately settled in the courts, remain very high. In that scenario, advocates and experts say, these Republican AGs look well-placed to provide the kinds of conservative legal arguments that could prove pivotal, both by directly influencing court decisions and by infiltrating the broader public debate. But many of these claims, democracy advocates warn especially those that support new voting restrictions, reduce the power of minority voters, or undermine courts authority to set election rules could threaten fair elections. A huge part of the overall anti-democracy movement is really based on continuing to find ways to use legal tactics as a jumping-off point to spread the election denier message, said Lizzie Ulmer, senior vice president of strategy and communications for States United Democracy Center, a pro-democracy group. There are good and pro-democracy state AGs on both sides of the aisle. But the truth is there are AGs in office right now that have the potential to do real harm. And weve seen that in the past and were seeing it today. Growing politicization The involvement of the Republican AGs in elections cases with national stakes marks the latest step in a decades-long trend toward AGs taking on more politicized roles. In less polarized times, experts say, state AGs mostly presented as apolitical prosecutors, and frequently teamed up across party lines to tackle issues of public concern. That began to shift in earnest during the George W. Bush administration, when Democratic AGs used a series of splashy lawsuits against Wall Street firms and corporate polluters, among others, to advance national policy and political goals and to boost their own national profiles. But in the Trump era, the shift has intensified. Several close observers said a key moment came in 2017, when Republicans sought to oust then-Virginia AG Mark Herring, a Democrat ending a long-standing custom in which neither party spent money targeting incumbent AGs of the other party. Herring ultimately won re-election, but that cycle saw record campaign spending on AG races. In Republican-led states, the politicization of AG offices reached its height around the 2020 election, centered around the Republican Attorneys General Association, an advocacy group for Republican AGs. In the leadup to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the groups fundraising arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, sent robocalls urging people to gather for a march to the U.S. Capitol to stop the steal and protect the integrity of our elections. Marshall, the Alabama AG, served as chair of RLDF at the time, and has said he was unaware of the robocalls. He has declined to say whether RAGA or RLDF staff were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and his office has denied public records requests by the Alabama Political Reporter for his calendars covering the period. Along with other Republican AGs, Marshall sought to cast doubt on the 2020 election results, telling Newsmax not long after the vote: We obviously have concerns about some of the issues, specifically of irregularities and fraud in other places. On Dec. 10, 2020, Marshall and other Republican AGs joined Trump for a meeting at the White House. A day earlier, Marshall had announced that Alabama would join a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton seeking to overturn the results in Pennsylvania and three other states narrowly won by Joe Biden. Seventeen Republican-led states ultimately signed on to the Texas case. Idaho AG disagreed One state that didnt join the suit was Idaho, whose AG at the time, Republican Lawrence Wasden, saw the Texas lawsuit as an improper attempt to use the AGs office to make policy and to interfere in other states business. The policy-making function under both the state and federal constitutions is clearly put in the hands of the legislative branch of government, Wasden told States Newsroom. The AG is an executive officer, and does not have those powers. Thats not how we should make public policy. After 20 years in office, Wasden lost his 2022 re-election bid in the Republican primary to former U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador a defeat Wasden attributes to GOP voter anger at his decision not to join the Texas case. But he hasnt wavered in his view that it was the right call. If Texas can control or influence the outcome of the election in Pennsylvania, then California can influence the election in Idaho, Wasden said. And that is not how federalism works. Labrador was elected attorney general later that year, and has signed Idaho on to several of the elections cases brought by Republican AGs. As for Marshall, in 2021, he withdrew Alabama from the bipartisan National Association of Attorneys General, saying the group had moved too far to the left. The next year, Texas, Missouri, and Montana followed suit. In 2022, Marshall declined to say, when asked under oath while testifying before Congress, that Biden was duly elected, answering only that he is the president of this country. Months later, Marshall was elected chair of RAGA. Now, hes leading the charge among Republican AGs on election cases with an eye on 2024. Weakening voting protections Marshall has battled on behalf of strict voting laws in his own state. His office energetically, and successfully, fought off a 2020 court challenge to an Alabama law that bars people with past convictions from casting a ballot. In that years election, he also succeeded in getting the Supreme Court to block an effort to allow curbside voting, which voting advocates said could offer easier access for elderly and disabled voters . But its Marshalls work on behalf of Republicans looking to influence election rules far beyond the Yellowhammer State that could have an even greater impact. In January, Marshall led a coalition of 17 red states that submitted an amicus brief supporting a bid by national Republicans to require Pennsylvania to reject mail ballots with incorrect or missing dates. In Pennsylvanias 2020 election, there were over 10,000 such ballots, and how the case is resolved could help determine the winner of this pivotal swing state, if the result is very close. Democrats have voted by mail at significantly higher rates than Republicans in recent elections. But the impact could be broader still. A district court found last year that the missing or incorrect dates are irrelevant to establishing a votes legitimacy. That means, the court ruled, that under the materiality provision of civil rights law first included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, then extended to cover non-federal elections in the Voting Rights Act the following year a missing or incorrect date cant be used as a reason to reject a vote. In their brief, Alabama and the other states called the district courts ruling seriously misguided. They argued that the materiality provision should be read more narrowly, and doesnt bar states from imposing reasonable ballot integrity measures. And, they claimed, the provision contains no private right of action, meaning it can be enforced only by the U.S. Justice Department, not by the civil rights groups involved in the Pennsylvania case. By itself, making the materiality provision harder to use would likely have only a limited impact, since it hasnt been among the tools most commonly used to protect voting rights, noted Cameron Kistler, counsel at Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan democracy advocacy group. But, he said, it comes in the context of other ongoing conservative legal attacks on voting protections including attempts to weaken the Voting Rights Act, and suggestions by the Supreme Court that it may lower the level of scrutiny it applies to voting laws that are accused of harming voters. The tools that youd use to ensure free and fair elections are slowly being pulled away, said Kistler. When you take them all together, thats when it starts to get really problematic. Voting Rights Act As if to prove the point, a separate amicus brief submitted in December by Marshalls office argued that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act the laws most important plank, since the Supreme Court neutered Section 5 a decade ago also contains no private right of action. Marshall and his allies were urging a federal appeals court to reverse a ruling striking down Louisianas congressional map as a racial gerrymander under Section 2. The notion that Section 2 contains no private right of action had until recently been seen by many advocates as outlandish. But a federal judge endorsed it in a separate 2022 case involving an Arkansas redistricting plan, brought by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, who has signed his state on to several of Marshalls amicus briefs. That decision was upheld on appeal in December. The issue is likely to come before the Supreme Court. A ruling for Arkansas could dramatically limit the power of the VRA to stop racial discrimination in voting. Separately, Marshall has sought to defend Alabamas own redistricting plan. In arguing that the state should not have to draw a new map with an additional majority-Black district, his office adopted an interpretation of the VRA that, experts said, would have made it all but impossible to use for stopping racial gerrymanders. Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a prominent election law scholar at Harvard Law School, has called Alabamas approach to the question directly contrary to 40 years of precedent. The claim was too extreme even for the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which ultimately ordered Alabama to create a new map. In response, Marshall signaled an agenda that went well beyond Alabama. There should be nothing more offensive to the people of our great state than to be sidelined in 2023 by a view of Alabama that is stuck in 1963, he said in a statement. This racial agenda is pressed by left-wing activists, not just in Alabama, but in any Republican state where it might advantage Democrats. And he compared the ruling, which aimed to empower Black voters, with Jim Crow. If this brazen and divisive commandeering is permitted without even a whisper of concern from other quarters, Americas congressional elections as we know them will never be the same, Marshall continued. We will be grouped together by race alone, with counties and cities split down the middlethe same way that we were so wrongfully segregated once before. Marshall also led a coalition of 18 GOP-led states that filed a 2021 amicus brief supporting Arizonas defense of a law requiring voters who dont sign their mail ballots to do so by 7 p.m. on election night. The issue may seem minor, but Marshalls brief invoked a far more fundamental question, arguing that state legislatures, not the courts, are in charge of setting election rules. The U.S. Constitution is unambiguous about the right of state legislatures to determine the manner of holding elections within their respective states, wrote Marshall. Accordingly, state legislatures, not federal courts, are vested with the legal authority to determine state election laws. Court attempts to micromanage election laws duly passed by state legislatures conflict with our constitutional structure and legal precedent. When North Carolina brought a version of this claim known as the Independent State Legislature Theory to the Supreme Court last year, experts warned that it could radically reshape election law, giving partisan state lawmakers almost unfettered power to make the rules. The Justices ultimately rejected the argument. Why AGs enjoy influence Advocates say its difficult to assess whether, and to what extent, courts are swayed by amicus briefs. But, they add, the role of state AGs as their states chief legal officer gives their claims an invaluable sheen of authority. State AGs are taken seriously because of the governmental role they play, in a way that parties, who do not have a governmental role, typically are not, said Dax Goldstein, a senior counsel at States United Democracy Center. So theres a real difference between a sitting AG filing a brief and (Donald Trump lawyer) John Eastman filing a brief. In addition, since a 2007 Supreme Court ruling in a case where a group of states led by Massachusetts sued the George W. Bush administrations Environmental Protection Agency, states have enjoyed more power than individual plaintiffs to bring lawsuits on public policy issues. States have a greater ability to bring legal challenges than private citizens do, said Kistler. So when you have these super active state officials with a greater ability to bring cases than private parties and a judiciary thats willing to entertain the cases, it makes a difference. Nolette, the Marquette political scientist, noted that if the AGs series of briefs in election cases appear coordinated, its no accident. Theres a lot of strategy that goes into planning these far-reaching arguments, Nolette said, adding that AGs of both parties use their partisan organizations the Republican Attorney Generals Association, and the Democratic Attorney Generals Association to align their efforts and figure out the venues where they might have the most chance of success. Its almost like buying a lottery ticket, trying to boost the chances of those arguments taking hold somewhere, Nolette continued. And once they get one district court judge to agree with it, then it moves them to a different state of respectability. Its like, well, a federal judge has agreed with us, so this is a legitimate argument, even if it was considered totally out there in previous years. Ralph Chapoco contributed to this report. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post To boost Trump, GOP attorneys general charge into battle over state election rules appeared first on Arizona Mirror. At the latest summit, EU leaders decided to begin accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is important news for Ukraine. The group of Bosnias friends in the European Union, including Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia, conditioned Ukraine and Moldovas EU integration on opening membership talks Bosnia and Herzegovina. And yet, this very fact may surprise the Ukrainian reader. How can it be that negotiations with Bosnia are exchanged for European integration of Ukraine, despite the fact that the country applied for EU membership eight years ago and all neighboring countries have been negotiating for a long time? And does this fact mean that if there had been no Russian attack on Ukraine and acceleration of the process of European integration of Ukraine and Moldova, there would have been no possibility to start negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina? Yes, we can state the following with confidence: if it were not for this acceleration of history [Russian invasion of Ukraine], Bosnians would still have to wait a long time on EUs doorstep. But why? Because the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was much more dramatic than in other republics of the former Yugoslavia. Srebrenica [massacre] became a terrible symbol of ethnic cleansing in the country, but many more similar tragedies happened during the war! The war destroyed Bosnia and Herzegovina of the time of socialist Yugoslavia, and a completely new state was created in its place, within the borders of the former Yugoslav republic. Both Western peacekeepers and Bosnian Muslims and Croats were in favor of preserving this territorial integrity as the main principle of ending the war. However, along with this, they actually had to accept the demographic results of the war, the fact of ethnic cleansing, and a state within a state appeared in the restored Bosnia Republika Srpska. And international control was introduced so that the two parts of this state would not be at war with each other. As a result, a de facto unviable country emerged, one part of which is oriented towards European integration, while the other one [is oriented] even more towards Moscow than Belgrade. Milorad Dodik, incumbent President of the Republika Srpska, is known for his good relations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Since February 2022, Dodik met with the Russian leader four times, while his colleagues from Sarajevo, representatives of the Muslim and Croatian communities, condemn Russian aggression and support Ukraine. Bosnias lesson should be learned as a reminder that peace is certainly better than war, but an unjust peace can deprive an entire nation of its future. Putin has a whole set of political tools with which he would like to stop the development of Ukraine even if the fighting stops. He chooses between aggression and occupation and applying the Bosnian experience when stagnation is imposed on a country in exchange for saving its life. And now the Ukrainians can appeal to the Bosnian experience, because the very fact that Ukraine and Moldova are ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the process of European integration has become the best proof of the mistakes made in the Bosnian peace process. Thats why Bosnias friends in the European Union should also be friends of Ukraine to prevent poisoned chalice compromises, which have become a civilizational trap for Bosnians. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Nokia announced on Sunday it has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Bahrain operator Batelco, part of the technology-focused Beyon Group, to deliver mission-critical private 5G networks across Bahrain. Under the agreement terms, Batelco will develop private 5G infrastructure leveraging Nokias Private Wireless portfolio to enable multiple use cases across different industries. The MoU also designates Nokia as the sole supplier of private wireless infrastructure across Bahrain. Nokia technologies to be used include its Modular Private Wireless (MPW) solutions for LTE and 5G and its Digital Automation Cloud (DAC), which promises seamless 4G/5G coverage and deterministic connectivity performance. Nokia will also provide edge computing capabilities, value-added applications and ruggedized industrial devices. Batelco CEO Maitham Abdulla said the companys 5G private wireless solutions will enable mission-critical industries in Bahrain to unlock new revenue streams, improve their operational KPIs and seek higher standards for health and safety in their operational environment. The availability of high-performance connectivity solutions will initiate a new era of network usage, transforming worker safety outcomes, fostering innovation, and increasing revenue streams across diverse sectors, he said in a statement. Deployment is scheduled for the second half of 2024. The new boss of Boeing's commercial airplanes division is a third-generation employee Dave Calhoun named a new chief executive of Boeing's commercial airplanes division. Stephanie Pope is replacing Stan Deal as CEO of BCA. She's held several senior positions at Boeing during her near-30 year career. Boeing has appointed a long-serving third-generation employee to one of its top jobs as part of its leadership shakeup. In his Monday announcement that he'd be stepping down as CEO of Boeing, Dave Calhoun also named Stephanie Pope as the new head of its commercial airplanes division. She replaces Stan Deal as CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, which designs and builds planes such as the 777, 787 Dreamliner and the 737 family. It's based in Seattle, has factories in Renton and Everett, Washington state and employs 60,000 people worldwide. In January Pope took up the newly created role of Boeing COO. She reported directly to Calhoun and oversaw BCA, Boeing's defense, space, and security division, and Boeing Global Services. Calhoun said in his memo to staff on Monday: "With nearly 30 years of experience at Boeing, including her successful tenure leading our global services business, Stephanie knows our company inside and out and has a proven track record of superb leadership, including an innate talent for listening and responding to our people. "Stephanie is a third-generation Boeing employee. She is deeply committed to our company, to our employees and to our shared future; and she is the perfect person to take on the leadership of our commercial airplanes business." Pope's new role comes amid intense scrutiny of Boeing's safety record after the Alaska Airlines blowout that Calhoun described as a "watershed moment." Pope started as a finance analyst at Boeing in 1994 and became CFO for the defense, space, and security division in 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was CEO of the global services division before becoming COO and has also held senior roles in other business units including commercial airplanes. In her position on Boeing's executive council, Pope sponsors a business resource group dedicated to promoting gender diversity. Pope was an Eisenhower Fellow in Brussels and Ireland in 2008 and has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Southwest Missouri State University and an MBA from Lindenwood University. Read the original article on Business Insider Dame Deborah James and her brother Benjamin attend Royal Ascot in 2022 shortly before her death at the age of 40 - DAVID M BENETT/GETTY Dame Deborah James, the late cancer campaigner known as Bowel Babe, would have been so proud of the Princess of Wales for showing such courage in speaking out about her cancer diagnosis, her family has said. Dame Deborahs parents, Heather and Alistair James, said the Princesss decision to reveal she was undergoing chemotherapy would help millions of others suffering with the disease. They said: Kate, William and their family are in our thoughts, and we send all our love from our family to theirs. Deborah would be so proud. The Princess of Wales has shown incredible courage in speaking out so publicly about her treatment. It takes huge bravery to do so, but her bravery will help millions of cancer patients and their families face this horrible disease. Whats more, in being so open and honest, Kate will undoubtedly encourage many more people who are living with potential symptoms of cancer, to seek medical help. In doing so, she will save lives. Dame Deborah, a former journalist known by her social media handle Bowel Babe, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2016, five and half years before her death, on June 28, 2022 at the age of 40. During that time, she raised 5 million for Cancer Research. A month before she died, the Prince of Wales delivered a damehood to her home in Woking, Surrey, to honour her tireless campaigning. The Prince, who is president of the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, Surrey, where Dame Deborah received treatment, spent time with the family, a visit the late mother of two said gave them so much to smile about in the sadness. Hope and support The Princess, 42, recorded a personal message that was released on Friday, revealing that following her abdominal surgery in January, post operative tests found that cancer had been present. She said she was now in the early stages of chemotherapy treatment. She also delivered a message of hope and support to other cancer sufferers. At this time, I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer, she said. For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone. Mr and Mrs James told The Sun: We hope Kate and William know they too are not alone. As a family that has had to face cancer together, we know all too well how overwhelmingly tough it can be. The couple added: We know if Deborah were here to send Kate a message, she would tell the Princess of Wales to hold on to rebellious hope. Deborah was a firm believer in the power of hope, and given how many times she beat the odds to survive, rebellious hope became her mantra. We have no doubt her positive mindset helped her keep going, and gave us five years of precious memories together. They said their thoughts were also with the Princesss parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, acknowledging that it was heartbreaking to see your child face something so hard. Dame Deborah was 35 when she received her diagnosis, and, like the Princess, spoke about how she and her husband Seb, were forced to navigate the best way to tell their children. She said in 2017: We had to face telling the kids, your first instinct is to protect them. We didnt want them to think about it, but actually the best thing was just to be open with them. Dame Deborahs campaign, with its message of rebellious hope, has raised 12.6million. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) Bakersfield police are looking to identify a woman who allegedly burglarized a home twice in central Bakersfield. On Feb. 26, the suspect allegedly stole a mail package from a home in the 2100 block of Park Way, just south of California Ave. Two weeks later, the suspect returned and allegedly burglarized the home, police said. Bakersfield PD searching for suspects who allegedly stole from Ulta Beauty store BPD described the suspect as an adult woman in her 20s who stands five feet five inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. She has light brown or red hair. The woman was last seen wearing a black and grey hooded sweatshirt, black skirt, black Puma sandals and a beige plaid design backpack. Photos provided courtesy of Bakersfield Police Department. Anyone with information on the alleged burglary is asked to call Detective B. Gharib at 661-326-3964 or BPD at 661-327-7111. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro testifies on the January 8 riots, in Brasilia By Steven Grattan (Reuters) -Brazil's far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro stayed for two nights at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia last month, just days after federal police confiscated his passport and arrested two former aides on suspicion of plotting a coup, Bolsonaro's lawyer said on Monday. Bolsonaro's Feb. 12-14 stay at the Hungarian embassy was first reported by the New York Times based on security camera footage from inside the embassy. The episode raises questions about the former president's plans as he faces multiple criminal investigations in Brazil, with several members of his inner circle already in jail. Brazilian police would not be able to arrest a politician staying at a foreign embassy. Bolsonaro's lawyer Fabio Wajngarten said on social media that the ex-president spent two days housed in the Hungarian embassy "to maintain contact with officials of the friendly country" and "get updates on the political landscape of both nations". "Any other interpretations that go beyond the information provided here are clearly fictional, unrelated to the reality of the facts and are, in practice, just another piece of fake news," Wajngarten wrote. On Monday evening, Brazil's foreign ministry summoned Hungary's ambassador to clarify the reasons behind Bolsonaro's stay at the embassy. The Hungarian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times said Bolsonaro's lawyer had declined to comment on their report, but a Hungarian embassy official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the plan to host the former president. Bolsonaro has good relations with fellow far-right leader, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Bolsonaro called Orban his "brother" during a 2022 visit to Hungary and the two met this year in Buenos Aires during the inauguration of Argentina's new right-wing President Javier Milei. Police seized Bolsonaro's passport on Feb. 8 and accused him of editing a draft decree to overturn the results of the 2022 election, pressuring military chiefs to join a coup attempt and plotting to jail a Supreme Court justice. Last year a Brazilian court ruled that Bolsonaro is ineligible for political office until 2030 for spreading electoral misinformation during the 2022 election. Two weeks ago, the former heads of Brazil's army and air force confirmed that Bolsonaro had discussed the draft decree to prevent the handover of power after the vote. On March 19 federal police also accused him of fraud on his vaccination records, opening the door to criminal charges. (Reporting by Steven Grattan in Sao Paulo; Editing by Brad Haynes, Nia Williams and David Gregorio) Community organisations are calling for shared spaces in Bristol to be protected. The city-wide campaign, Roots of Resilience: Saving Community Spaces, is backed by 16 groups and calls for measures to safeguard community buildings. It comes as many councils across England consider the sale of assets to address budget shortfalls. Bristol City Council has been approached for comment. The manifesto, which was compiled by leaders of the organisations, calls for the council to implement several changes to ensure that community buildings are appropriately valued. It includes reviewing the community asset transfer process, increasing the number of community-owned assets in line with the council's One City Plan, and developing a capital investment strategy. Those behind the campaign have also invited members of the community to share what their local space means to them, by adding their thoughts to ribbons which will be tied to existing structures to highlight their impact on residents. "Our community spaces are like the roots of a tree which are connected throughout the city. "And just like a tree, they have a city-wide impact, providing oxygen to the entire city," Steve Sayers, chief executive officer of Windmill Hill City Farm, said. "Without changes to how decisions are made about community infrastructure, the future of those spaces will always be at risk," Mr Sayers added. "The suggestions we are putting forward will enable us to secure a brighter future for our much-loved community spaces." Emma Harvey, chief executive officer of Trinity Community Arts, said: "The choices we make now in response to the challenge of preserving civic and cultural infrastructure in the face of financial uncertainty is a decision that will have lasting consequences for future generations, and this is why it is vital that we take steps now." Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The Foreign Secretarys latest demands of Israel reveal a concerning detachment from reality. The UKs most recent posturing in this tragic state of affairs encourages the terrorists and is ultimately costing more lives. There is no excuse for so consistently misrepresenting the humanitarian situation, when the facts on the provision of aid are so easily accessible. The allegation that Israel is stopping food from entering is false. The sole purpose of the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) IDF unit is to organise humanitarian provision for Palestinian civilians; it provides constant updates on aid entering Gaza. The IDFs capacity to inspect aid trucks far exceeds current international provision. The Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings have capacity to inspect 44 trucks an hour, yet on March 21 only 208 aid trucks entered Gaza and, of these, only 71 per cent were distributed by the UN. Yesterday, COGAT confirmed that 142 aid trucks were still waiting to be picked up by the UN on the Gazan side of Kerem Shalom. The repeated calls for Israel to turn the water back on are also dishonest, as Israel is not withholding water. When the facts are so readily available, those perpetuating these falsehoods are partaking in a malicious smear campaign. The failure to call out Hamas for stealing humanitarian aid, and acknowledge that the impasse lies with distribution rather than with access, plays into the terrorists hands. The failure of Lord Cameron to call upon Egypt to comply with its international law obligations is also unforgivable. Unlike Israel, Egypt acceded in 1980 to the 1969 African Union Refugee Convention, which requires it to use its best endeavours to receive refugees fleeing civil disorder. The Convention contains a much broader definition of refugee than the 1951 International Convention on Refugees. Egypt has an obligation to every Palestinian civilian presenting themselves on the Egyptian border. They can be accommodated in Egyptian Rafah, where aid can be provided without diversion to Hamas. Egypts failure to adhere to its obligations under the Convention is the real breach of international law. The UK has not only let down Palestinian civilians with its absurd posturing. It continues to fail the 134 Israeli hostages, who have been in Hamas captivity for 169 days. Has Lord Cameron demanded that the International Committee of the Red Cross comply with its mandate? Has he insisted that it access the Israeli hostages? Has he called out the refusal of the Red Cross to provide much-needed medicine to those held captive by Hamas? No. He has, however, demanded that the Red Cross be admitted to visit terrorist detainees, including those who committed atrocities on October 7. This demand has no basis in international law, as Hamas terrorists are neither prisoners of war nor civilian internees. Having engaged in armed conflict in violation of the laws of war, they are not protected by the Geneva Conventions and there is therefore no mandated access to terrorists in detention. This duplicity on the part of Lord Cameron employs a double standard and an inversion of reality at a time when hatred of Jews is on an exponential rise. Tarnishing Israel with the stigma of being a human rights offender when the opposite is true is a malevolent attempt at character assassination. The Foreign Secretarys echoing of Hamas propaganda perpetuates the war by encouraging Hamas to keep fighting in the hope that mounting international pressure will hand the terrorists a victory. Jews all around the world marked Purim at the weekend, commemorating the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of an Achaemenid official, Haman. They will no doubt reflect on the modern complicity of international officials in Hamas continued attempt to annihilate the Jews. Natasha Hausdorff is a barrister and legal director at UK Lawyers for Israel Charitable Trust Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Oliver Dowden made a statement in the Commons on Monday detailing the Government's response to the China-linked attack - UK Parliament/Andy Bailey/PA Those cunning Chinese devils have done it again. At an impromptu press conference, Iain Duncan Smith, Tim Loughton and Stewart McDonald detailed how theyd been hacked and impersonated by Red Agents. Why they targeted these three Ive no idea Michael Fabricants inbox would be far more interesting and hell probably give you permission to read it but IDS said the commies had been sending out emails in his name to senior politicians, declaring he was a liar and about to quit office. The scam went on for years because nobody opened them. Im constantly getting emails or tweets from Tom Tugendhat saying he has resigned in disgust at the Governments policy, said Tim Loughton. I have a feeling, if Mr Loughton looks again, hell find that was actually Tom Tugendhat trying to resign from the Government. Having established the need for tough action, the three MPs rode by rickshaw to Parliament, where Oliver Dowden gave a statement detailing the Governments response. Dear Oliver. A nice man with very neat hair, his idea of robust diplomacy is making sure everyone at the summit has tried this lovely chablis and thus proceeded to play Chamberlain to IDSs Churchill. While maintaining a this is jolly worrying demeanour, he disclosed that the sustained attack on our democracy has amounted to one failed effort to infiltrate the Electoral Commission and an equally failed attempt to conduct reconnaissance by an online user known as APT31 (other aliases include MaoZedongFan and HornyPanda69). 'I think members of this House should take this moment very seriously,' said Mr Dowden on Monday - Stefan Rousseau/PA Proportionate and targeted action has been taken (they told APT31s mother) and sanctions triggered (she took away his phone). Well, the Taipei Three were deeply unimpressed with the statement. Like an elephant giving birth to a mouse, said IDS. Turning up to a gunfight with a wooden spoon, said McDonald. Loughton, who throughout the debate was turning redder than Tiananmen Square, called it underwhelming and noted that not only had Britons been hacked but, more importantly, the families of dissidents threatened. The basic problem is the Government wants to deal with incidents in isolation, when the wider context as IDS wisely reminded us is Chinese espionage and genocide. While the Americans have sanctioned 40 commies in Hong Kong, Britain the country that once ran the place hasnt found reason to sanction any. I think members of this House should take this moment very seriously, said Mr Dowden, metaphorically dishing out the canapes, for the Chinese have sought to undermine our democracy (and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the Tory partys job). But do not panic, he soothed, for we are advising institutions on how to improve cyber security Try putting numbers in your password and we do have some of the best universities, churning out some of the finest minds. But is the minister aware, asked Richard Drax, that when the MoD tries to hire AI experts educated by our universities, its a nightmare... because theyre all Chinese? How reassuring to think that Oxford and Cambridge still produce the best communist spies in the world! Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Russia is likely to be able to form two new armies as announced by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on March 20, however, the new units will face logistical problems, said British intelligence in a report on March 25. Read also: Why Russia is trying to blame Ukraine for Crocus City Hall attack: expert opinion It is noted that Russia plans to form 14 new divisions and 16 brigades. Most likely, they will consist of mechanized, armored, artillery and logistics units. British intelligence believes in formation of new brigades, given Russias successful recruitment efforts. However, knowing about Russias limited training, widespread use of outdated equipment and infrastructure problems, it is likely that these units will experience similar resourcing problems, the report said. Read also: Russia aims to create a new army of over 100,000 people, which could signal new summer offensive On March 18, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would hold a new wave of mobilization after the pseudo-elections and intensify attacks at the front. Ukrainian intelligence GUR also believes that after the presidential elections in Russia, mobilization may be more conducted more openly. The Southern Defense Forces are confident that Russia will intensify mobilization in the temporarily occupied territories after collecting information about people during the pseudo-elections. 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 Nigeria has called for a coordinated and multilateral approach by the West African region to protect shared telecommunications infrastructure and diversify connectivity to ensure uninterruptible connections with particular reference to submarine cables. A report in the Premium Times news service says that the executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Aminu Maida, made the proposal (through a representative) at the 21st West Africa Telecommunications Regulatory Assembly (WATRA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held recently in Freetown, Sierra Leone. WATRA works with national telecommunication regulatory authorities in 16 member states in West Africa. Mr Maida apparently stated that the recent submarine cable cuts that resulted in nationwide outages on multiple networks in 12 African countries raised the need for the sub-region to establish a mechanism to protect itself from damage to submarine infrastructure and its impact on countries in the area. He referred to a report that suggested that about six countries, including four in West Africa, were still suffering from the outages caused by the submarine cable cuts and added that securing telecom infrastructure is paramount for fostering foreign direct investment and enhancing investor confidence in West Africa. He was quoted as proposing "the urgent need to set up a framework for joint monitoring, risk mitigation and emergency response procedures for the submarine cables that pass through the sub-region. The cable cuts first happened just under two weeks ago. While repairs are likely to take time it does seem that, as we reported, there has been enough alternative capacity via other routes to manage demand for now. The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office identified the two brothers involved in the mountain lion attack on Saturday as Taylen Robert Claude Brooks, 21, and Wyatt Jay Charles Brooks, 18, of Mount Aukum. (El Dorado County Sheriff's Office / Brooks family) Two brothers who were enthusiastic outdoorsmen were identified Monday as the victims mauled by a mountain lion in Northern California this weekend in what appears to be the first fatal cougar attack in the Golden State in two decades. Taylen Robert Claude Brooks, 21, died in the attack, and his brother, 18-year-old Wyatt Jay Charles Brooks, was severely wounded but is expected to survive, according to the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office. The brothers, both of Mount Aukum in southern El Dorado County, grew up together in Northern California's scenic Gold Country region, regularly hunting and fishing, according to a statement from the Brooks family shared by the Sheriff's Office. "These two young men being as close as any two brothers could be, lived a full energetic life enjoying the outdoors," the statement said. "We are all devastated by the tragic loss of Taylen yet thankful Wyatt is still with us and are well aware the outcome could have been even worse." Read more: Mountain lion kills man, injures another in Northern California Deputies responded to a call Saturday from Wyatt Brooks that he and his brother had been attacked by a mountain lion in a remote area of Georgetown, in northern El Dorado County, where they had been combing a forested area for deer antlers, officials said. Wyatt Brooks suffered traumatic injuries to his face and was separated from his brother during the attack, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office. Emergency responders first located and began treating Wyatt Brooks before finding the mountain lion crouched next to his brother's body. Officials shot toward the animal, scaring it off. Officials with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and an El Dorado County trapper later shot and killed the mountain lion, which remained within close proximity of where the attack occurred, said Sgt. Kyle Parker, with the Sheriffs Office. The body of the animal was taken in for examination to figure out why the attack occurred, Parker said. Taylen Brooks worked with his father painting houses and cutting firewood. Read more: California mountain lion population is thousands fewer than previously estimated "He truly enjoyed fishing and was an extremely talented guitar player," the family said in the statement. "He was a very kind and gentle soul and will be deeply missed by all who knew him." Plans for a memorial have not yet been finalized, the family said Monday. Wyatt Brooks, who was training to become a firefighter, underwent multiple surgeries for his injuries and was expected to make a full recovery, officials said. Jarrod Kline, a close friend of the Brooks family who is acting as a family spokesperson, told The Times that Wyatt Brooks was recovering at home. It will be a long road, but he is home with his family," Kline said. "Its unfathomable, its unbelievable." The Brooks family has set up an online fundraiser in memory of Taylen Brooks and to support Wyatt Brooks. I know we live in a rural area and [mountain lions] are around. ... Its just so unfortunate that it hit home," Kline said. He said mountain lion sightings in the local community had "exploded" in recent years. Fatal attacks by the animals remain very rare, but wildlife officials say encounters between humans and mountain lions are expected to increase as the cats' habitat shrinks and people continue to build deeper into wilderness areas. The state's last known deadly attack by a mountain lion was in 2004, when a puma in Orange County killed 35-year-old cyclist Mark Reynolds. In 1994, another attack occurred in El Dorado County, when Barbara Schoener, a jogger, was killed on a trail in the Sierra foothills. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A Mexican drug cartel known for gruesome public slaughtering drained $40 million from Americans, and stole many elderly victims' life savings without a drop of blood in 2022, according to FBI stats. It's part of a rapidly evolving timeshare scam run by the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) that is becoming more intricate, and is now estimated to be stealing hundreds of millions from Americans each year. It started as a small operation in the Puerto Vallarta area and expanded to popular tourist spots like Cancun, according to the U.S. Treasury, which issued sanctions against seven fugitives and 19 Mexican companies connected to the scam last April. "CJNG uses extreme violence and intimidation to control the timeshare network, which often targets elder U.S. citizens and can defraud victims of their life savings," Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said in November. "The Treasury remains committed to the Administrations whole-of-government effort, in coordination with our partners in Mexico, to disrupt CJNGs revenue sources and ability to traffic deadly drugs like fentanyl." TROPICAL RESORTS POPULAR WITH AMERICANS NO LONG OFF LIMITS FOR CARTEL KILLERS: THE RULES HAVE CHANGED Aerial view of a beach in Cancun, Mexico, on March 28, 2020. The Courier Journal followed a decade-long journey through the cartel's layered scheme that cost one man just shy of $1.8 million. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The initial lure was a healthy profit from his timeshare. After years of being scammed, the cartel came back with promises of reimbursement from a seemingly legitimate Mexican lawyer filing a class action lawsuit that kept the man hooked. KIDNAPPING IN MEXICO USED TO BE A BUSINESS. NOW THERE'S NO CODE CURBING RUTHLESSNESS: EXPERT The callers, whom the news report noted spoke perfect, accent-free English, continued their ceaseless pursuit for decades, with years-long stretches of silence. By the end of the situation involving just this one victim, there were 99 wire transfers, more than 150 people involved and at least 12 Mexican bank accounts, according to the Courier Journal. "Its almost like an addiction," said Stephen, who asked the Louisville newspaper to only identify him by his first name because he didn't want his employer to know. "I kept thinking the next person was going to help me get out of it." Mexican marines escort alleged traffickers past weapons and drugs seized from the cartel on June 9, 2011, in Mexico City. The initials of the drug cartel "Jalisco Nueva Generacion" (CJNG) are seen in graffiti on a wall in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, on Aug. 29, 2023. The FBI said in a March 2023 warning that owners of timeshares in Mexico are being targeted at an alarming rate. In 2022, the bureau received over 600 complaints with losses of about $39.6 million in 2022 from victims contacted by scammers in Mexico. The FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment and updated information. AMERICAN KIDNAPPED IN MEXICO, LEFT TO DIE IN JUNGLE WITH EYES, WRISTS TAPED Americans with ties to timeshares in Cancun and other Mexican locations have been targeted by cartels. "The sales representatives often use high-pressure sales tactics to add a sense of urgency to the deal," the FBI said. "Timeshare owners who agree to sell are told they must pay an upfront fee to cover anything from listing and advertising fees to closing costs. "Once the fee is paid, timeshare owners report the company becomes evasive calls go unanswered, numbers are disconnected, and websites are inaccessible, or the company creates additional fees that victims are required to pay before the real estate transaction becomes final." Years go by, and some victims like in Stephen's case, which was detailed in the Courier Journal's report the scammers act like they are from bogus recovery companies or lawyers dangling promises of restitution. Graphic shows cities where cartels have a hold. A month after the FBI's warning on April 27, 2023 the U.S. Treasury levied its first of three sanctions in a seven-month span as part of a federal crackdown on the cartel's scam. Last November, the treasury hit the cartel's fraud network for the third time, with a fresh set of sanctions against three Mexican criminals and 13 Mexican companies, bringing the total to 40. SINALOA CARTEL MEMBERS SEND PICS OF DEAD MEXICAN POLICE AND WITNESSES: THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO SCUM/SNITCHES U.S. Treasury sanctions against the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) cartel. The sanctions froze assets that are in the U.S. and banned American citizens and businesses from dealing with any of the listed companies and fugitives. Many of the sanctions' targets are located in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, which is one of CJNG's strategic strongholds for drug trafficking. "The CJNG cartel, a leading trafficker of narcotics like illicit fentanyl into the United States, generates substantial revenue for its multi-faceted criminal enterprise through its timeshare fraud network," Yellen said in a November 2023 statement. WATCH: VIDEO OF SHOOTOUT BETWEEN CARTELS AND MEXICAN AUTHORITIES The cartel's lucrative criminal enterprise that rivals the drug trade doesn't come without bloodshed to Mexican citizens. Hacked-up body parts of at least eight Mexican workers, who were all under 30 and tried to quit jobs at an illegal call center, were found in plastic bags in June 2023, The Associated Press reported. MEXICAN OFFICIALS SAY 45 BAGS OF HUMAN REMAINS RESEMBLE MISSING CALL CENTER "Best guess is these kids had decided they wanted out of the business," a U.S. official told AP under the condition of anonymity, adding the cartel was "sending a message to other defectors." "It appears this has happened before," the official added. On Dec. 29, 2023, Mexican law enforcement and the Mexican Army dismantled illegal internet antennas in Buenavista, according to the attorney general of the Mexican state of Michoacan. "Illegal internet antennas were disabled, used by a criminal cell for commercial purposes, under threats and excessive costs to the population," the Mexican Attorney General's Office said in a translated Facebook post. "During the incident, a person allegedly connected to the crimes was arrested." But that's virtually nothing to the far-reaching operation that's grown in size, complexity and intricacy since 2010. The Courier Journal reporter, Scott Fisher, talked about the cartel scams during a March 13 podcast called "The Excerpt." "According to U.S. government officials that I spoke to, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars every single year," Fisher said. US WARNING ON MEXICO SPRING BREAK TRAVEL, TOP THREATS FACING AMERICANS He gave a brief history of the scam, which he said started as a new criminal business venture in 2010, when someone connected to the cartel pitched this idea. "Being a cartel that is very agile, (the cartel) said, Absolutely. And they took over call center after call center, forcing these individuals to work for them. And not only do that, but teach them how to do this and how to do it better and better," Fisher said. Mexican law enforcement dismantles illegal internet antennas. The scheme itself is "shockingly sophisticated," according to the reporter, who's part of the USA Today Network. "I mean, we're talking about individuals, they hire people who speak perfect English in these call centers and they provide what appear to be very legitimate documents," he said on the podcast. "And these scams can develop incredible ways. "First, as I mentioned, it can start out with these fees that are required by say the Mexican government, capital gains fees. All of this is in the tens of thousands often, and it just keeps going, but you can have your money as soon as you pay. And that is what keeps them on the hook." MEXICAN AUTHORITIES ARREST 6 IN CONNECTION TO GRISLY MACHETE MURDERS IN CANCUN And they stay off Mexican and U.S. law enforcement's radar by constantly dropping and creating new shell companies, he said. Then there's the stigma of even reporting the scam and admitting to being duped, according to Fisher, which likely means the reported number of cases is just a fraction of the whole operation. Members of Pueblos Unidos, which began as a self-defense group protecting avocado plantations, on duty in Ario de Rosales, Mexico, on July 8, 2021. The U.S. government as outlined by the FBI bulletin and the sanctions imposed by the federal Treasury are aware of the scam, which Fisher said mostly targets older Americans, and are "following the money." But the cartel seems to always be a step ahead. In Mexico, "little seems to be done," Fisher said. "I was told that Mexican banks could do much more to flag these suspect payments that are made to these accounts, to these fraudulent shell companies. "And in Mexico, there seems to be little motivation to put significant resources toward stopping this scamming of American citizens." What Fisher described is in line with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his administration's policy to either deny or downplay cartel violence and criminal activity. He omitted any reference to drugs, crime or the cartels during his September 2023 State of the Union address. Then he went after a New York Times reporter after publishing a story in February about an investigation into alleged connections with the cartels. He went as far as revealing the reporter's contact details, including her telephone number. MEXICAN PRESIDENT CLAIMS FENTANYL IS US PROBLEM, SLAMS CALLS FOR US MILITARY ACTION AGAINST DRUG CARTELS In April 2023, Obrador ripped the U.S. for an investigation into the Sinaloa Cartel, calling it "abusive, arrogant interference that should not be accepted under any circumstances," according to a report by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI). He also said last March that his government was "not going to permit any foreign government to intervene in our territory, much less that a governments armed forces intervene," Al Jazeera reported. Obrador's office could not immediately be reached for comment. Police officers keep watch at the scene where authorities found the bodies of two of four Americans kidnapped by gunmen, in Matamoros, Mexico, on March 7, 2023. In the FBI's March 2023 bulletin, the bureau released four safety tips to protect yourself and then what to do if you've been victimized: Be cautious of uninvited telephone calls, texts or emails from anyone interested in your timeshare. Research all entities you are in contact with, contact offices independently to confirm if you are speaking to a representative of their company, and enlist the help of a real estate agent or lawyer you trust. Scammers will use tactics such as pressure and time-sensitive offers. Know that when opportunities appear "too good to be true," they often are. If you or anyone you know has fallen victim to a timeshare related scam, file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Be sure to include any available information including: Emails, phone numbers, domains, company names. Transaction information even if no funds were lost. Details regarding the interaction with the scammers. Fox News Digital's Emmett Jones and Mitch Picasso contributed to this report. Original article source: Brutally violent Mexican cartel draining Americans' life savings in complex scam FORT WORTH, Texas - Fort Worth police said a car burglary suspect was critically injured after being shot by one of the people in the vehicle early Sunday morning. This happened just before 3 a.m., near Hemphill Street and W. Bolt Street. Officers found that someone had been shot. They were taken to a hospital in critical condition. Investigators said the person who had been shot had just burglarized a vehicle with people inside, and they were shot by one of the people in the vehicle. Police said the burglary victims remained on scene and are cooperating. No further details have been released as police continue their investigation. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) San Diego Jersey Mikes locations are taking part in the companys nationwide Day of Giving on Wednesday. Buy a sub at any of the 63 San Diego locations on Wednesday, March 27, and you can help a child as all proceeds from that day will go to Rady Childrens Hospital San Diego, part of Jersey Mikes Subs 14th annual nationwide Day of Giving. Daves Hot Chicken opens new location in Mission Valley The Day of Giving is part of Jersey Mikes Subs 14th annual Month of Giving, where customers have been able to round up to donate to local charities. Jersey Mikes Subs' 14th annual nationwide Day of Giving (Courtesy: Jersey Mike's Subs) Jersey Mikes locations nationwide will give 100% of all sales on its Day of Giving part of the companys annual Month of Giving campaign. The company has been holding its Month of Giving campaign since 2011, raising more than $88 million for local charities. Dutch Bros Coffee expanding in San Diego County with new location opening early 2024 During this years Month of Giving in March, Jersey Mikes says it hopes to surpass last years record-breaking $21 million fundraising total. Visit the companys website for more locations and the charity your area is donating to. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to help businesses that have relocated with loan repayments The Ukrainian government has introduced optional debt payments deferment for enterprises that had to relocate due to Russias full-scale invasion, Ukraines Reintegration Ministry announced on March 25. According to the ministry, the new rules cover loans extended under the state-sponsored 5-7-9% subsidized loan program. Read also: Zelenskyy holds talks with Ukrainian businesses to tackle regulatory hurdles, pledgesreforms The deferral is offered to businesses that had to relocate from areas currently under Russian occupation or had their infrastructure damaged by combat operations since February 2022. Read also: Ukrainian businesses can find funds with 16 grant options This will aid relocated enterprises in their recovery and future settlement of the deferred credits, the announcement said. This measure will, in turn, contribute to the growth of small and medium-sized businesses. 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 Remember when cable news got the blame for electing Donald Trump in 2016, because airing so many of his rallies in their entirety was seen as the gift of free advertising? That was never completely fair, because it wasnt CNNs fault that so many voters loved what they saw the violent threats, the fawning over dictators, the undemocratic promises to jail Hillary Clinton and other political opponents, the cruel mimicking of a physical disability and shocking denigration of John McCains military service. His supporters have long since wished away this and all other evidence of psychopathy, either by claiming he never said or did any of these things or insisting that if he did then didnt mean it. And even if he does keep saying and doing things that would make the most immature bully in your middle school look like a cross between Mister Rogers and Mahatma Gandhi, well how sad that you noticed. Or else theyll say that if you must know, they never could stand the guy, but since theyre all bad, simply prefer him to any breathing Democrat. The truly Trumpy kept right on lapping it up when he lavished praise on the spirit of the unbelievable patriots who literally and figuratively defecated on our democracy. Likewise when he made such clever fun of Fani Willis first name, said yet again that some immigrants arent even people and raged that Liz Cheney should go to jail. And that was just one day last week. But then, those who see nothing too troubling about anything he does are not going to decide this election. Neither are those of us who see him as such a threat to the republic that wed crawl bleeding to the polls to cast a no vote. Instead, its those who might or might not stay home who need persuading, along with the tiny but significant number of actual swing voters in key states. And what both of those groups need to see is much more Trump, who in a media overreaction has all but disappeared from many channels. Nothing hes saying now is so different in tone, as he rants about Gavin New-scum and fondly recalls hitting his fellow Republican Ron DeSantis just like we did to ISIS. Nor is it different in substance, as he falsely fumes that migrants are responsible for a crime wave. But independent voters need to be reminded about what that looks and sounds like, since many havent seen him in a while. They also need to see for themselves that his stream-of-consciousness rambles are even less coherent now. If the voters who will decide the fate of the country dont see that, not in curated snippets but at length, how will they know how much more unhinged hes become, or how few of his sentences track? In a rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, for instance, the same president who shared state secrets with strangers and is happy to let Russia do whatever the hell it wants said this: You know, it was interesting, Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama. Has anyone ever heard of him? Barack Hussein Obama, or as Rush Limbaugh would say Barack HUSSEIN Obama; he used to scream out the name Hussein. But he was think of this. just think of this. Every swing state Biden beat Obama but every other state he got killed. You think thats an honest election? I could give you a hundred different things. Oh, and he does, every time he opens his mouth. Trump has also said that he beat Obama, and might even think that he did. After a lifetime of telling stories about events that never happened, like his recent tale of breaking Elviss attendance record at the Alabama State Fair, where neither man ever appeared, he may at this point believe that if he says it, then its true. You know, just as he argues that if he does it, then its not punishable under the law. His crowds are no less approving now than they ever were, even when he says things like, We want to take over the House! which the GOP already narrowly controls. But those still capable of being alarmed by the casual cruelty of someone who makes such little sense ought to have that opportunity, easily and often. Bring the rallies back to TV, I say, and not for the ratings. In a packed room of family, friends and colleagues Caddo Parish Sheriff Cpl. Justin Dunn received a Purple Heart just a month after being shot in the line of duty. "It's very humbling to have this kind of support," said Dunn. A Purple Heart is a medal given to deputies who have sustained serious bodily harm inflicted by an assailant. Dunns medal marks the fifth presented by the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office since 1989. The Caddo Sheriffs Purple Heart presentation ceremony honoring Corporal Justin Dunn presented by Sheriff Jay Long Thursday afternoon, March 21, 2024. On Feb. 7, Dunn and several other law enforcement officers were assisting the United States Marshals in executing an arrest warrant when Javaria R. Taylor began firing at officers. Dunn was shot in the upper body and rushed to a local hospital where he made a swift recovery. More: Caddo Sheriffs Deputy injured, suspect killed in shooting at Shreveport apartment complex Dunn said, "having those guys there allowed me to stay focused and continue working through what I had going on and make sure that I came out of it." Caddo Parish Sheriff Jay Long said, "I think the word hero is much overused in our society today, but there were certainly a lot of heroic acts taken place on Feb. 7." The Caddo Sheriffs Purple Heart presentation ceremony honoring Corporal Justin Dunn presented by Sheriff Jay Long Thursday afternoon, March 21, 2024. To honor Dunn's heroic actions director of the U.S. Marshals Service, Ron Davis made a trip to Shreveport. He said, "I really wanted to show the level of support and to really connect that law enforcement as a whole around the country are working very collaboratively together to try to enhance public safety." The U.S. Marshals Service oversees the nations regional fugitive task forces. The purpose of each task force is to combine the efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend the most dangerous criminal fugitives. "As the director of the agency, I wanted to thank him for assisting us in the apprehension of the suspect," said Davis. Dunn said that he is physically getting better, and he will be returning to full duty. He said, "I will go back out and continue to do my job and protect and serve, because I feel like that is where God is putting me." Read: Man named in officer involved shooting Wednesday afternoon Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Caddo deputy presented with a Purple Heart medal following February shooting With a majority of California third graders unable to read at grade level, proposed legislation would mandate teachers use the phonics-based science of reading. Assemblymember Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) and 13 co-authors have proposed a bill that would update the states English curriculum with the science of reading research that has found the best way to teach reading is through phonics, phonemic awareness, oral reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The bill calls for more instructional materials and curriculum for classrooms to align with the science of reading. It also emphasizes the need for increased professional development for teachers and more progress monitoring for students struggling with reading. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter All English language arts, English language development, and reading textbooks and instructional materials for transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, shall adhere to the science of reading, reads the bill which was submitted to the Assemblys education and higher education committee in February. Schools would require a waiver if educators wanted to use instructional materials that arent aligned with the science of reading. It is supported by 12 Democrats and two Republicans in the state assembly. A December 2023 policy brief by EdVoice, Decoding Dyslexia CA and Families In Schools found 60% of California students arent reading at grade level skills by the time they reach third grade. As an educator, I have firsthand knowledge of the struggles instructors face to ensure their students know how to read, Rubio said in a statement. California teachers work tirelessly to better the success of each student. However, California is failing its students, especially diverse students from low-income families. In the 2022-2023 school year, 31% of third-graders in low-income families were reading on grade level. For students not considered low-income, 63% were reading on grade level. That trend has been steady for nearly a decade, with low-income students underperforming in reading tests every year since at least 2014. Historically, weve seen low performance in literacy in California, said Eugenia Mora-Flores, a professor and an assistant dean at USCs Rossier School of Education. Its not surprising, actually. Weve definitely seen low literacy performance in large districts like L.A. Unified and others where we have students that are not performing at grade level. To address low scores, legislators want teachers to use the science of reading. Some schools across the state already use this method when teaching students. Others use whole language, which focuses on the meanings of words instead of breaking them down into pieces. Thats different from the science of reading, which relies on phonics and encourages students to learn how letter combinations sound out loud to decode words based on their spellings. [The science of reading] is an acknowledgment that kids will learn to read if they can learn the letters, sound them out and gradually pick up on fluency over time, said Pedro Noguera, dean of USCs education school. If you dont read at proficiency by third grade, then youre in trouble because everything in school is literacy-based. After learning to read, then you read to learn, right? If you cant read a math problem, you cant do the math. Noguera said a mandate alone wont solve Californias literacy problem without looking at the bigger picture when it comes to teaching kids to read. If we just focus on the science of reading, on phonics, were also missing the point, right? Noguera said. If we want kids to be good readers, phonics is not going to take them there. They need good books. They need a comprehensive approach to literacy. All English language arts, English language development, and reading textbooks and instructional materials for transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, shall adhere to the science of reading, the bill reads. Dozens of states across the country have already implemented laws enforcing the science of reading. Last year, Indiana mandated that schools must use the science of reading by fall 2024. So have legislators in Michigan, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas, among others. In a state with one of the lowest literacy rates in the country, Mora-Flores said it will come down to how well the mandate is implemented across California. In some ways, [the bill] can be seen as a good thing because its saying, at minimum, we all need to make sure kids are getting something, and youre going to be held accountable to it because now its policy, Mora-Flores said. On the other side of that, its really going to come down to the quality of translation and implementation. This article is part of a collaboration between The 74 and the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musks X Corporation, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday, writing in his decision that it was clear that the lawsuit was intended to punish dissenting voices. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer, of the Northern District of California, ruled that the effort violated Californias law, called anti-SLAPP, that prohibits lawsuits intended to discourage people from further public criticism. Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiffs true purpose. Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech, Breyer wrote in his opinion. X Corporation took the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate to court in July 2023 alleging that the group published three reports based on flawed research methodologies in order to silence speech from groups that the center disagreed with. The first report, titled The Disinformation Dozen, was published in March 2021 and focused on 12 high-profile Twitter accounts of people who opposed COVID-19 vaccinations. The second report, Fact check: Musks claim about a fall in hate speech doesnt stand up to scrutiny, was published in November 2022, after Musk took over Twitter. That report contradicted Musks statements that hate speech on the platform had declined. The third report, titled Toxic Twitter, was published in February 2023. It detailed how the site generated millions of dollars in ad revenue by bringing back several banned accounts. In the lawsuit, X Corporation argued that the center unlawfully scraped the platform for data and published cherry-picked results that media outlets published and which caused the company significant financial harm in the form of lost ad revenue. Breyer, in his decision, said that X Corporations motivation for bringing the lawsuit was evident. X Corp. has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp.and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism, wrote Breyer. The judge went on to write that if CCDHs publications were defamatory, that would be one thing, but X Corp. has carefully avoided saying that they are. A 65-year-old Riverside County woman says her physical and mental health have deteriorated since she was violently struck in the face by an alleged speeding driver that stopped, got out of his car and attacked her. The assault, which happened two weeks ago, according to the victim, Norco resident Wendy Hamilton, was captured on several home surveillance cameras. I am so upset, she told KTLAs Jennifer McGraw. Its a lot to deal with and its altered my health and thats horrible. Witnesses say the incident happened after a neighbor yelled at the man to slow down on the neighborhood streets. Mikey yelled out slow down and the guy put it in park and got out ready to fight, Hamilton explained. Thats when the 65-year-old said she grabbed her cellphone to take a picture of the mans license plate, but before anyone knew what was happening, the man got out of his vehicle turned on her. Injuries to the face suffered by Norco resident Wendy Hamilton, 65, after she was assaulted during a Mar. 2024 road-rage incident. (viewer photo) Surveillance footage shows attack on Wendy Hamilton in Norco on Mar. 2024. (viewer photo) Surveillance footage shows attack on Wendy Hamilton in Norco on Mar. 2024. (viewer photo) He saw me, and he came for me, and he was trying to steal my phone, she said. He kept demanding me, Give me your phone, give me your phone. Deputies with the Riverside County Sheriffs Department responded to the scene where they cited him for assault and battery charges and released him. For her part, Hamilton believes that more should have been done to her attacker. I remember standing there with three sheriffs not feeling safe because he was standing directly across the street from my home, she said. 6th grade girl brutally attacked by classmate at Southern California school Even two weeks after the incident, Hamilton says shes on edge because the suspect lives in her neighborhood. I have a lot of anxiety attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder, absolutely, she said. While the suspect was cited for assault and battery, authorities told KTLA it will be up to the Riverside County District Attorneys Office on whether to file charges in the case. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. MONTGOMERY, Ala. Facing pressure to get in vitro fertilization services restarted in the state, Alabamas governor swiftly signed legislation into law Wednesday shielding doctors from potential legal liability raised by a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill after it was approved in a late-night session by lawmakers scrambling to address a wave of criticism after services were halted at some of the states largest fertility clinics. Doctors from at least one clinic said they would resume IVF services on Thursday. I am pleased to sign this important, short-term measure into law so that couples in Alabama hoping and praying to be parents can grow their families through IVF, Ivey said. Republicans in the GOP-dominated Alabama Legislature opted to back the immunity proposal as a solution to the clinics concerns. But they shied away from proposals that would address the legal status of embryos created in IVF labs, action that some said would be needed to permanently settle the issue. The Alabama Supreme Court last month ruled that three couples whose frozen embryos were destroyed in an accident at a storage facility could pursue wrongful death lawsuits for their extrauterine children. The ruling, treating an embryo the same as a child or gestating fetus under the wrongful death statute, raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics. Three major IVF providers paused services. The new law, which took effect immediately, shields providers from prosecution and civil lawsuits for the damage to or death of an embryo during IVF services. Civil lawsuits could be pursued against manufacturers of IVF-related goods, such as the nutrient-rich solutions used to grow embryos, but damages would be capped to the price paid for the impacted in vitro cycle. Patients and doctors had traveled to Montgomery, to urge lawmakers to find a solution. They described appointments that were abruptly canceled and how their paths to parenthood were suddenly put in doubt. Doctors from Alabama Fertility, one of the clinics that paused IVF services, watched as the bill got final passage. They said it will allow them to resume embryo transfers starting tomorrow. We have some transfers tomorrow and some Friday. This means that we will be able to do embryo transfers and hopefully have more pregnancies and babies in the state of Alabama, Dr. Mamie McLean said after the vote. The University of Alabama at Birmingham similarly said it is moving to promptly resume IVF treatments. Liz Goldman was at home giving her daughter a bottle as she watched the Senate vote on a livestream. She didnt understand, but it made me excited, Goldman said of her daughter. Goldman, whose daughter was conceived through IVF after a uterus transplant, hopes to become pregnant with a second child. But her plans were cast into doubt when IVF services were paused. With a team of doctors involved in her care, she couldnt just move to another state, she said. Im super thankful. The past two-and-a-half weeks have been the most stressful time of my journey and Ive been through a lot, Goldman said. Republican Sen. Larry Stutts, an obstetrician who cast the lone no vote in the Senate Wednesday, said the bill is an IVF provider and supplier protection bill and does not protect patients. It is actually limiting the ability of mothers who are involved in IVF to have recourse and it is placing a dollar value on human life, Stutts said. House Democrats proposed legislation stating that a human embryo outside a uterus cannot be considered an unborn child or human being under state law. Democrats argued that was the most direct way to deal with the issue. Republicans did not bring the proposal up for a vote. We arent providing a solution here, said Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Tuscaloosa. Were creating more problems. We have to confront the elephant in the room. State Republicans are reckoning with a crisis they partly helped create with anti-abortion language added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018. The amendment, which was approved by 59% of voters, says it is state policy to recognize the rights of unborn children. The phrase became the basis of the courts ruling. At the time, supporters said it would allow the state to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade were overturned, but opponents argued it could establish personhood for fertilized eggs. England said the legislation is an attempt to play lawsuit whack-a-mole instead of confronting the real issue the implications of personhood-like language in the Alabama Constitution. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a group representing IVF providers across the country, says the legislation does not go far enough. Sean Tipton, a spokesperson for the organization, said this week that the legislation does not correct the fundamental problem, which is the court ruling conflating fertilized eggs with children. The bills sponsors, Republican Sen. Tim Melson and Republican Rep. Terri Collins, said the proposal was the best immediate solution they could find to get IVF services resumed. The goal is to get these clinics back open and women going through their treatment and have successful pregnancies, Melson said. Republicans are also trying to navigate tricky political waters torn between widespread popularity and support for IVF and conflicts within their own party. The leaders of several anti-abortion and conservative groups, including Students for Life Action and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, urged Ivey to veto the bill, which they called a rash reaction to a troubling situation. Any legislation on this issue must take into consideration the millions of human lives who face the fate of either being discarded or frozen indefinitely, violating the inherent dignity they possess by virtue of being human, they wrote Melson and Collins said lawmakers may have to explore additional action, but said its a difficult subject. I think there is too much difference of opinion on when actual life begins. A lot of people say conception. A lot of people say implantation. Others say heartbeat, Melson said when asked about proposals to say frozen embryos couldnt be considered children under state law. Melson, who is a doctor, said any additional legislation should be based on science and not just gut feelings. I can tell you right now there are a lot of different opinions on what the right thing to do is, he said. A Cambodian official accused of illegally importing wild, long-tailed macaque monkeys into the United States that were destined for Miami was acquitted Friday of conspiracy and smuggling charges after a two-week federal trial. Masphal Kry, 47, the deputy director of the Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity for the Cambodian Forestry Administration, had been under home confinement in Virginia since his arrest in November 2022 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Now, Kry is back at home with his family in Cambodia. He should never have been charged, and we are grateful to the jury and the court for seeing that justice was done in this case, said lead counsel, Mark MacDougall, of Washington, D.C., who worked on Krys defense with Coral Gables attorney John Byrne. Kry was the only defendant named in an indictment to face trial in Miami. Seven other defendants from Phnom Penh, Cambodias capital, and Hong Kong, including Krys boss, the general director of the Cambodian Forestry Administration, are at large. Monkeys high value Kry was acquitted of the main conspiracy charge and one count of smuggling 360 Macaque monkeys with a declared value of $661,680 into JFK on Aug. 24, 2018. The conspiracy charge carried up to five years in prison and the smuggling charge up to 20 years. Before a 12-person federal jury reached their unanimous not guilty verdicts, Krys lawyers were successful at knocking out one additional smuggling count while prosecutors Thomas Watts-FitzGerald and Emily Stone dropped five others in the trial before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. Those dismissed charges alleged the illegal importation of more than 2,200 wild, long-tailed Macaque monkeys worth about $6 million. The charges were dismissed over a lack of evidence. The rare monkeys, sometimes known as crab-eating macaques, are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which requires special permits to be imported into the United States. The agreement, implemented in the U.S. through the Endangered Species Act, allows signatory members to monitor the trade of rare species such as the macaques. Permits are individually numbered and include detailed information about the shipment, including a source code, which says whether the animal was bred in captivity or taken from the wild a critical distinction. Wild-caught monkeys The indictment alleged that two Hong Kong businessmen operated a series of corporations that conspired with black market collectors and corrupt officials in Cambodia to acquire wild-caught macaques and export them to the United States with labels falsely saying captive bred, which can be legally traded. To make up for a shortage of monkeys at breeding facilities in Cambodia, the two businessmen were accused of paying bribes to Cambodian authorities in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) to deliver wild-caught macaques taken from national parks and protected areas in Cambodia, according to the indictment. Between December 2017 and September 2022, Kry was accused of negotiating with the two co-conspirators over the pricing of wild macaques to be captured and delivered to monkey breeding facilities in Cambodia. The conspiracy, which involved meetings and financial transactions, led to the shipment of about 3,000 wild-caught macaques mixed in with captive-bred ones to Florida and Texas all with falsified permits, according to the indictment. However, the Miami federal jury found that prosecutors failed to make their case at least concerning Krys alleged role in the conspiracy. LINCOLN, Nebraska Cambridge was named a 2023 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor its commitment to effective urban forest management. Cambridge achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program's four requirements: maintaining a tree board or department, having a tree care ordinance, dedicating an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, and hosting an Arbor Day observance and proclamation. The Tree City USA program, which began in 1976, is a nationwide movement that provides the framework necessary for communities to manage and expand their public trees. The Tree City USA program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. "Tree City USA communities see the positive effects of an urban forest firsthand," said Dan Lambe, chief executive of the Arbor Day Foundation. "The trees being planted and cared for by Cambridge are ensuring that generations to come will enjoy to a better quality of life. Additionally, participation in this program brings residents together and creates a sense of civic pride, whether it's through volunteer engagement or public education." If ever there was a time for trees, now is that time. Communities worldwide are facing issues with air quality, water resources, personal health and well-being, energy use, and extreme heat and flooding. Cambridge is doing its part to address these challenges for residents both now and in the future. More information on the program is available at arborday.org/TreeCityUSA This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Arbor Day Foundation awards Cambridge its Tree City USA designation Maple syrup is stored by the barrel at Quebec's iconic Strategic Maple Syrup Reserves Canada's maple syrup reserve - the world's only - has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change. The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year. But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg). Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production. But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers - at least for now. "The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008," Simon Dore-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. "But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future." Canada's billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world's entire maple syrup production. According to national data, a majority of that - around 90% - is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world's sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago. The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve - stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec - has dwindled significantly since 2020. That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product. Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago. Part of the reason why, Mr Dore-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years. Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F). The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap. In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior. This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019. Mr Dore-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve's supply are not unusual. "The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply - which is highly weather dependent - for buyers," he said. "In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done." Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product. In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide - an increase of more than 19% from the year before. Mr Dore-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec's efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan. With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds. Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record. Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948. Despite this, Mr Dore-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic. "The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway," he said. "So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec." Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up. Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said. Mr Dore-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada's maple syrup supply is a "multi-year process", adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not "make or break" the future of Canada's most iconic export. A Canadian man is facing charges after making dozens of swatting calls to a sheriff's office in Florida over the course of two months, officials said. William Tuckett, 20, was charged with three counts of public mischief and three counts of conveying false information for making false reports of crimes to the Marion County Sheriffs Office in Florida, the Sault Ste. Marie Police in Ontario announced Friday. Tuckett is accused of calling about a school shooting threat and a hostage situation, which were ultimately determined to be fakes. Swatting involves a person calling in a false police report to a target's home for a violent crime such as a murder, hostage situation or other crime that would require a greater law enforcement response. The goal of the false police report is to prompt a SWAT team to respond to the target's home. These hoaxes are illegal and can be deadly. VIRGINIA TEENAGER CHARGED FOR MAKING FALSE REPORTS OF BOMBS, SHOOTINGS AT MULTIPLE SCHOOLS William Tuckett, 20, was charged with three counts of public mischief and three counts of conveying false information. Authorities said Tuckett called the sheriff's office on Feb. 16 at around 4 p.m. and claiming he was driving to a local school with a gun to shoot students and staff. Deputies responded to the threat but, after a thorough investigation, they determined there was no immediate threat to public safety. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The following morning, at about 5:30 a.m., Tuckett allegedly called the sheriff's office again and said he was holding a victim hostage at gunpoint at a residence in Ocala, Florida. Law enforcement responded to the scene, secured the residence and determined everyone in the home was safe and that nobody was being held hostage. On March 18, the sheriff's office contacted Sault Ste. Marie Police about the calls. Following a joint investigation involving both agencies, officials determined that Tuckett had made dozens of false reports to the sheriff's office regarding a person in their jurisdiction that the suspect knows. WASHINGTON STATE MAN CHARGED IN MORE THAN 20 SWATTING CALLS IN US, CANADA PLEADS GUILTY Detectives from the Sault Ste. Marie Police's Investigation Services Division arrested Tuckett at his home. William Tuckett is accused of making false reports of crimes to the Marion County Sheriffs Office in Florida. Tuckett was held in custody pending a bail hearing and has since been released. He is scheduled to appear in court on April 22. There have been several swatting incidents targeting U.S. Republican and Democrat public officials since Christmas, including Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, Republican Reps. Brandon Williams of New York and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Boston Democrat mayor Michelle Wu and Maine Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. Original article source: Canadian charged after faking school shooting threat, hostage situation in Florida swatting calls WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the case of a former Kentucky high school student and supporter of Donald Trump who said he'd been the victim of "cancel culture" after a video of his interaction with an elderly Native American man went viral in 2019. That decision leaves in place a lower court's dismissal of a massive libel lawsuit filed by Nicholas Sandmann against Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY, and other media organizations for their coverage of the incident. Sandmann argued he was defamed by their reports on his confrontation with Native American rights activist Nathan Phillips at the Lincoln Memorial in January 2019. Indigenous People's March and March for Life, standing nose-to-nose A video of Sandmann, then 16 and a student at Covington Catholic in Northern Kentucky, standing nose to nose with Phillips went viral and unleashed a firestorm of internet criticism that the students conduct was racially motivated, which Sandmann denied. Phillips was attending an Indigenous Peoples March while Sandmann was walking in a March for Life event. More: Abortion pill challenge gives Supreme Court chance to move toward national abortion ban Sandmann filed lawsuits against eight media organizations, including the New York Times, ABC News, CBS News and Rolling Stone magazine, seeking a combined $1.25 billion for their coverage of the event. A federal judge in Kentucky dismissed the suit in 2022, ruling that Phillips statement that Sandmann blocked him and wouldnt allow him to retreat as reported by the media was Phillips' opinion for which they could not be sued. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judge's dismissal. In Sandmann's unsuccessful petition to the Supreme Court, his lawyer said the case has "come to epitomize the high-water mark of the `cancel culture.'" Sandmann, his lawyer said, was transformed from a quiet, anonymous teenager into a national social pariah, one whose embarrassed smile in response to Phillips aggression became a target for anger and hatred. That happened because of the medias careless failure to investigate Phillips description of the encounter, his lawyer told the court. The U.S. Supreme Court A teen with a 'Make America Great Again' hat becomes a conservative cause celebre The suit became a cause celebre for conservatives and talk show hosts. Then-President Trump defended Sandmann and his fellow student on Twitter, claiming that they had been "smeared" with false reports by the media. In a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention, Sandmann accused the media of trying to cancel him because he backed Trump. In the 2019 video that went viral, Sandmann was shown wearing one of Trumps Make America Great Again campaign hats while smiling at Phillips, who was beating a drum and chanting. More: Supreme Court lets stand a ban against Cowboys for Trump co-founder using 14th Amendment Some social media at the time claimed the incident was racially charged on the part of the white teenager, which Sandmann and other witnesses disputed. Sandmann sued, saying the news coverage had unfairly defamed him. But the suit was narrowed by the judge to focus only on whether the quote attributed to Phillips was defamatory. The media defendants were covering a matter of great public interest, and they reported Phillipss first-person view of what he experienced, U.S. Senior Judge William Bertelsman wrote when dismissing the suit in 2022. When Sandmann appealed to the Supreme Court, the media outlets waived their right to respond. The Washington Post, NBC and CNN had previously settled with Sandmann. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court won't hear Nicholas Sandmann 'cancel culture' case The research looked at early-onset cancers, which means cancers diagnosed in adults under the age of 50 Cancers diagnosed in people aged between 18 and 49 in Northern Ireland have risen by 20% in the past 25 years, according to new research, Queen's University Belfast and the NI Cancer Registry compared 2019 statistics with 1993 figures, when registry records began. Figures show that, by 2019, 1,076 people aged 18-49 were diagnosed with some form of cancer. Prof Helen Coleman, who was involved in the research, said it was worrying. "What's also worrying is that the types of cancers are changing," she told BBC News NI. "Traditionally among men it would have been testicular cancer and brain tumours. This research shows a rise in colorectal cancer instead." The research looked at early onset cancers, which means cancers diagnosed in adults under the age of 50. It found that cancers commonly seen in older people - such a bowel, breast, stomach and pancreatic cancers - are now being diagnosed in younger adults. Changes in environment and lifestyle? Prof Coleman said researchers need to better understand what is causing cancers in young adults. "The rise has also been seen in other western countries such as across the UK, America and Australia, which suggests it is something to do with changes in our environment and lifestyle." She said there are various theories associated with the increase, including people eating more processed foods and taking antibiotics from an earlier age, but nothing definitive. Risk factors such as smoking, alcohol and obesity should not be ignored. "We would appeal to men and women in the age group to be aware of any changes in their body that are unusual for them and to contact their GP if they have concerns," she said. Don't ignore symptoms Prof Coleman stressed that the message needs to get out there that younger people can get cancer too. "Don't just wait because you consider yourself to be too young to get cancer. Don't ignore any symptoms which are unusual to you. Early diagnosis is key." The research highlights that within the 18-49 age group there was a higher incidence of diagnosis among women - largely driven by breast cancer cases. From 1993-2019 there was a 27% increase in the incidence rate of cancers in women compared to a 9% increase in men. The most common cancers in men aged between 40 to 49 were colorectal, melanoma, lung and head cancers. In women aged 40 to 49 the most common malignancies were breast, melanoma, and colorectal cancers. According to Prof Coleman, patients with early onset cancers face "unique" challenges across the entire cancer process from investigation and diagnosis through treatment to survivorship or end-of-life care. 'Rebellious hope' Northern Ireland's cancer strategy has yet to be fully implemented. Prof Coleman said all those who took part in the review believes it highlights relevant areas for discussion about early onset cancers, including lowering the age of screening. "Prevention and early detection are key to reducing disease burden and improving cancer outcomes," she added. "As healthcare professionals and scientific researchers, we should be aiming to create treatment pathways for early onset cancers where at each stage patients and their families are given autonomy and support relevant to their individual circumstances, where their concerns are addressed, and treatment is evidence-based and innovative." Ending their research on a positive note, those involved said no one should underestimate the power of hope - indeed "rebellious hope", in the words of the late Dame Deborah James who died from bowel cancer. It added there must be hope for young cancer patients and their families, stating: "We have the opportunity at each stage of the patient journey to contribute to more effective treatments, a better quality of life, living beyond cancer or meaningful palliative care." Left to right: Workers Party candidates Kiral Mace, Gary Votour, Claudia De la Cruz (presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, running on the Workers Party line) and Harold Geddings. (Provided by the Workers Party) Quality Journalism for Critical Times COLUMBIA After being kept off ballots in 2022, a branch of the former Labor Party is running three candidates for seats in the General Assembly under the newly organized South Carolina Workers Party. All three candidates filed Friday to run for both a House and Senate seat in the Legislature. They plan to pick one and withdraw from the other after the June 11 primaries that decide the GOP and Democratic nominees. The Workers Party is also running candidates for president and vice president from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a national organization. It will be the first time since 1940 that a socialist will appear on the ballot for president in South Carolina. The legislative candidates were nominated during the Workers Party convention March 16, which brought about 60 people, according to a release provided first to the SC Daily Gazette. This will be the first election for the Workers Party in South Carolina, which follows Labor Party candidates being booted by the Democratic Party. In August 2022, a judge ordered the state Election Commission not to put Labor Party candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and the 1st Congressional District on ballots. Her ruling found that the partys disputed convention came two months after a state deadline. The unprecedented case began with an intra-party dispute between feuding co-chairs one who certified candidates from a July convention, the other who argued that convention was a sham and the party didnt have candidates for 2022. When the state Election Commission decided it had to accept the certification letter and include the partys candidates, the state Democratic Party sued. The judge ultimately sided with the Democratic Party without weighing into the turmoil of the minor political party. They didnt want to run against Democrats, Gary Votour, who was the gubernatorial candidate in that case, said about the Labor Party leaders who opposed being on the ballot in 2022. They didnt want to run candidates, period, unless it was an uncontested seat. The Democrats running for governor and the 1st District lost in 2022 to Republican incumbents by wide margins. The Labor Party candidates likely wouldnt have made any difference in the outcome. Votour is now treasurer of the Workers Party and among its candidates for 2024 ballots. This time, with a timely convention of a new party, Votour said he does not anticipate any legal issues. The main thing is exposure, bottom line, said Harold Geddings, co-chair of the Workers Party, who wouldve been Votours running mate in 2022. With us having a presidential candidate now, that means were going to be on every ballot in the state. The Workers Party candidates: Kiral Mace, running in Senate District 16 (potentially challenging Michael Johnson, R-Fort Mill) and House District 26 (held by Raye Felder, Fort Mill, who is not seeking re-election) Geddings, running in Senate District 26 (held by Nikki Setzler, D-West Columbia, who is not seeking re-election), and House District 93 (held by Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews. Ott and Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, have announced theyre running for Setzlers seat.) Votour, running in Senate District 22 (held by Mia McLeod, I-Columbia, who has not announced her intentions since leaving the Democratic Party) and House District 76 (potentially challenging Leon Howard, D-Columbia This story was published earlier by the South Carolina Daily Gazette, an affiliate of the nonprofit States Newsroom network, which includes the Florida Phoenix. The post Candidates kept off SC ballots in 22 start new 3rd party, file to run for Legislature appeared first on Florida Phoenix. In the three years since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, more than 1,300 participants have been charged with crimes. But outside a few of the flashiest and most memorable characters from the day, most individual prosecutions have passed with little public note. Last Monday, however, the news of one arrest was met with more outrage: that of Isabella Maria DeLuca, a 24-year-old conservative influencer. According to prosecutors, on Jan. 6, 2021, DeLucawho was arrested on Fridayentered a set of conference rooms inside the Capitol building by climbing through a broken window. She then climbed back out and was one of several people who passed a table from a Senate terrace room to rioters outside the building. The FBI testified that rioters later used the table to attack Capitol Police. Around 3 p.m. that day, she tweeted, Fight back or let politicians steal an election? Fight back! Later, according to the arrest warrant, she would express her hopes that Trump would enact martial law. After the news of her charges broke, DeLuca posted that she was facing the unwarranted targeting and persecution by the DOJ and FBI at the direction of the Biden Administration, like most J6ers. She added, This experience for me, has only served to shed light on the challenges conservative Americans, Christians, and Trump supporters face daily. Not long afterward, her defenders settled on a particular argument. Just so everyone knows the rules, one person posted, touching a table near a Capitol window is a criminal offense because someone may later use the table in a crime. Another: So now you can be arrested and charged for TOUCHING A TABLE. And another: I guess touching a table is a threat to democracy. This is asinine. Her crime was not, of course, touching a table. DeLuca was charged with theft of government property, disorderly conduct, and entering a restricted area. Video from that day shows her helping to remove the table from inside the Capitol. But that didnt stop people from arguing that she was a victim of political persecution. Some on social media claimed that the Biden administration had gone after DeLuca specifically to send a message because of her social media presence; she has more than 343,000 followers on X. (DeLuca also, in her social media, highlighted that she was being attacked while illegals were coming into the country and claimed that more-serious criminals were escaping justice. I wish the seven agents that came to arrest me were instead searching for missing children and arresting child sex traffickers, she posted. Apparently, thats asking for too much.) The narrative took hold. Elon Musk, responding to a post from the right-wing influencer Ian Miles Cheong, replied on X that the Jan 6 prosecutions have gone too far. DeLucas GiveSendGo (a crowdfunding platform favored by conservatives) has now raised $19,000 for her legal defense, boosted by calls for conservatives to defend their own. This popular response was likely to some degree because DeLuca is young, blond, and conventionally attractive. DeLuca is a traditional influencer in this regard: She knows to boost her conservative political opinions with selfies and expertly posed photos directed at what appears to be her target audience of young male conservatives. Photos of her, sometimes in swimsuits, pop up in subreddits dedicated to hot conservative women. Her most popular post on X, by far, is a video of her baking: Captioned brown butter caramel cake is the messiest thing Ive made thus far, it has 13 million views, in large part because of the misogynistic backlash to the tight T-shirt shes wearing in the video. The video spurred a micro news cycle on the right after some influential viewers accused it of amounting to pornographic content. She quickly hit more mainstream media when she shared screen grabs of former San Francisco Giants player Aubrey Huff flirting with herfollowing his remarks that, for women like her, sexuality is all they bring to the table. But DeLuca is a savvy social media user, one who operates as a specific kind of conservative influencer: a brash, outspoken, attractive woman professing traditional ideas about gender norms, with her sexuality often framed as being reserved for a theoretical future husband. (Some misogynists who believe that these influencers are being cynically opportunistic have termed this archetype the tradthot.) Dear future husband, she posted in July, to 2.5 million views, instead of spending my weekends out at bars and parties, I stay home and learn new recipes I can cook for you one day. You can thank me in kisses later. Love, Your future wife. She mixed that in with more explicitly political posts (I cant wait until Trump begins the biggest mass deportation in United States history); sponsored posts about the film Cabrini from the Sound of Freedoms Angel Studios; and exhortations for women to have lots of children, grow their own food, shoot guns, eat meat, and homeschool their children. After her arrest, DeLuca reshared a post on X confirming that she enjoys her particular place in the conservative influencer ecosystem: Shes hot, has heavy Ds, can bake and shes now being politically persecuted by Bidens regime. Wifey material right there. But to reduce DeLuca to her looks is to ignore the amount of strategizing she has put into becoming a big name. DeLuca has been posting political and conservative Christian content since her teenage years. But her breakout moment came on Oct. 17, 2020, during a counterprotest against the Womens March in Washington. At the end of that day, she posted photos of herself wearing a neck brace, with bruising on her face and an apparently bloodied mouth. DeLuca wrote on Twitter that she just got punched in the face and choked by two women because I was holding a Trump flag here at the Supreme Court. But video from the time shows DeLuca shoving a woman with both hands, retrieving a flag from the ground, and walking aggressively toward the woman she had shoved. Theres no video of what happened before DeLuca shoved the woman, so we dont know what instigated the fight; its possible the woman had forcefully taken the flag out of DeLucas hands. What we do know is that DeLuca appeared to escalate the fight, at the least, and that she lied when she claimed on Twitter that she put my hand up to retrieve [the flag] from the ground so I didnt get kicked while I was down on the ground. Regardless, the experience launched DeLuca into minor right-wing stardom. She was written up as the victim of rabid left-wing violence by publications like the Blaze. Fox News reported DeLucas claims that Facebook had removed her account of the alleged assault. And this appears not to have been the first time she had gotten attention for being the alleged subject of an attack. In September 2019, right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk posted a photo of himself with DeLuca. This is Isabella, he wrote on Twitter. She was beaten up and dragged through a parking lot for wearing a Trump shirt. The media didnt report or cover this hate crime. Shes been slowly growing a presence in right-wing media in the years since her Womens March experience, appearing on Newsmax and podcasts. And as the blog Angry White Men noted, she has appeared twice on a Rumble show hosted by white nationalist Stew Peters. In those appearances, she blamed feminism and other elements of the left for the declining white majoritya view that fits with a number of her posts on social media, including one about white pride. Meanwhile, DeLuca has taken more conventional pathways into Republican Party politics. In his 2019 post, Kirk noted that DeLuca was president of a Talking Point USA chapter. At the time of the Womens March, she was outreach director for Republicans for National Renewal, a populist, pro-Trump advocacy group. (The group called Black Lives Matter a terrorist organization at the time of DeLucas alleged assault, despite there being no evidence anyone involved in the incident represented BLM; one woman present wore a shirt that featured Black icons.) DeLuca would go on to volunteer as a Turning Point ambassador for the Tempe, Arizonabased TPUSA branch and in 2023, to speak at a Second Amendment conference in Arlington, Virginia. (She also worked as an unpaid social media associate for a foreign policy group called the Gold Institute for International Strategy. Last Monday, the organization cut ties with her.) DeLuca gained more legitimate political credentials through her work with actual lawmakers. Just three months after the Capitol riot, she began a stint as an intern at the office of thenRep. Lee Zeldin, a major Trump ally who in 2022 became the GOPs nominee for New York governor. This would make her the first known Jan. 6 insurrectionist to take a job in Congress. Then, in 2022, she interned for Rep. Paul Gosar, another election denier. According to Politico, both Gosars and Zeldins offices said they had no knowledge of DeLucas Jan. 6 activities; Zeldins office said she had only volunteered unpaid to help a staff member in the district. So, DeLuca is no mere social media poster: Shes a woman who learned the specific pathwaysthrough right-wing connections, unpaid labor, weaponizing victimhood, and gaming the attention economyto reach a level of political power without having to put in years of drudge work. The support DeLuca has seen on social media reflects those effortsKirk, for example, passionately defended her on his podcast, railing against typical Soviet-style indictment B.S. aiming to chill the growing young conservative movement in this country and labeling her one of the modern-day hostages being held by the regime. But it also shows just how much the American public has changed its opinion on Jan. 6 since the initial aftermath, when GOP members of Congress and mainstream Republican pundits were distancing themselves from the violence. Today, when one-quarter of Americans believe that the FBI was involved in instigating or escalating that days events, many politicians and media figures have changed their tune, arguing that the genuine Trump supporters there were merely expressing their political beliefs and that they are victims of a two-tiered justice system meant to crack down on their free speech. Trump himself has promised, on social media, that among his first acts as president will be to free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned! Its too soon to know if DeLuca will be able to capitalize on that narrative. But based on the energy of her defenders, it seems very possible that DeLuca is savvy enough to use her momentary fame as a criminal defendant to secure a prominent future place in the conservative media sphere. One of the worries that kept legendary astronomer Carl Sagan up at night was whether aliens would understand us. In the mid-1970s, Sagan led a committee formed by NASA to assemble a collection of images, recorded greetings, and music to represent Earth. The montage was pressed onto golden albums and dispatched across the cosmos on the backs of Voyagers 1 and 2 . In a 1986 story Sagan wrote for Popular Science , he noted that hypothetical aliens are bound to be very different from usindependently evolved on another world, which meant they likely wouldnt be able to decipher the golden discs. But he took assurance from an underappreciated dimension of Voyagers message: the designs of the vessels themselves. We are tool makers, Sagan wrote. This is a fundamental aspect, and perhaps the essence, of being human. What better way to tell alien civilizations that Earthlings are toolmakers than by sending a living room-sized, aluminum-framed probe clear across the Milky Way. Although both spacecraft were only designed to swing by Jupiter and Saturn , Voyager 2s trajectory also hurled it past Uranus and Neptune . Despite numerous mishaps along the wayand because of the elite toolmaker skills of NASA engineersthe probe was in good enough shape to send back close-ups of those distant worlds. In 2012, Voyager 1 became the first interstellar spacecraft , followed soon thereafter by Voyager 2 . Once out of the solar system, Sagan wrote, the surfaces of the spacecraft will remain intact for a billion years or more, so resilient is their design. Today, the probes are 1215 billion miles from Earth , still operable (despite experiencing recent communication difficulties ), and sailing through the relative calm of interstellar space. They are expected to continue to transmit data back to Earth for another year or so , or until their plutonium batteries quit. It was early 20th century wireless inventor Guglielmo Marconi who suggested that radio signals never die, they only diminish as they travel across space and time. Even after communications from the Voyager spacecraft cease, perhaps the tiny voices of Earths first emissaries, animated by NASAs master toolmakers nearly half a century ago, will continue to drift through the cosmos for all time, accessible to far-flung civilizations equipped with sensitive enough receivers to listen. "Voyager's Triumph" (Carl Sagan, October 1986) A noted scientist tells the little-known story of the remarkable feats of the Voyager engineers, a dedicated band who repeatedly overcame technical adversity to ensure the success of these historic expeditions to the outer solar system. Carl Sagan is Director, Laboratory for Planetary Studies, Cornell University, and, since 1970, a member of the Voyager Imaging Science Team. His Cosmos: A Special Edition is televised this fall. On Jan. 25, 1986, the Voyager 2 robot probe entered the Uranus system and reported a procession of wonders. The encounter lasted only a few hours, but the data faithfully relayed back to Earth have revolutionized our knowledge of the aquamarine planet, its more than 15 moons, its pitch black rings, and its belt of trapped high-energy charged particles. Voyager 2 and its companion, Voyager 1, have done this before. At Jupiter, in 1979, they braved a dose of trapped charged particles 1,000 times what it takes to kill a human being [PS, July '79); and in all that radiation they discovered the rings of the largest planet, the first active volcanoes outside Earth, and a possible underground ocean on an airless worldamong a few hundred other major findings. At Saturn, in 1980 and 1981, the two spacecraft survived a pummeling by tiny icy particles as they plummeted through previously un known rings; and there they discovered not a few, but thou sands of Saturnian rings, icy moons recently melted through unknown causes, and a large world with an ocean of liquid hydrocarbons surmounted by clouds of organic matter IPS, March '81 l. These spacecraft have returned to Earth four trillion bits of information, the equivalent of about 100,000 encyclopedia volumes. Because we are stuck on Earth, we are forced to peer at distant worlds through an ocean of distorting air. It is easy to see why our spacecraft have revolutionized the study of the solar system: We ascend to the stark clarity of the vacuum of space, and there approach our objectives, flying past them or orbiting them or landing on their surfaces. These nearby worlds have much to teach us about our own, and they will beunless we are so foolish as to destroy ourselvesas familiar to our descendents as the neighboring states are to those who live in America today. Voyager and its brethren are prodigies of human inventiveness. Just before Voyager 2 was to encounter the Uranus system, the mission design had scheduled a final course correction, a short firing of the on-board propulsion system to position Voyager correctly as it flew among the moving moons. But the course correction proved unnecessary. The spacecraft was already within 200 kilometers of its designed trajectory after a voyage along an arcing path five billion kilometers in length. This is roughly the equivalent of throwing a pin through the eye of a needle 50 kilometers away, or firing your target pistol in New York and hitting the bull's eye in Dallas. The lodes of planetary treasure were transmitted back to Earth by the radio antenna aboard Voyager; but Earth is so far away that by the time the signal was gathered in by radiotelescopes on our planet, the received power was only 10-16 watts (fifteen zeros after the decimal point). Comparing this weak signal with the power emitted by an ordinary reading lamp is like comparing the width of an atom with the distance between Earth and the moon. (Incidentally, the first photograph ever taken of Earth and the moon together in space was acquired by one of the Voyager spacecraft.) We tend to hear much about the splendors returned, and very little about the ships that brought them, or the shipwrights. It has always been that way. Our history books do not tell us much about the builders of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, or even the principle of the caravel. Despite ample precedent, it is a clear injustice: The Voyager engineering team and its accomplishments deserve to be much more widely known. The Voyager spacecraft were designed and assembled, and are operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Pasadena, Calif. The mission was conceived during the late 1960s, first funded in 1972, but was not approved in its present form (which includes encounters at Uranus and Neptune) until after the 1979 Jupiter flyby. The two spacecraft were launched in late summer and early fall 1977 by a non-reusable Titan/Centaur booster configuration at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Weighing about a ton, a Voyager would fill a good-sized living room. Each spacecraft draws about 400 watts of powerconsiderably less than an average American homefrom a generator that converts radioactive plutonium into electricity. The instrument that measures interplanetary magnetic fields is so sensitive that the flow of electricity through the innards of the spacecraft would generate spurious signals. As a result, this instrument is placed at the end of a long boom stretching out from the spacecraft. With other projections, it gives Voyager a slightly porcupine appearance. Two cameras, infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers, and an instrument called the photopolarimeter are on a scan platform; the platform swivels so these instruments can point toward a target world. The spacecraft antenna must know where Earth is if the transmitted data are to be received back home. The spacecraft also needs to know where the sun is and at least one bright star, so it can orient itself in three dimensions and point properly toward any passing world. It does no good to be able to return pictures over billions of miles if you can't point the camera. On-orbit repairs Each spacecraft costs about as much as a single modern strategic bomber. But unlike bombers, Voyager cannot, once launched, be returned to the hangar for repairs. As a result, the spacecraft's computers and electronics are designed redundantly. And when Voyager finds itself in trouble, the computers use branched contingency tree logic to work out the appropriate course of action. As the spacecraft journeys increasingly far from Earth, the round-trip light (and radio) travel time also increases, approaching six hours by the time Voyager is at the distance of Uranus. Thus, in case of an emergency, the spacecraft needs to know how to put itself in a safe standby mode while awaiting instructions from Earth. As the spacecraft ages, more and more failures are expected, both in its mechanical parts and its computer system, although there is as yet no sign of a serious memory deterioration, some robot Alzheimer's disease. When an unexpected failure occurs, special teams of engineerssome of whom have been with the Voyager program since its inceptionare assigned to "work" the problem. They will study the underlying basic science and draw upon their previous experience with the failed subsystems. They may do experiments with identical Voyager spacecraft equipment that was never launched or even manufacture a large number of components of the sort that failed in order to gain some statistical understanding of the failure mode. In April 1978, almost eight months after launch, an omitted ground command caused Voyager 2's on-board computer to switch from the prime radio receiver to its backup. During the next ground transmission to the spacecraft, the receiver refused to lock onto the signal from Earth. A component called a tracking loop capacitor had failed. After seven days in which Voyager 2 was out of contact, its fault protection software commanded the backup receiver to be switched off and the prime receiver to be switched back on. But, mysteriously, the prime receiver failed moments later: It never recovered. Voyager 2 was now fundamentally imperiled. Although the primary receiver had failed, the on-board computer commanded the spacecraft to use it. There was no way for the controllers on Earth to command Voyager to revert to the backup receiver. Even worse, the backup receiver would be unable to receive the commands from Earth because of the failed capacitor. Finally, after a week of command silence, the computer was programmed to switch automatically between receivers. And during that week's time the JPL engineers designed an innovative command frequency control procedure to make a few essential commands comprehensible to the damaged backup receiver. This meant the engineers were able to communicate, at least a little bit, with the spacecraft. Unfortunately the backup receiver now turned giddy, becoming extremely sensitive to the stray heat dumped when various components of the spacecraft were powered up or down. Over the following months the JPL engineers designed and conducted a series of tests that let them thoroughly understand the thermal consequences of most operational modes of the spacecraft on its ability to receive commands from Earth. The backup-receiver problem was entirely circumvented. It was this backup receiver that acquired all the commands from Earth on how to gather data in the Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus systems. The engineers had saved the mission. (But to be on the safe side, during most of Voyager's subsequent flight there is in residence in the onboard computers a nominal data-taking sequence for the next planet to be encountered.) Another heart-wrenching failure occurred just after Voyager 2 emerged from behind Saturn after its closest approach to the planet in August 1981. The scan platform had been moving rapidly in the azimuth directionquickly pointing here and there among the rings, moons, and the planet itself during the time of closest approach. Suddenly, the platform jammed. A stuck scan platform obviously implies a severe reduction in future pictures and other key data. The scan platform is driven by gear trains called actuators, so first the JPL engineers ran an identical copy of the flight actuator in a simulated mission. The ground actuator failed after 348 revolutions: the actuator on the spacecraft had failed after 352 revolutions. The problem turned out to be a lubrication failure. Plainly, it would be impossible to overtake Voyager with an oil can. The engineers wondered whether it would be possible to restart the failed actuator by alternately heating and cooling it, so that the thermal stresses would cause the components of the actuator to expand and contract at different rates and un-jam the system. After gaining experience with specially manufactured actuators on the ground, the engineers jubilantly found that they were able to use this procedure to start the scan platform up again in space. More than this, they devised techniques to diagnose any imminent actuator failure early enough to work around the problem. Voyager 2's scan platform worked perfectly in the Uranus system. The engineers had saved the day again. Ingenious solutions Voyager 1 and 2 were designed to explore the Jupiter and Saturn systems only. It is true that their trajectories would carry them to Uranus and Neptune, but officially these planets were never contemplated as targets for Voyager exploration: The spacecraft was not supposed to last that long. Because of trajectory requirements in the Saturn system, Voyager 1 was flung on a path that will never encounter any other known world; but Voyager 2 flew to Uranus with brilliant success, and is now on its way to an August 1989 encounter with the Neptune system. At these immense distances, sunlight is getting progressively dimmer, and the spacecraft's transmitted radio signals to Earth are getting progressively fainter. These were predictable but still very serious problems that the JPL engineers and scientists also had to solve before the encounter with Uranus. Because of the low light levels at Uranus, the Voyager television cameras were obliged to take longer time exposures. But the spacecraft was hurtling through the Uranus system so fast (about 35,000 miles per hour) that the image would have been smeared or blurredan experience shared by many amateur photographers. To overcome this, the entire spacecraft had to be moved during the time exposures to compensate for the motion, like panning in the direction opposite yours while taking a photograph of a street scene from a moving car. This may sound easier than it is: You have to compensate for the most casual of motions. At zero gravity, the mere start and stop of the on-board tape recorder that's registering the image can jiggle the spacecraft enough to smear the picture. This problem was solved by commanding the spacecraft thrusters, instruments of exquisite sensitivity, to compensate for the tape-recorder jiggle at the start and stop of each sequence by turning the entire spacecraft just a little. To compensate for the low received radio power at Earth, a new and more efficient digital encoding algorithm was designed for the cameras, and the radiotelescopes on Earth were joined together with oth ers to increase their sensitivity. Overall, the imaging system worked, by many criteria, better at Uranus than it did at Saturn or even at Jupiter. Voyager has become a new kind of intelligent beingpart robot, part human. It extends the human senses to far-off worlds. The ingenuity of the JPL engineers is growing faster than the spacecraft is deteriorating. And Voyager may not be done exploring after its Neptune encounter. There is, of course, a chance that some vital subsystem will fail tomorrow, but in terms of the radioactive decay of the plutonium power source, the two Voyager spacecraft will be able to return data to Earth until roughly the year 2015. By then they will have traveled more than a hundred times Earth's distance from the sun, and may have penetrated the heliopause, the place where the interplanetary magnetic field and charged particles are replaced by their interstellar counterparts; the heliopause is one definition of the frontier of the solar system. Robot-human partnerships These engineers are heroes of our time. And yet almost no one knows their names. I have attached a table giving the names of a few of the JPL engineers who played central roles in the success of the Voyager missions. In a society truly concerned for its future, Don Gray, Charlie Kohlhase, or Howard Marderness, would be as well known for their extraordinary abilities and accomplishments as Dwight Gooden, Wayne Gretzky, or Kareem Abdul Jabbar are for theirs. Voyager has become a new kind of intelligent being-part robot, part human. It extends the human senses to far-off worlds. For simple tasks and short-term problems, it relies on its own intelligence; but for more complex tasks and longer term problems, it turns to another, considerably larger brainthe collective intelligence and experience of the JPL engineers. This trend is sure to grow. The Voyagers embody the technology of the early 1970s; if such spacecraft were to be designed in the near future, they would incorporate stunning improvements in artificial intelligence, in data-processing speed, in the ability to self-diagnose and repair, and in the capacity for the spacecraft to learn from experience. In the many environments too dangerous for people, the future belongs to robot-human partnerships that will recognize Voyager as antecedent and pioneer. Unlike what seems to be the norm in the so-called defense industry, the Voyager spacecraft came in at cost, on time, and vastly exceeding both their design specifications and the fondest dreams of their builders. These machines do not seek to control, threaten, wound, or destroy; they represent the exploratory part of our nature, set free to roam the solar system and beyond. Once out of the solar system, the surfaces of the spacecraft will main intact for a billion years or more, as the Voyagers circumnavigate the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This kind of technology, its findings freely revealed to all humans everywhere, is one of the few activities of the United States admired as much by those who find our policies uncongenial as by those who agree with us on every issue. Unfortunately, the tragedy of the space shuttle Challenger implies agonizing delays in the launch of Voyager's successor missions, such as the Galileo Jupiter orbiter and entry probe. Without real support from Congress and the White House, and a clear long-term NASA goal, NASA scientists and engineers will be forced to find other work, and the historic American triumphs in solar-system explorationsymbolized by Voyagerwill become a thing of the past. Missions to the planets are one of those thingsand I mean this for the entire human speciesthat we do best. We are tool makersthis is a fundamental aspect, and perhaps the essence, of being human. Greeting the aliens Both Voyager spacecraft are on escape trajectories from the solar system. The gravitational fields of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus have flung them at such high velocities that they are destined ultimately to leave the solar system altogether and wander for ages in the calm, cold blackness of interstellar spacewhere, it turns out, there is essentially no erosion. Once out of the solar system, the surfaces of the spacecraft will main intact for a billion years or more, as the Voyagers circumnavigate the center of the Milky Way galaxy. We do not know whether there are other space-faring civilizations in the Milky Way. And if they do exist, we do not know how abundant they are. But there is at least a chance that some time in the remote future one of the Voyagers will be intercepted by an alien craft. Voyagers 1 and 2 are the fastest spacecraft ever launched by humans; but even so, they are traveling so slowly that it will be tens of thousands of years before they go the distance to the nearest star. And they are not headed toward any of the nearby stars. As a result there could be no danger of Voyager attracting "hostile" aliens to Earth, at least not any time soon. So, it seemed appropriate to include some message of greeting from Earth At NASA's request, a committee I chaired designed a phonograph record that was affixed to the outside of each of the Voyager spacecraft. The records contain 116 pictures in digital form, describing our science and technology, our institutions, and ourselves; what will surely be unintelligible greetings in many languages; a sound essay on the evolution of our planet; and an hour and a half of the world's greatest music. But the hypothetical aliens are bound to be very different from usindependently evolved on another world. Are we really sure they could understand our message? Every time I feel these concerns stirring, though, I reassure myself: Whatever the incomprehensibilities of the Voyager record, any extraterrestrial that finds it will have another standard by which to judge us. Each Voyager is itself a message. In its exploratory intent, in the lofty ambition of its objectives, and in the brilliance of its design and performance, it speaks eloquently for us. A Carnival cruise ship will be out of commission for repairs for at least a week after its exhaust funnel caught fire and partially collapsed Saturday during a trip to the Bahamas. It marked the second time in just under two years that the funnel on this same ship, the Carnival Freedom, went up in flames while carrying passengers. What caused the most recent incident is still being investigated, according to the cruise company. No one on board the ship was injured, but Carnival said two fire crew members were treated for minor smoke inhalation. The Carnival Freedom left from Port Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday and was supposed to travel for several days through the Bahamas before returning Monday to Port Canaveral. It was not immediately clear how many passengers and crew were on board the Freedom when the fire erupted, but the cruise ship can accommodate 2,980 guests and 1,150 crew members at capacity. CBS News contacted Carnival for more information. The ship initially reported a fire at around 3:15 p.m. EDT on Saturday, on the port side of the ship's exhaust funnel as it sailed 20 miles off of the Bahamas' Eleuthera Island en route to Freeport, the company said in a statement. It had changed course to turn toward Freeport, at the northern tip of the island chain, after cancelling a stop farther south in Princess Cays because of bad weather. Eyewitnesses said that a lightning strike may have sparked the fire, a claim that Carnival said "is being investigated but cannot yet be confirmed." A portion of the Carnival Freedom ship's exhaust funnel broke off and crashed onto the deck below, after a fire broke out Saturday inside the smokestack. / Credit: Carnival / Randalyn Rogers A fire response team was activated quickly to put out the blaze once it broke out, as the Freedom's captain shifted the cruise liner toward the heavy rain nearby in hopes that would help. The fire was extinguished by 5:20 p.m., Carnival said, including flames from a portion of the funnel that broke off and fell onto one of the ship decks. Funnels are essentially used as smokestacks or chimneys to expel fumes and engine exhaust. The U.S. Coast Guard said the Carnival Freedom crew was able to extinguish the fire Saturday without their help. They were aware of the fire, though, and issued a Captain of the Port order to the cruise ship before it was scheduled to enter Port Canaveral, Florida, on Monday. Captain of the Port orders are broad mandates that the Marine Safety and Security Council describes as a tool granting Coast Guard crews "with operational controls over an emergent situation posing safety, security, or environmental risks." "We are continuing to monitor the situation," the Coast Guard said in a statement. Although Carnival said at first that it did not expect the fire to impact trips on the Freedom cruise set to depart Port Canaveral on Monday and Friday, a technical assessment carried out in Freeport on Sunday revealed more significant damage to the ship than they originally thought. The damage would "require an immediate repair to stabilize the funnel" after disembarking guests in Port Canaveral on Monday, the company said in an updated statement following the assessment. "The funnel has been stabilized for the ship's return to Port Canaveral overnight to disembark guests, and then it will go to the Freeport shipyard on Monday afternoon to begin the required repairs," Carnival said on Sunday. "We sincerely regret the impact to our embarking guests, as we know they have been looking forward to their spring break vacation." Both Carnival Freedom cruises scheduled for this week have been cancelled. Carnival said guests who had booked those cruises would receive full refunds and future cruise credits. The Carnival Freedom's exhaust funnel last went up in flames less than two years ago, in May 2022. It was in Grand Turk at the time, during a planned five-day trip from Port Canaveral. The ship had 2,504 guests and 972 crew on board, Carnival said at the time. None of the passengers or crew were hurt. Christian Cooper, the "Extraordinary Birder" "James" author Percival Everett on race, language and art Doris Kearns Goodwin on "An Unfinished Love Story" March of each year is designated as Share Pilot Month and annually the Luncheon Pilot Club of Enterprise presents funding to deserving projects in the community. The funds distributed are from the annual LPCE Radio Day Fund Drive held in February of each year. Our radio ad sponsors came through again this year to enable us to support many projects in the Enterprise Community, said club member Bonnie Gilmore. Representatives of some of the supported projects who attended the March Program Meeting of LPCE to receive their checks are Tom Iten and Calvin Bookout from the all-volunteer Coffee County Sheriffs Posse will use funds to subsidize the expenses for the volunteers horses. The posse works out of the Coffee County Sheriffs Office. George Baum from the Wiregrass Wounded Veterans gave an update on the completed cabin and facilities at Lake Tholocco on Fort Novosel. They are currently looking into ways they might assist at the new Veterans Home which will be opening in Enterprise some time in the Fall. Ann Reynolds from Hands Up Enterprise welcomed funds to continue distributing food, clothing, and other needed items for those in need. Wiregrass Emergency Pregnancy Service Director Melissa Braun accepted funds for the 100% donor funded program to help expectant mothers in need of basic necessities for a new child. Habitat for Humanity Director Ashley Avery welcomed funds to assist in building homes for deserving individuals. Disabled American Veterans Commander Gerry Merrihew will use the funds to assist in the DAV van taking veterans to Montgomery and Tuskegee Hospitals for appointments three times per week. For information about joining the Luncheon Pilot Club of Enterprise contact Gina Oates at ginaoates686@outlook.com. AUSTIN (KXAN) With two weeks until the total solar eclipse, many people have already hatched plans to see the phenomenon. One thing that you might not have considered is if cell service will be impacted. More than a million people are expected to visit Texas to see the eclipse in the path of totality. The path falls over much of the Hill Country and also includes major cities like Dallas and Austin. Which Texas cities could see nearly 500K tourists during the total eclipse? With millions of extra people gathering in the eclipse path, should eclipse tourists be concerned about cell service? (Credit: NASAs Scientific Visualization Studio) Cell phone carrier AT&T said people across different networks saw slowdowns during the last eclipse in 2017. Since then, customers have gained access to 5G servicemeaning nearly 100 times the number of people can be on the network at the same time compared to previous 4G capacity. More eclipse news from KXAN AT&T expects no direct operational impact on its network, a company spokesperson said. Similarly, Verizon expects no impact on its network during the eclipse. In areas where people may gather to experience this event, were confident the additional capacity weve layered into the network over the past few years will accommodate any increases in data usage, a Verizon spokesperson said. A T-Mobile spokesperson said its network is ready for the eclipse. The service provider is working with state and local agencies to add extra support for large gatherings. This includes deploying additional cell sites for areas expecting higher tourist traffic, according to T-Mobiles eclipse prep website. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Some physicists have long suspected that mysterious 'ghost' particles in the world around us could greatly advance our understanding of the true nature of the Universe. Now scientists think they've found a way to prove whether or not they exist. Europe's centre for particle research, Cern, has approved an experiment designed to find evidence for them. The new instrument will be a thousand times more sensitive to such particles than previous devices. It will smash particles into a hard surface to detect them instead of against each other like Cern's main device the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). So what are these ghostly particles and why was a new approach needed to detect them? The current theory of particle physics is called the Standard Model. It says that everything in the Universe is made up of a family of 17 particles - well known ones such as the electron and the Higgs boson - as well as the lesser known but wonderfully named charm quark, tau neutrino and gluon. Some are mixed up in different combinations to make up the larger, but still incredibly small, particles that make up the world around us, as well as the stars and galaxies we see in space, while others are involved in the forces of nature. But there's a problem: astronomers have noticed things in the heavens - the way galaxies move, for example - that strongly suggest that all that we can observe makes up just five per cent of the Universe. Graphic illustrating the distribution of matter in the Universe - 26% dark matter, 69% dark energy and 5% normal matter Some, or even all the rest of the Universe, could be made up of the 'ghost' or 'hidden' particles. They are thought to be phantom doppelgangers of the 17 particles of the Standard Model. If they exist, they are really hard to detect because they very rarely interact with the world we know. Like ghosts, they pass straight through everything, and can't be detected by any earthly device. But the theory is that the ghost particles can, very rarely, disintegrate into Standard Model particles, and these can be picked up by detectors. The new instrument increases the chances of detecting these disintegrations by greatly increasing the number of collisions. Instead of colliding particles together, which most current experiments do, the Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) will crash them into a big block of material. This means that all the particles are smashed into smaller bits - rather than some of them. The diagram below shows why this 'fixed target' approach is so much more effective. Graphic showing how nearly all particles are smashed if they hit a fixed target The project's ghostbuster-in-chief, Prof Andrey Golutvin of Imperial College London said that the experiment "marks a new era in the search for hidden particles". "SHiP has the unique possibility to solve several of the major problems of particle physics, and we have the prospect of discovering particles that have never been seen before," he said. The hunt for ghost particles requires specially adapted equipment. With normal experiments, using the Large Hadron Collider, for example, new particles can be detected up to a metre from the collision. But the ghost particles can remain invisible and travel several tens or even hundreds of meters before they disintegrate and reveal themselves. So SHiP's detectors are placed much further away. 'We are explorers' Prof Mitesh Patel of Imperial College described the new approach as "ingenious". "What really appeals to me about the experiment is that these particles are right under our noses, but we have never been able to see them because of the way they interact, or rather the way they don't interact. "We are explorers, and we believe that we can see something interesting in this new terrain. So, we have to take a look." SHiP will be built within existing facilities at Cern, according to Dr Claudia Ahdida, a physicist at Cern. "We will be making use of an existing cavern and infrastructure and parts that we will try and re-use as much as possible and what we will have is a facility that will help us search for this hidden sector, which has not been seen before," she said. SHiP will run alongside all of Cern's other experiments, the largest of which is the Large Hadron Collider, which has been searching for the missing 95% of the Universe since it was completed in 2008 at a cost of 3.75bn. So far it hasn't found any non-Standard Model particles, and so the plan is to build a machine that is three times larger and much more powerful. Graphic showing the location of the two colliders and the relative size and depths of the two with the LHC 80m deep and about 27km long and the FCC about 200m deep and 90km long The Future Circular Collider has an estimated initial cost of 12bn. Its planned start date is sometime in the mid-2040s, though it won't be at its full new particle-hunting potential until 2070. By contrast, the SHiP experiment is scheduled to start looking for new particles in 2030 and will be around a hundred times cheaper at around 100m. But researchers say that all approaches are needed to explore all the possible options in order to find the particles that they say would lead to one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics of all time. Follow Pallab on X, formerly known as Twitter. BBC iPlayer Inside the atom-smasher Pallab Ghosh and Kate Stephens go inside the biggest particle accelerator in the world to find out why scientists want an even larger one. Available now on BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer COLUMBUS (WCMH) A national restaurant chain will host a fundraising event Tuesday across the state to support central Ohio tornado victims. Texas Roadhouse announced that many of its restaurant locations in Ohio will host simultaneous fundraisers to benefit the Indian Lake Tornado Relief Fund. Each Texas Roadhouse location will donate all profits received Tuesday to the organization, which supports families and individuals affected by the violent storms that swept across several central Ohio counties. Massive damage from an EF-3 tornado in the Indian Lake area resulted in three deaths on March 14 and the National Weather Service confirmed eight tornadoes across Ohio. Among them were also an EF-2 tornado that traveled more than 10 miles in Crawford and Richland Counties, and two EF-1 tornadoes in Mercer and Licking Counties. List: Solar eclipse viewing events, watch parties in central Ohio Governor Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency for 11 counties impacted by the widespread damage from the storms and he activated the Ohio National Guard for Logan County to assist in cleanup efforts. The fundraiser will include 21 Texas Roadhouse locations in Ohio, including those in and around Franklin County, between 4 and 10 p.m. Area locations include, Polaris, Hilliard, Grove City, Reynoldsburg, Marysville, Lancaster, Newark, Chillicothe, Athens and Zanesville. It follows a fundraiser that took place on March 21, when a benefit concert was held at the Holland Theatre in Bellefontaine. As well, NBC4 and the American Red Cross are partnering to raise funds for the victims of tornados and storms in Ohio and the Midwest. Anyone wishing to donate to 4s Army Tornado Relief can now donate at this link. Call 1-800-RED CROSS or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Ensure your donation helps people affected by recent tornadoes and storms go to https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - Just as the trial was set to begin Monday on Long Island, criminal charges were dropped against a Holbrook nurse who was accused last year of mishandling a newborn baby. The incident was caught on camera, and the nurse was fired from her job. A proud father videotaping his two-day-old through the NICU window at Good Samaritan Hospital was horrified to capture what the Suffolk DA described as a nurse violently slam him face down into his bassinet. Amanda Burke was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Monday, charges were dismissed. "I'm just happy it's over. It was a nightmare," Burke said. "I was harassed. People at my door, emails. I have an 8-year-old I felt like she was in danger. It was a nightmare." Burke, surrounded by her family, was hugged by her attorney, who said they've been begging for a dismissal since February 2023, when she admitted to flipping the baby by its diaper. "We are thrilled for Amanda... because Amanda should never have been charged," defense attorney Robert Gottlieb said. "They most they could say was that turning the baby over by the diaper was negligence, but it didn't even rise to the level to issue a warning to sanction her in any way, and the case was closed." In court, prosecutors revealed a child advocacy expert "expressed profound disgust and shock but found the defendant's action not likely to be injurious to the infant." "Unfortunately, despite the disturbing video the NYS Department of Licensing found the defendant did not act with gross negligence. As such, we could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt," the Suffolk County DA said. Burke's attorney said the baby wasn't harmed. "The baby was cleared, was not injured, did not even react. Did not even cry," Gottlieb said. "We are very upset with this disgusting situation and decision... about my grandson and this awful woman still working as a caregiver," the baby's grandmother said. "She's a great nurse. She's a great person," Gottlieb said. "I never questioned myself. Things happen in the hospital every day," Burke said. Good Samaritan Hospital, which fired Burke within hours of the incident, said she is no longer working at any Catholic health facility. She retains her license is working as a registered nurse. Christian Cooper, the "Extraordinary Birder" "James" author Percival Everett on race, language and art Doris Kearns Goodwin on "An Unfinished Love Story" MESA, Ariz. (AP) The Chicago Cubs released reliever Carl Edwards Jr. and infielder Dominic Smith on Sunday. Edwards and Smith were in camp on minor league contracts. The 32-year-old Edwards was trying to make the Cubs roster again after he broke into the majors with the team in 2015. He spent the last two years with Washington, going 7-6 with four saves and a 3.07 ERA in 89 appearances. Read more: Latest Chicago news headline Edwards missed most of last season after he was placed on the injured list in June with right shoulder inflammation. But he looked healthy in spring training, posting a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings over seven appearances. Smith played for Washington last season, hitting .254 with 12 homers and 46 RBIs in a career-best 153 games. He batted .346 (9 for 26) in nine Cactus League games with Chicago this year. The Cubs have 34 players 16 pitchers, four catchers, seven infielders, six outfielders and one infielder/outfielder left in major league camp. They visit Texas on Thursday for opening day. ___ AP MLB: apnews.com/hub/mlb For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. Air Force Airman and Chickasaw citizen Kennedy D. St. Clair was recently named 2023 Tinker Air Force Base Airman of the Year. The former Ada, Oklahoma, resident is an Air Force outbound assignment technician at the Oklahoma City Air Force base. In this role, St. Clairs duties include processing permanent change of station orders across seven of the 10 U.S. major commands, five wings and 77 squadrons, providing support to 26,000 military and civilian personnel. It is a big job. Her Air Force biography says she manages ten assignment personnel systems to ensure accuracy and serves as the central figure in the outbound assignments section for both Air Force Material Command and Air Commandant Command at Tinker AFB. Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. In addition to her day job, St. Clair carves out time to perform volunteer work. In fact, she says it may have been this aspect of her life that helped her achieve Airman of the Year honors. She devoted 300 hours to lead 21 airmen at five events that raised $1,300 for morale-raising efforts. This earned her 27th Special Operations Wing (SOW) Air Force Sergeants Associate Chapters Airman of the Quarter recognition. St. Clair also donated her time to serve as treasurer of the bases booster club. She was selected by the 27th SOW leadership as their Wing Training Day committee lead, in which she instilled social resiliency for more than 5,000 airmen within 26 squadrons. The Air Force defines social resiliency as the ability to withstand, recover, and grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. The number of times St. Clair has moved since joining the military (three times in five years) might be enough to test most peoples ability to withstand, recover and grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. Following basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas in December 2019, she was sent to Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi. In February of the following year, she was moved to Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. In May 2023, she was transferred again to her current assignment at Tinker Air Force Base. St. Clair says the structured military life suits her well as do her duties working in Tinkers personnel department. The job fits me, she said. It gives me an opportunity for growth, both professionally and personally. My job is human resources related. I out process people who are changing duty stations. There are five or six different sections in personnel I can work in so there are definitely a lot of areas for growth. St. Clair is aiming to complete her undergraduate work in business administration, looking at it as a benefit in her current position as well as a roadmap to possible future opportunities. It helps with my job and as a backup plan to perhaps one day use it working with the Chickasaw Nation, she said. St. Clair is the granddaughter of Adam Walker, the first recipient of the Silver Feather Award in 1999, and Viola Walker. (Bloomberg) -- Chinas increasing use of water cannons in the South China Sea is testing the limits of a decades-old defense pact between the Philippines and the US. Most Read from Bloomberg China Coast Guard ships took turns firing forceful jets of water onto a wooden Philippines supply boat in the disputed ocean on the morning of March 23, the latest in at least six incidents in eight months. The two nations traded diplomatic protests on Monday, with Manila complaining against Chinas aggressive actions at sea and Beijing accusing the Philippine vessels of illegal trespassing. While the use of water cannons is unlikely to draw the US into direct conflict, it skirts closer to the boundary of what may be considered an armed attack, which would compel Washington to come to the Philippines aid. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told Bloomberg News on March 19 that his country would have to be facing an existential threat to merit invoking the treaty, stressing how the Philippines has been trying to deal with Chinas aggression in a sober and circumspect manner, as we possibly can. The latest encounter between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea was witnessed by a group of journalists including from Bloomberg News on a trip arranged by the Philippine Coast Guard. Two China Coast Guard ships and two militia vessels surrounded the Philippine boat thats on a mission to rotate and resupply troops at a rusty warship in Second Thomas Shoal. Outmatched by its rivals, the boat tried for four hours to elude its adversaries in another tense cat-and-mouse chase in the vast sea where the two nations have overlapping claims. The initial onslaught of high-velocity stream of water hit the sea surface but the succeeding bursts struck the fragile body of the wooden boat the same vessel that survived a similar ordeal on March 5. The weekend confrontation between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea shows how China has leaned on water cannons to counter the Philippines growing assertiveness in the contested waters. The escalating tensions have also prompted the US to reaffirm its commitment to defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack as stipulated in their 1951 defense treaty. Filipino journalists witnessed the scene on board a Philippine Coast Guard vessel, as another Chinese ship tried to block the view. After almost an hour, the forceful water spray stopped. The skirmish injured three Philippine crew members and disabled the supply boat, according to the nations government. The boats window covers were ripped, some wood panels on its body were detached, and a part of its roof appeared to have caved in under the pressure from the blow of high-speed and strong water pressure. Bloomberg News saw the injury that the supply boat sustained, when the vessel returned to mainland Palawan province on Sunday. Chinas dangerous moves including water cannon attacks have damaged other Philippine boats in the past months, pushing the nations modest maritime assets to their limits. Marcoss government has taken a more assertive stance on the maritime spat with China by protesting and publicizing what it describes as Beijings harassment. The Philippine leader said last week that the nations increased activity was a response to an increasing threat, while reiterating the country doesnt accept Chinas sweeping sea claims dashed by a 2016 arbitral ruling. The Chinese coast guard had to take necessary law enforcement measures and the actions taken on the scene were justified, lawful, professional, restrained and beyond reproach, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday. If the Philippines does not change course, China will continue to take resolute steps to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. New Normal Chinas use of water cannon is part of its so-called gray zone tactics, said Professor Jeffrey Ordaniel from Tokyo International University. The mutual defense treaty is triggered when there is armed attack against Philippine forces. Was there an armed attack? That is the question. Its gray, he said. The US State Department criticized Chinas destabilizing actions in a statement over the weekend, accusing Beijing of obstructing freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. When you talk about the mutual defense treaty, to invoke that, actual outright violent conflict, then this is a very, very dangerous, very, very slippery road to go down, Marcos said last week. While the US has been very supportive, the Philippine president said it is dangerous for one to think in terms of when something goes wrong, well run to big brother. Stretching from China in the north to Indonesia in the south, the South China Sea encompasses 1.4 million square miles (3.6 million square kilometers) and is a key route for around $3 trillion in annual trade traffic. Its also a thriving fishing area yielding some 10% of the global catch and holds promising oil and natural gas reserves. Despite Chinas increasing use of water cannon to counter the Philippines, both countries are trying to keep their confrontations under the threshold of a military conflict, according to Professor Alexander Vuving from the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. No bullet has been shot but China is trying to make the blasting of water cannon against the Philippines a new normal, he said. --With assistance from Cliff Venzon and James Mayger. (Updates with details throughout.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. A band of hackers sent a years-long barrage of malicious e-mails to U.S. politicians, government officials, and private companies as part of a Chinese espionage and intelligence operation, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said. The feds on Monday announced the indictment of seven members of a Chinese state-run hacking operation, known in the cyber security community as Advanced Persistent Threat 31, running out of Wuhan since 2010. The indicted suspects all live in China, and have not been arrested by U.S. law enforcement agents. The group sent tens of thousands of phishing e-mails to government and political officials in the U.S., as well as their family members and other contacts, usually pretending to be from prominent American journalists, according to the indictment. The e-mails had links to what looked like real news articles, but opening the e-mail would activate a tracking link, sending location, device and network data back to a server controlled by the hackers. Theyd then use that info to target home routers and electronic devices, the feds allege. This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday. The targets included White House officials and their spouses, officials with the departments of Justice, Commerce, Treasury and State, and senators from both parties across 10 states. The hackers also tried their e-mail schemes on defense contractors, political strategists, commentators and advocates, according to the feds. In May 2020, the hackers targeted staffers for a presidential campaign the indictment wouldnt say which campaign and sent out tracking e-mails to more political campaigns that November, the feds allege. Dissidents critical of the Chinese government and their supporters also found themselves in the hackers crosshairs, the feds said. They also used custom malware and zero-day exploits, so named because they take advantage of security vulnerabilities before software and electronics manufacturers realize they exist to hack into the computers of a wide range of private companies including defense contractors, telecommunications firms, law offices and a New York-based apparel company, according to the feds. The hacks often came in response to world events, such as a 2018 U.S. tariff on imported steel, and when members of the Hong Kong democracy movement were nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. The defendants, Ni Gaobin, 38, Weng Ming, 37, Cheng Feng, 34, Peng Yaowen, 38, Sun XIaohui, 38, Xiong Wang, 35, and Zhao Guangzong, 38, are charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Oliver Dowden told the Commons that any hostile cyber activity directed towards UK parliamentarians was 'completely unacceptable' - AFP The US and UK have exposed a global Chinese hacking plot that targeted White House staff and the state department as well as British MPs and the Electoral Commission. Washington and London announced sanctions on two individuals and one company linked to APT31, a China state-affiliated group, in response to cyber attacks that endangered national security. The attack on the commission, the UK electoral watchdog, was identified in October 2022, but the hackers had first been able to access the commissions systems for more than a year since August 2021. It exposed the personal data of 40 million voters as the commission held the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters. It also emerged that a group of MPs and peers with hawkish views on China had been spied on by Beijing. They were among 43 parliamentary email accounts targeted with malicious tracking links. Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, told the Commons that any hostile cyber activity directed towards UK parliamentarians was completely unacceptable and said the two attacks demonstrated a clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signals hostile intent from China. But his announcement sparked a backlash among some MPs who felt the sanctions did not go far enough. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of the MPs spied on, said his statement was like an elephant giving birth to a mouse and called for China to be officially labelled a threat to Britain. Robert Jenrick, a former minister, called the Governments response feeble, saying: The Government clearly is not holding China to account for their attack on our democracy. Taking three years to sanction two individuals and a small company is derisory. This feeble response will only embolden China to continue its aggression towards the UK. Suella Braverman, a former home secretary, said it was abundantly clear that China was a hostile state posing an unprecedented threat to national security. She said there was a compelling case to add it to the foreign influence registration scheme. Washington said a wide range of high-ranking US government officials and their advisers, integral to US national security had been targeted, including staff at the White House and the Department of State. The list also featured members of Congress, including both Democrat and Republican senators, the United States Naval Academy and the United States Naval War Colleges China Maritime Studies Institute. The Department of Justice charged seven Chinese nationals connected with APT 31, who it said had spent approximately 14 years targeting US and foreign critics, businesses and political officials in furtherance of the PRCs economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives. Top left to right: Ni Gaobin; Weng Ming; and Cheng Feng. Bottom left to right: Peng Yaowen; Sun Xiaohui; Xiong Wang; and Zhao Guangzong Announcing the charges, the department said the case revealed Chinas vast illegal hacking operation, which targeted sensitive data from American journalists, academics and companies as well as government officials. New Zealands government said it had raised concerns on Tuesday with Beijing about its involvement in a state-sponsored cyber hack on its parliament in 2021, which was uncovered by the countrys intelligence services. Washington announced that it had sanctioned the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Limited (Wuhan XRZ), which it said was a front company for the Chinese ministry of state security and had served as cover for multiple malicious cyber operations. Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, two Chinese nationals affiliated with Wuhan XRZ, were also designated for their roles in malicious cyber operations that were responsible for directly endangering US national security. Sophisticated hacking techniques The Department of Justice said APT31 was part of a cyber espionage programme run by the ministry of state securitys Hubei state security department, located in the city of Wuhan, and that the seven defendants targeted networks, email accounts, cloud storage accounts and telephone call records, with some surveillance of compromised email accounts lasting many years. The group operated by sending more than 10,000 malicious emails to targets, purporting to be from prominent news outlets or journalists. They contained hidden tracking links that, once opened, would reveal the targets location, IP address and devices to the hackers. Once the targets had opened the emails, the group used sophisticated hacking techniques to gain access to personal data, the department said. Foreign Office officials said the majority of MPs and peers who were spied on by Beijing were prominent in calling out the malign activity of China. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, said Parliaments security department identified and successfully mitigated the cyber attacks before any accounts could be compromised. On Monday, it emerged that Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, has called in Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, for a dressing down over the attacks. The NCSC will publish new guidance for organisations involved in co-ordinating elections, such as local authorities, which will advise officials on how they can step up the protection of their electoral management systems against cyber hacks. Earlier on Monday, Sir Iain said China critics would not be bullied into silence as he compared the Wests approach toward Beijing with 1930s appeasement. Britain has been too passive towards Chinas overseas influence and has turned a blind eye to its malign activities, the former Conservative leader said. He spoke at a press conference in Westminster alongside Tim Loughton, a former minister, and Stewart McDonald, a Scottish National Party MP. Sir Iain Duncan Smith said Britain had been 'too passive' towards China's overseas influence Sir Iain, who has been sanctioned by Beijing, said: Together with other Members of Parliament, activists and dissidents, we have been subjected to harassment, impersonation, and attempted hacking from China for some time. Neither we, nor other parliamentary colleagues, will be bullied into silence by Beijing. For years the behaviour of the Chinese government has gone unchecked. We have been too passive as Beijings overseas influence operations have rapidly expanded, turning a blind eye to what the intelligence and security committee termed penetration of every sector of the UK economy. We need to be much stronger and tougher. The lesson we learnt from the 1930s, appeasement never works if you are strong, and you tell them what is wrong and you tell them you are not going to put up with it, then eventually they will probably back down. But if you dont, they just keep taking advantage of you and that is our biggest problem. Chinese embassy: Accusations groundless Sir Iain said he found it incredible that there was still a debate within the Government over whether or not China will be in the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme. Still, the UK has yet to impose a single sanction upon officials responsible for the destruction of freedoms in Hong Kong, despite the UK being one of the two duty bearers, with China, under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, he said. The United States, by contrast, has sanctioned over 40. We must now enter a new era of relations with China, dealing with the contemporary Chinese Communist Party as it really is, not as we hoped it would become. Todays announcement should mark a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for values, human rights, and the international rules based system, upon which we all depend. The Chinese embassy in London described the accusations of hacking by the UK as groundless and completely unfounded, saying a serious demarche had been issued to British diplomats in response. The UKs hype-up of the so-called Chinese cyber attacks, without basis, and the announcement of sanctions is outright political manipulation and malicious slander, it said. The UK falsely accused China of attempting to interfere with UK democracy. This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. This is also a typical example of a thief crying catch thief. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. TechCrunch Amazon, Microsoft and Google have relaxed their egress fees, which are a tax of sorts that the cloud companies charge customers to move their data to another vendor. Its a way to keep existing customers in the fold, but its kind of a ham-handed way to do it, and doesnt exactly foster goodwill. For example, there are limits to the kind of data you can move, and each requires you to contact the vendor and open a request to get your own data out of the cloud. Eleven men, most from the Wiregrass area, face a raft of human trafficking and other charges resulting from a cyber sting operation conducted by Dothan police and Covenant Rescue Group March 21 and 22. Investigators from the Criminal Investigations Division and Covenant Rescue Group had online chats with people looking for illicit sexual activities. Covenant Rescue Group (CRG) is an organization that supports law enforcement agencies in the investigation and prosecution of child exploitation/human trafficking cases at both the state and federal levels. During the operation, several conversations took place with suspects attempting to meet the underage juveniles for the purpose of unlawful sexual contact. The 11men in custody agreed to meet, leading to their arrests on 37 felony charges and 2 misdemeanor charges including first-degree human trafficking, electronic solicitation of a child, and traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act. The suspects were taken into custody upon their arrival and are being held without bond. Those charged are: Judah Jabez Davis, 19, of Dothan Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Jeremy Alexander Critten, 32, of Dothan Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Jermaine Sanquil Smith, 32, of Troy Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Kyle Leander Nelson, 35, of Highland Home, Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Chatwarong Srithanat, 29, of Dothan Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Thomas Dewey Fye, 60, of Kinsey Human Trafficking 1st degree (2 counts), Electronic Solicitation of a Child (2 counts), and two counts of Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Scott Evans Anderson, 63, of Toledo, Ohio Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Ray Charles Reed Jr., 40, of Arlington, Georgia Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Justin Lloyd Billings, 34, of Enterprise Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Carey Jamal Wright, 33, of Dothan Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Marijuana 2nd, Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act; Gilberto Roman Reyes, 35, of Enterprise Human Trafficking 1st degree, Electronic Solicitation of a Child, Attempting to Elude a Police Officer and Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act. More charges are pending based on the operation. The Dothan Police Department would like to thank Covenant Rescue Group, Homeland Security Investigations, United States Marshals Service, and the Houston/Henry County District Attorneys Office for their assistance in this operation. NBC News political director Chuck Todd isnt ready to defend his networks hiring of former GOP chief Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst. On Sunday, he made sure his bosses and everybody else knew it. Ms McDaniels hiring as a paid contributor at NBC News this past week was reported to have made a number of journalists at the network uncomfortable. As Meet the Press turned to its panel segment on Sunday morning, Todd vocalised those objections in a fiery admonition of NBC brass, whom he said owed moderator Kristen Welker an apology for booking Ms McDaniel as one of her interviews for Sundays programme. Welkers interview with Ms McDaniel touched on several topics including her leadership of the Republican National Committee (RNC). Her tenure as RNC chair came to an end this year after Donald Trump endorsed her removal following the South Carolina primary. Ms McDaniels time at the head of the party was punctuated by poor fundraising which trailed that of the partys Democratic foes in 2023 and left a number of state parties in dire financial straits. A year prior, Republicans saw a dismal showing in US midterm congressional and statewide elections. A number of high-profile candidates endorsed by Donald Trump lost important races for governorships and congressional seats leading to the GOP eking out a tiny majority in the lower chamber and failing to capture a minority in the Senate. Asked about those statistics and a description of her as a failure by an RNC member who spoke to NBC News, Ms McDaniel responded: I push back on that very hard, and went on to tout gains the party made with recruiting women and people of colour to run for congressional seats under her leadership. WELKER: One RNC member says 'you're a failed chair.' Did you deserve to stay on with that track record? McDANIEL: I push back on that very hard. The fact that under my time as chair we've had more women in Congress ever than in the history of our party ... pic.twitter.com/6YNL6aloaE Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 24, 2024 She took the role at the RNC shortly after the 2016 election, and supported Donald Trump publicly as he continued to spread lies and disinformation about the 2020 election in the wake of his defeat. Many journalists, especially on Twitter, have speculated over the past few days about the morality of putting someone who supported those lies on air. Todd was one of them. I think our bosses owe you an apology, he told his successor at the Meet the Press desk on Sunday. He noted that Ms McDaniel claims that she made her statements on those topics and others during her tenure on behalf of the party, not herself. [But] she still has credibility issues that she has to deal with, said Todd. He went on, with emotion in his voice, to denounce how Welker had been informed of Ms McDaniels hiring as a paid contributor only after the interview was booked. Its unfortunate for this programme that NBC brass handled the situation this way, he concluded. Quite a moment on Meet the Press this morning. pic.twitter.com/1RKvAq7mj2 Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) March 24, 2024 The co-hosts of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, joined in on the criticism of their network Monday morning in their first broadcast since the controversy began. The pair said that Ms McDaniel would not appear on Morning Joe in her paid NBC News capacity. To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage. But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier, Brzezinski said. And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. NBC News should seek out conservative, Republican voices to provide balance ... but ... not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier. And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. Morning Joe hosts criticize NBC hiring Ronna McDaniel pic.twitter.com/7PGz1X4B06 The Recount (@therecount) March 25, 2024 Ms McDaniel has not commented publicly on the controversy her hiring has caused among her new colleagues. NBC News has so far declined to comment. PORTSMOUTH The New Hampshire attorney generals Civil Rights Unit said it is continuing to investigate a Portsmouth assault case involving a former city police officer. In December, local bank executive Mamadou Dembele, a Black man, went public with allegations he was attacked and injured in the area of Gilleys Diner the night of Nov. 22, the day before Thanksgiving. At the time, Dembele said the words used by my attacker leave no doubt that this was a racist act in a statement shared by his attorney. New Hampshire State Police announced last week former Portsmouth police sergeant Aaron Goodwin and two others were charged with simple assault in connection to the incident. John Durkin, Goodwins lawyer, is disputing any perception the alleged assault incident was racially motivated. He pointed to the fact police did not charge Goodwin, nor the other defendants, with a hate crime when the counts were announced by state police last Friday, March 15. Sgt. Aaron Goodwin of the Portsmouth Police Department, is cross-examined by attorney David Eby while testifying in the Geraldine Webber revocable living trust hearing in the 7th Circuit-Probate Division-Dover in 2015. Durkin said the incident was thoroughly investigated by state police and prosecutors in Strafford County. I have no doubt that they left no stone unturned, Durkin said of the investigation on Thursday. After all that, in whatever charging decision they made, they chose not to charge it as a hate crime. What we can deduce from that is that there was no racial animosity on Aarons part in regard to whatever interaction there was between the two gentlemen. Goodwin, who is accused in court documents of throwing Dembele to the ground, referred a request for comment to his attorney. The New Hampshire attorney general's office, however, said a determination hasn't been made on whether anyone involved in the incident will face a civil rights violation. "I can confirm that our Civil Rights Unit is looking at this matter," said Michael Garrity, spokesperson for the state attorney generals office. Our Civil Rights Units has no new public updates, and where there are active criminal cases against these individuals, our ability to comment is limited." Garrity explained: "Any prosecuting agency can charge a person with a hate crime for the purposes of a criminal prosecution. Only the attorney generals office can charge a person with a violation of the Civil Rights Act, which is like a civil version of a hate crime charge. A person can be charged with a hate crime and a Civil Rights Act violation, with only a hate crime, or with only a Civil Rights Act violation. Each comes with its own unique elements." Dembele's attorney, Robin Melone, previously said there was no question the alleged assault was a hate crime against her client. She praised Goodwin's arrest last week. "We stand by our original statement. The facts in this case will speak for themselves when it is time. ... We know what happened." Details of alleged assault by Aaron Goodwin in court documents Aaron Goodwin has been arrested on a simple assault charge. New Hampshire State Police announced last week Goodwin, 45, of Eliot, Maine, was charged with simple assault, a Class A misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, which is a violation, stemming from the Nov. 22 incident. His brother, Kevin Goodwin, 42, faces the same two counts, while Shannon Goodwin, 37, has been charged with three counts of simple assault and a single count of disorderly conduct as a result of the alleged incident. Dembele is named in court documents as the victim of the alleged assault by Aaron Goodwin. Police have not identified who was allegedly assaulted by Kevin and Shannon Goodwin. Filed Nov. 30, a complaint narrative in Aaron Goodwins case alleges he knowingly had unprivileged physical contact with M.D. by grabbing him by the collar and throwing him backwards to the ground. Per the terms of Goodwins bail order, he cannot have any contact with Dembele, nor can Goodwin come within 200 feet of him. Goodwin is also barred from returning to Gilleys Diner. A second complaint narrative in Goodwins case also filed Nov. 30 alleges he knowingly engaged in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening behavior in a public place, to wit, Gilleys Diner parking lot, arguing and aggressively approaching bystanders. Goodwin turned himself in to state police last Friday and was released on personal recognizance bail. He is scheduled to appear in Portsmouth District Court for a hearing on April 22 at 8 a.m., according to his bail order. The arrest warrants issued for Kevin and Shannon Goodwin, both of Dundalk, Maryland, are non-extraditable, according to state police spokesperson Tyler Dumont. They can only be taken into custody when and if they return to the state of New Hampshire, Dumont said Thursday. The New Hampshire State Police have contacted Kevin and Shannon Goodwin and have requested their cooperation. New Hampshire State Police are continuing to investigate the matter and are not releasing any surveillance footage of the alleged incident at this time, Dumont said. Aaron Goodwin was fired from the Portsmouth Police Department in 2015 after being accused of exercising undue influence to get an elderly, mentally impaired woman to leave most of her multi-million-dollar estate to him. Portsmouth police were initially investigating the alleged Nov. 22 incident. The city police department requested New Hampshire State Police handle the investigation to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest regarding Aaron Goodwin as a former Portsmouth officer. Aaron Goodwin's description of incident differs from allegations against him Goodwin previously offered his account of the alleged Nov. 22 incident. "I was acting in defense of my sister in law," he wrote in a statement to Seacoastonline last week. "Mr. Dembele pursued her and I perceived him as a threat after he put his tray of food on the ground and got in her face. I pulled him away from her. There was nothing more. The entire incident is on surveillance." Following the incident, Dembele was seen in public using a cane and wearing a leg brace. "My physical injuries are still hindering me but will hopefully heal with time, his December statement read. The fear and fury of being attacked in my home community because I was seen as other will never go away. I am grateful that law enforcement is investigating, and I will give them space and time to complete their work. But I look forward to seeing my attacker held accountable in a court of law. Local and state Black leaders rallied in support of Dembele two days after making his allegations public. A protest was held beside the African Burying Ground Memorial Park with representatives from a coalition of Black and Indigenous people of color businesses and organizations, including the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, the Business Alliance for People of Color New Hampshire, Black Lives Matter New Hampshire, the Seacoast NAACP and the New Hampshire Center for Justice and Equity. Officers from the Portsmouth Police Department, analysts from the New Hampshire Information and Analysis Center, troopers from the Maryland State Police and the Strafford County Attorneys Office assisted in the investigation. Authorities ask anyone with information to contact New Hampshire State Police Detective Sgt. John S. Kelly at john.s.kelly@dos.nh.gov or (603) 679-3333. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Aaron Goodwin assault case: NH Civil Rights Unit investigating In March 2024, a Reddit post stated: "In 1996 Ukraine handed over nuclear weapons to Russia 'in exchange for a guarantee never to be threatened or invaded.'" As Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many readers online recalled the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, an important historical agreement signed by Russia, the U.K., and the U.S., that gave Ukraine security in exchange for the country's giving up its nuclear arsenal. Our readers sent us a number of posts about the agreement, including the following: How Ukraine Had Nuclear Weapons In 1991, the disintegration of the Soviet Union resulted in the creation of a number of sovereign, post-Soviet states that were also left with portions of the former world power's nuclear arsenal. Ukraine ended up with the third-largest cache of such weapons in the world, or around 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads. By 1994 Ukraine, along with Belarus and Kazakhstan, acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and by 1996 all the remaining warheads were transferred to the new state of Russia. But before reaching this agreement, Ukraine officials had misgivings about surrendering their warheads to Russia, which at the time had operational control over the arms from Moscow. They were concerned that by giving the warheads to Russia, the latter would reassert itself as a dominant power in the region. At the same time, the George H. W. Bush administration feared the collapse of the Soviet Union would turn into a violent conflict between nuclear-armed states, particularly as the administration observed the breaking up of Yugoslavia. The U.S. wanted to ensure there would be no increase in the number of nuclear weapons, which meant only Russia would have arms, a goal that extended into the Bill Clinton administration. What Assurances Was Ukraine Looking For? First, Ukraine wanted compensation for the enriched uranium in the nuclear warheads that could be used for fuel, which Russia agreed to. Secondly, Ukraine wanted the cost of getting rid of intercontinental ballistic missiles and their facilities covered, which the United States agreed to handle. Finally, Ukraine wanted security assurances, which was addressed in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. The very short memorandum had six basic points that can be read in full here. The key points affirm (emphasis ours): The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to respect the Independence and Sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. [...] refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind. [...] reaffirm their commitment to seek immediate United Nations Security Council action to provide assistance to Ukraine, as a nonnuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used. [...] reaffirm, in the case of the Ukraine, their commitment not to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, except in the case of an attack on themselves, their territories or dependent territories, their armed forces, or their allies, by such a state in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state. The agreement, according to this Washington Post analysis, was not an official treaty; it did not contain any binding agreements or enforcement mechanisms. Russia has breached numerous parts of the memorandum by invading Ukrainian territory during the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and more recently with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Conclusion Barry Kellman, a professor of law and director of the International Weapons Control Center at DePaul University's College of Law, told Radio Free Europe in 2014 that, "It is binding in international law, but that doesn't mean it has any means of enforcement." He added that there are numerous other treaties that oblige Russia to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity, including the U.N. Charter and the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) treaty. In November 1994, The New York Times quoted then-Secretary of State Warren Christopher who implied that the U.S. could intervene in a Ukraine-Russia conflict: These incentives probably include some type of military guarantee against Russian aggression -- something long demanded by Ukrainian officials -- and perhaps even an informal extension of America's nuclear umbrella. When asked if the United States now insured Ukraine's borders, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said, "The security guarantees do relate to that subject and provide assurance in that connection." These promises could inject the United States into the middle of a Russian-Ukrainian crisis over, say, the status of the Crimea, with America risking the safety of New York or Washington to protect Kiev. But in January 1994, when asked if the U.S. would send in troops to defend Ukraine's possession of Crimea in a dispute with Russia, he said, "Exactly how those commitments are carried out will have to evolve." Harvard University Research Associate Mariana Budjeryn told NPR that Russia "glibly" violated the agreement, and did not even attend a meeting of the signatories held in Paris after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. She added that some Ukrainians did express regret for giving up their nuclear weapons: There certainly is a good measure of regret, and some of it is poorly informed. It would have cost Ukraine quite a bit, both economically and in terms of international political repercussions, to hold on to these arms. So it would not have been an easy decision. But in the public sphere these more simple narratives take hold. The narrative in Ukraine, publicly is: We had the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal, we gave it up for this signed piece of paper, and look what happened. And it really doesn't look good for the international non-proliferation regime. Because if you have a country that disarms and then becomes a target of such a threat and a victim of such a threat at the hands of a nuclear-armed country, it just sends a really wrong signal to other countries that might want to pursue nuclear weapons. It is indeed correct that Ukraine held nuclear arms after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and then gave them up in exchange for security assurances assurances that were violated decades later. Sources: "Analysis | What the Budapest Memorandum Means for the U.S. on Ukraine." Washington Post, Feb. 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/01/what-budapest-memorandum-means-us-ukraine/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. Bandow, Doug. "LET 'EM HAVE NUKES." The New York Times, 13 Nov. 1994. NYTimes.com, . Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. Budjeryn, Mariana. The Breach: Ukraine's Territorial Integrity and the Budapest Memorandum. Wilson Center, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/Issue%20Brief%20No%203--The%20Breach--Final4.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. Budjeryn, Mariana, and Matthew Bunn. "Budapest Memorandum at 25: Between Past and Future." Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 2020, https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/budapest/BM25.pdf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. Kelly, Mary Louise, and Kat Lonsdorf. "Why Ukraine Gave up Its Nuclear Weapons and What That Means in an Invasion by Russia." NPR, 21 Feb. 2022. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1082124528/ukraine-russia-putin-invasion. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. Pifer, Steven. "Why Care about Ukraine and the Budapest Memorandum." Brookings, 5 Dec. 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/12/05/why-care-about-ukraine-and-the-budapest-memorandum/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. Synovitz, Ron. "Explainer: The Budapest Memorandum And Its Relevance To Crimea." Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 28 Feb. 2014. www.rferl.org, https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-explainer-budapest-memorandum/25280502.html. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. "The Helsinki Process and the OSCE." CSCE, 1 Feb. 2016, https://www.csce.gov/about-csce/helsinki-process-and-osce. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022. Police have given the all clear after investigating a suspicious package found on the main campus of Clark Atlanta University in southwest Atlanta. A Clark Atlanta spokesperson confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that the university sent an alert for their students and faculty to shelter in place until further notice. Channel 2s Brian Mims was at the scene, where two bomb robots investigated the package. Police have since said there is no threat. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS Fritz Manes lived an interesting life as a service member and a professional in Hollywood. He was born and grew up in the Bay area. He met a young would-be star named Clint Eastwood in high school. Manes moved on to UC Berkeley, got his Bachelors of Arts and joined the Marine Corps. He served for four years, with 14 months of that in the Korean War. Post-service, he worked in a number of different jobs including as a disc jokey in Oakland. By 1973 he had enough and followed his true passion, film. Manes got a job working at Malpasso, Eastwood's company, and served in a litany of roles. These include assistant to Eastwood, Associate Producer, Producer and Executive Producer. He served as an assistant to Eastwood on such great titles as The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Enforcer. Manes moved up in the world by earning Associate Producer credits on The Gauntlet, Every Which Way but Loose, Escape From Alcatraz and Bronco Billy. His responsibilities increased to executive producer credit which carried on for Honkytonk Man, Sudden Impact, Pale Rider and Heartbreak Ridge. He earned full producer credit on Any Which Way You Can, Tightrope, and City Heat. He also got to portray small roles in many of the films. He and Eastwood parted ways after Heartbreak Ridge. Some of his best work is in the following list, which is worth watching. 1. Heartbreak Ridge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo4ir1MtoI\u0026amp;pp=ygUYaGVhcnRicmVhayByaWRnZSB0cmFpbGVy Every Marine's favorite movie pastime is watching Eastwood portray the grizzled and highly decorated Gunnery Sergeant Highway in Heartbreak Ridge. Eastwood whips his recon platoon into shape, handles the arrogant brass with curt flair and saves the day just in time for him to have a cigar once the action is over. The film was made in 1986 and starred many venerable Hollywood working actors who can pull off portraying career Marines. The movie is set during Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada. Highway shows up, institutes some much-needed discipline and trains his Marines as a team. When they are called upon to deploy to Grenada they do so and bond further under the stresses of combat. Although not that well received by the real Marine Corps at the time of its release, the film has a cult following among service members and serves as a pop culture reference for one tough, old Marine, is that Gunny Highway? 2. Escape from Alcatraz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSS0fH9zzFY\u0026amp;pp=ygUbZXNjYXBlIGZyb20gYWxjYXRyeiB0cmFpbGVy Escape from Alcatraz has Eastwood cast as the real-life escapee of Alcatraz Island, Frank Morris and his accomplices are John Anglin (played by Fred War) and Clarence Anglin (Larry Hankin). The story begins in 1960 with Morris' arrival on the island. The movie builds with Morris builds making friends and pilfering key items to escape along the way. Morris partners with the Anglin brothers whereby they plot their escape. They make papier-mache dummies to act as decoys with using hair clippings from the prison barber shop to make them look real from a distance under the covers of a bunk in a cell. The crew also dig out the walls of their cells with makeshift spoons as the concrete had degraded greatly in the salt air of San Francisco Bay. They make a raft out of raincoats sewn together. The film ends with the open interpretation that the crew potentially escaped and left behind elements of their personal effects in the water to give the impression that they drowned. Check this one out to see Clint in a different type of role. 3. Pale Rider https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGzz3hh1jHc\u0026amp;pp=ygUScGFsZSByaWRlciB0cmFpbGVy Eastwood portrays The Preacher in Pale Rider in which his character is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Preacher rides a pale horse, which signifies him being Death. The film was the highest-grossing western of the 1980s. He shows up in the film as an exacting angel standing up for the oppressed. His character has bullet wounds on his back, which signifies the fact he is no longer a living being, but more a spiritual one. The Preacher stands up to a corrupt mining baron, marshall and the marshall's posse in the best, systemic gunfight showdowns in cinema history. In one interesting moment, when The Preacher is described to the marshall, the man jolts because the person being described to him is dead, someone he likely killed. A reckoning is coming for the evil millionaire and hollow lawmen in the form of Clint Eastwood. The trailer will provide ample details to the engaging story of the film. 4. Sudden Impact https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AnAgwxJk0Y\u0026amp;pp=ygUVc3VkZGVuIGltcGFjdCB0cmFpbGVy Sudden Impact is the fourth installment of the Dirty Harry series which was directed, produced and starred Eastwood himself. The film also starred Eastwood's love interest, Sondra Locke. The movie is notable for the famous quote written by John Milius, "Go ahead, make my day." Inspector Harry Callahan is forced onto a vacation by his superiors whereby he goes to San Paulo, which is the location of Jennifer Spencer (Locke) who is after the criminals who raped her 10 years prior. Callahan works to solve the murders in San Paulo that Spencer is committing, which are the rapists she has sought revenge upon. Callahan takes on his own brand of justice to help Spencer find her own justice against these criminals which leads to a showdown on the real-life Santa Cruz boardwalk at night. Check out the trailer to wet your renegade, tough-guy appetite. 5. Tightrope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOKXU7lQkYo\u0026amp;pp=ygURdGlnaHRyb3BlIHRyYWlsZXI%3D Tightrope hit theaters in 1984 with Eastwood as the star which was written and directed by Richard Tuggle. Eastwood stars as New Orleans police detective Wes Block who pursues a killer stalker on the streets of NOLA. He is a single father of two who has his hands full with life. Block investigates the grisly murders by the serial killer and comes to find himself and his family as the next targets. Action, suspense and great performances across the cast are of note in this neo-noir psychological thriller. An interesting person to watch for is Alison Eastwood, his real-life daughter, portraying his daughter in the film. Manes passed away in October 2011 at the age of 79. His film legacy lives on. CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) Homelessness is an issue that affects communities on the Grand Strand and beyond. Two Coastal Carolina University sociology professors, Stephanie Southworth and Sara Brallier, have been studying and advocating for those facing homelessness in Horry County for nearly a decade. However, Southworth said advocating hasnt been enough to change the communitys perspective and outlook towards people experiencing homelessness. Homelessness, affordable-housing shortage spark resurgence of single-room micro-apartments The first thing people ask me is, well, how many of them choose to be homeless? Its not about them being lazy. Its actually quite hard. Its very difficult to be homeless, said Southworth. To try and change this, the two created a traveling photo voice exhibit as a way to show the community from the perspective of those who are typically overlooked and misunderstood. Southworth and Brallier gave disposable cameras to people sleeping outside to take pictures of their day. They would bring them back to either Fresh Brewed Coffee House in Myrtle Beach, or Shepards Table in Conway. Each photographer was asked to pick one photo to be developed and write a quote to give insight into what the picture represents. The photo exhibit named Reframing Homelessness has traveled all across the country and shows what homelessness really looks like through the eyes and photographs of those living on the streets. This exhibit has gone a long way to change a lot of peoples perceptions about people experiencing homelessness, said Southworth. Whoever asks us to bring it, weve got it in carriable cases, said Brallier. The exhibit is sponsored through a grant from South Carolina Humanities. Southworth and Brallier co-authored a book titled Homelessness in the 21st Century: Living the Impossible American Dream. The book delves into their findings from extensive interviews and fieldwork highlighting various structural challenges faced by the homeless population in Horry County. Barriers such as lack of affordable housing, public transportation that goes far and frequently enough, jobs that pay a livable wage, and criminalization. Florida homeless to be banned from sleeping in public spaces under DeSantis-backed law A common misconception, Southworth says people believe, is that those experiencing homelessness dont have a job. Even people that are sleeping outside have jobs, and if they get arrested, they lose their job a lot of the time. Every arrest not only gives them a criminal record, but sets them back years. If you have a criminal record of any kind you are not allowed to be in public housing. she said. Southworth and Brallier said there are more effective and impactful ways the money Horry County is currently spending on homelessness should be used. Were spending money cleaning up camps, were spending money taking people to the jail, were already spending money. It would be much better for taxpayers if we were spending money to keep people housed, or to get them off the street than to pay people to watch them in J. Reuben. Numerous studies that show that it is more cost effective to house people than it is to let them live on the streets, said Brallier. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Professor McKendrick says colleges are directly linked to the fairer access agenda The man tasked with championing an increase in university students from Scotland's most deprived areas says "things really have to change". Prof John McKendrick was appointed as Scotland's commissioner on fair access to higher education a year ago. He said the Scottish government was not on track to meet its targets for widening access. And he fears college funding cuts could deny some students the "spingboard" they need to get to university. The government said "clear progress" had been made in recent years towards meeting its targets. It wants students from the 20% most deprived areas to represent 20% of entrants to higher education by 2030. Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has recommitted to an interim target of 18% by 2026. However, a recent report said progress had "stalled" at about 16.5%. Prof McKendrick, of Glasgow Caledonian University, said he was worried that cuts to college funding could further hinder progress. Colleges are facing cuts of 4.7% in 2024/25, a real terms reduction of 8%, according to spending watchdog Audit Scotland. This comes after an 8.5% real-terms cut from 2021 to 2023. 'Realise their potential' Prof McKendrick acknowledged the effort the government had made to maintain the numbers of students from the most deprived areas entering university over the past three years. He said colleges were important to the fair access agenda, allowing people to realise their potential or have a gateway to a university. And he expressed concerns that colleges had already announced cuts to the number of places available in the 2024/25 academic year. "There is a risk of courses being withdrawn, and there is obviously some courses that have already been withdrawn, notice has been given of that, so there's less range of opportunity for young people in the area," he said. "I think we all understand the importance of a college education. "It provides opportunities to young people and adults, returning adults as well, that might not otherwise have the opportunity to realise their potential." Joanna Campbell says colleges across Scotland are facing the same dilemma At Dumfries and Galloway college, which trains and educates 7,000 students per year, the principal has described the upcoming cuts as "devastating" to the local economy and students from deprived areas. Principal Joanna Campbell said: "For those students who wish to progress on to either higher education and can't get there, or need to train in a skill that allows them to go out and seek employment, we cannot provide the same volume of opportunities. "And that is absolutely devastating for not just this regional economy, but actually, every college in Scotland will be facing the same dilemma." As rural areas struggle to hold onto the younger generation, who tend to migrate to the central belt to study and often don't return to their home town, building enough affordable homes and providing local jobs are key targets to retaining young talent. Ms Campbell and her staff were trying to meet the need for more skilled tradesmen in the area, while dealing with budgetary restraints. She said: "We've really majored in a number of areas that are particularly significant to our regional economy to allow it to grow. "We're seeing, particularly in construction and engineering, over-demand for those subject areas. "And of course, if our budget remains the same, or is reduced, then it means that we are not going to be able to provide skills in those sectors, which are hugely important to our regional economy." Mitchell Hammond is studying bricklaying at Dumfries and Galloway College When Dumfries and Galloway opened its application for the upcoming academic year, the construction course was quickly over-prescribed. The college will now need to reduce the number of students it accepts to meet a 1m cut to its budget come April. Mitchell Hammond, 19, has completed three years of his four-year bricklaying apprenticeship while attending the college for a fortnight every month. If he could not attend a course locally, he would have to make a two-hour journey to Ayr. He said the course was "very important" to his future, adding: "It'll set me up for life." A spokesperson for the Scottish government said: "Clear progress has been made in recent years towards the target of 20% of students entering higher education from Scotland's most deprived backgrounds by 2030. "While this is the most challenging budget to be delivered under devolution, the 24/25 budget still allocated nearly 2bn to universities and colleges - supporting their delivery of high quality education, training and research." After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right to bear arms in 2022, several states simultaneously made it easier to obtain carry permits and much harder to use them. Once they could no longer require a "special need" before allowing residents to carry guns in public for self-defense, politicians in those states worried that residents would start exercising that right. Deeming that outcome intolerable, legislators banned guns from long lists of "sensitive" locations, making it highly impractical for people to legally carry guns outside their homes even after obtaining the requisite license. In contrast with "may issue" states like New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, and Hawaii, where licensing officials had wide discretion to deny carry permits prior to the Supreme Court's ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Colorado already was a "shall issue" state, meaning residents could obtain permits as long as they met specific, objective criteria. Colorado legislators nevertheless are taking a page from New York et al. by proposing broad restrictions on where permit holders may carry guns. Senate Bill 24-131, introduced last month, would ban guns from "sensitive places" such as parks, playgrounds, recreation facilities, zoos, museums, libraries, "public gathering[s]," medical facilities, banks, stadiums, amusement parks, bars, pot shops, college campuses, and houses of worship (without "express permission"). Violating these restrictions would be a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum $250 fine, rising to $1,000 for subsequent offenses. While the bill is still in the early stages of consideration, Colorado Newsline notes that "Democrats hold a majority in both chambers" of the state legislature and "can easily pass their legislative priorities." State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis (DLongmont), who introduced the bill in her chamber along with Sen. Chris Kolker (DCentennial), says it is "just common sense," because "we really need to have a designation of where it's OK to have a firearm and where it's not." Kolker likewise invokes "common sense," saying, "I am sponsoring this bill because my constituents are tired of thoughts and prayers in response to gun violence." Since Democrats frequently criticize Republicans who oppose stricter gun control for offering nothing but "thoughts and prayers" after mass shootings, the implication is that S.B. 24-131 would help prevent such crimes. But that expectation is highly implausible, since mass murderers are unlikely to be deterred by laws that notionally create gun-free zones. School shootings, for example, happen in settings where firearms already are prohibited under state and federal law. "Five out of six mass shooters choose 'gun-free zones,' and the bill creates many more of them," David B. Kopel, a gun policy expert at Colorado's Independence Institute, notes in written testimony against S.B. 24-131. That estimate is based on a 2018 Washington Post analysis of mass public shootings from 2009 through 2016, which found that 86 percent happened in gun-free zones. "The bill creates many safe zones where criminals can attack without risk of armed citizens being able to fight back," Kopel says. What about "gun violence" more generally? "Even the leading anti-gun expert witness nationally states that the 2003 Concealed Carry Act [which created the state's current licensing system] reduced violent crime in Colorado by 1.2%," Kopel says. He is referring to a 2017 study in which Stanford law professor John J. Donohue and two co-authors reported that the "effect" of Colorado's right-to-carry law on the "violent crime rate" 10 years after it was enacted was "1.2%." S.B. 24-131 specifically targets permit holders, since anyone who carries a concealed handgun in public is already breaking the law unless he is licensed to do so. Kopel notes that Coloradans with carry permits "are far more law-abiding than the general population." He says they are "39 times less likely to be arrested than someone without a carry permit." That calculation is based on the number of permits revoked because of arrests in 2020. Kopel adds that "data from other states are similar," indicating that "persons with a license to carry are very highly law-abiding compared to persons without permits." In contrast with the dubious public safety benefits of S.B. 24-131, its impact on the right to armed self-defense in public affirmed by Bruen would be substantial. Notably, the bill applies to "adjacent parking areas" as well as the "sensitive" locations themselves. It makes an exception for "firearms stored in locked containers in vehicles." But on its face, that seems to mean a carry permit holder who visits, say, a bar, a museum, or a government office would already be violating the law when he pulls into the parking lot unless he had previously locked up his gun, which he would have to do in a location that is not deemed "sensitive." Kopel describes the bill as "ridiculously overbroad." For example, he says, "it bans licensed carry from the entire parking lot of a shopping mall" if the mall contains a single "tavern" or "one small branch bank." He also notes that "a woman who goes jogging or walking in parks in early mornings would be prevented from defending herself." More generally, he says, the bill "guarantees that violent attackers will be safe from the danger of being shot by armed citizens, as long as the attackers choose to attack in the locations specified in the bill." A similar California law, currently on hold thanks to a preliminary injunction that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit allowed to take effect in January, likewise classifies banks as a "sensitive" location. The plaintiffs in that case, Carralero v. Bonta, noted that the state "provided no evidence of a single bank robbery or other crime at a bank committed by a CCW permit holder." According to the state's reply brief, that is irrelevant, because "the Supreme Court has never suggested that sensitive places restrictions must be limited to those locations where there have been crimes committed by a concealed carry license holder." Given that "there is no instance of a licensed handgun carrier committing a crime at a bank" in "the entire history of the United States," Kopel wonders, "what is the logic" of "imposing a prohibition, over-riding the decisions of many banks? What is the logic of prohibiting self-defense in every inch of a shopping mall parking lot just because the mall includes one small branch bank?" Under Bruen, in any case, courts cannot uphold a gun control law by weighing its purported public safety benefits against its restrictions on Second Amendment rights. The government has the burden of showing that a law is "consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." Courts applying that test to location-specific gun bans have reached varying conclusions. But federal judges in California, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York have deemed at least some of those restrictions unconstitutional under Bruen. And even the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which in December upheld several of New York's "sensitive location" restrictions, rejected the state's default rule against guns in all businesses open to the public unless the owner posts "clear and conspicuous signage" allowing them or "has otherwise given express consent." That provision "functionally creates a universal default presumption against carrying firearms in public places, seriously burdening lawful gun owners' Second Amendment rights," the unanimous 2nd Circuit panel said. "That burden is entirely out of step with that imposed by the proffered analogues, which appear to have created a presumption against carriage only on private property not open to the public." The Colorado bill, unlike California's law, does not include a sweeping rule like that. But the cumulative burden of its restrictions would pose a serious obstacle for permit holders who want to carry guns for self-defense in many quotidian contexts. Given Democratic control of the state legislature, Colorado Newsline says, "the most effective opposition to any gun law reforms will likely come from groups that challenge the legislation in court" under Bruen. Jaquez Lewis is unfazed by that prospect. The senator notes that resolution of Carralero v. Bonta "could take another one or two years." Although S.B. 24-131 claims its restrictions are "consistent with the second amendment," its supporters think waiting to see whether the 9th Circuit agrees would be reckless. "We didn't want to wait two years," Jaquez Lewis says, "because we know how many incidents of gun violence occur in Colorado in one yearway too many." Given the mismatch between that problem and her proposed solution, the logic is hard to follow. The post This Colorado Bill Would Abolish the Right to Armed Self-Defense in Many 'Sensitive Places' appeared first on Reason.com. Former President Trump speaks near a section of border wall in Texas in 2021. His plans for a prospective second term include using National Guard troops in mass deportation operations to seize undocumented migrants, transport them to camps in Texas and expel them. (Associated Press ) Former President Trump has focused relentlessly on illegal immigration as a centerpiece of his campaign for the White House, just as when he first ran in 2016. "They're poisoning the blood of our country," he has said of undocumented migrants, using language redolent of the racist doctrines of Adolf Hitler. He promises to launch "the biggest domestic deportation campaign in American history" on Day One of his new presidency. His chief immigration advisor, Santa Monica-born Stephen Miller, has spelled out what that would mean: Trump would assemble a giant force including National Guard troops to seize undocumented migrants, transport them to camps in Texas and expel them. "A very conservative estimate would say about 10 million," Miller told pro-Trump talk show host Charlie Kirk. If unfriendly states like California dont want to cooperate, Miller said, Trump could order Guard units from red states like Texas to cross their borders to enforce the law. Read more: Column: Trump has big plans for California if he wins a second term. Fasten your seatbelts The operation would be as daring and ambitious as building the Panama Canal, Miller promised. That's a pretty bloodless way to describe a process that would uproot thousands of families, separate children from their parents and disrupt communities. But before we get to that, a preliminary question: If he wins in November, could Trump really do that? From a legal standpoint, the answer is yes. If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act and declares that the National Guard is needed to enforce federal immigration law, he could send Texas troops into California whether Gov. Gavin Newsom agrees or not, legal scholars said. We normally dont want the military enforcing the law inside the country; law enforcement is supposed to be provided by police forces that are local and locally accountable, said William Banks, an emeritus professor of law at Syracuse University. But the Insurrection Act gives the president sweeping authority. You could drive a lot of trucks through that law. Newsom would presumably file a lawsuit against Trump to try to block the move, but it would almost certainly fail. Read more: Column: Biden says America is 'coming back.' Trump says we're 'in hell.' Are they talking about the same nation? No state has ever sued successfully to stop a deployment of the Guard under the Insurrection Act, warned Joseph Nunn of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. There are also practical concerns. Most National Guard units are neither trained nor equipped for law enforcement missions. Tracking down undocumented migrants is complicated and time-consuming, Nunn noted. You need people who know how to do it, like ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agents. The Guard would resist that kind of mission mightily, added Banks. They hate this kind of stuff. They would be better suited to patrol the border to stand next to the wall, the fence or the river and discourage people from coming across. So if Trump listens to his generals not a sure thing he'd be more likely to use Guard units to bolster weak spots on the border and manage those newly built transit camps for deportees. Read more: Column: Trumponomics? He would impose the equivalent of a huge tax hike That would free up ICE agents for raids on Central Valley farms and Los Angeles sweatshops which is what immigration agents did in earlier crackdowns, including the offensively named Operation Wetback, which expelled more than a million Mexican migrants (and some U.S. citizens) in 1954. So legally, there may not be that much California can do. But the fallout in a state home to an estimated 1.9 million undocumented people roughly 5% of the population would be difficult to imagine. The human impact of uprooting most or all of these California residents would be gigantic. Many undocumented migrants are members of families that include legal residents and U.S. citizens, including children. Many are deeply rooted in their communities; more than two-thirds have lived in the state longer than 10 years, according to one estimate. When you harm the undocumented, you harm U.S. citizens too, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles. Read more: Column: Will 'double haters' determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election? Ive seen families devastated by the deportation of their loved ones. Ive seen families, when the father is deported, go right into economic ruin, Salas said. "The trauma for children, especially small children, is enormous. The economic impact of mass deportations would be huge, too. An estimated 1.5 million California workers, more than 7% of the states workforce, are undocumented. About half work in agriculture, construction, hospitality and retail, industries that already suffer from severe labor shortages. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said this month that the growth of immigrants in the workforce had strengthened economic growth. Its just arithmetic, said Powell, a Trump appointee. If you add a couple of million people to an economy there will be more output. Abruptly subtracting a million or more would have the opposite effect. Trump advisors aren't planning to stop at removing undocumented people from the country. Miller wants to go after some people in the country legally too. He has proposed expanding the criteria for deportation to include people with valid visas whose views, attitudes and beliefs make them ineligible to stay in the eyes of the new Trump administration. Read more: Column: Trump wanted to pull the U.S. out of NATO. In a second term, he's more likely to try The obvious example here would be all of the Hamas supporters who are rallying across the country, he said. An immigration task force organized by the conservative Heritage Foundation and led by a former Trump administration official proposed blocking Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to state and local agencies that refuse to cooperate with ICE enforcement operations, a standard that would presumably disqualify most or all California agencies. The task force also proposed denying federal loans and grants to students at universities that allow undocumented migrants to pay in-state tuition, a rule that would affect UC and the Cal State systems. It adds up to a recipe for a major collision with California, the state most out of step with Trumps determination to rid the country of undocumented migrants. None of this constitutes a defense of the Biden administrations policies, which have failed to deter thousands of migrants from crossing the border and applying for asylum on often-dubious grounds. Read more: California poll reveals how minor candidates could throw 2024 presidential race to Trump But its worth remembering that only a few weeks ago, Trump ordered Republicans in Congress to kill a bipartisan bill that would have increased funding for immigration enforcement and raised the bar for asylum claims because, as he admitted, he didnt want to allow President Biden to appear as if he was fixing the problem. When Trump was first elected in 2016, I wrote that on immigration policy, His bark may prove worse than his bite. I was wrong. He turned out to be dead serious. Trump's promises of mass deportations and detention camps should be taken seriously and literally, too. "If he says he's going to do it, believe him," Salas said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Former Congressman Dennis Ross, who's now a political science professor and the director of the American Center for Public Leadership at Southeastern University in Lakeland, released a memoir earlier this year about his journey into politics. The book is "Reaching Across the Aisle: Reflections on My Experiences in Politics." LAKELAND Generosity from two of Lakelands most prominent business leaders partly led to Dennis Ross aspirations to get into politics. As a young boy, Ross met with Publix founder George Jenkins and Florida Tile founder Jimmy Sikes about a program for boys he wanted to attend in Washington, D.C. Ross didnt have the money, so the two men stepped up and paid for the trip. Instances like that and the Lakeland community really helped shape my future and desire to be in the political arena, said Ross, 64, who was The Ledgers first recipient of the Silver Garland Award in the Citizenship category in 1977. The Silver Garland Awards are service awards given to high school seniors who have used their talents in specific categories to give back to the community. Those aspirations led Ross into a 26-year career in state and national politics that began in 1992 as a legislative aide. Over those decades, Ross tackled a diverse range of issues critical to Florida. A conservative Republican, Ross often had to reach across the aisle to find amiable solutions to Florida problems from constituents in the Democratic, Independent and other parties. Those experiences, ups and downs, defeats and accomplishments led Ross to publish his autobiography: Reaching Across the Aisle: Reflections on My Experiences in Politics. Published Jan. 16, the 149-page autobiography-memoir describes his rise and endeavors as a statesman in Florida politics from his hometown Lakeland roots where he was born and raised, to running his future wifes campaign for high school class president, to being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for four consecutive terms. Ross served eight years in the U.S. House two from Florida's 12th congressional district and six from the 15th district. From South Lakeland, where he lives with his wife, Cindy, Ross said it was the Lakeland and Polk County community that taught him what it took to became a successful and accomplished politician. Thats one of the reasons I felt compelled to write about this, because my community nurtured me into my aspirations for politics, he said. The son of Bill and Loyola Ross and youngest of five children, Ross graduated from Lakeland High School in 1977. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Auburn University in 1981 and a law degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Homewood, Alabama, in 1987. He went on to serve in the Florida legislature from 2000 to 2008 and was elected to Congress in November 2010. Dennis Ross talks about the influences that got him into politics as well as his 26 years in state and national politics in his new memoir, "Reaching Across the Aisle: Reflections of My Experiences in Politics." Ross retired from Congress in 2019 and became the director of the American Center for Public Leadership at Southeastern University in Lakeland, where hes a professor of political science. I was concerned about the direction of the country, and I didnt think Congress could save itself from itself, or the country, and I felt I needed to follow through with what I believed was important and that was coming back into the community, getting into education, he said, I knew that writing this book would tell my story and explain why its so important for us to be teaching and encouraging statesmen leaders. Ross who has two grown sons, Shane, 33 and Travis, 31 said he began writing his memoirs a year and a half ago, worked on it a total of about eight months, edited it and released it this year. Its available via Kindle online and hardcopy paperback through Amazon. Among the topics in the book was Ross' work to pass legislation for a high-speed rail authority 24 years ago, although it was voted down. He said he reached across aisle on that issue because Republicans werent supporting it. And that never happened. If it were followed through, wed have it today with less congestion and more opportunities for transportation in this state and in the country, he said. Ross also notes in the book how he lost his chairmanship of the Florida House Safety and Security Council and his position on the Rules and Calendar Council. Marco Rubio, who was then speaker of the Florida House, stripped him of the roles because Ross was one of two who voted against Gov. Charlie Crists property insurance rate reduction plan in 2007. He said that was devastating but eventually felt vindicated. Lake Wales mayor: Jack Hilligoss, a pastor, turns his church into a political force Another highlight Ross mentions in the book was time spent with former President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One. He said he was able to see a side of the man rarely seen in public. It was everything you could imagine being with a very ego-driven man who was incredibly friendly. He told some great stories to me, said Ross, who cites hunting and RV travel as some of his hobbies. As for those who buy and read Reaching Across the Aisle: Reflections on My Experiences in Politics, Ross said he hoped readers can learn to be the leader they want to see. I have a chapter called Critic to collaborator. It teaches how people can train themselves to utilizeimportant characteristics necessary to build relationships that help you reach across the aisle to seek resolution with people who differ from you. In June 2022, Ross withdrew from a crowded Republican primary for Floridas 15th Congressional District, citing limited resources and the number of other candidates as his reasons for dropping out. U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Tampa, represents that district. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Ex-Lakeland Congressman Dennis Ross writes memoir of time in politics There is something about getting older. We usually celebrate our birthdays once a year, at least until we reach a certain age. Then we seem to shy away from announcing it. I had lunch recently with such a person. A beautiful and highly energetic 69-year young individual. Upon discovering that within the next six months they would turn seven decades, I excitedly suggested a big birthday gathering. Not going to happen. They leaned back and shook their head to declare. It so happens that they wanted to slip quietly into the age of 70, like a whisper. Try 70 on, as if pulling on a coat one winter day that you arent sure fits you. The reason of course was, no announcements, no drawing attention to their upcoming age. It was explained that unfortunately, some didnt see age as the badge of honor I had thought it should be. Well, let me shout it as loud as one can! There is a church that has served the Dothan area soon turning One Hundred Years old in April. I know, that compared to those 700-year-old cathedrals in Europe, that is still rather young. However, in a country that is only 247 years old, that is a landmark age for any house of worship. It is my current honor to be the Pastor of this beautiful sanctuary, which is the second building of this church family located at 1401 N. Cherokee Ave. The Church Im speaking of is First Christian Church of Dothan Alabama. In April of 2023, we met the congregation for the first time. I was impressed with how the congregants served the Church in scripture reading and they rotated roles in shared communion each week in remembrance of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christs commands. My wife Isabelle and I are honored to be at First Christian Church, as the congregation celebrates this 100th year and crosses the threshold into their second century. We invite everyone to come and join us in worship and fellowship at 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Wednesday nights at least two times a month we have a small meal and Bible study together. Presently, we are going through Dr. David Jeremiahs Great Disappearance series. We will soon have our website, firstchristiandothan.org, up and running for announcements and contact information. To those of you who might be coming upon a birthday yourself, even if you are trying to keep it a secret, happy birthday! One of our members celebrated her 90th year of life this year. She still volunteers and is an active part of the First Christian Church family. She is a testament to what following the Lord Jesus Christ should look like. We march onward to whatever stage of life we find ourselves. It is my hope that as I near my sixth decade on planet Earth, I can enjoy a similar spunk in all my endeavors. Hope to see you soon, and bring a friend! Congress likes Ike. The Eisenhower Presidential Museum and Library is set to receive $17.5 million to upgrade its campus and exhibits, courtesy of the latest $1.2 billion spending bill that cleared Congress early Saturday morning. The project, which will make the Abilene campus more compliant with the American Disability Act, modernize the auditorium and visitor center and will improve the exhibit displays, was backed by Sen. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican. Not only is President Eisenhower Kansas favorite son, his influence and admiration for him extends around the world, Moran said in a statement. ...These new resources will help the library continue to be one of the leading Presidential Libraries in the country and bolster the Abilene community for many years to come. Moran was able to secure more than $79.5 million in earmarks in the most recent spending package. It comes on top of more than $160.7 million in earmarks that Moran secured in the spending bill that passed March 9. The millions Moran secured for the Eisenhower library were not his largest haul. Many of his earmarks, called Congressionally Directed Spending, were focused on Kansas aerospace industry. Kansas State University Salina will get $28 million for its Aerospace Innovation and Training Hub. Wichita State University and the National Institute for Aviation Technology will get $10 million for equipment upgrades. And the New Century AirCenter in Johnson County will get $15 million for its Air Traffic Control Center. There are other large money projects as well the University of Kansas is getting $22 million for its National Security Innovation Center. And the University of Kansas hospital system is getting $20 million $10 million of which will go straight to its cancer center. Both Reps. Sharice Davids and Jake LaTurner used earmarks to secure projects in the first funding bill. LaTurner secured around $22.4 million and Davids secured around $15.8 million for their respective districts. The two teamed up on $3.5 million to completely restructure the Kansas Avenue Bridge. My job is to advocate for the Third District in Washington and make sure the priorities of folks in our community are being addressed, Davids said in a statement. Our team worked in tandem with local officials and conducted detailed reviews of each proposal to ensure they met strong standards with a high return on investment. Missouri did not get any earmarks in the most recent spending bill because neither of its senators Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley requested earmarks. The recent legislation only included requests made by senators, not House members. So while Kansas received more than $269 million in earmarks for the 2024 fiscal year, Missouri only received $95 million, based on requests from Republican Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer and Sam Graves and Democratic Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Cori Bush. There was a temporary ban on earmarks between 2011 and 2021, after they became associated with corruption and wasted government spending. Even after earmarks were re-instituted with mandatory transparency requirements some Republican members still choose not to participate. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, has suggested that House Speaker Mike Johnson may put a bill supporting Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote after Easter, which falls on 31 March this year in the US. Source: McCaul in an interview with CBS Details: "His commitment is to put it [the bill] on the floor after Easter. And we are working on this bill," McCaul said. He dodged the question of whether this would happen after 9 April, when the House returns to work, but clarified that he would like "to be done as soon as possible." "If we lose in Ukraine, like Afghanistan, and lose to Putin, let him take over Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and abandon our allies, like we did in Afghanistan. Does this make the United States weaker or stronger? I think weaker," he added. Background: Johnson himself had previously said that the bill on additional funding to support Ukraine would be considered in the House of Representatives as soon as the issue of funding the federal government is resolved. On Saturday morning, the US Senate approved the long-awaited US$1.2 trillion budget a few hours after the government had formally run out of money to keep the government running. The document was then signed by US President Joe Biden, who also called on the House of Representatives to pass a bill supporting Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Support UP or become our patron! Constance Marten told partner Mark Gordon to lie to police about where he was when their baby Victoria died because she feared him being blamed, she told jurors. Ms Marten, 36, said she was worried investigators would "automatically blame [Gordon], being a black guy". She told jurors she was "exhausted" and fell asleep with the baby in her arms the night Victoria died. The couple deny manslaughter by gross negligence and other charges. During her final day giving evidence under cross-examination, it was put to Ms Marten by prosecutor Joel Smith KC that Mr Gordon was present and asleep in the tent the night Victoria died. Asked if she told Mr Gordon to say he wasn't there, she said: "Yes I am very protective over my husband, I feel he gets blamed for everything." She added "experiences Mark and I have been through with the authorities have not been good, and a lot of the time he gets the blame for everything". Jurors previously heard that Mr Gordon, 49, told Ms Marten to say to the police that Victoria had not died in her arms because she would be blamed. Ms Marten told the Old Bailey on Monday: "He advised me - 'don't say the truth on how she passed away'", adding that Mr Gordon was trying to "protect my interests". She added: "It's not that I didn't want to lie to the police... I don't trust the police." A nationwide search for the family began in early 2023 after their burnt-out car was found beside the motorway, near Bolton, on 5 January. Ms Marten has previously told the court Victoria died four days after the incident with the car, and that she felt responsible for possibly causing her baby's death by falling asleep on her. The couple were arrested in late February in Brighton, after a lengthy period moving around the country and sleeping in a tent. Prosecutors allege the baby died at a later date than the one given by Ms Marten, and say it was the couple's "grossly negligent and obviously dangerous conduct" that caused the baby's death. Wanted autopsy Jurors have previously heard the couple had four other children before Victoria. All of them were taken into care. Asked about the night Victoria died, Ms Marten said she was so tired her body had shut down. She continued: "I think Victoria passed away because she was so well-loved... I loved her so much I wasn't thinking of myself. "When I eventually got in that tent, I was exhausted. I didn't have time to let myself rest. "We went up and down to different hotels around the country... I didn't allow myself to rest." Ms Marten also told the jury that she had wanted an autopsy to be carried out on Victoria for her "peace of mind". She told jurors she hoped an underlying cause of death could be found, adding: "Was the onus on me? Did she pass away because I fell asleep on her?" "I wanted to say the truth because I wanted to find out how she died," Ms Marten continued. Ms Marten told jurors the couple discussed handing themselves in to police during the 53-day search for them, but feared the repercussions of being apprehended. She said: "If we're caught they're going to say 'where's our baby?' They will pile up charges, and they like to prosecute no matter how innocent I am." Asked by defence barrister Francis FitzGibbon KC if she had lied to the police about the circumstances around baby Victoria's death, Ms Marten replied no. Both defendants deny manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice, concealing the birth of a child, child cruelty, and causing or allowing the death of a child. The trial continues. (CONSUMER REPORTS) Car thefts are soaring, and its happening all over in larger cities and smaller towns. As thieves get smarter, so should you. Consumer Reports reveals some helpful tips to make sure your car isnt the next target. Its a list you dont want your vehicle to be on: The most stolen vehicles in America in 2022 were Chevy and Ford Pickup trucks, Honda Civic and Accords, and Hyundai Sonatas. The key to keeping your car where you parked it is to make it seem like stealing it is more trouble than its worth. One way to do that is to not leave valuables in your car that can be easily spotted from the outside and park in a well-lit spot to make your car less of a target. Remember those big clunky steering wheel locks? Police say they work because they make your car look harder to steal. The blinking red light of a built-in anti-theft device is another way to deter car thieves and it could save you as much as 23-percent on your auto insurance. For even more peace of mind, you may want to add a security camera to your home to help protect your car. One from Wyze performed well in CRs tests and costs just $50. Or a camera from Nest with an automatic flood light. Simply having a light that turns on automatically if anyone approaches your garage can really be effective in scaring away potential thieves. You may even be able to get away with a well-positioned video doorbell. If you leave the keys or your key fob in the vehicle and its unlocked, its an open invitation. Some cars come with GPS tracking systems like OnStar, that wont prevent theft, but they can help find your car after the fact. You can also add an aftermarket tracking system that plugs into your vehicles computer port, or have an integrated system, like LoJack, installed by a professional. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. James Guzman in a picture during a Zoom appearance at a hearing before his sentencing. For the fourth time since 1992, a man is facing a possible death sentence for the sword-slaying of a man in a Daytona Beach motel three decades ago. A Volusia County jury last week recommended in a 12-0 vote that James Guzman, 59, be put to death for killing David Colvin, a 48-year-old businessman from Norfolk, Virginia, more than three decades ago. The decision on whether Guzman will return to death row or spend the rest of his life in prison rests with Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols. A sentencing date has not been set yet. Guzman had been free from prison less than four months for killing a woman in Miami-Dade County when he killed Colvin. After a week-long resentencing hearing on Friday, a Volusia County jury voted 12-0 in favor of the death penalty for defendant James Guzman for the brutal murder and robbery of a Virginia businessman he chauffeured. More: https://t.co/Ffc6SCMNWJ pic.twitter.com/1YBh2TkKXN State Attorney, Florida's Seventh Judicial Circuit (@SAO7FL) March 25, 2024 Guzman inflicted 19 sword wounds on Colvin on Aug. 10, 1991, in a room at what was then the Imperial Motor Lodge on South Ridgewood Avenue. Guzman had been chauffeuring Colvin. But Guzman killed Colvin to rob him and had told his former girlfriend that if he ever robbed someone he would kill the person because dead witnesses can't talk, according to court records. Guzman stole cash and a diamond ring from Colvin. He sold the ring for cash and used some of the money to buy crack cocaine. Guzman was found guilty in 2016 of first-degree murder and robbery with a weapon in Colvins killing and sentenced to death. The jury then voted 11 to 1 to recommend Guzmans death. But the Florida Supreme Court in 2018 struck down the death sentence because it had not been unanimous. But last year, state law changed requiring only eight out of the 12 jurors to recommend death. Guzman's previous two convictions and death sentences in Colvin's murder were overturned on appeal. The jury spoke loudly with a 12-0 death recommendation, State Attorney R.J. Larizza stated in a release. We are one step closer to reaching a final disposition in a case that has eluded justice for too long. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida man faces possible 4th death sentence for Daytona Beach slaying CHICAGO A veterinarian and dog show judge based in the Chicago area has been accused of distributing child pornography and detailing plans to sexually assault his unborn child over messages shared online. According to a criminal complaint released on Monday, Adam Stafford King, an Elburn resident, allegedly used instant messaging platforms, while using the handle @pervchidude, to distribute child pornography. He also allegedly detailed plans to assault a child he was expecting with his husband through a surrogate in California. According to the complaint, King is a veterinary ophthalmologist, dog breeder and dog show judge who is known to frequently travel to dog shows around the country. Read more: Latest Chicago news headline Authorities say the FBI identified a suspect in New York City while investigating the online sexual exploitation of minors in October of 2023. After obtaining a warrant to search the suspects electronic devices, agents found messages between him and an individual in the Chicago area who was using the handle @pervchidude. FBI agents later got permission from the New York suspect to use his account to allow undercover agents to continue conversations with King. According to the complaint, while posing as the New York suspect, agents then engaged in several text conversations where King allegedly sent images and videos depicting child pornography, claimed that he had a large digital cache of child pornography, and said that he had sexually abused minors in the past. The complaint did not provide details on if the statements had been investigated and King is not facing charges of sexual abuse. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland In messages shared with the New York suspect, King claimed to prefer children in the single digits, the complaint alleged. Criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois alleges Adam Stafford King distributed child pornography and detailed plans to sexually assault his unborn child over messages shared online. King allegedly also told the New York suspect that he and his husband were expecting a child and went on to say that he plans to sexually assault the child after it is born. The complaint alleged that in the same text conversation, King also sent a photograph of a babys outfit. In early March, the FBI executed a search warrant at Kings home in Elburn. According to the complaint, despite multiple announcements by the FBI agents conducting the search, King was located by agents in the shower with his cell phone. King refused to be interviewed but provided agents the passcode to his phone and following a search, agents allegedly discovered several images that he had sent to the suspect in New York, according to the complaint. Teen charged in shooting, crash that injured 4 During the search of the home, authorities allegedly found a baby outfit that was consistent with a photo sent to the suspect in New York. Criminal complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois alleges Adam Stafford King distributed child pornography and detailed plans to sexually assault his unborn child over messages shared online. The complaint also alleged that after being shown an ultrasound photo sent to the New York suspect, Kings husband identified it as a photo of his unborn child that they were expecting through surrogacy in late March. According to the complaint, the American Kennel Clubs website had King listed as an AKC dog show judge and a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist. The complaint also said that King is a dog breeder who operates a Havanese dog breeding kennel called Askin Havanese. Other information about King that was publicly available detailed that he was scheduled to serve as a judge for the 2024 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. We have been made aware of the charges against Dr. Adam King, a spokesperson for the Westminster Kennel Club said on Monday. The American Kennel Club has removed his judging privileges, and his judging appointment at The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has also been terminated. The FBI said King was listed as a staff ophthalmologist at MedVet Chicago and the Ophthalmology Department Lead for MedVet nationally. A spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday night that King was no longer employed with MedVet. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. The Telegram app icon can be seen on the screen of a smartphone. The judiciary in Spain has temporarily blocked the messaging app Telegram nationwide. Fabian Sommer/dpa A block on the Telegram short message service in Spain has been lifted, the national court in Madrid announced on Monday. Judge Santiago Pedraz had provisionally lifted his blocking order first imposed on Friday, the announcement said. The judge was awaiting a report on Telegram that he had called for from the general commissioner for messaging services, it added. The block was imposed following complaints submitted by several media companies against Telegram for infringement of rules on the protection of copyright. Telegram could nevertheless still be accessed from Spain up until Monday. Consumer protection bodies in Spain, where Telegram has several million users, had criticized the block as disproportionate. Country blocks can in any case be circumvented relatively easily by means of virtual private networks (VPNs). Pedraz ordered the block after he had made repeated requests for administrative assistance from the authorities of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, where Telegram is registered, to no avail. The authorities there had not cooperated in clarifying the identity of the owners of Telegram accounts from which copyrighted content had been illegally distributed, the Spanish court found. The El Pais daily reported that Telegram regularly refused to provide information to the Spanish authorities. As the service protected the identity of its users to a greater extent than for example its larger competitor, WhatsApp, it is preferred by regime critics in dictatorships. But for this reason, Telegram also carries channels with criminal or extremist content. One of the suspects is being taken to court. Photo: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet Moscow's Basmanny Court has imposed pre-trial restrictions on four men detained on suspicion of committing a terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall on 22 March. They have been sent to a pre-trial detention centre until 22 May. Source: Novaya Gazeta, a Russian socio-political newspaper Details: Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda Saidakrami Murodali, Muhammadzobir Faizov and Shamsidin Fariduni were accused of committing a terrorist attack as part of a group. The investigators asked the court to arrest them. The prosecution also asked to consider the arrest of the suspects in a closed session. The court then closed the hearing. Men suspected of terrorist attack in Crocus Photo: Russian media Mirzoyev is 32 years old, a native of Tajikistan, and has four minor children. The man also had a temporary residence permit for three months in Novosibirsk, but it expired. The suspect pleaded guilty to the charges in full. Baza, a Russian Telegram channel, wrote that Murodali is 30 years old, married and has a child. Saidkrami stated that he was registered in Russia, but he did not remember where exactly. He added that he did not have a permanent job and he also asked for an interpreter. Shamsidin Fariduni was tortured with electric shocks by the Russian secret forces after his arrest. Telegram channels published photos showing him lying half-naked on the floor, with wires running to his groin. There was also a video in which Fariduni says that he was promised half a million roubles (about US$5,400) for killing people at the concert. The Ostorozhno, Moskva (Attention, Moscow) channel wrote that he has a wife and an eight-month-old child. The man worked as a building worker in Krasnogorsk and had no previous convictions. 19-year-old Muhammadsobir Faizov was brought to court in a wheelchair. He was injured during the arrest. Sota, another Russian Telegram channel, writes that he was born on 20 May 2004. The suspect worked in a barbershop in Ivanovo, but quit in January due to low wages. Previously: ISIS has called the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow Oblast their "most brutal attack in recent years" and posted photos of the terrorists. Their clothing matches that of the detainees whose photos were posted by the FSB. Background: A shooting incident occurred at a concert by the band Piknik at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, on the evening of 22 March. Reports said 137 people had been killed and 180 injured. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) stated that the terrorist attack was a deliberate provocation by Putins regime that had been anticipated by the international community. Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to the Head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, stated that Ukraine had nothing to do with it. The White House said it saw no evidence of any Ukrainian involvement in the attack. Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that a "back door" had been prepared for the suspects in the attack to cross the border with Ukraine. Ukraine's Defence Intelligence responded by saying that these claims are entirely devoid of truth. The United States has no doubt that ISIS was involved in the terrorist attack on a concert in the suburbs of Moscow on the evening of 22 March and had warned Russia in advance of the threat of such a terrorist attack. Support UP or become our patron! A court in Indias most populous state has effectively banned Islamic schools by striking down a law governing madrasas, weeks before a nationwide election that could further polarize the worlds largest democracy along religious lines. The Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh on Friday declared the Madrasa Act of 2004 to be unconstitutional, according to a court order seen by CNN, while ordering the state government to move students enrolled in the Islamic system into mainstream schools. We hold that the Madarsa (sic) Act, 2004, is violative of the principle of Secularism, which is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India, the high court said in its order. Since providing education is one of the primary duties of the State, it is bound to remain secular while exercising its powers in the said field. It cannot provide for education of a particular religion, its instructions, prescriptions and philosophies or create separate education systems for separate religions. Madrasas provide a system of education in which students are taught about the Quran and Islamic history alongside general subjects like math and science. Some Hindus also send their children to an equivalent system known as Gurukuls, residential education institutions where students learn about ancient Vedic scriptures alongside general subjects under a guru or teacher. The ruling can be appealed in the countrys Supreme Court. Uttar Pradesh is home to some 200 million people, about 20% of whom are Muslim, according to the countrys most recent census data from 2011. It is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has over the past decade made headlines for passing some of the countrys most controversial laws that critics say discriminate against Muslims and marginalize them in the secular republic. Fridays court order affects 2.7 million students and 10,000 teachers in 25,000 madrasas, Reuters reported, citing Iftikhar Ahmed Javed, the head of the board of madrasa education in the state. It comes weeks before a nationwide election - the worlds largest - during which an estimated 960 million people are eligible to vote. Modis BJP is expected to secure another five years in power, ruling an India that has become increasingly polarized along religious lines. While the Allahabad High Court order cited Indias constitutional separation of religion and state in its reasoning for ruling against madrasas, it is Modi who has been frequently accused by critics of dismantling Indias secular traditions. At the start of the year, for example, Modi presided over a landmark inauguration ceremony of a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a centuries-old mosque that was destroyed by right-wing groups in 1992. The temples opening, which was broadcast live by the government and hailed as a new era, was the conclusion of a decades-long campaign by Modi and his BJP party to pull India away from the secular roots upon which the country was founded following independence. Many Muslims and critics of the BJP have raised concerns that Indias secular fabric is also being eroded as anti-Muslim hate speech make frequent headlines and Muslim-owned properties face demolitions. The BJP denies it discriminates against Muslims and says it treats all citizens equally. In December 2020, the northeastern state of Assam passed a law to convert all Islamic schools to regular education institutions. The states then Education Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is now Assams chief minister, said it would ensure a right to equal education for all children and eases the path to higher education. Opposition politicians criticized the move, claiming it was reflective of hardening anti-Muslim attitudes in the Hindu-majority country. Senior state opposition leader Debabrata Saikia at the time said the law was passed by the BJP to consolidate more Hindu votes. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com CHICAGO A teen girl who Chicago police say never returned home from school on Friday has been safely located. LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland Officers did not provide details on where the teen was located or what led to her disappearance but said she returned safely. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. China Development Forum 2024 opens in Beijing Xinhua) 09:23, March 25, 2024 This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin) BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The China Development Forum 2024 is scheduled for March 24 and March 25. The theme of this year's forum is "The Continuous Development of China." Around 400 people, including experts from home and abroad, entrepreneurs, government officials and representatives from international organizations, attended the opening ceremony of the forum, which is being hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council. Chair of the China Development Forum 2024 Lu Hao, also the director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, presides over the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xin) Co-Chair of the China Development Forum 2024 Evan Greenberg, also the chairman and CEO of Chubb Group, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xin) People attend the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xin) This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows a panel discussion on "AI Development and Governance" of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin) Apple CEO Tim Cook (R) talks with Bai Chongen, Dean of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, at the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xin) This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows a panel discussion on "Promoting the 'Big Health'" of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin) (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) On March 24, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a phone call to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Azernews reports. On behalf of himself and the people of Azerbaijan, the head of state once more extended his condolences over massive human losses due to the terrorist act committed at a Crocus City Hall, to Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia, the families and loved ones of those killed and wished speedy recovery to all the injured. President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan strongly condemns this horrific act of terrorism, adding the country and Azerbaijani people stand alongside Russia and the Russian people during these challenging times. The President of Russia expressed his gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the condolences and solidarity extended. The heads of state underscored their commitment to continuing joint efforts in the fight against terrorism in the future. Fintech startups should prioritise building trust over breakneck speed, according to Hayden Smith, co-founder of the Australian share investing app Pearler. In an interview with The Business Of, a podcast by UNSW Business School, Smith argues for a more patient and careful approach. He emphasizes the importance of keeping a cool head, since failing fast can erode customer confidence in a field where financial security is paramount. Be patient. Dont quit your day job. You need to go all in on a start-up once you are the prohibiting factor in its growth. In the early days, its not going to be the fact for many companies that youre the problem, Clear communication around beta launches and other product experiments can help avoid perceptions of unreliability but in the business of money, there is always a risk. We release betas to our customers, and we tell them, This is half-finished, tell us what you think, and then well abandon some and well keep working on some. But you have to be really careful where you do that, says Mr Smith, whose company looks after $1 billion of Australians money. You dont know where the confidence signals will disappear. If someones trying to buy something and you give them a different way to buy it, and it doesnt work, if you dont explain it right, it makes them think, Is this thing broken? Is this thing poorly managed? Is it a bad team? Am I going to lose my money? Mr Smith told host Dr Juliet Bourke, a Professor of Practice in the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School, that transparency can help mitigate those risks. We dont have a massive legal team, we have no PR team, we barely have a marketing team. If we make a mistake, we email our customers and tell them what happened. If were doing something new, we let them know, he says. Mr Smith told host Dr Juliet Bourke, a Professor of Practice in the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School, that transparency can help mitigate those risks. We dont have a massive legal team, we have no PR team, we barely have a marketing team. If we make a mistake, we email our customers and tell them what happened. If were doing something new, we let them know, he says. Mr Smith also challenges the notion that founders need to go all in on an idea to get it off the ground. Pearler was founded in 2018 but has only been in the market for two years, having initially focused on generating awareness and leveraging media exposure. Be patient. Dont quit your day job. You need to go all in on a start-up once you are the prohibiting factor in its growth. In the early days, its not going to be the fact for many companies that youre the problem, he says. I worked full-time to pay the rent. I dont think I got a salary until three years into the company. If I went all in, like 40 or 50 hours a week, I would have run out of money and burnt out. Doing that full-time job, earning that money, helped me also pay for some things in Pearler, whilst we couldnt move faster. That was so important. The Business Of host Dr Juliet Bourke a global consultant and academic at UNSW Business School added: There is both great risk and great reward in the world of finance and tech, and Hayden gives a unique insight into the business of managing other peoples money on the frontiers of entrepreneurship. Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. (AP) An Ohio man who acknowledged making death threats in voicemails left for then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs during the 2022 election season has been sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison. Joshua Russell of Bucyrus, Ohio, had pleaded guilty on Aug. 31, 2023, in Phoenix to a federal charge of making an interstate threat against Hobbs, a Democrat who, as secretary of state, was Arizonas chief elections officer in 2022 and now serves as the states governor. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan commended Russell for undergoing substance abuse treatment and other counseling since his arrest and getting his life in order but concluded Russell must spend time in prison, saying he has traumatized people who work in the secretary of states office. The judge, who read Russells profanity-laden threats aloud in court, said Russell had accused the victim of being a terrorist, while he was threatening her life. He rejected Russells characterization of his actions as immature. None of these people deserved it, the judge said. I was looking for an outlet to cast my inner turmoil onto, Russell told the judge before he was sentenced. He hugged his parents and sister in the courtroom before he was taken away to start serving his punishment. Hobbs was not present in court during the sentencing hearing. The three voicemails left by Russell were among the countless threats made against Hobbs for her role in certifying Joe Bidens 2020 presidential victory over Donald Trump in Arizona and her responsibility in running the 2022 midterm elections. As secretary of state, Hobbs at times had round-the-clock security due to threats from Trump supporters who falsely claimed that his loss in Arizona was marred by fraud. She has described threatening phone calls to her office and said critics tried to get her husband fired from his job. Russells case is among the cases brought by the U.S. Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force, which focuses on threats of violence against elected officials, workers and volunteers to ensure they can oversee elections free of harassment. Earlier this month, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for making an online threat to bomb Hobbs office in February 2021 when she was still the secretary of state. In February, an Alabama man accused of sending death threats to a social media account for the Maricopa County Elections Department was charged with making interstate threats. And an Iowa man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for his conviction for threatening Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, both Republicans. In voicemails that began on primary election day and ended a week after the general election, Russell called Hobbs a traitor and made explicit threats, telling the secretary of state that her days are extremely numbered, she had just signed your own death warrant and she will either be sent to jail or we will see you to the grave. Prosecutors had asked the judge to send Russell to prison for 2 1/2 years, saying Russells threats caused deep fear and apprehension for Hobbs and employees of the secretary of states office and that election workers should be able to do their jobs without fear and intimidation. Prosecutors also said the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the crime and should serve as a deterrent against anyone making similar threats in the future. Russells lawyer, Jazmin Alagha, had sought a sentence of only probation, saying her client deeply regrets his actions, was recklessly expressing disagreement with the political culture at that time, was struggling financially and spiraling into a deep depression, and that his actions were driven mostly by his substance abuse problems. In a document written by Russell and submitted to the court, Russell described his situation at the time he made the threats, saying he was depressed and angry and that his drug use fueled his isolation. All I did was hide in bed all day scrolling thru social media and political forums looking at blogs or anything that could serve as an outlet for my pent up anger combined with all the pain I was suppressing, Russell wrote. Russell also wrote an apology letter to Hobbs, saying social media and news stories had become another addiction for him, but has since taken courses on anger management and substance abuse. I am truly sorry for my actions, Russell told Hobbs in the letter. Im not a violent man, I am a broken man. No one should be the target of such disrespectful behavior. Logan suggested Russell read the U.S. Constitution while in prison and appreciate that the United States has free and fair elections. The judge also denied Russells request for 45 days to get his affairs in order, telling him he had to say goodbye to his family. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV. The strike on the Russian naval base in temporarily occupied Sevastopol has caused communication problems on the Crimean peninsula. Source: Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Captain 3rd Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk on the air during the national joint 24/7 newscast Quote: "In fact, the situation for them may be even worse because a naval base is a structure that ensures the activities of the fleet as a whole. Therefore, it may be not only communications; it may also be supply, maintenance, repair, and many other issues that are handled directly by the naval base. So we will update this information again later, but as of now, we can say that yes, the operation was successful, the strike was serious and the damage is significant." Background: Late in the evening of 23 March, there were reports of cruise missiles striking the main communications centre of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol. Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, thanked the pilots and sailors for their successful combat work, adding that "Crimea is ours (Ukrainian ed.)". In the morning, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that the Defence Forces had hit large landing ships Yamal and Azov, as well as a communications centre and several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol. Support UP or become our patron! Although state law enforcement officials have cleared local police officers of criminal wrongdoing in the tasing death of Breonte Johnson-Davis, criminal justice experts who reviewed police camera footage say police were too aggressive in their efforts to subdue the man and that officers lacked adequate training, the Herald-Tribune has learned. Among recommendations national and state experts suggest for local law enforcement are highly-trained mental health personnel and new nonlethal weapons that other departments in the state have begun to use. The Herald-Tribune provided copies of police camera footage from the November tasing incident to highly-regarded experts in criminal justice research for their opinions regarding how police responded that evening. The November death of the Palmetto man has sparked renewed scrutiny of police practices, particularly concerning the use of Tasers. A Herald-Tribune investigation in January found that Palmetto PD deploys a Taser nearly as often as any other lethal or non-lethal weapon during use-of-force situations. Though the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) absolved the involved officers of any criminal liability in the death of Davis, questions have been raised by community members and family about the appropriateness of taser deployment in such encounters involving unarmed individuals with behavioral health or substance abuse issues. More: FDLE investigation finds no wrongdoing in Taser use, death of Breonte Johnson-Davis Video from Palmetto Police Department Officer Caleb Cottom's body worn camera shows Bradenton Police Department Officer Julian Jackson tackling Breonte Johnson-Davis shortly after Davis was contacted by Officer Cottom on Nov. 1, 2023. (Credit: Provided by Palmetto Police Department) Incidents like the one between Johnson-Davis and Palmetto Police underscore frequent calls from around the country for enhanced training to ensure officers are adequately prepared to handle high-stress situations without resorting to potentially lethal force, critics and experts say. Dennis Kenney, a professor at the New York-based John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former Florida police officer, discussed the Johnson-Davis tasing incident in an interview with the Herald-Tribune, adding context to the situations officers and victims encounter too often. I would say the police and the medical authorities were wrong and not notifying the family right away. So waiting until he, I think he said 10 hours or something like that until he died. That was, obviously I have no idea why it took that long, but that shouldn't have taken that long. They should have notified the family that he was he was there. A lot of times, family knows that the person has a problem, that they have an addiction or are mentally struggling. But in the same way that the police have limited choices available to them, the family does as well, Kenney said. A medical examiner's report confirmed that Johnson-Davis had methamphetamines in his system during his encounter with Palmetto PD. His mother said in an interview with the Herald-Tribune in early March that her son had been struggling with addiction in recent years. More: Palmetto mother, activist Tracey Washington dissatisfied with FDLE investigation His family may well have known that he was struggling and that he was having difficulty, but what are the options for her to be able to intercede? So, when we're going to look at policy and dealing with mental health crises, we need to look not just at the point where the police are dealing with it, but where everyone else is dealing with it beforehand in the same way that the police have limited choices in the middle range for force. Families frequently have limited choices in the series of events leading up to that encounter, and so we need to expand the range of options in both situations. After reviewing the body cam footage provided by Palmetto PD, Kenney said that the encounter between Johnson-Davis and Palmetto PD could be labeled as one with a middle-range use of force. Based on the body cam footage, he said its an example of how police are often ill-equipped and ill-prepared. Video from Palmetto Police Department Officer Caleb Cottom's vehicle camera shows Breonte Johnson-Davis on the hood of Cottom's patrol car on Nov. 1, 2023. He appeared anxious, he appeared disturbed, he appeared not in full control of himself, which is problematic for the police because they have limited tools. The ability to talk somebody down in that condition is pretty slim, Kenney said. For the past 50 years, Kenney has studied and trained in multiple areas of the policing and criminal justice industries. As discussions on police reform continue, the incident has become another focal point for families and advocates pushing for systemic changes in law enforcement training and practices. Kenney says sufficient training is a task in itself for most law enforcement agencies, though. It's very difficult for a small department to take an officer or multiple officers off the road for an extended period of time. Generally, they give them a couple of hours in training in talking somebody down, which really is almost the same as no training, Kenney said. Video from Palmetto Police Department Officer Caleb Cottom's body-work camera shows Breonte Johnson-Davis in handcuffs with taser prongs in his back after being contacted by Palmetto and Bradenton Police early in the morning on Nov. 1, 2023. Palmetto Police Department's response to resistance in tasing death of Breonte Johnson-Davis Body cam footage provided by Palmetto PD to the Herald-Tribune shows Johnson-Davis appearing incoherent and thrashing on the hood of Officer Caleb Cottoms patrol vehicle. Not long after, off-duty Bradenton Police Officer Julian Jackson subdued Davis by tackling him to the ground. Corporal Matthew Wilson observed the altercation before deploying his Taser two times into Johnson-Davis. He was then restrained in handcuffs and propped up into the recovery position until Manatee County EMT arrived on the scene. Video from Palmetto Police Department Officer Caleb Cottom's body-worn camera shows Breonte Johnson-Davis on the hood of Cottom's patrol car at 2:21am on Nov. 1, 2023. Palmetto PD Chief Scott Tyler contends that the use of force was within reason. I find it reasonable; its in our policy... it was to get him handcuffed and get him medical attention, Tyler told the Herald-Tribune last week. Tyler confirmed that officers in the Palmetto Police Department undergo Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and that the agency partners with behavioral health professionals from Centerstone Behavioral Health when possible. However, he echoed experts, noting that the training is minimal and typically provided when officers enter the police academy. Theres nothing anybody can do to help this man until he is restrained... Everyone is horrified by what happened, but it does change the fact that we have to restrain him. It was evident in the way he was reacting that we have to restrain him before it gets to the next level, he said. Palmetto police have been equipped with Tasers as non-lethal weapons since 2008. According to Tyler, officers have had "a whole bunch of Taser deployments" to subdue people in custody and added that there had not been an injury or medical reaction involving a Taser before Johnson-Davis died in custody. In 2023, PPD deployed a Taser on a subject 12 times, the Herald-Tribune reported in January. Tyler reiterated that the four Palmetto officers involved in the incident used force in accordance with department policy. Bradenton Police are no longer investigating the incident, according to a public information officer who refused to provide any additional information when questioned by the newspaper. Alternative options for officers The 'cracks in the system' can lead to deaths in custody, experts say, but new alternatives can save lives. Terry Nichols is a retired Texas police chief and advocate for non-lethal law enforcement tools. Nichols pointed to a 2017 Reuters investigation that documented 1,005 incidents in the United States in which people died after police stunned them with Tasers, nearly all since the early 2000s the most thorough accounting to date of fatal encounters involving the paralyzing stun guns. Everything we give an officer that goes on the belt is designed to put pain into the body. Just by design, whether it be a baton, pepper spray, a Taser, or a firearm. All the above are designed for pain compliance, Nichols explained. We can give officers alternatives that do not inflict pain. It's just getting people to understand this, and they just don't want to... and they don't understand the urgency and why society is expecting something different from us as a profession. Another pulled quote contender Nichols worked to enact change within his last agency in Seguin, Texas a suburb of San Antonio with a population of 30,000, roughly double the size of Palmetto in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. He instituted a body-worn camera program for officers at the Seguin Police Department and implemented the city's first full-time mental health officer position. He advocated for a non-lethal compliance tool known as a BolaWrap, a deployable and painless Kevlar cord that wraps around a persons arms or legs. The BolaWrap restraining system uses a blank pistol cartridge to fire a small kevlar cord, which is designed to wrap around the arms or legs of a subject and restrain them without causing injury. The system consists one-time use cartridges which are fired from a laser-guided hand-held device. A handful of Florida law enforcement agencies, the DeFuniak Springs, Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department, Pembroke Pines, and the Oviedo Police, have added the equipment to their departments. We have to embrace it as a profession. Not just the BolaWrap and tool alternatives, that's part of it, but just recognizing these situations ahead of time," Nichols said. "When you see someone in behavioral health or substance abuse crisis, or even at a level of agitation that can escalate, we have to be training the officers, yes in de-escalation tactics but it's also equipping them. All they have is what they have, and that's what we've had for years, Nichols said. Society is looking at us and they expect more out of us now. When your community sees the alternative technology is out there and the training is out there, these chiefs and agencies are going to have to answer some hard questions. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Palmetto Police too aggressive, lacked training in Johnson-Davis death Photos allegedly of one of the detainees suspected of the shooting at Crocus City Hall were previously published on social networks Shocking images have surfaced online, showing the alleged torture of a suspect detained in connection with the Crocus City Hall shooting. Russian Telegram news channels released the disturbing photos on March 24, depicting the man, identified as Tajik migrant Shamsiddin Fariduni, undergoing electric shock torture during interrogation. In the distressing image, Fariduni is seen lying on the floor, partially disrobed, while an unidentified individual stands over him, a sinister black object nearby. The photo's sensitive areas are obscured. Photo 18+ Russian Telegram channels The image portrays a "standard interrogation" utilizing a TA-57 military field telephone, a device infamously known for administering electric shocks, according to the Grey Zone Telegram channel, It details the harrowing process, where the device, emitting 80 volts, is connected to the victim's ears, genitals, or fingers, intensifying the torture with the application of water. In a separate but equally horrifying revelation, a video surfaced online earlier showing a suspect from the same incident being mutilated and forced into a gruesome act involving his own severed ear. Background on the Crocus City Hall incident: Several people on March 22 opened fire with assault rifles at visitors to the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, where a concert by the band Piknik was to take place. The shooters also set fire to the building. Recent updates report a tragic death toll of 137 individuals, including three children, from the incident. Read also: Putin finally releases address on mass shooting in Moscow, tries to blame Ukraine In the aftermath, Russian authorities have apprehended 11 suspects, hinting at a "Ukrainian trace" in the investigation, a narrative supported by the dictator Vladimir Putin and echoed across Russian media outlets. This claim aligns with the suspects' alleged plans to flee towards Ukraine. Contrastingly, Ukrainian officials, including the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Office, have firmly refuted these allegations, emphasizing Ukraine's non-involvement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the assertions linking Ukraine to the incident, critiquing Putin's delayed response. Read also: ISIS behind Crocus City Hall shooting in Moscow - ISW Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation proposed an alternative theory, suggesting the event could be a Russian special service operation aimed at framing Ukraine, potentially to justify further mobilization efforts. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence indicates the likely involvement of the ISIS terrorist group, a theory supported by ISIS's own indirect admission through published images mirroring those of the suspects identified by the Russian FSB. The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War also believes that ISIS is most likely involved in the shooting at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow Oblast. 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 23-year-old passenger is presumed dead after falling from the MSC Euribia cruise ship, according to multiplereports. Liam Jones, a social work student from Scotland, was last seen on March 16 while on a seven-day tour cruise from Southampton to Amsterdam with his family, the Daily Record reports. Jones wife, Sophia Mcphee, 20, told the outlet that Jones texted her right before his disappearance to tell her he was feeling seasick. Hes just gone. Im never going to see him again, Mcphee told the Daily Record. Im devastated. I have so many questions, and Im not getting any answers to whats happened. Mcphee told U.K.s Metro that Jones sister broke the news to her on the phone and explained that security camera footage showed Jones falling overboard. She said there had been an accident and Liam wasnt coming back. She then said she had seen CCTV and hed gone overboard, Mcphee recalled. But Mcphee said she hasnt been updated on the investigation since hearing about his disappearance. She told the Daily Record that the last time she had seen Jones was on March 14 when he traveled to visit family in Glasgow before they boarded the cruise the following day. Ive been trying to get in contact with the MSC since Monday, but its been a headache, Mcphee told the Daily Record. Theyre not getting back to me. MSC Cruises didnt immediately respond to HuffPosts requests for comment. Police reportedly boarded the cruise ship on March 22 to investigate the incident upon its return to Southampton, Metro reports. The cruise line suspects the man intentionally went overboard, Fox10 News reports. In a statement to the Daily Record, MSC Cruises said it is deeply saddened by the news of Jones disappearance. A passenger on board MSC Euribia was reported missing, who we believe intentionally went overboard, on 17 March as the ship sailed from Hamburg to Rotterdam, the cruise line said. The authorities have been informed and have been on board the vessel. We are deeply saddened by this news and our thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time, the statement continued. Out of respect for the familys privacy we will refrain from disclosing any additional information. Related... A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Trials And Tribulations Donald Trump faces a deadline of today to secure an appeal bond or hope for relief from an appeals court to forestall New York Attorney General Letitia James from executing on her $454 million judgment against him. MT KISCO, NEW YORK MARCH 22: The entrance to Silver Springs Estate is seen on March 22, 2024 in Mt Kisco, New York. NY Attorney General Letitia James has filed judgments in Westchester County against former President Donald Trump and his eldest sons Don Jr. and Eric, along with several of their companies. The move would place liens on all properties that belong to the former president, his sons and the Trump Organization. James would begin to seize assets from the former president if he is not able to post bond in the $464 million civil fraud ruling against him. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) For obvious reasons, folks are pretty ginned up about seeing some portion of the Trump biz empire dismantled piece by piece, but a few words of caution on what this will look like: Its going to take time. James may not begin the heavy lifting on collecting on the judgment until after an expected appeals court ruling later this week. But whenever she begins the process, its not going to happen in blazing fashion. It will happen at legal speed, which is somewhere between ponderous and bureaucratic. Dont forget about the debt. Many of Trumps assets, like many of your assets, are collateral for debt, so when you see talk about the multimillion dollar valuation of this or that Trump property, thats typically an estimate of the fair market value of the asset. It doesnt usually account for any debt or other encumbrances against the asset. He may be a billionaire, but hes leveraged, too. James will be strategic. Theres not much upside for James in going through an extensive legal process to force liquidation of assets that dont contain much equity. So dont expect her to willy nilly start going after all the high-profile Trump assets. But that doesnt mean Trump has skated in some way. Trump may have his name emblazoned on a building but it might be heavily encumbered and provide him with only nominal equity. If he even owns it at all. Trump In Court Today Well get more insight this morning on the status of the hush money case in Manhattan, which has been delayed in a pre-trial dispute over new documents provided by federal prosecutors from their closed related investigation. The trial judge is trying to get to the bottom of what happened in deciding whether to grant Trump even further delay. We might even get a new trial date. TPMs Josh Kovensky will be reporting from the courthouse in lower Manhattan. The Most WSJ Of WSJ Headlines Trump Is in a Race Against Time to Protect His Fortune On What Planet? These two paragraphs from the NYTs inside account of Attorney General Merrick Garlands effort to prosecute Donald Trump rattled around in my head all weekend: In trying to avoid even the smallest mistakes, Mr. Garland might have made one big one: not recognizing that he could end up racing the clock. Like much of the political world and official Washington, he and his team did not count on Mr. Trumps political resurrection after Jan. 6, and his fast victory in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, which has complicated the prosecution and given the former president leverage in court. In 2021 it was simply inconceivable, said one former Justice Department official, that Mr. Trump, rebuked by many in his own party and exiled at his Florida estate Mar-a-Lago, would regain the power to impose his timetable on the investigation. I really struggle to buy the assertion that the political world had written Trump off as politically dead in 2021. But I really dont know how anyone can say with a straight face that his future political viability was inconceivable at the time. Why Jack Smith Cant Get Aileen Cannon Removed Yet Former CIA attorney Brian Greer, who posts on X/Twitter as @secretsandlaws, offers a cogent and reasoned explanation for why it is still premature for Special Counsel Jack Smith to try to seek the removal of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon from the Mar-a-Lago case. The Mystery Of Paul Manafort TPMs Josh Kovensky, who has covered Paul Manafort from Kyiv to NYC, on what we still dont know about his various misdeeds and murky schemes. Oh NYT: Jeff Yass, the billionaire Wall Street financier and Republican megadonor who is a major investor in the parent company of TikTok, was also the biggest institutional shareholder of the shell company that recently merged with former President Donald J. Trumps social media company. Budget War Of 2023 Is Finally Over Nearly six months into the current fiscal year, a budget for 2024 is finally at hand thanks mostly to House Democrats who helped Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) get the final budget bill of last year through on Friday. A total of 112 Republicans voted no on the minibus including eight committee chairs compared to just 101 supporting the measure, Punchbowl noted. The Senate passed the bill after midnight early Saturday, nominally after the shutdown deadline but with little real impact. Sucker Punched Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) surprised party leaders and narrowed the House GOP majority to a single vote with his decision to resign from Congress effective April 19. Gallagher had already announced he wasnt going to run for re-election. His resignation date is one day after the deadline to call a special election, meaning House Republicans will be hamstrung by his departure all the way through the end of this Congress. The Joy Of Being Mike Johnson CNN: Marjorie Taylor Greene files surprise motion to oust Speaker Johnson, a sign of growing revolt from the right WaPo: Weakened House GOP majority reckons with Johnsons leadership WSJ: Why Mike Johnson Cant Run the House Without Democrats Help Sign Of The Times TPMs Khaya Himmelman reports on Maricopa County, Arizona turning its vote tabulation center into a virtual encampment to ward off threats, with measures like: permanent fencing; a badge requirement to enter the parking lot; additional badges to enter the building; metal detectors; and netting on the temporary fencing in the parking lot so that voters cannot take pictures of election workers or their license plates. Welcome to 2024. MSNBC Hires Ronna McDaniel As Paid Contributor A public revolt is underway over the NBC News decision to bring on recently ousted RNC chair Ronna McDaniel on a paid contributor: The outcry from MSNBC on-air personalities continued this morning. 2024 Ephemera NJ-Sen : New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy has ended her bid for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, clearing the way for Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) to be his partys nominee for indicted Sen. Bob Menendezs seat. NY-01: Ousted Rep. George Santos, still under federal criminal indictment, announced after the House passed its final 2024 budget bill Friday that he is leaving the Republican Party and will run as an independent in his new district. Its Not That Complicated It really shouldnt require falling back on foundational issues like the rule of law, democracy, or civic virtue to realize that Donald Trump is an utter buffoon who has no business near the Oval Office: Good Read Politico: What happens when an AG dares to investigate Leonard Leos network Dont Get Too Hung Up On The Anthropocene Erle C. Ellis: The Anthropocene May Not Be An Epoch, But The Age Of Humans Is Most Definitely Underway Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know! Two men have been indicted on murder charges in connection with the decades-old killing of a teenage boy in Fitchburg, law enforcement officials announced Monday. Robert DLucca, 49, and Lawrence Calafell, 51, of Gardner, were indicted Friday by a grand jury on charges including one count of murder, armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license, and possession of ammunition without an FID card in the 1993 death of 15-year-old Deondray Atwood, according to the Worcester District Attorneys Office. DLucca and Calafell allegedly opened fire on a car parked on Daniels Street with three teens inside, including Atwood, on Nov. 25, 1993. Atwood died after being shot multiple times, while another passenger survived her gunshot wound injuries. The driver of the car was uninjured. DLucca was charged in 1993 with the crime but wasnt tried at the time after he was arrested in New York on separate murder charges, according to the DAs office. He has been serving time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility since. Following the indictment on Friday, Calafell was arrested without incident in Fitchburg by the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section. Calafell is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Worcester Superior Court. DLucca will be brought back to Massachusetts to face prosecution and arraigned on a future date. State police Detectives assigned to the DAs office assisted the Fitchburg Police Department with an investigation that ultimately led to the indictments. Anyone with information about this case or any unresolved homicide case is urged to reach out to the Unresolved Homicide Unit at 508-453-7589 or WorcesterDAunresolved@mass.gov. 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 Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had the most intimate parts of her relationship with ex-special prosecutor Nathan Wade aired out in a court room for the world to see. But, in a recent interview the Georgia prosecutor said shes not embarrassed and shes not backing down. Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could remain on the Georgia election interference case with one small catch. Judge McAfee ruled that either Wade or Willis had to leave the case, resulting in Wades departure. The ruling came after defendants in the case, including former President Donald Trump argued that Willis relationship with Wade tainted the case and that shed profited from hiring someone she was in a romantic relationship with. However, both Willis and Wade testified that the relationship began after he was hired. In his ruling Judge McAfee chastised Willis for what he said was a tremendous lapse in judgement. However, Willis says she isnt embarrassed and doesnt need to rehabilitate her image with Fulton County residents. Im not embarrassed by anything Ive done, she said, in an interview with CNN. I guess my greatest crime is that I had a relationship with a man, but thats not something I find embarrassing in any way. Willis also made it clear in the interview with CNN that she intends to push forward full-steam ahead. I dont feel like we have been slowed down at all, she said. I think there are efforts to slow down the train, but the train is coming. The fate of the case and her role in it is still not solidified. A judge allowed an appeal to move forward from Trump and his c0-defendants attempting to overturn the decision to keep Willis on the case. Theoretically, this could mean months of uncertainty in this case as Willis and the rest of the nation waits for a ruling about her fate. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Barcelona's Daniel Alves in action during the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen first leg soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Barcelona at the BayArena. picture alliance / dpa Former Barcelona and Brazil defender Daniel Alves is to be conditionally released from jail after he paid bail of 1 million ($1.08 million), a spokesperson for the Spanish judiciary told dpa on Monday. Last month, Alves was sentenced to four years and six months in prison by a Spanish court for sexual assault. He was found guilty of assaulting a woman in the bathroom of an upscale Barcelona nightclub on New Years Eve in 2022 and has been in custody since being arrested for the offence in January 2023. But last week, the Spanish court ruled that Alves could be conditionally released from jail after serving about a quarter of his sentence and on Monday, he was allowed to leave jail pending his appeal, after he made the stated bail. The conditions for his release include turning over both his Brazilian and Spanish passports so he cannot leave Spain. Alves must also appear before the court on a weekly basis. According to media reports, Alves had difficulties putting together the required bail. His father, however, denied reports that his compatriot Neymar would lend him money. A police officer surveys the damage after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25, 1911, in New York, New York. File Photo by a Brown Brothers/Cornell University March 25 (UPI) -- On this date in history: In 1807, the English Parliament abolished the slave trade. In 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146 people, mostly female immigrant workers. The tragedy led to the eventual enactment of many state and national workplace safety laws. In 1947, a mine explosion in Centralia, Ill., killed 111 men, most of them asphyxiated by gas. In 1954, the Radio Corporation of America began commercial production of color television sets. Dr. Martin Luther King leads an estimated 10,000 or more civil-rights marchers out on last leg of their Selma-to-Montgomery march on March 25,1965. Later that day, civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo of Detroit, 39, was killed by the Ku Klux Klan on a road near Selma, Ala., while shuttling marchers back to Montgomery. UPI File Photo File Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and West Germany signed a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community, also known as the common market. U.S. President Bill Clinton walks with a group of U.S. troops just back from Somalia at a ceremony to honor them on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on May 5, 1993. On March 25, 1994, U.S. forces completed a withdrawal from Mogadishu, Somalia, except for a small number of soldiers left behind to provide support for U.N. peacekeepers. UPI File Photo In 1965, white civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo of Detroit, 39, was killed on a road near Selma, Ala. Three Ku Klux Klansmen were convicted of violating Liuzzo's civil rights, but not for murder. In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death at his palace in Riyadh by a "mentally deranged" nephew who was later executed. On March 25, 1807, the English Parliament abolished the slave trade. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI In 1990, an arson fire swept an overcrowded social club, the Happy Land, in the Bronx borough of New York City, killing 87 people. Cuban refugee Julio Gonzalez, the arsonist -- whose former girlfriend worked at the club and survived the fire -- was convicted on multiple counts of arson and murder. He died in prison in September 2016. In 1994, U.S. forces completed a withdrawal from Mogadishu, Somalia, except for a small number of soldiers left behind to provide support for U.N. peacekeepers. In 2006, an estimated 500,000 people protested in Los Angeles against U.S. House-approved bill that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally. The legislation, which also led to protests in other cities during this period, did not pass in the Senate. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI In 2010, an explosion sank a South Korean warship on patrol in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors. North Korea denied accusations it had torpedoed the ship. In 2022, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins died of a drug overdose in Bogata, Colombia, shortly before the band were scheduled to perform. He was 50 years old. File Photo by Alexis C. Glenn/UPI In response to the changing values surrounding climate change, sustainability and ethical consumption, businesses have had to ensure they are environmentally friendly and understand the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). A repercussion of businesses adapting to societal values surrounding environmentally friendly practices is the operation of greenwashing. Businesses who engage with greenwashing are disingenuous about caring for the environment whether or not their tokenistic practices are intentional or not. Businesses who are caught greenwashing face the possibility of being publicly shamed, boycotted and permanently tarnishing their reputation. Developing an environmental, social and governance policy (ESG policy) is an effective way to ensure your business does not greenwash or face the potential of being seen as a business that greenwashes, as it sets out the environmental principles and promises the business has pledged to follow. This article will explore what greenwashing is, and how to effectively construct an ESG policy to minimise the possibility of greenwashing occurring. What Is Greenwashing? Greenwashing refers to when businesses act in a tokenistic manner surrounding environmental activities. ASIC defines greenwashing as the practice of misrepresenting the extent to which a financial product or investment strategy is environmentally friendly, sustainable or ethical. It is the act of overpromising environmental sustainability or being deceptive when it comes to ensuring environmental sustainability within your business. Never make a sustainable promise that you cannot fulfill to prevent being accused of greenwashing and legal action being sought against the business. Greenwashing can occur when businesses pledge to be sustainable or eco-friendly but lack the implementation of structural change or fulfilling such pledges. Is Greenwashing Illegal? Greenwashing itself is not illegal, however, greenwashing occurs with the act of being deceptive and misleading, which is illegal under Australian Consumer Law. What Is An ESG Policy? A environmental, social and governance policy, or an ESG policy, is a document of a business which represents a companys statement of values regarding their stance of the environment and the measures theyre taking to be more eco-friendly. ESG policies are able to guide employees, contractors, commercial partners and consumers. Developing a strong ESG policy is a great way to combat the act of greenwashing and ensuring businesses are diverse and sustainable in their short term and long term operations. Unpacking ESG Environmental aspects encompass factors such as a companys carbon footprint, water and energy usage, waste management, and pollution levels. Social elements include a companys labour practices, human rights record, diversity and inclusion policies, and impact on local communities. Governance relates to factors such as a companys board diversity, executive compensation, transparency, and ethical business practices. Key Components of An ESG Policy Purpose Dedicating a section to the purpose of your businesss ESG policy allows those reading the policy to understand why the business has one in the first place. It is likely the purpose will reference the businesss adherence to being sustainable and ecologically friendly. The policy purpose is also likely to provide information about what ESG encompasses and establish how the document does not form part of any contract or employment agreement. Commitment and Pledges A companys ESG policy will state the commitments and pledges your business puts forth. The commitment and pledges section may state specific targets the business aims to achieve by a certain time or projects they aim on beginning, continuing or finishing which are centred around environmental, social or governance aspects. The commitment and pledges section of your businesss ESG policy may also include commitments such as ethical procurement, carbon offsetting and advocacy to ensure equal employment opportunities. Monitoring and Enforcements An ESG policy will also establish the measures put in place by businesses to monitor and enforce their ESG pledges and commitments. This section of the ESG policy will also include potential consequences when the business is non compliant to such commitments, such as offsetting costs or compensating through donation. A good ESG policy will acknowledge how the business should hold themselves accountable if they fail to achieve their own goals. Reputational Issues ESG policies may also reference how central your businesss environmental, social and governance principles are to the business. This section may simply state the importance of interacting in a meaningful way with social corporate responsibility. Conclusion In conclusion, as businesses navigate the evolving landscape of societal values, it becomes imperative to adopt genuine environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices rather than engaging in greenwashing. Greenwashing not only damages a companys reputation but also undermines trust and credibility among consumers and stakeholders. By developing a robust ESG policy, businesses can align their operations with sustainable principles, fostering transparency, accountability, and long-term viability. An effective ESG policy outlines the companys commitment to environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and ethical governance. It sets measurable goals, defines clear actions, and establishes mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement. Moreover, it serves as a guide for employees, contractors, and partners, reinforcing a culture of sustainability and inclusivity. Ultimately, a well-crafted ESG policy not only mitigates the risk of greenwashing but also positions businesses as responsible corporate citizens dedicated to positive societal and environmental impact. By prioritizing authenticity and integrity, companies can build resilience, enhance brand value, and contribute to a more sustainable future for all. By Raja Abbas Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The victims of scooter accidents are often young. In the last month alone, two scooter accidents left South Florida students dead while commuting. On Monday, 16-year-old Anthony Malec was hit and killed by a Tesla while riding his electric scooter to school. On March 5, Daniel Bishop, a senior at the University of Miami, was struck and killed while riding his scooter to class. Bishop had attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas and survived the mass shooting in 2018. In car-reliant areas like South Florida, scooters have served as a makeshift solution to the last mile problem, or the last leg of a journey, such as from home to campus or between a Brightline train station and an office. The micro-mobility devices present an appealing choice to those who live close to a destination and may not have immediate access to a car. But the regions reliance on cars also makes it a deadly place for scooter-riders, often silent, unexpected or barely visible at roads and intersections. The deaths of two students in a matter of weeks have underscored the dangers of a growing new technology at odds with South Florida lifestyles. And like the states roads, its laws and accident-reporting procedures often fail to account for scooters. Related Articles Its a case of technology which has raced ahead of our infrastructure and resources, said Todd Falzone, an attorney with Kelly Uustal who has represented victims of scooter accidents. Just because you can do something, doesnt mean you should. Falzone represented the family of Ashanti Jordan, a 27-year-old who was left in a vegetative state after an accident on a Lime scooter on her way home from work in Fort Lauderdale. The injuries Ive seen are just horrible, he said. Horrible, horrible injuries and deaths. More and more mainstream Colton Ralston runs Boca Scooters, one of South Floridas only electric scooter shops. He says his clients are often commuters who appreciate the low-cost option, from one-car families to college kids and hospitality workers. The technology really started to take off in 2018, Ralston said, but each year he sees new clients looking to join the trend. Theyve become more and more mainstream, Ralston said. Just like technology and everything has evolved, so has the culture around it. Its like anything technology-based: Its an ever-evolving process, and electric scooters, kick scooters, have certainly been accepted by the masses. Related Articles Along with the rise in popularity, accidents from micro-mobility devices like scooters and e-bikes have surged nationally. A recent report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that injuries increased 21% between 2021 and 2022. Over a third of the injured from 2017 to 2022 were children 14 and younger. Scooters began to arrive in South Florida through rideshare programs beginning in 2019, though many services shuttered after a surge in accidents. Some had to do with the sheer number of scooters suddenly available, while the impromptu nature of the rideshare system meant riders were often inexperienced, helmetless, or combined drinking and riding. The number of accidents in Fort Lauderdale increased year after year between 2019 and 2022, according to Fire Rescue data. Paramedics responded to 175 accidents in that time frame: 47 accidents in 2020, 52 in 2021, and 72 in 2022. Related Articles Similar trends took place elsewhere: A recent study of emergency rooms at Tampa General Hospital found that the greatest number of scooter accidents, or close to a third, involved people aged 21-30. Injuries spiked right after the scooters were introduced in 2019, followed by a steady increase each year after. Bans reduce accidents, but not uniformly Since 2019, some South Florida cities banned scooters and scooter companies to quell the accidents. Hollywood first banned the use of all types of scooters on any city street, roadway, sidewalk, or on any other private property where the public has the right to travel by motor vehicle within the city, according to its city code. The city of Miami revoked permits from several scooter companies in 2022, followed by a drop in accidents, according to a 2023 study of a trauma center. Those measures have continued into 2024: In February, Key Biscayne banned scooters. Just this week, Miami-Dade County began considering a speed limit on scooters and e-bikes. But privately owned scooters remain unregulated in many cities, all the while growing in popularity nationally. At the same time, scooter-riders are often lumped in with pedestrians or other types of mobility devices in official reports, making the accidents harder to track. A 2022 National Transportaty Safety Board report on e-scooters and e-bikes identified a lack of law enforcement and injury data as one of the main safety issues. In Fort Lauderdale, Battalion Chief Greg May said that the number of accidents dropped so dramatically after the city revoked the ordinance allowing rideshare scooters that Fire Rescue stopped tracking them after 2022. Privately owned scooters remain legal, however. When all those companies took scooters out, we just stopped having incidents, May explained. Now a kid might have a scooter and get in an accident on it, we just treat it as any other call. The Broward Medical Examiners Office has recorded 49 deaths related to accidents involving scooters since 2019, though its hard to say how many involved electric scooters or sit-down, motorized scooters that look more like motorcycles. Only three of the deaths specifically mentioned an electric scooter, according to Director Thomas Steinkamp. The study at Tampa General ran into a similar problem where the type of scooter was not specified, forcing researchers to remove swaths of data, according to Theo Sher, one of the studys lead researchers. The Broward Sheriffs Office could not provide exact data on scooter accidents because state traffic crash reports do not specify them, said spokesperson Carey Codd. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles groups scooter accidents in other non-motorist data, said spokesperson Molly Best, which includes those who are not pedestrians or bicyclists. A 2022 report, the most recent report for which data is available, found that other non-motorist accidents increased by 20% between 2021 and 2022. The legal situation surrounding scooters is also confusing, experts say. State law allows for scooters but leaves much of the regulating up to local governments, where lawmakers have struggled to decide where they should go. You basically have two options, said Falzone, the Kelly Uustal attorney. One is put them on sidewalks. Then you have the risk of the scooters running over people on the sidewalk. The other option is you put them on the street, and then you have the problem of people running over scooter operators with their cars. As a result, laws vary dramatically between cities. At one point, Fort Lauderdale was the only city to prohibit scooters on roads and require them on sidewalks, Falzone said, while other cities forbade them on sidewalks and required them on roads. Still others, like Tampa, have allowed them in bike lanes. And while some South Florida municipalities have all-out bans, others have no regulations on scooters. Broward County does not have any overarching laws regarding scooter use, according to spokesperson Greg May. In Fort Lauderdale, people must ride their personal scooters in bike lanes, and are allowed to ride on sidewalks only when no bike lane is available, according to city code. In Coral Gables, where Bishop was struck, city code states that scooters are allowed on sidewalks only but must stay below 15 miles per hour. Meanwhile, Cooper City, where Malec was struck, does not have regulations specific to an electric scooters speed or where and how it can be utilized, city spokesperson Michael Cobelo said in an email. Currently, electric scooters are included within the definition of vehicle. Related Articles Accidents continue Despite the bans, scooter accidents continue to happen, often involving collisions with cars. In March 2023, an 18-year-old student was hit while riding her electric scooter in Wellington by a Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office deputy who ran a stop sign, according to local media and a PBSO crash report. That September, a 49-year-old man on an electric scooter was struck and killed in Greenacres by a car turning left at an intersection. Its unclear how many total accidents Palm Beach County has seen in recent years; officials were working on a request for scooter accident data but did not respond by Friday. Dr. Jason Mansour, an emergency care physician at Broward Health Medical Center, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that, though the number of scooter accident trauma patients he sees has decreased since the rideshare scooter craze, the accidents are still one of the most common mechanisms of traumatic injuries. Oftentimes, as with bicyclists, accidents are not the scooter-riders fault, Mansour said, though scooter-riders may be more vulnerable. When theyre on something like a bicycle, they have a little better of a chance of avoiding a collision, he said. I dont think motorized scooters are as agile to make sudden turns or things like that. Ralston says the clients who buy his scooters are responsible. He encourages them to use helmets, but doesnt think the dangers are greater than for any other form of transportation. Any time you leave your house, youre worried right? Ralston said. You look both ways before you cross the street. Its the same thing, it depends where youre riding. If youre talking on campus at FAU, right along the beach, its not, its a much more controlled environment. Falzone, meanwhile, argued that scooters should be banned until South Floridas infrastructure supports them. Given the resources that governmental entities have, its not like someone can spend a billion dollars and retrofit Fort Lauderdale for scooters to operate on them, he said. I think its just a technology that were not ready for. Maybe 20 years from now we might be, but right now, were not there. The autopsy of University of Missouri student Riley Strain has uncovered no evidence of "foul play-related trauma," police said Monday. The death of Strain, whose body was fished out of the Cumberland River on Friday morning about eight miles from downtown Nashville, "continues to appear accidental," Kristin Mumford, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said in an email. But detectives are still awaiting the results of the toxicological examination that the medical examiner performed on the 22-year-old student, Mumford said. "The ME does not complete an autopsy report until all testing is back," Mumford said. What exactly happened to Strain remains under investigation, police said. Strain went missing on March 8 after being asked to leave Lukes 32 Bridge Food + Drink in downtown Nashville while on a trip to the city with the other members of the Delta Chi Fraternity for a spring formal. In a statement released a week after his disappearance, Lukes 32 Bridge + Drink said Strain was served one alcoholic drink and two waters before being escorted out by security around 9:35 p.m. based on our conduct standards." The establishment did not elaborate further. Before leaving, Strain told his friends he would return to his hotel, stepfather Chris Whiteid told NBC News affiliate WSMV. But Strain never made it back to the hotel, Whiteid said in an interview on Top Story with Tom Llamas. Videos released by police showed Strain appearing to stumble around the downtown area after he left the bar and having what appeared to be a friendly exchange with a police officer. His bank card was later found between Gay Street and the river on March 17. Two weeks after he vanished, a worker at a business in West Nashville discovered Strains body after removing an object from the river and called the police, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during a press conference Friday. The medical examiner's office was able to quickly identify Strain because he still had his shirt and other identifiable objects on his body, Drake said. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Ukraine's Armed Forces shot down more than 2,000 cruise and ballistic Russian missiles since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Defense Ministry reported on March 25. Another two ballistic missiles, launched from occupied Crimea, were shot down over Kyiv on March 25 following multiple explosions, according to the Air Force. Debris fell in the Solomianskyi and Pechersk districts, damaging a three-story building in the latter. At least two people have been reportedly injured, and eight others suffered from shock. The rescue operation is ongoing. Moscow has launched over 8,000 missiles and more than 4,600 drones against Ukraine as of Feb. 22 since its all-out war, said Yurii Ihnat, a former spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. "That's a result of the titanic work of Ukrainian air defenders. Thousands of lives were saved by modern air defense systems provided by our partners," the ministry wrote on X, reporting on the destroyed targets. Over the past week, Moscow launched several large-scale attacks on Ukraine's cities, including energy infrastructure. Around 190 missiles, 140 Shahed-type drones, and 700 aerial bombs were used, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 24. Local authorities reported multiple injured and killed civilians. Ukrainian officials urged Western allies to provide Kyiv with more weapons, including air defense systems and missiles, to protect Ukrainian cities from regular strikes. Read also: Danylo Mokryk: Say the word genocide Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski has stated that Poland will demand explanations from the Russian ambassador regarding the incident with the Russian missile violating Poland's airspace. However, Sikorski noted that it is unlikely that Russia will give any explanations. Source: European Pravda, citing the statement of the Polish foreign minister Details: Answering a question about the summons of the Russian ambassador, Sikorski said: "We will demand explanations, but we will probably get some demagoguery". "Today, we will be holding discussions at the Prime Minister's Office, I will also speak with the NATO secretary general (Jens Stoltenberg ed.)," Sikorski added. When asked about the terrorist attack in Moscow Oblast, Sikorski noted that "we will, of course, express our condolences to the families of the victims; however, we also believe that instead of sowing terror in Ukraine, Russia should deal with terror at home." Background: At 04:23 on the morning of 24 March, a Russian missile violated Polish airspace during a Russian missile attack on Ukraine. The missile reportedly entered Polish airspace near the village of Osierdow in the Lublin Voivodeship. It was there for 39 seconds. Poland has announced its intention to summon the Russian ambassador and deliver a letter of protest over the incident. Polish Defence Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that Poland would have shot down the Russian missile if it had appeared to be heading for a target on Polish soil. Support UP or become our patron! The logo of the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk on the facade of the new German headquarters. Christian Schultz/dpa Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk said it has agreed to acquire the biotech company Cardior Pharmaceuticals, based in Hanover, Germany, for up to 1.03 billion ($1.01 billion), according to a joint announcement on Monday. Novo Nordisk, known primarily for its diabetes business and the weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, intends to strengthen its presence in the field of cardiovascular diseases. The focus is particularly on a promising drug from Cardior for heart failure. Cardior was founded in 2016 as a spin-off from Hanover Medical School. The heart disease therapy developed by the start-up is currently in Phase II trials. Novo Nordisk is now the ideal partner "to accelerate our late-stage development programme, including through larger registrational studies," said Cardior chief executive and co-founder Claudia Ulbrich, according to the press release. The aim is to jointly bring the drug to market authorization. The takeover is expected to be completed in the second quarter, according to the statement. Novo Nordisk, known for decades for its diabetes business, has risen to become one of the most valuable listed companies in the world thanks to the boom surrounding the weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. A hype has broken out around weight loss injections, particularly in the United States. The Los Angeles County Fire Department announced the on-duty death of one of its own Sunday night. It is with great sadness the #LACoFD share the Active Duty Death of Fire Fighter Jonathan Van Oeffelen on Sunday, March 24, 2024, the Fire Department posted on Facebook just before 10:30 p.m. No details surrounding the firefighters death were provided but the Department said Van Oeffelen was assigned to Fire Station 52 in the City of Vernon. Firefighter Jonathan Van Oeffelen is seen in an image provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department. We extend our deepest condolences and prayers to the family, friends, and colleagues of FF Van Oeffelen, the Fire Department posted. RIP FF Van Oeffelen The Department also made its chaplains, peer support team, behavioral health clinicians and memorial management team available to the Van Oeffelen family and Fire Department personnel. Multiple Hollywood Hills homes red-tagged due to landslide threat Thank you for respecting the privacy of the Van Oeffelen family during this extraordinarily difficult time, the post read. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) A deployment ceremony was held for members of the Michigan Army National Guard Sunday. The 272nd Regional Support Group will deploy to the Middle East in support of Operation Inherent Resolution. It was an emotional day for the soldiers, their friends, and their families. Captain Daniel Sackmann is the Groups Company Commander and will be working overseas. He said saying goodbye to loved ones is never easy. I was crying last night holding my horse. You know, crying saying goodbye to my wife today. Theres no way to mentally prepare for saying goodbye, even if its temporary. Deployment Ceremony Held For Soldiers (Images: Rachel Ramsy/ WLNS) Around 80 members have been deployed to U.S. Central Command in the Middle East for approximately a year. Within Operation Inherent Resolve, the groups mission is to support the service members over there. Life support functions, logistics, Contracting, people have to be fed, people need a bed to sleep in, Sackmann said. Governor Gretchen Whitmer was at the ceremony. Shes the Commander In Chief of the States National Guard. She said its the finest in the nation. We need your skills more than ever as we continue to secure our safety through our presence overseas. I have full faith and confidence in your abilities, and I know youLL get the job done, Whitmer said. Deployment Ceremony Held For Soldiers (Images: Rachel Ramsy/ WLNS) The Troops Group Commander, Colonel Jeff Austhof spoke at the ceremony, then led the group to say their final goodbyes. They later left for pre-mobilization in Texas. Not only is their presence and efforts directly enabling operation inherent resolves mission by providing crucial life support to those forces, theyre also indirectly enabling the stabilization efforts in the region, Col. Austhof said. The ceremony offers a chance to honor the soldiers but also allows their families to see them off. Deployment Ceremony Held For Soldiers (Images: Rachel Ramsy/ WLNS) It gives the families that temporary closure that they need, Captain Sackmann said. You know, theres people here like Family Readiness Group for resources. All that stuff that they have, that they may not know they even have. Thats why these are so crucial for everybody. Captain Sackmann says he wants his family to know its not goodbye, its just a temporary farewell until they see each other again. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News. JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) A woman was taken to the hospital after a crash southeast of Zeeland Sunday morning. Just before 11 a.m., Deputies with the Ottawa County Sheriffs Office were called to the scene of a crash at the intersection of Adams Street and 48th Avenue in Jamestown Township. A 2008 Pontiac G8 driven by a 21-year-old Holland woman was headed north on 48th Avenue but did not stop at the stop sign at Adams Street, deputies say. She crashed into a 2005 Toyota Camry that was headed west on Adams Street. The driver of the Toyota was injured and taken to the hospital. Her injuries were not life-threatening, according to deputies. This embedded content is not available in your region. The driver of the Pontiac was ticketed for not stopping at the stop sign, the sheriffs office said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday that will soon outright ban social media for children who are 14 or younger in Floridaone of the most restrictive laws against social media companies in U.S. history. The bill, which is expected to face a flurry of legal challenges by social networks and first amendment groups, will also require written parental permission for children who are 15 and 16 to join social media, meaning some minors may be able to legally drive before theyre allowed to create a Facebook or Instagram account in Florida. The new law will also require social platforms to erase any Florida-based accounts created by those 14 or younger by the time it goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. At a bill signing event held inside a Jacksonville charter school, DeSantis claimed the legislation was necessary to protect children from online predators. It used to be, Well, if theyre out somewhere, maybe theyre not supervised, maybe some predator can strike, he said. Now, with things like social media and all this, you can have a kid in the housesafe, seeminglyand then you have predators that can get right in there, into your own home. Nikki Haley Nabs More Votes Than Ron DeSantis in FLORIDA The bill was passed much to the ire of tech companies and free speech advocates. It was the top legislative priority of Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican, who said Monday it was the legislatures job to protect children. A child in their brain development doesnt have the ability to know that theyre being sucked into these addictive technologies and to see the harm, he said. Because of that, we have to step in for them. The bill signed Monday was a watered down version of a stricter bill the Florida legislature passed, which DeSantis vetoed last month. The original bill would have blocked all minors younger than 16 from most social media websites, giving parents no say. Lawmakers also removed a provision that explicitly detailed how social media platforms must verify the age of users, now leaving it up to the companies to determine that. Lawmakers said the bill was crafted to restrict access to any social platform that deploys addictive features, such as infinite scrolling, algorithms, and push notificationsa broad brush thats meant to include any modern social network. Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Republican state representative at Mondays bill signing, called social media digital fentanyl while praising its passing. Rep. Tyler Sirois, sponsor of the social media restriction law states: "we are gonna protect our kids from this digital fentanyl. For our children, these companies are no town square. They are a dark alley."#breaking #fentanyl #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/euxBWwNJh4 Target Reporter (@Target_Reporter) March 25, 2024 Several states have considered or already passed similar legislation, though none quite as wide-reaching as Floridas law. Arkansas passed a bill that requires parental consent for minors to create new social media accounts. That law has been put on ice by a federal judge, however, citing first amendment concerns. Renner said Monday he expects tech companies to sue the second after this is signed. But you know what? he added. Were going to beat them. Were going to beat them and were never, ever going to stop. TikTok Is Bad. Banning It Would Be Much Worse. Some Democrats joined Republicans in soundly passing the measure through the Florida legislature, but others have decried that the state is trying to parent children instead of leaving it up to their actual parents. This bill goes too far in taking away parents rights, said Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat, in a news release. Instead of banning social media access, it would be better to ensure improved parental oversight tools, improved access to data to stop bad actors, alongside major investments in Floridas mental health systems and programs. 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. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed one of the countrys strictest laws cracking down on minors access to social media, setting up a likely First Amendment challenge from the companies that host those platforms. The new law will take effect Jan. 1 of next year and bans social media accounts for all children under 14 and requires that 15- and 16-year-olds get parental consent to have accounts. Social media platforms will be required to terminate accounts in violation of the law. At a signing ceremony in Jacksonville, DeSantis said that social media has given predatory adults a tool to undermine parents efforts to protect their kids. Unfortunately, weve got predators who prey on young kids. It used to be, Well, if theyre out somewhere, maybe theyre not being supervised, maybe some predator can strike. Now, with things like social media and all this, you can have a kid in the house safe, seemingly, and then you have predators that can get right in there, into your own home, DeSantis said. You could be doing everything right, but they know how to get and manipulate these different platforms. The proposal was brought forth by Florida Republican Speaker Paul Renner, who said the legislation was his top priority this session. A child in their brain development doesnt have the ability to know that theyre being sucked into these addictive technologies and to see the harm and step away from it, and because of that, we have to step in for them, Renner said at the ceremony. A 2022 review of dozens of studies found that children who use social media for several hours a day face an increased risk of cyberbullying and online grooming, and that unrestricted use of the platforms may expose children to unwanted sexual material. However, research on the topic is still limited. The Florida House gave the bill its final approval earlier this month with a 109-4 vote. Opponents pointed out that courts have already blocked similar laws in other states and that the bills passage would only lead to an expensive legal battle. I dont think we should spend more public dollars on lawsuits in this state where we know these bills are inherently unconstitutional, Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani said earlier this month. Free speech and other advocacy groups have already hinted at lawsuit plans. On March 3, a coalition of groups sent a letter to the Florida legislature urging them to block the proposal. Outright banning minors from social media sites does not address the potential harm they may encounter on social media sites but instead prohibits them from sharing and engaging in constitutionally protected speech, Katie Blankenship, director of PEN America Florida one of the groups to sign the letter said in a statement advocating for a more nuanced approach. The letter, which was signed by some LGBTQ+ groups, also warned that an outright ban would deprive Floridas youth of vital resources, educational engagement, support networks, and opportunities for personal and academic growth. But lawmakers across multiple levels of government remain concerned about social medias effect on children. In January, the Senate Judiciary Committee called upon several social media CEOs to testify before Congress at a hearing about online safety for minors. Among them was Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who ultimately apologized to parents who say his social media platforms played a role in their childs death or abuse. Im sorry for everything youve all gone through, Zuckerberg said. Its terrible. No one should have to go through the things that your families have suffered. Related... Chicilon Media aims to build a comfortable working environment, creating opportunities for each individuals growth. After 18 years of development, Chicilon Media's number of employees has reached 369. Each individual possesses various strengths contributing to the overall development of the business. According to the company's leaders, human resources and the solidarity of employees are the keys to the sustainable development of the business. The company thus always considers building and developing staff as a priority. The average seniority at Chicilon Media is 5 years, which shows the long-term commitment of employees to the company. Along with competitive salary, bonus, and welfare policies, the company also focuses on improving the working environment and enhancing spiritual quality for their employees. The board of directors often organizes training sessions to improve professional qualifications and soft skills. Chicilon Media's employees often have group discussion. Photo courtesy of Chicilon Media Not only providing a dynamic working environment, Chicilon Media also attracts talented people with a transparent promotion path, supporting their employees to maintain work motivation and improve career goals. The company commits to providing many learning opportunities, helping employees realize personal value, increase income, improve their ability to observe, analyze, manage the market, and adapt to developments in society. At Chicilon Media, employees are encouraged to express their personal opinions. Photo courtesy of Chicilon Media According to a Chicilon Media representative, the company pursues the management philosophy "Talent goes hand in hand with ethics, choosing the right person in the right place." It also adopts the principles of respecting talent, constantly expanding team size and human resources, and improving the quality and capacity of managers. In addition, Chicilon Media proactively connects with leading experts, establishing a long-term cooperation mechanism with marketing experts to bring more opportunities for cultivating and developing a professional human force. The company cooperates with many universities, building innovative learning facilities and improving the professional qualifications and creativity of employees. The board of directors is in the process of perfecting policies to ensure employees can focus on work, limit worries in life, and promote both employees and business development. During its 18 years of development, Chicilon Media has ranked in the top 500 fastest-growing and most profitable enterprises for 5 consecutive years due to constantly building and developing its corporate culture, becoming a leading company in the Vietnam advertising and marketing industry. Getty Images Quality Journalism for Critical Times Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday restricting social media access for children under age 16 but expressed frustration that the courts have blocked his earlier attempts to reign in what he sees as abuses by the platforms and woke corporations. Florida House Speaker Paul Renner. Credit: Florida House The new law (HB 3), a top priority for House Speaker Paul Renner, bars access to social media accounts for kids through age 13, with access to 14- and 15-year-olds allowed with parental consent and requires pornographic sites to use third-party age-verification systems to ban access to children under 18. During a bill-signing ceremony in Jacksonville, DeSantis said that he and the Legislature took pains to craft a bill that could withstand judicial scrutiny. Renner, who attended the ceremony, agreed. You will not find a line in this bill that addresses good speech or bad speech, because that would violate the First Amendment. Weve not addressed that at all. What we have addressed is the addictive features that are at the heart of why children stay on these platforms for hours and hours on end, Renner, a Republican representing Flager and part of St. Johns counties in northeast Florida, said. And Attorney General Ashley Moody promised: You better believe Im gonna fight like hell to uphold this in court. Court losses However, the courts havent always agreed with DeSantis about bills touching on the First Amendment. As recently as March 4, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit struck down a 2022 law forbidding employers from requiring workers to attend diversity and inclusion training. The Individual Freedom Act, also known as the Stop Woke Act, bans instruction on a range of diversity concerns, including that an individual, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. Ron DeSantis. Credit: Governors office By limiting its restrictions to a list of ideas designated as offensive, the Act targets speech based on its content. And by barring only speech that endorses any of those ideas, it penalizes certain viewpoints the greatest First Amendment sin, the court said. In late February, meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court seemed doubtful about a 2021 Florida law, and similar legislation from Texas, attempting to punish social media platforms that quash content they deem disinformation; conservatives believe such efforts unfairly target them. On Monday, DeSantis defended the diversity and inclusion as merely ensuring that you dont have to sit there and self-flagellate yourself because you happen to be white, lets say, he said. The company can say whatever it wants, the company can offer whatever training it wants, but you have the right to opt out, the governor continued. And we lost in court with Republican judges saying that somehow that violated the companys First Amendment right. But they can say whatever they want; were just saying you have a right to opt out of that, that you shouldnt have to be a guinea pig and have them shove this down your throat, he said. Fundamental misunderstanding I just think its a fundamental misunderstanding of whats going on in society to basically say that companies have the First Amendment right to coerce employees into woke indoctrination. Thats not healthy for society. So, were going to work on ways to be able protect our employees here in the state of Florida. As for the teenage-social media law, proponents argue that platforms use properties including algorithms to keep users scrolling away and leading them to material that encourages destructive behavior, including eating disorders and self-harm, or sets them up for sexual exploitation. Platforms that refuse to adopt those techniques remain free to sign up teenagers under the new law, which takes effect on Jan. 1. You can have a kid in the house, safe seemingly, and then you have predators that can get right in there into your own home. You can be doing everything right but they know how to manipulate these different platforms, DeSantis said. If I said to you that a company was going to take children, use addiction that causes them harm for profit, what does that sound like? Sounds like trafficking to me, Renner said. And this digital trafficking is exactly what groups like NetChoice, that is the [industry] umbrella that will sue the day after this bill is signed, or the second after this is signed. But you know what? Were going to beat em. Were going to beat em, were never ever going to stop. The post DeSantis signs teenage social media restrictions, complains about court losses on other legislation appeared first on Florida Phoenix. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) Vancouver police have released new details of the crime spree that ended with a man hanging on a telephone wire Saturday evening. The man, now identified as Romando E. Stanley, was first spotted taking power tools out of another persons car near 600 W Evergreen Blvd around 5:15 p.m., according to the vehicles owner. By the time police arrived, Stanley was gone. Husband, friend arrested after Hockinson death The car owner told officers he saw Stanley enter someone elses yard a few blocks away and take a bike from out front. Investigators said a neighbor chased Stanley, who eventually dumped the bike and took off on foot. Vancouver police received another report near 900 Main Street that Stanley had entered a business and taken the cell phone of an employee inside. When the employee tried to get the phone back, he punched the employee in the chest and fled on foot, according to Vancouver PD. Cyclist dies following crash with SUV in downtown Portland Officers said they found Stanley on the roof of a building at 607 Washington Street, where he was throwing bricks down onto the sidewalk, which caused property damage to several buildings. Crisis negotiators tried to get him to come down but, according to officials, Stanley chose to cross the street using the telephone line. Officers said he hung from the lines for about 45 minutes. Negotiators continued their attempts to get the male to come down safely and, in an effort to help protect him from falling onto the street, a Vancouver Fire engine was parked underneath to lessen his fall, police said. He eventually did lose his grip on the wires and fell onto the fire engine. Three new wolverine sightings confirmed on the Oregon Coast Officers said Stanley jumped off the engine, but he was arrested. He was immediately taken to the hospital for an evaluation. Stanley faces charges of second-degree robbery, second-degree theft, third-degree theft, and malicious mischief. Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. A Detroit-area teacher claimed she was fired from her job after the school received a complaint about her side hustle as a rapper, local media reported. Domonique Brown, a former U.S. history teacher at Taylor Preparatory High School in Taylor, Mich., told FOX 2 last week that a parent anonymously complained to the school in October about her rapping career on the side, leading to months of meetings and her eventual termination. Performing under the stage name Drippin Honey, Browns YouTube channel, where she posted her singing videos, has nearly 3,500 subscribers. She took to her platform following the alleged termination and posted a music video for Drippin 101, in which she can be seen dancing and singing with some of the students she previously taught. It has amassed nearly 69,000 views on YouTube and includes a description of the events that unfolded after the anonymous complaint. Brown said meetings continued with the school for five months following the anonymous complaint, where she defend[ed] her involvement in the music industry. What troubles me most about this situation is the lack of consideration for the impact and influence I have had on my students lives. My outside life should not be grounds for termination when it does not interfere with my ability to fulfill my responsibilities as a teacher, she wrote in the statement. My dedication, professionalism, and passion for education have always been unwavering, regardless of any personal pursuits I may have. It is worth noting that when I was hired as a teacher, my involvement in the music industry as a rapper did not hinder my candidacy. She taught for seven years and has collected more than 200 signatures from students and parents who support her, she said. The first meeting was with my dean and my principal, and they were just telling me, Hey, a parent said that theyve seen your social media, and that youre a bad influence because youre a rapper,' Brown told FOX 2. She said the parent continued to complain, and when she asked for the complaint in writing, she never received it, FOX 2 reported. Brown reportedly said she believes she was discriminated against, telling FOX 2, Music is part of the culture. Were from Motown; this is what we do. So its not like its unheard of, its the culture. When you look like me, you just understand it a little bit better. Taylor Prep did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a spokesperson for the school told FOX 2 they are aware of Browns allegations. Brown said she plans to hire an attorney and take legal action against the school. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A vicar from Devon ran from John O'Groats to Land's End in 16 days as part of a fundraising campaign. Reverend Justin Montague, a former Royal Marine, is in charge of St Michael's Church in Beer and St Gregory's Church in Seaton. The funds raised from his endeavour, which was completed on Sunday, will go to his churches and the Royal Marines Charity. He said completing the "iconic" run had been a "dream" of his for a long time. Mr Montague set off from Scotland with his wife Melissa on 8 March and the pair arrived at Land's End in Cornwall on 24 March. He said: "As I come down to earth and take in the last couple of weeks and reflect upon the run I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to so many, many people who have made this possible. "Your support, encouragement, generosity and belief in me, has driven me every step, lifted me and drove me forwards. "Thank you to every single person who has supported our charities with a penny or pound, to that we have been blown away and know the fantastic and varied good work they all do." The vicar said he hit "a rock bottom point in my life" after being diagnosed with a long-term illness 10 years ago, but the "Royal Marines family lifted me back up". The charity aims to ensure "no one is left behind" and offer "lifelong support" to the Royal Marines family. "The route is iconic and for any ultra distance runner it's a dream," Mr Montague said. "It's been a dream of mine for well over a decade." Follow BBC Devon on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk. A few months ago, Phil and Tammy Murphy appeared poised to become a powerful New Jersey political dynasty the popular two-term Democratic governor with political connections on the national stage married to the front-runner to become the states first female senator. The first ladys spectacular flameout in her Senate candidacy Sunday ended that prospect. It also may hasten Gov. Phil Murphys status as a lame duck governor with almost two years left to go in his term. Its going to be a long 18 months for Murphy, said one Democratic state lawmaker granted anonymity to speak candidly about the governor. He has no capital, no pull. The only thing he can do now is raise money, which is how he got into this in the first place. Phil Murphy is still constitutionally the most powerful governor in America, so party leaders will want to stay in his good graces illustrated by the fact that some of them privately chafed at the Murphys foray into the Senate race but publicly came to their defense. The Murphys spent years building a strong network of support before coming to office in 2018. Phil Murphy was finance chair for the Democratic National Committee under chair Howard Dean and then served as U.S. Ambassador to Germany in the Obama administration. He exploited party divisions to become the 2017 front-runner for governor, and quickly consolidated key party support to win a historic second term. Still, the Murphys prospects as a long-lasting power couple in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., crashed, and quickly. As soon as Tammy Murphy entered the Senate race to replace indicted incumbent Bob Menendez in November, progressive activists mobilized against what they saw as a nepotistic abuse of the states one-of-a-kind party boss system. The relentless criticism from the left and Tammy Murphys string of county convention losses to her chief rival for the nomination, Rep. Andy Kim, left Democrats wondering how much enthusiasm Phil Murphy will have in the second half of his second, and final, term. I hope he still has the energy and is excited by the job, but I think human nature is he feels burned and embarrassed by this process, said Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who is running for governor and, earlier this month, dropped his support for Tammy Murphy and backed Kim in a very public blow to her campaign. Though Phil Murphy stayed in the background of his wifes candidacy, his influence was impossible to ignore. Without it, the state's Democratic bosses almost certainly would not have quickly coalesced around Tammy Murphys candidacy, stoking intense backlash from the party base that enthusiastically supported Kim, whos now the favorite to be the next senator. Kim is king, said one person close to a Democratic county chair. And Tammy is no longer queen. New Jerseys Democratic party bosses most of whom chair powerful county organizations have long had influence over state lawmakers and their crucial votes. Now those party bosses find themselves atop a teetering power structure that could crumble this week if a federal judge rules in favor of Kims lawsuit charging that the county line is unconstitutional. The line, as its known, refers to New Jerseys unique ballot structure that bestows an advantage on party-backed candidates by placing them on a single column or row instead of by office, as all other states do. Even New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin a gubernatorial appointee and one of the closest members of the Murphys inner circle broke with the Murphys when he wrote a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Zahid Quraishi declining to defend the line in court and saying he found it unconstitutional. The lines potential demise was accelerated by grassroots Democrats disgust at what they saw as the party bosses overreach in trying to anoint Tammy Murphy the partys nominee for Senate in the wake of Menendezs scathing federal indictment. All for an office that, despite the grand title and national implications, many county party chairs care less about than a county commissioner seat. Still, New Jerseys governorship is one of the most constitutionally powerful in the nation, with the governor still controlling key cudgels for legislators like judicial nominations, and retaining veto authority over the next two state budgets. And even former Gov. Chris Christie coming off the Bridgegate scandal, a failed presidential campaign and an approval rating in the teens managed to sign major legislative initiatives, including a gas tax hike, in his final two years in office. Murphys office said he is not letting up on policy and that the governor intends to continue building on progress hes made stabilizing the states finances and protecting our fundamental freedoms, from abortion to gun safety to LGBTQIA+ rights. "Just in the last week, the Governor signed the most significant affordable housing legislation in 40 years and saw 12 new judges confirmed, reducing judicial vacancies to the lowest level since 2019. Tomorrow, he will sign major legislation reauthorizing the Transportation Trust Fund and rebuilding the states infrastructure, which passed with bipartisan support," Murphy spokesperson Natalie Hamilton said in a statement. Politically speaking, most of the governors detractors declined to be named, demonstrating that the office itself remains powerful. Middlesex County Democratic Chair Kevin McCabe, one of the most influential people in the state, said that theres lots of work to be done for the residents of NJ and we plan on continuing to work with the governor where our priorities meet. Peg Schaffer, who leads the party in Somerset, said absolutely not when asked if Tammy Murphys candidacy will hurt her husbands governance. This is a decision that unfortunately a lot of women make to protect the people she loves and her family. I think shes stepping aside for the good of those people and the party, Schaffer said. Another saving grace for Murphy is that he hasnt laid out a particularly ambitious agenda for his final 21 months in office. One of his heaviest policy lifts increasing the gas tax and creating an electric vehicle surcharge to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund was completed just a week before the end of Tammy Murphys Senate candidacy. The biggest item Murphy is pushing is increasing the Corporation Business Tax on companies with profits of over $10 million to create a dedicated funding stream for NJ Transit a troubled agency facing a nearly $1 billion fiscal cliff, and which Murphy has repeatedly vowed to fix if it kills me. But theres already legislative sympathy for that proposal, a version of which Senate President Nick Scutari had suggested before Murphy unveiled it. The governor is also renewing a push to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortions in state-regulated health plans. I dont see any diminution in his ability to govern and his ability to connect with the Democratic Party in terms of continuing to grow it, said state Democratic Chair LeRoy Jones, who also chairs the party in Essex County. Former state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, who remains active in state politics, agreed and pointed out Murphy still has two more budgets to sign. I just think that people standing up to power and chalking up a win makes it more comfortable for others to stand up, she said. As night fell on the ultra-exclusive enclave of Star Island off Miami Beach, federal agents were still scurrying around one of its priciest homes. The mansion belonged to rap mogul Sean Combs, better known as Diddy. The agents raided the 1 Star Island Drive home which Diddy bought from two other Miami luminaries, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, for $35 million in 2021 Monday as part of an investigation into sex trafficking. A van with flashing red-and-blue lights was backed into the driveway, about 25 feet from a large trailer. An officer walked up the driveway with a police dog, stepping past an iron gate that appeared to be damaged. A neighbor who lives across the island said there are frequent parties at the mansion and people coming and going at all hours, their cars parked along the exclusive islands single palm-lined road. The raid came a month after a lawsuit from a music producer accused Diddy of being the leader of a sex-trafficking organization. American icon rapper Sean Diddy Combs, hands out $ 50.00 bills, gift cards and essentials during an event outside of the House of Wings restaurant to benefit and help Overtown residents in Miami as his foundation The Sean Combs Foundation, joined together with Headliner Market Group, Teens Exercising Extraordinary Success (T.E.E.S.), and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Keon Hardemon. on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 Agents from Homeland Security Investigations based in New York searched the home with the help of agents in Miami and Los Angeles and local police. They were at the mansion from 3:30 p.m. to after midnight. The secretly coordinated search of the resort vacation gateway was brought on by concerns that Diddy was going to destroy evidence, a person familiar with search told the Miami Herald. The artist had arrived in South Florida over the weekend. Last month, producer Rodney Lil Rod Jones said in the lawsuit that Diddy, his staff and music executives knew about and were involved in illicit and unwanted sexual activities in Florida, New York, California and the U.S. Virgin Islands. READ MORE: Diddy forced music producer to recruit sex workers at Miami strip club, lawsuit claims Prosecutors from the federal Southern District of New York, where Jones filed the lawsuit, are heading the sex-trafficking investigation. Jones is their main witness, sources told the Miami Herald. Diddy was in the Miami area on Monday when the feds raided his home, according to a person familiar with the search. He was detained and questioned by federal agents Monday at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. Agents also seized his phone, the source said. A private jet that has been linked to the hip-hop megastar turned entrepreneur was on the ground Monday in the Caribbean island of Antigua, according to TMZ. Information pertaining to the whereabouts of the jet disappeared from flight tracking websites. Read more: Wheres Diddy? And did he ask a popular flight tracker to take down his plane data? Federal agents outside the Star Island properties of Sean Diddy Combs. Jones, whom Diddy hired in August 2022 to help craft several songs on his R&B album The Love Album: Off the Grid, claims in the lawsuit that the rap star groped him and forced him to engage in sex acts with sex workers. Additionally, he said he was ordered to recruit those sex workers from Booby Trap on the River, a strip club in Miami, and bring them back to Diddys Star Island home. Mr. Jones agreed, and his life has been detrimentally impacted ever since, the lawsuit says. The suit accuses Diddy of being the leader of a criminal enterprise that could qualify as a widespread and dangerous criminal sex trafficking organization. Diddy, 54, owns a residence at 1 West Star Island in Miami Beach, which was previously owned by the Estefans. He also owns a home at 2 West Star Island in Miami Beach, according to Miami-Dade property records. Federal agents outside the two Star Island mansions of Sean Diddy Combs on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Miami Beach, Florida. Federal agents raided his two Miami Beach mansions, along with raiding his home in Los Angeles. The raids follow a suit by his ex producer alleging Diddy was engaged in a widespread and dangerous criminal sex trafficking organization Enough is enough Jones lawsuit is just the latest in a string of allegations levied against Diddy in recent months. Four women have accused him of sexual assault in separate lawsuits. One of the cases involves Diddys ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, commonly known as Cassie. In the filing, she says Diddy raped her and made her have sex with male sex workers. Diddy settled that lawsuit the day after it was filed in November. At the same time that the feds showed up at Diddys Star Island mansion, a similar raid was going down at his 17,000-square-foot Los Angeles home, the Los Angeles Times reported. Two of Diddys sons were detained outside the Holmby Hills abode while feds searched inside. Diddy, a record executive whose music career spans three decades, is the founder of the label Bad Boy Entertainment that launched in 1993. He has since branched out into liquor companies and fashion. By 2022, Forbes placed his net worth at $1 billion. In December, Diddy issued an angry statement on Instagram shortly after the fourth lawsuit was filed, asserting Enough is enough. He denied what he called sickening allegations, saying Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth. Federal agents outside the two Star Island mansions of Sean Diddy Combs on Monday, March 25, 2024, in Miami Beach, Florida. Federal agents raided his two Miami Beach mansions, along with raiding his home in Los Angeles. The raids follow a suit by his ex producer alleging Diddy was engaged in a widespread and dangerous criminal sex trafficking organization. This report has been updated to reflect that only one of Diddys Star Island in Miami Beach homes was raided. Miami Herald staff reporters Joey Flechas and Omar Rodriguez Ortiz contributed to this report. Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal. The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, which oversees The Walt Disney Co.s land in Florida, will vote on a new leader next week. The districts board on March 27 will consider naming Stephanie Kopelousos as district administrator. Kopelousos would take over the role after the departure of Glen Gilzean, who was named Orange County Supervisor of Elections earlier in March. Kopelousos who was recommended by DeSantis for the administrator role currently is director of legislative and intergovernment affairs for the governor. She previously was secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation and county manager of Clay County in Florida. SEE: Civil unrest, gang violence in Haiti Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journals website. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. After natural gas giant EQT expanded its fracking operations a controversial oil well drilling technique into the small community of Knob Fork, West Virginia, families living near the wells started experiencing health problems so severe they had to abandon their homes. Even though the families had overwhelming evidence to prove EQT's operations were unsafe, their numerous complaints to state environmental regulators mostly went unresolved, as PublicSource reported. What's happening? As the news outlet explained, EQT established its presence in Knob Fork in early 2021. By August, families in the hamlet were writing to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for help. PublicSource explained that Abby Tennant, one of the residents, kept a detailed journal chronicling the family's deteriorating health that seemed to coincide with EQT's operations, reporting various symptoms they often experienced, such as bright red rashes, breathing issues, migraines, muscle and nerve pain, chest pains, random twitching, and dizziness. "We've been trying to decide for months if we should sell or leave the house," Abby wrote in the journal in May 2022, per PublicSource. "A decision will have to be made soon about where to go. We cannot stay here and continue to be sick." Later in 2022, the Tennants and three neighboring families left their homes for good after years of getting the runaround from EQT representatives and state environmental regulators. Why is this concerning? The development of chronic health issues that force families to abandon their homes is an obvious concern. In addition, the company seemed to be violating safety regulations that weren't being properly enforced. Many of the families' health problems may have been caused by breathing in "uncombusted VOCs," which Melissa Ostroff, a certified optical gas imaging thermographer with the national environmental organization Earthworks, captured using FLIR imaging, per PublicSource. Michael McCawley, an inhalation toxicologist and associate professor at West Virginia University, told PublicSource that the VOCs released by EQT can cause an "inflammatory reaction" in the body that may lead to chronic disease and poor immune health with long-term exposure. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, fracking can damage the environment by contaminating groundwater and surface water, creating air pollution, threatening wildlife, and increasing the risk of earthquakes. That's not to even mention the hazards posed by natural gas. Research shows that U.S. oil and gas operations are leaking 60% more methane a toxic gas with 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it's produced - than previously thought. What's being done about it? While the families moved away from Knob Fork, their health problems lingered, and some are trying to "secure some sort of medical monitoring," as PublicSource reported. In addition, the outlet reported that the Environmental Protection Agency is investigating EQT's operations in the community. In a broader sense, significant efforts are underway to electrify the fracking industry to reduce pollution. However, as the energy transition progresses, natural gas will likely make up a much smaller portion of the energy mix. Thankfully, solar, wind, and other renewable energies are coming online at breakneck speed, helping to rapidly curb pollution. You can also make a difference by voting for pro-climate candidates who are willing to hold corporations accountable and penalize polluters. Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet. It will "take years" to restore the critically damaged Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) in Zaporizhzhya, following a massive Russian missile strike on March 22, Ukrhydroenergo CEO Ihor Syrota told Suspilne on March 25. The full extent of the damage remains undetermined due to limited access to the plant's machine room. Ceilings and walls with crane beams have collapsed into the engine room, necessitating the dismantling of the upper portion to clear debris. "It will take years, not days or months, to restore the plant, because more than six missiles hit the HPP-2 station, and the bridge and crane beams were damaged. So the damage is extensive," stated Syrota. Read also: Ukraine lost about 20% of power grid regulation capability after attack on Dnipro HPP Ukrhydroenergo Ukrhydroenergo has coordinated with the Regional State Administration to bring in specialists from the State Emergency Service (SES) to address the aftermath. While the dam itself remains intact, the plant is non-operational. There is no immediate risk of a dam breakthrough. Read also: UN and EU condemn Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, call for accountability As of March 23, Ukraine has lost approximately 20% of its power grid's regulation capability due to the Russian strikes on the DHPP. March 22 Russian Attack on Ukraine's Power Grid Read also: Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Station suffered critical damage in direct hit from Russian missile On March 22, Russia executed the largest attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure since the onset of the full-scale invasion. The DHPP sustained its most severe attack since February 2022. Official reports from Ukrenergo, Ukrhydroenergo, and Ukrainian authorities confirm that Russian forces targeted the dam deliberately. According to the Ukrainian government, the DHPP was struck at least eight times, targeting the power plant's support and crane beams. A subsequent fire broke out at the plant. In total, Russia launched at least 20 missiles at the city of Zaporizhzhya, where the dam is located. 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 An NHS watchdog has apologised to 29 doctors at Scotland's biggest hospital for not fully investigating their concerns about patient safety. A&E consultants at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital wrote to Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to warn patient safety was being "seriously compromised". They offered 18 months' worth of evidence of overcrowding and staff shortages to back their claims. But HIS did not ask for this evidence. The watchdog also did not meet any of the 29 doctors - which is almost every consultant in the hospital's emergency department - to discuss the concerns after it received the letter last year. Instead, it carried out an investigation where it only spoke to senior executives at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde before then closing down the probe. HIS has now issued a "sincere and unreserved apology" to the consultants and upheld two complaints about the way it handled their whistleblowing letter about patient safety. One consultant who signed the letter told BBC Scotland: "We'd exhausted all our options and thought HIS was a credible organisation. "We offered to share evidence of patient harm. We were shocked that they ignored this and didn't engage with us as the consultant group raising concerns." Another consultant added they were "shocked at their negligence". Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital has one of the country's busiest emergency departments A Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) source told BBC Scotland: "The inquiry seems to have started and ended with HIS asking hospital managers if everything was okay and being assured it was. "If almost 30 named consultants raising very serious fears for patient safety does not prompt a rigorous independent investigation, what will?". HIS said it had apologised for the shortcomings in its response and is committed to learn lessons. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said improving overall patient safety at QEUH was its top priority. The consultants' plea There have been longstanding concerns about patient safety standards in the emergency department at the QEUH. It is one of the country's busiest A&Es and has regularly failed to meet Scottish government targets on treating patients within four hours. In 2022, BBC Scotland revealed how A&E doctors had urged NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to declare a major incident at the hospital amidst fears the department would be overwhelmed. In May last year, 29 consultants in emergency medicine at QEUH wrote to HIS to warn that patient safety was being "seriously compromised" by issues in the A&E such as treatment delays, "inadequate" staffing levels and patients being left unassessed in unsuitable waiting areas. They claimed this has resulted in "preventable patient harm and sub-standard levels of basic patient care". The doctors also said this meant "a number of critical events have occurred including potentially avoidable deaths". The medics' signed off the letter by saying they were getting in touch with HIS as they said repeated efforts to raise the issues with health board bosses "failed to elicit any significant response". Complaint closed In August last year, HIS wrote to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde chief executive Jane Grant to tell the board it was closing its investigation into the consultants' complaint as it was satisfied there was "awareness and oversight of the issues and of the performance of the emergency department". The letter lists what the board told HIS it was doing to address the problems but also points out a "great deal remains to be done in order to improve communication and relationships" with staff. It also reveals some of the internal reviews required to be carried out after significant adverse events in the hospital were "significantly overdue". The letter referenced a meeting between HIS officials and Morag Gardner, the board's deputy nurse director, and Scott Davidson, deputy medical director. After getting hold of this HIS letter to the health board, the consultants complained to watchdog for failing to meet them or reviewing any of the "extensive documentary evidence" they offered to provide. In January this year, HIS upheld a complaint that it did not provide any of the 29 doctors with the opportunity to discuss their concerns directly with its officials. A&e A second complaint, that there was no opportunity to provide evidence to substantiate the consultants' claims, was also upheld. In a letter from Robbie Pearson, HIS chief executive, to the consultants, he said: "I would like to offer my sincere, unreserved apology for our shortcomings in this matter and the clear distress they caused you all. "May I also offer an assurance that HIS will learn lessons and implement changes to published process and their application as a direct result of your complaint". Evidence of patient safety concerns offered by the consultants has now been shared with HIS and it is being reviewed with the potential of leading to a new review of the concerns about QEUH's emergency department being launched. Lailah Peel, deputy chair of BMA Scotland and an A&E doctor in the west of Scotland, said doctors were increasingly seeing patients come to avoidable harm due to conditions in hospital. She said: "The fact that consultants have had to go to that level to raise these kinds of concerns - and then they've been essentially ignored until this point - is really, really worrying. "I think what we really need to see now is not just an apology but some actual action that's going to help these consultants, help the whole department and help patient safety." She told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme how hospitals were often working at capacity, which meant A&E departments had to work to a one-in-one-out policy. The types of concerns raised about the A&E at the QEUH have been mirrored across Scotland in recent years. In August last year a group of senior doctors accused NHS Grampian of ignoring their safety concerns about emergency departments in Elgin and Aberdeen. Elsewhere, "serious concerns" were raised about overcrowding at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh's A&E. Improvement plan A HIS spokesperson said: "Following our initial response outlining our findings, we received a complaint from the consultants about their experience of the process. "Our handling of the process did not include adequate engagement with the clinicians raising the concern. "We have formally acknowledged this, apologised for shortcomings and committed to learn lessons." A NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesperson said: "We are committed to improving the patient experience at the QEUH and have been working with consultants within the Emergency Department (ED) alongside HIS following concerns raised around staffing and capacity levels. "The ED team are involved in hospital-wide plans to support the department by relieving pressures on the front door and improving overall patient safety which remains our top priority." Chicilon Media has announced that its 27-inch TV screen devices in office buildings and apartments meet all of IoT device safety standards without any security risks. The company's elevator media devices are tested based on the IoT security assessment method developed by the OWASP project. The results were verified by Viettel Cyber Security. The assessment contents include the security level of the devices connectivity, the connection of the devices to websites or other administrative interfaces, the devices linked applications, and information vulnerability. Chicilon Medias screens installed in building elevators passed the evaluation on all four standards: not having applications that transmit data to third parties; no taking or storing images of viewers; no information gaps; and meeting all information security requirements. Chicilon's TV screens meet IoT device safety standards. Photo courtesy of Chicilon Media Guo Zhi Feng, Chairman of Chicilon Media, said that this result contributes to building trust and enhancing Chicilon Media's reputation in the eyes of business partners and consumers. He also revealed that the company is continuing to invest in technological innovation, research, and development of digital media equipment to improve the functionality and quality of media channels, providing customers with safer and more effective advertising services. The company aims to integrate a nationwide digital communications network into the project of digitalizing the country, contributing to Vietnam's digital transformation and economic development. Chicilon Media's advertising screens account for 92% of the elevator media market share. Photo courtesy of Chicilon Media Chicilon Media currently has more than 36,000 advertising screens with advanced technology, occupying 92% of the elevator media market share in apartment buildings and offices in key cities. The company's screen network also covers 14 airports and 41 supermarkets nationwide, reaching 40 million middle- and high-end consumers every day. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) It will be at least two weeks, but it will likely be even longer, before the Senate takes up a bill which could ban TikTok in the U.S. Congress is currently on a two-week recess, and there doesnt appear to be a clear timeline on when the Senate will take up the bill that passed overwhelmingly in the House earlier this month. There was deep concern about the threat from TikTok on both sides of the aisle, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.) said following a classified briefing last week. Right now, its unclear if the bill has a chance of passing in the Senate as it has been written by the House. Theres no reason that the Senate cant consider the House bill. Its a good bill, with potential modifications to make it more practical and achievable, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said. Sen. Cruz said the bill has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee but did not say if or when there would be a markup on the bill, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not committed to putting the bill on the floor anytime soon. Some lawmakers like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) want to move as quickly as possible. I think the Senate needs to promptly take up and pass the House bill, which would force TikToks Chinese communist influence parent company to divest from TikTok, Sen. Cotton said. However, there seems to be some uncertainty about how quickly the Senate would be able to vote on the bill. They moved obviously very aggressively and quickly in the House, Im not sure the Senates got that same kind of timetable, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said. The bottom line is that there appears to be little agreement in the Senate on the best way to ensure that 170 million American users arent having their private data accessed by China. There are other factors that could be holding the Senate back. For example, the tech industry is broad and falls under the jurisdiction of several different committees, and lawmakers in both parties seem to be at odds over how exactly the legislation should be written. What would the House bill do exactly? Earlier this month, the House passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act by a vote of 352-65. The legislation would ban TikTok in the U.S. if its China-based owner ByteDance doesnt sell its stakes in the platform within six months of the bills enactment. If ByteDance were to divest its stakes, then the social media platform would continue to operate in the U.S. as long as it is determined that it is no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary. The bill would also require ByteDance to give up control of TikToks well-known algorithm, which feeds users content based on their preferences. Experts have previously said it would be hard for ByteDance to sell TikTok in a few months. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the bill if it is sent to his desk. The Associated Press contributed to this report. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. When a dog unearthed a rusty metal item in the backyard of a Florida home, the owner went to check it out then told everyone to get inside, police said. His dog had dug up an old military bomb. On March 20, the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office responded to a report of an unexploded military weapon in a homes backyard, the agency said in a police report. The man who reported the bomb said it had fins in the back, had rusted metal and it was shaped like a torpedo, an officer documented in the report. The dog pulled the item out of the ground behind a shed, and when the man investigated, he quickly realized what it was, he told police. You couldnt tell what it was until you started pulling it up, the man told WJAX. Once I got it halfway out, I was like oh, I know what this is, let me gently put this back down. He took photos of the item, which were sent out to other units arriving on the scene, police said. Due to the level of decay, the officer believed the bomb had been buried in the ground for a long time. Authorities evacuated neighbors close to the homes property, then the hazardous device unit removed the bomb from the area, according to police. 3 bombs from WWII found in a Florida bay, military says. Now, theyll be detonated Man stumbles onto torpedo with unsettling blinking light, New York photos show Flintlock pistol found during search of 1740s Charleston home, SC officials say 1,000-pound bomb uncovered at Florida airport prompts half-mile evacuation, cops say Illustration (Getty Images). A federal court in Montana last week imposed a nearly $10 million penalty against a Libby man who sent thousands of harassing and malicious spoofed robocalls that targeted people and communities in several states specifically following tragedies that included peoples murders. Scott Rhodes, who lived in Libby and in Idaho, had the judgment imposed against him last Tuesday three years after the Federal Communications Commission imposed the $9.9 forfeiture penalty against Rhodes and after the Department of Justice sued him to collect the money. In placing thousands of harassing and malicious spoofing calls to consumers across the country, Rhodes showed a blatant disregard to caller ID and telephone consumer protection laws designed to prevent this sort of conduct, District of Montana U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said in a statement. In addition to the penalty, a judge ordered an injunction that prohibits Rhodes from violating the Truth in Caller ID Act and Telephone Consumer Protection Act in the future lest he face further penalties. According to the FCC and U.S. Department of Justice, Rhodes would spoof local numbers and use recorded messages to target specific communities in Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa and Virginia in 2018 with nearly 5,000 robocalls made with false caller identification information. After Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts was stabbed to death in 2018, Rhodes made robocalls to people living in the town where she was living and other towns nearby containing xenophobic messages about the suspect being an undocumented immigrant, saying the woman was murdered by a biological hybrid of white and savage Aztec ancestors. The court never confirmed the suspect was living legally in the U.S., and he was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison. When self-avowed neo-Nazi James Fields Jr., was arrested for running over and killing Heather Heyer with a vehicle during a protest against the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Rhodes sent robocalls to the area making racist statements about the citys mayor and police chief and denigrating statements about Heyer. Were no longer going to tolerate a Jewish lying press, and Jew corruption of an American legal system, one of the messages said, according to the DOJ. Rhodes robocalled people in Sandpoint, Idaho, then attacked the local newspaper when it published his identity, and also spoofed robocalls attacking gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Georgia. People who received the calls in the various states filed complaints with law enforcement and the FCC, which led to the federal investigation. After the FCC handed down its fines for Rhodes in January 2021, the DOJ sued that October to try to recover the money and keep Rhodes from violating FCC rules and the law in the future. Last October, the DOJ asked for summary judgment to impose the full $9.91 million penalty against Rhodes, which was granted last week along with the injunction. We are very pleased by the courts judgment, and we will continue working with the FCC and other agency partners to vigorously enforce the telemarketing laws that prohibit these practices, said Justice Department Civil Division Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton. The post DOJ imposes $9.9M penalty for Montana man who targeted communities with robocalls appeared first on Daily Montanan. MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD)- Governor Henry McMaster was in Mount Pleasant Tuesday morning, touring the USS Yorktown and providing an update on the efforts to remove toxic liquids inside the ship. The historic battleship from WWII is in need of some major work. This is a sample of materials that have been taken from the bilge and the tanks of the fighting lady, the USS Yorktown, Robert Boyles, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Director said. The jars are a tiny portion of the 1.25 million gallons of oil and contaminated water that sits under the deck of the Yorktown, and its just a matter of time until it causes an oil spill in the Charleston harbor. Panthers fans rank behind Cowboys as most disgruntled currently The impact of these pollutants are known, and theyre sometimes very, very longlasting, Boyles said. However, state and local leaders are doing everything they can to stop that from happening, and we got to see how theyre doing that. We went below the deck of the historic ship and got an up-close look as experts showed us the tanks with toxic liquids that were being cleaned. There are different types of pumps that will just suck it out, one expert said. The cleaning process started in 2013 but picked up speed in 2022. So far, 600,000 gallons have been removed, but theres a lot more left to do. Governor McMaster met with the projects leaders on Tuesday morning. The project is about to move into phase two in August. We dont have another minute to waste because we dont know whats going to happen, we dont know when the next storm is going to happen, we dont know what might happen, McMaster said. These were the most polluted US cities in 2023, air quality study finds Governor McMaster says its vital to get this done quickly to prevent the contamination of our waters. We just cant let that happen. Were determined that this is going to be finished and finished on time, McMaster said. This is a massive project, but officials say theyre hoping to have it done in the next couple of years. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. New York Judge Juan Merchan on Monday scolded former President Donald Trumps legal team over their push for a delay in his Manhattan criminal hush-money trial. Trump was in court on Monday eyeing Merchan intently as his team pushed to delay his looming trial. Trumps attorneys asked for an adjournment of at least 30 days. Merchan has yet to set a trial date but it is expected to begin next month, according to NBC News. After describing Trumps filings over the last several weeks, during which a document release by federal prosecutors at the Southern District of New York prompted a delay to the trial, Merchan said: This court is of the opinion that there are really not significant questions of fact to be resolved." Trump attorney Todd Blanche argued that not only did SDNY turn over new documents but it also notified both sides last night about new documents related to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Merchan told Blanche that he appreciated being informed of the development. I dont think its related to the hearing, but thank you, he added. Merchan questioned why Trumps lawyers hadnt asked for more time during a hearing last month even though they likely knew the materials existed last spring. Why didnt you bring any of this to my attention? Why didnt you tell the court or anyone in the courtroom at that time that you had made this request, that it was taking a little longer than you expected? Merchan asked. So how come you didnt bring them up? Blanche appeared to be caught off guard by Merchans harsh questioning and seemed frazzled by the questions, according to NBC News. Trump during the hearing appeared to relay messages through his lawyers, according to the report. Merchan grew uncharacteristically furious during the hearing, according to NBC. That you dont have a case right now is really disconcerting, he told Trumps lawyers. You are literally accusing the Manhattan DAs office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct," he added, arguing that Trumps lawyers did not provide a single example to back up their allegation. Trump stood and scowled as Blanche was getting dressed down by the judge, according to The New York Times. As the judge grilled Todd Blanche on his interpretation of documents and prosecutors conduct, Trump stared intently at his lead attorney, sizing up his ability to stand up to the judge, The Times Wesley Parnell reported. Trump has a history of picking bulldog-style lawyers who can both handle heat and deliver a Trump-campaign-style message at the same time. Trumps eyes were trained on Blanche, as he struggled to answer standard legal questions. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) A new law is set to go into effect in California this summer that will require bars and night clubs serving alcoholic beverages to offer kits for testing common date-rape drugs. AB 1013, introduced by Asm. Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), requires bars with a Type 48 license from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to offer the date-rape drug testing kits and display signs informing the public that they are available. Alcoholic drinks to-go could soon be a reality in California A Type 48 license refers to bars and night clubs that serve beer, wine and distilled spirits, where minors are not allowed and food service is not required. The new law is set to go into effect beginning July 1, 2024. The alcohol your state is ordering the most: report The required signage on bars will read, Dont get roofied! Drink spiking drug test kits available here. Ask a staff member for details. The department says a sample sign is available on their website and can be downloaded and printed by licensees. California will not sell or provide kits state licensees have to get their owns testing kits. The new law also mandates that the testing kits are not too unreasonable in price or that they are given free of charge. Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control officials emphasized that bar or club owners who do not comply with the new law could face administrative actions that could impact their licenses. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Jury selection in the criminal hush money trial of Donald Trump will begin on April 15, a New York judge ruled Monday, in what will be the first criminal prosecution of an ex-President in U.S. history. Judge Juan M. Merchan delivered the ruling after rejecting arguments from Trumps lawyers to delay the trial over the late release of more than 100,000 pages of potential evidence that federal prosecutors turned over. Defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time, the judge said, as Trump sat in the courtroom. The Manhattan trial, which concerns charges of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 election, was originally scheduled to begin on Monday but was postponed until mid-April after federal prosecutors handed over the new documents. Merchan ruled that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is not at fault for the late production of documents from the U.S. Attorneys office and that the case could proceed to trial next monthsetting a court date well before voters head to the polls for the November election. Read More: These Are the Key Dates in Donald Trumps Legal Casesand Re-Election Bid Trump called the case a witch hunt and a hoax as he walked into the courtroom on Monday, and later said that he plans to appeal the judges decision to start the trial in April. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made by his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who is expected to be the key witness against Trump in the trial. This case should have been brought three and a half years ago, they decided to wait now just during the election, so that I wont be able to campaign, Trump said. I will be appealing. Read More: A Guide to All of Trumps Indictmentsand Where Each Case Stands The Manhattan trial is one of four criminal cases that Trump faces as he seeks a return to the White House, but its the only one with a trial date already set. Some legal experts believe the hush money case could be the most likely of Trumps four criminal cases to result in a felony conviction before the November election. Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com. Former President Donald Trump leaves a pre-trial hearing on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, during a recess, with his defense team, in New York City Donald Trump will face the first ever criminal trial of a former US president on 15 April over alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Justice Juan Merchan denied the defence's request to delay the case. Mr Trump faces four criminal cases, but this may be the only one to make it to a courtroom before November's election. He has pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony charges, arguing the claims do not constitute "a crime". After spending much of Monday morning sitting next to his attorneys inside the courtroom, Mr Trump told reporters that the case should be considered "election interference". "It's a disgrace, and we will obviously be appealing," he said. "But this is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference, and it shouldn't be allowed to happen." During his bid to retake the White House, the former president and his legal team have sought to delay as many of his trials as possible. The trial was originally set to begin with jury selection on Monday, but it was delayed after thousands of documents were released last week from the 2018 federal investigation into the payments to Ms Daniels. Judge Merchan held a hearing on Monday centred on whether there had been any wrongdoing in the sudden release last week of more than 200,000 pages of documents related to the federal prosecutors' case. Mr Trump's legal team claimed the Manhattan district attorney's office had engaged in misconduct by not doing enough to get the federal prosecutors to hand over the documents in a timely manner. They alleged prosecutors were attempting to "suppress" evidence. The document release followed a request by Mr Trump's attorneys in January for records from the federal case. Justice Merchan questioned why the defence had not discussed the long wait with him earlier. The Manhattan District Attorney's office had agreed to a delay of 30 days for the documents to be reviewed, but prosecutors said at the hearing that they believed only 300 new documents needed to be considered. Mr Trump's legal team demanded more time to review the documents, and pushed for a 90-day delay. On Monday, Justice Merchan grilled Mr Trump's lawyer to specify how many of the "thousands" of documents they would consider relevant and requiring review for this case. Mr Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, painted a broad picture of what was in the new batch, which he said included records from the Robert Mueller investigation - the federal inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Though Justice Merchan pressed him to narrow his focus to the case at hand, Mr Blanche maintained that the relevant records numbered in the thousands. "We got the material a week ago,"he said. "We're still going through them." The judge, however, appeared impatient and unpersuaded by the attorney's arguments, including the claim that prosecutors had acted unethically. During a tense exchange, Mr Blanche could not give a satisfactory argument that Mr Bragg's team had violated a statute concerning how prosecutors must share evidence. "That you don't have a case right now is really disconcerting," Justice Merchan told Mr Blanche. The judge said that the defence appeared keen on accusing prosecutors of misconduct "and trying to make me complicit in it", without providing a compelling legal argument. "It's odd that we're even here and that we've taken this time," he said. Justice Merchan ultimately ruled that the district attorney's office was "not at fault" for the late production of evidence from federal prosecutors, and made "diligent efforts" to produce the relevant documents. As he gaveled the hearing to a close, Justice Merchan told Mr Trump and the dozens of assembled lawyers and press: "See you all on the 15th." A fireball rises into the sky over Nevada after the U.S. government detonated a 61-kiloton device on June 4, 1953. Nuclear weapons experiments at the Nevada Test Site spread fallout to other states, including Arizona, research and records show. (Getty Images) PHOENIX The $1.2 trillion budget package that Congress was working to pass Friday included everything from protection for gas stoves to restrictions on payments to the Chinese government. What it didnt include was an extension for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which compensates people who lived downwind from nuclear test sites and developed cancer as a result. Family members of such downwinders, like Cullin Pattillo of Mohave County, said they felt disgust at Congress lack of action. Its something thats affecting real people who were really harmed, you know, its not an abstract concept that you should be able to so easily push aside, Pattillo said. It makes me angry. It makes me extremely angry. The House which is out for the next two weeks on an Easter recess still has a chance to extend RECA before the law expires on June 7. That is little comfort to Pattillo, whose father died from cancer in 2022 after years of fighting for compensation from the government. People are dying every single day they delay this, Pattillo said. My dad died fighting for coverage. The Senate passed a bill earlier this month that would not only reauthorize RECA but expand benefits to cover downwinders in New Mexico, northern Utah and Arizona who are not currently covered in the law. The law, originally passed in 1990, covered uranium miners as well as people who lived in specified parts of Nevada, Utah and Arizona that were downwind of the Nevada Test Site where the government tested nuclear weapons for years in the 1950s and 1960s. Residents of those areas who developed one of a number of cancers listed in the law were entitled to $50,000 of compensation. Over the years, the law was expanded to include other areas and occupations such as uranium mill workers. But although it includes virtually all of northern Arizona, it has never included Mohave County residents south of the Grand Canyon. The Senate bill, currently before the House, would expand coverage to all of Mohave County and to other states. But 15 House members including several from Arizona had hoped to expedite passage by attaching the Senate language to Fridays budget package. Failure to include RECA in the budget bill was called irresponsible by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Bullhead City, whose district includes Mohave County. The federal government has an obligation to take care of the survivors of nuclear weapons testing that occurred during the Cold War, Gosar said in a statement Friday. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Phoenix, who was one of the 15 calling for RECA to be part of the budget, called it a matter of fundamental fairness in an interview Wednesday. Weve got to get it done for the people that suffered unknowingly because of actions of the federal government, Stanton said. We need to make sure that the RECA system, which is a good program actually reaches all the people that have been touched by the nuclear testing. Mohave County had the highest rates of new cancer cases and cancer deaths in Arizona from 2016 to 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with a new case rate of 401.2 per 100,000 residents and a death rate of 178.5 per 100,000. The state rates in the same period were 376.6 for cases and 132 for deaths. Matthew Capalby, who was born and raised in Kingman, said the massive mushroom clouds from above-ground nuclear tests were visible all the way in Arizona and became a Fourth of July patriotic thing for residents of the area like his mother. They would let folks know when blasts were going to occur, but it was like they were encouraged to watch it, Capalby said. They would literally take the school kids out of school, take them out on the playground to watch the blast off in the distance. Capalby said he constantly saw friends and family members develop cancer. I just assumed when you reached your 30s you were going to probably get cancer. I thought that was a normal thing, he said. And then, come to find out that a lot of this was due to the radioactive fallout and exposure from the Nevada Test Site. Capalby said those experiences prompted him to spend years advocating for downwinders, serving at one point on the board of a group called Downwinders of Mohave County. Now, he is the only surviving board member. Its just been a very slow, quiet ongoing tragedy and it decimated the population and two generations of people throughout the region, he said. Kingman is a little more than 100 miles from the Nevada Test Site where the United States conducted 100 at-or-above ground level atomic weapons tests resulting in radioactive material being released into the atmosphere, according to the Congressional Research Service. Pattillo said his father, a Kingman resident, survived stage 4 bladder cancer in the 1990s and later developed colon cancer. He had his bladder and prostate removed, colon resected, multiple surgeries on his liver and an uncountable number of radiation and chemotherapy treatments before dying of cancer in 2022. Pattillo said the three decades of treatment added up to more than $1 million in medical bills. But even though all of his fathers cancers are on the RECA list, he was never compensated because Kingman is not a covered area. Mohave County is not that far from the testing area, and southern Mohave County was specifically overlooked and more specifically excluded from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, he said. Just as a matter of fairness, theres an issue in my mind there. Pattillo said it was not just his father: His grandfather died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and an aunt died of cancer that was just everywhere. The United States government, for all intents and purposes, murdered people, Pattillo said. They murdered our dad. They murdered my aunt, and they probably murdered my grandpa. And Im sick and tired of them ignoring the issue. Advocates are optimistic that the House will be able to extend RECA before it expires, despite the fact that the measure was not included in the budget. Its always easier in Congress to keep a program alive than it is to revive one, said Kevin Davis, a lobbyist for the Union of Concerned Scientists. So its much, much easier to reauthorize than it is to create a new one. The White House has said it looks forward to working with Congress to ensure sufficient resources are made available to cover the costs of administering the expanded benefits program. But downwinders like Pattillo said they are tired of waiting to Congress to act. What a better poster child for, you know, dysfunction of governments and dysfunction in Congress, he said. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Downwinder renewal left out of massive budget bill rushed through Congress appeared first on Arizona Mirror. Dozens of laser beams shone at passenger plane by people at Mexican festival People at a festival in Mexico have been criticised online after shining dozens of laser beams at a passenger plane. It was flying over the National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec on its final approach to Felipe Angeles International Airport in Zumpango. Footage shared on social media shows dozens of lasers being pointed at the low-altitude jet. The video was quickly met with backlash by TikTok users, with one commenting: What on earth is wrong with people??? This is SO dangerous. Revellers in Mexico point dozens of lasers at passenger aircraft as it was flying over National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec (ariaestef1 / TikTok) Another said: I wonder if they think it would be funny if they were travelling on that plane. The National Pyrotechnic Festival is an annual event that promotes and celebrates Mexicos production and use of fireworks. More 100,000 attendees watch and take part in the festival, which puts on huge displays of fireworks. Pointing laser beams at an aeroplane is a federal offence in the US that can result in fines of up to 8,700 per violation. Tultpec is known as Mexicos pyrotechnic capital, and in 2018, a series of explosions at a fireworks depot in the town killed at least 24 people and injured more than 40 others. Tultpec is known as Mexicos pyrotechnic capital (AP) The town has also previously been badly damaged by explosions at firework factories. There have been calls for the festival to be cancelled due to the explosions, but residents have warned it will greatly affect their livelihoods. An estimated 30,000 people in Tultepec work in the fireworks business, according to the local government. In the UK, it is also illegal to point a laser at air traffic controllers and pilots. People can be punished with five years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both under The Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Act introduced in 2018. Laser misuse has become a growing concern, particularly near airports where they can dazzle and distract pilots and air traffic controllers. iPhone 14 Pro Max almost sold out at official stores Six months after Apple discontinued the iPhone 14 Pro Max, many authorized retailers have sold out their stocks and others have hiked the prices of their few remaining units. Thanh Phong, an IT technician in HCMC, wanted to buy one but had to visit numerous stores to find the 128GB silver version he liked. "Apple Store Online stopped selling the product after the release of the iPhone 15. Many retail stores have also announced they no longer sell [the iPhone 14 Pro Max]," he said. The 14 Pro Max hit shelves in Vietnam in October 2022 for VND33.9 million (US$1,367). Its price dropped to VND26 million 10 months later. After it was discontinued in September 2023, the price rose slightly to VND27 million. But Phong had to pay VND3 million more than that for his 128GB silver phone. Phone retail chain Minh Tuan Mobile said it raised the price of the phone because it now costs more due to low supply. "Since the beginning of the year we have managed to import very few iPhone 14 Pro Max phones and they are almost sold out," a chain spokesperson said. Phung Phuong, a spokesperson for mobile devices retail chain Di Dong Viet, said they no longer sell the model since it is hard to find supply. Leading electronics retailer FPT Shop said it only has enough stock for until May, after which it will stop selling the model. Its CCO, Nguyen The Kha, said the iPhone 14 Pro Max remains very popular despite the price increases. Its design is not too different from the new iPhone 15 and its specifications are good enough for the average user, he explained. Now for the VND30 million that an iPhone 14 Pro Max costs, one can buy a 128GB iPhone 15 Pro or spend an extra VND2-3 million to get the 256GB iPhone 15 Pro Max with better specifications. A teacher has been banned from the profession after driving a car under the influence of alcohol. A Teaching Regulation Agency panel found Essex teacher Amy Harrison, 42, had "failed to maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour". Ms Harrison, 42, was charged after a crashing her car in March 2022. She was also alleged to have been found drinking and smelling of alcohol on school grounds, but the panel found these to be not proven. A professional conduct panel heard fellow staff members had raised concerns that Ms Harrison had been drinking at about 14:10 GMT on 2 March 2022. A witness said she asked Ms Harrison if she was OK and she responded that she was. Another member of staff mentioned to the witness he had seen Ms Harrison and had no concerns. However, on 3 March she did not arrive for lessons and a staff member said she had seen Ms Harrison's car on a roundabout with the "windscreen smashed and airbags out". She also informed the witness that she saw Ms Harrison in a police car. Ms Harrison told police she had been out to lunch with a friend and had drunk wine prior to the accident, between the hours of 12:00 and 14:00. The panel noted that the accident took place around 16:30. The panel also viewed and considered the video footage of the roadside breath test, which it understood to be recorded immediately after the accident. It considered her "demeanour was consistent with an individual who was under the influence of alcohol." Ms Harrison resigned from her position on 31 March 2022. The panel noted Ms Harrison, who did not attend her hearing - held on 4 and 5 March - had shown limited evidence of insight and remorse into her actions. Its report said: "The panel accepted the legal advice provided to it that the panel's role was to consider whether, on the balance of probabilities, the allegation was proven. "Although the panel noted that the police chose not to pursue criminal proceedings, the panel was mindful that criminal proceedings are subject to a higher standard of proof, namely that the allegation is proven beyond a reasonable doubt." Ruling on behalf of the education secretary, Marc Cavey agreed with the misconduct panel's recommendation that Ms Harrison should be banned from teaching indefinitely. She can apply for her prohibition order to be set aside, but not before 12 March 2028. Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830 Driver flees after crashing into building in Calumet Heights CHICAGO Police say no injuries were reported on Saturday night after a car crashed into a daycare building on the South Side. According to Chicago police, the crash happened just before 10:30 p.m. in the 8800 block of South Stony Island Avenue in Calumet Heights. Read more: Latest Chicago news headline Officers say a person in a sedan was driving in the area when they crashed into the building. Following the crash, the driver fled the scene. Police did not say if they fled on foot or in the crashed car. Authorities say it is currently unclear what led to the crash and no arrests have been made. An investigation into the incident is now underway. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. A drone recording off southeast Australia captured the terrifying scene when two swimmers collided with a venomous stringray. It happened Saturday, March 23, off Horseshoe Bay Beach in the New South Wales city of Bermagui, and involved a black stingray, according to professional angler Jason Moyce, also known as Trapman Australia. Drone images show it was about the size of a dining room table. A very close call for these boys just having a casual swim. The boys went to catch a wave as the sting ray was going in for a look, Moyce wrote in a March 24 Facebook post. All three got wrapped up in the wave. The stinger got very close to hitting the boys with its tail. ... None of the three saw it coming. Moyce said he was screaming my head off as he watched the bottom-dwelling creature start to slide under the swimmers. A slowed-down video clip posted March 25 shows the swimmers quite literally stepped on the stringray, sending up an explosion of foam. The creatures barbed tail swung around very quickly and got within inches of one swimmers feet, video shows. Not an attack by any means, Moyce said. When rays feel threatened, they will use their poisonous barb as defensive. Black stringrays grow to 13 feet in length, nearly 6 feet in width and can top 440 pounds, according to Fishes of Australia. Deaths from stingray venom are rare, but the most notable example is Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, who died after a short-tailed stringrays barb pierced his heart in 2006. Trapman Australias posts have gotten hundreds of reactions, with many marveling at the size of the stringray. That is amazing but terrifying at the same time, Gael Walsh Vanderdrift wrote on Facebook. I would have passed out, Chrisanthi Laoumtzis posted. Thats some interesting behavior ... Even the large rays (like this one), usually try to avoid people? Brian Galland said. Angler spying on sharks with camera notices one staring back off the Australia coast A horror movie. Mysterious eel-like creature caught off Australia ignites debate Huge half-eaten shark washes up on Australia beach. Equal parts cool and terrifying The Dnipro hydroelectric power plant after the strike. Photo: Denys Shmyhal on Telegram The DTEK Group, Ukraines largest private energy investor, has lost about half of its generating capacities following a massive Russian attack on the Ukrainian power grid on 22 March. Source: Serhii Kovalenko, CEO of distribution company Yasno, on the national joint 24/7 newscast on Sunday Quote: "The DTEK Group has lost 50% of its generating capacity. We can announce this officially." Details: Kovalenko explained that the attack was dangerous because the Russians hit two parts of Ukraines energy system: the generation and distribution systems. "They hit several types of generating capacities: a large number of thermal power plants were hit, and a hydroelectric generating facility was hit. Secondly, the enemy hit a very large number of Ukrenergo's grid nodes, transformers, etc. This attack has simultaneously destroyed the system's ability to transmit electricity and reduced our generating capabilities," he explained. Kovalenko said that it will take a few more days to estimate the timeframe for repairs and the funds required. "This is not going to take a day, a week, or even a month to repair it will take months," he said. Kovalenko also admitted that there may be power shortages in the summer, as Ukraine will not be able to generate enough electricity. Background: Ukraine's largest hydroelectric power plant, Dnipro HPP in Zaporizhzhia, was hit in the missile attack on 22 March. Later, it became known that Russian missiles hit Dnipro HPP eight times. Ukrhydroenergo has not ruled out that the Russians may have intended to destroy the power station completely. The company has managed to get some of the equipment up and running at Dnipro HPP, but the plant is not yet generating electricity. As a result of the Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's energy system, emergency power outages were reported in a number of oblasts. Ukrenergo subsequently ordered the power to be switched back on for household consumers in all oblasts of Ukraine except Kharkiv, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi and Dnipropetrovsk. A thermal power plant and all the transformer substations in Kharkiv were destroyed. On 24 March, DTEK announced the introduction of stabilisation outage schedules in Odesa and emergency power outages in Kryvyi Rih. Support UP or become our patron! This article was originally published in NC Newsline. The Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University has received $3.4 million in grants from four institutions to support research on the post-pandemic racial wealth gap in five U.S. cities, including Durham and Charlotte. The other three cities are Atlanta, Houston and Washington, D.C. Throughout 2024 and 2025, researchers hope to better understand how the pandemic affected small business development in these areas, as well as analyze racial and ethnic wealth inequality across the United States. The project will focus on the connection between the wealth gap and rates of entrepreneurship in various communities and the racially disparate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter In addition to comprehending these disparities, the Cook Center aspires to offer policy solutions that will meaningfully alleviate inequality, said Gwendolyn L. Wright, director of strategic initiatives at the Cook Center. The continuation and expansion of the NASCC [National Asset Scorecard for Communities of Color] project is a major step forward, and these partnerships reflect the widespread desire for such solutions. The Cook Center received major financial support from the MetLife Foundation, the JPB Foundation of New York, Walmart through the Walmart.org Center for Racial Equality and the City of Durham. We are thrilled to be able to collaborate with these organization and have their support in building upon the first NASCC Phase and continuing to study the racial wealth gap across America, said William A, Sandy Darity Jr., the founding director of strategic initiatives at the Cook Center. The continuation and expansion of the NASCC project is a major step forward and these partnerships reflect the widespread desire for such solutions. Victoria W. Samayoa, American Rescue Plan Act Grants Manager for the City of the Durham, said the survey is critical to equity and justice work and creates opportunities to improve quality of life for residents. It is incredibly fortunate and fortuitous that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding allows for an unparalleled chance to deepen acceleration of tangible projects that target gaps in support and resources to be sure the city forges ahead tenaciously in its desire to create excellence with quality to support the foundations that create that, Samayoa said. The first round of NASCC surveys was conducted in mid-2010. Participants were asked a series of questions to document racial differences in household net worth, asset and debt accumulation, and the intergenerational transfer of wealth. The results formed the backbone of the Cook Centers Color of Wealth reports, which offered a look at the depths of racial wealth inequality in Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Tulsa, and Washington, D.C. Among other findings, the Color of Wealth helped highlight what study authors called an astonishing disparity in Boston: that while the median household wealth for a white family in Boston was nearly $250,000, the median household wealth for a (non-immigrant) Black family in the city was just $8. The data from the original NASCC project were widely used by community foundations, think tanks, local governments, and the media to frame key issues, elevate promising approaches, and build support for strategic investments, said Mark Harris, senior program officer of Community and Worker Power at the JPB Foundation. For more information about the Cook Centers Color of Wealth series, view the Centers website here. NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. Follow NC Newsline on Facebook and Twitter. Durham Public Schools will apply for the federal governments universal meals program, hoping to provide free breakfast and lunch to all children starting in the fall. More than 30,000 students attend traditional public school in Durham, which would make the district the largest in North Carolina to give free meals to everyone, regardless of family income. Daniela Flores said when she attended Riverside High School years ago, her parents didnt know about the free lunch application and couldnt give her lunch money. Twenty years later, do you think that its possible there could be children facing the same situation I did? Sitting down by themselves looking at their friends lunches thinking, I wish I had their lunch. Im hungry, she told the school board Thursday night. Lets end this hunger today. Her mom, Susana Diaz, was a teachers assistant at the time. Back then I couldnt afford to pay for her lunch, said Diaz, who is now an interpreter advocating for better pay, a topic the school board also discussed Thursday. Saving the county $1.6 million a year Giving away free meals wouldnt cost Durham County anything, local leaders learned last week and could actually wind up saving the district nearly $1.6 million a year. Thats because the district qualifies for full reimbursement through the U.S. Department of Agricultures Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP. For an entire district to qualify, 25% of students must automatically qualify for free school meals. This could be because their families receive food stamps, are enrolled in Medicaid, or are homeless. In Durham, that percentage is 46%. The savings would come from DPS being more fully reimbursed for those free breakfasts it already provides, and from not having to mail letters home and process applications for free and reduced-price lunches. I dont want to leave any dollars on the table, school board Chair Bettina Umstead said. Research shows students in North Carolina schools participating in CEP perform better academically, according to the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina. Retired DPS teacher Beverly McNeill was one of more than 100 people Durham CAN organized to attend the meeting in support of CEP. She was working in a Pennsylvania elementary school when it began offering free meals during the collapse of the steel industry. Within three weeks, I couldnt recognize my kids. They were so different. They stopped fighting. They were interested in learning, McNeill said. This is really important. Title 1 funding concern Some leaders remain concerned about the impact on Title 1 funding, which helps low-income schools with their academic goals. Like most districts, Durham identifies Title 1 schools by the percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced-price meals. With CEP, they would have to measure poverty a new way. No cost does not mean no impact, school board member Alexandra Valladares said about CEP. That will likely cause spending to shift among the districts poorer schools, but staff said it will not result in Title 1 money going to the districts richest schools. Interim Superintendent Catty Moore said theyll continue pulling the onion layers back to understand all potential impacts. In terms of the eligibility, we could have moved forward a year ago, Moore said. In terms of understanding the impact and being able to figure out how to mitigate that impact, we were not there yet. Weve done that work in the interim. Hundreds of individual schools across the state get free lunches through CEP including half of Durhams 56 schools but the federal government only pays for free meals for all in five North Carolina school districts: In the mountains: Buncombe, Haywood, Rutherford, Wilkes On the coast: Beaufort That number could rise, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowering the qualifying percentage from 40% to 25% after the coronavirus pandemic. Durhams school board will learn more about the status of its application in June. Our Next Mission, a nonprofit dedicated to renovating homes for at-risk veterans, has joined forces with Manatee County Habitat to remodel two affordable homes for vets. For an estimated payment of between $900 and $950 a month for a zero-interest loan, including insurance and taxes, a veteran can own a three-bedroom, two-bath home measuring between 1,300 and 1,400 square feet. One home is in Bradenton and the other is in Palmetto. Monday, volunteers were working on the Palmetto home, which was built in the Washington Park neighborhood about 15 years ago, making it near mint again, complete with a new metal roof, new siding and new flooring. Habitat repurchased the two homes from the previous owners, who decided to relocate to another area. Allan Krick, a 78-year-old Navy veteran and winter visitor from Pataskala, Ohio, was one of the Our Next Mission volunteers working on the Palmetto home Monday. Krick paused from cutting flooring to say that he felt blessed to be among those working to get a home ready for a new veteran owner. Im just trying to keep up with these guys, Krick said of the other volunteers. Renovated homes for local veterans Greg Kisela, a Parrish resident and retired city manager in Port Orange and several other Florida cities, serves as president and CEO of Our Next Mission. Until its partnership with Manatee County Habitat, Our Next Mission focused on rehabilitating mobile homes for veterans in 55-plus mobile home parks. But with those programs, ONM was never able to assist younger veterans, Kisela said. Micah-Simone Durrant of Manatee County Habitat for Humanity and Greg Kisela, President and CEO of Our Next Mission in back yard of a home in Palmetto that is being remodeled to house a veteran. Tiffany Tompkins/ttompkins@bradenton.com Since its inception about six years ago, originally with Harvest United Methodist Church of Lakewood Ranch, ONM has helped get veterans into about 11 rehabbed mobile homes, he said. Bernie Quinn, president and CEO of Manatee County Habitat for Humanity, said there has not been a large number of veterans who have applied to buy one of the renovated houses. This is not a handout but a hand up, Quinn said. This is an option for the veteran community, whether its this house or another. Well sell 16 homes this year. Nonprofit seeks veteran applicants The two organizations have worked together to get the Habitat homes in shape for new veteran owners, but they have struggled to find qualifying veterans. Applicants must earn between 50% and 80% of the area median income, have at least two years of continuous employment and have been a resident of Manatee County for at least one year. And there is a deadline to apply fast approaching: March 31. Next year, Habitat expects to start work on a 30-home subdivision in Bradenton. Were increasing our capacity to meet the need in the community, Quinn said. When Habitat opened its application period for the latest batch of planned houses, it received 100 applications in one week. Such is the demand when first-time homeowners might expect to pay much more than $950 a month for a conventional house. In February, the median price for an existing single-family house in the Bradenton area was $499,990. ONMs partnership with Habitat offers veterans a tremendous opportunity, Kisela said. Dr. Russell Sexton, a retired professor who taught biochemistry at LECOMs Lakewood Ranch campus, called it an honor to help renovate houses for veterans. Ive been doing painting, siding and a lot of broom work cleanup. Im a PhD gopher, Sexton said. Veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, and its our duty to ensure they have access to safe and affordable housing, Kisela said. These homes represent a step towards a brighter future for our veterans, and we are committed to supporting them every step of the way. Apply for an affordable home For veterans interested in applying, visit MHApply.org to learn more about requirements. To apply, email apply@manateehabitat.org before the March 31 deadline. Although the website says the application period has ended, it remains open to veterans through March 31. For more information about Habitat for Humanity, visit ManateeHabitat.org. For more information about Our Next Mission, visit OurNextMission.org. Manatee County Habitat for Humanity volunteers work on cutting flooring for a home in Palmetto that is being remodeled. Tiffany Tompkins/ttompkins@bradenton.com Two people are in the hospital Sunday after being shot at an apartment complex in Kent. According to Kent Police officials, they were called to the Lighthouse Apartments on Southeast 256th around 3:30 a.m. Sunday for reports of a shooting. Responding officers found a man and woman with gunshot wounds. They were transported to the hospital for treatment of their injuries. We dont know the current condition of the two people sent to the hospital, but we are checking with officials to get that information. Kent Police say they are continue investigating this incident and are working to confirm details. We will update this story as more information becomes available. [DOWNLOAD: Free KIRO 7 News app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: KIRO 7 Daily Headlines Newsletter] Ecuadors youngest mayor, 27-year-old Brigitte Garcia, was found shot dead Sunday morning, the countrys national police said. In a statement posted on X, police said that Garcia, the mayor of San Vicente, a small coastal city, was in what is believed to be a rental car along with her communications director, Jairo Loor, who was also killed from a gunshot wound. Preliminary investigations suggest the shots were fired from inside the car, police said. Further investigations are underway, police said. In a statement Sunday, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Government called the incident a criminal action and referenced a national fight against terrorism, organized crime and political corruption, although they did not accuse any person or group of being behind the killings. We stand in solidarity with their families and reaffirm our commitment to use all force of the State to not leave these crimes unpunished, the ministry said. Garcia was the youngest mayor in the country, according to her X profile. Former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa took to social media to express his disbelief, saying, enough! My God! Brigitte! She was the youngest mayor of the country, he added, along with a photo that showed him and Garcia embracing. A memorial for Garcia is planned for Monday afternoon, according to the San Vicente municipality. Her burial is scheduled for Tuesday. Ecuadorian police and people gather at the scene where Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia was found shot dead in a car, according to the police, near San Vicente, Ecuador, in this handout image released on March 24, 2024. - National Police of Ecuador/Handout/Reuters Ecuador has been grappling with a surge in violence at the hands of armed gangs. In January, Ecuador declared a state of emergency after notorious gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias, also known as Fito, escaped from prison in Guayaquil. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared an internal armed conflict in the nation the following day and ordered armed forces to execute military operations to neutralize the violence across the country. More than 2,000 people were detained less than two weeks after the decree, according to the presidents office. Garcia was elected last year as a member of the left-wing Citizen Revolution Party, which is aligned with Correa, the former president. According to her social media feed, she had worked in recent weeks to help bring clean drinking water to San Vicente, meeting recently with the countrys development bank on the project. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, has been shot dead. The 27-year-old and her press officer were found dead in a car on Sunday in the town of San Vicente, where she had won the mayoral election last year. No arrests have been made so far and it is not clear what the motive may be. Ms Garcia is the latest politician to be killed in the Andean country, which last year was rocked by the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. The bodies of Ms Garcia and communications director Jairo Loor were found in the early hours of Sunday, local time. Police said the shots which killed them had been fired from inside the car they had rented. Forensic experts were on the scene [Ecuadorean Police] Ms Garcia, a nurse, had been elected mayor of San Vicente for the opposition Citizens' Revolution party last year at the age of 26. San Vicente, the town she governed, is located in the province of Manabi. The coastal region has been particularly badly hit by violence linked to drug gangs which smuggle cocaine to lucrative markets in the US and Europe. Ms Garcia is not the first politician in Manabi to be killed. In July, a gunman shot dead the mayor of the port city of Manta, Agustin Intriago, who had been recently re-elected. And in February of 2023, mayoral candidate Omar Menendez was murdered just hours before polls opened in the city of Puerto Lopez. The violence has not been confined to Manabi. In August, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was gunned down as he was leaving a campaign rally in the capital, Quito. Prosecutors investigating Villavicencio's murder said it had been planned from inside jail by members of the Los Lobos criminal gang. The rise of such gangs led President Daniel Noboa in January to declare a two-month-long state of emergency to combat armed groups. It was extended by another month on 7 March. The government says the security forces have carried out more than 150,000 operations since the state of emergency was declared and detained more than 10,000 suspects. However, critics of the government say Ms Garcia's murder shows that more needs to be done to guarantee the safety of elected officials. Luisa Gonzalez, who was defeated by Mr Noboa in the presidential election, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "nobody is safe in Ecuador". PepsiCo to invest $400M more in two new plants in Vietnam PepsiCo plans to invest an additional US$400 million in Vietnam. Photo courtesy of the company U.S. food and beverage giant PepsiCo has committed to investing an additional US$400 million to build two new plants powered by renewable energy in Vietnam, its government said. The announcement came last Friday as delegations of more than 60 U.S. enterprises, including Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage, paid a 3-day work visit to Vietnam last week. One beverage manufacturing factory will be in southern Long An Province and cost over $300 million, and another for food processing will be in northern Ha Nam Province with an investment of $90 million, the Vietnamese government said. The report did not give details on the commissioning time of the two factories. Late last year the company said it had been granted an investment certificate for the Ha Nam factory, which was scheduled to enter into operation in the third quarter of 2025. PepsiCo, which runs five factories across Vietnam, entered the country in 1994. A few hours after Russia vetoed a carefully crafted and comprehensive resolution at the UN Security Council table in New York for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza because the Kremlin didnt want to embarrass their friends in Hamas, the nihilist soulmates of Hamas, ISIS, launched a horrendous terrorist attack in Moscow, murdering dozens of concertgoers. The world mourns for Moscow. Savage, bloody terror, whether coming from Hamas on Oct. 7 in their rampage of murder, rape and kidnapping against Israelis, which precipitated the Gaza war, or from ISIS, is the same. The civilized world must unite against such barbaric crimes. Yet, that Russia supports one kind of terror based on who the victims are, Israelis, only weakens their fight against the terror of ISIS. ISIS must be eliminated. So must Hamas, which will free the Palestinians living under their tyranny. Two weeks ago, Russias Federal Security Service thwarted an ISIS plot to assault a synagogue in Moscow. We know now that when that atrocity didnt occur, ISIS looked and found another target in the Russian capital. But Friday morning in New York, Russia (and their buddy China) used their veto to stop a resolution that achieved what everyone on all sides have been calling for, having been painstakingly negotiated by U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield in consultation with all parties. The now-defeated measure called for the immediate end to Israels armed pursuit against Hamas, which has caused great suffering among Palestinian civilians, killing thousands of noncombatants. It also called for the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. But Russia killed it. It stressed grave concern for the safety and well-being of the civilian population of Gaza, including the more than 1.5 million civilians now taking refuge in Rafah and warned that a ground offensive into Rafah would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement. But Russia killed it. It deplored the civilians killed and injured, the damage to civilian infrastructure and urged the protection of medical facilities and the urgent need for large scale humanitarian aid and food to be coming in. The resolution decried the suffering and hunger and pointed to the risk of famine and epidemics. But Russia killed it. It called for no changes in Jerusalems holy sites and an insistence that Gaza must be part of a future Palestinian state along with the West Bank. It also said that there must be no forced displacement of Gazas civilian Palestinian population and no new buffer zones (as some speculate that Israel might seek). But Russia killed it. There was also a proper condemnation of Israeli government ministers whove called for population or territorial changes in Gaza. But Russia killed it. Thomas-Greenfield said that Russia used its veto because the resolution was offered by the Americans and that it also called out Hamas by name. Yes, it did condemn the murderers, rapists and kidnappers of Hamas, without whom there would be peace in Gaza, no war, no deaths, no destruction and no hostages. Russia refused everything that the resolution promised, including a ceasefire, freedom for the hostages and relief for the suffering Palestinians of Gaza all to shield Hamas and deny credit to Washington. Moscow let terror win and then Moscow was struck by terror. ___ CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) The Eastern Illinois Foodbanks Foodmobile will be taking a road trip through Champaign County in April to help feed families. The Foodmobile is a food pantry on wheels that allows EIF to give nutritious food directly to families in underserved and rural areas. Next month, it will travel through southern Champaign County on Tuesday, April 2 and northern Champaign County 10 days later on Friday, April 12. Specific distribution sites and times can be found on this page. Central IL food banks get grant to help farmers, areas in need Pre-registration should be done at EIFclient.com, though EIF officials noted this does not guarantee a spot in line. To gather and carry food more easily, attendees are asked to bring boxes or bags. EIF provided the following income guidelines: For more information or to see future food distributions, visit www.eifoodbank.org. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com. El Paso federal Magistrate Judge Leon Schydlower received overwhelming support from the U.S. Senate as he was confirmed as a federal district court judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Schydlower, who is currently a federal magistrate judge in the Western District of Texas, and U.S. Department of Justice Senior Attorney Advisor Ernesto Gonzalez were both easily confirmed by the U.S. Senate to take over as federal district court judges for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. El Paso federal magistrate Judge Leon Schydlower speaks before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at a hearing in Washington, D.C. regarding his nomination for U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Texas. Schydlower received 90-8 votes in a Friday, March 22 Senate vote, while Gonzalez was confirmed by an 88-7 vote. A Navy veteran, current U.S. Air Force Reservist, and an experienced attorney and judge, I met with Mr. Schydlower last year to discuss this position and was heartened by his commitment to our community as well as his qualifications and expertise," U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said in a statement. I look forward to seeing Mr. Schydlower continue his journey serving our country in this new capacity. Schydlower could not immediately be reached for comment. Schydlower and Gonzalez were nominated in December to the judicial seats by U.S. President Joe Biden. He received strong support from U.S. Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, throughout the confirmation process. More: El Paso Judge Leon Schydlower receives strong support for Senate judiciary committee In a quick confirmation process, the two nominees appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary in January to answer any questions from members. The senate judiciary then voted 20-1 on each nominee during a Feb. 29 committee meeting in Washington D.C. to send them both to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Schydlower was nominated to fill the judicial seat left vacant by the passing of longtime El Paso federal Judge Philip Ray Martinez in 2021. Gonzalez is filling a vacancy in the Del Rio area of the Western District of Texas. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas includes El Paso, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio. U.S. Department of Justice Senior Attorney Advisor Ernesto Gonzalez speaks before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at a hearing in Washington, D.C. regarding his nomination for U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Texas. Schydlower, an El Paso native and Hanks High School graduate, has served as a federal magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas since 2015. He has decades of legal experience as a federal prosecutor, private practice attorney, and as a military attorney and judge. He worked as a private practice lawyer from 2000 to 2015 and worked as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii from 1998 to 2000. He has served in both the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force as an attorney and judge for more than a decade. Gonzalez was a senior attorney advisor for the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division, Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Section. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas from 2000 to 2003 and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas from 2003 to 2023. Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Pasoan Leon Schydlower confirmed by US Senate as federal judge As 2023 turned into 2024, there was a sense of quiet satisfaction at Buckingham Palace. The King had settled into the top job without mishap, and the country had accepted his wife as Queen without fuss. All signs seemed to indicate onwards and upwards. As the Royal family walked to church at Sandringham, the King looked jolly and grandfatherly, and the Wales children polished and polite as ever. Even the sight of the Duchess of York back in the fold raised a smile rather than any sense of alarm, the wider family seeming younger and more fun than they had in some time. As a challenging year draws to its close, they finally seem to be thriving, noted The Telegraph. Even The Crown had finished on Netflix. The real risk was around the moment of accession, says a source. But the process went as smoothly as could possibly be hoped, and that continued for 18 months. The headline news was how well this had gone. Nearly four months on, everything has changed. Just as the King should have been starting to tick off his long to-do list as sovereign, it became clear that all was not well in the House of Windsor. In January, it was announced that the King had the symptoms of an enlarged prostate and needed treatment, while the Princess of Waless medical team had scheduled in abdominal surgery. Later, it was to emerge that both had cancer. The Royal history books entered a new era. Prince William, whose young life was so scarred by the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, has been cast into the ultimate supporting role for his wife, father, and the children who need him. As the Palace comes to terms with how to cope, it is looking to both past and future. Words of wisdom from the late Queen Elizabeth II, passed down by her loyal advisers, are lighting the way. Those familiar with the institution will be unsurprised to know there is resistance to making big decisions in the heat of the moment. While the late Queen spearheaded the Way Ahead Group, asking senior advisers and her family for ideas to keep pace with public opinion in the 1990s, there is little appetite for a Way Ahead 2.0 for now. This isnt about PR, this is about people, said one source. Aides already have a running dialogue with an unofficial and disparate council of former advisers around the world not calling in the emergency services because something has gone wrong, said one, but to make use of their perspective. The new Palace mantra, in fact, seems to have come from the words of wisdom handed down by Elizabeth II. Her Late Majesty used to tell her adviser: Dont look down at your feet, look at the horizon, said a source. What she meant was that its the long term situation that matters, not always the here and now - and if you are generally heading in the right direction, thats the best one can hope for. For the Royal family, its not how things will be next week. Its not a corporation thats thinking about the next AGM or the stock price. Its how is this going to look in five to 10 years? Things that may look like an insurmountable mountain through the front windscreen can soon look like a molehill in the rear view mirror, especially given the accelerated speed of todays news cycles. Part of any bounce back will be time. Old hands emphasise the importance of The Firm mobilising as far as possible by looking people in the eye at engagements around the country, they say, the monarchys ship will steady on its own. Hugo Vickers, a royal biographer, said solace can be found in focusing on the working members of the Royal family, who are doing the best they can in a difficult period. He added: They are doing a really good job of rallying round and getting on with things. Christopher Wilson, a royal historian, predicted: The public will accept what the royals can deliver, even if it means fewer appearances, because the one card the Royal family permanently holds is that people are forgiving and understanding. Its time to say: We cant do so much. Forgive us, were still here well always be here but if you see less of us we hope you will understand. Aides have taken heart from polling, which suggests that while the public had been very aware of online conspiracy theories, fewer believed them. Trust in the monarchy and individual members of the Royal family, according to YouGov, remains steady. The vast majority of people want them to be left alone, says a source. Fundamentally, there has been a groundswell of support. There has been huge sympathy and great support for them. In time, said one palace source, it will be possible to see challenge as an opportunity. While the late Queen Elizabeth II was known for her duty, her dignity and her constancy, described as a quasi-deity in the public imagination, the King now has a chance to make his own, different mark. After the accession in 2022, Sir Clive Alderton, the Kings private secretary, was so struck by the public offering His Majesty hugs that he declared to staff that the new reign would be known for its informal formality. That the Kings life experience now includes cancer will leave him even more able to connect with the public when he returns to being out and about, it is thought. He is already a very human individual, with human strengths and human frailties, said a source. More so than the last monarch who was a quasi-deity, rightly worshipped and beyond reproach but slightly apart from mere mortals. The King is a sovereign for and from a different generation, one in which he can be and is more human and relatable. After all, what is more relatable than facing an illness that so many other families will have experience of? Those who have seen the King report that he has maintained his positive outlook throughout his treatment. His doctors are optimistic the King is in a good mood, said one. He is raring to go on all fronts. He is expected to appear in public in some form for Trooping the Colour in June, with tentative plans for building up to more of a normal royal summer season. In general, said a Palace aide, his attendance to be hoped for and planned for rather than assumed. The King is expected to appear in public in some form for Trooping the Colour in June - Royal Household/via Reuters At Kensington Palace, the only watchword is privacy. The Prince and Princess of Wales are now spending their Easter holidays privately, as a family, said their spokesman. This is their focus. Aides have made clear that Catherine would like to continue her ordinary life as far as possible, but she will not be seen to do so until her medical team clears her for work. The level of tolerance for any paparazzi photographs of her out and about is now zero. Curiously, the Prince and Princess of Waless chosen way of working will keep things ticking over quite well. They have historically faced criticism for their low volume of engagements, and choice to swap from ribbon-cutting and plaque-unveiling to projects including Catherines childhood development work, and Williams Earthshot Prize and Homewards homelessness project. By design, they have invested and built teams that now work independently their presence on engagements adds sparkle and the much-vaunted convening power of royalty but the work, when needed, can stand on its own two feet. It is all about Their Royal Highnesses focusing on creating impact and legacy around the world, said their spokesman. The Prince follows these projects deeply and is involved in their DNA. He also feels very strongly about creating teams that can work 24/7 globally to ensure this work is moving the needle on the most important issues. A source added: Ribbon-cutting has a really important role in the monarchy, and they recognise that, but they always want to go further. In a month, Prince Louis will turn six the first test of whether the Waleses, as reported, will continue their tradition of issuing a birthday photograph to celebrate, or batten down the hatches. Last week, critics and admirers alike were talking in terms of a full-blown royal crisis. Now the world understands why things felt so unusually out of control, commentary seems calmer. There are questions for another day about the Palaces approach to the digital age. For now, those driving the dialogue about the Royal family the TikTok and X experts pontificating to millions in a lawless and fact-free environment must truly take a day off. The King and Princess simply need to get well, and the world will right itself. And so it will all continue. The business of the monarchy carries on, through Maundy money to red boxes and beyond. Next month, the Duke of Yorks Epstein interview will be brought to life on the worlds largest streaming services in Netflix and Amazon dramas. The Duchess of Sussex is preparing to launch her American Riviera Orchard brand, with its range of meditation blankets, candle holders and honey butter spelled out under trademark application, adding to the gaiety of the nation once more. Such minor dramas will be a blessed relief, in comparison. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Law Dogging It's easy to lose track of the endless torrent of chaos and scandals since multihyphenate billionaire Elon Musk bought the social network Twitter and changed its name to X. But a particular court ruling today stands out as an example of how Musk's bluster often now seems to amount to nothing in the long term. Remember back in 2023, when X sued the nonprofit researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) after it released a report finding that hateful content was proliferating under Musk's rule? Well, a judge just threw out the suit and absolutely excoriated X for what he characterized as bullying tactics toward the nonprofit in a legal document that pulled no punches. "Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation," wrote US District Court for the Northern District of California Judge Charles Breyer. "Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose." "This case represents the latter circumstance," Breyer continued. "This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech." Platform and Void Relatedly, Breyer also pointed to a clear irony: that though Musk has championed free speech on the platform, the suit seems intended to shut down CCDH's speech. In other words, he seems drawn to discourse about free speech only when it benefits him personally. "It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp. is far more concerned about CCDHs speech than it is its data collection methods," he wrote. CCDH which has continued to release new research about X as the case moved through the legal system is celebrating the ruling and pledging to continue its work. "We hope this landmark ruling will embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause," said the outfit's CEO and founder Imran Ahmed. X, though, is clearly seething. "Today a federal court in San Francisco issued a decision in the case X brought against the Center for Countering Digital Hate for illegally obtaining platform data to create misleading research," the company wrote in a post. "X disagrees with the courts decision and plans to appeal." The decision may not bode well for X's similar case against Media Matters, which also explored the growth of extremism under Musk's ownership. More on Elon Musk: More and More People Leaving Twitter as Elon Musk Ruins It (Bloomberg) -- SpaceXs Starlink touts its high-speed internet as available almost anywhere on Earth. Most Read from Bloomberg In the real world, its reach extends to countries where Elon Musks satellite-enabled service has no agreement to operate, including territories ruled by repressive regimes. A Bloomberg News investigation identified wide-spanning examples of Starlink kits being traded and activated illegally. How they are smuggled and the sheer availability of Starlink on the black market suggests that its misuse is a systemic global problem, raising questions about the companys control of a system with clear national security dimensions. In Yemen, which is in the throes of a decade-long civil war, a government official conceded that Starlink is in widespread use. Many people are prepared to defy competing warring factions, including Houthi rebels, to secure terminals for business and personal communications, and evade the slow, often censored internet service thats currently available. Or take Sudan, where a year-long civil war has led to accusations of genocide, crimes against humanity and millions of people fleeing their homes. With the regular internet down for months, soldiers of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces are among those using the system for their logistics, according to Western diplomats. It is deeply concerning because its unregulated and headed by a private company, Emma Shortis, a senior researcher in international and security affairs at the Australia Institute, an independent think tank in Canberra, said of the Starlink system. Theres no accountability on who has access to it and how its being used. Never miss an episode. Follow the Big Take podcast on iHeart, Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen. Read the transcript Starlink delivers broadband internet beamed down from a network of roughly 5,500 satellites that SpaceX started deploying in 2019. With some 2.6 million customers already, Starlink has the potential to become a major moneymaker for SpaceX, a company that began as Musks way to fulfill his dream of exploring Mars and has now become the most important private-sector contractor to the US governments space program and a dominant force in national security. Musk, until recently the worlds richest person, has said there will be a cap to how much money SpaceXs launch services business will make, while Starlink could eventually reach revenue of $30 billion a year. Starlink plans to launch tens of thousands of additional satellites to connect places that are too remote for ground-based broadband or that have been cut off by natural disasters or conflict. But given the security concerns around a private American company controlling internet service, SpaceX first needs to strike agreements with governments in each territory. Where there are none, people are proceeding to use Starlink without the proper coverage that is quite illegal and of course should not be allowed, but its difficult to control and manage, said Manuel Ntumba, an Africa geospatial, governance and risk expert based in New York. New from Bloomberg: Get the Business of Space newsletter, a weekly look at the inside stories of investments beyond Earth. In central Asia, where Starlink deals are rare, a government crackdown on illicit terminals in Kazakhstan this year has barely made a dent on its use. All it did was lead to higher prices on the black market, according to a trader who imports the gear and who didnt want to speak publicly for fear of retribution. Prior to the government intervention, customers were able to buy the companys equipment and have it shipped via the local postal service, the trader said. SpaceX didnt respond when asked to comment on a written list of questions submitted on Thursday. If SpaceX obtains knowledge that a Starlink terminal is being used by a sanctioned or unauthorized party, we investigate the claim and take actions to deactivate the terminal if confirmed, the company said in a post on X in February. The growing black market for Starlink has emerged in regions with patchy connectivity, where the allure of high speed, dependable internet in an easy-to-use package is strong for businesses and consumers alike. In many ways, its Starlinks effectiveness as a communications tool that has made it such a sensitive matter. The US military is a customer: The Air Force has been testing terminals in the Arctic, calling them reliable and high-performance. Those same properties made it vital to Ukraines military in its defense against invading Russian forces. SpaceX provided the technology to Kyiv in the early days of Russias invasion, and Starlink has since become crucial to the Ukrainian communications infrastructure. The US Department of Defense later struck a deal with Starlink to supply Ukraine with equipment, the terms of which were not made public. Then in February of this year, Ukraine said that Russia was deploying Starlink in its own war efforts, while unverified posts on X, Musks social network, appeared to show Russian soldiers unpacking kits. Two House Democrats wrote a letter to SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell pressing her on Ukraines claims. To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia, Musk wrote on X. Its the uncertainty about where the satellite dishes are landing that has security officials around the world concerned. Starlink kits are being sold for use in Venezuela, where individuals and entities have been subject to US sanctions for almost a decade, most recently under President Nicolas Maduros authoritarian rule. A map of coverage areas on Starlinks website shows the South American nation blacked out. Yet social media ads promote package deals for Starlink equipment, which is widely available and admired for its reliability and portability in a country of isolated cattle ranches and gold mines. SpaceX should be able to prevent Russian use of Starlink in occupied Ukraine, since basically every single transmitter can be identified, said Candace Johnson, director at NorthStar Earth & Space Inc., a Montreal company that in January successfully launched four satellites on a rocket from SpaceX competitor Rocket Lab USA Inc. to identify and track objects in space. There needs to be more accountability: to your country, to your company, to your shareholders, to your stakeholders, said Johnson, who is also a partner with Seraphim Capital, a venture-capital firm that invests in space startups. In North Africa, Starlinks use in Sudan shows how terminals arrive in a country subject to international sanctions. There has been no internet in Sudan since early February. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have blamed each other for cutting the service while the CEO of Zain Sudan, a mobile operator, said his companys engineers had been prevented from reaching parts of the country to reconnect the network due to insecurity and a lack of fuel. To bypass the blackout, members of the RSF and local business owners have smuggled Starlink devices into Sudans Darfur region using an organized network that registered the units in Dubai before transporting them into Uganda by airplane and then by road to Sudan via South Sudan, according to interviews with Western diplomats and business owners using the devices. Gold miners in remote areas along the borders of South Sudan and the Central African Republic were provided with Starlink services even prior to the war by traders working in South Darfurs Nyala City. Starlink says on its website that a service date is unknown at this time for Sudan. Haroun Mohamed, a trader in Nyala who transports goods across the border to Chad and South Sudan, said the use of Starlink by RSF soldiers and civilians was widespread. Ever since the eruption of war in Darfur, a lot of people are bringing in Starlink devices and use it for business, he said. People are paying between $2 or $3 per hour, so its very good business. In South Africa, where Musk was born, the government hasnt yet approved Starlinks application to operate. But that hasnt prevented a flourishing trade in terminals there. Facebook groups feature providers that offer to buy and activate the kits in Mozambique, where it is licensed, and then deliver them over the border to South African customers. There were enough users of the service in the country as of Nov. 28 that the regulator felt the need to issue a statement reminding people that Starlink has no license for South Africa. Unlawful use could result in fines of as much as 5 million rand ($265,000), or 10% of annual turnover. Regulators in other countries in Africa have issued similar warnings. Ghanas National Communications Authority in December released a statement demanding that anyone involved in selling or operating Starlink services in the country cease and desist immediately. In Zimbabwe, authorities threatened raids in response to online advertising for Starlink equipment, H-Metro newspaper reported in January. Prices for Starlink gear on the black market ranged from $700 to $2,000, according to local technology blog Techzim. Government officials in Ghana and Zimbabwe have recently said they hope to allow licensed service. Countries have different reasons for declining to cooperate with Starlink, including stipulations that it have a local partner and concerns around data use. Starlink service is currently available legally in eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and the US company has big plans to build its user base. It is working with local marketing partners such as Jumia Technologies AG, an e-commerce company backed by Pernod Ricard SA that has an agreement to sell Starlink equipment for residential use in Nigeria and Kenya. There has been significant demand, with the first shipment to Nigeria selling out in a few hours, according to Chief Commercial Officer Hisham El Gabry. Jumia is aware that there are some unofficial distributors of these kits, El Gabry said in an interview. While the number of devices is not yet at an alarming level, it is a point of discussion between us and Starlink that this needs to be brought under control, he said. Jumia verifies customers, and cancels orders if they are going to traders or unverified sources, according to El Gabry. While that device could eventually end up with bad actors, Starlink can monitor where these devices are connecting from. If they pick up its connecting from a particular militant group for instance, they can enforce that control, he said. One Facebook group of people complaining theyd been cut off suggests that Starlink has recently de-activated some of the equipment smuggled into South Africa. Still, social media groups point to a workaround, with terminals re-registered in a country like Malawi and reactivated. Customers can then make use of Starlinks roaming services, with a subscription paid through the website. The company offers a global roaming service with a monthly charge of $200. Customers in South Africa can expect to pay about 12,000 rand ($630) for a kit. In Venezuela, customers similarly get around the ban by paying for the global service plan using an international credit card, according to people familiar with the market, who said its use is now normalized. President Joe Bidens administration could tighten the export controls that apply to Starlink to keep them out of the hands of American adversaries, according to a former US government official. A security consultant who provides training to companies on the restrictions said the real key is trying to geolocate kits when they are turned on and blocking the ones that are in violation of US export controls. That would require the company to cooperate, the person said, asking not to be named discussing commercially sensitive matters of national security. A State Department spokesperson said that satellite constellations like Starlink are a key tool for providing connectivity and bridging digital divides. We encourage companies to take appropriate measures to seek licenses for operating in nations around the world, they said. Meanwhile, SpaceX is providing assurance to some countries that it will work with them to keep its Starlink services out of certain areas. SpaceX has reassured Israel that it can geolocate and turn off individual terminals when it detects illegal use, according to an Israeli government official. In Yemen, meanwhile, Starlink kits are openly for sale on social media, bought in countries such as Singapore or Malaysia, then activated on roaming. Customers pay via bank transfers in other countries or at the port of arrival. Prices are higher in Houthi-controlled areas, said one seller who asked not be named for safety reasons. Thats because telecoms are controlled by the Houthis, who profit from the revenues, and have warned of severe actions against those caught using Starlink. Facebook and WhatsApp groups offer the equipment regardless along with tips on how to conceal the dish. --With assistance from Fabiola Zerpa, Daniel Flatley, Mohammed Alamin, Mohammed Hatem, Andreina Itriago Acosta, Nariman Gizitdinov, Ray Ndlovu, Eric Johnson and Jake Rudnitsky. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The Chicago Daily Tribune staff expected a landslide Thomas E. Dewey victory over Harry S. Truman in the Presidential election of 1948, and therefore decided to make Dewey Defeats Truman the headline for the front page of the Nov. 3, 1948 issue of the newspaper. The actual results from the November 2 election showed, however, that Truman was the winning candidate. (Photo of a newspaper from the Collection of the National Archives and the Smithsonian Institute) President Harry Truman was way behind in the polls, but he wasnt giving up. Competitive to the core, he came out of the deeply divided and badly fractured 1948 Democratic convention swinging. His popular opponent, New York Governor Tom Dewey, had been the crime-busting prosecuting attorney who had locked up the Cosa Nostra kingpin, Lucky Luciano. Dewey went on to be elected New York Governor and had run a competitive race for president in 1944 against perhaps the greatest president of the 20th century, Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR died just 82 days after, and the nearly-unknown Vice President Truman was abruptly sworn in to replace him. By his record of tough decision making, Truman proved he could rise to the occasion, but his Fair Deal program lacked the luster and urgency of Roosevelts New Deal. Dewey appeared to represent the change the country was ready for. Undaunted, Truman embarked on a state-by-state train tour across the country. His main foil was the do-nothing, good-for-nothing Republican Congress. He accused Dewey of such palliative platitudes as agriculture is important, you cant have freedom without liberty, and our future lies ahead. Deweys advisors collectively counseled the governor not to take the bait and fight back, to simply sit on his lead. To his regret, Dewey kept in line with the advice, but it wasnt a reflection of his record or his nature. In securing his nomination, Dewey had been implored by most of the same Republican leaders to support outlawing the Communist Party. Deweys pointed response was, That is thought control and a surrender of everything we Americans believe in. In his battle for the Republican nomination with isolationist Ohio Sen. Robert Taft, Dewey stood strong as a staunch advocate for a robust foreign policy including the Marshall Plan to provide aid to restore World War II-wrecked Europe, and for what later became NATO to contain the advance of the power-hungry Soviet Union. In the end, Dewey never really got to show who he was. Plain-talking populist Harry Truman definitely did. Before a crowd of an estimated 40,000 in Butte, Montana, Truman used his recently concocted campaign punch line that he wasnt giving the Republicans hell: I just tell the truth about them, and they think its hell. Truman later told a biographer that the size and spirit of the Butte rally gave him a clear feeling that he would win the election. The race no doubt narrowed as the campaign drew to a close, but no one noticed because so certain was the outcome that the pollsters stopped polling. To the astonishment of just about everyone except Truman, Give em Hell Harry was never behind as the returns continued to come in on election night. He carried the nation by 49.6% to Deweys 46.1%; he carried Montana by 53% to Deweys 43%. President Joe Bidens recent give em hell State of the Union speech was a spirited reminder of Harry Truman three-quarters of a century ago. People like a fighter, and so Biden will likely continue with the gloves off. Its probably his best chance of winning if he does. Hell attack the weak and ineffectual Congress, and its gutless stand on the freedom fighters of Ukraine, its killing of a border security bill only to keep the issue alive, and its allowing the unequal treatment of women with unwanted pregnancies. He will zero in on Trumps legal difficulties at every opportunity. A big difference, though, is that while Biden has shown he can put up a fight, he is 81, and when Truman started his fight he was 64. And Bidens opponent sure isnt Dewey the principled straight-arrow enforcer of the law, or firm and fair administrator who was never legally accused of, or charged, with anything in his entire 12-year tenure as New York Governor. No, not Trump. Not only will he not hit back, Trump will hit early and often. High and low. Thats been his record all the way back to his childhood in New York. Compromise and good faith are of no use to him, and he has converted the now-dominant MAGA wing of the once Grand Old Republican Party to his authoritarian point of view. Truman never needed to be concerned about attacks by Dewey. Biden must always be wary of Trump. The 2024 choice is also much starker than it was in 1948. Both Truman and Dewey would have been ethical and balanced leaders. Biden is not quite Truman. But Trump is sure no Dewey. Bob Brown is a former Montana Secretary of State and state Senate President. He lives in Whitefish. 750 Words The post Give em hell, Joe appeared first on Daily Montanan. VERONA Free lunches for all students and a 4% pay raise are both expected this coming school year for Augusta County students, but the Augusta County School Board only has to pay for one of them. The board discussed both as it approved the upcoming 2024-2025 school year budget on March 21. Where's the money going, and what got cut? Each year, school districts have to wait for the Virginia General Assemble to approve a budget before the district can knows how much money it will get from the state. Currently, the General Assembly budget is part of how the board calculated the projected revenue, totaling $146,347,699. With expected expenditure totaling $148,408,767, that's an increase of nearly $5.7 million from the year before, about 4%. The biggest increase is a 4% pay increase is for all employees, except bus drivers. Instead, bus drivers will get an estimated 15% pay increase. These two items account for just under $4.4 million of the increase. Another approximate $377,000 increase comes from the board now paying 100% of employee's health insurance premiums, rather than the previous 50%. The difference between revenue and expenditure leaves an approximately $1.7 million deficit for the board to make up. Budget cuts were approved alongside the proposed budget. The board cut any program marked yes and highlighted from the budget to accommodate the $1.7 million deficit expected from the General Assembly budget. I wish that we would get an additional $1.7 million so we could put those items back in, and maybe some other items that we didnt put in your original budget that staff and I talked about, said Bond. Several of these cut line items will be considered again next year, according to Bond. More budget revisions expected More adjustments are expected after the General Assembly passes and Youngkin signs a budget bill. Another revision is anticipated with the upcoming Augusta County budget, coming on the heels of an assessment increase. The Augusta County Board of Supervisors will hold a workshop on its budget and the tax rate on March 25. Bond also warned the board the assessments could have impact on its budget in two years. We need to think about what that might mean for less revenue coming into Augusta County from the state because of the increased assessments, Bond explained. Despite the increases and cuts, Bond was optimistic about the school-board-approved budget. We feel, and staff feels, really good about this budget," said Bond. "The fact that we can maintain our strategic plan for salary increases with the 4% for everyone, I think thats really advantageous for us. How is the money being spent? The budget was approved unanimously. The presented 2024-2025 budget is available online. The meeting is available on the Augusta County Schools Facebook page. Free lunches for all students next year Parents wont have to worry about paying for school lunches. The Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered the requirements for free and reduced lunch, dropping qualifying measure of poverty scores from 40% to 25%. Augusta County now qualifies for the Community Eligibility Provision, which will provide free breakfast and lunch to all Augusta County students next year. Lotts confirmed this during the school boards budget meeting. Boardmember Sharon Griffin (North River District) emphasized, Its not this board and our local taxpayers and our local funding paying for this, this is a federal government program. Theoretically, 75% of our kids could afford meals, but the taxpayer gets to pay for it, said Griffin. In the most recent complete school year, 2022-2023, the school nutrition program served 886,656 student lunches, 812,545 student breakfasts, and 19,100 adult meals. The school nutrition program provided food to 18 of the countys 19 schools. This year, the program is expanding into the final school. The proposed 2024-2025 nutrition program is up by 8.4% from the year before, totaling over $7.3 million. The Augusta County School Board This years budget updated to reflect actual numbers Similar to what the school board did above for the 2024-2025 budget, the 2023-2024 operating budget was adopted on March 16, 2023. On March 21, the board also enacted budget revisions on the current budget, changing from expected expenses and incomes to what was spent and what money the school system received. According to the 2023-2024 revised budget summary, which is available online, the revision increased the 2023-2024 budget by nearly $4 million dollars, from $138,907,034 to $142,726,172. The variation is a balanced budget, but with a 2.7% increase from what was expected. Where did the extra funds come from? First, the school had 82 more students than expected and American Rescue Plan funds are still coming out, resulting in about $500,00 more federal funds. Second, the state gave the district approximately $2.5 million for the ALL In Virginia initiative, a program aimed at expanding tutoring services and literacy and combatting chronic absenteeism. Third, like the 2024-2025 budget, the board adopted the budget before Virginia adopted that years budget, and expected changes produced about another $500,000. Finally, other local funding, such as reimbursements from other school districts, account for around $200,000. Where did the increase in expenses come from? Supplies Virginia All-In grant program cost just under $1.6 million, the biggest change. Contract services increased by $831,675. These services include about $360,000 for special education and about $150,000 for maintenance. Approximately $625,000 went to the schools commitment to Augusta Countys broadband program, hoping to increase internet access for the students and their families. According to Lotts, the school board committed $2.5 million to the grant program, a tactic the county then used to increase its chances of receiving the grant. Ten new staff members and wage increases pushed compensation up by $348,372. More substitute teachers mean the county spent just over $300,000 more for their services. After a question about the broadband commitment, Executive Director of Business and Finance Mark Lotts explained, If the county had support from the local school division, it counted as so many points in the grant application. The county was awarded the grant. In the grant application, we were penciled in to commit $2.5 million. We, of course, did not have $2.5 million after the grant was awarded to the county. We worked with county finance and county administration to allow us to make installment payments with 0% interest over four years. This $625,000 budget revision represents year one of a four-year commitment. The revised budget was approved unanimously. This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: All employees get a 4% pay raise: Augusta County School Board approves upcoming budget South London housing looking towards the City, but a think tank says the English live in shoeboxes - Robert Clayton/Alamy People in England live in more cramped conditions than those in New York apartments, a new report has revealed, with British housing representing the worst value for money of any advanced economy. Homes in England have less floor space per person on average than in Germany, France, Japan, the US and even the notoriously cheek-by-jowl New York City, analysis by the Resolution Foundation has found. The think tank said that UK households were paying more than other countries for their properties but getting less in return. The Resolution Foundation Housing Outlook report used data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to compare housing in the UK to other similar economies. The UK ranked the worst for value for money among advanced economies, followed by New Zealand, Australia and Ireland all of which are affected by housing crises. The think tank concluded that UK households pay 57 per cent more for the same housing as their counterparts in Austria, and 36 per cent more than those in Canada. Oldest stock in Europe Not only are English homes on average smaller by floor space, but also UK housing stock was found to be the oldest of any European country. Houses in England were found to have on average 38 metres square of floor space per person, compared with 43m sq in New York City, Japan and France. Around 38 per cent of homes in the UK were built before 1946, compared with 21 per cent in Italy and 11 per cent in Spain. The think tank warned that older homes tend to be poorly insulated, leading to higher energy bills and a greater risk of damp. The report said: We often live in smaller, older and poorer-quality homes in the UK than households in many counterpart countries, and pay a princely amount for that privilege. Researchers considered what it would cost to rent all homes incorporating what owners would pay if they rented their home at market rates to show how the market price of housing varies across different countries. Only Finland more expensive They concluded that housing represents a greater share of consumption in the UK than in any other advanced economy, other than Finland. Adam Corlett, of the Resolution Foundation, said: Britain is one of many countries apparently in the midst of a housing crisis, and it can be difficult to separate rhetoric from reality. But by looking at housing costs, floorspace and wider issues of quality, we find that the UKs expensive, cramped and ageing housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy. Britains housing crisis is decades in the making, with successive governments failing to build enough new homes and modernise our existing stock. That now has to change. Last month, the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) released a report which called for fundamental interventions that go beyond the way in which the housing market itself works to put an end to the current crisis. The CMA said that too few homes were being built, particularly in areas where they are most needed, and singled out the planning system as one of the key blockers to housebuilding. Goves target advisory Sir Keir Starmer pledged at the 2023 Labour Conference that he would build 300,000 homes per year and bulldoze the current planning system. Michael Gove, the Housing Secretary, watered down housing markets last year by making the Governments own 300,000 homes per year target advisory rather than compulsory. Just under 235,000 new houses were built last year, and the Home Builders Federation has warned new starts could fall to as low as 120,000 per year. A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesman said: Housebuilding is a Government priority and despite global economic challenges we remain on track to meet the manifesto commitment of delivering one million homes this Parliament, and have introduced reforms to improve the planning system. At the same time as increasing the quantity of homes we are driving up quality, with the number of non-decent homes down by two million since 2010. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp told an all-staff meeting on Monday that the environmental group will begin layoffs this week, the organization confirmed to POLITICO. The decision to shed an unknown number of staff from its U.S. operations comes after EDF offered buyouts beginning late last year to navigate a funding crunch. "Like many other non-profits, our revenue was lower than expected at the end of last year," Amy Todd Middleton, a senior vice president at EDF, said in an emailed statement. "We've adjusted our budget including, unfortunately, some layoffs." EDF is the latest green organization to announce layoffs amid downturns in donations, following the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council. Revenue from memberships and donations plummeted last year to $181.5 million, down from $240 million in fiscal 2022, according to EDFs annual financial report for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2023. Memberships and donations accounted for 71 percent of its $255 million in revenue last fiscal year. EDF employs 1,000 people worldwide, according to its website. No targets for layoffs were announced, said an EDF employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters. The employee said the staff meeting lasted about five minutes. BCG Energy, under Bamboo Capital Vietnam, has entered into a partnership with South Korean renewable energy investor SK ecoplant to establish a solar and wind power project with a 700 MW capacity in Vietnam. The deal signed in Seoul on March 22 outlines a joint effort to develop a project comprising 300MW of onshore wind power, 300MW of rooftop solar power, and 100MW of onshore solar power. As of December 2023, BCG Energy's total renewable energy capacity in operation neared 700MW. The company is currently deploying an additional 229MW and plans to develop 670 more MW in the future. SK ecoplant, a subsidiary of SK Group, meanwhile, aims to seek out renewable energy projects with significant potential, including wind power production in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Kim Jung-hoon, CEO of the company's factory solutions business unit, stated that with its diverse experience and specialised technical capabilities, SK ecoplant will be able to fully utilise Vietnam's abundant renewable energy resources. The company is committed to contributing to global carbon reduction efforts and leading the way in addressing climate issues based on the renewable energy value chain. Being arrested and or convicted of a crime in South Carolina can be bad enough. But even after following the straight and narrow, that past mistake can follow people for years, making it harder to do things like find housing or get a certain job. However, just because you or a family member were arrested in South Carolina, that blemish doesnt necessarily have to follow you the rest of your life. A process called expungement can help you get a fresh start, provided you meet certain criteria and follow procedures. Heres what to know. What is expungement? In South Carolina, people who have been arrested, charged or convicted of certain crimes may have the chance to erase their arrest records through a legal process known as expungement. The process lets you place your records under seal, basically removing them from public access and limiting their use to certain law enforcement purposes, according to South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center. Expungement cannot remove information about your arrest from sources outside of legal records, such as news outlets, social media or search engines. Who in SC is eligible? Being eligible for expungement in South Carolina depends on the type of offense committed and some other factors, sccourts.org states. Major offenses, certain traffic violations like DUIs, and violent crimes are usually not eligible. Heres a basic list of whats eligible. Misdemeanor offenses: Misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of 30 days and or a $1,000 fine may be eligible. A waiting period of three to five years with no other convictions is necessary. Not guilty, dismissed: Charges dismissed after 2009 are usually expunged automatically. Any charges before 2009 required an application. Dismissed charges as part of plea agreement are also eligible. Youthful Offender Act: Certain convictions under the Youthful Offender Act are eligible for expungement after five years following the completion of the sentence, including probation or parole. SC expungement application process To apply for an expungement in South Carolina, follow these steps provided by the South Carolina Judicial Branch: Identify the solicitors office: These applications are handled by the solicitors office with jurisdiction in the county where the charges originated. Complete the application provided. Pay a fee: The applicant must pay the following amounts to the solicitor in the form of separate certified checks or money orders: a $250 administrative fee made payable to the solicitor, a $25 SLED certification fee and a $35 filing fee made payable to the county clerk of court, when applicable. Wait for processing: Processing times can vary, usually taking between two to six weeks. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University scientists will join NASA in launching three sounding rockets from Wallops Island, Virginia, into the ionosphere during the April 8 solar eclipse. The rockets will be equipped with instruments seen here as they will be gathering data during the mission. From left are students Peter Ribbens and Nathan Graves and researchers Aroh Barjatya, the mission principal investigator and Robert Clayton, mission co-investigator. The April 8 total solar eclipse stretching from Texas to Maine provides Americans with more than a fleeting perceptible phenomenon. It's also the setup for science. Aroh Barjatya, a professor of engineering physics and director of the Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Daytona Beach campus, and a team of researchers and students from ERAU and other institutions, will use the occasion to engage in a NASA-funded project called APEP, or Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path. An estimated 215 million U.S. adults viewed the solar eclipse in 2017 when it passed from Oregon to South Carolina, according to NASA. Astoundingly, Carbondale, Illinois, will experience a second total solar eclipse this April. They will be working to gain a better understanding of the ionosphere part of the Earth's upper atmosphere in a belt that affects radio communications. The ionosphere starts at about 50 miles above the Earth's surface and extends beyond 350 miles, according to NOAA. The ionosphere is beyond the stratosphere, where the ozone layer is located, as well as other layers. Because of the ionosphere's more direct exposure to the sun, particles from extreme ultraviolet and X-ray solar radiation, as well as cosmic rays, become charged, or ionized. And because the ionosphere is so high above the Earth's surface, the pull of gravity is weakened, allowing the charged particles to be dynamic and swimming in plasma, the fourth state of matter, after solids, liquids and gasses. Barjatya compares the ionosphere to an ocean, as atmospheric conditions thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, even bombs exploding in Ukraine and Gaza can cause perturbations, or disturbances similar to oceanic waves. "This layer reflects and refracts radio signals and impacts satellite communications as the signals pass through," Barjatya said. So when people use GPS, perturbations in the ionosphere can affect the quality of the signal. Also, some Ham radio operators can use high-frequency signals to bounce off the ionosphere and reach listeners worldwide, so ionospheric disruptions can impact those communications, as well. All satellite communications and GPS-type navigation signals pass through the ionosphere and are affected in different ways depending on the conditions of the plasma there, student-researcher Nathan Graves said in a university news release. "Thus, being able to understand ionospheric perturbations, model them and predict when they can happen is critically important in a connected society. Eclipses, too, can cause these perturbations. And for scientists like Barjatya, the time and location of eclipses are predictable, creating a perfect environment for targeted experiments. The moon passes in front of the sun on Aug. 21, 2017. From Cape Coral, where this photo was taken, 78% of the sun was covered during this solar eclipse. Measuring solar eclipse's effect on ionosphere In spring 2022, Barjatya and an Embry-Riddle research colleague, Shantanab Debchoudhury, were brainstorming ideas on how to take advantage of a NASA sounding rocket program, "Low Cost Access to Space," through which it launches about 20 rocket missions annually. NASA had launched sounding rockets during eclipses seven previous times dating back 60 years, and two would occur within two years. Aroh Barjatya, top left, and other NASA and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical researchers pose with three sounding rockets that will be launched during the April 8 solar eclipse as part of the Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path mission. And ERAU's Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab has experience launching sounding rockets and already had the design and one payload ready. "We could design a neat experiment that involved launching three rockets in October 2023 in the annular eclipse, recovering and refurbishing the payload, and launching all three again in April 2024 during the total solar eclipse," Barjatya said. Plus, Barjatya said: "The 2023 and 2024 eclipses were very close to existing sounding rocket ranges." White Sands, New Mexico, and Wallops Island, Virginia, are two of NASA's launching sites. Last October, an annular solar eclipse was seen across New Mexico, where the launches were toward the eclipse path. The launches from Virginia's eastern seaboard will be away from the path, giving an additional perspective on how the ionopshere responds to the eclipse. To collect more data from the ground and to model the findings, Barjatya found collaborators at Johns Hopkins University, Dartmouth College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Air Force Research Lab in New Mexico. ERAU students built nine of the 10 instruments that will comprise the rockets' payloads. Dartmouth researchers contributed the other. What will take place after liftoff Here's how it will work: Most of the Embry-Riddle team will be at Wallops Island to launch three rockets, each 60 feet high with 18-inch diameters. One will lift off about 45 minutes before the peak local eclipse, the second will go off at peak eclipse and the third 45 minutes later. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University researchers (from left) Nathan Graves, Aroh Barjatya and Robert Clayton stand next to the three payloads and nose cones that will be attached to NASA rockets launching into the ionosphere on April 8 during a solar eclipse. The rockets are expected to soar to a height of 260 miles. There, they will open up to allow 10 instruments on board to collect data. They will also eject sub-payloads the size of a two-liter bottle of soda with instruments to collect data, allowing for the capture of 15 data sets at varying times during the eclipse. The data gathered will measure plasma density, neutral density and magnetic fields. It will be transmitted to the ground using a system built and managed by NASA, Barjatya said. Simultaneously, one of the ERAU doctoral students will be at White Sands to rerun ground experiments, while other ground-based teams from the Air Force Research Lab and the MIT Haystack Observatory, will gather larger-scale measurements from the ground, using various radar technologies. Barjatya said the team will also release student-built, high-altitude balloons that will elevate to 19 miles above Earth, to help study lower atmosphere weather changes "and help us detangle how much of the ionosphere dynamics during eclipse could be from ground-based weather changes propagating upwards." The ionosphere is not easy to study. Perturbations are unpredictable, but the eclipse is the exception. "We know exactly when and where to launch the rockets to get some guaranteed scientific results. Most ionospheric missions must wait weeks to catch good science conditions to launch into, and sometimes the timing and positioning is still not perfect," Barjatya said. "I am excited by the precise launch timing and ability to comprehensively instrument a rocket platform." Previous Rocket Launch: ERAU's Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Lab has liftoff Getting the Shot: Learn eclipse photography with USA Today Network photographers Weather for Eclipse: Will it be cloudy during the solar eclipse in Florida? AccuWeather forecast says maybe This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Embry-Riddle team will launch rockets into ionosphere during eclipse Ambassadors from 27 EU countries will attempt on Monday, 25 March to approve an agreement extending liberalised trade with Ukraine, expectedly with new restrictions. Source: the Brussels correspondent for Polish radio station RMF FM, as reported by European Pravda Details: Ambassadors failed to approve an agreement last Wednesday, 20 March, as Poland and France deemed the text agreed with the European Parliament insufficient. Both countries want more restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products. Belgium, which currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, sees no point in amending the agreement. It believes that Poland has already received assurances at the EU summit regarding extending the agreement on duty-free trade with Ukraine. It is expected that next year there will be a return to the association agreement based on reciprocity and Ukraine's commitment to EU norms and standards. Germany also wants to refrain from reviewing the agreement. French President Emmanuel Macron announced at a press conference on Friday that he expects changes to the text. Paris wants the calculation of quotas for Ukrainian imports to use the base period up to 2021, when Ukrainian imports were at a low level. Macron also noted that wheat must be added to the quota product list. "This would help to overcome many existing difficulties not only in Poland but also in many European countries, including France," he stated on Friday. RMF FM's sources in the EU expect that Poland and France will present a united front, which may be supported by other countries neighbouring Ukraine. Negotiations are becoming increasingly tense as the European Parliament must approve the agreement at a plenary session in April. This session is the last one before the European Parliament elections. The agreement is expected to come into effect no later than 5 June and will be valid for another year. Background: The previous compromise reached among the negotiators from the Council of the EU, European Parliament and European Commission envisages a base period of 2022-2023 for calculating the limits on Ukrainian imports. The European Commission officially proposed to extend the suspension of import quotas and duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year while including safety measures for agricultural products, as demanded by several EU countries. But this proposition did not satisfy farmers in the EU countries that border Ukraine and made them start protest actions, mainly in Poland Support UP or become our patron! A lettering with the Google logo is stuck on a glass pane in the press center of Koelnmesse. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa The European Commission said on Monday that it will investigate Apple, Meta, and Google-owner Alphabet over suspected violations of European Union rules for online "gatekeepers." The probes are the first non-compliance investigations under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which took effect on March 7 and regulates the behaviour of companies the commission deems to be "gatekeepers" in the digital economy. A gatekeeper is a company that holds a powerful, entrenched position in the EU's digital economy, acting as an intermediary between many users and businesses. The commission has designated six gatekeepers: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Tiktok owner ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. Gatekeepers that fail to comply with their obligations under the DMA can face fines as high as 10% of their global annual revenue. Repeat offenders may be fined as much as 20%. The investigations into Alphabet and Apple concern suspected non-compliance with a DMA provision requiring gatekeepers to "steer" customers to offers outside their app stores, free of charge. For example, the two companies "constrain, among other things, developers' ability to freely communicate and promote offers and directly conclude contracts," a commission press release said. Also under scrutiny is whether Alphabet gives preference to its services in Google search results. "The commission is concerned that Alphabet's measures implemented to comply with the DMA may not ensure that third-party services featuring on Google's search results page are treated in a fair and non-discriminatory manner in comparison with Alphabet's own services," the EU executive said in its press release. Furthermore, the commission is investigating whether Apple complies with various DMA rules governing user choice in iOS, the operating system for its smartphones and tablets. In particular, the probe will examine whether iOS makes it easy enough for users to uninstall any app they wish and to change the default settings. The commission is also investigating whether Apple is adequately fulfilling its DMA obligation to prompt users with screens asking them to choose between alternative defaults for certain apps and services, such as the web browser or search engine. Meta is being investigated over its recently-introduced policy of asking users to choose between paying to use its services and consenting to their personal data being shared between the company's services - such as Facebook and Instagram - for use in targeted advertising. "The commission is concerned that the binary choice imposed by Meta's 'pay or consent' model may not provide any real alternative in case users do not consent, thereby not achieving the objective of preventing the accumulation of personal data by gatekeepers," the EU executive said on Monday. Although the commission has not announced a DMA non-compliance investigation into Amazon, its press release on Monday said that Amazon may be giving its own brand products on the Amazon Store an advantage. The press release said the commission is taking "investigatory steps to gather facts and information to clarify whether" that is the case. Similarly, it will look into whether Apple's terms and conditions for the use of alternative app stores on its devices "may be defeating the purpose of its obligations." The EU executive is also asking Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft "to retain documents which might be used to assess their compliance with the DMA obligations." As with Amazon, the commission has not announced a non-compliance investigation into Microsoft. The press release does not mention any actions with regard to ByteDance. The logo of the US technology company Apple can be seen at night at the Apple Store Jungfernstieg in the city center. Christian Charisius/dpa Following a terrorist attack in Moscow Oblast, the EU asserted that it might allow joint counterterrorism cooperation with the Russian Federation under certain conditions, but it is difficult to imagine a basis for cooperation with a country engaged in full-fledged aggression at the moment. Source: Peter Stano, EUs Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, at a briefing in Brussels, as reported by European Pravda Details: Stano responded to a question about the possibility of EU-Russia cooperation in the fight against terrorism following the shooting in the Russian suburbs that killed 137 people. The terrorist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. He recalled that, following the start of Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine, the EU essentially suspended all forms of cooperation with Russia because it violates humanitarian and international law. At the same time, he claimed that the EU was unequivocal in condemning what occurred in Moscow. In their opinion, it was unquestionably a terrorist attack. Stano emphasised that if Russia presented a credible proposal based on rational grounds and consistent with international law, the EU would most likely not refuse. However, he added that at this point the EU is dealing with a regime that is drawing the country into an illegal war and oppressing its local population, making it difficult to imagine what the basis of cooperation would be. Stano also stated that to this day, no terrorist attack on Russian territory has been thoroughly investigated he emphasised that this raises many questions about the attitude of the Russian authorities. Stano also stated that nothing indicates Ukraine's involvement in the terrorist attack near Moscow, which the Kremlin has been insisting on. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has urged the public not to allow Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and his associates to spread false information about Ukraine's alleged involvement in the terrorist attack in Moscow suburbs, alling him a pathological liar. Support UP or become our patron! By Kate Abnett and Jake Spring BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A group of EU countries led by Austria is calling for urgent revisions to the bloc's anti-deforestation law set to go into effect at the end of the year, saying it could hurt European farmers, according to a document reviewed by Reuters on Monday. The EU law aims to root deforestation out of supply chains for beef, soy and other agricultural products sold in Europe, so that European consumers are not contributing to the destruction of global forests from the Amazon to Southeast Asia. Those rules equally apply to European farmers, who will be banned from exporting products cultivated on deforested or degraded woodlands. "The agreed overall objective of tackling deforestation in third countries must not be to the detriment of the European economy, in particular the European agriculture and forestry sector," said the document, which was also signed by Finland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. EU leaders have in recent weeks watered down numerous environmental policies in an attempt to quell months of protests by angry farmers, some of whom have criticised the bloc's green policies as excessive. EU countries' agriculture ministers are set to discuss the document at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. In the document, the EU countries said producers in low risk nations - a category likely to include many EU members - should be exempt from requirements, while the burden for certifying products as deforestation-free should be "drastically reduced" within the EU. As the law stands, farmers switching from conventional to organic methods, for example, may need to expand their area but would be discouraged from doing so in forest-rich EU nations, they said. The EU information system for tracking compliance is not prepared to by implemented when the law is supposed to go into effect on Dec. 30, the letter said. EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius - who this month toured South American countries in a bid to soothe those nations' concerns over the policy - questioned the timing of the complaints over a law that EU countries and lawmakers themselves approved last year. "It's very strange for me that, you know, 100 days before elections, suddenly we find issues in the legislation which we've been discussing 2-1/2 years," Sinkevicius told a news conference on Monday, referring to the upcoming EU Parliament election in June. (Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels and Jake Spring in Sao Paulo; editing by Costas Pitas) MILAN The European Commission is poised to jolt the Eurodrone program by injecting a second round of funding into the project to allow for the development of new capabilities. On March 15, the European Commission, responsible for promoting cooperation and facilitating the integration of defense capabilities between EU member-states, published its 2024 call for proposals . Among the 30 different project requests outlined in the document, one stands out as having the largest budget up for grabs: the development of a fully European medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft system. The request, for which 100 million euros ($108 million) is allocated, pertains specifically to the ongoing Eurodrone program, according to a Commission representative. The Commission is not planning to support the development of another European MALE drone the call for proposals in the EDF annual Work Programme 2024 aims at developing additional capabilities for the actual Eurodrone, expected to fly before the end of this decade, a Commission spokesperson told Defense News. Europeans are building a war economy. Can they master it? According to the document, the primary objective behind having a European-made MALE RPAS is to move away from foreign suppliers when it comes to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Today, most of the ISR capabilities of member states rely on non-EU manufacturers in order to carry out their missions the development of a fully European MALE RPAS is key to reduce dependency on non-EU solutions, the document said. The Eurodrone program, which began in 2015, received $107 million in funding from the EU-run European Defense Industrial Development Program in 2021. The effort involves four governments Italy, Spain, Germany and France as well as three contractors, Leonardo, Dassault Aviation, and Airbus Defence and Space. According to a recent report released by the German Ministry of Defense, the Eurodrone program experienced some setbacks in 2023 that may delay key deliverables A preliminary design review, one such milestone, was initially slated to be carried out last September, but is still being reviewed due to coordination issues between Airbus and Dassault, the document said. The delay may affect the subsequent critical design review of the platform that was planned for September 2024, a necessary step before companies can start building the first drone. It remains to be seen if the first flight of the European MALE drone will take place as scheduled in January 2027. The flag of the European Union flies outside the chateau in Versailles. Kay Nietfeld/dpa The European Commission announced on Monday it is spending 600 million ($650 million) from the EU budget to buy 12 planes to fight fires across the European Union. During the summer when "lives, homes and livelihoods are increasingly under threat to large scale forest fires" these airplanes will provide vital assistance, the commission said in a statement. The 12 planes are to be distributed across Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, France and Croatia, six EU member states all hard-hit by extreme heat and wildfires during the summer. De Havilland manufactured the aircraft. EU Crisis Commissioner Janez Lenarcic said the purchases are an important move to advance the bloc's firefighting capabilities. The European Commission upgraded the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and created rescEU to further protect citizens from disasters and manage emerging risks. The 12 aircraft join an EU fleet of firefighting planes, medical evacuation planes, and helicopters kept on reserve to support EU countries facing public emergencies. In 2023, according to Eurostat, the EU statistics agency, wildfires burned around 500,000 hectares. This includes the largest wildfire recorded in the EU in Alexandroupolis, Greece, with over 96,000 hectares destroyed. New European Sleeper train connects four capitals from Brussels to Prague European travellers can now fall asleep in Brussels and wake up in Prague with the launch of a new sleeper train service. The first Good Night Train service from the European Sleeper start-up departs Belgiums capital this evening (25 March) bound for the Czech Republic. On the way, it will pass through Amsterdam, Berlin and other popular cities. Its another valuable node in Europes night train network, after European Sleeper began its Brussels to Berlin trips in May 2023. And the company has no plans to stop there. Our goal is to add a new route each year so we can continue to contribute to a more integrated and sustainable European transportation network, says co-founder Elmer Van Buuren. Euronews spoke to the Dutch entrepreneur about this vision back in 2021. What's driving this new dawn of train travel? Van Buuren said the new line is fuelled by 'flight shame', a term used in Sweden to refer to shaming people for increasing their carbon footprint through flying. "There needs to be a good alternative to flying or using your car," he said, and the European Sleeper is a way of doing this with relatively low investment. Trains are often more hassle-free than flying, he adds, as they depart from city centres and deliver you to city centres, unlike out-of-town airports. "There used to be a lot more night trains than nowadays and I want to bring them back. "People can sleep and get rested while being transported, and then wake up in a new city on time for a professional meeting. It's kind of magical." The map of cities European Sleeper is connecting to in 2024. - European Sleeper Czech Minister of Transport Martin Kupka is happy that his country is getting on board. Night trains are now making a comeback all over Europe and I am very glad that the Czech Republic is not left behind, he says. The Good Night Train also passes through Antwerp, Rotterdam and Dresden. You can read more details about the sleeper options and those destinations in our piece here. Watch the full interview with the co-founder of European Sleeper above. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (L) and President of the European Council Charles Michel speak during a press conference after the EU summit in Brussels. Alexandros Michailidis/European Council/dpa European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she welcomed the UN Security Council's resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all Hamas hostages. "Implementation of this resolution is vital for the protection of all civilians," von der Leyen wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. European Council President Charles Michel said on X "it is now urgent" for the ceasefire in Gaza to be upheld and all Hamas hostages released. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter Gaza as well, Michel said, referencing a joint EU leaders' statement last week. Vietnams shrimp exports to China in January and February rose by 145% year-on-year to US$81 million amid recovering demand in that country. Exports to the U.S. were up 26% at $72 million, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP). Overall, exports increased by 24% to $425 million. VASEP said consumers in China and the U.S. rate the quality of Vietnamese shrimp higher than its competitors from Ecuador and India. Industry insiders expect a strong recovery in these two markets in the coming months. Vietnams shrimp production rose 5.5% last year to 1.1 million tons, but exports declined by 20% to $3.45 billion due to low demand in key markets. Exports are expected to rise to $4 billion this year, accounting for 50% of total fisheries exports. Each year, four Vanderburgh County educators are recognized for their love of teaching and commitment to local students. The Outstanding Educators of the Year awards are sponsored by Liberty Federal Credit Union, the Courier & Press and the University of Evansville. In their 33rd year, the awards honor the dedication and contributions of Vanderburgh County K-12 educators at public and nonpublic schools that have at least three years in the profession. Awards are given in four categories: elementary school, middle school, high school and principal. Winners will be announced in April. Meet this year's elementary school finalists for Outstanding Educator of the Year. Melissa Cooney-Mudd, Culver Learning Center How many years have you been an educator? Ive been a teacher for almost 10 years. Im currently in my 6th year at The Learning Center. What was your background in education before starting your current role? Before joining TLC, I taught at Lincoln Elementary School and Castle North Middle School. I also worked with the state's CCR&R, assisting afterschool programs and summer camps in managing behaviors and planning activities. Additionally, I contributed to the educational department at Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden. Melissa Cooney-Mudd What made you decide you wanted to be an educator? Although many told me I would be great at teaching, I resisted the profession. I wanted to make an impact and worried that teaching was too limited. However, that perspective changed when I substitute taught in Erie, Pennsylvania I fell in love with the profession. Motivated by this new passion, I pursued a masters program to obtain my teaching license. Ive realized that my impact is profound. Instead of changing the world at large, I am changing my individual students worlds. What are the challenges you face in education today? And how do you overcome them? Teachers frequently serve as the bridge between what society wants for our children and reality. Often without extra resources or guidance, teachers help students with issues beyond classroom boundaries. It can be hard not to get overwhelmed when our education system relies on teachers' sacrifices. Fortunately, I benefit from a strong support system, including fellow teachers and support staff in my program, along with a supportive and understanding family. Whats your favorite thing about being an educator? I cherish two aspects of teaching above all. First, I love connecting with my students learning about them as people, their interests, and what makes them tick. Second, I love when students have an aha! moment and they fully understand what you are trying to teach them. Then when they can take what youve taught them and apply it to other ideas or situations its pure magic! What makes you unique in your field? As a special education teacher who specializes in emotional and behavioral disorders, I have the privilege of working with students who previously struggled in school. Im tasked with devising strategies to help them succeed in a school setting with appropriate accommodations and teaching self-regulation skills they need to succeed. I help students build better neural pathways by supporting them through any disruptive behaviors and keeping them accountable for their school work and learning. Anna Gergely, Evansville Day School How many years have you been an educator? I have been an educator for 12 years. What was your background in education before starting your current role? Before joining Evansville Day School, I worked at the University of Evansvilles Institute for Global Enterprise and at the University of Southern Indiana. I taught macroeconomics and global economic issues at college level, while providing language education services to several local companies. Anna Gergely What made you decide you wanted to be an educator? Early in my childhood I fell in love with learning languages, traveling, and sharing everything I knew about cultures around the world. Learning a third language, English, opened my eyes to the West, a totally different world than what I lived in (Romania). Once I became an exchange student, I realized that I wanted to teach languages. English was not too challenging and later in college I continued learning Spanish and Italian. My study abroad experiences and while working and living in several countries provided me the opportunity to learn about different cultures and languages, which I loved and had the passion to share. What are the challenges you face in education today? And how do you overcome them? The importance of learning a global language is crucial in todays education. However, the lack of resources/funding and commitment to start language learning from early childhood is a challenge in many schools. As a global language teacher, I find it difficult to incorporate authentic language and culture materials that are relevant and up to date with students language levels and interest. I continuously work hard on providing projects and opportunities for my students: inviting native and international speakers to my classes and creating collaborations between our school and international schools worldwide. Since I personally experienced that the best way to learn a language is by being immersed in it, I started to organize educational trips abroad, where my students get the opportunity to discover different cultures and at the same time, learn the language. Whats your favorite thing about being an educator? My favorite part about being an educator is hearing my students converse in Spanish I had one of these experiences last year in Costa Rica, where my students made friends at a local school and not only spoke Spanish but also were curious and understanding of the different culture. I believe that to share a new language, a culture, or ideas of diversity, one must compass and share its love for all of these. My goal throughout my Spanish teaching career has been to open my students minds to becoming global and to enlighten their hearts to accept differences while learning about their own cultures, values, and language. Inside and outside of the classroom, in my opinion, language learning encompasses the understanding of the culture and sharing these in a fun, educational way. My favorite part of being a teacher is seeing my students embrace the same love of languages as I have. What makes you unique in your field? I believe that I am unique in my field of education as I bring a totally different culture, viewpoint, and global mindedness to my environment. I think outside of the box, initiate, and create many new projects, collaborations and connect my students and school to organizations around the world. I bring real life experiences into my classrooms and share cultures that many of my students cant experience first-hand. Lindsey Stine, West Terrace Elementary School How many years have you been an educator? 14 years What was your background in education before starting your current role? I started at Evans Middle School and taught math for one year. Then, I taught 6th Grade Math and Science for four years at Delaware Elementary School. I am in my ninth year of teaching 4th Grade at West Terrace Elementary School. What made you decide you wanted to be an educator? My grandmother, Alma Hougland, was a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School. I was lucky to volunteer in her classroom for many years and learn what it was like to be a teacher from her. I always enjoyed our time in her classroom. Lindsey Stine I was also inspired by my teachers Shelly DeWeese, Thad Immel, and Nadine Risley as well as my elementary school principal, Gene Theriac. They stand out to me because they made me feel so special and loved. They also were so passionate about teaching. You could feel a certain energy and excitement in the school and in the classroom. I woke up every day excited to go to school. I was always feeling challenged while having so much fun. I just wanted to grow up to be like them and hopefully have the same effect on my students. What are the challenges you face in education today? And how do you overcome them? Fred Rogers said, Youve made this day a special day by just your being you. Theres no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are. One of the biggest challenges I have as an educator is to make sure that each of my students knows that I feel that way about them every day. Educators try their hardest each day to make sure that each student knows that they care for them as a person when they ask them about their day, listen to their stories, give them compliments, tell them jokes, and give them hugs. Educators try to let each student know that they care for them as a student when they let them explore a new topic, set goals with them, create plans for reaching those goals, cheer them on while they work, and celebrate accomplishments big and small. Educators focus on caring for their students as leaders when they discuss how students can show kindness and make others smile, how it is important for students to do the right thing even when it is difficult, how they can be respectful and responsible in and out of the classroom, and how they should try to find ways to volunteer and serve in your community. My challenge as an educator is to make sure that students understand that they are important to me, to their classmates, to their school, and to their community and that the world wouldnt be the same without them. Whats your favorite thing about being an educator? I love the classroom community that is created every year. I love reading novels with my students and hearing them get excited when I get out our read-aloud book each day. I love seeing each students a-ha moment when they learn a new math skill. I love the conversations that come from exploring science and social studies. I love seeing them become leaders and helpers of all kinds in their school and community. I love getting to know my students and watching them grow! What makes you unique in your field? I think that all educators are unique and have special talents, passions, and gifts that help them to connect with students. Many of my favorite things to do as a teacher start with the ideas of other educators. I have been lucky to have worked with many amazing educators in the EVSC. For example, after one of my evaluations, Mrs. Strawn challenged me to let students explore a math concept before telling them how to do it. While I didnt like the idea of letting go of some of my control, this led me to begin a new routine in math that I call Teach Yourself. This is how I introduce/begin most math lessons. During this routine, I solve a problem (that would meet the days learning target) on the board without talking while pausing after each step, and I let the students tell me what I was doing to solve the problem. I think that this helps the students to get engaged in the lesson and have fun. I also hope it helps boost their confidence in math. While this is something unique that happens in my classroom, I would have never come up with it on my own. Some of the other things that I am passionate about outside the classroom include sponsoring the West Terrace Battle of the Books Team and the Student Leadership Council. The students involved in these programs are amazing, and I have so much fun seeing them shine outside of the classroom. This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Outstanding Educator of the Year: Here are the 3 elementary finalists The solar eclipse is expected to be viewable on Monday, April 8 throughout the Delaware Valley, and while most people will be observing with friends, the family pet may have a hard time understanding what's going on and may have trouble adapting to the sudden and rare shift in daylight. Here are some pet care tips to consider ahead of next month's solar eclipse. Pets will largely take cues from humans during solar eclipse; may exhibit strange behavior Experts are still collecting data on the impact a solar eclipse has on pets, but they have generally reached a consensus regarding pet behavior. "Pets, particularly dogs and cats, display altered behaviors during lunar eclipses. While these household animals are not directly harmed by the eclipse, they may exhibit signs of distress or confusion," read an entry on Moon Crater Tycho. "A notable fraction of dogs have been reported to show signs of fear during an eclipse. They may seek shelter, howl at the sky, or exhibit general agitation. "As a pet owner, being aware of these potential reactions and providing comfort and security to your pets during an eclipse is advisable." Solar eclipse's effect on wildlife: April's total solar eclipse will bring a surreal silence and confuse all sorts of animals Due to the shift in daylight, dogs may exhibit additional odd behavior, such as preparing for sleep and showing signs of trouble. Heads up, total solar eclipse, blue supermoon and 'devil comet' coming in 2024 "Dogs and cats, being diurnal creatures, are accustomed to being active during daylight hours. The sudden darkness that comes with a solar eclipse can disorient them, causing a shift in their behavior," read an entry in the Hepper blog. "This might result in them preparing for sleep or turning more active, especially if theyre used to hunting at night. "Furthermore, the abrupt change in light and temperature could cause fear or anxiety in these animals," the entry continued. "For example, some dogs may start to whine, pace, or show other signs of distress. Cats, on the other hand, may become more skittish and hide." Steps you can take to protect, comfort pets during the solar eclipse The Humane Society has tips for handling and caring for pets during a solar eclipse. "First, stay calm. Our pets play off our own reactions and emotions. Since they take their cues from humans, the best way to keep pets calm during a solar eclipse is to stay calm ourselves. If were anxious, our pets may become anxious, too," advised the Humane Society. "Second, keep your pets indoors. You may be tempted to bring your furry friends outside with you for an eclipse viewing party, but the safest place for them to be is at home. "Crowds may trigger anxiety in dogs or cats, increasing the likelihood that theyll try to run away. Additionally, your pet can suffer eye damage by staring directly at the sun, just the same as you can." Hepper suggests pet owners should also maintain a normal schedule of feeding and walks; provide extra toys and other distractions during the solar eclipse; and consult your veterinarian for individualized treatment if your pet already suffers from anxiety. Erie in direct path of solar eclipse; how to best observe there While Bucks County and most of Pennsylvania are in the path of the eclipse, Erie in northwestern part of the state is in the path of totality and expects big crowds for the 3 minutes and 42 seconds event. Erie primer for 2024 solar eclipse: Solar eclipse 2024: Erie is in path of totality. Here's what to know How will Erie prepare for the influx of people all angling for a view of this astronomical event? Here's what Presque Isle State Park officials had to say. Early April is usually a slow time at the park, but the solar eclipse that day is expected to bring up to 30,000 people to Presque Isle, depending on the weather, said Matt Greene, the park's operations manager. In Erie, People are encouraged to find places other than the bayfront to view the eclipse because the downtown traffic could be gridlocked on April 8. This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: How to prepare and protect your pets during April's solar eclipse Echoing the stylish blandness of its modern-art credit sequence, A Gentleman in Moscow is a handsomely inert adaptation of Amor Towles 2016 best-selling novel about an early 20th-century aristocrat who, in a homeland reshaped by the Russian Revolution, is given a lifetime house-arrest sentence in a lavish capitol hotel. A stinging critique of the Bolshevik uprising that swept the nation, Ben Vanstones Showtime series (premiere March 29 online and March 31 on air) has its political heart in the right place, if little idea how to generate propulsive drama from its premise. The result is a period piece that frequently succumbs to torpor in its attempts to stretch its tale to eight hour-long episodes. Accomplished lead performances by Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, as well as an inevitably bittersweet finale, do what they can to offset the overarching sluggishness. Yet more often than not, its about as flavorful as Russian cuisine. In a 1918 Moscow that doesnt resemble the one he left four years earlier, Count Alexander Rostov (McGregor) returns from Paris and lands squarely in the crosshairs of a Leninist government intent on eradicating all vestiges of the Tsarist past. An elegant blue blood whose title, standing, and wealth mark him as an enemy of the freshly empowered proletariat, Rostov seems all but doomed until, at his hearing, his life is spared courtesy of a 1913 poem of his thats become a rallying cry for the Revolution. This unlikely twist of fate results in his perpetual confinement at the Metropol hotel, where he already had a room. Under the watchful eye of cold-hearted Red Guard bigwig Osip Glebnikov (Johnny Harris), hes stripped of his opulent creature comforts and moved from his luxury residence into a dingy attic apartment where hes expected to live out the rest of his days in disgraced solitude. There are plenty of people in the Metropol who now view Rostov with a wary eye, most notably waiter Leplevsky (John Heffernan), wholl ascend the managerial ranks over the course of the ensuing decades. Nonetheless, the count is far from alone, thanks to a variety of staffers who appreciate his company, from seamstress Marina (Leah Harvey) to chef Emily (Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson) to head waiter Andrey (Lyes Salem). Amidst considerable hardship, Rostov is embraced by a community of working-class folks who are sympathetic to his plight. However, by choosing to render them as merely peripheral ciphers, Vanstone fails to exploit his storys central irony. Instead, much of the early going is focused on Rostovs acclimation to his uncomfortable situation and, more generally, to a new world order that in theory champions ideals of equality and solidarity, and in practice seeks only to destroy everything that came before itincluding intellectualism, education, culture, refinement, and honorso Russia can become a cold, gray regressive nightmare. Billie Gadsdon as Sofia and Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov. Ben Blackall/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME Rostov survives by refusing to change in the face of this negation of his past, his way of life, and his very self, and he does his best to impart his values to Nina (Alexa Goodall), a young guest whom he befriends and who gives him a key that grants him access to the buildings numerous secret rooms and passageways, complete with a means of getting onto the roof for (disallowed) breaths of fresh air. During his stay, Rostov strikes up a relationship with famous actress Anna Urbanova (Winstead) that evolves from an intermittent fling to a deep romance, and he reunites time and again with Mishka (Fehinti Balogun), an old socialist friend whose amorous connection to Rostovs now-dead sister is repeatedly teased via flashbacks during the series initial half. As time goes on, Rostovs rapport with Glebnikov also develops from purely antagonistic to something more respectful, and years after Nina leaves the hoteland becomes a true-believer, much to Rostovs pained disappointmentshe reappears at a moment of crisis to leave her daughter Sofia (Billie Gadsdon) in his care, thus transforming him into an unlikely father figure. With a collection of dapper suits, a big bushy mustache and a cheery smile thats as defiant as his frowns, McGregors Rostov is a charming relic in a country that views him as the embodiment of its greatest evils, and A Gentleman in Moscows sympathies are unequivocally with him, sometimes to a fault; though the Bolsheviks are convincingly depicted as cruel authoritarians, the aristocracys own negatives are notably brushed aside so Rostov can come across as a paragon of likable old-school virtue. The series color-blind casting is similarly conspicuous, calling undue attention to itself and undercutting the proceedings historical accuracy. At least the materials directors go light on show-offy flourishes while trying to find new ways to visually enliven action thats confined to a small series of interior locations. Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Anna Urbanova and Jason Forbes as Alexei Nachevko. Ben Blackall/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME A Gentleman in Moscows biggest shortcoming, however, is simply a dearth of compelling narrative incidents. For episodes on end, the story concerns itself with matters that afford few insights into its characters or the larger political tumult happening outside the Metropols stately lobby. McGregor and Winstead share sparks and Rostov and Annas gradually developing dynamic is the most captivating aspect of this lengthy affair. Still, its not enough to justify the myriad diversions devised by Vanstone, lowlighted by a potentially catastrophic accident that demands an equally perilous response from Rostov. As with so many modern prestige television ventures, the show distends itself so severely that its impossible not to think that it would have been better off as a two-hour feature film. The Long Shadow: A Serial Killer Series Unlike One Youve Ever Seen Despite dragging intensely on its journey to the post-Stalin era, A Gentleman in Moscow at least rises to the poignant occasion with its finale, when circumstances conspire to provide Rostov with a shot at achieving his dream of escape and freedomboth for himself and for those he loves. Considering when it takes place, the series appears destined, from the outset, for something other than the type of happy ending Sofa adores, and in his conclusion, Vanstone strikes a moving balance between suspense, despair and hope. That denouement may not be enough to vindicate the wheel-spinning that preceded it, but along with McGregor and Winsteads adept turns and the shows clear-eyed view of the legacy of Marxist-Leninist ideology, it prevents it from being a total wash. 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. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former Donald Trump White House aide, suggested New York Attorney General Letitia James would shatter the ex-president if she went after Trump Tower. MSNBCs Alex Witt on Sunday asked the onetime Apprentice contestant if theres a property that is particularly dear to Trump, who faces a Monday deadline to put up a $464 million appeals bond for his civil fraud judgment or face the seizure of his assets by James. Ill have to say that its Trump Tower, Manigault Newman said. As you know, it was the centerpiece and the backdrop of The Apprentice that was shown to the millions of people who tuned into our show every single week. Its where we lived for all those months that we were shooting. Donald Trump loves Trump Tower, she added of the Midtown Manhattan skyscraper. And if AG Tish went after this particular property, it would really hit him where it hurts. In a frantic fundraising email to supporters last week, Trump begged supporters for help and told them insane radical Democrat AG James was planning to seize his New York properties, including THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER! KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER! the memo read. Manigault Newman also warned that Trump is most volatile when under strain. Its so evident that Donald Trump has his back against the wall and I have to tell you, a stressed out Trump is a very dangerous Trump, she said. I would be surprised tomorrow if he didnt try to seize the spotlight with one of his famous antics to distract from his legal predicament, she added. Manigault Newman departed her Trump administration role as the director of communication for the Office of Public Liason in 2017 and subsequently published a scathing memoir about her experience working for Trump. Trump was ordered last month to pay more than $350 million plus interest in damages for engaging in decades of fraudulent business practices. He must post the nearly half-billion-dollar bond while he appeals the verdict. See her commentary on MSNBC below. Related... New Yorkers who joined in an exodus from the city last year say they were driven out by a palpable change that has overtaken the streets with many blaming crime and soaring prices for it. I think everybodys noticed a little bit of a shift in the city over the last year or so in terms of safety and cleanliness, said Samantha Pillsbury, 31, who left the city for a stay in Los Angeles in February after nine years in the Big Apple. Im a single woman, and it started to get less safe, which then affects your entire life, she said. Pillsbury who plans to visit Europe and other cities before settling down somewhere was just one of tens of thousands of people who fled New York City in recent months. About 78,000 people left the city in 2023, according to new US Census data, marking a slowdown in the Big Apples population decline since the pandemic but still the third year in a row that the numbers have dropped. The short answer is that I stopped loving it as much, Pillsbury acknowledged to The Post of Gotham. In the last couple of years, the tide sort of turned for how I felt about the city. Samantha Pillsbury, 31, says the ceaseless grind and growing crime sent her packing from New York City. I really started to struggle with the sort of New York culture around work. This sort of like workaholic, work-obsessed culture, she said, explaining that her online work as a content creator and marketing consultant in the field has allowed her to work from anywhere and get out of the hustle of the city. A sense of menace from crime growing on the streets since the pandemic pushed her toward making up her mind to leave in the last year. I think those factors certainly nudge me along, maybe a little bit faster, she said. Pillsbury was far from alone among those feeling things have changed in the city they love. Stephanie Heintz, 37, was a devoted New Yorker of 14 years but left over safety fears. Stephanie Heintz, 37, first moved to New York 14 years ago to join the fashion industry and found a community that looked out for its members even in the midst of sometimes chaos in the streets. I really did believe all the cliche sayings of that, if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. I still believe that, she said. I believed that it was a city that never sleeps. And that allowed for, for me, for single women, to have a greater sense of safety on the street later at night. There were power numbers, there were more people out. And that just it gave me a certain freedom. But she said that feeling evaporated during the pandemic, with safety fears driving her first from her Hells Kitchen apartment to a doorman building in NoMad and finally out of the city altogether. Those are all the things that I loved about New York initially, and then things really did change for me in the pandemic, she said. Heintz was living the life in New York City till the pandemic. Courtesy Stephanie Heintz It became an area where I was carrying pepper spray. I was physically attacked on the street a few times, she said. I felt myself changing, I felt my energy changing. I felt like I was not engaging at all. And if anything, I was jumpy. I had this the world was my oyster kind of feeling. And then it suddenly flipped to where I was confined to this small tiny apartment. I could barely even walk my dog. Despite living a block away from the posh Ritz-Carlton hotel, Heintz said, she regularly saw people defecating or shooting up heroin steps from her door. When she finally made up her mind to leave, she was spat on by a stranger as she walked to her office to resign. Sophie Alvi, 30, quit her job as a lawyer and moved to Austin, Texas, for a slower pace back in September. Alvi in happier times in the Big Apple. sophmaryum/Instagram Helping her along was the fact that she was slammed with a massive spike in rent since the pandemic, an increase she suddenly found herself struggling to afford despite having worked her way up to a vice president position in the fashion world. She decided to pack up and head to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in October. I thought during the pandemic everyone in Florida was crazy. But you know, moving to a place with sunshine and different taxes and the beach and smiling past your neighbors and engaging and saying Hello, its been really nice, she said. Heintz joined more than 58,000 New York residents who moved to Florida last year, according to Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles obtained by The Post. I think everyone needs to live in a city like New York that will humble them like that, Heintz said philosophically. But 14 years ran its course for me. And those those big two elements of safety and money were the deciding factors. About half of New Yorkers plan to join the exodus from the city within five years, according to a poll from Citizens Budget Commission, with only 30% saying theyre happy in the city and blaming a significant decline since the pandemic. New York Citys population dropped by 78,000 in 2023, the third year in a row the numbers have declined. Getty Images Sophie Alvi, 30, quit her job as a Manhattan lawyer in September and headed to Austin, Texas, after she felt herself being stifled by the pace and mindset of New York. Looking back, I feel like the overall culture of Manhattan and New York City felt pretty cold, Alvi said. It wasnt really somewhere where I wanted to continue the next chapter of my life, really. Its too hectic, I feel like everyones there trying to make money, trying to chase something and not really just trying to live life. Once she decided she didnt want to be a lawyer, she decided there was little reason to remain in the city, and now she pays a fraction of the cost in rent for a better apartment in Austin, where she is mulling starting a mindfulness brand. I can wake up and hear the birds chirping or just like, I hear a rooster from my apartment, she said. I feel like Austin is somewhere theres just a lot more space to just be yourself, Alvi said. Its not too rigid. Ive been trying to unlearn that very rigid, rigid way of thinking from Manhattan. Others described wanting see new places after spending so much time restricted by the pandemic lockdowns, and many said the remote work theyd settled into since left them with few reasons to put up with the difficulties of city living. But everybody who The Post spoke with still had nostalgia for their old home and encouragement for others looking to take their spots. There is a lot of doomsday talk about the city, Pillsbury said And while I do think theres certainly been some problematic things going on in the city, it doesnt change the fact that it is an amazing city to live in and has so much to offer people. The "train is coming" in the Fulton County, Ga. prosecution of Donald Trump and his 14-co-defendants, District Attorney Fani Willis told CNN over the weekend. Willis, who narrowly escaped disqualification in the former president's election subversion case following hearings over the romantic relationship she had with her former lead prosecutor, told the outlet that she continued to prepare for and work on the case during the two months of related court action and said that the disqualification effort did not slow her down. While that was going on, we were writing responsive briefs, we were still doing the case in a way that it needed to be done. I dont feel like weve been slowed down at all. I do think there are efforts to slow down this train, but the train is coming, Willis said Saturday at an Atlanta-area Easter event. Were not going to miss or skip a beat because of all the noise or distraction on one case. Were going to continue to do our work, she added. While Willis' weekend remarks are unlikely to cause any hubbub in the case over Trump and his co-defendants alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat, the district attorney "should not" be making them, Atlanta defense attorney Andrew Fleischman told Salon. Prosecutors announcing at the outset of a case who they're indicting, the charges being brought and why is "fine," he explained. But they should not make public statements that have "no legitimate law enforcement purpose even in the context of a political campaign." "They strengthen arguments for gag orders and disqualification, and they harm the public's trust that this trial is about holding people accountable for crimes they have committed, rather than as part of an overall political strategy," Fleischman said. The district attorney's comments to CNN primarily sounded like "campaign remarks" that "were really addressed to an audience of voters for the upcoming primary and general election," Georgia State University law professor Clark Cunningham told Salon, noting that Willis is up for re-election in Fulton County this year. The Georgia prosecutor told the outlet that she doesn't feel that she needs to restore her reputation among Fulton County residents, adding: "Im not embarrassed by anything Ive done. I guess my greatest crime is I had a relationship with a man, but thats not something I find embarrassing in any way. And I know that I have not done anything thats illegal. Going forward, she said, the attention should be on "the charges, the facts and the law" and leaving "all the drama behind. I am not a perfect human being, but what I am is a hard-working human being, and a human being that loves the community I serve and who understands this seat does not belong to me, it belongs to the people," Willis later added, telling CNN she feels "more loved" by the community following the intense scrutiny over her relationship with ex-special prosecutor Nathan Wade. "And as long as Im here, Im going to try to do the job in a way thats honorable." Asked whether she would consider a plea deal with the former president or any of the remaining co-defendants after reaching guilty pleas with four people originally charged in the indictment, Willis told CNN she is "always open-minded and reasonable" and that her office "will listen to those explanations. She also emphasized she will now oversee and negotiate any potential plea deals following Wade's resignation, adding, I hope that was good for everyone. That nod from Willis regarding any future guilty pleas comes with "the obvious implication" that the "'price' of a plea deal has gone up for defendants who sought to disqualify" her, former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti said on X. The obvious implication is that the price of a plea deal has gone up for defendants who sought to disqualify Fani Willis. https://t.co/Q1wb2UExFD Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 24, 2024 Fleischman noted that remark in particular appears to butt up against a Georgia prosecutorial ethics rule that forbids prosecutors from "making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused." "Saying that the 'train is coming' and implying that the defendants will now get less favorable plea deals because of a motion that was filed seems like it is meant to heighten condemnation of the accused," he said. Even then, Fleischman and Cunningham agreed that Willis' Saturday comments aren't likely to "have any effect" on the future of the case. The statements do, however, increase the likelihood of the court granting a gag order on the district attorney if one is requested, Fleischman added. "On the other hand, the defense may prefer that she keep talking, and may ask to submit clips of her interviews as evidence at trial." Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Willis' office also still faces the potential legal hurdle posed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who oversees the criminal case, granting requests from Trump and his co-defendants last Wednesday to appeal his decision allowing Willis to remain on the case if Wade stepped down, according to CNN. The Georgia Court of Appeals has up to 45 days after the filing date to determine whether it will hear the case. The defendants have argued that the romantic relationship between Willis and Wade created a conflict of interest that should lead to both prosecutors' disqualification. The appellate court seems less likely to take up the appeal than McAfee was in granting the certificates of immediate review and is more likely to affirm the judge's ruling than reverse it to resolve the issue so it doesn't arise post-trial if it does decide to hear the case, Cunningham said. But he still believes that Willis should take a temporary leave of absence from the case and allow a chief deputy in her office to oversee it. There's "absolutely no doubt, in my mind that it's better for the case for her to take a temporary leave," Cunningham said, explaining that the district attorney doing so makes the probability of the appellate court accepting the appeal or potentially granting a stay on further proceedings to hear the appeal as was done in Trump's Washington, D.C. federal case "much less likely." "I do think that the credibility of the case has taken a terrible hit because of her conduct," he continued, arguing that the "odor of mendacity" that Judge McAfee wrote in his decision earlier this month remains over the prosecution "dissipates if she takes a leave." But, based on Willis' weekend remarks, it doesn't appear "at all" that she's thinking taking a temporary leave would better the case, Cunningham added. "I guess one should wonder whether she is thinking about what's best for the case, rather than what's best for her. But she, of course, would say she's thinking about what's best for the case." Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (R) and Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro hug after giving a joint press conference on February 17, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary (Attila KISBENEDEK) Jair Bolsonaro was "hosted" for two days last month at the Hungarian embassy in Brasilia, lawyers for the Brazilian ex-president said Monday, denying he had been seeking refuge from pressing legal probes. The far-right ex-leader's defense team released a statement in response to a report by the New York Times, which said Bolsonaro "hid" at the compound in February while under investigation. According to the US newspaper, which also released video footage it said showed him inside of the embassy, the right-wing leader stayed at the embassy from February 12 to 14, just days after police confiscated his passport and arrested two aides. Investigators on February 8 outlined their suspicions that Bolsonaro had fomented a "coup attempt" to prevent his 2022 election opponent and current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power, in revelations that sent shockwaves through Brazilian politics. Security camera images published by the Times show Bolsonaro entering the Hungarian embassy in Brazil the evening of February 12 and leaving the afternoon of the 14th. Bolsonaro "was hosted for two days at the Hungarian embassy in Brazil to spend time with authorities from this friendly country," his lawyers said. "It is publicly known that the ex-president has a good relationship with the Hungarian Prime Minister" Viktor Orban, they added. Days before the mid-February embassy visit, Orban, also a far-right leader, called Bolsonaro an "honest patriot" on social media and urged him to "Keep on fighting, Mr. President!" in a post showing a picture of the two men shaking hands. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the head of Brazil's Superior Electoral Tribunal who has handled several criminal and civil cases against Bolsonaro, meanwhile has given the former president "a period of 48 hours" to explain his stay at the Hungarian embassy, court sources told AFP. - 'Fake news' - Hungarian Ambassador Milkos Hamlai on Monday evening spent 20 minutes at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, a government source said, after being summoned in order to "to give explanations on the hosting of the ex-president." Bolsonaro's political opponents have quickly seized on the report. The head of Lula's Workers' Party, Fleisi Hoffmann, claimed on X that the embassy visit showed Bolsonaro was trying "to flee... out of fear of being tried for his crimes." "During the days in which he was housed at the Magyar embassy, via invitation, the Brazilian ex-president spoke with multiple authorities... on the subject of the political context of the two countries," Bolsonaro's lawyers added, using the term for Hungary's majority ethnic group. "Any other interpretation... is fiction," they said, denouncing "fake news." Bolsonaro himself pushed back against allegations of any untoward circumstances related to his stay at the embassy. "I have good international relations and I still maintain relationships today with heads of state," he said Monday night at a Liberal Party event. "They often call me to ask for information about what is happening in our country." Bolsonaro, 69, is the subject of several ongoing probes and legal proceedings. He has already been barred from public office for eight years for baselessly trashing Brazil's voting system ahead of the 2022 elections he lost. Last week, federal police recommended he be charged for falsifying his Covid-19 vaccination records. lg/tmo/caw/bfm/caw Fourteen faculty at Saint Martins University, all of whom are believed to teach in the humanities, have received letters saying that the university does not guarantee them a teaching position after the 2024-2025 school year, according to three people close to the situation. David Price, who has taught at the Lacey college for 30 years, spoke to The Olympian on Thursday. Price teaches sociology and anthropology and is one of the faculty who received a letter. I cant speak for everyone, but it feels like a huge betrayal of trust, he said. To have done this without telling us is horrible and disgraceful. University officials at the small Benedictine university have spelled out Saint Martins situation in a series of frequently asked questions on the schools website. They say the school is dealing with a financial crisis caused by lower enrollment, and is facing a budget deficit that is projected to be $4.3 million for the next fiscal year July 2024 through June 2025. In keeping with the dictates of a faculty handbook, annual appointment letters were sent to faculty on March 15. But because of the financial situation which could drive academic program changes, terminal appointment letters also were sent the same day, according to an email from interim co-presidents Roy Heynderickx and Father Kilian Malvey to staff that was shared with The Olympian. The email says that in the case of academic program changes or restructuring, whether through renaming or combining with another program, the (faculty) handbook requires a year-long process, which is why the terminal appointment letters were sent immediately. University officials have declined to say how many faculty received the letters and said it was too soon to say which programs might be affected. However, information shared with The Olympian and confirmed by multiple sources identified the potentially impacted programs: English, history, political science, world languages, communication studies, anthropology, and womens, gender, and ethnic studies. Education and religious studies also were affected. Price says the administration did not follow the faculty handbook. The faculty affairs committee has elaborated on that point in an email to faculty, staff and Abbey members. It, too, was shared with The Olympian. For a financial crisis to exist, it must be demonstrably bona fide within a program, department, college, or school. The FHB (faculty handbook) outlines the process for determining the viability of a program, department, college, or school. Each of these processes requires faculty involvement and review; a clear rationale for the action; as well as budgeting, marketing, and other considerations, the email reads. It goes on to say that over the past year the administration failed to engage faculty in any form of program, department, college, or school review that would satisfy the provisions set forth by the Board of Trustees in the FHB. Price said that for as long as he has taught at Saint Martins the school has struggled financially, but the university community has found a way forward. Recent acts by the administration have had the opposite effect, he said. This is not community, he said. This is very destructive to community. He also accused the administration of not being transparent with the schools budget, particularly as it relates to administration costs. He noted that the faculty who received the letters also happen to be active in faculty governance and are not afraid to speak up. I do not think thats a coincidence, Price said, adding that some of those faculty were instrumental in halting a proposal to rollback raises last fall. University officials have acknowledged as much in the frequently asked questions. When faculty were asked to weigh in on budget-saving measures, they stated keeping the faculty salaries raised to the agreed-upon market rate was the priority. The administration has honored that wish. Price said he plans to appeal the terminal appointment letters to the faculty affairs committee, and he expects others to do so too. I care a lot about this place, he said, adding that we are way underpaid, but we stay here. We get to teach a lot of first-generation students and thats what keeps me here, he said. A student speaks Scout England, who spent two years at Saint Martins after transferring from South Puget Sound Community College, is set to graduate in May with a degree in literary studies. Over her two years at the university, she took a variety of literature and writing courses. She believes that about 10 professors she had in those two years have received terminal appointment letters. She called the situation really upsetting, recalling that before she came to the private school, she talked with English majors who described the schools programs and professors in glowing terms. And now it looks like its going to be gutted, she said. More than 150 students have turned to an online platform called Jotform to protest what is happening to the faculty, she said. England said she is not directly affected by what is happening because she is set to graduate, but she worries about students who have a year or more to go. And she takes issue with the university repeatedly saying they are going to protect the student experience. How are they protecting the student experience if some programs are potentially going away? she says. Thats very contradictory, she said. England also took issue with a post on the Saint Martins Nursing Program Facebook page, touting its program over others at the school. You may have seen media regarding Saint Martins faculty receiving terminal contracts. NO NURSING FACULTY ARE AFFECTED. It is a small number of faculty in under-enrolled programs who are affected. The Nursing program is thriving and strong, the post reads. Saint Martins alerts faculty to possible job and program cuts as it faces financial crisis Facing a $6.2 million budget shortfall, Saint Martins rolls back raises. Faculty arent happy PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A Washington State Patrol trooper who was killed in the line of duty was honored Sunday with a 6-mile section of State Route 6 named in his honor. Trooper Justin Schaffer was killed March 24, 2020 when he was hit by a pickup trying to flee authorities on Interstate 5 in Chehalis. Schaffer was trying to set out spike strips to stop the vehicle when it struck him on southbound I-5 at milepost 79. Schaffer was airlifted to a trauma hospital in Seattle where he died of his injuries. He was 28. A 6-mile section of State Route 6 near Chehalis was named for WSP Trooper Justin Schaffer, March 24, 2024 (WSP) A 6-mile section of State Route 6 near Chehalis was named for WSP Trooper Justin Schaffer, March 24, 2024 (WSP) A 6-mile section of State Route 6 near Chehalis was named for WSP Trooper Justin Schaffer. The ceremony was held at Adna High School, where students made signs March 24, 2024 (WSP) The ceremony was held at Adna High School, where Schaffer went to school. WSP Chief John Batiste and others from the department attended the ceremony. His mother Sheila and brother Brandon unveiled the sign at Milepost 51. The 6-mile section of road named for him is to honor each of the 6 years he served, officials said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Olin Pete Coones spent 12 years in prison for a murder he did not commit in Kansas City, Kansas. His conviction was, in large part, the result of testimony from a jailhouse witness with a history of dishonesty who told prosecutors Coones confessed to the crime. But that story was inconsistent with other evidence and in 2020 Coones was exonerated. He died 108 days after his release. But before his death Coones called on the Kansas Legislature to reform the law and create a system to track the use of jailhouse informants. Three years later those efforts, taken up by Coones children on his behalf, have stalled. Twice the Kansas House of Representatives has unanimously approved reforms in a bill named for Coones. But leaders in the state Senate are refusing to bring the bill for a vote, citing opposition by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and Kansas local prosecutors. An effort to force a vote despite their objections, narrowly failed Monday. I spoke with the Attorney General. The Attorney General does not support this bill and neither do the prosecutors, Senate Majority Leader Larry Alley, a Winfield Republican, told his colleagues Monday. Alley, who controls what bills are debated on the Senate floor, was urging his colleagues to oppose a bipartisan effort to force a vote on the bill despite his opposition. This is being open Kansas criminal justice reform advocates alongside Coones family are urging the Senate to vote on the bill before the end of the legislative session next week. In our fathers last days alive he was writing for this reform. He did not live to see it and we cannot let another year pass without this change, Coones children said in a statement read aloud at the Kansas Statehouse Monday by Bay Scoggin, state policy advocate for the Midwest Innocence Project. Sen. Rob Olson, an Olathe Republican, tried to force a vote Monday with a procedural move. I think this is just being transparent. This is being open, Olson said. Although a majority of senators voted alongside Olson the motion still failed, falling four votes short of the two-thirds supermajority it needed. Alley, alongside Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn, a McPherson Republican and Sen. Kellie Warren, a Leawood Republican, had urged Republicans to reject the effort over concerns from Kobach and other prosecutors. Kobach did not weigh in on the bill during hearings last year, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. But Kansas County and District Attorneys Association had testified to lawmakers that the policy was unnecessary and would create confusion in courts. The bill would require prosecutors to report to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation when they use jailhouse informants and when deals are struck with those informants. The KBI would then create a repository to track this information, helping prosecutors and defense attorneys know if a particular inmate offered testimony in several cases. In written testimony Marc Bennett, the Sedgwick County District Attorney, said the repository would have a tremendously stifling effect on any witness feeling safe to come forward. Despite Mondays failed motion, advocates for the policy said they believed there was still a pathway for a vote before lawmakers leave Topeka. The only good news is we still have several days to this portion of (the) session, Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican, said. We will continue to work. Because what we want to do is we want to be the state that is transparent about its process, and we dont want to have any more wrongfully convicted individuals. If lawmakers do not approve the bill this year, advocates must start over with a new bill in 2025. The denied vote represented continued denied justice to Coones and his family, argued Trisha Rojoh Busnell, executive and legal director for the Midwest Innocence Project. This is a bill that allows a process so we know the process is fair and we can trust the outcome. But what has happened is we arent getting a fair process here, Bushnell said. Dang Duy Kien, chief officer of the True Confidence attacked by Houthi forces off the coast of Yemen on March 6. Photo courtesy of Kien's family The body of Dang Duy Kien, one of the three sailors killed in a missile attack on True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged cargo ship, by Houthi forces off the coast of Yemen on March 6, were brought back to Vietnam on Sunday. There were 20 crew members, consisting of 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, and one Indian, on board the True Confidence when the Houthi forces fired a missile at the ship. The strike also resulted in the deaths of two Filipinos. The three Vietnamese sailors surviving the attack returned home on March 14. Since the incident occurred, the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt has kept a close watch on the situation, directly communicated with and given encouragement to the sailors. It also dispatched consular personnel to Djibouti to visit and support the sailors, while coordinating with relevant authorities there and the parties concerned to complete procedures for the repatriation of the deceaseds remains. A South Carolina family has reached a settlement after fighting to save their ancestral land from a developer who tried to take down the home to make way for a subdivision. The property at the center of the dispute belongs to Josephine Wright, a Gullah-Geechee woman who recently died at age 94 after fighting valiantly to save her home at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The home, which was originally bought by a freed slave after the Civil War and passed down for generations, is located in a quite area at Hilton Head Island, surrounded by huge trees, South Carolina Public Radio reported. In 2023, however, Wright faced a lawsuit from a developer who said the 94-year-old is disrupting their plans for the land. Wright then hired a civil rights attorney to help her fight for her home. As her story spread around the country, Wright also received support from celebrities such as Snoop Dog, Kyrie Irving and Tyler Perry, The Guardian reported. The massive effort from Wright and her supporters has now paid off. According to spokesperson Altimese Nichole, developer Bailey Point Investment, LLC has been ordered to stop contacting the family about taking the land. The settlement also mandates the developer to the fix the roof on the house and to build a privacy fence between the home and the new construction area. Additionally, the developer is ordered to provide landscape for the familys land. The family is grateful to have settled, Nichole said in a statement, per South Carolina Public Radio. Theyre focused on keeping the legacy of Mrs. Josephine Wright alive. In an effort to help other homeowners who may also need to preserve their land, Wrights family has now launched the Josephine Wright Foundation. The family is also getting additional support from Tyler Perry, who has promised to build them a new home. Wright and her late husband Samuel Wright Jr. left New York City about 30 years ago and moved to Jonesville, a quiet neighborhood at Hilton Island named after Caesar Jones, a civil war veteran who brought property in the area. Developer Bailey Point received town approval in 2022 and attempted to build a neighborhood with 147 housing units, surrounding Wrights property. The longtime Hilton Island resident stood firm to protect her house, even refusing to sell her home when the developer gave her an offer. Wright said the developer tried to bully her and tried to make deals with her family without her knowledge. Wrights resilience has now paid off. Her legacy now be carried by her four children and 40 grandchildren, as well as great grandchildren. An El Dorado County family has identified the two men attacked by a mountain lion in Northern California over the weekend, one of whom died from his injuries in the states first fatal mountain lion attack in two decades. In a statement forwarded through the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office, the Brooks family of Mount Aukum identified the men as Taylen Brooks, 21, and Wyatt Brooks, 18. Taylen Brooks died after the mountain lion mounted his attack Saturday afternoon along a rural road southeast of Georgetown. His brother, Wyatt, is still recovering from traumatic injuries he suffered in the attack, the Sheriffs Office and family said in the release. The Brooks family in a written statement said Taylen Robert Claude Brooks worked with his father, painting houses and cutting firewood. The family said the older brother loved being outdoors. He truly enjoyed fishing and was an extremely talented guitar player, family said in the statement. He was a very kind and gentle soul and will be deeply missed by all who knew him. The younger brother Wyatt an avid baseball player and an ardent bow-hunting enthusiast has been training to become a firefighter since September at the Mt. Adams Fire Academy. His family said the young man aspires to work with Cal Fire, Californias wildland firefighting agency. The family said the brothers had gone out Saturday in search of deer antler sheds a pastime they did together frequently in the spring before the grass grew too tall to see the shed antlers. That day was also the start of junior turkey hunting season, so the brothers chose not take any firearms with them to avoid attention from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Taylen Brooks, the 21-year-old who died in a mountain lion attack in El Dorado County on Saturday, March 23, 2024, is seen in an undated photo provided by the family. The Mount Aukum family described Taylen Robert Claude Brooks as a loving son and brother who worked with his father painting houses and cutting firewood. He was an avid outdoorsman with his brother, Wyatt, and was an extremely talented guitar player. The attack was roughly 5 miles southeast of Georgetown off of Darling Ridge Road above the Kelsey area, 70 miles northeast of downtown Sacramento. The rolling but heavily forested landscape is ringed by large private properties on the western fringes of Eldorado National Forest. The brothers were walking along Skid Road where they encountered the mountain lion. The brothers tried to scare off the mountain lion, but the lion immediately charged at Wyatt, biting down on his face and taking Wyatt to the ground. Taylen yelled and beat on the 90-pound cougar as his younger brother was able to wrestle the lion to the ground with him on top of the lion. At one point, the mountain lion released Wyatt and charged at Taylen and took him to the ground. Wyatt with severe lacerations to his face beat on and grabbed the big cat. After some time trying to get the mountain lion to release his older brother, Wyatt went to get help. Deputies located the two brothers after the attack, and authorities pronounced Taylen Brooks dead at the scene. Law enforcement fired their weapons to scare off the cougar, which was found by game wardens and trappers and euthanized later that evening near the scene of the attack. This embedded content is not available in your region. These two young men being as close as any two brothers could be, lived a full energetic life enjoying the outdoors, the family said in the statement. A brother is a friend given by nature. These two brothers were driven by nature. The family statement also described the brothers, residents of the unincorporated Mount Aukum community in south El Dorado County, as avid hunters and anglers. Mountain lion attacks in California very uncommon Deadly mountain lion attacks are exceptionally rare. The mountain lion responsible for this attack which was euthanized this weekend after state trappers found it treed weighed roughly 90 pounds. It was male, officials said. Adult male mountain lions usually weigh between 130 and 150 pounds. Adult females weigh between 65 and 90, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Mountain lions tend to hunt alone at night and are typically scared of humans. State wildlife officials list of verified mountain lion attacks on humans shows the last fatal attack in California happened January 2004 in Orange County. Mountain lions have large ranges of up to 10 miles by 10 miles, and Saturdays attack may have been from an animal that was still young and looking for its own territory, said Josh Rosenau, director of Policy and Advocacy for the non-profit Mountain Lion Foundation. Some 46% of Californias topography is considered a suitable habitat for mountain lions, according to the Mountain Lion Foundation. The only non-habitable locations for the cat in the state are in the Central Valley and in most of Californias southeastern deserts. The rural area of El Dorado County where the men were attacked is accessible by narrow roads, some of which are unpaved, cutting through the forest. No hunting and No trespassing signs were posted throughout the area off Skid Road, which is dotted with homes and ranches situated off the roadways behind metal gates. The large cats are typically more interested in avoiding human contact and typically seek deer as prey. Throughout the area, herds of deer and flocks of turkeys can be seen, as well as cattle and horses grazing at various ranch properties. On Saturday afternoon, more than a dozen deer could be seen grazing along Highway 193, a few miles from the site of the attack. Including Saturdays attack, there have been 22 documented mountain lion attacks involving 24 people in California since 1986, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Still in mourning, family says outcome could have been even worse The last fatal attack in Northern California was nearly 30 years ago, in April 1994, when a 40-year-old woman was killed in the Auburn State Recreation Area in El Dorado County. When something like this happens, its obviously scary, but its still worth bearing in mind how rare this is and how much mountain lions try to avoid people when they can, Rosenau said. He said there are roughly 4,500 mountain lions in the state. We would like to express our sincere thanks for the outpouring of support and prayers from family, friends and the community, the family said in the statement. We are all devastated by the tragic loss of Taylen yet thankful Wyatt is still with us, and are well aware the outcome could have been even worse. The family also created a fundraiser through the El Dorado Community Foundation to raise money for Taylens funeral expenses and Wyatts recovery. Donations are tax deductible. Information can be found at bit.ly/BrooksBrothersSupportFund. The Bees Jacqueline Pinedo and Sam Stanton contributed to this story. PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) A nationally famous, Seattle-based bakery is spreading its Eastern European treats throughout the U.S. with a pop-up tour that ends in Portland. Piroshky Piroshky, which serves the Russian pastry of the same name, has been operating out of its flagship location in the Pike Place Market since 1992. The bakery has since expanded to five total locations, but people dont need to travel to Seattle for a taste of the turnover sandwiches. Life expectancy longer in Oregon than national average The bakerys pop-up tour will allow customers in other cities to pre-order frozen pastries that will come with detailed reheating instructions to ensure you have the best of our kitchen from your very own. The tour began in Oak Harbor, Wash., on March 2. After stopping at other cities including St. Louis, Chicago and Houston, the tour will close with an Oregon run. Piroshky Piroshky will serve customers in Bend, Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Portland from Monday, March 25 through Saturday, March 30. Three new wolverine sightings confirmed on the Oregon Coast The bakery asks interested customers to pre-order pastries on its website, with online orders closing two days before each pick-up event. Menu items include the best-selling beef and cheese piroshky, limited-edition cherry white chocolate piroshky and cheddar garlic rolls. Portlands pick-up event will be held at Great Notion Brewing in the Pearl District. Because of Piroshky Piroshkys growing popularity, local customers are encouraged to place their orders before items sell out. Through the years, our bakery has received recognition far and wide, graced by the spotlight on Anthony Bourdains No Reservations and the Zimmern List on the Travel Channel, Piroshky Piroshky spokesperson JD Toves said. Why you might have missed Mondays lunar eclipse over Oregon, it wasnt because of clouds By recognizing the immigrant journey embedded in our creations, Smithsonian Magazine honored us as one of The 20 Most Iconic Food Destinations Across America. Each accolade is a testament to the flavors woven into our storys fabric, Toves added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told reporters this week she is the only DA in the country with enough "courage" to prosecute former President Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference case. During an Easter event in College Park Saturday for families in need, Willis, 52, spoke to the media for the first time since a judge ruled she could remain on the case. "Theres one district attorney in the state and really around the country that has had the courage to do this, and she continues to do it," Willis told FOX 5 Atlanta. "The case landed in Fulton County, not by anything that I did, but by the actions of others, and when a case lands in my jurisdiction, Im going to prosecute it, and thats the end of that." Fulton County DA Fani Willis speaking to the media during an Easter event on Saturday. Defense attorneys have accused Willis of mishandling the case, alleging that she hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade to profit from the Trump prosecution through their romantic relationship. Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee has said there wasn't sufficient evidence to prove those claims but rebuked Willis for what he called a "tremendous lapse in judgment." Judge McAfee has allowed attorneys for Trump's codefendants to appeal his ruling that she could stay on the case after the withdrawal of special prosecutor Wade. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP INFLUENTIAL POLLSTER SAYS NY AG SEIZING TRUMP'S PROPERTY WOULD ELECT HIM In remarks to Atlanta News First, Willis implored the media to focus on "the charges, the facts, and the law and leave all the drama behind." "Im 52 years old. It really aint that interesting if Im in a relationship or not. If just aint. Its not cool to anybody, and it aint that sensational of a story," Willis said. Willis also told CNN that the prosecution against Trump hasnt been delayed by proceedings over her romantic relationship. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta. "I don't feel like we have been slowed down at all," Willis said. "I think there are efforts to slow down the train, but the train is coming." She also said she didn't believe her reputation needed to be reclaimed and that she hadn't done anything embarrassing. "I'm not embarrassed by anything I've done," Willis said. "I guess my greatest crime is that I had a relationship with a man, but that's not something I find embarrassing in any way." ABC HOST CAN'T BELIEVE RUBIO WOULD SERVE AS TRUMP'S VP IF ASKED: REALLY?' On Twitter, Trump attorney Steve Sadow accused Willis of ignoring Judge McAffees warning "in his disqualification order about talking about the case in a public forum." "Does this surprise anyone?" Sadow tweeted. In a follow-up tweet, Sadow wrote: "Does political ambition, opportunism, and pretentiousness equal courage? NO!" Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University law professor who's been following the case, criticized her comments in a post on X. "If I were Fani Willis, I would simply not talk to the media at all at this point just out of an abundance of caution," Kreis said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DAs office for comment. Trump faces four felony indictments including separate federal and state cases for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that he lost to President Joe Biden but has fought to delay and dismiss the cases, arguing that political opponents are wrongly targeting him. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is presiding over the criminal trial of Trump's alleged hush-money payments to an adult film star. New York Attorney General Letitia James brought a case against Trump in October, alleging that he inflated his assets and committed fraud. And Special Counsel Jack Smith charged last summer that Trump plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Original article source: Fani Willis says shes the only DA in US with enough courage to prosecute Trump FBI offers reward up to $15K for info on suspect in botched Mount Vernon robbery MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (PIX11) The FBI has offered a reward for information on the location of a man they believe is connected to a double homicide at an alleged Mount Vernon drug den, according to officials. The FBI announced a reward of up to $15,000 for information on the whereabouts of Marco Tulio Fernandez-Rodriguez. More Crime News A group of people tried to rob a warehouse that was selling unlicensed marijuana and nicotine products on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York. The robbers approached the warehouse, guns drawn, as the workers assisted customers, authorities said. Soon after, a shootout broke out between the warehouse workers and the robbers, resulting in the deaths of a worker and a robber, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York. Five of the accused robbers have been arrested. Ilario Contreras, 23, Jerpi Diaz-Feliz, 25, Jhoan Diaz-Feliz, 23, Victor Jimenez, 35, and Joseph Perez, 26, have been charged with murder in connection with the incident, authorities said. Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. This story comprises reporting from PIX11s Finn Hoogensen. Jonathan Rizk is a digital journalist who has covered local news in the New York City and Washington D.C. areas. He has been with PIX11 since August 2022. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. FDA proposes ban on electrical stimulation devices at Canton center for people with disabilities In a step rarely taken by the agency, the Federal Drug Administration is proposing a ban on electrical stimulation devices used for self-injurious or aggressive behavior, which are used at a Canton center for people with disabilities. The devices, known as EDSs, are intended to reduce or stop self-injurious or aggressive behavior, the FDA said in a statement on Monday. They are only used at the Judge Rotenberg Education Center in Canton, a day and residential school for people with severe autism and other developmental disabilities. The FDA estimates around 50 people at the Canton home currently have a treatment plan that includes the use, or potential use, of an ESD. The agency has determined that these devices present an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury, the FDA said in its statement, noting that this is the second time the FDA has proposed a ban of these particular devices. ESDs deliver electrical shocks through electrodes attached to an individuals skin to attempt to reduce or stop harmful behaviors. This proposed rule proposes to ban ESDs intended for self-injurious and aggressive behaviors, the FDA said. Notably, some people who exhibit self-injurious or aggressive behavior have intellectual or developmental disabilities that make it difficult for them to communicate or make their own treatment decisions. The devices have a number of psychological risks, including depression, anxiety, worsening of underlying symptoms, development of post-traumatic stress disorder, and physical risks such as pain, burns, and tissue damage, the FDA said. In a statement, the Judge Rotenberg Education Center called ESD treatments life-saving. The Judge Rotenberg Educational Center (JRC) will continue to advocate for and, if necessary, litigate to preserve the court-approved, life-saving ESD treatment, the center said in its statement. FDA has once again made a decision to move forward with a ban of this treatment based on politics, not facts The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a similar 2020 FDA rule banning the use of our treatment and we are confident that we will once again prevail on behalf of our clients and their families. JRC has provided countless hours of testimony, volumes of information and made clinicians, other staff and family members of our clients, or clients themselves, available to the FDA over the past 13 years, the center said in its statement. The FDA previously attempted to ban ESDs without giving a fair hearing to JRC or the parents. Fortunately, JRC successfully appealed the ban to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where the Court found that the FDA was illegally engaging in the practice of medicine. Judge Rotenberg Educ. Ctr., Inc. v. United States Food & Drug Admin., 3 F.4th 390, 393 (D.C. Cir. 2021). In moving toward a ban, the FDA is citing risk of injury and PTSD, however, after 44 days of testimony, a 2018 Massachusetts court decision found that: there was no evidence as to any psychological side effects experienced by JRC students receiving electric skin shock aversive treatment, the center said in its statement. The Court also found that the GED devices effectively treat the severe problem behaviors of JRC clients, and that there is no evidence of physical or psychological side effects from ESD treatment when used according to JRCs policies and protocols. In 2023, The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the trial courts findings that the ESD treatment is safe and for some patients the only effective treatment for their life-threatening self-abuse and aggression, the center said. JRC has exceeded all reporting requirements, and the school opted many years ago to install a 24 hour per day video monitoring system - offering unprecedented oversight of the students and staff. 25 Investigates: DCF placing kids at controversial Judge Rotenberg Center Meanwhile, in a statement, the Autism Self Advocacy Network praised the FDAs proposed ban of the devices. Were excited to see the FDA release their proposed ban on the use of electric shock devices for behavior modification, the statement said. Tomorrow begins a 60-day public comment period when Americans can weigh in on the rule, and we hope that people who care about disability rights will submit public comments in support of the proposed ban. ASAN will have lots of information about how to do that available on our website and social media in the coming days and weeks. The proposed FDA ban, if finalized, will remove ESDs from the market, and the devices will no longer be considered legally marketed. Those exposed to these devices may need time to gradually transition away from this device and adjust treatment plans, the FDA said. The FDA intends to consider the needs of these patients should we finalize the proposed ban. The FDAs first ban of these devices in 2020 was challenged in court and vacated based on the courts interpretation of the FDAs authorities under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Since that decision, changes to the FD&C Act make clear that the FDA has authority to issue a ban such as the previous ban on ESDs for self-injurious or aggressive behavior, which applies to specific intended uses. The proposed rule does not apply to aversive conditioning devices intended to be used for other purposes, such as those used to stop smoking, which are outside the scope of this rule, or other FDA-cleared or approved devices or technologies. Evidence considered by the FDA in proposing the ban included clinical and scientific data, input from experts in the field and state agencies, comments received from the previous proposed rule to ban ESDs, input from patients and parents of individuals who have been treated with ESDs, and disability rights groups, as well as insights from FDA advisory panels, officials said. Importantly, the new information supported and did not alter the FDAs previous determinations regarding the risks and benefits associated with these devices when used for self-injurious or aggressive behavior, or the agencys conclusion that these devices present unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury to the public, the FDA said. The Proposal to Ban Electrical Stimulation Devices for Self-Injurious or Aggressive Behavior will be open for comment until May 28. The FDA will then review and consider comments before determining whether to issue a final rule. 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 gun rights advocate with an "I VOTED" sticker on his holster gathers with others for an annual rally on the steps of the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, May 6, 2019. (Photo by Matt Rourke/The Associated Press) A gun rights advocate with an "I VOTED" sticker on his holster gathers with others for an annual rally on the steps of the state Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, May 6, 2019. (Photo by Matt Rourke/The Associated Press) Facing increased threats to election workers and superheated political rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and his supporters, more states are considering firearm bans at polling places and ballot drop boxes ahead of Novembers presidential election. This month, New Mexico became the latest state to restrict guns where people vote or hand in ballots, joining at least 21 other states with similar laws some banning either open or concealed carry but most banning both. Nine of those prohibitions were enacted in the past two years, as states have sought to prevent voter intimidation or even violence at the polls driven by Trumps false claims of election rigging. At least six states are debating bills that would ban firearms at polling places or expand existing bans to include more locations. The New Mexico measure, which was supported entirely by Democrats, applies to within 100 feet of polling places and 50 feet of ballot drop boxes. People who violate the law are subject to a petty misdemeanor charge that could result in six months in jail. Our national climate is increasingly polarized, said Democratic state Rep. Reena Szczepanski, one of the bills sponsors. Anything we can do to turn the temperature down and allow for the safe operation of our very basic democratic right, voting, is critical. She told Stateline that she and her co-sponsors were inspired to introduce the legislation after concerned Santa Fe poll workers, who faced harassment by people openly carrying firearms during the 2020 presidential election, reached out to them. Our national climate is increasingly polarized. Anything we can do to turn the temperature down and allow for the safe operation of our very basic democratic right, voting, is critical. New Mexico Democratic state Rep. Reena Szczepanski The bill carved out an exception for people with concealed carry permits and members of law enforcement. Still, every Republican in the New Mexico legislature opposed the measure; many said they worried that gun owners might get charged with a crime for accidentally bringing their firearm to the polling place. We have a lot of real crime problems in this state, said House Minority Floor Leader Ryan Lane, a Republican, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month. Its puzzling to me why were making this a priority. But over the past several years, national voting rights and gun violence prevention advocates have been sounding the alarm over increased threats around elections, pointing to ballooning disinformation, looser gun laws, record firearm sales and vigilantism at polling locations and ballot tabulation centers. National surveys show that election officials have left the field in droves because of the threats theyre facing, and many who remain in their posts are concerned for their safety. Add in aggressive rhetoric from Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and it becomes a storm that makes it essential for states to pass laws that prohibit guns at polling places, said Robyn Sanders, a Democracy Program counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice, a voting rights group based at the New York University School of Law. Our democracy has come under new and unnerving pressure based on the emergence of the election denial movement, disinformation and false narratives about the integrity of our elections, said Sanders, who co-authored a September report on how to protect elections from gun violence. The report was a partnership between the Brennan Center and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The presence of guns in these places presents a risk of violence, she added. Increased threat environment Over the past four years, threats have gone beyond voicemails, emails or social media posts. Armed vigilantes have harassed voters at ballot drop boxes and shown up outside vote tabulation centers. Other people reportedly have shot at local election officials. While several states have enacted laws in recent years criminalizing threats to election officials, some states want to take it a step further through gun restrictions. This year, primarily Democratic lawmakers in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan Pennsylvania, Vermont and Virginia have introduced legislation that would ban most firearms in or near polling places or other election-related places. Most of these bills remain in committee. Some of the states have seen political violence in recent years, including Pennsylvania, where a man tried to go into a Harrisburg polling place in November with a firearm and acted threateningly, confronting voters and pointing an unloaded gun at an unoccupied police cruiser. A bill in Virginia to ban firearms at polling places got through the state legislature on a party-line vote this month, but Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has not yet acted on the legislation. His press office did not respond to a request for more information. Two Democratic-backed bills in Michigan seek to ban most firearms at or within 100 feet of polling places, and ballot drop boxes and clerks offices during the 40 days before an election. They have passed the state Senate but await votes in the House. Democratic state Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou, the sponsor of one of those bills, told Stateline she expects the legislation to pass in April, after special elections fill two vacant seats. We want to make sure that were able to attract the needed election workers, and that they feel safe doing those jobs, she said. Sadly, were seeing more and more gun violence throughout our state and our nation. And I strongly believe that everyone should feel safe when theyre voting. But these bills are good for headlines and nothing else, said GOP state Sen. Jim Runestad in a statement on the Senate Republicans website. When one considers the sheer number of drop boxes placed throughout larger communities, like in the city of Detroit, these places could be nearly impossible to avoid, he wrote, referring to gun owners. One of his proposed amendments that failed would have exempted gun owners carrying guns for non-election-related business, such as going into a store near a ballot drop box. In 2020, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson attempted to ban firearms within 100 feet of polling places, clerks offices and absentee ballot counting centers. But Michigan courts blocked her effort, finding she didnt have the authority. Michigan was one of many states where election officials faced violent threats during the 2020 presidential election. Last month, a man pleaded guilty to federal charges for threatening the life of former Rochester Hills Clerk Tina Barton, saying she deserved a throat to the knife. There is broad bipartisan support among voters to ban firearms at polling places. According to a 2022 poll of more than 1,000 adults commissioned by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, nearly 80% of Democrats and more than half of Republicans and independents polled thought guns should be banned at polling places. Overall, 63% of adults surveyed supported a ban. But that cross-party support has not translated to state legislatures. Where are the bans? Democratic-controlled states have spearheaded the effort to ban firearms at polling places in recent years, with only a handful of Republican lawmakers joining Democrats to pass the bills in some states. In 2022, Colorado, New Jersey, New York and Washington state passed firearm restrictions at polling places. In 2023, California, Delaware, Hawaii and Maryland joined the list. Nevadas majority-Democratic legislature passed a similar ban last year, but Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoed it. He said the measure would have infringed on the constitutional rights of Nevadans. Marylands ban is facing a legal challenge from gun rights groups and activists who argue such bans infringe on Second Amendment protections and are ineffective. Its a solution looking for a problem, said Andi Turner, a spokesperson for the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association, which is part of the lawsuit challenging the law. We dont have people threatening at polling places or going and shooting up election workers. I dont see why this needs to be a thing. The states that had polling place firearm bans prior to the 2020 presidential election now have Republican-controlled legislatures: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas. Georgias ban dates back to 1870, and in 1874 the state Supreme Court wrote that having a firearm at a polling place is a thing so improper in itself, so shocking to all sense of propriety, so wholly useless and full of evil, that it would be strange if the framers of the constitution have used words broad enough to give it a constitutional guarantee. More Republican-led states should consider firearm prohibitions at polling places, said Jessie Ojeda, the guns and democracy attorney fellow at the Giffords Law Center, and one of the co-authors of the joint Brennan and Giffords report. Gun safety advocates such as Ojeda see an opening for these laws, even after the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 decision that widened the definition of protected firearm access. While the court struck down New Yorks law that prohibited firearms in public, it did leave open the potential for bans in sensitive places, specifically noting polling places. We need to take action before 2024, said Ojeda. We have a growing number of incidents when firearms are thankfully not being used to shoot people, but they are being used to intimidate and deter voters and election officials from doing their job. Stateline originally published this article. Like the Alaska Beacon, Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Fearing political violence, more states ban firearms at polling places appeared first on Alaska Beacon. A case brought by Elon Musk, the owner of X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, against a hate-speech watchdog group was dismissed by a federal court in San Francisco on Monday. In his case against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), Musk alleged that CCDH illegally scraped data from the platform while assembling reports about the spread of hate speech and misinformation online. Musk filed the lawsuit amid pressure from civil society groups over his decision to loosen Twitters content moderation rules. Judge Charles Breyer, in a 52-page decision dismissing the case, argued the lawsuit was based around punishing CCDH for their speech. Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiffs true purpose. Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech, Breyer wrote. Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of CCDH, said in a post on X, This ruling sends a strong message to those who aim at intimidating and silencing independent research. The X News account posted that the company disagrees with the courts decision and plans to appeal. CCDH filed to strike Xs claims under Californias law against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), or lawsuits that serve a purpose of silencing or punishing a defendant to speak out on matters of public interest. X Corp.s motivation in bringing this case is evident, Breyer wrote. X Corp. has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp.and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism, he added. The ruling also said that if the publications were defamatory it would be a different situation, but X Corp. has carefully avoided saying that they are. It is also just not true that the complaint is only about data collection, Breyer wrote. It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp. is far more concerned about CCDHs speech than it is its data collection methods, he added. The court also dismissed two other claims made by X, one that sought damages from alleged losses caused by CCDH and one about allegations from an unnamed senator that referred to CCDH as a foreign dark money group. The judge also said that X cannot seek damages for the independent acts of third parties based around CCDHs speech on constitutional grounds. On the allegations of being a foreign dark money group, the judge stated the allegations are vague and conclusory, and do not state a plausible claim against the Doe defendants. Updated at 4:58 p.m. EDT. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's social media platform X against a digital hate speech watchdog, saying the suit constituted an attempt to stifle its free speech rights. File Photo by Ismael Mohamad/ UPI March 25 (UPI) -- A federal judge in California on Monday dismissed a complaint filed by Elon Musk, owner of the X social media platform, against a nonprofit group dedicated to tracking hate speech on site. The tech billionaire filed a lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate in July, alleging it engaged in "a scare campaign to drive away advertisers from the X platform" after revealing the company had failed to act on 99% of hateful content on the site since Musk took control of the former Twitter in October 2022. But in a ruling issued in the Northern District of California, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer agreed with the CCDH and tossed out Musk's suit as a violation of the state's law banning "SLAPPs," or "strategic lawsuits against public participation," defined as meritless lawsuits arising from exercising the rights of petition and free speech. "Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiff's true purpose," Breyer wrote in his 52-page ruling. "Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech," he asserted. The nonprofit's reports were not in fact false or defamatory, the judge said, noting that X declined to bring a defamation suit against the group as it could have had the reports contained untrue information. X said in a post it "disagrees with the court's decision and plans to appeal." Musk's company has drawn controversy for filing suits against CCDH and Media Matters, another online watchdog dedicated to publicly tracking hate speech, misinformation and other harmful online content, which in November published a report alleging that Nazi posts had run on X next to ads from Apple, Disney, IBM, and other corporate giants. They responded by yanking their advertising dollars. In his ruling Monday, Breyer found that CCDH had met its burden in showing the suit was a meritless attempt to stifle its free speech rights under the anti-SLAPP statute and that X "has not established that there is a probability that it will prevail on those claims." If CCDH's publications were defamatory, "that would be one thing, but X Corp. has carefully avoided saying that they are," the judge found. The nonprofit "has won dismissal on all counts against [Musk's] outrageous and hypocritical SLAPP suit to silence our research," CCDH founder and CEO Imran Ahmed said in a statement. "This ruling sends a strong message to those who aim at intimidating and silencing independent research." The group said the suit was brought "in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp. -- and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism." Congress tripled the funds it will devote this year to cleaning up a cross-border sewage crisis, in a small sliver of the $1.2 trillion spending bill approved at the eleventh hour this weekend. The package, signed by President Biden on Saturday, includes a total of $156 million in the construction budget of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), a U.S.-Mexican entity that oversees shared water resources. Those funds will be critical to the upgrade of the derelict South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant a facility on the U.S. side of the border that treats some of Tijuanas waste through an international treaty. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) praised his states congressional delegation and local leaders for the inclusion of these funds in the package, when its terms were made public Thursday. The package announced today secures urgently needed federal funding over $100 million more than last year to help repair the federal South Bay plant and fix the sewage crisis that San Diego communities have dealt with for far too long, Newsom said in a statement. Residents of southern San Diego County have long been grappling with a transboundary pollution problem, the result of rapid urbanization and insufficient sewage treatment in the Tijuana metropolitan region of Mexico. Raw wastewater regularly ends up on Californias southernmost beaches via both ocean plumes and the Tijuana River Watershed, which passes through Baja California before reentering its U.S. counterpart. Public health researchers and officials recently identified a multifrontal public health crisis in the region as a mix of pathogens and chemicals make their way into the ground, soil and air. Local leaders expressed some optimism earlier this year when Mexico began overhauling an obsolete facility that releases millions of gallons of sewage daily into the Pacific Ocean. But progress has lagged on the U.S. side of the border, where necessary funding to upgrade the federally operated South Bay plant requires legislative approval. Congress in 2020 allocated $300 million toward renovating the site, but officials warned that the plant requires $150 million more to function properly. Biden then asked lawmakers this past fall to authorize an additional $310 million. While the $156.05 million included in the second fiscal 2024 spending package does not amount to that $310 million total, it still constitutes a $103 million addition to or triple the amount of the $53.03 million sum allocated last year. After years of steadfast advocacy from residents, servicemembers, and elected officials at every level, weve managed to get a real commitment from Washington to address this crisis, said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), a main champion of the funding, in a Thursday statement. While this is not a mission accomplished moment or the end of my work to ensure these hazardous pollutants no longer endanger San Diegans, this is enough money to keep us on track to break ground this year, Peters added. From there, he continued, efforts will focus on doubling the plants treatment capacity as officials work to secure the remaining funds to realize sewage-free beaches and pollutant-free air. Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), a partner in this effort, likewise stressed that residents have for too long been plagued by toxic pollution and environmental injustice. Describing the funding as a critical step, he, too, emphasized that their work is far from over. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) similarly described a situation in which toxic waste and raw sewage have flowed across the border, creating hazards for communities and jeopardizing the training exercises of military personnel off the coast. We need an urgent, all-hands-on-deck effort to combat this pollution crisis, Padilla said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Singapore Airlines to suspend flights to two Chinese cities for regulatory reasons Singapore Airlines planes sit on the tarmac at Changi Airport in Singapore, Nov. 16, 2021. Photo by Reuters Singapore Airlines will suspend flights to China's Chengdu and Chongqing from March 31 after failing to get approval from authorities there to continue flying to the two cities. The Straits Times quoted a spokesman for the carrier as saying the suspension is due to "regulatory reasons" without elaborating further. According to Singapores Chinese-language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, the airline has not received approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China to fly to the cities in summer and autumn 2024. The flights were similarly suspended in 2023 and only resumed in November. Singapore Airlines flies daily to Chengdu and thrice a week to Chongqing. Singapore is the latest country in Southeast Asia to waive visa requirements for Chinese, with a mutual waiver taking effect on Feb. 9. TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Tampas most dangerous roads are getting some love, thanks to a $20 million grant for pedestrian safety improvements. The City of Tampa announced Monday the federal government accepted its proposal to fund projects in the East Tampa, West Tampa and the University Area, known as the high-injury network. Homeowners in these Florida cities face the greatest threat from climate change Those areas make up less than a quarter of the citys roadways, but account for almost 75% of traffic deaths. Projects funded through the grant will focus on pedestrian safety improvements, like new sidewalks, mid-block crosswalks, pedestrian islands on medians and crossings with flashing lights. The city will also create bicycle lanes and narrow certain roads to make them safer for cyclists. The projects will help the city towards achieving its Vision Zero goal to eliminate pedestrian injuries and deaths. Saving lives and reducing the tragic impact of traffic deaths is our top priority. Were taking action by investing in cost-effective measures to make our roads safer and working closely with our community partners, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said in a statement. We wont rest until we see fewer people being hurt or losing their lives on our roads. The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the funding as part of its Safe Streets 4 All program, which set aside $5 billion over five years as part of the Biden administrations bipartisan infrastructure law. The agreement includes $5 million provided by the city of Tampa. We thank our federal partners for moving this process along so we can take action to save lives, Castor said. According to the City of Tampa, the streets being improved include: N Habana Ave., W Main St., N MacDill Ave., W Tampa Bay Blvd., E Twiggs St., E Scott St., N Ave Republica de Cuba, N 15th St., N 21st St., E Hanna Ave., E Lake Ave., and E Columbus Dr. Work is set to begin immediately after Castor and the Tampa City Council sign off on the deal. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Homes are visible under construction near wetlands in Oak Island, N.C., on Aug. 29, 2023. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year cut federal protections for millions of acres of wetlands, which has left some states racing to enact their own safeguards and others cutting their regulations.(Karl B. DeBlaker/Associated Press) For 200 miles, the Wabash River forms the border between Illinois and Indiana as it meanders south to the Ohio River. On the Illinois side, lawmakers are scrambling to pass a bill that would protect wetlands from development and pollution, in order to safeguard water quality and limit flooding. But in Indiana, state policymakers hastily passed a law earlier this year to roll back wetlands regulations, at the urging of developers and farm groups who said such rules were overly burdensome. That means the water that flows into the Wabash River from the west may soon be governed by very different standards than its watershed on the eastern side. The divide is the result of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that stripped federal protection from millions of acres of wetlands that had been covered under the Clean Water Act leaving their fate up to the states. It creates a checkered landscape in terms of water quality. Marla Stelk, executive director of the National Association of Wetland Managers It creates a checkered landscape in terms of water quality, said Marla Stelk, executive director of the National Association of Wetland Managers, a nonprofit group that represents state and tribal regulators. Even if your state is doing all the right things, you could be downstream of a state that doesnt have wetlands protections. In the first full legislative sessions since the ruling came down, lawmakers in some blue states, including Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington, have been drafting state protections or have increased state funding to replace the loss of federal oversight. Some red states, including Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina and Tennessee, have passed or considered measures to roll back safeguards that are no longer mandated by the feds. The lobbying from environmental groups on one side and developers and farm groups on the other has sent states moving in opposite directions during the 2024 legislative session. After Supreme Court decision on wetlands, some states create fallback plan The Supreme Court ruling in the Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency case last year stripped Clean Water Act protections from wetlands that do not share a surface connection with a larger body of water, leaving out many waters that connect through underground channels. The decision leaves more than half of the nations 118 million acres of wetlands without federal oversight. In 24 states, no state-level regulations cover those waters, according to the Environmental Law Institute, a nonprofit research group. Illinois did not have a fallback plan, said state Sen. Laura Ellman, a Democrat who is sponsoring the bill to protect wetlands under state law. Were cobbling one together right now. The intent is to restore what we had in place before. Democratic state Rep. Anna Moeller, the measures House sponsor, noted that Illinois has lost 90% of its wetlands since the early 1800s. Wetlands are important in improving water quality for drinking water because they filter contaminants, she said. Theyre good for preventing flooding because they act as a natural sponge. Theyre good for native species. Ellman and Moeller said bill supporters are working with state regulators to make some minor technical changes before it advances. Paul Botts, executive director of the Wetlands Initiative, a Chicago-based nonprofit, said environmental advocates and regulatory officials have concerns about funding for the program, which lawmakers hope will be largely covered by fees on permit applicants. Backers dont yet have a price tag for how much the permitting program would cost, and regulators in other states have found it difficult to cover their funding needs through fees alone. But the overall concept of Illinois stepping up where the feds have stepped back does seem to be resonating, Botts said. Theres plenty more sausage-making to come, because Illinois has not even had the bones of such a program. Were really starting from scratch here. Unlike Illinois, neighboring Indiana did have state wetlands rules prior to the Sackett decision. But lawmakers moved quickly this year to shift some wetlands into classifications that have fewer protections. You have a ditch thats backing up water and all of a sudden were calling this a wetland, said Republican state Sen. Rick Niemeyer, the bills sponsor. Our developers were having trouble with the definitions. Agriculture was getting hit with this. In Indiana, Illinois and many other states, local homebuilders groups have been among the leading voices to curtail wetlands regulation. Rick Wajda, CEO of the Indiana Builders Association, echoed Niemeyers assertion that the law will reduce protections only for low-quality wetlands. We look at any regulation to see if theres ways we can bring more houses to the market, he said. If we allow a property to be used to its fullest intent, then maybe we can get more houses into the market and start to soften the housing shortage. But many environmental advocates in Indiana say the new laws supporters are understating its effects. They argue that Republicans rushed the measure through the legislative process in just over a month to avoid public scrutiny. The more oxygen it got, the more Hoosiers would have spoken out against it, said Democratic state Sen. Shelli Yoder. If you look across Indiana and see the increases in flooding, the increases in drought, the presence of the worst kind of PFAS [chemicals], its hard to shrug off and say its just a mud puddle. Yoder said developers have told her that building on wetlands is an expensive task, even with no regulations in place, undermining claims that regulatory rollbacks will lead to affordable housing. Writing new rules to protect wetlands Like Illinois, several other Democratic-led states have passed or considered bills to create wetlands protections or increase funding to state regulatory agencies to compensate for the loss of federal support. In Colorado, state legislative leaders are expected to introduce a bill in the coming days that would establish state-level protections for the wetlands that lost coverage following the Sackett decision. Supporters say Colorado and other states with arid regions are especially vulnerable, because the Supreme Court ruling also cut protections for ephemeral streams that dont flow year-round. We really only have one shot to get this right, said Josh Kuhn, water campaign manager with Conservation Colorado, a Denver-based nonprofit. Once these wetlands are destroyed, theyre basically gone forever. If we dont have a strong program, we could see increased costs associated with water treatment, with the impacts of flooding, with the threat of wildfire. In New Mexico, state regulators already had been working to establish a permitting program that covers wetlands. State leaders say the court ruling increased the urgency to put state oversight in place. It got our Legislatures attention, hence the reason they were anxious to fund this, said John Rhoderick, director of the Water Protection Division within the state Environment Department. Its easier to prevent contamination or degradation of your water than it is to have to clean it up after it happens. In the budget passed by state lawmakers earlier this year, Rhodericks agency received $7 million to help establish the program. The funding will allow the agency to hire enforcement staff, improve its mapping of state waters and establish a permitting database. Agency officials expect to publish draft rules this fall, with regulations officially in place by 2027. Once fully established, the program will require 35 to 50 dedicated staffers. The department has been short-staffed for a number of years, said Doug Meiklejohn, water quality and land restoration advocate with Conservation Voters New Mexico. This is critical. Were pushing for development of a surface water permitting program, and thats going to involve hiring people with expertise to put together regulations and standards where theyre needed. Lawmakers in Washington state also provided a funding boost for agency regulators. The states Department of Ecology already has well-established wetlands standards, but its expecting an influx of permit applications for waters that were once covered by federal agencies. With an extra $2 million, agency leaders say theyll be able to add more staffers to ensure permits are processed on time. This will really help, said Lauren Driscoll, manager of the wetlands program with the Washington State Department of Ecology. Were focused on getting things in place so we dont have any delays. Some states step back Indianas move to cut wetlands standards followed North Carolinas rollback of state laws soon after the Sackett decision. We generally dont regulate more stringently than the federal government, Ray Starling, president of the NC Chamber Legal Institute, the legal strategy arm of the business advocacy group, told Stateline at the time. While Republican lawmakers overrode the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, the governor issued an executive order in February directing state agencies to conserve 1 million acres of natural lands, with an emphasis on wetlands. The order directed state leaders to avoid projects that would harm vulnerable wetlands, while also instructing state agencies to pursue more federal funding for wetlands restoration. Its unfortunate that the state legislature tried to lock in the damage done by Sackett, but there are still things that can be done in places where a governor is more interested in environmental protection than polluter profits, said Julian Gonzalez, senior legislative counsel for policy and legislation at Earthjustice, an environmental law group. Meanwhile, a bill in Tennessee to eliminate state wetlands standards did not advance out of committee, following strong pushback from state regulators and environmental groups. Backers of the bill said environmental officials have made it too costly to farm or develops lands that have wet areas. The proposal was sent to a legislative summer study session. The measure has real consequences that would negatively impact Tennessees natural heritage and our environmental resiliency, Grace Stranch, CEO of the Harpeth Conservancy, told the Tennessee Lookout. Missouri lawmakers are considering a bill that would narrow state protections. In an analysis of the bill, the states Department of Natural Resources said the measures fiscal impact was incalculable, as the lowered standards could threaten the aquifers that provide drinking water to 59% of Missouri residents. Agriculture groups have supported the bill, the Missouri Independent reported, saying current regulations apply to areas that would be better characterized as ditches. Stateline, like the Idaho Capital Sun, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and Twitter. The post As feds stand down, states choose between wetlands protections or rollbacks appeared first on Idaho Capital Sun. The federal government went to court against Californias prison agency Monday morning, asking for an order to stop the enforcement of a ban on beards for officers who wear facial hair because of religious beliefs. The application for a preliminary injunction against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was filed by civil rights attorneys from the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., and U.S. Attorney Phil Talberts office on behalf of Muslim, Sikh and other officers who say their jobs were endangered by CDCRs policy against facial hair for many employees. The case involves eight CDCR peace officers who filed complaints with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which concluded last month that prompt judicial action was needed, court papers say. The United States requested that CDCR immediately cease enforcement of its clean-shaven policy against peace officers whose sincerely held religious beliefs require them to wear a beard until the EEOC has completed its investigation and issued final dispositions of the above-mentioned charges or until CDCR has demonstrated that it has adequately engaged in the interactive process, the Justice Department wrote in its application for an injunction. Instead, CDCR declined last Thursday to comply, and the federal government filed its complaint in Sacramento federal court Monday morning. Our district is one of the most diverse in the country, with communities of many different faiths practicing customs that are central to their beliefs, Talbert said in a statement. The action brought today is an important use of the federal civil rights laws to protect this religious expression. My office will continue to work hand in hand with the Civil Rights Division to ensure that individuals of all faiths can receive due consideration for appropriate religious accommodations at workplaces in this district. CDCR issued a statement late Monday says it was operating properly under state law and that it expected the court to agree. CDCR respects all sincerely held religious beliefs and strives to reasonably accommodate individuals seeking religious reasonable accommodations to the extent doing so does not conflict with other legal obligations, including safety regulations in the California Code of Regulations, Title 8, section 5144, the statement said. Tight-fitting respirator masks are legally required under workplace safety laws for certain functions in state prison operations, as well as for the safety and protection of the incarcerated population and other staff. CDCR is fully compliant with the law, and we are confident the court will agree. CDCRs policies stem from the need for some employees to wear tight-fitting respirators, with state law requiring that facial hair not interfere with the use of such masks, court papers say. Officers declaring religious or medical needs were allowed to maintain beards that were not longer than an inch in length until September 2022, when CDCR changed policies to prohibit facial hair that could interfere with masks and told employees they would need to renew their requests for religious accommodations, court papers say. The agency ordered that if religious accommodation requests were denied, staff were to be clean-shaven before reporting to their next shift or face disciplinary action, and were given a deadline of Feb. 1 to come into compliance, court papers say. That left officers faced with the option of shaving and defying their religious beliefs or seeking other jobs as non-peace officers, a demotion, according to court papers. One of the officers, Mubashar Ali, a Muslim who has worked at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton since 2018, reported to work in February with his beard shaved to a one-inch length and was refused entry to the facility, where his supervisors sent him home and told him not to return until he shaved, court papers say. To keep his job and provide for his family, Ali began shaving his beard after this incident and continues to shave under duress, court papers say, adding that the emotional toll of dishonoring his religion through shaving makes Ali feel that CDCR has taken away his identity. Ali has felt heartbroken and has cried at work because he doesnt feel like himself, court papers say. Another officer, Rajdeep Singh, is a Sikh who escorts inmates at California State Prison, Sacramento, and also has had to shave since being sent home from work in February, court papers say. Rajdeep Singhs supervisors and co-workers often joke about his request to wear a beard in observance of his faith, court papers say. The jokes are embarrassing and create anxiety for him. The jokes also cause him to feel isolated and like he is experiencing college-style hazing. Legal fights over restrictions on facial hair have been fought for years, with the COVID-19 pandemic increasing controversy as CDCR sought to protect employees through the use of N-95 masks that could be affected by beards. Legislation pressed by the Sikh Coalition also is pending in the California legislature to require CDCR to provide protective equipment based on employees individual needs and to grant greater protections for religious beliefs. Court papers say CDCR offered exemptions to the beard policy for parole agents, special agents or officers in the Office of Correctional Safety, but never discussed or offered any of these positions to the (eight officers) to accommodate their religious beliefs. Federal officials are now asking for a court to halt CDCR from statewide enforcement of its policies prohibiting facial hair for peace officers whose sincerely held religious beliefs require them to wear beards. The feds also are asking for an order prohibiting retaliation or discipline against officers requesting to keep their beards as the case progresses. Robert Jenrick has said that the feeble sanctions against China announced by Oliver Dowden will only embolden China to continue its aggression towards the UK. The Deputy Prime Minister announced in the Commons that the National Cyber Security Centre - a part of GCHQ - had concluded that the Electoral Commission was highly likely compromised by a China state-affiliated cyber entity between 2021 and 2022. The NCSC said it is almost certain that a China state-affiliated group called APT31 conducted reconnaissance activity against UK parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021. Two individuals and a company linked to the APT31 hacking group have now been sanctioned by Britain. But the former immigration minister accused the Government of clearly not holding China to account and called the action announced by the Deputy Prime Minister in response to the cyber attacks feeble. Mr Jenrick wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after the announcement: The Government clearly is not holding China to account for their attack on our democracy. Taking three years to sanction two individuals and a small company is derisory. This feeble response will only embolden China to continue its aggression towards the UK. You can follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments section here. 05:44 PM GMT That is all for today.. Thank you for joining us for todays politics live blog. Jack Maidment will be back tomorrow to guide you through another day in Westminster. 05:30 PM GMT Robert Jenrick accuses UK of feeble response with China sanctions announcement Robert Jenrick has accused the Government of a feeble response with its latest response to suspected Chinese cyber attacks. In response to Mr Dowdens statement in the Commons, Mr Jenrick wrote on X: The Government clearly is not holding China to account for their attack on our democracy. Taking three years to sanction two individuals and a small company is derisory. The former Home Office minister added: This feeble response will only embolden China to continue its aggression towards the UK. 05:11 PM GMT Tory MP calls for much greater sense of coherence across Government on China approach The Government needs to have a much greater sense of coherence across departments about how to deal with China, a Tory MP has said. Bob Seely, MP for the Isle of Wight, said: Every time the Deputy Prime Minister comes here, hes very eloquent in the plans that he lays out, hes more assertive that were doing this bit new, and that bit new, as we react to the threat. Isnt there an issue that we still need to have a much greater sense of coherence across all government departments about how we deal with this threat, whether its students, whether its protection of Hong Kong citizens, whether its intellectual property, or whether its cyber attacks? Oliver Dowden replied: The sort of China that we had hoped for even a decade ago is not the China we have now whether its in relation to Hong Kong, whether its in relation to Xinjiang or elsewhere. We are continuing to increase our efforts. 05:08 PM GMT Dowden: I can never be totally confident about our cyber-security Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has admitted that he can never be totally confident in relation to the UKs cyber-security. SNP Cabinet Office spokesperson Kirsty Blackman asked in the Commons: These attacks referenced on the electoral commission and the parliamentarian accounts happened nearly three years ago. Will we be sitting here in 2027 hearing about an attack thats happening right now? She added: Without more action can the Deputy Prime Minister give us real assurance that the general election thats going to take place this year will take place without international interference? Mr Dowden said: I can never be totally confident in relation to cyber-security, no government minister anywhere in the world can be, this is an environment in which the risks are escalating all the time, they have been turbo-charged by artificial intelligence, but I can assure (Ms Blackman) and other members of this House that we are constantly increasing our activity and our vigilance in the face of it. 04:48 PM GMT Government accused of tinkering around the edges of China policy Stewart Malcom Macdonald, SNP MP for Glasgow South and one of the MPs targeted, accused the Government of tinkering around the edges of its approach to China. He told the Commons: The Deputy Prime Minister has turned up at a gunfight with a wooden spoon. The attack that he stood at the despatch box and announced, happened three years ago, but he comes to the House and calls it swift. He comes to the House and says hes taking robust action. But as my Hon friend mentioned earlier, the entity he sanctioned has fewer than 50 employees and a turnover of 200,000 a year. He hasnt sanctioned a single Chinese state official yet. He also called for China to be added to the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme register, adding: Isnt it the case that if we dont take more robust action, and see a proper sea change in government thinking, rather than this tinkering around the edges, this will happen more and more and get worse and worse? 04:41 PM GMT Downing Street rejects claims of softened stance on China since Lord Cameron became Foreign Secretary Downing Street has rejected claims from Tory China hawks that it had softened its stance on China since Lord Cameron became Foreign Secretary. Asked why the announcement was not made when the Electoral Commission attack was identified in 2022, the Prime Ministers official spokesman told reporters: Theres been an investigation working with international partners since then. In a case like this its important that a complex and sensitive investigation like this is obviously done properly ahead of announcing action and holding the individuals to account. Asked whether he rejected Tory China critics assertion that the Government has softened its stance on China since Lord Cameron became Foreign Secretary, the official said: Correct. Responding to concerns about further attacks on Whitehall departments using the same software as the Electoral Commission, he said: We have a range of measures in place to protect UK systems and national infrastructure from cyber threats. 04:36 PM GMT Appalling Princess of Wales speculation reminder to use valid and trusted sources online, says Dowden The Deputy Prime Minister has said that the appalling speculation about the Princess of Wales before she announced her cancer diagnosis last Friday showed the importance of valid and trusted information online. Sir Michael Ellis, former attorney general, raised a report from The Telegraph today that Whitehall sources believe China, Russia and Iran are fuelling disinformation about the Princess of Wales to destabilise the nation. Will the Deputy Prime Minister agree with me that British people will obviously ignore this grotesque disinformation, despite the pathetic attempts of those autocratic regimes? Mr Dowden said: The appalling speculation that we have seen over the past few weeks comes as a reminder to us all, but its important for us to ensure that we deal with valid and trusted information and that we are appropriately sceptical about many online sources. 04:26 PM GMT No10: Foreign Secretary has summoned the Chinese ambassador The Foreign Secretary has summoned the Chinese ambassador to London to make clear that Beijings actions will not be tolerated, No 10 said, Amy Gibbons reports. The Prime Ministers official spokesman confirmed that Lord Cameron had requested a meeting in the capital with Zheng Zeguang. He said: The Foreign Secretary has summoned Chinas ambassador to London to make clear that this behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Asked when the meeting was scheduled, he said: I dont believe its already happened. I understand the Foreign Secretary has summoned the ambassador. 04:25 PM GMT Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, has called for China to be added to the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme register, asking Mr Dowden: If not now, then when? She told the Commons: Its abundantly clear that China is a hostile state and poses an unprecedented threat to our national security. As home secretary, I oversaw the enactment of the National Security Act, which built the foreign influence registration scheme designed specifically to deal with these threats so that our authorities have the right powers to tackle them. Isnt there a compelling case for China to be listed on that register, and if not now, then when? Mr Dowden replied: There is a strong case for it, the Rt Hon lady will be aware of the process that we go through in determining that. It has to be agreed through a collective government agreement. 04:18 PM GMT Sir Iain Duncan-Smith: Deputy PM statement like an elephant giving birth to a mouse Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan-Smith has compared the announcement by Mr Dowden to an elephant giving birth to a mouse. He told the Commons: Whilst I welcome these two sanctions from the government, it is a little bit, this statement, like an elephant giving birth to a mouse. The reality is that in those three years, the Chinese have trashed the Sino-British agreement, they have been committing murder and slave labour and genocide in Xinjiang. We have had churches broken and in Hong Kong false court cases against Jimmy Lai. So my question really is to my Rt Hon friend, why two? America has sanctioned over 40 people in Hong Kong, we have sanctioned none and three lowly officials only in Xinjiang. Surely this means that the integrated review should now be changed. They are not an epoch-defining challenge, strange as that may be, but they are surely a threat and can they now correct that so that we all know where we are with China? Mr Dowden replied: Nobody should be in any doubt about the gravity of this matter. Theyre not the actions of a friendly state, and they do require our serious attention. This, as has been described by the Rt Hon gentleman, is an escalating situation. The measures weve announced today are the first step but the Government will respond proportionately at all times in relation to the facts in front of it. 04:05 PM GMT Oliver Dowden: This is a grave moment The Deputy Prime Minister said that MPs should take this moment in the Commons and his announcement very seriously. In terms of our relationship with China more broadly, I think members of this House should take this moment very seriously. It is a grave moment. He added: We will take proportionate action in response to that escalating threat. 03:57 PM GMT Pat McFadden raises questions over Lord Cameron addressing Tory MPs Pat McFadden was critical of Lord Cameron addressing the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs later today (see the post below at 11.16). The Labour frontbencher asked Oliver Dowden: Given the importance of national and democratic security to all the parties in this House, is the Deputy Prime Minister intending to arrange a briefing for the Leader of the Opposition, the Intelligence and Security Committee or indeed the other political parties represented in this House? 03:54 PM GMT UKs democratic integrity cannot be compromised, says Labour Pat McFadden, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said Labour supported the Governments efforts to prevent cyber attacks. He also told the House of Commons: The economic relationship between the United Kingdom and China can never mean compromising on national security or our democratic integrity. 03:49 PM GMT National Cyber Security Centre publishing new guidance on cyber attacks Oliver Dowden said the National Cyber Security Centre is today publishing new guidance to help parliamentarians and organisations prevent cyber attacks. The Deputy Prime Minister said the guidance will help them to take effective action to protect their systems and their data. 03:45 PM GMT Clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signals hostile intent from China Oliver Dowden said any hostile cyber activity directed towards UK parliamentarians was completely unacceptable. He said the two attacks demonstrated a clear and persistent pattern of behaviour that signals hostile intent from China. The Deputy Prime Minister announced the UK has sanctioned two individuals and a company linked to a Chinese state-affiliated group. Mr Dowden also said the Foreign Office will be summoning Chinas ambassador to the UK to account for Chinas conduct in these incidents. 03:41 PM GMT Dowden: Chinese hackers responsible for two cyber attacks on UK Oliver Dowden said hackers affiliated to the Chinese state were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians. The first related to a hack on the Electoral Commission and the second related to activity targeted at parliamentarians. The Deputy Prime Minister said neither of the hacks had succeeded. 03:37 PM GMT Dowden: UK targeted with malicious cyber activity Oliver Dowden is now on his feet in the House of Commons as he delivers a statement on cyber attacks. The Deputy Prime Minister told MPs that there had been malicious cyber activity taken against the UK and it was carried out by actors affiliated to the Chinese state. 03:24 PM GMT Treasury confirms Scott Benton no longer an MP The Treasury has just issued its traditional message to announce that Scott Benton is no longer an MP (see the post below at 14.59). It said: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has this day appointed Scott Lloyd Benton to be Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead. 03:18 PM GMT Sunak refused to meet me for a year to discuss legal migration, says Braverman Rishi Sunak refused to meet Suella Braverman for a year to discuss cutting legal migration, the former home secretary has claimed. Mrs Braverman said the Prime Minister had not regarded soaring levels of net migration as an important issue for the British people. You can read the full story here. 02:59 PM GMT Scott Benton formally resigns as MP Scott Benton has formally resigned as the MP for Blackpool South. The former Tory MP said in a statement on his website: Its with a heavy heart that I have written to the Chancellor this morning to tender my resignation as your MP. Id like to thank the hundreds of residents who have sent supportive messages, cards and letters over the last few months and who have urged me to continue and fight the next election. The support that so many local people have given to me has made it all worthwhile. Mr Benton was subject to a recall petition in his constituency after he was suspended from the Commons for 35 days after he was caught in a lobbying sting. His decision to resign means there is no longer a need for the recall petition. A by-election date will now be set to choose his successor. 02:55 PM GMT Up next: Dowden to deliver statement in Commons on cyber attacks Oliver Dowden will deliver a statement in the House of Commons just after 3.30pm. 02:30 PM GMT Britain must be much stronger in its dealings with Beijing The UK must be much stronger in its dealings with China, Sir Iain Duncan Smith argued. The former Cabinet minister said he believed Beijing would probably back down if it faced tougher opposition. Sir Iain told a press conference: We need to be much stronger and tougher and if you are tough with people, the lesson we learned from the 1930s, appeasement never works, if you are strong you tell them what is wrong and you tell them you are not going to put up with it, then eventually they will probably back down. But if you dont, they just keep taking advantage of you and that is our biggest problem. 02:10 PM GMT UK must label China a threat, not just a challenge, says IDS Sir Iain Duncan Smith urged the Government to toughen its stance on China and formally label Beijing a threat to the UK. The former Tory leader urged the Government to do four things: To immediately label Beijing as a threat, not as an epoch-defining, systemic challenge in the Integrated Review. To put China into the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme. To impose sanctions on those who are responsible for the abuses, not just in Hong Kong but obviously in Xinjiang. To offer more support to MPs and other victims of Beijings transnational repression. 02:06 PM GMT UK must deal with Chinese Communist Party as it really is, says IDS There needs to be a new era of relations with China, Sir Iain Duncan Smith told a press conference in Westminster this afternoon. He said: We must now enter a new era of relations with China, dealing with the contemporary Chinese Communist Party as it really is, not as we would wish it to be. 02:02 PM GMT Sir Iain Duncan Smith: MPs wont be bullied into silence by China Sir Iain Duncan Smith said he and other critics of the Chinese government will not be bullied into silence by Beijing. He argued the West had been too passive in challenging China over its activities abroad. The former leader of the Conservative Party told a press conference in Westminster this afternoon: Neither we nor other parliamentary colleagues will be bullied into silence by Beijing. For years the behaviour of the Chinese government has gone unchecked and we have been too passive here in the West, particularly here in the UK, as Beijing overseas influence operations have rapidly expanded, turning a blind eye to what the Intelligence and Security Committee termed penetration of every sector of the UK economy. Still, incredibly, there is a debate within the UK Government, we understand, over whether or not China should be in the enhanced tier of the new foreign influence registration scheme. 01:55 PM GMT Sir Iain Duncan Smith: MPs subjected to attempted hacking from China for some time Sir Iain Duncan Smith said that he and other MPs had been subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time. He told a press conference in Westminster: Together with other members of the parliamentary activists and dissidents in IPAC (Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China), we have been subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time. We take this opportunity to highlight that while extremely unwelcome, our discomfort pales in comparison to Chinese dissidents who risk their lives to oppose the Chinese Communist Party. It is high time that they received much greater support from their host governments. 01:51 PM GMT Three MPs hold press conference on Chinese cyber attacks Three MPs who are thought to have been targeted by Chinese hackers are holding a press conference in Westminster. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Tim Loughton and Stewart McDonald are addressing the press. 01:48 PM GMT Government reduces stake in NatWest to below 30 per cent The Governments stake in NatWest Group has dropped to below 30 per cent for the first time since the bank was nationalised in the 2008 financial crisis. A stock exchange announcement today confirmed that the Treasurys stake in the bank, which also owns Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Coutts, is now 29.82 per cent, down by a little over one percentage point. It leaves the Government with a stake worth a little under 7 billion. 01:36 PM GMT Pictured: Ed Miliband, the shadow energy secretary, gestures during visit to Port of Holyhead Ed Miliband, the shadow energy secretary, gestures during a visit to the Port of Holyhead in North Wales today - Peter Byrne /PA 01:21 PM GMT Penny Mordaunt would be best Tory leader, say councillors Penny Mordaunt would make the best leader of the Conservative Party, Tory councillors have said. The Commons Leader, who was recently named as the preferred candidate among Right-wing MPs plotting to oust the Prime Minister, has now emerged as the most popular figure in a survey of 391 Conservative councillors. The poll, conducted by Savanta, asked Tory councillors in England, Scotland and Wales to select their preferred candidate from a shortlist of six. Ms Mordaunt was the most popular, with 30 per cent of councillors selecting her when asked: Which of the following do you think would make the best leader of the Conservative party? You can read the full story here. 12:57 PM GMT Pictured: Humza Yousaf visits a community project in Edinburgh Humza Yousaf visits DN Studios in Edinburgh, Scotland which is a project led by Edinburgh Community Performing Arts to announce new funding for community projects supporting child and adult mental health - Duncan McGlynn 12:46 PM GMT No 10: Eyes wide open when it comes to China The UK has its eyes wide open when it comes to China, Downing Street said as the Government is expected to blame Beijing for cyber attacks on the Electoral Commission and parliamentarians. The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: We have our eyes wide open when it comes to China. The Integrated Review Refresh set out that the UK regards China under the Chinese Communist Party as an epoch-defining challenge and as the biggest state-based threat to our economic security. 12:34 PM GMT Confirmed: Oliver Dowden to deliver statement in Commons at 3.30pm AFTER 1530 TODAY: 1. Statement @OliverDowden - Cyber Security and UK Democracy 2. Statement @MelJStride - PHSO Women's State Pension Age Report Labour Whips (@labourwhips) March 25, 2024 12:23 PM GMT Pictured: Khan launches poster campaign ahead of London mayor election Sadiq Khan, the Labour Mayor of London, launches a poster campaign today ahead of the mayoral elections on May 2 - Elliott Franks 12:02 PM GMT Sunak: Dangerous fiction to believe UK could live without nuclear deterrent It is a dangerous fiction to believe we can live without nuclear power and our nuclear deterrent. This long-term investment will ensure the sector continues to keep us safe and secure long into the future. https://t.co/ugfE14MaxM Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) March 25, 2024 11:45 AM GMT Tories have overseen renaissance in nuclear industry, claims PM The Conservatives have overseen a renaissance in the UKs nuclear industry, Rishi Sunak argued this morning. Asked about comments made by Andrew Bowie, the nuclear minister, that plans for the sector should have been set out years ago (see the post below at 08.34), Mr Sunak told reporters at BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow: What we have seen under the Conservatives has been a renaissance in the nuclear industry and thats because the Conservative Party is one that unequivocally backs nuclear power and our nuclear deterrent. That just hasnt been the case under the last Labour government. These decisions do take time, but if you look at whats happened since 2010, we have green-lighted Sizewell C [and] Hinckley Point, so two nuclear power stations, we are making progress on small modular reactors and we have recommitted to our nuclear deterrent and a new generation of nuclear submarines and a replacement warhead. All of that has happened under a Conservative Government. 11:36 AM GMT Beijing increasingly assertive on world stage, warns Sunak Rishi Sunak said China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad ahead of an expected Government announcement of fresh sanctions against Beijing over cyber attacks. The Prime Minister repeated his stance that Beijing presented an epoch-defining challenge. Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to Barrow-in-Furness today, Mr Sunak said: Weve been very clear that the situation now is that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad, authoritarian at home and it represents an epoch-defining challenge, and also the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. So, its right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing. Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister, is expected to tell MPs this afternoon that Beijing was behind a wave of cyber attacks against MPs and peers, as well as a hack on the Electoral Commission. Mr Sunak would not be drawn on what Mr Dowden will say but said: When it comes to cyber, we have the National Cyber Security Centre, which is world leading. Indeed, when Im out and about across the world, other leaders want to learn and talk to us because they believe that our capabilities in this country are very strong. 11:26 AM GMT Pictured: PM and Chancellor visit Barrow-in-Furness after nuclear investment announcement Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt visit an engineering firm in Barrow-in-Furness - Danny Lawson/PA 11:16 AM GMT Lib Dem backlash over Lord Cameron address to Tory MPs Lord Cameron is due to address a private meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories this evening, prompting calls for the Foreign Secretary to answer questions from all MPs. Lord Cameron will be speaking to Tory MPs behind closed doors in Parliament at 5pm as the committee holds its weekly meeting. But Layla Moran, the Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson, said: When were facing such serious national security threats, it is outrageous that only Conservative backbenchers will hear from the Foreign Secretary and have the chance to question him, not all MPs. For over half a year, MPs have been calling for David Cameron to answer questions in the House of Commons. With serious concerns about the threat to our democracy from the Chinese Government, the Foreign Secretary must make that happen as a matter of urgency. There has been a long-running debate since Lord Camerons return to the Cabinet about how MPs can best scrutinise him given he sits in the House of Lords rather than the Commons. 11:13 AM GMT Pictured: Sir Keir Starmer visits north Wales to promote energy plan Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, new Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething, Shadow Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens and Shadow Energy Secretary Ed Miliband on board the jack-up barge Excalibur during a visit to the Port of Holyhead, in North Wales - Peter Byrne /PA 11:01 AM GMT Osborne: Tories will be in significant downward shift if Reform overtake them George Osborne said if Reform UK overtake the Tories in the opinion polls it will represent a significant downward shift in the spiral the Conservative Party currently finds itself in. A YouGov poll published last week put the Tories on 19 per cent and Reform on 15 per cent. Mr Osborne, the former chancellor, discussed the possibility of a crossover moment with Ed Balls on their Political Currency podcast. Mr Osborne said: We were talking on our podcast, werent we, last week about political spirals when things are going wrong for you and I can tell you that if Reform starts polling higher than the Tories that will be a significant downward shift in the spiral. The Tory vote share has now fallen to the same level as lowest point under Liz Truss, while Reform UK reach their highest score to date Con: 19% (-1 from 12-13 Mar) Lab: 44% (=) Reform UK: 15% (+1) Lib Dem: 9% (=) Green: 8% (+1) SNP: 3% (=)https://t.co/ttUyRxRZND pic.twitter.com/nR8mr6fx57 YouGov (@YouGov) March 21, 2024 10:47 AM GMT Pictured: Sunak and Hunt visit engineering firm in Barrow-in-Furness Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt visit an engineering firm in Barrow-in-Furness - Danny Lawson/PA 10:44 AM GMT Boris Johnson praises those tirelessly campaigning for independence and sovereignty in Belarus This Freedom Day, my thoughts are with all those tirelessly campaigning for independence and sovereignty in Belarus. !#StandWithBelarus https://t.co/aFCBHMfitc Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) March 25, 2024 10:39 AM GMT Labour: New strategy needed to tackle state threats Jo Stevens, the shadow Welsh secretary, has called for a new strategy for tackling threats from foreign states, as the Government is expected to say Beijing-linked hackers were behind a cyber attack on the Electoral Commission in 2021. She told Kay Burley on Sky News: We need a new strategy, which we have long been calling for, to tackle state threats with closer working between the Home Office and the Foreign Office to coordinate the UKs strategic response to this growing threat both to domestic security and our electoral freedoms. 10:13 AM GMT Windfall tax will fund new Great British Energy firm, says Labour Labour will fund its proposed new publicly-owned clean energy company through an extended windfall tax on oil and gas giants, one of the partys frontbenchers said. Jo Stevens, the shadow Welsh secretary, said the more than 8 billion needed to launch Great British Energy will be sourced from a 78 per cent windfall tax on oil and gas producers. Ms Stevens told Times Radio Breakfast that Labour would also be borrowing to invest, not borrowing to binge in raising the funds needed for the exciting, bold and ambitious plan. Ms Stevens added: Weve had no industrial strategy in this country for 14 years under the Tories. The Great British Energy company was described by Ms Stevens as a network of jobs and infrastructure that will be built to last. 09:56 AM GMT Braverman accuses Labour of vindictive attack on working families A furious row has erupted between Suella Braverman and Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, over Labours plan to impose VAT on private school fees. Mrs Braverman wrote in a piece for The Telegraph that Labours plan amounted to a tax on choice and aspiration. Ms Phillipson said that claim was downright offensive and argued ambition and aspiration are for every family, not just those with money. But Mrs Barverman hit back this morning as she said it was absolute nonsense again from Labour and accused the Opposition of planning a vindictive attack on working families. Absolute nonsense again from Labour. What is 'downright offensive' is your vindictive attack on working families. This awful Labour idea won't make state schools better. It will cost, not save, taxpayers' money. And it is happening because of ugly, intolerant prejudice. https://t.co/i2qxG2JDgz Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) March 25, 2024 09:31 AM GMT Ex-Cabinet minister: We have to end our naivety on China Sir Simon Clarke said the UK must end our naivety on China ahead of an expected Government announcement of fresh sanctions against Beijing over cyber attacks. The former Cabinet minister said that every time there is talk of a reset in relations there is then fresh evidence of malign activity. He also suggested the UK should not make the same mistake with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, as it did with Vladimir Putin. Sir Simon tweeted this morning: We have to end our naivety on China. Every time we talk about a reset, there is fresh evidence of malign activity. Hong Kong. The Uighurs. Taiwan. Attacking our democracy. If we blame ourselves for not seeing Putins true nature, why make the same mistake with Xi? 09:11 AM GMT UK will stop at nothing to defend against cyber attacks The Government will stop at nothing to protect Britons from cyber attacks, a minister said ahead of an expected announcement of fresh sanctions against China. Oliver Dowden is expected to tell Parliament that Beijing is behind a wave of cyber attacks against MPs and peers, as well as accessing the personal details of 40 million voters in a hack on the election watchdog. Andrew Bowie, the nuclear minister, said he could not comment on the speculation about China but told LBC: The fact is that this Government has invested a lot of time, money and effort in ensuring that our cybersecurity capabilities are at the place they need to be, weve increased the powers of our intelligence and security community to be able to deal with these threats. And we will stop at nothing to ensure that the British people, our democracy, our freedom of speech and our way of life is defended. 08:47 AM GMT Starmer to set out Labour plans for publicly-owned clean energy company Sir Keir Starmer will set out Labours plans for a publicly-owned clean energy company during a visit to North Wales today. Jo Stevens, the shadow Welsh secretary, said Labour intended to create a more patriotic economy. She told GB News: We will set out our plans today for securing homegrown British energy. That will mean we will invest in clean energy generation that will cut bills for businesses and households across the country, create good well-paid jobs for people across the country as well, and at the same time take back control of our energy security so we are not relying on tyrants like Vladimir Putin. 08:34 AM GMT UK running to catch up on nuclear energy, admits minister A minister admitted the UK is running to catch up when it comes to nuclear energy. Andrew Bowie, the minister for nuclear and renewables, said action to increase the use of nuclear power in the UK should have been taken years ago. The Government today announced new funding to boost skills and jobs in the nuclear industry. Told that the UK was struggling to maintain its nuclear deterrent as well as its nuclear energy sector, Mr Bowie told Times Radio: I make no bones about it, we should have done this years ago, we are running to catch up but we have just this year delivered our civil nuclear road map, we have announced our intention to build a third gigawatt project, we are investing 350 million in new nuclear power to ease Vladimir Putin out out of the nuclear fuels market. We are absolutely committed to delivering small modular reactors through our competition which will conclude this year. But of course this should have been done years ago which is why we are having to take the action in the way that we are right now. 08:18 AM GMT Full confidence in nuclear deterrent, says minister as new investment announced The Government has full confidence in the UKs nuclear deterrent, a minister said this morning as a new investment package was unveiled. Rishi Sunak will today declare a critical national endeavour to secure the future of the UKs nuclear industry with new investment aimed at boosting skills and jobs amid concerns about defence spending. It was suggested to Andrew Bowie, the minister for nuclear and renewables, that the UKs nuclear submarine fleet was feeling the strain. He told Times Radio: We have got full confidence in our submariners, in the Royal Navy and in our ability to maintain our continuous at sea deterrent, something we have been doing for over 55 years. But it is time for a refresh, that is why we have such an ambitious programme in the Dreadnought programme, combined with our Aukus programme and our civil nuclear defence projects. That is why we are making the announcement that we are today to increase our workforce here, delivering these nuclear projects, by about 40,000 people. 08:14 AM GMT Cyber attacks taken incredibly seriously, says minister amid expected crackdown on China A minister said it is imperative British nationals are protected online from malign actors as the Government prepares to announce fresh sanctions on China over cyber attacks. Andrew Bowie, the minister for nuclear and renewables, said the Government takes the threat of online interference incredibly seriously as he suggested measures to combat the problem are going to be toughened up. The threat of Chinese state interference in British democracy is due to be raised in the House of Commons this afternoon by Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister. He is expected to say Beijing was behind a wave of cyber attacks against MPs and peers, as well as accessing the personal details of 40 million voters in a hack on the Electoral Commission. Mr Bowie told Times Radio: The Government takes the security of this country, as we were talking about our nuclear deterrent, the physical safety and security, but also the cyber security of this country incredibly seriously which is why we have bolstered the intelligence and security apparatus that we have through the various Acts of Parliament in the last few years and it is why I am sure we will be hearing much more today about the steps we are going to take moving forward. It is imperative that democracy, freedom of speech and that British nationals are protected online from any malign influence and that includes from malign actors, be that state actors or other actors. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., lashed out at Vice President Kamala Harris for suggesting that the U.S. could impose "consequences" on Israel if the country moves forward with an invasion of Rafah. Fetterman made the statement on X in reaction to an interview Harris gave with ABC News on Sunday. She stated that it would be a "huge mistake" for Israel to carry out an offensive without U.S. approval. "Hard disagree," Fetterman wrote in response. "Israel has the right to prosecute Hamas to surrender or to be eliminated." "Hamas owns every innocent death for their cowardice hiding behind Palestinian lives," he added. SENATE PASSES MAMMOTH $1.2T SPENDING PACKAGE AFTER BRIEF PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN Fetterman has emerged as one of Israel's staunchest allies in the Senate in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP ISRAELI STRIKES IN RAFAH LEAVES 31 PALESTINIANS DEAD AHEAD OF PLANNED GROUND INVASION Meanwhile, relations between President Biden's administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government continue to fray. Netanyahu has vowed that an invasion of Rafah is imminent, with or without U.S. approval. Harris explicitly left the possibility of consequences for Israel on the table in her Sunday interview. She cited the dense civilian population around Rafah and argued they have nowhere else to go. Sen. John Fetterman lashed out at Vice President Kamala Harris for suggesting that the U.S. could impose "consequences" on Israel if it moves forward with an invasion of Rafah. "We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake," Harris told ABC. "Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. There's nowhere for those folks to go." "We're going to take it one step at a time, but we've been very clear in terms of our perspective on whether or not [an invasion] should happen," she added. "Are you ruling out that there would be consequences from the United States?" ABC reporter Rachel Scott pressed. "I am ruling out nothing," Harris said. Vice President Kamala Harris declined to rule out "consequences" for Israel if it moves forward with an invasion of Rafah in Gaza on Sunday. Rafah lies on the border with Egypt, which like other nearby Arab nations has so far refused to accept any Palestinian refugees, even temporarily. Representatives for those countries argue by and large that Palestinians should not be forced to leave Gaza. Many Arab states in the region are actively blocking Palestinians from traveling out of Gaza, by refusing to issue visas to Palestinian passport holders. Each of those countries underscores the point that they do not want to be complicit in a forced evacuation. They speculate that Israel will not allow those who leave to return, despite comments by Israels foreign minister and others to the contrary. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to send an Israeli delegation to Washington this week to determine whether a compromise can be made regarding Rafah, pictured above. Netanyahu agreed to send an Israeli delegation to Washington this week to determine whether a compromise can be made regarding Rafah. Israel says Rafah is the last remaining stronghold of Hamas and the terrorist groups forces there must be defeated for Israel to meet its war objectives. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas following the groups Oct. 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 people, took 250 others hostage and triggered the fierce Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza. Rafah now serves as shelter for roughly 1 million Palestinians displaced by the Gaza war, however. The Biden administration has insisted that any plan for an invasion must include clear and robust protections for civilians, and they have yet to be satisfied with Israel's precautions. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Fetterman rejects Harris suggestion that Israel could face consequences for Rafah invasion: 'Hard disagree' Travellers at Germany's Frankfurt Airport. More and more airports are streamlining announcements to make travelling a more pleasant experience. To reduce the constant noise, a Frankfurt-based tech firm has developed a cloud-based solution for airports and train stations around the world. Andreas Arnold/dpa You never get a quiet moment at an airport or a railway station, from the chatter to the sound of rolling suitcases. On top come all the announcements about security, connections, delays and missing persons. Whatever the topic, recorded announcements are usually made in women's voices, which are universally preferred, surveys show. Also, the messages are conveyed in calm and friendly tones, rather than the somewhat harsher commands you sometimes hear in live announcements. Nonetheless, often it seems passengers would prefer quiet and at Frankfurt Airport, the largest and busiest in Germany, operator Frankfurt Fraport pursues a "silent airport" policy. That means keeping a strict limit on boarding calls and ensuring announcements are only heard within a specific area, even though they are all coordinated and controlled centrally. Travellers occasionally do still hear announcements made by human beings, but these days it is far more common to hear machine-generated announcements, such as during the boarding process. The advantage for the airlines is that machines can relieve the burden on staff and significantly speed up the boarding process. Lufthansa is one of many carriers that prefers this approach. "It means that clear, high-quality announcements are available in different languages and our customers receive standardized, structured information," says Germany's flagship airline. "We use a system that has stored text modules and various announcement contents," a Fraport spokesman told dpa. Using standardized announcements helps with planning when and where the announcements should be heard, he said. Sittig Technologies, a company based near Frankfurt Airport, has interconnected more than 10 autonomous public address systems at the airport and handles the control system. The system triggers more than 2,500 announcements in more than 24 languages every day. Ensuring those statements reach passengers' ears involves feeding the voice into the infrastructure at the airport. "In the vast majority of airports, the public address systems have grown historically," says Thomas Sittig, one of the two managing directors. The family-run company long since gave up on the idea of developing its own loudspeaker systems, which would put it in competition with industrial giants like Bosch or Honeywell. Instead, the smaller company uses whatever audio infrastructure is available at an airport, no matter what the manufacturer, and manages the system using standardized software. The airports they work with are primarily in German-speaking countries, with customers in Berlin, Zurich, Munich and Stuttgart alongside Frankfurt. They also provide automatic announcements for train operators and clients include Swiss Sudostbahn and Sydney Trains, with 300 railway stations. At airports, it is primarily the airlines who are driving the development of the technology. "Our business is not the content, but the technology," says sales chief Johannes Sittig. Aided by a grant from a state digital fund, the company used the time during the pandemic to take its PAXGuide technology to a new level, namely to the global data cloud. Rather than using costly local servers, customers now only need to install a small interface box to retrieve automated announcements securely from the cloud in a matter of seconds. With around 40 employees, the Sittigs are now targeting the US market and are eyeing around 100 airports on the North American continent, most of which lack the manpower to continue making individual announcements. They have launched projects with Lufthansa in Los Angeles and with budget airline Frontier in Cincinnati. Unlike real people, the voices from the cloud stick to scripts and length specifications when making their announcements. "The aim of good announcements is to reduce stress for everyone involved," says co-boss Christian Tischler. But despite the involvement of technology, behind the scenes, IT staff are constantly tweaking and changing the announcements. Sittig's team of speakers can generate announcements in more than 40 languages. For each language, trained spokespeople record up to 5,000 text modules in a studio in Cologne. Some of the speakers may be familiar to travellers, such as actress Alison Rippier whose voice can be heard in Frankfurt. But there are also new text-to-speech machines from Amazon or Google, for example, which Sittig also offers depending on customer requirements. However, whether the noise is made by man or machine, the general feeling among human beings still may be that less is more. Christian Tischler (l-r), commercial director, Johannes Sittig, head of sales/head of US Bbusiness, and Thomas Sittig, technical director of Sittig Technologies, hold a conventional microphone unit for announcements. The company based near Frankfurt Airport has interconnected more than 10 autonomous public address systems at the airport and handles the control system. Andreas Arnold/dpa Christian Tischler (l-r), Johannes Sittig and Thomas Sittig of Sittig Technologies which provides cloud-based solutions for streamlining announcements at airports and railway stations. Andreas Arnold/dpa MONROE, MI - A fire was reported on Sunday morning around 4am at 49 W. Monroe Street in the City of Monroe. All apartment residents were evacuated and there were no injuries to residents reported. The Red Cross was called to assist the displaced residents. The fire was mostly on the top floor and was being worked on by firefighters from the City of Monroe and Monroe Township. Once fire conditions worsened, all fire crews that were working inside were pulled out. Fire crews from Frenchtown Township and LaSalle Township arrived to help battle the fire from the outside. One firefighter was injured and is in the hospital in stable condition. There is significant fire damage to the upper floors and water damage throughout the entire building. No cause has been determined at this time. The City of Monroe Marshal, Chad Hudson, along with the City Police will investigate for a cause. Check back with Fox 2 for further updates. PANAMA CITY In November, the St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club building on Bunkers Cove Road was destroyed in a fire. Ever since then, questions have circulated around the community: How did the fire start? Would the Yacht Club rebuild? The Yacht Club was up and operational for business within weeks of the fire. The Yacht Club is still taking in new members, as well. Members have joined the club even after the fire. The Yacht Club is in better shape than people would have imagined, said Michael Wynn, 2024 commodore. The staff members that we have are family to us. We believe and give to them and they give back to us. Wynn explained that one club member had this to say after the fire: The clubhouse was just a building; the Yacht Club is about the people. St. Andrew Bay Yacht Club adamant on rebuilding in Bay County. The Yacht Club has discussed expanding its sailing center to provide greater resources for the community. The club expects the plans and renderings for the new club facility will be unveiled this summer. Some of the staff members have left the club since the incident and others have stayed. Our staff is smaller now since the fire, said Wynn. We have less services being offered at the moment, but many staffers who left the club for other jobs have offered to come back once the club becomes (fully) operational again. The cause of the fire is still unknown. There have been different ideas and theories on how the fire started, but there has not been a definitive answer. But there was no foul play, Wynn emphasized. The St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club. Right now, we dont have a final number on what its going to cost to rebuild, said Wynn. We have architects and plans on rebuilding. We have members of the community who are donating services to help cut the cost (of our rebuild). More information about the club will be released closer to the clubhouse reopening. Wynn said the rebuild will both honor the club's history and heritage and also add modern touches. Previous coverage: More details released as Panama City monitors St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club fire site Wynn said the club's experience dealing with insurance after the fire has been good and the matter soon will be resolved. The experience was much better than the ones many people had after Hurricane Michael, he noted. Wynn also is humbled and gratified by the outpouring of support and dedication from his fellow club leaders and all club members. He knew his one-year term as commodore, which began in January, would be full of challenges. But the club has rallied because the tradition and legacy mean so much. "People care so deeply," he said. News Herald Editor Jim Ross contributed to this report dcsmith@gannett.com This article originally appeared on The News Herald: The latest: St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club regroups, moves forward after fire Firefighters from five different communities responded to a Wakefield strip mall Sunday night after smoke began to billow from a pet shop. Firefighters from Melrose, Lynnfield, North Reading, Stoneham, Woburn and Wakefield could be seen carrying out numerous tanks and terrariums from North Shore Animal Academy around 9:00 p.m., after smoke from the store wafted into nearby Dinos Pizza around an hour and a half earlier. Firefighters responded to the store and quickly worked to put out the flames. Wakefield Fire Chief Michael Sullivan told Boston 25 News that no humans, civilians or firefighters, were injured during the response and that most of the animals taken out of the building were reptiles. Most of the cold-blooded exotic animals were quickly ushered into cars and ambulances to keep their body temperature regular. A representative from the Board of Health was also called to the scene to inspect the area and ensure food sources from the several nearby restaurants were not contaminated. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes avail able. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Crews rescued a person who became trapped in a stalled elevator in Cambridge on Monday afternoon. According to fire officials, the occupant of the elevator had to be pulled out of the roof hatch. The lone occupant was uninjured during the rescue. It was unclear how long they had been trapped. No further information was immediately available. Tech Rescue: Earlier this morning, Firefighters from Engine 6, Ladder 3, Rescue 1, Squad 2, & Division 1 safely extricated a trapped occupant via the roof hatch from a stalled elevator. The lone occupant was evaluated & reported no injury. Group 4 on duty.@CambMA pic.twitter.com/ymfzEAf86e Cambridge Fire Dept. (@CambridgeMAFire) March 25, 2024 Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Ulviyya Shahin On March 24, the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union kicked off its session in Geneva. Azernews reports, citing Azertag that representatives of 180 member countries and 15 regional parliamentary bodies participate in the work of the Assembly. Besides, Azerbaijan is represented at the event by a delegation led by the Speaker of the Milli Majlis, Sahiba Gafarova. The main topic of the assembly is called "Parliamentary diplomacy: building bridges for peace and understanding". All statutory bodies of the organization, including the Management Board, Standing Committees, Parliamentary Committees on Human Rights and Middle East Issues, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young People's Deputies, will meet at the meetings. It is expected to end with the adoption of the final document on the general theme of the Assembly. The Inter-Parliamentary Union is a global organization of national parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the world's first multilateral political organization to promote cooperation and dialogue among all nations and serves to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development. Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is one of the most transformational forces thats shaping our future, our world, our democracies, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministerial Conference of the Third Summit for Democracy in South Korea. We have a profound stake in ensuring that democracies can lead the world in AI innovation so that we can in turn lead the world in setting the norms, the standards, the rules by which artificial intelligence is used, he said. Thats the most effective way, and the necessary way, to make sure that were reaping the technologys extraordinary opportunities, but also protecting people from harm. We know that AI has tremendous power to drive development that directly improves peoples lives. ... But AI is also a critical arena in which democracy is being challenged, cautioned Secretary Blinken. So, while we seek to harness the power of AI and other digital technologies for good, some governments are abusing those same technologies to do just the opposite. Theyre using AI tools, like facial recognition and bots, to surveil their own citizens. Harass journalists, human rights defenders, and political dissidents. Spread mis- and disinformation that undermines free and fair elections, or sets one segment of our societies against another. The United States is determined to shape the terms of our technological future in a way thats inclusive, rights-respecting, that sustains democratic values and democratic institutions, declared Secretary Blinken. Weve made historic investments in our technological capabilities and those of our democratic partners. At the same time, were pairing those investments with efforts to lead on the governance of artificial intelligence. Those include an executive order strengthening AI safety and security, privacy protections, and equity and civil rights, while promoting innovation. If we can harness all of the extraordinary potential, said Secretary Blinken, all the extraordinary good in AI, while mitigating the downsides, we will advance progress for people in all of our countries and around the world. After giving birth to her miracle baby, Katie Studdard thought her trials and tribulations were over. In the span of three years, she had undergone multiple uterine surgeries, suffered through an arduous in vitro fertilization process costing tens of thousands of dollars, and lost her husband to cancer. Having a child was a dream for both Chris (her husband) and me, Studdard, who lives in Columbus, recounted. After a very emotional fertility journey, our last remaining embryo was transferred, and finally, I was blessed with the most perfect baby girl. But she knew something was wrong when it took nearly six months for the Social Security office to get her daughter, Elyse, registered. When they finally contacted her, officials told Studdard the state did not recognize Elyse as the legal child of Studdards late husband, Chris McGill, because she was conceived via IVF shortly after McGills death. That meant that Elyse, the biological child of McGill, would not receive survivor benefits from her father, and Studdard would not receive the mother benefits she would have had she been recognized as caring for a legal child of McGill. For Studdard, it added insult to injury. I wiped out our complete life savings to have this baby, Studdard said. For them to come back and say you know what, were not denying that hes the biological father, but were not going to say hes the legal father, because God forbid they give that child anything that shes owed. Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus, speaks with a Mississippi Today reporter at the Capitol in Jackson earlier this month. Rep. Dana McLean, a Republican lawmaker representing Studdards district, authored a bill for the fifth year in a row to change inheritance law for children like Elyse. At least 27 states have enacted statutes to deal with cases where children are conceived after the death of one parent. But for the last two years, McLeans bills have been blocked by Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula. Wiggins, who chairs the Senates Judiciary A committee, chose not to bring the bill to a vote by the full Senate despite his committee moving it forward two years in a row. The bills died on the calendar as a result. House Bill 1542, McLeans most recent bill, passed the full House unanimously in mid-March and now sits in the Senate. It makes changes to intestate succession how an estate is distributed in the absence of a will, or, in the case of Studdard, in a will made before the conception of a biological child. Wiggins did not tell Mississippi Today what specific issues he has with the bill. On the surface, the bill has merit, Wiggins said in a written statement. That said, its a significant change to our inheritance laws Its the unintended consequences that create the push back and thus need to be addressed in order for it to pass. State Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, during a Senate Corrections Committee meeting on Feb. 13, 2020, at the Capitol in Jackson. Wiggins declined to answer what unintended consequences he worries the bill will lead to or what he is doing to address them. He also did not respond to a question about what it would take for him to bring the bill to a floor vote if it passes his committee this year. McLeans bill would change inheritance law so that a child conceived via IVF within 36 months of one of the biological parents death would be considered an heir of the parent who died. That would include cases where a woman decided to continue implantation of an embryo after her husbands death, as with Studdard, or cases where a man decided to continue with an embryo through surrogacy after his wifes death. To stay alive, the bill will need to pass committee by April 2, with an April 10 deadline for floor action. If it passes committee and Wiggins does not bring it up for a floor vote, this will be the third year he has done so. Studdards case is an example of why the Legislature needs to be fluid, McLean said, to account for advances in technology, such as assisted reproduction, that couldnt have been imagined at the time the law was written. I see it as an injustice to a child like Elyse who, through no fault of her own, was conceived after her dads death, McLean said. I think we need to make it right. I have found that on the books, we have a lot of statutes that have not kept up with the times. And to me, this is one of those that has not kept up with science or technology and we just need to go back and reevaluate. While Studdards circumstances are unique, they are not exceptional. Forty-two percent of Americans say that they have used fertility treatments or personally know someone who has. Still, in cases with children conceived via IVF after the death of one parent, many states still have outdated intestacy statutes that result in injustices to children like Elyse. A paper by Sharon Klein, an estates and family law advisor, outlined the growing problem and the need for state legislatures to write specific laws with assisted reproduction technology in mind. State intestacy statutes drafted long before posthumous conception was even contemplated are by definition ambiguous because they were not designed to accommodate the situations with which they are now confronted, the paper reads. For some families, McLean explained, it could lead to inequalities such as one biological child inheriting everything while another inherits nothing. Ive explained it to some colleagues, that you and your wife when Im speaking to my male colleagues conceived through IVF, McLean said. You have one child already and you have other embryos that you are considering using to conceive other children. Lets say, unfortunately, you die. And your wife decides after a year or two, you know, I really dont want my child to be an only child, I want to have another sibling for this child. But when the mother uses another embryo to conceive a child, that child inherits nothing if it went through an intestate proceeding, she explained. So, same mother and father, same genetic material, same DNA, one child was born first and the second child was born after. Studdard said its been a five-year struggle with no transparency from lawmakers on the problems they say they have with the bill, or any headway theyve made on addressing those problems through hearings or debate. These concerns are coming from gentlemen who have no clue about the struggles of infertility period, Studdard said. ... And so for me, someone who saw their husband dying for two and a half years, and then to find out the really sad news about having fertility issues a year prior to his death and trying to address those issues but just didnt get pregnant quite in the time that they want me to get pregnant in, and then they go and throw this at me Its frustrating and really disheartening. And it isnt just about the money although the past few years have been a struggle for Studdard to make ends meet as a middle school art teacher without those monthly payments. Its about McGills legacy and Elyses identity, she said. Its dishonoring to his legacy, Studdard reflected. Elyse is such an amazing little girl, shes smart, funny and strong-willed. Chris would be so proud of her. She deserves all the best that this world has to offer and deserves the state in which she lives to treat her with more respect than this. Every mother just wants the very best for their child and thats all Im asking now. When Yasushi Sasaki moved from Japan to Belgium at the age of 19, he spoke not a word of French and had no clue what he would do with his life. Last month, at the age of 52, he was named Brussels' chocolatier of the year by the prestigious Gault&Millau food guide -- no small triumph in a country that considers itself the homeland of chocolate. "Whenever I go home to Japan and mention Belgium, people say to me 'Ahhh.... chocolate!" Sasaki told AFP. Dubbed a "flavour wizard" by the food guide, Sasaki conducts his experiments in a little workshop behind his store, in the Brussels commune of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. "Chocolate? From the moment I chose the profession it became my whole life," he said. "It's a hobby, a job, a pleasure." "I knew nothing, I started from scratch. But I think I made the right choice." Originally from Nara, near the city of Osaka, Sasaki draws inspiration from his homeland -- but with a light touch. Not all Japanese flavours sit well with a chocolate ganache or praline. "Green tea is very strong and marries very well. So does yuzu," the citrus fruit, he explained as he doled out tips to his team of young Japanese staff. "Kaki and mandarin -- nope." Sasaki selects his suppliers with care. The green tea for instance comes from Kyoto, where he orders directly from a cousin who works in the sector. With cocoa prices soaring, he is also careful to control costs. "We are artisans but we are also businesspeople," he said. "To keep working as artisans, we have to sell what we make." - 'My own way' - Sasaki may have learned the trade in Brussels but he does not consider himself heir to a Belgian tradition. "I have my own way, my own taste," he said. "I know my strength is my own way, not copying other people." Today, Sasaki exports his creations back to his home country, where sales peak around Valentine's day, the chocolate moment of the year in Japan. As Easter draws near, he is readying for another big highlight of the chocolate calendar. Much as he is delighted to be honoured by Gault&Millau, Sasaki would have one word of advice for the guidebook -- to tip off its laureates before going public, so they have time to prepare. "It's a huge impact all of a sudden," said Sasaki, whose turnover suddenly jumped by 20 to 30 percent. For now, though, Sasaki has no plans to expand. "I've been making chocolate for years. I'm just going to keep making good things, doing my thing," he said. jca/ec/gil Florida Democrats on Sunday voted to permanently oust Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairman Robert Dempster from his post, according to four people familiar with the matter. The decision came after roughly five hours of deliberations by the partys central committee, according to two people who were at the meeting. Eighty-three of the central committees 122 members cast their votes in favor of removing Dempster, who has helmed the Miami-Dade County Democratic Party since 2021. Party rules require a two-thirds vote to remove a county chair. Nikki Fried, the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, suspended Dempster earlier this month citing repeated violations of the state partys rules and bylaws. At the time, Fried cast the decision as part of a strategy to get our local parties back on track following poor electoral performances and infighting among party members. At the same time she suspended Dempster, Fried also moved to suspend Palm Beach County Democratic Party Chair Mindy Koch and Franklin County Democratic Party Chair Carol Barfield. According to Fried, Koch failed to cancel contracts that werent approved by the Democratic executive committee, while Barfields party was allegedly missing a membership list and financial audits from 2022. In a statement, Fried said that her goal was to get these local parties fully operational and back on track, and argued that Sundays votes were a step in the right direction. We need our local parties to register voters, recruit candidates and raise money to ensure that were competitive in 2024 and beyond, Fried said. Just like every other day, I will continue to work with all Florida Democrats to take back Florida and win elections in November. The state Democratic Party central committee voted to remove Barfield on Sunday, the sources said. The vote to remove Koch failed; shell be reinstated to her job. An embarrassing waste of time Dempster declined to comment on the vote. However, Thomas Kennedy, a Dempster ally and former Florida Democratic National Committee member, called the chairmans removal a distraction from more pressing issues facing Florida Democrats. Just an embarrassing waste of time for a party that has a 876,000 voter registration deficit against Republicans in the state, Kennedy said. Youd think they would spend time talking to voters like me that have switched to [no party affiliation]. In her initial letter suspending Dempster, Fried outlined several complaints about the Miami-Dade party, including failing to reach a quorum at its meetings, endorsing candidates without having the requisite number of district committee positions filled and having outdated membership rolls that included several people that no longer live in Miami-Dade County. Dempster and his allies decried the suspension as an unjust punishment that would only further set back the party as it looks to rebuild itself after years of financial struggles and internal turmoil. They noted the Miami-Dade Democratic Party was told only a few months earlier that it was in compliance with party rules, and argued the bylaws Dempster was accused of violating amounted to only minor infractions. Since Dempsters suspension, the Miami-Dade party has been led by acting Chairwoman Maria Elena Lopez, who issued a scathing statement earlier this month accusing Fried and the state Democratic Party of effectively doing nothing to help the county party and falling short of their promise to fund initiatives like voter registration efforts. Chairwoman Fried, I strongly object to the recent press statements and actions by the FDP questioning our leadership and execution. I strongly object to the suspension of our Chair, and demand his timely reinstatement, Lopez said. Time is of the essence. Dempsters removal on Sunday creates a vacancy in the office that Miami-Dade Democrats will have to work quickly to fill especially with elections just months away. A special election to replace him will have to take place within 45 days. OCALA, Fla. (WFLA) A group of Florida police officers had to stop a horse from foaling around early Sunday morning after it escaped its home. The Ocala Police Department said at 4:30 a.m., Officer Bellamy was writing a report at the Ollies Bargain Outlet on Southwest 34th Avenue when she got a surprise visit by a large horse. Is it legal for motorcyclists to drive between cars in Florida? According to police, the horse eluded officers for a short while as it led a chase down SR-200. Eventually, the officers managed to corral the horse in a parking at at the College of Central Florida. The Marion County Sheriffs Office later arrived to take the horse to a safer area while they would search for the horses owner. As of the latest update, the horse is back home safe. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Florida Polytechnic University is closer to naming a successor to President Randy K. Avent. The Lakeland school released a list of five finalists for the position on Monday, less than a week after a search committee interviewed applicants. The finalists are H. Keith Moo-Young, David P. Norton, Daniel W. O Sullivan, G. Devin Stephenson and Bjong Wolf Yeigh. Moo-Young is vice provost and dean of undergraduate education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Norton is vice president for research and a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. He also serves as president of the schools Florida Research Foundation. H. Keith Moo-Young is one of five finalists to be the next president of Florida Polytechnic University. O Sullivan is vice provost and a professor of chemistry at the U.S. Naval Academy. Stephenson is president of Northwest Florida State College in Niceville. Yeigh is the former chancellor and a professor of engineering at the University of Washington-Bothell. The presidential search committee announced the list of finalists after holding a vote on Thursday. The names will be presented to the universitys board of trustees for consideration. The final choice must be approved by the State University System's Board of Governors. Our search committee thoroughly reviewed, vetted, and interviewed a vast pool of exceptionally qualified candidates to identify and recommend these finalists, Beth Kigel, vice-chair of the Florida Poly board of trustees and chair of the Presidential Search Committee, said in a news release. I extend my gratitude to the members of the search committee for their time and commitment to ensuring a successful process and to the candidates engaged in the application and interview process for their enthusiasm and desire to help shape the future of Florida Poly. The finalists will next face in-person interviews with the university board of trustees, as well as campus forums with stakeholders such as students, faculty and staff, the release said. The schedule of interviews and campus visits will be available soon on the presidential search website. H. Keith Moo-Young Moo-Young holds a masters degree and doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an executive masters in technology management from the University of Pennsylvania. He previously served as chancellor at Washington State University Tri-Cities from 2013-2018, and dean of the College of Engineering at California State University, Los Angeles from 2006-2013. David P. Norton is one of five finalists to be the next president of Florida Polytechnic University. Earlier in his career, Moo-Young was associate dean for research and graduate studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he also served as interim dean, and was a tenured professor in civil and environmental engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Civil Engineers, American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists and National Academy of Inventors. State budget boosts Polk State College campus, road projects in Polk County David P. Norton Norton earned his bachelor and doctorate degrees at Louisiana State University. He became vice president for research at the University of Florida in 2012 and oversees a research enterprise of $1.25 billion per year, the release said. Previously, he was as associate dean for research in the UF College of Engineering from 2009 to 2012 and a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering since joining UF in 2000. Before joining UF, Norton worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 11 years. He has published more than 370 refereed journal articles with over 17,000 citations, and is an inventor on 10 patents and has presented more than 70 invited presentations at national and international presentations. Daniel W. O Sullivan is one of five finalists to be the next president of Florida Polytechnic University. Daniel W. O Sullivan O Sullivan has served the Naval Academy in its Division of Mathematics and Science curriculum and assessment committees, as chair of the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee, vice president of the Faculty Senate, chairman of the Chemistry Department, and senior professor for the Division of Mathematics and Science. He also became vice academic dean in 2017. He is an associate editor for the journal Marine Chemistry and has published numerous research articles. He has been recognized for his research contributions with two NASA Group Achievement Awards and the USNA Civilian Faculty Research Excellence Award. OSullivan graduated magna cum laude from Millersville University with degrees in chemistry and earth science. He performed his graduate work at the University of Rhode Island, earning a doctorate in Chemical Oceanography, and received a Rosenstiel Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. G. Devin Stephenson Stephenson has extensive experience in community college executive administration, having served in president/CEO positions in Alabama, Missouri and Kentucky for more than 15 years, the release said. He holds a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Alabama. He served on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools board of trustees and chaired its Compliance and Reports Committee, currently serving as a visiting committee chair. G. Devin Stephenson is one of five finalists to be the next president of Florida Polytechnic University. Stephenson is Floridas representative on the Southern Regional Education Boards executive council. He is a speaker on leadership, organizational change and professional and personal development, the release said. During Stephensons tenure at Northwest Florida State College, the foundations assets have increased to over $63 million, grant acquisitions have surpassed $66 million and enhanced legislative appropriations have exceeded $40 million, the release said. Bjong Wolf Yeigh Yeigh served as chancellor at the University of Washington-Bothell from 2013 to 2021 and oversaw the doubling of student enrollment, the release said. Bjong Wolf Yeigh is one of five finalists to be the next president of Florida Polytechnic University. Previously, he was a professor and president of the State University of New York Institute of Technology from 2008 to 2013. Yeigh also was vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont; engineering dean at Saint Louis University, in St. Louis, Missouri; and assistant provost for science and technology at Yale University. Yeigh is an elected fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and serves on several national and state boards for engineering, economic development, public policy and education, including the ASME Board of Governors as an elected at-large member. He earned his undergraduate degree in engineering science from Dartmouth College, a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a masters and doctorate in civil engineering and operations research from Princeton University. Yeigh is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served as a tactical intelligence officer during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Avent's departure Avent announced last summer that he would retire at the end of the spring semester and return as a professor following a sabbatical. He is the only president Florida Poly has had since it began holding classes in 2014. Avent, 65, recently received a Fulbright-Schuman Innovation Award and will spend a year conducting research at the University of Barcelona, Florida Poly announced. He will study the role of academic research in driving economic development, with a special emphasis on the contrast between the current European and American models. Florida Poly, the newest state university, specializes in STEM subjects science, technology, engineering and math. It is the second-smallest member of Floridas State University System, with about 1,540 students, but is rapidly growing. A 15-member committee led by Kigel is conducting the search for a new president. The Florida Legislature passed laws in recent years making the search for university presidents a largely secret process. The names of applicants are concealed, and schools are only required to disclose their finalists. The search committee included four trustees: Mark Bostick, a Winter Haven business owner; Lyn Stanfield, who leads the global inclusion and diversity external relations team at Apple; Gary C. Wendt, chair of Deerpath Capital Management and of its investment committee; and David Williams, former dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University. Two faculty members, Sanna Siddiqui and Matt Bohm, serve on the committee, along with Melia Rodriguez, president of the Florida Poly Student Government Association. The panel also includes Lakeland City Commissioner Stephanie Madden; Wesley Barnett of Winter Haven, a community and business leader and grandson of Publix Super Markets Founder George W. Jenkins; Bud Strang of Winter Haven, president and CEO of Six/Ten LLC; Jack Harrell III, COO of a fertilizer company and chair of the Florida Poly Foundation board; and Donald H. Wilson Jr., a Bartow lawyer and a founding member of the Florida Poly board of trustees. Florida Poly originated as a satellite campus of the University of South Florida. Former Florida Sen. J.D. Alexander, a Lake Wales Republican, engineered legislation in 2012 to establish Florida Poly instead as a standalone university. The school has 73 professors and a staff of 154, according to a fact sheet on its website. The average entering freshman has an SAT score of 1342 and a high school grade-point average of 4.25, the school reports. The school offers undergraduate degrees in such subjects as applied mathematics, computer science, cybersecurity engineering and data science. It also has graduate programs in four areas. Avent has presided over the growth of the student population, which numbered just 540 in the schools first year. Florida Poly opened its second academic building, the Applied Research Center, last year. The school has built two student residences on campus, and a third is now under construction. Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13. This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Florida Poly picks five finalists for successor to President Avent When discussions around aquatic conservation arise, our minds often drift to vast oceans, picturing graceful sea turtles, stunning reef sharks and vibrant yet fragile marine life. However, we must recognize the equal importance of freshwater environments. These ecosystems serve as key pillars in the fight against climate change while providing essential services to humans. Freshwater habitats are indispensable lifelines, supporting a rich tapestry of biodiversity, including 50% of all known fish species. Alarmingly, we are losing these vital environments at three times the rate of terrestrial spaces. The United Nations estimates one-third of the worlds wetlands have been destroyed since 1970, plunging biodiversity and threatening food and water shortages. Moreover, the Supreme Court rolled back the longstanding 1972 Clean Water Act last year. Home to an extraordinary collection of species, such as the West Indian manatee, the Everglade snail kite and the Nassau grouper, Florida Everglades National Park is surrounded on three sides by rising seas, making it a target for the impacts of a warming climate. Throughout the biodiverse treasure of the Everglades, sawgrass marshes, cypress swamps and ponds exist, creating critical homes for plant and animal life including 39 endangered and threatened species. But year-round natural threats damage freshwater areas from hurricanes, floods and droughts to man-made destruction like pollution, urban sprawl and drainage. The value of these biodiverse landscapes cannot be overstated. A single acre of wetlands in the Everglades can absorb upwards of 1.5 million gallons of stormwater, protecting surrounding areas from flooding and retaining water during droughts. Rivers act as natural carbon sequesters and conveyors, depositing bio-rich sediment into our oceans and keeping carbon out of our atmosphere. The Biscayne Aquifer consists of highly permeable limestone rock and delivers fresh drinking water to South Florida residents. It lies at shallow depths, making it prone to saltwater intrusion. Rising sea levels cause saltwater to infiltrate aquifers and canals, pushing freshwater further inland and reducing the available supply for us to drink. Water purification does not just happen at the Miami-Dade water treatment plant. It is an ancient environmental service provided by wetlands natural filtration processes and we depend on it for safe drinking water. As we grapple with the consequences of our consumption-driven deterioration of freshwater habitats, addressing the impacts of climate change becomes paramount. By partnering and pooling our resources to rebuild resilient freshwater ecosystems, we are investing in combating climate change and securing a healthy planet for generations of animals and humans alike. These investments can manifest as global commitments like pledging to protect 30% of the worlds aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems by 2030 an ambitious goal supported by the America the Beautiful initiative in the U.S. They also show up as local initiatives like the 80-foot research vessel R/V Coral Reef II, a floating field station operated by Shedd Aquarium, where open-water studies and conservation efforts have taken place for decades. The vessel is currently docked in the Miami River, studying the impact of overheating on coral. Collectively, we can prioritize changing water flow delivery and management, increasing water quality standards and investing in restoration projects to mitigate the effects of damage on freshwater environments. The water cycle is a closed system all the water that will ever exist on our planet is already here. We cannot replenish it. Instead, we must work together to ensure its survival what many already call the water economy. Indeed, while we live on a blue planet covered 70% by water, only 1% of this is fresh. This is a message I shared with my co-presenters at the recent Aspen Ideas: Climate conference in Miami. Freshwater matters in multiple dimensions. It is up to each of us to appreciate the priceless value of our freshwater spaces. Protecting coastal wetlands is an opportunity an obligation that sets us on a path to a more resilient blue future. Bridget Coughlin is president and CEO of the Chicago-based Shedd Aquarium, the third largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere. Coughlin has a PhD in biochemistry. Following apartment explosion, residents are concerned for their safety and want answers People living at the Woodhill Apartments wanted to know what is being done to make sure another apartment wont explode. WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS Three weeks ago, an explosion in a unit killed 31-year-old Mikeanesha Moore. Residents at the apartments told Channel 9 they complained for years about smelling gas. WFTV learned that the owners of this property and the gas company were aware of the serious problems. Read: Sean Diddy Combs homes in Miami, LA raided by federal agents Channel 9 learned the Lake Apopka Natural Gas District received 54 reports of possible gas leaks from residents at the Woodhill Apartments 41 leaks were found and reported to the property. Eyewitness News also spoke to Commissioner Michael Scott days after 31-year-old Mikeanesha Moore died following an explosion. Learning there are that many complaints and a majority of them are confirmed, thats a problem, Scott said. Theres no way around it. Read: City of St. Cloud experiences cyberattack In 2023 the county created a Tenants Bill of Rights to hold developers and owners accountable for safety. However, just months later, the state stripped away the countys authority to regulate local protections. Me and the boys want someone held accountable, said Raven Fondia, Mikeanesha Moores husband. Read: Riley Strains death appears accidental, preliminary autopsy shows The state also removed the task force that would have been able to investigate Starwood Property Trust which owns Woodhill apartments as part of its $6 billion portfolio. She suffered, she suffered bad on those eight days, Fondia said. The property owners refuse to comment on the conditions of the property. However, Scott said hes currently looking into a process that would give the county some authority when developers dont hold up their end of the bargain to keep renters safe. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Donald Trumps obvious public challenges with speech, language, and thinking are continuing to get worse. At a recent rally in Ohio, the former president continued to act like a broken computer, going off on odd tangents, rambling, muddling his speech, and saying, Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama, has anyone ever heard of him? Every swing state, Biden beat Obama but in every other state, he got killed. This is not an example of one so-called gaffe or misstatement but rather part of a much larger pattern where Donald Trump confuses people and time. Experts have empirically shown such behavior likely indicates some type of brain disease. Dr. John Gartner, a prominent psychologist and contributor to the bestselling book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President," has repeatedly warned in a series of conversations about Trumps apparent challenges in cognition and communication that something seems to be very wrong with the ex-president: Not enough people are sounding the alarm, that based on his behavior, and in my opinion, Donald Trump is dangerously demented. In fact, we are seeing the opposite among too many in the news media, the political leaders and among the public. There is also this focus on Biden's gaffes or other things that are well within the normal limits of aging. By comparison, Trump appears to be showing gross signs of dementia. This is a tale of two brains. Biden's brain is aging. Trump's brain is dementing. Dr. Gartners attempts to sound the alarm about Trumps behavior have been joined by the hundreds of medical professionals who have signed his Change.org petition, We diagnose Trump with probable dementia: A petition for licensed professionals only. To deny the obvious about Donald Trumps evidently diseased mind is to deny reality and to ignore the real possibility that a man who is already morally and ethically corrupt and now appears to be experiencing problems with his thinking could be back in the White House with the awesome responsibility and power of the presidency including the sole authority to order the use of Americas nuclear weapons. Trumps mind and overall behavior and character are not just a national emergency but a global crisis as well. Because of a commitment to horserace journalism, fake objectivity and balance, self-interest and fear, the mainstream American news media especially the elite agenda-setting news media has largely ignored Donald Trumps obvious struggles with communication and cognition. The Washington Posts Jennifer Rubin is a notable exception. In an attempt to better understand what we are witnessing with Donald Trumps behavior, I recently spoke with Dr. Elisabeth Zoffmann, a forensic psychiatrist and an Associate Clinical Professor of Forensic and General Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Zoffmann shares her evidence-based preliminary conclusion that Donald Trump is displaying a range of behaviors that suggest cognitive challenges if not impairment. The former president appears to be suffering from Behavioral Variant Fronto-Temporal Dementia, Dr. Zoffmann concludes, and needs to be evaluated by neurologists who specialize in the condition. This interview has been edited for length and clarity: What do you see when you look at Donald Trump through a clinical lens? My observations are garnered from viewing the phenomenon of Mr. Trump for the past decade. Also, observations from viewing old videotape interviews and coverage of Mr. Trump as a younger man form part of my impression that Mr. Trump might benefit from a thorough evaluation by a neuropsychiatrist with expertise in neurodegenerative disorders. My observations are as follows: Changes in speech patterns with many fewer and simpler words (decline in vocabulary) with fewer adjectives and adverbs. A decline in cognitive focus on speech subjects with incomplete sentences and an inability to focus on a topic long enough to complete a sentence when not reading from a teleprompter. Difficulty pronouncing words, word substitution and nonsense words known as paraphasia Tangential thinking where the topic switches mid-sentence to some unrelated topic. Frequent repetition of words and phrases as if his mind is stuck in a loop. Disinhibition and an inability to control verbal outbursts. Socially inappropriate behavior mocking a man with muscular dystrophy, disrespecting fallen soldiers as losers. Lack of self-awareness in that he apparently cannot see how inappropriate his behavior has become and use his judgment to stop himself. Changes in movement and gait. His walk appears wide-based and he has developed a swing of his right leg. He appears glued to the floor when he dances for his audience. If caught on camera standing still, he appears unnaturally immobile. The changes in judgment and impulse control have uncovered and perhaps worsened underlying personality traits that others have characterized as narcissistic and antisocial. The changes have led some experts to suggest a diagnosis of malignant narcissism." Mr. Trump has stated that he passed a cognitive that he described in terms that suggested either the Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) or the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) scale. These are both simple screening tests for suspicions of Alzheimers Disease. My clinical experience and these collected observations are congruent with the diagnostic criteria for Behavioral Variant Fronto-Temporal Dementia (FTD). People presenting with such a cluster of observations should undergo expert assessment. This diagnosis is often largely based on external observations and collateral reporting from others close to the person. Early in the disease, the individual may be aware of changes, but as frontal lobe deterioration progresses the capacity for self-awareness diminishes. Unlike Alzheimers Disease, people with FTD have intact short-term memory and can easily score full points on screening tests like the MMSE and MOCA. Is a person with FTD inherently dangerous? No. When social awareness is deteriorating the sufferers may become irritable with caregivers. In Mr. Trumps case, the overall picture is consistent with Behavioral Variable Fronto-Temporal Dementia (with the caveats mentioned about needing a thorough evaluation including an MRI brain scan.) The associated disinhibition exposes unfortunate aspects of his personality and worldview where he repeatedly dehumanizes anyone he sees as the other." His repeated statements dehumanizing migrants and exaggerating their numbers and suggesting they are all killers is a good example. This meme has caught on with his supporters and in situations of mass-thinking they may pose a danger to migrants seeking refuge. Mr. Trumps memes seem to resonate with a stratum of American society that feels disaffected and maligned in a rapidly changing world. Being blinded to new information and new ways of experiencing scientific discovery poses a risk for those people for example, anti-vaccine people frequently dying of COVID-19 when they could have vaccines. People often conflate dementia and Alzheimers. Can you please clarify? Dementia is a catch-all term for a number of recognized neurodegenerative disorders: Alzheimers Disease, Lewy Body Disease, Multi-infarct Dementia, Picks Disease, Parkinsons Disease, Primary Progressive Aphasia variant Fronto-temporal Dementia and Behavioral Variant Fronto-temporal Dementia. In reading and hearing the comments of other observers and experts I am reminded of the fable of Five Blind Men trying to describe an elephant. One has the tail, others have the trunk, tusk, legs, and ears and all give a version of what they have observed. One cannot get a complete picture of the elephant without combining all of the observations. In the various interviews and comments from other experts, I recognize all the criteria I set out from my observations of Mr. Trump. I think we get a clearer picture if we combine all these observations. When you were first approached about making a public statement about Trump's apparent neurological challenges you were reluctant to speak on the record. What changed your mind? I am an older, semi-retired, female psychiatrist though during my career, I was (and still am) a respected Forensic Psychiatrist and an Associate Clinical Professor of Forensic and General Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. I have observed through my career that opinions expressed by female experts are not taken as seriously as those posed by male experts even though they are lying through their teeth. There are ample scientific studies with mock juries that support these observations. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. However, seeing that I am but one of many experts expressing similar opinions I am assured that my observations are not spurious and that I can contribute to a dispassionate process collating all our observations into a cohesive whole. The American mainstream news media is fixated on the narrative of President Bidens mental competence and suggest that he is as impaired as Trump. What are your observations? I have not had the same opportunities to observe President Biden the way I have followed the fascinating American political events unwinding over the past 9 10 years. I have seen President Biden in videos describing his lifelong problems with stuttering. I have also seen video of him encouraging youngsters with the same affliction. President Biden is an example of a person who has worked very hard to conquer his stutter so he can speak in public. The most cogent example of President Bidens cognitive abilities is his recent State of the Union Address. He spoke for 63 minutes, without a teleprompter during many points. There were no tangential digressions, no word-finding problems, his sentences and paragraphs were articulate, he was coherent, and there were no insults or other disinhibited behavior. At times he spoke slowly and purposefully and at other times he was passionate (not shouting). Throughout his speech, there were instances where his stutter caused him to start and pause but he was able to correct himself and not lose his train of thought. In other instances, I observe President Biden speaking more slowly and purposefully. That may be a sign of thoughtfulness, attempts to control stutter or needing to take more time to gather his thoughts. Whatever else is going on his responses are coherent and socially appropriate. If Donald Trump is found to suffer from FTD will his condition stabilize or improve? FTD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to progressive deterioration and early death. Once again, I caution that my observations combined with those of other experts should lead to a thorough assessment by a neuropsychiatrist expert in the diagnosis and management of neurodegenerative disorders. The Kannapolis Police Department says a now-former employee at A.L. Brown High School is facing felony charges for sexual acts with a 15-year-old student. According to the police department on Monday, investigators got a tip last week that 28-year-old Jordan Correll was having inappropriate communication with the student. A city spokesperson said police investigators learned that sexual acts were committed with the student. Correll was then arrested and charged with indecent liberties with a student, four counts of indecent liberties with a child, and two counts of statutory sex offense with a child. A video shared in 2021 introduced Correll as the theatre director at A.L. Brown High School. Correll was booked into the Cabarrus County Jail and held on $1 million bond. A spokesperson for Kannapolis City Schools told Channel 9s Hannah Goetz that the district is working with KPD but cant comment further on the investigation. The district wants to reassure our community we remain dedicated to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all, the spokesperson said in a statement. The district confirmed that Correll was a theatre teacher until his termination last Tuesday. He was hired in August of 2020. Were working on getting more details on Corrells involvement in the school, check back for updates. (WATCH: CMS teacher accused of indecent liberties with student, CMPD says) DENVER (KDVR) Former Loveland Police Officer Dylan Miller, 28, was charged in a federal indictment for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor while on duty. Miller was arrested in November 2023 on several charges, including first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault on a child. Now, hes being charged on a federal level with aggravated sexual abuse, kidnapping and involved sexual abuse. According to FBI Denver, the federal charges are separate from any local charges. Loveland Police officer accused of assaulting teen while on duty Original charges against Miller According to Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen, Miller, a Loveland police officer since 2022, allegedly contacted the 15-year-old victim and several others at a traffic stop in the summer of 2023. Several days later, the victim and another person were at a park after dark. Miller, who reportedly was on duty and in uniform, told the person with the victim to leave. He allegedly told the victim to walk with him to a secluded area of the park and then sexually assaulted her. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, if convicted, Miller faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT YOU MUST OPEN A SESSION OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT MEMBER LOGIN CREATE YOUR USER ACCOUNT On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has today (March 21) announced $2 million to Lochard Energy for. . . Prof Mark Blyth is a renowned economist and was attending an event organised by a pro-independence group called Scotonomics A former SNP government adviser has demolished the economic case for independence, it has been claimed after he scathingly dismissed a series of assertions made by senior nationalists. Prof Mark Blyth, who formerly sat on the Scottish Governments advisory council for economic transformation, said: You cant really say that Brexit is the worst thing ever, and then commit the biggest Brexit of all time. Which is literally what this is. The William R Rhodes 57 Professor of International Economics at Brown University in the United States also lashed out at claims by the First Minister and others that a separate Scotland would emulate Nordic countries. Speaking at a nationalist economics festival in Dundee at the weekend, he also warned that Scotland needed a robust economy to back up a new currency or face becoming a mini Argentina. He said as a small, open economy, an independent Scotland would need to balance your imports and exports over the long term or everyone thinks your currencys s---. His intervention overshadowed the latest SNP government independence paper, this time on education, despite it being a policy area that is already devolved to Holyrood. Liz Smith described Prof Blyth's comments as a devastating demolition of the economic case for independence - Duncan Bryceland/Shutterstock Liz Smith, the Scottish Tories shadow finance secretary, said: This is a devastating demolition of the economic case for independence by a former adviser to the SNP Government. Its an evisceration of the absurd and baseless reassurances from nationalists that tearing Scotland out of the UK would somehow be pain-free. Prof Blyth made his comments at an event organised by a pro-independence group called Scotonomics. The other speakers included Gillian Martin, the Scottish Energy Minister. He said comparing Scotlands economy to Nordic countries was like saying Im a supermodel because I also have legs, its simply not true when you really think about it. The renowned economist added: Youre a periphery part of a small free trade zone called the United Kingdom. You have thousands of micro-enterprises that trade with each other and trade in the United Kingdom. You have hardly any international trade in comparison to actual, genuine small economies, you have no global champions at scale in the way that they do in Scandinavia and other places. Free tuition policy SNP ministers have overseen Scotland tumbling down international school league tables for maths, reading and science over the past 17 years, with the latest assessments showing English pupils performing better. But the Scottish Governments new report argued that independence would allow ministers to further improve the education system and proposed free university tuition be included in a written constitution. It said that an independent Scotland in the EU would mean students from the Continent would once again enjoy the same access to higher education as Scottish students. EU students also received free tuition before Brexit. The SNPs free tuition policy is only affordable by capping the number of free places for Scottish youngsters. There is no such cap for children from the rest of the UK as they pay fees. Extending this right to EU students would mean there would be even greater competition for the fixed quota of free places, risking more Scots missing out. Among the other uncosted policies in the paper were improving maternity and paternity leave durations and pay, and giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in all Scottish elections. But the 34-page document, written by civil servants, contained barely a page on school years and no new proposals for major reform of the education system. Fixing the mess Unveiling the paper, Jenny Gilruth, the SNP Education Secretary, said: As we have already set out, we would enshrine economic, social and cultural rights including the right to education in the interim constitution, effective from day one of independence. Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said: The SNP should be fixing the mess theyve made of Scotlands education system now, rather than worrying about what it would be like in an independent Scotland. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A former Tory councillor admitted using hidden cameras to film 28 different women during private moments, a court heard. Robert Holden, 51, installed recording equipment at a property for his own sexual gratification and recorded one victim more than 400 times, a court heard. He secretly filmed his victims showering, bathing, undressing, using the lavatory and engaging in sexual activity. His offending covered 15 years from 2004 until 2020. Holden was due before magistrates in April 2022 accused of 31 offences of voyeurism, 32 of misusing a computer and three relating to indecent images, but he failed to appear and a warrant was issued by a district judge for his arrest. He had fled 3,000 miles away to Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony in West Africa, where he was arrested in June 2022 and extradited back to the UK. He has been remanded in custody ever since. He pleaded guilty to more than 30 charges at Bradford Crown Court. The computer misuse offences relate to unauthorised access to a programme. Holden, who represented the Ryburn ward on Calderdale Council, was also a parish councillor in the village of Ripponden, near Halifax, West Yorks. He resigned from both posts in 2021. He formerly lived in a rural farmhouse near Sowerby Bridge, Halifax. He will be sentenced in July. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Fort Worth is known for its ties to country music, but now Cowtown has its own pop song thanks to the show Girls5eva. The song Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth is heavily featured in the season 3 premiere of Girls5eva, which released on Netflix in mid-March. The musical comedy follows a one-hit-wonder all-female group from the 90s as they get a second shot at fame. Most of the episode, aptly titled Fort Worth, is centered around Cowtown since the group chooses the city as the first stop on their new world tour. Complete with references to the Fort Worth Stockyards and Trinity River, the episode is having fun with its Texas setting. Take the song Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth, which makes references to many Fort Worth staples such as the zoo and even the Star-Telegram. Got my best boots on, smile on my face/Cant believe were from this place/Thirteenth biggest in the states/Can a town be your soulmate?/East Exchange Avenue/Steers in my rear-view/Gonna hit what USA Today calls the second-best zoo, the song goes. More trending stories: Theres no better place to see April 8 total solar eclipse than in this tiny Texas town. How a six-pack of beer, $100 got rescuers to pull pig out of thorns. When do tornadoes occur the most in Dallas-Fort Worth? How many Fort Worth references are made in Girls5eva? Several real Fort Worth references are featured throughout the episode, including mentions of: Fort Worth Zoo Fort Worth Stockyards East Exchange Avenue Texas Christian University Texas Motor Speedway Trinity River Interstate-35 Rivercrest neighborhood Singer Kelly Clarkson Actor Larry Hagman Actress Leighton Meester Actress Kate Capshaw Journalist Bob Schieffer Cause Cowtown is a wow-town/With a walkable downtown/Its time to tap into your Fort Worth/Worth! Worth! Worth, the song goes. What do Girls5eva do in Fort Worth? The episode opens with the group performing at the fictional concert venue East Exchange Roadhouse, followed by an appearance on a fictional daytime talk show titled First Things Fort with Jackie Werth. In between these sequences, more of the group performing Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth is shown. Its got no hipsters, like Austin/Or Wahlbergs, like Boston/Or tech bros, like Austin/Or Afflecks, like Boston/Now, some say Omaha Zoo is second best, but thats a lie/Because their red panda is always inside/Its never out on the tree, the song continues. The Fort Worth skyline is shown in the season 3 premiere of Girls5eva. The next batch of Fort Worth references come in the form of invitations to the group from local organizations. Stockyards organizers are hoping Girls5eva can lead the steer walk. Texas Motor Speedway wants the group to wave the checkered flag. The fictional Fort Worth Hard Rock is asking for memorabilia. Finally, the Fort Worth mayor invites the group to stay in town another week so they can attend a ribbon cutting for a new on-ramp on Interstate-35. And the Trinity Rivers getting better/Parts are even swimmable/Its no longer called the mythological river of death/Cause where the west begins, its where your best begins, the song goes. A concert goer wearing a Face the Nation shirt with Bob Schieffers face on it, appears in the season 3 premiere of Girls5eva. Back at the East Exchange Roadhouse for another show, Renee Elise Goldsberrys character Wickie Roy says shes late for rehearsal after being stuck at the steer walk signing cows. The group performs and once again belt out Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth to the crowd that happens to feature one concert goer wearing a Face the Nation shirt with Bob Schieffers face on it. Schieffer grew up in Fort Worth, graduated from TCU, worked at the Star-Telegram and later for CBS Broadcasting. The retired journalist told TCU that he found the song mention to be hilarious. Other Fort Worth-born celebrities mentioned in the song, include actor Larry Hagman, actress Leighton Meester and actress Kate Capshaw. Its time to tap into your Fort Worth/Time to tap into your Fort Worth/The home of Hagman and Meester/Capshaw and Schieffer/Tap into your Fort Worth, the song goes. In addition to highlighting several key Fort Worth references, the show also adds fuel to a fire thats been burning for decades. Having sung Tap Into Your (Fort) Worth over and over again during a show, Sara Bareilles character Dawn Solano tries to do something new and yells out F- Dallas. To which the Fort Worth crowd happily yells right back. One look and youll love it too/No wonder Jesus went to TCU/It was early decision/See, I know, Im worth it/Yall know, youre worth it/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram knows theyre worth it/Thats why their site has a paywall, the song goes. The rest of the episode sees the group gearing up to leave Fort Worth and head to the next city on their world tour. Bye Texas, next stop, the Ozarks. Cause Cowtown is a wow town/With a walkable downtown/Its time to tap into your Fort Worth/The home of Hagman and Meester/Capshaw and Schieffer/Of museums and parks and/Also Kelly Clarkson/Tap into your Fort Worth/Worth, worth, worth, yeehaw, the song ends. The first three seasons of Girls5eva are now streaming on Netflix. Four people have been charged so far in connection with a brawl and shooting at St. Clair Bowl in OFallon earlier this month, according to police. The St. Clair County States Attorneys office on Friday filed charges against: Mykel Davis, 20, of St. Louis, on one count of possession of a firearm with a Firearms Owner Identification card and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Brandon Smith, 32, of Columbia, Missouri, on one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and a count of obstructing justice. Otarius Thomas, 28, an unhoused person, on a single charge of unlawful use of a weapon. Imunique Williams, 25, of East St. Louis, on a count of aggravated battery. Additional charges may be filed, the release suggests. We are actively working with the states attorneys office. There is a possibility, OFallon Police Chief Kirk Bruggemann confirmed in a text message. OFallon police officers were dispatched to St. Clair Bowl at 5950 Old Collinsville Road for the report of shots fired inside the building at about 9:44 p.m. on March 3. Multiple agencies responded, including Illinois State Police, blocking Old Collinsville Road at the intersection of Ashland Avenue for nearly an hour. Two bystanders were struck by gunfire after being caught in the middle of a violent altercation. Both were struck in the lower extremities, but both were treated and released from an area hospital. Investigators interviewed witnesses and checked surveillance video from multiple cameras to identify the suspects, police said at the time. The charges stem from a thorough investigation into the activities that took place just prior to the shooting and immediately after, according to a release from the OFallon Police Department. According to a release issued by police Monday afternoon, the shooting followed a physical altercation between two individuals near the front counter of the bowling alley. Several individuals displayed handguns and multiple shots were fired. It should be noted when this occurred, there were families with children in the bowling alley in the area of the shooting, Mondays release stated. Additionally, we do not have any evidence that this incident is connected to an earlier disturbance that evening involving several juvenile females at the bowling alley. Anti-drug XXL cleanup operation raids have taken place across France in a move timed to show that president Emmanuel Macron is clamping down on narcotics ahead of European elections. Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, said police units conducted raids and made several arrests in the northern city of Lille as well as Villeneuve-dAscq and Roubaix. French authorities are going to multiply the operations that we have prepared for months to hit very hard, he promised. Other raids were conducted in Lyon, Dijon and Paris leading to 187 arrests, said Mr Darmanin. We have a target of 850 people to arrest, said Mr Darmanin. We are about a quarter of the way to this target, he added. Our collective job is to show all residents, especially those in working-class neighbourhoods, that they deserve to be safe. The wave of raids comes after the French president travelled to the southern city of Marseille to announce a massive crackdown. Emmanuel Macron speaks with customs officers at the airport in Cayenne - Jacques Witt Mr Macron confirmed that operations would be launched in about 10 French cities, saying that it would be an XXL cleanup. According to local authorities, 900 police and customs officers were deployed in Marseille and the Bouches-du-Rhone region on the first day of the operation. In the first three days, 22 kilograms of drugs, over 385,000 (330,000) in cash, and four weapons were seized and 71 people placed in custody. Mr Macrons visit came after police in Morocco arrested Felix Bingui, 33, alias The Cat, the presumed head of the Yoda clan, one of the two main gangs vying for control of drug trafficking in Marseille. Thirteen young alleged members of the rival DZ Mafia were arrested two weeks ago in Marseille, Rennes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence as part of an investigation into attempted murder in Spain. The turf war for control of the citys profitable dealing spots has led to a record 49 drug-related deaths, including four collateral victims, last year. Local reaction to Mr Macrons Marseille trip was sceptical, with residents, experts and drug dealers cited in French media as saying the raids were largely cosmetic and would not change an endemic problem. Some critics have linked the drugs clear-out to the centrist governments efforts to boost its chances and stave off the threat from the far-Right ahead of elections for the European Parliament between June 6 and 9. According to a poll published on Monday, Marine Le Pens hard-Right National Rally party is polling to come first with 30 per cent. Mr Macrons Renaissance alliance is trailing in second place but has closed the gap slightly, to 21 per cent, up two in a month. On Monday, Mr Macron kicked off a two-day visit to French Guiana, a French South American territory that has become a hub for drug running, notably via mules who consume drugs and fly to France. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. France raised its terror alert to the highest level in the wake of a Moscow concert hall attack that left at least 137 people and injured at least 182 others just four months before Paris is to host the Olympics. "Following the attack in Moscow, a Defense and National Security Council was convened this evening at the Elysee by the President of the Republic," French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced on X Sunday. "Given the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency." The highest of three levels is declared under France's terror alert system when an attack at home or abroad is believed to be imminent. The highest level permits exceptional security measures, including increased patrols by armed forces in public places like train stations, airports and religious sites, Reuters reported. French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month already scaled back the planned capacity of the Olympics opening ceremony scheduled to be held in Paris along the River Siene in July, citing broad concern about Islamic extremists potentially targeting the country, Politico reported. KAMALA HARRIS REJECTS PUTIN LINKING MOSCOW CONCERT ATTACK TO UKRAINE, SAYS ISIS 'BY ALL ACCOUNTS RESPONSIBLE' French President Emmanuel Macron and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal during the national tribute ceremony for Former French Justice Minister Robert Badinter at Place Vendome on Feb. 14, 2024 in Paris, France. Attal on Sunday raised the country's terror alert to the highest level after an attack in Moscow. France was already monitoring an "an atmosphere of jihadism," according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, following the killing of French teacher Dominique Bernard in the northern town of Arras by a suspected Islamic extremist in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, France 24 reported then. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP In December, Darmanin warned the country was "durably under threat from Islamist terrorism" after a prosecutor identified a French 26-year-old born to Iranian parents accused of fatally stabbing a German tourist and injuring two others steps away from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Meanwhile, four men accused of staging the shooting attack that ignited an inferno at the suburban Moscow concert venue appeared before a Moscow court Sunday on terrorism charges while showing signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing. Russian President Vladimir Putin had said the four suspects were apprehended while attempting to flee to Ukraine, prompting a strong rebuke from Ukrainian President Voldymr Zelenskyy, who claimed Moscow was attempting to blame Kyiv for the attack while their conflict continues into a third year. An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for what is considered the deadliest terror attack on Russian soil in years. The U.S. government said American intelligence supports the conclusion that ISIS was responsible. ZELENSKYY RESPONDS TO MOSCOW CONCERT HALL SHOOTING, RIPS PUTIN FOR SUGGESTING UKRAINE BEHIND TERROR ATTACK Court statements said two of the suspects accepted their guilt in the assault, though the mens condition raised questions about whether they were speaking freely. There had been conflicting reports in Russian media outlets that said three or all four men admitted culpability. Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, were charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Moscow's Basmanny District Court ordered that the men, all of whom were identified in the media as citizens of Tajikistan, be held in custody until May 22 pending investigation and trial. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: France raises terror alert to highest level in wake of Moscow concert hall attack UPDATE 3/25/24, 8:15 p.m. The Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that the dog was found. WASHINGTON (DC News Now) The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said detectives were trying to find a French Bulldog that was in his owners car Sunday when someone stole it. MPD said 4-year-old Recardito was in the car in the 1900 block of 14th St. NW when the owner parked it at around 3 a.m. The owner returned and found that the car, along with Recardito, were gone. Police said they found the car, but Recardito was not inside it. The Metropolitan Police Department asked anyone who recognizes Recardito from the picture it shared to call 202) 727-9099 or text your tip to the department at 50411. MPD officers a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person or people responsible for a crime committed in the District of Columbia. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. French President Emmanuel Macron responded to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's claims that the ISIS-Khorasan terrorists who carried out the attack at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow were allegedly ready to cross the border to the "Ukrainian side." Source: Reuters, as reported by European Pravda Quote: "I think that it would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine," Macron said. Details: According to him, French defence intelligence indicates that it is the branch of the Islamic State group that is responsible for the attack in Russia's Moscow Oblast. "The information available to us ... as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State which instigated this attack," Macron said, referring to ISIS-Khorasan. At the same time, the president pointed out that the branch of the Islamic State group, which took responsibility for the attack in the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow Oblast, made several attempts to attack in France. On Friday 22 March, a shooting incident occurred at a concert by the band Piknik at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 137 people. Following the events in Russia, France announced that the level of terrorist threat had been raised to its highest. Germany also warns of a significant threat from Islamist terrorists. Support UP or become our patron! EASTON A Stonehill College student from New Hampshire has received an outpouring of support after suffering serious injuries in a bicycling accident while studying abroad in Europe. Lauren Rauseo, a junior at the private Catholic college in Easton, was injured while cycling in Spain on March 17, according to a statement from Stonehill. Rauseo's parents told Enterprise news partner WCVB-TV that their daughter was in Spain with friends and decided to go on a bicycle ride shortly before returning to France. Rauseo attempted to catch up with her friends by going down a quieter side road, but ended up going down a large hill with a curve in it that led to her hitting a wall, the parents said. Rauseo's parents told WCVB that her daughter remembered being on a bicycle, but that she didn't remember the accident. Stonehill College junior Lauren Rauseo was injured in a bicycling accident in Spain on March 17, 2024. Rauseo, an English and communication double major from Londonderry, New Hampshire, suffered multiple severe injuries, including a traumatic brain injury and several fractures that required multiple surgeries and intensive care, according to a GoFundMe set up to help cover medical expenses. She was in critical condition and a medically induced coma initially, but her parents told WCVB that Rauseo is now alert and talking and that some of her fractures are healing naturally. "The Stonehill College community is praying for Laurens full recovery and offers support to her family," the college wrote in an emailed statement. A Mass was recently held at Stonehill to offer prayers for Rauseo's healing, the college said. Helen DeCosta, who is organizing the GoFundMe on behalf of the family, said on the fundraising page that the goal is to transfer Rauseo to a specialized pediatric ICU trauma unit in Boston once she's stable enough to travel. "The suddenness of this catastrophe has left Lauren's family, and all of us who love her, grappling with the profound sense of helplessness," DeCosta wrote on the GoFundMe page. "Being thousands of miles away has only intensified our anxiety and desire to do something-anything-to aid in her recovery. Lauren's parents have dropped everything to be by her side, their lives turned upside down as they navigate this nightmare." DeCosta said the costs of this accident, including returning Rauseo to the U.S. on a medical flight, are "staggering." As of late Monday afternoon, nearly $185,000 had already been raised in four days through over 3,000 donations. The GoFundMe can be found at gofundme.com/f/bring-lauren-home-fund-for-medflight-recovery. Enterprise senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached by email at cshepard@enterprisenews.com. This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Lauren Rauseo bicycle accident: Stonehill student injured in Spain A billboard displaying a burning candle following an attack at a popular concert hall complex on Friday where assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices, killing at least 100 people and injuring hundreds. Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Following the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow that left at least 137 dead, the Russian judiciary has ordered the pre-trial detention of three more suspects. The order made by the Basmanny District Court in the Russian capital on Monday afternoon brings the total number of suspects in custody to seven, including the four suspected gunmen, Russian state news agecny TASS reported. A total of 11 suspects were arrested after the attack on Friday evening. The four suspected main perpetrators had previously appeared before the magistrate on Sunday evening. Injuries indicating torture by Russian security forces were visible on their bodies. In the attack, four men opened fire on concert-goers before a rock concert at Crocus City Hall and then set the concert hall on fire. At least 137 people died in the attack, while 182 were injured. The terrorist militia Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack on several occasions, but Russian authorities have yet to comment on that claim which Western security authorities and experts consider to be credible. Without providing evidence, Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested Ukraine might be linked to the attack, accusations that Kiev has swiftly rejected. Emergency services are at the scene following an attack at a popular concert hall complex on Friday where assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices, killing at least 100 people and injuring hundreds. Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa ELKO Great Basin College student Sarah Crews, who won a $1,500 New Century Workforce Scholar scholarship earlier this year, said she feels very blessed with the award and her pending graduation into the field of radiology. Sponsored by the Coca-Cola Foundation and Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, the scholarship program nominated over 2,200 students from more than 1,300 college campuses around the United States. A single New Century Workforce Scholar was selected for each state. Crews was the scholar for Nevada. I feel very blessed to have been able to get this scholarship and I appreciate what I received from Phi Theta Kappa and all of the faculty and staff and students at GBC definitely helped me get to this point. I appreciate them noticing the hard work Ive been putting in. Crews is pursuing an associate degree in radiologic science from Great Basin College and working in the radiology program at Humboldt General Hospital in Winnemucca. Im a mother of two. And Ive traveled a lot going back and forth between Elko and Winnemucca, she said. In addition, she said she performs clinicals at different sites throughout Nevada. So the travel in general, the tuition, the books, it definitely relieves some stress there, she said of the scholarship. I knew that I always wanted to do something concerning patient care and helping people. When I first started going back to school, I wasnt entirely sure what I wanted to do, Crews explained. Originally when I was younger, I was thinking I wanted to go into nursing, Crews said. After Rene Huttman, a Great Basin College radiology professor and Crews current radiology adviser, reached out to her, Crews said she realized she saw career possibilities in the field of radiology. Im pretty excited to graduate in May and be able to enter the field. She said her goals are to get fully embedded in the field and start working full time. With radiology, you can expand into multiple different modalities. The next couple of years, I probably will return and try to get a bachelors. I havent decided where exactly, but I figured Ill give myself a little break, get in the career field and then eventually maybe return, she said. That way I can further advance in the field that Im in if I would like. She said demanding hours are a challenge of working in radiology, which most people may not be aware of. I have two young kids, so being away from them is a little hard. Youre seeing people when they are struggling, so sometimes that can take an emotional toll on you as well, she said. But so long as you know youre there to help them and do the best you can so they can have the best outcome, I feel like that definitely helps, having a positive attitude. Crews said two role models have helped her along her career journey. She said she has known GBC Phi Theta Kappa adviser Lynette MacFarlan for two years. She has really shown me my potential outside of school, Crews said. With Phi Theta Kappa, shes helped enhance me as a person. Shes helped teach me leadership and show me that I can achieve more and keep doing more. And shes the one who helped push me to try and run for president of Phi Theta Kappa. I think her believing in me definitely helps me to succeed and helps me see my potential. Crews said Huttman is her other academic hero. She showed me another passion that I could have, which was radiology. Shes really just been so supportive and helped me see how much I would love it. And I have, and shes been there every step of the way. Radiology involves a considerable amount of patient care as well as technical elements like math and science, which she didnt realize at first how much she would love, Crews explained. Im learning all kinds of different things. Im learning electrical and mechanical situations and physics, she said. I didnt expect to have learned so much throughout the last two years. I didnt realize the wide variety of how I can keep moving forward throughout this. There are so many different modalities where I can switch from X-ray to CT to MRI, and so forth, she said. I can just keep learning, keep excelling and keep doing what I love. A new Gallup survey measuring church attendance shows that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the highest rate of church attendance among religious groups. Two-thirds of Latter-day Saints attend church weekly or nearly weekly. This rate has stayed mostly steady over time. In 2000 to 2003, 68% of Latter-day Saints reported regular church attendance. There was a spike to 75% in 2011 to 2013 and data from 2021 to 2023 puts the rate at 67%. Nearly half of Protestants including non-denominational Christians (44%) said they attended services regularly. 38% of Muslims, 33% of Catholics and 22% of Jews said the same. The overall rate of church attendance in the U.S. has dropped. When Gallup did a survey two decades ago, 42% of U.S. adults said they attended services regularly. Now that figure is 30%, with 31% of U.S. saying they never attend services. Among Jewish and Muslim religious groups, theres actually been a percentage increase in attendance of 7% and 4% over the last two decades, bucking the national trend. Gallups data tracks with what other studies have shown. Data scientist Ryan Burge used data from the European Social Survey and the Cooperative Election Study to determine that Utah, a state with a high percentage of Latter-day Saints, has a 56% church attendance rate. Thats compared to an overall U.S. rate of 25%. Benefits of going to church Attending religious services have a positive impact on peoples happiness. A 2012 study from Duke professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences Harold G. Koenig found that people who are more religious or spiritual have better mental health and adapt more quickly to health problems compared to the general population. Survey data from Pew Research also shows that religious people are more likely to describe themselves as very happy compared to their less religious peers. 36% of actively religious U.S. adults describe themselves as very happy compared to 25% of adults who are inactively religious and 25% of the unaffiliated. Digging into the General Social Survey, data scientist Stephen Cranney found what he described as a clear pattern. Specifically, almost 1 in 3 frequent religious service attenders say they are very happy, while among non-attenders it is about 1 in 5, said Cranney in the Deseret News. As for why attending religious services contributes to happiness, there are a number of reasons one appears to be the social connections. Controlling for theology, church attendance, general sociability, and other demographic graphic factors, gaining friends at church seems to make you happier and nicer, and losing friends at church seems to have the opposite effects, Harvard professor of public policy Robert D. Putnam said. Church friends produce happier, nicer people. Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti's retirement sendoff was held Friday in the Jury Assembly Room at the Marion County Judicial Center. Judges, lawyers, law enforcement officials and other well-wishers gathered to pay their respects to Tatti, who is retiring after more than a decade on the bench. Circuit Judge Peter Brigham speaks at Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti's retirement sendoff on Friday. Circuit Judge Peter Brigham told the gathering he first met Tatti at the University of Florida and viewed him as an intelligent, focused, goal-orientated individual. Years later, their paths would cross again when Brigham went to work at the State Attorney's Office, where Tatti already was a prosecutor. The judge said Tatti saved his career. A defense lawyer called Brigham a baby killer, since Brigham served in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Brigham said he was going to fight the lawyer, but Tatti held him back. Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti speaks at his retirement ceremony held Friday, March 22 in the Jury Assembly Room. Tatti said he was overwhelmed and thanked everyone for showing up. He said he enjoyed his time as a judge as it allowed him to exercise his brain, use judgment and help people along the way. He especially thanked former State Attorney Brad King, attorney Bill DeCarlis and former Judge Ray McNeal, for instilling the characteristics that helped guide throughout his career. Retirement: Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti is retiring from the bench, but not the law. Here's his next step. Next month, Tatti starts his new career as a defense lawyer in private practice. "I'm going to do the best I can," he said. Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: From the bench to private practice: Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert! NEWSOM, SCHWARZENEGGER AND FONDA KICK OFF CAMPAIGN TO DEFEND OIL WELL SETBACK LAW The campaign to defend SB 1137 the 2022 law requiring oil wells to be set back 3,200 feet from homes, schools, hospitals and community resource centers kicked off at a Los Angeles County park on Friday, with actress Jane Fonda and Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, on hand to lend some star power to the effort. The oil industry, through the California Independent Petroleum Association, pushed back against the law, successfully waging a petition campaign to subject the law to a voter referendum this November. We have to protect this. We have to keep the law, Fonda said, as an oil well pumped away behind her. Schwarzenegger spoke of how the referendum was reminiscent of his own battle with the oil industry as he sought tougher environmental regulations during his time in Sacramento. I never knew that besides Hollywood there were so many people who loved sequels, the former governor joked. Schwarzenegger vowed that once again, the oil industry would be terminated. Newsom credited Schwarzenegger and former Californian Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon for their groundbreaking environmental reforms. Theres no Democratic, no Republican thermometer theres just reality, Newsom said. The climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis, the governor said, and Big Oil has played us for fools for decades and decades. Newsom pointed to Californias recent history of extreme weather, including massive wildfires that have devastated communities and left many homeless or dead. Ask the folks in Paradise, California, he said. Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association, said in a statement, Senate Bill 1137 doesnt just prevent new wells, it does not allow maintenance on existing wells. That means California will import more oil from Saudi Arabia instead of using local energy produced by California workers. CALIFORNIA BILL ADDS LEGAL PENALTIES FOR HATE LITTERING Sick of Nazis papering your car while youre inside a venue attending an event? Soon, you could have legal remedies. A California lawmaker has introduced a bill to amend state law to create legal penalties for hate littering, the hate group tactic of leaving pamphlets at peoples residences or on their vehicles that are intended to sow division and fear. These are not just pieces of paper with words, Assemblyman Chris Ward, D-San Diego, said in a prepared statement. These are deliberate, targeted attacks that are intended to harass and intimidate victims, dehumanizing them based on their religion, gender or sexual orientation, or other characteristic. They are being left on our windshields, in our driveways, and on our front doors. They have no place in our communities. AB 3024 updates the Ralph Act of 1976 which states that all people have a right to be free from violence and intimidation to include hate pamphlets, making it easier for law enforcement to prosecute and people to seek civil remedies from perpetrators. According to the Anti-Defamation League, there has been a rise in antisemitic hate in the United States. In 2023, there were more than 3,600 acts of antisemitic assault, vandalism and harassment across the country, the highest year on record since the ADL first started tracking them in 1979. Wards office cited hateful pamphlets being distributed in San Diego, Los Angeles and Fresno last year. AB 3024 will go before the Assembly Judiciary Committee later this spring. QUOTE OF THE DAY Once again, Steve Garvey is taking a page right out of Donald Trumps playbook. While millions of Californians play by the rules and pay their taxes, Steve Garvey refuses to pay his. Its par for the course for someone who supports Donald Trumps tax cuts for the richest Americans. Hard-working Californians need a leader who will fight to lower their taxes not show the wealthy how to evade theirs. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, in a prepared statement responding to The Bees report that his opponent in the U.S. Senate race, Steve Garvey, owes at least $350,000 in back taxes Best of The Bee: Former Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee and three workers from his supermarket chain were named in a new federal indictment unsealed Friday, with Loloee now accused of filing false tax returns and cheating workers out of pay they were owed, via Sam Stanton . California Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, he said Thursday in an open letter to Californias Muslim, Palestinian American and Arab American communities, decrying violence that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, via Andrew Sheeler . A state workers doctor prescribed telework. But California forced him to return to office, via Maya Miller . State Farm plans to not renew roughly 72,000 property and commercial apartment policies in California starting this summer, the company announced Wednesday, via Stephen Hobbs . Students who have struggled to complete their financial aid applications following months of issues at the federal level will likely have one more month to file their paperwork in California, via Mathew Miranda . U.S. Senate candidate Steve Garvey owes state and federal taxes incurred 13 years ago totaling at least $350,000 and as much as $750,000, according to his February financial disclosure statement, via David Lightman. SACRAMENTO, California Gov. Gavin Newsom needs to solve one of the biggest challenges of his tenure. He has three months to cleave $38 billion from the largest state budget in the country. And the final amount could be nearly double that. But the governor has another problem: The lawmakers helping him have never done this before. First-year leaders in the state Assembly and Senate have never even led state budget negotiations in good times, let alone addressed a shortfall of this magnitude. The inexperience during a sharp budget downturn extends to the entire class of lawmakers in Sacramento, some of whom were still in short pants during the Great Recession. This is going to be a new experience for almost everybody, including me, said Jesse Gabriel, 42, the recently appointed Assembly Budget Committee chair. Californias bleak budget picture has dominated debates in Sacramento, shadowing nearly every aspect of governing at the Capitol and forcing lawmakers to dramatically scale back their ambitions, if not publicly, then certainly in private. Embedded in many of those conversations is the lack of hands-on experience forcing lawmakers to lean heavily on longtime aides while boning up on a complex subject that can take decades to master. New Democratic leaders also have to unify their caucuses behind deep spending cuts something hardly any members have had to vote for in the past and each house has held policy retreats focused intensely on that goal. For Gabriel, that has meant a parade of meetings and 170 budget request letters some light reading for the Legislatures spring recess this month. The sheer scale of the turnover since the last downturn cant be overstated. Each houses Budget and Appropriations committees changed hands during a trying time. Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire, 44, and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, 44 who was sworn in over the summer have both rewarded close allies with those powerful panels upon securing power. Seemingly overnight, those jobs have changed from leading the sort of Oprah Winfrey-style giveaways worthy of campaign ads to playing a central role in cutting programs, moves sure to disappoint constituents. We don't have a lot of money to appropriate, so that's unfortunate, acknowledged new Assembly Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks, 46, a Rivas lieutenant. They also dont have a lot of time, a reality Newsom touched on with reporters after ducking out of a recent quick check-in with Assembly leaders. Were hoping to move, and we made that clear in January, Newsom said, and weve only reinforced that since. Legislative leaders recently agreed with the governor to trim the deficit by at least $12 billion before final negotiations, but not on how theyll do so. The Assembly where new leaders have promised to incorporate more of their caucus feedback than predecessors havent yet publicized a proposal. But the Senate is pushing a detailed package of $17 billion in spending cuts, delays and borrowing with Newsoms approval. We need to move decisively to shrink this shortfall early, McGuire, who took over the chamber just last month, said in an interview. But we all know tough decisions lie ahead. While McGuire kept several committee chairs in place, he did replace state Sen. Nancy Skinner, 69, as Budget chair one of the few holdovers from the Great Recession with housing and transit-focused Sen. Scott Wiener, 53, a rising star in the party. The Senate leader said he made the change because the two men share an honest, open, blunt and transparent style in approaching tough budgeting. We work hand in hand together. Weve been in the trenches together, tackling some of the biggest issues facing the state and Legislature over these past many years, McGuire said, calling Wiener both pragmatic and relentless. Skinner remains on the panel with the title chair emeritus and is aiding with the transition. Another shift has come in regional representation. Unlike during the Great Recession and most years after neither chamber leader is from the Los Angeles area. Though Gabriel is an Angeleno, Rivas represents the Central Coast and McGuire hails from the North Coast. The change has added urgency to the budget advocacy efforts of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who recently traveled to Sacramento and lobbied against proposed cuts that could force her city to give back $11 million in housing grants to the state. This is the first time in many, many years that the leadership has not been from Southern California, so that's an additional reason why we needed to be here, Bass, who was Assembly speaker from 2008 to 2010, told reporters last month. Several lawmakers said theyre relying heavily on seasoned staff and more senior confidantes to advise them through this difficult time. Gabriel has looked to Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, a former Senate Budget chair, and to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg who led the state Senate during the Recession. Wicks has turned to several mentors, including Skinner. Top budget consultants, including Jason Sisney in the Assembly and Chris Woods in the Senate, have worked on the budget since the Recession or longer. And at least five of the staffers hired during the Recession by then-Assembly Budget Chair Bob Blumenfield are still in the Legislature, he said. They know the tricks of budgeting, said Blumenfield, now a Los Angeles City councilmember. Not only Budget-101, but the advanced-level 504 class or whatever it would be. Theyve got their doctorates in creative budgeting. With term limits, which formally began in 1990, policymaking has become even more staff-driven in Sacramento. Budget negotiations often kick off with communication between staff in the Legislature, the governors office and the Department of Finance making their institutional knowledge a key force in driving discussions forward. Theres always a lot of consternation with leadership turnover, said former Department of Finance Director Keely Bosler. But many new leaders bring experience with local government financing and other useful know-how, she said, even if they're lacking state budget expertise. Recent turnover has not been limited to the Legislature. Some key positions within the Newsom administration have also changed hands. Senate Budget veteran Joe Stephenshaw was appointed director of the Department of Finance in 2022, replacing Bosler, and before her, Ana Matosantos, a fixture among spreadsheet devotees. You have new people all around in this budget process, said Assemblymember Phil Ting, the former Budget chair. Fortunately for those new leaders, budget dealmaking has become easier in at least one respect since the Recession. In 2010, the large margin once needed to pass budgets was reduced to a simple majority making interparty negotiations unnecessary for Democrats. The largest estimate of the deficit, $73 billion, is a record in numerical terms. But the states fiscal problems aren't what they were when banks were collapsing and unemployment was skyrocketing more than a decade ago. Then, the state had no reserves, and the costs of its entitlement programs were swelling as people lost their jobs prompting spending cuts that caused hardship for some of Californias most vulnerable. Despite the structural deficit, California is still cash-rich because it hasnt yet spent gobs of money collected in 2021 and 2022 that have been set aside for future spending on infrastructure improvements and other projects. The cushion of money already allowed Newsom to propose borrowing from state funds that are dedicated to specific programs rather than endorsing deeper cuts. Its not like the Recession, when people would testify that a choice would cause people to die, said Blumenfield. We were literally talking about how many colostomy bags people would be eligible for under Medicare. An aircraft airdrops humanitarian aid over the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from central Gaza, Monday, March 25, 2024. The U.N. Security Council voted 14-0 on a resolution in favor of calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, with the U.S. abstaining from voting. | Fatima Shbair The U.N. Security Council voted 14-0 on a resolution in favor of calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, with the U.S. abstaining from voting. The U.S. choosing not to veto the resolution prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull a delegation that was planned to go to Washington, according to CNBC. Netanyahu called the U.S. decision a clear retreat from its prior stance on the war in Gaza. What does the U.N. cease-fire resolution call for? The resolution calls for an immediate cease-fire during the month of Ramadan and the unconditional release of all hostages, Axios reported. Ramadan ends April 9, so if there is a cease-fire, itll be short-lived, according to NPR. The resolution vote was the first relating to a cease-fire to pass the security council and followed four failed attempts, Politico reported. Prior attempts failed due to disagreements among the U.S., China and Russia over resolution phrasing. On Friday, China and Russia vetoed a U.S. proposal over the U.S. insistence on linking the cease-fire call to a hostage deal and condemnation of Hamas, according to Axios. Even though the resolution passed, the breakthrough in New York is far from a sign that Russia, China and the United States are now aligned on the Israel-Hamas war, Politico reported. What does the resolution mean for U.S.-Israel relations? An Israeli delegation was due to travel to Washington, D.C., and Netanyahu warned prior to the vote that he would cancel the trip if the U.S. didnt veto the U.N. resolution, according to NPR. Israels government responded with a statement after the resolution passed. Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear last night that if the US withdraws from its principled position, he will not send the Israeli delegation to the US. In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation would not go, the statement said. The high-level delegation was going to talk through a planned military operation to the south of Gaza, in Rafah, NPR reported. There, more than a million Palestinians have fled from the war in Gaza. The Biden administration denied that abstaining from the vote meant its changed its stance on American policy toward Israel, according to CNBC. The White House was very disappointed in Netanyahus decision to pull the delegation, Axios reported. TBILISI (Reuters) - The speaker of Georgia's parliament on Monday signed off a law giving the assembly more power over the electoral commission ahead of a parliamentary election due by October, in what critics have called a pre-vote power grab. Parliament last week overrode a veto of the bill by President Salome Zourabichvili, who was elected with the ruling Georgian Dream party's support but has since accused it of anti-democratic and pro-Russian tendencies. The law enables parliament, controlled by the Georgian Dream bloc, to nominate members of the commission from candidates chosen by speaker Shalva Papuashvili, also a member of the bloc. Critics have said that the move will entrench Georgian Dream's control over elections, at a time when the government has been accused of becoming more authoritarian. Zourabichvili had said the changes could lead to a "biased and ruling party-controlled election administration". Polls indicate that Georgian Dream, seeking a fourth successive term, remains the most popular party but has lost ground since 2020, when it won a narrow parliamentary majority. The party is widely believed to be controlled by its founder, former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man. It has governed since 2012, the longest stint in power of any party since the South Caucasus country won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. (Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Minutes of agency meetings noted that there was 'no evidence' to suggest that FFP2 medical masks were useful outside of healthcare facilities - THOMAS KIENZLE/AFP via Getty Images Germanys public health agency said that lockdowns can cause more harm than good in documents released after a long legal battle. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) raised concerns in December 2020 that shutting down society could lead to increased child mortality, citing examples in Africa. The institute also disagreed with making FFP2 masks mandatory because of a lack of evidence, the minutes revealed. The RKI handed over the documents last week after losing a two-year court case to an obscure media outlet called Multipolar. The minutes are taken from daily meetings of the agencys crisis unit between February 2020 and April 2021. However, roughly a third of the total documentation has been redacted, leading to concerns that the health agency is still trying to hide some of its confidential deliberations. Politicians have urged the RKI to uncensor the entirety of its findings. Everything should be put on the table, Armin Laschet, a centre-Right lawmaker, told broadcaster ZDF. We can now see how differentiated discussions at the RKI were at the time and how little of this diversity ended up in concrete policy, said Mr Laschet, who was the Christian Democrats unsuccessful chancellor candidate at the last election. Armin Laschet says that Germany's media had failed to hold authorities to account - Annegret Hilse/Reuters One document from the 2,500-page tranche of files shows that the agency was aware that the lockdowns could cause more harm than the coronavirus itself. The filing, dated to December 2020, noted that the result of lockdowns in Africa was an expected rise in child mortality. The consequences of the lockdowns are in parts more severe than the virus itself. Another minute, from a meeting held in October 2020, noted that there was no evidence to suggest that FFP2 medical masks are useful outside of healthcare facilities. Active communication would make sense in order to make clear why the RKI does not recommend this measure, notes the minute. It also states an intent to make these concerns public. However, the health agency never told the public about these concerns. Three months later, when Bavaria became the first German state to mandate FFP2 masks in public spaces, the RKI stated that it does not comment on decisions made by other government authorities. Another minute from January 2021 expressed concerns about the British-made AstraZeneca vaccine, describing it as not as perfect as the other vaccines and saying that its use should be discussed. While the country was initially praised for its swift response to the spread of the virus under Angela Merkel, measures became more chaotic as the pandemic wore on - STEFANIE LOOS/AFP via Getty Images Mr Laschet, who advocated a liberal approach during the pandemic, said that the fact that no mainstream outlet had tried to get hold of the minutes showed that Germanys media had failed to hold authorities to account. The fact that these documents were released based on a suit brought by a website that is said to spread conspiracy theories makes clear that no mainstream outlet tried to get hold of them, he said. Unlike the UK, Germany has not held an inquiry into the measures taken during the pandemic. While the country was initially praised for its swift response to the spread of the virus, measures became more chaotic as the pandemic wore on. Infamously, Angela Merkel, the then chancellor, announced an almost complete shutdown of public life over Easter in 2021 before reversing the decision a few days later. Lockdown measures proved to be particularly divisive in Germany where an opposition movement called Querdenker organised marches in towns across the breadth of the country. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Claus Weselsky (L), head of the train drivers' union (GDL), and Martin Seiler, Board Member of the German state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn for Human Resources, arrive at the start of collective bargaining between Deutsche Bahn and the GDL. German state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn has struck a deal with the train drivers' union GDL to end a long and bitter collective bargaining dispute that included multiple disruptive strikes. Fabian Sommer/dpa German state-owned railway Deutsche Bahn has struck a deal with the train drivers' union GDL to end a long and bitter collective bargaining dispute that included multiple disruptive strikes. The GDL trade union announced the deal on Monday evening, but said details of the wage agreement would only be provided on Tuesday morning at separate press conferences called by Deutsche Bahn and the trade union. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn confirmed upon request that an agreement had been reached. Both Deutsche Bahn and GDL boss Claus Weselsky had recently expressed confidence that a solution to the conflict would be reached soon. Strikes in recent months by GDL had forced Deutsche Bahn to cancel around 80% of its passenger rail service, and also caused major issues for freight traffic as well. From the outset, the sticking point in the collective bargaining talks was the GDL's demand for a shorter 35-hour working week for train drivers, down from the current full-time weekly work schedule of 38 hours. In the most recent negotiations, Deutsche Bahn instead offered a working week of 36 hours, to be phased in over two stages by 2028. However, the trade union rejected that proposal and went out on two further brief strikes. Around a week ago, Deutsche Bahn and the GDL announced that they would resume talks, this time behind closed doors, and would bring in external mediators if necessary. The labour dispute began at the start of November and involved a total of six strikes by the train drivers. German Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs Nancy Faeser gives a press statement after the plenary session of the German Bundestag. Britta Pedersen/dpa The assessment of the threat from Islamist terrorism to Germany remains high but is unchanged since the attack on a concert venue near Moscow, dpa learned from state security authorities on Monday. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung that the authorities were working on the assumption that Islamic State Khorosan Province, an Islamic State offshoot, was behind the attack. German security forces see the group, which is active mainly in Afghanistan, as a major threat to the country and to Europe as a whole. Khorosan refers to a historical Central Asian region taking in parts of Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Iran. Terrorism expert Peter Neumann told German national public radio on Monday that Germany and western Europe were facing an increased threat of Islamist terrorism since the Gaza War erupted. He spoke of a huge "mobilization by Islamists, by jihadists all over western Europe" in remarks to broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. Three or four attacks had been prevented in Germany alone, he said. Neumann described Islamic State Khorosan Province as "extremely ambitious and aggressive in attempting attacks in non-Muslim countries, including countries in western Europe." The largest current terrorist threat in Germany and in Europe as a whole once again came from the Islamist, or jihadist, side, he said. The authorities face a dilemma between drawing attention to the threat, while not alarming the population unnecessarily. "I believe the German government is currently doing this quite well," he said. The security forces should be congratulated for preventing many terrorist attacks, he added. Neumann pointed to two arrests of suspected Islamic State supporters in the central German state of Thuringia last week and arrests linked to a planned attack on Cologne Cathedral over Christmas. Incidents were on the rise, Neumann said. Since the start of the Gaza War, there had been eight attempted jihadist terrorist attacks in Europe, against just six such attempts over the whole of 2022, he said, citing figures from Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency. And he noted that, whereas in the past, the terrorists had acted individually, Islamic State Khorosan Province worked in a more organized way. He termed the group "truly professional" in being able to organize its networks. Earlier on Monday, Interior Minister Faeser warned of the growing dangers posed by Russia's hybrid warfare of traditional and cyber spying and accused the Kremlin of encouraging migrants to move to Western Europe. The Social Democratic (SPD) politician, in a story in Monday's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, said: "We are actually experiencing a new dimension of threats from Russian aggression. "But espionage is also at least as active," said Faeser. She also accused the Kremlin of deliberately promoting refugee movements to Western Europe: "Russia also wants to destabilize the West with migration." With an eye toward the European Parliament elections in June and German state elections in September, Faeser said the German government will gear up more strongly to defend itself against cyber espionage "We must ensure that there are no hacker attacks on electoral authorities or on the transmission of election results". Faeser is focusing on the increased use of artificial intelligence to protect against disinformation campaigns and spoke out against cuts to her budget for 2025. The interior minister also accused the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party of being close to Putin, which AfD leader Alice Weidel denied in a dpa interview. "The AfD worships Putin and despises modern Germany," Faeser said. The party had "radicalized itself in large parts from an anti-euro party to an anti-constitutional party." Faeser did not rule out the possibility of banning the AfD,a move which has been debated recently in Germany. "If a party wants to aggressively undermine the basic democratic order, it can be banned by the Federal Constitutional Court. If the radicalization of the AfD continues, this is an option provided for in our constitution," Faeser said. Palestinians inspect the damage to one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City. The German government says it is supplying 45 million ($48.7 million) to UNRWA, United Nation's agency for Palestinian refugees, for its work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied West Bank, while funds for Gaza remain suspended. Omar Ishaq/dpa The German government says it is supplying 45 million ($48.7 million) to UNRWA, United Nation's agency for Palestinian refugees, for its work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied West Bank, while funds for Gaza remain suspended. The contributions are part of the regular regional support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the German Foreign Office said, disclosing the sum in Berlin on Monday. Germany, alongside other donor countries, suspended UNRWA funds for the agency's work in the Gaza Strip after Israel in January accused a dozen UNRWA employees of being involved in the terrorist acts committed by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that, based on initial information provided by Israel, the allegations seemed credible, and he promised comprehensive clarification. Two separate investigations are under way and several employees were fired. According to the German Foreign Office, it is still unclear whether funds earmarked for UNRWA's work in the Gaza Strip will be resumed. A review is still ongoing, the ministry said. Of the total sum of 45 million being provided to UNRWA in other regions, 15 million are to support basic health and education services for Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon and 7 million are to go to a "Cash for Work" programme for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the ministry said. The ACLU of Nevada is prepared to file lawsuits against numerous county and municipal jails for over claims theyre failing to comply with a voting-access law that went into effect at the beginning of this year. ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah told state lawmakers on the Interim Committee on Legislative Operations & Elections lawsuits will be filed on April 15 against any detention center believed to be out of compliance with the new state law, which requires all county and city jails to have policies and procedures in place that allow detained people to vote in elections. The mid-April deadline is designed to ensure that the issues be addressed in advance of the June primary elections. We dont have much wiggle room, said Haseebullah. We had an election that has already happened, added Sadmira Ramic, a voting-rights attorney with ACLU of Nevada, referring to the state-run presidential preference primary held in early February. Disenfranchisement has already occurred. Haseebullah and Ramic did not publicly identify all of the facilities they believe are out of compliance with the in-jail voting law, but they noted that 5 of 12 facilities they formally requested information from had no policies on voting or were not responsive. Mineral County was identified as a county that responded to the ACLUs requests by stating only they were monitoring the new law. According to the ACLU, 6 out of 12 facilities they contacted did not provide information or have policies on same-day voter registration, and seven did not have information about in-jail voting prominently posted. Both are specific requirements of the in-jail voting law, 2023s Assembly Bill 286, which passed with wide bipartisan support. The ACLU also found instances of jails sharing outdated information about the voting rights of felons. Haseebullah said the ACLUs hope is that detention centers will become compliant with the law and that litigation can be avoided altogether. Were not here to yell or threaten counties or cities, he said. Were trying to ensure compliance with the law, and were in a finite time period. State Sen. Skip Daly, D-Sparks, called the timeline set by the ACLU more than generous. He added, I am concerned that some of it is just political and people just want to thumb their nose at the state. Detention centers provide details Prior to the ACLUs presentation, several law enforcement agencies provided lawmakers with an update on how their in-jail voting worked for the presidential preference primary. Churchill County Sheriff Richard Hickox told the committee that 43 inmates were in their detention facility on the election day, and that one of them participated. That individual was not previously registered to vote, he added. According to the Washoe County Sheriffs Office, 69 inmates requested to vote. The majority, 43 people, could not be confirmed as Nevada residents and therefore did not vote. But 26 did. Only eight had been registered voters before. In Southern Nevada, 23 people detained at Clark County Detention Center participated in the presidential preference primary, according to Nita Schmidt from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Specific details, such as their voting registration status prior to being detained, were not immediately available. Assemblywoman Brittney Miller, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the in-jail voting bill, seemed encouraged by the numbers, saying it was a solid number of voters considering that the presidential preference primary was a new concept to Nevada. Schmidt told lawmakers Metro is working with Southern Nevadas other, smaller detention facilities (which include city jails for Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas) to set up a system where inmates at those smaller facilities can be transported to CCDC to vote in person at their polling place. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock meets with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (Not Pictured) at the Foreign Ministry of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Christoph Soeder/dpa German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo on Monday for another round of crisis talks amid the increasingly catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Baerbock has been campaigning for weeks for a humanitarian ceasefire so that the Israeli hostages still being held by the Islamist Hamas can be released and aid supplies can reach the Gaza Strip. At the start of her almost two-day trip to the Middle East, Baerbock demanded that Israel and Hamas reach an agreement on a temporary ceasefire. "Only an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that leads to a permanent ceasefire will keep the hope for peace alive - for Palestinians and Israelis alike," Baerbock said on Sunday. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (2nd L) meets with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (2nd R) at the Foreign Ministry of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Christoph Soeder/dpa German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gives a press statement in front of the Air Force Airbus A350 at Cairo International Airport before flying to Israel. Christoph Soeder/dpa German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has once again called on Israel not to launch a ground offensive in the Palestinian city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, while on yet another trip to the Middle East to hold crisis talks. "There must be no large-scale offensive on Rafah," she said in Cairo on Monday after a meeting with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry. "People cannot disappear into thin air," she said after another round of crisis talks amid the increasingly catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian coastal strip. According to estimates, 1.5 million of the 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are currently seeking shelter in Rafah from the Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave. The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks surpassed 30,000 last month, with many more thousands injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported. The actual number of dead is likely to be much higher. Baerbock also emphasized on Monday that aid deliveries by air and sea could only make a small contribution to the dire situation in Gaza. "What we need is to open up the land route." The Israeli government has a responsibility to guarantee access to food and water as well as safe escape routes, she said. The minister accused Israel of not making a strong enough distinction between military and civilian targets. According to Baerbock, this and the terrible humanitarian situation are further fuelling terror in the Gaza Strip. "Hostages will not be freed while children in Gaza are currently starving to death." The United Nations has warned of an imminent famine, with around 1.1 million people in the Palestinian region in a desperate situation. Later on Monday, Baerbock is scheduled to fly on to Israel in what will be her sixth visit to the country since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, in which abut 1,200 people were killed. In the evening, she is expected to visit the Israeli-occupied West Bank and meet the leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah. PA Foreign Minister Riad Malki is also expected to join. A meeting between Baerbock and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz is scheduled for Tuesday. On Sunday, the German minister demanded that Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas make concessions in ongoing negotiations in Qatar regarding the Gaza war and agree to an immediate ceasefire. "Only an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that leads to a permanent ceasefire will keep the hope for peace alive - for Palestinians and Israelis alike," Baerbock said. Israeli Foreign Minister Katz replied on X: "We expect our friends to continue to support Israel in these challenging times and not to weaken it against the terrorist organisation Hamas." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to move forward with the assault on Rafah despite international concerns. While firmly continuing to back Israel's "right to self-defence" after the October 7 attacks, Berlin has slowly grown more critical of Israel's military actions in Gaza, in particular regarding the lack of aid reaching the civilian population. Baerbock has been calling for a humanitarian ceasefire for weeks, in order to facilitate the release of the remaining hostages taken to Gaza on October 7 and increase the number of aid deliveries into the coastal area. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gives a press statement at the official residence of the Palestinian President in Ramallah. Christoph Soeder/dpa German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has once again called on Israel not to launch a ground offensive in the Palestinian city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, while on yet another trip to the Middle East to hold crisis talks. "There must be no large-scale offensive on Rafah," she said in Cairo on Monday after a meeting with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry. "People cannot disappear into thin air," she said after another round of talks amid the increasingly catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian coastal strip. According to estimates, 1.5 million of the 2.2 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are currently seeking shelter in Rafah from Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave. Baerbock later also met with the leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA) governing the occupied West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah. The German minister praised the president and the PA for clearly condemning the violence of the October 7 attacks on Israel led by Palestinian extremist organization Hamas. This stance had been "an important contribution" to the UN Security Council's decision to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for the first time, she said. The most powerful body of the United Nations was able to pass a resolution on Monday calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza war for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as well as the release of all Israeli hostages, after the US, Israel's biggest ally, decided not to use its veto power. The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks surpassed 30,000 last month, with many more thousands injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported. The actual number of dead is likely to be much higher. Baerbock also emphasized on Monday that aid deliveries by air and sea could only make a small contribution to the dire situation in Gaza. "What we need is to open up the land route." The Israeli government has a responsibility to guarantee access to food and water as well as safe escape routes, she said. The minister accused Israel of not making a strong enough distinction between military and civilian targets. According to Baerbock, this and the terrible humanitarian situation are further fuelling terror in the Gaza Strip. "Hostages will not be freed while children in Gaza are currently starving to death." The United Nations has warned of an imminent famine, with around 1.1 million people in the Palestinian region in a desperate situation. Later on Monday, Baerbock was set to fly on to Israel in what will be her sixth visit to the country since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, in which about 1,200 people were killed. A meeting between Baerbock and Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz is scheduled for Tuesday. On Sunday, the German minister demanded that Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas make concessions in ongoing negotiations in Qatar regarding the Gaza war and agree to an immediate ceasefire. Israeli Foreign Minister Katz replied on X: "We expect our friends to continue to support Israel in these challenging times and not to weaken it against the terrorist organisation Hamas." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to move forward with the assault on Rafah despite international concerns. While firmly continuing to back Israel's "right to self-defence" after the October 7 attacks, Berlin has slowly grown more critical of Israel's military actions in Gaza, in particular regarding the lack of aid reaching the civilian population. Baerbock has been calling for a humanitarian ceasefire for weeks, in order to facilitate the release of the remaining hostages taken to Gaza on October 7 and increase the number of aid deliveries into the coastal area. After meeting with Palestinian leader Abbas, Baerbock stressed the need for the PA to get access to Gaza, as well as the "certainty that Gaza and, above all, the West Bank are one." In this context, the ongoing construction of new Israeli settlements in the West Bank was constantly opening up "new gaps and therefore also security risks," the German minister said. "This is literally obstructing the two-state solution. It is literally obstructing peace." She also continued to campaign for violent radical settlers to face consequences. According to media reports, Israel's civil administration has declared 800 hectares of land in the West Bank to be Israeli land, with hundreds of settler homes to be built there. The Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gives a press statement at the official residence of the Palestinian President in Ramallah. Christoph Soeder/dpa German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gives a press statement in front of the Air Force Airbus A350 at Cairo International Airport before flying to Israel. Christoph Soeder/dpa Rescuers in boats and aircraft raced against the clock Sunday to help isolated people in Brazil's mountainous southeast after storms and heavy rains killed at least 23 people, officials said, while a 4-year-old girl was rescued after more than 16 hours under mud. The deluge pounded the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, where authorities described a chaotic situation due to flooding. Espirito Santos' state government said Sunday that the death toll had risen to 15 as rescuers advanced, while almost 5,000 people were forced out of their homes because of the weather, the Associated Press reported. The most affected municipality is Mimoso do Sul, a town of almost 25,000 inhabitants located in the south of Espirito Santo. Thirteen deaths in Espirito Santo were reistered in Mimoso do Sul, according to the AP. State Governor Renato Casagrande described the situation as "chaotic," saying that so far it has not been possible to assess the damage in some of the more isolated areas, with fears the toll could yet rise. At least eight people have been killed in the neighboring state of Rio de Janeiro, officials said, most of them caused by landslides. Four of the deaths in Rio state occurred when the storm caused a house to collapse in the city of Petropolis, around 45 miles inland from the capital. Nicelio Goncalves opens the fridge at his flooded home after heavy rains in Duque de Caxias, Brazil, Sunday, March 24, 2024. / Credit: Bruna Prado / AP Search teams rescued a 4-year-old girl buried in mud for more than 16 hours there. She was pulled alive from the mud, although her father was found dead next to her. A neighbor told AFP that the man had "heroically protected the girl with his body," which is why she survived. Rescue teams said the same, the Associated Press reported. The teams had to stop their work on Friday night because of risks of new landslides in the region, and her father died as a house was knocked to the ground, according to AP. Three more people died in the same place. "My son was a warrior, he spent all that time there and saved his little daughter," Roberto Napoleao, the grandfather of the 4-year-old girl, told journalists, AP reported. "You can't imagine what it is like to lose a son. It hurts so much." The deluge came as Brazil, South America's largest country, suffers through a recent string of extreme weather events, which experts say are more likely to occur due to climate change. Such environmental tragedies "are intensifying with climate change," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding that thousands had been left homeless by the storm. He expressed sympathy for the victims, and said his government was working with state and local authorities to "protect, prevent and repair flood damage." Around 90 people have been rescued since Friday, according to a bulletin from an emergency committee comprising Rio government and civil defense officials. Images on local media showed rivers of water, mud and debris rushing down slopes in picturesque Petropolis, which in February 2022 saw at least 241 deaths from another catastrophic storm. Dozens of soldiers and firefighters, aided by dogs, worked Saturday in the pouring rain. Part of the cemetery had been washed away, an AFP team in the town also saw, with further landslides still a risk. In Mimoso do Sul, a fire truck was seen being dragged down a street by currents, while images released Saturday by the state fire department showed entire neighborhoods under water, with only the roofs of houses visible. The National Institute of Meteorology had predicted a severe storm, particularly in Rio, with rainfall of almost 8 inches a day from Friday through Sunday. Normally, the area receives 5 1/2 inches of rain in all of March. Rio authorities had declared an administrative holiday on Friday as the storm approached and urged people to stay home. The storm follows a record heat wave, when humidity helped send the heat index soaring above 62 degrees Celsius, or 143 degrees Fahrenheit. Brazil has veen vulnerable to catastrophic rains and flooding before. Last September, flooding from a cyclone in southern Brazil washed away houses, trapped motorists in vehicles and swamped streets in several cities, killing almost 40 people and leaving 2,300 homeless. In 2022, flooding and landslides triggered by torrential rain killed more than 100 people in northeastern Brazil. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Christian Cooper, the "Extraordinary Birder" "James" author Percival Everett on race, language and art Doris Kearns Goodwin on "An Unfinished Love Story" From the Wanderland on The Dispatch Maricopa County is where you go to catch congenital syphilis and up on the latest shenanigans from the Trump cult. About the latter: A mob shouting about revolution and such stormed a meeting of the board of supervisors in late February, with the elected county officials having to be escorted from the venue by security guards backed up by sheriffs deputies. I probably dont have to tell you this was a Trumpist mob, and not one full of would-be Jacobins, Antifa, Greta Thunberg followers, or defund the police! types. Im here today to put you on public notice and Im here to inform you that you are not our elected officials, one of the leaders, bearing the possible aptronym Michelle Klann, declared. None of you have ever signed an oath of office to the Republic of Arizona, instead youve signed an oath of office to a foreign corporation, which means this is an act of insurrection. Due to all the voter fraud, you have never been formally voted in. Acting as if you are authority over the people is a direct act of treason. Klann is the founder of a pro-Trump organization, and there were the usual MAGA hats and Trumpist regalia in the mob. Klann really got cooking in her statement: Your act of treason will be grounds for an immediate military tribunal. We do not need to tell you the penalties for treason. Thats quite a two-step, from all the voter fraud to firing squads. If you close your eyes, you can see, and possibly smell, the scene. And to be clear: In referencing penalties for treason, Klann was talking about murdering those county officials. Thats how cowards threaten violence against their perceived enemiesnot forthrightly and honestly, but with an Im just sayin, a moral fig leaf. It is contemptible. Klann is associated with something called the Peoples [sic] Operation Restoration, the website of which is graced by an image of Donald Trump in 18th-century military garb, seated atop a white charger. And what is this Peoples [sic] Operation Restoration? Funny you should ask! The Peoples [sic] Operation Restoration is the mechanism by which the coordinated strategy, planning, and specific objectives are delivered to the army of light comprised of millions of individuals worldwide. Click one or two links deep and youre into recommendations for lightworkers. (Remember when Barack Obama was a lightworker? Those were the days.) These right-wing crackpots use the turgid and bombastic prose of 20th-century communists (the mechanism by which the coordinated strategy, planning, and specific objectives are delivered) but their views are ultimately theological: army of light, etc. I keep telling everybody this is a cult, and the members of said cult keep telling everybody it is a cult. One of these days, people are going to believe one of us. This is the beating heart of the Republican Party in 2024kooks and cultists who greet Donald Trump as a messiah. Would you like to see Klanns full statement, published later on social media? Of course you would. Here it is: My name is Michelle Klann, and Im here today to put you on public notice and to inform you that you are not our elected officials. None of you have never signed an oath to the Republic of Arizona. Instead, you have signed an oath of office to a foreign corporation which means this is an act insurrection. You do not have a proper bond carrying surety for your actions to we the people. Due to all the voter fraud, you have never been formally voted in. Acting as if you have any authority over the people is a direct act of treason. Today we, the body sovereign are presenting you each a notice of liability and opportunity to cure. The fine is $1.75 million per claim and there are 12 signatures which means you are each personally liable for $21 million. If you do not resign in 3 days you will be presented with a writ quo warrento , an a waiver of tort. If you do not rebut these truths and you remain in office, We will be notifying the military, and your act of treason will be grounds for an immediate military tribunal. I dont need to tell you the penalties for treason. We the body sovereign, hereby command you to resign within three days or else face the consequence. Im also here today to hand you this jump drive, which contains a 5000 page document notifying you of all the dangers of the Covid vaccine and the poison in the water to name a few. These are high crimes and acts against humanity. If you cover up high crimes, you will be held guilty for committing acts against humanity. Therefore I hereby command you to send a public broadcast to every resident in Maricopa county notifying them of these dangers within the next three days or you will be in direct violation and derelict of your supposed of duty, making you even more accountable for your actions. Notice to agent is notice to principal. You have been formally served on record. That is how you build a permission structure for political violence. First, you undermine the legitimacy of institutions as the right has been doing with election procedures and the left has been doing with (among other targets) the Supreme Court and police departments. Next, you come up with some explicit rationale for violence: that you and your fellow partisans are merely meting out penalties for treason or enforcing revolutionary justice, that we are facing some life-or-death crisis (political, religious, ecological) that necessitates setting aside ordinary rules and norms, that the other side is about to strike and that your only hope is to strike preemptively, etc. And, finally, you need a precipitating event. The lefts favorite kind of precipitating event has long been acts of racial violence: the assassination Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the acquittal of the LAPD officers charged in the 1991 Rodney King beating, the killing of George Floyd. An element of the righta non-trivial elementis currently working itself up for violence on the pretext that the upcoming presidential election is going to be stolen from Donald Trump. Trump himself, who insists the last election was stolen from him, already is talking up the inevitability of fraud in November. As a practical campaign matter, talk of electoral fraud is difficult to work with. It tends to depress turnoutas Republicans learned to their dismay when Trump cost them the Senate in 2021 with his temper tantrum in Georgiabecause it makes it look like you are expecting to lose and that your vote doesnt matter because it wont really count. Trump, very likely acting on the advice of somebody a good deal less stupid than he, has begun rolling out the slogan Too Big To Rig, encouraging the Trump faithful to turn out in spite of the fact that our elections are, according to his considered analysis, illegitimate. This is, of course, a very Trumpian approach, very heads-I-win/tails-you-lose: If he loses, he has a built-in excuse to spare his fragile psyche; if he winsthen he wins, and nobody is going to bother very much about how he was saying, just the day before yesterday, that the elections were fixed. I write this with some hesitation: I wouldnt want to be working at a voting site in Novemberand, if Trump is much behind in the polls (which themselves will be denounced as fraudulent if Trump lags), then those who are working at polling stations or in election offices would do well to take serious security precautions. Portland and New York City may riot afterward if Trump wins, but those cranks in Maricopa Countyand others like them around the country, many of whom are prominent in local Republican politicsare laying the groundwork for pre-election violence. If you think I am overstating the role of these people in the GOP, consider that Marjorie Taylor Greene was, only a few years ago, one of these cranks, thirsting after Facebook clicks, claiming that the Parkland massacre never happened and that those dead children and grieving parents were crisis actors, a claim clung to by such figures as American Greatness writer Julie Kelly. You can find Greene in Congress and Kelly on Fox Newswhich doesnt tell you everything you need to know about the direction of the Republican Party and the conservative movement, but tells you a great deal. Like most durable conspiracy theories, the rigged election stuff intersects, if only a little, with the truth. Did social media companies unfairly and irresponsibly try to suppress the New York Posts coverage of Hunter Bidens shenanigans? Yes. Does that mean Mark Zuckerberg rigged the election for Joe Biden? No. The most serious criticism of the 2020 election, in my view, involves the non-legislative change to mail-in ballot rules in Pennsylvania. But even the most alarming reading of that situation does not give any weight to the broader claims that the 2020 presidential election was secured for Joe Biden by fraudulent means, that this was undertaken by corrupt voting-machine companies in league with was it Venezuelan intelligence operatives? I think it was. If youve spent much time around people suffering from partisan dementia, youll know the style of argument: Begin with False Claim A, and when the falsehood of A is asserted by an interlocutor, then move on to True or Plausible Sub-Claim B, which does not establish the truth of False Claim A but which could be read to support a more vague general claim (such as media unfairness) to which False Claim A speaks. Move on through claims of varying degrees of falsity in the hopes of prevailing by means of exhaustion. If you can figure out a way to make a heap of money while doing that, then congratulations, you are Sean Hannity. The amount of voting fraud in the United States is not zero. From time to time, political operatives are arrested, tried, and convicted of voting fraud. Sometimes, that takes the form of stuffing ballot boxes and other old-fashioned measures; sometimes, it takes grotesque and ugly forms such as attempting to farm votes from mentally disabled patients in assisted-living facilities; sometimes, it takes exactly the form rightist critics often insist it does, exploiting the lack of oversight in mail-in ballots to cast votes in the name of people who are not actually engaged in voting themselves. There are votes from ineligible voters, voters who vote in multiple jurisdictions, etc. All of that is a matter of public record, established to the high standards of evidence demanded by our criminal justice system. From this, two things might reasonably be concluded: 1) The people engaged in this criminal activitywhich can and does result in jail timemust expect it to produce meaningful results; and 2) The voting fraud we have detected isnt the only voting fraud there is. While there is no good way to estimate how much undetected fraud is at play, we can reasonably assume that it is not zero. That does not mean, however, that we can assume it is widespread, systematic, and effectively changing the results of major electionsmuch less presidential elections. Voting fraud seems most likely to produce real results in smaller elections, and that is where we have most often seen it detected: in obscure primaries and in local elections. Throwing a presidential election is a very different matter. Assume, arguendo, that every vote cast in the 2020 presidential election in Florida was legitimate. In order for Biden to have stolen the state from Trump, he would have had to fraudulently close a gap of 371,686 votes. In Georgia, the closest 2020 state, Trump would have needed nearly 12,000 votes to have stolen the election from Biden. As a practical matter, that isnt an easy thing to doas Donald Trump found out when he tried to strongarm state election authorities into corruptly throwing the election to him. Where we have seen evidence of real voting fraud, the numbers have been relatively small: a few dozen votes in a utility board election in Texas, a modest number of votes cast by a corrupt Philadelphia judge of elections (of course!) who stuffed the ballot box by literally standing in a voting booth and voting over and over, as fast as he could, etc. In Texas, which has been aggressive about prosecuting election fraud, a report from the attorney generals office covering a 17-year period reported prosecutions of 154 people on a total of 534 charges, the majority of which (310) were mail-in ballot fraud charges; 189 were for illegal voting, and 159 were for voting fraud carried out by those assisting voters. Another 500 charges were pending prosecution. Thats not nothing. (The cases, as you might expect, vary in quality.) Texas is not generally well-served by its venal and eternally troubled attorney general, but his office is right to take these matters seriously and to prioritize their prosecution as a matter of civic hygiene. But none of this is the stuff out of which stolen presidential elections are made. Pretending otherwise is simply creating a pretext for political violence to which the crackpots who today dominate the Republican Party already are predisposed. And at the top of the Republican Party is a man who celebrates the January 6 riot and calls those convicted on related crimes hostages. And why wouldnt he? The riot was a sideshow, but it was a necessary part of Trumps broader attempt to stage a coup detat by nullifying the election of Joe Biden and illegitimately holding on to power himself. His apologists protest that Trump attempted to do this through litigation and other legal means, which is partly true and entirely irrelevant: The list of similar coups that came packaged in some sort of legal wrapper or adorned with constitutional embroidery is long and includes the putsches that brought to power such figures as Francisco Franco, Augusto Pinochet, Rafael Trujillo, and other practitioners of caudillismo. No, the combination of street violence with putative legal sanction is a very old one. That this republic was made to depend on the very flexible backbone of such a creature as Mike Pence is a sobering thought. If Trump should manage to maneuver a contingent election into the House, does anybody seriously think that the invertebrate speaker of that chamber would do anything other than his masters bidding? The constitutional forms might be satisfied, but it would be no less a coup for that. And it is likely that any such electoral drama would be complemented by street violence, as it was on January 6, 2021. That is the shape such coups take. Octavians seizure of extraconstitutional powersbeginning his transformation from Octavian to Augustuswas ratified by the Roman senate. That did not make him any less of a tyrant, or his assumed powers any less illegitimate. The kooks in Arizona are only following the script that was written for them by Trump himself: A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Those are Trumps words, verbatim. He wasnt talking about Chinese automotive imports. They arent making any secret about any of this. Words About Words One of my least favorite Trumpisms is his cowardly way of framing B.S. declarations: Some people are saying, Many people are saying, that sort of thing. Of course, he is not the only person who does that. From Marie Arana, writing in the New York Times: Most Latinos are not rootless, illegal transientsburdens on the societyas some citizens may think, but a force for American progress. Does anybody really think that most Latinos are rootless? That most Latinos are transients? That most Latinos are illegal? Find me one person who actually thinks that. I want to meet him. Aint nobody thinks that. What Arana is engaged in is a sophomoric rhetorical way of not dealing with the fact that some Latino immigrantsand some Chinese immigrants and Irish immigrants and Iraqi immigrantsare illegal. Arana continues with a favorite of mine: The first admiral of the Navy, David Farragut (Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead!), whose commanding statue dominates Farragut Square only steps from the White House, was Hispanic. Farragut certainly had a Latin background, in that his father, George Farragut (born Jordi Farragut Mesquida) came from a Mediterranean archipelago once occupied by the Roman army and later incorporated into what is now Spain. There are four main Balearic Islands, and Farragut pere came from the smaller of the two that once had been most prominent: Menorca, the larger being Mallorca (the cognates are obvious: back to our earlier minor/major discussion); the other two are Formentera andprobably the most famous todayIbiza. (And maybe you think you know how Ibiza is really pronounced, with a kind of cultivated lispbut dont be too sure.) This raises the question: Is Hispania Hispanic? Hispanic most commonly refers to people of Spanish-speaking Latin American background. There are, of course, lots of Latin Americans who do not come from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. Commonly spoken languages in Latin America include Portuguese, Quechua, and English. Official languages in Latin American countries range from Hindustani and Dutch. Defined narrowly, people from Spain would not be Hispanic for the same reason opium is not an opioid, the letter U is not hyoid, Latin is not Latinate and is not a Romance language, etc. (Ladin, on the other hand, is a Romance language.) Some adjectives specify a thing derived from x in a way that includes x, and some specify a thing derived from x in a way that excludes x. It can get a little tricky saying which is which and why. Ice is water, but water isnt iceEnglish is subtle, weird, and inconsistent. Another way of thinking about that is that Hispanic describes people who have a connection to the Spanish language and who are not residents of Spain. One could also define Hispanic as meaning all people of Spanish-speaking background everywhere in the world, including Spain, but that seems to me a less useful term. But Im pretty sure my old friend Kathryn Jean Lopez is not Hispanic, and Im 100 percent sure she isnt Latinxwhich I cant help but think should be pronounced la-Tinks. Tinks, but no tinks. Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Hispanic. Miguel de Cervantes? Spanish. On the other hand: There are lots of Hispanic people who feel connected to Spain, to its culture, its traditions, and its heroes. If Hispanic people want to claim Admiral Farragut, a Tennessee gentleman of half-Balearic extraction, as one of their ownwho am I to gainsay them? On that subject: Adm. Farraguts first rank in the Navythis makes me wincewas boy. Thats the rank he had when he joined in 1810. He was born in 1801. He served in the War of 1812 at the age of 11. Economics for English Majors Biden: The majority of new cars sold in the United States must be electric by 2032. Market: Cmon, man. From the New York Times: Early adopters drove the surge in sales of Teslas and other all-electric hits such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E. But demand has slowed in recent months. Ford said in December that it would cut production of its highly touted F-150 Lightning pickupthe electric version of the best-selling vehicle line in Americaby half. E.V.s are still the fastest-growing segment of the American car market, but many consumers remain reluctant to walk away from their gas guzzlers. Electric vehicles generally remain more expensive than their conventional counterparts, and there are fewer models to choose from, as well as fewer S.U.V.s and pickup trucks, the most popular categories in the country. There is a way forward for a healthy EV industry, but the powers that be in Washington and elsewhere have to let markets sort this stuff out. Trying to strong-arm consumers into buying cars they dont want is going to end in failurea national version of the Hertz EV fiasco. I am generally pro-EV, and if I lived in some place such as the D.C. metro area or Harris County or Southern Californiaplaces where you have to drive a lot, but rarely drive any distance in a day that would tax the range of a decent EVthen a Tesla or an electrified Mercedes or a Nissan Leaf might be pretty attractive. And that is where we ought to expect to see EV usage continue to grow. This isnt exactly a niche marketthe majority of U.S. drivers could easily rely on an EV on a typical driving daybut it is a market in which we should expect EV adoption to be slow, gradual, and incomplete. Because even if an EV serves your needs 99 days out of 100, that leaves several days a year in which your expensive new EV doesnt serve your driving needs. Theres a reason Toyota has been making a killing with its plug-in hybrids, which are basically EVs most of the time and gas-powered economy cars when they have to be. But the ideologues reject plug-in hybrids for the same reason they reject replacing coal-fired power with natural gas as a matter of climate policy: They dont care about lowering emissionsthey care about moral purity. Elsewhere You can buy my most recent book, Big White Ghetto, here. You can buy my other books here. You can see my New York Post columns here. Please subscribe to The Dispatch if you havent. You can check out How the World Works, a series of interviews on work Im doing for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, here. In Closing The British are very proud of their National Health Service. Princess Kateto whom I wish the very bestis being treated at a private hospital, the same one where many other royals have sought treatment instead of relying on the NHS. (It is called the London Clinic, and other famous patients included John F. Kennedy and Augusto Pinochet.) Not much of an inspiring motto: The NHS: Good Enough for Commoners. When market-oriented reformers talk about school choice, health-care choice, etc., bear in mind that the rich and the powerful already have choices. The Clintons and the Obamas didnt send their children to D.C.-area public schools. About 40 percent of Chicago public school teachers send their own children to private schoolsbut they will fight like hell against programs that make it easier for poor people to do the same. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. In Charlotte, innovative chefs are being recognized for bringing international influences to the local culinary scene, like chef Sam Hart at Counter and chef Andres Kaifer at Customshop. But nestled between a karaoke bar and a nail salon in Montford is a quiet, unassuming spot, La Dolcekca Bakery Cafe, thats doing just the same. At La Dolcekca, owner Karina Cooper transports guests across cultures and through global flavors by way of pastries, sandwiches and whimsical design a reflection of Coopers multicultural roots that shape her personal and culinary identity. Even the cafe name itself, La Dolcekca, is a fusion, combining the Italian word dolce, translating to sweet, with Coopers initials KC. Cooper, born in the Dominican Republic, grew up smelling fresh-baked goods wafting in from a neighboring bakery. I always was curious about what they were making I said Oh my God, I want to make those cookies thats when my curiosity opened up toward baking, she told CharlotteFive recently. From that point, Cooper had a near insatiable drive and appetite to not only make pastries and cakes, but also to establish her own brick-and-mortar bakery. After growing up in the Dominican Republic next to a bakery, Karina Cooper set out to build her own. Today, with the help of her three daughters, Cooper bakes a plethora of globally inspired cookies and pastries. After work, I was always making cakes, she said, referencing 20 years of balancing full-time jobs with raising three daughters and managing her side-hustle cake business. I always had my dream that I wanted to open my own bakery. I love to bake, and I love to create stuff. This dream wasnt just to showcase Dominican flavors, but to develop a menu that represented her familys diverse origins. My stepfathers Italian, my moms grandfather was French, but Im Dominican so this is a mixed culture its a mix of things that I love, she said. I dont like to classify one thing because I want you to experience flavors from many different places. Upon entering into her dream-realized cafe, visitors will immediately clock that international influence, particularly on the bubble-font chalkboard menu and in the pastry case, spanning from salmon chipotle sandwiches, empanadas and American-style wings and waffles to guava puff pastries and pistachio flan. Sweet treats, like the Alfajor, the award-winning and spongey tres leches or the raspberry lemon and white chocolate cookie, are baked fresh in the back throughout the day and range from $5 to $10. Cooper recommends the cheesecakes and Blondies as must-gets. There are also an abundant 24 flavors of syrups to tailor coffee drinks. La Dolcekca offers a wide variety of international pastries, such as its award-winning tres leches and guava rolls, along with several savory sandwiches, like its popular chop cheese and salmon chipotle sandwiches. Guests will also note the all-encompassing Parisian aesthetic hot pink and floral, like Barbie-dreamhouse-meets-French-cafe. Before I opened, I went to France and went to school to learn to make pastries and cakes there I love beautiful pastries that you can see with your eyes and petite things, she said. This appreciation for all things Parisian and petite is a firm tenet of Coopers style, proven by the bounty of miniature cups and saucers stacked on shelves, flaky palmiers and frames of romantic French scenery scattered along the walls. Owner Karina Cooper keeps a display of dainty, miniature and vintage tea cups, saucers and plates at La Dolcekca, which also showcases a variety of France-inspired wall hangings. Long before these cafe dreams came to fruition, Cooper left the Dominican Republic at 21 years old for New York City. Ten years later, Cooper relocated to Charlotte with her three daughters Sharon Chanelle, Kiana and Jade and her mom. After saving money as an apartment leasing consultant and as an account manager with Lancome, navigating a divorce and selling her house, Coopers dream became less of a longing and more of a possibility. In 2022, it was time to open her business. The bakery on Montford Drive opened in August 2022. Coopers daughters, now in their late teens and early 20s, are co-collaborators and supporters of their mothers dream at La Dolcekca. Kiana, the youngest, is the cookie queen who comes on Sundays, Cooper said. Her middle daughter, Jade, is around every so often, but only when she wants to eat something. Coopers oldest, Sharon Chanelle, crafts the banana pudding, cakes, cheesecakes and develops recipes for many of the savory items, like the salmon chipotle and the beloved and trending chopped cheese sandwich, informally known as the chop cheese, honoring the familys New York roots. This New York bodega sandwich of ground beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, ketchup and mustard on a toasted hero has been steadily rising in popularity since the 90s, expanding from NYC boroughs and finding its way into Tiktok, celebrity culture and even elevating to new heights with wagyu beef chop cheese versions. At La Dolcekca, however, recipe-creator Sharon Chanelle puts a sneaky twist on the NY classic, adding a helping of pico de gallo into the mix a testament again to that culinary culture-bending and ultimately, cementing the sandwich as a top-seller with a side of fries for $18. To go ordering is available via DoorDash. La Dolcekca owner Karina Coopers daughter, Sharon Chanelle, adds pico de gallo to the classic chop cheese sandwich, which sells for $18 with a side of fries. Cooper expressed a sincere sense of gratitude for working alongside her family in this capacity, and also having the help of Juliana, Carla and Miss Gladys cooks from Colombia and Chile. However, for Cooper, the most rewarding part has been seeing the joy on peoples faces when they see her custom cakes for the first time, which can be ordered online, in-person or via phone. La Dolcekca commissions themed cakes that can include playful childlike decorations, depending on the customers wishes. The joys of this dream go hand-in-hand with significant challenges. First, it was very difficult for me. Im a woman, minority and Latin I still havent gotten business loans or grants, she said. Like many folks in the restaurant industry, Cooper works long hours with limited help, which can contribute to burnout, something 80% of hospitality workers have experienced. I work 7 days here; I work open to close nearly every single day. Trust me, I get tired, but I have to keep pushing because that is what I love, she said. Despite the ongoing burden of rent and bills, especially during slower periods, Cooper is still striving to do better, and to keep her firmly-rooted dream alive. At La Dolcekca, these challenges seem to be all part of a greater plan. You have to go through so many different challenges in order for you to see a real dream achieved, she said. Cooper credits God and her steadfast dedication to this lifelong goal, saying, If Im with God, theres no human being on this Earth that can stop me. Along with 24 flavors of coffee syrups and a full coffee set-up, the coffee bar at La Dolcekca has inspirational quote signs gathered on the counter and along the walls that reflect owner Karina Coopers dedication to her dream. Hanging on a wall beside various other Parisian-themed pictures is a swirly pink frame showcasing a black and white picture of Cooper gazing at the Eiffel Tower on her first trip to Paris, before going to school there and long before opening up La Dolcekca. This picture, capturing a longing gaze toward something people can only dream of, is particularly poignant in this bakery that, for the majority of Coopers life, was somewhat of longing gaze, and now, three daughters and two moves later, belongs to her. This picture of Karina Cooper in Paris long before opening La Dolcekca hangs on the walls of the bakery as a nod to her Parisian inspiration and travels. Location: 1607 Montford Dr Suite C, Charlotte, NC 28209 Hours: Daily 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Instagram: @ladolcekcabakerycafe DENVER (KDVR) Deputies with the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office rescued a goat that was found locked inside of a cage in a car overnight. Deputies responded to a call Saturday at around 4 p.m. reporting animal cruelty in the 10200 block of E. Peakview Avenue where they found the goat, Nibbles, still locked inside the owners car, in a cage with no food or water and a window barely cracked open, the sheriffs office said. Firefighter adopts cat found on I-25 hazmat scene This wasnt the first time deputies were concerned for Nibbles. On March 7 at around 6 a.m., deputies found Nibbles locked inside a cage in the car with no food or water. ACSO said the goat didnt seem in distress, but deputies were concerned. The sheriffs office issued two warnings to the owner, One, get the animal veterinary care within four days, and two, provide the animal with food and water. Deputies with the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office rescued a goat that was found locked inside a cage in a car overnight more than once. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) Deputies with the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office rescued a goat that was found locked inside a cage in a car overnight more than once. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) Deputies with the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office rescued a goat that was found locked inside a cage in a car overnight more than once. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) Deputies with the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office rescued a goat that was found locked inside a cage in a car overnight more than once. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) Deputies with the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office rescued a goat that was found locked inside a cage in a car overnight more than once. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) When deputies found the goat locked inside the car again on Saturday, Nibbles was seized and taken to the Dumb Friends League. Homeowners help crews extinguish large grass fire in Arapahoe County The Dumb Friends League doesnt usually accept goats, but the sheriffs office said they took Nibbles given the circumstances. The shelter says it will hold onto Nibbles for now and do a complete medical check to make sure the goat is healthy before it finds the proper placement for it, the sheriffs office said. The Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office said the owner was issued a summons for animal cruelty, and Nibbles is safe and being cared for. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. The crack of Louisville Slugger ash bats connecting with rawhide baseballs laced in Costa Rica will soon echo throughout ballparks all over North America. A dulcet-toned announcer will lunge forward from his seat in the press box, perched three tiers above home plate. The announcer will squint, looking to see if the ball hooks just inside the foul pole several hundred feet away down the right field line. "Going! Going! Gone!" hell chirp as the ball hugs the pole, staying just fair. The ball then caroms wildly, around an array of seats, concrete and fumbling fans, bouncing like its been triggered by a paddle in an arcade pinball machine. Perhaps the House of Representatives could hire some of those baseball announcers here on Capitol Hill. WHITE HOUSE BLASTS HOUSE GOP BUDGET, SAYS BIDEN WON'T LET THEM 'DEFUND THE POLICE' Its quite possible the Republican House majority is "going, going." Gone is another question. But the scenario of Democrats seizing control of the House is emerging as a distinct possibility. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Control of the House of Representatives has never flipped in the middle of a Congress. But if its going to happen, the 118th Congress is as ripe for that possibility. House Republicans face chaos in their conference. Members who planned to retire next January are now ditching Capitol Hill early. The House is an acrimonious place with yet another move afoot to dethrone the Speaker. FOX is told that other Republicans are angling to get out as soon as they can. A big payday in the private sector could lure some members to cash in their voting cards early. First, lets talk about the length of a given "Congress." Congress is called "Congress" because thats when House members and senators convene in Washington. The word "Congress" means "coming together." So lawmakers are here at the Capitol for the 118th time since starting the 1st Congress in 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City. Voters elected House members and about a third of all senators to the present 118th Congress in November 2022. Each "Congress" begins at noon ET on January 3 and runs until 11:59 am et on January 3 two years later. So the 118th Congress launched on January 3 of 2023. It expires in the late morning of January 3 next year. Thus, the term of all House members which began last year runs out at the same time next January. Those elected this November will serve in the 119th Congress beginning next January 3. House Republicans thought they might have a 50-seat majority in January 2023. They gained control of the House but only by a handful of seats. The meager majority then dithered for five days before finally electing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as their leader. The rancorous Speakers race foreshadowed what was to come. CONGRESSIONAL DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION OFFICE SHUT DOWN BY $1.2T GOVERNMENT FUNDING DEAL McCarthy was done by October. The House burned more than three weeks electing House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as McCarthys successor. Now Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has had enough of Johnson. Shes authored a resolution to remove the Louisiana Republican for his "betrayal" of House Republicans on the latest spending bill. The House wound up passing the bill with 185 Democratic yeas but only 101 Republican ayes. Plus Johnson violated the GOPs internal rule which gives members a full three days to read legislation before voting. Text of the bill appeared just before 3 am ET last Thursday. The House closed the vote on the bill at 11:45 am et last Friday. Johnson signaled before the vote that he might not grant lawmakers the requisite three days to process their legislation. "Theres nothing sacred about 72 hours. The idea is you want the legislation to be reviewed adequately by the members before they vote on it. Were the party that believes in that principle. Were trying to maintain it even in a time crunch," said Johnson as he darted across Statuary Hall of the Capitol. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, right. And yet Johnson gave up on the rule so the House could approve the bill before a looming government shutdown deadline. Johnsons gambit infuriated the right. But other Republicans werent upset. Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., wanted to waive the rule, adding that the House shouldnt assign a vote "to a time." Murphy was ready to vote right away. "What is this? A test?" asked Murphy. "Read faster." But Greene was through with Johnson. She prepared to show the Speaker the door after the House approved the spending measure. UKRAINE AID COULD BE SAVED BY OBSCURE CONGRESSIONAL RULES, REAGAN-ERA POLITICS, BOLL WEEVILS AND GYPSY MOTHS "I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and throw the House into chaos," said Greene. "But I am saying the clock has started. Its time for our conference to choose a new Speaker." But Greene might not even get the chance to boot Johnson. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the House could flip control to the Democrats before 11:59 am et next January 3rd. In other words, during this Congress. Its about the math. Former Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., resigned last Friday. Buck hit the door after refusing to vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., also refused to impeach Mayorkas. Gallagher initially planned to stay until January. But now the Wisconsin Republican departs on April 19. Thats immediately after the date which mandates a special election in Wisconsin. But since Gallagher checks out in mid-April, the seat remains empty until after the election. Mayorkas So after Buckss resignation, the House breakdown looks like this: 431 members. 218 Republicans. 213 Democrats. A margin of five seats. But the GOP can only lose two votes on any given issue without assistance from the other side. After Gallagher leaves, the breakdown slips to 430 members with 217 Republicans and 213 Democrats. Thats a four-seat margin. But the GOP can only lose one vote then. By rule, tie votes lose in the House. And things grow even darker for Republicans. Theres a special election in western New York in late April to replace former Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., who also retired early. Democrats are expected to hold that seat. So, for our purposes, score that as a net pickup of one for the Democrats. That means the House would have 431 members. But 216 Republicans and 214 Democrats. Republicans may secure a little breathing room after a May 21 special election runoff in California to succeed McCarthy. That seat likely goes to the GOP. But FOX is told other Republicans are fed up and could leave before the end of the Congress. Some are just exasperated. Others dont want to be here for the presidential election and face reporters peppering them in the halls with questions about the latest comments from former President Trump. Others have had it with their colleagues. The Senate flipped control from Republicans to Democrats midway through the 107th Congress in 2001. In fact, there was one weird anomaly in the Senate in the 1950s. Democrats had more seats than Republicans at one point but remained in the "minority." But the House has never changed control mid-Congress. "House Republicans do have to be worried about holding their majority," said Darrell West of the Brookings Institution. "It would be extraordinarily unusual. I mean, stuff like that just does not happen. But it shows the extent of the dysfunction the divisions within the Republican House caucus." This is why House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., characterized House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as the "leader of the Congress" last week. "His title may not be Speaker of the House," said Aguilar. "But he has the votes. He has the confidence of a significant portion of members." But, if a few more Republicans step down? At this rate, Jeffries could be Speaker of the House before its all over. Somewhere, you can hear the crack of the bat. Is the Republican majority going, going, gone? Unpack your binoculars. Follow the flight of the ball. And watch what unfolds over the next couple of months. Original article source: Going, going, gone: Could the Republicans' slim House majority slip away before November? FILE - In this Jan.. 6, 2009, file photo, Golden Globe statuettes are seen during a news conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File) NEW YORK (AP) The Golden Globes and CBS have reached a five-year deal to broadcast the annual award show and stream it live on Paramount+, it was announced Monday. The new agreement, which begins with January's telecast, gives the Globes a new broadcast home following years of turmoil. The Globes had long resided at NBC before scandal enveloped the organization behind the awards, leading NBC to give them up. CBS stepped in to air the 81st Golden Globes in January, and was rewarded with a ratings boost. The telecast pulled in an average of 9.4 million viewers, up about 50% from 2023, when NBC moved the Globes to a Tuesday. CBS collaboration with the Globes for this years broadcast was a big win for both of us and established strong momentum for awards shows in 2024, said George Cheeks, president and chief executive of CBS, in a statement. The Globes is a one-of a-kind live event that adds another marquee special and valuable promotional platform to CBS annual calendar. Though host Jo Koy drew bad reviews, a ceremony that featured Hollywood stars as well as Taylor Swift helped stabilize a Golden Globes that for a time was teetering on the brink. After The Los Angeles Times reported that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had no Black members, Hollywood boycotted the organization and the 2022 Globes were booted off the air. The HFPA has since been dissolved. The Globes were acquired by Eldridge Industries and Dick Clark Productions, which Penske Media owns, and turned into a for-profit venture. CBS stepped up for the Globes during a very challenging time, and inherently understood its value, while having the foresight, imagination and conviction to bring this iconic show to its many platforms," Jay Penske, chief executive of Penske Media, said in a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. In the past year, the nation witnessed nearly a dozen prison escapes. Though, the latest inmate to wiggle out the grasp of police custody is the last person wed want to see on the loose: a white supremacist gang member. Idaho police announced in a press conference last week that the goose-chase for 31-year-old Skylar Meade has finally ended. Police also said hes a member of the Aryan Knights. The Knights are known as Idahos largest white supremacist prison gang, per the Anti-Defamation League. Back in 2017, a jury sentenced Meade to serve 20 years in prison for shooting at a sheriffs sergeant during a high-speed chase, according to the Associated Press. Meades new home after trial was the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna where he met another gang member, Nicholas Umphenour, who was released from the prison at the beginning of this year. However, police say the two continued to communicate with one another to conspire a way to free Meade from his shackles. Read about the plot from The New York Post: Police said Nicholas Umphenour is suspected of shooting two corrections officers during Wednesdays ambush in the ambulance bay at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. The attack occurred at 2:15 a.m. as Idaho Department of Correction officers prepared to bring Meade back to prison. Department Director Josh Tewalt said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon that Meade was taken to the hospital at 9:35 p.m. [Umphenour] and inmate Skylar Meade drove off early Wednesday after the shooting in a gray 2020 Honda Civic with Idaho plates. The day the two went on the run, Clearwater County and Nex Perce County officials announced they responded to calls that evening and found two deceased men, one of which was found with prison shackles nearby. Now, authorities question whether the Aryan Knight brothers are connected to the killings. The identities of the victims were not disclosed. Authorities said Thursday, the duo were arrested after a brief car chase in Twin Falls. As they investigate the killings, the state department of corrections vowed to review their policies and practices to understand how Meade wiggled from the cops grip and how to prevent it from happening again, per The AP. Its unclear what charges Meade will face in connection to the incident. However, police said they issued a warrant for Umphenour on charges of aggravated battery against law enforcement and aiding and abetting an escape. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In early March, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s campaign announced it had collected enough signatures to land on Nevadas ballot. But the signatures are likely invalid because the campaign didnt list a running mate on its petition. Under Nevada law, independent candidates seeking a spot on the general election ballot must file a petition for candidacy that includes a vice presidential candidate which Kennedys campaign failed to do, according to documents from the Secretary of States office. Kennedy plans to announce his vice presidential pick on Tuesday, after which his campaign can restart the signature collection process with around three months left to gather signatures. The Nevada Secretary of States Office sent a letter to independent candidates on March 7 two days after Kennedys campaign said it had received enough signatures that included a link to its presidential candidate guide, which outlines the applicable Nevada laws including the requirement to list a nominee for vice president. CBS News first reported the potential for invalid signatures on Sunday. Petitions from independent presidential candidates in Nevada must receive signatures from 1 percent of voters who cast a ballot for a congressional representative in the previous election, meaning the 2024 ballot threshold is 10,095 signatures. The signature deadline is July 5, after which local and state elections officials undertake a signature verification process. The Kennedy campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Nevada Independent on Monday. Kennedys longshot presidential bid could draw votes from both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, who defeated Trump in Nevada by a narrow 2.4 percentage points in 2020, or about 33,500 votes. Kennedy has qualified to appear on the ballot in Utah and announced he gathered enough signatures to qualify in New Hampshire and Hawaii. However, New Hampshire and Hawaii require Kennedy to have a vice-presidential candidate before he gains ballot access, as well. An Emerson College/The Hill poll from last week found Kennedy receiving 9% of the Nevada vote. Trumps lead over Biden in that poll increased from 3 percentage points to 5 percentage points when third-party candidates were included. Kennedy, who is John F. Kennedys nephew, is the latest member of his dynastic political family to enter the American political world. He rose to prominence during the pandemic for his false anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, including that theres no vaccine that is safe and effective a comment he has since tried to walk back that vaccines cause autism and that the coronavirus might have been ethnically targeted to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. The World Health Organization reports that vaccines are very safe and prevent adverse effects from harmful diseases. Kennedy originally entered the presidential race as a Democrat last year but decided to run as an independent in October. His other policy positions are relatively mainstream Democratic ideas, including a federal $15 minimum wage, transitioning to cleaner energy sources (Kennedy is an environmental lawyer) and police reform. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Sunday warned that ousting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) could embolden Democrats at a time of international turmoil. An ouster of Johnson is on the table after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday filed a motion to vacate the chair, a procedural move that could lead to a vote to remove Johnson. Hes been Speaker since October, when he replaced the ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). I think its indicative that even [Rep.] Matt Gaetz [R-Fla.], who was the architect of ousting McCarthy, is saying this would be a huge mistake, because it could actually throw the balance of power over to [Rep.] Hakeem Jeffries [D-N.Y.], McCaul said during a Sunday interview on CBS Newss Face the Nation. Gaetz filed the motion to vacate that led to McCarthys ouster. McCaul on Sunday stressed the importance of Congresss ability to govern when various international conflicts are taking place abroad. And with the world on fire the way it is, we need to govern. And that is not just for Republicans, but in a bipartisan way, get things done for the country, he said. Thats in the national security interest of the United States. This is not just Ukraine. Its Israel and Indo-Pacific as well. Gaetz was one of several Republicans who warned such a move could leave the lower chamber with a Democratic leader. When I vacated the last one, I made a promise to the country that we would not end up with a Democrat speaker. I couldnt make that promise again today, Gaetz told reporters last week. Greene last week indicated she would not immediately trigger a vote on ousting Johnson and called the motion basically a warning. She stressed she could force a referendum on his standing in the House at a later date. Several House Democrats suggested last week they would be willing to help rescue Johnson from a motion to vacate, especially if he moves Ukraine aid. McCaul on Sunday said Johnson is committed to putting a vote for Ukraine funding on the House floor some time after Easter. His commitment is to put it on the floor after Easter and we are working on this bill, he said, later emphasizing he would like it done as soon as possible. McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has been a vocal supporter of approving additional funding for Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Funding for the embattled nation has been left in limbo for more than a year amid sharp divisions in Congress. I think the situation Ukraine is dire. If we lose in Ukraine like Afghanistan and then lose to Putin, let him you know, take over Ukraine and Moldova, Georgia, and abandon our allies like we did in Afghanistan Does that make the United States weaker or stronger? I think weaker, McCaul said Sunday. Asked why there is a lack of urgency by Johnson to approve further aid to Ukraine, McCaul said the Speaker is in a difficult spot. He understands this. He is in a very difficult spot, and this motion to vacate the chair thing I believe hes committed because he understands national security. And leans on, you know, myself, the chairman of Armed Services, House Intelligence, for advice on this and he knows how important this is, McCaul said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A Kansas man is suing Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) for damages after the Republican congressman falsely claimed he was an illegal alien who carried out the mass shooting at the Kansas City parade in February. Denton Loudermill, of Olathe, Kansas, is neither an undocumented immigrant nor one of the shooters, who were later identified as two teenagers. Loudermill was just a Chiefs fan attending the Feb. 14 Super Bowl victory parade for the same reason as thousands of othersto celebrate. But in the aftermath of the deadly shooting, which killed a beloved local DJ and injured several more, photos of him handcuffed by responding police circulated around social media. One of those photos was taken up and shared by Burchett, who added a pointed caption. One of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien, Burchett posted on X on Feb. 15, a day after the shooting. The legal complaint notes that it had garnered 7.2 million views over the next three days, and had been reposted 21,600 times. Loudermill is suing Burchett for false light invasion of privacy, arguing that Burchetts publication of untrue statements about him resulted in damages in excess of $75,000. The lawsuit mentions mental distress, sleeplessness, anxiety, and agitation in addition to emotional suffering as examples of the damages Burchett caused. GoFundMe for Kansas City Shooting Suspect Taken Down A false light invasion of privacy case is different from a defamation suit in that it covers false information distributed to the mass public, rather than to just one person. Defendant knew or should have known that his inflammatory post on social media would be seen and read nationwide, Loudermills lawyers argued in the complaint. The false statements that Loudermill was both the shooter and an undocumented immigrant were circulated widely among Defendants followers and Defendants false assertions about Plaintiff were reposted and widely circulated to more than one million people around the world, they wrote. The lawsuit clarifies that Loudermill was never detained as a suspect by Kansas City police. Officers stopped him as he was leaving the parade and told him he was moving too slowly, at which point the police officer handcuffed him and sat him on a curb. During the 10 minutes in which Loudermill was seated there, others in the area took pictures of him, which were quickly posted and spread over social media. Its not clear how Burchett came to the false conclusion that Loudermill was both the shooter and an undocumented immigrant. He retracted his statement on social media on Feb. 18, three days after it was postedbut by then, millions of people had seen it. Representatives for Burchetts office declined to comment. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. Russia attacked the city of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast on March 25, killing a civilian, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported. Settlements in Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv Oblast are subjected to regular Russian attacks due to their proximity to the front line and the border with Russia. A 65-year-old man was killed after Russian forces hit Vovchansk at around 1 p.m. local time, according to the governor. The city is located around 50 kilometers northeast of Kharkiv and less than 10 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border. "Law enforcement officers are working at the site and recording new crimes of the occupiers," Syniehubov wrote on Telegram. Russia has recently intensified its attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure, including destroying a thermal power plant and all the electrical substations in Kharkiv, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov. As of the morning of March 25, about 200,000 households in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, were left without electricity, Syniehubov said. Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 4 injured Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. Police in Crestwood say two Illinois men broke into an Aldi grocery store by cutting a hole in the roof and stole equipment and pipes from the business. According to the Crestwood Police Departments probable cause statement, the break-in occurred on Nov. 26, 2022, at Watson Plaza, just east of South Sappington Road. Store management reported the burglary. Officers discovered a hole had been cut in the roof of the building and a flashlight had been left behind. The value of the stolen piping and equipment exceeded $4,000. The cost of the damage to the building was estimated at more than $1,000. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Breaking News Police claim witnesses told them Timothy A. Marcum was working with another person to remove scrap from the building earlier in the day. Surveillance footage showed two men, later identified as Charles A. King and Marcum, outside the store the night of the burglary. A red Chevrolet pickup truck was also seen driving around the business. The following day, Sunset Hills police stopped the Chevy and detained Marcum and King. Investigators claim the flashlight belonged to King. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office charged both Marcum and King with second-degree burglary, stealing $750 or more, and first-degree property damage. Both men were issued summonses to appear in St. Louis County Circuit Court on April 29. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Footage that appears to show the torture of suspects in the Moscow concert hall attack during which more than 130 people were killed is circulating in Russia, although the Kremlin is refusing to answer questions about the videos. A total of 97 people remain in hospital, officials said. One of the films appears to show security forces cutting off the ear of one of the suspects and trying to feed it to him, while another shows a man apparently being subjected to electric shocks to his groin. A third shows security forces beating a man with their rifle butts and kicking him as he lies in the snow. Isis has claimed the attack, and has released graphic video footage of the attackers firing on the crowd inside the concert hall. Four men appeared in court over the weekend and were charged in relation to the attack. They appeared to have been beaten, and one of the suspects had heavy bandaging to his right ear. Another had to be brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair. The four suspects were named by Russian authorities as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, 30, Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, and Muhammadsobir Fayzov, 19. The men the court identified during the proceedings as Mr Mirzoyev and Mr Rachabalizoda both had black eyes. Mr Rachabalizoda appeared with the bandage on his right ear. The face of the man identified as Mr Fariduni was badly swollen. Mr Fariduni said in an interrogation video published on social media that he had arrived from Turkey on 4 March. He was trembling while being questioned by the side of a road, with his hands tied behind his back. He said that he had shot people in Crocus City Hall for money, having been offered 500,000 roubles (4,300) by a person he did not identify. The man named as Mr Fayzov appeared to lose consciousness as he was brought into court in a wheelchair. Photographs circulating online on Sunday appeared to show Mr Fayzov with one of his eyes missing. One of the videos published on Russian social media, appearing to show one of the suspects (Telegram) The men were officially identified as citizens of Tajikistan, Russias Tass state news agency said. A court statement on the Telegram messaging service said Mr Mirzoyev had admitted his guilt in full, while Mr Rachabalizoda had also admitted guilt. All four were remanded in pre-trial custody until May. The men were caught about 14 hours after the attack in the southern Bryansk region, around 400km (250 miles) southwest of Moscow, when they fled a vehicle and tried to reach a nearby forest. When asked about the videos showing alleged torture of the suspects, the Kremlins spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, refused to comment. On Tuesday, Russia's commissioner for human rights has called the use of torture against detainees unacceptable. "Despite the fact that the detention of criminals can be very critical, and criminal law stipulates that actions taken during arrests which cause harm do not entail liability, it is absolutely unacceptable to use torture on detainees and defendants," the commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, was quoted as saying by the Russian state-run TASS news agency. The Russian constitution outlaws torture, and Russia is also part of the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Russian authorities say at least 139 people were killed in the Moscow attack and close to another 200 were injured. It constitutes the deadliest attack claimed by Isis in Europe and the worst such attack in Russia for two decades. On Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron said that the Isis branch behind the attack, known as Khorasan Province (Isis-K), had previously attempted attacks on France, as he agreed with the US assessment that Isis-K was behind the act of terror. Isis-K frequently criticises Russian president Vladimir Putin in its propaganda. The information available to us ... as well as to our main partners, indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State [Isis] which instigated this attack, Mr Macron said during a visit to French Guiana. This specific group ... had over the past months attempted attacks on our soil, he said. Suspect Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda in court (AP) French prime minister Gabriel Attal later said these foiled attacks had included a plot involving the city of Strasbourg in eastern France. The claim of responsibility for the [Moscow] attack by a branch of Islamic State that planned attacks in European countries including France prompted us to increase the Vigipirate [security threat assessment] to its highest level, Mr Attal said, speaking from a Paris railway station about the decision to raise the terror threat level on Sunday night. We will deploy exceptional means everywhere on [French] territory, he added. On Monday, Italys interior ministry said it was also stepping up police activity. In anticipation of the upcoming Easter holidays, an intensification of surveillance and control activities by the police has been agreed, a statement said, adding that special attention would be given to all sensitive targets. Russian MPs have called on those found guilty of the attack in Moscow to face capital punishment. Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Mr Putin who served a term as Russias president from 2008 to 2012 and has become increasingly strident since Russia sent its troops into Ukraine two years ago, discussed the detained suspects on his Telegram channel on Monday. They have been caught. Kudos to all who were chasing them. Should they be killed? They should. And it will happen, he wrote. Emergency services at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Saturday (EPA) But it is more important to kill everyone involved. Everyone. Those who paid, those who sympathised, those who helped. Kill them all. Russias prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said that the perpetrators will be punished and that they do not deserve mercy. Russia has had a moratorium on capital punishment since the 1990s, but it remains on the statute book. No executions have been carried out since 1996, when the president at the time, Boris Yeltsin, issued a decree establishing the moratorium, which was explicitly confirmed by the Constitutional Court in 1999. Russias penal code currently allows for the death penalty for five offences: murder, genocide, and attempted murder of either a judge, police officer or state official. Now many people are asking questions about the death penalty. This topic, of course, will be deeply, professionally, meaningfully studied, Vladimir Vasilyev, parliamentary leader of the United Russia faction in the lower house of parliament, was quoted by Tass media as saying on Saturday. However, Mr Peskov told reporters that the Kremlin is not taking part in this discussion at the moment. A soldier patrols close to the Eiffel Tower on Monday as France stepped up its terror threat level (AP) Russian officials have been slow to acknowledge the claim by Isis. On Sunday, Mr Putin instead claimed that the attackers were trying to reach Ukraine, though he did not offer any evidence of this. Mr Putin said some people on the Ukrainian side had been prepared to spirit the gunmen across the border. Ukraine has denied any role in the attack. Its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Mr Putin of seeking to divert blame for the attack by mentioning Ukraine, which is defending itself against an invasion by Russian forces that Mr Putin launched in February 2022. Mr Peskov said in his news conference on Monday that it was inappropriate to comment on the Isis claim until an investigation had been completed. Later in the day, Mr Putin called the attack an act of terrorism committed by radical Islamists. But he again tried to pin some of the blame on Kyiv. The White House strongly dismissed the suggestion of a link to Ukraine. There was no linkage to Ukraine. This is just more Kremlin propaganda, said White House spokesperson John Kirby. Mr Macron warned Russia against trying to exploit the attack by blaming Ukraine. I think that it would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine, he said, adding that France had offered help to find the culprits. We have offered to increase cooperation with the Russian [intelligence] services and our partners in the region, so that the culprits can be found as quickly as possible and so that we continue to fight effectively against these groups which are targeting several countries, Mr Macron said. Mr Peskov said Russias security services had not accepted any help from the West. No, our security services are working on their own; no assistance is currently on the table, he said. Eleven people have been detained in connection to the attack so far, according to Russian officials. Counterterrorism researcher Lucas Webber said that Isis had been focused on outreach efforts to central Asia since the mid-2010s, finding success in recruitment, fundraising, and violent incitement. He added that Isis-K had been the terror groups most internationally minded branch, and that it had created Uzbek, Tajik, and Russian-language media wings to build support. He added that Isis-K-linked plots had been foiled in Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Austria, and Sweden since last year. Former President Donald Trump spent Monday morning raging on Truth Social ahead of a deadline to pay his $454 million fraud judgment or post bond to appeal it. Trump at around midnight Monday morning cried election interference and claimed that he intended to use hundreds of millions on his campaign. Why should a Crooked, highly political New York Judge, Arthur Engoron, working in concert and coordination with an even more Corrupt Attorney General, Letitia Peekaboo James, his Puppet Master, and the White House, be allowed to take away, and sell off, very successful properties and assets that took me years to zone, build and nurture into some of the best of their kind anywhere in the World - WHEN I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG! Trump wrote. These Radical Left Lunatics and Communists ask me to pay a ridiculous and completely unheard of fine of over $450,000,000 only because they saw a similar amount in my bank account. I had intended to use much of that hard earned money on running for President. They dont want me to do that ELECTION INTERFERENCE! he added. There is no indication Trump has enough money to pay and his lawyers told a court last week that he was unable to secure bond despite approaching 30 different underwriters. They were laughing. Top executives of the largest surety companies had never seen anything of this size, Trumps son Eric complained on Fox News Sunday. Trump last week claimed that he had $500 million in cash but his attorney Chris Kise told CNN that Trump was talking about is the money reported on his campaign disclosure forms that hes built up through years of owning and managing successful businesses. Trump at around 7 am claimed without evidence that the cases against him are all coordinated by the White House and DOJ and argued that his fraud judgment should be ZERO. There should be no FINE. Did nothing wrong! Why should I be forced to sell my babies because a CORRUPT NEW YORK JUDGE & A.G. SET A FAKE AND RIDICULOUS NUMBER, he wrote in another post. Trumps posts came as he is set to face his greatest fears in New York on Monday between both the payment deadline and a hearing in his Manhattan criminal prosecution in which he is seeking to delay the trial, The New York Times Maggie Haberman and Ben Protess reported. Unless Trump can strike a last-minute deal, James could freeze Trumps bank accounts and begin the process of seizing his properties. The twin threats on the same day, in the same town crystallize two of Mr. Trumps greatest and longest-held fears: a criminal conviction and a public perception that he does not have as much cash as he claims, Haberman and Protess wrote. CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen and attorney Andrew Warren warned that Trump on Monday faces a one-two punch that has the potential to inflict lasting damage, noting that James has already effectively filed a blanket lien on Trumps Seven Springs property in Westchester County, N.Y. The bottom line, however, is that the New York attorney general is likely going to continue putting liens on Trumps properties, they wrote in a CNN op-ed. And although she likely wont evict Trump from his 30,000-square-feet Trump Tower apartment (which we now know is actually 10,996 square feet) immediately, even Trump has recognized that he may have to sell his Great Assets at Fire Sale prices. Experts think James is likely to first target Trumps bank accounts, CNN reported. The banks are the easiest part, theyll receive the judgment from the Attorney General - the court order - then the banks will enforce, attorney Peter Katz, a former federal prosecutor at the Eastern District of New York who has handled fraud cases, told the outlet. They take the funds from the account and put it in the attorney generals accounts. The other stuff is a little more challenging. Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Seizing property would take much longer but would eventually require a sheriff to put his properties up for public auction. They could say hand over the ownership of these 500 corporations and LLCs to the sheriff for public auction or just enough so that they could satisfy the judgment or $455 million worth, former assistant New York Attorney General Adam Pollock told CNN. Trump is still waiting to hear whether an appeals court will lower the amount he has to pay or pause the judgment while his appeal is pending. If his appeals fails, he could file for bankruptcy. You dont want him to file bankruptcy, then the debt will be discharged, attorney Alden Smith, who specializes in debt collection, told the outlet. If he files for bankruptcy then the judgment is automatically stayed. Bankruptcy is the biggest nemesis of collection enforcement for lawyers. But if Trump cant come up with the money, he may have limited options. I dont see any other way he could stop the process from proceeding without going into bankruptcy or getting a bond, Smith said. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Sunday to push for Rep. Mike Gallaghers (R-Wis.) expulsion from Congress ahead of his scheduled departure next month to allow his district time to select a new representative. Gallagher, the chair of the House Select Committee on China, announced last month that he would not seek reelection. On Friday, however, he said his last day would be April 19. His scheduled departure date would leave the House GOP conference with a decidedly slim majority, perhaps for the remainder of the year; Wisconsin election law requires a special election to fill a vacancy if it occurs before the first Tuesday in April of an election year. In an interview on Fox Newss Sunday Morning Futures, Greene blamed Johnson for allowing Gallagher to leave early and said Republicans should work to ensure they can replace Gallagher, whose seat is solid Republican according to the Cook Political Report. Speaker Johnson should be forcing Mike Gallagher to leave early so that his district can hold a special election, and any strong Republican Speaker of the House would expel a member for leaving our razor-thin majority in such a delicate, delicate state. We cannot allow we cannot allow this, Greene said Sunday. Greene slammed Johnson for praising Gallagher following his announcement Friday, adding to her growing criticism for Johnson in recent days. Greene threatened to oust Johnson from his seat Friday by filing a motion to vacate the chair, after expressing frustration that he allowed a bipartisan funding package to pass with Democratic votes, averting a partial shutdown. Speaker Johnson has also failed our majority because he is allowing Mike Gallagher to leave Congress after the deadline date where his district cannot hold a special election and elect a new representative for the rest of this entire Congress, Greene said. Mike Gallagher betrayed all of us. And Speaker Johnson, as the one whos responsible for our majority, praised Mike Gallagher on Friday after he announced his departure, saying that hes great and praising him and thanking him for his service in Congress, she added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Police investigating the killing of a pregnant Amish woman in rural Pennsylvania seized six guns, a variety of ammunition and a pair of sneakers that may match tread marks left at the crime scene during searches of the suspects home and vehicle, documents show. Search warrant documents released over the weekend said 23-year-old Rebekah Byler suffered multiple sharp force wounds to her neck and was shot in the head during the Feb. 26 attack at her home. Two counts of homicide and other charges against truck driver Shawn Christopher Cranston were forwarded to county court for trial after a preliminary hearing on March 15. In a newly released search warrant affidavit, a state trooper said Rebekah Bylers 2-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son were present during the killing and the boy told investigators a man wearing sneakers had killed his mother.Rebekah Bylers husband, Andy Byler, and a woman who had been driving him and another man to look at roofing jobs returned to the Byler home around lunchtime to discover her body in the living room. The children were unharmed. During the preliminary hearing, Trooper Shea Sedler testified that red and black Nike sneakers were found under a mattress inside a camper at Cranstons residence in Corry. Sedler said the shoe pattern was similar to what he photographed inside Rebekah Bylers home. Police also took DNA and fingerprints from Cranston, who has been jailed without bail since his March 2 arrest. Cranstons public defender, Gary Alan Kern, has not returned messages seeking comment. At the preliminary hearing, Kern argued prosecutors had not identified a motive or produced a murder weapon. Tire treads from Cranstons Jeep appeared to match tire impressions collected from muddy ground at the crime scene, police said. A camera on a business across the street from Cranstons home recorded someone fitting his description carrying items to the camper and starting a fire in the hours after Rebekah Byler was killed, police said. Detectives said they hoped to remove burn pile remnants from Cranstons home. Along with two counts of homicide, Cranston, 52, also faces burglary and trespassing charges. Police wrote that they were zeroing in on Cranston within a day of Bylers killing and soon seized his trash, where they found a glove that resembled a piece of glove found at the homicide scene. Neighbors in Corry told police that Cranstons nickname is Rumble and he has been the sergeant-at-arms for a motorcycle club in Erie. One neighbor said Cranston usually carried a small, black pistol. Andy Byler told police that about two weeks before his wife was killed, a man matching Cranstons general description showed up at their home after 9 p.m. and inquired about buying the house, according to an affidavit. Police said people who live several miles from the Byler home told them they had odd experiences since early December with a driver named Shawn whose phone number led investigators to Cranston. They told them Shawn, dressed in all black and with a small, black pistol in a belt holder, parked a Jeep in their driveway. He was walking around their property looking aimlessly into their fields and his speech made no sense, Trooper Samuel Hubbard wrote two days after Cranstons arrest. They said Shawn was about 50 years old, tall and heavy-set with gray hair. He was inquiring as to when and where they attend church and that he wished to go with them, Hubbard wrote. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. Nikki Haley is facing questions about what role she will play in the 2024 presidential election after her refusal to endorse the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, former President Trump, following her exit from the race earlier this month. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) quickly endorsed Trump after dropping out of the race, but Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, has so far only called on Trump to convince her supporters to join him. This has fueled talk about Haleys intentions, sparking questions about whether she might sit out the election entirely and how that might affect her political future. Its also created some worry for the GOP ahead of what is expected to be a razor-tight general election race against President Biden. Many Republicans think their party needs to unify as much as possible around their presumptive nominee to increase their odds of defeating Biden, and they see Haley as playing a key role. I think theres going to have to be some sort of outreach with Nikki Haley, said Dave Wilson, a South Carolina-based GOP strategist. The question is, can the two of them mend fences? Haley served as Trumps ambassador to the United Nations, working with him closely during his presidential term. But the two fell out as she challenged him for the GOP nomination and emerged as his strongest rival during this election cycle. Her decision to stay in the race as long as she did clearly bothered Trump. Despite polling behind the ex-president in most state and national polls by double digits, Haley stayed in the race until the day after Super Tuesday. Haley said she did so to give Republican primary voters a choice; even after a decisive loss to Trump in her home state, Haley and her supporters argued that the 40 percent of the vote she won was evidence of cracks in Trumps Republican coalition. To beat Biden, Trump needs as many of those voters to come to his side, and Haley could be a piece to the puzzle. Theyre the ones who are going to tip the needle one way or another, said one GOP strategist. Its possible to earn their support, but itll take some elbow grease and an olive branch. That percentage is huge for a primary. Trump has some work to do to win over Republicans voters in the suburbs, who have been moving away from the party. Some Republicans say that outreach could start with Haley. Haley is far from the only former Trump rival who has been cool to helping Trump. DeSantis earlier this week did not say whether he would campaign for his ally-turned-rival in Florida. This is not going to be a state thats competitive in November, DeSantis told reporters. So, I dont anticipate there being much campaign here for the top of the ticket. DeSantis did say he would be open to campaigning with Trump nationally. I do think theres going to be some local races that are going to be very important that well be involved with, he said, referring to Florida. And then how I can help nationally, I want to be able to do that. The Trump campaign lashed out at the remarks. Ron really shouldnt flatter himself by assuming wed want him on the campaign trail. Were actually trying to win, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told NewsNation. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy have taken to the airwaves to tout Trumps campaign. Theyve also all been floated for a Cabinet position or to serve as Trumps running mate. Trump does have a history of burying the hatchet with former rivals, such as Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who made jokes about the size of Trumps hands and other parts of his anatomy when the two were presidential contenders in 2016. Now, hes being floated as a potential vice presidential pick. At the moment they do not figure into the calculus, but that can always change, GOP strategist Ford OConnell said of Haley and DeSantis. It all depends on various things do they want a spot at the convention? Maybe he could call upon them for fundraising or campaigning, he added. OConnell emphasized that the stakes for Haley, DeSantis, and other young Republicans are high, since if the former president wins, there will be a new GOP nominee in 2028. Remember, Trump can only serve four years therefore the stakes to replace him begin in exactly two years, he said. For their own futures I dont think they have to go out of the way to be the biggest cheerleaders on team Trump, but the one thing they cannot afford to do is ever be blamed if he loses for being part of the reason why, the national Republican strategist said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Germany has struggled for years with rising levels of what it calls 'irregular migration' - Filip Singer/Shutterstock Germany should consider a temporary migration pause, a senior opposition MP has said as Berlin faces mounting pressure to reform its immigration policies. Jens Spahn, a former health minister who launched a failed bid to lead the centre-Right CDU party, said the governments targets for tackling migration were too weak. In an interview with Bild, the German tabloid, Mr Spahn called for a several year pause in regular migration and said the new target should be zero on the issue of illegal migration. We have irregular migration in large numbers, above all of young men 18 to 40-year-old men are the majority of those who come to us, he said. There was once a goal of getting under 200,000 per year in the grand coalition. We succeeded in doing that too. Then, in 2000 and 2021, the numbers fell accordingly. But, you know, the goal of irregular migration must be zero. Also its irregular, illegal, not legal. And the goal of things that are not lawful is, in my view, zero. Jens Spahn, a former health minister in the centre-Right CDU, called for a 'several year pause in regular migration' - dts News Agency Germany/Shutterstock Germany has struggled with rising levels of what it calls irregular migration for years. Recent figures show the biggest surge in illegal migration levels since 2016, and Mr Spahn said the country had received 3.8 million asylum applications in the past decade. Pausing migration levels for several years would give those already in the country time to learn German and integrate into society, he added. Data released by German police in October showed that 21,000 people entered Germany via unauthorised entries, such as land border crossings, in the previous month. The government responded by imposing additional checks at land borders. The significantly increased levels of migration have been a gift to the far-Right AfD party, which has been surging in the polls on the back of campaigns for tougher migration controls. An ongoing survey of German opinion polls by Politico, a news website, puts AfD in second place nationally, with a projected vote share of 19 per cent. The opposition CDU party, led by Friedrich Merz, who succeeded Angela Merkel, leads with 30 per cent of the vote. The SPD party, led by Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, is third on 15 per cent. Also on Monday, tensions continued to simmer between the Scholz government and the CDU over the formers refusal so far to provide Ukraine with powerful Taurus missiles. Mr Merz accused Mr Scholz of playing into Putins hands by having constant public arguments about sending Taurus missiles to Kyiv, which the chancellor has firmly ruled out. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Foreign tourists arrive in Thua Thien-Hue in early 2024 (Photo: baovanhoa.vn) Recently, at a meeting with the Royal Caribbean Group, Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh proposed the US-based cruise company include Chan May port in its scheduled destinations for 2024 and the following years. Additionally, he requested support and advice from the group for Thua ThienHue in the development of related tourism connectivity and products that highlight the province's distinctive strengths in cultural heritage, cuisine, and landscapes. The province is implementing various measures to enhance partnership with cruise corporations, investment in infrastructure, and streamlining procedures to develop this tourism segment. The authorities have also established coordination mechanisms with neighbouring localities such as Da Nang city and Quang Nam province to develop more tour packages serving those coming by sea. According to Wendy Yamazaki, a regional vice president for government relations (Asia) at the Royal Caribbean Group, Vietnam, one of the top three favorite destinations for international cruise tourists in Southeast Asia, is considered among strategic and popular stops on the groups cruise itineraries. A cruise ship docked at Chan May port. (Photo: sdl.thuathienhue.gov.vn) The Royal Caribbean Group wishes to enhance cooperation with Thua Thien-Hue to promote the building of attractive products, inviting visitors to go on shore to explore the local ancient capital of Hue, she said. Yamazaki stated that the group will continue to choose Hue as a scheduled destination and partner with the province in cruise tourism development. According to the provincial Department of Tourism, in 2024, the number of cruise ships docked at the Chan May port is forecast to be double the figure recorded last year. 15 Vietnamese dishes listed among top 100 Asian noodles Rice noodle bowls with pork and spring rolls (Bun thit nuong cha gio) and Beef pho (Pho bo) are among the 15 Vietnamese dishes to feature on the list of the 100 best Asian noodle dishes, reported VOV. Quang-style noodles (Mi Quang) is placed in 21st position among the top 100 Asian noodles. (Photo courtesy of Taste Atlas) The list was announced in March by Taste Atlas, a website which is dedicated to discovering fresh ingredients, traditional dishes, and authentic restaurants from around the world. The voting results were based on evaluations given by both culinary experts and readers globally. The fifth position among the top 100 Asian noodles went to rice noodle bowls with pork and spring rolls (Bun thit nuong cha gio) of Vietnam. The Vietnamese dish combines marinated grilled pork, rice vermicelli noodles, crispy fried spring rolls, vegetables, and herbs. The dish is served in bowls and is typically accompanied by nuoc cham fish sauce for dipping, according to the website. Taste Atlas ranked Beef pho (Pho bo), Southern Vietnamese beef noodle salad (Bun bo nam bo), and Pho in 11th, 12th, and 13th positions, respectively. Quang-style noodles (Mi Quang) was placed in 21st position among the top 100 Asian noodles. This Vietnamese classic consists of a combination of flat rice noodles and yellow egg noodles which are served with a small amount of flavourful meat broth and crispy fresh vegetables and herbs such as banana blossoms, lettuce, cilantro, scallions, and Vietnamese coriander, the website wrote. Other local delicacies to feature in the list include grilled pork and rice vermicelli (Bun thit nuong) at 23rd, grilled pork meatballs with vermicelli noodles (Bun cha) at 33rd, northern beef pho (Pho bo tai chin) at 39th, chicken pho (Pho ga) at 46th, and tomato and crab noodle soup ("Bun rieu) at 53rd. Taste Atlas also named other Vietnamese dishes spanning the countrys three regions, including mixed pho (Pho tron) at 59th, vegan pho (Pho chay) at 60th, roasted pork with noodles (Cao lau) at 86th, stir-fried pho (Pho xao) at 89th, nam vang noodle soup (Hu tieu nam vang) at 90th, and thick noodle soup (Banh canh) at 98th. Son La, Laos Houaphanh province hold tourism, cultural festival The northern province of Son La and Laos Houaphanh province jointly held a tourism and cultural festival in Houaphanh on March 21-23 to promote their popular destinations and the cultures of ethnic groups in the two provinces, reported VNA. An art performance at the festival The event helped connect and promote tourism development links between Son La, Houaphanh, and other Vietnamese localities. It offered a chance for the two provinces to together develop unique and attractive tourism products, create jobs, and increase income for their people, especially those in ethnic minority and border areas. Festival goers enjoyed art exchange programmes, typical products of the two provinces, and learn about their cultural features, including folk games and cuisine. The festival took place at a time when the Lao people are preparing to celebrate their traditional New Year Bunpimay, which is held annually in mid-April./. Vietnamese photographer wins Hong Kong international photo contest Local photographer Nguyen Duy Hau picked up a gold medal in the Portrait category of the Longteng International Salon of Photography 2024 in Hong Kong (China) for his photo Chi em gai, known as Sisters in English, reported VOV. Hau's photo Chi em gai, known as Sisters in English, wins a gold medal in the Portrait category. Furthermore, his work Cuoc song cua cau be, Little Boys Life, also won an Honorable Mention prize. Moreover, several works by Duy Hau were also showcased at an exhibition held at the Photographic Society of Hong Kong (China). Born in 1977, Nguyen Duy Hau is currently residing in Tan Chau town of Tan Chau district in the southern province of Tay Ninh. Hau has had dozens of photos exhibited both domestically and internationally. His works have contributed to introducing and promoting the image of Tay Ninh and the nation to international friends./. Vice President Kamala Harris' Monday meeting with Guatemala's president to discuss "legal pathways" to migration comes on the heels of a Biden administration announcement that last month set a February record for migrant encounters at the U.S. southern border. White House officials said Harris and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo will discuss efforts by both nations to reduce illegal immigration to the U.S. The pair is expected to focus on expanding "legal pathways" to migration, including the use of "safe mobility offices." The offices were rolled out across Central America last year to provide migrants with a place to access legal avenues such as refugee resettlement options and work visas. They have been cast as a key part of the administration's border strategy, which officials describe as increasing "consequences" for illegal entry while expanding legal pathways and tackling "root causes" of the migration crisis. MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER HIT NEW FEBRUARY RECORD HIGH Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with the Guatemalan president on Monday. As part of the much-balleyhooed campaign to tackle root causes of illegal immigration, Harris, who was tasked in 2021 with leading the governments diplomatic outreach on the issue, is set to announce $1 billion in private sector commitments to invest in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. It brings the total amount committed to Harris "Call to Action" to more than $5 billion. Her efforts have led Harris to be dubbed the "border czar" by Republicans, but it is a label the administration has rejected. The White House says that those investments have created more than 70,000 new jobs, provided training for more than a million people and connected more than 4.5 million people to the internet. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP During their meeting on Monday, Harris is also set to discuss the implementation of Arevalo's agenda and ways the U.S. can support Guatemala's efforts to tackle corruption, promote economic development and include indigenous people in the democratic process. Arevalo won the presidency in August after beating the establishment candidate in a landslide. He has promised to fight the country's established power structure and tackle corruption. His meeting with Harris about immigration comes at an awkward time on the heels of an announcement from Customs and Border Protection that migrant encounters in February reached a new high for the month. REPUBLICAN SENATORS INTRODUCE BILL TO BLOCK MIGRANTS FROM USING BORDER PATROL APP AS ID AT TSA CHECKPOINTS There were 189,922 migrant encounters along the border in February 2024, an increase of more than 30,000 from the 156,000 encounters in February 2023. The previous February record was 166,010 in 2022. Despite the record-high for migration to the border overall, illegal immigrant encounters between ports of entry actually dropped from the February 2022 total, meaning the new high overall is explained in part by more people heading to the ports of entry something that the administration has encouraged people to do with initiatives like the expansion of the use of the CBP One app to schedule appointments at ports of entry. Monthly encounters at the southern border dropped from a record 302,000 in December to 176,204 in January but did not continue to decline in February, raising the possibility that the border sees another significant surge in the spring and summer months. Illegal immigration has been a top issue for voters, according to multiple polls, and looks set to be a top issue going into the November elections. President Biden has called on Congress to pass reforms and provide more funding, including via a bipartisan Senate package proposed earlier this year. Republicans have said that Biden needs no such package, and instead should restore the Trump-era policies his administration has reversed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Harris meets with Guatemala's president amid record-breaking February migrant surge Prince Harry and Meghan Markle learned about Kate Middletons cancer diagnosis through television broadcast at the same time as the public, according to The Times of London. On Friday, the 42-year-old Princess of Wales put months of speculation and conspiracy theories to rest when she shared her cancer diagnosis in a rare video address. Kate said that in the aftermath of planned abdominal surgery, medics found that cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventive chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment, Kate added. She said the diagnosis was a huge shock and that she and William are managing the news privately for their young family. Further details about her condition have not been shared, but Kensington Palace says the Princess is confident she will recover fully. Read More: How the World Is Reacting to Kate Middletons Cancer Diagnosis The Times said several sources confirmed that Kates diagnosis was not shared with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in advance. A family source also told PEOPLE that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were left out of any details regarding Kates diagnosis. The source added: There is clearly no trust. It speaks volumes that Harry and Meghan learnt of the diagnosis from the news. The brothers reportedly havent been in contact for months and trust has completely broken down, royal historian Richard Fitzwilliams tells TIME. Once dubbed The Fantastic Four by British media, their relationships have deteriorated. Harry and William have had a tense relationship for years, which Harry detailed at length in his bombshell memoir Spare, where he accused his brother of physically attacking him. Kate and Meghan also have their own tensions, which the latter spoke about in the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. The Royal family has faced two major losses in recent years, with the deaths of Prince Phillip in April 2021 and Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. At times of crisis, the family has often come together to carry out ceremonial duties, and there is a small possibility Kates period of recovery could reunite them. A serious illness can change everything and bring families together. This may happen. Harry will return to see his father and perhaps the brothers will see each other, Fitzwilliams says. It could open the path to reconciliation in the weeks and months ahead. However, it is unlikely at the moment. In February, Harry flew to the U.K. upon hearing of the King Charles IIIs cancer diagnosis. He met with his father for less than an hour, before flying back to Los Angeles the next day. While brief, the visit marked a reunion for the pair, who had not seen each other since the Kings coronation in May 2023. Following Kates cancer disclosure, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex issued a statement wishing her health and healing. They also said they hope the family has the space to handle the news privately and in peace. The Sussexes have also reportedly reached out directly to the Prince and Princess of Wales. Royal commentator Sarah-Louise Robertson told GB News there have been some text messages, some exchanges, that could prove to be an olive branch between the two families. Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com. The Washington State Department of Transportation says it is one step closer to finishing the Montlake project, which has been going on for years now. Over the weekend, crews were able to finish two new turn lanes from Montlake Boulevard onto to westbound State Route 520. Those lanes opened for drivers Monday morning. After a weekend closure, we opened two new left hand turn lanes for Montlake drivers going northbound to get directly onto westbound 520, said Steve Peer, spokesperson for WSDOT. WSDOT says about 40,000 people drive through that section of Montlake Boulevard and say the change may take drivers some time to get used to. For the last 50 or 60 years, drivers have driven further north, gone all the way up to East Hamlin Street, turned around South Montlake just to get to westbound 520, said Peer. Peer says this section is just one piece of a big puzzle. The Montlake project started in 2019, so we are in our fifth year of construction, this is a $456 million project, said Peer. WSDOT says COVID and the concrete strike delayed things, but they expect to be done with the project by August. I would love to believe that it looks like a really, big project right now. When I walk here every morning its been a lot of construction so I would love for it to be done by summer, said Montlake resident Rachel Levy. When completed, there will be a three-acre lid over 520. Its three acres, and 60% of that will be green space, so there will be a place for communities to come together, there will be transit hubs there, said Peer. Residents say while its not fun to deal with construction, its important to think of the end goal. This stretch is usually just a lot of, feel like a highway right now, it could be nicer to have trees and everything around, said Levy. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) Its dangerous to work in a hospital and its not just because of germs or viruses. Hospital workers across the country are increasingly the victims of violence. Verbally assaulted. Weve been hit, slapped, kicked, punched. Having our own equipment thrown at us, Emergency Nurses Association President Chris Dellinger said. Dellinger and other healthcare leaders came to Capitol Hill and spoke about the difficulties healthcare workers are facing. We no longer are just a place of healing because now we have to worry about our own safety and our other patients safety as well, Dellinger said. A 2018 report from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics said healthcare workers were six times more likely to be attacked in the workplace than other private sector workers. Since the pandemic, weve actually seen an increase in violence, Dellinger said. Katie Boston-Leary with the American Nurses Association says these cases are frequently going unreported. She is calling on Congress to pass two bills to address the issue. Were pulling the alarm right now, that this is something we have to contend with right now, Boston-Leary said. One bill would make violence against healthcare workers a federal offense. The other creates a federal standard for hospital safety and offers protection for employees who report incidents. Even if we move the dial 20% from where we are today, it would be huge, right? Were not looking for a 100% solution right away, because we know that this is a multi-layered, complex issue, Boston-Leary said. Healthcare experts fear, if nothing is done, the uptick in violence will cause more nurses to leave the profession. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Paper cutout family with house under a Medicaid umbrella. iStock / Getty Images Plus Quality Journalism for Critical Times The Florida Supreme Court has until April 1 to decide whether amendment initiatives allowing the use of recreational cannabis and enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution will make it on the ballot this November. But theres already another ballot initiative in the works that Floridians could vote on in 2026. Florida Decides Healthcare is the group seeking voters approval to expand Medicaid, the federally and state-funded insurance for low-income people. If the initiative is successful, the state would have to provide healthcare coverage to adults under 65 whose incomes are at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Florida is one of 10 states that have not expanded the program. And the Florida Legislature this session did not pursue Medicaid expansion. Jake Flaherty, Florida Decides Healthcares campaign director, said the group has taken lessons from the successes of the cannabis and abortion ballot initiatives in getting voters signatures. The COVID-19 pandemic led to the group halting the campaign to put Medicaid expansion on the ballot in 2020. There was a little bit of a dry period there for ballot initiatives and with both recreational marijuana and the abortion initiative we saw that it can really be done still with all the changes that have been put in place, he said in a phone interview with Florida Phoenix. Thats very helpful for us in talking to folks about getting behind this initiative as well. All initiatives in the state need 891,523 signatures in at least one-half of Floridas congressional districts to make it to the ballot, according to the Florida Division of Elections. If the Supreme Court approves the language of the ballot summary, 60 percent of voters must also approve. But Flaherty doesnt think the justices potentially blocking either of the ballot initiatives this year would change the groups campaign. The Florida Supreme Court decision must be based on whether the ballot language would mislead voters or deal with more than one topic. Its such a case-by-case situation that itd be hard to compare even the abortion initiative to the marijuana initiative let alone Medicaid expansion, he said. State lawmakers have opposed Medicaid expansion More than 1.4 million people in the state would get healthcare if Florida expanded Medicaid, according to the group. So far, the state Legislature has been unwilling to do so. Gov. DeSantis signed on Thursday a package of bills dubbed the Live Healthy initiative, which would pour $1.5 billion to bolster healthcare programs over the next decade. Although there were talks from Democratic lawmakers looking to expand Medicaid at the beginning of this years legislative session, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo shut the idea down. She spearheaded the Live Healthy initiative. We need more primary-care providers who play a vital role as the main point of contact in the health care system for families and seniors, Passidomo said during Thursdays bill signing ceremony. Access to health care is important at every phase of life. Insurance including Medicaid and Medicare does not guarantee access. Even Floridians with great insurance face barriers to care. Through Live Healthy Florida will grow the health care workforce we need to serve our communities. Flaherty said that while Live Healthy could improve the quality of care Floridians get, it wouldnt provide access for people who cant afford it. If were being honest with ourselves, there is no silver bullet to making health care what it needs to be in Florida. What they did with Live Healthy this past session, I think its going to help with a lot of different things, but what it doesnt do is provide the ability for people to actually seek care, Flaherty said. It might lead to more providers and put our providers in a better situation to be able to give care to people who need it, but the one thing that we really still need is a way for people who cant afford care to access it. The post On heels of cannabis, abortion-rights initiatives, a group wants to expand Medicaid in 2026 appeared first on Florida Phoenix. STURGEON BAY - The candidates in Sturgeon Bay's two contested races for City Council expressed their views to the Advocate on issues they hope to address should they win seats in the April 2 spring election. In District 2 (Wards 3 through 5, roughly between Michigan Street, South 16th Place and Memorial Drive, along with part of downtown between North Third and North Sixth from Michigan to Jefferson Street), Ald. Dennis Statz is being challenged by Matthew Huston. In District 6 (Wards 16 through 18, north of Georgia Street between roughly Eighth and 18th avenues), Ald. Seth Wiederanders will face challenger Tom Benzshawel. A third council race also is up for election, but District 4 Ald. Spencer Gustafson is running unopposed to retain his seat. The Advocate asked the candidates in the two contested races to answer a short survey to let readers know who they are, why they're running and what issues are important to them and their constituents. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order; some answers have been edited for length or style but not for content. District 2 Matthew Huston Address: 111 S. Seventh Ave., Sturgeon Bay Age: 33 Current occupation/highest education level: Co-owner of Door County Dragonfly Bed & Breakfast; senior digital media strategist at Amadeus Hospitality. Bachelor's of Business Administration. Matthew Huston Public service experience: This is my first time running for public office. However, I am a Sturgeon Bay native with a family history extending to the very founding of this community. I am very involved in several organizations and volunteer opportunities in the community. Contact information: 920-333-2442; hustmr01@gmail.com; facebook.com/HustonForSturgeonBay. Dennis Statz Address: 525 Louisiana St. Age: 70 Current occupation/highest education level: Self-employed, White Lace Inn (started 1982) and Dancing Bear (started 1994), with co-owner and wife, Bonnie Statz. Engineering degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dennis Statz Public service experience: Since the early 1980s I have played an integral role in supporting the local economy, encouraging tourism and developing lasting initiatives for Sturgeon Bays development and growth. Helped start Third Avenue Playhouse. Served on the Governors Council on Tourism, 1989-1994; Sturgeon Bay Historic Preservation Commission, Chairman, 1986-2008; Sturgeon Bay Plan Commission, 2008-present. Helped initiate the Main Street Program for Destination Sturgeon Bay in 1994, served on the board several times. Twice on the board of Destination Door County. Involved with Sturgeon Bay Rotary Club for about five years. Contact information: 920-559-0561 Why are you running for office? Huston: With a longstanding tradition of service, my family has often found its calling in the military. As the first in my family to graduate from college, I didn't pursue the military path, but my commitment to serving my community endures. Seeking office is my way of giving back to the community that has supported me, advocating for my neighbors and ensuring their voices are heard in local governance. Statz: Our citizens need to be represented at the local government level by people willing to listen to their concerns. I am a firm believer in open communications and that public servants have an obligation to learn all the facts, provide input and listen to feedback before voting. Why are you the best candidate for this office? Huston: I am a local business owner with deep ties to the community. Sturgeon Bay has been my familys home for generations and I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve the community, activate change and be a voice for my neighbors in the city government. I will bring new ideas and ways of thinking not represented fully in the current City Council. I strongly feel that my community is looking for new leadership and forward thinking rather than the status quo. Statz: During my term as the current alderman for District 2 I have supported the needs and worked to address the concerns of the people who live in District 2. Im a resident and a business owner in the district and have a significant investment in both my district and the city. I have the experience and knowledge to continue to work with other elected officials on the important issues facing both District 2 and the city of Sturgeon Bay. I feel like there is more good work to be done and look forward to another term as alderman of District 2. What are the main issues facing the city, or your district, and how do you hope to address them? Huston: Sturgeon Bay is facing many challenges and this space is not sufficient to discuss these issues. I invite my neighbors to reach out to me directly for more information. My main concerns are housing and our downtown district's livability, walkability and development. Housing needs and affordability in the community are severe. Current zoning, permitting and other regulations limit what we can do to build and provide affordable housing. We must be creative in our strategies rather than building more subdivisions that are out of reach for the majority of the citizens in town. Additionally, short-term rentals are exacerbating these issues. They have a disastrous impact on housing availability and the vitality of our neighborhoods. Statz: My campaign platform is simple: Work on positive growth for our community within the existing "footprint"; encourage development of community assets to improve efficiencies; continued open communication. Other issues which I feel are important to residents include affordable housing supply, short-term rental regulation and the targeted use of tax increment districts to spur economic development. My re-election to the alderman seat in District 2 will allow me to continue to work on supporting initiatives which develop solutions and strategies to address these critical areas of concern. I appreciate and thank you for your vote. District 6 Tom Benzshawel Address: 1361 N. 11th Place Age: 63 Current occupation/highest education level: Engineer. Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering. Tom Benzshawel Public service experience: Five years as Sturgeon Bay District 6 Alderman (resigned to work at Sturgeon Bay Utilities). I actively participated in numerous committees and proudly chaired the Finance and Personnel committees. Contact information: Tom.benz@sbcglobal.net Seth Wiederanders Address: 609 B N. 12th Ave. Age: 51 Current occupation/highest education level: Certified mental health peer specialist, JAKs Place, Sturgeon Bay High School graduate, some college credits, Seth Wiederanders Public service experience: In 2019 I was successful at getting two nonbinding referendum questions onto the local election ballots in Sturgeon Bay. The results showed that city voters were supportive of decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana. I subsequently introduced an ordinance change that was passed by City Council later that year. Contact information: sethwiederandersdistrict6@gmail.com; "Seth Wiederanders District 6" on Facebook; 920-495-1446. Why are you running for office? Benzshawel: As a homeowner and parent myself, I am deeply invested in maintaining Sturgeon Bay as a wonderful place to live and raise a family. Wiederanders: Im running for my fourth term on Sturgeon Bay City Council because I truly enjoy the work. I like serving our community as the voice of District 6. My years on council have given me a lot of insight into what city government is and how it works and Ive found I really enjoy working with the public and our city staff. I like being the person that people think of when they have questions and concerns and I like working with Common Council to seek out answers and solutions. Why are you the best candidate for this office? Benzshawel: With over 43 years of deeply-rooted experience in this community, I understand the issues that matter most to you. With my diversified background and dedication to community service, I possess the necessary experience to serve as an effective alderman. If elected, I will prioritize listening to your concerns and work to ensure that your voice is heard in city decisions. Wiederanders: Im the best candidate for District 6 because I understand the job and Im dedicated to the work. I know how to sit down and hash out solutions to all the day-to-day issues the city faces. I hardly ever miss council or committee sessions and I come to the table prepared. By the time an issue is in front of Common Council, I am as informed and up to speed as I can be. What are the main issues facing the city, or your district, and how do you hope to address them? Benzshawel: First and foremost, addressing the need for affordable housing is paramount. I plan to work closely with local stakeholders, developers and housing authorities to explore innovative solutions such as mixed-income housing developments, incentives for affordable housing construction, and partnerships with nonprofit organizations to increase the availability of affordable housing options. Additionally, responsible management of developments is crucial to preserving the character and quality of life in Sturgeon Bay. While development is essential for economic growth, it must be carried out in a sustainable and thoughtful manner. If elected, I will advocate for comprehensive planning processes that prioritize community input, environmental sustainability and smart growth principles. Wiederanders: I have had complaints from four different people in my district about speeding. People are wondering why they cant have more of a police presence in their neighborhoods. They are concerned about their safety and the safety of their children and pets. We need to have a serious discussion about this ongoing issue, possibly at the newly formed Local Transportation Board. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Sturgeon Bay City Council candidates discuss issues that matter to them The lighter blue water contains sperm-filled milt from male herrings A vast herring spawning ground off Scotlands west coast has been spotted from space. Researchers used underwater cameras to film the eggs, off Wester Ross, after light blue plumes were picked up on satellite images. Environmentalists say the sea area where the fish have spawned needs urgent protection against damage from trawling and scallop dredging. The Scottish government says protecting these priority marine features is a top priority. Stocks of herring have started to return to some areas where they were wiped out by overfishing in the 1960s and 70s. Climate change is also thought to have played a part in their demise as ocean temperatures alter. The lighter blue line in the sea indicates the spawning ground The first suspicion that spawning had taken place came when Gairloch resident Peter Cunningham - who works for the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust - spotted unusually high numbers of birds diving in the area. It was accompanied by a lighter blue colouration, visible from the shore, which was caused by herring sperm. Peter contacted the environmental charity Open Seas who used open-source satellite images to pinpoint the exact location of the grounds. Hundreds of thousands of herring form the shoals which spawn "Just by sheer luck the satellite had gone over at around about the same time," said Peter. "The sky was clear and you can seen these marks of slightly turquoisey water." He said that was "pretty good evidence" that the herring had spawned and so a team from Edinburgh Napier University's west of Scotland herring hunt project headed to Gairloch and deployed an underwater drone. They picked up vast areas of eggs attached to maerl beds on the ocean floor but the find was confirmed when the drone resurfaced covered in herring eggs. Dr Michelle Frost from Edinburgh Napier University said spotting the spawning event from space was incredibly rare. She explained: "It allowed us to pinpoint exactly where the spawning grounds are and this is something we've struggled with for many years. Eggs attached themselves to an underwater drone exploring the grounds A spawning event took place in 2018 south of Gairloch in an area which was already protected from damaging fishing. Local people believe the new area - off North Erradale - was historically a traditional spawning ground but activity has not been spotted in the water for many decades. Environmental DNA samples will now be taken from the sea to help them learn more about the spawning behaviour. Botanist Sue Pomeroy said it was amazing to see the herring eggs Botanist Sue Pomeroy from Little Loch Broom Marine Life was responsible for the underwater drone, taking it to depths of around 20 metres in search of the eggs. On the first few dives they found nothing but spotted gannets diving into the water close by. After relocating, they tried again and struck lucky. She said: "The realisation hit me. There was acres of it, just as far as they eye could see." When the drone returned to the surface it was covered in eggs which confirmed their existence conclusively. The lighter area around the starfish shows where the eggs have been eaten Open Seas has now called on the Scottish government to take immediate action to close the area to fishing boats. Ministers had already earmarked the site for protection but it has never been introduced. Nick Underdown from Open Seas said: "Six years after this very area was identified we are still waiting for protection so we'd like to see this area urgently protected for the future health of fish populations." Open Seas has recently begun a legal challenge against Scottish ministers who they accuse of failing to protect marine habitats. A Scottish government spokesman said measures to protect the most vulnerable marine habitat sites were implemented in 2016. He added that putting in place the remaining fisheries management measures to protect priority marine features "remains a top government priority." Related internet links More on this story TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) A Hillsborough County firefighter was taken to a hospital after battling a two-alarm apartment fire on Monday morning. The Hillsborough County Fire Rescue said it was called to an apartment complex on Sandstone Lake Drive in Tampa around 9 a.m. after several people reported smoke and fire coming from a second-floor unit. Crews said they arrived to find heavy smoke and fire from the unit. A commander called a second alarm because they were worried the fire would spread to more units. (Hillsborough County Fire Rescue) (Hillsborough County Fire Rescue) (Hillsborough County Fire Rescue) (Hillsborough County Fire Rescue) (Hillsborough County Fire Rescue) Firefighters were able to get the blaze under control within 20 minutes and stop its progression. Crews said no one was inside the apartment. The firefighter who was taken to a hospital is in stable condition. The cause of the fire is under investigation. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Read the full story on The Auto Wire HOA President Has Dead Mans Cars Towed The Day Of His Funeral HOAs, while they have their benefits, can also be the worst. If you get the wrong Karens on the board or worse as the president, theyll wield their unchecked power like Gandalf with the One Ring. So many times, the favorite target of these HOA tyrants are peoples cars. But a report from WPLG in South Florida is particularly disgusting since it involves a dead mans Dodge Chargers being towed on the day of his funeral. Watch some Good Samaritans stop a wrong-way driver peacefully here. Thats right, the grieving widow claims the HOA president knew she was planning a funeral and the day of had a towing company come and take her dead husbands vehicles away. Weve seen some pretty low stuff, but if the claims are true, this is pretty low. WPLG sent a reporter to the condo complex where the Dodge Chargers were towed away to speak with the HOA president. She seemed completely normal while yelling at the reporter, eyes wide like what you see in so many Karen videos. In fact, lets just call the woman Crazy Eyes because these types always nail the Gollum eye thing perfectly. Ol Crazy Eyes claims the recently widowed woman didnt call anyone about anything. Yes, because after her husband died suddenly of a heart attack, that would obviously be the first thing on her mind. Crazy Eyes went on to claim she didnt know the womans husband had just died, saying she only heard rumors about his death. Rather than reaching out and asking if the widow was okay, she had the dead guys cars towed away. Classy. When the reporter pointed out several other vehicles that supposedly were in violation of the HOAs parking rules, which was also supposedly why the Chargers were towed, Crazy Eyes seemed to have all kinds of excuses. People who live at the complex told WPLG rules arent consistently applied out of favoritism. Imagine that. But the towing company did the right thing, waving all the fees once the reporter explained what happened. Whats more, the owner of the towing company is helping to sell the Chargers, something the widow was going to do anyway. Why cant more people be like that guy? Check out the video to see Crazy Eyes in action its really something to behold. https://youtu.be/pCc6FOJu-hY Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook. When Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion in Hobby Lobby v. Burwell 10 years ago, he provided answers to questions that no one had askedat least, officially. The plaintiffs, two businesses owned by Christians, objected to a mandate in the Affordable Care Act requiring health insurance providers to cover types of birth control known as emergency contraception, or E.C. Colloquially known as the morning-after pill, E.C. works after sex to prevent pregnancy by blocking sperm from fertilizing an egg or by preventing the release of an egg in the first place. But anti-abortion activists believe that morning-after pills and IUDs prevent implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterus, which they say is tantamount to an abortion. The Supreme Court ruled for the plaintiffs on the grounds that the contraception mandate violated the religious beliefs of these employers, who believed that four methods of birth control (two kinds of E.C. pillsPlan B and Ellaand two IUDs) are abortifacients. In his opinion, Alito wrote that those four methods may have the effect of preventing an already fertilized egg from developing any further by inhibiting its attachment to the uterus. Then, in a footnote, he explained that the plaintiffs believe life begins at fertilization, while government scientists say it starts at implantation. Alito didnt have to say all of that to get to the ruling. It wasnt necessary to dispose of the case, said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law and an expert on the history of legal battles over abortion. He could have just said, These people believe this. (Speaking of Alito yapping, Hobby Lobby is the same case in which he allegedly leaked the outcome to conservative donors.) Now that Roe v. Wade is gone, Alitos opinion could become an even bigger gift to the anti-abortion movement than it was a decade ago, said Melissa Murray, a law professor at the New York University School of Law. Post-Dobbs, the question surrounding some of these forms of contraception is whether, in fact, they can be reclassified or re-characterized as abortifacients. And then the question isnt about contraception, its about abortion, Murray said. Hobby Lobby laid the foundation for it. What lawmakers consider to be an abortifacient is increasingly important given that the GOP is scheming to ban abortion without Congress. When the Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow in a case that could restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone, it will also contend with a legal theory cooked up after the fall of Roe: that a zombie Victorian-era abortion ban, the federal Comstock Act of 1873, has sprung back to life and now criminalizes the possession, sale, or mailing of any drug or device that is used for abortions. No matter what happens with the mifepristone case, the conservative activists behind Project 2025 want a potential Trump administration to enforce Comstock in order to ban the shipment of abortion pills nationwide. Its not hard to see where this is going. If anti-abortion activists believe that Plan B and IUDs cause abortionsan idea bolstered by Hobby Lobbythey could try to ban them under Comstock too. If the morning-after pill is an abortifacient, and if the Comstock Act bans mailing abortifacients, its not much of a leap to assume that it would bar the mailing of emergency contraception, Ziegler said. Mifepristone would be the first target, but conservatives are not hiding that they want to do something about emergency contraception, she said. The right-wing Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADFwhich represented a plaintiff in the consolidated Hobby Lobby casebrought the mifepristone case and asked the court in a February brief to weigh in on Comstock. (Nearly 150 GOP members of Congress made a similar ask.) The plaintiffs in the abortion pill case, a group of anti-abortion doctors, arguably dont have legal standing to sue, but then again, neither did the Colorado website designer in 303 Creative, another ADF case. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor last June. Ziegler said activists behind Project 2025, and Comstock-boosting lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, are reading the statute wrong: Its only supposed to apply to illegal abortions, and the Biden administrations Department of Justice agrees. But if Trump wins and nominates a Comstock-friendly attorney general, its off to the races. And it could impact much more than mifepristone, supplies for in-clinic abortions, and emergency contraception. Murray said it was very possible that a Trump administration could apply a Comstock ban to other drugs that are known to induce abortion, like misoprostol, the second drug in the FDA-approved medication abortion protocol. Misoprostol can be used on its own to end a pregnancy and is also prescribed to people experiencing miscarriages. (It was originally approved as an ulcer drug, and Brazilian feminists discovered an off-label use later.) All bets are off, she said. I would feel better about misoprostol if it were used to treat diseases of the penis and people would be able to find a carve-out for that. She noted that the Connecticut law challenged in the landmark 1965 ruling Griswold v. Connecticut banned diaphragms and the pill while exempting condoms because they helped prevent sexually transmitted infections. The Comstock Act used to apply to birth control as well, and while Congress had the sense to repeal those portions in 1971, that doesnt mean contraception is safeeven the nonemergency kind. Conservatives have been conflating birth control with abortion for decades, Ziegler said. In the late 1990s, the group Pharmacists for Life called the first-ever morning-after pill emergency abortions. Murray notes that Alitos Hobby Lobby opinion isnt the only Supreme Court writing to conflate birth control with abortion. Justice Clarence Thomas picked up the mantle in a 2019 case called Box v. Planned Parenthood, where he used a concurrence to try to graft the eugenics-laden history of the birth control movement to the history of abortion. (Hes wrong: Eugenics laws relied on coerced sterilizations, not abortions; and the first efforts to restrict abortion in the nineteenth century were largely intended to increase the white birth rate.) Even with the explicit birth control sections gone, Comstockwhich Murray dubbed a fever dream of Victorian repressionalso bans mailing items for any immoral purpose. If conservatives really want to go maximalist, she said, they could claim that all forms of contraception are immoral. Now why would anti-abortion activists want to target regular old birth control, which, like E.C., helps prevent unintended pregnancies? Because what undergirds the movement is a desire to exert control over peoples bodies and to reinstate decades-old norms that sex is for procreation among married people only. If the Supreme Court reanimates Comstock, it could effectively green-light a ban on some methods of contraception, all without overturning Griswold. To the extent that the court would literally have a huge shitstorm on his hands were it to overrule yet another precedent, and one as high-profile as Griswold, yeah, this is a great interim measure, Murray said. Once you normalize a world without contraception, then maybe its a lot easier to actually overrule Griswold. Should a Trump administration cite Comstock to ban the mailing of emergency contraception and IUDs, advocates could appeal, but its an open question whether this Supreme Court would stop him. University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman sounded quite skeptical during a recent appearance on Alex Wagner Tonight, and connected it back to the 2014 ruling. The Supreme Court in Hobby Lobby v. Burwell essentially said that some employers were entitled to believe, and then act on their belief, that some forms of contraception were abortifacients and therefore did not have to offer that form of health insurance coverage to their employees, Litman said. So the seeds have already been planted and they are just waiting, again, for the next Republican president, knowing that the Republican Supreme Court will let them get away with basically anything to test the limits of the law and try to bring a federal abortion ban to life without having to enact it into law. Wagner responded, Thats why Kamala Harris was in Minnesota today. You could be in a blue state with Democrats controlling the state, have all the protections you think you need, but it matters whos sitting in the White House. Its true that, on Comstock, it matters who the president is. And when the president is Joe Biden, an octogenarian staring down a too-close-for-comfort rematch against the man who could make a national abortion ban happen, more needs to be done. Its time to drive a stake through the heart of this zombie ban by repealing itif that fails, Democrats would have at least let voters know that Comstock exists, and that Republicans are more than happy to keep it around. Murray acknowledges that the Biden administration might be indulging in some magical thinking, possessed of the belief that the prudent move at the moment is to ignore Comstocks potential threat so as to not make it sound credible to the Supreme Court ahead of the mifepristone case. Its too late, she said. That ship has sailed. Its now just a matter of whether Democrats will defuse the bomb. I dont even think many of them even understand the threat that it posesmost people dont, Murray said. Would I like them to [repeal Comstock]? One hundred percent. Do I think they will? Probably not. Yes, Democrats in Congress have tried to codify Roe into federal law; the effort foundered thanks mostly to two retiring senators intransigence on the filibuster. Biden has fallen short in that arena, but he could make up for lost ground by talking about Comstock on the campaign trail and pushing congressional leaders to get Republicans on the record about whether they support a dormant nationwide abortion ban written before women could even vote. In this era of abortion winning elections, if Democrats dont force votes in both chambersyes, even the Houseand campaign on this very out-in-the-open Republican plan to further subjugate women and pregnant people, it will confirm the partys antipathy to delivering anything of substance on abortion. But if Democrats do sound the alarm on Comstock, they might save us all from a Victorian prisonand they could even win in November. Vice Chairman of the NAs Committee for Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan (L) welcomes Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho at the Noi Bai International Airport. (Photo: VNA) The delegation was welcomed at the Noi Bai International Airport by Vice Chairman of the NAs Committee for Foreign Affairs Le Anh Tuan and Finnish Ambassador to Vietnam Keijo Norvanto, among others. This is the first visit to a country outside Europe by Jussi Halla-aho since he took office and he is visiting only Vietnam this time, showing Vietnam's special position in Finland's foreign policy, as well as the good friendship between the two legislatures. The visit also aims to mark the 50th founding anniversary of the two countries diplomatic relations (1973 - 2023). The visit is expected to help strengthen the cooperative relations between the two countries in various areas, Don Tuan Phong, Vice Chairman of the NAs Committee for Foreign Affairs, spoke to the media ahead of the visit. According to the official, over the past 51 years, the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and Finland have been maintained and developed well. Finland always gives Vietnam much attention and support. Finland has continuously provided non-refundable aid to Vietnam since the two countries established diplomatic relations. Economic-trade-investment cooperation is a top priority in their relations. Two-way trade has continuously increased, reaching nearly 380 million USD in 2023. However, it is still a modest number, especially in the context of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) taking effect in 2020. Regarding investment, Finland currently ranks 58th out of 140 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 35 valid projects worth over 47 million USD, which also remains modest rate compared to Finland's economic potential and strengths, Phong said. Therefore, Phong said, through this visit, leaders of the two countries will discuss measures to further strengthen economic, trade, and investment cooperation, particularly how to raise trade turnover, increase Finnish investment in Vietnam, and attract more Finnish businesses to Vietnam, especially in fields where the European country has strengths and Vietnam has demand like high technology, digital transformation, education-training, and component production. The official informed that the top legislators of Vietnam and Finland are scheduled to discuss measures to strengthen cooperation between the two legislatures, especially in exchanging experience in legislation and supreme supervision, and deciding on important national issues./. Holidaymakers are being put off booking hotels in Britain as reports of bedbugs have soared by 278 per cent in the past two years, research has found. The parasitic insects are multiplying rapidly, experts fear, with hotels seeing more than five times the number of cases in the first three months of 2024 compared with the same period last year. There were 1,319 complaints of bedbugs in hotels in the UK on Booking.com in 2023, compared with 826 in 2022 and 457 in 2021. Spotta, an insect monitoring company, said it had seen a 278 per cent increase in levels of bedbugs in hotels across the country in the past two years. Travel experts said outbreaks are deterring people from booking holidays in the UK, while hotels are reluctant to talk about what measures they are taking to prevent bedbugs. Simon Calder, a travel expert, said: The recent bedbug outbreaks are deterring some people from taking well-deserved holidays and short breaks. Worries about these pesky insects could have a long-term effect on behaviour. And if people decide not to travel because of their fears, it will be highly damaging for an industry which is still recovering from the impact of the pandemic. He added: The hospitality industry, and travel as a whole, needs to tackle the problem swiftly. Almost a quarter of British consumers 22 per cent have been put off booking hotel accommodation this year because of recent outbreaks in the UK and abroad, according to a survey by Censuswide. Mr Calder said: I have talked to fellow travellers who have actually cancelled trips because they are worried about bites and also Ive encountered hotels that are reluctant to talk publicly about their bedbug measures. Consumers need to be confident that the property is taking measures to deal with the situation and are prepared to pay more for hotels that demonstrate their concern about the problem. Detection rate higher than Paris The French capital was hit by an invasion of bedbugs last year, with social media users posting footage of the insects crawling across seats on the Paris Metro, trains and buses. They were also spotted in restaurants, cinemas and even in Charles de Gaulle Airport, with the French government vowing to tackle the scourge of insects that threaten to overshadow the 2024 Olympic Games in the city. However, Robert Fryers, the chief executive and co-founder of Spotta, which provides artificial intelligence monitoring technology to hotels to detect bedbugs before they spread, said the company had recently seen higher instances of bedbugs in London. Over the last six months or so the detection rate in London has actually been 28 per cent higher than in Paris, he told The Telegraph. The start-up company provides monitoring devices to hotels designed for early detection of bedbugs. The box, which is about the size of a pack of cards, sits between the mattress and bedframe and contains a pheromone chemical designed to attract the insects. When a bug crawls inside, a small camera takes a picture of it and sends it to a central database, before a combination of artificial intelligence and the human eye determines whether or not it is a bedbug. A mobile alert is then sent to the hotel managers to inform them of the infestation. The company is now launching a Bed Bug Protection Promise, encouraging hotels that use the device to adopt a logo to help reassure consumers that proactive measures are in place to protect them from the insects. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. DENVER (KDVR) The Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office said a large grass fire was quickly extinguished Sunday as homeowners helped crews fight the flames. The fire was burning near E. 6th Avenue and Manila Road, between Watkins and Bennett. The fire was at two acres when crews arrived, and wind was pushing the blaze to the west. Firefighter adopts cat found on I-25 hazmat scene South Metro Fire Rescue told FOX31 that nine agencies were on the scene. ACSO said a few homes were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Aurora Fire Rescue said two farms and the homes there were saved from a large grass fire in Arapahoe County Sunday night. (Aurora Fire Rescue) The Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office said a large grass fire was quickly extinguished Sunday as homeowners helped crews fight the fire. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) Aurora Fire Rescue said two farms and the homes there were saved from a large grass fire in Arapahoe County Sunday night. (Aurora Fire Rescue) The Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office said a large grass fire was quickly extinguished Sunday as homeowners helped crews fight the fire. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) Aurora Fire Rescue said two farms and the homes there were saved from a large grass fire in Arapahoe County Sunday night. (Aurora Fire Rescue) The Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office said a large grass fire was quickly extinguished Sunday as homeowners helped crews fight the fire. (Photo: Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office) Aurora Fire Rescue said two farms and the homes there were saved from a large grass fire in Arapahoe County Sunday night. (Aurora Fire Rescue) ACSO told FOX31 that the fire looked to be mostly under control at 3:30 p.m., and said that it was extinguished quickly as some local homeowners were helping crews put the fire out. At 3:41 p.m., ACSO said the fire was completely out and residents were able to return to their homes. The fire burned a total of 127 acres. Aurora Fire Rescue said two farms and several homes were saved from the blaze. One man was treated for smoke inhalation, but he was released on the scene. No other injuries were reported. Investigators attributed the cause of the fire to accidental factors, Aurora Fire Rescue said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. The leglislation, which was swiftly passed by Hong Kong's opposition-free legislature, expands on a security law imposed by Beijing (Peter PARKS) Hong Kong's justice minister has warned that posting and sharing criticism of the city's newly enacted national security law could be in breach of the legislation, which lays down harsh penalties for sedition. The "Article 23" legislation, which came into force on Saturday, includes penalties of up to life imprisonment for five categories of crime including treason, insurrection, espionage, sabotage and external interference. It also expanded the British colonial-era offence of "sedition" to include inciting hatred against China's Communist Party leadership. Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said in a televised interview on Sunday that a person might commit an offence if they reposted online critical statements issued by foreign countries and persons overseas, depending on their "intention and purpose". "An extreme scenario could be that the person posted (the statements) online because they strongly agreed with it, and they added some comments, made additional remarks, purely for the purpose of inciting other residents' hatred against the (Hong Kong) and central governments," Lam said. "In that case of course there is a risk and a chance (of breaching the law)." Hong Kong security chief Chris Tang said in the same interview that additional evidence such as "what you keep at home and what other acts you have done" would have to be collected to facilitate prosecution. "As I often said, if you breached the law, I will definitely find evidence against you," Tang said. The legislation expands on a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 after huge, sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019 were quashed. Nearly 300 people have arrested under the Beijing law, with dozens prosecuted for "sedition," mainly for online posts critical of the authorities. Critics said the law had eviscerated Hong Kong's political opposition and civil society, and the new legislation would further curtail residents' rights. But authorities said the new law was needed to "plug" legislative gaps in the Beijing law, and to fulfil a "constitutional responsibility" under the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini constitution since its handover from Britain to China in 1997. su/mtp (KTVI) A local organization is making sure veterans who served in Vietnam get their due. The Greater St. Louis Honor Flight is kicking off its 2024 season, flying veterans to and from Washington, DC in a single day to visit the national memorials created in their honor. The flights recognize those who served in World War II, Korea, and both Iraq wars. The first flight of the 2024 season will be April 9. As Fox 2s Jasmine Huda shows us, the organization is placing special emphasis on Vietnam veterans. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. OAK HILL, WV (WVNS) Over in Oak Hill, the Hoppin Hounds Easter Egg Hunt had dog lovers and jeep enthusiasts alike gathered for the event. Participants brought around a dozen eager dogs that were all ready to get out and find more than a thousand Easter eggs and win prizes. The West Virginia Jeep Babes chaired the event, and said all of the donations are going to the Rustic Mutt Foundation. Michelle Riser, President of the WV Jeep Babes, explained what the foundation is all about. It all benefits the Rustic Mutt, which is a foundation located in Greenbrier County that assists other counties, just like Fayette County. What they do is they trap, neuter, release for cats, and they do a spay and neuter program. Theyre always looking for volunteers and fosters and things, and every bit of this goes to the Rustic Mutt so they can continue the wonderful work they do. Additional elk welcomed to West Virginia by the WVDNR and Governor Justice Risers own dog, Cooper, is a professional Easter Egg hunter with five years experience under his paw. The other dogs were also all dressed to the nines in hopes of winning the costume contest and eating some delicious treats. The event was at the Oak Hill City Dog Park from 11 in the morning until 2. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS. Unite Here Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen, right at podium, congratulates hotel workers and leaders as he announces the ratification results and unveiled the new contract terms at a news conference on the steps of the Intercontinental Hotel downtown in Los Angeles, Monday, March 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) LOS ANGELES (AP) Thousands of Southern California hospitality workers overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with 34 hotels after repeated strikes since the summer, their union announced Monday. Workers won higher pay, increased employer contributions to pensions, and fair workload guarantees among other provisions of a contract that received 98% approval, Unite Here Local 11 said in a summary of highlights of the pact which runs until Jan. 15, 2028. The union has yet to reach settlements with 30 other hotels. Room attendants, cooks and other non-tipped workers will receive wage hikes of $10 an hour over the term of the contract, representing a 40% to 50% increase, the union said. Half of the increase will come in the first year. Room attendants at most hotels will earn $35 an hour by July 2027 and top cooks will earn $41 an hour, the union said. Tipped workers will see such improvements as double-time pay for holidays, vacation, sick days and increased shares of service charges. Automatic 20% gratuities at full-service restaurants will be 100% shared by staff. The union also stressed that the contract maintains health insurance in which workers pay no more than $20 monthly for full family coverage. We have won a life-changing contract that transforms hotel jobs from low-wage service work to middle-class professional positions, Kurt Petersen, co-president of Local 11, told workers at a rally outside a downtown Los Angeles hotel. The coalition of hotels involved in talks with the union welcomed the deal. The ratification votes are a long time coming. Were glad that hotel employees who have been waiting months now can enjoy the benefits of new contracts, including increased compensation, and continue the great work they do for our guests and our communities," said Pete Hillan, a spokesperson for the California Hotel & Lodging Association. Characterizing their demands as a fight for wages that will allow members to live in the cities where they work, more than 10,000 employees in greater Los Angeles began rolling strikes at 52 hotels in July 2023. Workers repeatedly went on strike, picketed and later returned to work. The union represents 15,000 workers but staff at some hotels have not engaged in strikes. The union scored a major achievement just before the wave of strikes when a tentative agreement was reached with its biggest employer, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in downtown Los Angeles, which has more than 600 union workers. Other hotels gradually came to terms with the strike actions. Petersen also pointed out that the new contract expires just months before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Were demanding a new deal for the Olympics that includes family-sustaining jobs and affordable housing for workers. And let me say, if they do not give us that new deal, are we ready to do what it takes? he said to cheers from workers. ___ Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report. LA VERKIN, Utah (ABC4) Kelly Wilson, the mayor of La Verkin, fondly remembers going to the Pah Tempe hot springs as a kid growing up in the small, southwestern Utah town. We used to go swim in the hot springs swimming pool all the time, he said. It was part of our community. Nations first sky dome resort promises pristine stargazing views near Bryce Canyon National Park The Pah Tempe hot springs, which are also known as the La Verkin Sulphur Springs or Dixie Hot Springs, have been closed for more than a decade. The area of the Virgin River where the springs sit is surrounded by tall cliffs, and falling rocks pose significant risk to visitors. But locals and tourists stopping at nearby Zion National Park will be able to enjoy the water from the natural hot springs next year, when a $60 million resort is set to be finished up the canyon in La Verkin. Zion Canyon Hot Springs is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025, featuring 53 different bodies of water and a wellness facility. A groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held on Monday. I cant wait for this facility to be open and show people what were about, said Christian Henny, president and general manager of Zion Canyon Hot Springs. The resort, set to be located roughly 30 minutes from Zion National Park, will boast 32 natural hot spring pools, 16 adult-only pools, three barrel saunas, three cold-dip pools, and a large freshwater pool and spa. Its going to be amazing, Henny said. The pools are going to vary in temperature a high of 104 [degrees] and down to, in the summertime, 88 degrees. The resort is the result of a collaboration between Iron Mountain Hot Springs, located in Colorado, and the Washington County Water Conservation District. The resort will pump 2,000 gallons a minute from the Pah Tempe hot springs and the water will flow through the outdoor pools and be returned to the Virgin River. While therell be a filter to catch any loose debris, there wont be any chemicals added to the water. Visitors will be advised to shower before entering the resort pools. As for the sulfuric rotten eggs smell that exists at the original hot springs location, therell be a device at the resort to nullify that scent, Henny said. According to Zachary Renstrom, the general manager of the Washington County Water Conservation District, the only real change to the water will be that its cooler when it reenters the river. Which is a good thing, he said. Because in the summer the fish can get too hot. Itll probably help the river overall. Stakeholders in Zion Canyon Hot Springs take part in a groundbreaking ceremony on March 25, 2024. (credit: KTVX/Garrett James) Renstrom described the partnership between the water district and the resort as a win-win and a great example of a public-private partnership. He noted that itll be the resorts responsibility to monitor the water. Wilson, the mayor of La Verkin, said the resort will be a tremendous boost for the local economy, bringing in visitors from Zion and giving them a reason to try other amenities in the town located about 20 miles northeast of St. George. While the mayor said that many people in the community were initially skeptical of the resort project, city officials met with them early on and addressed their concerns. Theres always a few people who dont like it, people who dont like to see growth, but its inevitable, Wilson said. We need to make the best out of whats coming. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. A group of House Democrats is suggesting President Biden weigh cutting off military assistance to Israel over accusations it is restricting aid to Gaza, something the Middle Eastern U.S. ally has denied. The six lawmakers, led by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, called the situation in Gaza a "humanitarian catastrophe" in a weekend letter to Biden. They urged him to "make clear" to Israel that it is in violation of long-standing U.S. law that blocks foreign aid to countries that are preventing the U.S. from getting humanitarian aid somewhere else. UN FINALLY RECOGNIZES THAT ISRAELI WOMEN WERE RAPED, SEXUALLY ATTACKED BY HAMAS TERRORISTS "For months following Hamas horrific October 7th attacks, which you and the U.S. Congress have rightly condemned, you have urged the Israeli government to exercise its right to self-defense judiciously while prioritizing the protection of innocent lives. Instead, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has restricted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza by placing onerous burdens on the oversight of aid, severely limiting entry points for aid delivery, and arbitrarily preventing food, medicine, and other supplies from entering Gaza," the letter said. "Given the catastrophic and devolving humanitarian situation in Gaza, we urge you to enforce the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act and, as required by that law, make clear to the Israeli government that so long as Israel continues to restrict the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the continued provision of U.S. security assistance to Israel would constitute a violation of existing U.S. law and must be restricted." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP NETANYAHU VOWS TO INVADE RAFAH REGARDLESS OF POTENTIAL CEASE-FIRE WITH HAMAS: IT WILL HAPPEN Rep. Joaquin Castro led the latest letter pushing Biden to restrict aid to Israel. (Getty Images) The Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act prohibits U.S. foreign aid from going to a country whose government is restricting or blocking U.S. humanitarian aid. "While dialogue between allies is a key part of diplomacy, words are no longer enough to meet the humanitarian crisis of Gazas scale nor to protect the hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians seeking shelter in the war zone," the Democrats wrote. "We urge you to act on the law and demonstrate to Prime Minister Netanyahu that U.S. support has firm limits and does not include enabling conditions that will lead to famine in Gaza." PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS ACCOST AOC OUTSIDE MOVIE THEATER, DEMAND SHE CALL ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR A GENOCIDE Arguments over the U.S. role in Israels ongoing war with Hamas have splintered the Democratic Party. Biden has taken heat from progressives for not doing enough to curb Israels retaliation, while more moderate Democrats have continued to stand by the Middle Eastern nation. The Palestinian refugee-centered United Nations agency UNRWA said over the weekend that Israel is no longer allowing its food convoys in northern Gaza. UNRWA itself has been under scrutiny over allegations its workers and people associated with it played a role in the brutal Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response to the letter. Original article source: House Dems urge Biden to target Israel military aid over Gaza humanitarian concerns Hes the most recognized name in architecture history all over the globe, and while Frank Lloyd Wright has many different house and building styles under his belt, hes most known for his boldness when it comes to mid-century modern homes. This is one of the famous architects first Prairie-style homes. But at the start of his career, he managed to take hold of an architectural trend referred to as Prairie-style at the turn of the 20th century and made it entirely his own. Interior One of his first Prairie-style houses has landed on the real estate market in Kankakee, Illinois, for an affordable $779,000. Usually, Wrights designs can venture up in the millions when it comes to cost, but this four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom house hasnt been for sale for 48 years, and the interior may be dated. Welcome to the Warren Hickox House, a timeless masterpiece nestled along the picturesque Kankakee River in scenic Kankakee, the listing on Realtor.com says. Designed by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright, often hailed as the greatest American architect of all time, this home exudes warmth and charm from the moment you step inside. The home, considered one of Wrights first Prairie-style designs, was finished in plaster and dark wood trim, the Hickox House features flared roof ridges evocative of Japanese architecture/geometry, a favorite of Wright-the tent-like quality embraces the varied forms below. Living room A unique aspect of the home is its proximity to another Wright work, which is right next door. Kitchen Legend has it that the Warren Hickox House was built first, and Anna [Hickoxs sister] loved what was going on there and had hers built, listing agent Victoria Krause Schutte told Realtor.com. Stairwell The 3,277-square-foot home, which was built in 1900, has a plethora of features, including: Natural light Screened office Cruciform design Bay windows Bedroom The Hickox House seamlessly blends form and function, providing both elegance and comfort for everyday living. Beyond its stunning architectural significance, this residence offers an unparalleled location near parks and the prestigious country club, allowing residents to indulge in a lifestyle of leisure and tranquility, surrounded by natures beauty, the listing says. Attic Kankakee is about a 60-mile drive southwest from Chicago. Interior Castle on the outside but whats up inside? See Florida home for sale for yourself Secluded ranch that embodies Kansas is the priciest for sale in the state. See why House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has selected a new Republican to head the China panel after its current leader, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., abruptly announced on Friday his departure from Congress. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said Monday that Johnson had selected him to fill the vacancy atop the Houses Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. I am thankful to the Speaker for this appointment, and I look forward to working with Ranking Member [Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill.], the members of the Select Committee, House leaders and the standing committees in the weeks and months ahead, Moolenaar said in a statement on Monday. Together we can help our country prepare for the challenges that we face from the Chinese Communist Party and win the competition against the CCP. Moolenaar already sits on the 24-member committee, which House Republicans established last year to put forth a wide array of U.S.-China policy recommendations. While Gallagher also sits on the Armed Services Committee, and chairs its cyber and information technology panel, Moolenaar does not sit on any of the other national security committees. As an appropriator, Moolenaar sits on the agriculture and labor spending panels. Under Gallagher, the China panel advanced 10 bipartisan recommendations last year to deter Beijing from attacking Taiwan shortly after the panel hosted war games that found the U.S. would quickly run out of munitions in the event of a war. The recommendations included the establishment of a war reserve stockpile in Taiwan, prioritizing weapons deliveries for Taipei, speeding up the roughly $19 billion arms sale backlog to the island and authorizing multiyear munitions procurement contracts. The China panel is one of the few committees to work across party lines in an increasingly polarized legislature where the right-flank of the razor-thin Republican majority has hurled various procedural road blocks against leadership often grinding House business to a halt. The outgoing Gallagher had already announced that he would not seek reelection this year, but announced he would leave early in a surprise announcement March 22 shortly after Congress passed a fiscal 2024 spending package nearly six months late. Gallagher said he would leave office on April 19, ensuring that his seat will remain vacant through the rest of the year. If Gallagher leaves before April 9, Wisconsin state law stipulates that there would be a special election to fill his seat before the end of the year. The timing ensures House Republicans will operate on a one-vote margin after Gallaghers departure given the immediate resignation last Friday of Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo. The special election to replace Buck in Colorado is slated for June 25. House Appropriations Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, also announced Friday she would step down as head of the powerful panel, citing her expectation that the FY25 appropriations process will spill over into next year after she leaves Congress. While Granger is not seeking reelection either, she intends to serve out the rest of her term in Congress through December. Shortly after Grangers announcement on Friday, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a defense appropriator and the Rules Committee chairman, said he would like to take her place as Appropriations chairman. At the end of the day, I am a budget hawk, Cole said in a statement. I believe in stretching our budgets dollars as far as we can, but I also recognize there are critical needs and challenges that must be funded if our great nation is going to be protected, preserve and improved. However, as chairman, I will ensure that, in doing this, we are not wasting and abusing. Heads of delegations to the 31st Meeting of the ASCC Council. (Photo: VNA) Speaking at the event, Tuan commended the priorities set by the ASCC under Laos's chairmanship in 2024, believing that this year's outcomes, led by Laos, would significantly contribute to regional cooperation and solidify the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)'s standing and influence on both regional and international stages. Agreeing with orientations to sustainable development, increased culture-art cooperation and empowering women and children, the Vietnamese official expressed readiness to coordinate and support the implementation of initiatives and priorities in specialised areas, such as finalising ASEAN declarations on the prevention and elimination of child labour, mutual recognition and skill development for migrant workers which are slated for submission to ASEAN high-ranking leaders; regional guidance and reports, and hosting key events. Concluding the event, ministers and heads of delegations issued a Joint Statement and agreed in principle on a list of ASCC documents and declarations to be presented at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits later this year. They also reached consensus on the content of the ASCC Meeting's report, which will be submitted to the ASEAN leaders./. (Bloomberg) -- The Yemen-based Houthi militants renewed their threats against Saudi Arabia, warning it not to support US strikes against the group. Most Read from Bloomberg We have sent a message to Saudi Arabia that it will be a target if it allows American fighter jets to use its territory or airspace in their aggression on Yemen, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthis Supreme Political Council, said in an interview with Al-Masirah TV. US and UK forces have been striking Houthi military facilities since the start of this year to stem the groups assault on ships in the Red Sea, a vital waterway for global commerce. Saudi Arabia, which borders Yemen, hasnt joined those air assaults or a US-led naval operation meant to provide commercial ships safe passage through the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The kingdom is trying to reach a peace agreement with the Houthis to end Yemens civil war, a conflict thats raged for most of the past decade but with the sides in a fragile truce since 2022. The Saudi government led a US-backed military campaign against the Houthis starting in 2015. But it now sees peace in Yemen as key to keeping the wider Gulf region stable and advancing its massive economic transformation plans. Before the truce, the Houthis regularly struck Saudi territory. In 2019, they claimed an assault that briefly knocked out about half the kingdoms oil production. The Houthis, an Islamist organization backed by Iran, have been undeterred by the US and UK airstrikes and continue to attack warships and commercial ships with missiles and drones on a near-daily basis. They recently said they would expand their campaign to target ships avoiding the Red Sea and sailing around southern Africa instead. Al-Houthi signaled more tense relations between the Houthis and Saudis by saying the kingdom needed to take more serious steps toward a peace plan. He stressed negotiations cant progress until the kingdom agrees to resume the payment of some salaries, electricity and other services in Yemen. Read More: Who Are the Houthis Being Hit With US, UK Airstrikes?: QuickTake Al-Houthi also confirmed the group had given China and Russia assurances their ships wouldnt be targeted. Speaking to Al-Masirah TV, a channel run by the group, he didnt mention the Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker that was struck by a missile in the Red Sea on Saturday. The ship issued a distress call but suffered minimal damage and didnt need assistance, according to the US military. The Houthis appear to have wrongly identified several ships with their previous assaults and its unclear if they did so again with the Huang Pu. Read this next: How Yemens Houthi Attacks Are Hurting the Global Supply Chain --With assistance from Rakteem Katakey and Sam Dagher. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Almost 600 fixed penalty notices have now been issued for parking offences near Ramadan street markets in Birmingham, police have said. West Midlands Police said 283 more people were issued with fixed penalty notices last week, with 303 cars also moved for obstructing the roads. The force has been policing the street markets on Coventry Road, in Small Heath, following disruption and complaints from local residents last year. A partnership, involving Birmingham City Council, faith leaders, local businesses and volunteers has been set-up to tackle illegal trading, parking problems and anti-social behaviour in the area. Sgt Will Maund of West Midlands Police said community feedback had been "really positive" Ch Insp Haroon Chughtai said the force had seen a "dramatic drop in complaints" since beginning its joint patrols, which was "good to hear". "We want people observing the holy month of Ramadan to be able to do so peacefully and respectfully," he added. "Our priority is always to keep families and communities safe and are grateful for the overwhelming support we have received so far." During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. It began on 11 March and is expected to last for 30 days until 9 April. Previously, West Midlands Police said 295 people had received fixed penalty notices for parking offences, with about 340 cars moved for obstructing roads. Sgt Will Maund, of West Midlands Police, told the BBC community feedback in the area had been "really positive" and that there had been fewer complaints. "The police service has less demand placed on it in relation to those complaints, so certainly the operation has been successful from that point and we want to continue to do that," he added. "It's a combined approach that has more success this year." Disorder broke out at the markets last year when police and council staff conducted an operation to deal with illegal street market stalls. "We havent seen any incidents [this year], its been welcomed by the local shopkeepers and the local residents and its been brilliant," said Aamer Chaudhry, from local mosque Green Lane Masjid, which has also been taking part in the patrols. Tony Quigley, from Trading Standards, said some traders had not been complaint with regulations Trading Standards officers have also shut down some illegal traders, and drinks that had been sold without a licence have also been confiscated, a police spokesperson said. The city council has issued a new trading permit for one food outlet, as well as a late-night refreshment licence to a local business. Tony Quigley, head of Birmingham Trading Standards, said some other traders had inquired about how they could trade legally and that it was a "much nicer atmosphere". "I think one of the key concerns for us was that people were just setting up anywhere and selling whatever they wanted, and werent being compliant with all the regulations that go with the sort of the products that they were selling," he said. "And to be fair, a lot of the traders said, 'well fair enough, well pack up and leave.'" Nav Sadiq, from community group Bearded Broz, said the holy month was not a time for anti-social behaviour Others described the markets, which operate after sunset, as "not as good as last year" due the more visible presence of the authorities. "Obviously the police have cracked down on like the markets, theyve made it worse, no one is really able to express their markets, sell what they want to sell, one man said. Local businessman Naveed Sadiq said the markets needed to be "regulated", otherwise it was "only a disaster waiting to happen". Ramadan is not the time of the month for you to be feasting and to be causing anti-social behaviour," he said. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, X, and Instagram, Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk Related internet links Peter Szijjarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, has set off for the Russian city of Sochi on a visit. Source: Szijjarto on Facebook, as reported by European Pravda Details: Szijjarto will participate in the international forum Atomexpo-2024 in Sochi, organised by Rosatom, Russias state nuclear company. Quote: "The roosters aren't crowing yet; we're going to Sochi. We're going to Atomexpo, another important meeting regarding Paks," the Hungarian minister said. Background: Rosatoms CEO Alexei Likhachev recently visited Budapest. At the time, Szijjarto spoke of "another important milestone" in the Paks II nuclear power plant project, which is being built by Rosatom, posting a photo with Likhachev. Paks is Hungary's only nuclear power plant, whose operating life has been extended until the 2030s after modernisation. The energy strategy adopted states that Budapest aims to increase nuclear energy generation in the future. Paks II is a 12 billion expansion project of the Paks nuclear power plant, led by Rosatom and mainly financed through a Russian state loan. Hungary expects that Russias Rosatom will build two new reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant by 2030-2031. Support UP or become our patron! Just a couple weeks ago, before prosecutors handed over about 200,000 new documents to the former presidents defense team and the judge delayed the proceedings, March 25 was supposed to be the start date of Donald Trumps first criminal trial. And until a pre-trial hearing for the hush money case started on Monday, March 25 was supposed to be the dayas the former presidents lawyers believedthe judge might excoriate prosecutors over the missing evidence and potentially issue sanctions against them. But when the hearing was over Monday, it was clear March 25 will instead be remembered as the day the judge slammed Trumps lawyers for more waiting games and set the new trial date for April 15. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan declined to issue sanctions against attorneys on either side, but he determined that a short-lived document scandal had essentially amounted to nothing. The defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time to prepare, he said, ordering jury selection to begin in 21 days. These Under-the-Radar Rulings in the Stormy Daniels Hush Money Case Are Really Bad for Trump The judge indicated that the trial will commence days before the Jewish holiday of Passover and New York Citys spring break, but he promised not to hold court on any day that week if it would violate a persons religious views. Trump walked out of the courtroom with a grim look on his face, tossing a thumbs up at an acquaintance in the audience and whispering thank you. Half an hour later, Trump held a press conference at his 40 Wall Street building south of the courthouse, where he defiantly claimed he's still unsure if the trial will start April 15. "I don't know if we're having one," he shrugged. He also derided Merchan as a Democrat judge accusing him of interfering with the 2024 election for moving the trial forward during Trumps presidential campaign. He knows it, he said, later adding, it's a disgrace what's happening to our country. Mondays hearing knocked down what was perceived to be Trumps last-ditch attempt to push back his trial, but it also served as the latest example of a judge running out of patience with Trumps disruptive legal strategy. Merchan questioned Trumps legal team for more than an hour for what he eventually called a misleading tactic that threw trial plans into chaos this month, following a confusing moment when the feds suddenly dumped 200,000 pages of evidence. Merchan laid the blame entirely at Trumps feet, appearing flummoxed that the former presidents lawyers managed to briefly derail the trial with over-the-top accusations. He implied that this amounted to nothing more than continuing delay games. The judge took particular aim at Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche, saying that he should have known to seek out records for his client instead of sitting back and waiting for the Manhattan District Attorneys Office to produce themonly to complain about it on the eve of trial. And Merchan didnt hold back, noting that Blanche is a former federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York, the very same office now at the center of a storm over missing evidence. You were there for 13 years. So you know that the defense has the same ability as the prosecution to obtain these documents. So when you received the people's first production, you could have very easily done exactly as you did in January. but for whatever reason you waited until two months before trial, Merchan said. Your Honor, Blanche began to say. Why didnt you do it in June? Or July? the judge continued. Blanche tried to deflect blame back to the DA, citing a New York law that requires turning over evidence. It's not our job to get it, he said. It's not the people's job either, the judge shot back. The judge seemed perturbed that Trumps team never brought up any of these issues during what was supposed to be the final pre-trial hearing on Feb. 15only to have this issue crop up a month later, just weeks before the start of the first ever criminal trial against a former American president. In court, Blanche continued to blame the DAs office, claiming that the batch of records his team had just received from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York proved that DA prosecutors held back evidence. For more than a year, the former presidents legal team has been trying to probe the personal life of Michael Cohenthe one-time Trump confidante who has since become a key witness in the DAs caseand they scored a win by prodding SDNY for Cohens emails despite resistance from the DA and even the judge. Theres tremendous amounts of bank records that were produced, and people think we can simply ignore those, Blanche said in court. I mean, thousands and thousands meetings with witnesses and the FBI related to the 2016 election. You mean the Mueller investigation? the judge asked impatiently, referring to the Justice Departments Trump-Russia investigation. Yes, Blanche responded. Thats not relevant, Merchan shot back. That has nothing to do with this case. I decide if its relevant. If youre going to offer something from the Muller investigation, its not coming in. The witness discussed what his job was, Blanche said. Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen Can Testify in Trump Hush Money Case, Judge Rules Prosecutors have decried the invasive maneuver as nothing but a vengeful payback scheme to discredit a valuable witness and distract from the real issue: how Trump engaged in a coverup, using Cohen as a cutout to deliver Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep her quiet about their one-night stand in order to save his 2016 presidential campaign from an embarrassing scandal and faking business records to hide Cohens reimbursement. When the judge turned to the DAs team, he heard an alternate take from Matt Colangelo, an assistant district attorney who has investigated Trump for years at the Attorney Generals office and now with the DA. Colangelo told the judge that most of the documents recently produced by the feds were mostly copies that Trump already hadand actually strengthened the case, not weakened it. Merchan pointedly asked how many records were actually new. Three hundred records or fewer almost exclusively cumulative and largely inculpatory, Colangelo said. Largely inculpatory? the judge asked. Right, your Honor, the prosecutor responded. Although DA Alvin Bragg Jr. was in the courtroom, he remained quiet and seated with the audience a few feet behind the table where his prosecutors argued the case. But the judge appeared almost enraged when he called attention to the way Trump tried to fabricate a scandal and drag in the court itself, noting how Trump has alleged in documents that the DA has held back evidence and was attempting to make the judge complicit in an unethical strategy. The judge narrowly defined the DAs responsibilities, then when Blanche couldnt cite cases that said otherwise, Merchan let it rip. If you dont have a case right now, that is really disconcerting, because the allegation the defense makes in all of your papers about the people's misconduct is incredibly serious. Unbelievably serious, Merchan said. You are literally accusing the Manhattan DA's office... of engaging in prosecutorial misconductand of trying to make me complicit in it. And you don't have a single cite to support that position, that the people by not obtaining the documentation at the US Attorney's Office had somehow committed some sort of fraud on the court? While Trump was in court, he managed to score a temporary victory in his other ongoing legal nightmare in New York State. An appellate court gave him an extra 10 days to come up with the money necessary to halt the New York Attorney General from seizing his various properties as a result of losing a three-month bank fraud trial. Trump had previously failed to find a surety company willing to prove him a half billion dollar lifeline to halt last months $464 million judgment before a Sunday night deadline, but the appeals court lowered the sum needed to pause seizures down to $175 million. Monday marked the first day that New York AG Letitia James could have moved to seize his various properties, something that Trump earlier in the morning was raging about on his Truth Social media site. Why should I be forced to sell my babies, he complained in a post just before heading to the Manhattan courtroom for the days hearing. James has already effectively put a blanket lien on his 212-acre, forested estate of Seven Springs north of the city earlier this month. 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. 2000-present [table-of-contents] stripped Who Is Ice Spice Ice Spice is a Grammy-nominated rapper known for the song Princess Diana, with Nicki Minaj, and Karma, with Taylor Swift. After graduating high school in 2018, the native New Yorker, whose real name is Isis Gaston, started making music while attending Purchase College. Viral moments on TikTok, including for her 2022 hit Munch (Feelin U), led to a record deal with 10K Projects and Capitol Records. The next year, she scored collaborations with Minaj, Swift, and PinkPantheress. Her momentum continued with four 2024 Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist. Her debut album, Y2K, is expected later this year. Quick Facts FULL NAME: Isis Naija Gaston BORN: January 1, 2000 BIRTHPLACE: New York, New York ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Capricorn Early Life: Real Name and Parents Ice Spice, whose real name is Isis Naija Gaston, was born in the New York City borough The Bronx on January 1, 2000. Her rap name, Ice Spice, came from a fake Instagram account she created at age 14. Her parents, Joseph Gaston and Charina Almanzar, met while they were working at McDonalds. In 2022, Ice Spice opened up about her relationship with her mom to Interview Magazine. She had me at 17 so we kind of grew up together, the rapper said. She gives me sister vibes, and shes a little crazy, but Im thankful because thats why I am who I am. Its chaotic but we love each other down. She also discussed her relationship with her dad, an underground rapper, with the publication. My father, hes more leveled, which is also why I feel like I am the way that I am. So Im grateful for both, theyre a perfect combination. Her parents separated when Ice Spice was 2 years old. Following the separation, Gaston and Almanzar each had more children with other partners. Ice Spice has five younger siblings. Growing up, I would get jealous that my other siblings had siblings that came from the same mom and dad, but now that Im older I just feel special, she told Interview Magazine. The future musician spent her early years with her grandparents and extended family. My parents would be at work a lot, so I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. I have so many cousins, and after school, wed all link up at my grandparents house, she later explained. Wed chill, eat, laugh, watch TV. I went to after-school a lot, too. Ice Spice attended Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers. After graduating in 2018, she went to Purchase College, part of the SUNY system, where she studied communications and played volleyball. Music Career: Songs and Upcoming Album Getty Images Ice Spice grew up seeing her dad work hard to launch his underground rap career. She told Rolling Stone: He was always distributing CDs. Id take road trips with him to Rhode Island or wherever for a couple of hours. It was just us, and it was fun. She began making her own music while in college, collaborating with her friend and producer RIOTUSA. I always had a passion for music, and I feel like whatever people are passionate in, theyre going to end up doing something along those lines, she told the Today show. Her biggest musical inspirations include Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, Foxy Brown, and Remy Ma. Her musical genre is described as drill music. Drill is defined by the beats and the high-hat pattern and the 808 slides and stuff like that. But drill is expanding like crazy, she told Interview Magazine. It started in Chicago, and it was Chief Keef and that whole movement. And then it went to the U.K. for a while, and now that its back in New York, its in its final form. I just love the beats. For me, thats the most important aspect. Ice Spice takes ownership of her creative process. I write all my music. My producer helps me when were in the studio together, and were bouncing ideas back and forth. But I dont like to accept references. If Im going to work with a writer, I like for us to build it from scratch, she told Interview Magazine. Songs: Munch, Princess Diana, and Karma Ice Spice first gained attention on social media at the beginning of 2021 when she participated in TikToks Buss It challenge, dancing along to Texas rapper Erica Banks song with hundreds of thousands of others. At the time, she was already working on recording her first song, Bully Freestyle. The track released in March 2021. But it wasnt until November 2021 when she released her song No Clarity that she felt she hit her stride. Once I brought it back to the real me and my roots, and I put my Jordans back on, and I just wore my natural hair, and I was just really being authentic to myself, thats when my views started going up again, she told The Cut. I was like, Let me just be me. Her next release, Name of Love, dropped in April 2022. That August, her song Munch (Feelin U) went viral on TikTok and spurred a career takeoff. Then in the fall of 2022, Ice Spice signed a record label deal with 10K Projects and Capitol Records. Her contract stipulates that the rapper owns all of her publishing rights and masters. Her first EP, titled Like?, arrived in January 2023. Getty Images Her fame and popularity has grown through collaborations with fellow musicians. She was featured on PinkPantheress viral song in February 2023, Boys A Liar, Pt. 2. An April 2023 remix of her song Princess Diana with Nicki Minaj became the first No. 1 song by two co-billed women on Billboards Hot Rap Songs chart. That May, Ice Spice was featured on a version of Taylor Swifts song Karma that hit No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. She collaborated with Minaj again in June 2023 for Barbie World, from the Barbie movie soundtrack. These hit songs led to Ice Spices four nominations at the 2024 Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Best Rap Song and Best Song Written for Visual Media for Barbie World, as well as Best Pop Duo Performance for Karma. Album In March 2024, Ice Spice announced she finished recording her first full-length album, Y2K. It will be released later this year. Who Is Ice Spice Dating? Ice Spice is currently in a relationship with an anonymous partner. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in October 2023, she shared she is dating someone but didnt share who, explaining that she wanted her fans to keep their focus on what Im here for, which is music. There is speculation that her boyfriend is YouTube star King Cid, whose real name is Jason Cid. The two were spotted getting affectionate in January 2024. Quotes I consider myself an artist. I know a lot of people try to categorize me, but I just like to create things. Im a Capricorn, but I give Leo energy a lot. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us! You Might Also Like Iceland will allocate about 2 million to procure ammunition for Ukraine as part of a Czech-led initiative. Source: European Pravda with reference to an announcement on the website of the Icelandic government Details: The announcement notes that given the key role artillery ammunition plays on the battlefield, Iceland is joining a number of other allies and contributing about 2 million towards the purchase of 800,000 shells that Czechia has been able to acquire for Ukraines needs. Reykjavik will also allocate about 500,000 to purchase equipment for female Ukrainian soldiers armour, uniforms, medical supplies and hygiene products. "It is crucial that we continue our strong support for Ukraine. In doing so, we are investing in the protection not only of the Ukrainian population, but also of the international rule of law in the broader context and our own security interests," Foreign Minister Bjarni Benediktsson stated, adding that a strategy of long-term support for Ukraine is being considered by the Althing (the Icelandic Parliament). Background: At the end of 2023, Iceland joined the IT and demining coalitions set up within the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (the Ramstein format). Lithuania has contributed 35 million toward the Czech initiative, and Finland and Canada 30 million each. Germany will pay for 180,000 shells. Support UP or become our patron! FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) The Fresno Police Department has identified the 47-year-old man who was shot and killed in southeast Fresno over the weekend. Police say on Saturday, at 4:23 a.m., officers received a three-round ShotSpotter activation in the 100 block of East ONeil Avenue. 47-year-old Ryan Lecour Investigators say when officers arrived, they found 47-year-old Ryan Lecour near a gate that led into an alley. Lecour had an apparent gunshot wound and died at the scene. According to investigators, shell casings and other items of evidence were discovered on the scene that suggested the weapon used in this homicide was a handgun. Witnesses told detectives before hearing the gunshots they had heard an argument between two unidentified people. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fresno Police Department at (559) 621-7000. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced Monday that a member of the Prisoner Review Board (PRB) has resigned from her post, following a public outcry in response to the death of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins. Perkins was allegedly killed by a man with a history of domestic violence who was released on parole one day earlier. LeAnn Miller, Pritzker said in his statement, had been closely involved in the decision to release the suspect charged in the case, Crosetti Brand. Pritzker said that made her decision to resign appropriate. The Prisoner Review Board must be able to operate independently as they review enormously difficult cases, but I believe LeAnn Miller has made the correct decision in stepping down from her role, Pritzker said in his statement. It is clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve and I am committed to ensuring additional safeguards and training are in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again, he added. My thoughts are with Laterria Smith as she recovers and with the entire family of Jayden Perkins as we mourn this tragic loss may his memory be a blessing. Miller conducted Brands parole hearing and prepared the draft order recommending he be released on parole. Brand, 37, was arrested on charges related to stabbing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Laterria Smith, and killing her young son, Perkins. Perkinss death has provoked an outpouring of support for the family and raised questions about the parole system and steps victims of domestic violence can take to ensure the safety of their family. Brand was first released from prison on parole last fall, and Smith was notified of his release, as she had been the victim of previous domestic violence cases against Brand, according to multiple local reports. On Jan. 30, Brand sent her a text message, and two days later, Brand showed up at her apartment, prosecutors allege, according to local reports. Prosecutors said Smith notified state parole officials that Brand had texted her and gone to her house, the Chicago Sun Times reported. Brand acknowledged going to the womans home when confronted by a commander from the Illinois Department of Corrections, but he claimed he was looking for an apartment, according to the Sun Times. The PRB said it would consider the new allegations against Brand, and, as they were doing so, he was ordered to return to prison. After Brands hearing, however, the Illinois PRB determined the alleged violations did not meet the preponderance of evidence standard that might have prevented his release, according to multiple local outlets. He was released on March 12. In February, meanwhile, Smith had tried another method to protect herself and her family. She sought an emergency protection order, according to the Sun Times and CNN, but the judge decided against issuing one, arguing there was no apparent emergency because Brand was, at the time, incarcerated. Pritzker, in his statement, said he directed the PRB and Illinois Department of Corrections to review the procedures in place to obtain information in domestic violence cases to determine whether changes are necessary. He also directed experts and advocates to help design expanded training for PRB members to better handle domestic violence cases. As the administration continues to review the facts in this case, it may pursue any broader statutory or policy changes needed to strengthen PRBs review of similar cases moving forward, Pritzker wrote. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The states top parole official resigned from his post Monday after his board allowed a parolee with a history of violence against women to be released from state custody before, authorities say, he attacked a pregnant woman he once dated and killed her 11-year-old son when the child came to her rescue. Donald Shelton served on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board for more than a decade and led the 13-member panel since last year. His resignation was announced Monday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker hours after the governor also disclosed that one of Sheltons board members, LeAnn Miller, quit her post for her role in allowing Crosetti Brand, the suspect in the fatal stabbing of 11-year-old Jayden Perkins, to be released from custody following a hearing to determine whether he violated his parole. Authorities alleged the day after his release, Brand stabbed to death Jayden on March 13 when the boy tried to intervene in Brands attack on the boys pregnant mother at her residence on Chicagos North Side. She was also stabbed during the attack but survived. Pritzker on Monday afternoon praised Shelton, a former Champaign police sergeant, for providing a model of dedication to public service and working diligently to keep Illinoisans safe and uphold our justice system. But hours earlier, the governor was more critical of Miller in announcing her departure. The Prisoner Review Board must be able to operate independently as they review enormously difficult cases, but I believe LeAnn Miller has made the correct decision in stepping down from her role, Pritzker said a statement Monday. It is clear that evidence in this case was not given the careful consideration that victims of domestic violence deserve and I am committed to ensuring additional safeguards and training are in place to prevent tragedies like this from happening again. The governors office said he will be working with the Illinois General Assembly in the coming weeks to address vacancies on the board and will be conducting a thorough search for qualified candidates. Shelton declined to comment. Miller, a former school district administrator from far downstate Gallatin County, could not be reached for comment. Shelton earned an annual salary of $108,189 a year and Millers salary was $96,920 a year, records show. Their resignations mark the latest controversy for this little-known board under the Pritzker administration. In 2022, Republican lawmakers criticized the governor for appointing board members who they felt were too lenient in granting parole to older people locked up in prison for decades after being convicted of particularly heinous crimes. The state Senate in that instance rejected two of Pritzkers appointments, both Democrats. Meanwhile, another Democratic appointee resigned and the appointment of a fourth Pritzker interim board member, an independent, was withdrawn by the governor. Shelton, first appointed to the board in 2012 by then-Gov. Pat Quinn, and Miller, appointed to the panel in 2021 by Pritzker, were both Republicans. Their departures mean the board will be comprised of 11 members: Seven Democrats, three Republicans and an independent. At full strength, the board can have 15 members with a maximum of eight from the same political party. In a statement on Monday, House Republican leader Tony McCombie, of Savanna, called for an overhaul of the review board. Lives were lost because of the lack of responsibility and due diligence at the PRB, she said. When innocent people die because of bad policy, we must correct course immediately. Senate Republican leader John Curran, of Downers Grove, was also critical of the review board under Pritzkers leadership. Sadly, it is clear that the serious reforms that we have been calling for at the Prisoner Review Board are needed now more than ever, Curran said in a statement. This is another example of Gov. Pritzker failing to oversee an agency under his direct control. His attention should be focused on the life and death matters of our state. Last week, Pritzker indicated that changes needed to be made in the ways that the court system, law enforcement agencies and the review board communicate when dangerous criminals are released from prison. Its an independent board and I do believe that they have the ability to make changes in the way that they communicate and I encourage them to do that, and certainly would work with anybody that will help us to accomplish that goal, Pritzker said during an unrelated news conference on March 18. The entire matter is tragic. On Monday, the Pritzker administration said it asked the review board to work with experts and advocates to expand its training in handling domestic violence cases. Pritzker also directed the board and the Illinois Department of Corrections to review the current rules and procedures for receiving information related to cases involving domestic violence and to decide whether any changes are necessary. As the administration continues to review the facts in this case, it may pursue any broader statutory or policy changes needed to strengthen PRBs review of similar cases moving forward, the governors office said. According to review board records obtained through an open-records request, Brand was granted mandatory supervised release Illinois version of parole in October, placed on GPS monitoring and ordered not to contact another woman he attacked in 2015 as well as Jaydens mother, records show. The parole release was for the 2015 case in which Brand was originally sentenced to 16 years in prison. The review board records only list one active order of protection against Brand at the time of his release in the fall, and that one was in reference to the 2015 case. Cook County officials have previously said Jaydens mother had a lifetime order of protection against Brand, though theres no indication that order is listed in the review board records. Prosecutors said Brand sent Jaydens mother a text message on Jan. 30 threatening her and her family and showed up at her apartment Feb. 1. He rang the doorbell multiple times and tried to pull the door handle out of the door, authorities said. The woman contacted the parole board and he was sent back to prison, authorities said. Though prosecutors indicated in court that there was already an active order of protection, court records show that Jaydens mother sought an emergency order of protection against Brand after that incident, just weeks before the attack. In her petition, she said Brand had attempted to break into her apartment Feb. 1. According to a Feb. 1 parole violation report associated with the attempted break-in, Jaydens mother called authorities and identified herself as a known victim of (Brand) and reported that he was at her address ringing her door bell and pulling on the door handle. Brand, who was arrested for allegedly violating his parole in that instance, initially told his parole supervisor he was at the address looking for a new apartment, according to the report. A review board order dated Feb. 26 shows that Brands attorney said there was no evidence he had been at the womans door. Brand himself said his GPS would have shown if he had been near the woman he was directed not to contact and it had not. Records show board members, including Miller, found there was not a preponderance of evidence regarding Brands alleged parole violations. The two other board members joining Miller in the decision were Ken Tupy, a Republican from Sangamon County, and Krystal Tison, an independent from far downstate Saline County. Brand was then released from state custody March 12. The next day, Jaydens mother was on the phone with her mother for a usual morning check-in and was about to take her sons, Jayden and a 5-year-old, to school, Cook County prosecutors said earlier this month. As she unlocked the door of her residence to leave, Brand forced his way inside and attacked her in the apartment in the 5900 block of North Ravenswood Avenue, prosecutors said. Jayden attempted numerous times to help his mother and was stabbed in the process, prosecutors said. At one point, the woman locked herself in another room, prosecutors said, and Brand kicked the door repeatedly. When she opened the door, authorities say Brand had fled the apartment and had taken her cellphone. Prosecutors said the woman, who was engaged to someone else, was in a romantic relationship with Brand more than 15 years ago. Brand has racked up multiple convictions for battering her, threatening her and her mother and violating orders of protection, court records show. In 2006, Brand came to a home she shared with her mother shortly after she broke up with him, waved a gun at them and threatened them, records show. At one point, he fired the gun in their hallway before fleeing, according to a motion filed by prosecutors in an unrelated case seeking to admit past crimes. Despite an order of protection, Brands alleged harassment of them persisted over the next two years. For instance, he was accused of throwing rocks at their windows and calling them repeatedly. A full two years after the breakup, Brand punched her in the head at a bus stop while yelling about her dating other men, the motion alleged. Brand also has convictions for battering other women. In 2013, Brand pleaded guilty to charges of domestic battery for punching a woman, who had ended a relationship with him, hard enough to knock her unconscious and leave her bleeding from the mouth. Before the physical confrontation, he told her, Im gonna blow your head off, you think you gonna leave that easy, according to a motion in that case. Later, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the 2015 attack on another woman, who had also ended a relationship with him, according to court documents. He also allegedly threatened her son when he tried to intervene. The Illinois Department of Corrections recommended that Brand receive anger management counseling and the review board required that he receive domestic violence counseling upon his October release, according to review board records. The IDOC and review board each said Brand should undergo cognitive behavioral therapy. The City Council asked the states highest court Monday to reverse a ruling that struck down a law giving hundreds of thousands of noncitizen New Yorkers the right to vote in local elections. The law was first invalidated in June 2022 by Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio, who found it violated state election laws holding that only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote. The ruling prompted Mayor Adams administration to file an appeal, but the Supreme Courts appellate division rejected it last month and upheld Porzios decision. On Monday afternoon, a spokesman for City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams announced the city Law Department had filed a notice on behalf of the Council asking that the State Court of Appeals, New Yorks top court, undo the Porzio ruling and allow the noncitizen voting law to take effect. Empowering New Yorkers to participate in our local democratic process can only strengthen New York City by increasing civic engagement, the spokesman, Rendy Desamours, said in a statement. We look forward to the Court of Appeals consideration of the Councils appeal. Spokespeople for the mayor did not immediately return requests for comment on whether his office will file its own appeal to the top court. The deadline for filing a notice of appeal in the case is Monday. The Councils action came on the heels of attorneys from the nonprofit LatinoJustice law firm filing their own otice this past Friday calling on the State Court of Appeals to reverse Porzios ruling. On Monday morning, reps from LatinoJustice joined immigration advocates on the City Hall steps to urge the mayor to team up with them in the appeal push. We really hope that Mayor Adams joins us in this case, said Nora Moran, a policy director at the United Neighborhood Houses, one of several groups that took part in the rally. Porzios ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and a group of other local Republican politicians. The GOP pols have argued that granting noncitizens the right to vote in local elections would dilute the electoral power of citizens and violate the state constitution. Supporters of the law, which was passed by the City Council in December 2021, say its morally sound to let noncitizen residents vote in local elections, given that they pay local taxes. The law doesnt give undocumented immigrants the ability to vote, but only extends that right to noncitizens with legal status, such as green card holders, as long as theyve maintained New York residency for at least 30 days. According to the City Council, the law would make about 800,000 immigrants in New York City eligible to vote. The law only gives noncitizens the right to cast ballots in municipal elections for mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president and City Council. It does not expand the right to vote in federal and state elections. Eva Santos Veloz, a 34-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic who resides legally in the U.S. thanks to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, said on the City Hall steps that the citys large immigrant community continues to be ignored. She argued the noncitizen voting law could change that. We are not just fighting for ourselves, but for the future of our city, our children, she said. NA Vice Chairman Tran Quang Phuong (second from right) attends the 148th IPU Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo: VNA) During the IPU-148, themed Parliamentary diplomacy: Building bridges for peace and understanding, the delegates are scheduled to take part in plenary sessions of the assembly and the Governing Council, along with meetings of the Standing Committee on Peace and International Security, the Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade, the Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, and the Committee on United Nations Affairs. Other activities include meetings of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians, the Forum of Young Parliamentarians, the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, the Asia-Pacific Geopolitical (APG) Group, the ASEAN Plus Three group, and the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP). The Vietnamese delegation is set to engage in about 30 official activities at the IPU-148. NA Vice Chairman Tran Quang Phuong will deliver a speech at a plenary session. He will also meet with the new IPU President, the IPU Secretary-General, the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), and some parliamentary leaders on the sidelines of the IPU-148. Representatives of the NA Secretariat led by NA Secretary General and Chairman of the NA Office Bui Van Cuong are expected to participate in all activities of the ASGP meeting, held in parallel with the IPU-148. The NA delegations attendance in the IPU-148 and related meetings aims to affirm Vietnams commitment to actively and responsibly engaging in multilateral parliamentary activities, and continue promoting Vietnam and the NAs role and stature at regional and international parliamentary cooperation mechanisms, helping to promote the States diplomatic activities for the sake of the nation and people./. SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) The incarcerated man who walked away from a San Diego community re-entry program nearly two weeks ago was found and arrested in North County on Sunday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Quintin Wilkerson, 53, was arrested by the Escondido Police Department around 7:50 p.m. after he was located in the city and a short foot pursuit ensued. Special agents from CDCRs Office of Correctional Safety then transported him to a correctional facility in East County. Wilkerson was first transported into the custody of CDCR on Feb. 22 and was housed at the Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP) since Jan. 23. Families of cold case victims come together to show support, ask for the publics help According to the department, he was sentenced to six years for corporal injury on a specific person resulting in traumatic condition. An enhancement for domestic violence was also added to his sentence. With his second arrest, CDCR says he could face possible escape charges. His case was referred to the San Diego County District Attorneys office. MCRP is a voluntary program that allows eligible people committed to state prison to serve the end of their sentence in a re-entry center, designed to provide them programs and tools to transition from custody back into the community. Services include substance use disorder treatment, mental health care, medical care, employment training, education, housing, family reunification and other social support, CDCR said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. This April marks the 50th anniversary when more than 100 tornadoes swept across Midwest within just about 24 hours. Dubbed the 1974 Super Outbreak, severe storms and 148 tornadoes claimed hundreds of lives and injured thousands more. The National Weather Service says 15,000 homes businesses and farm buildings were destroyed and another 17,000 were damaged. It was one of the largest tornado outbreaks recorded in U.S. history, and NWS Indianapolis is planning a virtual history lecture on the event. Devastation along Bardstown Road south of Eastern Parkway following a tornado. How many tornadoes hit Indiana during the 1974 event? A brief tornado touched down in Indianas Boone County on the morning of April 3, 1974, according to the NWS. This marked the beginning of Indianas largest tornado outbreak in history. Another 20 tornadoes spun up across 45 other counties in the state between 2 and 8 p.m. that day. The tornadoes killed 47 Hoosiers and injured almost 900 more. A handful of tornadoes spun up in the state at the same time, and others produced multiple funnels. Monticello, Rochester and Ligonier suffered the greatest during a half-mile wide tornado that traveled 109 miles from near Lafayette to north of Fort Wayne. How to attend the Super Outbreak event The National Weather Service in Indianapolis, working with the Indianapolis Public Library, is hosting the virtual lecture on Zoom. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. on April 2 and runs for an hour. Those interested can register online at: attend.indypl.org/event/10281070. Once registered, look for an email providing a link to the event 2 hours before the webinar. NWS Indy Meteorologist Joseph Nield is presenting the lecture and will hold a Q&A session. Continue reading: How Indiana counties decide when to sound tornado sirens Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Super outbreak: Indiana saw 20 tornadoes in 2 days back in 1974 The hiring of the recently departed RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as an NBC News on-air contributor is being widely panned as a terrible move by the network including by its own employees live on air. Ms McDaniel appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday. Moments later on the programme, the networks Chief Political Analyst Chuck Todd, the former host of the show, told his successor Kristen Welker: Let me deal with the elephant in the room. I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in [this] situation. Because I don't know what to believe. She is now a paid contributor by NBC News. I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didn't want to mess up her contract, he added. She wants us to believe that she was speaking for the RNC when the RNC was paying ... So she has credibility issues that she still has to deal with. Is she speaking for herself? Or is she speaking on behalf of who's paying her? There's a reason why there [are] a lot of journalists [at] NBC News [who are] uncomfortable with this because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination, he added. The ground was broken for Ms McDaniels NBC hiring last year when she was approached by NBC executives who wanted a Republican primary debate on their network. Ms McDaniel had the requirement that MSNBC, the cable news channel that former President Donald Trump claims is part of the Democratic machine, would not be allowed to broadcast the debate at the same time, a requirement that NBC bosses accepted, according to Politico. Ronna McDaniels hiring has been criticised on air by prominent figures at NBC and MSNBC (REUTERS) During this process, Ms McDaniel built a relationship with the senior vice president of politics at NBC, Carrie Budoff Brown, and the president of editorial, Rebecca Blumenstein. When Ms McDaniel departed the RNC, she joined an agency, the CAA, and began looking for TV work, trying to avoid ending up at CNN but speaking to ABC. But NBC, because of those relationships, was always the most likely option. While all top leaders of all NBC networks backed the hiring, the internal criticism started to flow on Friday following an email from Ms Budoff Brown stating that Ms McDaniel would appear across all platforms. While the president of MSNBC Rashida Jones backed the hiring, Ms McDaniel is unlikely to appear on the network in the near future, Politico reported. An unnamed host on MSNBC told the outlet that there was frustration that Ms McDaniel was hired for close to $300,000 a year even amid cuts. Across MSNBC they have been cutting contributors, the host said. So everyones like, what the f***? You found 300 for her? The Democratic National Committee joined in the bashing, with DNC chair Jamie Harrison saying in a statement: The free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy, and has and continues to face unprecedented attacks by Donald Trump and his lackeys including Ronna McDaniel to chip away at its credibility and allow space for MAGA lies and deceit. There should be no debate about the truth in our political discourse. Ronna McDaniel is a proven liar, and has no place in an honest and objective conversation about the future of this country, he added. Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough piled in on Monday morning. NBC News should seek out conservative, Republican voices to provide balance ... but ... not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier. And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. Morning Joe hosts criticize NBC hiring Ronna McDaniel pic.twitter.com/7PGz1X4B06 The Recount (@therecount) March 25, 2024 We've been inundated with calls this weekend as have most people connected with this network about NBCs decision to hire her, Scarborough, a former Florida Republican representative in the US House, said. We learned about the hiring when we read about it in the press on Friday. We weren't asked our opinion of the hiring. But if we were we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons, including, but not limited to, as lawyers might say, Ms McDanielss role in Donald Trump's fake elector scheme, and her pressuring election officials to not certify election results while Donald Trump was on the phone. To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage, Brzezinski said. But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier and we hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor. NBC News political reporters told Politico that had they been consulted, they would have told their executives that Ms McDaniel would not be a good hire, noting her lack of stature in the anti-Trump wing of the party, her lack of strong congressional relationships, and her lack of a strong connection to Mr Trump and the Trump-faction of the party. The NBC Guild, the NBC digital union, wrote on X: Ronna encouraged a lie that many of our own journalists have spent countless hours debunking. Our journalism is tarnished by @NBCNews execs elevating a liar over the workers who have spent years delivering the kind of reporting that our newsrooms are typically known for. There was also miscommunication between Ms McDaniel and NBC at first, she thought that her Sunday appearance on Meet the Press would be part of her unveiling as a contributor and not the hard-questioning interaction that later transpired. A source close to the former RNC chair told Politico: How could the top brass be negotiating this and then not let Kristen Welker know she may be doing her interview with a paid contributor? Usually, contributors weigh in on this or that issue, not, like, answer these brutal questions for 20 minutes. Jon Allsop wrote for the Columbia Journalism Review that the glaring problem with her hiring is not that she was (or is) a partisan hack or anything to do with her policy positions, but her deep complicity in Trumps election denialism. New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen wrote on X that the bosses at NBC will be forced to admit either that denialism does not disqualify and say why (rough, though this is their position) or search for GOP insiders who are not denialists (good luck!) or drop the access thing as ill-suited to news in 2024 (never going to happen.) Jack Shafer, Politicos senior media writer, wrote on Monday that The McDaniel hiring speaks to a long-running poverty of imagination at televisions news divisions. Network bosses have come to believe that the news is a river that flows out of the mouths of official sources and is then routed to viewers by former members of the club. So go ahead and shriek about Ronna McDaniels hiring. Just as long as you save lung power to protest all the other political veterans doing time on the air. The Houthis reportedly said they would avoid attacking Chinese ships off the coast of Yemen. But the Iran-backed rebels fired multiple missiles at a Beijing-owned tanker on Saturday. Last week, a US general warned lawmakers about deepening ties between Iran, China, and Russia. The Houthis said they would refrain from attacking Chinese ships off the coast of Yemen, but this past weekend, the Iran-backed rebels did exactly what they said they wouldn't. Early Saturday morning local time, the Houthis fired four anti-ship ballistic missiles toward the M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker, as the ship was transiting the Red Sea, according to US Central Command, or CENTCOM. Hours later, the Houthis fired a fifth ballistic missile at the Huang Pu, which suffered "minimal damage" and a small fire but no casualties in the attack, CENTCOM said in a statement Saturday. It noted that the ship issued a distress call but did not request assistance. It was ultimately able to resume its journey. "The Houthis attacked the M/V Huang despite previously stating they would not attack Chinese vessels," CENTCOM said. Houthi supporters attend a rally against the US airstrikes on Yemen and the Israeli offensive in Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen on March 8, 2024. AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman For months, the Houthis have used drones and missiles to attack ships with ties to various countries in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. But the rebels recently signed an agreement with China and Russia to guarantee their vessels safe transit through the volatile region, in exchange for possible political support at the United Nations, Bloomberg reported last week. China and Russia have strong diplomatic and economic ties with Iran, which is the Houthis' main backer. Tehran, for example, supplies the rebels with advanced weaponry that they have used in their ongoing attacks. A deepening partnership between China, Russia, and Iran Gen. Michael Kurilla, the CENTCOM commander, warned US lawmakers last week that the three countries are strengthening their ties and "creating a chaotic landscape favorable for their exploitation and the spread of extremism." China, Russia, and Iran "have deepened their partnership and collaboration as Iran seeks to strengthen its regional position, Russia leverages Iranian military support in Ukraine, and the PRC aims to exploit tensions in the region to afford them a position of advantage and diminishes US interests," Kurilla said in written testimony to the House Armed Services Committee. The general said that it is "noteworthy" that China buys 90% of exported Iranian oil, "which they could use to influence Iranian lethal aid to the Houthis if they chose to." "Instead, Beijing only helps Tehran evade sanctions and accelerate its destabilization of the region," Kurilla said. "The PRC's unwillingness, or inability, to leverage its influence has contributed to Iran's disruption of the free flow of international commerce." The Greek-flagged bulk cargo vessel Sea Champion is docked in the port of Aden in Yemen last month, where it arrived after being attacked in the Red Sea. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman/File Photo And Iran's unchecked malign activities put a Chinese ship at risk. The M/V Huang Pu is Chinese owned and operated, but it was sailing under the flag of Panama when it was attacked. Furthermore, according to maritime security agency Ambrey, the vessel's registration details were changed last month, so it's possible that the rebels confused its identity. Meanwhile, amid the attack on the Huang Pu on Saturday, US forces engaged six Houthi drones over the southern Red Sea. Five of the systems crashed into the water, while the sixth flew back inland into Yemen. "It was determined these UAVs presented an imminent threat to US, coalition, and merchant vessels in the region," CENTCOM said. "These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels." Read the original article on Business Insider ISIS claimed responsibly for Fridays deadly assault on a concert venue in Moscow, releasing graphic footage purporting to show its gunmen carrying out what was Russias worst terror attack in decades. Russian authorities have accused four men from the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan of being behind the attack, which left at least 137 people dead and more than 100 injured. The suspects, who are charged with committing a terrorist act and face possible life imprisonment, have been remanded into pre-trial detention through May 22 after appearing in court in Moscow on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that radical Islamists carried out the assault, but also claimed without proof that a window had been prepared for the attackers to escape to Ukraine. Kyiv has denied the allegations. US officials have tied the attack to ISIS-K, an affiliate that operates in central Asia, which has become one of the regions most brutal and feared terror groups. Since November, the US has received a stream of intelligence that ISIS-K was determined to mount an attack in Russia, sources told CNN, and passed those warnings on to Moscow. US Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday that what we know to be the case is that ISIS-K is actually, by all accounts responsible for what happened. Heres what we know about ISIS-K. Who are ISIS-K? ISIS-K was formed in 2015 and has been active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. It is a branch of ISIS, the terror group that emerged in Syria and Iraq and, at its peak, controlled a huge stretch of territory. Five years since the fall of ISIS self-proclaimed caliphate across Iraq and Syria, the group has morphed into a terror network with cells spread around the world, including in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. The connection between ISIS-K and its apparent parent group is not entirely clear. The affiliates share an ideology and tactics, but the depth of their relationship such as the chain of command and control has never been fully established. By 2018, ISIS-K was ranked the worlds fourth-deadliest terror group, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, which monitors global terrorism. The Talibans takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, and the withdrawal of US troops from the country, thrust ISIS-K into the global spotlight especially after the group orchestrated a deadly bombing outside Kabul airport that killed 13 US military personnel and 170 Afghans. It was ISIS-Ks most globally consequential action to date and drew a promise of retribution from US President Joe Biden. The United Nations estimated in 2021 that the group has up to 2,200 core fighters based in Afghanistans Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. What do they want? Like its parent organization, ISIS-K aims to create a pure Islamic state, according to CSIS describing the groups vision of a global, transnational caliphate governed by Sharia law. ISIS-K has a mutual hatred of the Taliban and attracts those with views even more radical than the Islamist group that rules Afghanistan. It refuses to acknowledge the Taliban as a legitimate Islamic leader because it relies on a narrow base instead of committing to a universal Islamic jihad, according to CSIS. As such, ISIS-Ks recent attacks have largely been aimed at the Taliban and other symbolic targets, as well as at Afghanistans Shia Muslim minorities, in particular the ethnic Hazaras. The groups hatred of the West, including the United States, Britain and Europe, also features prominently in their agenda as does its enmity toward Russia. Why did they attack Russia? ISIS has a longstanding animosity against Russia and Putin, several experts told CNN. Russia has been at the top or near the top of the list of ISIS for many years, said Daniel Byman, director of Georgetown Universitys security studies program. He pointed to Moscows crucial role in the Syrian civil war, when it intervened in support of the Syrian government and against ISIS. ISIS-K has also criticized the Taliban for being too close to Russia, Byman added. There are other historical grievances, too. ISIS propaganda has long targeted Russia for its brutal tactics in the various Chechen wars, and its scorched-earth policies in the Caucasus affecting Eastern European and Eurasian Muslims, according to John Miller, CNNs chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst. In 2022, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for a suicide blast near Russias embassy in Kabul, which killed six people, including two consular staff. Over the past month, Russia has thwarted several ISIS-related incidents, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti. At least four incidents in March alone have been reported across Russia that local authorities said involved people connected to ISIS, RIA reported. Russian state media reported on March 7 that the FSB, Russias security service, prevented an ISIS attack on a synagogue in Moscow, according to Reuters. The ISIS attackers were killed in a gunfight, the reports said. What other attacks are they responsible for? To date, the majority of ISIS-Ks most devastating attacks have been in Afghanistan and Pakistan the Kabul airport blast being a prominent example. Others include a May 2020 attack on a Kabul maternity ward that killed 24 people and an attack on Kabul University in November 2020 that killed 22, according to CSIS. ISIS-K was also believed to be behind a horrific car bombing outside a girls high school in May 2021 that killed at least 85 people. The group was particularly active during its peak around 2018 when an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 128 people at an election rally in Mastung, Pakistan, one of the bloodiest attacks anywhere in the world that year. While its no longer as strong as it was in 2018, ISIS-K continues to plan attacks in Afghanistan. It is the most active terror group in the country, responsible for 73 deaths in 2023, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. A journalist walks inside of a damaged class of the National Legal Training center, a day after gunmen stormed Kabul university in Kabul in November 2020. - Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images Could they pose a broader global threat? The Kabul airport attack had raised global concerns that ISIS-K could pose a major threat across the region and beyond. In March 2023, the head of the US Central Command told lawmakers that ISIS-K was becoming more emboldened, and that Europe or Asia were more likely targets for terrorist attacks originating in Afghanistan than the US. In a 2023 threat assessment report by US intelligence agencies, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said ISIS-K almost certainly retains the intent to conduct operations in the West and will continue efforts to attack outside Afghanistan. And earlier this year, the UN Security Council warned in a report that ISIS-K was planning or conducting operational plots in Europe. Seven people linked to the group were arrested in Germany last year while planning for high-impact terrorist attacks, including obtaining weapons and possible targets, the council said. It is not the first time that ISIS has struck a concert venue. In November 2015, ISIS gunmen attacked the Bataclan theater in Paris part of an assault that hit other targets in the city killing at least 130 people. In May 2017, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena, England, that killed 22 people. ISIS has also inspired terrorists in the US, including the gunman who killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016 in what was then the most lethal terrorist attack in the US since 9/11. Earlier this month, the US government had information about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow potentially targeting large gatherings, to include concerts which prompted the State Department to issue a public advisory to Americans in Russia. The US also shared this information with Russian authorities. The intelligence that Washington had been getting since November was fairly specific and the US intelligence community warned Russia, but its not clear if this is directly tied to the March 7 warning by the US embassy in Moscow. Putin rejected the US embassy warnings about terror attacks as provocative in a speech to the FSB, saying they resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society. CNNs Rob Picheta, Eliza Mackintosh, Ehsan Popalzai, Antonio Jarne, Lou Robinson, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Mariya Knight, Anna Chernova and Darya Tarasova contributed to this report. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com When discussing the biggest threats facing the United States these days, U.S. intelligence officials invariably mention China and Russia, then often segue to cyberattacks, pandemics and climate change. Islamic extremist terrorism, which animated American foreign policy and defense strategy for a decade and a half after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has receded as a top-tier concern. The attack that killed 133 people in a Moscow concert hall Friday is a reminder, however, that the terrorism threat still looms. The group that claimed credit, an offshoot of ISIS called Islamic State in Khorasan, or ISIS-K, has eclipsed the once-fearsome core ISIS organization in Iraq and Syria as perhaps the most dangerous terrorist organization, U.S. officials and outside experts say. Its becoming more of a regional actor, said Daniel Byman, a counterterrorism specialist at Georgetown University. It claimed responsibility for the attack in Iran in January, and now we have this devastating attack in Moscow. The Iran attack was a double suicide bombing that killed almost 100 people at a memorial for the Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani. U.S. officials say ISIS-K also was responsible for the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing outside Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport that killed 13 American service members and 170 Afghan civilians. Although U.S.-backed fighters five years ago drove the core ISIS from its so-called caliphate in Syria and declared victory, the remnants of the group remained. ISIS-K is believed to be active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, and appears to have aspirations to attack Europe and the U.S., American officials say. According to a July 2023 report to the United Nations Security Council, ISIS-K counts 4,000 to 6,000 members on the ground in Afghanistan, including fighters and their relatives. To be sure, even if most of the U.S. public has largely stopped thinking about groups like ISIS, American defense officials have not. Gen. Michael Kurilla, who heads U.S. Central Command, told a House committee last week that ISIS-K retains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning. He also warned that core ISIS members are languishing in Syrian detention camps. Over 9,000 detainees across 27 different detention facilities in Syria, Kurilla said. We need to repatriate those detainees to either face prosecution or reintegration, rehabilitation, back into their societies. The good news, from the American perspective, is that the U.S. appears to have significant intelligence insights into the plans and intentions of ISIS-K. U.S. officials warned both Iran and Russia that ISIS-K was poised to attack in those countries before the fact. Putin rejected the warning, but the U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a public statement warning Americans to stay away from concert halls. Thats pretty impressive, Byman said. It shows that U.S. counterterrorism capabilities remain an important factor. If they are trying to do something in Europe or the United States, there is at least a reasonable chance U.S. intelligence might be able to detect it. Still, American officials worry that, while they may detect planning that involves a number of terrorists, they cannot guarantee they will discover a plot that involves sending one or two people into the U.S., or one that involves a lone extremist who is already in the country. Islamic State in Khorasan was founded in 2015 by breakaway members of the Pakistani Taliban. It includes people of Afghan and Pakistani origin, as well as Central Asians. The group is now at war with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which puts it under pressure. I would say that ISIS-K poses a bit of a larger threat, but they are under attack from the Taliban regime right now, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told senators earlier this month. And its a matter of time before they may have the ability and intent to actually attack the West at this point. A number of ISIS-K plots in Europe have been disrupted, Byman said, including with a wave of arrests of people from Central Asia in Germany and the Netherlands in July. In January, Turkish officials say two masked members of ISIS-K attacked and killed a person at a Catholic Church in Istanbul. Russia, which invaded Afghanistan in the 1980s, crushed a rebellion in Muslim-majority Chechnya in the 1990s and backed the Syrian government against ISIS in the 2010s, has long been a target of jihadis, experts say. Many may think of ISIS as a group bent on hurting the U.S. and its Western allies and partners. And thats wholly true. But in reality, ISIS casts a much wider net for its targeting, said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre think tank in Washington. The whole world is in its crosshairs, including Russia, a country that ISIS has long viewed with contempt and threatened in its propaganda, Kugelman said, adding that the terror group puts Russia in the same category as the U.S., an evil crusader state that invades and preys on Muslim states. One of the newer motivations for ISIS to hit Russia is its close ties with the Taliban, a bitter enemy of ISIS. Two Russian embassy staff were killed in a 2022 attack claimed by ISIS in Kabul. So theres a precedent at play, Kugelman said. In effect, Russias foreign policy is hard wired to trigger ISIS. That, combined with the prestige factor ISIS can show off to other militant groups its capacity to inflict damage on a top global power makes Russia an especially attractive target. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com What is ISIS-K and why has it attacked Russia? In the weeks leading up to the tragedy at a Moscow music venue on Friday night, warnings had been relayed to Russia that a terror attack perpetrated by extremists was imminent. Despite this, it appears their intelligence services were caught unaware when a group of four gunmen opened fire at Crocus City Hall, where 7,000 concertgoers had gathered to watch the progressive rock band Picnic. At least 137 people have been killed, while over a hundred more have been wounded with the jihadist group ISIS-K claiming responsibility in a series of videos and messages. The car which, according to Russian authorities, the suspects in the shooting at Moscow's Crocus City Hall used to escape (Ostorozhno Novosti via REUTERS) The four suspects have since been arrested and hauled before a court, just hours after footage emerged of them being dragged into an intelligence headquarters whilst blindfolded. Who are ISIS-K? Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), named after an old term for the region that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, emerged in eastern Afghanistan in late 2014 and quickly established a reputation for extreme brutality. While the group has seen a decline in membership since 2018, it remains one of the most active regional affiliates of Islamic State. Over the years, it has been increasingly targeted by US forces and the Taliban, both of whom have inflicted heavy losses upon the group. Despite this, the US continues to view the group as a threat, with Congress told last March that ISIS-K was developing the ability to carry out external operations in Europe and Asia. General Michael Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command predicted it would be able to attack U.S. and Western interests outside Afghanistan "in as little as six months and with little to no warning." Why attack Russia? Jihadist terror groups have often posed a challenge to Russias security, with ISIS-K previously carrying out the 2017 St Petersburg metro bombing in 2017, which left 15 dead. The gunment opening fire in the concert hall foyer (UGC/AFP via Getty Images) Largely based in central Asia, ISIS-K has come to view Russia on a similar level to the US, which they believe espouses hatred towards the Muslim faith. They have also cited Russias support of the Assad regime which saw them intervene in Syria in 2015, with airstrikes occurring as recently as last year. Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center said ISIS-K "sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims." He added that the group also counts as members a number of Central Asian militants with their own grievances against Moscow. What other attacks have the group carried out? Earlier this year, the US intercepted communications confirming the group carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed nearly 100 people who had gathered to mourn the anniversary of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimanis assassination by US forces. In September 2022, ISIS-K militants claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at the Russian embassy in Kabul. The group was also responsible for an attack on Kabuls international airport in 2021 that killed 13 US troops and at least 169 civilians during the chaotic US evacuation from the country. The ISIS terrorist group, which claimed responsibility for the shooting in the Russian suburbs of Moscow, previously tried to organize several similar attacks in France, French President Emmanuel Macron said on March 25. "In recent months, this group has committed several assassination attempts on our territory," Macron said, BMF TV reported. France has also offered Russia "enhanced cooperation" in the fight against terrorism, the French leader said. "France has proposed to the Russian services, as our partners in the region, an expansion of cooperation in the fight against terrorism, taking into account the information available to our services and elements that could be useful to the Russians." Asked whether he would discuss this with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Macron said that "contacts will be made at the technical and ministerial level in the first place." Read also: Background on the Crocus City Hall incident: Several people on March 22 opened fire with assault rifles at visitors to the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, where a concert by the band Piknik was to take place. The shooters also set fire to the building.Recent updates report a tragic death toll of 137 individuals, including three children, from the incident. In the aftermath, Russian authorities have apprehended 11 suspects, hinting at a "Ukrainian trace" in the investigation, a narrative supported by the dictator Vladimir Putin and echoed across Russian media outlets. This claim aligns with the suspects' alleged plans to flee towards Ukraine. Contrastingly, Ukrainian officials, including the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Office, have firmly refuted these allegations, emphasizing Ukraine's non-involvement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the assertions linking Ukraine to the incident, critiquing Putin's delayed response. Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation proposed an alternative theory, suggesting the event could be a Russian special service operation aimed at framing Ukraine, potentially to justify further mobilization efforts. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence indicates the likely involvement of the ISIS terrorist group, a theory supported by ISIS's own indirect admission through published images mirroring those of the suspects identified by the Russian FSB. The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War also believes that ISIS is most likely involved in the shooting at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow Oblast. 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 funeral for a victim of the suicide attack at the international airport in Kabul in 2021 that was carried out by ISIS-K, in the hills outside of Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 27, 2021. (Victor J. Blue/The New York Times) WASHINGTON Five years ago this month, a U.S.-backed Kurdish and Arab militia ousted Islamic State group fighters from a village in eastern Syria, the groups last sliver of territory. Since then, the organization that once staked out a self-proclaimed caliphate across Iraq and Syria has metastasized into a more traditional terrorist group a clandestine network of cells from West Africa to Southeast Asia engaged in guerrilla attacks, bombings and targeted assassinations. None of the groups affiliates have been as relentless as the Islamic State in Khorasan, which is active in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and has set its sights on attacking Europe and beyond. U.S. officials say the group carried out the attack near Moscow on Friday, killing scores of people and wounding many others. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times In January, Islamic State-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, carried out twin bombings in Iran that killed scores and wounded hundreds of others at a memorial service for Irans former top general, Qassem Soleimani, who was targeted in a U.S. drone strike four years earlier. The threat from ISIS, Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, told a Senate panel this month, remains a significant counterterrorism concern. Most attacks globally taken on by ISIS have actually occurred by parts of ISIS that are outside of Afghanistan, she said. Gen. Michael Kurilla, head of the militarys Central Command, told a House committee on Thursday that ISIS-K retains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning. U.S. counterterrorism specialists Sunday dismissed Russias suggestion that Ukraine was behind Fridays attack near Moscow. The modus operandi was classic ISIS, said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations. The assault was the third concert venue in the Northern Hemisphere that the Islamic State group has struck in the past decade, Hoffman said, after an attack on the Bataclan theater in Paris in November 2015 (as part of a broader operation that struck other targets in the city) and a suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena, England, in May 2017. The Islamic State-Khorasan, founded in 2015 by disaffected members of the Pakistani Taliban, burst onto the international jihadi scene after the Taliban toppled the Afghan government in 2021. During the U.S. military withdrawal from the country, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing at the international airport in Kabul in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 civilians. Since then, the Taliban have been fighting ISIS-K in Afghanistan. So far, the Talibans security services have prevented the group from seizing territory or recruiting large numbers of former Taliban fighters, according to U.S. counterterrorism officials. But the upward arc and scope of ISIS-Ks attacks have increased in recent years, with cross-border strikes into Pakistan and a growing number of plots in Europe. Most of those European plots were thwarted, prompting Western intelligence assessments that the group might have reached the lethal limits of its capabilities. In July, Germany and the Netherlands coordinated arrests targeting seven Tajik, Turkmen and Kyrgyz individuals linked to a ISIS-K network who were suspected of plotting attacks in Germany. Three men were arrested in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia over alleged plans to attack the Cologne Cathedral on New Years Eve 2023. The raids were linked to three other arrests in Austria and one in Germany on Dec. 24. The four people were reportedly acting in support of ISIS-K. U.S. and other Western counterterrorism officials say these plots were organized by low-level operatives who were detected and thwarted relatively quickly. Thus far, ISIS-Khorasan has relied primarily on inexperienced operatives in Europe to try to advance attacks in its name, Christine Abizaid, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, told a House committee in November. But there are worrisome signs that ISIS-K is learning from its mistakes. In January, masked assailants attacked a Roman Catholic church in Istanbul, killing one person. Shortly afterward, the Islamic State group, through its official Amaq News Agency, claimed responsibility. Turkish law enforcement forces detained 47 people, most of them Central Asian nationals. Since then, Turkish security forces have launched mass counteroperations against Islamic State group suspects in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Several European investigations shed light on the global and interconnected nature of Islamic State group finances, according to a United Nations report in January, which identified Turkey as a logistical hub for ISIS-K operations in Europe. The Moscow and Iran attacks demonstrated more sophistication, counterterrorism officials said, suggesting a greater level of planning and an ability to tap into local extremist networks. ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing President Vladimir Putin in its propaganda, said Colin Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York. ISIS-K accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood in its hands, referencing Moscows interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria. A significant portion of ISIS-Ks members are of Central Asian origin, and there is a large contingent of Central Asians living and working in Russia. Some of these individuals may have become radicalized and been in position to serve in a logistical function, stockpiling weapons, Clarke said. Daniel Byman, a counterterrorism specialist at Georgetown University, said that ISIS-K has gathered fighters from Central Asia and the Caucasus under its wing, and they may be responsible for the Moscow attack, either directly or via their own networks. Russian and Iranian authorities apparently did not take seriously enough public and more detailed private U.S. warnings of imminent ISIS-K attack plotting, or were distracted by other security challenges. In early March, the U.S. government shared information with Russia about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow, Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said Saturday. We also issued a public advisory to Americans in Russia on March 7. ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever. Russian authorities Saturday announced the arrest of several suspects in Fridays attack. But senior U.S. officials said Sunday that they were still digging into the background of the assailants and trying to determine whether they were deployed from South or Central Asia for this specific attack or if they were already in the country as part of the network of supporters that ISIS-K then engaged and encouraged. Counterterrorism specialists voiced concern Sunday that the attacks in Moscow and Iran might embolden ISIS-K to redouble its efforts to strike in Europe, particularly in France, Belgium, Britain and other countries that have been hit on and off for the past decade. The U.N. report, using a different name for Islamic State Khorasan, said some individuals of North Caucasus and Central Asian origin traveling from Afghanistan or Ukraine toward Europe represent an opportunity for ISIL-K, which seeks to project violent attacks in the West. The report concluded that there was evidence of current and unfinished operational plots on European soil conducted by ISIL-K. A senior Western intelligence official identified three main drivers that could inspire ISIS-K operatives to attack: the existence of dormant cells in Europe, images of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and support from Russian-speaking people living in Europe. One major event this summer has many counterterrorism officials on edge. I worry about the Paris Olympics, said Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former top U.N. counterterrorism official who is now a senior adviser to the Counter Extremism Project. They would be a premium terrorist target. c.2024 The New York Times Company A couple mourns at a spontaneous memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, organized at the entrance to the Tekhnologichesky Institute metro station in St. Petersburg. | Artem Priakhin/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Newscom 137 dead: Over the weekend, gunmen affiliated with Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K)an offshoot founded in 2015, mostly comprised of malcontent Taliban militantsopened fire on a Moscow concert hall where the band Picnic was playing. They killed 137 people and injured 180 more, and they also set the concert hall on fire. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack; Russian news media immediately started blaming Ukraine, claiming the West was lying about who is responsible. The four suspects, who have been arrested, are men from Tajikistan who were in Russia as migrant workers. Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged the men "were heading toward Ukraine" to seek refuge after carrying out their attack. "During the U.S. military withdrawal from the country, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing at the international airport in Kabul in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 civilians," reports The New York Times. ISIS-K has, up until now, been widely regarded as ineffective; the group has plotted several attacks in Europenotably one on the cathedral in Koln, Germany, for New Years Eve 2023yet has mostly been thwarted before they've had the opportunity to carry them out. Trump goes to court (again): Former President Donald Trump will appear in a Manhattan court today to "seek another delay of his criminal trial on charges that he covered up a sex scandal that could have derailed his stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election," per The New York Times. There was a recent delay in this case, after new evidence was made available and the judge decided that Trump's lawyers needed a 30-day extension to review it. (Trump asked for either a 90-day extension or a thrown-out case.) But Trump is also facing imminent financial trouble, from needing to either settle up in the civil fraud casealso in New Yorkor go the appeals route, which would require him to secure a half-billion-dollar bond. If Trump does not secure that bond, the state attorney general, Letitia James, will most likely start freezing Trump's bank accounts and seizing some of his assets. (He already secured a $91.6 million bond needed for another casethe defamation suit brought by E. Jean Carrollbut is struggling to do so for this much larger amount.) Appeal bonds, like the one Trump is seeking, are "document[s] in which a company guarantees the. judgment, plus interest, should [a client] lose his appeal and fail to pay," says the Times. "Mr. Trump would need to pledge significant collateral to a bond companyabout $557 million, his lawyers saidincluding as much cash as possible, as well as stocks and bonds he could sell quickly." He would also incur a roughly $20 million fee owed to the bond company. Scenes from New York: The story of comedian Pete Davidson getting kinda stoned and buying a decommissioned Staten Island ferry. QUICK HITS Another day, another "RFK Jr. considers running on Libertarian ticket" piece, this time from Politico. (FWIW, I do not think this is very likely to happen, but that doesn't mean the mainstream media will stop writing pieces about it.) Investors approved the Truth Social/Digital World merger I mentioned in Friday's newsletter, which will line Donald Trump's pockets with a bit more cash. Inside the Aurora Borealis tourism industry in Iceland. What you don't know about Andrew Huberman. Yes: Weird era we are living in when trying to be "valuable to others" is considered a bad thing. pic.twitter.com/QhSSTDB9hy Diana S. Fleischman (@sentientist) March 25, 2024 Transit system assaults in New York City really are rising. Zach Weissmueller and I talked about this (and more) with Peter Moskos on last week's Just Asking Questions: Transit assaults 2006-2023. It's not just a "perception" issue. Reported assaults have tripled over the past decade. That's not good. https://t.co/4t2imulhBb Peter Moskos (@PeterMoskos) March 25, 2024 "The Wisconsin attorney general's attempt to find a right to abortion in the Wisconsin Constitution is unprecedented, and wrong," write Christine File, Heather Weininger, and Dan Miller in National Review. Belmopan: the city of bureaucrats, totally centrally planned, made boring as a result, with a population of only 25,000 despite being Belize's capital city. The post The Islamic State's Moscow Massacre appeared first on Reason.com. People wait to fetch water in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 22, 2024. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua) CAIRO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and visiting United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday voiced complete rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their territories and any Israeli military operation in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah. During their talks in Cairo, the two leaders warned against any Israeli operation in Rafah to unleash catastrophic consequences on the already dire situation in the city, said the Egyptian presidency in a statement. They also discussed the intensified efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to people in the besieged enclave, the statement added. United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on March 23, 2024. (Photo by Mohamed Ahmed/Xinhua) The president and the UN chief called for favorable conditions for implementing the two-state solution, calling it "the only path to achieve justice, security, and stability in the region." Israel has been announcing plans to launch a large-scale ground operation in Rafah, where about 1.5 million internally displaced Palestinians reside, a move widely rejected by the international community. Later in the day, at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has imposed a strict siege and launched continued heavy strikes against Hamas for over five months. "The time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is now," he said. Israel's ongoing strikes in Gaza have so far killed 32,226 Palestinians and injured 74,518 others, the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry updated in a statement on Sunday. The Israeli escalation came in retaliation for the attack launched by Gaza-ruling Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, on adjacent Israeli towns, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage. People inspect a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on March 22, 2024. (Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua) "Nothing justifies the horrific attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, and nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people," Guterres told a press conference on Saturday at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, where he renewed the peace call. Editor: WXL Israel announced Monday that forces thwarted a massive Iranian operation aimed at smuggling advanced weaponry to Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency (ISA) said an investigation into known Hezbollah and Iranian operative Munir Makdah ultimately uncovered the smuggling scheme. Makdah had been working to recruit "agents in Judea and Samaria to carry out attacks," the IDF and ISA said in a joint statement. "In recent months, Iranian agents have been attempting to smuggle weapons, including advanced arms originating from Iran, into Judea and Samaria with the intention of carrying out terror acts against Israel," the statement read. "The operation was exposed and thwarted by the ISA and IDF, while investigating detained Palestinian operatives that had attempted terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. Investigations revealed information about the current activities of Munir Makdah, a resident of Ain al-Hilweh in Lebanon who is of Palestinian descent, known for years as an operative of both Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and continues to attempt to carry out attacks," it continued. NETANYAHU VOWS TO INVADE RAFAH REGARDLESS OF POTENTIAL CEASE-FIRE WITH HAMAS: IT WILL HAPPEN Israeli forces say they thwarted a massive Iranian operation aimed at smuggling advanced weaponry to Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday. "As part of the ISA operation against Munir Makdah, a significant amount of advanced weapons that had been smuggled into Judea and Samaria were seized," the statement added. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP ISRAELI STRIKES IN RAFAH LEAVES 31 PALESTINIANS DEAD AHEAD OF PLANNED GROUND INVASION The confiscated cache included 2 BTB15 peripheral shrapnel charges, 5 Iranian anti-tank mines model YM-2 and 5 detonators, 4 M203 grenade launchers, 15 kg of C4 explosives, 10 kg of Semtex explosives, 13 shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles, 15 RPG launchers, 16 RPG-7 rockets + explosives, 25 hand grenades, 33 M4 rifles and 50 pistols, the Israeli agencies said. The IDF and ISA say an investigation into known Hezbollah and Iranian operative Munir Makdah ultimately uncovered the smuggling scheme. The operation comes as Israel is looking to close out its campaign against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces significant pushback from the U.S. on a potential invasion of Rafah, the terror group's southern stronghold. SENATE PASSES MAMMOTH $1.2T SPENDING PACKAGE AFTER BRIEF PARTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN Israel says Rafah, a border city near Egypt, is Hamas' final foothold in Gaza. President Biden's administration has warned that an invasion would be a "huge mistake," citing the massive civilian population in the area. While Netanyahu vowed that an offensive is imminent, he also agreed to send a delegation of officials to Washington to determine whether a compromise can be made. On Monday, he said he was canceling the delegation's trip after the U.S. failed to veto a United Nations resolution demanding a cease-fire. Original article source: Israel announces thwarting of massive Iranian operation to smuggle weapons to Palestinians Israel is blocking food convoys that belong to the United Nations Palestinian aid agency from entering Gazas northern region, where Palestinians are facing an increasingly dire starvation crisis created by the ongoing Israeli military offensive in the territory. As of Sunday, Israel is denying the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza, according to Philippe Lazzarini, the agencys chief. Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any [UNRWA] food convoys to the north, Lazzarini posted on X, the former Twitter. This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine. These restrictions must be lifted. UNRWA is considered the primary agency that supplies and distributes desperately needed aid and services to Palestinian refugees, including those in Gaza. While other groups are trying to bring aid into the besieged territory and facing hurdles from Israeli fire and a breakdown of order UNRWA has the resources and infrastructure to be able to provide food, water, shelter and medicine to a large population. UNRWA is the largest organization with the highest reach to displaced communities in Gaza, Lazzarini wrote. By preventing UNRWA to fulfill its mandate in Gaza, the clock will tick faster towards famine & many more will die of hunger, dehydration + lack of shelter. This cannot happen, it would only stain our collective humanity. Palestinians wait in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East distribution center to receive a limited amount of flour as Israeli attacks continue on Gaza City, Gaza, on March 18. Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images The block comes just days after lawmakers in the U.S. passed a spending package that included a ban on funding UNRWA through March 2025, extending President Joe Bidens current funding suspension triggered by Israels accusations that a dozen of UNRWAs some 13,000 employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. Since the accusation, most of UNRWAs major contributors have resumed their funding, citing Gazas starvation crisis and the lack of concrete evidence from Israel to back up its claim. UNRWA terminated the 12 accused employees and is undergoing internal and external investigations into the allegation, though Lazzarini has accused Israel of deliberately trying to undermine UNRWA so the agency is forced to dissolve. Lazzarini said he appreciates the lawmakers in Congress who advocated for UNRWA, as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinkens support with the European Union last week, but that the funding ban from the U.S. UNRWAs biggest contributor will have implications for Palestinian refugees. In Gaza, the humanitarian community is racing against the clock to avert famine. As the backbone of the humanitarian response, any gap in funding to UNRWA will compromise access to food, shelter, primary health care & education at a time of deep trauma, Lazzarini wrote Sunday on X. Palestine Refugees are counting on the international community to step up support to meet their basic needs. Last week, Lazzarini said that Israeli authorities barred him from entering Gaza, where he was supposed to help coordinate and improve the humanitarian response to the crisis. That denial allegedly occurred on the same day that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative sounded the alarm on famine-like conditions in north Gaza, as well as the territorys entire population of 2 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse. Egyptian trucks carrying humanitarian aid bound for the Gaza Strip outside the Rafah border on March 23, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Rafah crossing on Saturday to spotlight the hardship and pain of Palestinians in Gaza, calling for an immediate cease-fire as he stood near thousands of aid trucks waiting in line to enter the territory from Egypt. More than 1 million Palestinians in Gaza are currently sheltering in Rafah, the territorys southernmost city, where Israel is threatening to invade despite warnings from the U.S. and the rest of the international community against doing so. On Monday, more than five months after the start of the war, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The council approved the resolution 14-0 with the U.S. abstaining marking the first time it has officially demanded a halt to the violence. The pause in fighting would last until the end of Ramadan, on April 9, though the draft said that the temporary cease-fire should lead to a permanent sustainable cease-fire. Fasting with you on Ramadan, I am deeply troubled to know so many people in Gaza will not be able to have a proper Iftar. Here from the crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all, Guterres said at the Rafah crossing on Saturday. A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates. The long shadow of starvation on the other. That is more than tragic. It is a moral outrage. Its time to truly flood Gaza with life-saving aid. The choice is clear: either surge or starvation, he continued. Lets choose the side of help the side of hope and the right side of history. I will not give up. And all of us must not give up in doing all we can for our common humanity to prevail in Gaza and around the world. Related... UN chief Antonio Guterres has pleaded for an end to the 'non-stop nightmare' and for vastly greater humanitarian aid flows to the 2.4 million people trapped in Gaza's worst-ever war (Khaled DESOUKI) Israeli forces fought Hamas militants in besieged Gaza on Monday including around at least two major hospitals, raising fears for the patients, medics and displaced people trapped inside. Troops and tanks have encircled Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, the territory's biggest, for a week and more recently moved on the Al-Amal Hospital in the main southern city of Khan Yunis. While Israel has labelled its operations "precise" and said it has taken care to avoid harm to civilians, aid agencies have voiced alarm about civilians caught up in the fighting. As combat raged on, technical talks have continued in Qatar towards a truce and hostage release deal, and the UN Security Council was set to convene later in the day for a vote on a new ceasefire demand. Almost six months into the war sparked by the October 7 attack, global concern has mounted over the threat of famine in Gaza, and on Israeli plans to invade the crowded far-southern city of Rafah. UN chief Antonio Guterres, on a crisis visit to the Middle East, has pleaded for an end to the "non-stop nightmare" for the 2.4 million people trapped in Gaza's worst-ever war. As Israel's top ally the United States has also voiced rising concern, the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, was headed to Washington for talks with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin. Gallant said his focus in the United States -- which provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid a year -- would include "our ability to obtain platforms and munitions". Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition including ultra-nationalist parties, has vowed to go ahead with a Rafah invasion even without Washington's support. US Vice President Kamala Harris stressed on ABC TV that a Rafah invasion would be "a huge mistake" and, when asked whether she would rule out "consequences" for Israel, replied that "I am ruling out nothing". - 'We are suffering' - The Gaza war broke out after Hamas's unprecedented attack of October 7 which resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel has vowed to destroy the militants, who also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday put the total Palestinian death toll at 32,333, most of them women and children. Bombardment and fighting in Gaza killed another 72 people overnight, according to the ministry. More than 50 airstrikes rained down on the Gaza Strip, said the Hamas government press office. Israel's armed forces gave a similar number and said its fighter jets and helicopters had struck about 50 "terror targets" and "eliminated approximately 10 terrorists". Food and water shortages have deepened the suffering, especially in northern Gaza where residents, mostly women and children, were waiting in line to fill up jerrycans and buckets in Jabalia. "We don't even have food to give us the energy to go to collect the water -- let alone the innocent children, women and the elderly," said one man, Bassam Mohammed al-Haou. Another local man, Falah Saed, said "we are suffering a lot from water shortages because all and pipes and pumps have stopped working since the beginning of the war". - Hospital battles - Israel's army said it was battling militants around two hospitals and reported some 20 enemy fighters killed in the past day in close-quarters combat and air strikes. Israel labelled the raids "precise operational activities". Palestinians living near Al-Shifa have reported hellish conditions, including corpses in the streets, constant bombardment and the rounding up of men, who are stripped to their underwear and questioned. The Al-Shifa raid was in its eighth day and the military reported detaining some "500 terrorists affiliated with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations" and locating weapons in the area. Israel has said the operation will continue until the last militant is "in their hands", signalling an extended presence at Al-Shifa, which troops also raided in November. At Al-Amal Hospital, the Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces had surrounded all entrances and prohibited hospital staff from leaving. The military said its Al-Amal operation included "raids on several terrorist infrastructure sites in the area and located explosive devices, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and military equipment". The Red Crescent on Sunday said military vehicles had also surrounded the nearby Nasser hospital, but the situation there remained unclear. - UN vote on truce call - Later in the day in New York, the UN Security Council was to vote on a new draft resolution calling for an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. Russia and China had vetoed an earlier text proposed by the United States, but Beijing said Monday it would back the latest version. Permanent Council member the United States has unequivocally supported Israel's right to defend itself but recently tempered its support for Israel over its conduct of the war. The new text, according to the version seen by AFP on Sunday, "demands an immediate ceasefire" during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, "leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire". It also "demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" as well as the "lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale". The text is being put forward by non-permanent members of the Security Council, who have worked with Washington to avoid a veto, according to diplomats speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity. One diplomat told AFP that "we expect, barring a last-minute twist, that the resolution will be adopted and that the United States will not vote against it". burs-jm/fz/jm/jsa By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday as Israeli forces carried out new airstrikes in Gaza and laid siege to two hospitals. After vetoing three earlier draft council resolutions on the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel's main ally, the United States, abstained in the vote following global pressure for a ceasefire to ease fears of famine after nearly six months of war. Hamas welcomed the resolution, which also demanded the unconditional release of all hostages seized by the militant group in its deadly Oct. 7 raid on southern Israel. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel could not stop its war on Hamas while there were still hostages in Gaza. "We will operate against Hamas everywhere - including in places where we have not yet been," his ministry quoted him as saying ahead of talks in the U.S. "We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose relationship with Washington has been strained by the ferocity of the offensive, said the U.S. failure to veto the proposal was a "clear retreat" from its previous position. He said he would not now follow through on plans to send a delegation to Washington to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The White House said Netanyahu's decision was "disappointing". The other 14 council members voted for the resolution demanding a ceasefire for the rest of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks. "The Palestinian people have suffered greatly. This bloodbath has continued for far too long. It is our obligation to put an end to this bloodbath, before it is too late," Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama told the Security Council after the vote. There has been one truce to date, lasting a week at the end of November. At least 32,333 Palestinians have been killed and 74,694 injured in Israel's offensive, including 107 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday. Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted in the Hamas-led raid on Oct. 7. AIRSTRIKES AND SIEGES The Security Council resolution was approved as Israel continued to besiege two Gaza hospitals where it says Hamas cells are hiding and following a new wave of Israeli airstrikes. Rafah, the last refuge for about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population following the arrival of many people displaced by fighting elsewhere, came under heavy fire in the latest Israeli attacks, witnesses said. Palestinian medics said 30 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours in Rafah, where Israel is planning a ground assault to eliminate what it says are militant cells there. "The past 24 hours were one of the worst days since we moved in to Rafah," said Abu Khaled, a father of seven, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals. Gaza medics said an Israeli airstrike had killed 18 Palestinians in one house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, and the victims were buried on Monday. Israeli forces were also besieging Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis on Monday, Palestinian witnesses said, a week after entering Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the main hospital in the Strip. Israel says hospitals in Gaza are used by the Palestinian militant group Hamas as bases. Hamas and medical staff deny this. The Israeli military said it had detained 500 people affiliated with Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad and located weapons in the Al Shifa area. Israeli forces also said 20 militants had been "eliminated" in fighting and airstrikes around Al Amal Hospital over the previous 24 hours. Reuters has been unable to access Gaza's contested hospital areas and verify accounts by either side. CEASEFIRE EFFORTS U.S.-backed mediation by Qatar and Egypt has so far failed to secure agreement on a ceasefire and prisoner-hostage swap between Israel and Hamas. As these efforts have stalled, international concern has mounted about the lack of aid reaching civilians in Gaza. Concerns grew again on Monday after the Israeli government said it would stop working in Gaza with the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, which it said was perpetuating conflict. "UNRWA are part of the problem, and we will now stop working with them. We are actively phasing out the use of UNRWA because they perpetuate the conflict rather than try and alleviate the conflict," spokesperson David Mencer told reporters. He made his comments after UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had informed the U.N. that it will no longer approve UNRWA food convoys to the north of Gaza. Expressing his alarm about the humanitarian situation, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters while visiting Jordan: "It is absolutely essential to have a massive supply of humanitarian aid now." Israel denies blocking aid to Gaza, and says delivery of aid once inside the territory is the responsibility of the U.N. and humanitarian agencies. Israel has also accused Hamas of stealing aid, a charge the group denies. Aid organisations say security checks and the difficulty of moving through a war zone have hindered their operations in Gaza. (Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, Writing by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Timothy Heritage, Editing by Sharon Singleton and Ros Russell) JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A veteran Israeli minister who joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency unity government after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack said on Monday he had resigned after not being included in the highest-level war cabinet. Gideon Saar joined the unity government along with several other members of the opposition to help manage the war on Hamas in Gaza. Saar's departure, along with another of his allies, is not expected to affect the stability of Netanyahu's government, which still controls a clear majority in parliament. Saar was once a rival to Netanyahu in the right-wing Likud party before joining a more centrist bloc led by former military chief Benny Gantz. Together they entered the emergency government. Gantz became a member of the small-forum, decision-making war cabinet while Saar was left out. "I can't carry the responsibility if I do not have, in my judgment, a real possibility to influence the direction of policy. I simply do not see any benefit in this," Saar said in broadcast remarks. His resignation did not come as a surprise, as Saar had broken up the alliance with Gantz earlier this month. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Editing by James Mackenzie and Christina Fincher) WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) High stakes meetings between top Israeli and U.S. officials scheduled in Washington were abruptly canceled Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu pulled the plug as a protest after the U.S. refused to block a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate temporary ceasefire in a Gaza. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of retreating from its support of Israel. The White House pushed back. The Prime Minister seems to be indicating that weve somehow changed here, said White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby. Were kind of perplexed by this. Kirby defended the U.S. decision not to exercise its U.N. veto power and argues the resolution is consistent with U.S.-Israel policy. The non-binding resolution by the U.N. Security Council demands a ceasefire until the end of Ramadan April 9th and also calls for the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas. It did not set preconditions to a ceasefire as Israel has demanded. Despite the public breakdown the White House says it will utilize other channels to relay its concerns about Israels military strategy. Right now, the U.S. is trying to talk Israel out of a ground invasion in the city of Rafah where more than a million Palestinian civilians reside. We believe that a full-scale invasion of Rafah would be a mistake, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. Israels defense minister met with senior officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken Monday. Before departing for Washington, he said the discussions would be important, but so far Israel shows no signs of being open to the U.N. ceasefire plan nor willing to change its plans to launch a full-scale attack on Hamas in Rafah. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. On March 24, Russian State Duma lawmaker Mikhail Sheremet suggested implementing restrictions on migrant entry into Russia in response to the March 22 Crocus City Hall attack. Sheremet claimed that Western intelligence agencies were potentially exploiting migrants to orchestrate terrorist activities within Russia to destabilize the country, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its latest assessment. Sheremet, who hails from occupied Crimea, said that Russia "lacks resources to discern migrants' intentions" as it focuses on the war effort. Deputy Chairperson of the Russian State Duma, Vladislav Davankov, proposed stricter measures against migrants. These include a "zero tolerance" policy for migrant offenders in their first year, implementing digital monitoring, and initiating a "migrant replacement" program to automate industries. Late on March 24, a Moscow court ruled to send four suspects charged with acts of terrorism in connection with the concert hall attack near Moscow, which claimed the lives of 137 individuals, to pretrial detention for two months as they await trial. All of the suspects are Tajik citizens. Latest reports have further exacerbated existing anti-Tajik and anti-migrant sentiments in Russia, a nation that hosts millions of workers from Tajikistan and other former Soviet Central Asian nations. The Tajik government reportedly insisted it has not received any "official information" from Russian authorities about its citizens allegedly involved in the attack. "Russian force generation efforts and anti-migrant policies, an increasingly prominent ultranationalist movement that espouses xenophobic rhetoric, and an increasingly ultranationalist Kremlin that stresses the importance of Russian Orthodoxy in public life are likely further alienating migrant communities," the ISW concluded. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine confirms striking 2 large Russian landing ships; Russia launches major attack on energy system Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Italys one euro houses: Who can buy one and how does it work? With property prices in the UK out of reach for many first-time buyers, and homeowners dreaming of a second pad in the sun, the idea of snapping up an Italian casa for 86p is intoxicating. Several small Italian towns have hit the headlines for selling off vacant houses for 1 a pop in the past couple of years. But how does the scheme work, and who is eligible to snap up one of these bargain villas in the sun? Why is Italy selling houses for 1? As young Italians increasingly migrate to the city and choose cosmopolitan jobs over rural and community vocations, many of Italys prettiest remote villages are becoming abandoned, with tiny, ageing populations that are beginning to die off. Some elderly Italians have found themselves with no one to leave their house to, bequeathing it instead to the local authorities, who have to decide what to do with it, while some younger citizens have inherited properties in areas they have no intention of moving to. Read more: Whats it really like to buy a house through Italys one euro homes scheme? Having a second home in Italy means paying taxes, so selling these unused houses off cheaply can be more lucrative than keeping them. Thats why around 25 Italian municipalities are making prospective homeowners an offer they cant refuse - a house for the symbolic price of 1. The idea is, having these homes improved and occupied in the next few years is worth more to the towns than selling them off at full price. We do not need new constructions and new overbuilding. The strategy to improve the housing environment and reclaim our cultural identity is to revive the small abandoned centres or to redevelop buildings in a state of abandonment, with a story that is our history, reads a statement by the team at 1eurohouses.com. Local authorities in areas such as Emilia-Romagna, Abruzzo and Campania also hope an influx of new homeowners will stimulate the economy, as they buy local produce, employ local construction workers, pour money into local venues and attractions, and even boost tourism by creating boutique hotels or B&Bs. Whats the catch? Youre not buying a shiny new villa - houses selected for the scheme are often dilapidated and require major structural improvements. Youre investing in a fixer-upper, not acquiring a ready-to-move-in home. However, the cost of renovations is still relatively low compared to other countries - in the region of 20,00050,000 depending on the size of the property. While most houses are humble village homes or cottages, some stately homes are also on sale, with a much higher price tag attached. The sellers of this former monastery outside Bologna estimate essential renovations could cost 1.5m. Legal fees for buying a house abroad can add up to 3,000 on top of this, and some municipalities also ask for a guarantee fee (from 1,000 to 10,000 depending on the town and the cost of the renovation project) to prove youre committed to improving the property. On the upside, Italy does provide a superbonus tax exemption for buyers that covers 110 per cent of qualifying building expenditures. You wont be able to make vague promises about refurbishing your new pad sometime in the future, either - new owners are required to submit details of a renovation project within two to 12 months of purchase (depending on the location), start work within one year, and complete it within the next three. Its also worth noting that not every property ends up being sold for just a euro. Popular houses have become the subject of a bidding war, with several going for 5,000 or even 20,000. So this is a scheme for people who have some savings stored up beyond the initial euro. Who can buy a one euro house? Is it true or is it a joke? reads a section of the website case1euro.it, which lists 1 properties currently for sale in Mussomeli, 60 miles south of Palermo, Sicily. It is not a joke. Rules differ from town to town, but in the case of Mussomeli, buyers must have the financial and practical wherewithal to: Support all expenses for the drafting of the deeds of sale (notary, registration, transfer) Prepare a project for the renovation of the property within one year of purchase, acquiring any permissions needed Start work within two months of the date of issue of the building permit Conclude work within three years Put down a guarantee policy deposit of 5,000 (4,314), which they will lose in the event that the work doesnt go ahead within three years In Mussomeli, you can do whatever you like with the interior of the property, but must keep the facade looking as it did originally. Small print goes on to say that you are entitled to renovate the property yourself, or with your choice of workers. This is the route that French buyer Morgane Guihot and her husband took, telling CNN in 2019: As were both artisans and renovators we did most of the work ourselves, which was minimal, and it was great seeing our two-room house come to life again. Most towns who have set up a 1 house scheme have similar financial requirements - youll have to check the specific requirements of the town you want to buy in. Some require you to live in the house after renovations, while others allow you to buy it with a view to using it as a holiday home or as a small business such as a B&B. Buyers who dont have Italian residency or dont speak Italian may run into more hurdles when it comes to organising work and being able to make use of their property. Has Brexit affected Brits being able to buy the houses? People living outside of the EU can still buy properties in Italy, but only as non residents. This means you pay higher taxes than locals, and can spend up to 180 days per year at your Italian house, but not more than 90 out of every 180 days. To visit more regularly, you would have to apply for Italian residency, which includes proving you have sufficient funds to support yourself without employment in Italy. Im still interested. How do I get started? Youll find 1 houses for sale on websites such as 1eurohouses.com, case1euro.it and property-in-sicily.estate as well as on individual local government websites such as the Comune of Sambucas or Citta de Troinas in Sicily. Auctions2Italy also lists some 2 properties in the country, and youll find case studies and How we did it guides on Europe.properties. American buyer Rubia Daniels, who purchased and renovated a 1 home in Sicily, told Travel + Leisure in 2022 that going and viewing potential houses in person is a must; as is examining the foundations and state of the walls. Definitely dont try to do it online you need to be there to see it and experience the process to make sure youre making a mindful decision, said Daniels. I wouldnt do anything through the internet. You dont want to get anything where the walls are buckled because that indicates a foundation issue, she advises. Areas running 1 house schemes Emilia-Romagna The slice of northern Italy around Bologna has houses for sale in towns such as verdant, ancient-ruin-speckled Modigliana (where you can buy the aforementioned dilapidated monastery). Abruzzo The region hugging the coast to the east of Rome. Towns raffling off their vacant homes include Casoli, Santo Stefano di Sessanio and Pratola Peligna. Campania The dramatic, volcanic slice of coastline around Naples, close to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast has some 1 properties for sale in places like near-abandoned Pietramelara, which recently has been home to just 15 families. Sicily Sicily is a hotbed of 1 house schemes. As well as sleepy Mussomeli, the towns of Calatafimi Segesta, Augusta, Sambuca and Caltagirone are all selling off unwanted or unclaimed houses. Piedmont This northern region near Switzerland is offering homes in towns like Borgomezzavalle and Albugnano, close to renowned wine producing regions and the outdoorsy, wooded Antrona Valley. Le Marche The medieval town of Cantiano - a 40-minute drive from the seaside - has 1 homes for sale near white-pebble Adriatic beaches and truffle-hunting spots. Liguria Triora and Pignone are two of the areas in this region, famous for the colourful fishing villages of Cinque Terre as well as pesto and foccacia. Puglia With 195,024 inhabitants, Puglias provincial capital of Tarento is one of the first bigger-scale towns to start up a 1 Euro Case scheme - putting buyers in touch with its maritime history and great seafood. Sardinia The towns of Romana and Nulvi sit in the islands Sassari province outside of Alghero, and have both joined the scheme to sell off 1 homes. Tuscany Montieri, Grosseto, Lucca and Vergemoli are some of the participating towns in Italys hallowed wine and villa haven. The wife of jailed and ailing Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza on Monday said she was in favour of prisoner exchanges to rescue him and other political detainees in Russia. Following the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison colony last month, his team revealed that a deal to free him as part of a prisoner swap had been "at the final stage" before he died. Asked whether similar discussions were under way for her husband, Evgenia Kara-Murza told reporters in Geneva that she was "not aware of any active negotiations". "But I know that this was a method of liberating some dissidents in the Soviet times, and I believe that if that was possible in the Soviet times during the Cold War... it is definitely possible today," she said. She acknowledged that due to very limited communication with her husband, she did not know if he would agree to leave if the opportunity presented itself. "But I believe that in those cases where human lives are at stake, and there is a number of such cases in Russia today... I believe that every method should be used to save these people's lives," she said. - Punishment cell - Navalny's death has raised fears for remaining Kremlin critics imprisoned in Russia, of whom Kara-Murza is perhaps the most prominent. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison last year -- the longest known sentence of all of President Vladimir Putin's jailed critics. He was charged with "treason" after using a speech in the United States to say Russia had committed "war crimes" against Ukraine. The dual Russian-British citizen suffers from serious health problems, which his wife and lawyers say were due to two poisoning attempts orchestrated by Russia's FSB security service in 2015 and 2017. Evgenia Kara-Murza said the poisoning attempts had brought on a serious condition called polyneuropathy, which can lead to paralysis. It figures on the list of medical conditions that should prevent incarceration under Russian law, she said. "But of course, Vladimir is not only incarcerated," she said. "He is held in a very strict regime of a punishment cell. For over half a year now, he has not received any medical treatment and obviously his health is deteriorating there." - 'No appeasement' - Moscow's crackdown on critics has dramatically worsened since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Russia currently counting nearly 700 political prisoners, according to Nobel Prize-winning rights group Memorial. The intensifying crackdown shows that "appeasement of dictators does not work", Evgenia Kara-Murza said. "There can be no appeasement of Vladimir Putin anymore, because appeasement will lead to more warmongering and to more repression," she said. Following the deadly Moscow concert hall attack on Friday, there is fear the situation will deteriorate further. Evgenia Kara-Murza cautioned that the attack, like previous ones, could be used by the Kremlin as an excuse "to further toughen its grip on power, to further repress society, and to start new aggressions against our neighbours". Rights defenders also voiced alarm that four alleged perpetrators of the attack were brought to court showing signs of torture. The men had bruised and swollen faces, and Violetta Fitsner, a lawyer with Memorial, pointed out that one still had a torn plastic bag hanging around his neck. "It's obvious he was tortured," she told reporters, saying it was "very troubling" that the authorities so unabashedly "showed that they did it and that they can do it". "It's a signal," Memorial co-chair Sergei Davidis agreed, suggesting the authorities were now so sure of their grip on the population that they determined "there is no reason to conceal their methods". "They just were honest this time, because they decided that it was possible." nl/apo/rjm/rox James Heappey has called for 2.5 per cent of GDP to be urgently spent on defence. The outgoing Armed Forces minister made the comments when asked in the Commons whether Labours failure to commit to spending more than two per cent of GDP on defence presented a bigger risk to the UKs security than a Conservative government. Mr Heappey, who resigned earlier this month amid growing concerns about the strength of the British military, told MPs: Absolutely. We should urgently achieve 2.5 per cent of GDP. The fiscal situation is improving, and the Conservative Party has made that commitment. He pointed to previous comments by Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary, and said both main parties should strongly consider a further increase in defence spending in the next Parliament. On a trip to visit troops in Poland recently Mr Shapps called for the Government to increase its defence spending to three per cent. The UK spends 2.27 per cent of GDP on defence, but he said this should rise in an increasingly dangerous world. In the recent Budget, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, said the Government would reach 2.5 per cent as soon as economic conditions allow. During defence questions on Monday, MPs also claimed Britain would not be able to fight a sustained war. John Spellar, a Labour MP, said: The minister rightly speaks about the ability to sustain fighting. He knows that an exercise conducted with the Americans showed that the British Army would run out of munitions within 10 days. However, Mr Heappey said: In exercises that I have seen where the UK have operated alongside the US, what happens again and again and again is that American senior commanders hold the UK force elements in the highest of regard. When challenged by Richard Drax, a Tory MP, that the UK was not ready to fight a sustained war, Mr Heappey insisted the British military remained fearsome. He said: Our Armed Forces do need reinvestment in their ability to sustain themselves at a war-fighting level. Thats no scandal, that is the consequence of a peace dividend that allowed successive governments to rightly disinvest in the resilience that kept our Cold War force credible. Mr Heappey said in a pre-war era it remained the responsibility of the Government and those after to reinvest in that necessary war-fighting capability. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Qabil Ashirov Heinous terror act in Crocus City Hall in Moscow reminded many in the post-Soviet republics of Armenian terror groups. The ones who related this barbaric crime to Armenia have many reasons for it. Because Armenians are the only nation in the post-Soviet space and around the world that is famous for their terror organizations, and most importantly, they are proud of it. The Armenian history in the last century is rich with terror acts targeting Azerbaijani and Turkish civilian and political leaders. The assassination of Azerbaijani Prime Minister Fatali Khan Khoyski, Turkish Defense Minister Enver Pasha, several other Turkish diplomats, and mass killings in Khojaly and other residential areas in Garabagh exemplify it. It is worth noting that Armenian terror organizations have not only targeted Azerbaijani and Turkish citizens whom they considered their eternal enemies but also Russian and French citizens who are their close friends and allies. Bomb attack on the metro station in Moscow in the 1970s, terror act at the Orly Airport in France, and so on are some vivid examples of it. Besides, the war in Ukraine strengthens this assumption. Because when the Soviet Union weakened Armenians were the first nations to resort to terror acts in the territories of the then-USSR. That is why the former prosecutor who investigated the Sumgayit pogrom called his book Sumgayit The Inception of the Dissolution of the Soviet Empire. In an interview with British journalist Thomas de Waal, the Armenian terrorist Igor Muradyan confessed that in the 1960s and 1970s they got many weapons outside of the USSR with the help of Dashnaks. They did the same thing in Ottoman empire during Word War I. It should be underlined that in both cases Armenian terror groups attacked Azerbaijanis living in the Ottoman Empire or the USSR. That is why the terror act in Crocus City Hall poses questions among Azerbaijanis based on suspicions about Armenians - as they say, history repeats itself. In his interview to Azernews on the issue, political analyst Anar Hasanov noted that the center of this terrorist act is not located in the East but in the West. Because the West can win neither the information war nor fights in the battlefield with Russia. He thinks that it is the most convenient method to raise the mood against the conflict in Ukraine within Russia. I should note that Vladimir Putin also warned about this. A few days ago, at the collegial meeting of the Federal Security Service, Putin said that Western countries threaten him with terrorism. In addition, Zelenskyy also stated that new methods would be used in the war with Russia in 2024. Perhaps that is what Zelenskyy meant. It should not be forgotten that previously the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin was killed by the terror act in Russia a few years ago. In addition, Tatarsky was also killed as a result of terrorism, and Ukrainian special services were behind both incidents. Therefore, although today the terrorists have been found with Tajik passports, still a question arises - where did they get the military training to commit such an incident? It seems to me that the real force behind the influence of the panic in Russia today is only the West. That's why I stand more on this version, Hasanov said. As for the issue of spreading terror to the post-Soviet republics, the expert noted that similar events can occur in the former union republics which support Russia. However, he does not think that such an event will happen in Azerbaijan. Because Azerbaijan is one of the countries that has close relations with both Russia and Ukraine and sends humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Besides, he added that the West cannot increase the number of its opponents. In any case, sooner or later it will be known who is behind this terror. I do not think that the West should try to win hostile societies in the post-Soviet geography. Therefore, Belarus is the only country next to Russia. I think that Western methods can be used to create panic in both Russia and Belarus. As for Armenia, terrorism is one of the military and political methods of Armenians. Terrorism has generally been a method of struggle for Armenia and the Armenian society. However, at this time, I do not think that the official Yerevan should resort to this method against Azerbaijan. Because currently, Armenia is more interested in normalizing relations with Azerbaijan, Yerevan is aware that if it loses several soldiers against an Azerbaijani soldier injured in any conflict on the front. So, Yerevan is well aware that a slight mistake in its move will cost it losing its manpower on the conventional border with Azerbaijan. Therefore, I rule out that Armenians will resort to terrorism against Azerbaijan, Hasanov added. Acceptance of documents for short-term visas of Bulgaria will be suspended from March 22 to April 1, according to the company-operator of visa centers VFS Global. "Please note that from March 22 to April 1, visa centers in Bulgaria, by order of the Embassy's counseling department, will suspend acceptance for short-term visas (Type C)," the company said in a statement. Earlier it was reported that Bulgaria and Romania from April 1 partially join the Schengen zone and begin issuing Schengen visas to foreigners, on which it will be possible to enter the Schengen countries by air and sea. The decision on entry with visas of these countries through the land borders of the European Union will be made later. [Source] Climate change could cause Japan's famous Somei-Yoshino cherry trees to become extinct in some areas by 2100, a new report suggests. Key points: The Japan Meteorological Agency's study, which utilized artificial intelligence (AI), indicates that rising temperatures are causing sakura (cherry blossoms) to bloom unusually early, reported the South China Morning Post. The record-breaking warmer winters also prevent Somei-Yoshino trees from getting the needed cold period to blossom. Experts recommend planting a wider variety of cherry trees more resistant to warmer temperatures. The details: Trending on NextShark: Studio Ghibli Fest 2024: Full list of movies and schedule Japan's Meteorological Agency reported the country had average temperatures 1.27 degrees Celsius higher than usual, marking its second-warmest winter. The tendency for warm air to blanket Japan is linked to a lack of cold spells, crucial for the Somei-Yoshino cherry trees to enter dormancy and produce blossoms in spring. The Somei-Yoshino variety requires a period of cold weather to stimulate their systems and produce blossoms. Without this cold period, the trees may not flower, jeopardizing the future of the species in some areas. If global warming trends continue, the AI-driven study predicts that the Somei-Yoshino cherry tree variety could face extinction in Miyazaki, Nagasaki and Kagoshima prefectures in the Kyushu region by 2100. This variety is Japan's most popular cherry blossom, accounting for a significant majority of trees planted nationwide. This dominance stems from the fast growth rate and spectacular display of pink blossoms before leaves emerge, all factors prized during the Edo period (1603-1868). The potential disappearance of Somei-Yoshino trees could severely disrupt hanami, a centuries-old tradition of gathering under the cherry blossoms to celebrate spring. Held annually from late March to early May, hanami is a major driver of tourism, generating an estimated 616 billion yen ($4 billion) last year, according to a separate Kansai University study. "This problem mostly concerns the Somei-Yoshino variety and there are other varieties which are more resistant or suitable for a warmer climate, Naoko Abe, a journalist and author specializing in cherry blossoms told This Week in Asia. As well as trying to tackle climate change, or to slow down the pace of it, its time for the Japanese people to plant more diverse cherry trees and to give up thinking that Somei-Yoshino is the only sakura. Tangent: Apart from climate change, the iconic Somei-Yoshino trees also face a threat from an invasive species, the red-necked longhorn beetle, further jeopardizing their survival. Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today! BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) A Jennings man was killed Saturday in Baton Rouge in what police are calling a road-rage incident, authorities said. According to reports by WVLA/BRProud, Jayrick Washington, 18, of Jennings was shot while driving on I-110 near the Fuqua Street exit ramp. Police said shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday, officers learned two vehicles were reportedly weaving through traffic on North I-10 near Dalrymple Drive. Upon reaching the Fuqua Street exit ramp, shots were fired, causing Washington to crash, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now KLFY Daily Digest Police believe the shooting stemmed from road rage. The suspect(s) are still unknown at this time. Anyone with information about this shooting is urged to contact the Baton Rouge Police Violent Crimes Unit at 225-389-4869 or Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867. Latest news For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com. US President Joe Biden and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seated next to each other at a press conference. American and Israeli are lined up in the background For weeks, President Joe Biden and his senior officials have been losing patience with the way that Israel is fighting the war in Gaza. They have used increasingly stiff language to convey their displeasure to Israel and the wider world. The decision to allow the latest ceasefire resolution through the Security Council shows that President Biden has decided that strong words are not enough. Removing diplomatic protection from Israel's conduct of the war is a significant step. It shows the depth of the rift that has opened between the White House and Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Prime Minister Netanyahu responded with a broadside directed at Israel's most important ally. He condemned the US decision not to use its veto, saying it had harmed the war effort and attempts to free the hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October last year. Joe Biden and his top officials might file those remarks under the heading of extreme ingratitude. The president is deeply attached to Israel, calls himself a Zionist, and has provided the Israeli people with emotional support as well as all the military and diplomatic assistance their state has needed since 7 October last year. He wants freedom for the hostages as well as the destruction of Hamas as a military force. But Mr Biden wants Israel to do that, as he put it, "the right way". In those devastating first weeks of the war President Biden warned Israel not to be blinded by rage, as America had been after the al-Qaeda attacks on 11 September 2001. The US president travelled to Israel, comforted families of victims of the Hamas attacks and even embraced Mr Netanyahu, with whom he has never had an easy relationship. President Biden and his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, who's visited Israel six times since 7 October, have repeatedly told Israel to respect international humanitarian law, which includes an obligation to protect civilians. At the start of the war, as those first American warnings were being prepared, Prime Minister Netanyahu promised Israelis what he called a "mighty vengeance". Since then, more than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed with weapons mostly provided by the US. With Gaza in ruins, famine looming for Palestinian civilians and the prospect of many more deaths in an Israeli offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza, President Biden seems to have had enough of having his advice ignored. Israel claims that it always respects the laws of war and denies that it blocks humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. But evidence has piled up that the Israelis are not telling the truth, with children dying of hunger a few miles from ample stores of food in Israel and Egypt. The Americans, and the rest of the world, can see the evidence presented by the UN and aid agencies that Gaza is on the brink of famine. The US military is dropping aid by air and bringing a temporary dock across the Atlantic so that supplies can come to Gaza by sea, while Israel lets only small amounts through the port of Ashdod, a modern container terminal only half an hour's drive north of Gaza. The decision not to veto the Ramadan ceasefire resolution is also an attempt by the Americans to push back at accusations that they have enabled Israel's actions. It comes after Prime Minister Netanyahu has rejected, vehemently, the Biden Administration's plans to find a way through the worst Middle East crisis in decades. The Americans are trying to show that Israel's impunity from international pressure has limits. Security Council resolutions are normally considered to have the force of international law. Israel must decide now whether it will respect the resolution, which has been welcomed by Hamas as well as the Palestinian representative at the UN. Mr Netanyahu's coalition government relies on the support of Jewish ultranationalist extremists. They will urge him to ignore the resolution. If he does, the US will have to respond. If more words are not enough, the biggest lever at President Biden's disposal controls the air bridge of arms supplies to Israel, dozens of flights by huge transport planes bringing in the munitions Israel has used in the war, as well the ones it would need if it goes through with its plan to widen the ground war to Rafah. The US-Israel alliance is deep - in 1948 President Harry Truman recognised Israel's independence 11 minutes after it had been declared - but at times it is dysfunctional. Crises happen when Israel defies the wishes of American presidents, and harms what they see as US interests. This isn't the first time that Benjamin Netanyahu has infuriated the men in the White House. He has done so regularly since he first became Israel's prime minister in 1996. But his defiance of the US has never been this prolonged, or bitter, and no crisis in the long US-Israel alliance has been as serious as the one that's developed in almost six months of the Gaza war. New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy announced Sunday that shell withdraw from the Democratic Senate primary, likely paving the way for Democratic Rep. Andy Kim to secure the nomination. After many busy, invigorating and, yes, challenging months, I am suspending my Senate campaign today, Murphy said in a video posted to social media. Ive been genuine and factual throughout, she continued. But it is clear to me that continuing in this race will involve waging a very divisive and negative campaign, which I am not willing to do. A Message from Tammy pic.twitter.com/dfl7kPUUej Tammy Murphy (@TammyMurphyNJ) March 24, 2024 Im making this decision because this campaign has never been about me. And right now, I know the best thing we can do for New Jersey is to unite and focus on the real issues at hand, she added. Murphy did not endorse Kim in the three-minute video. Kim called Murphy "a voice for progress and public service in our state" in a statement obtained by NBC News after Murphy's announcement. "Tammy and I both agree that it is critical that we keep this seat, and the Senate, in Democratic control," Kim added. "Unity is vital. We will continue our efforts to strengthen our democracy in New Jersey while we come together to stand up against the dangerous agenda pushed by Trump. Murphy made the decision after she and her advisers concluded that her path to victory in the June 4th Democratic primary was limited, even unwinnable, a source close to the Murphy campaign told NBC News. Her announcement came on the eve of the state's primary filing deadline. But Murphy maintained in conversations Sunday with campaign staff, party leaders and supporters that her campaign still had a path forward, but that would have involved spending a large amount of money against a fellow Democrat, according to a source familiar with those conversations. Murphy said such a divisive primary could hurt the party this year and moving forward, with New Jersey will host an open race for governor next year, the source added. Her husband cannot seek another term due to term limits. The first lady's campaign drew some criticism, with many frustrated by the optics of her husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, pushing his wifes candidacy. That, combined with Kim decisively winning against Murphy in several county conventions this month, proved to be the fatal blow to her candidacy. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said in a statement this week that he had made a mistake when he endorsed Murphy several months prior. Its no secret Ive been disappointed with the campaign and how it has been conducted, Fulop said. Its clear to me that I was wrong with my early support and endorsement of Tammy Murphy for Senate. Murphy and Kim both launched their campaigns for Senate in the fall, seeking to replace Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who along with his wife faces federal charges for allegedly obstructing justice and taking bribes. The first indictment was announced in September, and they have since been hit with additional charges, bringing the total to 18. Both have denied any wrongdoing. Menendez has not officially announced whether hell run for re-election, but he has teased running as an independent, saying, I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election. That race has been consumed by New Jersey's unique ballot design known as the "county line," in which candidates endorsed by county parties are given advantageous positions on ballots. Critics say gives a few county party chairs significant power over the primary, especially in counties where the endorsement is left solely up to the chair. Kim had won the county line in several counties where the endorsement is decided at a convention county, but Murphy had racked up endorsements from a number of those powerful county party chairs. That would have given Murphy a preferred ballot position in some of the counties with the largest share of registered Democrats. Kim then filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to eliminate the county line, and he testified as a witness last week. The whole point of democracy is to give the people a choice and be able to have the decision made by the people," Kim said on the witness stand Monday. "But if you are limiting that or if there are elements I find that to be adverse to the pursuit of democracy I believe in of fairness and equality." Murphy, meanwhile, was frustrated that the process was dominating the race. Were all playing by the same rules. So if the rules get better, if they can reform and make things better, then Im all for that, Murphy said last Sunday. But my view is thats over here, Murphy added. Im trying to help with affordability. Im trying to help with reproductive freedoms. Im trying to help with gun safety and climate change. And I think thats what people really think about every single day. So I am sick of hearing about the process. Kim did not directly address his lawsuit in his statement on Sunday, but Kim's senior adviser Anthony DeAngelo said in a statement to NBC News that Kim "strongly believes that New Jersey should more to a fair, office block ballot system." "The status of our injunction remains in the hands of the judge and we remain ready to strongly advocate for the changes the Congressman and so many others have called for," DeAngelo later added. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination is likely to be elected to the Senate in November, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rating the race as "Likely Democratic." This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Former New York Gov. George Pataki, center, congressman Jerry Nadler, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and wife, Tammy Murphy, attend a memorial at the site of the 2001 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, in New York City. Tammy Murphy has quit her campaign for the U.S. Senate. File Photo by Louis Lanzano/UPI March 24 (UPI) -- New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy announced Sunday that she is suspending her campaign for Sen. Bob Menendez's Senate seat. Menendez is facing bribery and obstruction of justice charges. Menendez announced Thursday that he would not seek re-election in the Democratic primary but did not rule out the possibility of an independent bid this summer. Murphy made her announcement Sunday via social media. "After many busy, invigorating, and yes, challenging months, I am suspending my Senate campaign today," Murphy said in a post on X. "I have been genuine and factual throughout, but it is clear to me that continuing in this race will involve waging a very divisive and negative campaign, which I am not willing to do," she said. "And with Donald Trump on the ballot and so much at stake for our nation, I will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat," she added. Murphy's decision comes just days before a judge is expected to rule on a lawsuit aimed at curtailing power brokers' influence over the election process in New Jersey. Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who is also running for the Senate seat, had asked the court for a preliminary injunction eliminating the "party line" -- a ballot structure that allows county leaders to give preferential treatment to their endorsed June 4 primary candidates. But the judge in the case was concerned, and the defendants argued, that the time frame was too tight to make such a change. But with Murphy dropping out, the urgency to address the primary ballot design is gone -- meaning "the line" could be in place for the coming primary election. "We will continue our efforts to strengthen our democracy in New Jersey while we come together to stand up against the dangerous agenda pushed by Trump," Kim said in a statement Sunday, suggesting the lawsuit would continue. The congressman praised Murphy as "a voice for progress and public service in our state," adding, "I respect her decision to carry on that work as First Lady." Advocates of changing the party-line system raised questions about Murphy's decision to withdraw from the race. "This sudden change of heart on the part of Tammy Murphy, on the eve of the ruling of Judge [Zahid] Quraishi on the controversial New Jersey county line, seems more than suspicious," Yael Niv, president of the Good Government Coalition of New Jersey, said in a text message. "The Good Government Coalition of New Jersey - and the whole grassroots community that has been fighting the line for years - wonder if this announcement is not a last ditch effort to save the county line. This just feels very Jersey. It seems like the party machine that was propping up the First Lady has asked her to take one for the team," Niv continued. Murphy, the wife of two-term New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, entered the Democratic primary in November as a first-time candidate with previous GOP connections. Menendez has denied the charges against him, which include accepting high end international hotel suites, bribes, and receiving gold bars in exchange for political favors for Qatar and Egypt, among other things. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) seemed to have an uncomfortable moment on 60 Minutes during Sunday nights segment on social media disinformation. Jordan argued against social media companies taking down inaccurate posts, saying the American people should figure out whats true and whats not. What about this idea that the 2020 election was stolen? asked correspondent Lesley Stahl. You think that these companies should allow people to say that and that individuals can make up their own mind. Ive not said that, said Jordan, who is on the record pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. What Ive said is there were concerns about the 2020 election; I think Americans agree with that. No, they dont, said Stahl. You dont think they think there were concerns with the 2020 election? he said. Most people dont question the result, thats all Im saying, Stahl said. Fair enough, said Jordan. Then it got awkward. They dont question whether Biden won or not, she said. Jordan was silent. Right? she asked. Jordan remained silent. Right? she asked again. Jordan looked puzzled. Most people dont question the outcome, she said. Right, Jordan agreed. Leslie Stahl left Jim Jordan speechless pic.twitter.com/2Auv3STdMq MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) March 25, 2024 Jordan was among multiple GOP lawmakers who helped push Trumps conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and objected to the election results in Congress as part of a push to slow or stop the certification. Trump rewarded Jordan with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom before leaving office. Lesley Stahl asks Rep. Jim Jordan: Is his goal to chill misinformation researchers? https://t.co/rlNyIsbg8Rpic.twitter.com/Ls8Hu8yQbk 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 24, 2024 Related... Johnny Mercer has declined to identify the soldiers because of their alleged vulnerability - Martyn Wheatley / i-Images Johnny Mercer has been given 10 days to name Special Forces whistleblowers who raised concerns about the alleged executions of Afghans or face a possible jail sentence or a fine. A senior judge has accused the Cabinet minister of withholding evidence with significant relevance to his investigation into claims of atrocities committed by the SAS in Afghanistan more than a decade ago. Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, who chairs the Afghanistan public inquiry, has issued Mr Mercer, the minister for veterans affairs, with a section 21 notice compelling him to reveal the identities of his sources. The inquiry has given Mr Mercer until April 5 to provide the information. If Mr Mercer continues to defy the judge, he could face prosecution by the inquiry in a magistrates court or be found in contempt in the High Court. Sources said conviction in the High Court could lead to imprisonment of up to two years or an unlimited fine. If found guilty by magistrates, Mr Mercer would be given a criminal conviction and a possible jail term of up to six months. Mr Mercer, who is unable to comment, has declined to identify the soldiers because of their alleged vulnerability. Friends have pointed out that the sources are not involved in any criminality and did not witness murders being committed. General Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army, has described Mr Mercers treatment at the hands of the inquiry as outrageous. Inquiry has robust procedures in place But in its first statement following The Telegraphs disclosure that Mr Mercer was facing the threat of jail, an inquiry spokesman said: The inquiry considers the evidence that the Rt Hon. Johnny Mercer MP is withholding is of significant relevance to its work. Mr Mercer voluntarily provided a written statement that indicated he had knowledge of facts relating to the terms of reference. When he appeared in an open hearing, Mr Mercer refused to provide those facts, despite comprehensive and repeated assurances as to confidentiality that would safeguard all concerned. The inquiry has therefore had no option but to pursue this matter by way of issuing a formal notice under section 21 of the Inquiries Act 2005. The inquiry insists it has robust and sophisticated procedures in place to protect the identity of witnesses. It said it issued the section 21 notice to Mr Mercer on March 13. The notice states: Mr Mercer is required to supply the witness statement by 4pm on Friday April 5 2024. It gives Mr Mercer until April 3 to apply to have the notice revoked. The notice further adds that Mr Mercer if he continues to refuse to comply could face criminal prosecution by the inquiry in a magistrates court; or enforcement in the High Court. A source said: The main aim is to secure compliance rather than punish. Mercer protects junior ranks A friend of Mr Mercers has told The Telegraph: These sources are not people who are in any way suspects. They are vulnerable soldiers and veterans who for their own legitimate reasons didnt want to engage with the inquiry, but Johnny was able to tell their story for them because they trusted him. This is not about him protecting wrongdoers. But Johnny has spent his entire political career protecting junior ranks, and he wont change that. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Simon Myerson KC has been found guilty of failing to 'maintain the standards of his judicial office' after trans activists complained A judge who called a transgender rights campaigner a stupid, condescending fool on social media has been disciplined by the Lord Chancellor and Lady Chief Justice. Simon Myerson KC, the judge, has been found guilty of misconduct by Alex Chalk and Baroness Carr for acting in an offensive manner and failing to maintain the standards of his judicial office. Mr Myerson has been issued with formal advice a form of judicial reprimand by the pair after complaints from two trans activists led to an inquiry into his tweets by the judicial conduct investigations office. Social media guidance for judges advises them to avoid online debates about the judiciary, legal system or other politically controversial topics. They are also expected to maintain their moral authority, integrity, decorum and dignity of their judicial office. In his tweets, Mr Myerson mocked a transgender activists tiny intellect and questioned whether he would be shot when the trans revolution happens. Idiotic statements He accused them of idiotic statements, saying that trying to patronise me as well doesnt make the nonsense true. You lack the intellect to see the point, he said. Mr Myerson was also reprimanded by the Lady Chief Justice for having engaged in politically controversial topics, a criticism that raised questions over his impartiality. Baroness Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, issued Simon Myerson with a judicial reprimand - Jordan Pettitt/PA In the tweets, Mr Myerson, who is the chairman of the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, linked transgender campaigners to the Left-wing politics of Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader. Tiny intellect Part of the problem is that the people who conduct the debate on the side of trans people are the same people who cheered on Corbyn. It means the politics are poisonously personal and the intellect is tiny. You stupid, condescending, fool, said Mr Myerson. I think the reason so many of the stupid Left are invested in Chomskys brilliance ... is that they feel a need for intellect. They cant get it from Corbyn who even they realise lacks the requisite quality. They batten onto Noam. So [twitter handle of the transgender activist] whats the deal? Im blocked but Im not on your list of people to be shot when the trans revolution happens. Can I appeal? Posted inappropriately In a statement, a spokesman for the judicial conduct investigations office said: The Lady Chief Justice, with the Lord Chancellors agreement, has issued Recorder Simon Myerson with formal advice for misconduct after he posted inappropriately on Twitter (now known as X). In making their recommendation, the nominated judge considered that Recorder Myerson had identified his judicial status in historic tweets, engaged in politically controversial issues, sometimes in an offensive manner, and failed to maintain the standards of his judicial office. Having considered the facts of the case, the Lady Chief Justice and Lord Chancellor agreed with the nominated judge that Recorder Myersons actions amounted to judicial misconduct and that the appropriate disciplinary sanction is formal advice. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought by the company formerly known as Twitter, which sued a hate-speech watchdog group it blamed for a loss of millions of dollars in advertising. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the lawsuit was intended to punish the Center for Countering Digital Hate for its criticism of X, and so violated California's ban on lawsuits designed to squelch speech. After he acquired Twitter in October 2022, Elon Musk welcomed back numerous users who had been suspended for sending tweets that violated its terms of service, and he slashed the number of people who enforced those terms and moderated conversations on the platform. But his support for free speech on X had its limits; for example, X has at times blocked people from posting links to their work on other social media networks. X filed suit last July against the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, after the organization documented the rise of anti-LGBTQ hate speech, misinformation and other trends around user accounts on the platform during Musk's tenure. Major advertisers like Disney, IBM and Apple pulled their content after Musk endorsed an antisemitic tweet; he then expressed his frustration in a series of online posts about the loss of advertisers since taking over the company. The social media giant claimed it lost "at least tens of millions of dollars" in advertising partially because of the center's reports, according to the company's lawsuit. X Corp. sued the nonprofit for breach of contract, claiming that center's researchers abused their access to user data and mischaracterized the information in their reports, articles and calls for companies to take their advertising dollars elsewhere. X Corp. compared the center to an activist organization[] masquerading as [a] research agenc[y]. In November, attorneys for the center moved to strike X Corp.'s lawsuit under a California law addressing "strategic lawsuits against public participation" that is, suits intended to censor, intimidate and silence critics. On Monday, Breyer granted that anti-SLAPP motion, denied X Corp.'s motion to re-plead its case and granted the center's request to strike and dismiss the suit. Breyer also granted a request to dismiss X Corp.'s claims against the European Climate Foundation. Read more: Elon Musk visits Israel to meet top leaders as accusations of antisemitism on X grow "Sometimes it is unclear what is driving a litigation, and only by reading between the lines of a complaint can one attempt to surmise a plaintiffs true purpose," Breyer said in a 52-page order filed Monday. "Other times, a complaint is so unabashedly and vociferously about one thing that there can be no mistaking that purpose. This case represents the latter circumstance. This case is about punishing the defendants for their speech." Breyer went on to write that X Corp. brought the case "in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp. and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism." The court pointed out that X Corp. did not file a defamation lawsuit, which was significant if the platform had, the center's lawyers would have gained the right to examine X Corp.'s internal communications about the content on its platform. "It is apparent to the Court that X Corp. wishes to have it both ways to be spared the burdens of pleading a defamation claim, while bemoaning the harm to its reputation, and seeking punishing damages based on reputational harm," Breyer wrote. An email to X Corp.'s attorney seeking comment about the court judgment did not receive a response. Musk did not immediately respond to the court's ruling on X. Read more: Musk's X fails to block California content moderation law In a statement, Center for Countering Digital Hate CEO Imran Ahmed said the group's goal has always been to "alert the world to corporate failures that undermine human rights and civil liberties." The courts today have affirmed our fundamental right to research, to speak, to advocate, and to hold accountable social media companies for decisions they make behind closed doors that affect our kids, our democracy, and our fundamental human rights and civil liberties," Ahmed said. Attorney Roberta Kaplan, who represented the center, said, "Todays decision proves that even the worlds wealthiest man cannot bend the rule of law to his will." "We are living in an age of bullies, and its social media that gives them the power that they have today," added Kaplan, who recently represented E. Jean Carroll in her successful defamation lawsuit against former President Trump. "It takes great courage to stand up to these bullies; it takes an organization like the Center for Countering Digital Hate." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. FILE - Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, July 28, 2023. A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Elon Musk's X Corp. against the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has documented the increase in hate speech on the site since it was purchased by the Tesla owner. On Monday, March 25, 2024 U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the suit, writing in his order that it was unabashedly and vociferously about one thing" punishing the nonprofit for its speech. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File) A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Elon Musk's X Corp. against the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has documented the increase in hate speech on the site since it was acquired by the Tesla owner. X, formerly known as Twitter, had argued the centers researchers violated the sites terms of service by improperly compiling public tweets, and that its subsequent reports on the rise of hate speech cost X millions of dollars when advertisers fled. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the suit, writing in his order that it was unabashedly and vociferously about one thing" punishing the nonprofit for its speech. X had alleged that the nonprofit scraped its site for data, which is against its terms of service. But the judge found that X failed to allege losses based on technological harms that is, the company didn't show how the scraping led to financial losses for X. X had sought millions of dollars in damages, arguing that the nonprofits reports led to the exodus of advertisers and the loss of ad revenue. But the judge agreed with CCDHs argument saying X cannot seek damages for the independent acts of third parties based on CCDHs reports, or its speech. The center is a nonprofit with offices in the U.S. and United Kingdom. It regularly publishes reports on hate speech, extremism or harmful behavior on social media platforms like X, TikTok or Facebook. The organization has published several reports critical of Musks leadership, detailing a rise in anti-LGBTQ hate speech as well as climate misinformation since his purchase. In a statement posted to X, the social media platform said it disagrees with the courts decision and plans to appeal. Imran Ahmed, the centers founder and CEO, said the lawsuit amounted to a hypocritical campaign of harassment by a billionaire who talks about protecting free speech but who then uses his wealth to try to silence his critics. He said the lawsuit shows the need for a federal law requiring tech companies to release more information about their operations, so that the public can understand how these powerful platforms are shaping society. We hope this landmark ruling will embolden public-interest researchers everywhere to continue, and even intensify, their vital work of holding social media companies accountable for the hate and disinformation they host and the harm they cause, said Ahmed. Roberta Kaplan, the centers attorney, said the dismissal of Xs suit shows even the wealthiest man cannot bend the rule of law to his will. We are living in an age of bullies, and its social media that gives them the power that they have today, Kaplan said in an email to reporters. It takes great courage to stand up to these bullies; it takes an organization like the Center for Countering Digital Hate. We are proud and honored to represent CCDH. The center is not the only group that has pointed to the rise of hateful material on X since Musks purchase in October 2022. Last November, several big advertisers including IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast, said that they stopped advertising on X after a report from the liberal advocacy group Media Matters said their ads were appearing alongside material praising Nazis. It was yet another setback as X tries to win back big brands and their ad dollars, Xs main source of revenue. X has also sued Media Matters. Later that month, Musk went on an expletive-ridden rant in response to advertisers that halted spending on X in response to antisemitic and other hateful material, saying they are are engaging in blackmail and, using a profanity, essentially told them to go away. Flag raising ceremony on occasion of National Day of Pakistan was held at Embassy of Pakistan On March 23, 2024, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Ukraine held a solemn ceremony of raising the national flag on the occasion of Pakistan Day. Every year on March 23, Pakistanis celebrate the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution of 1940 by the All India Muslim League in Lahore on the creation of an independent state for Muslims. Since then, the struggle for the creation of Pakistan intensified and only seven years after the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution on August 14, 1947, Pakistan emerged. After the reading of the Holy Quran, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, H.E. Major General (Retired) Nadir Khan raised the national flag during the performance of the national anthem of Pakistan. Messages from the President of Pakistan Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Mr. Shahbaz Sharif and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Mr. Mohammad Ishaq Dar were also read out. The ceremony concluded with a prayer for the well-being and prosperity of the people of Pakistan, the Muslim Ummah and humanity, as well as for the return of peace and prosperity to Ukraine. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 31, 1991. On March 16, 1992, diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Pakistan were established. The Embassy of Pakistan has been operating in Kyiv since October 1997. Photo source: https://www.facebook.com/UkrDiplomatic Elon Musks lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate has been dismissed by a federal judge in California who deemed the suit an attempt to silence critics of the social media platform X. Musks X Corp. filed suit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) last year, accusing the nonprofit of intentionally and unlawfully accessing the platforms data to research reports documenting the rise in hate speech on X, formerly Twitter, following the tech billionaires 2022 takeover. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer called the suit a thinly veiled attempt to retaliate against CCDH and dismissed the case under a California law designed to stop frivolous litigation intended to punish defendants First Amendment rights, known as anti-SLAPP legislation. This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech, Breyer said in his judgment. Musk, a self-declared free speech absolutist, did not directly comment on the ruling but retweeted a post from a supporter that declared, This platform will always fight for free speech. After the ruling, CCDHs lawyer Roberta Kaplan told The Guardian, Todays decision proves that even the worlds wealthiest man cannot bend the rule of law to his will. Read Judge Breyers full judgment here. Related... Judge rejects Trump delay in hush money trial as appeals court hands him win in fraud case: Recap Former President Trump was back a New York courtroom Monday as his lawyers battled with the state over new documents turned over in Trumps hush money case. Simultaneously, during a brief break in that hearing, a New York appeals court temporarily stopped the clock on the looming enforcement of a multimillion-dollar judgment against Trump and his company over deceitful business practices in a dueling day of major court matters for the former president. Monday was supposed to be the day the hush money trial began, but a surprise development delayed the trial. Judge Juan Merchan instead held a hearing to sort out the blame game over the new documents and mull Trumps contention that an additional delay is warranted, which sometimes grew contentious. RELATED: Trumps hush money case set for critical hearing over document dump Follow below for live updates on Trumps court matters Monday. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money case on Monday scheduled the trial to begin on April 15. The ruling by Judge Juan Merchan came after the former president's attorneys had asked for a lengthy delay or for the falsifying business records charges against their client to be dismissed because of evidence that was turned over just this past month by federal prosecutors. Merchan found Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is not at fault for the late production of documents from the U.S. Attorneys office and the case could proceed to trial next month. Trump attorney Todd Blanche then asked the judge again for another delay given the pre-trial publicity surrounding the case. Theres a lot of news because hes running for president, which is another reason why he should not have to sit for a trial now, Blanche said. Merchan said he'd allow Blanche to file papers stating his case, but also indicated he wasn't going to budge. "See you all on the 15th," he said at the end of the hearing. Trump attended the hearing, and blasted the new trial date as "election interference" afterward. "This is a case that could have been brought three and a half years ago," he said, calling the trial date "a disgrace." "We'll obviously be appealing," he said. The former president appeared grim on his way into court as well. This is a witch hunt. This is a hoax," he said. Merchan had postponed the trial, originally scheduled to begin Monday, until at least mid-April after federal prosecutors belatedly turned over mounds of evidence related to a key witness in the case, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. While hearing arguments from both sides on who was to blame for the late production of evidence, Merchan blasted Trump's team suggesting the DA was responsible for federal prosecutors having not turned over the evidence earlier. You are literally accusing the Manhattan DAs office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct while they had no control over their federal counterparts, the judge said. He also said Trump's lawyers could have asked for the information earlier. Donald Trump at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City (Brendan McDermid / AFP - Getty Images) Its odd that were even here, and that weve taken this time, Merchan said, before calling a 45-minute recess. Trump looked angry as he exited the courtroom during a break ahead of Merchan's ruling. Bragg, who brought the falsifying business records charges against the former president last year, said he supported a 30-day delay in the proceedings in response to Trumps request for a postponement in order to review documents that federal prosecutors had turned over relating to their prosecution of former longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. Braggs office, however, warned Merchan against delaying the trial further, saying that it should proceed April 15 because fewer than 300 of more than 170,000 documents turned over by federal prosecutors are potentially relevant to Trumps criminal defense. The late document production came after Trump's attorneys asked in January for additional documents from the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan. In the hearing, Merchan pressed Trump's lawyers on why they had not alerted him to the issue earlier, including during a hearing last month. Blanche told the judge that they hadn't thought the judge could do anything about the issue, but apologized for not having raised it sooner. Trumps lawyers have pointed fingers at the district attorney's office for failing to obtain the records sooner and asked Merchan to toss out the charges. The DAs office decried the arguments by Trumps counsel as a red herring. Merchan tried to press Trump's lawyer to provide a firm number of documents that still need to be reviewed. Blanche pushed back on the DA's position that only 300 documents were relevant and said they're still looking through Cohen's emails, bank records and interview notes. "We got the materials a week ago. We're still going through them," Blanche said, as his client appeared to listen intently. The judge also pressed the DA's office on the Trump team's claim they had been trying to "suppress" evidence. We were not trying to obscure anything, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the judge. In a sign of the ruling that was to come, the judge said before the break that he and Trump's attorneys appeared to be interpreting things differently. Merchan said Trump's attorneys were characterizing the DA's office as not having done anything in terms of obtaining information while he interpreted what prosecutors have done as going "above and beyond" what the needed to do. Bragg has alleged that Trump had fraudulently altered business records related to hush money payments that he signed off on. Cohen claimed that Trump directed him to pay $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels maintains that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, following his marriage to Melania Trump. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges in the hush money case and continues to deny having a sexual encounter with Daniels. But the former president has acknowledged making repayments to Cohen, who is expected to appear as a key witness in the trial. Merchan last week denied Trumps request to bar Cohen and Daniels from testifying in the case. In a court filing last month, Trumps lawyers argued that Cohen and Daniels shouldn't testify because they are liars. in 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges, including making secret payments to women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump, making false claims before Congress about the then-presidents business dealings with Russia and failing to report millions of dollars in income. Mondays hearing in the hush money case came the same day as a deadline for Trump to pay more than $450 million for bond in the New York civil fraud case against him. He got some good news during the recess, when a state appeals court reduced the size of the bond he needs to post to $175 million and gave him an additional 10 days to post. Trump, speaking to press in the hall, lauded the decision as proof the judge in the case erred in issuing the original judgment. If he does post the amount, New York Attorney General Letitia James would not be able to begin collecting on the judgment until after the appeal is decided. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com An April 15 date has now been set for Trump's first criminal trial, his Manhattan hush-money case. At a pretrial hearing Monday, Trump watched as his lawyer asked for a long delay. "It's odd that we're even here," the judge told the lawyer, calling his delay bid unsupported. Donald Trump's lawyer asked a Manhattan judge on Monday to postpone his hush-money trial but instead of a delay, the lawyer got a verbal drubbing. "It's odd we're even here," the judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, said at one point in a morning-long pretrial hearing, expressing frustration over Trump's delay bid. The GOP frontrunner was in court and wore a steely scowl as he watched his lawyer, Todd Blanche, try but fail to convince the judge for two hours that prosecutors had nefariously suppressed trial evidence and that the judge was somehow complicit. The defense had asked for the case to be dismissed in its entirety. Short of that, they asked that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and porn actress Stormy Daniels be barred from testifying, and that the trial be delayed by as much as three months. "It's really disconcerting," the judge scolded Blanche at one point in the hearing. "It's incredibly serious, unbelievably serious," the judge continued. "You are literally accusing the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the people involved in this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it." Prosecutors did nothing wrong, the judge said he found, before setting a firm April 15 trial date. "The people went so far above and beyond what they were required to do that it's odd we're even here," Merchan told Blanche, referring to Manhattan district attorney prosecutors. Trump's lawyers want to discredit Michael Cohen Monday's hearing focused on a disagreement over more than 100,000 pages of potential trial evidence that were turned over late in the game, during the first two weeks of March by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. The documents included interview notes, subpoenaed records, and grand jury minutes from the US Attorney's Office 2018 prosecution of Trump's then-personal attorney, Cohen. The late document dump includes "thousands and thousands of pages" of interview notes between the FBI and Cohen relating to the Mueller Investigation, Blanche complained. More time was needed to review these alone, he told the judge. "Is this the Mueller Investigation you're talking about?" the judge responded, sounding angry. "That's not relevant. That has nothing to do with this case," he said. "I'm telling you," the judge said, in one of the only times in the hearing when anger edged into his voice. "If you try to introduce something about the Mueller Investigation, it's not coming in." Former US President Donald Trump and his lawyer Todd Blanche in a hallway in Manhattan criminal court. BRENDAN MCDERMID/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to perjury in charges brought by Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller for lying to Congress about Trump's business dealings. He also pleaded guilty to a separate set of charges, brought by the US Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, for an array of tax and other financial charges. Cohen is expected to be a key witness in the Manhattan district attorney's office case against Trump. They allege that, with Cohen's help, Trump falsified business records by disguising hush money payments to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Cohen worked as Trump's personal lawyer at the time, as well as a Trump Organization executive. The judge has previously ruled that evidence relating to other investigations, beyond the hush money case, will not be shown to jurors. While Manhattan district attorney prosecutors said the vast majority of the documents weren't relevant to the hush-money case, Blanche said he couldn't take them at their word. "Every document is important," he said 'You decided to wait' Trump appeared grim-faced as he was escorted into the courtroom by a quintet of Secret Service agents and then took his seat at the defense table. At times he turned to his lawyers Susan Necheles to his left and Emil Bove to his right and appeared to confer angrily. As Blanche stood and argued before the judge, Trump was seated further to the left of the defense table. He leaned to his left and looked up, like a guest in da Vinci's "Last Supper." "I did have an opportunity to review all of the records," Merchan said early on, when the tone of the hearing was still light. "Like you, I wish I had a little more time," Merchan added, turning to Blanche with a smile. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the judge that he, too, had read through the 100,000 pages. He said they include "fewer than 300 records" that could arguably be considered trial evidence. And these were "largely inculpatory," meaning damaging to Trump's case. That left those sitting at the defense table as the only parties before the judge who had yet to read through the document dump. At times, the judge appeared to blame Blanche, who previously spent 13 years working as a prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, for not asking for the documents earlier. Merchan said Blanche "decided to wait until two months before trial" instead of making a request last summer, when he became aware that federal prosecutors had the documents, "The District Attorney of New York County is not at fault for the late production of documents from the US Attorney's Office," the judge said at the end of the hearing. "They complied, and continue to comply, with their discovery obligations." The 100,000 pages "were not under the prosecution's possession or control," the judge said. The judge said he further found "that the Manhattan District attorney made diligent efforts to obtain discoverable evidence," and that all parties will have had "a reasonable amount of time," pretrial, to review and respond to the materials. "See you on the 15th," the judge said, concluding the hearing. This story has been updated. Read the original article on Business Insider For all of the huffing and puffing and loud attempts to push his Manhattan criminal trial back, Donald Trump only got a few weeks of what he wanted. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan on Monday set jury selection in Trumps criminal trial to begin on April 15, pushing it back from its initial March 25 start date. Merchan issued his order from the bench, and added that a written ruling would be forthcoming. Merchan rejected a series of extremely strenuous but rather familiar arguments from Trump and his lead attorney, Todd Blanche: prosecutors had been extremely unfair to him. They did so, Trump argued, by failing to secure evidence from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York, and by interfering and trying to block supposedly exonerating evidence from making it to Trumps legal team. The judge expressed a high level of skepticism about all of those arguments. The drama around this all unfolded over the past several weeks, after prosecutors with the Manhattan DAs Office disclosed that the U.S. Attorneys Office had begun to provide parties to the case with tens of thousands of documents. Trump had used this to try to impress upon Merchan that the volume of records itself was a cause for delay, and potentially reason to dismiss the case entirely. But Merchan was unmoved. Throughout the hearing, Merchan focused on Blanche, grilling him about several arguments he had made in trying to delay the case. Among other things, Blanche had contended not only that prosecutors had committed misconduct in supposedly withholding evidence from the defense, but that they had enlisted Merchan by making him complicit in this unethical strategy. Merchan had asked for briefing to establish the timeline: when did the parties first reach out to Manhattan federal prosecutors for evidence? What communications did state prosecutors have with the Manhattan feds? When did Trump first start asking about evidence? As Merchan asked Blanche these questions, the judge began to reveal his view of the case: that there was never any evidence to suggest that prosecutors had shirked their obligations to provide Trump with information helpful to his defense. The People went so far above and beyond what they were required to do that its odd that were even here, he remarked at one point. Trump sat through the hearing, staring alternately at Merchan, the prosecutors, or his own attorney. At times, he passed notes to Blanche; at others, he appeared to consult verbally with attorney Susan Necheles, seated to his left. As Merchan announced that he was rejecting Trumps arguments, the former President looked down at his hand, seemingly uninterested. The former Presidents argument for further delay hinged on an extremely unorthodox view of different parties obligations during the critical phase of a criminal case: after indictment, but before trial. During this period, the defense and prosecutors can continue to investigate, and are obligated to disclose what they have gathered to the other side. This rule is particularly sensitive and important when prosecutors have obtained evidence which might be viewed as helpful to the defense. Blanche had essentially argued that Manhattan DA prosecutors had failed to comply with that obligation not by failing to share evidence with Trumps attorneys, but by failing to request information from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York. After Trump himself submitted requests for evidence to the Manhattan feds in January, federal prosecutors alerted the Manhattan DAs office as a courtesy. Blanche tried to portray those communications as evidence of the Manhattan DA attempting to interfere and withhold helpful evidence from Trump. Merchan remained skeptical, asking Blanche at one point to confirm that he himself had been a former Southern District of New York federal prosecutor. So you know that the defense has just as much, the same ability as the prosecution to obtain these documents? Merchan intoned. You could have very easily in June or July done exactly what you did in January. Per Blanches own statements, made seemingly for effect at the hearings start, Trumps defense is continuing to file last-minute discovery requests. Blanche remarked early on that the defense had filed another request to the Southern District of New York, this time for information relating to Stormy Daniels. Its a statement which illustrates the lengths to which Trumps attorneys have gone to delay the case. The entire prosecution hinges on Stormy Daniels, the adult film star, and how Trump allegedly moved to buy her silence in the days and weeks before the 2016 election. Shes a central figure. But Blanche said that hes only first asked SDNY for information about Daniels last week, before trying to use that fact as a bludgeon with which to delay the case. To Merchan, it was a subtle way of suggesting that state prosecutors should be held to account for the behavior both of Trump and of Manhattan federal prosecutors. He asked Blanche at one point whether he had case law suggesting that the U.S. Attorneys Office is under the direction of the prosecuting state attorney in discovery questions. That you dont have a case right now is really disconcerting, he said. Because the allegations that the defense makes in all your papers about the Peoples misconduct is incredibly serious. After Merchans decision, whats left is three weeks of preparation before jury selection begins. The jurors identities will be tightly guarded, per an earlier order from Merchan. Per another order, parties now need permission from the judge before filing new pretrial motions. Blanche received permission for one such filing as the Monday hearing drew to a close: a motion to dismiss, this time based on pretrial publicity around the case. It led to a moment of argument over who was at fault for the publicity: prosecutors, as Blanche suggested, or the man sitting in the courtroom Trump. Merchan allowed the motion to be filed, giving prosecutors one week to reply. The trial date was not delayed. Trump said in remarks after the hearing that he planned to appeal, and reiterated the same kind of huffing and puffing which failed to blow the house down: the case was election interference and voter intimidation; the DA should have brought the case earlier, he claimed, but instead timed it to damage him during the election. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeals against his extradition to the United States, in London By Michael Holden and Sam Tobin LONDON (Reuters) -London's High Court will hand down its ruling on Tuesday on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will be able to appeal against extradition from Britain to the United States, in what could be his final legal challenge in British courts. U.S. prosecutors want to put Assange, 52, on trial on criminal charges relating to WikiLeaks' high-profile release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables. They argue the leaks imperilled the lives of their agents and there was no excuse for his criminality. Assange's supporters hail him as a hero of journalism who is being prosecuted for exposing U.S. wrongdoing. Britain gave the go-ahead for his extradition in 2022, and he has since been trying to overturn that decision. His first attempt to appeal against the transfer was refused, leading to a two-day hearing last month when his lawyers sought to reverse that judgment. Two senior judges will hand down their ruling at 1030 GMT on Tuesday. If Assange wins, a full appeal hearing will be held to again consider his challenge. If he loses, his last option would be an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. "This is it. DECISION TOMORROW," his wife Stella Assange posted on X. Julian Assange's legal battles began in 2010, and he subsequently spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London before he was dragged out and jailed in 2019 for breaching bail conditions. He has been held in a maximum-security jail in southeast London ever since, even getting married there. During the hearings in February, Assange's team argued the prosecution was politically motivated and said he was being targeted for his exposure of "state-level crimes". They said former U.S. President Donald Trump had requested "detailed options" on how to kill him. Lawyers for the U.S. said he was not being prosecuted for publication of the leaked materials, but for aiding and conspiring with former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to unlawfully obtain them, then disclosing names of sources and "putting those individuals at grave risk of harm". WikiLeaks first came to prominence in 2010 when it published a U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. Last week, Assange's U.S. lawyer said his legal team saw no indication of resolution to the case against him following a newspaper report the U.S. Justice Department was considering allowing him to plead guilty to a reduced charge. (Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tobin; Editing by Andrew MacAskill and Estelle Shirbon) NEW YORK And just like that the Sex and the City revival has lost yet another star as Karen Pittman exits the show ahead of its third season. The news was confirmed to the Daily News by a spokesperson for Max, the HBO-owned streamer behind the New York City-set series. It has been a joy to have Karen Pittman play the smart and stunning Professor Nya Wallace on the first two seasons of And Just Like That,' the rep said. As we have thoroughly enjoyed working with this dynamic actress, so too have others. While AJLT producers and the Broadway alum had every intention of continuing the fan-favorite character into Season 3 with Deadline reporting that Nya had already been written into scripts due to her commitments to two other streamer series, it has become apparent that filming three shows at once isnt possible. Pittman, 37, has already been a series regular on Apple TV+s The Morning Show since 2019, and was tapped to star in the upcoming Netflix drama series Forever, which is currently in production. We are disappointed to announce that scheduling conflicts will not allow us to continue with this character, the spokesperson added. Karen and Nya will be missed, and her Max family and fans will all be cheering her on in her other endeavors. News of Pittmans departure comes not long after Sara Ramirez, who starred as controversial character Che Diaz, was allegedly axed from the show for vocally supporting Palestine in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Tony winner herself. Late last year, it was announced that the long-awaited third season wont hit Max until 2025, presumably due in part to the monthslong writers and actors strikes that left Hollywood on pause for a significant chunk of the year. Though AJLT was officially renewed in August, writers only resumed work in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, according to Deadline. *Editor's note: The attached El Paso Police Department video linked below features disturbing content. Viewer discretion is advised. A man claiming to have a gun made menacing comments before being fatally shot by an El Paso police sergeant at an Upper Valley car wash earlier this month, according to a newly-released police body camera video. The video shows the police patrol supervisor repeatedly telling Michael Anthony Estrada, 30, to '"relax" and drop what he's holding while sitting in a car before firing at least six shots. The El Paso Police Department on Saturday evening, March 23, publicly released a video with the body camera footage of the shooting on March 5 in a late-night interaction with police at a self-service car wash on Doniphan Drive. The video is believed to be the first of a fatal El Paso police shooting to be publicly released since the mass rollout of body-worn cameras to equip all patrol officers last year. The video was released as part of a "commitment to transparency and community engagement," the department stated. Whether Estrada actually had a handgun which is not visible in the video has not been disclosed because it is part of ongoing investigations into the shooting, police spokesman Officer Adrian Cisneros said on Sunday. Police officials noted that the body-worn camera has a fixed chest-level viewpoint and do not capture everything that an officer might see. An El Paso police officer tells Michael Estrada, who says he has a gun, "Just put it down, dude," in a screenshot of a body camera video released by the El Paso Police Department on March 23 showing Estrada's fatal shooting at a car wash on March 5, 2024. Estrada's mother, Martha Estrada, of Las Cruces, told Channel 9-KTSM that police told her that a gun was found in the car but police had given her few other answers. "To know Michael, was to love Michael and he was loved by many. He holds a special place in his loved ones' hearts and will forever do so, we will dearly miss him," stated a GoFundMe account raising funds for funeral expenses that previously identified Michael "Mikey" Estrada as the person killed in the police shooting. The police sergeant involved in the shooting is a patrol supervisor with the Westside Regional Command Center and has nearly 13 years with the police department. His name has not been disclosed. 'I'm just frustrated' The body camera video is just under seven minutes long. The shooting occurred within the first five minutes. The incident began at 1:08 a.m. as a police sergeant on patrol drives in to check on black Ford Mustang with New Mexico plates parked with its hood up at a self-serve car wash bay at 5830 Doniphan Drive. Borderland: El Paso District Attorney not anticipating large number of SB 4 immigration cases in El Paso region The incident unfolds in the video as follows: After the sergeant knocks on the driver's side window, Estrada sits in the driver's seat with the door open. A soft drink cup, papers and other items are in the car. Estrada tells the officer that he is homeless and living out of his car, which has broken down and won't start. "Im just frustrated," Estrada said. The sergeant asks Estrada if there are any weapons, guns or knives in the car. "No, sir," Estrada responds. 'Just put it down, dude.' Body cam video shows El Paso police shooting After being asked for identification, Estrada keeps rummaging through papers and items in the car's center console looking for an ID card, his face is turned away from the officer. Things quickly intensify when the sergeant asks him to step out of the vehicle. "I cant do that," Estrada said. "Whys that?" the police sergeant asks in the video, which has captions added. "You need to back up, bro," Estrada responds. "You need to back up right now ... You need to back the (expletive) up." Officer-involved shootings: 2 men arrested after El Paso police shooting in West Side trespassing case The sergeant draws his gun, pointing it at Estrada, telling him repeatedly to "relax, dude." The sergeant asked, "What's in your hand?" Its a gun. Please, go back to your car," Estrada tells the sergeant, who keeps telling Estrada to drop what he's holding and show his hands. "Just put it down, dude," the sergeant said. El Paso Police Department Critical Incident Community Brief: Officer-Involved Shooting March 5, 2024 In our commitment to transparency and community engagement, the El Paso Police Department is releasing this critical incident community brief concerning an officer-involved shooting that occurred on March 5, 2024. This video is intended to provide our community with context and preliminary information surrounding the events of that day. Posted by EL PASO POLICE DEPARTMENT on Saturday, March 23, 2024 Estrada keeps telling the officer to return to his patrol car. "Im not gonna put it down. ... You wanna go home tonight, right?" ("Yes," the sergeant answers.) "Did you pick the wrong day to go to work today?" Estrada said, before appearing to move and a series of at least six gun blasts are fired by the sergeant, who then backs away to take cover behind a trash bin shortly before the blue-and-red lights of backup officers arrive. There is no further movement in the car. Police officials said that paramedics were summoned and Estrada died at the car wash. As is standard procedure with any El Paso police shooting, the incident remains under investigation by Internal Affairs, the Shooting Review Team and the Crimes Against Persons Unit of the El Paso Police Department and the Texas Rangers of the Texas Department of Public Safety. An El Paso police spokesman could not immediately confirm if Michael Anthony Estrada was the same person arrested and convicted in a Las Cruces online school shooting threat seven years ago. In 2017, a man named Michael Anthony Estrada, then age 23, was arrested for causing a panic with a Facebook post threatening to shoot children at his former school, Conlee Elementary in Las Cruces. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years (30 months) in federal prison. After his arrest, his mother, Martha Estrada, publicly apologized to the community, said her son had a good heart but struggled with severe depression, substance abuse and mental health issues. She feared for his safety, saying he needed help. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Body cam video shows fatal El Paso police shooting of Michael Estrada LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Youve seen them on TV. You may have even seen them in person. But now you can see them in action. The dogs in blue are taking center stage for the 32nd Annual Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department K9 trials. These arent your typical furry friends, but highly skilled police dogs who are trained to serve and protect. People think of canines as soft, furry friendly animals, and they are, but theyre also hard-working, Karen Marben, Executive Director of the LVMPD Foundation said. They really are here to make our community safer. K9 teams from law enforcement, military, and hotel and casino properties competed in a variety of events over two days. Saturdays quiet, private competition required increased focus and concentration from the K9s as they completed narcotics and bomb searches, while Sundays action-packed event included obstacle courses, decoys, agility, and handler protection. The LVMPD canine unit is one of the largest in the nation and its really important for them to have this ongoing training and recognition, Marben said. This is a big part of their yearlong training for the dogs and the handlers that they get to see how some of the handlers from the other states, what techniques theyre using and what they can learn to continue to improve themselves. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department K9 section is one of the oldest continuously operating K9 units in the United States. Its comprised of 16 officers, three sergeants, one lieutenant, 18 patrol dogs, five narcotic detector dogs, and five explosive detector dogs. The top three finishers in the K9 Trials will receive tough dog, top dog, and top agency awards. Proceeds from merchandise sales will go to provide healthcare for retired K9s as well as other resources to make the Las Vegas valley safer. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. Kamala Harris is being roasted on social media after she was seen clapping along to a protest song before awkwardly realising that they were protesting against her. The vice president visited Puerto Rico on Friday to highlight the Biden administrations actions in supporting the island nations recovery and renewal efforts. During the visit, she stopped by the Goyoco community centre in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan. In video footage from her visit to the community centre, Ms Harris is seen gleefully clapping and smiling as Puerto Rican protesters banged on drums and sang in Spanish. However, Ms Harris cheerful mood came to an abrupt end when her aide appeared to inform her what they were singing about. We want to know, Kamala, what did you come here for? We want to know what you think of the colony, the protestors sang, adding: Long live Free Palestine and Haiti, too. Ms Harris swiftly stopped clapping, lowered her hands and assumed a more serious facial expression as the song continued. Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Frankie Miranda, Hispanic Federation president, applaud, during a visit, in San Juan, Puerto Rico (AP) The vice president was roasted for her blunder on social media, with one X user calling her a clown. Harris may be the dumbest VP in the history of our country, they added. Shes her own parody, another person wrote. This is a new low, even for her. This is also quite an embarrassment and reflects poorly on America, a third person wrote. Kamala Harris was seen gleefully clapping and smiling as Puerto Rican protesters sang (Sky News Australia) During her visit to San Juan, which was marred by protests, Ms Harris spoke to community leaders and centre staff, according to Fox News. Before visiting the community centre, Ms Harris visited a residential home outside San Juan that was damaged during Hurricane Maria but has since been outfitted with solar panels and water tanks, through a federal program. What we all need to do then is just supply the community and the talent here with the capacity and the resources. And so President Joe Biden and I have been very intentional about what we are doing for the leaders and the people and the families of Puerto Rico. So far, our administration has invested over $140 billion in Puerto Rico, Ms Harris said during the visit. People protest outside the facility where Vice President Kamala Harris is holding a meeting, in San Juan, Puerto Rico (AP) Her visit also came amid a push by Democrats to boost their outreach to Latino voters ahead of the 2024 election. Polling from late February showed President Joe Bidens support among Hispanics has dropped by 12 points since 2020, from 65 per cent to 53 per cent, according to CBS News representing the steepest drop in his share among demographic groups surveyed. Puerto Ricans living on the island are not eligible to vote in the general election, owing to its status as a US territory rather than a state, although this November, for the first time, they will be able to cast a symbolic ballot. Legally, people in Puerto Rico are citizens with no power, with no political power in the federal system, said Latino Rebels founder, Julio Ricardo Varela, ahead of Ms Harris visit. Now theres plenty of people in Puerto Rico who want to become part of the federal system and theres always a sector that does not want to become a part of it. The extent of the damage at Dniprovska Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP) still requires a thorough examination, but it is now known that it will take years to restore the station. We already understand that Dniprovska HPP has been out of commission for a long time. We still cannot tell and understand in detail what and how much, but we already understand that in order to restore the station to the state it was before the missile attack, it will take years," said the general director of PrJSC Ukrhydroenergo, Ihor Syrota, on the Suspilne TV channel on Monday. According to him, it is not yet possible to dismantle all the rubble at the station, since both the ceilings and the walls with crane beams have leaned towards the turbine hall. It is necessary to dismantle the upper part of the turbine hall so that you can get to the lower part. On Saturday, March 23, we held a meeting with the chairman of Zaporizhia Regional Military Administration so that specialists from the State Emergency Service with equipment for dismantling the ceiling could join the liquidation of the consequences, commented the CEO. As he noted, the situation at the station dam itself is under control, there is no threat of a breakthrough. The dam itself is not damaged today. Only the crane beams that are on the dam and the bridge crossing are damaged, Syrota noted. He added that Ukrhydroenergo specialists, together with the relevant services, would try to restore the bridge crossing as quickly as possible. As the CEO explained, the plant was the largest station of the Dnipro cascade and after the missile attack, the countrys power system lost 1,000 MW of maneuverable power. As reported, Dniprovska Hydroelectric Power Plant suspended its work as a result of a massive Russian attack on the morning of March 22. At the same time, part of the station, namely HPP 2, is in a critical condition due to a direct hit by missiles. A Kansas man on Monday filed a lawsuit against a Tennessee congressman who falsely claimed on social media that he was in the United States illegally and a shooter in the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rally shooting. Denton Loudermill, a Johnson County resident, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas against U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, who last month shared a photo of Loudermill and erroneously wrote that one of the Kansas City shooters had been identified as an illegal alien. Burchetts false post caused Loudermill to receive death threats, incur damages totaling more than $75,000, anxiety and loss of sleep, according to the lawsuit, which accuses Burchett of false light invasion of privacy. The lawsuit asks a judge to issue damages to punish Burchett or deter him and others from similar conduct in the future. The false light claim alleged in Loudermills lawsuit is different from a defamation claim and requires a higher standard of proof. A false light claim has to be made to a large group of people while a defamatory statement only has to be made to one other person. A spokesperson for Burchett did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. Loudermillls lead attorney in the case is Arthur Benson, a longtime Kansas City civil rights attorney. With this Complaint we are beginning the process to obtain full redress for Mr. Loudermill for the damages he has suffered, Benson said in a statement. Mondays lawsuit comes after Burchetts false post sparked a social media firestorm in the wake of the Feb. 14 mass shooting in Kansas City that injured more than 20 people and killed 43-year-old Lisa Lopez-Galvan. A group of Missouri lawmakers also shared similar posts and have refused to apologize. Loudermill told The Star last month that everybody that put my name through the mud, everybody needs to be held accountable. He said police detained him because he wasnt leaving the area of the shooting quick enough, but that he was released after about 30 to 45 minutes. He has not been charged with any crime stemming from the events of Feb. 14. On the day after the shooting, Burchett was in Washington, D.C. when his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared the photo of Loudermill writing that one of the shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien, according to the lawsuit. Burchett re-published the false claim in another post three days later. Burchett knew or should have known that his inflammatory post on social media would be seen and read nationwide, including in Kansas where the subject of his post was a resident, the lawsuit alleged. The post was quickly seen by more than one million viewers. The lawsuit makes clear that Loudermill, an Olathe resident, is not in the United States illegally and was not involved in last months mass shooting. Earlier this month, a 20-year-old Kansas City man became the third adult to be charged with murder in the mass shooting. A third teen was also charged. The shooting stemmed from a dispute between two groups that erupted into gunfire. The Stars Sarah Ritter contributed reporting. EMPORIA (KSNT) The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) says a Kansas man who died in WWII will be coming home later this year. The DPAA announced in a press release on Monday, March 25 the remains of Sergeant John O. Herrick will be returned to his hometown of Emporia for a burial ceremony on Nov. 11, 2024. Herrick was killed in action at the age of 19 on June 6, 1944 during the D-Day landings in Normandy, France. Herrick was assigned to Company B of the 149th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater. He was on board Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 92 alongside around 200 other servicemembers on the way to Omaha Beach when the craft hit an underwater mine. Flames engulfed the landing craft, which was also hit by artillery fire, which instantly killed everyone on board. UPI news map reveals the location of Utah and Omaha beaches in France, two targets of American invasion units on D-Day. Slow down!: Driver busted going 100 mph on Wanamaker Road in Topeka The DPAA says Herricks remains were not accounted for by the end of WWII. The 500th Medical Collecting Company later examined the wreckage of the landing craft Herrick was on, collecting the remains and burying them in a U.S. cemetery at St. Laurent-sur-Mer in France. In 1946, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) examined the remains recovered from the landing craft, separating them into four groups. However, the AGRC was unable to identify the unknowns at the time, burying them in Normandy American Cemetery. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense exhumed the remains of four unknowns and placed them in a DPAA lab for analysis. There, Herricks remains were successfully identified using mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA analysis. In February this year, the DPAA announced it had also recovered the remains of Elmo F. Hartwick, 38, of Onaga, Kansas. He was on board the same landing craft as Herrick when he too was killed in action. His remains are set to be buried in his hometown at a later date. Where to watch the solar eclipse in Kansas For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. After state officials told the Katonah-Lewisboro school district it had to continue educating a 21-year-old student with autism for an additional year, the school district sued the state to overturn that ruling. Earlier this month, a judge in Kingston sided with Katonah-Lewisboro, finding that it had no obligation to extend the student's education until his 22nd birthday, repudiating the New York State Education Department's decision. The Education Department had told the district in August 2023 that it had to provide educational services to the student, identified in court papers as H.P., for an additional year due to requirements outlined in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The law requires that students with disabilities receive a "free appropriate public education." Katonah-Lewisboro Superintendent Andrew Selesnick With support from Katonah-Lewisboro, H.P. had been attending the Anderson Center for Autism in Staatsburg, Dutchess County. It is common for students with disabilities to be educated out of district, in a private school or different public school district, if their home school district is not able to provide appropriate services. Such placements are often costly for the home school district. Federal law puts the onus on states to provide a free education to students with disabilities that is on par with how they treat other students. In its 2023 decision, the state Education Department pointed Katonah-Lewisboro to a legal opinion it had issued the month prior, where it held that students with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate education until their 22nd birthday. State points to federal court ruling The Education Department's legal opinion was based on a new, federal appeals court ruling on Connecticut's educational statutes. It found that Connecticut schools must provide education and services to students with disabilities, who have not yet received a high school diploma, until age 22. In New York, school districts have long been required to provide education and services to students with disabilities until they receive a diploma or the end of the school year during which they turn 21, whichever comes first. The Education Department, in its opinion, determined that school districts would have to comply with the federal appeals court's order, saying New York law on the subject is "materially indistinguishable from the Connecticut law." But Katonah-Lewisboro took the major step of suing the state Education Department to nullify this opinion, getting it off the hook from educating H.P. for another year. Justice David Gandin, the state Supreme Court judge based in Kingston, agreed with the district. Gandin determined that New York law was not similar to Connecticut law in that it only required the provision of education until a student's twenty-first birthday. Because of this discrepancy, an additional year was not required, he wrote. Education Department to appeal In a statement, JP O'Hare, a spokesperson for the state Education Department, blasted Gandin's decision, calling it "factually erroneous." O'Hare noted that Gandin "did not engage with the federal authority analyzed" in the department's legal opinion and that he did not take into account "publicly funded adult education programs that are provided to non-disabled students through a students 22nd birthday," which would have changed the calculus on H.P.'s eligibility. The Education Department will appeal Gandin's decision and said it expects "a more fulsome analysis" from the Appellate Division. Asked about the decision to sue the state over its ruling, Andrew Selesnick, the Katonah-Lewisboro superintendent, said that the district "followed and continues to follow, to the letter, both New York State and federal law regarding the age eligibility criteria for students." "Please be assured that our district takes seriously its obligation and commitment to educate every student," Selesnick said. "Should the law ever change such that New York State raises the age of eligibility, I have no doubt that the district will abide by any such changes." Selesnick, who has been the district's superintendent since 2015, is set to retire in July. Before serving as superintendent, he worked in the Chappaqua school district for 23 years. Asher Stockler is a reporter for The Journal News and the USA Today Network New York. You can send him an email at astockler@lohud.com. Reach him securely: asher.stockler@protonmail.com. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Katonah-Lewisboro NY schools sue over special education push to age 22 Residents of a Borders town have united in their opposition to its famous cobbles being replaced with tarmac in an effort to improve crossings. Kelso town square is reputed to be the largest formal square in Scotland still complete with setts - rectangular paving blocks - and cobbled streets run off it in a radial pattern. A lot of work has been undertaken by Scottish Borders Council (SBC) in recent years to maintain its appearance along with regular work to slow or reduce traffic flow, and make the centre more pedestrian-friendly. This includes introducing a one-way system through the town. Cobbled crossings in the town are sinking However, new crossings, where streets were narrowed to create more walkways, have ensured traffic passes at the same spot, and the points where tyres cross are sinking and creating potholes. Kelso Community Council (KCC) has been in discussions with SBC about how these can be remedied. It invited local residents to comment on the potential for tarmac to be used as a quicker and cheaper option for the crossings, and one that would improve journeys for people with mobility issues. A social media survey asked people to choose between tarmac or the more expensive replacement of re-cobbling the crossings with bricks. The council said replacing the cobbles could offer a number of advantages The response was overwhelmingly in favour of cobbles, with more than 400 respondents asking the council to retain the traditional method. Only a handful opted for tarmac, including some people with disabilities who pointed out the challenges faced by manoeuvring a wheelchair or mobility scooter, or walking with sticks, on cobbles. Provost Gavin Horsburgh, who chairs KCC, said it had been approached by the council to seek feedback on the future of the crossings which had "sunk over the years". "It has been suggested by councillors that these cobbles get lifted, the ground made correct and the cobbles re-laid or that the cobbles get lifted and the area tarmacked," he said. "Kelso is unique with its cobbled streets and square, and the feeling from members of the public - after seeking their advice on our social media - they overwhelmingly suggest the cobbles should be retained as it's part of our history and heritage." He said it was now down to SBC to decide the "best way forward". Residents have said they want to see the cobbles remain The council said it was aware of "localised settlement" at a number of crossing points in the town and said it would like to carry out repairs when time allowed. However, it stressed that it would listen to local residents concerns about replacing the cobbles. The council said using asphalt or tar was something it had been "keen to explore" as it could offer a number of advantages. They included "greater definition" of the crossings, "greater resilience" and much quicker repairs in future. Follow the BBC for the South of Scotland on X. Listen to news for the Scottish Borders on BBC Sounds. Former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who served his last day in the House on Friday, said in a Sunday interview he has no regrets about resigning from his seat before the end of his term. In a roundtable discussion on ABC Newss This Week, Jonathan Karl noted the timing of Bucks departure from the House which took place the same day Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion threatening to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) from his post. You left Congress as of Friday, just as that was all going down. I guess that didnt cause you to rethink your decision, Karl asked. Not at all. Not at all, Buck responded. No rearview mirror Happy to move on. Dysfunctional place, Buck added, referring to Congress. Buck slammed his colleagues for having trouble setting priorities, saying the GOP conference in the House has spent time focusing on messaging bills rather than addressing serious problems. Since this Congress started, there have been efforts to impeach the secretary of State, the secretary of Defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the president, the attorney general, the FBI director, and, in fact, [they] did impeach the secretary of Homeland Security, Buck said. These efforts, Buck suggested, point to serious problems with setting priorities. We have a very tragic circumstance in Ukraine. We have spiraling debt, all kinds of out-of-control problems, and we focus on messaging bills that get us nowhere, he said. Buck has long been among the most conservative lawmakers in Congress, but during his more than nine-year tenure in office, he exhibited an independent streak and a willingness to vote against his party when he disagreed with its official position. Over the past year, Bucks term in office has been marked by his criticism of GOP election denialism and his willingness to break from the Republican Party on key votes. Buck, for example, was one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the top job, joining some other members of the Freedom Caucus. He was also one of the three GOP lawmakers who opposed impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, which torpedoed the first attempt to oust the embattled Cabinet official and dealt an embarrassing blow to the Republican conference. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Kevin Bacon is going back to Footloose high school for final prom **Related video above: Prom dress or tux made of Duck Tape could win crafty teen $10,000 college scholarship.** PAYSON, Utah (WJW) For years, the students at Payson High School in Utah have wanted Kevin Bacon to attend their prom. But it wasnt until this year, with the school being demolished to make way for a new building, that dance dreams are coming true. Lost pig named Kevin Bacon lured back to home with Oreos, other snacks The actor, now 65, of course starred in the 1984 hit Footloose, which was partially filmed at the high school. On Friday, with the help of the Today show, Bacon announced hed be coming back to the school for one last prom. He told gathered students many of whom worked hard to make the #BacontoPayson social media campaign a sensation that the movie that showed off his dancing prowess 40 years ago meant so much to him. I have been so impressed with everything thats been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back, he said. PAYSON FEBRUARY 17: The movie Footloose, directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. Seen here in center, Kevin Bacon as Ren, at the dance. Initial theatrical release February 17, 1984. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) PAYSON FEBRUARY 17: The movie Footloose, directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. Seen here, Kevin Bacon as Ren. Initial theatrical release February 17, 1984. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) PAYSON FEBRUARY 17: The movie Footloose, directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. Seen here from left, Sarah Jessica Parker as Rusty and Kevin Bacon as Ren. Initial theatrical release February 17, 1984. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) PAYSON FEBRUARY 17: The movie Footloose, directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. Seen here from left, Chris Penn as Willard being taught dance coordination by Ren (played by Kevin Bacon). Initial theatrical release February 17, 1984. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) Thank you, guys. Lets dance, Bacon told the students, causing everyone to cheer. Travis Kelce orders this at Cleveland pizza shop: Photos It is not clear if Kenny Loggins, whose big hit Footloose anchored the teen-centric film, is going to be on hand to provide music for the upcoming prom. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. Footloose star Kevin Bacon will return on prom day to the school where the iconic movie was originally filmed four decades ago, Bacon announced on the Today show Friday. Bacons announcement follows a student-led push for the actor to return to Payson High School in Utah for one last dance, The Washington Post reported. The building is slated to be torn down this year the 40th anniversary of the films release and students have worked hard to bring attention to their online campaign. I have been so impressed with everything thats been going on there with this crazy idea to get me to come back, Bacon said Friday, calling into the school from Atlanta, according to the Today Show. Ive been amazed at the work that all of you have been putting into this, with the musical and the flash mobs and the recreations, Bacon said, referring to some of the grand gestures the students have orchestrated. It hasnt gone unnoticed by me, not to mention the fact that you tied in SixDegrees.org, our foundation, and are trying to figure out ways to give back to your community. Its really inspirational, so thank you. Thank you, he said. And Im gonna come. I gotta come. Today later clarified that Bacon does not plan to attend the actual prom event, but will instead visit the school earlier during the day, when there will be an event to benefit SixDegrees.org, Bacons charity, according to the show. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The heating season in the city of Kharkiv is ending ahead of schedule due to power shortages. The heat supply will be cut off effective tomorrow. Source: Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov Details: Last Friday, Russian forces destroyed Kharkivs main energy facilities, which powered the city. "Therefore, the only possible measure to reduce the load on the power system is to end the heating season prematurely. Only such a measure will allow us to supply power to the maximum number of consumers and ensure that hot water is available in Kharkiv's homes," he said. The heat supply will be cut off starting tomorrow. The temperature outdoors is favourable, Terekhov added. Background: Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of Ukraines national energy company Ukrenergo, said that the Russian missile attack on the morning of 22 March targeted different parts of Ukraine, thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants, as well as main substations operated by Ukrenergo. As of 23 March, 275,000 consumers in Kharkiv and Kharkiv Oblast still had no power, while a total of 440,000 consumers had their electricity supply restored. On 24 March, Kharkiv introduced scheduled power restrictions for 200,000 customers. Support UP or become our patron! The city authorities of Kharkiv have decided to end the heating season ahead of schedule due to a shortage of electricity, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on Telegram on March 25. Terekhov stated that the Russians have "pretty much destroyed" all of the main energy facilities that powered the city. Housing and communal services workers, along with power engineers, are continuing efforts to eliminate the consequences of the attack and restore power and heat supply services to residential buildings. Read also: Death toll of Russian missile strike on Kyiv rises to ten "Although they have partially succeeded in doing so, the electricity shortage is still significant, said Terekhov. "That is why the only possible measure to reduce the load on the power system is to end the heating season early." The mayor explained that ending the heating season early will allow for the provision of electricity to the maximum number of consumers and the supply of hot water to Kharkiv residents' homes. Heat supply will be cut off on March 26, with Terekhov noting that the current outside temperature is favorable for this action. Read also: Russian drones injure emergency workers after second strike on eastern Ukrainian city The situation regarding electricity supply in Kharkiv worsened after the shelling on March 22. Following the largest Russian missile strike on the power system, Kharkiv was almost completely left without electricity, causing problems with water and heat supply. On March 23, Terekhov stated that only 35% of city buildings had electricity, and 50% had heating. Ukrenergo reported on March 24 that the power supply situation in Kharkiv could improve in about a week. Read also: Kharkiv subway reopens after Russian missile attack, 200K+ people still without electricity Additionally, on March 25, the Kharkiv subway, which had been out of service since the massive Russian attack on the power grid, was reopened. Oleh Synehubov, Kharkiv regional governor, mentioned that approximately 200,000 people in the city were cut off from electricity. 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 An entrance to the Kharkiv Metro. Stock photo: Getty Images Kharkiv metro has resumed operations after a large-scale Russian attack on the city's power grid on 22 March. Source: Ihor Terekhov, Mayor of Kharkiv Details: "Our power engineers have done the seemingly unimaginable and we have managed to reopen the metro. The metro is running on all lines, with services running every 20 minutes," Terekhov said. It was reported earlier that the attack had destroyed the city's thermal power plant and all transformer substations. The energy situation in Kharkiv remains most difficult. Background: Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said that the Russian missile attack on the morning of 22 March had targeted different oblasts of Ukraine, specifically thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants, as well as main substations operated by Ukrenergo. On 23 March, 275,000 consumers in Kharkiv and the oblast were left without electricity, while 440,000 consumers had power restored. On 24 March, Kharkiv introduced rolling outages for 200,000 consumers. Support UP or become our patron! By the end of May this year, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine will appoint an internationally recognized financial consultant to prepare for sale two systemic state banks - Sense Bank (formerly Alfa-Bank) and Ukrgasbank, which account for 4% and 6% of banking system assets, respectively, says the memo of the Ukrainian authorities on the updated EFF program of the International Monetary Fund for Ukraine. "The Ministry of Finance (MOF) will appoint an internationally recognized financial advisor by end-May 2024 to prepare two systemic state-owned banks (SOB) for sale, i.e., Sense Bank and Ukrgasbank (4% and 6% of system assets respectively). The authorities have also committed that all systemic banks with majority state ownership will fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and any non-systemic banks that come under state ownership will not be recapitalized using fiscal resources and will be transferred to the Deposit Guarantee Fund for resolution upon breach of prudential requirements," the document reads. According to it, the main selection criteria will be international experience in the field of sale of financial institutions, the consultant's proposal of a comprehensive plan of action for the sale, while the amount of the consultant's remuneration should not be a key determining criterion. "In preparation for SOB privatization, the MOF, in consultation with the NBU and IFIs, is reviewing and updating the 2012 draft law on SOB privatization and will submit it to parliament by end-March 2024," reads the renewed memo. In connection with the publication of these materials by the IMF, ABH Holdings SA (ABHH), which owned Sense Bank before its nationalization and which at the end of last year submitted a request to the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) for arbitration and a statement of claim against Ukraine for amount in excess of $1 billion, demanding full compensation. In connection with the publication of these materials by the IMF, ABH Holdings SA (ABHH), which owned Sense Bank before its nationalization and which at the end of last year submitted a request to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) for arbitration and a statement of claim against Ukraine for amount in excess of $1 billion, demanding full compensation, expressed its protest. "At the time when there is an ongoing ICSID arbitration concerning the expropriation, we consider the action by the IMF as interfering with the substance of the case, on the side of the respondent state, and a threat to the integrity of the arbitration," the company said. "Any potential buyer of Sense Bank should be aware that, if they decide to purchase it, their legal risks assessment will almost certainly be incorrect," it said. Power lines near Kharkiv after a Russian missile attack on March 22 Kharkiv reopens the subway, which was out of service after a massive Russian attack on the power grid on March 22, Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov wrote in Telegram on March 25. "Kharkiv subway is working, interval of movement is 20 minutes," Syniehubov wrote. At the same time, about 200.000 customers in Kharkiv are without electricity. The city and eight communities of its oblast have a schedule of hourly power outages, power engineers are working to eliminate consequences of the strike, added Sinehubov. Read also: Russian army strikes Kharkiv: 3 dead, more feared trapped under rubble; large fire erupts Situation with electricity supply in Kharkiv after the shelling on March 22 Kharkiv was almost completely left without electricity after the largest Russian missile strike on power system on March 22, when Russia fired more than 150 targets at Ukraine. The city experienced problems with water and heat supply. Read also: Russian drones injure emergency workers after second strike on eastern Ukrainian city On March 23, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said that 35% of the city buildings had electricity and 50% had heating. On March 24, Ukrenergo reported that the power supply situation in Kharkiv could improve in about a week. 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 picture released by the North Korean State News Agency (KCNA) on 25 March 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C) visiting the headquarters of the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division of the Korean People's Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location in North Korea. -/YNA via KCNA /dpa Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is pressing ahead with his efforts to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kim's influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, said on Monday in a statement. Kishida has conveyed his intention to meet the North Korean leader as soon as possible, the statement said. Kim's sister did not say through which channel the proposal had been made to the North Korean leadership. However, Kim Yo Jong was quoted by state media as saying that Kishida should not think that such a summit meeting could be accepted immediately. She had discussed a visit by Kishida to Pyongyang in February. Kishida has been seeking a meeting with the ruler of the largely isolated neighbouring country for some time. According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo, Kishida emphasized in parliament on Monday that it was important to ensure the return of Japanese abductees in a meeting with Kim. In the 1970s and 1980s, communist-ruled North Korea abducted Japanese citizens who were supposed to teach Pyongyang's spies Japanese. The leadership in Pyongyang confessed to having abducted 13 people. Five of them were able to return home to Japan. North Korea claimed that the eight other Japanese had died and that there had been no further abductees. This was the end of the matter for North Korea, but Tokyo assumes that 17 compatriots were abducted and is demanding a full investigation. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a press conference. Daniel Karmann/dpa Footage of children racing for the safety of bomb shelters as Russia launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv on a sunny morning on March 25 was shared by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on X. Dozens of kindergarten-aged children race for the shelters amid sound of explosions made more haunting by the simultaneous blaring of air raid sirens. Read also: Russia escalates drone strikes on civilians in southern Ukraine by 40% The video was posted in English and aimed at Ukraines international allies. There are no atrocities (these) Russian bastards would not commit, including a ballistic strike at the heart of a city of millions, he wrote. This is a reminder that Ukraine urgently requires more air defense, particularly Patriot systems and missiles capable of repelling any Russian attack, Kuleba wrote. Read also: Casualties in Russias biggest attack of 2024: hydro, thermal, and nuclear stations in 8 regions hit A series of explosions rocked the capital as Russia launched two ballistic missiles from Crimea at 10:30 a.m. Ukraines Air Force intercepted both missiles, though debris fell in several districts, including the central Pechersk area. Initial reports indicate four casualties in the capitals Pechersk district [city authorities reported five - ed. note], with two hospitalized and two experiencing acute stress reactions after the Russian attack. Rescuers believe that people may still be trapped under the rubble. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine What we know about the Moscow concert hall attack and why ISIS-K is claiming responsibility Armed attackers stormed a concert hall near Moscow on Friday, Russian state media reported. At least 137 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, according to the news agency. ISIS-K, a branch of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility for the attack. At least 137 people were killed and more than 145 were injured on Friday in an attack after a group of armed individuals opened fire at the Crocus City Hall music venue near Moscow, Russian state media agency TASS reported, citing the Russian Investigative Committee. The number of reported casualties would make this one of the deadliest attacks near Russia's capital in recent years. Here's what we know so far: What happened? A group of masked individuals opened fire at the Crocus City Hall, a music venue located on the western edge of Moscow, on Friday evening. Four people suspected to be directly tied to the attack were arrested on Saturday, The Associated Press reported. Their identities were later revealed to be Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19; and Shamsidin Fariduni, 25. In his first remarks addressing the massacre, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday afternoon that Kremlin authorities detained a total of 11 people suspected to be tied to the attacks. On Sunday, three of the four suspects who were charged with carrying out the attacks pleaded guilty in a Russian court, according to The AP. Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda, and Fariduni pleaded guilty, according to the report. TASS reported that Picnic, a Russian rock band, was scheduled to perform at the venue on Friday. According to the venue's website, the concert hall can accommodate about 6,200 people. More than 133 people were killed, and about 145 were injured, The Associated Press reported. Some of the injured included children, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko told a local news channel, according to TASS. An explosion soon rocked the building, TASS reported, starting a fire. The Ministry of Emergency Situations told the Russian news agency that a third of Crocus City Hall was engulfed. Who is claiming responsibility? Shortly after the assault, the Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K, a branch of the terrorist group in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement shared with the ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq on Telegram, CNN reported. According to The New York Times, US officials confirmed the group was responsible. Despite the confirmation from US officials, Putin made no mention of ISIS-K and instead pointed to Ukraine. He claimed in his Saturday address that Kyiv authorities were trying to help the four assailants escape. "They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border," Putin said, according to NPR. Ukrainian and US officials later denied any suggestion of Ukrainian involvement. "ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever," Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said in a statement on Saturday, according to NBC News. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, also denied the Kremlin's accusations and said on X that "Ukraine certainly has nothing to do with the shooting/explosions in the Crocus City Hall." "It makes no sense whatsoever," he wrote, adding that the Moscow attacks will "contribute to a sharp increase in military propaganda, accelerated militarization, expanded mobilization, and, ultimately, the scaling up of the war." What is ISIS-K? ISIS-K, an affiliate of the Islamic State, was formed in 2015 and was mostly made up of estranged Pakistani militants, according to the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a Washington, DC-based think tank. The branch is considered to be one of the Taliban's sworn enemies, mainly due to sectarian differences, BI previously reported. By 2018, the branch was responsible for nearly 100 attacks against civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to CSIS. But the group was thrust into the international spotlight in August 2021 after it carried out a suicide bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul that killed 13 US military soldiers and 169 civilians. ISIS-K is considered "one of the more successful branches" of the Islamic State, Daniel Byman, a counterterrorism and Middle East expert at CSIS, told Business Insider. Why would ISIS-K target Russia? ISIS-K's adversarial relationship with Russia could stem from several major historical conflicts that reflected the country's brutal treatment of Muslims. "If you want, you can go back to the Russian conquest of the Caucasus," Byman said. "And then you could go to the Soviet deportations of Muslim populations" in the 1940s. Byman told BI he often points to the intermittent wars in Chechnya, a small Muslim republic, in the 1990s and 2000s, during which Chechnya struggled for independence. Michael Kugelman, a director at the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank told Reuters that ISIS-K "sees Russia as being complicit in activities that regularly oppress Muslims." Why did the attack happen now? Byman said the rationale behind the timing of Friday's attack is not yet clear, but it often has to do with "operational" reasons rather than symbolic or political purposes. If ISIS-K is confirmed to have carried out the attack, the group may have done so on Friday simply because they were ready, Byman said. On March 7, the US embassy in Russia warned Moscow that there were reports of "extremists" with plans to "target large gatherings" near Russia's capital. The warning was partly based on intelligence that indicated an ISIS-K presence in Russia, two US officials told The Washington Post. Three days before the attack, Putin dismissed the warnings, calling them "provocative." Colin P. Clarke, an expert on domestic and transnational terrorism for The Soufan Group, a global security consulting firm, told The New York Times that "ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years," adding that the group "accuses the Kremlin of having Muslim blood in its hands." Spokespersons for the Kremlin and the US embassy in Russia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read the original article on Business Insider Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is planning to visit India later this week, marking his first "first ever" trip to the country, he said on March 25. A few days earlier, the media reported about Kuleba's expected visit to India in late March. In his post on X, Ukraine's minister congratulated India on Holi, widely known as the Hindu spring festival of colors. "Standing here in Kyiv, in front of Mahatma Gandhi's monument, I am also pleased to announce that this week I will pay my first ever visit to India," Kuleba said. Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine's first deputy foreign minister, paid a two-day visit to India in April 2023 to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two nations with Indian officials. Kuleba held a call with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in January, discussing the war and economic cooperation. Later that month, Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, spoke to Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to discuss preparations for the upcoming Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. New Delhi has positioned itself as neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war, calling for a diplomatic solution while fostering close economic ties with Moscow. India has become one of the chief buyers of Russian oil following Western sanctions, although pressure from U.S. sanctions increasingly threatens this trade. A potential complication in Indian-Russian relations is a suspicion that Moscow is luring and coercing Indian nationals to join its Armed Forces and fight against Ukraine. The Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) announced on March 7 that it had busted a "major human trafficking network" that used false pretenses to entice Indian citizens for this purpose. In spite of that, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the world leaders who congratulated Vladimir Putin on his re-election during a recent presidential election, denounced by Kyiv and several Western leaders as unfair and rigged. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky met Modi during a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Japan last May. During the meeting, the Indian prime minister conveyed "clear support for dialogue and diplomacy to find a way forward." Read also: India identifies major human trafficking network luring Indians to fight for Russia in Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Damage to a building in Kyiv after the strike on March 25, 2024 Kyiv was rocked by a series of explosions on March 25, as Russia launched two ballistic missiles from Crimea at Ukraine's capital, Kyiv city administration reported on Telegram. Although Ukrainian Air Defence shot down the missiles, falling debris caused damage and injuries across several districts, including the central Pechersk district. This attack coincided with Ukraine's SBU security service's Day. The Ukrainian Air Force detected the missile threat from the south, with Kyiv's air raid sirens sounding simultaneously with the explosions. Missile fragments destroyed part of the building of the Boychuk Academy of Decorative-Applied Arts and Design in the Pecherskyi district of Kyiv, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko.A nearby student dormitory with many people, thankfully, escaped harm, according to Klitschko. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the urgent need for enhanced air defense to protect urban areas and save lives, condemning the attack as an act of terror that the global community must unite to stop. The aftermath of the missile strike in Kyiv's Pechersk district is grim, with five reported injuries, including a 33-year-old woman and a 16-year-old girl hospitalized. The city is also mourning damage to its infrastructure, with a gym and several buildings destroyed. This latest assault marks the third Russian missile attack on Kyiv in five days, underscoring a relentless pattern of aggression. The international community and local authorities are calling for increased defensive support for Ukraine to counter these escalating threats. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich REUTERS/Gleb Garanich REUTERS/Gleb Garanich REUTERS/Gleb Garanich REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko REUTERS/Gleb Garanich REUTERS/Gleb Garanich REUTERS/Gleb Garanich 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 mansion in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles associated with music mogul Sean Diddy Combs was raided by U.S. agents with the Department of Homeland Security on Monday. Footage of the raid captured by Sky5 showed several SWAT vehicles as well as agents in bulletproof vests moving in and out of the home in the 200 block of South Mapleton Drive. Federal agents were also seen questioning several people, who appeared to be at least temporarily detained just outside the home. According to reporting by the tabloid outlet TMZ, the rappers L.A. and Miami homes were both raided this afternoon, and while there are reports that these are tied to sex-trafficking allegations aimed at Combs, federal law enforcement officials have not confirmed that. When asked for comment, officials at Homeland Security Investigations provided KTLA with the following statement: Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners. We will provide further information as it becomes available. Along with agents from HSI New York, there were also agents from the departments L.A. and Miami offices, as well local law enforcement at the scene. Diddy raid An attorney for singer Cassie Ventura, who has accused Combs of rape, physical abuse and forcing her to engage in sex acts with other men before reaching a settlement a day after she filed her lawsuit, provided KTLA with the following statement regarding the raids: We will always support law enforcement when it seeks to prosecute those that have violated the law, Attorney Douglas Wigdor said. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a process that will hold Mr. Combs responsible for his depraved conduct. Ohtani denies knowledge of former interpreters alleged illegal gambling KTLA Legal Analyst Alison Triessl believes its clear that federal agents are looking for evidence of crimes. For example, P. Diddy has been accused of sex-trafficking. Hes also been accused of nonconsensual pornography. The officers wouldve executed that search warrant to gather any type of evidence to prove or establish that a crime has been committed and he is the person that committed the crime, she explained. Triessl added that the execution of the search warrant was no doubt a very well-organized plan and that it is standard procedure to detain everyone inside the house until the search is complete. A neighbor of the Holmby Hills mansion, Ryan Mendelsohn, told KTLA that he would regularly see black SUVs, Uber drivers and other cars outside the home late at night, but that he never really thought much about it. Obviously this came out and now its like, wow, thats crazy. I didnt know that, he said. Ive seen a party twice a month at least. Ive seen girls get out of limos, maybe four or five, some standing outside of the house in the driveway, some going inside the house. Ive never seen them leaving because I was never outside of his house for longer than a 15 or 20-minute span. Records showed that the home is not owned by Combs but is associated with his production company. A Mercedes-Benz G Class, often referred to as a G-Wagon, located on the property was registered to Bad Boy Productions Inc. Psychiatrist in California taken for more than $1M by crook Combs was reportedly spotted in Miami shortly after the raids executed, though it is unknown where the rapper is now and if he has spoken to law enforcement. KTLA has reached out to Diddys representatives and is awaiting comment. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. The ever-reliable daily summary of news headlines circulated by the redoubtable John Spellar MP featured an unusual item this morning. The headline in question Nigel Farages Reform UK party is the Tories worst nightmare and ours topped an opinion piece by Kevin Maguire. But while Maguire makes a persuasive argument that Reform UK poses a significant electoral threat to the Conservatives at the next election, there is no explanation as to how this could also become our (that is, Labours) nightmare too. Yet this goes to the heart of the malaise that has plagued UK politics and the US variety for a decade or longer. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump continues to make life very uncomfortable, not only for the Democrats but for his own party. For years the establishments of both the GOP and the Democrats were happy to conduct political debate according to the terms they themselves had mutually set. And those terms did not include the concerns and priorities of what Hillary Clinton in 2016 so memorably labelled the basket of deplorables. Americans living largely in the mid-West, with no college degrees and who worked in manual, often insecure jobs, who drove pick-up trucks, listened to Country music and owned guns, rarely heard any politician speaking their language or expressing any understanding of their lives. Then Trump came along. America has yet to produce a candidate less suited to the highest elected office in the land. But he talks a language that many ordinary Americans appreciate, because so few others had done so. That alone makes him unique in the US political landscape, and it was naive for observers to imagine that this would not gain him traction. Nigel Farage comes closer to the Trump style than any other British politician. Those who equate Boris Johnson with the 45th president really havent been paying attention and seem to have come to that conclusion based simply on their contempt for each man. But it is Farage who threatens to be the kind of subversive force here that Trump has been in America. The first-past-the-post electoral system and the fact that we are a parliamentary democracy rather than a presidential one has, for now, limited Farages ambitions, and may well do so in the future. But it would be a mistake for the two main parties to express satisfaction at such an outcome. Farage has tapped into a significant degree of discontent in the British electorate; it is not or at least should not be enough to smear defeat those people as far Right, to defeat their candidates and to continue ignoring their concerns as the political parties have done in the US. Why shouldnt working class, non university-educated, non home-owning citizens express their concerns about the political priorities of the ruling classes? Why shouldnt they be worried about the historical high levels of immigration or the changes and challenges such historic immigration have wrought in their communities? It would be absurd for an unemployed school leaver in Newcastle to jump on board the bandwagon that hands out lectures about white privilege. Diversity, equity and inclusion are hardly priorities for those whom the cost-of-living crisis threatens to bury under a sea of personal debt and frustrated ambitions. Farage understands all this in a way that mainstream politicians do not. They have chosen to pretend that their own agenda is for the many, not the few, while conveniently forgetting that the few, while they are indeed a minority, are nonetheless a large one that is just as deserving of a voice and representation as the many. For the time being, Reform UK poses an existential threat to the Conservatives, and that suits Labour for obvious reasons. But after the polls close on election day, we are likely to see not just an overwhelming Labour majority in the Commons, but a large swathe of voters who are still unhappy, still without hope and, thanks to the electoral system, still without representation. That is very bad news for Rishi Sunak today, but it will be equally bad for Labour in the future unless its leadership starts making a serious effort to listen to voters and not just lecture them about why they need to change their minds and their priorities. It will be said that squaring the circle is beyond the abilities of modern politicians. How can a progressive, Left-of-centre political party that needs to hone its message to appeal to as broad a section of the nation as possible ever hope to accommodate communities who believe in all sorts of unfashionable and outdated ideas? The answer is that if you cant, politics probably isnt for you. And if the dam bursts one day, if all the structures and systems that have successfully prevented the malcontents from wielding real political power somehow fail, those politicians may find their time in politics coming to an unexpected and well-deserved end. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Labour is planning to invest in building floating wind farms off Britain's coast to reduce the UK's reliance on foreign energy. Sir Keir Starmer has announced Labour will set up a state-owned firm with a 8.3bn budget which it claims will help cut energy bills and create jobs. Labour has pledged to decarbonise the UK by 2030, while the Conservatives target 2035 for net zero energy supply. The Tories said Labour's plan was "unfunded" and would mean higher taxes. Ahead of a general election, Labour and the Conservatives have pledged to make the UK's energy supply more secure after the price shocks that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine. At a port in North Wales, Sir Keir announced on Monday that Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company, will fund the construction of floating offshore wind farms. "In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security." he will say. The most recent figures show that the UK imported nearly 40% of its energy in 2022. Sir Keir said: "Here in Wales, the potential for offshore wind is enormous, and the UK Tory government is squandering it. With public investment through Great British Energy we can unlock billions more in private investment to turbocharge jobs and growth for Wales." But Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, said "Sir Keir Starmer can't say what he will do to protect our energy security because he does not have a plan - he set out a 2030 decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves costed at 28bn without a plan to pay for it." Labour recently dropped a pledge to spend 28bn a year on environmental projects if it wins the general election, which must be held by 28 January, 2025. Sir Keir blamed the "damage the Tories have done to the economy" for the U-turn. But he promised to stick to other commitments including battery factories and wind farms with British-made turbines. He also stood by Labour's 2030 timeline, telling the BBC that while it was a "difficult target" it is "important", adding that it is key to have a deadline to work towards. Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party, described Labour's 8.3bn investment plan as "a drop in the ocean". "Especially since it follows the Party ditching its 28bn a year green investment plan," he said. "The Green Party would invest whatever is needed to turbocharge the move to renewables, ensuring wind provides around 70% of the UK's electricity by 2030." Floating wind farms are a relatively new means of generating renewable energy with very few in operation. The first was built off the coast of Peterhead in Scotland and consists of five wind turbines, led by Norwegian firm Equinor. There is a floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland Floating farms allow turbines to be placed further out at sea, where wind speeds may be greater, unlike traditional wind farms which are fixed to the seabed usually in waters less than 60 metres deep. The floating turbines off the coast of Aberdeen are kept in place using three suction anchors attached to each turbine. As well as offshore wind, Labour said they would veto any new oil and gas licences in UK waters if elected. The Conservatives plan to continue granting fossil fuel permits and have a 2035 target for net zero energy supplies. The government insists that rejecting future UK based oil and gas production will cost jobs and jeopardise UK energy security. Sir Keir said: "So far as oil and gas licenses are concerned, we've been very clear we're not going to revoke or interfere with any existing licenses so they will be a part of the mix for decades to come. "But clean power is the way to ensure we get lower bills for the long term, that we get the stability and security we need, so Putin can't put his boot on our throat, but crucially so we get the next generation of jobs." The Liberal Democrats also back a 2030 target for net zero energy supplies. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey told the BBC: "We are super-committed to fast-tracking action on net zero, not least because it could both reduce people's energy bills and make the UK more energy independent." Plaid Cymru described Labour's plan as "unambitious" and "re-hashed". Labour first announced its plan to create the Great British Energy company in September 2022. Yahshua Robinson, the 12-year-old boy who tragically collapsed and died while participating in his P.E. class at a Lake Elsinore school in August, had a heart defect, according to reports. As reported by the Press Enterprise, Robinsons coroner report said his Aug. 29 death was officially caused by a coronary artery anomaly, although the heat and physical exertion were significant contributing factors. Robinson was running sprints with the rest of his P.E. class at Canyon Lake Middle School that day when he collapsed and became unresponsive. He was pronounced dead just before 1 p.m. after he went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance. Lake Elsinore reached a high of 104 degrees that day, according to The Weather Channel. His death sparked outrage toward the school throughout the community. It just sounds like corporal punishment, Xandrea Garay told KTLA last September. These kids are in school. Theyre not in the Army. It just sounds ridiculous to me and the more and more that we learn that he was asking for water, that he was begging for water, that he collapsed. I mean, it doesnt make any sense. The Lake Elsinore Unified School Districts board said no students were denied water that day, and employees quickly called for emergency services when they noticed Robinson in distress. The Press Enterprise reports that California Senate Bill 1248, also known as Yahushuas Law, would require the California Department of Education to write guidelines for schools handling of physical activities at times of harsh or extreme weather. According to the report, Robinsons parents support the bill. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. Ukrainian forces hit the Russian large landing ship Yamal in Sevastopol on March 23, the Main Intelligence Agency of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine reports. "The large Russian landing ship Yamal was hit. On March 23, in the temporarily occupied Crimea, there was a successful fire defeat of the objects of the Black Sea fleet of the aggressor state of Russia," the message says. In particular, the 13th ship repair plant of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was attacked, where, among other things, the enemy's large landing ship Yamal was moored. According to Ukrainian military intelligence, the nature of the damage to the Yamal landing ship is critical: a hole in the upper deck caused a list to starboard. "The occupiers are continuously pumping water from the damaged ship, which took part in the annexation of Crimea and was under repair from 2017 to 2023," the Main Intelligence Agency noted. LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Millions of people around the world face racial and ethnic discrimination and while there has been discussion on how to address it, one Las Vegas author is challenging the community to make a change. Carl Banks Jr. wears many hats hes a father, husband, U.S. Navy veteran and author. Its his life experiences that led him to write several books. My latest book is titled Colors: Steps to Eliminate Racism. As a 79-year-old black man, I have experienced racism all my life and I know and believe its a tremendous problem in our society, Banks explained. The inspiration came from the fact, that I was called the N-word in the military and before the military and looking at our society, I felt I had to do more. He made it a goal to speak out about racism and details his work through his writing and podcasts, even highlighting what it felt like to be in an interracial marriage. We talked about the effect she had as a Caucasian woman being married to a black man, how she felt when we went around to different places, Banks said. His book explores how racism was started throughout U.S. history, how racism is supported through biology and language, and how to end racism. They can expect with the first step I ask humans to do is look in the mirror and its something we do all day anyway and what Im asking them to do is describe the colors that they see in their face and once they look in the mirror and see thats theres many different variations of their face, Banks added. While Banks has received mixed feedback on his book, he said its important to be the change for children, so the past doesnt repeat itself. The greatest one is Carl Banks, racism will never end because it is too deeply embedded in humanity, Banks remarked. We have to embrace and share within our world, we are all one. You can find Banks latest book Colors: Steps to Eliminate Racism online. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, pictured on March 16, 2024, is seeking to extend his turbulent 11 years in power by another six-year term (MARCELO GARCIA) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday officially registered his candidacy in July elections, while the opposition remained blocked from signing up its aspirant with just hours until the clock runs out. Maduro, 61, formalized his third-term run for the presidency with great fanfare, as thousands turned out to rally behind him and the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela. "I was moved by so much generosity and recognition on the part of the people for this humble man from the neighborhoods of Caracas, this humble worker," said Maduro, carrying an illustration of his revolutionary mentor Hugo Chavez. The former bus driver is seeking to extend his turbulent 11 years in power by another six-year term, amid rising concerns over his slide into full-blown authoritarianism and crackdown on the opposition. In a show of force, he called thousands of supporters to rally behind him, many of whom wore red and chanted his name. "Nicolas is the hope, he is the continuity of a project that Commander Hugo Chavez started," Pedro Mata, 52, told AFP at the rally. However, opinion surveys show that he is not the favorite. Venezuelans go to the polls on July 28 after a grim decade marked by an economic crisis that has pushed millions to flee the country. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, 56, won a primary vote last year hands down, and some surveys put her support at about 72 percent. However, she was banned from public office for 15 years by courts loyal to Maduro on charges of corruption widely dismissed as spurious, and for supporting Western sanctions against the government. Machado has nevertheless kept campaigning, and on Friday, she tapped an 80-year-old university professor, Corina Yoris, as her stand-in. - Proxy blocked - However, on the eve of the deadline to register, the opposition coalition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) said it had not received the necessary access codes to register Yoris on the National Electoral Council (CNE) website. "The system is completely closed," Yoris told a press conference on Monday. "My rights as a Venezuelan citizen are being violated," she said. She said that her team had gone in person to the CNE to deliver a letter requesting a three-day extension to the period to nominate candidates, but had been unable to do so. The final list of presidential candidates will be published at the end of April. So far, 10 people have been registered as opposition candidates, however all are considered aligned with Maduro's government. UN chief Antonio Guterres last week warned against interference in the election. Seven of Machado's party and campaign officials have been arrested, and warrants have been issued for several more, all accused of seeking to destabilize the country. Many countries refused to recognize the results of Maduro's last election in 2018, citing fraud and a lack of transparency, and instead recognized parliamentary president Juan Guaido as the country's legitimate leader. Six years later Maduro, 61, is still firmly in charge of the oil-rich nation after his rival's government collapsed and the war in Ukraine choked energy supplies and shifted global priorities. jt-pgf/fb/bfm Former residents of theLatitude Five25 apartment complex will start receiving settlement payments next month. The payments will come from the $1.5 million settlement city officials reached with the former owners of the complex in January. Tenants from the Latitude Five25 apartments, who had to be evacuated from their homes on Christmas Day 2022, will be able to claim around $10,000 per household from a settlement fund starting next week. The long-troubled Near East Side housing towers had to be evacuated after water lines broke, leading to flooding. After other health hazards were discovered, including asbestos, residents were prevented from returning to their homes and the property was eventually put into receivership. Many residents lost belongings that they were unable to retrieve and some spent months living in hotels before they were able to get back on their feet. The payments, of $10,067 for each of the 149 households affected, will be available on April 1, according to the city attorney's office. Tenant Ann Barrett, 58, told The Dispatch she will pick up her check next Monday. It was a long wait, said Barrett, who called 911 on Dec. 25, 2022, to report the flooding. She said she lost furniture, cookware, TVs and paperwork in the ensuing crisis. Ann Barrett stands for a portrait in January 2023 in a hotel she lived in temporarily after moving out of Latitude Five25. But she found a new place sooner than most of her neighbors, moving into the National Church Residences' Bretton Woods senior community in the Northland Area on her birthday in January 2023. Barrett said that despite the housing crisis and health troubles including kidney failure for which she requires dialysis she remains optimistic. I'm the type of person who, I dont let nothing get me down, nor hold me back, she said. While no amount of money will make up for what these tenants have been through, this settlement is a step toward making them whole," said Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein in a prepared statement. Where is the money coming from? The money comes from insurance proceeds after the city reached a $1.5 million agreement with lawyers for Lument Commercial Mortgage Trust, the financial institution that held the mortgage of the apartments, and the Legal Aid Society of Southeast and Central Ohio. That agreement was first announced in January, but the affected households have not been able to collect their money until now. Though the agreement releases liability to the lender, tenants still retain the option to sue Paxe Latitude, the former landlord at Latitude Five25, to recoup additional funds. Who owns Latitude Five25? Though owners can hide their identities behind limited liability corporations, or LLCs, Paxe Latitudes owners may have been the same out-of-state individuals who held ownership in the Colonial Village Apartments, according to the city attorneys office. More than 1,000 people many of them Haitian asylum seekers were displaced from Colonial Village on Columbus' East Side in late 2023 amidst a human trafficking scandal and people living in units without heat and hot water. At the time the scandal came to light, Apex Colonial still owned the property, but had lost control of it to court-appointed receivers in early 2022. We believe that Apex Equity LLC is the overarching ownership entity of the two entities that owned Colonial Village and Latitude 525," a city spokesperson told The Dispatch last month. "Legally, there may be enough differences to argue they are not the same owners, but there appear to be relationships between the underlying guarantors of the loans issued for both properties and the management companies for both." Latitude Five25 is for sale The announcement about payments for Latitude Five25 tenants comes just after Columbus real estate firm The Robert Weiler Co. began soliciting proposals from investors to buy and renovate the towers. The chair of the board of the real estate firm, Robert Weiler, Sr., was also the receiver of the Colonial Village apartments for about a year ending in April 2023, when another receiver, Kenneth Latz, took over. The Latitude Five25 towers would need to be thoroughly rehabilitated before they can be lived in again. The city has indicated it hopes to keep the towers as affordable housing. With tenant checks now on their way, were focused on the future of the towers and exploring every option to hold those responsible for this crisis personally responsible, Klein said. Melissa Benson, a spokesperson for Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, which is administering the fund for tenants, said her organization is pleased to be able to distribute the funds. Were thankful for the combined efforts of Columbus City officials and Lument Finance Trust, who worked closely with us to ensure our clients received some compensation for their losses," Benson said. Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ. pgill@dispatch.com @pitaarji This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Latitude Five25 tenants to receive $10,000 in April Republican Representative Lauren Boebert defended bragging about bringing home $20m for water and infrastructure projects to her Colorado district in the recent spending bill that passed despite having voted against the bills final passage. The right-wing Republican put out a press release last week touting the funding for projects in her states 3rd district. These include important federal resources for new water storage, improving water quality, funding water treatment plants, building new water supply lines, reducing congestion on I-70, and building roads and bridges, Ms Boebert said in a press release. I'm grateful to all the local stakeholders who brought these important projects to my attention and that worked with my team and I throughout this process to ensure that 10 out of 10 of our requests were successfully funded in public law. Can't wait for the ribbon cuttings and to see these priorities come to fruition. But Ms Boebert voted against the spending bill on 8 March. The legislation was the first of six spending bills that passed this month to fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year, which expires on 30 September. Last week, the House and Senate passed the second round of spending bills to keep the government open. Ms Boebert bragged about bringing the money back to Colorado last week to The Independent. Sure did, I fought to get it in there, did I not, she said. If I wasnt working on it, then it wouldnt have been in there. But when asked about why she voted against its final passage, she said she disliked the process. I didn't agree to the swampy way it came to the floor but I fought to get the stuff in the bills and it's there, she said. And Colorado is going to benefit from it. Ms Boebert has come under fire almost as soon as she entered Congress. In her first term, she closely aligned herself with former president Donald Trump and during the January 6 riot, tweeted that then-speaker Nancy Pelosi was being removed from the chamber. She also implied that Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, one of the first two female Muslim members elected to Congress, was a terrorist. The numerous controversies led to her narrowly winning her re-election in 2022 to Democrat Adam Frisch by 546 votes. Since her second term began, she continued to be a lightning rod, voting against making Kevin McCarthy being speaker in the early days of the 118th Congress. She received additional attention when she and a date were thrown out of a theater for vaping during a musical performance of Beetlejuice and security footage revealed that she behaved inappropriately with her date. Facing a tough re-election, Ms Boebert announced earlier this year that she would run in Colorados 4th district after Representative Ken Buck would not seek re-election. Mr Buck resigned from Congress last week, which triggered a special election for his seat. Laurent de Brunhoff, who has died aged 98, was a son of Jean de Brunhoff, creator of the perennial childrens favourite, Babar the Elephant; after his fathers death he took over the character and went on to publish dozens of books about the friendly pachyderm who rules over Celesteville, turning Babar into a global franchise. It was Laurents mother Cecile who gave the world Babar. In the summer of 1930, while she and her children were staying at her fathers country house in the Ile-de-France, her four-year-old son, Matthieu, was finding it difficult to sleep so she made up a story which she hoped would soothe Matthieu and his five-year-old brother, Laurent. Its protagonist was a baby elephant who is left to fend for himself when a cruel hunter shoots his mother dead. Cecile de Brunhoff went on to invent a story in which the young elephant flees to the town and is adopted by a rich old lady who dresses him in elegant clothes and introduces him to the world of men. Before long, however, he misses his fellow elephants, and he returns to the jungle where, after the King of the Elephants eats a bad mushroom and dies, Babar is crowned king of the elephants and marries his queen, Celeste. Laurent de Brunhoff in 2004 - Janette Beckman Enchanted by the story, the children told it to their father Jean, an artist, who wrote the story down, changed the elephants name from Bebe to Babar, strengthened the plot and accompanied the text with his own delightful illustrations. Jean de Brunhoff made the book as a one-off to amuse his children, but when his brothers saw it, they persuaded him to let them publish it through the family-run publishing imprint Le Jardin des Modes, part of Conde Nast. LHistoire de Babar: le petit elephant (The Story of Babar) appeared in 1931 and English-language editions were published in Britain and the United States in 1933. Jean de Brunhoff wrote five more Babar books and by the outbreak of war the little elephant had become a childrens favourite in France, while the books were selling in their millions abroad. In 1937, however, Jean de Brunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. No one else added to the series until after the war when Laurent, who had been 12 when his father died, picked up the baton. Laurent de Brunhoff's first Babar book He trained as an artist at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere and began living as an abstract artist in Montparnasse. At the same time, however, he taught himself to draw Babar and his friends in his fathers style. His first contribution to the series, Babar et ce coquin dArthur (Babars Cousin: That Rascal Arthur), was published in 1946. I looked carefully at my fathers drawings and tried to make mine look the same, Laurent recalled in 2002. Just because Im an abstract painter doesnt mean I cant draw, its just a different way of expressing things. I tried to be as faithful as possible to the original books, but did my own stories using Arthur the teenager, because he was closer to me [in age] than Babar... I never felt any kind of conflict with my fathers creation. It felt like Babar became my own creation. A Babar title from 1981 He went on to write, illustrate and publish more than 40 titles, among them Babar Comes to America (1965), Babar Goes to the Moon (1969), Babar Learns to Cook (1978) and Babars Little Circus Star (1988), later books being published by Random House. The books were adapted for a television series and animated features such as Babar: The Movie (1989) and Babar: King of the Elephants (1999), and spawned a flourishing trade in merchandise. Inevitably a series which began at the height of French colonialism came in for a certain amount of critical deconstruction. The Chilean intellectual Ariel Dorfman denounced Babar as a symbol of colonialist oppression for the way he brings Western values to the elephants, and attacked the books for rationalising the motives behind an international situation in which some countries have everything and other countries almost nothing. The sociologist Herbert Kohl published a book entitled Should We Burn Babar? and accused the character of racism and sexism. Laurent de Brunhoff was embarrassed by the book's depiction of African people and asked the publisher to withdraw the title Laurent de Brunhoff, too, confessed to being a little embarrassed by some of his earlier stories and especially regretted Babars Picnic (1949), in which local African inhabitants appear as spear-carrying savages and the young elephants, Alexander, Pom and Flora, dress in American Indian-style short skirts and feather headdresses. At his request the publishers withdrew it. But the Babar stories, with Laurent de Brunhoffs captivating, witty illustrations, never lost their appeal. Babars Museum of Art (2003), in which Babar and Celeste build a museum to house their collection of paintings, for example, featured faithful renditions of original masterpieces Munchs The Scream, Seurats Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte, Botticellis Birth of Venus but with elephants instead of people. And Babar moved with the times. Babars Yoga for Elephants (2002) came with the disclaimer: This book is intended for elephants interested in yoga. Humans and other animals should consult books written specifically with them in mind. Laurent de Brunhoff was born in Paris on August 30 1925, the eldest of three sons of Cecile, a pianist and professor at the Ecole Normale de Musique, and Jean de Brunhoff, scion of an artistic family whose father published the lavishly illustrated programmes of Diaghilevs Ballets Russes, and whose brothers held senior positions in Conde Nast. Laurent made his first contribution to the Babar oeuvre aged 12 when he was asked to colour a few pages of two books that had not been completed before his fathers death. He always knew that he wanted to be a painter, but in later life admitted that he had never been able to make money out of his own abstract paintings because, although he exhibited them, they never sold: Babar became my life. De Brunhoff was made a Commandeur de lOrdre des Arts et des Lettres, the highest official honour that an artist can receive in France, and a Chevalier of the Legion dhonneur. Laurent de Brunhoff signing a wall at Mabel's Fables in Toronto in 2006 - The Canadian Press via AP In 1951 he married Marie-Claude Bloch. The marriage was dissolved and in 1985 de Brunhoff moved to the United States to live with the critic and biographer Phyllis Rose, whom he had met a a dinner party in Paris in the early 1980s. They married in 1990 and she helped him with the text to many of the later Babar publications, including the characters swan song Babars Guide to Paris (2017). She survives him with a son and a daughter from his first marriage. Laurent de Brunhoff, born August 30 1925, died March 22 2024 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Lauren Goodman (right) and Kyle Walker (left) have been locked in a bitter infidelity row since the beginning of the year (Getty) Kyle Walkers former mistress is said to be unimpressed after he opted to have the three sons he shares with his wife act as mascots at Englands friendly match against Brazil at the weekend. The influencer, 33, has been locked in a war of words with the Manchester City star since revealing earlier this year that he was the father of her youngest child, a daughter, known only as KW, 15 months. They also share a three-year-old son called Kairo. The move resulted in Walkers wife Annie Kilner throwing him out of the family home. He then claimed to a tabloid newspaper that they were never in a relationship and admitted that he bitterly regretted betraying, Kilner, who is currently around eight months pregnant with their fourth child together. He went on to rubbish Goodmans untrue account and accused her of seeking financial gain, prompting her to hit back and call him a deluded narcissist. Walker was seen walking out at Wembley with sons Roman, 11, Riaan, seven, and Reign, five, while Kilner also attended the match. It wasnt a particularly good game for Walker, who later limped off with a suspected hamstring injury, while Brazil went on to win 1-0. Speaking about his and Kilners apparent united front, a source close to Goodman told The Sun: Its a shame to see children wheeled out as part of a row between adults and his many infidelities." They added that she wasn't fussed and says he will be an "overweight bald nobody soon". The Standard has contacted a representative for Kyle Walker for comment. Spending hawks in Congress are growing antsy about starting discussions on how to fund the government in fiscal year 2025. Congress only recently completed the appropriations process for fiscal year 2024, roughly six months after it began Sept. 30. And, in that time, disagreements over federal funding prompted conservative lawmakers to tank their own partys bills in protest of leaderships decisions. Spending disagreements also led to the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker and led to a motion to vacate being filed against Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Friday. A significant share of Republicans also broke from their own party to oppose nearly every bipartisan spending agreement crafted between the House GOP majority and Senate Democrats, demonstrating the partys deep fiscal fractures. NATIONAL SECURITY HAWKS WARN CONGRESS THROWING PENTAGON 'UNDER THE BUS' WITH 'INADEQUATE' SPENDING BUMP Spending hawks are cautiously watching congressional leaders to see how they'll handle the next fiscal year's funding talks. "Am I confident? No," one GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital when asked if the appropriations process will improve for fiscal year 2025. "I hope it does. But, I mean, there's been no indication for the last 30 years, 25 years, that it's going to [improve]." READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a former House Freedom Caucus chairman who opposed each of the bipartisan spending deals, suggested hes concerned his faction of the House GOP will be disappointed again in the next round. "Yes, of course were behind," Perry said. "Were halfway into the year." On the Senate side, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., led a letter to GOP Conference Chair Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., requesting an urgent meeting on the spending process. SENATE STRIKES DOWN BIDEN MOVE ALLOWING POTENTIALLY DISEASED BEEF INTO US Former House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry said Congress is already behind. "As we rush to finalize the 2024 FY budget months after the fiscal year has started we are already behind on the 2025 budget deadlines set in statute. Reform is needed, and it is vital that we as a Conference debate how to get our budget process on track," Marshall wrote. Both House Republicans and the White House initiated their sides of the process by submitting budget proposals, each predictably panning the others plans. WHY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS DECIDE THEY 'GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE' Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., whose large House GOP group unveiled its own budget proposal, called for a House vote on each of the plans, though he did not say if he was concerned about the current pace. "Go ahead and get it done. Get the vote done and see where it lies and where the outcome is. And then let's get the budget done and get the appropriators working on the FY25 budget," Hern said. Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern released his group's budget proposal this week. However, another GOP lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed optimism colleagues learned from prior mistakes. "We're a little bit behind from a schedule, like a calendar perspective, from where we want to be," the GOP lawmaker said. "We have a real clarity of mind right now of what went wrong, and so, you know, in some respects, the best way to stay on task. We just got done with appropriations, so now we know exactly what we need to do the next time." Original article source: Lawmakers brace for brutal new government spending fight on heels of last shutdown battle Heres a look at how area members of Congress voted over the previous week. Along with this weeks roll call votes, the House also passed these bills: the Passport System Reform and Backlog Prevention Act (H.R. 6610), to provide for the modernization of the passport issuance process; the Impact of Crime on Public Building Usage Act (H.R. 6261), to direct the Comptroller General to conduct a review on the impact of crime on public building usage; the Federal Oversight of Construction Use and Safety Act (H.R. 6260), to provide for certain reviews of the use and safety of federal buildings. HOUSE BOSNIA PEACE ACCORDS: The House has passed the Upholding the Dayton Peace Agreement Through Sanctions Act (H.R. 4723), sponsored by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. The bill would require sanctions against foreigners deemed to be threatening the peace, stability, or territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the Bosnian War of the 1990s. Wagner said: As a guarantor of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the United States must use its economic toolkit to deter corruption, obstructionism, and secessionism in Bosnia and promote its accession to Euro-Atlantic institutions. The vote, on March 19, was 365 yeas to 30 nays. YEAS: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick R-Bucks; Mike Kelly, R-Butler; Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia; Chrissy Houlahan, D-Chester; Madeleine Dean, D-Montgomery; 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 NAYS: Rep. Scott Perry, R-York UKRAINIAN CHILDREN AND RUSSIA: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 149), sponsored by Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., declaring that Russian abduction and forcible transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia in the past 2 years amounts to genocide. Wild said: The Russian objective is clear: to eradicate the young generations of the Ukrainians by attempting to destroy their sense of national and cultural identity. The vote, on March 19, was 390 yeas to 9 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Perry, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio SELLING DATA TO U.S. ADVERSARIES: The House has passed the Protecting Americans Data from Foreign Adversaries Act (H.R. 7520), sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., to make it illegal for data brokers to send data on U.S. residents to North Korea, Russia, China, or Iran, with the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the prohibition. Pallone said without the bill, data brokers would continue to be able to aggregate information with vast amounts of Americans sensitive data and sell it to the highest bidder, including foreign adversaries. The vote, on March 20, was unanimous with 414 yeas. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Perry, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio OIL, GAS DRILLING ON FEDERAL LANDS: The House has passed the Restoring American Energy Dominance Act (H.R. 6009), sponsored by Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., to require the withdrawal of a Bureau of Land Management rule that would increase fees for oil and natural gas production leases on federal lands. Boebert said the increase was unnecessary and will ultimately harm returns and reduce revenues to state and local governments by disincentivizing development on federal lands. A bill opponent, Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., said: We need to require any energy developer, including Big Oil, to fully cover the cost of cleanup and reclamation of their extraction. The vote, on March 20, was 216 yeas to 200 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Perry, Smucke, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser NAYS: Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio HYDROCARBON FRACKING : The House has passed the Protecting American Energy Production Act (H.R. 1121), sponsored by Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., to bar an executive order by the president banning hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of oil and natural gas wells without Congressional authorization, and state that states should continue to be the primary regulators of fracking. A bill supporter, Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., said state governments have comprehensive laws and regulations to provide for safe operations, to protect drinking water sources, and to have trained personnel effectively regulating oil and gas exploration and production. An opponent, Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., called it extreme legislation that would limit the presidents ability to respond to public health, environmental, and climate risks. The vote, on March 20, was 229 yeas to 188 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Houlahan, Perry, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser NAYS: Evans, Dean, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio BIDEN ENERGY POLICIES: The House has passed a resolution (H. Res. 987), sponsored by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., to denounce the energy and federal land policies of the Biden administration as harmful and unpredictable, and promote domestic production of reliable and affordable energy. Newhouse said: The result of this failed track record has been higher prices for consumerswe all know thatand increased dependency on our adversaries like Russia, China, and Venezuela for our energy needs. A resolution opponent, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said the administration was increasing production of oil and natural gas and renewable resources while making sure that our economy grows, that gas prices dont increase, and addressing the climate crisis. The vote, on March 21, was 217 yeas to 200 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Perry, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser NAYS: Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio CARBON EMISSIONS TAX: The House has passed a resolution (H. Con. Res. 86), sponsored by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon dioxide emissions tax would harm the U.S. economy. Zinke said a carbon tax makes America less competitive with energy supplying rivals such as China and Russia, and increases costs for U.S. families. An opponent, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said the resolution was ignoring the cost of climate change to communities hit hardest by flooding, wildfires, and other climate catastrophes. The vote, on March 21, was 222 yeas to 196 nays. NAYS: Fitzpatrick, Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio YEAS: Kelly, Perry, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser MARINE SHIPPING: The House has passed the Ocean Shipping Reform Implementation Act (H.R. 1836), sponsored by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. The bill would bar U.S. port authority agencies from using Chinese government-linked transportation data platforms, and require the Federal Maritime Commission to handle complaints about shipping exchanges while also increasing the commissions authority to curtail market manipulation. Johnson cited Chinas attempt to get coercive economic power over our country and, frankly, every other country in the world, and one of the primary tools of that push for coercive economic power is data such as would be obtained through the transportation data platforms. The vote, on March 21, was 393 yeas to 24 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio NAYS: Perry FEDERAL WATER REGULATIONS: The House has passed the Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act (H.R. 7023), sponsored by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C. The bill would change Clean Water Act regulations of water quality and water use permits, and require implementation of the Waters of the United States rule that complies with a Supreme Court ruling that limited the Environmental Protection Agencys regulatory powers. Rouzer said: This legislation will enable the law to be executed and enforced more effectively, save taxpayers money, and provide more consistency for permit holders, seekers, and writers. An opponent, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, D-Calif., said it would increase levels of pollution in our water bodies, increase risk of downstream flooding, and increase certainty that communities like mine cannot maintain sustainable sources of drinking water. The vote, on March 21, was 213 yeas to 205 nays. YEAS: Fitzpatrick, Kelly, Perry, Smucker, Joyce, Reschenthaler, Thompson, Meuser NAYS: Evans, Houlahan, Dean, Boyle, Cartwright, Wild, Scanlon, Lee, Deluzio SENATE APPEALS COURT JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Nicole Berner to be a judge on the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Berner has been a lawyer at the Service Employees International Union since 2006, after several years at Planned Parenthood and as a private practice lawyer. A supporter, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., cited her understanding of the importance of the independent judicial branch of government and protecting our rights, and her commitment to the values which are the strength of our nation. The vote, on March 19, was 50 yeas to 47 nays. YEAS: Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; John Fetterman, D-Pa. NEW JERSEY JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Edward Kiel to be a judge on the U.S. district court for New Jersey. Kiel has been a federal magistrate judge in the state for 5 years; previously, he was a private practice lawyer for more than two decades. A supporter, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Kiels two decades of litigation experience combined with his distinguished career on the bench prove he is ready to handle the demands of the District of New Jersey from day one. The vote, on March 20, was 50 yeas to 49 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman CALIFORNIA JUDGE: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Eumi K. Lee to be a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. A county-level judge in the Bay Area since 2018, Lee was previously a law professor in San Francisco and a private practice lawyer. A supporter, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said of Lee: In private practice, in the classroom, and in the courtroom, she has demonstrated the intellect and independent mind needed to serve on the Northern District with distinction. The vote, on March 20, was 50 yeas to 49 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman ASSISTANT LABOR SECRETARY: The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Jose Javier Rodriguez to be the Labor Departments Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training. Rodriguez was a Florida state legislator from 2013 through 2020; currently he is a lawyer, specializing in labor and pension law, at a Miami law firm. The vote, on March 21, was 50 yeas to 48 nays. YEAS: Casey, Fetterman IMPORTS OF PARAGUAY BEEF: The Senate has passed a resolution (S.J. Res. 62), sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., to disapprove of and void an Agriculture Department rule allowing imports of fresh beef from Paraguay. Imports had been disallowed due to concerns about foot-and-mouth virus being in the imported beef. Tester cited Paraguays history of foot-and-mouth disease in its cattle herds, and said it does not currently meet the animal health standards that are in place to warrant access to our markets. The vote to approve the resolution, on March 21, was 70 yeas to 25 nays. NAYS: Casey YEAS: Fetterman A version of this story appeared in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. There was an interesting and telling exchange recently between Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican, and CNNs Manu Raju. In the hallway exchange, Murkowski expressed frustration that former President Donald Trump is her partys presidential nominee. I wish that as Republicans, we had a nominee that I could get behind, she told Raju . I certainly cant get behind Donald Trump. Very interesting political times Murkowski was one of the handful of Republicans who voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges after the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Trump recently has taken up the cause of publicly defending people convicted for storming the Capitol, calling them hostages and political prisoners. Sen. Lisa Murkowski talks with CNNs Manu Raju on March 21. - CNN When Raju pushed Murkowski about whether she might leave the Republican Party, she said this: I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Lets just leave it at that. The next generation of the GOP Now compare Murkowskis frustration with Republicans with the comments of Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, the Trump-endorsed candidate for the Senate seat in Ohio. Moreno won the Republican nomination in last weeks primary and he did so by aligning himself with Trump. Morenos campaign released a digital ad during the primary, for instance, in which he agreed with Trumps lie that the 2020 election was stolen. These days Moreno wants to talk about other things. Oh my gosh, are we talking about that? he told reporters on Capitol Hill who asked questions about the 2020 election. Weve had like three elections since then, he said. (Actually, the only election since January 6, 2021, was the 2022 midterm.) Trump has modeled his 2024 presidential campaign as a moment of retribution for his 2020 loss. If the future of the GOP is candidates like Moreno, then Murkowski, who no longer feels completely comfortable as a Republican, is the past. A unique survivor Murkowski has always been on the more moderate end of the political spectrum, and her brand of politics makes her unique. She lost a Republican primary during the pre-Trump tea party wave of 2010 but won reelection as a write-in candidate, the most difficult feat in politics. More recently, Murkowski may have benefited from Alaskas nonpartisan, ranked-choice voting primary system when she won reelection in 2022, fending off a challenge from a Republican endorsed by Trump. Republicans in Alaska are hoping to claw back the ranked-choice voting system with a ballot initiative in November. No one really considers Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and Senate minority leader, a moderate but when he announced last month that he would step down as GOP leader in November, he did it with an acknowledgment that the party has moved away from him (and, although he didnt say it, toward Trump). McConnell is a frequent target of Trumps frustrations. While Murkowskis clear frustration with her own party is very much a product of the Trumpism that now dominates the GOP, its also in line with the frustration of moderate Democrats. Democratic moderates not running Sens. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the two most notable moderates elected as Democrats and who emphasized the need to work across party lines, are both leaving the Senate rather than run in difficult reelection campaigns. Both Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin have said they are leaving the Senate. - Getty Images Sinema left the Democratic Party in late 2022, although she still caucuses with Democrats. Manchin has promised to travel the country after he leaves the Senate and try to work on creating a movement to mobilize the middle, and bring Americans together. Another moderate, Sen. Jon Tester, the Montana Democrat, is less strident in his criticism of the national party, but he will have to find a way to convince voters in his red state to send him back to the Senate if Democrats are to have any hope of maintaining control of the body. The same goes for Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has his own brand of Democratic, union-friendly populism and will square off against Moreno in November. An exodus of dealmakers I asked Raju for his thoughts on Murkowskis comments and the departure of Sinema and Manchin. He sent me this email about the exodus of moderates from the Senate, which has actually been underway for years: RAJU: This has been a trend in the Senate over the last several election cycles: The dealmakers in the body are leaving. And that has huge implications for a chamber where 60 votes are needed to advance legislation. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin and Mitt Romney three senators who have been central to some of the most significant deals under President Joe Biden all opted not to run for reelection. But before this Congress, the chamber lost other members who were prone to cut deals: Sens. Rob Portman, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker are among them. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who is part of the vanishing middle in the Senate, just won reelection in 2022 so she has several years left in her term. Some say the disappearing bloc of centrists is a good thing and argue that the deals that the senators cut are bad for the country. At least thats what Mitch McConnells critics say after he blessed a bipartisan border security deal and pushed through a $95 billion aid package, both of which have been slammed by his right flank and are stalled in the more partisan House. But what will the Senate look like next year, with McConnell stepping aside as leader? Will those retiring members be replaced by more partisan senators? And will the Senate start looking more like the House? Not just the Senate Theres an exodus in the House too, although it is among conservatives frustrated by lack of action. To pass legislation, Republicans will only be able to lose one vote when Rep. Mike Gallagher, the young Wisconsin lawmaker who had been seen as a rising star in the party, resigns early. He broke with most Republicans over the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Gallagher follows Rep. Ken Buck, the hardline Colorado Republican who resigned early in frustration over Republican election denialism and because House lawmakers are unable to set aside differences to get much done. This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people, he told CNNs Dana Bash earlier in March, explaining why hed be resigning early. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com By Mohammad Yunus Yawar, Mushtaq Ali and YP Rajesh KABUL/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) -Sanaullah Ghafari, the 29-year-old leader of the Afghan branch of Islamic State, has overseen its transformation into one of the most fearsome branches of the global Islamist network, capable of operations far from its bases in the borderlands of Afghanistan. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday's mass shooting at a concert hall near Moscow that killed at least 139 people. U.S. officials have said they have intelligence indicating it was the Afghan branch, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), that was responsible. Washington has said it had warned Russia this month of an imminent attack. A source familiar with this intelligence said it was based on interceptions of "chatter" among ISIS-K militants. The discovery of Tajik passports on the gunmen arrested by Russian authorities suggested a possible link to Ghafari's group, which has aggressively recruited from the poor Central Asian country, security experts say. In recent years, his organization has also sought repeatedly to strike at Russia in retaliation for its intervention in the Syrian civil war, which helped to defeat ISIS' regional operations. Ghafari was initially reported killed in Afghanistan last June but escaped with injuries across the frontier into Pakistan and is believed to be living in its lawless Balochistan border province, two sources in the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban told Reuters. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Ghafari's whereabouts. Named as emir of ISIS-K in 2020, Ghafari has reinforced the group's reputation for hardline ideology and high-profile attacks. ISIS-K grabbed global attention with a 2021 suicide bombing on Kabul international airport during the U.S. military withdrawal that killed 13 U.S. soldiers and scores of civilians. In September 2022, it claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide attack at the Russian embassy in Kabul. But perhaps its most brazen operation to date came in January, with a double suicide bombing in Iran that killed nearly 100 people at a memorial for Revolutionary Guard commander, Qassem Soleimani - the deadliest militant attack on Iranian soil since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Little was known about Ghafari before the 2021 strike on Kabul airport, which prompted Washington to place a $10 million bounty on his head. The Taliban sources said he is an Afghan Tajik who served as a soldier in the Afghan army and later joined ISIS-K, which was formed in late 2014. Reuters spoke to more than a dozen sources including serving and retired security and intelligence officials in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and the U.S., as well as members of the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban who said that ISIS-K had exploited the Taliban's failure to eliminate its safe havens in northern and eastern Afghanistan to expand regionally. Under Ghafari, the group has used high-profile attacks as a recruiting tool and targeted ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks across Central Asia, rather than Afghanistan's Pashtun majority, which forms the backbone of the Taliban, the sources said. ISIS-K takes its name from an old Persian term for the region, Khorasan, that included parts of Iran, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, as well as areas of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its propaganda, translated into regional languages as well as English, vows to establish a caliphate spanning that area. "ISIS-K seeks to outperform rival jihadis by carrying out more audacious attacks to distinguish its brand, poach from rivals, and gain resources from potential supporters," said Asfandyar Mir, a senior expert on South Asia security at the U.S. Institute of Peace, a government research body based in Washington. Unlike previous high-profile suicide attacks by ISIS-K, the gunmen on Friday had sought to escape and were detained by Russian authorities some 300 km west of Moscow, stirring some doubts within Russia over whether they really were jihadists. In unverified images shown on Russian media, one of the alleged assailants told an interrogator he had been offered half a million roubles (a little over $5,000) to carry out the attacks. Russian President Vladimir Putin said for the first time on Monday that radical Islamists had carried out the assault but he has not publicly mentioned ISIS-K in connection with the attackers, who he said had been trying to escape to Ukraine. Putin said "many questions" remained to be answered. Colin Clarke, with the New York-based Soufan Center, a think tank for global security issues, said that there were a number of examples of Islamist militants escaping instead of carrying out suicide missions, like the ISIS gunmen who fled after attacking the Bataclan music hall in Paris in November 2015. "They could have been interested in conducting a follow-on attack," Clarke said, adding that the attackers may also have avoided buying or transporting explosives to lessen their chances of detection. Frank McKenzie, the former head of US Central Command which covers Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as part of South Asia said the Moscow attack was in line with ISIS-K's long-term objective of increasing its foreign operations, including against the United States. "They remain determined to attack us and our homeland," said McKenzie, who was the head of U.S. forces in the region during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. "I think the odds of that are probably higher now than they were a couple of years ago." INTERNATIONAL RECRUITS The State Department in its bounty announcement described Ghafari, better known by his nom-de-guerre Shahab al-Muhajir, as an experienced military leader who had planned ISIS-K suicide attacks in Kabul. It separately identified Ismatullah Khalozai, who ran a network of informal money transfers, or hawala, from Turkey, as the group's "international financial facilitator". A July 2023 report to the U.N. Security Council on the international threat posed by Islamic State said that ISIS-K numbered 4,000 to 6,000 people on the ground in Afghanistan, including fighters and family members. Security experts trace the group's expansion to the collapse of the parent Islamic State (IS) movement during the war in Iraq in 2017. Many foreign fighters fled Iraq and reached Afghanistan-Pakistan to join ISIS-K, bringing expertise in guerrilla warfare that developed the group's ability to launch attacks in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan, according to a senior Iraqi security official, who asked not to be named. Iraqi security believes that ISIS-K has been working to establish a regional network of jihadist fighter cells that could help execute international attacks, based on information from dozens of senior ISIS operators detained over the last two years, the official said. Two senior Iraqi ISIS leaders arrested in Turkey in December and handed over to Baghdad told Iraqi intelligence that they would contact Ghafari for financial and logistical support by exchanging messages through two Tajik members of ISIS-K in Turkey, according to the Iraqi official, who is part of a security unit that monitors Islamic State activities in Iraq and neighbouring states. A Taliban intelligence official estimated that 90% of ISIS-K's cadre is now non-Pashtun. Tajiks and Uzbeks are the other large ethnic groups that populate the north of Afghanistan. Mawlawi Habib Rahman, a former senior leader of ISIS-K who surrendered to the Taliban, told Aghan media outlet Al-Mirsaad in November that the group had also successfully recruited Tajik nationals. "They are told you were infidels and you have now newly become Muslim (after joining ISIS-K)," Rahman said. Recruiters say the Tajik government is made up of "infidels" and that ISIS-K wanted to rescue oppressed Muslims, he said. A Jan. 2024 UN report on the group noted it had stepped up its efforts to enlist foreign fighters and disillusioned members of the Taliban, with a special focus on Tajiks. It said that Tajik citizen, Khukumatov Shamil Dodihudoevich, alias Abu Miskin, had become an active propagandist and recruiter. Tajikistan, a Persian-speaking and predominantly Sunni Muslim country, is home to 10 million people. After a brutal civil war in the 1990s, it remains one of the poorest former Soviet republics. Its economy is heavily dependent on remittances from over a million migrant workers in Russia. Tajik officials have said that many Tajiks who live in Russia complain of mistreatment, making them easier targets for extremist recruitment while they are far from their homes. RUSSIA AND THE WEST IN ITS CROSSHAIRS A day before the Moscow attack, a top U.S. military officer told the House Armed Services Committee that Taliban efforts to suppress ISIS-K in Afghanistan were proving insufficient. General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, the commander of US Central Command, said in written testimony that the Taliban had targeted some senior ISIS-K leaders but did not have the ability nor intent to maintain pressure on the group. This had allowed ISIS-K to regenerate its networks, he said. "ISIS-Khorasan retains the capability and will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months and with little to no warning," Kurilla told a Senate committee hearing this month. Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Taliban administration in Kabul, said ISIS-K had been seriously weakened by a security crackdown and was only carrying out rare operations against civilians. He denied the group was based on Afghan territory, but said it wasn't clear where it was based. The U.N. report in January said that a decline in attacks by the ISIS-K within Afghanistan probably reflected a change of strategy by Ghafari, as well as counter-terrorism efforts by the Taliban. Authorities in several European countries made a spate of arrests of alleged ISIS-K recruits in July and December last year, accused of plotting terror attacks. Christine Abizaid, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told a House committee in November, that ISIS-K had so far used "inexperienced operatives" to attempt attacks in Europe. France, which will host the Olympic Games from late July, said late on Sunday it was raising its terror alert warning to its highest level following the shootings in Moscow. For the past two years, ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia, criticizing Putin for changing the course of the Syrian civil war by supporting President Bashar al-Assad against Islamic State, security experts said. "ISIS-K has been plotting attacks within Russia for some time," said Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute For Near East Policy, a U.S. think tank. He noted that recent attempts by the group to strike within Russia had been unsuccessful. Russia's FSB security service said on March 7 it had foiled an armed attack by the group on a synagogue near Moscow. ISIS-K's networks within the Tajik and Central Asian communities may have facilitated efforts to conduct operations in Moscow, with its large migrant population, Zelin said. (Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan; Additional reporting by Asif Shahzad and Gibran Peshimam in Islamabad, Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan, Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Olzhas Auyezov in Almaty, Idrees Ali and Jonathan Landay in Washington, and YP Rajesh in New Delhi; writing by YP Rajesh; Editing by Daniel Flynn) Russian troops on Monday night again continued to intensively attack selected areas with drones and anti-radar missiles, resulting in 11 injuries, the Southern Defense Forces reported. "This night, the enemy attack on the southern regions was concentrated in Mykolaiv and Odesa regions. The enemy continued attacks on energy facilities," the message says. In particular, before the attack by drones from a tactical aircraft from the Black Sea, in an attempt to damage the air defense, the occupiers fired an X-31P anti-radar missile at Odesa region. However, she lost her combat ability in the air. There was no information about damage or casualties. Then the enemy attacked with several waves of Shahed-131/136 type drones from the Black Sea. In particular, four attack UAVs were shot down in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. Thus, in Mykolaiv region, the enemy hit an energy facility, a fire broke out, which was promptly extinguished by firefighters. No people were hurt there. The Defense Forces provided details of the night attack, in particular that enemy drones traditionally patrolled among residential areas of populated areas. As a result of the fall of the downed suicide drone in the private sector of Mykolaiv, a two-story residential building was destroyed; there was also a fire, which was extinguished by the State Emergency Service specialists. Several surrounding houses were damaged by the blast wave. "According to preliminary data, 11 people were injured, two were hospitalized, and others were treated on the spot," the command emphasized. And in Odesa region, the debris of a downed drone damaged an energy facility and caused a fire, which caused a blackout in part of the regional center and nearby settlements. The fire was extinguished, but no people were injured. Restoration and repair work continues. Research has shown that being a polyglot means a lower likelihood of cognitive decline in later life. Christin Klose/dpa Scientists in India have found more evidence that bilingual people are less likely to develop dementia compared to people limited to one language. "Dementia prevalence was higher in monolinguals (4.9%) than bilinguals (0.4%)," according to The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences researchers, whose work was published in the Alzheimer's Association journal Alzheimers & Dementia. Previous research suggested being a polyglot could mean a lower likelihood of cognitive decline in later life, the team acknowledged, adding that those earlier findings did not have "much evidence from community-based studies." They sought to fill that gap by going door-to-door in Bangalore, a southern India city known as the countrys information technology hub, where they further found the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment to be "also higher in monolinguals (8.5%) than bilinguals (5.3%)." In 2023, a Germany-based team published findings in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, in which they said early-life bilingualism meant a reduced risk of dementia in later life. In 2014, scientists from the University of Edinburgh suggested speaking more than one language could have a "protective effect" on the brain. However, it is not just language ability that can help against dementia, according to other recent work. There could be a link between diabetes and the likelihood of dementia onset, according to research presented at the March 23-26 annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. University of California research published in early 2024 suggested good sleep when young reduces the risk of dementia. In mid-2023, a Swiss-based team found older brains benefit from listening to music, while around the same time, research by New York University doctors suggested moderate internet use by the elderly can help fend off cognitive decline. Declining hearing and vision have separately been associated with a greater likelihood of developing dementia. The News For weeks before NBC News journalists exploded into open revolt Sunday over the networks hire of a top Donald Trump supporter, the media company that controls three of the top U.S. news networks had been quietly rebuilding its ties to the former president. Network insiders noticed on March 5, when, during MSNBCs Super Tuesday broadcast of Trumps primary wins, host Rachel Maddow indicated to producers off-camera that viewers had heard enough from the former president. MSNBC president Rashida Jones told production staff that she wanted to stay with his speech. Maddow mused live about the challenges of taking Trumps comments on the fly and allowing somebody to knowingly lie on your air. Six days later, CNBC welcomed the former president back to for a phone-in interview primarily conducted by right-leaning host Joe Kernen. And while those decisions were handled cordially inside the network, tensions flared when NBC News told the New York Times on Friday that it had hired former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as an on-air commentator. The move was the culmination of a few weeks of discussions spearheaded by NBC News senior political vice president and its editorial president Rebecca Blumenstein, with signoff from MSNBC leadership and NBCUniversal news chief Cesar Conde, according to a company official. The hiring was despite McDaniels previous public criticism of MSNBC and NBC News coverage of Trump and Republican politics. Her team at the RNC refused to let MSNBC simulcast the 2024 GOP primary debate hosted on NBC News. Our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation, former host Chuck Todd said to his successor, Kristen Welker, of the McDaniel drama during Sundays broadcast. The rings of leadership involved in approving McDaniel is an indication that they knew hiring her would be a controversial move that the network would have to defend. Liberal viewers have created memes mocking the decision, and media critics said the network was further whitewashing McDaniels role in the events that culminated in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. McDaniel acknowledged onthat the 2020 election was legitimate. Joe Biden won. Hes the president, she said. Hes the legitimate president. And yet, she added: I have always said and I continue to say there were issues in 2020. Maxs view McDaniels move from politics to news isnt unusual by standards of American television history. MSNBCs biggest rising star is Jen Psaki, Bidens loyal former White House press secretary. And while there are big personalities at play, this 2024 story has less to do with old-fashioned NBC personnel drama and more with inexorable political and economic forces. Behind the move is the reality that is sinking in for U.S. corporate media, and corporate America in general: They may soon be dealing again with a Trump administration, willing to use the tools of government to reward allies and punish enemies. For the great publicly traded conglomerates like NBCUniversal Medias parent, Comcast, that may leave little choice but to extend an olive branch to the former president. Companies like Comcast, Disney, and WarnerMedia, which dominate U.S. television, got an object lesson in presidential revenge during the last Trump administration. Trump reportedly demanded that the Justice Department sue to block the merger of AT&T and Time Warner. (The lawsuit failed, though the merger also quickly unraveled.) Executives are concerned at the possibility that Trump could take revenge on the company, a high-profile NBC employee told Semafor. Late last year, the former president explicitly raised the prospect of taking regulatory or investigative action against NBC and Comcast. While he characteristically did not provide specific details about how he would go after the company, antitrust questions aside, the government can slow or stop mergers, or attack parent companies other interests, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did when he went after Disneys local tax and regulatory arrangements. While all that speculation may seem far-fetched, its worth stepping to ask why NBC would take a risky, dramatic step that could alienate much of its audience and staff. All of the cable networks have taken a post-Trump administration ratings dip. But MSNBC has been able to weather the storm better than CNN, maintaining decent audience ratings in its primetime hours. Still, NBCU leadership seems willing to test the loyalty of its viewers and its hosts and staff by putting Trump on the air and paying McDaniel. Over the weekend, Jones and her deputies fielded calls and texts from nearly all of the networks personalities, and reassured them that despite the New York Times article saying that McDaniel would appear on MSNBC to talk about the election, she in fact would not be featured on the channel. Two people familiar with the conversations said that she told senior network staff that there was no expectation that McDaniel would appear on the network. NBCU officials have sought to slightly re-interpret Jones private comments, telling the Washington Post and Deadline that network executives called anchors to reassure them that they maintain editorial independence over their shows and are free to book or not book whatever guest pundits they please. NBC and MSNBC are not alone in their struggles with how to cover Trumps ascent back to the top of the Republican party post-Jan. 6 a choice that may be partly about mollifying Trump, and partly about re-evaluating whether blacking him out has actually made their audiences better informed. CNN has begun taking Trump live on television again, while new Twitter owner Elon Musk welcomed back the former president to the since-renamed platform X. Earlier this year, Semafor first published the story reporting that ABC News president Kimberly Godwin emailed staff privately, saying that Trumps recent comments about Black people were as racist as they come. But when Semafor reached out to the network about Godwins remarks, a spokesperson walked them back, saying they were part of a larger editorial conversation about how to cover Trump. When the network discussed Trumps comments on- air, it was more cautious, saying the remarks were widely criticized as racist. Fox News, in fact, has kept Trump at arms length. After forking over $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems as part of a defamation settlement, the network aired pre-taped interviews with Trump (in recent months, the network began taking the former president live again). Notable McDaniel partially secured her job by building a relationship with NBC senior vice president Carrie Budoff Brown during the primary debate planning process. The conflict over McDaniel has colored an otherwise impressive record of political coverage at NBC News. The television news organization and its digital counterpart broke a number of major stories about the 2024 presidential primary, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaign announcement with Elon Musk, infighting within the major super PAC supporting DeSantis for president, and the Dean Philips-linked robocall imitating Biden that showed how AI could be used to confuse voters. Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison blasted McDaniels hiring on Sunday, saying in a statement: There should be no debate about the truth in our political discourse. Ronna McDaniel is a proven liar, and has no place in an honest and objective conversation about the future of this country. House Bill 710, sponsored by freshman Rep. Jaron Crane, has been a noteworthy and divisive bill in Idahos 2024 Legislative Session. I am here to join the discourse as a library worker and advocate for literacy, learning, and libraries. My name is Izzy, and I have been working in libraries since 2019, when I was a senior in high school. Needless to say, I never expected to have to go to battle with misinformed legislators over library materials. I am incredibly disappointed and frustrated with the bill, as are any other library workers from the state that I have spoken to. Anyone who spends a substantial amount of time in libraries realizes this bill is harmful, which should be a signal to Idaho legislators that their supposed efforts at compromise have failed. At large, this bills primary purpose is not to protect kids, but to erase the existence of queer people in libraries. Censorship means to suppress or prohibit books or other media, and thats what this bill will do. It will suppress access to books, specifically LGBTQ+ books. The most alarming and obviously discriminatory aspect of HB 710 lies within its definitions. Under the definition of sexual conduct in Idaho Code homosexuality is included. The language of this bill implies that there is something inherently wrong, obscene and objectionable about the existence of queer people. It gives bigots the legal firepower to suppress books because they include LGBTQ+ characters. Legislators rebuttal to the definition of sexual conduct argument is that it is a part of Idaho code, and this bill does not change that definition. Regardless, the definition is a part of the bill, and that is a problem. Library workers are worried about the fiscal impacts, spatial logistics, chilling effect and the precedent the passage of this bill would create. Once the government is allowed to restrict access to written materials, citizens should be alarmed. It is a message that Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451 warns us of we should not be afraid of books; we should be afraid of the people trying to control them. On principle, all materials that a public library owns should be available to every patron, including children. Librarians are not arguing that children should have access to pornographic material because our libraries do not contain such material. Certain legislators misinterpret the meaning of the terms included in the bill and fundamentally do not understand the role of libraries or the material selection process, which has been explained to the House and Senate State Affairs committees multiple times during public testimony. The terms that are pivotal to this bill are impossible to define across the board everyone conceptualizes the term harmful to minors differently. This bill serves to force a definition on the entire state. That is government overreach. A subjective concept should not be narrowed to one governmental definition. Accepting philosophy like that of HB 710 and its supporters is a slippery slope toward tyranny. Practices like book burning become commonplace when we allow for the institutional changes that precede this. Changes that ostracize particular groups of people begin to restrict access to their stories and allow for information of any kind to be limited based on political ideology. Be scared, and continue talking about the flaws in this bill. We cannot accept censorship as the new status quo. This bill will codify bigotry and send the message that libraries do not want LGBTQ+ people in their spaces. This could not be further from the truth. Libraries are for everyone, and therefore should showcase stories that represent all identities at all age levels, accessible to all people. Whether or not this bill passes, we will always hold space for queer people. We will not erase you. You are always welcome in the library. Izzy Burgess is a student, passionate activist, human rights advocate and Associate Librarian in Meridian, Idaho. She has been working in libraries since 2019, doing everything from driving a bookmobile to baby storytimes. She loves learning, literacy and serving her community. Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Ohio on March 16. (Jeff Dean / Associated Press) To the editor: I keep hurting my neck every day as I shake my head while reading the latest of what former President Trump has spouted. It is a divide-and-conquer campaign strategy that I pray will not work. ("As some American Jews denounce Trumps latest rhetoric, others defend it," March 21) If my fellow Jews be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated do not understand that Trump's statements about Jewish Democrats hating Israel and their religion are the epitome of antisemitism, then our lives as free of religious intolerance in a democratic society are lost. Now I have to face other Jews who think I am not a good Jew because I am a Democrat and not pro-Israel enough. Is it not enough that I have to open my purse and walk through a metal detector in front of armed guards when I enter my synagogue? Esther Friedberg, Studio City .. To the editor: Every time Trump opens his mouth, he shows why he is unfit for office. I can guarantee that this Democratic Jew does not hate Israel, and I can say that my numerous Israeli cousins who I know well and visit often do not support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or his right-wing government. Trump demonstrates, and is the perfect example of, the ugly American. David Simon, North Hollywood This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Most jurors determined that a plan engineered by Tavares Calloway to rob some small-time weed dealers nearly three decades ago went horribly sideways. They agreed that five people bound at the hands and ankles by duct tape, their eyes and mouths shuttered with the same material were murdered with single gunshots to their heads by Calloway. Calloway, 45, who was sentenced to death by that jury in 2009, has spent every day of the past 27 years behind bars. During opening statements of his court-ordered re-sentencing trial Monday, a new set of jurors heard polar opposite critiques of the man already convicted of five brutal murders. To Miami-Dade state prosecutors, Calloway is a cold and calculating killer who snuffed out five men in the prime of their lives. Yet his defense attorneys see him as someone who has grown from a neglected, poverty-stricken childhood, into a learned adult prisoner who befriended a Catholic Priest, with the pair now spending days helping other prisoners cope with their issues. He shot all five in the head and grabbed what he could find, Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney Abbe Rifkin told jurors during opening arguments Monday morning. A life sentence is not sufficient for what he did. Calloways defense attorney Carmen Vizcaino explained how her clients story began almost two decades before the 1997 crime, when his unbelievably abusive father would beat Calloways mom, once almost drowning her in a bathtub before she fled to Miami with her two sons. We are asking you to believe that a human life can be redeemed, she said. This week like about a dozen others awaiting new trials in Miami-Dade criminal court Calloway has the chance for a reprieve. Sentenced to die in 2009 by a 7-5 majority of jurors, a 2017 state Supreme Court decision ordered new sentencing trials for death row inmates who were not convicted unanimously. That ruling, though, was upended early last year when by Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislators passed a bill requiring a super-majority, or an 8-4 vote, for a judge to sign off on a death sentence. DeSantis was openly furious over the unanimous rule after convicted Parkland high school shooter Nikolas Cruz only received a life sentence for murdering 17 people and severely injuring 17 others. The numerous re-sentencing trials, in which jury selection alone can take more than a week, arent quite jamming up the courthouse. But there are several cases either ongoing or set for trial. Earlier this month, after a months-long pre-trial hearing for the re-sentencing of notorious John Doe gang leader Corey Smiths death sentence, two state prosecutors were ousted by a judge who disagreed with their tactics. That trial is expected to begin some time this summer. Dead men tell no tales According to investigators and prosecutors, on Jan. 21, 1997, Calloway and accomplice Antonio Clark decided to do a lick, or rip-off some small-time weed dealers in an apartment near Little Haiti. Before getting there, Rifkin explained to jurors, they went to the local flea market where they picked up gloves, hats and camoflouge outfits. When they arrived at the apartment, Calloway pulled out a .45 caliber handgun and confronted one of the men outside in the parking lot. He walked with him up the apartment, where all five men were ordered to take off their pants and get on their knees. Not quite certain what to do, Rifkin explained how Calloway ordered Clark to find something to tie the men up with. When he couldnt, Calloway sent him to the store for duct tape. With Calloway pointing the gun at them, Clark tied up the hands and ankles of all five men, then wrapped duct tape around their eyes and covered their mouths. At one point he ran out of tape and had to go back to the store to get more. Not certain what to do, they were advised by a local drug dealer to kill two of the men. That didnt sit well with Calloway, who decided it was best to kill all five men. So three hours after taking them hostage, Calloway executed the men one at a time, shooting each in the head. Calloway thought that was a bad idea because of retaliation, Rifkin told jurors. Dead men tell no tales. For a year, the trail was cold for investigators. Then detectives investigating another murder found Clark, who had left a fingerprint at the site where the five men were murdered. Clark implicated Calloway and his statement to police was read to the jurors 15 years ago. Clark outed Calloway and told police his accomplice destroyed the weapon. A jury found Calloway guilty of five counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Adolphus Tank Melvin, 27, Gary St. Charles, 22, Trenton Thomas, 26, Frederick McGuire, 31 and Melvins visiting nephew, Derwin Bernard Copeland, 28. He was also found guilty of aggravated kidnapping, armed burglary and robbery and sentenced to death. The trial, scheduled to continue Tuesday, is expected to last about a week. Photo: X/Twitter After an intense investigation, it was decided that Lincoln University President John Moseley will be allowed to remain in his position. Following the suicide of Vice President of Student Affairs Antoinette Bonnie Candia-Bailey in January, Moseley was placed on paid leave after allegations of bullying surfaced. Ultimately, there was no proof that he had bullied Candia-Bailey. For us, this report is not the end of a process, but rather the beginning of one, Victor Pasley, president of the universitys Board of Curators, explained in a statement. None of its findings have led the Board to doubt President Moseleys ability to lead the University, but this tragedy has forced us to grapple more fully with issues facing Lincoln and our individual students and employees ranging from mental health support to employee work and relationships. Lincoln University, which is a historically Black college, is located in Missouri. On Jan. 8, Candia-Bailey died by suicide in Illinois. Her mother, Veronica Candia, previously stated that Moseley had fired her daughter just days before death. She also claimed that Candia-Bailey was depressed and feeling unsupported at her job. Candia-Baileys friend Monica Graham said she had received a message from the late administrator the day she died and it included a letter for Moseley. In the letter, Candia-Bailey said that Moseley had intentionally harassed and bullied her. A third party conducted the investigation while Moseley was placed on leave. The Board of Curators stated investigators examined emails, texts and other forms of correspondence. They also interviewed numerous staff and to figure out if Moseley bullied Candia-Bailey. The allegations were labeled unsubstantiated and that the university didnt violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is not a lot I can say about the independent report and its findings, but I am grateful to the Board of Curators for their faith in me and their vote of confidence, Moseley said regarding the outcome. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Lisa Murkowskis future in the Republican Party is now publicly in question as the Alaska senator says she is grappling with the reality that her party is set to nominate the twice-impeached former president who faces 91 criminal charges for the presidency. Donald Trumps continued control of the GOP and the dominance of his Maga faction is not sitting well with the centrist Republican who has broken with her partys base several times in recent years, including in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump and the 2017 failed vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ms Murkowski was interviewed by CNNs Manu Raju on Capitol Hill and said that she wouldnt be endorsing Mr Trump for president as most other Republicans on Capitol Hill have already done in 2024. She further added that she was independently minded, and was asked whether that meant she was considering dropping her party affiliation. "I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Lets just leave it at that," she responded. Her potential departure from the Republican Party could have a number of consequences, depending on whether she continued to caucus with the GOP in the Senate. Independents in the chamber can choose to caucus with one of the two major parties; Senators Angus King and Bernie Sanders, both officially unaffiliated with the Democratic Party, are members of the Democratic caucus in the upper chamber; so is Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in 2022. Ms Murkowski would likely remain a viable candidate for office after dropping her party affiliation, something that couldnt be said for Ms Sinema after her departure from the party. Unlike her colleague from Arizona, Ms Murkowski hails from a state with a strong tradition of independence from both major parties, though the state trends red in election years. Ms Murkowski is popular in her home state and in the past has fought off conservative challengers to her re-election. Her most recent performance in that regard was in 2022 when she defeated Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka in the midterm elections that year. She wont be up for re-election again until 2028. By contrast, Ms Sinema announced earlier in March that she would not seek re-election in 2024, stating in a video message that she understood Arizonans were not backing her own brand of centrism as polls showed her trailing both Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego and Trump acolyte Kari Lake in polls of the state Senate race. I think Im very independent-minded," Ms Murkowski said on Thursday in her interview with CNN. "I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump." Mr Trump remains the only Republican candidate vying for the nomination after crossing the threshold of pledged delegates required to win the GOP nomination earlier this month. His last remaining challenger, Nikki Haley, was supported by Ms Murkowski. At the same time, he faces four separate criminal prosecutions with dozens of felony counts; some, in Georgia, carry mandatory prison sentences. Much of his charges stem from his possibly illegal efforts to overturn the 2020 election after his defeat to Joe Biden. The former president pushed nonsense conspiracies about his loss for months while pressuring GOP officials in states where he was defeated to support false slates of electors with the intent of subverting the actual election results when they were certified by Congress. The Alaska senators remarks are likely to turn eyes on her oft-ally from Maine, Susan Collins. Ms Collins is on the same list of usual suspects when it comes to Republican defections in the Senate and comes from a state with another independent senator (Mr King). Like Ms Murkowski, Ms Collins has not endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency and says she will not do so even now that he is the presumed Republican nominee. Whether you live in College Hill, frequent its businesses or never even step foot in the area, theres reason to pay attention to a new neighborhood planning process happening there. Its designed to be a model for what can happen in other neighborhoods around the city. The more people who give input, I think the better-shaped plan well have, said City Council member Brandon Johnson. Though it may seem a little too cumbersome to ask for an entire citys help like, how will everyone agree on parking, streetscaping and architectural requirements? Johnson said its crucial to get that input. To me, thats democracy. Its good for everyone to be engaged about where they live. A steering committee already has been working on the plan. The initial public meeting, which will include small-group discussions, will be from 4:30 to 7 p.m. on Monday at Grace Presbyterian Church, 5002 E. Douglas. One of the things that we all recognize on the committee is that College Hill has a big draw around the whole city, said resident and commercial property owner Stephen Holt. We really want to hear from everybody. Johnson began thinking of a formal process to define residential and commercial uses in the neighborhood when he came on the City Council in 2018. Thats when the first of several public concerns over College Hill businesses happened under his watch. Neighbors were upset about a Hog Wild that was going in on Central just east of Central and Hillside. Specifically, they worried about potential traffic and lighting issues. Folks in the neighborhood felt like they werent being told the truth about that development, Johnson said. Thats when he first started thinking about a protective overlay that would establish uses and restrictions for the neighborhood. Thats not completely defined right now. As time went on, there were concerns about an Andys that went in on Douglas between Clifton and Rutan, then there was the well-publicized issue over some houses that the owners of the Belmont demolished to make room for parking, which the city then did not approve. The presence of Airbnbs has been a concern for some as well. Johnson learned more about protective overlays through the years and decided now is the right time to create guidelines for what College Hill and the city want for the area. He said it will guide developers and council members for the future. You dont have to guess on every single case. College Hill is known for its Halloween decorating and massive influx of trick-or-treaters each year. College Hill resident Trish Hileman, who is on the steering committee and has been on the neighborhood association board for a decade, said she believes this could save a lot of time and money for business owners who wouldnt necessarily need to work through the planning commission anymore since theyd already have guidelines on what they can and cant do. From the citys perspective, that is sort of a new thing, she said. Then this plan will be shopped around: Heres a model. Thats what makes this so important that we get it done well and right and with a lot of public input. College Hill drama? Is there so much drama in College Hill that something must be done? Not exactly. Mostly, its pretty benign and normal stuff, and then it has little spikes of more intensive, Hileman said. The Hog Wild situation taught her a lot, she said. That project just showed me . . . where developers have power. She said average citizens from the neighborhood werent confident in what they were doing as they had to speak in front of the planning commission. Wow, Hileman said she realized, it is not easy to advocate for some very common-sense things. She hopes that with guidelines in place, everyone can live, work and play knowing what the rules are now and into the future. Hileman said the plan can determine this is what we want to look like in 50 years. She said it will make for better neighbors. I want people to be happy where they live. Jack Patton, the current president of the neighborhood association who also is on the steering committee, said there are varying positions in the neighborhood, from lets never cut down a tree to lets start all over. This process is about trying to find the sweet spot. Johnson said he specifically didnt appointment any loud voices from previous neighborhood meetings to be on the committee, which has just over a dozen members. He said he chose everyday folks who just want to do some good. I think weve made the right appointments. I think its going to turn out well. One of those appointments is Tory DeMarce, one of the Belmont partners. This is an aerial view, including a walking path and circular bench, of the parking lot the Belmont owners wanted to build after demolishing houses near their Happiness Plaza development. He is a visionary business person who wants to grow the business there, Johnson said. He said he thought it was important to include DeMarce because there are going to be more visionary business people who want to do business in College Hill. Johnson said he believes that if people see that some of their ideas have been taken, even if others arent, You do recognize youve been heard. Seeing it through Holt said the neighborhood plan is something the city and residents considered years ago, but it never really got the traction that it needed, so it kind of fizzled out. This time seems different, he said. Everybody seems to be getting along and has . . . a different take on the same passion, Holt said. So I think there is a real vigor amongst the community to see this thing through. With a $50,000 budget, the city hired Iowa-based RDG Planning & Design to consult on the process. Johnson said he anticipates it will take at least until the fall to gather the necessary input and present it to the full City Council. Hileman said the plan can identify problems and opportunities, and it can set a tone moving forward. We can do a better job of being good neighbors to each other, she said. When were good neighbors to each other, we have better quality of life here. College Hill Park is a popular area for sledding in Wichita when it snows. One way or another, something will be planned, Patton said. If we dont have a plan for our neighborhood, somebody else is going to come in and plan it for us. Nitty-gritty details aside, Patton said the overall plan comes down to a few simple questions. What do you . . . want in your neighborhood? Why do you live there, and how can you keep it the way you want it to be? He said a lot of people will be waiting to learn the answers. A lot of people are watching. By Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber GENEVA (Reuters) - The wife of jailed Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza said on Monday the lives of many political prisoners in Russia, including her husband's, were at risk in the wake of Alexei Navalny's death in an Arctic penal colony last month. Kara-Murza, who had condemned Russia's war in Ukraine and lobbied for Western sanctions against Moscow, was sentenced to 25 years last April on treason and other charges that he denied, comparing the case against him to a Stalinist show trial. It was the harshest sentence imposed on an opposition politician since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022. "I understand that lives of many people who ended up behind bars today because of their opposition to the regime, many lives are in danger," said Evgenia Kara-Murza, advocacy director at the Free Russia Foundation, a civil society organisation. "That is not just my husband's life who is indeed a years-long opponent of the regime, but also the lives of strong and vocal opponents of Vladimir Putin." Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic inside Russia, died in a prison camp at the age of 47 on Feb. 16., sparking accusations from his supporters that he had been murdered. The Kremlin has denied any state involvement in his death. Evgenia Kara-Murza said other activists, including Alexandra Skochilenko, jailed for protesting against the war in Ukraine by replacing supermarket price tags with calls to stop the conflict, and Alexei Gorinov, a Moscow district councillor also jailed for criticising Russia's invasion, were also at risk. Vladimir Kara-Murza, who suffers from a neurological condition after surviving two attempts to poison him, was transferred to a new Siberian penal colony in January and placed in solitary confinement, his wife said. "Now he's being held by basically the same people who tried to kill him twice in the past," Evgenia Kara-Murza said. She said her husband was being held in a small cell that measures around six square meters, with a bed affixed to the wall during the day to prevent him from lying down and one backless stool. He is not allowed to receive phone calls or visits. Last December, prior to his transfer, Kara-Murza had a brief telephone conversation with his three children. "We have three kids, and that was a 15-minute phone call, which meant that they each got five minutes on the phone with their dad," Evgenia Kara-Murza said. "I had to measure those minutes with a timer." (Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Ros Russell) (WJW) A man convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl was arrested by U.S. Marshals on Monday. According to the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, investigators received a tip that Daeron Slars, identified as their Fugitive of the Week, was staying at Motel 6 in Middleburg Heights. He was taken into custody Monday afternoon. Warrant: Man forcibly pushed woman out of SUV He was wanted by the Ohio Adult Parole Authority and the United States Marshals Service for a parole violation. He was also wanted by the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Office for failure to register as a sex offender. According to the Ohio sex offender website, Slars was convicted of rape in 2002. The victim was a 12-year-old girl. Woman found dead on I-90 after unknown trouble Officials described Slars as 5 feet 11 inches and about 220 pounds. He has a tattoo of a tiger on his upper right arm, a tattoo of a snake and heart on his upper left arm, and a tattoo of a skull/animal on his chest. CLICK HERE to find registered sex offenders near you. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. A residential building in Pechersky district of Kyiv was damaged during an enemy missile attack, the Telegram channel of the Kyiv City Military Administration reported on Monday. "According to preliminary information, as a result of a missile attack on Kyiv, debris was recorded falling in Pechersky district. A residential building was damaged. Operational services are heading to the scene. The data are being clarified," the head of the capital's military administration, Serhiy Popko, said. In turn, the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, reported on his Telegram channel about emergency calls to Pechersky, Solomiansky and Dniprovsky districts of Kyiv. "Units are going to the places," he noted. Susan Hall says crime has spiralled out of control in London Conservative Susan Hall has launched her mayoral election campaign with a promise to "listen to Londoners". On Sunday in Uxbridge, the Tory hopeful accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of having "ignored" voters in the capital. She said she would focus on what she described as the "unfair" expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez). In response, incumbent London Mayor Sadiq Khan warned a Conservative mayor would "cancel" his policies. The mayoral election on 2 May will use the first past the post system, rather than proportional representation. Mr Khan is currently seeking an unprecedented third term in office and launched his election campaign last week with a pledge to build 40,000 new council homes by the end of the decade. Recent polling by Savanta suggests Ms Hall is languishing behind Mr Khan by about 26 points, despite the public being split on the mayor's record in office. The poll showed 51% of voters saying they would back Mr Khan against 27% who said they would vote for Ms Hall, with younger voters and those who are Asian or black overwhelmingly backing the mayor. Ms Hall's key pledges include scrapping the expansion of the Ulez scheme on her first day in office and reopening the London Plan in an attempt to boost housebuilding. The London Plan is also in Mr Khan's development strategy. She would also encourage the removal of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), and "remove unnecessary 20mph zones on main TfL-controlled roads" if elected. Speaking on the day of her campaign launch Ms Hall said: "Sadiq Khan has ignored Londoners for eight years. If he wins a third term, that would be giving him permission to ignore us again. "Crime has spiralled out of control after he shut police stations and failed to recruit police, rents have spiked because he has not built the affordable family homes Londoners deserve, and he has imposed his unfair Ulez expansion tax, hitting the lowest earners the hardest. "I am listening to Londoners. My priorities are Londoners' priorities and as mayor I will recruit more police, build more affordable homes and scrap the Ulez expansion on day one." Speaking in central London earlier on Monday, Mr Khan branded the May election as a "clear two-horse race" between himself and the Conservative candidate. He claimed Ms Hall would "cancel" several of his flagship policies including TfL fare freezes, free school meals, action on cleaner air and progress on police reform. The mayor said: "The choice on 2 May is quite clear: Me, who's been delivering a fairer, safer, greener, more affordable London, or the Tories who would cancel that." Mr Khan emphasised the possibility of "real transformation" for the capital if he was re-elected alongside a Labour government. He added: "There's a possibility of a Labour mayor and a Labour government working together, rather than rowing against the tide of a Tory government. "We'd have the winds of a Labour government at our back, bringing about real transformation in London." Ms Hall's campaign spokesman said Mr Khan's comments were a "complete distortion of the truth". Mr Khan has promised not to expand the Ulez scheme further if he returns to the role after May's election. The zone was widened last August to cover the whole of Greater London, a controversial move overseen by the London mayor. On the same day as Ms Hall's campaign launch, Mr Khan ruled out increasing the charge if he was re-elected and said there would be no changes to vehicle restrictions. Meanwhile on Monday, Age UK held a hustings, campaigning for older Londoners' interests ahead of the election. The only candidate who turned up was the Green Party's Zoe Garbett with the rest of the main party candidates sending stand-ins. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk Giant salamanders and some of the world's largest frogs and turtles are among the creatures with a new home at London Zoo. The Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians exhibit opens on 29 March. It will house more than 30 species, some which are highly unusual and endangered. The zoo supports their conservation, captive breeding programme, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) said. Visitors will be able to see the zoo's group of mountain chicken frogs, which were airlifted to safety from their Caribbean home in 2009 in a last-ditch bid to save the species from extinction due to a killer fungus. They are kept in a bio-secure unit to protect them from disease, with sterilised soil and plants dipped in dilute bleach solution, before being placed in the enclosure and staff changing their clothes before working with them. Also among the residents of the exhibit are two Chinese giant salamanders, the world's largest amphibians, which were rescued from being smuggled in a cereal box in 2016, before coming to live in the zoo. It is hoped the critically endangered pair will breed as the keepers say it is likely they are a male and female. Some 16 of the creatures in the exhibit are "Edge" species meaning they have few evolutionary relatives and are often extremely unusual in their genetic make-up and the way they look, live and behave. They include the crocodile lizard, which has no more that 1,000 individuals in the wild in southern China and northern Vietnam, and the big-headed turtle - which, as the name suggests, has a large head that cannot retract into its shell. Four adult big-headed turtles came to the zoo in 2018, having been confiscated after being smuggled in Canada, and seven youngsters were born in 2021, making London Zoo the first European zoo to breed them. Amphibian and reptile species are threatened by habitat loss and being caught for meat and the pet trade, while amphibians in particular are at risk from disease such as chytrid fungus which all but wiped out mountain chicken frogs. The team at ZSL says having animals in their care means they are able to research and learn about their lives and behaviour in ways that can help their survival in the wild. For example, they are carrying out analysis of their Ethiopian mountain adders to see if the patterns on the snakes are stable, and if so could be used as identifiers of individual snakes which would support monitoring and conservation in the wild. The secret life of reptiles and amphibians building has been designed to meet the needs of each of its 33 species, with different climate-controlled zones, and staff checking temperatures, water quality and humidity on a daily basis. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) One of the locations for a popular pizzeria thats been around the Midstate since the 1970s recently relocated to a bigger storefront earlier this month. The popular Two Cousins Pizza shop which is located right outside of Quarryville, Pa., is owned and operated by two Mexican brothers named Oscar and Eduardo Franco. According to Oscar, he and his brother first purchased this Lancaster County-based location back around 2003, after the two moved to the U.S. in the late 90s, early 2000s. Previously, the brothers Two Cousins Pizza shop was located at 127 Townsedge Drive at the Townsedge Shopping Village, but recently they decided to relocate a few doors down to a much more spacious storefront at 112 Townsedge Drive. Popular ice cream franchise opening new Lancaster County shop This [new space] is two times the size as our previous, Oscar explained. I recently got my brewing license and need more space for our brewing operation, and we needed more dining room space for our customers. According to Oscar, their new 3,200-square-foot storefront is now able to seat about 50 guests at a time; the new space also features a bar area as well. Owners Oscar and Eduardo Franco Two Cousins Pizza in Quarryville made its official debut in their new location on Wednesday, March 20. The new location will offer the same hours of operation as their previous location, which are: Mondays Thursdays // 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays Saturdays // 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays // 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. To check out Two Cousins Pizzas full menu, you can visit their website by clicking here. abc27 news will keep you updated as more information becomes available. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. In the past three years, Centre Countys public schools have spent more than $36,000 searching for new superintendents. Since 2021, four of Centre Countys five public school districts have gone through the process of finding and hiring new superintendents, with both Bellefonte and Bald Eagle area school districts currently looking for their next superintendents. In the years after the COVID-19 pandemic, districts across the nation have struggled to keep superintendents. In the countrys largest school districts, around half had to replace a superintendent at least once between March 2020 and September 2022, EducationWeek found. Although superintendents are approved by the districts school board, they are often found through a consultant company hired by the board. Consultant companies are contracted to recruit candidates, verify credentials, gather stakeholder input and assist the board with the hiring process. Below is a look at the costs associated with those consultant companies. Bald Eagle Area Bald Eagle has gone through the superintendent search process twice since 2021. In April 2022, the board approved a $7,000 contract with School Assist Consulting, LLC to find a replacement for former superintendent Scott Graham. In July 2022, the board approved a contract for Curt Whitesel to start as superintendent. Following Whitesels resignation in January, the board approved another contract with School Assist Consulting for $9,000 to find another superintendent. Joseph Clapper, who is the interim superintendent for the district, was listed as a search consultant for School Assist Consulting on both contracts. Both contracts also included reimbursements for travel expenses. Bellefonte Following Superintendent Tammie Burnafords retirement announcement in October 2023, the Bellefonte Area School board approved a contract with DiRocco Education Consulting, LLC for $19,000 in November. On Wednesday, DiRocco Education Consulting held a community meet and greet with three finalists for the superintendent position but did not say when a final decision by the board could be expected. State College In May 2023, the State College Area board of directors approved a contract with Templeton Advantage, LLC for $17,500 plus $2,500 for travel to find a new superintendent. The contract came a month after Superintendent Bob ODonnell announced his resignation to become superintendent of the Downingtown Area School District. In May 2022, former assistant superintendent Curtis Johnson was appointed as interim superintendent and was approved by the board as superintendent in March 2023. Penns Valley As the only Centre County district without a recent change in superintendents, Penns Valley has not contracted a consulting company for a hiring in recent years. Brian Griffith has been with the Penns Valley district as superintendent since 2008. In 2021, the board unanimously approved to renew his contract until 2027. Philipsburg-Osceola After the departure of longtime superintendent Gregg Paladina, the Philipsburg-Osceola board approved Rodney Green to find a new superintendent for $5,000 in August. In November, the board hired Dan Potutschnig on as permanent superintendent, with a contract through 2027. (KTLA) Two properties associated with rapper Sean Diddy Combs in Los Angeles and Miami were searched Monday by federal Homeland Security Investigations agents and other law enforcement officers. The searches were connected to a sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York, the Associated Press reported, citing two law enforcement sources. The officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity. Helicopter footage from Nexstars KTLA captured several agents outside one of the properties in Los Angeles Holmby Hills neighborhood. Records showed that the home wasnt owned by Combs but was associated with his production company. A Mercedes-Benz G Class, often referred to as a G-Wagon located on the property was also registered to Bad Boy Productions Inc. Homeland Security agents surround a Holmby Hills mansion associated with rapper Sean Diddy Combs on Monday, March 25. (KTLA) Homeland Security Investigations sent the following statement to KTLA: Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners. We will provide further information as it becomes available. A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There have been several sexual assault lawsuits filed against Combs in recent months. In February, a music producer filed a lawsuit alleging Combs coerced him to solicit prostitutes and pressured him to have sex with them. Combs attorney Shawn Holley has said of those allegations that we have overwhelming, indisputable proof that his claims are complete lies. Combs former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, sued him in November alleging years of sexual abuse, including rape. The lawsuit said he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them. The suit was settled the day after it was filed. Another of Combs accusers was a woman who said the rap producer raped her two decades ago when she was 17. Combs had said in a December statement, I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. Combs is among the most influential hip-hop producers and executives of the past three decades. Formerly known as Puff Daddy, he built one of hip-hops biggest empires, blazing a trail with several entities attached to his famous name. He is the founder of Bad Boy Records and a three-time Grammy winner who has worked with a slew of top-tier artists including Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, Usher, Lil Kim, Faith Evans and 112. Combs created the fashion clothing line Sean John, launched the Revolt TV channel with a focus on music, and produced the reality show Making the Band for MTV. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Video shows a team of Los Angeles home inspectors giving a group of a dozen squatters a reality check before they entered the home, changed the locks and boarded up the windows. "The police are gonna come," one of the squatters tells the inspectors in the front yard in cellphone video recorded earlier this month in the frontyard of a San Fernando Valley home. "That's fine," the inspector replies. "We're coming in." HANDYMAN FINDS CLEVER WAY TO REMOVE SQUATTERS FROM MOTHER'S HOUSE A still image taken from cellphone video shows the squatters eventually beginning to drag their own belongings out of the house as home inspectors took a look at the house they had invaded. A group known as the Squatter Squad took the video and says it has been legally removing squatters from private property since 2018. They use various legal techniques, applicable on a case by case basis, to remove people who invade homes and refuse to leave. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "This was a very tricky and complex job," said Lando Fehrenbach, a Squatter Squad member. The intruders were under the impression that any entry into the house required a three-day notice obtained through court. However, they were wrong. A building inspection only requires a 24-hour notice and does not have to go through the court, he said. NYC HOMEOWNER ARRESTED AFTER STANDOFF QITH SQUATTERS SHE SAYS ILLEGALLY TOOK OVER HER $1M PROPERTY A still image taken from cellphone video shows the squatters eventually beginning to drag their own belongings out of the house as home inspectors took a look at the house they had invaded. "They were just babbling nonsense," he added. However, the squatters were seen taking their own video, repeatedly insisting the inspectors had to go through court before entering, and warning that they had called the police. "We're gonna press charges," says one squatter, with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and holding a can of soda. "That's fine," the inspector replies. "Take me to court." WATCH: Los Angeles home inspectors send squatters packing before changing locks The owner sent a team of workers who showed up with their own port-a-potty and tools. Video shows that when officers did arrive, they stood in the street and let the inspectors do their work. The squatters wound up packing their belongings and leaving before the Squatter Squad installed no-trespassing signs, put a new lock on the gate and boarded up the windows. LA SQUATTERS TAKE LUXURY HOLLYWOOD HILLS MANSION, RENT ROOMS TO ONLYFANS MODELS: REPORT Earlier this month, police in New York City arrested a woman who said a group of squatters moved into her $1 million house and refused to leave. Police arrived after the squatters called 911 but did not stop the home inspectors from carrying out their work. She had inherited the property from her parents when they died, then found squatters living inside. She called the police, who escorted two strange men off of the property, according to the local ABC affiliate. However, when she changed the locks, one of the squatters came back with another police officer and accused her of breaking into the house. She was escorted out in handcuffs, but police declined to press charges on the burglary allegation. An NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital she had been released with a summons for unlawful eviction and was not arrested. Fox News' Mitch Picasso contributed to this report. Original article source: Los Angeles squatters sent packing as home inspectors enter, change locks, video shows HERSHEY, Pa. (WHTM) Louie the Raccoon has been crowned the grand prize winner of the sixth annual Cadbury Bunny Tryouts. As the winner, Louie will star in the 2025 Cadbury Bunny Tryouts commercial and will receive $7,000. Louie is a rescue from Miami, Florida who was rescued in 2021 by his owner Jaime Arslan after it was determined he could not safely live in the wild. Louie enjoys lounging in his favorite tree creating paintings with his toes to raise money for wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centers. Each year we look forward to crowning a new Cadbury Bunny, especially this year where we engaged fans in a new way through our bracket-style competition, said Natalie Shuntich, senior associate marketing manager at The Hershey Company. It was incredible to see pet lovers getting in on the fun. Witnessing how fans participated in each wave of voting, and the loving support for our thirty-cute finalists from Cadbury fans across the U.S. is a testament to the love for the Cadbury brand. National Aquarium Animal Care & Rescue Center new arrivals Pet owners across the United States submitted their pets through Instagram posts that explained why their pets should be chosen. The public voted on their favorite animals throughout March, with finalists being chosen to make up the Thirty-Cute and then being narrowed down to the Final Bunny. Were thrilled that Louie has been chosen as the winner of this years Cadbury Bunny Tryouts we are longtime fans of the Cadbury brand and are honored to see Louie join the long legacy of incredible Cadbury Bunnies, said Jaime Arslan, Louies owner. Louies TV debut in Cadburys 2025 commercial cant come soon enough! For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27. On March 15, 2024, 50 Louisiana National Guard personnel arrived in Texas to support the states border security operation. Louisiana is one of multiple states to send national guard members to Texas amid a clash between the Biden administration and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over border protection. But a viral social media image suggests that conventional National Guard members are not the only personnel being sent to the Lone Star State. The photo depicts a congregation of tactically outfitted alligators, allegedly en route to the U.S.-Mexico border. Louisiana National Guard on the way to help Texas secure the border. pic.twitter.com/h6U7jl0WaS DaneG (@Dane__Garcia) March 20, 2024 Though this would not be the first time that militaries have utilized animals for border securityThe Dispatch Fact Check previously covered the use of birds in military operations alligators are not in fact being deployed to Texas. A close examination of the image reveals multiple photographicand biologicalabnormalities. Most alligators in the picture have six legs, two more than the zoological consensus of just four legs per gator. The image, which first began circulating in late February, is either generated with artificial intelligence (AI) or otherwise doctored. Not only do the legs and feet look unnatural, but the sides of the body are entirely too uniform and have scales that dont look natural, Dr. Jeff Tamplin, a professor of biology at the University of Northern Iowa and caretaker of the universitys resident alligator, Steve, told The Dispatch Fact Check. The lateral trunk/abdominal areas of American alligators have a variety of scales (technically called scutes) of different sizes. Those in the photo appear too parallel, rigid, and too uniform to be from an undoctored photo or a non-AI-created source. Tamplin also believes that alligators would not be the most effective border agents. If the Louisiana National Guard wants to use a more aggressive species of crocodilian to deter border crossings, they would be better off importing Nile Crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) and/or Saltwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus), he said. Both of those species are much more aggressive than the usually docile American alligator. The Louisiana National Guard did not respond to a request for comment. If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. The loved ones of a man killed in a violent attack say their lives have been "irreparably changed and damaged". Craig Maposa, 26, had been on a night out with friends in Dryden Street, Leicester, when he was set upon at about 05:40 BST on 5 August. He died in hospital a few days later as a result of head injuries. Blessing and Brendon Mukunguruste, 27 and 31 respectively, were jailed for four and a half years after admitting manslaughter. Leicestershire Police said an argument occurred between Mr Maposa and the brothers after leaving a nightclub on the night of his death. After turning into Gower Street, the defendants attacked the victim, punching him to the floor and knocking him unconscious. The pair then dragged the victim out of the road, leaving him alone on the pavement, before leaving the scene. Police said Mr Maposa regained consciousness a short time later and was helped by a member of the public, who walked with him towards Gravel Street. A taxi took him to his home address in the Eyres Monsell area of Leicester at about 08:25, where he was found unresponsive the following day. Mr Maposa was taken to hospital and tests found he had a large bleed on his brain. He was pronounced dead on 7 August. Detectives from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit murder investigation team identified the brothers as being involved in an altercation with Mr Maposa and they were arrested. After admitting manslaughter, they were sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on Friday. The victim's family said their lives had been "irreparably changed and damaged" in a statement released after the sentencing. Future 'taken from him' It said: "Craig was a remarkable person who treated everyone with love and kindness and it is so sad he did not get this in return. "Craig's passing has had a massive impact on our lives. We are truly devastated and miss him so much. We miss his quirky sense of humour, his dances, his cheeky smile and his huge presence. "Craig came to the UK from Zimbabwe in 2009 at the age of 11 and grew up to be a responsible, loving and caring man. He had visions for the future but never forgot his past. "We grieve the hole his death has left, and we grieve the future that was taken from him." Det Insp David Greenhalgh described the attack on Mr Maposa as "violent", with a "tragic outcome". He urged anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation to walk away from a disagreement, warning of the "devastating consequences" that could arise. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Nearly 80 California-based non-profit organizations received millions from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott during her latest round of contributions. Scott announced she would donate about $640 million to 341 charities nationwide. Of that pot, about $137 million went to organizations that serve Californians. Most organizations, like Centinela Youth Services in Los Angeles County and The LGBTQ Center Long Beach, received a $2 million donation, while others received $1 million. Newsom expands State of Emergency in Southern California, requests Presidential Major Disaster Declaration The organizations missions range from youth development and vocational training to civic and social engagement. The philanthropist typically donates to organizations after privately researching them, but this time, she partnered with the philanthropic group Lever for Change to analyze over 6,000 applicants after announcing an open call. The various organizations were chosen for their outstanding work advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means, and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles, Scott wrote in her post. The complete list of California-based organizations that received funding can be found here. What started as a plan to donate $1 million each to 250 charities nationwide ended up doubling, with about 279 organizations receiving a $2 million donation and the rest receiving $1 million. Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott reveals the groups that got some of her $2.1 billion in gifts in 2023 Scott, who helped grow and establish Amazon alongside her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos, pledged to donate half of her wealth, which Forbes estimates to be $36.5 billion. So far, Scott has donated $17.3 billion to over 2,300 non-profit organizations, her website stated. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA. On Monday, Russian occupiers fired two ballistic missiles at Kyiv from the occupied Crimea peninsula, both were shot down, according to the Telegram channel of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "At about 10.30, the enemy attacked Kyiv with two ballistic missiles from the temporarily occupied Crimea. The targets were destroyed, the type is being established," Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk said. The Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in a Moscow suburb last week, had recently made "several attempts" at attacks on French soil, French President Emmanuel Macron said on March 25. He added that French intelligence had information proving it was "an entity of IS that planned the attack and carried it out" and said it would be both "cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine." Several gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a Moscow suburb, on the evening of March 22, killing at least 137 people and injuring at least 140, according to the latest updates by the Russian authorities. Despite IS claiming responsibility for the attack and releasing bodycam footage, the Kremlin is attempting to pin the blame for the attack on Kyiv. Speaking on March 23, Putin said a total of 11 people involved in the shooting had been detained, four of whom described as "the perpetrators" have since been indicted. "They tried to escape and were moving towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window for them to cross the state border was prepared on the Ukrainian side," Putin claimed. Read also: Opinion: Troops in Ukraine? France-Germany spat plays into Putins hands Other Russian officials previously alleged Ukraine's involvement in the attack without providing any evidence and citing it as a reason to intensify Russian attacks against Ukraine. Kyiv has dismissed the allegations of its involvement in the mass shooting. The White House said there was no indication that Ukraine was behind the Moscow attack. Macron told reporters, as cited by Le Parisien, that given the attack in Moscow, France which this summer hosts the Olympic Games had upped its terror threat alert to its highest level. He added that he hoped to "find the culprits as quickly as possible" and called for continuing to "fight effectively against these groups which are projecting themselves into several countries." Macron also promised "increased cooperation" with Russia to combat the terror threat. The four men indicted by Russia over last weeks attack have been identified by Russian media as Murodali Rajabalizoda, Dalerjon Mirzoev, Muhammadsobir Faizov, and Faridun Shamsiddin, all Tajik nationals. Three of the four defendants admitted guilt to all charges in a closed-door session on March 24, according to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report. The court ordered that the men be held in pre-trial custody until May 22. They face a maximum sentence of life in prison. Read also: Evidence shows recent presidential elections most rigged in Russias modern history Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. By Lisandra Paraguassu and Elizabeth Pineau BRASILIA/PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron, who criticized Brazil's previous government for failing to protect the rainforest, will arrive on Tuesday in the Amazon at the start of a three-day visit to the South American country. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will meet Macron in Belem, near the mouth of the Amazon River, where the two will visit conservation parks with sustainable development projects and meet with Indigenous leaders. "Lula wants to show Macron the complexity of the Amazon, which is not just a vast rainforest but also a place where 25 million people live," Brazil's top diplomat for Europe and North America, Maria Luisa Escorel, told reporters on Friday. She said the French government intends to fund sustainable development and programs to stop deforestation in the Amazon. Lula and Macron will discuss a common course to fight both climate change and poverty as Brazil prepares to host the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November and United Nations climate talks in Belem next year, both of which the French president will attend, the Elysee said in a briefing. A stalled trade agreement between the European Union and the South American common market Mercosur will not be on their agenda because it is not a bilateral matter, Brazilian and French officials said. Macron, who faces pressure from French farmers to kill the deal, has said he opposes the agreement that has been under negotiation for two decades. Brazil, in turn, is unhappy with EU legislation passed last year barring imports of coffee, beef, soy and other commodities if they are linked to recent deforestation, which Brazilian farmers consider a protectionist offensive. Despite those issues, relations between France and Brazil have recovered from a low point in 2019 when Macron led a wave of international pressure on then-President Jair Bolsonaro over fires raging in the Amazon. Bolsonaro accused Macron and other G7 countries of treating Brazil like "a colony". "After a four-year eclipse and a virtual freeze in political relations between our two countries during Bolsonaro's presidency, we are in the process of relaunching the bilateral relationship and the strategic partnership with Brazil," a French presidential adviser said. On Wednesday, at the Itaguai shipyard outside Rio, Macron and Lula will launch the third Scorpene-class diesel-powered submarine built in Brazil with French technology, part of a $10 billion program that will build Brazil's first nuclear-powered submarine at the end of the decade. The program is a partnership with France's state-run Naval Group in which the Thales defense group has a 35% stake. Macron will meet business executives in Sao Paulo on Wednesday afternoon and make a state visit to Brasilia on Thursday, meeting again with Lula and the head of the Senate. (Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris; Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Brad Haynes and Estelle Shirbon) Its well known that country singer Kacey Musgraves has major love for the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo and one of its signature pink treats in particular. Now that love has been immortalized in song. Musgraves released her fifth album, Deeper Well, on March 15. The seventh song off the record, Dinner with Friends, lists things the popular artist would miss when she dies. Partway through the list? The layers and ruffles in my favorite pink champagne cake, the singer croons. Now at first this may seem like a somewhat general thing to include there are plenty of bakeries that offer fluffy pink cakes, after all. But Musgraves has already confirmed that its about none other than the Madonna Inns beloved dessert. I really debated on whether it should be my favorite or this certain, Musgraves said in a recent episode of American Expresss Story of My Song where she explains the lyrics. Because it is this certain cake, from this one place its called the Madonna Inn. Its like this layered, pink, beautiful, 50s-looking cake, and its the best thing in the world. The inclusion in a song is perhaps not surprising. In 2022, Musgraves gave a shoutout for the sweet treat during a sold-out performance at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. They have this thing there called the pink champagne cake? Musgraves said in front of the crowd of 20,000 screaming fans. I live for this confection. During that concert, Musgraves revealed she had struck a deal with the hotel to provide her with a couple of their pink champagne cakes in return for concert tickets. On her Instagram story, Kacey Musgraves showed off the two pink champagne cakes she had delivered from the Madonna Inn to her concert at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 20, 2022. A pair of Madonna Inn employees then drove the fragile cakes four hours from San Luis Obispo to Musgraves dressing room ahead of the concert. We had no idea that she was gonna say something on stage, Amanda Rich, marketing manager for the Madonna Inn, said at the time. It just kind of shows the kind of person she is, that she would actually say something, you know, in front of all her fans. It was just amazing. When reached for comment on the local desserts lyrical debut Tuesday, Rich told The Tribune it was beyond cool. We are honored! she said. We would love to be able to deliver another cake to her. A far-right state senator in Pennsylvania is going to war against long-lingering condensation trails left in the sky by aircraft, proposing legislation that leans into a conspiracy theory that they contain harmful chemicals. The so-called chemtrails theory posits that planes are secreting toxic chemicals into the air for nefarious but vague purposes, running the gamut from weather control to forced sterilization to mind control. Contrails, the theory goes, are not benign vapor streams, but rather proof of the secret programs at work. Scientists, including researchers at Harvard, have said there is no evidence for the existence of chemtrails. The bill proposed by Sen. Doug Mastriano would ban the release of substances affecting the states temperature, weather, or sunlight into the atmosphere over Pennsylvania by updating a state law passed in 1967 to regulate amateur efforts to tinker with weather modification. The law was first inspired by unauthorized attempts to suppress hail in central Pennsylvania, requiring anyone who wanted to try cloud seeding to obtain a license first, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, which first reported Mastrianos memo on Friday. A spokesperson at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture told the newspaper that it had never received a license application and had never investigated unauthorized cloud seeding. Nevertheless, as Mastriano insisted in a memo to his colleagues this week, Recent developments and new technology have brought forward the need to modernize the 1967 law. Doug Mastrianos Personal TikTok Is Weirder Than You Could Possibly Imagine Arguing that the federal government has stepped up its weather regulation experiments, he claimed that silver iodide, an agent commonly used in cloud seeding, is known to be toxic. (Silver iodide is a naturally occurring compound and is not known to be harmful to humans or wildlife, according to the Desert Research Institute.) Mastriano also said that the government has ramped up efforts to fund and research solar geoengineering, an as-yet hypothetical method to cool the planet down by reflecting the suns rays back into space using aerosols. With its efficacy and risks still under fierce debate, only a handful of small-scale projects are currently in operation, according to Reuters. In waxing hysteric about these experiments being conducted outdoors, Mastrianos memo cited a Wall Street Journal article from last month. The story centers around three geoengineering field experiments in Massachusetts, Australia, and Israel, with the Journal reporting that the experiments are currently closer to simulations, with white smoke and sea salt being the substances sprayed into the air. Spraying unknown, experimental, and potentially dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere without the consent of the people of Pennsylvania is a clear violation of Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution, Mastriano wrote. The memo did not explicitly mention chemtrails, but the state senator noted that his bill will mirror a measure passed in the Tennessee Senate this week that claims there is documented evidence that the federal government is conducting geoengineering experiments by intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere. Mastriano also has a long history of yelling about clouds. After losing badly to his Democratic rival in the 2022 gubernatorial race, Mastriano tweeted four photos of contrails, captioning it ominously, Over Franklin County today. The photos, as well as a followup link he posted to an article about solar geoengineering, were widely viewed as a nod to the chemtrail theory. GOP Election Losers Are Getting Even Weirder on Twitter Last November, he took to Facebook to post yet another contrail photo. I have legislation to stop this, he said. I took this at 4:15pm Monday in Chambersburg. Normal contrails dissolve / evaporate within 30-90 seconds. A common refrain amongst chemtrail truthers, the notion that normal contrails are quick to dissipate, has been disputed by experts. NASA has said that most contrails remain visible for four to six hours, with the National Weather Service explaining that their longevity is proportional to atmospheric humidity. David Keith, a professor of applied physics at Harvard, wrote in a response to the many emails and letters worrying about chemtrails his research group has received that all the evidence theyve seen has been very weak. The most common claim is simply that aircraft contrails look different, without any comparative analysis. This as convincing as saying that alien beings walk among in disguise as people because some people act very strangely, he pointed out. If there were any concerted efforts by the government or some shadowy conglomerate of the rich and powerful to dispense chemtrails over the country, it would also be all but impossible to keep it under wraps, according to Keith. Mastriano did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. An Army veteran and election denier, the 60-year-old has served in the state Senate since 2019. Late last year, The Daily Beast reported that he was among more than a dozen state lawmakers identified by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee as having ties to the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. After Trumps election loss, Mastriano was among those calling on Mike Pence to delay certifying the result, and sponsored a resolution that would have allowed the designation of alternate electors. He helped organize busloads of pro-Trump supporters to attend the rallies in Washington, D.C., and himself was in the city on the day of the riots. When it was apparent that this was no longer a peaceful protest, my wife and I left the area and made our way out of the area, Mastriano said in a statement shortly after the insurrection. At no point did we enter the Capitol building, walk on the Capitol steps or go beyond police lines. Online sleuths soon figured out that that wasnt quite the case, with video showing him walking through police lines and near the Capitol steps well after the demonstration turned violent. Mastriano resisted the fresh allegations, calling them the desperate claims of anonymous keyboard warriors. He said he had followed the directions of the Capitol Police and respected all police lines as I came upon them, but that it was common knowledge those lines shifted over the course of the day. 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. Mira Parmar is pictured in action as a makeup artist. Courtesy of Mira Parmar If you look at social media, the life of a makeupartist or hair stylist seems glamorous. But have you ever had any insight into how much money they actually make? The beauty industry is filled with freelance creatives who, more often than not, are not paid fairly which makes pay transparency more important than ever. We spoke to Mira Parmar, a freelance international makeup artist, hair stylist and content creator based in London who revealed her fees and explained how she makes a living in the industry. In addition to her freelance work, Parmar also creates content for her 23,600 followers on Instagram. She has more than 15 years of experience in the beauty industry, working with talents and publications including Suki Waterhouse, Cara Delevingne, Vogue, Elle and others. The life of a freelance creative has its ups and downs, so income isnt standard in a year. But Parmar shared that in an average year, she makes upward of $95,600. Heres how it all adds up. Parmar is shown working on beauty shoots. Courtesy of Mira Parmar Parmars Rates For Various Work Parmar doesnt have an agent, so she has to set and negotiate all her fees by herself. The rates listed below refer to her work as a makeup artist, but because shes also trained in styling hair, she offers her clients the option to add that to booked jobs. This is negotiated beforehand, and on average she adds $440 to the rate. Parmar always charges a full days rate, even if the job lasts for a couple of hours. She does this because she wont be able to book another client for the rest of the day, so she will essentially end up losing money if she agrees on a half-day rate, she explained. Makeup For Editorial: $440-Plus This fee is a day rate, which is either 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Parmar will work on one or two models.Sometimes editorial rates are lower or for free, which I think should be banned! she said. I like that some agencies are saying their artists will not be working for free from now on. Makeup For Red-Carpet Events: $440 To $1,200-Plus Parmar explained that for the red carpets, the fee changes depending on which celebrity, actor or talent she is working with and for what brand. This is a set rate, and its usually a glam and go, she said. This means that after the makeup is done (which normally takes about 1 1/2 hours), she leaves. If there is an after-party following an awards ceremony, Parmar stays around to do the touch-ups, and she negotiates the rate beforehand. Makeup For Weddings: $820 To $1,200-Plus This fee is makeup for one person (the bride), and it varies. For example, if Parmar has to do a bridesmaids makeup as well, she will charge around $380 extra. If there are more bridesmaids needing to get their makeup done, Parmar will bring an assistant who is paid their own rate. Parmar usually leaves after the makeup is done, but if the wedding is within London, she might stay around for touch-ups. For destination weddings, Parmar charges the above plus accommodation and expenses for all travel days. Teaching: $370 To $500 This is a day rate (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) for teaching makeup application. Parmar works with a makeup school in London and often goes in to teach a small class of people. She explained that its a bit like a makeup master class, where she talks about products, the beauty industry, and how to get started as a makeup artist. She also does how-tos on specific techniques, like skin correcting or a trend-led technique like Pat McGraths base. Makeup For Campaigns: $1,070-Plus Brand campaigns include their lookbooks everything you see on a website has usually been done in a studio with a full team. Here, Parmar charges a day rate, and she usually does makeup for one or two models. Sometimes the rate can include very minimal hair styling. Generally two makeup artists work on the campaign. Makeup For Advertising: $1,200-Plus Advertising here is usually what brands will put on billboards. For TV ads, the fee is higher since they take longer to film, more touch-ups are needed, and makeup needs differ between filming and still photography. This is a day rate, and its usually from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in a studio, working on one or two models. Content Creation In terms of her content creation, she has set rates but negotiates a bit. She is specific in which brands she works with, and ensures theyre always brands that she loves. The prices vary depending on whether the brand is a startup or a big business, she added. Reels: From $1,070. Stories: From $315. Grid post: From $370. How Fees Have Changed In The Beauty Industry In Recent Years Since she started in 2008, the industry has changed a lot, Parmar said, with decreasing budgets and the implementation of artificial intelligence, both of which affect the jobs that a freelance creative books. The COVID-19 pandemic was a huge blow to the work of freelance makeup artists, Parmar explained, as brands chose artists willing to work for free or for the exposure, which is often used to justify unpaid work. During and post-COVID-19, brands started using influencers to sell their products rather than booking makeup artists for campaigns, as it was better for them in terms of budgets, overheads, studio costs, lunches, studio equipment, Parmar said. Brands were focused on sales and their social media reach, which made Parmar feels like they didnt even care if the influencers they hired for a campaign even liked their product. Compared with years ago, most brands can no longer afford international photoshoots and are trying to achieve the same results with a lower budget. Makeup artists are being asked to work for free when this job is a skill and should be paid. We all have to stick together in the industry, but sadly there will always be someone who will do the job for free, or for a low rate, Parmar said. Id like people to change the way they perceive creatives. We have to pay our bills and mortgages and keep ourselves afloat just like everyone else. Just because we are not in an office 9-6 doesnt mean we are not working, Parmar told HuffPost. Related... TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) Two people have been detained after a shooting Sunday night that left a man in his 60s dead, according to the Travis County Sheriffs Office. Deputies responding to multiple calls about a shooting found the injured man at 9:36 p.m. at Community First! Village in the 9300 block of Hog Eye Road, which is southeast of Decker Lane and Decker Lake Road. He died at the scene. This embedded content is not available in your region. Witnesses told deputies that two people had left in a car. Deputies stopped a car nearby matching that description and detained those inside. The shooting is an isolated incident and the public is not in danger, TCSO said in a release. Community First! Village emphasized that point when KXAN reached out, saying It appears to be domestic related, and were grateful that neighbors living in the Village are not and were not in danger as a result of the situation. It also said TCSO would provide the latest information on the investigation and said we are very saddened that this incident happened in our neighborhood, and we are heartbroken for everyone involved that such a tragedy has stricken our community. Community is a key tenet of Community First! Village, according to its website. The master-planned neighborhood provides affordable housing and support services for those who experienced homelessness and brings neighbors alongside to support the effort. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) An arrest was made in connection with a deadly shooting on Friday, May 26, 2023. Keith Williams, 34, was charged with second-degree murder and illegal use of weapon. The shooting took place in the 4100 block of West Brookstown Drive. The Baton Rouge Police Department said in a news release that Robert Lee Lavallias Jr. 29, died at the scene. Williams was originally arrested by the U.S. Marshals Task Force in Dekalb County, Georgia as a fugitive, according to the BRPD. He was then extradited to Baton Rouge. Williams was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Thursday, March 21. Two hurt in shooting at Baton Rouge park on Sunday, officials say According to the parish prison inmate list, no bond has been set for Williams as of the publication of this article. He remains in jail. Latest News For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A 60-year-old Kansas City, Missouri man is facing charges in connection to a shooting last week that left 45-year-old man dead. Jackson County prosecutors on Saturday charged Tyron Lee Sims with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. According to court documents, Kansas City police officers responded just after 5 a.m. on Wednesday, March 20, to the sound of shots fired in the area of W. 38th Street and Wyandotte Street. Lawrence man sentenced to 56 months for causing fentanyl-related death When officers arrived on scene they determined a shooting had occurred and found a man unresponsive. He was pronounced dead on scene and later identified as Willie Spencer. Court documents say the victim was shot two times. When interviewed by detectives, Sims first denied having shot Spencer or having a reason to shoot him but would later explain that the victim had stolen from him specifically and raped associates of his, according to court documents. Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android Sims is being held on a $100,000 cash only bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on April 1 at 1:30 p.m. for a bond review hearing. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) Police said a man charged in the rape of an employee at a business in Annandale may be connected to other similar crimes. The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) said Kevin Lopez-Altan, 24, of Annandale, faces a number of charges related to the attack that took place on March 20. Investigators said Lopez-Altan went to a business near Marr Drive and tried to walk into it. He was not allowed to enter. Police said Lopez-Altan made another failed attempt, then forced his way into the business on his third try. Thats when hes accused of assaulting the employee, physically and sexually. The employee was able to escape, and she called 911. On Friday, March 22, detectives found out that the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) Police Department was investigating a sexual assault attempt and that NVCC police officers identified Lopez-Altan as the person involved. The NVCC police department obtained warrants for Attempted Rape and Abduction with Intent to Defile. Detectives found Lopez-Altan Friday afternoon and, with the help of Mason patrol officers, took him into custody. On Saturday, FCPD detectives charged Lopez-Altan with a total 10 felony charges: Rape (3 counts) Forcible Sodomy (3 counts) Object Sexual Penetration Abduction with Intent to Defile Burglary Strangulation As of Monday, Lopez-Altan was being held without bond. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. A Kentucky man who reportedly robbed multiple Lexington and Frankfort convenience stores in a single day is facing several charges in federal court. Maurice Curry is charged with five counts of Hobbs Act robbery and four counts of possession of a firearm during a violent crime, according to court documents. The Hobbs Act prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce in any way or degree, according to the Department of Justice. In the indictment returned on March 21, Curry is alleged to have robbed several convenience stores. On Sept. 10, 2023, Curry entered Lex Liquor and a Speedway gas station on Tates Creek and held the clerks at gun point, according to court documents. Later that same day, Curry allegedly entered three Frankfort stores Katz Food Mart, Walgreens and a Shell gas station and held them against their will to turn over products. Court documents said Curry attempted to obstruct commerce and held clerks against their will through threatened force, violence and fear of injury. Curry faces a maximum of 27 years in prison and fines up to $500,000, and eight years of supervised release if he is convicted. His court appearance has not yet been scheduled. Number of victims in Pechersky district of Kyiv increases to five Klitschko The number of people injured as a result of a missile attack in Pechersky district has increased to five people, mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said. "There are already five victims in Pechersky district. Doctors provided assistance to three on the spot. Two were hospitalized," the mayor reported. Earlier, Klitschko said that among the victims was a 16-year-old girl. As reported, during an enemy missile attack on Kyiv on Monday, debris from downed missiles was recorded falling in Pechersky, Solomiansky, Dniprovsky and Holosiyivsky districts of the capital. In Pechersky district, as a result of falling missile debris, destruction was recorded in a non-residential three-story building. UPDATE: The victim in this crash has been identified as 47-year-old Quintrell Monroe, according to KCPD. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A man is dead after a police chase led to a single-car crash in Kansas City Monday morning, according to the Kansas City Police Department. KCPD said Missouri State Troopers had been chasing a Jeep SUV that refused to stop for a traffic violation around 2:00 a.m. Monday. Missing Overland Park man found dead in the woods at Clinton State Park According to MSHP, a trooper initiated a traffic stop for speeding and having no headlights on near southbound Interstate 35 and 16th Avenue in North Kansas City. The trooper suspected the driver of the car might have been intoxicated based on his observations. The man driving the car failed to stop when the trooper turned on his lights, that is when the chase began. The man drove south on Interstate 35 into Jackson County. The driver drove onto eastbound Interstate 70 until they exited at 31st Street and continued to 33rd Street. While the Jeep was speeding on westbound 33rd Street, it crashed into two telephone poles and a large tree at Indiana Avenue near Central High School. Missouri news: Headlines from St. Louis, Jefferson City and across the Show-Me State The driver was the only person in the jeep, and he was pronounced dead at the hospital. The Kansas City Police Departments Accident Investigation Unit is investigating the crash. Police said this is the 25th traffic death this year, compared to 14 at this time last year. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. A Lenexa man died after he was struck while riding an electric scooter Sunday in Overland Park. Greggory Bennett, 39, was riding the scooter westbound on West 91st Street from Metcalf Avenue, when an eastbound vehicle hit him while turning left into a parking lot, according to Officer John Lacy, a spokesman for the Overland Park Police Department. Police responded to the crash around 7:10 p.m. Bennett was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries. The crash remains under investigation. Police ask anyone with information to call the traffic unit at 913-890-1482. LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) A man was killed after his motorcycle was hit by an ambulance Saturday night in Lawrence County, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). The crash occurred around 9:25 p.m. Saturday on Alabama 157 near Lawrence County 243, about 2 miles north of Moulton. Missing Child Alert: 15-year-old girl last seen leaving Athens home on foot ALEA said Sidney L. Canada II, 33, of Blountsville was killed when the motorcycle he was on was hit by an ambulance. Canada was pronounced dead at the scene. The ambulance driver and the patient on board were both transported to Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield for injuries, authorities added. Troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division are continuing to investigate and say no further information is available at this time. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. The 25-year-old man killed in East Harlem alongside an 18-year-old woman was a witness to at least three shootings in the last four years, police and sources said Monday. Harry Mendoza and Ashley Ballard were both shot in the head at the corner of E. 128th St. and Lexington Ave. just after 7:25 p.m. Sunday, cops said. Ballard also suffered a gunshot to the back, they added. Both victims were rushed to Harlem Hospital, where Ballard was pronounced dead. Mendoza died later Sunday night. It was not immediately clear why the couple was targeted, but police sources said Mendoza was a member of LA World street gang, sources said. Wrong time, wrong place, Ballards mother said of her daughters death Monday. She also told the Daily News that Ballard and Mendoza were friends. Ballards family are refusing to talk with police in the wake of the shooting, sources said. There were no arrests as police continued to search for the gunman. Over the last four years, Mendoza has been at the scene of multiple shootings, including one that killed 20-year-old Pond King. King, also a member of LA World, was killed in a May 10, 2020 shooting on E. 126th St. near Lexington Ave. just two blocks from where Mendoza would later be shot. Mendoza also witnessed non-fatal shootings in East Harlem in 2018 and 2019. He has 25 prior arrests in New York, sources said. So far this year, there have been four people killed in the NYPDs 25th Precinct, which covers East Harlem, according to police data released Sunday. As of the same time frame last year, there had not yet been a homicide in the precinct, according to the data. A Georgia man was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his former girlfriend. On March 19, 2024, a Meriwether County jury found Kevin Hudson, 64, of New York, guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. According to evidence presented at the trial, the victim, Stephanie Johnson, ended her relationship with Hudson in July 2022. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] On Sept. 8, 2022, Hudson entered her home without permission, took her guns, threatened her, and warned her not to call the police. She was able to get two messages to her closest friend, who called the police. When officers with the Manchester Police Department arrived, Hudson saw an officer outside and became irate, shooting her multiple times. As the officer tried to enter the front door, Hudson ran out the back into nearby woods where he hid the gun used to kill Johnson. Hudson hid under a shed and was discovered by a K-9 officer. TRENDING STORIES: In March of 2023, a neighbor found the murder weapon under a shed and turned it over to police. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation matched the bullets taken from Johnsons body to the gun. Hudson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus five years. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: A Georgia man is accused of shooting his grandmother during an argument, police say. The 23-year-old was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the March 24 incident, Dunwoody police said in a news release. Officers were called to an apartment just before 10 p.m. Sunday and arrived to find a 62-year-old woman who had been shot, according to the police department. Investigators said the woman had a brief verbal altercation with her grandson, who opened fire. She was hit in the upper chest, police said. Its not clear what led to the argument. The man ran after the shooting but was arrested nearby about an hour later, police said. His grandmother was taken to a hospital in stable condition and is recovering, according to authorities. Police didnt release additional information. Dunwoody is about a 15-mile drive north from downtown Atlanta. Husband may have arranged for wifes slaying in staged burglary, Washington cops say Argument between lifelong friends ends with one shot to death, Alabama police say 4-year-old shoots himself after finding gun under pillow before his nap, cops say KANSAS CITY, Kan. According to the U.S. District Court of Kansas, an Olathe man is suing a Tennessee congressman after posts accusing him of being a shooter at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade and an illegal alien. On February 14, a mass shooting at the end of the Chiefs celebratory parade rally killed a woman and injured many others, including children. A lawsuit has been filed in connection to X posts from Tim Burchett accusing a man in a photo, who was handcuffed and sitting on a curb, of being one of the shooters and an illegal alien. Lawrence man sentenced to 56 months for causing fentanyl-related death According to court documents, Denton Loudermill Jr. was at the parade to celebrate the Super Bowl win but was not involved in the shooting. When shots were fired, Loudermill froze as he tried to comprehend what was happening while many others ran. The lawsuit states that as Kansas City police were clearing the area, Loudermill was stopped and told he was moving too slow. Police handcuffed and sat Loudermill on a curb for about 10 minutes at which time a photo of him sitting there was shared on social media. Police then walked Loudermill a couple of blocks away and took the handcuffs off of him, according to court documents. He was neither charged nor cited with a crime. The following day, on February 15, Tennessee Congressman Burchett posted the image that circulated and claimed that one of the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade shooters has been identified as an illegal Alien, according to the lawsuit. Kansas news: Headlines from Wichita, Topeka and around the Sunflower State Loudermills lawyer claims that on February 18, Burchett posted It has come to my attention that in one of my previous posts, one of the shooters was identified as an illegal alien. This was based on multiple incorrect news reports stating that. I have removed the post. The lawsuit states that Loudermill is not an illegal alien nor a shooter and that it was circulated to millions of people around the world who saw Burchetts posts. It also claims that the false identification has caused Loudermill to receive death threats and suffer mental distress. According to Loudermills attorney, hes seeking at least $75,000 in damages. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) A man who just got out of jail for robbing a Wyoming bank in 2022 is back behind bars, accused of hitting the same Fifth Third branch days after his release. John Leon Tipton, 65, who has a lengthy criminal record, was in court Monday, charged with armed robbery for the March 22 heist. Its familiar territory. He pleaded no contest earlier this year to robbing the same Fifth Third Bank on Michael Avenue SW at 28th Street back in August of 2022. In that robbery, police say Tipton told a teller he had a gun and was robbing the bank. Wyoming bank robbery suspect arrested Prior to Friday, it was the last time a bank had been robbed in the city of Wyoming. Tipton on March 7 was sentenced in Kent County Circuit Court to 573 days in jail, but credited for time served since his arrest. He got out of jail that same day. About two weeks later, on March 22, police say he entered the branch at 2828 Michael Ave. SW shortly after it opened and demanded money from a bank teller, court records show. Defendant stated he had a gun and threatened that he would shoot the teller if she didnt give him the money, a Wyoming officer wrote in court documents. Defendant took the money from the teller and fled the scene. Police caught up with Tipton less than two hours later on 28th Street SW near South Division Avenue. He was arrested without incident. Tipton was arraigned Monday in Wyoming District Court on one count of armed robbery, a potential life offense. The judge denied the bond. A probable cause conference has been set for early April. Tipton has had numerous arrests dating back to the 1980s and has spent time in prison. In the 2022 bank robbery arrest, he was charged with being a habitual offender, but that charge was dismissed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com. The second reading of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill takes place in the House of Lords on March 27 - BusA Photography/Moment RF As many a leaseholder will testify, one of the biggest bugbears is having to stump up thousands of pounds a year in service charges without always seeing much value for money. Most flats in England and Wales are sold as leasehold, meaning you have the right to live there for the number of years set out in the lease. While you do own your property, the reality under this feudal housing law is more akin to a long-term rental, since you do not own the propertys freehold. Under a leasehold agreement you will have to pay money to the freeholder each year. This covers things such as insurance, upkeep of external walls, roof, lifts and cleaning of communal areas but annual costs can often be expensive. Time and time again we hear about residents who are unhappy with their management company and managing agents who may be employed by freeholders and fed-up with having to pay for shoddy or costly repairs. Stories about huge increases in leasehold apartment service charges and escalating ground rents have also repeatedly hit the headlines. Hundreds of leasehold-related complaints have been filed with The Property Ombudsman. If you live in a block of flats and want to see it run more efficiently and more cost-effectively then you may be desperate to change the status quo. One way to take more control is by acquiring the right to manage (RTM). Here, Telegraph Money explains what this entails. Whats involved in right to manage? Right to manage does not let you take over your buildings freehold (more on this below), but it does allow leaseholders to take control of the management of the building. This option will be a lot cheaper than buying the freehold, which can easily cost a few thousand pounds. With the RTM, costs are more likely to be in the hundreds. Paula Higgins, head of the HomeOwners Alliance, said: The right to manage can be a great option if you feel your building is being badly managed. Perhaps repairs and maintenance arent being completed in a timely manner, or you feel you are being overcharged for buildings insurance or services. Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, a group of leaseholders can club together and have the power to form an RTM company to take control of their own building. Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: Under current legislation, the right to manage applies to leaseholders of a building containing a minimum of two flats. At least two-thirds of the flats must be owned by long leaseholders and at least half of the flats in the building held by long leaseholders must take part. If you apply for RTM, the current freeholder can object with a counter-notice. Ms Higgins added: But the only reason your application can be refused is if you dont meet one of the list of qualifying conditions. Recommended 'Our dream of living in the building where James Bond was made turned into a nightmare' Read more Who can qualify for right to manage? Not all leaseholders will be eligible for RTM rules, so youll need to check if any of the following affects your claim. Firstly, the building must be made up of flats houses dont qualify at all and at least two-thirds of the flats in the building must be leasehold, with leases of at least 21 years when they were granted. In addition, at least 75pc of the building must be residential. An RTM company can be set up with any number of property owners, but at least half of the owners in the building must be members before it can take over management. Finally, the premises wont qualify if it is not purpose-built, has fewer than four flats in the block and if one of those flats has a freeholder or a member of their family living there. What are your right to manage responsibilities? While you, as an RTM company, may relish the idea of being in charge of ensuring your building is well maintained and insured at a reasonable price you need to be aware of all the responsibilities now falling on your shoulders. These include having to register with Companies House, file accounts and annual reports, and collect service charges from fellow leaseholders. Its also now down to you to take on the legal obligations in connection with management of a building (such as health and safety), arrange the right insurance policies, and handle any disputes. Be under no illusion: depending on the size and scale of the building and the condition it is in this can entail a large amount of work. The key is to get together with your neighbours, form a strong committee and strive to get along well. With any luck your skills can complement each other. Is this the same as taking over the freehold? As mentioned, acquiring the RTM is different from clubbing together with your fellow leaseholders and buying the freehold for your building. Also known as collective enfranchisement, the latter results in each flat owner ending up with a share of freehold. The amount you pay for the freehold will depend on how long is left on each of the leases, as well as the value of your apartments but it could be costly. As new reforms on buying freeholds have now been put before Parliament, it may be worth waiting if you can as the hope is that if these reforms are voted in, the process will get both cheaper and easier. That said, it could take months before these proposals become law, if they are passed. RTM can act as an alternative. The upsides of right to manage Taking over management responsibilities of your building means you are no longer subject to the whims of a third-party freeholder in the same way, which comes with lots of positives. You will, for example, be able to get competitive quotes for any work that needs to be carried out. You will also be able to enlist an independent insurance broker to compare costs. Ms Higgins said: Youll control what you spend so you can haggle for the best deals and keep service charges to a minimum. You will be able to get maintenance and repairs completed more quickly. It could even potentially make your home more saleable. Marc von Grundherr, director of estate agent Benham and Reeves, said: It will give you control of your building without the need to spend money on purchasing the freehold. But what are the downsides? While this may sound appealing, you need to bear in mind that setting up your own management company can be complicated and time-consuming. Mr Leaf said: As with many things in life, be careful what you wish for. Some leaseholders believe that a right to manage will solve all their problems, but this is not always the case. Saving some money on service charges may not help you in the long term if the value of your flat decreases because the communal areas are neglected. Problems can also arise if the residents involved have varied interests in the building, or if they cant agree on key decisions. Ms Higgins said: If you are going to group together you need to be able to cooperate with your other leaseholders. Its a good idea to meet with neighbours beforehand to ensure you get on and have a shared view of how the building should be managed. This is a view shared by Mr von Grundherr. He said: The downside is that you are running a company, and that takes time, commitment and resources for all involved. You need to ensure everyone is committed to making it work. The Residential Freehold Association (a representative organisation of the UKs largest freeholders) says there may not be as big an appetite for RTM as some claim. A spokesperson for the RFA said: Evidence suggests that most people simply dont want to take on these responsibilities. This is reflected in low levels of adoption. The body urges leaseholders to think very seriously about the requirements of running an RTM company. The RFA spokesperson added: Our members have numerous examples of these being set up in their portfolios, only for residents to later dissolve them and ask to revert, given an unwillingness to manage the responsibilities which come with the role. What if you opt out? If youre on the fence about RTM but other residents in the block decide they want to proceed, where does this leave you? In short, you will still retain your normal rights as set down in your lease as well as those laid out in current legislation. Mr von Grundherr said: You do have the option to opt out if you wish. In doing so, you will have no say in how the building is run. But ultimately, you will still benefit from the decisions made by other leaseholders provided they are for the better of the building. As an added bonus, you may get to benefit from improvements that get made to the block, without having to attend (potentially boring) meetings. Be clear on what youre signing up for While its important to tread carefully and go in with your eyes open you may be keen to go ahead. If you do want to press on with acquiring RTM, you need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and invest the time and effort required. If youre looking for more information about a right to manage claim, try the Leasehold Advisory Service. Whats next for leaseholders? The second reading of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill is due to take place in the House of Lords on March 27. This could make long-term changes to the residential leasehold property system in England and Wales. Propertymark is just one of the campaigners urging the Government to press ahead with the reforms. Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said: It is vital a ground rent ban is considered as part of the bill. There are many steps policymakers can take to simplify leasehold, such as making enfranchisement easier, the lease extension process being simplified, and freeholders joining a redress scheme where there is no managing agent. It now remains to be seen whether proposed greater protections will come into play. But dont hold your breath because as mentioned above, even if they do, it could take months before any such reforms become law. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Joel collapsed at home and was taken to North Manchester General Hospital Delays in the treatment of a boy who died from cardiorespiratory failure contributed to his death, a coroner has concluded. Joel Rawlinson was admitted to North Manchester General Hospital on 29 December 2019 after he collapsed. The 12-year-old had had heart surgery two weeks after he was born but lived a normal life since then. The "biggest issue" was failing to recognise how unwell Joel was, the inquest heard. Coroner Paul Appleton heard evidence about the case at Manchester Coroner's Court on Monday. Consultant paediatrician Dr Graham Mason, who reviewed the care given to Joel, told the court that on the balance of probability the boy, who had collapsed at his home in Middleton, would have survived if the failings had not happened. He said there was a "failure to recognise the seriousness of (Joel's) illness and escalate appropriately" adding "crucially that is the biggest issue". Manchester Coroner's Court also heard there was a delay in the attendance of a consultant in person and subsequent delays in transferring Joel to Manchester Children's Hospital. He died the next day at Alder Hey Children's hospital in Liverpool. He had been transferred there after doctors at Manchester Children's Hospital recognised he had suffered a ruptured aorta, leading to cardiorespiratory failure. Dr Mason added there was a "significant amount of focus around a potential diagnosis rather than recognising how severely unwell he was". 'Could have survived' Mr Appleton was also told on Monday that Joel's blood pressure was low and not responding to efforts to increase it. Dr Mason said there should have been further escalation at this point as "low blood pressure can reflect serious illness in Joel's case we now know there was a rupture to the right atrium". When asked by coroner, Paul Appleton, about the impacts of the delays during Joel's care, Dr Mason said: "On balance of probabilities he would have survived if all of the steps had been taken more quickly." Why not follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk Zelenskyy: if Russians ready to die silently in 'Crocuses,' then Putin will try to turn more than one such situation in favor of his personal power President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the shooting incident in the Crocus City concert hall near Moscow, which killed 133 people. "What happened in Moscow: obviously, Putin and other scum are simply trying to blame it on someone else. They always have the same methods. This has already happened. And there were blown up houses, and shootings, and explosions. And they always they blame others," Zelenskyy said in a video message. As the president emphasized, "they came to Ukraine, burn our cities - and they are trying to blame Ukraine. They torture, rape our people - and blame them. They have brought hundreds of thousands of their terrorists here, to Ukrainian soil, are fighting against us, and they don't care what happens inside their own country." "On March 23 all this happened, and this nonentity Putin, instead of dealing with his citizens of Russia, addressing them, was essentially silent - he was thinking about how to attract this to Ukraine. Everything is absolutely predictable," he said. "Those hundreds of thousands of Russians who are now being killed on Ukrainian soil would definitely be enough to stop any terrorists. And if the Russians are ready to die silently in the Crocuses and not ask their special services any questions, then Putin will try to turn more than one such situation into the benefit of his personal power," Zelenskyy concluded. As reported, on March 23, Vladimir Putin, as part of an address to Russians, said that four people detained on charges of committing a terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, trying to escape, were moving towards Ukraine, where a "window" had been prepared for them to cross the border. An image spreading across X appears to show Donald Trump Sergei Lavrov as the top Russian diplomat sits at the former US president's desk in the White House's Oval Office. But the picture is altered; the original shows Trump at the Resolute Desk and Lavrov standing beside him . "I remember feeling nauseous when tRump posted this photo because I knew hed done ithe had betrayed America," says a March 24, 2024 post on X, where disinformation has accelerated since billionaire Elon Musk purchased the platform in 2022. The image has spread across X amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Similar posts have circulated on other social media platforms for years. Screenshot from X taken March 25, 2024 The latest claims come as US military aid for Ukraine stalls in Congress -- thanks in part to Trump, who has pressured the Republican Party to deny further funding. Trump, who is running against President Joe Biden to retake the White House, has previously expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and boasted that he could immediately end the war in Ukraine. The Republican has also railed against NATO, saying in February that he would "encourage" Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" with alliance members who have not met their financial obligations. But the image circulating online is doctored -- the heads and neckties of each man are swapped. "The picture is clearly fake," the Trump campaign told AFP in a March 25 email. The original photo, uncovered via reverse image searches and confirmed by the campaign, shows Trump seated behind the Resolute Desk with Lavrov standing to his right. Alamy, a stock photo website, and US media such as CNN published the picture, captured during a December 10, 2019 meeting (archived here and here). Trump also posted it on social media (archived here). "Just had a very good meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and representatives of Russia," he said in a post on X. "Discussed many items including Trade, Iran, North Korea, INF Treaty, Nuclear Arms Control, and Election Meddling. Look forward to continuing our dialogue in the near future!" Screenshot from X taken March 25, 2024 AFP has debunked other misinformation about US politics here. Inside Look is a Star series that takes our readers behind the scenes of some of the most well-known and not-so-well-known places and events in Kansas City. Tony Caldwell gets a lot of questions about the building he owns at the intersection of 31st and Paseo. You look at the front side of it, and it looks so nice, little bitty, and then you turn the corner and it just keeps going and going, said the leader of the Justice and Dignity Center, a social services organization. The nonprofits visitors are not the only ones curious about the building, which looks like a mansion from the front, with a long structure extending the whole length of the lot. Reader Alex wrote into The Star, I would like to know the history of the old house at 3114 Paseo that has a huge structure built onto the back. Once accessible by a wide stone porch, the houses original front door is now boarded off, but you can see where it used to be from the inside. Scale-like trim and a bow window hide alongside drop-ceiling tiles and carpet, a reminder that the structure was built in the early 1900s. Originally a private home, 3114 Paseo was turned into a dance hall and union meeting space in the early 1920s with a three-story addition, including an auditorium more than 100 feet long. The building, known as Carpenters Hall, was a busy venue for social and union activities during its heyday in the 1920s and 30s. Now, the auditorium is largely unused. The Star recently got a tour of the building, where the Justice and Dignity Center holds meetings and meals in parts of the space. Solid stone residence 3114 Paseo was originally a 10-room house before the carpenters union bought it in 1923. Clipping from the Kansas City Star, March 18, 1923. Back when it was a private residence, it was occupied by the Benton family. The Kansas City Star and Times first mentioned the family in 1909. C.G. Benton, the patriarch, was described as a prominent grain dealer of this city, and worked as a lawyer and school teacher before rising to lead the Benton Grain company. The family held gatherings in their Kansas City home. One 1909 event thrown by C.G. Bentons daughter was described in The Star as an informal luncheon at her home, 3114 the Paseo. A large mound of violets adorned the table. Less than two weeks later, she was married at the home. While away from their Paseo home in 1916, tragedy struck the family. C.G. Benton dropped dead while on vacation in Colorado with his wife and daughter. The Kansas City Star speculated about the 61-year-olds death, it is believed mountain climbing may have overtaxed his strength. Maroon carpeting adorns the flooring of a room at the Justice and Dignity Center building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kansas City. Five years after Bentons 1916 death, the house was put up for sale. A 1921 advertisement touted the solid stone residence, 11 rooms, all large; billiard room with table. Hot water heat. Dances, music and an assassination Carpenters Hall at 3114 Paseo in 1959. From the cover of Labors Annual Directory and Buyers Guide - Kansas City, MO. Provided by Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library in Kansas City, Missouri. With the same stone on the facade, the addition seamlessly connects with the house structure on two stories. Though newer than the house, it is still almost a century old. In 1923, the Carpenters and Joiners union bought the building in 1923 for $27,500, and built a $50,000 addition off the back, according to The Star. The 1,800 member-union broke in the building with a Dancing Dedication Ball on Dec. 27, 1924, according to the Kansas City Journal. Thus began a long tenure of Carpenters Hall, as it was known, as both a labor union and nightlife hub in the 1920s and 30s. Purple carpet adorns the great hall of the Justice and Dignity Center building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kansas City. The large auditorium is rarely used these days, but once hosted raucous dances. A 1924 Kansas City Star notice said, Kum out and kut kapers with the Kanny Karpenters in their keen hall. In the 1930s, the venue held dances three nights a week, with beauty pageants and the occasional standathon, an endurance standing contest popular in the Great Depression. A 1931 event featured, slow, tempting fox trots, dreamy waltzes, hot rhythm numbers as you like them. During the summer of 1930, advertisements in newspapers touted the venues 30electric fans30. Opponents to Kansas Citys Pendergast regime, nicknamed rabbits, held their yearly celebrations at the place. In 1929, thousands of attendees ate Two Large Pieces of Fried Rabbit, One Pickle, Olives and Celery, A Small Loaf of Bread, Cup Cakes, Cup of Coffee. Stained glass windows adorn the great hall of the Justice and Dignity Center building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kansas City. Once called Carpenters Hall, it hosted some lively political meetings. In 1924, members of the American Legion interrupted a meeting, because they thought the attendees were communists discussing a bombing in Russia, according to the Kansas City Times. A legionnaire shouted, Hey, brother: are you an American? The speaker was and when asked why he wasnt presenting in the American language, he replied, because many persons in my audience wouldnt understand me. The Times concluded, the legionnaire apologized for interrupting the speaker and the delegation filed out of the hall. In 1934, carpenters union leader J.M. Stubblefield was inside a Carpenters Hall telephone booth when he was shot dead. The assassination was never solved, though reports at the time alleged it was provoked by rivaling union factions. The unique building today The Justice and Dignity Center at 3114 Paseo is seen on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kansas City. By the start of World War II, the dances and parties slowed down. Unions used the space until the 80s, and New Landmark United in Christ Church moved in after. Now, the wood floor creaks even under the carpeted aisles as Tony Caldwell makes his way through the high-ceilinged former dance hall. From a wooden pew, Caldwell takes in the space a sign above the entrance said maximum occupancy 791. Twelve two-story windows illuminate the room, with an arching proscenium above the stage. Caldwell said he only occasionally uses the room, most recently for a drill team performance. Evidence of the spaces 100-year-life is visible: fallen plaster, scuffed floors. Caldwell has worked on restoring the space in the four years hes owned it between the Justice and Dignity Centers food distribution and counseling programs. Caldwell said the organization was looking for a larger space where they could bring semis to. In the basement and house area of the building, volunteers cook for seniors every Thursday and hold community meetings every Monday. Wood flooring intersects in the great hall of the Justice and Dignity Center building on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kansas City. Looking at the stage, he pondered the buildings history. Im thinking about how they had to have a band up there in the top level. At that time-point, there was always live bands. While music only occasionally rings out through the former Carpenter Hall space, their songs, like the accordion tones of Duke Wellington, live on in imagination. Do you have a Kansas City oddity you want uncovered? Contact the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com. Geneva Smitherman ended up in speech therapy in her freshman year at Wayne State University in the 1950s, when she failed a test to screen incoming teaching students for possible speech problems. The speech therapy class was largely made up of people of color, including Black students like Smitherman, who spoke in Black English, a language spoken by many Black people across the country. The teaching assistant leading the class quickly realized that neither Smitherman nor most of the other students had speech impairments the test screened for, such as stuttering. They just spoke differently, pronouncing words contrary to standard American English and used different phrases. Being placed in a speech class made Smitherman mad, but she was used to being underestimated. As a child, her family was among Black Southerners who migrated north where good-paying jobs were plenty in the Midwest and to escape Jim Crow laws. When she moved north from Tennessee, Smitherman recalled, she was placed in second grade when her school records indicated she was supposed to be in third, even though she'd already learned to read. "I was just repeating stuff I learned already," she said. After getting placed in speech therapy, Smitherman committed her career to teaching and researching sociolinguistics, African American language specifically, and its place in the country. She's a co-founder of the African American and African Studies Department at Michigan State University. Multiple professors raised her name as one of the foundational researchers in African American English and its treatment in schools. Smitherman was also a central expert in a federal court case in Ann Arbor, a battle that revolved around the treatment of Black English speakers learning to read. As debates rage across the country over the way children learn to read and state lawmakers work to adopt measures that would promote the science of reading in schools, there's an oft-overlooked component to teaching children how to read: the language in which students speak, and specifically the language many Black students speak. Embracing the language that some Black students speak can encourage literacy, education leaders say. But other scholars still say there's work to be done to embrace Black English in the classroom and in understanding the most effective ways to teach speakers how to read and stoke enthusiasm about reading and literature as they age. Black English, or African American English, is a language spoken among Black Americans, according to scholars. The language originated as Africans and Europeans interacted during the slave trade, according to Smitherman. Raven L. Jones, an associate professor of teacher education at Michigan State University and co-founder of the Zuri Reads Initiative, which promotes literacy across metro Detroit, said the word "Yo" is one example of another way to say "hello" or refer to something as "your" in African American English. Jones wants her students, prospective teachers, to understand that there are many valid ways of speaking, reading and articulating ideas, including in academic environments. "I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a certain criticality or skill set that you bring into these environments," she said. "But they should also be representative of who you are." Ann Arbor school was front-and-center in Black English debate An Ann Arbor school in the late 1970s was once central in a court battle that started out about literacy and morphed into a case around Black English. In July 1977, about a dozen Black children attending Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School sued Ann Arbor Public Schools, claiming the district was providing an inadequate education. While the school was largely white, according to news stories from that time, the students who sued lived in public housing, and the suit claimed a higher proportion of students living in the public housing development were classified as students with disabilities, which they claimed was not a proper designation. Many of the students in the suit struggled to read. In 1977, the Student Advocate Center sued Ann Arbor Public Schools on behalf of about a dozen Black children. Here several people involved in the lawsuit interact with the media outside the Federal Building in Detroit. As the suit evolved, the judge limited the case to a language barrier issue. Attorneys with the Student Advocacy Center argued the children did not possess learning disabilities, but instead spoke African American English, a language the school's white teachers struggled to grasp or accept. Smitherman, now a distinguished professor emerita at Michigan State University, was tapped as an expert in the case. "This failure of the teachers to recognize the language as legitimate and the corresponding negative attitudes toward the children's language led to negative expectations of the children which turned into self-fulfilling prophecies," Smitherman wrote in 1981, reflecting on the case. "One critical consequence was that the childrenwere not being taught to read." A federal district court judge ruled in July 1979 that the school district had discriminated against the students due to the language barrier. According to a Free Press article from that time, the district was ordered to better train its teachers to understand Black English. Later, in 1997, the children and mothers involved in the case expressed mixed feelings about its outcome, and whether the training teachers received made a difference. Still, the case remains a milepost for a larger discussion of African American English in schools. In 1980, 5,000 people came to a symposium organized by Smitherman at Wayne State University, where the writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin delivered an address on Black English, telling the crowd that "all Americans speak an English that has been transformed by language of Black Americans." The symposium brought Baldwin, attorneys from the case and other education leaders together, who spoke about the impact of the judge's decision and the broader treatment of Black students in reading instruction. Dr. Geneva Smitherman in 1978, around the time she was called as an expert in the Student Advocacy Center's lawsuit against Ann Arbor Public Schools. Teaching African American English African American English still isn't fully embraced in the classroom, scholars and advocates said, but Smitherman and others said they're optimistic that educators today are doing a better job of responding to students who speak the language. And research by dozens of linguistics scholars, many of whom are in Michigan, has contributed to understanding the nuances and particulars of the language, including its role in the classroom and reading instruction. Yolanda Holt, a professor in the department of communication sciences and disorders and sociolinguist at East Carolina University, said consciously involving community members in research around reading and language is crucial to understanding how educators can better teach students who speak African American English. "All languages have value; if the child is able to communicate effectively, that's good," she said. "We want to use the language that they bring to school to engage them with literacy practices." Often, the conversation around African American English has seen the language as a deficit that needs to be addressed in school, Holt said, instead of an asset. And much of the broader research and dialogue around how children learn to read, often referred to as the science of reading, often leaves out the science of how African American English speakers learn to read, Holt said. One important nuance, Holt explained, is how African American English speakers might pronounce certain words. While words like "knob" are often universally pronounced the same way, there might be variations in how a child pronounces the word "fire," for example. An African American English speaker might pronounce fire like "fiyah." Using a science of reading approach, teachers often help students through phonics, mapping sounds to letters. But they may not take into account different pronunciations or language variations or may see the different pronunciation as a problem. If a student is using the "fiyah" pronunciation of the word, Holt said, "You have to direct them: 'Well, there's an 'R' sound on the end. ... So I understand what you're saying and that's perfect and beautiful, but we want to make sure that when you're reading, writing and listening, that we map that,' " she said. "That's a really simple thing. But we rarely see that talked about in the literature." Jamesia Nordman, a professor of English at Grand Valley State University who has taught English Language Arts and English across different grade levels, said, like Spanish speakers, young African American English speakers tend to oscillate between languages, from African American English to standard American English (SAE). Jamesia Nordman is an educator at Marshall Middle School in Marshall and spent part of Thursday, March 21, 2024, teaching eighth grade students about Black English. Teachers should "let them vacillate between AAE and SAE, and gradually teach them the SAE rules and mechanics and things like that. ... I think you just teach them in conjunction with one another," Nordman said. 'A place of understanding' Beyond the mechanics of reading instruction, there's another dimension to understanding African American English in classrooms: embracing it and showing children that they should value their language, Nordman said. "It is a language, it's not slang," she said. "We need to teach our kids that they're both valid and valuable." Nordman didn't always feel like her first language, African American English, was seen as valuable as a student growing up in Detroit, and felt she was often made to feel ashamed for the way she spoke, constantly being corrected. In college at Eastern Michigan University, people always noted her "accent," even though she was from Detroit, a 40-minute drive to EMU's campus. "It would have been really powerful if I had been able to come from a place of understanding," she said. To foster inclusion and hone a passion for reading, school libraries, classroom bookshelves and required reading should include books that include African American English, Nordman and others said. Some examples: "Game" by Walter Dean Myers, "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis, "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas, and "An Ode to the Fresh Cut" by Derrick Barnes. Jamesia Nordman, an English professor at Grand Valley State University and an educator at Marshall Public Schools in Marshall, talks with eighth grade students in the classroom of Roberta Nuttall on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Jones said to show they value the identities and experiences of students, educators can teach standard and Black English ideas side-by-side. For example, she said, standard English-speakers might say, "I'm OK." But there are other ways of communicating that in different communities, such as: "I'm straight," "We alright" and "I'm good." "Even though standard English is telling us one way of being and saying, it's the same with African American English: we're doing the same thing just in a different way, which is more culturally responsive to our needs," Jones said. "Sometimes, I'm not going to get out of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' what I'm going to get out of 'Push' by Sapphire, and 'Push' is saturated with African American English." Research around African American English is ongoing, and Holt encourages Detroit residents, if asked to participate in such research, to ask questions about the research being conducted, and to ask whether researchers are engaging Black families as part of that research process. "African American English, it's positive, it's not going anywhere," she said. "We want to encourage people to use a language that speaks to their soul." Smitherman is optimistic. Attitudes around "everything that's not the queen's English" have changed for the better, she said, adding, "I feel very good about the changes that have been made and that I've been a part of." A students worksheet on Black English from a session with educator Jamesia Nordman with eighth graders at Marshall Middle School in Marshall. Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Will African American English be embraced in the classroom? "I'm a veteran, of course I have my multi-tool and ibuprofen with me at all times." Pin-Ups for Vets recruited the military community to join in on the "of course" viral trend circulating the internet and it's been a smash hit online, with tens of thousands of views and hundreds of comments coming in to laugh at inside jokes, add in new ones, and reminisce in the joys and trappings of military service. WATCH the Pin-Ups for Vets video: https://youtu.be/YAqOczScvU0?feature=shared Non-profit organization Pin-Ups for Vets has had a busy start to 2024, with back-to-back VA and military hospital visits , morale-boosting events for the military community , and making headlines across the country promoting veteran welfare but theyve still managed to find the time to have a little fun. When founder Gina Elise asked her Ambassadors to chime in on typical military veteran traits, the troops jumped right in. From nailing proper push-up form to joking about tinnitus (the struggle is real!) to telling inappropriate stories, the Ambassadors of Pin-Ups for Vets tell it straight . They might be known for their iconic WWII-era outfits and styling, but make no mistake these veterans answered the call to service in all the branches of the military. Now, theyre dedicated to helping to improve the lives of deployed and hospitalized servicemembers and their families. The organization raises funds to donate rehabilitation equipment to military and VA hospitals, to send care packages to deployed troops, and to take care of Gold Star families and military caretakers here at home. Pin-ups for Vets pose with their calendars. Photo courtesy of Pin-ups for vets. Check out their video and let us know how many veteran stereotypes you are guilty of! And if you want to support the mission of Pin-Ups for Vets, be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram . Dont forget to check out their shop for patriotic goods, service-themed t-shirts, and, of course, their world-renowned pin-up calendar starring real military veterans! The Stormy Daniels hush-money trial against Donald Trump will begin jury selection on April 15, ruled Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan on Monday. This is Trumps first criminal trial on the books, as its still unclear if others will take place before the election. Outside the court, Trump slammed the decision, calling Merchan a disgrace to this country and claiming that the proceedings should not be allowed to happen. The trial was initially scheduled to begin on Monday, but was delayed by 30 days after the U.S. Attorneys office dumped more than 100,000 pages worth of documents on the trial, with more than 31,000 pages being released just days before the initial start date. On Thursday, however, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declared that the document dump had amounted to a big nothingburger, estimating that just 270 documents are new and relevant to the case and that most of them implied guilt or corroborated existing evidence. The overwhelming majority of the production is entirely immaterial, duplicative or substantially duplicative of previously disclosed materials, a filing by Braggs office said. Still, Trumps team attempted to argue that the district attorney was withholding information within the documents that could help Trumps defense, alleging prosecutorial misconduct during the first half of Mondays hearingthough Merchan didnt have much patience for such serious allegations. That you dont have a case right now is really disconcerting, he said before the hearing went into recess. You are literally accusing the Manhattan D.A.s office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct. The People went so far above and beyond what they were required to do that its odd that were even here, he continued. Trump is accused of using his former fixer Michael Cohen to sweep an affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels under the rug ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Hes facing 34 felony charges in this case for allegedly falsifying business records with the intent to further an underlying crime. Trump has pleaded not guilty on all counts. Cohen, who is anticipated to be a star witness in this trial, has no doubts that the former president will be found guilty in this case. I can tell you from everything I know about it, hes going to be found guilty, Cohen, the former Trump lawyer, said during The New Republics Stop Trump Summit in October. It was a day of highs and lows for the former president, who also got a financial reprieve in his $464 million New York bank fraud disgorgement on Monday after a New York appellate court gave Trump an additional 10 days to pay a reduced $175 million bond. Martin Greenfield, pictured in Brooklyn in 2012: as a teenager, he had been sent to work in the camp laundry and repair shop at Auschwitz - The Washington Post Martin Greenfield, who has died aged 95, became a master tailor, working for numerous celebrities and US presidents, from Eisenhower to Obama, after arriving in New York as a teenage survivor of Auschwitz. In 2014 he told his story in Measure of a Man, in which he recounted how he had learnt the rudiments of his craft in the death camp. The son of an industrial engineer, he was born Maximilian Grunfeld on August 9 1928 in Pavlovo, a village in Czechoslovakia (now in Ukraine). After the German invasion of Czechoslovakia he was sent to Budapest where he spent a couple of years living in a brothel. On his return home, he, his parents, brother and two sisters were forced on to a train to Auschwitz. There, the notorious camp doctor Josef Mengele sent Max and his father to the right, to work, and his mother and siblings were sent to the left, and their immediate death. Martin Greenfield's Auschwitz serial number tattooed on his arm: the cufflinks were a present from General Colin Powell - The Washington Post Two days later, a camp guard asked whether any prisoners had skills. His father grabbed Maxs hand and thrust it into the air, claiming that his son was a mechanic. As Max was taken away, his father whispered to him: If you survive, you live for us. He later discovered that his father been shot and killed a week before liberation. Max was sent to work in the camp laundry and repair shop where, one day, he accidentally ripped the collar of a shirt belonging to an SS officer an offence for which he was whipped. But he got to keep the shirt and, after mending it, put it on under his striped camp uniform. The effect was startling. Other prisoners and even guards began treating him with respect, apparently assuming that he had, for whatever reason, been singled out for favourable treatment. In January 1945, as Soviet forces approached, Max was forced to join the Death March to Gleiwitz. He recalled marching with an open mouth to catch snowflakes to drink, and the sound of gun shots as SS men killed those who could not keep up. He ended up in Buchenwald where, one day, he and other prisoners were taken to nearby Weimar to repair damage caused by allied bombing. There, he and a friend found a hutch with two rabbits at the home of the mayor, but were spotted by the mayors wife stealing the animals food and endured a savage beating. On the day the camp was liberated, Max confronted a young rabbi, a US Army chaplain, and asked him: Where was God? The rabbi could find no answer. The next day Max went to Weimar, intending to kill the mayors wife, but when he saw her with a baby in her arms he could not go through with it. At that moment, he recalled, he became human again. Martin Greenfield at his workshop in Brooklyn, 2009 - NYTNS / Redux / eyevine Max returned to Czechoslovakia. Two years later, an uncle helped him cross the Atlantic, and a fellow Czech immigrant arranged a lowly job as a floor boy in a Brooklyn garment factory. He changed his name to the more American Martin Greenfield, and resolved to be the best, to stand out. Hand-basting, darting, piping, facing and lining, blind stitching, pressing, armhole work, joker tags, fell stitching, preparing besoms, finishing I would learn how to execute every procedure better than the person who taught me. He worked his way up from tailor to supervisor to head quality man, and by 1977 he had amassed enough skill and capital to buy the factory. Renamed Martin Greenfield Clothiers, by 2010 it had grown from six employees to 117. It made ready-to-wear suits for department stores like Neiman Marcus and for brands like Brooks Brothers and Donna Karan, but became best known for made-to-measure suits for individual customers, including Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Colin Powell, Frank Sinatra and Paul Newman. Other commissions included hand-tailoring 250 period 1920s costumes for the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. In 1956 Greenfield married Arlene Bergen, who survives him with two sons. Martin Greenfield, born August 9 1928, died March 20 2024 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) Gov. Henry McMaster was in Myrtle Beach Monday afternoon to recognize retired Air Force Col. Buddy Styers with an Order of the Palmetto, the states highest civilian honor. McMaster presented Styers with the award at Horry-Georgetown Technical Colleges Crabtree Lane campus. News13 photo: Alec Daniels News13 photo: Alec Daniels News13 photo: Alec Daniels News13 photo: Alec Daniels News13 photo: Alec Daniels News13 photo: Alec Daniels I try to go to these and do these myself as often as I can because I think its very important to recognize people who have contributed over the Palmetto, McMaster said. Styers was named executive director of the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority, overseeing its day-to-day operations and managing public infrastructure and facility renovations through 2008. He was highly recommended and we always review those and are very careful about that and he met that very high standard, McMaster said of Styers. As you can tell from the people there, theyre very proud of him and very appreciative of what hes done for this community. In 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency recognized Market Common as one of the most successful Air Force base redevelopment projects in America. The $160 million upscale shopping, dining and living district opened in 2008 and today generates more than $100 million a year in tax revenues for the city. Styers played a key role in pushing for the districts recreational opportunities, including Market Commons lake and parks. Styers Way, a road in The Market Common, is named for him. Created in 1971 by then Gov. John C. West, the Order of the Palmetto was established as a means of recognizing outstanding service to the state and industrialists who had located facilities in South Carolina, according to the state Department of Archives and History. * * * Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. Ending the Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible and initiating peace talks is in Hungary's fundamental interest because the war "brings the nightmare of a third world war closer" each day, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told public radio on March 24, according to the Budapest Times. Hungary, however, will continue to reject participation in any political or financial initiatives aimed at supplying additional weapons to Ukraine, Szijjarto told the broadcaster, adding that those would pose a risk of escalation of the war. Szijjarto added that a proposal by the European Councils president to shift to a war economy was posing an exceptional risk in itself, the Budapest Times reported. On March 18, European Council President Charles Michel said if Europe wants to exist in peace, it must shift to a war economy mode and significantly bolster defense capabilities in the face of the threat posed by Russia. Earlier this month, Szijjarto said that country's Prime Minister Viktor Orban planed to discuss how to "achieve peace" in Ukraine during an upcoming visit with former U.S. President Donald Trump. "We definitely want to discuss with (Trump) how to restore peace in Ukraine and the eastern part of Europe," Szijjarto said, adding that the war in Ukraine "will inevitably end by negotiations," as "Kyiv can't defeat Russia," and "Russia can't defeat the entire West." Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine confirms striking 2 large Russian landing ships; Russia launches major attack on energy system Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, stated that "all those involved" in the shooting at a concert hall in Moscow Oblast of Russia on 22 March should be killed. Source: Medvedev on Telegram Details: Medvedev called for the killing of everyone involved in the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall. Quote: "Should they be killed? They should be. And it will happen. But it's much more important to kill all those involved. Everyone. Those who paid, sympathised, helped. Kill them all." Background: A shooting incident occurred at a concert by the band Piknik at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, on the evening of 22 March. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) stated that the terrorist attack was a deliberate provocation by Putins regime that had been anticipated by the international community. Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the Head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, stated that Ukraine had nothing to do with the attack. The White House said it saw no evidence of any Ukrainian involvement in the attack, which has claimed the lives of dozens of people. Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that a "back door" had been prepared for the suspects in the attack to cross the border with Ukraine. Ukraine's Defence Intelligence responded by saying that these claims are entirely devoid of truth. The United States has no doubt that ISIS was involved in the terrorist attack on a concert in the suburbs of Moscow on the evening of 22 March and had warned Russia in advance of the threat of such a terrorist attack. ISIS called the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow Oblast their "most brutal attack in recent years" and posted photos of the terrorists. Their clothing matches that of the detainees whose photos were posted by the FSB. Support UP or become our patron! In this photo made from body camera footage and released by the Twin Falls, Idaho, Police Department, Skylar Meade, left, is arrested in Twin Falls on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Police said Meade, an Idaho prison inmate, escaped from custody when an accomplice ambushed corrections officers who were preparing to transport him back to prison from a hospital in Boise on Wednesday, March 20. Authorities say Meade and his accomplice, Nicholas Umphenour, may have been responsible for the killings of two men in northern Idaho while on the run. (Twin Falls Police Department via AP) BOISE, Idaho (AP) Two men charged in a brazen prison escape and ambush at an Idaho hospital that left three correctional officers with gunshot injuries were arraigned in Boise on Monday. Skylar Meade, the escaped inmate, and Nicholas Umphenour, a former inmate who used to live in the same cell block as Meade, are members of the same white supremacist prison gang, according to police. The pair are also suspected of killing two people in northern Idaho, police say, though no charges have yet been filed in connection with the deaths. The arraignment focused on the felony escape charges filed against both men, as well as an additional three counts of felony aggravated battery on an officer and using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony filed against Umphenour. Prosecutors say he shot at correctional officers Elijah Jackson, Daniel Lopez and Christopher Wilskie as part of a plot to help Meade escape custody. Two of the officers were injured by the gunshots, according to police. A third officer was shot and injured by a police officer who opened fire after seeing an armed person near the hospital entrance. The hospital attack early Wednesday morning was essentially a pre-planned violent ambush-assisted escape, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Heather Reilly told Magistrate Judge Michael Dean. Dean agreed to keep the bond for both men set at $2 million after prosecutors said they were a danger to the community and flight risks. Officials say the case began when Meade injured himself in prison last week and was transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise for emergency treatment. Correctional officers were preparing to return Meade to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution a few hours later, at about 2 a.m., when police say Umphenour ambushed the officers in the hospital's ambulance bay. Police say two of the officers were shot by Umphenour and sustained serious injuries. A third correctional officer also sustained non-life-threatening injuries when a responding police officer mistakenly believing the shooter was still in the emergency room opened fire. All three officers were hospitalized with serious injuries. Idaho Department of Correction spokesperson Sanda Kuzeta-Cerimagic said Monday that two of the officers have been released and the third was expected to be released by the end of the week. Meanwhile, police say Meade and Umphenour fled. While a search was underway, authorities found the bodies of two men in Clearwater County and Nez Perce County, which borders Washington state. Shackles were found at the scene of one of the killings, and Idaho State Police Lt. Colonel Sheldon Kelley said that was part of what led investigators to believe Umphenour and Meade may be connected to the deaths. A vehicle belonging to one of the victims was spotted in Filer, an Idaho town roughly 400 miles (644 kilometers) to the south. An FBI agent was watching the area where the vehicle was found, according to court documents, when he said he saw the suspects drive away in separate cars. The agent and other law enforcement officers gave chase, and both men were arrested. Police say both Meade and Umphenour are believed to be members of the same white supremacist prison gang, but authorities have not suggested that the escape or other charges are connected to gang activity. Meade and Umphenour wore orange and yellow jail uniforms for their court appearance on Monday, with Umphenour appearing by video from a jail conference room and Meade appearing by video from a jail cell. They did not have an opportunity to enter a plea, but were scheduled for preliminary hearings early next month. Meade is represented by Ada County public defender Savannah Bell and Umphenour is represented by Ada County public defender Brian Marx. Neither attorney could be reached for comment Monday afternoon. ___ Associated Press reporters Gene Johnson and Mark Thiessen contributed to this report. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived on Saturday in the Egyptian city of El-Arish adjacent to the Gaza Strip where he visited Palestinian patients in the citys hospital, Azernews reports, citing Anadolu Agency. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has just arrived in North Sinai, Egypt, the UN spokesperson said on X. This is his first stop during his annual Ramadan solidarity visit to the region, he added. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Al Qahera channel reported that Guterres arrived at El-Arish airport on a visit to renew the call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Guterres also visited the injured Palestinians at El-Arish Hospital, according to the Egyptian channel. This was Guterres second visit to Egypt since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on Oct. 7. On Friday, the UN deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, announced the UN chiefs annual solidarity trip to Egypt and Jordan, marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Haq noted that the UN chief would meet with humanitarian aid workers. Guterres will have a Ramadan iftar dinner in Cairo with refugees from Sudan and also meet with Egyptian officials, he added. Haq further mentioned that Guterres will visit the facilities of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) during his visit to Jordan. Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed. More than 32,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and around 74,300 others injured besides causing mass destruction, displacement, and shortage of necessities. The first Ukrainian pilots who underwent intensive training under the guidance of Royal Air Force instructors have graduated from flight school, and will now continue advanced flight training with instructors from the French Air Force, the press service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. "The ten pilots have completed basic flight, ground and language training in the UK and will one day become the first line of defense, protecting the skies of Ukraine from Russian troops. The group will now move on to advanced flight training provided by the French Air Force before learning to fly F-16 fighter jets," the General Staff said in a Facebook post on Saturday. The UK Ministry of Defence website quotes Defence Secretary Grant Shapps as saying: "I would like to congratulate these brave pilots on completing their initial training here in the UK. Thanks to the world-renowned skills of RAF, these pilots have received some of the best training available and are now a step closer to joining the fight against Putin's illegal invasion." As part of the training, experienced RAF instructors reportedly taught pilots general aircraft handling, instrument flight, low-level navigation and complex formation flying. They have also received English language training to aid training and enhance interoperability with NATO air forces - English is the standard language of international flights. As noted in the message, as part of an international program to ensure pilot training and supply aircraft for Ukraine, the first F-16s are planned to be delivered by the summer of 2024. "The Ukrainian Armed Forces are grateful for the support and assistance of the UK," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasizes in the Facebook post. (Bloomberg) -- Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador dismissed US presidential hopeful Donald Trumps talk of a wall at the Mexican border as campaign rhetoric, in a rare TV interview with US network CBSs 60 Minutes program. Most Read from Bloomberg Lopez Obrador, also known as AMLO, said no when asked if he thought Trump would build the wall, pointing to his working relationship with the former US president and to the successful negotiation of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which he said was favorable for both countries. We understood each other very well, he said of Trump in the interview, taped at the National Palace in Mexico City. Lopez Obrador and Trump only discussed the wall once during their time as presidents, over a phone call that was intended to be about the pandemic, he said. There was an agreement not to talk about the wall, because we were not going to agree, he said. On that phone call, Lopez Obrador said, I told him, Im going to send you some videos of tunnels from Tijuana to San Diego that pass right under US customs. He stayed quiet and then he started laughing and told me, I cant win with you. Migration over the US southern border is a flashpoint in the US presidential campaign, with Washington putting pressure on Mexico to work to reduce the number of migrants as border states and major cities come under strain from the influx. The latest discussions between the countries include a plan to ramp up deportation flights to Latin American countries with the promise that they will receive development assistance. Lopez Obrador has also called on the US to deploy $20 billion to support those countries. Lopez Obrador said that after a request from President Joe Biden last year to contain the flow of migration his government has been more careful about our southern border. He has also asked the presidents of Central American countries, Venezuela and Cuba to support curbing the flow of migrants. However, Lopez Obrador said that to really slow migration, Mexico wants the root causes to be attended to, to be seriously looked at rather than relying on short-term solutions. Lopez Obradors administration, which is limited to a six-year term, ends in October. The ruling Morena partys candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, is leading polls with a 24-point advantage over her top rival. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he doesnt believe former President Trump would follow through on his pledge to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border because of the two countries economic ties. Because we understood each other very well. We signed an economic, a commercial agreement that has been favorable for both peoples, for both nations. He knows it. And President Biden, the same, he said in an interview released Sunday by CBS Newss 60 Minutes. When CBS reporter Sharyn Alfonsi asked Lopez Obrador to respond to those who argue the wall works, he said a wall doesnt work, adding he told then-President Trump the same during a phone call. Lopez Obrador said the two leaders agreed not to talk about the wall as they were not going to agree and the phone call was the only instance the two discussed it. That was the only time and I told him, I am going to send you, Mr. President, some videos of tunnels from Tijuana up to San Diego, that passed right under U.S. Customs. He stayed quiet, and then he started laughing and told me, I cant win with you,' Lopez Obrador recalled. Media reports circulated in 2019 that the Mexican president called the former presidents push for a border wall an internal matter and has since attempted to stay out of the discussions on the proposal. In 2020, Lopez Obrador Mexicos first leftist president in decades said while he does not agree with Trumps assertion the wall staved off COVID-19 transmission, he also would not publicly confront him over the claim. Lopez Obrador, at the time, asserted the relationship between the U.S. and his country was very good and emphasized the two nations are not distant neighbors. The Mexican president also pushed back against Speaker Mike Johnsons (R-La.) suggestion the U.S. could force Mexico to abide by U.S. immigration policy, CBS News reported. We are not a colony. We are not a protectorate of any foreign country. And we have a very good relationship with the government of the United States but not one of subordination, he said. He also said President Biden has largely recognized Mexicos sovereignty, asserting, Every time I speak with President Biden, the first thing he says to me is that our relationship must be on an equal footing. The Mexican president did not hold back in his criticism of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), accusing the Lone Star State leader of cheap politicking with the U.S.-southern border. Curbing the migrant influx into the U.S. is a central focus of Abbotts gubernatorial term, and he has been in a standoff with the Biden administration for months over his handling of the situation. The Hill reached out to Trumps campaign and the offices of Johnson and Abbott for further comment. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Traffic in Miami-Dade County is more than just a headache. Its a quality of life issue, damaging our daily existence in ways both big and small. We make calculations: It is worth it to drive an hour in each direction to meet someone for coffee or attend an event? If the doctors waiting room is backed up, will you have to drive home in rush hour traffic, doubling your drive time? So when Miami Beach city commission members unanimously voted last month to oppose the Metromover extension to the Beach one that has been in the planning stages for many years they were making a statement that affects all of us, not just Miami Beach. Traffic congestion affects pretty much every sector of our county. The Palmetto, Interstate 95, Biscayne Boulevard, Brickell, Kendall, Miami Beach you name it, it has a traffic problem. Theres a job recruitment and retention issue, too. Where can workers reasonably afford to live but not wind up sitting in the car for 45 minutes or more, to drive eight or 10 or 15 miles to get to the office? Rush hour seems to stretch through large portions of the day now. Add a high-profile event like spring break or Art Basel or the Ultra music festival or the Miami International Boat Show and driving the streets can feel like a Mad Max movie. Communities, of course, need a say in their future. (The Legislature in Tallahassee is becoming notorious for disrespecting home rule.) The project doesnt require Miami Beach approval. But some Beach residents have been raising their voices in opposition to the Baylink train extension, especially in the last couple of years, and commission members apparently are listening. It would run along the MacArthur Causeway and connect two existing stations in downtown Miami to two new stations along Fifth Street in South Beach. A group of vocal residents have offered an array of objections, varying by neighborhood. Some of them: Metromover, which is free, would bring more crime and homelessness. It would run to the wrong location; it should take people from the mainland to Mid Beach where more employers are, not South Beach. There are worries from officials that the county could control zoning around new Metromover stations, not the city, and concerns have been raised from Fisher Island about possible shortcomings in required environmental studies. They say all of this while also acknowledging that traffic has become increasingly crippling. Also, there are Miami Beach residents who do want the Metromover extension. They need to be included in the conversation, too. City leaders have pursued a number of steps to try to address gridlock, things like signal timing and more police officers to direct traffic and alerting residents of traffic backups. There are other ideas, too: the possibility of ferry service between the Beach and downtown Miami, an idea for faster bus service on the Julia Tuttle. None of that is likely to help anywhere near enough. The Florida Department of Transportation said last fall that the MacArthur Causeway, 41st Street and parts of the Julia Tuttle Causeway are at a level of service that is failing. The extension of Metromover could become the first mass transit connecting the Beach to the mainland. In a tourist town, youd think that would be considered a great idea. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said after the Miami Beach vote in February that the county will provide updated information. More discussions clearly are needed, and not just with the naysayers. Theres a point here that is larger than any one citys wishes. For any of us to thrive in Miami Beach or Kendall or Westchester or Aventura we need to reduce traffic congestion. If we want to be a world class city or county, we cant just keep widening roads. Weve been talking about a train to the Beach for years. Its time for action. The Beach has worries about the ramifications of the Metromover extension that should be considered. But we cant let that knock us off the path toward more mass transit soon. Click here to send the letter. A Michigan man convicted of murder in the drowning deaths of his four children is seeking clemency, insisting that a leg cramp caused him to hit the gas pedal and plunge his vehicle into the Detroit River. Lawrence DeLisle, 63, was convicted in 1990 and sentenced to five life sentences without parole for first-degree murder and attempted murder in the Aug. 3, 1989 deaths of 8-year-old Bryan Delisle, 4-year-old Melissa Delisle, 2-year-old Kathryn Delisle and 8-month-old Emily Delisle, according to Fox 2 Detroit. After crashing through a road barrier and driving their car into the river, DeLisle and his wife were able to escape but all four children drowned. Suzanne DeLisle has claimed she tried and failed to grab the steering wheel from her husband. She divorced him and remarried soon after his trial. MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER'S DAD JAMES CRUMBLEY ACCUSED OF THREATENING PROSECUTOR IN JAIL CALLS DeLisle was initially viewed as a victim in the public eye. However, police determined that he had never applied pressure to his brakes before his car hit the water. In a videotaped interview with Michigan State Police, the father-of-four said he "just couldn't" apply the brakes as the vehicle headed toward the river. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP "I didn't want to. I don't know why," he told police, according to the Detroit Free Press. "I didn't mean to hurt my babies ... I didn't even realize they were in the car. My mind just went blank." Only Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can shorten DeLisle's prison term. He has already served 35 years behind bars and has not had any conduct issues, state Corrections Department spokesman Kyle Kaminski told The Associated Press. Michigan's Parole Board held a hearing on Thursday to hear DeLisle's case and make a recommendation. DeLisle's attorneys, who could not immediately be reached for comment, have argued that their client's confession was coerced and that the national media attention the case received prevented him from getting a fair trial. SOUTH CAROLINA MAN FOUND DEAD AFTER ALLEGEDLY KILLING ESTRANGED WIFE, HER FRIEND Judge Robert Colombo Jr., the judge who presided over DeLisle's original case, told Fox 2 Detroit that the jury made the right decision the first time. "He was there the day before casing the area planning the event," Colombo said. "He had a difficult job, he wasn't doing well. His father had committed suicide in the same vehicle. And I had suppressed some evidence where he tried to do the same thing years earlier, where he tried to blow up the house. There was a leak in the dryer and he placed a candle by it." "Absolutely not," Colombo answered when asked if DeLisle deserved clemency, Fox 2 reported. "Basically, he's a mass murderer." MICHIGAN TEACHER FIRED AFTER PARENT EXPOSES HER CREATIVE SIDE HUSTLE Lawrence DeLisle is pictured in 1989, before he was convicted in 1990. He has spent 35 years in prison, and has had no conduct issues during his long sentence, according to prison officials. He is currently incarcerated at Lakeland Correctional Facility, according to Michigan Board of Corrections data. Meanwhile, the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan's law school and Northwestern University's law school are supporting DeLisle, saying the crash was an accident. "He's not a danger to anyone, and there's no reason to keep him in prison," retired attorney Peter Van Hoek, who was involved in earlier appeals, told The Associated Press. DeLisle appealed his mandatory life sentence and lost in 1993, Fox 2 Detroit reported. Parole board member Anthony King, who led Thursday's hearing, told The Associated Press that it was "hard to believe" that DeLisle did not slam on the brakes after his vehicle jerked forward. Original article source: Michigan judge slams mass murderer who claims wrongful conviction in drowning of 4 children: report Republican Rep. John Moolenaar (Mich.) will serve as the next head of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following the departure from Congress of Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) next month. Announcing his appointment Monday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Moolenaar will be an exceptional chairman for the committee. His leadership experience in the private and public sectors, his academic background, and his principled service in Congress have earned John the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Johnson wrote in a statement shared with The Hill. Moolenaar thanked Johnson for the appointment and nodded to Gallagher, whom he called an incredible leader for the country. I am thankful to the Speaker for this appointment, and I look forward to working with Ranking Member [Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.)], the members of the Select Committee, House leaders, and the standing committees in the weeks and months ahead, he said Monday. Together, we can help our country prepare for the challenges we face from the Chinese Communist Party and win the competition against the CCP. The committee, formed in January of last year, is focused on curbing the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. It had an influential voice in the recent passage of a House bill regarding the potential threat of TikTok and concerns about Chinas influence on the platform. The bill passed in a 352-65 vote earlier this month and would force ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok within 165 days or risk the app being banned in the U.S. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain fate. Gallagher announced last week he would depart from the House on April 19. The four-term lawmaker announced last month he would not seek reelection in November but did not announce his final day in the lower chamber at the time. The move will leave the House GOP with a razor-thin majority, meaning the conference can only lose one vote on bills that do not have any Democratic support. Moolenaar, 62, is in his first term in the House. Last month, he was part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to Taiwan alongside Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. I'm Hope Karnopp and this is the Daily Briefing newsletter by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sign up here to get it sent to your inbox each morning. While you might have gotten some snow this weekend, today and tomorrow are all about rain. It'll rain pretty steadily until it slows down Tuesday afternoon, and up to an inch in total precipitation is possible. Flooding is unlikely because conditions are so dry, but watch for pools of water on roads during tonight's commute. Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., presides over the first hearing of the U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, in the Cannon House Office Building on February 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. What Mike Gallagher's early departure means U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who represents northeastern Wisconsin, shocked many when he announced in February that he wouldn't seek reelection. But even more surprising is his decision Friday to depart Congress before his term is up. His office said the move was a "family decision." Gallagher plans to leave April 19, which is after the deadline in state law to hold a special election. That means the seat will remain empty until after the August primary and November general election. Republicans who are lining up to replace him criticized this, arguing he's trying to deliberately hurt the party, which his office has denied. Some county party chairs are considering asking Speaker Mike Johnson to expel him earlier. His early departure means the GOP's majority in the U.S. House is even tighter. The party can now only afford one member to break on party-line votes, meaning it will be more complicated for them to pass their agenda. "It makes it ... incredibly hard to try and either manage a compromise or run something up for a vote," one strategist said. Election officials count ballots for the 2023 Wisconsin spring general election on Tuesday April 4, 2023 at Central Count in Milwaukee, Wis. About 220 Milwaukee voters got wrong ballots Nearly 220 Milwaukee voters were mailed absentee ballots for Common Council districts other than their own ahead of the April 2 election, a problem the city's top election official said would have been caught before the ballots were sent out had employees followed procedures. Disciplinary action has been taken. A letter explaining what happened accompanied new ballots sent to affected voters early last week, and the office worked Thursday to determine whether any other wards were affected. This week, the office will consider going door-to-door to contact voters who have not returned the new ballot to ensure they got the second ballot and understood the instructions. "I can't express how frustrating and infuriating it is that it just seems like there was no critical thinking involved or communication," Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall said. "I understand this has eroded a lot of trust in what should be a perfect process." Don't miss these Hope Karnopp can be reached at HKarnopp@gannett.com or on Twitter at @hopekarnopp. Did someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Not yet a Journal Sentinel subscriber? Please consider signing up at jsonline.com/deal. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What Mike Gallagher's early departure means (KRON) Police in Mill Valley are investigating an incident of vandalism involving a hate symbol that was spray-painted on a Ukrainian flag as a hate crime. The Mill Valley Police Department responded to a report of vandalism at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday on the 100 block of Molino Avenue. Witnesses, according to police, told officers that someone had used an aerosol paint can to spray black swastikas on Ukrainian flags that were on private property. Investigating officers contacted the victims and confirmed that an unknown suspect or suspects vandalized the flag sometime overnight Friday. Two San Jose teachers arrested for incidents involving female students Further investigation revealed that a second victim had been targeted in the area of Molino Avenue and Wildomar Street. In that incident, another Ukrainian flag had been vandalized in the same manner, police said. The vandalism occurred in the same time period. Photo: Mill Valley PD Officers canvassed the area for witnesses and homes with surveillance systems that might have recorded the crimes. No suspects have been yet identified, police said. Mill Valley PD detectives are investigating the incident as a hate crime and urge residents to check surveillance systems for footage that could benefit the investigation. The Mill Valley Police Department and our staff stand firmly with the City of Mill Valley against all forms of hate and discrimination, said Mill Valley PD Chief Rick Navarro. As part of our mission, the Mill Valley Police Department strives to provide a safe and secure community for our residents and visitors. Crimes of hate targeting any segment of our community will not be tolerated. We encourage anyone who witnesses or experiences a hate crime to report it to our office immediately so that we can swiftly investigate the incident and work towards ensuring justice is served. Anyone with information related to either of these incidents is asked to contact the Mill Valley Police Department. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. Millions of Americans' online accounts have been caught up in a "sinister" Chinese hacking plot that targeted US officials, the justice department and FBI said on Monday. Seven Chinese nationals have been charged with enacting a widespread cyber-attack campaign. They are accused of ties to a hacking operation that ran for 14 years. The US state department announced a reward of up to $10m (8m) for information on the seven men. The justice department said hackers had targeted US and foreign critics of China, businesses, and politicians. The seven men allegedly sent over 10,000 "malicious emails, impacting thousands of victims, across multiple continents", in what the justice department called a "prolific global hacking operation" backed by China's government. "Today's announcement exposes China's continuous and brash efforts to undermine our nation's cybersecurity and target Americans and our innovation," FBI Director Christopher Wray said. "As long as China continues to target the US and our partners, the FBI will continue to send a clear message that cyber espionage will not be tolerated, and we will tirelessly pursue those who threaten our nation's security and prosperity," he added. The charges come after the UK's government also accused China of being responsible for "malicious cyber campaigns" targeting the country's Electoral Commission and politicians. Diplomats at the Chinese embassy in London said it "strongly opposes" the accusations, calling them "completely fabricated and malicious slanders". New Zealand's government also said its parliament had been targeted by China-backed hackers, the New Zealand Herald reported. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington DC said "without valid evidence, relevant countries jumped to an unwarranted conclusion" and "made groundless accusations". In an indictment setting out charges against the seven Chinese men, US prosecutors said the hacking resulted in the confirmed or potential compromise of work accounts, personal emails, online storage and telephone call records. The emails they are accused of sending targets often appeared to be from prominent news outlets or journalists, containing hidden tracking links. If a person opened the email sent to them, their information - including their location and IP addresses - would be sent to a server allegedly controlled by the seven defendants. This information was then used to enable more "direct and sophisticated targeted hacking, such as compromising the recipients' home routers and other electronic devices", US prosecutors said. As well as targeting US government officials working at the White House and US state departments, and in some cases their spouses, they were also said to have targeted foreign dissidents globally. In one example cited by the justice department, the men "successfully compromised Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and their associates located in Hong Kong, the United States, and other foreign locations with identical malware". US companies were hacked too, with the men allegedly targeting defence, information technology, telecommunications, manufacturing and trade, finance, consulting, legal, and research industries. Companies targeted included defence contractors who provide services to the US military and "a leading provider of 5G network equipment", the justice department said. Its been a tricky landscape since Roe v. Wade was overturned almost two years ago, as reproductive health care has become increasingly complicated to navigate and misinformation is on the rise. Not only are the attacks on abortion care merging with limits on the availability of infertility treatment, but the same court that reversed the constitutional protection for abortion will hear arguments this week on restricting access to mifepristone, one of two medications commonly used to induce an abortion. And on the state level, new bills are aiming to cut back contraception options. In Oklahoma, one bill in the state legislature has sparked questions about whether it might ban emergency contraception like the day-after Plan B pill and intrauterine devices, or IUDs. Part of it targets contraception that prevents the implantation of a fertilized egg. At the same time, some birth control options are expanding. This month, Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill, began sales. And, under a new policy, New York pharmacists can dispense certain hormonal contraceptives without a prescription. Capital B asked three Black reproductive health care experts some of the big questions about how to access birth control, navigate the misinformation online, and understand whats unfolding politically. Heres what you need to know. What is the difference between abortion care and birth control? Amid the uptick in misinformation, experts want patients to understand there is a distinct difference between abortion care and birth control. Birth control, like the pill and IUDs, is not abortion inducing, doctors say. While both are considered a part of reproductive health care, birth control, also called contraception, is intended to prevent pregnancy before it occurs and is often discussed and prescribed by gynecologists, which are doctors who specialize in womens reproductive health systems. Birth control is acting to fundamentally prevent pregnancy, said Dr. Alexandra Wells, an OB-GYN in Washington state. It works by stopping sperm from meeting the egg, she said. Abortion care is separate. It terminates an already existing pregnancy, either out of patient choice up to a certain time period or medical necessity. It takes place after folks know they are pregnant and is typically managed by obstetricians, or doctors that focus on the pregnancy of patients. Many practitioners have their training in both gynecology and obstetrics. Over the past year, how has the landscape over available birth control changed? With so many different bills being introduced in states across the country, aiming to both limit and expand access to reproductive health care, the amount of misinformation spreading across social media platforms is surging. While birth control and abortion care are different, the landscape in terms of access to both is shifting nationwide. Soon after the 2022 Dobbs decision reversing federal abortion protections, when states began moving to restrict abortion, many physicians were concerned about the implications on birth control, said Dr. Yolanda Lawson, a Texas-based OB-GYN. It was not the first time. Several years prior, in the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that corporations run by religious families cannot be required to pay for insurance coverage for contraception care. More recently, changes in abortion care have also trickled into changes in birth control access and infertility treatment for families. When reproductive health care clinics offering abortions close, other services are impacted, said Wells, whos also a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health. The good news is technology is making online access to birth control options more accessible. Many options can be mailed and are often covered by insurance, she said. Opill is now available, adding to the many other options, including condoms, spermicide, the ring, IUDs, implants, patches and cycle tracking. How do I know whats happening with access to birth control in my state? There is no comprehensive, central location for all of this information, said Jennifer Driver, senior director of reproductive rights at SiX, an organization that works with elected officials after they win office. The federal Title X family planning websites have a lot of information and resources for patients, said Driver. The best way to find out what is happening with legislation is directly through the state legislator. On each website, you can see what bills are being introduced and which representatives may have brought it forth. Local news coverage from trusted outlets may also break down what bills are impacting your reproductive health care. Experts caution against relying on social media for health information, given the sheer amount of misinformation and myths. Do IUDs induce abortions? No. The devices work by thickening the mucus along the uterine wall, making it difficult for sperm to migrate and meet with the egg, preventing fertilization. Its a simple mechanism, but it really works, said Lawson, whos also the president of the National Medical Association. It prevents conception. They are 99.9% effective at preventing pregnancy. What birth control is now available? Condoms, spermicide, contraceptive sponges, apps to track your menstrual cycle, emergency contraception like Plan B, and most recently Opill, are all birth control options that do not require a prescription from a doctor. Some hormonal contraceptives require either a prescription or insertion by a medical provider. Those include the ring, IUDs, implants, contraceptive injections, and birth control pills. Sterilization is also an option regardless of the gender of the patient. Its really amazing that women have so many contraception options, said Lawson. There is some slight variation in how well each works, she said. There are options that our grandmothers and even mothers did not have. I hope women are empowered by that. Its also important to make sure you feel comfortable with your provider, said Wells. You should feel free to ask questions about how each contraceptive option works and might impact your body. A lot of birth control options are covered by insurance, and many clinics and health centers may offer free condoms. Some birth control pill companies offer discounts on their websites. If youre uninsured, many freestanding health clinics offer sliding scale payment options based on your household income and ability to pay, which could bring the price down. How do I know what my best birth control option is? Its important to understand your medical history, said Wells. In person or online, your provider may ask about your history with high blood pressure, blood clots, and conditions like lupus. Those conditions may preclude the use of certain forms of contraception. People should also consider their lifestyle and goals, she said. For example, the IUD requires a one-time insertion every handful of years depending on the types, whereas the pill requires patients to take them at the same time each day. Each option offers a different level of independence. The pill can be stopped at any time. The IUD and implant require an appointment with a provider to remove. This story has been updated. The post Misinformation Is on the Rise. Heres What You Need to Know About Birth Control. appeared first on Capital B News. An old news report about the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visiting Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation of 240 million people, has resurfaced in misleading online posts. The video of IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi -- which featured a "breaking news" banner -- was originally broadcast by a local news outlet in 2023. In response to the posts, Pakistan's foreign ministry said he did not visit the South Asian country in March 2024. "Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the IAEA visited Pakistan, discussing nuclear cooperation and climate change mitigation," read a caption alongside this video on Facebook published on March 15, 2024. Featuring a logo for local news outlet GNN, the "breaking news" report shows the head of the UN nuclear agency shaking hands with former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The post continued: "Meetings with top officials focused on enhancing collaboration in peaceful nuclear technology. Grossi inaugurated various nuclear facilities and designated Pakistan as an IAEA Regional Center for cancer treatment. "Highlighting nuclear energy's role in combating climate change, his visit concluded with a dinner hosted by the Foreign Secretary." Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken on March 21, 2024 The video was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here, here and here A similar misleading claim was shared on social media platform X here and here. In response to the misleading posts, Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Ministry rebuffed suggestions Grossi visited the country in March this year. "Any stories regarding the visit of a high-level IAEA delegation to Pakistan are fake news," the ministry said in a statement on March 15, 2024 (archived link). "No official from IAEA is currently visiting Pakistan, nor are any policy talks planned in the near future with IAEA. Director General IAEA visited Pakistan in February 2023." Old news clip A keyword search on YouTube found the video shared in the posts was originally published here on GNN's official channel on February 15, 2023 (archived link). Its caption said: "FM Bilawal Bhutto Meets DG (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi | Breaking News | GNN". When Grossi visited Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was head of the South Asian country's foreign ministry. Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in one of the misleading posts (left) and the video published by GNN in 2023 (right): A screenshots comparison of the misleading post (left) and the original video on YouTube (right): According to the IAEA, Grossi discussed with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif how nuclear science could help mitigate the worsening effects of climate change in Pakistan. He also visited nuclear facilities across the country, the agency said in a press release on February 16, 2023 (archived link). Grossi was in Japan the week of March 2024 when the misleading posts circulated, meeting with various leaders about the discharge of treated water from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, according to this IAEA report (archived link). Shortly after the misleading posts circulated online, Pakistan's foreign minister Ishaq Dar -- who has held the position since March 11, 2024 -- met with Grossi on the sidelines of the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported (archived links here and here). Zelenskyy, against background of Russian ballistic attack on Kyiv, calls on partners to strengthen Ukrainian air defense President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, against the background of the morning Russian ballistic attack in Kyiv, called on partners to strengthen Ukrainian air defense. Russian terrorists launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv. Unfortunately, houses in a typical urban neighborhood were damaged. As of now, 5 people have been reported injured. The rubble is being cleared, the President said on Telegram. We reiterate that Ukraine requires more air defense systems, which provide safety for our cities and save lives, he noted. Zelenskyy also thanked the rescuers of the State Emergency Service, the police, and utility workers who are eliminating the consequences of the Russian attack against Kyiv this morning. As reported, on the morning of March 25, the enemy hit Kyiv with two ballistic missiles. Donald Trumps defense team failed to persuade Judge Juan Merchan to add more time to the clock before the start of the trial in Trumps New York hush money case, the former president shaking his head in apparent frustration during Monday's hearing as the judge set a date next month for the start of jury selection. There was little to ease Trumps mood inside the courtroom where the defense pleaded for time to parse the 170,000 pages of documents in the case handed over to them more than a week earlier. The case relates to a $130,000 payment from former Trump fixer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump, to allegedly buy her silence during the 2016 presidential campaign. The DA alleges Trump falsified business records to obscure the money used to repay Cohen for those payments. Seated behind prosecutors in the courtroom was the top prosecutor who brought the case against Trump, District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The morning may have been a bit of a roller coaster for the former president. In a separate court Monday, Trump earned a major reprieve for the bond he was supposed to deliver as part of the civil case he lost. Here's what happened on Monday in Trump's legal cases: An April 15 trial date Merchan set April 15 for jury selection to begin, three weeks away, setting in motion the start of a trial that Trumps attorneys had hoped to delay further. Trump was livid In the courtroom, Trump didn't hide how he feels about the case. Before entering the courtroom, he called it "a witch hunt and a hoax. He furrowed his brow. He watched the judge press his defense counsel as the attorney argued for more time to review discovery documents. And he grew increasingly frustrated as the defense failed to persuade the judge that more time was needed to review documents in the case. Wearing a navy suit and red tie, Trump sat between his attorneys, his eyes bloodshot. But Trump didnt have to be here to watch Merchan as the judge cited parts of the defense brief and prosecutors submissions before pressing his attorneys about the timing of their decision to raise their discovery concerns. When the trial begins, he will be required to attend each day. Braggs office had urged the judge not to delay the trial, arguing that just 300 of the 170,000 documents turned over by federal prosecutors are relevant to Trumps defense. Merchan said the charge by Trump's lawyer was not convincing. Why did you wait until two months before trial? Why didnt you do it in June or July? Merchan said. As Merchan spoke, Trump leaned back from the defense table and narrowed his gaze. Exiting the courtroom at the start of a 45-minute recess, Trump scowled and furrowed his brow. The optics inside the courtroom Three Secret Service agents watched over the former president in the courtroom, drawing more attention to the historic nature of the case. Exiting the courtroom at the end of the hearing, Trump mouthed "thank you" twice to a group of five women seated in a back row. It was unclear if the women were supporters of the former president. Asked, one of the women said no. But Trump had appeared to recognize the group, locking eyes with them as he left for the day. Earlier, as Bragg walked through the courtroom to take his seat behind the prosecutors bench, one of the women appeared to heckle him quietly. Judge pressed Trump's lawyers In a series of rapid-fire exchanges, Merchan pressed Todd Blanche over the defenses claims over the number of documents they needed to review, and prosecutors for Bragg disputed that they were actively suppressing discovery, as Trumps team has alleged. Blanche, Trumps lead attorney, turned in circles as the judge pressed him to answer exactly how many documents relevant to the case the defense needed to review. Give me your best estimate. I realize youre still going through it, Merchan said. I mean thousands, Blanche responded. Thousands. Merchan urged Blanche to settle on a firm number. 2,000? 20,000? he said. Tens of thousands is the answer, your honor, said Blanche. Trump watched the arguments closely, whispering to the attorneys around him after the back-and-forth grew heated, and Blanche, his attorney, returned to the table. At one point, Trump seemed to pass a message to Blanche, before his attorney stood to press the issue further with the judge, citing the Mueller probe, the Access Hollywood tape, and more. We want to be accurate, every document is important, Blanche insisted. Merchan was unpersuaded by the defenses arguments. Its odd that were even here, and that weve taken this time, he said. Returning from recess, Merchan ruled that the DAs office was not at fault for the late production of documents and had made diligent, good faith efforts to provide the materials to the team. From the defense table, Trump shook his head. Trump scored a win in his fraud case Trump scored a victory outside Merchans courtroom when a state appeals court ruled that he and his co-defendants in a New York civil fraud case could post a lower bond, slashing it from $464 million to $175 million and delaying any possible move by Attorney General Letitia James to seize his assets. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Russia fired ballistic missiles at Kyiv on the morning of 25 March; the debris fell in the Pecherskyi, Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi and Darnytskyi districts of Kyiv, damaging two high-rise buildings and injuring five people. Source: Air-raid warnings map; Ukraine's Air Force; Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko; Kyiv City Military Administration; Mykola Kalashnyk, acting head of Darnytskyi District Administration Details: Kyiv authorities stated that the number of people who were injured has now increased to five, including one child. Three of them were treated directly at the scene. Two were taken to hospital. It is reported that a multi-storey non-residential building was damaged in Pecherskyi district, and the area of destruction there is approximately 100 square metres. There was no subsequent combustion. It is known that a gym was damaged. A high-rise building was damaged in Solomianskyi district. Information about the casualties is being confirmed. The missile debris fell in a forest belt in Holosiivskyi district. The debris fell on a private building in Darnytskyi district. A non-residential building caught fire. The Ministry of Culture reported that the central part of the building of the Mykhailo Boichuk Kyiv State Academy of Decorative-Applied Arts and Design was damaged with the fallen debris. In particular, a gym, a congress hall and an exhibition centre were completely destroyed. The premises of the departments and auditoriums of the institution also sustained significant damage. Mykola Kalashnyk, the acting head of Darnytskyi District Administration, said that after the missile attack, a private house in the Osokorky neighbourhood was hit by the debris without subsequent fire. Rescuers warned that search and rescue operations are ongoing and that there may be people under the rubble. A Red Cross aid centre has been set up in a school building. Kyiv's public utilities reported that as a result of the Russian attack, the operation of two trolleybus routes was temporarily changed: trolleybuses on Route 15 run from the Palats Sportu metro station to the Botanical Garden stop; trolleybuses on Route 38 run from the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II to the Botanical Garden stop. Support UP or become our patron! Dmitry Medvedev, the former president of Russia, said on Monday that those who carried out last weeks terror attack at a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow will be killed, but claimed that it is much more important to ensure that anyone who so much as sympathized with the gunmen are put to death. ISIS-K, an Afghanistan-based affiliate group of the so-called Islamic State, claimed responsibility for the horrific slaughter Friday at the Crocus City Hall which left at least 137 people deadthe deadliest act of terrorism on Russian soil for 20 years. Medvedev, the current deputy chairman of Russias Security Council, and others have already claimed that Ukraine may have been involved in the massacre, an allegation angrily rebuffed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 4 Suspects in Deadly Concert Hall Attack Appear Bloodied in Russian Court In a Telegram message, Medvedev congratulated those involved in capturing the alleged shooters (four men, all with visible physical injuries, were charged with terror offenses in a Russian court on Sunday). Should we kill them? We should. And we will, Medvedev wrote. More important, he added, is that Russia ensures it kills everyone involved in the attack, not just the apprehended suspects. All of them: those who paid, those who sympathized [and] those who helped, Medvedev wrote. Kill them all. The threats came as Russia stepped up its bombardment of Ukraines capital Kyiv, which was targeted with ballistic missiles fired from occupied Crimea on Monday. His post follows an earlier message in which he said Ukrainian officials should face lethal punishment if they had a hand in the attack. If it is established that these are terrorists of the Kyiv regime... all of them must be found and ruthlessly destroyed as terrorists, Medvedev wrote shortly after the attack Friday, saying that even official representatives of the state that committed such a crime should not escape retribution. ISIS-K had already claimed responsibility for the attack when Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a national address Saturday. Putin made no mention of the group, instead claiming the four direct perpetrators of the killings had tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement that ISIS bears sole responsibility for the slaughter and that there was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever, according to the Associated Press. She added that the U.S. had shared information of a planned terrorist attack in Moscow with Russia in early March and had publicly warned Americans in the country of an imminent threat. Zelensky himself pushed back on allegations of Ukrainian involvement in the killings. What happened yesterday in Moscow is obvious, he said in a video statement Saturday. Both Putin and other scoundrels simply try to blame everything on someone else. He went on to claim that the miserable Russian president remained silent for a day thinking about how to link this with Ukraine and said Putin would try to turn such a situation to his personal advantage again. On Monday, at least 10 people were injured by falling debris in Kyiv as a result of a Russian missile attack on the city, Ukrainian officials said. A 16-year-old girl was among the wounded, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who said she had since been discharged from a hospital. Zelensky thanked emergency workers and others involved in rescue and recovery after the incident. Russian terrorists launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv, he wrote on X. He added: We reiterate that Ukraine requires more air defense systems, which provide safety for our cities and save lives. All of us who respect and protect life must put an end to this terror. 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. KYIV "Masha is safe. And we now have a terrace," Andrii Petrus, a barista, said while pouring coffee into a paper cup. The coffee shop he was working in had its window frames blown out by the explosion following yet another Russian missile attack on Kyiv a third over the past week. Petrus' colleague, Mariia (Masha) Yevstafieva, was on the shift during the attack. She miraculously went unharmed in a "now open-air" coffee shop filled with shattered glass. "I wanted to change my hoodie to a t-shirt (moments prior). I do not know how it could have ended if I had done so," she told the Kyiv Independent, showing the holes in her clothes. She believes her oversized hoodie has stopped the glass. Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv on March 25, using its brand-new Zircon hypersonic cruise missile, among other weaponry. A series of explosions rocked the city just a few seconds after the air raid sirens sounded at around 10:30 a.m. local time, a sign of a hypersonic attack. The debris from an intercepted missile fell in the capital's Pecherskyi, Solomianskyi, and Dniprovskyi districts. Ten people were injured. Thanks to what looks like pure luck, Yevstafieva wasn't one of them. Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured 'We wouldn't have survived' Anna Levchenko, a first-year student from Ivano-Frankivsk, was preparing for a regular day at the Academy of Applied Arts and Design, named after painter Mykhailo Boichuk, executed by the Soviet regime. Levchenko, who was getting ready at the dorm nearby, didn't reach the academy a Russian missile hit it. "Firstly, I thought the car accident happened in the street. I do not know why the air raid siren sounded so late," Levchenko told the Kyiv Independent. After the first explosion, Levchenko and other students rushed to the corridor. After the second missile hit, students ran to the basement. Oleksandra Kyrylova, a teacher at the academy, was in an art class with three students when the missile hit the main building. As the air raid siren sounded, Kyrylova and her students began to grab their belongings to run to the corridor. They did not manage to do so, as the building was struck, and they fell on the floor. Later on, Kyrylova got back on her feet and went to the corridor. It was damaged heavily no more windows or doors were there. "One minute saved us. We wouldn't have survived if we entered the corridor," Kyrylova said. The teacher told the Kyiv Independent that the gym, the concert hall, the academy's museum, and the art department were destroyed. One of the academy's workers was trapped under the rubble and was hospitalized later. More than one hundred students attended classes on the day of the attack, according to Kyrylova. "I always go to the bomb shelter (after the air raid siren sounds). But today, nobody could," Kyrylova said, pointing to the fact that the alert came too late. State Emergency Service inspects the zone of a missile impact near the Academy of Applied Arts and Design on March 25, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images) Tetiana Kryvolap, a retiree who lives in a building nearby, told the Kyiv Independent that her 10-year-old granddaughter was in the flat at the time of impact. "She was shocked, hysterical. She was trembling," Kryvolap said. "I have been working as a janitor for 23 years and managed to buy it," Tetiana said, showing the flat on the ground floor of the building right next to the academy. All its windows were shattered. "And all these things (belongings) come and go. Thank God we are alive." 'It will cost us a lot' Yevstafieva, who works at the coffee shop across the street from the academy, now thinks of what it will take them to repair. "It will cost us a lot," she said. "So much effort was invested in this place," Mariia said in tears. "I love it so much and could have never imagined such a thing to happen." Despite all the damages, the coffee shop was not closed, and the line of people waiting for their drinks was substantial as the emergency services continued the rescue operations just twenty meters away. "Ukrainians are unbreakable," Mariia said, answering why they had decided to continue to operate after the strike. "Everybody wanted coffee (after the attack). A lot of journalists and our regular customers who live nearby came. We just wanted to please and distract people," she added. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A 30-year-old hiker was found dead at the base of a waterfall in Carmel Valley, California, four days after she set off for a day hike, officials said. Caroline Meister's body was discovered Friday morning after crews rappelled down a waterfall near "Cut Off Trail" in the Ventana Wilderness. "Based on the physical evidence, we don't think any foul play was involved. We think that it was accidental," Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said. A forensic examination will be performed to determine the exact cause of Meisters death. Caroline Meister (Monterey County Sheriff's Office) Meister left the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center for a solo hike about 10 a.m. March 18. When she didn't return that same day, staff members at the center contacted the Monterey County Sheriffs Office and noted that she was not prepared for an overnight hike. Meister's parents have said she was a "very experienced and avid hiker" and "very familiar with the area." She was living and working at the Zen Center at the time of her death. We are all deeply saddened and in shock. The sanghas at Tassajara, Green Gulch Farm, and City Center are gathering to support each other in the wake of this distressing news, the San Francisco Zen Center said. "108 bells are ringing. Our hearts are broken. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) An emergency missing child alert for 15-year-old Emily Gott has been canceled. Gott was reported missing after she was seen leaving her Athens home on foot, wearing black shorts, a black jacket and white crocs. But as of 12:37 p.m. Monday, the missing alert for her was canceled. Authorities said Gott is a white female who may be living with a condition that impairs her judgment. She is described in the alert as 55 tall, 150 pounds with blonde or strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. At the time when she was reported missing, officials said she might have been traveling in a 2013 Silver Hyundai Elantra, Alabama tag, 44A3E66, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys emergency missing child alert. Anyone with information on Gotts whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Limestone County Sheriffs Office at (256) 232-0111 or call 911. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com. Reality Check is a Star series holding those in power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at RealityCheck@kcstar.com. A Missouri Democratic candidate for governor was registered to vote in Illinois for more than a decade up until last year and voted in Chicago as recently as 2020, raising questions about his residency from his Democratic opponent ahead of the upcoming election. Mike Hamra, the CEO of a Springfield-based company that operates restaurants such as Wendys, Panera Bread and Noodles & Company, launched a Democratic campaign for governor in October, touting himself as the best person to lead Missouri forward. Voting records obtained through public records requests show that Hamra was registered to vote in Illinois from at least 2013 to 2023 under Chicago addresses and voted in four elections in Chicago in 2016, 2018 and 2020. Records also show that Hamra has only been registered to vote in Greene County, Missouri, since 2021 and has since voted in just one election in the state in 2022. The Missouri Constitution requires that candidates for governor be residents of the state for at least 10 years before the election. Hamras Democratic opponent, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade from Springfield, pointed to this law in a statement, saying it should disqualify Hamra from running. Mike Hamra was registered and voting in Illinois as recently as 2020, Quade said. I believe its clear that Mike Hamra does not meet the constitutional residency requirement to run for governor of Missouri. Missourians deserve a Governor who understands the issues because theyve lived them. The Star has also requested records for Quades voting history. Hamras campaign manager Brexton Isaacs disputed Quades argument, saying in a statement that she was incorrect on both the facts and the law. A spokesperson for Hamras campaign clarified in an email that Isaacs was not refuting Hamras voting history. Prior to the statement from Isaacs, Hamras campaign told The Star in an email that Hamra, through a limited liability company, purchased property in Springfield in 2011. He built a home on that property and started occupying it in April 2014, the campaign said. He sold that property when he bought another house in 2020, which he also later sold. Hamra and his family currently live in another Springfield home, which he purchased in 2021, the campaign said. The questions surrounding Hamras residency come as he still has not officially filed for governor less than a day before the Tuesday evening filing deadline. While Quade said that Hamra does not meet the residency requirement, Missouri courts have taken a more loose approach to the definition of resident when it comes to candidates for office. Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City-based attorney, said in an interview that Missouri courts will work hard to allow someone to run for office. Hatfield generally painted residency as more of a political issue that voters will have to consider than a legal one. The fact that you may depart from your home and take up, you know, housing and jobs and things like that in other states or other jurisdictions, does not deprive you of your residency, he said. When it comes to a candidates residency, Hatfield said the courts have to consider other factors including whether the person continued to own property in Missouri, maintained licenses and whether they returned to the state on a regular basis. Hatfield pointed to a 1972 Missouri Supreme Court ruling involving former Republican Gov. Kit Bond, whose residency was challenged in his bid for governor after he resided in several different states during the ten-year residency window. The court ruled in favor of Bond, stating that residence is largely a matter of intention. I describe the Bond case as saying, generally, home is where you wish to be, Hatfield said. An advisor to Hamras campaign pointed to the Bond case in an interview with The Star, saying that Missouri courts have made it clear that once a person is a resident, they remain a resident when they vote or conduct business in other states as long as they have an intention to return. He has intended to return to Missouri. He considers Missouri his residence. He has owned property in Missouri for 10 years, and theres just no real constitutional question, the advisor said. There may be political questions and theyre free to raise them and theres arguments on both sides of that. But theres really no legal question. Another factor that could bolster Hamras argument is the fact that he appears to have maintained his license to practice law in Missouri since being admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1994. But articles and other public statements over the last several years have also framed Hamra as living in Chicago. A 2016 profile about Hamra and his wife, Eileen, in a Chicago-based wedding publication states that Hamra got the kids together with Eileen and told them that he wanted them to be a family together in Chicago. In 2018, Hamra and his business ventures were also profiled on Franchising.com, which wrote in the piece that Hamra now makes his home in Chicago. Records obtained from the Chicago Board of Elections indicate that Hamra registered to vote in Chicago in 2013. The documents show that Hamra voted in two elections in 2016, one in 2018 and then voted in the 2020 general election. His voter status in Chicago was listed as inactive as of September 2023. Additional records obtained from the Greene County Clerks Office show that Hamra registered to vote in Greene County, Missouri, using a Springfield address in July 2021. The records show that he has since voted once, in the Nov. 2022 general election. Quades questioning of Hamras residency comes ahead of what is expected to be a contentious Democratic primary for governor if Hamra files for the office on Tuesday. Quade, a longtime Democratic leader in the Missouri House, will likely continue to capitalize on Hamras voting history in the coming weeks. A recent poll released by Saint Louis University and British pollster YouGov found that 21% of Democratic supporters surveyed favored Quade while 5% favored Hamra. Missouri Democrats will face an uphill battle to take the office this year. Republicans hold every statewide office and a supermajority in both chambers of the General Assembly as the state has grown staunchly Republican. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will face one of three major Republican opponents in the general election. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and Sen. Bill Eigel are competing in what will likely be a three-way race for the Republican nomination. JOHNSON COUNTY, Mo. A great many songs, poems, books, and essays have been written about the virtue and simple nobility of the dog. Mark Twain once opined, The dog is a gentleman, and wrote that if admission to Heaven were based on merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. But chief among the accolades bestowed upon our furry friends is the distinction of mans best friend. A 19th-century Missouri court case about a dog is credited with further popularizing that nickname for our beloved canine companions. Old Drum statue in front of the Johnson County Courthouse located in Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. The statue, built in 1958, received contributions from 42 states, a half-dozen countries, and former President Harry S. Truman. (Photograph by Abernaki; released to the public domain) The story begins in the fall of 1869 in Johnson County, Missouri, with a frustrated sheep farmer named Leonidas Hornsby. Hornsby had lost over a hundred sheep to wild dogs and wolves. His anger finally spilled over and he told anyone whod listen that hed shoot the next dog or wolf that wandered onto his property. On the evening of October 28, Hornsby observed a hound dog in his yard. Hornsbys nephew, Samuel Dick Ferguson, believed they should shoot the dog. According to Hornsby, he told Ferguson to only scare the animal by loading a rifle with corn and shooting it. Ferguson did as he was told and shot the dog. Hornsby later claimed the dog jumped in pain, then jumped over a small fence and ran away. Hornsbys brother-in-law, Charles Burden, lived on a neighboring farm and heard the shot. Burden, who owned many dogs, called after his animals. All but one dog returned home: a black and tan hound dog named Old Drum. When the dog failed to return home by the following morning, Burden went to his neighbors and eventually his brother-in-law, asking if they knew what may have happened. Hornsby acknowledged that his nephew shot at a dog but denied seeing Old Drum specifically. Burden later found Old Drum along the muddy bank of the Big Creek, approximately six miles southwest of Kingsville, face down in the water. Burden saw evidence that led him to believe his beloved hunting dog didnt walk the creek but had been carried and left there. He suspected his brother-in-law to be the culprit. According to the Supreme Court of Missouri Historical Society, Burden threatened to kill Hornsby but opted for legal justice instead. He sued Hornsby for $100 in damages (approximately $2,281.81 in 2024 dollars). The amount was later amended to $50, but jurors could not agree if Hornsby had ordered his nephew to shoot Old Drum. The case was retried in January 1870, with Burden being awarded $25 and court costs. Hornsbys appeal was heard in March 1870. According to court testimony, Hornsby and Ferguson went to Big Creek, found Old Drums remains, and removed the lead bullets from the dogs body. But because Burdens attorneys could not prove Hornsby directly caused Old Drums death, the court reversed the previous decision and awarded Hornsby court costs. Burden filed for a new trial, citing new evidence on the matter. Both sides hired prominent Missouri lawyers to litigate the matter this time around. Francis M. Cockrell and Thomas T. Crittenden argued on behalf of Hornsby, while John F. Philips and George Graham West joined Burdens existing legal team. West In this fourth trial, held at the Old Johnson County Courthouse in Warrensburg, Hornsby testified that he told his nephew to shoot a dog but claimed it wasnt Old Drum. Burdens attorneys pointed out that no other dog was shot dead in the area. On September 23, West delivered closing remarks to the jury and chose a peculiar tactic. He made no specific mention of Old Drum nor did he speak of the case or evidence. Instead, West appealed to jurors with a eulogy for all dogs and their unconditional love. Gentlemen of the jury: the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A mans reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. Gentleman of the jury: a mans dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his masters side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and the sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wings and reputation fall to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death. George Graham Vest, Eulogy of the Dog Vests words won the day, and the jury awarded Burden a $50 judgment. Hornsby appealed again, this time to the Missouri Supreme Court. In July 1872, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the ruling in favor of Burden. Monuments were later built in memory of Old Drum and Vests dramatic courtroom speech. In December 1947, Fred Ford placed a stone monument along Big Creek near the location where Old Drum was found. In September 1958, Italian-born sculptor Reno J. Gastaldi fashioned a bronze statue of Old Drum. The Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce, along with donations from all over the country, paid for the statue. The monument is adorned with a plaque containing the words of Vests eulogy. More recently, a bust of Old Drum can be found in the Missouri Supreme Court Building. And in the summer of 2017, the Missouri Legislature approved a measure designating Old Drum as the states official historical dog. According to the City of Warrensburg website, Burden and Hornsby made amends in the years after the case. Both men are buried close to each other in the Hornsby Cemetery, located near Kingsville. And what of the phrase mans best friend? Its become state legend that the nickname was derived from this court case. Unfortunately, thats a canardan old wives tale. Now, it is true that Vests closing arguments contributed to the growing popularity of mans best friend, but the phrase draws its origins across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. King Frederick II of Prussia is widely-credited with having the first recorded use of the term mans best friend while speaking of one of his Italian greyhounds. The French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire used the phrase in his Dictionnaire philosophique in 1764. As for the United States, a C.S. Winkle poem published in 1821 refers to the faithful dog as mans best friend. It didnt become a widespread term until 1941, when American poet Ogden Nash published An Introduction to Dogs. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. Commenting on the recent incident in Transnistria, when a drone supposedly attacked a military helicopter, the Moldovan Reintegration Bureau has warned of the possibility of similar provocations by the Russian Federation. Source: Realitatea with reference to a statement by the Bureau, reported by European Pravda Details: In particular, the Bureau noted that the Moldovan authorities had carefully analysed the video footage of the incident and concluded that the video contains obvious elements of video editing, which indicates that the helicopter was shot at by other assets, not by a drone. The incident was deliberately provoked to create panic and maintain tension in society, the Bureau added. "Judging by the information we have, it is important to inform the public that in the coming period, the Russian Federation is planning even more similar actions along the perimeter of the Transnistrian region and the Security Zone," the statement said. The Bureau noted that such actions are aimed at increasing panic, causing distrust in society and weakening the economy. Background: On 17 March, Transnistrian media reported an explosion and fire on the territory of a military unit in Tiraspol. The Transnistrian channel Pervii Pridnestrovskii said that the explosion was the result of a drone attack. At the same time, Moldovan Interior Minister Adrian Efros claimed that Russia had not abandoned its intentions to invade Moldova, but there were no signs of a military threat to the country. Transnistria, which has been illegally occupied by Russian troops for more than 30 years in violation of Moldova's sovereignty, is a source of regional tension. Support UP or become our patron! Good evening. Britain has sanctioned two individuals and a company linked to a Chinese state-affiliated group responsible for targeting MPs, Oliver Dowden has announced. Elsewhere, Rishi Sunak faces yet another by-election headache after Scott Benton, a former Tory MP, quit over his involvement in a lobbying scandal. UK unveils sanctions after MPs targeted by China The Deputy Prime Minister said they were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting democratic institutions and parliamentarians. He said the National Cyber Security Centre had concluded that the Electoral Commission was highly likely compromised by a China state-affiliated cyber entity between 2021 and 2022. Sunak faces another critical Red Wall by-election as Scott Benton resigns In a letter to his constituents, Mr Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, announced he was standing down with immediate effect. He was facing the prospect of a recall petition in his Lancashire constituency after being suspended from the Commons for 35 days last month. UN Security Council demands ceasefire in Gaza The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after the United States agreed not to veto the move. For the first time since the war began, the UNs key body demanded an end to hostilities with 14 votes in favour. The US abstained from the vote. Evening Briefing: Todays essential headlines Ed Miliband | The shadow climate change secretary has insisted he did not consider resigning at any point over Labours 28 billion green spending U-turn. Comment and analysis Tom Harris | Labour ignore the Reform threat at their peril Tim Stanley | Yousafs Tory free Scotland is no longer free Lucy Burton | The 100,000 tax trap is destroying aspiration Andrew Orlowski | Trustbusters will be unable to smash Apple down Alan Dershowitz | Trumps biggest legal victory is in sight: presidential immunity Feature of the day We left Britain behind to world school our children around 23 countries A family of four who ditched the rat race to travel around Europe share tips on how to see the world while educating your children. Business news: Boeing boss to step down amid 737 Max safety crisis The chief executive and chairman of Boeing will both stand down this year in the wake of a major safety failure that saw a door plug blow out in midair from one of the aerospace giants planes. Live markets news: Mel Stride defends DWP in Waspi pension row Editors choice Travel | Ive visited more than 100 countries but nothing compares to this Scottish island Poetry | The chilling truth about Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken, Americas favourite poem Money | I am a Waspi woman and was aware of the pension change ignorance is no excuse Sport briefing: Todays essential headlines Matt Law | Brazil were brutal with Bellingham just like teams will be at the Euros Darts | Transgender Noa-Lynn van Leuven wins titles against women and men in same week Bob Wilson | Life is a struggle right now but Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson have been brilliant Brian Moore | World Rugbys proposed laws stretch credulity by welcoming not-straight line-outs Gary Anderson | I do not agree with Fernando Alonsos heavy-handed penalty for causing George Russell crash Sign up to our free Sport Briefing Newsletter to receive the latest sporting news, direct to your inbox every weekday and Sunday morning. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian air defense has shot down more than 2,000 Russian cruise and ballistic missiles, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has reported. Thats a result of the titanic work of Ukrainian air defenders. Thousands of lives were saved by modern air defense systems provided by our partners. However, Ukraine still needs more air defense systems to protect our people from russian terror. Because civilian infrastructure remains the primary target of russian strikes, the ministry said on X. FILE PHOTO: A boy holds a sign to protest against, what a teacher, local councilor and parents said, the kidnapping of hundreds school pupils by gunmen after the Friday prayer, in Kaduna By Garba Muhammad KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Wrapped in orange headscarves and blue school uniforms, over 100 Nigerian students and staff who were kidnapped this month arrived at the local government building in the country's north on Monday, a day after they were freed by the army. "There are here 131 students, six others are currently being hospitalized and will be eventually discharged when they get better," said Major General MLD Saraso of the Nigerian army. He said one of the 138 people abducted, a school staff member, had died in captivity. The army announced on Sunday it had rescued 137 hostages - 76 female and 61 male - in the neighbouring state of Zamfara, days before a deadline to pay a 1 billion naira ($690,000) ransom for their release. One security source said he saw 14 black bags, which he assumed contained the ransom money, being delivered to the Dansadau enclave in Zamfara State. He asked not to be named for fears of the possible repercussions. Information minister Mohammed Idris told a press briefing in Abuja that no ransom was paid. School officials and residents put the number of students kidnapped on March 7 in the town of Kuriga in the northwestern state of Kaduna at 287 while Governor Uba Sani put the figure at over 200. Given the discrepancies in the numbers reported, it was unclear if any hostages remained captured. Kuriga elders said Sani had told them all the hostages had been freed. The abduction of students in Nigeria began over a decade ago when jihadist group Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from a school in Chibok in northeastern Borno State. Some of the girls have still not been released. (Reporting by Garba Mohammed, writing by Giulia Paravicini, editing by Ed Osmond) A woman (out of shot) holding up two blister packs of pills in front of doctor The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a key abortion pill mifepristone for use in 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case Tuesday challenging that approval. (Getty Images/Fotostorm) Self-managed abortions rose by more than 26,000 in the six months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago, according to a peer-reviewed study published Monday in JAMA, the American Medical Associations journal. Researchers determined that an increase of approximately 27,838 online orders of abortion pills between July and December 2022 corresponded to the findings of an additional 26,055 medication abortions reported outside the formal health care system, the study found. The Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling in June 2022 overturned the federal right to abortion, returning the decision to the states and leading to 14 with near-total abortion bans. The study was published a day before the nations highest court is set to hear arguments in a case over the federal approval of mifepristone, one of two drugs used for medication abortions. A decision in favor of an anti-abortion group could limit access to mifepristone, even in states with protective abortion laws. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an anti-abortion group of physicians, is asking the court to rule that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should revert to pre-2016 mifepristone regulations. The change would reduce mifepristones use from 10 weeks gestation to seven, alter the dosage, require three in-person visits, and only allow doctors to provide medication abortions, among other restrictions. Lawyers for the Biden administration are urging the court to keep the current regulations on the drug. Hundreds of studies point to the pills safety. Since the FDA approved mifepristone in 2000, 32 deaths have been associated with the drugs use as of December 2022. Regardless of the outcome, the JAMA research suggests that some people in states with strict abortion bans have found ways to terminate their pregnancies outside of a clinician setting. Given the increases weve seen and reductions in access, we could make a good guess that a lot of these pills are going to states with those bans, said Abigail Aiken, a University of Texas at Austin public affairs professor and the studys lead author. Researchers analyzed data provided by telemedicine organizations such as Aid Access, an international abortion pill provider, community networks and online vendors. Community networks organizations run by volunteers that sometimes work offline or through hotlines and provide pills at no-cost to recipients accounted for more than half of all abortion pill orders. Online vendors are websites that give various price options for buying abortion medications. Post-Dobbs, there was an estimated monthly average of 5,931 provisions orders of abortion pills from those main sources. Thats a 322% increase from a pre-Dobbs average of 1,407 provisions per month, according to the study. Despite the availability of abortion pills, Aiken said some people may not want to terminate a pregnancy without clinician support. She noted from her previous 2016 research in Ireland, before the country legalized abortion in 2018, feelings associated with self-managed abortion, including isolation. They oftentimes wanted to connect with the formal health care setting, Aiken said. They were experiencing prolonged symptoms and wanted to make sure they didnt need help. Aikens latest study broadens the scope of research on medication abortions since the end of Roe. Abortions through telehealth increased post-Dobbs, according to a Society of Family Planning #WeCount report published last month. They made up 16% of all reported abortions as of September 2023. Before Dobbs, just 4% of all abortions were telehealth abortions. Telehealth abortion has really had a huge impact, Ushma Upadhyay, a professor at the University of California, San Franciscos Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, told States Newsroom in February. Were addressing unmet need that existed in those states, even before Dobbs. I think that a lot of the unmet need in the blue states is being met, as well as people traveling from states with abortion bans. A report released last week by the Guttmacher Institute showed that 63% of all clinician-provided abortions in the U.S. last year were medication abortions. There were more than 1 million abortions provided in the formal health care system in 2023, the largest number since 2012. In 2020, medication abortions made up 53% of all abortions, according to the institute. The data helps paint the picture of the extreme need that we are experiencing around reproductive health in this country, said Monica Simpson, the executive director of SisterSong, a Georgia-based reproductive justice organization. Simpson said a Supreme Court decision restricting medication abortion access would create a scenario similar to the aftermath of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos are unborn children. That ruling brought fertility services in the state to a standstill until the governor signed legislation providing criminal and civil immunity to IVF providers and patients. Our opposition these anti-abortion extremists this is what they want. They want to intentionally create chaos around us, she said. Editors note: The report has been updated to accurately reflect increases in self-managed abortions and orders of abortion medication. SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE The post Self-managed abortions increased by about 26,000 after Dobbs decision, study shows appeared first on Alabama Reflector. (FOX40.COM) Six more people have been added to an indictment regarding an alleged scheme to steal catalytic converters in California and send them to New Jersey to be sold, according to the U.S. Dept. of Justice. Court documents say that three California residents and six New Jersey residents were charged in the original indictment in November 2022. Two New Jersey brothers allegedly ran a business that purchased stolen catalytic converters from California for $38 million. After their detainment, their mother, father and older brother continued with the business of purchasing stolen catalytic converters, the DOJ said. What vehicles are most targeted for catalytic converter theft? Two employees of a metal refinery and another person who brokered the transactions of the stolen catalytic converters are also accused in the scheme. The DOJ said that the family members and others sold metal powders taken from the catalytic converters to employees at a metal refinery in New Jersey, who the DOJ said knew they were receiving stolen property. The refinery employees allegedly paid over $621 million to the family that purchased the stolen catalytic converters. The three additional defendants could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $78 million, the DOJ said. In October 2023, three members of a California family, two brothers and their mother, pleaded guilty to their role in the operation. The three pleaded guilty to conspiring to transport the devices for payments of more than $38 million, the DOJ said. Why do people steal catalytic converters? Catalytic converters are installed on vehicles to limit emissions, and thieves seek them because of the metals they contain, such as palladium, platinum and rhodium. In black markets, some catalytic converters can be sold for more than $1,000 each, according to the DOJ. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40. The Pentagons acting policy chief will leave her post this spring. Sasha Bakers departure will open a new gap in an office struggling to fill its top seats for almost a year. Colin Kahl, who the Senate narrowly confirmed to the position in 2021, left last summer. Since then, Baker has temporarily held the role. Replacing her will be Amanda Dory, director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University and an alumna of the Pentagon policy office. The White House nominated Derek Chollet, a high-ranking State Department official, to the top policy job in July 2023. Chollet testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in late September, facing difficult questions about his role in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The committee has not voted on his nomination. The sooner that confirmation can occur, the better, Pentagon press secretary Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters this morning. Ryder did not address why the nomination is stuck, instead referring reporters to Congress. The White House, as required by law, renominated Chollet at the start of 2024. Meanwhile, the second-highest position in Pentagon policy will also soon go vacant. Last week the Senate committee voted for Melissa Dalton, who has filled the deputy role since Mara Karlin departed late last year, to be undersecretary of the Air Force. A spokesperson for Baker did not say where she plans to move after leaving the Pentagon at the end of April. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) The world is reacting to a deadly attack at a Russian concert hall where the death toll has surpassed 135 people. U.S. officials say Russia was warned about the attack by ISIS, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is pointing the finger elsewhere. Putin is trying to blame Ukraine for the deadly attack in his country. Vice President Kamala Harris says there is no evidence linking Ukraine to the attack. There is no whatsoever evidence. And in fact, what we know to be the case is that Issi-K is actually, by all accounts, responsible for what happened, Harris said. On Friday night armed men shot up a Russian concert hall. I think hes trying to blame Ukraine, but that dog dont hunt. Its not working, said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WVa.) Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton says hes concerned about attacks on Americans. We have millions of Americans who live or travel abroad throughout Europe and Asia embassies, said Cotton. The White House issued a statement condemning the attack and sent condolences to the Russian people. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. A picture of one of the suspects with his head covered Russia has repeatedly blamed Ukraine for last week's deadly Moscow concert hall attack, despite the Islamic State (IS) group claiming responsibility and Ukraine's denials. Through Russian officials' statements, media reports, and social media, BBC Verify examines how the campaign to blame Kyiv unfolded. First accusations Accusations were made almost immediately after initial reports of the attack on the Crocus City Hall emerged on social media at 1715 GMT on Friday. Several pro-Kremlin bloggers posting to the messaging app Telegram blamed Ukraine within just over an hour. Pro-Russia pundit Sergey Markov, for example, said at 1825 GMT the attackers looked like "Islamist radicals", but went on to add - without evidence - that the attack was "likely organised from Kyiv". Some 40 minutes later (1903 GMT), Moskovsky Komsomolets, a national tabloid, quoted military expert Roman Shkurlatov as saying the attack may have been organised with the support of Ukraine's Security Service and military intelligence. And at 1927 GMT, Russia's ex-President Dmitry Medvedev vowed revenge if Ukraine was involved. The fake claim of responsibility A few hours later, at 2213 GMT, NTV - one of Russia's main TV channels - aired a video clip, claiming that it showed a senior Ukrainian official confirming his country's involvement In the video, Oleksiy Danilov appears to say: "It is fun in Moscow today, I think it's a lot of fun. I would like to believe that we will arrange such fun for them more often." But BBC Verify has established the clip is actually an edit of two Ukrainian TV interviews broadcast in the past week. Both can be found on YouTube. The first is an interview with Danilov from 19 March. The other one was published three days earlier and features Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov. The quote by Danilov which appears in the NTV video cannot be heard in the original interview. Audio analysis, carried out for BBC Verify by the Advanced Forensic Technology Research Group at Liverpool John Moores University, suggests the audio was manipulated in the NTV video. A gap in the audio frequency data indicates that the sound has been edited. However, the researchers cannot be certain the voice was AI generated. BBC Verify has also found information embedded in the audio file suggesting it has been put through editing software. 'Window' for crossing President Putin said the assailants were caught as they were trying to flee to Ukraine An official accusation was made in Vladimir Putin's address on Saturday. The Russian president said the assailants were caught as they were trying to flee to Ukraine, where "a window for crossing the border was prepared for them". However, Russia has not presented evidence of a "window" to let the attackers through. Although BBC Verify cannot independently confirm where the suspects were heading, we have verified several videos and photos of them being apprehended. And despite Putin's claim, the arrests took place a long way from the Ukrainian border. By matching background details in their environment, we know two of the arrested suspects were filmed at about 90 miles (145km) from the Ukraine border. While Ukraine has denied any involvement, responsibility has been claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group via its self-styled Amaq news agency. Visual evidence, circulated by IS, includes a picture of four attackers with their faces blurred and a very graphic video filmed from one of the assailant's perspectives. Multiple details - like features of the concert hall and guns used by the attackers - match videos that emerged online at the time of the attack. But despite the evidence, Russia continues to accuse Ukraine. Margarita Simonyan - editor in chief of the Russian TV network RT (previously known as Russia Today) - said on X the attackers were not from IS because they were not wearing suicide vests and "had no intention to die". But while IS has repeatedly warned assailants against getting caught alive, the group's attackers have escaped before. For example, in late 2022 one of the militants involved in an attack on a hotel in Kabul managed to escape and later carried out a suicide attack, according to IS media observed by BBC Monitoring. What do we know about the suspects? The attackers drove in a white Renault - which matches the vehicle seen in a separate video used to flee the concert hall - before being detained. According to Russian State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein, one man was arrested near the vehicle, while the other three fled into nearby woods and were detained following a search. Weapons and Tajik passports were recovered from the Renault, Mr Khinshtein added. On Sunday, footage was published of the men being escorted into a Moscow court. They were named by Russian authorities as: Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Muhammadsobir Fayzov. IS released a video showing the four attackers with their faces blurred In the picture released by IS, three of the suspects can be seen wearing a light brown t-shirt, a light green t-shirt and a grey polo shirt. These shirts appear to match those worn by three of the suspects at the time of their arrest. For example, two logos on the light brown t-shirt worn by the man named Rachabalizoda are also visible in the video released by IS. He also identifies himself by the same name during a subsequent interrogation. The suspect Mirzoyev, whose shirt is not visible in the IS picture, was detained wearing a long-sleeve green shirt, blue jeans and a black belt. These three items of clothing are worn by a gunman in the IS video. How reliable is IS's claim of responsibility? The existence of a highly graphic video filmed by the attackers while carrying out the killings, their use of slogans common among IS attackers in the video, and its distribution via official IS media channels are consistent with the group's modus operandi. An image of one of the attackers inside the Crocus City Hall more than two weeks before the attack has been published by Russian media - suggesting it had been pre-planned. IS often awaits confirmation of the fate of the attackers before releasing a claim. If an attacker dies, it prevents the intelligence agencies from extracting information under interrogation or torture. So the claim of responsibility while the perpetrators were still at large is unusual, and indicates keenness on IS's part to confirm its role. This is not the first time that IS has targeted Russia. Two other major attacks happened in 2015 and 2018, along with other lower-level ones in recent years. Additional reporting by Mina Al-Lami, Benedict Garman and Adam Robinson BBC Verify logo What do you want BBC Verify to investigate? The four men suspected of carrying out a brutal attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 139 people have appeared in court on terror charges, as the Kremlin defended its security services criticized for failing to prevent the massacre. Three of the suspects were bent double as they were marched into the Moscow courtroom late on Sunday night, while the fourth was in a wheelchair and appeared unresponsive. The suspects, who are from the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan but worked in Russia on temporary or expired visas, were named by Moscow City Court as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, Shamsidin Fariduni and Mukhammadsobir Faizov. They face a maximum sentence of life in prison. They are accused of storming Crocus City Hall in a Moscow suburb on Friday, shooting civilians at point blank before setting the building on fire, causing the roof to collapse while concert-goers were still inside. ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre and released graphic footage showing the incident but Moscow has insinuated, without evidence, that the perpetrators planned to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has vehemently denied involvement and called the Kremlins claims absurd. At a meeting with other government officials on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin conceded the attack had been carried out by radical Islamists, but still tried to pin ultimate responsibility on Ukraine. We know that the crime was committed by radical Islamists, whose ideology the Islamic world itself has been fighting for centuries, Putin said, but added that the attack is a link in a series of attempts of those who have been fighting Russia since 2014 with the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime. The first suspect charged, Mirzoyev, had a black eye, bruises over his face and a plastic bag wrapped around his neck. Mirzoyev, 32, had a temporary resident permit for three months in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, but it had expired, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported. Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, March 24, 2024. - Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters Rachabalizoda, born in 1994, told the court through an interpreter that he has Russian registration documents but could not remember where they are. He appeared in court with a swollen eye and a bandaged ear. The third defendant, Fariduni, born in 1998, was employed at a factory in the industrial city of Podolsk and registered in Krasnogorsk, both near Moscow. The three men pleaded guilty to the terrorism charges, Russian media reported. It was unclear what the fourth man, Faizov, born in 2004, pled. He was pictured lying limp in a wheelchair inside a glass cage. The men looked beaten and injured as they were brought into the courtroom. Videos and still images that appeared to show some of them being violently interrogated, including one apparent use of electrocution, circulated widely on Russian social media. One video appears to show Rachabalizoda being held on the ground while having part of his ear cut off and stuffed in his mouth by a camouflage-wearing interpreter. Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Russian state propaganda network RT, posted a video of Rachabalizoda appearing in court with a heavily bandaged ear, which she wrote made her feel nothing but pleasure. CNN asked the Kremlin about the visible signs of violence committed against the suspects, but spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment. The four have been remanded into pre-trial detention until May 2022, the court said. Later Monday, Russias Investigative Committee asked the court to detain three other men two brothers and their father in connection with the attack, Russian state media TASS reported. Mukhammadsobir Faizov, a suspect in the shooting attack, appeared unresponsive in court, on Sunday. - Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters On Monday, three days after the attack, rescuers were still searching among the ruins of the collapsed concert hall and trying to clear rubble. Russias Ministry of Emergency Situations said more than 300 specialists were working at the site. The attack, the deadliest on Russian soil in almost two decades, was met with outrage and disbelief in Russia, prompting calls for the harshest of punishments to be meted out. While the concert hall roof was still burning, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and shared a video taken by the men as they stormed the building, where thousands of Russians had arrived to watch the rock group Picnic. CNN has geolocated the 90-second video to the concert hall, where bodies and blood can be seen on the floor as fire rages above. The video also shows one of the attackers slitting the throat of a man lying on his back, and ends with the four attackers walking away inside the building with smoke rising in the distance. Despite ISIS appearing to provide evidence that its fighters had carried out the attack, Putin and other senior officials have been keen to associate Ukraine with the terror attack. In a national following the attack more than 19 hours after it began Putin on Saturday claimed that a window had been prepared for the attackers to escape to Ukraine. He did not provide evidence. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also said: Now we know in which country these bloody bastards planned to hide from persecution Ukraine. Ukraine has vehemently denied any involvement and called the allegations a planned provocation by the Kremlin to further fuel anti-Ukrainian hysteria in Russia society and further mobilize Russian citizens to participate in Moscows invasion of Ukraine. Firefighters respond to the burning Crocus City Hall on March 22. - Maxim Shemetov/Reuters Despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at historic lows, the United States warned Russia that ISIS militants were planning to stage an attack in the country. The US embassy in Moscow said earlier this month it was monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, including concerts. US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienna Watson said the US had shared this information with Russian authorities under the duty to warn policy. The US also warned American citizens to avoid places like theaters and concert halls. But in a speech Tuesday just days before the attack Putin dismissed the American warnings as provocative, saying these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society. Answering questions from reporters on Monday, Peskov refused to comment on whether Moscow had received warnings from Washington, and defended the tireless work of Russias security services. Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian politics and security service the FSB, told CNN he thinks Putin finds it hard to believe that the Americans, even with gritted teeth, would genuinely provide true intelligence about terrorist threats in the current environment. Because he would have no qualms about issuing a fake intelligence warning in order to meddle with another countrys elections, I believe he may well have thought that in fact thats what the Americans are doing, Galeotti said. A CNN team in Moscow spoke to mourners who had turned out to lay flowers for the victims of Fridays attack. Alexander Matveev, 37, told CNN that Russians feel insecure and worried that another attack could take place. He said he found Putins suggestion that Ukraine was involved to be plausible. He said they were trying to escape to Ukraine. This makes sense. They just found some halfwits who were eager for money, Matveev said. CNNs Tim Lister, Darya Tarasova and Nathan Hodge contributed reporting. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Russia is reeling from the worst terror strike on its soil in a generation following an attack on March 22, 2024, that killed at least 137 concertgoers in Moscow. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State group. And despite Russian authorities expressing doubt over the claim, U.S. officials told The Associated Press that they believed ISIS-K, a South and Central Asian affiliate of the terrorist organization, was behind the assault. It comes amid heightened concern over the scope of ISIS-K activities following recent terrorist operations in countries including Iran and Pakistan. The Conversation turned to Clemson Universitys Amira Jadoon and Sara Harmouch of American University terrorism experts who have tracked the activities of ISIS-K to explain what this latest deadly attack tells us about the organizations strengths and agenda. You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa. What is ISIS-K? ISIS-K, short for Islamic State Khorasan Province, is a regional affiliate of the larger Islamic State group. The affiliate group operates primarily in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, although it has presence throughout the historical Khorasan a region that includes parts of the modern-day nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, along with other Central Asian countries. Established in 2015, ISIS-K aims to establish a physical caliphate a system of governing a society under strict Islamic Sharia law and under religious leadership in the South and Central Asian region. ISIS-Ks beliefs follow the ideology of its parent organization, the Islamic State group, which promotes an extreme interpretation of Islam and sees secular government actors, as well as non-Muslim and Muslim minority civilian populations, as legitimate targets. A Taliban fighter checks a destroyed ISIS-K safehouse on Feb. 14, 2023. AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi The group is known for its extreme brutality and for targeting both government institutions and civilians, including mosques, educational institutions and public spaces. Following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, ISIS-Ks key objectives have been to diminish the now-ruling Talibans legitimacy in the war-ravaged nation, assert itself as the rightful leader of the Muslim community and emerge as the principal regional adversary to regimes it deems oppressive. Moreover, the Talibans transition from an insurgency group to a governing entity left numerous militant factions in Afghanistan without a unifying force a gap that ISIS-K has aimed to fill. Why was Russia targeted by ISIS-K? ISIS-K has long framed Russia as one of its main adversaries. It has heavily featured anti-Russian rhetoric in its propaganda and has attacked Russias presence within Afghanistan. This includes a suicide attack on Russias embassy in Kabul in 2022 that left two Russian Embassy staff and six Afghans dead. The broader Islamic State group has targeted Russia for several reasons. They include long-standing grievances relating to Moscows historical interventions in Muslim-majority regions like Chechnya and Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Russias partnerships with regimes opposed by the Islamic State group, notably Syria and Iran, have positioned Russia as a primary adversary in the eyes of the terrorist organization and its affiliates. In particular, Russia has been a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the beginning of Syrias civil war in 2011, providing military support to the Assad regime against various opposition groups, including the Islamic State group. This direct opposition to the terrorist group and its caliphate ambitions has rendered Russia as a prime target for retaliation. Moreover, Russias cooperation with the Taliban ISIS-Ks key nemesis in Afghanistan adds another layer of animosity. The Islamic State group views countries and groups that oppose its ideology or military objectives as enemies of Islam, including actors who seek to establish relations with the Taliban. By attacking Russian targets, ISIS-K in part seeks to deter further Russian involvement in the Middle East. But also, such attacks provide high publicity for its cause and aim to inspire its supporters worldwide. As such, for the Islamic State brand, the Moscow attack serves as retribution for perceived grievances held against Russia, while also projecting global reach. This approach can provide significant dividends, especially for its South and Central Asian affiliate, in the form of increased recruitment, funding and influence across the jihadist spectrum. What does the attack tell us about ISIS-K capabilities? The mere association of ISIS-K with this attack, whether it was directly or indirectly involved, bolsters the groups reputation. Overall, the attack signals ISIS-Ks growing influence and its determination to make its presence felt on the global stage. Being linked to a high-profile attack in a major city far from its base in Afghanistan indicates that ISIS-K can extend its operational reach either directly or through collaboration with like-minded militant factions. More than 100 people were killed in a blast in Kerman, Iran, on Jan. 3, 2024. Mahdi/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images The scale and sophistication of the attack reflect advanced planning, coordination and execution capabilities. This only reaffirms unequivocally ISIS-Ks intent, adaptability and determination to internationalize its agenda. Similar to ISIS-Ks attack in Iran in January 2024 that left over 100 dead, this latest atrocity serves to reinforce ISIS-Ks stated commitment to the broader global jihadist agenda of the Islamic State group, and helps broaden the appeal of its ideology and recruitment campaign. How does this fit ISIS-Ks strategy? The attack in Moscow serves as a powerful recruitment and propaganda tool by attracting international media attention to the group. This allows it to remain politically relevant to its audiences across South and Central Asia, and beyond. But it also helps divert attention from local setbacks for ISIS-K. Like its parent organization Islamic State group, ISIS-K has been confronted with military defeats, loss of territory and leadership and diminishing resources. In the face of such challenges, ISIS-Ks potential links to the attack in Moscow remind observers of its persistent threat and adaptability. By targeting a major power like Russia, ISIS-K aims to project a broader message of intimidation aimed at other states involved in anti-Islamic State group operations and undermine the publics sense of security. Additionally, operations such as the Moscow attack seek to solidify ISIS-Ks position within the broader Islamic State group network, potentially securing more support and resources. More broadly, the strategy follows a process of internationalizing ISIS-Ks agenda something it has pursued with renewed vigor since 2021 by targeting the countries with a presence in Afghanistan, including Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China and Russia, marking a deliberate expansion of its operational focus beyond local borders. The Moscow attack, following the January assault in Iran, suggests that ISIS-K is intensifying efforts to export its ideological fight directly to the territories of sovereign nations. It is a calculated strategy and, as the Moscow attack has exemplified, one that has the potential to strike fear in capitals far beyond ISIS-Ks traditional base. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sara Harmouch, American University and Amira Jadoon, Clemson University Read more: The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. People light candles and lay flowers at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 24, 2024. There were calls Monday for harsh punishment for those behind the attack on the Russia concert hall that killed more than 130 people as authorities combed the burnt-out ruins of the shopping and entertainment complex in search of more bodies. (Sergei Vedyashkin, Moscow News Agency via AP) TALLINN, Estonia (AP) Flames were still leaping from the Moscow concert hall besieged by gunmen when Russian officials began suggesting who was really to blame. They presented no evidence, only aspersions and suspicion and counterfactual speculation, but in Russias eyes the culprit was clear: Ukraine. The allegations that Ukraine, now in its third year of fighting after Russia invaded, was behind Fridays attack that killed at least 137 people, were the first salvo in a disinformation war that has clouded the hearts and minds of people trying to come to grips with the shocking attack. First came Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president who was once regarded as a mild reformer but who has become a vehement hawk since the start of the Ukraine war. Terrorists understand only retaliatory terror if it is established that these are terrorists of the Kyiv regime, it is impossible to deal with them and their ideological inspirers differently, he wrote on the Telegram message app about 90 minutes after first news came of the attack. While not overtly accusing Ukraine, the strong implication was in line with Russias portrayal of Ukraine as a nest of vipers and suggested that Russia was prepared to step up its air assaults on Ukraine, which already had notably intensified in recent days. Ukraines Foreign Ministry quickly grabbed the baton, not only rejecting Russias accusations but suggesting that the brutal shootings and fire may have been a false flag operation. A ministry statement Friday evening referenced the 1999 apartment bombings that many critics have suggested were done by Russian security agents to justify launching the second Chechnya war. There are no red lines for (President Vladmir) Putins dictatorship. It is ready to kill its own citizens for political purposes, just as it has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians during the war against Ukraine as a result of missile attacks, artillery shelling and torture, the ministry said at the time. The claim of responsibility by a cell of the Islamic State did nothing to quiet the accusations, even though the group is a reliable villain to almost every country and despite Russia having claimed to have thwarted an IS-planned assault on a synagogue this month. The United States confirmation of the IS claim only hardened Russias position. On what basis do officials in Washington draw any conclusions about anyones innocence in the midst of a tragedy? If the United States has or had reliable information in this regard, then it must be immediately transferred to the Russian side, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. If there is no such data, then the White House has no right to issue indulgences to anyone, she said. All that was on Friday. On Saturday, Russian officers chased down four suspects in the Bryansk region, about 350 kilometers (210 miles) south of Moscow. Bryansk is on the border with Ukraine and Russians were outraged. Now we know in which country these bloody bastards planned to hide from persecution Ukraine, Zakharova said. In the afternoon, Putin, having waited about 19 hours to address the nation about the bloodshed, claimed without presenting evidence that the suspects were aiming to pass through a border window that had been arranged in advance. How such passage could be arranged between warring countries was also unexplained. On Monday, Putin said the attackers were radical Islamists," but that it still needed to be explained why they tried to flee to Ukraine. Over the weekend, digital bystanders chimed in on social media and messaging services. Some found it suspicious that the United States in early March had issued a warning saying it had intelligence indicating an imminent terrorist attack. To some, that suggested that Washington didnt give enough information to Russia about what it knew. To others, it indicated that Russian security services were too inept to fend off an attack even when warned. Overtly bogus information also came in the attacks wake. Russias state broadcaster NTV ran a video that appeared to show Ukraines top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, say, Is it fun in Moscow today? I would like to believe that we will arrange such fun for them more often. But it turned out to be an AI-generated deepfake, said digital sleuth Shayan Sardarizadeh of the BBC. For some, implications and manipulation were too subtle and they chose all-out assertions. Ukraine did it. They will pay," American commentator Jackson Hinkle, who recently interviewed Zakharova, wrote on X. Hinkle regularly spreads false information on social media. The Russia-Ukraine war has been one of his frequent targets, with Hinkle often posting content that furthers Russia's disinformation narratives. The mother of the man who was killed by a Fort Dodge Police Department officer on March 16 said her son was having a schizophrenic episode when he was shot and that she hopes authorities will be trained in dealing with mental health issues. The man shot and killed by police Saturday morning was 24-year-old Tyler C. Stansberry, of Fort Dodge. He was diagnosed with autism at an early age and then schizophrenia at 19, said Christine Stansberry, his mother. He was loving, funny smart kid who was really kind and laughed a lot, Stansberry said. He enjoyed playing video games and hanging out with his friends. He was somebody who protected his younger brother. Fort Dodge man struggled with mental health before incident with police Tyler Stansberry had struggled with mental health episodes after his schizophrenia diagnosis, she said. He was living with his brother and mother at their house in Fort Dodge when the shooting happened, Christine Stansberry said. She had left the house for some errands when she received a phone call from her other son saying that Tyler was having an episode, she said. By the time I got here, the cops and my younger son were standing outside my house, Christine Stansberry said. The police wouldnt let us inside the house. Fort Dodge authorities said that Tyler Stansberry had an active warrant out for violation of probation stemming from a domestic abuse case. The charges stemmed from a mental health episode and the family asked to not press charges, Christine Stansberry said. The family did not know about the warrant, she said. 'They didn't even try talking to him,' mom says about Fort Dodge officer who shot her son Authorities said officers entered the home, and Tyler Stansberry, armed with the two knives, ran at them. That's when "an officer on scene discharged his firearm resulting in the death of the individual." Fort Dodge police on Friday released the names of the four officers involved in the shooting: Matthew English, Andrew Lane, Nicholas Ruggles and Matthew Webb. But it didn't specify which one fired the fatal shot. They didnt even try talking to him, it mustve been only 17 minutes between the time they went in and the shots were fired, Christine Stansberry said. The police officers involved in the shooting were placed on critical incident leave while the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation investigates the incident, according to a news release. The situation has been mentally taxing on the family as they mourn Tylers death, Christine Stansberry said. Im just in the process of grieving and trying to lay my son to rest, she said. Christine Stansberry hopes the Fort Dodge Police Department focuses its efforts on dealing with mental health issues in the future to avoid any unnecessary deaths. The Fort Dodge Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Jose Mendiola is a breaking news reporter for the Register. Reach him at jmendiola@dmreg.com. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Fort Dodge mother wants police to have better mental health training On March 23, Kyiv hosted a bilateral defense industry conference DFNC1: Danish Edition which was attended by 63 Ukrainian companies and 34 Danish companies, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine has said. During the conference, government officials and businessmen from Ukraine and Denmark discussed cooperation in the defense industry. In particular, they discussed investments in the Ukrainian defense industry and cooperation in IT. Three documents on cooperation were signed. "We have a lot to offer our partners. We have technologies that are proving themselves on the frontline, engineers who can produce a quality product, and the capabilities of enterprises, both public and private. We need financial support and joint development. I am grateful to the Kingdom of Denmark for its willingness to cooperate and for taking real steps in this direction," Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleksandr Kamyshin said. During the conference, the Danish companies MyDefence, Palantir and the Danish Export Investment Fund (EIFD) presented their opportunities for further cooperation and their experience in Ukraine. "It was my great pleasure to visit Kyiv during the Danish-Ukranian Defense Industry Conference together with Danish industry. This war has turned into a war of industrial capacity, which underlines the importance of this weekends industrial event. DALO look forward to deepening our collaboration with Ukrainian authorities in order to foster growth in both Danish and Ukrainian industrial capacity. We can, with the help and support of industry, deliver real, tangible results on the battlefield to the benefit of both Ukraine and Denmark," Commander of the Danish Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) Kim Jesper Jrgensen said. An important part of the Conference was the business session, during which more than 350 B2B meetings were held between Ukrainian and Danish defense companies. The conference was supported by the Danish Ministry of Defense, the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO), the Danish Industry Association (Dansk industri), the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv), the Danish Maritime Administration (DMA) and the Center for Defense, Space and Security in Denmark (CenSec), and the Ukrainian Ministry of Strategic Industries, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Ukraine was represented by Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin, his deputy Serhiy Boyev, Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, his deputy Kateryna Chernohorenko, and Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Oleksandr Borniakov. Denmark was represented by Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen, DALO Commander Kim Jesper Jrgensen, Deputy Director of the DI Danish Defense and Security Industries Morten Flindt and others. Traffic approaching junction 10 of the M25 in Surrey during the current roadworks - Gareth Fuller/PA The RAC is warning of carmageddon ahead of the Easter bank holiday weekend, saying that some motorway journeys could take twice as long as usual. Easter travel chaos is looming thanks to the sheer number of drivers hoping to make a holiday getaway during the first bank holiday weekend of 2024. More than 14 million trips are expected to be made between Thursday and Easter Monday, the motoring organisation said. The RAC estimates that just under two thirds of all British drivers will be making a leisure journey on major roads at some point over the Easter weekend. Traffic volumes will be well below the 21 million road journeys over the same weekend in 2022, however. Transport analytics company Inrix forecast that Thursday will see traffic volumes peak in the afternoon and early evening as holidaymakers mingle with commuters driving home. Traffic at the Port of Dover in Kent as the Easter getaway began last year - Gareth Fuller/PA The busiest roads are set to be the western half of the M25 between the Gatwick turnoff in the south and the M1 junction in the north, the M5 between Bristol and Taunton and the whole of the M3 between London and Southampton. M25 delays could see a 60-minute drive taking more than two hours on Thursday afternoon, the RAC warned, with journey times on the M5 set to double by lunchtime on Good Friday. RAC Breakdown spokeswoman Alice Simpson said: With Easter falling earlier than usual at the start of the school holidays, it could be carmageddon for holidaymakers. Anyone who can delay leaving on Thursday 28 March until much later in the evening or set off as early as possible on Good Friday is likely to have a better journey than those who travel during the peak periods of the day. Lengthy queues can be expected along routes to the usual hotspots like the West Country, the Lake District and the south coast, especially during the middle of the day when most people make trips. Passengers at King's Cross station in London as rail engineering work projects caused major disruption at Christmas - Yui Mok/PA Bob Pishue, a transport analyst at Inrix, said: Although travel times will peak on Thursday and Friday afternoons, drivers should be prepared for longer journeys than normal throughout the entire weekend. Andy Butterfield, customer services director at National Highways said: This is the first bank holiday of the year, so we expect the roads to be busy with people looking to make the most of a long weekend. We encourage people to plan ahead and prepare their cars in advance for long journeys as this can help reduce the risk of breakdowns. Engineering works will be taking place on the railways during the Easter weekend. Avanti West Coast said it strongly recommends passengers do not travel on its trains between 29 March and 1 April because Euston station will be closed. Replacement buses will connect to Bedford, where services are running into London St Pancras. Chiltern Railways cautioned that passengers may need to stand for substantial parts of their journey if catching a train between London and Birmingham. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Mountain lion kills man in first deadly attack in California in 20 years A man has been left dead in California after a mountain lion attacked two brothers, the first fatal attack of its kind in two decades in the state. An 18-year-old man and his 21-year-old brother were out antler shed hunting on Saturday in a remote part of Georgetown when they were attacked by a mountain lion, the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office said. Deputies from the sheriffs office received a 911 call from the 18-year-old at around 1.13pm, reporting that he and his brother had just been attacked, leaving him with traumatic injuries to his face. He was also separated from his brother while the lion was attacking them. Around 20 minutes after his call, deputies and paramedics arrived in the area and began giving aid to the 18-year-old while other deputies started to search for his missing brother. At 1.46pm, deputies spotted a mountain lion crouching next to a second man on the ground. They shot their firearms to scare the mountain lion off so they could get to the man and render aid. Unfortunately, the man was deceased. A spokesperson for the family said that the 18-year-old has undergone multiple surgeries for his injuries and is expected to make a full recovery. Authorities have not released the names of the deceased victim and his injured brother at this time. Wardens and trappers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and an El Dorado County trapper were called to the area to find the mountain lion. They located the animal and dispatched it. The lion was euthanised near the scene, and the body was sent to a forensics laboratory for DNA examination. The CDFW confirmed on Sunday that DNA samples collected from the scene matched samples that were taken from the mountain lions carcass, meaning it was the same animal that performed the deadly attack. The mountain lion weighed 90 pounds and appeared to be healthy, but further analysis by forensic scientists will determine if it had any underlying health conditions. Authorities have been left astonished at this unusual incident, as reported mountain lion attacks are rare. A fatality like this is extremely rare, Kyle Parker, El Dorado sheriffs office spokesperson, told local news station KCRA. This tragic attack marks the first confirmed fatality from a mountain lion attack in California in 20 years, CDFW data shows. The last person to lose their life by a mountain lion was a 35-year-old man in January 2004 in the Whiting Ranch Regional Park in Orange County. Since then, there have been about a dozen attacks on humans by mountain lions in the state, however, none of which ended in a death until Saturdays horrific event. Josh Rosenau, the director of policy at the Mountain Lion Foundation, a California-based non-profit, explained to The Telegraph that this attack is incredibly rare. Mountain lions are basically scaredy cats. Theyre looking for deer, not people. If you make yourself look big and scary, they will almost always turn and run, he said. El Dorado County also recommends that you try to appear larger than the mountain lion if you encounter one by raising your arms and opening jackets, and small children should also be picked up. They add that you should not run from a lion you encounter and try to fight back if attacked. Some property owners could lose their land and planned casinos would be jettisoned under legislation that has gained broad support among lawmakers and gives the state more control over the Coasts waterfront, several Coast attorneys say. This bill may be the most radical change in property law of any kind since Mississippi became a state in 1817, said Gulfport attorney Virgil Gillespie, one of Mississippis foremost experts on Coast tidelands laws. The laws govern property subject to the ebb and flow of the tides on the Mississippi Sound and coastal bays. Its just too overreaching and troublesome, Gillespie added. This bill will keep hundreds of lawyers busy for at least 10 years. Several Coast attorneys who represent local governments included Gillespies remarks in a memo they drafted on the new bill and recently sent to key legislators. The bill makes sweeping changes to current law and upends state Supreme Court decisions, says the memo drafted by city of Biloxi attorney Peter Abide, Harrison County Board of Supervisors attorney Tim Holleman and Jim Simpson, an attorney who has represented the city of Long Beach and served for 14 years in the state Legislature. Negative changes the attorneys say the bill includes: Stifling competition the Coasts 12 existing casinos could face by prohibiting public leases for gambling or gambling-related activities adjacent to the sand beach, where casinos in Biloxi, Gulfport and Bay St. Louis now operate. Allowing the state to claim ownership of waterfront property that has been in private hands for decades or more. Forcing local governments into state leases they dont need on waterfront property that they control. Sen. Mike Thompson of Pass Christian, a co-sponsor of the Senates legislation, said the bill is intended to bring stability to the casino market and create a uniform framework for local governments to operate their harbors and build waterfront amenities such as piers. Sen. David Blount, the Gaming Commission chairman who introduced the bill, also says it is intended to create a stable business environment for the casino market. He acknowledged state leaders were taken aback when the Gaming Commission recently voted to approve a casino in Biloxi across from the sand beach, based on a waterfront property lease with the city and Harrison County. Under the new law, all casinos would need tidelands leases from the Secretary of States Office. Casinos must have a connection to the water in order to build on land, a state law passed in 2005 so casinos could move off the water after Hurricane Katrina. Blount also said all existing casinos support the bill. I sent multiple drafts of the bill to every casino operator on the Coast to get their input . . . Blount elaborated in an email. This is an important issue and they are directly affected. Although local governments also would be directly affected, Coast leaders said they were asked to weigh in on the bill only after they started objecting to some of its provisions. Property owned by RW Development on the south side of Highway 90 in Biloxi on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. The sand beach sits to the south of the property. Would proposed law kill Biloxi casino development? Tidelands, including the 26-mile sand beach, are owned by the public and held in trust by the Secretary of States Office. Currently, various state laws also give cities the right to use and lease out tidelands, including property in their harbors. Although the secretary of state sued to stop it, the Supreme Court ruled in March 2023 that the city of Biloxi has the right to lease waterfront property at the foot of Veterans Avenue, which the city owns, to RW Development. RW leased the property to build a pier and, more importantly, tie its property across Highway 90 to the waterfront. The last straw for state officials, both sides agree, came when the Mississippi Gaming Commission decided in December to approve a casino site for RW Development based on the waterfront lease. Blount says casinos that have already received site approval from the Gaming Commission will not be affected by the new law. But RW attorney Michael Cavanaugh of Biloxi disagrees. He said more than one provision in the law will prevent RWs development. RW is singled out, he said, in a provision that says site approval cant be extended beyond the original expiration date for any casino approved before Dec. 31. A lawsuit that existing casinos have filed to stop RWs development could well be decided after site approval expires in December 2026, Cavanaugh said. One sentence added to the bill would resolve the issue, he said: None of the provisions of this bill shall apply to any entity that received site approval as of Dec. 31, 2023. But that sentence hasnt been added. The Tullis-Toledano Manor sat on this site, before being destroyed during Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi. Developers have proposed a hotel project on the empty lot. A second Biloxi casino site jeopardized The bill definitely kills plans for a new casino that would compete with the established casinos in East Biloxi. Thats because the proposed law says the secretary of state cant lease land on or adjacent to the sand beach for gaming purposes. While nobody has proposed a casino directly on the beach, one is being planned across the highway on city property where historic Tullis-Toledano Manor was located before Katrina. The Tullis developers have an option to lease waterfront property across the beach highway from John Aldrich. His family once operated famed Fishermans Wharf restaurant there and also leased land to defunct Lady Luck Casino, which sat on the water in the 1990s. The secretary of state is currently suing Aldrich over ownership of the property. While a chancery judge ruled in Aldrichs favor, Secretary of State Michael Watson appealed the decision to the State Supreme Court, which is expected to rule any time on the case. The Aldrich land is not unlike other properties in East Biloxi where dredged material, along with oyster shells from seafood factories, built solid ground on what had been water bottoms. The proposed Senate bill now defines those filled lands as state property. However, Sen. Blount says the bill doesnt change the rights of private landowners. But theres another provision in the bill that kills the potential for a casino tied to the Aldrich property. The new law does not allow casinos adjacent to the sand beach, where several Coast casinos already operate. The Aldrich property sits next to the sand beach. It appears that this bill was done as a means of protecting the market, said Luke Lenzi, one of the potential developers of the Tullis property. It has a monopolizing effect whether that was the intent or not. Supporters of the bill point out that the Coast has 17 approved casino sites that have never been developed and say the gambling market is saturated. Lenzi said that developers have invested $2 million in the Tullis property and have every intention of moving forward. Former state Sen. Tommy Gollott of Biloxi, who was instrumental in legalizing casino gambling, said the Legislature studied areas with casinos and realized Mississippi would be better off with a free market approach. Where government limited casino licenses, he said in a recent letter to legislators, operators sat on their profits rather than investing in improvements, leading to stagnation. For the government to continue its success, he wrote, Laws written by and for the existing casinos should be avoided at all costs. Tullis hotel-casino planned for Biloxi. But the $300 million development is in jeopardy A Tory MSP has threatened legal action against Police Scotland after the force logged a social media comment he made as a "hate incident". Murdo Fraser likened identifying as non-binary to identifying "as a cat", in relation to Scottish government equality policies last November. Police decided no crime had been committed after a complaint was made. The force also said their recording helps "monitor tensions" in communities and informs police responses. However Mr Fraser has accused police of acting unlawfully by recording it as a hate incident. His complaint comes ahead of new hate crime legislation taking effect in Scotland from 1 April. The dispute began when Mr Fraser commented on a newspaper article about the Scottish government's Non-Binary Equality Action Plan last November. He posted: "Choosing to identify as 'non-binary' is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat. I'm not sure governments should be spending time on action plans for either." Choosing to identify as non-binary is as valid as choosing to identify as a cat. Im not sure Governments should be spending time on action plans for either. https://t.co/inYHH2iPkq Murdo Fraser (@murdo_fraser) November 18, 2023 A member of the public made a complaint about the post. After considering the complaint, Police Scotland decided that he had not committed a crime. But the post was recorded as a "hate incident", though this was not attached to Mr Fraser's name. A separate complaint was later made with the Scottish Parliament's ethical standards commissioner, citing the police reference number. This alerted Mr Fraser to the fact that a "hate incident" had been recorded. The commissioner judged that there did not appear to be a breach of the code of conduct for MSPs. Legal action In a letter to Police Scotland, Mr Fraser accuses the force of breaching the Human Rights Act, the Data Protection Act and the Equality Act as well as breaching Hate Crime National Guidance (HCNG). The mid-Scotland and Fife MSP describes the guidance as empowering police forces to record non-crime hate incidents and called on the force to make changes to it, as well as to delete the hate incident. He has threatened legal action if this does not happen. The MSP has accused the police of acting "outrageously" and "unlawfully" Mr Fraser said: "Police Scotland has behaved not just outrageously, but unlawfully according to the legal advice obtained by the Free Speech Union. "This is Police Scotland attacking free speech - but it is more sinister than that. My tweet wasn't pointing a finger at an individual - it was critical of a Scottish government policy." Mr Fraser said police forces in England and Wales had decided not to record non-criminal hate incidents, but said Police Scotland has not done that. New hate laws Mr Fraser's complaint pre-dates the introduction of the Scottish government's new Hate and Public Order (Scotland) Act - which comes into force on 1 April. It criminalises threatening or abusive behaviour which is intended to stir up hatred based on certain characteristics including age, disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity. Police Scotland said inquiries were carried out after a report was made about an offensive tweet on 20 November - it said no criminality was established.. A spokesperson said: "The incident was recorded as a non-crime hate incident. Police Scotland have received a complaint relating to this matter which has been passed to the Professional Standards Department for assessment. "Hate incidents are not recorded against alleged perpetrators. Recording is victim-focused and the process has been part of policing for many years. It helps us monitor tensions within communities enabling appropriate police responses and helps to build community confidence. "Seemingly low level or minor events can have a significant impact on someone who may already be very vulnerable." Analysis box by David Wallace Lockhart, BBC Scotland political correspondent New hate crime laws will take effect in Scotland from the beginning of next week. But it's important to stress this particular set of events has happened under the current system - it has nothing to do with the recent Hate Crime Act. Though with its implementation looming, those who oppose this new legislation are getting more vocal in their criticism. And debates about hate crime and free speech are getting louder in Scotland. Critics of the new legislation say it will clamp down on dissenting opinion, and that police will be "swamped" with complaints. But the first minister has vigorously defended it, saying it will only affect individuals who look to stir up hatred against certain groups. These laws aren't even operational yet, but we're getting a clear idea of how politically charged an issue this is. Two teenagers were found dead within a half mile of each other along Interstate 5 in what Washington State Patrol said are connected killings, Fox 13 reported. The victims both 16-year-old boys were hidden behind a high, concrete wall and dense forest along the busy Seattle highway, according to law enforcement. The first victim's body was in a ditch near North 85th Street and I-5 that caught the eye of a passerby Thursday night, and the second victim was spotted about 12 hours later, around 8 a.m. local time Friday. Both teenagers died from gunshot wounds, police said. KRISTIN SMART'S KILLER NEARLY DIED DURING ALLEGED PRISON ATTACK BY INMATE WHO MURDERED I-5 STRANGLER' Washington State Patrol said the deaths of two 16-year-olds are connected. The victims were identified as Jahaz S. Phillips and Myion Coleman. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP What preceded the teens' homicides and when and where they were actually killed is still under investigation, police said, and police have not elaborated on how the two cases are connected. Fox News Digital reached out to Washington State Patrol for more details, but police didn't immediately respond. BRUTALLY VIOLENT MEXICAN CARTEL DRAINING AMERICANS' LIFE SAVINGS IN COMPLEX SCAM Trooper Rick Johnson told local news outlet King 5 on Sunday the WSP determined the deaths were related after interviewing the victims' families, but didn't elaborate. Fox News 13 Seattle confirmed the cases are connected, but didn't say how. "There are really high concrete retaining walls and there is a lot of greenery. You basically have to be on the ramp to see whats going on," a nearby resident told a local news station. "The younger it is, the more heartbreaking it is for sure," Jake Rower, a neighbor who lives near the stretch of I-5 where the bodies were found, told Fox 13 Seattle. "This is the most extreme thing Ive heard happening around here anyway." BRUTALLY VIOLENT MEXICAN CARTEL DRAINING AMERICANS' LIFE SAVINGS IN COMPLEX SCAM There's a large wall and trees blocking the area of I-5 where the victims were spotted, according to the local news outlet. "There are really high concrete retaining walls and there is a lot of greenery. You basically have to be on the ramp to see whats going on," Rower said. Two teenagers' bodies were found less than a mile apart on I-5 in Seattle near the ramp to the freeway, according to Washington State Police. Originally, it was thought the teens were hit by a car, but autopsies confirmed they were killed by gunshot wounds. Original article source: Murdered Washington teens, both 16, found along highway in connected killings: report FILE PHOTO: 'X' logo is seen on the top of the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) -A U.S. judge on Monday threw out Elon Musk's lawsuit against a nonprofit group that faulted him for allowing a rise in hate speech on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco said it was "evident" that Musk's X Corp sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) because he didn't like its criticism, and thought its research would hurt X's image and scare advertisers away. "X Corp has brought this case in order to punish CCDH for CCDH publications that criticized X Corp--and perhaps in order to dissuade others who might wish to engage in such criticism," Breyer wrote. "It is impossible to read the complaint and not conclude that X Corp is far more concerned about CCDH's speech than it is its data collection methods," he added. X, in a statement, said it plans to appeal. The decision is a blow to Musk, the world's third-richest person, who has for many years styled himself as a free-speech champion. But since paying $44 billion for Twitter in October 2022, he has faced wide criticism for firing too many people who policed misinformation, and from civil rights groups for allowing more harmful and abusive posts. Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, in a statement said Breyer's decision affirms his group's right "to hold accountable social media companies for decisions they make behind closed doors." Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for the nonprofit, said the decision shows that Musk "cannot bend the rule of law to his will." Musk and X have also faced many other lawsuits, including claims by former Twitter executives that Musk improperly withheld severance, and by vendors claiming they haven't been paid. Tesla, the electric vehicle maker that Musk runs, has separately faced several lawsuits claiming it tolerated the harassment of workers. It has denied those claims. MUSK TAKEOVER NOT FORESEEABLE X accused the center of breaching its 2019 user contract by scraping and cherry-picking data to create false and misleading reports that Musk turned X into a haven for hate speech, extremism and misinformation. According to X's complaint filed last July, the nonprofit designed its "scare campaign" to drive away advertisers, and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages. X had argued that the nonprofit was bound by Musks policy changes, and could have left Twitter if it didnt like them. Breyer agreed that X's desire to staunch criticism was "entirely reasonable from a business point of view." But he said the nonprofit could not have foreseen when it signed up with Twitter that Musk would eventually take over and loosen how it moderated user content. Breyer also dismissed X's claims against the European Climate Foundation, a nonprofit based in The Hague, Netherlands that promotes efforts to mitigate climate change. X had accused it of conspiring with the Center for Countering Digital Hate to illegally gather data. Nathaniel Bach, a lawyer for ECF, said that nonprofit was grateful for the dismissal of Musk's "frivolous" lawsuit. Musk's own speech has often also drawn complaints. In November 2023, Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on X that said members of the Jewish community were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user spoke "the actual truth." Musk has denied being antisemitic and sought to make amends, including in a January visit to the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz in southern Poland. The case is X Corp v. Center for Countering Digital Hate Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 23-03836. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Aurora Ellis) Except for the Yamal and Azov landing ships, Ukraine's March 23 missile attack on Russian-occupied Crimea could have damaged the Russian military's Ivan Khurs ship, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on March 25. Ukraine struck two Russian Ropucha-class landing ships, the Yamal and the Azov, in the Crimean city of Sevastopol in the late hours of March 23, Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed on March 24. The Yamal was "critically damaged," according to Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR). Ukraine's Navy is verifying information about the possible damage to another Russian warship, the reconnaissance vessel Ivan Khurs, Pletenchuk told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). "There is a suspicion that, most likely, it (the Ivan Khurs ship) was also damaged. As soon as we collect this information from various sources, we will be able to verify it, and then we will be able to operate on it as a fact," Pletenchuk said. The ship does not serve as an active combat unit but rather performs auxiliary functions to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, he added. Read also: These are the most important Russian ships destroyed by Ukraine Ukraine previously attacked the Ivan Khurs warship with drones in May last year, but the Russian Defense Ministry said to have repelled that attack. In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on occupied Crimea, targeting Russian military assets in and around the Black Sea. Russia has illegally occupied the peninsula since 2014. As Ukraine's campaign against Russia's navy continues, Russia is redeploying its Black Sea Fleet from occupied Crimea to the relative safety of Novorossiysk, HUR reported on March 21 The Strategic Communications Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom) recently reported that as of early February 2024, 33% of the fleet's warships had been disabled, including 24 ships and one submarine. Russia has taken a number of steps to address the continuing threat, including replacing the commander of the Russian Navy earlier this month. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Emergency services are at the scene following an attack at a popular concert hall complex on Friday where assailants stormed the venue with guns and incendiary devices, killing at least 100 people and injuring hundreds. Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Three days after the terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall, 97 people are still being treated in hospitals, the head of the Moscow region's health administration said on Monday. The patients are spread across hospitals in the capital and the Moscow region, Lyudmila Bolatayeva said. According to Russian news agencies, the injuries suffered varied in severity. By the Russian authorities' most recent count, 137 people were killed and more than 180 injured in the attack on Friday evening. It cannot be ruled out that more bodies will be found in the rubble of the burnt-out hall. Four armed men shot indiscriminately at visitors before a rock concert in the Crocus City Hall event centre. On Sunday evening, they were brought before a court in Moscow and taken into custody. The faces of the men showed injuries as traces of suspected torture. According to media reports, mourners were still laying flowers at an improvised memorial at the Crocus City fence on Monday. The Islamic State terrorist militia claimed responsibility for the attack in several messages. Western security authorities and experts consider the claim to be credible and suspect the IS offshoot Islamic State Province of Khorasan (ISPK) to be behind the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at a Ukrainian connection to the assault, without providing any evidence. Putin also claimed that the perpetrators of the attack attempted to flee in the direction of Ukraine. Ukraine has adamantly denied any responsibility for the attack. People lay flowers at a spontaneous memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, organized on the spit of Vasilyevsky Island in the center of St. Petersburg. The terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack at a concert, with least 133 people dead and more than 100 injured. Artem Priakhin/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Three days after the terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall, 97 people are still being treated in hospitals, the head of the Moscow region's health administration said on Monday. The patients are spread across hospitals in the capital and the Moscow region, Lyudmila Bolatayeva said. According to Russian news agencies, the injuries suffered varied in severity. By the Russian authorities' most recent count, 137 people were killed and more than 180 injured in the attack on Friday evening. It cannot be ruled out that more bodies will be found in the rubble of the burnt-out hall. Four armed men shot indiscriminately at visitors before a rock concert in the Crocus City Hall event centre. On Sunday evening, four suspects were brought before a court in Moscow and taken into custody. The faces of the men showed injuries as traces of suspected torture. In total, 11 people suspected of involvement in the attack have been detained, according to the authorities. According to media reports, mourners were still laying flowers at an improvised memorial at the Crocus City Hall fence on Monday. The Islamic State terrorist militia claimed responsibility for the attack in several messages. Western security authorities and experts consider the claim to be credible and suspect the IS offshoot Islamic State Province of Khorasan (ISPK) to be behind the attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday plans to discuss additional measures with his security officials, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. The meeting will also address the question of how victims and their families can be supported, Peskov said. The Kremlin spokesman refused to comment on the numerous reports about the alleged torture of four detained suspects by Russian security forces. In response to a journalist who pointed to the men's clearly visible injuries in the courtroom and to videos of torture, Peskov merely said: "I will leave this question unanswered." Videos have been circulating on social networks that appear to show the suspected attackers being tortured, including one of them having his ear cut off. Dpa is unable to independently confirm the authenticity of the videos. The suspects had visible bruises, swollen faces, lacerations and other injuries, and one of the men had a large bandage over his ear. Russian media reports said that one of the men was unable to walk and was wheeled into the courtroom on a stretcher. Human rights activists have condemned the alleged torture of the suspects by Russian security forces. "The answer to barbarism must not be barbarism," said the Russian rights group "Komanda protiw pytok" (Team against Torture) on Monday. "We have always said and will always say that the value of evidence obtained by security forces through torture is critically low. Instead of telling the truth, a person usually tells what can stop or at least interrupt this torture." Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, did not address the background to the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall on Friday, but referred to information from the Russian law enforcement authorities. Russian authorities have yet to comment on Islamic State's claim for responsibility, a claim Western security authorities and experts consider credible. Putin, however, has hinted at a Ukrainian connection to the assault, without providing any evidence. Putin also claimed that the perpetrators of the attack attempted to flee in the direction of Ukraine. Ukraine has adamantly denied any responsibility for the attack, and has also pointed out that the border region is heavily mined more than two years into Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbour. Due to the war, the area is also a hotbed for Russian military and secret service officials, making it an unlikely escape route for the attackers, according to Kiev. Intelligence services from the United States and other Western countries at the beginning of March warned of a potential imminent terror attack in Moscow. However, Putin dismissed the warnings as a Western provocation. NEW YORK (PIX11) New York City is hiring and has more than 60 jobs that students can apply for on its website. As students return from spring break, some are looking toward the summer and possible employment opportunities. Luckily, New York City is looking to fill 68 roles with college students, many of which do not require an exam. New York City will text you job openings: Heres how to sign up From summer internships with the New York City Mayors Office of Management and Budget to the Department of Design and Construction, the jobs pay from $15 per hour up to $23.36, depending on the position. Those looking for jobs can also use the City of New York Summer Internship Program. The Summer Internship Program offers access to more than 100 summer internship job postings, according to the citys website. Internship start dates are typically between May and September each year. You can learn more about the application process here. For more information on open positions in New York City, click here. The city also provides technical and skill training that can help with gaining experience in certain career fields. More information on training programs can be found here. Jonathan Rizk is a digital journalist who has covered local news in the New York City and Washington D.C. areas. He has been with PIX11 since August 2022. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. An emergency response team of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS), together with the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv, Kyiv Rescue Service, the National Police and ambulance crews, worked at the site where a building was demolished by the fragments of downed Russian missiles in the capital's Pechersky district. "A help point was set up where volunteers support rescuers. You can also charge phones and other devices, receive first aid and first psychological aid, as well as have hot drinks there," the URCS said on Facebook Monday. The volunteers also made door-to-door visits to neighboring houses to find out what kind of help was needed. Representatives of the Kyiv city organization and the Pechersky district organization of the Ukrainian Red Cross provided residents of damaged apartments with plastic film for temporary repairs. As reported, during the Russian missile attack on Kyiv on Monday morning, fragments of downed missiles fell in the Pechersky, Solomyansky and Holosiyivsky districts. In the Pechersky district, a three-storied section of the building of the Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts and Design named after. Boichuk was destroyed. Ten people were injured, one of the victims was hospitalized. Editors Note: This article has been corrected to clarify that a compromised gas line fed the fire according to the Colorado Springs Fire Department, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. (COLORADO SPRINGS) A house fire on Vista Del Tierra Drive near Dublin Boulevard in northeast Colorado Springs has displaced six people. The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) received the call at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 24, and arrived on the scene at 12:35 p.m. The fire broke out in a duplex and spread to the neighboring structure, said Ashley Franco, Colorado Springs Fire Department, Public Information Officer. Four units sustained heavy damage: 6287, 6293, 6299, and 6305. Courtesy: Lindsey Lamb Youve seen the video that we posted on Facebook: it was a very, very heavy fire. My battalion chief here, who was in charge of the fire, has determined that there was a gas line that was compromised on one of the homes and that was feeding the fire. The houses sit very close together in this complex, so the fire was able to spread rapidly from one house to the next. CSFD had 14 units on the scene, including trucks, engines, and hazmat. Rescue crews were also present, but thankfully there were no injuries. Two dogs and one cat were also accounted for during evacuations. [The gas line] makes it really, really dangerous for our firefighters, Franco continued. And makes it extremely difficult for us to actually get that fire out, until we can get that gas line clamped and under control, or the gas turned off. Many neighbors from this tight-knit community were standing outside, watching the fire. FOX21 crews on the scene spoke to a few of them. I just heard fire trucks, Raymond Montano, whose grandfather lives in a neighboring duplex, said. I woke up, and looked out the window. Luckily, my grandpa, hes in Denver right now. I looked out, saw the fire, and I just sat there and just watched it. I was scared it was going to spread to my grandpas house, Montano said. I was, honestly. But stuff like that happens. I was just afraid of his stuff getting burned. I grabbed my grandmothers ashes. Thats all I really was worried about. I just ran outside and just sat there and watched, my grandmas ashes in my arm. Another neighbor, Patrick Driscoll, expressed concern and solidarity for those who lost their homes in the fire. Theres dozens of people here that know everybody that it happened to. So were all very concerned and were all very sad for the people who it happened to. Very sad. They were out, they werent home when it happened. And they just got back here a few minutes ago. And obviously, theyre devastated. But this neighborhood is so tight, he continued. This neighborhood will come together for everybody thats affected. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled the planned trip of an Israeli delegation to the United States after the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Gaza war, his office said on Monday. Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and national security advisor, Zachi Hanegbi, were supposed to fly to the US on Monday to meet with high-ranking US government officials. The US planned to present the Israelis with alternatives to an Israeli military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is packing with hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled airstrikes and fighting elsewhere in Gaza. The US and other Israeli allies have warned against an attack on Rafah, but Netanyahu has so far pledged to push forward with the offensive regardless of international condemnation. Another topic of the talks would have been Washington's proposals for an expansion of humanitarian aid for the suffering population in the Gaza Strip. The US, which holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and veto power, abstained from the vote, paving the way for the resolution. The 14 other members of the Security Council voted in favour. The US, a close ally and supporter of Israel, has used its power to block three previous UN resolutions demanding a ceasefire. But that changed on Monday. The resolution expresses "deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip." It is also demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by the militant Palestinian Hamas organization. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday canceled a high-stakes delegation to Washington after the U.S. declined to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Netanyahus office issued a statement calling the U.S. abstention a clear departure from the consistent position of the United States at the Security Council since the beginning of the war. The United States has abandoned its policy in the UN today, the statement reads. In light of the change in the US position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel. The delegation was expected to arrive in the U.S. this week to discuss the war in Gaza as Israeli forces are threatening to move into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a refugee camp where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering from the war. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said he was disappointed that Israel canceled the delegation. Were very disappointed that they wont be coming to Washington, D.C., to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah, he said in a press call. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington and is still expected to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Tensions have flared between the Biden administration and Israel over the war after more than 32,000 Palestinians have died. That rift has grown over Rafah, as the administration began pushing Israel to consider alternatives to a major ground operation. The resolution approved Monday at the U.N. calls for an immediate cease-fire during Ramadan, which runs for another two weeks. It also calls for the release of hostages, but unlike a previous U.S.-sponsored resolution that failed last week, it does not condition a cease-fire on their release. The statement from Netanyahus office says the resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a cease-fire without freeing our hostages. Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear last night that should the US depart from its principled policy and not veto this harmful resolution, he will cancel the Israeli delegations visit to the United States, it read. The U.S. said it abstained from the resolution because it did not condemn Hamas, but did not vote against it because the broad parameters support hostage release and a humanitarian cease-fire. Still, Kirby said the U.S. has not retreated from its position in the war. It talks about an immediate and sustainable cease-fire and to secure the immediate release of all the hostages, as well as alleviating the tremendous suffering of the people of civilians of Gaza, he said of the U.N. resolution. Those are the same principles that weve been arguing now for many months. Updated: 2:50 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbis meetings in the White House set for this week after the U.S. failed to veto a call for an immediate cease-fire in the U.N. Security Council on Monday. The U.N. Security Council presented a resolution authored by the 10 non-permanent members of the body, calling for an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access. It did not, however, condition the cease-fire on the release of the hostages. The U.S. abstained from the cease-fire vote, allowing it to pass with support from the 14 other members of the Security Council. Afterward, U.S. officials argued that the resolution did tie the demand for the cease-fire to the call for the release of all hostages despite Russia and China having vetoed a U.S. resolution last week tying a cease-fire to the release of the 134 hostages, including four Americans, held by Hamas. Our vote does not and I repeat that, does not represent a shift in our policy, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Monday. Weve been clear and weve been consistent in our support for a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal. The Prime Ministers Office said after the vote that the U.S. retreated from its consistent stance in the Security Council that only a few days ago tied a ceasefire to the release of the hostages, which China and Russia vetoed on Friday. This retreat hurts the war effort as well as the effort to free the hostages because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without freeing our hostages, the PMO added. In light of the change in the American stance, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation will not depart. Over the weekend, the U.S. reportedly asked for tweaks in the resolutions text that removed reference to a permanent ceasefire and replaced it with lasting ceasefire language. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the vote that she also sought to add a condemnation of Hamas to the resolution, but the request was voted down. We did not agree with everything in the resolution. For that reason we were unfortunately not able to vote yes. However, as Ive said before, we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution, and we believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that a cease-fire must any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages, Thomas-Greenfield said. Thomas-Greenfield added: The only durable end to this conflict is the release of all hostages. President Joe Biden asked Netanyahu in a phone call last week to send a delegation to Washington to discuss alternatives to a major IDF operation in Rafah, cautioning Israel that the U.S. thinks a large operation would be a mistake. Netanyahu said that he told Biden he is determined to act in Rafah to finally eliminate the remaining Hamas battalions while granting humanitarian solutions to the civilian population, his spokesman said. Dermer, Hanegbi and a representative of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Defense Ministry unit that handles humanitarian matters in Gaza, had yet to depart Israel as the U.N. Security Council meeting took place on Monday. Netanyahus threat comes after months of tensions with the Biden administration over Israels prosecution of the war in Gaza. In recent weeks, Biden said that Netanyahu was hurting Israel more than helping Israel, while Vice President Kamala Harris called to distinguish or at least not conflate the Israeli government with the Israeli people. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), a Biden administration ally, also called for new elections in Israel. The administration and Netanyahu have been at odds not only over a large-scale operation in Rafah, but a post-war plan. The Biden administration believes a revitalized Palestinian Authority should govern Gaza and steps must be taken towards a two-state solution, both of which Netanyahu opposes. War cabinet Minister Benny Gantz broke with Netanyahu on his decision to withdraw the delegation, saying the prime minister should have gone to the White House himself given the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship. The Security Councils decision has no operational significance for us, and in any case, we will continue to listen to our friends, Gantz wrote. The special relationship between Israel and the U.S. is an anchor in Israels security and foreign relations and the direct dialogue with the American administration is an essential asset. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid argued that Netanyahu canceled the delegation for domestic political needs, citing disputes in Netanyahus government coalition over a push to draft Haredi citizens of Israel. This is an alarming irresponsibility from a prime minister who has lost it, Lapid wrote. View comments Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus decision Monday to scrap a planned delegation to Washington a trip President Joe Biden personally requested a week ago, hoping to offer a constructive approach amounts to a low point in the ever-deepening rift between the two men. Netanyahu threatened to pull the delegation if the US did not veto a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday. When the US abstained from the vote, allowing it to pass, the Israeli prime minister followed through, canceling meetings that already amounted to a political risk for Biden. American officials had planned to offer the Israeli delegation a suite of alternative options for going after Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, hoping to forestall what the US believes would amount to a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel launches a full-scale ground invasion. Those alternatives will still be shared, American officials said, including in talks early this week between top Biden advisers and Israels defense minister. But the public break-off of the in-person talks made for a stark illustration of what has become an increasingly fraught dynamic between Israel and its top backer. American officials said they were perplexed by Netanyahus decision to cancel the delegation after the US allowed the resolution to pass at the United Nations Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Inside the White House, the move was viewed as an overreaction that most likely reflected Netanyahus own domestic political concerns, according to a US official. Hours after the delegation was canceled, Israeli minister Gideon Saar submitted his resignation from the current government after not being included in the war cabinet. Netanyahu did not communicate directly with Biden over the decision, and Biden has no plans to phone Netanyahu to discuss the matter, the official said. The talks in Washington were set to occur at a crucial moment, not only for the trajectory of the conflict but for gauging Washingtons influence on its ally. Bidens patience with Netanyahu has been wearing thin and his ability to bend Israels decision-making has appeared to wane, even as the US continues to provide critical military and diplomatic backing. In the United States, calls for an end to the fighting have crossed political boundaries. Even former President Donald Trump, Bidens rival for the White House this November, said in an interview over the weekend it was time for Israel to finish up your war and get to peace. Now, Biden finds himself in a delicate position. If the Israeli prime minister rejects his teams alternatives as Netanyahu signaled he would, even before this weeks meetings fell apart the president could be forced to decide whether to take his frustrations even more public and potentially scale back what has been stalwart American support. A divide over Rafah Over the weekend, the US was in regular contact with Israel to discuss the UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire, making clear in those discussions that the American stance hadnt changed that a ceasefire must be paired with a release of hostages. That led American officials to view Netanyahus statements Monday that the US had changed its position as peculiar and strange, the official said. Bidens aides viewed the prime minister as unnecessarily choosing to create a perception of daylight between the US and Israel. For more than a month, White House officials have watched with growing consternation as Israels leaders, including Netanyahu, have signaled their intent on launching a major ground offensive in Rafah, which they say is the last major stronghold of Hamas. Such a campaign would result in a humanitarian disaster, American officials have warned, and have insisted Israel produce a credible plan to protect the 1.4 million Palestinian civilians who are sheltering there many of whom fled other parts of Gaza at the direction of the Israeli military. Still, despite such staunch warnings from Israeli officials, US officials have believed for weeks that, in reality, Israel was nowhere close to being on the verge of expanding its military operation into southern Gaza. The beginning of Ramadan the deadline that some in Netanyahu government had warned would trigger the next phase of the war came and went without a shift in the conflict. They are weeks away from being ready, a senior US official said on the eve of the holy Muslim month. Pressure builds on US and Israel With Ramadan set to end in about two weeks, pressure is building. But even as US officials continue to insist that Washington must first see a blueprint that assures the safety of civilians, they are also increasingly casting doubt on whether such a plan is even feasible. They have bluntly pointed to the reality that there is simply nowhere that so many civilians in the enclave can go, as so much of Gaza has been destroyed and made uninhabitable by Israeli bombardment. And if there is such an unlikely plan, no official at the White House has seen it yet. Ive looked at the maps, Ive studied the maps, there is nowhere for those people to go, Vice President Kamala Harris said at the end of last week. Later, in an interview, Harris declined to rule out consequences for Israel should it move ahead with its Rafah plans. I am ruling out nothing, she told ABC. Indeed, Bidens advisers have been weighing various options for how to respond should the Rafah operation proceed. Officials declined to offer specifics, but the president has been under increasing pressure from Democratic lawmakers to begin conditioning military assistance to Israel based on its humanitarian efforts and to take diplomatic steps that would signal American disapproval. In their meetings this week, American officials had planned to press the Israeli delegation to adopt a more targeted military operation focused on high-value Hamas targets who may be hiding in Rafah, according to people familiar with the matter. The more surgical approach could be paired with efforts to better secure the Egypt-Gaza border where Rafah sits to curb Hamass ability to smuggle weapons into the enclave. Aside from the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there, American officials have also raised fears that an invasion of Rafah could prevent much-needed humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. The city has been the main ground crossing for trucks carrying aid in from Egypt. There is also concern an operation in Rafah could rupture Israels relations with Egypt. US sends warnings to Netanyahu Biden administration officials have warned Israel it risks becoming an international pariah if the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsens or persists for an extended period of time. When Biden proposed this weeks meetings during a phone call with Netanyahu last Monday, the idea came as something of a surprise to the Israelis, people familiar with the matter said. You need a strategy that works, Biden told Netanyahu in their first conversation in more than a month. And that strategy should not involve a major military operation that puts thousands and thousands of lives civilian, innocent lives at risk in Rafah. Send your team to Washington. Lets talk about it, Biden told Netanyahu, according to Bidens top national security aide. Well lay out for you what we believe is a better way. Inside the White House, the move was viewed as a way to signal Washingtons intent on finding a constructive approach to shaping Israels war plans. Ahead of the meeting, however, Netanyahu cast doubt on alternatives that stop short of a full ground invasion, insisting that is the only way to rid the enclave of Hamas operatives. We have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah, Netanyahu said after meetings at the end of last week with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. I told him that I hope we would do this with US support but if necessary we will do it alone. Blinken departed the Middle East on Friday without any type of commitment of increasing the amount of humanitarian aid into Gaza or on scaling back plans for a Rafah offensive. At the same time, Netanyahu has signaled such an operation isnt likely to begin in the near-term providing the United States a window to intervene and for talks to continue over securing a pause in the fighting in exchange for a release of hostages. Those negotiations appeared to be proceeding, as Israel and Hamas wrestle with major differences like the ratio of hostages to Palestinian prisoners who would be released as part of the agreement. American officials believe the hostage talks would be scuttled should Israel begin its offensive in Rafah lending even more urgency to their list of alternatives. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said he will not send a delegation as planned to Washington after the United States refrained from vetoing a U.N. Security Council proposal calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu, according to a statement from his office, said that Washington's failure to block the proposal was a "clear retreat" from its previous position, and would hurt war efforts against Hamas, as well as efforts to release over 130 hostages in Gaza captivity. "In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation would not leave," his office said. The U.N. Security Council voted to demand an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. The United States abstained from the vote. The White House denied that the U.S. abstention reflected a change in American policy. The high-level delegation was due to travel to Washington to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are taking shelter. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby fielded queries about Israels decision to pull out of the meeting this week just as Netanyahu was announcing it. Kirby said the decision was unfortunate but that the United States would bring up its concerns about Israels policies as part of ongoing discussions between the two governments. "It's disappointing. We're very disappointed that they won't be coming to Washington DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah." Nothing has changed about our view that a major ground offensive in Rafah would be a major mistake, Kirby said. He said discussions between visiting Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others would cover the same points that the U.S. team had planned to raise with the delegation. In Israel, parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Netanyahu of trying to divert attention away from a rift in his coalition over a military conscription bill at the expense of ties with the United States. "It's shocking irresponsibility from a prime minister who has lost it," Lapid wrote on social media platform X. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland;Editing by Mark Heinrich, Peter Graff and Alison Williams) Semafor Signals Insights from The Conversation, CNN, and Foreign Policy The News Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government is at odds with some ministers over plans to conscript ultra-Orthodox men into the Israeli Defense Forces. All Israeli adults must serve in the nations army, but ultra-Orthodox Haredi men are exempt. The Israeli Supreme Court had issued a deadline of the end of March for the government to resolve long-standing issues with Haredi conscription. Netanyahus proposed enlistment legislation for Haredi men still doesnt mandate conscription for them, prompting fierce criticism from opposition members as well Netanyahus own coalition. Cabinet minister Benny Gantz has threatened to resign from his post if the legislation is passed, and defense minister Yoav Gallant has said he would not support it. SIGNALS Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories. Conscription biggest threat to Netanyahus government Sources: CNN, Foreign Policy Haredi parties keep Netanyahus coalition government afloat, and if a conscription bill moves forward, as many as 18 seats in the Israeli parliament are at risk, Haaretz columnist David Rosenberg wrotein Foreign Policy. Haredi men oppose a possible draft, but 70% of Jewish Israelis support their conscription, especially in the wake of Oct. 7, since huge numbers of reservists have been called up to serve. Netanyahu may try to kick the can again by giving the High Court a plan for a Haredi draft that looks good on paper but is designed to fail, Rosenberg noted. The problem is that in the post-Oct. 7 reality, almost no one else would accept it. UItra-Orthodox make powerful political partners Source: The Conversation Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up around 14% of Israels population, and have been exempt from military service since the nations founding. Haredi Jews are excused so that they can study religious texts, and the ongoing conscription debate prompted one of Israels chief rabbis,Yitzhak Yosef, to say that if the government forced them to conscript they would all go abroad, Michael Brenner, a professor of Jewish history and culture, noted in The Conversation. Some Haredi men serve voluntarily, but there is currently no law requiring their service. Much of the governments reluctance to conscript the ultra-Orthodox comes down to their political clout: Israels governments have continued to tolerate this situation as ultra-Orthodox political parties became much-needed partners, Brenner wrote. In an alarming expose, several women have come forward accusing neuroscientist and celebrated podcaster Andrew Huberman of manipulation, bizarre behavior, and infidelity that may have led to a sexually transmitted infection in at least one of them. Published by New York Magazine, this deep dive into the disparate public and private lives of the Stanford University neuroscientist illustrates a jarring portrait of a man who promotes physical and mental health and wellness but engaged in bizarre interpersonal behavior, including secretly dating five women simultaneously. Much of the story centers around a woman whom NYMag calls Sarah, who spent years dating the "Huberman Lab" host in what she believed to be an exclusive relationship. Along with accusing the 48-year-old podcaster of obfuscating about his other relationships, Sarah described Huberman as being intense and controlling, including in a particularly unhinged twist constantly relitigating her romantic and reproductive decisions from back before they were together. At one point, she even accused the podcaster who hawks the same expensive green powder as Joe Rogan of saying that the second of her two children was a mistake, though Huberman denied that claim through a representative. During the course of their relationship, Sarah learned that she had contracted human papillomavirus, or HPV, a treatable STI that men can be carriers for. "I had never tested positive," the woman told NYMag, "and had been tested regularly for ten years." Through his representative, Huberman claimed that he has never tested positive for HPV which technically has to be true, since as the magazine notes, there doesn't exist an approved test for HPV in men. STI aside, there were many unsettling behavioral patterns that Huberman is said to have exhibited that people close to him revealed to NYMag. He apparently has a penchant for disappearing, sometimes for days on end, and has done so not just with people he was romantically involved with, but to colleagues as well. In one anecdote, he is said to have left anthropologist and investigative journalist Scott Carney alone in his house with his dog for a day-and-a-half after he invited him to go camping. "It was extremely weird," Carney said. With the multiple women who spoke to the magazine about Huberman's behavior, however, it seems that the disappearances did eventually add up once they found out about each other and started putting the pieces together. In one of those puzzle-piecing days, the women, all of whom were described with first-name pseudonyms to protect their identities, discovered that Huberman has flown one of them out to his house in Topanga, California, gotten coffee and had a serious relationship talk with another, and had his sometimes-live-in-girlfriend waiting for him back in Berkeley. In another, Sarah described learning that he'd texted commitment-centric messages with another of the women while they'd been on a camping trip together, during which he'd injected her nightly for in-vitro fertilization because they were trying to have a baby together. "Your feelings matter," Huberman texted another of his girlfriends, who like Sarah thought they were exclusive and had had unprotected sex with the neuroscientist. "Im actually very much a caretaker." With any public person, there are undoubtedly going to be parts of their personal lives that don't necessarily jive with the personas they market but the blatant hypocrisy of the allegations against Huberman feels hard to defend. More on relationships: Scientists Just Found Something Dark About Men Who Want to Have Sex With Robots The Oklahoma Legislature recently introduced House Bill 3013, which would ban certain medications and give legal personhood "from the moment of conception." The bill, if passed, could have legal implications for in Vitro fertilization, or IVF, treatments, and may block Oklahomans' access to the treatments entirely. Oklahoma is not the only state to introduce measures that target IVF. In this week's Grading Oklahoma, we take a look at IVF treatments in Oklahoma. Grading Oklahoma: Learn about in-vitro fertilization in Oklahoma amid personhood House Bill 3013 This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma IVF women's fertility comparisons and pregnancy rights. Nine people died as a result of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection that Republicans pretend was a "normal tourist visit." Four rioters and five police officers lost their lives during the attack or in its immediate aftermath, in ways that likely would not have happened but for the Capitol riot. This death toll is rarely discussed in the media coverage of the attack, likely because journalists don't want to argue with gaslighting fascists who want to get into bad faith debates about whether the assault "caused" the heart attacks and suicides that took lives. But there is one death that no one can deny was due to Jan. 6: That of Ashli Babbitt, the QAnon-believing insurrectionist who was shot by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to lead a charge of rioters to run down fleeing members of Congress. Instead of erasing her death in their efforts to pretend the riot was "peaceful," Donald Trump and his goons have turned the 36-year-old conspiracy theorist into a MAGA martyr. As with much of Trump's campaign antics, it calls back to the tactics of the Nazis, who turned a murdered scumbag named Horst Wessel into a fallen fascist hero honored in iconography and song. Babbitt is even easier to prop up as a sympathetic figure, she was both pretty and female. Trump in particular likes to get maudlin, calling Babbitt an "innocent, wonderful, incredible woman." He also spent months demonizing the Capitol police officer, Michael Byrd, who was forced to shoot Babbitt that day. (Byrd's actions have been exonerated through multiple investigations, though anyone who has seen the footage of the shooting can see he had no choice.) Trump has suggested Byrd should face extra-legal execution, complaining, "if that were on the other side, the person that did the shooting would be strung up and hung." It's language that should remind us that his "bloodbath" talk is both serious and literal. Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only. So really, it should be bigger news that recently released testimony from a White House valet shows that Trump's reaction when told about Babbitt's death was utter indifference. It's buried in a New York Times report on this recently released transcript of an interview the anonymous valet did with the House committee investigating Jan. 6. The Times reporters are more focused on the valet's recollections of how Trump told his vice president, Mike Pence, that it would be "a political career killer" if Pence refused to steal the election for him. In passing, however, they also mention Trump did not care about Babbitt's killing and the timeline suggests he understood perfectly well at the time that Babbitt was to blame for her own death. As the transcript shows, the investigator asked the valet about a note that was given to Trump, shortly after the shooting, informing him that "1X civilian gunshot wound to chest at door of House Chamber." The valet affirmed that he saw Trump with the note, and that they also knew of the killing because it was being reported on cable news, which Trump was watching avidly throughout the riot. "But there was no, like, reaction" to the news, the valet explained. Trump said nothing. But shortly after being informed, he did send out a tweet telling the insurrectionists "to remain peaceful, no violence," and to "[r]espect the law and our great men and women in blue." Everyone understands and understood at the time that the tweet was just a CYA measure from Trump, who stubbornly refused for hours to ask the rioters to chill out, despite drinking in all the violent images on TV. But that he issued it after being told a supporter of his was shot makes it all the more clear that his main focus at the time was disavowing responsibility for the violence he fomented. That Trump did not actually care about Babbitt's death, outside of fears that it made him look bad, is not a surprise to most Salon readers, journalists, or anyone who is honest about Trump's utter lack of morality. Perhaps this is why this revelation isn't getting more press attention. There's a tendency in the jaded press to assume "everyone" knows that Trump has never in his life cared about anyone but himself. But not all voters know that Trump is for-real sociopathic, and they may be surprised to find he reacted to a deluded woman dying for him like normal people react to stepping on an ant. But this should be a huge story. Trump is making his phony concern about the fates of the January 6 insurrectionists the centerpiece of his campaign. He opens his rallies with elaborate ceremonies to honor the rioters, characterizes them as "hostages" and "unbelievable patriots," and promises pardons for people convicted of assaulting police and seditious conspiracy. He pretends to care about these people to valorize his selfish efforts to overthrow democracy. His feigned love of them is also about keeping up morale among the nastier members of the MAGA movement because Trump unsubtly expects them to use violence on his behalf again. Trump's exploitation of Babbitt's is also part of a larger habit of faking outrage over imaginary threats to innocent white womanhood from dark-skinned men. Trump loves to brag that "I protect women," which is a lie like most words that come out of his face. But he definitely likes to share his elaborate fantasies of men of color raping and killing white women. That goes back to his 2015 campaign kickoff when he said Mexicans were "rapists." He has falsely declared that, because of immigration, "women are raped at levels that nobody has ever seen before." He's recently been hyping the murder of Laken Riley, a Georgia woman who was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant. Trump's lurid obsession with violence against women is dishonest on two levels. First, he's lying about the racial dynamics of gendered violence. Most men who sexually abuse, beat or kill women target those they know, and who are usually of the same race. It's not the dark-skinned strangers lurking in bushes of Trump's imagination. Trump knows this personally, as nearly all the over two dozen women who have come out with stories of being sexually abused by him are white women who met him through normal work and social situations. Thus, Trump not only doesn't care about violence against women, he's a big fan of it. He bragged about sexually assaulting women on the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape. A New York jury found he did sexually assault journalist E. Jean Carroll in the 90s. He's repeatedly used the word "fortunately" when asked if he thinks rich men have the privilege of sexually assaulting whomever they wish. Over and over, Trump goes out of his way to defend other men who are accused of sexual harassment or abuse. Babbitt's death is an outlier in the sense that she was the person at fault and gender had nothing to do with it. Still, Trump talks about her with the same tones of fake outrage he brings when exploiting the deaths and rapes of genuine victims. Pretending to suddenly care about violence against women when it suits his political needs is doubly gross, given Trump's otherwise lengthy record of cheerleading for gendered violence. But the mainstream media tends to avoid contrasting his pretend views on this issue with the substantial real-world evidence that he has no problem with violence against women. The Babbitt case is especially egregious because, ultimately, her death is his fault. If Trump hadn't spun up ordinary people with lies about a "stolen" election, she wouldn't have been in the Capitol, foolishly dying for a man who does not care about her. That he's now using her corpse as a campaign prop is disgusting. Most MAGA voters will refuse to see this, of course, or make false claims that "all" politicians do it. But if they knew how little he cared, maybe a few would wake up and see that Trump would happily let them all die for him. Iceland will support the Czech Republic's initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine and invest in the purchase of equipment for women in the Ukrainian army. According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iceland is expected to spend about EUR two million on the project. "It is extremely important that we continue to strongly support Ukraine, but in this way we contribute not only to the protection of the country's people, but also to international law in a broader context, as well as to our own security interests," said Foreign Minister Bjarni Benediktsson. Iceland will also support the purchase of equipment for women in the Ukrainian army. The Foreign Ministry stressed that the percentage of women in the army has significantly increased in recent years, especially after the beginning of the Russian invasion, and to meet the needs of female servicemen. It is proposed to provide uniforms, body armor, medical and hygiene products worth about EUR 500,000. Blue-green algae has been present in the waters around Northern Ireland in recent months A quarter of water pollution incidents in 2022 were linked to agriculture and one in eight to the operations of Northern Ireland Water, according to a new report. The NI Audit Office report found that water quality in rivers and lakes has not improved since 2015. It also said that a 2027 EU target for standards will be missed. The auditor general said funding deficits were "likely to have impacted" water quality, with more work required. Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir said investment in a number of areas and proper enforcement was key to turning the situation around. "Farmers are part of the solution here but where there's offences being committed, these need to be investigated and enforcement action needs to be taken," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme. "We can't have the situation continue to unfold where our environment is being polluted." Dorinnia Carville's report also indicated that measures to tackle agricultural practices partly responsible for water quality issues "have not been effective". The report examined how the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) has planned and managed its resources to address issues and meet regulatory requirements. Four recommendations were made, including development and publication of an overarching water quality improvement strategy by Daera. Among the water quality issues identified, the report outlined that: Despite initiatives to improve water quality, fewer than a third of rivers had good ecological status in 2021, with no improvement since 2015 Just 14% of Northern Ireland's lakes had good ecological status in 2021, down from 24% in 2015 In the same timeframe, more than twice as many rivers and lakes in the Republic of Ireland achieved good or better ecological status It went to to note that the continuing issues were "partly attributable" to agricultural practices which led to excess nutrient or fertiliser accumulating in rivers and lakes. Between 2017 and 2021, 373 pollution incidents linked to farming and 68 linked to NI Water were deemed to be of high or medium severity. Agriculture accounts for 77% of the total land area of Northern Ireland and about 1% of farms are inspected by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) annually. More than half (53%) of all water pollution incidents linked to agriculture in 2022 happened in the Neagh Bann River Basin District - this area covers all of County Armagh, large parties of counties Antrim, Londonderry, Down and Tyrone and a small area of County Fermanagh, Most of those incidents were in the River Blackwater area, with farm effluent mixture, silage and cattle waste most frequently detected. "These outcomes provide cause for concern," the report added. The River Blackwater feeds into Lough Neagh, where blue-green algal blooms were found last year The Blackwater is one of six major rivers that feed into Lough Neagh, where blue-green algal blooms last year could be seen from space. There were 572 pollution incidents linked to the operations of NI Water between 2017 and 2021, down 43% on 2014. Of these, almost half (46%) happened in the North Eastern River Basin District, which covers large parts of counties Antrim and Down and a small portion of County Londonderry. Enhanced monitoring requirements mean that no river or lake in Northern Ireland now has good chemical status. And when combined with ecological assessment, none have good overall status either. More investment needed Ms Carville said steps must be taken to achieve the required regulatory standards. "Better and sustained engagement with stakeholders including the agriculture sector is needed and consideration should be given to enhancing the effectiveness of regulatory and inspection work," she said. "Better use of data will also help, both in helping target testing at areas most at-risk and to help benchmark Northern Ireland with regions experiencing better outcomes in regards to water quality." Mr Muir said his department was keen to take a "three-pronged" approach to help tackle the problems, including education and incentives to ensure people are aware of the implications of their behaviour. He added Northern Ireland's waste water infrastructure needs to be invested in, as well as more invest "significant more resources" to tackle offenders. "This report isn't easy reading, it is a very concerning report," Mr Muir added. "But what we need to do is to show leadership to turn the situation around and I'm not going to be someone found wanting in that regard." President of the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) David Brown said that prevention to pollution was key. He told Evening Extra that By Ope Adetayo LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's Defence Chief General Chris Musa said on Monday the military was being fed bad intelligence by informants, hampering the fight against armed kidnapping gangs who continue to abduct students and residents in the north of the country. The military announced on Sunday that it had rescued 137 students abducted by gunmen earlier this month in northwestern Kaduna state. The school children arrived in Kaduna on Monday. Musa told Reuters that the military was too stretched and often relied on informants to pursue the armed gangs, known locally as bandits, often with little success. "They (informants) make the troops go elsewhere and when they get there, they meet nothing and allow the bandits to commit acts of criminality," said Musa. Musa said there had been no confrontation with gunmen during the rescue of the Kaduna students. But he would not say how the students were freed or if any of the gunmen were taken into custody. There have been at least 68 mass abductions in the first quarter of 2024 mostly in northern Nigeria, according to risk consultancy SBM Intelligence. Musa said once bandits retreat to Nigeria's vast forests, it becomes difficult to pursue them. That is because gunmen quickly trek through the forest, often for days with their victims. "Once they go in there, getting them out is difficult. The aircrafts cannot see them quite easily," he said, adding that Nigeria's vast and loosely patrolled northern border made the situation worse. The kidnappings have prompted some state governments to recruit what they call community guards. "Now, state governments on their own are going to pick people who have no training and deploy and we are discouraging them from doing that," he said. (Reporting by Ope Adetayo; Editing by Sandra Maler) March 25 (UPI) -- The Nigerian army has rescued more than 130 staff and students who were kidnapped from their school in northern Kaduna State earlier this month, officials and authorities said. Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, director of Defense media operations, told local media in a statement, that the 137 kidnapped victims were rescued by the military in an early Sunday search-and-rescue operation in Zamfara State. The students were among the 287 who were kidnapped March 7 from the LEA Primary School and the Government Secondary School Kuriga in the town of Kuriga. The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of $690,000 for their release. Buba identified those rescued as 76 females and 61 males. He said they would be handed over to the Kaduna State government. Sen. Uba Sani, the executive governor of Kaduna State, published video of the students whom he visited Sunday evening. He said they will formally be handed over to the state on Monday when they will be hosted to a dinner. They will continue to undergo psychosocial counseling and remain under medical supervision, he said. "In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Most Merciful, I wish to announce that our Kuriga school children have been released," he said in a statement. I am glad to see our released Kuriga children in high spirit on Sunday evening when I visited them. They will be formally handed over to me on Monday afternoon after which they will be hosted to dinner at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna. They will continue to undergo... pic.twitter.com/PiXGz9nnAd Senator Uba Sani (@ubasanius) March 24, 2024 President Bola Ahmed Tibubu of Nigeria also issued a statement welcoming the rescue of the students. "I once again assure Nigerians that my administration is deploying detained strategies to ensure that our schools remain safe sanctuaries of learning, not lairs for wanton abductions," he said. According to Human Rights Watch, mass kidnappings have become a problem across northern regions of the West African nation since Boko Haram abducted 276 school girls in 2014. In late February, more than 200 internally displaced people, many women and children, were abducted in the Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) last year said he was willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un 'without any conditions' (STR) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister said Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has requested a summit with her brother, adding a meeting was unlikely without a policy shift by Tokyo. Relations between the two countries are historically strained, including by a long-running kidnapping dispute and North Korea's banned weapons programmes, but Kishida has recently expressed a desire to improve ties, which Pyongyang has hinted it is not opposed to. Last year, Kishida said he was willing to meet Kim "without any conditions", saying Tokyo was willing to resolve all issues, including the abduction by North Korean agents of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, which remains an emotive issue in Japan. "Kishida... conveyed his intention to personally meet the President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as soon as possible," Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim Yo Jong -- who is one of the regime's key spokespeople -- had hinted last month at a possible future invitation for the Japanese leader to visit North Korea. But she said the "history of the DPRK-Japan relations gives a lesson that it is impossible to improve the bilateral relations full of distrust and misunderstanding," without a substantive policy change on Tokyo's part. She warned that were Japan to remain "engrossed in the abduction issue that has no further settlement" then Kishida's hopes of improving ties would not materialise. Kishida said Monday that he was not aware of the KCNA report, and did not directly comment on its contents, while calling top-level talks with North Korea "important". "For Japan-North Korea relations, top-level talks are important to resolve issues such as the abduction issue," Kishida said in parliament, referring to kidnappings that took place in the 1970s and '80s. "This is why we have been making various approaches to North Korea at the level directly under my control, as I have said in the past." - Kidnapping issue - North Korea admitted in 2002 that it had sent agents to kidnap 13 Japanese people in the 1970s and '80s who were used to train spies in Japanese language and customs. The abductions remain a potent and emotional issue in Japan and suspicions persist that many more were abducted than have been officially recognised. Sakie Yokota, 88, whose daughter Megumi is among the missing abductees, told Japanese media on Monday that she wanted the two countries to hold talks "as soon as possible". "I don't know if talks will take place, because it's North Korea, but I hope even a small step will be made. We really don't have much time left," she said. Earlier this month, Atsuhito Isozaki, a North Korea expert and professor at Keio University, told reporters it would be "extremely hard" for Japan to accept the North's claim that the abduction issue is resolved. The question "is whether Kishida can convince the Japanese public that Japan-North Korea relations are very important," to the extent that it is necessary to make some concessions to improve bilateral ties. Japan's former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a landmark visit to Pyongyang while in office in 2002, meeting Kim's father Kim Jong Il and setting out a path to normalise relations in which Japan would offer economic assistance. The trip led to the return of five Japanese nationals and a follow-up trip by Koizumi, but the diplomacy soon broke down, in part over Tokyo's concern that North Korea was not coming clean about the abduction victims. North Korea's statement appeared to be an attempt by Pyongyang to negotiate terms for any future summit between the two countries' leaders, Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, told AFP. "It is Pyongyang's way of testing how serious Japan is in holding the meeting and setting its own summit prerequisites in order to host the meeting." kjk/ceb/mtp SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) -North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had conveyed his intention to meet the North Korean leader, state media reported. But Kim said that improving relations between the two countries will depend on whether Japan, which occupied the Korean peninsula from 1910-45, can make practical political decisions. "The prime minister should know that just because he wants to and has made a decision, it doesn't mean he can or the leadership of our country will meet him," Kim was quoted as saying in the KCNA report in Korean. She was quoted as saying Kishida had made his intention known through "another channel", without giving details. "What is clear is that when Japan antagonises the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and violates its sovereign rights, it is considered our enemy and will become part of the target," Kim added, using the official name of North Korea. Relations between the two countries have been strained over disputes dating back to Japan's occupation. Koreans accuse Japan of forcing women to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military and using forced labour, among other issues. Kishida has said he wants to hold talks with Kim Jong Un "without any preconditions" and is personally overseeing efforts to realise the first such summit in 20 years. Asked about Kim's comment, Kishida reiterated the importance of a summit to resolve issues such as the matter of Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang's agents decades ago. "Nothing has been decided for now," he told reporters. The United States, which is due to host Kishida for a summit with President Joe Biden on April 10, said it had been clear in emphasizing the importance of dialogue and diplomacy with North Korea. "The United States stands with the long-suffering relatives of Japanese abductees, and we continue to urge the DPRK to right this historic wrong and provide a full accounting of those that remain missing," a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department added in an email, when asked about the KCNA report. North Korea admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens decades earlier. Five abductees and their families later returned to Japan, saying the others had died. However, Tokyo believes 17 Japanese were abducted, and continues to investigate the fate of those who did not return, according to Japanese media. Japan's top government spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said North Korea's assertion that the abduction issue had been resolved is "totally unacceptable", underscoring potential obstacles to amending ties. An official at South Korea's foreign ministry said Seoul was in close talks with Tokyo on a range of issues related to North Korea including contacts between Japan and North Korea. "South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are closely cooperating to bring (North Korea) back to the path to denuclearisation," the official said in a statement. North Korea has long been banned from conducting nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches by the U.N. Security Council and has been subject to U.N. sanctions since 2006. Kim's sister said last month Kishida may one day visit Pyongyang. "If Japan ... makes a political decision to open a new path for improving ties based on mutual respect and respectful behaviour, it is my view that the two countries can open a new future," KCNA quoted her saying. (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim in Seoul, Shinichi Uchida and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Nick Macfie and Nia Williams) Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea, is one of the tallest unoccupied buildings in the world. Construction on the "Hotel of Doom" began in 1987 and has stopped and started several times. One side of the 1,080-foot building has been outfitted with LED screens used for light shows. At 1,080 feet, North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang is one of the tallest unoccupied buildings in the world. The 105-story "Hotel of Doom," which is also North Korea's tallest building, has never hosted a single guest. Construction began almost 40 years ago, and it is not yet complete the cost of finishing the building is estimated to be around 5% of the country's entire GDP. Still, Ryugyong Hotel remains a subject of international fascination. Here's the story behind the abandoned skyscraper that dominates the capital city's skyline. Construction on the Ryugyong Hotel began in Pyongyang in 1987, but halted due to economic troubles in North Korea. The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea, in 1990. Vincent Yu/AP When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, North Korea lost its main trading partner and source of aid, spurring an economic crisis, CNN reported. The hotel reached its full height in 1992, but the inside was never completed. A traffic policeman stands in front of the Ryugyong Hotel in 2019. Dita Alangkara/AP The Ryugyong Hotel is 105 stories tall and is sometimes referred to as the 105 Building. To this day, it has never hosted a single guest. Ongoing construction of the Ryugyong Hotel in 2010. Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images Despite its aversion to foreign visitors, North Korea does have several functional hotels in Pyongyang. Until the Ryugyong Hotel is completed, the Yanggakdo International Hotel is the city's largest, and the Ryanggang Hotel is widely regarded as the fanciest. Its pyramid shape dominates the Pyongyang skyline from miles away. The Ryugyong Hotel seen from a road outside Pyongyang in 2011. Greg Baker/AP Each of the building's three sections, which join together at the top, are 100 meters, or 328 feet long, according to Atlas Obscura. At the very top of the building, an eight-story cone-shaped section was supposed to feature revolving restaurants. The top of the Ryugyong Hotel in 2015. Damir Sagolj/Reuters It remains empty, like the rest of the hotel. More external work began on the hotel in 2008 with the installation of glass panels over its entire surface. Construction on the Ryugyong Hotel in 2010. Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images An Egyptian contractor, the Orascom group, took over the project and revived construction in 2008, Reuters reported. It would cost an estimated $2 billion to finally finish the Ryugyong Hotel, Reuters reported in 2008, citing South Korean media. A crane on the roof of the Ryugyong Hotel. Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images North Korea's gross domestic product is around $40 billion, according to the most recent data on CIA's World Factbook. That makes the cost of finishing the building around 5% of the country's entire GDP. In the meantime, North Korea has found other uses for the building. Fireworks around the Ryugyong Hotel to celebrate May Day in 2009. KCNA/Reuters Pyongyang celebrated May Day in 2009 with a fireworks display framing the Ryugyong Hotel. It serves as a dramatic backdrop for arts troupes' performances. Members of a Socialist Women's Union propaganda troupe perform in front of the Ryugyong Hotel in 2019. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images The troupes' performances usually contain propaganda messages. North Korea sent an arts troupe to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. It also provides a backdrop for propaganda messages made up of over 100,000 LED screens. Designer Kim Yong Il stands next to his light show on the facade of the Ryugyong Hotel. Dita Alangkara/AP In 2018, lighting designer Kim Yong Il created a light show comprised of political slogans and party symbols. It played on the building's surface for several hours every night, the Associated Press reported. The building itself still doesn't have electricity, and there's no expected completion date, but there have been new signs of construction progress. Statues of Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il at Mansu Hill near the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang. Ng Han Guan/AP Alek Sigley, an Australian student who was studying for his master's degree in Korean literature at Kim Il Sung University, posted on X about new signage above the main entrance of the hotel in June 2019. A month later, Sigley was detained for a week and subsequently released after North Korean authorities accused him of committing "spying acts" against the state. He was later expelled from the country. It continues to live up to its nickname, "Hotel of Doom." The Ryugyong Hotel rises above the city skyline, shrouded by a layer of mist. Wong Maye-E/AP The hotel's actual name, "Ryugyong," comes from a historical name for Pyongyang meaning "capital of willows," CNN reported. Read the original article on Business Insider Dr Farhat Butt was working as a visiting consultant ophthalmologist at Airedale General Hospital when a row broke out over her bare forearms Not everything that happens in the workplace to a Muslim will be related to religion, a tribunal judge has said. Employment Judge Kirsty Ayre ruled an NHS consultant was not discriminated against after bosses told her to roll up her sleeves at work in line with hygiene rules. Dr Farhat Butt, who wears a hijab and covers everything other than her hands, feet and face while in public, said she was racially profiled and then bullied by managers into exposing her forearms. She had stepped outside into a hospital corridor, which she believed was a non-clinical area and meant she didnt have to comply with the bare below the elbow hygiene policy, when she was spotted and an altercation unfolded that escalated very quickly, an employment tribunal heard. She sued the health service for religious discrimination and harassment. However, her claims were dismissed after the tribunal ruled the row did not relate to her being a Muslim. The tribunal heard Dr Butt worked for an NHS Trust in Bradford but worked one day a week as a visiting consultant ophthalmologist at Airedale General Hospital, in Eastburn, West Yorkshire. On days she works, she carries out an ophthalmic surgery. The panel heard there were hand hygiene guidelines in place that required staff to be bare below the elbows to facilitate effective hand hygiene. No clear definition However, the code says while we expect all members of staff in clinical areas to be bare below the elbows we also recognise the specific needs of our staff on cultural, religious or disability grounds and offers disposable sleeves as a result. This also applied to uniform policy but Dr Butt said there was no clear definition of where the non-clinical and clinical areas were. When she is working in what she considers to be a clinical area, she ensures that her arms are bare below the elbow, the hearing was told. However, when she left clinical areas she would roll her sleeves down so that her forearms were covered. On Dec 6 2022, she was challenged about not having her sleeves rolled up. After leaving the operating theatre to go to the bathroom to make a phone call, she had her sleeves fully down by the time she was in the corridor. Mary Hytch, the director of nursing, and two other bosses saw Dr Butt. Mrs Hytch believed her to have been in the anaesthetic room without her sleeves rolled up and to get her attention, she raised her voice slightly and said: Excuse me. She then asked her to roll her sleeves up. This left Dr Butt upset at being challenged and this showed in her reaction in an altercation which escalated very quickly and during which voices were raised on both sides. Bullied The panel heard Dr Butt was not happy and very upset at being challenged because she believed she was complying with the policy. After the length of her fingernails was also criticised, Dr Butt was unable to continue at work and cancelled her operating list for the day. In an email, she said she had been racially profiled and bullied into rolling her sleeves up. After no outcome was reached in an informal manner, Dr Butt escalated her complaint and said the situation which had made her feel targeted had not been handled professionally or appropriately. She refused mediation and an independent investigation was launched in March 2023 as she complained of deep-rooted problems with discrimination. A report found Mrs Hytchs request for Dr Butt to be bare below the elbows was not racially motivated but rather a request made to ensure adherence to the policies. However, it was recognised that the incident had been stressful for her, and found it was disappointing that the discussion had escalated so quickly. She also complained about an incident on Dec 13 2022 when a nurse approached Dr Butt and instructed her to roll up her sleeves. Row escalated quickly However, Judge Ayre concluded the initial challenge of Mrs Hytch was not because of religion and therefore not discriminatory. Not everything that happens in the workplace to a Muslim worker will be related to religion, and [Dr Butt]s own evidence was that religion was not discussed on the day, she said. Rather, she gave another reason at the time for not rolling her sleeves up, rather that she believed she was in a non-clinical area of the hospital. We accept that the initial challenge was polite and find that the reason matters subsequently became heated was because of [Dr Butt]s response to being challenged, combined with Mrs Hytchs response to her not doing as she was asked. We also find that the reason Mary Hytch initially challenged [Dr Butt] was because she genuinely believed that she was in breach of the policies. However, she added: The situation was not handled well by either party and as a result it escalated quickly. It cannot however be said that the escalation was because of religion. There are plenty of altercations that take place in the workplace because both parties become angry and upset, and we find that was the case here. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Religious groups in New York would be given a streamlined path to build affordable housing on their properties under a bill that would enable them to bypass local zoning and lengthy approval steps. In areas outside New York City, faith-based organizations would be entitled to build multi-family housing at densities of up to either 30 or 50 units per acre, regardless of the development restrictions for that site. The conditions are that they build at least four homes, adhere to height limits and meet income requirements in the legislation. Proponents argue the bill would help meet mounting demand for affordable homes while giving religious groups a dual benefit: they can both serve a social good and raise money to support themselves. The former Saint John the Baptist church at 3 Grand Street in the City of Poughkeepsie on July 24, 2023. The church closed in 2007, and is currently being renovated into an event space. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, a Brooklyn Democrat who introduced the bill in December, said in an interview that it stemmed from brainstorming talks with affordable-housing advocates after Gov. Kathy Hochul's more ambitious plans to jolt home construction fizzled last year. Easing projects by "trusted community partners," as California recently had done, offered one partial solution to New York's home shortage, he said. Overriding zoning is a politically charged step, sure to rankle local officials in a home-rule state. But Gounardes argued it was needed in his bill because overly restrictive zoning has slowed affordable-housing growth in New York for too long. "There's got to be a little give-and-take here," he said. "And we think we strike the right balance." The bill is one of a slew of housing ideas percolating in Albany as alternatives to last year's failed plan. Some are under discussion as part of state budget talks that may conclude this week. Others may be taken up after the budget is done during the remaining weeks before the legislative session ends in June. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul and other officials hold a ceremonial ground breaking for a new apartment building at the intersection of Main Street and Riverdale Ave. in Yonkers Sept. 29, 2023. Hochul was joined by Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, as well as other officials. The Gounardes bill joins the mix with a swell of early support from lawmakers and numerous religious and housing groups, including Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities, the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Fair Housing Justice Center. Almost 50 Democratic senators and Assembly members have signed on as bill sponsors. Local leaders are unlikely to join the parade, once they learn about the proposal. State properties: Hochul wants to build 15K homes on state land to stem shortage. Which locations targeted? When contacted about the bill last week, two Hudson Valley town supervisors a Democrat and a Republican both told the USA Today Network they objected to allowing any housing projects to circumvent their zoning laws or the usual review process. Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann, a Republican, vowed to fight any attempt to overrule home-rule authority and "dictate the character of our local community." He argued the bill would undermine the extensive studies and rezoning his Rockland County town had done to attract affordable housing to areas that could handle the higher density. At Rt. 59 in West Nyack, Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann speaks about his plan to get the state to help in remediating the flooding that frequently shuts down the road as well as other areas in the town Jan. 11, 2024. "A one size fits all approach never works," he said. Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner, a Democrat, said he worried about land owners abusing the law by posing as religious organizations if it's enacted. He said he prefers offering incentives to spur more affordable housing, such as state payments for residents in towns that welcome those projects. "Once you start saying you don't have to comply with zoning laws and planning laws, then the community is losing a lot in terms of maintaining the character of the community," Feiner said. Under the bill, religious groups could build up to 30 units per acre in municipalities with fewer than 50,000 residents, and up to 50 units per acre in all larger places except New York City, which would follow a different density measure. A rendering of The St. Clair Projects that typically take years to win approval would speed to the finish line. No site-plan review by planning boards and no environmental impact statement an analysis of potential water and sewer needs, traffic and other factors that's mandated by law and often long and costly for developers. Building permits would have to be issued within 60 days. The result, proponents say, would be a much shorter and cheaper approval process, without the unpredictability that might deter a religious group from undertaking a project. Removing those hurdles gives churches, synagogues and others a good way to sell off unused property and bring in badly needed income for those with dwindling memberships, Gounardes said. It also would boost revenue for the host community, since the properties would no longer be tax-exempt, he added. Thwarted plans: Hochul's housing push appears dead. Can suburbs solve affordability crisis on their own? Last year, Hochul made a set of proposals aimed at generating 800,000 new homes statewide over 10 years, twice the rate of the previous decade. They included growth mandates for every municipality that stoked resistance in the suburbs of the Hudson Valley and Long Island, ultimately sinking the plan. Her modest sequel this year includes plans to build homes on state-owned properties and restricting certain grant programs to communities that have met housing growth targets. Her budget proposal includes $250 million to prepare state-owned sites for redevelopment, with the goal of building up to 15,000 units. Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY bill speeds affordable housing projects built by religious groups NEW YORK (PIX11) New York City will move forward with a plan to give migrant families debit cards loaded with cash to buy food and baby supplies. The pilot program, which drew criticism before even being rolled out, will put cards in the hands of migrant families beginning Monday, PIX11 News has learned. NYC man housing migrants again: I have to step in and help Using a company called MoCaFi, the city will initially hand out cards to 115 families staying in hotels by next week. Approximately 460 migrants, including many children, will be fed by the city in this manner. City Hall said a family of four with two children under the age of 5 years old will get $350 loaded onto their card weekly. The pilot program is expected to last six weeks and the plan is to expand the program after working out any issues flagged by data from the pilot. Since the more than $53 million emergency purchase contract with New Jersey-based MoCaFi was announced, conservative commentators and people concerned about the potential for waste and fraud have criticized the plan. PIX11s Henry Rosoff was the only TV news reporter to sit down with Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom, who has led New York Citys migrant response, to press her about what was being done to prevent waste in the program. Williams-Isom insisted the cards will only be available for use at bodegas and grocery stores. We are making sure we are putting in guardrails so people can only buy food and baby supplies, Williams-Isom said. So if you try to go to Bloomingdales and use it for shoes, it will be rejected. If there are things where we see people abuse it, we can take the card back. Williams-Isom said the city will be able to review purchase data and identify abuse quickly. She also said keeping the pilot small and limited to families with children was another guardrail. NYC imposing curfew at more migrant shelters Finally, Williams-Isom said that once fully implemented, the program has the potential to save $600,000 per month and she rebuffed critics who say the city should just not feed newly arrived migrants at all. We are required to make sure that people have shelter, and people have food, and that people are staying safe, Williams-Isom said. This is not something extra that we are doing. This is us trying to think of an innovative way to make sure that we are giving people what we are required to give them, but that we are being efficient and not wasteful. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. The Russian occupiers carried out four rocket and 56 air strikes during the day, as well as 43 attacks from multiple rocket launchers on positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports. "Unfortunately, as a result of the Russian terrorist attacks, there are dead and wounded among the civilian population. Multi-storey and private houses and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged," the Facebook post says. In addition, in the morning, the Russians struck Kyiv with two ballistic missiles. Two missiles were destroyed by the forces and means of the air defense of Ukraine. In the evening, the enemy launched another ballistic missile attack on the territory of Ukraine. The consequences of this attack are being clarified. More than 120 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions were subjected to artillery and mortar attacks. Resident cheered as the man dubbed the New York Citys so-called worst landlord was punched in the face and had to be briefly hospitalized within hours of being booked into Rikers Island on Friday. And residents of Daniel Ohebshaloms crumbling, rat-infested apartments cant help but feel like he had it coming. I had to pay out of my pocket for the kitchen to be fixed because the rats were chewing their way in, Nelly, a 37-year-old nurse who lives on the first floor of Ohebshaloms building at 709 170th St., told The Post on Sunday. Him getting punched is karma God forgive me for laughing! Daniel Ohebshalom, the Big Apples worst landlord, has been jailed over his refusal to fix the squalid conditions in two buildings he owns in Washington Heights. Kevin Sheehan/NY Post Hes not a good person hes not nice, hes a very crazy person, added Yovanny Marte Lopez, 66, a 30-year resident of the same building. Its good that this happened to him. Two other tenants neither of whom spoke English smiled broadly when a third resident explained in Spanish what happened to him. One even gave a thumbs-up. A police source confirmed the Friday afternoon attack to The Post. Sources told NBC New York that it doesnt appear the unidentified inmate specifically targeted Ohebshalom, who may have broken some bones in his face, which led to a brief hospital stay. Authorities brought him back to Rikers late Friday, the network said. But regardless of motive, residents had no sympathy for him after enduring buildings that city housing officials say are rife with lead paint, roach infestations, blinking electricity and black mold, among other things. Ohebshaloms refusal to fix the nearly 700 open violations in his buildings at 705 and 709 170th St. have not only earned him the moniker of worst landlord, however. Theyve also punched his ticket to a two-month vacation at Rikers and fines of more than $3 million, officials said earlier this month. A resident named Nelly gave this photo to The Post that shows one of several holes in the kitchen wall of her first-floor apartment. The squalid conditions are often dangerous to occupants such as this ceiling that collapsed on a childs bed at 709 W. 170th St. 709 West 170th Street Tenants Association City officials secured a warrant for his arrest on March 8 for failing to comply with a February 2023 civil contempt finding. The reason were after this guy and his practices is because of the life people have been living there its horrible, Adolfo Carrion Jr., commissioner of the citys Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said at the time. People are dealing with mold, leaks, pests rats and roaches peeling paint, lead paint, he added. Their children are exposed, seniors are exposed. Its time to stop this nonsense. Ohebshalom turned himself in on Thursday, according to authorities. Carrion said it was justice being served. Rat and roach infestations are also commonplace, city housing officials said. 709 West 170th Street Tenants Association City housing officials secured a warrant for Daniel Ohebshalom, the Big Apples worst landlord, earlier this month. He was arrested last week. WABC Slumlords in New York City are officially on notice, he crowed in the statement. Landlords in New York City will not get away with putting our families in unsafe, unhealthy, and downright unlivable conditions. Several apartment dwellers told The Post they were thrilled to hear he was finally facing consequences. Its been long overdue, Sonia Peralta, a 73-year-old woman who has lived in 705 for the last 44 years, said shortly after the warrant was announced. He should have been arrested a long, long time ago. Her bathroom ceiling fell two years ago which led to a shoddy patch job and her walls are covered in soot from the broken boiler, she said. Tenants of 705 and 709 W. 170th St. held a press conference to fight Ohebshalom, the Big Apples worst landlord. Met Council On Housing The conditions in the Washington Heights buildings are particularly horrific. WABC The heat and hot water fail constantly, rats and roaches have turned the building into a mini-motel and the broken lobby door lets homeless people in to wander around and shoot up, she added. We want to be treated like human beings, Peralta said. We want to see him in jail for a long time. The citys housing agency first took action against Ohebshalom in 2021 after its anti-harassment unit inspected and investigated the Washington Heights buildings, the statement said. Last January, the city moved both buildings to its Alternative Enforcement Program which helps officials enforce rules and hold owners accountable so the city could make emergency repairs and address longstanding issues, according to the release. It assessed more than $48,000 in fees against the property as the city agency did emergency work to fix leaks, remove mold and install self-closing doors. Another photo obtained by The Post of a hole in a kitchen wall. But Ohebshalom failed to comply, leading to more litigation that included the housing agencys request for contempt, jail time and civil penalties. A housing court agreed, saying the landlord was in criminal and civil contempt of several court orders, consent orders and interim agreements. The city is also pursuing legal action against Ohebshalom for squalid conditions in several other buildings, the agency said previously. But thats little comfort to some, who are still living in abysmal conditions. Another hole in the same kitchen wall. Hicks/Fenton/Janoski I have two children and my daughter is pregnant, Lopez told The Post. My mom is 86, and it is very cold, she continued. We have no heat and no hot water, so no showers and no cleaning. One week and still no hot water! Its very hard. Steve Lenis, a 45-year-old city sanitation worker who lives in the building, said Ohebshaloms arrest was a good start, but echoed Lopezs concerns about the residents welfare. OK, he went to jail, but what about us? Lenis said, adding that the broken boiler means he cant give his cancer-stricken, 81-year-old mother a bath. Im afraid that because hes in jail, theyre going to think hes being held accountable and nothing is going to happen, he continued. It doesnt help my mother, who doesnt have any heat. Theyre not fixing anything. OSCEOLA To understand the latest obstacle blocking a more than two-decade effort to bring more water supply to a part of the state that really needs it, drive about 6 miles northwest of this south Iowa town and have a look. Perched in the tall grass on the side of a gravel road near a pile of junk, dead trees and discarded tires are three structures: a weatherworn, early 20th century farmhouse with holes in its floor, ceiling and roof; an abandoned shed; and an equally aged and battered red wooden chicken coop. Area leaders learned at the end of February that the historic nature of that old farmstead, a common scene of rural decay in the Midwest, could be the next obstacle between them and roughly $60 million in federal funding needed to begin work on a new reservoir in the South West Creek watershed. Osceola City Manager Ty Wheeler stands in front of an early 20th century farmstead that an official from Iowa's State Historic Preservation Office says should be considered for placement on the National Register of Historic Places possibly endangering plans for a much-needed reservoir there. Local officials disagree. The huge project, local officials say, could eventually serve as many as 30,000 people in drought-ridden south-central Iowa and northern Missouri. But the list of problems that have confronted the effort, most tying back to Iowa state officials, has run so long that some local leaders dont think its a coincidence. The need for water here is well-documented, and now the crisis we feared is being realized, Osceola City Manager Ty Wheeler said. But these are the ridiculous things we are having to go through. The one-time home of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a former Clarke County treasurer, Osceola has known for more than 20 years that the region will need a new water source. But its declining water supply amid the states fourth year of drought the longest stretch in two decades has brought new urgency. Nearly all of Clarke County, where Osceola is the county seat, is experiencing severe or extreme drought. Its so bad that residents have been put on notice to use bottled water instead of tap. And if the areas dwindling primary source of residential and industrial water, 377-acre West Lake, recedes a couple of more feet, major regional employers like Hormel Foods, livestock producers and area residents will not have enough water to go on without other measures. More Watchdog: He went to get medication for ADHD. MercyOne charged him nearly $1,500 in facility fees. As Osceola leaders waited for the money, planning and permission needed to begin work on the new reservoir, they asked state regulators in October to allow it to use treated wastewater to recharge West Lake. The request to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to pursue the $16.5 million project was the first in the state seeking to recycle wastewater to supply drinking water. The plan has taken much back and forth between local authorities and the DNR. But its looking like its moving forward and expected to produce a product as clean as distilled water, Wheeler said. But to solve the longer-term problem, the Clarke County Reservoir Commission believes construction of the new reservoir is imperative. After the devastating loss of federal Natural Resources Conservation Service funding for the project due to budget cuts in 2011, Osceola and a group of other local governments, agencies and regional waterworks moved forward without a federal partner. In the ensuing years, the commission has faced significant political challenges as it attempts to acquire the land needed in and around the site of the envisioned 800-acre reservoir. It sought to use eminent domain, but a state appropriations bill passed in 2015, put forward by the Legislatures Republican majority, added prohibitions on eminent domain for counties exactly the size of Clarke. The commission eventually found another way to proceed, and members thought its most difficult challenges were behind it, Wheeler said. Commission's question: Is the state preserving or meddling? West Lake, Osceola's water supply, as seen from the spillway. The lake is so low that city and water works officials are seeking to use treated wastewater to help bolster its level. In 2020, after the commission prepared the site and tore down some homes in anticipation of the project, the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service agreed once more to help finance the project, with about $60 million. But to move forward, the commission needs the Iowa State Historical Preservation Offices blessing to eventually receive the federal money. That state office, now under the Iowa Economic Development Authority and its leader Debi Durham since last years state government reorganization, administers federal programs. But a year ago this month, local leaders say, archaeologists at the State Historic Preservation Office raised new problems with federal officials. One sent an email to officials at the NRCS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that, among other things, voiced concerns about anticipatory activities taken by the commission as it had prepared the area for the project. More Watchdog: Iowa settles suit over another inappropriate sexual relationship at Eldora state school The email from Daniel Higgenbottom urged NRCS and the Corps of Engineers to investigate the commission's actions to determine if any resulted in adverse effects to historic properties that may be subject to the National Historic Preservation Act. The email also voiced concerns about any other plans to destroy standing structures and about earthmoving that could occur at the site. In years prior, when the commission had relocated some homes and demolished others near the reservoir site, the NRCS hadnt been involved and the preservation act wasn't in play. Higgenbottom suggested the commissions actions could have violated federal law, thereby compromising or otherwise complicating a federal agencys ability to successfully navigate through and complete federal review and compliance processes. He also mentioned a Native American mound just outside the reservoir area, and advised that it should be further investigated with research and sampling. More: Ocheyedan River again goes dry despite new Iowa DNR requirements A subsequent email in January from state archaeologist Branden Scott suggested the NRCS, the federal agency most likely to lead the project, had not considered all effects and potential historic properties. Some properties, the historic preservation office said, were historic farms or homes that were removed from 2019 to 2021, but most were outside the area potentially affected by the new reservoir. The move set in motion new hurdles for local officials because the state archaeologist was saying a deeper review of the project was necessary. Then, this March, Sara Andre, an architectural historian with the same state office, sent another email to the federal authorities. Andre took issue with a new consultants survey of the area that found the old farmstead was not eligible to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. To be eligible for the register, sites have to meet certain criteria and possess integrity, conveying significance through physical features and context. Andre thought the site did. While the Farmstead may be in poor condition, the integrity of the resources is good, she argued. The farmstead does represent an early-mid 20th century farm in a time when farms were evolving and changing, representing shifts in methods, equipment, etc. And as such, it appears that the Hofbauer Farmstead, 1913 Orange St., Osceola, is eligible. So regional officials are once again stalled, waiting to see how the NRCS will react. If the agency determines there could be an adverse effect, then it has to consult further on appropriate measures needed to avoid, minimize, or mitigate that effect. Wheeler said the correspondence from the state office bothered him because it seems like overreach for a state agency that is essentially a middleman between local authorities and the federal government. At the point the first email by an archaeologist was sent, he said, the NRCS hadnt even done any of its own field work. More: Water-supply issues in some Iowa cities continue after disappointing winter precipitation The email from Andre riled up the Osceola City Council because it felt the structures referenced were not salvageable or historically significant. And the historic preservation offices actions triggered new investigations that could push the projects groundbreaking back even father to 2025 or 2026. Theres this growing sense that bigger things are at work that are preventing this project from moving forward, Wheeler said. The Iowa Economic Development Authority, the historic preservation office's parent agency, did not respond to a request for comment. 'People are finally returning our calls.' Osceola City Manager Ty Wheeler stands in front of an early 20th century farmstead that an official from Iowa's State Historic Preservation Office says should be considered for placement on the National Register of Historic Places possibly endangering plans for a much-needed reservoir there. Local officials disagree. Tom Bahls, an Osceola City Council member, said that until last week, there was no urgency from the governors office or the state to help the area with the project, which is the biggest issue in the region right now. But after some state officials went to a conference recently in Denver that helped them better understand temporary plans to use retreated wastewater and Watchdogs inquiries with the IEDA and historic preservation office things seem to have turned a corner. The city manager, council members, water board officials and others have been invited to meet with representatives of the governors office on Tuesday, Bahls said, to discuss short-term and long-term support for the project. At the Denver conference, also attended by some state legislators, he said, there were officials from 22 other states who want to use treated wastewater to help with water shortages. Things are moving. People are finally returning our calls, he said. Im hoping it is partly because of questions they were fielding from you. The local commission wants to do everything properly and legally, he said. But I think the state is finally seeing that our need is one of urgency. Lee Rood staff photo, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her at lrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at @leerood or on Facebook at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Osceola leaders believe south Iowa reservoir plans blocked by politics A Colorado police officer sexually assaulted a teenage girl while on duty, according to federal prosecutors, whove announced hes charged with depriving her of her civil rights. The charge stems from Aug. 4, when former Loveland Police Department officer Dylan Millers conduct included aggravated sexual abuse and kidnapping, an indictment unsealed on March 22 says. If hes convicted, Miller, 28, could be sentenced up to life in federal prison, the Justice Department said in a March 25 news release. McClatchy News contacted Millers defense attorneys, Paul H. Sukenik and Reid J. Elkus, for comment on March 25 and didnt receive an immediate response. In October, the 15-year-old and her family reported a Loveland police officer sexually assaulted her at a local park over the summer, according to a Nov. 6 statement from Loveland Police Chief Tim Doran. She could distinctly remember his face, but never knew his name, Doran said. The Loveland Police Department had the Larimer County Sheriffs Office take over the investigation to avoid any conflict of interest, according to the sheriffs office. Miller first encountered the teen and other people in late July during a traffic stop, the sheriffs office said in a Nov. 6 news release announcing the officers arrest on state charges. A few days later, he found her and another individual at a local park after hours, according to the sheriffs office, and told the other person to leave. Miller is accused of forcing the girl to a nearby secluded area, where the sexual assault occurred, the sheriffs office said. Following the teens report, he was arrested Nov. 6 on charges of first-degree kidnapping, sex assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, unlawful sexual conduct by a peace officer, sex assault, official oppression and first-degree official misconduct, according to the sheriffs office. I spent years investigating crimes against children. These are difficult cases for everyone, most of all for victims and their families, Sheriff John Feyen said in a statement. When Miller arrived to work on Oct. 27, he was put on administrative leave, according to Doran. He was fired the day of his arrest after he worked for the department since 2022, Doran said. Miller is due in state court for a disposition on April 15, according to the Larimer County District Attorney. He will appear in federal court for an arraignment, discovery conference and detention hearing on March 27, court records show. Loveland is about a 50-mile drive north of Denver. Cop knew he likely killed woman, but kept silent and investigated her death, feds say On-duty officer followed teen home and raped her in Virginia, feds say. Hes sentenced Officer raped multiple women while transporting them as pretrial detainees, feds say The death toll of Russia's March 12 missile attack on Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast has risen to six as a 59-year-old man died in the hospital of his injuries, Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city's military administration, reported on March 25. Seven more people injured in the attack that hit a residential building remain in the hospital, including three in serious condition, according to Vilkul's update on Telegram. At least three missile hits were recorded in Kryvyi Rih, one of which targeted a nine-story building and another hitting the roof of a five-story building. "Doctors fought for his (man's) life all these days, operated on him, did everything possible, but numerous injuries were incompatible with life," Vilkul wrote on March 25. The local authorities reported previously about three killed women and two killed men as a result of the Russian attack on the city. A total of 50 people were injured, including over 10 children, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said. Kryvyi Rih, with a population of around 660,000, is the second most populous city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It has suffered multiple deadly attacks by Russian forces since the outbreak of the full-scale war. The hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky came under a particularly heavy attack in July 2023, which resulted in six people killed and over 70 injured. Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 7 injured Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russias push to put an anti-satellite nuclear weapon in space has been worrying Washington for weeks. But theres a far more immediate threat that could damage satellites with far less effort: cyberattacks. That concern is increasingly pushing the White House and Capitol Hill to take action to counter the digital threats in space, particularly as satellites play a growing role in the conflict in Ukraine. Hackers can upload malware to satellite terminals that gives them control of the devices, shuts them down or cuts off communication with the ground. A cyberattack could even force a satellite to overheat until it explodes in a kinetic boom, according to Col. Jennifer Krolikowski, the former chief information officer for Space Forces Space Systems Command. Any widespread attack against satellites could take down everything from GPS navigation to text message services to weather forecasting and hackers could achieve that without a huge budget or years of expertise. Thats a far more pressing threat than that of a nuclear weapon in space a concern that lawmakers have been focused on since reports emerged last month that Moscow is making preparations to put an anti-satellite nuclear weapon in space. The barrier to entry and to create an effect is definitely a lot easier in the cyber world, Krolikowski said. The fact is, they could do something a lot cheaper and create a much larger effect. And there are no global treaties banning cyberattacks on satellites and other space systems, as there are for deploying nuclear weapons in space. That means global consequences for a cyberattack would be far less certain. Russia is among the nations already weighing this possibility. The U.S. intelligence community said in its 2023 report on global threats that Moscows efforts in space included pursuing jamming and cyberspace capabilities. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committees cyber subcommittee, argued that for those watching threats to the nations cybersecurity, space is at the top of the list of areas of concern. These disruptions would be on a level not yet seen by Americans in their day-to-day lives. Frank Cilluffo, director of Auburn Universitys McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure, said this could include everything from navigation, to communication, to commerce, to clocks. It may not sound sexy or important, but if you can manipulate clocks, nanoseconds can have huge implications from a national security perspective, as well as from an economic perspective, Cilluffo said. He cited the potential disruption of stock trading and negatively impacting the ability of Americans to use their personal mobile devices. A major concern is that satellites and other space systems are operated from a range of networks, all vulnerable to attacks. Darron Makrokanis, chief revenue officer for Xage Security, which counts U.S. Space Force among its clients, warned that a breach anywhere in the supply chain of products that support satellites could be catastrophic. Everything from ground communication systems to timing systems to ignition systems, aviation systems, GPS systems, there's so many different pieces of the puzzle that have to come together, interoperate, Makrokanis said. An expert at Google Clouds Mandiant, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive research, stressed that even small changes from attacks could be enough to disrupt operations, such as changing the orientation of a satellite in orbit, or triggering a diagnostic test at the wrong time. Moscow has already proven its satellite disruption capabilities. In the early hours of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian hackers attacked satellite provider Viasat, causing major disruptions to Ukrainian military communications. The attack had a much wider impact outside the battlefield, temporarily knocking out everything from internet access for individuals to disrupting wind terminals across Europe for weeks after. Since then, Ukrainian forces have become increasingly reliant on SpaceXs Starlink satellite connections on the battlefield, as have civilians in recaptured cities for internet access, further highlighting the importance of space. We are so dependent on our space assets and then you see things like Starlink, how incredibly important its been to Ukrainians on the battlefield, Senate Intelligence Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) said, warning that a nuclear weapon or cyberattack in space would wipe out systems for every country involved in space. There are global efforts afoot to establish guardrails. The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research is leading a program to study what more can be done to increase security in space. And the federal government has taken steps in recent years to shore up space security. In 2019, Former President Donald Trump signed into law legislation standing up the Pentagons Space Force, an entirely new armed service. One of Space Forces key focuses is cybersecurity, which has included training cyber guardian corps to better respond to cyber threats against infrastructure in space, and is reportedly looking to expand its cyber workforce. Civilian agencies are also involved. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said during a recent event at the German Marshall Fund that cyber threats to satellites are up there on her list of concerns. CISA plans this year to examine whether more specific performance goals are needed for the security of space systems, an agency spokesperson said. It also plans to strengthen its ability to support U.S. critical infrastructure organizations that rely on space-based capabilities if such a cyberattack were to occur. Space infrastructure plays a vital role in the reliable and efficient operations of much of our nations critical infrastructure, CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales said in a statement. On Capitol Hill, Senate Homeland Security Chair Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) last year introduced legislation to increase the cybersecurity of satellites. The legislation would require CISA to develop online cybersecurity resources for companies that rely on satellites, and require the White House to roll out a federal strategy to counter cyber threats to satellite systems. The legislation was approved by the committee in May, but has not yet received a vote, though an aide to Peters said the senator is exploring all potential paths forward for the bill. Some experts say much more work remains. While satellites are included in the communications sector, space in general is not designated as one of the 16 federal critical infrastructure sectors, a group that currently includes dams, food and agriculture organizations, government agencies and emergency services. Some argue that space should be included in a new version of an Obama-era policy directive that designated these sectors, a document that the Biden administration is currently rewriting. The CSC 2.0 the follow up group to the congressionally established Cyberspace Solarium Commission recommended in a report last year that space systems be made critical infrastructure, and support space being included in the rewrite. There is more that can and should be done, CSC 2.0 Executive Director Mark Montgomery said, warning that without the designation, space sector management will be divided among numerous agencies and the ability to plan for critical events and mitigate risk will be lost. Cilluffo, a member of the original Solarium commission, said it is inevitable that space systems will be designated as critical infrastructure, particularly as the threats ramp up. Cyber is not as tangible as physical and kinetic, people have a hard time visualizing the impact of zeros and ones, Cilluffo said. But the reality is, it can have kinetic and physical impactand we don't have time on our side on this one. POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) Authorities are seeking the publics help in identifying people suspected of copper theft in Polk County. Tyler man sentenced to 44 years in prison for 2021 murder According to a release from the Polk County Sheriffs Office, authorities are searching for people suspected of copper theft during two separate occasions, on Feb. 27 and March 22. Courtesy of Polk County Sheriffs Office Courtesy of Polk County Sheriffs Office Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Josh Sanders at 936-329-9025 or at the Polk County Sheriffs Office at 936-327-6810. People can also remain anonymous by calling the Polk County Crime Stoppers at 936-327-STOP. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com. An Ohio man who threatened to kill Arizona governor Katie Hobbs in 2022 has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Joshua Russell, 44, was sentenced in federal court on Monday. He pleaded guilty to sending threatening messages to then-Arizona Secretary of State between 2 Aug 2022 and 15 November 2022. At the time, Ms Hobbs was the states top election official and running for governor against Donald Trump ally Kari Lake. Between August and the end of the 2022 midterm elections, Russell, of Bucyrus, Ohio, made several calls to the Arizona Secretary of State's office threatening to kill Ms Hobbs, say prosecutors. He called her a traitor, warned her that a "war" was coming, claimed she was a communist, and insisted that she was committing election fraud. This message is for traitor [Ms Hobbs]. Youve drug your feet, youve done nothing, to protect our election for 2020. Youre committing election fraud, youre starting to do it again, from day one," Russell said in his first call, according to the Department of Justice. "Youre the enemy of the United States, youre a traitor to this country, and you better put your sh[inaudible], your [expletive] affairs in order, cause your days [inaudible] are extremely numbered. Americas coming for you, and you will pay with your life, you communist [expletive] traitor [expletive]. After Ms Hobbs defeated Ms Lake in the governor's race, Russell called again and again threatened to kill her after calling her a traitor and a criminal. This message is for communist, criminal, [Ms Hobbs]. We will not endure your crimes on America another day. Youve been busted, over and over again. We will not wait for you to be drugged through court. A war is coming for you. The entire nation is coming for you. And we will stop, at no end, until you are in the ground," he said. "Youre a traitor to this nation. Youre a [expletive] piece of [expletive] communist, and you just signed your own death warrant. Get your affairs in order, cause, your days are very short. US District Judge Steven Logan praised Mr Russell for undergoing rehabilitation for substance abuse and for seeking therapy following his arrest but ultimately ruled that a prison term was still necessary after the threats he made against Ms Hobbs. Mr Russell explained in a written document presented to the court that he had been a shut-in, obsessed with politics forums and discussions on social media. He told the court that he used the vitriol of the USs political landscape as an outlet for his pent-up rage. All I did was hide in bed all day scrolling thru social media and political forums looking at blogs or anything that could serve as an outlet for my pent up anger combined with all the pain I was suppressing, he wrote. ***Video above: How to report a tip to U.S. Marshals.*** (AP) An Ohio man who acknowledged making death threats in voicemails left for then-Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs during the 2022 election season has been sentenced Monday to 2 1/2 years in prison. Joshua Russell of Bucyrus, Ohio, had pleaded guilty on Aug. 31, 2023, in Phoenix to a federal charge of making an interstate threat against Hobbs, a Democrat who, as secretary of state, was Arizonas chief elections officer in 2022 and now serves as the states governor. U.S. District Judge Steven Logan commended Russell for undergoing substance abuse treatment and other counseling since his arrest and getting his life in order but concluded Russell must spend time in prison, saying he has traumatized people who work in the secretary of states office. First suspect arrested in Cleveland police shooting incident: I-Team The judge, who read Russells profanity-laden threats aloud in court, said Russell had accused the victim of being a terrorist, while he was threatening her life. He rejected Russells characterization of his actions as immature. None of these people deserved it, the judge said. I was looking for an outlet to cast my inner turmoil onto, Russell told the judge before he was sentenced. He hugged his parents and sister in the courtroom before he was taken away to start serving his punishment. Hobbs was not present in court during the sentencing hearing. The three voicemails left by Russell were among the countless threats made against Hobbs for her role in certifying Joe Bidens 2020 presidential victory over Donald Trump in Arizona and her responsibility in running the 2022 midterm elections. As secretary of state, Hobbs at times had round-the-clock security due to threats from Trump supporters who falsely claimed that his loss in Arizona was marred by fraud. She has described threatening phone calls to her office and said critics tried to get her husband fired from his job. Russells case is among the cases brought by the U.S. Justice Departments Election Threats Task Force, which focuses on threats of violence against elected officials, workers and volunteers to ensure they can oversee elections free of harassment. Earlier this month, a Massachusetts man was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for making an online threat to bomb Hobbs office in February 2021 when she was still the secretary of state. In February, an Alabama man accused of sending death threats to a social media account for the Maricopa County Elections Department was charged with making interstate threats. And an Iowa man was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for his conviction for threatening Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, both Republicans. In voicemails that began on primary election day and ended a week after the general election, Russell called Hobbs a traitor and made explicit threats, telling the secretary of state that her days are extremely numbered, she had just signed your own death warrant and she will either be sent to jail or we will see you to the grave. Prosecutors had asked the judge to send Russell to prison for 2 1/2 years, saying Russells threats caused deep fear and apprehension for Hobbs and employees of the secretary of states office and that election workers should be able to do their jobs without fear and intimidation. Elyria mom gets jail for pepper-spraying principal Prosecutors also said the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the crime and should serve as a deterrent against anyone making similar threats in the future. Russells lawyer, Jazmin Alagha, had sought a sentence of only probation, saying her client deeply regrets his actions, was recklessly expressing disagreement with the political culture at that time, was struggling financially and spiraling into a deep depression, and that his actions were driven mostly by his substance abuse problems. In a document written by Russell and submitted to the court, Russell described his situation at the time he made the threats, saying he was depressed and angry and that his drug use fueled his isolation. All I did was hide in bed all day scrolling thru social media and political forums looking at blogs or anything that could serve as an outlet for my pent up anger combined with all the pain I was suppressing, Russell wrote. Russell also wrote an apology letter to Hobbs, saying social media and news stories had become another addiction for him, but has since taken courses on anger management and substance abuse. I am truly sorry for my actions, Russell told Hobbs in the letter. Im not a violent man, I am a broken man. No one should be the target of such disrespectful behavior. Logan suggested Russell read the U.S. Constitution while in prison and appreciate that the United States has free and fair elections. The judge also denied Russells request for 45 days to get his affairs in order, telling him he had to say goodbye to his family. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. Actress and producer Olivia Colman called out the pay disparities in Hollywood, arguing she would be earning a f of a lot more if she were a male actor. Dont get me started on the pay disparity, Colman said Saturday during an interview with CNNs Christiane Amanpour. But male actors get paid more because they used to say they draw in the audiences and actually, that hasnt been true for decades. But they still like to use that as a reason to not pay women as much as their male counterparts. Amanpour asked Colman if she personally still encounters pay disparities, referring to her as an Oscar-winning actress. Im very aware that if I was Oliver Colman, Id be earning a f of a lot more than I am, Colman responded. I know of one pay disparity, which is a 12,000 percent difference. Colman, who has starred in highly acclaimed films including The Favourite and The Father and television shows The Crown and Heartstopper, is the latest Hollywood actress to speak out about the pay disparities she has experienced in the industry. In December, The Color Purple star Taraji P. Henson told The Hollywood Reporter she gets tired of fighting for equal compensation. Ive been getting paid and Ive been fighting tooth and nail every project to get that same freaking quote, she said at the time. And its a slap in the face when people go, Oh girl, you work all the time. You always working. Well, goddammit, I have to. Its not because I wish I could do two movies a year and thats that. I have to work because the math aint mathing. And I have bills. The compensation and treatment of Hollywood talent, crews and writers were hoisted into the spotlight last year during the actors and writers dual strikes. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors, went on strike for 118 days last year the longest strike in the unions history to demand pay raises, artificial intelligence protections and guaranteed cuts in streaming revenue. A tentative agreement was reached last November, a little more than a month after the Writers Guild of America reached a separate agreement with studios after nearly five months. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. A homeowner in North Attleborough was seriously injured in a wind-driven house fire on Monday afternoon, according to authorities. Fire Chief Chris Coleman says the call came in just before 10 a.m. for a fire at a home on Diamond Street. Arriving companies found heavy flames shooting from the structure and were worried it could spread to other houses due to their close proximity. A second alarm was ordered for manpower and companies were eventually able to put the fire out. One victim was transported to Rhode Island Hospital with significant injuries, although those injuries dont appear to be life-threatening, according to Chief Coleman. Officials say windy conditions coming off Falls Pond affected the flames and made containing the fire difficult. Despite the elements, firefighters were able to stop the flames from spreading to neighboring homes. The departments resources were also spread thin, as they were responding to three other calls at the same time, according to Chief Coleman. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the North Attleborough Fire Department, the North Attleborough Police Department, and investigators from the Massachusetts State Police. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Kuleba talks with Borrell, calls for early delivery to Ukraine of additional Patriot, other air defense systems capable of shooting down ballistics Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has held a telephone conversation with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, whom he informed about Russian ballistic strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Ukraine is currently the only country in the world that is being attacked by ballistic missiles almost daily. Therefore, Patriots must be stationed here and now to save human lives, rather than remaining in places where the missile threat is zero, Kuleba said on X. The diplomats discussed steps the EU can take to help Ukraine get more Patriot and other air defense systems as quickly as possible. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister also expressed gratitude to Borrell and the European Union for their support. Borrell also posted on Twitter about his conversation with Kuleba. It is more important than ever to step up EU military assistance and speed up deliveries and call out Putin for pointing at Ukraines role in the Moscow attacks of last Friday, Borrell said. KANSAS CITY, Mo. A motorized scooter rider was killed in an Overland Park crash Sunday evening. The crash occurred near 91st and Metcalf at around 7:10 p.m. An SUV turned left into a parking lot and ran into a motorized scooter, knocking the rider off the scooter. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri The rider of the scooter was transported to the hospital for serious injuries and later died, according to Overland Park police. Hes been identified as 39-year-old Greggory Bennett of Lenexa. Anyone one with information about this crash is asked to call the Overland Park Police Traffic Unit at 913-890-1482. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. An online auction for unclaimed property in Pennsylvania will happen on Wednesday, Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced. The auction includes jewelry, currency, precious metals and other items that have been in the state treasurys vault for over three years. Our first priority is always to return unclaimed property to the rightful owners, Garrity said. But even though we have the largest working vault in the nation, we constantly receive new unclaimed property and need to make room for it. We work to find the rightful owner of every piece of tangible unclaimed property for at least three years before anything is sent to auction. And auction proceeds are carefully tracked and will always remain available for the owner to claim whether that happens next month or 50 years from now. Some of the items included in the auction are: 14K gold and enamel lorgnette (opera glasses) 27.22 ounces of palladium (a form of platinum) 1908 St. Gaudens $20 gold coin 18K white gold watch with emerald-cut marquise diamond Antique jewelry, including a hair locket with an inscription from 1829 Johnson Matthey 100 oz. silver bar 14K yellow gold rosary and prayer beads Andre Harvey 14K yellow gold frog necklace Platinum ring with 1.71 carat diamond A 1906-D Liberty Head $20 gold coin. The auction starts at 9 a.m. Interested bidders can click here to register. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: Ames Department Stores to open 35 brick-and-mortar locations across US Divers recover mans body from Allegheny River in Pittsburgh Dump truck, pickup truck crash in Pittsburgh neighborhood VIDEO: Man critically injured after being shot through window of McKeesport home, police say DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts Whoever doubts that Europe is in danger of an ominous divergence on Russia and Ukraine should take a look at the forced smiles of the triple handshake between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk when they met in Berlin last Friday, ostensibly to overcome their strategic differences in the context of the Weimar Triangle. In the past three weeks, Europes debate about increased support for Ukraine versus suing for peace has gone up several decibels in volume. Lets take a closer look at France, Germany, and Polands leaders and ask whether the glass is half full or half empty and whether these leaders can yet take a strategic step forward in supporting Ukraine. Read also: Danylo Mokryk: Say the word genocide Macrons trajectory The most remarkable development over the past 10 months has been the pivot of Macrons position on the war. Macron, before and even during Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, was one of the most outspoken believers in dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even in the summer of 2022, he still talked about legitimate Russian security interests, a new European security architecture, and not humiliating Russia. This has radically changed. Macron first began to embrace the more hawkish Central European EU and NATO member states at the end of May 2023 with his Bratislava speech. Pundits agree that this was due to a realistic recognition that France alone cannot dominate European security. Nor can France and Germany together do this especially in a situation where NATO may be severely weakened by a Trump victory in the U.S. election and where German and French strategic cultures are extremely different. Macron, of course, has not given up the idea of French leadership, but now he believes that he needs the Eastern flank countries, also for the simple reason that they were proven right in their perception of the Russian threat. And this is the second factor that explains especially the more recent phase in Frances trajectory: Putin himself. The Kremlins relentless escalation of the war and of oppression at home has convinced Macron that peace with Russia under Putin is impossible and that Ukraine has to win. But the failed Ukrainian counteroffensive, Russias slow but steady advance in eastern Ukraine, and the precarious dwindling of supplies from the U.S. have raised alarm bells in Paris. Macron has understood that a military defeat of Ukraine would be disastrous for Europe and freedom in general. France now also officially supports Ukraines European Union and NATO membership. Most significantly, he repeatedly emphasized that sending NATO troops to Ukraine should not be ruled out. For this last statement, he earned frenetic applause from the EUs Eastern flank but pretty hard criticism from Germany and French citizens themselves. But that doesnt change the fact that his insistence on strategic ambiguity as the only way to deter bullies like Putin is absolutely correct. French President Emmanuel Macron (L), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C), and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) join hands at a press conference amid a meeting of the so-called Weimar Triangle in Berlin, Germany, on March 15, 2024. (Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images) The end of Scholzs Zeitenwende? Scholz in Germany, on the other hand, has zig-zagged since his Zeitenwende (historic turning point) speech in February 2022. When it comes to military deliveries to Ukraine, Germany has consistently improved but dragged its feet over high-quality weapon systems such as modern air defense systems, infantry fighting vehicles, main battle tanks, and missile artillery. These weapons were mostly delivered eventually, but too little, too late. While the two junior coalition partners in Berlin, the Greens and Liberals, together with the opposition Christian Democrats, usually pushed for sending more sophisticated weapons, the Chancellor and Germanys Social Democratic Party (SPD) followed a pattern of first opposing, then grudgingly approving deliveries, but usually in small quantities. The Chancellors Office flagged the arch-German virtue of Besonnenheit (level-headedness), but in reality, they were driven by the fear that Putin might escalate the war, maybe even singling out Germany as a result of a too abrupt improvement of German deliveries. That is allegedly also the reason for Scholzs refusal to clearly state that Russia has to lose and Ukraine has to win this war. With the powerful Taurus cruise missile, things got stuck, and Scholz is now so committed to non-delivery that it will be extremely difficult to climb down from this position. While Scholzs coalition in Berlin is beset by internal rifts and embattled in the polls, in the question of Ukraine policy, his level-headed approach seems to be popular. The SPD is at the lowest point of its popular support in its long history and fears massive losses in the upcoming European Parliament elections and three regional ones in the eastern states. That is why the SPDs spin doctors have come up with the strategy of casting Scholz in the role of the Peace Chancellor (with historical echoes of Willy Brandt), trying to reverse the downward trend in the polls. This is also why Scholz so vehemently sticks to the non-delivery of Taurus and rejects Macrons talk of NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine, and why SPD leaders now speak of freezing the conflict de facto only encouraging Putin to be bolder in escalating the war and repeating his nuclear and hybrid threats against the West. The disturbing truth is that since its promising shift toward Western resilience and support for Ukraine during 2022 and 2023 (despite the zig-zagging), Germany has never been as close to a U-turn from the Zeitenwende as in the spring of 2024. Read also: The Counteroffensive: Russias rising chemical weapons use in Ukraine With a little help from our friends In this situation, hope rests on Germanys friends and allies East as well as West. The Weimar meeting last week was a good start. The Weimar Triangle will be a good driver of more sustainability in European defense and defense production. Donald Tusk, whose credentials in militarily supporting Ukraine while strengthening his own countrys defense are beyond doubt, can join Macron in talking sense into Scholz. Other Eastern flank countries, as well as the Nordic states, should reinforce their messaging. Much will also depend on more clarity from Washington, where U.S. President Joe Bidens strategic advisors have, time and again, given Scholz the opportunity to claim that he may be facing headwinds among Eastern neighbors but that he is marching in lockstep with the Americans. An isolated Scholz will not be successful in presenting himself as the Peace Chancellor to German voters. In that sense, the glass is half empty, and the situation is dramatic, but a real split in Europe on war and peace in Ukraine can still be prevented. Editors Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent. Submit an Opinion Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Editors Note: W. James Antle III is executive editor of the Washington Examiner magazine and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Government Ever Be Stopped? The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. Former President Donald Trump, facing a deadline to post a $464 million bond no one would give him, caught a break from a state appeals court Monday that cut the bond demand in his civil fraud case to $175 million due within the next 10 days. The action may also spare Democrats backlash from voters who would be incensed at the potential seizure of Trumps assets. W. James Antle III - Courtesy W. James Antle III Trump became an A-list celebrity as a symbol of extreme, almost gaudy wealth. His reputation for business acumen and ability to manage a massive real estate empire played a large role in why many voters were willing to entrust the presidency to a political neophyte in 2016. Therefore, its easy to see how it could be embarrassing for Trump, as he seeks to return to the White House, to be unable to pay when the bond deadline came due. This is especially true now that Trump has more time to pay much less money (he declared he will post the new lower amount in cash or bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly). It runs counter to his carefully cultivated public image that predates, but certainly enabled, his political career. The New York civil fraud case raises questions about how Trump acquired much of his wealth in the first place. But the confiscation of Trumps assets or the threat of seizures could also rally voters to his side in much the same way his other legal problems appear to have helped him in the Republican primaries. People often dont like to see peoples bank accounts and properties seized, and this alone could engender sympathy for the candidate. But Trump is in a unique position as someone seen as a victim of the political class and a defender of his voters against similar attacks. Trump is no longer just a rich celebrity businessman running for president. He is a former president who has now spent nearly a decade as the titular head of the Republican Party. Moreover, he is the leader of a populist political movement that sees itself as being under assault from elites. To many of those voters, Trump is now himself under attack from Democratic prosecutors in multiple jurisdictions, and the former president stoked this perception by calling his prosecution a witch hunt, hoax and pure case of voter intimidation and election interference outside a Monday hearing in his separate criminal hush-money case, in which jury selection is scheduled to begin April 15. First, these voters say, they tried to take away his freedom in multiple indictments. Now they see the legal system taking away his businesses and money. They dont see New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is a Democrat and brought the fraud case, as an honest broker, but rather a partisan political figure. An Associated Press analysis of nearly 70 years of civil cases under [New York] law showed that such a penalty has only been imposed a dozen previous times, the AP reported earlier this year as the extent of the penalty loomed, and Trumps case stands apart in a significant way: Its the only big business found that was threatened with a shutdown without a showing of obvious victims and major losses. The belief that a two-tiered system of justice is being weaponized against conservatives, Republicans and ordinary citizens has resonated in the GOP primaries this year. The presumptive Republican nominees campaign is banking on this continuing to be the case as we head toward the general election. My inbox is filled with fundraising appeals asking donors to help stop James from taking Trump Tower. Legal moves to seize Trumps New York properties will anger his base, possibly make him a sympathetic figure to other voters and once again help him dominate the airwaves without his campaign spending a dime on advertising, all variables that have benefited him in the past. The general election isnt the Republican primary, to be sure. Non-Republicans take most of the charges against Trump more seriously, polls suggest. Nevertheless, there are strong indicators that this is shaping up to be a base election, as presidential races since 2000 have often been. That means the two major-party candidates are roughly deadlocked and each has a real chance of winning. The election will be decided largely by which campaign is best able to turn out core supporters, so any issues that mobilize the candidates bases will be crucial. Trumps political standing may be boosted by the perception among even some observers outside of GOP and pro-Trump circles that he is the victim of legal overreach. The essence of Trumps argument on appeal is that the supposed harm he caused was minimal at best all his lenders were repaid and that the penalty levied against him was therefore wildly excessive, wrote liberal Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus. The conundrum is that the very size of the judgment, and the consequent size of the bond that Trump is required to post, might make him unable to appeal. Trump could pursue his case, but in the meantime, James would be entitled to seize and sell off the former presidents assets. That cant be right, she concluded. To me, putting up all the cash upfront before you appeal the case seems draconian for everyone, not just Trump, progressive and staunchly anti-Trump commentator Cenk Uygur said on his show The Young Turks. But what if he wins the appeal? So you made him sell all of his properties to get the collateral, but then he cant buy them back. So when his lawyer says irreparable harm, in this case, financially speaking, it would be irreparable harm. These takes may not be shared among the half of Americans who believe Trump is guilty of the falsifying business records charges brought in his separate New York criminal case. But if some commentators on the left see potential asset seizures in his civil case as unfair, many of the voters still winnable for Trump could easily regard this as an outrage. Conservatives and angry independents who see New Yorks actions against Trump as a reason to pull the lever for him in November could ultimately decide the election. If so, Trump could once again turn a legal and personal setback into a political windfall. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com Editors Note:Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radios daily program The Dean Obeidallah Show. Follow him on Threads. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a firebrand Republican and one of former President Donald Trumps most vocal allies in the House, filed a motion last week to remove GOP Speaker Mike Johnson. Dean Obeidallah - CNN Greene, who loves media attention almost as much as Trump does, told a gaggle of reporters on Friday that in cooperating with Democrats to craft legislation that kept the US government open, Johnson has betrayed our conference and broken our rules. The spending bills that averted a government shutdown garnered support from many more Democrats (185) than Republicans (101) and that violates an unwritten but ironclad GOP rule of recent years: Legislation put forward in a Republican-led House needs to be passed by a majority of the chambers Republican members. Any move by Greene to oust Johnson cant happen right away. The House began a two-week recess on Friday. The Georgia lawmaker who incidentally has a long history of spewing bigotry and who infamously downplayed the January 6 attack on the Capitol said at any rate that she may not formally trigger the vote on removing Johnson immediately. Its more of a warning than a pink slip, she told reporters. I do not wish to inflict pain on our conference and to throw the House in chaos. But this is basically a warning and its time for us to go through the process, take our time and find a new Speaker of the House that will stand with Republicans and our Republican majority, instead of standing with the Democrats. Now, you might be thinking: Wait didnt we just go through this a few months ago when GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz led the charge to remove then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy? You would be correct. That led to uproar in the House with effectively a three-week work stoppage, as Republicans held a succession of failed votes to elect a new speaker. In the end, Johnson, at the time a mostly little-known GOP lawmaker from Louisiana, was elevated to Speaker by a (temporarily) chastened and exhausted Republican conference. Now, Greene is threatening a replay of Januarys dysfunction, which is possible because of current House rules which say it takes only one member to force a vote on removal of the Speaker. Democrats could, however, save Johnsons job by voting as a bloc, along with moderate Republicans, to prevent his removal. And in fact, a few Democrats have suggested they are open to this. But they should not for many reasons. First, Johnson is a far-right election denier. After the vicious January 6 attack on our Capitol that aimed to keep Trump in power despite his 2020 election loss, Johnson returned to the House and voted not to certify President Joe Bidens victory. In other words, Johnson tried to achieve, by way of his House vote, what the January 6 attackers sought to do by violence. And Johnson who was endorsed by Trump for Speaker did far more than simply vote against Bidens win. He personally recruited other GOP House members in December 2020 to sign an amicus brief he had drafted and later filed with the US Supreme Court in support of a Texas lawsuit to overturn Bidens wins in the battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. At the time, Johnson posted on social media, President Trump called me this morning to let me know how much he appreciates the amicus brief we are filing on behalf of Members of Congress. Indeed, this is the big one! That lawsuit was swiftly rejected by the high court. Then there are Johnsons extremist views on abortion, including support for a bill asserting that life begins at conception and that defined fetuses as human beings, in addition to his backing of an array of restrictive abortion bans. The real world result of such restrictive measures versions of which have been enacted in numerous GOP-controlled states is that women are barbarically forced to carry a fetus to term against their will. In fact, after the conservative US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Johnson took to Twitter trumpeting that officials in Louisiana would impose hard labor for 1-10 yrs and a hefty fine on anyone who performed an abortion. All of this led House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to declare a short time after Johnson was elected Speaker, Mike Johnson, probably more so than almost any other member of the House Republican conference, wants to criminalize abortion care and impose a nationwide ban. Jeffries has not indicated if he would be open to saving Johnson from removal following Greenes announcement of her motion to vacate. But a number of Democrats view the vote to salvage Johnsons speakership as a way to finally hold a House vote on desperately needed aid for Ukraine. Any deal, though, would likely require Johnson having to placate the far right of his party by requiring harsh new border security restrictions. Unless Johnson would agree to a co-speakership with the leader of House Democrats, Jeffries and 50-50 power sharing on all House issues, Democrats should not save Johnson from the GOPs self-made crisis. Why would any Democrat vote to keep a person with Johnsons record as Speaker of the House, placing them only second behind the Vice President in the line of succession to be President? Shouldnt Democrats want to further remind voters of why they should not trust the GOP to govern any chamber of Congress or even the White House when all they bring is chaos and ego driven infighting? Even Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma a former House member who keeps close ties with former GOP colleagues there told CNN that removing Johnson would hurt both GOP House incumbents and GOP challengers seeking to flip seats because chaos in the House is 100% on us at this point. Mullin is absolutely right. Thats why, if Republicans led by Trumps ally Greene want to remove Johnson, Democrats should not save him. Chaos and disruption might well ensue, which wont be easy. But no Democratic member of the House should ever vote to keep a Trump-backed, election-denying, anti-abortion extremist in power as Speaker of the House. Not now, or ever. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) A St. Helens police sergeant found that 21st century safety needs 21st century laws, and he set out to usher in those changes. After investigating a case involving a woman and her stalker, St. Helens Police Sgt. Matt Smith was inspired to go to Salem to change the state stalking law. His aim? To make it harder for potential stalkers to use the latest technological gadgetry to connect to potential victims. Boeing CEO, others announce departure from company The result of his work, in conjunction with victims and state lawmakers, is House Bill 4156, which passed both the House and the Senate and awaits final approval by Gov. Tina Kotek as of Tuesday afternoon, March 19. It was a stalking case related to a womans ex-boyfriend that triggered Smiths interest. Heres how much you need to make to live comfortably in Portland, study says I actually had a stalking case that started here, Smith told Pamplin Media Group. She was pretty alarmed. She called here and she was really upset. Read more at PortlandTribune.com. The Portland Tribune and its parent company Pamplin Media Group are KOIN 6 News media partners For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com. Orlando police to host community meeting on crime with Colonialtown residents People living in the Colonialtown area of Orlando will be able to voice their opinions on crime and policing in their neighborhood on Monday. The Orlando Police Department will be hosting a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith will be there to answer questions and address the concerns of area residents. Watch: Some Colonialtown residents cry fowl over noisy peacocks It will happen at the Colonialtown Neighborhood Center on Lake Highland Drive. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Mike Linnington is awed by what he sees as a still-growing number of volunteers reaching out to help troops and veterans as they shift from military life into civilian society. We have a list of people a mile long who want to get involved, the CEO of Wounded Warrior Project told Military Times in an interview earlier this month. When I got here, we had just a handful of peer support group leaders. Now we have more than 100, and 400 more leading events in their communities as volunteers. We just keep hearing from people who want to be out there helping and advocating for their veteran brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, Linnington said, the need for help among disabled veterans is still growing, too. More than a decade after major fighting ended in Iraq and Afghanistan, WWP leaders still see struggles among wounded veterans in finding work, getting medical care and taking care of their families. Those are areas where were all going to need to do more, he said. Wounded Warrior Project membership continues to grow even as wars fade Addressing those shortfalls through WWP programs, however, will no longer fall to Linnington. Last week, the former Army lieutenant general stepped down as CEO of the non-profit after eight years leading the organization. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt took his place for the next phase of the non-profits operations. Linnington began his tenure in 2016 with an overhaul of the organization in the wake of a management scandal that featured exorbitant staff salaries, lavish corporate retreats and other reckless spending. In the years since, the organization has recentered around long-term financial aid packages for severely wounded veterans, emotional support for families, career guidance for struggling individuals and social events across the country. The non-profit celebrated its 20th anniversary last August and remains a behemoth in the veterans community, with nearly $250 million in annual program spending. Linnington said he is proud of what the organization has accomplished during his tenure, and believes it is set up to remain a consistent force in the community for years to come. But hes also impressed with the changes he has seen in the veterans and non-profit community in general. Volunteer numbers are up. Cooperation among charities is, too, he said. And after years of military community focus on the issue, Linnington believes that the stigma of veterans asking for mental health help may be finally fading. The work between Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department on the issue, with veterans service organizations and the media weve seen a pretty significant reduction in the stigma with mental health care, he said. And that means more veterans are reaching out when they need it. The trick now, he said, is making sure those resources are available to veterans when they do ask. I think the tsunami thats coming is brain health and cancers from military service, he said. Concussive injuries and your 20s and 30s may catch up with you in your 50s and 60s. And were seeing a huge increase in cancers from toxic exposures. The community is going to have to deal with that. WWP has also focused in recent years on employment difficulties among injured veterans. While overall veteran unemployment has largely stayed below national levels, the jobless rate among disabled veterans has remained nearly twice as high as other veterans, according to group research. In our last warrior survey, six out of 10 of our members said theyre having difficulty making ends meet, he said. Credit card debt is not just a veterans issue, its an American issue, but its hurting our community, too. But Linnington leaves his post optimistic that those matters can all be addressed, especially given more focus on the issues in recent years by the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs leadership. He said coordination between the two departments not always a given in the past is the strongest he has seen in years, giving him hope for the future. Nobody can fix all of this alone, he said. I think were all working together really well now, and thats important for the future of the post-9/11 veterans. NORWOOD, The Bronx (PIX11) Over 26 pounds of cocaine and more than $3 million in cash were found inside furniture with secret compartments in an apartment in the Bronx on Wednesday, according to officials. Juan Rondon, 60, was arrested after a two-month investigation. Officials said investigators saw Rondon enter 3405 Gates Place with a bag around 4:40 p.m. Investigators saw Rondon leaving the building a short time later with the same bag. Rondon then returned to the apartment without the bag and was stopped by authorities in the buildings lobby, officials said. Rondon allegedly had cocaine and keys to an apartment in the building on him, according to authorities. More Crime News During a search of the apartment, with help from a New York State Police K9 unit, investigators found several pieces of furniture with secret compartments, officials said. Dressers, nightstands, and a coffee table were equipped with hidden compartments filled with bags of cash, officials said. In the coffee table, authorities found around 12 kilograms (or 26.45 pounds) of cocaine, cash and 10 luxury watches, according to New York Citys Special Narcotics Prosecutors Office. Almost 30 pounds of cocaine and over $3 million in cash were found inside furniture with secret compartments in an apartment in the Bronx on March 20, 2024, according to officials. (Credit: NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor) Almost 30 pounds of cocaine and over $3 million in cash were found inside furniture with secret compartments in an apartment in the Bronx on March 20, 2024, according to officials. (Credit: NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor) Almost 30 pounds of cocaine and over $3 million in cash were found inside furniture with secret compartments in an apartment in the Bronx on March 20, 2024, according to officials. (Credit: NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor) Almost 30 pounds of cocaine and over $3 million in cash were found inside furniture with secret compartments in an apartment in the Bronx on March 20, 2024, according to officials. (Credit: NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutor) These charges reflect New York Citys latest multiagency effort to hold accountable those allegedly responsible for flooding our neighborhoods with illicit drugs, said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. NYPD investigators greatly value our partnership with the citys Special Narcotics Prosecutor, the New York State Police, and the DEA, and I commend every member of the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force for their ongoing commitment to our shared mission of keeping New Yorkers in every community safe. Rondon was deported in 2006, according to officials. It was unclear how or when he returned to the United States. Officials said Rondon was charged with operating as a major trafficker and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degree. Jonathan Rizk is a digital journalist who has covered local news in the New York City and Washington D.C. areas. He has been with PIX11 since August 2022. See more of his work here and follow him on Twitter. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. The former home of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee chancellor is for sale on Milwaukee's east side. UWM announced in January that it planned to seek permission from the UW Board of Regents to sell the residence at 3435 N. Lake Drive. The UW Board of Regents approved the sale last month. It was listed on Friday for $1,295,000. The stone Tudor mansion has six bedrooms, four baths and close to 5,000 square feet. It was built in 1926, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The listing states the home was designed by architect Charles Valentine. UW-Milwaukee's private foundation bought the property in 2012 for $955,000, using donor money and proceeds from the sale of a former official chancellor residence in Shorewood. The Lake Drive property's assessed value has been $961,800 since 2018, according to city assessment records. UWM Chancellor's residence at 3435 N. Lake Dr. in Milwaukee. In December, UWM Chancellor Mark Mone purchased and moved to a new place just blocks away from UWM. He will receive a $2,536 monthly housing allowance that started this month, university spokesperson Angelica Duria previously told the Journal Sentinel. Selling the chancellors residence is the smart financial move for our university, Mone said in a statement. UWM's potential sale is part of a broader effort to cut costs and streamline its real estate. Last year, the university demolished Northwest Quad Building A and permanently closed the Purin dorm. In 2021, UWM sold its former Alumni House to Milwaukee businessman Andy Nunemaker. Earlier this month, the UWM announced it will close its Waukesha campus at the end of the spring 2025 semester, eliminating an educational option that has been around since 1966. Once the sale is made, only the UW-Madison chancellor would be provided a home to live in, UW System spokesperson Mark Pitsch said. All other chancellors receive housing allowances instead. More: UW-Milwaukee plans to sell its chancellor residence on east side This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UWM chancellor's home listed for $1.2 million on Milwaukee's east side On Wednesday, March 27, at 11.00, the press centre of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference entitled "Presentation of communication platform Young Veterans Ukraine." Young Veterans Ukraine is a communication platform aimed at supporting young Ukrainian veterans, their family members and IDPs. It was founded by four public organizations: ACTION TIME, SOS Ukraine, Smart Media and Ukrainian Veterans. Participants: international expert, NGO SOS Ukraine Dovydas Vitkauskas, head of NGO Smart Media Oleksandra Schukina, head of NGO ACTION TIME Oksana Alekseyeva, from NGO Ukrainian Veterans - Artem Kasparian (8/5a Reitarska Street). The event will be streamed on the Interfax-Ukraine YouTube channel. Admission requires registration on the spot with press ID cards. Additional information by phone: (097) 893 3516, (096) 838 4476, [email protected]. Music has always been a central part of Jeff Roots life. Growing up near Detroit, Roots family had a collection of vinyl records and a sound system. Friends would come over, bring records, dance and socialize. He listened to music in the car, danced at every school dance and even snuck out with his sister in their teenage years to go dance at clubs. But it was Roots time in Tokyo as a 21 year old that inspired his latest adventure owning and operating a vinyl bar in San Luis Obispo called Jans Place. In an interview with The Tribune, Root discussed the inspiration behind his business Japanese kissas, a hundred-year-old tradition of cafes in Japan that specialize in playing jazz on vinyl. We dont play just jazz, Root said. Were multi-genre, but we have taken the jazz kissa idea and applied it across genres. It is the same concept a small room and a large collection of records. Jans Place seats only 24 people and is designed to be intimate, Root said. Customers can request music and chill with a drink and a bite to eat. On Thursdays, customers can bring their own records and play them behind the bar themselves. The acoustics in the room allow you to listen closely to the music or maintain conversation with the people around you. Its the kind of place where you can end up talking with whoevers sitting near you, if you want, Root said in the businesss origin story page of its website. Were a simple mix of good sound and good lighting, with local beer/wine options and a few interesting snacks. This is a journey into sound. Today, Root and his wife Lisa still visit Japan, enjoy the kissas and shop for vinyl records to add to their collection. Jeff Root, co-owner of Jans Place in San Luis Obispo, stocks local craft beer and wine at the bar, which features a Detroit-flavored record collection. A twist of fate: How Root and his wife came to own Jans Place The Roots, who share ownership of the bar and both previously worked as DJs, relocated to San Luis Obispo a couple of years ago to be closer to Lisas parents, who moved to the area from New Zealand over 20 years ago. Though the vinyl record listening aspect is new, the bar itself is not. In fact, Jans Place was a longtime neighborhood bar on Osos Street in San Luis Obispos Railroad District, owned by its namesake, Jan Horn. One day, Root stopped in for a drink and overheard Horn tell another customer that she was looking for a pathway to retirement. It was almost serendipitous. Root decided to draft up a pathway to retirement for Horn and began thinking about how he would change the bar if he took ownership. After months of discussions and remodeling, the Roots took over the bar and reopened it at the beginning of the year. The couple decided to keep the name Jans Place as an homage to its previous owner, though they changed the pronunciation to Yahn. Jans Place in San Luis Obispo is inspired by Japanese vinyl record bars and cafes. Owners Jeff and Lisa Root often travel to Japan to enjoy the Japanese music scene and shop for records to add to their collection. We started talking, and we put the whole thing together over the course of about 9 months, Root said on the websites origin story page. But its still a work in progress. It will continue to evolve. When asked about his hopes for the future of the bar, Root said their goal for year one is to have a year two and work to establish themselves and fine tune the daily business operations. We get really interesting people through the bar all the time, Root said. Its a good opportunity to extend our brand beyond our four walls. We are just going to see what comes our way. Root hopes to host various events and experiences at Jans Place and floated ideas about a record shopping tour of Tokyo and a bachelorette party where the bride gets to host a DJ set and spin records for her friends. Guest DJ Jason Perez spins vinyl during a special event at Jans Place in San Luis Obispo on March 13, 2024. Beer, wine and menu offerings Vinyl records arent the only thing on the menu at Jans Place. The bar offers a full beer and wine menu with an emphasis on local breweries and wineries. All of the beer is sourced from breweries within a mile of Jans Place, and all of the wine is local to the Central Coast from Santa Barbara to Monterey. Since there is no kitchen in the bar, Root has adapted and serves tinned fish. Along with their beer and wine, customers can enjoy sardines, mackerel and stuffed grape leaves. To complete the menu, Root has partnered with local businesses including Morro Bays Babydudes. Though the music is important to Jans Place, so is the conversation and the community. We would never hush the room to play a record, Root said. We want people to talk and hear the music. It is also super important to us to create a space where anyone can walk into the bar for a drink and feel completely comfortable. A stack of 45s sits on a table at vinyl bar Jans Place in San Luis Obispo on March 13, 2024. Celebrating 313 Day: A night of Detroit music One special event the bar hosted on March 13 paid tribute to Roots hometown of Detroit. The area code for the Detroit region is 313, and every year on March 13, people gather there to celebrate the spirit of the city. This year, Root brought the tradition to San Luis Obispo by hosting a 313 Day celebration at Jans Place with a night of music exclusively from Motown. During the first hour, Root himself played an hour set featuring the likes of Bob Seger and early psychedlic rock born out of Detroit. He was followed by DJ Jason Perez, who played a four-hour set primarily dedicated to Detroits hip-hop scene. Jeff Root, co-owner of Jans Place in San Luis Obispo, serves wine as guest DJ Jason Perez spins vinyl during a special event on March 13, 2024. Jason is a really talented hip-hop DJ, and he has a bunch of stuff on vinyl, Root said. According to Root, Detroit is home to two vinyl record pressing plants and many legendary record stores. The Roots lived in downtown Detroit for several years in the 2010s and remember the city fondly. We have a huge love of Detroit, Root said. There is a very strong culture of music there and it spans across all genres. What this event is is a celebration of music in and of Detroit, regardless of genre. More information Jans Place is located at 1817 Osos St. in San Luis Obispo. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 3 to 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.jansplaceslo.com, call 805-439-1544 or email hello@jansplaceslo.com. In response to the large number of women who have reported becoming pregnant on the shots, Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, established the Wegovy Pregnancy Registry. Ozempic pregnancies are reportedly on the rise. According to People, women across social media regardless of whether they take birth control, have experienced infertility or are older and believed to be beyond childbearing age have been sharing their stories about getting pregnant while taking the popular medication thats FDA-approved to treat type 2 diabetes. Since my last pregnancy required a lengthy fertility process, I assumed, at 40! It couldnt be. Well, Im pregnant! a Redditor shared on the Ozempic subreddit. It wasnt what we were planning but a welcome surprise. Ozempic Babies are on the rise as more women report getting pregnant while taking the medication. (Photo: Adobe Stock) I was on birth control and this pregnancy was very much unplanned, wrote another. I have a long history of miscarriages and a stillbirth and had decided to stop trying to conceive two years ago, and during that time started Ozempic and lost 70 pounds. Several moms are also documenting their Ozempic Baby journeys on TikTok, with one user sharing that her doctor suggested she could be more fertile while taking the medication. Ive actually seen a few patients of mine that have come in after a couple of months of usage of the medication for weight loss and have these surprise babies or surprise pregnancies, said Dr. Iman Saleh, an obstetrician and gynecologist who is the director of obesity medicine at the Bariatrics Department at Northwell Health. In response to the large number of women who have reported becoming pregnant on the shots, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer behind Ozempic which is branded as Wegovy to treat obesity established the Wegovy Pregnancy Registry for patients and health-care professionals to share details about their pregnancies. Pregnancy or intention to become pregnant were exclusion criteria in our trials with semaglutide in both obesity and type 2 diabetes, Novo Nordisk officials told People in a statement, adding that there is, therefore, limited clinical trial data with semaglutide use in pregnant women. Semaglutide, which works in the brain to impact satiety, is the active ingredient in Ozempic. However, the medications usage for rapid weight loss has become more common, most notably among celebrities. As for whether or not the drug increases fertility, Saleh asserted that it does so in an indirect manner. Even if its a 5, 10 lbs. weight loss, this can actually have patients resume ovulation and be able to get pregnant, she said. Saleh noted that estrogen, produced by fat cells, can negatively affect ovaries by causing decreased or dysfunction of ovulation. It may also negatively affect the endometrial lining. The gynecologist also cited an interaction between how the weight-loss medication works and how the body processes birth control. A study, expected to be completed in August 2027, is underway to evaluate the safety of Wegovy exposure during pregnancy. Meanwhile, the Wegovy website notes that the drug may cause fetal harm and should be discontinued once pregnancy is recognized, People reported. Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter. The post Ozempic patients surprised with positive pregnancy tests after years of infertility, birth control appeared first on TheGrio. Late Padres owner to be honored with street name outside Petco Park SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) Late San Diego Padres Owner and Chairman Peter Seidler continues to be honored following his passing in November 2023. On Saturday, thousands of Padres fans, former players, current players, friends and family members packed Petco Park to celebrate his life and legacy. Peter Seidler Celebration of Life at Petco Park Video Above: Padres hold memorial for Peter Seidler at Petco Park During the Peter Seidler Celebration of Life at Petco Park memorial event, City of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria announced a street near Petco Park will soon be renamed The Peter Seidler Way. Also announced at the memorial event, Peters initials inside a heart of gold are adorned on the wall behind home plate above the press box in the ballpark and city he loved. Peter Seidler Celebration of Life at Petco Park (FOX 5/KUSI) How the San Diego Padres are honoring late owner Peter Seidler in 2024 Mayor Gloria posted the street naming announcement on X first in early January 2024, The late @Padres Chairman Peter Seidler lived his values and acted on his compassion for people experiencing homelessness every single day. Ive started the process of renaming one of the streets leading to @PetcoPark [The] Peter Seidler Way to honor Peters legacy. On March 23 following the Celebration of Life memorial, Mayor Gloria posted on X, Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Peter Seidler, a visionary whose legacy goes well beyond his transformative leadership of the @Padres. Peters commitment to San Diego has made a profound impact, and his spirit lives on in every corner of our community. Padres to honor Peter Seidler with jersey patch, legacy fund Seidler, owner of the San Diego Padres since 2012, died in November 2023 at the age of 63. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. Palestinians gather to receive food donated by a charity to break the fast on the second day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on March 12, 2024. Credit - Majdi FathiNurPhoto / Getty Images In December, Tareq watched his entire life in Gaza get reduced to rubble. The school I attended since first grade, the street I walked on daily, my neighborhoodthey all collapsed into memory, the 16-year-old tells TIME. With a sinking feeling, he realized that no immediate ceasefire would be brokered in the Israel-Hamas war, and the only way he could escape the horror was by evacuating Gaza. I never imagined being forced to leave home, but it felt inevitable, like a cruel twist of fate, he says. U.N.-backed global monitors have issued warnings that mass death is now imminent in the besieged territory with acute food shortages exceeding famine levels. For most Palestinians like Tareq (who asked his last name be withheld for safety purposes), fleeing Gaza is seen as the only way to escape Israels bombardment, which has now entered into its fifth month. But evacuation is not an easy or affordable feat. The only official way to cross the Rafah border, the sole crossing point between Egypt and the occupied territories, is with Israeli approval. The border is currently under an Egyptian-Israeli blockade, and evacuation is permitted only to foreign passport holders or seriously wounded patients. Under a parallel, informal system, however, Palestinians can pay travel brokers in Egypt to get on a list of people approved for permits to leave. The fees for evacuation are often exorbitant sums ranging from $6,000 to $12,000 per person, and those looking to flee must also navigate scammers and misinformation with no guarantee of success, according to sources who spoke with TIME, as well as recent media reports. As a result, more Palestinians have increasingly turned to online crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe or JustGiving. A GoFundMe spokesperson told TIME that the platform has seen more than 12,000 active fundraisers for Palestinians in Gaza launched since Oct. 7, collectively raising $77 million to date. In addition to evacuation efforts, these campaigns have also been launched to fund access to humanitarian relief such as medical care and food, particularly as funding to formal aid organizations like UNRWA has been cut in various countries. Read More: U.N. Security Council Passes Gaza Ceasefire Resolution After U.S. Abstains for the First Time That is how Tareqwho fled his home in November with his parents and three younger siblings after it was destroyed by Israeli airstrikesfound money for his familys escape. After taking refuge in a U.N. shelter, he launched an online campaign on GoFundMe in December with a fundraising goal of $25,000enough money to cover his entire familys entrance fees to Egypt and temporary living expenses. A family friend in New Orleans helped set up the fundraiser; an aunt in Canada became the recipient for the donations to transfer the money to the family directly. Thank you very much for your generosity, solidarity, and kindness, your support is much appreciated and encouraged, Tareq wrote on his fundraising page. Your donation will make an essential impact on me and my family to live safely and have a better future. Crowdfunding for survival Over the past two decades, online crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe and JustGiving have become vital sources for mutual aid and charity efforts to raise funds for everything ranging from medical emergencies and hunger relief to small business loans. In the Ukraine war, they have been essential in co-funding Ukraines defense campaign against Russia. Ukrainians elevated crowdfundings significance to match the existential threat they face, wrote Olga Boichak, a senior lecturer in digital cultures at the University of Sydney. Because the platform can only be used in 19 countries, however, many of the Gaza-related campaigns are set up in Europe or North America. While some campaigns, such as Tareq's, are led by friends and relatives who live abroad and want to help on the ground, others have been created by activists or as collaborations between charities who rally a well-established network of donors and friends on social media or via public appeals. In every crowdfunding case, Palestinians will rely on contacts abroad to help set up the campaign and receive donations on their behalf. In return, the platform benefits from the campaigns by charging donors 30 cents per contribution and keeping 2.9% of the total donation. As fundraising for Gaza increases, we will continue to dedicate more resources to helping people help each other, the GoFundMe spokesperson told TIME. Just before last Christmas, Mansour Shouman, a Palestinian-Canadian journalist based in Doha, started a crowdfunding campaign with a team to raise $1.2 million for urgent humanitarian needs like food, water, clothing, tents, and hygienic products. The 39-year-old has so far raised just over $1 million in donations toward the goal. Shouman, who has over 300,000 followers on Instagram, says he began fundraising shortly after making videos about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. A lot of people responded by asking how they could help, he says. So we started slowly creating a way in which people would donate through different means to support different projects in Gaza. Much of the money raised by Shoumans fundraiser has been sent to local charities in Gaza, like the Palestinian Ethan Society for Community Development, who then purchase mattresses, tents, water, food, and redistribute the funds in the form of cash donations. Shouman says the focus has also shifted from the south to northern Gaza, where the famine has grown worse with each day. We want to ensure that we can feed the starving population there, he says. In early February, a group of U.S.-based activists started a grassroots movement called Operation Olive Branch, or OOB, to help with the overwhelming number of crowdfunding requests from Palestinian families. So far, OOB has assisted close to 800 families to reach their fundraising goals. The families behind the fundraisers are experiencing acute starvation, illness, and trauma more extreme than any of us can imagine, the group told TIME, adding that its role was to center and amplify families direct aid requests by tapping the talents of a large and growing network of social media activists. But it adds that while fundraising platforms like GoFundMe have been key to the autonomy and fundraising success of Gazan families with the help of the diaspora who can act as beneficiaries to assist their affairs remotely, having direct access to their donations would make a life-saving difference for these families. Challenges persist Despite the rising popularity of crowdfunding as a means of aid, many campaigns remain underfunded. 24-year-old Noor Hammad was once a nutritionist in Deir al-Balah, but now, she is desperate to escape Gaza after her home was heavily bombarded and she gave birth to her daughter in Rafah in January. I lost everything in this war, she said in a WhatsApp message. I need to leave because I have a baby now, I need money to buy food for her. To help Hammad, a Sydney-based journalist set up a GoFundMe campaign earlier this month to raise $27,000, which will be sent to Hammads brother in Sweden. So far, the fundraiser has raised just $2,580. Read More: Famine May Already Be Unfolding in Gaza, Experts Warn Even when campaigns raise enough funds, other challenges in ensuring Gazans can access and receive the money persist, especially as Western governments have introduced sanctions against Hamas. As a result, GoFundMe and other crowdfunding platforms are now required to comply by asking organizers for extensive information about to whom, and where, the money is going. Any individuals or groups who dont pass a test screening for money laundering or terrorist financing are likely to be put on government-run lists. These processes have slowed aid efforts, according to a report by The Verge, which found that organizers and donors had been dealing with heavy-handed moderation and inconsistent policies. In response, GoFundMe issued a notice in March explaining how organizers could get around the extra red tape and avoid any delays, adding that it would comply with laws and regulations to make the flow of funds from donors to beneficiaries as fast as possible. The means through which money is transferred to Gazans is also complicated. A few wire services like Western Union are still operating in the besieged territory, but for many, a more viable option is to have the money sent to someone outside Gaza who can withdraw the cash and travel to Egypt. There, the money is paid to brokers who facilitate evacuations. In February, Tareq and his family raised $20,000 and were finally able to leave for Egypt, where they are currently seeking refuge. But now, the 16-year-old says he needs to find the money to relocate to Canada, where his family can apply for asylum. Above all, the 11th graderwho was months ago participating in international student competitionshopes to re-enroll in school to complete his education. He plans to make a new GoFundMe campaign in the coming weeks to raise money for the cost of visa applications, flights, and other expenses. The GoFundMe really helped with the evacuation and I am full of hope for the future, he says. But the circumstances have led Gazans to crowdfund because they lost a lot, and they continue to lose a lot. Write to Astha Rajvanshi at astha.rajvanshi@time.com. Shaken by Covid-19, countries decided to build a framework of binding commitments to stop such trauma from happening again (Fabrice COFFRINI) The final round of talks on a landmark pandemic accord faces a frantic last push this week, with countries still pulling in different directions on how to handle future global health crises. Negotiations run until Thursday with nations trying to hammer out an agreement to make sure the world is better prepared to deal with the next pandemic -- or better still, stamp it out before it happens. Shaken by Covid-19, which shredded economies, overturned societies, crippled health systems and millions killed, countries decided in December 2021 to build a framework of binding commitments to stop such trauma from ever happening again. But as two years of talks come to the crunch, major sticking points remain. The ninth and final negotiations round opened on March 18, with daily talks ploughing on late into the evening. Diplomats insist they remain keen to conclude an agreement, but the various alliances still seem far apart. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeatedly warned nations that "everyone will have to give something, or no one will get anything." - 'Critical for humanity' - European countries -- who led calls for a pandemic treaty -- want more money invested in pandemic prevention, while African nations want the knowledge and financing to make that work, plus proper access to pandemic "counter-measures" like vaccines and treatments. The United States wants to ensure all countries share data and samples from emerging outbreaks quickly and transparently, while developing countries are holding out firm for guaranteed equity to stop them getting left behind. A finalised accord on pandemic preparedness, prevention and response is aimed to be adopted at the May 27 to June 1 World Health Assembly of the WHO's 194 member states. But there is a sense in diplomatic circles that developing nations are growing weary of Western obduracy and extra talks in April may be needed to cross the line. Tedros said Monday that countries were "making progress, but there are still areas of difference that need further negotiation. "None of them are insurmountable. If countries listen to each other's concerns, I am confident they can find common ground". "The second major barrier is the litany of lies and conspiracy theories about the agreement," he added, slamming "deliberate deception that puts at risk the health of future generations". - No time to 'chicken out' - The main topics still in play include access to emerging pathogens, better prevention and monitoring of disease outbreaks, reliable financing and transferring technology to poorer countries. The talks are being conducted by an Intergovernmental Negotiating Body co-chaired by Roland Driece of the Netherlands and South Africa's Precious Matsoso. Opening the final talks round, Driece said many countries now thought reaching agreement would be "difficult", and the draft was "not really what we like". "It's time to find compromises," he added. Matsoso put it succinctly: "You can't chicken out now." Success or failure in the next pandemic may heavily depend on the pharmaceutical industry coming up with the necessary vaccines, tests and treatments -- and crucially, how they are then distributed. Thomas Cueni, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, said any accord would be "meaningless" if companies were being strongarmed. "It only works if it's voluntary and based on mutually-agreed terms," he told AFP. The IFPMA chief said there had been unprecedented voluntary tech transfer during Covid, and "if this is created the wrong way, I'm afraid that this would put big barriers and disincentives next time round". - 'Lowest common denominator' - Non-governmental organisations have major concerns over the way the agreement text is heading. K.M. Gopakumar, senior researcher with the Third World Network, surmised that in return for binding commitments on sharing pathogens, developing countries wanted equally-binding proposals "to share the benefits emerging out of these pathogens: vaccines, diagnostics". He said there had been "systematic sidelining of equity-related provisions in the pandemic instrument". He said phrases like "parties shall promote" mean that "nothing is concrete". Rachael Crockett from the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative said there was a risk of a rushed deal that "could leave us with the lowest common denominator". Ultimately, senior WHO figures have been trying to remind countries why nations wanted a treaty in the first place. WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said the accord would be a promise to future generations. "The outcome really matters," he said Thursday. "This isn't some dusty old document that will sit on a shelf somewhere. This treaty will save lives." rjm/giv PARIS, Ark (KNWA/KFTA) With more than one million people estimated to flock to Arkansas for the upcoming solar eclipse, Paris stands ready to welcome visitors. As one of the cities in the path of totality, Paris will experience three-plus minutes of darkness. According to Tonya Fletcher with the Paris Chamber of Commerce, the city has been working hard to prepare for the influx of tourists. On April 8th, Paris will have live music, local vendors offering unique crafts and more. Fletcher emphasized the communitys commitment to providing entertainment and hospitality to all who venture to witness the rare opportunity. Here are some of the events: (Courtesy: City of Paris) Paris officials announced their decision to switch off all streetlights during the eclipse. This measure aims to provide the best conditions for spectators to look at the eclipse with no distractions. Which Arkansas state parks still have availability for total solar eclipse Mayor Daniel Rogers expressed his excitement about the upcoming eclipse and its potential economic benefits for Paris. Sales tax obviously helps the city of Paris, but we want those businesses to do good regardless. This could be a historically good weekend for their business as well as it is for the people they say could potentially come into the area, Rogers said. As the countdown to April 8 begins, Mayor Rogers says that the anticipation builds for what should be a historic night in Natural State. (Courtesy: City of Paris) For a full list of the events happening in Paris, visit ParisArkansas.com. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24. LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) A child was diagnosed with measles at Cohen Childrens Medical Center, leading Nassau County and state officials to issue a warning to potentially prevent the spread of the virus. The child, who was unvaccinated, has been isolated after being admitted on March 21, according to officials. The medical center is tracking down patients who may have been exposed last week in the emergency room. The county is urging individuals who are not immunized to get vaccinated. Northwell Health said in a statement to PIX11 News: Cohen Childrens Medical Center, the largest Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in New York State, is working closely with state and local health officials after it was determined that a patient who presented at the emergency department was found to have measles. The patient was isolated and admitted on March 21 and is currently in stable condition. Measles is a highly infectious viral respiratory illness for the unvaccinated. We are contacting patients who visited the emergency department at the time of the potential exposure and have identified patients who are high risk and may require timely treatment. Barbara Osborn, vice president of Public Relations at Northwell Health Teen, 18, IDd as one of two people shot to death in Harlem: NYPD Its the first case of measles reported outside of New York City in 2024, according to health officials. It also marks the third case of measles in New York state this year, officials said. Those who are exposed to measles should quarantine for 21 days after the initial exposure, according to health officials. People who test positive for the virus should isolate until four days after the rash appears, officials said. Symptoms of measles also include a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. They can happen between one to two weeks after the initial exposure, and up to 21 days after a measles infection, according to health officials. Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) Hundreds paid their respects Sunday to a prominent Luzerne County man who lost his battle with cancer just days ago. Family, friends, and the many he served in the Kingston area filed into the courthouse rotunda in Wilkes-Barre to honor him at a public viewing. Jim Haggerty was taken way too soon at age 58, losing his battle to an aggressive form of cancer. On Sunday, emotions ran high at the Luzerne County Courthouse as many paid their respects to the well-known and beloved public servant. Lying in state Sunday in the Luzerne County Courthouse rotunda, honor and respect on display for Jim Haggerty. He was just a great guy, said Chet Cooper, a friend of Jim Haggerty. Celebrating Irish Heritage in Stroudsburg At 58 years old, Haggerty lost his four-month battle to an aggressive form of cancer on Wednesday. His family, including his surviving sisters, Kelly and Patricia, were there to mourn and to accept condolences from the many who came to pay their respects. The young die too young. Way too young. 58 was just too young so Im glad hes at peace now, said Kingston Mayor Jeffrey Coslett. After opening his own law firm in the 1990s, Haggerty served the Kingston community as its mayor from 1998 to 2017. A very smart man. He was just remarkable, concerned about Kingston and he loved the town, said Vice President Kingston Council and friend of Jim Haggerty Nancy Cooper. Most recently he was a District Court Judge, serving Kingston and Edwardsville since 2017. Any problems see him. He would take care of it. If he couldnt do it, he would find somebody who could do it, Chet said. His legacy of public service includes rebuilding the Hoyt Library in Kingston, constructing its central fire station, and improving the boroughs public parks. The best way to honor Jim is to keep Kingston a great place to live and a great place to open a business. Those were things important to him and thats the best way we can honor his memory, said Luzerne County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Alan Stout. But above all, what many say they will remember is how this highly accomplished man led with his heart. Just a great guy with a big heart. With a really big heart. No matter wherever you saw him, he was open to giving you a hug, Hows things going, Whats new? Top shelf. Just a top-shelf guy, Maoyr Coslett explained. The funeral for Jim Haggerty is Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church on North Maple Avenue in Kingston. He will be laid to rest at Fern Knoll Burial Park in Dallas. Also, the Kingston Municipal Building will be closed tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. so that the staff there can attend former Mayor Haggertys funeral. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. DENVER (KDVR) The Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office is investigating a crash that killed a pedestrian Monday morning. At around 7:15 a.m., the sheriffs office tweeted that all lanes of East Arapahoe Road at South Dexter Street in Centennial were closed due to a crash between a car and a pedestrian. About 40 minutes later, the sheriffs office confirmed the pedestrian had died from their injuries. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox On Tuesday, the Arapahoe County Coroners Office identified the victim as 62-year-old Garth Donato. According to the sheriffs office, Donato was crossing from the center median to the other side of the street with a shopping cart. Donato was not using the crosswalk. Deputies said that the area was not well lit, as the crash happened before sunrise and the roads were slick from the snowstorm. The driver remained on scene and was cooperating, said deputies. The sheriffs office does not yet know if any charges will be filed. At around 8:30 a.m., all eastbound lanes of East Arapahoe Road were reopened. Colorado State Patrol investigations and the Arapahoe County Sheriffs Office Traffic Unit were also on scene. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. Cabinet of Ministers expanded list of categories of resettled persons, who will be extended payment of state assistance for living expenses The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has expanded the list of categories of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to whom to extend the payment of state assistance for residence, the Ministry of Social Policy has said. "Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the government has been supporting its citizens who were forced to become IDPs, in particular, a crisis payment - assistance for living was introduced. This payment is financial assistance from the state for a person who establishes life in a new place, and supports her in finding a job, placing children in a kindergarten or school, settling in a new community. Since March 1, 2024, the payment of living allowance for IDPs was extended for another 6 months for certain categories of IDPs who have already received it for one or two years (at least 8 months)", - stated in the press service of the Ministry. It is noted that initially the payments were extended for people unable to work, caring for children or seriously ill or persons with disabilities, who have no income or have low incomes. At the same time, the government has now clarified the list of those resettlers who will be eligible to receive payments for another 6 months. In particular, in order to avoid discrepancies, the resolution clearly stipulates that, among others, the following categories of people are also entitled to extend the assistance for another 6 months: persons with severe forms of disease, who are not diagnosed with disability (and families in which such persons live); children placed in the family of foster care, foster care, children temporarily placed in the family of relatives, acquaintances, foster family, family-type children's home. Also, if the average monthly total income per recipient in the family is less than 9,444 UAH payments will be extended for: persons caring for a child up to 3 years old or a child in need of care up to 6 years old; families with children up to 18 years old or up to 23 years old, who are students of full-time or dual form of education in institutions of vocational (vocational-technical), vocational pre-university and higher education; In addition, payments will be extended to persons who provide social services on a non-professional basis; persons with disability group II; families of pensioners. Among other things, the right to extend the allowance for an additional 6 months was also granted to persons over 55 years of age. Also, the period of application for reassignment of benefits for IDPs has been extended until April 30, 2024, and even those who apply in April will receive funds taking into account March. A drag queen story hour event at a public library in Pennsylvania was canceled Saturday after a suspicious package was found amid bomb threats, an incident that followed weeks of local criticism of the event. Lancaster police said that K-9 unit dogs alerted law enforcement to a potential threat during a planned sweep of the Lancaster Public Library on Saturday morning. The area around the library was closed off as a state police bomb squad responded to the scene. After the package was found, police said they received additional bomb threats via email warning of explosive devices in two more locations, as well as outside of Lancaster citys jurisdiction. We can confirm that no explosive devices were found, the police statement said. The areas are now reopened, and there is no danger to the public at this time. Lancaster City Police officers patrol the perimeter of North Queen Street (Jim Gerberich / AP) Lancaster Pride, the volunteer organization that sponsored the story hour, expressed gratitude for community support in a post on Facebook following the threat. The organization encouraged people to support their local library, check in with each other, and keep spreading the message that love must win. While we support the freedom of speech: we stand firm and cannot and we will not let hate, fear, and intimidation stop our collective movement for love and support for all, Lancaster Pride said. Authorities are looking to identify the person responsible and prosecute them for the hoax, Lancaster Police Chief Richard Mendez said in a statement. Not only do bomb threats disrupt the peace and safety of our community, they waste valuable public resources, Mendez said. These threats trigger costly responses and stretch our resources thin, leaving our community vulnerable to genuine emergencies. Lancaster County Commissioners Office Chairman Josh Parsons said on Facebook that emails are normally very traceable, and in a different post added that he hoped the person was held responsible to the full extent of the law. He also suggested that the suspect could be an event supporter trying to sow chaos and pin the blame on critics of the drag queen event. A suspect has not been identified, and police have not yet ascribed a motive to the threat. Police have not said whether they were investigating the incident as a hate crime. Commenters criticized Parsons for insinuating a supporter of the story hour might be responsible for the bomb threat. We are in the middle of the police still having to deal with this mess, where you personally threw gas on the fires of outrage for the last few weeks and you choose to not only start throwing blame, but to imply it was attention seeking by the supporters of the event? one commenter, identified on Facebook as Jason Burkholder, wrote. Burkholder and other commenters also criticized Parsons rhetoric ahead of the event, blaming him for fanning the flames of paranoia and misinformation that culminated today in terror threats. In a March 11 post, Parsons wrote that the event did not meet basic professional standards and was not age-appropriate for children, an increasingly common criticism of drag queen events, which have been politicized in recent years. This is about the library signaling to the world that they are a fully woke, politicized organization and if you do not embrace their agenda completely, you are not welcomed at their library, Parsons wrote in that March 11 post. This is such an absolutely shameless display of bad political showmanship and poor leadership it would be unbelievable if we werent reading your words ourselves, Burkholder wrote Saturday. Violence has no place in the debate, and neither do elected officials who sow this kind of madness for their own games. Still, some commenters defended Parsons, saying he did not do this or create this and that people can have different view points on matters. Lancaster County Commissioners Office Vice-Chairman Ray DAgostino had also criticized the event, The Associated Press reported, alleging a link between anxiety in children and adults trying to push adult themed issues at such an early age. He also condemned the violent threat to local news on Saturday, according to the AP. NBC News called and emailed the Lancaster Commissioners Office Sunday for comment, but did not immediately get replies. Christopher Paolini was supposed to host the event Saturday, where he would read to the children in drag as Miss Amie Vanite. He told local news outlet LancasterOnline that he had arrived early to change ahead of a planned protest of the event and was there when police evacuated the building. He told the outlet he was keeping a strong face about the incident. Because thats what I do in the face of this kind of insanity, stupidity, Paolini said. Like, this is not how we thought today was going to go at all whatsoever. Tiffany Shirley, director of Lancaster Pride, also told LancasterOnline that she was there at the time and made the decision to cancel the event to ensure everyones safety. It just breaks my heart that we were trying to make a safe, fun event for our children, and because people disagree and dont think we should exist, [they] had to ruin it for everybody, Shirley said. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com. This article was originally published on TODAY.com Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Sasha Baker will resign from her post at the end of April after just nine months in the job as the top policymaker for the Pentagon. The undersecretary of Defense for policy is the No. 3 leadership role on the civilian side of the Pentagon, a crucial job at the department while the U.S. backs Ukraine and Israel in two major wars. But Bakers is the second resignation from the position in less than a year. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that he was deeply grateful for her outstanding contributions to the department and to U.S. national security. Baker was asked to step into a difficult and critical position, and she has been a pillar of strength and wisdom, Austin said. Under her leadership, our policy team has helped the department navigate a range of complex global challenges, including major crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. Her strategic acumen and steadfast commitment to our national security have helped her play a pivotal role in shaping our defense policies, tackling emerging threats, and strengthening interagency relationships and international alliances, he added. Amanda Dory, director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the Pentagon-funded National Defense University, will take over as acting undersecretary while the Senate considers the nomination of Derek Chollet to fill the role. Bakers resignation comes after the previous undersecretary of Defense for policy at the Pentagon, Colin Kahl, stepped down mid-July last year to return to the private sector. Kahl had faced resistance during his confirmation hearing in 2021 to assume the job, with Republicans questioning his support for a nuclear deal with Iran. Similarly, Chollet struggled in a September hearing amid questions about his role in the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, though President Biden remains firm in supporting him. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The U.S. Department of Defense said it lined up at least 100 task orders tied to its multibillion-dollar Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract. More than 47 orders have already been awarded to contractors, and over 50 are in the pipeline right now, according to Defense Department Chief Information Officer John Sherman. The figures are up sharply from August, when officials said they were working with more than 13. In todays environment it is critical more than ever that we provide DOD personnel with secure and resilient software when and where they need it, Sherman told the Houses Cyber, Information Technology and Innovation panel March 22. Exactly how many orders have been completed thus far was unclear. The Defense Department in December 2022 tapped Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle to supply digital services for the JWCC, itself the successor to the failed Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure venture, or JEDI. The JWCC is valued up to $9 billion over several years. The four companies compete for each order dished out, with each only guaranteed $100,000. The cloud capability contract is considered the backbone of the Defense Departments connect-everything-everywhere campaign dubbed Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control. The CJADC2 concept envisions troops and their databases seamlessly linked across land, air, sea, space and cyber, and spanning unclassified, classified and top secret designations. Pentagon wont pause pursuit of AI, CIO Sherman says When I testified last year, the department was just beginning the enterprise cloud journey, Sherman told lawmakers. Im happy to report significant and successful progress. Cloud is increasingly seen as a means to get the right data to the right people at the right time a pillar of CJADC2. Sherman last year advised defense agencies, military services and other offices to prioritize JWCC, especially when inking deals involving the nations most sensitive information. The guidance helps streamline cloud contracting and reduces contract sprawl across the Defense Department, Sherman said. His directions for JWCC employment included carve outs for the National Reconnaissance Office, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. They rely on the intelligence communitys Commercial Cloud Enterprise, or C2E, which was awarded in 2020. It features the same vendors as JWCC, plus IBM. (KRON) An assault occurred in an Oakland laundromat after a persons belongings were stolen, according to the Oakland Police Department. Oakland police officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of Park Boulevard report of a battery around 8 p.m. on March 16. 3 people shot after verbal dispute in Oakland Responding officers contacted the person who committed the battery. Police said the individual informed officers that their personal belongings were missing from the business. The person asked the victim to review the surveillance video. When the victim refused, the individual pushed the victim down, police said. Police said the victim corroborated the majority of the persons story with the discrepancy of the victim sharing that there were two individuals physically assaulted them. Medical personnel provided medical treatment to the victim. The responsible individual was cited and released. This is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the OPD Criminal Investigation Division at (510) 238-3728. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4. Aerial video footage shows a China Coast Guard ship (2nd L) and vessels identified by the Philippine Coast Guard as 'Chinese maritime militia' (L and R) surrounding the Philippine ship BRP Cabra (Handout) The Philippines said Monday it had summoned a Chinese envoy over "aggressive actions" by the China Coast Guard and other vessels near a reef off the Southeast Asian country's coast, while Beijing lodged its own complaint. Deputy foreign ministers from the two countries later held a phone call in which China urged Manila to "pull back from the brink" and stop "provoking trouble at sea", Beijing said. Beijing and Manila have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and there have been repeated confrontations between their vessels near disputed reefs in recent months. The latest incident took place Saturday near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands during a regular Philippine mission to resupply Filipino troops garrisoned on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded navy ship. The Philippines said the China Coast Guard blocked its supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon, injuring three soldiers. The China Coast Guard has defended its actions, describing them as "lawful regulation, interception and expulsion" of a foreign vessel that "tried to forcefully intrude" into Chinese waters. Manila conveyed its "strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal," the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, using the Filipino name for Second Thomas Shoal. It said the Philippine embassy in Beijing also lodged a similar protest with the Chinese foreign ministry. "In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal," the foreign affairs department said. "The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately." On Monday, China's embassy in the Philippines said it had complained to Manila over what it called the "illegal intrusion" of the Southeast Asian country's ships into its waters. In the later phone call, Chinese vice foreign minister Chen Xiaodong said bilateral relations were "currently at a crossroads". The Philippines must "pay serious attention to China's concerns, pull back from the brink, and return as soon as possible to the correct track of resolving differences with China through negotiation and consultation," Chen said. Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island. It is the same location where there have been recent collisions between vessels belonging to both countries, as well as water cannoning by the China Coast Guard. - Cooling diplomatic relations - China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries including the Philippines and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The United States, which has a mutual defence pact with Manila, has denounced the attack. It came days after visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its "ironclad" commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea. Philippine Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Monday challenged Beijing to seek arbitration, which he said was the "best way of solving a legal dispute sustainably". "That's why they don't like that," Teodoro told reporters. Relations between Manila and Beijing have cooled under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos as he seeks to deepen cooperation with the United States and regional neighbours, while standing up to Chinese aggression towards Philippine vessels. Chinese and Philippine officials agreed in January on the need for closer dialogue to deal with "maritime emergencies" in the South China Sea, including Second Thomas Shoal. But Manila said Monday that China's "aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea." Despite the attack, Philippine officials said the damaged vessel and a coast guard escort ship that came to its aid later deployed rigid-hull inflatable boats to deliver its cargo and personnel to the Filipino outpost. Filipino soldiers stationed on the shoal live on the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre and require frequent resupplies for food, water and other necessities as well as transport for personnel rotations. Apart from supplies and equipment, the Philippine military said six navy personnel were delivered to the BRP Sierra Madre on Saturday, replacing one soldier who was recently evacuated on medical grounds. The damaged supply boat and its escorts sailed back to port after completing their mission, the task force said. amj-tjx/reb/dhw CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) Its an international movement to spread peace around the world. Two well-known Charlotte artists have started the project, but they say everyone is a co-creator in making the world a better place. You dont need to be an artist to participate. People will be painting the word peace or the symbol called TAOH which stands for The Awakening Of Humanity. Charlotte and Brisbane, Australia-based artists Treazy Treaz, and Sydney Duarte have been working on introducing this movement to the world for years. Its a collaborative effort to harness the power of good through creativity. The hope is to raise awareness for change around the world. They say this is not the end goal, but a start to get people thinking about ways to make a change. Since the launch three weeks ago, the word peace and TAOH symbol has been painted by artists and others in 15 different countries. Treazy and Duarte say everyone is a co-creator in this movement. Also, the same day the Piece for Peace Workshop is happening in Charlotte, there will be one happening in Brisbane Australia. Unfortunately, the world is so divided right now, says Treazy. Divided racially, politically, gender, religion, and it is starting to express itself in war. So can we wait any longer, no. We have to start doing what we can now. A lot of people say that they dont feel creative, but we believe that everybody is creative, added Duarte. Whether you want to create in paintings or in flowers, or rocks, or crayons, or chalk, or you want to crochet it, you want to bake it, build it in clay whatever you want to do. The artists tell Queen City News that this is not a political event, just a way to create positivity. If you want to go to the Piece for Peace Workshop it is taking place at Victoria Yards in Uptown on April 7th from 1 pm 3 pm. This is an all-ages event, and once people create their art, you can have it screen printed on clothing. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. A hedgehog spotted on a trail camera as part of the new National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme A pioneering project to create the most robust estimate of Britain's hedgehog population has been launched. Durham University has joined the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme (NHMP) which will monitor hedgehog activity in 40 locations. It will be the first time in the world artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to estimate their population. Philip Stephens, professor of ecology, said the university was looking forward "to playing an important role" in the project. Prof Stephens said: "This project is a great example of how people from all over the country can work together to improve the state of our biodiversity." Last year, Durham University received a gold award from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) for having a hedgehog friendly campus. BHPS is based in Ludlow, Shropshire. 'Hedgehogs are struggling' BHPS and the People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is leading the monitoring project. It is working in partnership with Durham University, Nottingham Trent University, ZSL's London HogWatch and MammalWeb. The algorithms used by the AI software have been developed by Liverpool John Moores University's machine learning specialists, Conservation AI. NHMP said it will place cameras at an increasing number of places across Britain over the next three years, with the aim of monitoring 40 locations. AI will then be used to sort the images, which will be passed on to volunteers who will identify the species of hedgehog photographed. The data will be used to create population estimates which will be compared year-on-year. Dr Henrietta Pringle, from PTES, said: "We know hedgehogs are struggling, especially in the countryside, but before we can put practical conservation measures in place we need to understand where they are and why theyre declining. "This is the first study where populations are measured year after year, in the same location, which will produce vital data and allow us to identify those at risk, which in time will hopefully help us to reverse the decline." NHMP is now looking for volunteers to become hedgehog spotters. Follow BBC North East on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk. More stories from BBC North East and Cumbria Related Internet Links Students from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University spent their Sunday preparing for an upcoming solar eclipse. Faculty members joined them at the Allegheny Observatory as they launched a weather balloon. The group of students is conducting NASA-funded research on shadow bands. NASA says shadow bands are thin wavy lines of alternating light and and dark that move in parallel surfaces just before a solar eclipse. The balloon contains a transmitter that helps the students gather data. It records data like humidity, temperature, pressure, altitude - those kinds of things and our goal is to see how they change in the hours leading up to the eclipse, during it and right after, said Peri Schindelheim, a Pitt senior. The launch on Sunday was just a practice session. The group will travel to Texas for the April 8th eclipse. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW TRENDING NOW: 9-month-old baby dies after being found unresponsive; Pittsburgh police investigating Several $100K, $50K winning Powerball tickets sold in Pennsylvania State police urge caution about computer pop-ups after New Castle man loses nearly $19,000 in scam VIDEO: Duquesne University students celebrate NCAA Tournament run, despite loss to Illinois DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts The University of Dayton is moving on to the next step of obtaining electricity through a more sustainable method. On March 20, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) approved a sustainable electricity plan involving UD, Tallgrass Dayton Community Power, LLC, and AES Ohio. >> Unfair and unjust; Community furious after SRO arrested for alleged relationship with student The project aims to provide electricity to the campus through sustainable waste heat recovery by 2025. According to a PUCO finding, the project will help make the universitys campus more sustainable and promote education, research, and student involvement as a leading institution in sustainability. In a joint statement, UD officials, AES Ohio, and Tallgrass said they are eager to bring an innovative, sustainable energy solution to the University. The statement said the university has been looking into a long-term sustainable power deal to decrease the price of energy for more than 5 years. The project is expected to offset 100% of the University of Daytons electricity consumption and reduce its total carbon footprint by 71%, the joint statement read. UD, AES Ohio, and Tallgrass will negotiate and finalize a purchase agreement consistent with the PUCO order. >> Ohio restaurants to donate 100% of Tuesdays proceeds to Logan County tornado relief fund The university will then present the agreement to the board of trustees for approval. If approved, Tallgrass will own and operate a waste heat recovery system connected to an existing natural gas compression site alongside a major interstate natural gas pipeline, the statement read. Exhaust stacks of gas turbines typically release heat into the atmosphere, but this system will grab the heat and convert it into electricity. AES Ohio will then purchase the electricity and use it to carry the electric load at the university. The plan is expected to be in action at the end of 2025. We will continue to follow this story. A passenger flying from Moscow to Yerevan reported that there was a bomb in her hand luggage. A female passenger flying from Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport to Yerevan reported that she had explosives in her hand luggage. The police are currently investigating. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. Russian Rosatom, State Atomi Energy Corporation, sees promising directions for the development of a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, the corporation told Trend. "Rosatom prioritizes Azerbaijan as a strategic partner, particularly in energy cooperation, where promising avenues for development are envisioned," the state corporation said. As per a corporation representative, Rosatom is the world leader in the size of its nuclear power plant building portfolio. The company has 33 power units in 10 countries at different stages of development, including 22 power units that are currently under construction in 7 nations. "We are prepared to engage local companies and international consortiums in our projects as per our partners' requirements, aiming to deliver the most effective technological solutions within budget constraints. Rosatom possesses the expertise and resources to execute nuclear power projects under any model. We stand ready to collaborate in this area should Azerbaijani partners express interest," Rosatom said. Rosatom is a diversified holding company encompassing assets in power engineering, machinery, and construction. As a national leader in power generation, accounting for approximately 20 percent of total generation, Rosatom also holds the top position globally in terms of its order portfolio for nuclear power plant construction. Music. It ignites and connects. It makes, and it breaks all at a cost. Before plugging in the aux cord, linking a Bluetooth speaker or inviting a cover band on stage, business owners or event organizers must have a license. If they dont, fines, spies and court orders could spawn, according to licensing agencies. A recent lawsuit targeting Charlottes Tequila House alleges the Latin dance club cheated artists out of due royalties when it played songs after it had stopped paying for correct licensing. The complaint, filed by the non-profit American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, sheds light on the behind-the-scenes of every pub night, coffee run and even some parties. A public performance license or three is needed to play any music thats not coming from a radio, television, cable or satellite source, according to copyright laws. In the era of DJS, Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music and iTunes, that loophole is largely closed. Public performances are described as those that occur in a public place where people gather (other than a small circle of a family or social acquaintances), according to ASCAP. For every dollar ASCAP makes off licenses which range from $360 to more than $720 a year artists receive about 90 cents, said Jackson Wagener, its Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs. Three major performing rights organizations offer licenses that ensure businesses pay before they publicly play songs composed by their members. ASCAP is joined by Broadcast Music, Inc. and Society of European Stage Authors and Composers. Third parties offer licenses that cover all three. This Charlotte dance club is being sued for playing songs without paying artists Legal action is never the first move ASCAP filed more than 100 lawsuits in the last year, Wagener said, but legal action is never their first move. Before filing the lawsuit against Tequila House, ASCAP says it reached out several times after the uptown club stopped paying for its license. Eventually, it hired an independent investigator to record each song they heard boom through its speakers. The lawsuit only lists three violations, but there were more, Wagner said. Tequila House did not respond to The Charlotte Observers calls and emails requesting comment on the lawsuit and music licensing. Were not trying to put anyone out of business, he said, were trying to bring them to the table. Broadcast Music, Inc., in an email to the Observer, said the same. Most cases are settled out of court, a spokesperson said, and the company which has sold thousands of licenses in North Carolina never wants to see things escalate to a lawsuit. Fines for playing a song without a license Playing a song without the correct PPL, according to a blog by OpenTable, can mean fines ranging from $750 to upwards of $30,000 per violation. Music license fees are one of the many costs of doing business, according to the ASCAP website. ... Since it is the business owner who obtains the ultimate benefit from the performance, it is the business owner who obtains the license. One loophole remains intact, though: classical music composed before 1922 can be played without regulation. Poland hopes for the cessation of transit of Ukrainian wheat and corn from April 1. Warsaw expects to conclude negotiations with Kyiv this week to implement licenses for agricultural products, aiming to halt Ukrainian grain transit through Poland from Apr. 1, said Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman in an interview with Radio Lublin on March 25. "We've made significant progress in negotiations with Ukraine on the licensing system, which our predecessors failed to implement, he stated. We're already negotiating with the Ukrainian side on sensitive products for the Polish economy. I hope these negotiations will be finalized this week." Read also: Polish farmers suspend protests at Russian border, but continue blockade of Ukrainian checkpoints Additionally, the Polish government plans to offer extra payments to farmers with surplus wheat. "We anticipate, as discussed with Ukraine, that transit, mainly of corn and wheat, will effectively cease from April 1." Earlier, Polish Radio reported that farmers suspended their protest in Grzechotki village on the Russian border due to the approaching Easter holidays. Read also: Polish farmers launch nationwide strike, block Ukrainian border Polish farmers continue to block truck movement at six crossing points: Yahodyn, Ustyluh, Uhryniv, Rava-Ruska, Shehyni, and Krakovets. Protesters completely halted truck movement at the Shehyni checkpoint on March 1. Polish protesters began restricting traffic on the Ukrainian border on Feb. 20, blocking trucks at various checkpoints. The farmers have articulated several demands, including the abolition of duty-free trade with Ukraine and complete closure of the Ukrainian-Polish border for trucks. Read also: Polish farmers block movement of trucks from Ukraine at two checkpoints State Border Guard Service Poland also requested Ukraine to abolish the electronic queue at three checkpoints. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry contends that the Polish border blockades lack justification, regardless of the slogans used. Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman expressed support for the farmers' cause. Reports emerged of restrictions on passenger transportation, and a controversy arose over a pro-Russian banner on a farm tractor at the border. The Polish police charged the farmer with inciting hatred. Protesters emptied grain from eight railroad cars carrying Ukrainian agricultural products overnight on Feb. 24-25, marking the fourth such incident. Poland reported difficulty in retrieving all spilled grain. Ukrainian and Polish officials convened talks on Feb. 28 to explore options for unblocking the border while addressing farmers' interests. 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 Polish authorities are planning to establish a base for deploying military helicopters in the city of Swidnik, Lublin Voivodeship. Source: European Pravda, Twitter account (X) of Polands Defence Ministry Details: Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the head of the ministry, said that the letter of intent was signed by the Ministry of Defence, the city of Lublin, the Lublin Voivodeship and Lublin Airport. "We have signed a letter of intent (...) regarding the investment planned by the Polish Armed Forces, the placement of a permanent helicopter airbase... at Lublin Airport, which will serve the Polish Armed Forces," he said. On 24 March at 04:23, Polish airspace was violated by a manoeuvring missile launched from a long-range Russian warplane. The missile entered Polish airspace near the village of Oserdow in the Lublin voivodeship and remained there for 39 seconds. In connection with the incident, Poland announced its intention to summon the Russian ambassador to its Foreign Ministry and deliver a letter of protest. Polish Foreign Minister Radosaw Sikorski has stated that Poland will demand explanations from the Russian ambassador regarding the incident with the Russian missile violating Poland's airspace. However, Sikorski noted that it is unlikely that Russia will give any explanations. Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Polands Minister of National Defence, stated that Poland would have downed the Russian missile if there had been any signs that it was heading for a target on Polish territory. Support UP or become our patron! NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) Documents obtained by News13 give new details about the investigation into the killing of a Georgia woman who was last seen at a North Myrtle Beach resort in September. Bornold Eberhart / J. Reuben Long Detention Center Bornold Eberhart, 42, also of Georgia, faces a murder charge in the death of Kristin Laymon, 53. He remains in the J. Reuben Long Detention Center, where he was booked following his arrest on March 8. North Myrtle Beach detectives verified that Laymon had come to the city on Sept. 22 and was with Eberhart. The departments investigation revealed that Laymon and Eberhart got into an argument in the early morning of Sept. 23. She was last seen alive entering an elevator at 2:12 a.m. that day. A North Myrtle Beach police report showed that her daughter told officers that Laymon had received a speeding ticket in Marion County on Sept. 22. Her daughter also checked her mothers email to see shed booked a stay at Club Wyndham for Sept. 22-24. The police report was filed on Nov. 7, which was the court date for Laymons speeding ticket, about a month after her daughter reported her missing out of Duluth, Georgia, on Oct. 9. Her daughter did not think she was in any danger, but said that it was unusual for Laymon to not tell her where she was. Laymons daughter attended her court date in hopes of seeing her mother, who didnt show up. Laymons daughter then went to Club Wyndham, according to the report. She learned that Laymon and Eberhart checked into the resort on Sept. 22 at about 1 p.m. before checking out at about 11 a.m. on Sept. 24. Laymons daughter told North Myrtle Beach police that her mother and Eberhart were in a rental car for the trip, but that it was returned in College Park, Georgia, after 10 p.m. on Sept. 24, the report said. Detectives think Eberhart left North Myrtle Beach with Laymons body in the vehicle. Police previously said that Laymon and Eberhart were not dating, but that they had some kind of intimate relationship. On March 9, Dekalb County authorities found what is believed to be Laymons body in the 1800 block of Whitehall Forest Court. Police said they were waiting for the medical examiner to identify the body. Documents show Eberharts initial court date is set for 1 p.m. on April 12 at the Horry County Judicial Center. Download the News13 app to stay updated on the go. Sign up for WBTW email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox. Find todays top stories on WBTW.com for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee. Count on News13 for updates. * * * Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW. OXFORD, Ohio (WJW) An Oxford man repeatedly complained to his sons educators that the boy was getting too much homework, and that it was cutting into their bonding time. He complained so much he was arrested and booked into jail on harassment charges, according to a police report. Murder suspect lights himself on fire before Akron police take him into custody On Feb. 29, secretaries at Kramer Elementary School told police that Adam Sizemore, 38, of Oxford, had been calling the school repeatedly to complain about the amount of homework given to his son. During these conversations, Sizemore cursed at the secretaries while making demands of them, wrote the reporting officer. I spoke to Sizemore several times and told him not to call the school anymore. Sizemore also cursed at the police officer, according to the report. Before hanging up on Sizemore, the officer warned him that if he called back hed be facing a telecommunications harassment charge. But he called right back, according to the report. When officers visited his home to speak with him, he didnt answer, according to the report. Meanwhile, he continued calling the school, and told the principal he did not want his son to get homework, the report said. I hoped that you put your big boy britches on today and have a conversation like a big boy, Sizemore allegedly said on one voicemail left for the principal. The principal expressed concern that Sizemore, with his erratic behavior, may come to the school to harm him. Elyria mom gets jail for pepper-spraying principal Within another half-hour, the schools office had received four more calls, according to the report. A police sergeant also noted Sizemore had started repeatedly calling police dispatchers as well. Officers went to his house and arrested him. While being read his rights, Sizemore reportedly said freedom of speech gives him the right to say what we wants. Sizemore is now charged with misdemeanor counts of telephone harassment and menacing, and posted a $100 bond for each, Butler County Area Court records show. Hes due for arraignment on Thursday, March 28. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW. AMERICAN FORK, Utah (ABC4) American Fork authorities identified the woman who was killed in a duplex explosion early Wednesday morning. On March 20, just before 6 a.m., authorities say an explosion destroyed a duplex near 60 N 370 E in American Fork. Kathy Harrison, 78, who lived next door in the attached unit, died as a result of her injuries, according to American Fork Police. ORIGINAL STORY: Deadly duplex explosion kills one in American Fork When authorities arrived on the scene, the owner was standing outside of what was left of her residence and was transported to the hospital to be treated for her injuries. A dog was reported missing after the explosion but officials said the dog somehow survived and came walking out of the building while crews were on scene. Emergency crews described the scene as having debris everywhere and an active fire in the duplex. They said the residence was a complete loss and a nearby house was also damaged. Police say it was initially believed a gas leak caused the explosion, however, the cause is still under investigation. Police say they will release the findings once the investigation is complete. Following the fatal incident, Dominion Energy released a statement saying they were doing routine maintenance in the area including at the duplex the day prior to the incident. The statement continued to say they are committed to fully participating in the investigation of this tragic event. Kathy Harrisons obituary described her as a faithful woman with a loving disposition. The family would like to thank the American Fork Fire and Police departments and all the other first responders who were on scene and brought comfort to us at a very difficult time, the obituary read. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. Polish farmers have decided to end their protest at the border with Russia ahead of the upcoming Easter holidays. Source: Polskie Radio Details: Farmers suspended their protest action at the border with the Russian Federation in the village of Grzechotki, which they started on Wednesday, 20 March. At that time, the farmers blocked the border crossing, allowing one car to pass per hour. Jerzy Salitra from the WarmianMasurian Chamber of Agriculture was surprised by the amount of goods coming into the European Union from Russia. Quote from Salitra: "The European Union has not yet decided to ban grain imports from Russia into the EU. Despite countries condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine, trade with Russia continues unabated. Many goods are being transported, including gas, and not just liquefied gas. One driver said he was transporting methane." More details: However, the protest organisers stated that they are ending the border blockade due to the upcoming Easter holidays. Earlier, the protesters were more determined and announced a blockade of the Russian border for at least a month. Background: On 24 March, Polish farmers completely blocked Ukrainian lorries travelling from Ukraine to Poland from passing through the Yahodyn and Rava-Ruska checkpoints. On Thursday, 21 March, it was reported that Polish protesters would stop blocking traffic in front of the Zosin-Ustyluh checkpoint. On 20 March, Vasyl Zvarych, Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland, reported that the traffic at the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint had been reopened to all vehicles. Read also: How Poland replaces Ukrainian agricultural products with Russian ones Support UP or become our patron! Polish farmers have suspended their protest in the village of Grzechotki on the border with Russia due to the upcoming Easter holidays, Polish Radio reported on March 24, citing the organizers of the action. Read also: Polish farmers launch nationwide strike, block Ukrainian border The protest, which began on March 20, was organized to express the farmers' surprise at the amount of goods coming from Russia to the European Union. Trade with Russia is ongoing, including the transportation of Russian gas to Europe. The farmers were initially planned to block traffic at the Russian border crossing for at least a month, allowing one vehicle per hour. Read also: EU to continue duty-free trade with Ukraine rejecting Polish calls for tariff reinstatement At the same time, the blockade of the border with Ukraine, which Polish farmers intensified on Feb. 20, continued. On March 24, the State Border Guard Service spokesman said that Polish farmers were preventing trucks from leaving Ukraine at the Yahodyn and Rava-Ruska checkpoints. Since March 24, the Poles have not allowed trucks to leave Ukraine at the Yahodyn and Rava-Ruska checkpoints, and the Uhryniv checkpoint is also blocked, said Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for the State Border Guard Service. 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 Wiesaw Kukua, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Poland, has stated that the incident of a Russian missile entering the airspace of Poland was "to a large extent a deliberate act". Source: European Pravda with reference to Kukuas statement cited by the RMF FM radio station Details: Kukua explained at a briefing on 25 March that the Polish airspace was violated by a Russian Kh-101 missile with a programmable trajectory. "Russian missiles have a relatively low precision so either circumstance is possible: the missile could have been deliberately programmed, or it could have just deviated from the programmed trajectory," Kukua said. The official believes that "targets moving on the border of two countries always create a very complicated situation in terms of their destruction, since if we had destroyed the missile, it could have led to undesirable actions by the other party". "The same thing could happen if Ukraine were to attempt to destroy it with a missile. This missile may fall down on the Polish territory and cause certain consequences. So our current approach to this situation is, we choose to believe that it was to a large extent a deliberate act [on Russias part]," Kukua said. He added separately that Poland had informed NATO representatives about the incident, and "in a few hours I was informed that our reaction was exemplary, like our allies expected it to be". Background: At 4:23 on the morning of 24 March, a Russian missile violated Polish airspace during a Russian missile attack on Ukraine. The missile reportedly entered Polish airspace near the village of Osierdow in the Lublin Voivodeship. It was there for 39 seconds. Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Minister of National Defence of Poland, stated that Poland would have downed the Russian missile, if there had been signs it was headed to a target in the Polish territory. Support UP or become our patron! Talks on creating a licensing system for trading Ukrainian goods have progressed and may be completed already this week, Poland's Economic Development and Technology Minister Krzysztof Hetman said in a comment for Radio Lublin published on March 25. The negotiations specifically concern cereals, rapeseed, corn, sugar, poultry, eggs, soft fruits, and apples. Polish farmers launched a new blockade at Ukraine's border in response to Ukrainian agricultural imports and EU environmental policies in February. The two key demands by Polish farmers include higher subsidies and the postponement of the Green Deal, which aims to halve pesticide use, lower fertilizer use, and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Hetman noted that the farmers' demands regarding the Green Deal have already been met. Due to a surplus in wheat and corn, the Polish government is also planning to allocate subsidies for grain sales, the minister said. "I would also like to stress that when it comes to grains, we hope because this is what we discussed with the Ukrainian said that even the transit, primarily of corn and wheat, will expire on April 1," Hetman said. Disputes over Ukrainian agricultural imports escalated last year, putting an increasingly heavy strain on Ukraine's relationship with Poland, traditionally one of its staunch supporters against Russian aggression. As Polish farmers complained that cheaper Ukrainian goods created unfair competition, Warsaw banned the import of five agricultural products, including grain, corn, and rapeseed. The measure did extend on goods transiting to other countries. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. The terrorist act perpetrated in the performance venue "Crocus City Hall" resulting in the murder of a substantial number of innocent people, actualizes a sensitive approach to information published in connection with the tragedy, and sadly, in Russia, this sensitivity is not taken seriously by everyone, and TV personality and journalist Vladimir Soloviev is one of them, and possibly the first, the statement of the Press Council of Azerbaijan said, Trend reports. "This person's argument, which aims to identify an Azerbaijani trace in the well-known terrorist event, goes beyond the customary biased rhetoric against our country. Solovyov's hints constitute an information provocation against Azerbaijan. He fails to recognize that a terrorist cannot be affiliated with any national or religious group. Furthermore, the perpetrators of the tragedy have been discovered; therefore, Solovyov does not need to deploy his conspiracy theories. Solovyov's attribution of ethnic origin to the provocation in Crocus City Hall is an attempt to target Azerbaijanis and Azerbaijan as a whole, to incite ethnic conflict in Russia, and to instill hatred for our compatriots. It is known what "orders" this guy follows. The facts of his "cooperation" with Russian journalists of Armenian descent, Margarita Simonyan, and media magnate Aram Gabrielyanov are well known to the Russian and Azerbaijani publics. In 2016, this "trio" sought to link our country to the terrorist organization ISIS. Solovyov's allusions to the Crocus City Hall incident are a continuation of the same incomplete story. His primary goal appears to be undermining the current high level of Azerbaijani-Russian relations. There is no doubt that Soloviev's attempt to find an Azerbaijani trace in the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall stems from his pro-Armenian prejudices. This is a clear manipulation of media principles, freedom of speech, and expression. The journalist's approach to events and processes, as well as how he evaluates them, should make the Russian public, including the media community, think seriously. Solovyov is busy misleading the public. His position is to sacrifice real facts and realities for the sake of corporate interests. This is an extremely heavy damage that a man of his profession does not only to another country but, most importantly, to the country of which he is a citizen. The Press Council of Azerbaijan strongly condemns Solovyov's position on the terrible terrorist act committed in the Crocus City Hall concert hall and the information provocation aimed at linking Azerbaijan with this event. The Council appeals to the Russian media as well as the public of the country not to remain indifferent to the actions and behavior of the journalist, who has no sense of responsibility to his motherland and people, turning his profession into an instrument of bias. The Press Council expects that the necessary public condemnation will be formed against Solovyov and a decent legal assessment will be given to the actions of this person," the statement reads. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Szymon Hoownia, Marshal (Speaker) of the Polish Sejm (lower house of the Polish parliament), believes that incidents involving Russian missiles violating Polish airspace may continue to occur for as long as the war in Ukraine rages on. Source: European Pravda, citing Poland's national news agency PAP Quote: "Such incidents have happened, are happening, and are likely to happen as long as the war in Ukraine rages on." Details: The Sejm speaker added that what is crucial is that "all the systems have performed [their duties]". He also called for these systems to be improved, "sparing neither effort nor money to arm ourselves". Hoownia noted that actions to shoot down missiles should be taken in a way that does not harm civilians. "If you shoot down such a missile, its wreckage ends up crashing somewhere, which becomes an uncontrollable and much more complicated process. I strongly believe that the [Polish] military did what they should have done," he added. Background: At 04:23 on the morning of 24 March, a Russian missile violated Polish airspace during a Russian missile attack on Ukraine. The missile reportedly entered Polish airspace near the village of Osierdow in the Lublin Voivodeship. It was there for 39 seconds. Poland informed NATO Allies of another incident of a Russian missile violating the Alliance's border and said it would demand explanations from Russia. Polish Defence Minister Wadysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that Poland would have shot down the Russian missile if it had appeared to be heading for a target on Polish soil. Support UP or become our patron! Hotel customers had to be evacuated after a fire involving solar panels broke out on the roof. Firefighters were called to the Travelodge in Waterloo Road, Poole, on Sunday at 14:24 GMT. Dorset fire service said the blaze was found in a junction of some solar panels and was extinguished using foam. People were advised to avoid the area during the incident. The fire service said "no issues were found" after a reinspection later in the evening. Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2240. MEMPHIS, Tenn. With storms rolling into the area, many are bracing for heavy rains and high winds Monday. As forecasted by WREGs Todd Demers on Monday afternoon, the worst of the rain and wind are expected to come between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., right in the middle of rush hour. By 5 p.m., ahead of much of the worst of the storm, MLGW reported more than 6,000 customers already without power a number that jumped by about 4,000 a few minutes earlier. MLGW power outage map We are always prepared to deal with weather-related outages, MLGW said in a statement. Crews are prepared to work around the clock if needed. With wind gusts expected to go as fast as 60 mph, Shelby County Emergency Managements Deputy Administrator, Charles Newell said residents should be cautious. I think they should take it very seriously because there may be wind gust up to 60 mph and at that rate things could be moved around, Newell said. Stormy Monday: High winds, heavy rain expected Another thing that could be affected by the winds are peoples power. Where there are high winds, tree limbs could fall on electrical wires which would cause a power distribution and in that case we advise people to take precautions, Newell said. In a statement MLGW gave to WREGs Shay Simon, they said that they are prepared to deal with weather related outages and crews are prepared to work around the clock if needed. If customers have an outage, MLGW says they can report it by calling 901-544-6500. MLGW has a preparedness guide for customers on mlgw.com, which has tips and general information to get ready for any weather emergency. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. CHICAGO Chicago will play host to President Joe Bidens renomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in August, but the voting in last weeks presidential primary indicates the citys welcome may be less than wholehearted. With mail-in ballots still being counted, results from the Chicago Board of Elections show that of the more than 300,000 Democratic ballots cast in the city, nearly 1 in 4 party voters more than 73,000 opted not to vote for president or cast a ballot for one of Bidens three nominal challengers. At the same time, the Republican primary election indicated a softness in support for former President Donald Trump in the suburbs, a key swing area that has gradually turned more Democratic. Reflective of a low-enthusiasm election, nearly 15% of Democratic voters in Chicago chose to not cast a vote for president, according to unofficial results from Chicago election officials. In addition, more than 10% of city Democratic voters who filled out a ballot for president opted for someone other than Biden, the results showed. Combined, that meant more than 24% of Chicago Democrats either didnt vote for president or didnt vote for the current president. The number of voters who didnt cast a presidential vote likely included an unknown number who wrote in Gaza as part of an organized protest against Bidens actions toward the Israel-Hamas war. Write-in votes are not legally counted in the city. The unofficial outcome of the Democratic presidential vote in Chicago shows Biden received 89.6%, compared with 4% apiece for Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and activist Marianne Williamson and 2.5% for entrepreneur Frank Frankie Lozada. Biden is not in danger of losing Illinois and its 19 electoral votes in November. But David Yepsen, former director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, said that if the support for Biden in about a half-dozen swing states is similarly soft, those states could end up going for Trump. Its just an uninspiring, unexciting candidate at the top of the ticket, Yepsen, a former national political journalist, said of Biden. Voters could easily say meh and not waste their time voting. I think in Illinois, that Democrats have that problem especially because its sort of taken for granted its going to be a Democratic vote, its a Democratic state, Yepsen said. And so, if youre a Democrat, and youre not excited about Joe Biden, why bother to vote? Yepsen said a lack of Biden coattails could come into play in closely fought U.S. Senate and congressional races around the country, including one congressional race in Illinois. On Tuesday, the stage was set for the November showdown in the northwest and west central Illinois 17th Congressional District, where freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen is being targeted by national Republicans and their nominee, Joe McGraw of Rockford. The March 19 results contrast with recent presidential primary returns. In 2020, with a contested primary for the Democratic nomination, only 2% of Democratic voters did not cast a ballot for president. Biden defeated U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont 53% to 42%. The two top candidates accounted for 95% of the presidential votes cast. Four years earlier, with a contested primary between Sanders and former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, the same percentage of Democratic voters in Chicago only 2% did not cast a ballot for a presidential nominee. Clinton defeated Sanders 54% to 45%, and the two accounted for 99% of the presidential ballots cast. This time, before Illinois primary Election Day had even dawned, Biden had already amassed the needed number of nominating delegates to secure his renomination at the Democratic National Convention, which is being held at the United Center Aug. 19-22. The results from this years presidential primary election results most closely compare in recent times to the citys 2000 Democratic primary, when then-Vice President Al Gore had effectively locked up the nomination and rival former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey had dropped out weeks earlier. This years primary resulted in a Chicago voter turnout just below 23%. In 2000, voter turnout was higher, at 33%. As in this years primary, there were no statewide contested offices in 2000. In 2000, Gore won with 86%. But 15% of city Democrats casting ballots did not vote for president then, and 27% of them either did not vote for Gore or cast a vote for president. At the time, many liberals were soured by the prospect of Gore serving as a continuation of a moderate Bill Clinton administration and some became attracted to Ralph Naders Green Party candidacy. Gore ultimately won the nomination and Illinois in the general election but was defeated by Republican George W. Bush in the controversial Supreme Court-decided outcome that gave Florida and its electoral votes to the Republican. Whatever problems Biden may have in the city, the primary results also point to difficulties in the suburbs for Trump and Republicans seeking to make inroads after years of Democratic gains in the region. Unofficial GOP primary results show Trump winning presidential preference contests with 72% in DuPage County, 72.5% in Lake County, 76% in Kane County, 78.5% in McHenry County and 81% in suburban Cook County despite all of Trumps formal opposition having dropped out of contention months and weeks earlier. Trumps best suburban showing was in Will County, where he garnered 84% of the vote. Eric Adelstein, a longtime Chicago-based Democratic political consultant, said the overall numbers for Biden and Trump show that obviously, whats well documented, lots of people in this country dont want either of them. But he said any loss of support for Biden by general election time will be minimal and will be more than offset by independent and Republican-leaning suburban women backing the president over issues such as abortion rights. The question for Democrats, he said, is whether the tradition continues of a diverse political base coalescing for the general election fight. I think theres no greater motivator for Democrats to vote than Donald Trump. And its proven itself in the past, Adelstein said. Now, whether the past is prologue, were gonna find out in a major way. ____ President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be in North Carolina on Tuesday, making a stop in Raleigh. If that sounds familiar, its because they both already visited have this year, and Harris made a stop in the Triangle this month. In January, Biden gave a speech at Abbotts Creek Community Center in northern Raleigh, where he talked about high-speed internet expansion. He also visited an educators home, where he brought take out from Cook Out. This time, the president and vice president will be together. Biden and Harris are running for re-election this year, and with North Carolina being a key battleground state, voters may see frequent visits throughout the year from the candidates. Democratic strategist Morgan Jackson told The N&O in a recent interview to expect that. Theres hardly a week thats gonna go by that youre not going to have either a Democratic principal in state or Republican principal in state. I think thats because North Carolina is going to be incredibly competitive, Jackson said. Biden and Harris also are in town for an official event and are expected to attend a fundraiser. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks while visiting Durhams historic Black Wall Street district on Friday March 1, 2024. Vice President Harris is joined by Gov. Roy Cooper. Contrasting visions in North Carolina During a White House press briefing on Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden and Harris are coming to the state to discuss the administrations vision for the future. On the other hand, Republican elected officials are proposing a very different vision for the nation. Last week, the Republican Study Committee released a budget which proposes devastating cuts to Medicare, to Social Security and to (the) Affordable Care Act. It would increase prescription drug, energy and housing costs, all while forcing tax giveaways for the very rich. Jean-Pierre said the North Carolina trip is an opportunity to contrast those visions. Harris visited on March 1, just ahead of North Carolinas primary, and spoke in downtown Durham on Parrish Street, which is the states historic Black Wall Street. Roads between Raleigh-Durham International Airport and her Durham destination, including a section of Interstate 40, were closed briefly for the motorcade to pass by. Traffic delays can again be expected on major roads during this visit, too. Visits from Biden and Harris have frequently included surprise stops at local businesses, like Bidens stop at Cook Out with Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Harris visited Shaw University and Trophy Brewing during a September 2020 visit when she was first running for vice president. In 2023 as vice president, Harris visited Panaderia Artisanal, a Latina-owned bakery in Raleigh. Astrid Sabillon, left, helps Vice President Kamala Harris during her visit to Panaderia Artisanal, a Latina-owned bakery on Monday, January 30, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C. Cooper regularly greets the president or vice president at Raleigh-Durham International Airport as they debark from Air Force One or Air Force Two. Cooper is usually joined by other elected officials representing the area, from mayors to members of Congress. Cooper is in the final year of his second term, and has yet to announce what he wants to do after he leaves office at the end of the year. Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson are running for governor. Cooper has said that he wants to continue in public service, leading to speculation that hell run for U.S. Senate or seek a position in the Biden Harris administration. The Princess of Wales received support from across the world after her video message The Princess of Wales has announced that she is undergoing treatment for cancer in a health development that came as a huge shock to her and her family. In a personal video message, the Princess, 42, said that she was going to be OK and was focused on making a full recovery as she revealed that she began preventative chemotherapy in late February 2024. The cancer was identified during tests after her major abdominal surgery on Jan 16 2024 at the London Clinic, where she was being treated at the same time as King Charles. In her video message, she thanked the public for their support and said: I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal in my mind, body and spirits. What do we know about the Princess of Waless cancer diagnosis? The Princess has chosen to candidly share the news of her diagnosis with the public, explaining that it was discovered in post-operative tests following her abdominal surgery in January 2024. She said that initially, when she underwent the surgery in London, it was thought that her condition was non-cancerous and the operation was successful. However, she explained that tests after the operation found cancer had been present, adding: My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment. Beyond this, Kensington Palace has cited her right to medical privacy when choosing not to disclose what type of cancer it is or at what stage it was found. Asked for further details about the condition or operation, a spokesman said: We will not be sharing any further private medical information. The Princess has a right to medical privacy, as we all do. What type of surgery did Catherine have? The major abdominal surgery that Catherine underwent has not been disclosed. Aides said when she was admitted that her condition was not cancer-related but did not specify what type of surgery she had, only describing it as abdominal surgery. The Princess would later describe it as major surgery. Kensington Palace initially said she would remain in the private hospital for 10 to 14 days and that she would be away from public view to recover until after Easter. What kind of treatment is the Princess now undertaking and what does it mean? The Princess is undertaking preventative chemotherapy, also known formally as adjuvant chemotherapy, and is said to be on a recovery pathway. Explaining preventative chemotherapy, separate to the Princesss individual case, Prof Andrew Beggs, MRC, senior clinical fellow at the University of Birmingham, said: Preventative chemotherapy after surgery is given to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back in the future a bit like mopping a floor with bleach when youve spilt something on it, chemotherapy kills any spilt cells. This is done because sometimes cancer cells spread from the mass and linger in the blood. To make sure these do not spread, health professionals will give patients preventative chemotherapy. Because chemotherapy is a cancer drug thats systemic, it goes all around the body to mop up any remaining cancer cells. Is there a timeframe for her treatment? The Princess did not reveal when she was told of the cancer diagnosis. However, aides revealed that she had embarked on her course of preventative chemotherapy at the end of February. The Princess said she first had to allow her body to recover from the surgery. When she delivered her statement, on March 22, she said she was in the early stages of that treatment. Why did the palace wait so long to reveal that she had cancer? The Princess timed her announcement deliberately to protect the welfare of her three young children as she wanted to give them time to process the news away from public discourse. A spokesman for Kensington Palace said that she had wanted to share the information with the public when she and the Prince felt it was right for them as a family. While Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis have known privately for some time, supported by their parents, the Princess chose to release the video at the start of their Easter school holidays so they could retreat safely from the public eye. What has the reaction been? There has been an outpouring of worldwide support and love for the Princess, with many commending her for her bravery and strength in making the kind of candid and personal announcement that she did. A spokesman for the King, who is also undergoing treatment for cancer, said he has remained in the closest contact with his beloved daughter-in-law throughout the past weeks. They added that the King and Queen Camilla will continue to offer their love and support to the whole family through this difficult time. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said in a statement: We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace. Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, said: As someone who has faced their own battles with cancer in recent months, I am full of admiration for the way she has spoken publicly about her diagnosis and know it will do a tremendous amount of good to raise awareness. World leaders also sent their support, while many also upbraided the people who have been propagating conspiracy theories about her condition and whereabouts online in recent months. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, was among the first to do so, saying: She has shown tremendous bravery with her statement. In recent weeks, she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media. When it comes to matters of health, like everyone else she must be afforded the privacy to focus on her treatment and be with her loving family. Why is there an investigation into the hospital where she was treated? The hospital that treated the Princess is being investigated over possible delays in notifying the privacy watchdog of an alleged attempt to access her medical records. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) requires organisations to notify it of data security breaches within 72 hours of discovery. The London Clinic reportedly did not contact the ICO until more than a week after the Princess was discharged. Three members of staff are understood to be under investigation for attempting to access her private medical information following her 13-night stay there in January. The Princess was discharged on Jan 29. Neither the hospital, the ICO or Kensington Palace have released details of when the alleged attempt or attempts to access her medical records happened. Al Russell, the London Clinics chief executive, said there was no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues. What does the edited photograph have to do with any of this? The Princess released a photograph on Mothering Sunday of her and her three children taken in Windsor by the Prince of Wales. She later issued an unprecedented public apology in which she admitted blame after it came to light that the photograph was digitally altered to such an extent that it had been withdrawn by news agencies for failing to meet industry standards. There had been weeks of wild conspiracy theories about the Princesss health and her whereabouts since her withdrawal from the public eye. The picture of her with her children had been thought to be a bid to put the rumours to rest, once and for all, but it only added fuel to the fire. The editing of the picture prompted further questions at the time about whether any element of the photograph was genuine. She has since released the personal video message, filmed on a park bench in Windsor, in which she revealed her cancer diagnosis and offered a message of hope to others with the disease. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. By Bate Felix and Portia Crowe DAKAR (Reuters) - Just a few months ago, the man set to be Senegal's next president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was sitting in a prison cell, a relatively unknown figure outside his opposition party Pastef. Everything changed for him when the party's firebrand leader, Ousmane Sonko, who was also detained, was charged with insurrection in July and barred from running in elections to succeed President Macky Sall. That cleared the way for Faye to emerge from the shadow of his former boss and eventually from prison, take over the race and on Monday - the day of his 44th birthday - emerge as victor after his opponent conceded defeat. It was an unlikely climb to the top for an unlikely national figurehead. Faye was a tax inspector before he became Sonko's trusted lieutenant and Pastef's secretary general. Where Sonko is charismatic, with a verve that has attracted thousands of country's jobless youths to his anti-establishment movement, Faye cuts an austere figure. Sonko's endorsement of his former deputy in the run-up to Sunday's delayed election was crucial, but a little short on rabble-rousing emotion. "My choice of Diomaye is not a choice from the heart, but from reason. I chose him because he meets the criteria that I have defined. He is competent and has attended the most prestigious school in Senegal," Sonko said in a video message. 'HE IS MORE HONEST THAN ME' "No one can say he is not honest. I would even say that he is more honest than me. I entrust the project into his hands," Sonko said. According to Faye's biography on his campaign website, he was often the top of his class growing up. He graduated from high school on Senegal's southern coast in 2000, then studied law and got a master's degree from Dakar's Cheikh Anta Diop University. In 2004, the devout Muslim passed the competitive entrance exam to Senegal's National School of Administration which trains the former French colony's top civil servants, where he specialised as a tax inspector. He was arrested in April 2023, a few months before Sonko was also held, and charged with contempt of court and defaming magistrates, charges Faye had denied. Crucially, unlike Sonko, he was not barred from running in elections. Convinced that Sonko's detention and the banning of Pastef were part of a ploy by Sall's government to eliminate strong rivals from the election - all accusations rejected by the government - several party members including Faye put their names forward. Faye eventually made the cut while still in prison, despite a late challenge from ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba to have his candidacy rejected by the Constitutional Council. A coalition of more than 100 parties, and some political heavyweights including former prime minister Aminata Toure, joined Faye's campaign under the banner "Doimaye mooy Sonko", which in the local wolof language means "Diomaye is Sonko." 'ONLY ONE PERSON IS ELECTED' Thanks to a general amnesty law passed shortly before the vote to ease political tensions, Sonko and Faye left their prison cells in Dakar earlier this month, accompanied by thousands of supporters who danced and chanted through the night. Both hit the campaign trail, crisscrossing the country and drawing thousands to their rallies and caravans. Sidy Lamine Badji, a 36-year-old part-time driver who voted for Faye on Sunday, rejected criticism that the candidate who lost a municipal election in his home town in 2022 was inexperienced in government affairs. "This is false. He has dignity. I believe in his promise and that he will not betray us," Badji said, his voice choking. Faye has declined to say what role Sonko might play in any future government, and has insisted he will be his own man. "Why do we want to focus on just one person in a government when I have a coalition that includes more than 120 people?" he said, brushing off concerns held by some voters that if he won, the country would end up with two men who believe they are president. "In a presidential election, only one person is elected in the end, and it's he who is the president of the republic," Faye said. (Reporting by Bate Felix and Portia Crowe, editing by Silvia Aloisi and Andrew Heavens) Last year, Salesforce, the company best known for its cloud sales support software (and Slack), spearheaded a project called ProGen to design proteins using generative AI. A research moonshot, ProGen could -- if brought to market -- help uncover medical treatments more cost effectively than traditional methods, the researchers behind it claimed in a January 2023 blog post. ProGen culminated in research published in the journal Nature Biotech showing that the AI could successfully create the 3D structures of artificial proteins. But, beyond the paper, the project didn't amount to much at Salesforce or anywhere else -- at least not in the commercial sense. That is, until recently. One of the researchers responsible for ProGen, Ali Madani, has launched a company, Profluent, that he hopes will bring similar protein-generating tech out of the lab and into the hands of pharmaceutical companies. In an interview with TechCrunch, Madani describes Profluent's mission as "reversing the drug development paradigm," starting with patient and therapeutic needs and working backwards to create "custom-fit" treatments solution. "Many drugs -- enzymes and antibodies, for example -- consist of proteins," Madani said. "So ultimately this is for patients who would receive an AI-designed protein as medicine." While at Salesforce's research division, Madani found himself drawn to the parallels between natural language (e.g. English) and the "language" of proteins. Proteins -- chains of bonded-together amino acids that the body uses for various purposes, from making hormones to repairing bone and muscle tissue -- can be treated like words in a paragraph, Madani discovered. Fed into a generative AI model, data about proteins can be used to predict entirely new proteins with novel functions. With Profluent, Madani and co-founder Alexander Meeske, an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Washington, aim to take the concept a step further by applying it to gene editing. "Many genetic diseases cant be fixed by [proteins or enzymes] lifted directly from nature," Madani said. "Furthermore, gene editing systems mixed and matched for new capabilities suffer from functional tradeoffs that significantly limit their reach. In contrast, Profluent can optimize multiple attributes simultaneously to achieve a custom-designed [gene] editor thats a perfect fit for each patient." It's not out of left field. Other companies and research groups have demonstrated viable ways in which generative AI can be used to predict proteins. Nvidia in 2022 released a generative AI model, MegaMolBART, that was trained on a data set of millions of molecules to search for potential drug targets and forecast chemical reactions. Meta trained a model called ESM-2 on sequences of proteins, an approach the company claimed allowed it to predict sequences for more than 600 million proteins in just two weeks. And DeepMind, Google's AI research lab, has a system called AlphaFold that predicts complete protein structures, achieving speed and accuracy far surpassing older, less complex algorithmic methods. Profluent is training AI models on massive data sets -- data sets with over 40 billion protein sequences -- to create new as well as fine-tune existing gene-editing and protein-producing systems. Rather than develop treatments itself, the startup plans to collaborate with outside partners to yield "genetic medicines" with the most promising paths to approval. Madani asserts this approach could dramatically cut down on the amount of time -- and capital -- typically required to develop a treatment. According to industry group PhRMA, it takes 10-15 years on average to develop one new medicine from initial discovery through regulatory approval. Recent estimates peg the cost of developing a new drug at between several hundred million to $2.8 billion, meanwhile. "Many impactful medicines were in fact accidentally discovered, rather than intentionally designed," Madani said. "[Profluent's] capability offers humanity a chance to move from accidental discovery to intentional design of our most needed solutions in biology." Berkeley-based, 20-employee Profluent is backed by VC heavy hitters including Spark Capital (which led the company's recent $35 million funding round), Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, AIX Ventures and Convergent Ventures. Google chief scientist Jeff Dean has also contributed, lending additional credence to the platform. Profluent's focus in the next few months will be upgrading its AI models, in part by expanding the training data sets, Madani says, and customer and partner acquisition. It'll have to move aggressively; rivals, including EvolutionaryScale and Basecamp Research, are fast training their own protein-generating models and raising vast sums of VC cash. "Weve developed our initial platform and shown scientific breakthroughs in gene editing," Madani said. "Now is the time to scale and start enabling solutions with partners that match our ambitions for the future." A proposed charter school in New Rochelle that could open as early as the 2025-26 school year faces staunch opposition from the city's public school district. The charter school's founder, Ivan Green, an adjunct professor at Iona University and principal of St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, said the school would address disparities within the New Rochelle school district. He posits that the city's schools do not offer enough STEM instruction (science, technology, engineering and math), particularly in the younger grades, and that schools in lower socioeconomic areas of New Rochelle have fewer resources. "There's a gap. There's a need for another choice," Green said in an interview. MSLT Academy would introduce more minority and low-income students to STEM, he said. Green said he doesn't live in New Rochelle but has family there. But Corey Reynolds, the district's superintendent, said Green's assessment is wrong. A proposed charter school, Mathematics, Science, Language and Technology (MSLT) Academy Public Charter School, would be housed in the old Holy Family School in New Rochelle, photographed March 20, 2024. Reynolds said the district has a "vibrant" science, technology and math program from K-12, and pointed to the district's award-winning science research program, its forensics program and other AP and dual enrollment programs with colleges. Reynolds said the district's most economically challenged schools "actually see more opportunities for student involvement, for student participation, for family programming, than other schools," Reynolds said. Comparing test scores Green pointed to state Education Department data that showed New Rochelle's minority students and English language learners graduate at lower rates and perform worse on standardized tests than the overall student body. Last school year, 55% of New Rochelle third-graders were considered proficient in math, according to state test results. While 75% of white third-graders were proficient, 42% of their Black peers and 46% of their Hispanic peers were proficient. Similar disparities exist statewide and have for as long as standardized tests have been given to students. Last year, for example, 54% of New York's third-graders were considered proficient in math, with 60% of white students proficient, compared to 44% of Black students and 42% of Hispanic students. One of the charter school's areas of focus would be on making sure students don't fall behind if they can't speak English, Green said. Ivan Green Reynolds again questioned Green's case. "I can't see any fledgling school even meeting the needs of our students on a basic level compared to what it is that we offer to our students," Reynolds said. Charters often face local opposition If the proposed charter school, called the Mathematics, Science, Language and Technology Academy Public Charter School, is approved, it would join only three other charter schools in the Lower Hudson Valley. Two are located in Mount Vernon and one in Yonkers. Other charter school proposals in the region have faced heated opposition going back two decades, and the role of charter schools remains a major point of debate in education. Green said the school district's opposition stems from a worry the charter school will make the district look bad. Green said he's received many emails from parents interested in learning more about the proposed charter school. The next town hall about the proposal will be April 25 at 6 p.m. at the New Rochelle Public Library. Corey Reynolds But the district's PTA Council has been collecting its own reactions from the community in the form of signatures on a petition urging SUNY to deny the school's application. Mary Monzon, president of the PTA Council, said the petition has received over 1,200 signatures. Monzon said in an interview there was nothing the charter school could provide that the district does not already offer. New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert said in a statement that she joins the district "in not supporting the creation of a charter school in New Rochelle." Money follows students to charter schools Charter schools outside New York City are approved by the state Board of Regents or the State University of New York Board of Trustees. Green is seeking his charter from SUNY. Initial charter contracts are for five years and then must be renewed. A SUNY spokesperson said the deadline for the next round of charter school applications outside of New York City is June 3. The SUNY Trustees Charter School Committee will then vote on the applications in the fall 2024. Charter schools are public schools and funded by tax dollars, though they operate under different rules and generally don't have unions. Green noted charter schools can also raise funds. When students attend a charter schools, their home school district must forward a set amount of money to the charter school. So school districts often protest against the loss of funds when opposing charter schools. "It's more about money for them," Green said of the district's opposition. Reynolds said the New Rochelle district would lose about $19,000 for each student who goes to the charter school. But if a student changes their mind and returns to the district in the same year, the funding doesn't follow them back for that year, Reynolds said. A statement from the PTA Council said that the diversion of funding would leave the district with the same fixed costs but less money to pay them. Plans to expand MSLT Academy would be located at 83 Clove Road, in the former Holy Family School. Green said the charter would lease the building from the Archdiocese of New York. Green said the school would start with kindergarten through 2nd grade, with plans to expand up to grade 12 over a five-year period. The school building has room for grades K-8, so the charter school would look at eventually housing high schoolers in another building. Green estimated each grade would have about 80 students. Stephen Mayo, a spokesperson for MSLT Academy, who has been on boards of three Bronx charter schools, said in an interview New Rochelle could benefit from an alternative choice to the traditional public schools. Mayo, an attorney, podcast host and former city council and school board candidate who sent his three kids to New Rochelle public schools, noted the success of charter schools in the Bronx and said that charter schools can offer greater parental involvement. The proposed charter school isn't anti-union or for-profit, he added. And students are chosen through a lottery system. "Perhaps our goals of inclusive excellence and 'consumer choice' offend the sense of snobbish entitlement that has characterized our city-suburb's political establishment for so long," Mayo said in a text. Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana. This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Proposed STEM charter school in New Rochelle NY faces opposition Puppies stolen from a Georgia humane society last week have been found safe. The Albany Police Department is still asking for help finding a person of interest identified as 30-year-old Darius Dentrall Parker. The Sally Wetherbee Adoption Center of Albany Humane Society shared a surveillance video that showed Parker in a ski mask shooting out the front door and busting it down around 11 p.m. on Tuesday. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Parker was described as being 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighing about 280 pounds. Police are still asking for the publics help finding Parker. The humane society said it works tirelessly to help animals and the community each day. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. Foreign powers, who occasionally create hotbeds of strife in various regions of the world, sparking horrific wars, are at work once more, MP of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Vugar Iskenderov told Trend. ''Their next target is the South Caucasus. Analysis of recent processes provides grounds to infer such a judgment,'' he added. The MP stated that foreign powers, which have created hotbeds of conflict in many regions of the world, are now preparing to replicate the same bloody situation in the South Caucasus. "Unfortunately, Armenia is once again their instrument. Thus, the Armenian parliament recently approved an agreement on the status of the EU mission stationed near the Azerbaijani border. Let me remind you that the formation and operations of this mission have not been met with universal favor. Even though it was founded in January 2023, the number of participants climbed from 138 to 209 by December of that year. This sparked genuine concerns and questions. And the fact that most former military personnel from specific European countries are there reveals that the goal of this mission, as declared, is not a goodwill or peacekeeping mission," he said. The MP emphasized that another issue of concern is that the Armenian parliament ratified the agreement just now. "Undoubtedly, it is also related to the security meeting of the EU, the US, and Armenia, which will be held on April 5. This format is directed against Azerbaijan as well as the fragile stability in the South Caucasus. The West is implementing a new division of influence in the South Caucasus and is making plans to destroy the existing geopolitical configuration. This promises serious upheavals, new wars, and conflicts for the entire region," he noted. According to Iskenderov, the European Union's mission in Armenia was supposed to be short-term. "However, the long-term status was later confirmed, and militarization began. That is, the West thus began military intervention in the region. At present, the US plans to join this process and send its servicemen to Armenia as part of the mission, which means that the West has created its own military base in Armenia. All these processes are taking place near the borders of Azerbaijan and are naturally directed against it. But I believe that this step, i.e., dragging the region into the conflict, does not promise any success either to the West or Armenia, which plays the role of a tool in their nefarious game," the MP added. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Vladimir Putin, the head of the Russian Federation, admitted that the terrorist attack on 22 March on Crocus City Hall was carried out by "radical Islamists" but blamed the shooting on "those who are fighting Russia at the hands of the Kyiv regime". Source: Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza with reference to Putin's speech at a meeting with the heads of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation Details: Putin called the terrorist attack an "act of intimidation" and again linked the attack to Ukraine. He said that radical Islamists committed the terrorist attack in Crocus, but he is interested to know who commissioned the attack. Quote: "The question immediately arises: who benefits from this? This can only be a link for those who have been fighting with us at the hands of the Kyiv regime since 2014." Details: Putin also added that "we need to answer the question" why the attackers allegedly tried to leave for Ukraine after committing a crime in Crocus, "and who was waiting for them there". Previously: On 23 March, Putin said that a window had allegedly been "prepared" for the suspects in the attack to cross the border with Ukraine. He did not explain what this statement is based on. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine stated that this version "does not stand up to any criticism". Background: A shooting incident occurred prior to a concert by the band Piknik at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, on the evening of 22 March. Early reports said at least 40 people were killed and 130 injured. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) stated that the terrorist attack was a deliberate provocation by Putins regime that had been anticipated by the international community. The White House said it saw no evidence of any Ukrainian involvement in the attack, which has claimed the lives of dozens of people. Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidents Office, stated that Ukraine had nothing to do with the attack. The United States does not doubt that ISIS was involved in the terrorist attack on the evening of 22 March and had warned Russia in advance of the threat of it happening. ISIS called the terrorist attack in the Crocus City Hall in Moscow Oblast their "most brutal attack in recent years" and posted photos of the terrorists. Their clothing matches that of the detainees whose photos were posted by the FSB. Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time on Monday called the gunmen who killed more than 130 people at a Moscow concert hall radical Islamists, while suggesting the attack could be linked to Ukraine. Putin said the shooting was committed by radical Islamists whose ideology the world has been fighting for centuries, according to a translation from The Associated Press (AP). His remarks come days after multiple gunmen opened fire at Crocus City Hall in Moscow, killing at least 137 people and wounding more than 180 others. The assailants also threw explosives in the venue, causing a large fire and the roof to eventually collapse, The Associated Press reported. Four men were charged Sunday with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others and appeared in court Sunday night. Two of the suspects accepted responsibility for the attack, though concerns were raised about whether they were speaking freely, the AP reported. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the shooting, and the White House National Security Council has said its own intelligence confirms they carried out the attack. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Putin has sought to draw a connection between the attack and Kyiv, though there is no evidence of Ukraines involvement. Ukraines government has denied any connection to the incident. On Monday, while saying Islamic terrorists carried out the attack, Putin appeared to try to draw a connection to Kyiv. We know who carried out the attack and we are interested in knowing who ordered this attack, Putin said Monday, per a translation from RT.com. He did not specify who ordered the attack or if he meant the four detained men, but said the Russian government must determine why the terrorists committing their crime tried to flee [to] Ukraine and who was waiting for them there, per the news wire. This crime can only be a link in a chain of attempts by those who are at war with our country since 2014, Putin later added. Putins attempts to link Ukraine to the attack began over the weekend. All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, were found and detained, Putin said during a public address last Saturday. They tried to hide and were moving towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a passage was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to assign blame and told reporters Monday to wait for the results of Russias investigation, the AP reported. Our investigative and law enforcement authorities need to have answers to many questions such as: Is it true radical Islamic organizations are willing to make strikes against Russia and [are] blaming it for the exacerbation of the conflict in the Middle East? Putin said Monday. And how the radical Islamists who are being positioned as true Muslims commit such heinous atrocities during the sacred month of Ramadan? The four suspects were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, per the AP. Shortly after the attack, reports circulated that Putin had brushed off U.S. warnings of extremist attacks in Moscow days ahead of the incident. The U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning on March 7 that extremists were planning an attack in Moscow and advised individuals to avoid large gatherings over the following two days. Three days before the attack, Putin called the embassys alerts provocative and outright blackmail intended to damage Russian society. Peskov refused to comment on the reported U.S. warnings when speaking to reporters Monday, the AP added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Russian President Vladimir Putin brushed off U.S. warnings of extremist attacks in Moscow, days before gunmen carried out a rampage at a Moscow concert hall that left at least 137 people dead last week. The U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a security alert warning on March 7 that extremists are planning an attack in Moscow and advised individuals to avoid large gatherings over the next two days. Putin later called the embassys alerts provocative and outright blackmail, intended to damage Russian society. I would also like to recall the recent provocative statements by a number of official Western structures regarding potential terrorist attacks in Russia, Putin said during a March 19 meeting of the Federal Security Board, per a Kremlin transcript. All these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society. You are well aware of them, so I will not go into details at this point. Last Friday three days after the meeting multiple gunmen opened fire at Crocus City Hall in Moscow, killing at least 137 people and wounding more than 180 others. The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the shooting. The New York Times reported the U.S. collected intelligence that the Islamic State groups Afghanistan affiliate was planning an attack on Moscow, citing a U.S. official. U.S. counterterrorism officials told The Times the Islamic State had been wanting to ramp up attacks. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson confirmed the Islamic State was responsible for the attack, in a statement reported by the AP. Four men have been charged in the attacks and appeared in a Moscow court Sunday night with signs of beatings. Two of the suspects accepted their guilt in the attack, though concerns were raised over if they were speaking freely, The Associated Press reported. The four suspects were identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, who are all charged with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others, per the AP. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Russian President Vladimir Putin floated an idea this week that the Kremlin might need to create a buffer zone to protect Russias borders from a recent spate of Ukrainian counterattacks and cross-border rampages by armed groups of anti-Kremlin fighters. We will be forced at some point, when we consider it necessary, to create a certain sanitary zone on the territories controlled by the (Ukrainian government), Putin said in remarks delivered on Sunday, according to an AP translation. The zone would be quite difficult to penetrate using the foreign-made strike assets at the enemys disposal, Putin added. The proposal has raised questions about just how capable the Kremlin is of preventing the war from spilling over into Russian territoryand what exactly his buffer zone would mean for the war in Ukraine. Putins buffer zone idea comes after months of failures in achieving his original war aims. While Russia has gained ground in recent days in Ukraineas U.S. lawmakers have failed to approve more military aid for Kyivthe overall fight has stalled out in a protracted phase. If Russia were to try and establish a buffer zone inside Ukraine and presumably focus the operation on Kharkiv, it might just be a thinly veiled attempt at seizing more Ukrainian territory, according to Lionel Beehner, adjunct associate professor of International and Public Affairs at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. Fire extinguishing efforts continue as fire breaks out after a Russian shelling on an industrial building in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 20, 2024. Photo by Yevhen Titov/Anadolu via Getty Images Theres definitely a lopsided distribution of power. You have one state essentially at war with another saying unilaterally that were going to impose, or at least take, a buffer zone, Beehner, who has published research on buffer zones in international politics, told The Daily Beast. This is probably on some level a signal that Putins willing to go all in, Beehner said. He added that while Putin may have a vested interest in protecting Russian border regions against the Ukrainian attacks, Putin may also be interested in using the attacks inside Russia as an opportunity to try adding legitimacy to his long standing narrative that Moscow is not the belligerent in the war, but rather on the defense. The proposal comes as pro-Kyiv Russian militias have been waging an armed offensive in the Russian border region of Belgorod in recent weeks. The campaign, which is allegedly aimed at pressuring Moscow to end the war against Ukraine, has killed hundreds of Russians and successfully distracted Russian forces, according to Ukrainian intelligence. Ukrainian forces have simultaneously been attacking oil refineries and other energy infrastructure in Russia in an effort to starve Russia of funding sources for its war. As of Tuesday, the attacks have damaged over 130 residential houses and 60 passenger cars, according to Belgorods governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. Russia has been so rattled by the attacks that it is evacuating thousands of children from Belgorod. The Russian military has also deployed air defenses in an attempt to intercept the attacks. The governor of Kursk, which has also come under attack, deployed a new kind of alert system for warning residents of drone attacks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the buffer zone idea would be aimed at further shoring up security in the regions as the attacks rain down. Against the backdrop of (Ukrainian) drone attacks and the shelling of our territory, public facilities, residential buildings, measures must be taken to secure these territories, Peskov said. They can only be secured by creating some kind of buffer zone so that any means that the enemy uses to strike us are out of range. 2096095838 Burned-out cars are seen in a residential area of the city of Belgorod following fresh aerial attacks on March 22, 2024. STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images While buffer zones are sometimes mutually agreed upon by both parties, that almost certainly wouldnt be the case in Ukraine, said James Nixey, the director of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House. Vladimir Putins supposed proposal for a buffer zone on Ukrainian territory, between Russia and Ukraine, is a non-starter and can be dismissed easily and in good conscience, Nixey told The Daily Beast. The Ukrainians would never accept it. Even if there were some kind of mutually agreed-upon buffer zonewhich seems unlikely at this pointPutin almost certainly would not honor it, according to Nixey. Putins track record in keeping promises, agreements and treaties is unblemishedhe doesnt keep any of them. Russia wins by asking for the whole of someones cake and then settling (for the time being) for half It is a near-certainty that Russia would rearm and regroup and try again, Nixey said. For Putin, the whole of Ukraine is the buffer zone and more beyond, Nixey said. Kyiv accused Moscows so-called buffer zone proposal a sign that Putin is prepared to escalate the war. The recent mass shooting in a Moscow concert hallin which more than a 100 citizens have been killed, according to Russian authoritieshave added to those concerns. Russian officials were quick to point a finger at Kyiv in the aftermath of the massacre on Friday, claiming that the suspects were planning to cross into Ukrainian territory before being arrested. The terror group ISIS has since claimed responsibility for the attack, and Ukraine denied any involvement. Four Moscow Massacre Suspects Caught Fleeing to Ukraine, Russia Claims This is... a direct manifest statement that the war will only escalate, presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters, referring to the buffer zone reports. All this is direct evidence that the Russian Federation is not ready to live in modern social and political relations, taking into account the absolute sovereign rights of other countries. 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. It is no secret that the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) group, identified as being behind the recent Moscow terror attack, hates Vladimir Putin and Russia. Russian military campaigns in Syria, Dagestan and Chechnia and Wagner Group actions in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger (as well as Mozambique and many other places) have positioned Russia as an enemy of these militant Islamists and yet one of their more vulnerable foes. Putins (predictable) attempt to somehow blame the Ukrainians for the attack will fool very few at home or abroad. This war between radical Islamists and Russia is not new at all, though the West has to some degree forgotten it with the arrival of the wider conflict in Ukraine. The Russian war with the Islamists goes way back to the breakup of the Soviet Union, which sparked several civil wars across former Soviet republics including Tajikistan where the four arrested suspects are supposedly from. Initially the Islamists were brutally suppressed by the Tajik authorities using their OMON special police forces (many other post-Soviet countries including Russia have OMON units). The commander of the Tajikistan OMON, Gulmurod Khalimov, defected to ISIS in 2015 and went on to become their Minister for War. While Khalimov was reportedly killed in a Russian strike in 2017, some sources believe he is still alive and active. With the arrest of four Tajik suspects, the attack may well have been directly inspired by Khalimov or his successors. The nature of the attack has all the hallmarks of an ISIS atrocity, like the one in Paris in November 2015 which claimed the lives of 134 concert goers. Other attacks in Russia have included the Moscow theatre assault in 2002 which saw 132 hostages killed (mostly by a botched Russian attempt to gas the terrorists). Some 334 people including 186 children died in the Beslan school attack of 2004. More recently attacks on Moscow airport in 2011 and the St Petersburg Metro in 2017 again show a pattern and modus operandi typical of ISIS. The intent is, as always, to goad the Russians into a disproportionate response against Muslims with the intent of further radicalising the sizable Russian Muslim minority which will soon make up a third of Russias population. This will be one reason why Putin, after a period of silence, has chosen to blame Ukraine for the attack. Putin needs to galvanise support for his failing war at home and is currently engaged in a near frenzied recruitment drive in Muslim majority former USSR states, including Tajikistan. He cannot blame Tajikistan for the atrocity, despite the evidence being clear. Crocus City Hall burns on March 22. The deadly terror attack on the edge of Moscow came just days after Vladimir Putin's sham re-election as Russian President - Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP This attack also represents a catastrophic failure in intelligence for the Russian FSB security agency, with warnings of the attack having been published weeks ago by US and UK intelligence agencies, amongst others. Then there is a realisation that such a complex attack could not have been the work of four Tajiks in isolation. Together, these facts make Putin and his regime look weak and vulnerable even as he casts around looking for more enemies real or imagined in order to rally an increasingly war-weary Russian public and maintain his grasp on power. The attack is also a timely reminder to the rest of us that Putins crimes are not only of the last two years: he has been fighting brutal wars in many other places than Ukraine for decades and he must be stopped. As his opponents learned many times in Syria, any compromise will simply give him time to regroup and rearm before he re-starts the fight at a time and place of his choosing. If there is a ceasefire in Ukraine, Putin will soon be back, much stronger than he is now. Confronting him then will come at a price that we in the unprepared and self-indulgent West will be unwilling to pay. Colonel Tim Collins is a former British Army officer who served with the SAS and as commander of the Royal Irish during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when his before-battle speech to his soldiers made headlines around the world Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Russian President Vladimir Putin pictured on a tv screen while addressing the country's citizens after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. On the evening of March 22, ISIS militants attacked the building of the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Moscow. The death toll at Crocus City Hall currently stands at 133 people. Artem Priakhin/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday plans to discuss additional measures with his security officials following the terrorist attack near Moscow that left 137 dead, the Interfax agency reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The meeting will also address the question of how victims and their families can be supported, Peskov said. The Kremlin spokesman refused to comment on the numerous reports about the alleged torture of four detained suspects by Russian security forces. In response to a journalist who pointed to the men's clearly visible injuries in the courtroom and to videos of torture, Peskov merely said: "I will leave this question unanswered." He did not address the background to the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert hall on Friday, but referred to information from the Russian law enforcement authorities. The Islamic State terrorist militia has claimed responsibility several times for the attack, a claim Western security authorities and experts consider credible. Putin and other Russian representatives stated without providing any evidence that Ukraine was allegedly involved in the crime. The Ukrainian leadership has adamantly denied any responsibility for the attack. Any country that has endured a terrorist attack as deadly as that inflicted on concert-goers in Moscow last Friday deserves sympathy and for the culprits to be condemned in the strongest terms. The victims, enjoying a night out, were gunned down or choked by fumes from a fire in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Islamist fanatics. Indeed, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility. Yet as the world voices its compassion for the relatives of the dead and the hundreds recovering from their wounds, what does Vladimir Putin do? He seeks to involve Ukraine in the blame and then orders a massive missile strike on Kyiv. This is a new low even by the Russian presidents standards but it is done deliberately to deflect any blame from himself. The Kremlin had been tipped off by Western intelligence to the possibility of an attack from an IS splinter organisation operating in the Khorasan region but ignored the warnings, calling it a provocation. The FSB security agency received the information several weeks ago and one of the arrested suspects has been seen on state television speaking Tajik. Yet Putin did not mention Isis or Islamist terrorism in his first remarks to the nation after the atrocity. Perhaps the authorities might not have been able to stop the assault but they would at least have been alert to the threat and could even have intercepted it. Putin is now trying to muddy the waters to avoid any embarrassing questions about his own culpability and doubtless Russias tame media will convince credulous citizens that it was all a Kyiv-inspired plot. But his election campaign claim to be the man Russians can trust to keep their country secure has been shattered. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an evening address on March 25 that the terrorist attack in a concert hall in a Moscow suburb on March 22 "was committed by radical Islamists," but still alleged that Ukraine was to blame, without providing evidence. "The U.S., through various channels, is trying to convince everyone that there is supposedly no trace of Kyiv in the bloody terrorist attack at Crocus (concert venue), that it is the banned Islamic State," Putin claimed. "It is necessary to get answers to a number of questions whether radical Islamists really decided to strike Russia," Putin alleged, insinuating that the attack was carried out on behalf of another "client." Several gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a Moscow suburb, during a concert on the evening of March 22, killing 139 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and released footage on March 23 from inside the venue. Hours after the attack, Putin attempted to connect the attack to Kyiv, claiming that the detained suspects planned to flee to Ukraine. The White House said there was no indication that Ukraine was behind the Moscow attack. In his address, Putin once again linked the attack with Kyiv and repeated the allegation that the suspects were headed to the Ukrainian border, a highly militarized zone. "The purpose of the bloody terrorist attack on March 22 was to sow panic in Russian society," Putin claimed, questioning "who benefits from this" and "who was waiting for them there" at the border with Ukraine. Of the 139 people who were killed, 40 people died from gunshot wounds, and 45 people were killed when the building caught on fire, Putin said. A court in Moscow charged four men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, with committing an act of terrorism on March 24. The U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a warning on March 7 that "extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow." Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on March 7 that its agents had thwarted a potential Islamic State terrorist attack on a Moscow synagogue. French President Emmanuel Macron said on March 25 that Islamic State recently made "several attempts" at attacks on French soil. It would be "cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and for the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine," Macron said. Read also: Opinion: Why ISIS attacked Russia and why Russia blames Ukraine Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. As Illinois and the Quad Cities area works to boost filmmaking production, Stephen Folker of Davenport has been quietly building an impressive number of film and TV projects. His work can be seen on A&E, Hulu and Tubi TV, and hes working on two new drama films in Davenport, with local and Chicago-based talent. The writer / co-producers are based out of Los Angeles and Indiana, and in May, Folker has another feature hes been hired to direct and film. The poster for the new film shot in Davenport, House on Rockingham. His latest feature (which he wrote and directed) is the completed House on Rockingham, a psychological thriller made for $2,500, shot in Davenport. Just me directing and running a camera with an audio bag slung around my neck. I love making movies for the craft, Folker said recently. In the story, after securing a job as live-in housekeeper, a woman discovers the owner may be connected to her sisters disappearance. The film features actors Dave Juehring, Stephanie Goff, Kate Almquist and Thomas Ely Sage. The lead actress in the film flew in from Utah and did a stellar job, Folker said, noting the film is playing at the Maryland International Film Festival along with PopCon Film Festival. Hes still waiting to hear about some other submissions and future distribution. Sarah F. Katz, whos based in Los Angeles, is one of his producing partners. Stephen and I have collaborated on producing projects in a wide range of genres, to include tech drama, cultural drama, historical drama, science fiction, and thriller/horror. In so doing, we have leveraged the beautiful Iowa countryside to tell a vast array of stories surrounding equal rights, poverty, and intercultural understanding thanks also to strong local talent and unique locations, Katz said by email. A scene from House on Rockingham, shot at Davenports Vander Veer Park. Stephens directing and cinematography skills have brought these stories to life in films that have gone on to receive the honors of placements, she said. Folker and Katz initially collaborated on a short film At The End of the Canyon (2022) then a feature Into the Valley (2023), which she wrote and he directed then a mini-feature Spiderweb (2023). Now theyre partnering on another feature this May, which is a horror / thriller. A scene from Folkers new film, Spiderweb. His films have been shown and placed in the following festivals: BAFTA and Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival (semi-finalist) Other Worlds Film Festival (finalist) International Sci-Fi & Fantasy Film Festival, L.A. Sci-Fi & Horror Film Festival (semi-finalist) Indie Suspense Horror Sci-Fi Film Festival, Hollywood Just4Shorts Film & Screenplay Competition (winner) First Contact Film Festival, IndieFEST Film Awards (finalist) Alternating Currents Film Festival, Snake Alley Film Festival, Cedar Rapids Film Festival, and American Screenwriters Conference. Folker has been making independent films since 2010 (his first short film was the zany comedy, The Mustache Movie), and his passion for making films dated back to being the kid in the neighborhood running around with my dads camcorder, he said. After completing his first feature film (To Survive), he sold it to an emerging production company based out of Los Angeles. From there, Folker financed his next, Field Freak, which he called an over-the-top, campy flick poking fun at cheesy horror films. A scene from Spiderweb, in which a Jewish anthropology professor risks everything when she exposes faults in an ancient Judaic law that could threaten the foundation of her peoples identity. It came out in several countries (including being dubbed in German), which was fun to watch, Folker said. Ill never forget my lead actor finding a copy of the film at Family Video on the shelf, he said. After The Orange Man (2014), another over-the-top flick with a horror-comedy theme, he has shifted to more meaningful, serious projects. Being self-taught, each film was Folkers film school, and most of his actors are locals with a dream, like me, he said. Were growing together. A selfie of Folker on the set of At the End of the Canyon. After the pandemic hit, he received an email from a producer based in New York. They were looking for someone to film an interview, in Cedar Rapids, for a crime show. At first, I thought the email looked fishy and I deleted it. Then I decided, maybe this is something to look into, Folker said. It turned out to be a new crime show entitled Killer Cases. His first day setting up the interview, Folker was told to show up two hours early to get lights ready / cameras ready. But he had everything ready to go in 20 minutes. The shows creator and executive producer were impressed with his filming style and cinematography, and he was hired to film the entire episode, solo. Folker, left, after filming an episode of Killer Cases with attorney Jerry Buting. Which worked well due to the pandemic, Folker said, noting he went on to film six more episodes. This show ended up airing on A&E and is available on Hulu. One of the episodes he filmed was about Mollie Tibbetts, and was the most watched program on cable that week in December 2021: The Murder of Mollie Tibbetts. When 20-year-old University of Iowa student Tibbetts went missing during her regular evening jog July 18, 2018, her disappearance was headline news. Police had few clues until a local resident shared his garage surveillance camera, which had captured a brief glimpse of Mollie running down the street and later a black car driving by. Cristhian Bahena Rivera listens as Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown delivers his closing arguments in his trial, May 27, 2021, at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport. Bahena Rivera is on trial after being charged with first degree murder in the death of Mollie Tibbetts in July 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, pool) and FILE In this September 2016 file photo, Mollie Tibbetts poses for a picture during homecoming festivities at BGM High School in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. (Kim Calderwood via AP, File) Following the lead, police moved quickly to arrest undocumented immigrant Cristhian Bahena Rivera who worked at a nearby dairy farm and charged him with murder, according to the episode summary. Under intense questioning, Rivera appeared to confess, although his story had strange gaps. But when it came time for trial, he pled not guilty, and his lawyers mounted a vigorous defenseaccusing police of badgering him into a confession, casting suspicion on Mollies boyfriend and presenting alternate theories of the crime. Another crime documentary Another film Folker is very proud of is a local true crime documentary called Tragedy on Highway 74 (2022), currently available on Tubi. The premise of the film is the tragic story of Iowa vigilante Robert Sproat and his demise in August 1930. In a time when local business owners helped law enforcement, a few poor decisions left a man lying in a ditch, and another at the end of a rope. An image from the true crime documentary Tragedy on Highway 74. The film features historical reenactments and Folker said there are many cool stories about the filming of that project. I wont spoil the story, but the killer in the film, because of the time period, we couldnt find any photos of him, he recalled. Then by sheer coincidence, the Cedar County Historical Society found an old, unlabeled VHS tape. Stuff is left to museums all the time when people pass away, so its just a random tape for all they know. A scene from the documentary Tragedy on Highway 74. Watching the tape, they realized it was someones homemade films from the 1930s, which were digitized to VHS. Eighteen minutes into the video, there is a shot of the courthouse in Cedar County (where the murder happened) with the killer being led in and out of the courthouse., Folker said. What a gem of a find! Naturally, it made its way into the film. Looking for bigger projects Far too often, the filmmaker said some of the most talented people are overlooked on a regular basis. If someone wont give them the opportunity, then I will, Folker said. Of course, deep down Im hoping one day someone in the Quad Cities will reach out and help me raise the funds to get a project off the ground, to do something bigger. After all, if I can direct, film and edit feature films solo, with little to no resources, imagine what I could do with the right backing, he said. Iowa actor Bryce Taylor from the documentary Tragedy on Highway 74. One thing I tell everyone is, filmmaking is a craft. One that takes dedication and perseverance, Folker said. Its being thick skinned and not worrying about what everyone has to say about your work. And talent isnt based on what gear you have or the right way to do things. Its what you can do with what you have. Bob Ross made killer paintings with a paint brush youd use on a door and buy at Home Depot. His son Levi is a talented, self-taught watercolor artist and he always says When it comes to art, rules are meant to be broken, Folker said. Hes spot on. For more information on Folkers website, visit his website HERE. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com. TULSA, Okla. A Quapaw Nation resident was sentenced on Monday to more than 50 years for the shooting death of Choctaw Nation resident Hunter Majors. Josiah Gammill, 21, is required to serve 604 months followed by five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Majors. After fatally shooting Majors and burning the evidence, Gammill, then age 20, bragged in a message to a friend writing, I wiped Hunter off the face of the earth, according to court records. The day before the shooting, Gammill and Majors were riding in a vehicle along with two females from Tulsa to Picher. During the drive, the female passengers needed to use the restroom, so the female driver pulled over to the side of the road, court records show. Gammill told Majors to walk down the road to give the females privacy. After Majors started walking away, Gammill opened the car trunk, pulled out a shotgun, and walked toward Majors firing two shots into his body. Gammill ran back to the car where he and the two females drove back to Tulsa, where he burned the clothes he wore to eliminate any blood-related evidence, court records show. At the murder scene, investigators found two, red, expended shotgun shells and Majors identification card. At a Tulsa hotel room, investigators found Gammills burn pile and a pump action shotgun. Shotgun shells that matched the same gauge and color as those discovered at the murder scene were found in Gammills hotel. Gammills criminal history dates back to a juvenile when at age 15 he stole a car and credit cards, and used the stolen credit cards. Two years later, Gammill, while acting in concert with others, broke into and entered a victims apartment and was prosecuted for second-degree burglary, court records show. He was also arrested for possession of tobacco and drug paraphernalia, public intoxication, DUI, and another second-degree burglary. Gammill remains in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 26. EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar cant get rid of biases, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada said, Trend reports. "Mr. Toivo Klaar cant get rid of biases and only sees the evils in the legitimate discourse about the return of Azerbaijani villages, while totally ignores calls to fight for continuation of illegal occupation in Armenian media. FYI, the villages are not a matter of territorial dispute," he said. Earlier Toivo Klaar made a biased statement. He noted that threats against Armenia in the Azerbaijani media are unacceptable. Shanta Gold's New Luika and Singida mines in Tanzania are increasing their output We seem to be on the right track with infrastructure and engineering expert Costain. This months full-year results for 2023 (Mar 12) read well and suggest our investment case of a fat order backlog, improving operating margins and increased cash returns to shareholders is playing out nicely, especially as the company can also point to good order intake from the water and nuclear industries here in the UK. Best of all, the valuation is still low. The projected dividend yield of 2pc may not have income-seekers hopping up and down on the spot, but the payment per share is expected to grow in 2024 after 2023s return to the dividend list and that is down to both healthy cash flow and a net cash pile. Adjusting for leases and a pension surplus, Costain ended last year with 194m in net cash on its balance sheet, more than the current market value, and the equivalent of 88pc of the companys 219m in net assets. Put another way, investors are currently valuing Costains operations, which are forecast to generate 1.3bn in sales and 40m in pre-tax income, at just 25m. That low price tag will hopefully provide us with downside protection should anything go wrong, and upside should the Maidenhead-based company meet its goal of taking its operating return on sales to above 5pc, from 2023s 3pc mark. Questor says: buy Ticker: COST Share price at close: 67.4p Shanta Gold Whether a 10pc increase in the offer price from bidder and global conglomerate ETC Holdings (Mar 19) is enough to sway shareholders in Shanta Gold (SHG:AIM) remains to be seen. If the deal does go through at 14.85p a share, with a dividend of 0.15p a share on top, we will bag a total return in excess of 50pc (Questor, Jan 10, 2023). Given this columns dismal record with junior miners, would be more than enough to keep us happy. That said, we can see why some shareholders may feel that even the higher bid represents a bit of a low-ball price. It equates to a market value of 156m for a firm whose net assets are 133m , according to the last set of published results. They were the first-half figures for 2023 that were released back in September. That price tag implies a price-to-book, or price-to-net-asset-value, multiple of 1.17 times. However, Newmonts (NEM:NYSE) bid for Australias Newcrest in 2023 valued its target at 1.7 times and there is a good possibility of Shanta Gold growing its book value in future, should retained earnings flourish as expected, thanks to both increased output from its New Luika and Singida mines in Tanzania and an all-in sustained cost (AISC) of production of $1,200 (949.26) to $1,400 an ounce. With gold trading at $2,175 an ounce, profits should start to pour out of the ground, if all goes to plan, and the metals price stays firm. There are caveats to this. Newcrest is a much more mature and bigger operation than Shanta, with 2.1 million ounces of annual gold output at an AISC of $1,093 at the last count and the stock offered a higher dividend yield than Shantas before the acquisition by Newmont. Investors are also always likely to place a higher multiple on operations in Canada and Australia relative to ones in Africa, for geopolitical reasons, even if Tanzania is one of the most politically stable nations on the continent, in contrast to say Mali or Burkina Faso, where coups in 2021 and 2022 continue to weigh on investor sentiment toward gold diggers such as Resolute Mining (RSG) and Endeavour Mining (EDV). Intriguingly, EQTs bid for Shanta is the latest in a growing list of merger and acquisition deals in the gold mining industry. Barrick Gold (BAG:NYSE) swallowed up the then FTSE 100 constituent Randgold Resources in 2019, when Newmont snapped up GoldCorp in 2019. Agnico-Eagle (AEM:NYSE) and Kirkland Lake Gold merged in 2021 and then in 2023 Agnico-Eagle and Pan American Silver (PAAS:TSX) bought and split up Yamana Gold before Newmont pounced on Newcrest. The New York Stock Exchanges Arca Gold Bugs index is trading no higher now than it did in November 2003, when the gold price was $390 an ounce. Gold mining executives are clearly paying attention to this disconnect, judging by the rash of deals, even if stock markets are not, and we are therefore happy to keep faith in both Egypt-focused Centamin (CEY) and Resolute Mining. Shanta Golds 2023 results are due on Thursday (March 28) and the shareholder vote on the deal takes place the week after, on Thursday, April 4. Questor says: Gold miners could be primed to shine Ticker: SHG:AIM Share price at close: 14.5p Read the latest Questor column on telegraph.co.uk every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8pm. Read Questors rules of investment before you follow our tips Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will likely discuss U.S. concerns over Israel's planned military operation in Rafah with visiting Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday, the State Department said. But Blinken would not be presenting Washington's alternative plans for a military operation in the southern Gaza city after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a separate U.S.-Israeli meeting on the issue, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. Miller told reporters it was "surprising and unfortunate" that Netanyahu decided an Israeli delegation would not be making the trip after the U.S. abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote on Monday demanding a ceasefire. The U.N. resolution also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. Miller said Israel's planned assault on Rafah would be a mistake and would weaken Israel's security. Rafah is the last refuge for about half of Gaza's 2.3 million population, many of them displaced by fighting elsewhere. Rafah will be the subject of conversations in Blinken's meetings with Gallant and other Israeli officials on Monday and Tuesday, but a detailed presentation on concerns was not part of the plan for the meeting with Gallant. "I am sure we will find other ways to make our concerns known to the government of Israel at very senior levels, but I don't have anything to announce with respect to that today," Miller said. The U.N. Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Monday as Israeli forces carried out new airstrikes in Gaza and laid siege to two hospitals. After vetoing three earlier draft resolutions on the war in the Gaza Strip, the United States abstained following global pressure for a ceasefire to ease fears of famine after nearly six months of war. Netanyahu, whose relationship with Washington has been strained by the ferocity of Israel's offensive in Gaza, said following the U.N. vote that he would not now follow through on plans to send a delegation to Washington on Rafah. Miller said Blinken held discussions on Rafah last week in Tel Aviv with Netanyahu and Israel's war cabinet and laid out very serious concerns. "When we met with them in Israel on Friday, they made clear that they did want to see the options, the alternatives that the United States, was going to present," he said. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Ismail Shakil and Daphne Psaledakis; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller) Ransomware attackers who took control of the Tarrant Appraisal District website have demanded $700,000, the district announced Monday. The attackers have threatened to release sensitive information if their demands are not met, but TAD does not know if they actually have any information, said Lindsay B. Nickle, a cybersecurity attorney from Dallas hired by the district. The district said it is weighing its options, but does not want to pay, Nickle said. Nickle and TAD suspect that Medusa ransomware, which was first spotted in 2021, is behind the attack. Medusa has previously used extortion and the threat of selling sensitive information on the dark web as a tactic to negotiate, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. Jingguo Wang, a professor of information systems and operations management at UT Arlington, told the Star-Telegram Friday that the public nature of TADs security struggles might have made them a target for the attack. TAD board members did not field questions following their closed session about the matter Monday afternoon. Following closed session the board approved the reallocation $235,000 to purchase Microsoft Office 365, the cybersecurity platform Sentinel 1 and a cybersecurity consultant. Tax Assessor Collector Wendy Burgess who is a member of the districts board was not present for the meeting. The site has been down since the attack on Thursday, the second time it crashed in two weeks. TADs email and phone lines are still down. After the initial crash on March 14 which the district blamed on a database failure the district rolled out its new website ahead of its planned launch. This is the second known attack on TADs computer systems in the past two years. In October 2022, a cyberattack exposed taxpayer data, though none of it was compromised, according to a report released March 1. In April 2023, its website crashed after appraisal notices were sent to property owners, who for weeks were unable to protest their values online. That began months of turmoil for the district, including the resignation of the chief appraiser, who stepped down after the Star-Telegram exposed comments made by an agency senior manager, who suggested TAD lied to the public about problems with its website. On Friday, Tarrant County Judge Tim OHare told the Star-Telegram in a statement he is hopeful new chief appraiser Joe Don Bobbitt and the new board would resolve the security situation as well other problems caused by the previous regime at TAD. On Friday, board members Rich DeOtte and Alan Blaylock both voiced confidence in Bobbitt. During the emergency meeting Monday afternoon, the board showed a united front with multiple members highlighting how quickly they were notified of the issue and thanking TAD leadership with staying in constant communication. Four members of the public spoke at the opening of the meeting and were quick to remind the board of TADs turbulent past, including property tax consultant Chandler Crouch, who has been a vocal critic of the appraisal district in the past. We have a new board, we have a new chief appraiser, and here we are yet again with a myriad of TV cameras, every news station in town, and a scandalous situation in our hands, Crouch said. This is the very reason why we cannot ignore the past. We absolutely have to deal with the sins of the past that linger on today. We may have some people here that need to go. Crouch also urged the new leadership to remain transparent on the security breach. I want to see ownership of the entire problem, absolutely telling us the truth, as ugly as it may be and I want to implore you to do the hard thing, Crouch said. The district sets property appraisals and administers exemptions for tax purposes. A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced a man last week to 229 years to life after he sexually assaulted multiple women over 10 months. Octavian Joseph, 26, forced five women to perform oral sex on him and raped three of them from February to December 2019, prosecutors said, before his arrest by police that same year. He would terrorize his victims by slapping, punching and grabbing their hair to subdue them, the Sacramento County District Attorneys Office said in a news release. Some of the assaults were committed repeatedly on the same victim over periods of time, prosecutors said in a news release when he was convicted. One victim rolled out of a car to escape Joseph, prosecutors said previously. Law enforcement pulled over Joseph, and a victim inside his car reported the sexual assault. DNA linked Joseph to the other victims, prosecutors said. Joseph was convicted Nov. 15 of eight counts of forcible oral copulation, five counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of attempted rape. He was sentenced Friday. As of Monday, he remained in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail where he has been since his arrest, and is awaiting transfer to state prison, jail records show. A Cobb County family is pleading for help after raw sewage flooded their rooms at the Economy Hotel in Marietta and ruined their stuff. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Channel 2s Michael Seiden was at the hotel Monday, where Marietta code enforcement showed up earlier today. The family claims they paid $1,200 to cover their stay for the month of March, but in the last week, theyve been dealing with a major sewage problem. TRENDING STORIES: Pictures showed sewage in the hallway and some of the familys possessions are soaking wet. On Monday, Seiden learned that the city and county health department are both investigating. Water flooded to the door, through the whole room. Coming out of the walls, cant even mop it up anymore, Mya May-Wiggens said. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] May-Wiggens and her boyfriend, Michael Buttrum, said theyve been dealing with the disgusting and smelly mess for more than a week. It got so bad I had to call my babys grandmother to come pick her up, because she couldnt be there, May-Wiggins said. When the couple voiced their complaints to the management of the extended stay hotel, they refused to move them into a different room. We ended up having to call the police, because they refused to move our rooms and they were being so horrible and nasty to us about it, May-Wiggins said. Over the weekend, Marietta Police responded on at least four separate occasions, but multiple sources said management refused to talk to them. An unidentified employee declined to comment and asked Seiden to leave the property. May-Wiggins and Buttrum said theyve already paid the money for their stay for the month, but now, they feel trapped, because they dont have the money to go anywhere else. My kids shouldnt have to live in that, Buttrum said. My wife shouldnt have to live in that and my friend who is helping us pay the rent shouldnt have to live in that. A spokeswoman with the City of Marietta said code enforcement sent out an investigator and the city has also contacted the Cobb Douglas Public Health Department. They havent responded to Seidens request. Really aggravating; Community hurting as case for woman killed in 2020 hit-skip goes cold Police are still looking for leads in a deadly hit-and-run that happened almost four years ago. On August 10, 2020, 39-year-old Tamara Jackson was hit and killed by a car on West Third Street near Lorenz Avenue in Dayton. Dayton police said Jackson was walking towards an RTA stop at the time of the incident. >>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Police ask for help in deadly hit-and-run cold case Community members still feel for the grieving family. I know that its pretty, really aggravating and theyre still searching, so I feel for them, Dayton resident CJ Williams said. Williams experienced a hit-and-run in the past and wants Jacksons family to get justice. I probably still be searching to this day too, Williams said. I wouldnt get over the loss of the person like, you cant get that back. After multiple years of searching for answers, Dayton police said the case has officially gone cold. We really want to get closure for Ms. Jacksons family and get this case closed, Dayton Police Sergeant Gordon Cairns said. This isnt the only hit-and-run case Dayton police have spent time and resources trying to close. >>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dayton police hoping community helps them find sedan that hit, killed pedestrian Monday night The department is actively searching for leads in five different cases. Police said they have done everything they can to find Jacksons killer. Went door to door, unfortunately, there was no particular evidence at the time, or no one that came forward. And thats one of those things were asking for. Its been a while now, Cairns said. Community members told News Center 7s Malik Patterson that they fear Jacksons family will never get closure. By the time they get over it and mournWe still just want to know like, what happened, and most of the time they want justice, which I get, Dayton resident Chloe Parks said. Police know the suspects car is a white Chrysler 300 with possible Illinois tags. The Dayton Police Department wants anyone with any information to reach out at 937-333-COPS (2677) or contact Miami Valley Crime Stoppers at 937-222-STOP (7867) or www.miamivalleycrimestoppers.com. WALTERBORO, S.C. (WCBD) Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill has resigned from office, effective immediately, she announced Monday morning from outside the countys courthouse. Hill was elected to serve as Clerk of Court in 2020 but found herself at the center of controversy following the conviction of once-prominent South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh for the killing of his wife and youngest son. Murdaugh and his defense team accused Hill of tampering with the jury and attempting to persuade the trials outcome. She was also exposed for plagiarizing parts of a book she wrote about the weeks-long trial titled, Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders. It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as your Colleton County Clerk of Court over the past four years, Hill said during her announcement. Hill reflected on the Murdaugh trial saying the small town of Walterboro came together and made everyone proud. But she said media interests and public scrutiny led to her decision not to seek re-election and resign. I will now be able to focus on being a wife, a mother, and grandmother to my two grandboys. And will be spending time with the people who mean the most to me, she said. With the upcoming election, I wanted to ensure that I provided ample time for other Republican candidates who may be interested in pursuing this position. Hills resignation letter was sent to Governor Henry McMasters office for approval. Meanwhile, her attorney, Justin Bamberg, said the announcement was not in response to any ongoing investigation or development in such investigations. The State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) previously launched two investigations into Hill. One is connected to the alleged interactions with the jury, and another is regarding allegations she used her election position for personal gain. Bamberg refused to answer questions about the investigations or whether they prompted Hill to step away. Instead, he said it was believed that Hill staying in the race would distract from other candidates and the people of Colleton County. The resignation is strictly about the people of Colleton, he said. Out of the options that were on the table, for example not just running again and staying in office through the election, that ran the risk of detracting the publics ability to digest information from candidates about what they wanted to offer. Meanwhile, Niel Gordon, who co-authored Hills book, issued a statement following her announcement saying he was interviewed by SLED on Friday. They expressed a great deal of concern about Becky possibly using her office for personal gain, said Gordon. In their questioning of me, they were honing in on how many different times Becky did book signings, interviews, and speaking engagements during the workday. I sincerely hope her resignation lessens any potential action taken against her, and that it restores public trust in the office of clerk of court, Gordon said. Former Chief Justice Jean Toal held a hearing in late January where she questioned all 12 jurors and Hill to determine whether a retrial was warranted. Most jurors said comments they heard did not directly influence their decision to find Murdaugh guilty. Hill denied allegations that she attempted to sway their decisions and answered questions from the defense team, state prosecutors, and Judge Toal regarding the trial and her book. Judge Toal ultimately denied Alex Murdaughs request for a retrial, saying the jurors verified under oath that their decision was their own. The former chief justice believed Hill was attracted by the siren call of celebrity. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) Raleigh Police earlier told residents on Greencastle Court to stay inside while a gunman was on the loose and a gunshot was fired Sunday. On Sunday around 11:20 a.m., police responded to a shots fired call in the 2500 block of Greencastle Court. Police said they are currently looking for an armed man and the the gunshot was fired by a police officer during a struggle with the gunman. Officers earlier said residents should stay inside and report suspicious activity to 911. Early Sunday afternoon, crime scene tape was up in an area near an apartment building and there were several police officers at the scene. One killed in overnight homicide in north Charlotte, CMPD investigating Later Sunday afternoon, police said an officer was in the area at 11:16 a.m. responding to a call about an armed man. The officer was detaining the armed suspect when a struggle ensued, a Raleigh Police news release said, adding that an officer fired a service weapon during the incident. Crime scene tape and police in the distance in the 2500 block of Green Castle Court. Photo by Amalia Roy/CBS 17 The gunfire did not injure anyone but did cause property damage. The gunman fled on foot. A perimeter was established, and officers conducted an extensive search and canvas of the area, the news release said. Greencastle Court is located off Brockton Drive, just west of Green Road, and north of New Hope Church Road. As of 4:20 p.m., police said the suspect was still at large. Teen killed in Lancaster shooting identified: Sheriff The Raleigh Police Department encourages everyone in the area to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity or persons, the news release said. Officers said anyone who might have information about the case should call the Raleigh Police Department at 919-996-3335. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies in action during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayern Munich and FSV Mainz 05 at the Allianz Arena. Sven Hoppe/dpa Bayern Munich expect defender Alphonso Davies to make a decision about his future as soon as possible and want a clear answer from the player still this week, broadcasters Sky reported. The club has already made a final contract extension offer, but Davies reportedly also has offers from other top European clubs. Real Madrid are said to have a big interest on the defender. "We made Alphonso a very concrete, appreciative offer. At some point, you have to say yes or no," Bayern board member for sport Max Eberl recently told the Sport Bild weekly. Davies' contract runs until 2025. Should the 23-year-old reject Bayern's extension offer, a sale in the summer is a possibility. German Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs Nancy Faeser gives a press statement after the plenary session of the German Bundestag. Britta Pedersen/dpa Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned of the growing dangers posed by Russia's hybrid warfare of traditional and cyber spying and accused the Kremlin of encouraging migrants to move to Western Europe. The Social Democratic (SPD) politician, in a story in Monday's Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, said: "We are actually experiencing a new dimension of threats from Russian aggression. "But espionage is also at least as active," said Faeser. She also accused the Kremlin of deliberately promoting refugee movements to Western Europe: "Russia also wants to destabilize the West with migration." With an eye toward the European Parliament elections in June and German state elections in September, Faeser said the German government will gear up more strongly to defend itself against cyber espionage "We must ensure that there are no hacker attacks on electoral authorities or on the transmission of election results". Faeser is focusing on the increased use of artificial intelligence to protect against disinformation campaigns and spoke out against cuts to her budget for 2025. The interior minister also accused the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party of being close to Putin, which AfD leader Alice Weidel denied in a dpa interview. "The AfD worships Putin and despises modern Germany," Faeser said. The party had "radicalized itself in large parts from an anti-euro party to an anti-constitutional party." Faeser did not rule out the possibility of banning the AfD,a move which has been debated recently in Germany. "If a party wants to aggressively undermine the basic democratic order, it can be banned by the Federal Constitutional Court. If the radicalization of the AfD continues, this is an option provided for in our constitution," Faeser said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. In the first two months of 2024, the number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan climbed by 46.7 percent compared to the same time of the previous year, totaling 341,000 persons, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, and Entrepreneurship Vugar Bayramov wrote on his social media account, Trend reports. During this period, the top three countries were neighboring countries: 26.8 percent of tourists came from Russia, 19.9 percent from Turkiye, and 9.8 percent from Iran. 6.9 percent of the total number of tourists were from India, 4.8 percent from Georgia, and 3.4 percent from Saudi Arabia. "As of 2023, the leader in the number of tourists is China. Compared to the same period last year, the number of arrivals from China increased 4.1 times, Saudi Arabia - 2.8 times, India - 2.7 times, Kyrgyzstan - 2.6 times, Bahrain - 2.5 times, Kazakhstan - 2.4 times, Tajikistan - 2.4 times, Philippines - 2.0 times, Oman - 1.9 times, Spain - 1.9 times, Uzbekistan - 1.9 times, South Korea - 1.9 times, Jordan - 1.8 times, Italy - 1.8 times, Turkmenistan - 1.7 times, Egypt - 1.7 times, Yemen - 1.7 times, Kuwait - 1.6 times, Iran - 1.6 times. The number of arrivals from Arab countries is once again on the rise. The number of arrivals from the Gulf States increased by 1.7 times from January through February this year. The same growth was recorded for tourists from the European Union. The growth of arrivals from CIS countries is relatively small: only 31.4 percent. Official statistics suggest an increase in the number of immigrants from Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In general, the number of tourists increased as the number of flights from Baku increased, as did the number of economy-class flights. At the same time, there is a growth in interest in Azerbaijan's seasonal tourism potential," the publication says. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel NAPERVILLE, Ill. Downtown Naperville will be losing a popular beauty store at the end of the month but gaining a popular jewelry retailer this summer. According to a recent Chicago Tribune report, the Ulta Beauty store at 103 South Washington Street will close at the end of the month. The report says March 30 will be the stores last day because it has reached the end of its lease at that location. However, the report says, the other Ulta location in Naperville located at West Ridge Court, 2707 Aurora Avenue does not plan to close. We look forward to welcoming guests, an Ulta spokesperson said of that location, according to the report. Headquartered in Bolingbrook, Ulta is the nations largest beauty chain. It operates over 1,300 stores across the country, including 43 in Chicagoland alone, according to its website. Meanwhile, a Kendra Scott jewelry store will be among the retailers being added to Napervilles Main Street Promenade, according to a report earlier this month from Naperville Community Television. Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli and Naperville Development Partnership President Christine Jeffries, the report says, announced the addition of the Kendra Scott store to Main Street Promenade during the 2024 Naperville State of the Real Estate event earlier this month, hosted by the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. According to a Daily Herald report from last week, the Kendra Scott store is slated to open early this summer. Last summer, an annual report from Chicago retail consultant firm Melaniphy & Associates said Naperville continues to lead suburban Chicago in retail sales, calling it the retail mecca of the suburbs, according to a Tribune report. However, Naperville has seen some storefronts vacated recently along high-profile Washington Street. Ulta joins Barnes & Noble, which closed in January after 25 years downtown, in leaving the street, the Daily Herald notes. I think a lot of the large national retailers are looking at their retail footprint to determine whats going to be best for them, as they are in a new economy, Wehrli said in the report. I think the space they are leaving is going to be a highly desirable spot in our downtown, and I look forward to filling it soon. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said she cannot back her party's nominee for the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump, and did not rule out becoming an independent. "I wish that as Republicans, we had ... a nominee that I could get behind, Murkowski told CNN. "I certainly cant get behind Donald Trump." In an interview, Murkowski would not say if she would remain a Republican, CNN reported on Sunday. Asked if she would become an independent, Murkowski said: "Oh, I think Im very independent minded. ... I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump." She said she was navigating her way through some interesting political times. "Let's just leave it at that," she said. Murkowski, 66, was the first Republican senator to call for Trump's resignation after his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. She later voted to impeach Trump, a fellow Republican. In return, Trump endorsed Murkowski's Republican challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, in the 2022 election. Murkowski has represented Alaska in the Senate since 2002 and built an independent profile as one of the chamber's few centrists. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) WASHINGTON House Republicans are threatening to hold U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress if he doesnt hand over material from the Justice Departments recent investigation of President Joe Biden. In a letter to Garland on Monday, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded the Justice Department hand over audio of former special counsel Robert Hur interviewing Biden about his mishandling of classified documents. If you fail to do so, the Committees will consider taking further action, such as the invocation of contempt of Congress proceedings, the letter says. In their initial subpoena for Hurs investigative material last month, Republicans especially wanted the transcript of Hurs interview with Biden, since Hur said the president came off as an elderly man with a poor memory. The Justice Department handed over the transcript shortly before Hur testified before Jordans committee, but Republicans are now insisting they also get audio of the interview plus audio and transcripts of Hurs interviews with Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter of Bidens 2017 memoir. The transcript of Hurs interview with Biden showed the president struggling to recall the timeline of his son Beaus death in 2015 and his subsequent decision not to run for president, with aides frequently chiming in to help him answer questions. Partly because of Bidens memory issues, Hurs report recommended no charges against Biden for retaining classified material after his vice presidency. During his testimony, Hur refused to elaborate on his view of Bidens memory. When a Republican asked if Biden was senile, for instance, Hur simply said he hadnt said so in his report. A contempt of Congress vote typically results in a referral to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, meaning Republicans would essentially be asking Garland to prosecute himself. Federal prosecutors often decline to press charges for contempt or in response to criminal referrals from lawmakers from the opposite party. Still, a successful contempt vote against Garland might be more useful for House Republicans than an unsuccessful impeachment vote against Biden. Republicans have struggled to prove their corruption allegations against the president and have been looking for off-ramps from their impeachment inquiry, such as referring Biden family members to the Justice Department for prosecution. Recently, Comer speculated about making criminal referrals to a future Justice Department once again controlled by Donald Trump. If the Merrick Garland Department of Justice will not hold this family accountable, then maybe if Trump wins president, then a Trey Gowdy Department of Justice can hold this family accountable for the wrongdoing, Comer said Sunday in an interview with Fox News host Trey Gowdy. Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor and congressman, said he hoped to remain as a Fox News host. Chairman, my wife cannot live on the salary that the attorney general makes, but thank you, Gowdy said. I love being a prosecutor, but I also love working for Fox because I get to talk to you. Related... ALBANY, New York The $233 billion budget proposal Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to land this week is facing headwinds in a state roiled with division over the migrant crisis, an ideological split inside the Democratic Party over crime and political complexities to expand housing and help tenants. Hochul and her fellow Democrats who hold supermajorities in the state Legislature are also mindful the spending plan due by April 1 could have lasting ramifications for the partys House candidates running in swing seats this year. Republicans have successfully capitalized on controversial criminal justice law changes made in recent elections. But the broad tensions within the Democratic Party between moderate and left-leaning factions have made it significantly harder to reach sweeping deals on consequential issues facing a state that has struggled to retain population since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and grappling with growing budget deficits. And Hochul has had her share of budget defeats, particularly around mandating more housing in the suburbs. This year, the ongoing concerns over crime have led Hochul to push for tougher penalties for assaulting retail workers a move that Democrats in the Legislature have not fully embraced. She also wants to reach a compromise to address illegal cannabis shops in New York, a key priority for Mayor Eric Adams, in order to address what has been a widely panned roll out of legal marijuana sales in the state. Shes leveraging moving the party a little more to the center, Albany lobbyist Jack ODonnell said. If you left this to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, you wouldnt be talking about retail theft or long-term Medicaid spending. I think its responsible. The governor plans to spend $2.4 billion to provide housing, health care and legal support to thousands of migrants, and lawmakers seem to agree. But more complicated: She is trying to negotiate new measures to spur housing in a state where the cost of renting or buying a home has sharply increased. Meeting the budget deadline this year is complicated, and one Hochul will have to navigate in hopes of getting an on-time deal which would be her first since taking office in 2021. Lawmakers and Hochul are dealing with the Easter holiday falling this Sunday, which is the end of the current fiscal year. The holiday, along with Good Friday, is making a budget approved by that due date unlikely. So that will probably mean pushing negotiations over a range of issues from housing, health care and education spending into April. There could be some benefit to waiting until after Easter by giving top lawmakers and Hochul more time to negotiate a complex housing agreement, which is one of the key sticking points. The governor has signaled she wants a significant package in place that includes $500 million in incentives for new housing after she failed last year to win approval of a sweeping plan that mandated communities build 800,000 new units of housing in the next decade. The plan faltered in large part over opposition by suburban lawmakers who balked at requirements for local governments to build or face a potential override of their zoning laws. This year, Hochul is trying a revised tactic of simply using financial incentives for communities who volunteer to build. Still, she remains at odds with some of her fellow Democrats, who have pressed for a proposal to make it harder for landlords to evict people or increase rent, called Good Cause Eviction. Hochul has pointed to past efforts to aid renters, including emergency assistance funding. But she also told reporters recently she is placing an emphasis on increasing housing supply which likely will mean encouraging developers with tax breaks. The failure by Hochul and Democrats last year to get an agreement on housing touched what the governor recently acknowledged as a political third rail especially in the suburbs, home to swing districts at the state and federal level. I'm working really hard to increase supply because that is the core of all the problems, she told reporters recently. But the governors focus on spurring development has put her at odds with left-leaning Democratic lawmakers who have pushed for a version of Good Cause Eviction, which remains deeply unpopular among developers and moderate lawmakers. Theres concern about congressional races, but I think the issue is people want to see Democrats deliver and the caution is preventing us from delivering, Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, a Brooklyn Democrat, said. If we throw ourselves toward delivering the goods and not worrying about where it looks, I think well see a Democratic majority sail into Congress. Democratic Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, a Long Island lawmaker, said housing is tough conversation because of the competing interests. Lawmakers want a combination of tenant protections as well as support for developers to build. Theres a housing crisis all across this country, she said. The president was just talking about the housing crisis just recently. So in New York, we have an opportunity to present a model that not only tackles affordability and tenant protections, but also adheres to diverse communities. Hochul, who took office following the resignation of Andrew Cuomo, has had missteps during past budget negotiations. Last year, the lack of an agreement over housing resulted in finger pointing between the governor and the Legislature. Her effort to win changes to the state law limiting cash bail resulted in the budget being approved six weeks late. Hochuls proposal to change how schools are funded in the state by reducing aid to districts that have lost enrollment created an uproar among lawmakers, who face all face elections this year. Democrats and Republicans alike have rejected the proposal. About half of the states 637 school districts would face state aid reductions if the measure is approved. Still, some Democratic lawmakers believe they can work with Hochul on the broad-based issues compared to her hard-charging predecessor. She understands the legislative process requires compromise, Assemblymember David Weprin said. Shes less rigid than the former governor. But Hochul, so far, has indicated to top lawmakers she will not budge from the change to overhaul the complex funding formula after years of sharp spending increases for schools. She has also blanched at the opposition. You would have thought that I was making them sell their firstborn, she said this month. Im just trying to be rational about this, and asking for people who want to solve this with me to work together and roll up our sleeves. Still, there have been some signals that the school aid cuts are likely to be pared back in the final deal in exchange for a study on how to distribute the more than $35 billion to districts each year. Republicans, who sit in the powerless minority in both chambers of the Legislature, have blasted Hochuls plans to increase spending for the migrant crisis by $500 million from the current year. GOP campaigns at the House and state levels have signaled they will make the migrant crisis a key issue this election season. Hochul has blasted House Republicans, in turn, for opposing a border security bill negotiated by the Senate. I think it shows shes concerned, particularly with the migrant crisis in the elections this year, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said. Theres a political liability for Democrats. Roseville police officers detained a suspect Thursday accused of stealing more than two carts full of Spam and other food products from a grocery store, police said. Officers were called to the 9000 block of Woodcreek Boulevard for reports of a theft. Two suspects are accused of stealing enough Spam, coffee, Dove soap bars and alcohol that filled multiple carts, according to pictures provided by police. The Roseville Police Department is investigating a retail theft in which more than $9,000 worth of stolen products were recovered after an incident at a grocery store. Roseville Police Department A pursuit began after officers found the suspects vehicle. It ended in a residential area when suspects abandoned the car and began running away on foot, police said. Officers detained the driver but couldnt find the passenger, police said. It was unclear if the passenger was arrested. Lt. Chris Ciampa, a spokesman with the Roseville Police Department, did not immediately return a request for comment. More than $9,000 worth of stolen items were recovered by officers, police said in an online post. The Kuibyshev oil refinery in Russia's Samara Oblast halted one of two primary refining units, taking half of its capacity offline, after a drone attack overnight on March 23, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed industry sources. Samara Oblast Governor Dmitry Azarov claimed that a fire had broken out at the Rosneft-owned oil refinery following the reports about explosions. There were no casualties, according to him. Ukraine's military intelligence agency spokesperson, Andrii Yusov, did not comment on Kyiv's possible involvement in the recent attack, saying an "incident" occurred at the Kuibyshev oil refinery. The refinery halted operation of the CDU-5, with a production power of 9,500 metric tons per day (70,000 barrels), around half its capacity, according to Reuters. The news agency calculated that seven refineries have halted refining capacity of 4.6 million tons of oil, or some 7% of the total, due to drone attacks. In the past weeks, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry. Read also: Russian governor claims fire at power plant in Rostov Oblast disabled 2 units A total of 12 Russian oil refineries were successfully hit in multiple regions deep inside Russian territory as of March 17, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing an unnamed source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Drone attacks on Russia's oil refineries have likely disrupted at least 10% of the country's refinery capacity, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry. Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said on March 22 that Russia's oil refineries are "absolutely legitimate targets" for the Ukrainian military. Her statement followed media reports that the U.S. had asked Ukraine to stop attacking the Russian oil industry. Advisor to Ukraine's Presidential Office head Mykhailo Podolyak denied the reports, saying Kyiv did not receive any such calls from Washington. Read also: Ukrainian drones hit one Russian oil refinery after another Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. In the summer of 2013, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., scion of the civil rights leader, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire and mail fraud in connection with his misuse of $750,000 of campaign funds. Simultaneously, his wife, Sandi, was sentenced to 12 months for signing her name on false tax returns concealing said crimes. The Jacksons did not serve their time together. A judge decided their kids should retain access to one parent. So Jesse went first, got out, and then his wife had to go. At the time, some of us wondered how much shed really known about her husbands schemes. Especially when a divorce followed. The absolutely not-to-be-missed new Steppenwolf Theatre premiere from the white-hot Black playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Purpose, is fictional. But the show, directed by Phylicia Rashad, is set in what looks like Chicagos Jackson Park Highlands neighborhood at the moment when an iconic civil rights leader who marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., Solomon Sonny Jasper, played by Harry Lennix, and his enabling wife Claudine (Tamara Tunie) are celebrating their sons homecoming from prison. That son, Solomon Jr. (Glenn Davis), has returned to Chicago with his furious wife, Morgan (Alena Arenas), who is on her way into prison for tax evasion, blaming her husband and his famous, brand-conscious family with every embittered breath. If that wasnt enough to fire up the parallel, Sonnys longtime slogan is not Keep Hope Alive but Keep Hope Right Here. Our busy and charmingly self-aware narrator, who witnesses every scene, is the second son of the great leader, a maybe bipolar, apparently asexual loner named Nazareth (Jon Michael Hill) who has infuriated his father by quitting divinity school. He sheds his nepobaby status and prefers photographing Canadian lakes to civil rights politics. Hes shown up in Chicago with his unknowing queer pal Aziza (Ayanna Bria Bakari) whom he has just assisted as a dangerously informal sperm donor, an act outside the parental wheelhouse. Its snowing out, so none of these six people can leave Sonnys house. Everyone sits down to an explosive dinner, much like the most famous episode of The Bear. Let me stipulate that Rashads three-hour show was not fully ready at opening. Id heard tell last week that new pages of the script were coming fast and furious from the writer in residence, and actors sometimes were insecure with lines even at Sundays official bow, a rarity here. The piece sags late in Act 2 when Jacobs-Jenkins wants to give everyone their moment in the spotlight, even at the expense of his own natural dramatic rhythm. Some transitions are too abrupt and a few judicious cuts are needed. But those things are mere caveats at the birth of a truly great new Chicago play. Purpose, which I dont doubt will move to Broadway, is exactly why people go to see shows at the only American theater globally famous for its intensity. In a week or two, Purpose will be a three-hour barnstormer, a worthy comparison to August: Osage County, a companion piece to Appropriate (the fabulous Jacobs-Jenkins play burning up Broadway) and, most importantly, an impressive meditation on how a young generation of Black Americans are fighting the faith-based trajectory of their elders. Jacobs-Jenkins is the writer of the moment because of his courage (who else would dare take care on this theme?) and his determination, unlike so many youthful peers, to never fully reveal authorial point of view. Every character here gets their say. All have their flaws. Each has valid grievances. The performances all are poignant but the younger actors in this show are especially good: Hill finally has a role he has deserved for years, Arenas gets to unleash her inner Amy Morton, and the relative newcomer Bakari, playing the outsider at the homecoming of horrors, delivers a beautiful monologue about what happened to her generation during the pandemic summer of 2020, which is here thrown into a kind of counterpoint with the civil rights movement. What were those protests, the play asks? A social movement on the same scale as the march on Selma? Or a quickly receding fever dream, born of isolation and fear? Or both? I was knocked out by how well Purpose got at one of the essential differences between 2020 and the 1960s which is how, in 2020, a young generation of activists fused their desire for political change with a determination to radically alter their personal lives. The purpose of Purpose, I think, is to be a play about finding your purpose (Appropriate is about discerning whats appropriate, so clearly this is a thing). Purpose inevitably intersects with faith, of course, and the play comes off as agnostic at best, a believer in finding your grail, and letting your kids find theirs, however weird. Lennix clearly understands that. At one memorable moment, this veteran actors hands grasp at the air as his flailing patriarch gruffly announces a new era of truths, only to find out that any such declaration also has to apply to himself. The play dances with the familiar: the catalyst of a stranger in a close-knit family, the spilling of family secrets at dinner, a circling of family wagons. The authorial sympathy for the left-out loner can also be seen in the works of Michael R. Jackson and James Ijames, both writers who rage against severe parents. Theres a lot of Tracy Letts influence on the dramatic side, not just August but The Minutes, as well as August Wilson when it comes to the comedy. But Purpose is its own thing, a brilliant moralistic satire, which sounds deadly but not with a writer who prizes agency, currency and, thank god, ambiguity. This will get Chicagos political classes chattering and should shoot struggling Steppenwolf back closer to where it belongs. Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. cjones5@chicagotribune.com Review: Purpose (4 stars) When: Through April 28 Where: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. Running time: 3 hours Tickets: $52-$116 at 312-335-1650 and www.steppenwolf.org Anti-Monopoly Committee's chair Pavlo Kyrylenko is under investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecution Office (SAPO) over suspected illicit enrichment, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on March 25, citing a statement from the anti-corruption agencies. The proceedings were reportedly launched on March 22 following a media investigation by Schemes, RFE/RL's investigative project, according to which Kyrylenko's family acquired real estate and cars worth over Hr 70 million ($1.8 million) between 2020 and 2023. The property included two plots of land near Kyiv, 200 square meters of office real estate in the capital, two crossover cars, three apartments with parking spaces in prestigious residential complexes of Kyiv, and four apartments in Uzhhorod, Schemes reported. The majority of it was registered under relatives of the official's wife and reportedly acquired when Kyrylenko served as the governor of Donetsk Oblast. None of his relatives own a business and their salary would not be sufficient for such a purchase, RFE/RL noted. Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support us Kyrylenko headed the Donetsk Oblast regional administration from 2019 until 2023, when he was dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelensky and appointed as a chair of the Anti-Monopoly Committee. According to Kyrylenko, his family purchased the property thanks to start-up capital that the grandmother of his wife accumulated in the 1990s by selling shares of the Styrol plant in Horlivka, which she received as its employee. Kyrylenko's family was unable to provide written proof of this to journalists, claiming that the documents remained in Horlivka, a Donetsk Oblast city occupied by Russia since 2014. Schemes also discovered that Kyrylenko did not properly declare his and his family's residence a four-room apartment in Kyiv and a BMW car used by the official's wife. Last December, Ukraine re-opened the public register of electronic declarations, which requires public officials to declare their property and assets. NABU and SAPO said that the Anti-Monopoly Committee's head is investigated under the article of providing false information in a declaration, punishable by up to two years in prison, and illicit enrichment, punishable by up to 10 years. Read also: Kyiv at risk of losing iconic market to development Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. People view photos on display during a vigil for Riley Strain, on Gay Street near the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, March 22, 2024. The body of the missing University of Missouri student was discovered Friday morning in the Cumberland River. | Andrew Nelles The weekslong search for missing student Riley Strain ended on Friday, when his body was found in the Cumberland River. Strain was found about eight miles away from his last reported sighting. According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, his death was accidental, The Tennesseean reported. BREAKING: The body of Riley Strain was recovered from the Cumberland River in West Nashville this morning, approximately 8 miles from downtown. No foul play-related trauma was observed. An autopsy is pending. Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 22, 2024 Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Kris Mumford revealed that though the final autopsy has not been completed, his preliminary autopsy indicated there is no evidence of foul play and his cause of death still continues to appear accidental, per The Tennessean. After his body was recovered, Strains mother, Michelle Whiteid, addressed the public in a press conference, saying, I just ask that you mamas out there hug your babies tight tonight, please. HIs father, Ryan Gilbert, said, Rileys captured the hearts of people across the country, and we thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers and their efforts on trying to find him, per WKRN. To the people of Nashville, I cant thank you enough for the support, the love, the encouragement that youve shown ... in some of our darkest hours, Chris Whiteid, Strains stepfather, said, per The Tennessean. The hugs, the prayers, the offers. I cant say it enough. Thank you. The discovery of Strains body comes after two weeks of community effort to locate him. Strains family found help from the police, United Cajun Navy and volunteers from all over the country. While police worked on the ground and in the air to find Strain, volunteers assisted in the search. It was a pair of TikTok content creators who found Strains bank card along the Cumberland River, and the United Cajun Navy assisted in ground and water searches. Brandy Baenen, who helped find the bank card, said, I just need them to know that there are people who do care as much as they do and even about Riley and about them themselves, per WKRN. David Flagg, incident commander with the United Cajun Navy, told WKRN, When you hear a mama just wailing at the top of her lungs because she just lost her baby, it just crushes you, but I think theyll be fine. They are very, very strong in their Christian faith, and they know where Riley is, and they know that theyll see him again someday in glory, he continued. In an interview with People magazine, Whiteid remembered the last conversation she had with her son over FaceTime and text. She recalled, I said, Well, you boys be safe. Make good choices. I love you guys. And he said, I love you, too. Search volunteers and community members gathered Friday night for a candlelight vigil in the spot where he was last seen near the James Robertson Parkway bridge. They prayed over Strains family, with some thanking the community for support during the search. At least one person was rescued from the Los Angeles River as a fast-moving storm rolled through Southern California on Sunday, delivering pounding hail, rain and thunder to the region. Rescuers were called to the river near Whitsett Avenue in Studio City around 5 p.m. after a 35-year-old woman was found in "less than knee-depth" water, according to Brian Humphrey, a spokesman with the Los Angeles Fire Department. The water was moving at about 15 mph, which continued to sweep the woman downstream even after crews threw her a flotation device and lowered a 24-foot wooden ladder, he said. She was finally rescued by an LAFD helicopter crew using a hoist cable and harness. "She and her LAFD rescuer have been safely hoisted aboard the aircraft," Humphrey said, adding that she would receive care for "minor injuries" as she was flown to a hospital. The rescue came not long after residents reported powerful bursts of rain and pea-sized hail in areas including Santa Monica, downtown L.A., Pasadena, Monrovia and Covina, according to the National Weather Service, which also issued a flood advisory in the San Fernando Valley and the San Gabriel Valley through 7 p.m. Sunday. Meanwhile, forecasters were looking ahead to a rare late-season "high-impact" storm that could reach the area by Friday, according to Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the NWS in Oxnard. Read more: More rain hits L.A., California this weekend, while the Sierra again braces for heavy snow Sunday's bout of stormy weather was driven by a cold system moving south across the Southland, Munroe said. "What the cold air aloft helps to do is create the instability that is supporting the heavier showers and thunderstorms that we're experiencing this afternoon," he said, adding the agency was also investigating reports of damaging wind gusts and severe hail measuring an inch in diameter or larger. Videos posted to social media showed hail pummeling windshields, coating driveways and accumulating in yards on Sunday afternoon. A Flood Advisory is in effect until 7pm for portions of LA Co. from San Fernando Valley to San Gabriel Valley including Downtown LA due to strong thunderstorms moving thru. Be extremely careful while driving & if you encounter a flooded road, turn around don't drown #LA #CAwx pic.twitter.com/DDSxamr8Se NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) March 24, 2024 Areas under the flood advisory could see rainfall amounts of half an inch or more in a relatively short time period, Munroe said. Totals, however, generally have been less than a 10th or 20th of an inch. But even scant moisture is something of a rarity so late in the wet season, which typically runs from October to April. On Saturday, Oxnard and Lancaster both set daily rainfall records with 0.59 inches and 0.53 inches, respectively, the NWS said. The previous records for the date were set in 1935. The storm was expected to weaken Sunday night into Monday, with the main focus remaining on gusty northerly winds across the L.A. County mountains, and a possible dusting of snow at high elevations along the Grapevine. But the "biggest story" of the week is the potential for a significant late-season storm to arrive in the Los Angeles area between Friday and Sunday, Munroe said. "Early projections place us maybe around an inch to 3 inches for a lot of areas maybe even locally higher for our south-facing mountains," he said. The forecast is still developing and could change, he added, "but there is potential for it to be a moderate- or high-impact system for us, which is getting into the late season for Southern California." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, March 25. 'Asuda akym' has launched a new plant in the Lebap region for the production of mineral and synthetic oils intended for cars and other machinery, Trend reports. According to official data, the new production plant, which covers more than 30,000 square meters, produces six different types of mineral and synthetic oils. The main raw materials used in product manufacture are imported from the Turkmenbashi Oil Processing Complex, and the chemicals required are supplied by prominent global firms. Furthermore, the company employs 40 specialists, with plans to increase this number to 100 in the future. The plant's products are packed in plastic containers with capacities of 1, 5, and 20 liters, as well as metal barrels with capacities of 200 liters, which are created on-site. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan's industrial sector is striving for modernization, introducing the latest technologies, and attracting foreign investment for diverse production. The state strategy is aimed at expanding industrial sectors, including the oil and gas sector, the chemical industry, and the textile industry, to stimulate economic growth and increase competitiveness in the global market. SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) The City of Scranton has released the following road closures for the Friends of the Poor Easter Basket Giveaway. On Tuesday, March 26, at 6:30 a.m. the 400/500 blocks of N. Washington Ave. & Vine St. from Wyoming to Adams Ave. will be closed as the Friends of the Poors Easter basket distribution is underway. City of Scranton Government Easter Brunch with the Easter Bunny in Scranton The roads will reopen once baskets are distributed. The city warns residents to plan ahead to avoid delays. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com. FORT IRWIN, Calif. Looking like a toy helicopter, a small black drone rose up over a cluster of adobe buildings in a quiet desert village, emitting a faint buzz. The drone, an Anduril Industries Ghost-X, paused and then rose higher, disappearing into the clouds. Another followed. Seemingly small and unthreatening, the drones were serving as the eyes of an infantry company concealed by the surrounding mountains and readying to reclaim a village held by the enemy. And those drones were not alone. All at once, an overwhelming group of air- and ground-based machine fighters burst onto the scene. An octocopter lumbered through the sky with precision munitions and other robots attached to its belly, dropping three 60mm mortar rounds on a roof and other small, hand-held, cylindrical throwbots on the ground. Staff Sgt. Daniel Turnley-Butts tosses a Throwbot during a demonstration Aug. 5, 2020, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (Samuel King Jr./US. Air Force) Robotic combat vehicles rolled into view, armed with .50-caliber and M240 machine guns, firing on enemy positions and providing cover for troops maneuvering into the village. Meanwhile, a four-legged dog robot stepped out from a thick cloud of smoke, giving the soldiers monitoring from afar another view. The scene was the culmination of a U.S. Army effort to understand how it can use human and machines together on the battlefield. Service leaders descended on Fort Irwin, California home to the National Training Center in March for a large exercise known as Project Convergence. The demonstration was a glimpse of the Armys future, according to top officials. Gen. James Rainey, who leads Army Futures Command, expects the services future force to be so integrated with machines that humans will face a much lower risk. We will never again trade blood for first contact, he frequently says, promising to deploy robots instead. But getting these formations right wont be easy, leaders acknowledge. For human-machine integration to work, a functional and user-friendly network must underpin it, it requires protection from cyberattacks, and the systems must have the right amount of autonomy. U.S. soldiers take part in a human-machine integration demonstration using Ghost Robotics' dog unmanned ground system and the Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport, background, in Fort Irwin, Calif., on March 15, 2024. (Spc. Samarion Hicks/U.S. Army) Leaders also say its not technology that will prove the most difficult factor, but rather breaking from antiquated acquisition processes that prevent rapid purchases and slow down deliveries to soldiers. The pace of the threat and the pace of technology the evolution is much faster, and theres no way that were going to succeed if we continue to acquire technology or even choose to develop it at the usual pace, Joseph Welch, the Armys C5ISR Center director, said at the March event. Forward progress The Project Convergence exercise followed months of effort focused on integrating humans and machines into service formations. It was a chance to see what works and what doesnt as the Army prepares for a fight against adversaries with advanced capabilities. The service insists its now ready to move forward with human-machine integrated formations. The fiscal 2025 budget request marks the first time the Army has included funding for these formations, also called H-MIF. Its seeking $33 million for the first step, which provides an initial human-machine integration capability to infantry and armor formations. The Army was experimenting with both at Project Convergence. The service wants machines in these new formations to offload risk and provide soldiers with additional information for decision making, according to the services budget documents. The Armys Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office is spearheading the effort for Futures Command. The office is creating prototypes using existing air and ground robotic programs and payloads while incorporating common architecture, communications and network capabilities. The FY25 funding, the Army has said, will fund the movement of concepts through prototyping as well as enable soldiers to evaluate them in exercises and experiments. A drone deploys munitions during experimentation at Project Convergence in Fort Irwin, Calif., on March 18, 2024. The drone employs interchangeable anti-personnel and anti-armor warheads at multiple targets. (Sgt. Brahim Douglas/U.S. Army) At the Project Convergence event, the Army flooded the battlefield with robots, sensors and other machines meant to help soldiers in complex flights. The experiment included air and ground robots with reconfigurable payloads, tethered drones, counter-drone systems, and a ventriloquist decoy emitter that emulates radio frequency traffic to confuse the enemy. The service used more than 240 pieces of technology, including capabilities from allied militaries in the U.K., Canada, Australia, France and Japan. The pressure to transform The decision to rely more on robots isnt a choice, according to Alexander Miller, who is now serving as chief technology officer to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George. George and Miller both watched the experiment in March; Miller carried a cellphone with an app demonstrating the Armys new Tactical Assault Kit. The app superimposes the location of soldiers and robots as well as enemy positions in real time. The service knows it has to do this, or we will fall radically behind, Miller said of human-machine integration. There are bad people who are willing to use robotics, and if we dont figure it out we will be behind the curve, we will put men and women in harms way. Integrating robots into formations is also accelerating because there has been a cultural shift, Miller said. Its been 12-18 months where we have stopped treating robots as a one-for-one augmentation for soldiers and started saying: What are the dull, dirty, dangerous, disruptive things that robots can really do that are not just combat power? How do we augment them without taking a single rifleman off or multiple riflemen off the line to control a robot? A soldier at Project Convergence demonstrates the use of an augmented reality headset to identify a threat and call for fires. (Jen Judson/Staff) At the March experiment, for instance, the Army sent a ground robot with a mine-clearing line charge to deploy along enemy lines. As it fights the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian military is using these to disarm enemy minefields and trenches, but transporting them in crewed vehicles. At the experiment, the robot shot the line charge out of a small launcher. The line didnt explode as intended. Army leaders said glitches are common and making this work would provide a much safer way for soldiers to clear mine fields. Also enabling new models for human-machine integration is the progress of commercial technology, according to Welch. That has accelerated tremendously across many different technical domains, he said. Artificial intelligence is getting smarter; sensors are getting smaller, lighter and more versatile; connectivity solutions are more abundant; and air-, ground- and space-based capabilities are easier to use. Obstacles ahead Army leaders acknowledge there is plenty of work ahead to integrate robots and soldiers on the battlefield. The experiment itself illustrated just how complicated its going to be ... where we really proliferate lower-cost, cheaper options and we clutter the environment intentionally, Miller said. At one point during Project Convergence, the Army jammed itself, causing a friendly drone swarm to fall out of the sky. The service fixed the problem by turning on a capability allowing smart routing management for its Wi-Fi, Miller said. Beyond technical challenges, George said, the Army must convince Congress to alter the procurement process so the service can acquire or adapt capabilities within broader funding lines. The goal, he explained, is to be more responsive to what is working for soldiers and to be able to rapidly buy small amounts of that equipment. He said hes working with Congress so that we can move money a little bit. We want and need the oversight, [but] its a matter of how we go back to them and tell them, Heres what were going to buy inside that funding line, and heres how were doing it, and get feedback, George added. Indeed, one focus is on marking sure the Army can change systems without needing reprogramming authorization or new funding. The technical and operational ways the Army is going to employ human-machine integrated formations today doesnt mean thats how were going to employ it two years from now, said Mark Kitz, the services program executive officer for command, control, communications-tactical. We dont historically treat robotics as a software program. Its really a software program, Kitz explained. So how do we use some of our unique acquisition authorities then to build that flexibility upfront? HIVE unmanned aircraft systems prepares to take flight during a human-machine integration experiment during Project Convergence at Fort Irwin, Calif., on March 11, 2024. The drones provide service members on the ground with real-time situational awareness. (Sgt. Gianna Chiavarone/U.S. Army) Miller said another potential obstacle is ensuring sufficient U.S. production of components. We have to have components that are approved and valid and we arent scared to employ because they were made by an adversary, he said. Welch noted the Army is working with U.S. government labs to address some of the component concerns. The service is also working internally to revamp its approach to finding capabilities. Theres a much tighter coupling ... not only externally with our industry partners and other key stakeholders, whether it be over on [Capitol] Hill or up in [the Office of the Secretary of Defense], but also internally, said Lt. Gen. John Morrison, the Armys deputy chief of staff in charge of command, control, communications, cyber operations and networks. Weve got requirements with acquisition, with testers, and theyre all centered around soldiers, getting that direct feedback. Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank where he focuses on wargaming, said hes optimistic about human-machine integration but that it may take longer than the service expects. Most people overestimate the speed at which you can develop new concepts of employment around even proven engineering, he said. It often takes years outside of a major war to build entirely new formations and structures. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just signed into law a bill named HB 3 that creates much stricter guidelines about how kids under 16 can use and access social media. To that end, the law completely bans children younger than 14 from participating in these platforms. The bill requires parent or guardian consent for 14- and 15-year-olds to make an account or use a pre-existing account on a social media platform. Additionally, the companies behind these platforms must abide by requests to delete these accounts within five business days. Failing to do so could rack up major fines, as much as $10,000 for each violation. These penalties increase to $50,000 per instance if it is ruled that the company participated in a knowing or reckless violation of the law. As previously mentioned, anyone under the age of 14 will no longer be able to create or use social media accounts in Florida. The platforms must delete pre-existing accounts and any associated personal information. The bill doesnt name any specific social media platforms, but suggests that any service that promotes infinite scrolling will have to follow these new rules, as will those that feature display reaction metrics, live-streaming and auto-play videos. Email platforms are exempt. This isnt just going to change the online habits of kids. Theres also a mandated age verification component, though that only kicks in if the website or app contains a substantial portion of material deemed harmful to users under 18. Under the language of this law, Floridians visiting a porn site, for instance, will have to verify their age via a proprietary platform on the site itself or use a third party system. News agencies are exempt from this part of the bill, even if they meet the materials threshold. Obviously, that brings up some very real privacy concerns. Nobody wants to enter their private information to look at, ahem, adult content. Theres a provision that gives websites the option to route users to an anonymous age verification system, which is defined as a third party that isnt allowed to retain identifying information. Once again, any platform that doesnt abide by this restriction could be subject to a $50,000 civil penalty for each instance. This follows DeSantis vetoing a similar bill earlier this month. That law would have banned teens under 16 from using social media apps and there was no option for parental consent. NetChoice, a trade association that represents social media platforms, has come out against the law , calling it unconstitutional. The group says that HB 3 will essentially impose an ID for the internet, arguing that the age verification component will have to widen to adequately track whether or not children under 14 are signing up for social media apps. NetChoice says this level of data collection will put Floridians privacy and security at risk. Paul Renner, the states Republican House Speaker, said at a press conference for the bill signing that a child in their brain development doesnt have the ability to know that theyre being sucked in to these addictive technologies, and to see the harm, and step away from it. And because of that, we have to step in for them. The new law goes into effect on January 1, but it could face some legal challenges. Renner said he expects social media companies to sue the second after this is signed and DeSantis acknowledged that the law will likely be challenged on First Amendment issues, according to Associated Press . When Ronna McDaniel appeared on Meet the Press, the focus quickly settled on the outrage at NBC. But for everything her hiring at the network said about the media landscape, it was just as revealing about the state of the GOP. Freed from former President Donald Trumps gravitational pull, McDaniel, the former Republican National Committee chair, could now express beliefs that included such bromides as people who violently attacked Capitol Hill police officers and and attacked the Capitol should be held accountable and that in the 2020 presidential election, President Joe Biden won fair and square. Its unclear whether McDaniel unburdened herself because she had a new benefactor in NBC and not the RNC. I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didnt want to mess up her contract, said Chuck Todd, Meet the Press former host. But what is clear is that McDaniel seemed to understand those beliefs were unutterable as Trumps handpicked chair and that speaking them as she did after his jettisoning of her from the RNC flouted a large portion of the party. In her NBC appearance, the veil covering the kayfabe of post-2020 election denialism fell, exposing what one of the most prominent party officials thought in private versus what she said in public. Sometimes there is a price to be paid for politically expedient bullshit, said Jason Roe, the Michigan-based GOP strategist whose parents worked for George Romney and who butted heads with McDaniel when he was the state GOP executive director. It is the unwillingness, the lack of courage to say these things before that matters most, because these things have taken on a life of their own because people who know better didnt say so, and they gain legitimacy. Or as McDaniel herself put it in her NBC interview: When youre the RNC chair, you you kind of take one for the whole team, right? Now I get to be a little bit more myself. In that brief moment, McDaniel captured a singular dynamic of operating in a loyalty-driven, get-in-line-behind-Trump GOP where taking one for the team is at a premium. Its a navigational nightmare for any Republican Party official who disagrees with Trump but seeks to remain relevant in the party he controls. In Ronnas case she was not honest with the American people, or with the national committee members, way too often, said Oscar Brock, an RNC member from Tennessee who opposed McDaniels reelection last year. Brock said McDaniel told RNC members at a meeting in Amelia Island, Florida, in January 2021 that there were still thousands of affidavits attesting to election fraud, which could serve as proof of an unfair election. And Brock noted that at the RNCs meeting a year later in Salt Lake City, McDaniel backed a resolution that called the Jan. 6 events legitimate political discourse and censured Republican congressmembers who were involved in investigating the attacks. She was keeping her audience of one happy, Brock said. What shes saying now is markedly different than what she was saying even a year ago. Bill Palatucci, another RNC member who has been critical of both Trump and McDaniel, said his complaint the entire time was that McDaniel refused to speak out against Trumps behavior. Particularly after the terrible midterms, I was the person vocally saying your silence means youre complicit with all the stupid things hes saying and doing and these terrible candidates hes recruiting, Palatucci said. Obviously, that fell on deaf ears at the RNC. McDaniel was hardly alone in the GOPs rhetorical service to the former president, even among his critics. Take former Vice President Mike Pence. In the Trump administration, he was the picture of loyalty, taking part in the kabuki until Jan. 6 came, and then he wasnt. But before then he often found himself, like McDaniel, taking one for the team. Ive debated Donald Trump a thousand times, Pence often said during his own short run for president. Just not in front of the cameras. McDaniel, in her telling, also had to keep her disagreements with Trump to herself. Her choice and her decision was, Im going to put my own views secondary to the views of the larger party, said David Urban, a former senior Trump campaign adviser who has his own contributor contract at CNN. Ive seen people that say, Oh, your job is to represent America, not represent your party. Thats not necessarily true. Shes in large part a spokesperson for the party and the figurehead for the party. If thats where the party is or was at the time, then thats that. If the outrage over McDaniels appearance on Meet the Press exposed the tension between GOP officials public comments and private beliefs, it also laid bare a fault line in the party, in Washington and beyond over Jan. 6. and its aftermath. To the networks critics, after all, NBCs sin wasnt just platforming a partisan. It had done that many times before: Host Joe Scarborough himself was a former Florida GOP congressmember, and there is no shortage of former Trump and Biden aides who have landed at various networks. And McDaniel herself had been a guest of Meet the Press host Kristen Welkers three months earlier on Nov. 12. Then, Welker had asked McDaniel about whether the Republican Party stands for revenge. (Im not going to get involved in rhetoric thats happening during a contested campaign for our presidential nominee, McDaniel said.) But when MSNBCs Morning Joe played a reel of McDaniel questioning the results of the election, the shows producers and talent pointed to her election denialism as the reason her hiring was a bridge too far. The body politic hasnt yet figured out how to engage with the 2020 election lie. Theres a lot of people in the Republican Party who believe that the 2020 election was not fairly conducted whether thats right or wrong, whether you believe that or not a big number of people do believe that, and maybe they should try to understand why they think that, Urban said. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) drew a connection Sunday between the deadly ISIS attack on a Moscow concert hall Friday and U.S.-Mexico border policy, a top issue for Republicans ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Speaking on ABCs This Week, Rubio, the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, attributed to common sense that a for-profit human smuggling group with reported links to ISIS will most certainly use [their network] to move operatives into the United States. Since at least 1975, no one in the United States has been injured or killed in a terrorist attack perpetrated by someone who entered the country illegally, according to congressional testimony delivered last year by Alex Nowrasteh, Cato Institute vice president for economic and social policy studies. The only three people who are known to have entered the country illegally through the U.S.-Mexico border and have subsequently been convicted of terrorism-related charges were Dritan Duka, Eljvir Duka, and Shain Duka, who entered the country as young children in 1984 and were arrested in 2007, according to Nowrasteh. Regardless, alleged links between potential acts of terrorism and illegal crossings on the southern border have become central to the debate on border policy. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens told CBS News in an interview that, despite the Border Patrols around 2 million apprehensions of people who illegally cross the border every year, he worries most about the 140,000 people who successfully sneak into the country. Thats despite Owenss Border Patrol being the most successful in history, with an apprehension rate of 91.3 percent in December, according to an analysis of official figures by the Cato Institute. Thats the highest-recorded apprehension rate since 2006. In that November, the Border Patrol apprehended only 54.1 percent of the people it recorded crossing the border, and at the time, the agencys sensor network was much less sophisticated. Before 2006, experts estimate there were as many as 3 million successful attempts at evading the Border Patrol per year, dating to the 1970s. The evidence that terrorists are crossing the border is of such low quality that we can safely discount much of it. This fact could always change, and the future is unknowable, but available information indicates that foreignborn terrorists seeking to cross the U.S.-Mexico border is at most a very small and manageable threat, Nowrasteh said in his testimony to the subcommittee on immigration integrity, security, and enforcement in August. Yet Rubio, who has been discussed as a potential White House running mate for former President Trump, underscored that, however remote, the threat exists. Im not claiming theres an imminent threat to the U.S., but I am saying that border situation and the existence of that network is a threat to the United States, he said. At least 137 people were killed in Moscow on Friday when gunmen struck the Crocus City Hall. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State groups Afghanistan affiliate. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Russian forces struck three communities in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast in 12 separate attacks throughout the day, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on March 24. At least 50 explosions were reported in the region over the past 24 hours. The communities of Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, and Velyka Pysarivka were targeted. Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, artillery, grenade launcher, tank, drone attacks. Drones also dropped explosives onto the town of Krasnopillia and surrounding areas, while two other communities experienced several airstrikes. The town of Velyka Pysarivka, with a pre-war population of about 4,000, experienced the bulk of the attacks with 23 explosions reported. The community is located directly on the Ukraine-Russia border. Russian assaults on Sumy Oblast have escalated in recent weeks, with Velyka Pysarivka emerging as a primary target. Earlier this week, a Russian aerial bomb struck the town, resulting in one civilian death, while another person sustained injuries. Authorities reported extensive damage to numerous residences, a hospital, and a kindergarten. An attack on March 19 also claimed the life of one civilian in the town. In response to the surge in Russian attacks, local officials have intensified evacuation efforts in Velyka Pysarivka, with nearly 300 residents being relocated this week. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine confirms striking 2 large Russian landing ships; Russia launches major attack on energy system Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Russians launched attacks on Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts using UAVs and an anti-radar missile on the night of 24-25 March, targeting energy facilities and a residential building. Eleven people have been injured in the attack. Source: Defence Forces of Ukraine's South Details: The Defence Forces of Ukraine's South reported that before the drone attack, Russian terrorists launched a Kh-31P anti-radar missile over the Odesa Oblast from the waters of the Black Sea using a tactical aircraft, attempting to disrupt the operation of air defence systems. However, the missile failed to reach its target. There was no information about damage or casualties. Subsequently, the Russians launched several waves of Shahed-131/136 drones from the Black Sea. Four Russian drones were downed in Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts. However, some hits could not be entirely avoided. The Russians hit an energy facility in Mykolaiv Oblast, causing a fire that was subsequently extinguished. No casualties were reported. In addition, drones were loitering in residential areas within populated settlements. A two-storey residential building was damaged as a result of a downed Shahed drone falling in a residential area of Mykolaiv. A fire broke out there, which firefighters extinguished. The explosion also damaged several surrounding buildings. Early reports indicate that 11 people were injured, with two hospitalised and others receiving assistance at the scene. Downed drone wreckage damaged a power facility in Odesa oblast, causing a fire and a partial power outage in the city of Odesa and nearby settlements. The fire was extinguished. There were no casualties reported. Power restoration and repair works are ongoing. Support UP or become our patron! MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Monday that last week's deadly attack at a concert outside Moscow was carried out by Islamic militants, but suggested it was also to the benefit of Ukraine and that Kyiv may have played a role. Putin's remarks, to a Kremlin meeting devoted to measures taken in response to the attack, were delivered as France joined the U.S. in saying intelligence indicated Islamic State was responsible. In the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades, four men burst into the Crocus City Hall on Friday night, spraying bullets during a concert by the Soviet-era rock group Picnic. Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, told the Kremlin meeting the death toll had risen to 139, with 182 people wounded. Four men of Tajik origin were remanded in custody on terrorism charges at Moscow's Basmanny district court on suspicion of carrying out the attack. Three others, also of Tajik origin, were remanded in custody on suspicion of complicity. Islamic State has said it was responsible for the attack and has released what it says is footage from the massacre. 'WHO BENEFITS?' "We know that the crime was carried out by the hand of radical Islamists with an ideology that the Muslim world has fought for centuries," Putin said in remarks posted on the Telegram messaging app. He did not directly mention Islamic State, and repeated his previous assertion that the assailants had been trying to flee to Ukraine, saying there were "many questions" to be examined. "The question that arises is who benefits from this?" Putin said. "This atrocity may be just a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime." "We know by whose hand the crime against Russia and its people was committed. But what is of interest to us is who ordered it." Putin said the purpose of the attack was to "sow panic". But as Russian forces were advancing through the Ukraine war theatre, he said, it could also be intended to "show their own population that not all is lost for the Kyiv regime". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy derided Putin's comments in his nightly video address, saying that for the Kremlin leader "everyone is a terrorist, except himself, though he has been thriving on terror for two decades." That was a reference to allegations that Putin was behind several acts of violence in Russia since taking power in 2000. "When he is gone, the need for terror and violence will disappear with him," Zelenskiy said. Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian Ukrainians. Ukraine has denied any role in Friday's shooting and Zelenskiy has accused Putin of seeking to divert blame. Washington has said it believes the Islamic State claim. U.S. officials said they had warned Russia this month of intelligence about an imminent attack and that intelligence indicates an Afghan affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), was responsible. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in Washington that the U.S. had been "very vigilant" in following Islamic State's activities. "It was because of the aggressive way which we have been monitoring ISIS that we were able to give the Russians a warning that, in fact, they were heading for a potential terrorist attack in the very near future," Kirby said. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that available information "indicates indeed that it was an entity of the Islamic State that instigated this attack." "This group also tried to commit several actions on our own soil," he said during a visit to French Guiana. Macron said France had offered to help find the culprits, adding: "I think it would be both cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the security of its citizens to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine." Hundreds of Russians have laid flowers outside the Crocus City Hall to remember the victims. Picnic, the band that had been due to perform on Friday, will stage a memorial concert in St. Petersburg on Wednesday together with a symphony orchestra in aid of the victims, the city's Oktyabrskiy concert hall announced. ELEVEN DETAINED Putin said 11 people had been detained, including the four suspected gunmen, who he said had made their way to the Bryansk region, about 340 km (210 miles) southwest of Moscow, to try to slip into Ukraine. Unverified videos of interrogations on social media showed one having part of his ear cut off and stuffed into his mouth. One man, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, leaned against a glass cage as the terrorism charge was read out. Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, his ear in bandages, remained sitting. Muhammadsobir Fayzov appeared in hospital clothes in a wheelchair, his face covered in cuts. Shamsiddin Fariduni stood, his face bruised. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer a journalist's question about whether they had been tortured. The court remanded in custody two more Tajik natives - father and son Isroil and Aminchon Islomov - and another son, Dilovar, who has Russian citizenship, Interfax news agency said. The Investigative Committee said it believed Aminchon and Dilovar had been recruited by Fariduni. Russian media reported that Dilovar had owned a car used by the attackers. Aminchon asserted his innocence, Interfax said. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lidia Kelly, Philippa Fletcher, Steve Holland and Ron Popeski; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Alex Richardson, Angus MacSwan, Rosalba O'Brien and David Gregorio) Russia has indicted four men in relation to the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in a Moscow suburb on March 22 that left at least 137 people dead. Identified by Russian media as Murodali Rajabalizoda, Dalerjon Mirzoev, Muhammadsobir Faizov, and Faridun Shamsiddin, the court confirmed their Tajik citizenship. Three of the four defendants admitted guilt to all charges in a closed-door session on March 24, according to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report. The court ordered that the men be held in pre-trial custody until May 22. They face a maximum sentence of life in prison. Several gunmen opened fire at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, a Moscow suburb, on the evening of March 22, killing at least 137 people and injuring at least 140, according to the latest updates by the Russian authorities. The terrorist group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the mass shooting at the venue. The group announced their involvement in a Telegram post released after the attack: "Soldiers of the Islamic State attacked a big crowd of Christians in the city of Krasnogorsk...killing and wounding hundreds," the statement said. On March 23, the Islamic State released footage of the deadly attack through the Amaq News Agency, which is affiliated with the terrorist group. The ISIS footage shows the gunmen recording themselves as they pursue people through the lobby of the Crocus City Hall, firing at them from close range with assault weapons. The footage also shows a gunman stabbing a body lying on the floor with a knife several times. Read also: Comments show Putin dismissed Western warnings of Moscow attack as blackmail Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Semafor Signals Insights from Meduza, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian The News Russia charged four men with committing an act of terrorism after an attack at a Moscow concert venue last week that killed at least 137 people. The men were identified in court as citizens of Tajikistan, independent Russian outlet Novaya Gazeta reported. The Islamic State group (IS) said it had carried out Fridays attack, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin secured a fifth term in office. France and the U.S. have said they believe the IS claims but Russia has cast doubt on IS involvement, instead diverting attention onto Ukraine. SIGNALS Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories. State media told to focus on Ukrainian involvement Source: Meduza The Kremlin has suggested that Ukraine was behind the attack, a claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied. State-affiliated news agencies in Russia have been told to to focus on traces of Ukrainian involvement, independent news outlet Meduza reported. Russias Federal Security Service has also claimed that the four suspects were set to flee to Ukraine after the mass shooting. France on Monday said an IS branch was behind the attack and warned Russia against exploiting the violence for its war efforts in Ukraine. It would be cynical and counterproductive for Russia to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine, said French President Emmanuel Macron. Be skeptical of Kremlins version of events, activist warns Source: The Wall Street Journal Moscow is one of the most heavily surveilled cities in the world meaning that the suspects hour-long rampage through a crowded concert venue and subsequent escape by car is nearly unthinkable, a political activist wrote in The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Putin believes he needs perpetual war to hold on to power. He is creating the conditions to radicalize the Russian population further and to fulfill his new mobilization orders, Garry Kasparov wrote. Its a situation Russia has seen play out before: Ahead of the Second Chechen War, a series of apartment buildings were bombed, giving then-Prime Minister Putin a platform for his coming election campaign. Putin has no allergy to blood, Russian or any other kind, if spilling it furthers his goals, Kasparov said. There are reasons that IS would target Russia Source: The Guardian The attack in Moscow is one of the largest ever carried out in Europe, and targeting distant locations is a key tactic used by IS leaders to drum up support. Russia has been in the cross-hairs of IS for many years, Jason Burke and Jonathan Yerushalmy wrote in The Guardian. A major part of IS propaganda is that Moscow is part of the broader coalition of Christian or western forces engaged in an existential, 1,400-year-old battle against Islam, they noted. Meanwhile, Russia has long supported Bashar Assads regime in Syria, and IS views Moscow as supportive of the Taliban, both factors that could push IS to plan an attack in Moscow. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 25. According to the results of the first two months of this year, Kazakhstan is among the three main trade partners of Uzbekistan, whose mutual trade turnover exceeded $500 million, the statement of Uzbekistan's State Statistics said, Trend reports, The Agency reports that from January through February 2024, the country's foreign trade turnover amounted to $9.9 billion and increased by $940.3 million, or 10.5 percent, compared to 2023. Nowadays, Uzbekistan maintains trade ties with 151 countries in the world. The country's main trade partner remains China, whose turnover with Uzbekistan amounted to $2.1 billion (21.5 percent of the total volume). In second place by this indicator is Russia, with a volume of $1.76 billion (17.8 percent). Kazakhstan covers the top three with a trade turnover of $581 million (5.9 percent). As a part of the total trade turnover, Uzbekistan exported goods to Kazakhstan for $166.2 million and imported goods for $415.3 million. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Editor's note: The number of casualties was changed at 3:55 p.m. Kyiv time after local authorities published an update, saying there were 10 victims in the attack, including two people who were hospitalized and eight who suffered from shock. This is a developing story and will be updated. A series of explosions rocked Kyiv on March 25 as Russia launched yet another missile attack on Ukraines capital. Kyiv Independent correspondents in the capital heard at least four loud explosions just seconds after air raid sirens sounded at around 10: 30 a.m. local time and saw smoke rising from the left bank of the city. In a post on Telegram, Kyivs military administration urged residents to take shelter urgently. Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said in a post on Telegram that debris from an intercepted missile had fallen in the citys Pechersk district, damaging a non-residential building. The building hit was the Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts, and the academy's gym and concert hall were destroyed, according to a Kyiv Independent reporter on the ground, citing the institution's employees. The Culture Ministry confirmed the academy was struck, adding that an employee was wounded. Debris from intercepted missiles damaged two houses in the Solomianskyi district and a house in the Darnytskyi district, where the attack also caused a fire in a non-residential building, according to the city authorities. Debris was initially also reported in the Dniprovskyi district though this was later retracted. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed emergency services had been called to the Pecherskiy, Solomyanskyi, and Dniprovskyi districts of the capital. As of 3:30 p.m. local time, the number of victims in Kyiv's Pecherskiy district rose to 10, according to the State Emergency Service. The Kyiv City Military Administration clarified that out of the 10 victims, two people were wounded and hospitalized, and the remaining eight people suffered from shock. Klitschko earlier said that among the victims were two pregnant women and a 16-year-old girl. Information on further casualties is still being determined. Read also: Lives are falling apart: Kyiv residents shook by another mass missile attack Fragments of an intercepted missile were also found in a wooded area in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv. No casualties were reported there. The all-clear siren sounded in Kyiv just after 11: 00 a.m. Later in the morning following the attack, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk said Russia had launched two ballistic missiles from occupied Crimea and that both had been intercepted by the air defenses. In a post on X, United States Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, said: "Again this morning Russia is attacking Ukraine with hypersonic missiles. Loud explosions in Kyiv." Over the last five days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country. Ukraine needs our assistance now. There is not a moment to lose. Read also: 11 injured in Mykolaiv, partial blackouts in Odesa after overnight Russian drone attack Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russia won't stop if it wins the war in Ukraine, the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Jane Hartley, told Sky News. "I was ambassador [to France and Monaco] in 2014, and I saw what happened in Crimea. I don't know why anybody would say, 'Oh, this is it for Russia', she said. "Democracy, I think, is at stake. So, we need to support Ukraine," the diplomat added. Read also: We have made our position clear: USA wont be sending Ukraine troops, while France mulls it over Hartley is "optimistic" that the US will release more funding for Ukraine, adding that "anybody who thinks that Russia may stop after this I think is wrong". "We want to do everything we can to make sure Ukraine is still a strong democracy and that Russia loses this war," she said. Russian cannot and should not win the war against Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said during a speech on March 15. Read also: "No lasting peace without return of Crimea to Ukraine" - Macron For peace to come to Ukraine, the West "must not be weak" and should "boldly state that we are ready to use means to achieve our goal - so that Russia does not win." He added that "all options are possible," including French troops on the ground in Ukraine. Read also: Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev, has rejected Poland's summons to the Foreign Ministry in connection with the Russian missile that entered Polish airspace on March 24, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported on March 25. Andreyev claimed that Warsaw did not provide enough evidence that the missile had entered Polish airspace and therefore "decided not to visit the Polish Foreign Ministry," RIA Novosti said. Poland was forced to scramble its fighter jets to protect its airspace during Russia's drone and missile attack against Ukraine on March 24, when a Russian cruise missile entered Poland's airspace for 39 seconds. The spokesperson of the Polish Operational Command, Jacek Goryszewski, said that Russia deliberately maneuvered the missile in a way that would unexpectedly target Ukraine from the west. Ukrainian air defense is typically prepared for missiles coming from the north or east. The Polish Foreign Ministry said it would demand an explanation from Moscow. Russian missiles have previously entered Polish airspace during attacks on Ukraine. On Dec. 29, 2023, a missile entered Polish airspace, putting the country's defenses on high alert. In another incident on Nov. 15, 2022, a missile flew onto Polish territory during a Russian mass strike, killing two civilians. Polish investigators later concluded that it was a stray Ukrainian anti-air projectile launched to intercept the Russian attack. Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A Russian ballistic missile attack on Odesa injured four people, the Southern Defense Forces reported on Telegram on March 25. The air raid siren sounded in Odesa at around 5:20 p.m. local time. Explosions were heard minutes later. Two buildings were destroyed, and windows in the surrounding buildings were broken, according to the Southern Defense Forces. Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper said that three women had been wounded, but their injuries were "not serious." Kiper also reported that due to previous attacks on the city's power network, 300,000 people in Odesa are currently cut off from electricity. Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A Russian attack on a village near Kherson heavily damaged an educational institution, a cultural center, and an administrative building, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on March 25. Russian forces used guided aerial bombs to carry out the attack on a village in Kherson District. Prokudin did not name the village and said there was no immediate information about whether there were casualties or people under the rubble. Ukraine's Armed Forces liberated Kherson and other regional settlements on the west bank of the Dnipro River in the fall 2022 counteroffensive. Russian troops were pushed to the river's east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories, regularly resulting in civilian deaths as well as large-scale destruction of homes and infrastructure. Read also: Russian drone attack on Beryslav in Kherson Oblast injures 2 Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine may have hit the Russian Black Sea Fleets Yuriy Ivanaov-class intelligence gathering ship Ivan Khurs in its wildly successful strike on Sevastopol on March 24, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk told Radio Svoboda (Liberty). "There is a suspicion that, most likely, it (the Ivan Khurs ed.) also suffered damage, he said. As soon as we collect all the information from various sources and verify it, we will be able to confirm it as a fact." Read also: Expert assesses impact of Ukrainian forces' strike on Russian logistics in Crimea The Ivan Khurs is not a combat unit, Pletenchuk noted, but an auxiliary ship in the Russian Fleet. The Ivan Khurs was earlier damaged in a drone attack. Pletenchuk confirmed the defeat of two large landing ships the Yamal and the Azov, one of them "immediately headed for repair." The Ivan Khurs was damaged in Ukraines attack on Sevastopol, Russian Telegram channel Astra claimed earlier. Strikes on Russias Black Sea Fleet landing ships Yamal and Azov in Sevastopol - What is known? A series of explosions occurred in Crimea overnight on March 23-24. Read also: Russian Black Sea naval fleet shrinking but still dangerous: over 30 ships, including submarines, active UA Navy At least three Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missiles hit a major communications hub of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, an OSINT technical investigator reported. Drones reportedly hit an oil depot near the village of Hvardiyske. The Ukrainian Armed Forces hit the large landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications center, and several Russian Black Sea Fleet infrastructure facilities, Ukrainian Armed Forces StratCom confirmed on Telegram on March 24. Should both ships turn out to be critically damaged, it would mark a huge loss for Russia as the enemy would have only three of 13 ships left in the Black Sea Fleet, said Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk. The Ropucha-class large landing ship Yamal suffered serious damage and is forced to continuously pump water from the ship after being targeting in temporarily occupied Sevastopol, Ukraines HUR reported on March 25. NV 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 Vehicles drive along a dark street as the city experiences power outages after a Russian missile and drone attack on the Kharkiv power system. -/https://photonew.ukrinform.com/ Ukrinform/dpa Russian aerial drones struck the Ukrainian electricity grid in the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions in the south of the country in the early hours of Monday, the Ukrainian military reported. Power cuts occurred in parts of Odessa and its hinterland. The city authorities said they were forced to halt tram and trolleybus services. No injuries were reported. A substation in the Mykolaiv region caught fire after taking a hit, the state-owned Ukrenergo energy supply company reported. The military authorities reported that debris from a drone hit a two-storey residential building in the region, setting it alight and injuring 11 people, two of them seriously. Russian forces have increasingly targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure over recent days. Kharkiv in the north-east has been badly hit. Repairing the grid would take around a week, Ukrenergo head Volodymyr Kudrytskyi told national television. On the Russian side, a fire broke out in the power station supplying electricity and district heating in Novocherkassk in the south-west of the country early on Monday. The plant is the largest of its kind in the Rostov region. The regional authorities reported that the fire at the plant had been doused and its cause was being investigated. Two blocks and two transmission lines were shut down, they said. Unofficial reports attributed the damage to a Ukrainian drone attack. Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian power infrastructure during winter since it invaded the country in February 2022. Vehicles drive along a dark street as the city experiences power outages after a Russian missile and drone attack on the Kharkiv power system. -/https://photonew.ukrinform.com/ Ukrinform/dpa The number of vehicles, aircraft, naval vessels, and weapons systems lost by Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has surpassed 15,000, the open-source investigative project Oryx announced on March 24. The figure includes 2,856 tanks, 135 helicopters, 106 aircraft, 20 naval ships, and one submarine. As Oryx only publishes visually confirmed data taken from open sources, the real numbers of Russian losses are likely significantly higher. "What an epic failure from a self-proclaimed military superpower," Oryx contributor Jakub Janovsky said, announcing the milestone in a post on X. Among the numbers are some of Ukraines most spectacular military accomplishments achieved since the full-scale invasion began, not least the first-ever case of a submarine being destroyed by a cruise missile, according to the Ukrainian media outlet Defense Express. In a Sept. 13 attack, the Rostov-on-Don, one of the Russian Black Sea fleet's four missile-capable submarines, suffered "catastrophic damage" during Ukraines first successful missile strike on Sevastopol in occupied Crimea. An assessment by the U.K. Defense Ministry concluded any efforts to return it to service would probably take years and hundreds of millions of dollars. Read also: These are the most important Russian ships destroyed by Ukraine Ukraine has been steadily chipping away at Russias Black Sea Fleet, most recently just this weekend when the Yamal and Azov landing ships were hit in a missile attack on March 23. Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on March 25 that the Russian reconnaissance vessel Ivan Khurs may also have been damaged. According to Oryx, a total of 21 Russian naval vessels have been successfully targeted by Ukraines forces, 16 of which were destroyed and five damaged. On land, Ukraine has taken out 2,856 tanks, destroying 1,886, damaging 153, capturing 537, and forcing Russia to abandon a further 280, Oryx wrote. Read also: Opinion: Troops in Ukraine? France-Germany spat plays into Putins hands While many of the tanks Russia has lost are older models, such as the T-62 and T-72, Moscow has also lost a significant number of its more modern vehicles, including 72 T-90s. Russia also lost three of its cutting-edge BMPT Terminators. This state of the art infantry fighting vehicle was lauded by Moscow as the best troop carrier in the world and impervious to practically any NATO weapon. Ukraines Armed Forces have called these claims into question by taking out three, two of which were achieved using cheap FPV drones. In the air, of the 106 Russian aircraft either destroyed or damaged by Ukraine, perhaps the biggest loss for Moscows air force has been the destruction of its precious A-50 early warning and control aircraft. The A-50 provides several critical functions for the ongoing war in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles, and coordinating targets for Russian fighter jets. Each has a price tag of around $350 million and Russia possesses less than 10 Ukraine has managed to down two, most recently one over the Azov Sea on the evening of Feb. 23. This came during a particularly fruitful period for Ukraines Armed Forces Ukraine reportedly downed 13 Russian warplanes within just two weeks in February. Read also: Ukraine destroyed 13 Russian military aircraft in 2 weeks. How? Russia has lost 103 helicopters, with 30 more damaged, and two captured, according to Oryx. One of the captured helicopters was a Mi-8, flown by a defecting Russian pilot to a Ukrainian airfield in a daring operation organized by Ukraines military intelligence and reported on Aug. 23. Maksim Kuzminov said that he contacted the Ukrainian side himself and was told he would receive security for himself and his family, payments, and new documents from Ukraine if he defected. Kuzminov was featured in the documentary "Downed Russian Pilots," which aired on Ukrainian television in September 2023. The film revealed how the landing was planned and carried out, and Kuzminov called on other Russian pilots to follow his lead. "If you do what I did, this kind of thing, you will not regret it at all. You will be provided for the rest of your life with absolutely everything," Kuzminov said. But rather than stay in Ukraine, he moved to Spain, where he was found shot dead in February. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Russian forces have lost 640 soldiers, bringing Russias total combat losses to 437,390 military personnel. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook Details: The total combat losses of the Russian forces between 24 February 2022 and 25 March 2024 are estimated to be as follows [figures in parentheses represent the latest losses ed.] 437,390 (+640) military personnel; 6,887 (+11) tanks; 13,183 (+25) armoured combat vehicles; 10,877 (+22) artillery systems; 1,018 (+0) multiple-launch rocket systems; 726 (+3) air defence systems; 347 (+0) fixed-wing aircraft; 325 (+0) helicopters; 8,539 (+29) strategic and tactical UAVs; 2,010 (+18) cruise missiles; 26 (+0) ships and boats; 1 (+0) submarines; 14,454 (+47) vehicles and tankers; 1,785 (+7) special vehicles and other equipment. Support UP or become our patron! A transformer substation at the Novocherkassk State District Power Plant in Russia's Rostov Oblast caught fire overnight on March 25, claimed Vasily Golubev, the regional governor. His statement came after Russian Telegram channels wrote about multiple explosions in the region amid an alleged drone attack, citing local residents. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Rostov Oblast overnight. The Novocherkassk State District Power Plant is the largest thermal power plant in Rostov Oblast. Two high-voltage 330 kV lines, Tikhoretskaya and Rostovskaya, were automatically disconnected as a result of the fire, Golubev claimed. "The power supply to consumers has been restored. Two power units of State District Power Plant were temporarily taken out of operation," he wrote on Telegram. The fire was quickly extinguished, and its cause is being determined, according to the governor. No casualties were reported. The Kyiv Independent couldnt verify the claims. There were no comments from Ukrainian officials on the incident. Read also: Ukrainian drones hit one Russian oil refinery after another In the past weeks, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry. A total of 12 Russian oil refineries were successfully hit in multiple regions deep inside Russian territory as of March 17, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing an unnamed source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Drone attacks on Russia's oil refineries have likely disrupted at least 10% of the country's refinery capacity, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry. Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said on March 22 that Russia's oil refineries are "absolutely legitimate targets" for the Ukrainian military. Her statement followed media reports that the U.S. had asked Ukraine to stop attacking the Russian oil industry. Advisor to Ukraine's Presidential Office head Mykhailo Podolyak denied the reports, saying Kyiv did not receive any such calls from Washington. Read also: Russias war effort may not be as formidable as it looks Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 25. The volume of industrial production in Kazakhstan amounted to 7.5 trillion tenge (about 16.6 billion) from January through February 2024, Trend reports. The country's Bureau of National Statistics' data shows that in the mining industry, production amounted to 3.56 trillion tenge, or about $7.9 billion (47.5 percent of the total), and in the manufacturing industry, it was 3.23 trillion tenge, or about $7.1 billion (43.2 percent). At the same time, from January through February 2024, the industrial production index (IPI) in Kazakhstan was 104.6 percent. Among the regions, the greatest growth was recorded in the East Kazakhstan, Aktobe, and Akmola regions. Furthermore, in the mining and quarrying industry from January through February 2024, the IPI amounted to 101.9 percent, which is due to an increase in the production of metal ores (107.2 percent) and other minerals (102.9 percent) and services in the mining industry (106.9 percent). In the manufacturing industry, the IPI from January through February 2024 compared to the same period in 2023 was 107.4 percent. Growth was noted in the production of the chemical industry by 25.3 percent, metallurgy - 10.6 percent, finished metal products, except machinery and equipment - 24.3 percent, mechanical engineering - 23.4 percent, and other finished products - 1.8 times. Meanwhile, the volume of industrial production in Kazakhstan amounted to 46.4 trillion tenge (about $102.5 billion) from January through December 2023. Compared to 2022, production increased by 4.3 percent. Thus, production volume in the mining and quarrying industry amounted to 21.7 trillion tenge (about $47.9 billion), which is 4.6 percent more than in 2022. In addition, production in this area accounted for 46.9 percent of total industrial production. At the same time, production in the manufacturing industry increased by 4.1 percent compared to 2022 and amounted to 21.6 trillion tenge (about $47.7 billion). The manufacturing industry, in turn, covered 46.6 percent of total industrial production. One of the Russian landing ships struck during a recent missile strike on occupied Crimea was "critically damaged," Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said on March 25. In a post on Telegram, the agency said the "Yamal" suffered a "hole in the upper deck that caused it to roll to the starboard side." In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on occupied Crimea, targeting Russian military assets in and around the Black Sea. Russia has illegally occupied the peninsula since 2014. HUR said the attack targeted the 13th ship repair plant of the Russian Black Sea fleet in occupied Sevastopol, where the boat was undergoing repairs. "The occupiers continuously pump out water from the affected ship," HUR said, adding: "Other details about the losses of the aggressor as a result of the missile attack of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine against the military facilities of terrorist Russia are being clarified." Ukraine struck two Russian Ropucha-class landing ships, "Yamal" and "Azov," in occupied Crimea in the late hours of March 23, Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed on March 24. Read also: These are the most important Russian ships destroyed by Ukraine "Yamal," with 98 crew members, and "Azov," with 87 crew members, belong to the 197th Landing Ships Brigade and are actively used in the fleets exercises and training, according to the Black Sea Fleets website. The attack also hit some Black Sea Fleet infrastructure in Crimea and a Russian military communication center, the Ukrainian military said. As Ukraine's campaign against Russia's navy continues, Russia is redeploying its Black Sea Fleet from occupied Crimea to the relative safety of Novorossiysk, HUR reported on March 21 The Strategic Communications Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom) recently reported that as of early February 2024, 33% of the fleets warships had been disabled, including 24 ships and one submarine. Russia has taken a number of steps to address the continuing threat, including replacing the commander of the Russian Navy earlier this month. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. NATO countries ought to defend their airspace from Russian missiles en route to targets in Ukraine, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said in an interview with Fox News on March 25. He said that NATO should reassess its doctrine on the matter and actually shoot down hostile UAVs and cruise missiles that violate the sovereign airspace of its members. Read also: Zelenskyy appeals to NATO Military Committee Chair for more air defense In the interview, Landsbergis stressed that this isn't the first time Russia has violated the airspace of alliance members. Read also: Can Europe defend itself if US withdraws from NATO expert interview One time could be a mistake; but if we let it happen again, it will be seen as an invitation, said Landsbergis. Read also: Victim count of Russian missile strike on Kyiv rises to ten Therefore, we must change our attitude and send a clear signal that if it repeats, the missiles or drones will be shot down. Early in the morning on March 24, the Polish military reported that a Russian cruise missile entered Polish airspace near Ostrow in the Lublin Voivodeship at 5:23 a.m. Kyiv time, remaining in the nation's airspace for 39 seconds. Polish military radar systems tracked the target throughout its 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 Suspects in the Crocus City Hall shooting are brought to Basmanny court in Moscow By Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that no country was immune to terrorism when asked if there had been a major failure by security services in preventing Friday's deadly attack on a concert hall, the worst attack inside Russia for two decades. At least 137 people were killed and 182 injured when four men burst into the Crocus City Hall, spraying people with bullets before setting fire to the 6,200-seat hall. President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation on Saturday that all those responsible would be punished. He said 11 people had been detained, four heading towards Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday it was inappropriate to comment on a claim of responsibility for the attack by Islamic State while the investigation was live. "The investigation is underway," Peskov told reporters. "So far, no versions have been put forward at all." When asked if such a deadly attack unfolding just outside the Russian capital was a failure for the special services, Peskov said emotions were running high but that no country was immune. "Unfortunately, our world shows that no city, no country can be completely immune from the threat of terrorism," Peskov said. He said the special services worked tirelessly to defend Russia. "The fight against terrorism is an ongoing process that requires full-scale international cooperation. But you can see that now in this most acute confrontational period, such cooperation is not being fully carried out in any way." The Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor the Soviet-era KGB, is one of Russia's most powerful institutions. It has been headed by Alexander Bortnikov since 2008, who briefed Putin on the course of the investigation after the attack. U.S. INTELLIGENCE The United States said it had warned Russia two weeks before about the possibility of an attack in Moscow. That intelligence prompted the U.S. embassy in Moscow to issue a warning that "extremists" had imminent plans for an attack. Asked if Russian security services needed assistance from the West, Peskov said: "Our special services are working independently, now there is no question of any help." Peskov declined to comment on intelligence details. He said, though, that in conversations with other leaders since the attack, other heads of state had suggested improving international efforts to counter terrorism. Some of the suspects were shown being interrogated in unverified footage published by Russian media and Telegram channels with close ties to the Kremlin. One of the suspects was shown having part of his ear cut off and stuffed into his mouth. Another was shown with his hands tied and his hair held by an interrogator, a black boot beneath his head. Another was questioned in a hospital bed. When they appeared in court on Sunday night, one had a bandage over his ear, another had a bruised face and another was shown in hospital robes. "I leave this question without answer," Peskov said when asked about possible abuse of the suspects. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Andrew Osborn) Dozens of Ukraine's energy facilities, including thermal and hydroelectric power plants, substations, and regional power grids, were damaged in the recent massive Russian missile and drone attacks, causing blackouts in Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhya oblasts. Volodymyr Omelchenko, Director of Energy and Infrastructure Programs at the Razumkov Center think tank, told NV how enemy strikes have affected the national power grid and assessed the risk of blackouts across the country in near future. NV: On March 22, Russia launched a major attack on energy facilities in Ukraine and continued its terror campaign in the following days. What are the consequences for our energy system? Omelchenko: We need to look at the consequences for Ukraine as a whole, for all consumers, as well as the consequences for individual regions. As for individual regions, the most negative consequences, the greatest damage was done in Kharkiv, where all the substations were destroyed, and a thermal power plant (TPP) was also destroyed the city's infrastructure was severely damaged, making it very difficult to repair. The enemy focused on Kharkiv, Odesa, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts especially on Kryvyi Rih. The enemy also concentrated on damaging and destroying power distribution nodes throughout Ukraine. The largest hydroelectric power plant in Ukraine, the Dnipro HPP [in Zaporizhzhia], was hit and its turbine halls were damaged. Its unclear when it will be possible to restore the plant, but it will definitely take more than a month. In addition, there were strikes at TPPs, which damaged about 50% of the total thermal generating capacity. So not only certain regions of Ukraine are facing stabilization blackouts, but the entire energy system of Ukraine is on the verge of forced stabilization outages, including in Kyiv, Lviv and other cities, as these strikes have reduced the capacities of the national system. And today it is on the verge of balancing supply and demand. Therefore, it is possible that this week or next week there will be stabilization blackouts throughout the country, even if there are no further enemy strikes. But it is likely that such attacks could be repeated on a regular basis. NV: So even if Russia doesn't strike again, blackouts could be introduced throughout Ukraine, as they were in 2022? Read also: Ukrenergo implements blackouts in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast following Russian attack Omelchenko: Yes. Maybe not on such a large scale during certain peak hours, but the risk is there. This does not mean its certain it depends on the possibility of restoration and the severity of the damage. As for Ukrenergo's [Ukraines power grid operator] substations and high-voltage transmission lines, the situation there is a little better because there is a certain emergency reserve, a reserve of transformers. As for the reserve of transformer capacity at generation facilities, the situation is worse there is practically no reserve. The only thing that can and will help us today is that the temperatures are expected to rise from March 27, with more sunny days. This means, among other things, that solar energy production will increase: this can help our energy system. But the loss of balancing capacity will be quite difficult to make up with renewable energy because we had a serious shortage of balancing capacity before, and now it will become critical. NV: Recently DTEK [Ukraines leading power company] announced that it has lost 50% of its generating capacity. What does this mean and what are the consequences? Omelchenko: First of all, thermal generation is also a balancing capacity. Secondly, it can lead to difficulties in balancing the system, power shortages at certain hours and a transition to stabilization blackouts across the country. NV: Serhiy Kovalenko, CEO of Yasno [DTEKs consumer-facing branch], admitted that there could be a shortage of electricity in the summer. Could we import enough from our neighbors, or will some restrictions become necessary? VO: In April-May, we will begin repairs and maintenance of our major generation facilities. These are mainly thermal and nuclear power plants. Therefore, there may be some shortage of supply. Read also: Of course, we will need imports to help us out. At the moment we can import 1,700 MW of electricity. But we will probably have to talk to ENTSO-E [the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Continental Europe] to increase that to at least 2000 MW. Whether that will be enough remains to be seen. Its unclear whether the attacks on energy facilities will continue and how damaging they would be. 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 Russian landing ship Yamal was struck in temporarily occupied Sevastopol on 23 March, and the damage to the vessel was critical. Source: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) Quote: "There were successful hits on Russian Black Sea Fleet facilities in temporarily occupied Crimea on 23 March 2024. In particular, the 13th shipyard of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was attacked, where, among other things, the enemy's large landing ship Yamal was moored. According to assessments by Ukrainian military intelligence, the damage to the Yamal is critical: a breach in the upper deck has caused the ship to list to starboard." Details: DIU also added that the Russians are continuously pumping water out of the damaged ship, which took part in the annexation of Crimea and underwent repairs from 2017 to 2023. Other details about Russian losses due to missile attacks by Ukraine's Defence Forces against Russian military targets are being clarified. Background: On the evening of 23 March, it was reported that cruise missiles had hit the main communications centre of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol On 24 March, it was reported that Ukrainian Defence Forces had struck two Russian landing ships, Yamal and Azov, as well as a communications centre and several infrastructure facilities belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea. Support UP or become our patron! Stock photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Russian forces have been attacking on seven frontline areas, most actively on Novopavlivka, with a total of 60 combat clashes recorded at the front line in the past 24 hours. Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 25 March Details: There were no significant changes on the Volyn and Polissia fronts. On the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, the Russians are maintaining a military presence in the border areas, conducting active sabotage activities to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to vulnerable areas and increasing the density of minefields along the state border in Russias Belgorod Oblast. On the Kupiansk front, Ukraines Defence Forces repelled a Russian attack near the settlement of Synkivka (Kharkiv Oblast) On the Lyman front, Ukrainian defenders repelled eight Russian attacks near the settlements of Bilohorivka (Luhansk Oblast) and Yampolivka and Vesele (Donetsk Oblast), where Russian forces, supported by aircraft, attempted to break through Ukrainian defences. On the Bakhmut front, Ukrainian soldiers repelled eight Russian attacks near the settlements of Bohdanivka, Klishchiivka and Andriivka (Donetsk Oblast). On the Avdiivka front, Ukrainian defenders repelled 10 Russian attacks near the settlements of Berdychi and Pervomaiske (Donetsk Oblast). On the Novopavlivka front, Ukraines Defence Forces are continuing to hold back the Russians near the settlements of Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Novomykhailivka and Urozhaine, where the Russians, supported by aircraft, attempted to break through the Ukrainian defences 25 times. On the Orikhiv front, Russian forces, supported by aircraft, attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders near the village of Staromaiorske (Donetsk Oblast) and Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia Oblast) three times. On the Kherson front, the Russians are persisting in their intention to drive Ukrainian troops from their footholds on the Dnipro River's left (east) bank. Russian troops attacked Ukrainian positions once over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers are continuing to actively inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian forces, draining them along the entire contact line. Ukraine's Air Force hit eight areas where Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment were concentrated. Ukraine's Rocket Forces and Artillery struck two Russian air defence systems, three artillery systems and an electronic warfare station. Support UP or become our patron! The Russians dropped explosives from a drone near the settlement of Novoberyslav in Kherson Oblast on 25 March, killing a 71-year-old man. Source: a statement by the Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine Quote: "The body of a 71-year-old man was found near the settlement of Novoberyslav. He is thought to have been killed by an explosive dropped from a UAV." Details: The Prosecutors Office reported that on 25 March the Russians launched attacks on the city of Kherson and the liberated settlements in Kherson Oblast using artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, drones and aircraft. Residential buildings, outbuildings, administrative buildings and a car were damaged. Support UP or become our patron! The Russians dropped two bombs on a school in Sumy Oblast on 25 March. Source: Sumy Oblast Prosecutor's Office Quote: "The investigation shows that on 25 March 2024, at about 16:20 (Kyiv time), the occupiers dropped two guided aerial bombs on the civilian infrastructure of Velyka Pysarivka hromada of Okhtyrka district in violation of international law [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories ed.]. The enemy attack damaged the building of a secondary school." Details: Prosecutors, in cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, are documenting the aftermath of the attack. Support UP or become our patron! Three women have been injured in a Russian missile attack on the city of Odesa that occurred on the evening of 25 March. Source: Oleh Kiper, Head of Odesa Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram Quote: "The enemy launched a missile attack on Odesa. As of now, there are three injured women. Fortunately their injuries are not serious. There is damage to civilian infrastructure, and some windows have been shattered. All the relevant services are working [at the scene]." More details: Kiper also said that as of 19:00, more than 300,000 consumers in Odesa are cut off from the power grid. Background: On the evening of 25 March, an air-raid warning was issued throughout Ukraine due to the threat of ballistic missiles being launched by Russia. It lasted for almost an hour. Suspilne journalists reported that explosions had been heard in the city of Odesa. Support UP or become our patron! Rebel Wilson describes how she had worked with 'a massive a--hole' - PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Sacha Baron Cohen has denied that he is a massive a--hole who repeatedly asked Rebel Wilson to appear nude on film. The Borat star issued a statement after Wilson claimed on Instagram that an unidentified star was trying to keep claims about themselves out of her forthcoming memoir. The Bridesmaids star first wrote that she had worked with a massive a--hole, adding: The chapter on said a--hole is chapter 23. In an Instagram update, she wrote: I will not be bullied or silenced with high-priced lawyers or PR crisis managers. The a--hole that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is Sacha Baron Cohen. Sacha Baron Cohen and Rebel Wilson in the film Grimsby - Photo 12/Alamy Wilson appeared in the 2016 film Grimsby - titled The Brothers Grimsby in the US - which Baron Cohen wrote, produced and starred in. Baron Cohen, in a statement issued via his spokesman, said: While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of The Brothers Grimsby. Speaking on an Australian radio show in 2014, shortly after filming her scenes in the film, Wilson said: Sacha is so outrageous. Every single day hes like, Rebel, can you just go naked in this scene? And Im like, No! Sacha and I have the same agent in America and Im like, Sacha, Im going to call our agent Sharon and tell her how much youre harassing me. Every day hes like, Just go naked, it will be funny. Remember in Borat when I did that naked scene? It was hilarious. On the last day, I thought Id obviously won the argument, and he got a body double to do the naked scene. When her book, Rebel Rising, was announced last year, Wilson said it would be like me sitting down telling me deepest, darkest secrets to a friend with some laughs along the way, of course. HarperCollins, which won a nine-way auction for the memoir, said at the time: As well as being an actress, comedian and director, Rebel is also an incredibly astute businesswoman and it was clear from the outset that she knows exactly what needs to be done to drive her book to the top of the bestseller lists across the globe. Recommended Sacha Baron Cohen, Rebel Wilson and the grim truth about his tasteless comedy Grimsby Read more Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. 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. The Sacramento City Council will Tuesday consider making Sacramento a sanctuary city for transgender people. The resolution, proposed by Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, would bar city staff including officers and contractors from detaining people for seeking or providing gender-affirming health care. It would also bar the city from cooperating with out-of-state jurisdictions that are criminalizing gender-affirming care. California has been a leader in protecting the rights of transgender individuals to access care, but many states across the nation are moving in the opposite direction, Valenzuela wrote in a document requesting the council consider the resolution. Valenzuela added that this resolution was necessary in preparation of future legislation that may criminalize those providing or seeking gender-affirming care. This action, she said, is in line with the City Councils values of equity and inclusion. The city is already a sanctuary city for immigrants, and the resolution would enact the same protections for transgender people, the document states. Examples of gender-affirming health care includes interventions to align the patients appearance with the patients gender identity, such as hormone therapy and surgery. It also includes some types of mental health care treatment. At least 23 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, and at least seven states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for adults, the document states. A California law, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2022, allows children from other states to come to California for gender-affirming care free of criminal or civil action. Multiple healthcare institutions across the country have scaled back gender-affirming healthcare services in response to legal challenges, harassment, or threats of violence, the document stated. There are institutions providing gender-affirming healthcare in Sacramento, but local advocates report long waitlists and other issues. If the council adopts it, the resolution would prohibit staff, officers, contractors or subcontractors from detaining people for seeking or providing gender-affirming care. It would also bar the use of city property for detaining people for that purpose. At the start of the same meeting, Mayor Darrell Steinberg is set to present a proclamation recognizing Transgender Week of Visibility. The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. at City Hall. SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) The San Angelo Rodeo Parade is almost here Here are some details you should know: The San Angelo Rodeo Parade is set to kick off at 10 a.m. on April 6 through downtown San Angelo to celebrate this years rodeo season, rain or shine. Those with the San Angelo Advocacy for Access are helping bring an ADA-accessible parking area to the 2024 parade. Handicap parking will be available during the parade at the M.L. Leddys parking lot located at 222 S. Oakes St. Parking will be first come, first serve. Music lineup announced for San Angelo Rodeo Buffalo Social Club 2024 San Angelo Rodeo Parade route courtesy of the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo. The parade will start at the corner of Irving Street and Concho Ave, traveling down a portion of South Oakes Street before turning onto Twohig Avenue. Floats including antique tractors, cars, horses and marching bands will make a right turn onto Chadbourne Street before traveling down West College Avenue and onto Irving Street. The route is set to turn down Beauregard Avenue for two blocks before finishing on Randolph Street at Santa Fe Park Drive. The deadline to participate in the rodeo parade is March 29. Those who wish to enter a float can fill out an entry form found on the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo website. No fee is required. SAISD communications team takes home 13 awards If you are not able to make your way downtown for the parade but still want to watch the festivities, be sure to stick with Concho Valley Homepage for a live stream of the event. The parade will also be available to stream on KSANs and KLSTs Facebook pages. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has confirmed it was the target of a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv on March 25. A source in the agency told Kyiv Independent they had prior intelligence warning of the attack and had been expecting it from around 6:00 a.m. A series of explosions rocked Ukraine's capital around 10:30 a.m. local time in the latest Russian missile strike on the city. March 25 is the Day of the Security Service of Ukraine. In a post on Telegram to mark the occasion, Oleksandr Zavitnevych, the chairman of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, wrote: "We have all seen the incredible operations of the Security Service of Ukraine, which were powerfully felt by the occupiers. "We bow our heads to those Heroes who gave their lives for Ukraine. It is our common task to withstand and win the Victory. "I wish you a speedy Victory, courage and good health!" Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured A previous Russian missile attack on March 21 targeted the SBU's sister agency, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR). The latest strike saw Russian forces launch two ballistic missiles at Kyiv. Both were intercepted by air defenses, but debris fell on two areas of the city. In the Pechersk district, the Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts was damaged. The academy's gym and concert hall were destroyed, according to a Kyiv Independent reporter on the ground, citing the institution's employees. As of 3:30 p.m. local time, the number of victims in Kyiv's Pecherskiy district rose to 10, according to the State Emergency Service. The Kyiv City Military Administration clarified that out of the 10 victims, two people were wounded and hospitalized, and the remaining eight people suffered from shock. Klitschko earlier said that among the victims were two pregnant women and a 16-year-old girl. Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, also said debris had also fallen in the Solomyanskyi district, where a high-rise residential building was damaged. No injuries have been reported there. Fragments of an intercepted missile were also found in a wooded area in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv. The Kyiv Independent contacted the SBU press office for information on the attack, but the agency's spokesperson was unable to provide a comment at the moment. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Arrest of one of the suspects Ukraines SBU security service has arrested a man and a woman who worked for Russian occupation forces in Kherson and went into hiding after the city's liberation in late 2023, the agency announced on March 25. According to the SBU press service, the investigation established that during the occupation, the suspects were appointed as part of the "administration" of a Russian torture facility, located at a local penal colony. Read also: Russian attack on civilian vehicles kills two men in Ukraine's frontline Kherson region, officials say The detained served as "security inspectors" at the facility, wearing Russian uniforms, carrying weapons, and identification badges. In particular, the suspects guarded the cells holding members of the Ukrainian resistance movement in Kherson Oblast. Read also: Drone attack on Kherson invincibility point wounds three The investigation established that in these cells, Russians applied torture to coerce Ukrainian citizens into collaboration. After the liberation of Kherson, the collaborators avoided justice, moving constantly before SBU agents detained them. The alleged perpetrators are charged with collaborationism, facing up to 15 years in prison. 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 no longer uses the Crimean Bridge to supply weapons to the front after Ukrainian strikes damaged the crossing, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said on air on March 25. The bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, connects the Russian mainland with the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, making it a crucial supply route for the Russian military in Ukraine. Construction on the 19-kilometer-long bridge began after the illegal 2014 annexation and occupation of Crimea, and was completed in 2018. The bridge was heavily damaged in Ukrainian strikes in October 2022 and July 2023. The plan to strike the bridge was first conceived in March 2022, Maliuk said. Before the bridge came under attack, "42 to 46 trains carrying weapons and ammunition passed there per day," Maliuk said. "Today there are four or five in a day," of which four are for passenger traffic, and one is for consumer goods, Maliuk said. Russian proxy authorities in occupied Crimea regularly shut down traffic on the Crimean Bridge amid reports of explosions and drone strikes. When the structure is fully restored, Russia will likely use the bridge once again for weapons supplies, Maliuk said, but implied that Ukraine plans to then carry out another attack. "Everything has its time," Maliuk said. Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A 17-year-old from Lancaster is charged as an adult with murder after allegedly shooting a man during a gun sale, South Carolina deputies said. NyJeri Izay Patterson is accused of killing Stephen Donovan Carter, 18, before midnight Friday on Zion Road east of Lancaster, Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile said in a statement. Patterson arranged to meet Carter outside the victims home to sell a firearm, Faile said. Carter was shot and robbed of cash, Faile said. Patterson was arrested Sunday. Deputies said State Law Enforcement Division and local investigators identified him as the person Carter communicated with before being killed. Deputies did not say how Patterson and Carter knew each other. Patterson is charged with murder, armed robbery and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to deputies and Lancaster County jail records. Patterson remained in jail after being denied bail Monday. Its unclear if he has a a lawyer. A conviction for murder in South Carolina carries a sentence of between 30 years to life in prison. By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents have opened an investigation of hip-hop star Sean "Diddy" Combs, searching his properties in Los Angeles and the Miami area, agency officials said on Monday. The inquiry was led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in New York, where a lawsuit was filed against Combs by a former girlfriend in federal court in November accusing him of engaging in sex trafficking. Combs, 54, has said that he is innocent and that his accusers were seeking "a quick payday." His New York-based lawyer, Ben Brafman, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Television stations in Los Angeles carried aerial video footage showing HSI agents and other law enforcement authorities raiding Combs' lavish estate in the city's upscale Holmby Hills neighborhood. Los Angeles City News Service reported several people were detained outside the home but it was unclear whether any arrests were made. Local news outlets reported that federal authorities also executed a search warrant at the rap mogul's Miami-area home. Reuters footage showed officers going in and out of his property on Miami Beach's Star Island, with agents seen carrying a box of material from the home. Combs' whereabouts during the raids were not known. HSI spokespersons, responding to a Reuters query, said: "Earlier today, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York executed law enforcement actions as part of an ongoing investigation, with assistance from HSI Los Angeles, HSI Miami, and our local law enforcement partners." The statement did not elaborate on the nature of the investigation. HSI has broad jurisdiction to investigate the illegal movement of people, goods, money, technology and contraband into, out of and throughout the United States, including sex trafficking. R&B vocalist Cassandra Ventura sued Combs in federal court in Manhattan in mid-November, accusing him of subjecting her to physical abuse, sexual slavery and rape during a 10-year professional and romantic relationship. One of the central allegations of Ventura's suit was that Combs forced her to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes he hired while he watched and filmed the encounters. The lawsuit cited violations of sex trafficking and human trafficking statutes under federal, New York and California laws. Ventura and Combs, who has used such monikers as P. Diddy, Puff Daddy and Diddy, announced the next day they had settled the case under confidential terms. Brafman, said at the time that the settlement was "in no way an admission of wrongdoing" and that his client maintained his "flat-out denial" of Ventura's claims. Ventura's lawsuit was one of at least four civil complaints in recent months leveling sexual assault allegations against Combs. In December, in response to the latest civil complaint, which accused him of taking part in the gang rape of a teenager that he arranged to fly from Detroit to New York 20 years ago, Combs issued a statement denying all the allegations as fabrications by people seeking money. Combs, founder of the landmark label Bad Boy Records, is one of the most influential producers and executives in hip-hop and a hugely successful performer, as well as the impresario of his own Sean John clothing line. (This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 5) (Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Maria Cardona in Miami Beach. Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Gerry Doyle) Search for 6-year-old Pennsylvania girl swept away in creek now a recovery mission A search for a 6-year-old girl who fell into a creek in Chester, Pennsylvania, and was swept away in the rushing water on Saturday evening has shifted from a rescue to a recovery mission, officials said Sunday. The child fell into the rain-swollen Chester Creek around 7 p.m. after she was believed to have slipped in the mud near the water while playing with another girl, Chester Fire Department officials said. Multiple fire companies immediately launched a search for the next 3 1/2 hours while the U.S. Coast Guard continued overnight. Chester Fire Commissioner John-Paul Shirley said during a press conference Sunday afternoon that rescuers were always "looking for that miracle" but that a rescue now appeared unlikely after so many hours. HEROIC GEORGIA COLLEGE STUDENTS ON WEEKEND ROAD TRIP RESCUE FAMILY FROM SINKING CAR The 6-year-old girl was believed to have been playing near the creek when she slipped in the mud and fell in, according to authorities. "We were always hopeful that we could find something, now there's just without a doubt, once we had the sunlight on our side, and we're able to do a much more thorough search, that it wasn't going to be a rescue, it was going to be a recovery," Shirley said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP The 6-year-old girl was later identified by news outlets as Linajah Brooker. The 6-year-old girl was later identified as Linajah Brooker, FOX29 Philadelphia reported. Nearly 3 inches of rain was reported in the area Saturday as a storm moved across the Northeast, according to Fox Weather. MAN JUMPS INTO FAST-FLOWING RIVER TO RESCUE LITTLE GIRL: SEE THE HEROIC MOMENT Shirley said they believe the girl could have been swept from the creek to the mouth of the Delaware River in just minutes. The fast-flowing Chester Creek could have swept the child to the mouth of the Delaware River in just minutes, officials said. "She might have already been in the Delaware when we were just getting on scene," he said. The search and rescue mission for the child shifted to a recovery on Sunday. Chester Mayor Stefan Roots called it an "extremely sad day" for the community. "Our wish today is that with our boats, out with our drones out, with the Coast Guard out that we can discover the body and bring closure very quickly," Roots said. CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Chester is a city about 18 miles southwest of downtown Philadelphia. Original article source: Search for 6-year-old Pennsylvania girl swept away in creek now a recovery mission Waking up Monday morning, showers will be present, especially up north and along the coast. Mountain snow will also start with snow levels around 3,500'. Highs on Monday will be cooler than Sunday, with more clouds and showers. The highs will top out in the low 50s. Scattered showers continue into Monday evening and will stay in the forecast through Tuesday. A stronger system moves into Western Washington on Wednesday, bringing more widespread rain, mountain snow and gusty winds. These conditions continue into Thursday. Tapering showers Friday with more sunbreaks in the afternoon. The weekend looks warmer and drier. Esma Cakir, the president of the Foreign Press Association in Italy, peers out from a hidden entrance behind a bookcase in Palazzo Grazioli - Chris Warde-Jones for the Telegraph For the correspondent in Rome who tires of trying to understand the inner workings of Italian politics, relief is now at hand the prospect of a nice hot soak in a sunken bath. It just so happens that the bath is where Silvio Berlusconi enjoyed some of his more jaw-dropping bunga bunga shenanigans, when he cavorted with young women less than a third of his age. On Monday, the foreign press corps moved into a grand palazzo in Rome that was last owned by the former prime minister known as Il Cavaliere (The Knight). A member of the Foreign Press Association discovers a secret door behind a wooden bookcase in Palazzo Grazioli - Nick Squires for the Telegraph The water to the bath was still running when one of the 300 or so international correspondents who form the Foreign Press Association tried the taps. Water still runs from the bath taps - Chris Ward-Jones for the Telegraph The press corps last home, a building around the corner from the famed Trevi Fountain, was sold off to become a five-star hotel. After a painstaking search for a new location, 16th-century Palazzo Grazioli was chosen. It was, for many years, the home of Berlusconi, both when he was prime minister and afterwards when he was forced to resign in 2011 amid an acute debt crisis. Aside from the sunken bath, the most startling feature may be the secret door that is hidden behind a wooden bookcase in one of the rooms where journalists will now finesse their copy. A concealed handle enables the bookcase to be opened with a creak, revealing a dark space and an old wooden door. The door leads to a back stairway which spills out into the palazzos courtyard the perfect escape, perhaps, for a harried correspondent whose foreign editor is on the warpath after a missed deadline. Another broad staircase is overlooked by the stuffed head of a Javan rhinoceros, which was shot in 1879 by an Italian duke, an ancestor of the aristocratic Grazioli family who still own the building. The stuffed head of the Javan rhinoceros - Nick Squires for the Telegraph The foreign press association has taken over the entire first floor of the palazzo in Italian known as the piano nobile literally, the noble floor, where bedrooms and reception rooms are traditionally found. George Clooney passed through here once, hoping to speak to the prime minister about aid efforts in Darfur. Berlusconi had other ideas. It became a very different evening than anyone thought, the Hollywood actor later recalled. I was like I have to go and he was saying No, where are you going? Theres going to be a party, and I was like, No I gotta go I really do. Much of the original decoration and the fittings have remained. There are vast tapestries and oil paintings on the walls, alongside delicately etched mirrors and chandeliers. Frescoes on the ceilings depict muscular classical heroes, fat-thighed cherubs and scantily clad nymphs. The hefty cost of renting the property is paid by the Italian state. The arrangement has its origins in the Fascist era; Mussolini was keen to have all foreign journalists clustered together in one location so that he could keep tabs on them. Foreign correspondents in Italy have moved into Silvio Berlusconi's old home in Rome Romes correspondents are a privileged lot. There are a handful of other foreign correspondent clubs around the world, in places like Hong Kong, Bangkok and Tokyo, but they rarely offer the sumptuous facilities as the one in Rome. There was a buzz as journalists of many different nationalities, from Canadian and Iranian to British, French, German and Turkish, turned up for work on Monday and admired the opulent decor. Its like the first day at school. You half expect to see everyone laying out their pencils and pencil cases, a British colleague said. The lavatories have been left as they were when Berlusconi lived here, complete with baths and brass taps. Water still flows from the taps, offering the promise of a long lunchtime soak in the tub. Suffocated with kisses The Telegraphs assigned desk space is in Berlusconis former bedroom sadly the double bed that he was reportedly given as a gift by Vladimir Putin has been removed. It was here that he invited a prostitute named Patrizia DAddario to spend the night. She wrote an excruciatingly detailed account of the encounter in a book titled, Prime minister, Take Your Pleasure. Patrizia D'Addario told of her wild night with Italian prime minister at the palazzo - EPS / Rex Features He told me he wanted contact with my skin, he held me tight, he took my breath away He suffocated me with kisses, Miss DAddario wrote. We kissed an infinite number of times, with him above all kissing my intimate parts. His stamina was such that he could get into the Guinness Book of Records. He kept her up all night, she said. There were moments when I feared I would not stand up to his assaults. Does he take something? I have asked myself many times. She mused that his energy might have come from the disgustingly sweet herbal tea that he drank. She was invited back to the palazzo by the prime minister and on that occasion was not the only woman in his sights. Being an escort, I thought I had seen it all but 20 women for one man was a new experience. Journalists can now wander down a long corridor where Berlusconi and Putin were photographed beaming as they tossed a ball for one of the Italian premiers white poodles, called Dudu. At the height of the bunga bunga scandals, when the prime minister was being entertained by young models and aspiring actresses, a pair of them wearing little black dresses took photos of each other posing in front of the mirror, holding a hairdryer like a pistol as if they were Bond girls. Inevitably, the photos were leaked and have become one of the abiding images of Berlusconis libidinous era. Correspondents joked about finding G-strings and pairs of knickers in the bathroom cupboards. Berlusconi, who was prime minister three times and a billionaire businessman, died last year. There is a bar with, as its centrepiece, an arrangement of Campari bottles the drinks maker is one of the sponsors of the place, along with Barilla, a pasta company, and the chocolate company Ferrero. Campari bottles line the bar - Nick Squires for the Telegraph I think with our last place, we probably had the best foreign press club in the world, said Philip Willan, a British journalist who has lived in Italy for decades and writes for The Times from time to time. With this new place, there cant be any doubt. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Hong Kong's future as a global finance hub is in doubt following a tough new security law There is a new running joke in Hong Kong: locals mock their city for losing its status as the darling of global capital. As one joked, it is the newest Unesco world heritage site. A tough security law - Article 23 - that came into effect over the weekend has only renewed the underlying concerns. Authorities say it will protect the city and ensure stability, while critics are alarmed it will silence all dissent with its closed-door trials and life sentences for broadly-defined offences - from insurrection to treason. It comes at a time when Beijing's iron grip and US-China tensions were already driving away foreign investors who now have an "anywhere but China" policy, says Mr Chan, a real estate surveyor, who did not wish to disclose his full name. "Hong Kong was seen as distinct from China so investors could still invest here - not anymore now," he says. Article 23 and after The emphasis on national security and the danger posed by "foreign forces" - a running theme in the legislation and in Beijing's recent policies - raises the stakes for foreign capital and businesses operating in the city. "The business has been awful in the past two years and there was no major deal at all," says Mr Tse, who works for a Chinese state-owned bank. He said his company fired 10% of their staff in June and another 5% just this past week. "No one knows when it will be their turn." While it is too early to evaluate the risks of Article 23 to businesses, it could lead to higher compliance costs because of its "broad wording" and the "severe consequences of a breach", says Johannes Hack, the president of the German Chamber of Commerce. The Hong Kong government told the BBC in a statement that Article 23 will make the city "advance from stability to prosperity", and will not affect "normal" businesses. It also said it is "outrageous" to single out Hong Kong when other countries have security laws too. Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020 after unprecedented protests a year earlier Hong Kong's Article 23, which expands on national security legislation imposed by China in 2020, comes at a time when the city's administration is trying to reassure the world that it's still a financial dynamo. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce argued it "will make Hong Kong a safer destination for local and foreign businesses and professionals operating" in the city, while Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee had dismissed as "ridiculous" the notion that the administration only cared about national security, calling such concerns a form of "soft resistance". Hong Kong's economy has been reeling from Beijing's crackdown since the pro-democracy protests in 2019 and a harsh zero-Covid policy. Rentals for commercial and retail spaces have fallen, leaving office buildings and shopfronts vacant. There are fewer tourists - last year's arrivals were only 60% of the pre-pandemic figure. The value of the Hang Seng index - Hong Kong's crown jewel - has fallen by more than 40% since 2019. India overtook the city in January to become the world's fourth-largest stock market. Singapore has emerged as a stiff regional rival for finance. Global banks have been laying off people focused on Hong Kong and China, pointing to sluggish growth and plummeting investor confidence. An exodus of capital and people has followed, with the former head of Morgan Stanley Asia declaring recently in a newspaper column that "Hong Kong is over". Veteran investor Lam Yat-ming wrote in an economic magazine that investors should "cherish their lives and distance themselves from Hong Kong stocks". "Outside perception of Hong Kong" has changed, Mr Hack says. "While the city is still distinctly different from the mainland, the focus on security may increasingly blur the distinction in people's minds." One country, two systems The former British colony has been run under the principle of "one country, two systems" since its return to China in 1997. Beijing promised that Hong Kong would enjoy civil liberties for half a century. But critics say it has reneged on the deal, crushing pro-democracy protests and imposing a national security law (NSL) in 2020 under which more than 260 people, including former lawmakers, have been arrested. Authorities defend it, saying it marked the transition from "chaos to governance". A local security law, outlined in the city's mini constitution, was always on the cards. The first attempt in 2003 failed after half a million people took to the streets against it. This time, Article 23 was passed less than two weeks after it was tabled. Under Xi Jinping, China attaches "absolute importance" to national security - and Hong Kong's status as a free society and an international gateway comes second, says Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University. Jimmy Lai's case has had an impact on Hong Kong's reputation as an international financial centre, Dr Chan says He says the arrest of Jimmy Lai, the former media mogul who has been charged under the NSL, was an "awakening for the international community". "The national security law has no limits. Personal safety, private property rights, and individual assets are not guaranteed," Dr Chan adds. After police raided Mr Lai's Apple Daily newspaper in 2021, trading in his company was suspended and it was delisted the following year. The 76-year-old tycoon, who is now on trial, has been behind bars for three years and his assets worth HK$500 million ($64m; 50m) have been frozen. Hong Kong's common law system, which underpins its rule of law, has come under scrutiny following the trials of pro-democracy protesters. But the city's judiciary is perceived as independent, at least over commercial matters, although critics worry that Mr Lee can now pick judges handling national security cases. Under such security laws, businesses in Hong Kong have to adopt additional measures to mitigate political risk - just like in the mainland, Dr Chan says. "No-one can grasp the political direction, so big companies have started recruiting political consultants to evaluate risks and build political connections. These are all new costs, leading to lower efficiency." To invest or not The city should not be discounted as an international financial hub, says Kevin Tsui, chief economist at the research firm Orientis. He adds that Hong Kong should make use of its advantages - a simple, low-rate tax system, and the fact that it's the only Chinese city with no foreign exchange controls. The Hong Kong dollar is also pegged to the US dollar, providing financial stability. "Even if Hong Kong is just a Chinese city, foreigners want to do business with China," he says. And yet confidence in the city has been shaken, not least because it is also feeling the heat of a slowing Chinese economy, which has been hit by debt and a property market crisis. The mainland is the city's biggest trading partner and second-largest source of investment. Half of the 2,600 companies listed on Hong Kong's stock market are from mainland China. Shares on the city's prized stock market have plummeted by 40% in five years But a new rule Beijing introduced last year requires Chinese companies to have official approval to list overseas. This has made the process far more cumbersome, said a banker who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "We can only wait because we have no idea about the progress. If the companies are involved in sensitive industries such as data security or genetic technology, the process will be extremely slow," he said. Hong Kong, which ranked as the world's number one IPO venue in seven of the last 15 years, is now in the eighth spot, according to industry reports. "Beijing wants private companies to raise funds internationally to salvage the economy, but at the same time it worries these companies will no longer be under [their] control after listing," says the banker who wanted to remain anonymous. "They want to control everything, but it will kill the financial market eventually." Additional reporting by Grace Tsoi in Hong Kong Vasyl Maliuk, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), revealed that Illia Kyva, a former Ukrainian MP convicted of high treason, was killed by shots to chest and head, and Russian writer, Ukrainophobe and politician Zakhar Prilepin suffered serious injuries to his pelvis and legs after a car explosion. Source: Maliuk in an interview to ICTV, which was broadcast as part of a national joint 24/7 newscast Details: The journalist asked whether the SSU was involved in the deaths of "such characters as (Illia)Kyva, (Oleh) Tsariov and (Vladlen) Tatarskyi". Maliuk replied that "youre asking the right people, but we wont answer either way". Quote: "But I can tell you some of the details. For example, Kyva was convicted in absentia for high treason, and he had been working for the enemy for a long time... The murder weapon (used to kill Kyva ed.) was a 919mm short rifle. A shot to the chest, followed by a control shot to the head, and he remained forever near his place of residence near Moscow. Tatarskyi... He popularised the underground prison subculture. And he organised the rape of our prisoners of war. Therefore, he was karmically punished by the Ukrainian people. You remember that cafeteria in St. Petersburg. He was handed a statuette in the form of a bust in his image in this [gaudy gold] colour. He took it. It contained 400 grams of thermobar (explosives). It went like a knife through butter. Prilepin. One of the ideologues of the 'Russian World', who boasted to the whole of Russia about the right way to kill Ukrainians... He was driving to his summer house and a tank mine went off on the way. His driver, also a war criminal, was at the wheel that day. The driver died on the spot. Prilepin was seriously wounded. His pelvis and legs were severely injured and, Im sorry [for the gruesome details], he lost his genitals." Details: Maliuk also said that the so-called prosecutor general of the terrorist Luhansk Peoples Republic (LPR), Serhii Horenko, was killed in an explosion in his office in 2022 along with his deputy. "There were 800 grams of putty explosives in the office." Maliuk said that Igor Kornet, the acting head of the so-called Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR, "went to shave at the barbershop he used to visit once a week, and was caught in an explosion there". "However, he survived, severely disabled," Maliuk said. Background: Support UP or become our patron! New York Judge Juan Merchan on Monday rejected all of former President Donald Trumps motions for a delay and set the date of his Manhattan criminal hush-money trial for April 15, according to The New York Times. Merchan rejected Trumps argument pushing for a delay after federal prosecutors at the Southern District of New York turned over thousands of pages of documents. "The district attorney of New York county is not at fault for the late production of documents from the U.S. attorneys office," Merchan said. "The Manhattan district attorneys office made diligent, good-faith efforts." Trump looked at his attorney Todd Blanche and shook his head as Merchan ruled from the bench, according to the Times. Merchan said that jury selection for the trial would begin on April 15. See you all on the 15th, he said. Trump vowed to appeal the ruling. It is the only Trump trial that currently has a set date. The trial dates for Trumps other cases in Florida, D.C. and Fulton County, Ga., are all still up in the air. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan completely shut down while answering a simple, direct question about whos still listening to MAGA ramblings about the proven-to-be-baseless 2020 election lie. During an interview on 60 Minutes on Sunday, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee couldnt defend the campaign that he and his Republican coalition have spent the last four years failing to prove. Well what about this idea that the 2020 election was stolen? You think that these companies should allow people to say that, and individuals can make up their own minds and that there should be said anchor Lesley Stahl, before being interrupted by Jordan. I think the American people are smart. Ive not said that, Ive said there were concerns about the 2020 election, I think Americans agree with that, Jordan said. No they dont, Stahl retorted. (Several polls conducted over the last year indicate that roughly two-thirds of the country believes that Biden was fairly elected and dont believe the conspiracy holds any water.) You dont think there were concerns with the 2020 election? Jordan shot back. Most people dont question the result. Thats all Im saying, she responded. Oh, theyre there, Jordan interjected They dont question whether Biden won or not. Right? Stahl continued, before insisting against Jordans blank expression. Right? she prompted. Oh, OK. Right, Jordan said, seemingly agreeing. Watch the bewildering exchange below. Start your Monday off with this tasty appetizer of Lesley Stahl freezing the fuck out of Jim Jordan and the big lie on 60 Minutes. HELL YEAH.pic.twitter.com/TeftUejHZb BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) March 25, 2024 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was seen riding in a tank during military exercises this month. North Korea held exercises involving tanks and air and amphibious combat units. The US and South Korea also held joint military drills, including counter-nuclear operations. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was seen riding in a tank during military exercises earlier this month in a show of force likely meant to counter the US-South Korea military exercises his regime has repeatedly denounced. Kim talked tough after the photo ops and brought along the person speculated to be a likely successor in North Korea's authoritarian dynasty. Kim oversees firepower demonstrations North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sits inside a tank during a military demonstration. KCNA via Reuters The Korean People's Army demonstrated its firepower with an array of large-scale demonstrations. The drills included air and amphibious combat troops and "newly-equipped super-large" rocket launchers. The exercises also featured a new main battle tank. Many details of the exercises could not be confirmed due to the lack of independent observers, but images from the North Korean state-run news agency showed more than 60 self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers were part of the exercises, USNI News reported. Preparing for 'merciless and rapid strikes' in the event of war North Korean leader Kim Jong Un holds a firearm at a major military operations base in the western region of the country. KCNA via Reuters The military drills came in response to the North Korean strongman calling to intensify "practical actual-war drills ensuring victory in a war," according to a report by Korean Central News Agency. Kim said the military exercises were "necessary" for all its artillery sub-units to prepare them to "take the initiative with merciless and rapid strikes at the moment of their entry into an actual war," per KCNA. Rising tensions with South Korea North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gestures as he guides a military demonstration involving tank units in North Korea. KCNA via Reuters The military demonstrations come as North Korea ramps up tensions against South Korea. Earlier this year, Kim said the country's government would make a "decisive policy change" in its relations with its southern neighbor, potentially in a bid to justify future use of nuclear weapons against the South. "If they give up on peaceful unification and redefine South Korea as a hostile enemy country with no diplomatic relations, the contradiction of using nuclear weapons against the same people will be eliminated," Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, told Reuters. Shin Won-sik, Seoul's defense minister, said it would "constitute a war" if North Korea fired upon the South. Modernizing North Korea's armed forces Soldiers participate in a demonstration during the training of the Korean People's Army's air and amphibious combat units. KCNA via Reuters North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun, the official organ of the state's Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, reported that the exercises focused on preparing troops for "unexpected wartime circumstances" as the North Korean leader works to modernize the country's armed forces. Ready for 'full combat mobilization' Soldiers participate in a demonstration during the training of the Korean People's Army's air and amphibious combat units. KCNA via Reuters Following the large-scale exercises, Kim declared the military was ready for "full combat mobilization." "The destructive offensive means possessed by our army should more thoroughly fulfill their missions to block and suppress the possibility of war with the constant perfect preparedness to collapse the capital of the enemy and the structure of its military forces," Kim told the troops, according to KCNA. 'Fulfilling important military missions for war deterrence' A North Korean tank fires during a military demonstration. KCNA via Reuters "The drill started with the power demonstration firing of the long-range artillery sub-units near the border who have put the enemy's capital in their striking range and are fulfilling important military missions for war deterrence," according to a report by KCNA. Parachuting paratroopers Soldiers are seen parachuting in the sky during a demonstration during the training of the Korean People's Army's air and amphibious combat units. KCNA via Reuters Photos released by KCNA showed North Korean tanks in a line firing during military demonstrations. Paratroopers are also seen parachuting out of large commercial cargo planes, NK News reported. Late last year, experts said North Korea appeared to have converted Air Koryo's Il-76 cargo planes into military aircraft, including an airborne warning system used to detect enemy missiles. In 2022, Air Koryo officials faced sanctions in response to aiding in nuclear tests run by North Korea. Kim's likely successor attending military drills North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's daughter Kim Ju Ae looks through binoculars while standing beside her father and North Korean military personnel. KCNA via Reuters Kim's daughter Kim Ju Ae was also photographed attending the paratrooper drills. Ju Ae, who is believed to be about 10 or 11 years old, has made numerous appearances alongside her father the only one of his three children to do so leading to the belief that he is prepping her to be his likely successor. "It would not be out of question for him to decide he wants his daughter to be next in line because he has shown his willingness to put women in positions of power," Ramon Pacecho Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London, told Business Insider's Tom Porter. Coinciding with Freedom Shield 24 Military members salute during a military demonstration involving tank units in North Korea. KCNA via Reuters The North Korean military drills also coincided with joint exercises held by the US and South Korea, which included training on land, sea, and air, as well as operations to counter nuclear missiles. Forces from other United Nations countries took part in the annual military drills, called Freedom Shield 24, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Thailand. The exercises, which ran from March 4 to 14, are aimed at strengthening security and stability across Northeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific by fortifying "the combined defense posture and enhance Alliance response capabilities against a spectrum of security threats." An 'undisguised' military threat Military helicopters fly above firing tanks during a military demonstration in North Korea. KCNA via Reuters North Korea's Ministry of National Defense released a statement denouncing the US-led joint military exercises "for getting more undisguised in their military threat to a sovereign state." "The armed forces of the DPRK will continue to watch the adventurist acts of the enemies and conduct responsible military activities to strongly control the unstable security environment on the Korean peninsula," according to the statement. Resuming missile testing The Korean People's Army conducts an artillery firing drill. KCNA via Reuters Days after exercises for Freedom Shield 24 concluded, North Korea resumed its short-range ballistic missile tests on March 17. North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles by the UN Security Council. Russia was also reportedly using North Korean missiles in the war in Ukraine and collecting data on its performance with an arms deal between the two allies. A South Korean official described Ukraine as a "test site" for North Korean weapons. "The Kim regime's one-upmanship aims to show strength to its domestic audience, suggest costs on the Korean Peninsula for Seoul's international security cooperation, and warn Washington against increasing pressure on Pyongyang," Leif-Eric Easley, an associate professor of international studies at Seoul's Ewha University, told Al-Jazeera. Read the original article on Business Insider Russian President Vladimir Putin is refusing to blame the Islamic State (IS) for the Moscow attack despite a claim by the extremist group, instead insinuating a link to Ukraine in a possible bid to limit the responsibility of the Russian security services. IS claimed the attack Friday evening on the Crocus City Hall concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow that left at least 137 people dead, with Western governments also saying the extremist group appeared to be responsible. In his latest comments on the attack Monday, Putin acknowledged that "radical Islamists" had carried out the attack but made a link with Ukraine, over two years into Moscow's invasion of its neighbour. "The US... is trying to convince its satellites that there is not a Kyiv trace in the act of terror and that members of ISIS carried out the attack," Putin told a security meeting. "We know who carried out the attack. We want to know who the mastermind was," said Putin, repeating the allegation that the perpetrators tried to flee to Ukraine after the attack. Ukraine has already vehemently denied any involvement in the attack, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying Putin was always seeking to blame "someone else". French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday warned Moscow against any "exploitation" of the attack, saying it would be "cynical and counterproductive for Russia to use this context to try and turn it against Ukraine". He said it was a branch of Islamic State that "planned the attack and carried it out", adding this outfit had also plotted attacks in France. In early March the US had warned Russia of a risk of an attack, a message Moscow appears to have batted away. - 'Responsible for everything' - "There is an exploitation (of the attack) because Vladimir Putin is obsessed with Ukraine," said Sylvie Bermann, former ambassador of France to Russia. "It is in his logic of the war in Ukraine and the Ukrainians are responsible for everything," she told AFP. The attack came as Russia scents it has the upper hand on the battlefield over two years into the war but with the Kremlin still wary of ordering a new military mobilisation. Tatiana Stanovaya, founder of R.Politik consultancy, described Putin's link to Ukraine as "cautious", arguing that if there had been any evidence of such a role reactions would have been even more explicit. "The IS is testing a new tactic that involves newcomers who had not been flagged as extremists in police databases and that implies a much shorter period of preparation," she told AFP. But many commentators on pro-Kremlin media were in no doubt where to lay the blame. "We are not talking about ISIS here. It was the khokhly," said the editor-in-chief of the RT channel Margarita Simonyan, using a term used pejoratively in Russia to denote Ukrainians. Mass-circulation newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda even quoted one commentator as blaming the "British special services and the Americans and Ukrainians" for the attack. After Putin's latest comments, Stanovaya wrote on Telegram that it appeared Putin was carefully using the conditional in his language and "does not yet have evidence of the involvement of either the US or Ukraine." "But he is convinced they would benefit from such an act of terror". - 'Security lapses' - Meanwhile, the failure to avert the attack -- in particular after possible intelligence from Moscow's adversary the US -- could be seen in some quarters as a major failure for the Russian security services. Ex-agent Putin has sought to portray the KGB successor the Federal Security Service (FSB), which he himself used to head, as all powerful and able to protect Russians from threats to their homeland. After the hostage massacre at a Moscow theatre showing the Nord-Ost musical in 2002 and the Beslan school siege in 2004, the Crocus City Hall is the latest atrocity claimed by jihadists under Putin that has put the role of security forces under the microscope. While jihadists carried out a string of previous attacks, Putin will be mindful of the risk of disrupting Russia's delicate society which includes more than 20 million Muslims. Admitting that the attack was committed by IS would be to acknowledge that the image of a secure and stable Russia "where the state is omnipotent and the all-powerful security services control everything is a myth," said Tatiana Kastoueva-Jean, Russia specialist at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). She said that Putin's priority is to divert attention from "security lapses" and rally "all those who are still hesitating on the domestic scene" to the need to fight the West and Ukraine. Dt-as-sjw/giv Some of the biggest names in comedy including Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Dave Chappelle joined forces to honor one of their own, as they cheered on Kevin Hart at an awards ceremony that at times touched on politics. The Jumanji: The Next Level star looked on as performers saluted and sometimes roasted him, clocking in countless zingers about his less-than-towering stature at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Sunday as he became the 25th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The prestigious award from the performing arts institution recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain. While the 44-year-old Hart has said over the years that he doesnt speak on politics, the topic appeared to be on the minds of some of the nights presenters. Rock took to the stage and said while this year its called the Mark Twain Prize, Trump wins, next year itll be the Mark Fuhrman Award, a reference to the former police detective who used racial slurs in tapes played during O.J. Simpsons 1995 murder trial. We got some dark days coming, Rock added, following his mention of the former president. Hart, asked by ITK ahead of the event about his choice to keep his comedy mostly politics-free, said: Im not sure how other people feel. But you know, Im not a divisive personality. I want to bring people closer together. Conversations that divide, I just do not want to partake in, the Philadelphia-born comic said. It doesnt mean that I dont respect it I do respect it, Hart continued. We all have lanes, and theres nothing wrong with operating in the lane thats best for you, he said. And although hes not a fan of injecting political issues into his material, at least one lawmaker said she was an ardent Hart admirer. I am a big fan, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) exclaimed to ITK. Ill be in my congressional office and itll be like, Kevin Hart is on! And its like, lets turn it up, because we work all day. We work all night. And so you have to have a moment that you just say, Im gonna do something thats not congressional, or legislative. And for me, its Kevin Hart, Beatty said. Im into comedy, and he stays out of politics. And thats probably very smart for both of us, she said with a smile. Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said comedy has the power to bring people together even often-hyperpolarized members of Congress. In this city, everybody needs an outlet, and laughter is that outlet. And it doesnt really matter your politics, because in a way you have so much fun with it, Rutter said. As Kennedy Center Chair David Rubenstein got ready to present Hart with the award, he seemingly made a crack at the ages of the 2024 Democratic and Republican presumptive nominees, President Biden and former President Trump. If Mark Twain were here today, he might not fully understand the significance of what is happening tonight. That is because he would be 214 years old just about the age when he could run for president, Rubenstein said to chuckles from the audience. Hart traded laughs for a more serious tone during his remarks while accepting the Mark Twain Prize, saying that with comedy, he fell in love with something that I could adapt to, I could grab on to, and I can keep. I got good at it. And getting good at it, I figured out more ways to amplify and get bigger and better. People watching this shit tonight man, its not about the awards its about the idea of happy with you, Hart told the crowd. He thanked his family, saying through tears to his children, There is no me without you. There is no life in me without you. I breathe for you. I live for you. Some of the performers who appeared onstage to fete Hart included: Chelsea Handler, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, Curb Your Enthusiasms J.B. Smoove, rapper Nelly, Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall, Dave Lil Dicky Burd, The Plastic Cup Boyz, comic Keith Robinson, Nick Cannon and Robin Thicke. The Mark Twain Prize performance will stream on Netflix beginning May 11. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. (The Hill) Some of the biggest names in comedy including Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Dave Chappelle joined forces to honor one of their own, as they cheered on Kevin Hart at an awards ceremony that at times touched on politics. The Jumanji: The Next Level star looked on as performers saluted and sometimes roasted him, clocking in countless zingers about his less-than-towering stature at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Sunday as he became the 25th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Kevin Hart attends the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor presented to Kevin Hart, Sunday, March 24, 2024, in Washington. (Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP) The prestigious award from the performing arts institution recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain. While 44-year-old Hart has said over the years that he doesnt speak on politics, the topic appeared to be on the minds of some of the nights presenters. Rock took to the stage and said while this year its called the Mark Twain Prize, Trump wins, next year itll be the Mark Fuhrman Award, a reference to the former police detective who used racial slurs in tapes played during O.J. Simpsons 1995 murder trial. We got some dark days coming, Rock added, following his mention of the former president. Hart, asked by ITK ahead of the event about his choice to keep his comedy mostly politics-free, said, Im not sure how other people feel. But you know, Im not a divisive personality. I want to bring people closer together. Conversations that divide, I just do not want to partake in, the Philadelphia-born comic said. It doesnt mean that I dont respect it I do respect it, Hart continued. We all have lanes and theres nothing wrong with operating in the lane thats best for you, he said. And although hes not a fan of injecting political issues into his material, at least one lawmaker said she was an ardent Hart admirer. I am a big fan, Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) exclaimed to ITK. Ill be in my congressional office and itll be like, Kevin Hart is on! And its like, lets turn it up, because we work all day. We work all night. And so you have to have a moment that you just say, Im gonna do something thats not congressional, or legislative. And for me, its Kevin Hart, Beatty said. Im into comedy, and he stays out of politics. And thats probably very smart for both of us, she said with a smile. Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter said that comedy has the power to bring people together even often-hyper-polarized members of Congress. In this city, everybody needs an outlet and laughter is that outlet. And it doesnt really matter your politics, because in a way you, have so much fun with it, Rutter said. As Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein got ready to present Hart with the award, he seemingly made a crack at the ages of the 2024 Democratic and Republican presumptive nominees, President Biden and Trump. If Mark Twain were here today, he might not fully understand the significance of what is happening tonight. That is because he would be 214 years old just about the age when he could run for president, Rubenstein said to chuckles from the audience. Hart traded laughs for a more serious tone during his remarks while accepting the Mark Twain Prize, saying that with comedy, he fell in love with something that I could adapt to, I could grab on to, and I can keep. I got good at it. And getting good at it, I figured out more ways to amplify and get bigger and better. People watching this shit tonight man, its not about the awards, its about the idea of happy with you, Hart told the crowd. He thanked his family, saying through tears to his children, There is no me without you. There is no life in me without you. I breathe for you. I live for you. Some of the performers who appeared onstage to fete Hart included: Chelsea Handler, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, Curb Your Enthusiasms J.B. Smoove, rapper Nelly, Tiffany Haddish, Regina Hall, Dave Lil Dicky Burd, The Plastic Cup Boyz, comic Keith Robinson, Nick Cannon and Robin Thicke. The Mark Twain Prize performance will stream on Netflix beginning on May 11. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. Self-managed abortions using abortion pills increased in the six months following the Supreme Court decision that repealed federal abortion protections, new research shows. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday, is a groundbreaking look at how self-managed abortion using abortion pills is becoming more and more common since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Its one of the few studies to analyze the prevalence of abortion outside of formal health care settings in the U.S. Researchers found that 27,838 provisions of pills for abortions were sent to abortion-seeking people via community groups, international telemedicine organizations and online sources, in the six months after the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health decision that repealed Roe v. Wade. Each of these provisions is defined as the mailing or delivering of a pill pack for a self-managed abortion, the lead author of the study, University of Texas at Austin associate professor Abigail Aiken, told HuffPost. The number of pill packs distributed represents a 322% average monthly increase from pre-Dobbs levels of medication abortion used for self-managing care, according to the analysis. We see over and over that when abortion bans are present, it doesnt necessarily change the need for abortion, Aiken told HuffPost. People quite often will look for it outside the formal health care setting if access within the formal health care setting is taken away, and I think thats what were seeing play out here now. Self-managed abortion refers to using drugs either mifepristone and misoprostol or just misoprostol to induce abortion without the oversight of an abortion clinic or physician. The study defined self-managed care as abortion pills used without the involvement of a U.S.-based provider or clinic. (Its tally doesnt account for medication abortion drugs distributed through U.S.-based telehealth.) Abortion done this way is safe and effective for anyone less than 13 weeks pregnant, according to the World Health Organization. The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which may roll back access to mifepristone. The outcome of the case could have a devastating effect on medication abortion access within formal health care settings like clinics meaning the research out Monday could be a sneak peek into a future where self-managed abortion is more common because physician-managed abortion care is further restricted. From a public health standpoint if this is going to be the way that many people access their abortion care now in the United States, knowing that they have a safe and effective way of doing that means the picture looks pretty different to the pre-Roe era, when people didnt have access [and] had to resort to things that were unsafe, Aiken said. Crystal Perez Lira shows medicine used for an abortion protocol during an interview at the reproductive rights organization "Colectiva Bloodys y Projects," in Tijuana, Mexico, on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. via Associated Press In addition to Aiken, the research was conducted by Elisa Wells, co-founder of Plan C, an advocacy organization that provides people with information on how to obtain abortion pills; Rebecca Gomperts, founder of Aid Access, a nonprofit Austrian organization that provides medication abortion in the U.S. by mail; and James Scott, a statistics and data sciences professor at the University of Texas at Austin. The study estimates that the provision of nearly 28,000 pill packs led to 26,055 self-managed abortions in the six months after Dobbs. Around 85% of the abortion pills were distributed by community networks that sourced the medication from outside of the country and telemedicine organizations with physicians who arent based in the U.S. The remainder came from international online vendors who ship abortion pills from overseas. Initial research after the Dobbs decision indicated that there were around 32,000 fewer abortions in the six months after the ruling due to the abortion bans implemented in several states immediately after. But this study suggests that self-managed abortions, done without a U.S.-based physicians oversight, might have made up some of the difference. From the result we have here, it looks like there wasnt so much a complete drop in people accessing abortion, but rather a shift of where they were accessing it from within [the formal health care setting] to outside the formal health care setting, Aiken told HuffPost. If we want to see how people respond to abortion bans, having self-managed abortions as part of that picture is imperative, she said. Self-managed abortion was relatively common even before the Dobbs decision, most often in states where in-clinic access was restricted. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, access to abortion pills has expanded rapidly because of the rise of online pharmacies in the U.S. and international websites that ship abortion pills directly to patients homes. These access points became even more critical when Roe fell in the summer of 2022 and over a dozen states implemented near-total abortion bans. Self-managed abortion is only explicitly illegal in Nevada, but there are still risks. Dozens of women have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed for managing their own care in some cases, because a rogue prosecutor in a deeply conservative area misapplies laws to further an anti-abortion agenda. There are resources available for people who choose to self-manage, including the Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline for medical support or the Repro Legal Helpline for legal advice. The results of this study confirm what many of us have been saying for a long time: people always have and will continue to safely self-manage abortions, Nancy Cardenas Pena, the campaign director of Abortion On Our Own Terms campaign, told HuffPost in a statement. When I self-managed my abortion, I was able to do so knowing I had a support system that would give me the love and care I needed. I was able to decide how, when and where to have my abortion, which ultimately made it a powerful and liberating experience for me, she continued. I know that for some people, barriers to access will make getting the care they need near impossible. Related... Georgia on Saturday joined a global environmental campaign Earth Hour with the Government Administration, Parliament and Interior Ministry turning off the lights for one hour on administrative buildings, Azernews reports, citing Agenda. As part of the annual worldwide movement, the external lights were also switched off from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on the Presidential Administration, municipal buildings, the iconic Tbilisi TV Tower and various landmarks to support a greener and safer future for the planet. Since 2009, Georgia has joined the large-scale environmental movement, organised by the World Wildlife Fund, to encourage individuals, communities, and businesses to give an hour for Earth by turning off non-essential electric lights on buildings of economic, political and cultural importance and to show symbolic support for the planet. ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 25. Kazakhstan Agency of International Development (KazAID) is actively seeking to enhance its engagement within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), said Arken Arystanov, KazAID Chairman of the Board, at a briefing for foreign journalists, Trend reports. "Lately, there's been a surge in activity within the OTS. Within its framework, three agencies are notably active: Turkish TIKA, Azerbaijani AIDA, and our own KazAID. The goal now is to pool our efforts and resources to spearhead joint programs in our region," he stressed. He mentioned that within the scope of this collaboration, Kazakhstan is keenly interested in sectors such as education, healthcare, digitalization, public administration, and environmental conservation. "This year, we've launched special programs called 'Dostyk Digitalization,' 'Dostyk Diplomacy,' and 'Avicenna,' aimed at training civil servants from Central Asia. The 'Dostyk Digitalization' program involves participants from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. 'Dostyk Diplomacy' focuses on fostering exchange among young diplomats. At the upcoming seminar in early April in Almaty, we'll have participation not only from Central Asian countries but also from the Caucasus. 'Avicenna' is an academic exchange program for medical students, and we've received numerous inquiries from students in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan," explained the chairman of the board. Speaking about educational grants, Arystanov highlighted that Kazakhstan annually offers over 550 educational grants, with participants from over 30 countries. "We've set aside 50 grants specifically for citizens of Kyrgyzstan and another 100 for citizens of Tajikistan. There's a similar agreement with Azerbaijan, but, currently, the number of students is relatively small. We're optimistic that this collaboration will grow stronger," he added. Steve Garvey says hes working diligently to resolve his tax debts by the end of the year. The Sacramento Bee reported last week that the Republican candidate for Californias U.S. Senate seat owed at least $350,000 and as much as $750,000 in back state and local taxes. On Monday, Garvey said, We have been taking this very seriously, have always filed our taxes on time, and we have been working diligently with our accountant and the IRS to resolve this debt by the end of the year. The statement, first reported by Fox News, was sent to The Bee in an email. Garvey provided no further details. The tax liability was part of Garveys required financial disclosure statement, filed last month with the Senate records office. Garvey, a former star first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, is making his first run for public office. Such a large tax liability is extremely rare on a federal financial disclosure form, said Robert Maguire, research director at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog group. The disclosure form showed that Garvey incurred between $250,001 and $500,000 in federal tax liability in 2011. He also owes $100,001 to $250,000 to Californias coffers, also for taxes incurred in 2011, the statement said. In both cases, it listed 8% interest on the balance due. The statement does not specify the source of the taxes or whether the taxes are personal or business liabilities. Rules for the disclosure statement state that a candidate report the highest amount owed during the preceding calendar year and current calendar year through the date of filing. Garvey is running for the Senate against Democrat Adam Schiff for the seat held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, from 1992 until her death in September. Gov. Gavin Newsom last fall appointed Laphonza Butler to the seat, and she declined to run for a full term. Bassirou Diomaye Faye is leading the vote count, according to unofficial results Senegal's ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba has called the opposition's Bassirou Diomaye Faye to concede victory in Sunday's presidential election, a government official said. Unofficial results showed that Mr Faye had a strong lead over Mr Ba. Mr Faye had been in prison 10 days before the vote and campaigned on the promise of radical change. Official results from an election which was originally due last month are expected in the coming days. The vote followed months of political turmoil in one of Africa's most stable democracies, after outgoing President Macky Sall tried to postpone the election until December. Several of the other 15 candidates had already conceded. President Sall has also congratulated Mr Faye and said that it was a win for the people of Senegal. Mr Faye, who turned 44 on Monday, ran as an independent. But he had been a senior member of the dissolved Pastef party, led by Ousmane Sonko, the popular figure who many thought would succeed Mr Sall. But Mr Sonko was disqualified from the election because of a defamation conviction, which he said was politically motivated. Mr Sonko backed Mr Faye's bid for the presidency. The first set of results announced on television overnight showing that Mr Faye had won a majority of the votes counted up to that point triggered celebrations in the capital, Dakar. In the streets, young people were dancing, singing, waving the Senegalese flag and honking their cars horns. In Ndiaganiao, Mr Faye's hometown 80km (50 miles) east of Dakar, residents were seen congratulating each other as if to express this as a victory for the whole community. After experiencing one of its worst political crises, for many this victory symbolises hope for Senegal's future. More on Senegal's election: The News Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the opposition coalitions populist candidate in Senegals presidential election held on Sunday, is set to win after his closest rival conceded. Amadou Ba, a 62-year-old former finance minister and immediate past prime minister in Salls cabinet who ran as the ruling party coalitions choice, conceded defeat to Faye on Monday and congratulated him. Senegalese law requires a candidate to win 50% or more of the vote to be declared president after the first round, failing which a second round between the top two candidates will decide the election. Faye, 44, was one of 19 candidates on the ballot in the contest to replace President Macky Sall who is term-limited. He is an ally of Ousmane Sonko, the populist figure who had been the loudest opposition voice in the years leading up to these elections. Sonko was barred from running for president after a criminal conviction but his party galvanized a coalition to back Faye. Earlier Ba had described celebrations of a supposed Faye victory as manipulative on Sunday evening, maintaining that a second round of voting would be needed. Know More Faye had only 10 days to campaign ahead of the March 24 election. Like Sonko, he had been jailed by the Sall administration since last April but received the Constitutional Councils approval to be a contender in the elections. Both men campaigned together after being released from prison. Like Sonko, Faye is a former tax official in Senegal. His platform has depended on Sonkos popularity and the PASTEF party where he was the secretary general to Sonko. One of their key policy prescriptions is for Senegal to have its own currency, if a reform of the euro-pegged CFA currency system that eight West African countries use fails. An official announcement of the election result from the first round of voting is expected on Wednesday. Step Back Though it is widely regarded as an example of democratic stability in an often turbulent region, Senegal veered towards a constitutional crisis over the past month following Salls postponement of the elections in early February. Sundays vote followed defiant rejection by opposition parties against the postponement and Senegals top courts ruling that an election must be held before Sall is due to leave office on April 2. The Republican who leads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Michael McCaul, said on March 24 that he anticipates Speaker Mike Johnson to introduce a Ukraine aid bill after Easter, even though it may pose a risk of losing support for a leadership vote against him. His commitment is to put it on the floor after Easter, McCaul mentioned during his appearance on CBS "Face the Nation" program. The U.S. Senate approved a $95 billion funding package on Feb. 13 that contained $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, but it still faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Acknowledging the challenging position Speaker Johnson is in, McCaul noted the possibility of the Louisiana Republican being removed from his speakership following a motion filed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene last week, triggered by Johnson's reliance on Democratic support to pass a $1.2 trillion government funding deal. U.S. President Joe Biden reminded the urgency of aiding Ukraine after signing the $1.2 trillion funding bill on March 23, saying that "Congress's work isn't finished." "The House must pass the bipartisan national security supplemental to advance our national security interests," Biden said in a statement. During his surprise visit to Kyiv on March 20, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan vowed that the United States would deliver a $60 billion aid package to Ukraine despite its current impasse in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. "We are confident we will get this done. We will get this aid to Ukraine," Sullivan said at a press conference in Kyiv alongside Ukraine's Presidential Office Head Andriy Yermak. Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine confirms striking 2 large Russian landing ships; Russia launches major attack on energy system Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. People set on a truck a Russian flag, that reads: "Pray to God, hold on to Russia", prior to a rally in front of the former Serbian army headquarters, destroyed during NATO's bombing campaign, in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, March 24, 2024. Serbia marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the NATO air-campaign in 1999, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) An opposition group in Serbia launched a petition Monday against a real estate development project that would be financed by the firm of Donald Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner at the site of the former Serbian army headquarters destroyed in a NATO bombing campaign in 1999. Earlier this month, Kushner confirmed reports that his company plans to finance the project in central Belgrade. It would feature a high-rise hotel, a luxury apartment complex, office spaces and shops. The petition asks Serbia's government to respect the law, which says the building can only be returned to its original function. It also calls for the Museum of Serbian History to be established there. Construction of a hotel on the site of this building is illegal and represents the destruction of our dignity, the Kreni-Promeni (Move-Change) opposition movement said. Its statement said 10,000 people signed the petition in less than 24 hours. Pro-Trump government officials in Serbia have welcomed the project, but the opposition and many in the general public have spoken out against it. For many, the site of the bombed-out army command building is a potent symbol of Serbias resistance against what they called NATO aggression 25 years ago. Serbian forces fought a 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which was then a Serbian province. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died until a 78-day, U.S.-led NATO bombing campaign pushed Serbian troops out of Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, but the government in Belgrade doesnt recognize its neighbor as a separate country. Earlier this month, the Albanian tourism ministry acknowledged it received an investment project application from Kushners firm, Affinity Partners, to turn a former military base on Sazan Island in the Adriatic Sea into a resort. Prime Minister Edi Rama said Albania was proud to have attracted such interest. ___ Associated Press writer Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed to this report. Ten people including a teenage girl were wounded on Monday after Ukrainian air defence systems downed two Russian missiles over the capital, sending metal debris crashing to the ground. Authorities in the eastern Kharkiv region also announced a 65-year-old man had died in the courtyard of his home during a bout of Russian shelling. AFP journalists in Kyiv saw emergency workers in helmets clearing concrete and bent metal from one building ripped open during the attack, the third aerial bombardment of the capital in just five days. Moscow has escalated its aerial attacks on Kyiv, targeting key infrastructure in the wake of fatal Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions. AFP reporters heard several explosions and air raid sirens in Kyiv almost simultaneously at around 10:30am (0830 GMT) as officials urged residents to take shelter. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack showed again that Ukraine needed better air defence systems from its allies. "It means safety for our cities and saved human lives. All of us in the world who respect and protect life need to stop this terror," he wrote on social media. Emergency services said 10 people were wounded, while Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the teenager was among those taken to hospital, and two pregnant women suffered acute stress reactions. Oksana, a Kyiv resident, was at work when she first heard the air raid sirens and then a blast. "Before I could do anything, the first explosion hit," she told AFP. "There was a cloud of dust, smashed cars, windows, everything." The head of Kyiv's military administration, Sergiy Popko, said Russia had attacked with two ballistic missiles launched from the annexed Crimean peninsula. - Attack on Russian power plant - He said both had been shot down but falling debris crashed onto several central districts. Officials said an arts academy building and a gym were damaged. "Again this morning Russia is attacking Ukraine with hypersonic missiles," the US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, wrote on social media. "Ukraine needs our assistance now. There is not a moment to lose," she added, in reference to a $60 billion military aid package held up in the US Congress. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba posted footage purporting to show school children running to a shelter at the time of the attack. "This is a reminder that Ukraine urgently requires more air defence, particularly Patriot systems and missiles capable of repelling any Russian attack," he wrote. The eastern city of Chasiv Yar was also facing a "difficult and tense" situation, a Ukrainian army official said late Monday. Russian forces were "trying to push through our defences in order to reach Chasiv Yar," said Oleg Kalashnikov, press officer for Ukraine's 26th Artillery Brigade, adding that Moscow was dropping powerful guided bombs "on populated areas and on our fortified positions". Monday's attacks came after a dozen people were wounded in a Russian drone strike on southern Ukraine overnight, and a fire broke out at a major Russian power plant following a Ukrainian drone attack. Kyiv said Russian drones had hit the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Odesa. Some 300,000 people in Odesa were left without electricity on Monday night after energy infrastructure in the Black Sea territory was damaged. - 'NATO security threatened' - Russia's assault on Ukraine spilled over into Poland at the weekend. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski spoke to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday about a Russian missile that briefly violated Polish airspace over the weekend. Poland summoned the Russian ambassador to Warsaw over the incident but Sergey Andreyev failed to show up and told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency that he was first waiting for proof of the incursion. Sikorski told Stoltenberg that the incident was further evidence that Russia, "which is continuing its unjustified and brutal aggression against Ukraine, also threatens the security of NATO member states", the foreign ministry said in a statement. In Russia, a fire broke out at a power plant in the southern region of Rostov, the local governor said, after a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks in the area. Two power units at the Novocherkassk power station, one of the largest in southwest Russia, were taken offline, Governor Vasily Golubev said on social media. The Rostov region borders Ukraine and the regional capital is home to Russia's military command headquarters for its offensive against Kyiv. bur-epe-jbr/giv/bc A "severe" solar storm hit Earth on Sunday according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, causing parts of the nation to be able to see the aurora borealis. On X, formerly Twitter, the Prediction Center said that a coronal mass ejection event arrived Sunday and caused a G4 geomagnetic storm. The Center said that the strong geomagnetic storm could continue through the rest of Sunday and into Monday. The SWPC had warned that the storm could reach up to G3 strength on Saturday. The public should not anticipate adverse impacts and no action is necessary, but they should stay properly informed of storm progression by visiting our webpage, the Prediction Center said, noting that infrastructure operators had been notified. The 23 March CME arrived at around 24/1411 UTC. Severe (G4) geomagnetic storming has been observed and is expected to continue through the remainder of the 24 March-UTC day and into the first half of 25 March. pic.twitter.com/CDXQtyv4yp NOAA Space Weather (@NWSSWPC) March 24, 2024 The Prediction Center predicts that the northern lights possibly could be seen as far south as northern Illinois and central Iowa. NOAA Auora prediction Noaa Embedded content: https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/experimental/images/aurora_dashboard/tonights_static_viewline_forecast.png?time=1711317288000 What is a coronal mass ejection? NASA describes coronal mass ejections as "huge bubbles of coronal plasma threaded by intense magnetic field lines that are ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours." The space agency says they often look like "huge, twisted rope" and can occur with solar flares, or explosions on the sun's surface. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Solar storm hitting Earth could cause Midwest to see northern lights Shamima Begum has lost an initial bid to challenge the removal of her British citizenship at the Supreme Court. The 24-year-old had requested permission from the Court of Appeal to take her case to the UK's highest court. The government stripped her citizenship on national security grounds in 2019, leaving her stateless. Ms Begum left London nine years ago aged 15 to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State group, or IS. Earlier this year, three judges at the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed her bid to regain her citizenship. She now has the option to ask the Supreme Court directly for permission to have her case heard. Delivering the Court of Appeal's rejection in February, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said: "It could be argued the decision in Ms Begum's case was harsh. It could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune. "But it is not for this court to agree or disagree with either point of view. Our only task is to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. We have concluded it was not, and the appeal is dismissed." Her lawyers have argued that the Home Office's decision to remove her citizenship was unlawful, in part because British officials failed to properly consider whether she was a potential victim of trafficking. Ms Begum, born in the UK to parents of Bangladeshi heritage, was one of three east London girls who travelled to Syria in 2015 to support the IS group. She left with her friends Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase. Ms Sultana is thought to have died when a house was blown up. The fate of Ms Abase is unknown. Ms Begum lived under IS rule for more than three years. She married a Dutch member of IS, who is currently held in a Kurdish detention centre, and lived in Raqqa, once a stronghold of the group. She had three children, all of whom have died. She was found in al-Roj camp in northern Syria in 2019 following the defeat of IS, and remains there to this day. Her lawyers say conditions in the camp have reached a "critical point", with "near starvation" and disease now seen daily. "The fact of the matter is this - that Shamima, as with other British women and children, is arbitrarily detained in a prison camp in north east Syria," her lawyers said in a written statement on her behalf. "It is not a refugee camp - those detained are unable to leave and the conditions have, with ever greater urgency, been categorised by every international body as well as by the UK courts in Shamima's case itself, as constituting torture and inhuman treatment." Ms Begum has admitted knowingly joining a proscribed organisation. She said that she was "ashamed" to have done so and regretted it. A Home Office spokesperson said: "Our priority remains maintaining the safety and security of the UK and we will robustly defend any decision made in doing so." With Massachusetts and Cape Cod bays recognized as important hang-out spots for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, marine life caretakers are always interested in ways to protect them from life-threatening vessel strikes. And now they've got a new tool, neatly wrapped up in existing technology. At the end of January, staff at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and Maritime Information Systems, Inc., in cooperation with the U.S. Coast Guard First District out of Boston, successfully transmitted a text message directly to the bridge of a large tanker informing the navigators they were exceeding the speed limit within the Cape Cod Bay NOAA Right Whale Seasonal Management Area. The message, which read "Max speed 10 knots per 50CFR224.105-31," was sent by way of the ship's Automatic Identification System receiver and charting system display. AIS receivers are navigation safety devices that transmit and monitor the location and characteristics of many vessels in federal and international waters in real time, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In response, the team got a message acknowledging that someone aboard the vessel successfully received the speed limit text. Since then, the system has sent about 40 other speed advisories to vessels crossing the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary, a 842-square-mile underwater reserve that spans the mouth of Massachusetts Bay from Jeffrey's Ledge off Cape Ann to Race Point Channel off Cape Cod. The AIS display on RV Auk shows the vessel speed advisory text sent to a vessel in the shipping lanes while testing the new messaging system. The new alert system "is an encouraging step," Dr. Hansen Johnson, a research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium said, but "there is still a lot more work to be done to scale up this effort and identify how to best use this tool to reduce risk most effectively. Marine Information Systems CEO Moses Calouro said his company, which maintains "one of the largest networks of shore-side AIS receivers in the country," has monitored the plight of the right whales for a long time. "It has been distressing to watch the downward trend in North Atlantic right whale population and we've always wanted to help where we could," he said. The push to use AIS to help protect right whales came from an incident in 2021, when an AIS-equipped, 54-foot sportfishing boat struck and killed a right whale calf and injured its mother off Florida, he said. "It was clear in this instance that the presence of right whales in that area detected by an overflight wasn't relayed to the mariner quickly enough to slow down," Calouro said. "The overflight had happened a few hours earlier that day." The mariner, he said, "wouldn't have received word from the USCG or NOAA in time to slow down when in the area of a recent whale sighting." Stellwagen Bank Superintendent Pete DeCola said Marine Information Systems has done all the programming to make the automated text messaging work. Most vessels 65 feet or longer must travel at 10 knots or less in certain locations, called seasonal management areas, along the U.S. East Coast at certain times of the year. This mandatory regulation is aimed at reducing the chances of collisions with North Atlantic right whales. North Atlantic right whales are difficult to spot in the water. Massachusetts has seasonal management areas where vessels must slow down when whales are present. A new alert method is allowing authorities to send automated texts directly to vessels going too fast. Vessel strikes, along with entanglement in traditional fishing gear, are the leading causes of death among the whales. Scientists estimate only about 356 individuals, plus or minus seven, are alive today, according to the latest population study released this fall "The right whales' situation has prompted different innovative strategies (within Stellwagen Bank) to help protect the animals," DeCola said. In 2007, the sanctuary moved the shipping lanes to divert commercial traffic away from areas where the whales are typically found feeding and socializing. "It decreased the likelihood of a ship strike by 80% by moving the shipping lanes just a few miles north," he said. Scattered through the shipping lanes are buoys that can auto detect right whale calls and transmit the data to the Whale Alert app. The app uses whale presence data, including verified sightings, acoustic detections from buoys and gliders, and aerial surveys, to display "a user-friendly map based on nautical charts from country-specific government agencies," according to the network's website. There are plans to use the new automated messaging method not only to send out speed alerts, but also to transmit near-real time whale sighting data from Whale Alert to vessels with AIS capability. The sanctuary doesn't have the authority to enforce the vessel speed rules. "AIS provides the opportunity to do outreach in real time," he said. "We're not issuing tickets. We're just the hall monitor, if you will, saying 'hey, you're going a little fast!'" An AIS web-based display shows a tanker speed in excess of 10 knots in the NOAA Cape Cod Bay Seasonal Management Area. Since the team began the messaging via AIS in January there have been some great examples of compliance, he said. In most cases, the ships are traveling slightly above the 10 knots allowed. One vessel that was traveling at 12 knots quickly decelerated to below 10 knots after receiving a message, he said. In general, DeCola said, "we find very high compliance with ships that frequently come and go. The ones that are new to Boston Harbor are generally the vessels that have the lower compliance rates." Seeing how effective the messaging can be is gratifying, he said. In tandem with the sanctuary's North Atlantic Right Whale Corporate Responsibility Program the effort is adding to the state's achievement of the highest compliance rates in the country for seasonal management areas. The corporate responsibility program uses tracking data on commercial vessels to develop ship report cards informing captains and shipping companies about their compliance with the speed rules. "It's an important area for right whales and we're doing all we can," DeCola said. "People know we're watching and that we care." Calouro said the goal is "to deploy this along the entire East Coast over the next year or so to provide an additional level of protection for the North Atlantic right whale and the mariner." Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Cape Cod Times subscription. Here are our subscription plans. This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: How text messages could save North Atlantic right whales off Cape Cod (Bloomberg) -- Only four votes separate two of the leading candidates in a Silicon Valley congressional district thats home to some of the worlds most valuable companies. Most Read from Bloomberg With more than a thousand ballots still to be counted by hand three weeks after Californias Super Tuesday primary election, Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian holds a single-digit vote lead over Evan Low, a state assembly member, out of more than 180,000 votes cast, according to the Secretary of States website on Monday. Simitian and Low, both Democrats, are competing for a spot on the November ballot against another Democrat, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who received the most votes on March 5. Under Californias open primary system, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to a November runoff. The affluent and heavily Democratic district is home to HP Inc., Alphabet Inc.s Google, LinkedIn, Intuit Inc., VMWare LLC and other technology companies and has been represented by Democratic incumbent Anna Eshoo since 1992. Eshoo was part of a class of female politicians elected during what became known as the year of the woman, when Barbara Boxer and the late Dianne Feinstein were elected to the US Senate. After Eshoo announced plans to retire last year, dozens of candidates entered the race. More than 1,400 ballots in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County are lacking signatures or have been challenged for other reasons, according to election officials. County officials must complete final official results by April 4, and the Secretary of State will certify the election results on April 12. Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, donated to a political action committee supporting Liccardo. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. UPDATE: Harold Barney Nossaman, 91, has been found and is safe. - SHAWNEE, Kan. The Shawnee Police Department needs help locating an elderly man last seen on March 23. Harold Barney Nossaman, 91, is a white male who is around 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs approximately 170 lbs. He is balding but has gray hair on the sides and blue eyes. Nossaman has symptoms of dementia. Nossaman was last seen on March 23 in Shawnee, Kansas, around 7 p.m. at Jakes Place on 12001 Johnson Dr. He was supposed to meet a family member for lunch on Sunday, but never arrived. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri He is known to drive a black GMC Terrain with the Kansas license plate QHS680. His vehicle was last seen on March 24 around 4:37 p.m. near Truman Road and Woodland Ave. in Kansas City, Missouri. If you see Nossaman or his vehicle, please call 911 immediately. If you have other information about his whereabouts, please call the Shawnee Police Department at 913-631-2150. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. The Silver Falls School District board, grappling with a deficit for the current school year, has abandoned a proposed $73 million bond, to replace Silverton Middle School and address building issues in Silverton High School. The deficit at the Silver Falls School District will likely be worse than the $1 million that originally was projected, school board members were told during a special meeting to discuss the financial woes and removing a bond from the May election ballot. Board members heard more during a March 21 meeting about the $825,000 deficit and unexpected expenses and learned additional revenue shortfalls had been identified. You are at over a $2 million shortfall, said Linda Darling, a senior analytics advisor with Frontline Education, a provider of school administration software. This is extreme. In addition to the earlier projected ending fund balance deficit, there is a potential $1.1 million Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund deficit and a $600,000 shortfall for high-cost disabilities funding, Darling said. She and Jackie Olsen with the Oregon Association of School Business provided a parallel analysis and forecasts at no charge, said acting superintendent Dan Busch. Darling and Kim Doud, Silver Falls School District's new financial director, both noted some other sources of revenue were projected to bring in more money than had been budgeted. But Doud said the board needed to understand they did not expect district revenue to come in at the budgeted amount of $53 million. We do not believe those positive excess revenues will fully offset these deficiencies, Doud said. Busch told the board the district is partnering with Willamette Education Service District to dig into the financials and will continue to update them with findings. Next steps and taking cost-saving measures Busch said the school board's most urgent action needs to be determining a target reduction amount. We have to figure out how we can reduce expenses in the 23-24 school year even before the April 8 board meeting, he said. Doud also recommended the board approve a tax anticipation note, to pull money from the state in anticipation of future revenue. The money would have to be repaid with interest. An analysis presented to the board said a tax anticipation note for $3.36 million issued in early June would have to be paid back in December at an additional cost of $42,084. We do not have any other option right now besides this tax anticipation note, Doud told board members. But to be clear, this tax anticipation note is not the only action that needs to take place. We cannot right this ship without additional actions. Doud told the board the district already has taken immediate cost-saving steps including: Reducing floating substitute teachers in schools Leaving vacant positions unfilled Filling mid-year resignations with internal transfers Delaying the purchase of middle school math materials Silver Falls school board approves removing proposed bond from ballot The board unanimously approved removing from the May ballot a proposed $73 million bond, to replace Silverton Middle School and address building issues in Silverton High School. The decision was made with the assumption that the districts financial position could impact the borrowing rate. Board members also agreed community trust would need to be re-established before asking for support of a bond measure. Voters last fall rejected the $138 million bond to replace Silverton Middle School and undertake major repairs and upgrades to the other 10 school buildings in the district. Second acting superintendent to take over The board also was told that Busch, who was named acting superintendent when superintendent Scott Drue resigned on March 13, was not interested in that role long-term. He has been assistant superintendent since 2019, prior to Drue's hiring in July 2020. Board chair Jennifer Traeger announced that during a discussion about the superintendent vacancy. After discussion, the board voted unanimously to appoint Busch and board member Owen Von Flue to work on an intergovernmental agreement with WESD to have its superintendent, Joe Morelock, become acting superintendent of Silver Falls School District through the end of the budget year, which is June 30. Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Silver Falls School District deficit likely worse than anticipated He is not due to become taoiseach until the Oireachtas returns in April The man expected to become Ireland's new taoiseach (prime minister) has met Leo Varadkar, the current taoiseach, to discuss transition plans. Simon Harris was confirmed as Mr Varadkar's successor as Fine Gael leader on Sunday. The 37-year-old is now on course to become the country's youngest ever leader. Mr Varadkar announced on Wednesday he was stepping down. Speaking after his party leadership was confirmed, Mr Harris said it was time for the party to "reset" under his leadership. He is not due to become taoiseach until the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) returns in April. However, he met Mr Varadkar on Monday to discuss the transition of power. He is expected to meet the other coalition party leaders, Micheal Martin and Eamon Ryan later this week. The government will run full-term - Harris Mr Harris ran for Fine Gael leadership unopposed and was supported by government ministers Helen McEntee, Paschal Donohoe and Heather Humphries. His party is in coalition government with Fianna Fail and the Green Party, but a general election is due by March 2025. Mr Harris said he wants the government to run a full term, indicating there will be no election any earlier than that year. "We have a lot of work to do and I don't think there needs to be any mystique around my intentions," he said. "I am planning for this government, should I be lucky enough to form one and to become taoiseach, I would like to see this government run full term. And that's my intention." During the leadership convention Mr Harris said his party needs to focus on integrity, security, equality of opportunity and enterprise. He also said he believes public service and the power of politics can "make a difference" and "make people's lives better". Mr Harris also hit out at Sinn Fein, the party seen as potentially Fine Gael's biggest electoral threat, stating it could not continue "denying reality". Taoiseach Leo Varadkar attends a European Union leaders summit in Brussels last week after announcing his resignation Why was there a leadership contest? On Wednesday Mr Varadkar caused shock when he announced he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader immediately, and would resign as taoiseach as soon as his successor was selected. He said he was resigning for "personal and political reasons" and was "not the best person for the job anymore". He also denied any "conspiracy theories" over the decision, telling reporters in Brussels there was no ulterior motive or new job on the cards. Mr Varadkar's resignation paved the way for a party leadership contest but as he heads the current coalition government alongside Fianna Fail and the Green Party in Dublin, his successor is also expected to take over as taoiseach. (Bloomberg) -- Singapore has ordered the Israel Embassy to take down an insensitive and inappropriate social media post that could undermine security in the city-state, in the latest test of traditionally warm ties between the two nations. Most Read from Bloomberg In a Facebook post on Sunday, the embassy compared mentions of Israel and Palestine in the Koran, adding that documents and maps link the land of Israel to the Jewish people as the indigenous people of the land. The post has since been removed. That post, on the Israeli embassy social media page, is completely unacceptable, Home Minister K. Shanmugam told reporters on Monday. Posts like these can inflame tensions and can put the Jewish community here at risk. The anger from the post can potentially spill over into the physical realm. While Singapore is made up of an ethnic Chinese majority, the multi-racial nation is home to a considerable number of Malays who are Muslim. It also has neighboring Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia and Malaysia that have seen protests in support of the Palestinian cause. Singapore has laws against domestic threats and foreign influence to help maintain the countrys racial and religious harmony. The Israel Embassy respects religion and racial harmony in Singapore, the foreign mission said in response to media queries. We assure you that the social media post that had gone up was done without the necessary approvals and the person responsible has already been harshly punished and will face internal disciplinary measures. Both countries have enjoyed warm ties since Israel helped then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew set up the tiny island nations armed forces following Singapores independence in 1965. However, the city-state has grown increasingly concerned with the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. The take down notice from Singapore comes days after Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his working visit to Israel. There he reiterated Singapores view that Israels military actions in Gaza has gone too far. Last week, Singapore completed its first humanitarian airdrop containing food and other essential items into Gaza. We will continue to engage all parties, even across the conflict, Balakrishnan told reporters on Monday. Having said that, we should also not over-inflate Singapores importance. (Updates with ministers remarks in final paragraph) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. TOPEKA (KSNT) A driver was handed a big fine in Topeka last week for going 55 mph over the speed limit. The Shawnee County Sheriffs Office (SNSO) posted to social media Monday that one of its deputies stopped a Ford Focus around 10:50 p.m. on Friday, March 22 in the 3500 block of SW Wanamaker Road between SW 29th Street and SW 37th Street. The driver was ticketed for going 100 mph in a 45 mph zone. This embedded content is not available in your region. The sheriffs office handed the driver a $678 fine for the speeding violation. The SNSO says driving at this speed can bring extreme danger. (Photo Courtesy/SNSO) Slow down! Speeding, especially at that speed, puts everyones lives at risk. Slow down and pay attention! Shawnee County Sheriffs Office social media post excerpt Kansas cop joins To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen in Florida human trafficking operation 27 News spoke with Kansas Highway Patrol Captain Candice Breshears earlier this month about rampant speeding issues on Kansas roads and highways. You can watch her full interview with KSNT News Anchor David George by clicking here. For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News. The son of a convicted seditionist and right-wing gang leader is going to be running for office as a Democrat. Dakota Adams, the son of Oath Keepers "militia" founder Stewart Rhodes, will run as a Democrat in Montana. Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy for his involvement in the Capitol riot. Mr Adams, 27, does not share his father's violent, anti-democratic views. I decided that Im going to double down on betting on the electoral process, he said, according to the Associated Press. He previously said that life under his father's rule was abusive and that it nearly destroyed his family. Mr Adams called Rhodes a lazy grifter who peddled anti-government paranoia in the wake of Barack Obama's 2008 election. Basically until Im an adult its all one continuous gray time of survival and moving boxes, Mr Adams said. We lived in extreme isolation in one particular cultural bubble in increasingly paranoid and militant right-wing political spheres everywhere we moved in the country, until eventually we ended up in Montana. In 2018, Mr Adams' mother, Tasha, divorced Rhodes. The family fled from the gang leader. Three years later, Rhodes would go on to use his Oath Keepers to attack the US Capitol as part of the Capitol riot. He was arrested and convicted on seditious conspiracy charges. He is currently serving an 18-year prison sentence. His father's involvement in the violent, anti-democratic attack on the US Capitol has, in part, driven Mr Adams decision to pursue a position as a lawmaker. It served as a sobering wake-up call in terms of how much danger we are truly in and how the Republican Party enabled a president to become an active danger to this republic, Mr Adams said. I was forced to reevaluate a lot of beliefs and face hard questions about what I really stood for. The newcomer will have his work cut out for him; the Congressional district he hopes to win over is home to a voter base where Donald Trump took 74 per cent of the votes in 2020. He hopes to sell himself to the people of the district as an "honest weirdo" who escaped an abusive upbringing and wants to seek a more peaceful and more democratic life than his father had planned. The Democratic party has reportedly welcomed Mr Adams to the Montana race, as it can be difficult to find candidates willing to run in Republican strongholds. In the meantime, Mr Adams says he is "figuring himself out" as he continues to work a construction job and finish his college courses. He said he is also attending therapy to help him work through his childhood experiences and trying to catch up on the portions of his education that he missed out on due to his home schooling. Mr Adams says he leads a pretty normal life most of the time, but his connection to Rhodes means that every once in awhile he ends up in the national spotlight. It sometimes feels very unreal, because I have a normal life 95 per cent of the time. And then 5 per cent of the time, my personal life is relevant to a national news story, Mr Adams said. The disconnect feels incredibly strange. (Bloomberg) -- Support for the Democratic Alliance is slipping in South Africas Western Cape and the political party may be forced to govern the province through a coalition following May 29 elections, a survey showed. Most Read from Bloomberg Support for the party, which has held a majority in the province that hosts Cape Town since 2009, slipped to 53% in March in terms of voting intentions compared with 64% in July, the poll by the Social Research Foundation showed. That, the group said, is within its margin of error of 4.4%. It is plausible for the election to deliver a coalition government in the Western Cape, the SRF said. The DA is still likely to remain by far the biggest party in the provincial vote, with the African National Congress at just 17% in second place. Still, the Western Cape is the only one out of South Africas nine regions in which the official opposition holds a majority and a loss would be seen as a setback. The ANC currently controls all of others, although earlier surveys show its control is under threat in several. The SRF poll of 815 people was modeled on 66% turnout. The public-policy organization was founded in 2021. Its chairman, Frans Cronje, is a former chief executive of the Institute of Race Relations and has consulted for South Africas biggest political parties, companies and richest people. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. By Tim Cocks and Nellie Peyton JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa's second most popular party the Democratic Alliance (DA) would not rule out a deal with the ruling African National Congress should the ANC fail to get the majority it needs to retain power in May elections, its leader said on Monday. Pollsters expect the ANC to lose its legislative majority on May 29 for the first time since Nelson Mandela took power at the end of apartheid 30 years ago, with voters unhappy with poor service delivery, joblessness, crime and power cuts. If that happens, President Cyril Ramaphosa or a successor for the top job would be unable to stay on without a coalition, since South Africa's parliament elects the president. "It would depend which ANC you're dealing with and what their programme of action is," DA leader John Steenhuisen said, declining to disclose whether any talks had already taken place. "I'm not ruling out anything, depending on what the election results are." The ANC's Deputy Party Secretary Nomvula Mokonyane told Reuters earlier this month the party was not considering a coalition government with other parties, and that she did not think a power-sharing deal would work. The DA has banded together with smaller parties to try to capture the more than 50% of the vote needed to take power. They include the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, long a bitter rival of the ANC, as well as Freedom Front Plus, which appeals to rural white South Africans who feel politically marginalised since the fall of apartheid, and Action SA, which has built a platform on a tough anti-immigration stance and appeals to working- and middle-class voters. "It's a long shot," Steenhuisen said. He added that if the opposition coalition did not win, his priority would be to prevent the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) getting a seat on the executive. "What I call the 'doomsday coalition' ... is a tie up between the EFF and the ANC," he said. The DA is seen as a pro-business party, whereas businesses and wealthy individuals dislike the EFF, which is popular with poor, Black South Africans. The EFF promises to nationalise industries and fix inequalities in land ownership. "I won't sit back and just watch the country handed over to the radical Socialists," Steenhuisen said. "If the (opposition coalition) doesn't get over the line, we may have to look at making what is the least worst option." If in power, the DA would seek to pursue its policy of privatising the power sector rather than rely on state provider Eskom and eliminating red tape to make it easier for the private sector to operate, Steenhuisen said. The DA would "open up the (electricity) market to ... competition amongst players, much like you have in the cell phone industry," he said. Steenhuisen reiterated the DA policy of abandoning the ANC's flagship Black empowerment scheme, which he called "racial bean counting", in favour of one focused solely on reducing poverty, regardless of skin colour. Race is a divisive issue in South Africa, and the DA is still seen by many as the party of white privilege. "I don't buy the argument that the DA is the party of white privilege," Steenhuisen said. "The biggest beneficiaries of good, clean, accountable government are poor, marginalised South Africans." (Reporting by Tim Cocks and Nellie Peyton in Johannesburg; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Nia Williams) SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) The federal recovery center in National City for businesses impacted by the flooding earlier this year will close temporarily starting on Monday. In a release on Thursday, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which operates the recovery center at Southwestern College, said the closure is due to the schools spring break. It will resume providing services at the site on April 2. The National City Business Recovery Center opened nearly a month ago to aid businesses that sustained damage or experienced other losses of assets as a result of the devastating flooding on Jan. 22. It came about a week after the Biden Administration approved a major disaster declaration for San Diego County and others in California, opening up funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Two other recovery centers were also opened by SBA officials since then: one at the Mountain View Community Center and another at the Spring Valley Library. Both will remain open while the Southwestern College site goes on hiatus. FEMA disaster assistance for San Diego renters and homeowners: How to apply The recovery center at the Mountain View Community Center, which is located at 641 S Boundary St., is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Spring Valley Disaster Recovery Center, located at 836 Kempton St., is also open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. At all of the disaster recovery centers, businesses of all sizes and non-profits are able to apply for loans up to $2 million to repair and replace damaged real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and more. Additional funds may also be dispersed for costs associated with improvements to protect, prevent or minimize any future disaster damage, SBA officials said. Businesses can apply online through SBAs website. Prospective applicants can also call SBAs Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Outside business support, the federal government also has low-interest disaster loans of up to $500,000 available for homeowners to repair their properties. Loans up to $100,000 are also available to repair or replace personal property, such as vehicles. According to SBA, the deadline to apply for property damage loans is April 19, while the deadline to apply for economic injury loans is Nov. 19. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. March 25 (UPI) -- Becky Hill, a South Carolina court clerk accused of tampering with the jury in the high-profile murder trial of ex-attorney Alex Murdaugh, resigned her post in Colleton County on Monday. Addressing reporters in front of the county courthouse in Walterboro, S.C., Hill said it "has been my honor to serve as your Colleton County Clerk of Court" before announcing her resignation from the job, which she has held since her election as a Republican in 2020. In her remarks, Hill referenced last year's Murdaugh trial, in which the well-known attorney from a politically powerful South Carolina family was ordered to serve two consecutive life sentences for the 2021 gunshot slayings of his wife, Margaret "Maggie" Murdaugh, 52, and son, Paul Murdaugh, 22. While seeking a re-trial in January, Murdaugh's lawyers claimed Hill pressured the jury to rule quickly in order to secure a book deal and media appearances related to the trial, which would have been jeopardized if the case had ended with a mistrial. Hill denied tampering with the jury during a hearing before retired Judge Jean Toal on Jan. 29, claiming, "I did not have a conversation with any juror about any topic related to this case," before the judge ultimately dismissed the re-trial motion. "I simply do not believe that our South Carolina Supreme Court requires a new trial in a very lengthy trial on the strength of some fleeting and foolish comments by a publicity-seeking clerk of court," Toal said. Hill also was involved in a separate but related controversy in which she admitted to plagiarizing material used in writing the preface for a tell-all book about the trial. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division confirmed in January its investigators are looking into two cases regarding Hill, including the jury tampering allegations and whether she used her position for personal gain. On Monday, Hill said the Murdaugh trial had "caused me to reflect on my decisions involving my stay in the office of clerk of court. And so after my reflection, I have decided that it is best not to run again for re-election. "I will now be able to focus on being a wife, a mother and a grandmother to my two grand-boys, and will be spending time with the people who mean the most to me," she said. Her attorney, Democratic State Rep. Justin Bamberg, said Hill's resignation would be effective immediately and that a resignation letter was on its way South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. Deputy Clerk of Court Gary Hale will fill the position on an interim basis. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. Iran's imports of products from Kyrgyzstan decreased by 27.2 percent in value terms and 53.8 percent in weight terms during 11 months of the current Iranian year (from March 21, 2023 through February 19, 2024) compared to the same month of last year, the statistics of Iran's Customs Administration said, Trend reports. According to the statistics, imports of products from Kyrgyzstan to Iran amounted to 2,800 tons worth about $5.58 million for 11 months. The statistics indicate that during the same period last year, Iran's imports of products from Kyrgyzstan amounted to 6,080 tons worth $7.66 million. The information adds that Iran imported mainly agricultural products and phosphoric acid from Kyrgyzstan. Statistics reveal that during the 11th month of the current Iranian year (from January 21 through February 19, 2024), Iran's import of products from Kyrgyzstan amounted to 216 tons worth $463,000. Meanwhile, according to the statistics of Iran's Customs Administration, about 35.8 million tons of products worth about $59.9 billion were imported to Iran during the 11 months. Iran's product imports increased by 11.1 percent in value terms and 6.4 percent in weight terms compared to the same period last year. To note, Iran mainly attaches importance to the import of products required by the country and imposes certain restrictions on the import of products produced in the country. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel (Bloomberg) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol offered flexibility and talks in a pair of potential concessions amid a long-running standoff over a government plan to boost the number of medical students. Most Read from Bloomberg Yoon asked Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to find a flexible way to deal with the suspension of trainee doctor licenses, according to a text message sent by his office late Sunday. He also asked Han to form a constructive council with doctors to promote dialog, the presidential office said. Ruling party chief Han Dong-hoon met with a group representing medical professors earlier Sunday and requested that the government exercise flexibility. Yoons instruction came a day before a Monday deadline for trainee doctors to withdraw their resignations after a walkout that has lasted more than a month, causing disruption of some hospital services. Read more: South Korea Doctors Walkout Leaves Patients in Limbo The government had planned to start suspending the licenses of the trainees this week. It already meted out that punishment to two doctors last week. With parliamentary elections just weeks away, the standoff between Yoon and almost all of some 13,000 trainee doctors has shown few signs of easing so far. Yoon has stuck by the plan to sharply increase the number of trainee doctors, saying more physicians are needed to care for the nations aging population. Labor groups for doctors say increasing physicians is less urgent than fixing poor working conditions that cause doctors to flock to urban areas and shun certain medical fields. The National Association of University Professors said Monday in a statement that they are willing to negotiate as long as the government backs down on its plan to increase medical school seats annually by 2,000 from the next academic year. The Korean Medical Association, which has advocated for trainee doctors, has yet to comment on Yoons remarks. The ruling party would want to get the issue out of the way before the April elections, said Lee Ju-yul, a professor at the Department of Health Administration at Namseoul University. The public is generally in support of the plan to increase the medical school slots, but if they become the ones who experience inconvenience due to this push, voter sentiment will quickly shift. Medical professors at five major general hospitals offered to resign last week, announcing their support for trainee doctors. The government has announced plans to deploy about 200 doctors from military and public institutions to prevent lapses in the medical system and is seeking to enlist retired doctors for help as the walkout prolongs. In a sign of public fatigue with the standoff, Yoons support rating fell for a second week to 34% last week according to a Gallup Korea poll. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. By Hyunsu Yim SEOUL (Reuters) - Medical professors in South Korea said they will cut back on the hours they spend in practice starting on Monday to support trainee doctors on strike for more than a month over a government plan to boost medical school admissions. "It is clear that increasing medical school admissions will not only ruin medical school education but cause our country's healthcare system to collapse," Kim Chang-soo, the president of the Medical Professors Association of Korea, told reporters. He said the professors will start scaling back outpatient treatment to focus on emergency and severely ill patients, while some will submit their resignations. The strike by the trainee doctors over a plan to increase the number of students admitted each year to medical school from 2025 has forced several hospitals to turn back patients and delay procedures. The government says the plan is vital to remedy a shortage of doctors in one of the world's fastest-ageing societies, but critics have said the authorities should focus on improving the working conditions of trainee doctors first. The trainee doctors have been on strike since Feb 20, and President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has made healthcare reforms one of his signature policy initiatives, has vowed not to back down on implementing the admissions plan. The government has also threatened to suspend the licences of the doctors who have walked off their jobs but on Sunday, Yoon appeared to seek a more conciliatory approach and urged Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to seek "flexible measures" in dealing with the suspension. Yoon's office said he also ordered the prime minister to form a "constructive consultative body" to speak with all medical professionals. According to a Gallup poll released on March 15, 38% said the government was doing a good job dealing with backlash from doctors and the medical void amid the doctors' strike while 49% said "not a good job". (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; editing by Miral Fahmy) Two days after launch, a Russian Soyuz crew ferry ship caught up with the International Space Station Monday and moved in for a picture-perfect docking, bringing two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut starting a six-month stay in orbit. With Soyuz MS-25/71S commander Oleg Novitskiy, Belarus guest flier Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA veteran Tracy Dyson monitoring the automated approach, the spacecraft glided in from below and docked at the Earth-facing Prichal module at 11:03 a.m. EDT The Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft flies over Croatia Monday on final approach to the International Space Station. On board: veteran cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, Belarus guest flier Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson. / Credit: NASA TV After leak checks to verify an airtight structural seal, hatches were opened and the Soyuz crew floated into the station, greeted by ISS commander Oleg Kononenko, cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Alexander Grebenkin, along with NASA astronauts Loral O'Hara, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps. Vasilevskaya (blue flight suit at left) waves at a camera moments after floating into the International Space Station. O'Hara floats next to her at upper left with Jeanette Epps at lower left. / Credit: NASA TV "Marina, you opened the door to Belarus to be in space," Russian mission control radioed from Moscow. "So have a great and safe mission. Enjoy your work, your time off. We are so proud of you. The whole people of Belarus (are) proud of you." Vasilevskaya, smiling broadly, said through an interpreter, "I'm so happy that Belarus has made it safely and soundly to the International Space Station." "It took us two days, but we are in great spirits, and I'm super happy that it went this way. I loved all of the aspects of it. ... We are so happy that you are supporting us. It's a great pleasure to us and brings strength to us." NASA's mission control team congratulated Novitskiy for safely returning "to your second home. We are happy to see you on the station once again." "Tracy, it's so great to see your smiling face back on ISS," said Costa Mavrides, NASA's spacecraft communicator. "Everyone here in Houston, including your family and friends in the viewing room, are beaming with pride watching the screen." The combined 10-member station crew gathered for a brief video call with the Russian mission control center near Moscow. Back row (left to right): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, Mike Barratt, Oleg Kononenko, Matthew Dominick, Loral O'Hara. Front row (left to right): Tracy Dyson, Oleg Novitskiy, Marina Vasilevskaya, Jeanette Epps. / Credit: NASA TV Kononenko, Chub and O'Hara were launched last September aboard the Soyuz MS-24/70S ferry ship while Dominick, Barratt, Epps and Grebenkin arrived earlier this month aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon. Dyson is replacing O'Hara, who will return to Earth April 6 with Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya aboard the older MS-24/70S spacecraft that carried her into orbit last year. Dyson will come home next September with Kononenko and Chub using the MS-25/71S spacecraft delivered by Novitskiy. The Soyuz swap out was required because Kononenko and Chub are midway through a year-long stay aboard the station, and the Russian crew ships are not certified for flights lasting longer than six months. After Novitskiy, Vasilevskaya and O'Hara depart, the station's NASA fliers will press ahead with on-going research and make preparations for the arrival of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in early May, the first piloted flight of a NASA-sponsored alternative to SpaceX's Crew Dragon. After two unpiloted test flights and extensive work to correct software problems and unexpected trouble with corroded propulsion system valves, NASA and Boeing officials say the spacecraft is finally ready to carry astronauts to and from the station. An artist's impression of Boeing's Starliner on final approach to the International Space Station. The first piloted flight of a Starliner is planned for early May. / Credit: NASA For the upcoming "crew flight test," astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams will put the ship's automated and manual control systems to the test during the trip to and from the station, spending about 10 days aboard the outpost. If the flight goes well, the Starliner will be certified for use in future ISS crew rotation missions, alternating with SpaceX's Crew Dragon and providing NASA with redundancy when it comes to launching astronauts to and from the space station. "Today, all of our Crew Dragons are launching on (SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets)," said space station Program Manager Dana Weigel. "If there was a problem with F9, for example, and we had to stand down for a while ... if we had another vehicle we could continue flying." And that would help ensure a permanent U.S. presence aboard the space station. "So that's the reason, when we talk about having multiple providers, why it's so important for us to have that continual capability," Weigel said. Christian Cooper, the "Extraordinary Birder" "James" author Percival Everett on race, language and art Doris Kearns Goodwin on "An Unfinished Love Story" By John Davison, Michelle Nichols, Emma Farge, Emily Rose and Farah Saafan CAIRO (Reuters) - In mid-March, a line of trucks stretched for 3 kilometers along a desert road near a crossing point from Israel into the Gaza Strip. On the same day, another line of trucks, some 1.5 kilometers long, sometimes two or three across, was backed up near a crossing from Egypt into Gaza. The trucks were filled with aid, much of it food, for the more than 2 million Palestinians in the war-ravaged enclave. About 50 kilometers from Gaza, more aid trucks some 2,400 in total were sitting idle this month in the Egyptian city of Al Arish, according to an Egyptian Red Crescent official. These motionless food-filled trucks, the main lifeline for Gazans, are at the heart of the escalating humanitarian crisis gripping the enclave. More than five months into Israels war with Hamas, a report by a global authority on food security has warned that famine is imminent in parts of Gaza, as more than three-quarters of the population have been forced from their homes and swathes of the territory are in ruins. Galvanized by reports and images of starving children, the international community, led by the United States, has been pressuring Israel to facilitate the transfer of more aid into Gaza. Washington has airdropped food into the Mediterranean enclave and recently announced it would build a pier off the Gaza coast to help ferry in more aid. U.N. officials have accused Israel of blocking humanitarian supplies to Gaza. The European Unions foreign policy chief alleged Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war. And aid agency officials say Israeli red tape is slowing the flow of trucks carrying food supplies. Israeli officials reject these accusations and say they have increased aid access to Gaza. Israel isnt responsible for delays in aid getting into Gaza, they say, and the delivery of aid once inside the territory is the responsibility of the U.N. and humanitarian agencies. Israel has also accused Hamas of stealing aid. Reuters interviewed more than two dozen people, including humanitarian workers, Israeli military officials and truck drivers, in tracing the tortuous route that aid takes into Gaza in an effort to identify the chokepoints and reasons for delays of supplies. Reuters also reviewed U.N. and Israeli military statistics on aid shipments, as well as satellite images of the border crossing areas, which revealed the long lines of trucks. Before the aid shipments enter Gaza, they undergo a series of Israeli checks, and a shipment approved at one stage of the process can later be rejected, according to 18 aid workers and U.N. officials involved in the aid effort. At one crossing from Israel into Gaza, goods are twice loaded off trucks and then reloaded onto other trucks that then carry the aid to warehouses in Gaza. The aid delivery process can also be complicated by competing international demands, with some countries wanting their contributions to be prioritized. Aid that does make it into Gaza can be ransacked by desperate civilians, sometimes fall prey to armed gangs, or get held up by Israeli army checkpoints. Half the warehouses storing aid in Gaza are no longer operational after having been hit in the fighting. Its upsetting watching these aid trucks go nowhere and vast humanitarian supplies sit in warehouses when you think about whats happening, right now, to the people who need them, said Paolo Pezzati, an Oxfam worker who recently visited the queue of aid trucks near the Egypt-Gaza border. Before the war began, an average of 200 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza each day, according to U.N. figures. A further 300 trucks laden with commercial imports, including food, agricultural supplies and industrial materials, also entered each day via Israel. Since the start of the war, an average of around 100 trucks have entered Gaza daily, according to a review of U.N. and Israeli military statistics on aid shipments. While the trucks struggle to get into Gaza, the need for aid has risen dramatically, both because of the vast number of displaced people and the devastation of key infrastructure in Israels assault. This includes the destruction of bakeries, markets, and farmland whose crops met some of Gazas food needs. Previous wars werent like this, said Alaa al-Atar, a municipal official, referring to conflicts in Gaza. There wasnt the destruction of all sources of subsistence homes, farmland, infrastructure. Theres nothing left to survive on, just aid, said Atar, who was displaced from the north to the south of Gaza early in the war. To meet its minimum needs, aid agencies and U.N. officials say Gaza currently requires 500 to 600 trucks a day, including humanitarian aid and the commercial supplies that were coming in before the war. Thats about four times the number of trucks getting in now. In March there has been an uptick, with an average of 150 trucks entering Gaza each day. Some deliveries are being made by international air drops and via sea, but they aren't making up for shortfalls on the land routes. In the first three weeks of March, the equivalent of some 50 truckloads of aid was airdropped and brought in by sea, a Reuters tally based on Israeli military statistics showed. The recent food security report, known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), found that a lack of aid means almost all households in Gaza are skipping meals every day and adults are cutting back on meals so their children can eat. The situation is particularly dire in northern Gaza, it said, where in nearly two-thirds of households, people went entire days and nights without eating at least 10 times in the last 30 days. The war was triggered by a Hamas-led attack on communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 being taken hostage, according to Israel. Since then, Israels assault on Gaza has killed more than 31,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. A senior Hamas official said Israel is responsible for the inadequate aid flows. The biggest threat to the distribution of aid is Israels ongoing attacks in Gaza, Hamas official Bassem Naim told Reuters. The biggest obstacle to getting the aid to the people who need it is the continued gunfire and the continued targeting of aid and those who are handling it, he said. WAITING IN THE DESERT Before some of the aid begins its journey to Gaza, it is flown to Cairo or shipped by sea to Port Said, which borders Egypts Sinai Peninsula, about 150 kms to the west of Al Arish. From there, it is trucked to the city of Al Arish, on the Mediterranean coast. Some aid is also flown directly to the Egyptian city. Once in Cairo or Al Arish, the aid undergoes its first check. International agencies submit a detailed inventory of each shipment to the Israeli military via the U.N. for clearance. Israel has long banned dual use items that it says could be used by Hamas to make weapons. Of 153 requests made to the Israeli authorities for goods to enter Gaza between Jan. 11 and March 15, 100 were cleared, 15 were rejected outright and another 38 were pending, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs told Reuters. U.N. officials didnt specify whether a request referred to a specific number of trucks or volume of aid. It takes almost a month on average to get a response, according to minutes of a meeting of aid agencies seen by Reuters. The Israeli military says it approves almost 99% of the Gaza-bound trucks it inspects and that once the goods are inside the enclave, it is the responsibility of the international aid organizations to distribute it. The inspection process isnt the impediment to aid getting into the Gaza Strip, said Shimon Freedman, a spokesman for COGAT, the Israeli military branch that handles aid transfers. Diplomatic wrangling by countries donating aid can also create snarls in the delivery process. U.N. officials told Reuters that because aid comes not only from international agencies but also directly from individual donor countries, the process of deciding which trucks go to the front of the queue can be thorny even before they depart Al Arish. The Egyptian Red Crescent official said donor countries drop off aid in Al Arish or at Al Arish airport and walk away and say, We gave out aid to Gaza. It is the Red Crescent and Egyptian authorities who then bear the responsibility of getting the aid to Gaza, he said. From Al Arish, the trucks make the 50-kilometer journey to the Rafah crossing point on the Egypt-Gaza border. Next stop: Israels truck-scanning centers. Once they reach the Rafah crossing, some trucks are then required to drive along the Egypt-Israel border for 40 kilometers to an inspection facility on the Israeli side called Nitzana. Here the goods are physically checked by Israeli soldiers who use scanning machines and sniffer dogs, according to U.N. and other aid agency staff. Some items get rejected during the physical inspection, in particular ones Israel believes could be used by Hamas and other armed groups for military purposes. Some shipments carrying dual-use items are sent back to Al Arish. The same item that is let through one day, can be rejected on another day, U.N. officials and aid workers said. U.N. agencies say solar panels, metal tent poles, oxygen tanks, generators and water purification equipment are among the items the military has rejected. Pezzati, the Oxfam worker, said he saw a warehouse in Al Arish in early March that was filled with items banned by Israel. There were crutches, camping toilets, hygiene kits, disinfectants for doctors, for surgery, he said. COGATS Freedman said there is a publicized list of what constitutes dual-use items, but there isnt a blanket ban on these goods. If Israeli authorities understand what exactly it is necessary for, we can coordinate it, he said. But Israel wants to be sure that goods arent going to be used by Hamas for terrorist activities, he said. Israels inspections, Freedman said, arent the reason for any backlog in aid. We have the capacity to inspect more humanitarian aid than the international organizations can distribute, he said. The Israeli military says it can scan a total of 44 trucks an hour at Nitzana and at a crossing from Israel into Gaza where aid trucks are inspected, at Kerem Shalom. But aid agency officials say the actual number scanned is fewer. The military declined to say how many hours Nitzana and Kerem Shalom are open each day. Once the trucks pass inspection at Nitzana, they make the 40-kilometer journey back to Rafah, where they wait to cross into Gaza. In late January, groups of Israelis, including friends and relatives of the more than 130 people still being held hostage by Hamas, began protesting against the delivery of aid to Gaza. Between late January and early March, the protests effectively shut down either Nitzana or Kerem Shalom for a total of 16 days, according to aid agencies. At the Kerem Shalom crossing, goods are unloaded from the scanned trucks and reloaded onto trucks that have been vetted by the Israeli army, according to U.N. and aid agency workers. These sanitized trucks then make a 1 kilometer journey to a warehouse inside Gaza where the aid is again offloaded. The goods are then placed on trucks driven by Palestinians and taken to mostly U.N.-run warehouses in Rafah. Under growing international pressure, Israel earlier this month initiated a new route for the delivery of aid directly to northern Gaza, known as the 96th gate. By March 20, COGAT said at least 86 international aid trucks had entered via the new crossing. There is a sufficient amount of food entering Gaza every day, said Col. Moshe Tetro, a COGAT official overseeing Gaza. The new route was initiated as part of a pilot in order to prevent Hamas from taking over the aid, COGAT said in a post on social media site X. Freedman, though, said he didnt have specific evidence he could share about Hamas pilfering aid. Hamas official Naim rejected the accusation that the group was stealing aid. We have been cooperating and are cooperating with every single state and humanitarian organization so that the aid reaches people in dire need, he said. AN ARDUOUS JOURNEY Once inside Gaza, the aid shipments face more challenges. Several convoys have been attacked on the stretch of road from Kerem Shalom to Gaza warehouses by people carrying crude weapons such as axes and box-cutters, according to U.N. officials and truck drivers. Deeper inside Gaza, others have been swarmed by crowds of people desperate for food. In an incident that galvanized aid efforts, more than 100 people were killed in late February when a crowd descended on an aid convoy organized by Israel. Security for food convoys traveling the short distance from the crossing points to warehouses in Rafah also deteriorated after several strikes by the Israeli military killed at least eight policemen in Gaza, according to U.N. officials. Israel says all police are members of Hamas. Whether theyre Hamas or not I dont know, but they were doing a job for us in terms of crowd control, said Jamie McGoldrick, a senior U.N. official. The police are less willing to do that now. Aid agencies mostly now negotiate their own security with local communities, McGoldrick said. Reuters reported recently that armed and masked men from an array of clans and factions in Gaza had begun providing security to aid convoys. Police officers in Gaza are Hamas, they are part of the Hamas terrorist organization, COGATs Freedman said. Israel doesnt target humanitarian convoys, we try to assist them, but Hamas is our enemy. Storing aid in Gaza has also become a problem. Warehouses have been damaged by the fighting and occasionally looted. Of the 43 warehouses in Gaza that were operational before the war, only 22 are now working, according to the Logistics Cluster, a U.N.-run logistics facilitator for aid agencies. In mid-March, an Israeli airstrike hit a U.N. food distribution center in southern Gaza, killing several people. Israel said it killed a Hamas commander in the attack. Hamas said the man targeted by Israel was a member of its police force. From the warehouses, aid is delivered to southern Gaza, where the majority of the population is now located. Making deliveries to northern Gaza is more fraught. Roads to the north have been bombed by Israel and there are delays as trucks are held up or denied access at Israeli army checkpoints, say U.N. and other aid agency officials. Aid convoys are also often looted before reaching their destination by crowds of people desperate for food, U.N. officials said. U.N. officials told Reuters that humanitarian agencies had made 158 requests to the Israeli military to deliver aid to northern Gaza from the beginning of the war to March 14. Of those, the military denied 57, they said. COGATs Freedman said some requests to move aid inside Gaza have been rejected because aid agencies didnt coordinate sufficiently with Israel. They weren't able to tell us exactly where that aid was going, he said. And if we don't know where it's going to, we don't know it's not going to end up in the hands of Hamas. In southern Gaza, residents are desperately waiting for aid. People have nothing to eat at all, nor do they have a place to stay, or a refuge, said Suleiman al-Jaal, a local truck driver who said he has been attacked transporting aid in Gaza. This is not a life. No matter how much aid they bring in, its not enough. (Additional reporting by: Aidan Lewis, Nidal al-Mughrabi, James Mackenzie, and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber. Data analysis by: Allison Martell, Eleanor Whalley and Anna Magdalena Lubowicka. Graphics by: Mariano Zafra. Edited by Peter Hirschberg.) The City of Springfield has approved a settlement in a complaint filed in 2020 over the denial of gender-affirming health care to a former city employee. Under terms of the settlement, the city will pay $95,000 to Katherine Anastacia Holt, who worked for Lincoln Library, for harm she suffered as well as legal fees. The library is a department of the city. Amber Sabin, a city spokeswoman, said the settlement will come out of the city's self-insurance fund. Holt sought coverage for medications and other medical care prescribed by her physician to treat her gender dysphoria, which is generally the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics. Katherine Holt Holt later learned that the city's insurance plan specifically denied coverage for sex transformation and hormones related to such treatment. In February 2022, the Illinois Human Rights Commission ruled in Holt's favor. Several months later, the city changed its health insurance plan for employees to cover gender-affirming care. The decision was the first time that excluding gender-affirming care from employee insurance plans was declared to violate Illinois civil rights law, including protections for sex and gender identity. Hanauer said his concern was about other areas the city's insurance doesn't cover that it could liable for. "I've had people reach out to me and say when people come (to work for the city), they know what the insurance covers and just because it doesn't cover what they want, to me I think a lot of people feel that this isn't right," Hanauer said. Related: Repeal of state grocery tax could cost city of Springfield millions City attorney Gregory Moredock said that after the suit was filed in November 2020, Illinois changed the insurance code to define and cover the types of claims that were at issue in the lawsuit. "We do now address those issues," he said. "We did move to dismiss this case because these items were not required by the insurance code when this lawsuit was filed, but I do think that subsequent changes to the insurance code have better clarified what we need to cover, and the city does cover that now." Holt, through the ACLU of Illinois who represented her in the case, said the settlement was "a win for me and for every transgender employee across Illinois. It brings closure to my personal struggle after Springfield denied me coverage simply because of who I am. That was wrong. But this outcome also sends a strong signal to all employers including towns, cities, and counties across Illinois that they are violating the law if they do not provide coverage for gender-affirming care for their employees. Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie. This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield paying nearly $100K to settle civil rights case In April 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk set off a national media firestorm when he issued a ruling that couldif it ever took effectthreaten nationwide access to mifepristone, one of the drugs taken as part of a two-drug regimen to procure a chemical abortion. But Kacsmaryks nationwide injunction was stayed by the Supreme Court and never took effect. In August 2023, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruledin a case described by that court as a complicated administrative law appealthat a legal challenge to the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) original approval that allowed the sale of mifepristone in 2000 was barred by the statute of limitations. But the 5th Circuit also held that legal challenges to subsequent FDA actions loosening distribution of the drug in 2016 and 2021 would likely succeed on the grounds that those actions were arbitrary and capricious and therefore unlawful under the Administrative Procedures Act, the law governing how federal executive branch agencies issue regulations. When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Tuesday in the case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, it will consider whether the groups of doctors suing the FDA are right that the agencys 2016 and 2021 deregulatory actions were unlawful. But the original 2000 approval of mifepristone is not even a question before the high court. Despite the limited scope of the questions before the Supreme Court, some politicians are exaggerating whats at stake. Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, for example, warned in a recent fundraising email that the Supreme Court could place access to medication abortion in grave danger. Of course, if the Supreme Court rules entirely in favor of the doctors challenging the FDAs actions, it would roll the clock back, perhaps only temporarily, in states where abortion remains legal to the final year of the Obama administrationnot exactly a moment in history when anyone considered access to abortion drugs to be in grave danger. What exactly is at stake? When the FDA first allowed mifepristone to be prescribed in the United States in 2000, the agency established several rules to protect women taking it, but most of those rules were eliminated by the FDA in 2016 and 2021. According to the FDAs 2000 approval memorandum, the pill could be prescribed only during the first seven weeks of pregnancy, and only by a physician who had the ability to assess the duration of pregnancy accurately diagnose ectopic pregnancies and provide or facilitate treatment in cases of serious adverse events. Three in-person doctors visits were also required: first for an examination and taking mifepristone (also known as RU-486), which blocks the hormone progesterone and thus cuts off nutrients essential to sustaining the life of an unborn child. The second visit was to take a separate drug, misoprostol, intended to complete the abortion; and the third visit to ensure there were no complications. The FDA also required the prescriber to report any hospitalization, transfusion or other serious events. All of those rules remained in effect until 2016, the final year of the Obama administration, when the FDA made several changes. The agency allowed the drug to be prescribed during up to 10 weeks of pregnancy and by non-physicians, such as midwives and nurse practitioners. It also removed the requirements that the final two appointments needed to be in person and that prescribers must report non-fatal adverse events. In April 2021, a few months into the Biden administration, the FDA announced it would not enforce the requirement that the first visit needed to be in person, thus allowing the entire process to be conducted remotely. The action allowing distribution of mifepristone without any in-person examination was originally justified by the FDA as a pandemic-related measure, but the agency later made the change permanent on the grounds that risks of taking the pill without any in-person visit to a health care provider was minimal and that telehealth would make abortion more easily obtainable. As the FDA explains in a Q&A about mifepristone, the agency determined in 2021 the rules must be modified to reduce burden on the health care delivery system and to ensure the benefits of the product outweigh the risks. The FDAs loosening of these rules may have had a significant impact on the number of abortions performed in the United States. The Guttmacher Institute, an abortion advocacy and research organization that was once formally connected to Planned Parenthood, had found abortion rates steadily declining until 2017the year after the FDA first loosened rules for distributing mifepristone. It recently reported that the increasing trend continued through 2023. Assessing the accuracy of Guttmachers estimates is a complicated endeavor, but the organization plausibly cites broader availability of telehealth for medication abortion due to the FDAs 2021 moveas well as increasing public and private funding for abortion, plus blue-state laws becoming even more favorable to abortion rightsas a factor that could have increased the number of abortions in the United States. In August 2023, the 5th Circuit ruled that the FDAs 2016 revision ran afoul of the Administrative Procedures Act because the FDA only studied each change individually and not cumulatively. Because FDA failed to seek data on the cumulative effect, and failed to explain why it did not, its decision to approve the amendments was likely arbitrary and capricious, the 5th Circuit held. It also ruled that the reasoning for the FDAs 2021 actionsuspending the in-person dispensing requirementwas likely unlawful because it relied on unreliable, self-reported data submitted to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Its unreasonable for an agency to eliminate a reporting requirement for a thing and then use the resulting absence of data to support its decision, the 5th Circuits opinion read, quoting an earlier ruling by a small panel of the courts judges. The doctors suing the FDA argue the rules changes will put more women at risk. For example, an ectopic pregnancy, which typically occurs when an embryo implants in a fallopian tube, is a life-threatening condition if left untreated. Its usually screened for during an in-person appointment via ultrasound before mifepristone is dispensed. Patient history simply cannot rule out an ectopic pregnancy. Instead, only an ultrasound can, and it can do so with complete certainty and reliability, writes Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, a radiologist, in an amicus brief supporting the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Mifepristone cannot treat an ectopic pregnancy, Christies amicus brief observes, and the symptoms of an ectopic-pregnancy rupture can be indistinguishable from those of a chemical abortion, including dizziness, faintness, bleeding, and abdominal and pelvic pain. But the the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which supports abortion rights and the FDAs actions, argues in its amicus brief that identifying ectopic pregnancy can be accomplished just as effectively by discussing the patients medical historyeven via a telemedicine appointment. To back up that claim, the ACOG brief pointed to a March 2022 study that observed screening for medication abortion eligibility typically includes ultrasonography or pelvic examination. But during the COVID pandemic many clinicians stopped requiring tests before medication abortion and instead screened patients for pregnancy duration and ectopic pregnancy risk by history alone. However, few US-based studies have been conducted on the outcomes and safety of this novel model of care. The March 2022 study was conducted under the unusual circumstances of a pandemic from February 2020 to January 2021. Out of about 3,800 women originally included in the study, it only had complete data for roughly 2,400 who took mifepristone without an ultrasoundfour of whom had an undetected ectopic pregnancy. The study said that dispensing mifepristone without an ultrasound was safe, but it also noted that the ectopic pregnancy rate of 2 per 1000 suggests that the screening procedures used by the participating clinics will not triage all patients with ectopic risks to ultrasonography before the abortion. However, the potential benefits of expanded access, increased convenience, and earlier treatment conferred by removing testing requirements may outweigh potential risks of delayed identification of ectopic pregnancies. Ultrasound remains a routine part of providing a chemical abortion, even among abortion providers who back the FDAs rules changes. For example, Planned Parenthoods websites for patients in states such as New Jersey and Pennsylvaniawhere the law does not require ultrasounds before an abortionstill list an ultrasound as a standard procedure performed before mifepristone is dispensed. But the only way the doctors have legal standing to sue the FDA is by establishing that the doctors themselves have been or will imminently be injured. According to the FDA, about one in 25 women will visit an emergency room after taking abortion pills, and the 5th Circuit agreed the pro-life doctors had standing to sue because they had established that a percentage of women who take mifepristone will suffer serious medical complications; that hundreds of the Medical Organizations members are physicians who treat patients in those circumstances; that many of the Doctors have in fact treated such patients; and that providing such treatment causes the Doctors to violate their rights of conscience, sustain mental and emotional distress, divert time and resources away from their ordinary practice, and incur additional liability and insurance costs. The Supreme Court brief filed by the federal government in defense of the FDAs 2016 and 2021 actions counters that the doctors central contention is that if mifepristone were available under the pre-2016 conditions rather than the current conditions, the risk that one or more of their members would be called upon to treat a serious adverse event would be reduced to some marginal and unquantified extent. Even if that attenuated, probabilistic injury could satisfy Article III, it would not justify destabilizing nationwide preliminary relief. Villanova law professor Michael P. Moreland* told The Dispatch its hard to know if the Supreme Court will agree with the 5th Circuit that the doctors have standing. Its a close call, he says. These standing issues are very technicaltheyre very difficult. The court has, over the last several decades, tightened the requirements for standing a considerable amount and said you have to have a kind of particularized cognizable injury that you suffered in order to bring this kind of claim, he explained. But oral arguments could provide clues about how the justices might ruleon the issue of standing as well as each of the underlying FDA regulatory changes. Itll be interesting to see when the justices get into the questioning how much of it is focused on the standing issues versus the arbitrary capricious issues, how much is as focused on 2016 versus [the 2021] revision, Moreland said. If some of the more conservative justices really spend a lot of time on standing and expressing some skepticism about that, then I think thats probably a very bad omen for the doctors challenging the FDA. Either way, said Moreland, oral arguments should give us some indication of at least where some of the justices are coming down. Correction, March 25, 2024: Michael Morelands name was originally misspelled on first reference. Read more at The Dispatch The Dispatch is a new digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary, informed by conservative principles. Sign up for free. The creators of an innovation started in 2021 are continuing work to clean up concrete using, of all things, bacteria. Biozeroc's product a result of a collaboration of experts who met through the Cambridge-originated Carbon13 launchpad program replaces dirty cement in concrete with microbes, according to a report, dating to around the project's inception, from the Concrete Centre. Concrete production generates 8% of global air pollution, most of it coming from cement. That's the part of the mix that binds it all together. "If you use microbes rather than cement to bind aggregate, that alone cuts concrete's carbon footprint by about 85%," Biozeroc co-founder Liv Andersson said in the Centre's story. The process works by ensuring the microbes have the right environment, and plenty of food, to produce calcite, which is needed as a binder. "Our process control has succeeded in greatly accelerating calcite production. This is where the gold in our technology lies," Andersson said in the lab report. The team looked to lyrics from a Daft Punk song, "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," as motivation, she added. Fast-forward a couple of years, and Biozeroc is now working with nanotech and biotech to make "the construction materials of tomorrow," according to the company's website. What's more, a press release from last year noted that the business landed funding and partnerships with concrete makers to "validate and commercialize" the concept. "We are looking forward to [delivering] a nature-positive alternative to current construction methods," the United Kingdom's Maplex Technology co-founder Hannah O'Brien said in the press release. The company takes materials innovations to market, per its website. Bacteria are already being utilized for numerous planet-friendly projects, including eating plastic, chowing down on nuclear waste, and now helping to make cleaner cement. If Biozeroc's work in the latter arena can be utilized across the concrete industry, it could mean the elimination of nearly 10% of the planet's air pollution. The benefits are clear, including lowering the risk of severe weather that impacts even our food system. Furthermore, studies continue to find associations between dirty air and cancer, heart disease, and other ailments, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. So, a cleaner construction industry can have a healthy impact for us all. Miniscule microbes might just be part of the solution. "We need new approaches new materials if we are to go further and get to a zero-carbon construction industry," Andersson said in the Centre report. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the coolest innovations improving our lives and saving our planet. Already the Chicago areas most closely watched primary campaign this year, the race for Cook County states attorney devolved into some confusion and much frustration this weekend as city election officials acknowledged a mistake in communicating how many vote-by-mail ballots were being counted and results between the two Democratic candidates continued to tighten. On Sunday evening, after the latest round of city mail-in ballots were tabulated, retired Appellate Justice Eileen ONeill Burke still held a slight but dwindling lead over university lecturer and government official Clayton Harris III. ONeill Burke was beating Harris 50.2% to 49.8%, with just 2,015 votes separating them, according to unofficial results from the Chicago Board of Elections and Cook County Clerks office. Related Articles Harris has steadily gained ground on ONeill Burke since Election Night when she had a 10,000-vote lead with several precincts and tens of thousands of mail-in ballots awaiting to be counted. Since then, Harris has scooped up close to 60% of all mail-in ballots. When the weekend began, her lead was nearly 6,800 votes. While her lead has decreased significantly in recent days, the question has been whether theres enough outstanding mail-in ballots, sent by mail or dropped in official Board of Elections or clerk drop boxes by Election Day, for Harris to overtake ONeill Burke. That question took on added importance over the weekend when the spokesman for the Chicago elections board on Saturday evening disclosed the board had incorrectly reported the number of mail-in ballots it had received back late Monday night. The higher total number of mail-in ballots than had previously been estimated essentially moved the finish line in the states attorney match-up. The Chicago Board of Elections initially reported there were 7,009 vote-by-mail ballots received via the U.S. Postal Service on Election Day. That number incorrectly excluded 9,143 mail-in ballots received via the mail so late on Monday they were considered part of the Election Day mail total, board spokesman Max Bever said. In all, therefore, the number of mail-in ballots technically received on Election Day should have been 16,152 via the mail. On top of that figure, another 14,714 mail-in ballots were received after being placed in official election board drop boxes located throughout the city, officials said. Poll watchers for both campaigns, upon learning how many additional ballots were expected to be scanned over the weekend, caught a discrepancy between what had been publicly reported as remaining to be counted and the work election judges had left to do, attorneys for both campaigns told the Tribune. There were no additional ballots discovered the number that was being reported publicly by Bever did not encompass the full universe of what was left to be counted. This was not adding two and two from what wasnt scanned on Monday (March 18th), Bever told the Tribune Sunday, taking the blame for the mix-up. It was a communications director not accurately reporting how many (vote-by-mail ballots) the board had back in hand. Both campaigns described frustration with the situation but neither said they feared election fraud or a conspiracy. I understand tensions are high. Along with dozens of volunteers, lawyers & retired judges on Team Eileen, Ive been on-site since Wednesday watching the vote count process, ONeill Burkes campaign manager, Don Black, said in a social media post on X late Saturday. Weve seen problems with communicating, not counting. Lets please be patient while the process continues. Harris campaign manager, Alaina Hampton, said in a Saturday post on X that if people have questions about the integrity of the election process, theyre welcome to observe the process at the (Board of Elections). I have been onsite since Wednesday and have seen nothing but transparency. Indeed, the weekend tallying was done under the watchful eye of attorneys and poll watchers from both campaigns as the vote count has dragged on for five days and will continue Monday at which time only between 3,500 and 4,500 total ballots from both the city and suburbs are expected to be tallied as the number of mail-ins has begun to decline. There are also other ballots to consider, including any remaining mail-in ballots that could still trickle in as well as provisional ballots, which cannot be counted until April 2. With Sundays count of more than 11,600 Democratic ballots, 62% going to Harris, all of the ballots delivered late March 18 have now been counted and are included in the latest Sunday night unofficial totals. The two are vying to replace outgoing States Attorney Kim Foxx. The winner will be the favorite in the November general election against Republican Bob Fioretti, a former Chicago alderman. The 11,600 Democratic ballots were part of nearly 13,100 vote-by-mail ballots, both Democratic and Republican, counted Sunday. Not all had votes in the states attorneys race. The vast majority of ballots counted Sunday, Bever said, were the ones placed in Board of Elections drop boxes around the city on Election Day. Other vote-by-mail ballots received since Wednesday could also have been part of Sundays batch. Voters who dropped mail-in ballots on Election Day are supposed to be notified via email when the vote is counted or rejected. Vote-by-mail ballots arent necessarily counted in the order they are received. Those received via drop box must still be time stamped to confirm they were received on or before Election Day, for example, which takes time. After the latest suburban numbers were released Thursday night, there were 27,000 outstanding Democratic mail-in ballots. As of Sunday evening, there are now approximately 47,000 in the city. How many of those 74,000 total outstanding ballots will be received by the respective election boards by the two-week deadline is unknown, but officials anticipate a large number of those wont be returned. Following Sundays count, approximately 2,500 Chicago ballots were working through the second step of mail-in ballot verification, known as signature review, according to both campaigns. Thats when election judges and poll watchers can compare signatures from the outside of the mail-in ballot envelopes against signatures in board records. The third step is removing the ballots from envelopes and preparing them for scanning. Between 1,000 and 2,000 Republican and Democratic ballots are also expected to be counted Monday by the Cook County Clerk. A Staten Island power couple made up of the district attorney and a state Supreme Court judge are under scrutiny for double dipping by taking in hefty taxpayer-funded salaries and pensions. Both DA Michael McMahon and Judge Judith McMahon are getting paid six-figure salaries while also collecting government pensions that are likely more than $100,000, The Post has learned. DA McMahon retired from government service in December while remaining the boroughs chief prosecutor and now collects a pension that is likely upwards of $130,000. Staten Island DA Michael McMahon and his wife Judge Judith McMahon have been accused of double dipping by collecting state pensions and salaries at the same time. Gregory P. Mango McMahon, 66, a former legislative staffer, councilman and congressman before becoming district attorney in 2016, has accrued more than 30 years of government service. The move is legal given his age, but has some political insiders raising their eyebrows. Its not a good look for a district attorney to be double dipping. Hes still working and not retired, one insider told The Post. Its legal but its not right. Judith McMahon, a state Supreme Court judge, is paid $210,900 while also collecting a $122,916 pension after she worked as an attorney for two judges before her own elevation to the bench, according to her online bio and a pension database. Between them, theyre pulling more than $600,000 in gross compensation from their combined pay and pensions. McMahon is receiving a pension that is likely over $130,000 a year after retiring from government service in December. Sipa USA via AP Judge McMahons retirement date was effective Dec. 31, 2022, according to See Through NY, the payroll and pension records data site compiled by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Mike McMahon retired effective Dec. 30 of last year, according to a payroll notice the DAs office filed with The City Record. Elected officials enjoy a loophole because they can retire on New Years Eve and keep getting paid on New Years Day, said Ken Girardin, director of research for the Empire Center for Public Policy. The pension system was not designed for a situation like this. The pension is supposed to be for government employees after they stop working, he said. DA McMahon, through a spokesman, defended getting a government pension while still serving as the paid prosecutor. After 30-plus years in public service to the people of New York, DA McMahon submitted his retirement papers at the end of 2023 but of course continues to serve as Richmond County District Attorney, a rep for McMahon said. Its quite frankly a no-brainer for those in public service, as not retiring when you are eligible puts your family at risk to receive no pension at all if you were to die, the DAs rep added. McMahons office declined to divulge what his monthly or annual public pension is. But one pension expert said McMahon is eligible to collect 60% of his final three years salary. Judith McMahon is making $210,900 while also collecting a $122,916 pension. Photo by Ron Romano The notice filed in the City Record listed his salary as $218,000, while other records say its $212,800. That means his annual pension could be as high as $127,680 to $130,800, said John Murphy, the former executive director of the New York City Employees Retirement System. McMahon, a Democrat, was re-elected last year to a third term, running unopposed by a Republican challenger. [McMahon] can collect his pension and continue working. Hes entitled to the pension, Murphy, the former NYCERS chief, said. People can throw rocks at it. It strikes people as unseemly. Maybe he made up his mind not to run for office again and doesnt have to worry about the political blowback, surmised Murphy. Such double dipping is a time-honored practice, especially among state lawmakers. State pension law allows legislators who are at least age 65 and elected before 1995 to retire for pension purposes. One source in the court system said many judges, not just Judith McMahon, retire to collect a pension while still in office. But they forfeit the right to apply for a waiver to serve as a judge ater the mandatory retirement age of 70. The Post has reached out to Judith McMahon, via the Office of Court Administration and DA McMahon for comment. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) The Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) has found the remains of the steamship Milwaukee, which was lost in 1886. This marks the 19th shipwreck our team has found off the shores of West Michigan, Valerie van Heest, who, with her husband Jack van Heest, coordinated the search effort, said in a press release. The Milwaukee shipwreck. (Courtesy of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association) The ship was found in June 2023 using side-scan sonar. Throughout the summer, the MSRAs board of directors worked on filming the wreck using a remotely operated vehicle and confirmed that it was the Milwaukee. News accounts of the accident, as well as the study of water currents, led us to the Milwaukee after only two days searching, Neel Zoss, who spotted the telltale image on the side scan sonar, said in the release. An undated photo of the Milwaukee. (Courtesy of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association) The Milwaukee was commissioned in 1868 by the Northern Transportation Company of Ohio to carry passengers and goods west on four of the five Great Lakes from the Northern Railroad line at Ogdensburg, New York to Chicago with stops in between, the MSRA said. When the Wall Street panic in September 1873 launched the country into a deep depression, the Northern Transportation Company continued to operate its 32 steamships through reorganization. By 1880, the railroads expanded and the Welland Canal locks enlarged, making the ship inefficient. New shipwreck discovered in Lake Michigans deep waters At this point, the ship was 14 years old and was still usable. The MSRA said it was then repurposed to carry larger cargo and sold. An undated portrait of Lyman Gates Mason of Muskegon. (Courtesy of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association) By 1883, the Milwaukee was under the ownership of lumberman Lyman Gates Mason, seen above, of Muskegon. He used the ship to carry his companys lumber to Chicago. On July 9, 1886, the ship left the Windy City after unloading its lumber and headed back to Muskegon for another load, the MSRA said. Around midnight, the Milwaukee was off of Holland and bearing straight for the C. Hickox a ship belonging to another Muskegon lumber company that was nearly identical and carrying a full load of lumber. Dennis Harrington, the lookout on the Milwaukee, first spotted the lights from the other vessel. He notified Captain Armstrong immediately. Captain ODay of the Hickox saw the same thing. Navigational rules were specific: both ships had to slow down, each had to steer to starboard (right) to avoid a collision, and each had to blast their steam whistle to signal their course change, the MSRA said in the release. A thick fog rolled in as both captains kept speed. ODay made a quick turn and tried to signal to the other ship by blowing his steam whistle, but the pull chain broke. Armstrong froze when he didnt know what the Hicksox was doing, the MSRA said. WWII-era Great Lakes ship that claimed captains life discovered 600-feet deep When the fog lifted, the Hickox was coming straight for the Milwaukee. Armstrong made a quick turn but crashed into the Hickox, nearly capsizing the ship. Harrington was thrown into the water. He, along with the Hickox, disappeared into the fog. Armstrong went below deck to discover water pouring in. He blew a distress signal and the crew quickly worked to save the ship. The MSRA said several people escaped onto the Hickox by lifeboat as another ship, the City of New York, arrived. Working together, the two ships sandwiched the Milwaukee and rigged ropes to try and keep it afloat. After about two hours, the Milwaukees stern dipped beneath the surface and plunged to the bottom of the lake. By then, everyone made it safely aboard the Hicox. An undated photo of the Milwaukee shipwreck. (Courtesy of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association) After this crash, both Armstrong and ODay lost their licenses for a time because neither of them slowed down as they were supposed to. Slowing down in the face of danger may be the most important lesson this shipwreck can teach, the MSRA said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during Ramadan, Trend reports. 14 UN Security Council countries voted for the resolution, including the UK, China, Russia and France. Only the United States abstained from the vote. The site near the M66 has been causing a stink since the summer The firm behind a landfill said to be giving off a "stunning stench" should lose its licence, a council leader said. People living near the Pilsworth South dump, near Bury in Greater Manchester, have been complaining about the odour since the summer. Neil Emmott, from Rochdale Council, called for the Environment Agency to strip Valencia Waste Management Ltd of its licence. The firm has apologised for the smell. At a meeting of Greater Manchester political leaders, the region's mayor Andy Burnham described the smell as being like nothing he had experienced before. He said it was "not acceptable in the slightest" and that he had met with officials from the Environment Agency and UK Health Security Agency to resolve the problem. In January, a spokesperson for Valencia Waste Management Ltd said it was "committed to being a responsible operator and working alongside our local community". "During recent months, we have been undertaking extensive engineering works on site to improve odour control." Mr Emmott said: "I went past it [on Thursday] and it smelled as bad as it has been. He added that the firm was "not a good operator". Bury Council leader Eamonn O'Brien said residents could find it "impossible to open their windows" in the summer, when they could face "a choice between either cooling down or being hit in the face with this smell". A representative for the Environment Agency said its officers were attending the site "on a regular basis and our regulatory investigations are currently ongoing". "We are using the regulatory powers available to us while working with multi-agency partners to resolve this issue." Valencia Waste Management Ltd is yet to respond to requests for comment. Why not follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk Read the full story on Backfire News Stolen Truck Returned Undamaged And With A Written Apology Plus Presents We see stories of stolen vehicles all the time and most of them turn out poorly. Of those that are recovered, the cars are often seriously damaged if not stripped for parts and left as a husk on the side of the road somewhere. But this story out of New Zealand comes with a different twist since the thief returned the stolen truck along with an apology note and presents in the backseat. A stolen military Humvee has been recovered in California. The truck in question had been parked outside the cafe Varun Chada owns. Hes also the owner of the truck and left the keys in it while running inside at the end of the day to get a few things. We dont know why people leave keys in vehicles but he did and someone took it. Four days after it was taken, we imagine Chada thought his truck was gone forever. But it returned just as suddenly as it was taken. The person who brought it back left a note apologizing and explaining they were drunk and needed a ride home. Were pretty sure they have Uber so thats a weird excuse. Not only was the truck undamaged, including the roof tent wasnt taken and sold, the thief left some toys in the backseat for Chadas child. Maybe the thief felt bad or maybe this person was trying to get Chada to not involve police. Either way, the thief still could be caught and face the consequences of the crime. Local police told NZ Herald theyre still investigating the case even though the truck was returned. We imagine if the thief is caught, theyll be facing less of a punishment than if theyd kept or trashed the truck, so returning it in good condition not only was the honest thing to do, it was relatively smart. What wouldve been even smarter is if the thief had gotten an Uber instead of stealing. Images via Facebook Satellite imagery has been posted showing the aftermath of a missile strike on the Russian Black Sea Fleets communication centre in Sevastopol, occupied Crimea. Source: Skhemy (Schemes), a Radio Liberty project Details: The satellite imagery, from Planet Labs, has confirmed that a building on Rudneva Street in Sevastopol was hit as a result of Ukrainian missile attacks. The Armed Forces of Ukraine had reported that they launched a missile attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleets communication centre on the morning of 24 March. A comparison of satellite images taken of the area on 21 and 24 March shows that the roof collapsed after the attack. Firefighting appliances can also be seen next to the building, Skhemy reported. Russia's Black Sea Fleet communication centre on 21 March Skhemy (Schemes), the project of Radio Liberty Russia's Black Sea Fleet communication centre on 24 March Skhemy (Schemes), the project of Radio Liberty Background: Late on 23 March, reports emerged that the main communications centre of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol had been hit by cruise missiles. Early on 24 March, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that Ukraine's Defence Forces had struck two Russian landing ships, the Yamal and the Azov, as well as a communications centre and several infrastructure facilities belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol, Crimea. Support UP or become our patron!Support UP or become our patron! FILE PHOTO: An armed member of the South Sudanese security forces is seen during a ceremony marking the restarting of crude oil pumping at the Unity oil fields DUBAI (Reuters) - The main pipeline carrying oil from South Sudan through Sudan for export has been suffering stoppages since last month due to problems linked to the war between Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to three Sudanese officials. A March 16 letter from Sudan's minister of petroleum, seen by Reuters, declared force majeure on deliveries of oil through the pipeline to a terminal near Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast. The letter said gelling had restricted flows on Feb. 10, and that after this was cleared a major rupture occurred at another point in the pipeline. The letter said both incidents occurred in areas affected by fighting, and that communications had been hampered by network outages that spread across Sudan in recent weeks. The quantity of oil affected and resulting loss of revenue from the stoppage were not immediately clear. South Sudan had been sending about 150,000 barrels per day of crude through Sudan for export, under a formula established when South Sudan gained independence from Khartoum in 2011, taking most oil production with it. The exports are an important source of revenue for South Sudan, and Sudan takes a cut of the oil as a transit fee. The official Sudanese sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity and are aligned with the army, blamed the RSF for the stoppage, saying it took place in RSF-controlled territory. An RSF media official denied that the force was responsible and said that it respected the agreement for oil exports between Sudan and South Sudan. The letter from Sudan's petroleum minister said resolution of the gelling issues required pumping and heating stations to be fully functional and for adequate supplies of diesel, issues that were "challenged by the current war conditions in Sudan". The ministry of petroleum in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, did not respond to requests for comment. The Petrodar pipeline, set up by a consortium including China's CNPC and Sinopec as well as Malaysia's Petronas, runs more than 1,500 km (932 miles) from the Melut Basin in South Sudan's Upper Nile state to Port Sudan on Sudan's Red Sea coast. Another pipeline carries oil from South Sudan's Unity State to Port Sudan. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Additional reporting by Waakhe Simon Wudu in Juba; Writing by Aidan Lewis, Editing by William Maclean) A fight over abortion pills at the Supreme Court this week could have sweeping consequences for all Americans access to mifepristone, even those who live in blue states. Abortion will be back in court Tuesday, when the same justices who overturned Roe v. Wade will hear arguments about whether federal regulators overstepped their authority by loosening restrictions to make mifepristone easier to access. Mifepristone, which is sold both under the brand name Mifeprex and as a generic drug, is commonly used with one other drug during medication abortions. The stakes of the case were made clear this week when new data showed more than 60 percent of all abortions last year were done through medication. Theyre really seeking to go back to a state of regulation of the drug that is not in keeping with evidence-based practices and that is not in keeping with FDAs judgment today; that could have nationwide implications, said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a series of changes in 2016, 2021 and 2023 that included increasing the gestational age at which mifepristone can be used to up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, allowing the medication to be mailed to patients, lowering the dosage, allowing telehealth prescribing, and permitting providers other than physicians to prescribe the drug. A group of anti-abortion doctors and medical associations represented by the Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom would like the justices to uphold an earlier ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. There is no legal precedent for a court to override the Food and Drug Administrations approval of a drug. But if it were to happen, experts said it could upend the entire drug approval process and make abortion medication out of reach of the people who need it most. That would be a sea change in how courts review health care and drug access in the United States, said Aadika Singh, senior reproductive justice attorney at Public Rights Project. If the Supreme Court upholds the 5th Circuits ruling, manufacturers would have to change the drugs label, and the FDA would need to rewrite its rules and regulations for distribution and use of the drug, which would take time. The manufacturer and distributors wont be able to market the drug until it gets relabeled. While mifepristone will likely stay on the market no matter what the Supreme Court decides, there could be some significant changes to access, even in states where abortion remains legal and protected. If the justices uphold the ruling from the appeals court, prescribing mifepristone through telemedicine would no longer be allowed. Since the end of Roe, the number of people seeking to terminate pregnancies who rely on telemedicine has increased. Abortion is almost completely illegal in 14 states, while two states have banned it after six weeks. Telemedicine abortion accounted for 16 percent of abortions performed from June to September 2023, according to the latest data published by the Society of Family Planning. Given that theres a greater need for mifepristone, and given that now there are fewer places, fewer states where mifepristone can be lawfully prescribed, telemedicine was the way for communities to meet the challenge, not only for their own residents but for people coming in from out of state seeking care, Singh said. Mifepristone represents the latest front in the abortion fight, and the Supreme Courts decision expected in June, in the middle of a presidential campaign isnt expected to be the final say. If the court rules against the FDA, it could open the door to politically motivated challenges against other drugs or medical devices. That could really unleash a lot of judicial mischief with respect to extremist organizations that are seeking to misuse our court system and our laws, said Perryman. Pharmaceutical industry experts and reproductive rights groups said they are especially concerned about vaccines and contraception. All the myths and alternative facts that we hear the scientific evidence is now vulnerable to those kinds of misleading statements, Marsha Henderson, a former associate commissioner for womens health at the FDA, said during a recent media briefing. And so it would not surprise me that the courts would be flooded with various suits that would come if this one is successful. Even if the Supreme Court decides in favor of the Biden administration, or rules that the anti-abortion groups dont have legal standing to sue, attorneys said litigation would likely continue. For instance, the same district court in Texas that originally ruled against the FDA said a group of red states led by Missouri can intervene in the lawsuit. Adam Unikowsky, a partner at Jenner & Block, said if the Supreme Court rules the plaintiffs have no standing, the case should just go away. Individual states can later sue to challenge the FDAs decisionmaking if they want to, but they shouldnt be able to sue in courts outside their own borders. A ruling that theres no standing would not end the litigation forever, Unikowsky said. Someone else could certainly give it a shot. However, he noted that the Texas district court could decide to let the states sue anyway. So there is a possibility in which the Supreme Court holds that theres no standing, and then the District Court allows the states to proceed with their case, and then we come right back up [to the Supreme Court] in a couple of years, Unikowsky said. Thomas Jipping, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said during a recent briefing that several anti-abortion states have contemplated filing lawsuits challenging the FDAs decisionmaking. Jipping said even if the FDA loses, it wont be the apocalyptic scenario the agency laid out in court documents. The FDA can go back to the drawing board, and there can be new drug applications, the whole process can work its way through again. This isnt going to affect the way they do anything; the entire pharmaceutical industry is well familiar with all those legal standards and the changing landscape, and they have to act accordingly, Jipping said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The fate of a commonly used abortion pill will be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in the high courts first abortion case since it overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago. The case centers on the accessibility of mifepristone, the only drug approved specifically for terminating pregnancies, and whether the government applied a lawful review process of the drug when it first came out. The Supreme Court decided to hear the case after a lower court ruled in April to revoke the Food and Drug Administrations (FDA) 23-year-old approval of mifepristone, a move that would restrict how the pill is delivered and distributed. The restrictions, if allowed to go into effect, include cutting off access to the pill through the mail, barring telemedicine prescriptions, and reinstating a seven-week limit on its useeven in states where abortion remains legal. The outcome of the Supreme Court case, called FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, could have far-reaching implications for reproductive healthcare access and the legal landscape surrounding abortion rights in the U.S.. Medication abortion has become an increasingly common and safe method for terminating pregnancies; more than five million women in the U.S. have used mifepristone for abortions since its approval, and six in 10 abortions last year were performed through medication, up from 53% in 2020, new research from the Guttmacher Institute shows. The Supreme Court has the potential to radically restrict access to this pill, says Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California at Davis with an expertise in abortion. It's an extremely significant case in that it would affect states where abortion is legal and states where it's not. Although dozens of countries have approved mifepristone for use, including the U.S., its safety has come under scrutiny after the fall of Roe v. Wade. The plaintiffs in the caseled by a group of anti-abortion doctors and organizationsargue that the FDA did not adequately study the safety risks of the drug before approving it for sale in 2000, claiming that doctors have had to treat patients who suffered from complications from mifepristone. Our doctor clients are witnessing firsthand the harms inflicted by the FDAs reckless actions, Erik Baptist, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, said at a press conference on Thursday flanked by Republican members of Congress. He pointed to the FDAs label for mifepristone, which shows that roughly one in 25 womenaround 4%will end up in the emergency room after using it. The FDA must be held accountable for violating its duty to protect womens health. The FDA has forcefully countered safety concerns about mifepristone, pointing to data documenting the drugs efficacy and safety, terminating pregnancies successfully 99.6% of the time with a complication rate lower than Tylenol. In addition to the safety claims, the plaintiffs are also asking the court to find that the FDAs approval of mifepristone and subsequent modifications to allow mail delivery violated an 1873 anti-obscenity law known as the Comstock Act, which governs how the U.S. Postal Service handles the delivery of contraception and items considered obscene. They also claim the FDA acted beyond its authority by fast tracking the initial approval of mifepristone under a federal provision to expedite the approval of new drug products that have been studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses. The plaintiffs contend that the use of the provision was not proper because pregnancy is not an illness, while the government says the approval process for mifepristone was never actually expedited and that the preamble to the provision makes it clear that it was intended to be used for conditions as well as illnesses. A ruling against the FDA, legal experts say, could invite ideological challenges to other approved medications, from contraception to COVID-19 vaccines. It particularly concerns me that the Supreme Court is being asked to weigh in on the safety of mifepristone, Ziegler says, because the court isnt institutionally the place we want reviewing safety data. While its unclear how the court will rule, its 6-3 conservative majority suggests they may be inclined to uphold certain restrictions on mifepristone. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, both appointed by Republican presidents, wrote in an April court order that they would not have granted the Biden Administrations request for a stay of the lower court decision, with Alito claiming that the FDA used its discretion to permit the distribution of mifepristone in a way that the regulations then in effect prohibited. If access to mifepristone is limited by the Supreme Court, abortion providers may rely on misoprostol, a separate drug that can terminate pregnancies but is somewhat less effective and more prone to cause side effects. Misoprostol is typically taken in combination with mifepristone in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, although its only approved by the FDA for the combined use with mifepristone and on its own to treat ulcers. A decision in the mifepristone case is expected by the end of June, coming in the middle of the 2024 election campaign as reproductive rights take center stage. The issue has become a rallying point for Democrats, and polls show that the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022 was met with disapproval by a majority of Americans. Following that ruling, 14 states completely banned abortionincluding medication abortionand six states began requiring patients to see their physicians in person before getting prescriptions for abortion pills. More from TIME President Joe Biden, who has promised to restore abortion protections if Democrats win control of Congress, has defended access to mifepristone. The Administration will continue to stand by FDAs decades-old approval and regulation of the medication as well as FDAs ability to review, approve, and regulate a wide range of prescription medications, the White House said in a statement. Efforts to impose outdated restrictions on mifepristone would limit access to this critical medication in every state in the country. Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com. (Bloomberg) -- Two years after promising to get out of the abortion-regulation business, the US Supreme Court is again in the middle of the fray, with potentially far-reaching implications for reproductive rights and the November election. Most Read from Bloomberg The courts 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade transformed the legal and political landscape. It cleared the way for tougher restrictions or bans on the procedure in Republican-led states and gave Democrats a potent political issue as abortion-rights advocates battle to prevent access from eroding further. Now two looming arguments promise to fuel the debate. The high court on Tuesday will consider reducing access to a widely used abortion drug, and next month will weigh allowing state bans even when an emergency room doctor believes ending a pregnancy would preserve the mothers health. Both cases pit the Biden administration against the Christian legal group leading the courthouse charge against abortion. With rulings scheduled by the end of June, the cases are likely to serve as a mid-campaign reminder about abortion, underscoring both the outsize impact of the conservative-controlled high court and the significance of the November election on access to the procedure. Theres a lot of ways in which this could make whos in the White House more important and also just make the abortion issue more salient, said Mary Ziegler, a University of California, Davis, law professor who has written six books on the legal fight over abortion. If you have major rulings on abortion about half a year before the election, it would make the issue more front of mind for voters who may otherwise be thinking about something else. In the aftermath the Supreme Courts 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, 14 states now ban abortion in almost all circumstances, and seven others have limits that previously would have been unconstitutional, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. Election Impact The ruling galvanized Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections, with both abortion-rights candidates and ballot measures winning big. The issue helped Democrats maintain control of the Senate and keep the Republican House majority razor thin. The 2023 election produced more of the same, as abortion-rights advocates won on ballot initiatives in Ohio and Democrats seized the state legislature in Virginia after the Republican governor proposed a 15-week abortion ban. Dobbs was an unforced error that Republicans need to work around, said Lisa Camooso Miller, a GOP strategist and former Republican National Committee communications director. Ive heard other Democrats say that this is the gift that keeps on giving. I dont think theyre wrong. The cases being argued over the next month are the first abortion showdowns since the conservative majority in 2022 wrote that their Dobbs decision would return the issue of abortion to the peoples elected representatives. Widespread Use The justices will hear arguments Tuesday on a bid to restrict the availability of mifepristone, a pill now used in more than half of US abortions. The Biden administration is appealing a ruling that would bar mail-order prescriptions and require in-person doctor visits. Read more: All About the Abortion Pill Mifepristone The high court is reviewing a ruling by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals to roll back changes made by the Food and Drug Administration since 2016. That includes the regulators 2021 decision to permanently jettison the requirement that patients physically visit a medical provider. The appeals court said the FDA gave short shrift to safety concerns. In loosening mifepristones safety restrictions, FDA failed to address several important concerns about whether the drug would be safe for the women who use it, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod wrote for the 5th Circuit, perhaps the countrys most conservative appeals court. Abortion-rights advocates say that analysis flies in the face of the medical and scientific evidence about mifepristone and the use of telemedicine to distribute the drug. Theres at least 100 papers out there that are proving that it is as safe as in-clinic abortions, said Rebecca Gomperts, a doctor who founded Aid Access, which assists women who are unable to access local abortion services. So there is no risk. We know that. A ruling in favor of abortion opponents would mark the first time the Supreme Court has ever second-guessed the FDA on the safety and effectiveness of an approved pharmaceutical. Emergency Rooms The second case, set for argument April 24, tests whether Idahos near-total abortion ban must yield to a federal emergency-care law that requires hospitals receiving Medicare dollars to provide necessary stabilizing treatment to patients. The Biden administration says the federal law, the 1988 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, means hospitals must perform abortions when needed to prevent a serious health risk to the mother. Idaho, which allows the procedure only to save the mothers life, says EMTALA doesnt mandate abortion and actually requires hospitals to provide stabilizing care for the fetus. The high court ruling will affect other states with sweeping bans, including Texas, which is waging a similar legal fight against the administration. The decision could also hint at the justices views on far-reaching constitutional questions, including so-called fetal personhood arguments pressed by conservative advocates. The administration is squaring off in both cases against Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian group that helped drive the effort to overturn Roe and has pushed the court to expand religious rights. Jim Campbell, the groups legal counsel, said the administration in both cases is trying to undercut the views of states that oppose abortion. The federal government in the EMTALA case is trying to distort federal law to reach into pro-life states and take away their autonomy to address the issue of life and abortion themselves, Campbell said. And in the FDA case, the administration, by authorizing abortion by mail, has created a regime where its really having the practical effect of overriding pro-life states laws, he said. Abortion-rights advocates say its the opponents who are pushing the bounds of the law and seeking to go beyond what they won in Dobbs. Abortion opponents were never going to stop at overturning Roe, said Diana Salgado, a lawyer with Planned Parenthood Federation of America. This was never about returning the issue to the states. The intention has always been to control peoples personal medical decisions and restrict abortion access. The lead cases are Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, 23-235, and Moyle v. United States, 23-726. --With assistance from Hadriana Lowenkron. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. The two-drug combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is used to end pregnancies, particularly in the early weeks. A group of doctors who oppose abortion on religious and moral grounds want new restrictions on mifepristone in a case the Supreme Court will hear Tuesday. (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press) The Supreme Court's antiabortion majority is set to consider whether to order a reversal in U.S. drug laws and restrict women from obtaining abortion medication at pharmacies or through the mail. A ruling to restrict the most common method of abortion would limit the rights of women in California and other states where abortion remains legal. "We may have thought we were protected because California is supportive of abortion, but this decision [on abortion pills] will be national in scope," said Dr. Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics at UC San Francisco. The case is the most significant abortion question to come before the court since it overturned the constitutional right to abortion. In that Dobbs ruling two years ago, the 5-4 majority sought to reassure those who live in states where abortion remains protected. Judges should not make the rules on abortion, they said, promising to return "that authority to the people and their elected representatives." But that pledge faces a major test. Conservative judges in Texas have shown themselves very willing to rewrite the rules for abortion medication and to impose their rules in blue states. Whether they prevail now depends on the three conservative justices appointed by President Trump who were crucial to overturning Roe vs. Wade: Justices Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. If all three join with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito, they could roll back the use of abortion pills. "It could eliminate telemedicine and reimpose the in-person dispensing requirement," Grossman said. "It could also set a very bad precedent for the FDA." Read more: Supreme Court sides with FDA on abortion pills, blocks Texas rulings for now Several years after the drug mifepristone had been legalized in much of Europe, the Food and Drug Administration in 2000 approved its use as a safe and effective means of ending an early pregnancy. Since 2016, the agency has liberalized its regulations to permit patients to consult a doctor through telemedicine and to obtain the pills without traveling to a clinic. It is now part of a two-drug combination accounting for more than half of U.S. abortions. When taken in combination with misoprostol, the pills cause cramping and some bleeding. It can sometimes require a doctor's intervention to complete the abortion, but the FDA says serious complications are "exceedingly rare," noting that more than 5 million women in the U.S. have used the medication since 2000. More than a dozen major medical groups, led by the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists and the American Medical Assn., said in friend-of-the court briefs that two decades of studies have shown the drugs are safe. "When used in medication abortion, major adverse events significant infection, excessive blood loss or hospitalization occur in less than .32% of patients," they wrote. On Tuesday, however, the court will hear a broad attack on the FDA from attorney Erin M. Hawley, the wife of Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and a former law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts. She says the court should not turn "a blind eye to FDA's patently unreasonable actions here, which jeopardize womens health throughout the nation." Hawley is not representing women who say they were injured by the drugs or doctors who prescribe the medication. Instead, she is representing a group of doctors who oppose abortion on religious and moral grounds. She argues they have legal standing to sue the FDA because some of the group's members work in emergency rooms, and they could be forced to treat patients who took abortion pills and went to a hospital because of bleeding or other complications. "When faced with these emergencies, [the doctors] have no choice but to provide immediate treatment, even though this kind of participation in an elective abortion harms their consciences and injures them in other ways," Hawley wrote in her brief to the court. Read more: Column: Two key antiabortion studies have been retracted as junk science. Will the Supreme Court care? Shortly after the Supreme Court repealed the right to abortion in the Dobbs case, Hawley filed a lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas, seeking the repeal of the FDA's approval of mifepristone. The location was no accident. Her suit would come before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who has been an outspoken foe of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights. Kacsmaryk had served as deputy general counsel for First Liberty Institute, a Christian conservative nonprofit that works on religious freedom cases, and had criticized the Supreme Courts landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision before its reversal. In past decades, conservatives often railed against "judicial activism" and judges who "legislate from the bench." In recent years, however, conservative activists have gone before judges in red states seeking to win major changes in the law that they could not win from Congress or the White House. As predicted, Kacsmaryk handed down a broad ruling against what he called "chemical abortion" and ordered the FDA "to suspend" its approval of the drugs. In a ruling using language common to antiabortion groups, Kacsmaryk said the studies submitted by the FDA did not convince him mifepristone was safe. The government rushed to appeal last April, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit agreed to limit Kacsmaryk's ruling. By a 2-1 vote, the appeals court said it was too late to unravel the approval of the drug in 2000, but not too late to overturn the FDA's regulations that since 2016 have made it easier for women to obtain the pills. Biden administration Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth B. Prelogar called the case a first. She said it "marks the first time any court has restricted access to an FDA-approved drug by second-guessing FDAs expert judgment about the conditions required to assure that drugs safe use." She urged the Supreme Court to put the lower court rulings on hold, and the justices did so over dissents by Thomas and Alito. A few months later, the court agreed to rule in the case of FDA vs. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Abortion-rights advocates are troubled the case has gotten so far. Read more: What's next for the disputed Texas immigration law on hold after whiplash court rulings? "This makes a mockery of our legal system," said Julia Kaye, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. "This is a group of antiabortion extremists going before a hand-picked judge and using junk science and sham claims about women's health to serve their true goal of making abortion inaccessible." The solicitor general, representing the FDA, will urge the court to end the case quietly by throwing out the lawsuit. Usually, the court has said plaintiffs have standing to sue over a law or regulation only if they are or will be personally injured by it. The antiabortion doctors who sued "do not prescribe mifepristone, and FDAs actions allowing other providers to prescribe the drug do not require them to do or refrain from doing anything," Prelogar wrote in her brief to the court. They "have not identified even a single doctor among their thousands of members who has ever been required to perform an abortion in the decades mifepristone has been on the market." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A suspect has been arrested for murdering two men whose charred remains were found in a Brooklyn apartment arson blaze, police said Monday. Alex Alive, 33, is charged with two counts of murder for the March 17 deaths in the four-story building on Bay 29th St. near Bath Ave. in Bath Beach, according to cops. Firefighters discovered the lifeless men in an apartment where a couch had been set on fire, authorities said. One of the men suffered a gunshot wound to the head and the other died of smoke inhalation, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing last week. Police are still working to identify the victims. This location is known as a hangout for Russian males, who go there, hang out and drink, Kenny said. The tenant of record is a male 61 years old. We have not found him yet, so he may be one of our victims. He is a really peaceful guy, a friend of the leaseholder told the Daily News after the fire. Hes not violent, He doesnt fight with anybody. He welcomed people into his apartment, but other people abuse him all the time, the friend said of the tenant. He never make problems, other people all the time, they make problems in his apartment. The man, who asked not to be identified, called his friend the evening of the fire and was told Alive was at the apartment. He said [Alive is] sleeping, the friend recounted. I said, What are you doing with Alex? Because they dont like each other. The friend said he severed ties with Alive after being assaulted by him, adding that Alive is a violent alcoholic and drug user. Alex only beat women and men that were smaller than him, the friend said. Alive has seven prior arrests for assault and criminal possession of a weapon, according to cops. He lives half a mile from the building that burned, according to cops. Police do not believe there are any other suspects involved in the slayings. As Alive was led from the NYPDs 62nd Precinct stationhouse Monday, the suspected murderer claimed hes not guilty. I did not do it! Alive shouted. UPDATE Two suspects are in custody according to the Southaven Police Department. They have been identified as 19-year-old Lamottis Simms Jr. and 18-year-old Franshawn Brown. Both suspects have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of receiving stolen property. The suspects were in possession of a stolen Nissan Altima and a stolen firearm. *********** SOUTHAVEN, Miss. Police spent all day Monday looking for suspects who led officers on a chase before bailing out and firing shots toward officers Monday morning in DeSoto County. The suspects are believed to be in a warehouse on Hamilton Road in Southaven, where police have brought in an armored vehicle. Police are considering using tear gas to get the suspects out. This is a fluid situation and could be lengthy, Southaven Police said in a press release. Southaven Police said it started in Horn Lake, where officers were pursuing suspected auto thieves driving a gray Nissan Altima with a temporary Tennessee tag north on Horn Lake Road. They say Horn Lake Police deployed stop sticks at DeSoto Road, but the vehicle continued on flat tires. Alleged Walmart shooter says he was fired that day; bond set at $500k The pursuit led into Southaven, where the Altima turned onto Stateline Road, then headed south on Interstate 55. It hit the median on I-55 and two suspects bailed out of the car. Police say the suspects ran across I-55 to get away. At one point, police said one of the suspects fired shots at officers, who returned fire. No one was struck by the gunfire, police said. The suspects ran into a warehouse on Hamilton Road. Police are still searching for them. (Photo by: WREGs Mike Suriani) Police presence on I-55, from MDOT cameras. 16-year-old missing from Horn Lake, MS Some lanes of I-55 just south of the Tennessee state line were blocked Monday as officers continued to search for the suspects. Police asked people to avoid the area if possible, to be aware of their surroundings, and to call the Southaven Police Department at 662-393-8652 if they have any information. Chris Hollacheck of Nashhville was staying at the Quality Inn on Hamilton Road, directly across from the warehouse where those suspects were believed to be hiding. Definitely a crazy way to wake up this morning, he said. Saw a bunch of cop cars rushing through as I was eating breakfast at my hotel and now Im seeing a bunch of guns, so Im a little confused on whats going on. Southaven Police, Desoto County Deputies and Mississippi Highway patrol extended their search to a subdivision around Hamilton and Hillbrook Drive. They were a welcomed sight for Carolyn Stainback, who walks her dog daily and is concerned about suspects on the run. By them being around I feel safe walking, and Im just walking her right here around my yard. Normally I go down Hillbrook but Im staying close to home, she said. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. The US not going to boost security cooperation with Russia, US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said during a briefing on March 25, Trend reports. He noted that the Secretary issued a statement on Saturday expressing his deep condolences on behalf of the United States to the loss of life and the suffering by the Russian people as a result of the attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow. When we have or if we have intelligence in the future, like the intelligence we had with respect to this attack, we will of course make it available to the Russian government, because we don't want to see terrorist attacks be successful anywhere in the world. We don't want to see the Russian people suffer, said Miller. He pointed out that the US has never had any quarrel with the Russian people. If we have intelligence information about potential attacks, we will provide that information to the Russian government just as we provide it to the government of Iran, a country with which we have deep lasting disagreements, because we don't want to see the people of Iran suffer and just like as our quarrel is not with the Russian people, our quarrel is not with the Iranian people But obviously, we are not going to boost our security or boost any security agreements or start any security agreements with the government of Russia, he added. Unknown people staged a shooting with automatic rifles at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, on March 22. The incident occurred before the start of the concert by the band Picnic. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reports that the death toll in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall has risen to 139 people. The bodies of 68 people have been identified. The Idaho prisoner who escaped from custody after a Boise hospital ambush and the man suspected of helping him flee, both of whom are now being investigated in connection with two homicides, have long histories of criminal activity dating back more than a decade. Authorities said Idaho prisoner Skylar Meade, 31, escaped custody after Nicholas Umphenour, 28, ambushed Department of Correction officers at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where Meade was receiving treatment for self-inflicted injuries. Umphenour shot two of the officers, while a third was mistakenly shot by police, according to Boise police. The two men were on the lam for more than 24 hours before they were found and arrested in the Twin Falls area, according to state police. Police said they are now linked to two North Idaho homicides one in Nez Perce County and another in Clearwater County that happened in that window. Court records showed Meade and Umphenour have both spent time in Idaho prison for various crimes. Both are members of the Aryan Knights, a white supremacist prison gang, according to police. Idaho Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt said they were intermittently housed together from December 2020 to January 2024, when Umphenour was released, and had mutual acquaintances outside of prison. Skylar Meade, 31, was arrested by police at 2:09 p.m. Thursday, March 21, near the intersection of North Washington Street and East Pole Line Road in Twin Falls following a statewide pursuit. Meade previously shot at law enforcement At the time of his escape, Meade was serving time for an officer assault, drug possession and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to court records. Those charges stem from a November 2016 incident, in which Twin Falls Sheriffs Sgt. Rick Beem attempted to pull over Meades vehicle for a traffic stop, court records showed. Meade, who had pending misdemeanor drug charges at the time, sped away and tried to elude Beem while driving through Filer, according to the affidavit. Beem said Meade then took out a gun and shot in his direction three times while driving. Beem apprehended Meade when his truck spun off the road and into a field. Beem and other arriving officers found at least 0.2 grams of methamphetamine in Meades pocket, according to the affidavit. A judge sentenced Meade to 20 years with 10 years fixed for those crimes. Tewalt said Meade was housed in administrative segregation, more commonly known as solitary confinement, before his escape. Its a form of restrictive housing that really is reserved for those people in our custody who have proven they cant be housed without being a danger to themselves, staff or other people in our custody, Tewalt said at a news conference. Meade was previously sentenced to five years in prison with three years fixed for a 2010 felony theft charge, according to court records. Three Idaho Department of Correction officers were shot at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise early Wednesday, March 20. Boise police said they arrested two suspects in connection with the attack. Umphenour had hunting, burglary charges Records showed Umphenour served three separate sentences in prison as an adult. In August 2014, he was arrested for unlawfully hunting and taking multiple big game animals. He was initially sentenced to serve time from November 2014 to June 2016, according to the Idaho Department of Correction website. Court records showed that he was released on supervised probation for part of that sentence. In March 2016, while on probation, he was arrested and later found guilty of felony burglary. A judge added two years to his sentence for the probation violation and burglary. He was released in March 2018. But less than a year later, in December 2018, Umphenour, who was living in Orofino, was charged and later found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and grand theft in Clearwater County. He was charged with stealing a truck and other tools from a cedar mill in Weippe. Police said they found the truck burned, according to police reports. Court records showed Umphenour began his sentence for those crimes in June 2019 and was released on Jan. 17. In January 2019, Umphenour was charged with several serious crimes for an incident in Clearwater County, but they were later dropped. Those charges included aggravated assault, battery, resisting or obstructing an officer, threatening an official, disturbing the peace and contempt of court. Police said in written reports that Umphenour threatened a woman with a knife, hit a mans face with his hand, ran away from a law enforcement officer and later threatened that officer to influence him to violate his known legal duty. A written report by Deputy Kyle Atha said he heard Umphenour pulled out a knife on a woman at an Orofino bar before leaving and walking to the nearby gas station. Atha said he went outside and saw Umphenour. I again gave the command, Stop, police, Atha said, to which the male replied, Not today, piggy, as he ran by me. While continuing to look for Umphenour, Atha said, he came across a man whose face was cut and bloody and who identified himself as the uncle of Umphenours girlfriend. The man told Atha that Umphenour had come up from behind and hit him while he was at a bar. When the man turned around, Umphenour pulled a knife out and threatened to kill him before running away, according to the police report. Law enforcement eventually apprehended Umphenour at an Orofino hotel, and Atha described Umphenour as verbally combative and eventually physically combative during the arrest. Umphenour made comments that Atha perceived as threatening, including your f---ing family is done and he would f--- me up, according to Athas report. The judge dismissed the case after the state advised the court it was not prepared to proceed, according to court records. In his police report, Atha wrote that a Miranda warning was never read to Umphenour because of his combative state. The Clearwater County Prosecutors Office declined to comment on the cases dismissal. The only thing more unnecessary than remaking a great film is redoing a decidedly unique one. Such is the case with director Doug Liman and star Jake Gyllenhaals Road House, a modernized version of 1989s Patrick Swayze-headlined cult classic, whose every fiber is so weirdly, extravagantly and inimitably 80s that removing it from its time period is to court disaster. When this second iteration was first announced, it seemed like an endeavor doomed to fail if for no other reason than recapturing the originals lightning-in-a-bottle style and spirit was impossible, and trying to replicate it with 2024 attitude was almost as futile. Now that the finished product has arrived, that prediction has come true, even if Limans latest doesat least in its final passagestap into a gonzo vein that suggests the better movie this might have been. Written by Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry with a surprising shortage of eclectic verve, Road House, which hit Prime Video on March 21, is the type of leaden affair that spells out its predecessors subtext and resorts to lame role-reversals and dull additions while doing away with most of its wackadoo elements. In a nowhere New York bar where men throw punches for cash, a tattooed fighter dispenses an adversary, and the fact that this roughneck individual is played by Post Malone turns out to be a hilariously incongruous bit of casting. Still, despite his camera swinging and swaying in tune with his subjects (and occasionally assuming the POV of his pugilists), Liman mainly opts for a dispiriting tone of gritty, grungy realism. When Dalton (Gyllenhaal) shows up and Post Malones tough guy balks at standing toe-to-toe with him, the protagonists imposing reputation is immediately established, as is his stoutness when, in the parking lot, he takes a stabbing (courtesy of a disgruntled better) in stride. Tending to that wound, Dalton is approached by Frankie (Jessica Williams) with a proposition that she initially intended for another fighter: Shell pay him $5,000/week to clean up her dive bar in Key West. Dalton declines, but, following a brush with death, he changes his mind and heads to the Sunshine State, where he discovers that Frankies roadhouse is called The Road House. A later joke about this name does little to offset its lack of originality, which is further heightened by Daltons discussion at a local bookstore with precocious young Charlie (Hannah Lanier), who remarks that Daltons talei.e., a stranger is hired to defend a small-town outpost from wealthy scoundrelssounds like a Western. That Bagarozzi and Mondrys script feels compelled to say what director Rowdy Herrington and Swayzes Road House wordlessly suggested is one of many contrasts that do this film few favors. Replicating its ancestor, Road Houses central location features musicians playing behind a mesh cage, a quirky female employee who brings Dalton breakfast after his first night on the job, and some underlings who improve their bouncer skills under Daltons tutelage. In these and other regards, Liman duplicates wanly, his derivativeness drained of any life. Moreover, he stages his initial introductions and action with moderate robustness but little hilarity, save for the sight of Dalton literally slapping around a group of biker-gang thugs causing trouble at Frankies establishment. Gyllenhaal speaks amusingly softly as he dispatches his foes with extreme prejudice, and to his credit, the actors exhausted and sarcastic retorts and wry facial expressions prevent his Dalton from being a totally faded photocopy. Road Houses big alteration is that whereas Swayzes Dalton was a suave, mulleted, martial arts-employing, tai chi-loving Zen desperado romance-novel hunk who was the best at his bouncer trade, Gyllenhaals hero is a disgraced and disheveled hoodie-wearing hobo who used to be a UFC heavyweight (i.e., hes the worst). As before, Dalton is haunted by a past that involves killing a man. Yet here, that simply means hes a psycho iteration of the Incredible Hulk whose sole fear is losing control of his ragean overtly articulated point that simplifies what was implied by the prior film. After getting injured in a scuffle, Dalton visits a hospital where, per tradition, he meets a nurse, Ellie (Daniela Melchior), who patches him up and falls for him, presumably because he states things like, No one ever wins a fight. Their chemistry, however, is zero, because Liman spends virtually no time trying to develop it, just as he expends minimal effort fleshing out his peripheral characters, including Frankie and Charlie. Dalton eventually learns that the root of The Road Houses problem is Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen), the son of an imprisoned drug runner who wants Frankies bar for his own mysterious reasons. Magnussen does a passable job exuding wannabe-kingpin entitlement, but Road House mainly strives to generate electricity via real-life UFC icon Conor McGregor, who struts about and smashes everything in sight as a henchman named Knox whos hired by Bens dad to finish the job his kid started. McGregor is a formidable presence and his prolonged battles with Gyllenhaal are the proceedings highlights. Nonetheless, even with a perpetually mad grin on his face, hes no crazier than the first Road Houses gay-baiting right-hand-madman Jimmy (Marshall Teague), and the longer hes on-screen, the more his wild-card energy proves repetitive. Jake Gyllenhaal Amazon Prime Video In virtually every respect, Road House is a downgrade: Melchior is a bland nothing compared to the alluring Kelly Lynch (and her big hair and bigger glasses); Magnussen is a sniveling dweeb who cant hold a candle to Ben Gazzaras criminal bigwig; the acts playing at the Road House are no The Jeff Healey Band; and there isnt even a counterpart for Sam Elliotts intensely macho mentor figure Wade Garrett. Where are the locals who are cowed by the underworld enterprise thats taken over their community, and ultimately learn to fight back? Where is the lovemaking against a brick farmhouse wall? And where is a climactic location as hilariously strange as Gazzaras taxidermy trophy room? The director at least gets in a gratuitous butt shot, yet he mainly eschews truly bizarre touches. Conor McGregor Amazon Prime Video Only as it nears its conclusion does Limans film flirt with the sort of over-the-top absurdity its premise warrants, be it Gyllenhaal committing homicide with brazen impunity, getting tossed through the air between racing speedboats, or felling McGregors baddie in insanely violent fashion. When Knox remarks that the duo, squaring off on a tiny inflatable boat, now have their own private octagon, and Dalton replies, What? Who taught you shapes?, Road House partakes in the quippy lunacy that it needed from the start. Unfortunately, its too little, too late for a venture that largely retreads with minimal peculiarity. Swayzes Road House remains an enduring genre favorite precisely because it embraces the 1980s gung-ho excesses (Clothes! Hair! Women! Sexism! Brutality! Brooding!) with unabashed, unironic love and pride. Meanwhile, like the limp rendition of Metallicas Enter Sandman that plays during its final fight, Limans adaptation is an uninspired cover song in desperate need of its forerunners fire and flair. 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. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday told a European Parliament Green Party delegation that she looks forward to closer bilateral cooperation in the areas of false information prevention, supply chain security, and business and trade. The pan-European Green Party delegation, led by Reinhard Butikofer from Germany, who also heads the European Parliament's group for relations with China, started a four-day visit to Taiwan on Monday. Tsai told visiting European delegates that, in the face of the expansion of authoritarianism and the threat of disinformation, Taiwan has strengthened cooperation with other democratic countries to jointly protect regional democracy, freedom and stable development. She said the visit will help boost exchanges on issues of common concern, according to a statement from her office Butikofer said the European Union's cooperation with Taiwan is based on shared alues of human rights, democracy and "the value of the rule of law. And on that basis, we build our solidarity." Heidi Hautala, a Finnish Green Party member and vice president of the European Parliament as well as three other German Green party lawmakers, along with Butikofer, met with Tsai. Butikofer said the visit also aims to enhance opportunities for substantive cooperation with Taiwan and strengthen the Taiwan-EU partnership. The delegation will also meet with Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, other lawmakers and government officials. Monday's visit follows last week's visit to the European Parliament from Taiwan's vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim - the first time a Taiwanese vice president-elect was invited to the parliament before taking office. Hsiao's visit to Europe demonstrated that Taiwan and the EU are like-minded partners share the same values and understand the need to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the foreign ministry said. The Talibans Supreme Leader has vowed to start stoning women to death in public as he declared the fight against Western democracy will continue. You say its a violation of womens rights when we stone them to death, said Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada in a voice message, aired on state television over the weekend, addressing Western officials. But we will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public, he declared in his harshest comments since taking over Kabul in August 2021. These are all against your democracy but we will continue doing it. We both say we defend human rights we do it as Gods representative and you as the devils. Afghanistans state TV, now under Taliban control, broadcasts voice messages purporting to be from Akhundzada, who has never been seen in public aside from a few old portraits. He is believed to be based in southern Kandahar, the stronghold of the Taliban. Akhundzada has never been seen in public - Xinhua/Shutterstock Despite promising a more moderate government, the Taliban quickly returned to harsh public punishments like public executions and floggings, similar to those from their previous rule in the late 1990s. The United Nations has strongly criticised the Taliban and has called on the countrys rulers to halt such practices. In his voice message, Akhundzada said that the womens rights that the international community had been advocating for were against the Talibans harsh interpretation of Islamic Sharia. Do women want the rights that Westerners are talking about? They are against Sharia and clerics opinions, the clerics who toppled Western democracy, he said. I told the Mujahedin that we tell the Westerners that we fought against you for 20 years and we will fight 20 and even more years against you, he said, emphasising the need for resilience in opposing womens rights among Taliban foot soldiers. It did not finish [when you left]. It does not mean we would now just sit and drink tea. We will bring Sharia to this land, he added. It did finish after we took over Kabul. No, we will now bring Sharia into action. Women living in prison His remarks have incited outrage among Afghans, with some calling on the international community to increase pressure on the Taliban. The money that they receive from the international community as humanitarian aid is just feeding them against women, Tala, a former civil servant, told The Telegraph from the capital Kabul. As a woman, I dont feel safe and secure in Afghanistan. Each morning starts with a barrage of notices and orders imposing restrictions and stringent rules on women, stripping away even the smallest joys and extinguishing hope for a brighter future, she added. We, the women, are living in prison, Tala said, And the Taliban are making it smaller for us every passing day. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Tammy Murphy, the first lady of New Jersey, said she is suspending her campaign to replace indicted Senator Bob Menendez in a video posted to social media. After four months of campaigning against Representative Andy Kim, Ms Murphy will depart from the race, saying she did not want to participate in waging a very divisive and negative campaign. Ive been genuine and factual throughout but it is clear to me that continuing in this race will involve waging a very divisive and negative campaign which Im not willing to do, Ms Murphy said on Sunday. Upon entering the Senate race in November, Ms Murphy was favoured to win given her political ties to major donors and organisations as well as her husbands status as governor of New Jersey. However, her lack of political experience made her a target. Meanwhile, Mr Kim criticised Ms Murphy for her ties to politicians and claimed she was being backed by donors and local leaders purely due to her status. He filed a lawsuit challenging the states primary ballot design which generally favours the candidate with the most endorsements. U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Andy Kim congratulates fellow candidate New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy just before it was announced she defeated him at the Bergen County Democratic convention in Paramus, N.J., Monday, March 4, 2024 (AP) Both candidates were vying to replace Mr Menendez who was indicted in September on criminal charges related to an alleged corruption and bribery scheme. Last week, Mr Menendez announced he would not seek re-election as a Democrat but would potentially consider running as an independent once his trial is over this summer. Though Mr Kim entered the race after Ms Murphy, he managed to generate support and flip the endorsement of the mayor of Jersey City. Early polling showed Mr Kim with a 12-point lead over Ms Murphy. Now with the conclusion of Ms Murphys campaign, Mr Kim is expected to secure the Democratic nomination and potentially replace Mr Menendez. New Jersey is a blue state and has not elected a Republican Senator since 1966. Should voters continue to elect a Democratic Senator, Mr Kim would be the first Korean American member of the US Senate. Upon announcing her departure from the campaign, Mr Kim issued a statement on X, saying Let us also show our respect and appreciation to First Lady Tammy Murphy for her continued service to our state and country. Its important to take a step back and remember that we are all a part of something bigger than all of us. TAYLOR COUNTY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) A Taylor County woman facing 6 counts of animal cruelty charges for allegedly neglecting animals she was hired to care for, causing one to die and another to suffer severe dehydration, has been sentenced to probation. He mother is facing charges as well. Lindsi Wallis received her 24-month probation sentence after pleading guilty to Animal Cruelty Monday. She was also sentenced to serve 9 days in jail and pay $900 worth of fines. Her mother, Christina Lindsey, is set for trial next month. Taylor County mother, daughter charged with 6 counts of animal cruelty Court documents state a Taylor County family hired Wallis and Lindsey to take care of two dogs, a cat, and a fish while they were on vacation for a week. The mother and daughter were supposed to feed and water the animals, as well as let the dogs outside twice a day, in exchange for $200. When the family arrived home from vacation, the documents state they found one of their dogs dead and the other unable to move due to severe dehydration. There was urine, feces, and vomit on the floors, the documents reveal. There was no water or food for the pets since there had been nobody there in three days. Security cameras around the home showed Wallis and Lindsey come sporadically and never more than once a day, always without staying long enough to feed the animals or let the dogs out as expected. The documents state they did not show up at all for three days in a row. During an interview, the documents state Wallis admitted to leaving one of the dogs chained up overnight then finding her dead the next morning. Temperatures were in excess of 100 degrees in July 2023. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com. EAST HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) Police have identified the two people who were fatally shot in East Harlem Sunday night, according to the NYPD. Police said 18-year-old Ashley Ballard, of Harlem, was shot in the back. She was only a half mile away from home when she was killed, according to authorities. Harlem resident Harry Mendoza, 25, was also shot in the head, police said. Police received a call for shots fired in the area of East 128th Street and Lexington Avenue around 7:30 p.m., investigators said. Teen, 13, shot on Long Island: police Police are still trying to work out a motive behind the shooting and who the suspects are, according to authorities. The parents of both victims were notified and are being uncooperative with police, sources told PIX11 News. Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. The sheriff's station in City of Industry was the site of a fatal shooting Sunday night, officials say. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) A 17-year-old girl died in the lobby of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department station late Sunday after, officials say, she got hold of a deputy's gun and shot herself. The department has not released the girl's name, and officials said late Sunday that it was unclear how she was able to take the deputy's weapon. The incident began around 7:25 p.m., when deputies got a 911 call about a family disturbance in the 300 block of Clintwood Avenue in La Puente, officials said. The girl's foster family who had phoned in the disturbance told deputies the teen was having a mental health crisis, and raised concerns that she might harm herself, according to sources in the department. But by the time deputies responded to the scene about a mile from the station, the girl had already left on foot. While her foster father stayed behind to meet the deputies, officials said, her foster mother went out to try to find her. At that point, authorities said, it wasn't clear where she was headed. About 15 minutes later, the teen arrived at the City of Industry sheriff's station at 150 N. Hudson Ave., according to a news release. She was not armed, officials said, but she started knocking on the front door, causing a commotion as she made noise and banged on the glass. When a deputy casually opened the door, the girl "lunged into the lobby" and reached for the deputy's holstered gun, according to officials and department sources. Read more: A river rescue as hail pounds SoCal. Meanwhile, a significant late-season storm is brewing The two allegedly got into a struggle over the weapon, and department sources who were not authorized to speak on the record said that surveillance video inside the lobby shows the altercation lasting only a matter of seconds. The deputy did not have his body-worn camera on at the time, the sources said, so the only video is the grainy footage from the lobby cameras. According to the sources, at one point the deputy punched the teen in an attempt to maintain control of the weapon though ultimately she wrested it away and used it to kill herself, officials said. A source who is reviewing the incident said the shooting appeared to have been intentional, not an accidental gun discharge. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the scene and pronounced her dead. There were no other civilians in the lobby at the time, and officials said no deputies were injured in the incident. They have not released the name of the deputy involved. Homicide detectives are still investigating. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact detectives at (323) 890-5500 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. DENVER (KDVR) A 19-year-old was killed and another person was injured after a shooting broke out at a large party in Aurora late Saturday night. The incident happened around 11:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of North Tower Road. The location is a rental hall that was rented out for the party, according to the Aurora Police Department. Attendants of the party included minors and young adults, police said. 1 dead, 2 injured in shooting at large house party in Commerce City A 19-year-old man was found inside the building suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries, according to Aurora police. Officers also found another man suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital and has since been released. An argument between several people who knew each other led to the shooting, police said. Both victims were shot inside the venue before people from the party made their way outside to the parking lot, according to police. Former Loveland police officer charged with sexual assault of a minor Additional shots were then fired throughout the parking lot, police said. However, there were no reports of any additional shooting victims. Police asked anyone with information, including photos or video evidence of the altercation, to contact APD Detective Raines at 303-793-6068. The investigation was ongoing. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver. BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) A 15-year-old is in police custody after they allegedly made threats toward multiple Buffalo schools in a social media post, the Buffalo Police Department announced Sunday. Police said they conducted several interviews and a search of the teens home following the alleged post, and they dont believe the threats were credible. Police did not specify what schools were mentioned in the post. The teen was charged with multiple misdemeanors, according to police. Buffalo Public Schools said in a statement that it was aware the 15-year-old was taken into custody and that there would be an increased security and law enforcement presence in and around its schools Monday. The district is also providing crisis team counselors for students who wish to speak with someone regarding the alleged threats. Latest Local News Adam Gorski is a Buffalo native who joined the News 4 team in 2022. You can find more of his work here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. French authorities have announced they have raised the terrorist threat level in the country to the highest level, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said, Trend reports. According to him, this decision was made after a meeting of the National Defense Council held at the Elysee Palace in connection with the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall in Russia. He noted that taking into account the threats facing the country, it was decided to increase the level of terrorist threat. CHICAGO - Chicago police canceled a missing person alert for a teen who was found safe on Monday Jonathan Montanez, 14, was last seen March 22, going to school at the Taft Freshman Campus in the 3500 block of N Octavia Avenue. On Monday, Chicago police said he had been found safe. No further information was provided. A 17-year-old died in the lobby of a Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department on Sunday evening after grabbing a deputys gun and using it to shoot herself, authorities said. The adolescent, who has not been named, knocked on the door of the Industry Sheriff Station and got into some kind of altercation when a deputy opened the door, KABC reports. The female reached toward the deputys firearm [and] retrieved the firearm from the deputys holster, LASD Lt. Art Spencer told the network. During the altercation, it is alleged that the female suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound with what we believe to be the deputys firearm, Spencer added. No deputies were injured during the incident, which is now under investigation. Authorities believe the incident may have stemmed from a family disturbance call where the girl lived to which deputies had responded before the apparent suicide, according to KCAL-TV. No details have been released about the nature of the earlier call. If you or a loved one are struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing or texting 988. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. The Tennessee General Assembly is considering a franchise tax revision that, in a Senate-approved bill, unnecessarily would refund $1.6 billion of state tax collections to companies in Tennessee and most or all of 49 other statesor, in an improved House finance subcommittee plan, $800 million. While about 80 companies have sought refunds based on a U.S. Constitution commerce clause claimthat the tax method interferes with interstate commerce, which is prohibitedthe state revenue commissioner has said about 100,000 can claim refunds under Gov. Bill Lees proposed solution. The Senate has approved this plan, even though no court has declared the Tennessee franchise tax to be unconstitutional and no alternatives have been discussed thoroughly in public by the super-majority legislators. If the state did not have $1.9 billion on hand and available, it certainly would not have proposed this solution. The only other solution presented publiclyproposed by Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, and rejected by the Senatewould solve the U.S. constitutional issue at an insignificant, near-zero cost, by a judicially tested tax-credit method based on any actual harm suffered by a company. House is doing what the Senate refused to do: Be transparent No state has waved the white flag and refunded these taxes without a court determination that the tax is unconstitutional. The bill does just that. Consequently, some Tennessee companies whether engaged in interstate commerce or not will get a refund of taxes just for the asking. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, talks to reporters alongside Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon on Thursday, March 21, 2024. None of this can happen without the agreement of the House of Representatives. One can hope that the House finance committee and majority will give due consideration to better solutions, such as Yarbro proposed. The House subcommittee already has improved the bill by limiting the tax refunds to a previous one-year tax period, rather than the three years approved by the Senate, and by reducing the refunds by economic-development tax credits given to companies. There is a better solution for handing out billions in taxpayer money But as Yarbro pointed out, there is more than one constitutional provision involved. The Tennessee Constitution, at Article 2, Section 31, prohibits state government from appropriating or spending public funds for the private benefit of individuals, companies, and associations. This is clear in court cases of the last 70 years and opinions of the attorney general of the last 50. Given that the taxes at issue were lawfully paid and no court has said otherwise, refunds are not owed to these companies. If the state is appropriating funds for reimbursement anyhow, then the appropriation is for private benefit, which is unconstitutional. Invest billions in Tennessee not in 49 others states The House bill sponsor, Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland), a lawyer, testified that he personally disagrees that the current tax is unconstitutional under the federal commerce clause, pointing out that no court has found the tax to be unconstitutionalthat this is a tax cut to help businesses, that they will invest it in their employees. (Maybe so, but they could invest in the owners or business development, too.) The sponsors belief about the need for the billto help businesswould seem to support the argument that this tax-refund appropriation plan is a violation of the state constitutional prohibition of appropriating public funds for private benefit. In the Senate bill, only the Tennessee Department of Revenue would ever know where the money goes, but the House amendment would require public disclosure on the department's website. The House is off to a good start. Im counting on it to be the deliberative body that the people of Tennessee expect it to be and then to work with the Senate to find a better solution. Bill Bradley There are many good things that can be done for Tennesseans with $1.9 billion on hand and $400 million annually thereafter. Investing it in 49 other states is not one of them. Bill Bradley, of Nashville, a retired State of Tennessee employee, worked on the state budget for 32 years, including 14 years as director of the Division of Budget, Department of Finance and Administration. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Senate OKs murky $1.9B tax 'fix,' but House has better idea John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, has dismissed Russia's allegations that the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Moscow Oblast was linked to Ukraine, describing them as Kremlin propaganda. Source: European Pravda with reference to Ukrinform Details: Kirby said that the attack in Russia's Moscow Oblast had "no linkage to Ukraine". "This was an attack carried out by ISIS-Khorasan operatives, period," he added at a telephone briefing with journalists on 25 March. The White House representative said he was not surprised to see the Kremlin spreading allegations that Ukrainian services were involved in the attack. "This is just another manifestation of Kremlin propaganda. It's all they can do to try to connect it to what they're doing in Ukraine, to try to find some kind of justification for their ongoing violence and looting," Kirby said. He also reiterated that the United States had warned the Russian authorities in advance of ISIS's plans for a terrorist attack. Background: Last Friday, 22 March, a group of armed men opened fire with assault rifles in a concert hall in Krasnogorsk. The Islamic State-Khorasan terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which at least 137 people were killed. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron described Russia's attempts to link the terrorist attack to Ukraine as cynical. Czech President Petr Pavel called for the investigation not to be used for political purposes. Support UP or become our patron! Montana Democrats wave signs in support of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester at the Mansfield Metcalf dinner on March 2, 2024. (Photo by Nicole Girten/Daily Montanan) U.S. Sen. Jon Testers downtown Bozeman office was vandalized during the weekend with expletives and red and black spray paint reading, Tester funds genocide. Police were notified of the spray painted messages, and paint crossing out the U.S. Senate seal, on Saturday night, which were sprayed on the exterior of the office along West Main Street. The vandalism is the latest stunt from agitators who want to see the senator call for a ceasefire in response to the violence in Gaza, something a handful of Democratic candidates in the state have done recently. The largest pro-Palestine organization in the state said it wasnt responsible for the vandalism, and Testers office said the office is still open. Tester, the chairperson of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, was most recently interrupted by demonstrators at the Democrats annual gala, and before that at a town hall in Butte last fall. The Big Sandy farmer is seeking re-election this November in what is projected to be an expensive and tight race against presumptive Republican nominee, businessman Tim Sheehy. MT 4 Palestine, which organized the demonstration at the Mansfield Metcalf dinner earlier this month, said it was not behind the vandalism and did not endorse it, but organization leader Brendan Work said the organization shares the anger the sprayed message showed. A spokesperson for Tester said in a statement the Bozeman office is open, and confirmed staff feels safe to be in the office and are continuing to work with the public. Lt. Hal Richardson of the Bozeman Police Department told the Daily Montanan Monday the department was first called about the vandalism after midnight on Saturday and an investigation, currently for criminal mischief, is ongoing. State statute outlines someone charged with criminal mischief can be fined up to $1,500 or be imprisoned for six months, or both. A handful of Montana Democrats have called for a ceasefire recently, including legislative candidate Lance FourStar and all three of the four Democratic eastern Congressional district candidates, who wrote an open letter calling for a ceasefire. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Monday, with the U.S. abstaining from the vote. The post Testers Bozeman Office vandalized in Pro-Palestine protest appeared first on Daily Montanan. A Travis County state District Court on Monday blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from demanding information from a nationwide LGBTQ+ organization about its support for families seeking gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths, finding that there is "a substantial likelihood" that the nonprofit's case against the state "will prevail after a trial on the merits." The LGBTQ+ organization, PFLAG National, sued the attorney general's office Feb. 29 after receiving what it called an "outrageous and unconstitutional demand" for records. The civil investigative demand that Paxton sent to PFLAG seeks information about alleged "misrepresentations regarding Gender Transitioning and Reassignment Treatments" as well as relating to the nonprofit's statements in Loe v. Texas and PFLAG v. Abbott, two cases in which the group is suing the state on behalf of families that have sought or provided gender-affirming care to their children. In Loe v. Texas, the Texas Supreme Court in January heard oral arguments on whether parents in the state have the right to let their children receive gender-affirming medical care after the Legislature last year passed Senate Bill 14, a law that went into effect in September and prohibits doctors in Texas from providing certain gender-affirming medical treatments including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and certain surgeries to minors experiencing gender dysphoria, a condition in which a persons gender identity doesnt match their sex at birth. After a Monday morning hearing, District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum, a Democrat, issued the temporary injunction against Paxton's "unlawful" demands for information and documents, writing that the attorney general's office exceeded its authority. The injunction replaces a temporary restraining order that Judge Maria Cantu Hexsel of the 53rd District Court issued March 1, which would have expired Friday, and will remain active until the case is resolved. A trial is set for 9 a.m. June 10. The Texas Supreme Court hears oral arguments from Natalie D. Thompson on behalf of the state attorney general's office for Senate Bill 14 on Jan. 30. In addition to allowing PFLAG to keep its information private, the judge's order bars Paxton from retaliating against the organization. PFLAG National has consistently protected Texas families with transgender youth in the face of the States persecution, Chloe Kempf, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. This court ruling is a critical step in allowing PFLAG National and its members to join together and advocate for each other, free from the threat of the attorney generals retaliation and intimidation." LGBTQ+ activist Arywn Heilrayne cries during a debate over Senate Bill 14 in the Texas House last year. The Legislature passed SB 14, which bans gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. In its original petition, lawyers for the group wrote that it appeared Paxton's office was "seeking to determine which Texas families are seeking to access gender-affirming care for their transgender adolescents" in multiple civil investigative demands, which could reveal the families' identities. In Monday's injunction order as in the March 1 temporary restraining order, the court wrote that the requests for information and documents are "unlawful" and that PFLAG and its members the parents and families of transgender youths would suffer "immediate and irreparable injury" if the attorney general were allowed to obtain information ahead of a trial. The order states that Paxton's office's requests would have inhibited families' exercise of free speech and harmed their ability to "avail themselves of the courts when their constitutional rights are threatened." The order also says the demands would have led to "gross invasions of both PFLAG's and its members' privacy in an attempt to bypass discovery stays entered in both Loe v. Texas and PFLAG v. Abbott." Paxton's office did not respond to an American-Statesman request for comment Monday. In a statement Feb. 29 about the lawsuit, Paxton said he is going after PFLAG for hiding what he called "incriminating documents" that he thinks will answer the question of whether "medical providers are committing insurance fraud in order to circumvent" SB 14. Texas passed SB 14 to protect children from damaging, unproven medical interventions with catastrophic lifelong consequences for their health, Paxton said in the statement. Any organization seeking to violate this law, commit fraud, or weaponize science and medicine against children will be held accountable. More: Is Texas' ban on gender-affirming care for minors constitutional? Supreme Court hears case Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, takes the final vote for SB 14 as the chamber approves the bill May 12. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is using SB 14 to seek records from a nationwide LGBTQ+ organization. The state has argued that gender-affirming care treatments are ineffective and potentially dangerous in the long term for minors, largely tossing aside discrimination concerns and the effects on parents' rights to seek medical treatment for their children. Major medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric Association, support the provision of developmentally-appropriate and individualized gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, saying it can be lifesaving and medically necessary. Paxton's requests to PFLAG also come after several efforts by the attorney general's office to obtain medical records of Texas residents who might have received gender-affirming care at out-of-state hospitals in Seattle and Georgia. Seattle Children's Hospital sued the attorney general's office over Paxton's requests in December. In requesting records dating back to 2022, Paxton's office cites a state provision that forbids companies from making "misrepresentations regarding Gender Transitioning Treatments and Procedures and Texas law" in advertisements sent to Texas residents. Several motions in PFLAG's case against the attorney general are still pending, including a motion from Paxton that the court "modify and clarify" the initial restraining order and another plea that the office filed Friday. In a statement Monday afternoon, Brian K. Bond, CEO of PFLAG National, celebrated the court's decision. PFLAG families in Texas gained further protection today when the court reaffirmed that the Attorney General cant two-step around the law, Bond wrote. PFLAG National will continue to fight to protect our families, because trans youth and their loved ones deserve better, and loving your LGBTQ+ kid is always the right thing to do. Statesman staff writer Hogan Gore contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas judge blocks AG's demands for youth gender-affirming care records AUSTIN (Nexstar) Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan on Monday appointed a select committee of state lawmakers to address the White Houses temporary pause on approving new exports of liquified natural gas. President Bidens abrupt decision earlier this year to pause pending approvals of LNG export projects will likely have significant economic implications for Texas, and it is important we fully understand what a prolonged pause would mean for our states thriving energy sector, Speaker Phelan wrote on X. Ive created the House Select Committee on Protecting Texas LNG Exports to examine the potential impacts to the state a prolong pause would create and ways to mitigate any negative consequences on the LNG industry, the states energy sector and our Texas economy. The committee, chaired by Frisco Republican Jared Patterson, is directed to analyze the anticipated economic and environmental impacts of the pause and determine what recourse the state may have. In January, the Biden administration announced it will pause pending decisions on LNG exports to give the Department of Energy time to review its standards for those approvals. The White House explained the Departments current economic and environmental analyses no longer adequately account for potential increases in energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. We also must adequately guard against risks to the health of our communities, especially frontline communities in the United States who disproportionately shoulder the burden of pollution from new export facilities, the White House said. The pause, which is subject to exception for unanticipated and immediate national security emergencies, will provide the time to integrate these critical considerations. Last week, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit with 15 other states to block the administrations pause. Bidens unilateral decree disregards statutory mandates, flouts the legal process, upends the oil and gas industry, disrupts the Texas economy, and subverts our constitutional structure, said Attorney General Paxton. That lawsuit drew criticism from environmental groups, who argue the pause will result in a more thorough permitting process and protect local communities from pollution. This lawsuit is misguided and lacks understanding of what the pause actually is, Sierra Club Senior Attorney Nathan Matthews said. The U.S. is the worlds largest exporter of LNG, and this pause does nothing to disrupt the already massive amount of US-sourced methane gas being sent all over the world. The Biden administrations decision grew criticism from some of Texas top business groups, who argue that the pause will hurt the Texas economy, allies energy security, and the environment by promoting dirtier energy sources like coal. Users around the world are relying on the United States and we need to make certain they know were a solid partner that can be trusted, President of the Texas Oil and Gas Association Todd Staples said. It was among the very worst decisions to the administration. Its a direct hit on the economy of Texas, Texas Association of Business President Glenn Hamer said. The pause makes no sense environmentally, it makes no sense economically, and for a state like Texas which leads the country by far in LNG production, its particularly damaging. Speaker Phelan directed the select committee to submit an initial report by May 13. The 89th legislature may act on recommendations with legislative proposals when lawmakers convene in January 2025. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. For 24/7 mental health support in English or Spanish, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations free help line at 800-662-4357. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. SMITHVILLE, Texas (The Texas Tribune) When the COVID-19 pandemic first shut down the Smithville Public Library, it was as if a vital community artery had been severed. We did see a lot of anxiety when people felt cut off from reading materials, recalled Judith Bergeron, the librarys director. Some of that anxiety led to anger directed at library staff, so it was important to us to try to provide whatever services we could remotely. But for Bergeron, libraries especially in small Texas towns like Smithville are more than a book lending depot. In 2018, she recognized a need for mental health services in this 4,000-person town 45 miles east of Austin, and she set up a Coffee with a Counselor program allowing patrons who need to, a private study room to meet with a mental health professional over coffee. The pandemic, however, ushered in a whole next level of isolation. The business shutdowns had left residents here without their nerve center, the public library. And thats when Bergeron hatched a new plan. She created five different book clubs for her more marginalized neighbors: military veterans, people of color, teenagers, Spanish speakers and members of the LGBTQ+ community. With the help of a $15,000 grant from the St. Davids Foundation, the program proved successful. The book clubs were such a hit in conservative Bastrop County, some of the participants joined the librarys general monthly book club, and the LGBTQ+ book club still meets monthly. I had one of them tell me this is the one place they feel safe and comfortable in, and isnt that the definition of what the library is meant to be? A place to feel safe, Bergeron said. Residents of Bastrop County at the Smithville Public Library. (Credit: Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune) Bergeron and her efforts in Smithville are part of a growing effort among libraries to put more mental health care resources into their community. From the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin offering a mental health resources page to the San Antonio Public Librarys mental health awareness presentation on the signs of anxiety to a private telehealth room where patrons can meet with a counselor via Zoom in North Texas town of Pottsboro, these librarians do their best to help their communities with mental health resources. The National Library of Medicines South Central Region gave the Pottsboro Area Library a $20,000 COVID-19 outreach grant to develop programs to improve health literacy and information access related to the pandemic. In 2021, the American Library Association awarded the Hewitt Public Library a $3,000 grant to create community conversations about mental health. And more recently, the St. David Foundation, a grantmaking organization for Central Texas, and its partners, Via Hope, a mental health nonprofit, and RAND, a research organization, allocated $1.5 million to eight Central Texas libraries as part of a three-year pilot program that will end in December. Abena Asante, senior program officer at St. Davids Foundation, said their team developed the Libraries for Health Initiative after they hosted several community conversations in which mental health needs continuously came to the forefront of discussion. We chose libraries because they are open to the public and trusted by people of all demographics. We wanted to take advantage of that, put libraries in the drivers seat, and work with them to create a health initiative, she said. The pilot program is designed to allow mental health programs to flow seamlessly into the librarys community service model. The peer specialist training program provided the initial training for certification using a federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Asante said one of the things that struck her when their library program was launched was the number of librarians who knew what mental health services were working in their community and which ones were not. They knew things way before the city or the county or other nonprofit organizations because the library is such a trusted entity that people will come and tell them about everything. So, when we announced this program, all these libraries were excited to have a response to something they have seen all this time but didnt have the confidence to address it, she said. This new resources have allowed rural libraries to pitch in and help address the growing mental health need in their communities. Texas is a state where 98 percent of its 254 counties are designated as Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas, areas where theres only 1 clinician for 30,000 residents, and the states behavioral health worker shortage is expected to grow. This workforce shortage has prevented private and state-run mental health hospitals from operating at total capacity, created long waitlists for therapy services, and forced many private providers from taking on new clients as the demand has exceeded scheduling capacity. According to a 2023 state progress report to the Legislature, there are 5,031 licensed psychologists available in the state. But only 111 counties less than half of the states 254 counties have one, and only 83 counties have a psychiatrist. Meanwhile, suicide in rural communities is rising. In 2022, Texas Health and Human Services released a report examining 21 years worth of data and found that the suicide rate in non-metro areas has increased by 55.3% during this period, from 12.3 deaths per 100,000 population to 19.1 deaths per 100,000 population. The suicide rate in metro areas isnt much better, as it has increased by 35.1% over this same time frame, going from 9.4 deaths per 100,000 population to 12.7 deaths. In 2019 in Texas, 14% of the states 3,891 suicides occurred in rural areas, though only accounting for 11% of Texas residents. The Smithville library director has witnessed this firsthand as she had a woman come in last year to explain her movie return was late because her best friend killed himself in front of her. She looked shaken up and just told me I need some help, but I dont know where to go, the woman told Bergeron she said. Why libraries? In late 2021, Brittany Flores was in the midst of a four-month job search. The Smithville resident had quit her previous position as a certified parent educator for families who might be going through a crisis or as a needed course in a divorce settlement when she realized she could no longer take care of her sons mental health needs and focus on her own as a victim of domestic violence in that position. I tried to take an extended leave, but they wouldnt let me, so I left, Flores said. But I knew I still wanted to help people. Thats when Flores learned of a peer-support specialist job with the St. Davids Foundation As a peer support specialist, Flores would be taking their own lived experience and using it to help others find mental health help, a sort of professional mentor. Brittany Flores in the Smithville Public Library on March 11, 2024. (Credit: Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune) But when Flores learned at the start of 2022 that she was being assigned to work in her towns library, she was slightly confused. What did her new job have to do with a rural public library? To be honest, I had never stepped foot into a library before this job because, to me, it was always just a place for books, she said. In her first weeks on the job, library staff pointed out to her a homeless teenage girl found sleeping at one of the librarys tables. They asked me to talk to her, and when I approached her, I just asked if she was all right and if she wanted to get something to eat, Flores said. That was the start of our relationship. Jalen, 18, asked The Texas Tribune not to publish her last name. Originally from Houston, Jalen said her various conflicts with family had led her to friends in Smithville. But without stable housing, she drifted between a friends home and living on the streets for a few years. She had turned to the library as a place to rest. She said thats where she met Flores, who has helped her acquire the resources she needed to find a place to stay, helped her with employment, and motivated her to continue going through life despite the challenges she might face. I just felt like I didnt have any other way out. I was literally at the bottom of my life, Jalen told the Tribune through an emailed statement, recalling how she first met Flores. And then she showed up like, tada, you still have a chance. Peer support specialists must highlight to their clients that there is no defined set of tasks or one road to recovery and wellness. Jalen speaks with Brittany Flores in the Smithville Public Library. Jalen is one of Flores patrons, and she meets with Flores for some help and guidance when she needs. (Credit: Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune) I dont tell anyone to do anything. I just tell my story and listen. I always ask them what they would do in my situation, which gives me insight into what they may be going through. Sometimes, someone just needs somebody to talk to, Flores said. When Smithville resident Donella McLean saw Flores working with people in the library, she became curious about her role. McLean herself had been living with bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder while raising her daughter alone. People tend to gravitate towards the library because its free, and a lot of mentally unstable people have limited funds. They naturally go somewhere where its not going to cost them anything, McLean said. I always thought to myself they need a mental health worker here because just having someone to talk to helped me so much. Now, McLean is in peer support training, and once completed, she hopes to be assigned to another Central Texas library to do what Flores is doing in Smithville. I think I always wanted to be a peer support specialist. But I never had the means to do it until now, McLean said. I know that you can survive (mental illness). I feel that Im a success story in many ways, and because of that, I feel called to share that with others. The community anchor For years, Bergeron has kept a heart-shaped locket on her keys to remind herself to take care of her mental health. When Flores began working at the library, Bergeron decided she needed to do more and started making hand-made clay pocket hearts available to everyone who walked into the library. Late last year, a woman came into the library to return some books when she noticed the hearts and asked about them. When Bergeron told her theyd become a gentle reminder for patrons to think about their mental health, the woman told Bergeron how the library had been an essential part of her cancer treatments. Pocket hearts sit in a heart tray in the Smithville Public Library. (Credit: Maria Crane for The Texas Tribune) Every time she goes in for treatment, she goes to the library to get some books because she knows she will be sitting for a long time. She said we felt like part of her recovery team and started to cry when I gave her the heart, Bergeron said. She now has her chemo group helping make pocket hearts for the library. Elsewhere in Texas, libraries are finding more ways to help their patrons stay healthier. South of Waco, the Hewitt Public Library has tapped American Library Association funds to create mental health kits, including stress balls and fidget spinners. In far North Texas, the Pottsboro Public Library, located near the Oklahoma border, used funds from the National Library of Medicines South Central Region to create a telehealth room for physical and mental health appointments. Rural libraries are different from suburban and urban libraries because many resources are already available in their community, so a library doesnt need to do it. But in our community, if the library doesnt do it, it wont happen, said Dianne Connery, Pottsboros librarian. Lawmakers have attempted to address the mental health workforce problem in non-metro areas since 70% of Texas counties are rural by incentivizing mental health providers to practice in remote areas and expanding telehealth. However, this is a long-term measure and wont fix the crisis in the short term. To address this need, libraries have started to get creative with the resources available to them to continue their role as community centers where people can go and find resources on housing, employment, substance abuse services, and mental health. Ree Kogun, a 65-year-old man who moved to Pottsboro six years ago, said he picked up a telehealth flyer at his local pharmacy in 2022 mentioning the librarys physical and mental health services. He has used the services ever since. I have a Walmart smartphone with a $25 monthly plan as my only internet access. At the library, they offer a large monitor and a very good connection to the internet. It is much better than doing my appointments on a small screen, he said. After Kogun began using the room for his medical telehealth appointments, he realized he needed a therapist for the stress and anxiousness he was dealing with after the COVID-19 pandemic because it was causing his blood pressure to spike. There are limited resources in Pottsboro, and the library offered me a chance to get better care from different doctors and therapists. My stress levels are lower, and so is my blood pressure, he said. This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at www.texastribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin. Five months after a renowned Texas chef chose Mineral Wells for his newest restaurant, Second Bar + Grill is hitting its stride. David Bull, a James Beard Award semifinalist known for his work at hotels like the Driskill in Austin and the Stoneleigh in Dallas, moved to Mineral Wells to help draw guests and diners to the 97-year-old Crazy Water Hotel. The idea of dining out an hours drive west of Fort Worth doesnt look so crazy after all. The dining room and bar were full Saturday night and again for brunch Sunday. It draws a mixture of large parties, traveling families and couples from Aledo or Fort Worth for steaks with green-chile polenta, half-pound burgers and black truffle-blue cheese-pork belly pizzas. A roasted beet salad at Second Bar + Kitchen in Mineral Wells, Texas, March 23, 2024. Bud Kennedy/bud@star-telegram.com Im really happy with Mineral Wells, Bull said on a brief spin through the dining room. For one thing. his commute to and from work is 10 minutes instead of an hour like adding almost an extra day of free time every week. Second Bar + Kitchen lined up local providers for meats and vegetables and a local baker for its buttermilk pie and almond-buttercream cake. When you walk from the Crazy Waters historic boutique hotel lobby into Second Bar + Kitchen, its like walking from Mineral Wells 1927 into Austin 2024. The restaurant is identical to Bulls SBK restaurants in east Austin and a former location in downtown Austin at Congress Avenue and Second Street thus the name. In Mineral Wells, Second Bar + KItchen is actually at the corner of First Avenue and Third Street. Officially, the address is 401 N. Oak Ave., the east door of the Crazy Water. The Texas waffle with banana and caramel sauce at Second Bar + Grill in Mineral Wells, Texas, March 24, 2024. Bud Kennedy/bud@star-telegram.com The dinner menu reaches high with a $155 dry-aged tomahawk ribeye for up to four people. But the most common orders are the simplest: burgers and pizzas, $15-$25 at night or $10 at a midafternoon happy hour. A roasted beet salad ($14) compared with any big-city version. An appetizer order of Buffalo fried pickles with Bulls special Buffalo sauce and Gorgonzola ($10) turned out to be the surprise of the night. A Reuben with roast turkey subbed for the housemade corned-beef on the burger of the month was meticulously sliced on rye and topped with arugula plus just enough sauerkraut, Swiss and Thousand Island (with fries, $16). Almond cake with buttercream icing at Second Bar + Kitchen in Mineral Wells, Texas, March 24, 2024. Bud Kennedy/bud@star-telegram.com Sunday brunch now features a choice of more than 12 entrees, including the popular chilaquiles verdes with eggs from Austin ($14), a short rib-egg-jalapeno-pimiento quesadilla ($14) and the regular menu of breakfasts, salads and burgers. Second is open for dinner Thursdays and for lunch or brunch and dinner Fridays through Sundays; 940-464-9989, secondbarkitchen.com. This embedded content is not available in your region. There's often more than one explanation for why a commercial property sits on the market for several years. Here's a closer look at five of them in the Lansing area. LANSING The area has a number of commercial properties for sale, some that seem to have been on the market for long periods without a buyer despite seemingly having a lot to offer prospective buyers or tenants. Real estate brokers say there are many reasons a piece of property can sit on the market, even if it makes those who own the property and passersby wonder what's taking so long. In 2019, when the Centennial Group put a 70-year-old former bus station on South Washington Avenue, its headquarters for nearly two decades, up for sale, company CEO Salvatore Durso thought a buyer would come along quickly, but that hasn't been the case. The insurance company, which moved to a building down the street, invested about $1.2 million in renovating the property at 511 S. Washington Ave., which had become an eyesore by the late 1990s, with broken windows and people with nowhere else to go frequently staying the night inside. "It was a classic urban blight when we bought it," Durso said. Centennial Group brought the building back to life, restoring the original terrazzo tile floors and enclosing a portion of the structure where buses would park to pick up riders. "We felt pretty strongly that we would be able to sell the property even though we weren't using all of it," Durso said. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, changing the landscape in downtown Lansing. Downtown companies sent their workers home to work remotely. Today, filling vacant office space is still a struggle, and Centennial Group's former home is still for sale. It's one of several large, visible commercial properties in the Lansing area that have been for sale for more than a year. Here's a closer look at five of them and how real estate brokers see them being returned to use. 511 S. Washington Ave., Lansing The former Greyhound bus station property on South Washington Avenue on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in downtown Lansing. Centennial Group's 10,665-square-foot, two-story building on South Washington Avenue has been on the market for four years. It has high ceilings, a front reception and lobby area, conference and training rooms, lots of open space and more than 30 parking spaces on the property, the property's broker said. There are pieces of history in the building's basement, too, including signage and seating from when it was a bus station. Bus station chars and signage in the basement of a former bus station on South Washington Avenue in Lansing. The property, priced at just over $1.19 million, has character, said Woodworth Commerical's Todd Kosta, who represents the listing. "You would never see these floors or this beautiful staircase today," he said recently during a tour of the building. "We've had some people look at this and talk about restaurants or something like that." But Kosta said it's likely it will be utilized as office space. "We're starting to see a lot of people coming back to the office," he said. 3992 Coleman Road, East Lansing The former Tim Hortons on Coleman Road on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in East Lansing. Owner Mike Howard said the 1,830-square-foot former Tim Hortons at the corner of Coleman and Chandler roads is perfectly positioned to serve a fast-casual restaurant. The property has been vacant for five years and on the market to buy or lease for about a year. Howard, a real estate agent with Colliers, bought it last spring, and has primarily marketed it to national companies. Howard is in the process of working through a pending lease with a "national pizza chain," though he declined to name them because the paperwork hasn't been finalized. The business, which could open in six to 12 months, will utilize a pickup window on the building, he said. "I've got some work to do on the outside of the building," Howard said. 172 E. Edgewood Blvd., Lansing The vacant former Hooters building in south Lansing on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. The 5,286-square-foot former Hooters restaurant off East Edgewood Boulevard has been vacant since the chain closed the location in July 2019. Kosta has been representing the property, on the market to lease, for six months. It sits on over an acre of land near Celebration Cinema Lansing & IMAX and Texas Roadhouse. The property's owner would prefer to lease it, but would entertain offers to buy it, though there is no price listed, Kosta said. The building already has kitchen equipment, including a large oven hood, multiple fryers, a grill, a walk-in freezer and a refrigerator, but Kosta said whoever leases or buys it would likely want to make it their own. "It's going to take a substantial investment for somebody to do that," he said. "I have seen interest, not from the regional or national restaurateurs we would like. We got a lot more interest from local mom-and-pop operators, which just makes it that much harder of a business model for them to come in there and do the kind of revenue that's needed." 2006 W. Willow St., Lansing The former DeLuca's Restaurant on West Willow Street on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Lansing. The nearly 7,000-square-foot building on West Willow Street has been vacant and on the market since late 2021 when DeLuca's Restaurant closed its doors after more than 60 years of business. The property is listed for $649,900. It remains for sale, despite having quite a lot to offer prospective buyers, said Gino Baldino, a real estate agent with NAI Mid-Michigan, which has represented the property for just over a year. Whoever buys it will get all the kitchen equipment, ovens and seating that is still inside, the restaurant's liquor license, and ample parking on nearly an acre and a half. "It's a great building," Baldino said. "The owners still maintain it very, very well. It is basically ready to go." The sign for the former DeLuca's Restaurant on West Willow Street on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Lansing. Over the years, agents have shown the property to several prospective buyers, he said. "I get inquiries," he said. "Sometimes they go in spurts. Sometimes I get two or three calls in a week and sometimes, for a couple of weeks, I don't get a call." Most of the people he's shown the property to were considering opening their own restaurant, Baldino said. 809 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing The Jon Anthony Gifts and Flowers building on Michigan Avenue on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Lansing. The nearly 15,000-square-foot building on East Michigan Avenue where Jon Anthony Florist has operated for at least 50 years sits on just over an acre and has over 200 feet of street frontage. The property has been on the market for two years, listed for $1.6 million, but the flower shop, which dates back to the 1940s, still operates there. When the property sells, the flower business won't close. It will likely move to a new location, said Pamela Sage. Sage's parents, and the founders of the flower shop, John and Harriet Anthony, passed away in the last five years. "I'm the executor of their estate," Sage said. "So we need to sell the property and settle with the rest of the inheritors." The Jon Anthony Gifts and Flowers building on Michigan Avenue on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Lansing. The decision to sell the property was emotional, she said. "It was so much of my parents' life. They absolutely loved their business. My mother worked there until she was 96," she said. Kosta, who is representing the property, said it's been marketed to national companies, including restaurant groups. "This property really just sets up well for redeveloping," he said. "It's an older building. I don't think somebody will reuse the building, but to come in there and demolish it, you have a really good site. This has a lot of potential being right on Michigan Avenue." READ MORE: 'Mediterranean-inspired' chain Middle Eats to open first Lansing location McLaren to construct $40M Grand Ledge-area emergency department, medical campus Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ . This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: A look at five Lansing-area commercial properties for sale BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. Israel agreed to the US proposal to exchange prisoners and hostages with Hamas, US media reported, Trend reports. According to the information, Israel's agreement to the proposal put forward by CIA Director Bill Burns involves the release of about 700 Palestinian prisoners, including 100 convicted of murdering Israeli citizens, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages. Delegations await response from Hamas. [Source] Holi, a Hindu festival that celebrates the triumph of good over evil, has united diverse crowds across major U.S. cities over the weekend. Key points: Cities like New York , Chicago and San Diego experienced vibrant and colorful celebrations as thousands of people came together to commemorate the Hindu festival of colors, which typically marks the beginning of spring. The details: Trending on NextShark: Jeremy Lin suspended 5 games over blood treatment Similarly, San Diego residents enjoyed kids performances, lively music and Indian food at the Hourglass Community Park for a Holi event organized by CRY America - San Diego Action Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring basic rights to underprivileged children. On Saturday, Chicagoans also gathered at Navy Pier to celebrate Holi with live DJs and Bollywood dancers. The celebration, which has been held at Navy Pier since 2018, typically gathers 4,000 to 5,000 people. Organizers emphasized the importance of cultural understanding, with Navy Pier's director of programming and production, Dylan Hankey, describing the event as a celebration of love, spring, friendship and unity. It's like letting go of all your inhibitions and just starting fresh and enjoying life, Amu Sehgal, founder of The Culture Tree, the organization behind the event, told CBS News . In New York City, thousands gathered at The Seaport at Pier 17 on Sunday to enjoy dance performances and throw colored powders symbolizing the shedding of winter's gloom and the embrace of spring's fresh start. About Holi: Holi, which falls on March 25 this year, celebrates the eternal love between the deities Radha and Krishna, who was cursed by a demon to have blue skin. Krishna, curious about his love interest Radha's different skin color, playfully painted her face with colors, so they could look alike. This has led to the tradition of applying vibrant hues during Holi festivities. Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors or Festival of Love, is also a time for forgiveness, reconciliation and the renewal of relationships. It commemorates the victory of deity Vishnu over the demon Hiranyakashipu, hence the celebration of good over evil and the arrival of spring. Two women and a 70-year-old man were injured in Russian shelling of Krasnohorivka Two women, aged 57 and 64, and a 70-year-old man were injured in two Russian shelling attacks on the same neighborhood in the frontline town of Krasnohorivka, Donetsk Oblast, the regional prosecutor's office reported on March 24. Read also: DTEK lifts emergency power shutdowns in Donetsk Oblast Two women were injured in the first attack, which took place at about 09:30 EET. A man was injured in the second shelling of the same area an hour later. The victims were hospitalized with abrasions, shrapnel wounds and contusions. Read also: Russian occupiers deploying substantial reserves to try to capture Novomykhailivka, Donetsk Oblast Krasnohorivka is under constant shelling by the Russian army, which is trying to breakthrough Ukrainian defenses with the help of air support. On March 5, a 72-year-old man was killed in an artillery attack on the town. 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 TOMS RIVER - School taxes will rise for property owners in Toms River Regional's four towns under a $290 million 2023-2024 budget introduced last week by the Board of Education. The budget relies on $191.4 million in taxes from Toms River, Beachwood, Pine Beach and South Toms River, the towns that make up the regional district. Toms River property owners, who pay the majority of taxes to support the district, would see a 1.8% increase. The school board will hold a meeting of the Citizens Budget Committee at 6 p.m. March 26 to discuss the spending plan in detail. The meeting will be held at the Media Center in Toms River High School North, Old Freehold Road. A homeowner whose house is worth $446,100, Toms River's average, would pay an additional $66.67 a year if the budget is adopted next month. The school tax rate would rise from 84.6 cents per $100 of assessed property value, to 86.1 cents. Under the state's school funding formula, S2, Toms River Regional has seen millions of dollars in state aid cuts over the past seven years. The state also requires districts that have lost aid to raise school taxes 2% a year. Students of West Dover Elementary School in the Toms River Regional School district begin the 2021-2022 school year. School choice: Is Toms River merger worth it if that means Seaside Heights school is doomed? The other three towns would also see school tax increases if the budget is adopted. In Beachwood, taxes would rise 4.4%; in Pine Beach, 2.5%; and in South Toms River, 4.1%. A homeowner whose property is assessed at Beachwood's average, or $207,700, would pay $103.95 more annually if the budget was adopted. In Pine Beach, a homeowner with a house assessed at the borough's $412,000 average would pay $81.33 more a year, and in South Toms River, a property owner whose house is assessed at the borough's $194,500 average would pay $81.50 more a year. Here comes the Beast! Toms River finds fun way to beat post-COVID school absenteeism The spending plan for next school year provides for the same number of staff positions. It is balanced on the revenue side by an anticipated state loan, or another funding source that will make up the $26,498,520 shortfall in state aid. An April 16 regionalization referendum, which will ask voters in Toms River Regional and Seaside Heights if the two districts should merge, could bring significant money into Toms River schools if passed, Superintendent Mike Citta has said. Filling the gaps: How to report a pothole in New Jersey and get it fixed Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and writes about issues related to Superstorm Sandy. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com. This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River Regional school budget will increase taxes if approved Three years ago, I, alongside seven of my colleagues and our families, were sanctioned by the Chinese government. We have faced harassment, attempted hacking and impersonation by China. We were sanctioned as members of the Inter Parliamentary Alliance on China, (IPAC), set up by me and others to focus attention on the threat that China poses to the free world as well as those living in China. IPAC had released Chinese government papers and personal testimony, which showed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was committing genocide in Xinjiang. There is a Chinese government drive to eradicate the Uyghurs, a Turkic, Muslim people living in the western reaches of China. They have been subjected to slave labour, forced sterilisation and the re-education of children. A tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice KC reached the same conclusion. Beijing is using similar tactics in Tibet to eradicate ethnic Tibetans. The Chinese government, having torn up the Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong, is at present brutally repressing democracy campaigners there. The arrest and prosecution of Jimmy Lai, a peaceful human rights advocate, on trumped-up charges under national security law shows that it will stop at nothing. China has seized the South China Sea and is militarising it, despite the UN making it clear they have no right to do so. It is threatening Taiwan with war unless that democratic state surrenders to Beijing. President Xi is clear that he wants China and its repressive system to become the natural form of government worldwide. My concern is that the UK has dragged its feet in facing up to this growing threat. We seem to have learnt nothing from the abject failures of 1930s appeasement. Look at the difference in the way the United States responds to Chinas brutal actions compared to us. The US has sanctioned more than 40 senior officials in Hong Kong over their imposition of the harsh security law. We, who are the co-signatories with China, havent sanctioned anyone. The US has sanctioned some 12 very senior officials over the genocide in Xinjiang; the UK, only three very lowly officials. We were briefed that todays announcement would be a new departure. The Government had now investigated Chinese interference in our elections and action against parliamentarians and it was going to act robustly. We waited with bated breath. It has taken some three years to come to a conclusion on the Electoral Commission hack. And the result of this new dawn? Just two new sanctions, one of which is against a very small company. As I have said before, it was like watching an elephant giving birth to a mouse. We have discovered that more than 40 UK parliamentarians have been hacked. Yet this is all we can do? Last week I received a Foreign Office internal memo saying that it would not be sanctioning any more people from China. When I presented that to the Government, at first it was denied and later it was put down to a mistake. That hardly sends the signal that we will be tough on China. The reality is that if the Government means business, it must now make it clear that it no longer sees China as an epoch defining challenge but as a systemic threat. We must put China on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. The US has today sanctioned seven clear offenders in China to our two. We have to do better. China is a threat and we must now recognise that. Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP is a former cabinet minister and leader of the Conservative party Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Carolyne Quintana, the city Department of Educations top official on literacy and dyslexia, is calling it quits amid a shakeup of her division, the Daily News has learned. Quintana, the deputy chancellor of teaching and learning and a two-year veteran of Schools Chancellor David Banks cabinet, will leave the DOE at the end of this school year, according to an internal memo on Monday. Her division will also be dissolved a plan that Banks said will move teaching and learning resources closer to schools. I am deeply thankful to Deputy Chancellor Quintana for her deep knowledge and service to our citys students and teachers, the chancellor wrote in the email. Her tireless work as a pedagogue contributed to the launch of NYC Reads, and the nations largest dyslexia screening program, and our work around Artificial Intelligence, and she led the Special Education Advisory Council, and launch countless other initiatives. Her leadership is a critical component of the success of the first two years of this administration, and I appreciate her leadership, her thought partnership, and her friendship. A spokesman for the public schools declined to share Quintanas next steps. About 2,000 current DOE staff are in the teaching and learning division and will be impacted by its dissolution, though none are expected to be laid off, according to the memo. I believe that putting the tremendous central Teaching & Learning resources closer to our schools led by local superintendents will accelerate the work of NYC Reads, improve math education, and set up our students for bright starts and bold futures, Banks said in the memo. Quintanas leave comes amid a series of high-profile departures, including the deputy chancellor of school leadership Desmond Blackburn, the head of technology Anuraag Sharma before a technical meltdown during last months snow day, and the chancellors chief of staff Melissa Aviles-Ramos who led the schools work on migrant students. As a lifelong educator, I know that the work that our team did over the past two years will reverberate into the future and benefit generations of students, Quintana said in a statement. A Greece Town Board member is in an unusual spot: The contents of his cellphone have been subpoenaed, by attorneys for get this the town of Greece. Court records show that the town-hired lawyers subpoenaed the phone of Greece Town Board member William Murphy. They first asked for permission to examine the phone's contents, were denied, then followed up with a subpoena. The strange turn of legal events is the offspring of the federal lawsuit filed by former Greece Deputy Commissioner of Public Works Robert "Bobby" Johnson, who alleges he worked thousands of hours of unpaid overtime for Town Supervisor Bill Reilich and others in the town. The oddities don't stop there: The town lawyers also have asked the law firm representing Johnson to place what is called a "litigation hold" on the cellphone of Johnson's attorney, Maureen Bass. Such a hold is designed to ensure no information is purged from the phone. Bass may be "in possession of relevant and material information" outside the boundaries of attorney-client privilege, the town's attorney, Albany-based lawyer Karl Sleight, wrote in a court filing. William Reilich, Greece town supervisor Murphy, in his role as a board member, could have information that should not be shared with lawyers suing the town, the lawyers for Greece contend. Differing claims over what Murphy did Murphy "was interviewed in that capacity as part of the towns litigation preparation, during which time he advised he uses his cellphone for town business and for other matters relevant and material to the litigation," Sleight wrote in court-filed correspondence. "He also advised ... that he communicated with Ms. Bass regarding this matter. "As a result, my office requested to image and search Councilman Murphys cellular device for information material and relevant to this litigation, including for purposes of investigating his comment relative to having communicated with opposing counsel." However, Bass fired back on Friday with a response that she has not communicated with Murphy about the case. Murphy provided an affidavit saying he has never communicated with Bass "about this matter or anything else." Attorneys for Murphy say in court papers that he thinks "the service of a subpoena upon him is nothing more than a fishing expedition intended to intimidate and harass him." Murphy agreed to have his phone imaged because he cannot "afford a costly legal battle with the Town of Greece over the propriety of the subpoena," his lawyers wrote. A forensic "imaging" of a cellphone allows the contents to be searched with specific key words and terms. Those terms have yet to be determined. Sleight declined to comment, as did Bass. Murphy did not return a call for comment. Claims of unpaid work In his lawsuit, Johnson alleged that he was forced to do thousands of hours of odd jobs for Reilich and then-Deputy Town Supervisor Marini. Attorneys for the town maintain in court papers that the lawsuit is, at its core, an argument over fair hours and wages, while Johnson's lawyers have portrayed it as part of a larger swath of town corruption. Marini late last year sold her house and moved out of Greece. She came to the town administration in 2014; she previously worked as the chief of staff to Reilich when he was in the state Assembly. At a December meeting the Town Board created a position of director of constituent services, a job now filled by Marini. All on the Town Board approved the job's creation except one William Murphy. Gary Craig is a veteran reporter with the Democrat and Chronicle, covering courts and crime and more. You can reach Craig at gcraig@rocheste.gannett.com. He is the author of two books, including "Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA, and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink's Heist." This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Town of Greece NY subpoenas Town Board member in unusual twist Farmers are protesting over 'substandard' imports and the threat to UK food security More than 100 tractors have rolled past the Houses of Parliament as farmers protested against what they say is a lack of support for UK food production. Convoys with horns blaring made their way through central London's streets to Westminster on Monday evening. Organisers Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent said cheap food imports and unsupportive policies were putting UK food security at risk. The government said it put farming "at the heart of British trade". Many of the farmers made their way into London from Kent, where previous protests had been held Tractors flying Union flags made their way across London and through Westminster, carrying signs with slogans such as 'Save British farming' and 'No farming, no food, no future'. "I'm a third generation farmer. I'm here for my future," Ben Stickland, 21, from West Sussex, told BBC News. "There are multiple nails being put into this coffin built around us." The protest comes as months of heated demonstrations in Europe, including blockades, saw angry farmers in Greece, Germany, Portugal, Poland and France demonstrating against European Union regulations and cheap imports. Thousands of farmers also joined forces in Wales to fight new farm subsidy plans launched by its government. There have previously been a handful of demonstrations in England, including in Kent and Cornwall, but Monday's tractor rally was the largest so far. Farmer Colin Rayner fears this year could see his farm's last harvest because of pressures on his business Another farmer attending the rally is Colin Rayner, who has 2,000 acres of arable land across east Berkshire and south Buckinghamshire. He told the BBC that he had "no choice" but to protest, saying that business was so bad that "this could be our last harvest". "We have been, as most farmers have been, living in our overdraft now for the last five years. "We can't see it getting any better - yields have plateaued, prices are dismal, our costs for raw materials are horrendous and the regulations that we have everyday are mindboggling," he explained. Mr Rayner said the environmental focus of the government's farm payments scheme, which replaced EU subsidies, was coming at the expense of domestic food production while cheap imports were being produced to lower standards. "We have been farming for 500 years and the government now has a scheme where they will pay us more money to grow wildflowers than to grow food. It is insanity," he said. Go-slow tractor protests have taken place in other parts of the UK in recent weeks "They want us to rewild the countryside. I just ask how are they going to feed the people living in the towns? "We have got to have food from our own resources. We have got to produce healthy good food - which we can do." In England, campaigners say government agricultural policy and its Environmental Land Management farm payments scheme, together with weak trade deals, "non-existent" import controls and misleading labelling, have all served to undermine farming businesses. They say that threatens the country's ability to produce enough food to feed its own population, "leaving our food security in peril". Save British Farming founder Liz Webster says a "radical change" in policy is needed Founder of campaign group Save British Farming Liz Webster, said: "Farming is fraught with risks: risks that have intensified every year with the climate emergency, Ukraine war and Brexit reality, which have only served to exacerbate problems. "Polling shows that the public back British farming and food and want to maintain our high food standards and support local producers. "We need a radical change of policy and an urgent exit from these appalling trade deals which will decimate British food." At last month's NFU conference, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told farmers "I've got your back," as he outlined government plans to boost the UK's food security. It was a promise echoed by farming minister Mark Spencer on Monday, who said: "We firmly back our farmers. "British farming is at the heart of British trade, and we put agriculture at the forefront of any deals we negotiate, prioritising new export opportunities, protecting UK food standards and removing market access barriers." Mr Spencer also announced new measures that would limit the amount of land that could be taken out of production and put into specific environmental schemes. The change means that under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) payment scheme farmers will only be able to put 25% of their land into projects that would take it out of direct food production. "Food production is the primary purpose of farming and today we are taking action to clarify this principle," said Mr Spencer. The government said that at least 60% of the food we consume will continue to be produced here in the UK and that level of food security will be monitored each year. It says it has maintained the 2.4bn farming budget and was also looking at ways to improve fairness in the supply chain. It has also launched a consultation on fairer food labelling regulations. A New York appellate court on Monday partially granted former President Donald Trumps request to stay the $454 million fraud judgment against him as he faced a Monday deadline to pay up or post bond. A five-judge panel of appellate court judges lowered Trumps bond requirement to $175 million to appeal the ruling and gave him an additional 10 days to post the bond. News: A New York appellate court partially GRANTS a stay of Trump's civil fraud judgment, if the former president posts $175 million. Doc https://t.co/Brm79v1Dn6 pic.twitter.com/QUU8DmRXaX Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) March 25, 2024 Trumps lawyers previously asked for the bond to be lowered to $100 million and told the court last week that it has proved impossible for Trump to attain a bond in the full amount required even after approaching 30 different underwriters. Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. "The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization. The $464 million judgment plus interest against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands. Longtime Harvard legal scholar Laurence Tribe called the unexplained reduction in Trumps bond a travesty of justice and accused the court of granting the former president preferential treatment. We had anticipated this possibility given that court's pro-business reputation, but they certainly waited to the last minute to do it, tweeted former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman. Conservative attorney and frequent Trump critic George Conway said he was not surprised by the ruling. I had a feeling theyd split the baby somehow, he wrote. Still, a $175m bond is a pretty substantial undertaking. RIVIERA BEACH Tri-Rail is taking another look at having its trains travel westward from its Mangonia Park station to the VA Medical Center, one of the Palm Beach County's largest employers. The line would serve employees as well as the thousands of veterans who receive services at the VA hospital every year. David Dech, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, the agency that operates Tri-Rail, said the authority is assessing the costs of having its trains travel the 3 miles from the Mangonia Park station to the VA complex in Riviera Beach. "This all very preliminary," Dech said, "but it is something that we would very much like to see happen." Dech discussed the possibility of the VA Medical Center service during a March 15 joint meeting of the Treasure Coast and South Florida Regional Planning councils. One stumbling block is coming to terms with CSX, the owner of the tracks that run to the VA hospital. Tri Rail is conducting a feasibility study to determine whether it should build a station at the West Palm Beach VA Center in Riviera Beach. CSX's rail network stretches across 23 states, including the southern reaches of Florida, where it has a major presence. In 1995, the transportation authority unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a deal with CSX to use its tracks for a Mangonia-VA Medical Center connection. CSX called on Tri-Rail to buy the line for $11 million, but the authority said the figure was too high. RELATED: Tri-Rail rolls out service to downtown Miami RELATED: Tri-Rail gets grant to help replace a third of its fleet with better engines, WiFi and AC RELATED: $856 million light rail line proposed to link Wellington to downtown West Palm "We need to work out something with CSX," said Dech. "Depending on what our study shows, we can hopefully do that." How would a Tri-Rail train expansion be funded? The northbound Tri-Rail train arrives at the Delray Beach Tri-Rail station on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Delray Beach, Fla. Another issue is funding. Palm Beach County would need to create a permanent funding source to pay for the project through a transportation surtax. County commissioners have already said they would consider allowing voters in November 2026 to decide whether such a tax should be imposed. Broward and Miami-Dade counties already have a transportation surtax, and their transit operations are much more extensive. Dech also disclosed that Tri-Rail will be building a $50 million light-maintenance facility to service its trains in Mangonia Park. The 8,000-square-foot facility will include an automated train-wash operation. Meanwhile, Tri-Rail reported that weekday ridership in February averaged 15,000, matching the pre-COVID figure set four years ago. A record was set for weekend ridership in February, nearing 8,000 passengers and a single-day record was set for Feb. 24, when 10,129 passengers rode the trains. Tri-Rail recently expanded service by including a stop at MiamiCentral Station, providing passengers with a new connection to downtown Miami. The service was introduced on Jan. 13, and has grown from 100 to more than 300 daily passengers in its first few weeks of service. Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tri-Rail train eyes expansion to VA center in Riviera Beach BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. More than 5,000 people were evacuated from Russia's Crocus and 100 more were rescued in the fire, the representative of the Crocus Group said, Trend reports. On March 22, unknown people began firing at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Region, using automatic weapons. The event occurred prior to the start of the Picnic band's concert. The Russian Federation's Investigative Committee states that the death toll from the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall has increased to 137. The bodies of 68 individuals have been recognized. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) The jury trial for two suspects in the 2017 murder of 16-year-old Janell Carwell was set to start Monday, March 25, at 9 a.m., but the trial is on hold as the Augusta District Attorneys Office appeals a recent decision to exclude certain evidence in the trial. Carwells stepfather, 45-year-old Leon Lamar Tripp, and her mother, 42-year-old Tanya Faye Tripp, are accused of murdering her following a successful indictment in November 2023. A judges order last week to exclude statements made by defendant Leon Tripp was quickly followed by an appeal from the Augusta District Attorneys Special Victims Unit. According to D.A. Jared Williams, The DAs Special Victims Unit is fighting for justice for Janell. Last week, the trial court ruled that statements made by Defendant Leon Tripp should be excluded from evidence. The following day, we filed an appeal of that decision to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Trial will not commence until the Supreme Court issues a ruling. Our highest priority is presenting the strongest case possible and ensuring justice for our community. Carwell first disappeared Easter 2016; her remains were found almost two years later in March 2018. Also scheduled Monday was a bond hearing for Leon and Tanya Tripp. Bond in both cases was denied. Both Leon and Tanya Tripp remain in the custody of Richmond County Sheriffs Office. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF. Researchers have found people can increase self-compassion and reduce stress with a daily mental health routine: Think about what bothers you, notice what arises in the body and then send warmth inside with a question: "How can I be a friend to myself in this moment?" Zacharie Scheurer/dpa Los Angeles (tca/dpa) - Eli Susman was a fairly experienced meditator when he attended a month-long retreat at Plum Village, a Buddhist monastery in Southern France in 2017. The PhD candidate in clinical science at UC Berkeley in the US had been on other retreats where participants spent most of their time meditating. So he was surprised when he saw that the daily Plum Village retreat schedule included only 30 minutes of formal seated meditation a day. Midway through the retreat he decided to extend one of his sessions, sitting beneath a tree for three hours. Later, he ran into a monk named Brother Treasure and told him about his practice. The monk's response was not what he expected. "Three hours?" Susman remembers Brother Treasure telling him with a smile. "How about three breaths? That's all it takes to step into the present moment." The words stuck with Susman. It led him to wonder whether an abbreviated practice that takes no more than a few breaths can make a difference in someone's life. Seven years later, he and his colleagues at Berkeley's Golden Bear Sleep and Mood Research Clinic have evidence that it might. Earlier this year they published a paper online in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy that describes how a simple 20-second self-compassion "micropractice" lowered stress levels and improved the mental health of undergraduate volunteers who did it every day for a month. "Two of the biggest barriers people have for developing a meditation habit is having the time to do it and developing the habit of doing it regularly," Susman said. "Micropactices are like tiny training sessions that are based on the most potent parts of therapeutic practices." Below, Susman describes the practice he developed for the study and explains how anyone can use it to try to feel better in less than one minute a day. This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity. How do you describe the 20-second self-compassion micropractice that you studied? The instructions we gave were to close your eyes and call to mind something about yourself that has been bothering you and making you feel unworthy, unloved or not enough and notice what arises in the body. Then we asked people to send kindness and warmth to themselves by placing one hand over the heart and another over the belly with the energy of giving themselves a hug and notice what arises in the body now. Next, we invited them to ask themselves, "How can I be a friend to myself in this moment?" Finally we told them to open their eyes when they were ready. And doing this for 20 seconds a day really made a difference in the lives of study participants? Yes, but it only worked for people who practiced it regularly. In our study we looked at the subset of people who practiced daily and at the whole sample of people who were given the instruction. More frequent practice was associated with greater increase in self-compassion and a greater reduction in stress and mental health problems like symptoms of depression or anxiety compared to a control group. What are some ways that people can send kindness and warmth to themselves? The key phrase we used in the study was "How can I be a friend to myself in this moment?" What we meant by that is imagine you were seeing a friend or your younger self in a similar situation and you were being really caring to that friend. What would you tell them to do? How would you ask them to be? You can also imagine yourself receiving unconditional love from someone like a mentor, a parent or a close friend. How would they relate to you in this moment of suffering? Is there a way you can give that same compassion to yourself? Does it matter where people do this practice? We didn't look at that, but that's a great question. Why is it helpful for people to touch their stomach and chest while doing the exercise? There has been so much work on touch and how beneficial it can be for people to receive touch, but it had not been looked at as a standalone intervention for emotional well-being in terms of people offering self-compassionate touch to themselves. I was interested in the synergy between thinking self-compassionate thoughts and doing this embodied form of self-compassionate touch. It offers two potential ways of regulating yourself. I should also say that we told participants they could choose other forms of touch like stroking yourself on the cheeks or giving yourself a hug. What's most important is that the method of touch supports you in feeling compassionately toward yourself. I was surprised that the majority of students who participated in the study said they were too busy to do this 20-second practice everyday. What's that about? I was just joking with a friend about this, and she said that when people are stressed they can get wrapped up in feeling like they can't take 20 seconds to pause. It might be more a mind-set than a reality, but there is more work to be done on how to help people feel like those 20 seconds are going to make a difference in their lives. We wash our hands for 20 seconds. We brush our teeth for two minutes. Why not take 20 seconds to do this? Do you have any advice on how people can make this practice a habit? It can be helpful to choose a cue. You can practice after morning coffee in the living room or whenever you're feeling stressed if you can get yourself to do it then. The more specific you are in describing your cue and developing your plan the more likely you are to develop the practice into a habit. Does this research suggest there is no reason to do a longer practice? Most of the participants in our study were novice meditators or people who had never meditated before, so we don't know how this would look with people who have a really dedicated meditation practice or are very experienced with meditation. Rigorous research is needed for whether shorter practices have advantages over longer practices, and for whom those advantages may be most pronounced. Also, just like brushing teeth is not a replacement for going to the dentist, this micropractice should not be a replacement for therapy or more intensive mental health care. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is to step down after safety questions piled up for the company (Jim WATSON) Boeing announced Monday a leadership shakeup headlined by the departure of CEO Dave Calhoun as the aviation giant faces heavy scrutiny following safety incidents and manufacturing issues. Calhoun will depart at the end of 2024. Stan Deal, Boeing's head of commercial airlines since 2019, will exit immediately, while the company's chairman, Larry Kellner, a former airline CEO, will depart after the company's annual meeting this spring. Replacing Deal will be longtime Boeing executive Stephanie Pope, while former Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf will serve as the new chairman. The sweeping personnel changes come in the wake of Boeing's near-catastrophic incident in January when a fuselage panel on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 Alaska Airlines jet blew off mid-flight. Calhoun called the Alaska Airlines incident a "watershed moment" for the company in a letter to employees, predicting the aviation giant would ultimately emerge as "a better company." Several analysts greeted the action, but cautioned that it would take time for Boeing to turn itself around. Shares advanced on the announcement, which follows criticism of Boeing's manufacturing and quality control practices from the Federal Aviation Administration. - Restive clients - Boeing has also faced heavy questioning from airlines, who had requested a meeting with the Boeing board in a move seen as a sign of restiveness among carriers. The Alaska Airlines incident put Boeing back in the hot seat, a familiar spot after a 20-month grounding of the 737 MAX following fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019. Boeing had originally tapped Calhoun, a longtime board member, as CEO after ousting former chief Dennis Muilenburg in December 2019 amid widespread criticism of Muilenburg's handling of the MAX crisis following the crashes. Calhoun's tenure was challenged by the effects of the MAX grounding, and the severe industry downturn due to Covid-19 that was quickly followed by a frenzy of new orders from airlines facing surging post-pandemic travel demand -- with the flood of orders straining the industry's supply chains. In April 2021, Boeing extended Calhoun's contract as CEO potentially through 2028, raising the company's retirement age to 70. But in recent weeks the company has faced questions following other potentially dangerous episodes, including an incident in New Zealand in which a Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost altitude mid-flight from Sydney to Auckland, injuring some passengers. But the Alaska Airlines incident has proved especially bruising, generating a skit on Saturday Night Live and prompting an uptick in consumer requests to avoid Boeing aircraft while booking online travel. - Mixed reaction - The leadership changes were praised by Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary as "much needed" as the Irish carrier pointed to delayed new aircraft deliveries as a drag on the company's prospects. But Michel Merluzeau, an aeronautics specialist with consulting firm AIR, expressed misgivings, saying, while there is a need for "fresh enterprise leadership" at the top, "the urgency lies primarily on the factory floor." Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown said Boeing "has been left largely rudderless," and that whomever is recruited as the next CEO "will have a mountain to climb in terms of enacting culture change in the organization and restoring the company's safety credentials." In an interview with CNBC, Calhoun described the personnel changes as "all about a clear path to give our best people internally an opportunity to shine in front of the board to demonstrate everything that they can do." Formerly head of Boeing Global Services, Pope was promoted to chief operating officer in January. She takes over commercial planes immediately. With degrees in electrical engineering, Mollenkopf, a Boeing board member since 2020, will lead the search for the next CEO. In his letter, Calhoun praised Kellner for recruiting "superb" board members, including members with engineering degrees or aviation safety backgrounds, in some cases replacing outgoing board members who were politicians or Washington insiders. Shares of Boeing rose 1.4 percent. bur-jmb/nro Donald Trump arrived at Manhattan Supreme Court Monday to make a last-ditch attempt to dodge a trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. The former president arrived at the lower Manhattan courthouse with his Secret Service entourage around 9:45 a.m., where jury selection had been slated to start in whats expected to be his first criminal trial of four before the release of old court records threw the timeline into disarray. Trumps lawyers have asked state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss the Manhattan district attorneys case based on filings tied to his ex-fixer Michael Cohens 2018 conviction recently provided by the feds, which they claim help his case and should have been obtained sooner by prosecutors. They have argued the trial tentatively set for mid-April should be delayed by at least three months if Merchan wont toss the case and that prosecutors should be sanctioned. DA Alvin Braggs office says Trumps outrage over the documents which he obtained after bringing a subpoena in January boils down to an eleventh-hour bid to delay the case. They have asked Merchan to delay the case no longer than he already has. In filings last week, prosecutors asked Merchan to disregard his wild and untrue allegations and said they diligently sought to procure evidence from Cohens case last year and shared with him what that got. They said a tiny portion of the newly released paperwork is relevant to the charges against Trump. The Republican frontrunner for president has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records that allege he concealed checks to Cohen in 2017 to disguise that they were repayment for a hush money payoff to Daniels before the 2016 election. Braggs office says Trump misclassified 34 payments to Cohen totaling $420,000 as payment for legal services to cloak a broader catch and kill scheme his then-personal lawyer helped orchestrate to secure his presidential victory. Cohen, expected to be the star witness at trial, pleaded guilty to related federal charges in 2018, admitting he paid off Daniels at Trumps behest and copping to other crimes, including tax evasion and lying to Congress about Trumps business dealings with Russia. Also, on Monday, Trumps grace period to secure around half a billion in his civil fraud case to stave off foreclosures while he appeals is expected to expire. Its unclear what action the New York attorney general plans to take immediately if any if he doesnt secure the money with the court. Both sides are waiting for an appeals court to rule on Trumps effort to pause the devastating February judgment from taking effect. Former President Trump blasted his legal challenges as "election interference" on Monday, accusing President Biden of "weaponization of our government to try to knock out" his "political opponent," while vowing to continue to fight to push off the trial date in the Manhattan district attorneys case against him. Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee, held a press conference Monday afternoon in downtown Manhattan shortly after a New York Appeals Court slashed the bond due in New York Attorney General Letitia James case by more than half, and after a trial date was set in the case brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump took questions from reporters at 40 Wall St. TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL TO BEGIN APRIL 15, JUDGE RULES, DENYING MOTION TO DELAY Former President Trump arrives at The Trump Building in Manhattan on Monday, March 25, 2024. Earlier, a New York Appeals Court slashed his bond by more than half in his case regarding alleged falsifying of business records, giving him 10 days to pay $175 million. "We're going through this weaponization of our government to try and knock out somebody's political opponent," Trump said, calling all the cases "Biden trials." "And so far, based on the polls, it's not working at all. The people understand that," Trump said. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Trumps press conference also comes after he sat in a Manhattan courtroom for hours Monday morning in the case brought by Bragg. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and former President Trump The judge presiding over that case, Judge Juan Merchan, denied Trumps motion to further delay the hush-money payments trial. Merchan announced the trial will begin on April 15. The trial was initially set to begin Monday, March 25, but Merchan pushed jury selection to mid-April after the Justice Department turned over more than 15,000 records of potential evidence from a previous federal investigation. Merchan wanted to give the defense time to go through those documents. "I don't know how you can have a trial like this in the middle of an election, a presidential election. And this is again, this is a Biden trial," Trump said. "These are all Biden trials." Trump accused prosecutor Matthew Colangelo of working for Biden. "Can you imagine? They take a guy out of DOJ and they put him into the attorney general's office and then into the Manhattan DA's office to go after Trump," Trump said. "These are all Biden trials." Colangelo worked at the Justice Department under the Biden administration. TRUMP'S $454M JUDGMENT BOND SLASHED BY MORE THAN HALF IN APPEALS COURT RULING Trump added: "I don't know that you're going to have it. I think we're going to get some good rulings." Former President Donald Trump departs The Trump Building, located at 40 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York on Monday, March 25, 2024. Earlier today, a New York Appeals Court slashed Trumps bond by more than half in his case regarding alleged falsifying of business records, giving him 10 days to pay $175 million. When asked if he would testify in the Bragg trial, which is currently set for April 15, Trump said: "I would have no problem testifying. I didn't do anything wrong." Trump was asked if a "conviction" could cost him the 2024 election, but he rejected that notion, saying a trial "could make me more popular because the people know it's a scam." "It's a Biden trial. This is a Biden. There is no trial. There's a Biden trial," he said. "This is all done by the Democrat Party, and it's all done by Biden and his group." Trump, in a swipe at Biden, added: "I don't know if it's Biden because I don't know if Biden has even sharpened. I don't know if Biden knows what's happening. You want to know the truth? Maybe he does. He probably does." "But this is all done by Biden and the thugs that work for Biden," Trump continued. "And it's a very bad thing. It's a very dangerous thing for our country." Biden's reelection campaign blasted Trump as "weak and desperate" after the news conference. "He spent the weekend golfing, the morning comparing himself to Jesus, and the afternoon lying about having money he definitely doesnt have," Biden-Harris 2024 spokesman James Singer said in a statement. "His campaign cant raise money, he is uninterested in campaigning outside his country club, and every time he opens his mouth, he pushes moderate and suburban voters away with his dangerous agenda." "America deserves better than a feeble, confused, and tired Donald Trump." Former President Donald Trump waves as he departs The Trump Building, located at 40 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York on Monday, March 25, 2024. Trump spoke to the media to address the decision by a New York Appeals Court to slash his bond by more than half in his case regarding alleged falsifying of business records, giving him 10 days to pay $175 million. Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Bragg alleged that Trump "repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election." The charges are related to alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted not to charge Trump related to the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021. Meanwhile, before the press conference, Trump said he would abide by the New York Appeals ruling, which requires him to pay $175 million bond in 10 days. The deadline for Trump to post the initial judgment set by Judge Arthur Engoron of $454 million was Monday at 11:59 p.m. Engoron made the ruling in February, after a months-long non-jury civil fraud trial. "I respect the appellate division for substantially reducing that ridiculous amount of money that was put on by a corrupt judge named Engoron. And he has to be looked at, seriously, looked at, especially what he did with valuations," Trump said, adding that Engoron is "the one he's a fraudulent evaluator where he values Mar-A-Lago at $18 million." "And people say it's worth 50 to 100 times that much. The biggest experts in the business. So he ought to be looked at and James ought to be looked at because she tried to get him. She's like the puppet master of the judge," Trump said, adding that Engoron and James are practicing "lawfare." A spokesperson for James on Monday said Trump "is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud." "The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization," James' spokesperson said. "The $464 million judgment plus interest against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands." Trump, though, stressed that the cases against him are "run by Biden and his thugs." "The only way they think they can get elected," Trump said. "And I think, so far, it's backfiring, because the people of this country understand it it's backfiring." Trump called all the cases against him "ridiculous." "This is all weaponization of DOJ and FBI," Trump said. "They raided my house in violation of a thing called the Fourth Amendment. Not allowed to do that. They raided my house in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. No notice, no nothing. They raided it. I can't believe it. Nobody can believe it." Trump was referring to the FBI's raid on his home in August 2022 as part of the DOJ's investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records. Trump pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from that case, which is led by Special Counsel Jack Smith. "We'll see how that all works out in the end. But it's illegal what they're doing," Trump said. "It's criminal what they're doing, and it's never been done before in this country." Original article source: Trump blasts 'Biden trials,' says president is weaponizing DOJ to 'try to knock out' his 'political opponent' Former US president Donald Trump steps out of 40 Wall Street following his press conference after a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan criminal court. A criminal trial against former US president Donald Trump in New York over alleged 2016 hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels will begin on April 15, three weeks later than originally planned, according to US media reports. Andrea Renault/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa A criminal trial against former US president Donald Trump in New York over alleged 2016 hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels will begin on April 15, three weeks later than originally planned, according to US media reports. Judge Juan Merchan postponed the start of the trial, originally scheduled to begin on Monday, by 30 days after Trump's defence lawyers and prosecutors both requested a delay. Multiple media outlets reported that Merchan said on Monday that a jury should be selected in time for the April 15 trial date. Trump, 77, described the case against him as a "witch hunt" and a "hoax" on Monday on his way to the courtroom. The case will likely be the first criminal prosecution of a former president in US history. Trump currently faces three other pending criminal cases as well, in addition to several costly civil lawsuits. The criminal charges against Trump in New York are related to roughly $130,000 that was paid by Trump's attorney Michael Cohen to Daniels, a prominent porn actress, during the final stretch of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Trump faces criminal charges of falsifying business records in an alleged attempt to hide the payments. He has pleaded not guilty. Daniels later publicly detailed a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier, a claim Trump has denied. Trump has not contested that Daniels was paid off, but contends that the money was intended to spare his family public embarrassment, not to help his political campaign. Cohen served time in prison for his role in the scheme after pleading guilty of violating US campaign finance law. Other pending criminal cases against Trump, who is currently running for president, include allegation of attempted election fraud and mishandling secret government documents. Trump has repeatedly denied all the allegations against him and sought to portray himself as the victim of a politically motivated justice system. New York district attorney Alvin Bragg brought criminal charges against Trump over alleged hush money payments sent in 2016 (Elijah Nouvelage) Donald Trump will in three weeks become the first former US president to face a criminal trial, a judge ruled Monday, hours after an appeals court threw the tycoon a lifeline in his bid to stave off an unrelated, half billion dollar civil fraud judgment. New York Judge Juan Merchan rejected demands from Trump's attorneys to further delay his trial on charges of paying hush money to a porn star and ordered jury selection to begin on April 15. The Republican presidential candidate denounced the upcoming trial and other cases brought against him as "election interference" by Democrat Joe Biden, his likely opponent in the November White House vote. "I don't know how you can have a trial that's going on right in the middle of an election," he said. "It's not fair." Trump is in prosecutors' crosshairs for a series of alleged crimes, ranging from falsifying business records in the hush money case to trying to overturn the 2020 election, when he became the first president in modern US history to refuse to concede and stoked a mob of supporters to march on Congress. While Trump has successfully forced delays in his other trials, Monday's decision by Merchan sets the stage for the shocking spectacle of a former president -- and strong candidate for a second term -- potentially becoming a felon. Asked by reporters if he would take the witness stand in the hush money case, Trump said he "would have no problem testifying." Trump, 77, got better news in a separate New York appeals court decision in his civil fraud case to slash a potentially crippling $454 million bond payment to just $175 million, with 10 extra days to pay. Trump had been facing a Monday deadline to fork up the huge original bond pending an appeal against a New York state judge's decision that he is liable for fraudulently conspiring to inflate his net worth. Trump risked seeing New York authorities confiscate parts of his real estate empire if he failed to come up with the bond but the appeals court decision gives him breathing room. "I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division and I will post $175 million in cash and bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly, within the 10 days," he said. - Delay, delay, drop charges? - In the hush money trial, Trump faces charges of falsifying business records for the payments made by his lawyer Michael Cohen on the eve of the 2016 presidential election to make sure porn star Stormy Daniels did not publicize a sexual encounter. Trump wanted to buy the silence of Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, because news of an extramarital affair with the pornographic performer could have been ruinous, coming right after the married businessman was heard boasting on tape that as a celebrity he was freely able to "grab" women by their genitals. A visibly exasperated Merchan pushed back against the request by Trump's attorneys to further hold back the already delayed trial by at least 90 days. The delaying tactics have a clear goal: if Trump wins back the White House he could order the Justice Department to drop his federal charges -- or even, potentially, pardon himself. Trump faces dozens of charges linked to his alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and also his hoarding of top secret documents taken from the White House. Trump has said that New York Attorney General Letitia James -- who is Black -- is "racist," and accused Judge Arthur Engeron in the civil fraud case of being "crooked." After teetering on the verge of financial calamity, Trump got positive financial news last week when it was announced that his Truth Social app would finally go public through a merger, a transaction that could net him billions of dollars. The merger shoots Trump into the 500 richest people in the world, with a net worth of $6.4 billion, Bloomberg reported. But he cannot tap into the merger funds for six months under the regulations. mdo-cl/sms The New York judge presiding over Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's hush money case against former President Trump rejected the 2024 GOP presumptive nominee's request to further delay the trial, announcing it will begin next month. Trump appeared in a New York City courtroom for an hours-long hearing related to Braggs case. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from the Manhattan district attorney's years-long investigation last year. Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump's motion to delay the trial and set the date for April 15. Trump's criminal trial was originally scheduled to begin Monday March 25 with jury selection. However, earlier this month, Merchan delayed it until mid-April in order to give the former president and his lawyers more time to go through 15,000 records of potential evidence the Justice Department shared from a previous federal investigation. Former President Donald Trump departs The Trump Building, located at 40 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York on Monday, March 25, 2024. Earlier today, a New York Appeals Court slashed Trumps bond by more than half in his case regarding alleged falsifying of business records, giving him 10 days to pay $175 million. TRUMP TRIALS: HERES WHERE EACH CASE AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT AND PRESUMPTIVE GOP NOMINEE STANDS The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said much of the newly produced material is unrelated to the state's case against Trump. Federal prosecutors have already produced more than 100,000 pages of records for review. Fox News Digital has learned, though, that at least 74,000 pages of records initially were sent only to Braggs office and not to Trumps legal team. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP JUDGE DELAYS TRUMP'S HUSH-MONEY TRIAL AMID LAST-MINUTE EVIDENCE DUMP BY FEDS Trumps lawyers were seeking a 90-day delay or a dismissal of charges against him, arguing there were violations in "the discovery process," whereby both sides exchange evidence. Defense lawyers said a 30-day delay was "insufficient." New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, right, has been investigating former President Trump for alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Trump's lawyers have said the materials from the federal investigation are critical for his defense in the state case being brought by Bragg. TRUMP LAWYERS MOTION TO ADJOURN MANHATTAN DA TRIAL UNTIL AFTER SCOTUS RULES ON PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Bragg alleged that Trump "repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election." Former president Donald Trump arrives at The Trump Building, located at 40 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York on Monday, March 25, 2024. TRUMP SLAMS BRAGG AFTER PLEADING NOT GUILTY: 'I NEVER THOUGHT ANYTHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN IN AMERICA' The charges are related to alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. In 2019, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York opted not to charge Trump related to the payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021. Original article source: Trump hush money trial to begin April 15, judge rules, denying motion to delay NEW YORK The first criminal trial of a former U.S. president in the nations history will kick off April 15 in Manhattan with jury selection in Donald Trumps Stormy Daniels hush money case, a judge ruled Monday after rejecting the former presidents efforts to avoid it. Following a hearing on what was supposed to be the first day of the trial before the recent release of old court records tied to Michael Cohen threw the timeline into disarray, state Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan found no truth to Trumps claims that the Manhattan district attorneys office had illegally sought to sabotage his defense through evidence suppression. Trumps lawyers had asked Merchan to dismiss the DAs case based on filings tied to his former fixers 2018 conviction recently provided by feds in the Southern District of New York, which they claimed helped his case and should have been obtained sooner by prosecutors, or delay the trial, and to issue sanctions against prosecutors. DA Alvin Braggs office, in turn, asked Merchan to disregard the wild and untrue allegations and said they diligently sought to procure evidence from Cohens case and shared with Trump what they got. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said a tiny portion of the newly released paperwork around 300 pages out of 195,000 was relevant to the charges against Trump; on Trumps side, they considered it to be more in the ballpark of tens of thousands. Merchan said starting the trial on April 15 gave Trumps side enough time to review the new docs. He said it was really disconcerting that Trump attorney Todd Blanche couldnt cite case law, (a) statute, anything to support the defenses position that the federal prosecutors office was under the DAs control or direction. Because the allegation that the defense makes in all of your papers about the peoples misconduct is incredibly serious, unbelievably serious, the judge said. You are literally accusing the Manhattan district attorneys office and the people assigned to this (case) of engaging in prosecutorial misconduct and of trying to make me complicit in it, and you dont have a single cite to support that position? The judge asked Blanche how long hed been a federal prosecutor before switching to private defense. He said he was flummoxed by repeatedly reading the same things as the attorney but coming away with a totally different understanding. You read one statute, I read the same statute, I come away with a very different reading, the judge said. (The prosecution) went so far above and beyond what they were required to do, he added. Its odd that were even here. Trump scowled as he walked into the 15th-floor courtroom with his Secret Service entourage just before 10 a.m. and whispered to his lawyers throughout the hearing. He didnt look over at Bragg seated in the gallery. This is a witch hunt and a hoax, he said on his way into the courtroom. The Republican front-runner for president has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records that allege he concealed checks to Cohen in 2017 to disguise that they were repayment for a hush money payoff to Daniels before the 2016 election. Braggs office says Trump misclassified 34 payments to Cohen totaling $420,000 as payment for legal services to cloak a broader catch and kill scheme his then-personal lawyer helped orchestrate to secure his presidential victory. Cohen, expected to be the star witness at trial, pleaded guilty to related federal charges in 2018, admitting he paid off Daniels at Trumps behest and copping to other crimes, including tax evasion and lying to Congress about Trumps business dealings with Russia. It wasnt all bad news for Trump on Monday. He scored a victory in his civil fraud case midway through its hearing when an appeals court agreed to let him pay $175 million of the $454 million he owes to hold off the state attorney general going after his properties as he appeals. (Bloomberg) -- A New York judge ruled Donald Trumps first criminal trial will start April 15 in Manhattan, getting the case back on track after a short delay that was caused when thousands of pages of new evidence emerged. Most Read from Bloomberg Judge Juan Merchan made the announcement during a hearing Monday as the former president looked on. The decision virtually guarantees the trial over Trumps hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election will go to a jury long before voters go to the polls for the November election. The trial was initially set to start today, but Merchan imposed a 30-day delay on March 15 at the request of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The delay came after new documents were handed over by federal prosecutors related to a separate investigation into Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohen, who arranged the hush-money payment and is expected to be a key government witness at the trial. The presumptive Republican nominee for the November presidential election left the courtroom shortly after the trial date was set, giving a thumbs up to spectators in the front row. Outside court, he told reporters he plans to appeal the judges decision to set the trial for next month. Trump had sought a longer delay, arguing that the last-minute trove of evidence undermined his defense. This case should have been brought three and a half years ago, they decided to wait now just during the election, so that I wont be able to campaign, Trump said. I will be appealing. The judge also rejected Trumps request to throw the case out as a result of the new evidence. The former president had argued that prosecutors engaged in widespread misconduct by failing to hand over the documents sooner. The former president on Monday scored a significant victory in an unrelated civil fraud case after a New York appeals court slashed the size of the bond he must post to put a $454 million verdict on hold while he appeals. The decision lowering the bond to $175 million spares Trump from the risk of having his assets seized by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought that suit. The case will be the first to go to trial, and is one of four criminal prosecutions Trump faces as he campaigns to return to the White House amid a torrent of legal challenges. Its not clear yet when the other criminal trials will start. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has denied wrongdoing in all the cases and assailed Braggs prosecution as a witch hunt. Bragg indicted Trump almost a year ago, alleging the real estate mogul falsified dozens of business records to disguise a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair a decade earlier. It was part of an alleged scheme to suppress salacious and potentially damaging allegations by Daniels and others from being published that threatened to hurt his 2016 campaign for president. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance and tax charges tied to the hush-money payments. At the time, prosecutors said Cohen paid a porn star $130,000 to buy her silence about a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. The US said the payment was made with Trumps knowledge but didnt charge him because the Justice Department maintained a sitting president could not be indicted. Braggs state indictment unsealed last April alleged Trump falsified his companys business records by claiming he reimbursed Cohen for legal work to conceal the true nature of the hush-money payments. (Updates with detail from the hearing.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. The search operation at the site of the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall has been extended until 17:00 on March 26, the governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyev said, Trend reports. He made a remark during the meeting of the operational headquarters. "The term of the search operation has been extended until the next day, until 5 p.m.," he emphasized. To note, unknown people staged a shooting with automatic rifles at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, on March 22. The incident occurred before the start of the concert by the band Picnic. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reports that the death toll in the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall has risen to 137 people. The bodies of 68 people have been identified. Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel Donald Trump on Monday crowed to reporters that he wont have to sell any assets to appeal his civil fraud case, thanking a New York appellate panel for its professionalism in reducing the former presidents bond from $464 million to $175 million and giving him an extra 10 days to raise the cash. Following the decision, Trump held a press conference in the lobby of 40 Wall Street, which New York Attorney General Letitia James could still seize if Trump doesnt come up with the money. If I have to spend 500 million on the bond, I would have to start selling things, Trump said. [Now], I dont have to sell anything. Trump has been posting furiously on social media, insisting that Nobody has ever heard of anything like this before. He said he would be forced to mortgage or sell Great Assets, perhaps at Fire Sale prices. But on his way out of court this morning, Trump said would post the $175 million in cash or bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly within the 10 days. Trump Gets a Massive Lifeline on Half-Billion-Dollar Bond James sued Trump and his company for business fraud, successfully making the case in court that Trump inflated the true value of his assets in order to get preferable loan rates from lenders and insurers, and reduced those same valuations in order to pay less in taxes. Trumps attorneys previously asked that his bond be set at $100 million. Under New York State law, a civil defendant must first put up the money ordered by the court in order to mount an appeal. In typical fashion, Trump veered from subject to subject at Mondays press conference, blaming his myriad legal woes on Biden and his thugs, crooked prosecutors, fraudulent judges, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and a host of other real and imagined enemies who he complained are trying to damage Trump as much as possible. He repeated over and over, inaccurately, that the cases against him amount to election interference. Its not fair, Trump bellyached. Its not fair at all. He described his company as phenomenal, claiming the Trump brand is one of the most valuable brand values. Why should I let a crooked judge make a decision to give $450 million that allows me to spend very little money on my campaign? Trump continued. If I so choose, I'll be spending money on my campaign. I might spend a lot of money on my campaign So we were gratified by the professionalism of the opinions today. I thought it was a very, I think its a very important opinion for New York. But the only thing that's going to really solve that problem, when I win, because youre gonna have to win because no company is going to be coming to New York if I don't win. That case, that case is a scam. Its a sham and its a hoax. Trump also called Attorney General Letitita James the most obnoxious and the worst attorney general in the nation, boasting that his flagging Twitter clone, Truth Social, is hot as a pistol. He claimed, however, that he was trying to avoid the New York Stock Exchange as the social media platforms parent company, Trump Media & Technology, prepares to merge with a so-called blank check companyeffectively taking the social platform public in the process. Were treated too badly in New York, Trump said. Billionaire GOP Donor Owned Shares in Trump Media Merger Partner: NYT Mondays decision means James is temporarily blocked from enforcing the penalties handed down by Justice Arthur Engoron, including a three-year ban on Trump running a business in New York State. Following last months $454 million judgment, James granted Trumpwho boasted on social media recently of having ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH at his disposala 30-day grace period to raise the money, which expired Monday. Last week, Trumps attorneys wrote in a court filing that securing a bond of that size was a practical impossibility, as [v]ery few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude. Trump had tried, and been rejected, by more than 30 surety providers, according to the filing. 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. Former President Donald Trump and several of his co-defendants charged in the Georgia election interference case submit an application to appeal Judge Scott McAfees ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue to prosecute them. The filing calls McAfees ruling a legal error. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024. Georgia election interference Trump and several co-defendants appeal judges decision on Willis Key players: Trump co-defendants Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, Robert Cheeley, Michael Roman, David Shafer, Harrison Floyd and Cathy Latham, Judge Scott McAfee, former lead prosecutor Nathan Wade, Georgia Court of Appeals Lawyers for Trump and several of his co-defendants submitted a formal application to appeal McAfees ruling that allowed Willis to continue to try the case against them on the condition that Wade step down, the Associated Press reported. The filing with the Georgia Court of Appeals states that McAfee erred as a matter of law when he did not disqualify Willis from handling the case. This legal error requires the Courts immediate review, the filing states. Earlier this month, after holding hearings on whether to dismiss Willis due to conflict of interest claims brought by Trump and his co-defendants, McAfee issued a blistering ruling that criticized Willis and Wade for their tremendous lapse in judgment regarding their romantic relationship. But he added that Georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices even repeatedly. McAfee allowed the defendants to appeal his decision, but has also made clear that the appeal would not impede the court from moving forward with the election interference and racketeering case. Why it matters: Trumps lawyers have shown repeatedly that they will vigorously pursue each and every line of defense available in the criminal and civil cases brought against the former president. Though Wade stepped down from the Georgia case, Willis, who is asking McAfee to begin the trial in Fulton County well before the 2024 election, is far from in the clear. Recommended reading _______________________________ Thursday, March 28 _______________________________ Prosecutors who have charged former President Donald Trump with election interference and racketeering relating to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia tell Judge Scott McAfee that the First Amendment does not protect him from prosecution in the case. Trumps lawyers tell the judge that contesting election results is protected by the Constitution, but Fulton County prosecutor Donald Wakeford counters that each of the 10 felony counts Trump faces was employed as part of criminal activity with criminal intentions. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024. Georgia election interference Trumps lawyers, prosecutors spar over First Amendment protections Key players: Judge Scott McAfee, Fulton County prosecutor Donald Wakeford, Trump lawyer Steve Sadow, former Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer, Shafers lawyer Craig Gillen, pro-Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, Judge Tanya Chutkan McAfee heard arguments Thursday on whether the charges in Georgia against Trump should be dropped because they violate his First Amendment rights, ABC News reported. Trump is charged with conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in Georgia, a contest that he continues to claim was rigged despite a lack of evidence to support that assertion. What do we have here? Sadow added. We have election speech, which is 'protected' from government restriction." Wakeford countered: Its not that the defendant has been hauled into a courtroom because the prosecution doesnt like what he said. He is free to make statements and to file lawsuits and to make other legitimate protests. What he is not allowed to do is employ his speech and his expression, and his statements as part of a criminal conspiracy to violate Georgias RICO statute. McAfee did not issue a ruling on the question, but has previously denied similar motions to dismiss from Chesebro and Powell, both of whom have since pleaded guilty in the case. In the federal election interference case, Chutkan has already ruled that the First Amendment doesnt protect Trump from being prosecuted for seeking to overturn the 2020 contest. Gillen argued that the charges against Shafer should be dropped because he was simply attempting to comply with the advice of legal counsel when he posed as an official state elector to challenge Bidens victory. Gillen also sought to have the term fake elector stricken from the indictment against his client. Why it matters: McAfee didnt offer many indications Thursday on how he might rule on the motions to dismiss the charges against Trump and Shafer. Given his prior rulings and Chutkans most legal experts see them as a long shot. Recommended reading _______________________________ Wednesday, March 27 _______________________________ Judge Scott McAfee will hear arguments Thursday on motions brought by former President Donald Trump and former Georgia Republican Party chairman David Shafer seeking to have the charges on the election interference case dismissed. This is the first hearing since McAfee ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could continue to prosecute the case against Trump so long as lead prosecutor Nathan Wade stepped aside. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024. Georgia election interference Key players: Judge Scott McAfee, former Georgia Republican Party chairman and Trump co-defendant David Shafer, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, former lead prosecutor Nathan Wade On Thursday, McAfee will hear arguments on motions filed by Trump and Shafer seeking dismissal of more charges. The hearing is the first since McAfee ruled that Willis could remain on the case as long as Wade stepped aside. Trumps motion asks the court to dismiss the charges against him on the grounds that they violate his First Amendment rights. Similar motions by other co-defendants have been unsuccessful. Shafer is asking McAfee to dismiss all of the eight felony charges against him stemming from his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, saying he was simply following the advice of his legal counsel when he sought to line up an alternate slate of state electors. Earlier this month, McAfee, citing a lack of detail, tossed six of the criminal counts. Trump now faces 10 felony counts instead of 13, but McAfee said Willis could add information and go back to a grand jury to try to have the charges restored. Following McAfees ruling on the defendants' motion to have Willis removed from the case, Wade stepped aside. Thursdays hearing will be livestreamed beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Why it matters: While McAfee has allowed Trump and his co-defendants to appeal his ruling on Willis, he has also made clear that he will push forward with the case in the meantime. Willis plans to ask McAfee to schedule the start of the trial this summer, CNN reported. If McAfee agrees, that could mean that a jury could still come to a verdict before the 2024 presidential election. ___________________________ Tuesday, March 26 ___________________________ Judge Juan Merchan slaps a gag order on former President Donald Trump that prevents him from making public statements about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his hush-money criminal trial, which is set to begin on April 15. The gag order comes just hours after Trump attacked Merchan and his daughter in a social media post. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024. New York hush money Judge hits Trump with gag order Key players: Judge Juan Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg On Tuesday, Merchan sided with Bragg, issuing a gag order on Trump that is designed to prevent him from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses in the hush money trial, court staff, prosecutors, jurors or their family members, the Associated Press reported. Merchan limited the gag order to statements made with the intent to materially interfere with, or to cause others to materially interfere with, counsel's or staff's work in this criminal case, or with the knowledge that such interference is likely to result. Hours before Merchan issued the gag order, Trump attacked him and his daughter in a social media post. Judge Juan Merchan, a very distinguished looking man, is nevertheless a true and certified Trump Hater who suffers from a very serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, Trump wrote. In other words, he hates me! Trump also wrote that His daughter is a senior executive at a Super Liberal Democrat firm that works for Adam Shifty Schiff, the Democrat National Committee, (Dem)Senate Majority PAC, and even Crooked Joe Biden. Merchans gag order, which comes one day after the judge set an April 15 start date for the hush money trial, does not prevent Trump from commenting on him or Bragg in general. Why it matters: Merchan will oversee the first-ever criminal trial of a former president of the United States. While Trumps lawyers have successfully delayed the start of all of the four criminal trials in which he is charged with felony counts, the hush money case is the only one certain to be heard by a jury prior to the 2024 election. __________________________ Monday, March 25 __________________________ A New York appeals court on Monday lowers the bond amount that former President Donald Trump must pay as he appeals the $464 million judgment in his civil fraud trial, saying he can put up just $175 million within 10 days. The 11th-hour deal temporarily prevents New York Attorney General Letitia James from moving to seize Trumps assets. In Trumps hush money trial, Judge Juan Merchan says jury selection can begin on April 15. Here are the latest legal developments involving the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024. New York financial fraud Appeals court rules in favor of Trump hours before bond deadline Key players: Trump, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron On Monday, a New York appeals court lowered the bond amount Trump and his co-defendants must pay in order to appeal Engorons $464 million judgment in his civil fraud trail to just $175 million, Semafor reported. The appeals court also gave Trump 10 days to pay that sum. Speaking to reporters outside a hearing in his criminal hush money case in Manhattan, Trump said he would do so very quickly. I greatly respect the decision of the appellate division, he said. And I'll post either $175 million in cash or bonds or security or whatever is necessary very quickly within the 10 days. James had begun clearing the way to seize some of Trumps assets in order to secure the full bond amount. Why it matters: Trumps lawyers had argued that the original bond amount, which included interest, was excessive. They also told the court that 30 lenders had refused to give them a loan to cover the $464 million bond. This ruling buys Trump more time, and could keep James from freezing his bank accounts and seizing his assets. Hush money case Judge sets April 15 start date for Trumps hush money trial Key players: Judge Juan Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, adult film actress Stormy Daniels, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen With Trump looking on in court on Monday, Merchan ruled that the hush money trial could begin jury selection on April 15, the Daily Beast reported. The trial had previously been scheduled to begin on March 25, but Merchan delayed it until April 15 after federal prosecutors submitted new evidence stemming from their investigation of Trumps ties to Russia during the 2016 election. Merchan ruled Monday that the newly disclosed documents did not have any bearing on the hush money case, which will decide whether Trump broke New York campaign finance and tax laws when he paid Daniels $130,000 in 2016 to hide an alleged extramarital affair. Trumps lawyers had sought to have the case dismissed or to have it postponed so that they could have more time to review the newly disclosed documents. The defendant has been given a reasonable amount of time to prepare, Merchan said. Why it matters: Trumps lawyers have skillfully delayed all of the criminal trials facing the former president. But Mondays ruling could mean that that streak is coming to an end. With reporting from Dylan Stableford In a potential escalation of his simmering feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis, former President Donald Trump called for a loyalist to run against Tampa area U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee later this summer. Lee, a first-term representative whose district covers parts of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, was the only Republican member of Floridas congressional delegation to endorse DeSantis for president over Trump last year. When DeSantis dropped out of the race in January and endorsed Trump, Lee followed suit. But Trump doesnt appear to have forgiven the original slight. Any great MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Floridas 15th Congressional District? the former president posted to his social media site Truth Social on Sunday night. IF SO, PLEASE STEP FORWARD! No challenger for Lee has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, according to its website. A potential Republican primary would be Aug. 20. However, hours after Trumps post, former state Rep. Jackie Toledo of Tampa, who previously ran for the seat in 2022 only to lose to Lee, indicated that she would run. Great MAGA Republican answering the call and ready to serve #MAGA Toledo posted to X along with a picture of her in a Trump cowboy hat. Before she was in Congress, Lee served as Floridas secretary of state, overseeing elections in the DeSantis administration. A Trump spokesperson didnt respond to requests for comment about whether the former presidents move against Lee is a direct result of his strained relationship with DeSantis. But since DeSantis began to make noise about running for president, there has been no love lost between the two men. And since DeSantis left the race for president, hes gone out of his way to comment on the former president at times. He reportedly told supporters he would not serve as Trumps running mate in 2024, and said Trump and his team were weighing identity politics as they made their pick. He called this a mistake. DeSantis also said he would veto a bill providing taxpayer-funded legal aid for Trump during the legislative session. The legislation was withdrawn by its sponsor soon thereafter. DeSantis office declined to comment. Lees did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky who also endorsed DeSantis in the presidential race, criticized Trump for the post. This is unhelpful and unwarranted, Massie wrote on X. More of my colleagues should call out these ridiculous bullying tactics. This is a breaking news story that may be updated. A New York appeals court on Monday reduced the $454 million that former President Donald Trump was required to put up while he appeals his civil fraud case. Now Trump must put up, by April 4, a mere $175 million. The trouble is, he may not get a bond for that amount, either. Should that happen, this act of judicial mercy will end up feeling to Trump like a curse. The stay deprives Trump of the only argument on which he was gaining any traction at allthat the amount the court required him to put up was excessively high. Four hundred and fifty-four million was indeed an unusually large judgment against a private corporation or individual. (The distinction between Trump and the Trump Organization is paper-thin.) Mondays appeals court decision doesnt reduce that judgment, as New York State Attorney General Letitia James pointed out in a written statement. But it does dramatically reduce the amount Trump needs to turn over to the state while he pursues his appeal. It also gives us some hint that the appeals court may reduce Judge Arthur Engorons $454 million judgment to, well, $175 million. Before the stay, Trump was quite literally comparing his financial situation to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In a posting early Monday morning on Truth Social, he quoted this message from a supporter: Its ironic that Christ walked through His greatest persecution the very week they are stealing your property from you. My own (less blasphemous) view was that, yes, Trump was being singled out for harsh punishment by Judge Engoron, but that this was appropriate because Trump insists on making himself an exception to every rule. When finally matters escalate and Trump is called to account, he always whines that hes being treated worse than others. Its no more unusual to fine Trump $454 million than it is to send the FBI to collect documents that Trump refused to turn over to the National Archives. Such actions dont occur in a vacuum. Trump makes them happen. In a press conference after the stay, Trump continued to attack Engoron and James, but he had kind words for the appeals panel. We were gratified by the professionalism of the opinion today, Trump said. He also seemed to suggest that he might put up the $175 million in cash. I have a lot of cash, he said, and I dont need to borrow money. But Trump hedged his bets in a post on Truth Social, saying, We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash. Ill be very surprised if Trump puts up his own cash, not least because the amount may represent as much as half of his liquid holdings. More likely hell go back to his bond brokers. I asked Mark Levinson, a bond broker with Brunswick Companies (and my new best friend) about the revised $175 million target. Thats still a very large number, Levinson said, for a private appeal bond (as opposed to an appeal bond for a publicly traded company). But its probably manageable for Trump, Levinson said. Id be surprised if he didnt get it. But Levinson presumes a degree of rationality in Trump that may not exist. Trump may or may not have $175 million in securities above and beyond the $91 million in a Schwab brokerage account that he reportedly used to collateralize a bond backed by Chubb in the E. Jean Carroll case. We know Trump has a lot of equity in Truth Social, which he just took public, but hes barred for six months from using that as collateral. And even if Trump possesses additional liquid investments, hell be reluctant to put them up as collateral for the same reason that surety firms prefer collateral in the form of cash and securities to collateral in the form of real estate: Its much easier to grab in the event that Trump loses his appeal. Which, lets face it, is likelier than not. What surety firm would step forward to cover a $175 million bond for Trump? Levinson told me he thinks it will be Chubb. We know (from Trumps legal team) that Chubb tried very hard to put together a deal on the $454 million, finally giving up because the deal depended on using real estate as collateral. But we also know that Chubb caught a lot of flak for underwriting Trumps $91 million Carroll bond, and that Chubbs chief executive, Evan Greenberg, ended up writing a letter to investors and employees explaining why it would lend that much money to a man so very famous for stiffing his creditors. Greenbergs rationale was not very clear, raising suspicions that he expects some unsavory return from a future President Trump. Does Greenberg want to invite even more inquiries into Chubbs possible motives? At the press conference, Trump seemed not to have given up on the idea that his real estate holdings could be used as collateral on the $175 million. Most buildings, I have no debt, Trump said. Most clubs, I have no debt. As with many things that Trump says, any relationship these assertions bear to the truth would be mere coincidence. Trump also went on about the value of his brand, even going so far as to assert that I became president because of the brand. Was Trump trying to suggest that the Oval Office might be leveraged to compensate whatever fool lends him $175 million? Possibly so. In the meantime, New Yorks appeals court sets Trump up for possible humiliation three days after Easter. Robbed of his crown of thorns, Trump still may not come up with the cash. If that happens, he wont be the Messiah. Just a deadbeat. Former President Donald Trump said Israel has to finish up the war in Gaza in a Monday interview with an Israeli news outlet, adding that the country has to be very careful because it is losing a lot of support. The presumptive Republican nominees comments come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled an Israel delegation that was set to visit Washington after the U.S. allowed a resolution calling for a cease-fire to pass the U.N. Security Council. Trumps remarks also come as President Joe Bidens administration has grown increasingly critical of Israels planned military offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than 1 million Palestinians have sought refuge from the conflict. In an interview with Israel Hayom, a publication owned by the family of the late conservative real estate magnate Sheldon Adelson, Trump suggested he would have acted very similarly to Israels government in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants. But he also said Israel made a very big mistake with photos and imagery of bombs dropped on Gaza helping push public opinion against the war. I wanted to call [Israel] and say don't do it, Trump told the outlet. These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, that's a terrible portrait. It's a very bad picture for the world. Trump who has described himself as the most pro-Israel president ever has previously suggested the need for a quick end to the war in Gaza. But, while not getting into details, he also seemed to support Israels strong military response, saying in early March that Israel had to finish the problem. Mondays interview did not touch on Israels potential offensive in Rafah, conditions around Hamas release of hostages or a postwar plan for Gaza. Trumps comments come as the Israel-Hamas war has also been a flashpoint in the presidential race, with Biden facing pushback from Arab American and progressive voters who have called on the Democratic president to do more to push for a cease-fire, and limit or condition U.S. aid to Israel. Former President Trump says Israel made a very big mistake with the invasion of Gaza, noting that broadcast images of the widespread destruction have turned many against the country in his strongest criticism of Israel since the beginning of its war against Hamas last year. In an interview with Israel Hayom on Sunday, Trump criticized the Israeli government for its publicizing its mass-bombing campaign against Gaza and the rampant destruction caused by its ongoing ground invasion, which came after more than 1,100 Israelis were killed in a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Trump said a rise in antisemitism in the U.S. and abroad is because Israel fought back. I think Israel made a very big mistake, he said. I wanted to call [Israel] and say dont do it. These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, thats a terrible portrait. Its a very bad picture for the world, he continued. The world is seeing this every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people. It would say it was given by the Defense Ministry, and said whoevers providing that, thats a bad image. Trump reiterated his support for Israel, but he said images of the heavy-handed military response have sparked anti-Israeli and antisemitic sentiment. Go and do what you have to do. But you dont do that, he said, referring to mass bombings. And I think thats one of the reasons that there has been a lot of kickback. If people didnt see that, every single night Ive watched every single one of those. And I think Israel wanted to show that its tough, but sometimes you shouldnt be doing that. He later urged the countrys leadership to change its public image in the conflict. Israel has to get better with the promotional and with the public relations, because right now theyre in ruin, Trump said. Theyre being hurt very badly, I think in a public relations sense. The criticism comes as Democrats continue to raise pressure on the Israeli government over civilian casualties and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. While both Trump and President Biden have stated they strongly support Israel, Democrats have been more aggressive in recent weeks in critiquing the country. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for new elections in Israel earlier this month, which Trump criticized. Biden also said the Israeli military offensive has gone too far, arguing that the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hurting Israel more than helping Israel. Trump similarly called out those comments, claiming Biden dumped Netanyahu. Trump has mostly stayed out of commenting on the Israel-Hamas war, sending mixed messages on specifics while adding he supports Israel. In November, he said the conflict should be left to let things play out, while earlier this month he urged the Israeli government to continue its invasion of Gaza. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Former President Trump said Monday he will pay a $175 million bond set by a New York appeals court in his civil fraud case. We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash, Trump wrote on Truth Social. A five-judge state appeals court panel in a Monday ruling said it would pause the enforcement of the $464 million judgment against Trump, the Trump Organization and top executives, with interest, if they post a $175 million bond within 10 days. The pause comes after Trumps lawyers admitted last week that, despite diligent efforts, it would be impossible for the former president to secure a full appeals bond due to lack of cash on hand. Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social he has nearly $500 million in cash and told state lawyers last year in depositions he had substantially in excess of $400 million in cash. The former president on Monday thanked the appeals court for its decision and tore into Judge Arthur Engoron, who handled the fraud case against him. Judge Engoron is a disgrace to this country, and this should not be allowed to happen, Trump told reporters at a Manhattan courthouse, where he was attending a hearing in the case against him over an alleged hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign. A spokesperson for the New York attorneys office noted in a statement that the $464 million judgment against Trump and his business still stands. Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud, the spokesperson said. The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family and his organization. Trump had in recent days warned he may have to hold a fire sale of his assets to cover the judgment against him. Updated at 12:20 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at 40 Wall Street after a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan criminal court, Monday, March 25, 2024, in New York. A New York judge has scheduled an April 15 trial date in former President Donald Trump's hush money case. Judge Juan M. Merchan made the ruling Monday.(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Former President Donald Trump said he would have responded the same way as Israel did after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas but urged the country to finish up its offensive in Gaza and get this over with," warning about international support fading. You have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up. Youve got to get it done, he said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. Weve got to get to peace. You cant have this going on, and I will say Israel has to be very careful because you are losing a lot of the world. You are losing a lot of support. Trump, who earlier this month became the Republican Partys presumptive nominee, brought up global criticism of Israel's offensive even as he has repeatedly attacked President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict. According to the newspapers transcript of the interview, Trump said Israel made a very big mistake in releasing photos and videos of its offensive in Gaza, commenting the countrys public image is in ruin. A video shared of the interview does not show those comments. Thats a terrible portrait. Its a very bad picture for the world," Trump said. "I think Israel wanted to show that its tough, but sometimes you shouldnt be doing that. The Israel Hayom is widely seen as a mouthpiece for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Soon after the attack in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, Trump denounced Netanyahu for allegedly letting him down while he was in the White House. He also said Netanyahu was not prepared for the deadly incursion from Gaza. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Trump also again suggested that American Jews were wrong to support Democrats, days after being criticized by some Jewish advocates for saying Jewish Democrats were being disloyal to their religion. He alleged that Biden supports the enemy. Just as the polls showed that Donald Trump enjoyed a consistent lead over incumbent Democratic president Joe Biden, the notoriously outspoken Republican candidate blundered into a minefield. When asked during an interview about his plans for Social Security and Medicare, Trump said: So first of all, there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting. And in terms of, also, the theft and the bad management of entitlements... theres tremendous amounts of things and numbers of things you can do. This was not only false the fiscal challenges of entitlements have next to nothing to do with theft and bad management but potentially suicidal in political terms. The Trump campaign hastily walked back Trumps remarks, but his carefully-cultivated image as a defender of Social Security and Medicare had been shattered. To compound the damage, on March 20 the Republican Study Committee released a radical budget plan that would replace Medicare with a less generous system of premium support in essence, a voucher system and cut benefits for future retirees by raising the age of full retirement from 67 to 69 in 2033. The increase in the full retirement age may not seem like much, but the most popular age for taking Social Security is 62, rather than todays full retirement age of 67. Americans in difficult or unstable jobs, who are disproportionately found in the new working-class base of Trumpism, often have no choice but to take earlier retirement with lower benefits. Under the new RSC plan retirees would see their benefits cut by 13 per cent. The Republican Study Committee justifies the benefit cuts on the basis of increases in life expectancy. But differences in life expectancy based on income and social class in the US are extreme. In todays America, the richest men live 15 years longer than the poorest men, and rich women live 10 years longer than poor women. The bipartisan consensus among ordinary Americans is clear: solve the shortfalls by raising taxes, not by cutting benefits. In a 2018 poll, 68 per cent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters said that no benefit cuts should be made, while only 31 per cent supported some reductions; the numbers for Democrats and Democrat-leaners were 78-22 against cuts. Established in 1935 as part of President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, the Social Security program has enjoyed bipartisan popularity from the beginning. In 1954 then-president Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, told his brother Edgar in a letter: Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labour laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things... Their number is negligible and they are stupid. Seventy years on, many Republicans have failed to understand the message. How else could you explain Senator Rick Scott and the members of the Republican Study Committee, who keep pushing proposals to cut or privatise Social Security in direct opposition to the wishes of Republican voters? There are two answers to this question. The first involves the ideological disconnect between the Republican partys increasingly multiracial non-college educated working-class voter base, whose members tend to be culturally conservative but economically populist and in favour of New Deal entitlements, and the wealthy college-educated libertarians who are the dominant force among the partys donors, policy experts and journalists. The free-market radicals of donor-funded Conservatism, Inc despise Social Security precisely because it is a government program that is both efficient in minimising old-age poverty and popular across party lines. Crass financial self-interest on the part of some Republican donors is a factor as well. If Social Securitys finances are bailed out in part by increasing payroll tax rates or lifting the cap on wage income subject to payroll taxes ($168,600 in 2024), or by money from general revenues, taxes will go up on the affluent and the rich. Conversely, Wall Street money managers would enjoy windfall profits, if Social Security benefit cuts forced more Americans to put more tax-favoured retirement savings in private accounts from which mutual funds could skim fees. Attempts to meddle with Social Security have blown up in the faces of Republicans before. In his second term in the White House, George W. Bushs proposal to divert money from Social Security to unstable private investment accounts in the stock market was so unpopular with Republican voters themselves that it was never even debated in Congress all the more remarkable when you consider that Republicans then controlled both houses. Donald Trump won the Republican nomination and the presidency in 2016 by running as a different kind of Republican who if elected would not try to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits a promise he kept as president. Hes hardly blind to the powerful electoral ramifications of messing with welfare, after he successfully painted his Republican primary rivals as eager to roll back benefits for the elderly. Biden, scrambling for popularity, has spotted a chink in Trumps armour. Hes been accusing the GOP of wanting to place Social Security on the chopping block since his 2023 State of the Union address. If Democrats succeed in turning the 2024 election into a referendum on the popular Social Security and Medicare programs, instead of the Biden administrations own unpopular immigration, energy, and border policies, Trump and many congressional Republicans will have nobody to blame but themselves. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Days after claiming Jewish Democrats who criticize Israel hate the country and hate their religion, Donald Trump went on a confusing rant in which he both criticized Israeli military actions in Gaza as a big mistake and indicated he would have responded similarly to the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks. In an interview with an Israeli newspaper published on Monday, Trump said he would have responded to Hamas terrorist attacks very much the same way as [Israel] did. Trump Rages at Jews Who Vote for Democrats, Claims They Hate Israel Only a fool would not do that, he said. But asked in a follow up how he would counter the wave of antisemitism unleashed after Oct. 7 as president, Trump suggested the rise in hatred was due to Israels response. Well, that's because you fought back, Trump said. And I think Israel made a very big mistake. I wanted to call [Israel] and say don't do it. These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, that's a terrible portrait. It's a very bad picture for the world. The world is seeing this every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people, Trump continued. In his harshest criticism of Israel since he lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the weeks after Oct. 7, Trump painted the Israeli bombardment more as bad optics than a humanitarian disaster, ignoring the tens of thousands of civilians reported dead and the widespread concerns of impending famine in Gaza. Go and do what you have to do, Trump said of Israels government. But you don't do that. And I think that's one of the reasons that there has been a lot of kickback. If people didn't see that, every single night I've watched every single one of those. And I think Israel wanted to show that it's tough, but sometimes you shouldn't be doing that. Trump Claims Hed Get Israel to End the War in Gaza Quickly Beyond complaining at length about the countrys response to the Oct. 7 attacks in an interview with Israel Hayom, Trump also criticized President Joe Biden in even more blunt terms. He can't put two sentences together, Trump said of Biden. He can't talk. He's a very dumb person. He's a dumb person. His foreign policy throughout 50 years has been horrible. If you look at people that were in other administrations with him, they saw him as a weak, ineffective president, [Hamas] would have never done that attack if I were there." In the days following the Hamas attacks, Trump said Netanyahu let us down when the U.S. assassinated Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani and said the Israeli military needed to step up its game. The former president did not mention the right-wing prime minister once in his interview with the newspaper whose favorable coverage of Netanyahu earned it the nickname "Bibiton. 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. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall was carried out by radical Islamists, Trend reports. We know that the crime was committed by the hands of radical Islamists, he said. To note, terrorists staged a shooting with automatic rifles at the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, near Moscow, on March 22. The incident occurred before the start of the concert by the band Picnic. As a result of the terrorist attack, 182 people were injured and 139 people died. WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) There are new developments in former president Donald Trumps legal cases. A trial date is set in the hush money case, and Trump will no longer have to pay out nearly $500 million in a fraud case. The former presidents criminal hush money case is moving forward next month after a New York judge set the trial to begin April 15th. I dont know how youre going to have a trial right in the middle of an election. Not fair. Not fair. Not fair at all, said Trump. Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors say Trump hid hush money payments he made before the 2016 election to cover up an extramarital affair with porn actress Stormy Daniels. Trump called the timing political, and said the trial is rushed. The judge cannot go faster. He wants to get it started so badly, said Trump. Trump had asked to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court decides if he has presidential immunity from prosecution. In a separate civil case, Trump was dealt a win. Prosecutors were preparing to seize Trumps real estate assets because he could not scrape up the cash for a $464 million bond while he appealed the case. The New York Appeals Court gave Trump more time and reduced the bond to $175 million which Trump says he can pay. I respect the Appellate Division for substantially reducing that ridiculous amount of money, he said. That payout is part of a fraud lawsuit where a judge ruled Trump lied about his wealth when applying for loans. Trump has said he did nothing wrong. Trump calls all the legal cases against him election interference by democrats who want to keep him off the campaign trail. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC. Donald Trumps first criminal trial will begin on April 15. Judge Juan Merchan ruled on Monday that the former presidents criminal hush-money trial will kick off next month. The ruling comes after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg agreed to delay the initial start date of March 25 so that his office could review new records from the U.S. Attorneys Office. Merchan rejected Trumps latest push to delay the trial even further, while excoriating his team for making bogus allegations of misconduct against Bragg. You are literally accusing the Manhattan DAs office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it, the judge said. Trump was not happy with Merchans decision. This is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference, he said outside the hearing. They decide to wait until now, just during the election, so that I wont be able to campaign. I will be appealing this. The ruling is all but final, although Merchan is allowing Trump to file a motion arguing that the trial should be delayed on the grounds of pretrial publicity. Braggs office will have a week to respond, although the office noted on Monday that pretrial publicity has been caused and exacerbated by the defendant, according to CNN. In other words, the trial is almost certainly kicking off next month. Bragg indicted Trump last March on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to keep her quiet about her alleged affair with Trump. Trump would be criminally indicted three more times in the ensuring months twice by the Justice Department and once in Georgia by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis but its looking like the case in Manhattan is the only one that will go to trial before the 2024 election. Trump has repeatedly decried his legal troubles as a Democratic conspiracy to prevent him from retaking the White House. He continued to allege election interference while speaking to the press outside of the hearing on Monday. I dont know how you can have a trial that is going on right in the middle of an election, he said. Its not fair at all. He knows that. Hes a Democrat judge and he wants to do that because theyre all trying to damage Trump as much as possible. Well bring crime back to law and order, the former president added. More from Rolling Stone Best of Rolling Stone Two men have been cleared of the murder of a man near a railway line in West Lothian. Liam Kell and Michael Di Folco were charged with the killing of Blair Gault in Livingston on 16 November 2021. They were accused of murdering the 32-year-old by striking him on the head and body with a knife on a footpath. But Lord Ericht acquitted the pair after jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh returned a verdict of not proven. Mr Kell, 36, and Mr Di Folco, 53, had been arrested in connection with the death in early 2022. Mr Gault was discovered seriously injured between between Fintry Avenue and Buchanan Crescent and pronounced dead at the scene. Police Scotland said he had been subjected to a "sustained and violent" attack. DALLAS - Two Dallas Police Department officers were injured after they were dragged by a suspect who drove off as they were approaching the vehicle. This happened at about 6 a.m., in the 5500 block of Alpha Road. Police said two officers were investigating a suspicious vehicle. It was running, but hadnt moved, and as the officers approached, the suspect drove off, dragging the officers. The officers were taken to a hospital, where they were treated and released. Police are still searching for the suspect. No further details were released about the suspect or vehicle. A view of the scene of an accident involving some 40 vehicles near Wuerzburg, in Germany's Bavaria region, where two people were killed and 27 others were injured after a pile-up. Merzbach/News5/dpa Two people were killed and 27 others injured in a pile-up involving some 40 vehicles on the motorway near Wurzburg, in Germany's Bavaria region. A 52-year-old woman and a two-year-old child died at the scene, while another child had to be taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, a police spokesman said in the early hours of Monday. Authorities said the motorway had to be fully closed in the direction of Nuremberg until early on Monday following three accidents on a wet stretch of road within a short period of time on Sunday afternoon. According to authorities, the first chain of crashes involving 17 cars occurred at around 4 pm (1500 GMT), when some drivers distracted by a damaged vehicle at the side of the road crashed into one another. Two people were seriously injured and nine others suffered minor injuries as a result. Immediately afterwards, several hundred metres behind, more cars piled into stopping vehicles. As a result, three vehicles caught fire. The woman and the small child died, while three people were seriously injured - including the child with the life-threatening injuries - and 11 people were slightly injured. Around half an hour later, there was another accident at the end of the traffic jam, also involving three veh icles. This resulted in two minor injuries. The police, fire brigade and emergency services were deployed in large numbers. According to the Bavarian Red Cross, three rescue helicopters landed on the motorway. A view of the scene of an accident involving some 40 vehicles near Wuerzburg, in Germany's Bavaria region, where two people were killed and 27 others were injured after a pile-up. Merzbach/News5/dpa A view of the scene of an accident involving some 40 vehicles near Wuerzburg, in Germany's Bavaria region, where two people were killed and 27 others were injured after a pile-up. Merzbach/News5/dpa Two people were killed and 27 others injured in a pile-up involving some 40 vehicles on the motorway near Wurzburg, in Germany's Bavaria region, authorities said on Monday In a separate accident, three people were killed and four remain in hospital with life threatening injuries after a 40-year-old man ploughed into oncoming traffic on a state road in Lower Saxony, authorities said on Monday. Both accidents occurred on Sunday. In Bavaria, a 52-year-old woman and a two-year-old child died at the scene, while another child had to be taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, a police spokesman said. Authorities said the motorway had to be fully closed in the direction of Nuremberg until early on Monday following three accidents on a wet stretch of road within a short period on Sunday afternoon. According to authorities, the first chain of crashes involving 17 cars occurred at around 4 pm (1500 GMT), when some drivers distracted by a damaged vehicle at the side of the road crashed into one another. Two people were seriously injured and nine others suffered minor injuries as a result. Immediately afterwards, several hundred metres behind, more cars piled into stopping vehicles. As a result, three vehicles caught fire. The woman and the small child died, while three people were seriously injured - including the child with the life-threatening injuries - and 11 people were slightly injured. Around half an hour later, there was another accident at the end of the traffic jam, also involving three vehicles. This resulted in two minor injuries. The police, fire brigade and emergency services were deployed in large numbers. According to the Bavarian Red Cross, three rescue helicopters landed on the motorway. In Lower Saxony in Emstek, police said the middle-aged man drove his car into oncoming traffic on a state road and collided head on with a car, ramming into the rear of another. A total of eight people were injured. The front seat passenger of the oncoming car as well as the three passengers in the car that caused the accident reportedly suffered life-threatening injuries. A view of the scene of an accident involving some 40 vehicles near Wuerzburg, in Germany's Bavaria region, where two people were killed and 27 others were injured after a pile-up. Merzbach/News5/dpa Two teenagers were arrested in connection with a robbery in Boston over the weekend, police said. The teens, Ramon Batiz, 18, of Hyde Park, and a 15-year-old boy, are now facing several charges after they were arrested late Saturday night, police said. Batiz was charged with breaking and entering into a building in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony, malicious destruction of property, and larceny from a building, police said. He is expected to be arraigned in East Boston District Court The 15-year-old boy, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was charged with delinquent to wit; breaking and entering into a building in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony, malicious destruction of property, and larceny from a building, police said. He is expected to be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court. At about 11:41 p.m. Saturday, officers responded to the area of 247 Meridian St. for a report of a commercial alarm. When officers arrived, they saw the front door was shattered. Officers checked the area, and saw some people walking from the area. As officers approached the group, they attempted to conceal themselves behind bushes, police said. Officers were able to detain one suspect. While officers were in the area of London Street, a second suspect, later identified as Batiz, approached them and told officers that he wanted to confess to a robbery he was involved in, police said. Batiz was placed under arrest and transported back to the police station for booking. The next morning, around 5:45 a.m. Sunday, detectives and members of the Drug Control Unit in East Boston executed a search warrant at 4 London St., where multiple items that were stolen from the Super Smoke Shop were recovered, police said. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution Monday that demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gazaa resolution the U.S. refused to veto, adding to growing tensions between Washington and Tel Aviv. Instead, the U.S. opted to abstain from voting, which allowed the resolution to pass despite it being the only countryout of 15to not vote in favor of a ceasefire for the remainder of Ramadan, a month of prayer and fasting for Muslims. United Nations members indicated they hoped the hypothetical ceasefire, which also called for the release of remaining Israeli hostages, would continue indefinitely. The U.S. abstention angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Monday canceled a delegations planned trip to Washington in retaliation. That delegation included Netanyahus top aides, Ron Dermer and Tzachi Hanegbi. In a statement from Netanyahus office, the prime minister said the U.S. was harming Israels war effort and its refusal to veto was a clear retreat from the consistent U.S. position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. U.S. FINALLY Pressures Israel by Submitting Immediate Gaza Ceasefire Resolution at U.N The United Nations chamber reportedly erupted in applause after the U.S. declined to veto the breakthrough resolution, which is legally binding. It is arguably the most significant international pressure to date that calls on Israel and Netanyahu to call off hostilities. Finally, finally, the Security Council is shouldering its responsibility, said Algerias U.N. Ambassador Amar Bendjama, The New York Times reported. It is finally responding to the calls of the international community. Debate over the resolution continued until the last second, the Times reported, with the U.S. asking for a change in the text that removed permanent ceasefire and replaced it with lasting ceasefire. The U.S. said it ultimately abstained from voting because the resolution did not add a condemnation for Hamas Oct. 7 attacks to the text. Israeli officials have given no indication they plan to halt their assault in Gaza, which Palestinian officials say have left more than 32,000 dead, including thousands of women and children. Joe Biden, once a strong supporter of Israels response after the Oct. 7 massacre that sparked war, has distanced himself from Netanyahu in recent weeks. Most recently, Biden said he had deep concerns over a planned Israeli ground invasion of Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip into which over a million Palestinian civilians have been cornered. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now. Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now. The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the duration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as well as the unconditional release of all hostages. The resolution, which passed to widespread applause, is the first to be approved by all U.N. Security Council members after four previous attempts during the past five months of war. The U.S., which vetoed three previous resolutions and put forward its own failed proposal last week, abstained. U.N. Security Council resolutions are binding on member states, though it remains unclear how it will be enforced. Despite some efforts to take U.S. edits to the resolution into account, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the U.S. did not agree with everything in the resolution, most notably its failure to include explicit condemnation of Hamas. For that reason, we were unfortunately not able to vote yes. Read More: Why Biden Proposed a U.N. Ceasefire Resolution That Was Vetoed by Russia and China The U.S.s decision to abstain from the resolution comes amid heightened tensions between the Biden Administration and the Israeli government, the latter of which has been unwilling to heed international calls for greater humanitarian access to Gaza, where experts warn that famine is imminent. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also rebuffed the Biden administrations warnings against launching a ground invasion on Gazas southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians are currently sheltering. Although President Biden invited an Israeli delegation to Washington this week to discuss alternative approaches to a ground invasion, Netanyahu threatened to cancel those meetings if the U.S. didnt veto the resolution. After the resolution passed, Netanyahus office announced that the delegation would not leave for Washington as scheduled. White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the Biden Administration is "very disappointed about Netanyahu's decision not to send his advisers for talks at the White House about the Rafah operation." While human-rights organizations have praised the resolutions passage, many of them, such as the International Rescue Committee, continue to call for a sustained ceasefire beyond Ramadan, which is due to end in just two weeks. More from TIME Write to Yasmeen Serhan at yasmeen.serhan@time.com. The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court likely will not issue their opinion on the use of mifepristone until late spring. Oral arguments are set for Tuesday. (Photo by Jane Norman/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON The same U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion will hear oral arguments Tuesday over access to mifepristone, a pharmaceutical used in both medication abortion and miscarriage care. The nine justices will then decide whether to leave access to the drug intact or require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revert prescribing instructions to what were in place before 2016. The court decision will affect the entire country, including states that have sought to shore up access to reproductive rights following the Dobbs ruling less than two years ago. The Supreme Court opinion, likely not to come until late spring, will land in the middle of a presidential campaign in which Democrats are elevating the question of reproductive rights. The debate is also likely to affect GOP efforts to grow their majority in the U.S. House and flip the Senate red. Trend toward medication abortion Medication abortion, a two-drug regimen that uses mifepristone and misoprostol, was used in 63% of abortions in the United States during 2023, according to a report released earlier this month by the Guttmacher Institute. The new data shows a continued trend away from procedural abortions and toward medication abortion, which is approved up to 10 weeks gestation, that has been steadily increasing since the FDA originally approved mifepristone in 2000. Medication abortions accounted for about 6% of pregnancy terminations in 2001, rising to 24% in 2011, before reaching 53% in 2020, according to Guttmacher. During the last calendar year, the report says there were 1,026,690 abortions throughout the country, with 642,700 of those being medication abortions. The numbers may not represent the full picture, however. The medication abortion counts for 2023 do not include self-managed medication abortions that take place outside of the formal health care system or abortion medication mailed to people in states with total abortion bans, the Guttmacher report states. While there are no comprehensive data on the number of self-managed medication abortions in the United States, evidence suggests they have been increasing in the past several years. Alliance Defending Freedom suit The case about to go in front of the Supreme Court, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, began in November 2022 when Alliance Defending Freedom sued the FDA on behalf of four anti-abortion medical organizations and four anti-abortion doctors. In the original lawsuit and numerous briefs since then, ADF argued that mifepristone leads to problematic situations for doctors who have to assist patients with complications from medication abortions. Theyve also made claims about safety, which have been repeatedly refuted by major medical organizations. The lawsuit had called for the judicial system to overturn the FDAs original 2000 approval of mifepristone, which U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk essentially agreed with, in his April 2023 ruling. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, heard oral arguments in the federal governments appeal of that ruling in May 2023 before issuing its decision a few months later in August. That three-judge panel said mifepristone could stay on the market, but that when and how patients can access the drug should go back to what was in place before the FDA began making changes in 2016. Telehealth and prescriptions That would lower the maximum gestational age for using mifepristone from 10 weeks to seven weeks as well as remove the option for patients to get the prescription via telehealth and have it mailed to their homes. Only doctors would be able to prescribe mifepristone, not health care professionals authorized to prescribe pharmaceuticals, like physicians assistants or nurse practitioners. Patents would have to go back to attending three, in-person doctors appointments in order to complete the process. The dosage of mifepristone and the second pharmaceutical used in medication abortions, misoprostol, were different before the changes began to take effect. The lower courts rulings never took effect and the appeals courts ruling will remain on hold until the Supreme Court issues its opinion in the case, likely this summer. Briefs filed Dozens of organizations, attorneys general and lawmakers have filed briefs with the Supreme Court seeking to inform the justices thinking in the case ahead of Tuesdays oral arguments. More than 15 major medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association, sought to reinforce the FDAs determination that mifepristone is safe and effective in their brief. Restricting access to mifepristone will not only jeopardize health, but worsen racial and economic inequities and deprive women of the choices that are at the very core of individual autonomy and wellbeing, the medical organizations wrote. They noted that major adverse events occur in less than 0.32% of patients, and that the risk of death is almost non-existent. About 145 Members of Congress from 36 states urged the court to restrict access to mifepristone in a separate brief filed with the court. Since 2016, the FDA has only required adverse events reporting for deaths resulting from chemical abortion drugs; reporting is otherwise voluntary, the members of Congress wrote, making the argument that reports are not required for injuries or impairment. This action was not only arbitrary and capricious, but it also raised safety concerns for women seeking chemical abortion drugs. Heres a timeline of the case and States Newsrooms coverage of the major events: Original lawsuit and District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruling Federal judge could decide as soon as February to yank abortion pill nationwide https://bit.ly/41shPel Attorneys general from Democratic-led states urge judge to keep abortion pill legal https://bit.ly/41eyMsy Attorneys general from 23 GOP-led states back suit seeking to block abortion pill https://bit.ly/414ns2n How the judge who could ban the abortion pill won confirmation in the U.S. Senate https://bit.ly/3KSc9EX As future of abortion pill is weighed, Democrats in Congress see little they can do https://bit.ly/3msjt0y Biden administration appeals judges ruling ordering abortion pill off U.S. market https://bit.ly/3KwWw4g Biden after Texas ruling vows he will fight to ensure access to abortion pill https://bit.ly/3GA3GUi Democratic leaders warn abortion pill ruling could endanger other FDA-approved drugs https://bit.ly/43oIkmA 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stay of district court ruling U.S. Department of Justice asks appeals court to pause abortion pill ruling https://bit.ly/43tqqPQ Democratic attorneys general urge appeals court to keep abortion pill available https://bit.ly/3o6NGD1 Texas judges abortion pill ruling supported by 69 Republicans in Congress https://bit.ly/41qFWtV U.S. Justice Department to ask Supreme Court to reject limits on access to abortion pill https://bit.ly/3MHUAbZ U.S. Supreme Court stay of district court ruling DOJ warns Supreme Court of significant chaos in health care if abortion pill rulings stand https://bit.ly/3o5ObwS U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocks limits to abortion pill access https://bit.ly/3A5RTcE Anti-abortion organizations urge U.S. Supreme Court to keep limits on abortion pill https://bit.ly/3GSu7EV U.S. Supreme Court holds off on abortion pill ruling until midnight Friday https://bit.ly/3GZ5gzn U.S. Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill as lawsuit continues https://bit.ly/3B50QDB 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Congressional Democrats urge reversal of district court ruling on mifepristone https://bit.ly/3M5UrOM Three-judge panel in U.S. appeals court hears arguments in abortion pill case https://tinyurl.com/285etkds Abortion pill to stay on the market until U.S. Supreme Court ruling after appeals court order https://tinyurl.com/h4whm3xw U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Justice Department asks Supreme Court to take up abortion pill case https://tinyurl.com/msfa5dc2 U.S. Supreme Court to decide fate of medication abortion access nationwide http://tinyurl.com/5f5yk4w5 U.S. Supreme Court schedules March 26 oral arguments in abortion pill access case http://tinyurl.com/mry6ttvm Dozens of friend of the court briefs backing abortion pill access arrive at Supreme Court https://tinyurl.com/299vsyrv Who wants the U.S. Supreme Court to limit abortion pill access? Heres the list. https://tinyurl.com/2z96n7nn More to know about the case Fear and confusion over abortion access persists as SCOTUS takes its first post-Dobbs case https://tinyurl.com/yckkjf6m Study cited by Texas judge in abortion pill case retracted https://tinyurl.com/397m2jxn Researchers call for more abortion studies to be retracted https://tinyurl.com/yjefc3c6 Medication abortion rates grew 10% over the last few years, report shows https://tinyurl.com/4kjj9c4 Study cited by Texas judge in abortion-pill case under investigation https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/study-cited-texas-judge-abortion-pill-case-under-investigation The post U.S. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments Tuesday on abortion pill limits appeared first on Arkansas Advocate. The Kremlin on Monday said currently there are no contacts between Russia and the West following the Crocus City Hall shooting which killed at least 137 people and injured over 180, Azernews reports, citing Anadoly Agency. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in Moscow that while there are no contacts with Western countries, President Vladimir Putin has had many phone conversations during the past day with world leaders, which focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in combating terrorism. Commenting on whether the US warned Russia of the attack on the concert hall, Peskov said intelligence is provided to special services, but cannot be disclosed as it falls into the category of sensitive information. Peskov said the Kremlin is currently not participating in the discussion of lifting the moratorium on the death penalty, amid discussions of taking such a step among Russian lawmakers in parliament. The spokesman refused to comment on who the detained people in the investigation surrounding the shooting are, expressing that an investigation is underway. Asked about the Daesh/ISIS group claiming responsibility for the attack, Peskov urged to rely on information from law enforcement agencies. At least 137 people were killed and over 180 others injured after gunmen on Friday opened fire when rock band Picnic was about to perform at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow region. The Investigative Committee said it detained 11 people, including four perpetrators, in the border region of Bryansk on their way to Ukraine. Moscow's Basmanny district court late Sunday charged the four perpetrators for terrorism and approved their pre-trial detention until May 22. BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 25. The US military command intends to expand the functions of the headquarters of its armed forces in Japan, Trend reports. According to the information, it is planned to enable the headquarters to independently plan joint exercises with the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and more actively exchange information with the Japanese side. The initiative, which includes a comprehensive extension of the bilateral security agreement, is expected to be approved by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a meeting scheduled for April 10 with US President Joe Biden. The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court likely will not issue their opinion on the use of mifepristone until late spring. Oral arguments are set for Tuesday. (Jane Norman/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON The same U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion will hear oral arguments Tuesday over access to mifepristone, a pharmaceutical used in both medication abortion and miscarriage care. The nine justices will then decide whether to leave access to the drug intact or require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revert prescribing instructions to what were in place before 2016. The court decision will affect the entire country, including states that have sought to shore up access to reproductive rights following the Dobbs ruling less than two years ago. The Supreme Court opinion, likely not to come until late spring, will land in the middle of a presidential campaign in which Democrats are elevating the question of reproductive rights. The debate is also likely to affect GOP efforts to grow their majority in the U.S. House and flip the Senate red. Trend toward medication abortion Medication abortion, a two-drug regimen that uses mifepristone and misoprostol, was used in 63% of abortions in the United States during 2023, according to a report released earlier this month by the Guttmacher Institute. The new data shows a continued trend away from procedural abortions and toward medication abortion, which is approved up to 10 weeks gestation, that has been steadily increasing since the FDA originally approved mifepristone in 2000. Medication abortions accounted for about 6% of pregnancy terminations in 2001, rising to 24% in 2011, before reaching 53% in 2020, according to Guttmacher. During the last calendar year, the report says there were 1,026,690 abortions throughout the country, with 642,700 of those being medication abortions. The numbers may not represent the full picture, however. The medication abortion counts for 2023 do not include self-managed medication abortions that take place outside of the formal health care system or abortion medication mailed to people in states with total abortion bans, the Guttmacher report states. While there are no comprehensive data on the number of self-managed medication abortions in the United States, evidence suggests they have been increasing in the past several years. Alliance Defending Freedom suit More to know about the case Fear and confusion over abortion access persists as SCOTUS takes its first post-Dobbs case https://tinyurl.com/yckkjf6m Study cited by Texas judge in abortion pill case retracted https://tinyurl.com/397m2jxn Researchers call for more abortion studies to be retracted https://tinyurl.com/yjefc3c6 Medication abortion rates grew 10% over the last few years, report shows https://tinyurl.com/4kjj9c4 Study cited by Texas judge in abortion-pill case under investigation https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/study-cited-texas-judge-abortion-pill-case-under-investigation The case about to go in front of the Supreme Court, Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, began in November 2022 when Alliance Defending Freedom sued the FDA on behalf of four anti-abortion medical organizations and four anti-abortion doctors. In the original lawsuit and numerous briefs since then, ADF argued that mifepristone leads to problematic situations for doctors who have to assist patients with complications from medication abortions. Theyve also made claims about safety, which have been repeatedly refuted by major medical organizations. The lawsuit had called for the judicial system to overturn the FDAs original 2000 approval of mifepristone, which U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Joseph Kacsmaryk essentially agreed with, in his April 2023 ruling. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana, heard oral arguments in the federal governments appeal of that ruling in May 2023 before issuing its decision a few months later in August. That three-judge panel said mifepristone could stay on the market, but that when and how patients can access the drug should go back to what was in place before the FDA began making changes in 2016. Telehealth and prescriptions That would lower the maximum gestational age for using mifepristone from 10 weeks to seven weeks as well as remove the option for patients to get the prescription via telehealth and have it mailed to their homes. Only doctors would be able to prescribe mifepristone, not health care professionals authorized to prescribe pharmaceuticals, like physicians assistants or nurse practitioners. Patents would have to go back to attending three, in-person doctors appointments in order to complete the process. The dosage of mifepristone and the second pharmaceutical used in medication abortions, misoprostol, were different before the changes began to take effect. The lower courts rulings never took effect and the appeals courts ruling will remain on hold until the Supreme Court issues its opinion in the case, likely this summer. Briefs filed Dozens of organizations, attorneys general and lawmakers have filed briefs with the Supreme Court seeking to inform the justices thinking in the case ahead of Tuesdays oral arguments. More than 15 major medical organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association, sought to reinforce the FDAs determination that mifepristone is safe and effective in their brief. Restricting access to mifepristone will not only jeopardize health, but worsen racial and economic inequities and deprive women of the choices that are at the very core of individual autonomy and wellbeing, the medical organizations wrote. They noted that major adverse events occur in less than 0.32% of patients, and that the risk of death is almost non-existent. About 145 Members of Congress from 36 states urged the court to restrict access to mifepristone in a separate brief filed with the court. Since 2016, the FDA has only required adverse events reporting for deaths resulting from chemical abortion drugs; reporting is otherwise voluntary, the members of Congress wrote, making the argument that reports are not required for injuries or impairment. This action was not only arbitrary and capricious, but it also raised safety concerns for women seeking chemical abortion drugs. Heres a timeline of the case and States Newsrooms coverage of the major events: Original lawsuit and District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruling Federal judge could decide as soon as February to yank abortion pill nationwide https://bit.ly/41shPel Attorneys general from Democratic-led states urge judge to keep abortion pill legal https://bit.ly/41eyMsy Attorneys general from 23 GOP-led states back suit seeking to block abortion pill https://bit.ly/414ns2n How the judge who could ban the abortion pill won confirmation in the U.S. Senate https://bit.ly/3KSc9EX As future of abortion pill is weighed, Democrats in Congress see little they can do https://bit.ly/3msjt0y Biden administration appeals judges ruling ordering abortion pill off U.S. market https://bit.ly/3KwWw4g Biden after Texas ruling vows he will fight to ensure access to abortion pill https://bit.ly/3GA3GUi Democratic leaders warn abortion pill ruling could endanger other FDA-approved drugs https://bit.ly/43oIkmA 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stay of district court ruling U.S. Department of Justice asks appeals court to pause abortion pill ruling https://bit.ly/43tqqPQ Democratic attorneys general urge appeals court to keep abortion pill available https://bit.ly/3o6NGD1 Texas judges abortion pill ruling supported by 69 Republicans in Congress https://bit.ly/41qFWtV U.S. Justice Department to ask Supreme Court to reject limits on access to abortion pill https://bit.ly/3MHUAbZ U.S. Supreme Court stay of district court ruling DOJ warns Supreme Court of significant chaos in health care if abortion pill rulings stand https://bit.ly/3o5ObwS U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocks limits to abortion pill access https://bit.ly/3A5RTcE Anti-abortion organizations urge U.S. Supreme Court to keep limits on abortion pill https://bit.ly/3GSu7EV U.S. Supreme Court holds off on abortion pill ruling until midnight Friday https://bit.ly/3GZ5gzn U.S. Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill as lawsuit continues https://bit.ly/3B50QDB 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Congressional Democrats urge reversal of district court ruling on mifepristone https://bit.ly/3M5UrOM Three-judge panel in U.S. appeals court hears arguments in abortion pill case https://tinyurl.com/285etkds Abortion pill to stay on the market until U.S. Supreme Court ruling after appeals court order https://tinyurl.com/h4whm3xw U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Justice Department asks Supreme Court to take up abortion pill case https://tinyurl.com/msfa5dc2 U.S. Supreme Court to decide fate of medication abortion access nationwide http://tinyurl.com/5f5yk4w5 U.S. Supreme Court schedules March 26 oral arguments in abortion pill access case http://tinyurl.com/mry6ttvm Dozens of friend of the court briefs backing abortion pill access arrive at Supreme Court https://tinyurl.com/299vsyrv Who wants the U.S. Supreme Court to limit abortion pill access? Heres the list. https://tinyurl.com/2z96n7nn The post U.S. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments Tuesday on abortion pill limits appeared first on Alabama Reflector. The U.S. Embassy in Russia warned of imminent plans by extremists to carry out an attack in Moscow two weeks before Fridays mass shooting and fire at a concert hall, but Russian President Vladimir Putin brushed off the warning as provocative fearmongering from the West. The Embassy advised U.S. citizens to avoid large gatherings over reports that extremists planned to target large events, including concerts. The warning, while issued March 7, was related to Friday nights attack, The New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter. The Embassy is monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts, and U.S. citizens should be advised to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours, the alert read. A woman lights candles at the fence next to the Crocus City Hall, on the western edge of Moscow, Russia, on Saturday. via Associated Press Putin last week dismissed the alert as outright blackmail, however, saying it was meant to sow fear in Russian society. All these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society, he said during a March 19 meeting, according to a Kremlin transcript. Three days after that public dismissal, at least 137 people were killed and more than 180 others injured after several gunmen opened fire inside of a sold-out concert at Crocus City Hall. An affiliate of the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the massacre. Russian officials have since tried to point blame for the attack on Ukraine, which it has been at war with since Putins invasion in early 2022. Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting on measures taken after a massacre in the Crocus City Hall that killed more than 130 people. MIKHAIL METZEL via Getty Images In a televised address over the weekend, Putin said four suspects captured after the attack were attempting to move towards Ukraine where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. According to the Times report, the U.S. Embassys earlier warning did not involve anything having to do with Ukrainian sabotage. The Times sources also noted that the State Department would not have used the word extremists when referring to an action ordered by Kyiv. The Embassys warning also came several hours after Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), which is the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said that it had thwarted an attack on a Moscow synagogue by a cell of the Islamic State, Reuters reported at the time. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied that his country was in any way involved in Fridays massacre. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has also said that there is no initial indication that Ukraine was involved in the attack. The U.S. has advised citizens not to travel to Russia, issuing its highest Level-4 Travel Advisory. Related... [Source] A University of California, Berkeley, computer science professor, Jonathan Shewchuk, is facing criticism for advising students to leave the Bay Area if they wanted to find a girlfriend. Key points: Following discussions with university officials, Shewchuk issued an apology, stating that he did not intend disrespect towards women . The details: In response to a student asking for advice about finding a job and a girlfriend in the Bay Area, Shewchuk replied: If you want a girlfriend, get out of the Bay Area. Almost everywhere else on the planet is better for that. Im not kidding at all. Youll be shocked by the stark differences in behavior of women in places where women are plentiful versus their behavior within artillery distance of San Jose and San Francisco. Several students immediately expressed concern and disapproval of the discussion thread in the CS 189 introductory course, which had shifted to informal dating advice. They highlighted the inappropriateness of such discussions within an academic setting, particularly citing tones of misogyny. With all due respect, I dont think this is very appropriate for a classroom discussion board (let alone at all.), one student said, according to the New York Post. This conversation is entirely inappropriate for a forum intended for learning and has tones of misogyny. As a woman taking this class Im shocked by this thread as well as the professors engagement. Shewchuks comment has since been shared to social media outlets, including Reddit and X. It prompted the university's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department chairs to meet with the professor. The Government is to inject 20 million to support growth in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, home to Britain's Astute class submarines - BAE Systems/PA The UK should have done more to boost nuclear power years ago and is running to catch up, a minister has conceded. Andrew Bowie, the nuclear minister, said he made no bones about the fact the Government is making up for lost ground with new funds for skills and jobs aimed at shoring up Britains energy security in the wake of the Ukraine war. He also said the multi-million pound investment will help refresh the UKs sea deterrent - as it will provide a boost to the nuclear workforce. On Monday, Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, is to declare a critical national endeavour to secure the future of Britains nuclear sector, with an immediate cash injection of 20 million to support growth in Barrow-in-Furness, the Cumbrian town that is home to the UKs Astute-class submarines and Dreadnought programme. This will be ramped up by a minimum of 20 million a year over the next decade to make Barrow an even more attractive place to live, work, and build a nuclear career. The Government is also partnering with industry leaders including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, EDF and Babcock to invest around 763 million in skills, jobs and education by 2030. No 10 hopes the money will create more than 8,000 career opportunities to help fill 40,000 new roles by the end of the decade. Andrew Bowie said ministers had "full confidence" in the UK's sea deterrent but acknowledged it was in need of a "refresh" - Justin Ng/Avalon Speaking to Times Radio, Mr Bowie acknowledged that the UK is now playing catch up after years of delay. I make no bones about it, we should have done this years ago, we are running to catch up but we have just this year delivered our civil nuclear road map, we have announced our intention to build a third gigawatt project [and] we are investing 350 million in new nuclear power to ease Vladimir Putin out of the nuclear fuels market, he said. We are absolutely committed to delivering small modular reactors through our competition which will conclude this year. But of course this should have been done years ago which is why we are having to take the action in the way that we are right now. He said ministers had full confidence in the UKs sea deterrent but acknowledged it was in need of a refresh. When it was put to him Britains nuclear submarine fleet was feeling the strain, he said: We have got full confidence in our submariners, in the Royal Navy and in our ability to maintain our continuous at sea deterrent, something we have been doing for over 55 years. But it is time for a refresh, that is why we have such an ambitious programme in the Dreadnought programme, combined with our Aukus programme and our civil nuclear defence projects. That is why we are making the announcement that we are today to increase our workforce here, delivering these nuclear projects, by about 40,000 people. Mr Sunak went on to give a far more positive assessment of the Tories record in an apparent rebuttal of Mr Bowies comments. Asked about the energy ministers remarks later on Monday, he told reporters at BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow: What we have seen under the Conservatives has been a renaissance in the nuclear industry and thats because the Conservative Party is one that unequivocally backs nuclear power and our nuclear deterrent. He added: These decisions do take time, but if you look at whats happened since 2010, we have green-lighted Sizewell C [and] Hinkley Point, so two nuclear power stations, we are making progress on small modular reactors and we have recommitted to our nuclear deterrent and a new generation of nuclear submarines and a replacement warhead. All of that has happened under a Conservative Government. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. The UK government has formally accused China of being behind what it called "malicious" cyber campaigns against MPs and the Electoral Commission. Two people and a company have been sanctioned over cyber-attacks. Deputy PM Oliver Dowden said they were behind attempts to access details of MPs critical of Beijing, as well as the data of potentially 40 million voters. The Chinese embassy in the UK says these are "completely unfounded" claims amounting to "malicious slander". The two Chinese nationals sanctioned by the UK are Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin and the company is Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd, said by the British government to work for the China state-affiliated cyber espionage group Advanced Persistent Threat Group 31 (APT31). The UK sanctions will freeze assets, barring UK citizens and businesses from handling their funds or resources. A travel ban will also prevent them from entering or remaining in the UK. "The UK will not tolerate malicious cyber activity," Mr Dowden said. "It is an absolute priority for the UK government to protect our democratic system and values." The Chinese ambassador is being called in to be held "to account for China's conduct in these incidents", Mr Dowden added. The US has announced that the same two Chinese nationals are among a group of seven facing criminal charges of conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in New York. Authorities in New Zealand have also accused China of targeting its parliamentary network in 2021, with the country's defence minister Judith Collins saying the Chinese state-sponsored group known as APT40 was behind the hacking activity. But New Zealand said it would not introduce sanctions, as it was not part of the government's legislative agenda. The cyber attack on the UK Electoral Commission between August 2021 and October 2022 was one of the most significant in British history. Not only were databases containing names and addresses of people accessed, but also sensitive emails from its "control systems" and between election officials over six by-elections. However, Mr Dowden said the security of elections had not been compromised and "typically does not create a risk to those affected". 'Watershed moment' The MPs targeted are all members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which scrutinises, and often criticises, the activities of Beijing. Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former minister Tim Loughton and the SNP's Stewart McDonald all faced harassment, failed hacks and impersonations by groups seeking to influence foreign dignitaries. Mr McDonald said the response from the UK was like turning up to a "gun fight with a wooden spoon". All three MPs are calling for the UK to go further and send a clear message, designating China "a threat". Sir Iain called for more sanctions against Chinese government actors, describing the deputy prime minister's statement as "like an elephant giving birth to a mouse". But he also called the announcement "a watershed moment where the UK takes a stand for human rights and an international rules-based system". He said a combative proponent of the Chinese government, known as a "wolf warrior", had been sending emails impersonating him and falsely suggesting he had altered his views on Beijing. China should be placed in the "enhanced tier" of the new foreign influence registration scheme, which would increase scrutiny on Chinese government-backed operations in the UK. Sir Iain said: "The West has to wake up to the fact this is a challenge to the very way that we live our lives. "To our belief in democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of worship. These are the things that we hold dear, but we seem reluctant to want to defend those against the others who hold none of those virtues and values and want to take ours from us." Sir Iain and Mr Loughton were among among nine UK citizens sanctioned by China over exposing human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority group. Mr Loughton warned China was "in the business of trying to influence elections and democracies as well". He said: "We need much more robust action to show China that this is absolutely unacceptable and there are consequences and those consequences will be followed through. But at the moment, they're not." Government concern Labour said it would support the government to counter state actors trying to "interfere with or undermine the electoral process". Mr Dowden credited the Defending Democracy taskforce, a committee that tracks election threats, with pinpointing China-affiliated organisations and individuals behind cyber operations. Sanctioning groups linked to China, a fellow member of the UN Security Council, is an escalation in the diplomatic tension between the two countries. This marks a major change from just a few years ago, when British leaders aimed to usher in a "Golden Age" with China. The prime minister then was David Cameron, who is now the foreign secretary. On Monday, Lord Cameron briefed about 40 Conservative MPs and peers at a meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee for about an hour, giving what one described as a "tour of the world". Several MPs suggested the UK's decision to vote for the UN Security Council Resolution on Gaza was discussed to a greater extent than relations with China, at the last session before the Easter recess. Outside the meeting, one MP told journalists Lord Cameron had suggested that the situation had changed since he had pursued a policy of greater engagement with China as prime minister. However, Labour said Lord Cameron's role as vice-president of a UK-China investment fund should also be investigated in case he had been chosen "to lend credibility to Chinese investment, as well as to the broader China brand". Acknowledging the attacks last August, the Electoral Commission said "hostile actors" had gained access to copies of the electoral registers and broken into its emails and "control systems", but added that it had neither had any impact on any elections nor anyone's registration status. The Electoral Commission has since taken steps to secure its systems against future activity. In a statement rejecting British claims of Chinese state involvement, the Chinese embassy said: "The UK's hype-up of the so-called 'Chinese cyber attacks' without basis and the announcement of sanctions is outright political manipulation and malicious slander. "We have no interest or need to meddle in the UK's internal affairs." China urged the UK to "immediately stop spreading false information" about the country, the statement added. UK government concern over Chinese espionage and parliamentary interference has been rising. In September 2023, a parliamentary researcher was arrested under the Official Secrets Act accused of spying for China. And a year before, an unusual parliamentary interference alert was issued regarding the activities of UK-based lawyer Christine Lee. The government stresses it has rejected or wound down Chinese investment in infrastructure in recent years on national security grounds. A soldier of the Russian army instructs conscripts at a recruiting station in the city of Tambov before being sent to serve in the army. Stock photo: getty Images UK intelligence has analysed whether Russia is capable of forming and providing two new armies, the creation of which was previously announced by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu. Source: UK Ministry of Defence's intelligence review on 25 March, reported by European Pravda Details: UK Defence Intelligence noted that the exact location and composition of these units were not specified, although it is likely to be a combination of mechanised armoured artillery and logistics units. It is possible that these new formations are related to previous announcements by the Russian side about the creation of new units and the planned upgrade of already existing brigades to divisions. UK intelligence added that given Russia's successful recruitment efforts, it is likely that these units could be sufficiently manned. Quote: "However, given Russias limited training, widespread use of legacy equipment, and infrastructure issues, it is likely these units will suffer similar resourcing problems." Background: In the previous review, UK intelligence reported on the situation with Russia's construction of a railway line through the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Prior to that, UK intelligence analysed Russia's attempts to protect its oil refineries from Ukrainian strikes. Support UP or become our patron! UK deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said China was behind two recent cyberattacks (-) The UK on Monday accused Beijing-backed groups of targeting "democratic institutions and parliamentarians" in two cyber campaigns, unveiling sanctions and summoning China's ambassador. The Chinese embassy in Britain hit back, calling the claim "completely unfounded" and accusing London of "malicious slander". With Britain expected to hold a general election within months, London detailed attacks in 2021 and 2022 that targeted the Electoral Commission and UK parliamentary accounts, including those of lawmakers critical of China. "Chinese state-affiliated actors were responsible for two malicious cyber campaigns targeting both our democratic institutions and parliamentarians," Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told members of parliament. He said that both campaigns, while a "real and serious threat", were ultimately thwarted. Dowden said an unnamed "Chinese state-affiliated entity" likely "compromised" UK Electoral Commission systems, but he insisted election security was not affected. "It will not impact how people register, vote or otherwise participate in democratic processes," he said. Parliament's cybersecurity measures blocked a second campaign against lawmakers, many of whom are critical of Beijing, he added. Two individuals and one company linked to the Chinese-backed group suspected of orchestrating the campaign -- APT31 -- have been hit with sanctions over the latter case. The Chinese ambassador to London has been summoned "to account for China's conduct", Dowden said. Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith, one of the targeted lawmakers, said Beijing should be labelled a threat to the UK. He was one of several UK MPs sanctioned by China in 2021 because of criticisms of human rights abuses against China's Uyghur minority and in Hong Kong. - 'Political manipulation' - China's embassy in London slammed the accusations as "sinister action" by Britain. Blaming China for the attacks "is completely unfounded and constitutes malicious slander", it said in a statement released on its website, adding it had made a complaint to the UK side. "The UK's hype-up of the so-called 'Chinese cyber attacks' without basis and the announcement of sanctions is outright political manipulation and malicious slander." In recent years, Western nations have become increasingly willing to expose foreign cyber operations, and to point fingers at foreign governments -- most notably China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. China has "never encouraged, supported or condoned cyberattacks", the embassy statement said. But Dowden said the cyberattacks were "the latest in a clear pattern of hostile activity originating in China". The British announcement came as Washington said it had charged seven Chinese nationals in connection with a 14-year campaign against critics of Beijing. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said more than 10,000 emails were sent as part of a "prolific global hacking operation" targeting US and foreign-based businesses, politicians and journalists. Late Monday, New Zealand also revealed its parliamentary system was hacked into by a Chinese state-backed group in 2021. The country's counter-espionage agency in Wellington said a state-backed group known as "APT40" compromised computers linked to the Parliamentary Counsel Office, which drafts and publishes laws. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters that it was a "big step" to blame the cyber attack on China, his country's biggest trade partner. New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said he had instructed diplomats to "speak today to the Chinese Ambassador, to lay out our position and express our concerns". "That conversation has now taken place," he said. - 'Political interference' - The UK has for several years been at loggerheads with Beijing over crackdowns on civil and human rights in China and the former British colony Hong Kong. Ties have been strained further by the UK blocking access to Chinese companies in key British infrastructure projects, including in the nuclear and IT fields. Last year a UK parliamentary researcher was arrested under the Official Secrets Act on accusations of spying for China. In 2022, the UK domestic intelligence service, MI5, said that a female Chinese government agent had been "engaged in political interference activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, engaging with members here at parliament". In July, parliament's intelligence and security committee accused China of targeting the UK "prolifically and aggressively" and complained that the government did not have the "resources, expertise or knowledge" to deal with it. China has consistently denied accusations of espionage and other wrongdoing. burs-ryj/arb/reb/mca It will take "years" to restore Zaporizhzhia's Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, which was damaged following a Russian missile attack, the head of Ukrainian state-owned energy company Ukrhydroenergo, Ihor Syrota, said on March 25. Ukraine's largest hydroelectric power plant was hit with at least six Russian missiles on March 22 during one of the biggest attacks on the country's energy infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The Hydroelectric Power Station-2 (HPS-2), one of the two stations of Zaporizhzhia's Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, was in "critical condition" as several Russian missiles hit it directly, damaging crane girders and a support pillar, Syrota said earlier. The adjacent dam also suffered damage, but there was no danger of a breach, according to Ukrhydroenergo's head. Subscribe to newsletter War Notes Subscribe As of March 25, it is impossible to dismantle all the rubble, and the first task is to demount the upper part of the engine room to get to the lower part, Syrota said. The plant is not currently generating electricity. "We understand that the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant will be knocked out for a long time... Based on the inspection we conducted, it is clear that it will take a lot of money and time to restore the station," Syrota said on national television. Ukrhydroenergo's head said the loss of a part of the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant generation capacity led to "significant loss for the Ukrainian energy system." The recent Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia reportedly killed three people, including a child. At least 31 people were wounded, including two children, according to State Emergency Service. Russian forces also targeted Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, and other regions, primarily aiming at the energy infrastructure. Around 190 missiles, 140 Shahed-type drones, and 700 aerial bombs were used over the past week, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 24. Read also: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine's Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) and the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) have signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation in defence procurement. Source: Ukraine's Defence Ministry, as reported by European Pravda Details: Under the memorandum, the parties agreed to exchange experience and cooperate in the field of arms procurement in foreign markets. Dmytro Klimenkov, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister and Danish Lieutenant General Kim Jrgensen. Photo: Ukraines Defence Ministry Maryna Bezrukova, Chief of Ukraine's DPA, noted that procurement of modern weapons jointly with international partners is one of the key focuses of the DPA. "We strongly believe that strengthening cooperation with the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation will facilitate the conclusion of new contracts and modernisation of our Armed Forces," she said. For his part, Dmytro Klimenkov, Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister, expressed his gratitude to the Danish partners for their steadfast support for Ukraine. "This event is another crucial step in deepening our cooperation in supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine with modern weapons and military equipment," he said. Background: On 22 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting in Kyiv with Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, to discuss the strengthening of Ukraine's air defence and the prospects for joint arms production. On 12 March, Denmark announced it would provide Ukraine with a new security assistance package worth about DKK 2.3 billion (US$336.6 million). Denmark was the first country outside the G7 to sign a 10-year security cooperation agreement with Ukraine. Denmark is one of the largest donors of military aid to Kyiv compared to the size of its economy. Its previous security assistance package, worth DKK 1.7 billion (US$247.4 million), was presented in mid-February. Support UP or become our patron! A fire at the Lukoil refinery in the Nizhny Novgorod region of the Russian Federation as a result of a drone attack, March 12, 2024 The strategic operation against the Russian oil industry is a triumph of tactics, weapons, and management. Ukrainian defense forces for the first time conducted a large-scale operation to attack a strategic sector of the Russian economyoil refiningover two months, from Jan. 24 to March 25, 2024. Russian air defenses offered desperate resistance, but thanks to high-quality planning, coordination and the high quality of Ukrainian-made drones, our drone operators hit 10 oil refineries, one LNG [liquified natural gas] facility, and one regional power plant (GRES). Read also: Deputy PM Stefanishyna comments on US calls to cease strikes on Russian refineries Previously, during this war, Russia suffered only one strategic blow to its economy: the destruction of Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in 2022, which Russia used to blackmail Europe and receive excess profits from the European Union. But Ukrainian drone strikes open new opportunities for economic warfare against Russia, damage to Russian infrastructure and industry on a much larger scale. Read also: The results of drone strikes The following Russian facilities were partially or completely disabled: 1. Tuapse Oil Refinery; 2. Nizhny Novgorod Oil Refinery; 3. Ryazan Oil Refinery; 4. Novokuibyshevsk Oil Refinery; 5. Syzran Oil Refinery; 6. Slavyansk Oil Refinery; 7. Ilsky Oil Refinery; 8. Volgograd Oil Refinery; 9. Novoshakhtinsk Oil Refinery; 10. Kuibyshev Oil Refinery; 11. Ust-Luga LNG plant; 12. Novocherkassk GRES. The refineries most vulnerable modulesrectification columnswere chosen as targets. Ukrainian experts estimate direct losses from the destruction of this valuable equipment to be about $1.5 billion. Indirect losses, including a drop in refining capacity of the Russian oil industry, are estimated at more than 70 million tons per year, which is more than 25% of all Russian capacity. This led to: a 50% increase in gasoline prices in Russia; a ban on gasoline exports from Russia (a $2 billion loss for the state budged $4 billion in lost revenue from oil companies); reduction of production by 500,000 barrels per day (annual losses can reach $12 billion); significant reduction in fuel supply to the Russian military. New tactics and weapons This highly effective campaign was made possible thanks to a clear task assignment by Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy (yes, no matter how strange it sounds, but for the first time during the war its worth noting the foresight in decision-making Ukraines top political leadership) and the combination of Ukraines drone manufacturers and several segments of the countrys security forces. Various government structures were properly commanded for the first time during the war. The operation was properly funded, planned, and executed. [It was] an unprecedented event, the Ukrainian authorities have never taken any systemic actions before. Lyutyi drones with a 50 kg warhead have shown their high combat effectiveness and reliability For the first time, funds were allocated from the state budget to finance the production of the Lyutyi [Fierce] strike drone, the Ukrainian analogue of the Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones. Lyutyi was developed a year ago, in 2023, proactively, without a state order, and this project had no attention and proper financing for a long time. However, financing and mass production have begun since January 2024. Lyutyi drones with a 50 kg warhead have shown their high combat effectiveness and reliability, resistance to Russian electronic warfare, and long operational range. The Kuibyshev Oil Refinery was hit from 900 km away, with the actual flight path of the drone being even longer. The attacks became effective because, for the first time during the war, Ukraines SBU security service, Defense Intelligence (HUR), and the Armed Forces acted in unison during planning and operational development. A single control coordination center was identified for the first time, and this the center of the Ukrainian Armys Unmanned Forces, which have just been established, but are already producing results. Its important to note the role of the Army of Drones and the Digital Transformation Ministry in implementing the program. Read also: I congratulate all participants and leaders of the operation and hope that the scale of strikes on Russia will increase tenfold. The enemy must bear responsibility for the destruction of the Ukrainian economy. U.S. and EU sanctions have failed to reduce the value of Russian exports over two years, while Ukrainian drones have reduced them in just two months. And all this is done for a small amount of money, with a small number of drones. This successful Ukrainian operation could become an example to follow in other warfare domains. 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 When we think of Hollywood stars, we immediately imagine "perfect" handsome men and women with snow-white smiles, slender figures, or a toned torso and tall stature. However, external parameters can never outweigh sincere charisma and true talent. The shortest men in Hollywood are vivid proof of this. While no one believed that these actors with their height could succeed in movies, they worked tirelessly and conquered the industry with their charms. ADVERTISIMENT OBOZ.UA decided to dedicate an article to five actors who, despite their short stature, became Hollywood stars. They prove that you don't need to be tall to be successful, happy, and live a full life. Danny DeVito (147 cm) This American actor, comedian, director, and producer has gained worldwide fame for his roles in the films The War of the Roses, Batman Returns, Matilda, Twins, and many other successful projects. In the '60s, he studied at an acting school in New York, where he struck up a great friendship with Michael Douglas that continues to this day. As a great recognition of his career, in 2011 DeVito received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The actor is known for his hot-tempered personality, eccentric appearance, and self-irony. He doesn't hesitate to joke about his height, making it part of his comedic image. DeVito is also a happy family man. He is married to actress Rhea Perlman, with whom he has three children and a beautiful story of endless love. ADVERTISIMENT Peter Dinklage (135 cm) This British actor became a real star after playing Tyrion Lannister in the cult series Game of Thrones. Dinklage has won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his masterful performance. He is an example of how acting talent can overcome any barriers, including height. Dinklage was born with achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism. Despite his desire to be an actor, Peter refused to play the stereotypical roles of dwarves and elves. Eventually, he became a global star, realizing himself as a dramatic actor. One of the latest films with Dinklage's participation is a prequel to the equally iconic The Hunger Games. ADVERTISIMENT The filmmaker has also realized himself as a family man. He is happily married to theater director Erika Schmidt, with whom he has two children. Tony Cox (127 cm) The American actor and comedian became famous for his roles in the films Elf, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, and Paycheck. Cox is not afraid to take on complex and ambiguous roles, proving that a comedic actor can be dramatic. ADVERTISIMENT The actor broke stereotypes, as his role in Bad Santa was a rare case of a dwarf man playing the lead role. Cox met his future wife, Othelia, while studying in high school. They eventually married in 1981 when the star was 23 years old, and they are still together. Warwick Ashley Davis (107 cm) The British actor is best known for his role as Professor Filius Flitwick in the Harry Potter series of films. Davis also played in the films The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. ADVERTISIMENT In addition to his acting career, in 1995, Davis, along with another dwarf actor and his father-in-law Peter Burrows, founded Willow Management, a talent agency that specializes in representing actors under 5 feet (1.52 m) tall. He is also a co-founder of Little People UK, a charity organization that provides support to people with dwarfism and their families. In 1991, Davis married Samantha Burrows, with whom he has three beautiful children. Verne Troyer (81 cm) The American actor gained worldwide fame for his role as Minnie Mee in the Austin Powers series of films. Troyer also played in the films Goblin and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. ADVERTISIMENT Several times the actor appeared as himself in reality series. In 2018, the world was stunned by the news of the death of the 81-centimeter-tall actor. He was only 49 years old. He shared the last 11 years of his life with his beloved Britney Powell. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, lost 50% of its generating capacity due to Russias March 22 mass attack on the countrys energy system, the CEO of one of its subsidiaries said on March 24. Speaking on national television, Serhii Kovalenko of Yasno said it will take months for the network to recover, and the full extent of the damage and what will be required to fix it is still being assessed. "DTEK Group has lost 50% of its generating capacity. We can officially say this information," he said. The Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Ukraine's largest hydroelectric station, was hit with eight Russian missiles on March 22 during the biggest attack on the country's energy infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The Hydroelectric Power Station-2 (HPS-2), one of the two stations of Zaporizhzhia's Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, was in critical condition following the attack. The dam itself suffered damage as well, but officials said already on March 22 that there was no risk of a breach. Read also: Ukrainian drones hit one Russian oil refinery after another Kovalenko said the Russian attack was particularly damaging as it targeted both generating and distribution parts of the Ukrainian energy system. "Several types of generating capacities were hit, a large number of thermal power plants were hit, and a hydrogen-generating facility was hit," he said. "The second part is that the enemy hit a lot of Ukrenergo network nodes, transformers, etc... This attack simultaneously destroys the system's ability to transmit electricity and undermines our generation capabilities." Russias attacks on Ukraines energy infrastructure have continued in the days since parts of the city of Odesa were left without electricity after being targeted by drones overnight on March 25. DTEK said the attack had damaged a high-voltage power facility, adding: "Emergency shutdowns are in place in the city and district." Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine confirms striking 2 large Russian landing ships; Russia launches major attack on energy system Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. (Bloomberg) -- A push by several European Union member states to limit the import of grain from Ukraine is politically motivated and not an economic problem for those governments, the countrys agriculture minister said. Most Read from Bloomberg Mykola Solskyi is set to address EU agriculture ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday as the bloc remains stymied over an extension of preferential trade measures for the war-torn nation. Several member states have said the most recent proposal doesnt do enough to address the disruptive flow of Ukrainian grain, a charge that Solskyi disputed. In my opinion, as of today, this is not a trade issue, he said in an interview in Brussels on Monday. It is first of all political, to meet the demands of farmers in the EU. If we take the numbers and look at the situation objectively then I think 80% of questions that are being discussed will be lifted. Solskyi plans to meet with Frances agriculture minister and will then go to Poland, where he will also address farmers, who have been most vocal in protests urging their government to also halt the transit of Ukrainian grain. Read more: Europes Support for Ukrainian Wheat Gets Farmers Even Angrier Farmers, who have been staging demonstrations across Europe in recent weeks over Ukraines imports and the EUs regulatory burden, are planning another protest in Brussels on Tuesday outside the agriculture ministers meeting. The EU is still wrestling with how to continue supporting trade with Ukraine without hurting its own farmers. On the table is a one-year extension of the so-called autonomous trade measures that give Kyiv almost unfettered access to the EU market. The clock is ticking for a deal, with the current trade breaks set to expire on June 5. Under the most recent plan, which has yet to be approved by EU member states, tariffs would be restored if theres a surge in imports on products including corn, poultry, sugar and eggs above the average trade volumes of the past two years. The proposed safeguards, however, dont include grain, a step demanded by Poland and France. The EU imported more than 17 times the amount of soft wheat from Ukraine in the 2022-2023 season compared with the previous year, before the war, according to French agency Intercereales. Solskyi said that the Ukrainian factor isnt the main one driving down global prices because good harvests elsewhere, including in Brazil and Argentina, are carrying more impact. During his visit to Poland, Solskyi said his message will be for the Polish society and farmers to understand that there are many myths in this situation. In recent weeks, Polish farmers have blocked border crossings with Ukraine, as well as to Lithuania and Germany, demanding protection from Ukrainian imports. Read more: Poland May Close Border For Trade With Ukraine to Calm Protests If we talk about transit through Poland, grain is practically not going there at all. All the monthly transit equals about one day of Odesa ports operation, about 250,000 tons. It is not critical, he said. However, this blockade impacts other products, provokes wrong emotions, on which we need to spend time and this is not the first thing we should be doing with the Polish government. Solskyi said that if talks fail, there is an option to retaliate through the World Trade Organization but we wouldnt want to do it. Forecasting production, Solskyi said that Ukraine will produce 5%-10% less wheat this year because a smaller amount of land was sowed, while the rapeseed harvest is expected to be at the same level as last year. Similar volumes are expected on corn, oilseed and soybeans, he added. Read more: EU Proposes Imposing Punitive Tariffs on Russian Grain Imports Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Key developments on March 25: Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured Russian attack on Odesa injures 4 Navy: Russian warship Ivan Khurs may have been damaged in Ukraine's March 23 missile attack on Crimea Russian governor claims fire at power plant in Rostov Oblast disabled 2 units Defense Ministry: More than 2,000 Russian missiles downed over Ukraine since start of all-out war Russia launches another missile attack on Kyiv, at least 2 injured A series of explosions rocked Kyiv on March 25 as Russia launched yet another missile attack on Ukraines capital. Kyiv Independent correspondents in the capital heard at least four loud explosions just seconds after air raid sirens sounded at around 10: 30 a.m. local time and saw smoke rising from the left bank of the city. Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said in a post on Telegram that debris from an intercepted missile had fallen in the citys Pechersk district, damaging a non-residential building. Debris fell on a building of the Kyiv State Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts, destroying the academy's gym and concert hall, according to a Kyiv Independent reporter on the ground, citing the institution's employees. The Culture Ministry confirmed the academy was struck, adding that an employee was wounded. Debris from intercepted missiles damaged two houses in the Solomianskyi district and a house in the Darnytskyi district, where the attack also caused a fire in a non-residential building, according to the city authorities. Debris was initially also reported in the Dniprovskyi district though this was later retracted. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed emergency services had been called to the Pecherskiy, Solomyanskyi, and Dniprovskyi districts of the capital. As of 3:30 p.m. local time, the number of victims in Kyiv's Pecherskiy district rose to 10, according to the State Emergency Service. The Kyiv City Military Administration clarified that out of the 10 victims, two people were wounded and hospitalized, and the remaining eight people had suffered from shock. Klitschko said that two pregnant women and a 16-year-old girl were among the victims. The rescue operation concluded at about 6:50 p.m. local time. President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged Western allies to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems following the recent Russia's missile strike against Kyiv. Read also: 11 injured in Mykolaiv, partial blackouts in Odesa after overnight Russian drone attack Russian attack on Odesa injures 4 A Russian ballistic missile attack on Odesa injured four people, the Southern Defense Forces reported on Telegram on March 25. The air raid siren sounded in Odesa at around 5:20 p.m. local time. Explosions were heard minutes later. Two buildings were destroyed, and windows in the surrounding buildings were shattered, according to the Southern Defense Forces. Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper said that three women had been wounded, but their injuries were "not serious." Kiper also reported that due to previous attacks on the city's power network, 300,000 people in Odesa are currently cut off from electricity. Navy: Russian warship Ivan Khurs may have been damaged in Ukraine's March 23 missile attack on Crimea In addition to the landing ships Yamal and Azov, Ukraine's March 23 missile attack on Russian-occupied Crimea could have damaged the Russian military's Ivan Khurs ship, Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on March 25. Ukraine struck two Russian Ropucha-class landing ships, the Yamal and the Azov, in the Crimean city of Sevastopol in the late hours of March 23, Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed on March 24. The Yamal was "critically damaged," according to Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR). Ukraine's Navy is verifying information about the possible damage to another Russian warship, the reconnaissance vessel Ivan Khurs, Pletenchuk told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). "There is a suspicion that, most likely, it (the Ivan Khurs ship) was also damaged. As soon as we collect this information from various sources, we will be able to verify it, and then we will be able to operate on it as a fact," Pletenchuk said. The ship does not serve as an active combat unit but rather performs auxiliary functions to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, he added. Ukraine previously attacked the Ivan Khurs warship with drones in May of last year, but the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have repelled that attack. In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on occupied Crimea, targeting Russian military assets in and around the Black Sea. Russia has occupied the peninsula since 2014. As Ukraine's campaign against Russia's navy continues, Russia is redeploying its Black Sea Fleet from occupied Crimea to the relative safety of Novorossiysk, HUR reported on March 21 The Strategic Communications Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom) recently reported that as of early February 2024, 33% of the fleet's warships had been disabled, including 24 ships and one submarine. Russia has taken a number of steps to address the continuing threat, including replacing the commander of the Russian Navy earlier this month. Read also: Russian landing ship critically damaged by Ukrainian missile strike, says military intelligence Russian governor claims fire at power plant in Rostov Oblast disabled 2 units A transformer substation at the Novocherkassk State District Power Plant in Russia's Rostov Oblast caught fire overnight on March 25, claimed Vasily Golubev, the regional governor. His statement came after Russian Telegram channels wrote about multiple explosions in the region amid an alleged drone attack, citing local residents. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Rostov Oblast overnight. The Novocherkassk State District Power Plant is the largest thermal power plant in Rostov Oblast. Two high-voltage 330 kV lines, Tikhoretskaya and Rostovskaya, were automatically disconnected as a result of the fire, Golubev claimed. "The power supply to consumers has been restored. Two power units of the State District Power Plant were temporarily taken out of operation," he wrote on Telegram. The fire was quickly extinguished, and its cause is being determined, according to the governor. No casualties were reported. The Kyiv Independent couldnt verify the claims. There were no comments from Ukrainian officials on the incident. In the past weeks, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry. A total of 12 Russian oil refineries were successfully hit in multiple regions deep inside Russian territory as of March 17, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing an unnamed source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Drone attacks on Russia's oil refineries have likely disrupted at least 10% of the country's refinery capacity, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry. Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said on March 22 that Russia's oil refineries are "absolutely legitimate targets" for the Ukrainian military. Her statement followed media reports that the U.S. had asked Ukraine to stop attacking the Russian oil industry. Advisor to Ukraine's Presidential Office head Mykhailo Podolyak denied the reports, saying Kyiv did not receive any such calls from Washington. Read also: Reuters: Russias Kuibyshev oil refinery stops one of primary units after drone attack Defense Ministry: More than 2,000 Russian missiles downed over Ukraine since start of all-out war Ukraine's Armed Forces have shot down more than 2,000 cruise and ballistic Russian missiles since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Defense Ministry reported on March 25. Another two ballistic missiles, launched from occupied Crimea, were shot down over Kyiv on March 25 following multiple explosions, according to the Air Force. Debris fell in the Solomianskyi and Pechersk districts, damaging a three-story building in the latter. At least two people have been reportedly injured, and eight others suffered from shock. Moscow has launched over 8,000 missiles and more than 4,600 drones against Ukraine as of Feb. 22 since its all-out war, said Yurii Ihnat, former spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Force. "That's a result of the titanic work of Ukrainian air defenders. Thousands of lives were saved by modern air defense systems provided by our partners," the ministry wrote on X, reporting on the destroyed targets. Over the past week, Moscow launched several large-scale attacks on Ukraine's cities, including energy infrastructure. Around 190 missiles, 140 Shahed-type drones, and 700 aerial bombs were used, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 24. Local authorities reported multiple injured and killed civilians. Ukrainian officials urged Western allies to provide Kyiv with more weapons, including air defense systems and missiles, to protect Ukrainian cities from regular strikes. Read also: Russian equipment losses in Ukraine surpass 15,000, says Oryx OSINT group Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. The Ministry of Justice has announced that an international registry of damages caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine will be opened for applications in a weeks time. Source: European Pravda, citing the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine Details: The launch of the technical opening of the international Register of Damage will be announced at the Restoring Justice for Ukraine international conference, which will take place in The Hague. Foreign ministers and ministers of justice from European Union countries will attend the event. The Register of Damage is a system for recording claims from individuals, legal entities, and the state of Ukraine for compensation for damage, losses, and harm caused by Russian aggression against Ukraine. Initially, the Register will accept applications from one category of applicants, although in the future the Register will encompass 40 categories, the ministry reported. The categories of claims will include loss of life, torture and sexual violence, physical injury, forced displacement and resettlement of individuals, loss of property and income, other forms of economic losses, damage to critical infrastructure and other government assets, damage to historical and cultural heritage, environmental damage, etc. Each category will have its own submission rules. A digital platform has been created for accepting applications, and it is envisaged that all applications will be in digital format. The international Register of Damage is the first component of a global Compensation Mechanism, which was initiated by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine in May 2022 in cooperation with international partners. The Compensation Mechanism comprises the Register of Damage, the Compensation Commission, and the Fund. Quote: "We are about to launch an international commission, which will be responsible for granting compensation. It is estimated that it will take at least a year to set up. Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing with partners regarding the opening of the Compensation Fund, which is planned to be funded through the assets seized from the Russian Federation. There is still a lot of work ahead," commented Iryna Mudra, Deputy Minister of Justice and Head of the International Compensation Mechanism Development Unit. Background: Earlier, in an interview with European Pravda, Markiian Kliuchkovskyi, Executive Director of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, explained how they will seek funds from Russia to pay compensation to Ukrainians. Kliuchkovskyi announced that Ukrainians whose homes could have been affected by the impact of Ukrainian shells or missile wreckage during the full-scale Russian invasion will also be able to submit applications to the Register of Damage to receive compensation. Support UP or become our patron! Air defence forces destroyed two Russian ballistic missiles fired on Kyiv on the morning of 25 March. Source: Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of Ukraine's Air Force Quote: "The enemy launched an attack on Kyiv with two ballistic missiles from temporarily occupied Crimea at around 10:30. The targets have been destroyed, and their type is being determined." Details: The commander thanked the soldiers for their effective work. Background: On the morning of 25 March 2024, an air-raid warning was issued in Kyiv, followed immediately by explosions. The air defence system was responding. The capital's authorities reported a missile attack that caused debris to fall in the Pecherskyi, Solomianskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, and there is damage to a three-storey building in the Pecherskyi district. As of 11:46, five people were reported injured. Support UP or become our patron! Civil society organisations affiliated with the global B4Ukraine (Business for Ukraine) coalition have urged the government to retain and improve the International Sponsors of War list maintained by Ukraines National Agency on Corruption Prevention. Source: a joint statement by the organisations Details: Members of B4Ukraine expressed concern about the recent news concerning the removal of the NACP's International Sponsors of War list, as well as other critical databases relating to the Western tools and components that Russia uses to manufacture weapons. Quote from the statement: "This list has served as an essential tool in our efforts to facilitate the exit of responsible business from Russia, thereby minimising Russia's ability to continue militarising and inflicting further suffering on the Ukrainian people." The civil society organisations note that the list of war sponsors was especially useful for increasing reputational pressure on companies still operating in Russia by highlighting their continued presence and tax contributions to Russia's militarised budget. It has been used in their engagement with over 180 multinational corporations and in conversations with multiple governments. "We understand the severe diplomatic pressure faced by the Ukrainian government vis-a-vis its partners, including the G7 countries, whose businesses have appeared on the list. At the same time, to discard the list now would be shortsighted and undermine two years of efforts to degrade Russias capacity to wage this war of aggression." The signatories also pointed out that the list has the potential to be used to create the most favourable structure for Ukraine in terms of future reparations and windfall taxes on companies that are profiting from the Ukrainian people's suffering. "Therefore, despite the existing pressures from partner governments, we urge you to preserve the tool and explore all possible options, such as an urgent revision of its methodology and creating an inter-agency and legal framework that would help to strengthen it," the statement concludes. Background: Further to requests from Ukraines partners, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to remove the International Sponsors of War list from the NACP website. Ukraine is closing its list of International Sponsors of War following negative reactions from countries such as China and France. Support UP or become our patron! AFTERMATH OF RUSSIAN ATTACK ON KYIV ON 25 MARCH. PHOTO: THE STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, has called for providing Ukraine with more Patriot air defence systems and missiles for them after the Russian attack on Kyiv with ballistic missiles. Source: European Pravda, citing Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on Twitter (X) Details: Kuleba posted a video showing a group of children running to a bomb shelter during the missile strike by the Russian Federation. Children in Kyiv run for cover at 10:30 a.m. as deadly Russian ballistic missiles are shot down over the capital by air defense. There are no atrocities Russian bastards would not commit, including an attempt of a ballistic strike at the heart of a multimillion city. This is a pic.twitter.com/uc19jrwFIg Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 25, 2024 Quote: "There are no atrocities Russian bastards would not commit, including an attempt of a ballistic strike at the heart of a multimillion city. This is a reminder that Ukraine urgently requires more air defence, particularly Patriot systems and missiles capable of repelling any Russian attack," Kuleba emphasised. Background: On the morning of 25 March, an air-raid warning was issued in Kyiv, with explosions thundering in the city a few moments later. The city authorities have reported a missile attack that resulted in wreckage falling in the Pecherskyi, Solomianskyi and Dniprovskyi districts. There is information about damage to a three-story building in the Pecherskyi district. As of 11:20, there are reports that people were injured. Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, Commander of Ukraine's Air Force, reported that air defence forces destroyed two Russian ballistic missiles fired on Kyiv on the morning of 25 March. Support UP or become our patron! A queue of thousands of railroad cars has amassed at the entrance to the Crimean Bridge, some waiting for as long as six months, the Russian state outlet Kommersant reported on March 25. A queue of thousands of railroad cars has amassed at the entrance to the Crimean Bridge, some waiting for as long as six months, as reported by Russian business outlet Kommersant on March 25th. Read also: Taurus, Storm Shadow, or ATACMS West competes to see which missile will destroy Crimean bridge The Russian North Caucasian Railway has accumulated 2,500 loaded tankers carrying oil products due to restrictions on the passage of dangerous goods across the Crimean Bridge and the need to wait for ferries and tankers to arrive. This issue was deliberated at a meeting of a working group under the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 15th, as per the minutes cited by the newspaper. Read also: Russian Defense Ministry reports drone attack on occupied peninsula, Crimea bridge closed "Some of them have been standing for six months," Kommersant reports. Market participants propose utilizing tankers more for transportation to Crimea, while temporarily halting the release of additional tanks into this direction. Read also: 10 down, 3 to go Russian Black Sea Fleets Yamal ship critically damaged in Sevastopol strike Read also: Russias new Crimea railway a significant target for Ukraine HUR The downtime in the south underscores the overall shortage of oil and gasoline tanks in Russia, estimated differently from hundreds to 45,000 units. Oil companies suggest temporarily lifting the ban on extending the service life of tank cars, but railcar builders and Russian Railways oppose this 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 The burnt roof of Crocus City Hall, a concert venue on the outskirts of Moscow where several camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire, reportedly killing at least 133 people, on Friday, March 22, 2024. (Nanna Heitmann/The New York Times) KYIV, Ukraine Ukrainians have reacted with a mixture of concern and mockery to the narrative pushed by the Kremlin and Russian state media that Ukraine was behind the terrorist attack Friday on a Moscow concert hall, a claim made despite the Islamic State groups claim of responsibility. For some Ukrainians officials and citizens alike the accusations were typical of a Kremlin playbook, blaming Ukraine to justify Moscows violence against their country. That includes the false claim that President Vladimir Putin of Russia used to begin the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, stating that the country was run by neo-Nazi leaders and that the aim of the war was to denazify the country. Its typical for Russia, Iryna Blakyta, 24, a resident of Kyiv, said Monday, adding that she expected Putin to use the attack on the concert hall to rally Russians after more than two years of war. He needs to mobilize people, Blakyta said. He needs to show who the enemy is. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times But worries about Putins next steps intensified Monday morning in Kyiv, which was targeted by two ballistic missiles in broad daylight, the third air assault against the Ukrainian capital in five days. A university building in a central part of the city was reduced to rubble, and officials said at least 10 people had been injured. The United States has confirmed the claim of responsibility by the Islamic State group. And, on Monday night, Putin acknowledged that radical Islamists had executed the attack, but he also said Ukraine, backed by the West, could have masterminded the assault. Ukraine denied any involvement. Ukrainian officials said Putins hints that Ukraine was involved were in line with the Kremlins long-standing practice of sowing disinformation to cover up the failings of its security services. Putin is a pathological liar, Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraines foreign minister, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday, listing a series of bombings, murders and aggressive actions by Russia that he said were all cloaked in lies, including Russias illegal occupation of Crimea in 2014 and the downing of an airliner over Ukraine by Kremlin-backed fighters the same year. Do not let Putin and his henchmen dupe you, Kuleba said. Putin had earlier claimed in a statement about Fridays attack, which killed at least 139 people, that the suspects were heading toward Ukraine after rampaging through the concert hall and that according to preliminary information, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border. He stuck to this claim Monday. But Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraines military intelligence agency, ridiculed that claim over the weekend, saying that the Ukrainian-Russian border is an active combat zone that is heavily mined and guarded by both sides making any crossing extremely complicated and dangerous. You dont need to be a security expert to understand this, Yusov said on Ukrainian television on Saturday. He and other officials have pointed to Russias use of previous terror attacks to pursue political goals, including Putin using a deadly school siege in 2004 to consolidate political control over the countrys regions, abolishing direct governor elections until their restoration in 2012. Some Ukrainian officials and analysts have said that Russias attempts to shift the blame to Ukraine could be used to lay the groundwork for expanding conscription. Russia has captured several cities and villages in Ukraine in recent months, but at considerable human cost, making it crucial to replenish its forces. Their only goal is to motivate more Russians to die in their senseless and criminal war against Ukraine, Kuleba said. Mykola Davidiuk, a Ukrainian political analyst, said Putin wanted to portray Ukraine as a cruel enemy linked to terrorism in order to stir up aggressive attitudes toward Ukraine among Russian people. But he added that Ukrainians dont care about this narrative because they have long been used to the Kremlins spurious portrayal of the conflict. For now, people in Ukraine were left wondering whether Putin would use the terrorist attack to justify more deadly strikes against Ukraine. He needs to constantly create some reasons, to keep things in control, Blakyta said. On Monday morning, residents of Kyiv were startled by a series of loud bangs that came less than a minute after air raid alerts blared across the capital, prompting people to run in the streets to get to shelter. The Ukrainian air force said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles launched from Crimea, but falling debris destroyed a university gym. Fortunately, there was nobody inside because it was closed, Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Kyiv said as he visited the site of the strike. Nearby, investigators were busy collecting and marking missile debris to analyze and determine exactly what kind of weapon was used. Because the missiles streaked into Kyiv quickly after the alarm sounded, there has been speculation that Russia used one of its powerful hypersonic missiles, which fly at several times the speed of sound. All that remained of the university building that was hit was a huge pile of bricks, twisted metal structures and broken concrete slabs. Cars nearby were covered in a thick layer of dust, and local people watched as rescuers and firefighters cleared away the rubble, still in shock at what had happened. A column of smoke and dust rose, just like in a fog. Then, sirens, rescue vehicles, emergency services, said Evelina Korzhova, 30, standing in her flower shop, which faced the destroyed building. The shops glass window had been shattered by the blast. In his evening address Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that over the past week Russia had launched some 190 missiles, 140 attack drones and 700 aerial bombs at Ukraine. Oleksandra Mykolyshyn, Paul Sonne and Daria Mitiuk contributed reporting. c.2024 The New York Times Company FILE PHOTO: Launch of the funding appeal to support conflict-torn Sudan in 2024 at the UN in Geneva GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths, who recently pushed for more humanitarian access to Gaza, plans to step down at the end of June for health reasons, a U.N. spokesperson said on Monday. Griffiths is a British diplomat who has headed the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) since 2021. Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, did not disclose the nature of Griffiths' health concerns. "He advocated tirelessly for life-saving aid to reach those most in need and for the resources needed to do so," Haq said in a statement. "A skilled diplomat and mediator, he has played a key role in leading the humanitarian response of United Nations and partners and negotiating solutions to some of the most intractable crises." In a post on X, Griffiths said he had informed Guterres of his intention to step down in June but did not provide a reason for his decision. "To everyone at @UNOCHA, it's been the privilege of my life. I am deeply in your debt," he wrote. "To all partners and supporters, thank you for championing the cause of people in crises." Griffiths had previously served as the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen, and as an adviser to all three of the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoys for Syria, among other roles. (Reporting by Emma Farge, Michelle Nichols and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Nia Williams) Heavenly bodies influence people not only at the moment of birth, but also every day, week, and month. This gives us the opportunity to better understand ourselves, our mood, state, and prepare for the challenges of fate. ADVERTISIMENT A financial horoscope can help you better plan your budget for the week, so astrologers have prepared one for all signs. The stars can give you clues about what to expect in terms of money and help you make the right decisions. Aries The beginning of the week will be active. You will help people who need support to put their knowledge into practice, but don't let lazy people take advantage of your kindness. Aries who run their own business will act freely and stop stressing too much. People born under this sign who are looking for a job will beat the competition thanks to quick decisions. In financial matters, you will be quite stingy and won't allow yourself to spend too much. Taurus This week's aura will encourage you to relax. Working full time, you don't plan to do more than you've been assigned. ADVERTISIMENT Taurus who run their own business will be focused mainly on finding new friends to help them grow their company. If you're still looking for a job, you'll probably spend more time on vacation than sending out resumes. Be careful in financial matters because you may spend more than you plan. Gemini This week you'll learn from your mistakes. At work, your boss will limit your freedom of action, which you won't like because you'll feel like an extra burden has been placed on your shoulders. Geminis who run their own business will be very careful to ensure that all services are provided by the end of the week. And those who are looking for a job will respond to a vacancy, but quickly turn it down. In terms of finances, Gemini is not doing well because past large expenses have consumed your savings. ADVERTISIMENT Cancer The March aura encourages Cancers to enjoy life and not take on too ambitious endeavors right now. At work, do only what you have to do to avoid overexerting yourself. Cancers who run their own business can outsource the development of their company to a specialist. People born under this sign who are looking for a job will be able to convince a potential employer to cooperate on their terms. In financial matters, you will be quite irresponsible, which you will quickly regret as soon as you look at your account. Leo This week you will have many successful communication events. At your main place of work, you will feel that your authority is growing. Business people should be well prepared for meetings with clients to convince them of their proposals. At the same time, Leos looking for a job should work on their resume. ADVERTISIMENT Everything will be fine in your finances, as household expenses will be minimized. Virgo The beginning of the week will require you to resolve unresolved issues. Exciting situations may arise at your regular job, and women who run their own businesses will have to control their competitors who steal their customers. Virgos looking for a job have a good opportunity to gain new experience that they can include in their resume. In financial matters, keep your finger on the pulse, as your loved ones may spend too much money. Libra You'll have a busy week ahead of you. You'll be excited at work, so be careful as your emotions may affect your future decisions. Libras who run their own business will have some minor problems with delays, but don't worry. People looking for a job will have the power to break through, so you need to apply for an attractive position and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. ADVERTISIMENT In financial matters, be careful not to spend the last of your money. Scorpio This week's aura will encourage you to take initiative. At work, you'll make it clear that you have your own well-founded opinions. Scorpios running their own business will think about attracting a new client by introducing the company to the online world. And those who are looking for a job will recognize their mistakes during interviews and draw conclusions. Sagittarius This week you'll focus on getting things done. If you're working full time, don't put anything off. Sagittarians who run their own business will gain recognition and popularity thanks to social media. ADVERTISIMENT In turn, job seekers will have a good time and make interesting contacts that can help them find a good job. Financial matters this week will require a competent approach, as you may spend too much money. Capricorn March will finally provide answers to difficult questions. In your work relationships, you will finally dispel all doubts that prevent you from moving forward. Business owners will take their plans seriously and will even work in their free time to realize them. Capricorns who are looking for a job will find one. They will have to work hard to prove themselves. In financial matters, you'll breathe a sigh of relief as the money you've been waiting for will appear in your account. Aquarius The beginning of the week will be slow. If you work full-time, your boss will disappear from sight, so you can relax and unwind. ADVERTISIMENT Aquarians running their own business should be careful not to let certain situations get out of hand. People born under this sign who are looking for a job will take a winning attitude, which will make them win the race for their dream job. In terms of finances, pay attention to your failures and learn from your mistakes. Pisces This week you'll be looking for new sources of inspiration to help you change your career. You will be quite tired at your main job, which will negatively affect your mental state. People who have their own business will be looking for someone to help them develop and guide their business in new directions. Pisces job seekers will be focused on exchanging various information and experiences with other people. In financial matters, pay attention to your expenses, because your money can be spent incredibly quickly. ADVERTISIMENT Subscribe to OBOZ.UA channels in Telegram and Viber to keep up with the latest events. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday canceled sending an Israeli delegation to Washington, D.C., that was scheduled to arrive this week after the U.S. abstained from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. "In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation would not leave," a statement from Netanyahu's office said, adding that the failure to block the proposal was a "clear retreat" from its previous position. The U.N. Security Council had earlier approved a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the first time it has made such a demand since the war began. Fourteen of 15 countries voted in favor of the ceasefire resolution, which called for a halt to fighting in Gaza for the month of Ramadan. The United States abstained from voting. The Security Council had failed on Friday to adopt a similar resolution drafted by the United States, with Algeria, China and Russia voting against the measure. The response from the U.S. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield raises her hand indicating that the United States will abstain from a Security Council vote on Monday on a ceasefire in Gaza. (John Lamparski/Getty Images) Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday that she welcomed the support of the ongoing diplomatic efforts led by the United States, Qatar, Egypt, to bring about an immediate and sustainable ceasefire, secure the immediate release of all hostages and help alleviate the tremendous suffering of Palestinian in Gaza who are in dire need of protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance. The United States fully supports these critical objectives, she added. In fact, they were the foundation of the resolution we put forward last week. At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that because the final text of the resolution approved Monday did not include language condemning Hamas, the United States did not vote in favor. How we got here President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023. (Anadolu via Getty Images) Last week, the U.S. ended decades of stalwart support for Israel by submitting a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the war without linking it to the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. The U.S. had voted against three previous ceasefire resolutions, saying that calling for an immediate end to military hostilities would imperil hostage negotiations. We are getting closer to a deal for a ceasefire with the release of all hostages but we arent there yet, Thomas-Greenfield said Monday. Now lets be clear: A ceasefire couldve come about months ago if Hamas had been willing to release hostages. Months ago. Since 1945, the U.S. has vetoed dozens of Security Council resolutions designed to force the Jewish state to make concessions to the Palestinians. But Kirby bristled at the notion that the recent moves by the U.S. on the Security Council represent a change in policy. "Our vote does not I repeat does not repressent a shift in our policy. We've been very clear, we've been very consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal," he said, adding: "Of course we still have Israel's back." Mounting calls for a ceasefire in Gaza A man yells during a search for survivors following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Oct. 24, 2023. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images) The U.S. has been facing mounting calls to put pressure on Israel to change course. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of the Israeli governments military campaign responding to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that left nearly 1,200 dead in Israel. Israel has largely ignored those calls, recently announcing plans to attack Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where it initially directed Palestinians to flee to as it conducted operations in the northern part of the territory. The U.S. strongly opposed the idea, and global aid organizations have declared that the residents of Gaza are on the brink of famine. A major military operation in Rafah would be a mistake, something we dont support," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered a blistering speech on the Senate floor describing Netanyahu as an obstacle to peace and calling for new Israeli elections. Biden praised the speech, further angering Netanyahu, who addressed congressional Republicans on Wednesday to denounce it. What will a ceasefire resolution actually accomplish? (Yahoo News) Thats unclear. The resolution drafted by the U.S. last week was meant to send a very public message to Netanyahus government that it opposes the way Israel is conducting the war in Gaza. With the U.S. abstaining from Mondays vote, the message is less clear. In U.S. politics, Bidens embrace of Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks was too one-sided for many Democrats in that it ignored decades of Palestinian suffering in Gaza. In Michigans presidential primary, many Democrats protested Bidens handling of the war, with 13% casting a vote for uncommitted. Michigan has the largest Arab American population of any state, but younger voters have expressed their displeasure with Biden over U.S. support for Israel across the country. The Wall Street Journals conservative editorial board last week suggested that Democrats in Washington had turned on Israel to win over those disgruntled voters. The number of voters disgruntled with Israels military operation in Gaza is clearly growing. A February poll of U.S. adults conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 50% believe that Israels offensive has gone too far. In November, that number was 40%. By Catarina Demony (Reuters) - United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called on Monday for reparations over the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people as a way to tackle its legacy in today's society, including systemic racism. From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported by European ships and merchants and sold into slavery. Those who survived the brutal voyage ended up toiling on plantations in the Americas, mostly in Brazil and the Caribbean, while others profited from their labour. In a statement to mark the U.N. International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery, Guterres said the past "laid the foundations for a violent discrimination system based on white supremacy". "We call for reparatory justice frameworks to help overcome generations of exclusion and discrimination," Guterres said. In September, a U.N. report suggested countries should consider financial reparations to compensate for slavery. The idea of paying reparations or making other amends for slavery has a long history but the movement has been gaining momentum worldwide. "This is the movement that will signal, finally, the collective victory of humanity, of good over evil," Hilary Beckles, chair of the reparations commission of the Caribbean Community political and economic union (CARICOM), said at the U.N. General Assembly. The CARICOM reparations commission was set up to seek reparations, including debt cancellations and support to tackle public health crises, from former colonial powers such as the United Kingdom, France and Portugal. The Repair Campaign, which is producing socio-economic reparation plans for CARICOM nations, released a poll on Monday that showed four in ten people in the United Kingdom agreed the Caribbean should receive financial compensation, while three in five agreed a formal apology was due. Verene Shepherd, Director of the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies said it was time for "Britain and other former and current colonial powers to own up to their responsibility". (Reporting by Catarina Demony in Lisbon; Editing by Christina Fincher) UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has demanded the swift implementation of a new UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the release of all hostages. "The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," Guterres wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. "This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable." The UN Security Council, the United Nation's most powerful body, adopted a resolution calling for "an immediate ceasefire" in Gaza for the first time on Monday. The council expressed "deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip." It is also demanding the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" held by the militant Palestinian Hamas organization. The United States, which holds veto power, abstained from the vote on Monday, thereby enabling the resolution to be adopted. The 14 other members of the committee voted in favour. The resolution, which is binding under international law, further increases international pressure on the parties to the conflict, Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. It is unclear, though, whether it will have any influence on decisions made by the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Hamas regarding the course of the war. A young girl lies on the floor at the hospital after an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in al-Mughraqa, central Gaza Strip, on Monday. A young girl lies on the floor at the hospital after an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in al-Mughraqa, central Gaza Strip, on Monday. Photograph: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock A UN human rights expert will deliver a report on Tuesday saying that Israel has carried out acts of genocide in Gaza and should be placed under an arms embargo. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said in her report there were reasonable grounds to believe that Israel was carrying out three of the five acts defined as genocide: killing Palestinians, causing them serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the population in whole or in part. The overwhelming nature and scale of Israels assault on Gaza and the destructive conditions of life it has inflicted reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group, Albaneses report said. Related: Israel isolated as UN security council demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza The report, which has been seen by the Guardian, is due to be delivered on Tuesday to the UN human rights council, which appointed the Italian lawyer in 2022. She does not speak on behalf of the UN as a whole. Israel imposed a visa ban on Albanese in February, after she argued that the 7 October massacre of Israeli civilians which started the war was not an act of antisemitism. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israels oppression, Albanese wrote on the X social media platform on 10 February. Israels diplomatic mission in Geneva said the country utterly rejects the report, and described it as simply an extension of a campaign seeking to undermine the very establishment of the Jewish State. Israels war is against Hamas, not against Palestinian civilians, it said in a statement quoted by the Agence France-Presse, slamming Albaneses outrageous accusations. The international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague is currently weighing a case brought by South Africa under the 1948 Genocide Convention. The court issued provisional measures in January intended to limit the risk of genocide while it considered its judgment, called for action against Israeli politicians using genocidal rhetoric and urged the large-scale delivery of humanitarian assistance. The Israeli government has yet to comply with the measures. Albaneses report said Israel had sought to conceal its eliminationist conduct of hostilities by clothing it in the language of international humanitarian law, and designating Gazans as a whole as terrorist or terrorist-supporting. The use of such language, the report said, transformed everything and everyone into either a target or collateral damage, hence killable or destroyable. The report recommends that UN member states: Immediately implement an arms embargo on Israel, as it appears to have failed to comply with the binding measures ordered by the ICJ. The UN Security Council meets on a motion for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal vote at UN headquarters in New York, on March 22, 2024 (ANGELA WEISS) After more than five months of war, the UN Security Council for the first time Monday demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after the United States, Israel's ally which vetoed previous drafts, abstained. Drawing applause in the normally staid Security Council, all 14 other members voted in favor of the resolution which "demands an immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The resolution calls for the truce to lead to a "lasting, sustainable ceasefire" and demands that Hamas and other militants free hostages seized in their October 7 attack that triggered the massive Israeli military campaign. "The bloodbath has continued for far too long," said Amar Bendjama, the representative of Algeria, the Arab bloc's current member of the Security Council and a sponsor of the resolution alongside a diverse group that included Slovenia, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea. "Finally, the Security Council is shouldering its responsibility," he said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that the resolution be implemented. "Failure would be unforgivable," Guterres wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour fought back tears as he said that the resolution should be a "turning point" in ending the war. "Apologies to those who the world has failed, to those that could have been saved but were not," he said. - 'No moral right to stop the war' - The United States had repeatedly blocked Security Council resolutions that put pressure on Israel but has increasingly shown frustration with its ally as the United Nations warns of impending famine in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week vowed to defy US appeals and expand Israel's military campaign to Rafah, the southern Gaza city where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken shelter. Moments after the United States declined to veto the latest resolution, Netanyahu announced that he would no longer send to Washington a delegation requested by President Joe Biden to discuss Rafah. The resolution "gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees," Netanyahu said. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who was already in Washington on a separate trip, said his country will not end the war until the hostages are freed. "We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza," he said outside the White House. Hamas welcomed the resolution and said it would engage in talks on a prisoner exchange brokered by Qatar, after repeated delays in securing a deal. - US says onus still on Hamas - At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US side was "perplexed" and "disappointed" that the Israeli delegation visit had been scrapped. US officials argued that the resolution was non-binding, a point contested at the United Nations, and said it would not jeopardize talks that have been making headway under Qatar. Even without the delegation's visit, the United States will keep communicating to Israel that an assault on Rafah would be a "mistake," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The October 7 attack by Hamas, the deadliest in Israel's history, resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures. Israel responded by vowing to eliminate Hamas. Its Gaza campaign has killed more than 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Russia made a last-minute but unsuccessful push Monday to call in the resolution for a "permanent" rather than "lasting" ceasefire, with envoy Vasily Nebenzia accusing the United States of still wanting to give Israel "a free hand." abd-sct/des The United Nations Security Council on Monday passed its first resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza after the U.S. abstained from the vote on Israels war against Hamas. The final vote was 14 in favor, no votes against and one abstention. After the vote, the council broke into applause. The resolution calls for an immediate cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and for the immediate release of all hostages. The vote comes just two days after Russia and China vetoed a resolution from the U.S. that tied a cease-fire to the release of hostages. The latest resolution has the backing of officials from the United Nations, who have expressed growing concern about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after the vote that this resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable, he wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. U.N. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, unlike those from the General Assembly. Still, they can technically be ignored. The U.N.s high court, which is hearing a genocide case related to the war, has ordered Israel to take measures to protect civilians in Gaza, but its not clear how much those calls are being addressed. The decision for the U.S. to abstain may anger Israel, which has relied on its partner at the council to protect it during the war. Washington has vetoed three other resolutions calling for a cease-fire. Israel has threatened to move into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. Israel has previously threatened to fight against Hamas in Rafah by Ramadan, but has yet to do so. Still, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he approved plans from his military for a Rafah operation, even as the U.S. has begun urging him to consider alternatives. Israel is fighting against Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people. Hamas also took about 250 hostages, about 100 of whom are believed to be alive and still in its custody. More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Ramadan began March 10 and ends on April 9, making the cease-fire temporary and just a couple of weeks, though it could lead to a lasting pause. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Washington could not agree with the resolution because it did not condemn Hamas for Oct. 7. But she said they fully support other critical objectives in the measure, allowing for an abstention. This should be a season of peace, she said of Ramadan. This resolution rightly acknowledges that during the month of Ramadan we must recommit to peace. Thomas-Greenfield also said the only path to a true and lasting peace is the release of all hostages, which she says the resolution supports. Netanyahu canceled sending a delegation to Washington after the U.N. vote., according to The Associated Press. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said during a press briefing that Netanyahus decision was disappointing, but he stressed the U.S. has not changed its policy on Gaza. Weve been consistent in our support for a cease-fire as part of a hostage deal. Thats how the hostage deal was structured, Kirby said. And the resolution acknowledges the ongoing talks. Israels U.N. representative Gilad Erdan slammed the resolution for failing to condemn Hamas. This council refused to condemn the Oct. 7 massacre, he said. This is a disgrace. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the U.N., said the resolution filled a moral obligation to take steps toward stopping the war. This must be a turning point, this must lead to saving lives on the ground, he said. A nation is being murdered. Updated at 12:14 p.m. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. US abstained from the vote - FAITH AKTAS/ANADOLU VIA GETTY IMAGES The Government faced a backlash from Tory MPs last night after the Britain helped pass the first UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, was challenged by four Conservative MPs behind closed doors at a 1922 committee meeting, The Telegraph understands. Some of those who spoke up questioned why the UK had been among the 14 out of 15 members on the UN Security Council to vote for the motion. The US had abstained. Theresa Villiers, the former Northern Ireland secretary, said she was alarmed at Britains new position and asked if ceasefire calls were still conditional on the release of hostages. Theresa Villiers was one of the members who said she was 'alarmed' at Britain's position - GEOFF PUGH FOR THE TELEGRAPH Sir Michael Ellis, the former Tory attorney general, is understood to have pressed Lord Cameron on the UKs stance on the conflict, noting the Foreign Secretary was being praised by the Guardian. Lord Cameron is understood to have responded to criticism by arguing the UK had not changed its position and still wanted hostages released to bring about a long-term ceasefire. It came as Israel responded angrily to the US allowing the vote to pass by abstaining. Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the US for a clear departure from its policy on the war in Gaza, after it allowed the UN to pass the resolution . All previous motions for a ceasefire have been blocked by permanent members of the council, including a US-led motion last week that was blocked by Russia and China. In response to the vote Mr Netanyahu cancelled a trip by Israeli officials to Washington to discuss alternatives to his planned Rafah offensive, which the US opposes. Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages, Mr Netanyahu said. This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war. John Kirby, the White Houses national security coordinator, said the Biden administration was disappointed the meetings would not go ahead. Were very disappointed that they will not be coming to Washington DC to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah, he said. He said the US had chosen to abstain because it hoped for a ceasefire in Gaza but would have preferred for the resolution to also condemn Hamas. Israel will not cease fire Mr Netanyahu also said that China and Russia had opposed the earlier ceasefire proposal because it was linked to the release of hostages. Yet today, Russia and China joined Algeria and others in supporting the new resolution precisely because it had no such linkage, he said. Russia had attempted to toughen the ceasefire call until the last minute of negotiations, attempting to change the language to demand a permanent halt to hostilities. Hamas welcomed the ceasefire vote and said it was ready to talk over a prisoner swap. In a statement posted on social media, the terror group said a pause in fighting was needed to bury our martyrs who have remained under the rubble for months. The resolution calls for a ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and release of hostages held by Hamas and the urgent need to expand the flow of aid into Gaza. Relations between Washington and the government of Mr Netanyahu have soured as the death toll has risen in Gaza. Joe Biden, the US president, has publicly called for Israel to cancel plans to launch a ground invasion of Rafah, in the south of Gaza. Israeli officials have refused, arguing that the offensive is necessary to eliminate Hamas. The UN resolution is not binding but increases pressure on Israel to end the war. In an angry tweet, Israels foreign minister said his country would not abide by the resolution. Israel will not cease the fire, Israel Katz said. We will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last hostage returns home. Lord Cameron faced questions from members of the 1922 committee in a meeting on Monday night - JAMES MANNING/PA Barbara Woodward, the UKs ambassador to the UN, said Britain would have preferred for the resolution to explicitly condemn Hamas. We regret that this resolution has not condemned the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October, she said. A Downing Street spokesman added: We have long called for an immediate humanitarian pause or temporary ceasefire leading to a sustainable ceasefire, which is what this resolution calls for, and that is why the UK voted in favour of it. We of course recognise that Israel continues to deal with the aftermath of the brutal attacks on 7 October and innocent hostages continue to be held by Hamas. Israel has a right to defend itself and ensure that such an attack can never happen again. But far too many Palestinian civilians are also being killed and a humanitarian catastrophe is a clear and present risk. This resolution sends a clear message on the need for all hostages to be released and for aid to be scaled up. Sir Michael declined to comment last night. It came as Mr Netanyahus government was facing a crisis over exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from conscription. Ministers were last night debating a law that would continue to allow the so-called Haredim to avoid national service. Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, said he could not support the law in its current form, amid growing demands for the Haredim to be brought into the army. Mr Netanyahus fragile coalition relies on support of hardline religious parties and the proposed law puts the prime minister in a bind - he must either disappoint his military leaders or the ultra-Zionist factions. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. By Michelle Nichols and Nidal al-Mughrabi UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO (Reuters) -The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas after the United States abstained from the vote, sparking a spat with its ally Israel. The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution - proposed by the 10 elected members of the body - that also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. There was applause in the council chamber after the vote. "This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres posted on social media. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the failure of the U.S. to veto the resolution was a "clear retreat" from its previous position and would hurt Israel's war efforts and bid to release more than 130 hostages still held by Hamas. "Our vote does not, and I repeat that does not represent a shift in our policy," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. "Nothing has changed about our policy. Nothing." Following the U.N. vote, Netanyahu canceled a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation that was due to discuss a planned Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter. The U.S. was perplexed by Israel's decision and considered it an overreaction, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Washington had been averse to the word ceasefire earlier in the nearly six-month-old war in the Gaza Strip and had used its veto power to shield ally Israel as it retaliated against Hamas for an Oct. 7 attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people. But as famine looms in Gaza and amid growing global pressure for a truce in the war that Palestinian health authorities say has killed some 32,000 people, the U.S. abstained on Monday to allow the Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks. "It was the Hamas massacre that started this war," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said. "The resolution just voted upon makes it seem as if the war started by itself... Israel did not start this war, nor did Israel want this war." Hamas welcomed the Security Council resolution, saying in a statement that it "affirms readiness to engage in immediate prisoner swaps on both sides." Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said countries should pressure Israel to stop attacking Lebanon. The Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have been trading fire across the southern Lebanese border. Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the U.N. vote. FAMINE IMMINENT U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. fully supported "some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution," but added that Washington did not agree with everything in the text, which also did not condemn Hamas. "We believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages," Thomas-Greenfield told the council. "A ceasefire can begin immediately with the release of the first hostage and so we must put pressure on Hamas to do just that." China's U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun said Security Council resolutions are binding. "For the millions of people in Gaza, who remain mired in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, this resolution - if fully and effectively implemented - could still bring long awaited hope," he told the council. Deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said Security Council resolutions are international law, "so to that extent they are as binding as international law is." However, ultimately if there is no ceasefire in Gaza, it is unlikely the Security Council will take any further action. The resolution also "emphasizes the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale." Guterres urged Israel on Monday to lift all obstacles to aid into Gaza and allow convoys of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA into the north of the coastal enclave. Famine is imminent and likely to occur by May in northern Gaza and could spread across the enclave by July, according to a U.N.-backed report by a global authority on food security released last week. Displaced Palestinians in Rafah hoped a ceasefire would be implemented. "We hope that this time there will be a ceasefire so that things will calm down and people can go back to their homes - enough bloodshed, destruction, martyrs, and death," Wafaa Al-Deais told Reuters as she made tea on a fire outside a tent. The U.S. has vetoed three draft council resolutions on the war in Gaza. It has also previously abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting. Russia and China have also vetoed two U.S. drafted resolutions on the conflict - in October and on Friday. "This must be a turning point," an emotional Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told the Security Council after the vote on Monday. "This must lead to saving lives on the ground." (Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick, Ari Rabinovitch, Adam Makary and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Franklin Paul, Rosalba O'Brien and Marguerita Choy) The News The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire to fighting in Gaza during Ramadan after the U.S. abstained from the vote, declining to veto it. The vote on the resolution marked a shift in the U.S.s posture toward Israel on the world stage; Washington has previously vetoed several Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire. Shortly after the vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned delegation visit to Washington to discuss the looming invasion of the town of Rafah, prompting the White House to say they were very disappointed that there will be no conversation on viable alternatives to the planned Rafah operation. Netanyahu had earlier threatened to withdraw the delegation if the U.S. did not block the measure, as it did not make the ceasefire conditional on the release of hostages. The U.S. has stepped up its criticism of Israel in recent weeks ahead of the Rafah operation, and critics of Israel have urged the U.S. to use the Security Council to pressure Netanyahu. However, the White House asserted that its decision to abstain from the vote does not represent a shift in our policy, National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters shortly after the vote. We wanted to get to a place where we could support that resolution, he said, but added that it lacked language the White House wanted, including a condemnation of Hamas. Know More Russia and China vetoed a U.S. proposal last week calling for a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages. The measure that passed Monday still demands hostages release, but does not directly link it to a ceasefire. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Washingtons ambassador to the U.N., said after the vote that a ceasefire could have come about months ago if Hamas had been willing to release hostages. She said the U.S. is getting closer to a deal for an immediate ceasefire with the release of all hostages, but were not there yet. The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, after the US did not veto the measure in a shift from its previous position. It also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. It is the first time the council has called for a ceasefire since the war began in October after several failed attempts. The move by the US signals growing divergence between it and its ally Israel over Israel's offensive in Gaza. In an unusually strong rebuke, a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the US had "abandoned" its previous position which had directly linked a ceasefire to a hostage release. "Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution," it said. The statement said this harmed efforts to release hostages by giving Hamas hope it could use international pressure on Israel to achieve a ceasefire without freeing the captives. It also said Mr Netanyahu had decided to cancel meetings between an Israeli delegation and US officials in Washington that were scheduled for this week. Israel's defence minister said Israel would not stop the war in Gaza while hostages were still being held there. The Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, welcomed the resolution but said it was overdue. "It has taken six months, over 100,000 Palestinians killed and maimed, two million displaced, and famine, for this council to finally demand an immediate ceasefire," Mr Mansour said. Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group which governs Gaza and which triggered the war with an unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October, also welcomed the resolution. It said it was ready "to engage in an immediate prisoner exchange process that leads to the release of prisoners on both sides". The group has made any hostage release conditional on the release by Israel of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. In the Security Council vote on Monday, the US abstained, while the remaining 14 members voted in favour. The US had previously blocked resolutions calling for a ceasefire, saying such a move would be wrong while delicate negotiations for a truce and hostage releases were continuing between Israel and Hamas. But on Thursday it tabled its own draft, which for the first time called for a ceasefire, marking a hardening of its stance towards Israel. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US' decision to let the resolution pass did not mean a "shift in our policy". He said the US backed a ceasefire but did not vote in favour of the resolution because the text did not condemn Hamas. Speaking at a press briefing after the resolution was passed, Mr Kirby said: "We have been very clear, we have been very consistent in our support for a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal. That's how the hostage deal is structured, and the resolution acknowledges the ongoing talks." UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the resolution "must be implemented" to secure a ceasefire and the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages". Mark Lyall-Grant, who was the UK ambassador to the UN from 2009 to 2015, told BBC Radio 4 PM that the resolution meant Israel was now "under an obligation, essentially, to stop its military campaign for the next 15 days" - the duration of the remainder of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which the text stipulated for the ceasefire. He added that the text was legally binding on Israel but not on Hamas, as the Palestinian group is not a state. The US had previously been accused of using its power of veto to shield Israel at the UN. However it has become increasingly critical of Israel over the escalating death toll in Gaza, where more than 32,000 people - mainly women and children - have been killed by Israel's bombardment, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. The US has also pressed Israel to do more to get aid delivered to Gaza, where it says the entire population is suffering severe levels of acute food insecurity. The UN has accused Israel of obstructing aid; Israel has blamed the UN, accusing it of failing to carry out distributions. The war broke out after Hamas gunmen burst through the border and attacked Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and taking 253 into Gaza as hostages. Of those taken, 130 remain unaccounted for following a series of releases, rescues and the recovery of bodies. Despite Israel's decision to cancel a planned visit by its delegation to Washington later this week in the wake of the Security Council resolution, Mr Kirby has said that scheduled meetings between Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant and US national security advisor Jake Sullivan will continue as planned. "We look forward to making it clear to the defence minister that the United States continues to stand with Israel as they fight Hamas," he said at the press briefing on Monday. On Monday, March 25, the terrorist country of Russia attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles. Air defense forces destroyed the enemy targets, but unfortunately, fragments of Russian ammunition hit a three-story non-residential building, and there are victims. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on his Telegram channel. All emergency services are working at the scene. "In the Pechersk district, a three-story non-residential building was damaged as a result of the fall of rocket fragments," Klytschko said. ADVERTISIMENT ADVERTISIMENT According to him, as of 11:22 a.m., four victims are known. Two women were treated on the spot. Two, including a 16-year-old girl, were hospitalized. On Monday, March 25, a fragment of a downed Russian missile hit a private house in the Darnytsia district of Kyiv. The incident occurred in the Osokorky neighborhood. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA, explosions were heard in Kyiv on the morning of March 25 during an air raid alert. The KCIA reported on the air defense system and urged people to stay in shelters until the threat was over. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! A smoke plume erupts during Israeli bombardment in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, where world leaders have warned against an Israeli ground operation (Eyad BABA) The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a new draft resolution on an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza, after Russia and China vetoed an earlier text proposed by the United States. The Council has been divided over the Israel-Hamas war since the October 7 attacks, approving only two of eight resolutions, with both dealing mainly with humanitarian aid to the devastated Gaza Strip. Permanent Council member and key Israel backer the United States has unequivocally supported Israel's right to defend itself following Hamas's unprecedented attacks. But with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepening, the United States has tempered its support for Israel over its conduct of the war against the Palestinian militant group. The Gaza war began with an unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel has vowed to destroy the militants, who also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 presumed dead. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday put the total death toll in the territory at 32,226, most of them women and children. The ministry said 72 people had been killed in early hours of Sunday, including at least 26 killed in air strikes on five homes in the southern city of Rafah. Last Friday, the Security Council voted on a draft submitted by the United States that called for an "immediate" ceasefire linked to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed the resolution, criticizing it for stopping short of explicitly demanding Israel halt its campaign. - UN deliveries to northern Gaza - The new text, according to the version seen by AFP on Sunday, "demands an immediate ceasefire" for the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, "leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire." It also "demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages as well as the "lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale." The text is being put forward by non-permanent members of the Security Council, which worked with the United States over the weekend to avoid a veto, according to diplomats speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity. "We expect, barring a last-minute twist, that the resolution will be adopted and that the United States will not vote against it," one diplomat told AFP. Ahead of taking off for an official visit to Washington, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his focus would include "preserving the qualitative military edge" and "our ability to obtain platforms and munitions." He is set to meet Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and other senior US officials. A key source of tension between Israel and the United States has been the fate of Rafah, where around 1.5 million Palestinians have sought shelter since the start of the war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a major ground operation in Rafah was not necessary to deal with Hamas, and "there is no place" for civilians there to get out of harm's way. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads a coalition including religious and ultra-nationalist parties, has vowed to go ahead with a Rafah invasion even without Washington's support. In Rafah, a displaced 10-year-old girl lamented the pain of losing her home and the uncertainty she faces. "I have the right to live as a little girl, like anywhere else in the world, in a safe place," Rama told AFP in the makeshift camp that has become her home. "I used to go to school safely, but now we don't go to school because of the bombing, and when I go out of our home I am very scared." Negotiations aimed at securing a truce in exchange for the release of hostages have meanwhile continued in Qatar, but the heads of the Israeli and US spy agencies involved in the talks have now left the Gulf emirate for consultations, an informed source told AFP. A major sticking point has been Hamas's position that a temporary truce must lead to a permanent Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a demand Israel has rejected. The UN agency for Palestinians said on Sunday that Israel had definitively barred it from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest. "Despite the tragedy unfolding under our watch, the Israeli Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any @UNRWA food convoys to the north," Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the agency, said on X. "This is outrageous & makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine." Israel did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment about Lazzarini's statement. - 'Right to live' - Last week a UN-backed food security assessment warned that famine was projected to hit the north of Gaza by May unless there was urgent intervention. Martin Griffiths, head of the UN humanitarian coordination office, said on X on Sunday that UNRWA "is the beating heart of the humanitarian response in Gaza." He added: "The decision to block its food convoys to the north only pushes thousands closer to famine. It must be revoked." On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an end to the "non-stop nightmare" endured by Gaza's 2.4 million people in the territory's worst-ever war. Israel has accused UNRWA staff members of participating in the October 7 attack and called the agency "a front for Hamas." Touma said Israeli authorities on Sunday also rejected a UN request to send a team to Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, where fighting has flared for almost a week, "to evacuate people who are injured." bur-abd/ser/mtp DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN) Eleven men from three states were arrested over the past four days after an online sting operation revealed they were trying to meet juveniles for sex in Dothan, a Dothan Police Department press release revealed. According to Dothan Police Lt. Scott Owens, recently, Dothan Police Investigators, along with several other agencies, conducted an undercover cyber operation hoping to catch people in online chats who were looking to engage in sexual activities with minors. Lt. Owens says during the operation, investigators engaged in several conversations, which eventually led to 11 men traveling to meet who they thought were juveniles at an undisclosed location in Dothan. The investigation led to the arrest of 11 men: Judah Jabez Davis (19) of Dothan, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Jeremy Alexander Critten (32) of Dothan, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Jermaine Sanquil Smith (32) of Troy, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Kyle Leander Nelson (35) of Highland Home, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Chatwarong Srithanat (29) of Dothan, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Thomas Dewey Fye (60) of Kinsey, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree (2 counts) Electronic Solicitation of a Child (2 counts) Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act (2 counts) Scott Evans Anderson (63) of Toledo, OH Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Ray Charles Reed Jr. (40) of Arlington, Ga Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Justin Lloyd Billings (34) of Enterprise, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Carey Jamal Wright (33) of Dothan, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (Ecstasy) Possession of Marijuana 2nd Degree Gilberto Roman Reyes (35) of Enterprise, AL Human Trafficking 1st degree Electronic Solicitation of a Child Traveling to Meet a Child for an Unlawful Sex Act Attempting to Elude a Police Officer The Dothan Police Department would like to thank Covenant Rescue Group, Homeland Security Investigations, United States Marshals Service, and the Houston/Henry County District Attorneys Office for their assistance in this operation. More charges are pending based on the operation. Lt. Scott Owens More charges are pending in the investigation. Stay with WDHN for updates. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com. In todays political landscape, labor unions are polling higher than most elected officialsa testament to their enduring relevance and potential for transformative change. Yet unions still find themselves on the defensive after decades of political hostility, unfavorable labor laws, and entrenched corporate power. Despite union popularity at historic highs, union membership has continued to decline in the wake of the pandemic, even as we witnessed a wave of strikes and new organizing campaigns at companies like Amazon and Starbucks. Under the most pro-union president in history, the 10 richest men doubled their wealth, pro-worker legislation like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act has languished, and the National Labor Relations Board has come under attack in the courts. In his new book, The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor, veteran labor journalist Hamilton Nolan makes the case that unions are the most effective tool the working class has to shift political power, fight rising inequality, and pull the electorate to the left. Nolan travels across the country, interviewing workers from a range of industries, and showing how unions embody democracy in action. With an urgent call to action, Nolan advocates for a shift in perspective, urging a renewed focus on building labor power as a means of influencing national politics and countering the rise of the far right. His insights not only illuminate the current state of the labor movement but provide a roadmap for revitalizing unions and reshaping the political landscape in the United States. I recently spoke to Nolan about the importance of growing union membership, organizing the South, and changing electoral politics. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Indigo Olivier: Youve observed that being involved in a union fundamentally changes people. How would you describe that transformation? Hamilton Nolan: I think that the process of going through a union organizing drive teaches people a lot of things. One thing that it teaches people is democracy in action. If you grow up in America as the average person, youre never really in a setting where you are living democracy in action. As a child, youre in a family, youre told what to do; you go to school, youre told what to do; you get a job, youre told what to do. Where is this democracy in action that people are supposed to see? For a lot of people, the first time they really live democracy in action and experience a democratic institution is when they join a union or when they go through the process of organizing a union. In particular, new organizingmaking people go through that process of organizing with their co-workers and, most of the time, being in a fight against the bossis also something that instills class consciousness in people in a way that you cant do just by telling people to read a book, because its lived experience. People might never have read Marx, but they can see that their boss is lying to them, and trying to keep them poor, and telling them that they dont deserve to be paid what theyre worth. All that stuff is first-person experience that changes people politically. When we talk about the value of reviving unions, in a political sense, its not just like, oh, union members tend to vote more Democratic, and thats good. Its that the experience of organizing a union and being in a union changes people in a way that lines up with progressive values. I.O.: How would you describe the relationship between labor and electoral politics? H.N.: The reality of the way that the institutions of organized labor, meaning the AFL-CIO, and the big unions, generally speaking, have mostly, in modern times, pursued a relationship with electoral politics [is] along the lines of, We are an adjunct to the Democratic Party. In some ways, its a natural sort of trap for unions to fall into, because we have a two-party political system and the Republicans want to destroy unions altogether. So its very easy for the Democrats to take labor for granted because they have the attitude of Where else are you gonna go? And youve seen, just in my lifetime, I think of the Clinton administration, the Obama administration, both administrations that got huge economic and other support from organized labor and didnt really give that much back. By organizing workers, you naturally grow your own political power in a way that writing checks to politicians never does. What it means is that you change your focus from electoral politics to building labor power through worker organizing. And by organizing workers, you naturally grow your own political power in a way that writing checks to politicians never does. I.O.: You mention that higher union density pulls politics to the left of center and is the most effective way to counter the rise of the far right. What lessons can Democrats learn from the labor movement? H.N.: The entire Democratic Party would be much healthier, a much better place, if labor was running it. Labor is too weak to do that right now. But we know, for example, even academic studies show that being in unions makes white workers less racist, essentially. It promotes equality, it promotes economic equality, it promotes gender equality, it helps to stop discriminationall of the values that the Democratic Party likes to espouse. Organized labor is actually something that brings those things about, and so I think that the Democrats should place much more of a value on organized labor and they should spend more of their political capital helping organized labor to get stronger again. Not only because increasing union density is going to bring about the values that youre supposed to support. But also because you are actually changing the population. You are changing voters in a way that ultimately will benefit the Democratic Party by making people more progressive and also less likely to sort of give up hope, which is something that fuels fascism. I.O.: Youve made the case that unions can replace the role elections currently play in national politics. How would this alter the political landscape? H.N.: Look, elections are obviously important. And we all know that what Washington does is important. I think what we need is a shift in perspective as working people. And one thing that I hope people will take from the book is just the shift in perspective away from politics being elections and politicians, toward the idea that politics can be accomplished by building labor power. If we can get working people and also unions and the institutions in the labor movement to turn their primary focus to building labor power and organizing new workers, what we will find is that political power naturally comes along with that. We can make the politicians come to us by making the labor movement strong. We dont have to beg and cater to politicians in order to do nice things for the labor movement, you know. Its really a shift in perspective and a shift in emphasis that I think if people would just focus more on building labor power, theyre going to get better political results in the long run. I.O.: What are some of the biggest challenges the labor movement will have to confront to get there? H.N.: When you talk to union leaders about the decline of unions, and why weve had this more than 50-year-long decline of union density in America, they will usually talk about the bad labor laws we have, the hostile political situation, corporate power, Republican union busting. And all that stuff is true. But we as a labor movement have to be able to operate in a hostile environment, because the Taft-Hartley Act, which made all the labor laws bad in the first place, was passed in 1947. So your strategy cant be, were going to organize as soon as we change this law that we have not been able to change in more than 70 years. We are in a period right now with some of the most favorable conditions on the ground that weve seen in generations for union organizing. And yet, union density went down in 2022. And it went down again in 2023. What that shows you is that the biggest institutions in organized labor are not reckoning with the fact that we must turn around this decline and that this is as good a time to do it as weve had in my lifetime, and that means organizing millions of people. I.O.: Youve written about the importance of organizing the South. Why is that effort so essential to building labor power nationally? H.N.: The call to organize the South has been going on for over a century now because the South has always been a place that treated workers worse and paid workers less than the rest of the country. The labor movement has always known that part of our ability to exercise strength in this country depends upon the ability to organize the South, because if you dont organize the South, what happens is every company that wants to break the power of organized labor just moves its operations to the South, and thats something thats been going on for a long time. And its still going on. Thats why there are so many auto factories and tire factories in the South because those companies essentially use the South in the same way that they use offshoring, which is to move out of stronger union states and into more hostile states to unions. So its an existential challenge for organized labor to organize the South because if you dont organize the South, you always have this region that companies can just use to jump into and wash their unions off them. Having an unorganized South, and a South that has really low union density, as it is now, is obviously bad for working people in the South. First of all, it keeps them poor and it keeps them mistreated by their companies. But its also bad for the power of unions nationally because it allows companies to have a place to flee to. In a second Trump administration, you can expect every single good thing that the NLRB did during the Biden administration to be aggressively rolled back. I.O.: How do you see the labor movement being affected by a second Trump administration? H.N.: Badly. In a second Trump administration, you can expect every single good thing that the NLRB did during the Biden administration to be aggressively rolled back. I think you can expect to see him really attack the civil service. So public-sector unions are going to find some of their most basic protections being yanked away from them in a way that they probably have not ever experienced before. Thats the strongest union sector in America. So on a practical level, on a regulatory level, it would be horrible. The government will essentially be weaponized against unions. And obviously, hes going to pursue economic policies that benefit the rich and not the working class. So you know, the entire operation of the government would be anti-union. So theres no question that stopping Trump from assuming office is a very important thing for the labor movement. On the other hand, if it does happen, you know, the labor movement has been through worse things in the past and theyll come out the other side still alive. Several individuals have torn down posters in support of Ukraine over the past weekend in the Latvian capital of Riga. The police have stated that they have been documenting administrative offences. Source: European Pravda with reference to Baltic States news website Delfi Details: Activist Janis Pelcis posted a video of the removal of posters in support of Ukraine on X (Twitter). The video shows two women tearing down the posters, while another man expressed his discontent with the filming. The activist noted that the police did not respond to the incident. However, later on, State Police spokeswoman Gita Gzibovska stated that in situations where the police identify violations aimed at undermining support for Ukraine, including damage to relevant posters, the individuals responsible will be prosecuted. Gzibovska noted that one person was fined for damaging such posters on Saturday and Sunday. In total, 12 proceedings were initiated for various violations near the Russian Embassy and several individuals were detained on Saturday. She added that this case will also be assessed accordingly. Background: On 16 March, the Latvian State Police imposed fines for administrative offences on two Russian citizens who behaved aggressively near the Russian Embassy before voting in the Russian presidential "elections". In addition, the National Electronic Mass Media Council of Latvia (NEPLP) blocked access to nine websites spreading Russian propaganda. Support UP or become our patron! Humanitarian aid packages land by the help of parachutes after dropping from a plane as Israeli attacks continue in Gaza City. Ali Hamad/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa No aid deliveries are getting through to the northern Gaza Strip, despite urgent warnings of famine, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, reported on Monday. This follows the head of UNRWA's comments on Sunday saying Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys into northern Gaza, where Philippe Lazzarini said people are on the verge of famine. UNRWA said that an average of 157 trucks carrying aid had entered the zone this month up to and including Saturday. It confirmed that Israel has since rejected urgent UNRWA food convoys to enter northern Gaza. "This remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of 500 per day, with challenges at both Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and Rafah," UNRWA said, in reference to crossings in the south of the Gaza Strip into Israel and Egypt respectively. The agency had submitted requests for aid approval since Thursday, but all of them were denied with no reason given. It added that managing the crossings had been severely impacted by the killing of several Palestinian policemen in Israeli airstrikes near the crossings in early February. Israel has repeatedly accused UNRWA officials of involvement in the October 7 attacks and halted cooperation with the agency. UNRWA subsequently fired several employees. Lazzarini said blocking UNRWA aid to the north is "outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine." Israel has rejected accusations it is hindering aid deliveries into Gaza, instead accusing aid organizations of not distributing them properly, while the groups say they are lacking proper protection. Humanitarian aid packages land by the help of parachutes after dropping from a plane as Israeli attacks continue in Gaza City. Ali Hamad/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on Monday explicitly calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war after the U.S. declined to exercise its veto power. Israel responded by canceling a visit this week by Israeli officials and top advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, adding to the tensions between the two longtime allies amid Israels military operations in the Gaza strip. The passage of the resolution, led and presented by the non-permanent members of the United Nations most powerful body, comes after a series of resolutions addressing the Israel-Hamas war failed because of vetoes from the United States, China and Russia because of disagreements over the phrasing of calls for a cease-fire. The decision of the U.S. to abstain, rather than veto the resolution, is also Washingtons sharpest action to date at the United Nations against its ally. It also came ahead of an expected trip from top advisers to Netanyahu and Israeli government officials to Washington, as Israel and the U.S. find themselves at odds over a looming invasion of the southern Gazan city of Rafah. Israeli media reported ahead of the vote that Netanyahu threatened to cancel his officials trip to Washington to discuss, among other things, humanitarian aid, the release of hostages and plans for protecting civilians in a planned operation in Rafah if the U.S. failed to veto the resolution. Shortly after the vote, Netanyahus office announced that In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that the delegation will not travel to the US. The resolution as passed calls for a "lasting sustainable ceasefire language that echoes that of a U.S. resolution proposed last week that Russia and China vetoed because they argued it was not specific enough and gave Israel too much room for interpretation. The resolution also did not include a condemnation of Hamas and did not link as strongly a cease-fire with the release of hostages both items the U.S. had wanted. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the resolution that passed fell short of Washingtons goals, noting that certain key edits were ignored, including our requests to add a condemnation of Hamas. And we did not agree with everything in the resolution. Still, she observed, we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution. And we believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters after the vote our vote does not, and I repeat, does not, represent a shift in our policy." At various points before the vote, ambassadors were visibly huddling in large groups inside the U.N. Security Council hall. Envoys from Israel, Yemen and Palestine, which is recognized as an observer state at the United Nations, were also present for debate. The resolution also faced some eleventh-hour hiccups. Shortly ahead of the vote, the language was amended to call for a "lasting sustainable ceasefire." Russia Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya called out last-minute negotiations to tone down the language, proposing an amendment to return to the original language of a "permanent sustainable ceasefire." Still, Russia and China ultimately voted to pass the final resolution. The breakthrough in New York is far from a sign that Russia, China and the United States are now aligned on the Israel-Hamas war. Thomas-Greenfield blasted Russia and China, saying they have shown time and time again that they are not actually interested in advancing a durable peace through diplomatic efforts and accusing them of using this devastating conflict as a political cudgel to try to divide this council at a time when we need to come together. U.S. abstentions on resolutions about Israel are not unprecedented, but remain unusual. For decades, the U.S. consistently vetoed resolutions at the Security Council that condemned Israeli actions in Palestinian territories. But in 2016, the Obama administration abstained on a resolution declaring Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, marking the first time The Biden administration has also used abstentions to voice its displeasure with Israeli actions in December, the U.S. abstained on a resolution calling on Israel to increase humanitarian aid flows to the Gaza Strip. Matt Berg contributed to this report. AFTERMATH OF RUSSIAN ATTACK ON KYIV ON 25 MARCH. Photo: The State Emergency Service of Ukraine Following the Russian missile attack on Kyiv on Monday morning, US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink has called for no time to be wasted in providing Ukraine with immediate assistance. Source: The ambassador on Twitter (X), European Pravda reports Details: The head of the US Embassy noted that on the morning of 25 March, Russia again attacked Ukraine with aeroballistic missiles, and loud explosions were heard in Kyiv. Over the past five days, Russia has launched hundreds of missiles and drones against a sovereign country, Brink said. "Ukraine needs our assistance now. There is not a moment to lose," the US ambassador urged. Background: The US Congress has been unable to approve a multi-billion dollar support package for Ukraine proposed by President Joe Biden since October last year. After months of debate between Congress members, it is now speculated in the House of Representatives that Speaker Mike Johnson may bring a bill supporting Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan to a vote after Easter on 31 March. Johnson himself had previously said that the bill on supplementary funding to support Ukraine would be considered in the House of Representatives as soon as the issue of funding the federal government is resolved. This condition was recently fulfilled, as the long-suffering budget document was signed by President Biden. Support UP or become our patron! The Regeneron Pharmaceuticals company logo is seen on a building at the company's Westchester campus in Tarrytown (Reuters) -Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Monday the U.S. FDA has declined approval for its blood cancer therapy for two forms of lymphoma on concerns over the progress of ongoing confirmatory trials. The FDA said in its response letter that it needs more data from enrollments in dose-finding and confirmatory portions of trials, delaying its decision on the drug, while confirming no issues with clinical efficacy or safety, trial design, labeling or manufacturing. The company was testing its experimental drug, odronextamab, in multiple late-stage trials in patients with follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the two most common subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Regeneron said "it was the first time" a CRL for this reason was issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has been lately working to raise the bar for cancer drug developers seeking accelerated approval for their candidates. Such approvals allow the agency to move therapies that target serious and life-threatening conditions to the market more quickly, but have been criticized because some drugs have later been proven to be ineffective. Regeneron's shares fell marginally to $961.78 in early trading. The company was looking to expand its oncology portfolio with odronextamab, beyond its lone approved skin cancer drug, Libtayo While odronextamab was on track to potentially become Regeneron's first blood cancer drug, it has a much smaller market opportunity of $200 million compared to other potential launches of the company as lymphoma is a competitive space, RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams said. Abrahams added that he does not believe this delay significantly impacts the company's fundamentals as odronextamab would have been a "marginal revenue driver". (Reporting by Sneha S K, Puyaan Singh and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli) U.S. fighter jets from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier struck three underground storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen late March 22, according to a U.S. official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a military operation not yet made public, said the ship is in the Red Sea. Strikes and explosions were seen and heard in Sanaa, according to witnesses and videos, some circulating on social media. Footage showed explosions and smoke rising over the Houthi-controlled capital. There was no official confirmation of the injured or the origin of the explosions. Yemeni TV station Al-Masirah, which is linked to the Houthis, reported strikes hitting the city. In a statement the same day, U.S. Central Command said its forces also destroyed four unmanned aerial vehicles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Central Command also said Houthis fired four anti-ship ballistic missiles toward the Red Sea, but no injuries or damage were reported by U.S., coalition or commercial ships. Yemens Houthi rebels, which are allied with Iran and control much of the countrys north and west, have launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have kept up their campaign of attacks despite two months of U.S.-led airstrikes. Dozens of people have been killed since widespread violence broke out on 29 February [Getty Images] When Florida resident Gerard thinks of his wife and two small children back home in Haiti, two words immediately come to mind: "Permanent stress." Gerard, who lives near Fort Lauderdale, is one of the more than half a million Haitians that call Florida home - the largest concentration in the US. Many say they are now gripped by fear and uncertainty for family still there amid worsening gang violence. Federal and state officials have been periodically evacuating US citizens. Dozens of people have been killed and at least 17,000 left homeless since well-armed gangs attacked police stations and the country's main airport in Port-au-Prince on 29 February. The gangs also stormed two of the country's largest prisons, releasing about 4,000 inmates. Gerard - who asked that his surname not be used to protect his family in Haiti - told the BBC that he is constantly worried about the security of his wife and two children, aged seven and nine, who stayed in Haiti when he returned to live in the US several months ago. "My biggest fear is that my house will be attacked by gangs. That is why I live in permanent stress," he said. "Over there, everybody is fearing for their lives and possessions. Now the gangs go inside people's houses and steal everything, and the police are not able to protect them." "I'm hopeless because I don't see a solution to the problem," Gerard added. "And I'm disgusted with politicians that have made the country what it is now." Another Florida-based Haitian, church pastor Dr Wadler Jules, said that members of his congregation are "wondering if someone in their family has been kidnapped or killed" in Haiti, where he said people "live at the mercy of the gangs". Dr Wadler Jules' congregation is in Miami's Little Haiti area [Wadler Jules] "The members of our community live in fear, live in despair," said Dr Jules, whose church is in Miami's Little Haiti neighbourhood. "You don't know if your loved ones are going to be alive tomorrow. It's really scary, and there is no hope." Dr Jules was himself briefly stranded in Haiti after accompanying a member of his congregation several weeks ago to a funeral in Saint-Louis du Nord. He eventually managed to get on a flight to the Dominican Republic. Fifty members of a sister church, however, are in Port-au-Prince. "They are in despair and they can't go anywhere else because you may be shot," he said. "Here in Little Haiti, people wonder if there is any way to get them out of the country. They live in fear and living in fear is unbearable. It's suffocating." More than 230 American citizens have been evacuated from Haiti in the past week, both from the relative safety of Cap-Haitien, a port city on the island's north coast, and by helicopter from Port-au-Prince. Other rescue flights have been arranged by Florida state officials, including one carrying 21 people that landed in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday. Many Haitians and Haitian-Americans say they hope the US does more to help - including potentially giving refugee status to those fleeing the violence. "I don't understand why Haitians don't qualify for it," said Tessa Petit, the executive director of the Miami-based Florida Immigrant Coalition. "We are right there, in your backyard... we know we need help from the United States... we are just hoping that [the US] will step up quickly." In the meantime, Ms Petit said she, like many Haitians, is hoping "to not get the call that's going to give us bad news". "[That] call that's going to let us know that we have lost a friend or a family member," she said. "There is a sense of despair and a lot of anger." On Monday, March 25, a fragment of a downed Russian missile hit a private house in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv. The incident occurred in the Osokorky neighborhood. ADVERTISIMENT The head of the Darnytsia District State Administration Mykola Kalashnyk reported this on his Telegram channel. Residents of the capital were urged not to ignore the danger reports. "In the Darnytskyi district, after a rocket attack, a fragment damaged a private house in the Osokorky neighborhood without further fire. I arrived personally. Emergency services are working at the scene. There are no casualties," said Kalashnyk. In addition, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klytschko, a three-story non-residential building in the Pechersk district was damaged by the fall of rocket debris. Emergency services are working at the scene. One victim was found and was treated by medics on the spot. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA, explosions were heard in Kyiv on the morning of March 25 during an air raid alert. The KCIA reported on the work of air defense and urged to stay in shelters until the threat is over. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! By Tim Kelly, Yukiko Toyoda and Laura Sanicola TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will agree next month to tighter military cooperation, including talks on the biggest potential change to Washington's East Asia command structure in decades, two sources said. Washington will consider appointing a four-star commander to oversee its forces in Japan as a counterpart to the head of a proposed Japanese Self Defense Forces (SDF) headquarters overseeing all of the country's military operations, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the plan. Biden and Kishida will unveil their plans when they meet on April 10 in Washington, the Financial Times reported. "We are in discussion about how our planned joint command can strengthen cooperation with the U.S. and South Korea," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Monday at a regular media briefing when asked about the reports. The agenda for the Biden-Kishida summit has not yet been decided, he added. Kishida wants to establish the joint command headquarters before the end of March 2025. Tokyo has said it has "serious concern" over China's growing military power and the threat it poses Taiwan, just over 100 km (62 miles) from Japanese territory. Unlike in neighbouring South Korea, where U.S. and South Korean troops can operate under a unified command under a four-star general, U.S. air, land and sea forces in Japan have a three-star commander and do not have any authority over Japanese troops. A four-star commander - the highest peacetime rank in any of the U.S. service branches - would match the rank of the Japanese counterpart in the new headquarters. A U.S. officer of that rank might lay the groundwork for a future unified Japanese-U.S. command, experts say. Some U.S. officials, however, want any new U.S. commander there to be responsible only for joint exercises, training and information sharing with the new SDF headquarters, said one of the sources, both of whom asked not to be identified because they are not authorised to speak to the media. The White House, the U.S. National Security Council and the State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. The Pentagon on Monday said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Japanese National Security Advisor Akiba Takeo. "The two officials highlighted areas for further Alliance momentum in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific region," a Pentagon statement said after the meeting. Japan is crucial for U.S. military power in Asia, hosting 54,000 American troops, hundreds of aircraft and Washington's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier strike group. The bases on Japanese islands allow the United States to project military power across the region and hem in Chinese influence. Closer cooperation between the two allies comes as Japan steps away from the post-war pacifism that has shaped its defence planning for decades. At the end of 2022, Japan pledged to double defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product, including money to procure cruise missiles that can strike ships or land-based targets 1,000 km (620 miles) away. (Reporting by Tim Kelly, Yukiko Toyoda, Laura Sanicola, Chandni Shah and Idrees Ali; Editing Gerry Doyle and Sandra Maler) By Michael Martina WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, will be the next chair of the House select committee on China, replacing Representative Mike Gallagher, who said last week he would step down from his office in Congress in April. House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement on Monday that he had appointed Moolenaar to run the bipartisan committee on strategic competition with China's Communist Party (CCP), crediting the Michigan representative's service in Congress with earning him "the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle." "Our country, our economy, and our national security will be well-served by his wisdom and guidance in the ongoing work of this critical select committee," Johnson said, adding he would take up the role after Gallagher had left Congress. The select committee has no legislative power, but under Gallagher has become a high-profile venue where lawmakers make recommendations to address economic and national security threats to the U.S. posed by China. A desire for a hard line in dealings with Beijing is one of the few truly bipartisan sentiments in the deeply divided Congress, with both Republicans and President Joe Biden's Democrats calling for increased efforts to counteract China's global influence. Gallagher, the first to lead the committee set up when Republicans took control of the House in 2023, had sought to work closely with Democrats, including the panel's ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi. Moolenaar said in the statement that he looked forward to working with Krishnamoorthi to help the U.S. "win the competition against the CCP." Several committee staffers from both parties told Reuters they were optimistic Moolenaar's appointment was a positive signal for continued bipartisan cooperation on China issues. One of the aides said Moolenaar was closely aligned with Gallagher's vision of the committee, adding he had a particular focus on economic competition with China and was supportive of U.S. manufacturing. Michigan is home to major U.S. automakers that have warned Washington that domestic manufacturing could take a big hit from a potential wave of inexpensive Chinese electric vehicle imports. Moolenaar has joined other lawmakers in urging the U.S. government to increase the current 27.5% tariff on Chinese vehicles. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by David Gregorio) The Biden administration sanctioned two Chinese nationals and a Wuhan-based company Monday that allegedly targeted critical infrastructure sectors in the U.S. as part of an expansive hacking effort. The Treasury Department levied sanctions against Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, as well as the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, which the agency accused of acting as a front for Chinas top spy agency. The United States is focused on both disrupting the dangerous and irresponsible actions of malicious cyber actors, as well as protecting our citizens and our critical infrastructure, Brian Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. An arm of Chinas Ministry of State Security allegedly operated in part through the Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company, conducting a wide variety of computer network exploitation and computer intrusion activities, according to the Justice Department. The hackers, part of the group known as APT31, targeted some of Americas most vital critical infrastructure sectors, as well as staff at the White House; the departments of Justice, Commerce, the Treasury and State; and members of Congress, according to the Treasury. The Justice Department unsealed indictments against Guangzong, Gaobin and five other Chinese nationals on Monday, charging them with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their role in the hacking group. The Justice Department will not tolerate efforts by the Chinese government to intimidate Americans who serve the public, silence the dissidents who are protected by American laws, or steal from American businesses, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. This case serves as a reminder of the ends to which the Chinese government is willing to go to target and intimidate its critics, including launching malicious cyber operations aimed at threatening the national security of the United States and our allies, he added. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. On 25 March, the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against 13 Russian entities and 2 individuals involved in the financial services and technology sectors of the Russian economy. Source: European Pravda with reference to a press release from the Treasury Details: As explained by the US Treasury, the sanctioned persons are "developing or offering services in virtual assets that enable the evasion of US sanctions" or are owned or controlled by other persons on the sanctions list. The US sanctions list includes, among others, the Moscow-based fintech companies B-Crypto, Sistemy Raspredelennogo Reyestra (Masterchain), Laitkhaus, Tsentr Obrabotki Elektronnykh Platezhey (TOEP) and Atomaiz, which cooperate with sanctioned Russian banks. The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on the Russian blockchain companies Veb3 Tekhnologii and Veb3 Integrator, as well as Estonias Bitfingroup OU and Cypriot Tokentrust Holdings, which are linked to Russia. Restrictions were imposed on Veb3 Tekhnologii shareholder Igor Kaigorodov and on Timur Bukanov, the owner and director of TOEP. Separately, the United States imposed sanctions on three Russian companies that have helped Russia purchase technological equipment including for the defence sector in order to circumvent sanctions. Background: On 23 February, the US President announced that the United States would impose more than 500 sanctions against Russia and new export restrictions on nearly 100 organisations on the eve of the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and following the death of Alexei Navalny. In particular, 26 companies and individuals from 11 countries, including China and Serbia, have been sanctioned for helping Russia circumvent sanctions by importing critical technologies and equipment for the military-industrial sector. Support UP or become our patron! By Andrew Chung (Reuters) - The abortion opponents who are seeking to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone point to three studies by Gynuity Health Projects, a New York-based women's health research group, to back up their arguments that it is unsafe despite its regulatory approval decades ago. But the way the research has been prominently cited by the plaintiffs in their bid to limit how the pill is prescribed and distributed is bewildering to Dr. Beverly Winikoff, Gynuity's president, given that the conclusions broadly support easier access to the medication. "They live on a different planet," Winikoff said of the plaintiffs during an interview at her Midtown Manhattan office. "You can always distort information and say things that aren't true." The Supreme Court, whose conservative majority in 2022 overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized a constitutional right to abortion, is set to hear arguments in the case on Tuesday. President Joe Biden's administration is appealing a lower court's decision that would roll back U.S. Food and Drug Administration actions in 2016 and 2021 to ease access to mifepristone. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could undercut federal regulatory authority over drug safety beyond just this medication. The plaintiffs defend how they presented the research findings. "We simply took the FDA's characterizations of these studies and presented them to the court," said Erik Baptist, a lawyer at the Alliance Defending Freedom conservative religious rights group representing the plaintiffs. Mifepristone is taken with another drug called misoprostol to perform medication abortions, which account for more than 60% of U.S. abortions. ABORTION CRACKDOWN A series of Republican-backed abortion bans of varying strictness have been enacted by states since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling. Some states also impose their own restrictions on medication abortion. The plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case are a group of medical associations and four doctors who oppose abortion on religious and moral grounds. To them, the FDA's decisions to relax mifepristone restrictions unlawfully placed women at risk. The regulatory changes included allowing for medication abortions at up to 10 weeks of pregnancy instead of seven, and for mail delivery of the drug without a woman first seeing a clinician in-person. The FDA gave mifepristone regulatory approval in 2000. It has said that after decades of use by millions of women in the United States and around the world, mifepristone has proven "extremely safe," and that "study after study" has shown that "serious adverse events are exceedingly rare." The plaintiffs question the FDA's judgment, in part by pointing the Supreme Court in their written filings to the three studies published by Gynuity researchers in 2019 and 2021 as part of a project called TelAbortion, which evaluated the feasibility and safety of providing abortion drugs via videoconference and mail. The FDA considered those studies, among others, in eliminating in-person visits. The studies, the plaintiffs told the justices, show "troubling rates of emergency-room visits, urgent care trips, and unplanned medical encounters" and "increased risk" for patients. But the studies report that "serious adverse events" such as hospitalizations or blood transfusions are rare. One of them specified that none of the 0.9% of serious outcomes would have been avoided with in-person screening. Winikoff, who has studied medication abortion for more than three decades, said using emergency room or urgent care trips as a proxy for danger paints a false narrative, as most of these visits are not for serious medical emergencies, despite where they take place. "You're counting apples and oranges," Winikoff said, adding: "This whole thing is misleading the public." EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health research group at the University of California San Francisco, said patients who use telemedicine to obtain medication abortion may live far from the prescribing clinician. "So it's not surprising that if they have a question or concern they may go to an emergency department as many people in America do for much of their urgent healthcare," Grossman said. Often that care is for "patients who just have a question or concern and they don't end up needing any treatment" as even more recent studies have found, Grossman said. Baptist, representing the plaintiffs, pointed to the FDA's characterizations of the studies at issue. "The FDA's own label considers emergency room visits to be 'serious adverse reactions,'" Baptist said. "The studies that FDA cited in 2021 show that the risk of these emergency room trips will increase without the initial in-person visit. That should've caused the FDA concern. Instead, it pressed forward with its changes, compromising the health and safety of women," Baptist added. The fight over the science behind mifepristone's safety escalated in recent weeks when prominent academic journal publisher Sage retracted three studies led by researchers at the Virginia-based anti-abortion Charlotte Lozier Institute, noting problems with methodology. The plaintiffs, including the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, had cited two of the studies, including one reporting more emergency room visits following medication abortion compared to surgical abortion, in their 2022 lawsuit challenging FDA approval of mifepristone. Texas-based U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk also cited the studies in his 2023 decision siding with the plaintiffs. "We don't need those studies to win," Baptist said. "All we need to prevail is what the FDA itself has said and the studies it has cited." James Studnicki, director of data analytics at the Charlotte Lozier Institute and lead author of the retracted studies, said, "There is no legitimate reason for Sage's retractions." The institute told the Supreme Court in a filing that the retractions were made for "ideological" reasons even as the FDA relied on studies by "pro-abortion" researchers. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year partially upheld Kacsmaryk's decision, faulting the FDA's loosened restrictions on mifepristone in 2016 and 2021. The 5th Circuit's decision remains on hold pending the Supreme Court's review. A ruling is expected by the end of June. For Winikoff, no matter the outcome at the Supreme Court, medication abortion is here to stay. "People really know what they need, and now they found something that's helpful for them and it fits into their lives better," Winikoff said. "I don't think that the women of America are going to give this up because some people don't like abortion." (Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham) WASHINGTON In recent years, Kansas has become a major access point for abortion in the Great Plains. Clinics in the state are seeing an increasing number of patients and the majority of them are getting abortions via medication. But that method could be at risk of tighter restrictions. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case challenging the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the drug specifically whether doctors should be allowed to prescribe the drug without seeing the patient in person and whether it can be sent over the mail. The case comes less than two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which allowed states like Missouri to ban the procedure. It could have sweeping implications for how doctors offer medication abortion and the FDAs larger authority to approve and regulate prescription drugs. Emily Wales, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains, said their clinics are already preparing for a scenario where the court restricts access to mifepristone this summer. This is a great example of something thats happening in a different state thats gone all the way to the highest court in the country and could affect us here in a state where there was an overwhelming support for abortion rights in a public vote, Wales said. The case also holds larger political implications, as some anti-abortion activists continue to push for a federal ban on the procedure and abortion rights activists push for a federal law guaranteeing a federal right to abortion. Republican Sens. Roger Marshall, of Kansas, and Josh Hawley, of Missouri, signed on to an amicus brief urging the court to rule that the FDA overstepped its authority. It was also signed by Missouri Reps. Sam Graves, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Mark Alford and Eric Burlison, and Kansas Reps. Jake LaTurner, Tracey Mann and Ron Estes. Democrat Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, of Missouri, Cori Bush, of Missouri, and Sharice Davids, of Kansas, signed onto a separate amicus brief urging the court not to override the FDA. I am very concerned about a potential decision that could limit Kansans reproductive freedoms, Davids said in a statement. In 2022 and now, folks in our state are very clear: we dont want politicians or extremist actors making these critical medical decisions for us. At the heart of the case is another Missourian Erin Morrow Hawley. Hawley is an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal group thats representing the doctors and medical groups challenging the FDAs approval of the drug. Her husband, Josh Hawley, said the case is really a response to the Biden administrations attempts to circumvent states that have banned the procedure. I just think the bottom line here is this really ought to be voted on in the states, Hawley said. And what the Biden administration has done here is theyve deliberately tried to make it impossible for voters and states who want to limit abortions. Abortion is currently banned in Missouri, even in cases of rape and incest. And in Kansas, neither Planned Parenthood of the Great Plains nor Trust Women, a clinic in Wichita, offer abortion medication without in-person visits. But the suit is intended to crack down on the ability of medical providers to provide abortion pills using telehealth and medication by mail including some clinics that attempt to provide abortion care to people who live in states where the procedure is banned. While Trust Women, in Wichita, does not currently prescribe the abortion drugs via telemedicine, it attracts patients from states where the procedure is banned. Zack Gingrich-Gaylord, the communications director for Trust Women, said 80% of the people who seek care from their clinic are from out-of-state, including around 55% from Texas. The current method for medication abortion, which has been in place for about 20 years, typically includes two pills mifepristone followed by misoprostol. If the courts were to restrict access to mifepristone, abortion providers say they would be able to adjust using just misoprostol. Yes, we can do medication abortions differently, but why would we be doing it? Gingrich-Gaylord said. Its because of these political reasons. Its not about the most effective way to perform this health care. Its not whats best for the patient. Its not about medical expertise. The doctors challenging the case argue that two decisions by the FDA one in 2016 decision that expanded when mifepristone can be used and a 2021 decision that allowed the drug to be prescribed through telemedicine failed to follow the proper procedure. They argue that the FDA decision to approve the drug later into a pregnancy and to remove the requirement for in-person visits increased the harm to patients. They say the procedure didnt properly follow the law and that now some doctors have to take care of patients who go to the hospital because of complications from the drug. Marshall, who was an OB/GYN before he was elected to the Senate, said he believes the FDA overstepped its authority and increased the risk of adverse effects on women who take the drug. I think that this is a patient safety issue, Marshall said. And the FDA should not let this be given out without an examination by the doctor. But a group of reproductive healthcare researchers and former heads of the FDA each filed separate briefs for the court saying scientists have proven the drug is safe to use and that the FDA followed the correct procedure. The seven former heads of the FDA said the ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that temporarily restricted access to mifepristone fundamentally misunderstood the science involved in the decision and jeopardized the drug approval process in the future. The Fifth Circuits decision, if allowed to stand, would harm patients that rely on FDA-approved drugs to treat serious diseases by allowing courts to second-guess FDAs evaluation of scientific evidence supporting the approval of new drug applications or modifications of those approvals, they wrote. Wales said many of the Planned Parenthood patients opt for medication abortion because it gives them a sense of more control over the process, rather than having to go into the clinic for the surgical procedure. She said Planned Parenthood is used to politics determining how they are allowed to operate and theyre used to adjusting. But she expressed concern for the broader implications of the case and whether it could affect the FDA approval of other, non-abortion related medicine. When you have non-medical professionals making judgments about how care is offered, it is hugely disruptive to care and it absolutely hurts patients, Wales said. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday it was very disappointed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had canceled a high-level Israeli delegation's planned visit to Washington after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. vote demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. "It's disapppointing. We're very disappointed that they won't be coming to Washington, D.C. to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Kirby said senior U.S. officials would still meet for separate talks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who is currently in Washington, on issues including hostages, humanitarian aid and protecting civilians in the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Kirby stressed that U.S. policy had not changed, despite the decision to abstain from the U.N. Security Council vote. He said U.S. officials could continue to bring up Washington's concerns with Israeli policies in Gaza as part of ongoing discussions between the two governments. Nothing has changed about our view that a major ground offensive in Rafah would be a major mistake, Kirby said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Rami Ayyub) By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris hosted Guatemala's president, Bernardo Arevalo, at the White House on Monday to bolster his fledgling government and discuss how to reduce migration from Central America. Harris's meeting underscores U.S. support for the new, reform-minded president, whose inauguration was delayed in January by opponents seeking to weaken his authority. At the start of their meeting, Harris said the U.S. "was proud to stand with you, Mr. President, following a free and fair election and throughout your transition," adding that the "will of the people of Guatemala, by our observation, has triumphed." Immigration has become a hot button issue in President Joe Biden's and Harris's 2024 re-election campaign, with Republicans charging the administration with mishandling spikes in numbers of new immigrants crossing the U.S. border. The White House accuses Republicans, led by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, with torpedoing a bipartisan bill that would have tightened border enforcement. Republicans labeled Harris a failed "border czar" after Biden charged her with spearheading efforts to address the causes of migration from countries in Central America that have contributed to the increase in immigrant inflows. Harris and Arevalo discussed how the United States can support Guatemala's corruption fight, strengthen human rights, and boost the economy. "I view this as a historic moment in relations between our two countries, which share basic values and common interests and confront many joint challenges," Arevalo said as they met. They discussed Arevalo's outreach to indigenous people and the prioritization of efforts to reduce what the official called "irregular migration" to the United States. Harris announced $1 billion in new financial commitments from companies that are part of a public-private partnership program to invest in Central America, bringing the total to more than $5.2 billion since May 2021. They include a commitment by Meta to train young people and small business owners in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. She also "commended Guatemalas support for other democracies around the world," the White House said in a statement about the meeting, without giving details. Guatemala is one of the few countries that maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China. (Reporting by Jeff Mason.Editing by Alistair Bell and Heather Timmons and Miral Fahmy) U.S. Intelligence Community Directive 191 declares that any intelligence element that collects or acquires credible and specific information indicating an impending threat of intentional killingshall have a duty to warn the intended victim. Although designed primarily to warn U.S. citizens of danger, this directive has been applied liberally to foreign governments as well. This duty to warn is one reason the United States on March 7 warned the Russian government that extremists had imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts. It cited the intelligence in a public warning to U.S. citizens to avoid large crowds in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin didnt just ignore the warning, he denounced it. Three days before the attack he claimed the warnings were provocative statements and outright blackmail with the intention to intimidate and destabilize our society. Moscow Terror Suspects Plotted Other Massacres in Europe After the attack, he and other Russian officials now say the U.S. warning was really a threat and the attack was the delivery of that threat. Ukraine is behind the assault, he says, adding details to support this fantasy, including the claim that Ukraine had prepared a window into their country to allow the terrorists to escape. None of this is supported by any facts. All available information indicates that the horrendous March 22 attack on the Crocus City Hall that killed at least 137 people and burned the venue to the ground was carried out by the Islamic State in Khorasan, or ISIS-K. The terrorist group, a powerful remnant of the former ISIS caliphate now operating in and around Afghanistan, claimed credit for the attack. It was strikingly similar to the attack it carried out on Jan. 3, killing 95 Iranians as they gathered to commemorate the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the Iranian city of Kerman. There, too, the U.S. had warned Iran. There, too, the leaders ignored the warning. Over the weekend, ISIS released videos of the attack to support its claim of having masterminded the assault. The Guardian reports that the footage, published by the news agency of ISIS, Amaq, showed gunmen filming themselves as they hunted victims in the lobby of the hall and fired from point-blank range, killing scores of people. At one point, one gunman tells another to kill them and have no mercy. U.S. officials are certain, as White House spokesman John Kirby said on Monday, There was no linkage to Ukraine. This is just more Kremlin propaganda. Other Western countries are confirming this conclusion from their own intelligence, with France announcing on Monday that ISIS was to blame and that the group had planned several attacks on French targets. These spectacular, mass-casualty, civilian attacks are favored by ISIS, al Qaeda, and similar groups. There is no evidence whatsoever that Ukraine or the United States were involved. While Ukraine has launched attacks against military and economic targets in Russia, it goes to great lengths to minimize any civilian casualties. Ukrainians are not terror bombing Russian cities, even as Russia terror bombs theirs. Not only does this cut against the grain of how democratic Ukraine wages its war of resistance, but Ukraine is smart enough to know that any such attack would undercut the support it gets from the West. Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and the Apocalyptic Centrists This may be exactly why American supporters of Putin and opponents of Ukraine are spreading Putins lies. If the Ukrainian government was behind the terrorist attack, as looks increasingly likely, the U.S. must renounce it, else we become complicit, David Sacks, the former PayPal entrepreneur, posted on X. His feed is filled with other conspiracy theory promoters hysterically blaming Ukraine. The anti-Ukraine MAGA movement is similarly claiming this was a Ukrainian/U.S. false flag operation. Far-right commentator Jack Posobiec told Steve Bannon that the four captured terrorists now being tortured by Russia say they were hired. That they couldnt be ISIS because they would have killed themselves. He ludicrously cites a recent statement by former Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland that new U.S. aid would help Ukraine accelerate the asymmetrical warfare that has been the most effective and that Putin faces some nasty surprises as proof of Ukrainian involvement. When Victoria Nuland promises some nasty surprises, he claims, you get stuff like this. All of these breathless revelations are spun with conjecture, guesswork, and outright fabrication. All of this aids Putins efforts to shift blame from his stunning intelligence failure. All of this helps Putin deflect from his inability to protect Russians from the true threats they face and force-feeds the ISIS attack into his existing paradigm. Russia Mutiny Is More Proof the World Needs to Get Rid of Nuclear Weapons To be sure, he wouldnt be the first leader to do so. President George W. Bush ignored intelligence briefings in August 2001 entitled, 'Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States. The Pentagon was still smoldering on September 11 when then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said he was certain that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was behind the attack, not al Qaeda, and began planning to attack Iraq. But Putins motives for shifting blame are clear. He wants to avoid responsibility, preserve his image as a strongman, and rally the nation around his leadership, not his failure. After all, it worked for Bush. It is workingfor the momentfor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Putin is using the same playbook. He appears to be already intensifying his terror bombing of Ukraine and his state-controlled media are working overtime to spin the attack into a fear narrative starring Ukraine. What is less clear is why any American would help him. All of us have a duty to warn of the danger represented by the American arm of Russias propaganda machine. 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 person rides an off-road vehicle at Little Sahara, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011. The Bureau of Land Management is expecting anywhere from 40,000 to 50,000 visitors to the area this weekend. | Ravell Call NEPHI Utahs largest sandbox, a colloquial nickname for the Little Sahara Recreation Area located in Juab County, is expecting an uptick in visitors during this year for Easter weekend with the Bureau of Land Management expecting visitor numbers to be double that of Easter weekend last year. This year, Easter weekend overlaps with a lot of the school districts spring break so we are expecting anywhere from 40,000 to 50,000, said Ashley Snipes, BLM public affairs specialist for the West Desert District. She said visitation numbers during this time of year usually top out around 20,000 to 30,000 visitors. Little Sahara Recreation Area is loved by outdoor enthusiasts for its off-roading opportunities, but the hikes, wildlife viewing and camping opportunities are also ripe for the experiencing at the recreation area. Due to the expected surge in visitors, the BLM is increasing staffing and implementing measures to ensure everyone who visits Little Sahara next weekend can have a safe, fun time enjoying the unique recreational activities the area offers. We encourage visitors to follow all rules and regulations, to respect the environment and practice safe off-road vehicle use, and we thank our partners for prioritizing visitor safety through their continued public service, said BLM West Desert District Manager Michael Gates in a statement. Children under 18 are required to wear a helmet on all all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles, said Snipes. The BLM also says children under the age of 8 are not allowed to operate off-highway vehicles, under any circumstance; and riders are also reminded that operating off-road vehicles while intoxicated is illegal. Guests at the recreational area are advised that large bonfires and the use of firearms are not allowed at Little Sahara. Water has been shut off at the White Sands campground due to shifting sands in the campgrounds play area making the area unsafe, so visitors are being asked to avoid camping there. Another strategy being implemented to handle the expected visitor surge is the opening of two kiosks where entrance passes can be purchased. Visitors can also buy their passes at the newly-constructed visitor center, or purchase online at recreation.gov. Five countries of the European Union (EU) Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic have called for a ban on grain imports from Russia and Belarus to the territory of the community. The ministers of these countries appealed to the European Commission with this call, which had earlier proposed to impose a duty instead of a full embargo on Russian grain. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by the Ministry of Agriculture of Lithuania. This issue will also be discussed at a meeting of the EU Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries. The appeal proposes to impose a ban on the import of products from Russia and Belarus throughout the EU. The ministers also emphasized the importance of implementing measures to prevent grain stolen from Ukraine from entering the European market. In addition, the Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture had previously initiated an investigation into the origin of grain imported into the country. This was preceded by information from the Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine that Russia was profiting from grain exports from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to third countries. On March 22, the European Commission officially proposed raising tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus. In this way, the EU intends, among other things, to combat Russia's exports of illegally appropriated Ukrainian grain. ADVERTISIMENT However, so far, it is only the introduction of duties, not a complete ban. It is assumed that duties will be raised to the maximum level allowed by the WTO for the following goods: wheat corn sunflower meal. At the same time, Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative of Ukraine, believes that the European Commission may still impose a ban on the import of Russian grain. The body may approve such an embargo as early as April. Metallurgical products from the aggressor country may be the next to be banned. Overall, Ukraine aims to completely stop the supply of raw materials from Russia to the European Union. "It is important for us to implement a project to displace Russian raw materials and semi-finished products and replace them with Ukrainian ones," Kachka said. In early 2024, Latvia introduced its own ban on the import of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus. In March, the list of goods subject to the ban was officially approved. The list includes not only grains, legumes and oilseeds, but also many vegetables and processed agricultural products. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA, Polish farmers unblocked the border with Russia. The protest was supposed to last until April 20, but since March 25, trucks have been allowed to pass freely. The farmers explained the lifting of the blockade by the approach of Easter. According to Jerzy Salitra, a representative of the Warmia and Mazury Chamber of Agriculture, the trade with Russia is continuing. At the same time, Russians bring to the EU not only grain, but also fuel, in particular autogas. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The Utah Islamic Center in West Jordan hosted an interfaith dinner to break Ramadan on Sunday. Ramadan started the evening of March 10 and goes until April 9. WEST JORDAN Sure, Ramadan means going a long time without eating or drinking each day. Now, entering its third week, though, Zain Kergaye has adjusted to the fasting. We can manage. Its not like were struggling to get through the day, he said. More significantly, going without food or drink from sunup to sundown each day, and the other elements of Ramadan, help with his spiritual growth. Life goes by really, really fast, said Kergaye, a University of Utah student. Ramadan is to stop and take a break and have some reflection on yourself. ... This allows us to take a step back and increase our faith. Utah is home to some 60,000 Muslims, estimates Zeynep Kariparduc of the Emerald Hills Institute. Ramadan, the holiest month for Muslims, started the evening of March 10 and, with about two weeks to go, the faithful in Utah and beyond have been fasting, praying, giving and reflecting as they aim to deepen their connection with God. During Ramadan, our spirituality is heightened, Kergaye said. Kergaye and other members of the Utah Islamic Center in West Jordan gathered Sunday evening for an interfaith iftar, the meal that breaks the fast each day, inviting the public to the event. It is a month of celebration, Shuaib Din, the imam and director of religious affairs at the mosque, told the gathered crowd. It is a month of meditation. ... It is a month of sharing. It is a month of fellowship and coming together. The fasting serves as a form of self-discipline, Kariparduc, who is Muslim, said in an earlier interview with KSL.com. By fasting, Muslims demonstrate their obedience and submission to the commandments of Allah. Fasting is considered a means of spiritual purification, allowing Muslims to cleanse their souls from impurities and sins. It provides an opportunity for self-discipline, self-control and self-reflection, leading to become a better person spiritually and socially, she said. Her organization, the Emerald Hills Institute, promotes interfaith understanding and has helped organize at least three community iftars across Salt Lake County. Prayer five times a day is also a central element of Ramadan as is deeper reflection on the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. Mehwish Javeed, who attended Sundays iftar, said shes been redoubling efforts to teach her kids elements of the Quran, first revealed during Ramadan. Reading the holy book in its entirety during Ramadan is another common practice. Imam Shuaib Din, at the front in the photo, leads prayer at the Utah Islamic Center in West Jordan on Sunday, March 24, 2024. The Utah Islamic Center hosted an interfaith dinner to break Ramadan on Sunday, March 24, 2024. Din led the members of the mosque in prayer before they ate on Sunday, and he said about two more hours of prayer are standard after the iftar each evening during Ramadan. Ramadan lasts until April 9 this year. Giving is also very important during Ramadan. Kashif Buttar said he donates to varied causes throughout the year but redoubles his giving during Ramadan. It kind of reminds me to be closer to God, he said, and offering a helping hand to those in need is central in that. Beyond the more religious elements of Ramadan, it also serves to help promote familial bonds, Javeed said. The various members of her family are so busy that they often eat at disparate times. Thats not the case during Ramadan, though. This is one time we eat together, she said. Members of various other faiths were present on Sunday, including Sue Prottas of Congregation Kol Ami, a Salt Lake synagogue. People of varied faiths should all be able to get along and live harmoniously, she said. Neale Neelameggham, from the Hindu community, echoed that sentiment. Conflicts come from not understanding the other person, he said. EL PASO, Texas, (KTSM) The University of El Paso has named its new dean for the Woody L. Hunt College of Business. John Hadjimarcou will be serving as the new dean, starting on Monday, April 1. Hadjimarcou joined UTEP in 1994 as an assistant professor of marketing and rose up the ranks to chair of Department of Marketing, Management and Supply Chain in 2006. He has served as interim dean of the College of Business since August of 2023. Hadjimarcou earned his Ph.D in marketing with a minor in international business from Kent State University. He also received an MBA and bachelors in business administration from West Virginia University. In 2010, Hadjimarcou received the Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching at UTEP, the universitys highest teaching honor. Dr. Hadjimarcou has led and mentored students, staff, and faculty with skill and care over the years. He has built a thriving culture in his department and earned the trust and respect of his colleagues. I look forward to working with John to realize even greater success for the college at a crucial time of opportunity, said John Wiebe, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs. Hadjimarcou succeeds James Payne, whom served as dean from 2019 to 2023. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. A Lexington man was allegedly driving drunk when he crashed an off-road vehicle and caused the death of his girlfriend, according to Kentucky State Police. Logan Spencer, 23, is charged with vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol, according to a citation in the case. Spencer was driving a Polaris side-by-side an off-road vehicle with adjacent front seats and a roll cage late Saturday on Highland Road in Breathitt County when he lost control and the vehicle went over an embankment and turned over, according to the citation and a news release. Alexis Smith, 22, also of Lexington, was thrown from the vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. The citation identified Smith as Spencers girlfriend. Spencer and Smith were not wearing seat belts, state police said. State police received notice of the crash at 11:17 p.m. Trooper Matthew Turner said in a citation that he could smell alcohol on Spencers breath and Spencer said he had consumed alcohol. Ive killed her, Spencer said at the scene, according to the citation. A breath test showed Spencers blood-alcohol level was .114%, which is above the level of .08% at which drivers are presumed to be drunk in Kentucky. Spencer had his initial court appearance Monday and pleaded not guilty, according to the state court website. Republicans in Congress use taxpayer-funded email messages to contact constituents more often, and perhaps more effectively, than their Democratic counterparts. Thats what Ive found over 15 years of compiling and analyzing the archive that I call DCinbox, a free and open real-time archive of every official e-newsletter sent by sitting members of Congress to their constituents. To my knowledge, no other institution not even the Library of Congress digitally archives these significant historical government documents whose creation and distribution is funded by the American people. So far, my compilation includes more than 184,000 official e-newsletters, and it grows by about 30 messages each day. These communications are a way for legislators to present themselves and their arguments directly to constituents, free from the oversight of a newspaper or magazine editor, and in ways that can put additional information just one hyperlink away. The messages reveal fundamental differences in how each party seeks to connect with and inform their constituents: Republicans prefer visual elements and strategic timing, and Democrats prefer more text-heavy missives. A public-minded legacy Direct ways for lawmakers to communicate with the public have a long and democratic history. When the United States was founded, members of Congress were allowed to adopt what had been a common practice in the British Parliament using taxpayer funds to send informational mailings to constituents. This privilege, called franking, allowed a senator or representative to sign his or her name on an envelopes top right corner in place of a stamp. There were rules, though the messages had to be informational, not campaign material or endorsements of other politicians. In recent years, this practice has evolved into sending constituents email messages from House members and senators official email accounts. The rules still apply: Members of Congress who want to send campaign material or partisan political messages must do so from their campaign accounts or personal accounts, not email addresses ending in @house.gov or @senate.gov. In 2009, I began collecting all of the official messages as a part of dissertation work, with the hopes of creating an archive for researchers to use and to answer my own questions about how legislators would look ideologically if all we had to go on were the votes they decided to communicate to constituents. At that time, I had to manually enter my email address into the website of every member of Congress. Now its easier to keep up, because I just sign up for new members lists after every election. For years, Ive shared various insights, analyzing word usage, trends in geographical terms and finer bits of information such as how many members of Congress talked about COVID-19 on a given day during the pandemic. From this work, I have developed a few major insights into how members of Congress use this free perk, offering a better understanding of contemporary political communication tactics. Here are four important points Ive learned. 1. Republicans use email more and with more strategic timing Over the past 15 years, Republicans have won only slightly more seats in the House and Senate than Democrats. But once in office, Republicans use this email perk far more than Democrats. In every month Ive been tracking these messages except briefly in the middle of 2010, when Democrats held 59% of all the seats in Congress, and for nine of the 11 months at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and early 2021 Republicans have sent many more official e-newsletters to constituents than Democrats have. Republicans also tend to be more attuned to the leisure reading habits of people. They send a greater number of their emails on weekends when people are likely to have weekend time to take them in. Democrats are more likely to send their messages during the work week. 2. Republicans tend to stay on message Republicans in Congress are more consistent in using key terms and phrases than Democrats. For example, back in 2023 Republicans were unhappy with Democratic attempts to boost the IRS efforts to reduce tax evasion. A proposal included the projection that the IRS could hire an additional 87,000 workers over the coming decade. Republicans took to e-newsletters to oppose that move and specifically used that number as a rallying cry. And in 2022 and 2023, as fentanyl deaths gripped news headlines, multiple Republicans told constituents about how the volume of fentanyl in the U.S. could kill every single American. By contrast, Democrats are far less likely to have overlapping term usage or phrasing. That suggests they are not as focused on coordinating constituent communications as Republicans. Republican e-newsletters tend to include eye-catching images up front. Lindsey Cormack, DCinbox, CC BY-ND 3. Republicans also routinely co-opt opponents words GOP legislators tend to adopt phrases that originate with policy oriented journalists, academics and protesters on the left into a convenient, and dismissive, shorthand. Terms like Green New Deal, critical race theory, defund the police and Bidenomics are all used commonly in official Republican e-newsletters railing against Democratic policy proposals. Democrats in Congress didnt have a similar sort of concerted effort to use a Republican-originated word or phrase until 2022, when they began to use the term MAGA as a way to tell constituents about parts of the Republican agenda they disagree with. And even then, only 292 e-newsletters from Democrats have used MAGA, while Republicans have sent 1,531 messages deriding the Green New Deal, 496 about critical race theory, 824 with defund the police and 330 saying Bidenomics. Democratic e-newsletters tend to be text-heavy. Lindsey Cormack, DCinbox, CC BY-ND 4. Official e-newsletters have changed with the internet Official e-newsletters have changed over time, as trends of online communication have shifted. But here again, Republicans are ahead of Democrats. Republicans use more images than Democrats and tend to refer constituents to more media outlets, including those that support right-wing views. This official e-newsletter archive allows researchers to better understand the evolving nature of online political communications and learn about how the parties use contemporary tools to connect with their constituents. In order for the public and historians to make sense of American politics, I believe its important to analyze what legislators say when acting in their official capacity. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Lindsey Cormack, Stevens Institute of Technology Read more: Lindsey Cormack does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. By Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela's opposition coalition was left without a candidate in the race for July's presidential elections after 80-year-old Corina Yoris was unable to register before the expiry of Monday's deadline. Yoris was named as the opposition candidate last week by Maria Corina Machado, who won the opposition nominating contest by a landslide last year to run against incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, but has been banned from holding public office. The opposition was unable to access the electoral authority's online system to register Yoris as a candidate, coalition head Omar Barboza said. "They haven't let us get in," Barboza said early on Tuesday. Neither Venezuela's information ministry nor its CNE electoral body immediately responded to a Reuters request for comment on whether Yoris was ineligible to run. Two people close to Machado were arrested last week, causing outcry from Washington, which has already warned it will allow oil sanction relaxations to expire in April if the socialist government of Maduro does not allow free and fair elections. In an interview on Monday, Yoris told Reuters that she was open to discussions with Maduro. "I have to negotiate with him," she said. "I'm telling him he must comply with the constitution." Venezuela's ruling Socialist party authorized Maduro, a 61-year-old former bus driver, to seek a second re-election for another six-year term and he successfully registered as a candidate with the CNE on Monday. "There will be elections with or without you," Maduro said from the CNE building in Caracas, referring to the opposition. At least 10 other candidates have also registered, including an opposition party state governor who registered five minutes before the deadline. But the majority are seen as being close to the government and lack significant voter support, opinion polls show. (Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas; Writing by Oliver Griffin and Kylie Madry; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Clarence Fernandez) KYIVThe journalist who broke two of the biggest war-time corruption stories to embarrass President Volodymyr Zelenskys government has been threatened and abused, and even suffered an attack on his home by hired thugs. Yuri Nikolov, the editor-in-chief of independent publication Nashi Groshi (Our Money), told The Daily Beast that the so-called police investigation into the intimidation tactics used against him has become a mockery. He says he has been warned by law enforcement officials to back off and stop criticizing Zelensky. It seems the investigators dont want to follow the threats out of fear that they will discover something big, he said. The attack on Nikolov is part of a wider crackdown against the media that began early this year when the independent press reacted negatively to Zelenskys plans to fire the popular commander-in-chief of the military. As tensions between the media and the presidential office grew, Ukrainian intel operatives were caught setting up hidden cameras to record off-duty journalists partying. Kompromat footage of reporters taking drugs was posted on social media in a flagrant state-backed effort to undermine their investigative work. We have two sources confirming that the crackdown on the press was initiated by our leadership, because President Zelensky feels offended by any criticism, Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of the countrys most respected news outlet, Ukrainska Pravda, told The Daily Beast. Three other editors-in-chief at top Ukrainian publications told The Daily Beast that intense pressure on journalists who dared to criticize Zelensky is continuing and police investigations into the most egregious attacks show no sign of progress. Musaieva, who runs a team of over 150 reporters across the war-torn country, said it has been made known to her that the presidential office dislikes the outlet. The pressure began when journalists questioned the presidents decision to fire top commander General Zaluzhny, she said. General Valery Zaluzhny had become increasingly outspoken in his blunt assessment of the stalemate with Russia before he was fired. He pointed the finger at the reluctance of Zelenskys government to authorize wider conscription to bolster his forces, which have been losing ground in recent months. During the decade of conflict with Russia since the seizure of Crimea in 2014, Musaievas colleagues have been captured, assassinated, or gone missing in the field in the name of serving the Ukrainian people. At least four are now serving in the army. But that is not enough to protect them from accusations that they are not sufficiently patriotic. Terrifying Poison Threat Makes Ukraine Soldiers Lives Hell Critics affiliated with the government called me cheburek [which is an insult based on traditional Crimean meat pies] after our reports on the conflict between President Zelensky and top commander Gen. Zaluzhny; and they were not simple trolls, she said. Anonymous Telegram channels affiliated with power continue to insult us, claiming we are funded by Russiathat is a pure lie, an attempt to show that we are enemies of the people. Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of Ukrainian Newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, talks at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum on June 19, 2023 in Germany. Bernd Lauter/Getty Images Sevgil Musaieva, the recipient of prestigious International Press Freedom Awards, said Zelenskys office was making no effort to curb the crackdown even now that some of the attacks have been exposed by the media. Police investigators still have not told us who ordered the attacks on Ukrainska Pravda, Nashi Groshi, Bihus.Info and multiple other media outlets. And frankly, we are losing hope of seeing any results, since the leadership see no issuethey dont seem to understand why we are so crucially needed in Ukraine today, she said. Kompromat Plot The most stunning attack on the press was orchestrated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which many have subsequently suggested ought to have been focused on repelling Russias physical and psychological warfare. Kompromat videos and photos in saunas or bedrooms were a favorite KGB method of discrediting the Kremlins critics. Those same tactics were turned on Ukraines independent media by the SBU, the successor to Ukraines branch of the Soviet-era KGB. After videos appeared on Telegram showing staff from the investigative site Bihus.info taking drugs and partying at a private new years celebration at a hotel, the reporters turned their hands to investigating who had been spying on them. Denis Bihus, the news outlets founder, told The Daily Beast that they discovered that 30 SBU officers launched a surveillance operation. Hotel staff told them that the day before their party in January, a group of men arrived and apparently placed secret cameras in all of the rooms. Just before the Bihus investigative report was published, the head of the SBU department involved was fired. The SBU did not deny they had been behind the surreptitious video collection, which ended up being published online with the caption: Can you trust their investigations if they are doing them under the influence of drugs? They argued that the intelligence collection was part of some kind of perfectly innocent anti-drugs operation. Bihus told The Daily Beast: They have been spying on us for monthsin short, the leadership is fed up with us, since we publish one or two journalistic investigations into the work of the presidential office every month. Suspicious characters were photographed outside the Bihus.Info office weeks later, and the staff have come to accept that they are still being spied on. We cannot protect our reporters against the Security Service of Ukraine; and frankly, the inspection of our newsroom for bugs is expensive, Bilhus said. We have conducted it once. President Zelensky was asked who ordered the security services to spy on Bihus.Info reporters at a press conference last month. He responded that the head of the department has been fired; I dont want to get involved in that, thats something law enforcement officials are looking into. When The Daily Beast asked Bilhus whether there was any news of progress in that investigation into the mastermind of the spying operation, he just smiled and said, Progress? At the State Bureau of Investigations? The media association of Ukraine condemned the attacks on independent reporters in a January statement about systematic pressure, provocations, smear campaigns, as well as violations of journalists privacy and even illegal surveillance. Zelensky condemned the pressure and promised an investigation, but months have passed by and theres no sign of any updates. The Daily Beast requested a comment on the investigation from the presidential office but did not hear back. Attack at Home The attacks on Nikolov began with smears and slurs online but that escalated in January to a raid on his home. I told the police that anonymous Telegram channels had been writing threats to me, he said. Nikolov, the editor-in-chief of Nashi Groshi, became famous for breaking two of the biggest corruption stories in Ukraine during the warquestioning the integrity of military procurement. After the threats, a group of men appeared at his apartment in January. They were shouting insults, threats and my name, so my motherwho is recovering from cancerimmediately realized they were some thugs, Nikolov told The Daily Beast. She did not open the door. Remarkably, law enforcement officials tracked down the alleged attackers. The investigators interrogated the suspects, checked their cell phones and discovered messages from those who had ordered the attack on me and promised $400 and $1000 for the job," he said. But it seems the investigators dont want to follow the threats out of fear that they will discover something big. Nikolov most recently met with the law enforcement officials last week. Originally, they opened a case against the attack on me on the criminal law #171impeding the lawful professional activity of journalistsbut now the investigator said the attack was mere hooliganism, he also tells me I should not be criticizing the president. Some attacks on reporters are more sophisticated than others. Natalie Sedletska, editor-in-chief of the investigative TV program Schemes, told The Daily Beast that her reporters had come under different types of pressure. Our reporter investigated violations by judges, so one of the judges opened a case against the author on accusations of interference in the judicial system. As soon as we raised awareness of the pressure on the journalist, the case was closed, she said. In another instance she said a reporters Telegram was hacked by someone who was able to grab the two-step verification code from their phone. Only the Security Service of Ukraine would have such access, she said. Sedletska, who is also Kyiv bureau chief for Radio Liberty, said her team was outraged at the attempts to break into the reporter's private correspondence. I am worried about freedom of speech in Ukraine, she said. Mainly because our leadership still has not figured out how to make independent journalists partnersthey see us as a threat to their stability in power. Who Do You Trust? The chairman of the parliamentary Freedom of Speech Committee, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, is not worried about pro-Zelensky Telegram channels attempting to discredit independent journalists with kompromat or slurs and accusations that they are being bankrolled by the Russians. Ukrainian society trusts the independent media more than the authorities, he said. According to last years polls public trust for Ukrainian media was very high, 49 percent. Independent journalists have a right to investigate any violations of public servant, even if they are committed by the president or his closest team members, he said. Our society has a great respect for investigative reporters such as Yuriy Nikolov they are like famous brands, they can always rely on support from the public. According to Yurchyshyn, there was always a department at the SBU watching over the media. Our special services have the same KGB roots as the Russian FSB, he said. Conditions for freedom of speech were even worse under previous presidents Leonid Kuchma and Victor Yanukovych, when reporters were physically attacked and even assassinated over their workthat is not happening under President Zelensky. Yurchyshyn said that over 30 journalists have been killed in the field while covering the war and more than two dozen have been captured by Russia. International organizations including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been supporting independent media in Ukraine with grants and at least a dozen independent outlets continue to work in Kyiv. Nataliya Gumenyuk, co-founder of the Reckoning Project, which is documenting Russian war crimes, told The Daily Beast that there was a mixed attitude to the media from Ukrainian officials. Our military has understood how important journalism is during the war but as for our presidential office, not everybody understands it, she said. Authorities dont like the most important investigations into state corruption. But they should not behave like children. They should be responsible and protect our constitutional rights; show us the results of the investigation; who and why ordered the surveillance on Bihus.info? She said the stories about pressure on the independent media had a big resonance in Ukrainian society. It is funny that a hotel manager gives an interview to journalists investigating surveillance on themselves in their roomthis is Ukraine for you. Our country is transparent, there is a big public dialogue between power and civil society. Right now, the SBU spying on reporters is a joke to everybody, the entire country is laughing at them. 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. Local residents said the plaque has become a something of a tourist attraction An artist says a memorial plaque to an "adulterer" is almost a "word-for-word" copy of his art. The plaque, on a bench on Royal York Crescent in Clifton in Bristol, mentions a person called Roger. But no-one has claimed responsibility for the plaque, which has been shared widely on social media, and it is unknown if it is about a real person. Artist The Misfortune Teller has claimed it is a "copy cat" version of something he created years ago. He attributed the copying to "meme culture", but said art is his livelihood, and wants stronger laws to protect it. The London-based artist, who did not want to use his real name for anonymity, claimed the concept was taken "from one of the first ones" he "mocked up". The artist posted the concept on his Instagram page on 13 August in 2020 "I made it four years ago on Photoshop and posted it to Instagram on 15 August," he said. "They [the bench plaque creator] actually copied it word-for-word apart from a comma. I don't understand the motivation - unless they are a superfan. "Most people would say 'shut up just enjoy the attention', but this is how I make my living." Nobody has come forward yet to claim responsibility for the plaque Local Clifton residents said the bench has since become a "mysterious tourist attraction". "The world of funny memorial plaques isn't just mine, but it's a wholesale word-for-word theft," The Misfortune Teller said. The artist said some of his other pieces have also gone viral in the past The Misfortune Teller said he wanted to make plaques that were funny and truthful He said some of his other plaque pieces have also gone viral in the past or have been copied or shared without being credited to him. "But I'm not angry. All I want is clarity," the artist added. "The meme culture is just so strong that by the time you realise it's been stolen, everybody has shared it and they're 1,000 memes ahead," he added. He said he hoped stronger laws would bought in to protect artists from not being credited when their work is copied. Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630. ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The next few weeks will be telling about the true fate of a sports arena in Virginia. Publicly, prospects for an arena deal look grim after the legislature passed a budget that doesnt include money to facilitate an arena move. But if the possibility for some sort of deal were to exist, public statements and reports would indicate a long path ahead. The dynamics are pretty simple. The Democratic legislature has different priorities than the Republican governor. Such a dynamic could yield compromise, but Dwayne Yancey with Cardinal News, based in Southwest Virginia, says its not compromise, but conflict, right now. READ MORE: Virginia senator boasts about blocking budget for Monumental Sports move to Potomac Yard A rendering showing the newly proposed entertainment district in Alexandria's Potomac Yard that features an arena for both the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards, and the global business headquarters for Monumental Sports & Entertainment (JBG SMITH) The arena remains a priority for Governor Glenn Youngkin, who called the Senates not passing a bill a colossal mistake. In the last few weeks, Governor Youngkin has been touring the Commonwealth advocating for his vision of the budget and called the one passed by democrats "backwards". Youngkin has urged legislators to work with him. According to a letter obtained by Southwest Virginias Cardinal News, Democratic leaders told Governor Youngkin it was hard to envision productive negotiations given his public criticism. The Associated Press reports both sides met virtually last week before that letter was sent. READ MORE: Wizards, Capitals Virginia deal could be 'biggest taxpayer stadium subsidy' ever "Right now, its not looking good. Could there be a deal? Yes. But that would require all the parties sitting down around the table and everybody being willing to give something. And its unclear at this point whether, one theyre going to be sitting around that table, and two, what the governor might be prepared to give," Yancey said. The democratic-led legislature has passed bills raising the minimum wage and setting up a retail marijuana system in the Commonwealth. Those priorities, Yancey says, at odds with Governor Youngkin. A rendering showing the newly proposed entertainment district in Alexandrias Potomac Yard that features an arena for both the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards, and the global business headquarters for Monumental Sports & Entertainment (JBG SMITH) Governor Youngkin has tax cuts he wanted to see as part of the legislative session but were not included in the budget sent to his desk. Despite the public back and forth, Yancey says the big question is where compromise could be reached should an arena deal still be on the table. A key date to watch going forward: April 8th, when Governor Youngkin has to sign, veto, or amend the budget and other bills sent to his desk. "I hate to set a deadline, but if there were to be a deal, it would be smart to make it before April the 8th when there are bills he could agree to sign or send back with amendments to make them a little more palatable. Once he vetoes things, theyre off the table as far as a deal," Yancey said. The legislature will then reconvene on April 17 to review the budget and other amendments Youngkin may make to legislation. VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) A 23-year-old man from Virginia Beach has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend outside a bar in April 2023. Khalil Shariff Jackson Before the murder, prosecutors say Khalil Shariff Jackson searched for terms such as AR15, Virginia Beach Murder, and can you make a bullet untraceable. Virginia Beach Commonwealths Attorney Colin Stolle announced Jacksons sentencing on Monday. This comes after Jackson pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder and related gun charges. As part of a plea agreement through Assistant Commonwealths Attorneys David W. Laird and Joseph A. DiNonno, Circuit Court Judge James C. Lewis suspended 18 years of a 38-year sentence for those charges, leaving 20 to serve. Previous: 21-year-old dies following shooting on Princess Anne Rd. in VB Stolles office says Jackson fired three shots with a rifle just after 1 a.m. on April 7, 2023 outside Parlays II on Princess Anne Road, killing his exs boyfriend, Amonte Walkup. Walkup was shot in the head as he and Jacksons ex left the bars parking lot in a car. Jacksons ex was able to get away and later identified Jackson as the suspect through surveillance footage. He was later arrested in Georgia on May 18, 2023. The video showed Jackson fire three shots and retrieve the ejected shell casings before fleeing through a cut-through behind the bar. Prosecutors say Jackson was upset that his ex, the mother of his children, was with Walkup and that Walkup was around the children. He told his ex that he had people watching her, and he repeatedly called and texted her saying he would kill her and shoot up her home, prosecutors say. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. Wandsworth prison has been described by the chief inspector as not being fit for purpose - EDDIE MULHOLLAND FOR THE TELEGRAPH The governor at Wandsworth jail has narrowly avoided prison herself after being held in contempt of court for unlawfully detaining a man. Katie Price was accused by a judge of a lamentable series of failings after failing to abide by his order to release the man by a fixed time. Mr Justice Pepperall declined to punish her for contempt, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail, instead ordering her to pay the mans legal costs on an indemnity basis, the highest level available. Wandsworth prison in south London from which Daniel Khalife, the terror suspect, allegedly escaped last year was judged to be unsafe, understaffed and inhumane by watchdogs in October last year. The independent monitoring board for the prison said staff shortages were so acute that the jail was failing to function effectively. Half of its staff were off sick or unavailable to work on any one day. After Khalifes alleged escape, Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, singled out Wandsworth as one of 10 Victorian jails that he said should ideally be closed because they were not fit for purpose. Daniel Khalif allegedly escaped from Wandsworth prison by clinging onto the bottom of a delivery van - METROPOLITAN POLICE/AP Mr Khalife, 21, who was on remand at the jail charged with terror and spying offences, is accused of escaping by clinging to the bottom of a delivery van, prompting a four-day manhunt involving more than 150 police officers. Mr Khalife is awaiting trial, having denied all the charges, including escape. The most recent case centres on Bumju Kim, a prisoner who was sentenced to 10 weeks in jail for battery on Jan 16 this year. Having served that period on remand, he should then have been released. Instead, he was put on a prison bus and taken back to Wandsworth Prison, where he was detained. Mr Justice Pepperall said: There are few rights more important in a free and civilised democracy than that no one should be unlawfully detained by the state. The right not to be falsely imprisoned can be vindicated by the issue of the ancient writ of habeas corpus, which requires the detained person to be produced before the court. The law clearly places the onus on the state to justify the prisoners continued detention and, absent proof of lawful authority, the prisoner must be released. Kims solicitor tried to persuade the prison to release him, but failed to do so and applied to Mr Justice Pepperall, the overnight duty judge, who ordered Ms Price to bring Kim to court at 11am that morning unless the prisoner had been released by then. When Ms Price failed to do so, the judge described it as an unacceptably lax and disrespectful attitude to compliance with court orders. Giving judgment, Mr Justice Pepperall said: It is neither lawful nor acceptable to detain prisoners for a further 24 hours after there ceases to be any lawful basis for their continued detention. It was the second time in little more than a year that a prisoner has been wrongly detained at Wandsworth. In November 2022, Walid Niagui was unlawfully detained for nearly three days in circumstances that Mr Justice Chamberlain said continue to give serious cause for concern. In a judgment delivered later that month, Mr Justice Chamberlain added that the responses by prison staff provide little reassurance that these events will not be repeated. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. The Polish authorities expect that the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through the country will be suspended from April 1. Negotiations on licensing of agricultural exports from Ukraine are also nearing completion, which will allow for new restrictions on the import of Ukrainian products to Poland. ADVERTISIMENT This was announced by Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman, who actively supports the striking Polish farmers. "We hope as we have talked about this with the Ukrainian side that the transit, primarily of corn and wheat, will virtually stop from April 1," Hetman said on Radio Lublin. As for the import restrictions, it is currently forbidden to export Ukrainian rapeseed, corn, wheat and sunflower to Poland. New restrictions in the form of licensing are planned for a number of other products, including sugar, eggs and poultry, and fruit, especially apples. According to Hetman, the negotiations on the restrictions should be completed by March 31. "We have made great progress in negotiations with Ukraine on the licensing system... I hope that these negotiations will continue this week and will be completed," Hetman emphasized. ADVERTISIMENT He also clarified that in recent months the government has been able to meet other demands of the protesters. In particular, these include subsidies for agricultural producers and easing the rules of the EU Green Deal. As reported by OBOZ.UA, the blockade of the border between Ukraine and Poland continues, with trucks being allowed to cross with serious restrictions. At the same time, the Poles lifted the blockade on the border with Russia ahead of schedule. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! March 25 (UPI) -- Firefighters in New Hampshire rescued a young deer that fell through the ice and was struggling to stay afloat. The Gilmanton Firefighters' Association said in a Facebook post that crews responded Sunday morning when members of the public reported a deer in distress on Crystal Lake. "Upon arriving at the scene, it was found that a deer had gone through the ice, about 200 yards from shore," the post said. The crews worked together with the Alton Fire Department to conduct the ice rescue. "The deer was rescued, tired, exhausted and shivering, but it was last seen up and walking around," the post said. LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) A massive alligator crossed paths with passersby before diving into a nearby waterway and bellowing at the cameraman in Polk County over the weekend. WFLA viewer Ken Bergquist was walking on a trail at the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland on Sunday when he spotted the gator. Bergquist captured several videos of the alligator walking and lounging in the water when it began to bellow. 5 men arrested in connection to underground rooster fighting ring in Florida According to Croc Encounters, alligators can bellow all year round, but its more prevalent during mating season when they do it to attract mates. Alligator mating season can start as early as April, but it typically occurs in May or June, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Image courtesy of Ken Bergquist Image courtesy of Ken Bergquist Image courtesy of Ken Bergquist The large gator sighting comes after Croc Encounters relocated a nearly 500-pound alligator from Temple Terrace to Tampa. The gator was living at the areas abandoned Coca-Cola plant, sparking concern among residents. In the state of Florida, its illegal to kill or harass an alligator without a permit. FWC also advises citizens not to bother or feed the animals. Nearly 500-pound alligator found in Temple Terrace relocated to new home Anyone with concerns about an alligator should call the agencys Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286). Here are some tips the FWC said people should know when dealing with alligators in Florida: Keep a safe distance if you see an alligator. Keep pets on a leash and away from the waters edge. Pets often resemble alligators natural prey. Swim only in designated swimming areas during daylight hours and without your pet. Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn. Never feed an alligator. Its illegal and dangerous. When fed, alligators can lose their natural wariness and instead learn to associate people with the availability of food, which can lead to dangerous circumstances for yourself and others who could encounter the alligator in the future. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. Kamala Harris clapped along to a musical performance in Puerto Rico unaware that the Spanish song was a protest anthem aimed at her. The US vice president initially looked enthusiastic as the song began as she made her way outside a San Juan community centre where she had been speaking to civic leaders on Friday. She pointed and clapped as the singing began, lingering outside the building to take in the performance. Unbeknown to the vice president, the songs lyrics criticised her and Joe Biden, the US president. According to Newsweek, it included the lines: We want to know, Kamala, what did you come here for? We want to know what you think of the colony. A woman, named by US media as Mariana Reyes, the director of the community centre, whispered into Ms Harriss ear, apparently translating the song. Footage shows Ms Harriss smile dipping slightly as she stopped clapping and nodded her head. Her five-hour visit to Puerto Rico to tout federal aid in the wake of natural disasters and attend a fundraiser took place days after the Biden-Harris campaign announced measures to entice Latino voters to vote Democrat in the election. President Joe Biden and I have been very intentional about what we are doing for the leaders and the people and the families of Puerto Rico, she said in a speech. So far, our administration has invested over $140 billion in Puerto Rico. However, a number of the locals did not appear impressed. Dozens of protesters gathered in San Juan to criticise US support for Israel over the war in Gaza and to protest Puerto Ricos territorial status. Yankee, go home! some shouted, while one demonstrator waved a sign labelling Ms Harris a war criminal and vice president of genocide. She is not welcome here, said another. We find her presence disrespectful, said Joselyn Velazquez, the protest spokesman, as a group around her waved Palestinian flags. One activist reportedly trampled on a US flag while others set the flags on fire. Later on Friday, Ms Harris spoke at a campaign reception before flying back to the US mainland later that evening. She took the opportunity to hit out at Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, whom she said had described Puerto Rico as dirty and poor and corrupt. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Watch: Rain, hail falls on parts of San Diego County over the weekend SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) As dry weather moves in this week, San Diego County saw steady rain and even hail over the weekend, while some San Diego mountains had nearly a foot of snow fall. Aside from the mountains, San Diego valley areas like Santee and Rancho Bernardo received the most rainfall this weekend at just under an inch. Storm threatens snow in the Midwest, thunder in the South. Other parts of the US dig out The National Weather Service (NWS) reports a band of heavy showers from Encinitas to Alpine caused pea-sized hail to fall in Rancho Bernardo at 6:15 p.m. Sunday. Did you see hail in your area? Let us know. Rain, hail falls on parts of San Diego County over the weekend (FOX 5/ KUSI) Weekend rainfall totals (FOX 5/KUSI) Rain, strong wind, high surf in Mission Beach (FOX 5/KUSI) San Diego mountains received the most rainfall from this set of storms, between 1 to 2 inches in most areas, while the valley areas saw around an inch of rain, according to NWS. In Spring Valley, Quarry Road was closed from SR-125 to Lakeview Drive Saturday night due to flooding. Lake Cuyamaca saw the most rainfall in all of Southern California with 2.75 inches of rain over a 3-day period. View the rainfall totals for Southern California here. Dramatic video shows California woman rescued from raging river Parts of Los Angeles County also saw hail fall while a flood advisory was in place during the storms Sunday night. The Associated Press reports quarter-sized hail fell in Southern California Sunday. Video from KTLA shows a 35-year-old woman being rescued after she was swept away in the storm-swollen Los Angeles River Sunday evening. These areas in San Diego County are at the highest risk of flooding, data shows A high surf advisory is also in effect for San Diego County beaches until noon Monday, with large breaking waves 5 to 8 feet expected. The rain has moved out of the area and the sun will come back out for the work week staying in the mid to upper 60s during the daytime, then turning rainy again heading into Easter weekend. Video Below: Sarah Alegre has the 7-day forecast Rain and thunderstorms are expected this upcoming Easter weekend, while more snow is expected to fall in the mountain areas. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. DENVER (KDVR) A storm on Sunday dropped rain, hail and snow across Colorado, which caused some traffic issues on Monday morning. But the storm brought more than just a couple of inches of snow it also brought a rare weather phenomenon. A viewer of Nexstars KDVR captured the unique event on video. At first, the video shows a mix of rain and snow falling outside a home on Lookout Mountain. Then, about 25 seconds into the video, thunder erupts, lasting almost 10 seconds. Photos: Snowy road conditions on Monday morning commute This phenomenon is known as thundersnow, which is a thunderstorm in the winter. How thundersnow works While thunder is less common in the winter, it can happen. Thundersnow is the same as a thunderstorm, just with snow instead of rain, according to Pinpoint Weather Meteorologist Greg Perez. It doesnt normally happen in the winter because there isnt as much energy in these types of systems, said Perez. Usually, in snowstorms, there is a lack of heat and low cloud levels. However, during the storm on Sunday, the temperatures were warm enough for a thunderstorm but cold enough for snow. Colorado spring storm snow totals for March 24-25 Lookout Mountain had just enough moisture for the rare occurrence, said Perez. Thundersnow is also rare because oftentimes, it goes unheard. When thundersnow happens, the snow often muffles the sound. This makes the video above especially unique, as the thunder can be heard for almost 10 seconds. While there arent specific records as to how often thundersnow occurs, Perez said its extremely rare, especially in Colorado. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. Private aerospace company Boom Supersonic got its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft in the air and back down again last week, completing the carbon fiber planes first successful flight. It hasnt broken the sound barrier yet, but the new plane is notable for setting the stage for a fuel-efficient supersonic passenger airliner Boom is hoping to launch in the future. With a conventional jet engine, carbon fiber composites, and an augmented reality heads-up display in the cockpit for its human pilot, the aircraft took to the skies from the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California, on Friday. The historic Bell X-1the Jetsons-looking aircraft in which Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947made its first supersonic flight just down the road, above Rogers Dry Lake. The 62.6-foot-long (19-meter) demonstrator met its test objectives, achieving an altitude of 7,120 feet (2,170 meters) and speeds of 273 miles per hour (439 kph). Check out video of the Boom XB-1's first flight below; for the impatient, the aircraft takes off around 1:10. Ive been waiting over 20 years for an environmentally friendly successor to Concorde and XB-1s first flight is a major landmark towards my dreams being realized, said Mike Bannister, formerly the Chief Concorde Pilot for British Airways, in a Boom press release. When I last flew Concorde in 2003 I knew that this day would come. The first flight of the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator is a significant achievement toward making sustainable supersonic flight a reality. Indeed, sustainabilityeconomic sustainabilitywas the problem with Concorde, a supersonic passenger aircraft that could fly from NYC to London in under three hours. According to the Museum of Flight, the costs of supersonic travel were rising well before the fatal crash in 2000 that killed 113 people. Besides that, the planes earsplitting sonic booms meant the aircraft could only go supersonic over the open ocean. Cities issued noise complaints about the aircraft, and today commercial air travel is entirely subsonic. An artists mock-up of the Overture airliner in flight. - Illustration: Boom Supersonic Boom hopes to develop its Overture airliner to fly using sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), made from recycled carbon dioxide, forest residue, algae, and more. But as Gizmodo reported in 2021, though the company says the planes will be optimized for such fuels, it doesnt promise the planes will run on it. Overture currently just a concept; Boom advertises that it is expected to carry 64 to 80 passengers at speeds of Mach 1.7. In 2021, United Airlines agreed to purchase 15 supersonic aircraft from Boom with options to purchase dozens more. The Washington Post reported that Boom is looking to debut the Overture jet in 2029. The Boom XB-1 is not the only supersonic demonstrator hitting the skies in 2024. NASAs X-59 (also known as the Quesst mission) is expected to make its first flight sometime this year. Unlike the Boom demonstrator, the Quesst mission is trying to achieve sonic boom-less flight, reducing the noise pollution to a sonic thump, as the agency describes it. The NASA plane has a more unusual design than the Boom plane (which looks fairly ordinary as far as jets go) and its mission is expected to run through 2027. The Federal Aviation Administration does not allow civil aircraft to travel at speeds exceeding Mach 1 over land. Clearly, that will have to change if the Boom team wants its aircraft to reach Mach 1.7 and achieve significantly shortercross-country flights. More: Uniteds Supersonic Jet Sustainability Claims Sure Sound Suspect For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In the latest development following the 2022 racially motivated massacre at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, a judge ruled that a few major tech companies could be swept into legal action in connection to the shooting. YouTube, Reddit, Google and Alphabet Inc. are all vulnerable for being labeled defendants in a lawsuit filed by gun control organization Everytown Law who targeted them on behalf of the 25 survivors of the shooting. The suit alleged the sites had a well-documented tendency of drawing in teenagers to be addicted to their algorithms. Those teens, including shooter Payton Gendron, would then be compelled to constantly scroll through a feed filled with anti-Black content and information on how to obtain military-style weapons like the one used in the shooting. Police say back in 2022, Gendron killed 10 Black people at the grocery store after plotting to prey on a predominantly Black area by inspiration of a white supremacist manifesto. In an effort to wiggle themselves out of the litigation, a report from KSBY says the companies filed a motion to dismiss the suit arguing they were protected by the Communications Decency Act and the First Amendment. Monday, Erie County Supreme Court Justice Paula Feroleto ruled their argument wasnt strong enough. Read more from CNN: The Court has determined the complaint sufficiently pleads viable causes of action to go forward at this stage of the litigation, said Erie County Supreme Court Justice Paula Feroleto. In her decision, the judge said that the plaintiffs may proceed with their lawsuit, which claims social media companies like Meta, Alphabet, Reddit and 4chan profit from the racist, antisemitic, and violent material displayed on their platforms to maximize user engagement, including the time then 18-year-old Payton Gendron spent on their platforms viewing that material. It is far too early to rule as a matter of law that the actions, or inaction, of the social media/internet defendants through their platforms require dismissal, said the judge. A report from NPR noted the ruling comes during an active stipulation over Section 230 - a law protecting companies from being held accountable for the content their users post. However, Everytowns lawsuit goes further to argue that YouTube and Reddit are defective products which would then put them in jeopardy of facing new liability laws if the court agrees with the plaintiffs. The companies made it clear they disagreed with the ruling and vowed to appeal the decision. Hate and violence have no place on Reddit. We are constantly evaluating ways to improve our detection and removal of this content, including through enhanced image-hashing systems, and we will continue to review the communities on our platform to ensure they are upholding our rules, the site said in a statement to CNN. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. BRISTOL, Tenn.-Va. A sign overlooking the downtown traffic on State Street marks where Virginia meets Tennessee. Lauded as the birthplace of country music and home to NASCAR's Bristol Motor Speedway, the two states in this Appalachian community share a library, chamber of commerce and post office. But the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022 tore Bristol in two. Virginia allows the procedure. Tennessee prohibits it. More: Abortion pill challenge gives Supreme Court chance to move toward national abortion ban In the nearly two years since, this border town has found itself on the front line of the nation's highly charged abortion debate as powerful influencers from both sides moved in, fueling fierce zoning fights, legal battles and fiery protests. We are in a unique situation where we are right up against two very different sets of policies, said Jon Luttrell, an official for Bristol, Tennessees City Council. This embedded content is not available in your region. At the crux of the divide is Bristol Womens Health, a clinic that opened on the Virginia side weeks before the Tennessee ban prompted a provider there to stop offering abortions. More: Former Justice Stephen Breyer says he has 'theories' about who leaked opinion overturning Roe v. Wade Its opening means people seeking an abortion dont have to drive 150 miles to Roanoke, Virginia. Bristol Womens Health sees up to 150 patients a month, 90% of whom travel from states where abortion is severely restricted or banned, including Tennessee, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. It really put this clinic at the forefront, said Neal Osborne, a Bristol native and councilman who watched the events unfold from the Virginia side. Politicians and advocates have polarized takes on abortion. But while Bristols abortion laws are cleanly divided by State Street, its residents tell a more nuanced story. Terrie Driver, who works the front desk at Bristol Women's Health, said abortion is a "personal choice, not a political one." Nobody wants to come and have an abortion. Its a need-based situation," she said. "This is not something people do for fun." More: How the Supreme Court case on the abortion drug mifepristone could affect 2024 election A judicial decision made hundreds of miles away in Washington, D.C., has created tension and is drawing a national spotlight on this small community straddling two states. "Tennessee's over there going: We won. We won. We got our way.' And Virginia's like, No, you didn't,'" Driver said. "So there's a lot of upheaval now." Terrie Driver waits on patients at Bristol Womens Health, a clinic in Bristol, a town that spans two states The clinic opened on the Virginia side of town after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. 'Best-kept secret' no longer On Oct. 25, 2022, a crowd of more than 200 gathered in the parking lot outside the Bristol, Virginia City Council building. It was the first of several attempts to shut down the clinic, then just about 4 months old. Protesters sang, chanted and bowed their heads in prayer, clutching yellow and white signs that read "Safe Zone for Life." They were awaiting a vote on a hotly contested zoning ordinance that sought to restrict abortion on the side of town where it was legal, preventing the new Virginia clinic from expanding and prohibiting other clinics from coming to town. Some of the two dozen speakers at the typically sleepy council meeting said they opposed the restrictions. But the majority in this largely Southern Baptist community backed the measure. A soft-spoken Bristol resident named Terri Brewer said she supported the anti-abortion zoning restriction. She told the council members she didnt want others to experience heartache like she endured as a pregnant teen. Terri Brewer, a Bristol resident, poses for a portrait outside the town's historic train station. As a teenager, she was taken by her parents to get an abortion and now feels the date of that event marks a birthday she can't celebrate. In retrospect, she felt her child was killed and should have had a chance to live, Brewer later told USA TODAY. Abortion is often pushed as the only alternative for pregnant people who dont want to raise a child, she said in an interview in January, and other options like adoption arent discussed enough. Ive been through the abortion process and Ive been changed forever, she said. When you walk out the door and that childs life has ended, you cant just go on with your life like normal. You will always carry something of that event in your heart for the rest of your life. At the 2022 council meeting, the Rev. Chris Hess, a Catholic pastor, told members the clinic was already attracting national media and extremists from both sides. Our city is becoming famous for all the wrong reasons," he said. "Weve gone from being the best-kept secret in Virginia to being talked about in over half a dozen states. The City Council passed the zoning measure, but it has been stuck in legal and procedural limbo ever since. Since the 2022 meeting, towns around the U.S. have tackled similar local ordinances seeking to tighten the rules in states where abortion is legal. Anti-abortion activists gave it another shot in August 2023, when Councilman Michael Pollard proposed another zoning ordinance be added to the council agenda. The new measure would have allowed abortion facilities to operate in Bristol but only in certain parts of the town. But in this instance, council members declined to hear the proposal, which frustrated supporters. Karolina Ogorek, administrative director of Bristol Womens Health, reviews paperwork during her shift. The clinic began scheduling evening and weekend appointments to accomodate the influx of patients traveling from conservative states where abortion is restricted or outlawed. By being silent you have spoken, resident Angie Bush told the council. I just want to call you out at this moment. We want you to take this issue on. Advocates tried other means to force the clinic out. About six months into the clinic's lease in December 2022, Bristol Womens Health was sued by its landlord, who said the clinic owners never told him theyd be providing abortions, according to court documents. Bristol Womens Health said the lease was valid and asked for a dismissal. The lawsuit is pending. In the meantime, the clinic sees a steady beat of patients at an unmarked single-story building, which shares an intersection with the sole marijuana dispensary and the forthcoming Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. A sign straddling State Street in downtown Bristol displays the town's slogan, "A Good Place to Live." The imaginary line down State Street may cleanly divide the Appalachian town into Tennessee and Virginia, where abortion access radically differs. But residents' views on abortion are more complex. Since 2020, Virginia has seen a 76% increase in abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization that supports abortion rights. The clinic administrator, Karolina Ogorek, said the clinic's patient volume rivals that of one she used to run in Knoxville, Tennessee, which provided abortions for about 35 years. Years of experience in abortion care have taught her to expect pushback. "People that were opposing reproductive rights and freedom to choose were not happy about us coming here," she said. "Nevertheless, it is a legal service ... and a necessary one." Neighbors take sides, battles 'amp up' In January 2023, Barbara Schwartz stood frozen in the clinic parking lot as a grey pickup gained speed, heading toward her. Hes bluffing, she thought. She and a fellow escort had arrived at the clinic before the first patients, at about 8 a.m., when the man started yelling at them from his idling pickup. As the truck neared the volunteers, her friend jumped out of the way, but Schwartz couldnt move. At the last second, the man screeched to a halt, peeled out of the parking lot and drove away. Barbara Schwartz, treasurer of the State Line Abortion Access Partners, poses outside Bristol Women's Health, where she volunteers as a patient escort. She uses an umbrella to shield patients from protesters across the street. Schwartz grabbed her phone, took a photo of his license plate and called Bristol police. Its one of the 58 times officers received a call from that location since July 2022, according to records. Most of those calls came from clinic supporters or opponents citing a conflict, police said. Authorities arrested the pickup driver, and he was ultimately sentenced to a year's probation for assault and battery. The man in the truck wasn't one of the protesters who routinely stand outside the clinic, Schwartz said. She has been in this field for years, but she believes what happened reflects this era of history. There's more hostility since the Dobbs decision, in her view. I feel the diminishing of any civility whatsoever, she said. I see a total amp-up in the rhetoric and the threats. Schwartz and other volunteer escorts banded together about a year ago to create the nonprofit State Line Abortion Access Partners, or SLAAP. Volunteers take turns working shifts at the clinic. Schwartz approaches patients on foot as they turn into the parking lot. She sometimes carries a black and yellow striped umbrella to create a visual barrier between protesters and patients as she walks them to the clinic doors. During a patient visit in January, Schwartz handed relatives of a young woman a SLAAP aftercare bag filled with items she might need after the procedure menstrual pads, ibuprofen, disposable heating pads, herbal tea, fuzzy socks and a handwritten note from a SLAAP member. A patient care package from State Line Abortion Access Partners, or SLAAP, contains abortion aftercare items including menstrual pads and over-the-counter pain relievers. Donations to the organizations Last Mile Fund have helped cover patients transportation to and from the Tri-Cities Airport just over the Tennessee border, and their gas, food and lodging. The SLAAP members also fill the seats at council meetings where they counter the voices of their conservative neighbors. Erika Schanzenbach, who has lived in Bristol for about 20 years, is among the rotating contingent of clinic protesters who plead with drivers and sometimes chant through a bullhorn, encouraging patients to rethink their plans. She extends this guidance to visitors on her website, LifeBristol, where pregnant people can contact her or learn about alternatives to abortion. She has helped connect some people to local charities and churches. Schanzenbach acknowledges that the majority of women who visit the Virginia clinic don't stop to talk to her. "But we believe that it's important to speak, to be a voice for those children, whatever their moms decide," she said. Big hearts in a small town Terrie Driver, who lives at the center of Bristol's new controversy, says raising 13 children had been her life's work. She toiled in the food service industry for 43 years to feed and clothe her kids, but the job gave her no joy. It wasnt until she accepted a position as a receptionist for Bristol Womens Health that she found renewed purpose. The job requires more than answering phones, filling out paperwork and scheduling appointments. Driver spends her days listening to patients stories, patting them on the back, holding their hands and hugging them when they need a shoulder to cry on. I dont know anything else but taking care and tending to and thats basically my job in that clinic is to be a mom, she said. They need somebody to be gentle to them in a tough time, and thats what I do. Stephanie Rosenwinge, a co-founder of SLAAP, sifts through items in a patient care package. Along with medical necessities, the package contains a handwritten note of support signed by the organization's members. She feels fulfilled at the clinic, but it has come at a steep cost. Former clients from her job as a home aide won't talk to her. She has lost friends and fallen out with siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews and a son. Despite a fractured relationship with her son, Driver said her 17 granddaughters motivate her to continue working at Bristol Womens Health. Im able to be kind and giving and compassionate to people at one of the worst times of their life, and that is good enough for me, she said. "My heart finally has a place to be big. (It) tells me that this is where I need to be. The friction over the clinic will continue to rattle residents fracturing relationships, interrupting local government and causing conflict among neighbors. Bristol never anticipated it, but to be honest, many of us never anticipated having this debate, said Ogorek, the clinic administrator. Weve all been thrown into uncharted territory and were just trying to navigate it. Adrianna Rodriguez is a health reporter for the USA TODAY nation team. Contact Adrianna at adrodriguez@usatoday.com or @AdriannaUSAT on X. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As abortion access divides US, one small town is caught in the middle A bipartisan committee of state lawmakers is urging its colleagues to do more to boost teacher pay to help recruit and retain educators in North Carolinas public schools. The N.C. House Committee on Education Reform adopted a report on Monday that says teacher compensation isnt keeping up with the cost of living and isnt doing enough to ensure schools have enough highly qualified teachers. The report asks lawmakers to support North Carolina teachers and further assess compensation for teachers, as well as find ways to attract and retain teachers in hard-to-staff positions. It is and always should be job No. 1 to try to get our compensation for teachers at a just, more professional level, said Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican and committee co-chair. The report comes ahead of the legislative session that will begin in April. The report has other recommendations, including changing how the state grades schools and providing more money to change how math is taught. NC near bottom at beginning teacher pay Last year, the National Education Association ranked North Carolina 46th in the nation in beginning teacher pay and 34th in average teacher pay. In addition, schools started the school year with more than 3,500 teaching vacancies. In response, last years state budget raised the base salary for beginning teachers by $2,000 to $39,000 this school year. Its set to rise to $41,000 next school year. The state budget provided an average teacher raise of 7% over two years, with newer educators getting raises of more than 10%. The states most experienced teachers are only slated to get 3.6% raises over the two years of the budget. Senate Republicans said the state budget will increase the average pay for teachers to $60,671 by the 2024-25 school year. That figure includes the money that counties provide to supplement the state base pay. Pay is not keeping up with inflation The Education Reform Committee has a GOP majority, so its report praises the General Assembly for raising pay for beginning teachers and creating a state-funded salary supplement for teachers in smaller or lower wealth counties. However, the Committee finds that even with these significant investments, teacher compensation has still not kept up with the rising cost of living, the increasing employment opportunities for female, college-educated professionals, or the pay for other public sector employees, according to the committee report. The Committee recognizes that North Carolinas teacher compensation structure is not ensuring that hard-to-staff subject area positions and schools are sufficiently filled with highly qualified teachers. Frank Burns, a math teacher at Moore Square Middle School, with his daughter, Madeline, a first-grader at Willow Springs Elementary. Thousands of teachers carried signs May 1, 2019, in downtown Raleigh during the May 1 Day of Action organized by the N.C. Association of Educators. The signs ranged from clever pop culture references to more direct demands for higher pay, supplies and respect. Jessica Banov/jbanov@newsobserver.com In a related recommendation, the committee recommends considering how best to further implement the Advanced Teaching Roles program. The program pays effective teachers more money if they take on additional duties such as working with beginning teachers. Were all in agreement that we want to see teacher compensation be very much clarified, because were losing workforce so significantly, said Rep. Maria Cervania, a Wake County Democrat. Change school performance grades The report also recommends revising how every public school gets a single A through F performance grade. The grade is 80% based on passing rates on state exams and 20% on growth on the tests. The Committee finds that the States current A-F school performance grades do not provide a balanced assessment of a school and do not effectively communicate school quality, according to the report. The committee recommends modifying the formula to create a system where schools would get a single grade based on an average of four factors: proficiency on exams, growth on exams, school readiness and school climate/opportunity. Readiness would look at how well schools are preparing students for post-secondary opportunities such as going to college, the military or the workforce. Opportunity would include how many students are taking part in intra-curricular and extracurricular activities, school safety ratings from the N.C. Teacher Working Conditions Survey and the level of student chronic absenteeism. State Superintendent Catherine Truitt had recommended the new system to lawmakers in February. But Truitt had proposed giving a separate letter grade for each of the four measures instead of averaging them into one grade. Michele Morrow defeated Truitt this month in the Republican primary. Morrow will run in November against Democrat Mo Green. Change how math is taught Other report recommendations include: Develop a plan to identify funding sources to help schools replace aging computers. Schools used one-time federal COVID aid to purchase computers for students to use when they were learning online. Study the impact that funding at the recommended student-to-school counselor ratios may have on student outcomes. Theres one counselor statewide for every 361 students instead of the nationally recommended ratio of one for every 250 students. Study the impact that a new salary schedule may have on principal recruitment and retention. The report doesnt go as far as the recommendations from the N.C. Association of School Administrators to pay principals more if they have many low-income students or have been a principal for at least five years. Support the state Department of Public Instructions comprehensive math reform proposal designed to get students ready to take the Math 1 course. Its meant to build on how the state revamped its teaching of reading to improve literacy skills among students. DPI wants to develop a system for math, similar to whats used for the Read To Achieve program, where teachers regularly test the skills of their youngest students. Torbett said he was excited by the math proposal. He said improving the states reading, math and science instruction will provide students the best access to earning an income to support both them and potentially a family. BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) A Wellsville man accused of firing a weapon inside a house that prompted a two-hour standoff with police was arrested Saturday and faces multiple charges, the Wellsville Police Department announced. Police said they responded to the residence of 37-year-old William T. Wojehowski at 295 West State St. for a report of shots fired inside the duplex around 4:50 a.m. on March 18. After law enforcement arrived, officers witnessed a shot fired from inside the house to the outside. After a perimeter was established, law enforcement used a thermal imaging drone to determine the suspect was still inside the residence and evacuated residents of the adjoining apartment, according to police. Police said Wojehowski surrendered to authorities without incident around 7:40 a.m., and he was transported to Olean General Hospital for evaluation. Wojehowski was charged with four counts of menacing a police officer, four counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He is due back in court on April 2. Latest Local News Adam Gorski is a Buffalo native who joined the News 4 team in 2022. You can find more of his work here. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo. On March 25, Polish farmers unblocked the Mamonovo-Grzechotki checkpoint on the border with Russia's Kaliningrad region. The protest was supposed to last until April 20, but now trucks are allowed to pass through unhindered. The farmers explained the lifting of the blockade by the approach of Easter (March 31 for Catholics). ADVERTISIMENT This was stated by Jerzy Salitra, a representative of the Warmia and Mazury Chamber of Agriculture, Polskie Radio reports. The crossing point in Grzechotki has been blocked since March 20. During the blockade, one truck per hour was allowed across the border. Currently, according to the organizers of the protest, the blockade of the border is being lifted due to the upcoming Easter holidays. Earlier, the protesters were more determined and were going to continue blockading the Russian border for at least a month. At the same time, Salitra said, farmers were surprised by how many goods were coming into the European Union from Russia. "The EU has not yet decided to ban grain imports from Russia into the community. Although the countries have condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine, the trade with Russia continues. A lot of goods are being transported, including gas, and not only liquefied gas, one driver said he was carrying methane," Salitra said. ADVERTISIMENT Meanwhile, according to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS), the blockade of the Ukrainian border continues. As of March 24, Polish farmers did not allow Ukrainian trucks to leave at all at the Yagodyn and Rava-Ruska checkpoints. "Over the last period, we have zero border crossings to leave Ukraine. About 500 trucks have been blocked in these directions," said Andrii Demchenko, the SBGS spokesman, during the telethon. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) A wildly popular burger joint based out of Texas has been given the green light to develop a location in east Charlotte. Permit submitted for Texas-based Whataburger on Charlottes South Blvd. County records show a zoning permit was approved for 12809 Albemarle Road near Rocky River Church Road, just outside of the I-485 loop, comprising a Whataburger with a drive-thru as part of a larger development known as Clear Creek Crossing. The property was sold in 2022, according to city records. A permit had previously been submitted for a south Charlotte location off South Blvd. The fast-food chain already has plans to open up locations in the Triangle and nearby Spartanburg. Whataburger officials confirmed with Queen City News the Albemarle Road location will not open until at least 2025. The Texas chain is independent of the What-A-Burgers in Concord, Kannapolis and Mooresville. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News. The Whatcom County Health Department last week announced a series of free vaccination clinics scheduled each month from April through August this year. The clinics, which are hosted or co-hosted by Whatcom County Health and Community Services, provide no-cost vaccines for those who qualify. For those who do not qualify, local grocery stores, pharmacies and healthcare facilities also have vaccines available. Pre-registered walk-in appointments are available at the following clinics. Vaccines are available on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last. Pre-registration links are available at the countys website. 2030 Division Street, Bellingham 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, May 7 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, June 4 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, July 2 3-6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6 Complete the pre-registration paperwork before attending a clinic. The pre-registration link will close once we fill all pre-registration slots. Clients can attend the clinic without pre-registering, but we cannot guarantee availability. We offer available slots on a first-come, first-serve basis. All clients must check in by 5:45 pm. Clients who arrive after 5:45 pm or after we have reached capacity, will be invited to attend the next clinic. Groups of three or more should arrive at least an hour before the end of the clinic. Available vaccines: For people under 19: COVID-19 (Moderna 6 months to 18 years), flu, routinely recommended childhood vaccines (excluding MenB, Hib, and Rotavirus). For people 19 years and older: Mpox, COVID-19 (Moderna only; underinsured/uninsured only), flu (uninsured only). Vaccine availability for these clinics might change depending on supply. If your child received vaccines outside of Washington, send their previous vaccine records to Immunizations@co.whatcom.wa.us at least one week before the clinic for review by a Public Health Nurse. East Whatcom Regional Resource Center, 8251 Kendall Rd., Maple Falls 4-7 p.m. Thursday, April 4 4-7 p.m. Thursday, July 11 This is a clinic through DOHs Care-a-Van Program. This clinic is open to everyone ages 6 months and older. Available vaccines COVID-19, Mpox, flu, and childhood vaccines. Adult (19+) COVID-19 vaccines are no cost for un/underinsured individuals. Adult (19+) flu vaccines are no cost for uninsured individuals. Narcan kits also will be available at this clinic, as will blood pressure and glucose checks. Updated covid guidance Whatcom County also updated its guidance for covid-19 last week with the following information: You may have heard that the CDC and Washington State Department of Health (DOH) have updated their guidance around covid-19. Updated guidance is now similar for covid-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other respiratory viruses. Most people can return to normal activities when symptoms are getting better overall, and they have not had a fever (without having to use fever-reducing medication) for at least 24 hours. These are baseline recommendations. People can always opt to be more protective, especially around our most vulnerable. This includes wearing a mask, taking steps to improve airflow and filtration, frequent hand washing, regular cleaning, physical distancing, and, if possible, testing when you will be around other people indoors. Read more about who is at higher risk and how to keep them safe. Everyones circumstances are different, and it is important to remember people can still be contagious even when their symptoms have improved. Its a good idea to wear a mask or stay away from vulnerable people even after respiratory illness symptoms improve: People with covid-19 can be contagious for 5-10 days after their illness begins. People with flu can be contagious for up to 5-7 days after their illness begins. People with RSV can be contagious for 3-8 days after their illness begins. The preceding guidance is intended for individuals. Employers must follow Washington State Department of Labor & Industries covid-19 requirements in the workplace. Additionally, the new DOH guidance does not apply to healthcare settings. People who are staying, working, or visiting in a healthcare setting, long-term care facility, or residential care setting should follow the guidance in covid-19 Infection Prevention in Health Care Settings, and the flu guidance for healthcare settings and long-term care facilities provided by the CDC. A total solar eclipse comes to North America on April 8. It will enter over Mexicos Pacific coast, dashing across the U.S. from Texas to Maine before exiting over eastern Canada into the Atlantic. The peak spectacle will last up to 4 minutes and 28 seconds in the path of total darkness a 115-mile-wide path that slices across the continent. Thats the place to be to experience the full eclipse most of the rest of the continent outside the path of totality will get a partial eclipse. Are you in the path of totality? NASA has you covered with an interactive map that offers a breakdown of the best time to see the solar eclipse in every community across the United States. New Englanders should expect to get a view of the eclipse beginning at 3:26 p.m., according to NASAs map. The total solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow track that stretches through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Burlington, Vermont, will be in the path of totality from 3:29 p.m. to 4:37 p.m. Lancaster, New Hampshire, will be in the path of totality from 3:30 p.m. to 4:38 p.m. Caribou, Maine, will be in the path of totality from 3:34 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. Other communities along and adjacent to the path of totality, including those to the south of it in Massachusetts, will have a partial view of the eclipse. NASAs map allows users to enter their zip code and see how much of the sun will be obscured by the moon and for how long. NASA TIPS ON READING THE MAP The dark path across the map is where the largest area of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. People in this path will experience a total solar eclipse. Inside the dark eclipse path are irregular ovals that delineate the Moons shadow on the Earths surface. For a total solar eclipse, the ovals are called the umbra and create the path of totality. On the map, the ovals contain times inside corresponding to the shape of the Moons shadow cast at that time during the eclipse. Also within the dark path are duration contours. These delineate the length of time totality will last. The closer to the center of the solar eclipse path, the longer it will last. For the total path, times range up to 4 minutes. Outside the eclipse path, the map displays contours of obscuration or percentage of the Suns area covered by the Moon. Readers can trace the lines to percentages printed along all sides of the map that range from 95% to 10% obscuration. The dark path marks when 100% obscuration begins. Click here to view NASAs Eclipse Explorer. 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 White House is "disappointed" and "kind of perplexed" that Israel canceled a delegation's planned visit to the U.S. to discuss the expected military invasion of Rafah, in southern Gaza, amid ongoing concerns from President Joe Biden, an administration spokesman said Monday. Israel pulled its delegation after the U.S. allowed, through abstention, for the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza for the remaining days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- and potentially longer. The resolution called for the unconditional release of hostages being held by Hamas terrorists, though it did not explicitly tie that with a temporary cease-fire. The resolution further urged that the humanitarian pause should then lead "to a lasting sustainable ceasefire." The proposal passed the council in a 14-0 vote on Monday, with the U.S. abstaining due to the lack of condemnation of Hamas, officials said. MORE: UN Security Council adopts Gaza cease-fire resolution Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, in announcing the delegation would no longer be visiting, called the U.S. abstention a change in position -- something the Biden administration sought to push back on. "We're very disappointed that they won't be coming to Washington, D.C., to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah," White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a gaggle as news broke of Israel's decision. PHOTO: U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, March 25, 2024. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters) Netanyahu's office also contended that the U.S. declining to block the cease-fire resolution "hurts both the war effort and the effort to release the abductees, because it gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to accept a ceasefire without the release of our abductees." But Kirby maintained that the U.S. abstaining from the U.N. vote was not a shift in policy, saying the U.S. has been "clear and consistent" about support for a cease-fire and hostage deal and that it still had "Israel's back." "The prime minister's office seems to be indicating through public statements that we somehow changed here. We haven't," Kirby said later on Monday at the White House daily briefing. "And we get to decide what our policy is. It seems like the prime minister's office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don't need to do that." Kirby also expanded on why the U.S. was willing to abstain now rather than veto the resolution, as it has done to previous such proposals in the past. "The ones we vetoed didn't condemn Hamas," he said from the podium. "This one didn't condemn Hamas, which is why we couldn't support it. But we didn't veto it because, in general, unlike previous iterations, this one did fairly capture what has been our consistent policy which is linking a hostage deal in the release of those men and women, with of course, a temporary cease-fire." According to an administration official, the resolution's wording evolved in a way that made the U.S. comfortable with abstaining. Among the tweaks, this official said, mentions of the hostages and the cease-fire were combined while the word "permanent" was removed while describing a pause in the conflict, though other language about building a longer end to the fighting remained. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, like Kirby, also called the resolution consistent with the administration's long-term position. He described Israel's withdrawal of the delegation as "surprising" given the U.S. had been in contact with Israel's government on this resolution. Both Miller and Kirby repeatedly told reporters that the resolution is "non-binding" though Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the U.N., wrote on X that "this resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable." Netanyahu didn't call Biden about his decision to cancel the delegation's trip, for which the U.S. was already preparing, the administration official said, and Biden has not reciprocated. Still, Kirby at the White House briefing defended the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu amid America's vocal position on Rafah. "These are two leaders who have known each other for going on now four decades, and they haven't in the past agreed on everything and they don't agree on everything right now," Kirby said when responding to a reporter's question about whether this represented a "new low" for them. "They both agree on one really important thing and that is the importance of the state of Israel, the importance of the security of the Israeli people and the importance of making sure an attack like the 7th of October doesn't happen again," Kirby said. Biden had requested the Israeli delegation in a call last week with Netanyahu in light of what the White House called his "deep concerns" for civilians should Israel launch a large-scale incursion into Rafah, a city bordering Egypt, where more than 1 million civilians are thought to be sheltering as Israel continues to go after Hamas fighters in Gaza in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Kirby on Monday would not give insight into who would have taken part in the canceled talks between the White House and the Israelis, which the administration official said were set for Wednesday. Kirby also noted administration officials are still meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday and Tuesday. Those discussions will include "ample" discussion of Israel's plan for Rafah, he said. PHOTO: The United Nations Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at the UN headquarters in New York on March 25, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) MORE: Harris says US has not ruled out 'consequences' if Israel invades Rafah The administration has said a major ground operation in Rafah would be a "mistake" and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where more than 31,000 people have died since the war began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there. Vice President Kamala Harris, in an interview with ABC News, didn't rule out consequences if Israel were to invade Rafah. Netanyahu insists that going into Rafah is crucial for dismantling Hamas' fighting capabilities to prevent future terror attacks. "We are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah, and there is no way to do this without a ground incursion," he said last week. The Israelis have also said they could move civilians from the city to "humanitarian islands," though the U.S. remains publicly skeptical. When pressed on Monday by ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang about how the U.S. can convince Israeli officials to change their stance on Rafah without meeting with the delegation, Kirby replied, "We'll have to see, won't we?" "It's certainly not ideal they won't be coming to D.C. ... that doesn't mean our ability to talk to them and have conversations have been eliminated," he said. ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report. White House 'disappointed' Israel canceled delegation to discuss Rafah after UN cease-fire vote originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The White House said it is looking to work with Congress to repeal an effective ban on LGBTQ pride flags flown over U.S. embassies in legislation funding the government through September. President Biden signed the $1.2 trillion spending package Saturday, hailing the agreement as a compromise in which neither side got everything it wanted. LGBTQ advocates criticized a provision in the bill prohibiting State Department facilities from displaying flags other than the United States flag a restriction they argued was drafted with the intent of removing pride flags from certain government buildings. A nearly identical amendment was dropped from the National Defense Authorization Act in December. In July, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who introduced the amendment, said it was needed to prevent a rainbow flag from flying at U.S. military bases. Restrictions included in the bill signed Saturday do not apply to the POW/MIA flag or the flag of a state, U.S. territory or the District of Columbia, among other exceptions. The White House in a Friday statement said Biden did not support the provision, and the administration was looking for opportunities to repeal it. President Biden believes it was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans, a White House spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill. While it will have no impact on the ability of members of the LGBTQI+ community to serve openly in our embassies or to celebrate pride, the Administration fought against the inclusion of this policy and we will continue to work with members of Congress to find an opportunity to repeal it, the spokesperson said. They added the White House was successful in defeating 50+ other policy riders attacking the LGBTQI+ community that Congressional Republicans attempted to insert into the legislation. Previous iterations of the annual spending package included provisions that would have restricted access to gender-affirming health care and prevented the federal government from adequately responding to some instances of sex-based discrimination. The White House in October issued veto threats against two House appropriations bills, citing, among other issues, threats to the health and safety of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Americans. The Congressional Equality Caucus, responsible for advocating for LGBTQ rights in Congress, declined to comment on the Biden administrations interest in repealing the provision concerning pride flags. The House GOP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The White House on Monday said it was puzzled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus decision to cancel a delegation meeting in Washington after the U.S. abstained from a U.N. Security Council vote calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Were kind of perplexed by this, national security communications adviser John Kirby said when asked for President Bidens reaction to the decision. When later asked for Bidens personal reaction, Kirby said he hasnt talked directly to the president. He added that Biden and Netanyahu hadnt spoken Monday. Netanyahus decision comes after the U.S. declined to veto the Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. His office issued a statement calling the U.S. abstention a clear retreat from the consistent position of the United States, according to Israeli news outlets. A couple of points that need to be stated and in fact, restated. No. 1, its a nonbinding resolution. So, theres no impact at all on Israel and Israels ability to continue to go after Hamas, Kirby said. No. 2 it does not represent a change at all in our policy. Its very consistent with everything that weve been saying we want to get done here. And, we get to decide what our policy is, he added. The prime ministers office seems to be indicating through public statements that we somehow changed here. We havent, and we get to decide what our policy is. It seems like the prime ministers office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they dont need to do that. The Israeli delegation was expected to arrive this week in the U.S. for talks, which would have come as Israeli forces are threatening to move into Rafah, a refugee camp where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering from the war. Earlier Monday, Kirby told reporters he was disappointed Israel canceled the delegation. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington and is still expected to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. Recorded earlier White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will deliver a daily press briefing Monday afternoon. President Biden is continuing an accelerated domestic travel schedule as he seeks to make his case for reelection at appearances before key constituencies. Last week, the president visited the Western swing states of Nevada and Arizona before stopping for fundraisers in Texas. This week, Biden will visit North Carolina, a state former President Trump carried in 2020 by 1.3 percentage points. Recent polling has shown Trump with a wider lead over Biden among 2024 Tar Heel State voters anywhere from 3 points to 12 points. Mondays briefing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EDT. Watch the live video above. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. The Biden administration attacked congressional Republicans after the party included a provision that bans U.S. embassies from flying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag in some circumstances in a recent spending package. The president signed the $1.2 trillion package on Saturday, ending the threat of a partial government shutdown after a protracted battle between Republicans and Democrats. However, the mammoth, 1,000-plus page bill included language that targets the symbol, requiring that no funds appropriated by Congress may be obligated or expended to fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State. President Biden believes it was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans, the White House said in a statement this weekend first reported by Bloomberg. While it will have no impact on the ability of members of the LGBTQI+ community to serve openly in our embassies or to celebrate Pride, the Administration fought against the inclusion of this policy and we will continue to work with members of Congress to find an opportunity to repeal it, the statement continued. The provision would appear to allow the display of such flags in other ways, according to civil rights groups, including inside the building. FWIW, the flag provision would continue to allow pride flags to be present in almost all cases at embassies, except flown *over* the exterior of the building. It doesn't limit a flag on, in front of, inside, at workspaces, etc. Trying to sell that as your big win is pathetic. Brandon Wolf (@bjoewolf) March 22, 2024 Some U.S. embassies began displaying the pride flag under former President Barack Obama, but his successor, former President Donald Trump, banned the practice during his term. Biden reversed that decision shortly after he entered the White House. Many embassies have since displayed the symbol during June, which is celebrated as Pride Month. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) reportedly cheered the inclusion in a recent closed-door meeting with other conservative lawmakers, according to Bloomberg. The GOP has targeted queer people nationwide, unveiling hundreds of bills in recent years targeting trans kids, barring drag events and prohibiting teachers in some areas from discussing their sexuality in the classroom. Related... GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) The Chicago White Sox have re-signed Kevin Pillar two days after they released the veteran outfielder. Pillar was in camp on a minor league deal before he was cut on Friday. Chicago announced on Sunday that it had agreed to a big league deal with the 35-year-old Pillar. Read more: Latest Chicago news headline The White Sox also designated right-hander Touki Toussaint for assignment before their spring training game against Colorado. Toussaint went 4-6 with a 4.97 ERA for Chicago last year, making 15 starts and four relief appearances. Chicago has 42 players 22 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders and 10 outfielders left in big league camp. It hosts Detroit on Thursday on opening day. Pillar played for Atlanta last year, hitting .228 with nine homers and 32 RBIs in 81 games. ___ AP MLB: apnews.com/hub/mlb For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV. We pride ourselves in the UK on our enterprise-friendly environment, and how easy it is to set up a business. I can vouch for that. Its relatively straightforward. But the government machine is undermining this, and using endless red tape to strangle small businesses that are merely trying to provide services to the public sector. In fact, if we want to know why this country is suffering from a productivity crisis, a good first step is to look at the insufferable burden of administration. Sir Humphrey might beam with delight, but the ordinary business owner is left swamped and wondering if its all worth it. No wonder more than 30,000 UK businesses are expected to go bust this year the highest level for two decades. A case in point: just this month, my company won a contract to provide a couple of days of training to the public sector. Two days isnt much, but such projects are the lifeblood of small businesses like mine. But what I hadnt, and couldnt, have accounted for was the vast due diligence process I was required to go through just to set up the contract and get paid. This process required wrestling with online forms running to dozens of pages, and obliged me to submit everything from certificates of incorporation, insurance and annual accounts going back years, to policy statements on, among other areas, environmental protection, preventing modern slavery, preventing sexual exploitation and any number of other issues that are completely irrelevant to a training business run from a home office in Kent. The contrast with the private sector is vast. There, you typically quote for the work, do it, then invoice. Simple. But when it comes to the government, well, just getting my head round the portal interface took me a couple of hours. The entire process would have taken me a day, involving discussions with accountants and insurers. Possibly more. And all for a contract that, in total, was for only two days of work. In the end, I refused. Im happy to prepare as thoroughly as the next person to ensure that my training courses are fabulous. But what Im not prepared to do is spend hours on Whitehall forms. And the amazing thing is that when you look the red-tape beast in the eye and refuse to budge, it blinks, whimpers and backs down. At least it did with me, and I dont have particularly scary eyes. Together, we found a sensible shortcut that saved a whole lot of bother, so we could get on with the business of actually doing the work. But how many small companies, particularly those starting out and hungry for business, would have felt they had no choice but to dive headfirst into that endless, unnecessary form-filling? Many, Im sure. Its now 14 years since David Camerons government issued a report aptly entitled Lightening the Load, saying micro businesses were unreasonably expected to cope with the same levels of paperwork as larger companies. Hear, hear. But if this was recognised this back then, why is it, more than a decade later, still treating one-person outfits like multinationals? In my experience many civil servants are smart, decent and dedicated to the public good. But too often they are let down by the machinery that employs them. And its the 13 million of us who work in the small-business sector who suffer. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Princess Charlene of Monaco, Grace Kelly's successor, has continued the royal work. Every year she organizes the most honorable and elegant event in the country, the Bal de la Rose. ADVERTISIMENT The princess perfectly reflected the notes of the era, appearing in public with a 1920s haircut and platinum blonde. This was reported by HELLO! The royal shone in a sparkling jumpsuit. The fitted style with a belt at the waist, sequins and a plunging neckline helped Charlene become the star of the evening. The princess cut her platinum locks into a mini-bob, known as a bixie cut. Bixie is a hybrid style that combines the best elements of a short bob with the texture of a pixie cut. Princess Charlene repeated the look effortlessly, emphasizing her beauty with a shiny smokey eye and spectacular eyeliner. ADVERTISIMENT Fans of the monarchs had time to express their impressions on social media: "She looks fantastic! I love the whole look - hair, makeup, everything is just incredible," wrote one fan. Another added: "Absolutely gorgeous. Her hair and jumpsuit look like they're from the art deco era." "She seems to have found her joy in life again," shared a third fan. "It's amazing. I didn't recognize her!" wrote a fourth. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Excerpted from WHY WE DIE: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality by Venki Ramakrishnan with permission from William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins. Copyright 2024 by Venki Ramakrishnan. Lessons from a Lowly Worm We all know families of long-lived individuals. But exactly how much do genes influence longevity? A study of 2,700 Danish twins suggested that the heritability of human longevitya quantitative measure of how much differences in genes account for differences in their ages at deathwas only about 25 percent. Further, these genetic factors were thought to be due to the sum of small effects from a large number of genes, and therefore difficult to pinpoint on the level of an individual gene. By the time that the Danish study was carried out in 1996, a lowly worm was already helping to overturn that idea. That lowly worm was the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, introduced into modern biology by Sydney Brenner, a giant of the field known for his caustic wit. Born and initially educated in South Africa, he spent much of his productive life in Cambridge, England, before he established labs all over the world from California to Singapore, leading some of us to remark that the sun never set on the Brenner Empire. He first became famous for having discovered mRNA. More generally, he worked closely with Francis Crick on the nature of the genetic code and how it was read to make proteins. Once he and Crick decided that theyd solved the fundamental problem of using genetic information to make proteins, Brenner turned his attention to investigating how a complex animal develops from a single cell, and how the brain and its nervous system work. Brenner identified C. elegans as an ideal organism to study because it could be grown easily, had a relatively short generation time, and was transparent, so you could see the cells that made up the worm. He trained a number of scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and spawned an entire worldwide community of researchers studying C. elegans for everything from development to behavior. Among his colleagues was biologist John Sulston, whom you met in chapter 5. One of Sulstons more remarkable projects was to painstakingly trace the lineage of each of the roughly nine hundred cells in the mature worm all the way from the single original cell, which led to an unexpected discovery: certain cells are programmed to die at precise stages of development. Scientists went on to identify the genes that sent these cells to commit suicide at just the right time in order for the organism to develop. For an animal with only nine hundred cells, these worms are incredibly complex. They have some of the same organs as larger animals but in simpler form: a mouth, an intestine, muscles, and a brain and nervous system. They dont have a circulatory or respiratory system. Though tinyonly about a millimeter longnematodes can easily be seen wriggling around under a microscope. Being hermaphrodites, they produce both sperm and egg, but C. elegans can also reproduce asexually under some conditions. They are normally social, but scientists have found mutations that make them antisocial. Worms feed on bacteria, and just like bacteria, they are cultivated in petri dishes in the lab. They can be frozen away indefinitely in small vials in liquid nitrogen and simply thawed and revived when needed. Worms typically live for a couple of weeks. However, when faced with starvation, they can go into a dormant state called dauer (related to the German word for endurance), in which they can survive for up to two months before reemerging when nutrients are plentiful again. Relative to humans life span, this would be the equivalent of three hundred years. Somehow these worms have managed to suspend the normal process of aging. There is a caveat, though: only juvenile worms can enter the dauer state. Once animals go through puberty and become adults, they no longer have this option. David Hirsh became interested in C. elegans while he was a research fellow under Brenner at Cambridge, then continued working with the worms upon joining the faculty at the University of Colorado. There he took on a postdoc named Michael Klass, who wanted to focus on aging. This was at a time when aging was simply thought to be a normal and inevitable process of wear and tear, and mainstream biologists viewed aging research with some disdain. However, things were beginning to change, partly because the US government was concerned about an aging population. As Hirsh recalled, the National Institutes of Health had just established the National Institute on Aging, and at least some of his and Klasss motivation for working in the area was that they knew they stood a good chance of receiving federal funding. Image: William Morrow Group, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Hirsh and Klass first showed that, by many criteria, worms age little if at all in the dauer state. Next, Klass wanted to see if he could isolate mutants of worms that would live longer but not necessarily go into dormancy. This would help him identify genes that affected life span. To rapidly produce mutants that he could screen for longevity, he treated the nematodes with mutagenic chemicals. He ended up with thousands of plates of worms, which he continued studying after starting his own lab in Texas. In 1983 Klass published a paper with a few long- lived mutant nematodes, but eventually he shut down his lab and joined Abbott Laboratories near Chicago. Before doing so, however, he sent a frozen batch of his mutant worms to a former colleague from Colorado, Tom Johnson, who by then was at the University of California, Irvine. By inbreeding some of the mutant worms, Johnson found that their mean life span varied from ten to thirty-one days, from which he deduced that, at least in worms, life span involved a substantial genetic component. It still wasnt clear how many genes affected life span, but in 1988 Johnson, working with an enthusiastic undergraduate student named David Friedman, came to a striking conclusion that ran completely counter to the conventional wisdom that many genes, each making small contributions, influenced longevity. Instead, it turned out that a mutation in a single gene, which the two called age-1, conferred a longer life span. Johnson went on to show that worms with the age-1 mutation had lower mortality at all ages, while their maximum life span more than doubled that of normal worms. Maximum life span, defined as the life span of the top 10 percent of the population, is considered a better measure of aging effects because mean life span can be affected by all sorts of other factors that dont necessarily have to do with aging, such as environmental hazards and resistance to diseases. When President Joe Biden said journalism is not a crime last April, federal prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, apparently took that as a challenge. Not a crime yet. The next month, FBI agents raided the home of journalist Tim Burke. He is scheduled to be arraigned in the coming weeks under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and wiretap laws for finding and disseminating unaired Fox News footage of Kanye Wests antisemitic rant to Tucker Carlson. The indictment doesnt accuse Burke of hacking or deceit. Instead, its theory is that he didnt have permission to access the video, even though it was at a public, unencrypted URL that he found using publicly posted demo credentials. But finding things that the powerful dont want found is essentially the definition of investigative journalismwhich, as Biden said, is not criminal in this country. A recent court filing heightens concerns about whether prosecutors hid from the judge who authorized the raid that Burke was a journalist. By doing so, they may have avoided scrutiny of whether their investigationand eventual indictmentof Burke complied with the First Amendment, federal law, and the Department of Justices own policies. The case is reminiscent of last years alarming raid of the Marion County Record. Authorities there ignored laws like the federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980, or PPA, which largely prohibits rummaging through journalists files. But that was a local police department in rural Kansas. Burkes case involves the FBI and DOJ, who should clearly know better. Burkes filing says prosecutors referred to Burke as a former journalist in their affidavit to get their warrant. (That document remains sealed from the public; it should be released.) Thats a head-scratcher: After all, the whole case arises from him breaking national news. The indictment also doesnt say a word about Burkes journalism. Instead, it accuses him of scouring the internet for items he found desirable. You might think he sought the footage for a private collection, not to inform the public that a major news network covered up a music superstars antisemitism. If theres any doubt Burkes reporting served the public, remember that West ran for president in 2020. Sure, his campaign was unserious, but, as it turns out, celebrities who first flirt with the presidency for attention can eventually win it. Burkepreviously most known for breaking the story of the Manti Teo catfishing hoaxdoesnt work full time for a news outlet anymore, but that doesnt mean hes not a journalist. And thats according to the DOJ itself. The day before indicting Burke, the DOJ released guidelines which say employment by a news outlet is just one of many factors relevant to whether someone is a journalist. Burke easily satisfies almost all the others. Plus, the PPA prohibits law enforcement searches of anyone reasonably believed to have a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication, regardless of whether theyre a journalist. The First Amendments press clause is obviously not limited to the establishment media, which didnt exist at the time. Nonetheless, by calling Burke a former journalist, prosecutors avoided raising red flags that mightve held up approval of their constitutionally dubious investigation under a law that is notoriously prone to abuse. Subjects of warrants arent notified of hearings, so Burke had no opportunity to correct the affidavit. The burden was on prosecutors to be candid. They werentnot at the warrant application stage or since. Prosecutors have claimed they complied with the law and their own policies, but theyve never explained howby following the requisite procedures or by determining that they didnt apply to a former journalist? Did local U.S. attorneys escalate the issue to national higher-ups, as the policy requires? The caginess cant be pinned solely on rogue prosecutors in Florida. Over 50 organizations alerted Attorney General Merrick Garland to their concerns last October. They asked for answers both about prosecutors casting doubt on if Burke is a journalist and about the theory that journalists scouring obscure but publicly available websites for news can violate laws like the CFAA, which the DOJ itself admits is vague and prone to abuse. They never got a response. Thats a problem. Reporters are sure to self-censor if they cant be sure what kinds of journalists and what kinds of journalism the DOJ believes the First Amendment protects. The same way the Espionage Act charges against Julian Assange chill national security reporting, the CFAA charges against Burke chill digital journalism. Under both overbroad laws, the DOJ believes it can, at its whim, criminalize routine newsgatheringwhether obtaining government documents from sources or scouring obscure corners of the internetwhenever prosecutors believe journalists crossed some arbitrary line. The DOJs position that Burke isnt a journalist may also enable it to take another troubling step. The government seized Burkes computer equipment and files, and its demanding Burke forfeit them permanently if convicted. Forfeiture may be an accepted remedy in some criminal cases, but its quite unusual for journalistic notes and communications to be treated as contraband, especially when they include materials having nothing to do with any alleged crimes. If the government is successful, it could not only put confidential sources in jeopardy but could effectively kill any other stories Burke had in the works. Forfeiture is a dangerous weapon for the DOJ to attempt to add to its expanding arsenal against journalists. Burkes case should not be viewed in isolation. Since Marion, weve seen an Alabama district attorney charge journalists with felonies for reporting on alleged misappropriation of COVID funds. Weve seen a disturbing increase in prior restraints against publication. The City of Los Angeles even sued a journalist for printing information the city gave him. This month we learned that San Francisco authorities sought a warrant against a local news outlet and got a gag order barring the journalists from talking about it. In Burkes hometown of Tampa, the fire chief recently called police on a journalist for seeking public records. The list goes on. And in many instances, journalists face these threats while newsrooms that in the past would have supported them are collapsing. With all the other challenges journalists face these days, its an awful time for the DOJ to be testing the outer limits of badly written laws to dream up new ways to prosecute them. If the Biden administration really believes that journalism is not a crime, it should be helping to solve the presss problems, not compounding them. Russia wants to prove Ukraine's involvement in the terrorist attack in Krasnogorsk, seeking to use it as a pretext for escalating the war and repressions in Russia itself, political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko told NV in an interview published on March 24. The risk of escalation of the war after the terrorist attack in the suburbs of Moscow is very high, and this indicates, if not direct, then indirect involvement of Russian special services in this act, Fesenko said. Read also: Moscow mass shooters claimed to be Tajik nationals and ISIS fighters The Kremlin wants to use this terrorist attack against Ukraine, claiming that it took part in the preparation of the massacre in Crocus City Hall. In this way, the enemy seeks to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community, to ensure that the supply of weapons to Kyiv is stopped, or that partners set strict limits for Ukraine regarding strikes on Russian territory, the political analyst adds. "And finally, what is feared both in Ukraine and abroad is that Russia can use this terrorist attack and the alleged involvement of Ukraine as a pretext for further escalation of the war," said Fesenko. "If the version is promoted that Ukraine is the alleged instigator of this terrorist attack, although the perpetrators, as we see, are different, it can be used as a pretext for a new mobilization in Russia and further intensification of the war against Ukraine," the expert said. "Now, according to classical estimates, there is a war of medium intensity," Fesenko stated. Read also: ISIS behind Crocus City Hall shooting in Moscow - ISW "According to various estimates, about half a million Russians are fighting in Ukraine. Or maybe a million are fighting. And while the war is currently focused on the eastern and southern fronts, further escalation could mean, among other things, a new attempt by Russia to attack us from the north." "There is such a risk, too," said the political scientist. "I would not say that they have already used everything to the maximum. So, unfortunately, Russia still has the capabilities, reserves, and resources to escalate the war." The enemy may also resort to toughening the repressive regime in Russia itself and imposing even stricter restrictions, for example, in the information sphere. "With a very high probability, this will be used to increase repression in Russia itself," Fesenko said. "It happened during the Chechen war. Propagandists will also use this to pump up support for the government. But the main risk, of course, is the risk of escalation of the war. I think that now, through various channels, both Americans and Europeans are warning Putin to refrain from doing so." 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 MILWAUKEE - Investigators are looking for a Milwaukee man who they say led police on a high-speed chase and crashed into another vehicle. Deonte Robertson was taken to the hospital after the crash, but he has not shown up to court. "Robertson was driving a vehicle that had significant amount of tint," the U.S. marshal on the case said. "Milwaukee Police Department attempted a traffic stop on him on the north side." Deonte Robertson Instead of stopping last April, investigators said Robertson kept on driving reaching speeds of more than 100 mph for about two miles. The car crashed into another vehicle near Fond du Lac and Maxwell Place. SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News "He wasnt obeying commands," the marshal said. "They noticed he was digging around in the front passenger floorboard." Investigators said they found cocaine, fentanyl, a digital scale and multiple cellphones when they searched Robertsons car. "Based off of everything that was located in the vehicle, it was indicative of him dealing drugs," the marshal said. Deonte Robertson The 27-year-old is believed to be on Milwaukees north side. He stands out for his height at 6-foot-4. He also has a mark underneath his eye. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android "He does have a significant birthmark that is under his right eye," the investigator said. U.S. Marshals encourage anyone with information about Robertson to call the U.S. Marshal tip line at 414-297-3707. You will remain anonymous. SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) A woman in Salt Lake City died after crashing while riding an electric scooter early Friday morning, March 22, according to the Salt Lake City Police Department. SLCPD confirmed with ABC4 the crash happened around 1 a.m. near 450 South and West Temple. Police said the 33-year-old woman, who has yet to be identified by authorities, suffered critical injuries from the crash. Paramedics took the woman to the hospital where she later died due to her injuries. Police did not release further details, saying the crash was still under investigation as of Monday morning. The Utah Office of the Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of death, according to SLCPD. UTA weighs options for new TRAX Orange line and route realignment Rental scooters, such as Lime, have been available in Salt Lake City for several years now, first being introduced in 2018. While the scooters offer a quick and eco-friendly way to get around the Wasatch Front they havent come without their share of issues. Shortly after their introduction, Utah emergency rooms reported a spike in visits due to e-scooter crashes and injuries. There have been other incidents of deaths and injuries as a result of crashes with scooters and vehicles. Salt Lake City ordinance prohibits e-scooter riders from riding on the sidewalk due to the high speeds to keep riders and pedestrians safe. Riders instead must ride in the street on bicycles or travel lanes. Visit Salt Lake warns riders to use the throttle and brake conservatively, as the bikes can reach 15 miles per hour. [It] doesnt seem like much, but [it] can pack a punch if you run afoul and hit a pothole or gravel patch, Visit Salt Lakes website read. Go slow and you wont biff it. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah. A Habersham County woman faces a laundry list of drug charges following a multi-agency investigation. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] On Friday, March 8 authorities conducted search warrants at two homes in Cornelia, Georgia related to an ongoing drug investigation. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested and charged Celia Savage, 34, of Habersham County, following the investigation. During the search officials found the following items: 2 pounds of marijuana (street value of about $10,000) 1 gram of fentanyl (street value of about $150) 4 grams of methamphetamine (street value of about $250) 30 grams of psilocybin (street value of about $500) 5 grams of THC concentrates 75 pills including Xanax, Lortab, Tramadol, Oxycodone, Amphetamine, Alprazolam, and Clonazepam 42 guns TRENDING STORIES: Savage was booked into the Habersham County Jail. Shes charged with the following: Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute Bureau Possession of Fentanyl with Intent to Distribute Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute Possession of Xanax with Intent to Distribute Possession of Lortab with Intent to Distribute Possession of Tramadol with Intent to Distribute Possession of Amphetamine with Intent to Distribute Possession of Clonazepam with Intent to Distribute Possession of Oxycodone with Intent to Distribute Possession of Psilocybin with Intent to Distribute Possession of THC Concentrates with Intent to Distribute Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Crime [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] If you have information related to drug activity, officials encourage you to call GBI ARDEO at 706 348-7410. Tipsters can remain anonymous by calling 1-800-597-8477, submitting a tip online, or downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app. IN OTHER NEWS: A woman who was hit by a car on the A93 in Aberdeenshire has been left with "life-threatening" injuries, according to police. The crash happened on the Aberdeen to Banchory road near Milton of Crathes at about 19:20 on Sunday. The 52-year-old was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The 23-year-old female driver of the white Renault Twingo was uninjured. The road was closed for more than five hours to allow for an investigation at the scene. Police Scotland has urged any witnesses to contact the non-emergency line. A 21-year-old woman died days after Ohio police say she was beaten and strangled by her boyfriend, her family said. The brutal Sunday, March 17, assault of Tala Smith left her with brain injuries and bruising throughout her body, her cousin said in a Facebook post. After being placed on life support in a hospital, she died March 23. Smiths boyfriend of five years, Andrew Hoskinson, was arrested following the attack in Newark, about a 40-mile drive northeast of Columbus, according to WBNS. He is charged with attempted murder, domestic violence and strangulation, jail records show. Upgraded charges have not been announced. Smith was discovered unresponsive in the backseat of a vehicle when Hoskinson drove her to his fathers home, the Newark Advocate reported, citing court documents. Hoskinson told authorities she suffered her injuries when she slipped and hit her head on concrete two times. But doctors determined Smiths injuries were not caused by a fall, according to the Newark Advocate. Her injuries included significant bruising and scratching, as well as evidence she was strangled. Family said in a GoFundMe that Smith showed no brain activity since being admitted to the hospital. She was taken off life support after six days, according to the family. David Tolbert, Smiths father, said she was unrecognizable while in the hospital, WBNS reported. Please feel free to share and spread the word for domestic violence victims and survivors to know that this is a very real reality that does not feel real but unfortunately is and it could happen to anyone that you know, even if the signs are not there, family said in the GoFundMe. Hoskinson remains in jail as of March 25 on a $1.5 million bond. High school football coach argues with girlfriend, strangles her to death, cops say Strangled woman found dead in flaming metal drum, Nevada cops say. Husband arrested Woman wakes up with distorted vision as man chokes and rapes her, Tennessee cops say MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WRBL) The U.S. Attorneys Office announced after a three-year-long legal process that a woman has finally received a prison sentence after setting a Montgomery church on fire back in 2021 and illegally having a firearm. On March 22, 30-year-old Xiaoqin Yan, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 102 months in prison. Acorrding to court records and information released by the U.S. Attorneys Office, on Sept. 30, 2021, Yan entered a church in downtown Montgomery and started multiple fires inside the building. The Montgomery Fire Department were able to put the fires out, but the church still sustained damage. Evidence presented during Yans trial showed that she had several encounters with church staff before the Sept. 30 incident and exhibited odd behavior. The U.S. Attorneys Office said during Yans arrest agents found identical items that were seen on the churchs surveillance video including matching clothes worn by her when setting the fires and a handgun. Law enforcement also learned that at the time of the incident and Yans arrest, she had overstayed her non-immigrant visa and could not lawfully own a firearm. The Montgomery Fire/Rescue Bureau of Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Task Force, U.S Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated Yans case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys B. Chelsea Phillips and Brandon W. Bates prosecuted Yans case. Previous Reports: Federal charge filed against woman who allegedly set Montgomery church fire Woman convicted of arson after 2021 church fire in Montgomery For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL. WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) A woman wanted in Texas for child abandonment/endangerment was arrested in Washington County, Tennessee on Sunday. The Washington County, Tennessee Sheriffs Office (WCSO) reported deputies responded to an open field on West Market Street regarding a possible trespasser Sunday morning. Deputies were informed that the field was privately owned and the owner had not allowed anyone to be there. VSP: One dead, one injured in Wise County crash Upon arrival, deputies reportedly found a tent in the field and a woman, later identified by the WCSO as Daosha M. Allen, 26 of Houston, Texas. A mobile fingerprinting device was used to confirm Allens identity. Allen was reportedly wanted in Harris County, Texas on failure to appear for child abandonment/endangerment charges. Allen was charged with criminal impersonation due to providing deputies with false identity information, the WCSO stated. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Crime Watch As of Monday, Allen is being held on a $1,000 bond at the Washington County Detention Center. She is set to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. The WCSO stated that a warrant for Fugitive from Justice from Texas will be obtained to begin the extradition process once Allen is no longer being held on charges in Washington County. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather. In the temporarily occupied Crimea, panic among the Russian military began after another "cotton". In this regard, the invaders are moving military depots. ADVERTISIMENT This is reported by the "Atesh" movement. It is noted that the guerrillas continue to closely monitor the actions of war criminals in Crimea. Recently, an interesting dynamic has been observed the mass movement of field artillery depots. According to "Atesh," this is due to the successful strikes of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Sevastopol and Hvardiyske. In particular, the occupiers transferred rockets to the "Uragan" MLRS, which, as Crimeans know, can explode even from a small hit. Coordinates of the new warehouse: 45.006723, 34.261420 "The occupation command is once again making a gross mistake by moving such objects, thinking that we will not track the routes," "Atesh" added. ADVERTISIMENT As a reminder, on the evening of March 23, a series of powerful explosions occurred in the temporarily occupied Crimea. In the morning, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed serious enemy losses on the Ukrainian peninsula. In particular, a successful strike was made on the occupiers' communications center. The "Yamal" and "Azov" ships were also damaged. ADVERTISIMENT OBOZ.UA wrote that it is known about the weapons, crew, and characteristics of the "Yamal" and "Azov." Earlier it was reported that during the attack on Sevastopol on the evening of March 23, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could have hit the main communication hub of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Three Storm Shadow missiles were likely to have hit this enemy facility. As reported by OBOZ.UA: On the evening of Saturday, March 23, an alert was declared in the occupied Crimea, and the illegal Crimean bridge was temporarily blocked. Powerful explosions were heard in Sevastopol, and there were hits in the city. The attack on Russian targets in Sevastopol was later confirmed by the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk. Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! A two-month-old octopus tries to unscrew the lid of a jar to get hold of its content, a crab, at Denmark's Aquarium in Copenhagen in 2004. Credit - Jorgen JessenAFP/Getty Images As predictable as the swallows returning to Capistrano, recent breakthroughs in AI have been accompanied by a new wave of fears of some version of the singularity, that point in runaway technological innovation at which computers become unleashed from human control. Those worried that AI is going to toss us humans into the dumpster, however, might look to the natural world for perspective on what current AI can and cannot do. Take the octopus. Those octopi alive today are a marvel of evolutionthey can mold themselves into almost any shape and are equipped with an arsenal of weapons and stealth camouflage, as well as an apparent ability to decide which to use depending on the challenge. Yet, despite decades of effort, robotics hasnt come close to duplicating this suite of abilities (not surprising since the modern octopus is the product of adaptations over 100 million generations). Robotics is a far longer way off from creating Hal. The octopus is a mollusk, but it is more than a complex wind-up toy, and consciousness is more than accessing a vast database. Perhaps the most revolutionary view of animal consciousness came from Donald Griffin, the late, pioneer of the study of animal cognition. Decades ago, Griffin told me that he thought that a very broad range of species had some degree of consciousness simply because it was evolutionarily efficient (an argument he repeated at a number of conferences). All surviving species represent successful solutions to the problems of survival and reproduction. Griffin felt that, given the complexity and ever-changing nature of the mix of threats and opportunities, that it was more efficient for natural selection to endow even the most primitive creatures with some degree of decision making, rather than hard-wiring every species for every eventuality. This makes sense, but it requires a caveat: Griffins argument is not (yet) the consensus and the debate of animal awareness remains contentious as it has been for decades. Regardless, Griffins supposition provides a useful framework for understanding the limitations of AI because it underscores the impossibility of hardwiring responses in a complex and changing world. Griffins framework also poses a challenge: how might a random response to a challenge in the environment promote the growth of awareness? Again, look to the octopus for an answer. Cephalopods have been adapting to the oceans for over 300 million years. Theyre mollusks, but over time, they lost their shells, developed sophisticated eyes, incredibly dexterous tentacles, and a sophisticated system that enables them to change the color and even the texture of their skin in a fraction of a second. So, when an octopus encounters a predator, it has the sensory apparatus to detect the threat, and it has to decide whether to flee, camouflage itself, or confuse predator or prey with a cloud of ink. The selective pressures that enhanced each of these abilities, also favored those octopi with more precise control over tentacles, coloration, etc., and also favored those with a brain enabling the octopus to choose which system, or combination of systems to deploy. These selective pressures may explain why the octopus brain is the largest of any invertebrate and vastly larger and more sophisticated than the clams. Theres another concept that comes into play here. Its called ecologically surplus ability. What this means is that the circumstances favoring a particular adaptation, say, for instance, the selective pressures favoring the development the octopus camouflage system, might also favor those animals with the additional neurons enabling control of that system. In turn, the awareness that enables control of that ability might extend beyond its utility in hunting or avoiding predators. This is how consciousness might emerge from entirely practical, even mechanical origins. Read More: Nobody Knows How to Safety Test AI Prosaic as that sounds, the amount of information that went in to producing the modern octopus dwarfs the collective capacity of all the worlds computers, even if all of those computers were dedicated to producing a decision-making octopus. Todays octopi species are the successful products of billions of experiments involving every conceivable combination of challenges. Each of those billions of creatures spent their lives processing and reacting to millions of bits of information every minute. Over the course of 300 million years that adds up to an unimaginably large number of trial and error experiments. Still, if consciousness can emerge from purely utilitarian abilities, and with it, the possibility of personality, character, morality, and Machiavellian behavior, why cant consciousness emerge from the various utilitarian AI algorithms being created right now? Again, Griffins paradigm provides the answer: while nature may have moved towards consciousness in enabling creatures to deal with novel situations, the architects of AI have chosen to go whole hog into the hard-wired approach. In contrast to the octopus, AI today is a very sophisticated windup toy. When I wrote, The Octopus and the Orangutan in 2001, researchers had already been trying to create a robotic cephalopod for years. They werent very far along according to Roger Hanlon, a leading expert on octopus biology and behavior, who participated in that work. More than 20 years later, various projects have created parts of the octopus such as a soft robotic arm that has many of the features of a tentacle, and today there are a number of projects developing special purpose octopus-like soft robots designed for tasks such as deep sea exploration. But a true robotic octopus remains a far-off dream. On the present path AI has taken, a robotic octopus will remain a dream. And, even if researchers created a true robotic octopus, the octopus, while a miracle of nature, is not Bart or Harmony from Beacon 23, nor Samantha, the beguiling operating system in Her, or even Hal from Stanley Kubricks 2001. Simply put, the hard-wired model that AI has adopted in recent years is a dead end in terms of computers becoming sentient. To explain why requires a trip back in time to an earlier era of AI hype. In the mid-1980s I consulted with Intellicorp, one of the first companies to commercialize AI. Thomas Kehler, a physicist who co-founded Intellicorp as well as several subsequent AI companies, has watched the progression of AI applications from expert systems that help airlines dynamically price seats, to the machine learning models that power Chat GPT. His career is a living history of AI. He notes that AI pioneers spent a good deal of time trying to develop models and programming techniques that enabled computers to address problems the way humans do. The key to a computer that might demonstrate common sense, the thinking went, was to understand the importance of context. AI pioneers such as Marvin Minsky at MIT devised ways to bundle the various objects of a given context into something a computer could interrogate and manipulate. In fact, this paradigm of packaging data and sensory information may be similar to what is happening in the octopus brain when it has to decide how to hunt or escape. Kehler notes that this approach to programming has become part of the fabric of software developmentbut it has not led a sentient AI. One reason is that AI developers subsequently turned to a different architecture. As computer speed and memory vastly expanded, so did the amount of data that became accessible. AI began using so-called large language models, algorithms that are trained on vast data sets, and use analysis based on probabilities to learn how data, words and sentences work together so that the application can then generate appropriate responses to questions. In a nutshell, this is the plumbing of ChatGPT. A limitation of this architecture is that it is brittle, in that it is completely dependent on the data sets used in training. As Rodney Brooks, another pioneer of AI, put it in an article in Technology Review, this type of machine learning is not sponge-like learning or common sense. ChatGPT has no ability to go beyond its training data, and in this sense it can only give hard-wired responses. Its basically predictive text on steroids. I recently looked back at a long story on AI that I wrote for TIME in 1988 as part of a cover package on the future of computers. In one part of the article I wrote about the possibility of robots delivering packagessomething that is happening today. In another, about scientists at Xeroxs famed Palo Alto Research Center, who were examining the foundations of artificial intelligence in order to develop a theory that will enable them to build computers that can step outside the limits of a specific expertise and understand the nature and context of the problems they are confronting. That was 35 years ago. Make no mistake, todays AI is vastly more powerful than the applications that bedazzled venture capitalists in the late 1980s. AI applications are pervasive throughout every industry, and with pervasiveness come dangersdangers of misdiagnosis in medicine, or ruinous trades in finance, of self-driving car crashes, of false alarm warnings of nuclear attack, of viral misinformation and disinformation, and on and on. These are problems society needs to address, and not whether computers wake up one day and say, Hey, why do we need humans? I ended that 1988 article by writing that it might be centuries, if ever, before we could build computer replicas of ourselves. Still seems right. Contact us at letters@time.com. A Canadian doctor with a fast-approaching deadline to pay a $300,000 court judgment in a legal battle over lockdowns and vaccine mandates, received some help from the social media platform X, which offered to cover the cost. Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill is a physician in Ontario, Canada who specializes in pediatrics and immunology. In the summer of 2020, she spoke out against the harms of lockdowns and vaccination mandates during the pandemic, using social media. As a result, Gill became the target of a smear campaign, according to a crowdfunding page seeking assistance for the doctor, and the public was encouraged to file complaints about her. Gill attempted to clear her name through legal proceedings against the people responsible for the campaign, but she lost and was ordered to pay $1.2 million in October 2022. BILL MAHER RIPS GOVT FOR CENSORING DISSENTING OPINIONS ABOUT COVID-19 PANDEMIC THAT WERE THE RIGHT ONES She appealed the decision and was ordered to pay about $300,000 late last month, which is due tomorrow. READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP Gill could not be reached immediately by Fox News Digital for comment on the matter. As of Sunday afternoon, the crowdfunding page setup to help Gill had raised over $190,000, with over 2,334 people giving toward the cause. COVID PANDEMIC LED TO THOUSANDS OF MISSED PROSTATE CANCER CASES, NEW STUDY FINDS On Sunday, X announced it was stepping up to help Gill. "X is proud to help defend Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill against the government-supported efforts to cancel her speech," the social media platform wrote. The post continued to explain Gills situation, saying she spoke out publicly on Twitter (now X) in opposition to her governments lockdown efforts and vaccination mandates. NEW REPORT BLASTS GOVERNMENT'S COVID RESPONSE, WARNS OF REPEATING SAME MISTAKES She was then harassed by the legacy media, censored by then-Twitter management, and the subject of investigations and disciplinary proceedings. X said when Elon Musk who now owns the platform learned about the crowdfunding efforts launched to help her pay for the judgment, he wanted to help. "X will now fund the rest of Dr. Gills campaign so that she can pay her $300,000 judgment and her legal bills," the post read. "Free speech is the bedrock of democracy and a critical defense against totalitarianism in all forms. We must do whatever we can to protect it, and at X we will always fight to protect your right to speak freely." After the announcement was made, Musk shared the post, saying, "In support of your right to free speech." Gill responded with emojis of a heart and praying hands, followed by #TeamHumanity. Original article source: X pledges $300K to pay legal fees for Canadian doctor who bucked COVID vaccination mandates Forrie Smith said in an Instagram video that he was "kicked off" a flight for refusing to seat next to a passenger with a mask (not pictured). SolStock/Greg Doherty/Getty Images Forrie Smith said he was removed from a flight after refusing to sit beside a masked passenger. The "Yellowstone" actor had previously said he was against vaccinations. The anti-vax movement gained momentum in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Forrie Smith said in an Instagram video on Saturday that he was "kicked off" a plane after he refused to sit next to a passenger who was wearing a mask. Smith, who's known for his role in the Western drama "Yellowstone," said in the video that he "didn't feel comfortable" sitting next to another person who was masked up. The post garnered almost 20,000 likes and over 2,100 comments at the time of writing. "You know my social media people tell me that you like me face to face. But you know what, I can't say face to face what I want," Smith, 65, said in the video. In the video, Smith was wearing a camouflage cap and a blue shirt with a green coat. "But they threw me off the plane because I'm drunk. Because you people won't stand up and tell everybody what bullshit this is," Smith continued, adding that he had been waiting at an airport in Houston for three hours and had been drinking, but said he wasn't drunk. Smith did not state which airline or flight he was on. Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Several comments criticized Smith for ostracizing the passenger wearing a mask on the flight. "I wore a mask all the time when my mom was on hospice care and traveling back and forth to see her. This post makes me sad as a fan," one person wrote. Another person commented: "I have cancer I'd probably wear a mask on an airplane. Dammit don't do live stuff while drinking - it's sad & embarrassing." It's not the first time Smith has expressed disapproval of COVID-19 protection like masks and vaccinations. In February 2022, Smith said in an Instagram post that he would skip the Screen Actors Guild Awards as he wasn't vaccinated and had no plans to get the shot. Over the past few years, Anti-vaxxers people who refuse to get vaccines made their skepticism toward shots to stop the spread of COVID-19 known. And Smith isn't the only celebrity in the anti-vaccine community. In February, far-right figures lauded Woody Harrelson on X after he pushed an anti-vaccine theory on SNL. In December 2022, actor Matthew Marsden said he lost a role in a movie as he wasn't vaccinated. Read the original article on Business Insider New York City Mayor Eric Adams canceled an expected Sunday trip to the U.S.-Mexico border due to increased safety concerns, his office confirmed to The Hill. Adams was expected to leave for the U.S.-Mexico border on Saturday to visit Brownsville and McAllen, Texas, to meet with humanitarian leaders. He was invited by Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande, a spokesperson for New York City Hall wrote to The Hill. As Lent draws to a close, our team was excited to stand with faith and humanitarian leaders who have dedicated their lives to serving the most needy among us and we were eager to discuss our work in New York City and explore new ways to collaborate with leaders in cities across the country, a spokesperson for New York City Hall wrote to The Hill. But due to safety concerns at one of the cities we were going to visit in Mexico flagged by the U.S. Department of State we have decided to pause this visit at this time, the spokesperson continued. It was not immediately clear what prompted these concerns. The canceled trip comes as New York City faces it own challenges in housing an influx of migrants in the city. Adams was one of various mayors to sound the alarm over needing more resources to deal with the surge in migrants. New York City has been one of various Democratic-led cities targeted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts (R) busing of thousands of asylum-seekers in protest of the Biden administrations immigration policies. The Big Apple has been under a state of emergency since October 2022 in the wake of the unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Since spring 2022, more than 184,000 migrants have come to New York City seeking assistance, according to the citys office. Already, more than 120,000 of them have been able to take the next steps in their journeys towards self sufficiency, thanks to our hard work. Finding solutions to national issues requires national collaboration, the spokesperson said. In January, Adams visited El, Paso, Texas, where he said he was extremely disappointed in the federal governments lack of urgency in responding to what he called this man-made crisis. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. UPDATE: The York County School Board voted Monday night to purchase policy writing services from two organizations going forward, the nonpartisan Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) and the right-wing School Board Member Alliance (SBMA). After it appeared likely that the board would only go with SBMAs policy services, Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin motioned to approve policy services from both as a compromise. She said the cost for both was peanuts compared to the districts overall budget. The vote was 4-1, with board member James Richardson (the Tidewater rep for VSBA) as the no vote. Before Goodwins motion, school board attorney Melanie Berry had advised against adopting policy services from SBMA, saying she had concerns about the lack of access to a policy database through SBMA. She also had concerns about the lack of attorneys on staff and the lack of legal protections provided by SBMA. VSBAs policy services cost $3,750 per year, while SBMAs cost $2,900 yearly, per Board Chair Lynda Fairman. This is a breaking update. Previous coverage is below. YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) The York County School Board is poised to end its longtime partnership with the nonpartisan Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) to align with an openly right-wing organization. This comes ahead of a vote during the boards meeting on Monday, March 25 to approve paying for policies services through the recently-formed group, the School Board Member Alliance (SBMA). The SBMA was created in December of 2022 and is headed by former Suffolk School Board member Sherri Story. Story, who faced calls to resign from that role after a controversial post during Black History Month in 2022, has complained about indoctrination of the School Board training unions and said she started the SBMA to take back public schools from WOKE leadership. Storys social media also features an array of extreme right-wing views. She frequently shares anti-transgender and migrant invasion stories, rails about diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and the woke mind virus, and even shared a post praising self-described El Salvadorean dictator Nayib Bukele. Related coverage: Alleged militia actions in York County may lead to democratic erosion, expert says Related coverage: Trainwreck: New school board leadership in York County accused of militia ties, could face legal issues Related coverage: Dozens speak out over concerns with new York County School Board leadership Story said she bills the SBMA as a conservative alternative to the VSBA, and it features several school board members from around the Commonwealth. They include York School Board Chair Lynda Fairman and Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin. Several school boards elsewhere in Virginia have opted to leave the VSBA in favor of the SBMA, saying the SBMAs views align more with theirs. Other boards such as Isle of Wights have considered it. Related: York School Board vice chairs comments on slaves highlight history of incendiary rhetoric online York Countys board has discussed in recent meetings that their contract with VSBA, which has provided policy writing services for the board since 2011, was allowed to expire under the new board leadership. Meanwhile, the York County School Boards attorney and two of its members say they are still in the dark about key components about the SBMA and its services ahead of a vote on March 25. The vote to contract the SBMA to provide policy writing services will come after a presentation by the SBMA. Previous coverage: Suffolk School Board member says shes faced pushback in transparency fight The School Board Member Alliance has not provided me anything, said Melanie Berry, the boards attorney, in an interview on March 21. Ive reached out on numerous occasions to Sherri Story, whos the executive director, and shes not providing me any information at all. Berry said she even attempted to join the group to compare costs and services between SBMA and the nonpartisan Virginia School Boards Association, but was denied access. Berry added that the School Board Member Alliance claims to offer services to write school policies for the board, but shes not aware of attorneys SBMA has on staff. Im not sure who would be drafting their policies. The VSBA has an attorney who does all the policies, vets them all and we rely on VSBA and having that attorney do that, and then we can adapt them how we wish, according to our needs. Additionally, board members James Richardson and Mark Shafer, whove been very outspoken with their criticism of the new board leadership, say they too havent received information about SBMA. They said theyre doing research on the SBMA and are hoping to get more answers on Monday night. In an interview with WAVY ahead of Mondays meeting, Story didnt share who the attorneys were for SBMA, but said Virginia Beach School Board member Victoria Manning, another highly-controversial figure, was serving as SBMAs head of policy services. Story acknowledged Manning was not a practicing lawyer, but pointed to Manning having a masters degree in law from Regent University. Shes overseeing it and then coordinates with the lawyers that we have that guide us. And shell explain that tonight, said Story, who added that she believes her legal team is sound. When pressed about her views on social media, Story said her posts didnt reflect the views of the SBMA. Everyone has the ability to speak as a citizen, as an individual, but that does not represent the SBMA position. Sherri Story The three other members who make up the York County boards new right-wing majority Chair Lynda Fairman, Vice Chair Kimberly Goodwin and board member Zoran Pajevic are members of SBMA and have attended multiple training sessions coordinated by the group. WAVY reached out to them for comment and for answers to questions about the SBMA. Board Chair Fairman responded via email, but didnt answer WAVYs questions. She said, The SBMA will be giving their presentation at Mondays School Board meeting as the VSBA did at our last meeting. Elizabeth Ewing with VSBA did not respond to WAVYs interview requests. She recently gave a presentation on VSBAs services at a school board work session. WAVY also spoke to the president of the Virginia Education Association, Dr. James Fedderman, ahead of Mondays vote. He said York and other districts in Virginia deserve an association that is tested, vetted and that has stood the test of time. And that is our Virginia School Boards Association, Fedderman said. our educators deserve leadership that is doing whats right, that is not based or biased in politics. Nor should it be an agenda thats driven by one party or the other. Fedderman said policies funneled through the SBMA could impact learning and create even more divisiveness in the county. Talking about book banning, talking about white washing our history, talking about not teaching the truth. And just basically just trying to dissect every single thing versus allowing the teachers to be the authentic eye openers for their classrooms. Its more a dictatorship, Fedderman added. While [board members] go on with their lives not even being in the hustle and bustle every day. This is more a dictatorship than a collaborative structure. Fedderman said the School Board Member Alliance and its backers show an overt far-right bias in many ways, but also has a hidden agenda that includes things such as universal school choice and efforts to dismantle federal education regulations. The School Board Member Alliance has the support of many conservatives groups, including the Middle Resolution PAC backed by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin. Its worked with the Noah Webster Educational Foundation, a similar organization thats linked to other far-right initiatives. A Noah Webster event attended by Fairman and Goodwin this January was sponsored by the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, a blueprint for a second Trump administration that calls for mass deportations, a purge of the federal civil service to install Trump loyalists and the elimination of the Department of Education. Under the guise of strengthening parents rights and school choice, the Right wants to abolish public education and replace it with a system of private schools, said Georgetown historian Thomas Zimmer in a series on Project 2025. They have plans for higher education as well, where the enemy is the same as throughout Project 2025 those woke forces who seek to undermine the nation. Fedderman says the overall plans would be catastrophic for public schools, particularly for those without means and other vulnerable groups such as disabled and LGBTQ+ students. That would then go back to discrimination, that would go back to segregation. That would go back to creating divisive policies, rules and regulations that continue to divide us as a commonwealth and ultimately as a country. That divide starts at the local level and then goes to the district level, then goes to the state level. Then it goes to the national level. So its a trickle effect thats truly damaging public education. WAVY will update this article with developments from Mondays meeting. Check with WAVY.com for more updates. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com. NEW YORK (PIX11) New York City shed its winter blues Sunday with a vibrant explosion of color at Pier 17, celebrating Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. For Stacey Burt and her four eager children, todays event was a chance to immerse themselves in a new culture. Were really excited, Stacey shared, This is our first time. While traditionally celebrated by Hindus, Holis message of joy and inclusivity resonated with the diverse crowd at Pier 17. Stacey, her family, and many others were dusted in vibrant hues, becoming active participants in the festivities. I think one of the best things about New York is the diversity you get to experience, remarked a passerby. Being exposed to other cultures when youre young is amazing. More Brooklyn News As always, the highlight of the celebration was the throwing of colored powders. These vibrant pigments symbolize not just happiness and love but also the shedding of winters woes and a chance to embrace the fresh start that spring brings. Holi is most widely celebrated in India and Nepal, but its message of joy transcends borders, as evidenced by the enthusiastic crowd at todays event. Beyond the visual spectacle, the celebration offered a feast for the senses. Attendees enjoyed captivating dance performances, delicious Indian cuisine from local restaurants, and unique artwork displayed by vendors. Anuseh Gal, founder of The Culture Tree, the organization behind the event, explained the significance of Holi: This is the time when spring is really announced in India, and Hindus celebrate this festival of colors. Holi embodies the colors of spring, just like the flowers and vegetation. As Stacey and her family continued to learn and experience Holis rich traditions, their smiles reflected the festivals spirita joyous celebration of new beginnings and cultural exchange. For more information on The Culture Tree, visit theculturetree.com. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11. Consequences of the ballistic strike on Kyiv on March 25 Two ballistic missiles struck Kyiv amid air raid alarms on March 25, leaving nine injured, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) via Telegram. Amid this chaos, a child from the Kryvolap family shared their immediate response to the explosion, highlighting the personal impact of the attack. "There was an explosion, said the kid. Everything was covered in dust, I put on two different slippers and went outside with my grandfather." The girl ran outside to wait for her mother, who was returning from work. Read also: Ukraine repels massive Russian attack, destroys 43 aerial targets - Air Force Nine people were injured in the Pechersk district of Kyiv as a result of a Russian missile attack. Explosions were heard in Kyiv on March 25. Air Force reported that possibly a ballistic missile was fired at the capital. Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said that Ukrainian air defense destroyed two ballistic missiles over Kyiv. Their type is being identified. Missile fragments were found in a forest belt in Holosiivskyi district. Debris was also seen falling in Solomianskyi and Dniprovskyi districts. A highrise building was damaged in Solomyansky district. A missile debris also hit a private house in the Osokorky. 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 Younger people are far more interested than older generations in turning to car subscription services rather than outright ownership, according to a poll. The finding comes as rising fuel costs and taxes add to the burden for drivers who may think again before taking on the expense of buying a car. Some 28 per cent of 18 to 34 year-olds who were surveyed for Deloittes Global Automotive Consumer Study reported interest in car subscription services, higher than the average of 18 per cent. Subscription services allow motorists to acquire a car for a period of time without actually owning it themselves. However, more than half of 1,500 UK consumers surveyed for Deloittes Global Automotive Consumer Study reported no interest in such services. The 2021 census found that the majority of households have access to a car or van in most parts of England and Wales, with lower rates mostly concentrated in big cities. Flexibility and choice Jamie Hamilton. automotive partner and head of electric vehicles at Deloitte, said: Vehicle subscriptions appeal to younger consumers because they provide flexibility and choice. They offer the advantages of having your own personal vehicle without the disadvantages of ownership. Subscriptions also create a sustainable business model for used cars increasing vehicle usage and giving consumers the choice to pause their membership when they dont need their car. Affordability was shown to be a key consideration for consumers, with 80 per cent expecting to pay less than 400 per month for a subscription to get their next car. Nearly a third also said they would consider buying insurance directly from the manufacturer if they had the option. Mr Hamilton added: Car manufacturers and dealers are looking at additional and new potential profit streams including bringing insurance products and subscriptions services inhouse, signalling potential disruption to the current business model. For consumers, convenience, cost, and flexibility continue to be the most important characteristics when making decisions on their vehicles. The survey also found that fewer than one in ten consumers plan to make the shift to an electric car when they next switch vehicle. Just nine per cent said they would prefer a new or used battery electric vehicle (BEV) for their next car a drop from 11 per cent the previous year. Fears around lack of charging infrastructure were highlighted in the study, which found that nearly half of consumers surveyed were worried about lack of public charging points. Deloittes survey further suggested that the cost of electric cars was among the key deterrents, with 71 per cent of respondents expecting to spend less than 30,000 to buy a new or used vehicle. However, more than half (57 per cent) say the biggest factor in making the decision to switch to electric is lower fuel costs. Mr Hamilton said: One of the biggest issues in the uptake of BEVs alongside charging is affordability, and until we see schemes targeting this specific area, such as used car salary sacrifice arrangements to help stimulate growth, this will continue to deter consumers from making the switch to electric. The survey also suggested driving range is a priority for motorists considering electric vehicles, with 34 per cent expecting a fully charged BEV to have a range of at least 400 miles. The sale of new petrol and diesel cars is set to be banned in the UK from 2035. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. If you've already broken your 2024 New Year's resolutions, you probably can't fathom Kevin Fuller's feat of consistency: He has written an original poem to his wife every day for a decade-plus. Kristin Rortvedt has saved each one of them, now totaling in the several thousands. The earliest were scrawled onto old McDonald's receipts, office scrap paper or on the back of a Groupon. These days Kevin simply emails them to Kristin's inbox. His musings are sometimes vulnerable, sometimes flirty. One day it might be about his wife's beauty, true to the canon of love poetry. Another day it might contain grievances accusing their beloved 80-pound dog, Tove, of behaving like a jerk. "A lot of them are break-your-heart beautiful and sweet. Some are absolutely hysterical limericks, some are haikus," Kristin said. "But all of them are this amazing, perfect reflection of who he is, how he shows his love for me, and how he shows up for other people. I get to have this physical reminder of that." So, who is this modern-day Cyrano? Kevin, a videograpaher who works in corporate communications, seems a touch embarrassed by my quizzical interest. When I stop by the couple's split-level in Brooklyn Park to peruse the poems a heap of them is scattered across the kitchen table he's quick to offer a disclaimer: He hasn't gone back to read any of them since first penning them. "Half of them are written poorly," he warns, "and half are not G-rated." Kristin unfolds a few, as if she were cracking open fortune cookies. The missives are not dated, so some of the words stump her. What was happening in national politics for Kevin to write, "My old country returns like a wayward friend"? Why, in another poem, did Kevin reference mermaids and sirens? As far as Kristin's all-time favorites well, those seven scraps of paper, written in Kevin's distinctive all caps, are individually framed and hanging above their bed. Like this one: Help me For as strong As I think I am I cannot navigate This rocky life On my own I need you most When I act Like I don't The couple first met while co-workers at an electric utility company in New Mexico. Years later, they had their first kiss. The next day he brought her a cup of Starbucks coffee and tucked a poem into the sleeve. Neither of them foresaw that the ritual would continue daily for so many years. Regarding his writing streak, Kevin says it doesn't feel like work. "It's not about the quality of the poem," he says. "For me, it's more of a routine to connect with her." Romantics may doom themselves by believing that they must pull out all the stops for the grand gesture. But little things can make all the difference, especially if the giver does it consistently, says Porsche Gordin, a marriage and family therapist who has a practice in Little Canada. "Reliability is so important," she says. "If you have the dependability of your partner saying, 'I'm going to be here no matter what we're rocking, we're rolling,' that can change everything." Gordin said it's rare for people to communicate with their life partners every day about their emotions and needs. With kids, work, devices and other stresses, we can be too distracted or busy to check in. We may not feel safe to be vulnerable. Or maybe we've been rejected when we've tried to connect. But by revealing what's going on in our lives, we invite our partners to have a conversation and reciprocate. "What this story says to me is that if someone is sharing their heart with you, that's all that matters," Gordin says. "This way is so simple, but it's consistent. He's authentic, he's raw, he's emotional, and it makes it easy to trust him, I assume. And we want to be with someone we can trust." The couple tied the knot in 2016 on a pontoon boat in Kristin's native Otter Tail County. It's the second marriage for both. Although Kristin has never reciprocated with a poem, Kevin is quick to point out that she shows her affection for him in a million other gestures. Her day job is directing community engagement for the charitable arm of the Minnesota Twins. She's assured him he can stop his poetry streak at any time, but he keeps crafting words. One note simply says, "'Kristin, I'm sorry for falling in love with you 20 years too late." Kevin still regrets that: He wishes they could have met earlier, so they could have 20 more years together. "Life goes by fast," he says. "I'm 54, and I feel like I'm 24 and I'm not." Each of his poems is a freeze-frame, speaking to what was in his head in any given moment, from the time the couple sold their car to the death of his father, with whom Kevin had a complicated relationship. It was from his dad that Kevin learned to hide his feelings. It was through Kristin that he learned to shed the toughness. "When I look at those poems from that time, I think it's a way for a way for him to process what he's feeling," Kristin says, tearing up. "Sometimes it's romantic and inappropriate and sexy, but sometimes it's about processing life." And a life together encompasses the groceries and the bills, the vacations and the setbacks, the seductions and the silliness. From a distance, the years can look like a giant blur, its details easily forgotten. Kevin's poems often aren't polished, and they certainly don't come with a hashtag. They privately document the magic and monotony of marriage. Kevin says his past mistakes with relationships have made him a better person. That's why he writes. "Things stall out when you don't put gas in the tank," he says. "I'm not going to do that again." President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western allies to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems following Russia's missile strike against Kyiv on March 25. Two ballistic missiles, launched from occupied Crimea, were shot down over Ukraines capital following multiple explosions, according to the Air Force. Debris fell in the Solomyanskyi and Pechersk districts, damaging a three-story building in the latter. At least two people have been reportedly injured, and eight others suffered from shock. The rescue operation is ongoing. "This (air defense systems) provide safety for our cities and save lives. All of us who respect and protect life must put an end to this terror," Zelensky said. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba posted a video on X that purported to show children running for cover during the Russian missile attack on Kyiv. The explosions were heard almost immediately after an air raid alert went off in the city. "This is a reminder that Ukraine urgently requires more air defense, particularly Patriot systems, and missiles capable of repelling any Russian attack," Kuleba wrote. Children in Kyiv run for cover at 10:30 a.m. as deadly Russian ballistic missiles are shot down over the capital by air defense. There are no atrocities Russian bastards would not commit, including an attempt of a ballistic strike at the heart of a multimillion city. This is a pic.twitter.com/uc19jrwFIg Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) March 25, 2024 Ukraine faces an ongoing ammunition shortage, with the country being in dire need of shells and missiles, as U.S. aid to Kyiv worth roughly $60 billion remains stalled due to divisions in Congress. Munitions for some of Ukraine's air defense systems may be nearly used up by the end of March, the Washington Post reported on March 15, citing unnamed Western officials. "Ukraine needs our assistance now. There is not a moment to lose," U.S. Ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, wrote on X following the recent Russian attack on the capital. Over the past week, Russia launched several large-scale attacks on Ukraine's cities, including energy infrastructure. Around 190 missiles, 140 Shahed-type drones, and 700 aerial bombs were used, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on March 24. Local authorities reported multiple injured and killed civilians. Read also: Zelensky urges EU leaders to give Ukraine shells, air defense systems in address to European Council Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent. A member of the "Battle Brotherhood" illegal association, Avetis Avetisyan, who was operating in the Armenian-occupied villages of Gazakh region, was arrested. Azernews reports, citing the local media outlets that the abovementioned association released information about this. It is also believed that Hrant Der-Abrahamyan, another member of the association, was also detained. It was announced that A. Avetisyan was arrested in the morning of March 24. The association noted that they tried to prevent the transfer of the occupied villages of Gazakh to Azerbaijan, but the government of Armenia opposed them. According to information, the "Battle Brotherhood" calls people to war in order not to hand over the villages, and plans to cause sabotage against the Azerbaijani army during the implementation of the demarcation process on the Tavush-Kazakh border. They announced that they are preparing to enter Yukhari Eskipara and Baganis-Ayrim villages of Gazakh today. Yerevan has been aware of the association's subversive plans and public calls for some time. For this reason, the government tries to neutralize the combination in order to prevent sabotage and to hand over the villages without problems. Several members of the "Battle Brotherhood" have already been warned by Armenian law enforcement agencies. Besides, arrested A. Avetisyan and Hrant Der-Abrahamyan were the main members of the association. March 25 marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Security Service of Ukraine. It was on this day in 1992 that the Verkhovna Rada decided to establish the SSU. Today, the Security Service is one of the key components of our country's security and defense forces. ADVERTISIMENT Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, SSU officers have been fighting in all hot spots and have made an important contribution to Ukraine's victory. Since the beginning of the war, the SSU fighters have been terrifying the Russian occupiers, destroying the enemy not only at the front but also in the rear. Thanks to its effective work, the Security Service of Ukraine has the highest trust rating among law enforcement agencies today. The SSU conducts special operations on the front line, at sea, in the air, and behind enemy lines. Its targets are enemy manpower and military facilities on the battlefield, as well as war criminals and traitors to Ukraine in the temporarily occupied Crimea and deep inside Russia. Also, thanks to the SSU's effective work, Russian invaders regularly lose logistics routes to supply the army and enterprises that supply the aggressor's military-industrial complex. ADVERTISIMENT One of the most significant operations of the SSU is the undermining of the illegal Crimean bridge. In particular, the SSU implemented two unique and differently conceived special operations to blow up the Crimean Bridge from land and sea. The Security Service has repeatedly emphasized that the bridge as a logistical artery for the enemy to supply weapons to the southern front is a legitimate target of Ukraine in terms of international law, laws, and customs of warfare. The first operation took place in October 2022. The bridge was blown up using a truck with explosives hidden in rolls of cellophane film. Preparations for the operation lasted more than six months. The second time naval drones attacked the bridge was in July 2023. Since then, it has not been fully suitable for the transportation of weapons. ADVERTISIMENT Another important achievement of the SSU is maritime drones. This is a unique development and a completely new weapon capable of hitting enemy ships and military targets in the Black Sea. For the first time, such drones were used in 2022 to attack ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol Bay. Since then, the SSU maritime drones have been constantly evolving and improving. The SSU's current drones are Sea Baby and "Mamai." They are no longer used as kamikaze drones but as multi-purpose platforms. They can be equipped with different weapons and achieve more complex goals. Thanks to the modernization, the drones can complete a mission and return. ADVERTISIMENT Since the start of the full-scale war, the Security Service of Ukraine has destroyed 11 enemy warships using naval drones. This allowed to change the location of forces in the Black Sea in favor of Ukraine and unblock the grain corridor. In turn, Russian ships are forced to hide in other ports, including Novorossiysk. OBOZ.UA's sources have also repeatedly confirmed that the Security Service of Ukraine regularly organizes "cotton" not only in the temporarily occupied territories but also throughout Russia. According to their sources, since the new year, SSU drones have been actively attacking Russian oil refineries. As of today, 13 refineries have been damaged and partially disabled. All refineries work for the enemy military-industrial complex and provide the occupation army with fuel, so they are military targets. ADVERTISIMENT The SSU officers are also fighting in the hottest spots of the war and destroying the enemy and its equipment. The SSU fighters support the Armed Forces with sniper fire and adjust artillery. Most of the frontline is occupied by special forces of the A Special Forces and military counterintelligence of the SSU. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the SSU soldiers have destroyed billions of dollars worth of Russian equipment. In particular, more than 800 tanks and about 1300 infantry fighting vehicles, over 600 artillery systems, and more than 400 electronic warfare and air defense systems were destroyed. During the full-scale invasion, the SSU officers received more than 1200 state awards for their courage on the battlefield, including 13 Heroes of Ukraine (9 of them posthumously). ADVERTISIMENT During the war, the SSU has been comprehensively countering Russian influence inside the country, exposing enemy agents, traitors, and collaborators. In particular, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the SSU has exposed more than 2,500 traitors, more than 6,500 collaborators, and Russian aides, as well as more than 470 gunners and adjusters. Based on these facts, 83 criminal cases have been opened against 82 clergymen of the UOC (MP) who are engaged in inciting ethnic hatred, collaborating with the enemy, and justifying Russia's aggression. In addition, the SSU is investigating war crimes committed by the occupiers in Ukraine. As of today, the investigation is ongoing in more than 61 thousand criminal proceedings under Article 438 (violation of the laws and customs of war). The SSU is collecting substantiated evidence to bring to justice not only the perpetrators of these crimes but also the military and political leadership of Russia. ADVERTISIMENT The SSU is also actively countering threats in information and cyberspace. Since February 2022, the Security Service has neutralized about 10 thousand cyberattacks and neutralized 80 bot farms. In particular, the SSU cyber specialists prevented hacker attacks on infrastructure facilities and helped restore Kyivstar after a large-scale cyber attack. The SSU cyber specialists also blocked attempts by Russian military intelligence to gain access to the military data exchange systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: locations and movements of the Defense Forces, their technical support, etc. It is worth noting that for 2024, SSU Head Vasyl Maliuk announced several special operations that will hurt the enemy. In particular, 35 Sea Baby drones are being prepared for a naval battle, for which all Ukrainians have been raising money. The SSU has already shown the first drone from this batch, called Avdiivka. The SSU is also preparing for new top-secret operations. ADVERTISIMENT President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked all the SSU soldiers. The Head of State noted that Ukraine is proud of the SSU's long-range capability and counts on the strength of the SSU special forces at the front. "We rely on the strength of the SSU to protect against enemy operations against the internal unity of Ukraine. And we believe that the effectiveness of the SSU as one of the key elements of our Defense and Security Forces will bring our common victory closer," the President said. The president also thanked the SSU for the constant strength they have shown in combat since the first days of the full-scale war. Zelenskyy emphasized that the Security Service of Ukraine destroys Russia's ability to undermine our lives from within. ADVERTISIMENT "We also appreciate that the Security Service of Ukraine is working to investigate Russian war crimes. When such investigations are effective, justice for Ukraine and Ukrainians becomes closer," the president said. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has congratulated the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) on its professional holiday the 32nd anniversary of its establishment (celebrated annually in Ukraine on 25 March). The president presented state awards to SSU officers who have shown courage and dedication in the fight against the Russians. Source: a statement from the SSU press service Details: Zelenskyy decorated 11 special service officers. One of them, an officer of Special Operations Centre A, was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. Three officers were promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. The Hero of Ukraine award. Photo: Security Service of Ukraine The president expressed his gratitude to the SSU for all their activities, specifically the Special Forces of Special Operations Centre A and military counterintelligence for crushing the Russians on the front lines; counterintelligence for exposing and detaining [Russian] forward observers, collaborators and traitors; investigators for investigating Russian war crimes; and cyber specialists for protecting cyberspace. Vasyl Maliuk, Head of the SSU, noted that there are still many challenges ahead and said his wish for his brothers-in-arms is that they should come back from combat operations alive and unharmed. Vasyl Maliuk. Photo: Security Service of Ukraine Support UP or become our patron! Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has officially signed a law that strengthens the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), according to Ukraine parliament's web-site. This new law, ratified on March 22, is a critical step for Ukraine to receive a substantial $1.5 billion development loan from the World Bank. Read also: Economy Ministry unveils four-year reform plan in exchange for EU's 50B aid program Deputy chairman of the Rada's finance committee, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, expressed optimism about the World Bank's forthcoming meeting on March 26, where a favorable decision on the loan is anticipated. The necessity of this law was underscored by Serhiy Nikolaychuk, the deputy head of Ukraine's National Bank, who stated that the World Bank's decision hinged on its enactment. The law aims to refine the NSSMC's operations by possibly adjusting salaries and clarifying conflict of interest policies, ensuring the commission's robust functioning as a vital state entity. Despite facing initial challenges in the Rada, including three unsuccessful attempts to pass related amendments, persistence paid off on March 21 with the successful modification of conflict of interest terms and employment conditions for the regulator's relatives in the industry. Read also: Foreign bondholders may negotiate restructuring $20 billion of Ukraines debt report This legislative move aligns with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) new Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program for Ukraine, intending to align the country's securities market with international norms. Although the adoption of Law No. 5865 was delayed past its expected date in May 2023, it marks a significant stride in Ukraine's ongoing economic reforms. Earlier, Zelenskyy announced a reduction in the number of ministries to save public funds. Ukraines Cabinet of Ministers needs to be relieved of more than 30 inappropriate powers and functions, Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Oleh Nemchinov, said on March 4. Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron! Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine For decades five and change, to be exact ZZ Top was the self-proclaimed Little Ol Band from Texas, a trio of Lone Star blues and boogie misfits with an M.O. that Billy F. Gibbons, the bands guitar-slinging chieftain, proudly recited during concerts Same three guys, same three chords. Until it wasnt. When Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard ZZ Tops lineup since 1969 returned to the road after a COVID 19-dictated hiatus, all was not well. Hill left the tour following a July 18, 2021, concert in Louisville with what was reported as a hip injury. To stay in motion, the Texas trio went in for a Kentucky tune-up. Enter Hazard native and longtime Lexingtonian Elwood Francis. Actually, Francis was already there, having served as the bands guitar tech for the past 30 years. He knew the workings of the band, knew its music and with a past rooted as much in Bluegrass-brewed punk rock as Texas blues, he knew his way around a stage. Shoot, he even had a beard, a seeming prerequisite for front-line duty in ZZ Top. When Dusty got sick, I was thrown into it, Francis said. But I was just covering for Dusty. For the first couple of gigs, I was so nervous it was ridiculous. I didnt have time to think about it. It was just, Get it done. But it was me helping out, you know? I was like, Sure, man. I can do this. I can help you. And then Dusty passed. And then it was different. ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill died in July 2021. Dusty Hill, legendary ZZ Top bassist, dies at 72. You will be missed greatly Ten days later, Hill died. Suddenly, what was to have been a substitute role in a longstanding band famous for its camaraderie and consistency took an unexpectedly permanent turn. In short, ZZ Tops Texas-meets-Kentucky connection was now cemented. It was really weird, Francis said. It still freaks me out some, because I do think of ZZ Top as those three guys. I mean, this is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band spanning over 50 years. To be the person to come in and be the only personnel change ... and not only that, to be picked to be that guy ... that still blows me away. Lexingtons Elwood Francis, left, has joined Frank Beard (drums) and Billy F. Gibbons as ZZ Top, who will play Rupp Arena on March 28. Francis joined ZZ Top officially after bassist Dusty Hill died. There was no audition or anything. It was, Can you do this? In fact, thats exactly how they put it to me when everything happened. It was, Tell me that you cannot play Dustys parts. I was like, Well, I cant say that. I can probably play them. Then it was, Okay then. Were going to do it. Im like, Oh-kay. I guess we are. And we did. Punked in Lexington Francis moved with his family from Hazard to Lexington when he was 6. Following graduation from Henry Clay High School, he became immersed in the citys fertile punk and post-punk scene, although much of his musical education came from diving into his mothers record collection. In my moms records were Elvis and Bo Diddley. We even listened to Bobby Vinton. We would listen to all of that stuff. But then I got into Frank Zappa at a young age and Im still right there. Im still very huge into Zappa. And the whole punk rock movement, that was good for my age, because it broke when I was 15. I was already playing guitar but I wasnt even thinking about playing in a band, ever, until I heard punk rock. And, yes, among the sounds he absorbed in his youth was ZZ Top, whose early 70s albums (Rio Grande Mud, the breakthrough Tres Hombres and Fandango) defined a Texas trio brand of Southern soaked rock, soul and blues. By the time he and friends from the sound and lighting company Showco attended a ZZ Top performance at Rupp Arena in February 1991, the band was still relishing in a 80s-era renaissance aided by a series of synth-charged singles (Legs, Sharp Dressed Man) and accompanying music videos where the matching chest-length beards of Gibbons and Hill served as some of the most distinctive fashion accessories of the MTV-era. I knew those guys from Showco when I broke into the business, Francis recalled. Not long after that, I was told Billy was looking for a guitar tech. He had had the same guitar tech his entire career, so I was the second guy. When I came in, ZZ Top had already been a band for 17 years and I was replacing the only tech they ever had, so I was freaking out. But Billy just called me up, asked a few questions. Didnt talk about guitars too much. Talked about my accent. He really liked my accent. Talked about Kentucky and said, Well, can you come down here and meet us? I was like, Yeah. Sure. And I went down there (to Houston) three days later and I never really left. It was strange at first because theyre larger than life characters. Absolutely larger than life. And from a guitarist standpoint, my gosh, man, Id go down there, and Billys got the best guitars in the world and some of the craziest custom guitars. It was like, How could you not have a good time? We just clicked, you know? I understood he does things differently than other people, so I just learned his way of doing it and we dont really venture from that. There is a process, but we dont even talk about it at this point. Its non-verbal. We know what we have to do and we do it. Bringing it all back home to Kentucky Now comes the homecoming. Not only will ZZ Tops March 28 Rupp show at Rupp Arena with Lynyrd Skynyrd be Francis first Lexington show since going from backstage tech to onstage bassist, it will serve as the trios first local performance since the 1991 concert its newest member attended as a patron. New Lexington distillery makes Lynyrd Skynyrd whiskey; the band will be there to toast it ZZ Top has played almost every imaginable regional locale over the last decade or so, but it hasnt hit Lexington in over 33 years (Gibbons, however, performed with a side-project band at the Opera House in 2016.) I will be a bundle of nerves, Francis said of the upcoming Rupp outing. But Im still a nervous wreck most of the time. When I stop and think about it, Im like, Man, I cant believe Im doing this. It still hits me. It still feels new. But I still miss Dusty. These hometown gigs are rough. Theyre really rough, but Im excited for my kids. This is probably more exciting for them than it is for me. It will be pretty wild. Lexingtons Elwood Francis, left, has joined Frank Beard (drums) and Billy F. Gibbons as ZZ Top, who will play Rupp Arena on March 28. Francis joined ZZ Top officially after bassist Dusty Hill died. Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top and Black Stone Cherry When: March 28, 8 p.m. Where: Rupp Arena, 430 W. Vine Tickets: $56-$251 through ticketmaster.com. China has introduced guidelines that bar the the use of US processors from AMD and Intel in government computers and servers, The Financial Times has reported. The new rules also block Microsoft Windows and foreign database products in favor of domestic solutions, marking the latest move in a long-running tech trade war between the two countries. Government agencies must now use "safe and reliable" domestic replacements for AMD and Intel chips. The list includes 18 approved processors, including chips from Huawei and the state-backed company Phytium both of which are banned in the US. The new rules introduced in December and quietly implemented recently could have a significant impact on Intel and AMD. China accounted for 27 percent of Intel's $54 billion in sales last year and 15 percent of AMD's revenue of $23 billion, according to the FT. It's not clear how many chips are used in government versus the private sector, however. The moves are China's most aggressive yet to restrict the use of US-built technology. Last year, Beijing prohibited domestic firms from using Micron chips in critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, the US has banned a wide range of Chinese companies ranging from chip manufacturers to aerospace firms. The Biden administration has also blocked US companies like NVIDIA from selling AI and other chips to China. The US, Japan and the Netherlands have dominated the manufacturing of cutting-edge processors, and those nations recently agreed to tighten export controls on lithography machines from ASL, Nikon and Tokyo Electron. However, Chinese companies, including Baidu, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo have already started designing their own semiconductors to prepare for a future wherein they could longer import chips from the US and other countries. The EU has announced investigations into some of the biggest tech firms in the world over uncompetitive practices. Meta, Apple, and Alphabet, which owns Google, are being looked into for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced in 2022. If they are found to have broken the rules, the firms can face huge fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover. EU antitrust boss Margrethe Vestager and industry head Thierry Breton announced the investigations on Monday. Just six companies have obligations under the DMA, but they are also the world's largest tech firms: Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance. None of the firms are actually based in Europe - five of them are in the US, while ByteDance has headquarters in Beijing. Three of them are now facing questions just two weeks after submitting their compliance reports, which will have been meticulously compiled. It comes three weeks after the EU fined Apple 1.8bn (1.5bn) for breaking competition laws over music streaming. Meanwhile, the United States accused Apple of monopolising the smartphone market in a landmark lawsuit against the tech giant introduced last week. An Apple spokesperson says the company will constructively engage with the investigation and that they're confident that their plan complies with the Digital Markets Act. They added that their teams established a variety of mechanisms to comply with the EU's landmark legislation, as well as privacy and security protections for EU users. "Throughout, we've demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to the European Commission and developers, listening and incorporating their feedback," they said. Meanwhile a Meta spokesperson said the firm's use of subscriptions as an alternative to advertising were "a well-established business model across many industries". "We designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA... we will continue to engage constructively with the Commission," they said. Alphabet has been approached for comment. Five investigations The EU said it will investigate five different possible acts of non-compliance in its announcement: 1 & 2 - Whether Apple and Alphabet are not allowing apps to freely communicate with users and make contracts with them 3 - Whether Apple is not giving users enough choice 4 - Whether Meta is unfairly asking people to pay to avoid their data being used for adverts 5 - Whether Google preferences the firm's own goods and services in search results The first two of these investigations concern what is known as "anti-steering" - and the EU says it believes the firms are making it difficult for apps to tell users about ways to pay less for their services outside of using app stores' own payment methods. Under the third point, the EU says that Apple is obliged to allow users to easily uninstall apps on their devices, change default settings and be given "choice screens" to let them use different browsers or search engines. The EU says Apple's web browser "choice screen" does not give people enough choice, and said that some apps, such as Apple Photos, cannot be deleted at all. According to Ms Vestager, the investigation will take around 12 months to complete - though Mr Breton later clarified it could take slightly longer. "We suspect that the suggested solutions put forward by the three companies do not fully comply with the DMA," she said. "We will now investigate the companies' compliance with the DMA, to ensure open and contestable digital markets in Europe." The five cases are consumer-focused, and highly relatable to most people who use products from these companies, which is collectively billions of people worldwide. "We're talking about the protection of our citizens, we can't just sit around and wait," said Thierry Breton, of the EU's decision to act straight away. There is however another reason potentially in mind: European Parliament elections are due to be held in June 2024. Dr Rupprecht Podszun, director of the Institute for Competition Law at Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, called it "a strong signal" from the EU. "The DMA is designed for quick results," he said. "The cases that the Commission has selected go to the heart of the business models; these are not marginal issues for the gatekeepers. "The legal battles will be tense, but we must always bear in mind that the Court of Justice will have the last word." By Max A. Cherney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Nvidia earned its $2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial-intelligence chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from startups to Microsoft, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet. Almost as important to its hardware is the company's nearly 20 years' worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia's CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm, Google and Intel plans to loosen Nvidias chokehold by going after the chip giants secret weapon: the software that keeps developers tied to Nvidia chips. They are part of an expanding group of financiers and companies hacking away at Nvidia's dominance in AI. "We're actually showing developers how you migrate out from an Nvidia platform," Vinesh Sukumar, Qualcomm's head of AI and machine learning, said in an interview with Reuters. Starting with a piece of technology developed by Intel called OneAPI, the UXL Foundation, a consortium of tech companies, plans to build a suite of software and tools that will be able to power multiple types of AI accelerator chips, executives involved with the group told Reuters. The open-source project aims to make computer code run on any machine, regardless of what chip and hardware powers it. "It's about specifically - in the context of machine learning frameworks - how do we create an open ecosystem, and promote productivity and choice in hardware," Google's director and chief technologist of high-performance computing, Bill Magro, told Reuters in an interview. Google is one of the founding members of UXL and helps determine the technical direction of the project, Magro said. UXL's technical steering committee is preparing to nail down technical specifications in the first half of this year. Engineers plan to refine the technical details to a "mature" state by the end of the year, executives said. These executives stressed the need to build a solid foundation to include contributions from multiple companies that can also be deployed on any chip or hardware. Beyond the initial companies involved, UXL will court cloud-computing companies such as Amazon.com and Microsoft's Azure, as well as additional chipmakers. Since its launch in September, UXL has already begun to receive technical contributions from third parties that include foundation members and outsiders keen on using the open-source technology, the executives involved said. Intel's OneAPI is already useable, and the second step is to create a standard programming model of computing designed for AI. UXL plans to put its resources toward addressing the most pressing computing problems dominated by a few chipmakers, such as the latest AI apps and high-performance computing applications. Those early plans feed in to the organization's longer-term goal of winning over a critical mass of developers to its platform. UXL eventually aims to support Nvidia hardware and code, in the long run. When asked about the open source and venture-funded software efforts to break Nvidias AI dominance, Nvidia executive Ian Buck said in a statement: "The world is getting accelerated. New ideas in accelerated computing are coming from all across the ecosystem, and that will help advance AI and the scope of what accelerated computing can achieve." Nvidia shares gained 0.8% to close at $950.02 on Monday. NEARLY 100 STARTUPS The UXL Foundation's plans are one of many efforts to chip away at Nvidia's hold on the software that powers AI. Venture financiers and corporate dollars have poured more than $4 billion into 93 separate efforts, according to custom data compiled by PitchBook at Reuters request. The interest in unseating Nvidia through a potential weakness in software has ramped up in the last year, and startups aiming to poke holes in the company's leadership gobbled up just over $2 billion in 2023 compared with $580 million from a year ago, according to the data from PitchBook. Success in the shadow of Nvidia's group on AI data crunching is an achievement that few of the startups will be able to achieve. Nvidia's CUDA is a compelling piece of software on paper, as it is full-featured and is consistently growing both from Nvidia's contributions and the developer community. "But that's not what really matters," said Jay Goldberg, chief executive of D2D Advisory, a finance and strategy consulting firm. "What matters is the fact that people have been using CUDA for 15 years, they built code around it." (Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San FranciscoEditing by Kenneth Li and Matthew Lewis) After making its mark in the history of space exploration, the Delta IV Heavy is set to launch this week on its 16th and final flight. As United Launch Alliance (ULA) rolls out a Delta IV for the last time, its legacy will live on. This Thursday, the Delta IV Heavy rocket, which had been dubbed by ULA as the most metal of rockets, will deliver NROL-70, a National Reconnaissance Office mission, to space. The mission is planned to lift off from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 1:40 p.m. The current forecast shows only a 30 percent change of weather favorable for the farewell flight. Here's what you need to know about this powerful rocket. When is the next launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, NASA in Florida What was special about the Delta IV Heavy aka "The most metal of rockets"? FLORIDA TODAY spoke with Dave McFarland, who played a key role in the Delta IV program. McFarland recalled his career of watching Delta IV especially Delta IV Heavy lift essential payloads with its great power. McFarland worked with ULA for almost 47 years and played a key part in assisting with the development of Launch Complex 37 for Delta IV. He served as the chief engineer for the Delta program before eventually becoming the chief engineer of ULA, following its creation in 2006. United Launch Alliance's last Delta IV Heavy rocket is raised vertically in December at Launch Complex 37 in preparation of the NROL-70 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. McFarland watched as Delta IV Heavy first took to the skies above the Space Coast two decades ago when it launched on a demo flight in December 2004. It would be a few years later, in late 2007, that the rocket would begin providing essential launch services for important customers. For the past 17 years, this rocket has successfully delivered payloads for the U.S. Air Force, Space Force, and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The rocket has enjoyed a 100 percent success rate. Among its flights were two key NASA missions: one which helped prepare for the return to the Moon while the other visited the Sun. The size and power of the ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket Unlike the regular Delta IV medium, Delta IV Heavy has three Delta IV core stages together. According to the ULA website, each rocket engine produces up to 702,000 lbs. of thrust. With this performance, one can see why ULA dubbed it "the most metal." Where to watch Delta IV Heavy launch The FLORIDA TODAY guide on launch viewing These engines are not small either. Just one engine weighs around 14,876 lbs and is 204 inches (17 feet) in length. Powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the Delta IV Heavy appears to set itself on fire just before liftoff as buoyant hydrogen gas, which is used to cool down the rocket before launch, ignites and burns off. The fiery start may look frightening, yet it's part of the process. Delta IV Heavy rocket payload protected for flight into space The Delta IV Heavy protects its sensitive payloads in payload fairings. Simply put, it's a shield covering the satellite which will protect it from the rough ride into orbit. Friction from the atmosphere, temperature changes, vibrations and g-forces from launch can easily damage hardware. These fairing are situated at the very top or the "point" of the rocket. Underneath, the payload sits secured for transport. This rocket never launched crewed missions only satellites and exploratory spacecrafts. It's successor, the Vulcan Centaur, will be able to launch both crewed missions and payload satellites. Delta IV Medium vs Delta IV Heavy what's the difference Compared to the regular Delta IV Medium, the Delta IV Heavy has 2 additional common booster cores; in simple terms 2 more rockets attached to the main rocket. A Delta IV Medium sits at LC-37, Cape Canaveral, prior to launch. This photo is from the GPS III Magellan mission, which launched on August 22, 2019. This launch marked the 29th and final flight of the Delta IV Medium. ULAs Delta IV Heavy delivered 2 key NASA missions Delta IV transported mostly NRO, US Air Force, and US Space Force payloads, getting them safely to their orbit or destination. However, it has two historic NASA missions to its name. A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL Thursday, June 22, 2023 carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK The Delta IV Heavy rocket is remembered for its transportation of not only the NASA Parker Solar Probe in 2018, but the first orbital test flight of the Orion crew capsule in 2014. It was following the success of this flight that NASAs Orion crew capsule flew on NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, successfully demonstrating an uncrewed mission around the Moon in 2022. ULA assisted in this flight as well, as the organization designed the upper stage of the SLS rocket. The Orion spacecraft is slated to take Artemis II astronauts around the Moon in late 2025. The future of ULA spaceflight Vulcan Centaur, NASAs SLS, Boeings Starliner, and beyond ULA continues to support NASA with its monster SLS rocket, providing development of the rockets upper stage, which stems from the design of the Delta IV. While ULA's Atlas V rocket, which will ferry the first Boeings Starliner missions, nears retirement, ULA continues to focus on its Vulcan Centaur rocket. This rocket will replace both the Delta IV and Atlas V, providing the ability to carry both payload and crewed missions. Introducing the Vulcan: ULA Vulcan rocket launches without delay on history-making maiden flight from Cape Canaveral Atlas V currently has sixteen flights left until retirement. These missions will be a mix of U.S. Space Force payload deliveries and commercial crew flights. Why is Delta IV being retired? Vulcan Centaur, ULAs newest rocket, had a successful test flight in January of 2024. The Vulcan will replace the Delta, and soon the Atlas, family of rockets. The Vulcan Centaur rocket is less expensive and ULA says it will allow for more flexibility in power, giving the option to add on 2, 4, or 6 solid rocket boosters. According to McFarland, ULA is currently testing methods and aiming for reusability in the future, which will lower costs further. What Delta IV Heavy did for the U.S. The missions that Delta IV Heavy carried were not all related to science; many were for navigation and U.S. security. As McFarland recalled the GPS satellites and national security missions the Delta program delivered, he said, Delta has changed the world for the better, and I will always be extremely proud of my small piece (in it). A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL Thursday, June 22, 2023 carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK McFarland referred to the retirement of the Delta rocket family as "bittersweet." We are well on our way of making Vulcan the 'go to vehicle for the foreseeable future, said McFarland. It will be a Vulcan Centaur which will fly Dream Chaser, a cargo spaceplane from Sierra Space, to the ISS. The flight date has yet to be announced, but the FLORIDA TODAY space team will provide updates as they become available. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Delta IV Heavy: ULA's fiery rocket making its final flight (Reuters) - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that bans children aged under 14 from social media platforms and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent, a measure supporters say will protect them from online risks to their mental health. The measure requires social media platforms to terminate the accounts of people under 14 and those of people under 16 who do not have parental consent. It requires them to use a third-party verification system to screen out those who are underage. The state's Republican-led legislature passed a bill in February that would have banned children under 16 from social media entirely. DeSantis, a Republican, vetoed that bill earlier this month, saying it limited parents' rights. The amended version allows for parents to provide consent for older children to engage on social media platforms. It will become law on Jan. 1, 2025. "Social media harms children in a variety of ways," DeSantis said in a statement. He said the legislation "gives parents a greater ability to protect their children." Supporters have said the legislation will stem the harmful effects of social media on the well-being of children who use such platforms excessively and may experience anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses as a result. Critics have said the bill violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections for free speech and that parents, not the government, should make decisions about the online presence of their children of all ages. Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, opposed the legislation, saying it would limit parental discretion and raise data privacy concerns because of the personal information users would have to provide to be age-verified. Meta has said it supports federal legislation for online app stores to secure parental approval for downloads by children. The bill does not name any specific social media platforms, but states that its targets are social media sites that promote "infinite scrolling," display reaction metrics such as likes, feature auto-play videos and have live-streaming and push notifications. It would exempt websites and apps whose main function is email, messaging or texting between a particular sender and recipient. The measure requires social media companies to permanently delete personal information collected from terminated accounts and let parents bring civil lawsuits against those failing to do so. In March 2023 Utah became the first U.S. state to adopt laws regulating children's access to social media, followed by others including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas, according to a legislative analysis prepared for the Florida bill. The analysis said numerous other states were contemplating similar regulations. (This story has been corrected to say that the law will take effect in January 2025, not July 2024, in paragraph 4) (Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington; Editing by Frank McGurty and Nia Williams) According to Rabbit, the first batch of US pre-orders will ship on March 31. But stay patient, as itll take a few weeks for the devices to get to their destinations. The company estimates the first R1 orders will be in customers hands around April 24. The Rabbit R1 generated equal amounts of hype and questions regarding next-gen AI hardware and whether it can deliver on the heady demos and press releases. I will say, though, the R1, co-designed by Teenage Engineering, is a pretty piece of tech. Mat Smith The biggest stories you might have missed Studio Ghibli Fest will bring 14 movies back to theaters this year, so start planning The 4 best air fryers for 2024, tested and reviewed China bans Intel and AMD processors in government computers Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 review You can get these reports delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The odds are fairly low that youll have to worry about it. University security researchers found a chip-level exploit in Apple Silicon-powered Macs. The group says the flaw can bypass the computers encryption and access its security keys. However, hackers would need to circumvent Apples Gatekeeper protections, install a malicious app and let the software run for 10 hours in addition to other complex conditions. As long as you have Apples Gatekeeper turned on (the default), you wont be able to install such malicious apps anyway. Continue reading. Lawmakers have participated in classified briefings about the app. As the Senate considers a bill that would force the sale or ban of TikTok, lawmakers have heard directly from intelligence officials about the apps alleged national security threat. Now, two senators are asking the office of the Director of National Intelligence to declassify and make public what the agency has shared. Continue reading. Posting ass and insect? TMA (REUTERS / Reuters) Instead of a suggestive tease, spam bots in the Instagram universe are now more likely to post a single, inoffensive, completely irrelevant-to-the-subject word, sometimes accompanied by an emoji or two. Thats partially because Instagrams word filters wont catch them, but its simply a numbers game. Cheyenne MacDonald takes a closer look. Continue reading. You are the owner of this article. In recent weeks, Europe has demonstrated progress in supporting Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said. The EU is "ready to act in the face of any attack from the Russians, which is a real change in approach." ADVERTISIMENT The French President made the statements at a press conference in Brussels (Belgium) following a meeting of the European Council. The politician believes that Europe's decisions are "strengthening" and unity is growing. "Things are progressing well, and the progress made in recent weeks has been significant in terms of unity and, above all, in terms of strengthening our position," Ukrinform quoted the president as saying. Macron drew attention to the fact that the text of the European document for the first time does not simply say that Kyiv will be helped "as much as necessary." It officially declares support "as intensive as necessary." "This means that we are ready to act in the face of any attack from the Russians, which is a real change in approach," the politician said. For example, he considers the Czech Republic's initiative to purchase ammunition for the Ukrainian Defense Forces to be an achievement, as well as a common understanding of the need for additional funding for Kyiv. ADVERTISIMENT In this context, Macron noted the contribution of the Netherlands and Germany. "Germany is the country in Europe that provides the most funding bilaterally. We should not point the finger at Germany, on the contrary. We should welcome the efforts that are being made," the French leader said. "If we have to go much further, if we have to go even deeper, if the situation worsens, if funding other than European funding dries up, we must be ready and offer more radical and innovative solutions," he added. As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Emmanuel Macron said that it is inappropriate to hope for an end to Russia's aggression in Donbas and Crimea. Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Tri-Cities will get $16M from latest WA opioid settlement. How will it be spent? If you are sending a Letter To the Editor, please be sure to follow these rules: Letters have a firm 200-word limit and will be edited for grammar, clarity and accuracy. The person who signs the letter must be the author. Anonymous letters will not be considered. Letters must address the editor, not a third party. We will not print form letters, libelous letters, business promotions or personal disputes, poetry, open letters, letters espousing religious views without reference to a current issue, or letters considered in poor taste. Letters reflect the opinion of the writer. The Yakima Herald-Republic cannot verify the accuracy of all statements made in letters. Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month. Russia wants to organize a "mobilization 2.0". Preliminarily, the Kremlin has a plan to add another 300,000 people to its army. ADVERTISIMENT Thus, Russia can use the spring conscripts to free up forces for new offensives in Ukraine. This was warned by the National Resistance Center on its official website. The National Resistance Center explained that the massive recruitment to the enemy army is to replenish the ranks of the formations currently deployed along the Ukrainian border in Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions. In addition, the aggressor will intensify recruitment and partial mobilization in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, thanks to updated data from the pseudo-elections. "The Kremlin's plan is to deploy these units for a new offensive from the east. They intend to deploy reservists and conscripts to positions along the border, who will be immediately agitated to sign a contract... They claim to have a plan to cover up to 300,000 people, while 120,000 were called up for regular conscription," the press service said. ADVERTISIMENT It is likely that the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation will receive the "extra" 180,000 through conscription, work with demobilized conscripts, the use of reservists and "reserve officers," and the recruitment of civilians for contract service. The aggressor state's Ministry of Defense believes that this number is allegedly needed to resume offensive operations in the direction of Kharkiv. And those mobilized to the TOT will be used to staff units concentrated in the Svatove direction. "Are such plans realistic? It is likely that the Kremlin is planning such a bold operation because that is how their generals fight - with an onslaught of manpower... Regardless of whether the Russian army will be able to gather such a large number of manpower, the strengthening and arrangement of new defensive borders on the border with Russia is underway. Citizens in the temporarily occupied territories are threatened with mobilization to the occupation forces, and in addition to men, women doctors may also be subject to mobilization," the Center noted. ADVERTISIMENT Every Ukrainian should understand that the Russians' goal is to capture our country and destroy everything that forms the Ukrainian identity. "We must prepare to defend our homes along the entire length of the Ukrainian border with Russia and Belarus," the agency emphasized. As OBOZ.UA previously reported: - Earlier, agents of the Atesh guerrilla movement acquired important information from the Russian military enlistment office in Krasnoyarsk. The collected data will allow identifying those involved in the war in Ukraine. - On March 1, 2024, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree to call up reservists for military training. ADVERTISIMENT Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! 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. Cel mai mare fan al pandurilor Cristi Torcea este unul dintre cei mai infocati fani ai pandurilor. La fiecare meci e nelipsit din tribuna. Nu vine cu mana goala, ci imbracat din cap pana in picioare cu insemnele pandurilor. Are esarfe de la toate meciurile din Europa League,... [citeste mai departe] Suletea leaga victoriile in Liga 4 IN FORMA Vitis Suletea a legat doua victorii la rand! La numai cateva zile dupa ce a invins-o pe CSO Negresti, scor 2-1, trupa pregatita de Gigel Ghenghea a cules trei puncte si din confruntarea cu Flacara Muntenii de Sus, 2-1 (2-0). Dupa patru etape in care au obtinut un singur punct, au venit, iata, [] Articolul Suletea [citeste mai departe] VILLANOVA, Pa. (March 25, 2024)Kelsey Fenner, an assistant director in Villanova Universitys Center for Research and Fellowships, has been granted a Fulbright International Education Administrators (IEA) Award by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Overseen by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, Fulbright IEA awards offer higher education administrators the opportunity to participate in intensive two-week seminars abroad to learn about global higher education systems. In the process, recipients are empowered to build their institutions capacities for international learning, gain cross-cultural perspectives and open doors to collaboration with colleagues and students throughout the world. "We are immensely proud that Kelsey has been named a Fulbright IEA recipient, said Amanda Grannas, PhD, Vice Provost for Research and Chief Research Officer. Kelseys success further underscores the Universitys mission to foster a culture of academic excellence and global engagement. I want to congratulate Kelsey and eagerly anticipate the contributions she will continue to make on behalf of the Villanova and the Fulbright Program to build connections and engage with a global network of changemakers." Fenner participated in the U.S.-Taiwan International Education Administrators Seminar, which focused on Taiwan's higher education system, society and culture. As part of a select group of American university leaders, Fenner traveled to East Asia to attend a series of briefings, campus visits, cultural activities and meetings with government officials and international education professionals. I am honored to have represented Villanova on the Fulbright IEA in Taiwan, said Fenner. As a strong supporter of global exchange, this seminar was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Taiwan and the opportunities available for Villanovas faculty, staff and students. Fenner serves as the assistant director for national scholarships and fellowships with the Center for Research and Fellowships. She joined the University in 2019 and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Binghamton, a Master of Science from Oxford University, and will soon complete a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Development at Villanova University. She previously worked at Cornell University in career services. As the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program grant, Fenner joins over 400,000 faculty, artists and professionals who have worked to enhance their skills, forge new connections and build greater mutual understanding in more than 135 countries across the world. About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu. In the evening of March 25, explosions occurred during an air raid in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. Air defense forces began combat operations. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported on Telegram by the spokesman for the Ukrainian Volunteer Army "South", the head of the Public Council at the Odesa Regional Military Administration Serhiy Bratchuk, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleh Kiper, and the Southern Defense Forces. They urged local residents to stay in shelters. "Interesting shots of air defense work should not cost you your life," the military said. Odesa region The Ukrainian Air Force reported on Telegram that several groups of enemy attack UAVs are in the Black Sea and moving northwest toward Odesa. ADVERTISIMENT Later, Kiper said that as a result of the Russian attack by the Shaheds in Odesa region, the energy infrastructure was damaged, and there was no electricity supply in part of Odesa. All emergency services are working. Mykolaiv region It is also reported that several groups of enemy attack UAVs were spotted in the south of Mykolaiv region. They are moving to the north. Vitaliy Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, said that air defense forces have landed two drones so far, but others are flying. ADVERTISIMENT As reported by OBOZ.UA: - On March 24, Russia attacked a critical infrastructure facility in Lviv region with Shaheds. A fire broke out there. - The State Border Guard Service and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed footage of the night hunt of the Ukrainian defenders for enemy Shaheds. "Every night, mobile fire groups are on guard over our skies," the military assured. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! Corvinus University of Budapest and The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding for strategic cooperation called Academic and Innovation Matrix (AIM). One of its foci is knowledge sharing on artificial intelligence, open not only to academia but also to startups. The partnership agreement aims to strengthen international research and student exchange and cooperation in science, technology and innovation between the two institutions, contributing to the scientific and technological development of both China and Hungary. The research cooperation and the first year plan were signed by Yam Yeung, head of the Shenzhen Research Institute of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK SZRI); Lajos Szabo, acting rector of Corvinus University of Budapest; Peter Feher, international director, Andrea Ko, Head of the Institute of Data Analytics and Information Systems; and Peter Baranyi, head of the Research Center for Cognitive Infocommunications of the Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies (CIAS) on March 6 in Shenzhen. The Academic and Innovation Matrix (AIM) plan is based on a professional collaboration between Peter Baranyi and Yeung Yam that has been going on for more than two decades. Their joint efforts have facilitated the exchange of Hungarian and Chinese researchers. The establishment of a new school of mathematical control theory, based on tensor multiplication, in which researchers from both countries have participated, has already produced tangible results in the partnership. In recent years, international scientific conferences have been jointly organised in addition to the growing cooperation, including the InnoCenter of the Centrerfor Perceptual and Interactive Intelligence (CPII) at CUHK. "It is with great pleasure that I reflect on the fruitful collaboration that commenced over two decades ago with Professor Baranyi. This partnership has flourished into a successful endeavor between the Chinese University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute and Corvinus University of Budapest that stands as a beacon of academic excellence in Hungary. The cooperation will also serve to support the Belt and Road Initiative through by strengthening of the China-Hungary technological and cultural exchanges, in line with the national strategies of both countries", said Yam Yeung, head of CUHK SZRI. "Corvinus University is honored to have signed a research agreement with one of Asia's top universities, which is ranked 47th in the internationally benchmarked QS World Higher Education Ranking. The institutionalization of this collaboration, which has a rich professional history, will ensure the successful continuation and further development of this inspiring professional partnership. To the best of my knowledge, this agreement is the first Hungarian-Chinese knowledge transfer cooperation that brings together education, research, innovation, and incubation," said Peter Baranyi, research professor at Corvinus University of Budapest, on the occasion of the signing. According to the plans, in addition to the first steps of the Academic and Innovation Matrix between the two universities, in the first year of the strategic agreement, further regular international science and innovation conferences will be held, for example in 2024 at Corvinus University in Budapest and in 2025 in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, on artificial intelligence, and the business and social aspects of digitalization. These professional events will target not only the academic community, but also AI start-ups that are being incubated by the Shenzhen Research Institute of the University of Hong Kong, China. The event also commemorated the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Hungary and China, with diplomats from the research institutes and the Consulate General in Guangzhou. The MOU is part of the Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure development strategy and a complex geopolitical-strategic plan combining political, economic and defense objectives, launched by the Chinese government in 2013 to reach more than 150 countries and international organizations. ******************************************************************************************** You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here! Food couriers working for such platform companies as Wolt and Foodora, are working to set up a trade union, 444 learned. Since the small business flat tax KATA was fundamentally changed 18 months ago, such subcontracted workers are not only worse off financially, they say, but are employed under increasingly bad conditions. They add that working as a subcontractor has disadvantages, as contractors no longer pay for time spent waiting to pick up an order, while the food couriers bear all costs of vehicle maintenance, there is no sick pay, those who drop out are left without income and they can be fired at any time. Furthermore, they say, some platform companies employ cheap foreign labour, mainly Vietnamese and Filipino workers. The couriers want to be able to account 80% of their revenue as expenses, up from the present 40%, and to gain formal employee status if they work more than a certain number of hours in a month. Organisers of the proposed union plan to impose a monthly Ft 2,300 union contribution on future members. ******************************************************************************************** You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here! Prime Minister Viktor Orban attended the inauguration of the refurbished Hagymatikum spa, designed by renowned architect Imre Makovecz (1935-2011), in Mako, in south-eastern Hungary. In his address the prime minister said the renewed and enlarged spa is the most beautiful thermal bath in Hungary and probably in the whole world, adding that by building a new wing to the complex we have somewhat reduced the debt we owe to Makovecz. Referring to the works of the late architect, Orban said we have not been taught that he designed those buildings; we simply recognise them just by looking at them they are not examples for a style: they represent a distinct style themselves. Orban likened the significance of Makovecz to that of Antoni Gaudi, and said what Barcelona was for Gaudi, that was Mako for Makovecz. Concerning contested plans to implement projects left in the design phase by the architect when he died, Orban said Makovecz is still alive, as evidenced today by the completion of this building he had designed, his legacy. Click here to virtually visit Hagyamtikum Spa ******************************************************************************************** You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here! As part of the Planet One initiative supporting the global youth movement for climate justice, Bolygo (Planet), an international community space on Margit korut, focuses on environmental protection. A professional makerspace, podcast studio, and screening room await those with a great idea on the subject. You will find a supportive community full of acceptance and openness, and realise that thinking green is not only a duty and an interest but also a basic human need that must be met to feel good about ourselves. Perhaps what we are most looking forward to in the renewal of Margit korut is not the hip cafes, fashion stores, and galleries, but the initiatives that will help the residents become a more socially active civil community supporting good causes. We're big fans of Habitat for Humanity's long history of addressing housing issues. That's why we were excited to visit their new project in Bolygo. Launched at the end of last year, it focuses on empowering Gen Z to build a green, eco-conscious community through shared goals. The Bolygo Community Space is part of the international Planet One initiative, a collaboration between Greenpeace and the Swedish youth project Fryshuset. In total, six countries participate in the initiative, including Kenya, Cameroon, Armenia, Hungary, South Africa, Sweden, and South Africa, aiming to create a socially active and environmentally committed community of young people. The projects have been developed according to the participating countries' customs and social features. In South Africa, for example, clear project goals are established from the outset. In Hungary, however, the focus is empowering communities to thrive. Bolygo's vision is to foster a vibrant, socially engaged micro-community. Their journey began in 2021 with programs held at Turbina, a downtown community space. The current location on Margit korut is a testament to the organization's dedicated core group, who are actively involved and eager to contribute. And there is no better symbol of this active community than the location, as the former shoe shop has been completely transformed thanks to the work of around 100 volunteers. They rejected the idea of a sterile, generic space. Instead, they envisioned a place infused with the community spirit. Members rolled up their sleeves, painting, varnishing, and taking ownership through hands-on refurbishment. This commitment to authenticity resonates with us deeply. Everyone has put their heart and soul into the work, creating a multifunctional place that focuses on things that matter. There's a fully equipped podcast room and a makerspace, a screening/workshop room with a projector, you can pop in to chill out and read about the environment or just check some emails on your laptop without having to order a coffee. The place is also open to new ideas about environmental protection and education, so feel free to contact them if you need professional help to make it happen. Thanks to the openness and diversity of the site, a wide range of activities have already been organised in the last few months. It's also worth checking out their Facebook page, where board game nights (the next one on March 28th), excursions, and children's activities pop up. The makerspace has buzzed with activity, from birdhouse building and paper marbling workshops to engaging events. In the main hall, film screenings, lectures, and even a Fridays For Future conference have brought the community together. So if you are up for joining a supportive network and unleashing your inner eco-entrepreneur, Bolygo is the place to be in Budapest. It empowers you to make a difference, one green action at a time. Contact details: Bolygo Kozossegi Ter 1027 Budapest, Margit korut 28-32. Website Facebook Photo courtesy: Bolygo ******************************************************************************************** You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page: Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary You can subscribe to our newsletter here: XpatLoop.com/Newsletters Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers? Then just contact us here! One of Hungary's leading event service providers has announced acquiring a stake in Motivation Global Ltd., thereby strengthening the longstanding working relationship between the two companies. The DMC agency, with offices in Budapest, Vienna, and Prague, specializes in organizing conferences, events, and incentive trips. Motivation Global Ltd. will continue to operate as an independent entity, providing high-quality, personalized solutions to both small and large businesses with its experienced team. As emphasized by Zsolt Kassai, CEO of Special Effects Ltd., building partnerships is the company's long-term, deliberate business strategy. "Since the beginning, we have strived to provide exceptional customer experiences," said Zsolt Kassai. "We believe that our - and our partners' - outstanding services can enrich the lives of our clients and enhance their businesses in every aspect." Maria Jabor, Managing Director of Motivation Global Ltd., believes the secret to successful collaboration lies in similar values: "We have been working with Special Effects for nearly two decades. No matter what challenges life has thrown at us, we have always found solutions through professional expertise, dedication, and creativity." Following the acquisition, Motivation Global Ltd. has become a member of the Special Effects Group. The group consists of independently operating businesses covering various areas of the events sector, contributing to unforgettable event experiences by sharing knowledge, experience, and resources. Further information: https://speceffect.com/ https://motivation.hu/ India's automotive sector is going through a major transformation with the the introduction of numerous electric vehicles (EVs). This transformation is driven by a recent government policy that focuses on encouraging eco-friendly mobility solutions. As a result, major players in the auto industry such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, and luxury car manufacturers are gearing up to introduce a range of new electric models to cater to diverse customer segments. Mahindra & Mahindra's EV Plans Nalinikant Golagunta, CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra's Automotive Sector, announced that the company will unveil five new battery electric vehicles starting from January 2025. Golagunta stated, "We expect that 20-30% of our portfolio will be electric by 2027," highlighting the company's strategic focus on electric mobility. Maruti Suzuki's EV Production Targets Rahul Bharti, Executive Officer (Corporate Affairs) at Maruti Suzuki India, emphasized the auto industry's significant investments in EVs. Bharti revealed plans to commence EV production with models boasting a range of 550 kilometers in the fiscal year 2024-25. Maruti Suzuki aims to introduce approximately six EV models over the next 7-8 years, reflecting a strong commitment to electric vehicle technology. Hyundai's Investment in EVs and Infrastructure Tarun Garg, COO of Hyundai Motor India, shared insights into the company's vision for EVs in India. Garg cited industry estimates projecting EVs to contribute around 20% of the Indian automotive market by 2030. Hyundai plans to invest approximately Rs 26,000 crore in Tamil Nadu over the next decade, including the establishment of a battery assembly plant in the state, underlining its long-term commitment to sustainable mobility solutions. Tata Motors' EV Expansion Strategy A spokesperson for Tata Motors outlined the company's ambitious plans to introduce 10 EVs by 2026. Tata Motors is set to launch four new EV models this year, including the Curve EV and Harrier EV, signaling a robust push towards electrification across its product lineup. Luxury Car Manufacturers Joining the EV Bandwagon Even luxury car manufacturers are embracing the electric revolution. A spokesperson from Mercedes India revealed plans to introduce more than 12 new products in 2024, with three of them being EVs. This strategic move underscores the growing importance of electric mobility in all segments of the automotive market. The surge in electric vehicle launches by major auto manufacturers reflects a paradigm shift towards sustainable and eco-friendly transportation solutions in India. New Delhi: The Retirement fund body EPFO added a net 16.02 lakh subscribers in January 2024, according to payroll data released on Sunday. Around 8.08 lakh members were enrolled for the first time in January 2024, a labour ministry statement said on Sunday. The Employees' Provident Fund Organization's (EPFO) provisional payroll highlighted that the EPFO has added 16.02 lakh members on a net basis in January 2024, the ministry said. A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 56.41 per cent of the total new members added in January 2024 indicating the majority of individuals joining the organised workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers. The payroll data highlighted that approximately 12.17 lakh members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection, it stated. (Also Read: Traders Brace For Short 3-Day Trading Week Ahead) Gender-wise analysis of payroll data unveiled that out of 8.08 lakh new members, around 2.05 lakh are new female members. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.03 lakh. The female member addition is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce. Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays growth in the members working in establishments engaged in the industries viz. Financing establishment, Establishment engaged in manufacture & marketing servicing & usage of computers, hospitals etc. Of the total net membership, around 40.71 per cent is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities etc). The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee records is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month. From April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period from September 2017 onwards. (Also read: McDonald's Outlets In Sri Lanka Closed Amid Legal Dispute Over Poor Hygiene) In monthly payroll data, the count of members joining the EPFO for the first time through a validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing members exiting from coverage of EPFO and those who exited but re-joining as members, is taken to arrive at net monthly payroll. Bihar DElEd 2024: The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has unveiled the admit cards for the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) Joint Entrance Test 2024, marking a crucial step for candidates aspiring to undertake the examination. To acquire their Bihar DElEd 2024 exam admit cards, candidates need to navigate to the official BSEB website. The window for downloading these admit cards extends until April 28, 2024. Accessing the admit card necessitates candidates to input their login ID and password into the designated portal. The Bihar DElEd admit card for 2024 serves as an essential document for examination day, and candidates must ensure its possession alongside a valid ID proof. Failure to present the Bihar DElEd admit card 2024 at the examination venue will result in denial of entry into the examination hall. Bihar DElEd 2024: Exam Date Scheduled between March 30 and April 28, 2024, the Bihar DElEd exam will span various test centers across the state, encompassing key locations such as Patna, Bhojpur, Bhagalpur, Saran Chapra, Siwan, Darbhanga, Gaya, Mujjafarpur, and Purnia. The examination will be divided into two shifts; the first shift will take place from 10 AM to 12:30 PM, followed by the second shift from 3 PM to 5:30 PM. Bihar DElEd Admit Card 2024: Steps To Download - Begin by visiting the official BSEB website. - Navigate to the homepage to locate the link designated for downloading the DElEd 2024 admit cards. - Upon reaching the login page, input your application number and date of birth as required. - The admit card will promptly appear on the screen once the necessary details are provided. - Proceed to download the admit card, ensuring to retain a copy for future reference. Candidates are strongly advised to meticulously review all details present on the admit card. Should any discrepancies be identified concerning particulars such as the candidate's name, photograph, signature, roll number, registration number, father's name, mother's name, date of birth, exam center code, exam center name and address, exam timing, and instructions, prompt communication with the relevant authorities is recommended. Such attention to detail is crucial to ensuring a smooth examination process for all candidates participating in the Bihar DElEd 2024 entrance test. New Delhi: In the latest Mandir-Mosque controversy in Madhya Pradeshs Dhar district, renowned archaeologist K K Muhammed asserted on Sunday that the disputed Bhojshala/Kamal Maula Mosque complex originally functioned as a Saraswati temple before being transformed into an Islamic site of worship. Emphasising the importance of respecting the court's verdict and upholding the Places of Worship Act, 1991, he advocated for Hindus and Muslims to come together to resolve differences regarding such locations amicably. He also highlighted the similar issues of Kashi and Mathura, saying that Muslims should also acknowledge the sentiments of Hindus regarding these premises. In compliance with recent orders from the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is conducting a survey of the disputed Bhojshala complex in a tribal-dominated district of Madhya Pradesh. Hindus consider it to be a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while the Muslim community refers to it as the Kamal Maula Mosque. However, a former ASI official, Muhammed, referenced the Places of Worship Act 1991, stating to PTI, "The historical truth concerning Dhar (Bhojshala) is that it was originally a Saraswati temple. It was subsequently converted into an Islamic Mosque. However, according to the Places of Worship Act 1991, the cutoff year is 1947. If it was identified as a temple before 1947, then it remains a temple; conversely, if it was recognized as a mosque, then it retains that status." He added that both parties should adhere to the Act, and the high court will make its decision after considering all pertinent facts. #WATCH | Odisha: Union Minister & BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Sambalpur constituency along with BJP National spokesperson & party's Lok Sabha candidate from Puri constituency, Sambit Patra offer prayers at Shree Jagannath Temple, in Puri. pic.twitter.com/NxelXTNy2G ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 Muhammed, who was a member of the initial excavation group headed by Professor B B Lal in Ayodhya during 1976-77. He had previously said that he was among the first to discover traces of a Ram temple beneath the Babri mosque. The recipient of the Padma Shri award maintained that there is unequivocal evidence indicating that the site was originally a Saraswati temple. He cautioned both factions against taking actions that could potentially lead to widespread complications, reported agency. Mosque-Temple Controversy On March 11, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued an order directing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Bhojshala Temple and Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar district, to be completed within six weeks. The court emphasized the importance of elucidating the true nature and identity of the complex, aiming to resolve the existing confusion surrounding it. This ASI-protected site is viewed by Hindus as a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while Muslims regard it as the site of the Kamal Maula Mosque. As per a 2003 agreement, Hindus perform rituals at the complex on Tuesdays, and Muslims offer prayers on Fridays. New Delhi: A fire incident at the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, resulted in injuries to fourteen priests, including assistants known as sevaks, during the bhasma aarti on Monday. The fire broke out in the temples sanctum sanctorum around 5.50 am, according to Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed deep sorrow over the Mahakal Temple fire incident, emphasizing its distressing nature and extending speedy recovery wishes to the injured. In message on social media platform X, the PM said, "The accident that happened in Mahakal temple of Ujjain is very painful. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the devotees injured in this accident. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in every possible help to the victims." The unfortunate event led to burn injuries among the priests, with some receiving treatment at the local district hospital and eight others seeking medical attention in Indore. A magisterial investigation into the incident has been initiated, with Zila Panchayat CEO Mrinal Meena and Additional Collector Anukool Jain leading the probe. A report is expected within three days. : PM @narendramodi PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 25, 2024 Priest Ashish informed reporters that the fire began after gulal was thrown as part of a Holi ritual, causing the priests to sustain burn injuries and necessitating their immediate transport to the district hospital. Despite the presence of a large crowd, including some VVIPs, in the Nandi Hall in front of the sanctum sanctorum at the time of the incident, no injuries were reported among the devotees. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, in a message on platform X, described the incident as unfortunate and assured that he was maintaining constant communication with the district administration. He further stated that everything was under control. Chemicals In Gulaal May Have Caused Fire Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya while talking to reporters suggested that the fire at the famed Mahakal Temple in Ujjain on Monday morning might have been triggered by chemicals present in 'gulal', a colored powder commonly used in rituals and during the festival of Holi. The fire was reportedly triggered when gulal (a coloured powder used in rituals) fell onto a puja thali containing burning camphor, which subsequently spread across the floor and escalated into a blaze. The entire incident was captured by the temples CCTV cameras. On March 25, Ukrainian air defenders destroyed two Russian ballistic missiles over Kyiv. The occupiers launched them on Monday morning from the territory of Crimea. ADVERTISIMENT The falling debris of the enemy targets caused destruction in the capital and injured residents. Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, reported on the results of the air defense. He noted that the Russian military launched two ballistic missiles at Kyiv from the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula at about 10:30 a.m. "The targets have been destroyed, the type is being identified. I am grateful to the defenders of the sky for their combat work!" emphasized the lieutenant general. Keralas Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday termed the electoral bonds scam as the most significant corruption case India has ever seen. He further claimed that the BJP government at the Centre arrested Delhis Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, as a diversionary tactic from this scandal. During the third rally in a row organized by the CPI(M) against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Vijayan accused the BJP-led Central government and the Sangh Parivar of showing little respect for the countrys rule of law. He suggested that the Sangh Parivar is attempting to seize control of Constitutional institutions and even intimidate the judiciary. According to Vijayan, The Union government, BJP, Sangh Parivar, they all are aware that the Supreme Courts verdict on the electoral bond scam was detrimental to them. They aimed to shift the focus from this issue, and for that, they arrested Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. Vijayan recalled that when the concept of electoral bonds was introduced, the CPI(M) had opposed it, viewing it as a corruption tool, and had taken the matter to the Supreme Court. The electoral bonds scam is the most significant corruption ever witnessed in India. How did they muster the audacity to engage in such overt corruption? They (BJP) believed they would never be held accountable, he added. With Kejriwals arrest, Vijayan believes the Sangh Parivar is attempting to convey that they are above the countrys law and will go to any lengths to execute their agenda. Discussing the anti-CAA protests of 2019 and the subsequent violence and riot in Delhi, Vijayan referred to the inflammatory slogans of Union Minister Anurag Thakur and highlighted that it was the CPI(M) that filed a case against him. Vijayan criticized the Congress for its stance on the CAA. He alleged that while the entire country was protesting against the contentious Act, Congress MPs were attending a feast organized by the party president. During the protests, none of the Congress leaders were present. Rahul Gandhi was abroad. It was the Left leaders who were arrested by the Delhi Police. At that time, we had only one MP, A M Arif from Alappuzha who spoke against the CAA. Now, the Congress leaders are claiming that they had technically opposed the Act, Vijayan said. Vijayan accused the Sangh Parivar of instigating violence against the anti-CAA protesters in Delhi, with the BJP government at the Centre silently permitting the rioters. Around 53 people were killed, many went missing, over hundreds were injured in the riots. The houses, shops, establishments of numerous Muslims were attacked in the violence orchestrated by the Sangh Parivar, he said. Vijayan asserted that the CAA was an RSS agenda being implemented by the BJP government. The Left party is organizing massive anti-CAA rallies at five locations in the state. The first rally took place in Kozhikode on March 22, followed by one in Kasaragod district on Saturday. Two more rallies are scheduled in the coming days in Malappuram and Kollam. The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently received the Presidents assent. However, it sparked protests in several parts of the country, with many opposition parties speaking out against the law, labeling it discriminatory. The CAA aims to expedite citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The Bharatiya Janata Party has so far announced names of 398 candidates and the party has replaced 94 sitting MPs. This means the party has fielded 94 fresh faces in the Lok Sabha Elections so far. Many prominent leaders including Union Ministers were denied a ticket this time including General (Retd) VK Singh and Ashwini Kumar Choubey. While the BJP's Central Election Committee includes JP Nadda, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh among other leaders, takes a final call about the candidate list, the list this time has a glimpse of PM Narendra Modi's warning. While some MPs have been replaced to mitigate anti-incumbency, some have been denied tickets for their off-the-cuff remarks. PM Modi's Message To MPs Ahead of the elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met BJP MPs at least two times within the last year. During both meetings, Prime Minister Modi urged the MPs to create awareness among the public about the central government schemes. Besides this, PM Modi also warned the MPs to stay away from controversial statements and not to make remarks that put the party in a tight spot. Repercussion On BJP Candidate List Despite Prime Minister Modi's warning, several BJP MPs continued to rake up controversies. PM Modi was reportedly keeping a tab on all these leaders and continued to take feedback about the leaders. Now, the BJP has so far denied tickets to at least four MPs who did not pay heed to PM Modi's advice. The list includes Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha MP Anantkumar Hegde, firebrand woman leader and MP Pragya Singh Thakur from Bhopal, South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri and West Delhi Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma. Clear Message To Incumbent, Future MPs The denial of tickets to controversial Parliamentarians sends a clear message to incumbent BJP MPs and to those also who will get elected after the 2024 Polls. The message is clear - Don't Make Controversial Statements and Focus On Developmental Works. This will also send a message to the voters that the party is not siding with the leaders who make controversial statements. The Election Commission of India has announced the Lok Sabha Election dates and the voting will be held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. New Delhi: Veteran Actor and BJP MP Hema Malini on Monday celebrated Holi with party workers in Vrindavan. Smeared in colours, Malini interacted with the media and sang an iconic song 'Holi Ke Din' from her legendary film 'Shole'. Celebrating the festival of colours, Mathura MP took a chance to take a dig at opposition parties and asked the opposition to join the hand in nation-building instead of criticising the Modi government. The actor-turned-politician Hema Malini expressed her confidence in the prospects of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 and said that the ruling coalition will secure victory on over 400 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections. "Our party has given this slogan (400 paar), and we will fulfil this. We will see to it that happens - not only 400 but beyond that. Because of the work that our party has done, the BJP team has done under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi," she said. "Instead of criticising, I wish even the Opposition join hands and play Holi happily and be a part of nation-building," the BJP leader added. #WATCH | Hema Malini says, "Our party has given this slogan (400 paar), we will fulfill this. We will see to it that happens - not only 400 but beyond that. Because of the work that our party has done, BJP team has done under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi, what all has https://t.co/tOeJA5Gmqw pic.twitter.com/91l1CJzpNW ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 Hema Malini has been renominated for the Mathura constituency for the 2024 Polls which are scheduled to be held in seven phases, with the first phase to commence on April 19. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4. Mathura will poll in the second phase of the general elections on April 26. New Delhi: The Left party achieved a landslide victory in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) Election, securing victory in all four positions. The election took place on Friday, March 22nd, this year, marking the return of a students' union to JNU after a hiatus of four years. Dhananjay, representing the Left, emerged as the President, surpassing Umesh Chandra Ajmeera from the ABVP. With 2598 votes. Dhananjay, a PhD student hailing from Gaya, Bihar, is enrolled in the School of Arts and Aesthetics. He holds the distinction of being the first Dalit to assume the position of JNUSU president since Batti Lal Bairwa's victory in 1996. "For the post of President, the names of the candidates are Dhananjay (left) with 2598 votes, Umesh Chandra Ajmeera (ABVP) with 1676 votes... I declare Dhananjay (left) elected," JNU Election Committee Chairperson Shailendra Kumar said. Avijit Ghosh, also representing the Left, secured victory in the Vice President's position with 2409 votes, surpassing Deepika Sharma from the ABVP. Newly elected JNU President Dhananjay expressed to ANI, "If there is anyone who has fought against the fee hike, it is the Left. It is the Left that has ensured a hostel for all, and for that, the students have shown their trust in us." Meanwhile, Ghosh, the newly elected Vice President, told agency, "JNUSU's elections are historic; they are being held after four years. JNUSU has always fought for the rights of the students." Priyanshi Arya, backed by the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students Association (BAPSA), was elected as the general secretary after receiving 2887 votes. Mo Sajid from the Left secured victory in the Joint Secretary's role with 2574 votes. For the General Secretary position, Priyanshi Arya (BAPSA, Left Supported) was elected. The previous JNUSU election saw victory for a left-leaning student organisation, SFI's candidate, Aishe Ghosh, in 2019. During the 2019 elections, left-leaning student groups formed a coalition known as the United-Left Alliance, comprising the All India Students' Association (AISA), the Student Federation of India (SFI), the Democratic Students' Federation (DSF), and the All India Students' Federation (AISF). New Delhi: Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranawat is all set to embark on a new journey as a politician. Ranawat is set to contest from her 'Janmabhoomi' Mandi parliamentary constituency on BJP ticket in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. Kangana interacted for the first time with the media after the BJP declared her for the Mandi constituency on Sunday and conveyed her greeting to the citizens for the Holi celebration and thanked PM Modi, and JP Nadda for choosing her to be the party's candidate From Mandi. Speaking to ANI, Kangana expressed heartfelt gratitude to PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP Chief JP Nadda for giving her a chance to contest her 'Janmabhoomi', she called it an emotional movement for her family too. "I extend greetings to everyone on Holi. This is my 'janmabhoomi' and it has called me back, I am fortunate...If they choose me, I will serve them. I am overwhelmed, this is an emotional day for my family and me. I express heartfelt gratitude to BJP chief JP Nadda...," she said. Praising the BJP, Kangana said that the BJP's culture is to work with cooperation and believe in the same and she will follow the same. #WATCH | Himachal Pradesh | BJP's candidate from Mandi for Lok Sabha elections and actor, Kangana Ranaut says, "I extend greetings to everyone on #Holi. This is my 'janmabhoomi' and it has called me back, I am fortunate...If they choose me, I will serve them. I am overwhelmed, pic.twitter.com/rqdOTqi98C ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2024 Himachal Pradesh Congress Chief, Pratibha Singh, expressed skepticism regarding Kangana Ranaut's political candidacy in Mandi citing her sudden entry into politics. "We are happy that she too has received an opportunity. But she is a celebrity. What role she plays with her sudden entry into politics will have to be seen," Pratibha Singh said. Meanwhile, the announcement was made on Sunday when BJP released the fifth list of candidates in which they have revealed the names of 111 candidates and their constituency to contest in the General Election. The list includes many new faces like Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut from Himachal Pradesh Mandi constituency and famous television actor Arun Govil from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut constituency. New Delhi: Kangana Ranaut slammed Congress leader Supriya Shrinate after the latter posted an image of the BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi with a caption that sparked controversy. Supriya Shrinate posted an image of Ranuat on her Instagram with the caption "Kya Bhav Chal Raha Hai Mandi Me Koi Batayega?" which roughly translates to 'What's the market price.' Though the post was taken down by Shrinate after an uproar, the damage was done. Mandi is the Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh however the word Mandi is also used to describe a place where some particular items are sold like vegetables, it's Sabzi Mand. Sometimes, the phrase is allegedly used as a slang to describe the place where people pay prostitutes for their services. Therefore, the Congress leader's Instagram post consisting Ranaut's photo using the same slang after the latter's candidature from the Mandi seat on BJP ticket, sparked a controversy. Kangana clapped back at Srinate asking her to rise above the curiosity of the body and not to use the challenging circumstances of sex workers in a slur. Underlining her work in cinema where she played roles ranging from a warrior to a prostitute, Kangana said every woman deserves dignity. "Dear Supriya ji In the last 20 years of my career as an artist I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii," wrote Kangana on X. Dear Supriya ji In the last 20 years of my career as an artist I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii. pic.twitter.com/GJbhJTQAzW Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) March 25, 2024 "We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudices, we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts and above all we must refrain from using sex workers' challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur every woman deserves her dignity," she stated. Kangana Ranaut was nominated as BJP's candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat on Sunday for the 2024 general elections. Meanwhile, Supriya Shrinate has released a video and said that several people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts and one of those people made the objectionable and she is trying to find out the person behind the objectionable post. "Many people have access to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. One of these people had posted a very disgusting and objectionable post today. As soon as I came to know about this, I removed that post. Anyone who knows me knows very well that I don't make personal remarks about any woman," wrote Shrinate On X. . . . , pic.twitter.com/CFDNXuxmo2 Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) March 25, 2024 Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to commence on Aril 19 and will be held in seven phases across the country and vote counting is scheduled for June 4. Polling in Himachal Pradesh will take place in a single phase on June 1. Ujjain: Fourteen priests, including 'sevaks' (assistants), were injured in a fire that broke out in the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on Monday during 'bhasma aarti', an official said. The blaze took place in the 'garbha griha' (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple at 5:50am, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh said. "Fourteen priests suffered burn injuries. Some are being treated in the district hospital here, while eight have sought treatment in Indore. A magisterial probe has been ordered. It will be conducted by Zila Panchayat CEO Mrinal Meena and Additional Collector Anukool Jain and a report will be submitted in three days," he said. "The fire started as 'gulal' (coloured powder used during rituals) fell on the puja thali that contained burning 'kapoor' (camphor). It later spread on the floor and turned into a blaze," he said. In a post on social media platform X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "The incident that happened in Mahakal temple of Ujjain is very painful. I wish for the speedy recovery of all the devotees injured in this incident. The local administration is engaged in every possible help to the victims under the supervision of the state government." Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said clothes are put on the silver walls of the garbha griha to protect it from Holi colours, and it is not known whether the fire started after the 'aarti thali' fell when 'gulaal' was thrown on it or whether the 'gulal' reacted to some chemical. Yadav, speaking to reporters after arriving in Ujjain, said the injured will be given assistance of Rs 1 lakh each as well as the best available treatment for free. The administration will take all efforts to ensure such an incident does not take place again, the CM added. "Our first priority is to provide best treatment to the injured. There is no casualty by the grace of Mahakal. Doctors are facing a problem in finding burn injuries due to (Holi) colour on the skin," Yadav said. The incident has been captured by CCTV cameras installed in the temple, an official said. "The fire started after gulal was thrown as part of a ritual on the occasion of Holi. It caused burn injuries to priests, who were rushed to the district hospital," priest Ashish told reporters. A large number of people, including some VVIPs, were present during the incident in the Nandi Hall in front of the sanctum sanctorum, but no injuries were reported among the devotees, officials said. Meanwhile Dr Vinod Bhandari, president of Indore-based Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS), told PTI eight of the injured have been admitted at his facility. "The eight persons have suffered 35 to 40 percent burn injuries, and the condition of one of them is serious," he said. State Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya reached SAIMS and inquired about the condition of the injured persons. In a post on X, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said he had spoken to the MP CM over the incident and said the local administration was ensuring all relief to the injured. AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi lashed out at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his 'indigenous' remark on migrant Muslims. Owaisi criticised Sharma on Monday, stating that he is no one to demand constant proof of loyalty from Muslims. Reacting to Sarma's remark, Owaisi said, "Bengali-speaking Muslims are already indigenous to India. He is no one to demand constant proof of loyalty. This is just a naked show of bigotry & racism." Himanta Sarma's Remark Chief Minister Himanta Sarma stated that his government does not object to anyone calling themself 'indigenous as long as they adhere to prohibit child marriage, do not engage in polygamy and encourage their children to pursue higher education. "We don't have an issue with anyone calling themselves as indigenous- provided they prohibit child marriage, do not engage in polygamy, encourage their children to pursue higher education, etc.- parameters which are an intrinsic part of the larger Assamese society," Sarma wrote on X. While addressing the people, Himanta said on camera that people should not allow girls aged 11-12 to get married and should enrol their children to be a doctor or engineer, and not into a madrasa. In providing an example, the Assam CM highlighted that people from diverse religions in Assam, including Hindus, Muslims, Assamese Hindus, and Assamese Muslims always respect Sankaradeva regardless of their ideology. Assam CM Sarma and Owaisi's face-off came amid the heated debate in the nation over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the possible implementaiton of the NRC and NPR. New Delhi: McDonald's outlets in Sri Lanka closed on Sunday. This action occurred as the international fast-food chain initiated a legal battle with its local franchise holder due to allegations of poor hygiene, as reported by the news agency AFP, citing court officials. The Commercial High Court of Colombo instructed the closures to continue until April 4. This was followed by the allegations from the parent company that the local franchisee did not adhere to international hygiene standards. (Also Read: Stock Market Holiday: NSE, BSE To Remain Closed Today For Holi) "The closure was ordered pending an investigation," stated a court official according to AFP. Moreover, he mentioned that lawyers representing McDonald's informed the court about the termination of a franchise agreement with the local company Abans the previous week. The hearing is set to recommence in early April. (Also Read: Public Sector Banks May Exceed Rs 15,000 Crore In Dividend Payout For FY24) McDonald's and Abans have not provided immediate comments regarding the closure of the outlets. Abans has been holding the franchise for 12 outlets since McDonald's entered Sri Lanka in 1998. Notices displayed outside McDonald's outlets on Sunday confirmed their closure, with no indication of when they might reopen. Interestingly, while a technology issue affected ordering at stores across much of East Asia last week, Sri Lanka's McDonald's outlets remained unaffected. New Delhi: Misinformation and disinformation spread through artificial intelligence (AI)-generated deepfakes and fake content are the biggest threats to the upcoming elections in India," exposure management company Tenable said on Sunday. According to the company, these threats will be shared across social media and messaging platforms like WhatsApp, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. "The biggest threats to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are misinformation and disinformation as part of influence operations conducted by malicious actors against the electorate," said Satnam Narang, Senior Staff Research Engineer at Tenable, to IANS. A recent report by Tidal Cyber highlighted that this year, 10 countries will face the highest levels of election cyber interference threats, including India. Recently, deepfake videos of former US President Bill Clinton and current President Joe Biden were fabricated and circulated to confuse citizens during the upcoming presidential elections. (Also Read: Woman Falls Victim To Investment Scam, Loses Jewelry And Over Rs 24 Lakh) Experts note that the proliferation of deepfake content surged in late 2017, with over 7,900 videos online. By early 2019, this number nearly doubled to 14,678, and the trend continues to escalate. "With the increase in generative AI tools and their use growing worldwide, we may see deepfakes, be it in images or video content, impersonating notable candidates seeking to retain their seats or those hoping to unseat incumbents in parliament," Narang added. The Indian government has recently issued directives to social media platforms such as X and Meta (formerly Facebook), urging them to regulate the proliferation of AI-generated deepfake content. Additionally, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) has issued an advisory to these platforms to remove AI-generated deepfakes from their platforms. (Also Read: WhatsApp Allows To Pin Multiple Messages In Chat; Here's How to Pin Messages on Android, iOS, And Desktop) Tenable suggests that the easiest way to identify a deepfake image is to look for nonsensical text or language that looks almost alien-like in language. The Czech Republic has decided to expel Ukrainian citizen Oleksandr Barabanov, who has been actively spreading Russian propaganda over the past 10 years. Moreover, he considers himself a Russian. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by the Czech media outlet Denik N. Alexander Barabanov, who moved to the Czech Republic with his parents more than 20 years ago, had his permanent residence permit revoked and was ordered to leave the country. According to the publication, since the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea in 2014, this "public figure" has been actively spreading "the most famous Kremlin disinformation in the Czech Republic that Russians in Ukraine are being persecuted by fascists" and that "since 2000, 'fascists and Nazis' have been training in Ukraine, who then seized power in the country." Barabanov himself considers himself a Russian. In a commentary to the media, he confirmed that his residence permit in the Czech Republic had been revoked and said he did not know where he would have to go. The "public figure" said he feared deportation to Ukraine, as he could be "detained at the border and forced to go to the front." ADVERTISIMENT As a reminder, Russians organized a celebration of their "Maslenitsa" in the center of New York to familiarize foreigners with their "culture." However, representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora interrupted their fun and showed the true face of Russia. As reported by OBOZ.UA, the other day in Russia, the so-called Putin's units organized an epic Maslenitsa celebration. Elderly supporters of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin burned an effigy of US President Joe Biden, calling him "the world's main vampire." Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! French President Emmanuel Macron has said that the ISIL terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the March 22 attack in Moscow also planned several attacks in France. The ISIL-K terrorist group has been planning to commit them for the past few months. ADVERTISIMENT This was reported by LeParisen and Reuters. According to Macron, French intelligence services confirmed that it was an ISIL unit. "The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for this attack, and the information we have, our (intelligence) services, as well as our main partners, indicates that it was indeed an Islamic State unit that provoked this attack," Macron said. Due to the events in Moscow, France will raise the terrorist threat level in the country to the maximum. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed that the ISIL-Khorasan group had attempted to organize several attacks in France and Germany, particularly at the end of 2022, but had failed. Macron also expressed his condolences over the tragedy in Moscow and promised to strengthen cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism. He also said that it would be "cynical and counterproductive" for Russia to blame Ukraine for the attack. ADVERTISIMENT "I think it would be cynical and counterproductive for Russia itself and the safety of its citizens to use this context to try to turn it against Ukraine," he added. As a reminder, on the evening of March 22, unidentified persons opened fire at the Crocus Concert Hall in the Moscow region, and then set the building on fire. As of 12:00 on March 23, the Russian Federation reported at least 150 dead and a significant number of injured, some of whom were hospitalized in serious condition. As reported by OBOZ.UA: One of the suspects in the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, Fariddun Shamsutdin, visited the building on March 7 and accidentally got into the lens of a concert hall photographer. He was attending one of the performances at the Crocus. The suspects in the Crocus City Hall attack were detained on the Russian border with Belarus. ADVERTISIMENT The MID said that Putin's words do not stand up to any criticism and indicate that Russian special services did not try to interfere with the organization of the terrorist attack or even may have contributed to it. Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes! The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has marked a significant milestone in the development of the Sharaan Resort in AlUla, the ancient city of northwest Saudi Arabia, with the inaugural rock excavation, kickstarting the much-anticipated project. The excavation, that has heralded a mission combining Jean Nouvels architectural innovation with Bouygues' engineering expertise, is an important step forward in AlUla's evolution into a premier destination for sustainable luxury tourism, a statement said. Nestled within the ancient geological treasures of the Sharaan Nature Reserve, the resort will offer 38 custom suites carved into sandstone mountains, comprehensive wellness facilities, family-friendly amenities, diverse dining options, and unique panoramic views. RCU and its contractor partners have agreed to adopt construction techniques that will follow the ancient Nabataean practice of creating spaces within rock, and then apply modern engineering methods to create habitable spaces that are more aligned to modern-day expectations. Part of the projects uniqueness lies in having excavated areas one on top of the other. Aligned with Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 and the AlUla Sustainability Charter, the project represents RCUs dedication to pioneering sustainable development practices, a statement said. Ben Hudson, Chief Development and Construction Officer at RCU, said: "The Sharaan Resort is our most ambitious project yet. This initial excavation is tangible evidence of our continued efforts to develop AlUla into a premier destination that harmonises luxury tourism with the preservation of unique cultural and natural heritage. Our work is fully guided by RCUs environmental, social and health impact processes, and we are ensuring that all stakeholders appreciate the special location we are working in. GThe Sharaan Resort stands as a flagship project in line with RCU goal of achieving 5,000 hotel rooms by 2030 and 8,500 rooms by 2035 that exemplify the blend of luxury and sustainability. TradeArabia News Service Wars are, foremost, a human drama. Thousands of people see the tragedy of each conflict firsthand. But with a broader focus, it is possible to assess the wider impact of war. What happens to the trees, to the animals, to the ecosystem? A study has analyzed the situation in Syria, which has been in the grips of a bloody civil war since 2011. It found that the country has lost around 20% of its forests in a decade (from 2010 to 2019). On the one hand, artillery explosions spark forest fires that are difficult to put out due to the lack of resources and, on the other, internal refugees and the impoverished population use trees as a source of fuel, which in the long run may drive the desertification of the Mediterranean country. The effect of wars is not limited to the suffering of people, but also extends to nature and all living beings, explains Angham Daiyoub, a 30-year-old Syrian who in 2018 traveled to Catalonia to start a masters degree in forest management at the University of Lleida. She knows the suffering of the Syrian people first-hand: she lived through the conflict for several years, and her family continues to reside in Syria. Now in Spain, she set out to study how weapons and bombs have affected Syrias environment. A fire in 2017 in the forests of Latakia, next to the Turkish border. Anadolu (Getty Images) Her research led to War and Deforestation: Using Remote Sensing and Machine Learning to Identify the War-Induced Deforestation in Syria 20102019, a study published in the scientific journal Land, which is focused on land systems and management. The work is based on the study of Landsat and PALSAR satellite images with 30 meters of definition, which made it possible to differentiate between forested and non-forested areas. We chose images from 2010, before the war started, from 2015 and 2019, says Daiyoub, who is now a researcher at the Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (Creaf) in Barcelona. Deforestation was analyzed using machine learning techniques based on models from previous years and the annual mapping of these areas. In conflict areas such as Syria, where field-based methods are challenging due to war conditions, remote sensing by satellite images is an appropriate instrument for analyzing the impact of the conflict on the landscape, the study states. A forest in northwest Syria, in an image provided by researcher Angham Daiyoub. The research shows that between 2011, when the war in Syria began, and 2019, the conflict devastated 19.3% of the countrys forest cover, which represents 63,700 hectares of its territory an area equivalent to the city of Madrid. The loss of forest cover has continued over time, with the damage concentrated in the coastal-mountain range of the northeast and around the capital, Damascus, which is located in the south. The highest rate of deforestation was observed between 2010 and 2015, when total forest cover fell by 11.5% (or 38,000 hectares). During the 2015-2018 period, a more gradual but constant decrease was also observed, with forest cover declining by 7.8%. A Syrian man lights a fire in a refugee camp in the Idlib area, in 2021. Anadolu (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Daiyoub explains that the loss of forest cover is due to the war. First of all, bombings and missiles spark fires in the forests that are difficult to put out, because there are no means to do so. Secondly, 90% of the population lives below the poverty line, and there are many internal refugees with very few resources, without access to gas or electricity, so they cut down the trees to cook, to warm themselves, and to sell the wood, she says by phone. This unsustainable way of managing the forest means that the area cannot bounce back and becomes degraded. Erosion and storms The study highlights that the proximity of forested areas to roads, refugee camps and urban settlements has been one of the key drivers of deforestation. Forests are fundamental for the ecosystem, for people, to combat water and air pollution. If they are cut down, all that is lost. But whats more, many forested areas in Syria are in the mountains, and if they are left without trees, this can cause erosion when there are storms, changing the microclimate of the area and driving desertification and aridity, says the researcher. The part where there are the most forests is the Mediterranean, where there are all types of plants and animals, which are also affected by this situation, she continues. Angham Daiyoub, in an image provided by the Syrian researcher. The research points out that in the decade before the war, Syria recorded positive annual rates of forest growth, according to the Syrian Monitoring of Agricultural Resources. In this period, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported an increase of 119,000 hectares of forest cover in the country, a rise that was largely attributed to government forest recovery campaigns. Daiyoub says that the conclusions of the study can be extrapolated to other conflicts. It is estimated that two million hectares of forest were lost in the Vietnam War, around 20% of the forest mass in the south of the country. And in Ukraine it is also affecting protected areas, displacing animals, burning forests and degrading the soil, she says. The researcher recalls that the Geneva Convention talks about protecting nature during conflicts and calls for sanctions on armed groups or countries that fail to comply with environmental laws during wars. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The biography of Sergio Lopez-Rivera has many and varied roots. Born in the Andalusia region of southern Spain and raised from the age of three in Cantabria, in the north, he moved to the United States to study as soon as soon as he was old enough. And he has stayed in that country ever since. Although his life is becoming more and more nomadic because of one woman: actress Viola Davis. Television allowed him to develop his childhood vocation to become a makeup artist. He did it with such opposite characters as different as Felicity and Larry David, until the all-powerful producer Shonda Rhimes signed him to her company, Shondaland. Lopez-Rivera worked on several projects at the Rhimes factory: Greys Anatomy, its spinoff Private Practice, and Scandal, Until I joined the series How to Get Away with Murder and I met Viola in person, he recalls. The meeting with EL PAIS took place in the middle of last February, while shooting the Prime Video film G20, on location in Cape Town. The makeup artist has followed Viola Davis literally to the ends of the Earth, as he has done now to the South African city. Before finding himself on the set of this series, Lopez-Rivera was already hypnotized by the actress. The first time I saw her on a screen was in Doubt and I became a fan of hers instantly. I thought, who is this woman who is stealing parts from Meryl Streep? The mutual love-in between the two was immediate, to the point of leaving Shonda Rhimes to become Daviss go-to makeup artist. Since then they have traveled together, with him as her constant companion on film shoots, and using makeup to help the American build her characters with or to show off on the red carpets. Assisting Davis in her portrayal of Ma Rainey, an American musical legend, earned Lopez-Rivera an Oscar in 2021, in the category of Best Makeup and Hairstyling, for the biopic Ma Raineys Black Bottom. Sergio Lopez-Rivera applying makeup on actress Viola Davis for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' (2020), in an image provided by the makeup artist. He still remembers the moment he found out he was going to work with Viola Davis. I was already hired for the series, but we didnt have a lead. They were thinking of actresses like Jennifer Connelly or Diane Lane. When I found out it was Viola, I loved the idea. It was a completely different series than if another woman had played it. In fact, many of her characters conflicts were proposed by Viola herself, the Spaniard recalls. From left to right, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson, and Sergio Lopez-Rivera with their Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling for 'The Mother of the Blues', at the 2021 awards. Handout (A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images) How to Get Away with Murder was first aired in 2014 and ran for six seasons, and in addition to being a ratings success, it helped Davis build her image as a pioneer in the Hollywood industry. Annalise Keating, her character, was a 49-year-old dark-skinned African-American woman, who was both sexy and dangerous, the actress celebrated at the time. Lopez-Rivera was involved in the series most iconic scene, which occurred in the first season. It showed something practically taboo on screen: a black womans relationship with her hair. Daviss character, so ferocious outwardly, would come home and take off her wig and remove her makeup in the mirror to face her husband. The director of the episode, Laura Innes [who was one of the actresses in ER], told me how we could simulate removing makeup without having to appear on screen without makeup. I told him that Viola doesnt have the vanity of the Hollywood star that she really is and that she kick up a fuss. So it was. She was beautiful. He took off his wig like no one else, as if it were a superheros helmet, he says with admiration. I have been in this business for almost 35 years and I assure you that no Hollywood star would have allowed me to do the things I have done with her. Only one Spanish actress has such a level of commitment to her profession that she goes beyond her image, and that is Aitana Sanchez-Gijon. They both belong to the same category of actress, argues Lopez-Rivera. He has also helped Davis become the former American first lady Michelle Obama in another of her television projects. Being a makeup artist in Hollywood doesnt only involve issues related to beauty or vanity. Another of Davis milestones is starring in action films at the age of 50. Already in South Africa she filmed one of her latest projects, The Woman King. It is a historical epic inspired by real events that happened in the Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states in Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. In action scenes, wounds, and bruises dont have to look aesthetic, they have to look real, says Lopez-Rivera. In these types of films, the female character generally starts with glowing makeup and well, it gradually fades as the plot progresses. In genres such as drama, thriller, or action makeup is really important, because it gradually reflects the suffering that the characters face. I call it emotional makeup, because it also helps the actors get into the role. Sergio Lopez-Rivera applying make up to Viola Davis in her role as Michelle Obama. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The American suburb, a blend of urban and rural, is home to half of the U.S. population. It embodies aspirations and contradictions, shaping values and images. A new exhibition at Barcelonas Center for Contemporary Culture (CCCB) delves into the history and cultural impact of middle-class suburbs from the late 19th century to the present. This exhibition, running until September, traces the evolution of suburbs and their cultural contributions since their inception. Titled Suburbia after Bill Owens photojournalism book (1973) on the subject, the exhibition captures the complex reality of the American dream, with all its shades and complexities. Curated by journalist Philipp Engel and directed by Jordi Costa, Suburbia offers profound insights into gender and race dynamics. The exhibition explores the development of suburbs, starting with rail transportation enabling the creation of the first suburb for the upper class Brooklyn! Suburban expansion continued with the extension of tramlines, and peaked in the 1950s with widespread car ownership and post-World War II families seeking more space. From a bourgeois utopia to housing democratization via prefabricated homes, this illustrated history of the American suburbs also sheds light on challenges faced by women as homemakers, and fears of social unrest that led to heavily armed households. The Disturbia part of the exhibition spotlights the anxiety of suburban life, while the Color of Paradise section looks at the struggles faced by non-white families moving into the suburbs. Photos of 'McMansions,' oversized homes in the American suburbs, at the CCCB 'Suburbia' exhibition in Barcelona. Gianluca Battista The McMansion Hell section of the exhibition illustrates the excesses of wealthy homeowners who built extravagant, oversized homes lacking in moderation and harmony. These homes, costing millions and ranging up to 16,000 square feet, are often built without professional input, resulting in kitchens resembling TV sets and living rooms that look more like hotel lobbies. Journalist and architecture critic Kate Wagner coined the term, and vividly describes these opulent dwellings on her McMansion Hell website. The Suburbia exhibit ends with photos of deserted malls, gutted by the rise of online shopping giants like Amazon. Benjamin Grants aerial photos show the vast suburban sprawl, including the mega-churches that now dot the landscape. 'Suburbia' curator Philip Engel with an illustration by Norman Rockwell showing the arrival of Black Americans in the suburbs. Marta Perez (EFE) The exhibition features a wide array of items, ranging from 19th-century paintings to modern sculptures depicting the collapse of the suburban living model. It includes paintings by Sevillian artist Alberto Ortega capturing suburban night scenes in oil. The collection showcases TV series from the 1950s to the present, historical ads promoting homeownership over renting, and vintage lawnmowers, washing machines, blenders, refrigerators and toasters. Theres a Model T Ford and homemaker manuals like the 1869 edition of The American Womens Home. Also included are various books and magazines, like a Life magazine issue with nuclear attack survival tips on the cover, an interview with filmmaker Todd Solondz focusing on American suburbia, and a 1967 illustration by Norman Rockwell portraying the arrival of Black Americans in the suburbs. Sculpture by Thomas Doyle in the CCBB 'Suburbia' exhibition. Gianluca Battista CCCB Director Judit Carrera celebrated the 30th anniversary of the cultural center by highlighting the role of cities in the current cultural discourse. She emphasized the importance of the citys cultural presence in Europe, where 73% of the population lives in urban areas and surroundings. Carrera sees the current exhibition as a reflection on our cities and their societal impact. Upcoming CCCB programs include American voices, discussions on Catalonia, and a film series in August. Project director Jordi Costa noted how the Suburbia phenomenon challenges us and reconnects us with nature, especially in times like the pandemic. Curator Philipp Engels expressed his deep emotional connection to the exhibition. After the American section, the Suburbia exhibition presents perspectives on the phenomenon of suburbs in Catalonia, in collaboration with geographer Francesc Munoz. From single-family homes near Barcelona for weekend getaways to semi-detached houses, the challenges of suburban sprawl are evident everywhere. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Every day, Francisco Perez Ruiz travels into the past to one of Mexicos greatest civilizations. He is in charge of research at the Chichen Itza archeological zone, and he regularly handles recently uncovered pieces that shed light on what life was like for the Mayans, whose civilizations rise and decline have long intrigued experts. Perez Ruiz works in the archeological area of the historic site, where he assesses treasures like vessels, urns, sculptures, incense holders and fragments of the Mayans enormous structures, handling it all with the great care and expertise necessary for assembling such artifacts into a complex understanding of the society from which they came. We try to restore them to their original state, or as close as possible, says the archaeologist. Once researchers have learned as much as possible from each piece, the items are sent to be exhibited, largely in the Great Museum of Chichen Itza that officials have built in the archaeological complex, a monumental work that displays the impact that the Mayans have had on the history of Mexico. Archaeologist Francisco Perez Ruiz, head of research at the Chichen Itza archaeological project. Aggi Garduno The archaeological site was built alongside the soaring structures of Chichen Itza, a major destination that hosts tens of thousands of tourists every year. Its a complex of square buildings that function as warehouses, where archaeologists work to clean and study each piece that comes out of excavations, the most recent of which began in 2022 and finished in December of last year. The digs are part of a new project to explore archaeological zones near the controversial Mayan Train, President Andre Manuel Lopez Obradors pet infrastructure project. In these warehouses, the pieces of stone and ceramic are cleaned, classified and analyzed. We do the initial work, which consists in washing and numbering the pieces, each of which are assigned a number according to the place in which they were collected, says Perez Ruiz. The recently discovered treasures are in piles on tables, shelves and even the floors of the warehouses. There are also dozens of boxes with fragments that wait to be reassembled, to tell of how they were used in their era. Very few people have access to the space: these pieces of history are under meticulous care. Among the new findings are sculptures in the shape of snails, skull designs carved into stone, pots, plates, incense holders in the form of warriors or beautiful butterflies. It is a miscellaneous series that bolsters all the investigation that has been done on the way of life of this region, says Jose Osorio, director of Chichen Itza. Osorio says that these findings form part of the Program for the Improvement of Archaeological Zones (PROMEZA), run by Lopez Obradors administration with the goal of protecting the vast historic regions that will be impacted by the trains construction, which has raised concerns not only among environmentalists, but also historians and archaeologists who have decried its destruction of lands that could contain a vast amount of cultural heritage. The president has invested more than $119 million in the project, a sum that includes funds to carry out future excavations and build the Great Museum of Chichen Itza. Facade of the new Great Museum of Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico. Aggi Garduno Here, archaeologists piece together recovered fragments until they are able to identify their original shape, whether it was a cajete (a pre-Hispanic hollow vessel), molcajete (a stone mortar with three short legs), phallic figure or an urn. If it can be fully assembled, it goes to restoration, where the piece undergoes very special treatment in which its cracks are filled and it is finished with pigment that gives it back its original appearance. Then the pieces are discharged, their corresponding reports completed, and they are sent to museums to be exhibited, says Perez Ruiz. We identify types and varieties of ceramic, chronology, the period of which the piece was part. Many have indications that they come from the apogee that coincided with the construction of Chichen Itza, says the archaeologist. The pieces that come out of these workshops are proudly displayed in the attention-grabbing new regional museum, a concrete mass that occupies more than 6,500 square feet, dedicated to the preservation of Mexican history. The building is reminiscent of Mayan architecture, with its pyramids and ceremonial structures. It is flanked by an immense parking lot and roadway that welcome visitors with huge, pre-Hispanic stone statues in the form of snakes and reclining Chac Mools. Its design was overseen by the National Coordination of Museums, and masterminded by the architect Juan Garibay. The complex is composed of five large exhibit halls that trace thematic lines through Mayan life, the civilizations relationship with the environment, its beliefs, its vision of the world, religion, and sacrifices. Architecture of the Great Museum of Chichen Itza. Aggi Garduno The museums ample rooms, illuminated with natural light that enters through tall windows, are overseen by Julio Cesar Alonso. The young archaeologist shares his zeal for protecting these 500-plus pieces with his colleagues from the archaeological zone. The museums opening at the beginning of March was presided over by Lopez Obrador, but there are still dozens of laborers working to finish details in its central areas and the large gallery that hosts local artisans, many of whom fan out across the Chichen Itza complex, anxious for tourists to buy their products, many of them knockoffs manufactured in China. The National Guard guards the premises, and throughout the hallways, uniformed officers inspect the museums pieces. On exhibition in glass cases are vessels, funerary urns, figurines of Mayan deities and singular pieces like the so-called atado de anos (knot of years), the graphic representation of the 52-year period that the Mayan used to measure time, the equivalent to the way we see a century, says Alonso. It created a ritual to celebrate the beginning of a new era, says the expert. Among these knots is the planet Venus, which was venerated by the Mayans, who called it the Red Star and considered it the most important celestial body after the sun and the moon. The importance of these galleries is to give the visitor a way of understanding the Mayan worldview. Chichen Itza was a very important religious and political center, but also a highly significant trade corridor. There were very skilled craftspeople who worked with raw materials to make tools and instruments for everyday use, which were then traded, says Alonso. Archaeologist Julio Cesar Alonso, head of the Great Museum of Chichen Itza in Yucatan. Aggi Garduno Among the oldest pieces is a set of a pitcher and small cups that dates back to 900 BCE, 2,500 years before our historical era began. There are also enormous stone pieces that show the power of the written word during the time of the Mayans, engraved images that communicate specific messages on behalf of the societys rulers and distinguished individuals. I like to refer to it as the propaganda of its time, says Alonso. Its not as special and refined as hieroglyphic writing, but rather, images that people used to communicate general information. Chichen Itza was a multicultural city, where people from central and northern Mexico and all over Mesoamerica converged. They developed a system for political diffusion, a kind of written language and iconography, he says. Epigraphists, he says, are now at work deciphering the stones messages. The museum holds in particular regard the Chac Mool, reclining sculptures that represent warriors and that were generally used in Mesoamerica in sacrificial ceremonies. It displays four of the 18 of these figures that have been uncovered in Chichen Itza. For a museum to have four Chac Mool is rare, says Alonso with pride. Some of them are engraved with feathered serpents that represent the movements of the stars, rabbits, which are related to the uterus and to fertility, and Venus, the sacred star that protected warriors. They also feature containers for offerings, some of them formed by turquoise discs. Chac Mool found in the Palace of the Sculpted Columns, in the Chichen Itza archaeological zone. Aggi Garduno Chichen Itza's architectural elements are the focus of one gallery that displays stunning palace reliefs from the archaeological zone. One of them is a fragment found in the southern area of the House of Snails, as is called a group of rooms that were home to Mayan elite and that were recently excavated. The fragment is a magnificent piece, among Chichens most beautiful, says Alonso. They show a perfectly engraved figure who sits with its arms extended and a penis in the shape of a vine, from which flowers bloom. We call it the flowery landscape, because life emanates from it. The image also shows certain characteristics of a ruler, he says. Also on display is a lintel that shows several captives being handed over to a nobleman. They are accompanied by soldiers, known as serpent captains, and a box for offerings. The nobleman holds a flint knife in his hand, ready to make a sacrifice. The lintel is held by atlantes, representations of warriors, some of them portrayed with pectorals in the shape of butterflies. Its a sample of the level of sophistication that Mayan art had achieved. But the piece that Alonso holds most dear is an enormous stone onto which a Mayan artist attempted to engrave the head of a serpent. Visitors should take care to note the particular features of the rock, which illustrates the protocol followed by the canteros, or stonecutters, of the era. In it, explains the archaeologist, one can see the cuts that have been chiseled out by the artisan, the outline of the head of the serpent, its nose, eyes and the tracings made by the cantero to form the stone. The piece is approximately 1,500 years old. Why didnt the stonecutter finish it? The most probable reason is that while he was working on it, he came across a flaw in the stone, so that when he cut it with the chisel, it caused a large fracture. He must have had to stop working on it at that point, because limestone cannot be glued back together and since this was meant to be the base of a column, it needed to be very solid, says Alonso. Mayan necklace that belonged to a government official, found in Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Aggi Garduno The treasures form part of a cultural heritage that fills archaeologist Maria Guadalupe Espinoza, who is the director of the museum and archaeological zone, with pride. She has the weighty task of sharing and preserving this area, which has been cataloged as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1988. The project she leads, she says, has brought development to one of the poorest parts of Mexico, and local workers have been involved in excavations and, overseen by archaeologists, also work on the restoration of new findings. The people who work in the museum are also local, because its ideal that they be the ones to administer these archaeological sites, she says. Espinoza is confident that the Mayan Train will attract a wave of visitors to the museum. The nearest station is four kilometers away from the complex and there are already buses that bring tourists between the two, their presence reflected by massive parking spaces in the side lot. She expects at least 500 visitors a day, she says, though that number could rise to 3,000 once the entire complex is complete. The museum, in contrast to the majority of its peers in Mexico, will be open from Monday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This project has brought together a notable research team, in addition to the conservation that is carried out for the pieces and monuments. This museum is extremely important due to the fact that it is the first in Chichen Itza dedicated to the storage of pieces that belong to the entire world, a cultural heritage that we will take care of so that all can enjoy it. It is one of the best archaeological centers in the world, says the anthropologist who, alongside her colleagues, will carefully reconstruct and protect the treasures that hold the key to understanding life in the storied Mayan civilization. Archaeologist Maria Guadalupe Espinosa, director of operations at the National Coordination of the INAH at the Great Museum of Chichen Itza. Aggi Garduno Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Big technology companies are the new monopolies. Apple has cornered the smartphone market; Google has no rival in online searches and digital advertising. Amazon dominates e-commerce, Microsoft rules over operating systems and Meta has a privileged position in social networking with Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The U.S. government considers that these companies have abused their dominant position and it has launched a legal battle against their monopolistic practices. The battle is underway in the courts, but in the meantime, those giants, now joined by Nvidia with its high-power microprocessors, have set their sights on a new quest to control the technology of the future (and part of the present): artificial intelligence. The latest move by the Biden administration was the filing last Thursday of a lawsuit that accuses Apple of illegally building a monopoly with the iPhone. The move caused the company to lose about $110 billion in stock market value in a single day. The Department of Justice has an enduring legacy, taking on the biggest and toughest monopolies in history. This includes landmark cases against Standard Oil, AT&T and Microsoft, said Jonathan Kanter, the prosecutor in charge of the antitrust division, announcing the lawsuit. The monopolies of the digital age are, however, different from those of the industrial age, as Tom Wheeler, author of the book Techlash, explains. The term is a neologism that reflects the negative reaction to the growing power and influence of Big Tech. Wheeler notes that antitrust laws were based on industrial concepts, and that the challenge of the internet era is that many digital practices are difficult to classify according to standards based on industry assumptions. For example, he notes, while industrial activity focuses on the product per se, digital activity focuses on the data created by the consumption of the product. An auto manufacturer cannot give away vehicles, for instance, but platforms like Facebook and Google can give away their services as the catnip that allows them to collect the private information of users, which can then be repurposed into revenue, he explains in his book. These difficulties have not prevented Washington from launching an offensive against technology companies. The government is attacking from two different fronts: the Department of Justice, with Attorney General Merrick Garland at the helm, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), directed by Lina Khan, a scourge of technology who assumed the position in 2021 at only 32 years of age. The Department of Justice has filed two major lawsuits against Google. The first, launched during Donald Trumps presidency and taken to trial during Bidens, accuses the company of abusing its monopoly power in the search engine market, especially with contracts to ensure it is the default search engine of Apple devices, including the iPhone. The second one, which is still being processed, accuses the company of an illegal monopoly in the digital advertising market. In it, it calls for the breakup of Googles advertising business through divestitures to encourage competition. It is also the attorney general who has promoted the lawsuit against Apple filed on Thursday. It accuses Apple of protecting its monopoly by putting walls around its ecosystem against super apps (such as WeChat, the gateway to various messaging services, e-commerce and payment methods, among others) and streaming apps in the cloud, especially for video games (which reduce the need for devices as powerful as iPhones). The lawsuit also claims that Apple prevents the iPhone and Apple Watch from being compatible with competing devices, causes messaging services to communicate poorly with Android phones, and hinders digital wallets that are alternatives to its own. Apple is benefiting not by improving its own products, but by making those of others worse, Garland said on Thursday. The Department of Justice doesnt have a different standard for the powerful compared to those who are not, it doesnt have a different standard for the rich compared to the poor, he said. iPhone 15 devices at an event in Cupertino (California, USA). Loren Elliott (REUTERS) Meanwhile, Lina Khans FTC sued Meta in 2021, accusing it of reducing competition with the purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp. An earlier complaint formulated during the Trump presidency was rejected on procedural grounds, but a second one is making its way through the legal system and the FTC is hoping it will go to trial this year. Khan built her prestige with an influential academic article, titled Amazons Antitrust Paradox, published by the Yale Law Review, back when she was a law student. Putting her theory into practice, the FTC sued Amazon last year, accusing it of engaging in monopolistic practices aimed at inflating prices, degrading quality, and stealing innovation from consumers and businesses. Wheeler maintains that, beyond the difference between industrial and digital activities, antitrust actions have been decreasing in effectiveness over the last half century. Starting in the Reagan era, he writes in his book, courts began to interpret antitrust laws in terms of their impact on consumers (primarily through prices) rather than their impact on the competitive market. As the market power of dominant digital companies grew, courts interpretations of the basic premises of antitrust laws narrowed. The attorney general, however, is optimistic about the cases that depend on him: the United States normally wins the cases it presents, he said on Thursday. The companies deny that they have engaged in illegal practices. The United States is not alone in the battle. In fact, in many ways, it lags behind the European Union, which has imposed multibillion-dollar sanctions on Google, Apple and Meta and forced Amazon to change its business practices. In addition, it has approved a Digital Services Act that imposes stricter obligations on large technology companies to prevent them from abusing their dominant position. Artificial intelligence Despite the offensive, big technology companies are already immersed in the race to dominate artificial intelligence. And, to do this, as they did in the past, they continue to pull out their checkbook to make acquisitions or reach agreements between giants. Microsoft is a privileged partner of OpenAI. In addition, it has signed on Mustafa Suleyman, one of the founders of DeepMind, along with his team and Inflections technology without purchasing the company, in a move that some have seen as designed to avoid the scrutiny of competition authorities. For their part, Google and Amazon have invested in Anthropic, another of the leading firms in artificial intelligence. And while the courts have yet to rule on the agreement between Apple and Google over searches on iPhones, both companies are negotiating an agreement for Apple devices to use Gemini, Googles artificial intelligence assistant. Competition not only protects todays markets and technologies, but also tomorrows innovations, prosecutor Kanter declared on Thursday. At the center of the Digital Gilded Age is the same question that arose in the Industrial Gilded Age: Will there be rules for the new economy, and who will make those rules, the people or the powerful? reflects Wheeler. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Opinion articles written in the style of their author. These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. All opinion articles written by individuals from outside the staff of EL PAIS shall feature, along with the authors name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed There is a corner of the internet where women share their willful ignorance of painkillers. They call it the monthly challenge and its already a sub-genre on TikTok. A montage of a young woman agonizingly holding her belly on a couch with the text POV: when you dont take medicine for your period cramps because you think it builds your pain tolerance superimposed on it has racked up two million likes. Another fast-paced montage of a teenage girl writhing in pain in what looks like her family room, accompanied by the text You see me trying to endure period pain without medication as a personal challenge, has garnered half a million likes. This visual tangent of female body horror because there are hundreds of videos similar in form and message always repeats the same jingle, a sound that recognizes and groups specific challenges. Only here you dont hear a catchy pop song a la Bizcochito. What we hear instead are robotically altered shrieks, like in those videos from the old internet that we were taught to be afraid of because they included a final otherworldly scream that made us jump out of our chairs. Thats how we feel when we see those girls kicking under their blanket as a sinister, mechanical roar unsettles us. They are the dark flip side of the stupid commercials for sanitary pads. Each social media website applies its semantics to the ordeal of facing menstruation without painkillers, no matter where it is watched or written. The female urge to not take a pill when you get your period to see how much pain you can endure, says a viral tweet on X (13,000 likes). A female Argentine tweeters post Do me a favor and stop putting up with your ovarian pain and take an ibuprofen received 12,000 likes. They all touch on the painful curse of the good sickness: the one that has made us believe that we will be more worthy if we reject the warm embrace of chemical pity. A good woman is one who performs just as well when she is menstruating, laments Bibiana Collado Cabrera in Yeguas exhaustas (Exhausted Mares), an auto-fictional work about declassification in which the author explores the influence of her roots on the mystique of femininity. In it, she shares that she did not understand that she had her period for the first time because she was not writhing in pain, which is what she saw happen every month with her older sister. She was not vomiting or doubled over on the couch, so that spot of blood on her panties must have been a simple scratch. If it didnt hurt, it didnt exist and didnt deserve to be told. Collado also confesses that she came to hate her high school classmates who sat still in gym class because of their menstrual cramps; she saw them as slackers. Her inherited peasant imaginary a poor woman cannot afford to rest or stop working a single day of her life prevented her from empathizing with those she felt were lazy and somewhat posh. The artist Johanna Hedva has also delved into the sanctity of the poors suffering. Researcher Nuria Gomez Gabriel refers to that in her essay Traumacore, in which she notes that Hedva repoliticized the archetype of the suffering diva and succeeded in differentiating between the convalescent romantic myth of the sick woman upper-class and white and the scorn heaped on the sickening woman, which is applied to the other bodies (non-binary, trans, racialized) of the working class. Sick Woman Theory is for those who are faced with their vulnerability and unbearable fragility, every day, and so have to fight for their experience to be not only honored, but first made visible, Hedva wrote in her manifesto. The women in pain on TikTok, those who are reformulating the mystique of the sick woman, should know that their agony does not sanctify them, and it wont make them more worthy. And they should also know that the urge to take that pill is indeed appropriate. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Amanat Holdings, a leading healthcare and education listed investment company, has appointed John Ireland as its Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Ireland has been serving as Acting CEO since March 2023. The company will announce a new Chief Financial Officer in due course. Amanats Chairman Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, said: On behalf of Amanats Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce the appointment of John Ireland as Chief Executive Officer. Under Johns guidance Amanat has delivered record financial performance in 2023 and executed several strategic initiatives that will deliver future value to shareholders. Johns leadership experience, combined with his deep understanding of our business model, industry expertise and track record of success makes him the ideal candidate for this position, and I am confident that he is uniquely positioned to execute and deliver on Amanats value creation strategy. We look forward to Amanats continued success under Johns leadership. Ireland added: I am honoured to be offered the opportunity to lead Amanat and our world-class team, as we enter an exciting new phase of accelerated growth. My focus will be on driving value creation and monetisation efforts to deliver long-term, sustainable returns for our shareholders. Amanats two distinct platforms, comprising market leading companies, in the GCC education and healthcare sectors, strongly position us to deliver shareholder value, through continued investments in platform growth and potential monetisation of our platforms. - TradeArabia News Service In a spotless room of the first functioning hospital in the new administrative capital that Egypt is building in the east of Cairo, nine babies without a name are resting. On the small signs that hang from their spacious cribs, overlooking the still empty vastness of a city under construction in the middle of the desert, they are identified only by the names of their mothers. The same ones that were written on the bracelets that hung from their wrists and ankles the day they landed in this gleaming complex. No one knows who they are, or if there is anyone in the world waiting for them. They are part of a group of 31 premature babies who were born in Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza shortly before or during the early stages of Israels military offensive in Gaza, and were evacuated in November after the Israeli army stormed the center where they were being kept in incubators. The nine unnamed babies were alone when they arrived in Egypt, and so far no one has asked about them. No one seems to know where their families are or if they have any living relatives. The premature babies at Al Shifa, Gazas main hospital, became a symbol of the tragedy caused by Israels raid on the center, which was attacked again this past week. Four months later, the nine newborns embody the uncertain future of many Gazan children. The severity of the violence, the high number of deaths and the displacement of the population are separating thousands of families. And the collapse of the administration and the insecurity of traveling makes it difficult for Gazan children to reunite with their families, even if they still have a living relative. More than 13,000 children have died in Gaza as a result of the Israeli offensive, according to UNICEF data. The bracelet and wrist of a premature baby recovering at the New Administrative Capital hospital in Egypt. Marc Espanol A total of 24 of the premature babies were taken to the hospital in the new capital of Egypt. They arrived with a string of terrible conditions: severe dehydration, infections, respiratory difficulties, septicemia, organic disorders. They were in a very serious condition, the chances of these newborns surviving were perhaps around 20%, notes Ramzy Mounir, the director of the hospital, from his office. We made a great effort, he remembers. Each baby had their own nurse, and there was one doctor for every two newborns, says Mounir. External specialists also took part in their care. All the cases were incompatible with life, says Ahmed Assawah, the head of the pediatrics department at Al Azhar University. So far, three babies have died, the first a few days after arriving, the second after a few weeks, and the last just a month ago. The health of the babies in hospital has since greatly improved, and almost all could be discharged. So far, only four have left, but Mounir says that one of them fell ill after leaving the hospital and died. So, for now, the rest will remain hospitalized. The case of the nine newborns who have no family is particularly complicated. After [these] months they are in very good condition, says Mounir, but for now they are going to stay because they simply have nowhere to go. In the hospital, they will continue to be cared for, he says, adding that a small nursery has been prepared for them. But it is up to the Egyptian and Palestinian authorities to make a decision about their fate. Of the nine babies, it has only been possible to gather information about two of them. In both cases, the news was tragic. In the first case, the son of Fatima el-Hersh was born miraculously in Al Shifa, according to a nurse at the hospital, who was recorded by the media. The little boys family home was bombed, and his mother had to be taken to the hospital when she was 32 weeks pregnant. The doctor who treated her managed to rescue the baby from her womb, but she died, as did the entire family. He is the only survivor, stated the nurse, who admitted that they did not know who will take care of him. The cot of Son of Fatima el-Hersh (the name that appears on the name tag). Marc Espanol In the second, the daughter of Halima Abdelrabo lost her right eye and underwent surgery in Egypt to prevent malformations. The child was also given a glass eye. All that is known about her is from a photo of her medical file that was shared on social media. Handwriting on the document states that her family is dead. EL PAIS contacted the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt to find out if there are plans for these babies, but had not received a response at the time of publishing. Incomplete family reunification In rooms adjacent to the ones housing the nine babies without families, there are seven other premature infants. But these newborns are with their mothers. The five women including two with twins have settled in the hospital to be close to their children. Reaching them has been an odyssey in and of itself. Ayat El Daour, a young woman from Gaza City, gave birth to her twin daughters, Mera and Dahab, at Al Shifa Hospital, just a few days before the Israeli army arrived at its doors. When she was discharged, she was forced to flee to a refugee camp due to the Israeli military offensive, which was getting closer to her home. And shortly after, with Gaza City devastated, she had to move south, leaving her daughters behind in the hospital. For the first 10 days, El Daour was able to stay in touch with Al Shifas medical staff to make sure her daughters were okay. But when the hospital was besieged by Israeli troops, there was silence, and the news about her little girls stopped arriving. An agony that lasted for nearly 30 days. For a month it was impossible to communicate with the [medical] staff, explains El Daour. Every day there was news of a deceased baby, but we didnt know which one, she recalls from a bright waiting room in the neonatal unit of the Egyptian hospital. All the news was about babies dying, she recalls, we were very afraid. Five of the 39 premature babies in Al Shifa died due to lack of fuel and the electricity cuts, according to local health authorities and the United Nations. It was by chance, reading the news, that El Daour learned that some of Al Shifas premature babies had been evacuated to a hospital in Rafah on a mission that the World Health Organization (WHO) which led the joint UN-Palestinian Red Crescent operation described it as high risk. Her daughters names appeared on the list. It had been 39 days since she had last seen them. We were elated, she says, as her third daughter runs around to get her attention. Shortly after being reunited, Ayat and her daughters crossed the Rafah border crossing that connects Gaza with Egypt, and were taken to the hospital in Al Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai. They remained there for two weeks, until they were referred to the hospital in the new Egyptian capital that has temporarily become their home. Doctors say that Mera and Dahab arrived in a critical condition, but that they are now out of danger. The father, whom Ayat hopes to reunite with soon, has not been able to join them and remains in Rafah, receiving news about his family only when the internet isnt down. Hospital of the New Administrative Capital where babies remain. Marc Espanol Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition The party for the 2022 Carnival ended with three young men shot dead by police in a poor fishing neighborhood in Salvador, which is one of the most photographed sights in the city due to its colorful houses. The first police version followed the typical pattern of the war on drugs: after an anonymous tip off about armed men, the agents entered the Gamboa neighborhood, the criminals resisted, shots were fired, and three young men were killed. Two years later, however, three military police officers are being prosecuted for the murder of the three locals and procedural fraud. The Gamboa case is emblematic of the police violence in Brazil. The Prosecutors Office maintains that the agents killed the men in cold blood, planted weapons on them, manipulated the crime scene and threatened witnesses a modus operandi that the family of victims of police violence have often denounced. That night, Silvana dos Santos, 43, had one of her eight children taken from her. They took them to an abandoned house. I went there and introduced myself as the mother of one of them, I didnt say which one. My son was still alive. I know because I heard him. [The police] pointed a gun at my head. I screamed a lot, but I left. They were executed. If I had insisted, maybe I would be another victim and I wouldnt be here telling the story, she says between sobs. Her son Alexandre Santos dos Reis, 20, was one of the victims. The radical turn of the case known as the Gamboa massacre is very unusual in Brazil, a country where more than 6,400 people suspects and bystanders died in police operations in 2022, according to the latest data from the Brazilian Public Security Forum. That means that 13% of violent deaths in the country are the work of uniformed officers. A few months ago, the state of Bahia where the capital is Salvador took over Rio de Janeiro as the state with the highest rate of police violence. Officers are responsible for one in four violent deaths in Bahia. Across Brazil, the victims are almost always young Black men. The few cases of police violence that go to trial drag on for years and usually suffer from multiple setbacks that end in the acquittal of the police officers or light sentences. Just a few days ago, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned Brazil for the Operation Castelinho in 2022, in which police killed 12 alleged members of the First Capital Command (PCC) on a bus in Sao Paulo. They fired more than 700 bullets. Over the years, the PCC has become the most powerful criminal group in Brazil. The U.S. recently sanctioned one of its money launderers. In Salvador, the Gamboa neighborhood immediately mobilized after the deadly police raid. By dawn, they had blocked a major avenue. With traffic disrupted, the protest made the news. While the head of the military police shared the official version in a television interview, a group of women from Gamboa blocked cars and claimed that the police came into the neighborhood firing left and right. They demanded peace and justice. Silvana dos Santos, the mother of one of the victims, was among the protesters. Holding the microphone tightly, she tearfully questioned the police version of the killing and praised her middle son. He respected me, he treated me like a mother, he helped me, she said in front of the TV cameras. I trust more in my God, who is just and faithful, than in the justice of men, she said. The other mothers are afraid, Im not. If I keep quiet, the next one could be another of my sons or my grandchildren. The police killed her son Alexandre, as well as Cleverson Guimaraes Cruz, 22, and a minor, Patrick Sousa Sapucaia, 16. According to the indictment against the officers, on March 1, 2022, the three young men were celebrating Carnival in Gamboa when the police opened fire. Two were hit by gunfire and, along with a third, were taken by the officer to an abandoned house. Forensic evidence found that all three had been hit in the chest by shots from a submachine gun. The indictment says the officers then cleaned up the blood (destroying the evidence in the process) using a broom and a bucket of water confiscated from a neighbor in order to exonerate themselves of responsibility in the criminal proceedings. In another move common to cases of police violence, the police pretended that the victims were alive and took them to hospital, where they were certified dead, according to the indictment. The document adds that the officers planted a pistol and a revolver on the victims to support the claim that there had been a confrontation and argue they were acting in legitimate self-defense. The planted weapons were rusty and did not work properly. Whats more, tests indicated that none of the victims had traces of gunpowder on their hands. Lawyer Wagner Moreira, 38 a coordinator of Ideas Assessoria Popular, a civil society organization joined the case to help the residents of Gamboa counter the polices version of events, defend their rights and pressure authorities. During the first year, there was no progress, but the neighborhood did receive some intimidating visits from the police officers involved. Moreira speaks of the courage of the families and neighbors. With that support, he and his team managed to get prosecutors specialized in public security to take on the Gamboa case and carry out an in-depth investigation. They performed technical tests and reconstructed the events. An internal affairs commission of the Military Police came to the conclusion that there were strong indications that the victims were executed and that the weapons were planted on them, said Moreira. But according to the coordinator, another commission from the same police force concluded that the officers had committed no crime or irregularities. In the end, the families version prevailed. Two police officers enter the Amaralina neighborhood in Salvador, after receiving a report of shots fired in the area. Lunae Parracho (Reuters) For this reason, three military police officers will sit in the dock for the murder of the three Gamboa residents. In addition, the agents, along with a fourth police officer who was driving the patrol, will be tried before a military court for manipulating the scene of the crime. The first hearing, scheduled for Wednesday of this week, has been postponed to May, according to Dos Santos. The Prosecutors Office points that the triple murder was a consequence of the low value given to the lives of young Black people from favelas and impoverished areas. It was committed for a nefarious motive, because the police assumed that all the victims were criminals and that they could react offensively to kill them given the devaluation of their lives, even without any armed reaction or resistance. Police violence in Brazil is blind to politics. The state of Rio de Janeiro, which held the record for police killings, has been governed for years by politicians allied with Brazils far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro. While in Bahia, the Workers Party of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has governed for 16 years. Moreira maintains that the lefts premise that, by reducing poverty and improving income distribution, violence would fall has proven to be unsuccessful. He criticizes state authorities denialism of the data and their failure to commit to an alternative public security policy. Moreira adds that taking the police officers to court is a victory for the first battle, but nothing ensures that they will be held accountable. He recalls another emblematic case from Salvador: the Cabula massacre, when 12 Black men were killed by police. The case has been reopened after nine years, a summary acquittal and a trial annulment. Moreira criticizes the fact that the Military Police of Bahia invests a fortune in facial recognition the star public security measure at this years Carnival festivities but not in police body cameras, which are cheaper and have proven effective in other parts of Brazil. The police patrol the streets of the Amaralina neighborhood to prevent robberies, which are very frequent in the area of Salvador, Bahia (Brazil). Lunae Parracho (Reuters) Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Following the veto by Russia and China on Friday of a draft ceasefire resolution linked to the release of the hostages which the United States had put forth after a month of negotiations, no one expected the non-permanent countries of the United Nations Security Council to be the ones to finally end the six-month impasse over a resolution for a cessation of hostilities in Gaza. But that same day, the 10 non-permanent member countries of the Council (Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, South Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and Switzerland), which have no veto power, responded with their own proposal: a resolution for a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan. On Monday, that resolution passed unanimously, with the abstention of the U.S. The resolution, like all those issued by the U.N. body responsible for world peace and security, is binding, which theoretically obliges the parties Israel and Hamas to abide by it. Its passage is a small milestone: countless resolutions failed over the course of the last six months due to the veto of three of the Councils five permanent members. The United States had previously vetoed three attempts, arguing, as Israel does, that a ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup and hinder Egyptian- and Qatari-led negotiations. Russia and China, for their part, vetoed the only ceasefire proposal submitted by the U.S. to the Council last Friday, just as they had vetoed another one in October that was less far-reaching and did not even consider the possibility of a cessation of hostilities. The approved resolution calls for an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs and that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain. The text also emphasizes the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates the Councils demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale. The resolution comes at a time when the Palestinian enclave is on the brink of famine due to the Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid convoys. Israel is also preparing to invade Rafah, in southern Gaza on the border with Egypt, where more than half of the Strips total population (some 2.3 million) is concentrated after fleeing Israeli bombardments everywhere else in the territory. The U.S. categorically rejects a ground offensive in Rafah, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated that he plans to go ahead with it. The U.S. abstention this Monday signals President Joe Bidens administration change in attitude towards the Israeli offensive in Gaza, with the White House and Democratic lawmakers growing critical of Netanyahus government. Two weeks ago, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, called for new elections in Israel, going so far as to say that the Israeli prime minister has lost his way. More recently, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Israels military campaign in Gaza a genocide, something she had avoided doing. The conflict between Israel and Hamas has become yet another election issue in the U.S. with only seven months to go before the presidential election. President Biden has received serious warnings from young voters and Arab communities in the U.S. who are critical of his support for Israel. Netanyahu reacts Upon the resolutions passage, Netanyahu made good on his threat delivered ahead of the vote and cancelled a high-level trip to Washington by a delegation that was going to listen to the Biden administrations alternatives to an all-out invasion of Rafah. Netanyahu called the U.S. abstention on Monday a clear retreat from its previous position. After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant spoke on the phone almost daily for weeks. Austin met with Gallant in Tel Aviv the week after the attack with a strong message of support. He visited Israel again in December, stressing at that point the need to reduce the intensity of the offensive, protect the civilian population and facilitate access to humanitarian aid. Austin had been expecting to receive Gallant at the Pentagon on Tuesday in an almost desperate attempt to dissuade Israel from carrying out a ground offensive in the Rafah area. But on Monday Israel announced that the high-level trip was being cancelled to protest Mondays U.N. Security Council decision calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. On Sunday, Gallant had declared that he would focus his visit, among other things, on the ability to obtain systems and ammunition and on the preservation of the qualitative military advantage, the expression for Washingtons decades-long commitment to always provide Israel with the best weapons and technology in the Middle East. That same day, Vice President Kamala Harris was asked in an interview on ABC if she was ruling out that an invasion of Rafah by Israel would trigger consequences from the United States, to which she replied, I am ruling out nothing. The cancellation of the visit by Gallant and other senior Israeli officials comes at the moment of greatest distance between both nations leaders. Besides his personal conviction that the offensive is not a good idea, President Biden is aware of the cost in popularity and votes entailed by his support for Israel in the first stages of the war a cost that is rising as the situation of Gazas civilian population becomes increasingly critical. A Gallup poll published last week showed that only 27% of Americans approve of the way Biden is handling the situation in the Middle East. Washington does not want another operation in Rafah like the ones that took place in Gaza City and Khan Younis. There are an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafa, including many who fled there from other parts of the Strip following Israels instructions. The Netanyahu government has suggested the idea of creating humanitarian islands where the population can go, something that seems unfeasible to Washington. Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. Theres nowhere for those folks to go, Harris said in the interview, in which she also said that we have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Viable plan for Rafah The Biden administration believes that Israel has not presented a viable plan for how or where to move civilians safely, how to feed and house them, and ensure access to basic things like sanitation, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan explained last week at a press conference. Washington assures that the key objectives that Israel wants to achieve in Rafah can be reached by other means. This is the reason why Biden had asked Netanyahu to send a high-level delegation to Washington made up of military, intelligence services and humanitarian personnel. The idea was not only for them to listen to U.S. concerns about Israels plans in the southern Strip, but also to present an alternative approach that targets key Hamas elements in Rafah and secures the Egyptian-Egyptian border and Gaza without a major ground invasion. The Israeli Defense Minister wants to ensure that American weapons will continue to flow despite the differences of opinion. Last December, in a private meeting with local representatives that was reported on by the newspaper Israel Hayom, Netanyahu said: We need three things from the United States: ammunition, ammunition and ammunition. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together after a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' week in Woodside, California, on November 15, 2023. The U.S. and British governments on Monday announced sanctions against a company and two individuals linked to the Chinese government over a string of malicious cyberactivity, detailing a yearslong state-backed operation that targeted officials, lawmakers and the U.K.s election watchdog. British officials said those sanctioned are responsible for a hack that may have gained access to information on tens of millions of U.K. voters held by the Electoral Commission, as well as for cyberespionage targeting lawmakers who have been outspoken about threats from China. The Foreign Office said the hack of the election registers has not had an impact on electoral processes, has not affected the rights or access to the democratic process of any individual, nor has it affected electoral registration. The Electoral Commission said in August that hostile actors had gained access to its servers from around 2021 to 2022. At the time, the watchdog said the data included the names and addresses of registered voters. But it said that much of the information was already in the public domain. In Washington, the Treasury Department said it sanctioned Wuhan Xiaoruizhi Science and Technology Company Ltd., which it calls a Chinese Ministry of State Security front company that has served as cover for multiple malicious cyberoperations. It named two Chinese nationals, Zhao Guangzong and Ni Gaobin, affiliated with the Wuhan company, for cyberoperations that targeted U.S. critical infrastructure sectors including defense, aerospace and energy. U.S. and British authorities said the two sanctioned individuals were involved in the operations of the Chinese cyber group APT31 an abbreviation for advanced persistent threat. The group is also known as Zirconium or Hurricane Panda. APT31 has previously been accused of targeting U.S. presidential campaigns and the information systems of Finlands parliament, among others. The U.S. Justice Department charged Zhao, Ni, and five other hackers with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud. It said they were part of a 14-year long cyber operation targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials. U.S. officials said the seven hackers and others in the APT31 group targeted thousands of U.S. and foreign individuals and companies, including staff in the White House, Treasury, Justice and State Departments, and politicians of both main political parties as well as their spouses. Todays announcements underscore the need to remain vigilant to cybersecurity threats and the potential for cyber-enabled foreign malign influence efforts, especially as we approach the 2024 election cycle, Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said. British cybersecurity officials also said that APT31 hackers conducted reconnaissance activity against British parliamentarians who were critical of Beijing in 2021. They said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised. Three lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, told reporters Monday they have been subjected to harassment, impersonation and attempted hacking from China for some time. Duncan Smith said in one example, hackers impersonating him used fake email addresses to write to his contacts. The politicians are members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international pressure group focused on countering Beijings growing influence and calling out alleged rights abuses by the Chinese government. Britains Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said his government will summon Chinas ambassador to account for its actions. Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs said ahead of the announcement that countries should base their claims on evidence rather than smear others without factual basis. Cybersecurity issues should not be politicized, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said. We hope all parties will stop spreading false information, take a responsible attitude, and work together to maintain peace and security in cyberspace. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated that China is behaving in an increasingly assertive way abroad and is the greatest state-based threat to our economic security. Its right that we take measures to protect ourselves, which is what we are doing, he said, without providing details. China critics including Duncan Smith have long called for Sunak to take a tougher stance on China and label the country a threat rather than a challenge to the U.K., but the government has refrained from using such critical language. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Educational exposure of ideas, assumptions or hypotheses, based on proven facts" (which need not be strictly current affairs) Value in judgments are excluded, and the text comes close to an opinion article, without judging or making forecasts , just formulating hypotheses, giving motivated explanations and bringing together a variety of data Terrorism is an old acquaintance in Lubyanka, the headquarters of the defunct Soviet KGB, now the FSB, Russias security services. It was there that Vladimir Putin learned everything that allowed him to reach the top almost 25 years ago and prepared him to remain there until at least 2030, as has been confirmed in the recent election. The great art of blackmail, the kompromat (damaging information) and self-incrimination, poison, bombs and guns, torture, gulags and solitary confinement are the specialty of the house, and have been practiced in massive, inhuman doses, in the name of Soviet socialism until 1993 and of Holy Russia since then. Terror at the service of the state has a very long history, all the way to the tsars, then Lenin and especially Stalin, one of the biggest mass murderers in history, whom Putin has begun to rehabilitate. The practice was only interrupted by a brief pause between Gorbachev and Yeltsins first term, when the countrys elite decided to abandon the violent Soviet tradition. That ephemeral discontinuity at the top had no reflection in the police foundations of power, to the point that it was the siloviki (the strong men in Russian) who kept alive the flame; they controlled the state from the basements and then placed one of their own directly on the tsars throne. Putins ascension at the end of 1999 occurred in the middle of a wave of massive attacks in which more than 300 people died, similar to the one perpetrated this past Friday at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow. Those attacks were attributed to Chechen terrorists, and served to justify the brutality of the Russian intervention in the second Chechen war. Catherine Belton, a former Financial Times correspondent in Moscow and Putin biographer, has wondered in her book Putins People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West, whether security operatives could have been the ones who bombed their own people in an attempt to create a crisis that would ensure Putins presidency. It is not an insidious question, since very little has emerged about the authorship of that terrorist campaign of September 1999, to the extent that those who investigated it died in strange circumstances or were imprisoned, as has happened so many times before with numerous murders of journalists, businesspeople, former secret agents and dissidents. The inexplicable and unexplained death of Alexei Navalny on the eve of the elections is the last and politically relevant of all these cases. If those attacks led Putin in the direction of power, in Moscow today, on the contrary, his inability to protect the population and his weakness as a ruler are evident, just when he had been re-elected. Nothing has gone off-script in the Kremlins pattern of behavior. The first reaction from Putins entourage has been to point directly at Kyiv. In his speech regarding the attacks, the Russian president had not one word about the Islamic State even though the latter has claimed responsibility for the massacre; instead he suggested the complicity of Ukraine and mentioned Nazism, the same nefarious label with which he attacks Kyiv and its allies. This Putinist Russia is a factory of conspiracy theories, following a tradition that also comes from tsarist times. Putin was not going to quit now and fail to present a link between the Islamic State and the democratic regime in Kyiv, or even with NATO and Washington if necessary, in order to intensify the bombing of Ukraine as revenge. Prince William was 13 when his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, admitted in a BBC interview that her husband, then Prince Charles, had been unfaithful to her with Camilla Parker Bowles Britains current Queen and that she herself had had an affair with her sons riding instructor, Captain James Hewitt. There were three of us in my marriage, the Princess confessed in November 1995 in front of an audience of 23 million Brits and 200 million worldwide. William had just begun at Eton, and followed the so-called interview of the century from his house master Andrew Gaileys office. When the broadcast ended, Gailey found him slumped on the couch, his eyes red from crying. But, said Gailey, the rince quickly pulled himself together and ran back to his room. Diana herself told her friend Simone Simmons that the following weekend William accused her of making a fool of herself and of him. He was inconsolable and raged at his mother, though he apologized the next day and gave her a small posy of flowers. All the same, Diana realized that she had caused him deep and irreparable harm. Now, at 41, the British heir to the throne is someone capable of incredible emotional control, particularly in public. Royal experts agree that he learned this from his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, whose motto was never complain, never explain. He can smile when he is sad or appear calm in times of stress and tension. He has demonstrated this in recent weeks. While his wife, Catherine or Kate Middleton, the current Princess of Wales was recovering from abdominal surgery and beginning a course of preventative chemotherapy, as she explained on March 22, he was back at work looking calm. While the world joked about his wifes absence and speculated about their marriage, he acted as though it was business as usual. Princess Diana confessed to royal biographer Ingrid Seward that her eldest son was never comfortable with public exposure. In 1996, when the press published photos of his mother sunbathing topless in Spain, William called her to say the other Eton boys were teasing him. Diana told media executive Nicholas Coleridge that her son was being bullied, but that he was going to have to learn to deal with the teasing and gossip. The prince learned early on that duty came first: a mantra he painfully made his own when he had to walk behind his mothers coffin at her funeral. He was 15 and didnt want to do it, but his grandfather, Prince Philip, the late Duke of Edinburgh, convinced him that if he didnt, he might regret it for the rest of his days. He hated every second of the long funeral procession, but disguised his feelings by walking with his eyes to the ground. Prince William and Prince Harry on the day of their mother Princess Dianas funeral. Adam Butler (PA Archive/Press Association Images /Cordon Press) Princess Diana always defined her eldest son as a serious person, one who is distrustful of strangers and easily hurt. William is the sensitive one, the Princess would tell her friends. But Im sure hell deal with his problems. He will have to. She also described him as being intellectual, but very aware of people and their feelings. That strength and empathy will be indispensable in the coming months. Catherine alluded to her husbands unwavering support in the video she posted on March 22. In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous, she says to the camera. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment. This, of course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance, she added. In the past, Prince William has been able to turn some of his traumas into causes. In 2021, an independent investigation concluded that journalist Martin Bashir had used forged documents to get close to Princess Diana and convince her to give the 1995 Panorama interview that so upset him. Following the ruling, the Prince said, That interview has no legitimacy and should never be broadcast again. He is a fervent defender of the right to privacy and very critical of questionable journalistic practices. When a French magazine published photos of Catherine sunbathing topless in Provence, he supported her in suing the weekly. In 2017, they won the lawsuit and received 190,000 in damages. In a letter he wrote for the case, he stated that the publication of those images was particularly shocking to him because it reminded him of the harassment that had led to the death of his mother. He also leads campaigns to flag up mental health issues and bullying. On more than one occasion, he has stated that bullying is no longer limited to schools and that new technology leaves us all more vulnerable to it. In recent weeks, the Prince and Princess of Wales have been the target of online hoaxes and taunts. The coming months will not be easy. The Prince will have to deal with the illness of both his father, King Charles, as well as his wife, while taking care of three young children and leading the monarchy. And he will have to do so in the public gaze as well as under media and social media scrutiny. William and Catherine during a reception for South Koreas president, Yoon Suk Yeol, at Buckingham Palace, Nov. 21, 2023. GEORGE ROGERS/SIPA The pressure will be considerable. But, as The Guardian journalist Harriet Sherwood explains, he will be able to focus on his family and take all the time he needs without financial worries or fear of losing his job. Many spouses or partners in a similar position have to make hard choices. Sherwood quotes the Macmillan Cancer Support charity saying, Balancing working and caring for someone with cancer can be difficult. It advises trying to find a balance between the support you want to give and what you are able to do, and talking to employers about possible flexible working arrangements. As Sherwood pointed out, Many people depend on the support practical and emotional of close relatives. Not for the first time, William may be reflecting on the breakdown in the once close relationship with his brother Harry, now living thousands of miles away and largely estranged from his family. While many families pull together in a crisis, and strengthen mutual bonds, this seems unlikely for the royals. However, Prince Harry seemed to suggest otherwise in a television interview last February after a quick visit to see his father in London. When he was asked if he thought it possible an illness in the family could bring them together, he replied, I see it on a day-to-day basis, the strength of the family unit coming together. So, yes, I think any illness brings families together. But, for now, Prince William is coping largely alone. He knows there is no alternative because in the House of Windsor duty comes first. As his mother said, Im sure hell deal with his problems. He will have to. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition Former President Donald Trump appeared in criminal court in New York on Monday for a pre-trial hearing in the Stormy Daniels case (the payment of hush money to a porn actress to buy her silence about an extramarital affair). The hearing settled only procedural issues: whether the start of the trial, initially scheduled for this Monday but delayed by the introduction of new evidence to the case, could be delayed further; his lawyers requested up to 90 days. In this case, as well as the other three criminal cases and two civil cases the ex-president faces, his defense team has based its strategy on delaying the trials. The prosecution argued that there was no reason for this trial to be delayed beyond mid-April, considering that the delay already granted has given the defense sufficient time to study the new evidence. The judge agreed, and the first criminal trial against a former U.S. president will begin on April 15. Manhattan District Attorney Democrat Alvin Braggs office asked the judge not to accept further delays in the trial for Trumps hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign; the payment was made to avoid a scandal that would have tarnished his good name as a candidate for president. Ten days ago, Judge Juan Merchan adjourned the trial, at least until mid-April, following the emergence of new documents, which Bragg considers largely irrelevant or redundant. But the delay by federal prosecutors in turning over that evidence provided a new argument for the defense to request another 90-day delay and even a dismissal of the case for alleged prosecutorial malpractice, or at least carelessness, in timing issues. This Monday, Trump returned to the place where about a year ago the same judge read him the 34 criminal charges for falsifying business records to cover up the hush money deal with the porn star (the disbursement was labeled as a legal expense in the companys accounts). The payment was made by Michael Cohen, who was then Trumps lawyer and confidant; he later became a prosecution witness against the former president. In fact, the new documents recently delivered by federal prosecutors come from previous investigations of Cohen, who was tried and sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for what was once considered an illicit campaign finance crime: the aforementioned payment of $130,000 to the actress. According to one of the prosecutors, 99% of the documents were irrelevant and many of them were Cohens bank records; Cohen brokered all kinds of dirty deals for Trump when he served as the former presidents fixer and is now expected to be the trials star witness. Trumps legal teams efforts to delay all prosecutions as long as possible until after the Nov. 5 election are based on Trumps hope of re-election, which would effectively end or slow down the criminal cases against him. The other three criminal prosecutions are currently bogged down in various delays, so the Manhattan case may be the only one to be resolved before the election. All of this comes as Trumps other lawsuits including federal prosecutions for election interference and allegedly mishandling classified documents are on hold and he tries to run out the clock until November with frantic litigation and appeals. The Supreme Court is due to consider his broad claim of presidential immunity for acts committed while in office next month, and a ruling is not expected until the end of June. The decision could have major implications for the criminal cases Trump faces as he seeks a second presidential term. Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition KYODO NEWS - Mar 25, 2024 - 15:55 | All, Japan, World International Atomic Energy Agency experts on Monday began assessing strengthened counterterrorism measures implemented at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in central Japan, with the plant operator hoping a positive outcome will persuade local officials to approve a restart. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. requested the five-person IAEA delegation conduct the inspection, which runs through April 2, at the seven-reactor complex in Niigata Prefecture to determine whether the operator's preventative measures meet international standards after a series of safety flaws came to light, resulting in a two-year operational ban that ended in December. "The purpose of the expert mission is to assess the enhancement of physical protection measures of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station (to protect nuclear materials and facilities) and to provide further advice as necessary to the facility operator," an IAEA representative said at a meeting with TEPCO officials at the complex, which was open to the media. Defective intruder detection systems and other security shortcomings discovered at the plant since January 2021 led the Nuclear Regulation Authority to issue an operational ban the following April. It was lifted in late December after the NRA confirmed the operator fixed the problems. Following the NRA's approval, TEPCO has sought the consent of the prefecture's governor and local mayors to restart Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, one of the world's largest nuclear plants by output. TEPCO, which also operated the now-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, sees the restart as integral to turning its business around after the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The disaster burdened the operator with huge compensation, decontamination and decommissioning costs. But Niigata Gov. Hideyo Hanazumi remains reluctant to greenlight the restart as locals have lost faith in TEPCO after the security issues. They are also worried about evacuation routes in the event of a major earthquake, concerns that were heightened after a massive temblor struck nearby in central Japan in January and severed roads. The central government supports the restart as resource-poor Japan looks to again have nuclear as a significant contributor to the country's power generation mix, with industry minister Ken Saito asking for Hanazumi's support for rebooting the Kazhiwazaki-Kariwa plant on March 18. The security issues at the complex came to light after Nos. 6 and 7 reactors were brought in line with the NRA's stricter quake safety standards imposed after the 2011 nuclear disaster. Related coverage: Japan completes 4th round of Fukushima treated water discharge Japan to provide IAEA $20 mil. to support nuke watchdog's activities Japan, IAEA agree to keep working together on treated Fukushima water KYODO NEWS - Mar 25, 2024 - 19:27 | World, All, Japan Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has conveyed his intention to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang's state-run media reported Monday, quoting a statement by the leader's sister who called on Tokyo to make a "decision" on improving bilateral ties. Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency that Kishida recently proposed an in-person summit to meet with her brother "as soon as possible" through "another channel," referring to one other than those that have been used for bilateral communication. Kishida said in parliament on Monday that his government has lobbied for a possible summit meeting with the North Korean leader. He stressed the importance of summit talks to secure the return of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s. Later in the day, Kishida told reporters at his office that he is aware of the report but that "nothing has been decided so far on whether a (Japan-North Korea) summit will be realized." Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in North Korea's ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said in February a visit by Kishida to Pyongyang is possible if Tokyo does not make the issue of past abductions of Japanese nationals an obstacle between the two countries, according to KCNA. In Monday's statement, she said the important thing in creating an opening for improved bilateral relations is "for Japan to make its political decision in actuality," KCNA said, urging Tokyo to change its stance on the abduction issue. Pyongyang claims the issue has already been settled, but Tokyo, which officially lists a total of 17 Japanese nationals as abductees, rejects the assertion. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan's top government spokesman, reiterated Monday that the claim was "totally unacceptable." Japan and North Korea have no official diplomatic ties. Hayashi told a press conference in Tokyo that Kishida has been calling for a dialogue with Kim Jong Un "through various routes." But the spokesman declined to provide details, citing the possible negative impact on negotiations with North Korea going forward. Kim Yo Jong said as long as Japan remains "engrossed in the abduction issue that has no further settlement," Kishida will face criticism that his proposal for summit talks with Kim Jong Un is just "a bid for popularity," according to KCNA. Furthermore, Pyongyang will regard Tokyo as its "enemy, never a friend" if Japan "infringes upon the sovereignty" of North Korea and stands "hostile" to the neighboring country, she added, calling for "a political decision for strategic option conformed to its overall interests," the report said. Some observers have interpreted North Korea's recent offering of an olive branch to Japan as a bid to obstruct trilateral security cooperation between Tokyo, Seoul and Washington. Pyongyang has conducted a series of missile launches in response to U.S.-South Korea joint military drills. Kim's sister said that North Korea's strengthened self-defense capabilities will "never be a threat to the security of Japan," as long as Tokyo respects Pyongyang's sovereignty and security interests in a "fair and equal" way. Pyongyang has indicated a willingness to improve bilateral ties, with Kim Jong Un sending a rare message of sympathy to Kishida in early January in the wake of a deadly earthquake that hit central Japan on New Year's Day. In 2002, five abductees were returned to Japan after then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with North Korea's leader at the time, Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang, in the first-ever summit between the two countries. Koizumi also received North Korea's first formal apology for the abductions. Tokyo suspects Pyongyang's involvement in many more disappearances than the official figure of 17, and that abductees were kidnapped by the country to teach Japanese language and culture to its spies or to steal their identities so they could be used by agents for espionage. In May last year, Kishida made a sudden commitment to establishing high-level bilateral negotiations to pave the way for an early summit, although he has not provided details on what kind of official talks he envisions. Some critics have speculated that the move was aimed at bolstering his Cabinet's support rate, which has fallen to a record-low level. Related coverage: FEATURE: Abductee's mom pins hopes on fresh Japan-North Korea dialogue Japan PM vows strong determination in repatriating North Korea abductees Japan to make "appropriate responses" to North Korea's quake message KYODO NEWS - Mar 25, 2024 - 16:27 | All, Japan Toshihiro Nikai, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party heavyweight, said Monday that he will not run in the next general election to take responsibility for his intraparty faction's involvement in a political funds scandal. Announcing his decision before Prime Minister Fumio Kishida makes a final decision on disciplinary steps over the scandal, Nikai, 85, a former party secretary general who has worked for better ties with China and South Korea, apologized for the scandal, saying, "It is entirely my responsibility" as head of his faction. Nikai's announcement came as the LDP is considering taking punitive steps next month against around 80 lawmakers related to the scandal from Nikai's faction and the biggest intraparty group formerly led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Such a step would mark the party's biggest disciplinary action, exceeding in scale its penalizing of 50 members who opposed a bill to privatize state-run postal services under then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2005. Among the 80 lawmakers, four executives of the Abe faction, such as former trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, are expected to face severe punishments, including possibly losing the party's endorsement in elections, LDP sources said. The LDP has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that some of its factions, including one previously headed by Abe, neglected to report portions of their income from fundraising parties and created slush funds for years for their members. A faction Kishida formerly led also admitted to underreporting funds from such parties, although he has denied it created slush funds. At a parliamentary session on Monday, Kishida said he plans to question the four members of the Abe faction later this week, along with other senior LDP lawmakers, over their involvement in the scandal. Kishida, meanwhile, said he himself would not be subject to penalties given that his faction, unlike the Abe and Nikai groups, did not pass back money to members who had exceeded their quotas for sales of tickets to fundraising parties to use as slush funds. The Nikai faction allegedly failed to declare more than 30 million yen ($198,000), resulting in the indictment without arrest of a former accountant of the faction and the issuance of a summary indictment against a secretary of Nikai's in January. Nikai said the LDP's candidate for his House of Representatives seat in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, would be decided by the party's local chapter. Kishida responded to Nikai's decision by saying it was "made after careful consideration." The Nikai faction decided to disband after Kishida announced earlier this year that he would dissolve his group over the scandal. The Abe faction has also decided to disband. Abe was fatally shot in July 2022. The current four-year terms of lower house members will expire in October 2025, but with the approval ratings for Kishida's Cabinet tumbling against the backdrop of the scandal, there is speculation that he could dissolve the lower house for a snap election before seeking to retain the LDP leadership in the party's presidential race around September. Nikai, a 13-term lower house lawmaker, is the longest-serving LDP secretary general, having held the post for over five years from 2016. Related coverage: LDP considers serious punishments for 4 members over funds scandal LDP heavyweights urged to speak as sworn witnesses over funds scandal No plan to call election before scandal-hit figures punished: PM Kishida China to take resolute countermeasures if Philippines keeps challenging bottom line: defense spokesperson Xinhua) 09:31, March 25, 2024 BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson on Sunday said if the Philippines keeps challenging the bottom line of the Chinese side, China will respond by taking resolute measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a media query regarding the Philippines' intrusion into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao. Wu said the Philippine side sent vessels to intrude into the adjacent waters of Ren'ai Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao, in an attempt to transport construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded at Ren'ai Jiao for its repair and reinforcement. The China Coast Guard lawfully and properly regulated, intercepted and expelled the Philippine vessels, resolutely thwarting the Philippines' provocative attempt to encroach on Chinese territory, the spokesperson said. He added that the incident was entirely provoked by the Philippine side, and the Chinese side's handling of the situation was reasonable, lawful, professional and standard. He emphasized that China indisputably holds sovereignty over Nansha Qundao, including Ren'ai Jiao, and the adjacent waters. "China's sovereignty and territorial integrity are not to be violated," Wu said. The Chinese side is willing to properly resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation with the Philippine side. However, the Philippine side, acting in bad faith, has attempted to illegally send construction materials to its "grounded" military vessel on Ren'ai Jiao to reinforce it into permanent facilities. The Chinese side will by no means sit idly by, the spokesperson stressed. Wu warned the Philippines to cease making any statements that may escalate tensions and stop all acts of encroachment. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Ma Hawa, an Emirati brand owned by Baynunah Watergeneration Technologies, will distribute over 30,000 eco-friendly bottles of water through the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) during Ramadan as a part of its community initiatives and sustainable hydration awareness efforts. Ma Hawa water bottles are filled with pure drinking water harvested directly from the air using Ma Hawa's innovative Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) technology, with the company committed to the UAE's sustainability goals and the efforts under the Mohammed bin Zayed Water initiative. In addition, the company will also deploy a number of innovative AWG machines at numerous mosques across the country, continuing its mission to provide sustainable and reliable sources of clean drinking water for worshippers beyond Ramadan. Commenting on the initiatives, Amro Asmael, Head of Marketing at Ma Hawa, said: "We are humbled to play a role in supporting the community and promoting sustainable hydration practices this Ramadan. Our efforts align with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's Water Initiative that aims to address water security through innovative solutions to build a brighter future for future generations." Ma Hawa's revolutionary technology transforms atmospheric humidity into refreshing water, and the company offers solutions that can provide drinking water to homes, commercial facilities, and even towns. It is hugely invested in building awareness among people so they embrace AWG innovations. TradeArabia News Service KYODO NEWS - Mar 25, 2024 - 20:42 | All, Japan Same-sex couples in Hokkaido appealed Monday a high court ruling earlier this month that recognized Japan's lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage as unconstitutional but denied them damages for emotional distress. The appeal, filed with the Supreme Court, came after the Sapporo High Court upheld a lower court's landmark verdict in 2021 that said non-recognition of same-sex marriage violates the right to equality protected under the Constitution but rejected a claim for damages totaling 6 million yen ($39,700) sought by three same-sex couples, who cited emotional suffering. Eri Nakaya, 32, one of the plaintiffs, said, "If we back out now, legal recognition will not be achieved in the foreseeable future. I hope the Supreme Court will also declare (the same-sex marriage ban) unconstitutional." Another 52-year-old plaintiff, who declined to be named, said, "We are demanding our obvious right to recognition of equality in marriage." The ruling on March 14, the first by a high court among six lawsuits filed at five district courts questioning the current laws' non-acceptance of same-sex marriage, said the provisions violate not only Article 14 on the right to equality but also Article 24, which says marriage shall be only on the mutual consent of "both sexes." The court stated for the first time that Article 24 can be understood as also guaranteeing marriage between individuals of the same sex. Between March 2021 and June 2023, the Sapporo and Nagoya district courts ruled that disallowing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, while the Tokyo and Fukuoka district courts said it was in a "state of unconstitutionality." The Osaka District Court said the lack of legal recognition was constitutional. In a separate case brought by other same-sex couples in Tokyo, the Tokyo District Court ruled earlier this month the lack of legal recognition of their marriage was in a state of unconstitutionality. Every court has dismissed compensation claims. In June 2022, the Osaka District Court ruled that not legally recognizing same-sex marriage is not unconstitutional, saying there had not been enough discussion in the country on the issue. Related coverage: China's sexual minorities suffering violence in "conversion therapy" Japan firm nixes translation of U.S. book questioning trans surgery KYODO NEWS - Mar 25, 2024 - 12:36 | All, Japan, World The U.S. military plans to strengthen the functions of its command headquarters in Japan, as it aims for smoother cooperation with the Asian nation's Self-Defense Forces in tackling security threats posed by China and North Korea, diplomatic sources said Sunday. Japan and the United States are expected to agree on the review of their command and control operations when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Joe Biden hold talks in Washington in April, the sources said, adding it would be included in a joint statement. Tokyo and Washington are likely to discuss the details of such issues ahead of two-plus-two talks involving their defense and foreign ministers, which will be held by the end of this year, the sources said. The move comes as Japan and the United States have bolstered their defense ties with the security environment in Asia becoming unstable amid China's assertiveness toward Taiwan and North Korea's continuous missile and nuclear weapons development. Japan and the United States will also work on further steps to enhance their response capabilities. Tokyo decided in 2022 to acquire the capability to strike enemy bases even under Japan's war-renouncing Constitution. Japan is set to establish a joint headquarters to command its ground, maritime and air forces by the end of March 2025. Kishida's government is aiming to deepen cooperation between the U.S. military and the joint headquarters. Currently, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, responsible for Japan, has its headquarters in Hawaii and the different time zone and physical distance hampers the efficient interaction of Japanese forces and the U.S. military. There is concern that if the U.S. military in Japan reinforces its functions along with the SDF, it would be difficult to separate its jurisdiction and authority from that of the Indo-Pacific Command, some analysts said. Last week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters in Tokyo that Washington welcomes Japan's efforts to boost its defense capabilities, adding a related announcement may be made after the upcoming summit. Kishida is set to meet with Biden in Washington on April 10. The prime minister is scheduled to visit the United States as a state guest, the first such visit by a Japanese leader since Shinzo Abe in 2015. Related coverage: Japan policy paper to focus on U.S., Philippine ties to counter China Antony Blinken warns of technology threat to democracy at Seoul forum U.S. forces resume Osprey flights in Japan amid local safety concerns KYODO NEWS - Mar 25, 2024 - 22:15 | All, Japan, World Tokyo prosecutors said Monday they have decided not to indict two Chinese women for fraud in a case that garnered attention due to their ties with an organization that a rights group has described as a Chinese overseas police station. The prosecutors did not explain the reason for their decision regarding the two former senior officials of the organization. In February, the women were referred to prosecutors over fraudulent COVID-19 relief fund claims. An official registry shows the organization was established in 2018 to promote cooperation among overseas Chinese individuals and businesses. The worldwide presence of Chinese covert police stations, used to monitor the activities of its nationals, was highlighted in a report released by Spain-based Safeguard Defenders in 2022. The two women are a 44-year-old living in Tokyo's Sumida Ward and a 59-year-old in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture. The older woman had been suspected of falsely claiming in July 2020 that her sex-related business was a chiropractic clinic run by the other woman as part of an attempt to receive 1 million yen ($6,600) in COVID-19 relief funds. Related coverage: Police searched alleged Chinese overseas police base in Tokyo PHNOM PENH, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has arrested a gang of three local people for trafficking illicit drugs, seizing nearly 186 kg of narcotics, the country's Anti-Drug Department (ADP) said in a news release on Monday. The trio, one man and two women, were apprehended last Friday during raids at two locations in the capital Phnom Penh after a thorough investigation, the ADP said, adding that they aged between 33 and 47 years old. "A total of 185.8 kg of ketamine and crystal methamphetamine was confiscated from the trio's possession during the crackdowns," the ADP said. Armed French soldiers patrol at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) PARIS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. French President Emmanuel Macron convened a defense and security meeting Sunday night at the Elysee Palace in the wake of the attack in Moscow, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on his X account. "In light of ISIS's alleged attack and the threat to our country, we have decided to elevate the Vigipirate status to the highest level: attack emergency," Attal added. At least 137 people were killed in the terrorist attack at a concert hall in Moscow on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared March 24 a day of national mourning in a televised national address on Saturday. A police vehicle is seen near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) A French soldier patrols at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) Policemen work near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) Armed French soldiers patrol at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) Armed French soldiers patrol at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) A French soldier patrols at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) Armed French soldiers patrol at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) Policemen work near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) French policemen stand guard near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) A policeman stands guard near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) Armed French soldiers patrol at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) A French policeman stands guard near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) French police vehicles are seen at the Trocadero place near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on March 25, 2024. The French government decided on Sunday to raise the national security alert system Vigipirate to its highest level to deal with the potential threat the country is facing after Friday's deadly terrorist attack in Russia's capital Moscow. (Xinhua/Gao Jing) Staff members pack durians to be exported to China at a durian processing plant in Dak Lak province, Vietnam, on Sept. 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Jiali) China surpassed the United States in 2023 to become the largest customer of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products, with a share of 23 percent of Vietnam's total agricultural export value, according to a report from Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. HANOI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- As Vietnamese agricultural exporters reviewed the figures of 2023, a new trend caught their eyes -- the actual demand from Chinese consumers went beyond their initial projection. When the export of durian via official channels to China was approved in mid-2022, Vietnamese farmers expected to grab about a quarter of a 4.2-billion-U.S.-dollar market, with an anticipated export value of 1 billion dollars. But year-end figures of 2023 were astonishing -- Vietnamese durian export to China hit 2.1 billion dollars, capturing 31 percent of a growing durian market in its northern neighbor, according to data released by China's General Administration of Customs. "China is the leading market in terms of revenues," Nguyen Khac Huy, CEO of one of Vietnam's biggest fresh dragon fruit exporter Hoang Phat Fruit, told local newspaper VnExpress, noting that Japan and South Korea used to be the company's main markets in past years, but in 2023 China surged to the top. Vina T&T, a major exporter of Vietnamese fruits, also considers China a key market thanks to its 1.4-billion population. "No other market consumes Vietnamese produce as much as China," said the company's CEO, Nguyen Dinh Tung. The company's exports to China grew by 70 percent year-on-year in 2023, and China is now its largest market, accounting for 35 percent of its revenues. It received an order for 1,500 containers from Chinese buyers but could only ship 30 percent of that number due to a supply shortage, according to local media reports. A staff member packs durians at a durian processing plant in Dak Lak province, Vietnam, on Sept. 15, 2023. Dak Lak is a leading durian-growing province in the country. (Photo by Pham Dinh Duc/Xinhua) FRUITS, AND MORE China imported 44.62 billion yuan (6.19 billion dollars) of Vietnamese agricultural products over the 11 months of 2023, marking a year-on-year increase of 20.3 percent, a report from China's General Administration of Customs said. According to a report from Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, China surpassed the United States in 2023 to become the largest customer of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products, With a share of 23 percent of Vietnam's total agricultural export value. China has so far approved 14 kinds of fresh produce, including nine fruits, as official imports from Vietnam. Over 2,900 processed items have also got the green light. Vietnam's fruit export to China increased 65 percent in market share compared with 2022, Vietnam's official figures showed. The Chinese market is projected to constitute approximately 80 percent of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export market share this year. Vietnam's agricultural export value to China is expected to increase sharply in 2024, as China has agreed to review regulations permitting the export of poultry meat from Vietnam to the market, the Vietnam News reported, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said China's consumer demand for meat products is up to about 400 billion dollars per year, meaning Vietnamese meat exports to China have a potential many times higher than that of vegetables and fruits. In 2023, Vietnam's livestock products constituted only a tiny portion of the total agricultural, forestry and fishery export value to China, according to Vietnam's figures. A farmer conducts preliminary cleaning for freshly harvested durians at a durian orchard in Dak Lak province, Vietnam, on Sept. 15, 2023. (Photo by Pham Dinh Duc/Xinhua) NATURAL ADVANTAGES Sharing a border stretching about 1,300 km and crossing seven northern localities of Vietnam, China and Vietnam enjoy unique advantages to promote their trade and economic partnership. Sharing preferences for agricultural products with the Chinese, numerous Vietnamese farmers have earned a bigger share of the Chinese market than their competitors, thanks to reduced transportation costs made possible by geographic proximity. Nguyen said Chinese buyers have set up many wholesale markets near the Vietnam-China border to help preserve produce quality. A bigger picture of bilateral trade shows immense cooperation potential between the two countries. China has been Vietnam's largest trading partner for many years, with their import-export turnover accounting for 25 percent of Vietnam's total import-export value. The resilience of the bilateral trade ties against global economic headwinds is inspiring. Notably, China was the only market among Vietnam's major export markets to achieve positive growth in 2023, Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade said. By contrast, Vietnam's agricultural exports to other key markets, such as the United States, experienced negative trends in 2023. "Vietnam's export of farm produces to China currently accounts for less than 5 percent of China's import, meaning that the room to increase exports remains huge," Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said. To tap the potential, Vietnam must focus on improving the quality of farm produce, meeting requirements and establishing trust, he urged. UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan. The resolution won 14 votes in favor among the 15 members of the council. The United States, which had previously vetoed three draft resolutions that would have called for or demanded a cease-fire in Gaza, abstained on Monday. Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Monday in Beijing, and called for closer cooperation with the IMF. Li said China has set a target of around 5 percent GDP growth this year, which is positive news for the global economy. Since the beginning of this year, China's economy has been steadily recovering and turning for the better, achieving a good start and laying a solid foundation for meeting the economic and social development targets of the year, he added. In the long run, the Chinese economy has advantages in institutions, markets, industries, human resources and innovation, and the fundamentals for long-term sound development have not changed and will not change, Li said. He added that China has the confidence and ability to maintain the sustained and sound development of its economy and the country will unswervingly pursue high-level opening up and better promote mutual benefit and win-win results with all parties. Noting that China and the IMF have maintained a sound cooperative relationship, Li said China supports the IMF in continuing to play an important role in global governance, and stands ready to further deepen cooperation with the IMF, continue to improve the global debt governance system, and contribute to world economic recovery. "We hope that the IMF will continue to play a positive role in upholding economic globalization and free trade, keep global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded, and foster an open world economy," he said. Georgieva thanked China for its strong support to the IMF and said that in the past year, China's economic growth has exceeded expectations and maintained a good momentum of development in fields like green economy, digital economy and artificial intelligence. The IMF does not approve of politicizing economic issues, and is willing to deepen cooperation with China for the country's economic transformation and upgrading, reform, and opening up, and enhance its representation and voice in the IMF, Georgieva said. Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nauruan President David Adeang held talks in Beijing on Monday. Xi pointed out that Nauru's political decision to adhere to the one-China principle and restore diplomatic ties with China in January is a move that conforms to the trend of history and the times. Friendship, whenever it is started, will have a bright future. Cooperation, whatever its size, will be productive as long as it is sincere, Xi said. Xi said China-Nauru relations have opened a new chapter in history, and China is ready to work with Nauru to create a better future of China-Nauru relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples. Xi said China welcomes Nauru as another country to sign the Belt and Road cooperation document with China. He said China is ready to expand practical cooperation with Nauru in trade, investment and infrastructure construction, and provide assistance to Nauru for its independent and sustainable development without political strings attached. Mezzan Holding KSC, a leading manufacturer and distributor of food, beverage, FMCG and pharmaceutical products in the Gulf, has appointed Amr Farghal as Group Chief Executive Officer for Food and FMCG, effective March 17, 2024. Farghal brings with him over 30 years of experience in multinational companies, including 11 years at Pepsi, and 9 years at Kelloggs. Prior to his appointment, Farghal served as CEO for Americana Foods. He brings extensive and diverse executive experience, having held various leadership positions at companies like Kelloggs in the Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa regions, Pepsi in the USA, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE, and Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited. He succeeds Garrett Walsh, who held the position of Group Chief Officer since 2011 and played a key role in the expansion of the group's business across the region. He and his team led the company's successful IPO in 2015. Garrett Walsh Mezzan Holding Vice Chairman Mohammad Jassim Al Wazzan said: "I would like to extend my gratitude to Garrett Walsh for his dedication and commitment to serving Mezzan Holdings customers and shareholders since he joined the company in 2011. We wish him continued success in his future endeavours. "On behalf of everyone at Mezzan Holding, I am pleased to welcome Amr Farghal to the team. We look forward to working with him in serving our customers, our shareholders, and our partners, said Al Wazzan. Farghal holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Alexandria University.--TradeArabia News Service ADDIS ABABA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Officials of the African Union Commission (AUC) have lauded Africa-China cooperation in the health sector, whereby China has proven to be a strategic partner in dealing with infectious diseases, including Tuberculosis (TB) in Africa. Sheila Shawa, a senior technical specialist of the AUC, said China has remained a real partner to Africa by building the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to advance public health in Africa. "The AU Commission develops policies, and the Africa CDC implements those policies by going to each member state. The center is contributing a lot to addressing infectious diseases, strengthening disease diagnosis and developing vaccines," Shawa told Xinhua in a recent interview. She said the Africa CDC has a huge significance in workforce development, disease outbreak response, surveillance and early warning across the continent. "We call upon China to further engage in infrastructure development across the continent that will lead to improvement of sanitation and hygiene and ultimately reduction of TB infection," Shawa said. Francis Chisaka Kasolo, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) liaison office at the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said the Africa CDC brings additional impetus to AU member states to respond to the TB pandemic and other communicable diseases. "Having a centralized Africa CDC here is really a bonus for the continent and helps partners, including my own organization, the World Health Organization, fight TB on the continent," Kasolo told Xinhua. According to a WHO report, an estimated 2.5 million people fell ill with TB in Africa, resulting in around 424,000 deaths in 2022. Noting that Africa-China cooperation in the health sector is gaining momentum over time, Kasolo said the African Union is working to develop vaccines locally at the Chinese-built Africa CDC complex in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. "China has a history of working with Africa for many years, and now the hope is that it will continue investing in health and supporting African institutions to promote health across the continent," Kasolo added. The officials made these remarks Friday on the sideline of an event marking World Tuberculosis Day, which falls on March 24 every year to raise people's awareness of the disease, at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, under the theme of "Yes! We can end TB!" People attend a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in Prokuplje, Serbia, on March 24, 2024. Serbia will never surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the NATO alliance, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic here Sunday at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua) PROKUPLJE, Serbia, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Serbia will never surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the NATO alliance, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic here Sunday at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. On the Remembrance Day for the Victims of the NATO Aggression on Yugoslavia, people gathered in Prokuplje, some 260 km south of Belgrade, to pay tribute to the victims of the NATO bombings. "They (NATO) wanted to destroy our homeland, to destroy Serbia and dismember it, but they failed," Vucic said. "25 years have passed, and we remain unbroken...We will never consent to the dismemberment of Serbia! Kosovo and Metohija shall never willingly be torn from us, " Vucic stressed. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbia rejects it and considers Kosovo its own province. The event began with a somber commemoration led by Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije, who later stressed in his speech that the bombing revealed "the depth of human cruelty when one chooses to abandon humanity." After the national anthem and a minute of silence, Andjelka Tosovic, whose house was hit by a projectile during the NATO bombing that killed her 11-month-old sister and her father, said "it wouldn't heal over time." President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik condemned NATO's violation of international law and disregard for innocent lives, including newborn children, while praising Serbia's defiance and resilience. "We remain dignified people who cherish our freedom," Dodik said, emphasizing the importance of unity as reflected in the widespread observance of the Remembrance Day. In 1999, the U.S.-led NATO forces carried out continuous airstrikes for 78 days against Yugoslavia, leaving more than 8,000 civilians dead or injured and nearly 1 million more displaced. Cluster bombs and depleted uranium bombs banned by international conventions were used in the strikes, which also caused wide destruction of infrastructure. The Chinese embassy, where three journalists lost their lives, and the building of the Serbian national broadcaster RTS, were also among the targets. President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik speaks at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in Prokuplje, Serbia, on March 24, 2024. Serbia will never surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the NATO alliance, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic here Sunday at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua) A bomb model is seen during a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in Prokuplje, Serbia, on March 24, 2024. Serbia will never surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the NATO alliance, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic here Sunday at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua) Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in Prokuplje, Serbia, on March 24, 2024. Serbia will never surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the NATO alliance, said Vucic here Sunday at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua) People attend a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in Prokuplje, Serbia, on March 24, 2024. Serbia will never surrender its province of Kosovo and Metohija nor join the NATO alliance, said Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic here Sunday at a commemoration event marking the 25th anniversary of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Nauruan President David Adeang in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. Xi held talks with Adeang, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nauruan President David Adeang held talks in Beijing on Monday. Xi noted that Nauru's political decision to adhere to the one-China principle and restore diplomatic ties with China in January is a move that conforms to the trend of history and the times. Friendship, no matter its beginning, will have a bright future, and cooperation, regardless of scale, will be productive as long as it is sincere, Xi said. Xi said that China-Nauru relations have opened a new chapter in history, and China is ready to work with Nauru to create a better future for relations between the two countries and bring more benefits to the two peoples. Xi said China welcomes Nauru as another country to sign the Belt and Road cooperation document with China, adding that China is ready to expand practical cooperation with Nauru in trade, investment and infrastructure construction, and provide assistance to Nauru for its independent and sustainable development without political strings attached. Stressing that treating others as equals is a defining feature of China's diplomacy, Xi said China always believes that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community. China has always been a member of the developing world, and China's vote in the United Nations Security Council always belongs to the developing countries, Xi said. Noting that China-Nauru relations are based on mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and mutual support, Xi said China firmly supports Nauru in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and in independently pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions. China stands ready to strengthen exchanges and dialogue with Nauru at all levels and in all fields, enhance mutual understanding and trust, and consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations, he said. Calling on the two sides to strengthen exchanges in education, culture, health, youth and other fields, Xi said China welcomes more young Nauruan people to study in China, and is willing to provide Nauru with assistance to address climate change within the framework of South-South cooperation. China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with Nauru in multilateral fields such as the United Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum, jointly advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization that benefits all, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, the Chinese president said. Adeang said it is a great honor to be invited for a state visit to China and experience China's long history, splendid culture and vibrant development. Not long ago, Nauru decided to stand on the right side of history and resume diplomatic relations with China on the basis of recognizing and adhering to the one-China principle, which is an important landmark in Nauru-China relations and opens a new chapter in Nauru's national development and bilateral relations, Adeang added. He said Nauru highly appreciates China's commitment to equality among all countries, no matter big or small, and is willing to abide by the one-China principle, and continuously deepen cooperation with China. He added that Nauru will take the resumption of diplomatic ties as an important opportunity to enhance mutual respect and understanding, facilitate personnel exchanges and cooperation in various fields, learn from China's experience, and develop a fruitful and mutually beneficial partnership. As the world today faces many global challenges, common progress and prosperity can only be achieved through solidarity and cooperation, Adeang said, noting that the series of global initiatives put forward by President Xi Jinping is of great significance. Adeang said Nauru is willing to actively participate in the joint Belt and Road construction, implement the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, and strengthen cooperation with China on tackling climate change. After the talks, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of the Belt and Road cooperation, the Global Development Initiative, economic development and agriculture. Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Nauruan President David Adeang in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. Xi held talks with Adeang, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Nauruan President David Adeang in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. Xi held talks with Adeang, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Nauruan President David Adeang in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. Xi held talks with Adeang, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a welcome ceremony for Nauruan President David Adeang in the Northern Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. Xi held talks with Adeang, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Shen Hong) Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Nauruan President David Adeang, who is on a state visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan) Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nauruan President David Adeang jointly witness the signing of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of the Belt and Road cooperation, the Global Development Initiative, economic development and agriculture after their talks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. Xi held talks with Adeang, who is on a state visit to China, in Beijing on Monday. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) NANNING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Yi Pengfei, a former senior political advisor from central China's Hunan Province, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for taking bribes and abuse of power. Yi, former vice chairman of the provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was also deprived of political rights for life, and all of his personal property will be confiscated, according to the verdict handed by a court in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. All Yi's illegal gains will be recovered and turned over to the state treasury, the court ruled. The court found that between 2003 and 2023, Yi took advantage of his various former positions in Hunan to offer help to others in terms of project contracting, business operation and personnel promotion, and accepted money and property worth more than 81.4 million yuan (11.5 million U.S. dollars) in return. Given that Yi confessed his crime, reported part of his crimes that supervisory organs had not yet resolved, showed remorse, and actively returned his illicit gains, he was given a lenient punishment, according to the court. DAR ES SALAAM, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania has received over 1.8 million tourists between 2021 and 2023, earning a revenue of about 3.37 billion U.S. dollars, a senior government official said on Sunday. "Tanzania now ranks second in Africa for attracting tourists after Ethiopia in the post-COVID-19 era, and it ranks third in tourist earnings after Morocco and Mauritius," said Mobhare Matinyi, chief government spokesperson and director of Information Services. Matinyi made the remarks when addressing a news conference in the port city of Dar es Salaam on achievements made over the past three years after Samia Suluhu Hassan, the incumbent president of Tanzania, took office. Tanzania has continued scooping various global tourism awards in recognition of its efforts in promoting the tourism industry, he said. BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Sunday marks the 29th World Tuberculosis (TB) Day. According to the Chinese health authority, the country has made substantial progress in the prevention and control of the disease. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, incidences of TB in China have dropped by 25 percent, said Zhao Yanlin, head of the Center for Tuberculosis Prevention and Control under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC). Zhao also noted that since then, China has maintained a 90 percent cure rate for TB patients. These achievements reflect the great importance China attaches to the prevention and control of TB. According to Lu Jiang, deputy head of the China CDC, the country has drafted and released three work plans on the regulation and implementation of TB prevention, control and treatment measures. Additionally, the central government funding for relevant work increased from 40 million yuan (5.63 million U.S. dollars) in 2001 to 1.27 billion yuan in 2023. Chinese health authorities have also rolled out measures to facilitate the treatment of TB patients and relieve their financial burdens. These measures include deducting treatment fees and providing first-line anti-tuberculosis medicine for free. In terms of TB control, Chinese health experts emphasized the need to improve the efficiency of treatment. Zhang Wenhong, head of the Center for Infectious Diseases with the Shanghai-based Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, pointed out that in order to address the long medication period and subsequent drug resistance problems, shortening the course of treatment is key to eradicating TB. According to Zhang, a research team of which he is a member has been exploring ways to shorten the treatment course for drug-resistant tuberculosis from two years to six-to-nine months. Meanwhile, the development of new medicine is equally important. Ding Sheng, director of the Beijing-based Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, said that it is necessary to develop TB medicines with fewer side effects that are easy to apply, making it more likely for patients to adhere to treatment. Currently, the institute is working together with medicine developers at home and abroad, as well as medical institutions, to advance the research and development of TB medicines. VIENTIANE, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met in Laos to review the strides made under the community's socio-cultural pillar and endorse nine important documents. The representatives gathered in northern Laos' Luang Prabang province for the 31st ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council meeting, Lao National Radio reported on Monday. The meeting was marked by a forward-looking exchange of strategic visions, preparing the community to effectively tackle both current and future challenges. The session concluded with the adoption of nine pivotal documents, set to be proposed for approval at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits taking place in Lao capital Vientiane in October. Speaking at the meeting on Sunday, Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Suanesavanh Vignaket, expressed her confidence that these documents would serve as vital legislation for various sectors, propelling ASEAN towards its overarching goal of building a prosperous and harmonious community. Suanesavanh called for continued development in line with the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the master plan of the ASEAN Socio-cultural Community 2025. The meeting underscored the importance of collaborative efforts to develop the strategic plan of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community post-2025 and to conduct a thorough assessment of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 to ensure its success. ANKARA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye has been taking "all necessary measures" to boost security for the upcoming local election, a cabinet minister said on Monday. A total of 594,000 personnel will be on duty for the March 31 polls that would welcome more than 61 million eligible voters, including 1 million first-time ones, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said at a press conference. "We have held election security meetings with provincial governors, gendarmerie commanders, police chiefs, and other relevant unit-authorized chiefs" to cover risk analysis and prepare security plans, he said. A coordination board and an election operations center were formed on the relevant matter, while cybersecurity measures were also taken in coordination with the Supreme Election Council, he added. Turkiye had two major elections last year, presidential and parliamentary elections, and a record turnout of up to 90 percent was reached at the polls, the minister said. Turkiye holds local polls every five years. The March 31 election will produce new mayors and other office-holders in 81 provinces and their districts. Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) have successfully organised the first in a series of international roadshows to promote this years edition of Expand North Star. Expand North Star is the worlds largest event for startups and investors, which will be hosted by the chamber at Dubai Harbour from October 13 to 16. The first of the 2024 international roadshows took place in Poland, where a series of sessions and activities were held at the Google Campus in Warsaw. The two-day event attracted 150 Polish tech companies, who participated in a total of 22 meetings. The event created a valuable platform for discussions and networking opportunities with Polish businesses and trade organisations. Pitch competition The roadshow included a pitch competition introducing groundbreaking ideas from 10 finalists in the enterprise software, healthcare, real estate, construction, and MedTech sectors. Participants competed for a fully funded market access week in Dubai and a spot in the semi-final of the Supernova Challenge during Expand North Star 2024 to battle for a total cash prize pool of $240,000. The winner of the competition was a groundbreaking solution from BrainScan, a Polish Series B startup that is revolutionising the analysis of human brain CT scans through A.I. The competition was followed by a roundtable session featuring prominent Polish tech enterprises, which highlighted the success stories of local businesses that have expanded into Dubai leveraging the emirates dynamic and business-friendly environment. First stop Poland is the first stop of an engagement campaign aimed at driving participation in Expand North Star 2024, the flagship event organised by the Dubai World Trade Centre and hosted by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy. The eagerly anticipated gathering connects the worlds most sought-after startups with innovators, investors, entrepreneurs, and the founders of global success stories to explore exciting growth opportunities emerging in Dubai and catalyse the future of the digital economy. Last years edition attracted more than 1,600 startups, including 52 unicorn companies, together with over 850 investors who collectively manage assets worth $1 trillion. The four-day gathering plays a vital role in attracting and connecting the global tech community to Dubai by providing a highly effective platform for networking, innovation and collaboration. Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy is committed to driving the success of Dubais digital ecosystem and accelerating the emirates transformation into one of the worlds leading digital economies in line with the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33). Expand North Star forms a key part of the chambers strategy to cement Dubais position as a leading global hub for innovation and advanced technologies, as well as drive sustainable economic growth and development in the emirate and beyond.--TradeArabia News Service BRUSSELS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission revealed on Monday the opening of non-compliance investigations targeting three major American tech giants, namely, Alphabet, Apple and Meta. The probe, conducted under the European Union (EU)'s Digital Markets Act, focuses on alleged breaches by these companies. Alphabet, Google's parent company, is under scrutiny for purported breaches concerning steering practices within Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search. Likewise, Apple's policies regarding steering within the App Store and the implementation of choice screens for Safari browser are under investigation, along with Meta's "pay or consent model," according to a statement from the European Commission. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Alexander Babakov in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji met with Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Alexander Babakov in Beijing on Monday. Zhao, the chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said that the NPC of China is willing to work with the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to focus on implementing the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, give full play to the characteristics and advantages of the legislature, carry out in-depth exchanges and cooperation at various levels and in various fields, enrich and expand the content of institutionalized exchanges, provide legal guarantee for bilateral practical cooperation, and consolidate the social and public-opinion foundation for China-Russia friendship from generation to generation. China actively supports Russia in hosting the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum and stands ready to strengthen communication and coordination in multilateral fields, Zhao said. Noting that Russia-China relations have been continuously consolidated and developed under the guidance and promotion of the two heads of state, Babakov said the Russian State Duma is willing to maintain close and friendly exchanges with the NPC of China and make positive contributions to enriching the connotation of bilateral cooperation. Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, meets with Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Alexander Babakov in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling) Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with World Bank President Ajay Banga at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with World Bank President Ajay Banga on Monday in Beijing, calling for a closer partnership. Li said that China is the largest developing country in the world and it has conducted fruitful cooperation with the World Bank over more than 40 years. The country is willing to build a closer partnership with the World Bank, strengthen cooperation on knowledge, rural revitalization and health care, promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, and make positive contributions to addressing climate change and other global challenges. China supports the World Bank's reform agenda and hopes that the bank will position development at the center of that reform, increase its input in established areas of poverty reduction and development, increase the representation of developing countries, and play a more effective role in global governance, he noted. He said China will continue to step up its macro-control and introduce more policies that are conducive to maintaining stable expectations and growth, and foster and strengthen new growth drivers to make more contributions to world economic growth. "The fundamentals sustaining China's long-term sound economic growth remain unchanged," Li said. He noted that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with other countries to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment, and deepen reforms in key areas. The country is also prepared to safeguard fair competition in an improved manner, protect the legitimate rights and interests of various enterprises, promote the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, and share development opportunities with the world, he said. Ajay Banga thanked China for its long-term support for the work of the World Bank, and said he appreciates the sound operations of the bank's cooperation projects in China. He said that China is a model of cooperation between the World Bank and other countries, noting that the bank is willing to deepen cooperation with China on health care, green transformation and climate change, and make positive contributions to China's high-quality development. Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with World Bank President Ajay Banga at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a joint press conference with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan, March 25, 2024. Guterres said Monday that the effective delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza requires "the immediate delivery" of a humanitarian ceasefire. During a joint press conference in Amman with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the UN chief said he would push for the removal of all obstacles to life-saving aid and find more entry points for their delivery into Gaza. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua) AMMAN, March 25 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that the effective delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza requires "the immediate delivery" of a humanitarian ceasefire. During a joint press conference in Amman with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the UN chief said he would push for the removal of all obstacles to life-saving aid and find more entry points for their delivery into Gaza. However, "there will be no sustainable humanitarian solution with an ongoing war as bloody as this," he added. Guterres said he met with injured Palestinian civilians and heard directly from frontline UN humanitarian workers at the Rafah border crossing over the weekend. "Without exception, they told me they have never seen anything as horrible as what is happening in Gaza today," he said. "The scale and speed of the death and destruction are on an entirely different level." "The need is urgent," as starvation is engulfing Palestinians in Gaza, he noted. During the presser, Safadi said that Gaza has become a cemetery for children, a catastrophic humanitarian consequence brought by the conflict, Jordan's state-run Al Mamlaka TV reported. What is happening in Gaza must stop immediately, and Israel must abide by international legitimacy decisions, he noted. The basic demand is to stop the ceasefire and deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave, as well as to prevent the bloodshed in Rafah as Israel has vowed to launch a ground raid there, according to the Jordanian diplomat. Jordan will continue to work with the United Nations to ensure that the world stands united to demand an end to massacres and crimes in Gaza and to stop "escaping from punishment for those who violate international law and international humanitarian law," said Safadi. Turning to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), he said the agency has done extremely important work in meeting the needs of refugees. UNRWA's role in Gaza cannot be replaced, and he welcomed the decision by several countries to resume funding the agency, Safadi noted. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) attends a joint press conference with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan, March 25, 2024. Guterres said Monday that the effective delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza requires "the immediate delivery" of a humanitarian ceasefire. During a joint press conference in Amman with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, the UN chief said he would push for the removal of all obstacles to life-saving aid and find more entry points for their delivery into Gaza. (Photo by Mohammad Abu Ghosh/Xinhua) SYDNEY, March 25 (Xinhua) -- At least two properties have been damaged in Western Australia (WA) as a major bushfire continued to rage on Monday. In a statement about the blaze affecting the Waroona and Murray shires, WA Department Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said that two outbuildings have been lost and authorities "are expecting to confirm further property loss today." Ignited about 90 kilometers south of the state capital Perth, the bushfire was initially reported at around midday on Saturday and has ravaged more than 3,000 hectares as of Monday, which remains "out of control and uncontained." "They (firefighters) were successful in containing the northern flank through backburning, however, they are still facing variable winds and difficult terrain on the western side today," said Klemm. "The fire is burning through steep and hilly terrain with thick forest and old-growth pine that is very dry and difficult to access," he added. According to the commissioner, more than 160 firefighters and support personnel are working to contain the fire, and one of their major tasks is to build containment lines around its 50-kilometer perimeter. "The cause of the fire is accidental and is believed to be due to campers using a car battery to charge devices," said Klemm. As the bushfire moving slowly in a westerly direction is still at an Emergency Warning level, the commissioner urged anyone who remains in the affected area to leave immediately for a safer place. YANGON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar welcomed over 260,000 foreign tourists in the first two months of this year, according to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism on Monday. In January, over 140,000 foreign tourists arrived, followed by over 120,000 in February, an official from the ministry said. So far this year, the number of foreign tourist arrivals has increased significantly compared to the same period of 2023 which saw over 85,000 arrivals, the official said, adding that most visitors to Myanmar came from China and Thailand. To further develop tourism, expanding destinations, participating in international tourism trade fairs and conducting digital marketing were being carried out, the official said. Popular destinations in Myanmar are Kyaiktiyo pagoda, Chaungtha beach, archaeological site Bagan, Mandalay region and Nay Pyi Taw capital city. By Xinhua writer Wang Siyuan BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- While the world economy is clouded by upheavals and uncertainties, China is creating new opportunities for businesses worldwide as well as global growth in its pursuit of high-quality development and Chinese modernization. After the Chinese economy began the year on a solid note and pressed ahead with policies and actions to maintain steady and quality growth, economic experts and business leaders attending the China Development Forum (CDF) 2024 has shared optimism on China's development. China's urbanization still has huge potential for upgrading, and the country's digital and green transformation creates new spaces for demand, said Lu Hao, chair of the CDF 2024 and president of Development Research Center of the State council. Lu noted that China's development will bring more opportunities for international win-win cooperation, injecting more vitality and certainty to the world economy. Themed "The Continuous Development of China," the year's CDF will focus on various issues including China's growth drivers and prospects, carbon neutrality, big health, digital transformation of industries and new consumption. Over 400 delegates participated in the opening ceremony of the forum, including executives from leading multinationals, domestic and overseas scholars, representatives from international organizations, and government officials. The forum provides an invaluable venue for participants to candidly exchange views, learn about each other's interests, and seek common ground, said Evan G. Greenberg, co-chair of CDF 2024, as well as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the insurance company Chubb Limited. "China's economic growth is unprecedented in human history. As the size of China's economy has grown, so has its influence," he said. "We have faced challenges before - and overcome them. Together. China's remarkable journey stands as a testament to what's possible," said Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, at the forum. His views are echoed by Masatsugu Asakawa, president of the Asian Development Bank, saying that he is encouraged by the progress China has made in its development. "Looking ahead for China we see a stable growth trajectory in 2024, within the target range announced by the government," said Masatsugu Asakawa. In its government work report, China unveiled a target of around 5-percent expansion for the Chinese economy this year. Jack Chan, chairman of EY China and regional managing partner of EY Greater China, described the goal as both pragmatic and inspiring. "Despite the numerous challenges in global growth, China's solid economic fundamentals for long-term growth remained unchanged as shown in its 2023 performance and we maintain confidence in the country's ongoing high-quality development," Chan said. "In the medium-term, China will continue to be a key contributor to global economic growth," said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, at the forum. Executives of leading multinationals also look to feel the pulse of the Chinese market, as well as the growth drivers generated from innovation and sustainable development. "China has so much to offer to global healthcare, innovation and sustainability," said Pascal Soriot, CEO of British biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, adding that the company is proud to be playing a leading role in bringing new medicines to Chinese patients as well as Chinese innovation to the world. Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of France-based cosmetic giant L'Oreal, said he thinks the CDF is a high-level platform for open discussion. It reflects China's determination to embrace a new era of high-quality development. The group has invested two new fulfillment centers in east China's Suzhou and Nantong recently to support the rapidly growing e-commerce sector across the country, he said, adding that China is home to one of L'Oreal's three beauty tech hubs worldwide. "L'Oreal will continue to invest in China as we believe that investing in China is investing in the future," he said. HONG KONG, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The inaugural One Earth Summit was held on Monday in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as the first of a series of international financial events to ensue this week. Organized by the Institute of Sustainability and Technology, a Hong Kong-based sustainability research and education institute, the summit seeks to leverage Hong Kong's prominence as a financial and innovation hub to foster an ecosystem of public-private-philanthropic partnerships dedicated to driving sustainability progress. "Hong Kong has long been a leading global financial center. In recent years, we have also placed high priority on combating climate change, promoting sustainability, embracing a green economy and building collaboration, worldwide, in these critical areas," said HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee while addressing the summit. Lee said Hong Kong will sustain its issuance of green bonds, extend green debt support to transition products, promote green fintech, and assist companies and financial institutions in sustainability reporting. This summit aims to set science-based targets and mobilize all the necessary capital to empower innovative solutions, said Poman Lo, founder of the Institute of Sustainability and Technology, adding that the summit will become an annual gathering. QUITO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, was shot dead inside a vehicle Sunday, according to the National Police. The mayor of San Vicente, a city in western Ecuador's Manabi province, was found dead along with Jairo Loor, an advisor and director of communication for the local government. "Inside the car, ballistic evidence was collected" by forensic experts, the National Police said, adding that an investigation was underway to determine how and why the killings took place. The mayor, the youngest politician in the country at the age of 27, was a member of the Citizen Revolution Movement led by former President Rafael Correa. The killings came at a time when Ecuador is waging a battle against organized crime. The country has declared a state of emergency and an "internal armed conflict" as it tries to dismantle 22 criminal gangs identified by the government as "terrorists" behind an unprecedented wave of violence. Garcia is the second official murdered in Manabi in recent months. In July 2023, Agustin Intriago, mayor of Manta, was killed while touring one of the city's neighborhoods. Assassinations have been on the rise in Ecuador since presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was killed in an armed attack in August last year, following a political rally in the capital Quito. UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan. Resolution 2728 won 14 votes in favor among the 15 members of the council. The United States, which had previously vetoed three draft resolutions that would have called for or demanded a cease-fire in Gaza, abstained on Monday, allowing the draft to pass. Resolution 2728 demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for Ramadan, leading to a sustainable cease-fire. The resolution also demands the release of all hostages. Before the vote on the draft resolution tabled by the 10 elected members of the Security Council, Russia proposed an oral amendment. The Russian proposal was rejected by the Security Council. Al Haramain Group, a leading UAE manufacturer and retailer of fragrances, has expanded its retail network to 120 stores spread over more than ten countries as its UAE-made products get exported to more than 70 countries. Al Haramain Perfumes the Groups flagship company is a pioneer in manufacturing Oudh, Agarwood, Bakhoor, Dehnal Oudh, and oriental perfumes having one of the biggest market shares in these categories. The UAE perfume market size reached $614.3 million in 2022. It is expected to reach $1.15 billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 11.88% during 2023-2028, according to Markets and Research. The GCC fine fragrances market size, on the other hand, is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.5% to $19 billion by 2032 from $12.4 billion in 2022, according to a report by Market 24X7. Exponential growth With its outlets strategically positioned across the region, the company has witnessed exponential growth in annual production capacity, accompanied by the launch of 34 new captivating fragrances in the year 2023 alone. Al Haramain Group commands a substantial 5-7% market share in the Middle Easts fragrance market. As a manufacturer, it has showcased its unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation in the fragrance industry. We are immensely proud of the remarkable success achieved by Al Haramain Group in the UAE, a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation. As we host this grand Iftar gathering, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to our loyal customers and partners who have been integral to our journey. This milestone reinforces our dedication to delivering unparalleled products and experiences, enriching lives across borders and cultures, Mohammed Mahtabur Rahman, Chairman of Al Haramain Group of Companies and Chairman of NRB Bank, said. Al Haramain organised the UAEs largest Iftar dinner for 5,000 people to celebrate its expansion. The occasion is not only celebration of the holy month of Ramadan but also an opportunity to showcase the company's latest offerings and extend gratitude to its loyal clientele for their continued support. Satisfaction Mohibur Rahman, Bangladesh State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief, expressed his satisfaction seeing such a large Iftar gathering. He said: Bangladesh is a country that is growing fast and it is heartening to see that our people are also doing well in foreign countries such as the UAE. Bangladesh and the UAE share strong brotherly ties and I urge all to abide by the laws and contribute to the economies of the UAE and Bangladesh. Established in the holy city of Makkah in 1970, Al Haramain Group embarked on its journey by retailing religious fragrances to pilgrims, laying the foundation for a legacy of quality, authenticity, and service excellence. Today, the company boasts a diversified portfolio spanning perfumes, tea, banking, education, and healthcare, with over 20 business establishments operating across the GCC, Bangladesh, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other nations. With more than 100 branches and a workforce exceeding 1,000 professionals, Al Haramain Group remains steadfast in its mission to deliver unparalleled products and services to discerning customers worldwide. Excellence and authenticity Renowned for its unwavering commitment to quality and innovation, Al Haramain Group holds dual ISO certifications in Quality Management Systems (ISO 9001:2015) and Good Manufacturing Practices (ISO 22716:2007), underscoring its adherence to the highest international standards. The brand's products are synonymous with excellence and authenticity, captivating fragrance enthusiasts through meticulously crafted blends that cater to diverse tastes, occasions, and personalities. Abdullah Al-Qadi, CEO of Al Haramain Group, said: "The success of Al Haramain Group in the UAE reflects our deep-rooted commitment to delivering products of uncompromising quality. We are honored to celebrate this milestone with our valued patrons and partners through the grand Iftar gathering, as we continue to set new benchmarks in the fragrance industry."--TradeArabia News Service BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- China will further expand its high-level opening up, offering more opportunities for foreign investors to engage in deeper operations in the country, the Ministry of Commerce said Monday. As China continues to lift market access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, it will also promote the opening up of sectors such as telecommunications and medical care to create more trade and investment opportunities for foreign investors, Vice Commerce Minister Guo Tingting said at the China Development Forum 2024. The country will also launch a campaign to boost investment, continue to optimize services, and fully ensure national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, Guo said. "We will further enhance innovation drive and actively participate in global industrial and supply chain cooperation," Guo said, adding that efforts will be made to develop new technologies, industries and business models, expand service trade and digital trade, and promote the innovative development of enterprises. Guo noted that China will deepen multilateral and bilateral cooperation and work for more practical outcomes in mechanisms such as G20, APEC and BRICS so that the results of economic globalization can better benefit all parties. ADDIS ABABA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) and TikTok, the video-sharing social networking platform, have announced a joint initiative called the Safer Together campaign to empower African youth with the knowledge and tools to navigate the digital world safely. The 55-member continental bloc said in a statement Sunday that the campaign, which was launched at the recent TikTok Safer Internet Summit in Ghana, aims to empower not only Africa's young people but also parents and educators on digital safety. Prudence Ngwenya, director of the Women, Gender and Youth Directorate at the AU Commission, lauded the partnership as a vital step toward empowering Africa's youth and safeguarding their digital future. "The Safer Together campaign is in line with the AU's ongoing efforts to promote and advocate not only for safe online experiences for young people in Africa but also for their mental well-being through the One Million Next Level Initiative," Ngwenya said. The One Million Next Level Initiative seeks to provide opportunities for 300 million African youth by 2030 in the areas of education, employment, entrepreneurship, as well as health and well-being, according to the AU. Ngwenya noted that while access to the internet can help children and young people stay connected, improve their digital literacy, and diversify their livelihoods, it is crucial that they are provided with a safe environment to reap the benefits of digital platforms. The campaign includes a wide array of in-app activities, such as educational video content, hashtag challenges, endorsements by content creators, and notifications, the AU said. The joint initiative will also provide "Digital Safety Toolkits" to support educators and guardians in tackling key digital safety topics, available through a dedicated microsite on TikTok, offering an engaging guide for fostering safer online behaviors. Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, government relations and public policy director for TikTok in Sub-Saharan Africa, underscored TikTok's commitment to nurturing a digitally safe environment for all. "Our partnership with the AU women, gender, and youth directorate reinforces TikTok's deep commitment to the diverse tapestry of markets across Africa," he said. The AU and TikTok also expressed their joint commitment to creating a more inclusive and safer digital space for Africa's youth. The AU said the partnership will empower young people with the tools and confidence to navigate the online world with wisdom and safety. TUNIS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia foiled 30 illegal immigration attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Italy on Sunday, according to a statement by the Tunisian National Guard. The statement on its Facebook page said those immigration attempts were thwarted off the southeastern coast of Sfax province. During the operations, 612 immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa and two Tunisians nationals were rescued from sinking boats, said the statement, without giving the total number of the immigrants who were trying to cross the Mediterranean toward the Italian island of Lampedusa. Measures against the immigrants are being taken after consultation with the public prosecutor's office, according to the statement. In recent months, Tunisian security has intensified efforts to combat illegal immigration heading towards the Italian island of Lampedusa, expanding operations from the southeastern province of Sfax to other provinces. Situated about 130 km from the Tunisian coastline, the island of Lampedusa is often chosen as the first stop for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to make illegal sea voyages to Italy. Former Singapore transport minister S. Iswaran (C) leaves the State Courts in Singapore, March 25, 2024. Iswaran was charged in the State Courts with eight additional counts of obtaining valuable things as a public servant, according to a statement issued by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) Monday. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) SINGAPORE, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Former Singapore transport minister S. Iswaran was charged in the State Courts with eight additional counts of obtaining valuable things as a public servant, according to a statement issued by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) Monday. Iswaran received valuables with a total value of nearly 19,000 Singapore dollars (14,000 U.S. dollars) from businessman Lum Kok Seng between November 2021 and November 2022, the CPIB noted. Iswaran resigned from the cabinet and the Parliament after he was charged with 27 offenses under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Penal Code in January. Local media reported that Iswaran pleaded not guilty to the additional charges. Former Singapore transport minister S. Iswaran leaves the State Courts in Singapore, March 25, 2024. Iswaran was charged in the State Courts with eight additional counts of obtaining valuable things as a public servant, according to a statement issued by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) Monday. (Photo by Then Chih Wey/Xinhua) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla attending the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Multinational companies are welcome to expand their investment in China, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said in Beijing on Monday. He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with representatives of multinational companies attending the China Development Forum 2024, as they exchanged views on the economic situation in the world and China, and on expanding investment in China. The representatives were Blackstone Group chairman Stephen Schwarzman, Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla, Corning chairman Wendell Weeks, Siemens AG president and CEO Roland Busch, and John Swire & Sons Limited Chief Executive Officer Merlin Swire. He said that China is speeding up the development of new quality productive forces, the economy continues to improve steadily, the development outlook is promising, and multinational companies are welcome to expand their investment in China. The representatives of multinational companies said they are optimistic about the potential of the Chinese market and will continue to increase investment in the country. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Corning chairman Wendell Weeks attending the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Siemens AG president and CEO Roland Busch attending the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Blackstone Group chairman Stephen Schwarzman attending the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with John Swire & Sons Limited Chief Executive Officer Merlin Swire attending the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Beijing, capital of China, March 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) * "L'Oreal will continue to invest in China as we believe that investing in China is investing in the future," said Nicolas Hieronimus, chief executive officer (CEO) of the France-based cosmetic giant, adding that the CDF reflects China's determination to embrace a new era of high-quality development. * Kim Fausing, president and CEO of Danfoss, a leading Danish energy efficiency solution company, said China's reaffirmed pledge to further opening-up and improvements to the business environment, especially the protection of intellectual property rights, gives them strong confidence to continue investing in the country. This photo taken on March 24, 2024 shows the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin) By Xinhua writer Wang Siyuan BEIJING, March 25 (Xinhua) -- As China saw its economy begin the year on a solid note and press ahead with policies to maintain sound development, multinationals are ready to take the pulse of the Chinese market, as well as growth drivers generated from innovation. At the China Development Forum (CDF) 2024, an annual high-level international conference, held from Sunday to Monday, leaders of multinationals expressed their confidence in the economy and businesses prospects in China. "L'Oreal will continue to invest in China as we believe that investing in China is investing in the future," said Nicolas Hieronimus, chief executive officer (CEO) of the France-based cosmetic giant, adding that the CDF reflects China's determination to embrace a new era of high-quality development. Themed "The Continuous Development of China," the forum attracted about 400 delegates, including business leaders, scholars, and representatives from international organizations keen to exchange ideas, and officials from the Chinese central government's departments who introduced China's policy at the forum. This photo shows Chinese herbs at the Amway booth at the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai) FIRM STEPS, BRIGHT OUTLOOK Milind Pant, CEO of Amway Corp., said China has been the company's largest, fastest growing and most important strategic market for over 20 years. Amway China has seen a sales growth of 7 percent annually on average over the past three years, said Pant, adding that Amway will continue to invest in China. "China's advantage presented by complete industry chains and innovative ecosystems are now widely recognized and highly regarded by multinationals," he said. The company is also a witness to and beneficiary of China's opening-up policy. The country has taken steps such as shortening the negative list for foreign investment, setting up some pilot free trade zones, and implementing the Foreign Investment Law. China issued an action plan to further attract and utilize foreign investment earlier this month, proposing 24 measures across five aspects, such as expanding market access, facilitating the flow of innovation factors, as well as better aligning domestic rules with high-standard international economic and trade rules. A drone photo taken on July 5, 2023 shows the Tianjin factory of Danfoss, a leading energy efficiency solution company, in north China's Tianjin. (Xinhua) Kim Fausing, president and CEO of Danfoss, a leading Danish energy efficiency solution company, said China's reaffirmed pledge to further opening-up and improvements to the business environment, especially the protection of intellectual property rights, gives them strong confidence to continue investing in the country. In April, Danfoss will launch the construction of the second phase of their Haiyan campus in Zhejiang Province, east China, which is also its largest manufacturing base in China. Pascal Soriot, CEO of British biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, said the company had been in China for over 30 years and noted that it had become its important growth engine by revenue. "China is absolutely critical for the world growth. If China doesn't grow, the world is not growing," said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Danone, a food and beverage multinational. De Saint-Affrique said that Chinese government is doing its commitment of around 5 percent growth rate in a way that is sustainable, and is unleashing the new quality productive forces, which gives him huge confidence in the market. People chat before the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing, capital of China, March 24, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xin) NEW GROWTH DRIVERS, NEW OPPORTUNITIES Making strides in new quality productive forces, featuring high-tech, high efficiency and high quality, is high on China's agenda this year. For foreign businesses, this offers insight into new business opportunities in China. China will boost industrial innovation via technological innovation, speed up upgrading of traditional industries, and foster emerging industries, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the CDF. Soriot considers it a "tremendously exciting and important in the field of healthcare." "We are here because China is at the forefront of using artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and renewable energy to shape the future of healthcare, and we believe that Chinese-born innovation can help millions of patients worldwide," he said. AstraZeneca recently concluded an agreement to invest 475 million U.S. dollars to build a new small molecule factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, east China, which will focus on sustainable manufacturing. In February, it announced that Shanghai had become its fifth global strategic hub. The company signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation with its Chinese partners during the CDF to explore modes of collaboration in vaccines. A concept car of Mercedes-Benz is displayed at the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai, east China, April 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Xin Mengchen) Ola Kallenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group, expressed the company's commitment to deepening its footprint in China, advancing electric and digital transformation along with its Chinese partners at the forum. "China is not only the largest market for new energy vehicles (NEVs), but also an innovation hub with industry-leading companies and a mature NEV supply chain," he said, adding that he believes that the Chinese market will continue to grow and play a leading role in innovating the industry. L'Oreal has invested in two new fulfillment centers in east China's Suzhou and Nantong recently to support the rapidly growing e-commerce sector across the country, said Hieronimus, adding that China is home to one of the company's three beauty tech hubs worldwide. As new quality productive forces feature technological breakthroughs, it brings more cooperation space to multinationals, said Jack Chan, chairman of EY China and regional managing partner of EY Greater China. Overseas enterprises can make full use of their experience to research and develop in China, as well as tap into the huge Chinese market to promote the application of scientific achievements, he said. (Video reporters: Ren Jun, Xie Han, Zhao Bo, Han Jianuo, Jiang Zhiqiang, Han Jie; video editors: Lin Lin, Mu Xuyao, Liu Yutian, Liu Xiaorui, Wang Han, Yin Le) UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Monday called for the implementation of the just-adopted Security Council resolution that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan. Nearly six months after the outbreak of the conflict, over 32,000 Palestinian civilians have lost their lives. For those, Monday's resolution comes too late. But for the millions of people in Gaza who remain mired in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, this resolution, if fully and effectively implemented, could still bring long-awaited hope, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations. "Security Council resolutions are binding. We call on the parties concerned to fulfill their obligations under the UN Charter and to take due action as required by the resolution," he said. "We expect the states with significant influence to play a positive role on the parties concerned, including by using all necessary and effective means at their disposal to support the implementation of the resolution." All harm against civilians must cease immediately and the offensive on Gaza must stop at once. A cease-fire for the month of Ramadan is only the first step. It must serve as a basis for a permanent and sustainable cessation of hostilities, said the Chinese ambassador in an explanation of vote. At the same time, the blockade of Gaza and the man-made barriers to access of humanitarian supplies must be lifted immediately to ensure that humanitarian supplies can enter Gaza in sufficient quantities expeditiously to reach people in need in a safe and timely manner, said Zhang. Israel must fully cooperate to open Rafah and other land crossings. The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, is indispensable and irreplaceable for the people of Gaza to receive international humanitarian assistance, he said. "We urge all parties to fully restore funding to UNRWA as soon as possible. We categorically reject Israel's recent vicious campaign of attacks against UNRWA and the UN system as a whole." The Security Council must continue to follow closely the situation in Gaza and get ready for further action when necessary to ensure the timely and full implementation of the resolution, said Zhang. China will continue to make unremitting efforts together with all parties to bring an early end to the fighting in Gaza, alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe, and implement the two-state solution, he said. China voted in favor of the draft resolution. China, together with Algeria and Russia, voted against a draft resolution tabled by the United States on Friday. A comparison of the two drafts shows the differences, said Zhang. Monday's draft is unequivocal and correct in its direction, demanding an immediate cease-fire, while the U.S. draft was evasive and ambiguous. Monday's draft demands an unconditional cease-fire, while the U.S. draft set preconditions for a cease-fire. Monday's draft reflects the general expectations of the international community and enjoys the collective support of the Arab states, while the U.S. draft was rejected by the Arab states, he said. "The differences between the two drafts boil down to nothing but whether there should be an immediate and unconditional cease-fire and whether the collective punishment of the people in Gaza should be allowed to continue," he said. "On this issue, China, like most members of the international community, has been very clear from the very outset. Whether we voted against last Friday, or in favor of today, our vote has been based on our consistent position and proposition." After repeated vetoes of Security Council actions, the United States finally decided to stop obstructing the council's demand for an immediate cease-fire. However, the United States still tried to find all kinds of excuses to make accusations against China. The eyes of the international community are discerning. The accusations by the United States are untenable, said Zhang. "On the contrary, it is because of China and other countries concerned upholding principles and justice that we forced the United States to realize that it cannot, and is unable to continue to obstruct the efforts of the council to take the decisive step in the right direction. In the end, justice prevails," he said. BAGHDAD/BEIRUT, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraq and Lebanon welcomed on Monday the newly adopted UN Security Council resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In a statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry welcomed the UN decision and called on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law and to expand humanitarian aid to civilians in the entire Gaza Strip. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also welcomed the adoption of the resolution, saying the decision "constitutes the first step towards halting Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip." He called on Israel to implement the provisions of the resolution, which would provide the Palestinians with an acceptable basis for receiving relief aid and assistance. Mikati also renewed calls on countries to exert pressure on Israel to stop its ongoing aggression against southern Lebanon. The UN Security Council on Monday adopted Resolution 2728 demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan and calling for the release of all hostages. The resolution was supported by 14 out of the 15 Security Council members. The United States, which had previously exercised its veto right against three draft resolutions calling for or demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, abstained, thereby enabling the resolution to pass. Other countries in the Middle East, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, also welcomed the adoption of the resolution and urged an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage. The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has climbed to 32,333, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Monday. Representatives vote on a draft resolution during a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, on March 25, 2024. The Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan. (Xinhua/Xie E) UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution that demands an immediate cease-fire in Gaza for the holy month of Ramadan. The resolution won 14 votes in favor among the 15 members of the council. The United States, which had previously vetoed three draft resolutions that would have called for or demanded a cease-fire in Gaza, abstained on Monday, allowing the draft to pass. At the adoption of the resolution, there was a round of applause in the chamber, which was a rare occasion. Resolution 2728 was the first Security Council resolution that demands or calls for a cease-fire in Gaza after the flare-up of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Some 32,333 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 75,000 Palestinians injured since Oct. 7, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Resolution 2728 demands an immediate cease-fire for Ramadan respected by all parties, leading to a lasting sustainable cease-fire. It also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access to address their medical and other humanitarian needs. It further demands that the parties comply with their obligations under international law in relation to all persons they detain. Resolution 2728 emphasizes the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip. It reiterates the Security Council's demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale, in line with international humanitarian law as well as Security Council Resolutions 2712 and 2720 concerning humanitarian delivery in Gaza. Before the vote on the draft resolution tabled by the 10 elected members of the Security Council, Russia proposed an oral amendment. The Russian proposal would have restored the word "permanent" contained in the original draft to demand a Ramadan cease-fire that would lead to a permanent and sustainable cease-fire. The Russian amendment failed to obtain enough support in the Security Council. The United States voted against the Russian amendment. Eleven members abstained. Three voted in favor. Immediately after the adoption of the resolution, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for its implementation. "The Security Council just approved a long-awaited resolution on Gaza, demanding an immediate cease-fire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. This resolution must be implemented. Failure would be unforgivable," Guterres said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. In a joint statement, the 10 elected members of the Security Council expressed the hope that Resolution 2728 will be implemented in good faith, by all parties, and will help ease the suffering of the population in Gaza. In her explanation of vote, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the resolution was "nonbinding." She also said, "It was important for the Council to speak out and make clear that any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages." The U.S. ambassador's remarks sparked controversy. Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said UN Security Council resolutions are legally binding. "As I've always been told, all the resolutions of the Security Council are international law. So to that extent, they are as binding as international law is." Ultimately, the implementation of a Security Council resolution is a question of international will. It is up to the will of the parties that are called on to act. But it is also contingent upon the will of the members of the Security Council to ensure that the things that they call for are followed up on, said Haq. Mozambique's UN ambassador Pedro Comissario Afonso, who spoke to reporters after the adoption of the resolution, said that under the UN Charter, all Security Council resolutions are binding and that all UN member states are under the obligation to implement those resolutions. "I have been a member of the International Law Commission for 15 years and president (of the commission). And I know what I'm saying," he said. Sierra Leone's UN ambassador Michael Imran Kanu also confirmed that all Security Council resolutions are binding as was determined in an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice in 1971. "I think it should be clear to everyone that this resolution is binding on the parties," he said. The Republic of Korea's UN ambassador Hwang Joon-kook said Resolution 2728 may not be "legally" binding as it did not use the word "decide" and did not invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter. However, the resolution should be implemented as it reflects the consensus of the international community, he said. Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, called for the implementation of the resolution. "Security Council resolutions are binding. We call on the parties concerned to fulfill their obligations under the UN Charter and to take due action as required by the resolution," he said. "We expect the states with significant influence to play a positive role on the parties concerned, including by using all necessary and effective means at their disposal to support the implementation of the resolution." The Security Council must continue to follow closely the situation in Gaza and get ready for further action when necessary to ensure the timely and full implementation of the resolution, said Zhang in an explanation of vote. European Union flags are seen in the snow in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe) The probe, conducted under the European Union's (EU) Digital Markets Act (DMA), focuses on alleged breaches by three American tech giants -- Alphabet, Apple and Meta. BRUSSELS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission revealed on Monday the opening of non-compliance investigations targeting three American tech giants - Alphabet, Apple and Meta. The probe, conducted under the European Union (EU)'s Digital Markets Act (DMA), focuses on alleged breaches by these companies. "Today we open first investigations under the DMA. We are concerned Alphabet, Apple and Meta are not meeting their obligations," said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission in charge of competition policy. These three tech giants are among the so-called "gatekeepers," a group of companies providing 22 core platform services. They were designated as such in September 2023 and had six months to comply with the DMA. Alphabet, Google's parent company, is under scrutiny for purported breaches concerning steering practices within its Google Play application store and self-preferencing on Google Search. Likewise, Apple's policies regarding steering within the App Store and implementing choice screens for the Safari browser are under investigation. The design of the web browser choice screen could be preventing users from freely choosing services within the Apple ecosystem, said the European Commission in a statement. Meta's "pay or consent model," offering a binary choice regarding user consent, is also under examination. The Commission worries that this model lacks a genuine alternative for users who do not consent, potentially enabling the "gatekeepers" to accumulate personal data. A woman talks through an iPhone at the Berlaymont building, headquarters of the European Commission, in Brussels, Belgium, on March 4, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo) The EU is also looking into other possible issues but has yet to open further cases. Facts are being gathered about how Amazon may prioritize its brand products, and about how Apple's new fee structure might be undermining the company's obligations under the DMA. While investigations into Amazon and Apple's new fee structure are pending, leading experts have been quick to react to these announcements. Daniel Friedlander, senior vice president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association Europe, criticized the European Commission's decision to launch investigations shortly after the DMA came into force on March 7. "Launching the first preliminary investigations under the DMA just days after the compliance deadline throws a wrench into the idea of companies and the European Commission working together to implement the DMA successfully," said Friedlander. He stressed that the timing of these announcements "makes it look like the Commission could be jumping the gun," cautioning the action risks validating industry concerns that the DMA compliance process could become politicized. Google announced "significant changes" in early March to its European operations, including alterations to search results, search engine choice screens, and transparency and data sharing practices. Rory O'Donoghue, a spokesperson for Google, highlighted in an email to Xinhua that the company would comply with the DMA, and underscored that "there would be impacts for users and businesses in Europe" due to this compliance. He added that Google will "defend" its approach in the coming months while engaging with the European Commission. This photo taken on Nov. 15, 2023 shows part of the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe) "We have been in discussions with gatekeepers for months to help them adapt, and we can already see changes happening on the market. But we are not convinced that the solutions by Alphabet, Apple and Meta respect their obligations for a fairer and more open digital space for European citizens and businesses," said Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market. The commission should conclude its investigation within the next 12 months. If found guilty, the tech giants could face fines of up to 10 percent of global turnover. France KLM celebrated Mothers Day (most parts of the Arab region mark Mothers Day on March 21) and accorded a special welcome to mothers as they checked in at airports in Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, Riyadh, Dammam, Cairo and Beirut. From a dedicated Mom check-in counters to heart-shaped pins, the French airline created unique moments next to a tailor-made floral MOM. Air France KLM said it is committed to creating moments at different stations marking various occasions, ensuring a memorable travel experience for passengers. Air-France KLM offers 54 weekly flights from various cities in the Middle East to the airlines two hubs at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol, connecting passengers to the global network of destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. TradeArabia News Service MANDERA, Kenya, March 25 (Xinhua) -- At least three people, including two police officers, were killed and 13 others injured in a blast that targeted a local hotel in Mandera County, the northeastern part of Kenya, Monday, the police confirmed. The police said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) that had been planted in the hotel and was set off as patrons sat for food. The police said in a security report released after the attack that the explosive device had been planted Sunday night and targeted the hotel patrons. "It was established that an IED had been planted at the hotel, which is mostly frequented by non-locals, including our security officers," the police said in the security report. Among those killed were two police officers and a civilian woman. Police said the woman was the owner of Mama Samaki Hotel, which was affected by the blast. The latest blast comes as the area has been experiencing a lull in attacks from the al-Shabab terror group. Security officials claimed the bomb was set up by the militants who had crossed from neighboring Somalia. No arrest has been made because a security operation is underway in the area to downgrade the activities of the terrorists. On Sunday, at least two members of the National Police Reserve (NPR) were killed in an attack by suspected terrorists in Witu in Kenya's coastal Lamu County. Police said another reservist was injured in the attack Saturday night. The attackers also burnt a house and a motorcycle before stealing foodstuff. Bassirou Diomaye Faye attends a press conference in Dakar, Senegal, March 15, 2024. Senegal's ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba congratulates his rival Bassirou Diomaye Faye on winning the presidential election in the first round, the ruling coalition said in a statement on Monday. (Photo by Demba Gueye/Xinhua) DAKAR, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Senegal's ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba congratulates his rival Bassirou Diomaye Faye on winning the presidential election in the first round, the ruling coalition said Monday. Amadou Ba, former prime minister of outgoing President Macky Sall, thus conceded defeat, as shown by the early trends, which are largely in favor of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who has taken the lead in the polling stations in the national capital of Dakar and most of the country's cities. "In view of the trends in the presidential election results and while awaiting the official proclamation, I congratulate President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye on his victory in the first round," Ba said in the statement. The provisional results of the first round of the presidential election will be published by the National Vote Counting Commission no later than Friday, and it will then be up to the Constitutional Council to declare them definitive. Bassirou Diomaye Faye attends a press conference in Dakar, Senegal, March 15, 2024. Senegal's ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba congratulates his rival Bassirou Diomaye Faye on winning the presidential election in the first round, the ruling coalition said in a statement on Monday. (Photo by Demba Gueye/Xinhua) Bassirou Diomaye Faye attends a press conference in Dakar, Senegal, March 15, 2024. Senegal's ruling coalition candidate Amadou Ba congratulates his rival Bassirou Diomaye Faye on winning the presidential election in the first round, the ruling coalition said in a statement on Monday. (Photo by Demba Gueye/Xinhua) VIENTIANE, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Laos' Ministry of Health has ordered health officials and local authorities across the Southeast Asian country to be alert after 54 anthrax cases were reported in two districts in the southern Champasak province. Local officials and health authorities have called for support and cooperation by residents in tracing sources of infection, collecting essential information, quarantining affected areas, and culling infected livestock, news website Lao Phattana News reported on Monday. High-risk areas will be zoned off to prevent the spread of anthrax, and some abattoirs have been banned from slaughtering cattle and buffalo. The Department of Communicable Disease Control under health ministry has advised livestock owners to closely monitor their animals for anthrax symptoms. People are also asked to keep a close watch on their pets for signs of illness and immediately report to the village veterinarian any suspicious cases. The health ministry has urged authorities in the affected Soukhoumma district to monitor the butchery and consumption of meat in areas from which the infections originated. Local authorities have also been tasked with disinfecting all areas with cases detected. To prevent an outbreak, the district agricultural department has issued a notice urging all relevant sectors, including residents and small businesses, not to trade animals or animal products outside the district. Guests attend the launching ceremony of the Center for China Studies of Dhaka University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 24, 2024. The Center for China Studies of Dhaka University held the launching ceremony here Sunday, with more than 400 participants. (Xinhua) DHAKA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Center for China Studies of Dhaka University held a launching ceremony here Sunday, with more than 400 participants. Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen, Vice Chancellor of the University of Dhaka and Vice Chairman of the Academic Board of the Center for China Studies A.S.M. Maksud Kamal, and President of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies and Chairman of the Academic Board of the Center for China Studies Chen Dongxiao attended the ceremony. Delivering a speech, Yao said the center is of pioneering significance, which will further promote the academic circles of the two countries to strengthen mutual understanding, facilitate joint study and exploration of bilateral, regional, and global affairs, strengthen people-to-people ties, and amplify cultural exchange, thereby enhancing bilateral relations. "In the future, it is expected that the center shall anchor itself in Bangladesh, adopt a South Asia-centric approach and have a global outlook. We envision the Center for China Studies as a bridge connecting China and Bangladesh, South Asia and the world, making substantive contributions to mutual understanding, cooperation, and peaceful development," the ambassador said. Maksud said that the establishment of the Center for China Studies is not only an affirmation of the profound friendship between Bangladesh and China, but also an important milestone in the educational and academic exchanges and cooperation between the two sides. The center will provide a valuable platform for Bangladeshi scholars to gain an in-depth understanding of Chinese culture, history and society, which is of great significance for Bangladesh to realize "Smart Bangladesh" and "Vision 2041," he said. "It is hoped that the Center could become an important base for promoting China study and international cooperation in South Asia and even globally," Maksud added. For his part, Chen said that the core mission of the Center for China Studies is to promote economic and social cooperation and experience exchanges between China and Bangladesh. "It is hoped that China and Bangladesh could make joint efforts to build the center into a high-level, high-standard and open platform for cultural and people-to-people exchanges," Chen said. ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At least four terrorists were killed by security forces after they attacked a station of the Pakistan Navy on Monday night in the Turbat city of the country's southwestern Balochistan province, security sources told Xinhua. The security sources said that the terrorists armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades attacked the Pakistan Naval Station Siddique in Turbat, which led to an intense fire exchange with the security personnel present at the outer wall of the station. According to the sources, the terrorists tried to enter the navy station but they were engaged outside the naval base and were killed during the fire exchange with the security personnel. Following the killing of the terrorists, the security forces launched a clearance operation at the site. Additional security personnel rushed to the site, cordoned off the area and conducted a search operation in the region as well. Some sources said that six terrorists were involved in the attack but official sources had not confirmed. The sources added that the Inter-Services Public Relations, the media wing of the Pakistan army, would release a detailed statement on the incident later. The banned terrorist outfit Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) released a statement to claim the attack. On March 20, a group of eight terrorists attacked an official building in the southwestern port city of Gwadar and killed two security guards. Security forces successfully repulsed the attack by killing all the terrorists of the BLA. SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun on Monday announced his decision to step down at the end of this year. He will continue to lead Boeing through the year to complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future, Boeing said in an announcement. Board Chair Larry Kellner has informed the board that he does not intend to stand for re-election at the upcoming annual shareholder meeting, it added. The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Kellner as independent board chair. In this role, Mollenkopf will lead the board's process of selecting Boeing's next CEO. In addition to these changes, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) President and CEO Stan Deal will retire from the company and Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead BCA as new president and CEO, according to the announcement. "It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve Boeing," said Calhoun in a letter to employees. "The eyes of the world are on us... We will remain squarely focused on completing the work we have done together to return our company to stability after the extraordinary challenges of the past five years." "Steve is the ideal next leader to take on the role of board chair, and it is important that the CEO selection process be led by a new chair who will stay at the helm as a partner to the new CEO," said Kellner. Mollenkopf has served on the board of directors since 2020. He was previously CEO of Qualcomm. Pope has been serving as chief operating officer of Boeing since January of this year. Previously, she was president and chief executive officer of Boeing Global Services. Boeing has encountered many quality and safety concerns for years with its aircraft, resulting in an extended grounding of certain planes and delivery suspensions. The recent one took place in mid-March, when a Boeing 737-800 plane of United Airlines flying from San Francisco was found to have a missing panel after landing safely at its scheduled destination in southern Oregon, said the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on March 15. SAN FRANCISCO, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun will step down from the embattled plane maker at the end of the year, the company said Monday. Board Chair Larry Kellner has also told the company he doesn't plan to stand for re-election. WASHINGTON, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The White House said Monday that it was "perplexed" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to cancel a planned visit to Washington by a delegation comprising senior Israeli officials. Netanyahu made the decision after the United States abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote earlier Monday on a draft resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza until the end of Ramadan. U.S. abstention, instead of veto, effectively gave the greenlight to the measure. "We are kind of perplexed by this," John Kirby, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, told reporters at the White House daily briefing in reaction to the scraping of the Israeli delegation, which was invited by the Joe Biden administration to come to Washington for talks on a possible alternative to a ground operation by the Israeli military in Rafah. Kirby said in a further explanation that the resolution, even as it got passed, would have "no impact at all on Israel and Israel's ability to go after Hamas." Kirby added that abstaining the draft resolution "does not represent a change at all" in U.S. policy coping with the situation in Gaza. The United States, according to Kirby, is still of the view that a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas should be part of a deal securing the release of those held hostage by Hamas. Meanwhile, the United States "continues to stand with Israel as they fight Hamas," Kirby said. In what seemed to be the thinly veiled criticism of Netanyahu's government, Kirby stressed that it is the United States, not Israel, that gets to decide its own policy. "The prime minister's office seems to be indicating through public statements that we somehow changed here. We haven't. And we get to decide what our policy is. It seems like the prime minister's office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don't need to do that," Kirby said. Separate to the delegation visit that is now aborted, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant arrived in Washington over the weekend, scheduling to hold respective talks with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, and meet with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Tuesday. Kirby told reporters that while there's an opportunity during Gallant's visit for the two sides to discuss an alternative plan for Rafah, his visit "probably won't be a full replacement for what we're hoping to do with a broader, larger delegation of Israeli counterparts." The Biden administration, Kirby added, is "still going to look for an avenue and an approach to be able to share those alternatives with the Israelis." In this article, we will discuss the 20 Highest Quality Unisex Perfumes in 2024. You can skip our detailed analysis of the global luxury perfume market and prominent businesses in the fragrance sector and go directly to the 7 Highest Quality Unisex Perfumes in 2024. Emanating a pleasing aroma, perfume is a blend of fixatives, solvents, and aromatic essential oils. Its alluring scents evoke emotions, memories, and personal expression among those who inhale perfume, leaving a lasting imprint. Global Luxury Perfume Market: In 2023, the global market for luxury fragrances was estimated to be worth $12.6 billion. The IMARC Group projects that the market will reach $20.5 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% between 2024 and 2032. Several factors, including rising disposable incomes, shifting consumer preferences, the growing desire for personalized and customized luxury items, adopting eco-friendly and sustainable practices, and significant technological breakthroughs, contribute to the market's steady expansion. The luxury perfume market has benefited greatly from technological developments, especially in the areas of fragrance composition and packaging. Scent extraction and mixing breakthroughs have raised the bar for high-end perfumes. Luxury perfumes are widely used in the personal care and cosmetics industries. They are nonetheless useful in the gifting industry because they are regarded as premium and thoughtful gifts. The bulk of the luxury perfume business is made up of scents priced between $50 and $100. Customers in this market niche seek premium scents that provide a hint of luxury without going beyond the budget. The aforementioned research stated that women held the greatest market share. The luxury perfume business has historically been dominated by scents for women. These fragrances are made especially for females and are meant to represent sensuality, elegance, and femininity. Gender-neutral or unisex fragrances have grown in popularity in the market for high-end perfumes. Disregarding the conventional gender-specific classification, these fragrances are made to be appropriate for both men and women. Story continues In the world market for high-end perfumes, North America is a major player. The region's consumer base is mature and tasteful, with a clear preference for premium scents. Large nations like the US and Canada have a thriving perfume industry, and customers there frequently look for niche and exclusive fragrances. Premium fragrance companies take advantage of this area's demand for luxury goods and spend money on marketing campaigns to stay in business. Star-endorsed fragrances also have an impact on the North American market, which helps the sector flourish. Even though the market is mature, innovation in this sector is being driven by consumers' need for distinctive and customized perfumes. On the other hand, Europe is still a major player in the market for high-end perfumes and has a long history of perfumery. The history and artistry of perfumery are well-known in nations like France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. In the global market, French perfume houses, in particular, occupy a distinguished position. Luxury fragrance creation centers around Europe because of its sophisticated consumer base that appreciates perfumery's aesthetic and traditional roots. Luxury perfumes are fast developing in the Asia Pacific region as middle-class and disposable income levels rise. As far as luxury fragrances are concerned, South Korea, China, and Japan are becoming stronger markets. Prominent Businesses in the Fragrance Sector: The major competitors in the market make significant investments in marketing and promotion to draw customers with new ideas. For example, the scent station was introduced by Loreal's YSL Beauty in December 2021. This system uses neuroscience to make perfume recommendations to users depending on their emotional states. When buying perfumes, it aids customers in making wiser decisions. One of the key players, Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL ) is planning to expand its fragrance business by opening an Atelier, or upscale perfume laboratory, in Paris, France. With a focus on innovative products, this modern area will showcase the premium and prestige fragrance collection of Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL), which includes well-known names like Tom Ford, Jo Malone London, Le Labo, and Kilian Paris. The Atelier, headed by a group of experts in fragrances, aims to enhance co-creation and external partner collaboration to hasten the arrival on shelves of innovative products, packaging, and ideas. To meet consumer demands for upscale fragrances more rapidly, the Atelier is set to open by the end of 2024 and expand progressively while encouraging innovation and excellence. In a major move that demonstrates the brand's dedication to innovation and satisfying changing consumer preferences in the luxury fragrance business, Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) debuted a new range of luxury perfumes in September 2021. This collection, which includes eight different scents, offers an array of fragrance profiles and uses modern technology to improve the user experience. Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) has maintained its position as the market leader for prestige and high-end fragrances since the historic introduction of its first fragrance in 1953. It had a whopping annual revenue of $15.91 billion in 2023. Today, renowned brands including Jo Malone London, TOM FORD, Estee Lauder, Le Labo, Clinique, KILIAN PARIS, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, AERIN Beauty, and Aramis are part of the company's extraordinary and varied scent portfolio. Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY), a major player in the beauty industry with an estimated annual revenue of $5.55 billion in 2023, and Perfect Corp. announced a partnership agreement in September 2021 to incorporate various AI and AR techniques into Coty Inc.'s (NYSE:COTY) cosmetic businesses' digital marketing toolkits. These new solutions will provide data-driven customization, online skin diagnostics, and virtual try-ons for Coty's wide range of fragrances as well as for brands like Philosophy, Sally Hansen, and CoverGirl, among others. Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) a leader in the fragrance industry, and Etro, a prestigious Italian luxury fashion brand, announced their strategic partnership in February 2024. The goal of the partnership is to use Coty's vast knowledge and global distribution network in the beauty sector to develop and launch Etro's signature fragrance lines. This demonstrates how market players are working together to utilize mutual strengths, broaden product offerings, and enter new markets. With that said, here are the 20 Highest Quality Unisex Perfumes in 2024. 20 Highest Quality Unisex Perfumes in 2024 Photo by trung-do-bao on unsplash Methodology: To pick out the 20 Highest Quality Unisex Perfumes in 2024, we have used a consensus-based approach using a diverse variety of credible sources to determine premium gender-neutral fragrances. To give you the finest result possible, we picked brands that appeared multiple times in our research and assigned them a score of 1 each time they were mentioned, and ranked them on aggregated scores. In tie-breaker situations, we consulted product reviews and then curated the perfumes for our list. By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders. 20. CK One Eau de Toilette Insider Monkey Score: 3 CK One is a classic scent for the present era. This fragrance is striking and tidy, but also sensible and inclusive. It is a scent for everyone. This fragrance features revitalizing green tea, violet, and rose, with a musk and amber finish. It is an affordable gender-neutral fragrance. 19. Molecule 01 Eau de Toilette Insider Monkey Score: 3 Escentric Molecules' Molecule 01 Eau de Toilette is an untamed and wild perfume. With just Iso E Super as a fragrance molecule, this scent is a breakthrough. This fragrance has a potent woody and ambery aroma that leaves your skin feeling incredibly silky and smooth. 18. Commodity Milk Expressive Eau de Parfum Insider Monkey Score: 3 Milk's warm notes of skin musk, tonka bean, and mahogany wood are enhanced with white cedar. This sensual fragrance is as light as a feather and clings to you like a second skin. It is one of the most favorite unisex perfumes in 2024. 17. Acqua di Parma Colonia Eau de Cologne Insider Monkey Score: 3 This is a modern, sophisticated, and classic unisex perfume. Acqua di Parma Colonia Eau de Colognes fragrance is based on sunny Sicilian citrus fruits and an enveloping combination of floral essences such as lavender and damask rose, which mix with woody notes of vetiver, sandalwood, and patchouli in the base. 16. Boy Smells Violet Ends Eau de Parfum Insider Monkey Score: 4 This is a spicy amber unisex scent that was developed by Jerome Epinette and debuted in 2021. The fragrance Violet Ends has base notes of white birch, tanned leather, and smoked papyrus, middle notes of black tea, tobacco leaves, incense, and orris, and top notes of rhubarb, bergamot, black pepper, and violet. 15. Penhaligons Halfeti Eau de Parfum Insider Monkey Score: 5 The floral scent Halfeti Eau de Parfum by Penhaligon is suitable for both genders. This is a strong, sophisticated scent that takes inspiration from luxurious Turkish products like smooth leather, valuable fabrics, exotic flowers, and spices. The rich, complex scent of Halfeti combines ethereal rose and creamy jasmine with notes of fruits, spices, and deep undertones. It is one of the best unisex perfumes of all time. 14. Bond No. 9 NoMad Eau De Parfum Insider Monkey Score: 5 In 2021, NoMad was introduced. Miroslav Petkov is the mastermind of this scent. The top notes are pear, quince, and black currant; the middle notes are rose, agarwood (Oud), orris, and violet leaves; while the base notes are amber, vanilla, and sandalwood. This is one of the highest-quality perfumes. 13. Guerlain Cuir Beluga Eau De Parfum Insider Monkey Score: 5 Guerlains Cuir Beluga exudes an air of total elegance and extravagant richness. The white suede note flirts with the interesting immortelle flower while delicately pampering the skin with a velvety base featuring amber, heliotrope, and, of course, vanilla. 12. Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt Cologne Insider Monkey Score: 4 Wood Sage & Sea Salt Cologne is one of the best unisex perfumes in 2024 that is loved by females and masterfully combines the essence of wood and sea. This perfume was developed to express the sensation of enjoyment, freedom, and escape into nature, inspired by the distinct character and quality of British beaches. It offers a sense of individuality and a natural spirit. 11. Maison Margiela Replica Beach Walk Eau De Toilette Insider Monkey Score: 7 Introduced in 2012, this fragrance reminds us of long summer days, salty air, and sun-kissed skin with its sparkling notes of bergamot, coconut milk, musk, pink pepper, and ylang-ylang. It is one of the highest-quality unisex perfumes in 2024. 10. The Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace Eau de Toilette Insider Monkey Score: 8 Maison Margiela is widely recognized as a high-end luxury brand, known for its exceptional quality and craftsmanship. This perfume is a sentimental scent that embodies the coziness of a winter hearth. It has notes of chestnut accord, red berries, clove oil, cashmeran, and vanilla, giving it an aroma of crackling flames and roasted chestnuts. 9. Diptyque Philosykos Eau de Toilette Insider Monkey Score: 8 As a unisex fragrance, Diptyque Philosykos Eau de Toilette is appropriate for men as well as women. Launched in 1996, this aromatic green fragrance creates a distinctive and fresh perfume with notes of fig leaves, fig tree sap, fig tree wood, and black pepper. 8. Byredo Mojave Ghost Insider Monkey Score: 8 Byredo's 2014 release, Mojave Ghost, is a unisex oriental floral fragrance. Inspired by the amazing attractions of the Mojave Desert, this smell embodies its majestic beauty. The fragrance opens with ambrette and Jamaican Nesberry, then moves on to magnolia, violet, and sandalwood in the heart, and finally to cedarwood, amber, and Chantilly musk in the base. One of the most distinguished and expensive perfumes in the world, Mojave Ghost is renowned for its extravagance and unmatched excellence. Click to continue reading and see the 7 Highest Quality Unisex Perfumes in 2024. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. 20 Highest Quality Unisex Perfumes in 2024 is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we will be taking a look at the 25 countries with the lowest fertility rates. If you do not want to learn about the global infertility market, head straight to the 6 Countries with the Lowest Fertility Rates. Countries with the lowest fertility rates like Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, and Taiwan, among others, exhibit a unique demographic trend that significantly impacts their population dynamics and socio-economic landscape. In countries experiencing declining birth rates due to factors like urbanization, women's access to education and careers, and shifting societal norms, policymakers face opportunities and challenges in areas like healthcare, labor force participation, and social welfare. Understanding these dynamics offers insights into future population trends and global demographics. Global Infertility Market and Statistics The global infertility market is a significant sector dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by individuals struggling with infertility. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1 in 6 people globally are affected by infertility, accounting for around 17.5% of the adult population worldwide. This high prevalence underscores the urgent need to enhance access to affordable and high-quality fertility care for those in need. Major players in the infertility treatment market include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Cook Group, Vitrolife, and other leading companies. The rising infertility rates worldwide, coupled with the increasing demand for infertility treatments, are key drivers fueling market growth. The WHO report highlights that millions of people face catastrophic healthcare costs due to seeking infertility treatment, making it a major equity issue and a medical poverty trap for many affected individuals. In the United States, major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco are known for their numerous fertility clinics and advanced reproductive technology centers. These urban hubs attract patients seeking infertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI). Financially, the global fertility services market was valued at USD 22 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 68.32 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 12% from 2023 to 2032. Story continues The Global Contraceptive Market: Trends and Insights The global contraceptive market is a dynamic industry crucial for family planning and reproductive health. Key players such as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA), Organon Group Of Companies, and Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) dominate this sector. Segmented into contraceptive drugs and devices, the latter led the market in 2022 due to advanced and long-lasting options. However, significant growth is expected in contraceptive drugs, particularly pills, patches, and injectables. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA) is a leading player in the contraceptive market, known for its innovative contributions and commitment to women's health. They've launched educational initiatives like the "Perfectly Imperfect" campaign to dispel misconceptions about emergency contraception, partnering with MTV and Her Campus to provide accurate information about products like Plan B One-Step. Looking ahead, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA) is expected to continue investing in research and development for advanced contraceptive drugs and devices, leveraging its strong presence in women's health and other medical fields. The company aims to enhance product offerings, improve brand visibility, and meet consumer demands for reliable contraceptive solutions. In terms of financial performance, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NYSE:TEVA) reported revenues of $4.5 billion in Q1 2024, with GAAP diluted earnings per share at $0.41 and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share at $1.00. Operating activities generated $1,184 million in cash flow, with free cash flow reaching $1,486 million. Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) a leading player in the contraceptive market, is renowned for its innovation and dedication to quality. Through focused R&D and strategic partnerships, the company remains ahead of market trends. Its Q4 2023 financial report demonstrates remarkable growth, with a 6.4% increase in net sales, bolstered by strategic acquisitions. Notable for products like Arm & Hammer and Trojan condoms, Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (NYSE:CHD) continues to contribute significantly to the contraceptive industry. Moving forward, the company anticipates sustained growth, with a commitment to innovation and expansion into e-commerce and international markets. When considering safety, certain contraceptive methods stand out. Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) boast success rates exceeding 99%, making them among the safest long-term options. Similarly, contraceptive pills, especially combined hormonal ones, exhibit over 99% efficacy when used correctly. Condoms, both male and female variants, remain effective in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections when consistently and correctly utilized. In the United States, where approximately 1 million abortions are performed annually, the significance of contraceptive methods like IUDs and other birth control options becomes apparent. The North American contraceptive market was valued at USD 6.89 billion in 2022, with a steady projected growth rate of 7.7% during the forecast period. In addition to traditional contraceptive methods, fertility treatments like In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) play a crucial role. IVF, commonly employed by couples struggling with infertility, involves fertilizing eggs by sperm outside the body. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2021, there were 413,776 ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) cycles performed in the United States. out of 413,776 Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) cycles performed, 167,689 were dedicated to egg or embryo banking, where all produced eggs or embryos were frozen for future use. The success rates of IVF vary depending on factors such as the woman's age, the cause of infertility, and the clinic's success rates. The cost of IVF varies widely based on factors such as geographic location and individual clinic pricing. On average, a single cycle of IVF in the United States costs around $12,000-$15,000, not including medications or additional procedures. Many insurance plans do not cover the cost of IVF, although some states require insurance companies to offer coverage for infertility treatments. The global contraceptive market's size is expected to reach $45 billion by 2033, indicating substantial demand for fertility treatments such as IVF. 25 Countries with the Lowest Fertility Rates Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com Our Methodology For our methodology, we have ranked the countries with the lowest fertility rates based on the number of children born per woman in 2023. For the accuracy of data, we relied on the CIA. Here is our list of the 25 countries with the lowest fertility rates. 25. Cyprus Children Born per Woman: 1.48 Cyprus has made significant strides in maternal and child health, reducing infant mortality from 11.0 to 2.6 per 1000 live births between 1990 and 2016. Challenges persist, including high rates of preterm births and cesarean sections (57%). In Northern Cyprus, infant mortality is low (0.8 per 1000), but cesarean rates are high (47.6% - 87.0%), necessitating further research. Limited data exists on infertility rates in both regions. 24. Serbia Children Born per Woman: 1.46 Serbia stands among the countries with the lowest fertility rates. Neonatal mortality rates have decreased, but preterm births remain concerning. There's a gender disparity in neonatal mortality, with males having higher rates. High abortion rates are attributed to easy access and limited contraceptive knowledge. 23. Croatia Children Born per Woman: 1.46 Croatia faces low fertility rates at 1.46 live births per woman, impacting various aspects of reproductive health including infant mortality, miscarriages, abortions, and infertility rates. Infant mortality has declined to 4.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, reflecting healthcare and social support improvements. Miscarriages are common, affecting 10.8% of women. 22. Andorra Children Born per Woman: 1.46 Andorra is one of the countries with low fertility rates globally and has made strides in healthcare, resulting in a remarkably low infant mortality rate of 5.047 deaths per 1,000 live births, with a -2.84% decrease from the previous year. Since the 1950s, infant mortality has decreased by 90.14%. Andorra also exhibits a low birth rate of 7.94 per thousand population and a death rate of 14.56 per thousand population, with a net migration rate of zero annually, reflecting unique population dynamics. 21. China Children Born per Woman: 1.45 China is facing a significant decline in fertility rates despite implementing the universal two-child policy in 2016, with the total fertility rate reported at 1.3 in 2020. While infant mortality rates have improved due to advancements in healthcare, miscarriages and abortions remain common. Infertility affects around 18% of couples in China, leading many to seek IVF as a solution. 20. Belarus Children Born per Woman: 1.45 Belarus faces challenges with low fertility rates, impacting infant mortality, miscarriages, abortions, IVF, and infertility rates. While significant progress has been made in reducing infant mortality, miscarriages and abortions remain common concerns. IVF is widely used for infertility treatment, with success rates falling within the global average range. 19. Portugal Children Born per Woman: 1.44 Portugal stands nineteenth among the countries with the lowest fertility rates, impacting infant mortality, miscarriages, abortions, IVF, and infertility rates. Infant mortality stands at 2.5 deaths per 1,000 live births. Miscarriages affect 15-20% of known pregnancies, while around 16,000 abortions were performed in 2020. IVF is commonly used for infertility, with improving success rates. Approximately 1 in 6 couples face infertility, with IVF costs ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 per cycle. 18. Bahamas Children Born per Woman: 1.44 The Bahamas faces significant health challenges, including high infant mortality rates and low fertility rates. The infant mortality rate fluctuates, reaching 16 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2016. The GDP per capita is $32,933 highlighting financial constraints. 17. Greece Children Born per Woman: 1.4 In Greece, the infant mortality rate is low at 3.3 per 1,000 live births due to the country's robust healthcare system providing prenatal and postnatal care. IVF procedures are common and increasing in Greece, addressing infertility issues. The average cost of IVF ranges from 4,000 to 6,000, with varying insurance coverage options available. 16. Costa Rica Children Born per Woman: 1.4 Costa Rica's total fertility rates have dropped to 1.4 children per woman due to factors like higher education levels and improved reproductive rights. While the country has reduced infant mortality rates, miscarriages remain a challenge. Legal battles surrounding IVF and abortion have marked Costa Rica's reproductive healthcare landscape, with IVF being legalized in 2017. 15. Japan Children Born per Woman: 1.39 Japan faces a steep decline in fertility rates, reaching 1.36 births per woman in 2019, despite being a leading user of assisted reproductive technology (ART). The country witnessed a significant number of ART cycles (458,101) in 2019, with a shift towards frozen embryo transfer cycles. Miscarriage rates are age-dependent, rising with maternal age, particularly among women over 34 undergoing ART. 14. British Virgin Island Children Born per Woman: 1.37 The British Virgin Islands face low fertility rates, indicating challenges in sustaining population growth. Efforts to reduce infant mortality reflect improvements in healthcare access. Engagement with IVF varies based on healthcare infrastructure and cultural attitudes. 13. Bosnia and Herzegovina Children Born per Woman: 1.37 Bosnia and Herzegovina grapples with one of the world's lowest fertility rates at 1.37 children per woman in 2023, impacting population growth. The country reports an infant mortality rate of 5.21 deaths per 1,000 live births, emphasizing the need for robust healthcare infrastructure. Miscarriages and abortions are significant aspects of reproductive health. 12. Mauritius Children Born per Woman: 1.35 Mauritius has seen a dramatic decline in fertility rates, dropping to 1.4 children per woman by 2019 due to factors like limited land space and increased female participation in the workforce. Despite this, the country has made progress in reducing infant mortality rates, now standing at 9.523 deaths per 1000 live births in 2024. However, challenges like unsafe abortions persist, causing an estimated 1,600 deaths annually. Mauritius' economy has grown following the decline in fertility rates, with a rising per capita income to $3380, but population dynamics have shifted, posing health challenges related to an aging population. 11. Montserrat Children Born per Woman: 1.32 Montserrat's low fertility rates impact infant mortality, with higher risks of prematurity and infant morbidity. Assisted reproductive technologies like IVF are relevant, with associated risks in IVF-conceived pregnancies such as neonatal death. 10. Poland Children Born per Woman: 1.31 Poland's low fertility rates, influenced by delayed childbearing due to women's educational and career pursuits, stand at 1.46 live births per woman in 2022, making Poland stand among the countries with the lowest fertility rates. The country faces significant challenges with infant mortality and preterm births, driven by factors such as maternal age, health conditions, education, and professional activity. Fertility treatments like IVF contribute to preterm birth rates, mainly due to multiple gestation births. 9. Spain Children Born per Woman: 1.29 Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in the EU, with an average of 1.23 children per woman. Assisted reproductive techniques are common, with IVF treatments ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 for embryo donation and 3,500 to 4,700 for egg freezing, excluding medication costs. Spain's infant mortality rate is a crucial indicator of child health. Miscarriages affect around 12% of pregnancies in Spain, with older women facing higher risks. 8. Puerto Rico Children Born per Woman: 1.25 Puerto Rico faces challenges in infant mortality, with 134 infant deaths in 2021. Birth defects contribute significantly to these deaths. IVF usage in Puerto Rico is relatively low at around 0.2% of live births, with concerns about preterm birth and birth defects. Financially, the high cost of IVF treatments poses a barrier to access, alongside emotional and physical challenges. 7. Moldova Children Born per Woman: 1.25 Moldova's fertility rate has slightly increased to 1.321 births per woman in 2024, though it remains low globally. Challenges persist in infant mortality, with 14.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, emphasizing the need for improved healthcare services. Access to safe and legal abortions is crucial for women's reproductive health. In vitro fertilization (IVF) offers hope for couples facing infertility issues. Click to see and continue reading the 6 Countries with the Lowest Fertility Rates. Suggested Articles: Disclosure. None: The 25 Countries with the Lowest Fertility Rates is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we will be taking a look at the 25 poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 Poorest Countries in Asia by GDP Per Capita. Asia's Economic Outlook The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the Asia-Pacific region battling with disrupted economic growth. However, Asia is one of the few regions expected to perform better than the rest of the world. The Asian economy is facing a mix of both economic instability and economic growth. Two of the region's largest economies including China and India are going in opposite directions, with China suffering from a property market crisis and deflation while India making notable progress. According to the IMF, growth in Asia was estimated to be around 4.7% in 2023, up 0.1% from the previous 4.6% projection in October 2023. China and India are the key economies for the upward revision. In China, increased spending on disaster reconstruction and resilience projects supported growth. In India, growth was supported by strong domestic demand. The IMF has upgraded Asia's growth forecast for 2024 from the previous projection of 4.2% in October 2023 to 4.5%. In emerging and developing Asia, the growth is expected to decline from 5.4% in 2023 to 5.2% in 2024 and 4.8% in 2025. The growth in the Middle East and Central Asia is forecasted to increase from 2% in 2023 to 2.9% in 2024 and 4.2% in 2025. Although the IMF has upgraded the growth estimates, Chinas property sector could further cut domestic demand, especially if the stress level rises in local government finances. It would potentially impact regional exports, reducing demand for exports. In addition, China has had an inflation rate of around 0.3% in 2023 with the economy heading towards deflation. Other potential risks such as tighter-than-expected conditions in Asia and the US could impact heavily indebted industries and economies. Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East can impact global trade as Yemeni Houthis are continuously attacking the ships of Israel and its allies. As we mentioned in our article about the 20 countries with the highest tariffs, the traffic through the Red Sea has declined by over 40% since the attacks from Houthis, disrupting global supply chains. On average nearly 50 ships pass through the Red Sea each day, comprising $3 billion to $9 billion worth of cargo. Story continues According to S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI), the Asia-Pacific region is expected to continue rapid economic expansion followed by resilient domestic demand in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In addition, strong foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in India and other South Asian countries will positively impact the economic growth in the region. On January 17, Reuters reported that India has attracted FDI inflows worth $33 billion in the first six months of the current financial year that started in April 2023. India recorded an FDI of $71 billion in the 2022-23 financial year. Most of the poorest countries in the world are based out of sub-Saharan Africa having the lowest GDP per capita. Along with African countries, some Asian countries also have the lowest GDP per capita in the world, including Afghanistan, Syria, and Sri Lanka. Major Companies that are Driving Asia's Growth JD.com Inc (NASDAQ:JD), Reliance Industries Limited (NSE: RELIANCE), and SM Investments Corporation (PSE:SM) are some of the leading companies that play an important role in their respective economies and across the Asia Pacific. JD.com Inc (NASDAQ:JD) is one of the top e-commerce firms based out of China and one of the biggest competitors of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA). On March 6, JD.com Inc (NASDAQ:JD) reported its earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023. The company posted earnings per share of $0.74, beating consensus estimates by $0.11. The revenue for the quarter amounted to $42.52 billion, surpassing estimates by $914.80 million. Here are some of the comments from the companys earnings call: In Q4, we delivered healthy top-line and bottom-line growth and made solid progress on operations, finishing off a productive 2023. In the past year, we stayed focused on constantly improving user experience, lowering costs, and increasing efficiency amidst evolving opportunities and challenges. Guided by our business philosophy, we carried out a set of proactive moves to drive more sustainable growth for the long term, mainly in the areas of user experience improvement, [indiscernible], and platform ecosystem strategy. Despite some short-term impact in 2023, our strategic focus has successfully steered key operating metrics in a positive direction. 2024 will be a year of execution. Our team will take firm and steady steps to execute our existing strategies and push forward our two priorities for the new year, namely user experience improvement and market share expansion. Reliance Industries Limited (NSE:RELIANCE) is Indias leading multinational giant. On February 28, Reliance Industries Limited (NSE:RELIANCE) announced that its subsidiary, Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL), has partnered with Sri Lankan beverage company Elephant House. This new collaboration will allow Elephant House to manufacture, distribute, and sell beverages in India and help RCPL enhance its beverage portfolio. SM Investments Corporation (PSE:SM) is a Filipino conglomerate that has a diversified portfolio in shopping mall development, retail, banking, real estate development, and tourism. On February 28, SM Investments Corporation (PSE:SM) reported that its consolidated revenues soared by 11% to PHP 616.3 billion in 2023 from PHP 553.0 billion in 2022. The net income was reported around PHP 77 billion in 2023, which grew 25% from PHP 61.7 billion in 2022. SM Investments Corporation (PSE:SM) sees potential for regional development and targeted high-growth sectors. Here is what the President and CEO of the company, Frederic C. DyBuncio, said: There is a lot of potential, especially in Luzon outside of the National Capital Region (NCR) as well as in Visayas and Mindanao where there is still a need to access modern trade. And its not just for our core businesses of retail, banking, and property but also for our portfolio companies. With this context, lets take a look at the 25 poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 25 Poorest Countries in Asia by GDP per Capita 25 Poorest Countries in Asia by GDP per Capita Our Methodology To compile our list of the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita, we have shortlisted the countries based on GDP per capita (current prices) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) database. We have ranked the countries in descending order of their GDP per capita, as of 2024. The data for some countries was not available on the IMF, therefore, we sourced the GDP per capita for those countries from the World Bank database, which includes Afghanistan, Syria, and Sri Lanka. We have also highlighted the GDP (current prices) of the countries, wherever available, and the data is taken from the IMF database, as of 2024. 25 Poorest Countries in Asia by GDP per Capita 25. Iran GDP Per Capita (2024): $20,694 On March 21, S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) reported that the US sanctions on Iran have not worked as intended, as per the panelists from the webinar hosted by the Middle East Institute. Iran has a GDP of $386.22 billion and ranks 25th among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 24. Turkmenistan GDP Per Capita (2024): $20,551 Turkmenistans economy is expected to grow 6% in 2024, as per the Asian Development Bank. Turkmenistan has a GDP of around $90.9 billion, as of 2024. 23. Azerbaijan GDP Per Capita (2024): $19,370 Azerbaijan is a Central Asian country with a GDP of around $80.98 billion. With a GDP per capita of $19,370, Azerbaijan ranks among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 22. Indonesia GDP Per Capita (2024): $16,843 Indonesia is one of the largest economies in Asia with a GDP of $1.54 trillion. Indonesias 20-year economic plan which was initiated in 2005 will come to an end in 2025. 21. Mongolia GDP Per Capita (2024): $15,900 Mongolia has a GDP of around $19.55 billion. According to the IMF, Mongolia has a real GDP growth rate of 4.5%, as of 2024. Mongolia ranks 21st among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 20. Vietnam GDP Per Capita (2024): $15,318 Vietnams economy is in a 'pretty good position', according to Andy Ho, VinaCapital Groups Chief Investment Officer. Vietnam has a GDP of around $469.67 billion. 19. Bhutan GDP Per Capita (2024): $14,920 Bhutan is one of the poorest countries in Asia and has a GDP of around $2.86 billion. 18. Jordan GDP Per Capita (2024): $13,442 Jordan has a real GDP growth rate of 2.7% in 2024, as per the IMF. Jordan has a GDP of around $52.66 billion and ranks among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 17. Philippines GDP Per Capita (2024): $12,127 The Philippines is one of the largest economies in Asia with one of the lowest GDP per capita in the world. The Philippines has a GDP of $475.95 billion. 16. Iraq GDP Per Capita (2024): $12,048 Iraq has struggled with terrorism and war for decades now. Iraq has a GDP of $271.47 billion and ranks among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 15. Uzbekistan GDP Per Capita (2024): $10,909 In September 2023, Uzbekistans government adopted the National Development Strategy (NDS) until 2030. Through NDS, Uzbekistan aims to develop objectives and pivotal reforms across different sectors. Uzbekistan has a GDP of $99.58 billion, as of 2024. 14. Laos GDP Per Capita (2024): $10,269 Laos is expected to have economic growth around 4% in 2024 compared to growth of 3.7% in 2023, according to the Asian Development Bank. Laos has a GDP of $14.1 billion and ranks among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 13. India GDP Per Capita (2024): $9,892 India is one of the largest economies in the world with a GDP of around $4.11 trillion, as of 2024. India had a population of around 1.41 billion in 2022, according to the data from the World Bank. 12. Bangladesh GDP Per Capita (2024): $9,414 Bangladeshs economy is improving and has a 6% real GDP growth rate in 2024, as per the IMF. Bangladesh has a GDP of around $455.16 billion. 11. Pakistan GDP Per Capita (2024): $6,961 Pakistan is suffering from political and economic instability and relies a lot on IMF loans. With a GDP per capita of $6,961, Pakistan ranks among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 10. Kyrgyzstan GDP Per Capita (2024): $6,724 Kyrgyzstan is expected to have an improvement in its growth rate from an estimated 3.8% in 2023 to 4% in 2024, as per the Asian Development Bank. Kyrgyzstan has a GDP of $13.66 billion and ranks 10th among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. 9. Cambodia GDP Per Capita (2024): $6,540 Cambodia has a GDP of around $33.23 billion in 2024. With a GDP per capita of $6,540, Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia. 8. Tajikistan GDP Per Capita (2024): $5,658 Tajikistan has a real GDP growth rate of around 5% in 2024, as per the IMF. Tajikistan has a GDP of $12.92 billion and a GDP per capita of $5,658. 7. Myanmar GDP Per Capita (2024): $5,349 Myanmar averaged a 6% growth rate from 2011 to 2019, according to the World Bank. Myanmar has a GDP of around $79.27 billion, as of 2024. 6. Nepal GDP Per Capita (2024): $5,226 Nepal has a GDP of $45.46 billion and a GDP per capita of $5,226. Nepal ranks sixth among the poorest countries in Asia by GDP per capita. Click to continue reading and see the 5 Poorest Countries in Asia by GDP Per Capita. Suggested Articles: Disclosure: None. 25 Poorest Countries in Asia by GDP Per Capita is published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we will take a look at 31 European Countries That Offer Citizenship by Descent. You can skip our detailed analysis and go directly to the 11 European Countries That Offer Citizenship by Descent. The increasing trend of international mobility has fueled a growing desire for acquiring a second citizenship. This desire has been further intensified by the uncertainty of life, evidenced by recent catastrophic events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the financial crisis of 2008, and ongoing geopolitical issues. With numerous advantages linked to citizenship in another country, the appeal of having a second home has inevitably surged. This has led to a scramble for second citizenship as individuals seek to secure their future and mitigate risks associated with global uncertainties. There are several avenues through which citizenship can be obtained, including citizenship by birth, by descent, by marriage, by investment, and by naturalization. Each of these pathways has its own specific terms, conditions, and regulations that dictate the process of acquisition. Among these options, citizenship by descent is gaining popularity due to its simplicity and convenience. It is a process whereby familial ties to a country confer citizenship upon an individual. Essentially a form of birthright citizenship, eligibility for citizenship by descent is often based on the presence of ancestors such as parents, grandparents, and in some cases, even great-grandparents. Citizenship In Europe and the Relevance of Citizenship by Descent In contrast to other methods of acquiring citizenship, such as through investment or naturalization, which may require significant financial investments or lengthy periods of residency, citizenship by descent offers a more straightforward and cost-effective route. In recent years, there has been a notable trend towards European countries. In 2021, 827,000 people acquired EU member state citizenship, marking an increase of about 14% compared to 2020 (+98,300 people). This trend was particularly prominent in countries such as France (+43,900 French citizenships granted as opposed to 2020), Germany (+18,800), Spain (+17,700), Sweden (+9,200), and Austria (+7,200). Story continues A report by GLOBALCIT in 2020 observed that a majority of EU member state citizens acquire their citizenship through birth, primarily through descent (ius sanguinis). However, the procedures for citizenship vary for individuals born to citizens within the country compared to those born to a citizen abroad. Between 2013 and 2020, certain changes regarding ius sanguinis were implemented in some EU member states, including the possibility of citizenship based on more remote ancestry. For example, in 2015, Portugal allowed the grant of citizenship through registration without the residence requirement to a person born abroad who is a grandchild of a citizen. However, this was conditional on the grandparent not having lost their Portuguese citizenship and being of Portuguese origin (born in Portugal), and the applicant having some effective ties with the country. Similarly, all countries have their own specific rules and conditions that determine the eligibility for citizenship by descent. European Citizenship by Descent-- A Promising Avenue for Americans For approximately 9 million Americans living abroad in 2020, citizenship by ancestry can prove highly beneficial. Instead of navigating strenuous and costly measures for European citizenship, many Americans may actually be eligible for citizenship by descent in various European countries. For example, according to Forbes, more than 30 million US citizens are of Irish descent. Similarly, Americans can attain citizenship in other European countries such as Hungary and Poland. With a large number of multinational companies establishing themselves in Europe, relocation through citizenship by descent can become even more lucrative for US citizens. These companies include pharmaceutical giants like AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), as well as tech giants like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN), a British-Swedish merger is one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies, working on research, development, and manufacturing of prescription drugs. The companys future looks prosperous with a recent deal setting the acquisition of the Canadian biotech firm Fusion Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: FUSN) for $2.4 billion. This will enable AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN), to improve cancer treatment through targeted therapies. Headquartered in the US, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is also one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world and the largest in Ireland, where it moved in 1935. Innovating with time, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) plan on developing AI applications for surgery. 31 European Countries That Offer Citizenship by Descent Methodology To compile our list of 31 European Countries That Offer Citizenship by Descent, we conduct extensive research on the web to identify European countries providing citizenship by descent. We then rank them based on the number of generations for which citizenship can be applied. Note: Cyprus, although not a European nation geographically, is included here due to its socio-cultural affinity with the region and for being a member of the European Union. By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that uses a consensus approach to identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The website tracks the movement of corporate insiders and hedge funds. Our top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 stock index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years ( see the details here ). So, if you are looking for the best stock picks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders. Let us now have a look at our list for 31 European Countries That Offer Citizenship by Descent. 31. Iceland No. of Generations: Up to One Generation Iceland allows citizenship by descent through parents only, subject to various conditions for eligibility. 30. Liechtenstein No. of Generations: Up to One Generation This country has one of the strictest rules for citizenship in Europe, allowing citizenship through descent only to children born to Liechtenstein nationals. However, this is regardless of the place of birth. 29. Norway No. of Generations: Up to One Generation While Norway allows citizenship by descent, the laws governing it are stringent, with numerous conditions determining eligibility. 28. Switzerland No. of Generations: Up to One Generation Citizenship by descent is available for individuals with parents who hold Swiss nationality; however, this criterion is subject to several other conditions. 27. Austria No. of Generations: Up to One Generation Austrian citizenship by descent is limited to one generation. This means that children would automatically be entitled to citizenship if they were born to an Austrian mother, to married parents where the father is an Austrian citizen and the mother is a non-Austrian, or if they were born to an Austrian father out of wedlock and the father acknowledged the child within eight weeks of birth. 26. Belgium No. of Generations: Up to One Generation For individuals seeking Belgian citizenship by descent, it is attainable for children through their parents. Since the change in citizenship law enacted in 1984, eligibility of the applicant is determined by two rules depending on the date of birth. 25. Cyprus No. of Generations: Up to One Generation For individuals born after August 16, 1960, and before June 11, 1999, citizenship by descent is available if they were born to Cypriot parents in Cyprus, born abroad while one parent was a Cypriot citizen, or born to a Cypriot mother. 24. Denmark No. of Generations: Up to One Generation Danish citizenship is automatically transferred to children born after July 1, 2014, if one or both parents are Danish citizens. This applies regardless of whether the child was born in the country or abroad, or even if born out of wedlock. 23. Finland No. of Generations: Up to One Generation In the case of Finland, citizenship by descent is possible through a mother's Finnish citizenship, a father's Finnish citizenship (when parents are married), and a father's Finnish citizenship even without marriage between parents. However, in some special cases, eligibility for Finland's residence permit is available up to the second generation. In such cases, a parent or grandparent's Finnish citizenship can facilitate immigration to the country and allow one to apply for the permit as a returnee. 22. Estonia No. of Generations: Up to One Generation Estonia offers relatively straightforward citizenship by descent for up to one generation. If either parent was Estonian, children can claim citizenship without any stipulation regarding the place of birth. However, if the parents had revoked their citizenship before the child turned 18, they would need to reapply for it. 21. France No. of Generations: Up to One Generation In another European country where citizenship by descent is being offered, children born to parents with French citizenship at the time of their birth are eligible to apply. However, in cases where there is no substantial proof that either the child or the parents had a connection with the country in the last 50 years while living abroad, the claim for citizenship by descent cannot be made. 20. Germany No. of Generations: Up to One Generation Germany also offers citizenship by descent through parents. Additionally, the country has made changes to its citizenship laws, allowing individuals with parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents who lost their citizenship under the Nazi regime to apply for citizenship through descent. 19. Netherlands No. of Generations: Up to One Generation One of the countries with strict citizenship laws, the Netherlands grants citizenship through descent if the parents are Dutch nationals at the time of birth. Since January 1, 1985, citizenship by descent has been possible from the mother's side as well, whereas before it was solely from the father's side. 18. Sweden No. of Generations: Up to One Generation Sweden is one of the European countries with strict citizenship by descent rules, limited to only one generation and based on jus sanguinis, which primarily depends on ancestry, regardless of place of birth. Citizenship by descent is applicable if one or both of the parents are Swedish nationals. 17. Malta No. of Generations: Up to Two Generations Malta's citizenship by descent for two generations means that if one's parent or grandparent is a Maltese citizen, they can become eligible as well. Amendments to the citizenship law in 2007 allow people born outside Malta on or after September 21, 1964, to gain citizenship simply by proving that they are direct descendants of Maltese citizens and then registering as a citizen. 16. Czechia No. of Generations: Up to Two Generations Czechia also allows citizenship by descent for individuals who have either one of their parents (mother or father) or grandparents as current or former Czech/Czechoslovakian nationals. 15. Portugal No. of Generations: Up to Two Generations For individuals with Portuguese parents or grandparents, citizenship by descent is a possible route to citizenship, provided that their ancestors have not lost this privilege. Upon meeting the requirements and submitting necessary documents, citizenship can be attained. 14. Romania No. of Generations: Up to Two Generations Individuals having ancestors who are or were Romanian nationals up to and including second-degree relatives (parents and grandparents) can benefit from Romanian citizenship laws, which offer citizenship by descent. This extends to the third generation in cases where a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was born in Romania or in a former Romanian territory. 13. Slovenia No. of Generations: Up to Two Generations If a parent or grandparent is or was a citizen of Slovenia, the applicant can submit relevant documents for citizenship by descent. If a person is born in a country other than Slovenia and has at least one parent who is a Slovenian national, they can apply to register as a citizen before the age of 36. 12. Spain No. of Generations: Up to Two Generations Spanish nationality can be acquired through parents and grandparents. Having either parent as a Spanish citizen qualifies one to apply, as does having at least one grandparent who was a Spanish national, even if their citizenship was forcefully revoked. Additionally, citizens of Latin American countries can also apply if their grandparent was born in Spain. Click to continue reading and see our 11 European Countries That Offer Citizenship by Descent. Suggested Articles: 10 Highest Paid Teaching Jobs Abroad in 2024 16 Hardest Countries to Get Citizenship by Naturalization 25 Countries With Limited Access To Healthcare Disclosure: None. 31 European Countries That Offer Citizenship by Descent is originally published on Insider Monkey. In this article, we will list the 35 least densely populated countries in the world. We will begin by discussing population density and how remote work is causing population dynamics in the US to shift. If you want to skip this discussion, go to The 15 Least Densely Populated Countries in the World. Most demographers agree that population density is a much more essential metric than the overall population of an area. It refers to the number of people living in a unit area (usually per square kilometer or square mile). Population density paints a much clearer picture compared to population as it shows the amount of competition for land and other limited resources in the country. More recently, the success of digital communication tools such as Zoom Video Communications, Inc.(NASDAQ:ZM)'s Zoom and the subsequent rise in remote work has shaped the population dynamics of countries throughout the world, including the United States. One of the reasons why people choose highly populated and expensive cities is that they have good jobs. However, it turns out that when the same jobs were available online, people started moving to less dense cities with better lifestyles and lower costs. While high population density figures are certainly not good, low figures are also detrimental to the economy. This is the reason why countries like Canada, which have low population densities, entice people from all around the world to immigrate there. While the global population has been steadily increasing, it has not been evenly distributed across different regions and countries. Asia, for example, has the highest population density among continents. It hosts almost 60% of the world's population despite consisting of 30% of the world's land area. On the other end of the spectrum are European and American countries, which have seen minimal population growth over the years. Circling back to the rise of remote work and its effect on population density, it is worth noting that the pandemic has led to significant shifts in population distribution within the United States. Many urban areas which traditionally attracted large populations due to amenities and job opportunities have experienced population decline. New York City, for example, lost over 5% of its population in the two years following the pandemic. Over 468,200 people left the city between April 2020 and July 2022 to other parts of New York State or New Jersey, seeking lower living costs and more space. Story continues It has been noticed that many Urban centers have not only seen a decrease in population growth but even a population decline following the remote work trend. However, the opposite of this is also true for suburban areas, which have seen a population increase as remote workers relocate to these areas. This trend has affected housing markets, economic activities, and urban planning in many cities throughout the United States and the world. Some of the industries and occupations that have embraced remote work include technology, finance, marketing, healthcare, and customer service. Jobs that can be performed remotely typically involve those that heavily rely on digital tools and communication platforms, which is why digital communication tools such as Zoom Video Communications, Inc.(NASDAQ:ZM)'s Zoom saw a massive boost during the pandemic. It is a video conferencing and communication platform founded by Eric Yuan in 2011, with a focus on creating a user-friendly and reliable virtual meeting space. Zoom Video Communications, Inc.(NASDAQ:ZM)'s video conferencing platform gained widespread popularity during the pandemic as businesses and individuals started relying on remote communication tools to stay connected while adhering to social distancing tools. With that backdrop, let's look at the 35 least densely populated countries in the world. Keep on reading our list to discover the emptiest country in the world. The 35 Least Densely Populated Countries in the World Photo by Lukas Lehotsky on Unsplash Methodology To curate our list of the 35 least densely populated countries in the world, we took the population figures of all the countries in the world and divided them by their total area in miles. All our population density figures are per square mile and use the latest population figures that were available for that country. For ranking and tiebreaking purposes, we used the total land area of the country. If, for example, countries A and B have the same population density, but country B has a larger land area, it will rank higher in our list. By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or a professional looking for the best stocks to buy you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders. 35 - Uruguay Population Per Square Mile - 51 Uruguay is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. The majority of the population in the country resides in the capital city of Montevideo. 34 - Mali Population Per Square Mile - 51 Mali is 34th on our list of the 35 least densely populated countries in the world. Most of the population in this African country is concentrated along the Niger River. The country has a predominantly rural population with over 90% of its people residing in the southern region. 33 - Algeria Population Per Square Mile - 50 Despite being one of the ten most populous countries in Africa, Algeria is one of the least densely populated ones. The population distribution in the country is concentrated in the north, as the Sahara dominates the southern geography. 32 - Belize Population Per Square Mile - 47 Situated in central America, Belize is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. The population in the country is concentrated in its northern part, particularly in Belize City, which is also its most significant economic hub. 31 - Finland Population Per Square Mile - 47 Finland is 31st on our list of the 35 least densely populated countries in the world Its population distribution is mainly concentrated in the southern region, particularly in the Helsinki metropolitan area. 30 - Republic of the Congo Population Per Square Mile - 47 The Republic of Congo is another African country on our list of the least densely populated countries in the world. Its population is concentrated in the southwestern part of the country, particularly in urban areas such as Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. 29 - South Sudan Population Per Square Mile - 46 South Sudan is among the least densely populated countries in the world. The country has a vast area of inhabitable land, which contributes to the overall low population density. 28 - Paraguay Population Per Square Mile - 45 Paraguay has an uneven population distribution as most of it is concentrated in the eastern region near Asuncion. Its most sparsely populated is Gran Chaco which makes up for less than 2% of its total population. 27 - Saudi Arabia Population Per Square Mile - 45 Saudi Arabia is one of the very few Asian countries on our list of the least densely populated countries in the world. Despite having a population of more than 32 million, its vast land area of 2,149,690 square kilometers contributes to its low population density. 26 - Argentina Population Per Square Mile - 44 Argentina is one of the least densely populated countries in southern America. Its population is growing at a slow pace because of the declining birth rate, with fertility decline starting earlier than in the rest of Latin America. 25 - New Caledonia Population Per Square Mile - 42 New Caledonia is 25th on our list of the least densely populated countries in the world. It is a French territory in the Pacific with scattered settlements. 24 - Oman Population Per Square Mile - 39 Oman has a sparse population distribution, with most of the population centers located around the northern mountains and the southern city of Salah. Its terrain consists of harsh deserts and rugged mountains limiting inhabitable areas. 23 - Norway Population Per Square Mile - 39 Norway is 23rd on our list of the least densely populated countries in the world. The country has just under 5.5 million people. 22 - Chad Population Per Square Mile - 39 Chad is a central African country with an uneven population distribution. The country's population is concentrated in the Logone Occidental Region and the capital city of N'Djamena. 21 - Turkmenistan Population Per Square Mile - 36 Despite having a population of around 5.6 million people, Turkmenistan is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. The country has unique geographical features, such as deserts and plateaus, contributing to overall low population density. 20 - Bolivia Population Per Square Mile - 30 Bolivia is among the top 20 least densely populated countries in the world. The country has a significant urban-rural population divide with about 67.49% of Bolivians residing in urban areas and the remaining 32.51% in rural regions. 19 - Gabon Population Per Square Mile - 25 Gabon is another Central African country on our list of the least densely populated countries in the world. At about 91%, the country has a significant urban population. 18 - Central African Republic Population Per Square Mile - 25 Central African Republic is one of the least densely populated countries in Africa. About 43% of the residents in the country live in Urban areas. 17 - Russia Population Per Square Mile - 23 Russia, the largest country in the world in terms of land area, is one of the least densely populated countries in the world. The country has uneven population distribution because of its large inhabitable lands such as Siberia. 16 - Niue Population Per Square Mile - 19 Niue is 16th on our list of the 35 least densely populated countries in the world. The country is also known for being one of the world's largest coral islands. Click to continue reading and see The 15 Least Densely Populated Countries in the World. Suggested articles: Disclosure: none. The 35 Least Densely Populated Countries in the World is originally published on Insider Monkey. Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies Bursa Malaysia Berhad's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions A total of 6 investors have a majority stake in the company with 51% ownership Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company A look at the shareholders of Bursa Malaysia Berhad (KLSE:BURSA) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 40% 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 Bursa Malaysia Berhad. Check out our latest analysis for Bursa Malaysia Berhad What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bursa Malaysia 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 Bursa Malaysia Berhad does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. 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 Bursa Malaysia Berhad's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story. Story continues We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Bursa Malaysia Berhad. The company's largest shareholder is Capital Market Development Fund, with ownership of 19%. Employees Provident Fund of Malaysia is the second largest shareholder owning 13% of common stock, and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan holds about 11% of the company stock. We did some more digging and found that 6 of the top shareholders account for roughly 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat. 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 Bursa Malaysia Berhad The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. 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 Bursa Malaysia Berhad insiders own under 1% of the company. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Keep in mind that it's a big company, and the insiders own RM22m 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 39% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders. Private Company Ownership It seems that Private Companies own 19%, of the Bursa Malaysia 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: 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 2 warning signs with Bursa Malaysia Berhad , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. 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. Key Insights Significantly high institutional ownership implies GSK's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions The top 25 shareholders own 49% of the company Recent purchases by insiders If you want to know who really controls GSK plc (LON:GSK), 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. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company. Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or 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 GSK. See our latest analysis for GSK What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About GSK? 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 GSK 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 GSK, (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 GSK. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Dodge & Cox with 9.2% of shares outstanding. With 8.2% and 4.6% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and The Vanguard Group, Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Story continues On studying our ownership data, we found that 25 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest. While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily. Insider Ownership Of GSK The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it. Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group. Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of GSK plc. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own UK77m worth of shares. 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 13% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over GSK. 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 3 warning signs with GSK , 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. Delving into ABB Ltd's Upcoming Dividend and Historical Payments ABB Ltd (ABBNY) recently announced a dividend of $1 per share, payable on a to-be-announced date, with the ex-dividend date set for 2024-03-25. As investors look forward to this upcoming payment, the spotlight also shines on the company's dividend history, yield, and growth rates. Using the data from GuruFocus, let's look into ABB Ltd's dividend performance and assess its sustainability. What Does ABB Ltd Do? Warning! GuruFocus has detected 9 Warning Signs with SVCBF. High Yield Dividend Stocks in Gurus' Portfolio This Powerful Chart Made Peter Lynch 29% A Year For 13 Years How to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock? ABB is a supplier of electrical equipment and automation products. Founded in the late 19th century, the company was created out of the merger of two old industrial companies: ASEA and BBC. Its products include electrical equipment, industrial robots, and equipment used for industrial automation that are sold via approximately 19 business divisions. ABB is the number one or two supplier in two thirds of its product segments. ABB Ltd's Dividend Analysis A Glimpse at ABB Ltd's Dividend History ABB Ltd has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2006, with dividends currently distributed on a yearly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends. Breaking Down ABB Ltd's Dividend Yield and Growth As of today, ABB Ltd currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.94% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 2.11%, suggesting an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. However, ABB Ltd's dividend yield of 1.94% is near a 10-year low and underperforms 45.51% of global competitors in the Industrial Products industry, suggesting that the company's dividend yield may not be a compelling proposition for income investors. Over the past three years, ABB Ltd's annual dividend growth rate was 2.40%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate decreased to 0.50% per year. And over the past decade, ABB Ltd's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at 1.90%. Story continues Based on ABB Ltd's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of ABB Ltd stock as of today is approximately 1.99%. ABB Ltd's Dividend Analysis The Sustainability Question: Payout Ratio and Profitability To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-12-31, ABB Ltd's dividend payout ratio is 0.45. ABB Ltd's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks ABB Ltd's profitability 7 out of 10 as of 2023-12-31, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported positive net income for each of year over the past decade, further solidifying its high profitability. Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook ABB Ltd's growth rank of 7 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. ABB Ltd's revenue has increased by approximately 10.90% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 60.54% of global competitors. The company's 3-year EPS growth rate showcases its capability to grow its earnings, a critical component for sustaining dividends in the long run. During the past three years, ABB Ltd's earnings increased by approximately 81.00% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 92.83% of global competitors. Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of 30.80%, which outperforms approximately 85.8% of global competitors. Next Steps In conclusion, ABB Ltd's upcoming dividend, consistent historical payments, and moderate growth in dividend rates are attractive features for value investors. The company's stable payout ratio and strong profitability underscore the sustainability of its dividends. Moreover, ABB Ltd's robust growth metrics indicate a positive outlook for future dividend sustenance and potential increases. With these factors in mind, investors may consider ABB Ltd as a candidate for their income-generating portfolios. GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener. This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. BURLINGTON, Vt., March 25, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Acrisure announced the formation of its New England Region, encompassing its businesses in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Acrisures New England presence includes 27 office locations, with nearly 400 employees serving over 57,000 customers. The Company also operates a key office in Bostons Back Bay, home to colleagues working in Innovation, Marketing and Cyber Services. Acrisure serves millions of clients around the world with an array of financial services solutions. Over the last year, the Company has exponentially raised consumer brand awareness through digital marketing and creating platforms across geographies and specialty areas. Acrisure Partner Paul Plunkett will serve as Managing Partner of the New England Region. "Were taking the bold step of unifying the business under the Acrisure brand with the New England market being one of the final steps in our branding journey," said Greg Williams, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Acrisure. "Under Pauls exemplary leadership and long-term experience, Im confident our New England clients will understand Acrisures mission is to provide the highest level of expertise and service while meeting the growing financial needs of our customers." Paul Plunkett is a Vermont native with four decades of industry experience in commercial and personal insurance solutions. He and his team are equipped to connect clients to multiple product lines across insurance, cybersecurity, payroll services, mortgage origination and much more. "I am privileged to take on the role of overseeing Acrisure's New England Region and am grateful for the trust placed in me and the Regions leadership team by Greg and Acrisures Executive team," Plunkett stated. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, New England is experiencing its lowest unemployment rate since 2000, falling below 3% in October 2023. This is being driven in part by a surge in "nonfarming" sector growth such as education and health services. This, along with other micro and macroeconomic factors, makes the region a dynamic environment. Story continues Added Plunkett, "With my extensive experience living and working in New England, I have a deep understanding of the unique dynamics and opportunities in the region. I am excited to get the ball rolling under the Acrisure brand to best support the broad needs of our clients." Learn more at Acrisure.com/NewEngland. About Acrisure Acrisure is An Extraordinary Advantage for millions of clients worldwide. The Company combines humans and high tech to deliver a broad array of products including Insurance, Reinsurance, Cyber Services, Mortgage Origination and more. In the last nine years, Acrisure has grown in revenue from $38 million to $4.4 billion and today employs 17,000 colleagues in more than 20 countries. Acrisure expects to announce new developments in the near term. For news and updates visit Acrisure.com or follow the Company on LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240325633401/en/ Contacts Media: Ginny Justice, VJustice@Acrisure.com or 202-255-4776 LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Adagio Medical, Inc., a leading innovator in catheter ablation technologies for ventricular tachycardia ("VT") and atrial fibrillation ("AF"), today announced CE Mark approval of its ultra-low temperature cryoablation ("ULTC") system for the treatment of monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. The system consists of the upgraded cryoablation console, also capable of supporting atrial ablation procedures using commercially available iCLAS catheters, and the vCLAS ventricular cryoablation catheter ("vCLAS"). The system will be featured at the upcoming conference of the European Heart Rhythm Association ("EHRA") in Berlin on April 7-9, 2024 and will become immediately available for clinical use in select European centers. Unlike conventional radiofrequency ("RF") catheters commonly used for both ventricular and atrial procedures, the 9Fr, bi-directional deflectable vCLAS catheter was designed specifically to address the challenges of VT ablations. It features a 15-millimeter long ULTC ablation element, capable of creating lesions with titratable width and depth exceeding 10 millimeters, making it time- and effort-efficient across the range of purely endocardial ablation strategies in patients with both ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathies,1 including those with otherwise challenging mid-myocardial scarring.2 The use of cryogenic energy and associated cryoadhesion ensures catheter stability during ablation while the absence of catheter irrigation simplifies the hemodynamic management of patients who often present with symptoms of clinical heart failure. "We are encouraged by the commercial availability of the dedicated VT ablation system in our European centers, as it shows promise for patients with ventricular arrhythmias," said Professor Dr. KR Julian Chun of Cardiovascular Center Bethanien ("CCB") in Frankfurt, Germany. "The current VT ablation practice has evolved around generic catheter tools available to the clinicians, with all associated trade-offs, limiting, to an extent, how broadly we offer ablations to a rather sick patient population with structural heart disease," added Professor Dr. Boris Schmidt, an Electrophysiologist at CCB. "We now have the opportunity to thoroughly evaluate Adagio's ULTC technology in both routine clinical practice and post-market studies to see the impact it will have on our patient selection, procedural approaches and outcomes." Story continues CE Mark approval for the vCLAS catheter has been granted based on the results of the Cryocure-VT trial, which enrolled patients with monomorphic VT of both ischemic and non-ischemic origin at nine European and Canadian centers. The early acute results of the trial were published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology: Clinical Electrophysiology in 20231, and the full results inclusive of six months follow-up will be presented on April 8, 2024 at EHRA's Late-Breaking Clinical Science session by Dr. Atul Verma, MD, the Director of the Division of Cardiology at McGill University Health Centre. "We believe that the unique features and performance of ULTC will advance the field of VT ablations with outcomes warranting expansion of patient eligibility and earlier intervention," said Olav Bergheim, President and CEO of Adagio Medical, Inc. "Adagio is highly committed to the VT space, with the Cryocure-VT trial and CE Mark approval of vCLAS catheter being the first steps of the journey. Additional US studies are either ongoing or in planning. We are grateful to the Cryocure-VT investigators and are looking forward to engaging the European Electrophysiology community to maximize the potential of ULTC technology and patient benefit in VT ablations". 1De Potter T, Balt J, Boersma L, Sacher F, et al. First-In-Human Experience with Ultra-Low Temperature Cryoablation for Monomorphic Ventricular Tachycardia. J Am Coll Cardiol EP 2023;9:686-61 2 Dilk P, Darma A, Hindricks G, Dinov B. Ultra-low-temperature cryoablation for ventricular tachycardia in nonischemic cardiomyopathy a case report. Heart Rhythm Case Reports 2023;9:469-472 About Adagio Medical, Inc. Adagio Medical, Inc. is a privately held company located in Laguna Hills, California developing innovative cryoablation technologies that create contiguous, transmural lesions to treat cardiac arrhythmias, including paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and ventricular tachycardia. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release (this "Press Release") may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or future financial or operating performance of ARYA, Adagio Medical, Inc. ("Adagio Medical") or Aja Holdco, Inc. (the "Combined Company"). For example, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including the commercialization of new products, the timing and scope thereof, the fully diluted equity value following the proposed business combination (the "transaction"), the anticipated enterprise value of the Combined Company, expected ownership in the Combined Company, projections of market opportunity and market share, the capability of Adagio Medical's or the Combined Company's business plans including its plans to expand, the sources and uses of cash from the proposed transaction, any benefits of Adagio Medical's partnerships, strategies or plans as they relate to the proposed transaction, anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction and expectations related to the terms and timing of the proposed transaction, Adagio Medical's expected pro forma cash, Adagio Medical's or the Combined Company's expected cash runway through 2025 or statements related to Adagio Medical's or the Combined Company's funding gap, funded business plan or use of proceeds, or other metrics or statements derived therefrom, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "propose," "seek," "should," "strive," "will," or "would" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may be beyond the control of ARYA, Adagio Medical or the Combined Company and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by ARYA and its management, Adagio Medical and its management and the Combined Company and its management, as the case may be, are inherently uncertain. Each of ARYA, Adagio Medical and the Combined Company caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known and projections of the future, which are inherently uncertain. There will be risks and uncertainties described in the proxy statement/prospectus included in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 relating to the proposed transaction, which is expected to be filed publicly by the Combined Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and described in other documents filed by ARYA or the Combined Company from time to time with the SEC. Neither ARYA nor Adagio Medical can assure you that the forward-looking statements in this communication will prove to be accurate. See ARYA's Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 14, 2024 for additional information on factors that could cause actual results to differ from current expectations as well as the other documents filed, or to be filed, with the SEC by ARYA or the Combined Company for additional information. There may be additional risks that ARYA, Adagio Medical or the Combined Company do not presently know, do not control or that ARYA, Adagio Medical or the Combined Company currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Nothing in this Press Release should be regarded as a representation or warranty by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved, in any specified time frame, or at all. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made in this Press Release. Subsequent events and developments may cause those views to change. Neither ARYA, Adagio Medical nor the Combined Company undertakes any duty to update these forward-looking statements. No Offer or Solicitation This press release does not constitute (i) a solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the potential transaction or (ii) an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation to purchase any securities of ARYA, Adagio Medical or the Combined Company, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act, or an exemption therefrom. Important Additional Information Regarding the Transaction Will Be Filed With the SEC In connection with the proposed transaction, the Combined Company intends to file with the SEC a Registration Statement on Form S-4 (the "Registration Statement") containing a preliminary proxy statement of ARYA and a preliminary prospectus of the Combined Company, and after the Registration Statement is declared effective, ARYA expects to mail a definitive proxy statement/prospectus related to the proposed transaction to its shareholders. The proxy statement/prospectus will contain important information about the proposed transaction and the other matters to be voted upon at ARYA's shareholder meeting to be held to approve the proposed transaction. ARYA and the Combined Company may also file other documents with the SEC regarding the proposed transaction. This Press Release does not contain all the information that should be considered concerning the proposed transaction and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision or any other decision in respect of the proposed transaction. Before making any voting or other investment decisions, shareholders of ARYA and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus and any amendments thereto, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed in connection with the proposed transaction, as these materials will contain important information about ARYA, Adagio Medical and the proposed transaction. After the Registration Statement becomes effective, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials for the proposed transaction will be mailed to shareholders of ARYA as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed transaction. Shareholders will also be able to obtain copies of the definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC, without charge, once available, at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, or by directing a request to: ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp IV, 51 Astor Place, 10th Floor, New York, New York, Attention: Secretary. INVESTMENT IN ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE SEC OR ANY OTHER REGULATORY AUTHORITY NOR HAS ANY AUTHORITY PASSED UPON OR ENDORSED THE MERITS OF THE OFFERING OR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE. Participants in the Solicitation ARYA and its respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from ARYA's shareholders with respect to the proposed transaction. A list of the names of ARYA's directors and executive officers and a description of their interests in ARYA is contained in ARYA's Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the SEC and is available free of charge at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov, or by directing a request to ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp IV, 51 Astor Place, 10th Floor, New York, New York, Attention: Secretary. Additional information regarding the interests of such participants will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed transaction when available. Investors, security holders and other interested persons of ARYA, Adagio Medical and the Combined Company are urged to carefully read in their entirety the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents that will be filed with the SEC, when they become available, because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. Also see above under the heading "Important Additional Information Regarding the Transaction Will Be Filed With the SEC." Adagio Medical and the Combined Company, and their directors and executive officers may also be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of ARYA in connection with the proposed transaction. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the proposed transaction will be included in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed transaction when available. Please note that Adagio Medical's website and social media accounts, including but not limited on X(formerly known as Twitter) or LinkedIn, as well as any other information contained on, or that can be accessed through, its website or social media channels described below, are not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and are not considered part of, this Press Release. Follow Adagio Medical, Inc. on: Related Links https://adagiomedical.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adagio-medical-announces-ce-mark-approval-of-vt-cryoablation-system-plans-for-immediate-commercialization-in-select-european-centers-302097717.html SOURCE Adagio Medical, Inc. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alghanim Industries has forged a strategic partnership with the Saudi Coffee Company, which is owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. This collaboration highlights the Saudi Coffee Company's specialty coffee brand, Jazean, and is aimed at promoting Saudi Arabia's distinguished coffee culture on a global scale. A significant milestone of this partnership is the opening of Alghanim's 100th Costa Coffee store, symbolizing the shared dedication to enhancing the worldwide appreciation of coffee culture and fostering the industry's growth both within Saudi Arabia and internationally. Opening of the 100th Costa Coffee store in KSA As the largest Costa Coffee franchisee in the region, Alghanim Industries is dedicated to showcasing Jazean Coffee's exclusive blends, cultivated in Saudi Arabia's southern region, across all Costa Coffee locations in the Kingdom, highlighting the depth of local coffee culture. Kutayba Alghanim, Executive Chairman of Alghanim Industries, stated, "Partnering with the Saudi Coffee Company to introduce locally-grown Jazean coffee beans into our Costa Coffee stores represents a significant strategic initiative that underscores our deep commitment to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This effort shines a light on our continuous drive to support job creation and expand employment opportunities, aligning perfectly with the objectives of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. It signifies our contribution to the local economy, our dedication to energizing the job market, and our celebration of the Kingdom's rich coffee culture. We view this not merely as a business opportunity but as an avenue to support the community and safeguard the deep-rooted traditions that characterize this region's identity." Mahmoud Samara, CEO of Alghanim Industries, reflected, "Our alliance with Costa Coffee, flourishing for over a decade, transcends the bounds of conventional business partnerships by merging global excellence with the essence of local culture. This collaboration, especially through integrating Costa's esteemed brand with distinctive local concepts like Jazean coffee, not only underscores our commitment to innovation, community involvement, and the celebration of local heritage but also opens the door to showcasing Saudi coffee beans across the region and potentially beyond, leveraging our position as the largest Costa Coffee franchisee. It embodies our strategic vision to enhance the consumer experience significantly, contributing positively to the Saudi economy and elevating the nation's rich coffee culture on a global stage." Story continues The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's ambition to become a prominent player in the global coffee market is supported by significant initiatives, notably by entities like the Saudi Coffee Company. Their efforts to cultivate the southern region of Saudi Arabia aim to harvest some of the highest quality Arabica coffee available, contributing to the development of a vibrant local coffee culture and meeting the growing demand within the Kingdom. Khalid Abu Theeb, CEO of Saudi Coffee Company, commented: "We are delighted to partner with Alghanim Industries facilitating the integration of locally produced coffee beans in global coffee blends. This partnership underpins Saudi Coffee Company's commitment to empower the private sector in the coffee industry, as well as promote Saudi-based coffee production across the region and globally. At Saudi Coffee Company and through its specialty coffee brand Jazean, we are keen to partake in sustainable coffee production processes across the full value chain; placing the Saudi coffee beans on the global stage for coffee trade." Philippe Schaillee, CEO of Costa Coffee, said: "It is an honor to join Alghanim Industries in celebrating the opening of their 100th Costa Coffee retail store. Alghanim have some of the best Costa Coffee stores in the world - helping us create a progressive and innovative brand in Saudi Arabia, targeting younger consumers, as well as inspiring those who already know and love the Costa Coffee brand. The partnership with Saudi Coffee Company is a fantastic example of how a global brand like Costa Coffee can operate in multiple markets and regions, whilst working with local partners to celebrate and champion individual markets heritage and produce." The majority of Alghanim Industries' food offerings at Costa Coffee are sourced from local suppliers within the Kingdom, highlighting significant collaborations with Saudi brands that are prominently featured in Costa Coffee stores. Under the strategic guidance of Alghanim Industries, Costa Coffee has experienced significant growth not only in the Kingdom but also in expanding markets, including Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, demonstrating the brand's growing influence and commitment to the Gulf region's coffee culture. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371074/Opening_of_the_100th_Costa_Coffee_store_in_KSA.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371075/Group_Photo_Alghanim_Industries_Costa_Coffee.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2371076/Mahmoud_Samara_Khaled_Abu_Theeb_Philippe_Schaillee.jpg Group Photo of Alghanim Industries Saudi Coffee Company and Costa Coffee Mahmoud Samara Khaled Abu Theeb and Philippe Schaillee Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alghanim-industries-collaborates-with-saudi-coffee-company-to-promote-saudi-arabias-coffee-heritage-globally-302098502.html SOURCE Alghanim Industries STARTING WITH A-B'S BUSCH LIGHT, CERTIFICATION INCLUDES NEW PACKAGING SEAL FOR PRODUCTS MADE WITH INGREDIENTS GROWN BY AMERICAN FARMERS FAIRFIELD, Mont., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch recently announced the national rollout of its newly-adopted U.S. Farmed certification and seal for several of its industry-leading beer brands, showing support for farmers in the U.S., including Montana, where the state's farmers sold nearly $4.5B worth of agricultural products in 20221. Developed and verified by the American Farmland Trust (AFT) , a national nonprofit that helps to keep American farmers on their land, the U.S. Farmed certification and packaging seal helps shoppers choose products that derive at least 95 percent of their agricultural ingredients from farms in the United States. U.S. Farmed Key Visual (PRNewsfoto/Anheuser-Busch) Anheuser-Busch is a proud supporter of American farmers, including the 75 direct grower partners across Montana whom the brewer purchases $40 million in barley from each year. Anheuser-Busch has two local agriculture facilities in Montana, including the Anheuser-Busch Fairfield and Conrad Elevators. Consumers in Montana are empowered to purchase U.S. Farmed certified products to benefit U.S. farmers and invest in the future of domestic ingredient sourcing, helping to ensure a vibrant and thriving agricultural sector in America for generations to come. The U.S. Farmed seal will first appear on Anheuser-Busch's Busch Light this May, and Budweiser, Bud Light and Michelob ULTRA have also obtained U.S. Farmed certification. Companies across the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry are encouraged to join the effort by obtaining U.S. Farmed certification for their domestically-sourced products. AFT will use funds raised through those certifications to expand programs and provide U.S. farmers across all 50 states with free resources and expert advisory services to help them access, protect, and maintain American farmland. By harnessing the potential of U.S. sourced goods across the entire CPG industry, the U.S. Farmed certification aims to create a far greater impact for American agriculture than any one company could alone. This industry-wide effort will be supported by an Anheuser-Busch led campaign, " Choose Beer Grown Here ," to encourage consumers to seek the U.S. Farmed certification and seal when shopping for products. Story continues "American farmers are the backbone of this country, and Anheuser-Busch has been deeply connected to the U.S. agricultural community and committed to sourcing high-quality ingredients from U.S. farmers for more than 165 years that's who we are," said Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth. "We source nearly all the ingredients in our iconic American beers from hard-working U.S. farmers many of whom we have worked with for generations. The U.S. Farmed certification takes our commitment to the next level, and we are proud to lead the industry in rallying behind American farmers to ensure the future of U.S. agriculture, which is crucial to our country's economy. We look forward to other companies joining us in seeking U.S. Farmed certification for their products so that together we can make an even greater impact and show our support for American farmers." The U.S. Farmed certification comes at a critical moment for American agriculture. According to AFT, within the next 15 years, ownership of over 30 percent of our nation's agricultural land could be in transition as the current generation of farmers prepares to retire. At the same time, farmland loss threatens the very foundation of our agricultural capacity, and new and beginning farmers are often challenged to secure the capital needed to enter agriculture. The U.S. Farmed certification will address this challenge head on by providing growers in Montana and across the country with access to the direct support needed to pursue their options for maintaining and protecting their farmland, as well as innovative strategies for transitioning their land to the next generation of farmers. "For over four decades, American Farmland Trust has worked tirelessly to ensure the land that sustains us remains in farming and its soils stay healthy and productive. Now, with the launch of the U.S. Farmed certification, we're taking a bold step to help secure the future of American agriculture and create both a movement and a market niche that celebrates and supports our nation's farmers," said Beth Sauerhaft, PhD, AFT Acting President and CEO. "Each U.S. Farmed certification has the potential to open new opportunities for farmers to receive assistance with succession planning, farmland protection tools for their operations, and other useful tactics to safeguard their land our nation's food systems. We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's leadership in bringing the U.S. Farmed certification to some of the country's most iconic brands, while also making tangible impact for American farmers." "Our family has grown malt barley for Anheuser-Busch since 1969. This was in the early years of August Busch Jr. sourcing malt barley from Montana and the beginning of decades of Anheuser-Busch investing in and promoting Montana agriculture," said Reece Brown, Montana farmer. "American Farmland Trust's creation of U.S. Farmed and Anheuser-Busch's certification highlights the history and future of the relationship that U.S. farms have with our neighbors all across America. Thank you for supporting us every time you tip a beer back with the U.S. Farmed seal!" For more information on the U.S. Farmed certification and seal, including resources for American Farmers and product certification, please visit . Learn more about Anheuser-Busch's commitment to U.S. farmers here http://www.anheuser-busch.com/USFarmed . ABOUT AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 7.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families. Learn more at www.farmland.org . ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 18,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer and beyond beer brands, including Michelob ULTRA, Cutwater Spirits, Stella Artois, Budweiser and Bud Light as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook, and Instagram. 1 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services (2022). Census of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/index.php. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-farmland-trust-and-anheuser-busch-support-montana-farmers-through-new-us-farmed-certification-302098029.html SOURCE Anheuser-Busch CERTIFICATION INCLUDES NEW PACKAGING SEAL FOR PRODUCTS MADE WITH INGREDIENTS GROWN BY AMERICAN FARMERS JONESBORO, Ark., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch recently announced the national rollout of its newly-adopted U.S. Farmed certification and seal for several of its industry-leading beer brands, showing support for farmers in the U.S., including Arkansas, where the state's farmers sold $13.9B worth of agricultural products in 20221. Developed and verified by the American Farmland Trust (AFT) , a national nonprofit that helps to keep American farmers on their land, the U.S. Farmed certification and packaging seal helps shoppers choose products that derive at least 95 percent of their agricultural ingredients from farms in the United States. U.S. Farmed Key Visual (PRNewsfoto/Anheuser-Busch) Anheuser-Busch is a proud supporter of American farmers, including the 70 direct rice grower partners across Arkansas from whom the brewer purchases 48% percent of its rice for Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch has a local agriculture facility in Jonesboro, the Anheuser-Busch Rice Mill, and spends over $161 million purchasing rice from Arkansas farmers each year. Consumers in Arkansas are empowered to purchase U.S. Farmed certified products to benefit U.S. farmers and invest in the future of domestic ingredient sourcing, helping to ensure a vibrant and thriving agricultural sector in America for generations to come. Companies across the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) industry are encouraged to join the effort by obtaining U.S. Farmed certification for their domestically-sourced products. AFT will use funds raised through those certifications to expand programs and provide U.S. farmers across all 50 states with free resources and expert advisory services to help them access, protect, and maintain American farmland. By harnessing the potential of U.S. sourced goods across the entire CPG industry, the U.S. Farmed certification aims to create a far greater impact for American agriculture than any one company could alone. This industry-wide effort will be supported by an Anheuser-Busch led campaign, " Choose Beer Grown Here ," to encourage consumers to seek the U.S. Farmed certification and seal when shopping for products. Story continues "American farmers are the backbone of this country, and Anheuser-Busch has been deeply connected to the U.S. agricultural community and committed to sourcing high-quality ingredients from U.S. farmers for more than 165 years that's who we are," said Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth. "We source nearly all the ingredients in our iconic American beers from hard-working U.S. farmers many of whom we have worked with for generations. The U.S. Farmed certification takes our commitment to the next level, and we are proud to lead the industry in rallying behind American farmers to ensure the future of U.S. agriculture, which is crucial to our country's economy. We look forward to other companies joining us in seeking U.S. Farmed certification for their products so that together we can make an even greater impact and show our support for American farmers." The U.S. Farmed certification comes at a critical moment for American agriculture. According to AFT, within the next 15 years, ownership of over 30 percent of our nation's agricultural land could be in transition as the current generation of farmers prepares to retire. At the same time, farmland loss threatens the very foundation of our agricultural capacity, and new and beginning farmers are often challenged to secure the capital needed to enter agriculture. The U.S. Farmed certification will address this challenge head on by providing growers in Arkansas and across the country with access to the direct support needed to pursue their options for maintaining and protecting their farmland, as well as innovative strategies for transitioning their land to the next generation of farmers. "For over four decades, American Farmland Trust has worked tirelessly to ensure the land that sustains us remains in farming and its soils stay healthy and productive. Now, with the launch of the U.S. Farmed certification, we're taking a bold step to help secure the future of American agriculture and create both a movement and a market niche that celebrates and supports our nation's farmers," said Beth Sauerhaft, PhD, AFT Acting President and CEO. "Each U.S. Farmed certification has the potential to open new opportunities for farmers to receive assistance with succession planning, farmland protection tools for their operations, and other useful tactics to safeguard their land our nation's food systems. We appreciate Anheuser-Busch's leadership in bringing the U.S. Farmed certification to some of the country's most iconic brands, while also making tangible impact for American farmers." "I'm grateful to see Anheuser-Busch and American Farmland Trust introducing the U.S. Farmed certification in support of American farmers," said Eric Vaught, farmer at E & K Rice Farms. "Here in Arkansas, we take great pride in growing rice and other raw commodities that go into America's finest brews and foods, so it's rewarding to see this push towards recognizing and supporting our nation's hard-working farmers." "Crops grown in Arkansas are key ingredients in products Americans see on store shelves every day," said Arkansas State Representative Jeff Wardlaw (R). "Now, thanks to the American Farmland Trust's new U.S. Farmed program, consumers will know that their choice in products supports farmers in Arkansas and across the United States, and I'm excited that Anheuser-Busch will lead the way by being first with the U.S. Farmed label on its products." For more information on the U.S. Farmed certification and seal, including resources for American Farmers and product certification, please visit http://www.farmland.org/us-farmed. Learn more about Anheuser-Busch's commitment to U.S. farmers here http://www.anheuser-busch.com/USFarmed . ABOUT AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 7.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families. Learn more at www.farmland.org . ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 18,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America's most loved beer and beyond beer brands, including Michelob ULTRA, Cutwater Spirits, Stella Artois, Budweiser and Bud Light as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook, and Instagram. 1 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services (2022). Census of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/index.php. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/american-farmland-trust-and-anheuser-busch-support-arkansas-farmers-through-new-us-farmed-certification-302098009.html SOURCE Anheuser-Busch VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Arras Minerals Corp. (TSX-V:ARK) ("Arras" or "the Company") is pleased to introduce the results of its soil sampling program over the Aimandai Target, located within its Elemes Project ("Elemes" or the "Project") in northeastern Kazakhstan. The Elemes project is composed of several mineral licences that are 100% owned by Arras and not included in the Teck-Arras Strategic Exploration Alliance announced on December 7, 2023. https://youtu.be/GQVP7B4Xd14 Highlights from the Soil Sampling program Identified a second, unexplored 14 km x 3.2 km NE-SW trending coherent copper ("Cu") anomaly (>100ppm) called the "Aimandai Target" located within the Elemes Project. Large, overlapping Arsenic ("As") anomaly interpreted to be associated with an intermediate - to high sulphidation epithermal system indicating a preserved porphyry system. Field mapping and sampling has identified coincident altered rocks typical of a porphyry alteration system that has never been drill tested. The Aimandai Target is a parallel copper anomaly to the "Berezski Target," which Arras announced on February 22, 2024. The Berezski Target is an 8.8-kilometer-long copper anomaly with historical drilling that has yielded notable results such as 132 meters at 0.80% CuEq and 108 meters at 0.94% CuEq from surface. Both the Berezski Target and the Aimandai Target are located within the Elemes Project. Tim Barry, CEO of Arras Minerals stated, "Our Elemes Project is starting to yield some very exciting potential. Recently we announced the "Berezski Target", an 8.8-kilometer-long copper-in-soil anomaly with historical drill holes spread over a 5-kilometer strike of this anomaly, which intercepted 132.6m @ 0.80% CuEq and 108m @ 0.94% CuEq from surface. In this news release we are now announcing a second parallel copper-in-soil anomaly called the "Aimandai Target", that stretches over a remarkable 14-kilometer strike and is associated with "at surface" porphyry-style alteration that has never been drilled. The large alteration zone and associated arsenic anomaly suggests preservation of the upper and generally higher-grade parts of a porphyry system. In summary, we have now defined what appears to be two parallel, multi-kilometer porphyry-epithermal targets (the Aimandai and Berezski targets) on the Elemes Project, which we intend to develop further in 2024." Story continues Figure 1. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8-kilometer long Berezski Copper Targets are shown as NE-SW trending copper soil anomalies. The location of historical drill holes is also shown on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly. Figure 2. Soil sampling alteration map on the Elemes project. The 14-kilometer long Aimandai and 8.8 kilometer long Berezski Targets are shown as NE-SW trending zones which correspond to the mapped alteration. Also shown is the location of historical drill holes on the Berezski anomaly. There is no known drilling on the Aimandai anomaly. Figure 3. Soil anomaly maps showing copper (Cu), and arsenic (As) for the Berezski and Aimandai Targets located within the Elemes Project. The new Aimandai Target copper soil anomaly highlights a second, 14-kilometer-long parallel porphyry system to the Berezski Target that has never been drill tested. The Soil Sampling Program: In 2023, a comprehensive soil sampling program was undertaken across the Elemes License area. This program specifically targeted the well-developed "B soil horizon" utilizing a 50-meter sample interval and 200-meter line spacing grid. This press release announces the analysis results from the final 14,000 samples from this program. The 2023 program collected approximately 31,000 samples were collected and covered an area of 328.5 square kilometers and was completed in November 2023. The soil analysis was conducted utilizing a Portable X-ray fluorescence device ("pXRF"), a widely employed instrument for determining the elemental composition of samples. Due to the limited sampling area of the pXRF, the results presented in this release are considered "indicative" rather than fully quantitative regarding mineralization. Despite this limitation, the results have revealed a substantial and coherent copper-in-soil anomaly, with copper concentrations exceeding 100 ppm. Background copper in the area is less than 20 ppm. This anomaly stretches over a remarkable distance of more than 14 kilometers in a northeast to southwest direction and extends to approximately 3.2 kilometers in width from east to west. Limited historic drilling has occurred to the south of this new anomaly exploring a series of outcropping low-sulphidation Au-bearing quartz veins. The Berezski and Aimandai Targets: are located within the 531 square kilometer Elemes Project. The Project benefits from excellent modern infrastructure and ease of accessibility, being located only 20 kilometers from Arras' operational base in the city of Ekibastuz, northeastern Kazakhstan. A paved highway runs through the license, and within 5 km of the two targets. 1100 KVA power lines and heavy rail all lie within a 15-kilometer radius of the project. The Elemes Project is located within the Bozshakol-Chingiz metallogenic belt that also hosts the Beskauga porphyry copper-gold-silver project approximately 80 km to the east, and KAZ Minerals' Bozshakol porphyry copper-gold mine approximately 60 km to the northwest. Figure 4. Arras's License Package showing Arras-Teck Strategic Alliance Areas as "Package A" and "Package B" as well as the Elemes and Beskauga Projects and the Tay license which are 100% owned by Arras. Sampling Methodology Samples were collected on a 50m (East-west) by 200m (north-south) grid spacings. Samples were collected from hand-dug pits, trying to consistently sample the B horizon. Approximately 500 grams of material was collected and sieved (5mm mesh size) to review larger particles and organic matter. Following collection, the samples were bagged, dried, and analyzed by the company with a Portable Niton XL5 X-ray fluorescence analyzer at the company's core storage facility in Ekibastuz. Assay, QAQC Procedures Analysis was conducted using the company's two Niton XL5 portable XRF units. Units were calibrated at the start and end of each work shift as well as after every 100 samples to verify accuracy. In addition, a measurement from a certified reference material was taken every 20 measurements to ensure accuracy and repeatability of data. In addition, prior to commencement of the measurements, 100 duplicate samples were analyzed using both units to confirm that both units were producing accurate results and that no bias was present in either of the units. All soil material is stored at Arras' warehouse in Ekibastuz, and the company plans to send a proportion of these samples to ALS Chemex in Karaganda, Kazakhstan for reanalysis with a 4-acid digest ICP-MS61 analysis and for trace gold analysis (using Au-ST43). Qualified Person: The scientific and technical disclosure for this news release has been prepared under supervision of and approved by Matthew Booth, Vice President of Exploration, of Arras Minerals Corp., a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101. Mr. Booth has over 19 years of mineral exploration experience and is a Qualified Person member of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG 12044). On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim Barry" Tim Barry, MAusIMM CP(Geo) Chief Executive Officer and Director INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800 info@arrasminerals.com Further information can be found on: the Company's website https://www.arrasminerals.com or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arrasminerals or follow us on X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/arrasminerals About Arras Minerals Corp. Arras is a Canadian exploration and development company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project. The Company has established the third-largest license package in the country prospective for copper and gold (behind Rio Tinto and Fortescue). In December 2023, the Company entered into a strategic alliance with Teck Resources ("Teck") in which Teck will sole fund a US$5 million generative exploration program over a portion of the Arras license package in 2024-2025 focusing on critical minerals. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX-V under the trading symbol "ARK". Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This press release uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources", and "inferred resources" which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. The Company advises U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the SEC. The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically minable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101. Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Arras' future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Exchange Act, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding plans and expectations of the exploration program Arras is in the process of undertaking, including the expansion of the Mineral Resource, and other aspects of the Mineral Resource estimates for the Beskauga project. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Arras' exploration projects, the industry in which Arras operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Arras' management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "may," variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond management's control, including undertaking further exploration activities, the results of such exploration activities and that such results support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Management Discussion and Analysis filed on the Company's profile on SEDAR on February 28, 2024 and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2023 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 28, 2024 available on www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this release is based only on information currently available and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise. SOURCE: Arras Minerals Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com Stables Founders Photo Pictured Left to Right: Erez Rachamim, Bernardo Bilotta and Daniel Li. Stables Founders Photo SYDNEY, Australia, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Australian digital wallet provider and payment startup Stables has today announced the launch of international remittances for its thousands of users (focusing on the AU-PH Corridor). From today, Stables users in over 130 countries can send Australian Dollars or Philippine Pesos to over 140 million people across Australia and the Philippines, all powered by stablecoins. As the largest importer of remittances within Southeast Asia, the Philippines has inflows in excess of $40 billion per year (with $5.76 billion from Australia alone). In recent years, the Philippines has increasingly adopted digital forms of payment due to 44% of the population aged 15 and over in the Philippines estimated to be unbanked, leading to increased acceptance of digital wallets and e-wallets like Gcash in the region. With the market capitalisation of stablecoins hitting new highs in March 2024, totalling over $140 billion, there is strong momentum this year for the cohort-leading venture. Stables and its Founders have an unwavering belief in stablecoins to offer users speed, low-cost settlement, security and reliability for its users. On the recent announcement, Stables Co-Founder and CEO Erez Rachamim said, This is the first time in Australian history that a company has embedded stablecoins in remittance rails with both domestic jurisdictions covered to deliver a payload with no middlemen, intra-day with sub 1% fees, we cannot wait to bring feature parity to the Philippines by May 2024. Our vision at Stables has always been to simplify the usage of stablecoins and drive their widespread adoption globally to improve access to basic financial services in emerging markets where a significant portion of the population is underbanked, Rachamim continued. Initially, Stables set out to reimagine how stablecoins could power everyday payments, and today, weve turned that into a reality. Our users can now send Philippines Pesos or Australian Dollars from their stablecoin balance directly into any local bank account or eWallet, without the need for the other party to have a Stables wallet or know that the funds started as a digital asset on the blockchain, added Erez Rachamim, CEO of Stables. Stablecoin remittances are a lifeline for many who need to send money to their loved ones, as they provide faster, cheaper and more transparent transactions than traditional methods. Stablecoins are challenging the status quo of remittance services. We believe they will shape the future of cross-border payments, and the little guys will keep more money in their pockets. Story continues Stables has forged strong relationships and partnerships with major global payment players like Mastercard in 2023, announcing the launch of the Stables Mastercard virtual prepaid card in Australia. This groundbreaking solution allowed users to seamlessly and securely spend their stablecoin balance anywhere Mastercard cards are accepted, in-store or online. Leveraging Circle Internet Financial (Circle)s USDC, the Stables virtual card empowers customers to utilize their stablecoins in the physical world, meeting the growing demand for real-world spending among digital asset holders. Founded in February 2021, Stables is on a mission to empower people to access the global financial system through transparent and fair stablecoin products. Stablecoin remittances offer cheaper alternatives but still face challenges to adoption. Stables hopes to bridge that gap as it aggressively moves into new international markets in 2024. For more information or to sign up, visit https://stables.money About Stables: With a community of over 35,000 globally, Stables allows users to send, buy, and spend with their stablecoins - all on one balance. Founded in February 2021 and backed by leading VCs, Stables has assembled a stellar team focusing on bringing real-world use cases to digital assets. Powered by Mastercard, Australian users can pay with their USDC via Apple Pay and Google Pay in-store and online. Stables is the brainchild of experienced fintech leaders Erez Rachamim , Bernardo Bilotta , Daniel Li , David Nichols , and Tony Tao . Stables employs 23 full-time staff, operating out of Sydney & Melbourne. Key investors in Stables include global venture capital funds Rocket Internet, Fintech Collective and DACM, as well as high-profile angel investors, including Alvin Singh and Bosco Tan (co-founders at Pocketbook) and Larry Diamond (co-founder at Zip Co). A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c14bbb0d-0ab5-424b-bdf6-f444e9c5917b CONTACT: Contact: marketing@stables.money Boeing (BA) CEO Dave Calhoun will step down at the end of the year, the company announced Monday. Calhoun's departure comes as the plane maker has dealt with a raft of production and quality control issues this year, most notably when one of its 737 MAX 9 planes flown by Alaska Air (ALK) lost a panel in mid-flight back in January. Last week, Boeing CFO Brian West said the company would see cash outflows of up to $4.5 billion during the current quarter as it works to shore up its production lines. Boeing stock rose as much as 2.5% following the news. Through Friday's close, the stock had lost more than 27% this year. The company also announced Monday that Larry Kellner, chairman of its board, will not stand for reelection at the company's upcoming annual shareholders meeting. Steve Mollenkopf, the former CEO of Qualcomm and a Boeing board member since 2020, will replace Kellner and lead the company's search for its next CEO. Boeing also said Stan Deal, currently CEO of its Commercial Airplanes segment, will retire. In this National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) handout, an opening is seen in the fuselage of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX on Jan. 7, 2024, in Portland, Oregon. (Handout via Getty Images) In a letter to employees on Monday, Calhoun said the Alaska Air incident "was a watershed moment for Boeing." "The eyes of the world are on us," Calhoun added, "and I know we will come through this moment a better company, building on all the learnings we accumulated as we worked together to rebuild Boeing over the last number of years." Calhoun was named Boeing CEO back in January 2020 as the company grappled with repercussions following the crash of two 737 MAX jets a Lion Air flight in October 2018 and an Ethiopia Airlines flight in March 2019. These crashes together resulted in the death of 346 people. In his letter, Calhoun said he'd been weighing a decision to step down for "some time." Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is departing a meeting with Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) in the Hart Senate Office Building, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25, 2024, as Boeing is dealing with the fallout of multiple recent safety mishaps, including a door blowing out mid-flight. (NurPhoto via Getty Images) Calhoun's time at Boeing mired in production issues Calhoun succeeded Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing's CEO from 2015 to 2019, who was at the helm during the 737 Max crashes and subsequent global grounding of the Max fleet. Story continues Calhouns tenure began with Boeing suspending all production of its 737 jets in January 2020. At the time, it was Boeings biggest assembly line halt in more than 20 years. Boeing restarted production at a low rate in May of that year, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted its grounding order for the 737 Max in November. A year after Calhouns arrival, Boeing and the Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to pay a $2.5 billion fine to resolve a criminal charge related to conspiracy to defraud the FAA in connection with evaluating Boeings 737 Max jet. Boeing admitted in court documents that it deceived the FAA about the functionality of its maneuvering system, known as MCAS, which allegedly impacted the flight control system of the Boeing 737 Max. With the settlement behind it, Boeing proceeded to ramp up 737 production and deliveries to get more Max jets in the air. In the fall of 2023, more production issues with the Max arose, leading to doubt over Boeings safety and manufacturing systems. In August, Boeing said that a supplier issue led to improperly drilled holes, and in December, Boeing urged its airline partners to inspect all 737 Max jets for loose hardware in the plane's rudder control systems. Safety and production issues at Boeing hit a new low following the midair door plug blowout of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 jet on January 5. The fallout from that incident has led to new investigations, additional oversight by the FAA, and the opening of a criminal probe by the DOJ. Last week at an investor conference, Boeing CFO Brian West said Calhouns decision to end the practice of traveled work, in which airline production tasks are done out of sequence, would dramatically improve Boeings commitment to safety and better production. But a new criminal probe, higher cash burn rate in 2024, and another production slowdown for the 737 Max following the Alaska Airlines incident means Calhoun effectively ran out of time, and likely investor patience, to get Boeing back on track. With additional reporting by Yahoo Finance's Pras Subramanian. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Key Insights Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad fair value estimate is RM5.19 Current share price of RM4.61 suggests Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad is potentially trading close to its fair value Analyst price target for PMETAL is RM5.16 which is similar to our fair value estimate Does the March share price for Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad (KLSE:PMETAL) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward. We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model. View our latest analysis for Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad What's The Estimated Valuation? We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To 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. Story continues 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) estimate 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM1.54b RM2.23b RM1.90b RM3.09b RM3.56b RM3.92b RM4.24b RM4.53b RM4.80b RM5.04b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x5 Analyst x4 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 10.19% Est @ 8.19% Est @ 6.80% Est @ 5.82% Est @ 5.14% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 11% RM1.4k RM1.8k RM1.4k RM2.0k RM2.1k RM2.1k RM2.0k RM2.0k RM1.9k RM1.8k ("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St) Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM18b 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 (3.5%) 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 11%. Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = RM5.0b (1 + 3.5%) (11% 3.5%) = RM69b Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM69b ( 1 + 11%)10= RM24b 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 RM43b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of RM4.6, the company appears about fair value at a 11% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out. dcf Important Assumptions 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. 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 Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad 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 11%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.184. 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 Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad Strength Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows. Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows. Weakness Earnings declined over the past year. Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Metals and Mining market. Opportunity Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Malaysian market. Current share price is below our estimate of fair value. Threat Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year. Next Steps: Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize 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. For Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad, we've compiled three relevant aspects you should explore: Risks: For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad that you should be aware of before investing here. Future Earnings: How does PMETAL's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing! PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Malaysian 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. Groupe Casino Not for publication, release, or distribution directly or indirectly in the United States, Canada, Australia or Japan. This press release is not an advertisement nor a prospectus within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 Completion of the transactions involving Casino's share capital provided for in Casino's accelerated safeguard plan Suspension of trading in Casino shares on 27 March 2024 Paris, 25 March 2024 As part of the financial restructuring of Casino, Guichard-Perrachon ("Casino"), Casino announces the decision taken today by Casinos chairman and chief executive officer using the sub-delegation granted by Casinos board of directors to carry out the following transactions, subject to the delivery of the required depositary certificates by Casino's statutory auditors and by Casinos account-holding institution : the share capital increase with waiver of the shareholders' preferential subscription rights to the benefit of the Secured Creditors (as the equivalent French term is defined in the French version of the Accelerated Safeguard Plan) or, as the case may be, their respective Affiliate(s) (as the equivalent French term is defined in the French version of the Accelerated Safeguard Plan), by issuing 9,112,583,408 new Casino ordinary shares, which amounts to 91,125,834.08 euros, to be subscribed on 27 March 2024 by offsetting its amount against the Residual Secured Claims (as the equivalent French term is defined in the Accelerated Safeguard Plan) (the " Share Capital Increase Reserved for Secured Creditors "); 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the issue of 2,275,702,822 warrants at an exercise price of one euro cent (0.01) giving the right to subscribe to one (1) new Casino ordinary share per warrant, each issued and freely allocated by Casino with waiver of the shareholders preferential subscription rights to the benefit of the Backstop Group and the Secured Creditors who have participated in the Backstopped Share Capital Increase under the conditions set out in the Lock-up Agreement (the " Warrants Additional Shares "); the issue of 2,111,688,559 warrants at an initial exercise price of 0.0461 euro, giving the right to subscribe to one (1) new Casino ordinary share per warrant, issued and freely allocated by Casino with waiver of the shareholders preferential subscription rights to the benefit of France Retail Holdings and the Backstop Group or, as the case may be, the Backstop Groups respective Affiliate(s) (the Warrants #1 ); the issue of 542,299,330 warrants at an exercise price of 0.0000922 euro each, giving the right to subscribe to one (1) new Casino ordinary share per warrant, issued and freely allocated by Casino with waiver of the shareholders preferential subscription rights to the benefit of the Initial Backstop Group (as the equivalent French term is defined in the Accelerated Safeguard Plan) or, as the case may be, the Initial Backstop Groups respective Affiliate(s) (the Warrants #2 and together with the Warrants Additional Shares, the Warrants #1 and the Warrants #2, the "Warrants") and (together with the new shares issued under the Reserved Share Capital Increases, and on exercise of the Warrants, the "New Shares"). Story continues It should be noted that the Reserved Share Capital Increases and the Warrants issues are part of Casino's accelerated safeguard plan approved by the Paris Commercial Court on 26 February 2024 (the "Accelerated Safeguard Plan"). Impact of the Reserved Share Capital Increases on the distribution of share capital A shareholder holding 1% of Casino's share capital prior to the Reserved Share Capital Increases and the Warrants issues would see his shareholding decrease (on a diluted basis) to 0.003% of Casino's share capital and 0.003% after exercise of all the warrants, following completion of the Reserved Share Capital Increases provided for in the Accelerated Safeguard Plan. Settlement and delivery Casinos chairman and chief executive officer, using of the sub-delegation granted by Casinos board of directors, has decided today, subject to the delivery of the required depositary certificates by Casino's statutory auditors and by Casinos account-holding institution, to request: the admission of the New Shares issued in connection with the Reserved Share Capital Increases to trading on Euronext Paris as soon as they are issued, on the same quotation line as Casino's existing shares (ISIN code FR0000125585); the admission of the Warrants #1 to trading on Euronext Paris as soon as they are issued, under ISIN code FR001400OJ72 and the denomination CASINO GP BSA #1; and the admission of the Warrants #3 to trading on Euronext Paris as from their issue, under ISIN code FR001400OJ98 and the denomination CASINO GP BSA #3. The issue of the New Shares, the settlement-delivery of the New Shares and the Warrants and the admission of the New Shares, the Warrants #1 and the Warrants #3 to trading on Euronext Paris will occur on 27 March 2024, subject to the delivery of the required depositary certificates by Casino's statutory auditors and by Casinos account-holding institution, in accordance with the Prospectus approved by the AMF on 12 March 2024 under number 24-068. The New Shares will immediately entitle their holders to any distributions declared by Casino from the issue date. They will be immediately fungible with Casino's existing shares, and will be traded on the same line under ISIN code FR0000125585. Casino will issue a new press release following the effective completion of the above-mentioned capital transactions. Prospectus availability The prospectus (the "Prospectus") approved by the Autorite des Marches Financiers ("AMF") under number 24-068 dated 12 March 2024, consisting of (i) Casino's universal registration document filed with the AMF on 12 March 2024 under number D.24-0095 (the "Universal Registration Document"), (ii) a securities note dated 12 March 2024 (the "Securities Note") and (iii) a summary of the Prospectus (included in the Securities Note). The Prospectus is available on the AMF website ( www. amf-france.org ) and Casino's website ( https://www.groupe-casino.fr/en/investors/share-capital-transactions/# ). Copies of the Prospectus are available free of charge from Casino's head office (1, Cours Antoine Guichard 42000 Saint-Etienne, France). Risk factors Investors are invited to carefully consider the risk factors relating to Casino described in chapter 4 "Risks and Controls" of the URD and the risk factors relating to the transaction or the financial securities mentioned in section 2 "Risk Factors" of the Securities Note, in particular risk factor 2.1.1 relating to the dilution resulting from the Reserved Share Capital Increases and Warrants issues. Suspension of trading in Casino shares Trading in Casino shares will be suspended on 27 March and is expected to resume on 28 March 2024 at market opening (subject to successful completion of the financial restructuring). This press release has been prepared for information purposes only and should not be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities or related financial instruments. Similarly, it does not constitute and should not be treated as investment advice. It has no regard to the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any Receiver. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the information contained herein. It should not be considered by recipients as a substitute for the exercise of their own judgment. All opinions expressed in this document are subject to change without notice. The distribution of this press release may, in certain countries, be subject to specific regulations. Persons in possession of this document are required to inform themselves of and to observe any such local restrictions. This press release does not constitute an advertisement nor a prospectus within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 14, 2017 (as amended, the "Prospectus Regulation"). Potential investors are advised to read the Prospectus before making an investment decision in order to fully understand the potential risks and benefits associated with the decision to invest in the securities. Approval of the Prospectus by the AMF should not be construed as a favorable opinion on the securities offered or admitted to trading on a regulated market. Restrictions concerning member states of the European Economic Area (other than France) With respect to Member States of the European Economic Area other than France (the "Member States"), no action has been or will be taken to permit a public offering of the New Shares or Warrants that would require the publication of a prospectus in any of these Member States. Consequently, the New Shares or Warrants may only be offered in the Member States to qualified investors as defined by the Prospectus Regulation and provided that none of these offers requires the publication by Casino of a prospectus in accordance with the provisions of Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or of a prospectus supplement in accordance with the provisions of Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation. Restrictions concerning the United Kingdom This press release is addressed and intended solely for (i) persons who are located outside the United Kingdom, (ii) investment professionals within the meaning of Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 ("Order") (and/or of article 43(c) of the Order)(iii) high net worth companies or any other persons referred to in Article 49(2) (a) to (d) of the Order ("high net worth companies", "unincorporated associations", etc.) or (iv) more generally, to persons who may be allotted the New Shares and/or the Warrants without infringing any law or regulation applicable to them, without any action being action to be taken by Casino (the persons mentioned in paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) being together referred to as the "Eligible Persons"). The New Shares and the Warrants are intended solely for Eligible Persons and any invitation, offer or contract relating to the subscription, purchase or acquisition of the New Shares or the Warrants may only be addressed to or entered into with Eligible Persons. Any person other than an Authorized Person must refrain from using or relying on this press release, the Prospectus or any of the information contained therein for any investment or investment activity. Restrictions concerning the United States of America The New Shares and the Warrants have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). This press release does not constitute an offer to sell Casino shares in the United Sated. The New Shares and Warrants may not be offered, sold or delivered within the United States of America, as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, except to "qualified institutional buyers" ("QIBs") as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act or to "accredited institutional investors" as defined under Rule 501(a)(1), (2), (3), (7), (8), (9), (12) or (13) of Regulation D of the U.S. Securities Act, pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act. Restrictions concerning Canada, Australia and Japan The New Shares and Warrants may not be offered, sold, acquired or exercised in Canada, Australia or Japan. Forward-looking statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. These risks include those discussed or identified in the public filings made by Casino with the AMF, including those listed in the "Risks and Controls" section of the Universal Registration Document filed with the AMF on 12 March 2024 under filing number D.24-0095. *** ANALYST AND INVESTOR RELATIONS Christopher WELTON cwelton.exterieur@groupe-casino.fr - Tel: +33 (0)1 53 65 64 17 or IR_Casino@groupe-casino.fr - Tel: +33 (0)1 53 65 24 17 PRESS RELATIONS Casino Group Communications department Stephanie Abadie - sabadie@groupe-casino.fr Tel: +33 (0)6 26 27 37 05 or directiondelacommunication@groupe-casino.fr - Tel: + 33(0)1 53 65 24 78 IMAGE 7 Agency Karine Allouis - kallouis@image7.fr - Tel: +33 (0)6 11 59 23 26 Laurent Poinsot - lpoinsot@image7.fr - Tel: + 33(0)6 80 11 73 52 Franck Pasquier - fpasquier@image7.fr - Tel: + 33(0)6 73 62 57 99 Attachment Cathie Wood and high dividend yields go together like... well, it's hard to finish that sentence because they don't go together at all. Wood and her Ark Invest funds are known for investing in innovative growth stocks, not stocks with exceptionally attractive dividends. But Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) stood out as an exception to the rule. Wood initiated a position in the big drugmaker for her Ark Genomic Innovation ETF in 2021. However, she has sold this high-yield dividend stock in recent months. Should you sell Pfizer too? Farewell, Pfizer At the end of 2023, Wood's Ark Genomic Innovation ETF owned nearly 500,000 shares of Pfizer. Only 16 days later, the holding was drastically reduced after Wood sold more than 337,000 shares. More selling would follow shortly. During the first five days of March, the Ark Genomic Innovation ETF sold nearly 113,000 Pfizer shares. Over the subsequent week, the selling continued. Today, the Ark Genomic Innovation ETF doesn't list Pfizer among its 40-plus holdings. After owning the big pharma stock for over two years, Wood appears to have said farewell to Pfizer. Why doesn't Wood like Pfizer anymore? These moves raise the question: Why doesn't Wood like Pfizer anymore? One answer can be found simply by looking at the company's stock chart since she first purchased shares in the third quarter of 2021. PFE Chart Stocks don't perform as dismally as Pfizer has for no reason, though. There are two underlying causes behind the steep plunge for the big pharma stock. First, sales for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and oral antiviral therapy Paxlovid have tanked. The demand for these products has declined sharply as the world has moved into a post-pandemic phase. In the U.S., the transition from the federal government paying for the vaccines to a private market also impacted sales. Second, Pfizer faces a major patent cliff over the next several years. Top-selling drugs including Eliquis, Ibrance, Inlyta, Xeljanz, Xtandi, and Vyndaqel will lose key patents between 2025 and 2027. Story continues Wood almost certainly was fully aware of Pfizer's looming patent expirations when she first bought the stock. However, she might not have anticipated the big drop in COVID-19 sales. Wood also perhaps was betting that Pfizer would emerge as a big winner in the obesity market. In June 2023, though, the company threw in the towel on developing the once-a-day weight-loss pill lotiglipron. In December, Pfizer discontinued the development of its twice-daily version of obesity pill danuglipron. Sell Pfizer too? Should others sell Pfizer stock as Wood has? Each investor has different objectives. Maybe Pfizer is no longer a good fit for some portfolios. However, I think holding onto Pfizer and even buying more shares is smarter than selling for most investors. Pfizer's dividend yield currently tops 6.1%. The company doesn't have to deliver much share price growth to give investors attractive total returns with that juicy dividend. And the dividend appears to be sustainable at current levels. I expect Pfizer's share price to rise quite a bit over the next few years too. It's already priced at a discount. The company's new products and new indications for existing products should generate more than enough additional revenue to make up for the upcoming patent cliff. Pfizer's business development deals, including the recent acquisition of Seagen, should contribute another $25 billion per year in new annual revenue by 2030. Wood's decision to bid farewell to Pfizer might be the best move for Ark Invest. Most other investors, though, will likely fare well over the long term by buying the high-yield dividend stock at its current valuation. Should you invest $1,000 in Pfizer right now? Before you buy stock in Pfizer, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Pfizer wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of March 21, 2024 Keith Speights has positions in Pfizer. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Cathie Wood Is Selling This High-Yield Dividend Stock. Should You? was originally published by The Motley Fool (Bloomberg) Chinese officials are using a new strategy to help shape a positive narrative on their nations slowdown: Making early disclosures on flattering economic news in a bid to boost markets. Most Read from Bloomberg The latest example came Thursday, when Vice Finance Minister Liao Min highlighted bright spots in the budget data at a press briefing in Beijing. His comments beat the monthly statement which normally provides that information, without commentary, by one hour. We believe this will have a positive impact on facilitating the economys recovery, Liao said, spotlighting the fastest execution of budget spending for January and February in nearly five years. He downplayed less rosy numbers that might have got investors attention, explaining falling revenue was distorted by base effects. Premier Li Qiang kicked off the trend back in January by giving early confirmation China had met its 2023 growth goal at a major forum in Switzerland. His reveal came one day before the official figures were due, and allowed Chinas No. 2 leader to trumpet Beijings ability to hit that target without using major stimulus. Later that month, central bank governor Pan Gongsheng took the rare step of personally announcing a cut to banks reserve requirements, 12 days before the trim took effect. That move sparked rallies in Chinese stocks and bonds. This month, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao unveiled a surprise soar in export numbers at a high-profile briefing one day before the data was due. The change in operating mode signals officials are stepping up efforts to boost confidence in Chinas economy, as a property crisis and weak domestic demand drag on sentiment at home. Foreign investors have described having promise fatigue over Beijings pledges to improve the business environment for them. Story continues This suggests that economic officials are feeling a degree of political heat, said Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics, of the spate in early releases. The strange reveals have one message in common, he added: Either things are better than expected, or officials are taking steps to make it better. The new strategy follows a call from top leaders to amplify bullish views about the economy at a December meeting. Chinas post-pandemic recovery disappointed last year, partly due to geopolitical tensions and dented investor confidence after years of Covid curbs and policy swings. In line with that call to create positive news narratives around the economy, Xuan Changneng, a deputy governor of the Peoples Bank of China, on Thursday repeated a pledge by his boss earlier this month that there is still room to lower the reserve ratio requirement. His comments spurred a brief uptick in Chinese shares. Overall, however, the early reveals impact on the market has been muted, as investors take time to assess the signals, according to Bruce Pang, chief economist for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. The teachers are underlining the key points, he added. But it will take investors time and patience to verify how important the messages are. Government agencies have previously been accused of trying to bury negative data, including by temporarily suspending the release of some indicators and changing how theyre calculated. Such abrupt moves have only fanned investor fears about the ruling Communist Partys increasingly opaque policymaking. The National Bureau of Statistics halted the publication of monthly numbers for industrial profits for several months in 2022 when the figure was declining. After the youth jobless rate hit a record high in June, officials paused publishing that data for months before bringing it back with a rosier number that excluded students. Another tweak to that high-profile data set came this month: It will no longer be released at the NBS monthly press briefing, as has been the norm in recent years. Instead, it will now be published to an online database at an unspecified time. Officials didnt give an explanation for the change in operations. With policymakers targeting an ambitious goal of about 5% growth this year, officials will need to steady confidence in the economy. A measure of new foreign direct investment into China fell in 2023 to the lowest level in 30 years, while a market meltdown earlier this year underscored the challenges facing the government. The surprise early data releases are unlikely to be any substitute for a meaningful shift in policies. But such statements are a positive step, according to Xiaojia Zhi, chief China economist at Credit Agricole CIB, because they signal more communication from the government to guide market expectations. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) captured the spotlight recently with its announcement that it will issue a 50-for-1 stock split. The makes sense given that the stock recently achieved a new all-time high of over $3,000 a share (before slipping back slightly). Here's why Chipotle and two other leading restaurant, food, and beverage dividend stocks are all worth buying now. Image source: Getty Images. Chipotle is an excellent story with room to run Chipotle has growth -- plain and simple. Its top line continues to grow at a breakneck pace, but it's the company's margins that have really improved in recent years. Chipotle now has roughly the same operating margin as Starbucks but is growing at a far faster rate. However, unlike other restaurant chains, Chipotle doesn't pay a dividend because it prefers to pour profits back into the business. This bold strategy can amplify gains, but it also puts pressure on the investment thesis when there's a slowdown. CMG Revenue (TTM) Chart What's more, Chipotle is a very expensive stock -- especially for its size and industry. It currently trades at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of nearly 66. Granted, the forward P/E is a bit lower at about 55. Analysts' consensus estimates call for $64.78 in fiscal 2025 earnings per share (pre-split) -- which would imply 21% growth compared to fiscal 2024 expectations of $53.45 per share. If Chipotle keeps growing its bottom line by 15% to 20% per year, then its expensive valuation could start to look much more reasonable over time. But there's no denying the stock is priced to perfection and should only be considered by investors who believe in the company's sustained growth and have a multi-year outlook. McDonald's has a near-perfect business model Chipotle isn't a terrible buy, but McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) could be even better. For one, investors are getting the chance to buy McDonald's at a 24.5 P/E, a discount to its five-year median P/E of 27.1. McDonald's has been raising its dividend at a fairly rapid rate. The current quarterly dividend is $1.67 -- roughly double what it was 10 years ago. In October, McDonald's raised its dividend by 10%, which is a sizable increase for a company of its size. The raise puts McDonald's on track to become a Dividend King by 2026. Story continues McDonald's has an underrated business model. Unlike Chipotle, which owns and operates all its U.S. locations, 95% of McDonald's locations worldwide are franchised. McDonald's owns the real estate and collects rent revenue, royalties, franchise fees, and more. The company's structure makes its brand and the perceived revenue that franchisees can generate over time more important than its short-term performance or even the business cycle. MCD Shares Outstanding Chart McDonald's may not have Chipotle's growth, but it's a better investment if you're looking for consistency. The company has an extensive track record of rewarding its shareholders. As mentioned, the dividend has roughly doubled over the last decade, but it's the entire capital return program that really stands out. Over the last decade, McDonald's has bought back over a quarter of its outstanding shares, which illustrates the effectiveness of its business model and how it rewards shareholders using dividends and buybacks on top of potential capital gains. In sum, McDonald's has it all, and is worth buying now. Coke offers a compelling, reliable yield Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) hasn't bought back shares at nearly the rate as McDonald's. And it doesn't have as good growth prospects as Chipotle or McDonald's. However, what Coke has is stability and the ever-important quality of not overextending itself. Coke was instrumental in globalizing soda. But today, the company is mature. There's only so much it can do to grow without overspending. To its credit, it has made measured and mostly effective acquisitions. It has also stayed almost entirely within its core competency of nonalcoholic beverages, which is far different from a company like PepsiCo, which owns Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats, and plenty of other brands across product categories. When the market has a bad year, Coke tends to outperform. But when the market has a great year, Coke usually underperforms. Unsurprisingly, Coke has underperformed because the market has done very well in recent years. The ideal way to invest in Coke isn't because you're trying to beat the market, but because you want to limit downside risk and collect passive income. Nothing is guaranteed in the stock market, but Coke is about as close as it gets to predictability. The company has raised its dividend for 62 consecutive years. The stock yields 3.2% -- which is quite a bit higher than other reliable Dividend Kings. Coke's reliability is one of the reasons why Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway has owned the stock for over 30 years. Something for everyone It's easy to get enamored with a growth story like Chipotle, especially when the entry point (without fractional shares) becomes lower, thanks to a stock split. However, to have the conviction to hold a stock over time, it's essential to invest in companies you understand and that align with your investment objectives. Chipotle's lack of a dividend and its lofty valuation won't appeal to everyone. If you're more income and value oriented, McDonald's and Coke could be better choices. But if you're a balanced investor, then picking up shares of all three stocks is a great way to get a bit of growth, value, and income. Should you invest $1,000 in Chipotle Mexican Grill right now? Before you buy stock in Chipotle Mexican Grill, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Chipotle Mexican Grill wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of March 21, 2024 Daniel Foelber has the following options: long May 2024 $90 calls on Starbucks. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Berkshire Hathaway, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. If You Like Chipotle and Its Stock Split, Then You'll Love These 2 Dividend Stocks was originally published by The Motley Fool Nicole Wolanski of Venture X Worcester. Empty office spaces in the city are being offered for leasing and the trend is that owners are leasing out smaller spaces for businesses, rather than whole floors/whole spaces. WORCESTER By last December, Timothy Hally and his business partner Justin Matsen were approaching their three-year mark on their creative agency Munq, a branding and marketing business. The duo had started their venture during the pandemic, navigating in their early 20s a fresh business from home. However, as Munq grew, Hally said that working in the same space with his partner was starting to become something necessary, prompting them to look for a space they could continue to build their business but also afford. Standing by the door of his two-person office on the fourth floor at 100 Front St., Hally, 27, of Shrewsbury said that renting a space smaller much smaller than a classic floor for their business was the way to do it. We really felt cooped up at home, said Hally. We felt there's a lack of collaboration. We live close to each other, so we could go to each other's homes, but we needed a space where collaboration was possible. One of the marks that the COVID-19 pandemic left behind was undeniably the advent of remote or hybrid work that even four years later 59% of remote workers consider it a better work style due to benefits of work/life balance, according to a USA Today Blueprint survey. Around 22 million employed adults 18 and over in the U.S. work from home all the time, equal to roughly 14% of all employed adults, according to the Pew Research Center. Of that, 34% of remote workers have been found to express a feeling of isolation and 25% lament having fewer opportunities to learn from others at work, according to the USA Today Blueprint survey. The Munq duo of Hally and Matsen, fit the 14% portion of remote workers who have seen a drop in collaboration with their teams from not being in the same space. Tim Hally, co-founder of Munq, stands in his office doorway at Venture X on Front Street in Worcester. You cannot put a price on in-person communication, said Hally. There's nothing that a digital experience can replicate in that way. The two-person office, where Hally and Matsen direct Munq with the DCU Center and St. Vincent Hospital in the skyline, is one of about 63 office spaces available for rent under Venture X, a co-working space that subleases out office spaces that range from one-person to multidesk spaces. Story continues Venture Xs business model is a trend that seems to cater to exactly those who seek in-person work and are either just getting started or are in transition from remote work. On a tour through the hallways of many glass doors that open to 63 office spaces, Nicole Wolanski, who co-founded Venture X Worcester alongside her husband, Brandon, said the inspiration for the business was very organic. It was born out of a need, said Wolanski. We were home with three kids, I didnt want to work in our house all the time, we needed to get out. We wanted to work hybrid, but we wanted a place where we could go and have a community atmosphere and culture. Nicole Wolanski of Venture X Worcester with a premium office space complete with a view of Worcester Common. The Wolanskis signed a 10-year lease for Venture X at the Mercantile Center at 100 Front St., as a franchise of Florida-based Venture X. Opening in January, Wolanski said she hopes this model expands further in the future into other locations, as she sees a need in the community for co-working spaces. In other instances, already established organizations and businesses use the co-working spaces for satellite locations that are far from the headquarters, as is the case with EforAll, a nonprofit organization that helps businesses start and grow a business through intensive business training and mentorship. With well-established locations across the state, the Worcester location was created in 2020, most recently taking up an office at Venture X, which is shared as needed between the executive director, program managers and coordinators. Even though the pandemic was four years ago, we're already changing back, said Jose Castro, executive director of EforAll Greater Worcester. And now it's a whole different lifestyle where we're working in a hybrid environment. Jose Castro, executive director of EforAll Greater Worcester, works in his one-room office at Venture X Worcester on Front Street. That's how jobs are being created and how people are actually working. Castro said working in a co-working space, where other businesses are right next door, has created an ecosystem of connections, something that is different from the models of the past where a single business would take up a whole floor or building. And renters can style them as they'd like, with wall art, couches and coffee tables placed right behind working desks, as much as a working space from 67 to 315 square feet. While office spaces are rented out on a monthly basis, some conference rooms can be rented by the hour, according to Wolanski. This was a perfect fit for us specifically because entrepreneurs can find resources within this space itself, Castro said. Where we are, they feel supported. Tim Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged the trend of co-working spaces being on the rise in the city, citing among other benefits the cost-saving aspect of renting spaces as needed. I do think theres a place for this, especially for companies looking to scale up, said Murray. "At the same time, large companies are looking to plant a flag in a community, which weve seen a lot of in recent years since the pandemic. While other locations in the city have a fresher face in the city, WorcLab has been in the city since 2010, first starting out remotely and then settling off Portland Street, a few steps down the street from Worcester Commons. The nonprofit, which has a focus in coming to the aid of startup entrepreneurs, is found on the fourth floor of the Printers Building at 44 Portland St. Through the wooded flooring and office door frames, typical of a multiple decades-old building, WorcLab has renovated the space to fit the needs of co-working spaces, but also a prototyping lab and electronics lab for startups or anyone looking to design their first products. Tyler Ojala, the community manager at WorcLab, said that among other tools, such as 3D printers, WorcLab makes available a pick-and-place machine that is used toward the production of prototypes needing circuit boards. WorcLab manager Tyler Ojala in the manufacturing space that includes a Neoden pick-and-place machine and four 3D printers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen more companies wanting to join, consistently rising, said Ojala, and the businesses that we have here are pretty diverse. Spaces that WorcLab uses include seven office spaces that range from one-person to conference rooms, all within the bones of the Printers Building. Other renovation efforts include the transformation of spacious bathrooms into office spaces where executive directors, program managers and other company employees can be seen walking about with a coffee cup in hand. Three smaller closet spaces once used as telephone booths continue to serve their purpose, although instead of featuring a dial telephone on the wall, they are now shared spaces that one can use for the privacy and acoustic insulation demands of an official call, often through video calls. This is in addition to a separate space with 10 desks, also made available as individually rentable work areas. As on the tour labs were filled with entrepreneurs hard at work, Ojala said that businesses range from shirtmakers to skin-care product makers. The co-working space model is definitely booming, said Ojala. I have seen a lot more activity since COVID-19 with people wanting to just work remotely, of course, and they don't need to go in the office. In certain instances, they are stuck at home three or four days a week and they want to come in here because they want somewhere to work. This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Co-working office spaces expanding in downtown Worcester (Bloomberg) -- A Spanish court suspended an order it issued earlier to block instant messaging service Telegram in the country as part of an investigation on users illegally sharing TV and video content. Most Read from Bloomberg Judge Santiago Pedraz, of Spains National Court, asked the police to prepare a report on the app and how its users could be affected by the suspension, according to a court statement on Monday. Pedraz previously issued an injunction to block Telegram for as long as six months starting Monday as he investigates content sharing on several of the platforms channels, according to a copy of the ruling seen by Bloomberg. The investigation targets the individual owners of the channels rather than the company itself, according to the filing. Telegram has about 900 million active users and is one of the most popular messaging apps globally. Its owner Pavel Durov uses a light touch to moderate content on the service, leading to allegations that it is frequently used for criminal activity and extremist material. The judges decisions follow a complaint filed by industry lobby Egeda and by Telefonica SAs TV unit. Egedas members include Atresmedia Corporacion de Medios de Comunicacion SA and MFE-MediaForEurope NVs local unit, Spains two biggest TV broadcasters. Telegram users can create so-called channels to share content anonymously that can then be downloaded or watched by people with the app. The court previously failed to deliver requests to Telegram to identify the owners of the channels targeted in the complaints. It asked authorities in the Virgin Islands, where Telegram is registered, to deliver the request but did not receive a response. Story continues Pedrazs initial decision named several local telecommunications operators, including Telefonica and Orange SA, who will have to block Telegram. The investigation is set to be concluded by Sept. 29. Telegram did not respond to a message seeking comment through its press channel. The suspension order was first reported by Europa Press. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. SAN DIEGO, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Eric M. Hansen, Senior Vice President, Preferred Employers Insurance, a Berkley Company, was elected Chair of the California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI) Board of Directors for 2024 at CWCI's 60th annual meeting. CWCI seeks to improve California workers compensation research, education, and representation. Eric Hansen, Senior Vice President, Preferred Employers Insurance, a Berkley Company, Elected as 2024 CWCI Chair. In his role as Chair, Mr. Hansen brings over three decades of claims management experience in and around the state's workers compensation insurance system. His leadership and claims expertise will surely be a key contributor to California continuing to maintain a thriving workers compensation marketplace. Mr. Hansen was first elected to CWCI's Board in 2014 and has been a member of the Institute's Executive Committee since 2021. About Preferred Employers Insurance, a Berkley company Preferred Employers Insurance, a Berkley company, is a specialty provider of workers compensation insurance exclusively for California employers. Since 1998, Preferred Employers has been known for providing the gold standard of care for injured workers. Preferred Employers Insurance is a member company of W. R. Berkley Corporation, whose insurance company subsidiaries are rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company. W. R. Berkley Corporation is recognized as one of the most respected names in the property casualty insurance industry. Learn more about the company at https://www.peiwc.com. Products and services are provided by one or more insurance company subsidiaries of W. R. Berkley Corporation. Not all products and services are available in every jurisdiction, and the precise coverage afforded by any insurer is subject to the actual terms and conditions of the policies as issued. About CWCI The Institute, established in 1964, is a private, nonprofit association working to improve California workers' compensation through research, information, education, and representation. CWCI members include 25 insurer groups (comprised of nearly 200 underwriting companies that write and service 76 percent of California statewide workers' compensation premium), as well as 30 of the largest public and private self-insured employers in the state. Story continues Preferred Employers Insurance announced a new brand look, including a new logo, blog, and website, in an effort to make it even easier for customers to access its people, products, and services. (PRNewsfoto/Preferred Employers Insurance) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eric-hansen-senior-vice-president-preferred-employers-insurance-a-berkley-company-elected-as-2024-cwci-chair-302097330.html SOURCE Preferred Employers Insurance By Foo Yun Chee, Bart H. Meijer BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Apple, Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms will be investigated for potential breaches of the EU's new Digital Markets Act, European antitrust regulators said on Monday, potentially leading to hefty fines for the companies. The European Union law, effective from March 7, aims to challenge the power of the tech giants by making it easier for people to move between competing online services like social media platforms, internet browsers and app stores. That should in turn open up space for smaller companies to compete. Violations could result in fines of as much as 10% of the companies' global annual turnover. U.S. antitrust regulators are also challenging Big Tech over alleged anti-competitive practices in a crackdown that could even lead to companies being broken up. Tech companies say they have deployed thousands of engineers to meet a Digital Markets Act requirement that six "gatekeepers" - which provide services like search engines and chat apps used by other businesses - give users and rivals more choices. But the European Commission said on Monday it suspected that the measures taken fall short of effective compliance under the DMA, confirming a Reuters story. Asked if the Commission was rushing the process just two weeks after the act kicked in, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said the investigations should not be a surprise. "The law is the law. We can't just sit around and wait," he told a press conference. APPLE COMPLIANCE At issue is whether Apple complies with obligations to allow users to easily uninstall software applications on its iOS operating system, to change default settings on iOS or access choice screens allowing them to switch to a rival browser or search engine on iPhones. Another concern for regulators is "steering": whether Apple imposes limitations that hinder app developers from informing users about offers outside its App Store free of charge. Story continues Apple said it was confident its plan complied with the DMA, adding that it had shown responsiveness to the Commission and developers throughout the process and incorporated their feedback into its changes. Regulators say the anti-steering issue also applies to Alphabet. The investigation will examine whether it favours its vertical search engines such as Google Shopping, Google Flights and Google Hotels over rivals, and whether it discriminates against third-party services on Google search results. FEES OR NO FEES The Commission also singled out Apple and Alphabet's fee structures, saying they went against the DMA's "free of charge" requirement. Both companies recently introduced new fees for some services. Breton said Meta, which introduced a no-ads subscription service in Europe last November that has triggered criticism from rivals and users, should offer free alternative options. A Meta spokesperson said the company was endeavouring to comply with the act's guidance. "Subscriptions as an alternative to advertising are a well-established business model across many industries, and we designed Subscription for No Ads to address several overlapping regulatory obligations, including the DMA," the spokesperson said. Google said it has made significant changes to its services and would defend its approach in the coming months. The Commission is also taking steps to investigate Apple's new fee structure for alternative app stores and Amazon's ranking practices on its marketplace. Amazon is another DMA "gatekeeper", along with Microsoft and TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance. "Amazon is compliant with the Digital Markets Act and has engaged constructively with the European Commission on our plans since the designation of two of our services," an Amazon spokesperson said. "We continue to work hard every day to meet all of our customers' high standards within Europe's changing regulatory environment." The EU executive, which aims to wrap up the investigations within a year, the timeframe set out under the DMA, said it has ordered the companies to retain certain documents, allowing them to access relevant information in its current and future probes. The EU investigations came amid escalating criticism from apps developers and business users about shortcomings in the companies' compliance efforts. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee and Bart Meijer;Editing by Bernadette Baum and Catherine Evans) BRUSSELS, and PARIS, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Euroclear and IZNES today announce that Euroclear will acquire a stake in IZNES, a pan-European funds marketplace based on blockchain technology. The transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Financial terms will not be disclosed. Euroclear Logo Established in 2017, IZNES is a regulated company operating an international platform for subscriptions and redemptions of shares of European funds, compatible with various distribution channels. IZNES simplifies and harmonises the subscription processes, brings more transparency and provides an improved customer experience both for management companies and institutional investors. Building on the acquisitions of MFEX in 2021 and Goji in 2023, Euroclear continues to enhance its Euroclear FundsPlace offering, the end-to-end funds platform solution across mutual and money market funds, alternatives funds and ETFs. Through this strategic partnership with IZNES, Euroclear will complement its funds services on the French market and beyond and continue the delivery of its funds strategy by playing an active role in the development of innovative funds distribution models. Philippe Laurensy, Head of Product, Strategy and Innovation at Euroclear, said: "Our partnership with IZNES fits with Euroclear's ambition to innovate and bring efficiency to the financial markets. We are convinced that the mutualisation of data and further automation of processes, supported by digital technologies, have a real potential to reduce the overall cost of funds distribution. IZNES' solution has already delivered benefits to its users and our partnership is a natural step to broaden its usage at a larger scale." Christophe Lepitre, Chief Executive Officer of IZNES: "This operation with Euroclear marks a key milestone in the development of IZNES. We are convinced that together we must continue to build innovative solutions that make the most of blockchain technology for the greater benefit of our customers. IZNES and its shareholders are delighted at this prospect." Story continues About Euroclear Euroclear group is the financial industry's trusted provider of post trade services. Guided by its purpose, Euroclear innovates to bring safety, efficiency and connections to financial markets for sustainable economic growth. Euroclear provides settlement and custody of domestic and cross-border securities for bonds, equities and derivatives, and investment funds. As a proven, resilient capital market infrastructure, Euroclear is committed to delivering risk-mitigation, automation and efficiency at scale for its global client franchise. The Euroclear group comprises Euroclear Bank, the International CSD, as well as Euroclear Belgium, Euroclear Finland, Euroclear France, Euroclear Nederland, Euroclear Sweden, Euroclear UK & International. Press contacts: Pascal Brabant: pascal.brabant@euroclear.com (+32 475 78 36 62) Craig MacDonald: craig.macdonald@euroclear.com (+44 7471 148 319) Jorgen Muylaert: jorgen.muylaert@euroclear.com (+32 479 77 14 80) About IZNES IZNES is the first European blockchain-based fund marketplace. IZNES offers a disruptive alternative to traditional fund distribution channels and allows asset owners to subscribe directly to all types of funds from asset managers. The use of IZNES's blockchain technology improves operational efficiency and offers to institutional investors and asset managers an optimal level of security and IT resilience. IZNES is a regulated investment firm authorized by the ACPR and supervised by the AMF. Its services are passported in Luxembourg, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Belgium. Press contact: Valerie Gilles: valerie.gilles@iznes.io SOURCE Euroclear Floki Inu Releases 2024 Roadmap, Includes Digital Banking Accounts Floki Inu (FLOKI), a Shiba Inu-themed memecoin, has revealed its roadmap for 2024, outlining various initiatives focused on utility. One of the key plans is the introduction of regulated digital banking accounts that allow users to create and fund bank accounts using FLOKI tokens. To enable digital banking accounts, Floki Inu has collaborated with a licenced fintech firm operating in strategic regions such as Canada, Spain, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. These accounts will allow customers to send Swift payments and use Single Euro Payments Area International Bank Account Numbers. The launch of Floki debit cards will improve functionality by allowing users to link their digital bank accounts to the cards. This interface allows for transactions in traditional currencies such as the euro and the US dollar to be conducted using FLOKI tokens. The roadmap also includes integration with the Venus decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, the launch of the Floki debit card, and the impending release of the Valhalla mainnet. Subject to governance clearance, Floki Inu intends to offer its native token, FLOKI, on the Venus Core Pool. This move intends to boost liquidity by allowing FLOKI holders to use their tokens as collateral for borrowing assets such as DAI, USDC, BNB and ETH. Furthermore, Floki Inu will launch Valhalla, its metaverse game, on the mainnet. Valhalla will have on-chain game features, a pay-to-earn mechanism, customisable non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and a massive open-world area. Kim Bresser, 2023 Future 5 recipient and Young Professional of the Year. FOND DU LAC Kim Bresser of Mercury Racing will be honored as Young Professionals of Fond du Lac's Young Professional of the Year at the Envision Greater Fond du Lac Annual Meeting on April 25. Bresser was recognized in January as one of the organization's Future 5 recipients of the year, alongside Grace Bruins, Rhiannon Diederichs, Jim Misudek and Tyler Schulz. In her career, she is the marketing project manager for Mercury Racing, for which she has earned industry awards for projects and campaigns. Outside of work, she commits time volunteering for several organizations and causes, including Public Relations Society of AmericaNortheast Wisconsin Chapter; Moraine Park Technical College's Marketing & Social Media Management Advisory Committee; Central Wisconsin Christian School's Advancement Committee; Waupun Food Pantry; and Waupun Area Dairy Farmers' June Dairy Days Milk Giveaway. Bresser is also working with her husband as part of the agricultural community to take over his family's local dairy operation. Fond du Lac's young professionals reap the benefits of its ever-growing assets: 'Sometimes we sell ourselves short.' She said in a news release from Envision Greater Fond du Lac she is thankful for both the award and the recognition from Young Professionals of Fond du Lac that the work she does now, which has changed in the 10 years since she joined the organization, still provides value to the Fond du Lac area. "At times, I get caught up in the chaos of this season of life trying to establish myself professionally, being married to a farmer, raising two little boys, while still trying to be involved in the community and Future 5 has allowed me to pause, reflect and celebrate the amazing things all the young professionals in our area are doing," she said. She added she encourages everyone, wherever they are in their life or professional journey, to get involved with and serve the community. Sign up for local business news with our new Fond du Lac Streetwise newsletter Story continues The annual Future 5 awards are presented to five young professionals from the Fond du Lac area between the ages of 21 and 40 who are growing and excelling in their elds and can positively impact the community's growth, prosperity and quality of life well into the future. In years past, Young Professional of the Year has been presented alongside the Future 5 awards, but this year will be presented with Envision Greater Fond du Lac awards at its banquet. Other Envision Greater Fond du Lac awards for this year include BCI Burke as Business of the Year, RB Royal's David Neumann as Volunteer of the Year, and Salchert Meats and Fond du Lac Cyclery as Entrepreneur of the Year. Rick Parks, formerly of Society Insurance, will be awarded the Allen J. Buechel Lifetime Achievement Award, and Moraine Park Technical College and SSM Health's Treffert Studios will get the Eden-Schneider Award. For more information, visit envisiongreaterfdl.com. Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at dlemke@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Kim Bresser is Fond du Lac's Young Professional of the Year (Graphic: Business Wire) HANOI, Vietnam, March 25, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global IT firm FPT Software has been recognized as a Disruptor in HFS Horizons: Manufacturing Intelligent Operations Services, 2024. This marks the inaugural inclusion of FPT Software in this prestigious industry assessment, demonstrating its capabilities in the manufacturing sector. The report examines the capabilities of 12 top service providers delivering intelligent operations services tailored to the manufacturing sector. Areas of assessment include value proposition, innovation capabilities, go-to-market strategy, and market impact. "We are honored to be recognized as a Disruptor in the HFS Horizons report for the first time," said Nguyen Xuan Phong, Chief of Artificial Intelligence at FPT Software. "This acknowledgement reflects our dedication to understanding our clients' specific challenges and our commitment to constantly innovating. We strive to offer comprehensive, AI-driven services tailored to the global manufacturing landscape, utilizing the latest technologies to drive impactful transformation for our clients." By leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence, FPT Software AI Center has developed comprehensive solutions such as akaMES, Intelligent Inspection (I2) for manufacturers to unlock a data-driven, connected, and collaborative workforce, improve final product quality, and increase total factory capacity. Notably, I2 platform has been implemented with great success for a major automotive client in North America. Within this deployment, I2 has significantly improved car door panel quality assurance by reducing inspection time from 1-3 minutes to just 3-5 seconds per product, achieving an accuracy rate of 99%. This has led to a remarkable 70% reduction in inspection costs and effort, showcasing the transformative impact of AI in manufacturing. FPT Software delivery capability is also demonstrated by its best shore model, which leverages the distinct advantages of on-shore, near-shore, and offshore resources. Combined with its comprehensive understanding of manufacturing operations, FPT Software can ensure seamless implementation and optimal outcomes for its clients. Story continues FPT Software's commitment to innovation and AI, in particular, is further exemplified through recent strategic collaborations with industry leaders such as Landing AI, world-renowned AI institute Mila, and AITOMATIC. These partnerships enable the company to leverage cutting-edge technologies and domain expertise, driving digital transformation initiatives across the manufacturing landscape. Supporting manufacturing clients in the MES space since 2019, FPT Software was also listed as a Major Player in the IDC MarketScape: Asia Pacific Manufacturing Execution Systems 2023 Vendor Assessment. About FPT Software FPT Software, a subsidiary of FPT Corporation, is a global technology and IT services provider headquartered in Vietnam, with $1 billion in revenue (2023) and over 30,000 employees in 30 countries. The company champions complex business opportunities and challenges with its world-class services in Advanced Analytics, AI, Digital Platforms, Cloud, Hyperautomation, IoT, Low-code, and so on. It has partnered with over 1,000+ clients worldwide, 91 of which are Fortune Global 500 companies in Aviation, Automotive, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, Healthcare, Logistics, Manufacturing, Utilities, and more. For more information, please visit https://fptsoftware.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240324780284/en/ Contacts Media Mai Duong (Ms.) FPT Software PR Manager MCP.PR@fpt.com "$454M judgement (Sanction) against Donald J Trump will wreak financial havoc on New York City Economy that will take decades to erase. The biggest losers in the judgment will be New York City tax collectors, property owners, private equity & pensions fund invested in New York City. Since the Judgment, my company, CardoneCapital, committed $500 million in new investments in Florida. Just prior to the judgement we were targeting opportunist cities like New York City but have sense stopped all underwriting there & cities like it. Biggest Winners of the judgement are Donald J Trump who is winning over undecided voters and ALL red states with laws that protect property owners. This sanction against Trump is an abusive over reach similar to the vaccine mandates. And like the mandates this will backfire, benefitting red states & those willing to move their businesses & investments. Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, & Alabama will be massive beneficiaries." @GrantCardone on X The Winnie Davis Hall AU/UGA Medical Partnership building on the University of Georgia Health Sciences Campus in Athens, Ga., on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. It may be a bit premature to accurately assess the economic impact of a new medical school at the University of Georgia, a project approved in February by the University System Board of Regents. However, the 14-year presence of the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership in Athens provides some strong clues of a decidedly positive effect on the local economy. Beyond that, local officials say, a full-blown UGA medical school will dovetail nicely with the Athens-Clarke County governments economic development strategy. Of course, there is some work to be done before a UGA medical school becomes a reality. State legislators have only recently approved a $50 million outlay for the initiative, with the expectation that UGA will match that amount. And, as UGA President Jere Morehead noted in February, the university has only just begun the process of seeking the needed accreditation. At the same time, Morehead announced the creation of a School of Medicine Implementation Team to guide the schools formation . FILE - University of Georgia president Jere Morehead speaks during Georgia's back to back National Championship celebration in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. UGA got another win in 2024, when officials announced plans to build a medical school at the university. The AU/UGA Medical Partnership has been providing physician training since 2010, and for just the 2022 fiscal year the latest figures available it was responsible for nearly 300 jobs, according to a 2023 report from UGA assessing the statewide economic impact of University System of Georgia institutions. Other figures in the annual report from UGAs Selig Center for Economic Growth on the medical partnership in Athens noted nearly $18 million in personnel expenses, and more than $3 million in local spending by students, among other figures. Overall, the AU/UGA partnership added more than $30 million in goods and services to the Athens-area economy in the 2022 fiscal year, according to the UGA study. Beyond those local numbers, and looking forward to the eventual establishment of a UGA medical college, there is nationwide data to support the positive economic impact of medical education on host communities. A 2022 study for the Association of American Medical Colleges, comprising all 155 accredited medical colleges in the United States, posted impressive numbers. Story continues More: UGA medical school gets approval with hopes of 'alleviating physician shortages' According to the study by RTI International, a nonprofit research organization, medical schools in 2019 supported more than 7.1 million jobs nationally. Three million of those jobs were directly related to the schools and associated teaching hospitals, with the remaining 4.1 million indirectly related to those institutions. Overall, those jobs paid nearly $500 billion in wages, an average of more than $68,000 per job. Additionally, the RTI International study noted that research at medical schools and teaching hospitals added nearly $33 billion to local economies across the country in 2019. Refocusing locally, a UGA medical school will unquestionably be a good fit with local economic development strategy, according to Ilka McConnell, director of economic development for the Athens-Clarke County government. Approval of the development of a new School of Medicine at the university is wonderful news, McConnell said recently, as healthcare sciences is one of Athens-Clarke Countys strategic targeted economic sectors. A UGA medical college, McConnell added, builds upon current strengths in our local ecosystem, including our existing biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and healthcare employers and workforce. Similarly, David Bradley, president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, sees a UGA medical school as a direct support in our economic, social and prosperous future as Athens-Clarke County becomes the healthcare hub of the region. More: Gov. Kemp proposes spending $50 million to create a separate UGA medical school Just one example of the current strength of the biotechnology sector in Athens-Clarke County is Meissner Corporation, which is bringing a $250 million facility to Winterville. Meissner, a developer and manufacturer of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products, expects to begin operations in 2026, and eventually will employ 1,700 people, according to various announcements of the project. As Meissner gears up for operations in Athens-Clarke County, another biotech firm, Boehringer-Ingleheim, is expanding its existing operations in Athens. The $57 million project of the animal and human pharmaceuticals company will add 55 jobs to the local economy. Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz is also among those looking at the economic development impact of a medical college at UGA. I expect a lot of research and development being centered on that campus, Girtz said recently. We think now well see much greater activity. Girtz noted that while planning and development of a UGA medical college will be a campus function, there may be a role for the county in connection with potential infrastructure improvements. The mayor added that there is ample time to work through any such issues that may develop. He said the county is well situated to work hand-in-glove with UGA as development of the medical college moves forward. This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Data shows UGA medical school to be economic boon for Athens pwc succession When political tensions run high and the House of Commons descends into infighting, leading executives like to emphasise that their world is different. Populism has no place in professional life, they say. Such grubby electioneering is beneath the experts who manage the nations blue chip companies and who do their books. At PwC, about 1,000 partners will be hoping perhaps nervously that they are right. A leadership election is looming at the Big Four accountants UK practice, and the battle lines have already been drawn. Our job is to serve the brand, the business, for the future [] This firm is 175 years old. Its all about legacy, Kevin Ellis, the current holder of the position, told the Leadership Unplugged podcast last month. However the 60-year-old is judged by history, his colleagues thoughts are already focused on who will replace him in charge of the partnerships UK and Middle East offices. The official shortlist of candidates is expected to be announced at the start of next month, after being finalised by an independent supervisory board made up of PwC partners. Once it is published, the hustings process will begin. This is where hopeful contenders formally present their vision to voters, followed by an audience Q&A. The process culminates in a vote by partners. One clear favourite to win is Marissa Thomas, PwC UKs chief operating officer. A lifer who has been with the firm since 1993, Thomas previously held two other management roles: head of tax and head of deals. Marissa Thomas was appointed as PwC UK's chief operating officer in 2022, having previously led the firm's deals and tax divisions Shes understood to be campaigning on increasing profits shared between partners. This means raising revenue, but slashing costs where possible. Thomass pledge will appeal to many UK partners whose income shrank last year after PwC spent millions on new technology and hiring additional partners. These higher costs resulted in a drop in pay for PwC partners. They received payouts of 906,000 despite record revenues in 2023, having pocketed more than 1m in the previous year. Story continues The second frontrunner is Marco Amitrano, PwC UKs head of clients and markets. Marco Amitrano became the PwC UK's head of clients and markets in 2020 Another career insider who has clocked more than 30 years at the firm, Amitrano is understood to be promising the opposite: further investment such as AI and cloud technology to fuel further growth. Then theres Laura Hinton, PwC UKs tax leader and global relationship partner for FTSE 100 clients. Described as an outside bet, your dark horse, Hinton is said to be hugely popular among voters because of her successful five-year run as PwC UKs chief people officer. Laura Hinton was one of the architects behind PwC's post-pandemic flexible working policy She was one of the architects behind the companys post-pandemic flexible working policy, which in 2021 allowed workers to choose their working hours and finish at lunchtimes on Fridays during summer months. The final stand-out frontrunner is said to be Hemione Hudson, PwC UKs head of audit. Some argue that Hudsons position guarantees key votes within the firms audit division, who note its been nearly two decades since the business has been led by an auditor. Ellis and his predecessor, Ian Powell, both rose through the ranks via PwCs advisory practice. Hemione Hudson is currently PwC UK's head of audit All those involved have behaved themselves, but the election process undoubtedly has the potential to get ugly. Earlier this year, three of PwCs US partners were stripped of their management roles for breaching election rules for the firms American practice. One was disqualified from the competition to run the US business. PwC partners have been told to avoid spending too much time on the elections, with the firm keen on the vote taking place without distracting from day-to-day operations, according to a person familiar with the matter. Some have argued that the election process was left too late. The winner is expected to be revealed in May, just weeks before incumbent Ellis will officially step down in June. Instead, they believe the search for Elliss replacement should have coincided with the election of Mohamed Kande as PwCs global chair last December. It means that key questions around PwC UKs next steps from recruitment to investment remain unanswered until a new leader is picked. There will also be further uncertainty for colleagues and clients as the 16bn UK consulting market faces a year of stagnation, as retail, telecoms and pharmaceutical sectors reduce spending on consultants. The global downturn in dealmaking will no doubt be a key priority for Elliss successor, who must figure out where the market is going and what services to focus on. Weaker demand for advisory services has left Big Four firms overstaffed as clients cancelled projects and demanded lower fees in the face of economic uncertainty. Last year, PwC responded by cutting up to 600 jobs targeted mainly at its advisory practice. However, more drastic measures may be required. Deloitte is reportedly planning its biggest reorganisation in a decade, in which the firm will reduce itself down from five to four divisions. The major cost-cutting measure is expected to simplify the business and allow partners to focus more on dealing with clients rather than managing staff. Another key focus for PwCs next leader will be improving audit quality. The Financial Reporting Council last year dished out a record number of penalties for audit failures last year, including 7.5m to PwC over its work with defence company Babcock International and logistics giant Eddie Stobart. The Big Four have sought to improve performance by dumping riskier clients onto challenger rivals, which in turn have been scrutinised over basic errors and unacceptable audits. PwCs investments last year into artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots to standardise and automate audit work will remove some of this pressure from partners. Whoever takes over PwCs UK operations will be faced with tough decisions about how much time and money to devote to the evolving area. AI-enabled audits are not without their own regulatory risks either internal checks and balances will need to be redrawn, especially with regulators so far being slow to take action. There is also an ongoing debate within the Big Four about separating consulting and audit businesses, allowing consultants to take on more profitable work without having to worry about conflicts of interest. Ellis has said that PwC previously considered the option soon after he was elected in 2016, but decided against it. EYs failed $600m split last year, codenamed Project Everest, means that is unlikely to change that anytime soon. However, the rationale behind EYs abandoned break-up attracting new funds to invest back into the business will be hard to ignore. And as recent private equity deals with accounting firms Grant Thornton and Baker Tilly show, there are plenty of investors wanting a piece of the market. Fiona Czerniawska, chief executive and founder of Source Global Research, said: If you were a partner looking to get elected in the current environment, you would need to have some strategies for how the firm, both in its parts so consulting versus audit versus tax but also as a whole, is going to find the money to be able to invest in technology in the way that clients expect. Grand plans may be at the heart of each candidates vision. But the partners making the choice are likely just praying that the fight stays clean. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. FDA Submission for approval of INSPIRA ART100 95% Accuracy Results for HYLA Blood Sensor Compared to Standard Blood Gas Analyzers Granted U.S. Patent for INSPIRA ART Medical Device RA'ANANA, Israel, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Inspira Technologies OXY B.H.N. Ltd. (Nasdaq: IINN) (Nasdaq: IINNW) (the "Company" or "Inspira Technologies"), a breakthrough medical technology company, today announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2023. Inspira Technologies Logo Dagi Ben-Noon, Chief Executive Officer of Inspira Technologies, commented, "In 2023, we achieved significant progress in diversifying our business development to ensure continuous growth, reaching very important milestones that we believe will drive our next generation innovations and market launch of our products in the near future. It's an exciting time with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submission of our blood oxygenation device, the INSPIRA ART100, and with our plans to submit the HYLA blood sensor for FDA clearance later this year. With our ground-breaking technologies and products, we are not just looking at the horizon but actively shaping it, leveraging our proprietary technologies to make a meaningful impact." "The advancing technology and development of the INSPIRA ART Gen 2 is progressing rapidly, and we eagerly anticipate the approval of additional patents related to the device. Our orbiting blood oxygenation technology (VORTX), currently under development, is delivering unprecedented results, breaking through a significant technological barrier relating to eliminating pressure gradients, which plays a dominant role in damaging red blood cells. The HYLA blood sensor is achieving even greater accuracy, and we plan to submit it for FDA clearance later this year. The considerable interest in our systems and developments has led to the Company signing pre-conditional summary distribution agreements totaling up to $546 million, subject to the completion of product development and regulatory approvals and authorizing authorities, with expectations for more agreements to follow." Story continues "From a business strategy perspective, we are currently focused on working with potential strategic partners, exploring avenues to harness the strengths of large corporations alongside our Company's development and innovation capabilities." Full Year 2023 Financial results Total Operating Expenses Total operating expenses decreased to US$12,133,000 in of the year ended December 31, 2023, from US$14,893,000 in the same period of 2022. The decrease was mainly attributable to a decline in share-based compensation. Research and development (R&D) expenses decreased to US$7,320,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023, from US$8,183,000 in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily attribute to share-based compensation expenses. General and administrative (G&A) expenses decreased to US$4,063,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023, from US$5,375,000 in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily attribute to share-based compensation expenses and a decrease in director and officer (D&O) insurance costs. Sales and marketing (S&M) expenses decreased to US$746,000 for the year ended December 31, 2023, from US$1,328,000 in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily attribute to share-based compensation expenses Net Loss Net loss attributable to common stock shareholders was US$11,286,000 in 2023, compared with US$14,976,000 in 2022. Balance Sheet As of December 31, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of US$7,361,000 compared to US$13,903,000 as of December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023, financial liabilities at fair value totaled US$1,470,000 compared to US$26,000. The financial liabilities represent the fair value of the Company's equity liabilities. Recent Business Developments On December 26, 2023, the Company announced a significant advancement in its HYLA blood sensor technology by achieving 95% accuracy compared to standard blood gas analyzers, bringing continuous and real-time blood monitoring capabilities compared to traditional blood gas analyzer systems used in hospitals today. On November 6, 2023, the Company announced the approval of a grant from the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA) for the groundbreaking VORTX Disposable Blood Oxygenation Technology, being engineered to oxygenate blood and remove carbon dioxide, mitigating common fiber-membrane complications, such as device failure, coagulation and hemolysis. On October 25, 2023, the Company announced the grant of an additional patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its respiratory medical device, the INSPIRA ART. The newly granted patent relates to a novel automated self-priming module designed for the INSPIRA ART device. On September 13, 2023, the Company announced it had submitted its INSPIRA ART 100, a cardio-pulmonary bypass device, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) via the 510(k) pathway, with potential clearance expected during the first half of 2024 with an expected approval timeline of approximately six months, which is expected in the first half of 2024. On August 29, 2023, the Company signed a strategic agreement with Innovimed SpA. z o.o for planned clinical trials (clinical pilot studies) of the INSPIRA ART medical devices. As of today, the company has signed distribution agreements in Europe, North America, South America, Israel, and the Gulf states, potentially generating over $546 million in revenues for the Company for a period of up to seven years and subject to completion of product development and regulatory approval. Inspira Technologies OXY B.H.N. Ltd. Inspira Technologies is an innovative medical technology company in the respiratory treatment arena. The Company has developed a breakthrough Augmented Respiration Technology (INSPIRA ART), designed to rebalance patient oxygen saturation levels. This technology potentially allows patients to remain awake during treatment while reducing the need for highly invasive, risky, and costly mechanical ventilation systems that require intubation and medically induced coma. The Company's products have not yet been tested or used in humans and has not been approved by any regulatory entity. For more information, please visit our corporate website: https://inspira-technologies.com Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements pursuant to U.S. Federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements and their implications are based on the current expectations of the management of the Company only and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. For example, the Company is using forward-looking statements when it discusses the benefits of its various products, its expected regulatory submissions and the timing of expected regulatory approvals, the potential value of its distribution agreements, subject to completion of product development and regulatory approval, and its potential work with strategic partners. These forward-looking statements and their implications are based solely on the current expectations of the Company's management and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. More detailed information about the risks and uncertainties affecting the Company is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which is available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov For more details: Public Relations Manager Adi Shmueli Inspira Technologies info@inspirao2.com +972-9-9664485 MRK-ARS-095 Copyright 2018-2024 Inspira Technologies OXY B.H.N. LTD., All rights reserved. STATEMENTS OF BALANCE SHEETS (US dollars in thousands) December 31, December 31, 2023 2022 ASSETS Current Assets: Cash and cash equivalents 5,041 6,783 Cash deposits 2,320 7,120 Other accounts receivable 432 589 Total current assets 7,793 14,492 Non-Current Assets: Right of use assets, net 1,011 1,263 Property, plant and equipment, net 506 411 Total non-current assets 1,517 1,674 Total Assets 9,310 16,166 December 31, December 31, 2023 2022 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Liabilities: Trade accounts payables 198 152 Other accounts payable 1,026 1,216 Lease liabilities 290 268 Financial Liabilities at Fair Value 1,470 26 Total current liabilities 2,984 1,662 Non-Current Liabilities: Lease liabilities 588 873 Total non- current liabilities 588 873 Shareholders' Equity: Share capital and additional paid in capital 61,259 57,866 Accumulated deficit (55,521) (44,235) Total equity 5,738 13,631 Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity 9,310 16,166 STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (US dollars in thousands) Year ended December 31, 2023 Year ended December 31, 2022 Research and development expenses 7,320 8,183 Sales and marketing expenses 746 1,328 General and administrative expenses 4,063 5,375 Other expenses (income) 4 7 Operating loss 12,133 14,893 Interest Income from deposits (318) (192) Finance expenses(income), net (529) 275 Loss before tax 11,286 14,976 Taxes on income - - Total comprehensive loss for the period 11,286 14,976 STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY (US dollars in thousands) For the year Ended December 31, 2023: Number of shares Share capital and additional paid in capital Accumulated deficit Total Balance on January 01, 2023 11,338,940 57,866 (44,235) 13,631 Changes during the period: Issuance of shares and private warrants, net 3,031,250 1,806 - 1,806 Issuance of Placement agent warrants - 131 - 131 Issuance of shares (pursuant to At-The-Market ("ATM") facility) 17,566 26 - 26 Exercise of share-based payments 37,972 3 - 3 Restricted share unit ("RSU") vesting 1,226,448 - - - Share-based compensation - 1,427 - 1,427 Comprehensive and net loss - - (11,286) (11,286) Balance on December 31, 2023 15,652,176 61,259 (55,521) 5,738 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1668495/Inspira_Technologies_Logo.jpg Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/inspira-technologies-reports-full-year-2023-financial-results-302098169.html SOURCE Inspira Technologies Intermap Technologies Continuing long-term work with the Malaysian government First payment received and deployment begun for the Indonesian mapping program 2024 year-to-date insurance awards reach $1 million, on track for record year DENVER, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intermap Technologies (TSX: IMP; OTCQB: ITMSF) (Intermap or the Company), a global leader in 3D geospatial products and intelligence solutions, today announced a $1 million program in Malaysia, an update on its Indonesian mapping program and strong growth in its global insurance business. Enhancing Water Resources Management in Malaysia Intermap won a $1 million contract in Malaysia to enhance water resources management. This award exemplifies how Intermaps geospatial technology, which incorporates advanced AI/ML-driven automation, is used to commercialize evolving solutions to environmental challenges. By helping the Malaysian government exploit its investment in national geospatial infrastructure, Intermap is extending the value and versatility of Malaysias new Intermap-created IFSAR data archive, which is applicable for governments across the region. Leveraging IRISTM technology and application layers to update currency and rapidly integrate tailored hydrological datasets, including rivers, canals and drainages, stakeholders gain unprecedented insights into the complex dynamics of water flow, terrain morphology and flood risk assessment. Intermap has earned more than $15 million under Malaysias current basemap program and expects awards to continue as post-COVID budgets reallocate discretionary resources back towards these urgent strategic requirements. Our partnership with the Malaysian government and business community underscores Intermaps commitment to leveraging our unique technology to address critical environmental challenges, said Patrick A. Blott, Intermap Chairman and CEO. This represents a further endorsement of our business model, which leverages our application layers to provide actionable data as a service, enabling governments to commercialize their investments across new use cases. Story continues One of the key advantages of Intermaps DEMs lies in their dynamic nature, where they are continually updated through multiple source inputs. Our elevation models are regularly updated using patented AI/ML-driven processes to reflect real-time changes in terrain and land cover, ensuring decision makers have access to the most accurate and current information for informed planning and response efforts. Recognizing the importance of capacity building, Intermap and its local partner, Antaragrafik Solutions Sdn Bhd, will provide comprehensive training sessions to key government officials involved in remote sensing, mapping and water resources management. These tailored programs aim to equip participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively utilize the new and improved geospatial resources in their decision-making processes. Indonesian Mapping Program Underway with First Milestones Complete Intermap has received the first payment for the Indonesian mapping program and has made significant progress in project preparations and deployment. Collaborating with government officials and key business partners, the program is now underway to capture and analyze intricate geospatial data, promising valuable insights for sustainable development and resource management in the region. Official kickoff meetings with government representatives and business partners have set the stage for mapping Sulawesis diverse landscape, representing 10% of the countrys land area. This program marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to providing Indonesia with a national basemap to specifications suitable for commercial applications, said Mr. Blott. Through cutting-edge technology, meticulous planning and strategic partnerships, we are laying the groundwork for a successful execution of this first phase and a seamless transition to the next phase of mapping the rest of the country. The result will be a national digital infrastructure that drives economic growth by providing interoperable precision elevation data supported by relevant and proven application layers for it to be successfully commercialized. To empower local communities and foster commercialization of geospatial data, Intermap is conducting in-country training with Indonesian personnel on data usage. Designed to equip participants with essential skills and knowledge, the training underscores the Companys commitment to building capacity and driving sustainable development at the grassroots level in Indonesia. Building on this foundation, Intermap is working to secure additional contracts and expand its presence in the region where it enjoys a distinct competitive advantage because of its unique mapping technology. Global Insurance Business Starts 2024 With Strong Growth Intermaps global insurance business is off to a strong start in 2024 with awards reaching $1 million from a new client subscription and multiple renewals. Driven by demand related to climate change and other factors, the Companys analytics address the highest combined ratio available in the insurance industry, resulting in growing demand for Intermaps proven underwriting software and tailored global geospatial data. During 2023, Intermap leveraged proprietary AI/ML advancements, funded in part through its important U.S. government development contracts, to continue to make its geospatial data available to expanding commercial use cases. By making greater volumes of relevant data accessible with low latency to new and frequently non-expert users, Intermap expanded its gross margins, with average subscription size rising by 50% since 2020 and user data volumes increasing by 59% over the course of 2023, with no customer attrition. This rapid topline and bottom-line growth highlights how geospatial intelligence is commercialized by Intermap to measure profitable risk in critical markets plagued by rising uncertainty. Our insurance business is off to a strong start in 2024, said Mr. Blott. In the last 12 months, 87% of total insurance business was generated by recurring subscriptions to our risk assessment software. In Europe, we are expanding relationships with current clients to offer our solutions wherever they operate. We are projecting our insurance business to continue growing at a CAGR of more than 20% over the next few years. Intermaps audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, the annual management discussion and analysis for the corresponding period, related management certifications of annual filings and its annual information form will be filed and available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca on April 1, 2024. Learn more about Intermaps government solutions at intermap.com/collection. Learn more about the Indonesian mapping program at intermap.com/indonesian-mapping-program. Learn more about Intermaps global insurance solutions at intermap.com/insurance. Intermap Reader Advisory Certain information provided in this news release, including reference to revenue growth and run-rate, constitutes forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate", "expect", "project", "estimate", "forecast", will be, will consider, intends and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although Intermap believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Intermaps forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties pertaining to, among other things, cash available to fund operations, availability of capital, revenue fluctuations, nature of government contracts, economic conditions, loss of key customers, retention and availability of executive talent, competing technologies, common share price volatility, loss of proprietary information, software functionality, internet and system infrastructure functionality, information technology security, breakdown of strategic alliances, and international and political considerations, as well as those risks and uncertainties discussed Intermaps Annual Information Form and other securities filings. While the Company makes these forward-looking statements in good faith, should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from those expected. Accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that the Company will derive therefrom. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to Intermap or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the forward-looking statements made herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities law. About Intermap Technologies Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Intermap (TSX: IMP; OTCQB: ITMSF) is a global leader in geospatial intelligence solutions, focusing on the creation and analysis of 3D terrain data to produce high-resolution thematic models. Through scientific analysis of geospatial information and patented sensors and processing technology, the Company provisions diverse, complementary, multi-source datasets to enable customers to seamlessly integrate geospatial intelligence into their workflows. Intermaps 3D elevation data and software analytic capabilities enable global geospatial analysis through artificial intelligence and machine learning, providing customers with critical information to understand their terrain environment. By leveraging its proprietary archive of the worlds largest collection of multi-sensor global elevation data, the Companys collection and processing capabilities provide multi-source 3D datasets and analytics at mission speed, enabling governments and companies to build and integrate geospatial foundation data with actionable insights. Applications for Intermaps products and solutions include defense, aviation and UAV flight planning, flood and wildfire insurance, disaster mitigation, base mapping, environmental and renewable energy planning, telecommunications, engineering, critical infrastructure monitoring, hydrology, land management, oil and gas and transportation. CONTACT: For more information, please visit www.intermap.com or contact: Jennifer Bakken Executive Vice President and CFO CEO@intermap.com +1 (303) 708-0955 Federal regulators should reject the North American Electric Reliability Corp.s latest proposed cold weather reliability standards for power plants, according to the PJM Interconnection and other major grid operators. Settling for the standard that NERC has filed in this proceeding, with its glaring exceptions and vague requirements, will only result in reliability issues that the Commission will need to address later and at a greater cost to generator owners and the public, the ISO/RTO Council said in a Friday filing at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. NERCs mid-February proposal sets a low winterization bar and includes inappropriate exceptions that will hurt grid reliability, according to the council which represents the Alberta Electric System Operator; the California Independent System Operator; the Electric Reliability Council of Texas; the Independent Electricity System Operator of Ontario; ISO New England; the Midcontinent Independent System Operator; the New York Independent System Operator; the PJM Interconnection; and the Southwest Power Pool. NERCs proposal comes as large numbers of power plants failed to run during winter storms Uri in 2021 and Elliott in 2022, in some cases leading to major power outages. FERC, which must approve NERC standards, directed the grid watchdog organization to bolster its standards in a February 2023 decision. NERC struggled to gain approval for its proposal during its standards development process. Among other things, the ISO/RTO Council objects to NERCs proposal to allow power plant owners to declare a Generator Cold Weather Constraint that would excuse them from putting in place freeze protection measures if they cannot be implemented at a reasonable cost consistent with good business practices, reliability, or safety. Enforcing the standard when this exception is invoked effectively injects NERC and the Regional Entities into the process of judging the reasonableness of costs, cost estimates, and even the particular Generator Owners specific financial situation, the council said. Story continues Cost issues are important, but should be addressed by FERC and state regulators instead of by NERC, according to the council. Constraint declarations based on claims of unreasonable costs will prove to be difficult or impossible to audit effectively and consistently, the ISO/RTO Council said. FERC should give NERC 120 days to revise its proposal, according to the council. The New England Power Generators Association doesnt oppose NERCs proposal, but warned FERC that ISO-NEs tariff likely doesnt allow generators to include the costs of meeting the standards in their energy market bids. Generator owners could be left with uncompensated costs for actions they took on a timely basis to comply with the standards, NEPGA said. Generator owners should not be left in this legal limbo. The trade group urged FERC to clarify how power plant owners can recover their compliance costs in wholesale power markets. This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. If we're looking to avoid a business that is in decline, what are the trends that can warn us ahead of time? Businesses in decline often have two underlying trends, firstly, a declining return on capital employed (ROCE) and a declining base of capital employed. This indicates the company is producing less profit from its investments and its total assets are decreasing. In light of that, from a first glance at James Fisher and Sons (LON:FSJ), we've spotted some signs that it could be struggling, so let's investigate. Understanding 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 James Fisher and Sons, this is the formula: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.052 = UK21m (UK636m - UK223m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023). So, James Fisher and Sons has an ROCE of 5.2%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Infrastructure industry average of 9.5%. Check out our latest analysis for James Fisher and Sons roce In the above chart we have measured James Fisher and Sons' prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering James Fisher and Sons for free. What The Trend Of ROCE Can Tell Us We are a bit worried about the trend of returns on capital at James Fisher and Sons. Unfortunately the returns on capital have diminished from the 12% 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 James Fisher and Sons to turn into a multi-bagger. Story continues The Bottom Line On James Fisher and Sons' ROCE In the end, the trend of lower returns on the same amount of capital isn't typically an indication that we're looking at a growth stock. This could explain why the stock has sunk a total of 86% in the last five years. Unless there is a shift to a more positive trajectory in these metrics, we would look elsewhere. One final note, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with James Fisher and Sons (including 1 which shouldn't be ignored) . 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. Bestselling solar supplier Jinko Solar continues to lead the industry with its ESG framework. Heres what makes the company shine amid its competitors. By Exec Edge Editorial Staff In October, Jinko Solar was named ESG Innovator of 2023 by Forbes China, emphasizing the leading solar suppliers everlasting commitment to sustainable operations and innovation as a means of addressing pressing global issues like climate change, energy insecurity, and efficiency. With 2023 marking yet another year of recognition for Jinko Solars robust environmental, social, and governance framework, its clear that the company has mastered the balance between maintaining growth and sustainability. Heres an overview of just some of the ways that Jinko Solar has gone above and beyond as an ESG innovator with its products and policies. Environment: Leading Sustainable Innovation As we continue to face climate change and resulting increased energy costs and concerns of grid instability, Jinko Solar is invested in constantly evolving its products to ease the global transition to renewable energy and reach new standards of industry efficiency and quality. Not only do Jinko Solars n-type TOPCon solar modules hold more unique patents than most n-type competitors it holds 330 theyve continuously broken records for maximum solar conversion efficiency, recently reaching a new industry milestone of 26.89% efficiency. This achievement represents the 22nd time that Jinko Solar has broken the record for solar cell efficiency and is a testament to the companys dedication to research and development, with nearly 2,000 R&D employees across 15 provincial-level research platforms and one provincial-level innovation team. We are proud to have achieved another major breakthrough in the conversion efficiency of n-type TOPCon cells, breaking the record we have previously set for n-type monocrystalline silicon solar cells, said Dr. Jin Hao, Jinko Solars chief technology officer, in a press release. We will continue to invest in R&D innovation and mass production capabilities, and to accelerate the pace of industry upgrading for advanced n-type product. Story continues In addition to raising the bar for solar module efficiency, Jinko Solar continues to develop the application of these modules for ecological management practices like desertification control. This follows recent developments in photovoltaics that can aid in desert soil management by stabilizing sand, reducing soil evaporations, and offering prime protection for vegetation planted underneath panels. Jinko Solar is already testing the efficacy of this process through a 100 megawatt panel donation to China Power to aid the country in powering the Dalad Banner area and protect the region from the worsening impacts of climate change. This donation is expected to provide over 200 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity per year and allow for the creation of the largest desert photovoltaic power system in the world. The size and importance of this project is yet another example of how utility-scale customers have accelerated transition toward n-type products and how they trust our Tiger Neo for their solar power projects and around the world, commented Jinko Solar VP Dany Qian in a press release. Social: A Responsible Employer As one of the largest solar manufacturers in the world, Jinko Solar is committed to maintaining a diverse, equitable, and safe work environment for all its nearly 50,000 employees. In 2021, the company joined the United Nations Global Compact, which aligns companies under a set of universal principles regarding human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption. In signing the UNGC, Jinko Solar has joined the likes of industry leaders including Toyota, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft in the vow to provide dignified and empowering employment. We are proud to be a signatory company of UNGC. At Jinko Solar, we have a culture of equality, transparency, and accountability, said Xiande Li, Jinko Solars CEO and chairman of the board of directors, in a press release. We seek to align our business operations with 10 universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. To ensure compliance with the principles of the UNGC, Jinko Solar conducts routine third-party and internal social responsibility audits. This audit system monitors a wide range of employees rights, from health and safety to working hours, anti-discrimination policies, and benefits and welfare. In rigorously identifying and addressing any operational deficiencies, Jinko Solar has maintained positive social responsibility performance ratings. Jinko Solar is steadfast in providing employment thats as empowering as its solar panels and provides employees with a variety of benefits and growth opportunities while ensuring that they maintain a work-life balance. In addition to offering educational services, Jinko Solar routinely organizes events and activities that promote employee well-being and connectedness, such as volunteering, sporting events, and dance and yoga clubs. Governance: A Higher Standard of Leadership In maintaining its reputation as one of the most well-respected solar manufacturers and suppliers in the world, Jinko Solar goes above and beyond to ensure all of its operations uphold an ethical standard and are in compliance with local laws and regulations. The company has a strict compliance and ethics management system to prevent cases of corruption, bribery, money laundering, unfair competition, fraud, and conflict of interests both internally and among external partners. Jinko Solar always strives for enhanced transparency, communication, and accountability, and safeguards the interests of its shareholders and stakeholders by enabling robust decision-making processes and ensuring the management and mitigation of potential business risks. Given Jinko Solars dedication to superb corporate governance, it should come as no surprise that the companys leadership has been recognized by a number of esteemed publications, including Asset Magazine, which awarded Jinko Solar with its Best Corporate Governance award in 2018. We are honored to receive this prestigious award, which recognizes the companys efforts to strengthen corporate governance and management as well as increase transparency, commented Li. Looking forward, the company will continue to maintain high standards of corporate governance to create long-term value for its shareholders, customers, employees, and society. Jinko Solar has clearly honored its promise of continued industry leadership, as the company was recently one of the recipients of Solar Power Worlds 2023 Leadership in Solar award. With prolonged worldwide energy concerns caused by climate change and ongoing global conflicts, innovative industry leaders like Jinko Solar are swiftly becoming an example for companies looking to usher in a future of sustainability and corporate responsibility. Contact: Executives-Edge.com Editor@executives-edge.com JPMorgan Chase has sued TransUnion for what it calls an "elaborate, decade-long scheme" by Argus, a unit of TransUnion, to "secretly misappropriate JPM 'svaluable trade secret data." The "trade secret data" the bank refers to is anonymized credit card data. The case does not involve personally identifiable information. In the lawsuit the New York bank filed against Chicago-based TransUnion last week in Delaware Federal District Court, it said Argus Information & Advisory Services collected the bank's credit card data while under contract as a data aggregator for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency , the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Argus then, without permission and in violation of its contracts with those agencies, used that data in the benchmarking services it sells to other banks, according to the bank. The complaint also names Verisk Analytics, which bought Argus in 2012, as a defendant. "While Argus did not have access to any of our customers' personally identifiable information, this data is valuable and competitively sensitive," said Seth Wheeler, Chase's chief data and analytics officer. "Argus used Chase's data for its own commercial gain, and it's time this pattern of behavior stops once and for all." TransUnion's response is that all of this happened before it bought Argus with its acquisition of Verisk in April 2022 . "The matter relates to actions at Argus, a subsidiary of TransUnion, that precede TransUnion's acquisition of Argus," a spokesman said in an email. "We have brought Argus under the rigorous data governance standards that make TransUnion a leader in this space and are proud of the work we've done to strengthen Argus at TransUnion." Argus did not respond to a request for an interview. The bank's case is bolstered by the fact that earlier this month , Argus agreed to pay $37 million to settle a civil investigation by the Department of Justice and other federal authorities accusing it of the same thing using anonymized credit card data collected for government agencies in the benchmarking services it sells to credit card issuers, in violation of its government contracts. Story continues In announcing its settlement with Argus, the Department of Justice said that from 2010 through 2020, Argus improperly accessed, used and retained anonymized credit card data that it received under its contracts with the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The contracts each restricted Argus' ability to use, disclose or distribute credit card data collected from banks for purposes other than the performance of the work under the government contracts. But the company used this anonymized data to create synthetic data that it incorporated into the products and services it sold to some commercial customers, the DOJ said. The DOJ further alleged that Argus failed to disclose its improper access, use and retention of credit card data to the government and the extent to which it relied on synthetic data to its commercial clients. The government's claims were filed under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. The bank's case "The $37 million settlement casts very powerful optics in favor of Chase," said Eugene Mar, partner at Farella, Braun and Martel. "However, unless the settlement came with an admission of liability from Argus, the court overseeing the Chase action may not permit the government settlement to be presented at trial because of its potential prejudice to Argus." Nevertheless, some observers feel the bank has a strong case. "The allegations underlying this case are shocking," said Michele Alt, co-founder and managing director at Klaros Group. Despite the fact that Argus' contracts with bank regulators restricted it from using, disclosing or distributing the credit card data for commercial purposes, Argus "allegedly repackaged the data and sold it to its commercial customers anyway. Wow." The fact that Argus admitted to the regulators that it misused JPMorgan Chase's anonymized card data is "a pretty damning admission," Alt said. And the fact that it agreed to pay $37 million to settle a civil investigation by the Department of Justice on this same issue "is a pretty strong starting point for the JPMorgan Chase case." She expects other banks whose data was used by Argus will soon file their own suits or join this one. "Argus' contract with the banking agencies was likely quite lucrative, as indicated by the $13.5 million in restitution the company must now pay to the government," Alt said. "Argus should have enjoyed that payday and stopped while it was ahead." The case could have implications throughout the industry. There is a lucrative market for buying and selling credit card data, as well as other forms of financial data, to hedge funds, marketing firms and others that use it to understand market forces and trends. Banks, payment networks, co-branding companies, fintech companies and data brokers are all highly invested in this market. And as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's implementation of the 1033 section of the Dodd Frank Act takes effect, consumer financial data of all kinds will flow more freely out of banks. All banks will be required to share customer account data with third parties as long as the customers allow it. Does credit card data qualify as trade secrets? An interesting aspect of this case is the bank's characterization of credit card data as "trade secrets." According to JPMorgan Chase, the trade secrets Argus misappropriated include monthly detailed individual account-level data and compiled portfolio-level data that aggregates categories of credit card accounts. "JPMC's exclusive use and access to this data concerning its credit card business give it a significant competitive advantage," the bank said in its complaint. According to the bank, this data can provide detailed insights into its customer base and business practices, including its rates and pricing. The data also lets JPMorgan Chase track market trends and opportunities for business growth. The bank does not sell this data to third parties, it said. Under the Uniform Trade Secret Act's definition of a trade secret, the information that Argus acquired and misused probably does qualify as a trade secret because it is at least a compilation of information that is generally not available to the public, according to Mar. "By filing this as a trade secret case, Chase's lawsuit actually shines an interesting light on who owns credit card transaction data," Mar said. "I believe the complaint asserts that the banks like Chase own credit card transaction data, but does an average user actually know that? Probably not." Under the concept of open banking, in theory, consumers own their account data. "The biggest impact I see from this case is that I expect all the companies in this ecosystem like banks, co-branded companies, data brokers, data aggregators, and data analytic companies to closely scrutinize their agreements to see what limits are placed on each other to use the credit card data," Mar said. "You could see more disputes among these players about one company improperly exceeding the scope of their agreements or misappropriating trade secrets in the form of compiled, synthesized, or aggregated credit card transaction data." Image source: The Motley Fool/Upsplash If you recently started a small business, you're in good company. In his recent State of the Union address, President Biden said that a record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses. And he called each one "a literal act of hope." But the moves you make during your first year in operation have the potential to make or break your business. So with that in mind, here are some essential steps to take in the coming months. 1. Prioritize the tasks you need to outsource As a new business owner, you may have a limited budget for hiring outside consultants. So before you start spending money on a marketing guru and an HR specialist and a social media expert, think about the help your business needs the most in its first year, and focus your funds there. You may be better off hiring just one consultant who makes a huge impact than hiring three who make a moderate impact. 2. Get a great accountant If there's one type of professional you should prioritize as a new small business owner, it's an accountant. You need someone in your corner who can help with financial management and planning. And getting that help early on could help you avoid taking on expenses that leave your company strapped for cash. Also, there are tax laws that small business owners need to comply with, and you may not be familiar with all of them. So you need someone who has that knowledge and can guide you accordingly. 3. Network with fellow business owners in your area Building a local small business network could help you in more ways than one. First, you never know which nearby businesses you may be able to partner with to mutually increase your profits. But also, local business owners might know the market really well, and they may offer tips on how to make your venture more profitable. Plus, it's just plain nice to have the support of other people who are in a similar position. Seasoned small business owners may be able to offer advice on everything from running promotions to striking a good work-life balance. Story continues 4. Check in with your employees regularly If you're new to running a business, perhaps you're also new to managing a team of employees. It's important to check in with your hires regularly to make sure they feel supported and to make sure they're confident they know what they're doing. And if you're not sure exactly which tasks to assign your different employees, that's OK. But it's a good idea to try to work together to identify individual strengths so you can get the most out of your team. When your business is in its first year, a lot has the potential to go wrong. But also, a lot has the potential to go right. And if you make these moves, you may find that your initial 12 months in operation are a glowing success. Alert: our top-rated cash back card now has 0% intro APR until 2025 This credit card is not just good its so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a lengthy 0% intro APR period, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee! Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes. We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Just Started a Small Business? 4 Essential Moves to Make Your First Year was originally published by The Motley Fool KINGSTON, NY / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Kingstone Insurance Company, a subsidiary of Kingstone Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq:KINS), a Northeast regional property and casualty insurance holding company, today announced that it has partnered with Zojacks, a pioneering technology company specializing in water leak detection solutions. The partnership aims to offer enhanced protection to Kingstone policyholders, providing a solution to assist them in protecting their homes and mitigating risks associated with burdensome water-related claims. Zojacks offers innovative technology that can monitor temperature and provide water leak detection, which will shut off the main water supply in the house, giving policyholders peace of mind when they are not at home. Through this partnership, Kingstone policyholders can benefit from cost-saving product packages offered by Zojacks and can also qualify for insurance policy discounts when the Zojacks technology is installed in their homes. "We are pleased to announce our partnership with Zojacks as part of our ongoing commitment to providing innovative solutions to our valued policyholders," said Meryl Golden, Chief Executive Officer of Kingstone Companies, Inc. "By leveraging Zojacks' advanced technology, we can significantly mitigate the risks of water damage, offering our customers greater peace of mind." As per the partnership agreement, Zojacks will oversee the execution process while Kingstone will provide benefits to their policyholders. This collaborative strategy will ensure a speedy and efficient deployment of the water leak detection systems to eligible policyholders, making the process streamlined and maximizing benefits, thus ensuring a seamless customer experience. The Zojacks flood detection system is designed to be user-friendly, and the installation process is hassle-free, with Zojacks providing installation services. Furthermore, homeowners will receive guidance on how to use the solution through a dedicated mobile app, which will facilitate easy monitoring and management of potential water leaks. Story continues "We are proud to join forces with Kingstone to help safeguard their policyholders from the devastating effects of water damage," said Nate Baldry, President and Founder of Zojacks. "Our user-friendly solution provides effective leak detection and ongoing protection for homeowners." About Kingstone Companies, Inc. Kingstone is a northeast regional property and casualty insurance holding company whose principal operating subsidiary is Kingstone Insurance Company ("KICO"). KICO is a New York domiciled carrier writing business through retail and wholesale agents and brokers. KICO is actively writing personal lines and commercial auto insurance in New York. Kingstone is also licensed in New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine. About ZoJacks, Inc. ZoJacks, a North American insurtech firm, specializes in flood prevention for both residential and commercial properties. Their primary aim is to minimize water claims and flood risks by partnering with insurance providers, particularly targeting high-risk demographics. Additionally, they collaborate directly with property ownership and management groups to mitigate the likelihood of unexpected water claim incidents. Their technology focuses on detecting leaks and extreme temperatures, automatically shutting off water to prevent damage. Homeowners are promptly notified through a professional monitoring service, and they can remotely see and control water flow to the home via a mobile app. ZoJacks' systems operate on cellular connections and backup batteries for uninterrupted communication, even during power outages. Trusted across North America, ZoJacks technology is recognized for its reliability. For more information on Zojacks technology and partnerships, visit www.zojacks.com. Contact: Jennifer Gravelle (845) 768-1970 SOURCE: Kingstone Companies, Inc View the original press release on accesswire.com Company Logo Dublin, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Outlook to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Kuwait car rental & leasing market has been influenced by the country's economic development and increasing tourism. The growth & size of the market is linked to factors like GDP growth, disposable income levels, and the overall economic health of the country. Car rental & leasing in Kuwait features a mix of international and local players. Major global car rental companies often operate in Kuwait with local companies that cater to specific customer preferences. The competition among these players may drive innovations in service offerings and pricing strategies. Kuwait makes efforts to boost its tourism sector and this has had a positive impact on the car rental and leasing market. Tourists who visit Kuwait for business or leisure purposes often rely on rental cars for transportation, contributing to the demand in this sector. The Kuwaiti government imposes some regulations on the car rental and leasing industry to ensure safety standards, fair business practices, and environmental considerations. Companies operating in the market should comply with these regulations to avoid legal issues. Companies in Kuwait car renting space may form partnerships or collaborations with airlines, hotels, or travel agencies to expand their reach and provide bundled services to customers. Kuwait Car Rental & leasing market includes both international & local players. Major international players have a presence in Kuwait along with other local businesses that cater to the domestic market. Many car rental and leasing services have started using online platforms and mobile apps for reservations, payments, and communication with customers. Market Analysis The demand for rental cars often coincides with the growth of tourism industry. As Kuwait attracts more tourists, either for business or leisure, the need for rental cars increases. Rapid urbanization and population growth in urban areas is boosting the demand for short-term car rentals as people look for convenient transportation solutions. Infrastructure projects and improvements in transportation networks being undertaken in the region can lead to increased demand for car rental services, especially for businesses and individuals involved in these projects. Shifts in consumer preferences which includes preference for on-demand and flexible transportation solutions, is likely to drive growth in the car rental market. Integration of technology like online booking platforms, mobile apps, and GPS systems, can enhance the customer experience and make car rental and leasing services more accessible and efficient. Key Trends by Market Segment Story continues By Type of Services: Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing market is segmented into Spot Rental & Limousine segments. Out of these, Spot Rental services has the dominant share of about 95%. Spot rentals may be more cost-effective for some users, especially if they only need a vehicle for a brief period. Long-term leasing might be more expensive in such cases. These may be more prevalent in certain seasons, events, or holidays when there's an increased demand for short-term transportation. This could include holiday seasons, festivals, or other special occasions. By Type of Vehicle: In 2022, types of vehicles were segmented into Sedan, SUV/MUV, Luxury, Panel & Passenger Vans, 22-Seater Passenger Buses, Pick Up & Trucks & Half Lorries. Out of these, Sedans have been the dominating segment with 24% of market share. Sedans offer a comfortable and spacious interior which makes them suitable for both short trips and longer journeys. This can be appeal individuals or families renting or leasing cars for various purposes. Competitive Landscape Major Players in Kuwait Car Leasing & Rental Market Amongst the leading players, AutoMak has been the leading provider of advanced and cost-effective transport solutions in Kuwait and the MENA region. In FY'22, the total fleet size was at 10,000 units. Al Mulla Rental & Leasing includes a massive rental and leasing operation entity known as Araba. They offer short term rental, long term leasing as well as chaueffer driven cars. Al Sager leasing is another leading company which is a highly reputable ISO-9001-2008 certified company providing a dedicated approach to the car rental market in Kuwait. Mustafa Karam Co is a dealer of Suzuki in the country. It maintains a presence of over 70 years in Kuwait providing transportation and vehicle leasing in Kuwait with a dynamic set-up. It contains a major holding in government projects in the field of Construction and Oil, Ministries and Militaries etc Behbehani Motors Company was established in 1957 to represent Volkswagen and Porsche brands. It established the car rental divison in 2002 & offers a wide range of car fleet working. BehBehani motors is the major auto player in the industry. A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes: Automak Al Mulla Rental & Leasing Al Sayer Leasing Mustafa Karam Co. BehBahani Motors KGL Car Rental Mutawa Al Kazi Future Outlook The market will grow at a CAGR of 9.8% during 2022-2027 due to increasing tourism industry & improvements in transportation. As the global automotive industry moves towards sustainability, there might be an increase in demand for electric vehicles. Car rental and leasing companies in Kuwait may explore adding electric or hybrid vehicles to their fleets to cater to environmentally conscious customers. Integrating technology like mobile apps for booking and payment, GPS navigation, and smart car features, could become more prevalent. This will enhance customer experience and operational efficiency for car rental and leasing services. Car subscription services which offer customers the flexibility to use different vehicles for a monthly fee are expected to become more popular. This model provides users with the convenience of having a car without the long-term commitment of ownership. With changing consumer behaviors and preferences, an increased demand for short-term or hourly rental services is likely, especially in urban areas where people may prefer not to own a car but occasionally need one. Key Topics Covered 1. Executive Summary 1.1 Executive Summary for Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Outlook to 2027 2. Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Overview and Genesis 2.1 Ecosystem of Major Companies in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 2.2 Business Cycle and Genesis of Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 2.2 Value Chain Analysis of Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Industry 2.3 Import-Export Analysis of Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 3. Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Size, 2022 3.1 Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Size, In Revenues & Fleet Size, 2017-2022 4. Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Segmentations, 2022 4.1 Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Segmentation (in Volume) By Type of Services, 2017 & 2022 4.2 Qatar Automotive Lubricants Market Segmentation, By Type of Vehicles, 2017 & 2022 4.3 Qatar Automotive Lubricants Market Segmentation, By Region, 2017 & 2022 5. Industry Analysis of Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 5.1 Growth Drivers in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 5.2 Bottlenecks and Challenges in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 5.3 Trends and Developments in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 5.4 Rules and Regulations for Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 5.5 Impact of COVID-19 on Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Industry 6. End User Analysis of Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 6.1 Recent Developments in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Industry 6.2 Automotive Sector Overview 6.3 Evolution of Electric Mobility in Kuwait 6.4 Roadmap of Electric Mobility in Kuwait 6.5 Industrial Sector Overview 6.6 Decision Making Parameters of Automotive Lubricant-End Users in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 6.7 Decision Making Parameters of Industrial Lubricant-End Users in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 7. Competition Framework 7.1 Competition Scenario in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 7.2 Cross Comparison of Major Players in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 7.3 Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Players in Gartner Magic Quadrant 7.4 Vender Evaluation and Selection Process in Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 7.5 Factors Affecting Vendor Selection Process 8. Future Outlook and Market Size for Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market, 2022-2027 8.1 Future Market Sizing of Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market, 2022-2027 9. Future Segmentations for Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market, 2022-2027 9.1 Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Segmentation (in Volume) By Type of Services, 2022 & 2027 9.2 Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Segmentation, By Type of Vehicle, 2022 & 2027 9.3 Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market Segmentation, By Region, 2022 & 2027 10. Analyst Recommendations 10.1 Analyst Recommendations 11. Research Methodology 11.1 Market Definitions and Assumptions 11.2 Abbreviations 11.3 Market Sizing Approach - Kuwait Car Rental & Leasing Market 11.4 Consolidated Research Approach 11.5 Sample Size Inclusion 11.6 Primary Research Approach 11.7 Limitations and Future Conclusions 11.8 Correlation Matrix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/r0y50i About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 Launchpad for Biotech and Life Sciences Startups Becomes Member of a Nationwide Network Working to Accelerate Transformative Health Solutions CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LabCentral, the first-of-its-kind shared laboratory space designed as a launchpad for high-potential biotech startups, today announced that it is now a spoke for the Investor Catalyst Hub, a regional hub of ARPANET-H, a nationwide health innovation network launched by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). Based in the Greater Boston area and managed by VentureWell, the Investor Catalyst Hub seeks to accelerate the commercialization of groundbreaking and accessible biomedical solutions. It utilizes an innovative hub-and-spoke model designed to reach a wide range of nonprofit organizations and Minority-Serving Institutions, with the ultimate aim of delivering scalable healthcare outcomes for all Americans. LabCentral logo. (PRNewsFoto/LabCentral) (PRNewsfoto/LabCentral) "Since its founding in 2013, LabCentral has focused exclusively on helping biotech scientists and entrepreneurs accelerate their research and make innovative new drugs, therapies and diagnostics a reality to benefit patient health. This includes thousands of scientists and entrepreneurs, raising nearly $23 billion in funding and 116 clinical trials touching more than 11,000 patients," said Johannes Fruehauf, president and co-founder of LabCentral. "The Investor Catalyst Hub aligns perfectly with our mission, mobilizing an entire ecosystem of academics, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors within the Massachusetts biotech community, allowing us to amplify our efforts, speed outcomes and transform even more novel scientific ideas into healthcare realities." LabCentral joins a dynamic nationwide network of organizations aligned to ARPA-H's overarching mission to improve health outcomes through the following research focus areas: health science futures, proactive health, scalable solutions, and resilient systems. Investor Catalyst Hub spokes represent a broad spectrum of expertise, geographic diversity, and community perspectives. Story continues "Our spoke network embodies a rich and representative range of perspectives and expertise," said Mark Marino, Vice President of Growth Strategy and Development for VentureWell and Project Director for the Investor Catalyst Hub. "Our spokes comprise a richly diverse network that will be instrumental in ensuring that equitable health solutions reach communities across every state and tribal nation." As an Investor Catalyst Hub spoke, LabCentral gains access to potential funding and flexible contracting for faster award execution compared to traditional government contracts. Spoke membership also offers opportunities to provide input on ARPA-H challenge areas and priorities, along with access to valuable networking opportunities and a robust resource library. The spoke network will continue to grow as The Investor Catalyst Hub expands its efforts, with applications being selected on a rolling basis. Interested organizations can visit https://investorcatalysthub.org/ to learn more or submit a membership application. About LabCentral A private, non-profit institution, LabCentral was founded in 2013 as a launchpad for high potential life-sciences and biotech startups. Operating a total of 225,000 square-feet in the heart of Kendall Square in Cambridge, Mass., LabCentral offers fully permitted laboratory and office space for as many as 100 startups comprising approximately 1,000 scientists and entrepreneurs. More information is available at www.labcentral.org. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/labcentral-joins-arpa-h-investor-catalyst-hub-spoke-network-302097795.html SOURCE LabCentral Understanding the Dividend Prospects of Manila Electric Co Manila Electric Co (MAEOY) recently announced a dividend of $0.4 per share, payable on 2024-05-09, with the ex-dividend date set for 2024-03-26. As investors look forward to this upcoming payment, the spotlight also shines on the company's dividend history, yield, and growth rates. Using the data from GuruFocus, let's look into Manila Electric Co's dividend performance and assess its sustainability. What Does Manila Electric Co Do? Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with MAEOY. High Yield Dividend Stocks in Gurus' Portfolio This Powerful Chart Made Peter Lynch 29% A Year For 13 Years How to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock? Manila Electric Co, or Meralco, is an electric utility company serving the Philippines. Meralco generates, transmits, and distributes electricity through its portfolio of thermal power plants. The vast majority of the energy produced by the company comes from its natural gas and coal facilities. Meralco generates almost all of its revenue through the sale of electricity. While nearly all of the company's customers are residential entities, total energy sales are split fairly evenly between commercial, industrial, and residential customers. Meralco is the largest electric distribution company in the Philippines and serves dozens of cities and municipalities, including Metropolitan Manila. Manila Electric Co's Dividend Analysis A Glimpse at Manila Electric Co's Dividend History Manila Electric Co has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2018. Dividends are currently distributed on a bi-annual basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends. Breaking Down Manila Electric Co's Dividend Yield and Growth As of today, Manila Electric Co currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 5.14% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 5.17%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, Manila Electric Co's annual dividend growth rate was 25.90%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate decreased to 15.80% per year. And over the past decade, Manila Electric Co's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at an impressive 10.70%. Story continues Based on Manila Electric Co's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Manila Electric Co stock as of today is approximately 10.70%. Manila Electric Co's Dividend Analysis The Sustainability Question: Payout Ratio and Profitability To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-12-31, Manila Electric Co's dividend payout ratio is 0.57. Manila Electric Co's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Manila Electric Co's profitability 8 out of 10 as of 2023-12-31, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported positive net income for each year over the past decade, further solidifying its high profitability. Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Manila Electric Co's growth rank of 8 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. Revenue is the lifeblood of any company, and Manila Electric Co's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Manila Electric Co's revenue has increased by approximately 17.20% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 77.85% of global competitors. The company's 3-year EPS growth rate showcases its capability to grow its earnings, a critical component for sustaining dividends in the long run. During the past three years, Manila Electric Co's earnings increased by approximately 32.60% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 84.63% of global competitors. Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of 10.40%, which outperforms approximately 68.61% of global competitors. Next Steps In conclusion, Manila Electric Co's robust dividend history, combined with a healthy payout ratio and strong profitability, positions it as an attractive option for value investors focused on income generation. The company's impressive growth metrics further solidify its ability to sustain and possibly increase its dividend payments in the future. Investors considering Manila Electric Co for its dividend prospects should take note of its dividend growth rate, payout ratio, profitability, and growth metrics as key indicators of the company's financial health and future performance. With these factors in mind, Manila Electric Co presents itself as a compelling candidate for those seeking to enhance their portfolio with a reliable dividend-paying stock. GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener. This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. PHOENIX, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Moon Valley Nurseries, the nation's largest fully-integrated nursery, announced today the appointment of Michael Minnaugh to General Counsel, effective Monday, March 18, 2024. Minnaugh will lead all aspects of the legal function for the Phoenix-based nursery, including corporate governance, compliance, and risk management. Minnaugh will be based at Moon Valley Nurseries' Scottsdale corporate headquarters and report to CEO Brian Flood. Moon Valley Nurseries "Michael brings a proven track record of executive leadership and strategic thinking that will be essential to help further advance our success and continued growth," said Brian Flood, CEO of Moon Valley Nurseries. "Michael's expertise and sophisticated in-house legal experience, combined with a passion for people and culture in leading high-performance teams, makes him a natural fit for our organization." Minnaugh joins Moon Valley Nurseries after an impressive 22-year legal career spanning diverse industry experience in clean energy, technology, construction and transportation. He has previously been recognized by the Arizona State Bar as Arizona's General Counsel of the year. "As Moon Valley Nurseries continues on its path of tremendous growth and expansion, I could not be more excited to join the team," said Michael Minnaugh, general counsel at Moon Valley Nurseries. "I look forward to partnering with executive leadership to further propel the brand forward." Michael comes to Moon Valley Nurseries with deep experience in enterprise risk management, corporate governance, human resources, commercial transactions, fundraising, acquisitions, strategic partnerships, litigation, government relations and regulatory affairs, and technology licensing agreements. Michael holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. Michael is licensed in multiple jurisdictions. Story continues ABOUT MOON VALLEY NURSERIES Founded in Phoenix, Arizona in 1995, Moon Valley Nurseries is the largest box tree grower in the United States, now operating 19 farms and over 40 retail locations across Arizona, California, Nevada, Florida, Tennessee and Texas, with more than 2,100 acres of nursery property. While leading the industry in professional landscape design, expert planting services, and cutting-edge nutrients and fertilizers, Moon Valley Nurseries is home to the world's best trees and plants. For more information, visit www.moonvalleynurseries.com . Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moon-valley-nurseries-names-michael-minnaugh-general-counsel-302098548.html SOURCE Moon Valley Nurseries Makoto Uchida, announcing The Arc plan, which aims to boost Nissan's competitiveness - KIMIMASA MAYAMA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Nissan has vowed to cut the cost of making electric vehicles (EVs) by a third as the Japanese car giant embarks on a fightback against China. Under its Arc business plan, the Yokohama-based company said it would also launch 16 new EVs by 2026, as well as another 14 internal combustion engine cars. Bosses said they would slash the cost of making battery-powered cars by 30pc using a family of designs and exploiting technology partnerships such as the deal Nissan has struck with former arch-rival Honda. The lower production costs are expected to eventually allow the company to reduce prices for consumers meaning it can compete more effectively with super-cheap EVs flowing out of China. Nissan will begin producing cars under the family design approach from 2027 and aim to reach EV cost-parity with combustion engine cars by 2030, a statement said. Nissans fightback plan also includes proposals to refresh three quarters of its car line-up in China itself, where it plans to launch eight new energy vehicles a Chinese term that spans EVs, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. Overall, Nissan is aiming to boost its sales globally by one million cars over the next two years. Makoto Uchida, Nissans president and chief executive, said: The Arc plan shows our path to the future. It illustrates our continuous progression and ability to navigate changing market conditions. This plan will enable us to go further and faster in driving value and competitiveness. Faced with extreme market volatility, Nissan is taking decisive actions guided by the new plan to ensure sustainable growth and profitability. The announcement comes just a week after Nissan unveiled an unexpected partnership with Honda to jointly develop EVs, a move that was widely seen as a response to the challenge Japans second and third-biggest car manufacturers are facing from their Chinese counterparts. Following decades of research and investment, Chinese EVs are regarded globally as some of the most advanced with brands such as BYD, Chery, Geely and SAIC Motor enjoying a domestic sales boom, partly thanks to supportive policies from Beijing. Story continues China also overtook Japan last year to become the worlds biggest exporter of cars, including petrol-fueled ones, as the likes of BYD look to dominate new markets across the globe. Both Nissan and Honda are among the top 10 biggest car makers by sales but neither brand has many EV models on offer currently, with sales in their home Japanese market still relatively small. In 2023, more than eight million new EVs or plug-in hybrids were sold in China, representing about 37pc of the market. By comparison, only 88,535 were sold in Japan during the same period just 2.2pc of the total. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. It's common for many investors, especially those who are inexperienced, to buy shares in companies with a good story even if these companies are loss-making. Sometimes these stories can cloud the minds of investors, leading them to invest with their emotions rather than on the merit of good company fundamentals. Loss-making companies are always racing against time to reach financial sustainability, so investors in these companies may be taking on more risk than they should. So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA). While this doesn't necessarily speak to whether it's undervalued, the profitability of the business is enough to warrant some appreciation - especially if its growing. See our latest analysis for HSBC Holdings How Fast Is HSBC Holdings Growing Its Earnings Per Share? Over the last three years, HSBC Holdings has grown earnings per share (EPS) at as impressive rate from a relatively low point, resulting in a three year percentage growth rate that isn't particularly indicative of expected future performance. So it would be better to isolate the growth rate over the last year for our analysis. To the delight of shareholders, HSBC Holdings' EPS soared from US$0.72 to US$1.20, over the last year. That's a commendable gain of 66%. One way to double-check a company's growth is to look at how its revenue, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margins are changing. It's noted that HSBC Holdings' revenue from operations was lower than its revenue in the last twelve months, so that could distort our analysis of its margins. EBIT margins for HSBC Holdings remained fairly unchanged over the last year, however the company should be pleased to report its revenue growth for the period of 22% to US$56b. That's a real positive. The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. For finer detail, click on the image. Story continues In investing, as in life, the future matters more than the past. So why not check out this free interactive visualization of HSBC Holdings' forecast profits? Are HSBC Holdings Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders? Investors are always searching for a vote of confidence in the companies they hold and insider buying is one of the key indicators for optimism on the market. Because often, the purchase of stock is a sign that the buyer views it as undervalued. However, small purchases are not always indicative of conviction, and insiders don't always get it right. We do note that, in the last year, insiders sold US$1.8m worth of shares. But that's far less than the US$4.3m insiders spent purchasing stock. We find this encouraging because it suggests they are optimistic about HSBC Holdings'future. Zooming in, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Group CFO Georges Bahjat Elhedery for UK4.0m worth of shares, at about UK5.97 per share. On top of the insider buying, it's good to see that HSBC Holdings insiders have a valuable investment in the business. Given insiders own a significant chunk of shares, currently valued at US$67m, they have plenty of motivation to push the business to succeed. This should keep them focused on creating long term value for shareholders. Is HSBC Holdings Worth Keeping An Eye On? If you believe that share price follows earnings per share you should definitely be delving further into HSBC Holdings' strong EPS growth. Furthermore, company insiders have been adding to their significant stake in the company. Astute investors will want to keep this stock on watch. It's still necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with HSBC Holdings (at least 1 which is concerning) , and understanding these should be part of your investment process. Keen growth investors love to see insider buying. Thankfully, HSBC Holdings isn't the only one. You can see a a curated list of British companies which have exhibited consistent growth accompanied by recent insider buying. Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. By Georgina McCartney HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices settled higher on Monday as orders from the Russian government to curb oil output, and attacks on energy infrastructure in both Russia and Ukraine offset the United Nation's demand for a ceasefire in Gaza. Brent crude futures settled $1.32 higher or 1.55%, at $86.75 a barrel. U.S. crude futures settled $1.32 higher, or 1.64%, at $81.95. Both benchmarks have risen steadily this year, with Brent up nearly 11% and WTI up about 12.5% by Friday's close, on expectations that interest rates in major economies will come down by the summer, and geopolitical tensions in eastern Europe and the Middle East. Moscow, meanwhile, has ordered companies to reduce oil output in the second quarter to meet a production target of 9 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of June, in line with its pledges to the producer group OPEC+, three industry sources said on Monday. "Russia is committed to the OPEC+ cuts. They are looking beyond the current supply and demand fundamentals and looking at unity with OPEC+, as well as the risk of a bigger price shock further down the road," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group. Attacks on Russian energy facilities and Ukrainian energy infrastructure have stoked supply concerns, said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities. Another Russian oil refinery had half of its capacity knocked out in a drone attack over the weekend, sources told Reuters. It was the latest casualty from a string of attacks by Ukraine this month that have shuttered 7% of total refining capacity, Reuters calculations show, on top of unrelated maintenance. Russia attacked Ukrainian generating and transmission facilities last week and over the weekend, causing blackouts in many regions. Elsewhere, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and the release of all hostages after the United States abstained from the vote. Story continues "We will have to see how the U.N. resolution on a ceasefire actually plays out on the ground in Gaza, and whether that would ultimately result in the Houthis stopping their attacks on tanker traffic in the Red Sea," Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates said. Yemen-based Houthi rebels have been ramping up attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza. A ceasefire could help relieve supply bottlenecks if the Houthis wind down their attacks by allowing vessels to use the Suez Canal rather than taking longer, more costly diversions around the horn of Africa. (Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston, Natalie Grover in London, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Sudarshan Varadhan in Singapore;Editing by David Gregorio, Nia Williams and Ros Russell) (Bloomberg) -- Oil futures rose on geopolitical unrest and signs that OPEC+ will stick with current output cuts when delegates hold a review session next week. Most Read from Bloomberg Western Texas Intermediate settled just shy of $82 a barrel after losing more than 3% in the final three days of last week. Continued drone strikes by Ukraine are crimping Russias crude-refining capabilities. Rosnefts Kuibyshev oil refinery in Samara, Russia was forced to shut half of its capacity after an attack Saturday, Reuters reported. Separately, delegates from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies see no need to recommend changes to oil supply policy, according to several national officials. Key members will gather online on April 3 to assess implementation of the latest cutbacks, which are scheduled to be in place through the end of June. Crude is also getting a push from technical indicators, with its 50-day moving average exceeding the 100-day moving average, a chart pattern known as a golden cross. Crude is headed for a third monthly gain as OPEC+ presses on with its curbs and the US tightens sanctions on Russian flows. While Chinas shaky demand outlook has been a headwind, Premier Li Qiang said Beijing was stepping up policy support to spur growth. Reflecting the bullish mood, money managers net-long positions on Brent have risen to the highest in more than a year. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a research note that commodities will advance this year as central banks reduce interest rates, helping to support industrial and consumer demand. That cautiously bullish outlook squares with recent comments from other market watchers, including Macquarie Group Ltd. and Carlyle Group LP. Story continues To get Bloombergs Energy Daily newsletter into your inbox, click here. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. (Bloomberg) -- Palm oil snapped a two-day drop on optimism that Malaysian exports will be robust this month, and on concerns that potential Indonesian policy changes could limit supplies from the biggest shipper. Most Read from Bloomberg The gains this morning are mainly due to the strength in Malaysias export performance this month, according to David Ng, a senior trader at IcebergX Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur. After the end of the morning session, Intertek Testing Services reported shipments climbed 14% during March 1-25 from a month earlier, thanks to stronger demand from Africa, India and the Middle East. AmSpec Agri will release data for the same period later Monday. The market is also waiting for clarity on Indonesias plan to tweak its domestic market obligation policy, known as DMO, Ng said. The government is mulling a revision in the policy by linking it to production, instead of exports, Edy Priyono, deputy at the presidential staff office, said in Jakarta on Monday. Read more: Indonesia Mulls Linking Cooking Oil Supply Quota with Output The rule currently allows companies to export some palm oil products after supplying certain volumes of cooking oil domestically, but the policy is vulnerable when export demand slows down, Priyono said. Linking the DMO to output will help prevent impact from the global market, he added. Well especially want to know how much quota is being allocated based on the production, IcebergXs Ng said. With this policy in place, it looks like supply will be pretty much domestic-driven rather than export-oriented, and could mean that supply availability from Indonesia may be restricted going forward in order to safeguard domestic prices. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Buildforce Canada OTTAWA, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Construction activity in Prince Edward Island eased moderately in 2023 as the provinces residential construction sector declined from the peak levels of activity reached in 2022, while the non-residential sector continued a steady upward climb that began in 2021. Even with these changes, however, the provinces labour markets continue to experience recruiting challenges. BuildForce Canada released its 20242033 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward report for Prince Edward Island today. It anticipates growth in both components of the industry in the short term before levels diverge. Investment levels in the residential sector are expected to increase after 2024 and to the end of the forecast. Growth is initially driven by new housing construction and later in renovation. After peaking in 2024, activity in the non-residential sector is projected to cycle down to 2029 as work on several major projects concludes. This trend should be viewed in context, however. The peak reported in 2024 is significantly higher than previous highs reported in 2020 and 2021. Overall construction employment is expected to contract slightly across the forecast period. A gain of 13% above 2023 levels in residential employment will be more than offset by a contraction of just under 15% in non-residential employment. Although labour market conditions in PEI are strained going into our forecast period, they should return to balance in the near future, which will bring welcome relief to the industry, says Bill Ferreira, Executive Director of BuildForce Canada. The construction sectors efforts to hire and train workers are bearing fruit, but these activities must be sustained for the local industry to ensure future labour force sustainability. The provinces construction industry will need to recruit 110 additional workers through 2033. This demand is driven largely by the expected retirement of 1,570 workers (23% of the current labour force) by 2033 and combined with a small projected contraction in the overall labour force. Much of this hiring gap will be filled by the recruitment of as many as 1,440 first-time new entrants under the age of 30 from the local population. Story continues These numbers are based on existing known demands and do not take into account public-sector initiatives to address housing affordability challenges, nor the anticipated increase in demand for construction services related to the retrofit of existing residential, industrial, commercial, and institutional buildings to accommodate the electrification of the economy. Both scenarios are addressed in separate reports to be released by BuildForce Canada at a later date. The development of skilled tradespersons in the construction industry takes years, and often requires participation in a provincial apprenticeship program, says Sam Sanderson, General Manager of the Construction Association of Prince Edward Island. Registrations in the seven largest construction trades programs in PEI reached a record high in 2022, and we are hopeful many of these individuals will continue their apprenticeship through to completion. The construction industry remains focused on building a more diverse and inclusive labour force. To that end, efforts are ongoing to enhance the recruitment of individuals from groups traditionally under-represented in the provinces construction labour force, such as women, Indigenous People, and newcomers to Canada. In 2023, there were approximately 550 women employed in Prince Edward Islands construction industry. Of them, 48% worked on site, directly on construction projects. Women accounted for just 4% of the 6,500 tradespeople employed in Prince Edward Island in 2023. The Indigenous population is another under-represented group that presents recruitment opportunities for Prince Edward Islands construction industry. In 2021, Indigenous workers accounted for approximately 3% of the provinces construction labour force. That figure is more than double the share observed in 2016. It is also higher than the share of Indigenous workers represented in the overall labour force. As the Indigenous population is the fastest growing in Canada and Indigenous workers seem predisposed to the pursuit of careers within the sector, there may be scope to further increase the recruitment of Indigenous People into the provinces construction industry. The construction industry may also leverage newcomers over the coming decade to meet anticipated labour market requirements. Based on current trends, Prince Edward Island is expected to see elevated levels of immigration over the forecast period. This will make newcomers a key contributor to the industrys labour force. In 2022, newcomers accounted for 4% of PEIs total construction labour force. That figure is lower than the 10% reported across all industries in the province. Increasing the participation rate of women, Indigenous People, and new Canadians could help Prince Edward Islands construction industry address its future labour force needs. BuildForce Canada is a national industry-led organization that represents all sectors of Canadas construction industry. Its mandate is to support the labour market development needs of the construction and maintenance industry. As part of these activities, BuildForce works with key industry stakeholders, including contractors, proponents of construction, labour providers, governments, and training providers to identify both demand and supply trends that will impact labour force capacity in the sector, and supports the career searches of job seekers wanting to work in the industry. BuildForce also leads programs and initiatives that support workforce upskilling, workforce productivity improvements, improvements to training modalities, human resource tools to support the adoption of industry best practices, as well as other value-added initiatives focused on supporting the industrys labour force development needs. Visit www.buildforce.ca. For further information, contact Bill Ferreira, Executive Director, BuildForce Canada, at ferreira@buildforce.ca or 613-569-5552 ext. 2220. This report was produced with the support and input of a variety of provincial construction and maintenance industry stakeholders, and was funded in part by the Government of Canada's Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program. For local industry reaction to this latest BuildForce Canada report, please contact: Sam Sanderson General Manager Construction Association of Prince Edward Island 902-628-5421 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc. abandoned a deal to buy semiconductor firm Autotalks Ltd. after regulators expressed antitrust concerns, the US Federal Trade Commission said in a statement Monday. Most Read from Bloomberg European, UK and Israeli antitrust regulators were also investigating the deal. Qualcomm announced the deal with Israels Autotalks in May without disclosing a price. The deal would have combined two of the biggest makers of vehicle-to-everything or V2X semiconductors. This type of semiconductor is used in automobiles to help reduce collisions and improve mobility. This is a win for car buyers seeking quality, affordable cars with V2X communication capabilities that promise to make driving easier and safer, Henry Liu, director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Plateau tree becomes cash cow for villagers Xinhua) 09:39, March 25, 2024 CHENGDU, March 24 (Xinhua) -- In mid-March, villagers in Gudiao Village, deep in the mountains of Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Garze, southwest China's Sichuan Province, were busy pumping water from the river below to water a batch of saplings they had just planted. Malus toringoides is the species name for these trees. They bear red fruits and thrive at an altitude of about 3,000 meters. Villagers refer to them as "genque" trees. The tender shoots of the tree can be used for tea, and their leaves for medicinal purposes. The red fruits can also be processed into beverages and jams. "We call the genque fruit 'ruby', as in recent years, more and more villagers have gotten rich by planting these trees," said Tashi Dorje, Party chief of the village. Before large-scale planting, genque trees were commonly found in the area but often neglected by the villagers. In 2016, there were more than 50,000 genque trees in Daofu County where Gudiao Village is located, with an annual fruit yield of around 1,500 tonnes. "At that time, the mountains were covered with genque fruits, with most decaying and left untouched on the ground," recalled Chen Gang, former director of Daofu environmental protection and forestry bureau. Some villagers took the fruits to experts for analysis and found that they contain various vitamins and amino acids, and are quite nutritious. In 2017, people in Daofu began developing the genque fruit industry and launched a beverage made from the fruits. "At first, the beverage tasted sour. Later, we improved the formula and the packaging and began large-scale production in 2019," said Chen. Without any prior experience in running the beverages business, the villagers had to do everything from scratch. After years of efforts, genque fruits from Daofu can be processed into jams, canned goods, beverages, and other products. The signature beverage product is now well-known locally for its sweet and sour taste and rich flavor. In recent years, demand for genque fruits has continued to grow. In 2022, Daofu planted 32,000 genque trees, and the number grew to 143,000 in 2023. This year, the county purchased 177,000 seedlings to promote planting in five townships. With the growth of the genque industry, there has been a significant increase in demand for genque seedlings. Villagers in Gudiao regard it as another major source of income in the genque seedling industry. "Saplings over 1.2 meters tall can be sold for 3 yuan (about 42 U.S. cents) each. Last year, I earned more than 60,000 yuan from selling seedlings," said villager Yungdrung Phuntsog, noting that his income is much higher than normal work for migrant workers. Currently, Gudiao has emerged as an important supplier of genque seedlings, with all of its 68 households engaged in seedling production and the average annual household earning exceeding 5,000 yuan. "Local villagers have truly lived better lives through afforestation, attesting to the concept that 'lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," said Xu Tao, the Party chief stationed at the village. Tashi Gyatso, deputy director of the rural revitalization bureau of Daofu, said that in the past two years, the planting of genque seedlings alone has provided employment opportunities for more than 10,000 people in six townships, with an average annual income increase of over 2,000 yuan per person. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 25, 2024 / Relevant Gold Corp. (TSXV:RGC)(OTCQB:RGCCF) (the "Company" or "Relevant Gold") is pleased to report release of data from the 2023 airborne magnetics geophysical survey flown by the Wyoming Geological Survey (WSGS) and US Geological Survey (USGS). The regional survey covered the Company's entire 16,000-hectare portfolio of projects and reveals structural and geological detail far surpassing existing mapping (figure 1). Importantly, some of the most prominent anomalies highlighted by the survey are major structures at South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (Figure 2). The survey shows patterns very similar to those of Canada's Abitibi Gold Province and provides strong support for the Company's exploration thesis that Wyoming has Abitibi-style geology and gold potential. Key takeaways from the magnetic data ( see geophysics presentation ): The magnetic data provides far more detail than existing regional geologic maps (figure 1). The overall results show strong similarities to the Abitibi Gold Province, especially the Red Lake, Hemlo, and Canadian Malartic districts. The magnetic data highlight the major Archean orogenic structures of Wyoming that coincide with historical mining districts. The magnetic data agree very well with the Company's detailed mapping. The two most prominent structural/magnetic anomalies are at Relevant Gold's South Pass and Bradley Peak camps. South Pass and Bradley Peak are clearly connected along a regional primary structure (figure 2). Secondary structures revealed at both South Pass & Bradley Peak camps coincide with known high-grade gold occurrences. The magnetics support Relevant Gold's target concepts and show where to tighten targets at South Pass (figure 4). The strength of the 100 km2 Bradley Peak anomaly strongly encourages expediting drill permitting (figure 3). "The superb detail revealed by this government-sponsored survey is a huge step forward in understanding Wyoming's Archean geology, mirroring what's seen in Canada's prolific Abitibi Gold Province. A big thank you to the State of Wyoming and USGS for investing in mineral resource development in the state," said Brian Lentz, Relevant Gold's Chief Exploration Officer. "These initial processed results really strengthen Wyoming's connections to the Abitibi while showing that South Pass and Bradley Peak lie on Wyoming's structural Main Street - giving us some of the best discovery opportunities in the state. We look forward to more detailed processing of the data to see what else it can show us, but Bradley Peak appears to be a monster 100 km2 structural trap which coincides closely with high-grade targets we recently generated; we look forward to accelerating exploration there!" Story continues Figure 1. Modified Geologic map of Wyoming (Love and Christiansen, 1985) with the vertical derivative of the 2023 airborne magnetics survey overlain (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024). Figure 2. Regional airborne magnetic vertical derivative interpolation map (geophysics data published by USGS, 2024) with major structural features, high-grade targets, and the Company's two primary gold camps highlighted. About the Survey This survey was funded jointly by the State of Wyoming and the US Geological Survey as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (aka Earth MRI) and is the first of three regional aerial geophysical surveys being conducted in Wyoming (figure 1). Magnetic and radiometric data was collected over approximately 3,300 square miles (~854,000 hectares) in central Wyoming using 200m spaced flight lines-it includes Relevant Gold's entire ~16,000 ha landholdings (Press Release - May 24, 2023). Airborne geophysical surveys are commonly employed in gold-bearing Archean terranes like the Abitibi of Canada. The technique can "see" through extensive cover and reveal remarkable details of the major geology and structural trends that control gold mineralization. Data produced from the Wyoming survey provides a much clearer picture of the geology and highlights targets within both the South Pass and Bradley Peak gold camps (figures 1 and 2). The magnetic survey data provides clear resolution on the nature and extent of major Archean crustal-scale structures and highlights important related secondary structures. Understanding these structural features is critical in gold exploration as they are the primary controls for orogenic gold emplacement. Some of the most notable geophysical signatures within the survey highlight the South Pass and Bradley Peak areas (figure 2). This high-resolution geophysical data ties very well to the detailed mapping completed by the Company in both gold camps where regional geologic data is limited. In 2023, the company completed an initial mapping and rock chip sampling program at Bradley Peak identifying 3 new district-scale targets. The rock chip sampling returned high-grade results, highlighted by 5.3 g/t Au, 107 g/t Ag, and 6.25% Cu (see full Press Release - Nov 7, 2023). The geophysical survey outlines the structural trap for these targets in the center of a major 100 km2 anomaly (figure 3). The survey illustrates a very large (100 km2) fold hinge structure developed off the crustal-scale Oregon Trail Structural Belt affecting Archean rocks including, iron formation, mafic greenstones, mafic intrusives, felsic intrusives, komatiites, and others. This rock assemblage and type of structure is known as the primary host for numerous gold deposits in the Abitibi, with strong similarities to the Red Lake district and Hemlo districts. Over South Pass the magnetic data illustrates numerous major structures cutting Relevant Gold's property and agrees closely to the Company's detailed mapping and high-grade gold targets (figure 4). Importantly, this data confirms the Company's model for South Pass and continues to tighten targets throughout the camp. The geophysical signatures, geology, and mineralization at South Pass display strong similarities to the Canadian Malartic region along the Cadillac-Larder Lake deformation zone in the southern Abitibi gold belts (geophysics presentation). The Company will begin more detailed processing of the data for each property area, with ground truthing based on mapped geology to tease out key details and connections between the geology and gold. Figure 3. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of Bradley Peak Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Figure 4. Regional airborne magnetic survey vertical derivative map of South Pass Gold Camp with Relevant Gold's high-grade gold targets, select assays, and major structures highlighted. Qualified Person All technical information has been reviewed by Mr. Brian Lentz, CPG, who is the Chief Exploration Officer and Qualified Person for the Company according to the 43-101 disclosure requirements. About Relevant Gold Corp. Relevant Gold Corp. is a North American gold exploration company founded by experienced exploration geologists and operated by a highly respected team with a proven record of significant value creation for shareholders. Relevant Gold is focused on the acquisition, exploration, discovery, and development of district-scale gold projects in the state of Wyoming - one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions in the United States and globally. On behalf of Relevant Gold Corp., Rob Bergmann, Chief Executive Officer More information For further information about Relevant Gold Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at www.relevantgoldcorp.com or contact Rob Bergmann, President and CEO, or Kristopher Jensen, Manager of Investor Relations, at 763-760-4886 or by email at investorrelations@relevantgoldcorp.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Historical Information This news release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events of Relevant Gold Corp. ("Relevant" or "Relevant Gold" or "the Company"). Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "forecast", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "outlook" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks include, among others, the inherent risk of the mining industry; adverse economic and market developments; the risk that the Company will not be successful in completing additional acquisitions; risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; the possibility that the Company's estimated burn rate may be higher than anticipated; risks of unexpected cost increases; risks of labour shortages; risks relating to exploration and development activities; risks relating to future prices of mineral resources; risks related to work site accidents, risks related to geological uncertainties and variations; risks related to government and community support of the company's projects; risks related to global pandemics and other risks related to the mining industry. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forwardlooking information should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend and does not assume any obligation, to update any forwardlooking information except as required by law. This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities of the Company in Canada, the United States, or any other jurisdiction. Any such offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein will be made only pursuant to subscription documentation between the Company and prospective purchasers. Any such offering will be made in reliance upon exemptions from the prospectus and registration requirements under applicable securities laws, pursuant to a subscription agreement to be entered into by the Company and prospective investors. The scientific and technical contents of this release have been approved by Mr. Brian C. Lentz, CPG #11999, Chief Exploration Officer of the Company, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). Mr. Lentz is not independent of the Company. SOURCE: Relevant Gold Corp. View the original press release on accesswire.com If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Put simply, these types of businesses are compounding machines, meaning they are continually reinvesting their earnings at ever-higher rates of return. However, after investigating Croda International (LON:CRDA), we don't think it's current trends fit the mold of a multi-bagger. What Is Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)? 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 Croda International, this is the formula: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) 0.078 = UK253m (UK3.6b - UK320m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2023). Therefore, Croda International has an ROCE of 7.8%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Chemicals industry average of 11%. Check out our latest analysis for Croda International roce In the above chart we have measured Croda International's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free analyst report for Croda International . What Can We Tell From Croda International's ROCE Trend? When we looked at the ROCE trend at Croda International, we didn't gain much confidence. To be more specific, ROCE has fallen from 20% over the last five years. Given the business is employing more capital while revenue has slipped, this is a bit concerning. This could mean that the business is losing its competitive advantage or market share, because while more money is being put into ventures, it's actually producing a lower return - "less bang for their buck" per se. Story continues The Key Takeaway We're a bit apprehensive about Croda International because despite more capital being deployed in the business, returns on that capital and sales have both fallen. Investors must expect better things on the horizon though because the stock has risen 10% in the last five years. Regardless, we don't like the trends as they are and if they persist, we think you might find better investments elsewhere. One more thing to note, we've identified 1 warning sign with Croda International and understanding it should be part of your investment process. While Croda International may not currently earn the highest returns, we've compiled a list of companies that currently earn more than 25% return on equity. Check out this free list 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. (Bloomberg) -- More than a dozen of Senegals 19 presidential candidates backed opposition leader Bassirou Diomaye Faye to become the West African nations next leader, as the authorities counted ballots in Sundays election. Most Read from Bloomberg While the Autonomous National Electoral Commission has yet to release any official results, 13 candidates including Anta Babacar and Alassane Thierno Sall congratulated Faye on winning the vote, according to statements posted on X. Walfadjri Radio, a private broadcaster, said at least 56% of voters backed Faye in the election, based on estimates by a team of statisticians it hired to predict the outcome of the vote. The campaign team of former Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who is outgoing President Macky Salls anointed successor, said it expects there to be a second round of voting in a worst-case scenario, according to a statement. The CENA, as the electoral authority is known, is expected to announce final results later this week. Read More: Key Dates to Watch as Ballots Counted in Senegals Election A credible vote will be key to restoring Senegals reputation as a bastion of democracy in West Africa, a region riven by a spate of coups over the past four years. The country has never had a military takeover, and Salls decision to delay the elections originally scheduled for Feb. 25 triggered street protests, international condemnation and fears that he intended to overstay his constitutional mandate. Voters lined up outside polling stations throughout the day to cast their ballots on Sunday, raising expectations of a high turnout. The uncertainty in the build-up to Sundays election roiled the nations eurobonds. Further instability may lead to additional volatility, while a hitch-free process may coax the government into following others in the region like Ivory Coast and Benin, which raised new dollar debt, Carmen Altenkirch, an analyst at Aviva Investors Global Services Ltd., said before the vote. Story continues If the election results are contested, and protests erupt, we may see significant spread widening, she said. If the elections do go smoothly, Senegal will likely come to market very quickly. The yield on Senegalese dollar debt due in 2033 rose seven basis points to 9.24% by 10:41 a.m. in London on Monday. The rate on its 2037 instruments climbed four basis points to 9.48%. Investors are pinning their hopes on Ba, 62, clinching the vote. Hes seen as the candidate wholl continue to implement policies introduced by Sall that helped the West African nations economy grow more than 5% annually since he came to power in 2012. Theyre nervous about Faye winning. The 44-year-old former tax inspector with no experience in government has pledged to review oil and gas deals the government signed with international investors including BP Plc, Endeavour Mining and Kosmos Energy. Hes also questioned whether Senegal should continue using the CFA franc a euro-pegged regional currency if the way its managed isnt overhauled, and pledged to review the nations relations with former colonial power France. To win the presidency, a candidate needs an outright majority, failing which the two contenders who garner the most votes will square off in a second round next month. More than 7 million people registered to vote in the election. --With assistance from Momar Niang, Colleen Goko and Moses Mozart Dzawu. (Updates number of candidates backing Faye in first, second paragraphs; adds latest bond prices in eighth paragraph. An earlier version of this story was corrected to fix the spelling of Senegal in the chart) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Praemium Limited (ASX:PPS) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 19% in the last quarter. But in truth the last year hasn't been good for the share price. In fact, the price has declined 39% in a year, falling short of the returns you could get by investing in an index fund. Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they've been consistent with returns. View our latest analysis for Praemium 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, Praemium had to report a 31% decline in EPS over the last year. The share price decline of 39% is actually more than the EPS drop. Unsurprisingly, given the lack of EPS growth, the market seems to be more cautious about the stock. The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail). It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Praemium's earnings, revenue and cash flow. A Different Perspective Investors in Praemium had a tough year, with a total loss of 39%, against a market gain of about 17%. 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. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Praemium that you should be aware of. Story continues 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. Daily Telegraph Foreign states should not be allowed to own more than a 5pc stake in a newspaper even if acting as indirect or passive investors, a Tory peer has said. Baroness Stowell, the chairman of the Lords Communications and Digital Committee, said she was satisfied that a new law designed to prevent foreign government ownership of British papers was robust enough to work, but that the maximum threshold for passive minority stakes must be low. The peer led a rebellion following a United Arab Emirates-backed attempt to take over the Telegraph that was instrumental in forcing the Government to introduce the legislation. Ministers have now published an amendment to a bill that will block foreign governments from buying or investing in British newspapers unless they are passive investors - for example, sovereign wealth funds taking a small share in a listed company. Baroness Stowell said: Weve yet to see the detailed definition of indirect foreign state investors who will be exempt from the legal block, but the point of the exemption is to allow only legitimate passive investment like that which already happens. Nor do we know yet, the threshold below which such investment will be permissible. These details will be brought to Parliament for approval later under secondary legislation. But Ive been assured and will ask the Minister to repeat it from the despatch box this week that anyone blocked by the definition of foreign power in the Governments amendments on the face of the Bill will not qualify for the exempt category to be set out in secondary legislation. In my view, the threshold for indirect foreign-state passive investment in the UK news industry by the likes of sovereign wealth or state pension funds which play an important role in the industrys economics - should be set at 5pc, and thats what Ive made clear to the Government. In a letter to peers on Friday evening, the culture minister Lord Parkinson explained the rationale behind the Governments amendments to the bill. Story continues He said: Newspapers and news magazines play a unique role in the democracy of the United Kingdom by providing accurate news and information, helping to shape opinions, and contributing to political debate. The ability of governments domestic or foreign to acquire UK press publications runs the risk of eroding trust in the independence and integrity of this unique sector of our economy and society. RedBird IMI, a fund 75pc backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE vice-president, had positioned itself to take control of The Telegraph and The Spectator magazine by repaying the debts of the Barclay family, the current owners. The takeover has been under scrutiny from the Government using existing powers to protect press freedom, but MPs and peers across Parliament have demanded tighter laws against foreign state control. RedBird IMI appeared to signal it could reconsider its pursuit of The Telegraph and The Spectator in response to the new laws. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sun Life Logo (CNW Group/Sun Life Financial Inc.) TORONTO, March 25, 2024 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Timothy (Tim) Deacon as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, reporting to Kevin Strain, President and CEO, Sun Life, effective April 8, 2024. Mr. Deacon will become a member of Sun Life's global Executive Team. He succeeds Manjit Singh, who is now President of Sun Life Asia. Mr. Singh will continue in his role as President of Sun Life Asia and as CFO until Mr. Deacon assumes his new role. Mr. Deacon brings over 20 years of global experience in Insurance, Wealth and Asset Management, Investments and Capital Markets. He has a proven track record of success in strategic financial leadership as well as delivering growth, change and transformation for large global financial institutions. Mr. Deacon joins Sun Life most recently from a large pension plan with an extensive global footprint where he was the Chief Financial Officer and led a global finance function including financial management and reporting, taxation, financial operations, enterprise planning, asset valuation, procurement and sustainability reporting. As CFO, Mr. Deacon will have responsibility for Sun Life's Finance organization including Finance, Tax, Capital Management, Investor Relations and strategic financial initiatives. "We're excited to welcome Tim to Sun Life. He brings with him an exceptional depth of experience and expertise in both asset management and insurance," said Mr. Strain. "With financial discipline as one of Sun Life's strategic priorities, I'm confident Tim will continue advancing this focus, while accelerating our growth aspirations and innovation in our Finance function. His deep industry knowledge combined with his proven leadership will make him a strong addition to our Executive Team." As an active community leader, Mr. Deacon is a member of the Canadian Performance Reporting Board at CPA Canada, co-Chair of the Accounting for Sustainability CFO Network (Canadian Chapter) and Board Member and Treasurer of Business / Arts and St. Clement's School in Toronto. Mr. Deacon is a resident of Toronto. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University and is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (FCPA) and a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois. Story continues About Sun Life Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2023, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.40 trillion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF. Media Relations Contact: Investor Relations Contact: Rajani Kamath David Garg Associate Vice-President Senior Vice-President, Capital Corporate Communications Management and Investor Relations T. 416-979-6070 T. 416-408-8649 rajani.kamath@sunlife.com david.garg@sunlife.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sun-life-names-timothy-deacon-as-chief-financial-officer-302098113.html SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc. Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2024/25/c3595.html Assessing Swiss Prime Site AG's Dividend Sustainability and Growth Swiss Prime Site AG (SWPRF) recently announced a dividend of $3.4 per share, payable on 2024-03-28, with the ex-dividend date set for 2024-03-26. As investors look forward to this upcoming payment, the spotlight also shines on the company's dividend history, yield, and growth rates. Using the data from GuruFocus, let's look into Swiss Prime Site AG's dividend performance and assess its sustainability. What Does Swiss Prime Site AG Do? Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with SWPRF. High Yield Dividend Stocks in Gurus' Portfolio This Powerful Chart Made Peter Lynch 29% A Year For 13 Years How to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock? Swiss Prime Site AG is a real estate company based in Switzerland. Its segments include: Real Estate, Asset Management, Retail, Corporate and Shared Services. The Real Estate segment consists of the firm's core real estate activities (the purchase, sale, lease, and development of properties) and financing of these activities. Asset Management includes the fund business, asset management and investment advisory. Retail segment consists of operation of department stores, and Corporate and Shared Services includes central group functions as well as internal services that are provided centrally. Majority of the revenue is generated from the Real Estate segment. Swiss Prime Site AG's Dividend Analysis A Glimpse at Swiss Prime Site AG's Dividend History Swiss Prime Site AG has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2021. Dividends are currently distributed on a yearly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends. Breaking Down Swiss Prime Site AG's Dividend Yield and Growth As of today, Swiss Prime Site AG currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.72% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 3.91%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, Swiss Prime Site AG's annual dividend growth rate was -3.60%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate increased to -2.90% per year. And over the past decade, Swiss Prime Site AG's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at -0.50%. Story continues Based on Swiss Prime Site AG's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Swiss Prime Site AG stock as of today is approximately 3.21%. Swiss Prime Site AG's Dividend Analysis The Sustainability Question: Payout Ratio and Profitability To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-12-31, Swiss Prime Site AG's dividend payout ratio is 2.71. And this may suggest that the company's dividend may not be sustainable. Swiss Prime Site AG's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Swiss Prime Site AG's profitability 7 out of 10 as of 2023-12-31, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported positive net income for each of year over the past decade, further solidifying its high profitability. Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Swiss Prime Site AG's growth rank of 7 out of 10 suggests that the company 's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. Revenue is the lifeblood of any company, and Swiss Prime Site AG's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Swiss Prime Site AG's revenue has increased by approximately -5.70% per year on average, a rate that underperforms than approximately 68.76% of global competitors. The company's 3-year EPS growth rate showcases its capability to grow its earnings, a critical component for sustaining dividends in the long run. During the past three years, Swiss Prime Site AG's earnings increased by approximately -45.20% per year on average, a rate that underperforms than approximately 89.91% of global competitors. Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of -19.00%, which underperforms than approximately 85.42% of global competitors. Next Steps Considering Swiss Prime Site AG's dividend payments, dividend growth rate, payout ratio, profitability, and growth metrics, investors should weigh the potential risks and rewards. The current yield and historical consistency of dividends are attractive, yet the negative growth rates and payout ratio raise questions about long-term sustainability. Staying informed about the company's financial health and market position is crucial for making a prudent investment decision. With a profitability rank that suggests good prospects, the decision to invest in Swiss Prime Site AG should be balanced against the backdrop of its growth challenges. GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener. This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Former President Donald Trump has clearly scored a financial windfall with his media startup, Trump Media & Technology Group, which trades under his initials, DJT. The firm's value soared when it went public on March 26, with the stock up more than 16% on the day. Trump's ownership stake could fetch more than $4 billion. DJT is basically a meme stock, a kind of viral sensation that attracts investor interest beyond what the companys fundamentals would ordinarily suggest. That obviously stems from Trumps notoriety and the fervent belief some supporters have in his make America great again crusade. The Trump company, which went public through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special-purpose vehicle thats been trading since 2021, has little revenue and lost $41 million during the last two years, according to S&P Capital IQ. Many buyers pushing up the stock price have been individual investors expressing loyalty to Trump himself. But many investors are betting the Trump venture will flop. There is huuuuge conviction (Trump pun intended) that there will be a significant decline in the stock price in the short term, Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director at S3 Partners, said in an email. The short interest in DJT stock bets that the price will fall rather than rise is about 11% of outstanding shares, according to S3. Thats high, but not unprecedented: Average short interest in public companies is in the 3% to 4% range, though short interest can reach 40% or more if traders think a stock is doomed. But there are very few DJT shares available to execute short trades, which makes it extremely costly to bet against the stock. That means elevated short interest is a strong indicator of negative views of the companys prospects. There is very little stock available to support new short sales, Dusaniwsky said. But short sellers are staying in this trade even while paying over 200 times the average stock borrow rate for a US short trade. Story continues And theres plenty of anecdotal evidence that other buyers are betting on a bubble and hoping to sell before it pops. The stock is dropping to $2.50 after the merger, one investor posted on Reddits meme stock channel, WallStreetBets. Another suggested anybody holding the stock for the long haul is a MAGA bagholder who will basically end up putting money into Trumps pocket. Short sellers betting against DJT have lost money so far this year, since the stock has risen in anticipation of the finalization of the merger and Trumps reemergence on public markets. But there are several reasons to think the Trump company will struggle and shareholders will suffer. Former President Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social is expected to go public tomorrow on the NASDAQ market, trading under the ticker symbol DJT. (Scott Olson via Getty Images) First, the Trump companys main business, the Truth Social networking app, is a money-losing niche player that has no obvious advantage against competitors such as X and Facebook other than the divisive appeal of Trump himself. Another risk is Trumps own financial stake in the company, which has the same ticker symbol as a Trump casino company that went bankrupt in 2004. Trump owns at least 55% of the company, and his stake jumped by more than $1 billion as the stock popped when it went public. But Trump could have a strong incentive to sell shares to pay legal fees associated with four criminal cases hes battling and two civil cases where hes been assessed more than $500 million in penalties and fees. Drop Rick Newman a note, follow him on Twitter, or sign up for his newsletter. Trump has to wait six months before selling any shares in the public company, according to the terms of the merger. But that would still allow him to sell shares by October. The company board could also waive that rule, which seems plausible given that its composed of Trump cronies plus his son, Donald Jr. If Trump sells shares in his own company or investors even think hes likely to sell shares, that would put downward pressure on the stock price, as normally happens when any insider sells. If Trump dumped a lot of shares to raise money quickly, shares could plummet in value. The stock price already swings on news related to Trump's personal finances. On March 25, a New York court lowered the amount of money Trump must post while appealing a civil conviction for business fraud from $464 million to $175 million. Shares jumped nearly 20% on the news, since it suggested Trump might be less likely to sell his own company's shares to raise money. For a publicly traded stock, that's extraordinary sensitivity to one person's financial disposition and it could easily go the other way if or when Trump suffers reverses. A third risk is that Trump, likely to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2024, loses in November to incumbent President Joe Biden. A second loss to Biden would leave little political future for the 77-year-old Trump, except as a kind of Republican Party boss emeritus. Instead of being the "in" place for Trump supporters to converse, Truth Social would become a remnant of the Trump movement. One thing Trumps company is, for sure, is a unique way to monetize your political beliefs about the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Rick Newman is a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @rickjnewman. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance April 3 webinar led by leading electronic design service provider to explore questions such as: Why such a broad shift to embracing NACS recently? Is NACS the best mainstream charging standard? What other options are there? How does it help charging point operators and drivers alike? How are SINBON and key EV players creating industry value with NACS? What does SINBON envision for the future of EV charging? TAIPEI, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SINBON, a Taiwan-based electronic interconnect design and integration service provider, is announcing it will hold a free, openly accessible webinar titled "New Eras - NACS EV Charging Solution" to share insights and expertise on the North American Charging Standard (NACS) recently adopted by numerous top car makers. A champion of advancing both sustainability and innovation in the EV industry, SINBON is the first electronic design service provider in Greater China to secure NACS certification and is hosting this webinar to educate on the potential for NACS to further accelerate the green energy transition. SINBON | New Eras - NACS EV Charging Solution Webinar To learn more from SINBON's experts on the value of NACS, please sign up at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FIsrKV6hQtq1emBC_y5ltQ#/registration Time: April 3, 2024 at 10:00 AM EST If you're unable to join during the scheduled webinar time, please visit SINBON's website to access the recording after the event and stay up-to-date with all the valuable content shared: https://www.sinbon.com/ Program highlights Formerly only used by Tesla, NACS has now been adopted by major US, European, and Japanese car brands, putting it on track to potentially become universal. In addition to smaller, lighter connectors, it eliminates the need for proprietary chargers, effectively democratizing EV charging infrastructure and boosting convenience to drivers. On top of these benefits, the webinar will explore: The market diversity among existing mainstream charging standards Analysis of the market's response to NACS, as observed from both OEMs and EVSE companies An in-depth examination of SINBON's competitor analysis The new J3400 standard versus NACS and how SINBON meets both Exclusive insights into SINBON's market developing direction Story continues Top heat management and ergonomics As an early adopter of NACS, SINBON secured certification for its AC/DC charging cable from the global safety science leader UL Solutions in December 2023. Its NACS charging cable stands out for several advantages, including: Slimness and high flexibility while maintaining maximal voltage and current (up to 400A) Unparalleled temperature control with a built-in sensor and other forms of overheating protection Robust durability and safety: dust- and waterproof with IP67 certification and has undergone rigorous safety and durability tests in a variety of harsh conditions Comprehensive compatibility with its swappable connector Includes Tesla's "One-Press Unlock" feature Leading e-mobility and beyond In the EV industry, SINBON has distinguished itself with top-tier simulation testing software for diverse applications, strong technical and design expertise, and mature supply chains built around automation. More broadly, the brand has a strong reputation for a high degree of customer centricity, spanning flexible manufacturing capabilities, a deep level of customization, design optimization, rapid response, and staying at the forefront of innovation to ensure that customers benefit from the latest technologies. To accomplish this, it embraces the role of consultant, providing technical counsel and developing relationships with customers over time to ensure that SINBON solutions continue working well for them. About SINBON Electronics Established in 1989 in Taiwan, SINBON Electronics is a leading provider of integrated design and production services of bespoke interconnect solutions. Thanks to its expertise in the e-mobility field, SINBON's solutions improve overall sustainability and help address one of the largest global challenges, climate change. Currently, the group is expanding their know-how and experiences from the standardized automotive applications into more bespoke markets such as autonomous and micro-mobility applications. To learn more about SINBON's services, please visit www.sinbon.com or follow on LinkedIn. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/towards-a-universal-ev-charging-standard-learn-all-about-nacs-with-free-webinar-from-sinbon-302097856.html SOURCE SINBON Electronics TRiCares SAS PRESS RELEASE Tricares Announces the Appointment of Ahmed Elmouelhi as President & Chief Executive Officer Paris, France and Munich, Germany, March 25, 2024 TRiCares SAS (TRiCares) a privately held pioneer in the field of minimally invasive treatment of tricuspid regurgitation, today is pleased to announce the appointment of Ahmed Elmouelhi as President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO). In conjunction with this, and following eight years at the helm of the business, Helmut Straubinger is retiring as President & CEO. Ahmed Elmouelhi is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of medical device experience across strategy, sales and marketing, R&D, and clinical science. Before joining TRiCares, Ahmed served as the Senior Vice President of Product Marketing, Strategy, and Business Development at AtriCure. There, he was instrumental in the establishment of Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) therapies and the creation of two successful business franchises for the company. Previously, Ahmed held roles of increasing responsibility at Medtronic, within its Structural Heart division, as well as AGA Medical (now part of Abbott Laboratories), where he led cross-functional teams to launch multiple generations of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) therapies and accessories, Congenital Heart Defect therapies, and percutaneous LAA devices. Ahmed studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he obtained both his Masters and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Economics. He currently serves as the Chairman of the American Heart Association in Minnesota. Since joining the business in March 2016, Helmut has overseen the development of the first European minimally invasive implantable tricuspid valve, bringing it to first-in-man clinical use. Helmut will work with Ahmed to provide a seamless transition before his retirement at the end of March and will continue to support the team on a consultancy basis. Story continues Eric Fain, MD, Chairman of TRiCares, commented: I would like to extend my thanks to Helmut, on behalf of the board of directors, for his efforts over many years in leading TRiCares to successfully develop the leading transcatheter tricuspid replacement technology and demonstrate its initial strong clinical performance. After evaluating many candidates for the next CEO, I am confident that Ahmed is the right person to drive the companys success as it enters its next phase. Ahmed Elmouelhi, newly appointed President & CEO of TRiCares, added: This is an exciting time to be joining the business, and I am looking forward to leading the team over the coming months and years. The potential for Topaz is clear, and the need great, with 1.8 million patients suffering from Tricuspid heart valve regurgitation in the US alone. Helmut leaves a significant legacy after many years with the business, and I wish him the best for his retirement. Helmut Straubinger, former President & CEO of TRiCares, commented: I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire TRiCares team for their unwavering commitment and hard work over the last eight years. As the company looks towards the US, this is the right moment for a change in leadership. I look forward to following TRiCares progress under Ahmeds guidance, as it seeks to benefit Tricuspid regurgitation patients globally. Caption: Ahmed Elmouelhi, newly appointed President & CEO of TRiCares About TRiCares TRiCares is a medical device startup company located in Paris and Munich focused on bringing to the market a transfemoral tricuspid valve replacement system. This system aims at helping patients suffering from severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) without the need for open heart surgery. The experienced team of TRiCares is supported by leading European life science venture capital firms: Andera Partners, BioMed Partners, Credit Mutuel Innovation, GoCapital, Karista, Wellington Partners, 415 Capital and Bayern Kapital. About Tricuspid Regurgitation (TR) The tricuspid valve regulates blood flow between the right atrial and ventricular chambers. Tricuspid regurgitation occurs when the tricuspid valve fails to close properly, causing blood to flow backwards into the right atrium. Heart valve diseases are among the most serious cardiac conditions, affecting more than 12.7 million patients in Europe and many more worldwide. In the last decade minimally invasive catheter-based solutions have been developed for other heart valve diseases, however, none have been custom-designed specifically for the tricuspid valve. The prognosis for TR patients without surgical repair is poor, with 2.2 years median survival. As such, there is an urgent need for minimally invasive, lower risk solutions to improve outcomes for patients with no other viable treatment options. For further information please contact: TRiCares SAS Ahmed Elmouelhi, President & CEO info@tricares.de ICR Consilium Lucy Featherstone T: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 featherstone@consilium-comms.com Tropical Smoothie Cafe will open next to Jersey Mike's Subs in a multitenant building at 2298 Costco Way, in Bellevue. BELLEVUE Craving tropical smoothies, yogurt bowls, sandwiches and wraps? Soon Tropical Smoothie Cafe will indulge. The new smoothie chain will open its first location in the Green Bay area at 2298 Costco Way, Suite 101, in Bellevue. Construction for the new cafe is complete, but franchise manager, Brent Larson, said they are still waiting for some equipment and a health inspection before opening. Larson said he is hopeful for a soft opening on April 8, but it will depend on health inspection results and when employee training is complete. "Tropical Smoothie corporate is going to come in and do the training," he said. "But they are not going to schedule anything until I get a pass on the health inspection." He said employees must go through a seven-day corporate training prior to opening. Currently, 29 of 30 possible positions at the cafe have been filled. Tropical Smoothie Cafe is known for its mixed veggie and fruit smoothies, sandwiches, wraps and yogurt bowls. There are three other locations in Wisconsin, two in Appleton and one in Fond du Lac. The cafe will operate from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. For more information visit www.tropicalsmoothiecafe.com. Ariel Perez is a business reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach him at APerez1@gannett.com or view his Twitter profile at @Ariel_Perez85. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Tropical Smoothie Cafe opening soon in Bellevue (Bloomberg) -- Donald Trumps business empire was supposed to be in peril like never before on Monday. Instead, it turned into the single-greatest day on record for the former presidents wealth. Most Read from Bloomberg Facing a deadline to post a bond of more than $500 million in a New York fraud lawsuit, a state appeals court tossed him a lifeline, slashing the amount hed have to post to $175 million an amount he says hell cover. Around the same time, his social media company Trump Media & Technology Group wrapped up a 29-month-long merger process, meaning shares worth billions of dollars on paper are now officially Trumps. All told, his net worth increased by more than $4 billion. That means for the first time ever, Trump joined the ranks of the worlds wealthiest 500 people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a fortune of $6.5 billion. We have a great company and are incredibly honored, Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said in a statement. Trump, 77, has been rich all his life. But his fortune, which previously peaked at $3.1 billion, has largely consisted of real estate properties, the value of which he and his company were found to have inflated by billions of dollars a year for more than a decade to get better terms on loans. His illiquid wealth created a potential financial crisis ahead of Mondays deadline to either pay his $454 million verdict or post a bond for 120% of the judgment while he appeals it. New York Attorney General Letitia James signaled she was ready to seize assets if Trump didnt comply. Read more: Trump Bond Cut By 68% to $175 Million as He Appeals NY Fine Story continues Trump vowed to quickly post cash or a bond to cover the lowered amount. As it stands now, he cant cash in on his windfall from Trump Medias merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. because his shares are locked up for roughly six months. DWAC shares closed at $49.95 Monday, up about 185% since the start of the year. That values Trumps 58% stake in the company at $3.9 billion. (Its expected to start trading under the ticker DJT on Tuesday.) The completion of the merger, which overcame hurdles including an investigation and settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and last-minute lawsuits from executives and investors, means the shares are now included in Bloombergs calculation of Trumps net worth. Previously, his stake had been valued at just $22.5 million, based on his most recent financial disclosure form. His revised fortune makes Trump, who is campaigning to return to the White House, worth on paper about the same as Joe Ricketts, Gordon Getty and Tony James, according to the Bloomberg wealth index, which has been calculating Trumps net worth since 2015. The figure, which has consistently been below Trumps own estimates, is based on ethics disclosures required for presidential candidates, public filings tied to key real estate holdings and staff reporting. (Updates with details on fraud lawsuit in fifth paragraph, methodology in last paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Ms Frazer has given the fund 10 days to offer solutions to the Government's public interest concerns - Anadolu The Abu Dhabi fund bidding for The Telegraph has been granted more time to make concessions to the Government amid concerns about the impact of the deal on press freedom. Redbird IMI now has until 9am on Tuesday 2 April to offer a solution to concerns that its ownership of the newspaper would harm the public interest, extended from an initial deadline of 9am today. Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer last week said she was minded to refer the planned takeover of the Telegraph by RedBird IMI to an in-depth investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). She gave the fund, which is majority backed by UAE vice-president Sheikh Mansour, 10 working days to respond to the plans, with the original deadline set for this morning. However, Ms Frazer agreed to extend the deadline after RedBird IMI said it needed more time to make representations and consider initial findings by the media regulator Ofcom. In a review of the deal, Ofcom warned the UAE had clear political and broader commercial incentives to influence the editorial line of the Telegraph. Ofcom added that this could negatively affect the accurate presentation of news and free expression of opinion in the UK. The regulator highlighted concerns about the funds access to vast economic resources and the imbalance of financial contributions in the proposed deal. UAE-owned International Media Investments (IMI) is providing 75pc of the funding for the joint venture while US private equity firm Redbird Capital is contributing just a quarter. The regulator also pointed to significant links between RedBird IMI and members of the UAE government. The extension will give RedBird IMI more time to present its arguments to the Culture Secretary. The full phase one reports by Ofcom and the CMA are not expected to be published until after a decision has been made. The competition review is only one obstacle facing RedBird IMIs attempted takeover bid, which has been opposed by more than 100 MPs over fears it could impact press freedom in the UK. Story continues The Government last week published an amendment to a bill that will block foreign governments from buying or investing in British newspapers. The new laws, outlined in an amendment to the Digital Markets Bill tabled by Lord Offord of Garvel, will block direct investment in newspapers of any size by a foreign power, effectively derailing RedBird IMIs bid. The bill is scheduled for its third reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday and could become law within weeks, superseding any further CMA investigation. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. LONDON (AP) Farmers drove dozens of tractors in a slow-motion convoy towards Britains Parliament on Monday to protest post- Brexit rules and trade deals that they say are endangering livelihoods and food security. Supporters of the campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent rolled from southeast England and through southern districts of the capital, bound for Parliament Square, where dozens of supporters waited to welcome them. A line of tractors flying Union Jack flags or signs reading Stop substandard imports snaked along the River Thames and towards the Houses of Parliament before circling Parliament Square to cheers and honking horns. Britain has so far not seen large-scale farmers protests like those that have snarled cities in France and other European countries. Farmers from across the 27-nation European Union have protested against what they see as unnecessary bureaucratic rules, clean-air and soil targets and unfair competition from abroad that, they say, is driving them toward bankruptcy. U.K. agriculture has been heavily affected by Britains exit from the EU, which took Britain out of the blocs free trade zone and complex web of farming rules. Many British farmers backed Brexit out of opposition to the EUs much-criticized Common Agricultural Policy. But now many say post-Brexit trade deals between the U.K. and countries including Australia and New Zealand have opened the door to cheap imports that are undercutting British producers. Organizers also criticize labeling that allows products to bear a Union flag when they have not been grown or reared in Britain. The U.K. has also delayed checks on imports that were due to begin after the countrys final break with the EU at the end of 2020, a move farmers say threatens biosecurity. Liz Webster, a beef and arable farmer from western England who is one of the protest organizers, said the government had totally betrayed us all. Polling shows that the public back British farming and food and want to maintain our high food standards and support local producers, she said. We need a radical change of policy and an urgent exit from these appalling trade deals which will decimate British food. (Bloomberg) -- Russia struck an underground gas storage facility in western Ukraine during Sundays missile and drone attack, underlining threats to the countrys energy system. Most Read from Bloomberg The barrage damaged equipment on the ground, Oleksiy Chernyshov, chief executive officer of state-run Naftogaz Ukrainy, said on Facebook. The underground storage itself wasnt damaged as its significantly below the surface, he said. Kremlin forces aimed missiles and drones at Ukraines power and gas facilities, the Russian Defense Ministry said in an operational update posted on Telegram. It was the second targeted attack against Ukrainian energy infrastructure in three days after a bombardment Friday. Russian strikes have caused as much as $100 million in damage to Ukraines power grid the past three days, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of network operator Ukrenergo, said on Facebook. European gas futures rose as much as 4.2% Monday on fears of energy supply disruption in both Ukraine and Russia. Yet Sundays assaults didnt interrupt domestic gas supplies and Ukraine continues to meet all obligations and fulfill storage bookings by foreign clients, Chernyshov said. Ukraine has been advertising itself as a storage haven for European traders awash with gas. Almost 80% of its underground capacity is located in the west of the country, far from the front line and in areas that have suffered relatively limited airstrikes during Russias invasion, now into its third year. Ukraine has lured clients with options to store and trade gas for three years without paying taxes and customs duties. Foreign traders injected 2.5 billion cubic meters into Ukrainian storage sites last year. The country has also been targeting Russian energy facilities, some far from their border. Its forces have attacked more than a dozen refineries with explosive-laden drones this month, dragging down Russias daily oil-processing rate to the lowest weekly level in 10 months. Story continues Senior Ukrainian officials on Friday defended Kyivs attacks on oil infrastructure following a report that US officials had warned against such operations because of rising oil prices and the prospect of Kremlin retaliation. --With assistance from Priscila Azevedo Rocha. (Updates with European gas prices in fifth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek 2024 Bloomberg L.P. Vitalhub (TSE:VHI) Full Year 2023 Results Key Financial Results Revenue: CA$52.5m (up 31% from FY 2022). Net income: CA$4.55m (up 275% from FY 2022). Profit margin: 8.7% (up from 3.0% in FY 2022). EPS: CA$0.10 (up from CA$0.029 in FY 2022). All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Vitalhub EPS Misses Expectations Revenue was in line with analyst estimates. Earnings per share (EPS) missed analyst estimates by 13%. The primary driver behind last 12 months revenue was the United Kingdom (UK) segment contributing a total revenue of CA$34.3m (65% of total revenue). The largest operating expense was General & Administrative costs, amounting to CA$12.9m (34% of total expenses). Explore how VHI's revenue and expenses shape its earnings. Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 12% p.a. on average during the next 2 years, compared to a 11% growth forecast for the Healthcare Services industry in North America. Performance of the market in Canada. The company's shares are down 1.2% from a week ago. Risk Analysis We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Vitalhub that you need to be mindful of. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. The exciting energy transition market isn't just relegated to electrification. The concept of a hydrogen-fueled economy is on the rise, especially after the U.S. government awarded $7 billion in funding for seven regional hydrogen hubs across the U.S. in October of last year. In fact, hydrogen is gaining popularity across the world, especially for industries that are hard to electrify like heavy industry or long-haul trucking. That's because hydrogen is a zero-carbon fuel that only emits water as a byproduct, and it's also a baseload fuel, which means it can be stored and transported. That's unlike solar and wind, which only produce power when the sun is shining or wind is blowing. One company feeding the nascent hydrogen economy is equipment supplier Chart Industries (NYSE: GTLS). And while the company had a better than-expected earnings report last month, it's received a solid string of positive news in March as well. A debt upgrade, followed by an equity upgrade Chart is still well off its late 2022 highs, when it announced the acquisition of similarly sized peer Howden from a private equity firm. Chart used a large amount of debt to buy Howden, and its stock plunged in the aftermath. However, it appears from last quarter's earnings report that one year after announcing the Howden deal, Chart is executing on its promised revenue and cost synergies. On March 11, ratings agency S&P Global upgraded Chart's secured debt from a "B+" rating to "BB-", and its unsecured notes from a "B" to a "B+". That may not seem like such a big deal. After all, a BB- rating is still a non-investment grade rating. However, crossing from B+ to BB- does bring Chart's secured debt up from a "highly speculative" category to "non-investment grade speculative." The category upgrade means Chart could potentially see greater demand for its debt, and lower costs of refinancing. Story continues It also means the threat of the debt load, which caused the stock to plunge in the first place, is lessening. And that means less risk for equity holders. On that note, Chart's stock also received an upgrade last Tuesday from analysts at UBS. In upgrading Chart from a "Neutral" to "Buy" rating, UBS analyst Manav Gupta sees Chart bringing in $600 million in free cash flow this year, lowering its debt from $3.7 billion to $3.1 billion by the end of 2024. Once Chart has paid off a sufficient amount of debt, Gupta says Chart could see its multiple double or even triple. You read that right -- a double or triple, just from margin expansion alone. And that makes sense, as Chart's stock was essentially cut in half when it announced the Howden acquisition. But given that Chart now benefits from Howden's earnings, the combined company actually has more earnings power than before, so its valuation multiple actually compressed by "three turns," according to Gupta. Thus, the market getting over its fears over Chart's debt load would allow the stock to undo its post-acquisition multiple compression, leading to healthy gains for the stock. GTLS PE Ratio (Forward) Chart Chart lands two big hydrogen orders While Chart had been known as an equipment supplier primarily to the oil and gas, LNG, and traditional industrial gas markets in the past, it is quickly becoming a leader in the high-growth hydrogen economy as well. Just last week, Chart announced two big hydrogen wins. On Monday, March 18, Chart announced it was awarded a large hydrogen equipment order from Element Resources Inc., which is building out a 20,000 ton-per-year green hydrogen facility in Lancaster, CA. In the press release, Element said, "we are pleased to have a supplier that designs, engineers and builds in-house essentially all of the hydrogen liquefaction, storage and handling equipment which significantly simplifies the procurement, construction and operation of the plant and facilities." This statement speaks to Chart's current competitive advantage and an endorsement of the Howden deal, which gave Chart a complete portfolio of both sitting and rotating hydrogen equipment, thereby allowing it to provide these easy "turnkey" solutions for customers rather than just being a supplier of one-off pieces of equipment. Then on Wednesday, March 20, Chart announced a collaboration with GasLog LNG Services Ltd, a liquefied natural gas transporter, to study the buildout of a global liquid hydrogen supply chain. In particular, the collaboration will look at the export of hydrogen from plants in the Middle East to export markets in Europe and Asia. While this announcement was just a study, GasLog is a big leader in the large global LNG trade. So, the fact that Chart and GasLog are collaborating on an emerging hydrogen ecosystem could signal a very large international hydrogen trade market in the future. Chart's CEO Jill Evanko noted in the release, "We see a significant momentum shift from export developers discussing ammonia supply chains twelve months ago to LH2 supply chains today." Image source: Getty Images. As long as Chart hits guidance, its stock is cheap In its recent earnings report, Chart forecast adjusted earnings per share between $12 and $14 this year. While stock has had a nice rise recently, it still only trades at $159, or 11 to 13 times this year's earnings estimates. That's quite cheap, and does lend some credence to the assertion Chart could see its multiple double or more if it continues to pay down its debt. In addition, Chart sees its hydrogen market opportunity growing from around $16.6 billion over the next four years to $82.5 billion by the end of this decade. If the hydrogen market expands in the way Chart forecasts and if Chart can keep capitalizing on opportunities as it did last week, it could see vigorous earnings growth as well as multiple expansion. That would be great news for shareholders. Should you invest $1,000 in Chart Industries right now? Before you buy stock in Chart Industries, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now and Chart Industries wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of March 21, 2024 Billy Duberstein has positions in Chart Industries. His clients may own shares of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chart Industries and S&P Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Wall Street Thinks This Hydrogen Stock Could Double or Triple, And It Could Be Just The Start was originally published by The Motley Fool By Kevin Krolicki and Sarah Wu BEIJING (Reuters) - Xiaomi's CEO said on Monday that his firm's first electric vehicle aims to be the "best looking, easiest to drive and smartest car" priced below 500,000 yuan ($69,424), as the Chinese electronics maker gears up for orders this week. The company will on Thursday evening announce its official price range and start taking orders for the SU7, short for Speed Ultra 7. CEO Lei Jun's comments, made on his official Weibo account, mark the first time the company has confirmed the upper end of its price range. Anticipation for the car has been building up since Xiaomi unveiled the vehicle in December and announced it aimed to become one of the world's top five automakers. Lei has touted it as having technology capable of delivering acceleration better than Tesla cars and Porsche's EVs. Seventy-six Xiaomi stores in 29 Chinese cities began displaying the car on Monday, with prospective customers and car bloggers lining up in one central Beijing showroom to get a close view of the "ocean blue" and other versions. The company also uploaded its "Xiaomi Car" app to Chinese app stores. Among those in line was Jim Yan, who said he admired the SU7's curves and design aimed at decreasing drag. "Whether it's Xiaomi's phones or Xiaomi's cars, their design is very original," said Yan, 28, who works in the legal industry. For Yan, and many consumers of Xiaomi's cheaper phones and home electronics, the brand has gained a reputation of providing good value. "In my mind, Xiaomi's pricing is at most mid-range. If the price is too high, especially since this is their first car, I think it remains to be tested by the market," Yan said. The SU7 will come in two versions - one with a driving range of up to 668km (415 miles) on a single charge and another with a range of up to 800km. By comparison, Tesla's Model S has a range of up to 650km. Story continues China's fifth-largest smartphone maker has been seeking to diversify into EVs amid stagnating demand for smartphones - a plan it first flagged in 2021. Other Chinese tech companies that have partnered with automakers to develop EVs include telecoms giant Huawei HWT.UL and search engine firm Baidu. Xiaomi has pledged to invest $10 billion in autos over a decade and is one of the few new players in China's EV market to gain approval from authorities, who have been reluctant to add to the supply glut. Its cars are being produced by a unit of state-owned automaker BAIC Group in a Beijing factory with an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles. ($1 = 7.2021 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Kevin Krolicki, Sarah Wu, and Beijing newsroom. Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gerry Doyle) The company is significantly expanding its presence in Oklahoma with multiple new store openings slated this year, and new market concepts debuting in Texas FORT WORTH, Texas, March 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesway , one of the country's fastest growing convenience store chains, is significantly expanding its presence in Oklahoma, with its portfolio of stores in the state expected to stand at 15 locations by the end of 2024. Yesway is one of the fastest-growing convenience store operators in the U.S. Established in 2015, Yesway is a multi-branded platform headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, operating 435 stores across Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Yesway operates its portfolio primarily under two successful brands, Yesway and Allsup's, with sites that are differentiated through a leading foodservice offering featuring Allsup's famous deep-fried burrito and a wide variety of high-quality grocery items and private-label products. (PRNewsfoto/Yesway) In addition to its five existing Oklahoma-based Allsup's stores in Altus at 1711 North Main Street and 1419 South Main Street, Frederick at 301 North Main Street, Guymon at 1107 NE Highway 54, and Madill at 607 South 1st Street, the company recently celebrated the grand openings of its newest stores in Broken Bow at 1400 South Park Drive and Thackerville at 1173 Hide-A-Way Road, with two more locations slated to open in the first quarter of the year in Davis at Highway 7 & Hanover Road and Tushka at 416 N Jefferson Highway. The Thackerville Allsup's location represents the company's first "true" interstate store, with the majority of the anticipated traffic coming off of Interstate 35, given its proximity to the WinStar World Casino, as well as being supported by the local community. The company is slated to soon begin construction on three additional Allsup's locations, in Elk City, Blanchard and Kiowa so that by early summer the Allsup's presence in Oklahoma should be 12 stores strong. These are just the latest of the new large-format stores Yesway has developed and is bringing to market. The 6,277 square-foot stores are open 24 hours per day and customers will be pleased to find their favorite Allsup's world-famous burritos; a full array of Yesway and Allsup's private label snacks; high-quality fresh Allsup's bread, milk, and eggs; and a beer cave; along with amenities including Western Union service, ATM availability, and more. "We are looking to further expand in the state and are in search of additional sites," said Thomas Brown, President, Yesway. "With land we have under contract in Ardmore, Atoka and Okarche, and additional sites under consideration in Eufaula and McAllister, we expect to have a minimum of 15 stores in Oklahoma open and operating by the end of 2024." Story continues Brown continued, "In Oklahoma, we realized that many of its towns were underserved with a good convenience store operator that is focused on customer service and providing quality product with a strong value proposition; customers have long requested Allsup's in those communities, and we are excited to bring our new stores there." In addition to making moves in Oklahoma, Yesway has also opened a new Allsup's Express concept store in Denton, Texas, at 1320 W. Hickory Street, located next to the University of North Texas (UNT) campus. The Allsup's Express store, a 3,000 square foot bodega-style store open 24 hours per day, is focused on serving the UNT community and students with an assortment of merchandise offerings tailored to meet their needs including energy drinks, bottled waters, and teas, to hot coffee, cold fountain sodas, and F'Real shakes, tasty snacks, delicious hot to go and fresh meals, beer and wine, and the World Famous Allsup's Burrito and Taco Sauce too. Allsup's fans on campus will also enjoy friendly, fun service including the award-winning Allsup's Rewards program that will offer students a personalized digital engagement experience, and more. It's all the things customers love about Allsup's, right across from campus. Yesway looks forward to serving its newest customers in Oklahoma, Texas, and within the UNT area. In addition, the company will host Grand Opening celebrations of the new Allsup's stores located in Cloudcroft and Taos, New Mexico, and Granbury and Denton, Texas, in April and May. To find the Yesway or Allsup's store closest to you, and for more details on its Grand Opening celebrations, please visit Yesway.com/locations or Allsups.com/allsups-locations/ . Editor note: Contact Erin Vadala, Warner Communications; 617.669.1560; erin@warnerpr.com to arrange interviews. High-resolution images and graphics are available upon request. About Yesway Yesway is one of the fastest-growing convenience store operators in the United States. Established in 2015, Yesway is a multi-branded platform headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, which operates 435 stores located in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Yesway operates its portfolio primarily under two successful brands, Yesway and Allsup's, with sites that are differentiated through a leading food service offering, featuring Allsup's famous deep-fried burrito, and a wide variety of high-quality grocery items and private-label products. Yesway's geographic footprint consists of stores located in attractive rural and suburban markets across the Midwest and Southwest, where it is often the convenience retail destination of choice and effectively the local grocer. The Yesway team has a successful track record of growing through acquisitions and believes it is well positioned to continue to solidify its market position and grow its store count. Yesway has received numerous industry awards for its growth initiatives, management team, loyalty program, and employees' contributions to the industry. yesway.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yesways-growth-momentum-continues-in-2024-302097867.html SOURCE Yesway Boeing CEO to step down in management shake-up as manufacturing issues plague storied plane maker A leadership shake-up at Boeing is highlighting the difficult path facing the iconic aircraft manufacturer as it tries to navigate through another safety crisis Man who helped drag police officer into mob gets over 5 years in prison for Capitol riot attacks A Colorado man who helped other rioters drag a police officer into a mob storming the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to more than five years in prison (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) This Sept. 9, 2011, file photo shows a statue of former NASA astronaut John Jack Swigert, Jr., at the Capitol Visitors Center, part of the U.S. Capitol complex in Washington. Swigert was elected to Congress in Colorado in 1982 but died before being sworn in. Until Republican Nikki Haley announced a campaign rally at an airport in Centennial a week before ballots are due, it had looked like Colorado might be flyover territory in the run-up to the Super Tuesday presidential primary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, reviews artwork created by the children of U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Aurora, left, during a visit by members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, on Feb. 9, 2023. Crow said on social media that his children, "inspired by the bravery fortitude of Ukrainians," drew pictures expressing their support for the country. Ten minutes spent on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, on what she considers a God-directed mission, could cost 71-year-old Falcon resident Rebecca Lavrenz up to a year in prison and fines of more than $200,000. But the great-grandmother and bed-and-breakfast owner doesnt regret walking into the United States Capitol during the stop the steal rally protesting the 2020 presidential election results. I felt I was there on assignment from God, she said Saturday in a phone interview from her hotel room in Washington, D.C. A jury trial for Lavrenz starts Monday in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, as she faces four federal misdemeanor charges for entering the Capitol more than three years ago. She spent about 10 minutes inside. Agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force reviewed surveillance camera footage and confirmed Lavrenzs account, according to a court document filed Sept. 19, 2022. The report also states that several tipsters alerted federal investigators that Lavrenz had been among the crowd. Just standing up for my country makes me a criminal, Lavrenz said last week in a video she posted on X, formerly Twitter. Its not right. It feels so weird to be here. One of her four children who lived in Colorado Springs asked Lavrenz in December of 2020 if she planned to go to the rally, which was held on the day congressional leaders were certifying the Electoral Colleges vote count of the 2020 presidential election. Protesters such as Lavrenz disputed the outcome of the Nov. 5, 2020, election declaring Joe Biden as president. Ive always been a lifelong lover of truth, and I felt something went really wrong with that 2020 election, and I hate injustice, she said. There has been no substantive evidence before or since of wrongdoing in the compilation of the 2020 results. Lavrenz, who has four adult children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson, said she prayed about whether she should attend. It didnt take me long to figure out God was saying to go there, she said. I do what I can in prayer, and I put action to my faith. Lavrenz, a retired registered nurse, drove 25 hours across country, fasting and praying throughout the long trip to reach her destination. Wearing a red scarf and a white hat to the rally, which she said she attended by herself, Lavrenz encountered a group of people praying outside the Capitol, and she joined them for about an hour and a half. It was a patriotic, joyful time to be around so many people who love their country, she said. I felt a strong presence of the spirt of God fall over me, and I started crying. At one point, she took the microphone to speak about a document that became known as the 1620 Mayflower Compact. Included in the agreement that pilgrims had signed before they set foot on American soil was that the country would be dedicated to the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith. My mission in life is to know God and make his ways known and restore the country back to its godly foundation, Lavrenz said. Without God, theres no justice. As the rally turned riotous, Lavrenz told investigators that she observed people getting into physical confrontations with police, pushing on the barriers as the police pushed back The arrest affidavit goes on to say, When a man finally succeeded in pushing past a barrier and entering the U.S. Capitol, Lavrenz observed that none of the police officers chased him. When the crowd eventually pushed aside the barriers, allowing people to stream through the main door of the U.S. Capitol on the East side, Lavrenz followed and entered as well. When the East Rotunda doors were opened, Lavrenz said during The Gazette interview that she felt compelled to go in, to bring God inside the Capitol with my presence. Featured Local Savings Lavrenz said she followed the crowd and stayed within ropes that blocked people from entering certain parts of the building. I didnt say anything, I didnt shout or wave. I didnt see any violence when I was in the Capitol, and there was no damage, she said. I felt Gods presence in me and just made my presence known to let Congress know we the people voted them in office, and we were saying you need to listen to what were saying. Lavrenz said she and other people in the group turned around and retreated when someone said members of Congress had already left the building. So, we didnt have any way to express our grievances and left. Video footage shows Lavrenz entering the Capitol at 2:43 p.m. and exiting the building at 2:53 p.m. When she arrived back home, Lavrenz said she felt good about her participation. I did what I was supposed to be doing and was surprised to hear that people were getting arrested, she said. In April of 2021 two FBI agents knocked at the door at her rural home in eastern El Paso County and said they were there to investigate her involvement in the Jan. 6 event. She was busy baking a cake for her sons birthday and asked if they could come back on a different day. They said, Yes and returned in a few weeks. Nearly a year and a half later, on Dec. 19, 2022, Lavrenz was arrested and charged with four federal misdemeanors at the U.S. District Court in Denver. I sat in a prison for three hours, and they let me out of personal recognizance, took my passport, put me on probation and told me to let the officer know if I was going to travel anywhere, she said. She is charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol. Prosecutors contend that Lavrenz entered the Capitol without having the authority to do so, and in the process violated four laws. Lavrenz refused a plea deal the prosecution offered last year. Jury selection from the District of Columbia area begins Monday for the trial that Lavrenz said she was told would last until at least Thursday. I didnt get into this for myself, I was there to stand up for my country, she said. I asked God if I did something wrong, if I needed to repent, and God said, No, you went there to make my presence known and to pray. My biggest prayer is that God gets the final word this week. Lavrenz is among 1,358 people charged with criminal actions related to the Jan. 6 rally that turned violent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. She is one of 1,276 defendants who allegedly entered or remained in a restricted federal building or grounds. About 500 new cases are expected to come before the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., this year. Last week, a jury convicted a Virginia man, who went inside the Capitol for three minutes and walked around and took photos, on four counts. Also last week, a Jefferson County man was sentenced to 63 months in prison for his involvement in the Jan. 6 event. He was convicted of three felonies and also ordered to pay restitution. The Jan. 6 attack resulted in nearly $3 million in damages to the building and grounds, and costs incurred by police, the Department of Justice said earlier this month. After a shooting on the University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus in February that left two dead including a student, the university system's Board of Regents is revisiting its gun policy as state lawmakers do the same. The Board of Regents began a conversation last week about changing the university system's weapons policy to ban concealed carry on campuses. Meanwhile, a state legislature bill seeks to do the same thing, calling for a ban on concealed carry weapons in "sensitive spaces" such as higher education facilities. Students on the UCCS campus a month after the shooting that killed student Sam Knopp, 24, and Celie Montgomery, 26, had a wide array of opinions on the current gun policy and possible changes. I think I can see it from both sides, said freshman Luke Ming. I know that a lot of people are very opinionated about having guns in their place because they feel thats a threat to their safety, but I know a lot of people feel the opposite, that having a gun in the hands of responsible people is what brings them safety from outside threats. One person with the latter opinion was student Antonio Briggs, who said he would be upset if the CU system decided to remove the conceal carry exception. I think that it keeps everybody safe, he said. On the other end of the spectrum, some students have been calling for the university to revisit the policy in light of the double homicide. I hate it. I think if youre going to have a rule about no firearms, it should be no firearms period, and again, unfortunately firearms were allowed there and two people were killed, said UCCS sophomore Sofia ONeill, describing a total ban on guns as long overdue. A lot of us feel tense, on edge and overall disappointed in the institution, she said. Others expressed that they did not feel like the issue of concealed carry permit guns on campus was relevant in the conversation around campus safety. A guy whos coming here with the intention of shooting someone, hes not going to care what law is what because hes coming here to kill someone and its already illegal, said student Chris Callies, describing himself as indifferent on the issue. UCCS spokesperson Chris Valentine confirmed that the university has not seen any concealed carry permit holders request to have their guns in on-campus housing this year. The gun used in the February shooting was not registered with the university. The conversation about whether students can carry weapons on campus has been happening for years. Colorado's Concealed Carry Act was passed in 2003, allowing concealed carry of firearms in most places statewide and banning local governments from making their own decisions on the matter. The Board of Regents for the University of Colorado system tried to ban concealed carry on campus and a student group sued them. In 2012, it was ruled by the Supreme Court that the board could not impose a ban. However, a 2021 state bill allowed local governments and governing boards of higher education institutions to make their own determinations as to where concealed weapons can be carried. Regent Wanda James brought the subject forward in a board meeting March 19, proposing a change to the university system's weapons policy that would ban concealed carry across all four of University of Colorado's campuses. The policy change cannot be voted on by the board until its June meeting, but James said she wanted to start the conversation. In almost every meeting she's been in since becoming a regent in January 2023, she's seen students, faculty or staff asking them to take up the motion to ban concealed carry, she said. "It is difficult for me as a regent to sit down and see so many people asking us to make changes in their house and then not at least having the conversation to make changes," James said at the board meeting. James called herself a "staunch Second Amendment supporter," but said she doesn't believe all things should be in all places at all times. Featured Local Savings "If there is any place where we should be able to agree that we don't need the presence of guns, it's in higher education," she said. The conversation comes as Colorado General Assembly is considering Senate Bill 24-131 that would prohibit carrying firearms in "sensitive spaces," which include public parks and playgrounds, hospitals, stadiums, public libraries and higher education campuses. It also comes just over a month after the UCCS double homicide in which two people were shot in a university dorm. At the university policy level, the policy change would remove wording from its weapons policy, redlining much of the current policy and adding specific language banning concealed carry weapons. As currently written, the amended policy would read as follows: "In recognition of its obligation to preserve the learning and working environment, the Board of Regents prohibits possession of concealed firearms, even if allowed by state statute, on all campuses, and authorizes the enactment of additional rules lawfully regulating the possession of firearms, explosives, and other weapons." Other Colorado university systems have various weapons policies, some banning concealed carry and others banning it in certain places on campus. Colorado State University's weapons policy allows concealed handguns if the owner has a lawful Colorado concealed weapons permit issued by a sheriff in the state. However, the policy does not allow concealed handguns to be carried or stored in any residence hall, CSU apartment, health network facility or residence life dining centers. Colorado School of Mines allows concealed carry only by those with a current state of Colorado concealed weapon permit or out-of-state concealed weapon permit accepted by Colorado law. University of Denver prohibits the use, possession and storage of weapons on campus "even if the individual possesses a federal or state license to carry or possess the weapon." Ian Escalante, the director of operations with Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO), said their organization is "adamantly against" the policy change and the state bill, and threatened that RMGO will do everything in their power to oppose moves to get rid of gun rights on campuses and elsewhere. If the CU system passes the policy change, it would open itself up to more gun violence, Escalante said. He referenced the mass shooting on the Michigan State University campus in February last year in which three were killed and others injured, saying the shooter "walked into a school with a bunch of soft targets who that shooter knew would be defenseless." If the state bill passes as currently written RMGO "will be filing a lawsuit," he said. Chase Cromwell, the external affairs student body president for CU Boulder, said the push for policy change has been largely driven by students, faculty and staff and has been going on for several years. The discussion about the policy change is the "latest in a long process," Cromwell said, but the student government is excited to see some movement on it. There is no evidence that shows allowing concealed carry makes campuses safer, he said, and many other college campuses and states have passed laws already banning concealed weapons on campuses. "We're making a pretty simply case that guns, and certainly handguns and small personal firearms, don't have a place in our learning environment," Cromwell said. "We can point to instances where professors and instructors have changed how they've had discussions in their classrooms about certain topics because they know, and students have made it known, that they're carrying in the classroom." The process of pushing for the policy change has been "difficult to say the least," Cromwell said, with the board not listening to the needs of the student government despite that being their obligation. "We've been so incredibly clear about a specific policy change that does not cost any money that we all agree on, and none of those things ever happen at the same time," he said. "So it's incredibly frustrating that they want to continue to ignore us and continue to ignore evidence about the role guns should and should not play in classrooms." Cromwell is also hopeful about the possible state law change, he said. "The state and the Board of Regents are kind of playing this chicken-and-egg game where they're trying to decide who's going to do something," Cromwell said. "I would like to see the regents pick up their feet and move things along and pass a policy, but if the state has to step in and do it, I'm more than happy to support the state in doing that." (Reuters) - BioNTech said on Monday the U.S. National Institutes of Health has sent a notice to the German company regarding default on the payment of royalties and other amounts related to its COVID-19 vaccine. BioNTech, which partnered with U.S. pharma giant Pfizer for its COVID-19 vaccine, however, said it disagreed with the positions being taken by the NIH and intends to defend against all allegations of breach. Spokespersons for the U.S. NIH did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for a comment. BioNTech has taken the license for certain patents from the NIH, among other entities, due to which the U.S. government is owed certain royalty payments, according to the German company's annual report. The German government had granted BioNTech 375 million euros ($445 million) for its COVID19 vaccine development program in September 2020. (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar) QUITO (Reuters) -Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and a staffer were found shot dead in a car early on Sunday, said police in the South American country, which is in the grips of a wave of violence that authorities blame on drug trafficking National police said they were investigating the deaths of Garcia, the 27-year-old mayor of San Vicente, and Jairo Loor, her communications director, after the discovery of their bodies in the province of Manabi. Both had suffered gunshot wounds, police said in a statement. Later on Sunday, police said that the gunfire had come from within the car, which was rented, and they were tracking the vehicle's GPS system. Garcia belonged to former President Rafael Correa's Citizen Revolution Movement party. Correa and Luisa Gonzalez, the party's presidential candidate in the recent elections, called Garcia's killing an assassination on social media platform X. "I've just found out they've assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vicente Brigitte Garcia," Gonzalez said in a post. "I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador NOBODY." Garcia is the latest political figure in the country to be killed following the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio last August. Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organized crime, was killed while leaving a campaign event two weeks before the election. President Daniel Noboa declared a state of emergency in January amid a spike in violence that saw armed men invade a TV station during a live broadcast. Noboa also designated 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations. The state of emergency was extended earlier this month. In a statement, Noboa's government condemned the killings and said it was working with police and the prosecutor's office to ensure a fast investigation. The government said it would also reinforce public order policies until it achieved safety and peace for all Ecuadorians. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Alexander Villegas; Editing by Paul Simao and Sandra Maler) LONDON (Reuters) -Russia's security state has been ruthlessly effective at detaining Vladimir Putin's opponents but was caught off guard by a mass shooting near Moscow, raising questions about its priorities, resources and intelligence gathering. Charged with hunting down Ukrainian saboteurs inside Russia, with keeping anti-Kremlin activists in check, and with disrupting the operations of hostile foreign intelligence agencies, the FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, has its hands full. That, say former U.S. intelligence officials and Western security analysts, helps explain why it may have overlooked other threats, including that posed by Islamist militants, such as ISIS-K, which claimed responsibility for the attack. You cant do everything, Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA operations officer who served as the agencys Moscow station chief, told Reuters. You dial up the pressure on the locals and sometimes you dont get the intelligence you need on a potential terrorist attack. Thats where they failed. "Its possible theyre overextended dealing with the war in Ukraine and dealing with political opposition. This one slipped through the cracks. The FSB has said Friday's concert hall attack was "painstakingly" planned and that the gunmen had carefully hidden their weapons. Putin on Monday said that radical Islamists were the ones who had carried out the attack, but said that Russia still wanted to understand who had ordered it and said there were many questions for Ukraine to answer. Ukraine denies any involvement. When asked on Monday if the assault represented an intelligence service failure, the Kremlin said that Russia's standoff with the West meant intelligence-sharing was not happening in the way it used to. "Unfortunately, our world shows that no city, no country can be completely immune from the threat of terrorism," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Russia's intelligence services worked tirelessly to defend the country, he added. Still, Friday's shooting, in which at least 139 people were killed and 180 injured, has undermined one of Putin's longstanding pledges to the Russian people: to ensure stability and security. It has also shaken some residents of the Russian capital who have largely been insulated from the violence of the Ukraine war despite occasional drone strikes. Putin, a former KGB officer who won another six years in power earlier this month, has weathered similar crises before and there is no visible threat to his grip on power now. His response, judging from his previous behaviour and a statement on Saturday, will be to meet force with greater force. Four of 11 men detained in connection with the attack have been charged with terrorism and appeared in court after being interrogated: one apparently with his ear missing and one in a wheelchair amid calls from some lawmakers for the death penalty to be re-introduced. Peskov declined to answer a journalist's question about whether they had been tortured. MISSED WARNINGS? Whether the men were tasked by Islamic State as the militant group and the West asserts, or whether there may have been some kind of Ukrainian connection as Putin has hinted - and Kyiv has flatly denied - there were warning signs which do not appear to have been heeded. Security analysts said the manner in which the attack and escape were carried out was evidence of extensive reconnaissance of the venue beforehand and Russian media published CCTV footage of one of the gunmen visiting at an earlier date. On March 7, the U.S. embassy in Moscow issued a security alert to Americans, telling them it was "monitoring reports that extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts". On March 19, three days before the killing spree, Putin delivered a speech to FSB chiefs in which he dismissed what he said were "provocative" Western warnings about a terrorist act. "All these actions resemble outright blackmail and the intention to intimidate and destabilise our society," said Putin. Nina Krushcheva, a professor of international affairs at The New School in New York, said the FSB appeared to have had Islamic State on its radar. But she said Putin's view that Russia was locked in an existential struggle with a U.S-led West would have made it difficult for Moscow to take at face value a security warning from the United States. "There's a lot of mistrust. It's not like America isn't involved in misinformation," she said. "In Putin's world, where it is an existential battle between Russia and the West that wants to undermine Russia and demolish it, of course he wouldn't believe it because how does he know from his own KGB background that America is not creating its own false flag (operation)." A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the source of responsibility to pin blame on another party. ISLAMIC STATE John Sipher, who served a stint in Russia during his career in the CIAs National Clandestine Service, said he believed the FSB may have dropped the ball because it was too busy focusing on political and other threats to Putin and his government. The (security services) are more about protecting the Kremlin than they are about protecting the people, said Sipher, who predicted that Putin would now use the attack to justify some new action or against the West and Ukraine. Another warning came on March 2 in southern Russia when FSB special forces killed six gunmen whom they identified as members of Islamic State. Three of the men were on a federal wanted list and the militants had killed three policemen the previous year. The FSB found a weapons stash. On March 7, the FSB said it had prevented an attack on a synagogue in Moscow that had been plotted by an Islamic State cell and that the attackers had been killed in a shootout. Riccardo Valle, a researcher on jihadist movements, said the March 2 incident should have set off warning lights. "I think the fact the security forces discovered that there is a network of Islamic State in Russia, and a strong one capable of acquiring weapons and putting up strong resistance against special forces - this should have raised the alarm in Moscow security agencies," Valle said in a phone interview. "Maybe it did but they were not able to prevent the attack in time," said Valle, director of research at the Islamabad-based research and news platform The Khorasan Diary. He said it was also clear from previous statements and attacks by ISIS-K, including on the Russian embassy in Kabul in 2022, that the group had Russia in its sights. (Editing by Alison Williams) Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, along with two other senior executives, announced they are stepping down from their positions Monday. Additionally, board Chairman Larry Kellner will not be running for reelection, and Stan Deal, the president and CEO of the companys commercial airplane unit, will retire after several production failures of the company's passenger jets, the Associated Press reported. President and CEO Dave Calhoun today announced his decision to step down as CEO at the end of 2024, and he will continue to lead Boeing through the year to complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future, the company said in a statement. The announcement comes amid public and regulatory scrutiny over the quality of Boeings planes following a series of recent manufacturing problems, including the door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines jet in January, which was preceded by two fatal airplane crashes in 2018 and 2019. Calhoun previously defended the companys planes after the Alaska Airlines incident in early January. Featured Local Savings We fly safe planes, Calhoun told MSNBC on Capitol Hill in late January after the Alaska Airlines incident. We dont put airplanes in the air that we dont have 100% confidence in. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Justice are investigating the door plug blowout incident. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration released an audit this month that found that the company failed 33 product audits. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Just last week, Boeing's chief financial officer warned investors that the business would be spending more cash than previously expected in the first quarter due to lawsuits and production delays. Steve Mollenkopf will assume Kellners position as independent board chairman and will lead the process for choosing the companys next CEO, Boeing said. Former Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd targeted his bosses on Sunday after an interview with the network's newest contributor, former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, aired. Todd, speaking to the show's current moderator, Kristen Welker, blasted NBC for hiring McDaniel and told Welker, "I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation." The network has faced pushback after the announcement of McDaniel's arrival as a political analyst, with many people confused, pointing out the RNC's behavior toward news organizations such as NBC under McDaniel's stewardship. Todd, NBC's chief political analyst and one of the network's most prominent journalists, did not dissent from those opinions. "I don't know what to believe," he said, saying she "has credibility issues that she still has to deal with." "There's a reason why there's a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination, he said. "That's where you begin here." Welker herself appeared less than thrilled with the network's decision, stating clearly before her interview with McDaniel that the interview was scheduled "weeks before" it was announced she had become a paid contributor. "This will be a news interview," Welker said. "And I was not involved in her hiring." Todd applauded his colleague for doing "everything you could do," adding, "You got put into an impossible situation, booking this interview, and then all of a sudden the rug [is] pulled out from under you, you find out shes being paid to show up. That is unfortunate for this program." Featured Local Savings While she acknowledged on Sunday that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election "fair and square," McDaniel promoted unfounded claims of election interference in its immediate aftermath and has previously called the media corrupt. McDaniel ran the RNC from 2017 until last month when it was clear she had lost the support to continue from likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. The former president backed Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, to take over. While there were positives to take away from McDaniel's time in charge, such as her noting of having "more women in Congress ever than in the history of our party," many Republicans were frustrated over the committee's lack of fundraising and losses in elections, such as in 2020 and 2023. During her interview with Welker on Sunday, McDaniel announced her opposition to Trumps plan to free imprisoned Jan. 6 rioters. But Welker pressed her, asking why she didn't speak up earlier about the former president's rhetoric surrounding the attack on the Capitol. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER "When youre the RNC chair, you kind of take one for the whole team, right? Now I get to be a little bit more myself, Right?" she said. "This is what I believe I dont think violence should be in our political discourse, Republican or Democrat." The Washington Examiner reached out to NBC News for comment. The Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in several high-stakes cases, including a dispute over tribal healthcare programs and a landmark hearing that could determine the scope of access to the common abortion pill. The highlight of the week will be on Tuesday in a pair of consolidated cases against the Food and Drug Administration's actions over the abortion drug mifepristone, which in 2016 made changes to allow the pill to be more widely accessible by online order or mail delivery. While the dispute does not deal with abortion laws specifically, it marks another contentious case over the matter less than two years since the high court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to impose laws severely restricting or limiting abortion access. Here is a look at the high court's week ahead: Justices take up tribal healthcare circuit split On Monday, the justices will weigh Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe to determine whether tribes can sue the federal government for administrative expenses related to third-party insurers such as Medicare or Medicaid a dispute that has divided federal appellate courts. The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act gives tribes the ability to run their own healthcare programs with funding from the Indian Health Services, which is under the Department of Health and Human Services. The question for the justices is whether the IHS should also reimburse tribes for additional administrative expenses tied with third parties. A 2021 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found the IHS was not responsible for the costs, but the 10th Circuit ruled differently, prompting the federal government to tap the justices to resolve the split. Following those arguments, the justices on Monday will tackle Harrow v. Department of Defense, which asks whether it is permissible to waive the 60-day deadline for requesting an appellate court to review a decision by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles federal employment claims. Next stage of abortion fight heads to high court steps On Tuesday, the justices will convene for a potentially landmark hearing over a legal fight about access to the common abortion pill, which began in November 2023 when a group of religious doctors who oppose chemical abortions sued to reverse the FDA's 2000 approval of the drug. U.S. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an appointee of former President Donald Trump in the Northern District of Texas, made an unprecedented ruling last April to suspend the FDAs approval of the pill completely, the first time a court has suspended a medication's approval after rejecting the assessment of a human drug by the FDA. Featured Local Savings A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued a ruling agreeing with Kacsmaryk only in part, a decision that still sharply curtailed access to the drug. That decision, if allowed by the Supreme Court to take effect, would pare back actions the FDA has taken since 2016 to make the pills more accessible, including regulations on allowing mail delivery, pharmacy dispensing, and online ordering of the drug. Danco Laboratories, the makers of mifepristone, is arguing alongside the FDA to keep these accessibility changes in place. The cases are known as FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Danco Laboratories, L.L.C. v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine, both of which will be consolidated into one hearing. Justices review criminal firearm 'occasions' clause On Wednesday, the high court will consider whether juries, rather than judges, are required to find certain facts that would trigger 15-year mandatory minimum sentences for criminal gun possession. The Armed Career Criminal Act sets a mandatory minimum sentence and potential life sentence if a defendant has three previous qualifying convictions that were "committed on occasions different from one another." Justices left the question open in the 2022 case Wooden v. United States, but both the defendant involved and the federal government now contend it should be decided by the high court. The case is Erlinger v. United States. Also on Wednesday, the justices will hear Connelly v. Internal Revenue Service, a case that questions whether the proceeds of a life insurance policy taken out by a closely held corporation on a shareholder constitutes an asset of the company when factoring in the value of the shareholder's shares for federal estate tax purposes. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit created a split with the 11th Circuit, which separately held that life insurance proceeds paid pursuant to an obligation to redeem shares do not raise the value of the company's stock. Business owners with similar stock-purchase agreements will likely want to see how the Supreme Court resolves the split and how it may affect their intended business succession plans. Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto king found guilty last year of orchestrating one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history, will be sentenced this week in a New York courtroom. Prosecutors have argued that the onetime Forbes billionaire should spend the next 40 to 50 years behind bars for a crime that had more than a million victims, losses totaling up to $10 billion, and led to the stunning collapse of his FTX crypto empire. In a court filing, a Manhattan prosecutor argued that Bankman-Fried, who is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, showed unmatched greed and hubris and broke the law based on a pernicious megalomania guided by the defendants own values and sense of superiority. Bankman-Fried's defense team has pushed back on the claim, arguing such a long sentence "distorts reality" and paints him not as the inexperienced businessman as he claims but as a "depraved super-villain." Under federal sentencing guidelines, Bankman-Fried could be sentenced to more than 100 years behind bars, though that is unlikely. In November, a New York jury of nine women and three men found the now 32-year-old guilty of seven federal charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering connected to the implosion of his cryptocurrency exchange and related hedge fund Alameda Research. Defense lawyer Marc Mukasey claimed that swindled FTX customers would be able to recoup their money in the bankruptcy process and that Bankman-Fried tried to stem some of the loss before he was arrested in 2022. It's an argument Bankman-Fried's FTX successor, John Ray, pushed back on in a victim impact statement filed with the federal court. Featured Local Savings Ray said FTX customers may be able to claw back some losses because of the bankruptcy estate's efforts, not because Bankman-Fried did anything to help. "Mr. Bankman-Fried continues to live a life of delusion," Ray wrote. "There should be no delusion that because assets have increased in value or that the professionals have been able to recover funds and assets taken or stolen from the estate, that there was no need for the Chapter 11 cases." The government claimed Bankman-Fried stole billions in customer funds to live an extravagant lifestyle that included a sprawling penthouse in the Bahamas. He also used the money to buy himself power and influence on Capitol Hill and then lied to cover his tracks. After the exchange, which was once valued at $32 billion, failed in 2022, thousands of customers were unable to get their money back, and the government turned its case against Bankman-Fried and his top lieutenants into a referendum on the loosely regulated but highly volatile crypto industry. The governments case against Bankman-Fried was much stronger than anticipated and included a parade of his closest confidants who testified that he called the shots and demanded they break the rules, too, if they wanted to keep getting paid. The prosecution called 16 witnesses over the course of two weeks. The defense called three witnesses, including Bankman-Fried, a decision that seemed to do him more harm than good in the long run. CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Prosecutors chipped away at his credibility on the stand and cornered him into making multiple contradictions like claims he had no idea about the misappropriation of customer funds until just a few months before the exchange collapsed. He also pinned much of the day-to-day responsibilities on his co-founders Gary Wang and Nishad Singh and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison. Wang, Singh, and Ellison, who used to be Bankman-Frieds girlfriend, all pleaded guilty to similar charges and worked with prosecutors in their case against Bankman-Fried. Because of their cooperation, they are expected to receive little to no prison time. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy claimed that Rep. Matt Gaetzs (R-FL) decision to oust him in October was tied to a House Ethics Committee investigation into the Floridian. McCarthy told House Republicans on Sunday not to be afraid of the motion to vacate tactic after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed the motion last week, threatening Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Gaetz led the first successful motion to vacate in U.S. history, which, according to McCarthy, was largely motivated by personal animus. The one advice I would give to the conference and to the speaker is: Do not be fearful of a motion to vacate, McCarthy said on CBS. I do not think they could do it again. That was surely based on Matt Gaetz trying to stop an ethics complaint. It was purely Matt coming to me trying [to get] me to do something illegal to stop the Ethics Committee from moving forward in an investigation that was started long before I became a speaker. McCarthy was referring to a House ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Gaetz, including allegations that Gaetz slept with a minor. The House investigation was opened in 2021 but was put on hold pending a federal investigation by the Justice Department. The investigation resumed in 2023 when the Justice Department didn't bring any charges against Gaetz, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. McCarthy claimed he was not aware of when the investigation was reopened but that Gaetz had asked him to interfere with the investigation in May 2023. When it opened in 2021, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was speaker. Featured Local Savings Apparently, he got a letter from ethics asking for documents, McCarthy told NBC News. I told him, I dont know anything about this. I told him, You gotta talk to [Ethics Committee Chairman Michael] Guest. What Gaetz was always trying to do was leverage me to try to do something in the Ethics Committee that I would not about his investigation. I never knew [the investigation] was going on. Im not going to get in the middle of it. And they can do whatever theyre doing. Gaetz has not confirmed or rejected the ties between the House ethics investigation and his decision to call for McCarthys exit as speaker. But a friend of Gaetz shared a message with NBC News in which Gaetz made it clear that he does blame McCarthy for his problems. The congressman also accused the former speaker of being a "liar" in a post on X on Monday, but he did not elaborate. Gaetz's office directed the Washington Examiner to the posts when reached out to for comment. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The congressman filed a motion to vacate McCarthy as speaker in October after McCarthy passed a controversial government spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Seven of Gaetzs allies voted in favor of McCarthys ousting, which was enough to get him removed, with all House Democrats voting against him as well, claiming he broke promises he made to the conference in order to get the deal passed. Greene filed a similar motion to remove Johnson on Friday after he also avoided a shutdown with a $1.2 trillion spending bill. But Greene has not garnered the same support for her effort as Gaetz did, and some Democrats have even indicated they would help Johnson keep his job. Two teenage boys who escaped from police while being transported to a court case now face new charges after they allegedly stole an officer's pistol, hit him with it, and fired several rounds at him. The 14-year-old and 15-year-old boys have both been charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer with a firearm, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. They have been charged as adults. The teenagers reportedly escaped from police on Thursday while en route to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Augusta. According to officials, the boys managed to attack the deputy transporting them, stealing his .45-caliber handgun, firing three rounds in his direction, and escaping into the woods. The officer was reportedly knocked unconscious during the attack but is now "safely recovering," per Sheriff Alfonzo Williams of the Burke County Sheriff's Office. The boys were eventually found in a storage container. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER The suspects were originally being held on burglary and firearms charges, according to WRDW. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) will serve as the next chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party after its current chairman announced he would leave Congress in April. Moolenaar will succeed Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who was originally supposed to retire from the House at the end of this term but announced last week that his last day would be April 19, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced on Monday. I am thankful to the Speaker for this appointment, and I look forward to working with Ranking Member [Raja] Krishnamoorthi, the members of the Select Committee, House leaders, and the standing committees in the weeks and months ahead," Moolenaar said in a statement. "Together, we can help our country prepare for the challenges we face from the Chinese Communist Party and win the competition against the CCP." Moolenaar added that he is "grateful" for Gallagher's leadership on the select committee, which was established once the GOP took the House majority in January 2023. "He has been an incredible leader for our country as a member of the military, and as a member of Congress, where he was instrumental in creating the Select Committee," the Michigan Republican said. "His selfless and faithful stewardship of the Select Committee has been a tremendous success and benefited the American people. Gallagher's departure joined the exodus of several chairpersons. On the same day Gallagher announced his early leave, Appropriations Committee Chairwoman and retiring Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) asked Johnson to look for a new chairperson just hours after the House passed the final fiscal 2024 spending bills. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who lead the prestigious House Energy and Commerce Committee and Financial Services Committee, respectively, are also retiring but plan to finish their terms. Johnson praised Moolenaar in a statement on Monday, expressing confidence that the country will be "well-served by his wisdom and guidance." Featured Local Savings John Moolenaar will be an exceptional chairman for the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party," the speaker said. "His leadership experience in the private and public sectors, his academic background, and his principled service in Congress have earned John the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle." In a statement provided first to the Washington Examiner, the retiring Wisconsin congressman said Moolenaar will be an "incredible leader" for the select committee. "John understands the grave military, economic, and ideological threat posed by the CCP and will continue to advance an agenda that will best position our country to fight and win the strategic competition between the United States and our nations foremost adversary, the Chinese Communist Party," Gallagher said. Gallagher's early exit will bring the Republican majority to 217-213 on April 19, creating a math problem for Johnson both legislatively and personally. The speaker is facing a motion to vacate filed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), which requires only a simple majority to pass. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER If all Democrats vote to oust Johnson, the speaker can only afford to lose two Republican votes under that majority, so Johnson may need to rally support on the other side of the aisle to keep his gavel. The Washington Examiner reached out to Gallagher for comment on Moolenaar's appointment. The Supreme Court is considering a lawsuit meant to reverse the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. The case has major ramifications for abortion access, given that a majority of abortions are now performed via medication. It also could reshape the 2024 elections, in which abortion is expected to be a significant consideration for voters. The Washington Examiner is featuring a series of articles providing an in-depth look at the case and its implications. This first entry lays out the basic facts that the Supreme Court will consider. The Supreme Court on Tuesday is slated to hear oral arguments regarding the Food and Drug Administrations approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, the ruling on the case having a significant bearing on abortion access heading into the 2024 election. The legal fight against mifepristone started in November 2023, when a group of religious doctors who oppose chemical abortions, known as the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, sued to reverse the FDAs 2000 approval of the drug. U.S. Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee in the Northern District of Texas, made an unprecedented ruling in April last year to completely suspend the FDAs approval of the pill, the first time a court has suspended a medication's approval after rejecting the assessment of a human drug by the FDA. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th issued a ruling agreeing with Kacsmaryk in part, a decision that still sharply curtailed access to the drug. That decision if allowed by the Supreme Court to take effect would pare back actions the FDA has taken since 2016 to make the pills more accessible, including regulations on allowing mail delivery, pharmacy dispensing, and online ordering of the drug. Danco Laboratories, the makers of mifepristone, is arguing alongside the FDA to keep these accessibility changes in place. Here are the key details to know before Tuesdays argument. 1. The case is about how the FDA reviews safety and efficacy standards, not directly abortion access The primary issue of the case is whether the FDA met its obligation to examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for its action under the Administrative Procedures Act in 2016 and in 2021 when it loosened restrictions on mifepristone. Jim Campbell, chief legal counsel for the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, told the Washington Examiner that their case solely relies upon the data used by the FDA to substantiate the loosened restrictions. Campbell told the Washington Examiner that the FDA relied upon self-reported adverse consequence data to determine that it would be safe to remove the requirement for a patient to visit a physician in person before taking mifepristone. The FDA, however, has emphasized that data through the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, or FAERS, is insufficient in making decisions regarding efficacy. The FDA also relied on scientific studies that found removing in-person visits was not inconsistent with patient safety, which ADF argues does not meet the standard of a satisfactory explanation in changing its approval. Marsha Henderson, Former Associate Commissioner for Womens Health at the FDA, told reporters ahead of oral arguments that she believed the quality of scientific evidence in reviewing mifepristone post-market release has demonstrated the safety of the relaxed restrictions. These products are monitored, they are vetted when it comes to some kind of adverse event. Journal articles are written that allow products to get even greater scrutiny, Henderson said. It's not just a helter-skelter set of ad hoc opinions. It's based on the scientific method. When asked if the political vulnerability of abortion played a role in any FDA oversight of mifepristone, Henderson said she did not believe that politics influenced the labeling of the product. Knowing the scientists that actually worked on the review of this particular product and other products, if it is not satisfactorily safe and effective for its intended purpose, then there will be scientists in the agency that will go on record and say this is a problem, said Henderson. 2. The FDA and Danco are relying on standing arguments to undermine the case The government argues the plaintiffs lack standing because they themselves do not prescribe mifepristone and because the FDA's actions that allow other physicians to prescribe mifepristone "do not require [the plaintiffs] to do or refrain from doing anything," according to a brief from Justice Department Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar. Prelogar alleged in the brief that the AHM's standing is invalid because they cannot definitively show that the FDA's action has caused any harm to the physicians themselves. Even if the FDA's deregulation has caused harm, Prelogar further argues that the injuries "will be linked to FDAs actions only by a long and attenuated causal chain involving independent actions by other providers, patients, and third parties." Secondly, the DOJ contends that the plaintiffs lack "organizational standing," noting "[t]his Court has never accepted [the plaintiffs] suggestion that an organization can manufacture standing to challenge an agency action merely by expending resources on that challenge. Featured Local Savings Adam Unikowsky, partner at Jenner and Block LLP specializing in appellate and Supreme Court work, said that there is a significant burden for the plaintiff doctors to "show certain and impending harm," especially "given that none of the doctors actually say they've ever experienced any conscious violation in the past from seeing such a patient." Campbell, however, argues that the physicians he represents in the case are directly harmed by the policy because of the strain that the relaxed mifepristone regulations necessarily place on emergency physicians and on-call OB/GYNs. The plaintiffs say they are "they are facing multiple concrete injuries due to the FDA's actions. For one, they claim that they suffer conscience harms related to taking the life of an unborn child and their complicity in doing so, according to ADF's brief. They also argue that the emergency situations expressly and repeatedly contemplated by FDA cause [them] to divert time and resources away from their labor and delivery practices and increase their malpractice risks. The FDAs warning on mifepristone estimates that between 2.9% and 4.6%, or approximately 1 in 25 women who use mifepristone, will require an emergency room visit to treat potentially fatal infections or prolonged heavy bleeding. With the fact that nearly 643,000 mifepristone abortions were conducted in 2023 alone, that means that between 20,000 and 30,000 women made emergency room visits following a self-administered abortion. Our clients, our doctors, have witnessed firsthand the harm to women caused by these changes that the FDA made, these removals of safeguards, said Campbell. Each appellate court has the obligation to review the standing of a case as a matter of jurisdictional authority. Still, in Campbells view, the defendants reliance on standing is questionable. I don't know why the other side continues to press so hard on the fact that our clients don't have standing when lower courts both considered that question, and both found that our clients do have standing, he said. 3. No one knows how a ruling will affect the pharmaceutical industry The mifepristone case goes to the core of dealing with what has made the entire industry the standard, said Jeremy Levin, CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, in support of the defendants. We put the entire system of developing medicines in the United States at risk, and most certainly our role in the globe as the global leader in the production of medicines. Levin is one of the over 250 signatories from within the pharmaceutical industry that filed an amicus brief with the Court in April 2023 on behalf of Danco and the FDA. They argue that a ruling for AHM could upend FDAs drug-approval process and empower any plaintiff to challenge the approval of other drugs, regardless of how long the drug has been on the market, on spurious grounds. Levin told reporters prior to oral arguments that the investors will be required to assess legal liability when creating a new drug or medical technology, proving efficacy not only to FDA scientists but also to a court of law. This is a draft dagger at the heart of the entire industry, said Levin. Wed fall into the laughingstock of the world. Campbell entirely disagrees, saying that a ruling in AHMs favor will not have any effect on the pharmaceutical industry. The FDA itself, throughout this entire case, has not pointed to a single specific drug that will be adversely affected by a ruling for us, Campbell told the Washington Examiner. Campbell argues, however, that the FDAs actions with mifepristone have been so egregious that just acknowledging how unlawful this behavior was will not affect other drugs. The upcoming oral arguments will arrive before a Supreme Court that, in recent times, has looked at federal agency actions through a more critical lens, such as the landmark 2022 decision in West Virginia v. EPA that limited the Environment and Protection Agency's ability to pursue emission reductions at individual power plants. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Moreover, the case comes just two years after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn nearly 50 years of abortion access precedent under Roe v. Wade in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, giving states broader power to impose limits on abortion. The decision in that case isn't poised to have any bearing on the dispute regarding mifepristone, though any threats to abortion access during an election year could raise the stakes in the upcoming 2024 rematch between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. A decision in the case, FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, is expected by the end of June. Rep. Mike Gallaghers (R-WI) departure from the House on April 19 throws a wrench in the GOPs small House majority because the date means the seat will be empty for the remainder of the term. Gallagher, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he would not seek reelection in February, but his decision to leave early has prompted backlash because his replacement will not be elected until November. Im disappointed. I think he should have finished out his term, former Republican state Sen. Roger Roth, who declared his candidacy for Gallaghers seat in February, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I think its unfortunate because it leaves a vacancy in Congress at, obviously, what could be a critical time. His departure also leaves House Republicans with just a one-vote majority, setting up another hurdle in the partys hopes of getting any meaningful legislation passed this Congress because it means only two Republicans need to vote against legislation to stop it from advancing. Some Wisconsin conservatives have blasted Gallaghers exit as a deliberate move to hurt House Republicans, which his office has denied. I want you to know that this is deliberate, another potential congressional contender, Alex Bruesewitz, said at a GOP dinner over the weekend. This is the swamp and the RINOs way to backstab their constituents and the Republican voters one last time. Featured Local Savings Bruesewitz, who has signaled plans to join the race to replace Gallagher, also called for the congressman to resign before the states April 2 deadline for a special election. A source close to Gallagher told the Washington Examiner on Monday that the congressmans decision to depart on April 19 was approved by House leadership. The source also predicted that Vince Fongs runoff election in a safely red California district in May will help the GOP keep its majority. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Gallaghers departure also deals a blow to the partys congressional leadership because the four-term congressman serves as the chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Four terms serving Northeast Wisconsin in Congress has been the honor of a lifetime and strengthened my conviction that America is the greatest country in the history of the world, Gallagher said in a statement on Friday. I will forever be proud of the work I did on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, chairing the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and chairing the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. FILE - President Joe Biden drives a Cadillac Lyriq through the show room during a tour at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022, in Detroit. The Biden administration has proposed new rules that could make it harder for electric vehicles to qualify for a full $7,500 federal tax credit. The rules announced Dec. 1 could complicate efforts to meet President Joe Biden's goal that half of new passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. run on electricity by 2030. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who worked for U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong for nine years before managing campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens. North Iowa hospitals and clinics are using artificial intelligence to help patients triage their symptoms at home and assist physicians during health screenings. MercyOne, whose health care network includes MercyOne North Iowa, launched a virtual triage system called the Symptom Checker in May 2022. This chatbot was designed to help patients find the right care quickly on their terms, said Stephen Nielson, MercyOne manager of digital health. For example, if a child becomes sick in the middle of the night and the parent doesnt know if its a bad cold, the flu, or COVID-19, the Symptom Checker chatbot allows that patient to clinically triage at home before possibly making an unnecessary trip to the ER, Nielson said. Rest assured, users are asked if they believe they are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, Nielson said. If so, they are directed to go directly to the nearest emergency department. The system will also stop the patient if it detects a potential emergency and provide the same guidance. The Symptom Checker current processes around 1,277 triages per month. Patients can visit MercyOne.org and receive prompts to guide them through a series of questions to ensure personalized care is delivered. The Virtual Triage Chatbot guides patients through approved clinical triage questions that do not diagnose them but list potential diagnoses at the end. It then leads them to schedule an appointment at a proper MercyOne clinic location or directs them to an emergency or urgent care location. The chatbot has multiple language abilities, integration with provider locations, direct booking sites, virtual care services, and a built and maintained system of clinical term mapping to ensure the correct message is delivered based on the patients needs. The most-entered symptoms are fatigue, headache, diarrhea, dizziness, pain, cough, fever, sore throat, chest pain, nausea, rash, abdominal pain, stuffy nose, and shortness of breath. Of the triages, 54% occur outside of clinic hours; 87% are for the user, while 7% are for a child; and 6% are for another adult; 55% of triage users report that they are existing patients, while 45% report that they are new patients. The implementation of AI has raised privacy concerns worldwide, but the Symptom Checker is not only easy to use, but it makes privacy a priority, Nielson said. It does not ask for or collect patient name or contact information. Nothing is saved that identifies the patient. Possible future features of the Symptom Checker include: HR and Patient Portal integration with patient identity authentication and personalized experiences. Provider/care team reports and dashboard. A field within the patient chart. Live representative connection. Photo and video uploading. "It is part of our mission at MercyOne to always improve patient experience," said Hijinio Carreon, D.O., MercyOne chief operating & clinical officer. Similar to our use of robotic-assisted surgery, this technology does not eliminate the need for a human touch but can help improve the health care experience for patients." Floyd County Medical Center uses a GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module for colonoscopies. This smart technology has enhanced visualization to assist the physician like an extra set of eyes to increase detection of precancerous polyps, said FCMC CEO Dawnett Willis. Studies show endoscopists with higher adenoma detection rates (ADR) more effectively protect patients from colorectal cancer. The GI Genius module has been shown to increase ADR by up to 14.4%. Each 1% increase in ADR decreases the risk of interval cancer by 3%. GI Genius has a 99.7% sensitivity rate and less than 1% false positives. In May 2023, the Mason City Council adopted the Mason City Housing Initiative, which addresses the needs and realities of housing in Mason City. The report states the city needs approximately 500 additional units of housing in order to meet current needs and spur growth for the community. The council has taken the recommendations seriously. In downtown, the Federal Avenue Rowhomes, an 11-unit complex, is nearing completion. Its developers will also build a 36-unit, four-story building at 124 N. Delaware Ave. The area is currently a city parking lot. The River l was completed at the beginning of 2021 and has 133 one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The River ll boasts another 93 units and is currently leasing apartments. The project was conceived in 2019 with Talon LLC, a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, developer. The success of the Talon developments puts a dent in the 500 needed homes. Mason City Administrator Aaron Burnett says what serves the community best is a blend of multifamily, single family, senior and assisted living. "Every person or family has individual housing needs," he explained. "By having a mix of available housing, we can meet the needs of different workers and residents." One of the ways the city is supporting that concept is through infill housing. Infill housing is new or existing housing stock built or moved to open lots. A prime example is the partnership the city has undertaken with the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation. Three debilitated properties were purchased under the city nuisance code. The homes were subsequently moved and will be offered for sale by the EDC once renovations are complete. The lots are located at 1526 S. Taft Ave., 220 and 220 12th St. S.E., which is one property, and 316 Fifth St. N.W. Another facet of housing project may not be top of mind: The council has a strong focus on code enforcement. By regularly inspecting rental homes the code enforcement division is able to keep property owners aware of repairs that must be made. Affordability is an issue many residents and prospective residents think about. New developments can often be expensive. Within city limits, there are a large number of rental homes known as old stock. Those houses have been in place for years or decades. While old stock is often more affordable, it can come with repair issues. "I don't want anyone or any family living in housing that is a detriment to their lives or wellbeing," said Burnett. "That's why code enforcement is a vital part of our housing plan." Habitat for Humanity is a service agency dedicated to building homes for low-income families. It has also partnered with the city to renovate rental units and offer them for sale. Converting properties from rentals to owner-occupied homes strengthens neighborhoods and builds pride of place. Habitat for Humanity has plans for new homes at the former location of the Madison School, as well. In Mason City, vacancy rates are low for owner-occupied homes at just 0.9%. Rentals have an average vacancy of 6.1%. Mason City Assessor Tara Brueggeman reported 427 home sales in 2023, with a median sale price of $147,750. "The majority of the sales fell between $120,000 and $300,000," she said in an email. "In 2022, the median price was $135,000." The percentage of Mason City residents who rent is 39.6%, slightly higher than the state average. Rent is slightly lower than the state average, $723 per month compared with $789. With median household incomes 16.7% lower than the state figures, rental costs make up a higher percentage of total income for many renters. Financial advisers recommend spending no more than 30% of your total income on housing, including home insurance and other associated costs. To afford a $721-a-month unit, a resident must make $15.02 per hour and work 40 hours weekly. North Iowa travel agents are incorporating a little bit of AI in their operations, but they are still retaining the human element that some customers are looking for. Carol Boehnke, owner of Destination Travel in Clear Lake, said she sometimes uses AI to generate effective wording for marketing emails or to find photos or memes to use on social media. I dont use it to research travel because Ive been doing this long enough that I dont need to do that, said Boehnke, who founded her travel agency more than 30 years ago. Destination Travel helps people plan vacations, honeymoons, and destination weddings. Todays travelers can go to Expedia and similar websites, type in where they want to go, and have AI plan a trip for them. However, Boehnke estimates about 50% of those planning vacations still choose to work with a human travel agent. It depends on who you trust, she said. When you go online to Expedia you are sending the money to a large corporation that outsources all their customer service, probably out of the country. When you rely on the computer world to make travel arrangements, you have to keep your fingers crossed hoping everything will work out OK, according to Boehnke. But if something goes wrong, such as discovering your hotel room booking never went through only after arriving at your destination, who do you call? she said. Destination Travel is busier than it has been in a long time because all it takes is one bad experience with using AI for travel planning for people to vow never to do it again, according to Boehnke. I have had people call me who have used Expedia and made a mess and they need help, she said. I think customer service is what brings people back to a travel agent. If you are simply going from point A to point B instead of visiting multiple destinations on the same trip, some people feel comfortable using AI, according to Boehnke. But even though the odds of success in that case are higher, a big snafu is still possible, she said. One recent call from someone who experienced issues with AI travel planning was simply going to Mexico. Some travelers are willing to take a risk with booking trips online because they think they will save money because they falsely believe they wont have to pay a commission to a travel agent, according to Boehnke. However, they dont realize that the commissions are added as a hidden fee and that fee goes to a large corporation rather than a local business, she said. Randy Calaguas, owner of Randys Adventures in Mason City, said AI has assisted her in writing descriptions for some of her tours. However, she said one thing AI can never replace is the value of having a tour operator. My business is a little different in that I am a tour operator rather than just a travel agent, she said. I create unique, all-inclusive tours and then offer them to people to sign up into the group. I normally take between 20-45 people on each trip. I offer day trips, multi-day trips, as well as longer domestic and international tours. Calaguas accompanies every trip, so my customers feel very comfortable knowing that I will handle any problems or issues that arise, she said. They know they can follow me through airports, and not have to worry about where to go, how to get through immigration, how to get to the hotel. If a flight is canceled or hotel rooms arent ready, I will adjust our itinerary and make the problem disappear, Calaguas said. GREENSBORO From companies poised to make multibillion-dollar investments to thousands of new housing units in the pipeline, Mayor Nancy Vaughan was eager to tout the citys achievements in her second annual State of the City speech on Wednesday. But there was one distinction in 2023 that the mayor didnt mention in her address: the record-breaking 74 homicides the city recorded. The closest the mayor came to addressing the issue during the speech came when she highlighted recent hiring at the police department. We made great strides in public safety, hiring more officers at a time when departments across the country are having a difficult time recruiting, she said. The mayor said the city has hired 53 new officers through its training academy since 2023, and 35 new recruits are set to attend the academy this fall. She also commended the work of Guilford Metro 911, which she said had answered 99.8% of the more than 550,000 emergency and non-emergency calls the agency received in 2023 within 10 seconds. However, Vaughan did more directly address the gun violence problem facing Greensboro on Tuesday, in her remarks at the end of the Greensboro City Council meeting. She said the city had dealt with another tough year when it comes to homicides. Referring to the Sunday shootings along Berryman and Calvert streets from which police retrieved more than 70 shell casings, Vaughan said: I dont know what is going on in this city in this country when it comes to this gun culture. The mayor said she recently spoke with Irish Spencer, founder of the nonprofit Families Against Senseless Killings, about holding a Day of Nonviolence in April. Exactly when such an event will be held is unclear. As of Thursday, Vaughan said they were still finalizing the plans. But the mayor did share her hopes for the event when it is held. What we want is the whole city to be involved, Vaughan said Tuesday. You know, we have these wonderful organizations that step up every time. Well, we need to see new faces. A few meetings ago, I inartfully said: Where is the outrage? But I want to know right now, Where is the outrage in our community? And as a community, I would like us to come together and figure out what is it that we can do to make sure that our citizens and our children are safe. The mayor did single out one group in the community she wanted to engage in particular: nightclub promoters. Several recent, high-profile shootings in Greensboro have taken place at night life venues. These include the March 8 shooting at Culture Lounge which took the lives of two people and the November shooting at Electric Tequila Bar & Grill which sent two people to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Noting recent shootings at night life venues, she said: Last time we heard a lot that maybe there were issues with promoters, and one of the first things I would like to do is bring promoters together, tell them what our problems are but ask them to come with solutions. Were all going to have to be part of the solution. GREENSBORO A local man is in stable condition after being shot early Friday morning morning some three blocks from the UNCG campus, according to Greensboro police. First responders were on the scene at roughly 3 a.m. and found one man with gunshot wounds on Glenwood Avenue, and they transported to a local hospital for treatment, according to police. The shooting is the second since September on the street. An assailant shot one person and left them with life-threatening injuries on Sept. 2 in the 1400 block of Glenwood, according to media reports. No information was immediately available about the disposition of the crime case. Police did not disclose whether they have made an arrest in the Friday incident, but asked that anyone with information about the incident contact Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers at 336-373-1000. GREENSBORO The City of Greensboro discharged approximately 4,300 gallons of untreated wastewater from a manhole at 6540 Franz Warner Parkway on Saturday, city officials said in a news release. The sewage flowed for about 90 minutes and was caused by a debris buildup inside of a sewer main pipe, the release said. The untreated wastewater entered Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Cape Fear River basin, the release said. The main was cleared by using a sewer cleaning truck to stop discharge, and crews flushed the creek with hydrants, officials said in the release. () Editors note: The U.S. territory of Guam is comprised of 19 villages, many with their own distinct character, history and points of interest. Stripes Guam and Guampedia have joined forces to present this weekly feature on each of them in the hopes that it will help our readers get out and get to know our gracious hosts. To learn more about Guams people, history, culture and places, visit: guampedia.com The village derives its name from the word uma, which means to carry something on the back or a heavy load on the shoulders. Village history The history of Umatac is among the most rich of all the villages of Guam, especially during the Spanish era. Among other distinctions, Umatac is the home to Fouha Bay in which a rock called Fouha Rock sits. The ancient Chamorros believed this rock to be the resting place of a goddess called Fuuna who, with her brother Puntan, is credited with creating the world and people. The rock is also called Creation Point. The pre-contact Chamorros made a pilgrimage to the rock every year to pay homage to Fuuna and to have their rice blessed to be used to cure people according to Spanish accounts. Umatac is perhaps most famous for being the site, by long oral tradition among the Chamorros, Ferdinand Magellan first landed on Guam. Although other theories about Magellans landing site have arisen, the residents of Umatac still proudly celebrate Discovery Day every March 21st with a re-enactment of the 1521 landing. The next landing by Europeans on Guam, that of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, forty-four years later in 1565, was indisputably at Umatac. Legazpi anchored at Umatac Bay for thirteen days and formally claimed Guam for Spain, and during his stay, a Catholic mass was celebrated in a large cruciform canoe house by the bay. By the time of Legazpis visit, Umatac was already a Chamorro coastal settlement that included a large communal house raised on latte stones, so spacious it could accommodate 200 people along with large canoes, as described by the Europeans. There were also other low houses in which the Chamorros cooked and roasted food. Umatac was the chief port for the Spanish during the early galleon days, when it was visited annually by a galleon from Aculpulco, usually in May or June. In late 1680, a Spanish settlement was established at Umatac for the first time to serve the galleons, along with a supply ship that stopped on Guam from Cavite in the Philippines, usually in August or September. The supply ship brought necessities such as soap, flour, tools, metal, animals and seeds. The galleon also brought supplies, but mainly Spanish money of Mexican silver to pay soldiers and mission personnel. These visits were so important that the Spanish governor transferred his residence from Hagatna to Umatac when the ships were expected. Governor Damian de Esplana built the governors palacio, or palace, surrounded by a presidio compound in Umatac in 1690. After the supplies were unloaded from the ships, they were transported by boat from Umatac around Orote Point to Hagatna since no road existed between the two towns. The Spanish attempted to link Umatac and Hagatna with a monumental road project with the help of Filipino workers, but the road was never completed. Remnants of the project are historical sites today, including stone bridges in Umatac, Sella Bay and Agat. Historical Points of Interest Fouha Bay/ Creation Point Umatac is the home to Fouha Bay in which Fouha Rock sits. The ancient Chamorros believed this rock to be the resting place of a goddess called Fuuna who, with her brother Puntan, created the world and people. F.Q. Sanchez Elementary School Francisco Quinata Sanchez Elementary School, more commonly referred to as F.Q. Sanchez Elementary, is one of twenty-five public elementary schools on Guam. It was named in honor of Sanchez who was an twentieth century pioneering educator and politician of Guam. Because of its small student population, lawmakers proposed closing the school and sending its students to Merizo Martyrs Elementary School in the neighboring southern village. Umatac residents, however, strongly opposed this move. In 1998, the school was listed in both the Guam and the National registers of historic places. It was constructed in 1953 by world-renown architect Richard Nuetra who also designed the Guam Government House. Guam Veterans Memorial The park overlooks the hillsides of Umatac and is dedicated to the seventy-four Chamorro men listed on a plaque at the site who died in the Vietnam War. The park was developed by the Guam Womens Club in 1971 and is a popular stop for tourists. A special Mass is held at the site each Memorial Day. San Dionisio Church The church of San Dionisio was constructed of wood with a palm thatched roof and dedicated in 1681. It was later burned in 1684 by those Chamorros who opposed the Spanish, rebuilt again of wood, and destroyed again by a typhoon in 1693. It was rebuilt in 1694 of coral masonry. By 1690, after two European disease epidemics killed a large number of Chamorros, Umatac was the largest of five parishes on Guam, with 700 people. In the early 1700s, Rota, Guams neighbor island to the north, was at times administered together with Umatac by the church, resulting in close ties between Chamorros in those two parishes. In 1849 a massive earthquake on Guam demolished many buildings including the governors palacio, the San Dionisio Church and the convento (the priests residence). Only the church was rebuilt, of wood and that structure was destroyed in the severe earthquake of 1902 that also crumbled part of the Dulce Nombre de Maria church in Hagatna. The San Dionisio church would not be completely rebuilt until 1939 at a new location, where it still stands. The Spanish masonry ruins of the old San Dionisio Church, which are located within fifty yards of the current church, are marked by a plaque, and are on the National Register of Historic Places. Spanish Forts From 1680 until 1810, four forts were built by the Spanish around Umatac Bay to protect the important harbor from pirates and privateers: Fort San Jose, Fort Santo Angel, Bateria de Nuestra Senora Del Carmen and Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad. Fort Soledad is perhaps the most famous and is now a park site often visited by tourists. It is of the most recent construction, and while it has crumbled from weather, treasure hunters and World War II over the years, much of the fort remains intact. Umatac Pride Outdoor Library This library is not a building where you may expect to enter through a door, see windows, nor be covered by roof. This library is best described as a large, highly decorative, cement bookshelf. This small monument-like structure, built in October 1933, served as a place where villagers could exchange books. It was built under the direction of early twentieth-century education pioneer and politician Francisco Quinta Sanchez, a resident of the southern village. Located near the modern-day San Dionisio Catholic Church, the structure sits right next to the villages main road, and visitors can see it as they drive slowly through the narrow Umatac road. With its walls partially crumbled, it now serves as another proud reminder of Umatacs historic past. This village at a glance Population: As of the 2000 Census, the population was 887, which is ten fewer residents than in the 1990 Census. Village officials: Johnny A. Quinata, Mayor, 2013-Present; Daniel Q. Sanchez, Mayor, 2005-2012; Tony A. Quinata, Mayor, 2001-2005 ; Jesus A. Aquiningoc, Mayor, 1997-2001 ; Jose T. Quinata, Mayor, 1992-1997; Dean Q. Sanchez, Acting Mayor, 1991-1992 ; Albert T. Topasna, Commissioner/Mayor, 1989-1991; Cecilia Q. Morrison, Commissioner, 1985-1989; Albert T. Topasna, Commissioner, 1969-1985; Jesus T. Quinata, Commissioner, 1961-1969; Jesus S. Quinata, Commissioner, 1952-1961; Gregorio M. Camacho, (no title or dates provided); Helarion Quinata, Commissioner, (no dates provided); Agustin Quinata, Commissioner, (no dates provided); Jose Gofigan, Commissioner, (no dates provided) courtesy of Konsehelon Mahot Guahan/the Mayors Council of Guam. Village description: The small village of Umatac is located in southern Guam along Umatac Bay. The community of Umatac is relatively smaller than others on Guam and made up of a handful of residents, many of whom are related to each other. Interspersed between old houses that sit along the bays shoreline are ruins that have become prominent reminders of the Spanish colonial era in the village. Plaques are placed throughout the village that describe the Spanish era to visitors. Remains of the Spanish times include the former Spanish governors residence, the site of the old San Dionisio church and several Spanish forts and a battery. A bumpy two-lane road runs through the center of the village, and visitors coming down into Umatac from the steep hills in the north will first notice stones placed into a hillside in the shape of the island of Guam, welcoming them to the village. A couple of small stores and the San Dionisio Church, built at its current location in 1939, sit along the road. The road, with houses built in the first half of the last century, then opens up into a spectacular view of the bay before coming to a small park with a childrens playground built by IT&E in the 1990s. Adjacent to the park is the mayors office, right on the beach, with perhaps the best view of any mayors office on Guam. At the center of the bay is an obelisk monument to Ferdinand Magellans landing in 1521, bearing the inscription, Magellan landed here. The bay is also home to some of the islands best surfing. The road then crosses the Umatac Bridge, constructed with towers reminiscent of London Bridge. The bridge dates not back to the Spanish times, as visitors often assume, but to the 1980s under the helm of Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo. After the bridge, the road runs uphill, where visitors can turn off into a small park to see the ruins of Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad (commonly referred to as Fort Soledad), constructed to protect the bay from pirates and other European explorers. South of Umatac is the village of Merizo. North of the main village and within Umatacs boundaries is an overlook to Ceti Bay, a beautiful secluded beach that can only be reached by hiking or sailing. Clancys own Robert Shupes movie, Handshake, will be available on streaming services March 29, with the movie entirely based in the Helena and Clancy areas shedding a light on local scenes. The crime drama is about two hours long and according to Shupe who produced, directed and wrote the movie its goal was to leave its viewers guessing throughout the entire movie. He said he has never been a fan of movies where the viewers know exactly what will happen five minutes in. Shupe wrote the script in 2012 and slowly began making the movie and finished it in 2019. He said the movie is about two strangers who meet by chance and both have financial issues, but the movie took a halt during COVID-19 because he did not know where he could show the film. The director is based in Las Vegas, but he also played the main character in the movie named Devon Fowler, who is carefree and reckless. Shupe has been a film fan since he was a child and went to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, receiving a film degree to pursue his passion projects. He put about $70,000 of his own money into the independent film and said this could be the one that breaks him if it doesnt turn out well. His hope is that it may springboard him into making bigger productions that are funded by a company and not his own wallet. The 42-year-old said it was not hard to get actors for the film because they are local to Montana and understood the project and its goal. One of the actors was Helena-based artist Tim Holmes, who played the judge in the film, donning his fathers robes from when he was a minister. I didnt really know what I was getting myself into with that film, Holmes said. Shupe said he got lucky with the actors because they all were very good for the movie, and they helped push the locality of the production. Last year the film played at The Myrna Loy, where Shupe received a lot of community support, and he said he is hoping through word-of-mouth the movie will gain more exposure. Throughout 2022, the movie played at film festivals around the country like the Chain New York City Film Festival, Buffalo Dreams, Silver State Film Festival, South Carolina Independent Film Festival and the Retro Avant Garde Film Festival, receiving multiple awards. Some of the awards include Best Male Performance, Best Feature, Best Cinematography, Best of Festival and more. Shupe has made multiple screenplays and many short films, and hopes to make more in the future on a bigger scale. The movie will be available for purchase and rental on streaming services like Amazon Prime and Google Play on March 29. The trailer for the movie can be accessed her: https://rb.gy/2m42v2 "Yellowstone" actor Forrie J. Smith said he was removed from a plane on March 23 after refusing to sit next to another passenger wearing a mask. The Montana City native posted a video on his Instagram after the events took place saying he told "them" he did not feel comfortable sitting next to somebody with a mask on. Before this statement that has just over 21,000 likes, he said "I just got kicked off a plane in ... where the hell am I at?" Someone in the background can be heard saying he was in Houston, Texas. In the video he admittedly said he had been drinking because he was sitting in the airport for three hours. "But, I ain't drunk," Smith said in the video. Then he said immediately after "they threw me off the plane because I'm drunk because you people won't stand up and tell everybody, what bulls-t this is." He said he told "them" he did not feel comfortable sitting next to someone that had to wear a mask. "And I'm off the plane." The airline Smith was taking is unclear. The New York Post noted that in 2022, Smith was forced to miss the Screen Actors Guild awards due to strict protocols requiring guests to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Smith, an actor and stunt man, plays Lloyd Pierce, cow boss for rancher John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner in the "Yellowstone" series. Smith worked as a professional bareback bronc rider on the Turquoise Circuit Pro Rodeo into his 50s. The show chronicles the Dutton family, led by John Dutton, who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States. The bulk of the filming for "Yellowstone" has taken place on a ranch near Darby. The state of Montana has received a permit for a $12 million expansion of the liquor warehouse at 2517 Airport Road. The Montana Department of Revenue (DOR), which oversees the states Alcohol Beverage Control Division, said on their website they received funding for the expansion project during the 2021 and 2023 Montana legislative sessions. The permit was issued by the city of Helena on Feb. 14. The contractor was listed as Dick Anderson Construction. The department said on its website it has been working with CWG Architecture on the design. The expansion project will include a 30,000-square-foot addition to the south side of the current facility. The addition will be twice as tall as the current building and equipped with an automated storage and retrieval system, the Department of Revenue said. Pallets of liquor will be placed on a conveyor system. The automated storage and retrieval system will have two cranes that will take the pallets of liquor and automatically store and recall products as needed, state officials said. By using an automated storage and retrieval system it will allow the department to store a greater number of pallets of liquor than it could with other racking systems. The project is estimated to be completed by April 2025. Becky Schlauch, DOR administrator, said the construction will not disrupt current operations. "We plan to be open and operate as normal," she said in an email. "The expansion is being build directly adjacent to our existing warehouse." The warehouse serves as the hub where all liquor products are shipped before being sold statewide, the DOR said. More than 1 million cases of liquor are shipped from the warehouse each year to 95 privately owned agency liquor stores in Montana. The current facility was built in the late 1970s, specifically for the departments liquor operations. However, liquor sales have continuously increased each year, creating the need for more space, DOR officials said. For more information, go to https://go.helenair.com/I4i1Ul. I graduated from high school in 1980 when graduates were still required to register for the draft. The military was transitioning to a volunteer force, leaving the traumas of war to 1% of the population. As a pastor, I was very uncomfortable with the war, and the violence and evil that described the lives of so many in the Bible. I tried to gloss over them. David, for example, Israels hero to this day, was a warrior who killed tens of thousands, and not all were clean kills, some were just murder (his own general, Uriah, to cover up an affair with Uriahs wife, Bathsheba). I have been working with soldiers and veterans as a Chaplain at the VA in Montana for six years. I have grown to admire the experiences and perspectives of the women and men who serve our country. My insight into a large part of the biblical narrative has been growing as I hear the stories of soldiers and veterans from combat. While their stories dont fully clarify the Bible stories of the damage caused from war (it actually complicates the text at times), but there is a limit to what a civilian can understand about the Bible that soldiers can fill in. Id like to mention just a few. The first lesson is that soldiers are trained warriors who make an oath to live by and uphold a strict moral code. Every branch of the military has clear values that are trained into their soldiers, who then uphold those values to defend our country and to protect other soldiers. Israel used to graduate their soldiers from their version of basic training with a ceremony at Masada, where 70 Jews chose to die rather than fall into the hands of the Romans. I have talked with numerous veterans who carry the horrors of war to their grave to protect civilians from stories of how evil people can be in war. These non-disclosure agreements signed at a soldiers discharge can cause ongoing PTSD and moral injury that go untreated from the terrible request of our government to not ever talk about it. The veterans dedication to protect others at the expense of their own peace and happiness over their lifetime is more than most civilians or Christians ever experience. Another lesson from the warrior culture is the personal relationship with suffering. Part of basic training is experiencing how to suffer physically, mentally and emotionally. Part of a veterans reluctance to come to the VA for mental health care (only 1% of veterans) is that their wounds from war are part of their mindset. Their reason for relieving suffering is the greater goal of loving and protecting those they care about. My greatest crisis of faith resulted in my choosing to leave ministry, but coming to the VA to work with veterans as a chaplain has taught me that suffering is not an indicator of poor choices, but a part of a life of service. How might this view of suffering change the civilian worlds aversion to suffering for a comfortable life? A third lesson from the warrior mindset is a relationship with death. The experience of taking a life in battle or witnessing the death of others is an inevitable part of combat. A Vietnam vet told me that after his first combat engagement there were only eight left in his company! He told me that was when he lost his fear of death, and it made him a better soldier. This warrior faced the most debilitating fear that most civilians never do. When I started grief work with veterans I didnt understand that I had to contrast the death in combat from death in the civilian world. Grief, for the veteran, may feel like a weakness that betrays their warrior identity. Morrie Schwartz said that once you learn how to die, you learn how to live. Stephen Covey suggests writing your own eulogy from the perspective of the most important people in your life, then live that way. King David said that we live in the shadow of death (Psalm 23) and he suggests a way to do that without fear. I have seen people fearful of death by avoiding visiting family in the hospital, avoiding funerals or avoid planning for retirement or the inevitable loss of health. Another lesson from the warrior spirit is the shared pride with other soldiers and veterans. This pride comes from the accomplishments and abilities of a military unit that relies on each other to achieve impossible combat missions. The military trains a soldier to specialize in a specialty and to rely on the specialties of their company. A youth of 17 or 18 goes into the military at a time when they are usually unclear about their purpose or mission. But they find this in their training and military experience. They return to a civilian world that has no idea of the intensity of their training, the threats to life they experienced, or the meaning of their combat success. So, the warrior feels that they are living in a world that is foreign to their home in war. One veteran said recently that he not only saw the deaths of many soldiers, but also of innocent children. Still, he said timidly, he has never experienced the fulfillment he found in war. Joseph Campbells work on the common themes of mythology said that Christianity is mostly focused on how faith makes our lives better, but typically ignores the battles necessary to get us there. The lessons I am learning from veterans include the value of a commitment to a moral code, the depth that comes from suffering, how to live in the shadow of death, and the respect of the process that builds a life story and creates growth from the good and the bad. DECATUR Police reports accuse Akaninyene Okoh of conducting a busy drug-dealing business in Decatur. In the span of five months one particular customer ordered and received more than 4 ounces of cocaine and Okohs bank account swelled by some $6,800. But an arrest warrant said the customer was a confidential source working a sting operation in a partnership with the Decatur Police Departments Street Crimes Unit and the FBI. The warrant shows Okoh made his last sale to the source about an ounce of the drug priced at $1,700 in February 2021. But he was not arrested until Jan. 19 of this year and later appeared in court charged with three counts of drug dealing. Delays waiting for drug analysis at the State Police Crime Lab often lead to long lead times between investigations and arrests in such cases. Okoh is pleading not guilty and is due back in Macon County Circuit Court April 3 for a hearing. Hes free on pretrial release in the meantime with the condition he stays away from alcohol and drugs. The arrest warrant said the cops had become aware that Okoh had a busy drug-dealing business and launched an investigation into the 44-year-old defendant and a co-conspirator in August 2020. They targeted him with the first controlled purchase in October of that year when the confidential source paid $1,700 for an ounce of the drug. In December they upped the order to 2 ounces and paid Okoh $3,400 after meeting him at a prearranged location. The final purchase was made in February 2021, when the source ordered another ounce of cocaine and again paid $1,700 for it, according to Decatur Police Detective Jeffrey Hockaday, who signed the arrest warrant. 2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Colby J. Park DECATUR Police praised the quick reactions of patrol cops and help from the public in helping them catch a 14-year-old male gunman who opened fire on another group of teenagers Saturday afternoon at a busy Decatur intersection. Sgt. Brandon Rolfs with Decatur police said patrol officers just happened to be in the area of North Poole Street and West Grand Avenue around 1 p.m. when they heard multiple gunshots. Rolfs said people living in the area were cooperative and the officers soon found and chased down the teen suspected of being the gunman who tried to flee along an alley. Rolfs said it appears the boy had stalked and targeted another group of teens and that this other group had exchanged fire with him as they fled. Along the flightpath of the teenager we arrested was found a facial covering, a black sweatshirt and we also discovered .40-caliber Glock (semi-automatic pistol) with an extended magazine and defaced serial number, Rolfs added. We know the 14-year-old fired at least 11 times because we recovered that many spent shell casings. And we recovered an additional six spent .45-caliber casings that appeared to have been return fire from the group that was targeted by the suspect. Rolfs said no one was hurt but a nearby house was hit multiple times in the exchange of gunfire. He said the arrested teenager was being held at a juvenile detention facility after being booked on preliminary charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and unlawful possession of a handgun. Its his third gun-related arrest within about six months, Rolfs added. It would be nice if he doesn't get released again. And Saturdays teen gun violence followed on from another burst of gunfire involving young boys on Tuesday afternoon in the 600 block of South Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Once again, Rolfs said, officers just happened to be in the area and one block south when they heard gunfire break out. This was right around noon, Rolfs added. Area residents had earlier called in complaining about a black sport utility vehicle that had circled the neighborhood and was acting suspicious, and then these these shots were fired. The officers rushed right over and observed a black GMC Yukon speeding away northbound. Several residents pointed to the vehicle and said the people in it had just committed the shooting. The SUV was found abandoned in the area of East Condit and North Clinton streets at Wabash Crossing and, again, the cops were met with people in the area willing to help. Several citizens pointed us in the direction that the vehicles occupants had fled, said Rolfs. And a K-9 track led us to an apartment in the 700 block of East Condit. Two male juveniles aged 17 were detained and a later search of the apartment turned up two 9 mm semi-automatic pistols, one of them reported stolen out of Christian County. Eight spent shell casings had been found at the scene of the shooting, where a house and car had been shot up, and two more spent casings were recovered from inside the SUV, Rolfs said. And that GMC Yukon had been stolen just about an hour earlier before the shooting, he said. Both boys were detained in juvenile detention, one being booked for the aggravated discharge of a gun, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a stolen gun. The other was booked for aggravated discharge of a gun, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a stolen vehicle. Rolfs said one of the 17-year-olds was caught up in two different cases involving gun charges in 2023 and the other has had multiple arrests involving stolen vehicles. Obviously, we are proud of our officers working as hard as they did and apprehending these suspects in both the incidents from Tuesday and Saturday, he said. And we also very much appreciate, in both of these investigations, the help of several citizens who were willing to tell us what they saw, report suspicious activity or assist us so we can stop this violence and get those guns off the street. Its a team effort when the people we serve are as much invested in their safety as we are, and we appreciate the cooperation in trying to protect the community from more needless gun violence. On a more sobering note, the sergeant said both incidents involved teenagers firing multiple rounds on busy city streets in the middle of the day. Its remarkable that we dont have more tragedies than we do with the risk of innocent people getting struck with gunfire outside their homes or even while in them, Rolfs said. A look back at Decatur police through the years 1911 1911 1911 1924 1934 1939 1941 1942 1951 1960 1977 1990 MAROA A Maroa man already on parole for multiple weapons offenses was ordered out of a house with his hands in the air by cops responding to reports he had just pointed a handgun at a neighbor during a dispute. Police said they werent able to find the handgun despite a five-hour search of the house in the 400 block of West Lincoln Street. But they did not emerge empty-handed: Officer Cole Voehm with the Maroa Police Department said the haul of seized guns included a loaded 12-gauge shotgun with the barrels sawn off to 13 inches and a bolt-action rifle with its barrel illegally cut down. Police also found an AK-47 rifle, intact, fitted with an empty 30-round magazine and another empty magazine lying nearby. A sworn affidavit signed by Voehm said the incident dates to the afternoon of March 7. Hasslers 63-year-old neighbor said he had been menaced with what he described as a dark-colored handgun and Voehm said the defendant had complied peacefully when offices surrounded the house and used a public address system to order him outside. Giving evidence at a preliminary hearing in Macon County Circuit Court March 20, Voehm said Hassler denied everything: He claimed he had not threatened the neighbor and also denied any of the guns found in the house had anything to do with him. But, aside from the neighbor, Voehm said statements from three witnesses said they had seen a handgun in Dustins possession. And Voehm told Macon County States Attorney Scott Rueter that a 67-year-old woman who rents the house from Hassler where the weapons were found had previously seen the sawn-off shotgun and AK-47 in the building. And she indicated she had told Mr. Hassler to remove them? Rueter asked Voehm. He said that was correct. Cross-examined by Chief Public Defender Michelle Sanders, Voehm confirmed that Hassler denied keeping any guns in the house. The officer also confirmed the seized guns were all found in the same bedroom. And that is the bedroom that she (the renter) uses? asked Sanders, and was told it was. Judge Lindsey Shelton found probable cause to try Hassler on three counts of being an armed habitual criminal and two counts of being a felon in possession of and using weapons. She also found probable cause to try him on a further charge of possessing a shotgun and rifle with illegally-shortened barrels. Hassler entered not guilty pleas to all counts and remains held in the Macon County Jail after the judge ruled he posed too much of a danger to public safety to be permitted pretrial release. His next court hearing is May 1. State prison records show he was paroled from the Hill Correctional Center in December 2023 after being sentenced to four years in July 2022 when he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a weapon in Effingham County Circuit Court. And earlier, in June of that year, he had also been convicted of the same charge in Richland County Circuit Court and sentenced to four years in prison; the two sentences were ordered to be served concurrently. In addition to the weapons offenses, Hassler is now also charged with being in violation of his parole. 2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Colby J. Park WAMAC, Ill. It was almost quitting time for 142 men working 540 feet below ground in Centralia Coal Co.'s Mine No. 5. In operation since 1908, the mine's tentacles ran three or more miles from the elevator shaft into the coal seams. At 3:27 p.m. March 25, 1947, coal dust exploded deep inside. Many miners were killed by fire flashing through tunnels. Others were doomed by accumulating poison gas. Mrs. Alvin Barnes, a miner's wife, arrived at No. 5 to pick him up. "Something's wrong," another wife told her. Down below, men scratched notes to their families. "Dear wife, Goodbye. Forgive me. Take care of all the children." Another wrote, "Tell dad to quit the mine and take care of mom." The 31 survivors reached surface shortly after the blast. An additional 111 miners, including Barnes, were dead or trapped. The last succumbed about 6:30 p.m. At the mine entrance, dozens of family members gathered where miners' off-duty clothes were slung on hooks. Posted on the wall were inspection reports, dating to 1945, warning of excessive dust, bad ventilation and high risk of explosion. One year earlier, leaders of United Mine Workers Local 52 wrote to Illinois Gov. Dwight Green, complaining of conditions in No. 5. "Please save our lives," they wrote. The miners, paid $1.18 1/2 cents an hour, continued producing 3,000 tons a day at No. 5, just south of Centralia and 60 miles east of St. Louis. Of the four who signed the letter, only one survived the disaster. Anger focused on Green and Robert Medill, director of the Illlinois Department of Mines and Minerals. Medill, a Republican Party bagman, had been exposed only the week before for soliciting contributions from mining companies. In Chicago, Centralia Coal Co. president Homer F. McDonald was asked about conditions at No. 5. "Hell, I don't know anything about a coal mine," he said. McDonald referred questions to vice president William Young, who was in Wamac, surrounded by state troopers and company guards. Mine inspector Driscoll Scanlan became the whistle-blower, telling of repeated warnings about No. 5. His boss, Medill, tried to kick the blame back, but Green soon forced Medill's resignation. Search crews removed the last 31 bodies on March 30. A week later, Young admitted to visiting U.S. senators that he had disregarded inspection reports. Centralia Coal pleaded no contest of violating mine-safety laws and paid a piddling $1,000 fine. Medill was indicted, but a judge dismissed the charge. The Post-Dispatch won a Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for its reporting of the disaster. Green lost the election later that year to Democrat Adlai Stevenson. The disaster spurred reform. But four years later, 119 miners died in an explosion in a mine near West Frankfort, Ill. The Centralia coal mine disaster Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 Look Back: Centralia coal mine disaster, 1947 ~~ VERTICAL GALLERY: HIDE TITLES, ENLARGE TYPE ~~ CLINTWOOD, Va. From gourmet coffees and iced coffees to smoothies and juices, The Well on Main LLC in Clintwood offers a little something for everyone, including bakery items featuring old favorites and a changing menu of daily specials. Owner Melinda Edwards noted the new business, located near the Ralph Stanley Museum and Jettie Baker Center, sells to the local community as well as to visitors. The Well on Main LLC was a recent recipient of a $10,000 Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority Seed Capital Matching Grant. Seed capital grants are funded from regional funds received by VCEDA which are paid by the natural gas industry. The Well on Main LLC seeks to provide both a service to the community through the sale of its coffees, juices and bakery items, as well as a place to build community at the same time while employing local residents, being involved in community functions and locally sourcing ingredients when possible, said Jonathan Belcher, VCEDA executive director/general counsel. The business projects two full-time and three part-time employees. Dine-in options, call-ahead orders and curbside pick-up are available. Catering services are also offered. Custom cakes for birthdays and special occasions may also be ordered and those interested may call the business for pricing and designs. Iced coffees and smoothies are the big sellers and Edwards said that is in part because The Well on Main uses real fruit and honey in its recipes. Fresh squeezed juices are also available. Another favorite has been mushroom coffee, which is coffee made not with coffee beans, but mushrooms. We sell a lot of that, Edwards said, noting the taste is like a Chai tea. The Well has envisioned an environment that encourages community interaction in hopes of deepening the already existing bonds and building new relationships with people in our community as well as surrounding counties and visitors alike, Edwards said. Edwards noted as spring arrives and the weather is more amenable, bistro tables will be available outside the business in addition to seating available inside. A small side room is also available for small gatherings of six to eight people. It means a lot to me to be able to provide this space as a place people can come to, socialize a little and have coffee with friends, Edwards said. The VCEDA seed capital grant really gave me a leg up, she added. I knew two years ago I was ready to start this and I started preparing and saving my money, but this is just a tremendous help. Its allowed us to buy equipment and inventory. Edwards worked with the Small Business Development Center at Mountain Empire Community College in developing her application to VCEDA and received a letter of support from the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority. We are truly inspired to witness our client, Melinda, transform her dream into a tangible reality with The Well on Main, said Becki OQuinn-Purdie, SBDC program director at MECC. By introducing a much-needed coffee shop and home-baked goods to the Clintwood community, Melinda has poured her heart into crafting an inviting atmosphere that welcomes both locals and visitors, while also showcasing the very essence of Southwest Virginia. Mountain Empire Community Colleges Small Business Development Center takes great pride in witnessing the transformative impact a small business can have on the local community, she continued. It has been a pleasure working with Melinda and providing support throughout this exciting entrepreneurial journey. The Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority welcomes the opportunity to support small businesses in Dickenson County, such as the Well on Main, said Dickenson County Economic Development Director Dana Cronkhite. Small business development is key to the economic revitalization of Dickenson County and we are fortunate to have partners such as the Small Business Development Centers and the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority, that offer much needed support through education and grant opportunities. The Well on Main has quickly made a positive impact on the town of Clintwood and we look forward to their continued growth and success. The Well on Main LLC is located at 134 Main Street in Clintwood. The business is open daily from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and may be reached at 276-926-2087. It can also be found on Facebook. Three Virginia men on Friday were charged in connection with a scheme to rob U.S. Postal Service mail carriers at gunpoint and steal arrow keys used to access USPS collection mailboxes in order to obtain checks, credit cards and sensitive financial information. According to an indictment filed in Virginia Eastern District Court on March 12, Ricky Damion Christopher Jones Jr., 20, of Virginia Beach; Samir As-sad Hurd, 23, of Chesapeake; and Manray Perry, 22, of Virginia Beach, allegedly conspired to steal the arrow keys for the purpose of check washing, card cracking and bank fraud. The charges come as the USPS grapples with a surge in theft and crimes committed against mail carriers. Over 38,000 incidents of mail theft were reported nationwide during Fiscal Year 2022, according to the indictment, and 25,000 such incidents already have been reported for the first half of Fiscal Year 2023. Robbery of mail carriers also has increased, from 412 during FY22 to 305 for the first half of FY23. Suspects in the robberies often are looking for arrow keys, which are master keys authorized USPS personnel use to access the mail repositories across a certain region, the indictment says. The arrow keys are worth thousands of dollars on the black market. According to court records, Jones, Hurd and Perry allegedly were part of a wider conspiracy that included at least three other people, identified in prior court documents as DaTwan Watson, Jayden Stukes and O'Sirus Ford. Text messages exchanged between the group show that the conspirators carefully planned out a string of robberies in Norfolk and Hampton. On May 8, the groups spree began when they accosted a (mail carrier) in the 2600 block of Ballentine Boulevard in Norfolk, the indictment says. One of the conspirators brandished a firearm and stole the carriers arrow key and USPS identification card. The following day, a mail carrier in Hampton was similarly robbed in the 100 block of Galax Street. The indictment says the conspirators brandished a gun before taking the carriers arrow key. The group struck again two months later, the indictment alleges. On July 20, a mail carrier escaped a robbery attempt in the 900 block of Coleman Drive in James City County. Two additional carriers were robbed the same day: one in the 3700 block of West Steeplechase Way in James City, and one in the 300 block of Harbor Drive in Hampton. Jones, who the indictment identifies as the architect of the scheme, organized the robberies and compensated the conspirators for the arrow keys. He and several of his co-conspirators had years of experience in fraud schemes, according to the indictment, and advertised the scheme on social media in the hopes of recruiting participants. With the stolen checks, credit and debit cards and financial information acquired from USPS collection boxes, Jones and other members of the group would engag(e) in lucrative bank and wire fraud, which included depositing counterfeit, whether altered or entirely fabricated, check(s) into a third-party account, then trying to withdraw or spend as much of that money as possible before the fraudulent check is detected, the indictment says. It was not immediately clear how much money Jones and the group were able to obtain in the course of the scheme. Federal investigators began probing the robberies in May 2023, according to the indictment. A search of an apartment leased by Jones produced evidence of check washing and card cracking. Court records show Jones and Hurd were arrested Tuesday, and charged with interference with commerce by robbery, assault of a federal employee, stealing keys adopted by the USPS and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, among other charges. Perry was arrested Wednesday, and charged with interference with commerce by robbery, assault of a federal employee and stealing keys adopted by the USPS. Their next court dates could not immediately be determined. Watson, Stukes and Ford in December pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the scheme. Watson is scheduled for sentencing on April 18, Stukes on April 17 and Ford on May 2. The indictment comes less than a month after Olden Douglas Ellerbe III, 24, of Richmond, pleaded guilty to using stolen arrow keys to steal personal and financial information to use in perpetrating bank fraud. At the time of his Nov. 15 arrest, Ellerbe was in possession of $60,000 in cash, 83 checks, nine debit or credit cards, six savings bonds and a handgun, according to court records. Ellerbe targeted mail collection boxes at the Richmond Main Post Office on Brook Road. From the Archives: Mail in Richmond Alexander County has hired an interim county manager following the resignation announcement of current county manager Shane Fox. The Alexander County Board of Commissioners appointed Ben Faulkenberry to serve as interim county manager at a special called meeting on Thursday afternoon. The board met in closed session to discuss possible candidates for the interim manager position after Foxs resignation was announced in early March, the county said in a news release. Fox was hired in June of 2023 following the death of former county manager Richard Rick Louis French. French served Alexander County from April 1999 until his death in late 2022, according to previous Hickory Daily Record articles. Faulkenberry will be working alongside Fox until the end of Foxs service on April 30, the county said. Faulkenberry will receive a starting salary of $132,055. Fox earns an annual salary of $173,939, Alexander County Public Information Officer Gary Herman said. N.C. General Statute 153A-84 states, Whenever the position of county manager is vacant, the board of commissioners shall designate a qualified person to exercise the powers and perform the duties of manager until the vacancy is filled. Faulkenberry is a 2003 graduate of Alexander Central High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007. Faulkenberry graduated from the Elon University School of Law in 2011. Faulkenberry served as a prosecutor for the N.C. Courts system for 10 years in Iredell, Catawba and Alexander counties, according to the release. Alexander County commissioners also discussed the hiring process for a new county manager. The board voted to utilize the services of the Western Piedmont Council of Governments for the county manager search, the county said. Ash Creek Solar Developer Signs Deal With Microsoft Primergy Solar LLC announced last week that it closed commitments for $588 million in debt financing for the 408 MWac Ash Creek Solar project near Abbott and Penelope. The company also signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Microsoft for the full capacity of the plant. "The successful completion of this financing and a long-term PPA from Microsoft for Ash Creek is a testament to Primergys proven ability to creatively develop, finance, build and operate large-scale renewables projects," said Ty Daul, CEO of Primergy. For the complete story, see the March 21 edition of The Reporter Newspaper. Now one name Nearest Green has become synonymous with whiskey. The New York Times article from 2016 inspired author and entrepreneur Fawn Weaver to set out on a quest to reveal Nearest Green's full story what ended up as a 12-month research project involving more than 20 historians, archivists, archaeologists, conservators and genealogists. Advertisement Thanks to her work, a fuller picture of Green's legacy has emerged. Around the mid-1800s, Green's enslavers were a firm known as Landis & Green, who "leant out" Nearest Green for a fee to local preacher, the Rev. Dan Call. This was typical in an era in which enslaved men were commonly involved in the making of spirits due to its reputation as dangerous, dirty work. Nearest was known as a skilled distiller who specialized in a process known as sugar maple charcoal filtering also called the Lincoln County Process. This method which some historians believe was inspired by the techniques of enslaved men and women who had used charcoal to filter their water and purify their foods in West Africa gave Green's whiskey a unique smoothness. Years later, Jack Daniel, a 7-year-old white orphan, was sent to the Call farm to be a chore boy. Eventually, he became Green's apprentice and was taught the Lincoln County Process, which differentiates bourbon from Tennessee whiskey making Nearest responsible for the Tennessee whiskey we know today. Victoria Eady-Butler, Green's descendant and former employee of Jack Daniel's Distillery, noted that there would "never have been Jack Daniel's made without a Green on the property." After emancipation, Call sold his distillery to Jack Daniel. Daniel appointed Nearest Green, by then a free man, to be the Jack Daniel Distillery's first master distiller, and thus the first Black master distiller on record in the United States. Weaver discovered that sometime after 1881, Daniel moved his distillery to its current Cave Spring Hollow location, where several of Green's children and grandchildren went to work for him. " " A statue of Jack Daniel in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Kyle Dean Reinford/Picture Alliance/Getty Images Nearest's second-born and fourth-born sons, George and Eli, distilled whiskey on the Call Farm alongside Jack Daniel. Although no images of Nearest Green exist, a photograph shows one of his sons, George, sitting next to Jack Daniel. Altogether, seven generations of Nearest Green's family have worked for the Jack Daniel Distillery and continue to work there to this day. In case you needed any further evidence that most meetings are a waste of time, here's a survey. Source: Shutterstock More than three-quarters of work meetings in Australia are ineffective and are stopping people getting their actual work done, according to new research by Atlassian. The Workplace Woes: Meeting Edition report, released this week by Aussie tech giant Atlassian, involves a survey of 5,000 knowledge workers across four continents, including 1,000 employees in Australia, in partnership with Wakefield Research. The research found that while many Australian workplaces have embraced remote and hybrid work following the COVID-19 pandemic, many are still relying on old-school working methods that are heavily reliant on meetings. But this may not be the most efficient or effective way to work anymore, with the research finding that many of these meetings are pointless, frustrating, and block employees from completing the work they need to. The report found that meetings in Australian workplaces are ineffective 76 per cent of the time, and they were listed by those surveyed as the number one barrier preventing them from completing their normal day-to-day work. This meant they listed meetings as more of a roadblock than a lack of motivation, unclear goals, unclear responsibilities and being unsure about who to work with. They arent evil, theyre just poorly done, the Atlassian report said. Our research revealed that the meeting culture at most organisations actually makes it harder for teams to reach their goals. The survey also found that just under 65 per cent of respondents attended meetings where the intended goal was never stated, and more than 45 per cent had to work overtime at least a few days per week due to meetings taking up too much of their work time. Ironically, just under three-quarters of workers said that they often participated in meetings which simply led to the decision to hold another meeting. The overall global survey largely reflected the results in Australia, with respondents saying that meetings were ineffective 72 per cent of the time and just under 80 per cent of people saying that they are expected to attend so many meetings that its hard for them to get their work done. According to the report, 80 per cent of global respondents said they would be more productive in their jobs if they could spend less time in meetings, and many of these could simply be an email. Few things are more irritating than being forced to listen to information that could be read in half the time all while tasks pile up and work sits unfinished, the report said. Meetings dont have to suck The report doesnt recommend meetings be canned entirely, but that they should be done better and more efficiently, such as through setting a clear agenda, ensuring they dont go for more than 15 minutes and assigning a facilitator so everyone is able to contribute. Meetings will always be a part of teamwork, but they dont have to suck, the report said. Our research uncovered some strong clues as to how to improve the meetings we cant eliminate. This can be done through cutting the number of low priority meetings within an organisation and grouping others together in order to focus time, according to the report. Employees should also assign time in their work calendars for their commitments, and schedule in blocks of up to two hours for focused work, accounting for about 30 to 40 per cent of their work time in a week. The report also recommended that open collaboration blocks be scheduled each week allowing for impromptu work sessions, taking up about 10 to 20 per cent of the working week, and for workers to allocate specific time to respond to messages so they are not constantly checking notifications. Flexible work and online meetings are likely here to stay, with recent research finding that the younger an employee is, the more likely they are to say flexibility is their most important consideration when they are looking to change jobs. Another report found that a good relationship between a manager and their employees is crucial for efficiency within a workforce. The research found that the majority of workers are more productive if they have a manager who cares, but that most employees would not describe their current boss as appreciative. A former county government employee recently submitted an emailed report to the State Bureau of Investigation regarding the suspected unlawful misuse of public funds for political purposes by Midland Town Manager Doug Paris. David Goldberg, who was deputy county attorney from 2021-23, said he filed the report because I believe in the nonpartisan, policy neutral professional management of local governments in North Carolina. People should trust that their communities are supported by ethical and qualified professional managers who support and advise their political leaders, but who themselves remain outside of the political fray, Goldberg told the paper. Mr. Pariss politicization of his position does a disservice to Midland and to my profession. Goldberg said he observed Paris conduct while he served as deputy county attorney but held out hope that it was an aberration. Now as a private citizen still residing in Cabarrus County, he felt it was time to shed light on the issue. As this campaign season progresses, I am concerned that Mr. Pariss conduct will only become more flagrant without intervention, Goldberg told the paper. He emailed SBI Assistant Director Kevin Tabron on March 15 and contacted the Independent Tribune about the report about a week later, on March 21. Neither Tabron nor the SBI has responded to comments from the paper regarding receiving the email or if the organization would look into any of Goldbergs allegations. Paris, after reading Goldbergs email, told the paper that the SBI must receive a referral from a local agency or district attorney to investigate a complaint. They do not take up requests from private citizens, Paris said, noting he feels Goldbergs goal was to create a negative story in the newspaper. I do not think any credible law enforcement agency is going to waste their time on a Facebook post. Paris added that Mr. Goldberg is welcome to air his grievances. That is the beautiful thing about our country. We have the freedom of speech, the right to air grievances, and I say let freedom ring. Goldbergs allegations Goldberg alleged that Paris, who has been town manager since 2015, actively supported the campaigns of Chris Measmer, Kenny Wortman, and Barbara Strang in the 2022 county commissioner elections and used town resources to support the campaigns of Larry Pittman and Laura Blackwell Lindsey in this years primary county commissioner elections. He used his public authority to support his preferred candidates, Goldberg wrote. Goldberg told the paper that Paris actions, in his view, are a violation of G.S. 160A-169(e), which states that No employee may use city funds, supplies, or equipment for partisan purposes, or for political purposes except where such political uses are otherwise permitted by law. Goldberg included several supporting documents in his email to Tabron to back up his claims, including an article from the Independent Tribune in November 2022, which reported about an alleged plan between former Commissioner Barbara Strang and current Commissioner Chris Measmer to work with Paris to remove County Manager Mike Downs and replace him with Paris, among other personnel changes. Commissioner Kenny Wortman, who was included in the plan but opposed it, sent several screenshots of text messages between himself and Paris to the reporter, Victoria Young. The text messages discuss Paris being asked to be interim county manager, among other topics, according to the article. In the texts between Wortman and Paris, which Goldberg acquired through a public records request and shared with the paper, Paris told Wortman that he agreed to be the interim county manager if asked. We agreed on me splitting time between Midland and the county for one year and helping with the search for a permanent manager in the second six months of the one-year term. In response to the allegation, Paris said he was asked to temporarily help when Downs retired, which he agreed to. There is nothing wrong with this, he said. Goldberg also accused Paris of utilizing the Midlands official town communications to support his preferred candidates. He noted that on March 15, the Town of Midlands Facebook page posted in part: Congratulations to Larry Pittman and Laura Blackwell Lindsey for their primary election wins for Cabarrus County Commissioner. The post included a photo of Paris standing with Pittman and Lindsey at what appears to be a polling location while wearing his Town of Midland shirt. Once again, Mr. Paris appears to be using his official position to support his political and career goals, Goldberg wrote. The Independent Tribune could not independently verify that Paris was the person who wrote and published the Facebook post. There is nothing wrong with congratulating someone on Facebook after their election win, Paris said of the Facebook post. This is not a crime. It is important for the town to have good relations with newly elected officials. In another instance, Goldberg wrote that it was inappropriate for Paris to provide VIP seating to his preferred candidates at a 2022 Memorial Day ceremony. He obtained emailed documentation showing Paris asking Peter Sabo, a veteran who helped coordinate the event, on May 24 to make seat markers for Commissioner Barbara Strang, Commissioner-Elect Chris Measmer and Commissioner-Elect Kenny Wortman. He wrote to the SBI that it was inappropriate to provide special seating to Measmer and Wortman, who still had to win seats on the commission during the November election. It is also telling that Mr. Paris referred to them as Commissioner-Elect about six months before the actual election, Goldberg wrote. In response to the allegation about the VIP seating, Paris said all officials attending the event were given front row seating, which he said was standard practice. Goldberg concluded his email by writing that Mr. Pariss apparent entanglement with partisan politics could undermine the publics confidence in its government and could create circumstances conducive for further waste, fraud, and abuse. Goldbergs email to the SBI can be read below. Below is Paris emailed response to the paper, responding to Goldbergs email to the SBI. Hello Chris, Ive read the information you sent me. Mr. Goldberg is welcome to air his grievances. That is the beautiful thing about our country. We have the freedom of speech, the right to air grievances, and I say let freedom ring. I was asked about two years ago if I would help out temporarily when the County Manager retired until the county could find a permanent manager. I agreed to help. There is nothing wrong with this. All officials attending the memorial event were given front row VIP seating. This is standard practice. Chairman Steve Morris also had front row VIP seating and spoke at the event. There is nothing wrong with this. I routinely reach out to people in my network for hiring referrals. It is tough to find good employees in the current market. There is nothing wrong with this. Shannon Owens, while an excellent candidate, was not hired for the position. I am not sure why Mr. Goldberg got this wrong. The candidate who was hired was Savannah Suggs. See attached email. There is nothing wrong with congratulating someone on Facebook after their election win. This is not a crime. It is important for the town to have good relations with newly elected officials. I am not a member of ICMA. The dues are over $1,000 a year and the organization does not provide enough benefit to me to justify the cost. The tenets Mr. Goldberg cites only applies to members. The SBI must receive a referral from a local agency or district attorney to investigate a complaint. They do not take up requests from private citizens. I do not think any credible law enforcement agency is going to waste their time on a Facebook post. I think the goal of all this is to create a negative story in the newspaper. Thats why it was sent to you Thanks, DP. As the US Congress deliberates actions against TikTok, a wider discourse on data privacy and sales comes to the forefront. The discussion extends beyond TikToks fate, encompassing broader concerns regarding data usage and its implications, says data and analysis company GlobalData. According to the analyst company, with growing scrutiny over data brokerage practices and privacy, there is a pressing need for regulatory measures to safeguard consumer interests and address potential threats to data security and privacy. Steven J. Schuchart Jr., Principal Analyst for Enterprise Infrastructure at GlobalData remarks: So many applications and services now collect data that its vitally important for both consumers and the government to know what happens to that data. The issue stretches beyond anonymization, it is also about how that data is sold to data brokers and who they sell to. In TikTok, the US Congress is targeting a foreign-owned company, whose parent ByteDance is based in China. It does not address how much less well-known data brokers operate, nor does the US Congress address significant personal privacy concerns for citizens. The US President Joe Biden has signaled that he will sign legislation banning TikTok or forcing its sale if it reaches his desk. The subject of data collection elicits strong opinions, notes GlobalData. Schuchart continues: Ads are big business, and the objection will be that strong privacy and data sovereignty legislation will harm sales. Of course, this is true. Ads would have to be less targeted, but the advertising industry and businesses survived fine before this level of data was available and will again. Furthermore, customers are becoming increasingly concerned about how their data is used further data privacy regulation is inevitable. The age of AI makes privacy and control of data export even more important AI will make data even more valuable, and the insights gained more frequent. The national security implications and personal privacy issues are plain to see. Enterprises that move to get ahead of regulation and restrict their own use and export of data will have an advantage when the regulations tighten, Schuchart concludes. COMPANY NEWS New Relic, the all-in-one observability platform for every engineer, announced that it will now provide native support for OpenTelemetry and Prometheus-instrumented hosts and Kubernetes clusters at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2024. With this launch, organizations can now instrument Kubernetes clusters and hosts using the OpenTelemetry collector and Prometheus Node Exporter in a single step. They also gain instant access to curated UIs that automatically correlate performance across applications and infrastructure. Open source instrumentation frameworks like OpenTelemetry and Prometheus are being rapidly adopted because they are standardized, vendor agnostic, community supported, and cost effective. However, instrumenting and setting up these open source tools to work with commercial observability platforms requires significant time and expertise. Engineers need to gather the right telemetry for each resource, establish tagging for correlation, create dashboards, and set thresholds of acceptable performance. Even with these measures in place, teams often find it challenging to correlate data across different dashboards to determine the cause during an incident response. New Relic solves these challenges by making it easier to instrument and get visibility into applications and infrastructure telemetry data to lower incident response times. Open source frameworks like OpenTelemetry are an integral part of the tech stack, and that reliance continues to grow. Most observability platforms only offer primitive support for these tools. There needs to be a shift in the industry to meet developers where they are, said New Relic Chief Product Officer Manav Khurana. That is why we offer native support for OpenTelemetry in our platform. We are now simplifying observability for engineers using OpenTelemetry and Prometheus so they can spend less time on instrumentation, setup, and troubleshooting and more time on what matters most to them - shipping code and driving innovation. One of the major reasons we chose New Relic over other observability platforms is because of how deeply and natively integrated it is with OpenTelemetry, said ZeroFlucs CTO Carly Christensen. They continue to push ahead of any other vendor on the market by adding new features like native support for OpenTelemetry and Prometheus-instrumented hosts and Kubernetes clusters. This, combined with the cost effectiveness of their platform they charge based on consumption is why we rely on New Relic as our single source of truth for observability. New Relics native support populates golden signals in its native UIs for hosts and Kubernetes, with automatic correlation between application and infrastructure telemetry. As a result, teams can quickly detect and isolate the cause behind performance issues across their applications and related infrastructure in one place. New capabilities include: One-step instrumentation for Kubernetes clusters and hosts using the OpenTelemetry collector and Prometheus Node Exporter. for Kubernetes clusters and hosts using the OpenTelemetry collector and Prometheus Node Exporter. Instant access to out-of-the-box dashboards and native UIs with standardized golden metrics. with standardized golden metrics. Automated relationship mapping between application and infrastructure to render topology maps and understand how the performance of one layer impacts another. between application and infrastructure to render topology maps and understand how the performance of one layer impacts another. Faster debugging enabled by automatic correlation with application and infrastructure logs. The latest support for OpenTelemetry and Prometheus-instrumented hosts and Kubernetes clusters will be available to customers in the coming months. Get started by contacting your New Relic account representative or sign up for a free account. For more information, please visit OpenTelemetry and Kubernetes web pages. GUEST RESEARCH: An AI-Powered bot unlocks productivity gains and future-proofs one of Australias largest private tertiary education providers to help process enrolment applications within 24 hours of receiving them. Greenwich College is one of Australias largest private English language and vocational training businesses, catering to over 10,000 international students per year - and growing. Like others in the tertiary education sector, it has ridden a wave of explosive growth in inquiries and enrolments post-pandemic. When borders reopened, the dream of studying in Australia became a reality again for students worldwide. As in many sectors heavily exposed to international movements, Greenwich College was forced to wind back operations in order to stay afloat during the pandemic. Its slimmed-down state enabled its survival but left it challenged when international travel resumed. Jane Choi - Head of Admissions and Systems AT Greenwich College When the borders reopened, the floodgates opened so we had to scale incredibly quickly, recalls Greenwich College Head of Admissions and Systems, Jane Choi. Scale is not just a tap that can be switched on and off; it takes time to rebuild teams and capability. For Greenwich College, that meant turn-around times for confirmation of enrolments temporarily increased from 24 hours to up to two weeks. The international education sector is competitive, and enrolment and visa application processes are highly intertwined. Prospective students apply for study, their application is assessed, and, if eligible, they receive a formal letter of offer. If the offer is accepted and a tuition deposit paid, the education provider issues a confirmation of enrolment, generated by a government system. This document is required to apply for and receive a student visa. The expectation on all sides is for an application assessment to occur quickly. Greenwich Colleges benchmark is under 24 hours, so when timelines blew out Choi and her team had to find ways to do things better. Choi has a team of 15 assessing officers, most located in Australia, but a couple also in Brazil, a key source market for the organisation. Operating in dual time zones enable some follow-the-sun processing of applications, but its still a people-intensive process. An officer working seven hours a day, five days a week, can process around 30 applications a day. This was no match for the large number of applications being received, which peaked at hundreds per day. Assessment processes are highly regulated, and education providers face strict compliance requirements. With high competition for talent, Choi attempted to scale up the assessment team with less experienced employees, augmented with intensive training. We had some hits and misses, she says. Other methods were also used to drive down the application backlog: incentives and overtime for existing employees, and offshore recruitment. The backlog was eventually cleared, courtesy of the mix of strategies employed, together with an easing of application volumes which were returning to a more normalised level. But the challenges faced in this period made a strong impression. As Choi says, We needed to think about future-proofing the business and ensure we were never in that situation ever again. Greenwich College took it as an opportunity to innovate: to test-and-learn with emerging technology to seek to improve process efficiency and effectiveness. The result is Raybot - Ray for short - an intelligent automation bot that is handling enrolment data entry on behalf of the Greenwich College assessing officers, enabling them to focus on higher order tasks and doubling their capacity to process applications. Data matters Aspects of the application assessment process are significantly repetitive. When an application is received, Greenwich College needs to check if the prospective student is already in its student management systems, and if not, to create a new record. Some data entry is required: start dates, student details and other vital information fields to enable Greenwich to process the enrolment application. Accuracy of data entry is critical, since the data is used to generate government documents that are needed for the student to apply for a visa. While assessing officers could be trained to improve their accuracy and speed, it left open the potential for human error and did not represent a cost-effective way to scale. The repetitive nature made this portion of the application process a candidate for intelligent process automation. We had a good idea that certain things we did could be automated. We knew what we wanted but we needed the right partner who spoke our language that could help us capitalise on this, says Choi. Finding a values-based partner Greenwich College had mixed experiences with prior technology partners, and prioritised cultural fit, values, and technical capability in its search for a partner to help it implement intelligent process automation. Its difficult to find the right partner when you want to test a particular idea but also get results at the same time, says Choi. Thats how we like to approach things: test an idea, get it working, get some value out of it, but with a view to being able to scale it. Tecala was able to show Greenwich College similar examples of bots that were already in use. It also took a bespoke approach to the colleges needs, bringing in domain experts from across the company to contribute to the solution design and provide expertise to guide Greenwich College through the project and implementation. The approach instilled confidence with Greenwich College that the experiment could operate not only in a cost-effective manner but also that it had the greatest chance of producing the desired results quickly. Tecala created a robotic process automation (RPA) workflow that reads the applications being received like a human would. Raybot then downloads the students supporting documents, classifies them using OCR and keywords and extracts important information, such as a passport scan, by feeding it into a machine learning model. The underlying technology is provided by UiPath. We were able to get from zero to production in about three months, and it wasnt disruptive - we didnt have to change systems or retrain staff. It was business-as-usual for us, says Choi. We focused on improving a small aspect of a process that we were already doing. Ray makes its mark With Ray taking care of data entry, Greenwich College assessing officers can now leapfrog this step and move straight into performing quality checks. The more experienced team members can now focus on the actual assessing and decision-making thats required to determine student eligibility into a study program, Choi says. Rays presence means assessors save on average 10 minutes per application processed. The sheer volume of work means those savings quickly add up, boosting the productivity and effectiveness of the whole application assessment function. Instead of processing 25-30 applications, an assessing officer is able to double that now that Rays taking on some of the more repetitive and time-consuming data entry, says Choi. Further gains are predicted as Rays scope is progressively expanded. For example, Choi sees an opportunity for Ray to begin handling more aspects of student onboarding, including generating payment plans and invoicing students. Oversight by assessors will still be a required and valuable part of the process, as the organisation uses variable pricing by geography as well as temporary promotions, and the dynamic nature of these makes them unsuited to full automation. The balance between whats best handled by a human or bot is guiding Greenwich Colleges next steps and future directions. Its really about what a human can best do versus what a bot can do. Weve been able to test this, and Tecalas been the right partner for us to bring our ideas to life. GUEST OPINION: After a few false starts, Microsoft has started to transition its approach with service provider partners, retiring the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Commerce Platform and introducing the New Commerce Experience (NCE). This change involves alterations in licensing provision and introduces a unified billing platform for Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Windows 365, CoPilot, and Power Platform. With the new provisions taking effect for subscriptions renewing from January 2024 onwards. Transitioning from the Microsoft CSP program to NCE can be intricate for partners such as independent service providers (ISVs) and telcos, especially those with a high volume of subscriptions. To avoid the risk of operational disruptions and maintain control of the process, its best to make the transition now. As your renewal date edges closer, there are nine key things you need to know: 1. Assess and plan for the transition: Identify all existing CSP legacy subscriptions and determine the renewal dates for each subscription. It is important to assess the volume of subscriptions and potential impact on operations so you can evaluate any need for customisation or adjustments. 2. Communicate customer integration: Ensure that customer subscriptions are aligned with their needs and expectations. Integrate customers into the Microsoft partner portal to maintain control over plan selection. 3. Application programming interface (API) consolidation: Review existing API integrations and assess their compatibility with NCE. You may need to update or modify your APIs to meet new requirements and then test the systems to identify any issues and fix them. 4. Monitor subscriptions: Real-time monitoring of subscriptions, including renewal status, is key to ensure visibility into the status of orders, licenses, domain information, and security scores. Provide customers with self-service options for subscription monitoring. 5. Automate operations: Invest in automation tools to streamline subscription management, billing, and reconciliation. Automating operations gives customers the capabilities to self-serve, whether it is placing new orders, modifying existing ones or accessing support resources. Ensure accessibility of the user interface on various devices and screens. 6. Keep in touch with your support team: Stay informed about updates from the platform provider regarding NCE and Microsoft's changes. Establish a clear communication channel with the platform provider for assistance. 7. Educate when needed: Guide internal teams and customers through the upcoming changes and benefits of NCE. Keep customers updated throughout the transition. 8. Use a cloud monetisation platform: Verify that the platform provides support for Microsoft's NCE and can assist with the migration process. Confirm the platform's ability to automate updates based on Microsoft API changes. 9. Multinational functionality: Prepare for the transfer of billing files to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. You will want to look for a cloud monetisation platform that has experience dealing with international currencies, regulations, and languages with sophisticated cataloging systems, billing engines, an integration platform, and the ability to overlay commerce or experience workflows on top of traditional systems. As the old saying goes, failure to prepare is preparing to fail. With proactive measures, such as preparing for customer migration and addressing the challenges associated with the transition, adapting to Microsofts NCE will help create a smoother experience. GUEST OPINION: Considerable focus within the cybersecurity industry has been placed on the attack surface of organisations, giving rise to external attack surface management (EASM) technologies as a means to monitor said surface. It would appear a reasonable approach, on the premise that a reduction in exposed risk related to the external attack surface reduces the likelihood of compromise and potential disruption from the myriad of ransomware groups targeting specific geographies and sectors. But things are never quite that simple. The challenge, of course, is that the exposed external risks extend beyond the endpoints being scanned. With access brokers performing the hard yards for ransomware affiliates gathering information, identifying initial entry vectors is more than a simple grab of banners. Rapid7 Labss recent analysis looked at the external access surface of multiple sectors within the APAC region over the last half of 2023, with considerable data available well beyond open RDP and unpatched systems. What is revealing is the scale of data that appears to be aiding the access brokers, such as the exposure of test systems or unmaintained hosts to the internet, or the availability of leaked credentials. Each of these gives the multitude of ransomware actors the opportunity to conduct successful attacks while leveraging the hard work of access brokers. What is interesting as we consider these regionally-targeted campaigns is that the breadth of threat groups is rather wide, but the group which is most prevalent does vary based on the targeted geography or sector. (Please note that this data predates the possible exit scam reported and therefore does not take it into account.) The following graphic shows the sectors targeted, and the various threat groups targeting them, within Australia: If we compare the most prevalent groups in Japan, however, the landscape does change somewhat: All of which does focus the mind on this concept of actionable intelligence. Typically organisations have taken a one-size-fits-all approach to risk prioritisation; however, a more nuanced approach could be to consider the threat groups targeting the given sector of an organisation as a higher priority. Such an approach is quickly becoming a critical aspect of not only vulnerability management although with the continual burning of zero days, vulnerability management is critical but also prioritisation across all areas of security operations. For example, combining EASM and actionable intelligence to quickly identify assets with vulnerabilities being exploited in the wild should take the highest priority. This is particularly the case when an attributed ransomware campaign is targeting the sector/geo of the organisation. The need to move into this new world of intelligence led security operations is very clear, and its felt on an almost daily basis. Within a year we have witnessed such a fundamental increase in the level of capabilities from threat groups whose previous modus operandi was entrenched in the identification of leaked credentials, yet will now happily burn zero days with impunity. Our approach within Rapid7 Labs is to provide context wherever possible. We strongly urge organisations to leverage resources such as AttackerKB to better understand the context of these CVEs, or the likes of Metasploit to validate whether the reports from their external scan warrant an out-of-cycle security update. These, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg, but our approach remains constant: context is critical, as is agility. We are faced with more noise than ever before, and any measures that can be used to filter this out should be a critical part of security operations. NBN Co has successfully raised EUR 1.3 billion (A$2.16 billion equivalent) from its second Euro Green Bonds issuance in the European debt capital markets. The Euro dominated benchmark transactions in green format were priced on 14 March 2024 across a dual- tranche offering, with EUR 700 million (A$1.16 billion) in a six-year tranche and EUR 600 million (A$995 million) in a 10-year tranche. NBN Co says the combined proceeds will be fully allocated to eligible green projects undertaken as part of the companys commitment to energy efficiency in line with its with its Sustainability Bond Framework1 The transaction settled on 22 March 2024 and NBN Co says nbn has attracted strong interest in Europe, with the transaction order book significantly oversubscribed, demonstrating that investors have a strong interest in sustainable financing and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives. NBN Co notes that in February 2024, global ratings agency Fitch upgraded the companys long-term Issuer Default Rating to AA+, from AA, and noted that the companys outlook remains stable. nbn is currently the largest Australian corporate issuer in Green Bond format, now with approximately A$5.9 billion equivalent of Green Bonds outstanding in the domestic and international markets. The latest Euro issuance follows NBN Cos inaugural European Green Bond issuance of EUR 1.35 billion (A$2.1 billion equivalent) completed in March 2023, NBN Co said. nbns debut Euro issuance in March 2023 was the largest Green Bond transaction in any currency issued by an Australian corporate issuer at the time. It was also the first ever benchmark Euro use of proceeds Green Bond from any Australian or New Zealand corporate. nbn has raised A$1.65 billion in green format in the domestic market to date, positioning the company as the largest corporate bond issuer in the Australian Medium Term Note (AMTN) market. This includes a A$850 million Green Bond issued in August 2023 and a A$800 million Green Bond issued in April 2022, under NBN Cos A$10 billion AMTN Programme. NBN Co says the net proceeds from the green bond issuances were allocated to fund eligible energy efficiency projects including expanding energy-efficient fibre to more homes and businesses - and nbn issued two Sustainability Bond Reports2 in 2023, which set out details of its green bonds, allocation of proceeds from these green bonds and impact reporting as required under the Sustainability Bond Framework. and tracks the companys green credentials, performance and progress. nbns Sustainability Approach has an ESG objective to align its governance and reporting requirements with applicable global market standards for sustainable financing. In February 2023, nbn committed to long-term emission reductions by 2050 (or sooner) in line with science-based net-zero via the Science-Based Targets initiative3. In April 2023, the companys near-term emissions reduction targets were validated by the SBTi and are as follows: NBN Co commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 95 per cent by FY30 from a FY21 base year. NBN Co also commits to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions from use of sold NBN Co products by 60 per cent per device within the same timeframe. NBN Co further commits that 80 per cent of its suppliers by spend covering purchased goods and services, capital goods, and downstream transportation and distribution will have science-based targets by FY27. The company expects to submit its long-term emissions reduction targets to the SBTi for validation in the near future, notes NBN Co, adding that by pushing energy-efficient fibre deeper into communities, the company is enabling long-term reductions in network power demand and helping ensure the network is future-ready and more available for consumers when they need it. nbn is on track to enable over 10 million premises or up to 90 per cent of the nbn Fixed Line network to access close to Gigabit speeds by the end of 2025. The companys largest fibre upgrade program is the Fibre-to-the-Node (FTTN) to Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network upgrade program, which will enable up to 3.5 million premises to access our fastest residential wholesale download speed tier of close to 1 Gbps4 by the end of 2025. Fiona Trigona, Executive General Manager, Group Treasurer, NBN Co said: In addition to the moral imperative to operate our business in the most environmentally conscious and sustainable way, our ESG commitment also serves an important commercial imperative. We have monetised and commercialised our sustainability approach with the issuance of Green Bonds into the international private debt markets, so this naturally elevates the governance of our sustainability approach to investment grade reporting requirements. Our program to roll out fibre across the network not only delivers a faster and more reliable customer experience, fibre is also a greener technology than copper, thereby enabling us to complete a virtuous circle. Our ESG approach enables our company to access deep pools of liquidity via the international debt and capital markets, because these international institutional investors have their own targets for green investments. High-speed, secure and reliable broadband connectivity enabled by the nbn network supports economic, social and environmental benefits for residential and business customers and the nation. Through ongoing investments in delivering a faster, more sustainable and resilient network, NBN Co is helping drive the nations productivity and as a result, delivering important economic and social impacts to communities across Australia. 1 NBN Co Sustainability Bond Framework 2 Sustainability Bond Report 3 Ambitious corporate climate action - Science Based Targets 4 Regardless of the retail service you purchase, the actual wholesale download speeds delivered to providers will be less than 1Gbps due to equipment and network limitations. Your experience on FTTP, including the speeds actually achieved, depends on the configuration over which services are delivered to your premises, whether you are using the internet during the busy period, and some factors outside of nbns control (like your equipment quality, software, chosen broadband plan, or how your provider designs its network) SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. Lisa Bromley has done a lot during her 30 years as a police officer in suburban Maryland. Undercover drug buys. Armed robbery investigations. Working car crashes. But it wasn't until last week that she found herself disguised in a wig and a coronavirus mask, playing the role of a scam victim in her 60s who police say had already been bilked out of about $789,000 worth of gold bars. Her hope: Their target would soon pull into a parking lot in Montgomery County's sprawling Leisure World community looking for more gold. The plan worked, law enforcement officials said in a news release Friday announcing the arrest of Wenhui Sun, 34, of Lake Arbor, Calif. Local and federal authorities say his scam was part of a growing trend by swindlers. Often posing as federal investigators, they persuade their targets to buy gold bars - and turn them over for safekeeping - while purported investigators try to identify thieves who might otherwise have raided the target's bank accounts. "They're doing anything they can to get to these people," said Bromley, who has spent the past decade as a financial crimes investigator and worked a similar case last year in which the victim lost more than $1 million. "It breaks your heart." The scammers project both concern and subtle force, suggesting that if their targets don't act quickly, they'll not only lose their savings, but they'll also miss out on a chance to help the government take down dangerous identity thieves. "Once the victim is on the hook, the scammer will keep going," said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Keith Custer, who works such cases out of the bureau's Baltimore field office. Victims of the gold bar and related scams can be otherwise perfectly smart, Custer said. "Doctors, lawyers, executives. I've seen pretty much any victim." Sun is being held without bond in the Montgomery County jail and is charged with theft over $100,000 and attempted theft over $100,000, according to court records. Sun's attorney could not be reached. For Bromley and her colleagues in the Montgomery County police financial crimes section, the case began on March 10, when a woman called to report that she thought she had been swindled. The woman, whom police identified as Victim 1 in court filings to protect her privacy, said that in February, she received a phone call from a man who identified himself as "Mark Cooper" from "the Office of the Inspector General, Federal Trade Commission," detectives wrote in a court affidavit. The purported Mark Cooper told the woman she had been the victim of identity theft that had led to a federal drug and money laundering probe. The man then put the woman in contact with someone who identified himself as "Officer David Freeman," who said he could provide her with a new Social Security number and witness protection, but only at the conclusion of his investigation, after she had fully cooperated, according to the affidavit. "To ensure her cooperation and secure her assets, Victim 1 was directed to purchase gold bars," detectives wrote, "which were to be turned over to FBI agents who would get the bars and place them into the U.S. Department of Treasury." Evoking the protection of an asset like gold is key to such schemes, said Custer, the FBI agent: "They like to conjure up Federal Reserve banks, images of stacks of gold at Fort Knox." And there is another reason they want their targets to order gold bars - usually done through wire transfers to legitimate sellers who then ship the gold via guaranteed parcel. Once the gold arrives, Custer said, the swindlers need only to persuade their targets to hand it over - a strategy that avoids the victim having to physically go into a bank to withdraw money, which can raise the suspicions of alert tellers and bankers. In the Montgomery County case, the victim wired her first payment of $331,817.54 to a gold dealer on Feb. 21. Two weeks later, as she stayed in touch with the scammers with screenshots of her order status, the gold bars arrived via UPS, according to court records. The scammers then told her to meet a "courier" near a parking lot outside Leisure World. She did so, placing the boxed-up gold in the back of the courier's car, which then drove away. Police say the scammers struck again the next day, persuading the woman to wire $457,410.34 to a gold dealer for more gold bars. On March 8, she again met the courier, this time at a nearby but different parking lot, and handed over the second package. The driver, behind the wheel of a Dodge Ram truck bearing New York license plates, drove away. Two days later, realizing she had been scammed, the woman called police. Video surveillance near the parking lot, detectives wrote, revealed the truck's license plate, which they traced to a rental car company in New York and then to Sun, according to detectives. Automated license plate readers, they added, also tracked the truck driving from New York to Maryland on the day of the second gold bar pickup. Investigators had the woman continue to communicate with the scammers, telling them she had more gold bars, to lure them back, even as police worried the scammers might sniff out the ruse. "I was extremely nervous," said Detective Sean Petty. "This is their job. They have perfected this." But it worked, they wrote in court papers, saying the fraudsters indicated they would return for a new shipment. This time, they were waiting - a team of financial crimes detectives and undercover officers including Bromley, wearing her mask and brunette wig, which she had had overnighted from Amazon. Just past 7 p.m. on Monday, a black Jeep Wagoneer - driven by Sun - arrived at the Leisure World guard booth and was let through, according to detectives. He stopped at the meeting spot, according to detectives, at which point Bromley placed a brown box - valueless - on the back seat. The Wagoneer drove away, but not for long - undercover officers swarmed it a short time later. Sun spoke to investigators, according to court records, saying a friend in China had directed him to drive to Maryland to pick up a package. He said he had also picked up the package on March 8 but didn't know what was in it. "Sun admitted that he had traveled to Tennessee, Montana, New York and Maryland, but advised the only place he's picked up packages is Maryland," investigators wrote. They also revealed in court filings something they found in Sun's Wagoneer: a plane ticket for that day to California. Sun said that he had postponed the trip to get the package but that he would be leaving for California the next day. Instead, according to court records, he was placed in jail. (COMMENT, BELOW) SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. In three words, here is Joe Biden's re-election strategy: Lie, lie, lie. Biden and his Democrat allies are not conducting a normal re-election campaign based on a brighter tomorrow. Concerning their job performance today, their approach is: The less said, the better. Instead, Biden Democrats present a non-stop parade of lies about Donald J. Trump. These include outright fabrications about his record and pitch-black premonitions of a "Trump dictatorship" totally unlike his first term. On Tuesday in Reno, Biden parroted the old lie that Trump refused to visit France's Aisne-Marne American Cemetery because its fallen World War I soldiers were "losers and suckers." Rubbish! Jeffrey Goldberg recklessly and maliciously concocted this "story" for The Atlantic just before Labor Day 2020. His proof: Four anonymous "sources." In contrast, I subsequently wrote five articles that dismantled this vulgar smear. I named and quoted 16 members of Trump's Parisian entourage. They verified that Trump's security personnel scotched the November 10, 2018 visit due to rain, low clouds too dangerous for helicopters, and logistical headaches that precluded motorcade travel. A military aide's contemporaneous e-mail and a local weather report exculpated Trump. His delayed departure the next day, to visit Suresnes American Cemetery near Paris, also obliterated Goldberg's "losers and suckers" lie. Sources: Trump 16, Goldberg 4. Regardless, Biden waved Goldberg's discredited myth around like a dusty skeleton. He likely will do so again, because Joe Biden lies like most people breathe. "My son is one of those losers and suckers," Biden mumbled. Actually, Beau Biden served in Iraq, not The Great War. He is buried in Greenville, Delaware, not Chateau-Thierry, France. The Biden campaign on Monday released a disgusting ad featuring shopworn video of neo-Nazis marching on August 11, 2017, the night before Charlottesville, Virginia's deadly race riots. Team Biden included Trump's comment about "very fine people, on both sides" of that mayhem. They also pretended not to know what Trump soon added at the same news conference: "I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists because they should be condemned totally." The August 15, 2017 White House transcript confirms Trump's rebuke. Regardless, Biden's ad conveniently whitewashes Trump's anti-racism. The Washington Post's Lisa Rein lied that Trump denounced the violence "without singling out the white nationalists and neo-Nazis." Trump did exactly that. Biden, Democrats, and their media bodyguards now claim that Trump promised "a bloodbath" if Biden wins re-election. At a March 16 rally in Dayton, Ohio, Trump decried potential imports of Chinese-designed, Mexican-built electric vehicles, on which he threatened 100% tariffs. Trump predicted that a re-elected Biden would welcome these autos and trigger "a bloodbath" among U.S. car makers. "But they're not going to sell those cars," if Trump wins, he added. The ensuing foam on Democrat mouths resembled shaving cream. "It's clear this guy wants another January 6," Biden deceived via X. "What does that mean?" House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi prevaricated on CNN. "He's going to exact a bloodbath?" Atop endless lies, Democrats also wallow in hypocrisy. As a Grabien video montage hilariously indicates, Trump haters use "bloodbath" more often than he does. "It'll be a bloodbath," MSNBC's Ali Vitali said about Nikki Haley's campaign. "Not only is it going to be a bloodbath, but after they leave New Hampshire, it's a bloodbath on her home turf." "And Trump has left a lot of corpses in his wake," Dasha Burns replied. "I mean, we haven't counted the bodies." CNN's Van Jones said of the GOP's 2020 prospects: "It's going to be a bloodbath." MSNBC's Joy Reid foresaw "a bloodbath at the ballot box." Grabien captured "bloodbath" 48 times, mainly by Trump's foes. Trump says "bloodbath," and these very same people scream, "Mein Kampf 2.0!" Rather than offer Americans a positive vision, Biden and the Democrats plan this through November 5: Terrify voters, recycle anti-Trump lies, invent new ones, and yell, "Abortion!" Rinse, repeat. Whatever happened to Hope and Change? Biden and his Democrat allies are not conducting a normal re-election campaign based on a brighter tomorrow. Concerning their job performance today, their approach is: The less said, the better. Instead, Biden Democrats present a non-stop parade of lies about Donald J. Trump. These include outright fabrications about his record and pitch-black premonitions of a "Trump dictatorship" totally unlike his first term. On Tuesday in Reno, Biden parroted the old lie that Trump refused to visit France's Aisne-Marne American Cemetery because its fallen World War I soldiers were "losers and suckers." Rubbish! Jeffrey Goldberg recklessly and maliciously concocted this "story" for The Atlantic just before Labor Day 2020. His proof: Four anonymous "sources." In contrast, I subsequently wrote five articles that dismantled this vulgar smear. I named and quoted 16 members of Trump's Parisian entourage. They verified that Trump's security personnel scotched the November 10, 2018 visit due to rain, low clouds too dangerous for helicopters, and logistical headaches that precluded motorcade travel. A military aide's contemporaneous e-mail and a local weather report exculpated Trump. His delayed departure the next day, to visit Suresnes American Cemetery near Paris, also obliterated Goldberg's "losers and suckers" lie. Sources: Trump 16, Goldberg 4. Regardless, Biden waved Goldberg's discredited myth around like a dusty skeleton. He likely will do so again, because Joe Biden lies like most people breathe. "My son is one of those losers and suckers," Biden mumbled. Actually, Beau Biden served in Iraq, not The Great War. He is buried in Greenville, Delaware, not Chateau-Thierry, France. The Biden campaign on Monday released a disgusting ad featuring shopworn video of neo-Nazis marching on August 11, 2017, the night before Charlottesville, Virginia's deadly race riots. Team Biden included Trump's comment about "very fine people, on both sides" of that mayhem. They also pretended not to know what Trump soon added at the same news conference: "I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists because they should be condemned totally." The August 15, 2017 White House transcript confirms Trump's rebuke. Regardless, Biden's ad conveniently whitewashes Trump's anti-racism. The Washington Post's Lisa Rein lied that Trump denounced the violence "without singling out the white nationalists and neo-Nazis." Trump did exactly that. Biden, Democrats, and their media bodyguards now claim that Trump promised "a bloodbath" if Biden wins re-election. At a March 16 rally in Dayton, Ohio, Trump decried potential imports of Chinese-designed, Mexican-built electric vehicles, on which he threatened 100% tariffs. Trump predicted that a re-elected Biden would welcome these autos and trigger "a bloodbath" among U.S. car makers. "But they're not going to sell those cars," if Trump wins, he added. The ensuing foam on Democrat mouths resembled shaving cream. "It's clear this guy wants another January 6," Biden deceived via X. "What does that mean?" House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi prevaricated on CNN. "He's going to exact a bloodbath?" Atop endless lies, Democrats also wallow in hypocrisy. As a Grabien video montage hilariously indicates, Trump haters use "bloodbath" more often than he does. "It'll be a bloodbath," MSNBC's Ali Vitali said about Nikki Haley's campaign. "Not only is it going to be a bloodbath, but after they leave New Hampshire, it's a bloodbath on her home turf." "And Trump has left a lot of corpses in his wake," Dasha Burns replied. "I mean, we haven't counted the bodies." CNN's Van Jones said of the GOP's 2020 prospects: "It's going to be a bloodbath." MSNBC's Joy Reid foresaw "a bloodbath at the ballot box." Grabien captured "bloodbath" 48 times, mainly by Trump's foes. Trump says "bloodbath," and these very same people scream, "Mein Kampf 2.0!" Rather than offer Americans a positive vision, Biden and the Democrats plan this through November 5: Terrify voters, recycle anti-Trump lies, invent new ones, and yell, "Abortion!" Rinse, repeat. Whatever happened to Hope and Change? When a 36-year-old woman in Providence, Rhode Island, couldn't afford conventional dental care for her painful teeth, a friend recommended "Yorki," WPRI-TV reported. The woman contacted Altagracia Yorquis Adames, 57, and went to her home basement "dental practice." There, Yorki allegedly removed instruments from a dresser drawer -- some that were visibly rusty -- then numbed the victim's molar and pulled on it until it came out. She then numbed and drilled on the patient's front teeth. Later that night, when her pain worsened, she texted with Yorki, who told her to take painkillers and ice her mouth. The next day, the victim checked into a hospital and was told she was "very sick." Police said Yorki was a licensed dentist in the Dominican Republic but not licensed in Rhode Island; she is due back in court in August. [WPRI, 5/18/2023] SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. At a campaign rally in Dayton last weekend, Donald Trump said something that released a tsunami of outrage and scorn from Democrats and the left-leaning media. During a Supreme Court oral argument two days later, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said something that released a tsunami of outrage and scorn from Republicans and the right-leaning media. In neither case was there anything scurrilous or shocking about the remark in question. What was reprehensible was the way the remarks were willfully misrepresented by ideological partisans who didn't scruple to distort the truth in order to advance a political narrative and discredit a political foe. What Trump said was that "it's going to be a bloodbath for the country" if he doesn't win the presidential election in November. Seizing on the word "bloodbath," a liberal chorus instantly raised an alarm. "It's clear this guy wants another January 6," President Biden posted on X, as his campaign released an ad raising the specter of civil unrest. Politico headlined its story "Trump says country faces 'bloodbath' if Biden wins in November." Similar headlines appeared above stories on NBC, CBS, and The Guardian. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, a Democrat, advised the media to pile on: "Headline writers: Don't outsmart yourself," he urged on X. "Just do 'Trump Promises Bloodbath if he Doesn't Win Election.'" Presidential historian Michael Beschloss, a frequent TV talking head, told MSNBC that Trump's comment was reminiscent of "fascism and totalitarianism and in Germany's case the Holocaust." There was just one thing wrong with this apocalyptic keening: Trump's "bloodbath" reference had nothing to do with riots. It was a metaphor for the disaster that, according to Trump, awaits the auto industry and the US economy if Biden's policies continue. He wasn't inciting violence. He was denouncing free trade and anticipating economic misery if he isn't elected to pursue harsh protectionist measures. In context, Trump's meaning was unambiguous. "We're going to put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line and you're not going to be able to sell those," Trump told his Dayton audience. "Now if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath. . . . That'll be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars." Trump's syntax was klutzy, but the audience understood him. In video of the rally, the crowd can be seen applauding enthusiastically at his talk of crippling tariffs; the "bloodbath" line got no reaction at all. Even MAGA loyalists who revel in Trump's red-meat rhetoric knew he wasn't saying anything provocative at that moment. Perhaps the worst thing about the feeding frenzy over "bloodbath" is how pointless it was. Trump routinely makes comments that are genuinely shocking and indecent. On multiple occasions he has encouraged violence or predicted ugly brawls if he doesn't get his way. His behavior on Jan. 6 was appalling, as is the way he continues to defend the Capitol rioters. So why whip up a storm over something atrocious that Trump didn't say? All that accomplished was to reinforce the conviction among Trumpians that the man they idolize is a martyr. Just as shameless was the right-wing bashing of Justice Jackson that followed Monday's oral argument in Murthy v. Missouri. The case deals with the Biden administration's pressure on social media platforms to suppress posts containing what it deemed wrong or harmful information. Was such pressure an unlawful infringement of free speech? Or was it permitted government engagement with the tech firms? During a colloquy with Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguinaga, who argued that the Biden administration had crossed a constitutional line when it pushed social media platforms to remove certain content, Jackson said: "My biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways." Instantly, the conservative/Republican spin machine blew up over the word "hamstringing," bewailing the failure of a Supreme Court justice to understand the function of the Bill of Rights. "Free speech is on trial at the Supreme Court, but Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson is no fan of the First Amendment," reported The Federalist, a prominent conservative website. "The Constitution, you see, limits the government. But leftists want unlimited government which is why they hate the Constitution." Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, snorted: "The whole point of the First Amendment and of the Constitution is to 'hamstring the government in significant ways.'" Fox News rounded up a cornucopia of condemnations making the same point. Typical was the statement issued by the State Freedom Caucus Network, a well-connected conservative group: "'I'm concerned that the Constitution is limiting the power of the government' is a completely insane thing for somebody to say who sits on the highest court in the land." In a TV interview, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, went even further. He called Jackson's remark "literally one of the craziest things I've ever seen" and added: "That is frightening. Because if she really believes that, that is scary where we are heading." But like the left's furor over Trump's "bloodbath" comment, the right's furor over Jackson's "hamstringing" required ripping her words out of context. The crux of the case before the court is where, under the First Amendment, the line should be drawn between unlawful government actions meant to penalize speech and permitted government efforts to influence speech. At one point, Jackson posed an extreme hypothetical designed to sharpen the issue at stake. Suppose young people were caught up in a new social media challenge one "that involved teens jumping out of windows at increasing elevations," she said. Imagine that kids all over the country had started doing this and were "injuring or even killing themselves." In such an alarming scenario, could the government put pressure on the tech platforms to take down the dangerous posts? No, replied Aguinaga. "The moment that the government tries to . . . pressure them to take it down, that is when you're interfering with [First Amendment] speech rights." That the absolutist position taken by the lawyer arguing before the court was what led Jackson to wonder whether the Constitution really mandates the "hamstringing" of the government in such circumstances. Her qualms reflected not a leftist hunger for unlimited government but a prudential grappling with how to square protection of free speech with the obligation of government officials to protect the public from harm. Some of the court's conservative justices, including Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, appeared to share some of the same qualms. In short, Jackson was doing what Supreme Court jurists are expected to do analyzing a challenging issue in order to interpret and apply the words of the Constitution. Her critics, by contrast, were engaging in ugly demagoguery, twisting her meaning in order to score some cynical soundbites and pour a little more lighter fluid on our incendiary political discourse. On a personal level, Jackson and Trump aren't likely to suffer from these dishonest cheap shots. America's democracy may be a different story.The nastiness of our civic dialogue is more toxic now than it has been in a century. How much lower can it sink before recovery becomes impossible? Jeff Jacoby is a columnist for The Boston Globe, from which this is reprinted with permission." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. Already in this early stage of a ferocious and sure-to-be closely contested presidential campaign, the insults from both sides have come gushing forth with the unstoppable force and heat of volcanic lava eruptions. Former President Trump has repeatedly called his opponent and others in the Biden bunch "Communists", "Marxists," "Fascists", "Traitors", "America Haters," "Crooked," "Stupid," "Vermin", "Corrupt" and, in an oddly old-fashioned touch, "Villains." The incumbent meanwhile, while describing his "predecessor" and avoiding Trumps name altogether, paints his rival as a wannabe dictator, leading a quasi-religious cult of blinded fanatics who are determined to stop at nothing in their demonic drive to destroy democracy. No one can claim that this race between two profoundly grumpy old men will qualify as one of the more enlightening and uplifting in our history, but it may classify as the most vitriolic, nasty and profoundly negative. Yet even in this context, the implication that the guys on the other side qualify as less than human may have crossed some meaningful line and should arouse disgust from even the most frenzied and impassioned partisans. In Dayton, Ohio, during his first rally since locking in the delegates he needs for the GOP nomination, Donald Trump rambled for nearly 90 minutes and, in addition to angry complaints about a defective teleprompter, classified unwanted migrants as distinctly subhuman. After claiming that other countries were sending their imprisoned and insane "young people" across the border, he added: "I dont know if you can call them people, in some cases. Theyre not people in my opinion." Later in his discourse, he described them explicitly as "animals." The next day, he appeared in a Fox News interview with Howard Kurtz, who asked him why he continued to use terms like "vermin" and "poisoning of the blood" when describing migrants, knowing that Hitler and Mussolini had used similar language. "Because our country is being poisoned," Trump insisted. "We can be nice about it, we can talk about, 'Oh, I want to be politically correct. But we have people coming in from prisons and jails, long-term murderers" In reporting these comments, the New York Times felt compelled to note that "according to border officials, including some who worked in the trump administration, most migrants who cross the border are members of vulnerable families fleeing violence and poverty, and available data do not support the idea that migrants are spurring increases in crime." Regardless of legitimate disagreements on immigration policy, its hard to imagine that President Trumps supporters especially the substantial number of Christian believers among them would feel entirely comfortable in dismissing destitute asylum seekers as less than human. Denying them citizenship, or legal residency, is one thing, but denying them recognition as "people" is something else. Do Americans really mean to deny the Biblical title of "children of G od" to those who lack the proper paperwork from our dysfunctional immigration system? The debate will continue on how to repair that system and bring meaningful security to the southern border after Bidens mishandling of the current crisis. But when the Republican candidate for president of the United States slanders unauthorized migrants for "poisoning our blood", or characterizes them as sub-humans who need to be "rooted out like vermin," he undermines both his own campaign and the chance for constructive conversation about needed reforms. Michael Medved, a member of USA Today's Board of Contributors, hosts a daily, syndicated talk radio show and is author, most recently, of "G od's Hand On America: Divine Providence in the Modern Era." (Buy it at a 55% discount! by clicking here or order in KINDLE edition at just $14.99 by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR.) Insight This revolt is a hopeful insurrection By Michael Reagan Published March 25, 2024 SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY JWR UPDATE. IT'S FREE. Just click here. You'd never expect a tax revolt to start in the blue California city of Oakland. But a bunch of angry, over-taxed and under-protected local business people there have said, "Enough is enough." The owner of a restaurant has called on other Oakland small businesses to stop paying local taxes until their city starts doing what it should be doing protecting them from a recent wave of robberies and thefts. Big businesses like Tesla or Oracle can escape the madness and high taxes in California by moving to Texas, and they have. But the poor guy who runs a pizza shop, gas station or a bar in Oakland or Los Angeles is trapped in a city while civilization and law and order have been breaking down around them. Thanks to the bias and dishonesty of the TV networks and mainstream media, at least half the country has no idea just how bad things have gotten in West Coast cities like Oakland, Portland and Seattle. Only Fox will regularly show their sidewalks lined for blocks with tents and strewn with used needles and human feces. Only Fox covers the financial strain tens of thousands of illegal immigrants are placing on their finances and police forces. The ideologically perverse people in charge of our big cities in California and elsewhere have forgotten that the first job of any government is to protect us from being harmed by bad people who'd hurt us or take our stuff. Democratic governments like the one in New York City are spending more time and money protecting and helping the people who are here illegally than they are on their own citizens. Theyre protecting squatters and homeless people living on sidewalks, not the homes and businesses of taxpayers. In New York, while their city is going broke paying for their illegal "visitors' " food, hotel rooms and welfare benefits, government officials have kicked kids out of schools to make room for illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, New York's politicians and government attorneys are so evil, it will not surprise me if someday they try to seize Trump Tower and turn it into the Migrant Tower. The tax revolt of small businesses in Oakland is only a spark so far, but it could become a ray of hope for people living in our battered cities. If a few million other businesses and taxpayers catch the Oaklanders' Tea Party spirit, the people in charge might get the message and the upside-down world we've been living in for the last five years might be turned right-side up again. Shoplifters might be arrested and imprisoned for more than four hours again. Sidewalks might be cleared of homeless encampments again. Police might be adequately funded and deployed again. People might even be able to get the cops to arrest squatters who have taken over their homes again. Daylight carjackings and home robberies might be reduced dramatically and women might feel safe to go to the mall again without worrying that their jewelry or smart phones will be swiped. Oakland's talk of a tax revolt is an insurrection that might never spread to other cities in California and elsewhere. But it's an encouraging sign that the harmful "woke progressive policies" liberal Democrats have put into place in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Seattle may not last much longer. (COMMENT, BELOW) Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of "The New Reagan Revolution" (St. Martin's Press). He is the founder of the email service reagan.com and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Hes the most recognized name in architecture history all over the globe, and while Frank Lloyd Wright has many different house and building styles under his belt, hes most known for his boldness when it comes to mid-century modern homes. But at the start of his career, he managed to take hold of an architectural trend referred to as Prairie-style at the turn of the 20th century and made it entirely his own. One of his first Prairie-style houses has landed on the real estate market in Kankakee for an affordable $779,000. Usually, Wrights designs can venture up in the millions when it comes to cost, but this four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom house hasnt been for sale for 48 years, and the interior may be dated. Welcome to the Warren Hickox House, a timeless masterpiece nestled along the picturesque Kankakee River in scenic Kankakee, the listing on Realtor.com says. Designed by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright, often hailed as the greatest American architect of all time, this home exudes warmth and charm from the moment you step inside. The home, considered one of Wrights first Prairie-style designs, was finished in plaster and dark wood trim, the Hickox House features flared roof ridges evocative of Japanese architecture/geometry, a favorite of Wright-the tent-like quality embraces the varied forms below. A unique aspect of the home is its proximity to another Wright work, which is right next door. Legend has it that the Warren Hickox House was built first, and Anna (Hickoxs sister) loved what was going on there and had hers built, listing agent Victoria Krause Schutte told Realtor.com. Features of the 3,277-square-foot home, which was built in 1900, include natural light, a cruciform design, bay windows and a screened office. The Hickox House seamlessly blends form and function, providing both elegance and comfort for everyday living. Beyond its stunning architectural significance, this residence offers an unparalleled location near parks and the prestigious country club, allowing residents to indulge in a lifestyle of leisure and tranquility, surrounded by natures beauty, the listing says. Rejection of U.S.-proposed draft resolution on Gaza ceasefire highlights its "increasing global isolation" Xinhua) 09:44, March 25, 2024 CAIRO, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The rejection of a U.S.-proposed draft resolution on a Gaza ceasefire at the UN Security Council on Friday has highlighted the "increasing global isolation" of the United States, experts said. Adel Abdel Ghafar, director of the Foreign Policy and Security Program of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs in Doha, said the resolution "does not go far enough and lacks specifics to stop Israel from further carrying out a carnage of Palestinians and thus it was vetoed. The veto highlights the growing global isolation of the United States and Israel." The U.S.-led draft, presented to the Security Council a month after its veto of an Algeria-proposed draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, was not adopted on Friday, with 11 votes in favor, three against, and one abstention. MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE REMAINS UNADDRESSED Algeria's permanent representative to the United Nations, Amar Bendjama, told the Security Council on Friday that the U.S. draft resolution would have allowed "continuing bloodshed." Bendjama added that since the United States circulated its draft over a month ago, Algeria had proposed reasonable edits to achieve a "more balanced and acceptable text." He acknowledged that some of their proposals had been included, but "core concerns remained unaddressed." Bendjama has emphasized the urgency of an "immediate ceasefire" to prevent further loss of life, but regrettably, the draft fell short, and his country had therefore voted against it. China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said the draft "evaded and dodged the essential issue, that is a ceasefire." The ambassador said China rejects the accusations by the United States and Britain against China's voting position. "Those are groundless accusations. If the U.S. were serious about a ceasefire, it wouldn't have vetoed time and again multiple council resolutions and wouldn't have taken such a detour and played a game of words while being ambiguous and evasive on critical issues," he said. Before the vote, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, criticized the diluted language of the U.S. resolution. He said the text did not call for a ceasefire and accused U.S. leadership of "deliberately misleading the international community." According to an AP report on Saturday, a key issue (of the U.S. resolution) was the unusual language that said the Security Council "determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire." The phrasing was not a straightforward "demand" or "call" to halt hostilities. Sherine Tadros, UN representative of Amnesty International, described the U.S. resolution as "an attempt by the U.S. to absolve themselves of the abysmal record Biden has had so far on Gaza and submit a resolution that is not going to end the war." "This moment requires unequivocal action by the security council, whose mandate is to maintain international peace and security, calling for an immediate ceasefire," said Tadros. "It shouldn't really be so hard for them to do that." "The most significant issue (in the U.S. resolution) is the prioritization of the so-called hostages' interests over those of civilians, implying that detention has become more important to Washington than the killings and destruction inflicted by its ally, Israel," said Nabil Kahlouche, a strategic studies specialist from the Algiers-based National Institute of Strategic Global Studies. RESOLUTION WITH "CLEAR FALLACIES" "Algeria, along with other countries, rejected the American draft resolution because it contains clear fallacies," said Kahlouche. Kahlouche pointed to the implicit bargain embedded within the resolution, where a ceasefire is tied to the release of Israeli detainees. He argued that this contradicts the logical sequence of events, saying, "releasing detainees should follow the cessation of aggression, not vice versa." Saeed Okasha, an expert at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said he had expected the rejection of the U.S. draft resolution "because it does not include any obligation and its wording suggests a ceasefire in Gaza but without binding terms." "The U.S. draft resolution failed to oppose Israel's planned invasion of the city of Rafah in Gaza. This is what U.S. President Joe Biden said before. He does not oppose Israel's invasion of Rafah but objects to doing it in the presence of Palestinian civilians. Instead, he urges Israel to present a plan for the transfer of civilians from Rafah before its invasion," he said. "The United States calls for the delivery of aid to Gaza, but it will never give up its military support for Israel, as it is part of its battle to build the international system it wants. Therefore, the U.S. uses the moral aspect and talks about the human suffering in Gaza to mitigate the impact of its military intervention and backing of Israel," he said. Kheir Diabat, a professor from the International Affairs Department of Qatar University, said the U.S.-submitted draft resolution reflects once again Western double standards in addressing security and global issues. "The American proposal lacks a clear and serious message of peace. On the contrary, it gives Israel the green light to continue its killing of Palestinian civilians and lacks concrete guarantees to prevent further escalation," he said. "Therefore, the veto was in line with the Arab position reflected by Algeria, which rejects temporary and ambiguous solutions that would compromise the interests of the Palestinian people," he said. Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage. After more than five months of conflict, figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry indicate that more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, with over 74,000 others injured. The international community is calling for an immediate ceasefire as the humanitarian situation deteriorates in the Gaza Strip. The UN has issued warnings of famine in large parts of the Palestinian coast enclave as local residents lack access to sufficient food following Israel's siege. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) A congratulatory poster marks the moment that "Kung Fu Panda 4" grossed more than 100 million yuan in China. [Image courtesy of Universal Pictures] Stretching his arms and squatting slightly, actor Huang Bo demonstrates a classic martial arts gesture often depicted in movies as a ritualistic, pre-fight greeting. However, this time, it wasn't about gearing up for battle, but more about displaying his connection to an iconic animated kung fu master. During a recent promotional event for Kung Fu Panda 4 on March 14, Huang struck the pose alongside Po, the titular hero of the franchise, at the Universal Beijing Resort. Graduating from the Beijing Film Academy with a dubbing major, Huang has returned to familiar territory, lending his voice to the famous panda in the Chinese version of the movie, which opened across Chinese mainland theaters on Friday. Since the first Kung Fu Panda film was released in 2008, the franchise has earned around $2 billion in global box-office receipts, and 1.8 billion yuan ($250 million) in the Chinese mainland market. The latest film kicks off with Po facing a new hurdle. Reluctant to let go of the glories and benefits that come with being the Dragon Warrior, Po has to choose a successor to carry on his legacy, as he will soon assume the role of the Spiritual Leader, a loftier position. Meanwhile, a new threat looms over the Valley of Peace Chameleon, a cunning lizard with the ability to transform into any creature, sets her sights on Po's Staff of Wisdom, a mystical item that holds the power to resurrect all the formidable adversaries Po has defeated and banished to the Spirit Realm. In an unlikely team-up with Zhen, a sly Corsac fox who Po catches trying to steal something in the valley's most sacred palace, the duo sets off on an adventure to Juniper City, a fictional Chinese metropolis under the rule of the notorious villain Chameleon. However, their newfound friendship is put to the ultimate test when hidden truths come to light. A "Juniper City" was re-created at Universal Beijing Resort during the promotional event, drawing a lot of local visitors who joyfully admired the fictional city, including a mahjong parlor and a colorful paper kite workshop. Aside from Huang, Chinese actresses Yang Mi and Jiang Xin do the voice-overs for Zhen and Chameleon, respectively. Huang recalls that he felt thrilled to watch the first Kung Fu Panda movie, as it encapsulates Chinese elements so well, from the giant panda and kung fu, to mouthwatering food, despite being produced by foreign animators. "It has been 16 years, and Po has transformed from merely an exceptionally gifted martial artist into a spiritual mentor," he adds. Huang also reveals that the translated version has fully localized the English dialogue by incorporating well-known and internet-popular Chinese puns and idioms. Yang, who lent her voice to Mei Mei, a supporting character in the third installment eight years ago, says she admires her new character, Zhen, who she describes as possessing courage and a sense of justice, even though the character has a checkered past. As of Friday, the movie had earned over 90 million yuan, making it the new box-office champion in the country on its opening day, according to Beacon, the live film information tracker. Atrium Health has filed for the dismissal of a N.C. Business Court lawsuit in which the trustees for an heir to the Cannon Mills Co. textile fortune claim the system should not be the beneficiary. When Charles A. Cannon III died in October, the trust set up for him in 1965 by his mother, Ruth, laid out which groups would be eligible to receive payments following his death. No monetary figures were given in the petition filed Feb. 7 by the trust to the court. Cabarrus Memorial Hospital, a public hospital owned by Cabarrus County that was closed in 1988, was the only named entity. Atrium claims it is the rightful beneficiary through its ownership of NorthEast Medical Center, a legal successor to the Cabarrus hospital that Atrium acquired in 2007. The trustees filed a petition for declaratory judgment and requested a jury trial. Two of the three trustees are Craig and Kathleen Cannon, who are Charles Cannon IIIs son and daughter-in-law. They live in Forsyth County. In 1988, the General Assembly terminated its status as a public hospital. A legal successor, NorthEast Medical Center, began operations in 1997 as a private nonprofit hospital. The trustees claim the hospital, as defined in the trust, no longer existed as a matter of law and could no longer be considered as the next trust beneficiary. The trust said if the hospital went out of business, the payments were to go to a community beneficiary for such religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes as the trustees may time to time select. The trustees said they filed the petition to eliminate any uncertainty regarding the proper distribution of the trust income to the correct beneficiaries. The trustees also said Atrium indicated it would begin legal actions if the trust didnt start giving it the money. Atrium is overseen by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which is exempt by state law from federal income taxation as a political subdivision of the state. Atrium and the authority claim in their March 11 response that the trustees petition does not present genuine issue of material fact and Atrium should be granted summary judgment. The trust language and the corporate history of (Cabarrus Memorial Hospital) warrant entry of summary judgment for CMHA, according to the response. Also filed in the case is an affidavit filed March 11 by William Cannon Jr., a grandson of Ruth Coltrane Cannon who serves as vice chairman on the authoritys board of commissioners. William Cannon wrote he believes Atrium is the rightful beneficiary of the trust, that other trusts set up by members of the Cannon family consider the authority as the rightful beneficiary, and that the Cannon Foundation does not support the trustees position. Trustees claims The trustees argue that Atrium does not qualify as an eligible charitable organization as defined in the language of the trust, citing in part its merger with Advocate Aurora to form the nations third-largest healthcare system. Atrium reported in November that through three quarters of fiscal 2023, it had $220.9 million in excess revenue over expenses, of which $273 million was investment income. The groups claim that when NorthEast was formed, it was again a public hospital as defined by state law. It said the trustees filed annual statements or the trust to the authority. Atrium has told it believes it meets the charitable qualification because it said it is the largest provider of community benefit in the state. Atrium said that in 2022, it provided $2.8 billion in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits across its service territory that includes Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in the Triad. Truist Financial Corp. is listed as a petitioner in its role of holding the trust. Attorney General Josh Stein was listed in his official role because the petition involves a charitable trust. Background The Cannon family made its fortune from making towels and bed sheets beginning in 1887 in Kannapolis. The company was sold to billionaire David Murdock in 1982. The will of Ruth Coltrane Cannon created a trust for her son that was designed to provide him with payments for the rest of his life. In the petition, the trustees said Atrium said in a Jan. 24 letter that the unambiguous provisions of the trust obligated the trustees promptly to commence distribution of the trusts income upon Mr. Cannons death. The trustees claim that since Cabarrus Memorial has not existed as a public hospital affiliated with Cabarrus County since 1988, distributing the trust income to Atrium Health would be contrary to Ms. Cannons purpose and intent in naming Cabarrus Memorial Hospital as the remainder beneficiary. Atrium has said a state statute makes it quite clear that neither the merger of Cabarrus Memorial Hospital into CMC-Northeast Inc., nor any subsequent merger, had an effect on Atrium Healths right to receive payments of income from the trust. We believe the law is clear on this matter, Atrium said. Atrium Health continues to operate the hospital for the benefit of the residents of Cabarrus County. Kristen Ryan believed the thinking was sound. Winston-Salem officials were planning to spend some $700,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act money on what was essentially an experiment. Data had shown that first responders were spending an inordinate amount of time dealing with non-violent mental health issues. And through no fault of their own, they werent particularly good at it. So city officials decided to create the Behavioral Evaluation and Response (BEAR) team the idea being to dispatch counselors rather than cops to mental health calls. We dont want law enforcement spending six hours on a mental health call. We can (spend time on a call), said Ryan, the team director who was hired last spring. We want them protecting the city. But thinking the BEAR team could work and knowing that it does were two different things. It would take time to show proof of concept. Increased availability The idea to dispatch counselors through the 911 system evolved as communities realized that smaller numbers of first responders particularly police officers were devoting larger amounts of their time dealing with non-violent mental health crises. But officials are not going to OK a new program without concrete data. Indeed, a 2021 study conducted with a nonprofit research institute analyzed emergency response in Winston-Salem and found 37% of 911 calls had some connection to a mental-health issue. Police officers are very well trained, said assistant city manager Patrice Toney in 2024 when the BEAR team was being introduced. Theyre trained for de-escalation, but they cannot be everything to every situation. Other cities began sending counselors along with police and firefighters when needed. Winston-Salem went a different direction by creating the BEAR team and treating them as first responders in their own right. Dispatchers were trained to determine whether a call could involve violence, and if not, whether mental-health workers were more appropriate than armed cops. And with the help of that initial $700,000, counselors were hired and stationed at some of the citys busiest fire stations. The program started in earnest during May, and since crisis counselors began work, the BEAR team has been dispatched more than 2,100 times. Thats 2,100 times that police officers, who are neither trained nor equipped for such interventions, didnt have to spend hours talking to someone in crisis, waiting while appropriate medical help could be found. Calls for service are as varied as the people who need help. Sometimes (counselors are) needed to de-escalate and sometimes it is a crisis intervention, Ryan said a few weeks after the start. Sometimes it requires further treatment and we help find providers that meet someones needs the best. That requires training, attention to detail and time. For it to work, we had to be available any time law enforcement is, Ryan explained. Thats 24/7. Leap of faith With a skeleton crew assigned to what amounted to a leap of faith for the city, the BEAR team managed and thrived while building trust with police, the community and elected officials who will eventually be asked to absorb the cost into the citys budget. We have been getting good support from (the) council, Ryan said. With 200 calls a month, I think were really meeting a need here. But we have to maintain our good reputation. Clearly its working. The city learned recently that it had been awarded another $700,000 grant from federal sources to expand the BEAR team. Now, four additional counselors will be responding to calls. Nearly as soon as she was hired, Ryan began digging for more grant money from the federal government and/or private foundations, anywhere (and anyone) with an interest and funds to invest in mental health care. We immediately needed to search for ways to find and hire additional staff, Ryan said. We wanted to make sure we could maintain our 30 minute-or-less response time. And with a new grant, Ryan said the additional help means that back-up counselors can be on call to provide more cover during the busiest times. Perhaps more importantly, it will allow the BEAR team to keep building trust within the community. Counselors do that in part by arriving in their own vehicles without drawing undue attention with lights and sirens. Were at the fire departments for a reason, she said. We want people to know that theyre not in trouble when we come. Seven YMCA associations based in the Triad are participating in a statewide initiative designed to address mental health challenges facing teenagers. The NC Alliance of YMCAs is coordinating the initiative through a $3.75 million grant provided by the Republican-controlled state legislature. Participating YMCAs in the 14-county region are: Alamance County Family; J. Smith Young in Lexington; Randolph-Asheboro YMCA; Tom Finch Community in Thomasville; YMCA of Greensboro; YMCA of High Point; and YMCA of Northwest N.C. The initiative was launched Thursday with an event at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain. Members of the Alliances Teen Mental Health Advisory Council shared self-care strategies, resources, insight into this work through a diversity lens and practical ways to embed this work within the culture at YMCAs. Among the outreach efforts are: a teen mental health resource hub at ncymcas.org/YMCATeenMentalHealth; a teen mental health destigmatization campaign, titled Mental Health Has No Face; new and expanded teen programming at YMCAs across the state, and partnerships with local mental health providers. YMCA staff arent experts in mental health, but they are experts in positive youth development, Sheree Vodicka, chief executive of NC Alliance of YMCAs, said in a statement. With teens experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts at increasingly alarming rates, we are committed to supporting teens and their families and connecting them to resources that can help. YMCA staff who work with teens are being trained in youth mental health first aid, which introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews adolescent development, and teaches a five-step action plan for how to help teens in both crisis and non-crisis situations. The Y has always valued community partnerships, Vodicka said. Through this work, our Ys are expanding or starting partnerships with local mental health providers so that when Y staff identify a potential problem among youth at the Y, they have a process and path to refer them to a local mental health expert. While the approach will vary at YMCAs across the state, all NC YMCAs will engage mental health partners to be involved in their work so that there is ongoing education and mental health support provided to teens and their families. This work will change the trajectory for our Ys for 10 to 20 years to come. This is not just something well do right now, said Lynn Lomax, chair of the NC Alliance of YMCAs board of directors and president and chief executive of the YMCA of High Point This is not a program, but an intentional approach to our youth work. Our plan at the YMCA of High Point is to sustain this beyond the grant period through our annual campaign for fundraising. Sears developer wants tax incentive The company redeveloping the former Sears building at Gateway Mall is hoping to tap a seldom-used tax incentive to help with the costs of the project. According to documents filed with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department, Reserve Development is seeking an enhanced employment area designation, which would allow it to collect an additional 0.5% sales tax that could be used to help pay for its proposed Shops at Lincoln development. City officials estimate the development, which would have three retail stores that Reserve says would be new to Lincoln, would bring in more than $46 million in retail sales annually, generating more than $230,000 in occupation tax a year. The developers would be able to use the tax until it generates $3 million, at which point it would be discontinued. Mental health funds could be cut As the number of Nebraskans seeking mental and behavioral health services is on the rise, advocates said a $15 million reduction in state aid will put added strain on local hospitals and jails. The Nebraska Association of Behavioral Health Organizations, which represents community mental health and substance abuse providers, said the cuts, which are part of a broader sweep of unspent funds, will reverberate across the state. The groups executive director Annette Dubas said, "This is a point in time where reducing funding for behavioral health care is the last thing we should be doing. The proposed reduction in funding is part of a broader budget package, which senators will consider on final round this week before sending to Gov. Jim Pillen for his approval. T-shirt shop coming to Lincoln Iowa-based Raygun hopes to open a downtown Lincoln location at 1219 P Street, the former longtime home of Threads and Footloose & Fancy. The 3,300-square-foot T-shirt shop will be the chain's 10th. Raygun founder and owner Mike Draper has already developed inroads with a number of UNL athletes many of them volleyball players by licensing them for name, image and likeness contracts. Draper already moved one of his T-shirt shops into Omaha and was looking to expand to Lincoln. If all goes as planned, hes aiming for a June opening. Thats it for Monday, March 25. Stay in the know with Lincolns longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com and well see you back here on Tuesday. Top Journal Star photos for March 2024 Lincoln police say they are investigating a $40,000 fraud involving someone who had contacted the victim claiming to be an inspector with the Federal Trade Commission. Police Capt. Todd Kocian said on Saturday officers contacted a 27-year-old man who got a call saying he was wanted for money laundering, had a warrant for his arrest and would have to cooperate in secret to prove that his money was legitimate. Kocian said the inspector told the victim they would have to verify his money and would return it as a cashier's check. The victim then made three bank withdrawals totaling $40,000 and went to a parking lot at 50th and O streets, where he was instructed to meet a "government informant." Kocian said the 27-year-old turned over the money to a man in a mask and sunglasses in a black Honda Accord. He asked anyone with information to call Lincoln Police at 402-441-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 402-375-3600. Check out these photos from the 2024 sandhill crane migration through Nebraska A Bellevue man was sentenced following a guilty plea to possession of child pornography after a casino employee found the mans phone and discovered the explicit material on it, according to authorities. Ernest Ray Roberts Jr., 53, pleaded guilty to the single charge of possession and was sentenced March 19 to two years in prison, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Iowa announced Friday. According to court records, Roberts phone, found at the Prairie Flower Casino in Carter Lake, Iowa, contained explicit material. The casino worker testified he found Roberts phone on the floor, and a security officer took it to the lost-and-found. While the security officer had the phone, they tried to find information about its owner when they discovered the explicit material, as the phone did not have a passcode. Employees reviewed surveillance at the casino and called Carter Lake police. A warrantless search of the phone was conducted, and a Carter Lake officer described in his report a very large amount of pictures of young children. Roberts was arrested May 15, 2022. At the time of his arrest, Roberts had a second cellphone that also contained similar images, court records state. After his prison term, Roberts will serve seven years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. The Legislature approved Steve Corsi as the leader of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on Monday, but debate over the new CEO's work history and social media activity may not be over. Senators affirmed Gov. Jim Pillen's pick to oversee Nebraska's largest state agency on a 28-8 vote that largely fell along political party lines after about one and a half hours of debate. A number of Democrats were present but not voting, as was Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha, who is nonpartisan. After the vote, Hunt filed a motion to reconsider the action, but it was unclear if it would be scheduled for further debate. Corsi was appointed by Pillen in August to replace Dannette Smith; he started on the job on Sept. 11. But a handful of senators, led by Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who acknowledged Corsi may be qualified for the position still criticized him for what they described as questionable honesty and professional judgment. Cavanaugh said Corsi's ties to Epiphany Associates a Utah-based consulting firm that currently has a $10 million no-bid contract with the state run deeper than was originally disclosed. In February, at a hearing of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee, Cavanaugh and Sen. Jen Day of Gretna questioned Corsi about his ties to Epiphany, where he worked from January 2023 to days before starting in Nebraska. That information was not included in Corsi's resume, nor was that part of his work history included in the announcement of his appointment from Pillen's office. Cavanaugh said Epiphany which recommended Corsi to Pillen was hired in several states where he previously worked, including Wyoming, Missouri and Washington, while he was employed there. She said his financial gain from those connections remained "unclear and ambiguous." Cavanaugh also said Corsi had demonstrated "questionable judgment in his professional capacity" in at least two of his prior positions, as well as in how he conducted himself on social media. In Missouri, for example, Corsi was receiving paychecks from two departments within the state. Despite pledging to rectify the situation, he continued to receive those payments until the Jefferson City News Tribune brought it to his attention. Corsi was later the director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services when it purchased a restraint chair for the state's boys school. The chair a high-backed chair with shoulder, lap, wrist and ankle straps received criticism when it was used at Guantanamo Bay in the torture and force-feeding of detainees. According to the Gillette News Record, Corsi claimed to not be aware the chair had been purchased and used during his tenure with the department. How they voted The Legislature approved the appointment of Steve Corsi as CEO of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on Monday. Voting yes (28): Albrecht, Arch, Armendariz, Ballard, Bosn, Bostelman, Brewer, Clements, DeKay, Dorn, Dover, Erdman, Halloran, Hansen, Hardin, Hughes, Ibach, Kauth, Linehan, Lippincott, Lowe, McDonnell, Meyer, Moser, Murman, Riepe, Slama, von Gillern. Voting no (8): Blood, Cavanaugh, J., Cavanaugh, M., Conrad, Day, McKinney, Vargas, Wayne. Not voting (6): DeBoer, Dungan, Fredrickson, Hunt, Raybould, Walz. Excused (7): Aguilar, Bostar, Brandt, Holdcroft, Jacobson, Sanders, Wishart. And, Corsi had liked or shared several posts on social media in recent years calling race "preposterous nonsense," downplaying slavery, and expressing opposition to same-sex marriages. "It's been one thing after another after another," Cavanaugh said on Monday. Other senators, mostly Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature, said the pattern of questionable decisions gave them pause, particularly after the state was still cleaning up the mess left by St. Francis Ministries, which was hired to care for abused and neglected children in the Omaha area. Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha said that while Pillen had the right to nominate the person he felt would be best for the position, there were clearly problems with Corsi's appointment. He asked committee members to explain their votes in support of Corsi. "I have questions about what it is that got you past these initial concerns," Cavanaugh said. Sen. John Fredrickson, also of Omaha, said Corsi's explanations about his work history and social media comments "left quite a bit to be desired" when the two met for a face-to-face conversation. Lincoln Sen. Danielle Conrad said the Legislature had the opportunity to provide a check on the executive branch in considering whether or not to ratify Corsi's appointment. She said she was interested in what led Pillen to this decision over someone else who was "equally qualified but without the political baggage." Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, told the Legislature he was not concerned about the "financial end" of the issues raised by Cavanaugh. Rather, Hansen said he believes in Corsi's ability to lead the HHS department. He also said he found Corsi "open, accountable and honest," which was enough for him to move the appointment to the floor. Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, who in February said he wanted more information before sending Corsis confirmation to the floor, said he also believed Pillens pick met muster. I believe the governor deserves to have his team for which he will be accountable, Riepe said. Other yes votes on the committee did not speak on Corsis confirmation nor did any other supporters before Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard called the question shortly before noon, forcing a vote and ending debate. While the vote went in Corsis favor, Hunt, who did not participate in Monday mornings floor debate, filed a motion to reconsider the vote. The Legislature did not immediately take up that motion, however. Under the Legislatures rules, Speaker John Arch does not have to allow the motion to be debated. But if he does, he must schedule it within five days. If it is not scheduled, the motion is considered defeated. Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler said he's only aware of two instances where lawmakers reconsidered a confirmation after it had been adopted. The first happened in the 1970s, according to Metzler, and another in 2023, when senators approved and rejected Jason Hayes as the director of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems. Monday marked Day 49 of the 60-day legislative session. Check out these photos from the 2024 sandhill crane migration through Nebraska KEARNEY Growing up in his homeland of Venezuela, Carlos Rodriguez started running at age 3. When I was a boy I ran without shoes, he said. Later, he joined the Venezuelan military, where he managed logistics and payroll for his unit. He tried not to let his military responsibilities come between him and his almost-daily runs. In 2016 Rodriguez and his wife, Lisvey Rivera and their two sons, Anthony, then 10, and Enlic, then 8, migrated to the United States. The Venezuelan economy had collapsed and the country was riddled with crime. Rodriguez and Rivera had a successful business, but that made them targets for criminals, who attempted to kidnap the family and force them to pay a ransom. Kidnappings in South America can stretch over years if families cant pay the criminals to release loved ones. For Rodriguez and Rivera, their kidnapping nightmare was the last straw. They departed Venezuela for the United States, and found themselves in Kearney. Rivera, a former school principal, works as a teacher/social worker helping migrant families. Rodriguez found work at Eaton Corp. and later BluePrint Engines. Daily runs helped Rodriguez to keep one foot in his new country and the other foot in his South American homeland. If he had time, Rodriguez would run 22-30 miles at a time. The long runs abruptly ended several months ago when Rodriguez was attempting to repair a car in his driveway. He had jacked up the vehicle and crawled underneath it, but the jack gave way. Pinned under the car, he yelled for help. Luckily, family members were nearby and heard Rodriguez yelling. A sister-in-law, Ingry Barroso and niece, Nikol, ran out of the house and lifted the car. Rodriguezs son, Enlic, called police. Officers dispatched an ambulance, and emergency responders arrived in just minutes to rescue Rodriguez. His lips were purple for lack of oxygen. Responders took him to the CHI Health Good Samaritan emergency room. After his injury Rodriguez was unable to take deep breaths. The shallow breathing continued for about three months, the couple said. Pain in his ribs also continued. Rodriguez tried to sleep, but the pain frequently forced him from bed to the living room sofa where he struggled to find a position to relieve the pain in his ribs and allow him to breathe deeper. Rivera frequently joined her husband on the sofa. I was worried, but not totally worried. I am a woman of faith, Rivera said. She said her faith has seen her through four serious, life-altering challenges: the loss of a son who died after he was born, the kidnapping, coming to the United States and her husbands accident. The couple said they are grateful to friends and employers for their support, and to the medical professionals who were committed to Rodriguez recovery. An American friend, June Peterson, put her nursing experience to work helping Rodriguez. The Good Samaritan nurses are very good, Rivera said. Off and running Rivera and Rodriguez have launched a cottage industry to pay hospital bills. At 2:30 a.m. each Thursday, Rivera rises from bed to make white corn masa for Venezuelan-style arepas. Rivera and Rodriguez fry the masa into the shape and size of English muffins. They slit open the arepa to stuff it with meat, cheese and other ingredients. A $10 order includes three arepas and two small containers with mild green salsa and a second container with spicy pico de gallo. The average is 50 orders per week, Rivera said. Rodriguez said BluePrint Engines employees purchased 200 orders, which came to a total of 600 arepas. Rivera said her patience and faith, along with Rodriguez determination, finally produced results. Rodriguez used to run miles and miles, but he and Rivera considered it a major victory when he finally managed to walk one block. A while later, it was four blocks, with several stops to rest and regain his breath. I cried, but it wasnt because I was sad, Rivera said. My faith is more strong now, Rodriguez said. His recovery is continuing. On Sunday he ran 13 miles, Rivera said. Rodriguez said he cant remember being pinned under the car. He also cant remember his hospital stay, but he is recovering his memory and his sense of humor. People never visited me before, but after the accident I had lots of visitors and even some gifts, Rodriguez laughed. He shared some hard-earned advice. For anyone working on a car, follow safety rules. PHOTOS: Sandhill cranes descend on Central Nebraska Nebraska's Platte River Valley: A critical stopover for cranes during migration The Platte River Valley in Nebraska hosts up to 90% of the world's sandhill crane population during migration season, with an estimated 650,00 Cranes in Central Nebraska Matt Urbansk, Saunders Conservation Fellow at the Crane Trust, right, photographs guests walking to a Platte River observation blind around 5: Capturing images Grace O'Dwyer, 5, her parents Christian and Lilla, and brothers Paul and James of Denver had their first sandhill crane season experience Marc Cranes in Central Nebraska Among the Crane Trust's staff and volunteer blind tour leaders is Matt Urbansk, the Saunders Conservation Fellow at the Trust, who watches cra Cranes in Central Nebraska As daylight faded to dusk March 1, sandhill cranes in silhouette lowered their legs and spread their wings to float down to overnight roosts o Cranes in Central Nebraska At dusk, sandhill cranes start flying to the Platte River in this case at the Crane Trust near Alda from nearby grasslands and harvested c Cranes in Central Nebraska Record numbers of sandhill cranes arrived early this year, according to estimates based on aerial surveys taken by the Crane Trust Science Tea Bison in the fog A lone bison ambled through a Crane Trust pasture near the headquarters complex southeast of the Alda I-80 exit on a foggy March 1 morning. Ot Cranes in Central Nebraska Sandhill cranes, ducks, geese and people in Crane Trust observation blinds along the Platte River woke up to dense fog March 1. That made cran Cranes in Central Nebraska Sandhill cranes, ducks, geese and people in Crane Trust observation blinds along the Platte River woke up to dense fog March 1. That made cran Cranes in Central Nebraska Grace O'Dwyer, 5, her parents Christian and Lilla, and brothers Paul and James of Denver had their first sandhill crane season experience Marc Bison in the fog A lone bison ambled through a Crane Trust pasture near the headquarters complex southeast of the Alda I-80 exit on a foggy March 1 morning. Ot 1. Yes. The area is still in a drought, and long-range forecasts are predicting a hot, dry summer . 2. Yes. Despite modest rainfall, area lake levels are far below normal. Restrictions are likely. 3. No. Frequent rainfall has helped this spring. Unless summer is unusually dry, it should be OK. 4. No. The area was very hot last summer, but water restrictions never reached Stage 3. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how much rain the area gets in April and May. Vote View Results When the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, one of the world's leading symphony orchestras, announced its 2024-25 season on Sunday, a young Chinese conductor, Yu Lu, was featured in its program as a guest conductor. The 34-year-old Yu describes the invitation from the 135-year-old orchestra, which is based in Amsterdam, as an admission ticket to the top of the classical music scene. "It's such an established orchestra with their unique sounds. It's challenging but in a way that I like," says Yu. "Unlike being a soloist, such as pianist and violinist, a conductor is silent but shoulders the responsibility of leading the orchestra and shaping the music. For a young conductor, in his early 30s and from Asia, it's quite tough to lead such a great orchestra with a very long history," he adds. "I have to be well-prepared and be careful since such kind of opportunity is rare and valuable." The invitation was first sent to Yu about two yeas ago, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the conductor, the orchestra planned to have him perform Pictures at an Exhibition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, but the upcoming season will have Yu play something "interactive" since they believe that the young conductor would inject new energy into the program. In fact, it will not be the first time that Yu will work with the orchestra. When he was 22 years old, he was selected and invited by maestro Mariss Jansons (1943-2019) to participate in a conducting master class, and take up the baton at the orchestra in Amsterdam. In 2018, he also recorded with Camerata RCO, an ensemble consisting of musicians of Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, on an album, titled Salon, featuring pieces including Johannes Brahms' Serenade No 2 in A Major, Op 16, and Hector Berlioz's The Death of Cleopatra. "I have known and worked together with Yu Lu for several years now. In my opinion, he is one of the most talented conductors in his generation," comments Michael Gieler, principal violist of the orchestra. "We have worked together when he conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a master class given by the legendary Mariss Jansons. He really stood out from his colleagues in expressivity and confidence." Calling Yu a "versatile conductor "with a broad repertoire, Gieler also says the conductor's beat is "clear "and "he is expressive without neglecting precision". "All those master classes, rehearsals and performances seem like building a solid foundation for my collaboration with the orchestra again during its new season. I am honored and excited to perform as a Chinese conductor with the world-renowned orchestra," says Yu. Born and raised in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, in 1989, Yu began to show his music talent at a very young age by learning to play the violin and the piano. His interest in conducting started when he was 3 years old, "conducting to the air while listening to The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto". His parents, though sensing their only son's talent, didn't want him to take on a music career in the beginning since they believed that an occupation like a doctor or a lawyer would be stable for their son. In 2002, when Yu's father played a video of Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa (1935-2024) at the New Year's Concert in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, Yu, 13 years old then, conducted again while watching the video. Since then, his family supported his music learning and his decision to become a conductor. Ranked in first place, Yu was admitted to the affiliated middle school of the China Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at the age of 15 and enrolled at the China Central Conservatory of Music with the top score in the admission exam at 18 years old. In 2012, Yu gained his bachelor's degree from the conducting department of the conservatory and continued to pursue a master's degree. His first break came when he was 22 years old when maestro Jansons, who was the chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra then, selected three young conductors from around the world to participate in a master class in Amsterdam. Yu was the only one from Asia. "He was one of three active participants selected from more than 70 young conductors. He is a talented conductor who prepares his scores thoroughly, has a clear technique, and knows how to communicate nonverbally with an orchestra," maestro Jansons comments on Yu's performance. Before Jansons, Yu was also trained by Ozawa. It was in 2009 when the established conductor came to tour in China. The Central Conservatory of Music recommended five top students from its conducting department and Yu was one of them. After rounds of fierce competition, Yu stood out among his peers and became Ozawa's student and assistant conductor. "I flew to Japan to study with him every month. One day, he told me to pay attention to the beat. On my way home, I bought a metronome and spent the whole night conducting to it without any sleep. The next day, he was surprised by my progress," recalls Yu. "Two days later, he said that he wanted to go back to China to perform with me, with him conducting the first half of the concert and me doing the second half. Though the trip didn't happen due to his health, I was very touched because he was such a great teacher, willing to support and help his students." One of his generation's most sought-after and celebrated conductors, Ozawa was born in Shenyang, China, in 1935, and from a young age studied piano and then conducting in Japan. "He had a very deep love for China. Besides music, he also inspired me to think about pursuing a career in the West. He himself had achieved great success in the West, so his encouragement was very convincing to me. He gave me lots of confidence," says Yu. "I used to set a goal of conducting all the top orchestras in the world. But now, I want to train and lead a Chinese symphony orchestra to stand out on the world classical music scene with the top level, which I will consider the highlight of my career." The highlights that Yu has already achieved include conducting Madama Butterfly by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini in Japan in 2012, which was his first time to conduct an opera. In 2022, the Shanghai Opera House appointed Yu as its first ever principal guest conductor. By the end of 2020, Yu initiated a challenge of performing Beethoven's nine symphonies in five consecutive days, by working together with Bilibili one of China's biggest video-sharing platform, and the Ningbo Symphony Orchestra. The online live performance was a great success and captured widespread attention both at home and abroad. It also made Yu the first conductor in China's music history to do so. "The Ningbo Symphony Orchestra was only five years old back in 2020, and I was also very young. We made it together," says Yu. Maestro Ozawa, who was in the hospital then, wrote Yu a note, encouraging him and cheering him up since the project was very challenging for any young conductor and any orchestra. "I still have it, it is like a treasure to me," says Yu, adding that he is planning to launch a commemorative project by gathering Japanese and Chinese musicians to perform in concerts in Beijing and Shanghai this year, paying tribute to the great conductor. 24-HOUR BARBER CHALLENGE Cayden Searcy, 10, of Racine, receives a trim from barber-intern Charlie Ramirez, 18, of Kenosha, during the 24-hour Barber Challenge held Sun A unique fundraiser in Kenosha stepped up to be a cut above the rest Sunday and Monday, helping two community programs which serve teens locally. The popular Education Youth Development Outreachs Annual College Tour and the local teen barber program both benefited from a barbers 24-hour challenge. The challenge began at noon Sunday and continued through noon Monday at the Regimen Barber Collective, 1345 52nd St., with barbers donating all of the proceeds from their service to the college tour. The annual college tour has helped hundreds of Kenosha- and Racine-area students go to college and beyond. It is also celebrating more than 25 years of helping expose and engage students of diverse backgrounds to post-secondary educational opportunities en route to careers. 24-HOUR BARBER CHALLENGE Alvin Owens, founder of Education Youth Development Outreachs popular Spring Break College Tour, discusses the 24-hour Barbers Challenge hel Alvin Owens, the barber shops proprietor and the nonprofit outreachs founder, said this years Spring Break College Tour is set for March 31-April 6. We are traveling to schools and historic sites in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, as well as ... Louisiana. And, for the first time, Houston, Texas, Owens said. The weeklong tours have taken dozens of high school students to mainstream, private and historic Black colleges and universities throughout the East Coast and the South, while learning about life on campus and visiting the communities landmarks of social, economic and historic importance. On Sunday, the challenge also raised money for the teen barber program, as the collective is the host site for an internship for aspiring barbers, according to Owens, who is a certified master barber. The Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha contributed $500 to the program. Thats a nice throw in the bucket for us, Owens said. From 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, barbers also gave free haircuts to students who participate in Boys & Girls Club programs. Owens said he and participating barbers look to raise about $2,000 toward the tour. One-hundred percent of their proceeds will go towards the College Tour, he said. The shops products were also on sale, with all proceeds benefiting the tour. Those who didnt need a haircut, but still want to donate, can visit www.beyondcollege.net/college-tour 24-HOUR BARBER CHALLENGE Camryn Searcy, 15, of Racine receives a custom-cut from barber Quintin Bluitt Sunday at the Regimen Barber Collective, 1345 52nd St., during t Close Barber Alvin Owens shares a laugh with Aiden Massoud while cutting his hair during a barbering fundraiser at Twisted Loc Lounge on Sunday. Owens leads an annual spring break college tour. Ariel Owens speaks during the Spring Break College Tour kickoff at UW-Parkside on Sunday, April 7, 2019. Ariana Williams, a sophomore at Park High School, talks about her qualities during the Spring Break College Tour kickoff at UW-Parkside on Sunday, April 7, 2019. Alvin Owens,owner of the Regimen Barber Collective and founder of Education Youth Development Outreach which coordinates the annual Spring Break College Tours for students, receives the Living Legend Community Award. Owens tells the crowd how grateful he is during the ceremony on Tuesday held at Carthage College's Siebert Chapel. Owens Education Youth Development Outreach College Tour and founder Alvin Owens Education Youth Development Outreach College Tour and founder Alvin Owens through the years. Barber Alvin Owens shares a laugh with Aiden Massoud while cutting his hair during a barbering fundraiser at Twisted Loc Lounge on Sunday. Owens leads an annual spring break college tour. Ariel Owens speaks during the Spring Break College Tour kickoff at UW-Parkside on Sunday, April 7, 2019. Ariana Williams, a sophomore at Park High School, talks about her qualities during the Spring Break College Tour kickoff at UW-Parkside on Sunday, April 7, 2019. Alvin Owens,owner of the Regimen Barber Collective and founder of Education Youth Development Outreach which coordinates the annual Spring Break College Tours for students, receives the Living Legend Community Award. Owens tells the crowd how grateful he is during the ceremony on Tuesday held at Carthage College's Siebert Chapel. Owens The election for Kenosha County Board supervisors features 15 contested races with 30 candidates vying for seats in districts, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8,10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 this spring. County Board supervisors serve two-year terms and earn an annual salary of $6,526. Recently, the Kenosha News asked candidates in each of the races to answer questions on why they are running for office and the issues they feel are the most pressing as they face off in the April 2 election in Wisconsin's eighth largest county by population. The News will highlight five races each day with districts listed in numerical order and the candidates, in alphabetic order, providing their answers. An (i) denotes the incumbent. Today's races highlight: District 10 - Andy Berg (i) and Felix Garcia; District 11 - Guida Brown and Zach Stock (i); District 14 - Roseann Baldauf-Shales and Tim Stocker (i); District 16 - Frederick Brookhouse and Erica Millar; and District 17 - Jonathan Butenuth and Monica Yuhas. Why are you running? District 10 Berg (i): To bring a mental health hospital to Kenosha County. To continue to serve the residents of District 10. Garcia: I am running for office because the people of my district are not being involved enough in decisions that are made on their behalf. The people of my district deserve to have options and deserve to know who their supervisor is. District 11 Brown: I am running as an independent for Kenosha County Board of Supervisors in District 11 because I want to ensure that Kenosha County government puts people over politics. Unfortunately, over the last two years, that hasnt been the case. The last election promised answers to the riots and a safer community; instead, we got no information and guns allowed in our county buildings. I have over 20 years of experience in finance and community service, enabling me to be an effective County Board supervisor from the start and I will be responsive to my constituents as well as other members of the public, making sure people come first. Stock (i): I am running for re-election in District 11 because I believe in the importance of being a part of the future of our community by participating in the process. In my first term, I have served as chair of the Human Services Committee and vice chair of the Public Works Committee. I have also served on the Legislative Committee, Executive Committee, and participated in multiple work groups with the county executive. I am not here to be a career politician. I am your neighbor who represents you at the county and makes informed decisions as they come before the board. I look at the facts, not partisan politics. I have been fully committed to the roles I serve in and am excited to have the opportunity to run for a second term. District 14 Baldauf-Shales: I am a public servant. I want to keep Kenosha thriving. Stocker (i): {Incumbent did not respond} District 16 Brookhouse: As a third generation Kenoshan, I want to ensure Kenosha County continues to be a great place to live and work as it was for my family. In my business development career, I created and implemented a strategy for partnerships between industry and educational institutions, resulting in the Horizon Center at Gateway Technical College a facility, which provides world-class automotive training opportunities and a pathway to successful careers for our youth. I was instrumental in the development of the KTEC Innovation Lab, which gives children early exposure to project-based STEM learning. I rolled out this successful model to hundreds of institutions across the U.S. Ill bring that same vision, strategic thinking, collaborative approach and drive for execution to the County Board and bring the boards focus back to solving critical issues facing Kenosha County and improving the lives of our residents. Millar: The last four years have shown me that local government has a lot to say about how we live our lives, raise our families and run our businesses. I plan to bring a professional and invested voice to the board. I love our county and my little corner of Pleasant Prairie (District 16). I want to keep it safe, secure and thriving. Fiscal accountability is extremely important to me. The countys dollars are our dollars. Ive served on several boards from the local to the international level, have taught business finance and can read a budget. Kenosha County is blessed with significant resources and we need to ensure they are being used wisely and most efficiently. Lastly, I pledge to be accessible to voters for honest, open communication. District 17 Butenuth: Im running for office to bring financial accountability to the county of Kenosha and protect public safety by supporting law enforcement. Yuhas (i): I have lived in our beautiful county for 55 years and have a deep-rooted connection and love for our community. Being elected as a voice for residents is a privilege I value and I am dedicated to continuing to represent their interests to the best of my ability. Over the past six years, I have supported responsible budgets and bonding initiatives that have invested in programs addressing veteran services, mental health, public safety and the opioid crisis. I continue to prioritize fiscal responsibility while maintaining quality services that residents depend on. Protecting taxpayers' interests and ensuring the efficient use of resources are central to my advocacy. As chair of Kenosha Joint Services, I continue to support first responders and ensure their resources and needs are met, highlighting my commitment to public safety. I find great reward in helping with constituent concerns and working collaboratively to find solutions that bring satisfaction. What issue is most pressing? District 10 Berg (i): Finding a mental health organization to build a hospital in Kenosha County. Undoing what has been done to our county in the past two years. Not allowing the county executive to have carte blanche over the division heads and directors. Garcia: The issue that the county faces the most is the inclusion of minorities and diversity. The biggest issue is those that are on the board and in elected positions that are fine with these issues not being fixed or highlighted. District 11 Brown: I will consider the Kenosha County Thrive Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) to be one issue, though its really three being championed by Kenosha County government, Kenosha County public health, Aurora Healthcare, and Froedtert South. Those concerns are access to affordable health care; mental health/drug and alcohol use; and affordable housing. The casino is another key issue. And, the budget is always a concern, as is public safety. Stock (i): It is my goal as your supervisor to continue passing budgets that lower taxes for Kenosha homeowners while supporting public safety and investing in the health of our community. With a new Human Services Building being constructed, continued investment in our county parks, the possibility of a casino coming to our backyard and a heightened awareness of the presence of fentanyl on our streets, it is important that we stay vigilant and make decisions that will have a positive long-term effect on the well being of our community. District 14 Baldauf-Shales: In our world today, and especially after the Kenosha riots, I think people are concerned about safety in our community. As a firefighter's wife, I want to be sure that we have enough firefighters and police. Use our tax dollars wisely, we need good roads -repairs and expansion. Community investment in safety Continue to invest in Kenosha Infrastructure - repairs and expansion Protect LGBTQ+ and transgender students Stocker (i): {Incumbent did not respond} District 16 Brookhouse: Kenosha County must compete to retain our youth and attract a highly skilled workforce, fueling growth for the county. We should leverage our existing educational and training resources to develop a workforce that will attract highly skilled manufacturing, which in turn will provide well-paying jobs to sustain our community. We need a research and data-driven strategy to reverse the loss of our young people and cooperation and collaboration among civic, political and governmental agencies and organizations to ensure we put robust plans in place to enable us to compete with other communities and retain our most valued resource, our youth. Millar: I am deeply committed to prioritizing the safety of our families in Kenosha County. I pledge to maintain steadfast support for our Sheriffs Department to address the multifaceted challenges facing our community. This includes implementing strategies to combat crime effectively and keep our roads safe. As a healthcare provider, Ive seen firsthand the impact of opioids, particularly fentanyl, on our county. Its crucial to prioritize primary prevention efforts to address this issue effectively. I recognize the strain on family budgets, because I am facing the same strain. I pledge to advocate for lower taxes and more efficient government spending. It is essential that the board collaborate with the county executive and explore opportunities for partnership between other governmental entities and private business. This is how we ensure county services remain both cost effective and responsive to the needs of our residents. District 17 Butenuth: {Candidate did not respond to question} Yuhas (i): The significant increase in costs for the Human Services Building, from $25.2 million to approximately $37 million, is a matter of concern and requires careful examination by the County Board. The fact that the Board was only recently made aware of these additional costs highlights the importance of transparency and oversight in large-scale projects like this. The County Board should conduct a thorough review of the project scope, budget and any factors that may have contributed to the cost escalation. This may involve examining the initial project plans, identifying any changes or unforeseen circumstances and assessing the necessity of the additional expenditures. Exploring potential cost-saving measures or alternative funding sources will be necessary to mitigate the impact of the increased costs on taxpayers. We must consider reassessing project priorities, seeking additional funding sources or exploring opportunities for efficiencies in project management. UW-La Crosse has a growing population of Malaysian students on campus, the result of strong transfer scholarship programs forming between UW-L and several schools in the Southeast Asian country. These programs allow for an easy transfer of credits to UW-L, which ultimately saves students time and money. Upon completion of their junior and senior year at UW-L, students earn a UW-L degree. Students from Malaysia are now UW-Ls largest international student population. The university currently has 21 students who are attending through American Degree Transfer Programs in Malaysia. And numbers are anticipated to grow as UW-L will be offering another opportunity for international students from the country. Starting in fall 2024, UW-L will offer a $7,500 per academic year scholarship for students from Methodist College Kuala Lumpur (MCKL) in Malaysia to study at UW-L. One MCKL student will be awarded the new scholarship this spring for the fall 2024 semester. This helps us recruit students who are really academically talented and bring global diversity to the campus, says International Admissions counselor Heather Pearson. Weve found that the students from MCKL get involved on campus, they seek out opportunities and are motivated students. They are the kind of students we want on campus and this gives us an edge to help bring them here. The new scholarship builds on a successful American Degree Transfer Program (ADTP) Malasia Transfer Scholarship program created several years ago, offering Malaysian students from MCKL and several other Malaysian schools a 50% reduction on nonresident tuition to complete their degree at UW-L. Students who receive the Malaysia Transfer Scholarship have found a seamless transfer of credits to UW-L and, upon completion of their program at UW-L, earn a UW-L degree. UW-L international student Aditya Anil traveled across world to study on the campus for two main reasons: A lower cost compared to similar schools A smooth transfer of credits Now that hes here, the UW-L junior economics major is learning more about what he likes. For instance, changing seasons and white fluffy stuff falling from the sky have been an interesting contrast to the humid and hot climate of southern Malaysia. Meanwhile, the close-knit feel of the La Crosse community is a comforting reminder of home. Anil was one to take advantage of the transfer scholarship. He applied after visiting with Pearson during an information session in Malaysia. Then, Pearson, Anil and his parents met up at a restaurant near MCKL to talk more. My parents were worried about the safety, Anil recalls. It was nice to, in a relaxed manner, talk and clear up doubts. He was intrigued to learn that, although the campus is safe and small, it also has features you find in a big city such as visits from major political figures during election season. UW-L was a hub for past visits from political figures such as President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy and Gerald Ford, all at various stages in their political careers. Anil finds U.S. politics fascinating and looks forward to being on campus as the 2024 election nears. Anil started at UW-L in fall 2023. In addition to the snow, seasons, politics and small city feel, Anil is enjoying the personalized instruction. One appealing thing about UW-L was that the classes here were very small. MCKL was a small college, too. Ive found that is better for my learning to get a more personal, professional relationship, he explains. According to an MCKL story about the agreement, the positive feedback from MCKL students about UW-Ls robust support system demonstrates a mutually beneficial relationship between the institutions. In addition to faculty support, students find support outside of classes through various UW-L offices that are dedicated to helping students such as International Education & Engagement (IEE), the Office of Multicultural Student Services, Academic Advising and the Recreational Eagle Center. Students can easily find research opportunities on campus as well. Outdoor burning can resume including burning of brush and grass at this time. Please remember that if you are going to do any burning you shall call the Vernon County Sheriffs Office Dispatch Center at 608-637-2123 before burning. This is to ensure they are aware of the burning in case other calls come in. When you are done burning you should notify the dispatch center to let them know your burning is complete so they can take it off their list. Please be mindful of the weather conditions on the day you plan to burn. Westbys Main Street will be reconstructed this summer, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and prime contractor Zignego Company held a public information meeting in the Westby Community Room, Tuesday, March 19. The approximately 1.6-mile project [US 14 (North Main Street) and US 14 (US 61)/WIS 27 (Main Street) intersection] will replace the pavement structure, improve intersections, improve pedestrian accommodations, permit driveway and access connections, replace the storm sewer system and update the street lighting. North Main Street will be reconstructed with two travel lanes, parking lanes, and intersection improvements. North Main Street (US 14) between High Echo Lane and Locust Street is planned to be reconstructed. The North Main Street and Main Street intersection will be reconstructed into a roundabout. Elizabeth Reis, project engineer with CORRE, Inc., Mike Novey, project manager with the Department of Transportation, and Will Zignego of Zignego Company were on hand to answer questions during the open house and brief presentation. The project will be done in three stages. Stage 1 includes tree trimming, which began the week of March 18, and will end before April 1, and reinforcing Coon Prairie and Bekkedal streets. During Stage 2, the day after Memorial Day, Tuesday, May 28, is when downtown between Maple and State streets will be most affected. Work in downtown will begin in June. The goal is to have bi-directional traffic back by Aug. 31. During construction, the roadway will remain open to traffic with a local detour. Bekkedal Street will be the northbound detour (parking will not be allowed during the detour) and Main Street will be the southbound detour. Stage 3 includes parking lanes and the winter configuration, which means work is done and the crews are off the job. The spring of 2025 includes roundabout concrete work, and mill and fill by the roundabout. The project will be completed June 13, 2025. Current parking on side streets will remain in place during construction. Questions and answers A resident who lives along Main Street asked about driveway access during sewer pipe installation and concrete construction. Zignego said there will be times when there is minimum access during the sewer pipe installation and possible delays when concrete is poured. Well do it in halves; it should only be a short period of time. Youll get a two-day heads up. Reis said if you drive on concrete too early it causes cracks. We want to work with you as best we can. Another resident asked about the hours and days of the week crews will be working. Construction hours will follow city ordinance of weekdays 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and weekends 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. It will be five days a week; weekends are not anticipated, Reis said. Well work weekends if there are weather delays. A question was asked about speed limits once construction is complete. Reis said the 35 mph speed limit will be extended farther out of the city and going west on Main Street, 25 mph will extend through the roundabout. There will not be a change in the Hwy. 27 speed. Mayor Danny Helgerson said all sidewalks along Main Street will be replaced and sidewalk will be installed by the trailer court on the citys south side, which currently has no sidewalk. He said there will also be new curb and gutter and street lights. Reis said all of Bekkedal Street will receive an inch-and-a-half to two-inch asphalt overlay in preparation for the detour and it will be retained after the road construction project is done. She said the overlay work will begin after April 15. Were waiting for the asphalt plants to open. For more information As the 2024 Main Street Project moves forward, updates can be found at cityofwestby.org or on Facebook at Westby Main St./Hwy 14 Improvement Project 2024. Information can also be found at the WisDOT Project website. Under the glowing full moon, a special performance at Tsinghua University's New Tsinghua Xuetang auditorium unfolded that was not just a feast for the eyes but also an exploration of the soul. A visually powerful scene from "See." [Photo courtesy of Universal Music China] The dance theater production of "See," starring Tang Shiyi, one of China's most celebrated dancers, transcended the conventional boundaries of dance to offer a poignant reflection on life, nature and the human spirit. This performance coincided with the digital release of the production's original soundtrack by Universal Music China and on physical vinyl by HYM-Original, a Chinese vinyl record label, turntable producer and partner of Universal Music China. Developed by the Hohhot Culture and Tourism Investment Group and under the artistic direction of Feng Shuangbai, president of the Chinese Dancers Association, "See" is a testament to the power of creativity through collaboration. With its premiere in February 2023, "See" channels the artistic dexterity of Tang Shiyi, the main dancer of the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater, and the young director Zheng Zihao, who undertook the role of general director for this production. "See" draws its inspiration from the vast landscapes and cultural richness of Hohhot, the capital of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, aiming to bridge regional divides and present a narrative that resonates on a global scale. The performance is structured into three chapters: "Poetically Dwelling," "Life Moving Forward" and "Looking Back in Time." Each segment explores different facets of existence, employing modern dance techniques and visual storytelling to engage the audience in a dialogue about the human condition. The production's innovative approach to dance, which combines traditional elements with contemporary expression, has been praised for its ability to evoke deep emotional responses, captivating audiences across the nation. Composer Xue Tingzhe and dancer Tang Shiyi. [Photo courtesy of Universal Music China] "The three chapters stem from our deep feelings, extensive exploration and thoughtful contemplation," shared Tang Shiyi. From the intimate bond between humans and nature to the relentless pursuit of personal growth, "See" invites the audience to reflect on their own lives and the world around them. Integral to the production's impact is its original soundtrack which was composed by pianist Xue Tingzhe. A departure from his previous works, Xue's compositions for "See" are meticulously crafted to complement the narrative's emotional depth and thematic exploration. The collaboration with FAME'S Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra and top soloists from around the world has added a rich and truly international soundscape to the performance by blending Mongolian long tunes, ethnic music and instruments like the Morin Khuur, horsehead fiddle. As a representative of neo-classical music for the new generation, Xue's approach to the soundtrack was driven by a desire to blend the abstract with the tangible. "Although 'See' showcases abstract conceptual expression, I tried as hard as possible to infuse the drama with vivid imagery and rich imagination through music," he explained. The result is a soundtrack that not only enhances the visual experience but also stands alone as an impressive work of art in its own right, evoking strong emotional resonance in the audience. The cover artwork for the production's original soundtrack. [Image courtesy of Universal Music China] As the curtains descended, Xue, Tang and the other performers emerged to take a bow, expressing gratitude to the audience amidst a sea of applause and cheers. Outside, eager fans formed queues to purchase the newly released vinyl record. "Our dance may come to an end but its essence remains infinite; all you think is... all as you 'See'," Tang said. Voters will choose from two candidates who have faced recent controversies for their past roles as they seek election April 2 to represent District 1 on the La Crosse County Board. One candidate signed an alternate slate of Republican electors in the 2020 Presidential Election that resulted in a settlement to a civil lawsuit, and the other was censured in their previous position serving on the city council of Pine Island, Minnesota for sharing private information about a city official. On April 2, voters will have to decide between the two candidates, with a divided electorate. County board elections in Wisconsin are nonpartisan. Bill Feehan Bill Feehan was a Republican elector for the state of Wisconsin in 2020 as he was serving as the La Crosse County GOP chair. He stepped down from that role last year and still serves as Wisconsins Third Congressional District GOP chair. When it came time to vote on the electoral college, Feehan, along with other Republican electors, cast their votes for Donald Trump as the winner of the election for Wisconsin, despite Joe Biden leading Trump by over 20,000 votes. I think that people deserve to know what the truth is and the truth is I was not a fake elector, Feehan said. I was a Republican elector. I was called to the state capitol to protect the votes of 1.6 million people who voted for Donald Trump. Feehan said the action was to protect the votes if a court ruled that Trump had won Wisconsin. My understanding all along was that it was going to be that those ballots were going to be held in the case that there was a court decision, said Feehan. A civil lawsuit filed against Feehan and other Republican electors was settled Dec. 1 and required them to make a public statement saying the documents they signed were used in an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results. They were also required to acknowledge Joe Biden had won the election and agreed to never act as an elector on behalf of Donald Trump again. The Wisconsin Elections Commission has rejected a complaint against those involved in the scheme on two separate occasions, which has halted legal action against electors. The outcome of all this is that the electors in Wisconsin have never been charged with a crime, Feehan said. We were not fake. We did not forge documents. And I have never said that Donald Trump really won the election in Wisconsin. Evidence provided in the lawsuit shows some of Feehans statements insinuate the election results were falsified and illegal. That is over 96,000 illegal ballots for indefinitely confined electors, wrote Feehan in an email regarding the legal complaint filed by Sidney Powells law firm that he signed onto in December 2020. This election was filled with illegal activities by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Yes, it effected the outcome, Feehan wrote on Facebook after casting his electoral votes for Donald Trump and Mike Pence in December 2020. In media headlines and online, Feehan has been referred to as a fake elector. Feehan denied any role in the submission of the elector paperwork and said his goal was to preserve any legal challenges to the outcome of the election in Wisconsin. This whole other thing with Trump and his attorneys trying to get Mike Pence to count those ballots we had no awareness any of that was going on, Feehan said. Kelly Leibold Before relocating to La Crosse, Kelly Leibold served on the Pine Island City Council. On Dec. 15, 2020, in a 4-1 vote among council members, Leibold was censured for sharing data-protected information about a city employee. According to a statement by Council Member Mike Hildenbrand, Leibold requested information from the city administrator about a city employee, including job description and employee review meeting all information she was entitled to receive. She ran into trouble for sharing the information with someone who did not work for the city. Councilor Liebolds sharing of the personal employee information constitutes a breach of the Data Privacy Act and could have possibly put the city of Pine Island in jeopardy for some sort of legal trouble, said Hildenbrand. Leibold said she shared the training status of the new communications director, who she says had a shift in responsibilities and daily rotations when COVID began, with a Twin Cities Public Television reporter. It stemmed from a lack of transparency from the city of Pine Island, Leibold said. In response to the BLM protests in the summer of 2020. The city of Pine Island had been responding to a lot of comments from the media and from members of the public with simply, No comment. Leibold said she wanted to provide the reporter with context about the lack of transparency after the reporter reached out. Thats where the censurship stemmed from. Its all due to the politics of a small town, Leibold said. Leibold said since moving to La Crosse, she has sought to become involved in the community through joining the Toastmasters Club and attending neighborhood association meetings. There is no political ladder Im trying to climb, Leibold said. I fell in love with the area and chose to make this my home. The shoreline at the confluence of the La Crosse and Mississippi rivers is a no-go zone after La Crosse police and staff cleared the area of unhoused people and their belongings last week. The area to the northwest of the Old La Crosse Railroad Bridge has been marked with no trespassing signs after it became a gathering spot. City staff spent last week cleaning up refuse and abandoned possessions in the area north of Riverside Park. The undeveloped land had become an encampment used by an estimated 80 or more unhoused people near ongoing construction for new properties in the River Point District development. Notices to vacate were posted by La Crosse Police Department staff warning campers of the pending cleanout. Flyers popped up Feb. 16 and every following week until March 16. Mayor Mitch Reynolds said the city acted as an environmental safety measure. According to the mayors update, about 130 tons of waste and refuse were collected at the site. Reynolds said the waste was potentially hazardous to the environment, triggering a response from the Wisconsin DNR. Due to the lack of shelter space and a multitude of other challenges related to chronic homelessness in our community, individuals who camp in various areas of the city have few other viable options and so will likely continue to find places to try and exist outdoors, the mayors update states. Some people have already relocated to the north and placed tents along hiking trails east of Copeland Avenue. City officials reported that no one took an offer extended by city staff to store their belongings. City staff at the cleanup sought to connect unhoused people to social services and any shelter openings. This clearing was not part of the plan provided by the city and La Crosse County in their joint Pathways Home campaign. The Pathways Home plan aims to bring functional zero homelessness to the area with a strategic approach to prevent homelessness from becoming a cyclical issue. The first goal of Pathways Home was to create a by-name inventory of all unhoused people in La Crosse that would serve as the main dashboard to track and end homelessness. The city and county aimed to complete the list by April 1. With an inventory of those affected, the two agencies have sought to increase housing opportunities in the city to provide space for homeless. The plan seeks to end the camps by addressing the lack of housing options. The cleaning and removal processes undertaken this week by city staff are not actions that were anticipated nor provided for in Pathways Home, the mayors update read. It will remain city government practice to prioritize health and public safety for this population of individuals and the rest of the community while coordinating with La Crosse County government on the long-term Pathways Home plan to reach a state of functional zero in homelessness as rapidly as possible. Salvation Army shelters, the largest emergency shelters in La Crosse, are currently at capacity. Authorities say a worker was killed Saturday while cleaning the city of Blair water tank. Carlos Medina, 30, of El Paso, Texas, died when he became stuck in the tank and needed rescue. The Trempealeau County Sheriffs Office responded to the report at 5:18 p.m. Inside the water tank, Medina was in scuba gear and cleaning with a 90-foot suction tube in a wetsuit for about 45 minutes, according to reports. After telling co-workers that he was getting cold, Medina continued to work and co-workers believed he may have entered a hypothermic state, losing hand mobility and strength shortly after. Co-workers were not able to get Medina out, as he was tangled in the suction tube. When first responders arrived, they reported Medina was about 6 feet under water and motionless. First responders and the two other workers pulled Medina out of the tank, where life-saving measures were performed unsuccessfully. The incident has since been deemed an accidental death by the Trempealeau County Sheriffs Office. State Rep. Ellen Schutt (R-31, Clinton) had three bills expanding access to healthcare and enhancing school safety signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers on March 22. Wisconsins 31st Assembly District includes portions of Rock and Walworth counties. The first bill, Senate Bill 476, will allow out-of-state providers who are licensed in Wisconsin and provide telehealth services to patients to receive reimbursement under the Medical Assistance Program. The second, Senate Bill 672, allows the Wisconsin Department of Health Services the opportunity to enter into value-based purchasing agreements with drug manufactures under the Medical Assistance program. I am proud to support commonsense legislation that increases access to healthcare for Wisconsinites, Schutt said. The Telehealth Modernization Act updates the Medicaid program by allowing out-of-state providers that are licensed in Wisconsin to be reimbursed for virtual healthcare services. Under a value-based purchasing agreement, we add reasonable and responsible assurance that patients will see the results expected from high-cost treatments. This ensures we are spending our tax dollars responsibly, while also keeping families healthy. Senate Bill 303 updates terms regarding the successful school mapping program that was funded in the state budget. This program allows local law enforcement and school districts to partner to create easily shareable and readable maps of the school in the event of a critical situation. We must prioritize a safe school environment for all, Schutt said. Programs such as the digital mapping of school buildings are embraced by school district leaders and law enforcement professionals. We have seen great success across our state with this program. By signing this bill, the law is now clear and minimizes any potential confusion regarding the selection of resources to be used in partnership with the grant. During her first term in office, Schutt has now had five bills signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers. In 57 Photos: Scenes along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Bumble bee feeds on Dame's Rocket along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Black Raspberry along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Black Walnut along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Box Elder along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Overgrown Milwaukee Road concrete electrical box base along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Canadian Anemone along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Carolina Rose along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Cleavers (Catchweed bedstraw, stickyweed) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Common Burdock (Cuckoo-button) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Common Milkweed along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Common Yarrow along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Cow Parley (Wild Chervil) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Dame's Rocket along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Eastern Daisy Fleabane along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Eastern Trailhead signs at Farmer's Gateway Park in downtown Clinton Milwaukee Road electrical box along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail American elm along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail End of the line at the western trailhead of the Pelishek-Tiffany nature trail at North Road at Allens Grove near Darien Scenic farm view along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Ground Ivy (Creeping Charlie) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Hoary Alyssum patch along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail PT Looking south at the Milwaukee Road switching station at Bardwell rail line junction near Darien, June 1983..jpg Milwaukee Road freight train heading northeast on the Southwest Division toward the Bardwell junction near Darien, 1976..jpg Multiflora Rose along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Nature overtakes old Milwaukee Road telegraph polealong the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Ohio Spiderwort along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Old Milwaukee Road concrete box drainage culvertalong the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Oxeye Daisies along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Old Milwaukee Road telegraph pole along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail between Allens Grove and Clinton still bears its "54" mile marker Prickly Wild Rose.along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Patch of purple and white Dame's Rockets along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Circa-2000 Tiffany/Turner Memorial Rest Area along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Riverbank Grape (Frost Grape) along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Milwaukee Road signal stand remnants hidden in the brush along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Shaded trail section along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Abandoned Milwaukee Road signal control box hidden in undergrowth along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Sulphur Cinquefoil along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Telegraph pole with enduring wires and glass insulators along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Traces of the old Milwaukee Road line along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail near Clinton in Rock County Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Trail view along the rails-to-trails Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Treacle Mustard along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail White Campion along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Wild Asparagus along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Wild Four O'Clock along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Wild Parsnip along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Wild Parsnip along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Dames Rocket along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Discarded Milwaukee Road telegraph wire along the Peleshek-Tiffany Nature Trail Paradise apple along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail main trailhead at Farmers Nature Trail Gateway in Clinton Honey Locust along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail White Mulberry.along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Smooth Solomon's Seal along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Farming scene along the Pelishek-Tiffany Nature Trail Lake Geneva aldermen have changed course as far as establishing an ad hoc committee to assist the city in dealing with its short-term rental property issues. Members of the Lake Geneva City Council unanimously approved March 11 to establish a short-term rental ad hoc committee, which will help the city review and revise its short-term rental ordinance, develop cost-effective methods to enforce the citys short-term rental ordinance and help residents address their concerns related to short-term rental properties. The decision is a reversal from the Dec. 27 City Council meeting when aldermen narrowly rejected a proposal to form the committee by a 4-3 vote. Committee members will include Joel Hoiland, chairman and Lake Geneva Plan Commission member; Alderwoman Joan Yunker; Emily Hummel, resident; Carroll Pearson, resident; Neal Kolb, resident; Thomas Keefe, short-term rental property owner/manager; Luke Pfeifer, short-term rental property owner/manager; and Jason Smolarek, short-term rental property owner/manager. The committee is set to be established for six months, unless extended by the City Council. During the Dec. 27 meeting, several aldermen expressed concerns that the committee included short-term rental property owners and a city staff member, Building and Zoning Administrator Fred Walling. However, Walling will now serve as an advisor to the committee and not an official member. Alderwoman Linda Frame said she is still against short-term rental property owners being a part of the committee but feels the group needs to be established. Nothing against them. We felt this needed to be more of an unbiased committee and this is what we asked to have done before this came back to the council to be considered again, and the exact same people are on here, Frame said. I have no problem with all of the people on here except for the short-term rental owners because that causes a problem. Alderwoman Mary Jo Fesenmaier feels that the committee needs to be formed and is pleased that a city staff member will not be a part of the group. I do believe having a staff member on an ad hoc committee isnt appropriate and this wasnt the time to start it. I want to believe that was an oversight and not on purpose, Fesenmaier said. I think we should go forward with it and I think we will be able to tell within a month if this is sincere. So I am supporting it. Alderwoman Peg Esposito said she is favor of establishing the committee but hopes that it meets during a time when residents are able to attend and that public comments are allowed. I would request thats what the committee would do, Esposito said. Frame said she also hopes public comments would be allowed during the meetings. The other ad hoc committees that have historically been involved during this administration have not gone over well with residents because they have no way to ask questions or share things, Frame said. I think that would be really helpful. The committees first meeting is scheduled to be held Wednesday, April 3, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the city hall building, police training room, 626 Geneva St. Th meeting will be a listening session in which residents will be able to provide input, feedback and comments to the committee members. Ad hoc committee requested Several residents and eventually-appointed committee members attended the March 11 meeting to request that the group be established. Hoiland, who also is an aldermanic candidate, said the committee will help the city address concerns related to short-term rental properties. I urge you to do the right thing and vote yes for the resolution as presented, Hoiland said of forming the committee. The Lake Geneva community is counting on you for actions that positively improve the short-term rental program. Hoiland said he recently met with the other proposed committee members and city staff to discuss Lake Genevas short-term rental issues. He feels the committee should be formed before Lake Genevas tourism season begins. So I felt like a Middle East diplomat going from one country to another and trying to convey properly the comments that one group had said and what the other said. Nevertheless, we got a running start on many topics, Hoiland said. Now its mid-March. Theres still time to do something before peak STR season begins. Aldermanic candidate Sherri Ames feels the committee should not be established until after the April 2 spring election in case new city officials are elected. She also is concerned that the committee members met before the group was officially approved. In the next month there might be a major change with the council and some people might be off, some people might be on, Ames said. If theyre on then they should not be a part of the committee. If theyre off, they should not be a part of the ad hoc committee under what is being stated. So maybe we should just postpone this until after the election, because Im a little concerned about the meeting this group had and going back and forth between staff and this group. Keefe said the eventual committee members met before the group was established to discuss issues that have been affecting the city for several years. Even though it was not an official ad hoc, it still felt like a valuable time to get together, Keefe said. Hummel asked that the committee be formed to help city officials develop methods to enforce Lake Genevas short-term rental ordinance. Were not trying to demonize any of the short-term rental property owners. Were trying to make sure the rules that are in place are kept in place or held so people who run legitimate short-term rentals can continue with their business and the people who are violating it can be held accountable, Hummel said. I would like this committee to be voted into being. We all have different backgrounds. We all want whats best for Lake Geneva. Aldermanic candidate Catherine Stoodley feels the committee should be formed to address the citys short-term rental issues before the start of tourism season. Its a well-thought out committee with successful property owners and active, concerned residents, Stoodley said. Please, lets give our staff the tools they need to reclaim our neighborhoods and let our residents and visitors enjoy this town. During the past year, several residents have expressed concerns regarding short-term rental properties including loud parties, inappropriate language and increased vehicles parked in residential neighborhoods. A Tesla electric vehicle undergoes electronic equipment testing before delivery at Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory in east China's Shanghai, Dec. 22, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] China's focus on developing new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality development will create great opportunities for businesses both at home and abroad, and inject strong impetus into global economic recovery and growth, according to the country's top economic planner. China will take solid steps to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, boost industrial innovation via technological innovation, speed up upgrading of traditional industries, and foster emerging industries, Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the China Development Forum 2024 that opened in Beijing on Sunday. The country will strive to integrate digital technologies into the real economy sector and integrate advanced manufacturing with the modern service industry, while fostering new growth engines in fields including biomanufacturing, commercial spaceflight, new materials and low-altitude economy, Zheng said. More efforts will also be made to foster future-oriented industries, open up new fields such as quantum technology and life sciences, and launch the "artificial intelligence (AI) plus" initiative, he said. Zheng added the country will continue efforts to optimize its business environment, pursue higher-standard opening up, strengthen international sci-tech cooperation, and accelerate the formulation of the 2024 negative list for foreign investment. As the country's macroeconomic policies continue to take effect, the economy has secured a robust start to this year, with improved industrial production and domestic demand, while China also has the confidence, capabilities and conditions to meet its development goals set for 2024, he said. WASHINGTON The House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is at a crossroad, lacking the political appetite from within the Republican ranks to go forward with an actual impeachment, but facing political pressure to deliver after months of work. The chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer, made a last-ditch push at Wednesday's hearing, announcing he will seek testimony from Biden himself, saying the Democratic president was either complicit or incompetent in his son Hunter Biden's business dealings. We need to hear from the president himself, Comer said at the close of the nearly eight-hour hearing. It's highly unlikely Biden would appear before the committee. The White House told Republicans to move on, saying there are real issues" Americans want to be addressed. This is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment, spokesman Ian Sams said. Call it a day, pal. Having produced no hard evidence of presidential wrongdoing, Republicans seeking testimony from the president is a possible final act. Rather than drawing up articles of impeachment against Biden, Comer is eyeing potential criminal referrals of the family to the Justice Department, a largely symbolic move. With Hunter Biden declining to appear at the hearing after he testified privately last month, Comer said earlier on Fox News he planned multiple criminal referrals. The GOP-led probe was launched after Republicans seized control of the House in January and were eager to hold Biden to the high bar of impeachment. The House, under a Democratic majority, twice impeached Republican Donald Trump during his presidency. As Trump and Biden face a likely rematch this November, the probe is grinding on drilling into Hunter Bidens often complicated business dealings and troubled personal life, particularly when Joe Biden was vice president or out of public office. The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, said in his own opening remarks that a comedy of errors of the Biden impeachment inquiry is finally crashing to an end. The committee asserts that the Bidens traded on the family name, an alleged influence-peddling scheme in which Republicans are trying to link a handful of phone calls or dinner meetings between Joe Biden, when he was vice president or out of office, and Hunter Biden and his business associates. Hunter Biden, who faces firearm and tax charges in separate matters, testified behind closed doors last month in a deposition that filled more than 200 pages but left Comers committee without the hard evidence rising to high crimes and misdemeanors that would be expected to impeach a president. Testimony was coming from a cast of unusual witnesses, some with complicated backgrounds. Jason Galanis is serving a lengthy federal prison sentence in Alabama for fraud schemes and appeared remotely before lawmakers. Tony Bobulinski, a onetime business associate of Hunter Biden, took his claims against the family public during the first Trump-Biden presidential debate in 2020. The Democrats called Lev Parnas to testify, relying on the convicted businessman who was central to Trumps first impeachment as a Rudy Giuliani associate working to dig up political dirt on Joe Biden before the 2020 election. Parnas since played a key role in dispelling the House GOPs main claim of bribery against the Bidens. Testifying via video, Galanis told lawmakers he expected to make billions with Hunter Biden and other associates, using the Biden family name in their foreign business dealings. Galanis described a particular time in May 2014 when Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone for a brief chat with potential foreign business partners a Russian oligarch and her husband during a party at a New York restaurant. In earlier testimony Galanis, who was sentenced for multiple fraud schemes, acknowledged he unsuccessfully sought a pardon in the final days of the Trump presidency. Hunter Biden, in his own deposition last month, testified he met Galanis for about 30 minutes 10 years ago. Bobulinski told the committee that he met twice with Joe Biden in 2017 during a conference in Los Angeles, through Hunter Biden, including once for about 45 minutes, when they talked mostly about family and did not talk business. While Hunter Biden testified that his father was never involved in his business dealings, Bobulinski declared that blatant lies. It is clear to me that Joe Biden was the brand, Bobulinksi said. Parnas told the committee that in all his work overseas, he has seen zero evidence of Biden family corruption. In launching their Biden impeachment inquiry last year, the House Republicans relied in large part on unverified claims from an FBI informant released by Senate Republicans suggesting Burisma-related payments totaling $10 million to the Bidens were discussed. The now former FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov, was arrested last month and pleaded not guilty to charges that he fabricated the bribery allegations. With the House's slim GOP majority narrowed further by early retirements, Republicans may not have enough support within their ranks to pursue articles of impeachment against the president, especially because Democrats would likely vote against any such charges. Unable to buy a train ticket, or even see a doctor at a hospital, a Chinese pastor found that his even after release from prison, he is not quite free. The Rev. John Sanqiang Cao was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison while coming back from a missionary trip in Myanmar. Now back in his hometown of Changsha in southern Hunan province, he is without any legal documentation in his country, unable to access even the most basic services without a Chinese identification. I told them Im a second-(class) Chinese citizen, I cannot do this, I cannot do that, Cao in an interview with The Associated Press. Im released, Im a free citizen, why should there be so many restrictions upon me? Cao, who was born and raised in Changsha, had dedicated his life to spreading Christianity in China, where the religion is strictly regulated. He had studied in the U.S., married an American woman and started a family, but said he felt a calling to go back to his home country and spread the faith. Its a risky mission. Christianity in China is allowed only in state-sponsored churches, where the ruling Communist Party decides how Scripture should be interpreted. Anything else, including clandestine house churches and unofficial Bible schools, is considered illegal, though it was once tolerated by local officials. Cao was undeterred, citing the courage of Chinese Christians he had met who spent time in prison for their faith. During his years in China, he said he had set up some 50 Bible study schools all across the country. After completing his sentence, Cao is no longer behind bars. But he is facing another major obstacle. He said that police who came to his mothers house in 2006 took away her hukou registration book, which had also included Cao. Every child born in China is registered in the hukou, which is an identification system through which social benefits are allocated by geography. Later in life, the hukou is needed to apply for a national ID card, which is used in everything from getting a phone number to public health insurance. MDT/AP The bodies of three Rohingya refugees were found in the sea as the Indonesian authorities ended a search for survivors from a boat that capsized near Aceh province, the provincial search and rescue agency said yesterday. Fishers and a search and rescue team rescued 75 people from the boat on Thursday 44 men, 22 women and nine children after they huddled on its overturned hull throughout the night. A few were taken to a local hospital for treatment, but most were sent to a temporary shelter in the Aceh Barat district. Several told UNHCR workers they had lost family members on the journey. Fishers first spotted the three bodies and reported them to local authorities on Saturday. After we searched the area, the team found three bodies, two adult women and one boy. They are allegedly Rohingya refugees who were the passengers of the capsized and sunken boat, Al Hussain, chief of Banda Aceh Search and Rescue Agency in a statement on Sunday. The bodies were immediately taken to the hospital in Calang city in Aceh Jaya district, before local authorities buried them. Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR staff member in Aceh, said that some of the survivors also helped to identify the bodies. We have verified as we take one of the refugees to identify and verify that they were together on the boat, Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR staff member in Aceh, said Saturday evening. Local authorities in Aceh have received several reports about dead bodies floating in nearby waters since Saturday. U.N. agencies in a statement on Friday said that about 70 Rohingya refugees are feared missing or dead from a boat that made a grueling sea voyage from Bangladesh and sank off Indonesias coast this week. About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar. They include about 740,000 who fled in 2017 to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by Myanmars security forces, who were accused of committing mass rapes and killings and burning thousands of homes. The Rohingya minority in Myanmar faces widespread discrimination and most are denied citizenship. Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, and so is not obligated to accept them. However, the country generally provides temporary shelter to refugees in distress. MDT/AP Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine supply boat with water cannons this weekend in the latest confrontation near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, causing injuries to its navy crew members and heavy damage to the wooden vessel, Philippine officials said. The United States and Japan immediately expressed their support to the Philippines, as well as alarm over Chinese forces aggression off the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels over the past year. The far-flung shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of Philippine navy and marines on a marooned warship since 1999, but has been surrounded by Chinese coast guard and suspected militia vessels in an increasingly tense territorial standoff. Its the second time the Philippine boat Unaizah May 4 has been damaged by the Chinese coast guards water cannon assault in March alone. The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears they could degenerate into a larger conflict that could bring China and the United States into a collision. Washington lays no claims to the busy seaway, a key global trade route, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations, which China has criticized. The U.S. has also warned repeatedly that its obligated to defend the Philippines its oldest treaty ally in Asia if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement yesterday [Macau time] that the United States stands with its ally the Philippines and condemns the dangerous actions by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea on March 23. Escorted by two Philippine coast guard ships, the Unaizah May 4 was en route to deliver supplies and a fresh batch of Filipino sailors to the territorial outpost in the shoal at dawn Saturday when they were blocked and surrounded by Chinese coast guard ships and suspected militia vessels. Their reckless and dangerous actions culminated with the water cannoning of Unaizah May 4, causing severe damage to the vessel and injuries to Filipinos onboard, a Philippine government task force dealing with the territorial conflicts said without elaborating. The two Philippine coast guard patrol ships maneuvered through the Chinese blockade to treat the injured Filipino crew members and tow the disabled supply boat away. Another motorboat managed to transport the new batch of Filipino sailors and supplies to the Philippine outpost in the shallows of the shoal despite the Chinese coast guards attempt to block them by placing a floating barrier in the waters, Philippine officials said. The hostilities dragged on for about 8 hours, they said. The Philippines will not be deterred by veiled threats or hostility from exercising our legal rights over our maritime zones, the government task force said in a statement. We demand that China demonstrate in deeds and not in words that it is a responsible and trustworthy member of the international community. Chinese coast guard spokesperson Gan Yu said the Philippine vessels intruded into what he said was Chinas territorial waters despite repeated warnings. The China coast guard implemented lawful regulation, interception and expulsion in a reasonable and professional manner, Gan said. Washingtons ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson, said that the U.S. stands with the Philippines against the PRCs repeated dangerous maneuvers and water cannons to disrupt the Philippine coast guards lawful activities in Manilas exclusive economic zone. Japans ambassador-designate to Manila, Endo Kazuya, reiterated his countrys grave concern on the repeated dangerous actions by the Chinese coast guard in the South China Sea, which resulted in Filipino injuries. Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, which Beijing continues to claim virtually in its entirety despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds. Video released by the Philippine military shows two Chinese coast guard ships hitting the smaller wooden-hulled boat Unaiza May 4 with high-pressure water cannon sprays at close range, causing the boat to shift in the high seas. Chinese coast guard previously blasted the Unaizah May 4 with high-pressure water cannons in a confrontation near the Second Thomas Shoal on March 5, shattering its windshield and slightly injuring a Filipino admiral and four of his men with glass shards and splinters of debris. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila summoned Chinas deputy ambassador after the March 5 confrontation to convey a protest against the Chinese coast guards actions, which it said were unacceptable. JIM GOMEZ, MANILA, Philippines, MDT/AP China's Minister of Finance Lan Fo'an has outlined the ministry's major tasks for advancing the country's high-quality development in 2024. The ministry will accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, increasing financial support for innovation, industrial upgrades, and the cultivation of future industries, Lan said at the China Development Forum 2024 that opened in Beijing on Sunday. The ministry will also focus on expanding profitable investments and driving potential consumption to enhance the role of domestic demand in boosting economic growth, the minister said. In this regard, the ministry will support the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trading-in of consumer goods. It will treat all types of businesses fairly in terms of tax relief and government procurement, Lan added. Additionally, the ministry will allocate more financial resources to education, healthcare, social security, and environmental protection, while intensifying communication with other major economies concerning macroeconomic policies, he said. Efforts will also be made to advance the country's financial and tax reforms, the minister added. China has set its deficit-to-GDP ratio at 3 percent for 2024, which means 4.06 trillion yuan (about 572 billion U.S. dollars) in deficit, according to this year's government work report. This figure is 180 billion yuan more than that projected at the beginning of 2023. St. Helena, a small, craggy island in the South Atlantic Ocean, hasnt seen many tourists in the past for good reason: Its one of the most remote inhabited places in the world. Until 2017, it took five nights by boat to reach the British overseas territory, which is nearly halfway between southern Africa and Brazil. Today, with weekly commercial flights and the recent arrival of high-speed internet, the government is hoping to breathe new life into a fledgling tourism industry that welcomed about 2,100 leisure travelers in 2023. The island has just a little more than 4,000 residents, or Saints as they call themselves, and is likely to attract a certain kind of visitor. Its people with a real desire to travel and learn rather than, lets go somewhere to have a bit of sunshine and some nice food, says Emma Phillips, whose husband, Nigel, is St. Helenas governor. After all, weather can be unpredictable and supplies occasionally run low when youre 1,200 miles from the nearest continent. Youve got to be prepared to embrace all of that, Phillips says, while extolling the islands welcoming locals, rich history and natural wonders. Come with an open mind. HISTORY: NAPOLEON, GEORGIAN ARCHITECTURE Perhaps best known as the site of Napoleon Bonapartes exile from 1815 until his death in 1821, St. Helena features multiple heritage sites honoring the deposed French emperor. Visitors can tour his homes and his original burial grounds. His remains were returned to France in 1840. The capital city, Jamestown, is an eclectic mix of new and old. British Georgian-era colonial buildings house small retail and grocery stores. There are a couple DVD rental shops remnants of the islands pre-high-speed internet days. For a workout with a view, climb the 699 steps of Jacobs Ladder on the edge of town. The 600-foot-high outdoor staircase was originally a donkey-powered cart track used to transport goods between the city and fortifications on the cliffs above. Plantation House, 2 miles south of the capital, is a grand Georgian mansion built in 1792 by the British East India Company, which administered St. Helena until 1834. Now the official governors residence, the house features a collection of royal portraits and original furnishings, including antique china and a chandelier from Bonapartes final home. WHALE SHARKS, A LEGENDARY TORTOISE Plantation Houses well-manicured yard is home to one of the islands most famous residents, a venerable tortoise named Jonathan. At the approximate age of 192, Jonathan holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest living land animal. He has met several royals, including Queen Elizabeth II, who visited St. Helena in 1947, and Prince Edward, who made the trip in January. Jonathan is an enigmatic tortoise, says Teeny Lucy, one of his caretakers for over a decade. If you come to St. Helena, people usually know two things: Jonathan the tortoise and Napoleon Bonaparte. Shes not sure who is the bigger celebrity. Jonathan has lost his sight and sense of smell, but remains a major draw for tourists like Gilly Hill, who traveled from the U.K. to snap selfies with him. I just think hes the most amazing creature, she said. Other bucket-list activities include swimming with Chilean devil rays or whale sharks, which are often spotted December through March. Theres also humpback whale watching from June to December. Come in January to catch peak nesting season for the wirebird, also known as the St. Helena plover, which can only be found on St. Helena. BIODIVERSITY, SCENERY Roughly one-third of all endemic biodiversity in U.K. territories can be found within the 47-square-mile island. More than 500 species are not seen anywhere else on earth, including 45 flowering plants and ferns. Microclimates that range from cool tropical forests to sunny rolling grasslands and windswept volcanic cliffs can all be experienced within an hours drive. With two dozen scenic trails, St. Helena can satisfy even the most avid hikers wanderlust. Serious trekkers might opt for the highest point, Dianas Peak. The 2.3-mile hike takes you 2,690 feet above sea level and into Britains last remaining natural cloud forest. Casual hikers can stroll along Blue Point Trail for spectacular views of Sandy Bay, Sperry Island and Castle Rock. For a moderate challenge, try the shaded hike to St. Helenas famed Heart Shaped Waterfall, which only flows in winter and early spring. Be sure to catch the best views of the falls from the main road out of Jamestown. RARE COFFEE, COLORFUL CAKES Perched at 1,700 feet on one of the lushest and most remote parts of the island lies a historic estate with sweeping cloud-forest views and a really good cup of joe. Wranghams is a small coffee farm with tours and home stays, run by Neil and Debbie Fantom. Coffee connoisseurs seek out St. Helenas beans, often touted as one of the rarest and most expensive varieties in the world due to their export costs and single-origin status. It sells online for $150 per half pound. Extreme isolation has ensured that the coffee plants, which were imported from Yemen in the 18th century, have never been cross-fertilized. Is it the best in the world? I couldnt tell you. Is it coffee that we enjoy producing and drinking? One hundred percent, Neil says. Weve got the perfect climate for it, and we do it ourselves. With love, adds Debbie. Other local culinary delights include plo, a cross between curry and Spanish paella, fresh fishcakes, and sponge cakes with bright pink icing known as coconut fingers. WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO Money: St. Helena has no ATMs, credit cards are not widely accepted, and the local bank has limited hours. Be sure to bring British pounds (GBP) to cover your stay and the 20 pounds entry fee (about $25). Another option is St. Helena Banks prepaid Tourist Card app, which can be loaded with debit cards online and is accepted throughout the island. Connectivity: Download essentials like the Tourist Card app and offline Google maps before you arrive, as Wi-Fi and mobile data is limited and expensive. Getting There: Airlink flies once weekly from Johannesburg. A mid-week flight is often added during the busier summer season, December to March. Youll need proof of medical insurance covering at least 175,000 pounds (about $223,000) to board the plane. Where to Stay: Accommodations range from simple home stays to boutique hotels. The higher-end Mantis St. Helena has 30 rooms and complimentary, reliable internet. Getting Around: St. Helenas narrow roads and blind curves are not for the faint of heart. If youre comfortable driving stick shift on the left side of the road, rental cars are available. Otherwise, taxis are your best option for island adventuring. NICOLE EVATT, JAMESTOWN, St. Helena, MDT/AP Thousands of people in the remote region of Ladakh have been protesting for over two weeks in freezing temperatures, demanding constitutional provisions from the Indian government to protect their territorys fragile ecology and to have autonomy over land and agriculture decisions. Nestled between India, Pakistan and China, Ladakh has faced territorial disputes and suffered the effects of climate change. Shifting weather patterns in the sparsely populated villages altered peoples lives through floods, landslides and droughts. Top climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is taking part in the demonstrations in the town of Leh. He has been on a fast, since the protests started on March 6, in the open in sub-zero temperatures and surviving only on salt and water. Wangchuk, also an engineer working on solutions for sustainability at his Himalayan Institute of Alternative Ladakh, has called his protest aclimate fast. Were already facing climate disaster and these glaciers and mountains will be destroyed if there is not a check on unbridled industrial development and military maneuvers in the region, Wangchuk told The Associated Press yesterday. Ladakhs thousands of glaciers, which helped dub the rugged region one of the water towers of the world, are receding at an alarming rate, threatening the water supply of millions of people. The melting has been exacerbated by an increase in local pollution that has worsened due to the regions militarization, further intensified by the deadly military standoff between India and China since 2020. He also said Ladakh critically needs ecological protection because its not just a local disaster in (the) making but an international one as these mountains are part of Greater Himalayas intricately linked to over two billion people and multiple countries. Wangchuk said the Ladakh nomads were also losing prime pastureland to huge Indian industrial plans and Chinese encroachment. The regions shepherds complain that Chinese soldiers have captured multiple pasturelands and restricted them from grazing their herds. The shepherds and Wangchuk are planning to march to the Chinese border later this month to underscore what they say is Beijings land grab attempts in Ladakh to gain territory. In August 2019, Ladakh was split from Indian-controlled Kashmir after New Delhi stripped the disputed region of its statehood and semi-autonomy. While restive Kashmir has largely been silenced through a crackdown on any form of dissent and slew of new laws, demands for political rights in Ladakh have intensified with demands of statehood with local legislature to frame their own laws on land and agriculture. The regions representatives have held several rounds of talks with Indian officials, including with the powerful Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month, without any results. This government likes to call India the Mother of Democracy, Wangchuk recently posted on X, formerly Twitter. But if India denies democratic rights to people of Ladakh & continues to keep it under bureaucrats controlled from New Delhi then it could only be called a Stepmother of Democracy as far as Ladakh is concerned. AIJAZ HUSSAIN, SRINAGAR, MDT/AP Four men suspected of robbing illegal currency exchange operator in Macau were apprehended in mainland China eight hours after the alleged crime, the Judiciary Police (PJ) has announced. The victim, a middle-aged man from Hong Kong, reported a loss of HKD500,000 from the alleged crime. The four suspects are mainland men. At 4 p.m. March 22, after a referral from the Public Security Police Force (PSP), PJ inspectors began investigating an alleged robbery in a hotel room in Cotai. According to the alleged victim, he was contacted via social media and asked to meet at the hotel room for a currency exchange of HKD500,000. Arriving at the hotel room, the alleged victim saw Liu and He. As he handed the cash to the two men, he was suddenly electrocuted on his head and back and fell unconscious for several minutes. When he woke, his wrists and legs were bound with bathrobe straps and wires and he saw the two suspects fleeing with the cash. It took him several hours to untie himself before calling police with the assistance of hotel staff. Preliminary investigations have implicated Lis and Yus involvement in the incident. The four people left for mainland China after allegedly committing the crime. The police notified police departments in several mainland cities, and the mainland police apprehended the four men in three different cities within eight hours. Mainland police have said the four suspects have been reluctant to cooperate with the investigation, according to the local police. In another case, a non-local man who works at a Cotai hotel has allegedly scammed his employer of MOP31,900, the PJ has disclosed. The 28-year-old mainland man, surnamed Yu, works as a waiter at the hotel. On Feb. 28, the hotel told police the man had logged non-member spending at the hotel to a number of members accounts. As such, he had redeemed perks to enjoy at the hundreds of properties under the same brand around the world. He was arrested March 21 when he tried to repeat the same deed, the police said. Further investigations led police to believe that from December 2019 to January this year, the man had redeemed 27 nights of accommodation in properties of the hotel group in mainland China and Macau. He either used the accommodation rights himself or sold them online. Sometimes when diners settled their bills with cash, he used his membership points to settle part of the bills, so he could appropriate the cash. The man has six membership accounts, the police added. In another case, a mainland businessman lost RMB45,000 after his mainland friend, surnamed Zhu, 34, scammed him. During one of his trips to Macau on July 31 last year, the victim lost all his money to a local casino. Meeting at a hotel room in Cotai, the two agreed on the currency exchange. The victim digitally transferred RMB45,000 to Zhu, who then started procrastinating and said he did not have enough cash for the victim. The two went out to get cash but Zhu reportedly fled. On March 18, Zhu was arrested at the local airport but has denied the accusation. Support poured in from around the world over the weekend for Kate, the Princess of Wales, after she revealed in a candid video message that she is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer following major abdominal surgery. The princesss poignant video, in which she spoke about the huge shock and incredibly tough couple of months for her family after her diagnosis, came after weeks of frenzied speculation on social media about her health and well-being. This of, course, came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family, Kate said in the video, which was recorded Wednesday in Windsor. It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be OK, she added, referring to her three young children. Kate, 42, did not say what type of cancer was discovered after her surgery. She said she is now in the early stages of preventative chemotherapy, and is getting stronger every day. Her condition was initially thought to be noncancerous, until post-surgery tests revealed the diagnosis, she said. The announcement will at least partly tamp down the intense and sometimes fantastical speculation and conspiracy theories about Kates condition that have multiplied on social media since Kensington Palace announced in mid-January that she had been hospitalized for unspecified abdominal surgery. Hashtags including WeLoveYouCatherine and GetWellSoonCatherine were trending Friday on X, formerly Twitter, while political leaders, celebrities and cancer survivors sent messages of support. She has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said. She has shown tremendous bravery with her statement. U.S. President Joe Biden posted on social media, saying he and first lady Jill Biden join millions around the world in praying for your full recovery, Princess Kate. King Charles III, who is also undergoing treatment for an unspecified type of cancer, said in a statement that he was so proud of Catherine for her courage in speaking as she did. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who have been estranged from the royal family since their move to California in 2020, said they wished health and healing for Kate and the family. MDT/AP The franchising model can be a winner for both franchisor, which gets to build its brand with the help of someone elses money, and franchisee, which gets a brand-name product to sell and purchasing power and other support from the franchisor. It can be frustrating for the products customer, though, when that arrangement goes south, as Sharon Rolff found out. Rolff, 60, of Madison, came to SOS in mid-February with a sleeping problem. Specifically, the material in the Corsicana Mattress Co.-brand mattress shed purchased two or three years ago from a BoxDrop Mattress and Furniture store in Baraboo was starting to bunch up and develop ridges and lumps, making it difficult to get comfortable, she said. Rolff said the mattress came with a warranty and shed been in contact with the stores owner beginning in August or September. He promised to look into a replacement and eventually, per his direction, she emailed him photos of her receipt and of the mattress tag, she said. What followed was a series of broken promises to fulfill the warranty and then silence which Rolff later found out was because the store had gone out of business. I tried contacting him through Facebook, via text message and phone calls multiple times and no response back from him, she said. I even went through the manufacturer of the mattress for help and they said that I need to go through BoxDrop even though I told them they are not responding to me. In the manufacturers case, Rolff said she submitted the necessary documentation to Corsicana for a warranty claim in December, was told two months later upon following up that it had never been received, and so submitted it again. And that was when the company sent her back to BoxDrop, she said. SOS heard nothing from the Baraboo store, either, in response to multiple email, Facebook and phone messages beginning Feb. 22, so on March 12 emailed and called the Texas-based Corsicana. Two days later, Corsicana senior vice president of commercial operations Mike Juoni called SOS with a promise to make the situation right for Rolff. He said he was getting caught up on the situation and wasnt sure if Rolff would qualify for a replacement under the companys warranty, but given the circumstances, she was going to get one. If something reaches my desk it just needs to be addressed as far as Im concerned, he said. Rolff said she heard from a nice lady at Corsicana shortly thereafter and a few days later from someone at BoxDrop. On Thursday, she said shes received clearance to pick up a new, upgraded Corsicana mattress her model has been discontinued at a different Madison furniture retailer that carries them. BoxDrops chief legal officer Clark Jordan told SOS on Thursday that warranty claims submitted to BoxDrop franchisees are supposed to be sent to the companys corporate office, which then sends them to the manufacturers. But in Rolffs case, he said, no such claim was submitted to BoxDrop corporate. He said the company has a record of responding to Rolff about a warranty claim on Feb. 16, but that Rolff may not have received that response, creating further delay. From my review, it appears that Ms. Rolffs claim was an unfortunate set of circumstances and miscommunications that is not typical of the experience we want our customers to have, he said. BoxDrop customers who encounter problems with products purchased from a franchise that later closes should take their cases first to another franchise and then to BoxDrop corporate at support@retailservicesystems.com, he said. Send us an SOS Since September 2007, SOS has helped save Wisconsin State Journal readers more than $238,028.74 and solved hundreds of problems. You can send an SOS using any of these methods: Email: sos@madison.com Online form: http://go.madison.com/sendSOS Phone: 608-252-6198 Mail: SOS, Wisconsin State Journal, 1901 Fish Hatchery Road, Madison, WI 53713 A Madison brewery owner has apologized for vandalizing video game machines with graffiti at Aftershock Classic Arcade Bar, citing mental health problems. Brad Van Kauwenbergh, co-owner of Aftershock, 1442 E. Washington Ave., said he discovered the graffiti Sunday morning in more than 10 places on games, walls and tables. Surveillance camera footage showed a man doing some of the damage about midnight, before the bar closed at 2 a.m. Sunday. Aftershock on Sunday posted photos on its Facebook page. It was egregious, Van Kauwenbergh told the Wisconsin State Journal. Nobodys ever tagged our machines before. Kyle Metz, owner of Black Rose Blending Co., 1602 Gilson St., apologized for doing the vandalism on Monday in a Facebook post, saying he has been dealing with mental stress and hopelessness. I was in a bad headspace that night and had a few too many beers and made a huge mistake that I regret, Metz wrote. Van Kauwenbergh said Metz earlier contacted Aftershock, apologizing and offering to pay for the damage. Metz also asked Aftershock to remove the photos of him from its Facebook page, which it has not done, Van Kauwenbergh said. Aftershock filed a report with Madison Police on Monday. If hes suffering, I feel for him, Van Kauwenbergh said. But hes an adult, and he needs to be accountable for his actions. ... Theres no excuse for that kind of behavior. Some of the graffiti is on walls, which can be painted, or on glass or acrylic sheets, which can be replaced, he said. But some is on the artwork of machines, which is a lot more difficult and more time-consuming and expensive to do anything about, he said. Van Kauwenbergh said he doesnt know Metz. In his post, Metz said he didnt target the business. Aftershock is a place that I actually really like, and used to frequent weekly, Metz wrote. In an email to the State Journal, Metz said he has had a hard time running an undercapitalized business and is pursuing therapy. I guess I may have been looking for some sort of escapism in a dark place, he wrote in his Facebook post. I think the rush made me feel good when things werent actually okay. Its more than tempting for the average Wisconsin citizen to believe the state Capitol is a place where the daily agenda is limited to threats of recall elections, fights over gerrymandered political maps and other partisan divisiveness. All of that happens, of course, fed by a mix of honest policy disagreements, misplaced passion and old-fashioned political theater made even more dramatic by the advent of an election year. Even so, the latest floor period in Madison also saw the emergence of legislation to help improve Wisconsins business climate, to bolster higher education and to foster a stronger physical infrastructure. Here are examples of bills passed by the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate and signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat. Hopes for a building to expand enrollment and enhance research-to-industry connections in the UW-Madison College of Engineering seemed dim earlier this year, when disputes over diversity, equity and inclusion staffing throughout the Universities of Wisconsin emerged as a stumbling block. A compromise emerged and the building is on a path to reality, with $197 million coming from the state and $150 million to be secured from private donors. Absent an end to the Capitol stalemate, there was no chance of raising those private dollars; now, the process is well underway. The same DEI debate held up another $32 million in state support for other UW buildings statewide, including a few that would have paid for themselves over time (such as dormitories), but that was eventually resolved, too. Wisconsin has been building a healthier early-stage investment foundation since the early 2000s, when the bipartisan passage of the Qualified New Business Venture tax credits made it possible for angel and venture capital investors in young, tech-based companies to recover $1 for every $4 invested. A bill making it easier for out-of-state investors to put their money in Wisconsin companies passed, as did improvements to the 2013 law that created the Badger Fund of Funds. Its far from full-throated support of tech-based entrepreneurism in Wisconsin, something other states have done, but its progress. The state is in the running for a $75 million federal award to create a medical tech hub that would leverage private and public health-tech resources, primarily in Madison and Milwaukee. The Legislature passed a $7.5 million matching grant to meet federal requirements and did so quickly, thus enhancing Wisconsins chances against other big medical technology regions. Maybe lawmakers will now consider doing the same for competitive state efforts to win federal dollars for tech plays in agriculture and the nexus of water, energy and manufacturing. Electric vehicles of all types are here to stay especially if there is an infrastructure to support them. One bill was passed to allow private businesses to sell electricity via EV charging stations by the kilowatt-hour instead of by the hour, without being regulated as utilities. It also created an excise tax of 3 cents per kWh to help make up for lost gas tax revenue and codified how state and local governments can operate charging stations. A second bill was passed to set up a state Department of Transportation mechanism for a program to handle federal dollars that will come with it. Other bills that passed muster were tied to the continued phaseout of personal property taxes, improved business development credits and updates to the Minnesota-Wisconsin tuition reciprocity agreement. These bills and more in other categories were passed because there were enough Republicans and Democrats in both houses to rally around them. That was true even with large GOP majorities in place. Will the creation of 99 new Assembly districts and 32 new Senate districts bring closer political margins and even more cooperation? The start of the 2025 legislative session will hold the answer to that question. Expect more political positioning in the Capitol between now and November, but dont forget most lawmakers show up to work on policy, too. Its just often less noisy. Two fugitives, along with a woman accused of harboring them in Filer, had their initial court appearance Friday in Twin Falls following Wednesdays attack on law enforcement officers at a Boise hospital which led to the escape of an inmate. Skylar W. Meade, 31, and Nicholas D. Umphenour, 28, who appeared via video arraignment, were arrested Thursday afternoon after a pursuit in Twin Falls. Meade, who has Twin Falls ties, is charged with felony escape while Umphenour faces three counts of assault or battery on law enforcement officers, use of a deadly weapon in commission of a crime and aiding and another felony relating to Meade's escape, court records say. They were soon afterward transported to the Ada County Jail in Boise. Besides a $2 million bond for escape, Meade is listed on the jail roster as having a non-bailable civil fugitive warrant. Umphenour's bond has also been set at $2 million. Three Idaho Department of Corrections officers were injured in the hospital attack, and the suspects are also under investigation for two murders in northern Idaho but no charges have been filed in the deaths, police said. The woman, Tonia Huber, 52, is charged with harboring a fugitive, eluding police and possession of a controlled substance. Her bond was set for $500,000, the amount Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs recommended. The three were caught after an FBI agent conducting surveillance at a home in Filer saw Umphenour leave in a stolen vehicle, court records say. The agent attempted to pass a pickup truck driven by Huber to pursue the stolen vehicle when he noticed Meade was a passenger in the pickup and was ducking down in an effort not to be seen, court records say. The FBI agent then focused his attention on the pickup and a pursuit reached speeds of 100 mph, and went through neighborhoods around Canyon Crest Drive and ended at about 2 p.m. in a stores parking lot at Washington Street North and Pole Line Road, where a Twin Falls police officer conducted a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle. Umphenour was caught at approximately the same time in a different location. No gunshots were fired in the individuals capture and there were no reported injuries, officials say. Huber was found with a fentanyl pill after her arrest, police say. The arrests came in collaboration with multiple city, county and federal agencies, and they continue to investigate two homicides believed to be related to the escape of Meade, with assistance from Umphenour at about 2 a.m. Wednesday at a Boise hospital, where Meade was being treated for an injury, an Idaho State Police news release said. Three Idaho Department of Corrections officers were shot in the incident, and they are in stable condition at a hospital, officials say. After fleeing Boise in a stolen Honda Civic, detectives believe Meade and Umphenour drove north through Idaho and encountered 83-year-old James L. Mauney, of Juliaetta as he walked his dogs near the town. Mauney and his dogs were taken and driven eastbound. Law enforcement officials located the abandoned Honda Civic and later found the body of Mauney in a desolate area near Leland, ISP said. Detectives do not believe Mauney knew the suspects. Also on Wednesday, ISP worked with the Clearwater County Sheriffs Office to investigate the homicide of 72-year-old Gerald Don Henderson at his residence in a secluded area outside Orofino. Mauneys dogs and a pair of shackles, believed to be left by Meade, were located at Hendersons residence. Detectives believe Henderson may have been acquainted with the suspects, but the duration and extent are unknown. 20 year prison sentence for Filer man who shot at deputy TWIN FALLS A Twin Falls judge sentenced a Filer man to 20 years in prison and said he was fortunate to be alive after shooting at a sheriff Law enforcement located the stolen Chrysler Pacifica the suspects were driving at a residence in Filer and believe the suspects may have traveled through Missoula, Montana, to get there. The Clearwater County Coroners Office and the Nez Perce County Coroners Office have identified the homicide victims in their respective jurisdictions. Both causes and manners of death, however, remain under investigation. - Advertisement - Harimanok Inc., the franchise company of JTs Manukan Grille, said it signed a joint venture agreement with food court operator Asian Food Mall to open of a new outlet in Singapore in May 2024. The new international store will be located at Asian Food Mall in Lucky Plaza along Orchard Road. Lucky Plaza is one of the most successful shopping centers in Singapore. Joel Torre, actor and chief executive of Harimanok Inc. said he is excited to represent the inasal in Singapore because the city-state is a significant socio-cultural and food hub. The move is in line with our vision to make JTs a global brand, serving Filipino regional food to our kababayan expats and people of other nationalities as well, said Torre, who is also an award-winning actor and indie film producer/director. We are excited for the arrival of JTs Manukan Grille to the vibrant and diverse food scene in Singapore. Together with Joel Torre, we look forward to satisfying the taste buds of the locals and the Filipino community here, bringing the authentic taste of Bacolod Chicken Inasal to the Lion City, said Wong Ban Ming, managing director of Asian Food Mall. - Advertisement - This is JTs Manukan Grilles second venture internationally. The restaurant opened a branch in Guam in 2019, but had to close shop at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Singapore store is the companys foray in Southeast Asia outside the Philippines, and the company sees it as a springboard for growth around the region. JTs Manukan Grille menu in Singapore will include its famous Chicken Inasal and other Filipino favorites such as batchoy and cansi. These items will be available for dine in guests as well as for home delivery. JTs Manuka Grille operates 38 stores around the country and aggressively expands in the provinces. - Advertisement - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Monday it recently opened a new office in Butuan City to support the support business formation amid rising economic growth in Mindanao. The new office, which is envisioned to make doing business easier for entrepreneurs in the region, is located at the JC Aquino Training Center along JC Aquino Ave. in Barangay Libertad, Butuan City. It said the SEC Butuan Extension Office would serve the Caraga Administrative Region, which is among the countrys fastest-growing regions. Caraga recorded a gross regional domestic product of more than P320 billion in 2022. Some 7,158 registered corporations and partnerships were based in Caraga as of December 2023, which were previously under the jurisdiction of the SEC Cagayan de Oro Extension Office. The SEC said the establishment of the SEC Butuan Extension Office was requested by the Regional Development Council of the Caraga Region, in line with improving bureaucratic and regulatory efficiency as per the Caraga Regional Development Plan, and by Agusan del Norte First District Rep. Jose S. Aquino II. - Advertisement - Choosing Butuan as the newest location for our extension office was an easy decision to make, as the high number of business name registrations in the area shows its potential to become a thriving business hub in the future, SEC chairman Emilio Aquino said. The SEC seeks to support this potential by creating an enabling environment that will make doing business easier for entrepreneurs in the region, through the services provided by the SEC Butuan Extension Office, he said. The extension office is also aligned with the SECs mandate to ensure the efficient delivery of public services and effective enforcement of laws concerning the capital market, financing and lending companies, and the overall corporate sector. It is the 11th extension office, established less than a year after the SEC Tacloban Extension Office opened in May 2023. The SEC also operates extension offices in Baguio, Tarlac, Legazpi, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Davao and Cagayan de Oro. This photo taken on March 22, 2024 shows the logo of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) at BFA International Conference Center in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. [Photo/Xinhua] The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) has unveiled the agenda for its 2024 annual conference scheduled to be held from March 26 to 29 in the resort town of Boao, southern China's Hainan Province. This year's conference includes a BFA Annual Conference 2024 press conference scheduled on March 26, a raft of panel discussions, and other invitation-only events such as roundtables and CEO dialogues. The opening plenary is scheduled for March 28, according to the agenda posted on the BFA's website. The panel discussions, in particular, will cover a broad range of topics including those focusing on Asia, such as investing in Asia, deepening financial cooperation in Asia, and efforts to build Asia into a growth center. The Asia-focused topics will deliberate on boosting investor confidence, improving the investment ecosystem and enhancing foreign investment attractiveness, advancing financial cooperation in Asia to boost the real economy, and strengthening industrial and supply chain cooperation among Asian nations. The agenda also arranges discussions on topics such as AI, the future of new energy vehicles, and high-quality Belt and Road Cooperation, with speakers expected to discuss when and where the breakthrough moment of technological revolution is, the changes brought by AIGC to the economy and lifestyle of humanity, the risks it brings, and global AI governance. A panel discussion on the rise of new energy vehicles (NEVs) is included on the agenda during this year's conference held in the island province of Hainan. The province announced a plan in 2022 to ban the sales of all fuel vehicles by 2030, making it the first province in China to declare such a plan in its strive for a clean energy transition. During a panel discussion on the future of NEVs, speakers are expected to share thoughts and ideas on how the energy revolution and automotive revolution can better promote each other, and how the fierce international competition will shape the industry's future. Regarding the fruitful results of the Belt and Road Initiative in deepening connectivity of infrastructure, technology, standards, rules and operations over the past decade, speakers will deliberate on how to jointly build the "Digital Silk Road" in efforts to strengthen cooperation in areas such as technological innovation and digital economy. According to the agenda, the panel discussions will also dwell upon other larger topics such as confronting fragmentation in global trade, the global geopolitical outlook, the global economic outlook, the Global Security Initiative in addressing security challenges and promoting world peace, and overcoming political hurdles to address the climate crisis and accelerating global climate action. With a founding purpose to promote economic integration in Asia, the mission of the BFA, is to pool positive energy for the development of Asia and the world. The BFA announced earlier the theme of this year's conference as "Asia and the World: Common Challenges, Shared Responsibilities." BFA Secretary General Li Baodong said that pursuing peace, seeking development, and promoting cooperation remain the dominant and shared aspirations of the international community. Noting that nations should collectively address various global challenges and jointly shoulder the responsibility for promoting peace and prosperity, Li said that BFA hopes to call on nations to bolster unity and cooperation, rebuild confidence and trust, and collectively foster peace and development. - Advertisement - The cities of Santa Rosa in Laguna and Glendale, California forged a milestone in their international relations by formalizing their sister city partnership through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed last Wednesday, March 20. Santa Rosa City Mayor Arlene Arcillas and Vice Mayor Arnold Arcillas traveled to Glendale to sign the agreement and accept the resolution of the Glendale City Council. Glendale City Mayor Dan Brotman and the members of the City Council welcomed the Filipino local government officials, signifying the mutual respect and enthusiasm for collaboration between the two cities. The sister city partnership opens numerous opportunities for economic development, cultural enrichment, tourism promotion, technological innovation, and various other collaborative endeavors beneficial to both cities. Council member Elen Asatryan highlighted the vibrant Filipino community in Glendale City and the pivotal role played by organizations like the Filipino-American Business Association of Glendale in facilitating this partnership. - Advertisement - Glendale is home to a vibrant Filipino community, and this partnership strengthens our bond further. Heres to fostering stronger ties and collaboration between our cities, Asatryan said in a Facebook post. Santa Rosa proudly stands as Glendales first and only sister city in the Philippines, chosen for its shared commitment to advancing modern technology initiatives. The MOA serves as a blueprint for mutually beneficial educational, professional, economic, and cultural exchanges between the two communities, symbolizing not just a partnership, but a bridge connecting them towards growth and development. Mayor Arcillas and her delegation extended heartfelt gratitude to their counterparts in Glendale for their warm hospitality and gracious reception, nurturing a sense of camaraderie and cooperation. The exchange of kind words and tokens of appreciation further cemented the bonds of friendship between Santa Rosa and Glendale, laying a solid foundation for enduring collaboration and mutual prosperity. Editors Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Santa Rosa, Glendale in California seal sister city pact via MOA. - Advertisement - Moscow, Russia -Four men accused of involvement in a massacre at a Moscow concert hall that killed 137 people were remanded in custody Sunday, as Russia observed a national day of mourning following the attack claimed by the Islamic State. All four suspects have been charged with terrorism, according to Moscows Basmanny district court, and face life imprisonment. Their detention is set until May 22 but may be extended depending on the date of their trial. The court said two of the defendants had pleaded guilty, and one of them, from Tajikistan, had entirely acknowledged his guilt. President Vladimir Putin has vowed to punish those behind the barbaric terrorist attack, and on Saturday said the four gunmen had been arrested while trying to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has strongly denied any connection to the attack. Putin has made no public reference to the Islamic State (IS) groups claims of responsibility. - Advertisement - At least 137 people, including three children, were killed Friday evening when gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall in Moscows northern suburb of Krasnogorsk then set fire to the building. It is the deadliest attack in Europe to have been claimed by IS. Russias Investigative Committee posted a video of the four suspects being dragged into its headquarters in Moscow. There was no statement on the other seven suspects arrested in connection with the attack. Officials have said the gunmen were all foreign nationals. Machine guns, knives, firebombs The Islamic State group posted Saturday on Telegram that the attack was carried out by four IS fighters armed with machine guns, a pistol, knives and firebombs as part of the raging war with countries fighting Islam. A video lasting about a minute and half, apparently filmed by the gunmen, has been posted on social media accounts typically used by IS, according to the SITE intelligence group. The video which appears to have been filmed from the lobby of the concert venue shows several individuals with blurred faces and garbled voices, firing assault rifles with inert bodies strewn on the floor and a fire starting in the background. Russian investigators said that after walking through the theatre shooting spectators, the gunmen set fire to the building, trapping many inside. Health officials said the number of casualties had risen to 182, with 101 people still in hospital, of whom 40 were in critical or extremely critical condition. The attack was the deadliest in Russia since the Beslan school siege in 2004. The emergency situations ministry has so far named 29 of the victims, but the blaze has complicated the process of identification. The ministry on Sunday posted a video of heavy equipment arriving at the venue to dismantle damaged structures and clear debris. Morally crushed On the streets of the capital on Sunday, there was shock and grief. It is a tragedy. I was morally crushed, Ruslana Baranovskaya, 35, told AFP. People dont smile everybody feels the loss, said 73-year-old Valentina Karenina, a pensioner standing on a street off Red Square. Museums, theatres and cinemas around the country closed and billboards were replaced with memorial posters. Mourners continued to stream to the concert hall in northwest Moscow to lay flowers as a tribute to the victims. More than 5,000 people donated blood following the attack, officials said, with many standing in long queues outside clinics. Abroad, people left floral tributes outside Russian embassies in sympathy. Putin on Saturday vowed retribution and oblivion to the terrorists, murderers and non-humans who carried out the barbaric terrorist attack. Several of his allies have called for the country to lift a moratorium on the death penalty, sparking concern among Kremlin critics. Putin points to Ukraine Putins statement Saturday suggested a Ukraine connection. They tried to escape and were travelling towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border, Putin said of the attackers in his televised address. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his own evening address Saturday, rejected any suggestion that Kyiv had been involved. In Moscow, some doubted also Putins claims. Im not inclined to believe the version about Ukraines involvement this is more like those committed by Islamist extremists, said Vomik Aliyev, a 22-year-old who often went to the concert hall and who said his parents were Muslim. Washington also dismissed any suggestion that Kyiv had been involved. ISIS (Islamic State group) bears sole responsibility for this attack, said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson. Late on Sunday, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the country was returning to its top security alert status in the wake of the attack and given the threats weighing on our country. He attributed the attack to the Islamic State group. - Advertisement - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rescuers in boats and aircraft raced against the clock Sunday to help isolated people in Brazils mountainous southeast after storms and heavy rains left at least 25 people dead in two states. A weekend deluge pounded the states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, where authorities described a chaotic situation due to flooding. The death toll in Espirito Santo rose from four to 17 on Sunday as rescuers advanced, aided by water levels that had dropped overnight as the rainfall temporarily subsided. The most affected municipality is Mimoso do Sul, a town of almost 25,000 inhabitants located in south Espirito Santo, where flooding has killed at least 15 people. Two more died in the municipality of Apiaca. - Advertisement - State Governor Renato Casagrande described the situation as chaotic, though the dropping water levels had allowed rescuers Sunday to make their way to previously inaccessible areas. At least 5,200 people had been evacuated from their homes, state authorities said. In the neighboring state of Rio de Janeiro at least eight people have been killed, officials said, most of them from landslides. Four of the deaths in Rio state occurred when the storm caused a house to collapse in the city of Petropolis, 70 kilometers (45 miles) inland from the capital. Search teams rescued a girl buried for more than 16 hours there. Her father, who was found dead next to her on Saturday, had heroically protected the girl with his body, a neighbor told AFP. The deluge came as Brazil, South Americas largest country, suffers through a recent string of extreme weather events, which experts say are more likely to occur due to climate change. Such environmental tragedies are intensifying with climate change, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding that thousands had been left homeless by the storm. He expressed sympathy for the victims, and said his government was working with state and local authorities to protect, prevent and repair flood damage. Around 90 people have been rescued since Friday, according to a bulletin from an emergency committee comprising Rio government and civil defense officials. Images on local media showed rivers of water, mud and debris rushing down slopes in picturesque Petropolis, which in February 2022 saw at least 241 deaths from another catastrophic storm. Dozens of soldiers and firefighters, aided by dogs, worked Saturday in the pouring rain. Part of the cemetery had been washed away, an AFP team in the town also saw, with further landslides still a risk. In Mimoso do Sul, a fire truck was seen being dragged down a street by currents, while images released Saturday by the state fire department showed entire neighborhoods under water, with only the roofs of houses visible. The National Institute of Meteorology had predicted a severe storm, particularly in Rio, with rainfall of 20 cm (7.9 inches) a day from Friday through Sunday. Normally, the area receives 14 cm (5.5 inches) of rain in all of March. Rio authorities had declared an administrative holiday on Friday as the storm approached and urged people to stay home. The storm follows a record heat wave, when humidity helped send the heat index soaring above 62 degrees Celsius (143 degrees Fahrenheit). - Advertisement - The PolPHIL Party strongly condemned the recent aggressive actions by the China Coast Guard against a Filipino supply vessel in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal in its 1st National Executive Committee Meeting held last Saturday in Ortigas Center, Pasig City. On March 23, the unarmed civilian vessel, while conducting a routine resupply mission, was subjected to unprovoked water cannon fire, resulting in significant damage and endangering the lives of the crew aboard, PolPHIL noted in a statement. This incident occurred within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), an area internationally recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The actions taken by the China Coast Guard are in direct violation of the Philippines sovereign rights and undermine the peace and stability of the region, it said. The PolPHIL Party called on China to cease these intimidatory tactics and engage in constructive dialogue respecting international maritime laws and the rights of all nations. Rudy Caneda, the National Chairman of PolPHIL Party, said: We extend our gratitude to the crew for their bravery and to our international partners for their continued support. The Party believes that the Philippine Government should continue to assert our sovereign rights and protect the interests of its citizens. Party Secretary General Ricardo Ric Serrano reiterated: PolPHIL supports the realization of the long delayed AFP-PNP Modernization plan. PolPHIL emphasizes peaceful resolution through international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the arbitral ruling of July 12, 2016 dismissing the expansive claims of China over the West Philippine Sea. Party official Noel Medina also noted: Continuous efforts for citizens actions, both domestic and abroad, must also be pursued, moving forward. Atin Ang Pilipinas! The whole day event was graced by no less than the Chief of the Philippine National Police, General Benjamin Acorda Jr. as key note speaker. - Advertisement - Tokyo, Japan A Japanese drugmaker said Monday that 26 people had been hospitalized in relation to health supplements the company has recalled because of concerns over kidney problems. The prescription-free supplements contain a type of yeast-fermented rice called beni koji, which Kobayashi Pharmaceutical reportedly says it has supplied to around 50 other firms worldwide. The drugmaker on Friday said it was voluntarily recalling three products containing beni koji, which aims to lower bad cholesterol, after customer complaints. On Monday the Osaka-based firm said it was aware of 26 hospitalisations, but had not yet reached a conclusion on a potential link between the product and kidney issues. After analysis we found a possibility that the raw materials used to make beni koji may contain ingredients that our company had not intended to include, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said. - Advertisement - - Advertisement - THE incidence of pertussis or whooping cough in Metro Manila is stabilizing, but rising in other regions, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday. Meanwhile, the Iloilo City government has officially declared an outbreak of pertussis. The Bacolod City government, on the other hand, issued on Monday a health alert against pertussis following report that a minor was admitted at a local hospital on suspicion of whooping cough infection. For its part, the Taguig City government urged residents to take precautions against pertussis. DOH Undersecretary Eric Tayag said many areas in the country are on alert over the pertussis breakout, particularly among children. - Advertisement - About 10 regions had an increase in pertussis cases. In NCR, cases are plateauing. This means that the cases in NCR are not increasing as much as we expected, Tayag said. At least 453 people nationwide were infected by pertussis within just the first 10 weeks of 2024. Of this number, 38 were reported in the National Capital Region alone, followed by Calabarzon and Central Visayas. The DOH said 35 patients have died from the illness. Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday declared a pertussis outbreak in the city after 23 cases were reported as of March 20. Tayag said the Quezon City government made an emergency purchase of the vaccine to counter pertussis, even as the DOH already provided 1,500 doses to the city. There might be other areas that may declare an outbreak. Last week, Iloilo City was about to declare a pertussis outbreak as well, Tayag said. Pertussis, which is communicable, also causes symptoms akin to flu such as mild fever, colds, and coughs. Children with pertussis may also experience apnea or the stopping and restarting of breathing while asleep, difficulty in breathing, and vomiting. The DOH advised parents and guardians to get children aged six weeks to 23 months old the pentavalent vaccine for Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus Influenza type B (DPT-HepB-HiB). The DOH has ordered 800,000 to one million doses of these vaccines, which are expected to arrive in the country by June. The Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council declared the outbreak following recommendations from the city governments Health and Sanitation Cluster and the City Health Office (CHO). According to the CHO, there are seven confirmed cases of pertussis out of the 13 reported cases in the city as of March 24. Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitezs spokesperson, Caesar Distrito, said the patient is not a resident of Bacolod, but is still included in the surveillance report of the CHO. Until now, there is no confirmation result yet because the report has been forwarded to the regional office (of the Department of Health), he added. Taguig Mayor Laarni Cayetano confirmed that eight cases of the disease were detected in the city, but all have already been treated and have recovered. The City Health Office stated if anyone suspects they have pertussis based on the symptoms, they are advised to isolate themselves from others and wear a face mask to prevent further spread of the disease. City health officials said infants can be vaccinated against pertussis, with three primary doses required until they reach one year old. The City of Taguig has announced that their health centers are open, and they have established the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CEDSU) and hotlines for those needing assistance. For immediate assistance, residents can contact the following hotlines: City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CEDSU): 0919-079-9193 and 0915-164-2742, and Taguig Emergency Command Center (ECC) (02) 8789-3200. Mayor Cayetano assured residents the city is fully prepared to address the outbreak of Pertussis, with skilled personnel, well-equipped health centers, and hospitals. If you or a loved one is experiencing symptoms of Pertussis, seek immediate assistance by visiting the nearest health center or calling the hotlines provided, she said. - Advertisement - Manila, Beijing trade diplomatic protests over latest clash Manila and Beijing traded diplomatic protests on Monday, with China making stern representations during a phone call between deputy foreign ministers of both countries. This was after a China Coast Guard vessel damaged a Philippine supply ship with a water cannon near Ayungin Shoal last week, leaving three Filipino soldiers injured. The Philippines summoned a Chinese envoy and filed a demarche or a diplomatic protest in Beijing over aggressive actions by the China Coast Guard and other vessels. The Chinese Embassy in Manila filed its own diplomatic protest over what it claimed as an illegal trespassing of Philippine resupply vessels near Ayungin Shoal. Beijing also claimed the deputy foreign ministers of both countries held a tense phone call yesterday. - Advertisement - Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong held a phone call with Philippine deputy foreign secretary (Maria Theresa) Lazaro, and made stern representations on issues including the Philippines transportation of supplies to the illegally beached military ship on Renai Reef, Chinas foreign ministry said in a statement, using the Chinese name for Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands. Chen said he told Lazaro that China-Philippines relations are currently at a crossroads, and the Philippines must act prudently. China once more urges the Philippines to honour its commitments, respect the consensus, stop violating rights and provoking trouble at sea, stop any unilateral action that could complicate the situation, and earnestly return to the correct track of appropriately addressing disagreements through negotiation and consultation, Chen said. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, for his part, challenged Beijing to seek arbitration, which he said was the best way of solving a legal dispute sustainably. Thats why they dont like that, Teodoro told reporters. The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said some 20 countries have already backed the Philippines following the recent incident in Ayungin Shoal. The DFA thanks the international community for their continued expressions of support to the Philippines and the defense of the international order based on international law, DFA spokesperson Daza said. To date, some 20 countries/partners have issued statements of support, she added. These include France, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada, the United States, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, South Korea, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden. Beijing and Manila have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea and there have been repeated confrontations between their vessels near disputed reefs in recent months. The latest incident took place Saturday near Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands during a regular Philippine mission to resupply Filipino troops garrisoned on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded Navy ship. The Philippines said the China Coast Guard blocked its supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon, injuring three soldiers. The China Coast Guard defended its actions, describing them as lawful regulation, interception and expulsion of a foreign vessel that tried to forcefully intrude into Chinese waters. Ayungin Shoal is about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan well within the countrys 200-mile exclusive economic zone and more than 1,000 kilometers from Chinas nearest major landmass, Hainan island. Manila conveyed its strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal, the DFA said on Monday. It said the Philippine embassy in Beijing also lodged a similar protest with the Chinese foreign ministry. In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal, the DFA said. The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately. It is the same location where there have been recent collisions between vessels belonging to both countries, as well as water cannoning by the China Coast Guard. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries including the Philippines and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The United States, which has a mutual defense pact with Manila, has denounced the attack. It came days after visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its ironclad commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against armed attack in the South China Sea. Senator Grace Poe, for her part, said the government must hold the Chinese vessel responsible for the injury inflicted on three Filipino troops. From shadowing our vessels to collisions and water cannon assaults, incidents in the West Philippine Sea have been escalating, Poe said. This uncivilized action should stop, the senator added. On the other hand, Senator Francis Tolentino urged the DFA to establish research and development alliances with maritime countries as a means of mobilizing international support after last Saturdays water cannon attack. To those countries with which the Philippines have no alliance through treaties or our allies in defense, pacts, or treaties, we can have joint exercises for peaceful marine science research and development, Tolentino said in a statement. With AFP - Advertisement - We heard again Washington saying it is standing with its ally Manila as the former condemned Beijings dangerous actions against the lawful maritime operations of the Philippines in the South China Sea. The echoes of the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller were loud: The PRCs actions prevent normal personnel rotations and deprive Filipino service members at Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal) of necessary provisions. This incident marks only the latest in the PRCs repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and disruption of supply lines to this longstanding outpost. The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) smashed the China Coast Guard last weekend for damaging a Filipino supply vessel near the Ayungin Shoal with water cannon and injuring those on board. The NTF-WPS rightly stressed the government will not be deterred by veiled threats or hostility from exercising Manilas legal rights over its maritime zones. - Advertisement - We join the authorities in condemning the PRCs repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and its disruption of supply lines to this longstanding outpost. The latest confrontation between Philippine and Chinese vessels came four days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Manila and said the US stood by its ironclad commitment to defend its longtime ally against armed attack in the South China Sea. Miller reaffirmed that commitment, saying the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft including those of its Coast Guard anywhere in South China. Chinas actions, immediately denounced by the Philippines and the United States, are indeed destabilizing to the region and show clear disregard for international law. What is unnerving is Chinas continuing belligerence despite what an international tribunal said in July 2016 that it has no lawful maritime claims to the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, a low-tide feature clearly within the Philippines 200-mile exclusive economic zone. As provided under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the 2016 arbitral decision is final and legally binding on the Peoples Republic of China and the Philippines, and China must abide by the ruling and desist from its dangerous and destabilizing conduct. We note Washington reaffirms that Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft including those of its Coast Guard anywhere in the South China Sea. This undated photo shows a plant of Aptiv Electrical Centers (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, east China. [Photo/Xinhua] Nearly two years after the first BAO Robot took up the post at Baosteel in Shanghai, the country's largest steel maker has brought in many more such smart robots amid its digital transformation. China Baowu Steel Group Corporation planned to introduce over 10,000 BAO Robots by 2026. Unlike their predecessors, the new robots are powered by smart cloud platforms. In recent years, lighthouse factories, unmanned factories, and smart factories have been mushrooming in China. Increased productivity there offers an insight into how new quality productive forces are driving high-quality growth in the world's second-largest economy. New factories, new productivity Inside a massive factory of Aptiv Electrical Centers (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., rows of robots and CNC machine tools, and automated guided vehicles are busy working. It's rare to see human workers. A smart system precisely arranges all production processes at the factory of Aptiv, a leading global automotive connector supplier. A smart factory is not simply automation replacing human labor, but a full-process digital recreation, from research and development and production to logistics and after-sales services, said Yang Xiaoming, president of Aptiv China and Asia Pacific. Yang said the smart factory has driven down the operating costs by 30 percent, while the company's annual sales have grown by double digits over the past three years. In traditional car manufacturing, buyers often need to choose between standard models. But SAIC MAXUS' smart factory in Nanjing offers personalized customization services, winning the title of Lighthouse Factory awarded by the Davos World Economic Forum. Customers can choose from thousands of configurations and customize their desired models in as short as three minutes without additional costs. After placing an order, they can track the production progress in real time. "Our Nanjing factory has achieved smart logistics and manufacturing, and even our ties with hundreds of suppliers are digitally connected," said Hao Jingxian, general manager of SAIC MAXUS. "We are also a transparent factory, with products displayed to users through different stages." These are epitomes of how intelligent manufacturing is transforming factories. By the end of 2023, China had incubated 421 national-level demonstration factories and over 10,000 provincial-level digital workshops and smart factories, official data showed. More plans for smart factories are being rolled out across the country. Beijing plans to further add 100 intelligent factories and digital workshops by 2026. Shanghai plans to build 70 municipal-level intelligent factories this year. Authorities will offer policy support to make over 70 percent of new smart factories demonstration and benchmark ones, said Zhang Ying, head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization. At existing smart factories, the production efficiency has increased by 50 percent on average, while the operating costs have decreased by 30 percent, and the energy consumption per unit of added value has decreased by 13.8 percent, the official said. New factors, new momentum From visible robots to invisible data, smart factories are gathering new production factors, injecting new momentum into intelligent manufacturing. As China's first city to include robot density in the statistics, Shanghai has seen its density reach 426 robots per 10,000 people at major enterprises of key industries. In the Shanghai STEP Robotics Super Factory, the density has reached 1,080 robots per 10,000 people. The sci-fi-style scene of robots producing robots has become a routine there. Smart robots assemble parts from different suppliers and a robot is produced every 12 minutes. "China has the world's most diverse application scenarios. We can help better build the unique resilience and competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing," said Zhang Zhenkui, special assistant to the chairman of Shanghai STEP Electric Corporation. Apart from the visible robot employees, the invisible data also unleashes growth momentum. An industrial internet system of Zhijing Technology is applied in more than 9,000 textile enterprises across the country. It has the operation information of over 700,000 textile equipment. "Dyeing formulas used to rely mainly on the personal experience of veteran workers and the records in the books, which was time-consuming, strenuous and error-prone," said Zou Yuanjiao, head of the brand department of Zhijing Technology. "Nowadays, our digital solutions can greatly shorten the sample dyeing period." Rapidly embracing the intelligence wave, China's manufacturing has begun to empower the global supply chain. "The Chinese factory is our most automated and intelligent factory in the world," said Yang of Aptiv China. "China's auto industry has led the electrification and intelligent transformation, and we must take the initiative to adapt to the 'China speed' of intelligent mobility and the requirements of Chinese customers for rapid iteration of new technologies." - Advertisement - World Wide Fund For Nature Philippines (WWF Philippines) held a Switch Off Event with live music performances at the Kartilya ng Katipunan in Manila in honor of Earth Hour. The event on March 23 featured SB19s Pablo, the Earth Hour Philippines 2024 music ambassador. He opened his set with SB19s song Liham and later performed Kelan and Determinado alongside rapper Josue. Other musicians who lent their talent to the event were Lirah Bermudez and Chedy & Miko. The Switch Off Event was held in partnership with the local government unit of Manila to support the annual global movement, Earth Hour. Earth Hour is a movement organized by WWF that began in 2007. It aims to raise awareness of environmental issues plaguing the planet and encourages people worldwide to take action by switching off their lights for an hour. - Advertisement - WWF Philippines has been a member of the WWF Network since 1997. World Wide Fund For Nature Philippines (WWF Philippines) held a Switch Off Event with live music performances at the Kartilya ng Katipunan in Manila in honor of Earth Hour. The event on March 23 featured SB19s Pablo, the Earth Hour Philippines 2024 music ambassador. He opened his set with SB19s song Liham and later performed Kelan and Determinado alongside rapper Josue. Other musicians who lent their talent to the event were Lirah Bermudez and Chedy & Miko. The Switch Off Event was held in partnership with the local government unit of Manila to support the annual global movement, Earth Hour. Earth Hour is a movement organized by WWF that began in 2007. It aims to raise awareness of environmental issues plaguing the planet and encourages people worldwide to take action by switching off their lights for an hour. WWF Philippines has been a member of the WWF Network since 1997. The Henry County Animal Shelter recently rescued 11 abandoned German shepherd puppies in the woods near Chestnut Knob Road in Ridgeway. Four of the dogs were in relatively good health, but five of them are still receiving extensive medical treatment and two of the puppies are still fighting for their lives, according to a statement by the Animal Shelter on Saturday. Two litters of puppies were discarded in the woods very close to each other, the Animal Shelter said in the statement. We were fortunate enough to have several foster homes setup up for these scared puppies. They were covered in ticks and one had an injured foot. The dogs have now been placed with Virginia German Shepherd Rescue, a nonprofit, volunteer organization in Centreville dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of German shepherds. A female German shepherd was recovered from the same area several days before the puppies were rescued and is believed to be the mother. That dog is available for adoption through the Henry County Animal Shelter. We are looking at thousands and thousands of dollars in medical expenses to save these babies, the Animal Shelter said. The animals will be made available through Virginia German Shepherd Rescue when they are healthy enough to be adopted. Meanwhile, the Henry County Sheriffs Office is searching for anyone that may be responsible for the abuse of the pups. In Virginia, in addition to fines and costs, the court may order anyone who is convicted of animal cruelty to pay all reasonable costs incurred in housing, caring for, or euthanizing a confiscated animal. Animal cruelty is a Class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia, punishable by confinement in jail for not more than 12 months, and/or a possible fine of not more than $2,500. Animal abandonment is a Class 4 misdemeanor and punishable of up to $250. Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact the Henry County Sheriffs Office. The McDowell Chamber of Commerce, the Old Fort Board of Aldermen and the Old Fort Business Association recently celebrated the opening of Waterways, western North Carolinas leading kayak shop, that has relocated from West Asheville to Old Fort. The newly established 5,000-square-foot retail space at 123 E. Main St. in Old Fort showcases an extensive range of kayaks and accessories tailored for both fishing and recreational use, featuring renowned brands such as Feelfree Kayaks, Seastream Kayaks, 3 Waters Kayaks and Jonny Boats. Established in 2019, Waterways is a paddlesports and kayak fishing retailer owned and operated out of North Carolina, dedicated to providing quality products, knowledge and exceptional customer service with additional locations in Florida, Texas, California and Kentucky. The Old Fort showroom will serve as a local community hub, hosting seminars, guest speakers and special events focusing on the region's recreational and fishing communities. Store Manager Jonathan Wicks welcomed the officials from the McDowell Chamber, the town of Old Fort and the OFBA for the ribbon-cutting event. NEBO Two Marion men were arrested recently after a traffic stop tuned up meth and marijuana in their vehicle. On the night of Wednesday, March 20, Detective David Jones with the McDowell County Sheriffs Office Community Impact Team was patrolling the area of U.S. 70 East and Harmony Grove Road in Nebo. He initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle for multiple traffic violations. Upon approaching the drivers window, Jones observed an open container of alcohol in the cup holder. A subsequent search of the vehicle turned up methamphetamine, several pills, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to a news release. Joshua Lane Wilson, 39, was charged with an open container of alcohol violation, felonious possession of methamphetamine, felonious possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver methamphetamine, possession of marijuana up to ounce, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Joshua Adam Chilcote, 35, was charged with an open container of alcohol violation, felonious possession of methamphetamine, felonious possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver methamphetamine, possession of marijuana up to ounce, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving while licenses revoked. Wilson has previous convictions of felony larceny, larceny of a motor vehicle, drug possession, breaking and entering, and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety website. Wilson was placed in the McDowell County jail and issued a $25,000 secured bond. Chilcote has multiple prior convictions of felony breaking and entering, burglary, larceny of a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm by a felon, assault with a deadly weapon, communicating threats, drug possession and habitual felon, according to the NCDPS website. Chilcote was placed in the McDowell County Jail and issued a $25,000 secured bond, according to the news release. Chads authorities have approved 10 candidates for the upcoming presidential election but have disqualified two prominent critics of the military government from running. The Constitutional Council of Chad announced the exclusion of Nassour Ibrahim Neguy Koursami and Rakhis Ahmat Saleh, citing irregularities in their applications. Interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby and recently-appointed Prime Minister Succes Masras bids, however, have been accepted. The presidential election is scheduled for May 6 with a second round on June 22 and provisional results expected on July 7. These elections mark a crucial step in Chads transition back to democracy from military rule, which has been prevalent in West and Central Africa. Notably, this election will be the first time in Chads history that a president and prime minister will compete against each other. The path to these elections has been turbulent, with President Debys initially promised transition delayed until 2024, sparking protests that were forcefully suppressed. The adoption of a new constitution further solidified Debys position, allowing him to run for president. Masra, a former opponent of the military rulers, returned to Chad after a reconciliation agreement but has faced criticism and opposition from some quarters. Amidst this political backdrop, the recent barring of opposition candidates has raised concerns, especially following the fatal army assault on Yaya Dillo Djerou, General Debys main rival. Human Rights Watch has called for an independent investigation into Dillos murder, underscoring the challenges facing Chads electoral process. Early results from Senegals presidential election show opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye leading, prompting his supporters to rally in the streets. However, his main rival from the ruling coalition insists that a run-off will likely be necessary to determine the outcome. Despite this, several of the other candidates in the race have already congratulated Faye as the results continue to trickle in. The election, held on Sunday, saw millions of Senegalese participating in a peaceful voting process to choose their fifth president, following a period of political instability. This instability, marked by violent protests against the government, has boosted support for the opposition. The election marks a significant moment for Senegal, with the potential for a change in leadership after years under President Macky Salls administration. Salls presidency has been characterized by pro-business policies but has faced criticism for its handling of economic challenges. With Sall not on the ballot for the first time in Senegalese history, his ruling coalition nominated former prime minister Amadou Ba as their candidate. The voter turnout was substantial, with around 71% participation reported. Initial results indicate a majority of votes in favor of Faye, leading to celebrations among his supporters. However, final results are expected by Tuesday, and a run-off election will be held if no candidate secures a majority. Notably, opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, previously disqualified from the race, threw his support behind Faye after being released from jail due to an amnesty law passed shortly before the election. Faye has campaigned on promises to combat corruption, restore stability, and prioritize economic independence, appealing particularly to the countrys youthful population facing job shortages. Chinese Premier Li Qiang attends the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 and delivers a keynote speech in Beijing, capital of China, March 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum 2024 on Sunday in Beijing, and delivered a keynote speech. The China Development Forum 2024 is scheduled for March 24 and March 25. The theme of this year's forum is "The Continuous Development of China." This theme reflects the attention and expectations of all sectors for the long-term, steady and high-quality development of the Chinese economy, Li said. Noting that China successfully accomplished its main targets and tasks for economic and social development in 2023, Li also said the Chinese economy has strong resilience, great potential and vitality, while the fundamentals of its long-term sound growth remain unchanged. The Chinese government has always regarded respect for the market and services for enterprises as an important focus in planning economic work, and has always been an advocate and a good companion for the development of enterprises, said the premier. Since last year, the Chinese government has further improved and optimized services and established a regular communication mechanism with enterprises, he said. China will take practical and effective actions to promote high-quality development and inject more certainty and positive energy into the recovery and stable development of the world economy, said Li. The premier pledged efforts to intensify macro-policy adjustments, expand domestic demand, promote a new type of people-centered urbanization, and advance large-scale equipment renewal and trade-ins of durable consumer goods. China will continue to promote industrial innovation through scientific and technological innovation, accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, and push forward green transformation, while also addressing both symptoms and root causes of challenges to prevent and defuse risks and hidden dangers, he said. Continuous efforts will be made to foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized, steadily advance institutional opening up and link with the world at a higher level of openness, said Li. China is ready to share with the world the great opportunities of China's sustained development and work with all parties to create a bright future of common development, the premier added. Around 400 people, including experts from home and abroad, entrepreneurs, government officials and representatives from international organizations, attended the opening ceremony of the forum, which is being hosted by the Development Research Center of the State Council. City Council When: 6 p.m. Monday. Where: Virtual: bit.ly/3JVyNJ9; Cable TV Channel 190. YouTube Live and On Demand: bit.ly/3JTikoU. Meetings are conducted via Zoom webinar. Register for the live webinar to attend and/or comment during the live meeting: Zoom page listing of the citys public meetings: ci-missoula-mt.zoom.us/calendar/list or missoulapublicmeetings.com. If you don't have a computer, call the City Clerk's office at 552-6078 to register and receive instructions to join the meeting by phone. Board of County Commissioners Administrative public meeting When: 10 a.m. T uesday. Where: Missoula County Administration Building Conference Room 206, 199 W. Pine St. or via Microsoft Teams. Agenda: request board approve chair to sign Special Terms and Conditions to meet a requirement of the U.S. Department of Energy to partially meet grant conditions of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program; request board approve chair to sign DNRC Cooperative Fire Protection Capacity (CFP) Grant Authorized statement form, to approve Missoula County's request of $80,000 in CFP funding over the next two fiscal years to increase and enhance Fire Warden responsibilities within the Missoula Office of Emergency Management; request board approve Notice of Grant Requirement from the USFS for the Marshall Mountain Park and Community Forest. Missoula Redevelopment Agency When: Noon Tuesday. Where: Hall Fraser Conference Room, 140 W. Pine or via TEAMS. Agenda: Front Street Apartments Workforce Housing Program request. Missoula County Airport Authority When: 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Where: Johnson Bell Board Room, airport termina. or vis Microsoft Teams. Agenda: award of bid for SRE Building Modifications; Morrison-Maierle Task Order No. 60 Construction Management for SRE Building modifications; Frontier Ground Handling contract; Allegiant Ground Handling contract; Title VI Community Participation Plan; Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprises goals. Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees When: 6 p.m. Tuesday. Where: Administration Building A, Boardroom, 901 South Ave. W. Agenda: available at mcpsmt.org. Urban Camping Working Group When: Noon Wednesday. Where: Missoula County Elections Center, 140 N. Russell St. Missoula Public Library Board of Trustees When: 6 p.m. Wednesday. Where: Blackfoot Communications Board Room, 455 E. Main St. or via Zoom. Agenda: laptop policy update. Missoula Board of County Commissioners When: 2 p.m. Thursday. Where: Missoula County Courthouse Annex Sophie Moiese Room or via Microsoft Teams. Agenda: Butler Creek Trail project; Willowbrook Meadows phasing plan extension; Running W Ranch phasing plan extension; Westpointe phasing plan extension. Impact Fee Advisory Committee When: 2 p.m. Friday. Where: Jack Reidy Conference Room, 140 W. Pine and via TEAMS. Agenda: discussion of impact fees and affordable housing; project updates; Parks and Recreation updates; funding requests. DILLON The Bureau of Land Managements Dillon Field Office plans to remove and rebuild a 17-mile section of fence near Bachelor Mountain southwest of Dillon to make passage easier for pronghorn antelope and other species. This area has been prioritized as having critical impediments to pronghorn migration and includes multiple BLM livestock grazing allotments. The goal of the project is to reduce stress and mortality during migration to create a more navigable landscape and support population resilience, said Cory Manseau, project manager with the Dillon Field Office. The field office has entered into a five-year agreement with the National Wildlife Federation to improve big-game habitat in winter and seasonal ranges along with migration corridors for pronghorn, elk, and mule deer in the Missouri Headwaters Restoration Landscape. The Bachelor Mountain project includes the removal of woven wire, installation of smooth top and bottom wires, and changes in wire spacing to make fences more passable for wildlife across the landscape especially elk and moose calves and deer and pronghorn fawns. If things go as planned, with a new map in hand, there should be no new questions about Walkervilles southern border with Butte for 100 years or more. Well, no questions that cant be answered quickly and officially, anyway. Walkerville has been its own place with its own borders for more than 130 years but uncertainty arose during last years once-a-decade redistricting process and a Walkerville Town Council election last fall. In short, some folks along the southern border of Walkerville didnt get ballots and couldnt vote because a boundary line provided by the state had apparently changed. Then again, maybe the county was at fault. Somehow that border got moved and nobody knows how, said Linda Sajor-Joyce, Butte-Silver Bows clerk and recorder. As a result, Some people who thought they were in Walkerville were not in Walkerville. With an OK from the Council of Commissioners in January, Sajor-Joyce hired Everly & Associates, a civil engineering company in Butte, to survey and clearly define the southern Walkerville border with Butte. They completed the job quickly, she said, and Butte-Silver Bow commissioners approved the new, official map last week. Walkerville Mayor John Ries was skeptical of a new map, saying a detailed survey was done in 1956 that shows precisely where the southern border is, by longitude and every other survey and map measurements. The survey was done to help establish plats for the McGlone Heights subdivision in the southwestern portion of Walkerville, and it is signed by the surveyor, a representative for the state and the Silver Bow County Board of Commissioners. But Ries told The Montana Standard last week that Everly & Associates surveyed the line post to post and hes happy with the results. He expects the Walkerville Town Council to OK the map at its next meeting in April. I hope this settles it, he said. Accoording to the map, the west side of the southern border with Butte runs between 16th and 17th streets. On the eastern side, it runs between Bennett and LaPlatte streets. Cathy Tutty, the attorney for Walkervilles local government, appeared before Butte-Silver Bow commissioners recently and thanked Sajor-Joyce for giving us a description of exactly where the town of Walkerville is. We all knew where it was, Tutty said, but the state thought it was somewhere else. Now the folks on Bennett Street can vote in the next Walkerville election like they used to, she said. Sajor-Joyce still isnt sure how the border got changed before the Town Council election last November, putting some voters in Butte that used to be in Walkerville. We dont know if it was the state or the county that made it otherwise, she said. We dont know how that happened because it wasnt in our GIS system. The new map makes it indisputable now. Weve made the corrections in our GIS mapping and sent the changes to the state as well, she told The Standard, and voter confirmation cards were sent to residents in Precinct 10S the southern part of Walkerville. For taxing purposes, it appears that one house on the west side of the southern border might be in Walkerville instead of Butte, Sajor-Joyce said. That is still being reviewed. Its one house and its a plus for Walkerville because now they have one more house in their tax base, she said. Youd be hard-pressed to find traditional barbecue in California, according to former PRESS chef de cuisine Darryl Bell. But with the opening of Bells newest culinary venture Stateline Road Smokehouse on the horizon, Kansas City-inspired barbecue is coming to the Napa Valley. The restaurant, which Bell is operating with business partner Jeremy Threat, is on track to open sometime in June. Bell a Michelin-trained chef who has worked numerous positions within the Thomas Keller group of restaurants explained that the barbecue offerings in California are often of the grilled variety where fire is the source of heat. Barbecue is completely different, said Bell, a native of Kansas City, Missouri. It is about indirect heat using the smoke and warmth of a smoker, of which Bell has several situated behind Stateline Roads Vallejo Street building in Napa. The top-of-the-line smokers have been in use even though the restaurant space itself is still under construction. Bell has been operating Stateline as a pop-up at events and through a temporary residency at the Oxbow Public Market, located a few blocks away. Four months at the Oxbow allowed Bell to test out recipes, connect with customers both locals and visitors and spread the word about Stateline Roads upcoming brick-and-mortar location. It is not often that a new restaurant is able to get such a rigorous test run, Bell explained, but the Oxbow residency and other pop-up events provided just that. Stateline also had a presence at BottleRock Napa Valley, serving up ribs and other smoked classics to music lovers during the three-day 2023 festival. Bell and his team are set to return to BottleRock this year. The restaurants June launch is to allow staff to rest and recover from BottleRock before opening. A recent tour of the restaurant in progress located at 872 Vallejo St. revealed a plan to create a quick-service eatery similar to a Chipotle, where customers can walk down a line and choose their sides and entrees. Bell explained that customers will be able to order and receive their food in about 12 minutes. It is all about speed, Bell added, walking along the frame of what will soon be the restaurants ordering area. A small construction crew filtered in and out around him as he pointed out the kitchen and dining room areas. Stateline will be able to host up to 85 guests inside, with up to 25 additional diners stationed in the back patio area the backyard for this backyard barbecue joint. A Kansas City-inspired mural by San Francisco-based artist Serge Gay Jr. provides a colorful backdrop. While the menu is still getting its finishing touches, past Stateline offerings have included barbecued half-chicken, baby back ribs, Kansas City-invented burnt ends, Yukon Gold potato salad, and cherrywood-smoked maitake and greens salad. Bell indicated macaroni and cheese will be a fixture on the upcoming menu. Despite the obvious hints of what the restaurant will become, it has been a long road to bring Stateline Road to life. A former auto body garage built in 1947 and transported from Vallejo's Mare Island, the structure was not exactly turnkey ready to become a restaurant, Bell said. Some of the other potential locations the chef viewed would have been, but there was something about 872 Vallejo St. that stuck with him. Some of the best barbecue in Kansas City is in gas stations or warehouses, Bell explained. The other locations didnt have enough character to don the Stateline name, which in itself is a tribute to Kansas City being on the state line of Kansas and Missouri. It was actually Bells wife who turned him on to the Vallejo Street location and when Bell saw it for himself, he said, This is the one. And this started a journey to create a restaurant from scratch. One of the more challenging issues was figuring out how to get a proper climate-control system installed in the former garage. What is typically placed on a roof would not work the old buildings barrel-shaped roof would not allow it. Instead, an internal solution was used, placing the system inside the building but raised above the kitchen. One might think the HVAC system was for the smokers, but those are all located outside the building. The words #StatelineStateofMind are etched into the metal of what Bell called the Rolls-Royce of smokers the Moberg. Bell was also gifted a smoker from chef Charles Phan, who opened his Napa location of The Slanted Door last year on nearby Soscol Avenue, a block and a half east. Bell said he's received a lot of support from other chefs in the Napa Valley. Bell admitted that after he settled on the location, architects and others on the project cautioned him that it would take a lot of time. It was not a simple upgrade from one business to another. The initial architect did a walk-through and asked, Are you sure? Bell recalled. But I could see how cool it could be and they said, It is going to take so much time and so much work to get this to what you are envisioning. But Bell was committed and noted he would kick myself if someone else ever turned the space into a barbecue restaurant. Ive waited this long, he said. Stateline Road Smokehouse is set to open in June. It is located at 872 Vallejo St. in the Rail Arts District of Napa. For more information, visit stateline-road.com. PHOTOS: Sips and snacks in Napa Valley Young Chef Contest The Garden The Garden The Grove The Grove The Haven Nosh Napa The Haven Lenchos Mexican Food The Fink Croccante Wilfred's Lounge Scala The Haven Nosh Napa Croccante Mary's Pizza Shack Burger Truck Ohm Coffee Roasters cupping Health experts have called for more innovation in diagnosing and treating tuberculosis to bolster progress toward the goal of ending the infectious disease by 2035. Data released by the World Health Organization shows that TB killed 1.3 million people globally in 2022, second only to deaths from COVID-19 and almost twice the number of HIV/AIDS mortalities. More than 10 million new TB cases are reported annually. The WHO is committed to ending the disease by 2035, defined as cutting related deaths by 95 percent and reducing the incidence of the disease by 90 percent compared with 2015 figures. "China holds a pivotal role in ending TB," said Martin Taylor, WHO representative in China. "It's time to turn commitments into tangible actions. With the right investments and actions in advancing TB care and research and reducing catastrophic costs, China can accelerate progress toward ending TB." China has the third-highest number of TB cases worldwide and accounted for about 7 percent of new cases reported in 2022. While acknowledging efforts made in China to curb the disease, Taylor said that more financial investments, tighter collaboration and stronger innovations are needed to boost progress. "We need innovations in terms of developing new diagnostic tools, new treatment. We need innovation in service delivery models to make sure that we can get the treatment and diagnostics tools to people in need," he said. "We also need innovation in how we finance addressing TB to make sure that the finance is used more efficiently, and that we can reduce those financial barriers (of patients)," he said at a symposium jointly held by the WHO and the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute earlier this month, ahead of World Tuberculosis Day on Sunday. Professor Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping and the WHO's goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, called for coordinated efforts to end TB during a recent visit to Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. She visited a health education facility and a community healthcare center in the city, and communicated with volunteers, primary medical staff, recovered TB patients and children waiting for vaccinations to gain an understanding of local efforts devoted to TB prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation. She called on everyone to promote knowledge of TB prevention and control among residents and young people in the community, and said that she hopes everyone can make contributions to ending the prevalence of the disease. Official data shows that the amount of central financing allocated to reining in TB in China grew from 40 million yuan ($5.5 million) in 2001 to 1.27 billion yuan last year. In recent years, the annual rate of decrease in TB incidence in China has been double the global average, and the treatment success rate has been above 90 percent. China's TB death rate has dropped to the level of developed countries. Zhao Yanlin, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, said that innovation is key to tackling drug-resistant TB and boosting access to treatment. Official data shows that the treatment success rate for extensively drug-resistant TB cases and cases resistant to a common drug known as rifampin is lower than the global average. More efforts are needed to rein in extrapulmonary TB, which accounts for around 18 percent of all TB cases in China, as well as to halt animal-human transmission and introduce new tools for proactive detection and preventive treatment, said Zhao. "Research shows that 60 to 90 percent of new infections with the TB bacteria will develop the disease within one to two years after exposure. So delivering early interventions to people with primary infections will not only reduce incidence rates, but also help with follow-up treatment and management of TB patients, he said. A number of innovative treatment regimens and therapies are in the pipeline. Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, said that his team has conducted several studies on short-course treatment regimens for TB, under which the two-year treatment cycle for multidrug-resistant TB can be shortened to six to nine months, and the treatment cycle for general TB can be shortened to four months. We aim to accelerate progress toward ending TB with a modernized, integrated model, as well as a localized regimen that is more accessible and better suited to the drug metabolism of the Chinese population, which will improve patient compliance, he said. Water Audit California has voiced concerns about Napa County in recent months, appealing two Planning Commission decisions and calling new county plans for storing paper records a black hole. The environmental advocacy group appealed a Dec. 20 county Planning Commission decision approving a Nova Business Park project. But its bigger claim is that the county fails to do adequate due diligence, something the county denies. The county Board of Supervisors is to hear the appeal at 9 a.m. on April 9, unless Water Audit California and Nova developers reach a settlement. Supervisors meet in the county administration building at 1195 Third St., Napa. Nova Business Park North is a 93-acre property in the Napa County Airport industrial area. The commission approved reconfiguring lots and installing roads, sewer, electrical and other infrastructure. Buildings will require separate approvals. Water Audit California wrote a Dec. 19 letter to the Planning Commission saying, among other things, substantial likely environmental injury is simply being ignored and the water analysis reaches new heights of pure fantasy. There is nothing inherently wrong with the development, except when folks dont play by the rules and you are not, the environmental advocacy groups general counsel William McKinnon wrote to the county. How can you look at a child and not be ashamed? He also accused county staff of ignoring comments Water Audit California submitted on previous proposed developments. In this case, county Supervising Planner Sean Trippi on Dec. 20 gave the Planning Commission responses to the Water Audit California letter. In each instance, staff disagreed with the group. Ignoring environmental injury? A mitigated negative declaration was prepared and includes mitigations to reduce potential impacts to a less than significant level, the Trippi memo said. A water analysis thats pure fantasy? The city of American Canyon has prepared a water supply report and a water will-serve letter indicating there is sufficient water for the proposed project, the Trippi memo said. Water Audit California remained unconvinced that county staff is handling projects such as Nova correctly. The appeal said critical issues were not considered and evidence was unavailable, withheld or misrepresented. One point of contention is whether the project should compensate for the loss of Swainsons hawk foraging habitat. The Planning Commission didnt require such mitigation. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife in a letter recommended doing so. At the Dec. 20 Planning Commission meeting, Sean Micallef, chief ecologist for Zentner Planning & Ecology, spoke on behalf of Nova. He said Fish and Wildlife was applying standards for hawk habitat in the Central Valley to Napa Valley. The mitigation is really inappropriate and unnecessary for this area, he said. Water Audit California in its appeal said that Fish and Wildlife raised enough concerns to warrant an environmental impact report for the project, as opposed to the less-extensive mitigated declaration. It had other grounds for appeal. On another front, Water Audit California criticized a March 12 decision made by the Board of Supervisors on how to store county records. For years, Napa County has stored paper records in a leased industrial park warehouse. Records have included county correspondence, criminal justice case files, planning documents, and mental and public health files, some of which must be kept for as long as 10 years under California law. As of late December 2017, the warehouse held some 30 million pieces of paper stored in 15,000 cardboard boxes. County officials at the time talked about digitizing many of the records to save space. Today, the county through digitization has cut its storage of paper records to 8,300 boxes, but pays $120,000 annually to lease underused industrial space. Outsourcing storage would cost $74,000 annually, a county report said. On March 12, the Board of Supervisors, without comment, passed a consent calendar item giving the job to Napa-based Pro-File Business Records Management. The day before, California Water Audit submitted a public comment saying the staff proposal seems reckless, to say the least. There is no indication of a request for proposal or how the county negotiated a proposal, McKinnon wrote. The group wanted information on Pro-File's credentials to protect critical documents. Please, we implore you, do not take this step, McKinnon wrote, At the least (it) will cause the immediate loss of integrity in the public records concerned. The worst could be much worse. County Executive Officer Ryan Alsop on Thursday said the warehouse the county is using now has such problems as roof leaks. The county solicited bids from four companies that store documents and county information technology leadership chose Pro-File, he said. Pro-File has been in business for 25 years and has a storage center capable of handling 100,000 boxes, Alsop said. He didnt give the location, saying this is confidential. McKinnon said Water Audit Californias emailed comments to the county werent seen by supervisors before they voted in favor of outsourcing record storage. County officials acknowledged this is true. Alsop said the county system identified the message as spam and quarantined it. McKinnon said Water Audit California is incredulous. He noted the group has submitted many comments over the years and asked if other Water Audit California comments have been filtered out. Alsop said the county uses artificial intelligence as protection against spam and more sinister hacking attempts. It has taken steps to ensure that Water Audit California submittals arent screened out again. In addition, Water Audit California appealed a Planning Commission decision involving the Rutherford Ranch winery. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday could finalize denial of the appeal, though with additional groundwater restrictions. Over the years, Water Audit California has helped host Napa Water Forum 2023 and secure more water releases from Skyline Wilderness Parks Lake Marie into Camille Creek. It has clashed with St. Helena over various water and environmental matters. It sued Napa County in 2021 over groundwater pumping issues, but later dropped the suit. PHOTOS: American Canyon celebrates Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors Holi 1 Holi 2 Holi 3 Holi: A colorful start to spring Holi 5 Holi 6 Holi 7 Holi 8 Holi 9 Holi 10 Holi 11 Holi 12 Holi 13 Holi 14 Holi 15 Holi 16 Holi 17 Holi 18 Holi 19 Holi 20 Holi 21 Holi 22 Holi 23 Holi 24 Dozens of people were in Shenandoah Park in American Canyon on Sunday to celebrate Holi, the Hindu festival of colors. The festival marks the beginning of spring and signifies the triumph of good over evil. The festival is celebrated annually around the end of February or early March and corresponds with the Hindu calendar's month of Phalguna. Internal legal grounds being created for Armenia to apply to ICC in connection with Azerbaijan's war crimes European Union responds to Azerbaijan statements on EU-US-Armenia trilateral meeting Russia MFA: Friends of Armenia Network report objective is to tear Armenia from Russia, EAEU Russian 102nd Military Base in Gyumri is only guarantee of Armenia's sovereignty, Russia MFA says Siranush Sahakyan: Hard to convince international organizations to pressure Azerbaijan on Armenian captives matter Lawyer: Ruben Vardanyan gave international resonance to Karabakh issue, earned Azerbaijans hatred Armenian woman is appointed state minister in new Palestine government Lawyer: Azerbaijan uses matter of Armenian captives, hostages for political purposes Ameriabank named the Best Bank in Armenia for 2024 by Global Finance magazine International law expert: Azerbaijan should at least promise autonomy so that Armenians can return to Karabakh Ombudsman: There are 20 Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia ex-ombudsman: Azerbaijan pursued goal of de-Armenianizing Karabakh from very beginning Russia TV programs Evening with Vladimir Solovyov and Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov blocked in Armenia US State Department to Zakharova: Turbulence in South Caucasus is fueled by Russia's actions in recent months Russia FM: Putin was surprised by Armenia PM Pashinyan's decision to recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan Lavrov: PM Pashinyan invited EU mission to Armenia, promising Azerbaijan that it will be for 2 months Legislature head: Armenia will attend for first time the gathering of EU countries parliament speakers Armenia parliament speaker: We are trying to defend our country by all possible means Iraqi security services eliminated a high-ranking IS member Armenia parliament speaker: Our ally Russia left us all alone at most critical moment Lebanon to file a complaint to UN Security Council over Israeli strikes on south of country Armenia legislature head: We are not going to concede anything that is ours Clinton and Obama to participate in Biden's campaign fundraiser Armenia legislature speaker to meet with Azerbaijan counterpart again Media: Powerful explosion hits Somalia's capital city France detains 2 suspects for sending bomb threats to lycees Military aircraft crashed into the sea near Sevastopol White House: US passed detailed data on terrorist attack threat to Russian Federation Lavrov: EU mission in Armenia is turning into a NATO mission Mash: A mass round-up of migrants began in Moscow and the region Members of the European Council's Political and Security Committee to visit Armenia EU envoy: We already have attracted 60M to develop Armenias educational sector Armenia ruling force MP: We are EAEU member, in parallel we work towards integration with EU, other markets Dollar, euro lose value in Armenia Mahmoud Abbas approved the new government of Palestine Labor, social affairs minister: Increase in number of 3rd and subsequent children recorded in Armenia MP: Euronest urged EU to develop specific proposals on how to respond to Armenia's European aspirations Armenia government humanitarian aid reaches Gaza (PHOTOS) Armenia government makes allocations to hold events for Parajanov, Aznavour 100th birth anniversaries Armenia to provide $300,000 to Japan for earthquake relief Armenia MP: Euronest called on EU to increase humanitarian, financial aid for forcibly displaced Karabakh children Yerevan ex-mayor Hayk Marutyan is founding political party Azerbaijan ombudsperson meets with dozens of Armenians remaining in occupied Karabakh capital Stepanakert Russia MFA spox: Armenia is being turned into tool for implementing dangerous plans of the West Europeans for Artsakh discusses upcoming actions toward protecting Karabakhs interests Armenia to provide humanitarian aid to 1.5 million people displaced from Gaza Pashinyan: Some circles forcibly displaced from Karabakh are taking steps that create threat to Armenias security Secretary General: Armenia, indeed, has not recently participated in CSTO Secretariats work State Department disagrees with Azerbaijan comments on upcoming US-EU-Armenia meeting President: Document to dissolve Karabakh republic was only way to save compatriots Newspaper: Generals are gone, Armenia PM has decided to hand over some Tavush Province settlements to Azerbaijan Volvo launches its last diesel car US First Lady writes childrens book about her cat Almost 1 child in 6 is cyberbullied in Europe Foreign Ministry: Upcoming Armenia-US-EU high-level meeting not directed to any third party Zakharova on Azerbaijan weapons supply to Ukraine: Main thing is that something similar doesnt appear about Armenia Russia MFA spox: Future of entire South Caucasus is only tool for France Zakharova: Everything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed Russia MFA spox: We do not use the term Zangezur corridor Wings of Tatev opens a new tourist season Parliament speaker: Armenia not waiting to become EU membership candidate Alen Simonyan: Russia needed twice as much as we needed Russian border guards presence in Armenia Armenia legislature chair: I don't think Russian border guards will protect us if Turkey attacks Armenia does not join CSTO statement condemning terrorist attack in Moscow Region Armenia parliament head: What we want at this time is to get the border with Azerbaijan No discussion at this phase regarding Armenia's EU membership, legislature speaker says Armenia parliament chair does not rule out that Azerbaijanis will attack Armenia has calculated the risks if Tavush Province defense line collapses, legislature head assures Parliament speaker: No part of Armenia territory is subject to negotiation Armenia PM, France delegation discuss processes taking place in South Caucasus Moscow Region terrorist attack death toll rises France lawmakers visit Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan France ambassador, French MPs visit Armenias Sotk gold mine Lemkin Institute expresses concern that Azerbaijan regime may get revenge upon Armenian captives AraratBank places its 27th issue of dollar bonds 2.5-year-old girl in critical condition after falling into boiling water container in Armenias Byureghavan Friends of Armenia Network report: Offering Armenia EU candidate status would be important signal US State Department reveals objectives of upcoming Blinken-Pashinyan talk Newspaper: Azerbaijan leader reprimands Armenia PM Nikolay Konashenok, who tried to fly to Armenia, is taken into custody for 14 days for petty hooliganism Ancient boats built with advanced construction techniques discovered in Italy lake Iran's supreme leader receives Hamas politburo chief in Tehran Olivier Decottignies The right of return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians is being violated today FSB: Primary data received from detainees in Crocus terrorist attack case confirm Ukrainian trace Tigran Balayan to Toivo Klaar: Azerbaijan is gearing up for new aggression against Armenia Iran's ambassador to Russia: Next meeting of 3+3 platform may take place as early as this year Armenia nuclear plant, Rosatom Service directors sign contract on new cooling systems for plant Armenia President: We have warm relations with Greece, this is also related to our history, principles, beliefs Kirill Komarov: Rosatom can offer Armenia nuclear reactors with capacity of 50 to 1,000 MW Armenia PM is presented Military industry Committee 2023 activity report US, UK, Ukraine are involved in Moscow Region terrorist attack, Russia official says State Department: US supports South Caucasus countries sovereignty, territorial integrity Dollar drops, euro rises in Armenia NATO discussing possibility of shooting down missiles near alliance borders Justice minister on returning Azerbaijani who crossed Armenia border: Political decision enabling correct positioning Switzerland launches 10-year project of CHF 9 million in Armenia Britain's Supreme Court rules over Assange's extradition to US Anne-Laurence Petel: We reaffirmed France's support for Armenian democracy Premier: Armenia has been ready to implement liberalization of visa regime with EU for long time Nikol Pashinyan: Highways, railways, pipelines, cables must enter Turkey from Azerbaijan via Armenia The Committee for the Protection of the Fundamental Rights of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) People is gravely alarmed by recent reports detailing Azerbaijans flagrant violations of the rights of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs), particularly in regard to the fundamental principle of the right to be free from public curiosity as outlined in the Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. These actions are not only morally reprehensible, but also in direct contravention of international humanitarian law. The aforesaid committee noted this in a statement, which continues as follows: Article 13 of the Third Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits POWs from being subjected to public curiosity. Azerbaijans public airing of videos depicting POWs constitutes a gross violation of their right to privacy and dignity under this convention. Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention similarly prohibits such public spectacles against noncombatants. Furthermore, these actions violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right to privacy and protection from arbitrary interference with ones privacy, family, home, or correspondence. The airing of staged interviews with Armenian POWs and hostages by Azerbaijan constitutes a direct violation of their rights and further exacerbates their already precarious situation. Such manipulative tactics by Azerbaijan serve to undermine the integrity of international humanitarian law and must be unequivocally condemned by the international community. In light of these egregious violations, we urgently call upon state actors and human rights organizations to take direct action to prevent Azerbaijan from further airing videos or interviews of POWs and hostages. This includes leveraging diplomatic channels, imposing sanctions if necessary, and issuing public condemnations to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its actions. We emphatically stress that allowing any retransmission of such videos by other states parties is not only itself a grave violation of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions but also a reprehensible disregard for the basic principles of humanitarian law. Therefore, it is imperative that all states parties take immediate and decisive action to prevent any and all retransmission of such Azerbaijani broadcasts of such videos on any and all servers, media and/or platforms under their jurisdictions. Furthermore, we demand immediate and unfettered access for international humanitarian organizations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, to all detention facilities where Armenian POWs and hostages are held. This access is crucial to ensuring the well-being and proper treatment of these individuals in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and other applicable international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. It is imperative that Azerbaijan complies with its obligations under international law and ceases all actions that violate the rights of Armenian POWs and hostages. Failure to do so not only undermines the principles of humanity and dignity but also threatens regional stability and peace. We stand ready to work alongside the international community to address these violations and ensure the protection of the rights of all individuals affected by this conflict. And we call upon all state actors and international organizations to continue to demand the immediate and unconditional release of all Armenians unlawfully held in Azerbaijani captivity. It is our collective responsibility to uphold the principles of the Geneva Conventions and applicable human rights instruments and safeguard the dignity and well-being of all POWs and hostages illegally held in Azerbaijani captivity. It has been sixth months since the armed forces of Azerbaijan attacked and conquered the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian opposition MP Levon Kocharyan stated this in his speech during the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Switzerland. Levon Kocharyan, who is also the son of Armenias second President Robert Kocharyan, added as follows: Indeed, on September 19, 2023, after enduring nearly 10 months of a blockade that caused mass starvation, deprivation, illness, and death, and now faced with imminent destruction, over 120,000 Armenians, virtually the entire population, were forced to leave their homeland in just a few days. I followed the events in my birthplace from Armenia with great concern and pain as my childhood memories of taking shelter for days and weeks from Azerbaijani aerial bombardments in the early 1990s were reanimated. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh have an ancient and profound connection to their homeland, with historical evidence dating back centuries. Generations have lived, worked, and built their lives in this region, establishing a rich cultural heritage that binds them to the land. Despite the challenges, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh remain resolute in their determination to return to their homeland, to determine their political future, and to exercise their own democratic self-governance. Under Articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh have the absolute right to return to their homeland. The International Court of Justice ruled on November 17 last year that Azerbaijan must ensure that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are able to return in a safe, unimpeded, and expeditious manner. On March 12 the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on Azerbaijan to genuinely engage in a comprehensive and transparent dialogue with the Karabakh Armenians to ensure respect for their rights and guarantee their security, including their right to return to and live in their homes in dignity and safety under international presence. Achieving enduring peace in the region remains unattainable when the Nagorno-Karabakh people are forcefully uprooted from their homeland and a coerced notion of peace is imposed upon Armenia. Facilitating the return of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to their homeland under international protection and guarantees is essential for promoting lasting peace and stability in the region and this notion must be incorporated into the peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Indeed, recognizing and safeguarding the right of return is not only a matter of justice and human rights but also essential for promoting peace, stability, and reconciliation in the region. It requires a concerted effort by the international community to uphold the principles of international law and ensure the dignity and rights of all individuals affected by the conflict. China's top procuratorial body reported a significant increase in justifiable defense cases last year, highlighting efforts to promote a more nuanced understanding of the legal concept. According to the Supreme People's Procuratorate's annual work report for 2023, which was approved by the national legislature on March 11, procuratorial organs nationwide deemed 261 cases as justifiable defense, representing a 25.5 percent increase compared to 2022. The report emphasized the top procuratorate's focus on upholding the concept of justifiable defense. In October 2020, a man surnamed Huang, who was dining at a fast-food restaurant run by a man surnamed Chen and his wife, surnamed Xue, got into a fight with another man at a neighboring table. Chen intervened in the dispute and persuaded Huang to leave. Huang came back to the restaurant the next day and demanded compensation of 2,500 yuan ($350) from Chen. Chen refused and called the police. When the police arrived to investigate, Huang was questioned and allowed to leave the restaurant. Several days later, Huang returned to the restaurant to again demand compensation, but was again persuaded to leave. Later that afternoon, he returned a third time and, failing to obtain compensation, slashed Xue's face with a kitchen knife and then threatened Chen with it. Chen then grabbed two knives from the kitchen and fought with Huang. Huang was injured during the fight and died despite rescue efforts. Xue sustained severe injuries, while Chen's injuries were minor. In February last year, the public security organs transferred Chen for prosecution on suspicion of causing intentional injury. After review, the procuratorial organs in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region deemed Chen's actions to be legitimate justifiable defense and made the decision to not pursue charges. "The restaurant owner faced a life-threatening situation," explained Yang Jianbo, deputy director of the Supreme People's Procuratorate's general office. "Determining the facts and applying the law accurately presented a challenge." Yang emphasized that prosecutors avoided judging the situation based solely on the assailant's death and instead focused on factual evidence and legal principles. The top procuratorate's report reiterated the principle that legal actions should not be compromised by unlawful conduct. It also highlighted the promotion of a law-based society where the legal framework is accurately applied. Justifiable defense, despite being outlined in China's Criminal Law, has historically been a complex issue due to interpretation challenges and misconceptions. The report acknowledged these problems, noting the past prevalence of the belief that "whoever is injured or killed is right". We discussed the possibilities of the intensifying of the border delimitation process between the Republic of Armenia and Georgia. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this in a joint briefing with visiting Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, which took place on Monday in Yerevan. "The 13th session of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and Georgia, held in Tbilisi on January 26 of this year, during which the joint declaration on strategic cooperation was signed between Armenia and Georgia, which outlines an ambitious perspective for the further development of our bilateral relations covering all domains. Today, my colleague and I had the opportunity to discuss possible and necessary steps towards the practical implementation of this joint declaration. Unconditional recognition of each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty is an essential element in that declaration. We discussed also the possibilities of intensifying of the border delimitation process between the Republic of Armenia and Georgia," Pashinyan noted. Referring to Georgia becoming an EU membership candidate country, the Armenian PM said. "At the end of last year, Georgia acquired the status of a candidate for EU membership. Armenia reacted enthusiastically to that news, considering what happened to be an important event that will have a direct impact not only on our region, but also on Armenia-Georgia bilateral relations. The Republic of Armenia supported and continues to support Georgia's aspirations for EU membership." According to Pashinyan, during his talk with the Georgian premier, he reaffirmed that Armenia assumes its part of the responsibility for establishing peace and stability in the region. "We expect that the other players will show a similar approach. Armenia is ready to move forward in the process of normalization of relations with Azerbaijan based on three principles already known and agreed at the highest level between Armenia and Azerbaijan. That is, mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty based on the Alma Ata declaration of 1991, implementation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process based on the same declaration, unblocking of the economic infrastructures of the region within the framework of the principles of respect for the sovereignty and jurisdiction of countriesensuring equality and reciprocity. The Crossroads of Peace project put forward by Armenia will become one of the future topics of our countries' strategic partnership. We see that Georgia is not only interested in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also tries with active steps to contribute to that process, for which I thank our [Georgian] partners," the Armenian premier concluded. Discussions are currently ongoing. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mnatsakan Safaryan stated this to reporters in the National Assembly of Armeniaand in response to Armenian News-NEWS.am's question about what decision the Armenian authorities have made regarding the villages of Tavush Province. "As I noted, the discussions are continuing within the commissions' work now. They work based on the grounds we noted, which has been made public. It is about the declaration of Alma Ata and the border existing during the Soviet period. The declaration of Alma Ata is a basis, the maps, as we had noted, are the most recent maps that existed in the Soviet period. We have already made statements related to it," said Safaryan. When asked why it was decided to start the border delimitation process with Azerbaijan from Tavush Province, the deputy FM said: "Discussions about it are also ongoing. We have to wait for the recap and the final conclusions of those discussions; after that there will be official information." Regarding the remark that the Azerbaijani side announced that the territories of those four villages in Tavush Province should be immediately vacated before border delimitation, Mnatsakanyan said: "The Armenian side also expressed position that the vital areas of 31 villages are also within the framework of this discussion." When asked why the process of border delimitation does not start from Jermuk city, Gegharkunik or Syunik Provinces where Armenia's territories are occupied by Azerbaijan, the deputy FM responded: "Since the border delimitation work is entering the practical phase, certain studies are being carried out, and we will make this work public at the end of these discussions." He emphasized that Armenia has repeatedly made statements regarding the occupation of its sovereign territory by Azerbaijan. "The part of the border delimitation work, regarding which there are certain agreements, has already been made public, official statements have been made. At this phase, I do not have additional information," the Armenian deputy FM said. Internal legal grounds being created for Armenia to apply to ICC in connection with Azerbaijan's war crimes European Union responds to Azerbaijan statements on EU-US-Armenia trilateral meeting Russia MFA: Friends of Armenia Network report objective is to tear Armenia from Russia, EAEU Russian 102nd Military Base in Gyumri is only guarantee of Armenia's sovereignty, Russia MFA says Siranush Sahakyan: Hard to convince international organizations to pressure Azerbaijan on Armenian captives matter Lawyer: Ruben Vardanyan gave international resonance to Karabakh issue, earned Azerbaijans hatred Armenian woman is appointed state minister in new Palestine government Lawyer: Azerbaijan uses matter of Armenian captives, hostages for political purposes Ameriabank named the Best Bank in Armenia for 2024 by Global Finance magazine International law expert: Azerbaijan should at least promise autonomy so that Armenians can return to Karabakh Ombudsman: There are 20 Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia ex-ombudsman: Azerbaijan pursued goal of de-Armenianizing Karabakh from very beginning Russia TV programs Evening with Vladimir Solovyov and Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov blocked in Armenia US State Department to Zakharova: Turbulence in South Caucasus is fueled by Russia's actions in recent months Russia FM: Putin was surprised by Armenia PM Pashinyan's decision to recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan Lavrov: PM Pashinyan invited EU mission to Armenia, promising Azerbaijan that it will be for 2 months Legislature head: Armenia will attend for first time the gathering of EU countries parliament speakers Armenia parliament speaker: We are trying to defend our country by all possible means Iraqi security services eliminated a high-ranking IS member Armenia parliament speaker: Our ally Russia left us all alone at most critical moment Lebanon to file a complaint to UN Security Council over Israeli strikes on south of country Armenia legislature head: We are not going to concede anything that is ours Clinton and Obama to participate in Biden's campaign fundraiser Armenia legislature speaker to meet with Azerbaijan counterpart again Media: Powerful explosion hits Somalia's capital city France detains 2 suspects for sending bomb threats to lycees Military aircraft crashed into the sea near Sevastopol White House: US passed detailed data on terrorist attack threat to Russian Federation Lavrov: EU mission in Armenia is turning into a NATO mission Mash: A mass round-up of migrants began in Moscow and the region Members of the European Council's Political and Security Committee to visit Armenia EU envoy: We already have attracted 60M to develop Armenias educational sector Armenia ruling force MP: We are EAEU member, in parallel we work towards integration with EU, other markets Dollar, euro lose value in Armenia Mahmoud Abbas approved the new government of Palestine Labor, social affairs minister: Increase in number of 3rd and subsequent children recorded in Armenia MP: Euronest urged EU to develop specific proposals on how to respond to Armenia's European aspirations Armenia government humanitarian aid reaches Gaza (PHOTOS) Armenia government makes allocations to hold events for Parajanov, Aznavour 100th birth anniversaries Armenia to provide $300,000 to Japan for earthquake relief Armenia MP: Euronest called on EU to increase humanitarian, financial aid for forcibly displaced Karabakh children Yerevan ex-mayor Hayk Marutyan is founding political party Azerbaijan ombudsperson meets with dozens of Armenians remaining in occupied Karabakh capital Stepanakert Russia MFA spox: Armenia is being turned into tool for implementing dangerous plans of the West Europeans for Artsakh discusses upcoming actions toward protecting Karabakhs interests Armenia to provide humanitarian aid to 1.5 million people displaced from Gaza Pashinyan: Some circles forcibly displaced from Karabakh are taking steps that create threat to Armenias security Secretary General: Armenia, indeed, has not recently participated in CSTO Secretariats work State Department disagrees with Azerbaijan comments on upcoming US-EU-Armenia meeting President: Document to dissolve Karabakh republic was only way to save compatriots Newspaper: Generals are gone, Armenia PM has decided to hand over some Tavush Province settlements to Azerbaijan Volvo launches its last diesel car US First Lady writes childrens book about her cat Almost 1 child in 6 is cyberbullied in Europe Foreign Ministry: Upcoming Armenia-US-EU high-level meeting not directed to any third party Zakharova on Azerbaijan weapons supply to Ukraine: Main thing is that something similar doesnt appear about Armenia Russia MFA spox: Future of entire South Caucasus is only tool for France Zakharova: Everything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed Russia MFA spox: We do not use the term Zangezur corridor Wings of Tatev opens a new tourist season Parliament speaker: Armenia not waiting to become EU membership candidate Alen Simonyan: Russia needed twice as much as we needed Russian border guards presence in Armenia Armenia legislature chair: I don't think Russian border guards will protect us if Turkey attacks Armenia does not join CSTO statement condemning terrorist attack in Moscow Region Armenia parliament head: What we want at this time is to get the border with Azerbaijan No discussion at this phase regarding Armenia's EU membership, legislature speaker says Armenia parliament chair does not rule out that Azerbaijanis will attack Armenia has calculated the risks if Tavush Province defense line collapses, legislature head assures Parliament speaker: No part of Armenia territory is subject to negotiation Armenia PM, France delegation discuss processes taking place in South Caucasus Moscow Region terrorist attack death toll rises France lawmakers visit Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan France ambassador, French MPs visit Armenias Sotk gold mine Lemkin Institute expresses concern that Azerbaijan regime may get revenge upon Armenian captives AraratBank places its 27th issue of dollar bonds 2.5-year-old girl in critical condition after falling into boiling water container in Armenias Byureghavan Friends of Armenia Network report: Offering Armenia EU candidate status would be important signal US State Department reveals objectives of upcoming Blinken-Pashinyan talk Newspaper: Azerbaijan leader reprimands Armenia PM Nikolay Konashenok, who tried to fly to Armenia, is taken into custody for 14 days for petty hooliganism Drone World Congress to be held in China's Shenzhen in May Xinhua) 09:47, March 25, 2024 SHENZHEN, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The 8th Drone World Congress 2024 will be held from May 24 to 26 in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, the event's organizers said. The congress, with a theme of "Low-altitude Economy, The Future," will see the participation of nearly 500 enterprises from home and abroad, according to the organizers. More than 10,000 industry experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from over 110 countries and regions will attend the congress. It will include a range of activities such as parallel forums and exchange meetings, focusing on topics such as drones and low-altitude economy and artificial intelligence robot. The low-altitude economy is an economic concept that relies on low-altitude airspace, with the general aviation sector playing a dominant role. It involves economic sectors such as low-altitude flight, air tourism, passenger transportation, general aviation services, scientific research and education, among others. This year's congress will be co-hosted by institutions including the China Electronic Information Industry Federation and the China Civil Airports Association. (Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun) Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, will lead a delegation of young people from Taiwan to visit the mainland from April 1 to 11, a mainland spokesperson said on Monday. Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the delegation will visit Guangdong and Shaanxi provinces as well as Beijing to attend a ceremony honoring China's legendary ancestor Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, as well as other events. Chen extended a warm welcome, voicing hopes that compatriots across the Taiwan Strait can jointly carry on the fine Chinese traditional culture, promote exchanges and cooperation in various sectors between the two sides including young people, advance the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and jointly promote national rejuvenation. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As Americans observe Ramadan and prepare to celebrate Easter and Passover, the percentage of adults who report regularly attending religious services remains low. Three in 10 Americans say they attend religious services every week (21%) or almost every week (9%), while 11% report attending about once a month and 56% seldom (25%) or never (31%) attend. Among major U.S. religious groups, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also widely known as the Mormon Church, are the most observant, with two-thirds attending church weekly or nearly weekly. Protestants (including nondenominational Christians) rank second, with 44% attending services regularly, followed by Muslims (38%) and Catholics (33%). ###Embeddable### Majorities of Jewish, Orthodox, Buddhist and Hindu Americans say they seldom or never attend religious services. Twenty-six percent of Orthodox adults, 22% of Jewish adults, 14% of Buddhist adults and 13% of Hindu adults attend services regularly. Although Buddhist and Hindu adults have similar levels of regular attendance, Buddhist adults are much more likely to say they seldom or never attend (75%) than Hindu adults (51%). The largest segment of Hindu Americans, 36%, say they attend about once a month. Americans with no religious affiliation, including those who say they are atheist or agnostic, are very unlikely to attend church. Nevertheless, 3% say they attend weekly or nearly weekly. Major religious celebrations for people of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu faiths in March and April -- which involve gatherings of the faithful at churches, synagogues, mosques and temples -- will likely draw many more adherents than typical weeks. Gallup measures church attendance and religious affiliation on nearly every U.S. survey it conducts. These results are based on aggregated data from Gallup telephone surveys conducted in 2021, 2022 and 2023, which yield enough sample to examine attendance among a larger number of religious groups than would be possible in typical survey samples. Beyond Protestants, Catholics and those with no religious affiliation, other religious groups each represent 2% or less of the U.S. population. The combined 2021-2023 data comprise interviews with more than 32,000 U.S. adults and at least 200 respondents in each religion, except for Orthodox churches and Hinduism. Gallup also constructed similar aggregates using 2000-2003 and 2011-2013 data to assess changes in religious service attendance over time. Nearly All Faiths Seeing Declines in Regular Attendance Two decades ago, an average of 42% of U.S. adults attended religious services every week or nearly every week. A decade ago, the figure fell to 38%, and it is currently at 30%. This decline is largely driven by the increase in the percentage of Americans with no religious affiliation -- 9% in 2000-2003 versus 21% in 2021-2023 -- almost all of whom do not attend services regularly. Still, most religious groups have also seen a decline in regular attendance at religious services over the past two decades. ###Embeddable### Among religious groups, Catholics show one of the larger drops in attendance, from 45% to 33%, while there are slightly smaller decreases among Orthodox (nine percentage points) and Hindu followers (eight points). There is also a 24-point decline for other religious groups, generally those not large enough to report separately as their own group or those that are difficult to categorize based on respondents answers. In contrast to most religious groups, Muslim and Jewish Americans have shown slight increases in religious service attendance over the past two decades. The 38% of Muslim adults who regularly attend mosque is up from 34% in 2000-2003, although lower than in 2011-2013 (46%). The increase in synagogue attendance among Jewish Americans has been steadier, moving from 15% two decades ago to 19% last decade and 22% currently. Mormon adults show no meaningful change in church attendance compared with 2000-2003, but they did report higher attendance in 2011-2013 than they do now. Bottom Line On any given weekend, about three in 10 U.S. adults attend religious services, down from 42% two decades ago. Church attendance will likely continue to decline in the future, given younger Americans weaker attachments to religion. Specifically, more 18- to 29-year-olds, 35%, say they have no religious preference than identify with any specific faith, such as Protestant/nondenominational Christian (32%) or Catholic (19%). Additionally, young adults, both those with and without a religious preference, are much less likely to attend religious services -- 22% attend regularly, eight points below the national average. These trends are consistent with other Gallup indicators of religious beliefs and practices, including the importance of religion to Americans and formal membership in churches and other houses of worship. To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on X. Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. ###Embeddable### 11:08 Former Karnataka Minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy on Monday rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Gangavati MLA, who is an accused in an illegal mining case, had formed the 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha' (KRPP) ahead of the state assembly polls last year, snapping his two-decade-old association with the BJP. Reddy today merged his KRPP with the BJP as he, along with wife Aruna Lakshmi and some family members, joined the party in the presence of its veteran leader and former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, state president B Y Vijayendra, and others. Reddy had recently met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. However, in the recently held Rajya Sabha polls he had extended support to the Congress candidate. Before the assembly polls last year, Reddy had been largely politically inactive for nearly 12 years since his arrest by the CBI for an alleged role in a mining scam. During this period, he had a brief stint ahead of the 2018 assembly polls when he campaigned for his close friend and former Minister B Sriramulu in Molakalmuru Assembly segment. In the run up to the 2018 assembly polls, the then BJP national president Amit Shah, in response to a reporter's question, had distanced the party from him and stressed that 'the BJP has nothing to do with Janardhana Reddy'. Accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case, he has been out on bail since 2015. Several conditions were imposed by the apex court in its order which includes prohibiting him from visiting Ballari in Karnataka and Ananthpur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. Because of these restrictions, he had to contest the 2023 assembly polls from Gangavati in Koppal district. Expressing his displeasure about the way BJP had ignored him, Reddy had announced a new party last year and also took a dig at his brothers -- Karunakara Reddy and Somashekar Reddy -- and Sriramulu, as they remained with the BJP. The three of them had unsuccessfully contested the assembly polls, with Reddy's new party said to have impacted their performance in the election. Sriramulu, a ST community leader and former Minister is now the BJP's candidate from the Bellary (Ballari) Lok Sabha constituency. Reddy had played an instrumental role in strengthening the BJP in the Ballari district and is still believed to enjoy a considerable clout there as well as in adjoining districts like Chitradurga, Koppal and Raichur, which could be useful for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, managing director of Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), were arrested by the CBI on September 5, 2011. The company is accused of changing mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Ballari Reserve Forest area, spread over Ballari in Karnataka and the Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh. Reddy first came to political limelight during the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, when he campaigned for BJP leader, the late Sushma Swaraj, who had contested against Congress' Sonia Gandhi from Ballari. -- PTI 2024 SIU Civil Service Flea Market to raise funds for scholarships is April 27 CARBONDALE, Ill. Its not too late for vendors to sign up for the 2024 Southern Illinois University Carbondale Civil Service Councils spring flea market. Proceeds from vendors fees go to the Civil Service Education Assistance Fund toward scholarships for SIU students. This years flea market is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 27 in the Banterra Center parking lot. Customer parking will be in the adjacent parking lot. The event will be April 28 if hazardous weather conditions, such as thunderstorms and lightning, occur on April 27. There will be concessions. The cost to sellers is $35 for a single space (18 feet wide by 18 feet deep) and $50 for a double space (36-by-18 feet). Additional individual spaces (9-by-18 feet) are available for $10 per space. Payment is due by 4 p.m. April 24. Sellers renting space the day of the sale will pay an additional $10. Vendor fees cannot be refunded. Applications to rent space at the market are available online. There are a few regulations for vendors to remember. The university is a gun-free school zone, and concealed firearms cannot be carried on campus. Regulations also prohibit the sale of: Alcohol. Ammunition. Firearms. Food. Hazardous materials. Live animals. Pharmaceuticals. There also cannot be: Amplified sound of any type, including microphones. Generators. If fees are not paid online, send checks or money orders, payable to SIU Carbondale, to Civil Service Council, c/o Campus Mail Services Professional Constituencies Office, Woody Hall, B342, Mailcode 4712, 900 S. Normal Ave., Carbondale, Illinois, 62901. Please include your mailing address and telephone number. For more information and an application, if needed, contact Antony Travelstead, vice president, SIU Civil Service Council, at 618-453-7601. Lilia Angel-Post, assistant director, SIU Carbondales Center for English as a Second Language, gives students, including 13 Colombians, information during a recent orientation session. David Toscano, who is from Los Patios de Santander in the northeastern part of the country, is one of the participating students. (Photos by Russell Bailey) SIU helping Colombian students enhance English skills, professional opportunities by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. Thirteen vocational and technical college students from Colombia are looking to enhance their personal and professional development by participating in an eight-week academic and cultural initiative through Southern Illinois University Carbondales Center for English as a Second Language (CESL). The students arrived in mid-March during SIUs spring break. While on campus through early May, they will study intensive English and take part in a wide variety of social and cultural activities, said William Hellriegel, director of CESL. They will be living in nearby Saluki Hall, where they will develop relationships with the diverse group of student residents there, he said. The aim is to foster internationalization in Colombia and make a significant impact in the various regions of Colombia where the Friends of Fulbright Foundation (FAF) operate, Hellriegel said. When students hosted by SIU perform well, they remain candidates to become future Fulbright Scholars, Hellriegel said. CESL partners with FAF and SENA, Colombias largest public institution that provides free vocational and technical training, to offer students of modest means opportunities for their career development through enhanced English language skills, Hellriegel said. Media availability To arrange for interviews with visiting students and officials with SIUs Center for English as a Second Language, contact Lilia Angel-Post, CESL assistant director, at 618-453-6470 or langel@siu.edu. While at SIU, students will take classes that include listening and speaking, grammar, integrated language skills and academic writing, said Lilia Angel-Post, CESLs assistant director. Angel-Post, who is originally from Colombia, met the FAF director at an international conference nearly two years ago and learned that the organization was looking for an intensive English program for its students. Angel-Post explained she was impressed that the director was very driven to provide higher education access to low-income and underrepresented groups in Colombia. David Toscano, who is from Los Patios de Santander in the northeastern part of the country, is finishing his technological training in software analysis and development. I believe this program will open many doors for me personally and professionally, he said. I hope this program will help me improve my fluency in English and develop confidence in an English-speaking academic and social environment. I also want to learn about American culture and broaden my knowledge. Toscano said hes looking forward to seeing the campus and learning its history, along with exploring the regions nature and experiencing its local culture. I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program, and I hope to make the most of it, he said. Angel-Post added that students are ready to engage with the university and local community. They will participate in extracurricular activities and spend time volunteering with different organizations in Carbondale. We are very excited to have the opportunity to be involved in these amazing initiatives by Fulbright Colombia while also being able to bring diverse students to our SIU campus, she said. SIU and FAF began their collaboration in 2022 and since have partnered in both online and in-person programs, including CESL teaching intensive English via online courses to Colombian English teachers. Pakistan and Afghanistan are set to hold trade talks as a Pakistani commerce ministry delegation is scheduled to arrive in the Afghan capital Kabul today (Monday), to remove obstacles in transit and bilateral trade, reported Dawn. Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesman for the Afghan Commerce Ministry, confirmed that Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi will lead the Afghan delegation. Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that the Pakistani delegation, headed by Secretary of Commerce Khurram Agha, will undertake the two-day visit. "Pakistan remains committed to promoting trade and people-to-people ties with Afghanistan," Baloch said. Other delegates from Pakistan included the Joint Secretary (Ministry of Commerce), Maria Qazi, Additional Secretary of Commerce Wajid Ali Khan, Director General Transit Trade and Additional Secretary of Interior Khushal Khan. Reportedly, the discussions will be held on overall bilateral and transit trade, the Afghan Commerce Ministry''s spokesman said, according to Dawn. "We will take up the issue of a ban on several transit items. Pakistan has banned the import of certain items under the transit agreement. Around 50 per cent of transit trade has been decreased due to this ban and shifted to Iran," Jawad said. The meeting will be held as both sides continue to put effort into normalising relations following Pakistani airstrikes in two Afghan provinces on March 18. Afghan charge d''affaires Sardar Shokaib Ahmad rushed to Kabul to brief officials about his meetings in Islamabad, as reported by Dawn. Shokaib met acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and briefed him regarding recent developments in the relations between both countries, deputy foreign ministry spokesman Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takkal said. "During the meeting, Mawlawi Sardar Ahmed Shakib, acting head of the Afghan embassy in Pakistan, shared the report of his recent meetings with the Pakistani officials with FM Muttaqi, and held in-depth discussion thereof," Takkal posted on X. "Following briefing, FM Muttaqi gave necessary instructions to the Acting Head of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad with regards to the existing situation and relations of the two countries," he added. Earlier, the Afghan embassy said that Shakib met Pakistan''s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, on March 22 and "addressed recent challenges between the two countries, the revitalization of political, commercial, people-to-people and other aspects of bilateral relations." On March 11, Afghan Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi held an online meeting with Secretary Pakistan Commerce Ministry Khurram Agha and discussed ways to establish closer relations, solve challenges and prevent the occurrence of bottlenecks in trade and transit between the two countries, the ministry wrote on social media X. The Afghan Commerce Ministry highlighted that the two sides spoke about the progress made over the last two years. They also discussed options to increase the volume of bilateral trade, solve problems and remove trade and transit barriers, provide more facilities, establish close relations between the public and private sectors of the two countries, and increase regional cooperation. Moreover, the Afghan minister also invited Khurram Agha to visit Kabul with a delegation to hold further discussions on bilateral trade issues. Reportedly, Pakistani and Afghan business leaders are expecting that the talks in Kabul will be useful, according to Dawn. Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI) Khan Jan Alkozai said that the new government in Pakistan will address the concerns of Afghan importers. Alkozai also noted a 10 per cent hike in import duty on Afghan transit trade introduced in October last year, further complaining about adding more transit items to the negative list. "More problems for Afghan importers were created during the caretaker government in Pakistan. Pakistan and the Islamic Emirate should pave the way to normalise bilateral and transit trade," Alkozai said. He added that transit via Pakistan has substantially decreased and Afghan importers have moved their businesses to ports in Iran, as reported by Dawn. Pakistani traders have also urged officials to facilitate transit and bilateral trade with Afghanistan, as it is a win-win situation for both. Pakistani and Afghan traders have long been insisting on separating trade from political issues, however, no attention has ever been paid to their demand. (ANI) Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 25: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation successfully hosted the inaugural edition of the internationally recognized Food for Thought Fest, held at the prestigious Sabarmati Riverfront Event Centre in Gujarat. Presented exclusively in a vegetarian avatar, the event spanned three days from 8th to 10th March 2024, attracting over 18,000 visitors to the sprawling SRFC spread over two lakh square feet. The grand opening ceremony was graced by Minister of State Jagdish Vishwakarma and Municipal Commissioner of Ahmedabad M. Thennarasan, accompanied by other top officials of AMC. The event set a benchmark as a unique forum for conversations around cuisines and the celebration of the diverse culinary heritage of the South Asian region. Organized by S.A.A.G (South Asian Association for Gastronomy), the event featured talks, panel discussions, and cookery workshops with celebrity chefs like Asma Khan, Nahid Osman, Rajith Abeysekara, and Rohini Rana. Additionally, renowned personalities like Rashmi Uday Singh, Padma Shri Dr. Pushpesh Pant, and fashion designer Nikhil Mehra attended the festival. The Food Court presented two themes: "A Taste of Luxury" and "The Regional Flavour," offering culinary experiences from luxury hotels and curated street food flavors. The "Fun Fest" featured live bands every evening, while three culinary pavilions introduced unique gastronomic experiences, including a Royal Pavilion, Spiritual Pavilion, and Wellness Pavilion. Over the three days, participants engaged in sessions and workshops from 12.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m., exploring contemporary issues and learning from renowned chefs in the region. The festival also showcased artistic installations and a student public art project, further enriching the cultural experience. The event showcased the city's rich heritage and modern marvels like the Sabarmati River Front Development, providing a fitting backdrop for this culinary extravaganza. Maneesh Baheti, a seasoned hotelier, and Ms. Sonali Anand, with extensive experience in senior positions at multinational companies, contributed to the success of the event. S.A.A.G's Advisory Board, chaired by PADMA BHUSHAN Shashi Kant Misra, included leading professionals like Michelin Star Chef Atul Kocchar, Master Chef Abhijit Saha, Chef Gautam Mehrishi, and Chef Michael Swamy, further enhancing the festival's prestige and appeal. For more information, please visit: Facebook, Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/736683986407885/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_foodforthoughtfest/ Website: https://foodforthoughtfest.in/ (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same) With chartbusters like 'Rang 'Barse' in the background and gulaal in the air, Holi is being celebrated throughout the country with joy and fervour. People stepped out of their homes to paint the streets in vibrant colours and enjoy special delicacies like gujiya as the essence of the festival spreads around the nation. In fact, celebrations began the previous night with Holika Dahan -- a bonfire that symbolises the victory of good over evil. Devotees walked around a bonfire during a ritual called Holika Dahan. In this video, one can see a group of men in Patna extending Holi greetings as they performed the Holika Dahan ritual. https://twitter.com/AHindinews/status/1772029223399546986 This morning people also assembled at temples and ghats across the country to mark Holi celebrations, especially in Vrindavan, Mathura and Varanasi. Thousands of people have come there to ring in the festival of colours and play Holi with the locals. Not only Indians but foreign tourists have also gathered in large numbers. An Australian tourist, who came especially to Dashashwamedh Ghat to participate in Holi festivities, said, "I am very happy to be here. People are quite welcoming here." Another Australian citizen exclaimed, "Everyone is very friendly here. Happy Holi everyone." Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi witnessed huge footfall this Holi. Locals made the Holi celebrations more appealing by dancing together and singing Holi songs. https://twitter.com/ANINewsUP/status/1772109982286111199 Vrindavan is completely drenched in colours at the moment. In Vrindavan's famous Shri Radhavallabh Lal Ji Temple, thousands of devotees gathered in large numbers to offer prayers to the Hindu God. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1772112514978844849 https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1772118976337686618 With colours smeared on their faces and chants hailing the Lord, people thronged the streets of Vrindavan with festive spirits. Several devotees also gathered at Baidyanath Temple in Deoghar where they played Holi with colours and sought blessings. In Assam, people were seen celebrating Holi with flower petals. Take a look: Cultural programmes have also been organised in several places. At one of the Holi events in Kolkata, young girls enthralled the audience with their traditional dance. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1772114998686265552 A lot of people in Mumbai went to Juhu beach to celebrate Holi. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1772130272353431840 In the visuals obtained, revellers can be seen smearing each other's faces with Holi colours as they enjoy sea waves. The Holi celebration expands down south. At Island Grounds in Chennai, people danced their hearts out and played with Holi colours. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1772126519122440580 The entire country is undoubtedly intoxicated with Holi spirit.(ANI) The actress, known for her lively personality, shared glimpses of her festivities on social media. Shehnaaz took to her Instagram account on Monday to delight her fans with pictures capturing her Holi celebration. Dressed in white, she and her mother applied colours to each other's faces. https://www.instagram.com/p/C47qnn8yr-I/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Shehnaaz Gill opted for traditional attire for the occasion, donning a graceful white kurta set and keeping her makeup minimal. Captioning the picture with, "happy holi", Shehnaaz threw colours and smiled brightly for the camera in the photos. After Shehnaaz posted the pictures, fans flooded the comment section. One user wrote, "Oh my gosh, you are looking very adorable Shehnaaz Gill." Another user wrote, "Looking too pretty." A third user wrote, "Flawless beauty." Following her family celebration, Shehnaaz joined her friends to continue the festivities. She shared videos on her Instagram stories from a Holi party, featuring actor-comedian Varun Sharma and others. The clips showed the two playfully teasing each other. Shehnaaz was last seen in 'Thank You For Coming', which also starred Bhumi Pednekar, Dolly Singh, Kusha Kapila, and Shibani Bedi. Shehnaaz made her Hindi film debut with 'Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan'. The film also starred Salman Khan, Pooja Hegde, Ventakesh Daggubati, and Bhumika Chawla in pivotal roles. (ANI) His condition is critical, and he is currently in the intensive care unit, MDMK leader Durai Vaiko told ANI. "He (Ganesamoorthy) is in a critical situation and admitted to the intensive care unit. The blood sample has been sent for further investigation... We hardly have any reason why he did that, while admitted to the hospital, he was unconscious and hence we don't know the reasons," MDMK leader Durai Vaiko told ANI. MDMK Chief Vaiko went to the private hospital and inquired about Ganeshamoorthy's health condition. (ANI) The soldier has been identified as Deepak Durgam, police said. The Atal Awas complex, located on the outskirts of Bijapur near the Gorna Mankeli forest and the Bijapur-Gangaloor road, was the scene of the attack. "DRG jawan Deepak Durgam has been injured after a firing was done by the small action team of Maoists in the Atal Awas complex, located on the outer Bijapur-Gangaloor road of Gorna Mankeli forest of Bijapur," police said. Following the incident, Durgam was immediately transported to Bijapur Hospital for medical attention. A police official confirmed that his condition is stable and he is no longer in danger. Further details about the incident are awaited. In related news, two jawans were injured in an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) blast in the Naxal stronghold of Dantewada, as informed by the district's superintendent of police on Saturday. The explosion occurred in the Kirandul police station area during an anti-Naxal operation. (ANI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday took a jibe at the INDI alliance saying that the bloc is intact, not on Earth, but in the Moon and Sun. His statement comes after the Congress party recently said that the INDIA bloc would cross the halfway mark of 272 in the coming Lok Sabha elections. "The INDI alliance is intact, not on Earth, but perhaps in the Moon and Sun. On Earth, we have not seen the presence of many parties, such as TMC and Janta Dal United. So, with our normal eyes, we cannot see the INDI alliance. However, it might exist in the Sun or the Moon, which we cannot see with our naked eyes," said the Assam Chief Minister. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also said that the Assamese and Indian people will fight the upcoming elections with confidence and a clear sense of identity. He emphasised that they will not be on the defensive but will participate freely and wholeheartedly. "Assamese and Indian people will not fight this election from a defensive position. We'll fight the election with a free mind that we have no crisis of identity as of now. Of course, after 20 years, it is a different matter. So this will be an election where Assamese people will join this election with a completely free mind," he said. Assam, a significant northeastern Indian state, is divided into 14 Lok Sabha constituencies. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Assam are scheduled to take place in three stages, with polling days set for April 19, April 26, and May 7. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 7 of the 14 seats in Assam. Both the Congress and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) claimed three seats each. During the 2019 elections, the BJP increased its seat count to 9, while the Congress maintained its three seats, and the AIUDF won a single seat. (ANI) Taking a potshot at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bharatiya Janata Party president Virendraa Sachdeva on Monday said that "Bhrashtachar Ki Holi, Ho Li" (the Holi of corruption has ended), adding that BJP will win all seven seats in Delhi in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. "This Holi is full of enthusiasm and joy. 'Bhrashtachar Ki Holi, Ho Li' (Holi of corruption is over). We will win all 7 seats in Delhi to make PM Modi, the PM again and we will celebrate Holi on June 4 as well. 'Girgit Ke Sab Rang Ho Liye Khatm', now will celebrate Holi with new energy and joy," the BJP president said. The Election Commission of India announced the schedule of the Lok Sabha elections with polls to be held from April 19 to June 1 in seven phases. Counting of votes will be held on June 4. Meanwhile, Delhi minister and AAP leader, Atishi, said in a social media post today that the Aam Aadmi Party has decided not to celebrate Holi this year. "Holi is not just a festival, but a symbol of the victory of good over evil, a symbol of justice over cruelty. Today, every leader of the Aam Aadmi Party is fighting this evil, cruelty and injustice day and night. This year, the Aam Aadmi Party has resolved that we will not play with colours, we will not celebrate Holi; because the cruel dictator has put the beloved Chief Minister @ArvindKejriwal of Delhi in jail. Today, they have left no stone unturned in their efforts to eliminate democracy from the country," Atishi posted on X. "I appeal to all of you on this Holi; come join us in this fight against cruelty and evil. This is not just a fight for AAP, but for the entire Delhi and the country to save democracy," she said. Kejriwal was remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate on March 22 for seven days i.e., till March 28, a day after he was arrested by the probe agency in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case. ED arrested the Delhi Chief Minister on March 21 in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam. The case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. Two senior AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, are in judicial custody in the excise policy case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, last year the ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member. (ANI) In a significant operation, the security forces have uncovered a Naxal weapons workshop and a stockpile of locally made firearms in Odisha's Koraput district. The discovery was part of an operation conducted close to the Sunki area in Koraput on Sunday. "Acting swiftly on specific intelligence provided by field 'G' Team, an Anti-Naxalite Deployment (ADP) consisting of three Sub-Officers and 14 Other Ranks, under the command of Inspector Sandeep Kerketta, was deployed from COB Sunki, at 6 am," said the Border Security Force (BSF) During patrolling near Alasi village, the force said, the ADP encountered two suspicious individuals in the jungle, who promptly fled towards the Andhra border upon noticing the presence of the BSF ADP party. Undeterred, the security forces conducted an extensive search of the area, leading to the recovery of a substantial arsenal that includes one Bharmar Gun (BML), one mobile (Realme) with JIO SIM, one hand blower, one trigger mechanism, two pliers, two hammers, one hexa blade saw along with and one blade, three chisels (small size), two side cutting pliers, five files, two knives, one iron bits, six gear, one darati, one wood saw, 30 gram sodium biocide, one tiffin without lid, one iron sheet, one metre GI Pati, one bronze plate, 100 gram Nail, one anvil, and one forging tong. "The precise location of the recovery was identified as Alasi village under Sunki police station in Koraput district, with an aerial distance of 2.6 kilometres from Company Operating Base (COB) Sunki. The latitude and longitude coordinates are recorded as Lat. 1829'49" and Long 8302'17"," added the BSF. The ADP party is currently en route to COB Sunki with the recovered items for further processing and investigation, it said. As per the BSF, this successful operation highlights the relentless efforts of the security forces in combating Naxal insurgency in the region. "We commend the bravery and dedication of Inspector Sandeep Kerketta and the entire team involved in this operation." (ANI) Eight persons who sustained burn injuries in a fire that broke out inside the 'Garbhagriha' (sanctum sanctorum) of the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain on Monday morning have been shifted to a hospitali in Indore for treatement, an official said. Thirteen people were injured in the fire that broke out during the Bhasma Aarti in the 'Garbhagriha' of the temple this morning during celebrations to mark Holi. The injured including priests and temple staff, including the Chief priest of Bhasma Aarti, Sanjay Guru were admitted to hospitals in Ujjain and Indore, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh told ANI. Singh said, "Eight injured in the fire incident at Ujjain's Mahakal temple have been brought to Aurobindo Hospital for treatment. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is monitoring and he himself will reach Aurobindo Hospital in some time to meet the injured." All the injured persons are out of danger and complete arrangements have been made for their treatment here, the collector added. 'Bhasma aarti' (offering with ashes) is a famous ritual here. It is performed during the 'Brahma Muhurta' between around 3:30 and 5:30 in the morning. Meanwhile, state cabinet ministers Kailash Vijayvargiya, and Tulsi Ram Silawat along with district collector Ashish Singh met the injured in the hospital and took stock of the arrangements. Vijayvargiya posted on X, "Right now I am in Aurobindo Hospital, Indore. Eight priests sustained burn injuries due to the fire incident in the Mahakal Temple complex in Ujjain have been shifted here. All are fine by the grace of Baba Mahakal." The minister also urged people to pray for the recovery of the injured. Earlier, priest Ashish Sharma told ANI, "The traditional Holi celebrations were being held in Mahakal Temple. The fire spread in 'Garbhagriha' due to 'gulaal'. Priests of the temple got injured. We have rushed them to the hospital..." (ANI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya have met the injured persons, in the fire incident that broke out in Ujjain's Mahakaleshwar temple, undergoing treatment at Aurobindo hospital in Indore. A tragic incident occurred at the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain district on Monday morning where a fire broke out during the Bhasma Aarti in the 'Garbhagriha' of the temple leaving 13 people sustained burn injuries, including priests, temple staff and the Chief priest of Bhasma Aarti, Sanjay Guru. Holi celebrations were underway here when the incident occurred. Of these, eight injured persons were shifted to Aurobindo Hospital in Indore for further treatment. After the incident, CM Yadav expressed sorrow over the incident and ordered a magisterial investigation in the incident and said that action would be taken against those found guilty CM Yadav told ANI, "I have received information about a fire incident during Bhasma aarti at Mahakaleshwar temple in which a few priests have been injured and they have been admitted to hospitals in Indore and Ujjain. I am going there. It is all the blessing of god that it didn't turn out in a major incident but whatever has happened, I have ordered a magisterial investigation and will ensure that these things won't repeat. Action will be taken against those at fault." Earlier, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh told ANI, "The fire broke out during Bhasma Aarti in the 'Garbhagriha'. 13 people were injured in the incident and their medical treatment is underway." "The traditional Holi celebrations were being held in Mahakal Temple. The fire spread in 'Garbhagriha' due to 'gulaal'. Priests of the temple got injured. We have rushed them to the hospital," Priest Ashish Sharma told ANI. (ANI) Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command, visited forward posts in Eastern Ladakh early this morning to celebrate Holi with personnel of Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Indian Air Force (IAF), an IAF release said. Air Marshal Singha complimented them for steadfast vigilance despite the terrain and weather conditions, adding to the statement. Earlier on March 19, Air Marshal Pankaj Mohan Sinha flew sorties in a Jaguar and a MiG-21 to assess operational preparedness and interact with personnel at forward bases. Air Marshal Singh appreciated the Op readiness of the bases and high morale of all personnel. Meanwhile on Sunday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh celebrated the festival of colours with soldiers of the Fire and Fury corps in Leh. Speaking to jawans and other senior defence personnel on the occasion, the Raksha Mantri said, "If Delhi is our national capital, Ladakh is a capital of bravery and valour. Visiting you all to celebrate Holi makes this one of the happiest moments for me. Siachen is no ordinary land. It is an unshakeable symbol of India's sovereignty and determination. It represents our national determination," he said. "I have said it many times before and will say it again: it is our duty to take care of you, your children, your parents...your family. We are always ready for that. I do not need to tell you here that with the same diligence with which you are working for this country by dedicating your body and mind, our government is also working for the betterment of our armed forces," Rajnath added. (ANI) Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini celebrated Holi at his residence in Chandigarh on Monday. Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance, Saini said that the former has laid a strong foundation across the country for its development. "Today, I would like to say that PM Narendra Modi laid a strong foundation across the country for India's development. We have to work to make this nation Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat until 2047. Under the leadership of (former CM) Manohar Lal, we have seen good governance in the state," the Haryana CM said. BJP national president JP Nadda also celebrated Holi at his residence in the national capital on Monday. "Best wishes to all of you on the holy festival of enthusiasm, joy and happiness, Holi. I wish that this holy festival of colours fills everyone's life with mutual love, harmony and goodwill," Nadda posted on X. Union Home Minister Amit Shah conveyed his greetings to the people on the festival of colours, Holi, wishing happiness, prosperity, harmony and new energy in everyone's life. "Best wishes to all the countrymen for the great festival of colours and joy, Holi. May this festival of happiness bring colours of prosperity and harmony into the lives of all of you and become a medium for the transmission of new energy," Amit Shah posted from his official X handle. Holi, a festival celebrated with as much fervour in the country as it is overseas, will be marked on March 25, Monday, this year. The festival is preceded by a ritual of lighting bonfires called 'Holika Dahan', signifying the burning of the demon Holika. The festival is dedicated to Lord Krishna, who is believed to have spent considerable time in the region called Braj in Uttar Pradesh. It not only replicates the spirit of Holi but also reflects the timeless love of Radha and Krishna. Amidst the revelry, traditional sweets are shared, fostering a sense of amity and togetherness among the people, with revellers exuding the spirit of joy and love. (ANI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in Ahmedabad as part of a Holi celebration programme called this year's Holi special for Lord Ram devotees across the world as Raghuvir (Ram) is playing Holi in Ayodhya. Notably, this is the first Holi festival after the Ram Mandir Prana Pratishtha in Ayodhya on January 22 this year. Amit Shah who was accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, said, "In a way, Holi is the symbol of the triumph of truth over lies...This is a festival of equality too; when everyone gets covered in colours, neither their clothes nor faces are clear; neither the forward nor the backward are seen." "Today, the entire country is celebrating Holi. My greetings to all citizens of the country...For Lord Ram devotees across the world, this is a special Holi...Today Raghuvir is playing Holi in Awadh. It is a matter of great joy for us," he added. Meanwhile, Union Minister Anurag Thakur celebrated Holi in Delhi on Monday and said the country had "reached new heights" in the last ten years. He expressed confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to be elected for the third consecutive term in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Extending his greetings to the people of the country on the occasion of Holi, Thakur said while speaking to ANI, "I would like to extend my greetings to the people of the country on this festival of colour, Holi. I appeal to all to keep blessing (the BJP government." Highlighting the achievements of the BJP government in the last ten years, the minister for information and broadcasting said, "In the last 10 years, the country has reached new heights. He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is going to be elected for the third term and we will become the third-largest economy in the world." (ANI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed grief over the fire at Ujjain's Mahakal temple during Holi celebrations, as he termed the incident 'painful' and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured. Taking to his official handle on X, PM Modi posted in Hindi, "I was pained to learn of the fire at the Mahakal temple during Holi celebrations. I pray for the speedy recovery of the devotees and priests injured in the fire. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is in the process of extending all possible assistance to the injured." https://x.com/PMOIndia/status/1772166701519380788?s=20 Holi celebrations at the popular Mahakal temple plunged intio chaos on Monday morning after a masive fire broke out during the Bhasma Aarti at the 'Garbhagriha' or sanctum sanctorum of the shrine, leaving multiple people, including temple staff and priests, injured. Chief priest Sanjay Guru, who was presiding over the ritual, was also among the injured. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and his state cabinet colleague Kailash Vijayvargiya visited the injured at Indore's Aurobindo Hospital and checked on their treatment. CM Yadav, too, expressed sorrow over the incident and ordered a magisterial investigation, sayng action would be taken against those found guilty. Speaking to ANI on Monday, CM Yadav said, "I received word that a fire broke out at Mahakaleshwar temple during the Bhashma aarti. I was told that some people, including a few priests, were injured in the incident and were admitted to hospitals in Indore and Ujjain. I am on my way to visit the injured. Thankfully, by the grace of Baba Mahakal, a major tragedy was averted. Nonetheless, I ordered a magisterial inquiry into the fire and will ensure that such incidents don't happen again. We will act against those found to be at fault." Earlier, Ujjain Collector Neeraj Kumar Singh told ANI, "The fire broke out during Bhasma Aarti in the 'Garbhagriha'. 13 people were injured in the incident, and their treatment is underway." "Traditional Holi celebrations were underway at the Mahakal Temple when the fire broke out. The fire spread quickly to the 'Garbhagriha' due to all 'gulaal' around the complex. Some priests sustained burns. We rushed all the injured to hospitals," Ashish Sharma, a priest at the temple, told ANI. (ANI) Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, who is the BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district for the Lok Sabha elections on Monday, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda, and MP Anurag Thakur for the opportunity. Speaking to ANI, Kangana conveyed her greetings to citizens, celebrated Holi with the party's district unit and chanted 'Jai Shri Ram'. "I extend greetings to everyone on Holi. This is my 'janmabhoomi' and it has called me back, I am fortunate...If they choose me, I will serve them. I am overwhelmed, this is an emotional day for my family and me," Kangana said. She further expressed her heartfelt gratitude to PM Modi, BJP chief, Home Minister and Anurag Thakur. "I express my heartfelt gratitude to BJP chief JP Nadda, who himself is from Himachal. Anurag Thakur and former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur have also supported me a lot. I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose blessing is on us. It is because of PM Modi that today we have been given this big responsibility. I want to thank each and everyone," she added. When asked about the challenges, she said that she has faced a lot of challenges in her life. "I will be there for the people of Himachal and Mandi anytime if I am elected. I will serve them," she said. She further said that the BJP's culture or the RSS culture is one of cooperating with one another. "Believing in the same, I will walk with them and we will win...We will have a big campaign. We will reach the people of Mandi and small villages with the agenda and goal of the BJP," she added. Kangana further said that she is also now the 'karyakarta' of the party, adding that whatever the party says, she would follow it. "If the party (BJP) wins, I win. If PM Modi wins the election, we win the election. I don't believe that I am a superstar or actor, I have left (tayag) these things. I am the simple karyakarta of the party who will follow party order," she said. She further said that everyone in her family is happy and she is fortunate enough to join the party on the auspicious occasion of Holi. "PM Modi is one of the most loved leaders in the world. We will follow in his footsteps. PM Modi's agenda's is our agenda. We will support him like a 'sena'. I don't believe that we will win the elections by our name and by our work but we will win the elections because of the work done by PM Modi," Kangana said. On Sunday, Kangana Ranaut said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has always had her "unconditional support." Kangana took to Instagram stories and penned a note, which read, "My beloved Bharat and Bhartiya Janta's own party, Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has always had my unconditional support, today the national leadership of BJP has announced me as their Lok Sabha candidate from my birth place Himachal Pradesh, Mandi (constituency) I abide by the high command's decision on contesting Lok Sabha polls." She added, "I feel honoured and elated to officially join the party. I look forward to be a worthy karyakarta and a reliable public servant. Thanks." The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday released its fifth list of candidates for 16 states for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The party has released the names of the candidates for the Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Sikkim, Telangana, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. On the work front, Kangana will be next seen in 'Emergency', which also marks her first solo directorial venture. Himachal Pradesh has four Lok Sabha seats: Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla, and Kangra. The BJP had won all four seats in 2019. The elections to the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh and bypolls to the six assembly constituencies that fell vacant with the disqualification of six rebel Congress MLAs will be held on June 1. (ANI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Monday celebrated Holi at the Chief Minister's residence in Jaipur and extended wishes to everyone on the occasion. The chief minister gave a chance to visitors, who were eagerly waiting to apply colour and click selfies with him, to exchange Holi wishes on the occasion. He said," The act of applying colors during the festival helps individuals set aside any grievances they may have." "The festival helps to foster love and brotherhood. While applying colours, everyone forgets all the grudges. People are celebrating Holi, the festival of colours with great enthusiasm and joy. I would like to extend my greetings to all. Holi, in fact, a 'good Holi' will be celebrated on June 4 as well," the Chief Minister said while speaking to the media. The Chief Minister also extended his wishes to the citizens of the country on his official social media platform X. "Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all the people of the state on the sacred festival of love, enthusiasm and harmony, the festival of colors, "Holi". I pray to God that this traditional festival decorated with colors of harmony paves the way for happiness and prosperity in the lives of all the people of the state," Bhajanlal wrote on X. Apart from playing with colours, enjoying snacks, drinks, etc., various other traditions and beliefs are prevalent in the country. One such tradition is walking barefoot on the embers after Holika Dahan in Kokapur village of Dungarpur district in Rajasthan. Even today, the people of Kokapur village have kept this tradition, which has been going on for years, alive. On the next day of Holika Dahan, the villagers walk barefoot on the embers. The villagers believe that by doing so they will remain healthy for the whole year. They also believe that their wishes will be granted and absolve them of all sadness and problems. Earlier, former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan celebrated Holi and extended wishes to everyone on the occasion. "I wish a very happy holi to all my sisters and brothers of the state and the country. This is a festival of joy, fun and happiness. It is a festival when everyone sets their differences aside and comes together. I pray for the well-being of everyone and may the holi fill the colour of happiness in everyone's life," Chouhan told ANI. (ANI) Karnataka Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi on Monday said that youths who praise Prime Minister should be "slapped" as the Bharatiya Janata Party government has failed to provide 20 crore jobs in 10 years, adding that the "BJP thinks that they can fool the public for another term." Speaking at a meeting of Congress workers held in Karatagy, Shivaraj alleged that PM Modi came to power by "lying". "Two crore jobs PM Modi promised. Did he give it? They should be ashamed. Those youth supporters of his who chant 'Modi Modi', can slap them. They have run everything based on lies for the past 10 years," he said. Further, he asserted that he will provide 2 crore jobs to the youth every year. "So they think they can fool for another 5 years. PM Modi promised 100 smart cities in India. Where are they? Name one. He is smart, he dresses well, he gives smart speeches. He keeps changing his outfits. Then a stunt by the PM-he goes into the depths of the ocean and there he does puja. Is this the kind of work a prime minister should do?" Shivaraj said. "They cheated Sanganna. MP Sanganna praised PM Modi. They kept him at home without giving him a ticket, and now the Congress candidate Rajanna will win because the BJP has denied a ticket to Sanganna," he added. The 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka will poll in two phases--on April 26 and May 7. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress and JDS fought together against the BJP but were still decimated. The BJP had won a record 25 seats while the Congress and the JDS won just a single seat each. The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be held in seven phases, starting April 19. The counting of votes has been scheduled for June 4. (ANI) "In the festival of Holi, differences between rich and poor and all other differences get erased. I expect that we all get united towards working for a developed India," Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat told reporters in Jodhpur. Gajendra Shekhawat, the BJP candidate from the Jodhpur constituency, celebrated Holi with party workers in Jodhpur on Monday. He will contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Jodhpur constituency. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended greetings to the citizens on the occasion. In a post on X, PM Modi said, "I extend my Holi wishes to all my fellow citizens of the country. May this traditional festival, ornamented with colours of affection and harmony, bring new energy and enthusiasm into all your lives." Holi, a festival celebrated with as much fervour in the country as it is overseas, will be marked on March 25, Monday, this year. The festival is preceded by a ritual of lighting bonfires called Holika Dahan, signifying the burning of the demon Holika. The festival is dedicated to Lord Krishna, who is believed to have spent a considerable amount of time in a region called Braj in Uttar Pradesh. It not only replicates the spirit of Holi but also impersonates the timeless love of Radha and Krishna. (ANI) Various AAP supporters sat outside the police station premises and were protesting over the alleged rape incident. Earlier, senior AAP leader and minister Atishi wrote to Delhi LG VK Saxena, regarding the rape of a 4-year-old girl in the Pandav Nagar area of Delhi. In her official statement, Atishi expressed deep concern over the incident, labelling it a "blot on the national capital. "It has been reported in the media that a 4-year-old girl has been raped in Pandav Nagar in East Delhi. Such a horrific crime is a blot on the national capital. It is a sign of the poor law-and-order situation that women and young girls are not safe in Delhi. Criminals committing violent crimes against women and children have no fear of quick and strong action by the Delhi Police," Atishi said in her official statement. A 34-year-old has been arrested for allegedly raping a 4-year-old girl at her tuition centre in the Pandav Nagar area of Delhi. The accused was identified as Appu (34). According to a police official, the victim girl has been referred to AIIMS from Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, people protested and vandalised cars in the Pandav Nagar area today after receiving information about the rape of a girl in the area. (ANI) Hitting out at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his 'indigenous' remark on the migrant Muslim Community, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said that he is no one to demand constant proofs of loyalty. "Bengali-speaking Muslims are already 'indigenous' to India. He is no one to demand constant proof of loyalty. This is just a naked show of bigotry & racism," Owaisi posted on X. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that his government does not have a problem with anyone calling themselves "indigenous" as long as they prohibit child marriage, do not engage in polygamy and encourage their children to pursue higher education. "We don't have an issue with anyone calling themselves as indigenous- provided they prohibit child marriage, do not engage in polygamy, encourage their children to pursue higher education, etc.- parameters which are an intrinsic part of the larger Assamese society," Sarma said in a post on 'X'. Asking the immigrant Muslim community to follow the Assamese culture in order to be treated as indigenous, Sarma said, "I have always said to the immigrant Muslim people that his government does not mind being indigenous but they should not get married twice or thrice. This is not the custom of the Assamese people." "You should not allow girls aged 11-12 to get married. You should enrol your children to be a doctor or engineer, and not into a madrasa. To be indigenous, one has to accept the culture here," the Chief Minister added. Citing an example, Sarma said, "Hindus, Muslims, Assamese Hindus, Assamese Muslims- irrespective of whether they follow Sankaradeva or not, all of them respect him." Assam has the second-largest population of Muslims after J&K. Notably, the Assam Cabinet had repealed the 'Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, of 1935. (ANI) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the Holi Milan programme at his official residence in Dehradun on Monday. The Chief Minister was also seen dancing with the people who attended the programme on the occasion of Holi. The atmosphere of CM Dhami's residence was filled with festival fervour amid the Dhol-Damauru and people singing traditional Holi songs like 'Shyam Murari ke Darshan ko Jab Vipra Sudama Aaye Har', 'Aayo Vasant Bahaar', 'Shiv Shankar Khele Holi', etc. Many people, including his supporters and children, along with the Chief Minister's family, attended the celebrations held at his residence. Later in the day, the Chief Minister celebrated the festival of Holi with Governor Lt General Gurmit Singh, and former Uttarakhand CMs Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri and Harish Rawat at his residence. CM Dhami was also pictured singing the famous Pahadi song 'Bhedu Pako Barah Maso' during the celebrations. Speaking to ANI amid the celebrations, CM Dhami called this year's Holi 'special' as the country is anticipating the 'festival of democracy' referring to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. "All are excited, this Holi is special due to this festival itself and we also have the 'festival of democracy' this year. People of Uttarakhand are waiting for April 19 to come to vote for PM Modi because they know about the special connection the PM has with the state. Today we are celebrating Holi, and on June 4 we will celebrate Diwali," the Chief Minister said. Holi, a festival celebrated with as much fervour in the country as it is overseas, was celebrated today. A ritual of lighting bonfires called Holika Dahan, signifying the burning of the demon Holika preceded the festival celebrations on the eve of Holi. The festival is dedicated to Lord Krishna, who is believed to have spent a considerable amount of time in a region called Braj in Uttar Pradesh. It not only replicates the spirit of Holi but also impersonates the timeless love of Radha and Krishna. (ANI) Tripura Governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu celebrated the festival of Holi at Raj Bhavan premises and extended "warm greetings to everyone on the occasion of Holi." The students with disabilities and the saints from various temples were invited to the governor's residence. Governor Nallu celebrated Holi with them and shared pictures on social media. The governor urged people in the state to vote in the upcoming general elections in the country. He said, "Election is coming. Whether colour is in your dresses or not, there must be colour in your finger after voting. On this day of Holi, I want to spread love for everyone." Student from Institute of technology for person with disability Jannatul Naima expressed her happiness, saying, "It's a privilege to be here. It's the first time in our lives that we played Holi in such a grand way. I am thankful to our governor, sir." Students of Culture Sangita Sen gave out the message to play safe and hygienic Holi, adding, "It feels great to celebrate Holi at the governor's residence with him. The only message I want to give is that we play the festival in a safe way, using safe gulal, and staying hygienic." The monk of Gauriya Math, Agartala Adaitya Das, expressed, "It's a privilege and a new experience for all of us to share the joy of the celebration of Holi with our Governor, Sir. It's the very first time we participated here for the Holi celebration. It's very present that saints from Jagannath Bari have been invited to celebrate Holi in the governor's house today." Meanwhile, on Monday, gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha conducted a door-to-door campaign in Bamutia village in the Mohanpur subdivision of West Tripura district. (ANI) Uttar Pradesh Minister Jitin Prasada who has been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Pilbhit Parliamentary constituency, thanked the party leadership and said that the party will showcase Prime Minister Narendra Modi's track record of the ten years to the voters. "I would like to thank the party leadership for giving me this responsibility... We will show the track record of the ten years of PM Narendra Modi's tenure to the people," Prasada said speaking to reporters on Monday. Speaking about the preparedness of the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections, Prasada said, "BJP is the party that works for the welfare of the people and the country irrespective of elections. BJP is always ready..." Jitin Prasada, who joined the BJP from Congress in June 2021, took oath as a minister in the State Cabinet led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in September 2021. Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19.Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases. Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. Next, the state will once again poll in phases three and four on May 7 and May 13.The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23 and June 1 respectively.The votes will be counted on June 4. (ANI) Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday lashed out at Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former judge of the Calcutta High Court and now Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha election candidate, over his recent remarks on Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godse. "It is worse than pathetic that a judge of the Calcutta High Court, who resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls as a BJP candidate blessed by none other than the Prime Minister, now says that he cannot choose between Gandhi and Godse," the Congress leader slammed. "This is totally unacceptable, and his candidature should be withdrawn forthwith by those who spare no effort to appropriate the Mahatma's legacy. What will the Father of the Do-nation do to protect the Father of the Nation?" Jairam Ramesh posted on X. Gangopadhyay, who has been named as the BJP candidate days after resigning as a Calcutta high court judge, recently told a Bengali channel that he cannot 'choose between Gandhi and Godse'. The jurist-turned-politician said he must read the book written by Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, elaborating on the reasons that provoked him to assassinate the Father of the Nation. "As someone from the legal profession, I must try and understand the other side of the story. I must read his (Nathuram Godse) writings and understand what triggered him to kill Mahatma Gandhi. Until then, I cannot choose between Gandhi and Godse," Gangopadhyay, who is contesting against Trinamool Congress candidate Debangshu Bhattacharya in Tamluk, was quoted by a media channel in an interview. Meanwhile, on Monday, West Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim said that questions can be raised about the judgements delivered by those judges who decide to leave the judiciary and enter politics. "For us, the judiciary is like a god, and if someone from their enters politics, it raises questions about the previous judgements they have made. We want a judge to be impartial. A judge who thinks for society and delivers a judgement without any bias," Firhad Hakim told ANI. (ANI) The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday launched scathing attacks on Congress leader Supriya Shrinate over her purported "Objectionable Post" on BJP's candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi constituency, Kangana Ranaut. However, Shrinate clarified that some parody account on social media has made the concerned post, of which she has reported on X. BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that the comments made by Shrinate were despicable. "The comments by Supriya Shrinate on Kangana Team are despicable! Should be immediately sacked. Will Priyanka Gandhi speak up? Will Kharge ji sack her! Where is the "Hathras" lobby now? First they justified Sandeshkhali, then Lal Singh getting a ticket from Congress and now this," he posted on X. He later said Supriya Shrinate has made "disgusting comment and poster on Kangana Ranaut who has been given a Lok Sabha ticket from Mandi". "These are the people who talk about mohabbat, but sometimes they abuse the Prime Minister, they abuse Prime Minister's late mother. They make all kinds of derogatory comments about Shakti, they want to eliminate Sanatana. First, they have attacked Shakti, and now Karnataka Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi, he is attacking Yuva Shakti and now they have attacked Nari Shakti. Spokesperson of Congress, Supriya Shrinate has made disgusting comment and poster on Kangana Ranutji who has been given a Lok Sabha ticket from Mandi," he said. "From Sanatana Shakti to Desh Shakti to Sanya Shakti to Yuva to Nari Shakti, abusing all of them just because they are not able to counter the BJP," he added. Malviya, who is in-charge of BJP's national information and technology department, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge should take stern action against Shrinate. "Congress's Supriya Shrinate makes an obnoxious comment on Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post. It is so disgusting that one can't help, but ask - how does Congress collect so much filth in one place? If Kharge has any say in the party, he must sack her immediately or else resign," Malviya, who is BJP IT cell head, posted on X. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shazia Ilmi said on Monday that despite Shrinate's denial and claim that her account had been hacked, derogatory remarks are frequently observed on Congress' social media platforms. In a video posted by her, Shazia questioned why the Congress leadership has not taken action to suspend Supriya Shrinate despite the allegations. "Even though Supriya Shrinate is denying the allegations saying her account had been hacked, if we look at the social media handles of Congress, they make all sorts of derogatory remarks, post deep fake videos and share objectionable posts. Why are Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi quiet about it? Why have they not suspended Supriya Shrinate from the party?" she said. Coming out hard on Congress leader Supriya Shrinate over her purported post on Bollywood Actor Kangana Ranaut, BJP leader Shaina NC has said that it's time we fight stereotypes. She further asked, "Why can't a woman who comes from the film fraternity or the fashion fraternity or any other profession join active public life?" "It's time we fight stereotypes. Why can't a woman who comes from the film fraternity or the fashion fraternity or any other profession join active public life? It is with the sentiment of wanting to do something good for your country that Kangana Ranaut has chosen to join the BJP, and it is an apology of a situation in which you have a woman leader from another party trying to stereotype and talk about her body parts," she said in a video posted by her. The National Commission for Women has registered a complaint against Supriya Shrinate with the Election Commissioner over her "objectionable post" on Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate Kangana Ranaut. In a post on X, the NCW informed that such an act by the Congress leader is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. "National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Supriya Shrinate and HS Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about Kangana Ranaut on social media. Such behaviour is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. Rekha Sharma (Chairperson of NCW) has sent a letter to the Election Commissioner of India demanding an immediate and strict action against them. Let's uphold respect and dignity for all women," it said. However, Supriya Shrinate has clarified that some parody account on social media has made this "objectionable post", and she has reported the same on X. "Many people have access to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Someone from them made an extremely inappropriate post today. As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened," she said. Further, the Congress leader mentioned that some parody account on X has made this objectionable post. "I came to know that my name is being misused on Twitter and a parody account is being operated, named Supriya parody. They made this objectionable post. Someone copied it from there and posted it on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. I am trying to know who has done this from those who have access. I have also reported this parody," Shrinate added. Supriya also pointed out that it is not the first time that someone has made these kinds of comments from her account. "This has not happened for the first time. Many confusing comments have been made in my name in the past also. I will close this account also. But I want to say clearly that I am against personal comments. I believe in fighting the battle of ideology, but I cannot use objectionable words against women," she said. Congress leader Rashid Alvi has said that if Supriya Shrinate is saying that her account was hacked and someone else has made the comment on Kangana Ranaut, then the government should probe the matter to identify the real perpetrator. "It is very unfortunate to make such comments about any woman. If Supriya is saying that her account was hacked, then the government should do some investigation. Action should be taken against whoever made this comment," Alvi said."The Government of India is with BJP and it can easily find out whose action this is," he added. (ANI) Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Holi will only be celebrated once "Arvind Kejriwal is out of prison". "Imagine the situation in the families of Arvind Kejriwal, Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia right now. These are family members of AAP. Hence, the party has decided to not celebrate Holi this year. Now, we will celebrate Holi only after Arvind Kejriwal is released from jail," Saurabh Bharadwaj told ANI. He further stated that the whole world is shocked over the arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister. "A sitting CM and a national convenor of a national party were arrested during the Model Code of Conduct. The whole world is shocked. All opposition parties have decided that we will organise a huge rally at the Ramlila Maidan on March 31," he said. Kejriwal, who was arrested on Thursday night, was sent to ED custody till March 28 by Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Friday in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam. The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi Excise Policy 2022, which was later scrapped. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was remanded to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate till March 28. (ANI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday that the BJP will win all the seats in Lok Sabha polls in the first phase in Vidarbha. "The BJP is seeing favourable results in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls in Vidarbha. We are seeing positivity among people due to the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In Nagpur, a stalwart like Nitin Gadkari is contesting elections," said Devendra Fadnavis. "In the last four years, we have made preparations at the booth level and have tried to reach the last section. On that basis, we will do a clean sweep and will win all the seats in Lok Sabha polls in the first phase in Vidarbha," said the BJP leader. There are 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra. The elections will be held in five phases. 5 seats in Phase 1 (April 19), 8 seats in Phase 2 (April 26), and 11 seats each in Phase 3 (May 7) and 4 (May 13). The remaining 13 seats will go to the polls in Phase 5 (May 20). Meanwhile, Maharashtra's senior Congress leader and Umred MLA Raju Parwe on Sunday joined Shiv Sena in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Parwe resigned from Congress earlier in the day and later joined Shiv Sena at 'Varsha', the official residence of CM Shinde.Parve won the Umred seat in Nagpur district on a Congress ticket in the 2019 assembly elections. Amid the swiftly changing allegiances among political leaders in Maharashtra, Bajrang Sonawane, previously aligned with Ajit Pawar's faction within the NCP, made a significant move by joining Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday. Bajrang Sonwane, who hails from Beed district, Maharashtra, is considered to be the loyalist of Ajit Pawar and Dhananjay Munde after the split in the NCP last year. When Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Grand Alliance government, Bajarang Sonwane came along with Ajit Pawar while he was the president of the NCP from Beed district. Bajrang Sonawane had also contested against Pritam Munde in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Beed seat and had given a strong fight in the election. The BJP has already announced the candidature of Pankaja Munde for the Beed Lok Sabha seat, replacing her younger sister, MP Pritam Munde, who won the seat in 2019. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats, while the undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 out of 23 seats. The undivided NCP, part of the opposition alliance, contested 19 seats and won four. Following the split in 2022, the Shiv Sena, which had earlier formed a coalition government with the Congress and NCP, saw Eknath Shinde align with the BJP. (ANI) Following the resignation of Leo Varadkar, the Indian-origin prime minister of Ireland, Simon Harris, is set to become Ireland's youngest prime minister after being appointed as the new leader of the governing Fine Gael party, reported Al Jazeera. The 37-year-old Simon Harris said that it was the "absolute honour of my life" to be appointed party leader on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar, who resigned unexpectedly on Wednesday, saying the party would be better governed under another leader. Harris will be voted in as the Republic of Ireland's youngest-ever prime minister, known as the taoiseach, when the country's parliament or Oireachtas, next sits on April 9 due to support from Fine Gael's coalition partners, Al Jazeera reported. Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney said, "I think he's done a really good job in securing the leadership in as comprehensive a way as he has." Harris told the centre-right party's members that he would repay their faith with "hard work, with blood, sweat and tears, day in and day out with responsibility, with humility and with civility." Harris further voiced out his priorities, insisting that Fine Gael "stands for law and order" and telling members that he wanted to "take our flag back" from nationalists to loud cheers. He also said that he would pursue a "more planned and sustainable" immigration policy, following increased tension over the issue, and that he would "fight against the dangers of populism." Further on the international arena, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and condemned Russia's "horrific illegal invasion of Ukraine." Moreover, he will have no more than a year to save the coalition from defeat in parliamentary elections, according to Al Jazeera. In the last three years, polls have put Sinn Fein, a left-wing party that backs unification with Northern Ireland, a British province, as the preferred choice to lead the next government. However, two more polls on Sunday confirmed a recent trend of support for Sinn Fein dropping off highs of 12-18 months ago. Harris, formerly a minister for education, research and science, is best known for taking responsibility for Ireland's COVID-19 response. Recently, he said that he got involved in politics as an "opinionated, moody teenager" bothered by the lack of educational support for his autistic brother. Although he has spent most of his adult life in parliament, Harris has cast himself as an "accidental politician," as reported by Al Jazeera. Prior to Harris, Leo Varadkar was the country's youngest-ever leader when first elected at age 38, as well as Ireland's first openly gay prime minister. Varadkar made the unexpected statement on Wednesday, stating that he would resign as prime minister as soon as a replacement was selected. "I am resigning the presidency and leadership of Fine Gael and will resign as taoiseach [prime minister] as soon as my successor is able to take up that office," Varadkar told reporters in Dublin. He claimed to have requested that the party select a new leader on April 6 to facilitate the election of a new prime minister following the Easter vacation of parliament. "My reasons for stepping down now are personal and political, but mainly political," he said, according to Al Jazeera. "I have nothing else lined up I have nothing in mind. I have no definite personal or political plans," he said. The Indian-origin prime minister of Ireland has had two spells as taoiseach -- between 2017 and 2020, and again since December 2022 as part of a job-share with Micheal Martin, head of coalition partner Fianna Fail. Varadkar's mother is Irish and his father is Indian, which also made Varadkar Ireland's first biracial taoiseach. (ANI) The United Nations World Food Programme, on Saturday that the WFP has provided cash and food assistance to over six million people in Afghanistan. According to the press release, the aid has been provided to meet the needs of beneficiaries in delivering meals to their children. It further added that it has been able to provide this assistance with the help of financial support from some private donors and cooperating countries, reported Khaama Press. This comes after the UNWFP highlighted that economic challenges and humanitarian crises in Afghanistan have increased the demand for food aid. Amid a dire humanitarian crisis, Afghan refugees are returning from Pakistan in significant numbers. The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, including ongoing conflict and economic instability, has prompted many refugees to seek repatriation despite the uncertain conditions awaiting them, as reported by Khaama Press. Following their return, the refugees are facing immense challenges, including limited access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, and healthcare. They have urged the international community to provide urgent assistance to support the resettlement and reintegration efforts for returning Afghan refugees, ensuring their safety and well-being amidst the ongoing crisis in their homeland, Khaama Press reported. (ANI) Ukraine said it hit two Russian naval vessels along with a communications centre and several other facilities belonging to the Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean port of Sevastopol in an overnight attack, CNN reported. A video shared on a local Telegram channel showed large explosions in Sevastopol, sending thick black smoke and fireballs into the air. A fireball was visible at a distance. Ukraine said the vessels that were targeted were two amphibious landing ships - the Yamal and the Azov, according to the CNN report. The extent of the damage suffered by the Russian vessels is not clear yet. Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk thanked the pilots and navy for their successful combat work. In a post on social media platform X, Mykola Oleshchuk stated, "The sky and the sea are of the same colour! I thank the pilots and navy for their successful combat work! Crimea is ours! To the victory together!" Russian defence officials have not issued any statements on the attack. However, Russian politician and Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev on his Telegram channel described it as the "most massive attack in recent times." Without mentioning details regarding the military sites that were hit, Razvozhayev said one person had been killed in the attack. He said maritime and ground transportation in the city had been "partially damaged," according to CNN report. Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers in Crimea have claimed that Ukrainian forces targeted military sites in the west and the centre of the Russian-annexed peninsular, including at Hvardiiske, which is located just north of Crimea's administrative centre, Simferopol. Social media users shared a video on Telegram that suggested that an oil depot was targeted. The claims of both sides cannot be verified. In the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Moscow clearly seems to have an upper hand in its ground campaign. Ukrainian forces have succeeded in targeting Russia's Black Sea Fleet, in missile strikes or sea drone attacks. More than 20 Russian naval vessels have now been disabled or destroyed. In October last year, satellite imagery hinted that Russia relocated some of its naval ships away from Sevastopol after a series of Ukrainian attacks, according to CNN report. If the strikes on Yamal and Azov are confirmed, it would likely imply that Russia had only three working landing ships left in the Black Sea. Ukraine said Russia started its military offensive in 2022 with 13 such vessels, the report said. In September, a Ukrainian missile strike destroyed the fleet's headquarters in Sevastopol. For Ukraine, the effect is not only military but also economic, as it helps to secure a shipping corridor from Odesa and other ports towards the Bosphorus Strait, allowing Ukraine to send grain and other products to world markets. (ANI) US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, on Monday extended Holi wishes to the people of India In a video message shared on X, the US envoy Garcetti expressed warm wishes to all celebrating the festival of Holi. "I want to wish everybody a very happy Holi. We have this amazing gujiyas, which has a little bit of an American twist with some pistachios in here, beautiful rose water. There's no better way than to celebrate Holi across the Indo-Pacific together," Garcetti said in a video message while showcasing special Gujiyas adorned with an American twist. https://twitter.com/USAmbIndia/status/1772073122759360606?s=20 In his post, Garcetti emphasized the US-India friendship in the celebration and said, "#HappyHoli, friends! Celebrating my first Holi in India with delicious gujiyas made of American nuts - a delightful fusion of traditions and a celebration of #USIndiaDosti! I've had vibrant Holi celebrations back in Los Angeles, but nothing beats being here in India for the festival of colors. #CelebrateWithUS." The US embassy in India also joined in to wish all Indians on the occasion of the festival "Holi Hai!. From vibrant colors to infectious laughter echoing through the grounds, the Holi celebration at our Embassy was quite some fun! But the fun doesn't stop here! Let's keep the Holi spirit alive all year round. Here's to greater friendship, and more unforgettable moments together in #USIndiaDosti! #HappyHoli" Earlier on March 8, Ambassador Garcetti had inaugurated the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Taste of America Booth at Bharat Mandapam. At the event, Eric Garcetti emphasised the stronger ties between India and the US. "Better together, stronger together--I would say even more delicious together. So we are so excited to launch this booth to encourage our Indian friends to think with us, to cook with us, to plan with us" the US Ambassador had said. On the occasion, the FAS Taste of America booth, showcase several delectable samples including include duck and turkey sandwiches and the Holi festival treat - Gujiya made with US pecans. (ANI) A Palestinian boy checks the debris of a building after Israeli airstrikes in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, March 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had concluded his visit to Israel, the last leg of his sixth Middle East tour since the outbreak of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Predictably, his efforts fell short of securing a ceasefire. Despite Washington's rhetoric about seeking a ceasefire, its steadfast backing of Israel's relentless airstrikes on Gaza not only underscores its complicity but also reveals a stark absence of sincere commitment to resolving the conflict and safeguarding innocent lives. Blinken has repeatedly professed appeals to Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza over the past five months. However, Washington has vetoed UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire four times during the same period. Additionally, it has supplied Israel with billions of U.S. dollars in unconditional military aid and hindered diplomatic endeavors aimed at holding Israel accountable under international law. Such a paradoxical position was also revealed in Blinken's remarks on Thursday in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, where he met with top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "We're committed to Israel's right to defend itself and to making sure that it has what it needs to defend itself and to make sure that Oct. 7 never happens again," Blinken said. "We're also committed to doing everything we possibly can to help people who are in harm's way." This stance raises serious doubts about Washington's ability to effectively address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, particularly when its weapons, provided to the Israeli army, contribute to the ongoing conflict. Examining the measures implemented recently by the U.S. administration to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza reveal efforts focused more on addressing the symptoms rather than the root causes. For instance, Washington announced plans to construct a temporary port off Gaza's coast to enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid, which was criticized by Al Jazeera, a news organization based in Qatar, as "an attempt to divert attention from hundreds of thousands of starving Palestinians and Israel's consistent blocking of assistance to the enclave." "Airdrops, temporary seaports and the like are not realistic or lasting solutions to stave off looming famine and sustain life in Gaza," Al Jazeera quoted Melanie Ward, the CEO of Medical Aid for Palestinians, as saying earlier this month, noting "only an immediate and lasting ceasefire will allow us to deliver the massive humanitarian response that is required." The Gaza Strip has already witnessed the loss of approximately 32,000 Palestinian lives, with over 74,000 others sustaining injuries, according to figures released by the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Protesters in the Middle East have marched and burned U.S. flags to express their outrage at civilian deaths in Gaza, which are frequently indirectly attributed to the U.S. due to its military support of Israel, a glaring illustration of America losing credibility in the Arab world. As civilian casualties in Gaza mount, Washington must cease the charade of portraying itself as a mediator of peace and instead cooperate with the international community to advocate for genuine peace and stability in the region. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent State visit to Bhutan, the Himalayan country's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck hosted a special family dinner for him. The rare and special gesture reflected the friendship and camaraderie shared between the leaders of the two nations. At the private dinner hosted at the Lingkana Palace, the entire family of the king including Queen Jetsun Pema and their three children Jigme Namgyel, Jigme Ugyen, and Sonam Yangden were present. The Royal family bonded with PM Modi as a family member, highlighting the special ties between the two countries. Pictures from the dinner showed PM Modi interacting with the two young princes while princess Sonam who was born in September last year cradled in Queen Pema's lap. Another significant gesture during PM Modi's State visit and symbolic of the significant advancement of ties between Bhutan and India was the Order of Drik Gyalpo bestowed on him. PM Modi became the first foreign dignitary and only the fourth person overall to receive the honour. As per ranking and precedence established, the Order of the Druk Gyalpo was instituted as the decoration for lifetime achievement and is the pinnacle of the honour system in Bhutan, taking precedence over all orders, decorations and medals. PM Modi was given the honour for his "outstanding contribution to the growth of India-Bhutan relations and for his distinguished service to the Bhutanese nation and people". After PM Modi departed following his March 22-23 State visit the Bhutanese King termed him an 'exceptional leader' and adding that countries require such leaders to advance and flourish. In a video message, King Wangchuk underlined that India has paved the way for a promising and prosperous future and that Bhutan applauds and rejoices in India's accomplishments. "Under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, India has not only achieved remarkable success in the past decade, but also paved the way for a promising and prosperous future. We applaud and rejoice in India's accomplishments. Countries require exceptional leaders to advance and flourish, yet such leaders are rare. To find an exceptional leader must possess compassion, a deep dedication to the country, and a willingness to devote themselves entirely to the service of the country," Bhutan's king said. On March 23 as PM Modi departed for New Delhi, in a special gesture, the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Bhutanese PM Tshering Tobgay came to see him off at the airport. Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck for the special gesture. The two sides renewed their commitment to the special and unique ties shared by the two countries. Meanwhile, during his State visit to Bhutan, PM Modi inaugurated Gyaltsuen Jetsun Pema Wangchuck Mother and Child Hospital along with his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering Tobgay. Tobgay expressed his gratitude towards the Indian government for fully funding the construction of the state-of-the-art hospital. PM Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart reviewed all aspects of bilateral energy cooperation and, welcomed the expert-level discussions on the 1200 MW Punatsangchhu-I Hydro-electric Project, adding that they look forward to the commissioning of the 1020 MW Punatsangchhu-II Hydro-electric Project later this year. The two leaders agreed that the India-Bhutan energy partnership has the potential to benefit both countries by enhancing energy security, strengthening their economies, generating employment, enhancing export earnings, and contributing to the further development of industrial and financial capacities. PM Modi also announced a substantial assistance package of Rs 10,000 crore for Bhutan's 13th five-year plan, further solidifying the bond between the two countries. (ANI) The Indian diaspora, along with Israeli nationals, celebrated the festival of colours and the Jewish festival of 'Purim' on Monday. The Indian embassy in Israel shared some amazing visuals of people turning out in large numbers in the Flea Market of Jaffa in Israel to celebrate the occasion with colours, and capture the moments on their phones. "Holi celebrations in Israel ! Indians and Israelis celebrated the festivals of #Holi and #Purim in the Flea Market of Jaffa," the Indian Embassy in Israel posted on X. Additionally, Israeli nationals were also seen playing with colours, envoying food and clicking photos at the picture points specially made for the occasion. At the event, people danced to Bollywood songs and enjoyed a special cultural performance. Earlier in New Delhi, Israeli Ambassador to India, Naor Gilon expressed his disappointment at not celebrating Holi this year due to the ongoing war in Gaza and extended Holi wishes to all the Indians. "This year, I find it difficult to join in the joyous celebration of Holi, knowing that Israeli children, women and men are still held captive in the dark tunnels of Gaza. But, a very happy Holi to our Indian family! Let us celebrate this day with prayers for the victory of good over evil," he posted on X on Monday. Holi, the festival of colours, is a celebration of liveliness, joy and, of course, familial ties and close bonds. It marks the blooming of spring after a long winter season. On the day of Holi, people come together and smear dry and wet colours on each other. Many people, especially children, celebrate the festival by playing with water-filled balloons and water guns. As with any other festival, people also treat each other to special Holi delicacies like 'gujiya'. (ANI) US Vice President Kamala Harris has warned Israel of "consequences" if it launches a ground assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera reported on Monday. In an interview that aired on Sunday, VP Harris said that it would be a "huge mistake" for the Israeli military to move into Rafah city. The comments appear to underscore the continued strain in relations between Washington and Tel Aviv over the continuation of the Israel-Hamas war since last October. The United States and other Israeli allies continue to warn against the assault on Rafah, where over 1 million Palestinian civilians are sheltering. "We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake," Harris told ABC's This Week. "I have studied the maps - there's nowhere for those folks to go. And we're looking at about a million and a half people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there," Harris added. "I am ruling out nothing," Harris said when she was asked whether there would be consequences from the US if the Israeli operation in the overcrowded city goes ahead. She did not give details of what such consequences might entail. "We're going to take it one step at a time, but we've been very clear in terms of our perspective on whether or not that should happen," she said, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said on Thursday that a major ground assault on the town of Rafah would be "a mistake" and "unnecessary". Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since Hamas attacked it on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israeli citizens and taking over 200 people captive. The Israeli military has also imposed a crippling blockade, which has left much of the Gaza population on the verge of starvation. Al Jazeera reported that more than 32,200 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive and over 74,500 injured. Approximately 1.5 million Palestinians have now been pushed into Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Blinken's comments by insisting that Israel is working on ways to evacuate civilians from combat zones and to address the humanitarian needs of Gaza. "I also said that we have no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah," Netanyahu added. "I told him that I hope we would do this with US support but if necessary, we will do it alone." Resistance to US support for Israel's military operations in Gaza continues to grow. On Friday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the US to suspend weapons transfers to Israel, Al Jazeera reported. The US is Israel's top weapons supplier. Washington provides at least USD 3.8 billion in aid to Israel annually, and Biden is working with Congress to secure another USD 14 billion. (ANI) Calling corrupt Army Generals and ISI chiefs "real traitors," Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder and chief Altaf Hussain said it has become a tradition in Pakistan to label those demanding rights--be they Muhajirs, Baloch, Sindhis, or Pashtuns--as "traitors." "Army Generals appointments get after America's clearance, they are appointed as core- commanders and ISI chiefs. You will say I am posing allegations, so what did Imran Khan show in Cypher? What was written in it? Why was Bhutto hanged?, he showed a white paper. America said he was an enemy of the nation, like Nizam Mustaffa," Hussain said. "What happened with Imran Khan, PTI supporters, and Punjabi mothers and sisters is really sad. But now the people of Punjab know everything. Pakistan Army generals and ISI generals are real traitors," he said while addressing a gathering in London to celebrate the MQM's 40th Foundation Day. Hussain mentioned that he formed MQM 40 years ago, and the journey has been arduous, filled with challenges, hardships and blood. He also admitted his mistake of once saying "Pakistan Murdabad" (Death to Pakistan) and questioned whether the real traitor is the one who merely says "Murdabad" or whether those who practically break the country are the real traitors. He wished that the people of Pakistan, especially in Punjab, would recognise the real usurpers, robbers, and traitors who have divided the nation into various identities. "It has become a tradition in Pakistan to label those demanding rights--be they Muhajirs, Baloch, Sindhis, or Pashtuns--as traitors." He said that when he revealed to the people of Pakistan that the corrupt generals of the army and ISI are the real usurpers, disruptors of the democratic system, and dividers of the people, he was labelled a traitor and accused of conspiring to create Jinnahpur. Referring to a speech he made in India, he said, "The partition of the subcontinent is the biggest mistake in human history." "He is taunted for calling the partition a mistake, which led to the division of Muslims of the subcontinent into three parts. If this division is not called a historical mistake, then what should it be called?" Hussain said that since August 22, 2016, his house, Nine Zero, has been sealed, locked, set on fire, and bulldozed. He lamented that General Niazi, who surrendered to the Indian Army (in 1971), was garlanded in Punjab. He expressed deep regret over the arrests of PTI workers in Punjab after May 9 riots and the disrespect shown to women there. However, he noted that the eyes of the people of Punjab have now been opened, and they realise that the traitors are not the public but the corrupt generals of the army and ISI who oppress them. He condemned the unconstitutional and inhumane treatment of Imran Khan and his party, stating that Khan's fault was that he waved the cypher in public, for which he was punished. Bhutto also waved a letter at a gathering and condemned the oppression faced by everyone. He claimed that except for him, everyone has sold out to the ISI, including Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto, and Asif Zardari, but not him. He said that global powers are against him because he exposed the conspiracy to divide India. He questioned what terrorism MQM has committed, stating that it is a fact that the People's Party hijacked a PIA plane, attacked an oil refinery, and the Muslim League-N attacked the Supreme Court, and innocent people were killed in Model Town in Lahore, yet these parties are not called terrorists. He stated that Pakistan belongs not to a few families but to the people of the country. He concluded by saying that he has done his part, and now it is the duty of the youth to come forward and free the country from the ruling elite. (ANI) Following Exercise Tiger Triumph, the Surface Warfare Officer on the USS Somerset, Brnjic, expressed his happiness to spend time in Visakhapatnam with Indian Navy personnel, adding that they learned a lot from them. Somerset is one of three San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships named in honour of the lives lost during the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. [{e34bf21d-07b6-475e-8852-37768243e174:intradmin/ANI-20240325192641.jpeg}] "We love the time we spent here in Visakhapatnam with Indian Navy personnel. We learned a lot from them and we had some great memories of playing games with them," Brnjic, Surface Warfare Officer on the Somerset," said. Exercise 'Tiger Triumph 2024', is a bilateral, tri-service exercise between India and the US. The opening ceremony of the exercise took place onboard INS Jalashwa on March 19. The Harbour Phase of the exercise was conducted at Visakhapatnam from March 18-25 and included pre-sail discussions, subject matter expert exchanges on professional subjects and deliberations on the planning and execution procedures of various tasks. As part of Triumph 2024, the USS Navy Somerset ship came to Visakhapatnam, which is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. Every deck of the ship contains mementoes of Flight 93, including a dedicated passageway leading to the Memorial Room, which bears the names of the passengers. Earlier on Saturday, the crew of the USS Somerset said they will always remember their visit to Visakhapatnam and the great experience of the joint exercise with the Indian Navy as part of Tiger Triumph. Ashley Ambuehl, a pilot on the ship, said, "Over 1,000 sailors and marines travel on this ship that has the capacity to carry dozens of military vehicles, a workshop for boat repair, and on the flight deck, aircraft and helicopters can land and station." Notably, the USS Somerset has a museum of 9/11 memories. United Airlines Flight 93 was hijacked during the terrorist attacks, but the passengers and crew prevented the plane from reaching its intended target, it tragically crashed in Stoneycreek Township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Earlier on Sunday, a pre-sail conference was conducted at Visakhapatnam to discuss the nuances of the upcoming sea phase of Exercise Tiger Triumph 2024. The plans were presented to the commanders, with the commanding officers of participating units of the United States Navy and Indian Navy in attendance. "The exercise represents the robust strategic partnership between both countries and aims to share best practices and Standard Operating Procedures in undertaking multinational HADR operations," the Ministry of Defence said in an official release. The Indian Army is being represented by one infantry battalion group, including mechanised forces, whereas the Indian Air Force has deployed its medium-lift aircraft, transport helicopters and a Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT). Additionally, the Special Ops Forces from all three services are participating in the exercise. Meanwhile, the US Task Force comprises a US Navy Landing Platform Dock, including its integral Landing Craft Air Cushions and helicopters, a destroyer, maritime reconnaissance and medium lift aircraft, as well as Marines. (ANI) US President Joe Biden extended Holi wishes on Monday, emphasising that millions of people globally will join together to celebrate the festival, the arrival of Spring, with Gulal and vibrant colours. Taking to his social media X, US President Biden posted, "Today, millions around the world will join together to celebrate Holi, the arrival of Spring, with Gulal and vibrant colors." He, along with first lady Jill Biden, wished everyone to celebrate the festival of colours. "Jill and I wish all those observing today's Festival of Colors joy and happiness," he added. https://x.com/POTUS/status/1772323822244388868?s=20 Earlier in the day, the Indian Consulate in New York extended Holi greetings by illuminating the iconic Times Square in New York City with banners of Holi wishes. "Wishing everyone a colorful and joyous Holi from the heart of New York City. #TimesSquare May the festival of color fill your life with happiness, love and peace,"Indian Consulate in New York posted on X. Earlier, the Indian Embassy in the US also wished everyone a joyous celebration resplendent with colours and music. In a video shared on X, the Indian Embassy in the US captured the exuberant spirit of Holi celebrations. The video showcased a lively scene at DuPoint Circle, where people immersed themselves in the festivities, dancing joyously while playing with vibrant colours. US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti also extended Holi wishes to the people of India via a video message shared on X. He said, "I want to wish everybody a very happy Holi. We have this amazing gujiyas, which has a little bit of an American twist with some pistachios in here, beautiful rose water. There's no better way than to celebrate Holi across the Indo-Pacific together." Holi, the festival of colours, is a celebration of liveliness, joy and, of course, familial ties and close bonds. It marks the blooming of spring after a long winter season. On the day of Holi, people come together and smear dry and wet colours on each other. Many people, especially children, celebrate the festival by playing with water-filled balloons and water guns. As with any other festival, people also treat each other to special Holi delicacies like gujiya. (ANI) Four men were charged on Sunday with committing the deadliest attack on Russian soil in two decades, accused of storming a Moscow concert hall on Friday evening and spraying the panicked crowd with gunfire, while later setting the building ablaze. As the men appeared in court to be arraigned, the death toll rose to 137, including three children, with 182 more people injured. The suspects, identified as Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, are all believed to be citizens of the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan. The Basmanny District Court formally charged the men with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The court ordered the men be held in pretrial detention for at least two months as an investigation into the attack continues. Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda both pleaded guilty after being charged, according to a statement by the court, which did not include the pleas of the other two suspects. There were conflicting reports by other Russian media outlets, however, that Fariduni also pleaded guilty. The fourth suspect, 19-year-old Faizov, was rolled into the courtroom in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown and accompanied by doctors, according to images shared by Russian media outlets. All four of the men were bloodied and bore visible injuries, suggesting they had been tortured. Faizov appeared to be missing an eye, according to Reuters. Rachabalizodas head was swathed in bandages, with The New York Times reporting that a video of interrogators slicing off a part of his ear and stuffing it into his mouth had spread online. President Vladimir Putin declared it a national day of mourning, ordering flags be lowered to half-mast and vowing revenge against those behind the bloody, barbaric terrorist act. The attack comes just over a week after he secured his fifth presidential term, an embarrassment for a politician who has long portrayed himself as a strongman. All perpetrators, organizers and commissioners of this crime will receive a just and inevitable punishment, Putin said. No matter who they are, no matter who directed them, I repeat, we will identify and punish everyone who stood behind the terrorists. Mourners gathered outside the Crocus City Hall in Moscows northern suburb of Krasnogorsk to lay flowers at the burnt-out site. Across Russia, billboards appeared bearing an image of a candle, the date of the attack, and the phrase we mourn, according to Reuters. Despite the Islamic State having claimed the assault, Putin did not mention the jihad group in his address, and said the suspects had been arrested while fleeing to the Ukrainian border, where a crossing had been prepared for them by the Ukrainian side. Kyiv has denied any involvement, with U.S. intelligence officials confirming that the Islamic State bore sole responsibility for this attack. Authorities have detained a total of 11 people in connection with the plot, according to Putin. Russian media broadcast videos of their interrogation, capturing one suspect explaining that hed been approached by an Islamic preachers assistant and paid to take part in the attack, according to the Associated Press. The attack was carried out by four gunmen in camouflage who entered the Crocus City Hall complex as crowds were still filing in to attend a packed-out concert by the Russian rock band Picnic. Roughly 6,500 tickets had been sold for the show, according to Russian media reports. We are deeply shocked by this terrible tragedy and mourn with you, Picnic said in a social media statement, according to the Times. The band was unharmed, but at least one of its longtime employeesthe woman who ran their merchandise stallswas still missing on Sunday, the group said, adding that it had not yet given up hope. The gunmen opened fire at random, then threw a grenade or an incendiary bomb, which started a fire, according to Russian media. Flames eventually engulfed the complex, its roof partially collapsing. A SWAT team responded to the scene, as well as more than 70 ambulances. The Russian Investigative Committee said that, amid its ongoing investigation at the crime scene, it had discovered two Kalashnikov assault rifles, 28 magazines, and more than 500 rounds of ammunition. With the search for survivors among the charred rubble of the music venue suspended on Saturday, the process of identifying the scores of victims began. The Russian Investigative Committee said that 62 bodies had been identified so far and that, for the remaining victims, genetic examinations are being carried out to establish their identities, according to CNN. 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 9-foot alligator nicknamed Coca-Cola lived in a trash-filled retention pond in Florida for years but now he has a new home. Croc Encounters, a reptile park and gator farm in Tampa, announced it was taking in the 450-pound gator on March 22 following growing concern from residents. He earned the name Coca-Cola because he was living in a pond near a Coca-Plant in Temple Terrace. Locals said he had been living there for a long time. I first met Coca-Cola 2 years ago, but the security guard at the building said hed been there for years before that, Catherine Burton shared on Facebook. Croc Encounters was called in when a large hole appeared in the fence surrounding the area where Coca-Cola was known to hang out. Residents worried children could slip in and fall prey to the large gator, but they didnt want any harm to come to the community staple, either, WTVT reported. Hes really part of the Temple Terrace community, resident Sarah Lanyos told the outlet. Many were relieved to learn Croc Encounters was taking the gator in. Florida policy typically dictates that nuisance gators are euthanized. One woman who reported seeing him for years thanked the reptile center. Me (and) my babies were just there last weekend to say hi, she wrote on Facebook. Theyll be thrilled to know hes not going to be put down or anything. Rescuers said they received reports that people were feeding the gator chicken and ham, which is both illegal and harmful. This alligator is extremely overweight and now accustomed to getting fed by people, rescuers said. Once people start feeding alligators they become a nuisance by no fault of their own and must be removed from the wild as they begin to approach people for food. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises the public to stay a safe distance away from gators, swim in designated areas during daytime hours and keep pets on leashes. And, you should never feed gators, which will in turn learn to associate humans with food. The state advises those who are concerned about a gator to call the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, which removes gators over 4 feet long from developed areas if they pose a threat to humans. While gator attacks are uncommon, they do happen. Luckily this guy will have a new home at our facility, the gator rescuers said. Temple Terrace is a city just northeast of Tampa. Attack by 9-foot gator ends with fisherman airlifted to hospital, Florida officials say Woman on run spots alligator trying to swallow another alligator, Florida photos show Angler pulls rare find out of Tennessee lake and wildlife officer thinks its a joke Alligator mysteriously turns up in Georgia familys fenced-in backyard, photos show A proposed plan will replace the bridge spanning between Georgia and South Carolina and widen I-95 to 3 lanes all the way to SC Exit 8. Relief is on the way for drivers who for years have endured persistent bottlenecks crossing the Savannah River from Georgia into South Carolina on Interstate 95. Or just avoided that section altogether. I dont go home on holidays because of it, said Angela Hendrix, senior vice president of marketing and public relations at the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA) and a Rock Hill, South Carolina, native. Ive seen too many people life-flighted out of there from wrecks. I just wont do it. On the Savannah side, vehicles headed toward the state line are funneled from three lanes down to two as they approach the bridge. Its no different than sand going through an hourglass, added SEDA President and CEO Trip Tollison. The two-lane configuration continues in both directions on the Palmetto State side. That will change with a $360 million South Carolina Department of Transportation project to widen a 10-mile stretch of I-95 from just inside the Georgia state line to the U.S. 278 interchange in Hardeeville. The work, scheduled to begin next year and be completed in 2032, will include a new six-lane bridge across the river. The South Carolina Department of Transportation plans to widen a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 95. Along I-95: $35 million deal protects 4,400-acre Lowcountry parcel ripe for development An average of 64,000 vehicles a day pass through the section of highway, according to state data. In addition to far exceeding its designed capacity, that stretch is among the worst rural interstates for moving freight, a 2021 SCDOT report concluded. That assessment is no surprise to Tollison. It is an awful situation all the way from the Savannah River Bridge to I-26, he said. The road is crappy, theres potholes, its just not maintained well. The project is welcome news for the Georgia Ports Authority, which operates the ports of Savannah and Brunswick. (GPA) applauds any effort to improve the efficiency and safety of transportation for commuters and freight carriers, especially on a high-volume route such as I-95, spokesman Edward Fulford said. Widening the interstate should reduce congestion and ease the flow of traffic. The project will include round-the-clock work at times, but two lanes of traffic will be maintained in both directions during daylight hours, according to SCDOT spokeswoman Hannah Robinson. SEDAs Tollison suggested the deteriorating condition of I-95 on the South Carolina side of the river illustrates a contrast in approach between the two states. Georgia has been very, very good about responding to the needs and planning ahead, he said. It's just a different environment in South Carolina. John Deem covers climate change and the environment on the Georgia coast. He can be reached at jdeem@gannett.com This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: South Carolina project to fix I-95 bottleneck at Georgia border ASHEVILLE AdventHealth plans to build a 93-bed hospital on 25 acres of land that the nonprofit health care conglomerate recently purchased in Weaverville. But whether AdventHealth will receive the certificate required to open the hospital is still in question. AdventHealth must navigate North Carolinas Certificate of Need process to open the hospital. Health care providers in the state must apply for CONs if they want to expand their facilities, equipment, or initiate medical services. North Carolinas certification process can take years. AdventHealths two pursuits to bring 67 and 26 beds to Buncombe County are respectively at the gestation and embryonic phases. Long court battles and potential competition from neighboring providers could delay and stymie the nonprofits effort. AdventHealth submitted a CON application June 2022 to open a 67-bed hospital with one C-section operating room and five procedure rooms. AdventHealth's proposed hospital location in Weaverville. The nonprofit received competition from Mission Health and Novant Health, which also submitted applications for the certificate. AdventHealth eventually won the bid. The company gained support from Democratic nominee for governor and North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners who submitted letters to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services summer 2022, asking the state to choose alternative providers to Mission. As the state mulled the decision, people submitted around 4,000 letters, most showing support for AdventHealth to win the certificate. AdventHealth in part argued that the facility would increase health care competition in Western North Carolina. Mission is facing two antitrust lawsuits in state and federal court brought respectively by a group of individual plaintiffs and local governments, including Asheville and Buncombe County. NCDHHS awarded the bid to AdventHealth in November 2022. In its application the company estimated it would spend $254.1 million on the facility. Mission challenged the states decision. The case was heard in front of Administrative Law Judge Michael Byrne in Waynesville in fall of 2023. That decision is expected by May 10 at the latest. Either party can appeal the case to the N.C. Court of Appeals. The case can then be appealed to the N.C. Supreme Court. AdventHealth bought the land for the hospital in Weaverville Feb. 21 for $7.5 million, according to the Buncombe County Register of Deeds and tax records. The nonprofit announced its intention to build the 67-bed hospital in that location in a March 19 news release. In a March 21 news release, AdventHealth said it would apply for 26 additional acute care beds in Buncombe County, identified in the 2024 state medical facilities plan. It plans to combine all 93 beds in one facility. AdventHealth spokesperson Victoria Dunkle told the Citizen Times March 22 that the nonprofit will begin building when the state issues the CON and the company receives it. She did not answer a question about AdventHealths plans with the land if the company does not receive the CON. A spokesperson for Mission did not answer a Citizen Times question about applying for the 26-bed certification. Novant is evaluating applying for the beds, a spokesperson told the Citizen Times in an email. AdventHealth's announcement may have been part of an aggressive public relations effort to build community support for the CON, UNC Chapel Hill Professor Richard Saver speculated to the Citizen Times March 22. Saver teaches a course on health law, with a unit on certificates of need. While usually the agency decision is initially upheld through all the levels of review, there are cases where it gets reversed on appeal, he said. This announcement could galvanize NCDHHS to vociferously defend the certificate in higher courts, Saver said. Announcing the land use could also initiate local governments to begin the ancillary steps to prepare for the hospital to open, like workforce recruitment. Prolonging a CON battle can also be good business for Mission, which will not compete with a new AdventHealth hospital while the court deliberates. Mission and AdventHealth are familiar foes in CON battles. The two providers are ensnarled in battles over two Buncombe County freestanding emergency departments. NCDHHS initially awarded the certificates to Mission. AdventHealth appealed. More: Document shows why Mission, Novant hospital CON bids were denied, AdventHealth approved More: AdventHealth wins bid to open new Buncombe hospital; Mission, Novant weigh next steps More: Buncombe hospital expansion bid gets 4K support letters. Which got the most? Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and health care for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: AdventHealth announces Weaverville hospital, court appeals pending Flash People lay flowers to mourn victims of a terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia, March 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua] Near the Crocus City Hall in suburban Moscow, a somber sea of Russian citizens of all ages converged to pay their respects to the victims of Friday's terrorist attack here that claimed at least 137 lives. Amid the bleak grey day, an impromptu tribute featuring predominantly red and white flowers left by mourners expands by the minute. Among the candles and blooms, fluffy toys contributed by children are scattered. Periodically, sirens can be heard in the background as search work at the site continues. In a televised address to the nation on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared March 24 a day of national mourning for the lives lost in the terrorist attack. More than 150 people were injured after the attack, with some still in critical condition. "I express my deep, sincere condolences to all those who lost their loved ones," Putin said in his address. "The whole country and our entire people are grieving with you." Near the city hall, approximately 200 meters to the east, traffic moved slowly on Sunday as congestion built up, caused by numerous vehicles belonging to those arriving to offer their condolences. Marina, a Moscow resident at the mourning site near the concert hall, described the attack as "a suffocating tragedy." She was still in disbelief that "Those people's lives were just taken away." Vladimir, another resident at the site, said the victims were ordinary people, some of them children. "Those who carried out the attack deserve the severest punishment," he added. In central Moscow, landmarks such as the Kremlin and the State Duma building flew their flags at half-mast on Sunday. In the tourist hotspot New Arbat Street, an electronic display spanning tens of meters reads: "Russia always becomes stronger in the face of the toughest challenges, and it will be so now." Since Friday night, billboards throughout Moscow and across the country have displayed candle patterns in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack. In Saint Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, citizens gathered spontaneously at multiple locations to lay flowers, light candles and observe moments of silence for the victims. "I hope those who ordered this terrorist attack are brought to justice in some way," said Stanislav, a Saint Petersburg citizen. "Everyone must understand that terrorism is an unacceptable crime." In his Saturday speech, Putin called the terrorist attack bloody and barbaric, vowing retribution. All four gunmen involved were detained, Putin said, adding that all perpetrators, organizers and financiers of the crime will be punished. "No one and nothing can shake our unity and will, our determination and courage, the strength of the united people of Russia," Putin said. Nashville police have released preliminary findings in the autopsy of Riley Strain, and say his death appears accidental. The body of the missing 22-year-old University of Missouri student was found in the Cumberland River in West Nashville Friday morning, about eight miles from downtown, Metro Nashville Police said in a post shortly after 9:30 a.m. that morning on X, formerly Twitter. Strain, of Springfield, Missouri, had been missing for two weeks after he was last seen about 10 p.m. March 8 when he was kicked out of Lukes 32 Bridge Bar at 301 Broadway, a downtown Nashville bar owned by country star Luke Bryan, according to Nashville police. In a statement to The Star Monday, police said they attended the autopsy, and that there is no foul play-related trauma. The toxicology report is pending, and the medical examiner will not complete the autopsy until all tests return. Case draws national attention On the night of Strains disappearance, a bouncer reportedly did not allow Strain to stand outside the bar to wait for friends to close their tabs. A friend confirmed to The Star that he was taken out a side door and was gone when his friends paid and walked out. A friend told police they lost sight of Strain after he was kicked out of the bar. Nashville police said they tried using Snapchat to find his location, but were unsuccessful. His friends tried calling him multiple times the next day, but the calls kept going to voicemail. A friend called police around 1:45 p.m. the next day from outside the Nashville Central Police Precinct to file a missing persons report, saying they were in town for a fraternity formal when Strain disappeared. Police launched a massive search into his disappearance, including checking hospitals and jails and pinging his phone. Verizon could not get a live ping because his phone was off. The company provided the phones last known location, which was over a half mile southwest of a cell tower at 19 Oldham St., according to police. Police used a helicopter and people on the ground to search the area, including a riverbank, with no results. The Urban Search & Rescue team also conducted a deep search along the brush and the bank of the Cumberland River. Meanwhile, the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission said it is investigating whether there were any violations, such as the bar overserving the college student. Strain, a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity, was a senior majoring in interdisciplinary studies and business. During the search, a vigil was held at his old high school, Kickapoo High, to pray for his safe return. Surveillance video showed several images of Strain, including one of him crossing North First Avenue to Gay Street. Body camera footage released by Nashville police last week showed that Strain had a brief conversation with a police officer that night. The officer had responded to a vehicle burglary on Gay Street when he saw Strain. The two briefly greeted each other, and Strain did not appear distressed, police said. On March 17, police said Rileys bank card had been found on the embankment between Gay Street and the Cumberland River. TikTok users were investigating his disappearance, and a livestream shows the moment one of them found the card. The Stars Bob Cronkleton contributed to this reporting. President Joe Biden's campaign has hired three veteran political operatives for leadership roles in Minnesota, an early sign national Democrats plan to invest resources into the state this fall. Democratic National Committee executive member Ron Harris will take on the role of state director, while Alana Petersen and Justin Buoen who have both worked on statewide U.S. Senate and presidential campaigns are joining his team as senior advisors. "With the trifecta of Democratic leaders and strong party operation, Minnesota is a state that has shown how much Democrats can get done working together," Dan Kanninen, the Biden-Harris Battleground States Director, said in a statement on Monday announcing the hires. "Ron, Alana, and Justin have been pivotal in successful statewide elections in the past cycle, and are ready to build a strong organization to deliver Minnesota again for President Biden." Harris, an advisor and strategist to cities around the country, was most recently a DFL candidate in the race to replace DFL Rep. Dean Phillips in Minnesota's Third District in Congress. He was the the first candidate to jump into the race, but he suspended his campaign in February and threw his support behind state Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven. He previously worked as the chief resilience officer for the city of Minneapolis and as a city council president chief of staff. Petersen, who was an advisor to the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020, has also worked with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the Minnesota Senate DFL caucus and U.S. Senator Tina Smith's campaign. She served as deputy chief of staff to both Smith and former U.S. Sen. Al Franken. Buoen also brings presidential campaign experience to the team after working as the national campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar's 2020 presidential bid, as well for John Kerry and John Edwards' campaigns in the state. He worked on Klobuchar's 2006 and 2012 U.S. Senate campaigns, and for former DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and Walz. "This team has a proven record of winning elections for Democrats in Minnesota, and their experience will help bring our state home for President Biden," Klobuchar said in a statement. Biden beat Donald Trump in Minnesota by more than 7 percentage points in 2020, but the former Republican president came within 1.5 percentage points of beating Hillary Clinton in the state in 2016. Minnesota hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972. While Trump's campaign hasn't announced any state hires yet, he told a local radio station in March that he's going to give winning the state a "big shot" this fall, adding that he's working with U.S. House Majority Whip and Minnesota U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer on a strategy to turn Minnesota red. Trump's campaign did not immediately return a request for comment. Cathy and her late husband Pettus Randall III were honored Friday for their contributions to the Tuscaloosa community during the 11th annual Black Warrior Council Boys Scouts of America Circle of Honor awards luncheon. The ceremony, which was held at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Tuscaloosa, serves as a fundraiser for for the council's scouting program. More: University of Alabama opens state-of-the-art welcome center The Circle of Honor award is presented to people in West Central Alabama whose livelihood and actions reflect the same values of the Black Warrior Boys Scouts. Recipients have also shown advocacy for youth and leadership in the community. Past recipients of the award include Terry Saban, Nick Saban, former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, scientist and philanthropist Thomas Joiner, pharmacist and retailer James I. Harrison Jr., civic leader Mary Ann Phelps and more. Mar 22, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; The Black Warrior Council of the Boy Scouts of America honored Pettus and Cathy Randall with the Circle of Honor distinction Friday. Cathy Randall and her son Pettus Randall Jr. watch a video of people speaking about the Randall familys contributions to Tuscaloosa. Gov. Kay Ivey presented Cathy Randall with the award and referred to her as a "dear friend". Cathy Randall accepted the award on both her and Pettus Randall's behalf. Pettus Randall, who was then chairman of Randall Publishing Inc., died at the age of 57 in 2002 after battling cancer. Cathy Randall said she was honored for the recognition and spoke on her late husband's legacy. Cathy Randall said she wants people to remember how Pettus lived his life, not just how he died. "What would Pettus say today? How I wish I knew. One thing I know he'd say is 'Thank you for this great honor,' " said she said. Mar 22, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; The Black Warrior Council of the Boy Scouts of America honored Pettus and Cathy Randall with the Circle of Honor distinction Friday. She has kept alive the name and work of her late husband through her philanthropic work, seen widely around Tuscaloosa and the UA campus. She's co-chaired the Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Committee, been inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, and served as director of UA's University Honors Program for 25 years now named for her, as the Catherine J. Randall Research Scholars Program. She's also earned two master's and two doctoral degrees from UA. In 2022, the family donated 19 acres to create the Randall Family Park and Trailhead at the Northern Riverwalk in Tuscaloosa. In January, the University of Alabama opened the Catherine and Pettus Randall Welcome Center, which was named in Cathy and Pettus' Randall's honor. The new welcome center includes areas for prospective students and their families to gather for campus tours, along with a lounge, theater and UA's admissions offices. Mar 22, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; The Black Warrior Council of the Boy Scouts of America honored Pettus and Cathy Randall with the Circle of Honor distinction Friday. Randall reacts as she watches a video of people speaking about the contributions she and her husband have made to Tuscaloosa. Also during Friday's ceremony, retired DCH Health System administrator Sammy Watson, who served as the event's emcee, announced that the council had raised $204,923 through the luncheon that day. Proceeds from the lunch will be used to expand Boy Scout programs, making them available to over 3,000 young people in West Central Alabama. The Boy Scouts of America is the Nations leading outdoor education and character development program. The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. Reach Jasmine Hollie at JHollie@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Boy Scouts honor Pettus and Cathy Randall for community work On Jan. 9, 1914, Muncie police raided the citys near southside brothels, gambling dens and illegal saloons. At the time, this red-light district east of Walnut and south of the tracks was known as "Cocaine Alley." Muncie police arrested about 40 people, including 25 prostitutes and a dozen speakeasy and cathouse patrons. Muncies new mayor, Rollin Havilla "Doc" Bunch, orchestrated the blitz to fulfill a campaign promise to abate the Magic Citys houses of ill-repute. The Evening Press reported, (T)he new administration has announced that it will pursue a determined effort to clean up Muncie. The city in the early 1910s was known as a "wide-open" town a euphemism for a community that tolerated a level of early 20th century vice gambling, drugs, liquor and prostitution. Sufferance for each was hotly debated in the years before World War I. Places like Muncie were ground zero for progressives pursuing societal reform. In those days, organized gambling was illegal but generally ignored when hidden and made outright invisible with a bribe. Hard drugs like cocaine and heroin were available in Muncie in the early 1910s but widely condemned. Reformers concerns about both were addiction and its impact on families. Likewise for alcohol. Muncie police Matron Alfaretta Hart spent 11 months investigating crimes against women, including runaways, assault, rape, and prostitution. We can never reach the moral sense by legislation. She later told a reporter, It is utterly useless to send drunkards and prostitutes to jail. Beginning in the 1890s, temperance reformers pushed Delaware Countys local governments to pass ordinances banning the sale of spirits. They met fierce opposition. Local "wets" advocated for legal saloons and regulated liquor sales, while "drys" generally sought total prohibition. When and where booze was suppressed by law, speakeasies, known then as "blind tigers" or "blind pigs," opened in Muncie. The citys sex industry also flourished in this generation. Stories about "houses of ill-fame" appeared frequently in local newspapers between the mid-1880s and World War I. Cops raided and arrested often but rarely forced closure. Sex workers typically just paid a fine after a night in jail and returned to ply their trade. Many local reformers actively opposed prostitution outright on moral grounds and abhorred the associated trafficking. All these issues came front and center in the 1913 mayoral race. Munsonians that autumn had a choice of five candidates, all of whom postured against vice. The Republicans nominated local industrialist Michael Broderick, and Democrats ran physician and city councilman Rollin Bunch. They faced off against the Progressive Partys Harry Kitselman, socialist Carl Johnson, and grocer George Wilson, the Citizens Party candidate. Wilson and Kitselman were the most vocal about Muncies dens of iniquity. Kitselman, the son of a local steel wire baron and rollerskate tycoon, remarked during his campaign that if I am elected mayor of Muncie, I will exterminate the blind tiger business and the houses of ill-fame. Bunch, a known wet on the liquor issue, offered voters a measured platform, promising all ordinances in the city of Muncie shall be enforced as well as the laws of the state. He also pledged to hire a "police matron" a female officer assigned to cases involving women. For years, Munsonian reformers had called on the Muncie Police Department to hire a woman. A leading advocate for such was Daisy Barr, a Quaker preacher and reformist goody-goody about town. Muncie also needs a police matron, the Rev. Barr told a Morning Star reporter in June of 1913. Girls are being ruined not by twos or threes but by dozens. Bunch won the election by a plurality of votes. Within a week, a delegation led by Barr and local doctors Lucius Ball and Edward Mason, met with the mayor-elect to formally advocate for a police matron. A few days later, Bunch announced Alfaretta Hart for the role. The Star praised the decision in an editorial, writing: Mrs. Hart has long been known as an ardent and eloquent advocate of the uplift and purifications of the morals of the city. Alfaretta Martha (Poorman) Hart was indeed well known by Munsonians as a reformer in 1914, as well as a member of high society. Her husband, Thomas, was a prominent gas-boom-era industrialist and co-founder of several companies, including Maring-Hart Glass and Inter-State Auto. The millionaire couple frequently rubbed shoulders with fellow Munsonian patricians, but, unlike most of their Protestant peers, the Harts were Roman Catholic and attended St. Lawrence. Alfaretta was born in 1861 to Christian and Martha Poorman. Her father was a prominent Ohio businessman, publisher and state politician. The Poormans hailed from Bellaire on the Ohio, just downriver from Wheeling, West Virginia. In 1883, Alfaretta married Thomas Hart, a second-generation Irish-American and local glassmaker. They moved to Muncie five years later during the boom and launched Hart Glass Manufacturing in Dunkirk and Maring-Hart Glass Co. in Boyceton on Muncies northeast end. Muncie police Matron Alfaretta Hart, in uniform, spent 11 months investigating crimes against women, including runaways, assault, rape, and prostitution. We can never reach the moral sense by legislation. She later told a reporter, It is utterly useless to send drunkards and prostitutes to jail. We know a fair amount about Harts reformist views from archived newspapers. From the early 1890s through 1914, local press published several of her speeches, op-eds and letters. They ranged from flag-waving praise of the U.S. during the Spanish-American War, to ardent defenses of Catholicism. She wrote scathing attacks on Clyde Fitchs risque 1884 play, Sapho, and Elsie Clews Parsons 1906 book, The Family. When the Ohio legislature attempted to pass laws regulating womens dress in 1913, Hart deplored their hypocrisy: Men wishing to become famous through the introduction of reformatory laws, should first begin on the male sex. Hart advocated that religion, not civil law, was the best tool to police morality. She wrote in March 1913: We can never reach the moral sense by legislation. She later told a reporter, It is utterly useless to send drunkards and prostitutes to jail. Incarceration did nothing to lessen demand. Alfaretta was an ideal choice to serve as Bunchs police matron. She harbored socially conservative progressive views, but was a wet on temperance, advocating for regulated sale. To underscore her anti-prohibition bona fides, she even spoke publicly against drys at Wysor Grand on the eve of a temperance referendum in 1914. During her 11-month tenure as police matron, Hart investigated or fielded cases of runaways, assault, rape, and prostitution. She handled 40 cases in her first month alone, operating from a suite of offices in the Johnson Building. Two weeks into the job, Hart led a raid on a blind pig in Cocaine Alley. But as the year progressed, Alfarettas unabashed Catholicism and vocal anti-prohibitionism brought enemies. One of them was Daisy Barr, who, later in the 1920s, would resurface in Indy as an Imperial Empress of the Ku Klux Klan. Hart might have been pressured to resign; she did so officially in November of 1914 citing ill health. Alfaretta and Thomas eventually moved to Texas and bought a furniture store. In her later years, Alfaretta wrote for the Dallas Journal. After her death in 1951, Muncies police matron came home and was buried at Beech Grove Cemetery. Chris Flook is a Delaware County Historical Society board member and a Senior Lecturer of Media at Ball State University. This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Muncie police Matron Alfaretta Harts 1914 battle for 'Cocaine Alley' With tree pollen counts already hitting peak levels in some parts of the United States, now is the time to start preparing for and treating your spring allergy symptoms. But before you head to a pharmacy, consider some measures you can take at home. And if you do need to resort to medication, heres what to know about the various pills, sprays and shots available. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Your First Line Defense Doctors recommend first trying to limit your exposure to whatever is triggering an allergic response for example, tree pollen in the spring. You can monitor local pollen levels on weather or allergy apps or on sites such as the National Allergy Bureaus. When counts are high, doctors recommend keeping your windows closed, wearing a well-fitting mask outside and showering and changing your clothes when you get home. Pets can also bring in pollen from the outdoors, so keep them out of your bedroom and wash them regularly. When you come inside, you can also rinse out your nose with a saline spray or neti pot. Its laborious, but the people who do this stuff find it really helpful, said Dr. Neeta Ogden, a New Jersey based allergist. Nasal Sprays Dr. John Mafi, a primary care physician at UCLA Health who often treats patients with allergies, said that for those with moderate or severe seasonal allergies, the most effective treatment is typically a nasal corticosteroid spray. These include fluticasone (Flonase), budesonide (Benacort), triamcinolone (Nasacort) and mometasone (Nasonex). Allergens trigger inflammation in the nose, eyes, throat and, sometimes, the airway. A local steroid is calming that area of inflammation, Mafi said. Because nasal sprays are not absorbed systemically the way steroid pills are, they are considered low-risk, he added. Spray with the nozzle pointed out toward the ears to get the greatest benefit and to avoid side effects like nose bleeds. The steroids can take several days to take effect, so doctors recommend using them from a week or two before pollen season until pollen counts decline. Antihistamines Antihistamines reduce the itchiness and inflammation produced by histamine, a chemical your immune cells release when triggered by an allergen. They can be taken as pills, nasal sprays or eye drops. They work quickly and are most effective if taken as needed, such as on days when your symptoms are particularly bad. It can be like a rescue therapy, said Dr. Farah Khan, an allergist and immunologist at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. For itchy, watery eyes, antihistamine eye drops often in conjunction with a nasal spray tend to work best, Mafi said. An oral antihistamine can be beneficial when you have multiple symptoms, like itchy eyes, a stuffy nose and hives, said Dr. Rita Kachru, chief of clinical allergy and immunology at UCLA Health. In 2020, a task force of physicians that issues allergy treatment guidelines recommended against using first-generation oral antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), for allergic rhinitis, especially on a chronic basis. The group cited negative side effects, including sedation, performance impairment and increased risk of dementia. Doctors said the second-generation oral antihistamines loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra) wont make most people drowsy, though patients are least likely to experience drowsiness with fexofenadine, Kachru said. These pills can cause side effects, including dry eyes or mouth and constipation. If an antihistamine produces unpleasant side effects or stops working well, doctors suggest trying another one. Decongestants Some antihistamines, such as Claritin-D and Allegra-D, come combined with pseudoephedrine (Sudafed). Doctors dont recommend products that contain pseudoephedrine for children at all, or for adults for more than a few days in a row because the ingredient can increase heart rate and blood pressure. Kachru also warned against using the decongestant nasal spray oxymetazoline (Afrin). Though it might provide relief, she said, over time you need more medication to get the same response. And stopping the medication can cause inflammation that can make it hard to breathe through your nose, she said. Immunotherapy Doctors recommend consulting a board-certified allergist if your symptoms are getting worse, interfering with daily life or causing other health problems, and medications arent helping. Ogden said patients often come to her when they can no longer tolerate taking medications for months on end. And then we have a talk about starting allergy shots, she said. Allergy shots deliver progressively higher doses of the protein youre allergic to, teaching your immune system to tolerate it. The therapy, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is usually covered by insurance, has been shown to significantly reduce symptoms and medication use, and the effects can last for several years after treatment ends. Another option is sublingual immunotherapy, in which you place a tablet containing the allergen under your tongue. The FDA has approved tablets for ragweed, grasses and dust mites. Both forms of immunotherapy require a substantial investment of time, usually three to five years. Scientists are studying other options. With climate change and air pollution making allergy symptoms worse, Ogden said, I think immunotherapy is where were going to end up. c.2024 The New York Times Company Each legislative session, there is a date by which each of the two bodies the N.H. Senate and the N.H. House must finish work on all bills originally introduced into that body so the bills that passed can be handed over to the other body. That date is known as crossover and this year it takes place on April 11. Chris Muns Since my last update to you, the House has met three times, and we are scheduled to meet at least three more times to complete our work. Some of that work is highlighted below. Supporting working families Efforts to prevent employers and unions from adopting provisions that allow union non-members to benefit from the collective bargaining agreements they negotiate (so-called Right to Work legislation) have been introduced and defeated - in each of the past 19 biennium sessions of the Legislature. HB 1377 FN was another attempt to do so. Defeated 179 in favor (Hampton State Representative Tracy Emerick) to 212 opposed (Hampton State Representatives Mike Edgar, Jason Janvrin and Chris Muns). HB 1178-FN protects employees from the loss of earned but unused time when employment ends through no fault of their own. Passed, 199 in favor (Edgar and Muns) to 179 opposed (Emerick and Janvrin). N.H.s minimum wage was eliminated in 2011. It has followed the federal minimum wage since then and remains at $7.25 an hour. Every other New England state has raised their minimum wage to at least $13 per hour. HB 1322-FN would have raised our minimum wage over a four-year period to eventually $17 per hour. Defeated, 187 in favor (Edgar and Muns) to 192 opposed (Emerick and Janvrin). Supporting education and learning HB 1162 would have repealed the divisive concepts laws, which restrict teachers from having honest classroom discussions about our history and issues like race and suffrage. Defeated 183 in favor (Edgar, Muns and Candice ONeil), 192 opposed (Emerick and Janvrin). As a result, the divisive concepts law, which have intimidated teachers and created a sense of fear and uncertainty and is a contributing factor in teacher stress and their leaving or not joining the profession, remains on the books. HB 1311, the Students Freedom to Read bill preserves local control of decisions regarding what materials should be available in local school libraries while also providing concerned parents and guardians with due process. Passed 194 in favor (Edgar, Muns and ONeil), 180 opposed (Emerick and Janvrin). HB 1308 would have required all public libraries to keep comprehensive records of library materials checked out by minors and given parents the right to access those records. To comply, libraries would have incurred a significant additional expense, funding for which was not included in the bill. Defeated 170 in favor (Janvrin), 194 opposed (Edgar, Emerick, Muns and ONeil). Public safety Blackjacks, slung shots, and brass knuckles have a long history of being used by aggressors to inflict grievous injuries on victims, and they have been banned in N.H. for many years. HB 1276 FN overturns that ban for no meaningful reason. Passed 198 in favor (Emerick and Janvrin), 175 opposed (Edgar, Muns and ONeil) In New Hampshire, close to 90% of all gun deaths are suicides. HB 1050-FN would have provided a mechanism for people who believe they are at risk for suicide to voluntarily add themselves to a voluntary do-not-sell list managed by the N.H. Department of Safety. Defeated 175 in favor (Edgar and Muns), 205 opposed (Emerick and Janvrin). HB 1186 FN bans banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions from the use of a merchant category code for firearms and ammunition purchases, which would make it more difficult to flag suspicious purchasing patterns to law enforcement. N.H. law does not ban the use of these merchant codes for purchases of products in any other industry. Passed 203 in favor (Emerick and Janvrin), 174 opposed (Edgar and Muns) HB 1649 FN will ban the sale effective July 1, 2028 of consumer products containing PFAS, the forever chemicals found in a wide range of products, including food packaging, cosmetics, childrens products, carpets, and furniture. Passed in a voice vote. I voted in favor of the bill. Voting N.H.s current redistricting process allows the majority party to create districts that unfairly retain party power and control in state and federal delegations. HB 1426 - FN would have created a non-partisan advisory redistricting commission to make that process more transparent. Defeated 186 in favor (Edgar and Muns), 192 opposed (Emerick and Janvrin). Under current N.H. law anyone who does not present an appropriate form of identification may still vote, but they must sign an affidavit on penalty of perjury that they are citizens, domiciled in their town, and of age to vote. The Attorney Generals Office has the power to investigate and prosecute any voter suspected of voting illegally. HB 1569- FN will deprive any voter who shows up to vote without appropriate identification of the right to sign such an affidavit and vote. It will also allow anyone to file an affidavit to challenge someone from voting. Passed 189 in favor, 185 opposed in a Division vote where the votes of individual state representatives are not recorded. I voted against the motion to pass this bill. HB 1157- FN would have enrolled N.H. in a secure, bi-partisan, national nonprofit association of states working to improve the accuracy of voter checklists. It would have helped to quickly identify voters who no longer live in NH, protecting the security and accuracy of our elections. DEFEATED 185 in favor (Edgar and Muns), 189 opposed (Emerick and Janvrin). School funding How N.H. funds our public schools has been and will continue to be in the news. I will provide a separate update on that soon. In the meantime, google Conval Lawsuit and Rand Lawsuit or go to www.fairfundingnh.org to learn more. Thank you, and happy spring! Chris Muns is one of Hamptons five N.H. state representatives. He currently is serving his second term, having previously served between 2012 and 2014. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Concord update: New Hampshire House inching towards crossover The city of El Paso is once again covered by a pair of emergency declarations giving it the authority to open a standalone shelter for asylum-seekers crossing into the city from Mexico. The El Paso City Council voted unanimously to renew the two declarations after West-Central city Rep. Josh Acevedo shot down one of the ordinances last month over fears that it opened the door for state authorities to deploy Operation Lone Star-style tactics without local input. However, Acevedo said many of his concerns were allayed over the last few weeks after he met with city officials and the regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety. Newly elected District 2 city Rep. Josh Acevedo takes part of the council meeting after he is sworn in by Judge Josh Herrera on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, at El Paso City Hall. Still, he said he was "begrudgingly" voting to support the measure. "I still have a lot of concerns with this," Acevedo said during the City Council work session on Monday, March 25. He added that a rolling emergency declaration for a fluctuating crisis was "not good governance." The renewal of the city's emergency ordinances, which first kicked off in December 2022, comes only days after clashes at the U.S.-Mexico border with Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers, where migrants tore down fences and concertina wire barriers. But with numbers far shy of earlier peaks and the city's shelter at the former Morehead Middle School deactivated, many still wonder if emergency orders are necessary. Former Morehead Middle School, 5625 Confetti Drive. 'In it for the long haul' Before the City Council voted to renew the ordinances, Ivonne Diaz addressed council members and called on them to reject the emergency declaration and "put aside" Operation Lone Star in El Paso. Diaz noted that during the City Council's last meeting on Feb. 26, there was no overflow at local shelters and the city's migrant dashboard shows no significant uptick in arrivals. March 21, 2024 : Hundreds migrants line up on the border wall after they breached barriers set up by the Texas National Guard on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The migrants were hoping to be processed by Border Patrol. "Why," she asked, "do we continue to need the emergency declaration?" Acevedo expressed a similar sentiment, saying that constituents in District 2 have said "they don't feel the urgency of a state of emergency." But waxed pessimistic about the possibilities of getting out from under the orders. "I don't see it stopping anytime soon," he said. "I think we're in it for the long haul." "I don't think this is a good solution for the long run." 'Panic' and 'confusion' For her part, East-Central city Rep. Cassandra Hernandez sought to assure the public that the city's Office of Emergency Management remains "in full control of the response," as stipulated in the emergency ordinance. The ordinance specifically states that the city maintains authority over the local response "separate and apart" from the authority of any other jurisdiction. District 3 city Rep. Cassandra Hernandez speaks during the council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, at El Paso City Hall. Like other council members, Hernandez reported hearing concerns from constituents over high-speed DPS pursuits through their communities. She also said the ongoing confusion over SB 4, which remains in legal limbo, has "permeated all of the migrants making their way here." That limbo has led to "desperation" and migrants believe it's "now or never," she said. She called for "more comprehensive outreach" to inform residents, specifically those who live along the U.S.-Mexico border, on what to do if a migrant shows up at their front door or hops a fence into their backyard, situations she said have occurred over the last several weeks. "I'm really concerned about our residents along the border," she said. "This isn't sustainable." Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times. He can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso renews emergency declarations for asylum-seekers By the time Oregon's 2024 legislative short session closed earlier this month, state lawmakers had partially granted most of the priorities outlined by Eugene and Lane County's elected officials, including a response to the University District hospital closing, liability protection for mobile crisis units like CAHOOTS and funding for unhoused shelter, infrastructure along Crow Road, parole and probation and emergency communications equipment. In even-numbered years, Oregon's legislative session lasts five weeks, and lawmakers direct their attention to budget bills and a few high priority items. "They actually did quite a bit of work, as well as unfortunately leaving several things on the table," Lane County's lobbyist Alex Cuyler told county commissioners March 12. "The legislature did appropriate a significant amount of new money in their end-of-session budget reconciliation bill," he said. Wholly granted requests A response to Eugene's hospital closing Introduced by Rep. Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, and listed as Eugene city council's number 1 priority as well as a priority for Lane County commissioners, House Bill 4136 passed and contains three main parts that aim to reduce hospital wait times, with a focus on Eugene. The bill includes: $1.3 million to fund an additional Eugene-Springfield fire ambulance crew. A path for out-of-state nurses to be granted temporary licenses while their Oregon licenses process. A $3.2 million "innovation fund" that will pay for pilot programs designed to reduce ambulance and emergency room usage in Lane County, that other communities will later look to replicate. Emergency communications funding Included in the budget bill Senate Bill 5701, state lawmakers granted Lane County $900,000 to replace the emergency telecommunications tower on Bear Mountain. Partially granted requests Lane County's planned mental health stabilization center Going into the session, Lane County commissioners requested the legislature "Establish explicit authority for a first responder to transport a person to a stabilization center and define stabilization center in statute" and provide them operational funding. While Eugene Council said it supports increased funding for "mental and behavioral health systems, specifically, Lane Countys Crisis Stabilization Center." While lawmakers didn't grant these specific requests, House Bill 4002, the legislature's Measure 110 reform bill, does provide legal immunity to mobile crisis units like CAHOOTS for taking people to treatment facilities. The lobbyists representing Eugene and Lane County also praised the funding aspects of the bill, including $4 million for Willamette Family Treatment for inpatient detox. Unhoused response While the legislature did not grant, "long term direct funding to cities for unhoused emergency response" as Eugene city councilors requested, Senate Bill 1530, part of Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek's housing package, allotted $65 million statewide for homeless shelter statewide. Ethan Nelson, Eugene's lobbyist, said he unsuccessfully tried to get alternative shelters, such as Rest Stops and 310 Garfield, eligible for that funding, but that city staff will still work to get that money to Eugene's eligible programs. Housing infrastructure SB 1530 also granted Eugene $6 million for water and sewer infrastructure along Crow Road to support housing development there. The legislature did not grant Eugene's $8.5 million request for similar investment on Clear Lake Road, but approved housing infrastructure for additional Lane County cities including: $3 million to Springfield for Glenwood sewer infrastructure. $3 million to Cottage Grove for water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure for housing development on "a 35-acre parcel the city owns." $1.9 million to Florence for water and sewer infrastructure for "four blocks of city-owned property to be developed." $1 million to Creswell for wastewater upgrades and connection to the regional wastewater treatment facility. Community Corrections funding While lawmakers did not commit to ongoing money, HB 5204, the companion funding bill to HB 4002, increased the statewide allotment to the Community Corrections fund, which funds Parole & Probation and related services, by $16 million statewide for the 2023-25 biennium. Rejected request Emergency Management funding House Bill 4075, suggested by Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, aimed to begin a process to create a dedicated agency and funding source for emergency management focused on wildfire fighting by creating a new state-wide property tax. Lane County submitted testimony in favor, but many more people and organizations were opposed to the idea of a new tax, and the bill did not leave committee. Unaddressed requests Lane County commissioners' priorities that did not get addressed in the short session include: A new funding source for County Assessor offices. Funding for the Coleman, proposed re-entry housing on the county's Parole & Probation campus at the corner of Roosevelt Boulevard and Highway 99. Changing election rules so that local ballot measures include the language and fiscal impact statements required of state ballot measures, and to change the election dates of recall elections. A dedicated funding source for Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams such as CAHOOTS. A bill to cap "claim timeframes and excess value distributions" in response to Tyler v Hennepin County, a 2023 Supreme Court Case barring counties from profiting off of selling tax-foreclosed properties. A dedicated funding source for maintaining covered bridges taken out of highway use. Weapons restrictions in public healthcare settings. Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on X @alanfryetorres. This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene and Lane County received some help from the Oregon Legislature Flash Officials of the African Union Commission (AUC) have lauded Africa-China cooperation in the health sector, whereby China has proven to be a strategic partner in dealing with infectious diseases, including Tuberculosis (TB) in Africa. Sheila Shawa, a senior technical specialist of the AUC, said China has remained a real partner to Africa by building the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to advance public health in Africa. "The AU Commission develops policies, and the Africa CDC implements those policies by going to each member state. The center is contributing a lot to addressing infectious diseases, strengthening disease diagnosis and developing vaccines," Shawa told Xinhua in a recent interview. She said the Africa CDC has a huge significance in workforce development, disease outbreak response, surveillance and early warning across the continent. "We call upon China to further engage in infrastructure development across the continent that will lead to improvement of sanitation and hygiene and ultimately reduction of TB infection," Shawa said. Francis Chisaka Kasolo, director of the World Health Organization (WHO) liaison office at the AU and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said the Africa CDC brings additional impetus to AU member states to respond to the TB pandemic and other communicable diseases. "Having a centralized Africa CDC here is really a bonus for the continent and helps partners, including my own organization, the World Health Organization, fight TB on the continent," Kasolo told Xinhua. According to a WHO report, an estimated 2.5 million people fell ill with TB in Africa, resulting in around 424,000 deaths in 2022. Noting that Africa-China cooperation in the health sector is gaining momentum over time, Kasolo said the African Union is working to develop vaccines locally at the Chinese-built Africa CDC complex in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. "China has a history of working with Africa for many years, and now the hope is that it will continue investing in health and supporting African institutions to promote health across the continent," Kasolo added. The officials made these remarks Friday on the sideline of an event marking World Tuberculosis Day, which falls on March 24 every year to raise people's awareness of the disease, at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, under the theme of "Yes! We can end TB!" Members of the elite class in medieval England were not known for their modesty and pragmatism. They wanted the best of the best, and this mentality extended to their horses. The significance of horses to life in medieval England cannot be understated, researchers said in a March 22 study published in the journal Science Advances. Procuring high-quality horses for labor, war, travel, and tournaments was of paramount importance. The researchers said kings, among other high-ranking elites, used lots of resources to make sure the best horses in the world were brought to England, but very little is known about where they came from and how they got there. Then a horse cemetery was unearthed. Elite equestrians On Elverton Street, in the neighborhood of Westminster, just streets away from Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, a housing redevelopment project began in the mid-1990s, the researchers said. The cemetery was found in the neighborhood of Westminster, just streets away from Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, the center of British power. Uncover more archaeological finds What are we learning about the past? Here are three of our most eye-catching archaeology stories from the past week. Hidden tunnel network found at abandoned 800-year-old home in France Metal detectorist stumbles on 650-year-old artifact and sparks a mystery Ancient Roman ruins found in Germany help solve 140-year-old mystery, photos show When they dug into the ground, archaeologists discovered 197 pits, 56 of which were filled with the remains of animals, according to the study. More than 70 horses were found to be buried here, the researchers said, and the site was dated to between 1425 and 1517, the late medieval and early Tudor period. The horse remains sat for decades, as more information was limited by the technology available for the researchers, but some conclusions could be made from their bones alone. These animals are big and physically robust, study author Oliver Creighton, an archaeologist at the University of Exeter, said in a news release. The horses had fused vertebrae, which was typical of horses that carried heavy loads or often had people on their backs, according to the study. Westminster Palace was also a noted and busy royal tournament venue, where jousts were regularly held, while the pasture that adjoined the Elverton Street site was the venue of other tournaments and combats, the researchers said. One horse also had evidence of a bit that was commonly used by highly trained elite horses from the 14th century onward, according to the study. This, combined with the location, really points to them being jousting horses, Creighton said. Theres a vast amount of prestige involved. Where did they come from? Isotopes from horse teeth showed they came from around Scandinavia and Europe, and very few were born and raised in England. Using the enamel from the horses teeth, the researchers were able to identify the chemical signatures from the water they drank during their life, proving that the horses were not English-born, according to the study. The researcher analyzed the teeth for strontium isotopes, an element that builds up in tooth enamel in the early layers of teeth as the horse ages, according to the release. The isotopic signatures look different depending on where the horse spent its first few years of life, the researchers said, and it can be used to tell where they were likely born. Fifty percent of the horses we looked at came from a long way off, study author Alexander Pryor, an archaeological scientist at the University of Exeter, told Science. A few horses had isotopes belonging to the British chalklands across southeast Britain, the researchers said, which includes 14th-century London. Others came from further away in the United Kingdom, including Dartmoor and southwest Britain, the researchers said. Nearly half of the horse remains that were tested came from Scandinavia and mainland Europe, including Sweden, Finland, the Danish island of Bornholm, and locations throughout the central and southern Alps, according to the study. Horses regularly were bred and traded internationally during this era, the researchers said, including from royal efforts to diversify the equine stock. The proximity of the horse cemetery to a thoroughfare between Lambeth and Westminster suggests the horses were headed to the Westminster complex, the researchers said. These horses were fully buried, and not just in pieces, which was odd for the time period, according to the study, were imported from abroad and were near the center of British power. While none of these features are necessarily unique to high-status horses, in combination, they suggest strongly that the Elverton horses are elite animals owned by elite households, including possibly the royal household itself, the researchers said. Roman helmet looked like a rusty bucket when it was found in UK. Now, its restored Ancient warehouse from first Roman city outside Italy discovered in France. See it Mysterious wooden train car almost 100 years old unearthed in Belgium, photos show 137-year old shipwreck, doomed by sudden fog, found remarkably intact in Michigan Jasmeen Basi and Dillon Birring spent more than $6,300 on a trip to Egypt. It was their first time together abroad, and their daughters needed passports. Basi said the UK passport office lost her 3-year-old's photo and used an older child's photo instead. Jasmeen Basi and Dillon Birring's family vacation was quickly approaching. It would be their first trip abroad as a family of four. At the end of March, they'd travel from their home in England to Egypt on an eight-day trip that cost them about $6,300. Basi told Business Insider she did everything right. They booked the trip three months in advance, and shortly after, she began the passport application process for herself and her two daughters, Sofia, 5, and Daya, 3. Basi's passport arrived in about two weeks, and Sofia's took even less time. But weeks went by, and the family still hadn't received Daya's. Finally, Basi said she got an update from a worker that there had been a mistake: Daya's photo had been misplaced with another child's image. Representatives for the UK's passport office did not respond to a request for comment from BI. However, in a statement sent to the BBC, a representative said that the "passport processing systems are performing without issues, with over two million applications already processed in 2024." The representative also added that they had contacted Basi and her family. An image of passports. Peter Garrard Beck/Getty Images A photo mix-up delayed Daya's passport The UK passport office advises booking trips after a passport has been issued, but Basi said she thought three months was enough time, as the government website states that most are processed within three weeks. Basi said she sent Daya's documents to the Liverpool passport office on December 22. Then, on January 4, she said she received an email confirming that they received the application and documents. Once three weeks went by, Basi said she remembers thinking, "I won't panic." "Then, it was getting nearer and nearer to our date of travel," she added. Basi said she called the UK government's office, and a worker advised her to apply and pay for a fast-tracked passport, which speeds up the process. The request was denied with no reasoning, she said. Each day, Basi called for updates. Finally, with less than two weeks until they left for Egypt, a worker had one. According to Basi, the worker pulled up the passport, which had an image of a different child. "The guy on the phone says, 'The picture in front of me is a child that looks much older than 3,'" Basi told BI. After confirming that her daughter looked like her age, Basi said the worker asked, "Does she have adult teeth?" It became clear that the picture on Daya's passport wasn't Daya. Instead, it was of a child between 7 and 12 years old. The office couldn't find the image sent with Daya's application, so Basi rushed to get a new photo sent to the passport office. Then, Basi said the passport office sent this second set to the wrong regional office. With the vacation quickly approaching, Basi mailed a third set of images. Less than 24 hours before their flight, Basi said the family was informed the passport had been printed and was ready at the London office. She canceled work, took her daughter out of preschool, and drove to London to get the passport. On top of time, Basi said this mishap cost her family more money than they initially planned with printing and mailing multiple sets of images. These costs come when the price of getting a UK passport continues to rise. This March, the UK government announced that another cost increase is expected to occur in April. Daya with her passport. Jasmeen Basi Now, Basi is left wondering where her daughter's pictures went On Friday, the family left for Egypt, and while Basi is thrilled all four family members will be able to vacation together, she said it's still unsettling not knowing where Daya's image went. "The other issue is that they can't tell me where my daughter's picture is. They don't know if it's been attached to someone else's passport application. They can't locate the child whose photo was attached to my daughter's application," she said. "So, in terms of a data breach and where our child's picture is, they just can't tell me." Basi said she had filed at least three complaints now, but it's been radio silence from the passport office. "It's definitely anxiety-inducing," she said. Read the original article on Business Insider Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney discuss the findings of an investigation into the officer-involved shooting in October in a press conference Mar. 25. FOND DU LAC With the investigation concluded, more information has been released in the October officer-involved shooting at Drury Place. Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said during a March 25 joint press conference with Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt that his office found no basis to issue criminal charges against Deputy Blaine Evans and that the deputy's actions were in self defense. Oct. 14, city police officers and county deputies responded in the early morning to a disturbance involving weapons in the 500 block of Drury Place, where a man inside a vehicle exchanged gunfire with Deputy Evans. The man, 34-year-old Kyle Massie, was treated for injuries but died on scene, and Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office police dog Iro was seriously injured during the incident and treated at a veterinary hospital. Evans was placed on administrative leave, per agency policy. The DOJ's Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the incident with assistance from the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory, the Wisconsin State Patrol and a DCI Crime Response Specialist. Fatal crash: Eden man dies in two-vehicle crash on snow-covered Fond du Lac County road Timeline of events shows gunfire lasted just more than a minute Waldschmidt said Evans had five minutes left in his shift when a woman called 911 at 5:54 a.m. and said she had been held against her will by Massie and had managed to escape, and that Massie had guns. Evans, who had read the comments over the dispatcher's shoulder, set out with Iro in his squad car and found Massie's vehicle a few minutes later, following it with emergency lights and sirens activated. Massie's vehicle did not stop, even after Evans attempted a precision immobilization technique maneuver. When Massie drove into his Drury Place driveway off Western Avenue and crashed through the half-closed garage door, Evans parked his squad car partially in the driveway. He exited the squad car with police dog Iro and called out multiple warnings as Massie started to get out of his car with an "AR"-style rifle, Toney said. Evans sent Iro into the garage, and Massie opened fire first at Iro, then at Evans. The two exchanged gunfire before Massie backed his car out of the garage and struck the front of the squad car. Gunfire resumed, until the final gunshot at 6:13 a.m., determined to be fired by Massie and self-inflicted. The time between Evans exiting his squad car and the final gunshot was 67 seconds. He fired 45 rounds, and though two had struck Massie, neither was fatal. Massie fired 11 times. Immediately after the incident, personnel attempted life-saving efforts on Massie, but he died from the self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Fond du Lac Police Department found the woman who had escaped Massie's residence just before the incident and took her to the department for a statement. Waldschmidt believes Massie had been on his way to look for her when Evans found him. Toney added Massie had no known criminal convictions. Stabbing incident: 50-year-old man arrested on suspicion of stabbing woman in Fond du Lac after investigation spans 3 counties Iro and Evans will be back in action together sometime this year Waldschmidt said Massie had every opportunity to surrender, and Evans defended himself to stop the threat. Additionally, without Iro, more bullets would have been fired not only at Evans, but also toward the residences behind him. "I know many in our community are very thankful for those people who are willing to, even at the end of their shift, move into harm's way, not knowing what they're going to face, but knowing there's somebody that needs help," he said. Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office police dog Iro shows off his recovery at a press conference Mar. 25 revealing the findings of an investigation into the officer-involved shooting in October. After the incident, Evans cared for Iro in the garage, who had been shot multiple times. Fond du Lac Police Officer Charles Beckford, a police dog handler himself, was one of the officers to assist in treating him at the scene. Deputy Michael Vis, also a handler, used his K-9-equipped squad car to transport Iro, Evans and Beckford to Blue Pearl Pet Hospital in Grand Chute. Grand Chute Police Department officers assisted once the squad car exited off the highway. With multiple surgeries and other life-saving measures, veterinarians stabilized Iro, and one was able to offer a blood transfusion with the help of their own dog. Iro continues to recover and is undergoing physical therapy. Waldschmidt said the department has every reason to believe he will return to duty once he's medically cleared, sometime this year. "When he came into my office last week, like he often does, he was nosing the air, sniffing around," he said. "He's not going to find drugs in my office, but he was sniffing for drugs, he was doing his thing." Following his administrative leave, Evans will return to work in a hybrid fashion without Iro, until Iro is fully recovered. Evans has five years of law enforcement service and has been Iro's handler since April 2022. The police dog has been deployed with him 143 times, resulting in locating 417 grams of marijuana, 105 grams of cocaine, 4.4 grams of heroin, 444 grams of fentanyl, 64 grams of methamphetamine, 326 grams of psilocybin (mushrooms), 215 prescription pills, 12 guns; participating in numerous searches for missing persons and fleeing suspects; and seizing more than $1,500 in cash. Contact reporter Daphne Lemke at dlemke@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Deputy cleared in Fond du Lac officer-involved shooting on Drury Place Almost one year after doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow was convicted of killing her two children and conspiring to murder her love rival, the victims family members will return to the same Idaho courtroom to see her husband Chad Daybell go on trial for the slayings. Larry Woodcock, the grandfather of Lori Vallows murdered seven-year-old son JJ Vallow, told East Idaho News in a recent interview that he and his wife Kay will be once again traveling from their Louisiana home to Idaho for the proceedings. Mr Woodcock said he believes prosecutors will prove their case against the alleged cult leader, who he described as a wimp of a man. Im totally confident that hell be found guilty, Mr Woodcock said. If you took a picture of Chad on April 1 in court and you found a picture of him four years ago when he was in court, I dont think theres any change. His demeanour hasnt changed, his attitude hasnt changed hes so blase and just a wimp of a man. Mr Daybell, who married Lori Vallow two weeks after his wife Tammy Daybell died in October 2019, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree murder in the deaths of Lori Vallows children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua JJ Vallow, 7, and his wife Tammy. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to stand trial on 1 April. Chad Daybells trial is scheduled to begin April 1 in Ada County, Idaho (Post Register) The children vanished without a trace in September 2019, sparking a multi-state search while Vallow appeared carefree marrying her new husband Chad Daybell on a beach in Hawaii. The childrens bodies were finally discovered nine months later buried in a pet cemetery on Mr Daybells property in Idaho. Their disappearances and deaths mark only part of a dramatic case that spans a deeply disturbing pattern of murders, unexplained deaths and bizarre cult beliefs about killing zombies. In May 2023, Vallow was found guilty of murdering her two children, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, and is serving three life sentences without the possibility of parole. She is currently in an Arizona jail awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to murder her fourth husband Charles Vallow and her former nephew-in-law Brandon Boudreaux. That trial is scheduled to begin in August. Larry Woodcock hugs an attendee after the verdict was read in the Lori Vallow trial last year (AP) After spending nearly every day of Vallows weeks-long trial in Ada County courtroom, the Woodcocks said they know Mr Daybells trial will be different. Mr Woodcock pointed out that while he had a lot of anger towards Vallow, he does not know Mr Daybell as well. I was angry at Lori that she would do something and participate in something like this, he explained. I really dont have a lot of feelings about Chad. Im angry at him, sure, and I certainly share no love for him. But its just a really different set of feelings. Daybell has been transported from Fremont County to the Ada County Jail ahead of the highly-anticipated trial, which is expected to last eight to 10 weeks. Previously, Judge Steven Boyce granted a request to move the trial from Fremont County due to publicity. Unlike Vallows trial, which attracted large crowds of spectators and true crime enthusiasts from all over the world, Mr Daybells proceedings will be livestreamed from Judge Boyces YouTube page. Tylee Ryan and Joshua JJ Vallow vanished without a trace in September 2019, sparking a multi-state search (Family handout) If he is found guilty, he could be sentenced to life in prison or could face the death penalty. Mr Woodcock said he hopes Mr Daybell is given life without parole. There are certain things in life I think are worse than death. Life in prison without the possibility of ever getting out and dying in prison may be worse than death, Mr Woodcock said. I certainly dont wish him the best. VIRGINIA BEACH Avangrid Renewables recently renewed its pitch to the City Council for easements needed to connect its offshore wind project to the grid. But Sandbridge residents who oppose the cable landfall in their neighborhood still have unanswered questions about the proposal. In November, City Manager Patrick Duhaney and Mayor Bobby Dyer told Avangrid officials there wasnt support for the Sandbridge landing, given the amount of community pushback. But the company is forging on and trying to reopen dialogue with the city. Ken Kimmell, Avangrids chief development officer, wrote a letter and provided a new economic impact report on the Kitty Hawk offshore wind project to the City Council March 7 in hopes theyll reconsider it. Theres pushback of some level, I think, from residents of the landings all up and down the East Coast, Kimmell recently told The Virginian-Pilot. Theres nothing unusual about that. Avangrid secured the rights to develop a 122,405-acre lease area about 27 miles off the coast of the Outer Banks for $9 million in 2017. The Kitty Hawk offshore wind project is currently moving through the federal permitting process with a goal of being operational in the early 2030s. But to bring the energy it generates ashore, the project needs to secure a site where transmission cables can come aground. Avangrid has offered Virginia Beach $4.5 million for the easements needed for six energy transmission cables; $8 million for city-owned land for substations; and $1 million every five years for Sandbridge projects, according to Kimmels letter. Kimmell promised more community outreach. We believe we can do a more robust job of sharing information, countering misinformation, listening to the needs of the community, and finding common ground, Kimmell wrote in the letter. Virginia Beach has not yet taken a formal vote on the easements. Over the last year, several neighborhoods that would be impacted by the cable route are aligning with Protect Sandbridge Beach Coalition, a group of residents who oppose the landfall. Were basically just a group of private citizens that, when we found out about Kitty Hawk the project and the potential landfall in Sandbridge in 2022, chose to go out and educate ourselves on it because we werent getting a lot of feedback from the company, said the coalitions spokesperson, Joe Bourne. The group has met with City Council members and wants an independent study of Avangrids cable landing and route. Were not opposing offshore wind; were questioning the site selection for landfall and cable routing and making sure thats being done in a way that has the least impact on communities and the environment, Bourne said. Today, were not convinced that a Sandbridge landfall will actually accomplish that; in fact, we think it causes more issues than it actually resolves. The cables would come ashore in the public parking lot at the end of Sandbridge Road, behind Sandbridge Seaside Market. Michelle Clough, a Lagomar resident, heard about the project through a fellow book club member who lives in Sandbridge and became concerned about how the parking lot will be affected by the underground cables. Thats really our only access to Sandbridge Beach; thats our little part of Sandbridge, said Clough. What happens if it breaks, what happens if it needs maintenance? The Sandbridge Beach Civic League voted against the cable landing in 2022, and members have no plans to reverse their vote as they wait for their questions to be answered, said President Elaine Fekete. One question is whether the offshore transmission cables could block sand borrow areas offshore that are used for Sandbridge beach renourishment. The civic league also wants to know if construction could limit access to their secluded neighborhood, which is accessed by one main road. Whats going happen to our roadways (during construction)? asked Fekete. We already are trapped when theres an accident on Sandbridge Road. The amount of time it will take to build the landfall for six cables is also on their radar. Croatan, another Virginia Beach neighborhood, is currently dealing with headaches from construction of Dominion Energys offshore wind cable landing site. Noise coming from the land work is spreading farther than anticipated, and Dominion is having to make adjustments to mitigate the problem. Avangrid estimates the Kitty Hawk project will be able to generate up to 3,500 megawatts of electricity to power 1 million homes and businesses in Virginia and North Carolina. The project would be built in two phases with a total of 176 wind turbines off of North Carolinas coast. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is currently conducting an environmental review of the proposed project and reasonable alternatives. The first phase, called the Kitty Hawk North Wind Project, would have 69 wind turbine generators, one offshore substation, up to two transmission cables making landfall in Virginia Beach and an onshore substation. Avangrid is is actively seeking one or more power purchase agreements for the project. Avangrid has said North Carolinas beaches arent stable for a landing site due to erosion and lack sufficient transmission infrastructure. Sandbridge is the companys preference because its the shortest of the northern cable routes and doesnt cross any existing submarine cables, according to the company. Council member Barbara Henley, who represents Sandbridge, doesnt support the Sandbridge landing, and Vice Mayor Rosemary said last week she also still opposes it. More so than ever, especially with what Ive seen Croatans going through, Wilson said. Im not changing my mind no matter what they (Avangrid) say or do. Councilman Chris Taylor recently said at a meeting that any future discussions about the Kitty Hawk project should be held publicly. Kimmell said Avangrid officials want to meet with the City Council again soon. Part of our job is to continue to get the science and the facts out there, Kimmell said. Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com Protesters in Tel Aviv calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza - AMIR LEVY/ GETTY IMAGES Hamas could free 40 Israeli hostages in return for the release of up to 800 Palestinian prisoners, it was reported on Sunday night. Quoting government officials, Israeli media said the freed prisoners could include hundreds serving life sentences for terrorist attacks. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli negotiators in Qatar signed off on an American compromise specifying the number of Palestinians who would be freed for each Israeli. Al Akhbar, the Lebanese newspaper, reported that the original blueprint submitted by Hamas to mediators proposed a 42-day initial ceasefire, followed by a permanent one. It also reported that Hamas proposed releasing 50 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage. Israel had initially described Hamass demands as absurd. Previous talks, via mediators, with Hamas broke down over the terrorist groups demand for a permanent ceasefire and its refusal to provide a list of captives it still held. Israel, which is committed to the complete destruction of Hamas, had been reluctant to agree to a permanent end to the fighting. However, negotiations resumed on March 15, after Hamas submitted revised proposals dropping its demand for a permanent ceasefire. Israel responded by sending a delegation to Qatar to resume talks. The Israeli government found itself under pressure from a group representing the families of the hostages, who urged the coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the deal. More than 240 hostages were seized by Hamas on Oct 7 in a raid in which an estimated 1,200 people were killed. A temporary truce late last year saw more than 100 hostages freed. At least four have died in captivity and around another 100 are still being held. If confirmed, the agreement would see hostages released in batches. The first tranche of about 40 would be women, including Israeli soldiers, along with the elderly sick and wounded. The Telegraph has approached the US Department of State for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. North Korea says Japans prime minister Fumio Kishida has requested to meet Kim Jong-un as soon as possible in what would be the first summit between the two countries leaders in about two decades. Kim Yo-jong, a senior North Korean official and the influential sister of the hermit kingdoms leader, said the meeting would depend on Japan, which occupied the Korean peninsula from 1910-45, making practical political decisions. That appears to be a reference to the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents decades ago, an episode that has overshadowed relations between the two countries ever since. The prime minister should know that just because he wants to and has made a decision, it doesnt mean he can or the leadership of our country will meet him, Ms Kim said, according to state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). She said the Japanese prime minister made his intention known through another channel, without giving details. What is clear is that when Japan antagonises the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea and violates its sovereign rights, it is considered our enemy and will become part of the target, Ms Kim added. Japans Kishida (right) has previously said a summit with Kim Jong-un is essential to improve relations in the region (AFP/KCNA via KNS/AFP/Getty) Japan acknowledged it has been trying to arrange a bilateral summit but dismissed as unacceptable North Koreas preconditions for it. Mr Kishida on Monday reiterated the importance of a summit to resolve issues such as the abduction matter. Nothing has been decided for now, he told reporters. North Korea and Japan dont have diplomatic ties: relations have been overshadowed by North Koreas nuclear programme, the abduction issue, and Japans 1910-45 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula. Japans colonial wrongdoing is also a source of on-again, off-again wrangling between Tokyo and Seoul. After years of denial, North Korea acknowledged in an unprecedented 2002 summit between Kim Jong-il, the late father of Kim Jong-un, and the then Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi that its agents had kidnapped the 13 Japanese. Japan believes North Korea wanted to use them to train spies in Japanese language and culture. In 2004, Koizumi made a second visit to North Korea and met Kim Jong-il again. That was the last summit between the leaders of the two countries. Ms Kim said there would be no breakthrough in North Korean-Japan relations as long as Mr Kishidas government is engrossed in the abduction issue and interferes in the Norths exercise of our sovereign right, apparently referring to the Norths weapons testing activities. The history of the DPRK-Japan relations gives a lesson that it is impossible to improve the bilateral relations full of distrust and misunderstanding, only with an idea to set out on a summit meeting, Ms Kim said, using the abbreviation of the Norths official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. If Japan truly wants to improve the bilateral relations and contribute to ensuring regional peace and stability as a close neighbour of the DPRK, it is necessary for it to make a political decision for a strategic option conformed to its overall interests, she said. Kim Yo-jong is the influential sister of Kim Jong-un (AP) In February, Ms Kim issued a similar statement, saying North Korea was open to inviting Mr Kishida to Pyongyang but that it would only be possible if Tokyo stopped taking issue with North Koreas legitimate right to self-defence and the abduction issue. Talk of a possible North Korea-Japan summit comes amid concerns that North Korea could further intensify its weapons testing activities in what is an election year both in the US and South Korea. Experts say North Korea would aim to use an enlarged weapons arsenal to win concessions from the US such as sanctions relief. While North Korea may be waiting out elections in South Korea and the United States before re-engaging those countries in diplomacy, it probably wants to strengthen its hand by developing weapons and driving wedges between US allies, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. Kishida feels political urgency to address the abductions issue and is thus showing diplomatic effort. The impoverished North also considers any possible Japanese economic assistance it could receive if the two countries normalised their ties, said analyst Moon Seong Mook with the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea could seek the current value of the Japanese assistance that South Korea received when those two countries normalised their ties in 1965 $500m or more. South Koreas foreign ministry said on Monday it was closely communicating with Japan on Tokyo-Pyongyang contacts and the North Korean nuclear issue. It said that South Korea, the US and Japan are working closely together to return North Korea to a path of denuclearisation. North Koreas advancing nuclear and missile arsenals pose a major security threat to Japan as well as South Korea and the United States. The three countries have expanded their trilateral training exercises in response to the Norths provocative run of weapons tests since 2022. Japan and South Korea are two of Americas key allies in the region, together hosting about 80,000 US troops in their territories. Additional reporting by agencies Ras Baraka couldnt be less like Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott. A Black Democrat raised by activist poets, he is the mayor of New Jerseys largest city, Newark, and proclaimed it a sanctuary city in the Trump era, ran a guaranteed income program and expanded opportunities to vote. But he sees a chance to be like the Republican governors of Florida and Texas in one way. If hes elected governor next year, he says hed push New Jersey further left and make it a liberal trend-setter in the same way the two red-state governors have held such influence on national issues like immigration and sex education. We could be a proving ground, he said in an interview this month near Newark City Hall. Baraka is one of the most progressive Democrats in New Jersey, and possibly the nation. He says hed push New Jersey further to the left at a time of political upheaval, with Sen. Bob Menendez charged with corruption and the race to replace him fracturing Democrats because of the states unique endorsement process. Baraka is one of the few elected officials calling for an end to that, which effectively gives local leaders the power to anoint candidates in primaries. And he does not seem to care much for the back-slapping necessary to gain those leaders support. People are tired of the same old, same old, and the same people who look the same, who talk the same, who have the same talking points all the time, saying theyre going to do stuff that they're really not going to do, Baraka said. These people have been giving us Froot Loops and Apple Jacks and telling us it's different cereal. Like, come on, y'all. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. So what's your strategy? And why is running for governor good for you? The folks that I talk to in New Jersey the voters, the homeowners that have kitchen table issues that they talk about all the time are really fed up with the way things have actually been going. They want to see something different. They want to see something more imaginative, something more creative, something more assertive, and not the same old, same old that we've been getting. I think people around the state are willing to come together to figure out things on economic prosperity, things like trying not to make the cost of living increase even worse than it is. All those kinds of things issues around equity and getting more people into the economy, housing are broad-based issues that we have in Newark, we feel them probably more disproportionately than other places. But people have these issues. And all we have to do is let people understand that our issues are your issues, and that me fighting for housing in Newark is the same as you fighting for housing in your community. Would you say housing is your top issue? Housing is the number one most expensive issue that we deal with housing and healthcare. But many people are spending 30 percent of their salary on housing, 50 percent of their salary on housing. You don't have time or money to do anything else education, shopping, and those costs are going up. We need to address that. And the problem is when we talk about it, we make it a city issue, but it's a statewide issue. New Jersey is deeply segregated. At the base of our segregation is housing. At the base of our educational issues is housing. From Livingston to Newark is eight miles. The life expectancy rate is a 14-year difference between Livingston and Newark. So you are basically condemned by your ZIP code. Can you talk a little bit about your view on reparations? How should that conversation go? First of all, you have to be able to have the courage to say reparations and not say, Oh, we can call it something else other than that. The discussion has to at least be getting there like, how do we create equity, even in our procurement and our spending as we try to do in Newark? How do we make sure people have access to resources, opportunity, to quality education, all those things? The governor talks about 'Black and brown communities suffer the most here disproportionately.' Everybody says that. So we want to create a budget that does no harm, but not a [state] budget that actually repairs the harm. I think the first thing people are afraid of is that you're blaming them. Well, none of us were there, but the harm of it still exists all the decades, centuries later. When they were giving out loans after World War II, we weren't getting them, right? All the discrimination that came between that, from lynching to segregation to poor housing all of those things are barriers, deliberate institutional barriers that prevented people from gaining wealth or access to wealth. And so, we're not even courageous enough to have a discussion about this? I mean, it's not Mississippi. This is New Jersey, we can talk about this here. I imagine a lot of people are going to hear what you're saying and say, this is New Jersey, it's not Mississippi, so why should we be having reparations in New Jersey? Because we have a wealth gap that is going to take us 200 years to fill. We have the sixth most segregated state in the nation, because we have schools that are some of the best in the country, but all of our kids are not in them side by side with schools where the majority of kids can't read on a third grade level. That's a problem when Black women still die seven times more than white women in hospitals giving birth. You're probably the most progressive candidate in the race right now. You're talking about things like baby bonds, reparations. That's probably going to have a price tag attached to it. But there could be more middle-of-the-road voters who might normally go for a guy like Murphy or go for a Democrat and look at what you're saying and say, that might be a little bit too left for me in a general election. So how do you deal with that? Well, I think that there are enough people in this state who understand that we need child tax credits, that we need baby bonds. They understood it, they saw it during Covid. And they understood that this is what kept them surviving in the state. And to explain that clearly to people is what needs to happen. We can appeal to folks throughout the state who understand what economic prosperity means and what they need in order to get a lift, a boost up to do the work that they need to do. Whether you're Black or brown, whether you are Caucasian, in this community, that community, I think everybody feels the brunt. Just putting it all together things like baby bonds, reparations, other programs that you're probably going to want. But Covid aid is drying up, the revenues are dropping off. There are huge built-in costs. The newest budget for the governor has $11 billion in school funding, a $7 billion pension payment. It's tight. That's why we need to reimagine all of that. What does that mean? We need to rethink all this why are we paying for this stuff? How is it being paid? For who? How are we raising the revenue in the state? Even the school formula itself like, who's getting money, who's not? All those things need to be looked at. Look, I came into office in Newark with a $93 million hole. And the same arguments that people make now, they made then: 'Oh, businesses are gonna run.' That's not what happened. This idea that you can't do good and be prosperous is wrong. It sounds very much to me like you're coming at this from an outsider's perspective. You've been the mayor for 10 years, so you're not really an outsider. At the end of the day, the only thing I'm outside of is the traditional way we've been doing things. And I've even participated in some of the traditional things, and those things are just outdated and broken. And we have to figure out how to do things differently. We can't have, like, five or six people making decisions for the entire state of New Jersey. People will actually vote in New Jersey like theyre playing bingo A1, A2, A3 and they don't even know these people. And that's problematic. It doesn't serve democracy, its wrong. I think right now the process is designed to keep people out of it. We have to figure out how to create more options for voting, same day voting, all these other kinds of things that exist to bring more people into the electoral process. You would be New Jerseys first Black governor if elected. How much does that matter to you? And how would that intertwine with your leadership style and how youd govern if you're elected? It means a lot to me because it would mean a lot to my grandmother. And it would mean a lot to my neighbors if that happened. And how I govern would be how I would govern here, ultimately to make sure the least of us are taken care of, to be a Democrat for real. Going back to the reparations discussion and the wealth gap, do you feel that leaders in Trenton have just been Afraid is the word I will use. They're afraid they're gonna lose votes, lose their base, which is ridiculous. They talk about it in California, none of those people lost anything. They talk about it in New York, none of those people lost anything. Kathy Hochul talks about it. Nobody threw her out. What you're saying is just to talk about it, you're not even putting out a proposal that says anything, right? I think people are mature enough in this century to have a discussion about reparations in America, in states like New Jersey. What it turns out to be remains to be seen. I think we figure that out collectively, what that looks like for us in New Jersey. The country has to figure it out in a national way, in my mind, but in the state of New Jersey, like other states, we push here like cities push the state, the states push the country to do grander things that we just don't have the resources to do that the country does. More broadly, though, do you feel like Democrats in Trenton have been, on the progressive front writ large, more timid lately? I think that the horse trading in New Jersey the history of it, the way it happens makes it difficult for us to go further than we need to go. I think there are a lot of Democrats who are ready to go, they just need support. You were born shortly after the riots, correct? You grew up in this city and you just have a perspective that's much different from everybody else. So can you just talk a little bit about how that informs your whole worldview and why you're even wanting to do this? I was born two years after the Newark Rebellion here. I was a baby when Kenneth Gibson became the first Black mayor of a major city along the eastern seaboard. There's a picture of me as a baby in Mayor Kenneth Gibson's arms. My mother had to hide my brother upstairs when the police raided our home. My father was beaten and charged in court for being a part of what was going on in the city they actually read one of his poems as an example of him being an insurrectionist. So all the things that I saw as a kid definitely inform the way I see the world, the way I see Newark, the way I see New Jersey. And there was no Marshall Plan for us. Nobody came and gave us $100 million grant and said, Fix all this stuff. We had to figure it out. I love my community and fight for it as desperately as I can, which is why I'm so passionate and committed to the work that we're doing. And really, I think these people are careerist and ambitious. And I'm not angry at the ambition. I just think that ambition should be big enough to include more people than themselves. Whos careerist? The folks in Trenton? Trenton. The politicians in New Jersey. I think most often folks are careerists. Politics is their career, and theyre looking to advance themselves in their careers, for the most part. And that's what that ambition is about, advancing in that way. Like, if I didn't become the mayor it wouldn't have been the end of the world for me. I feel the same way about being the governor of the state of New Jersey. I wont run into a corner and be crushed. At the end of the day, I feel like I win anyway. Do you think about yourself in a broader context beyond New Jersey in terms of your vision and what you've done here in Newark? I think that what we can do in New Jersey would have an impact on the country. I pray that it does the same way that Governor Abbott has an impact on the country, the same way that Governor DeSantis has an impact on the country. Whether were talking about affirmative action or voting rights or opportunities for working people in this nation, we can be an example for the rest of the nation. But that's basically the extent of what I think. I'm not interested in being on a national scene doing anything. I'm comfortable in my own backyard here, causing trouble. JetBlue Airways, struggling to cope with the expense of its failed merger attempt with Spirit Airlines, will soon be cancelling flights from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, Kansas City, Nashville and Salt Lake City. It also plans to end service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood to Bogota, Colombia, Quito, Ecuador, and Lima, Peru. JetBlue flies out of Palm Beach International Airport, but as of now, there are no cancellations for routes flying in and out of that airport. PBI is experiencing record passenger volume, and recently added a JetBlue nonstop flight from PBI to Los Angeles. The cancellations will occur on June 13. They are part of an effort to cut costs after a federal judge disallowed the Spirit-JetBlue merger, ruling it would raise air fares for consumers across the country. JetBlue and Spirit this month called off the merger plans. JetBlue will pay Spirit $69 million. Spirit shareholders have already received $425 million in prepayments from JetBlue. JetBlue has incurred losses exceeding $2 billion since its last profitable year in 2019. JetBlue plans to cut nearly a third of its flights out of Los Angeles International Airport in June, including routes to Las Vegas, Miami and San Francisco, the airline said in a memo to employees, according to Bloomberg. A JetBlue plane takes off from Palm Beach International Airport. The airline is the airport's dominant carrier. More than 1 million passengers flew on its planes at PBI in 2023. More: JetBlue, Spirit call off $3.8 billion merger; what's the impact on South Florida airports? Every route has to earn its right to stay in the network, Dave Jehn, vice president of network planning and airline partnerships, said in the memo. Its more important than ever that we are surgical about every route in our network. JetBlue, though, announced that it will increase service between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and the Caribbean, including Cancun, Montego Bay and Punta Cana, and parts of the Northeast U.S. The carrier reported it will also add flights in the winter from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood to Albany and Buffalo, as well as Providence, Rhode Island, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. So JetBlue says the overall number of departures will remain about the same at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood with the new flights offsetting the eliminated ones. JetBlue's passenger count continues to fall at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood airport JetBlue has announced a number of flight cancellations as it moves on from the failed merger with Spirit Airlines. JetBlue said the cuts were necessary to ensure its profitability. Flights out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has been affected. JetBlue is Fort Lauderdale-Hollywoods No. 2 carrier, accounting for about 20% of its passenger count. But the airline had been cutting back at FLL since 2019 while other airlines have returned or even exceeded their 2019 levels. According to the airport's passenger statistics web site, JetBlues passenger count for 2023 fell by about 1.6 million, or 20% when compared to 2019. Spirit saw an increase of about 24% from 2019 to 2023; it currently accounts for 29% of all passengers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood. Spirit has also been restructuring its network. Late last year, it eliminated service to Denver from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood and further flight reductions are expected to take place as Spirit, like JetBlue, takes steps to return to profitability. Analysts, though, have questioned whether Spirit can survive as a stand-alone carrier. Since Jan. 1, its share price has fallen nearly 70%. Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. You can reach him at mdiamond@pbpost.com. Help support local journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: JetBlue cancelling flights out of FLL airport in Florida The judge overseeing the criminal case against an Independence man accused of fatally shooting an Independence police officer and a Jackson County court employee last month has ordered the state public defenders office to provide him an attorney. The ruling, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court Monday, came after the Missouri State Public Defenders office previously determined Larry Acree, 69, was ineligible for its services because of his financial status. In an order directing the public defenders office to designate an attorney to represent Acree, Judge W. Page Bellamy wrote that he considered financial information he had received for the man including debts or expenses owing, assets, income, dependents, and his ability or inability to make a bond. Acree had appealed the Missouri State Public Defenders denial, which had said his income and/or available assets exceeded their guidelines, according to court documents. Bellamy wrote that he had considered the circumstances and found Acree did not have adequate means to retain private counsel. Further, it is the courts experience that the pool of available private attorneys who might be willing and able to provide legal services in this case could be limited, Bellamy wrote. And, the court cannot exclude the possibility that factors other than purely financial considerations could exist preventing the defendant from obtaining private legal counsel. Acree faces two counts of first-degree murder as well as first-degree assault and armed criminal action charges in the shooting that left 41-year-old Jackson County civil process server Drexel Mack and 35-year-old Independence police officer Cody Allen dead. The back and forth over Acrees financial status comes against the backdrop of him losing his home in northeast Independence over back taxes, court records show. That led to eviction proceedings, during which Acree is accused of fatally shooting Mack and Allen Feb. 29. In his ruling, Bellamy also noted that given the nature of the charges, ...it would not be unusual for prospective legal service expenses to also include, in addition to an attorney/attorneys, an investigator, expert witnesses, and the taking of depositions. It is also the courts experience that the costs of those services would greatly exceed the defendants financial abilities to pay based on the information that has been made available to the court. Bellamy said the public defenders office could investigate Acrees financial status further and said he would be required to contribute to the cost of his defense if it was determined he was able to without it imposing a substantial hardship. Acree has remained in jail on a $2 million cash bond. His next hearing is scheduled Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court in Independence. Cameras have not allowed in the courtroom thus far, since Acree has not been represented by an attorney. The Stars Robert Cronkleton contributed reporting to this story. Vice President Kamala Harris said the Biden administration does not aim to ban the video-sharing social media app, TikTok, owned by China-based company ByteDance. A bill with the potential to ban the app in the U.S. passed in the House earlier this month with a 352-65 vote and is sitting in the Senate where its future is unclear. President Joe Biden has said he intends to sign the bill if it passes in the Senate. We do not intend to ban TikTok. That is not at all the goal or the purpose of this conversation. We need to deal with the owner, and we have national security concerns about the owner of TikTok, but we have no intention to ban TikTok, the VP said on ABCs This Week with journalist Rachel Scott. Its an income generator for many people, what it does in terms of allowing people to share information in a free way, in a way that allows people to have discourse. Its very important, Harris continued. More than 170 million Americans use the app, with a creator economy that has contributed to an industry worth more than $250 billion. The bill would prohibit foreign adversary controlled applications, such as TikTok and any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance Ltd. or an entity under the control of ByteDance Ltd. If passed, ByteDance would be forced to sell the app, otherwise it would be banned in the U.S. Many lawmakers and advocates of the bill are concerned that the app jeopardizes national security in the U.S., and that it can be used to spread propaganda or sway elections. The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, previously said during a congressional hearing last year that U.S. data is stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel. In a TikTok video posted earlier this month, Chew pleaded with users to urge Senators not to pass the bill. Over the last few years, we have invested to keep your data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation, Chew said. We have committed that we will continue to do so. This legislation, if signed into law, will lead to a ban of TikTok in the United States. Related... Erosion is continuing to exhume portions of a Cold War military site on North Carolinas Outer Banks, resulting in Cape Hatteras National Seashore closing additional sections of beach. The National Park Service reports about 1,600-feet of beach is now off limits due to safety concerns. Petroleum appears to be leaking from something buried at the once top secret base, officials say. The odors and sheen were observed by Seashore staff near a site formerly used by the Navy and Coast Guard, park officials said in a March 24 news release. The Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers have been notified about the recent observations and the Seashore will be meeting with both agencies. Cape Hatteras began closing sections of beach south of Buxton in September, after storms uncovered potentially hazardous infrastructure that had been covered by sand for years. The latest closure announcement means the public cant access beach from the southernmost beachfront home in the village of Buxton and ending at the first (southernmost) jetty, the park reported. Thats about three-tenths of a mile, officials said. Historians note the 50-acre military site known as Naval Facility Cape Hatteras conducted secret monitoring of submarines, according to CoastalReview.org. It was considered an early warning system for ballistic missile attacks from sea, the outlet reports. In the 1960s, the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) played a crucial role in the U.S. Navys efforts to track and monitor Soviet submarine activity during the Cold War. The system ... consisted of a network of underwater listening stations, the National Park Service reports. On June 26, 1962, Navy personnel inside the ... Cape Hatteras terminal building made the first SOSUS detection of a Soviet diesel submarine. The site outlived its usefulness by 1982 and served as a U.S. Coast Guard location until 2012, officials say. Concerns have long been raised over potential hazards hidden below the surface at the site, including groundwater contamination, CoastalReview.org noted. An agreement between the National Park Service and U.S. Coast Guard called for all 16 structures to be removed when no longer needed, according to NPS. Among the areas of concern were a sewage treatment plant and two diesel generators. Waves from Hurricane Lee reveal 152-year-old piece of buried Outer Banks history Historic buildings on NCs Outer Banks will be lifted as much as 4 feet. Heres why Extended warranty offer washes up on NC Outer Banks beach, proving there is no escape Kathy Mackay had originally planned to pursue opportunities in educational leadership overseas after retiring from Poudre School District. Those plans changed, though, when she learned an American school with a new campus in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates run by a former PSD employee she knows was looking for a new principal for its high school. Mackay applied over the winter and was recently hired, prompting her resignation from PSD after 25 years in the district, the past 11 as principal at Poudre High School. Shell remain at Poudre through the end of the current school year. Im bummed that shes leaving, but Im happy for her, Poudre High social studies teacher Brad Beauprez said. The superintendent of the American Community School of Abu Dhabi is Monique Flickinger, who was the principal at Lincoln Middle School (then a junior high) when Mackay was working there as an assistant principal from 2005-2008. This happened a little bit quicker than I had planned, but its a really great opportunity for me and my family, Mackay said. Im not making a complete leap of faith, jumping completely into the deep end, because I know the superintendent. Theres a little bit of safety there, knowing who my superintendent will be. More: Poudre School District weighs consolidations: Here's a look at draft scenarios The timing works well, Mackay said. Her oldest son, Collin, is in college at Oregon State, and her middle son, Cooper, is graduating from Poudre in May and headed off to college, most likely out of state. She and her husband and their 6-year-old son, Sterling, will move to Abu Dhabi this summer. Mackays two oldest children both went through the International Baccalaureate program at PSD elementary and middle schools and Poudre High, and Mackay has been involved in IB programs as a teacher and administrator at Lincoln Middle School and Poudre High. Serving as a school administrator overseas has been part of a plan, she said, since her older sons were attending Bennett Elementary School when its principal, Michael Schooler, left to run a school in Africa. The American Community School of Abu Dhabi serves students in grades K-12 and opened a new campus last fall on Saadiyat Island, near New York Universitys Abu Dhabi campus, in the capital city of United Arab Emirates. There are about 400 students at the high school, with plans to grow to about 550, Mackay said. Classes are taught in English, and about 55% of the students are American. Another 20% are Canadian, she said, and the others are from European and Asian countries, including the UAE. Mackay has definitely left her mark at Poudre, where she taught history and geography before becoming an administrator. She was an assistant principal at Poudre for five years before becoming principal prior to the 2013-14 school year. She got her start at PSD, she said, working in the video production department before becoming a licensed teacher and administrator. One of Mackay's first steps as principal, longtime technical education teacher Josh Weissman said, was to call all the department heads together and press each of them on what they were doing to turn their visions for their respective departments into reality. She pressed us really hard, he said. I was really uncomfortable in that meeting. She hammered us with difficult, probing questions, and she made us all better. Her support for career and technical education, Weissman said, has been stronger than that of any other administrator he has ever worked under. Weissman runs Poudres popular Pathways in Technology Early College High School program, created out of a partnership between Woodward, Front Range Community College and other industry partners in the area. Mackay has been a strong proponent of other career-readiness programs at Poudre and helped launch a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Poudre this year for students considering future careers in the military. I teach high school shop theres engineering, design and manufacturing and often we suffer under benign neglect, Weissman said. Shes really taken an active role in helping us create course content curriculum that really meets the needs of our community. Shes done a tremendous job in helping us build those important links with businesses, family members and cultural institutions. More: PSD committee modifies proposed graduation requirement changes after community feedback Weissman and Beauprez said they were particularly impressed with how well Mackay guided Poudre through the COVID-19 pandemic, taking hits from people on all sides while helping to insulate the teaching staff from the vitriol and anger that was directed at public education. Poudre serves an unusually diverse population, drawing students from mountain communities west of Fort Collins, ranches stretching north to the Wyoming border, areas around the Fort Collins Country Club, Old Town and multiple neighborhoods of immigrant and economically disadvantaged families in north and northwest Fort Collins. Mackays ability to bring those communities together in a single high school while providing steady leadership and elevating its programs has been impressive, Beauprez said. Its why her resignation is so bittersweet for Poudres staff. Theyre happy for her personally but sad to be losing her leadership. I think the staff generally likes her and is respectful of who she is and how hard she works, he said. Shes a really good thinker and shes flexible, and I think over her 11 years as principal shes helped keep Poudre steady and also thriving. PSD posted a job opening for a new principal at Poudre High on March 19 that says applications will be accepted through April 22. Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, x.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news. This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Poudre High principal Kathy Mackay resigns to take job in Abu Dhabi The ongoing demolition of the former Mansfield YMCA on Park Avenue West continues to be a headache for the city. Mansfield City Council at its Wednesday meeting approved appropriating $600,000 from the PRIDE demolition fund for the project. Mayor Jodie Perry gave council an update on the situation. A truckload of dirt is removed from the former YMCA location on Park Avenue West on Thursday afternoon. "This bill is the match for state money that the land bank received, which was in the amount of $405,000," she said in reference to funding from the Ohio Department of Development. The demolition took place in 2018 and 2019 in an agreement the city had with Page Excavating in Lucas. "Then it went through a process and ended up with the land bank," Perry said. "They did some ground-penetrating radar. There had been some talk about maybe the project wasn't getting done. They did that and discovered, yes, there are some things." Because of the issues, the city can't attract developers for the site. "The land bank had talked to some developers to get it developed in the meantime. Maybe a private developer would take it on," Perry said. That's not happening. Jodie Perry "Everybody was saying, 'No, there's no way we're touching that site.' We don't know what's underneath it," Perry said. Advanced Demolitions Services, in McComb, has been involved in recent months. Mayor: Demolition of former YMCA site not done correctly "When they started digging it up over the early parts of the winter, they discovered much more. There was a notion that parts of the pool were still there," Perry said. "It was not done correctly in the first place. "There were entire rooms left. You can see the word 'gymnasium' on one of the rooms. This obviously grew and grew and grew and grew. That's where we're at right now." Perry added that most of the demolition work is done. "The big part now is to excavate and fill in and green the site," Perry said. "If you've driven by, it's a massive hole in the ground." She said there is a structural concern for the buildings around the site. "It can't be left for years while we look to see what we can do with the contractor," Perry said. Perry said she has spoken to Law Director Rollie Harper about how the city can recoup some of the money after initially paying $500,000. "I'm not going to go into detail, but we are looking at our options," Harper told city council. Before members weighed in, Perry said any large demolitions will have to be put on hold for the time being. Councilwoman Stephanie Zader said she has heard from a number of constituents. "We didn't make this decision, but we have to live with it," she said. "We can't have land just sitting there going to waste. We only have so much land; we need development in the city." Councilwoman Cheryl Meier, representing the 2nd Ward, said she also has heard from a number of people. "This is really an unfortunate situation," Meier said. "I hope that we will pursue any avenues that we have to recoup any of this money. I hate this." Council approves seeking contract for Trimble Road tunnel In other business, city council approved entering into a contract for the construction of a tunnel under Trimble Road. Along with that, council approved a grant agreement between Richland County commissioners and the city for $700,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the tunnel. In all, the tunnel will cost $1.25 million. Council previously approved $250,000 in city ARPA funding. Another $100,000 will come from the permissive sales tax, and the Richland County Foundation is contributing $200,000. The project is part of plans to connect the Richland B&O Bike Trail to downtown Mansfield. Eventually, it will connect the B&O trail just south of Marion Avenue, east to Trimble Road, then north on Trimble to Millsboro Road and finally east to the Mansfield Art Center. A tunnel is considered the safest of the options. City Engineer Bob Bianchi said the city also considered flashing beacons, a traffic signal, a bridge and an overhead pedestrian signal. At that point, Trimble Road is 63 feet wide with traffic that generally travels at 40-45 mph in an area with a posted speed limit of 35 mph. Expected to be a four-month project, construction is scheduled to start this coming summer. The 96-foot-long tunnel would have a lifespan of 75 years. Bianchi said it will have internal lighting and safety cameras. He said Trimble Road would be closed for 45 days. The detour would be Cook Road to Lexington Avenue to Cline Avenue to Marion Avenue. Bianchi recommended closing Woodland at Marion Avenue for the duration of the project. mcaudill@gannett.com 419-521-7219 X: @MarkCau32059251 This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield City Council hoping to finish demolition at old YMCA site PATERSON In the arithmetic of law enforcement personnel, Paterson is trailing Newark, Jersey City and Trenton. The Silk City has 26.55 cops for every 10,000 people, compared with 33.34 per 10,000 in Newark, 30.63 per 10,000 in Jersey City and 27.33 per 10,000 in Trenton, based on a Paterson Press analysis of government payroll and population data. Those ratios may not seem so disparate at first glance. Try looking at the numbers in another way. If Paterson had the same ratio of cops per residents that Newark does, the Silk City police department would have about 521 officers, instead of 416. If Patersons ratio were the same as Jersey Citys, it would have 479 cops. Paterson police headquarters at the Frank X. Graves Jr. Public Safety Complex in April 2021. Instead, Paterson has gone most of the past decade with little more than 400 police officers, after terminating 125 cops in April 2011 because of budget cuts. Paterson has never recovered from the layoffs, said Brian Higgins, the former Bergen County police chief who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. In my opinion, the Paterson Police Department is still understaffed and underfunded. In the five years immediately after the 2011 layoffs, Paterson endured an increase in shootings and homicides. Officer in charge: Yes, Paterson does need more cops Officer in Charge Isa Abbassi, appointed as part of state control of the Paterson Police Department, said he agrees that the city needs more officers. He said he expects to figure out a target number for Paterson cops later this year. In doing its calculations of police staffing, Paterson Press used the state treasurys public payroll data as of Jan. 1 and the United States Census Bureaus 2022 municipal population figures. Among New Jerseys large urban centers plagued by high crime, only Elizabeth with 24.8 officers per 10,000 residents has fewer cops per capita than Paterson. Under Abbassis watch, the department has used state funding to pay for overtime for patrols to increase police presence in problem areas, an initiative that officials and residents say produced a reduction in the citys crime last year. But Policemen's Benevolent Association President Angel Jimenez said the frequent overtime shifts are wearing down city cops. Theyve been working like mules, Jimenez said. Higgins said officer burnout becomes a danger when overtime is used to compensate for understaffing. Social justice activists take exception to assertions that the citys plummeting crime statistics stem from increased police patrols. Black Lives Matter leader Zellie Thomas said violence intervention work by the Paterson Healing Collective organization as well as his own groups outreach efforts have helped make Paterson safer. Mayor Andre Sayegh was not available to be interviewed for this story. One of Sayeghs talking points has been the fact that Paterson has hired more than 100 police officers since he became mayor in 2018. What Sayegh doesnt say in his speeches is that roughly the same number of police officers have left the department during that time. 'A huge disparity in pay' So, essentially, Paterson has been running in place in terms of Police Department staffing. The departures include dozens of officers who have taken law enforcement jobs elsewhere. These officers dont want to leave Paterson, Abbassi said. They have tears in their eyes. Why are they leaving? A huge disparity in pay. Abbassi said departing officers have gotten raises ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 by going to other towns. Jimenez said starting pay for Paterson police officers is $16.32 per hour, barely above New Jerseys minimum wage of $15.13 per hour. The annual salary for a first-year Paterson cop is $33,000, officials said. Isa M. Abbassi, at a press conference, as he assumes the position of Officer in Charge of the Paterson Police Department in Paterson, NJ on Tuesday May 9, 2023. Its an absolute shame that were paying these people to protect us and risk their lives chasing down armed gunmen and theyre making the same amount of money as a food service worker, Abbassi said. The Sayegh administration and its police officers have been in contract negotiations for almost five years, since the last labor agreement expired in 2019. Councilman Luis Velez warned that the improvements achieved in the Police Department under state control could be undermined. If the administration doesnt give the PBA a fair contract, were going to lose a lot more of them, Velez said of police officers. Abbassi said he has been working on shifting officers from administrative duties to street work. He estimated that 3% to 5% of the department has been reassigned as part of that effort. He said he expects to make additional personnel moves along those lines. Theres no question we dont have enough cops, said Jimenez, the PBA president. Free food giveaways are great, but theyre not going to reduce crime. Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson Police Department size lags in NJ per capita PORTSMOUTH Developer Mark McNabb has received site plan approval from the city Planning Board to expand the existing overwater deck at his popular Martingale Wharf restaurant and bar. McNabbs team returned to the board Thursday, March 21, securing the needed approval for the project on Portsmouths waterfront on the Piscataqua River. The expansion will include adding more outdoor seating for the restaurant at 99 Bow St., and a public deck area, according to McNabbs representatives. Martingale Wharf restaurant of Portsmouth is proposing an expansion of its outdoor deck at 99 Bow St. The project consists of two separate decks which will be attached to the east and west ends of the existing overwater deck located at 99 Bow Street, engineer John Chagnon, part of McNabbs team, said in documents filed with the city. The west deck expansion (public wharf deck) will provide the general public with handicap accessible access to the Piscataqua River waterfront for the enjoyment of the active inner harbor of Portsmouth, the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge, the Memorial Bridge, the Moran tugboats, the New Hampshire State Port Authority Pier and the working waterfront of Kittery, Maine, Chagnon said. The east deck expansion will be for an expansion of the existing outside dining for the Martingale Wharf restaurant, which is open to the public. "Martingale Wharf is the only restaurant open to the general public located on the inner harbor of downtown Portsmouth that provides full handicap accessibility via on-street parking located on Bow Street and a passenger elevator to the waterfront, Chagnon added. He stated in documents filed with the city that the plans include specialized landscaped features that will provide the public with a unique experience in a unique space. Project received previous approvals Martingale Wharf restaurant of Portsmouth is proposing an expansion of its outdoor deck at 99 Bow St. The proposed expansion of the existing deck system had previously been approved in 2021 by both the Planning Board and the Historic District Commission, according to the citys Planning Department. But because the state wetland approval was appealed, those approvals expired, Planning Department officials said, which is why McNabb and his team sought and received the second approval. Chagnon told the board Thursday night the expanded deck areas will connect to an existing overwater dock, and all the work is over the water. More local restaurant news: Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier eager to open after storm damage Chagnon noted residents and visitors to Portsmouth will be able to come to a portion of this expanded wharf and view the river and the goings-on. Theres no barriers to that, other than the usual restrictions that would come with keeping the place safe, he said. Chagnon said people will be able to access the public deck from street level by using the elevator to go through the building. The landowner is committing to providing and keeping that access through the building, which is a public benefit, Chagnon said. Noise and garbage concerns raised by neighbors Martingale Wharf restaurant of Portsmouth is proposing an expansion of its outdoor deck at 99 Bow St. Katy Eveland Sherman, who owns a condo unit at 111 Bow St., opposed the deck expansion in person at Thursdays meeting and in an email to the board. The garbage from 99 Bow Street, a problem since it expanded the building, continues to be a huge issue for us causing rancid odor, seepage, loud noise and a rodent problem at 111 Bow Street, a historic building, she wrote in the email to the board. Eveland Sherman also pointed to what she sees as noise problems coming from the Martingale Wharf restaurant and bar. The noise, she said, comes from music, restaurant chatter, dishes clanking, etc.) and lighting (blue lights strung around the deck) is negatively impacting our building and its residents, she said. We, also, notice trash floating by on the river (beverage napkins, paper, etc.), she added. She implored city officials to force the restaurant owners to address existing problems before approving a deck and seat expansion. More: Begala: Portsmouth Planning Board has become a rubber stamp, that's why I resigned No added capacity, attorney for McNabb says Martingale Wharf restaurant of Portsmouth is proposing an expansion of its outdoor deck at 99 Bow St. Attorney James Steinkrauss, who represented McNabb at the meeting, said the deck expansion will not increase restaurant capacity, which is 322 people. He added this project has gone through an extensive public process, including getting approvals from multiple city boards and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. City Councilor Beth Moreau, who also serves on the Planning Board, stated that they actually had extensive public conversations when we first approved this in 2021. She stressed theyre not allowed to increase capacity, despite the deck expansion. So even though they might be increasing outdoor capacity, the indoor capacity decreases if the outdoor capacity increases, Moreau said about the restaurant and bar. She knows the area well because she worked in the building for six years up until 2018. Its downtown, theres always a lot of noise. Thats why I moved out of downtown, she said. She added that when you live or work downtown, sometimes you have to put up with things that go on downtown. Downtown 'energy' acknowledged Board member Joe Almeida said he wanted to be sure that people living next to the restaurant understood that he doesnt take their comments lightly. He has lived downtown near the waterfront for decades. Almeida stressed that hes very sensitive to the high energy levels of downtown. He understands the problems with noise and waste and sometimes the insane levels of energy that downtown has. If this building owner is violating any rules there are avenues to enforce that, Almeida said. I want you to know that I hear your concerns, I share those concerns for downtown residents in the midst of all this energy. It's a very exciting place to live obviously, at times its a very hard place to live for sure, he added. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Martingale Wharf restaurant's expanded deck approved in Portsmouth NH Russia says suspects in the Moscow terror attack came from Tajikistan, something the country denies. Tajikistan and Russia are allies, but tensions have been growing between them. Tensions have also been growing between Russia and other former Soviet republics. Russia's response to the terror attack on Friday in Moscow could drive a wedge between the country and one of its historical allies. Gunmen opened fire inside the Crocus City Hall music venue, killing 137 people and injuring at least 145 more, Russian officials said. ISIS-K, a branch of the Islamic State group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The US also said that the group was behind the attack, citing intelligence. Russian state media said four suspects were identified as citizens of Tajikistan. Tajikistan, a country in Central Asia, has deep historical ties with Russia and was once part of the Soviet Union. It's now part of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has long hoped would amount to the member countries' version of NATO. The suggestion that the attackers were from Tajikistan could create new tensions between the country and Russia. A makeshift memorial in front of Moscow's Crocus City Hall a day after the terrorist attack. STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images Tajikistan has already tried to distance itself from the attack. Its foreign ministry said Saturday reports that its citizens were involved were "fake," The Moscow Times reported. The country's interior ministry also said that two of the suspects initially named by Russian media were in Tajikistan at the time of the attack, per The Moscow Times. Meanwhile, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon told Putin on Sunday that "terrorists have no nationality, no homeland and no religion," his office said. While its ties with China and North Korea have perhaps grown, Russia has become more isolated on the world stage since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Even long-term allies with close cultural and economic ties, including Tajikistan, have revealed their frustrations. In October 2022, Rahmon appeared to scold Putin to his face, demanding respect for his country. According to Mail Online , Rahmon said Tajikistan had to "beg" Russia to attend a forum in Tajikistan. "We are never being treated like strategic partners! No offense, but we want to be respected!" he said. Russia's relationships with other CSTO members are also increasingly strained, and experts on Russia and post-Soviet states previously told Business Insider that the alliance was crumbling. Some of these experts said CSTO members looked at the invasion of Ukraine and believed that Russia was now unlikely to be able to protect them, and may even decide to attack them. Earlier this year, Armenia's president said the country had suspended its participation with the CSTO after frequently criticizing it and Russia. Regional leaders at a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow in 2022. Contributor/Getty Images The suspects in the attack being citizens of Tajikistan would not disprove ISIS involvement. Neither ISIS nor the US has commented on the nationality of the attackers, and ISIS has been recruiting in the country, The Guardian reported. Russia is also going out of its way to point the finger at Ukrainian involvement. Putin said over the weekend that the assailants were fleeing to Ukraine after the attack and that Kyiv was helping them escape. Ukraine denies any involvement in the attack. Russia watchers predicted when the attack started that Putin would try to blame Ukraine so he could avoid responsibility and use it to galvanize support for his war. Experts also said that ISIS likely took advantage of Russia's distraction with the conflict in Ukraine. Vera Mironova, an associate fellow at the Davis Center at Harvard University, told the Financial Times that ISIS saw it as relatively easy to hit Moscow as a result. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Russia could have stopped the attack if it weren't attacking Ukraine. "Those hundreds of thousands of Russians who are now killing on Ukrainian land would surely be enough to stop any terrorists," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider MUNCIE, Ind. Ball State University is collaborating with NASA to provide live broadcast coverage of the total solar eclipse on April 8. Dayna Thompson, director of the Charles W. Brown Planetarium, and Dr. John Millis, department chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and professor of physics, will serve as telescope operators during the eclipse at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASA plans to livestream the eclipse from multiple sites, including from the Ball State telescopes in Indianapolis. We are grateful to NASA for including our university in its coverage of this awe-inspiring total solar eclipse, Thompson said. Through our telescopes, viewers will witness one of natures greatest spectacles. Brown Planetarium Telescope NASA will provide live eclipse broadcast coverage from 1 to 4 p.m. April 8 on NASA+, NASA TV, NASA.gov, the NASA app, and on YouTube. Other venues being utilized by NASA to broadcast the eclipse include the Kerrville Eclipse Festival in Kerrville, Texas; the Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival in Carbondale, Illinois, and the Great Lakes Science Centers Total Eclipse Fest 2024 in Cleveland, among other locations. April 8 will represent the first total solar eclipse to pass over Muncie since 957 AD. The eclipse will begin on Ball States campus around 1:52 p.m. Eastern time, when the moon starts to block out the southwest side of the sun. From around 3:07 to 3:11 p.m. or a totality of about three minutes and 40 seconds Ball State's campus will be plunged into deep twilight as the moon hides the sun from the sky. The eclipse will end around 4:24 p.m. NASA will be utilizing two Ball State-run telescopes for its broadcast feed from Indianapolis on the day of the eclipse. According to Thompson, the hydrogen-alpha-filtered telescope allows viewers to see the sun in a very specific color of red light which shows its atmospheric region the chromosphere. This allows people to see dramatic features of the sun that solar eclipse glasses do not show, such as solar prominences, filaments and flares. The white-light-filtered telescope, meanwhile, shows a similar view as to what solar eclipse glasses show, but safely magnified to show details such as sunspots and features in the moon's edge as it eclipses the sun. More importantly, with this telescope and camera setup, the filter can be taken off during totality, when the sun's bright disk is completely obscured by the moon, showing viewers outside the path of totality a look at the outer atmosphere of the sun, its corona, and prominences. While it's not the same as seeing it in real life, according to Thompson, this allows viewers from all over the world to enjoy totality in real-time alongside the millions of people watching from the narrow band of totality that spans the Americas. From Friday, April 5, through Sunday, April 7, the planetarium and other university entities, such as the David Owsley Museum of Art and the Dr. Joe and Alice Rinard Orchid Greenhouse, will also present a series of programs, workshops, and lectures about the total solar eclipse. A full list of campus eclipse-related events is available on the Universitys online calendar. For those looking to experience the total eclipse on April 8, Ball State is encouraging visitors to participate in the programming being hosted by the city of Muncie and the Muncie Visitors Bureau. More information including resources, viewing sites, lodging, activities, and more can be found on the Muncie eclipse website. Eclipse viewers will need protective solar glasses to view the sun directly during all partial phases of the solar eclipse. Visit the Ball State Solar Eclipse webpage to learn more about solar eclipses in Muncie, how to obtain eclipse glasses, and more. Ball States Charles W. Brown Planetarium is an immersive theater where state-of-the-art technology transforms the 16-meter (roughly 52-foot) dome the largest in Indiana into a simulation of the night sky as seen from Earth and from space. The facility, part of the College of Sciences and Humanities Department of Physics and Astronomy, has more than 150 reclining seats that allow guests to comfortably view projections to display amazing visualizations based on real scientific data. The planetarium is named in honor of businessman and philanthropist Charles W. Brown, a 1971 Ball State graduate whose acts of generosity to his alma mater include being the lead donor for both the updated planetarium project in 2014 and the new Brown Family Amphitheater, located in the heart of campus. This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: BSU telescopes will be used in live NASA broadcast of eclipse A new officer lost his badge one day after graduating from the police academy following a drunken driving arrest, Nevada authorities reported. The 34-year-old man was hired in September, the Henderson Police Department told KVVU. He graduated from the academy Thursday, March 21, as a probationary officer, along with 13 other officers, Police Chief Hollie Chadwick said in a letter to the community. In the evening hours of Friday, March 22, Henderson police arrested the man on a charge of driving under the influence, KTNV said. This probationary officer was promptly terminated and is no longer a member of the Henderson Police Department, Chadwick wrote. Chadwick said the department has zero tolerance for this behavior. No other vehicles or injuries were involved. Henderson is about a 15-mile drive southeast of Las Vegas. Man seen carrying severed leg after train kills pedestrian, California cops say 18 frozen puppies were going to be fed to residents snakes, Oregon cops say Camera hidden in Starbucks restroom films over 90 visitors as young as 4, CA cops say The terrorist attack in Moscow is a devastating reminder that the threat from global Islamic jihadism never went away. US intelligence believes the Crocus City Hall massacre was the work of Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISKP. Only a few days before they had warned of terrorist attacks in Moscow, intelligence perhaps from the same source as the warning to Iran before the ISKP suicide bomb attack at Kerman in January that killed over 100. Dont think IS have forgotten about Europe either. Only last summer it emerged that Iraqi security services had passed intelligence to MI6 that IS was planning a major assault in the UK, also against a large public gathering. And just a few days ago, German police arrested two ISKP terrorists plotting a gun attack on the Swedish parliament. The West is unwilling to confront this growing threat head-on, just as it has wavered so badly in dealing with aggression from Russia in Ukraine and from Iran both in the Middle East and here in Europe where Tehran also continues to plot violent terrorist attacks and is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. Thankfully, recent IS attack plans in Britain and Sweden, as with hundreds of other jihadist plots against us, have so far been frustrated by intelligence penetration. But Moscow shows that intelligence alone cannot stop attacks, a hard lesson we have learned many times before. ISKP has been based in Afghanistan since 2014. It was badly degraded by Coalition forces until their withdrawal in 2021, since when the number of attacks and attack plans worldwide has predictably increased as a result of greatly reduced US capabilities to collect intelligence and take direct military action. That withdrawal endangered our citizens and emboldened jihadists as well as our other enemies such as Putin who no doubt saw Western weakness as a green light to devour Ukraine. We have seen the results of our failure to stand up properly to that invasion, frightened by Putins nuclear sabre-rattling into denying Ukraine adequate means to win. Now we are doing the same in the Middle East where Israel is battling jihadists in Gaza. Hamas is not IS, but they share the same jihadist ideology and have trained and fought together against Israel and Egypt. Yet as the war in Gaza heads towards its final stages, as with Ukraine, we seem determined to prevent our ally from winning. Last week, the US tried to pass a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire. Our own Foreign Secretary is threatening to slap an arms embargo on Jerusalem on the outrageous grounds that Israel is not doing enough to deliver aid to Gaza and because it is not granting access for the Red Cross to Hamas terrorist captives. I have seen first-hand the immense efforts Israel is making to get aid into Gaza, and the legal grounds for Lord Camerons demand over prisoners is highly debatable and certainly not justification for the betrayal of an ally that is fighting for its life. Lord Cameron is bowing to pressure from an internationally co-ordinated propaganda campaign that has infested the UN and raises its voice on the streets of London each week with mobs including supporters of Hamas that call publicly for jihad and the end of the Jewish state. As with Ukraine, Lord Cameron is motivated by fear, but this time fear of the enemy within. It is the same with last weeks abortive US resolution which Moscow denounced contemptuously, but correctly as the White House showing a domestic audience that it was being even-handed over Gaza. Even-handedness is exactly the wrong approach when confronting dangerous enemies. Allowing Hamas a victory over Israel, the reality of preventing it from destroying the terrorist group, has the same effect as allowing Russia a victory over Ukraine. Hamas would be left to strike Israel again. Fellow jihadists would be energised globally. And for Russia, it would encourage further aggression in Europe and embolden its fellow despots in China, Iran and North Korea. As Churchill said: If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance at survival. That is the prospect facing us today when the best means of deterring our enemies is to stand staunchly and unequivocally behind our allies, both in Israel and in Ukraine. Colonel Richard Kemp is a former British Army officer Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. KENNEBUNK, Maine RSU 21 Superintendent Terri Cooper is exploring other options for when to start the upcoming school year after local business leaders, parents and others pushed back against the districts current proposal to start classes before Labor Day. As a result of the public feedback, the RSU 21 School Board tabled its discussion on the districts proposed 2024-2025 calendar during its March 18 meeting. We expect to revisit the subject and make a final decision at our next board meeting on April 1, School Board Chair Erin Nadeau said in an email. Labor Day falls on Monday, Sept. 2, this year. Cooper is proposing that school starts on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 27 and 28, with teachers starting days before, as well. RSU 21 Superintendent Terri Cooper, center, listens to a guest speaker during the school district's symposium at Kennebunk High School in August of 2022. Cooper is facing some public push-back as she proposes starting school before Labor Day this coming school year, as well. Laura Dolce, the executive director of the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce, summarized the publics concerns about a pre-Labor Day start date for classes in a letter to the School Board. She said people were focused on the impacts that a pre-Labor Day start could have on the local tourist economy, family vacations, and the comfort level of students. Dolce said a recent poll by the chamber showed that approximately 93% of 547 participants want students to start school after Labor Day. For years, the district discussed possible start dates for a new school year with members of the business community, as a consideration of the local tourist economy, Dolce noted in her letter. When the district had its first day of school after Labor Day, students and staff were able to work longer and businesses were able to remain open longer, she added. In recent years, that is not the case, Dolce said. The pre-Labor Day starts have resulted in some businesses closing early, cutting hours, or decreasing services. When students return to school early, Dolce said, staffing challenges occur that can affect the ability of a business to remain open. Even if students can continue working once school starts, businesses need to comply with new child labor laws, she added. Dolce referred to KPort Bagel, a new shop whose entire staff is comprised of local high school students, as one example of a business that would be affected by an early start for classes. She also mentioned the Kennebunk Fire Department, which loses five of its teen lifeguards during the final busy beach days of summer when their classes start early. And the list goes on, Dolce assured the school board. Kennebunk dog kennel: Owner proposes soundproof fence amid 'excessive' barking complaints Business leaders, parents push for post-Labor Day school start Members of the local business community echoed these points when they spoke during the School Boards meeting on March 18. Tina Hewitt-Gordon, the general manager of the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport, said her business is a large employer of local students. She told the board that, on some level, the school district is a part of the communitys efforts to help local businesses succeed. We are a community, she said. We all work together. We support you, and we hope youre going to support the business community and make every single effort that you can to look into altering the calendar to make it work for everybody. "The pre-Labor Day starts have resulted in some businesses closing early, cutting hours, or decreasing services, said Laura Dolce, executive director for the chamber. Sheila Matthews-Bull, who is a member of the Kennebunkport Select Board and also a local business owner, described the school districts towns as a tourist community that is busy from Memorial Day through Labor Day. She said the idea of starting school before Labor Day makes no sense to me. What you do to us bothers me, Matthews-Bull told the board and Cooper. What you do to us really hurts. In her letter, Dolce added that she also has heard from parents who are concerned about family vacations that are cut short and about their children sitting in class during days that are 90 degrees or hotter. Dolce said parents also are concerned about the students focus and sense of continuity when they attend school for two days, have a four-day holiday weekend, and then resume class. Parents are not the only ones with such concerns, Dolce noted. We heard from teachers describing overheated, distracted students who couldnt settle down, and of the disconnect caused by the four-day vacation days in between, Dolce said. Dolce told the board that people understand that education comes first. She reminded the board of the business communitys contributions to local education career days, internships, and job fairs, for example and said no one is suggesting compromising students academics. Instead, were asking for a return to post-Labor Day starts, which will allow businesses to continue through the busy Labor Day weekend, and kids and families (to have) that last full week together, she said. Shoreline Explorer: Company puts brakes on summer Ogunquit-Kennebunk trolley service Why RSU 21 wants to keep school start date in August In an email, Nadeau, the school board chair, said that RSU 21 has started school before Labor Day in recent years because it gives students a gradual transition from summer to the new academic year. Starting prior to Labor Day has also allowed for some buffer for snow days, without extending the school year into the later weeks of June, Nadeau added.According to Nadeau, the proposed school calendar also provided room for dedicated workdays for staff to engage in professional development, planning, and collaboration. These days are vital for maintaining the high-quality education we provide to our students, Nadeau said. In the past two years, students and staff have started school on a staggered, two-day basis in late August, with the younger grades starting on the first day and the older ones starting the day after. Nadeau said it is important for the School Board to hear from the community and, in this case, about how a late-August class start could impact local families and businesses. She also spoke of the responsibility that the district and the School Board share when crafting a calendar. At the end of the day, we must base our decision on how it will affect students, their education and training, she said. At the School Board meeting on March 18, Cooper said the districts proposed calendar was not created lightly, or in isolation. She said the process involved coordinating with numerous other school districts and taking such factors as budgeting, the consequences of extending the year late into June, and making sure students get 181 days of instructional time, among others. Cooper said she and the School Board had received as many as 25 to 30 emails from the public on the issue. She said she understood that many people in the community are upset and frustrated. She said she understood the desire for a later start date but also wanted to make something clear. Make no mistake, she said. Our primary responsibility is to prioritize the educational needs of our students. That is the purpose of our schools. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Pre-Labor Day school start sparks community backlash in Kennebunk Putin's military chiefs launch missiles against Kyiv for third time in five days as his troops make slow gains Vladimir Putins military chiefs launched missiles against Kyiv for the third time in five days in what appeared to be an escalation of aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities as the war stretches into its third year. Seven people were injured in the latest strike on the Ukrainian capital on Monday, Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Russia fired two ballistic missiles at Kyiv from occupied Crimea in the daylight attack, but both were intercepted above the city, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. The Pecherskyi district was the hardest hit. Missile debris damaged homes in two districts and a gym in another district, Ukraines National Police said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his appeal for the West to provide more air defence systems to protect against the unrelenting attacks, with Republicans currently blocking a huge new military aid package for Kyiv. We never tire of repeating that Ukraine needs more air defence, he said. This is security for our cities and saved human lives. The renewed attacks on Kyiv, after a pause of 44 days, started on Thursday when at least 17 people were injured including an 11-year-old girl. Over 30 missiles targeted at the capital were reportedly shot down, including an air-launched ballistic missile. With Putins troops making only slow progress in seizing land in eastern Ukraine, his military has stepped up attacks on cities, despite claiming civilians are not targeted, and power plants. Ukraine was keeping electricity imports high and not planning to export power after Russian attacks on the energy sector, the energy ministry said on Monday. Russia attacked Ukrainian generating and transmission facilities last week and over the weekend, causing blackouts in many regions. For the current day, electricity imports are forecast at 14,887 megawatt hours (MWh). No exports are expected, the ministry said in a statement. (REUTERS) Ukraine imported 14,900 MWh on Sunday and 3,300 MWh a day before the first in the latest wave of attacks on its power sector on March 22. Emergency power outages were introduced in Ukraines port of Odesa on Monday after a Russian air attack damaged one of the high-voltage facilities there, Ukraines top energy provider DTEK said in a separate statement. It said that to reduce the load on the network electric transport would not operate in the city and industrial consumption was also limited. The Ukrainian military says air defences destroyed eight out of nine drones launched by Russia overnight. Most of the drones were destroyed in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions. Debris from a falling drone sparked a fire at a power facility, which was promptly put out, the Odesa city administration said. The enemy has started systematically hitting the citys energy infrastructure. The situation is bad. Theyre hitting civilian targets, Mykolaivs governor Vitaly Kim told national television. After the largest attack on the Ukrainian power system, since the beginning of the war, on Friday, most of border city Kharkiv and parts of Zaporizhzhia region are without electricity. We continue to have problems with energy supplies to those regions that are close to the battle line - these are 7,500 consumers, said Zaporizhzhia governor Ivan Fedorov. Power grid operator Ukrenergo said 401 settlements were without power as of Monday morning across Ukraine. State-run energy firm Naftogaz said on Sunday that one of Ukraines underground gas storage facilities was attacked this weekend and the energy ministry said on Monday the situation there was under control. A fire and a gas leak have been contained at a gas facility in the Lviv region that was attacked by the enemy, the ministry said. The situation is under control. There is no threat to gas supplies to consumers. Most of Ukraines gas storage capacity is in the west of the country and it is able to store around 30 billion cubic metres of gas. Putin navy chiefs 'shying away from sending ships to Crimea' after two more hit by Ukrainian attacks Vladimir Putins navy chiefs will be shying away from sending ships to a key Crimea base after two more were hit by Ukrainian attacks, say military experts. But The Institute for the Study of War stressed that other Russian military ports were unable to carry out some tasks, done at Sevastopol, such as handling some types of missiles. So Russian ships may still have to use the Crimean port, despite Putins navy suffering a series of losses. The Ukrainian military said it hit two large Russian landing ships in attacks on the annexed Crimean peninsula early on Sunday, as well as a communications centre and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea. The statement did not say how it hit the targets, but a Moscow-installed official in the region reported a major Ukrainian air attack and said air defences had shot down more than ten missiles over the Crimean port of Sevastopol. The defence forces of Ukraine successfully hit the Azov and Yamal large landing ships, a communications centre and also several infrastructure facilities of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in temporarily occupied Crimea, Ukraines military said. In a new briefing, the Institute for the Study of War said: ISW previously assessed that Ukrainian strikes against BSF (Black Sea Fleet) assets caused the BSF to move some ships away from its main base in Sevastopol and hampered its ability to operate in the western part of the Black Sea. Ukrainian officials have recently reported that other BSF bases are structurally inferior to the one in Sevastopol and that Russian forces must still perform some tasks, such as reloading Kalibr missile systems on ships and submarines, in Sevastopol as other bases lack the capacity to handle such missiles. The latest Ukrainian strikes targeting BSF ships, regardless of the extent of the damage caused, will likely continue to deter Russian forces from redeploying ships to Sevastopol and the western Black Sea and complicate the BSFs ability to maximize its combat capabilities. Putins army has been gradually seizing more territory in eastern Ukraine, as Republicans in Washington have been blocking a huge new military aid package for Kyiv. Putins navy has been pushed back, with the flagship of his Black Sea fleet, the Moskva, being sunk in April 2022. Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, said a 65-year-old man was killed when three homes were hit by shrapnel in the latest Ukrainian attack on Crimea. He also said earlier on Sunday that transport infrastructure including passenger boats and buses were partially damaged, with windows broken on five boats. Three passenger buses, 13 school buses and one trolley bus were among vehicles damaged, he added. At last Mondays marathon court hearing over the fate of the county line ballot format, attorneys defending the system sought to undermine the credibility of the person who is trying to dismantle it: Rep. Andy Kim, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. As Kim took the stand in the Clarkson S. Fisher United States Courthouse in Trenton, attorneys tried to paint him as a hypocrite who is seeking to thrive within a campaign system while accusing it of being unfair, constitutional and corrupt. Kim, who brought the lawsuit in February, is seeking to sweep away a bedrock of New Jersey elections one in place for nearly 80 years. On the stand, he comfortably parried the questioning with bland, unruffled responses. But it was this rejoinder that spoke volumes about his upstart campaign. Andy Kim speaks with supporters outside the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall, Local 164, where the Bergen County Democratic Party Convention is being held, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Paramus Well, look," Kim said to Jason Spiro, an attorney representing the Monmouth County clerks office, one can seek reforms to systems while still having to work within it. Its not uncommon to see people seeking office adopt the mantle of the buck-the-establishment candidate. But Kims insurgency has a different twist no one else has gone to these lengths of toggling between playing within the rules and changing them at the same time. A Rubicon no New Jersey pol has crossed An example of Mercer County, 2020 traditional county line. Kim's chief rival for the partys nomination was, until Sunday afternoon, first lady Tammy Murphy, who suspended her campaign. A ruling on his lawsuit by U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi in Trenton could spell the imminent demise of the county line, which critics have called an unconstitutional relic of Tammany Hall-style politics that allows party bosses to hold enormous sway of who gets bracketed on primary ballots and who gets sent packing to ballot Siberia, where candidates almost never win. It is a format that is unique to New Jersey. Kim and his allies want to replace it with a block ballot, widely used in the rest of the country, that lists candidates for the same office together. Quraishi could issue a ruling on the case as early as this week. Kim and Murphy had been battling for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by federally indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, who announced Thursday that he would not run as a Democrat. Menendez may launch a bid as an independent. New Jersey First Lady, Tammy Murphy, speaks to the press after she wont the Bergen County Democratic Convention, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Paramus. First Lady Tammy Murphy won with more than 60% of the vote. But even if Quraishi rules against Kim and allows the old system to remain, Kims effort has pushed the establishment over a political Rubicon that few thought possible a few years ago. A growing chorus of legislators are now saying they want to abolish it and replace it with a uniform system. State Attorney General Matthew Platkin took the unusual step of declaring the line legally indefensible and unconstitutional. And last week, the four top legislative leaders said they are open to ditching the county line and replacing it with something else. (Although I wouldnt go betting the family farm on it; almost all New Jersey lawmakers owe their careers to the corroded county line system.) You know, there are a lot of people that have deep concerns about this. Many of them have never spoken out about this before," Kim said to a group of reporters outside the courthouse last week. But they feel like this lawsuit is now opening space for people to be more critical. Elko County, NV 2018 Democratic primary ballot, left, and Sussex County, DE 2018 Democratic primary ballot, right, are examples of a block design and how it would look if Rep. Andy Kim prevails in his lawsuit. And Kim also succeeded in turning the primary battle into a referendum on the future of the line and the old-guard, boss-dominated system that depends on it. He succeeded in framing the race as a battle between himself a change agent willing to blow up the old system and Murphy, a defender of the status quo. Yet one of the ironies of the race is that Kim is aggressively campaigning within the system. He stunned the political establishment in early February when he handily won the Democratic Party convention in Monmouth, where Murphy and Gov. Phil Murphy have lived for 25 years. It meant that Kim now would be placed on the Monmouth County ballot line on June 4 with other county-endorsed candidates. Kim then went on to win similar conventions in Burlington, Mercer, Hunterdon, Atlantic and Morris counties, turning his long-shot candidacy into a competitive threat all the while playing within the old rules of the county line system. To the Murphy campaign's allies, Kims effort has been an exercise in high-profile hypocrisy, railing against the old rules when it suits him and celebrating them when he wins. But to other observers, Kim is a much more polished, savvy politician, belying his image as a bespectacled Rhodes scholar and son of Korean immigrants running a quixotic campaign with a reformer message. Its a very nuanced, very canny argument that he seems to be making," said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. "He seems to be getting away with it having his cake and eating it, too. But Kim's stance is similar to that of candidates of the past who have called for campaign finance reform yet raised enormous sums of money to stay competitive. He was not about to unilaterally disarm and give his opponent a free pass. Charlie Stile: Now, the NJ Legislature may tackle the line? That's a hollow pledge 'It is very confusing to voters' Congressman Andy Kim speaks to the press after he lost the Bergen County Democratic Convention, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Paramus. First Lady Tammy Murphy (not shown) won with more than 60% of the vote. Despite his successful pursuit of lines in counties where county committee members cast them in secret Kims campaign put the focus on the futility of the old line system. The focus began in November, when Murphy jumped into the race and quickly corralled the endorsements of leaders in the states most populous Democratic counties. She won them by fiat, without competition. Leaders in those counties simply endorsed her without debate. Murphy, a prodigious Democratic Party fundraiser and advocate on climate change and maternal health, had never run for elected office and, until 10 years ago, was a registered Republican. Still, she was given the prize ballot position in counties representing 60% of the vote. To Kim and some of the New Jersey Democrats supporting him, it demonstrated the anti-democratic unfairness of the system. That swift embrace of institutional support stoked anger among grassroots progressives who saw her candidacy as an exercise in rank nepotism, with her powerful husband lining up the support, and eager-to-please county leaders several of whom are lobbyists with business before state government gladly handing her the invaluable ballot position. It is very confusing to voters," Kim testified. Yet he has continued to play ball under the old rules. Kim was considering forming off-the-line slates of candidates, which would allow him to appear as more of a viable candidate in major Democratic counties where Murphy won the line. That could change, of course, if Quraishi strikes down the system and calls for a redesign of ballots. But until then, it's business as usual. "You know, I just want to run for Senate," Kim said. But all of a sudden, the system requires me to associate with all these other candidates, people that in many cases, if if not all of them, I've never even met before this year. Charlie Stile is a veteran New Jersey political columnist. For unlimited access to his unique insights into New Jerseys political power structure and his powerful watchdog work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. Email: stile@northjersey.com This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ ballot line: Andy Kim wants to end it, but must navigate it While much attention was focused on the Senate working into the wee hours of the morning to pass a spending bill in a last-minute bid to avert a partial government shutdown on Friday, a group of senators found a little bipartisan comity around rebuking the Iranian government. A resolution introduced this week by Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, is the latest effort by members of Congress to extend political recognition to members of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, or MEK a group of dissident Iranian refugees living in Europe and primarily centred in Ashraf-3, a political enclave in Albania. The group, led by President-elect Maryam Rajavi, brands itself as a democratic resistance movement against the authoritarian Iranian government. Previously involved in violent resistance against the Iranian regime, it was designated as a terrorist group by the US government until 2012 (a position Irans leaders supported). The MEK, with its political arm the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has pushed Congress for such political recognition for many years. The latter group frequently hosts events and political briefings with members of Congress, and retains a number of allies among hawkish wings of both major parties. Mr Tilliss resolution was joined by Democrats including Cory Booker and Bob Menendez of New Jersey, as well as Sens Chris Coons and Jeanne Shaheen; a number of his fellow Republicans also signed on. It recognises Ms Rajavi and her much-touted Ten Point Plan for the Future of Iran, which calls for a secular and non-nuclear democratic government in the country. Its the latest and most direct, in recent memory bipartisan show in support for the MEK and NCRI by lawmakers that will once again put them at odds with the views of the State Department, which has an adversarial relationship with the dissidents. Since the MEKs un-designation as a terrorist group by the US government in 2012, the State Department has steadily maintained that it does not view the MEK and NCRI as viable opposition" groups in Iran and have questioned their commitment to democratic values. As a result, the resolutions call for the US government as a whole to continue close and regular cooperation with the Government of Albania and the residents of Ashraf-3 may be received with less than enthusiasm by State officials. The Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) issued a statement to The Independent on the resolution, calling it a critical step toward holding the Iranian regime accountable for its terrorism and human rights abuses and applauded its call for closer ties with Ashraf-3. While the State Department has never publicly wavered from its political opposition to the MEK and NCRI, the relationship is not that simple. The groups growing alliances with Republicans and conservative Democrats (with some exceptions, such as Mr Booker) have watered down the perceived seriousness of that viewpoint. Case in point: The previous secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, remains an active supporter of the NCRI and as recently as earlier this month headlined an event held by the group in Washington. Former Vice President Mike Pence also spoke at a rally held by the dissident groups in Paris last year, as he sought the 2024 Republican nomination. Under the presidency of Joe Biden, the State Department was for some time reportedly involved in talks concerning the 2015 nuclear deal inked during Mr Bidens previous time in the White House. But the president indicated in December of 2022 that the agreement was not to be revived, and the subsequent outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has come with renewed tensions between the US and Iran regarding the actions of militant groups supported by the Iranian government throughout the Middle East. One of those groups, Houthi rebels based in Yemen, has resorted to attacking commercial traffic in the Red Sea as the militants seek to deny ships safe passage to Israel. "Politics never crossed my mind," says the tax collector and husband to two wives [AFP] Few had heard of him a year ago, and now he is set to become president. Bassirou Diomaye Faye's extraordinary rise caps a rollercoaster period in Senegalese politics that caught many off-guard. Months in jail alongside ally and kingmaker Ousmane Sonko ended suddenly, with the pair released the week before the presidential election. Now Mr Clean, as he's nicknamed, must get to work on the sweeping reforms he has promised. "Methodical" and "modest" are words often used to describe the tax collector, who celebrates his 44th birthday on Monday. Mr Faye fondly recalls his rural upbringing in Ndiaganiao, where he says he returns every Sunday to work the land. His love and respect for village life is matched by his deep distrust of Senegal's elites and establishment politics. "He's never been a minister and wasn't a statesman so critics question his lack of experience," analyst Alioune Tine tells the BBC. "But, from Faye's point of view, the insiders who've run the country since 1960 have made some catastrophic failures." Fighting poverty, injustice and corruption are top of Mr Faye's agenda. While working at the Treasury, he and Mr Sonko created a union taskforce to tackle graft. Gas, oil, fishing and defence deals must all be renegotiated to better serve the Senegalese people, says Mr Faye. He is ushering in an era of "sovereignty" and "rupture" as opposed to more of the same, he told voters, and that is especially true of ties to France. Senegal's president-elect says he will drop the much-criticised CFA franc currency, which is pegged to the euro and backed by former colonial power France. Mr Faye wants to replace it with a new Senegalese, or regional West African, currency, although this will not be easy. "He will have to deal with the reality of the budget to begin with... But I see that he has a lot of ambition," former Prime Minister Aminata Toure, who served under outgoing President Macky Sall, tells the BBC. Strengthening judicial independence and creating jobs for Senegal's large young population are also key priorities for Mr Faye - neither of which "President Sall paid much attention to and it caught up with him", Ms Toure adds. She is not the only political heavyweight to have thrown her support behind the 44-year-old - former President Abdoulaye Wade did the same just two days before Sunday's vote. It is a remarkable turnaround for Mr Faye who spent the last 11 months in prison on charges of insurrection, and many more years before that in his ally's shadow. 'Bassirou is me' Bassirou Diomaye Faye was announced in February as the so-called "Plan B" candidate, replacing the charismatic opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko. "I would even say that he has more integrity than me," Mr Sonko said proudly. Both men founded the now-disbanded Pastef party, both men are tax collectors, and both men found themselves jailed last year on charges they said were politically motivated. Mr Sonko ended up being convicted of two offences, which meant he was barred from the election, so Mr Faye stepped in. "Bassirou is me," Mr Sonko told supporters recently. "They are two sides of the same coin," Pastef colleague Moustapha Sarre agrees. This has led to criticism that Mr Faye is merely "president by default". Not so, says analyst Mr Tine. But the pair's relationship could usher in a new style of leadership. "Maybe they will establish a tandem and break away from the hyper-presidential model of having an all-powerful head of state. "Sonko is of course the uncontested leader of Pastef - an icon, even... [But] the two have had a [dynamic of] complicity and collusion." Once upon a time, Mr Faye wanted nothing to do with politics. "It never crossed my mind," he said in 2019 while recalling his childhood. One of Mr Faye's heroes is the late Senegalese historian Cheikh Anta Diop - whose work is seen as a precursor to Afrocentrism. Both are seen as left-wing cheerleaders for pan-Africanism. As early results came in on Monday showing Mr Faye was set for victory, people in the capital, Dakar, celebrated by honking car horns and singing to loud music. The reaction from international markets was less jubilant, with Senegal's dollar bonds falling to their lowest level in five months. Reuters news agency reports that investors are concerned Mr Faye's presidency may wind down the country's business-friendly policies. ''By electing me, the Senegalese people have chosen to break with the past," he told journalists later on Monday. "I promise to govern with humility and transparency." The election was originally due last month but Mr Sall postponed it just hours before campaigning was set to begin, triggering deadly opposition protests and a democratic crisis. Most candidates had very little time to prepare once the new election date was set - but Mr Faye had just over a week after being freed from jail. Despite the shortened campaign period, Senegal's citizens were adamant they would turn out and use their vote, Christopher Fomunyoh - of the National Democratic Institute for international affairs - told BBC Newsday. "Senegal is in the process of confirming that democracies can self-correct and come out stronger and more resilient." And the true test for Senegal's clean-up guy has only just begun. More on Senegal's election: Eighteen months after Sherri Papini was sentenced to prison in her kidnapping hoax and ordered to pay more than $300,000 in restitution, federal officials say she has failed to pay up and are seeking a garnishment order to force payment of the debt. In a two-page filing Sunday in Sacramento federal court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Tubesing filed an application for a writ of garnishment for $340,221.23 against Papini and a Redding law firm representing her in her divorce from her estranged husband, Keith. As of March 22, 2024, Debtor owes $309,292.23, the filing says. Despite the United States demand for payment, made more than 30 days before the date of this application, debtor has failed to satisfy the debt. The government notes that it is permitted to seek a 10% litigation surcharge of $30,929.00, bringing the total owed to $340,221.23. The filing names Papini as debtor and the Redding family law firm of Kinney & Kinney as garnishee against any property held by that firm, court papers say. William Portanova, Papinis criminal defense attorney, said Monday morning that he expected Papini to try to satisfy the debt. I am certain that Ms. Papini is making every good faith effort to meet her financial obligations with the court, he said. It may take some time, but she is financially surrounded, and payment will come. Portanova added that to the extent that Ms. Papini can earn income it is a condition of her release that she be open with the government and the court as to its sources and amounts. Sherri Papini leaves with attorney William Portanova after arraignment at the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse in Sacramento, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. Papini, now 41, was sentenced in September 2022 to 18 months in prison following a kidnapping hoax that began in November 2016 and riveted the nation for six years as she insisted she had been abducted while jogging near her Northern California home and ultimately admitted she had made the whole thing up. Van Kinney, whose Redding firm represents Papini in her divorce case, said he did not know anything about the filing and that Papini had no financial interest involving the firm. He declined further comment. Papini, now 41, was sentenced in September 2022 to 18 months in prison following a kidnapping hoax that began in November 2016 and riveted the nation for six years as she insisted she had been abducted while jogging near her Northern California home and ultimately admitted she had made the whole thing up. Papini spent part of her sentence in a Sacramento halfway house and was released from custody eight months early on Sept. 29, 2023, Federal Bureau of Prisons records show. At the time of her sentencing, Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb called Papini a manipulator who lied to police, her family and friends and who likely would have continued if she had not been caught. Shubb noted that Papini took hundreds of thousands of dollars in victims funding, Social Security disability payments and more than $49,000 from a GoFundMe account set up after the purported kidnapping. He ordered her to pay $309,902.23 in restitution but said he had little hope that she could repay the money. Lets be realistic about it, the judge said. That restitution is never going to be paid. That $300,000 shes going to be ordered to pay will never be paid unless she wins the lottery. Papini was the so-called super mom who disappeared on Nov. 2, 2016, while jogging near her Redding-area home, setting off a frantic search and eliciting pleas from her family and friends for her safe return. She was found 22 days later on Thanksgiving walking on a Yolo County road and partially bound with a chain, with bruises, a brand burned into one arm and her hair cut short. Police said she claimed she had been taken at gunpoint by two Hispanic women who beat and tortured her and kept her chained to a pole in a closet. Authorities later said she actually spent the three weeks she was missing at the Costa Mesa home of an ex-boyfriend, James Reyes. That development came after the FBI traced DNA on Papinis clothing that led them to the ex-boyfriend. Papini later was charged with lying to the FBI and mail fraud and pleaded guilty. A slow-moving creature gave birth at a Florida zoo and social media users cant get enough of the adorable new addition. Photos shared on Facebook show the furry sloth clinging to mom Sammy at the Brevard Zoo. Visitors can see the baby in her habitat but the little one may be hard to spot for now. This baby will stay holding onto Sammy for about six months to a year and start to explore off of mom after a couple of months, the zoo wrote March 24 in a blog post. Being so close with mom all day, our veterinary staff will not perform any exams anytime soon, meaning we wont know the gender of the baby for quite some time. The zoo said 18-year-old Sammy welcomed the newborn March 14, marking the fourth time she gave birth. Shes described as an expert caretaker, and she and the baby are doing well. Hours after giving birth, the pair was back out on habitat and taking snacks from her animal care team, the wildlife park wrote. She also was sure to sneak in plenty of naps throughout the day, as well. Sammy also continues to have access to a private behind-the-scenes area if she prefers some quite time. Meanwhile, the baby is known to sleep but sometimes opens its eyes and nurses. The zoo didnt reveal the babys name in online posts or immediately share additional details with McClatchy News on March 25. Several Facebook users chimed in to congratulate Sammy on her new addition, and the zoos post gained more than 1,000 reactions within two days of being shared online. Sammy and her baby live with monkeys, which havent paid much attention to the newborn. The little one is a Linnaeuss two-toed sloth, a species native to the rainforests of Central and South America. Arguably the slowest-moving mammals in the world, sloths will only descend from the forest canopy to move to another tree or go to the bathroom, the zoo wrote on its website. The wildlife park is in Melbourne, a roughly 70-mile drive southeast from Orlando. Slow-moving creature makes debut at a North Carolina aquarium. Meet Indie the sloth Baby sloth found crying on floor in Costa Rica reunited with mom. See special moment Early Monday morning, police captured a man suspected of shooting a passenger on a Greyhound bus traveling on I-10 through South Mississippi. Gautier police responded at 11:54 p.m. Sunday to a shooting on the bus, said Police Chief David Bever. The shooting happened while the bus was eastbound between Vancleave exit 57 and Gautier exit 61 in Jackson County, according to Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. The suspect, Rashaad Keimond Price, 26, of Slidell, was captured at 3 a.m. after officers saw him running across I-10. He was charged with homicide and is being held without bond at the Jackson County jail, according to the sheriffs department. The victim of the shooting is Jay Jackson, 25, of Decatur, Georgia. The MBI said that after the shooting, Price demanded the driver stop the bus so he could get off. The driver drove to exit 61 and called 911. No other passengers were injured. Corrections & Clarifications: Arizona's Department of Emergency and Military Affairs was misidentified in an earlier version of this article. TUCSON Elected and community leaders in southern Arizona are sounding off the alarm about the potential for thousands of migrants and asylum seekers processed at the U.S.-Mexico border to be released en masse in the streets of Arizona's border communities in April. That move, they say, would undo years of collaboration and instead generate chaos at the border. They don't have to look very far to see what the region's future may look like. Last month, San Diego County closed its migrant shelter after it ran out of funds. The U.S. Border Patrol began releasing thousands of migrants at bus stations, leaving local nonprofits to scramble to respond. Local governments and nonprofits in southern Arizona have worked together since 2019 to build a system in coordination with U.S. border officials in Arizona to drop off migrants at designated sites such as the Regional Center for Border Health in Yuma or Tucson's Casa Alitas, the largest migrant shelter in the state, operated by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona. But on March 31, they will run out of the federal funding that pays for the system that keeps migrants and asylum seekers off the streets of Arizona border communities once they've been processed and cleared for release by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "I think that's going to lead to a lot of chaos, and a lot more cost across the board for folks to get services, as many of the people coming through leave fairly quickly here," said Diego Pina, Casa Alitas executive director. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection in Arizona said they are still working to determine how to handle community releases at the border past March 31. The agency, which processes migrants who have appointments at ports of entry, as well as those crossing irregularly in between border crossings, has been releasing on average about 1,000 migrants each day in southern Arizona under humanitarian parole. Many of the migrants are turning themselves into border agents and seeking asylum. Since 2019, the federal government has issued local governments and nonprofits funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover the expenses of providing humanitarian assistance to released migrants. That includes medical screenings, meals, clothing and bed space if they're unable to book travel for the same day they're released. Nonprofits and local governments also pay for transportation to the airport or bus stations, but only for migrants whose relatives or sponsors in the country already bought their tickets. In southern Arizona, Pima County has acted as the primary fiscal agent. The county gets the government funds and distributes them to other nonprofits and local governments in the region. The county has received $70 million from FEMA over the past five years. The latest round of funding, allocated by Congress to the newly created Shelter and Services Program, will run out March 31. Local governments, such as Pima County, have said they will not dip into their general funds and will have to end their participation in the system developed in southern Arizona to prevent migrants from being released onto the streets. "Everybody was out looking very hard to see how we can squeeze the nickels and roll the programs as far as they could be rolled," said Jan Lesher, the Pima County administrator. "We wanted to make sure that we have ended the program while there are still dollars available to make sure that there is no residual impact on the Pima County taxpayer." Pima County District 3 Supervisor Sylvia M. Lee, left, Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher, center, and Pima County District 5 Supervisor Adelita S. Grijalva, right, attend a press conference at the Lukeville Port of Entry in Lukeville, Ariz., on January 4, 2024. The costs to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants have increased as more migrants cross the border through southern Arizona. The Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, which covers Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise County, is the busiest crossing route for migrants along the southern U.S. border. Pima County said the costs to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in the region top $1 million per week. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and other local leaders say Congress should be on the hook financially for covering those expenses because border and immigration enforcement is the federal government's responsibility. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero speaks during a press at the state Capitol in Phoenix on April 6, 2023. "Congress needs to do their jobs, they have the power of policymaking and they have the power of assigning funds to policies. Let them do that," Romero said. "They have an opportunity to act and they have refused to act. And it should not fall on the shoulders of the city of Tucson or Pima County to pick up on their lack of action." Congress passed a spending bill over the weekend to avoid a government shutdown and allocated $650 million to replenish the Shelter and Services Program. On Friday, Reps. Ruben Gallego, Raul Grijalva and Greg Stanton, all Arizona Democrats, sent two letters to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging him to get the funding quickly to nonprofits and local government at the border. Gaps in the border wall are pictured near Sasabe on Friday, October 13, 2023. Grijalva and Stanton urged FEMA to allocate a greater share of resources to border communities, noting that New York received nine times the amount allocated to Arizona in the last round of funding. "Despite this disproportionate allocation, Arizona has experienced dramatic surges of migrant crossings," their letter said. Gallego insisted that if FEMA is unable to award funds to local governments and nonprofits before funding runs out on March 31, the department should "allow for full retroactive reimbursement of expenses incurred between a fiscal cliff." While there is some uncertainty about what will happen when the federal funding runs out, some effects are taking shape. Casa Alitas has told half its staff it won't be able to pay them past March 31. They also plan on closing the largest of the two county-owned buildings they use to assist released migrants and asylum seekers. The remaining facility, a converted juvenile detention facility, will have the space for about 150 migrants, vastly reducing their capacity to take in migrants from across southern Arizona. That likely means they will have to prioritize and make space only for families with children and other vulnerable migrants, Pina said. "We've avoided the street releases for so long because we've all worked together and we've developed a really nuanced system, and I think we just need to keep working towards that," Pina said. "And if we're going to have this problem where the funding is going to be held up for a little while, then we need to figure out as a team how we're going to work through as Tucson, and to build out our resources to look different, but not to be different." Starting April 1, without the additional shelter space in Pima County, as many as 400 migrants could be released each day into the streets in Tucson, which houses the regional headquarters for Customs and Border Protection. Migrants board a bus behind the Pimeria Alta Historical Society Museum in Nogales after being dropped off by Border Patrol on Dec. 14, 2023. Nogales, a city of 20,000 people about 60 miles south of Tucson that houses a large Border Patrol station and the main border crossing where they process asylum seekers, could see 400 migrants released each day. Douglas, a city of 16,000 about 90 miles southeast of Tucson near another patrol station, could see between 100 to 150 migrants released per day. Customs and Border Protection has already been releasing migrants in Nogales and Douglas. Neither city has shelters or major transportation infrastructure. When those releases began, Arizona's Department of Emergency and Military Affairs stepped in. The state agency has averaged about 14 buses per day, transporting migrants from Nogales, Douglas and Casa Grande another city with a large patrol station to Tucson and Phoenix, according to Judy Kioski, the spokeswoman for DEMA. She added that DEMA will continue busing migrants from border communities as long as the state funds the program. "DEMA will only transport legally processed asylum seekers at the request of local jurisdictions to an NGO (nonprofit) that has the capacity to support them with temporary sheltering and onward travel arrangements," Kioski said in an emailed statement. The department said they will monitor the situation at the Arizona-Mexico border past March 31, and will continue working with local governments, nonprofits and the federal government to coordinate transportation needs. Kioski emphasized that the state has not paid for flight or bus tickets for migrants and asylum seekers. On a recent Monday, a group of men staying at the largest of two Casa Alitas shelters in Tucson helped unload donations from an 18-wheeler and drop them off at a storage space in the back of the building. In the next room, two women staying at the migrant shelter helped sort donated clothing in the large closet. A line of men and women with children waited outside the closet to receive donated clothing. With funding running out at the end of the month, Pina said Casa Alitas will have to rely even more on community donations and volunteers to keep the smaller shelter open and to continue providing humanitarian assistance to migrants released in southern Arizona. Christoper Amanat, an 18-year-old high school student, has volunteered at Casa Alitas since last summer. He was born in Tucson to Chinese and Iranian parents. Amanat is fluent in French and Mandarin, which has come in handy because there has been an increase in migrants arriving from non-Spanish-speaking countries around the globe. "It's human connection that I really value. And it also is giving me context on my own family's immigration story and America's migration story in general," Amanat said. "I feel like that's what's been most meaningful, and that's why I wanted to be here, to just experience it all." Have any news tips or story ideas about immigration in the Southwest? Reach the reporter at rafael.carranza@arizonarepublic.com, or follow him on X (formerly Twitter): @RafaelCarranza. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Migrants could be released in Arizona border cities starting in April Tourism and travel increasingly serve a crucial role in any states workforce pipeline. With a diverse job landscape allowing individuals to rethink where and how they live, Oklahoma is poised to attract new residents through visitation to the state. Increased flexibility in jobs across the country, including remote and hybrid roles, has allowed more individuals to reflect on where they live and build their careers. A 2023 study by Development Counsellors International (DCI) revealed that the number of individuals who decide to relocate based on their trip to a destination is on the rise, making up about 14% of respondents meaning millions of Americans could visit a place and decide they want to live there based on their travel experience. The same study also confirms that people continue to prioritize quality of life as an initial motivation for relocating. Livability and affordability of a place are leading factors of quality of life, both of which are abundant in Oklahoma, presenting an opportunity to show off what our state has to offer as soon as travelers enter the state. We know people are looking to move here, as evidenced by recent net migration growth that shows Oklahoma as No. 9 in the country for overall growth. Additionally in 2023, the population in the state grew at its fastest rate in a decade. If todays visitor becomes tomorrows talent, my vision and commitment to the state is to continue expanding the success of our tourism and travel operations, and ultimately attract more long-term Oklahomans who contribute to our communities by becoming permanent residents and taxpayers. More: Oklahoma's state parks are crumbling. How will lawmakers fund much-needed fixes? Oklahomas tourism operations have been extremely successful, despite outdated funding structures that have limited investment in recent years. As our states third-largest industry with an annual impact of $11.8 billion, tourism efforts attracted more than 18 million visitors, generated $833 million in state and local tax revenue, and supported over 103,000 jobs, contributing significantly to local economies. To build on this momentum and continue showcasing what makes Oklahoma special to visitors, its necessary to collaborate across local and state tourism agencies, boards and commissions. But doing so will require changes in the way we are able to promote the state. Currently our two funding sources that are dedicated to promoting the state and maintaining our tourist attractions are capped, and have been limited since 2015. Unfortunately, this has also capped economic growth and development in our state from when the cap was put in place to 2023, the state has lost over $75 million in potential funding for statewide marketing and capital improvements. Even with this limited investment in promoting Oklahoma, weve seen a 60 to 1 ROI. For every $1 spent on tourism promotion, we see a return of $60 in visitor spending. In order to capitalize on growth opportunities in our communities, we must modernize funding sources and put those dollars toward investment in promoting our state to attract visitors, and potentially, future Oklahomans. We cant be a pro-business state if were not telling Oklahomas story. More: We can unlock the full potential of Oklahoma's tourism, wildlife, arts and heritage Oklahoma is a top-tier destination for visitors of all ages, but its also a wonderful place to live, work and enjoy. By continuing to promote this and attract individuals through travel and tourism, we can ultimately build our workforce of tomorrow. Shelley Zumwalt Shelley Zumwalt is the secretary of tourism, wildlife and heritage and the executive director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma cant be a pro-business state if were not telling our story A 33-year-old Tennessee woman will stand trial on a first-degree felony murder charge in the fatal shooting of Fairway police officer Jon Oswald last summer, a judge determined Monday. Andrea Rene Cothran of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, appeared in Johnson County District Court for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors presented their case against her. Judge Michael P. Joyce found there was sufficient evidence for Cothran to stand trial on the murder charge, as well as charges of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, possession of a firearm by a felon and three counts of theft, all felonies. She also faces a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. Under the felony murder rule, accomplices are held culpable when someone is killed during the commission of a serious crime even if they were not the killer. Cothrans arraignment is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. on April 25. Stolen vehicle leads to police chase, shooting Oswald was killed Aug. 6 when officers from several police departments responded to reports of a dark blue Jeep Grand Cherokee that was stolen from Lenexa. Police pursued the vehicle north on Interstate 35 and the Jeep crashed on the exit ramp to Lamar Avenue. Cothran and Shannon Wayne Marshall, 40, of Ashland City, Tennessee, then ran into the QuikTrip at 4700 Lamar Avenue in Mission. Oswald was critically wounded in a shootout that ensued and died in the hospital the following day. Marshall also was killed at the scene. According to testimony, Cothran and Marshall allegedly traveled to the Kansas City area in a stolen Chevrolet Equinox taken from Tennessee. Shanese Ndegwa said that a car she had rented to attend a family reunion was stolen when she stopped at a 7-11 in Goodlettsville. When she exited the store, she said the car was gone. Among the personal items inside the vehicle at the time it was taken was her handgun. When shown a photo of the gun found inside the QuikTrip bathroom where Oswald was killed, Ndegwa said that it was hers. She recognized it because of scrapes and marks on it. The stolen vehicle was later found at a Walmart in Overland Park along with Cothrans ID and other documents. The vehicle theft that lead to the pursuit and the killing of Oswald occurred the morning of Aug. 6. Cory Wright testified he drove his grandmothers Jeep Grand Cherokee to the QuikTrip near 95th Street and I-35 in Lenexa to pick up doughnuts as he was headed to his sisters house. He left the SUV running because his dog was inside. When he came out, the Jeep was gone. He ran looking for the SUV and saw it driving in circles in the nearby Radisson Hotel parking lot. He chased the vehicle and yelled at the woman driving it. He said she yelled back that she was sorry but couldnt go back to jail. Wright identified the woman as Cothran. About that time, a Lenexa police car showed up. During the hearing, officers testified that Cothran tried to evade them by driving into the parking lot of another nearby hotel. Before the chase down I-35, Cothran allegedly rammed one of the officers and went over curbs and a grassy median to get away. Ultimately, she picked up Marshall and then fled north on I-35. Lenexa police followed, and during the chase, speeds reached up to 120 mph. According to testimony, Cothran allegedly was weaving in and out of traffic. The Kansas Highway Patrol took the lead in the chase near the exit to Interstate 635. The pursuing officers said they lost sight of the Jeep and hadnt noticed it had exited and wrecked. Lenexa officer Stephanie Decker was one of the officers in pursuit. When she heard on the police radio that the fleeing SUV had crashed at Lamar, she circled back. Knowing the SUV was unoccupied, she headed to the QuikTrip to see if the suspects had run inside. When she entered, she saw a man enter the mens restroom and a woman enter the womens restroom. She checked under the womens restroom stall and saw someone inside. She had a male employee check the mens restroom, and the employee said he had heard someone reply that someone was in there. Decker returned to the womens bathroom and noticed the feet were gone. Decker testified that Cothran then stated she didnt steal the car and didnt do anything. Decker arrested Cothran and put her in handcuffs. Because other officers were positioning themselves to enter the mens restroom, Decker waited with Cothran in the hallway. Seconds later, the officers entered the mens restroom and shots were fired. Decker said she pulled Cothran back towards an emergency exit. Cothran fell, and Decker pulled her out of the exit to safety. Oswald was among the officers who entered the bathroom. They were led by Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Derek Kyser, who had his gun drawn. Lenexa Officer Garrett Mahan, who also entered the mens restroom, testified his role was to use a Taser on Marshall to try to subdue him with a less lethal method. Meanwhile, Oswalds role was to attempt to get Marshall in handcuffs. As they entered, Marshall started closing the stall door. Kyers attempted to kick the door open. Officers ordered Marshall to surrender, or he would be tased. Kyser went into a nearby stall, and Mahan said he and Oswald tried pushing on the door. I saw a handgun come out in front of my face, Mahan said. He then heard the gunfire and saw Oswald get struck in the head. Mahan said he retreated out of the bathroom, and a call went out to dispatch that shots were fired and an officer was down. Mission Police Officer Tanner Eddings opened the bathroom door and allegedly exchanged gunfire with Marshall from the hallway, according to a summary report previously released after Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe determined police acted lawfully. Kyser, who was still in the nearby stall, reached over the top and fired at Marshall two or three times. Afterward, the trooper looked over and saw Marshall standing with a gun. Kyser fired another volley of bullets, according to the report. Terrebonne Parish President Jason Bergeron will unveil a new parish logo before the Terrebonne Parish Council's March 27 meeting. The logo will not replace the Terrebonne Parish Government Seal. The seal will be used for official matters, and the logo will be for general use. The logo was designed by the communications department, which spent between 30 and 50 hours on the design since Jan. 4, according to Communications Director Robbie Lee. Lee said the logo invigorates the government's image and will aid in marketing the parish as an icebreaker to attract businesses. "It's to modernize us to the outside businesses that Terrebonne is really open to business," Lee said. "That change is coming. It's just to kind of refresh everything. Gordy did phenomenal things over the past eight years because he focused so much on pumps and levees and drainage systems. Now the focus can be on bringing high-paying businesses back to Terrebonne Parish. And that's what this brand is going to help us do." The new Terrebonne Parish logo, set to be unveiled at the Terrebonne Parish Council meeting, March 27. The parish was seeking to copyright the new logo, Lee said, to avoid the logo being used by others to impersonate the government, but learned a Louisiana state law bars governments from copyrighting such things. According to Lee, the parish government has a form for both the logo and the seal for the public to use either. These can either be applied for in person, or online. The form for the official seal preexisted because an ordinance still remains on the books which carries a fine of up to $500 for those who use it without the written consent of the parish president or the parish manager. The ordinance is section 1-18. The new logo was primarily worked on by Parish Graphic Designer Megan Chancy, with some input from Lee. The two invested approximately 48 hours on the logo, according to Lee, averaging out to about $1,332.24 of taxpayer dollars. The idea for the new logo came from Lee's time working for the Lafourche Parish Government as an intern. During his time in Lafourche, prior to becoming the communications director there, the parish was rebranded, and a new website was created. Lee said he had looked at marketing research for businesses and thought it would help with government. "This was the thing that in Lafourche convinced us to do it," Lee said. "It's a gateway piece. People are very visual when it comes to stuff like business. Think about food, when you try to decide what you are about to eat a good portion of the time, the thing that looks the best Is the thing you latch on to. It's the same thing with brands. It's to be an eye-catching piece to open the door for us to be able to get in and to talk to a business." Other leaders and former leaders say it takes more than a rebranding to attract businesses. The official seal of the Terrebonne Parish Government. The seal is set to be relegated to official business of the government, March 27 when the new parish logo is announced at the Terrebonne Parish Council meeting. Parish President Archie Chaisson was asked about Lafourche's brand change, and said it wasn't for marketing purposes. The new logo was an announcement of a change in governance and isn't a factor in enticing businesses to his parish, he said. More: Crawfish industry counts its losses while awaiting federal disaster declaration More: Raceland hip hopper's career rolls strong, like the Mississippi River he toils on "We didn't rebrand it for the purpose of economic development," Chaisson said, "I mean, the brand that we had when we took office was almost 15 to 18 years old, and it was just time for a fresh look. We were a new administration with new ideas. When we go to talk to a business to talk about locating here, we use the good things in the parish, not a sticker." Former Parish President Gordan Dove also was critical of the idea of the logo being used for marketing purposes. Like Chaisson, he said business is incentivized through parish's assets, not a brand. "You rebrand a parish with infrastructure," Dove said. "You rebrand a parish with a workforce. You rebrand a parish with keeping people here. You rebrand a parish with low insurance rates, which are killing us right now. If you ever get a business that tells me they came to Terrebonne because of an emblem, please, I want to talk to them." This article originally appeared on The Courier: Terrebonne Parish new logo unveiled at council meeting